Gamings most green characters

Boogerman

Back in the era of Ren & Stimpy, disgusting humor was at the forefront in games like Boogerman. The prurient sidescrollers adoration of farts and boogers might not be all that interesting to gamers over 10, but you have to admit the hero was fittingly green.

Creeper

You can keep your vampires and your zombies, because Minecrafts Creepers are enough nightmare fuel for us. These green beasts are silently stalking the world of Minecraft day and night. They wont stop fighting until you or it is dead--or perhaps both of you should the Creeper chooses to self-destruct.

Vector the Crocodile

One of Sonics many animal friends, Vector is on the less annoying end of the spectrum. Introduced in the forgotten 32X title Knuckles Chaotix, Vectors green scales made a comeback in the post-Dreamcast Sonic era. And for as dated as they might be, we like his old school hip hop combo of earphones and gold chains.

Boomerang Bird

Its easy to grouse when you see references to the omnipresent Angry Birds, but this feathered projectile is arguably the most popular green character of the moment. People across the world are buying merch featuring this emerald plumage, while tens of millions are watching him fly across their iPhones at this very moment. As much as we love characters like Reptile, we cant say the same for them.

Vectorman

When Nintendo pushed the envelope of SNES graphics in Donkey Kong Country, Segas answer was polygonal hero Vectorman. Both series look pretty dated by todays standards, but Donkey Kong remains popular while Vectorman is a footnote in Sega history. However, Vector can take a little pride at beating DK onto a list like this.

Rydia

Rydias life doesnt have the happiest start, what with her family of Summoners getting burned alive before her eyes, but shes too resilient to let that define her. She not only learns to forgive the man that unknowingly destroyed her family, she also grew to be a powerful mage thats still adored by Final Fantasy fans to this day.

Gex

Back in the 1990s, Gex had an edge on his snarky animal contemporaries. The verbose, verde lizard spouted off a constant stream of jokes and references thanks to relatively new CD-ROM technology. Too bad the gameplay of his titles was sadly not as sharp as his wit.

Battletoads

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ruled toy stores for so long that many jumped on the violent, green animal bandwagon, including developer Rare with the Battletoads. The trio of tough amphibians starred in a number of fun--if challenging--games, but once Turtle-mania was over, the toads faded into the background of pop culture.

Cactuar

Final Fantasy has one of the strongest bestiaries in RPG history, but despite the impressive number of scary monsters, weve always had a soft spot for the mild-mannered Cactuar. Theyre known for being evasive as they charge up a devastating 10,000 Needles attack, though if you manage to kill the weirdly-posed beast, youll be awarded more money than from any other common enemy in the game.

Peashooter

Peashooters are your first line of defense against oncoming zombies in the hit Plants vs. Zombies games. The leafy vegetation come in many violent varieties, but they always maintain the same bright green exterior.

Henry Gilbert

Henry Gilbert is a former GamesRadar+ Editor, having spent seven years at the site helping to navigate our readers through the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. Henry is now following another passion of his besides video games, working as the producer and podcast cohost of the popular Talking Simpsons and What a Cartoon podcasts.