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CJay's official Character Battle II banner

GameFAQs Contests
CJayC Era SBAllen Era
Characters 2002
Characters 2003
Games 2004
Characters 2004
Villains 2005
Characters 2005
Series 2006
Characters 2006
Characters 2007
Characters 2008
Games 2009
Characters 2010
GotD 2010
Rivals 2011
Characters 2013
Games 2015
Years 2017
Characters 2018
GotD 2020
Summer 2003 Contest
Started: July 1, 2003
Ended: September 3, 2003
Winner: Cloud
Contest Winner: Leo0820 (183/192 points)
Notable matches: Kefka/Pac-Man, Ganon/Magus

Squall/Luigi, Vercetti/DK
Mario/Crono, Link/Cloud

The Summer 2003 Contest was the second Summer Contest in GameFAQs history, and is also known as Character Battle II. It is considered by some to be the best Character Battle in GameFAQs history.

See Also[]

2003 Contest Matches - complete writeups on every poll from the second annual Character Battle

Bracket[]

Contest Bracket
North DivisionLink
Samus Aran
Link
Cloud Strife
Cloud Strife
Sephiroth
Cloud Strife
(1) Link
(16) AiAi
Link
Fox McCloud
Link
Magus
(8) Pikachu
(9) Fox McCloud
(5) Tidus
(12) Ganondorf
Ganondorf
Magus
(4) Sam Fisher
(13) Magus
(6) Squall Leonhart
(11) Jill Valentine
Squall Leonhart
Luigi
Squall Leonhart
Samus Aran
(3) Luigi
(14) Ratchet
(7) KOS-MOS
(10) Crash Bandicoot
KOS-MOS
Samus Aran
(2) Samus Aran
(15) Isaac
East DivisionCloud Strife
Sonic the Hedgehog
(1) Cloud Strife
(16) CATS
Cloud Strife
Auron
Cloud Strife
Bowser
(8) Auron
(9) Tails
(5) Bowser
(12) Ness
Bowser
Yoshi
(4) Yoshi
(13) Conker
(6) Sora
(11) Aeris
Aeris
Master Chief
Aeris
Sonic the Hedgehog
(3) Master Chief
(14) Felix
(7) Zero
(10) Scorpion
Zero
Sonic the Hedgehog
(2) Sonic the Hedgehog
(15) Ken Masters
South DivisionMario
Sephiroth
Sephiroth
Mega Man
(1) Mario
(16) Captain Olimar
Mario
Shadow the Hedgehog
Mario
Crono
(8) Wario
(9) Shadow the Hedgehog
(5) Pac-Man
(12) Kefka
Kefka
Crono
(4) Crono
(13) Tom Nook
(6) Alucard
(11) Bomberman
Alucard
Kirby
Alucard
Sephiroth
(3) Kirby
(14) Ramza
(7) Gordon Freeman
(10) Max Payne
Max Payne
Sephiroth
(2) Sephiroth
(15) Raziel
West DivisionSolid Snake
Mega Man
(1) Solid Snake
(16) Raiden
Solid Snake
Knuckles
Solid Snake
Ryu
(8) Knuckles
(9) Yuna
(5) Ryu
(12) Duke Nukem
Ryu
Dante
(4) Dante
(13) Ryo Hazuki
(6) Donkey Kong
(11) Vyse
Donkey Kong
Tommy Vercetti
Tommy Vercetti
Mega Man
(3) Tommy Vercetti
(14) Kite
(7) Lara Croft
(10) Zelda
Zelda
Mega Man
(2) Mega Man
(15) Mr. Resetti

Note: This is the only site-wide 1v1 Character Battle tournament as of yet in which Link has actually lost a battle (to eventual winner Cloud Strife).

Results and Analysis[]

Interesting Facts[]

  • The Ultimate Loser in 2003 was Ryo Hazuki. Ryo lost to Dante, who lost to Ryu, who lost to Snake, who lost to Megaman, who lost to Sephiroth, who lost to Cloud.
  • Only six of the 64 characters in this contest haven't appeared in another one since.

Ulti's Analysis[]

The hype for the sequel to follow Summer 2002's smash success had finally dawned upon the site, and for those who don't remember, this was the first contest in which a formal nomination form was created. Summer 2002's nominations were all done in a topic on Current Events, but in 2003 CJayC polled all willing to fill the form out for ten nominations each. The results were a very well-balanced bracket, though before the contest started most people felt that Summer 2003 would be too easy. Link absolutely dominated the field in Summer 2002, and the main complaint this time around would be that everyone would have perfect brackets and that the tiebreaker would decide who won it all. People were also complaining that Link would win the contest too easily and that there was no real point in holding another one.

Yeah, right. The 2003 field was a good one thanks to more public nominations, and gone were all of the cult characters and obscure fighting game characters that hardly anyone had heard of. The field featured a Nintendo-dominated field and characters that were more mainstream, but a few lesser-knowns still slipped through the cracks.

Pay close attention to how this contest was, because it was the last of its kind. The dawn of the extrapolated standings and creativename's dominance of the 2003 Oracle Challenge (which he credits the stats for, though he didn't reveal his method until after the contest) caused everyone else to want to be equally good at predicting matches. This led to a tool that is useful, but sucks all of the unknown out of these polls. Gone are the days when we simply ask who win. Now we almost always know who wins; it's a matter of what the final percentages are, and the stigma that was in these first two contests hasn't been there since. It's not that the contests grew bad, but the stats deciding everything for us (including how we all debate matches before they happen) takes a lot of the fun out of them. You can't say much of anything anymore without some stat whore trying to correct you.

This was also the final contest to feature the classic GameFAQs layout and 15 minute poll updates. One died during Soul Calibur/Kingdom Hearts in the first round of the Spring 2004 Contest, the other died in Metroid Prime/Half-Life directly after.

On the brighter side of things, the contests still existing is a plus, as is the fact that Summer 2005 was proof that CJayC is still willing to put insane effort into them. We were all worried there for a bit. CJayC also brought back poll updates, but shortened them to 5 minutes.

And now for the standard ranking of the contests: Summer 2002 > Summer 2003.

Ngamer's Analysis[]

When the nominations were announced for '03, I was very upset. We'd already seen Characters, and in my mind we should have moved straight to Games with the second full Contest. When the results started rolling in and it eventually became clear that it was going to be Square's year, I was even more upset. But looking back on it, this was a fantastic Contest, perhaps the best of all time. All of '02s fodder meant there were tons of exciting newcomers joining the field, and even though we all thought we were experts on the returning characters, KHF threw a wrench in our plans and gave the whole season a unique new twist. The nomination system created a strong, well-seeded bracket and there were good matches all up and down the board... not much more you could ask for.

2003 Contest Matches

Round One
Link > AiAi
Fox > Pikachu
Ganondorf > Tidus
Magus > Sam Fisher
Squall > Jill
Luigi > Ratchet
KOS-MOS > Crash
Samus > Isaac
Cloud > CATS
Auron > Tails
Bowser > Ness
Yoshi > Conker
Aeris > Sora
Master Chief > Felix
Zero > Scorpion

Sonic > Ken
Mario > Olimar
Shadow > Wario
Kefka > Pac-Man
Crono > Tom Nook
Alucard > Bomberman
Kirby > Ramza
Max Payne > Gordon
Sephiroth > Raziel
Snake > Raiden
Knuckles > Yuna
Ryu > Duke
Dante > Ryo Hazuki
Donkey Kong > Vyse
Vercetti > Kite
Zelda > Lara Croft
Mega Man > Mr. Resetti

Round Two
Link > Fox
Magus > Ganondorf
Squall > Luigi
Samus > KOS-MOS
Cloud > Auron
Bowser > Yoshi
Aeris > Master Chief
Sonic > Zero
Mario > Shadow
Crono > Kefka
Alucard > Kirby
Sephiroth > Max Payne
Snake > Knuckles
Ryu > Dante
Vercetti > Donkey Kong
Mega Man > Zelda

R3 and following
Link > Magus
Samus > Squall
Cloud > Bowser
Sonic > Aeris
Mario > Crono
Sephiroth > Alucard
Snake > Ryu
Mega Man > Vercetti
Link > Samus
Cloud > Sonic
Sephiroth > Mario
Mega Man > Snake
Cloud > Link
Sephiroth > Mega Man
Cloud > Sephiroth (Finals)

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