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first produced in 1997 and as of 2011 the series has sold over 67 million copies. It was inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto’s explorations as a young boy in the hillsides surrounding his childhood home where he would venture into forests with hidden lakes, caves, and rural villages. According to Miyamoto, one of his most strongest memories was the discovery of a cave entrance in the middle of the woods. After some thinking, he entered the cave, and explored it. Miyamoto has referred to the creation of the Zelda games as an attempt to bring to life a "miniature garden" for players to play with in each game of the series. Princess Zelda’s name was inspired by American Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald’s wife who was also named Zelda.
Next up is Kirby. Kirby has appeared in 20 games since the release of Kirby’s Dreamland in 1992. He was originally a placeholder for a videogame but his creator Masahiro Sakurai liked his design so he ended up being the hero of the game and was originally called Popopo during development. He was then named “Kirby” after the American lawyer John Kirby who defended Nintendo in the Universal City Studios, Inc. vs. Nintendo Co., Ltd. court case in 1984 and that the rough-sounding name compared amusingly with the character's cute appearance.
Kirby was originally white in Kirby’s Dreamland due to the gray palette of the Game Boy system. Sakurai wanted Kirby to be pink and Miyamoto wanted him yellow. Eventually, Kirby became pink.
Next is Pokemon. Pokemon is the second most successful media based game in the world. Pokemon was inspired by game executive director Satoshi Tajiri’s childhood love for insect collecting, since catching pokemon has to do with putting a pokemon in a ball. Also, pokemon’s name comes from the words “Pocket” and “Monster” hence that fact that they are stored in Pokeballs.
Finally we have Sonic. Sonic had numerous comics, four animated shows, and an OVA (Original Video Animation). His first game was made on June 23, 1991 and since then he has been one of the most best-known video game characters in the world.
He was created as a rival against Nintendo’s Mario series and to replace Alex Kidd as the mascot for Sega Enterprises. Some character designs that were handed in included an armadillo (who eventually became Mighty the Armadillo), a dog, a caricature of Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas (who later became Sonic’s arch nemesis Dr. Robotnik/Eggman), and a rabbit. Eventually, a design of a hedgehog named “Mr. Needlemouse” was