"Cowabunga!"
Examples of Mascot with Attitude in Platform Games.
- Aero the Acro-Bat (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.
- Arcade America has Joey, a crude wannabe rock star, and his band of monsters. The description on the back of the box hammers it home:
Step aside hedgehogs, earth worms and donkeys to make room for Joey and the Monsters in Arcade America, the wackiest platform game in the country.
- The video game adaptation Avoid the Noid, 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 Green Aesop? Probably something like the Sega Genesis game Awesome Possum... Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt, whose name is as Totally Radical 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.
- Bart Simpson himself could be considered this in all the games he starred in from the early 90s like The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants and The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World. 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 Battletoads were a combination between this and Teenage Mutant Samurai Wombats. This was best exemplified by Rash.
- Blender Bros is a mild example. The main character, Blender, does have a permanent smirk and his game has more than a little Sonic the Hedgehog 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 Bonk (a caveman with attitude and an oversized head) was made into this via localization, becoming the mascot of the TurboGrafx-16 and even paving the way for a more traditional example in its futuristic spinoff series called Air Zonk.
- The ill-fated Bubsy the Bobcat is a particularly infamous example of this trope. Bubsy was played straight in his own games, but in his cartoon pilot 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) 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 "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 just drips attitude, y'know? He wasn't even that much like this in his original outing, being more along the lines of a Looney Tunes-inspired Butt-Monkey - maybe things would have gone better if they stuck to that. - Blinx was meant to be one for 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 Bug. He spouts cheesy, annoying one-liners almost every time he kills an enemy or when he takes damage.
- Chester Cheetah, the painfully Totally Radical mascot for Cheetos, starred in a couple of licensed Platform Games at the time of the trend. Ironically, though the cheetah is supposed to be the fastest creature on land, in the first level of 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 Lara Croft came along.
- Cool Spot is more laid-back than the typical example, 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 Totally Radical, much more than most on this list.
- Crash Bandicoot 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 Idiot Hero who just so happens to be an unstoppable destructive force, however marketing and cover art still portrayed him as having an attitude. Portrayals varied post-Naughty Dog, with studios like Traveller's Tales playing up his idiot side while Radical Entertainment reimagined everyone with punkish designs and a satirical tone, playing this trope straighter. His current iteration places emphasis on his wackier side.
- Naughty Dog themselves went on to make another series of excellent 3D platformers on the PS2 and onwards with Jak and Daxter, 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 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.
- Donkey Kong was this in the Donkey Kong Country series until Donkey Kong 64 did away with the attitude (in-game at least, cover art and promotional material still made him out to be this way) and made him an Idiot Hero. The latter was a result of a mandate by Miyamoto, who had always intended for Donkey Kong to be dimwitted. However, his attitude came back with a vengeance in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and Retro Studios' DKC games, where he's more violent than ever before—in the latter, he punches the moon out of the sky!
- His surfer ally Funky Kong finally fit the bill, once he became playable in his own mode for Tropical Freeze.
- Dynamite Headdy 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 the sheer weirdness of everything else; beyond that constant smug expression, it's mostly restricted to his idle animations (including one where he dribbles his own head like a basketball).
- Sash Lilac the dragon girl from Freedom Planet is a Genre Throwback 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.
- Gex the gecko. His games have him throwing quips almost nonstop during the gameplay.
- The 1980s page The Great Giana Sisters has the titular Giana's Super Mode, Punk Giana. In particular, we have Punk Giana's depiction in the original game's English cover.◊ The sequel games (which were released in the 2000s and 2010s) heavily downplay this element of Punk Giana.
- James Pond is both this and a parody of James Bond. Unlike most examples, he actually predates Sonic the Hedgehog by a year (James Pond: Underwater Agent came out in 1990.) He's also less Totally Radical and more Camp.
- Jazz Jackrabbit started out as this, with Jazz basically being Sonic with a big cartoon gun and a Rambo-like attire, which was emphasized with his expressions and mannerisms. 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 Idiot Hero than edgy).
- Attempted with 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 American Kirby Is Hardcore page for examples.
- Kay, the hot-headed martial artist hero of Legend of Kay.
- Mr. Nutz, 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. The box art◊ gives him Sonic's Conjoined Eyes and a variant of one of his signature poses◊. The games themselves take place deep in the Sugar Bowl.
- Dash the bee of Nefarious, as befits a Sonic Expy. He even has a cocky grin in his dialogue portrait.
- Oscar was an otter (who looked more like a Cartoon Creature) 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 was temporarily redesigned into one starting with Pac-Man Party, despite still looking too cheerful to be one.
- Punky Skunk for the PS1. Invoked explicitly in the packaging, with the title character's head floating on a funky background.
- Radical Rex. 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 Funny Animal, the protagonist of Rascal qualifies. Was poorly received and only had one game.
- Ratchet & Clank went side-by-side with Jak and Daxter and Kingdom Hearts, but Ratchet's characterization in the the original game is more of a deconstruction. Ratchet starts off as a hotblooded jerk with traits of a common mascot with attitude, but his abusive treatment of Clank and his single-minded desire for revenge against Captain Qwark instead showed Ratchet was on his way to becoming a villain. He gets over it, drops the attitude to become a Deadpan Snarker Nice Guy, and becomes a more noble and beloved hero in the sequels. With the PS4 game, the edgy attitude was dropped from his origin story entirely.
- Arguably, the current incarnation of Rayman from Rayman Origins 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 Only Sane Man.
- The localization of Ristar (another game by by Sonic Team) 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 Platform Game by 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.
- Rocky Rodent was essentially Sonic with super hair powers and none of the cuteness or charisma.
- Scaler is a somewhat obscure modern example. Although his Totally Radical quippiness is especially grating, his game ain't half bad, say a few critics.
- Sly Cooper 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 Totally Radical 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 Socket is a duck with… an electric plug coming from his butt. Yes, really. The 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.
- Sonic the Hedgehog:
- Sonic is, of course, the Trope Maker. He is an unusual example in that his type of attitude flip-flops Depending on the Writer. 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 politeness. Meanwhile, he was characterized exactly as the trope describes in most international adaptations, influenced by Sega of America's characterization.
- The DiC cartoons took the attitude part to the point of parody, especially Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM), which depicted Sonic as always showing off and using Totally Radical expressions and catchphrases. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog filters the attitude with Ren & Stimpy-inspired Surreal Humor.
- The early Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) books found a middle ground between the two DiC cartoons, but traits of his Japanese personality started to seep in, and by the Continuity Reboot he's nearly identical to his Japanese characterization.
- Sonic the Comic has him as a genuine Jerkass and a Big Brother Bully.
- Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie and Sonic X 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 Turn of the Millennium, 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. This portrayal is particularly explored in the Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) comics.
- Sonic's rival Shadow was pushed hard in the 00's as a "Mascot with Way More Attitude", even getting his own poorly-received game in the process. It is telling that said game was announced with Shadow literally shooting down a compilation of Sonic's own previous games. Suffice to say, it didn't stick, and Shadow went back to being more of a supporting character around the end of the decade.
- Sonic is, of course, the Trope Maker. He is an unusual example in that his type of attitude flip-flops Depending on the Writer. 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 politeness. Meanwhile, he was characterized exactly as the trope describes in most international adaptations, influenced by Sega of America's characterization.
- The titular Spark the Electric Jester, a furry yellow comedian thing, created by the same person behind the Sonic: Before the Sequel fangame, so it comes with the territory.
- Spyro the Dragon is similar to Crash (they've even crossed over once or twice). He's a sassy, badbutt Kid Hero 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 Darker and Edgier reboot in the late 2000s that recast him in a more serious fantasy environment, before being rebooted again with the Skylanders franchise. And in Skylanders, many of the characters fit this archetype; not just Spyro. In the Spyro Reignited Trilogy 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.
- Toe Jam And Earl are a pair of funky aliens who embody the Totally Radical trope of the 90s. Their games are still very memorable to this day.
- Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. The trailers for his first game showed him beating up Sonic, Spyro, and Crash with boomerangs, for one thing.
- Wally Bear and the NO! Gang, a moralizing but otherwise generic platformer, has a hip skateboarding bear, who wears sunglasses and spends all his time beating up Aggressive Drug Dealers and going to parties (Straight Edge parties, you understand).
- Wario was definitely this in the 90's (when the Wario Land 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 Cool Car, and his games relied way more on combat and slapstick than the Super Mario Bros. series. With the advent of the WarioWare series, Wario was inexplicably redesigned with a biker outfit for those games, but his manliness was somewhat downplayed for a wackier attitude.
- The titular character of the forgotten Sega CD platformer Wild Woody. He's an extreme pencil.
- Zool is a Gremlin Ninja from the nth Dimension who spends the game beating up his enemies with his ninja skills.
