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Video games are filled with memorable characters, whose names bring to mind their many feats of bravery and courage. Mario. Master Chief. Pac-Man. Tetris Block. These icons, along with many others, are known to gamers everywhere as heroes.
But occasionally, a name is memorable not because of who it's attached to, but because the name itself is so unusual that you can't help but keep it in the memory banks of your mind. And while many of these characters are icons in their own right, their names might be the most memorable thing about them.
10 Ceaseless Discharge, Dark Souls
Dark Souls has no shortage of nasty bosses, but usually when we say "nasty" in reference to this game, we just mean that they're challenging. Not so with Ceaseless Discharge, who's nasty... meaning disgusting.
He's found in the Demon Ruins, towering over you on a field of lava. His name comes from the open sores on his body, which spew the lava - hence, he's ceaselessly discharging molten rock. But there had to be a better way to communicate that than this.
9 Pizza Pasta, Punch-Out!!
Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series has gifted us with several iconic characters, from the surprisingly powerful Little Mac to the iconically difficult Bald Bull, but the Italian boxer Pizza Pasta hasn't quite joined their ranks. With a name like "Pizza Pasta," you have to wonder why.
Surely it can't be because Nintendo, in their lazy brilliance, chose to name him after two foods, right? Surely, it wouldn't be so embarrassed at this goofy name that it would choose never bring him back, right? Right? All we're saying is that it's time to bring Pizza Pasta out of retirement for one last savory, salty fight.
8 Poo, Earthbound
Earthbound was infamously marketed by a campaign that said, "This game stinks!" And it's actually a classic that still holds up today, but between that marketing campaign and Poo's name, one would be forgiven for associating the game with smelly garbage.
Poo himself is one of your four main party members, the brave and responsible crown prince of the far-off kingdom of Dalaam. He even gets access to some of the most powerful psychic abilities in the game, but if you were a kid when you played Earthbound, it's probably his name that sticks out to you the most.
7 Noob Saibot, Mortal Kombat 2
Mortal Kombat has no shortage of memorable characters, with icons like Scorpion, Kitana, and Sub-Zero. In fact, according to the lore of the games, the secret character Noob Saibot was actually the original Sub-Zero before his death and resurrection under... a much sillier name.
To be fair, he's named after the creators of Mortal Kombat, Ed Boon John Tobias; flip their last names around and you get Noob Saibot. But these days, it feels like playing with fire to name a character in a fighting game "Noob."
6 Butz, Final Fantasy 5
Now, outside of Japan, Final Fantasy 5's good-natured protagonist is known as Bartz... but if you translate his name directly from the original Japenese, you'll get "Butz." This translation of his name was even featured in some game guides and merchandise around the game, lending credence to the idea that the dude's intended moniker was, indeed, Butz.
It's probably a good thing that this game wasn't localized on its original release. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if you tried to talk about the cool new Final Fantasy hero Butz with your playground friends?
5 Linkle, Hyrule Warriors
When the original trailer for The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild dropped back in 2014, the internet was abuzz was speculation that the game featured a girl version of Link. After all, the trailer showed him with long hair and a slighter, more feminine build, and Nintendo said that the game was all about rethinking the series' conventions.
But Link was still a boy. Instead, we got a girl Link in the spin-off Hyrule Warriors, but to differentiate her from the "real" Link, her name was changed to... Linkle. The Wii U era was full of bad decisions, but this was easily the worst.
4 Guybrush Threepwood, The Secret Of Monkey Island
In their heyday, the point-and-click gurus at LucasArts were known for the copious personality and humor they could inject into their games. Exhibit A: Guybrush Threepwood.
The hero of the Monkey Island games (starting with the original, The Secret Of Monkey Island) has the kind of name that you only give to a character with enough of a sense of humor to handle it. Fortunately, the games are positively packed with jokes and references; his name isn't even the zaniest thing about them.
3 Fayt Leingod, Star Ocean: Til The End Of Time
Practically every RPG features a lot of talk about fate and divinity and whatnot, so you have to give Tri-Ace some credit: they're just being direct by naming the third Star Ocean protagonist, uh, "fate."
To be fair, there are some plot twists that recontextualize his name, making it seem a little less goofy. But only a little. This guy's name is like if a Grand Theft Auto protagonist was named "Gunne Leincar."
2 Sol Badguy, Guilty Gear
The Guilty Gear games are known for their depth, gorgeous graphics, and absurdly deep lore. What they are not known for is subtlety. For proof, look at Sol Badguy. This guy's backstory is complex, but suffice it to say that he finds himself on the wrong side of the law more than once throughout the series.
You could also say, given his longstanding rivalry with the high-ranking police officer Ky Kiske, that from Ky's perspective he's... the sole bad guy in the series.
1 Esty Dee, Atelier
The long-running Atelier series has slowly gained word-of-mouth popularity in the West, but it mostly remains a niche concern. Even though they're solid games with plenty to offer, but they are very out-of-step with Western tastes... and occasionally, this extends to the English language.
Take Esty Dee, a supporting cast member in the Arland sub-trilogy. Say her name out loud to yourself. Does it sound like anything... negative, in particular? Something that you might not want to experience? Yeah. Gust didn't do her any favors.