SHP #5 Poll: Best Adventure Hero (Tier 1)

[Datadog]

Voting has ended! Please see Tier 2!

All right, folks - here's Tier 1 for the Best Adventure Game Hero tournament! Since this is a Sierra site, I was sure to include a hero from every Sierra game (as much as I could anyway; there are LOTS,) then I filled in the main LucasArts characters and browsed a few sites to see who other people consider to be major heroes from other companies' games in order to fill all 32 spots. Sorry if I missed anyone's favorites.

Click here to seeing the current standings.

The requirements were:
1. Hero has to be an original adventure game creation. No one originally featured in another medium (i.e. Sam, Robin Hood, Rincewind, etc.)
2. Hero must be playable.
3. Hero cannot fit the description of a sidekick, villain, or extra
4. Hero must have a face (so "you" don't count as a character.)

Also, King Graham and Guybrush Threepwood will be excluded from this contest since they already seem to be the poster-boys for the genre as it is.

Tier 1 Begins!

Here's are the first matches. Write down your picks for winners and I'll tally up the votes at the end of the week and start the next Tier. Matches were run through a randomizer, with the exceptions of 3 and 14 which I set up to make a little more interesting. Vote in whatever way you like: your favorite character, the best character, which character would win in a fight. etc.

1. George Stobbart (Broken Sword) vs. Woodruff (and the Schnibble of Azimuth)

2. Boston Low (The Dig) vs. Ben (Full Throttle)

3. Pepper Pumpernickel (Adventures in Time) vs. Adam Greene (Ecoquest)

4. Prince Alexander (King's Quest 6) vs. Bernard Bernoulli (Day of the Tentacle)

5. Torin Fahrman (Torin's Passage) vs. Freddy Pharkas (Frontier Pharmacist)

6. Bobbin Threadbare (LOOM) vs. Manuel Calavera (Grim Fandango)

7. Willy Beamish (The Adventures of) vs. Larry Laffer (Leisure Suit Larry)

8. Zak McKraken (and the Alien Mindbenders) vs. Queen Valanice (King's Quest 7)

9. Laura Bow (The Colonel's Bequest) vs. Johnny Westland (Codename: Iceman)

10. Princess Rosella (King's Quest 4) vs. Kate Walker (Syberia)

11. Blount (Goblins 3) vs. April Ryan (The Longest Journey)

12. Roger Wilco (Space Quest) vs. Jerrod Wilson (Gold Rush!)

13. Tex Murphy vs. Gabriel Knight (in their respective series)

14. Adrianne Delaney (Phantasmagoria 1) vs. Curtis Craig (Phantasmagoria 2)

15. Prince of Shapeir (Quest for Glory) vs. Sonny Bonds (Police Quest)

16. Klaymen (The Neverhood) vs. Simon the Sorceror (all 5 games)

[Collector]

1. Woodruff
2. Ben
3. Pepper
4. Alexander
5. Torin
6. Bobbin Threadbare
7. Larry
8. Valanice
9. Laura Bow
10. Princess Rosella
11. April Ryan
12. Roger Wilco
13. Gabriel Knight
14. Adrianne Delaney
15. Prince of Shapeir
16. Klaymen

[AndreaDraco]

1. Woodruff - I never really liked Stobbart nor the Broken Sword series.

2. Boston Low - he starred in my favorite LucasArts adventure.

3. Pepper Pumpernickel - tough one. Both are cute and endearing, but Pepper has the best adventure overall, so I must go with her.

4. Prince Alexander - Do you really have to ask?

5. Freddy Pharkas - Come on! He's a gunslinger-turned-pharmacist!

6. Manuel Calavera - I don't like him, but I have no idea about the other one!

7. Larry Laffer - Obviously!

8. Queen Valanice - She is my least favorite of the Daventry royal family, but still.

9. Laura Bow - I've still to play Codename: Iceman

10. Kate Walker - sorry, Rosella, but yes: Kate Walker made me cry at the end of the first Syberia

11. April Ryan - a great character (even if I prefer her in Dreamfall)

12. Jerrod Wilson - Sorry Roger, but Jerrod stars in a wonderful, wonderful adventure!

13. Gabriel Knight - Of course, but I want to point out how unfair this pairing is! Tex is one of the greatest character ever, and it's a shame that I can't vote for him. But Gabe is Gabe, and he's my favorite.

14. Adrianne Delaney - cute thing, after all she had to endure!

15. Prince of Shapeir - he's epic!

16. Simon - never been a fan of claymation. Not that I'm a fan of Simon, but at least he's not a Wallace and Gromit wannabe.

[Collector]

6. Manuel Calavera - I don't like him, but I have no idea about the other one!

You haven't played Loom, one of the most innovative of the LucasArts games?

[AndreaDraco]

You haven't played Loom, one of the most innovative of the LucasArts games?

I played through the beginning of it, years and years ago, but it didn't grabbed me, so I put it aside and never went back. Is it this good?

[Datadog]

I'd say LOOM is worth a look. You have to write down a lot of spells, but the puzzles are fairly easy and the story gets pretty interesting. It only took me about a couple of hours to finish and I wouldn't mind checking it out again in the near future.

13. Gabriel Knight - Of course, but I want to point out how unfair this pairing is! Tex is one of the greatest character ever, and it's a shame that I can't vote for him. But Gabe is Gabe, and he's my favorite.

I felt the same way when that match came up. My two favorite gaming detectives going head-to-head on the first round. But at least we can always use this as an opportunity to spread the word of Tex.

And it just occurred to me that I should place my picks too...

1. George Stobbart - Because I can't make any sense out of Woodruff.
2. Ben - Because KICK is one of his interface commands. And he uses it a lot.
3. Adam Greene - Because Pepper went back in time and killed the colonists' buzz.
4. Prince Alexander - Because he made Death cry. Sorry, Bernard.
5. Torin Fahrman - Because small obstacles don't stop him from backflipping over them.
6. Manuel Calavera - Because he's the Grim Reaper and he's got a gun!
7. Larry Laffer - Because he's Larry Laffer.
8. Zak McKraken - Because he doesn't get teary-eyed over hair utensils.
9. Laura Bow - Because I've got a thing for redheads. Although Johnny does have a nuclear submarine...
10. Princess Rosella - Because she helped me overcome my fear of zombies.
11. Blount - Because he can turn into a werewolf and do awesome things with his shadow.
12. Jerrod Wilson - Because I hang around Roger 24/7 and he's driving me crazy!
13. Tex Murphy - Because everyone's going to vote for Gabriel and forget what a snapper dancer Tex is.
14. Adrianne Delaney - Because Curtis kept walking around without a shirt.
15. Prince of Shapeir - Because we both like Monty Python movies.
16. Simon the Sorceror - Because he's already one of my favorite smart-asses ever.

[Akril]

1. Woodruff. Why him? "Hey, it's a cartoon. It can happen."

2. With his game having such a long and complicated development history, Boston probably is experienced enough to win.

3. Adam (as long as Pepper doesn't have Lockjaw helping her).

4. Eh...Alexander.

5. If both are unarmed, I'd say Torin ("Boogle, can you be a gun?")

6. This was a puzzler. Bobbin can kill people if they look at his face, but Manny is already dead and unlike Bobbin, possesses a very sharp harvesting tool. Still, Bobbin could probably easily cast a reversed Sharpen draft on it, so I'm sticking with him.

7. Willy. It's not that I don't like Larry, I just don't see someone like him winning in a match like this.

8. Valanice, because I could never get into Zak's game and only succeeded in getting his mind melted by aliens.

9. Laura, more because of personal bias than anything else.

10. My nostalgic bias compels me to chose Rosella.

11. Tough choice, but I'd have to go with Blount.

12. Roger Wilco, mostly because I like him more, but partly because I was never able to get that far in Gold Rush!

13. I never got into the Tex Murphy games, but I'm going with him.

14. Never played either but I guess I'll pick Adrianne.

15. Eh...Sonny.

16. I've only played the first two Simon games, but I just played The Neverhood, and consequently I'm picking Klaymen.

[MusicallyInspired]

1- George Stobbart
2- Ben
3- Pepper
4- Bernard Bernoulli
5- Freddy Pharkas
6- Bobbin Threadbare
7- Willy Beamish
8- Zak McKracken
9- Laura Bow
10- Rosella
11- Blount
12- Roger Wilco
13- Gabriel Knight
14- Adrianne Delaney
15- Sonny Bonds
16- Simon

[DeadPoolX]

Fantastic job, Datadog! Hey... that rhymes! Seriously, I like the poll so far and the tier images work well.

Okay, here are my picks:

1. George Stobbart
2. Ben
3. Adam Greene
4. Prince Alexander
5. Freddy Pharkas
6. Bobbin Threadbare
7. Larry Laffer
8. Queen Valanice
9. Laura Bow
10. Kate Walker
11. April Ryan
12. Roger Wilco
13. Tex Murphy
14. Adrianne Delaney
15. Sonny Bonds
16. Simon the Sorcerer

I wanted to make one note about #15 (Prince of Shapeir vs Sonny Bonds). I realize a lot of people love the QFG series and although it's a wonderful set of games, the Hero lacks a real character.

Look at how we refer to him: "The Hero" or "The Prince of Shapeir." The character is one you CREATE and play. He may look the same, but the game changes based on the class you choose and how you arrange/gain attribute points.

I'm not suggesting that Sonny Bonds is a fantastic character (he's a little dry sometimes), but at least he has a creator-defined personality. That simply doesn't exist in the QFG games.

[BBP]

Gosh... I know waaaay too little of these...
1. Woodruff
2. Boston Low
3. Adam Greene
4. Prince Alexander
5. Torin Fahrman. Gotta love those somersaults!
6. Manuel Calavera
7. Larry Laffer
8. Queen Valanice (I love how she has to control her laughter while reading some of the tombstones...)
9. Laura Bow
10. Princess Rosella
11. Blount
12. Jerrod Wilson (Old childhood friend...)
13. Gabriel Knight (Hard one... Tex wins over Dean Erickson, but he bites Curry's dust.)
14. Adrienne Delaney
15. Sonny Bonds
16. Simon the Sorceror

[Jules]

1. George Stobbart (never played Woodruff and the Schnibble)

2. I don't know! Never played any of these.

3. Adam Greene definitely!

4. Prince Alexander

5. Freddy Pharkas definitely!

6. Never played these either. How about the Grim Fandango guy because he has a skull head. ;P

7. Larry Laffer

8. Queen Valanice (never played Alien Mindbenders)

9. Laura Bow definitely!

10. Princess Rosella

11. April Ryan

12. Roger Wilco

13. Gabriel Knight

14. Adrianne Delaney (even though Curtis had that charm )

15. Prince of Shapeir definitely!

16. Klaymen bc I've never played Simon the Sorceror

[Datadog]

Thanks, Deadpool!

I wanted to make one note about #15 (Prince of Shapeir vs Sonny Bonds). I realize a lot of people love the QFG series and although it's a wonderful set of games, the Hero lacks a real character.

I was up in the air about that myself at first, but still, there's a lot about the Prince's character we don't control, like his background story, his goofy body language, and how other characters react to his unspoken dialogue. I figured the creators invested a lot more personality in his stand-alone persona than most custom game characters get.

[DeadPoolX]

I know you can't add these Adventure game heroes now, but I think they would've nice to include:

• William "Blade" Hunter (Rise of the Dragon)
• Jake Masters (Heart of China)
• Zoe Castillo (Dreamfall)
• Peter "Darksheer" Grey (Noctropolis)

The first two characters from RotD and HoC were made by Dynamix (the same company that made The Adventures of Willy Beamish) which was an offshoot of Sierra.

[MusicallyInspired]

Good call. Especially for those Dynamix characters. We're still in the first round, any way we can add them in? Or will that mess up the tournament claculating?

[DeadPoolX]

Good call. Especially for those Dynamix characters. We're still in the first round, any way we can add them in? Or will that mess up the tournament claculating?

I imagine adding those characters to the tournament would require a restart. I'm not against that, but it's up to Datadog. It's his tournament.