Lara Croft is the 'most iconic' video game character, new poll finds

Lara Croft, the iconic lead of the Tomb Raider franchise, sped past Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog to top a new list of most iconic video game characters of all time.

More than 4,000 gamers around the world voted for their top character in a recent poll conducted by the British Academy Film Awards ahead of the 20th Games Awards on April 11, according to a news release from BAFTA.

Lara Croft, whom the BAFTAs described as a "generation-spanning heroine," is considered the first lady of video games. She made her debut in the original Tomb Raider in 1996.

The game, which was released on PC, PlayStation, and the Sega Saturn, revolutionized the industry by allowing gamers to wander through open worlds with few clues about how to progress to the next level.

Throughout the series and over the years, players have followed Croft across the globe to destinations, including Egyptian pyramids and Tibetan mountains.

As of 2023, 19 Tomb Raider games had been released. On Feb. 14, coinciding with Croft's birthday, the first three games of the series were rereleased as remasters.

The series and character have also been adapted for the big screen, with actresses Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander taking on the titular role in their respective adaptations. Later this year, Netflix is slated to release a new anime series, "Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft."

In a statement to NBC News sent via X, Shelley Blond, the original voice of Croft from the 1996 game, described her character as "the embodiment of female empowerment and girl power."

"She was the first female lead on a computer game, has her own star on the Walk Of Game in San Francisco and holds the Guinness World Record for being the most successful video game heroine of all time," she said. "All this makes her the rightful owner of the title 'most iconic video game character.'"

Blond, who will present an award at the upcoming BAFTA Games Awards, said she still hears "from gamers all around the world."

"And they all tell me their stories of how they connect to Lara, how Lara provided them an escape or gave them confidence with bullies or how my voice is wrapped up with playing the game as a kid with a parent who has since died, and that is something I hold very dear and don't for a minute take for granted," she said.

Other classic characters that made the top 20 list include: Pac-Man, Baldur's Gate 3's Astarion and The Last of Us' Ellie Williams.

"These characters, and the games in which they star, boast a collective 44 BAFTA Games Awards between them over the past two decades, and make up some of the best-loved entries into the canon of video game history, and some of the most memorable characters of any medium," BAFTA said in its release.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com