Main

What's New

Import Stores

Import Reviews

Import Cover Archive

Special Features

Games

The Top 100

Video Game Fiction

Wanted!

Acknowledgements

Forum

Links

Over the years, a lot of video game heroes and heroines have come and gone. Many have survived to this day... Mario, Sonic The Hedgehog, Link, Samus Aran, Kirby and Pac-Man among them. Some vanished for a while, then resurfaced as either playable characters in other games, or have finally been given new games of their own... Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden, Sir Arthur from Ghouls 'N Ghosts and Strider Hiryu come to mind here. More recently Rygar has resurfaced in a new game for the PS2 entitled Rygar: The Legendary Adventure, and Jo Musashi of Shinobi fame is returning as an unlockable, playable character in Shinobi for the PS2 (which was previously thought to only star the new ninja Hotsuma).

Unfortunately, many of the heroes that were once revered have been lost to the mists of time. Some of the best of these forgotten heroes and heroines are the ones that I've decided to showcase here. Keep in mind, when I say "forgotten", I usually mean forgotten by the companies that created them in the first place, as most of them are still fondly remembered by gamers everywhere.

How do I define a forgotten videogame hero and/or heroine? These are heroes that have not been featured in a game in at least 4 years, either as the star or as a playable character - compilation appearances and cameos excluded (for example, that's one of the reasons I didn't include Ryu from Ninja Gaiden on the list, seeing as how he's shown up in the Dead Or Alive series). Also, the games may go on, but if the original hero isn't in it, then they may show up on the list. The only exception I'm making to that rule is the Belmont family, seeing as how there's so damn many of them that were only in one or two games, and then were never heard from again. I'm trying to concentrate on the more obscure characters. I'm also not including licensed characters, which automatically eliminates a lot of characters that appeared in one or two games - Keith Courage comes to mind here, as he was from the anime series Mashin Eiyuu Den Wataru.

Wondering what happened to some of the heroes that used to be on this list? Check out this new subsection: Forgotten Videogame Heroes And Heroines That Have Returned

Any other forgotten heroes you want to add to the list? Email me!

Hours later, Rick awoke to a fantastic horror - he was alone and drenched with blood. But, the most terrifying thing of all was that a hideous mask covered his face. He had read tales of this "Terror Mask" in Dr. West's writings - it was said to have ancient spiritual powers.

Rick Taylor was the star of Namco's Splatterhouse series. Resembling Jason Voorhees from the Friday The 13th movies, Rick charged through the series dismembering zombies and other monsters trying to save his girlfriend Jennifer, and later on his son David from the Evil One. Unfortunately, after Splatterhouse 3 was released in 1993, Namco decided not to release any more games in the series, instead concentrating on games like Tekken and Ridge Racer. Aside from the occasional cameo appearance, Rick hasn't been seen since.

Hayate and Lady Kaede are ninjas of the Iga clan. Their mission is to infiltrate the fortresses of Garuda and destroy his wicked empire.

Natsume created one hell of a ninja game when they created Shadow Of The Ninja for the NES in 1990. It's widely regarded as one of the best action games on the NES, and was one of the only ninja games to feature two player simultaneous action (still is, actually). Hayate and Lady Kaede vanished after Shadow Of The Ninja though... rumors of a sequel abounded for years, but it never appeared.

Many centuries ago, on the planet Aries, there lived a boy named ALEX KIDD. For seven years he lived on Mt. Eternal studying Shellcore, an ancient art that makes one strong enough to break rocks into pieces.

Alex Kidd was Sega's original mascot, appearing in no less than six games (five for the Master System, one for the Genesis, and also one arcade port of the SMS game Alex Kidd And The Lost Stars, but that one went almost unnoticed). Before Sonic The Hedgehog came along, Alex was the character that everyone identified with Sega when dealing with home games. However, upon Sonic's arrival, Alex faded away into obscurity. There's been hope for an Alex Kidd revival over the years, but no new AK games have been created.

Yuko Ahso, who up until recently, was a student living a normal life, is the heroine of our story. One day, not long ago, she discovered that her destiny was to become a warrior in the land called "Dreamland".

Yuko was the star of the first three Valis games, as well as Valis SD (although she appeared in Valis IV, she was not the main character of the game). Wielding the Sword of Valis, she fought the denizens of the Dark World in order to save the Human World and Dreamland from destruction. In Valis III she joined forces with her sister Valna and the resistance fighter from the Dark World, Cham. Unfortunately, Valis III was the last game to star Yuko, and after Valis IV, the series was put to rest. There's never been any mention of any new games in the Valis series since, sadly...

Anet is a sorceress who has an accursed blood relation with Hastur; she is the only person capable of containing Hastur. She has become a master of wind spells ever since she first contained Hastur and took possession of his tremendous energy two years ago.

Anet was the star of the underrated Genesis game El Viento as well as its Mega CD-only sequel, Anet Futabi. In both games, she fought the Hastur Group, who had plotted to revive the evil god Hastur and take over the world. A colorful cast of characters populated both games (among them Earnest Evans, who had his own game that connected to the El Viento story), but Anet herself was undoubtedly the star. Unfortunately, after El Viento came and went in the U.S., no one seemed interested in bringing over Anet Futabi, and the series was forgotten. Shortly thereafter, the series faded away in Japan as well.

Help Flicky the bluebird grab all the Chirps and save them from the Tiger Cats and Iggy Lizards.

Flicky was the star of the 1984 arcade game of the same name, which was ported to the Sega Genesis in 1991. The goal was simple - gather all of the Chirps and get them to the exit while avoiding the Tiger Cats and Iggy Lizards. Sega gave a nod to Flicky by naming the bluebirds that Sonic The Hedgehog must rescue in his various games "Flickies" - however, Flicky herself has not appeared in her own game since Bloxeed.

Now, you must battle your way deep within Naju's labyrinths to destroy the alien world. You are the guardian of Earth and your saga will become The Guardian Legend.

Alyssa was the star of The Guardian Legend, a unique adventure/shooter hybrid for the NES (the best way to describe the game would be a cross between The Legend Of Zelda and Zanac). Alyssa herself was unique due to the fact that she could transform from a woman into a starfighter and back again. Her human form let her explore Naju in the overhead adventure scenes, and her starfighter form enabled her to go out and destroy the monsters in the shooter scenes. A sequel to The Guardian Legend was rumored to appear for the SNES for quite some time, but it never happened. Alyssa hasn't been seen since, unfortunately.

You are Hayato, a fearless Samurai Warrior. You must get back the sword and scrolls... and defeat the evil awaiting in the Black Castle!

Here's my pick for "Most Obscure Hero Ever". Hayato was the star of Kenseiden for the Sega Master System, a Castlevania-like adventure set in feudal Japan. Hayato's goal was to defeat the Warlocks and recover the Sword of the Dragon King, as well as the scrolls that would teach him various sword techniques. It was a great game, loaded with secrets, technique and deep gameplay. Unfortunately, Kenseiden went overlooked in favor of more popular SMS games, and I don't believe a sequel was even considered. Because of this, Hayato vanished completely, never to be heard from again.

You are a sailor named Jack Avery. One day, an old man spoke to Jack about Captain Silver's treasure. He handed Jack a map and disappeared. Jack then headed off on an adventure to retrieve Captain Silver's treasure!

As if Hayato wasn't obscure enough, here's Jack Avery, star of Data East's pirate-themed action game Captain Silver. Pirate-themed games alone are fairly rare (the only ones I can think of offhand besides Captain Silver are Skull & Crossbones and Pirates!), and this one was a decent sidescroller that is mostly remembered because of the Sega Master System port (if it's remembered at all). No sequel to Captain Silver was ever made, and Jack faded into obscurity as quickly as Hayato did.

Elta must defeat Az Atorse and recover the eight Books of Wisdom from the clutches of his minions.

Elta was the star of one of the Neo-Geo's launch games, Magician Lord. In his quest to defeat Az Atorse, Elta could transform into several different characters, all of which had their own unique attacks and abilities. SNK had announced Magician Lord 2 shortly after the original became a success, but for some reason or another developer Alpha never released the finished product. Elta has languished in obscurity since.