It's nice to see Jowy in a top 10 list, talk about an an underrated character.
Otherwise, I agree with Kratos and Ocelot, and disagree with Mario, I consider him an extremely uniteresting and boring character

... and i'm not talking about kickass or cool. i'm talking about the people who gave their lives willingly in the pursuit of the greater good, forsaking their personal pride for the benefit of others.

remember aldaris refusing the help of the dark templar just coz they were different? if tassadar never existed and the protoss followed his idealistic claims that 'the fleet is enough to get rid of the zerg', there would be no protoss now.

aldaris was far too obsessed with his ideals and would not see reason. and for that, he is not an inspiring character. kickass maybe, but this list doesn't care about kickass characters.

 i put mario in coz his mission was single-minded and he never complained. its a pretty inspiring thought i think 

See but, inspiring to me isn't just about "making sacrifice" :P

Kratos inspires me, because he's friggin ripped >_>; And manly... and makes me... want to be ripped.... and manly... Kratos reminds me to work out :P

What about Serious Sam?
Facing wave after wave after wave of enemies in every map area, and still holding on to his ridiculous sense of humor, now thats inspiring.

And Wander from Shadow of the Colossus, facing gargantuan odds and still riding into peril for love

that's fine, as long as there is a reasonable idea behind someone being inspiring.

but come on guys..

sonic... inspires us to jump around and collect rings? riiiiiggghhht..... sonic has no story, no motivation, and no reason to do the weird shit that he does. maybe he can be inspiring to treasure hunters or runners... maybe... (bleh)

aldaris inspires us to turn away from reality and live in a stupid idealistic world? nevermind that. he can only be inspiring to close minded fanboys... "no no, even if we're losing and face total annihilation, lets not accept help from the dark templar" = "360 has some great games, but i will never buy it because i'm a sony fanboy"

cloud strife... inspires us to be emo? i don't think that's inspiring. (wah wah, i can't protect anyone.. wah wah) but sure, some people can say he beat seph blah blah.. though he did rely alot on his friends and Aeris (who was the one who really saved the world) but fine, he can be inspiring. but not top 10. no way.

if kratos inspires you to have a better body, then good. if lara croft inspires you to go flirt with women with large breasts, then good. they're at the least, realistic and reasonable. lets try to be realistic and reasonable at least :D

How did sonic not inspire anyone? he rescues the world and rescues little fluffy animals (animal cruelty). you mean you only see inspiration where you want?! mario?

I admit mario has influenced gaming, but a fat, mustache weaving plumber in dungarees always chasing after a princess which he will never get is not so inspirational.

Link is highly influential, god knows how you left him out. traveling time and space to save the world, overcoming all odds and solving puzzles and swinging his sword and shooting arrows casting spells.

What about RYU? Influenced plenty of kids to lose all their pocket change as well as take up martial arts and kick ass... in a nice way. the wandering street fighter always trying to improve and become better.

Dr Robotnik- the dudes will to over throw the world with giant larger then life computer wizardry, engineering genius creations. You have to be damn where super intelligent to create the world he did as well as all those super A.I creatures.

Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue- fighting all odds after having lost pretty much evrything behind and avenging his father. he could just pack it all in but no! he will honor his father and get to the bottom of it all!

Wonder Boy- the boy has barely hit puberty and there he is cross countrying the world to find his girl friend and rescue her from evil creatures. if mario inspired you for that reason, wonder boy does a far better job!

ok i cant be asked to think of any more :s

 WANDER! omg i forgot completely.... ok i gotta reform my list LOL. thank you for pointing him out. :D

sonic... inspires us to jump around and collect rings? riiiiiggghhht..... sonic has no story, no motivation, and no reason to do the weird shit that he does. maybe he can be inspiring to treasure hunters or runners... maybe... (bleh)

you clearly do not know what sonic is about do you? saving animals? rescuing friends in need? saving the world from the man who wants to pollute it and destroy its natural beauty? duh!!! 

first off, you must understand that i only list characters that i actually played and experienced. i'm not gonna list anyone based on pure speculation or off of what someone else said.

and one more thing... i said INSPIRING, not INFLUENTIAL.

so lets go at it 1 by 1...

sonic - again, has no story, has no purpose, and has no reason to do what he does. he just runs. sure, he rescues stuff. fine, say that he stands for animal rights. but in a top 10 list of inspiring characters? that's like a joke.

mario - i'm not basing mario's qualification just on his fame or how he looks. read the top of the page. i'm basing mario on this list because his quest actually, on the basest level, shows the best example of a guy who will not give up to get a girl. that's why.

link - sadly, i never got to play as link.. (yea i know, a huge disadvantage for me)

ryu - sure. but the same can be said to a thousand other fighter characters. in fact, i don't even think ryu was the most important character there.

dr robotnik - are you kidding me?

ryo hazuki - never got to play as him. sorry

wonder boy - never got to play as him. sorry

so you gotta understand. i'm just a gamer. i'm not an online ranking system who has played every game there. and you gotta understand that this is a top 10 list. not everyone is gonna be included.

And that's why i said "MAKE YOUR OWN LIST AS WELL!"