8 Failed Video Game Mascot Characters

And now we come to by far the most recent failed mascot on this list - Knack.

Knack was a beat 'em up platformer that served as a launch title for the PS4, with its title character clearly intended to become a flagship mascot for the PlayStation brand going forward.

However, Knack landed with a thud of indifference, even for the standards of console launch fare. Just as the game itself had a fatal lack of personality, so too did Knack himself - a humanoid relic-creature which can change its size as the gameplay requires.

Today, it's easy to look at Knack and say that he resembles something an AI might spit out if you asked it to design a gaming mascot. 

There's just nothing distinctive or particularly memorable about him, which is precisely why his mere baffling existence made him a tongue-in-cheek meme that's endured for more than a decade.

Though it was a genuine surprise to see Knack II released in 2017 - and an even bigger surprise that it was actually quite good - Sony has clearly thrown in the towel on this one.

Their next big attempt at developing a brand mascot, however, actually paid off, what with the success of the Astro Bot franchise.