True, there are a total of 8 Koopa Kids, but picking just one of them is really hard to do, because each of them are great in they're own way. As far as I can remember, the Koopa Kids were only in Super Mario Brothers 3 and Super Mario World, and they served as bosses to prevent you from trying to defeat Bowser. I'm not really sure on how Bowser got 8 Kids to be honest. Bowser sends out each of his kids to guard one of the airships in each of the worlds to stop Mario. Once Mario reaches the end of the airship, he needs to face one of the kids. Each of the Koopa Kids carry their own wand around that shot beams at you and they jumped around all over the place. Needless to say, these kids shouldn't be underestimated.
Yoshi was in his own little NES game called Yoshi, which was a puzzle game which for some reason had Mario doing most of the puzzle solving. After that game, Yoshi made his appearance in Super Mario World, and he made it known quite well. Yoshi was pretty helpful and useful in Super Mario World. You were able to avoid a handful of dangers while you were riding Yoshi. Yoshi was able to eat enemies and spit them back out, and depending on the enemy, he'd spit out different things. If he ate a Green Koopa, he'd shoot the shell out to take out any enemies in his path. Though Yoshi had some good uses, he was too valuable in the game itself.
Rush, even though he's a machine, is pretty damn useful in the Mega Man games. Rush was built to help Mega Man get past tedious obstacles to continue on his way to defeat Dr. Wily and his robot masters to restore peace. Of course, that never works. Either way, whenever you start a new game on Mega Man 4, Rush is only available as a spring board. Once you jump on his back, you're launched into the air, helping you cross large gaps or helping you reach a ladder that you can't reach just by jumping. After defeating some of the robot masters, Rush will gain new attachments, most famously the Rush Jet and Rush Marine which have their own uses, though the Rush Jet is more useful than the Rush Marine. Either way you look at it, Rush is a huge part of the Mega Man games.
Star Wolf is probably one of the most underrated villains in the history of gaming, and one of the most overlooked characters. Sure, Star Wolf really doesn't play a huge part of the story in Star Fox 64, or doesn't have a huge role in general, but during the times you meet him during the game, the fights between him are just some of the best fights in the game. Star Wolf has a bad boy attitude, and isn't afraid to shoot down anything that flies between him and his objective. First met early in the game, the first meeting is pretty easy, but as you get into the later stages of the game, Star Wolf becomes very difficult to take down and survive against, making him one of the most epic boss fights ever.
At first sight, Pipsy doesn't seem to be much. She's a small, cute little mouse that wears a little bow on her head, and seems completely harmless. Her car looks small, so maybe you think she won't pose much of a threat. So before the race starts, you calmy get ready to start. After the Go Signal is given, 5 minutes later, she's way ahead of you. That's the joy of Pipsy; how her look hides her greatness in the game. Pipsy is one of the fastest characters in the game because of her light weight, and she has some pretty decent acceleration. She's great for turning tight turns to stay on course, and probably is the best racer in the game.
Blanca is pretty much the only animal character (if you don't count Yuri's fusions) in Shadow Hearts: Covenant, but he's still one of the best characters in the game, if not the best. Blanca, who was mostly a white wolf, was an intelligent character. Though he only could bark, whimper, and growl during cutscenes (let alone for the Wolf Bout cutscenes), Blanca in too valuable to lose in battles. With his high intelligence, his agility, and his strength, Blanca was an excellent all around character. He was able to do great magic and physical damage. Blanca can also help you gain items during his Wolf Bout sidequest, which actually shows off his voice actor's excellent work. Blanca is never afraid to accept a challenge and will always stick by his friends side until he dies.
Honestly, how can you not put Conker on a Top 10 list of the greatest animal characters ever? Conker was first introduced in the game Diddy's Kong Racing (I believe he was, anyways) for the Nintento 64 back in 1997. Several years after the release of DKR, Conker starred in his own game, titled Conker's Bad Fur Day. The Conker in DKR was a cuddly, loveable cute squirrel without a care in the world. Well, once Conker's Bad Fur Day was released, Conker changed. A lot. Conker had a dirtier mouth than a drunk sailor, but at the same time, he threw out some pretty funny lines, all while fighting giant piles of talking poop. Conker's Bad Fur Day was one of the most controversial games ot be released back in 2001.
If you remember way back in the 80's, Donkey Kong was introduced through his Arcade game, Donkey Kong. Ironically, Mario was also in this game (though some people argue that it's not actually Mario). Donkey Kong back then was a huge ape (a clone of King Kong if you will) who had a bad temper and fetish for girls in a pink dress. So in order to satisfy both of these problems, he'd throw barrels at Mario to release his temper, and kidnap his girlfriend to ease his... desires. After the Arcade game was a huge smash, Donkey Kong became an icon, and soon starred in one of the greatest Super Nintendo games ever: Donkey Kong Country. Donkey Kong Country pitted Donkey Kong in his homeland. He had to go through several different levels with his little buddy, Diddy, as they swam, jumped, climbed, and swung through various levels to stop the evil King K. Rool. Donkey Kong today is still one of the biggest gaming icons ever.
It's pretty hard to pick out one of the Turtles in the game, since they all possess the same abilities, but nevertheless, they still kick major ass and eat pizza after it's all said and done. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a popular cartoon back in the early 90's (one of my favorites as a kid, by the way) which soon became a huge hit in the video game department. After the first game, an Arcade version of the second game was released upon the public, and it was a huge success. Then the Arcade game was ported over to the NES, where everything was kept intact, making it feel like you were playing the Arcade version. The Turtles themselves each can jump, jumpkick, and use their weapons to attack. Each can take the same amount of punishment and jump as high as the other Turtles. Though neither have any specialities, the fun factor of the game made you take your mind off that.
Ah yes. Breath of Fire. The Breath of Fire games are known to have a cast of characters that have a mix of human and animal characters, each with their own special ability to use on the world map. However, the one animal to stand king above all the others is Rei. Rei is a tiger who happens to be a thief. Rei is one of the fastest characters in the game, making him pretty useful and has the ability to steal and his lazy-yet-heroic personality is pretty well played out. And I don't use the term Heroic lightly with him. Rei is willing to do anything to protect the people that he cares about, even if it means he has to hunt down the criminals that hurt his friends and kill them himself.
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