1. GLaDOS (Portal series)
She's mean, isn't she? GLaDOS? She's really mean. She's mean about your performance, and she's mean about science, and she's mean about just about anything else she can be mean about. But she's also funny! Meanness and funniness make for a memorable character, as we've learned, but her meanness and her funniness aren't the reasons GLaDOS is the best character of this generation.
When the scientists at Aperture Science (the same ones she killed with deadly neurotoxins) designed her, they added in a painful addiction to science. She's not being mean and funny because she wants to, it's because she's going through withdrawal. Completing experiments is her heroine in a very literal sense, you're her needle in a slightly less literal sense, and she has no choice but to keep forcing you to do what she says because that's how she was born. GLaDOS is a hilarious, mean crack baby, and that's why we love her.
Here's to the next generation of characters
There you have it: the best protagonists, party members, love interests, and antagonists born from a single generation of consoles. Our hat goes off to them. We hope to reunite with some of these memorable characters in the next generation, while welcoming a new class of video game personalities. Think we missed your favorite character of the generation? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.
And if you're looking for more, check out The 100 best games of all time and The 100 best video game quotes of all time.
