Ready Player One: Ranking Every Character From Worst To Best

3. Art3mis/Samantha

When we first meet Art3mis, she's the almost intangible cool girl of the OASIS, who looks like a manic pixie dream girl but, we gradually learn, is so much more than that.

As Art3mis, Cooke is slightly closed-off, a little aloof even, before eventually warming to Parzival and developing an interesting relationship with him. She's the best Gunter around, and comes off as a badass.

Outside the OASIS, Samantha has her own reasons for wanting so desperately to get the keys to the virtual reality world, which are less to do with fun and escapism (as with Wade) and linked to her past. There's a definite sadness and longing to the character, paired with a steely determination and, as mentioned, excellent chemistry with Sheridan, with their romance blossoming in the real world and keeping things there interesting.

By virtue of NOT being the main hero, though, Samantha/Art3mis is under less pressure to carry things, and thus can be a cooler, smarter, funnier, and more badass character, while still having plenty of depth as well.