We've grown up with video games, but the truth is our favorite characters have grown up along with us.
As kids we used to be grotesque, lanky idiots, and these characters started out as polygonal, pixelated blobs on a screen. No wonder we've got such an emotional investment.
But these blobs took on meaning for us, and like us, they evolved over the years into something resembling real people.
Some changed a lot—you wouldn't even recognize Link anymore if not for the outfit, and Samus dyed her hair and doesn't even wear her armor half the time anymore. Others have stayed largely the same.
How have your favorite game characters evolved over the years? Click through the slideshow to see.
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Snake
Lara Croft
Mega Man
Chun-Li
Cloud Strife
Master Chief
Sonic the Hedgehog
Link
Samus Aran
First game: Metroid (1986)
Most recent/upcoming appearance: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo Wii U (2014)
Lara Croft may have gotten less objectified in her latest game, but the opposite happened to Samus in Metroid: Other M.
And that's especially a shame considering how great she started out in the original Metroid. She defied stereotypes so gracefully that most players thought she was a typical action dude—until the secret ending where her long hair and bikini-clad body were revealed. It was quite a reversal.
But despite the steps backward in Other M, Samus remains an interesting character who's changed a lot over the years.