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00:00Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're looking at the best modern video game mascots.
00:17To keep things simple, we're only including characters that became mascots after 2010.
00:31But before we get into it, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe
00:36and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:50Released in 2017, Bendy and the Ink Machine capitalized on the modern boom of corrupting
00:55something innocent to fearsome results.
00:59Players control a retired animator drawn back to his former place of work, only to find
01:03that his cartoon characters have come to life, and they are pissed.
01:15Like other games in its genre, there are a lot of spooky characters to avoid, though
01:19Bendy is obviously the key player.
01:22The cartoon demon acts as the mascot of the fictional studio, and therefore the series.
01:28His rubber hose look is charming and memorable, which has led him to star in several games
01:32and spinoffs since, as well as his own series of books.
01:43Meat Boy – Super Meat Boy Series
01:52Although he first appeared in a 2008 Flash game, it wasn't until the full game in 2010
01:58that Meat Boy became an emblem.
02:00Super Meat Boy is a beautifully challenging platformer consisting of quick-paced, precise
02:05mechanics and a whole lot of traps designed to decimate our poor hero.
02:17It was incredibly well-received, leading Meat Boy to become an indie superstar.
02:22He has since become the de facto mascot of the game's developer, Team Meat, and starred
02:28in a 2020 sequel.
02:30His design, essentially a cube of ground beef with appendages, is simple, but with interesting
02:35touches like a missing tooth and a black eye, which makes sense considering how brutal his
02:41games are.
02:51Steve – Minecraft
02:59Although Mojang Studios made the creeper their official mascot, Steve has certainly
03:04become the more popular character.
03:06Plus, we don't see a creeper throwing down in Smash.
03:09Steve has been with Minecraft since the beginning, appearing in the beta version and being the
03:14first default human players could choose.
03:24Despite his arguably generic design, he is just a dude, fans latched onto him, even turning
03:31him into the creepypasta Herobrine not long after his debut.
03:36Minecraft doesn't have a main character, but if it did, it would be Steve.
03:41In fact, in the upcoming film adaptation from Warner Bros., Steve will act as the protagonist
03:46and will be played by Jack Black.
03:51Sans – Undertale
04:00To be fair, there are multiple characters in Undertale that could be argued as its mascot,
04:05including Flowey the villain and Frisk the human.
04:08However, there is no character that is as recognizable or as beloved by the fanbase
04:14as Sans.
04:15His design takes the phrase lazybones to a whole new level, with his goofy personality
04:21hoodie and slippers, and proclivity to speak in the Comic Sans font, he charms you the
04:26moment he appears on screen.
04:38His optional fight is one of modern gaming's most challenging, and the Megalovania theme
04:43has taken on a life of its own.
04:45Additionally, he appeared as a skin for the Mii Gunner in Smash, and earned the prestigious
04:50title of Ultimate Tumblr Sexyman in 2022.
04:54If that doesn't make him a mascot, we don't know what does.
05:03Shantae – Shantae Series
05:06Admittedly, we're bending the rules a bit for Shantae.
05:17Her first game debuted on the Game Boy Color in 2002, which is hardly modern.
05:22However, it was such a financial bomb that she couldn't be considered anywhere close
05:27to a mascot, and developer WayForward couldn't get a sequel off the ground until 2010.
05:36Risky's Revenge fared much better, turning the half-genie hero into a bona fide indie
05:45darling.
05:46Risky's have since brought in lots of new admirers.
05:49Her design, as well as her hair whip attack and ability to transform into animals, have
05:53given her a uniqueness even among the many other side-scrolling platformers.
05:57Plus, she's not just the mascot of her own series, but of WayForward, emblematic of the
06:03team's perseverance.
06:10Monokuma – Danganronpa Series
06:19The original Danganronpa followed a group of students trapped in their high school,
06:23with the only means of escape to murder someone else and not get found out in the following
06:28trial.
06:29Who put them there?
06:30A delightfully macabre teddy bear named Monokuma.
06:41In actuality, the robotic villain was used by the real mastermind to throw others off
06:45their scent.
06:46However, Monokuma became so popular that the developers brought him back for sequels.
06:52In each appearance, new killers stuck to tradition, using Monokuma to pull strings from the shadows.
06:58That made him the natural choice of mascot, as did his striking yin-yang design.
07:03Whenever a new killing game releases, we're sure Monokuma will be at the heart of it.
07:14Astro Bot – Astro Bot Series
07:23First appearing in one of several minigames of the VR titled The Playroom, Astro Bot has
07:29since become Sony's latest push at a platforming mascot.
07:33He ticks all the right boxes.
07:34He's cute and lighthearted, and his games push technological boundaries.
07:39After his debut, he quickly branched out into his own series, starring in another VR game,
07:45Astro Bot's Rescue Mission, as well as the PS5's Astro's Playroom, somewhat of a
07:49tech demo, and a significant showcase of the DualSense controller.
07:57However, the little bot's biggest test as a mascot will come in September 2024.
08:05The self-titled installment looks to expand tenfold on everything Astro has delivered
08:10thus far.
08:11And we're hoping he has a long life of mascotting ahead of him.
08:25Isabelle – Animal Crossing Series
08:34Step aside villagers, there's a new dog in town.
08:37First appearing in 2013's Animal Crossing New Leaf, players fell in love with Isabelle.
08:43Becoming mayor of your new home was made all the more delightful with this adorable pup
08:48as your assistant.
08:49Since then, Isabelle has completely taken over the series, outshining characters that
08:54have been there since the beginning.
09:05She took center stage in the spinoff Amiibo Festival, though the less said about that
09:10the better.
09:11She's also appeared in both Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros., and we were all ecstatic
09:15to see her come back for 2020's New Horizons.
09:19Speaking of which, that game's release date coincided with Doom Eternal, which led to
09:23a treasure trove of incredible fan artwork and animations of her and Doomguy being best
09:29buds.
09:40Shovel Knight – Shovel Knight Series
09:50Maybe it's a cliche to say, but Shovel Knight truly was a game changer when it was released
09:56in 2014.
09:57It made the larger gaming world pay more attention to indie titles, so fantastic was its gameplay,
10:04retro visuals, and soundtrack.
10:06While Yacht Club Games continued work on expansions that focused on his villains, Shovel Knight
10:11himself became such an icon that he cameoed in everything from Super Smash Bros. to Yooka-Laylee
10:17to Bloodstained Ritual of the Night.
10:26He also received two spinoffs, the puzzler Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon and the roguelike
10:32platformer Shovel Knight Did.
10:34Along with his stellar games, his blue armor with a horned helmet and his odd weapon of
10:39choice have made him instantly recognizable.
10:49Freddy Fazbear – Five Nights at Freddy's Series
11:01No matter how you feel about the franchise as a whole, there's no denying that Freddy
11:06Fazbear is the most recognizable video game mascot of the modern era.
11:11Debuting in 2014, Freddy and his gang of diabolical machines have been terrorizing players ever
11:17since.
11:18Especially in more than one game per year.
11:27Five Nights at Freddy's kicked off an obsession of taking child-friendly figures and pushing
11:31them in increasingly more disturbing directions.
11:34And it became such a massive success that it has expanded to a mountain of tie-in novels
11:39and comics, as well as a film adaptation in 2023, which currently has a sequel in development.
11:45No matter where it goes next, Freddy himself will remain iconic for a long time.
11:58Who's your favorite modern day gaming mascot?
12:01Let us know in the comments and be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays for more great gaming
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12:15If you enjoyed the video, there's more where that came from.