Yes, Mel is #1! I was so happy because she is my favorite character in the ND video game series. Even though the goth look isn't something I'm a fan of personally, I still love her look. Mel is also able to flawlessly incorporate pink (my favorite color) into both her room and outfit. She is the most real and genuine of the Waverly cast and is never afraid to be unique. Mel also has the best one-liner ever, "You just entered my room through THE WALL, I want an explanation." Great video, Caitlyn. :)
@@fadalerabrasool3563She said what most of the players were thinking. I know too many people faced their fair share of mean girls in middle school and high school.
@@avalasialovewhat’s also interesting is that the game Mel appears in is also the only game in the Nancy drew series aside from the mystery of the 7 keys that has steam achievements
My underrated characters is not ones that you would expect. I adore and find that my favorite character is..Fatima. Just the vibe of Copper Gorge in general makes...her...one of my favorites. I also really adore Lukas. They really did make a good kiddo character that wasn't a bratty Jane. When you can make fun of his clothes and he gets sad breaks my heart every time.
That was great! I have to say that of these characters, the two that really stuck out at me from when I was playing was Harper and Gunner. Harper drove me nuts, but then her story starts to come together and you realize that she's maybe not as crazy as she seems but is using that as a coping mechanism to hide the fact that she has been essentially betrayed and/or forgotten by her whole family. And Gunner, oh jeez what a curmudgeon! That is until you find out that his back story and seriously I was not expecting that turn of events and for me to feel utterly devastated by a computer character. That poor man. This was fun to watch and thanks for sharing!
Utterly devastated is a great description! Those characters both resonated with me so much as well, their backstories are just superb! Thanks for the comment! 🤗
What a great list :) Interesting how the "Renaissance" and "Modern" ND games that stand out have characters with ACTUAL DEPTH and investment into the plot. Henry Bolet is honestly one of my favourite characters. I remember playing the game for the first time and thinking he was a snarky a** but then as the game developed I really grew to like him (teen me had a crush on him as well). I am really looking forward to you building the Bolet mansion eventually.
It definitely is on the list! :D When Henry cries in the cemetery, I can legitimately feel my heart breaking! :( I totally agree that the Renaissance and Modern ones desperately need those deep characters!
Honestly the character I quote the most is Lukas from Captive Curse. Literally every time someone knocks on my door i cant help but go "No zank youuuu, ve already have one!!!"
It wasn’t until several years later that I realized most of his dialogue in the opening was a reference to “Monty Python and The Holy Grail.” When I did, that just made me love Lucas even more!
Harper Thornton is my all time favorite Nancy Drew character and probably my second favorite game character in general right after Ouma Kokichi from Danganronpa. So I was really happy to see she made this list! But I love the majority of your picks!
Before watching this I figured I’d make up my own list just to compare to yours, and I had all of the same characters except for Collin! I actually had Pa on my list instead, he’s just so wholesome😊 and he’s too nice to tell Nancy that Ma isn’t around anymore (although it’s kind of morbid that Nancy keeps asking where she is even though she already knows what happened😂)
Aww, no love for my favorite character Lukas Mittelmeier. LOL. Just kidding, I didn't really expect him to be here. I think I'm the only one who has him as a favorite.
Dexter is and will forever be my all time favorite character in the series. His backstory was incredible and I felt really emotional towards him and what he went through. Great list here!
I would have probably swapped out some of the people on this list, such as Colin or Miwako, with characters like Holt Scotto or Nick Falcone, but I totally get that the best characters are not always equivalent to our personal favorite characters. Gunnar, for example, is a lot like Holt, but he actually has a backstory, which arguably makes him a better character. Great job, as always! 👍
The whole video, I was waiting for Harper. Harper is easily my favorite character in any of the Nancy games I’ve played. Any time someone says “Not funny haha” my brain goes to her well speech! I love her so much.
I can't say I'd put Mel as high on this list as she is, but I will say that I enjoy visiting her whenever I play this game. She's a breath of fresh air from the other girls, and she reminds me of many of my high school friends, haha!
LOVE!! This is so measured and thoughtful as always. I totally don't think you've lost it re: Tino! He is SO memorable. I also totally agree with you re: Hotchkiss. I found her incredibly grating for the longest time because I hadn't played TRT yet and was only getting those phone interviews that I kinda wanted to fast forward through after the 1st time. but when I finally did I was like ... oh, she's not that bad!! and I ended up really liking her. Only person I think I might add to this would be Joseph Hughes from Final Scene...
I heavily considered Joseph too!! I think he ended up at spot 11 for me just because, like Dexter, his personality ends up being pretty understated, but I LOVE Joseph's story!!
This was such a great, well-thought out list! I agreed with most you had on here. I think an additional one I would add is Taylor Sinclair. So many of the other characters talk about him and have backstory with him (including Sonny Joon's doodles, Henrik's journal with how he acquired the nickname Big Bunny, Alejandro's disdain towards him, and Poppy Dada's art relationship with him). He is so delightfully weird, and I can just picture him as a real person. Plus... SO QUOTABLE. "Looks like someone forgot their beauty cream." ;) Lol
i just KNEW henry and mel would be at the very top! i mean come on, who would disagree? no need to explain further, you made great points in this video!
I'd definitely put Dwayne Powers on my list, as well as Joseph Hughes. Not sure who I'd take off to make room for them. Colin, definitely. And either Miwako or Gunnar. I could also see squeezing Rick Arlen onto the list.
I feel like Colin/Justin might be on the autism spectrum due to his obsession with tesserae and his awkwardness with interacting with others, being seemingly unable to move past his special interest, and flying off the handle when he feels he's lost a tool vital to his special interest which is mosaics and tesserae. It even translates into his approaches to Nancy, trying to impress her by leaving a gift, freaking out and attempting to cover it up when it backfires, and acting depressed whenever she mentions she has a boyfriend. I've seen a show on Netflix, 'Atypical' (A good show, but a bit vulgar at times so be careful) where the main character is autistic and has a crush on his therapist and acts a LOT like Colin, so it further affirms my belief that Colin/Justin might be autistic.
I agree with this list!! Even Colin and Tino, lol. But I especially like a couple of those slots!! 😆😆 Heck yeah!! Henry and Mel ftw!!! Really can't argue with the reasons you gave, they are pretty spectacular!! 👍👍
This is a solid list! I'm curious, at what point do you define Nancy drew games as the modern era? I completely agree that character dialogue starts to seem a bit off, which is actually why I stopped playing the games. I sort of think it starts at Captive Curse. What are your thoughts?
Captive Curse is actually exactly where I think the modern era begins!! The whole look of the games changes, the dialogue starts to get "wacky," and graphics start to really advance.
What do you think of ingrid from haunted carousel and ryan from a deadly device cause I think their both weird one in the good way and one in the not so good way I like ryan more than ingrid I love her upbeat attitude and her gummy bear theater outakes with ingrid I don't hate her but I don't really have anything to say
I like both Ingrid and Ryan as characters! I do find Ryan to be a little OTT at times in a way that doesn't feel super natural to me, but I still enjoy her. Ingrid feels like a very realistic person to me. She doesn't stand out too much compared to other characters, but I like her random naturopathic interests and also how great she is as an engineer!
Am I the only person who didn't like Henry? Being a tragic character is one thing, but I found him to be a bit 'edgy' in the modern and derogatory sense of the word. Maybe I should replay the game, but I really disliked him as a kid. Honestly, I kinda felt the same way about Mel, but I also haven't played that game for years. Perhaps I should try that one again, too.
I doubt you would be the only one who isn't necessarily a Henry fan! I rank him as one of the best characters, not because he's likable (because he may not be), but because his backstory and subplot is so fleshed out. He at least feels real to me!
I might be one of three people that didn't like Mel. To me, she always claimed to be above it all with the whole lone goth thing, but gossiped just as much as the other girls. Looking down on an old friend in Leela for getting into sports is pretty lame, but what sealed it for me was making Nancy get her milk and cookies because God forbid being seen eating them would "hurt her image". Yuck.
Well, it’s not like Leela was that great of a friend. She said that Mel probably took the collection of Poe stories and that “freak” was probably planning to resurrect him. Besides, it seems to me like Leela put competition above her friend. IDK I a might be biased because Leela kinda reminds me of a girl who used to bully me.
@@avalasialoveI'm more on Mel's side because leelah seems bitchy about why her and Mel aren't friends. and mel was just honest that she just finds leelahs love of competition pathetic. Also Mel Whenever she speaks about things or people she despises she isn't as bitchy on par with izzym.
@@fadalerabrasool3563Yeah, Mel always seemed more blunt and brutally honest than outright mean. While the Waverly girls are important, Mel’s one of the few I actually liked.
No Wade (my favorite character) on this list? Boooo! BOOOO! Wizard Caitlyn, this is another great list. You made a good case for some incredibly annoying people being on this list. Memorability is so important.
I do not have the same view of good characters as you...in fact, I only agree with Hotchkiss, Mel, Gunnar, and maybe Dexter. And I’ve played all the games multiple times. I mean, what about Dave? And Rentaro is way better than Miwako. Colin and Tino are both so annoying! I think an entertaining and well-written character is better than an “important” character.
Fair enough! I can understand that! I do love entertaining characters too. And there are so many that it's hard to get them all on a top ten list. Thanks for the comment though, I like hearing other perspectives!!
Putting Tino on a best ND characters list is a POWER MOVE. Respect🙏🏼
Thank you, Tino, I mean, Tina 😁
Fun fact, Professor Hotchkiss and Harper are voiced by the same actress, Keri Healey!
Isn't that cool?! A testament to the brilliance of that voice actress!
Omg she is so she is so awesome, I also heard she voiced sally Macdonald from ghost dogs of moon lake (the phone lady)
@Manuel Kyle Yea, been using flixzone} for since december myself :D
Dexter Egan has been my favorite character since playing TRT at ten years old. The way he develops and opens up to Nancy has always warmed my heart 💜
He is such an amazing character!! Thanks for the comment! 🤗
Caitlyn, thanks for the content! I love your videos 🙃
I find it interesting that three of the most beloved fan favorites of the franchise (Harper, Henry, and Mel) all have a goth aesthetic. XD Great list!
That's a great point! I guess maybe their unabashed individuality just speaks to us! Thanks for the comment! 🤗
Yes, Mel is #1! I was so happy because she is my favorite character in the ND video game series. Even though the goth look isn't something I'm a fan of personally, I still love her look. Mel is also able to flawlessly incorporate pink (my favorite color) into both her room and outfit. She is the most real and genuine of the Waverly cast and is never afraid to be unique. Mel also has the best one-liner ever, "You just entered my room through THE WALL, I want an explanation." Great video, Caitlyn. :)
Thank you so much! Mel for the win! 😁
The way she casually describes her hatred for izzy is also memorable.
@@fadalerabrasool3563She said what most of the players were thinking. I know too many people faced their fair share of mean girls in middle school and high school.
@@avalasialovewhat’s also interesting is that the game Mel appears in is also the only game in the Nancy drew series aside from the mystery of the 7 keys that has steam achievements
My underrated characters is not ones that you would expect.
I adore and find that my favorite character is..Fatima. Just the vibe of Copper Gorge in general makes...her...one of my favorites.
I also really adore Lukas. They really did make a good kiddo character that wasn't a bratty Jane. When you can make fun of his clothes and he gets sad breaks my heart every time.
Oh I adore Fatima and Lukas too!! Such fun characters!
That was great! I have to say that of these characters, the two that really stuck out at me from when I was playing was Harper and Gunner. Harper drove me nuts, but then her story starts to come together and you realize that she's maybe not as crazy as she seems but is using that as a coping mechanism to hide the fact that she has been essentially betrayed and/or forgotten by her whole family. And Gunner, oh jeez what a curmudgeon! That is until you find out that his back story and seriously I was not expecting that turn of events and for me to feel utterly devastated by a computer character. That poor man. This was fun to watch and thanks for sharing!
Utterly devastated is a great description! Those characters both resonated with me so much as well, their backstories are just superb! Thanks for the comment! 🤗
What a great list :) Interesting how the "Renaissance" and "Modern" ND games that stand out have characters with ACTUAL DEPTH and investment into the plot. Henry Bolet is honestly one of my favourite characters. I remember playing the game for the first time and thinking he was a snarky a** but then as the game developed I really grew to like him (teen me had a crush on him as well). I am really looking forward to you building the Bolet mansion eventually.
It definitely is on the list! :D When Henry cries in the cemetery, I can legitimately feel my heart breaking! :( I totally agree that the Renaissance and Modern ones desperately need those deep characters!
Honestly the character I quote the most is Lukas from Captive Curse. Literally every time someone knocks on my door i cant help but go "No zank youuuu, ve already have one!!!"
That is amazing!! :D
It wasn’t until several years later that I realized most of his dialogue in the opening was a reference to “Monty Python and The Holy Grail.” When I did, that just made me love Lucas even more!
Harper Thornton is my all time favorite Nancy Drew character and probably my second favorite game character in general right after Ouma Kokichi from Danganronpa. So I was really happy to see she made this list! But I love the majority of your picks!
Yay!! Harper really is a fascinating character!
how did i know that alexi, dexter and mel would be on this list! They are all such great characters and are definitely some of my fav!
They are just so good!! They had to be included 😁
Before watching this I figured I’d make up my own list just to compare to yours, and I had all of the same characters except for Collin! I actually had Pa on my list instead, he’s just so wholesome😊 and he’s too nice to tell Nancy that Ma isn’t around anymore (although it’s kind of morbid that Nancy keeps asking where she is even though she already knows what happened😂)
SO morbid and such a great example of Nancy's classic lack of tact 😂 I love that we had such similar lists! Thanks for the comment!!
Aww, no love for my favorite character Lukas Mittelmeier. LOL. Just kidding, I didn't really expect him to be here. I think I'm the only one who has him as a favorite.
Aww, I'm sorry!! I do love Lukas though, he's easily one of the most genuinely funny characters in the whole series!
Not the only one. ❤
Lukas is adorbs...just don't make fun of his outfit for the sake of your own heart. 😭
Dexter is and will forever be my all time favorite character in the series. His backstory was incredible and I felt really emotional towards him and what he went through. Great list here!
Love Dexter so much! Thanks for the comment!
I would have probably swapped out some of the people on this list, such as Colin or Miwako, with characters like Holt Scotto or Nick Falcone, but I totally get that the best characters are not always equivalent to our personal favorite characters. Gunnar, for example, is a lot like Holt, but he actually has a backstory, which arguably makes him a better character. Great job, as always! 👍
Yeah, separating my favorites from the best was definitely tough, but I'm glad you liked the list! Thanks for the comment! 🤗
The whole video, I was waiting for Harper. Harper is easily my favorite character in any of the Nancy games I’ve played. Any time someone says “Not funny haha” my brain goes to her well speech! I love her so much.
I can't say I'd put Mel as high on this list as she is, but I will say that I enjoy visiting her whenever I play this game. She's a breath of fresh air from the other girls, and she reminds me of many of my high school friends, haha!
I don’t know much about Nancy Drew outside of watching my wife play but I like your videos anyways :)
Oh yay! Thank you so much! 😁
I looooove tony and hotchkiss!! Two of my favorite ND characters!
Yay! So glad you liked it! 😁
LOVE!! This is so measured and thoughtful as always. I totally don't think you've lost it re: Tino! He is SO memorable. I also totally agree with you re: Hotchkiss. I found her incredibly grating for the longest time because I hadn't played TRT yet and was only getting those phone interviews that I kinda wanted to fast forward through after the 1st time. but when I finally did I was like ... oh, she's not that bad!! and I ended up really liking her.
Only person I think I might add to this would be Joseph Hughes from Final Scene...
I heavily considered Joseph too!! I think he ended up at spot 11 for me just because, like Dexter, his personality ends up being pretty understated, but I LOVE Joseph's story!!
@@WizardKittenYT Yes!! Joseph and Dexter do feel very similar. But yeah Joseph is SUCH a well written character my little mind was blown.
This was such a great, well-thought out list! I agreed with most you had on here.
I think an additional one I would add is Taylor Sinclair. So many of the other characters talk about him and have backstory with him (including Sonny Joon's doodles, Henrik's journal with how he acquired the nickname Big Bunny, Alejandro's disdain towards him, and Poppy Dada's art relationship with him). He is so delightfully weird, and I can just picture him as a real person.
Plus... SO QUOTABLE. "Looks like someone forgot their beauty cream." ;) Lol
Haha!! So glad you like the video! Taylor Sinclair is definitely a gem 😁
Loulou the bird is one of my favorites. I had to harass them the whole game for hints when I was a kid 😂
OMG, love Loulou! She's hysterical!
i just KNEW henry and mel would be at the very top! i mean come on, who would disagree? no need to explain further, you made great points in this video!
Yay! I'm so glad you liked it!! Henry and Mel are so wonderful :)
I’m so surprised Joseph wasn’t on the list, such an awesome character, I sympathize with him while also being disgusted with him
Rachel is def my favourite from warnings at waverly, idk why she just seems very multidimensional and unique in terms of the characters :)
I really love Rachel too! She feels extremely realistic to me!
My boy snagged second place ❤️ I love your videos!
Yay! So glad you like the vids! 🤗
My fave character is a phone friend, so I knew she wouldn’t be on this list. PS-I want to be Hilda Swenson when I grow up🤣
At least she tops the best phone friend's list!! :D
Nancy? Where’s my extra pass key for my room
Definitely not stolen or missing! XD
I'd definitely put Dwayne Powers on my list, as well as Joseph Hughes. Not sure who I'd take off to make room for them. Colin, definitely. And either Miwako or Gunnar. I could also see squeezing Rick Arlen onto the list.
Dexter Egan ❤️❤️❤️
I feel like Colin/Justin might be on the autism spectrum due to his obsession with tesserae and his awkwardness with interacting with others, being seemingly unable to move past his special interest, and flying off the handle when he feels he's lost a tool vital to his special interest which is mosaics and tesserae. It even translates into his approaches to Nancy, trying to impress her by leaving a gift, freaking out and attempting to cover it up when it backfires, and acting depressed whenever she mentions she has a boyfriend. I've seen a show on Netflix, 'Atypical' (A good show, but a bit vulgar at times so be careful) where the main character is autistic and has a crush on his therapist and acts a LOT like Colin, so it further affirms my belief that Colin/Justin might be autistic.
I do agree that he demonstrates a lot of the same tendencies as someone with ASD! Could definitely be the case!
Harper is my faaaave, I'm glad she made the list!
Yay!! I'm glad she made the list too!
I agree with this list!! Even Colin and Tino, lol. But I especially like a couple of those slots!! 😆😆 Heck yeah!! Henry and Mel ftw!!! Really can't argue with the reasons you gave, they are pretty spectacular!! 👍👍
I'm so glad you liked it! :D
These are my favorite characters:
1: Professor Hotchkiss (always)
2: Rose Green
3: Mel Corbalis
4: Ranger Akers
5: Joseph Hughs
Ooh, I love all of those characters as well!! Thanks so much for sharing your list! 😊
I was just thinking how colin didnt end up on your worst list and there he is on the best list. In 2020 times he comes off as very creepy
I AGREE. I despise him, but like I said in the video, I think that's what makes him such a successful character.
All I want is for Bess to date Henry Bolet - they would be perfect together
I would be so curious to see that matchup!!
@@WizardKittenYT I made them in my sims game and I’ve never had two sims fall for each other faster 😍
I’d like to see an analysis of modern characters, like Yumi and Harper.
Thanks for the suggestion, that would be interesting!!
I noticed that there aren't any culprits on this list. Are there any culprits that you think were written well?
Good eye! Yes, there definitely are! I do plan on doing a best culprits/endings analysis as well! Thanks for the comment!
i personally love elliott
This is a solid list! I'm curious, at what point do you define Nancy drew games as the modern era? I completely agree that character dialogue starts to seem a bit off, which is actually why I stopped playing the games. I sort of think it starts at Captive Curse. What are your thoughts?
Captive Curse is actually exactly where I think the modern era begins!! The whole look of the games changes, the dialogue starts to get "wacky," and graphics start to really advance.
I actually know people like Harper.
Impressive!!
What do you think of ingrid from haunted carousel and ryan from a deadly device cause I think their both weird one in the good way and one in the not so good way I like ryan more than ingrid I love her upbeat attitude and her gummy bear theater outakes with ingrid I don't hate her but I don't really have anything to say
I like both Ingrid and Ryan as characters! I do find Ryan to be a little OTT at times in a way that doesn't feel super natural to me, but I still enjoy her. Ingrid feels like a very realistic person to me. She doesn't stand out too much compared to other characters, but I like her random naturopathic interests and also how great she is as an engineer!
Mel is hands down my favorite character. 🎀🖤🍪🥛🎼
Isn't she great?! Love her!!
Am I the only person who didn't like Henry? Being a tragic character is one thing, but I found him to be a bit 'edgy' in the modern and derogatory sense of the word. Maybe I should replay the game, but I really disliked him as a kid. Honestly, I kinda felt the same way about Mel, but I also haven't played that game for years. Perhaps I should try that one again, too.
I doubt you would be the only one who isn't necessarily a Henry fan! I rank him as one of the best characters, not because he's likable (because he may not be), but because his backstory and subplot is so fleshed out. He at least feels real to me!
Simone is one of my faves!
I do love Simone, she's done so well!!
My top 5 fav characters
Mel
Ryan
Zoe
Minette
Heather
Agree with a lot of these but you did miss Deirdre Shannon!
Some people would say sonny joon too but meh
Deirdre is pretty fantastic! :D
I feel like I'm the only person in the Nancy Drew Fandom who loves Colin.
You definitely aren't alone! I do think he is a really well-developed character!
@@WizardKittenYT I'm so glad I found your channel. I've be binge watching all your videos.
Aw yay! That makes me so happy to hear! I'm so glad you're enjoying the vids! 🤗
I might be one of three people that didn't like Mel. To me, she always claimed to be above it all with the whole lone goth thing, but gossiped just as much as the other girls. Looking down on an old friend in Leela for getting into sports is pretty lame, but what sealed it for me was making Nancy get her milk and cookies because God forbid being seen eating them would "hurt her image". Yuck.
Haha, I honestly totally get that! Even she isn't entirely likable, I just appreciated how fleshed her backstory was. She feels very real!
Well, it’s not like Leela was that great of a friend. She said that Mel probably took the collection of Poe stories and that “freak” was probably planning to resurrect him. Besides, it seems to me like Leela put competition above her friend. IDK I a might be biased because Leela kinda reminds me of a girl who used to bully me.
@@avalasialoveI'm more on Mel's side because leelah seems bitchy about why her and Mel aren't friends. and mel was just honest that she just finds leelahs love of competition pathetic. Also Mel Whenever she speaks about things or people she despises she isn't as bitchy on par with izzym.
@@fadalerabrasool3563Yeah, Mel always seemed more blunt and brutally honest than outright mean. While the Waverly girls are important, Mel’s one of the few I actually liked.
No Wade (my favorite character) on this list? Boooo! BOOOO!
Wizard Caitlyn, this is another great list. You made a good case for some incredibly annoying people being on this list. Memorability is so important.
I do love Wade too! A very interesting character!! And I'm glad to hear that you liked the list overall! :D
I do not have the same view of good characters as you...in fact, I only agree with Hotchkiss, Mel, Gunnar, and maybe Dexter. And I’ve played all the games multiple times.
I mean, what about Dave? And Rentaro is way better than Miwako. Colin and Tino are both so annoying!
I think an entertaining and well-written character is better than an “important” character.
Fair enough! I can understand that! I do love entertaining characters too. And there are so many that it's hard to get them all on a top ten list. Thanks for the comment though, I like hearing other perspectives!!