After reading things like the GameFAQs contest for the best video game character and Destructoid's Game Debate to the Death (Why haven't we had one of those in a while?), I became inspired.

As I watched the L-Block win, I began to wonder about why only the best characters were voted on. Why not pick the biggest dud in gaming history? The worst character of all time? There's been so much debate over it all over the Internet, but never anything to really determine who sits atop the heap of crappy characters.

And that's when I hatched the idea of doing this tournament. Just something more for fun than anything else that everyone could participate in. And thus begins the first Destructoid "Worst. Character. Ever." Tournament, sponsored by... well, we're still working on that.

The tournament was originally supposed to be 64 characters, but alas, I got stuck, so it's only 48, split into three 16-character brackets. The finalists from each bracket will meet in a triple threat match on the final day, and out of that will arise one who will be given the title of worst video game character ever.

The list itself contains some obvious choices, but also some surprises and some characters I just plain hate to death. Here's all 48 characters:

1. Bubsy
2. Shaquille O’Neal (Shaq Fu)
3. Cheetahmen
4. Tingle
5. Navi
6. Amy Rose
7. E.T.
8. Aerosmith (Revolution X)
9. Ryu (Street Fighter)
10. The Shotoclones (Street Fighter)
11. Duck Hunt Dog
12. Shadow the Hedgehog
13. Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
14. Kao Kangaroo
15. Yamato Man
16. Ashley (Resident Evil 4)
17. Tidus (FFX)
18. Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
19. Raiden (Metal Gear Solid 2)
20. Big the Cat
21. Superman
22. Glover
23. Toad
24. Tak
25. Sigma (Mega Man X series)
26. Boogerman
27. Wood Man
28. Clown Man
29. Spring Man
30. Link
31. Lara Croft
32. Maxi (Soul Calibur)
33. Wild Woody
34. Liu Kang
35. Johnny Cage
36. Slippy Toad
37. Crash Bandicoot
38. Princess Peach
39. Guilty Spark 343
40. Captain Novolin
41. Custer (Custer’s Revenge)
42. Barbie
43. Fan vote #1
44. Fan vote #2
45. Fan vote #3
46. Fan vote #4
47. Fan vote #5
48. Fan vote #6

But wait... those last six slots... could it be?

Yes, you, the D-toid clogger, will be able to select the final six entrants into this tournament. All you need to do is to reply with a comment below with your selection. Everybody only gets one vote, though, so multiple votes from the same user will not be counted. But you can vote for anyone you want who is not on the list. The only catch is they have to have been in a video game at some point.

The top 6 vote-getters get in. Everybody else? Tough luck, try again next year.

However, that's not the only thing you can vote for. I'm also opening up voting for the #1 slots in each bracket. The top three vote-getters from the 42 characters already picked will be the #1 seeds. The other 15 slots in each bracket will be drawn using a hat and lots of names in said hat.

Here's an example of what a reply vote might look like:

[b]Fan vote: Hugo (Street Fighter III)
#1 Vote: Duck Hunt Dog[/b]

Voting will stay open for the next week, ending at midnight on Tuesday, November 13, 2007. The first round will begin on Friday, November 16, 2007. Each match-up will be a 24-hour voting period. Winner moves on, loser gets dropped out.

As for voting, you may begin...









...now.