Final Fantasy VII’s Sephiroth the most searched character in California.
July 6, 2017 8:45 AM   Subscribe

Who is the most popular video game character in your state? [Decluttr] “Gamers have long debated over which video game character is the greatest of them all. Unfortunately, most of these debates are based entirely on opinion and only lead to more arguments and occasional name-calling. To settle the debate once and for all, we decided to use cold hard Google search data to find out which character each state loves most. Here’s what we found…” [via: Nerdist]
posted by Fizz (46 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Mississippi's love for Bayonetta is something I'll be thinking about for a while.
posted by Fizz at 8:46 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]




Alucard from Castlevania and Alucard from Hellsing are not the same characters. I am much more upset about this map than I should be.
posted by _cave at 8:49 AM on July 6, 2017 [25 favorites]


Oh the map is enraging. And I felt like I needed to share my rage here with all of you.
posted by Fizz at 8:50 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


Wrong Alucard in that picture, tho.

This is the beautiful, wispy vampire slayer you're looking for.

On preview: yes, that annoyed the hell out of me.
posted by Tevin at 8:54 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


But I do appreciate Oklahoma's love for Tracer from Overwatch.
posted by Fizz at 8:57 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


Washington state's Mario result is most likely terribly skewed because Nintendo US headquarters is here. But if you're figuring out how to compensate for that you would also need to compensate for the Microsoft people and their xbox shenanigans.
posted by Mizu at 9:27 AM on July 6, 2017


I was sort of boggled that Sonic the Hedgehog had much remaining cultural relevance. So I googled "sonic hedgehog" (without quotes). I got more first-page results for the protein than for the character, so I thought "case closed! Sonic is over".

But then I thought maybe Google just knows me really well. When other people google Sonic, do you get mostly results about the protein?
posted by gurple at 9:29 AM on July 6, 2017


WHAT IS A TEEMO
posted by saladin at 9:29 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


Why would people google something they really like and know a lot about? Wouldn't you be more likely to search for things less familiar and/or not already at hand?
posted by gusottertrout at 9:31 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


Mississippi's love for Bayonetta is something I'll be thinking about for a while.

Mississippi and Nebraska. Yea, ditto.

And who the hell is Freddy Fazbear.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:32 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


I assume Virginia's supposed "Lara Croft" result is being skewed by the thousands of searches for my widely beloved baby daughter.

what?

No, honey, we didn't name her after a videogame character. No, no, of course we didn't. Who would do that?

That's Lara Croft. Totally different. It's just a coincidence... really... oh, look over here! Don't you think she'd look adorable in this? We should definitely get it for her!

posted by Naberius at 9:34 AM on July 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


Why would people google something they really like and know a lot about?

Fandom.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:34 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


Why would people google something they really like and know a lot about? Wouldn't you be more likely to search for things less familiar and/or not already at hand?

I have google alerts for various subjects. I am not sure if those count as actual "searches" according to Google. But, to answer your question. I often google things I really love because I want to see if there is something new related to that subject or if there's an interesting article written about that topic. So I don't think it's that odd to google something you like as opposed to just a query for something I'm not familiar with.
posted by Fizz at 9:34 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


On preview: what Kutsuwamushi said.
posted by Fizz at 9:34 AM on July 6, 2017


Fucking Bowser Bros just cost Mario the election.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:37 AM on July 6, 2017 [4 favorites]


Huh. Okay, I can understand that I guess. I just couldn't figure what it is being sought, I mean I assumed people would have their favorite sites bookmarked or searched by sitename, thus removing them, leaving, I guess, random searches for speed runs or articles by people unknown on Master Chief or whatnot? Hardcore fandom confuses me. (Obviously.)
posted by gusottertrout at 9:40 AM on July 6, 2017


I was sort of boggled that Sonic the Hedgehog had much remaining cultural relevance.

Most years do have multiple new Sonic games. He's the star of one of the longest-running comics in America, which I imagine appears on the shelves of supermarkets and other such widely browsed places. His latest television show is currently in Season 2 and is airing new episodes every week.
posted by one for the books at 9:43 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


At the Boston Common GameStop:

Freddy: Hey! What the hell is this?
Employee: It's a statue of Bowser, sir.
Freddy: Wait a minute, come here. What did you call it? Say it loud enough so everyone can hear. Come on, say it...
Employee: Ahem. Bowser.
Freddy: [raucous laughter] Bow-sere? Bow-sere? It's "Bowsah!" Say it right!
Employee: [pause] Bowser.
Freddy: [laughter] Come back here! I'm not through demeaning you.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:50 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I, too was annoyed by the Alucard mixup. And I'm not actually a fan of either series!
posted by tobascodagama at 9:50 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


There's a car dealer name Bowser in the Pittsburgh area. I wonder if that's skewing PA's result.
posted by dirigibleman at 9:54 AM on July 6, 2017


Pretty sure my son is the reason Sonic is the most searched for video game character in Ohio. His very first video game experience was with my Sega Genesis when he was about four? five? and Sonic the Hedgehog cartridges. He fell in love instantly. So much so that one of my husband's co-workers found a Sonic stuffie overseas (they weren't easy to find in the 90s) and brought it home for him. He slept with Sonic for YEARS.

Once he realized we could look at Sonic stuff on the internet, we did that. All the time. Videos, comics, Wiki entries, walk-throughs, etc. Kid LOVED Sonic.
posted by cooker girl at 9:55 AM on July 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


I know far more about Freddy Fazbear than I'd like, due to the interests of my youngest child, but it does surprise me that he's popular enough to displace the really big names. If this was one of those "what does each state like that's furthest from overall most common" analyses, I could understand it, but not just raw most popular.

The Alucard mixup baffled me when I first looked at just the map, and understanding the issue just leaves me shaking my head. I do wonder if they made any effort to correct for the multiple Alucards but tend to doubt it.
posted by Four Ds at 9:58 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Once he realized we could look at Sonic stuff on the internet, we did that. All the time. Videos, comics, Wiki entries, walk-throughs, etc. Kid LOVED Sonic.

Cooker girl, *cough* @badsonicfanart is probably something he should follow.

Actually, I should ask how old he is first. There is some Sonic fan art that he probably shouldn't see until he's much older, and there's also some fan art that none of us should see ever.
posted by Fizz at 9:59 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


ugh, come on maryland, Lara Croft is so.... meh
posted by numaner at 10:04 AM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


on the other hand, I've been toying with the idea of moving to Portland, OR, so them having Sephiroth just further assured me I would be among my people.
posted by numaner at 10:06 AM on July 6, 2017


Sonic fandom : video games
Snapewives : sf/f literature

I didn't realize this until recently but ... that's a rabbit hole that gets ribald real quick
posted by Tevin at 10:07 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


I can tell you that my neighborhood is all Earthworm Jim. Where is he now? What is he doing? Is he thinking about me?
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:11 AM on July 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


There's a car dealer name Bowser in the Pittsburgh area. I wonder if that's skewing PA's result.

SHA. NA. NA.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:12 AM on July 6, 2017 [5 favorites]


I was sort of boggled that Sonic the Hedgehog had much remaining cultural relevance. So I googled "sonic hedgehog" (without quotes). I got more first-page results for the protein than for the character, so I thought "case closed! Sonic is over".

Try an image search for "human knuckles".
posted by dilaudid at 10:13 AM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


would also like to see an overlay of states with Sonic Drive-In restaurants.
posted by jermsplan at 10:51 AM on July 6, 2017


> When other people google Sonic, do you get mostly results about the protein?

Sonic is a fast-food hamburger franchise with most of its locations in the American south and midwest. So they're getting results about a protein of sorts.
posted by ardgedee at 10:54 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


If this was one of those "what does each state like that's furthest from overall most common" analyses, I could understand it, but not just raw most popular.
That is almost certainly what it really is, and almost always what it is whenever you see one of these "by state" maps, but then they quite frequently don't clarify this point and it infuriates me.
posted by RobotHero at 11:15 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sonic is a fast-food hamburger franchise with most of its locations in the American south and midwest. So they're getting results about a protein of sorts.

Well they do serve chili-dogs at Sonic restaurants, so it is appropriate.
posted by Fizz at 11:15 AM on July 6, 2017 [2 favorites]


Did they filter out porn searches? Rule 34 is probably pretty confounding with this set.
posted by me3dia at 11:50 AM on July 6, 2017


But then I thought maybe Google just knows me really well. When other people google Sonic, do you get mostly results about the protein?

The protein is named exactly 'sonic hedgehog'. If you google 'sonic the hedgehog', you'll get our beloved impatient toe-tappin' speedster.

If you google 'indian the hedgehog', however...
posted by Svejk at 11:52 AM on July 6, 2017


The protein is named exactly 'sonic hedgehog'. If you google 'sonic the hedgehog', you'll get our beloved impatient toe-tappin' speedster.

The importance of a single 3 letter word when making a search.
posted by Fizz at 11:58 AM on July 6, 2017


saladin, Teemo is a character you can pick in League of Legends. He's a total troll pick; his signature ability is littering the map with annoying invisible landmine mushrooms that slow and do damage over time. He also can go invisible if he's stationary for more than a few seconds and gets a boost to attack speed after coming out of invisible if I remember right. You can imagine the amount of cheese a skilled (or unskilled, lols) Teemo player can pull.
posted by Gymnopedist at 12:37 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


Actually, I should ask how old he is first. There is some Sonic fan art that he probably shouldn't see until he's much older, and there's also some fan art that none of us should see ever.

Haha, he's 20! And he's already seen that Twitter account.
posted by cooker girl at 12:39 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I've been toying with the idea of moving to Portland, OR, so them having Sephiroth just further assured me I would be among my people.

I mean, okay, but... really? Sephiroth?

Sure, I played FFVII, and sure everybody hate-loved Sephiroth, but that was like... twenty years ago, right?

I'm not upset or anything, just... puzzled. Sephiroth. Huh.

(Honestly there are plenty of non-Sephiroth reasons to love Portland, so come join us, but it is my sworn obligation to tell everyone who wants to move to Portland that it rains 11 months out of the year and the 12th month is hipster mating season so you'll probably hate it here.)
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 2:50 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


I was sure that my Uncharted searches alone would move the tide to Nathan Drake's favor and was momentarily disappointed. Then I remembered that my IP address almost inexplicably shows up as Rhode Island. You're welcome Rhodies.
posted by dances with hamsters at 3:09 PM on July 6, 2017


the 12th month is hipster mating season

* moves to portland immediately *
posted by numaner at 5:16 PM on July 6, 2017 [3 favorites]


I was sort of boggled that Sonic the Hedgehog had much remaining cultural relevance. So I googled "sonic hedgehog" (without quotes). I got more first-page results for the protein than for the character, so I thought "case closed! Sonic is over".

But then I thought maybe Google just knows me really well. When other people google Sonic, do you get mostly results about the protein?


Just for the love of god don't look up sonic the hedgehog on deviantart. I've seen things...
posted by littlesq at 7:48 PM on July 6, 2017 [1 favorite]


And who the hell is Freddy Fazbear.

He's giving me the heebie jeebies
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 8:08 PM on July 6, 2017


Tracer won two states. Wow. Sometimes I don't even realize how huge Overwatch is, already.
posted by floatboth at 3:59 AM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


Well, again I'll emphasize I think it's really "which character is most above average in this state?"

Here, I compare five of them. The only way we didn't end up with a solid map of Mario is if it is based on the difference from the average.

Though you do get to see searches for "Tracer" jump around the time Overwatch is released, which gives a good sense for how many of the searches are an unrelated word.
posted by RobotHero at 8:10 AM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]


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