Iconic video games characters that were created by mistake

Many characters have already earned their well-deserved niche in the history of video games: Sonic, Mario, Link, Samus Aran, Crash ... Although you may not know that some of them were created by mistake, either due to technical limitations, legal problems or last minute modifications for a forced reason. Iconic video games characters that were created by mistake.

Anyone who knows the history of videogames minimally will be surprised by what they will read in this report. Over the last 40 years we have met real stars in the world of consoles and video games, of such importance as Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario Bros, Pac-Man, Link or even Kirby.

Of course, all these characters had intense development work behind them. Hours and hours used to determine its design, its reason for being or the role it played in the corresponding video game. However, you may be unaware that they did not always have a clear and unique conception ...

As you hear it. Some of these famous video game characters were created accidentally, as a deviation from their initial design, last minute modification, or forced changes to avoid legal disputes. For example, and since it does not appear in this list, Sonic was born as a rabbit, and later it was decided that he was a hedgehog.

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If you like to investigate the history of consoles and games, and you are curious, stay with us and discover the 8 iconic characters of video games that were created by mistake. You will be surprised with some of them, that's for sure ...

KIRBY

In this case we are talking about one of the most iconic Nintendo characters. You probably didn't know that Kirby was given that name at the last minute, and you may not know why. The Gran was working on a round creature that floated and absorbed different creatures, called Popopo. And this is where the anecdote comes in.

It turns out that Nintendo was sued by Universal in 1981, for the similarities between Donkey Kong and King Kong (something absurd, since it is a clear tribute). Fortunately, Nintendo won the trial thanks to the expertise of its lawyer, named John Kirby. By way of thanks, Big N decided to change Popopo's name to Kirby, and the rest is history ...

PAC-MAN

You all know the arcade classic, popularly called "Eat coconuts", but you may not know the reason for its name. It turns out that Pac-Man derives from the original Japanese name "Pakkuman", which unites the usual expression "Man" with the onomatopoeia "Paku-Paku", used to represent the action of chewing in the Japanese country.

From this he derived the definitive name "Puck-Man", in reference to the shape of the character (similar to a hockey puck). However, the creators feared that funny people from Anglo-Saxon countries would change the P to an F in arcades. Finally, they decided to change it for Pac-Man, and thus one of the most legendary video games in history was born.

DARK PIT (KID ICARUS)

Every good video game protagonist has his own nemesis, or dark counterpart, whatever you want to call it. Sonic has Shadow, Mario has Wario ... and Pit, from Nintendo's Kid Icarus saga, has Dark Pit. This dark version debuted in Kid Icarus: Uprising, released in 2013 for 3DS, and its design is actually identical to that of the protagonist, except for the black colors of his hair, outfit and wings.

What was the origin of Dark Pit? The truth is that Nintendo made it debut years before the launch of Uprising, specifically as an alternative aspect of Pit in Super Smash Bros Brawl, installment of the fighting saga that saw the light in 2008 for Wii. This means that Dark Pit has been around for years, but we didn't realize Nintendo's true intentions until 2013. Funny, right?

BARNEY, KLEINER AND ELI VANCE (HALF-LIFE)

The Half-Life saga has always been a technical pioneer, leaving us speechless in 1998 with the first game and surprising everyone with its sequel, released in 2004. The most curious thing is that the "technical limitations" of the original game led to to create a series of iconic characters in Half-Life 2. Kind of like what Nintendo did with Dark Pit.

In the first game, there were generic designs with the names '' Barney '', '' Luther '' and '' Glasses '', which years later served to create protagonists in the sequel, despite the fact that they were only files in the 1998 game. Barney became Barney Calhoun, Luther became Eli Vance, father of Alyx Vance and mentor to Gordon Freeman, and Glasses became Dr. Isaac Kleiner.

MARIO

To talk about Mario is to talk about one of the great characters in all of history, not just about video games. Nintendo's mascot has gone around the world with its marketing campaigns, its countless video games, the recent theme park in Japan or even movies ... but Nintendo had serious doubts about its viability, when it was born in 1981 as part of the Original Donkey Kong.

Mario, known in Donkey Kong as '' Jump Man '', was just a character who jumped and avoided the barrels thrown by the angry monkey. Years later, Nintendo would decide to develop its own video game, but always with the question of whether a video game about a jumping plumber would like the public. You already know the result. Mario is already a legend in the history of mankind.

GOUKEN (STREET FIGHTER)

One of the most legendary pranks in video game history. Imagine the faces of the players when Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine, in 1992, shared the design of a new character for Street Fighter II. Known as '' Sheng Long '', this master sensei featured an eye-catching (fake) design and fans were eager to see him in action ... but it all ended up being a practical joke for April's Fools.

Known for being one of the most famous urban video game legends, Capcom decided to compensate gamers with a new character for Street Fighter IV, released in 2009, that incredibly salvaged the original fake design for Sheng Long. Called Gouken, this fighter is the closest thing we'll see to that secret character for Street Fighter II.

ERMAC (MORTAL KOMBAT)

And we continue with urban legends. Mortal Kombat was a revolution in the arcades of the 90s, and there was no shortage of rumors and false anecdotes that spread the word thanks to word of mouth. Given the limitations of the time, it was common for some characters from the first Mortal Kombat to use the same Scorpion design, but changing the colors and certain technical details.

Apparently, in the first lists of fighters of Mortal Kombat, the name of '' Ermac '' appeared, which can be translated as '' chromatic error ''. Although he was not included in later versions of Mortal Kombat, fans kept pushing to see the legendary red ninja in action ... and he eventually became a real character, debuting in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

LUIGI

One of the best known cases, but no less interesting for that. The origin of Mario was strange, but his brother Luigi takes the cake ... and reminds us that, sometimes, you can hit a real ball out of nowhere. In 1983, Nintendo released Mario Bros, which allowed a second player to join the game to help the protagonist.

This one used an alternative model of Mario, who wore a green cap with a bib, and a black shirt. With the passage of the following installments, Nintendo was differentiating the design of this "Mario 2", to the point of turning it into a totally new character: Luigi. To this day, Mario's brother is one of the most popular characters, who even has his own video games.