There are a number of iconic Sega characters who have stayed the course over decades in the gaming industry. The ability to remain popular in the gaming world over such a long period of time is highly impressive. From the early days of Sega, they’ve always tried to compete with the likes of Nintendo to create the most popular and enduring characters.
As such, it is fascinating to go back and look at the original appearances of some of these characters and how they were introduced to fans and gamers from the get-go. A first line and a first impression make a lasting impact, and these were particularly important since Sega was trying to make these characters immediately memorable to fans.
6 Let’s Go In – G
The House of the Dead franchise was hugely influential in many ways. Popularizing quicker zombies, which was later picked up by movies and other games, and bringing the zombie genre back from the dead quite literally as it had all but run out of steam by the mid-90s. G, or Agent G, is a mysterious character who appears in a number of the games.
While he gets more talkative in later games, one of the few lines he had in the original arcade game was “Let’s go in” when he and his partner arrived at the entrance to the original House of the Dead. Having already started fighting zombies, they knew something about what they would encounter inside and in the rest of their adventures.
5 My Father - Ryo Hazuki
The Shenmue series of games aren’t as well-remembered today as they deserve, but Ryo Hazuki is still remembered as an iconic character. For good reason, Ryo was a fantastic protagonist as the battle-hardened young adult on a quest for vengeance after his father is murdered in front of him. The story of the original Shenmue was incredible and hugely influential.
Shenmue was one of the first games to allow players to roam around an open-world city in such a fashion. The series is beloved and hugely important to gaming, and an anime was just released in 2022 about the franchise. But Ryo’s origin and beginning all trace back to finding his father about to be killed when he returned home on a fateful day.
4 Princess Sally Will Love These – Tails
Sonic’s best friend, Miles “Tails” Prower, has been around since Sonic the Hedgehog 2 introduced him as a second playable character. Of the many friends and enemies introduced into the world of Sonic, Tails was one of the very first and has become an iconic character of his own over time.
However, Tails didn’t appear in as much promotional material as Sonic did, and he didn’t get a voice until the Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning cartoon gave him one in 1993. It was then that Tails was included as part of the Freedom Fighters, and was first seen picking flowers for Princess Sally Acorn while Robotnik ordered his henchmen to kidnap Tails in an effort to draw Sonic out.
3 It’s My Pleasure, Shinji - Kazuma Kiryu
The Yakuza games are one of the best franchises Sega has ever released, and Kazuma Kiryu was the constant protagonist for the first six games and appeared in multiple other media like spin-offs, live-action films, and other franchise video games. The Dragon of Dojima is a well-known face to major Sega fans.
In the opening of the first Yakuza game, Kazuma took the fall for a murder that he didn’t commit to protect his friend, Akira. Ironically, his first words ever spoken were to Akira, insisting that it was his pleasure to come and help him with a job that would soon go particularly wrong.
2 We’re Home Cluck – Eggman
It’s unusual to think that a very different take on the Sonic Universe was the first time that many iconic characters from the franchise began to properly speak, but Dr. Robotnik/Dr. Eggman was a voiceless villain, much like Sonic and his friends didn’t do a lot of speaking in the early Sonic games.
It wasn’t until the Sonic The Hedgehog Saturday morning cartoon that Robotnik, now attempting to become ruler of the planet Mobius, began to speak more. His opening line was spoken toward his pet bird, Cluck, after returning to his seat of power from a trip. This version of Robotnik is a far cry from his general style in the Sonic video game franchise, but it was the first real characterization given to the villain before the games started to add voice lines.
1 Jan Ken Pon - Alex Kidd
Sonic the Hedgehog hasn’t always been the mascot for Sega. Before he existed, Alex Kidd was the face of the company. Part monkey, part kid, all hero, Alex Kidd was the protagonist in a series of platformers that were colorful, fun, and enduring enough to have a new entry in his franchise released in 2021.
However, one of the stranger points about Alex Kidd is that instead of traditionally fighting boss enemies in his early games, he would play Jan Ken Pon with them, also known as Rock, Paper, Scissors. Players had to win the game to defeat enemies, and as such Kidd’s first words were simply "Jan Ken Pon."