Videogame Character Sneaks Into Forbes Top 15 Richest

Forbes magazine - the august organ published by failed U.S. presidential candidate, Steve Forbes - has just released its list of the "Top 15 Richest fictional characters". An Italian plumber called Mario makes his first chart appearance in the basement. Lara Croft drops a place from 2005, to one place above the Nintendo icon, at Number 14.

OK, at first sight, this looks like a tiny dose of pre-seasonal fluff - to an extent that's exactly what it is. However, look more closely and it becomes clear that Forbes is not trying to attract a 'youth' audience nor is it trying to befuddle a reader-base of aged billionaires (and believe us, it has a reader-base of billionaires), rather it is having to deal with icons familiar to its a set of its readers who it is being forced to deal with: those hitting their mid-20s.

Mario (A.K.A. 'Jumpman') and Lara can both be rightfully called 'venerable' in the history of videogames - with Mario's first appearance in 1981, and Croft crop-topping up in 1996.

Lara made it into the chart last year (only the second list ever, the first appeared in 2002) for many, well two, obvious reasons: brand recognition and a movie-crossover which, in the minds of Madison Avenue, did not suck.

Mario’s appearance, however, is a clear indication of the position of games in places where power matters most: the corridors of cash.

Both characters are more familiar to the new crop of energetic money-makers - born in the early 1980s - than the bald arms dealer who falls in love with a ginger-headed pre-teen girl, and who sits at Number 1 on the list. In the case of Mario, well, he’s been there since this generation can remember.

Bear in mind that Forbes does not run editorial purely for the fun of it, no matter what it likes to make out. The serious message underlying all this is ‘Look, we know how much these characters are worth, for real!”.

SPOnG can't quite see how Sonic doesn't get in there based on the number of huge gold rings collected over the years since he first appeared in 1991. This could be to do with the fact that for eons the word, 'Nintendo' was a generic term for 'videogame' in the United States of 'Merca.

Here's some of what Forbes says about Mario:
"Mustachioed Italian plumber leaps onto Fictional 15 after decades of collecting gold coins from sewers, clouds, oceans… Twin brother Luigi remains closest companion. Says Mario, enthused about newfound wealth: "Woohoo! It's-a me, Mario!" New member."

And here's the list in full, including dollar values, tell us what you think at the forum:

1. Oliver "Daddy" Warbucks - bald, ancient (1924) arms dealer who adopted a ginger lass - $36.2 billion
2. Montgomery Burns – bald, ancient nuclear powerplant owner - $16.8 billion
3. Scrooge McDuck – feathered, orginally an English creation he was transported to Disneyland, has annoying nephews who he's never put a hit out on - $10.9 billion
4. Richie Rich - really, who cares about Richie Rich? - $10.7 billion
5. Jed Clampett - mad old oil magnet - $7.7 billion
6. Mr. Monopoly - possibly bald property owning fat man -$7.1 billion
7. Bruce Wayne - according to Forbes - "Rumours continue to swirl over long-time habit of keeping teenage boys as wards" - $6.8 billion
8. Tony Stark - another arms dealer with a big car - $3.0 billion
9. Prince Abakaliki of Nigeria - email scams to extract greed tax from fools - $2.8 billion
10. Thurston Howell III - industrialist who owned a boat and knew a bloke called Gilligan - $2.7 billion
11. Willy Wonka - confectioner and surrealist - $2 billion
12. Lucius Malfoy - moving swiftly on - $1.3 billion
13. Tony Montana - cocaine dealer, could have slipped in as game character given Scarface: The World Is Yours - $1 billion
14. Lara Croft - drops one place from last year - no new movie or game out - $1 billion
15. Mario - the absolute granddaddy as far as 'Merca is concerned - $1 billion

Read the full Forbes article here.