Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • (Super Mario them with coin capture sounds)

  • - Oh! Hi!

  • So, everyone loves video games,

  • and for a lot of us, they were a big part of our childhood.

  • I mean, Mario, Legend of Zelda...

  • Pft! Are you kidding me, kid?

  • So good!

  • And most of us plays these characters

  • from series to seies, console to console,

  • never really considering how they came to be.

  • Well, surprisingly, more than a few characters

  • from some of our favorite video games

  • are based on real-life people.

  • So, today, I gathered some of the most popular

  • video game characters with real-life origins

  • to share with you all.

  • So here they are:

  • 10 video game characters that were based on

  • real people.

  • Number one is Kratos.

  • The character of Kratos was first introduced

  • in 2005 in the game "God of War" for the Playstation 2.

  • Since then, the character has been featured in

  • six additional games, as well as a God of War comic,

  • and has become a flagship title for the Playstation.

  • However, what you probably didn't know

  • is that this character's based entirely off of

  • Ed Norton's Nazi character Derek from American History X.

  • How lovely!

  • David Jaffe, Kratos's creator, told his artist

  • to take the look, sense of power, and aggression

  • from Derek the Nazi, and turned it into a character

  • that fist the Greek mythology world.

  • So now you know that the buff angry dude

  • with markings on his body that you've been playing as

  • all along is actually based off a buff angry dude

  • with markings on his body that

  • just happens to be super-duper racist!

  • You can feel good about that!

  • Number two is Sonic the Hedgehog.

  • The iconic character of Sonic the Hegdehog

  • was first introduced in 1991 in the self-titled game

  • by Sega, intended as a mascot to rival

  • Nintendo's flagship character of Mario.

  • Since then, he's been the main protagonist in

  • multiple Sonic games, spin-offs, comics,

  • and five animated shows.

  • However, Sonic was inspired by two

  • unlikely real-life people: President Bill Clinton

  • and Michael Jackson.

  • According to Sonic's creator Naoko Oshima,

  • his get it done attitude is based off of

  • Bill Clinton's demeanor and reputation,

  • and his style and belted boots

  • are based off of Michael Jackson in the "Bad" video.

  • There's no doubt that Sonic's legacy

  • is going to continue to be awesome,

  • because the game designers are going to make sure of it,

  • unlike Bill, who got impeached, and Michael, who...

  • Yeah, you know, the kid stuff.

  • Number three is Dr. Robotnik.

  • Dr. Ego Eggman Robotnik is the main

  • antogonist from the Sonic the Hedgehog series

  • and has appeared in almost every Sonic game since 1991.

  • Also created by Naoko Oshima, this rotund mad scientist

  • is described as being a certifiable genius,

  • with an IQ of 300.

  • He was designed to represent machinery and development

  • to play on the then-growing debate between

  • developers and environmentalists.

  • Physically, though, he was designed to be easy

  • for children to draw, with an overall appearance

  • based on, believe it or not, President Teddy Roosevelt.

  • Everything from the glasses, mustache, and smile

  • were all based on the former president,

  • including certain aspects of his personality.

  • It's important to note that the very first design

  • of Dr. Robotnik had him wearing a bee costume,

  • which, of course, is unlike President Roosevelt,

  • that we know of.

  • Who knows? He might have been into

  • wearing bee costumes.

  • A lot of weird stuff happens in the oval office.

  • Number four is Boo.

  • The ghost known as Boo was first introduced

  • in 1988's Super Mario Brothers 3,

  • and was originally known as Boo Diddley,

  • a reference to singer Bo Diddley.

  • Since then, Boo has been a staple in the Mario franchise,

  • usually appearing as an enemy,

  • but occasionally as a playable character

  • in Mario spin-off games, or even sometimes

  • as an ally to Mario.

  • Boo is known for approaching Mario from behind

  • but immediately freezing and covering their face

  • when looked at, a trait entirely inspired

  • by Super Mario Brothers 3 co-designer

  • Takashi Tezuka's wife.

  • He stated that his wife is generally very quiet,

  • but one day she exploded out of anger

  • because of how much time he was spending

  • at work, which inspired how Boo still acts

  • in game to this day.

  • Wow, you know, immortalizing your spouse's

  • propensity to explode out of anger

  • at any given moment into a video game character

  • that's going to be seen by generations to come?

  • That's love.

  • Number five is Balrog.

  • Balrog, also knows as Mike Bison or M. Bison

  • is a character from the Street Fighter fighting game series.

  • First introduced in 1991 in Street Fighter 2,

  • he has since been in multiple Street Fighter games,

  • and was even in the Street Fighter animated movie,

  • and in case it wasn't overtly obvious,

  • the character of Balrog was based off of

  • boxing champion Mike Tyson.

  • Suprise!

  • In addition to having the name Mike Bison,

  • which is a not-so-subtle play off the name Mike Tyson,

  • he's an African American boxer with a funky haircut,

  • that has similar facial features

  • to that of the real-life champ.

  • You know, if they're going to make it that obvious,

  • they should have just gone all the way

  • and given you the ability to gnaw off

  • your opponent's digital ear.

  • I eat his children!

  • Number six is Johnny Cage.

  • Johny Cage is a well-known character

  • from the Mortal Kombat video game series,

  • that was first introduced in 1992

  • in the original Mortal Kombat game.

  • The character is an arrogant and overconfident

  • martial arts actor who provides comic relief

  • for the franchise, and if you couldn't tell,

  • he was created as a parody for none other than

  • martial arts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.

  • And they do have a lot in common.

  • Johnny and Jean-Claude are both overconfident

  • martial arts actors from Hollywood.

  • Even Johnny Cage's outfit and his legendary

  • splits punch were inspired by Van Damme's performance

  • in the movie Blood Sport.

  • Difference is, Johnny Cage will remain young forever,

  • whereas Jean-Claude Van Damme is getting

  • hella old now.

  • However, Van Damme could still easily

  • turn me into a bald puddle of mush,

  • so, you know, I mean no disrespect.

  • I love you!

  • Number seven is Samus Aran.

  • First introduced in 1986 in the game Metroid

  • for the NES, Samus is an intergalactic bounty hunter,

  • with a powered suit and various energy weapons.

  • She's one of the earliest female protagonists

  • in video game history, and is one of the most

  • popular characters from Nintendo,

  • maintaining her popularity for over a quarter century

  • since her first appearance.

  • Without her suit, Samus is a tall blonde

  • with long hair that the video game designers

  • decided to model after actress Kim Basinger,

  • but that's not all.

  • In an interesting twist, her last name Aran is based off

  • Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the birth name

  • of Brazilian soccer star Pele.

  • Well, the game designers for metroid

  • were not only horny nerds, but they were also

  • soccer fans too!

  • Who knew?

  • Number eight is Lara Croft.

  • Everyone's favorite British archeologist

  • and adventurer, Lara Croft was first introduced

  • in the 1996 game Tomb Raider.

  • In addition to being presented as

  • beautiful, intelligent, and athletic,

  • the character actually holds six Guinness World Records,

  • among them include being the most famous and most

  • successful female video game character in the world.

  • The company core design based her off of two people:

  • pop singer Nina Cherry for her style,

  • and the comic book character Tank Girl

  • for her take no prisoners attitude.

  • Of course part of her popularity is due

  • to Angelina Jolie playing her,

  • and being ever so sexy while doing it,

  • but, I mean, let's be completely honest.

  • Angelina Jolie could put on a Grimace costume

  • from McDonalds and still be sexy, so, yeah.

  • Number nine is Liu Kang.

  • First introduced in 1992 in the original

  • Mortal Kombat game, Liu Kang is a shaolin monk

  • who enters the tournament to save earth.

  • As a staple character in the Mortal Kombat universe,

  • he's been featured as the main protagonist

  • in the Mortal Kombat film and comic book adaptations.

  • Originally, he was supposed to be

  • a bald monk in robes called Minamoto Yishitsune,

  • but ultimately it was decided to make him

  • resemble Bruce Lee and change his name,

  • and thank god!

  • However, Liu Kang is not the only character

  • influenced by Bruce Lee.

  • Fei Long from Street Fighter, Marshall Law from Tekken,

  • and the pokemon Hitmonlee, all based off of Bruce Lee.

  • I mean, it makes a lot of sense, though,

  • you can't really have a fighting game

  • without at least one character based off

  • one of the greatest martial arts fighters of all time.

  • It would be sacrelege.

  • And number ten is Mario.

  • Mario is one of, if not the most,

  • iconic video game character of all time.

  • He was first introduced in the video game

  • Donkey Kong in 1981 for the NES.

  • Since then, he's been in movies,

  • his own animated TV series, and has appeared

  • in over 200 video games, making Mario

  • the best-selling video game franchise of all time.

  • When he was originally created by Shigeru Mayamoto,

  • he lacked a solid name.

  • That was, until one day, Nintendo of America's

  • warehouse landlord, Mario Segale, confronted

  • the president of the company demanding back rent.

  • After a heated argument in which Nintendo employees

  • convinced Segale he would be paid,

  • they opted to name the character in the game after him.

  • Looking back, this may have been the ultimate revenge

  • on the demanding landlord.

  • This is because in an interview,

  • he was once asked what he thought of Mario

  • being named after him, to which he responded,

  • "You might say, I'm still waiting

  • for my royalty checks."

  • You got nothing! Should have been nicer!

  • And that's all for this time, guys.

  • If you enjoyed this video, you should definitely

  • check out my friends at the Game Theorists.

  • They make videos on everything game related

  • and give not only mind-blowing theories

  • about some of your favorite video games,

  • but also in-depth analysis and explanations

  • about them too, that you probably never thought of before.

  • Matt, who runs the channel,

  • Is a good friend of mine, and I really

  • think you're going to enjoy his content,

  • so if you want to check them out,

  • there will be an annotation on the screen

  • and a link in the description.

  • As always, if you enjoyed this,

  • please give that like button a click,

  • and I will you see you all back here on Tuesday

  • with a brand new video.

  • Peace!

  • (Mario Brothers game over music)

  • Well that kind of hurt.

  • Hey guys, thanks for watching my new video.

  • I really appreciate it!

  • If you'd like to see future videos from me,

  • remember to click that big red subscribe button below,

  • and don't forget to check out my friends

  • at The Game Theorists, 'cause trust me,

  • you're just going to love their content.

  • I have been subscribed to them for a while.

  • They are fantastic.

  • And I will see you all back here on Tuesday

  • with another video.

  • Have a great day!

  • Bye!

(Super Mario them with coin capture sounds)

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it