Namingway - Final Fantasy IV
The Namingway in Final Fantasy IV is a little rabbit that lets you change characters' names throughout the game. And this unusual bunny comes from a family of moon-residing rabbits called Hummingways. But what happens when you remake a game and add voice acting?
Well, you put a rabbit out of a job, that's what. In the DS version of Final Fantasy IV, Namingway spends the entire game travelling the world and taking on different jobs. It's an entire saga, and he becomes a cartographer, a dessert chef, an avid camper, and a bard (getting a new name each time). But he also falls in and out of love — and gets in trouble — before settling down with his new wife at the end of the game. All of this while we're busy saving the world.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit - Epic Mickey
Oswald is a hugely important part of Disney's history, first appearing in the 1927 short Trolley Troubles. However, following a falling out with producer Charles Mintz, the cartoon rabbit was abandoned, and just ten years later, he pretty much faded into obscurity. Until, oddly enough, his appearance in a video game — Epic Mickey.
Oswald is a short-tempered bunny who is wary around strangers — very much the opposite of Mickey in terms of personality. He was once the ruler of the Cartoon Wasteland, where forgotten Disney cartoons have been left to gather dust, but was usurped by the Shadow Blot. Epic Mickey shows us a much more mischievous side to the mouse, but it's a real love letter to the history of Disney too, with Oswald's relative obscurity ending and his more grumpy personality getting some time to shine. He softened up for Epic Mickey 2, and now Oswald is once again a key part of Disney.
The Truth is in the Stars rabbit - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Think of rabbits in Western RPGs, then you probably just think of them as cute little creatures wandering the world, or sometimes pets (hello, Skyrim!). But The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt contains a hilarious Easter egg featuring a nod to a killer bunny of British film history.
In the quest The Truth is in the Stars, Geralt must go and get some dragonsroot from a nearby cave for a seer in Benek. When he gets to that cave, however, he's met with a pile of skeletons, stains of blood, and a little white bunny. This is a clear reference to the Rabbit of Caerbannog from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and it had us rolling with laughter the first time we saw it. While this particular bunny is harmless, the fearsome Rabbit of Caerbannog is anything but, with a lust for murder and only one weakness: the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
Hats off to the writers at CD Projekt Red.
Star Bunny - Super Mario Galaxy
Rabbits, but in space! Star Bunnies are seen in Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, often rewarding you with Power Stars, or providing useful hints. Some — which are Luma's who appear as bunnies — are also there to introduce you to Rosalina.
Getting Power Stars from these creatures often means you have to chase them down across a planet or help save them. Sometimes it's hide-and-seek, and sometimes it's three bunnies at a time. But we'll let them off — look at those star-shaped ears, after all. They've made the odd cameo outside of Galaxy in Mario Party 10 and Smash Ultimate, but these bunnies are spacefaring fellows, so we'll likely only see them again in cameo capacity.
Bugs Bunny - The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle
The Looney Tunes have a pretty storied history throughout video games, with even Buster and Babs from Tiny Toons having a few excellent little platformers from way back on the NES. But Kemco's The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle series was a childhood favourite of ours, even if it meant the iconic rabbit couldn't jump.
These puzzle games see you guiding Bugs Bunny through perilous rooms and across multiple platforms as you try and navigate past enemies but using iconic Looney Tunes items like boxing gloves or Acme crates. Depending on where you live, though, you may have played these games before — but with a different lead, with Mickey Mouse and Woody Woodpecker sometimes taking the stage.
Easter is wabbit season, after all, and even if the most iconic rabbit in all media is a little cheeky, we just had to have him here.
Robbie the Rabbit - Silent Hill (Super Bomberman R)
We've only had two Silent Hill games on Nintendo systems — Silent Hill Play Novel on GBA, and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories on Wii. So why on earth is Robbie the Rabbit here?
Two reasons. First is Dead by Daylight, which has a boatload of Silent Hill content and references, with our favourite being a Robbie the Rabbit skin for your character. Honestly, there's nothing more terrifying than seeing that blood-soaked bunny.
Second, is Konami's continuing desire to hold onto its history — particularly through Super Bomberman R Online. This much-cuddlier Robbie is splattered with what we assume is paint rather than blood, but he's still got a chainsaw. For some reason. Amidst Suikoden and Castlevania character cameos, Robbie certainly stands out. But it's the kind of goofy crossover we love.
Bonus: Bunny Hood - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
We couldn't end this list without including the iconic Bunny Hood from Zelda: Ocarina of Time, now, could we? In its first appearance, the Bunny Hood is the last mask Link can sell for the Happy Mask Salesman. If Link wears it, it stops the Stalchildren from coming out of the ground at night, which is pretty handy for us scaredy cats.
Majora's Mask is where the mask really shines, however. Donning the bunny ears lets Link run much faster and jump much further. But honestly, the best part of it is that Link looks really cute wearing them. The hood is probably most famous for being the "squeaky" item in the Smash Bros. series which lets players jump to ridiculous heights.
Dishonourable Mention: The Broodals - Super Mario Odyssey
Are we being a little bit unfair here? Introduced in Super Mario Odyssey, The Broodals are rabbit wedding planners who are helping Bowser to prepare for his wedding to Princess Peach. They get in the way of Mario's quest to save the Princess multiple times. But, honestly, they're a little bit forgettable to us? Mario has had plenty of moon rabbits in the past, and aside from the RoboBrood fight, we just remember this family of rabbits to be a bit annoying.
Dishonourable Mention: Zipper - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
We're singling out Zipper T. Bunny in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and for good reason. Who remembers their very first Bunny Day in April 2020? Oh we do. And we remember Zipper hopping around, watching our every move, and just being inundated with eggs in every kind of activity we did.
No. More. Eggs. Please. He's not even a real rabbit!
Are we hopping mad with our huge list of choices? There are so many more rabbits we could've talked about in this list, so why not let us know down below who your favourite video game bunnies are?
Comments 62
These Rabbits are cool and all but one I’d like to add is Captain Bucky O Hare from the NES game. That was actually a pretty good game back in the day.
A friendly reminder
that them
MIPS from Super Mario 64. I did not know the name. So the name is MIPS. Alice from Bloody Roar I was completely forgot that. That game was amazing it was on the Gamecube. A fighting game it was. I do not know which Alice this is from Bloody Roar maybe there are more Bloody Roar games on the Gamecube.
Someone didn't appreciate the first edition print in mint condition from the Ogler's Digest issue 1 in Dragon Quest XI
I never want to hear that NL are out of ideas for articles!
Its Kaze hands down.
Happy Easter everyone and what a fun article to celebrate it here on Nintendo Life!
There's Pinky the ghost who transforms into Romp the Bunny ghost and gains the power to super jump at Pac-Man's position, does she count?
Big Chungus is on this list, I'm satisfied
The very first one I think of is easily the Nintendo Badge Arcade bunny followed by Peppy. I don't know why I think of that one first but he is the most memorable to me! 😄
Broodals being a dishonourable mention makes me want to hit the dislike button... If there was one. Not that they are iconic or anything, but they were not particularly annoying either. Looking at the other options, their design stands out as some of the better ones tbh.
Also, Happy Easter!
I'm all for accessibility or difficulty options, but I still despise nabbit. It's just so ugly and weird looking. Also, I would add chicory to the list - now that is a lovely rabbit.
Happy Easter everyone
Zipper T. getting a dishonorable mention makes sense, but why is Ravio here? Like Zipper T., He just has a rabbit themed costume on.
I miss Cream, even in Sonic Rush she played an important part in the story.
After that, Sega was like "off to the vault of forgotten characters with you!"
I know the dub of Frontiers mentions her, but like, they also mention SATAM, these callbacks are as useful as Sonic is underwater.
@AlienX SATAM isnt in Frontiers. Thats IDW
Usagi Yojimbo?
Happy easter Nintendolife
Nice feature of all long eared game rodents! Happy Easter, and for those who follow the Zodiac lunar calendar, happy year of the rabbit!
yessss ravio
Let's not forget Peppy Hare's daughter, Lucy Hare. Not only is she an accomplished pilot, being able to take down the Anglar forces, she also teaches astrophysics (a rather difficult subject) on Fichina (the ice world). So she is a VERY capable woman in her own right. She deserves a spot on this list, right up there with her father. Heck, maybe even her deceased mother, Vivian Hare, deserves a spot as well, even though we don't know about her that much.
Klonoa, kinda?
Rabbits and Hares are two different things, sure the look similar but calling a Hare a Rabbit is like saying Japaese and Chinese are the same thing.
So Peppy shouldn't even be on the list.
Good to see Rayton on here. Oh and Happy Easter everyone.
I did not know MIPS had a name. I liked Star Bunny from the Mario Galaxy games.
I think Cream should be put back in Sonic, in some form at least. She works in the Sonic Advance series.
Nice list!
@TYRANACLES I still have a Bucky O'Hare toy I got at a carboot sale in the 90s. sits proudly on the shelf at my parents house.
What about Jumping Flash??
Is Klonoa a rabbit? I always thought it was a cat but it's ears aren't cat like. Got spaniel ears but not a dog face so I assumed it was a rabbit??
Fran is one of my all time favourite FF characters, and the Viera race is so interesting. At first I was kinda against seeing male Viera, but after reading the lore and how they operate, they just made the Viera race even cooler to me. I play as a Viera monk in FFXIV.
I love the games set in Ivalice and am hoping for a FF Tactics HD-2D collection.
As for Pokémon, I don’t care what people say or think, Lopunny is the best rabbit Pokémon.
And Coco? Seriously? When there’s Bonbon, Chrissy, Francine, Sasha and Gaston?
I like Bugs Bunny. He's a big star, and a teacher and Principal of Acme Looniversity, school of Higher Learning and Lower Comedy, and one-time Easter Rabbit after the events of "Easter Yeggs." He might have passed the job onto his prized pupil, Buster Bunny (Eh, watch the Tiny Toons Spring Break Special to get an idea). Also, he starred in numerous games from Sunsoft, like Rabbit Rampage and Looney Tunes B-Ball (which used the Super Multi-Tap). Now, I wonder what kind of material makes for good whiskers for my Build-A-Bear Bugs Bunny.
"we didn't think rabbits could get rough and ready"
laughs in Bigwig from Watership Down
"My chief told me to defend this run, and until he says otherwise, I shall stay here!"
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/watershipdown/images/0/04/Bigwig_Fullbody.PNG/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/350?cb=20220612065927
Also, what about Lagombi from Monster Hunter Rise? Close enough, I should say.
@Samalik Sonic saying "Let's do it to it!" is 100% from SATAM.
Either way, point is the same.
I don't mean to correct anyone, just bring a fun little piece of trivia: while the male viera appearance debuted in FFXIV endwalker, they already existed in lore in FFXII, just didn't appear due to their reclusive nature.
FFXIV models for male Viera come directly from XII concept art
Happy Easter NL Staff. This was a fun list. Though I gotta give mad props to Azumarill and Bucky o Hare.
@OwenOtter Bigwig is best WD bunny.
Luma rabbits
Uh, ALICE from BLOODY ROAR... great memories... However, personally my best "rabbit in videogames" is ROBBIT from the playstation series "JUMPING FLASH!"
Jazz Jackrabbit is here. All is well.
Hm... What's about Amusement Park Rabbit from NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition? 😉
"Dishonourable Mention: The Broodals"
Spot on. Awful charmless characters, maybe the worst creations in the Mario series.
@FantasiaWHT Klonoa resembles a cat, so no he wouldn't be considered as one.
Where's Hoppy from ClayFighter 2: Judgment Clay
The Broodals do suck, I agree, but worse than the Rabbids? Hook me up with whatever you're smoking because I'd also like go to the moon.
What of the Bunny Link form from A Link to the Past when you first enter the Dark World?
Fun fact: Sonic the Hedgehog was originally going to be a rabbit.
We need more rabbits in our lifes xD Happy Easter!
27 chances to include Erina from Rabi-Ribi, all blown. Not sure if the game flew under Alana's radar or if Erina herself was mistaken for an actual human at a glance (then again, the game description addresses it almost out the gate). And I thought viera were more hare-like, but that may be a technicality I'm biased enough toward Fran to overlook.😄
Rabbits are me second-least-favorite animals after horses, but I absolutely love the thoroughness of this article and I might have to bump them up a notch. Now I have to decide what my previously third-least-favorite animal was.
Idk why u didn’t just go with rabbids in general but oh well still a good list
I hope this article inspires game developers to create more quality rabbit characters in games!
You missed the Captain, Bucky O Hare
How could I forget to mention Zero III from Zero Escape?!
@Outlander999 Yess Alice from Bloody Roar I remember that from Gamecube version.
Max and Rabites are my favourite from here. There IS a Rabite plushie in Japan. Once in a blue moon one surfaces on Ebay, but typically goes for a lot of money.
@TYRANACLES I was just about to reference Bucky! I rented the NES game many times, got some of the toys and watched the short lived Saturday morning cartoon.
I absolutely love articles like this. Nice soothing fun reads all around.
Mirurun - Tetris Battle Gaiden.
Giving us electric animals before Pokémon made it cool.
@Uncle_Franklin koopling superiority
Scorbunny's the cutest of the lot. I'm surprised that furry-bait Lopunny wasn't given a dishonourable mention. The Nintendo Badge Arcade bunny also deserved to be lumped in that category, who has a special place in hell for his predatory monetisation tactics.
But Spaz from Jazz Jackrabbit 2 has a special place in my heart as my sister has spastic cerebral palsy, and the game also introduced local multiplayer, which allowed us to play the main game together. Spaz was such an out-of-left-field inclusion but one that we wholeheartedly welcomed (no doubt many nowadays would deem him to be "problematic" rolls eyes).
He was also quite refreshing as it was the first (and only?) time that I had seen a playable protagonist with a very conspicuous disability. The only other disabled video game character that even springs to mind is Lincoln Broadsheet from The Urbz: Sims in the City on GBA/DS, who was paraplegic, and (as his name implies) a journalist. I can't even recall any other such characters, though they would have been minor side characters at best.
What about Tappy from HarmoKnight? Not only is he so ridiculously cute that Game Freak and Nintendo should be ashamed of themselves for never making any merchandise of him, (he is a major part of why HarmoKnight’s opening cutscenes is one of the cutest ones I’ve ever seen) but despite being the only non-warrior in the group of traveling characters, he still has a significant role. He’s not just a cute animal in distress for the child protagonist to rescue or a defenseless buddy to protect; he uses his eye for detail to scout the terrain ahead. He gives tips on how to approach the obstacles, etc. ahead, if he sees enemies on distant platforms, he calls in Lyra, and if he sees thick, heavy enemies (and Ampliflies) he calls in Tyko and Cymbi. Tappy also tends to translate for animals that can’t speak a human language and is a sweet and supportive buddy character. There’s nothing generic or forgettable about him.
Also, why only mention the Streetpass Mii Plaza bunnies as salesbunnies when there were also Helper Hares and rabbit wandering heroes that brown shirt Miis could summon?
Plus, the more obvious: where is Arcade Bunny?
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