History Main / MascotWithAttitude

[[folder:Video Games (Platformer)]]
* ''VideoGame/AeroTheAcroBat'' (featuring a circus acrobat... bat), though his games are fairly well-remembered.
** ''Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel'', a spin-off of this game. This one features a ninja squirrel.
* The video game adaptation ''VideoGame/AvoidTheNoid'', featuring Domino's Pizza's eponymous wacky, bunny costume-wearing mascot.
* What do you get when you combine a mediocre ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' clone with a GreenAesop? Probably something like the Sega Genesis game ''VideoGame/AwesomePossumKicksDrMachinosButt'', whose name is as TotallyRadical as it gets. Dr. Machino himself makes no attempt to hide that he is a Dr. Eggman[=/=]Robotnik rip-off, which can be deduced just by reading his name.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Bart Simpson]] himself could be considered this in all the games he starred in from the early 90s like ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartVsTheSpaceMutants'' and ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartVsTheWorld''. It's worth noting that at the time, Bart was considered ''The Simpsons''[='=] de facto protagonist and the closest thing to a mascot of the series (which was hitting its peak in popularity during that period), until the show started focusing more on Homer. As such, it could be argued that Bart was as responsible as Sonic in making this kind of character so prevalent, despite his non-gaming origins.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' were a combination between this and TeenageMutantSamuraiWombats. This was best exemplified by [[CoolShades Rash]].
* ''VideoGame/BlenderBros'' is a mild example. The main character, Blender, ''does'' have a permanent smirk and his game has more than a little VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog influence in its looks and some gameplay, but he's not as aggressive about his 'tude as some other characters of the type.
* The self-titled protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Bonk}}'' (a caveman with attitude and an oversized head) is one of these, becoming the mascot of the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 and even getting a futuristic spinoff series called ''VideoGame/AirZonk''.
* The ill-fated ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} the Bobcat'' is a particularly infamous example of this trope. Bubsy was played straight in his own games, but in his [[WesternAnimation/{{Bubsy}} cartoon pilot]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F97am9_N2I he became a surreal extreme version of himself,]] quoting his newly-acquired Catchphrase (which was a throwaway remark of Bubsy's in the first game, but must have tickled one of the writers' - or more likely executives' - fancy a bit more than it should) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HFPa-M6Ssk way way too often]] (it's even sort of deconstructed within the pilot itself eventually, when Arnold suddenly turns on Bubsy, sarcastically yelling Bubsy's "[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong What could paw-ssibly go wrong?]]" back at him after his jinxed catchphrase causes them to lose the universe-altering helmet at the worst possible time). In most cartoon openings, they have some kind of montage of what the main characters do. In the ''Bubsy'' pilot, he gets out of bed, brushes his teeth with a car buffer, eats some cereal, breakdances and does some air guitar. Cartoon Bubsy [[TotallyRadical just drips attitude, y'know]]? He wasn't even that much like this in his original outing, being more along the lines of a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-inspired ButtMonkey - maybe things would have gone better if they stuck to that.
* ''VideoGame/{{Blinx}}'' was meant to be one for [[Creator/XboxGameStudios Microsoft]] (he was even designed by Sonic's creator, Naoto Ohshima), but it didn't stick due to the poor reception of his games.
* Bug, the titular protagonist from the Sega game ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}''. He spouts cheesy, ''annoying'' one-liners almost every time he kills an enemy or when he takes damage.
* Chester Cheetah, the painfully TotallyRadical mascot for Cheetos, starred in a couple of licensed {{Platform Game}}s at the time of the trend. Ironically, though the cheetah is supposed to be the fastest creature on land, in the first level of ''[[VideoGame/ChesterCheetahTooCoolToFool Too Cool to Fool]]'' Chester literally moves more slowly than a turtle.
* ''Chuck Rock'' is a rock-'n'-roll-playing Neanderthal with 'tude. And he was in fact the mascot of his creators, Core Design, until a lady by the name of [[VideoGame/TombRaider Lara Croft]] came along.
* ''VideoGame/CoolSpot'' is more laid-back than the typical example, [[TheSilentBob doesn't speak]] (which eliminates the possibility of quips) and the game was more focused on exploration than speed and intensity. On the other hand, he ''oozes'' TotallyRadical, much more than most on this list.
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' is one of the few who have managed to fare better than the rest, at least in his early days. Crash himself subverts the trope as, personality-wise, he is a goofy IdiotHero, however marketing and cover art still portrayed him as having an attitude. Eventually this was phased out post-Naughty Dog, and they instead put more emphasis on his idiotic traits. Naughty Dog then went on to make another series of excellent 3D platformers on the [=PS2=] and onwards with ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'', which subverted the trope by having the attitude-filled mascot as the sidekick.
* IOS platformer/character ''Crazy Hedgy'', despite being a hedgehog, plays more in common with Crash Bandicoot, is known for wearing boxing gloves and a football helmet, and can float (double jump) by using bubble gum.
* The title character from the ''VideoGame/{{Croc}}'' games. The first game was going to be a Yoshi platformer and there were only two games. Similarly to Crash, while Croc is a gentle soul in-game, the marketing for the original would depict him having had Crash, Sonic and Mario for lunch.
* Franchise/DonkeyKong became this in the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series, until ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' did away with the attitude and made him an IdiotHero. The latter was a result of [[ExecutiveMeddling a mandate by Miyamoto]], who had always intended for Donkey Kong to be dimwitted.
** His surfer ally Funky Kong finally fit the bill, once he became playable in his own mode for ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze Tropical Freeze]]''.
* ''VideoGame/DynamiteHeaddy'' was a puppet that could throw his head to attack enemies, and he looked really smug for some reason. That said, his 'tude is rather downplayed compared to [[WidgetSeries the sheer weirdness of everything else]]; beyond that constant smug expression, it's mostly restricted to his {{idle animation}}s (including one where he dribbles his own head like a basketball).
* Sash Lilac the dragon girl from ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' is a GenreThrowback to this kind of character. Having started out as a ''Sonic'' fangame to begin with, even sporting a hedgehog design in early development, it's not all that surprising. While she's confident and has the speed to match, she's more spunky and cute than snarky. Her best friend Carol makes up for it, being a green wildcat ninja with a motorcycle who uses karate kicks that allows her to drive up walls and do backflips. Yes, really.
* The 1980s page ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' has the titular Giana's SuperMode, [[DarkerAndEdgier Punk Giana]]. In particular, we have Punk Giana's depiction in the original game's [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore English]] [[https://www.c64-wiki.com/images/2/2c/Great_giana_sisters.jpg cover.]] The [[VideoGame/GianaSisters sequel games]] (which were released in the 2000s and 2010s) heavily downplay this element of Punk Giana.
* ''VideoGame/JamesPond'' is both this and a parody of Film/JamesBond. Unlike most examples, he actually predates Sonic the Hedgehog by a year (''James Pond: Underwater Agent'' came out in 1990.) He's also less TotallyRadical and more {{Camp}}.
* ''VideoGame/JazzJackrabbit'' started out as this, with Jazz basically being Sonic with a big cartoon gun and a [[Film/RamboFirstBloodPartII Rambo]]-like attire, which was emphasized with his expressions and mannerisms. [[LighterAndSofter This gets cleaned up]] for the sequel, where Jazz is more classically heroic, while his brother Spaz takes the subversive role (but much like Crash, he's more an IdiotHero than edgy).
* ''VideoGame/{{Gex}}'' the gecko. His games have him throwing quips almost nonstop during the gameplay.
* [[EnforcedTrope Attempted]] with ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' of all things, with North-American promotional material trying their best to subvert his innocent nature into some sort of violent troublemaker (sometimes by just adding angry eyebrows on his face). See Kirby's section in the AmericanKirbyIsHardcore page for examples.
* Kay, the hot-headed martial artist hero of ''VideoGame/LegendOfKay''.
* ''VideoGame/MrNutz'', if only on the box art of the first game and the title screen of the second game, where this little squirrel holds sunglasses at his hip, sporting a cocky expression, has a skinned elbow, and is perhaps throwing out a gang sign. [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/Mr._Nutz_SMD_cover.PNG The box art]] gives him Sonic's ConjoinedEyes and [[http://info.sonicretro.org/images/8/8e/SSS_SONIC26.png a variant of one of his signature poses]]. The games themselves take place deep in the SugarBowl.
* Dash the bee of ''VideoGame/{{Nefarious}}'', as befits a Sonic {{Expy}}. He even has a cocky grin in his dialogue portrait.
* ''VideoGame/{{Oscar}}'' was an otter (who looked more like a CartoonCreature) with a backwards-facing baseball cap, a permanent smirk, and an obsession with movies who moved really fast in his games for no adequately explained reason. Strangely, the owners of the character made a strong attempt to bring him back in the late 2000's, porting not only his game to the Nintendo DS, but reskinning a game based on the Trolls franchise for the character, and making two new games.
* Pac-Man is one in ''VideoGame/PacManParty'', despite looking too cheerful to be one.
* ''VideoGame/PunkySkunk'' for the [=PS1=]. Invoked explicitly in the packaging, with the title character's head floating on a funky background.
* ''VideoGame/RadicalRex.'' In addition to riding on a skateboard, his game actually opened up with a (voiced!) theme song that not only went on about how awesome Radical Rex is, it also threw in more synonyms for "radical" than you could shake a thesaurus at.
* While not a FunnyAnimal, the protagonist of ''Rascal'' qualifies. Was poorly received and only had one game.
* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' went side-by-side with ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' and ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', but Ratchet's characterization in the [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002 the original game]] is more of a deconstruction. Ratchet starts off as a hotblooded jerk with traits of a common mascot with attitude, but [[KickTheMoralityPet his abusive treatment of Clank]] and [[RevengeBeforeReason his single-minded desire for revenge against Captain Qwark]] instead showed Ratchet was on his way to becoming a ''villain''. [[CharacterDevelopment He gets over it]], drops the attitude to become a DeadpanSnarker NiceGuy, and becomes a more noble and beloved hero in the sequels. With [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016 the PS4 game]], the edgy attitude was dropped from his origin story entirely.
* Arguably, the current incarnation of ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' from ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' onwards. A quirky, energetic dude who occasionally adventures through literal rockin' levels. Compare with his personality from the first three games, where he was closer to an OnlySaneMan.
* The localization of ''VideoGame/{{Ristar}}'' (another game by by Creator/SonicTeam) [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore attempted to turn the title character into this,]] with the international box art giving him a cocky pose and smirk, and his in-game sprites being altered to have a frown and a confident idle animation. This was downplayed (if not entirely absent) in the original Japanese version, which put a greater emphasis on the character's cuteness than attitude, and depicted him with a cheerful face instead.
* ''Rockin' Kats'', a PlatformGame by Creator/{{Atlus}} for the NES. Its main inspiration seems to be Saturday-morning cartoons, which probably accounts for the spring-loaded boxing glove gun used in the game.
* ''VideoGame/RockyRodent'' was essentially Sonic with [[PrehensileHair super hair powers]] and none of the cuteness or charisma.
* ''VideoGame/{{Scaler}}'' is a somewhat obscure modern example. Although his TotallyRadical quippiness is ''especially'' grating, his game ain't half bad, [[http://ps2.ign.com/articles/559/559429p1.html say a few critics.]]
* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' is more or less a modern attempt at this kind of character, being way classier and more mature than the usual example (mostly thanks to not relying on TotallyRadical and starring games that are the essential opposite of intense), but still keeping a cool and snarky attitude.
* Another one from the Genesis, the titular ''VideoGame/{{Socket}}'' is a duck with… an electric plug coming from his butt. Yes, really. The [[http://segaretro.org/File:Socket_md_us_cover.jpg back of the US box]] for the game boasted about how he's fast enough to switch off the lights and get out of the room before it turns dark and how he has more alternating current than the electric company.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** Sonic is, of course, the TropeMaker. He is an unusual example in that his type of attitude flip-flops DependingOnTheWriter. Sonic had different interpretations from Sega of Japan and Sega of America, resulting in him having similar but distinct personalities. In Japan, he's characterized as self-confident and laidback, which are generally "bad boy" traits for a country prided on its [[JapanesePoliteness politeness.]] Meanwhile, he was characterized exactly as the trope describes in most international adaptations, influenced by Sega of America's characterization.
*** The [=DiC=] cartoons [[CharacterExaggeration took the attitude part to the point of parody]], especially ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using TotallyRadical expressions and catchphrases. ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' filters the attitude with ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy]]''-inspired SurrealHumor.
*** The early ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' books found a middle ground between the two [=DiC=] cartoons, but traits of his Japanese personality started to seep in, and by the ContinuityReboot he's nearly identical to his Japanese characterization.
*** ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has him as a genuine JerkAss and a BigBrotherBully.
*** ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' and ''Anime/SonicX'' were closer to his "laidback but rebellious" Japanese depiction even in their international dubs, although he was depicted much more friendly (if somewhat aloof) in the latter.
** After this trope started to die out with the TurnOfTheMillennium, Sonic's Japanese personality was made consistent across all regions: a balance was struck between his laidback and confident ego and his strong sense of justice and empathy, resulting in something of a ChaoticGood hero. This portrayal is particularly explored in the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'' comics.
* The titular ''VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester'', a furry yellow comedian thing, created by the same person behind the ''VideoGame/SonicBeforeTheSequel'' fangame, so it comes with the territory.
* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'' is similar to ''Crash'' (they've even [[CrisisCrossover crossed over]] once or twice). He's a sassy, {{badbutt}} KidHero who frequently mocks his enemies. This is very much played up in the original game, but for the two sequels, he's more restrained and traditionally heroic whilst still having a hot mouth for villains who deserve it. He underwent a brief DarkerAndEdgier reboot in the late 2000s that recast him in a more serious fantasy environment, before being rebooted ''again'' with the ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'' franchise. And in ''Skylanders'', ''many'' of the characters fit this archetype; not just Spyro. In the ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'' remakes, Spyro's attitude has been toned down as a result of this trope having died out since the 1990s, which is particularly noticeable in the first game.
* ''VideoGame/ToeJamAndEarl'' are a pair of funky aliens who ''embody'' the TotallyRadical trope of the 90s. Their games are still very memorable to this day.
* ''VideoGame/TyTheTasmanianTiger''. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzsC1qSqFDo trailers]] for his first game showed him beating up Sonic, Spyro and Crash with boomerangs, for one thing.
* ''VideoGame/WallyBearAndTheNoGang'', a [[TheMoralSubstitute moralizing but otherwise generic platformer]], has a hip skateboarding bear, who wears sunglasses and spends all his time beating up [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealers]] and going to parties (UsefulNotes/StraightEdge parties, you understand).
* ''VideoGame/{{Wario}}'' was definitely this in the 90's (when the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series was more prominent), albeit with a bigger emphasis on manliness than on coolness proper. Promotional material for those games always depicted Wario acting like the pig he is, eating junk food or posing with a CoolCar, and his games relied way more on combat and slapstick than the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series. With the advent of the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, Wario was inexplicably redesigned with a biker outfit for those games, but his manliness was somewhat downplayed for a [[DenserAndWackier wackier]] attitude.
* The titular character of the forgotten Sega CD platformer ''VideoGame/WildWoody''. He's an extreme pencil.
* ''VideoGame/{{Zool}}'' is a Gremlin Ninja from the nth Dimension who spends the game beating up his enemies with his ninja skills.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games (Other)]]

** After this trope started to die out with the TurnOfTheMillennium, Sonic's Japanese personality was made consistent across both regions: a balance was struck between his laidback and confident ego and his strong sense of justice and empathy, resulting in something of a ChaoticGood hero. This portrayal is particularly explored in the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'' comics.

*** The early ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' books found a middle ground between the two [=DiC=] cartoons, but traits of his Japanese personality started to seep in,
and by the ContinuityReboot he's nearly identical to his Japanese characterization.

During their heyday in the 90s, almost all Mascots with Attitude were created in order to [[FollowTheLeader capitalize on the success of]] one ''Sonic the Hedgehog.'' The reason that most of these failed is that they tended to come across as TheThemeParkVersion of ''Sonic''. Often a mascot with attitude would have said attitude at the expense of a real personality; they were frequently unable to say anything ''not'' snarky, and tended to overuse their gimmicks to the point of being {{Flat Character}}s. Many were American-made (probably because [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Americans love Sonic]]) and thus also tended to be filled with ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-esque gags or [[GrossoutShow grossout humor]], as were popular in America at the time (Sonic himself notably had neither of these things in his games, though the American cartoon ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' included ''Looney Tunes''-style {{slapstick}}).

Also see NinetiesAntiHero, who hails from the same era, TeenageMutantSamuraiWombats, the WesternAnimation version, and OverusedCopycatCharacter.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic is, of course, the TropeMaker. He is an unusual example in that his type of attitude flip-flops DependingOnTheWriter. Sonic had two different interpretations from Sega of Japan as well as Sega of America, resulting in him having similar but distinct personalities. In Japan, he's characterized as self-confident and laidback, which are generally "bad boy" traits for a country prided on its [[JapanesePoliteness politeness.]] While he was characterized exactly as the trope describes in America. After this trope started to die out with the TurnOfTheMillennium, Sonic's personality was slightly adjusted to being much more kind and friendly, but still retaining his rebellious traits and becoming something a ChaoticGood hero. From then on, Sonic's "attitude" and his heroic traits would be in constant flux.
** The [=DiC=] cartoons [[CharacterExaggeration took the attitude part]] [[UpToEleven to the point of parody]], especially ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using TotallyRadical expressions and catchphrases. ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' filters the attitude with ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren & Stimpy]]''-inspired SurrealHumor. ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has him as a genuine JerkAss and a BigBrotherBully. ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' and ''Anime/SonicX'' were closer to his "laidback but rebellious" Japanese depiction, although he was depicted much more friendly (if somewhat aloof) in the latter.

* The titular character of the forgotten Sega CD platformer ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQQSe9bQn3I Wild Woody.]]''. He's an extreme pencil.

* Conker the squirrel, at least in ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay,'' is somewhere between a parody of this and the "cute and cuddly" animal mascot which he [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally was to have been]]. His first appearance, ''Conker's Pocket Tales'', as well as his appearance in ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'', have almost none of the qualities mentioned above (only the first applies).

* ''VideoGame/MrNutz'', if only on the box art of the first game and the title screen of the second game, where this little squirrel was holding sunglasses at his hip, sporting a cocky expression, had a skinned elbow, and was perhaps throwing out a gang sign. For bonus points, [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c0/Mr._Nutz_SMD_cover.PNG the box art]] gives him Sonic's ConjoinedEyes and [[http://info.sonicretro.org/images/8/8e/SSS_SONIC26.png a variant of one of his signature poses]]. The games themselves took place deep in the SugarBowl, and the in-game character was almost [[TastesLikeDiabetes too cute]].

* The ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' [[https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Krkkzz_Zappl_(Prime_Earth)?file=Krkkzz_Zappl_01.jpg Krkkzz Zappl]] is clearly based on Sonic. He's also made of living radio waves imying a level of SuperSpeed besides the FasterThanLightTravel built into the Green Lanterns PowerRing.

** The [=DiC=] cartoons [[CharacterExaggeration took the attitude part]] [[UpToEleven to the point of parody]], especially ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using TotallyRadical expressions and catchphrases. ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' downplays the attitude in favor of an [[DerangedAnimation absurdist]], [[SurrealHumor surrealist]] tone. ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has him as a genuine JerkAss and a BigBrotherBully. ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' and ''Anime/SonicX'' were closer to his "laidback but rebellious" Japanese depiction, although he was depicted much more friendly (if somewhat aloof) in the latter.

** The [=DiC=] cartoons [[CharacterExaggeration took the attitude part]] [[UpToEleven to the point of parody]], especially ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using TotallyRadical expressions and catchphrases. ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgedog'' downplays the attitude in favor of an [[DerangedAnimation absurdist]], [[SurrealHumor surrealist]] tone. ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has him as a genuine JerkAss and a BigBrotherBully. ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' and ''Anime/SonicX'' were closer to his "laidback but rebellious" Japanese depiction, although he was depicted much more friendly (if somewhat aloof) in the latter.

** The [=DiC=] cartoons [[CharacterExaggeration took the attitude part]] [[UpToEleven to the point of parody]], especially ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using TotallyRadical expressions and catchphrases. ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has him as a genuine JerkAss and a BigBrotherBully. ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' and ''Anime/SonicX'' were closer to his "laidback but rebellious" Japanese depiction, although he was depicted much more friendly (if somewhat aloof) in the latter.

Also see NinetiesAntiHero, who hails from the same era, and OverusedCopycatCharacter.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic is, of course, the TropeMaker. He is an unusual example in that his type of attitude flip-flops DependingOnTheWriter. Sonic had two different interpretations from Sega of Japan as well as Sega of America, resulting in him having similar but distinct personalities. In Japan, he's characterized as self-confident and laidback, which are generally "bad boy" traits for a a country prided on its [[JapanesePoliteness politeness.]] While he was characterized exactly as the trope describes in America. After this trope started to die out with the TurnOfTheMillennium, Sonic's personality was slightly adjusted to being much more kind and friendly, but still retaining his rebellious traits and becoming something a ChaoticGood hero. From then on, Sonic's "attitude" and his heroic traits would be in constant flux.

# The advertisements for their games put a lot of emphasis on said game's "intensity," especially twitch-action and [[FollowTheLeader "speed"]].

If the Mascot with Attitide isn't the main character, they're probably a SnarkyNonHumanSidekick. Compare DreamworksFace, a form of CoversAlwaysLie in which animated characters appear to have "attitude", but only in advertising material.

There was a time, largely in the mid-[[TheNineties Nineties]], when the world of video games was overrun with a certain type of character. The Mascot with Attitude is a [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] FunnyAnimal with [[TotallyRadical kickin']] powers, [[JumpPhysics improbable jumping abilities]], and usually some form of girlfriend or world to save [[ExcusePlot (or something)]]. Generally, the Mascot with Attitude can be defined by the presence of three or more of the following traits:

# Is a FunnyAnimal, usually with a SpeciesSurname. ''(e.g., VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog, Franchise/SpyroTheDragon)''
# Comes from a PlatformGame.
# Is TotallyRadical. This can be as mild as using [[HypocriticalHumor totally bogus]] outdated slang, or as JustForFun/{{egregious}} as giving the character a love of "extreme" sports, fast food, sneakers, or anything else with supposed "youth appeal."
# Is quippy, [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]], and prone to making lots of [[HurricaneOfPuns really bad jokes.]] Bonus points if one of them is a TakeThat against Sonic the Hedgehog. This trait is more likely to show up in comic book and cartoon adaptations than games, whose {{Excuse Plot}}s often did without dialogue.
# Is competent and violent, [[{{Badbutt}} but not to child-unfriendly levels.]] He's also not allowed to swear, but will [[GoshDangItToHeck do his best to try anyway.]]
# A supporting cast which reinforces his status as coolest character in the universe. Look out for an older uncool antagonist, a sidekick with a case of hero-worship, a helplessly devoted and/or snarky love interest, or a rival that's almost (but not quite) as cool as the mascot.
# Advertisements for his games put a lot of emphasis on said game's "intensity," especially twitch-action and [[FollowTheLeader "speed"]].

See also: SnarkyNonHumanSidekick, a webcomic trope.

Compare DreamworksFace, a form of CoversAlwaysLie in which animated characters appear to be this but only on the movie poster.

Compare NinetiesAntiHero, who hails from the same era, and OverusedCopycatCharacter.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic is, of course, the TropeMaker. He is an unusual example in that his type of attitude flip-flops DependingOnTheWriter. Sonic had two different interpretations from Sega of Japan as well as Sega of America, resulting in him having similar but distinct personalities. In Japan, he's characterized as self-confident and laidback, which are generally "bad boy" traits for a a country prided on its [[JapanesePoliteness politeness.]] While he was characterized exactly as the trope describes in America. After this trope started to die out with the TurnOfTheMillennium, Sonic's personality was slightly adjusted to being much more kind and friendly, but still retaining his rebellious traits and becoming something a ChaoticGood hero. From then on, Sonic's "attitude" and his heroic traits would be in constant flux.
** The [=DiC=] cartoons [[CharacterExaggeration took the attitude part]] [[UpToEleven to the point of parody]], especially ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using TotallyRadical expressions and catchphrases. ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has him as a genuine JerkAss and a BigBrotherBully. ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' and ''Anime/SonicX'' were closer to his "laidback but rebellious" Japanese depiction, although he was depicted much more friendly (if somewhat aloof) in the latter.

* "Dippy Fresh" from "Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape From Reality" in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. A TotallyRadical, catch-phrase spewing, skateboarding idealization of Dipper that was created in Mabel's fantasy [[CrapsaccharineWorld dream dimension]]. He even looks similar to Kid Vid and according to WordOfGod, he’s based on both him and Disney XD’s aesthetic. Of course, the real Dipper absolutely despises him.
-->'''Dippy Fresh:''' Wiggity-Wiggity what's up dudebros! I'm Dippy Fresh! I like skateboarding, supporting my sister, and punctuating every sentence with a high-five!

* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' has its roots in the 1980s, so its eponymous protagonist wasn't initially designed as one of these. As it happens, though, the series' fast-paced and noisy gameplay fit the edgier trends of the mid-'90s perfectly--so to match, Bomberman picked up a sleeker, more dynamic redesign compared to the short, chubby [[AmbiguousRobots Ambiguous Robot]] of previous games, was often seen with a cocky, confident look in artwork, and started to pick up a large supporting cast of friends and rivals, many of whom ''screamed'' TotallyRadical (just look at [[http://images.shoutwiki.com/bomberpedia/2/2e/MAX.png Max]]!). He even crossed over with fellow Mascot with Attitude VideoGame/{{Wario}} once. That said, the games released during this time frame were never as in-your-face with their attitude as some of their contemporaries.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' has its roots in the 1980s, so its eponymous protagonist wasn't initially designed as one of these. As it happens, though, the series' fast-paced and noisy gameplay fit the edgier trends of the mid-'90s perfectly--so to match, Bomberman picked up a sleeker, more dynamic redesign compared to the short, chubby [[AmbiguousRobots Ambiguous Robot]] of previous games, was often seen with a cocky, confident look in artwork, and started to pick up a large supporting cast of friends and rivals, many of whom ''screamed'' TotallyRadical (just look at [[http://images.shoutwiki.com/bomberpedia/2/2e/MAX.png Max]]!). He even crossed over with fellow Mascot with Attitude VideoGame/{{Wario}} once. That said, the games released during this time frame were never as in-your-face with their attitude as some of their contemporaries.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'' has its roots in the 1980s, so its eponymous protagonist wasn't initially designed as one of these. As it happens, though, the series' fast-paced and noisy gameplay fit the edgier trends of the mid-'90s perfectly--so to match, Bomberman picked up a sleeker, more dynamic redesign compared to the short, chubby [[AmbiguousRobots Ambiguous Robot]] of previous games, was often seen with a cocky, confident look in artwork, and started to pick up a large supporting cast of friends and rivals, a good deal of whom ''screamed'' TotallyRadical (just look at [[http://images.shoutwiki.com/bomberpedia/2/2e/MAX.png Max]]!). He even crossed over with fellow Mascot with Attitude VideoGame/{{Wario}} once. That said, the games released during this time frame were never as aggressively edgy as some of their contemporaries.

* The ill-fated ''VideoGame/{{Bubsy}} the Bobcat'' is a particularly infamous example of this trope. Bubsy was played straight in his own games, but in his [[WesternAnimation/{{Bubsy}} cartoon pilot]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F97am9_N2I he became a surreal extreme version of himself,]] quoting his newly-acquired Catchphrase (which was a throwaway remark of Bubsy's in the first game, but must have tickled one of the writers' - or more likely executives' - fancy a bit more than it should) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HFPa-M6Ssk way way too often]] (it's even sort of deconstructed within the pilot itself eventually, when Arnold suddenly turns on Bubsy, sarcastically yelling Bubsy's "[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong What could paw-ssibly go wrong?]]" back at him after his jinxed catchphrase causes them to lose the universe-altering helmet at the very last minute). In most cartoon openings, they have some kind of montage of what the main characters do. In the ''Bubsy'' pilot, he gets out of bed, brushes his teeth with a car buffer, eats some cereal, breakdances and does some air guitar. Cartoon Bubsy [[TotallyRadical just drips attitude, y'know]]? He wasn't even that much like this in his original outing, being more along the lines of a ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-inspired ButtMonkey - maybe things would have gone better if they stuck to that.
* ''VideoGame/{{Blinx}}'' was meant to be one for [[Creator/XboxGameStudios Microsoft]] (he was even designed by Sonic's creator), but it didn't stick due to the poor reception of his games.

* Sash Lilac the dragon girl from ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' is a GenreThrowback to this kind of character. Having started out as a ''Sonic'' fangame to begin with, even sporting a hedgehog design in early development, it's not all that surprising. While she's confident and has the speed to match, she's more spunky and cute than snarky. Her best friend Carol makes up for it, being a green wildcat ninja with a motorcycle who uses karate kicks that allows her to drive up walls and do backflips. [[CrazyAwesome Yes, really]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Dash Dingo, the Australian baby-eating video game character featured in a video game Lisa plays in the Season 10 episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E7LisaGetsAnA Lisa Gets an A]]". Specifically based on ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' and the story of Azaria Chamberlain, a baby girl who was killed by a dingo in the 1980s.

* "Dippy Fresh" from "Weirdmageddon Part 2: Escape From Reality" in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. A TotallyRadical, catch-phrase spewing, skateboarding idealization of Dipper that was created in Mabel's fantasy [[CrapsaccharineWorld dream dimension]]. He even looks similar to Kid Vid. Of course, the real Dipper absolutely despises him.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wario}}'' was definitely this in the 90's (when the ''VideoGame/WarioLand'' series was more prominent), albeit with a bigger emphasis on manliness than on coolness proper. Promotional material for those games always depicted Wario acting like the pig he is, eating junk food or posing with a CoolCar, and his games relied way more on combat and slapstick than the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series. With the advent of the VideoGame/WarioWare series, Wario was inexplicably redesigned with a biker outfit for those games, but his manliness was somewhat downplayed for a [[DenserAndWackier wackier]] attitude.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** Sonic is, of course, the TropeMaker. He is an unusual example in that his type of attitude flip-flops DependingOnTheWriter. He was intended from the start to be this heavily: he originally had CuteLittleFangs to make him look tougher, was a ChickMagnet with a hot TokenHuman girlfriend, was the lead singer of a rock band, and fought monsters... But Sega of America thought this was ''too'' hardcore for their target audience and asked Sega of Japan to tone him down. In the end, America and Europe depicted him as the (now conventional) TotallyRadical type, while Japan went with a less conventional approach, characterizing him as laidback but rebellious, self-confident and cheeky (with early Japanese depictions being closer to his early "bad boy" personality, minus the human girlfriend). Later on, he started getting depicted more "cutesy" in the merchandising, until ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' attempted to [[CharacterRerailment restore his Japanese portrayal]], after which said depiction was adopted worldwide. Then came ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', which made him more friendly and warming. ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', however, gave him a cocky, sarcastic, [[MotorMouth quippy]] personality more akin to the old Western portrayals[[note]]not very surprising, being the first Sonic game whose script was done by an American writer[[/note]]:
--->'''Dr. Eggman:''' This amusement park was constructed entirely out of a sense of remorse for my past transgressions, and [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial is in no way associated with any sort of evil plot or premeditated misdeeds]].
--->'''Sonic:''' Well, ''that's'' [[SarcasmMode a relief]].
** The [=DiC=] cartoons [[CharacterExaggeration took the attitude part]] [[UpToEleven to the point of parody]], especially ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'', which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using TotallyRadical expressions and catchphrases. ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' has him as a genuine JerkAss and a BigBrotherBully. ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' and ''Anime/SonicX'' were closer to his "laidback but rebellious" Japanese depiction, although he was depicted much more friendly (if somewhat aloof) in the latter.