8 More Incredible Gaming Characters Who Only Appeared In ONE Game

One and done.

By Jules Gill /

With even a passing glance at the current video game industry, it's easy to point out iconic and memorable characters that have brought warmth to our hearts or fizzed our blood somewhat thanks to their vile actions. Master Chief and his handy dandy grappling hook, Cloud Strife and his pixellated hair so sharp it could open a tin of spam, and who can forget Microsoft's newest mascot, Crash Bandicoot!

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All of these and more have made fans over the world weep in joy at the brilliance of their adventures, and it's easy to see why entire franchises have been built around them, yet some video game characters manage to knock it out of the park with just one appearance under their belt. Whether they were killed off at the end or just had their franchise iced, the important thing is that they made a statement and made it hard.

So let's raise a glass to those that never got a second outing, as who knows, with enough support maybe we'll be seeing them again real soon.

8. Helmut Fullbear - Psychonauts 2

Of all of the new characters introduced in the long awaiter and phenomenally fun Psychonauts 2, Helmut Fullbear is a standout figure amongst standout figures.

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It doesn't harm things at all that the character is voiced by Jack Black who brings such a warmth to the role that it's impossible not to enjoy the way he caresses your earholes, but it's truly the way Helmut is written that propelled him to the top of fan-favorite lists. His journey begins, as most things do in Psychonauts, from within Fullbear's mind, where we learn that he was killed 20 years prior to the events of the first game, and has been relegated "brain in a jar" status ever since.

As we help awaken his brain by kickstarting each of his senses, we witness the wonder of Helmut realigning himself with the world, and it's done in such a pure and beautiful way that you begin to appreciate how we process the stimuli of our own world. We are literally seeing a character being reborn in front of us, but it doesn't end here, as upon his awakening in the temporary body of "Nick" we see his struggles with feeling abandoned by his friends and the sadness he experiences in realizing his husband Bob has had to live without him for so long.

It's a truly heartfelt journey and one that is made all the better by truly comedic moments and an absolute belter of a song that Jack Black utterly makes his own.

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