Sonic, Link, Lara Croft, Donkey Kong, Mario.

These are characters that define a video game, and even a franchise, but which are symbols of their game consoles?

After speaking with 30 ISU students, here is the consensus of staple characters for four of the most popular video game consoles on the market today.

PlayStation

Sony’s trilogy of PlayStation gaming consoles has a standout gaming series that almost all PS gamers have played: “Final Fantasy.”

Holly Carroll, senior in chemical engineering, is familiar with the gaming aspects of the “Final Fantasy” series.

“Tidus has to be the staple character,” Carroll said. “The ‘Final Fantasy’ series peaked with this renowned character.”

XBox

Microsoft’s Xbox has introduced the world to a new age of gaming. With the innovation of online play, gamers could play one another across continents. Since its introduction in 2001, Microsoft released the more powerful the Xbox 360.

Aaron Thiese, junior in finance, said the big name for Xbox comes from “Halo.”

“Master Chief is Xbox’s staple character,” Thiese said. “There’s a bunch of advertisements which feature him and my friends talk about ‘Halo’ a lot.”

Wii

The Nintendo Wii, the newest generation of gaming, is a console whose staple character can differ from person to person, since it is an interactive console.

With the introduction of the Mii, it can make a character resemble the person who is playing the game.

Justin Duffy, sophomore in computer engineering, agrees that the Mii is an identifiable character-type but said Link from “The Legend of Zelda” is also an symbol of the Wii, especially with the Mii.

“This newest installment of gaming gives [Link] the authority to be called an icon,” Duffy said.

GameCube

Nintendo GameCube is one game console that has been enjoyed since its innovation in fall 2001.

Mario has been identified as GameCube’s staple character.

Edin Smailovic, senior in electrical engineering, enjoys playing Mario games and gives insight as to why Mario is GameCube’s staple character.

“[Mario] has been featured in the most popular games,” Smailovic said.