Top Ten Favourite Game Characters

2. Minsc (Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II)

Minsc is a Ranger/Barbarian who appears first in Baldur’s Gate, a Dungeons & Dragons game developed by Bioware. Entrusted with protecting the witch Dynaheir, Minsc joins the protagonist after Dynaheir is killed by an evil mage, vowing to avenge her death by service to the forces of good.

While Minsc’s motives are pure, his methods reveal more than a hint of madness. He has a pet companion, a hamster called Boo who, according to Minsc, is actually a ‘Miniature Giant Space Hamster’. If you try and remove Boo from Minsc’s inventory, you are treated to a harsh glare from Minsc, who relies on Boo for wisdom and guidance.

Although Boo doesn’t behave like a normal familiar in the game, it’s assumed he’s fighting with Minsc, who encourages his little friend to “Go for the eyes!” The characters were so well-received that Bioware has even made reference to them in games such as Mass Effect 2 (Tali encourages her combat drone to “Go for the optics!”).

“Make way evil! I’m armed to the teeth and packing a hamster!”

1. GLaDOS (Portal, Portal 2)

GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) is an insane artificial intelligence with a soft spot for cake. Initially dreamt up as a character for the first level of Portal, she eventually stole the show and is now considered one of the top video game villains of all time. Even so, as your only guide through the puzzles of Portal and Portal 2, you can’t help but feel an attachment to her, and when you are betrayed towards the end of Portal 2, her vulnerability – reduced to a chip implanted into a sprouting potato – turns her into an unwilling but useful ally.

Perhaps her most engaging interaction is at the end of the first game, when you think you’ve killed her. As the final credits roll, she sings a jaunty but sinister song celebrating the motivational powers of cake and renewing her determination to continue her “experiments” in the name of science.

“Well done. Here are the test results: You are a horrible person. I’m serious, that’s what it says: A horrible person. We weren’t even testing for that.”