For games it's Mario definitely. He is in all of his game and is almost always the main character. Pikachu, on the other hand, is only a starter pokemon in red/blue/yellow. The rest of the pokemon games don't even mention him. Pikachu is popular because of the cartoon and maybe the trading cards too.

In terms of awareness, Mario by a long shot. And not only for gaming; he's up there with Mickey Mouse and Darth Vader.

Pikachu may be well known, but in the real world primarily for the anime probably. Not really as an 'icon'. Many may know the creature, but not the name. Literally everyone knows Mario, his image and his name. Pac-Man once had this status, but I think the newer generations forgot about him. I saw mention of Lara Croft; no, not even close, she's a good tier down from the likes of Mario. The Angry Birds are famous now, but probably only with a certain demographic and I doubt they will hold that fame for over three decades, in fact, I'd say their relevance has declined already.

Ka-pi96 said: Lawlight said: Ka-pi96 said: I'd say Pikachu. Pretty much everybody knows that cute little bundle of happiness I doubt that. Maybe on gaming forums. Show almost anyone a picture of Pikachu and they'll recognise it. Some would probably recognise it as Pokemon rather than Pikachu, but they'd still recognise it.

Maybe in the US, Western Europe and Japan.