There have been many incredibly famous bears throughout the history of pop culture. From Winnie the Pooh to Fozzie Bear to Paddington to Yogi Bear, there have been incredible bear characters throughout the history of animation and cinema.
However, there have also been a lot of iconic bears in video games as well. Though they may not have been as influential in all cases on pop culture as the cartoon bears across film and TV, there are plenty of hugely popular bear characters in gaming. While some are dangerous villains and some are heroic, even cuddly, there is no shortage of memorable ursine characters.
6 Freddy Fazbear (FNAF)
Freddy Fazbear is a bear, albeit an animatronic one, who goes on a series of murderous rampages throughout the Five Nights At Freddy’s game series alongside many of the other animatronics working in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria. Since the very first FNAF game, Freddy has terrorized players of the games and become a pop culture icon in the process.
Freddy and the lore behind the games have intrigued fans and turned an indie game into one of the most well-recognized game franchises in the world, which is now in the process of getting a film adaptation from Blumhouse Productions. Freddy is the most iconic game bear in the history of gaming and is now poised to become one of the most major bears in pop culture.
5 Banjo (Banjo-Kazooie)
Originally introduced as part of the cast of Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo the bear became a big character in his own right when Banjo-Kazooie was released. The game, which spawned multiple sequels and handheld spin-offs, starred Banjo and his friend Kazooie, a large red bird. Together the pair went on adventures that started with an evil witch kidnapping Banjo’s sister.
This witch, named Gruntilda, alongside her sisters, would continue to trouble Banjo and Kazooie for two sequels. The series was popular but fell to the wayside. The original Banjo-Kazooie game was picked up and re-released as part of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, and Banjo has been well-remembered despite the recent lack of appearances as a part of gaming history.
4 Tibbers (League Of Legends)
League of Legends has been one of the most notable games released this century and has managed to put a huge mark on gaming history by dominating news and media around gaming, especially e-sports, for years now. Indeed, with the release of Arcane, League of Legends has managed to set itself apart as a multimedia franchise that was continuing to grow even thirteen years after the original release.
Tibbers is an iconic character, a plushie bear used by Annie to help control her powers of pyromancy. She brings the bear to life in a terrifying form, and the demon Tybaulk now lives inside the bear. While this pair has become a major part of League of Legends lore, Tibbers has managed in his own right to become an iconic bear character in gaming due to the success of League and fans' love of the origin story which produced this mismatched duo.
3 Teddiursa/Ursaring (Pokémon)
Pokemon has a history of taking any number of strange and wonderful ideas and turning them into the titular creatures. However, while there are many Pokemon that somewhat resemble bears, there are few and far between that have been quite so obviously based on the animal. Teddiursa and its evolution Ursaring are characters who quite obviously are bears. Through the games and other media involving Pokemon, they have become quite well-known.
While some Pokemon are based on keyrings, skyscrapers, and garbage, characters with an adorable design and terrifyingly powerful evolution are some of those who will become the most significantly iconic for the franchise. Not all the 900+ Pokemon created over the last two decades are remembered quite as kindly as Teddiursa and Ursaring.
2 Kuma (Tekken)
Tekken is a fighting game that pits some of the greatest fighters in the world against each other. It may be surprising to some that a bear is included in their number, but Kuma is no ordinary bear. Trained by Heihachi Mishima to be his bodyguard, and taught martial arts and sign language, Kuma went to the King of Iron Fist tournament and lost to Paul Phoenix.
Becoming Paul’s rival, both Kuma and his son Kuma II trained harder and more brutally in their attempts to finally defeat Paul in subsequent games. This helped Kuma, being one of the characters that really stood out among the crowd in the original Tekken and subsequent sequels, become an iconic, beloved gaming character.
1 Monokuma (Danganronpa)
Last, but absolutely not least, is Monokuma. This bear is the antagonist of the Danganronpa games and declares himself in the original game to be the headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy. Monokuma is actually a robot designed to help enact the murder games which take place around the school.
Monokuma’s unique voice and character style made him a huge hit with fans of the Danganronpa games. His lovably murderous nature has become infectious, causing him to become more iconic with time. As both the mascot and antagonist of the series, Monokuma has become an iconic bear character beyond almost all other bears in gaming, besides possibly Freddy Fazbear.