Of all the non-playable characters you've encountered in your time as a gamer, which do you like the most of all, and why?

Hmm, there are a lot...

Mr. Saturn - EarthBound

Professor Oak - Pokemon

Anna - Fire Emblem (though she becomes playable starting with Awakening)

Solaire - Dark Souls

Alphys - Undertale

I could go on, but those characters in particular just stick to me.

The Pikmin of course

*Edit: Why? They are awesome & adorable at the same time

Hmmm. Very hard question, considering how many NPCs exist out there in contrasts to playable or main characters.

Two that popped in my mind, although I can't really decide among these two:

· Hal "Otacon" Emmerich

Because being nerdy these days actually qualifies as being capable of creating mankind's greatest weapon of destruction. Who can not love this clueless otaku? He's loyal, he's always trying to cheer everyone up (despite being such a depressive, hopeless person himself), and he's probably one of the most amicable characters in the whole Metal Gear saga. His gizmos come in very handy, and everyone would be dead at this point if it wasn't for him. He's bad at giving proverbs, though. But that's part of his personality, I guess.

· Erica Anderson

She's clever, she's sexy and she sticks around for Vincent whenever he's in trouble, regardless of her agreeing with him or not. Erica is also the reason most customers go to the Stray Sheep bar, and while she's not a romanceable option, she can always give some nice, casual conversation each night, some of them being very bawdy. She's also the first person (alongside Vincent) to discover the problematic nature in the game's narrative, making her actually a very pivotal (although not crucial) character in general.

She's also my videogame platonic love. Or Waifu, whatever you wanna call it.

-Youngster Joey and the Rattata of legend

-Funky Student (Persona 4)

-Luigi (Paper Mario 64)

But probably my most favorite, and not really favorite, but I guess the one I cared most about was Faridah Malik from Deus Ex: Human Revolution. There is a scenario in the game where she can die, and not knowing it was preventable, I found the only thing I could do was drag her body through the map as far forward in the game as I could.

Rundas (Metroid Prime 3)

Groose (TLOZ: SS)

Rodin (Bayonetta 2)

Can't think of anyone else right now.

Patricia Tannis from Borderlands was amazing.  Crazy, sure, but hilarious.  The audio logs you first find from her are awesome and set the tone for the game perfectly.  I loved listening to her slip further and further into insanity.

For me, it's Elizabeth from Bioshock Infinite.

From her cool powers, to her endearing and likeable personality, to the way she's actually helpful rather than a hindrance during gameplay, to the incredible animation, AI, and voice acting that bring her to life, I have never cared about a video game character the way I did with Elizabeth.

Now that I think of it, I also have to mention someone, though I can't provide a photo because we never get to see her face.

· Alexandra Drennan

"How do you solve a problem that expands beyond your own lifespawn? That question might be the essence of civilization. The only answer I can find is...to initiate a process, to create an enviroment in which the solution will occur independently of yourself. But, that requires a difficult sacrifice. Letting go of your desire to bear witness; to exist at the center of the Cosmos. To participate in the project of civilization is to accept death.

Oh, Alex. You're such a fun person."

Seriously, I think I've never feel more engaged and touched for some non-existant NPC as Alexandra Drennan. The only thing you get from her are random voice-clips; time capsules she herself buried on some old videogame code. You hear her desires, her dreams and aspirations, and also her fears. She's your only touch with reality, and yet, it's an unidirectional conversation, as you can't reply or go further beyond what she left. I feel amazing at how she really conveys the human side of the story, and honestly, despite leaving me with a guilty gap when everything is said and done, I certainly felt like she made things one thousand times better.

the best