Lara Croft tops most loved video game characters in new study

Zero1 Gaming published an October 2026 report that ranked the most adored video game characters. The analysis coincides with expectations that 3.7 billion people will play video games worldwide by the end of 2026. Researchers evaluated 58 fictional figures drawn from major franchises. Lara Croft from Tomb Raider finished first in the overall assessment. Master Chief from Halo placed second in the final ordering.

The methodology combined four distinct data streams to produce a composite score out of 100 for each character. Analysts collected fan comments from 20 gaming discussion threads. They added annual search volumes, counts of fan-made edit videos posted on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, and the ratio of character searches to game searches. Reference page views on Wikipedia and Fandom sites supplied the final input. The resulting scores determined the ranking from highest to lowest popularity.

The top 10 characters and their metrics appear below. Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, 100.0, 225 mentions, 8.89M searches, 7.7K videos, 198.9 percent ratio, 5.76M page views. Master Chief, Halo, 99.6, 171 mentions, 2.61M searches, 125K videos, 102.8 percent ratio, 4.18M page views. Mario, Super Mario, 98.1, 114 mentions, 17.38M searches, 89.6K videos, 104.7 percent ratio, 12.13M page views. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic, 95.4, 76 mentions, 14.95M searches, 388K videos, 98.5 percent ratio, 5.33M page views. Kratos, God of War, 94.3, 242 mentions, 1.45M searches, 19.3K videos, 38.9 percent ratio, 7.90M page views. Link, The Legend of Zelda, 91.4, 141 mentions, 8.76M searches, 22.2K videos, 44.1 percent ratio, 3.21M page views. Leon S. Kennedy, Resident Evil, 88.1, 181 mentions, 5.71M searches, 12.5K videos, 9.5 percent ratio, 4.08M page views. Arthur Morgan, Red Dead, 88.0, 327 mentions, 601.22K searches, 9.65K videos, 5.1 percent ratio, 1.72M page views. Dante, Devil May Cry, 83.1, 139 mentions, 1.40M searches, 18.7K videos, 31.6 percent ratio, 1.72M page views. Solid Snake, Metal Gear, 82.9, 171 mentions, 1.72M searches, 8.87K videos, 15.3 percent ratio, 2.95M page views.

Lara Croft achieved the highest score of 100.0. Her name generated 8.89 million annual searches, nearly twice the volume recorded for the Tomb Raider games. Reddit users mentioned her in 225 comments naming favorite characters. Her Wikipedia and Fandom pages accumulated 5.76 million visits during the measurement period.

Master Chief recorded the second-highest score of 99.6. Fans created an estimated 125,000 edit videos featuring the Halo protagonist, substantially more than the 7.7K videos made for Lara Croft. Search queries for his name reached 2.61 million, slightly exceeding the search volume for the Halo series itself.

Mario finished third with a score of 98.1. His name attracted 17.38 million searches each year, nearly double the figure for Lara Croft. He ranks among only three characters searched more often than their own game series. Reference pages for Mario received 12.13 million views.

Sonic the Hedgehog placed fourth with a score of 95.4. Gamers posted an estimated 388,000 edit videos about the character, more than three times the total created for Master Chief. Annual searches for Sonic reached 14.95 million, nearly matching the volume for the Sonic games.

Kratos ended the top five with a score of 94.3. Reddit users named him in 242 comments, more than twice the mentions given to Mario. His Wikipedia and Fandom pages drew 7.90 million visits while his name generated 1.45 million searches.

A video game industry expert from Zero1 Gaming offered this assessment of the findings: "Gamers tend to fall for characters the way readers fall for the heroes of a favorite book, through the sheer amount of time spent together. Hours of shared adventure build a bond, and a clear look, a memorable voice, and a touch of mystery make a character easy to remember long after the credits roll. Fans then keep that relationship going outside the game by searching for their favorites, swapping names in online threads and cutting their own video edits. Characters who stay in the conversation for decades usually share one trait, which is that players feel they grew up alongside them."