then let's just have a 4-pack of metal sonic, dark link, dark samus, and mario.
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RPG Elite (777) Dragoon Choco-Mage
http://rpgelite.org/join.htm

I feel like I should mention Shadow Sonic (I mean, Shadow the Hedgehog) at this point, because we certainly don't have enough fuel on this fire.
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Early Summer contest prediction: Lloyd Irving loses first round.

I don't like the idea of Shadow Link being in this contest for the reason that he could possibly (unlikely, but the possibility still remains) beat Sephiroth and win this contest. In which case, I would be thoroughly disgusted because there is absolutely no way you could argue for him being the "Best. Villain. Ever."
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

Some people would argue that Sephiroth isn't a whole lot more qualifed to be "Best. Villain. Ever.".
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/contest/contest_nominate.php
Nominate Giovanni(Pokemon) and Lance for GameFAQ's Spring 2005 Contest!!

With this board, you can't really make an argument for any eligible character being the best villain ever when its #1 character (not villain, character) is Magus.
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Serious Reminder: Nominate Dr. Wily in 2k5
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/contest/contest_nominate.php

Some people would argue that Sephiroth isn't a whole lot more qualifed to be "Best. Villain. Ever.".

But yet we know that Shadow Link wouldn't win on his own merit.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

"But I think it's asinine to believe that Dark Samus or Dark Link could even come close to being as strong as their counterparts."

Hardly. Ganon himself proves that characters can be rather poop-on-a-stickish against related icons yet perform quite admirably against non-related characters due mostly to association than their own strength. Ganon's match with Alucard shows that he is, for sure, at least pretty damn close to what the 2k3 stats implied... unless he faces Link in which case he falls flater than a sheet of paper.

"Because just as there are those who would vote for them no matter what, there are those who would not vote for them over the likes of Ganondorf, Bowser, or Sephiroth simply because they weren't up to the level -- in the voters eyes -- of the three aforementioned characters."

This is applicable to ALL characters, not simply the ones who ride on others coattails, so it simply goes without saying. The question here is whether or not the name "Link" being attached to a black figure outwieghs being Link's primary nemesis. The answer to that, of cours, is something we cannot divine without experimentation (aka we need to see the contest to know for sure).

"At best, I think he could give Sephiroth a run for his money, but beating him? I would pretty much consider that out of the question."

I don't. We haven't even had the opportunity to see a true clone character in action... the closest we've seen is Shadow and he does stand on his own in many ways. Then again, when we saw Shadow up against Mario he did perform quite closely to what Sonic would have been expected to do (2k3 Xsts have Sonic in 10th, Shadow in 12th) and if he was being voted on merely for his clone-qualities then I'd have to say that a black-palate Link may very well be that damn close to Greeny.

"Hell, I would even be willing to pick Dark Samus over the likes of Dark Link."

I wouldn't.

"What does it matter on the importance? That's just silly."

It matters because a significant portion of the votes will be from name/likeness only and has nothing to do with who is cooler.

"I think some people are vastly overestimating their strength based on how well the "hero" did."

Go look at Ganon, Bowser, and Shadow (all in 2k3) and tell me we are wrong to be worried about certain characters recieving undue ammount sof strength simply because they look like or have similar names to established characters. All three of those characters can be considered leechers to some degree and the one that looks the most like his hero is the one to come closest to his hero. Do you honestly think that there's no chance that it's more than coincidence?
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"He was hotter and more doable in Kingdom Hearts." - Ulti on Squall

And, thinking about it more... on the thought of Dark Samus over Dark Link at least a few of us learned to never, NEVER, take anything Metroid related over anything Zelda related in the Sp contest. Metroid has never beaten Zelda in any way shape or form.
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"He was hotter and more doable in Kingdom Hearts." - Ulti on Squall

If the clones make it in, I just can't see them being at all powerful. For one, they'll probably have fairly low seeds. Also, I give GameFAQs voters a little more credit than the most of you when it comes to "voting based on a namesake". Final Fantasy wasn't a serious contender in the 8-bit division. Super Mario RPG wasn't a powerhouse just because it had the words "Mario" and "RPG" in it.

Maybe the clones will get in. But all this discussion about Dark Samus and Dark Link being contest powers is foolish.
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There is no looking back. There is nothing left for losers, so I must fight on. - Kratos Aurion
?????????????

Also, I give GameFAQs voters a little more credit than the most of you when it comes to "voting based on a namesake".

*sees how close Sonic and Shadow are*

Hmmm...

And Final Fantasy I was as much of a power as one could expect in the 8-Bit Division.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

on the thought of Dark Samus over Dark Link at least a few of us learned to never, NEVER, take anything Metroid related over anything Zelda related in the Sp contest.

That's not a good reason. Are you telling me you'd take a Stalfos over Samus?

Dark Samus does have a much bigger role in her game, so I'd give her the edge. The only reason Dark Link could win in that one is that he was a boss fight in a few of the most popular Zelda games, while Dark Samus showed up in Echoes, which seems to be underhyped and underselling.
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There is no looking back. There is nothing left for losers, so I must fight on. - Kratos Aurion
?????????????

*sees how close Sonic and Shadow are*

Hmm...Sonic-proxy...
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

MARIO MARIO MARIO!!!!

He's technically eligible; why don't we include him as well?

Other characters have been allowed into the summer contest that display the same traits. Ganondorf clearly leeches a large part of his popularity from Link.

People don't vote for Ganondorf because he is in a game with Link. They vote for him because he is in Zelda games.

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"Heh Heh... The wind... It is blowing..."--Ganondorf Dragmire

People don't vote for Ganondorf because he is in a game with Link. They vote for him because he is in Zelda games.

Wouldn't this also apply to Dark Link?
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

Also, I give GameFAQs voters a little more credit than the most of you when it comes to "voting based on a namesake".

C'mon now, Shadow wasn't just some nameless blob with no character that happened to share a similar name with the hero. Shadow had his own character and WAS an important character in the story of some recent Sonic games, even if he's disliked on this boards. You can't really use Shadow as a sign that Dark Link and Dark Samus will be too strong, even if you think he's as good as the 2k3 stats said (which I don't).

And yes, Final Fantasy was fairly strong. The brunt of my argument on namesake is in Super Mario RPG. It was not a strong contest contender, despite having the words "Mario" and "RPG" there for voters to see.
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There is no looking back. There is nothing left for losers, so I must fight on. - Kratos Aurion
?????????????

Hardly. Ganon himself proves that characters can be rather poop-on-a-stickish against related icons yet perform quite admirably against non-related characters due mostly to association than their own strength.

I'm not denying that these characters would get their fair share of support from having a relation (whether it be in looks or name) to the heroes of the same series, but being equal in strength to these characters is something I simply could not see happening. It would make little to no sense for their type of character to equate to that of the hero.

I don't. We haven't even had the opportunity to see a true clone character in action... the closest we've seen is Shadow and he does stand on his own in many ways. Then again, when we saw Shadow up against Mario he did perform quite closely to what Sonic would have been expected to do (2k3 Xsts have Sonic in 10th, Shadow in 12th) and if he was being voted on merely for his clone-qualities then I'd have to say that a black-palate Link may very well be that damn close to Greeny.

Well, I'd like to think it is obvious that Shadow isn't getting votes based entirely upon him looking like Sonic. Someone believing that all, or the vast majority of his votes, are for that reason are crazy. Shadow does enough to establish himself as different enough from Sonic, but there's no doubt he does receive some votes based upon looking like him. Just nowhere near enough to put him at equal to Sonic because of that reason. Dark Link being close to Link would require the vast majority of Link fans voting for Dark Link for the simple fact that he has "Link" in his name, and I just cannot see such a thing happening. Just as there are those who would vote for that reason, there are others who would draw a line and vote for the other person, despite how they would've voted differently if it were Link himself.

I wouldn't.

I would on the basis that Dark Link plays about as much importance as a basic enemy in the game that most people know him from -- by importance, I mean spotlight, time on screen, etc.

It matters because a significant portion of the votes will be from name/likeness only and has nothing to do with who is cooler.

The importance that a villain plays within the series matters very little no matter the reason. You aren't voting for who's the most important; it's who you like better.

Go look at Ganon, Bowser, and Shadow (all in 2k3) and tell me we are wrong to be worried about certain characters recieving undue ammount sof strength simply because they look like or have similar names to established characters.

Ganondorf leaches off of the Zelda popularity, but both Shadow and Bowser are not one's that strike me as people who get significant amounts of votes due to their association with the main character and/or the popularity of their series. Bowser did far more respectable against Mario than Ganondorf did against Link, and Shadow has a reason to be as strong as he is on his own. The only case I'm willing to agree with you on out of that trio is Ganondorf. The others aren't relying that much on their association with the main character.

The brunt of my argument on namesake is in Super Mario RPG. It was not a strong contest contender, despite having the words "Mario" and "RPG" there for voters to see.

You also gotta wonder if the RPG vote was split towards CT.
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

even if you think he's as good as the 2k3 stats said (which I don't).

I don't see any reason to believe he wasn't, unless you want to try to sell me the argument that Shadow was conveniently where Tidus dropped to in 2004, and thus the match still remained close to the stats.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

I don't see any reason to believe he wasn't

I think he was strong, but nor 45% on Mario strong. He may have recieved some Sonic-proxy. And would it really be that unbelieveable for both Tidus and Shadow to drop about the same amount if it were a small amount?
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

And would it really be that unbelieveable for both Tidus and Shadow to drop about the same amount if it were a small amount?

The only problem with that is that it couldn't be a small amount without dropping Magus and Ganondorf way down with them.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

The only problem with that is that it couldn't be a small amount without dropping Magus and Ganondorf way down with them.

Not if the Nintendo vs Square overpeformance theory is true, and I think it is.
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

The only problem with that is that it couldn't be a small amount without dropping Magus and Ganondorf way down with them.


What if Tidus dropped for reasons of his own that have nothing to do with 2003?
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"Heh Heh... The wind... It is blowing..."--Ganondorf Dragmire

Not if the Nintendo vs Square overpeformance theory is true, and I think it is.

There's no reason to believe that either, really. There's not that much to support it. I think it's a bit ridiculous to assume that just because it's Nintendo vs. Square, there will be abnormalities.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

"For one, they'll probably have fairly low seeds."

We already know that has minimal impact on voting, I would be surprised if it was more than 1-2% and I was one of the most vocal (if perhaps the only) supporters of the theory that Magus may have actually underperformed in certain matches due to seeding. In a match of two unknowns the lower seeded character may lose out some votes due to bracket voting. I don't think Dark ______ or Random Clone of _______ counts as an unkown factor to the greater portion of bracket makers like Crono Trigger characters would.

"Also, I give GameFAQs voters a little more credit than the most of you when it comes to "voting based on a namesake"."

Since when have they deserved this credit? Shadow ranked 12th in 2k3 because he looks like Sonic and was going up agaisnt Mario, in 2k4 he ranked 27th AFTER SFF adjustment because nobody was inclined to give a crap who he looked like when he was facing Tidus. And, get this, not only do these clones look like the originals but they also tend to carry their names with them as well. That's a potent one-two punch.

"Final Fantasy wasn't a serious contender in the 8-bit division."

Yeah, it only ranked 3 in its division.

"Super Mario RPG wasn't a powerhouse"

It only barely missed out on the upper quarter of its divison and even after SFF adjustments (which are a bit of guesswork, to say the least) still ranks above GOLDENEYE. It's not a title contender, but I say anything that sits ahead of Goldeneye in the stats is at least held in high regards amoung a large portion of the voters.

"Maybe the clones will get in. But all this discussion about Dark Samus and Dark Link being contest powers is foolish."

Just look at Shadow in 2k3 and say the same thing.
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"He was hotter and more doable in Kingdom Hearts." - Ulti on Squall

It's a larger chain however, the first two of the three were close matches to the wire, and the third was the match where everyone jumped on the Magus bandwagon, possibly causing an overperformance.
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

What if Tidus dropped for reasons of his own that have nothing to do with 2003?

Then we have to either go with the idea that Tidus and Shadow dropped a HUGE amount proportionally, or that Shadow was conveniently where Tidus just so happened to drop to in 2004, both of which are a bit too much to assume to me.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

It's a larger chain however, the first two of the three were close matches to the wire, and the third was the match where everyone jumped on the Magus bandwagon, possibly causing an overperformance.

Why in the world would they do that? If anything, Zelda fans would anti-vote Magus and Link would have overperformed. Either way, I still see no reason to believe that.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

I think we just need to accept that Tidus is Mr. Inconsistency.
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

You also gotta wonder if the RPG vote was split towards CT.

But what about the Mario/Nintendo vote?

Sorry, I ain't buying it. Remember SMRPG vs. Street Fighter? Even though SFII LOST!!!!11, it came very close to pulling off a win on a site that has very little respect for fighting games.

I think that for a long time now, this stats topic has overestimated the stupidity of the "casual voter". Do we all think that these guys are drooling idiots that have only played one Zelda game and one Final Fantasy game in their entire life? They're not. And just like us, there aren't many of them that are going to vote based on "OMG MY FAVORITE CHARACTER LINK'S NAME IS IN THAT GUY'S NAME".

No one would really pick Dark Link over Sephiroth... Right?
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There is no looking back. There is nothing left for losers, so I must fight on. - Kratos Aurion
?????????????

Why in the world would they do that? If anything, Zelda fans would anti-vote Magus and Link would have overperformed. Either way, I still see no reason to believe that.

And I still see no reason to believe that Tidus/Shadow is as strong as 2K3 says and as weak as 2K4 says.

Damn you choking Tidus!
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

I think we just need to accept that Tidus is Mr. Inconsistency

No, that would be Sephiroth. Tidus has ONE anamoly, and all of a sudden, he's Mr. Inconsistency? Sephiroth has caused at least one anamoly per contest.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

And I still see no reason to believe that Tidus/Shadow is as strong as 2K3 says

You mean...Other than performing like it?
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

Sephiroth has caused more anamolies, but think about what Tidus has been involved with. He got 58% (or so) on Claire Redfield (...how I dunno), 41% on Sonic in a match that was shut down for a few hours, and then blows up against Megaman.
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

41% on Sonic in a match that was shut down for a few hours

How is that an anamoly? If there was any in that match, it was due to the poll malfunctioning, not Tidus.
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SC2K5 Nominations: Squall Leonhart, Tidus, Zidane, Serge, Musashi, Tifa Lockheart, Leon Kennedy, Kerrigan, Revolver Ocelot, Lloyd Irving

The WDF by Seph is huge, of course. But this Seph anamoly in 2K3 that weakened Alucard, Kirby, Max Payne, and the like, doesn't seem like too big a deal, especially since 2K4 seems to fix it...(sorta).
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

How is that an anamoly? If there was any in that match, it was due to the poll malfunctioning, not Tidus.

Tidus was involved. IIRC, the poll was down during the day, when Sonic is generally at his strongest.
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

My argument RE: Shadow and Tidus...

It doesn't feel right to have Shadow and Tidus be as strong on GameFAQs as they seemed to be in 2k3. Not in the slightest bit. The extrapolateds aren't perfect. When looking at character strength, sometimes you've just gotta look at the character and take that into account. Frankly, I think that Magus's fourpack and Mario's fourpack from 2k3 are messed up stats wise. Do I have any mathematical evidence for that? Some. But I think the way I do there because it doesn't feel right for Magus, Ganondorf, Tidus, and Shadow to be challenging the Noble Nine.

This common sense thing works sometimes too. Like the time last year where it was "Hero of a Square RPG vs. Hero of a XBox Adventure Game" and nobody backed the Square hero cause of faulty stats.
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There is no looking back. There is nothing left for losers, so I must fight on. - Kratos Aurion
?????????????

Like the time last year where it was "Hero of a Square RPG vs. Hero of a XBox Adventure Game" and nobody backed the Square hero cause of faulty stats.

>_<
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

Zelda fans would anti-vote Magus and Link would have overperformed.

Yes, but wouldn't those Zelda fans have voted for Link anyway?
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BtT: 3:43.45 | HRC: 51,246.1 ft OV aaaargh
Or, the Katamari thing. It's like getting high, withought the death part. - Link the Midgit

We may overestimate their stupidity, but it can't be ignored that characters like Link, Cloud, and all the big people draw in HUGE vote spikes. That to me says that our voters aren't very dedicated on a day to day basis, and if they see a character, or related character, they tend to show huge voting for, they'll show up in droves solely for that character.
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One who knows nothing can understand nothing.
"Revenge is a dish best served cold." - Old Klingon Proverb

"Bowser did far more respectable against Mario than Ganondorf did against Link,"

Except that Bowser should be expected to be significantly closeer %wise just based on th fact that they aren't as seppearated normally.

"and Shadow has a reason to be as strong as he is on his own."

Except that 2k4 proves that Shadow isn't strong unless people are voting for him as a proxy for sonic (See: Mario v Shadow)

"You also gotta wonder if the RPG vote was split towards CT."

I'd whole heartly say yes, it was. It was in my case and if it was in my case I certainly can't be the only one.

"unless you want to try to sell me the argument that Shadow was conveniently where Tidus dropped to in 2004"

Coincidences do happen, and while we may treat all matches as having transitivity unless strong evidence proves otherwise we can't be certain that they do.

"The only problem with that is that it couldn't be a small amount without dropping Magus and Ganondorf way down with them."

I'm already of the opinion that Ganon is overrated to begin with. He just doesn't strike me as being quite as strong as he is said to be.

"There's not that much to support it."

There isn't really anything to disprove SvN either. Performances by all the characters in that chain are way off from expected results in 2k4.
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"He was hotter and more doable in Kingdom Hearts." - Ulti on Squall

Perhaps SvsN may not be true except in extreme cases. And I would consider two thrillers + Defending Champ vs Board 8's Contest Favorite that extreme case.
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

Except that Bowser should be expected to be significantly closeer %wise just based on th fact that they aren't as seppearated normally.

What?

Except that 2k4 proves that Shadow isn't strong unless people are voting for him as a proxy for sonic (See: Mario v Shadow)

You want to believe that Shadow and Tidus both dropped proportionately? Because I have a very hard time believing such a thing occurred. Shadow may have been weaker for 2k4, but by no means did he completely drop off like that. That division wasn't exactly one that went smoothly, especially with Mega Man getting slaughtered by Link in the semi-finals.

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Nominate Dark Samus for the Spring 2005 Contest!

By "Dark Link and Dark Samus will have low seeds" I mean that they'll be up against tough competition round one even if they do get in, and I doubt they'll be able to pull it off. So we'll never really see them wreak havoc on the contest unless they're very lucky in catching a weak 3/4 seed.

And Chichiri. Super Mario RPG wasn't a powerhouse. Yes, it was strong, but going by the "GameFAQs voters vote based on the name of the game they see in the polls" theory, it should have challenged Chrono Trigger and beaten the crap out of Street Fighter II, not been at Goldeneye's level.

And I've said it already: Shadow is at least an actual character rather than a Sonic clone. Maybe not a great character, but that's irrelevant. He has a different name, he has a personality that is vibrant and different from Sonic's but not in the "I am your exact opposite" sort of way.
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There is no looking back. There is nothing left for losers, so I must fight on. - Kratos Aurion
?????????????

There's plenty more evidence for Tidus/Shadow/Magus/Gdorf '03 being accurate, though. Tidus and Shadow are in proportion to each other each year, while Alucard/Ganondorf and Squall's wins go with the math perfectly. Plus, Frog gets 49% on Snake, while Magus ranks a bit higher in 2003, verifying each other's ranking. You see, you'd have to believe Frog + Magus and Tidus + Shadow were overrated basically proportionally.

As for Tidus being inconsistant, I think it might be more appropriate to call Mega Man inconsistant. After all, he was in two screwed up matches, while Tidus was arguably in just one (against Mega Man). Oh, and had Tidus vs. Sonic hadn't been shut down for a few hours, the difference would've been quite small. I don't think Sonic could have gotten any more than a percent higher (so, maybe 59.5% instead of 58.5%).

---
"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."

Megaman inconsistent! He's evil! He's villainous! He must be nominated for this contest!
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The Xbox has two modes: Off and Halo. Sony has everything else. ~UltimateralizerX

"Shadow dropped a HUGE amount "

No, we assume that Shadow overperformed by a huge amount.

"a site that has very little respect for fighting games. "

This is a site with very little respect for fighting game CHARACTERS, especially those fron non-MK non-Capcom fighters. The games themselves are regarded better than most of the characters in them.

"No one would really pick Dark Link over Sephiroth... Right?"

We already know that there are people on this board who will.

"This common sense thing works sometimes too."

Common sense tells us that big names sell in the real world and will likely do the same in a contest. Take Starbucks for example, it doesn't sell as much it does because it's strictly superior coffee, it sells because it has a name that has somehow been associated with good coffee. Look at Coke and Pepsi, even if there was a better tasting cola out there it wouldn't sell better than those two because they have big names associated with them. Sometimes brand names get so big they become iconic and are use to describe all objects of similar design and usage. When you cut yourself you ask for a Band-Aid and aren't at all displeased when you're handed a generic bandage, right? If you need to blow your nose and ask me for a Kleenex will you sneeze on me for handing you a generic tissue? Names carry far more weight in this world than they may deserve to, and a name like Link draws in votes enough that I'd bet Dark Link would at the worst scare Sephiroth and at best beat him.
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"He was hotter and more doable in Kingdom Hearts." - Ulti on Squall

Common sense tells us that big names sell in the real world and will likely do the same in a contest. Take Starbucks for example, it doesn't sell as much it does because it's strictly superior coffee, it sells because it has a name that has somehow been associated with good coffee. Look at Coke and Pepsi, even if there was a better tasting cola out there it wouldn't sell better than those two because they have big names associated with them. Sometimes brand names get so big they become iconic and are use to describe all objects of similar design and usage. When you cut yourself you ask for a Band-Aid and aren't at all displeased when you're handed a generic bandage, right? If you need to blow your nose and ask me for a Kleenex will you sneeze on me for handing you a generic tissue? Names carry far more weight in this world than they may deserve to, and a name like Link draws in votes enough that I'd bet Dark Link would at the worst scare Sephiroth and at best beat him.

Now you're just comparing apples and oranges.

More apt comparison: George W. Bush vs. Al Gore. 2000 Presidential Election. Were there some people who voted for Bush just because they liked his father? Probably. Were there a lot of people who made the decision based on that? No way.

I just see it as being the same way here.

Frankly, though, I don't think Dark Link will even get in. There are too many other Zelda villains to nominate, and unless the nominator goes to the Summer Contest Board, Dark Link probably won't even cross their mind.

Dark Samus, maybe. But I'd need to see what her character's like before actually knowing how strong she might be.
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There is no looking back. There is nothing left for losers, so I must fight on. - Kratos Aurion
?????????????

More apt comparison: George W. Bush vs. Al Gore. 2000 Presidential Election. Were there some people who voted for Bush just because they liked his father? Probably. Were there a lot of people who made the decision based on that? No way.

Well, the Presidential election was far more serious than any SpC or SC. There are many issues at stake in it, and it's a lot more important. I don't think people will think as hard before voting as they do in an election.

Although in one respect, the analogy is apt. After all, a large chunk of the voters seem to toe the party line...
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It's a shocking match in Heavy this week, as Alexandrian knight Beatrix duels with the Silent Death, Crono, at www.rpgdl.com!

Chichiri's final paragraph was well-said.
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Serious Reminder: Nominate Dr. Wily in 2k5
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/contest/contest_nominate.php