The world of video games has given us some great characters over the years and Empire magazine recently set about constructing a list of its 50 favourite personalities.
Number one on the list was Gordon Freeman from Half Life - a choice that may surprise some.
However, the publication explained that the gun-toting PhD graduate is the "quintessential geek fantasy".
With his ginger hair, thick-rimmed glasses and tidy goatee, Freeman is an unlikely first-person shooter hero.
Therein lies his appeal, according to Empire, which suggested that he is more believable than the majority of the macho gaming protagonists.
A more obvious and perhaps well-known character came in second in the shape of moustachioed Italian plumber Mario.
While he may have cultivated a whole generation of gamers, he might also have been partially responsible for the obsession with blue dungarees and magic mushrooms in the 1980s.
A number of video games characters, including Mario, have been so popular that their games have been made into movies.
Other examples include the Resident Evil series Prince of Persia and Silent Hill.
Posted by Alice Buller
