Once we look again on the standout video games of 2025 within the years to return, in lots of circumstances it’s as prone to be for the characters who populated them as it’s for the greatness of their mechanics or stage design. Whether or not it’s the heroes we inhabited, the villains we confronted, or the random aspect characters we met only for a fleeting second, there have been some memorable newcomers in the very best video games of 2025, in addition to a couple of characters we’ve recognized for years that had a second value celebrating.
Listed here are our picks for the very best online game characters of 2025.
Garmond and Zaza – Hole Knight: Silksong
Hole Knight: Silksong has plenty of bizarre little guys in its solid, and Garmond and Zaza are two of essentially the most memorable. This regal-as-fuck little man and his flying steed turn into Hornet’s allies when she saves them from captivity, and Garmond’s battle cry as he fees in to face one among Silksong’s robust bosses is sufficient to get anybody able to combat god. — Kenneth Shepard
Tenna – Deltarune
Yearly when compiling the very best characters in video games, you’ve gotta have some absolute gremlin-level freaks on the record. Tenna, the TV host with a TV head, is one among 2025’s standouts on that entrance. Deltarune is stuffed with colourful and memorable characters, however few pop off the display like Tenna, whose Fifties selection present host schtick is completely punctuated by the sport’s use of Phrase-Artwork-style textual content thrives and a 3D mannequin that lets him get extra animated than most different characters within the solid. Tenna is technically interfering together with your group’s journey in Toby Fox’s RPG, however he smokes too robust and his swag is simply too completely different so that you can be mad about it. All his loopy antics result in one among Deltarune’s most insane boss battles, which is virtually an prolonged WarioWare mini-game barrage. All of this showmanship masks a deep-seated concern of being forgotten, and boy, does it attain a tragic finale — Kenneth Shepard
Nate – Child Steps
Child Steps, a cross between the unbearable motion controls of QWOP and a climbing sport like Solely Up, might have simply been content material with being a $20 shitpost of a online game with no actual character improvement to talk of and nonetheless been profitable, however its essential character, Nate, really has fairly a bit happening as he walks barefoot up the aspect of a mountain.
All of Nate’s issues in Child Steps could possibly be prevented if he merely accepted or requested for assist. He might have sneakers to assist him take extra assured steps, a map to inform him the place he’s going, and a toilet to empty his full bladder, if he solely would say “sure” as a substitute of “no” any time somebody provided to assist him. The short wit of Child Steps’ writing makes scenes showcasing Nate’s obstinacy, which needs to be irritating to look at unfold, a hoot as a substitute. However as the sport goes on, it turns into clear Nate has a level of social nervousness that dwarfs any I’ve skilled giving my order to a server at a restaurant. His largest drawback isn’t strolling within the awkward means he does; it’s realizing that he wouldn’t must undergo half as lengthy if he let himself be uncomfortable for only a second. However for some, the molehill of an ungainly interplay is bigger than any mountain we have now to scale. — Kenneth Shepard
Swann – Misplaced Data: Bloom & Rage
Like Child Steps, Misplaced Data: Bloom & Rage is mainly a social nervousness simulator, and it stars Swann, a teenage introvert simply looking for an area to occupy round a gaggle of women she doesn’t know, however wish to. From Life Is Unusual creators Don’t Nod, the studio’s return to narrative journey helps you to decide the character of the ladies’ relationship, and if their reunion is one among rose-tinted nostalgia or tense discomfort. However regardless of the way you play Swann, there’s a melancholy sense of craving for not simply love, however belonging. She’s the sort of lady who might simply be talked over, or invited to the social gathering however nonetheless ignored of all of the conversations and moments of connection that transpire. Don’t Nod manages to seize the sense of isolation you’ll be able to expertise if you’re standing in a crowded room, and Swann is at her most memorable when she’s capable of break by her personal limitations and discover a place amongst pals and summer time loves. — Kenneth Shepard
Dollman – Demise Stranding 2: On the Seaside
Dollman, Demise Stranding 2’s dwelling puppet, might have been a joke character, however as a substitute, he finally ends up being probably the most tragic figures in a sequence stuffed with them. Nonetheless, he’s not with out moments wherein his foolish look as a mouthy, stop-motion doll matches his in-game actions. You possibly can throw him round to do surveying for you, after which if you flip in for the evening, he’ll inform you scary tales about him doing scary doll shit. Demise Stranding has all the time been a mixture of dramatic political commentary and unhinged absurdism. Dollman simply wears that juxtaposition on his sleeve greater than most. And rattling, the dude can dance. — Kenneth Shepard
Hazel – South of Midnight
There’s one thing about South of Midnight’s southern gothic fantasy that speaks to me as a former southerner. Hazel, the sport’s sorceress heroine, embodies plenty of the perfect elements of the south. She is the very best of us: a kind-hearted one who seeks to assist these in want, however is ready to take action with wit and whereas taking no shit from those that meet her empathy with a thorny disposition. Hazel respects those that have lengthy gone with out consideration, however by no means provides up her personal self-respect to supply a serving to hand. — Kenneth Shepard
Pinky – Promise Mascot Company
Pinky is cute on the surface, vile on the within. As her identify implies, she’s…nicely, a severed pinky however made to appear to be the sort of mascot you would possibly see at Disneyland. Promise Mascot Company is stuffed with whimsy and chaos in equal measure, and Pinky dials up the latter together with her frequent offended outbursts. Pinky is, as the youngsters say, a temper. You by no means know what she’s going to say subsequent, aside from that it will likely be one of many filthiest reads you’ve seen put to paper. — Kenneth Shepard
Pauline – Donkey Kong Bananza
For higher or worse, the connection between Donkey Kong and Pauline is foundational to the historical past of video video games. It was there in 1981’s Donkey Kong, the sport that launched the profession of gaming’s biggest and most versatile famous person, the place it helped set up the “damsel in misery” template which lots of of video games would make use of within the many years to return as a straightforward approach to create some sort of primary motivation for the participant.
However what makes Pauline’s presence in Donkey Kong Bananza so refreshing is the best way that it reimagines each her as a personality and her connection to DK. Not a kidnapping sufferer in want of rescue or an object of bizarre obsession, Pauline is a gifted however insecure singer who types a quick friendship with Donkey Kong as the 2 discover themselves flung collectively on the sport’s grand journey. Their skills complement one another, with Pauline’s voice offering accompaniment to DK’s rhythm, and her confidence in her personal skills grows over time because of DK’s unwavering perception in her. Greater than 40 years after they first debuted, it’s a thrill to see these two embark on an epic journey wherein they only get to be BFFs, take pleasure in one another’s firm, and assist one another out, and not using a Mario wherever in sight to return between them or spoil their enjoyable. — Carolyn Petit
Cider – Absolum
Cider is the sort of character that simply oozes cool. They tear into enemies with their vicious, fast-paced battle fashion whereas additionally mainly dancing throughout the battlefield with acrobatic aptitude. Additionally, simply take a look at their sick, masked design. Every of Absolum’s characters is distinct of their playstyle and visible identification, and every part about Cider screams “your teenage nephew’s favourite.” Their edgy, ninja-like persona might have been tacky, however as a substitute it makes you’re feeling such as you did if you have been youthful and people sorts of characters have been your whole persona. — Kenneth Shepard
Kai – Avowed
Kai is the primary companion you meet in Obsidian’s fantasy RPG, and for a lot of, as soon as he joined the social gathering, he by no means left. This affable and constant former soldier is difficult to dislike. He’s charming when he must be, aggressive when circumstances requires it, and all the time has your again. He’s man with a troubled soul who simply wants some assist, which you’ll present.
Oh, and it doesn’t damage that his voice actor is Brandon Keener, the identical actor who offers the alluring voice of Mass Impact’s Garrus. So yeah, mainly, Kai is a fantasy model of Garrus. Now you get why most individuals meet Kai and by no means take away him from their touring social gathering. — Zack Zwiezen
Vinny – Lifeless Take
Lifeless Take is a lot unnerving as an FMV horror sport, however Vinny Monroe is terrifying in a very completely different means, in that we see Closing Fantasy XVI and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 actor Ben Starr in a very completely different gentle. The live-action scenes wherein Starr embodies the sort of face-punchable nepo child ego that hides one thing way more sinister beneath its floor are a number of the most scary in Surgent Studio’s horrifying escape room journey. Right here’s an actor we largely know because the stoic, noble heroes of Verso and Clive, revealing a capability to terrify us as somebody rotten to the core. It’s a efficiency made all of the more practical by the data that individuals like this man, who was prepared to sabotage his pals for the position of the lifetime, stroll amongst us. — Kenneth Shepard
Lysandre – Pokémon Legends: Z-A
I gotta commend Sport Freak for protecting Lysandre, the now amnesiac ex-boss of Group Flare from X and Y, out of Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s advertising and marketing. The return of a villain lengthy thought lifeless by the Pokémon fandom is without doubt one of the sport’s finest reveals, and seeing him must make peace with what he’s finished in what most likely feels to him like a earlier life makes for a surprisingly darkish, existential storyline in a sport that might have simply omitted it. Mortality is a serious throughline in Legends: Z-A, and Lysandre, having survived the occasions of X and Y solely to search out he’s now seemingly unable to really feel the candy launch of demise, is without doubt one of the most contemplative interior struggles the Pokémon sequence has ever devised. After the occasions of Legends: Z-A, it’s fully doable Lysandre might turn into an everyday figurehead within the Pokémon sequence exterior of his residence area. I hope so, a minimum of. I wanna test in on how he’s doing each few years. — Kenneth Shepard
Robert Robertson III – Dispatch
Dispatch’s solid of weirdos options an assortment of ex-villains so distinctive and memorable that every is primed to be anyone’s favourite. Robert Robertson III, an ex-hero damned to a life behind a desk, might have turn into a cynic discouraged by his new workplace job. As a substitute, he turns into a pacesetter to a bunch of criminals who wouldn’t have cared if he was discovered lifeless in a ditch originally of the sport. The man previously referred to as Mecha Man has spent his life being a hero, and if he can’t be on the sphere together with his mech, he decides he could make simply as a lot of a distinction by main a brand new technology of heroes. Despite the fact that these menaces are a handful, he perseveres by his personal hardships, and nonetheless exhibits up as a pacesetter to assist his teammates by their very own, proving you don’t should be out within the area to be a hero. — Kenneth Shepard
Takumi – The Hundred Line: Final Protection Academy
Too Kyo Video games’ The Hundred Line: Final Protection Academy has a big solid of youngsters who every shine to various levels within the tactical RPG visible novel’s many routes, however Takumi, the time-traveling chief of the Final Protection Academy’s college students, is the only real fixed. He has to make laborious choices, nudging the destiny of every one among his classmates far past their destiny on the battlefield. Takumi bears the load of each failed try to save lots of not solely the academy he and his pals are trapped in and defending, but additionally a number of variations of his classmates. There are variations of his classmates which are petrified of him, and but he nonetheless persists in his time-jumping effort to search out the best way ahead. The Hundred Line is the Physician Unusual “I really like you in each universe” line, however for the facility of friendship, and Takumi’s loyalty transcends time and house. — Kenneth Shepard
The solid of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The social gathering in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 goes by fairly a couple of transformative moments all through the RPG’s run, however in each iteration, every member of the titular expedition embodies completely different phases of grief. They’re resilient, offended, despairing, hopeful, and nonetheless carrying the love of these they misplaced of their hearts. Clair Obscur’s exploration of its heroes’ grief is messy however, then, dragging the corpse of everybody you’ve ever seen worn out of existence by an uncaring paintress is, too. Its solid of unhappy 32-year-olds and their little sister shine after they’re cheerful, unburdened—even for a second—by the life-or-death stakes of their journey, and people transient sparkles of pleasure make each loss more durable to bear. The members of Expedition 33 should not the identical folks they have been after they left on their journey by the point they see both model of the sport’s conclusion, and simply how endearing they’re on the best way to these closing hours makes the finale all of the extra devastating.. — Kenneth Shepard
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