Image via Complex Original
Intro
Fan Art. Some of it is REALLY bad. But some of it is super awesome. So awesome, in fact, that some of it is even better than anything the creators of the series ever came up with. Seriously, some of it is THAT good.
That being said, everything on this list is definitely in the latter category rather than the former. Feel free to put some of these up as your wallpaper. We certainly did.
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
Credit: Fantasy Anime
Remember that horrible box art for the game? Yeah, you do. Marle looks like she’s wearing a sack, Frog looks like he just lost his contacts, and Chrono, well, Chrono looks aiight. But the rest of it is awful. We much prefer this picture, with Lucca looking decidedly better than she did in the game. It’s peaceful but almost has an unsettling aura to it. Just like the game. We like it.
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
Credit: Tech E Blog
Mario and Luigi as super heroes with bulging muscles and manly mustaches? Why not? And Bowser in the back looks like a boss. Nice.
Skyrim
Skyrim
Credit: Kynde
You can’t hear us right now, but we’re whistling. This is so sweet. It might look simple and sparse, but that’s the beauty of it, right? Gotta love that man vs. dragon imagery going on here. This is beautiful.
Strider
Strider
Credit: Santi Ikari
Strider might never leave Eurasia alive, but this picture is still simply beastly. Gotta love that purple at the bottom.
Shadow of the Colossus
Shadow of the Colossus
Credit: El Kenshin
Unsurprisingly, there are a LOT of great pics of the epic Shadow of the Colossus online. This just happens to be our favorite. It tells a story in itself. And those eyes look like headlights. We wonder which one of them is more afraid.
Dr. Robotnik
Dr. Robotnik
Credit: Andrew Smith
Dr. Robotnik is evil itself, but you would never think that from the pictures you always see of him in the manual. We think this picture is much more appropriate. He looks like a rapist in it, just like we always really imagined him.
Mega Man
Mega Man
Credit: GTS
If there’s any character who could use a boost in the cool department, it’s Mega Man. And that’s what fan art is for. Just look how cool Mega Man looks squaring off against Guts Man. Hey, it’s way better than the original box art for Mega Man, right?
Kratos
Kratos
Credit: The Given
Kratos and Leonidas (or is that supposed to be Kratos’ brother, Deimos?) fighting together? Well, why not? That’s what fan art’s for after all, right? Or maybe we’re thinking about fan fiction? Hmm…well, anyway. Cool picture, bro.
Akuma
Akuma
Credit: Tu Hun
If not for the beads, we might not even KNOW that it was supposed to be Akuma. It looks like smoke turning into a man, rather than the other way around. But he DOES have the beads, and so yeah, this is awesome. Akuma is a force of nature, man.
Bioshock
BioShock
Credit: Gavin Hargest
We love video games and all (obviously), but this picture is just too beautiful. We almost think it’s too GOOD for video games. It belongs in a museum. This is freaking magnificent.
Devil May Cry
Devil May Cry
Credit: Johnny Machine
What poise. What badassness. We love the downward tilt of the gun in this pic. It looks like Dante has actually taken aim upon something. And that blade work is just amazing. Man, we wish we had talent like that.
The Legend of Zeldaa
The Legend of Zelda
Credit: Captain Osaka
The Legend of Zelda cast mixed with Scott Pilgrim aesthetics? Yep, count us in as fans.
Voldo
Voldo
Credit: Tobiee
Voldo is a freak. But this picture makes him look like a sadistic murderer. Color us crazy, but we find that MUCH scarier.
Pac-Man
Pac-Man
Credit: LabrenzInK
Pac-Man as a pellet chomping Langolier look-alike? Seriously, we’re terrified. And so is this ghost, apparently. Yeesh.
Mike Tyson’s Punch Out
Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!
Credit: Bredan Corris
Though we would love to see Lil Mac even smaller than the much bulkier (and accurate looking) Mike Tyson, in this picture, we absolutely love the jaggedness of this scene. Mario looks truly terrified (and human), and Doc Louis looks just as he should—like he shit a ton of bricks. We want to put this in poster size.
Assassin’s Creed
Assassin’s Creed
Credit: Steven Niles
This belongs in a comic book. Altair kind of looks like Moon Knight here. And if you know anything about us here at Complex, we love us some Moon Knight. So we love this, too.
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda
Credit: Bisart
Another LoZ pic, but this one is decidedly more serious. We love the cavernous look of the dungeon in this pic. It’s claustrophobic and just how we feel some of the times in these temples. And look at Link shouting at Navi. He’s probably all like, “Shut the hell up, already with your, ‘hey, hey, hey’s’, bitch, I’m trying to think!” Yeah, that’s what he’s saying.
Battletoads/TMNT
Battletoads/TMNT
Credit: JohnsDead
Sure, it might not be as refined or as pretty as some of the other pics on this list, but there’s just so much going on here and in such a small space that it’s full of amazing. We can’t tell who’s winning.
Street Fighter 2a
Street Fighter 2
Credit: Lastscionz
This one’s for the heavyweights. If you can tell anything from our picks on this list, you can tell that we love us some action shots going on in our pics. And this one is just full of it. It probably WOULD take three ninjas to take down Zangief, wouldn’t it? That man wrestles BEARS! And shout out to E Honda, holding his own in the background. What a beast.
Street Fighter 2
Street Fighter 2
Credit: Hangemhigh13
ANOTHER Street Fighter 2 picture? Most certainly. Like the BioShock pic earlier, we honestly think this belongs in a museum. Video game art be damned. So much creativity going on here. Shoryuken!
Snatcher
Snatcher
Credit: Vendrell-d2z2czk
Looking like a scene straight out of Blade Runner is this scary imagery from the obscure Sega CD game, Snatcher. It looks like our dreams.
Sub-Zero
Sub-Zero
Credit: Fan Art Exhibit
Good God, this is amazing. We can FEEL that frostbitten chill coming through his face mask, which is turning to icicles from his very breath. It’s going to be hard to top this one, but…
1. Super Mario
Super Mario
Credit: Pacroid
There are surprisingly a LOT of realistic Mario pictures on-line, but this one just touches us in a special way. Mario does a lot of heroic deeds in his games, but this is the first where we actually BELIEVED it. Look at his confident gaze as he steps right on Bowser’s head.
Look at Princess Peach’s gratitude for him. She LOVES the guy. Look at that shading. Look at those shadows. Everything about this picture just makes us want to play the game it’s representing, just as great fan art should do. We’re in love.