Reviews by Kyle Ellis

English voice actor: Faye Kingslee
Game's year of release: 2012
Company: Ubisoft

Citra Talugmai is beautiful and charismatic, known as "the goddess" by her followers. She's a potential love interest for Jason, the game's protagonist, but can she really be trusted? This fascinating character definitely deserves a spot on this list.

First appeared in: Devil May Cry (2001)

With his flowing frockcoat, shock of white hair, razor sharp tongue and twin pistols named Ebony and Ivory, Dante is surely one of the coolest mothers in the history of videogaming.

The son of a notorious demon who dedicates his life to exterminating hellspawn, Dante hasn't always been a darling of the gaming massive; although his cocky attitude and acerbic wit won him legions of fans in the original Devil May Cry, the development team behind the second game turned him into a brooding, virtually silent hero, alienating a fanbase that lived its life vicariously through Dante's arrogant devil-bashing. But by taking a step back in time and showing players a younger, delightfully brash hero in Devil May Cry 3, the series got back on track and returned to creator Hideki Kamiya's original vision of a "cool and stylish guy that you would want to go out drinking with".

First appeared in: Resident Evil 2 (1998)

Otherwise known as Tyrant T-103, Trenchcoat or 'Trenchy', this hulking, bald, coat-wearing behemoth literally crashed into Resident Evil 2, thundering through a wall and proceeding to stalk the protagonists like a brain-hungry Terminator. Relentlessly pursuing our heroes, he was designed by Capcom to offer a different kind of opponent from the usual hordes of shuffling dead-heads. Throughout Resi 2, as you waded through rooms full of lickers, zombie dogs and other assorted mutants, it was the constant threat of X's reappearance that left players perpetually on edge.

In addition to being built like a multi-storey car park, X's main weapon was his unpredictability. Just solved a difficult puzzle? Revisiting a cleared corridor? Running for your life? There was no telling when the walking wall of flesh would turn up to rip your arms off and beat you round the head with them. It was an effective mechanic and one Capcom tried to revisit in Resident Evil: Nemesis. Unfortunately, Nemesis never quite captured the silent dread of Mr. X and will forever remain a lesser foe in the Resident Evil Canon

First appeared in: Silent Hill 2 (2001)

A horrific personification of protagonist James Sunderland's repressed anger and penitence, Pyramid Head has a viscerally striking part to play in Silent Hill 2. Stalking the claustrophobic corridors of the vacant town, he remains one of the few masculine entities in the series and one of the most shocking monstrosities in gaming history.

Muscular, wearing a huge, metal pyramid on his head (it's not just a clever name) and wielding a knife roughly the size of a helicopter blade, he's first seen in twisted copulation with another of the game's nightmare creations and his ongoing, nefarious presence served to keep players in a state of perpetual dread. Game Desinger Masashi Tsuboyama gave him his heavy helmet's painful appearance to suggest its punishment; while his bloodied garments and enlarged weapon were to mark him as an executioner. Yours!

Being an impervious adversary, it's surprising that his presence hasn't been more prominent in Konami's Silent Hill series - recently, making a brief appearance in Silent Hill: Homecoming. Observant fans will note that the geometry-loving masochist actually has an oft-forgotten twin, who makes appearances with him during both games' climaxes.

First appeared in: Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic (2003)

Set some 4,000 years before the events of George Lucas' canon saga, BioWare's XBox/PC RPG epic Knights Of The Old Republic is arguably the best Star Wars prequel to date (Genddy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars 'toons come a close second). Among its many charms (dual-wield lightsabers! Go Sith!) is its smart characterisation, particularly among the rag-tag crew your character gathers around him/her.

This is best exemplified by the brilliantly twisted HK-47, an assassin droid who joins your team (the name being a derivative of two gun names: Heckler & Koch meets AK-47, although HK also stands for 'Hunter-Killer'). In a wonderfully perverse twist, he's built like a Threepio-style protocol droid and shares that line's politely articulate butlerish speech mannerisms (wonderfully vocalised by Kristoffer Tabori), with which he dryly expresses sociopathic sentiments, including a distain for organic life perfectly summed up by his repeated use of the word "meatbag". Oft imitated (not least by BioWare themselves: see Dragon Age: Origins' prissy golem, Shale), never bettered.

First appeared in: Resident Evil 2 (1998)

One of two playable characters in the first sequel to Capcom's groundbreaking Resident Evil, Leon Scott Kennedy's debut saw him stumbling across a T-virus outbreak in Racoon City, battling an army of brain-hungry ghouls, and escaping the condemned town in one piece. Not bad for a rookie cop on his first day on the job.

The character was conceived by series creator Hideki Kamiya as a contrast to "blunt tough-guy" Chris Redfield from the first game, and Leon's more believable reaction to the unfolding horrors endeared him to a generation of gorehounds and saw him appearing in a clutch of console spin-offs and two Hollywood movies. However, Leon's crowning moment is Resident Evil 4, a sublime adventure that rebooted the survival horror genre for a picky next gen audience, and saw the hero promoted to a secret agent dispatched to rescue the US President's daughter.

First appeared in: Gears Of War (2006)

Of all the marines, in all the alternate galaxies, in all the fictional universes, the gruntiest, muscliest, most trigger-happy of them all is one Mr Marcus Fenix. There might be some back story about him being imprisoned for leaving his post (in order to attempt to save his father, no less) and he might be best mates with Dominic Santiago and they might all have double-barrels of fun blasting locusts and there might be a bit of drama here and there too, but what it's all about it really is making you feel tough. Really tough.

That what Marcus Fenix does. He makes you think you're the toughest cookie in the jar, the hardest of all the nails, the brickiest of all the shit houses. Improbably proportioned, implausibly muscled and unspeakably hardcore, this is the badass COG trooper we all wish we could be. He's no Hamlet, and you don't much care what's going on inside his head, but as an ammo-guzzling baddie-blaster, he's pretty hard to beat.

First appeared in: Donkey Kong (1981)

King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, Donkey Kong in the world of fictional gorillas,

Donkey has some tough competition, but he trounces his rivals in the gorillas-in-gaming world (yes, we're looking at you, Andross from Star Fox), smashing barrels into all comers with manic aplomb.

Arguably the worst named character in the history of gaming (a fiercely fought category, admittedly), Mr Kong was supposedly called 'Donkey' because his Japanese creator and game-devising legend, Shigeru Miyamoto, thought 'Donkey' meant stubborn or stupid in English, and 'Kong' was Japanese slang for Gorilla. Hey, now you know.

Now somewhat overshadowed by his overalls-loving owner, Kong lives on through his 20 strong back catalogue, as well as his appearances in the Smash Bros and Mario Kart series. An ape of few words but many friends, he's everyone's favourite Princess-kidnapper - just don't steal any of his bananas. Seriously, don't.

First appeared in: Ninja Gaiden (1988)

There's no other ninja in gaming we'd rather have on our side. Yoshimitsu? Hop off. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Get back to your sewers. Ryu Hayabusa is the only psychotic swordsman we'd want on our team, and it's pretty obvious to see why.

He's a no-holds-barred maniac, hacking, slashing, backflipping, spinning and leaping all over the shop, chopping up swathes of enemies like he was dicing onions. Mid-air. With a scythe. There's also a bit of Wolverine going on, what with the claw-like appendages on his fists, painting the town red time and again with such grace he looks like some sort of bloody ballet dancer. Minus the tutu.

Also, he's not quite human, which also helps, and he welds the awesomely powerful 'dragon sword'. This is a man not to be messed with, and his honour, grace, and iconic image as the superlative gaming ninja, he'll never be forgotten.

English voice actor: Ali Hillis
Game's year of release: 2007–2017
Company: BioWare

The asari researcher, Liara, has appeared in almost all of the Mass Effect games and is a possible romance option for both a female or male Shepherd. Most players would agree that this beautiful alien is one of the favorites to pursue and a memorable one at that.