Ha! There Is No Way You Could've Done That! Quiz

Answer: Steve, the "Minecraft" Guy

I was surprised as I wrote this question as to how difficult it was to come up with a human character that did not have a ledge grab ability of some sort. It seems that most every video game developer realizes the life-saving benefit of the ledge grab is a glorious tool for gamers of all sorts. Poor Steve, first introduced on the PC and Mac in 2011 in "Minecraft", is one of the few unfortunate characters with no ability to ledge grab. If Steve falls in a deep hole, he's going all the way.

Lara Croft, Indiana Jones, and Tak are all human characters that have the ability to ledge grab, which I myself have used many a time to avoid a horrifying drop.

Answer: Mario from "Donkey Kong"

Unfortunately for Mario, in "Donkey Kong" (first released as an arcade game in 1981), it only takes one hit for him to lose a life. Of course, this is much more realistic than other characters; if an explosive barrel came careening towards me, and I was unable to avoid it properly, it wouldn't end well. Though, unlike real life, Mario has multiple lives...

Of course, Mario has different health bars in various games. In "Super Mario Galaxy", for instance, he has up to 6 hits before he dies, and in "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", his hits are quite a lot higher before a life is lost.

Answer: Jade, from "Beyond Good and Evil"

Jade has quite a bit more realism as far as jumping goes. She can only jump once, whereas the other characters listed can jump in midair to get even higher. I was actually a bit surprised; though the double jump ability is common, most of the human characters I am familiar with can only jump once; besides, of course, Tak, Obi-Wan, and Mario.

Answer: Sora of "Kingdom Hearts"

In the "Kingdom Hearts" series of games, the main player, Sora, does not take any damage if you fall from great heights. Of course, this may also be because he can glide slowly and safely to the bottom using magic.

Lara Croft is very realistic in this sense, and will even die from too far of a drop, as will Steve. Sphinx takes damage as well if he falls, but is a little stronger in this respect than either Lara or Steve.

Answer: Steve, the "Minecraft" Guy

Poor Steve from "Minecraft", he seems to be an average guy who can't do much of anything in comparison to other famed video game characters. Mario is the gravity-defying suspect; in "Super Mario Galaxy" he can do all sorts of non-gravity related things, including jumping from one sphere to another just slightly above and mysteriously landing on that second sphere, safe on his feet. Lara Croft has an odd ability to jump on moving targets, landing on her feet, and not at all faltering. Naturally, if you were to try this, you'd probably fall off. And Chell, from "Portal", can teleport by shooting lasers at walls and walking through the holes she creates. If only.

Answer: Lara Croft, Tomb Raider

Fortunately, for the sake of realism, humans do not typically fly in video games. That won't stop some characters, however. Sora can fly in certain levels, such as the "Peter Pan" level, with the help of fairy dust from Tinkerbell. He can fly all over Captain Hook's ship and around Big Ben. Tak can fly when in his chicken outfit, and it is also quite entertaining to drop egg bombs while in flight, believe you me. Finally, there's Steve, the regular character of "Minecraft".

In a regular game, one cannot fly, but in creative mode, he can suddenly fly about the world without a care.

Answer: Steve, the "Minecraft" Guy

Poor Steve, again the victim of being "too human". Of course, he uses torches and grills and whatnot, but he harnesses no ability involving fire. He can also be hurt when touching flames or running into lava (of course, this would be the natural reaction for most anything that runs into lava). Mario is well-known as having the ability to gather a fireflower and breathing fireballs at enemies, and Evil Cole from "inFAMOUS" is able to control fire, and much of his abilities are fire-related. Sora uses fire-based magic attacks at times, and can also walk through some fire without getting hurt.

Answer: Mario

Lara Croft and Steve the "Minecraft" guy both have the ability to hold their breath for a lot longer than an average person (I always try to hold my breath at the same time as video game characters, and I almost always breathe before they need to), but if you stay in the water too long it is possible to die. Unfortunately for Chell, she dies as soon as she touches water.

Mario, on the other hand, seems to be able to breathe underwater without any oxygen tanks or anything. In some games, for instance, entire levels take place completely underwater. How he can breathe underwater is far beyond me.

Answer: Steve, the "Minecraft" Guy

If you play a video game, you may notice that the characters go from level to level without ever having to sleep. Some levels occur during the night hours, and the character continues on with their missions. After several days in game-time drags on, you realize the character never slept (or ate or went to the restroom, for that matter). The three characters mentioned as incorrect answers all have levels throughout all times of the day, and never take any breaks for sleep.

Steve, however, does sleep. To protect himself from the creatures of the night, he must find a bed to sleep so he can wake up in the morning to continue on his journey of mining and crafting. The game progresses through days, and weather does occur, so the timeline of "Minecraft" is much more realistic in that sense than most games.

Answer: Lara Croft, Tomb Raider

As it turns out, Lara Croft is able to carry only a few items, what a regular person could actually carry. For instance, in "Tomb Raider: Legend", she can only carry two different types of weapon, her personal light source, a few health packs, and a pair of binocular-camera things. "Skyrim" characters are able to hold a lot, but there is a maximum.

It is also fairly realistic, because if you hold too much weight, you slow down and cannot jump as high. As you get stronger, however, you can carry more without tiring out. Steve, the "Minecraft" guy, seems to have an odd ability to carry tons of stuff; building materials, weapons, tools, food, and even entire pieces of furniture.

But he doesn't even carry a backpack! Sora can also hold much stuff; I would think even his potions alone wouldn't fit in his pockets.

He may have had help from Merlin the Wizard when he met him in the game, though...