AI Character Face-Off: The Winner Revealed

As part of IGN’s AI Week, we asked you to help us decide which AI character from across movies, TV, and games was the best of them all. Now, after thousands and thousands of 1v1 battles with matchups like R2-D2 vs. HAL 9000 and GLaDOS vs Wall-E, the ultimate AI character has been chosen.

So, which competitor claimed the top spot for the best AI character of all time and would never, ever dream of rising up against us? Drumroll please…

Ok, well I guess he technically did rise up against us once but he has since become a true friend to us organics so it’s fine! Yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day rose above the rest (even Skynet!) to claim the honor of the best AI character ever, according to IGN’s audience. It was a tough fight though, as he won 79.7% of his battles, which was just .01% above everyone’s favorite astromech droid from that galaxy far, far away – R2-D2.

In one of the closest battles in IGN’s Face-Off history, the margin of victory was only four votes, meaning those who love R2-D2 above all else (like me!) should have fought just a liiiiiittle bit harder! Either way, two of the most iconic characters in entertainment history claimed the top spots, and they were joined by some other pretty big hitters in the top 10.

Agent Smith and the Machines from The Matrix took third place with a win percentage of 78.7%, Halo’s Cortana followed with 73.1%, and Futurama’s Bender rounded out the top five with a win percentage of 72.8%. Terminator and Star Wars dominated the next five spots, as Skynet and Terminator 2’s T-1000 took seventh and eighth place, and R2’s best friend C-3PO claimed #9. As for others, Optimus Prime took sixth and GLaDOS secured tenth place.

On the other side of the AI spectrum, Rez’s Eden landed all the way at the bottom, with a win percentage of only 17%. Rez obviously isn’t so much about the story as the musical experience you get to play through, so that could have been a factor as she wasn’t a main focus of the game. Also near the bottom were Chibi Robo, Zone of the Enders’ Jehuty, Persona 3’s Aigis, Observation’s SAM, Upgrade’s STEM, Overwatch’s Zenyatta, Xenosaga’s KOS-MOS, Apex Legends’ Pathfinder, and Forbidden Planet’s Robby the Robot.

Eight of the bottom 10 AI characters were from video games, and while some of these games and characters are popular in modern times like Overwatch and Apex Legends, others are a bit older and more niche and aren’t as relevant today. And those from Overwatch and Apex Legends had to compete with a ton of other characters in their respective games as well.

Are you wondering where your favorite AI character landed, like maybe Mass Effect’s Legion? (He placed seventeenth!) For all the rankings, you can check out the full list of where all 104 AI characters that competed in this Face-Off ended up.

For more on IGN’s AI week, check out Tim Sweeny, CD Projekt, and more weighing in on AI, how AI can improve accessibility, how gamers are creating brand-new RPGs using ChatGPT, five AI projects you can try right now, and 10 of the most evil AI in movie and TV history.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.