Throughout the video game industry’s long and storied history, countless characters have come and gone. For every Mario that has received a constant stream of releases, there are at least 100 Awesome Possums and Ty the Tasmanian Tigers that come and quickly fade into obscurity. Some characters lose relevance for a time but are brought back later, seemingly revived from the dead. Sometimes this can even happen multiple times.
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But in the annals of video game history, there are a special few characters that have managed to continually appear in games decade after decade. In this list, we will be looking at the characters who have appeared in games in four different decades. Such characters can only be considered legends of the medium.
7Pac-Man
Quite possibly the first character in the history of the medium, Pac-Man has also proven to be one of the most timeless and resilient. He got his start in the 1980 arcade gamePac-Man, and through numerous highs and lows has remained one of the most iconic figures in the industry. Throughout the early-to-mid 1980s, he would receive numerous sequels andspinoffsto the original arcade hit.
He would receive few entries in the late 80s but would come back with a series of oddball spinoffs likePac-Man 2: The New AdventuresandPac-In-Timein the early 90s, and would end up finishing the decade with a bang with a successful leap into 3D withPac-Man Worldin 1999. The 2000s would see plenty of games starring the yellow dot-muncher including thecritically acclaimedPac-Man World 2 in 2002, and the retro throwbackPac-Man: Championship Editionin 2007. The 2010s would not see as many new entries, but the series would nonetheless continue with games like Pac-Man: Championship Edition 2 in 2016. His most recent appearance has been in the remake ofPac-Man Worldreleased in 2022, marking the 5th decade that he has been appearing in games.
6Donkey Kong
First appearing as the antagonist in the 1981 arcade titleDonkey Kong,Nintendo’s lovable gorilla has since appeared in countless titles over the years. After headlining a series of arcade titles throughout the early 80s Donkey Kong seemed to take a backseat to Mario throughout most of the late 80s and early 90s with appearances mostly limited to cameos in other games.
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Then in 1994, he would come swinging back into the limelight with a pair of releases;Donkey Kongon theGame BoyandDonkey Kong Countryon the Super Nintendo. The latter of which would end up being the beginning of his own franchise distinctive from Mario, and would see numeroussequelsthroughout the mid to late 90s. In the 2000s he would mostly star in a series of spinoffs before seeing a glorious return to form in the 2010’sDonkey Kong Country Returns. His last starring role was in 2014’sDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freezethough he has continued to make appearances in Mario spinoff titles and theSuper Smash Bros.series.
5Mario
Of course,Mariohad to be on this list, after making his debut in the 1981 arcade hitDonkey KongMario has become the most successful video game character in history having starred in hundreds of games many of which are among some of the most important titles ever made. After his initial outing, he would meet his brother in 1983’sMario Bros., travel to the Mushroom Kingdom in 1985’sSuper Mario Bros., and push theNESto its absolute limit in 1988’sSuper Mario Bros. 3.
The 90s would see the character drive a go-kart inSuper Mario Kart, star in an RPG inSuper Mario RPG, and leap into the 3rd dimension inSuper Mario 64. The 2000s saw him clean up a tropical island inSuper Mario Sunshineand explore the depths of space inSuper Mario Galaxy. In the 2010s Mario would travel around the world inSuper Mario Odysseyand become a cat inSuper Mario 3D World. All of this barely scratches the surface of the character’s long and storiedcareer.
4Pitfall Harry
Pitfall Harry is an odd case in the context of this list, after his initial debut inPitfall!in 1982, the game would receive one sequel in the form ofPitfall II: The Lost Cavernsand then quickly fade into obscurity. In spite of this, the series has been continually revived with at least one entry released every decade.
This pattern would start with Super Pitfall for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. The 90s would see two Pitfall titles, one beingPitfall: The Mayan Adventurefor 16-bit consoles, and the second beingPitfall 3D: Beyond the Junglefor the PlayStation. The 2000s would see the release ofPitfall: The Lost Expeditionfor 6th generation consoles, and his most recent appearance was the in the 2014 smartphone game simply calledPitfall.
3Link
The hero ofHyrulewould make his debut in the 1986 classic;The Legend of Zeldafor NES. Since then, he has starred in some of the most important and critically acclaimed games of all time. The 1980s would see one additional title in the form ofZelda II: The Adventure of Link.
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The 90s would see some of Link’s greatest heights in the form of critical darlings likeThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the PastandThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but also some of his lowest lows likeLink and the Faces of Evilfor CDi. The 2000s would see him star in yet more genre-defining hits likeThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind WakerandThe Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. The 2010s would start off withThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Swordand end withThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Finally, in the 2020s, he will star inThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
2Samus Aran
One of gaming’s greatestheroines, Samus would make her debut in 1986’sMetroidfor the NES, and despite the occasional hiatus has continued to appear and star in games ever since. After a single title in the 80s Samus would star in two games in the 90s;Metroid II: Return of Samusfor Game Boy, andSuper Metroidfor theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System.
After this time the series would receive no new entries throughout the late 90s before making its glorious return in the 2000s, a period which would prove to be the most prolific in the series history with the release of theMetroid Primetrilogy forGamecubeandWiias well as handheld titles such asMetroid Fusionfor theGBAandMetroid Prime Huntersfor theDS. The 2010s would see Samus star in the controversialMetroid: Other Mfor Wii, as well as the remakeMetroid: Samus Returnsfor3DS. Finally, 2021 saw Samus begin her 5th decade of gaming withMetroid DreadonSwitch.
1Kunio-Kun
A relatively obscure character for those living outside of Japan, Kunio-kun would make his debut starring in the arcadebeat ‘em upRenegadein 1986. Since then, he has starred in dozens of games across a wide variety of genres, most of which were sadly never originally released outside of Japan, and those that were made no effort to make it clear that they were part of the same series. The 1980s would see Kunio-kun star in games likeSuper Dodge BallandRiver City Ransom.
The early 90s saw a number of games released featuring Kunio-kun such as the recently localizedRiver City Girls Zero, though he would be almost entirely absent throughout the later part of the decade. The 2000s saw Kunio-kun star mostly in remakes of his earlier titles though the latter part of the decade did see him in a few original titles Such asSuper Dodge Ball Brawlersfor the DS. Finally, the 2010s have seen him in a fairly steady stream of releases for Nintendo handhelds.
