10 Weirdest Playable Video Game Characters Ever
9. A Stretching Goldfish In Robocop Armour - James Pond: Robocod
It’s actually pretty shocking, in hindsight, how much James Pond Robocod got away with without being ripped to shred for copyright infringements. Not only did it straight-up lift visual elements and catchphrases direct from popular films from the time, but it also had real-world products as environmental props (such as McVities Penguin biscuits as stage obstacles).
But, maybe those elements were, in part, why James Pond did as well as it did - a quirky platformer where you play as a quip-happy fish during a time where mascot platformers were ten-a-penny.
The titular (sorry, I titter every time I read “titular” aloud. I also titter at the word “titter”) armoured goldfish hero has an interesting, almost arbitrary ability to stretch his torso directly upward to reach areas above him. I’ve had plenty of goldfish in my time, and none of them could stretch their spines to enormous lengths - well, not voluntarily, anyway.
R.I.P. Bubbles.
Robocod can also grow wings to fly with aid of a power-up, or drive a flying bath, if he wants to, because why the hell not, eh? Clearly, we’re not going for real-world feasibility here - Penguin biscuits aside.