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The first contest match was treated as a predetermined Mario win, with the real question being how dominant he would look. The writeup also stresses the unusual joke-vote and early-contest atmosphere surrounding the result.

Morrigan's win surprised a board that mostly knew Spyro better and expected him to prevail. The match became memorable for spawning early Board 8 traditions such as "wait until the kiddies wake up" and TJF.

Aya's win over Terry caused the contest's first major board frenzy after many regulars had expected Terry to cruise. The writeup says the result helped popularize TJF and fed the emerging Square-versus-the-world mentality.

Donkey Kong won an obvious mismatch, but the writeup focuses on how unimpressive the performance looked for a top seed against an obscure opponent. It immediately raised doubts about his ability to challenge Mario.

Alucard's victory surprised most of Board 8 even though the broader bracket predictions were nearly split. Tails cut into the percentage at times, but the writeup says Alucard controlled the match throughout and turned an apparent fluke into the start of a real contest reputation.

Duke Nukem handled an obscure Iori as expected and looked set for a favorable second-round path. The writeup treats the match as routine and mainly uses it to frame Duke as the favorite against Alucard.

Pikachu won without being in serious danger, but most of Board 8 spent the match rooting for PaRappa. The writeup presents the poll as an early showcase of strong anti-Pokémon sentiment on the site.

A heavily hyped first Square-versus-Nintendo matchup turned into an easy Cloud win. The writeup remembers the match less for suspense than for igniting the long-running Square-Nintendo rivalry and intensifying anticipation for Mario versus Cloud.

Lara won comfortably, but the writeup treats the showing as poor for a top seed facing an obscure opponent. It argues that her first match already exposed serious overseeding and declining support.

Ryo looked surprisingly strong against Guybrush and briefly earned some respect from the early contest results. In retrospect, the writeup attributes that appearance of strength largely to very weak opposition.

Some Board 8 users thought Simon's Castlevania name gave him a real chance, while Crono was still underestimated by people unfamiliar with Chrono Trigger. Crono's dominant performance instead established him as a serious threat.

Dante dispatched Q*Bert in a match whose main significance was setting up the next round. The writeup says the result added to heavy anticipation for what Board 8 expected to be a competitive Crono-Dante matchup.

Aeris beat Kasumi without much drama, reinforcing the view that her low seed badly understated her strength. The writeup sees the surrounding part of the bracket as hers to control before an expected meeting with Solid Snake.

Tina's unexpected win began the long-running "Gordon Freeman Never Wins" joke. The writeup emphasizes how embarrassing the loss seemed for Gordon, noting that even a link from a Half-Life site failed to rescue him.

Knuckles produced the contest's first truly overwhelming blowout and briefly inspired talk of a much deeper run. The writeup mainly treats the result as an early demonstration of his potential against very weak opposition.

Solid Snake entered as one of the contest's biggest favorites and easily handled a well-supported Squall. The writeup attributes Squall's poor showing to his weak standing at the time and explicitly describes the result as non-SFF.

Pac-Man won comfortably, but the writeup saw the performance as weak for a top seed against an obscure opponent. Like Lara before him, he immediately looked less formidable than his seeding suggested.

Kyo produced another seeding upset for the early contest after other King of Fighters characters had struggled badly. The writeup interprets the result more as evidence of Abe's weakness than of Kyo's strength.

Scorpion beat Kazuya as expected in the contest's first matchup between two fighting-game characters. The writeup considers the result straightforward and mostly uses it to question how character popularity translated from their series.

Max Payne dominated an obscure opponent and looked strong enough for a deep run by early-contest standards. The writeup also notes that the poll was the contest's lowest-scoring match to that point.

Bomberman won easily, with the writeup placing unusual emphasis on Kane's disastrous match picture. It treats the result as an example of a recognizable game not automatically producing a strong contest character.

Pic: The writeup says Kane's disastrous television-set match picture hurt him badly and made Bomberman's victory look obvious before voting developed.

Kirby was a major board favorite and widely viewed as badly underseeded, but Jill took an early lead and held it throughout. The final result looked close, yet the writeup stresses that Kirby never mounted a serious comeback.

Strider and Raziel produced the closest result of the contest to that point, but the writeup says Strider remained in control throughout. The unusually quiet poll also gave Strider a long-lived record for a very low-scoring match winner.

Link's first contest match was remembered as an early warning of how dominant he could become. The writeup says the performance made the rest of his division look incapable of stopping his path toward the late rounds.

Sonic followed Link's dominant showing with another overwhelming win over obvious fodder. The writeup says there was little reason at the time to doubt that Sonic belonged with the contest's elite characters.

Tidus survived a match the writeup saw as having real upset potential because of his unpopularity and Claire's stronger-than-expected position. His Square affiliation was enough to carry him through, but the performance gave little confidence before facing Sonic.

Samus beat Ken in a routine match that mainly served as a measuring stick for an expected meeting with Ryu. The writeup says her performance made her look well prepared for that matchup.

Ryu demolished CATS after the joke entrant had drawn considerable board hype. The writeup treats the result as proof that CATS's support was largely humorous rather than evidence of real contest strength.

Mega Man produced an unprecedented blowout that immediately elevated him from a respected entrant to one of the contest's major threats. Attention quickly shifted to whether he could reproduce that dominance against Sephiroth.

Serious Sam won a low-interest match that the writeup viewed mostly as filler between Mega Man and Sephiroth appearances. Neither entrant was considered likely to matter beyond this round.

Sephiroth easily dispatched Gabe Logan while reinforcing the view that his seed badly understated his strength. The result intensified anticipation for his eventual showdown with Mega Man.

Crash won comfortably, but the writeup saw his performance against Ulala as further evidence that his high seed reflected name recognition more than actual contest strength. Sephiroth already looked far beyond his reach.

Mario defeated Morrigan without serious trouble, yet the writeup viewed it as a second straight underwhelming performance compared with the contest's other elite characters. Cloud's next result therefore took on added importance for their expected meeting.

Aya stunned Donkey Kong with an early lead before he recovered and completed the contest's first major comeback. The writeup remembers the match for establishing both Donkey Kong's inconsistency and the early legend of Nintendo's morning vote.

Alucard followed his surprise win over Tails by beating Duke even more convincingly, turning an obscure entrant into an unexpected divisional semifinalist. The writeup also notes that weak opposition had helped make the run possible.

Cloud overwhelmed Pikachu and looked substantially stronger than Mario had through the same stage of the bracket. The match also became notable for Solarshadow's early vote-tracking work, a precursor to later poll-update culture.

Lara beat Ryo in an uneventful match, but once again failed to look like a true top seed against weak opposition. The writeup treats the result as another warning that stronger East Division entrants were likely to expose her.

Crono turned a heavily anticipated close match with Dante into an easy victory. The writeup says the result revealed how misleading their superficially similar first-round performances had been and made Crono a serious threat to Lara.

Aeris received an unexpectedly easy path after Tina eliminated Gordon Freeman and took full advantage of it. The writeup views her low seed as misleading and her trip to the divisional semifinals as well deserved.

Minor Knuckles upset hype disappeared almost immediately as Solid Snake controlled the match from the start. The writeup treats the result as confirmation that Snake belonged among the contest's serious contenders.

Pac-Man won another match that was never seriously in doubt, but the writeup saw his performance as further proof that he was badly overseeded. His weak half of the division still appeared likely to protect him from consequences.

Scorpion demolished heavily favored Max Payne after most of the board misread their first-round blowouts. The writeup treats the result as both a major surprise and evidence that mainstream popularity did not translate cleanly to GameFAQs.

Jill handled Bomberman without much suspense after already surviving the more dangerous Kirby matchup. The writeup says her two wins helped cement her as a recurring contest presence.

Link crushed Strider in a match the writeup considered completely predetermined. The main takeaway was that Link looked like one of the strongest title favorites while facing little meaningful resistance in his division.

Sonic beat Tidus more comfortably than some upset-minded observers expected and remained an elite contender. The writeup attributes Tidus's ability to avoid a worse defeat largely to his Square affiliation despite his personal unpopularity.

Ryu was a fashionable upset pick before the contest, but Samus controlled their match from the start. The result confirmed that her earlier win over Ken was not misleading and sent her toward an expected meeting with Sonic.

Mega Man followed his first-round destruction with another extraordinary blowout, this time against an entrant who had already won a match. The writeup remembers this as the point when he became the contest's breakout star and a credible threat to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth easily eliminated the much higher-seeded Crash and left no doubt that their seeds had badly misstated their relative strength. The writeup treats the match mainly as the final setup for the anticipated Mega Man showdown.

Mario finally produced the dominant performance people had been waiting for, restoring confidence before his expected match with Cloud. The result also became an early case used to develop Board 8's SFF theory.

SFF: The writeup says Mario's unusually dominant result against the closely linked Donkey Kong helped introduce what Board 8 would later universally call Same Fanbase Factor, though it was still treated as a fledgling theory at the time.

Cloud ended Alucard's surprise run, but did not dominate as thoroughly as his earlier matches suggested he might. The writeup says that performance, combined with Mario's previous showing, restored genuine uncertainty before Mario versus Cloud.

Crono demolished top-seeded Lara after her earlier matches had already exposed warning signs. The writeup treats Lara as a seeding fraud and Crono's performance as proof that his unexpected run had become a legitimate championship threat.

Solid Snake ended Aeris's underseeded run in an expected victory. The writeup focuses less on the match itself than on how Snake's showing might translate against the much stronger Crono.

Scorpion's decisive win over Pac-Man shocked most observers and exposed how weak the entire half-division had been. The writeup remembers the fallout, including outside attention from Penny Arcade, as the moment the first contest truly became a larger event.

Link overwhelmed Jill in another match the writeup considered a formality. His weak division had effectively handed him a direct route toward the Final Four while he continued to look like the tournament favorite.

Samus erased what had looked like a decisive late Sonic lead and won after an extraordinary closing surge. The match triggered a massive backlash, outside vote recruitment on both sides, cheating suspicions, and lasting changes to how contest results were followed.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Samus and Sonic supporters spammed for votes across the internet, chat rooms, buddy lists, and gaming chats. It also says many users suspected cheating behind Samus's extraordinary late comeback despite CJayC stating that no cheating was detected.

Mega Man built a surprising early lead on Sephiroth before Sephiroth reversed the match and pulled away late. The writeup considers it one of the contest's best fights, but one overshadowed by the famous matches immediately before and after it.

Cloud controlled much of the match before Mario mounted a comeback aided by unusually favorable circumstances and outside attention. The close finish, enormous board reaction, rallying, and unresolved cheating allegations made the match the writeup's choice for the greatest contest match ever.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup credits Mario's comeback partly to a Planet GameCube link and widespread vote solicitation, explicitly treating those efforts as rallying. It also describes alleged proxy voting and supposed vote-stuffing admissions, while emphasizing that the cheating claims were never proven.

Crono's earlier warning signs became impossible to ignore when he controlled a heavily favored Solid Snake. The writeup treats the victory as the culmination of an unlikely run that had grown stronger with every round.

Link destroyed Scorpion in a divisional final that the writeup saw as proof of the South's weakness. His continued dominance left Sephiroth as the only remaining opponent viewed as a plausible obstacle before the championship.

Samus surprised Sephiroth with a strong opening lead, but Sephiroth recovered quickly and controlled the rest of the match. Even in defeat, the writeup says Samus validated her earlier Sonic win while Sephiroth raised concerns about how he would fare against Link.

Crono nearly completed another remarkable comeback against Mario before CJayC intervened over fraudulent voting. The controversy ended Crono's Cinderella run but began the long-running Mario-Crono rivalry remembered by Board 8.

Cheat: The writeup says Crono's comeback included blatant vote-stuffing and that CJayC removed fraudulent votes. It also discusses later statements suggesting the amount of fraudulent voting may have been larger than the number removed during the match.

Link dominated Sephiroth from the beginning, confirming fears raised by Sephiroth's earlier struggle with Samus. The writeup treats this as the match in which Link effectively secured the championship before the final was played.

Link comfortably defeated Mario in a final the writeup considers anticlimactic. The result established Link as GameFAQs's strongest Nintendo character and closed a first contest successful enough to guarantee more tournaments.

Link opened the 2003 contest with another enormous blowout and immediately reaffirmed his status as the entrant to beat. The writeup notes that some same-company overlap may have contributed, but not enough to diminish the statement.

SFF: The writeup says Link's overwhelming result may have included a small amount of SFF because AiAi was another Nintendo character, while stressing that the magnitude of the win was impressive regardless.

Fox routed Pikachu in a debated matchup that the writeup retrospectively considers an obvious SFF situation. The victory also ended Fox's poor first-contest seeding story by finally giving him a match win.

SFF: The writeup explicitly describes Fox's decisive win over fellow Nintendo entrant Pikachu as an SFF result and argues that anti-Pokémon voting made Pikachu's position even worse.

Ganondorf survived a surprisingly strong Tidus comeback after Board 8 had largely treated the matchup as a lock. The match became especially important for popularizing dedicated update topics and exposing the gap between hardcore board expectations and the broader bracket field.

Magus won comfortably but failed to match the enormous expectations created by his pre-contest hype. The writeup says supporters blamed his low seed and kept treating him as a potential challenger to Link despite the underwhelming showing.

Squall beat Jill far more comfortably than much of Board 8 expected after his disappointing 2002 showing. The writeup treats the result as clear evidence that his strength had changed substantially between contests.

Luigi opened at an elite-looking level against Ratchet, then steadily declined as the match progressed. The writeup says the result cooled the extreme pre-contest hype around Luigi even though few considered his next match dangerous.

KOS-MOS decisively beat the favored Crash, confirming that his old platforming fame no longer guaranteed contest support. The writeup says the blowout made KOS-MOS look stronger than she really was while symbolizing Crash's decline.

Samus easily beat Isaac, yet the writeup considered the margin disappointing because people expected a much harsher same-company blowout. Isaac's resistance became an enduring puzzle while Samus-over-Link speculation continued anyway.

CATS briefly led Cloud at the opening, creating a memorable Board 8 spectacle before Cloud predictably destroyed him. The writeup treats the moment as the birth of the CATS Army and an early milestone in Cloud's long-running difficulty with the board vote.

Auron comfortably beat Tails despite substantial board sentiment that favored the Sonic character. The writeup remembers the match as Auron's strong contest debut and an early indication that Tidus's unpopularity did not extend to him.

Bowser demolished a Ness who had been a popular upset pick, immediately overturning much of the pre-match speculation around the four-pack. The writeup remembers the scale of the blowout as one of the contest's early surprises.

Yoshi beat Conker comfortably in his first contest match, but not by enough to satisfy the enormous expectations surrounding him. The writeup says the result largely ended fanciful Yoshi-over-Cloud talk while still leaving most people too confident about his chances against Bowser.

Aeris handled Sora as expected and continued the pattern of outperforming her low seed. The writeup later came to view Sora's poor showing as an SFF result that understated his actual contest strength.

SFF: The writeup retrospectively identifies Aeris versus Sora as an SFF match, arguing that Sora's connection to Aeris through Kingdom Hearts made him look weaker than he would against an unrelated opponent.

Master Chief narrowly avoided an upset against Felix in a match the writeup says exposed intense anti-Xbox and anti-Halo sentiment. The result badly damaged Chief's pre-contest reputation despite the win.

Zero decisively beat a Scorpion who had been heavily favored because of his surprising 2002 run. The writeup treats the result as the end of Scorpion's brief time as a serious contest threat and the start of Zero's strong career.

Sonic beat a badly underseeded Ken without serious trouble, though his slow start created some concern among people hoping he could challenge Cloud. The writeup ultimately viewed the performance as acceptable given Ken's strength.

Mario opened the heavily anticipated South Division by crushing Olimar. The writeup treats the result as a routine SFF blowout that revealed little about how Mario would fare against the division's elite opposition.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Mario's victory over fellow Nintendo entrant Olimar a mundane SFF beating and says SFF was in full swing during the match.

Shadow demolished a heavily favored Wario in one of the board's largest first-round surprises. The writeup says Wario's poor match picture made supporters nervous beforehand, but treats Shadow's strength and Wario's failure as the main story.

Kefka survived Pac-Man after an infamous match picture badly damaged confidence in the heavily hyped newcomer. Pac-Man mounted a long comeback attempt before Kefka recovered late, while the image became a lasting Board 8 running joke.

Pic: The writeup says Kefka's infamous 'lettuce' match picture hurt him badly, turning what had been treated as a comfortable win into a close, contested match against Pac-Man.

Crono cruised past Tom Nook in a match the writeup treats as little more than a formality before the expected Mario rematch. It then spends substantial time on Nook's more memorable connection to an unrelated Board 8 user contest.

Alucard comfortably beat Bomberman while remaining less trusted than his previous contest results warranted. The writeup treats the victory as another steady step toward the much more debated Alucard-Kirby matchup.

Kirby beat a heavily hyped Ramza, but the writeup considered Ramza's resistance surprisingly strong for a cult newcomer. The result ended the Ramza upset talk while raising doubts about Kirby before facing Alucard.

Max Payne beat Gordon Freeman in a match that looked close on paper but was never seriously in doubt. The writeup remembers it chiefly as the point where the long-running 'Gordon Freeman Never Wins' joke truly took hold.

Sephiroth crushed Raziel exactly as expected and remained one of the division's dominant favorites. The writeup's lasting historical note is that a perfect percentage prediction around this match helped inspire the Oracle Challenge.

Snake routed Raiden in an expected same-series mismatch. The writeup emphasizes that the result was a severe SFF beating, though Raiden retained enough support to avoid the historically extreme percentage some expected.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Raiden was heavily SFFed by fellow Metal Gear character Solid Snake, while noting that Raiden still performed better than many expected.

Knuckles won one of the most evenly debated first-round matches after spending much of the night in a near-stalemate with Yuna. His powerful day vote then turned the close contest into a comfortable finish.

Ryu demolished Duke Nukem far more convincingly than many expected. The writeup treats the performance as an overlooked warning that the supposedly obvious Dante-Ryu result in the next round was far from settled.

Dante answered Ryu's impressive opener with a dominant win over Ryo Hazuki. The result restored confidence in Dante before their second-round meeting, even though the writeup retrospectively says he had been overrated.

Donkey Kong beat Vyse as expected but did not produce the overwhelming showing supporters wanted before a possible match with Tommy Vercetti. The writeup therefore left the once-unthinkable DK upset case alive without strongly endorsing it.

Vercetti beat Kite but performed far below the level expected from a character once hyped to challenge Mega Man and Snake. The writeup says the result exposed his pre-contest reputation and made Donkey Kong a credible threat.

Zelda decisively beat a Lara Croft whose reputation had already fallen sharply from her former top-seed status. The writeup frames the loss as another sign of Lara's rapid decline while Zelda benefited from intense contemporary Zelda enthusiasm.

Mega Man annihilated Mr. Resetti, yet the writeup remembers the performance as a strange disappointment because expectations after 2002 were even more extreme. The match closed a first round full of upsets and inflated newcomer hype.

Link opened the second round by overwhelming Fox and reinforcing his status as the contest favorite. The writeup acknowledges heavy Nintendo SFF but says the performance still looked dominant enough to keep repeat-title expectations intact.

SFF: The writeup explicitly treats Link's rout of fellow Nintendo entrant Fox as an SFF result, while arguing that the size of the win remained impressive despite the overlap.

Magus survived a dramatic Ganondorf comeback after his early lead nearly vanished during the morning vote. The razor-thin win punctured the enormous Magus-versus-Link hype even as it produced one of the contest's most memorable close matches.

Squall stunned the overwhelmingly favored Luigi and immediately turned a normal match into one of Board 8's largest explosions. The upset generated extraordinary cheating accusations and permanently changed both characters' contest reputations.

Cheat: The writeup says Squall's upset of Luigi triggered cheating accusations on a scale rivaling any match in contest history, alongside mass account suicides, trolling, and other board chaos.

Samus decisively ended the brief KOS-MOS hype created by her first-round upset of Crash. The writeup saw the win as a partial recovery from Samus's disappointing opener and as evidence that Squall was unlikely to upset her next.

Cloud comfortably dismissed Auron in a match some had hoped could produce a same-company upset. Instead, the writeup says conventional SFF took over and strengthened the case that Cloud sat near the top of Square's hierarchy.

SFF: The writeup explicitly describes Cloud's victory over fellow Final Fantasy entrant Auron as an SFF beating that overwhelmed any hoped-for reverse-SFF upset effect.

Bowser quickly erased Yoshi's brief opening lead and won a matchup most of the board had expected Yoshi to take. The writeup treats the result as both an upset of prevailing assumptions and a clear SFF performance.

SFF: The writeup says Bowser caught Yoshi and then laid an SFF beatdown on him, overturning expectations built from an earlier favorite-Mario-character poll.

Aeris comfortably beat a Master Chief whose narrow escape against Felix had already destroyed most upset expectations. Chief showed some resistance after a terrible start, but the writeup treats the match mainly as another strong Aeris fourpack win.

Sonic beat Zero but looked dramatically weaker than expected as Zero steadily cut into what began as a comfortable advantage. The writeup calls it a Pyrrhic victory that effectively ended serious Sonic-over-Cloud hopes.

Mario beat Shadow but performed so poorly that the result immediately fueled Crono upset talk. The writeup speculates that a reverse-SFF effect may explain Shadow's unusually strong showing, but treats the mechanism as uncertain.

Crono obliterated a Kefka whose first-round struggle had already ended most upset expectations. The unusually severe result sparked arguments about Square SFF and set up the heavily anticipated Mario-Crono rematch.

SFF: The writeup retrospectively treats Crono's blowout of Kefka as an SFF match, while noting that Square SFF was still disputed and poorly understood at the time.

Alucard won a heavily debated match with Kirby after an almost even opening. Though the final result looked close, the writeup says Alucard established control almost immediately and captured his fourpack for a second straight year.

Sephiroth demolished Max Payne in a match the writeup considered almost entirely predetermined. Its main significance was completing the path toward the long-awaited Mario-Crono-Sephiroth endgame in the South.

Snake comfortably beat Knuckles in the first rematch in Character Battle history, producing little suspense because the same matchup had already ended decisively the year before. The writeup treats Knuckles as another stepping stone toward Snake's eventual Mega Man test.

Ryu upset a Dante whom both the board and bracket field had largely treated as the obvious winner. The writeup remembers it as a surprisingly quiet upset because Ryu stayed in control and the board generated little outrage.

Vercetti and Donkey Kong traded the lead repeatedly in one of the era's best seesaw matches before Vercetti finally pulled away with the evening vote. The near-upset completed Vercetti's fall from supposed contender to obvious overhype.

Mega Man beat Zelda without the usual overwhelming dominance associated with his early contest career. The writeup considered the result mildly disappointing while allowing that Zelda's strength may simply have been underestimated.

Link ended the once-enormous Magus upset hype with a comfortable win, though Magus still performed better than expected. The writeup leaves the reason for that overperformance unresolved, mentioning both board hype and possible sprite-picture effects without settling on either.

Samus beat Squall as expected, but Squall's strong showing confirmed that his earlier Luigi upset was not a fluke. The writeup notes complaints about Samus's sprite picture but does not treat the image as a demonstrated cause of the result.

Cloud destroyed a Bowser whom much of the board had strongly supported, making the scale of the win especially striking. The writeup discusses a severe picture mismatch but stops short of attributing the result primarily to it.

Sonic narrowly held off Aeris in another performance that confirmed how far he had slipped from his pre-2002 reputation. Aeris's strong resistance made an upcoming Sonic win over Cloud look extremely unlikely.

Mario and Crono produced an enormous rematch in which Crono appeared to have the win secured before Mario erased a late lead and survived a controversially extended poll. Rallying, cheating allegations, and the disputed timing made it one of Board 8's most controversial matches.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes supporters on both sides frantically rallying for votes during the late collapse of Crono's lead. It also records extensive cheating accusations around Mario's comeback, while noting that CJayC said his check found no cheating in the decisive extra period.

Sephiroth dispatched Alucard in a match largely ignored because it followed the Mario-Crono controversy. The writeup mainly uses the result to strengthen Sephiroth's case before facing Mario in the divisional final.

Snake comfortably beat Ryu despite pre-match concern that his poor sprite image could hurt him. The writeup says the feared picture effect did not materialize here, though the performance did little to improve Snake's chances against Mega Man.

Mega Man demolished Vercetti and completed the collapse of the pre-contest hype that once had Vercetti winning the division. The writeup treats the match as an easy tune-up before Mega Man's real test against Snake.

Link beat Samus in a long-awaited matchup that stayed competitive only briefly before Nintendo SFF took over. The writeup considers the result another sign of Link's dominance while arguing that Samus looked weaker than she really was.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says SFF took hold after Samus kept the opening close and later argues that Link SFFed her heavily enough to distort her apparent contest strength.

Cloud turned a briefly hopeful Sonic challenge into a devastating rout, confirming Sonic's decline and dramatically raising expectations for Cloud against Link. The writeup treats this as the point where Cloud's 2003 strength became impossible to dismiss.

Sephiroth unexpectedly demolished Mario in what had been expected to resemble the previous year's Mario-Cloud classic. The result became the writeup's clearest evidence yet for a broad Kingdom Hearts-era boost to several Square characters.

Mega Man beat Snake in a steady match that produced little drama but finally sent him back to Sephiroth for a rematch of their near-upset from 2002. The writeup treats the coming Final Four as far more interesting than the match itself.

Cloud shocked the contest by beating the seemingly invincible Link after taking control almost immediately and resisting the expected Zelda day-vote comeback. Heavy rallying, cheating allegations, and a disputed picture imbalance became part of the explanation for one of the contest's defining upsets.

Rally · Cheat · Pic: The writeup says both sides engaged in heavy rallying and records widespread cheating accusations, while treating those accusations as roughly symmetric blame rather than proven fraud. It also says Link's Wind Waker image versus Cloud's Kingdom Hearts image may have cost Link a small but meaningful amount of support.

Sephiroth dominated Mega Man in a rematch that had been nearly even one year earlier. The writeup treats the dramatic swing as some of the strongest evidence for the Kingdom Hearts Factor before the all-FF7 championship match.

Cloud recovered from Sephiroth's early lead and won a final that the writeup says was less competitive than the ending suggested. It frames the result as the culmination of Cloud's strengthened post-Kingdom Hearts standing and likely same-fanbase suppression of Sephiroth.

SFF: The writeup says SFF likely had the most to do with Cloud beating fellow Final Fantasy VII character Sephiroth, and treats their later rematch as confirmation that Sephiroth was suppressed here.

Super Mario Bros. 3 opened the game contest with the expected rout. The writeup focuses more on the unexpectedly weak turnout and the sponsored poll above the contest than on the one-sided match itself.

Metroid turned a mildly hyped matchup into a comfortable win and strengthened early talk that the series might contend with Zelda. The writeup attributes Pac-Man's weakness mainly to the site's younger audience, with his match picture also working against him.

Pic: The writeup says Pac-Man's match picture was not doing him any favors, explicitly presenting the image as another disadvantage for him against Metroid.

Contra comfortably beat an overseeded Phantasy Star in a matchup that had attracted substantial pre-match debate. The writeup treats the result as evidence that the nomination system inflated weaker-system seeds and that franchise recognition did little for Phantasy Star itself.

Final Fantasy crushed Pitfall in a match that was never competitive. The writeup mainly uses the result to strengthen the case that the original Final Fantasy could become a serious obstacle for Super Mario Bros. 3 later in the division.

Donkey Kong built what looked like a safe lead before Duck Hunt spent most of the day mounting a relentless comeback. The writeup says Donkey Kong escaped largely because time and bracket support ran out on Duck Hunt, making the match an early contest classic.

The Legend of Zelda annihilated the obscure Adventure and set multiple futility marks in the process. The performance immediately intensified talk that Zelda games might dominate the contest.

Pong easily beat River City Ransom after late board hype had tried to turn the cult favorite into a serious upset pick. The writeup treats the result as a lesson in the limits of vocal cult support against universal name recognition.

Tetris beat Galaga as expected, but the writeup considered its performance unimpressive for much of the poll. That softness briefly encouraged speculation that Pong might have a real chance in the next round.

Chrono Trigger handled Secret of Mana but lost substantial momentum during the daytime, creating concern about how it would fare against stronger opponents. The writeup identifies that recurring voting pattern as a defining feature of Chrono Trigger's contest run.

Super Mario RPG recovered from an early Street Fighter II push and won a genuine toss-up. The lasting story in the writeup is the unusually persistent board outrage afterward, which turned the loss into a long-running community joke.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 dispatched Shining Force in a predetermined mismatch. Its strong showing nevertheless encouraged Sonic supporters to argue that a classic Mario-Sonic showdown in the next round could be competitive.

Super Mario World crushed The Simpsons and reassured anyone who thought Mario's contest standing had weakened. The writeup sees the performance as a stronger warning for Sonic than many contemporary observers recognized.

A Link to the Past obliterated Gunstar Heroes and added another emphatic result to Zelda's opening run. The writeup says the performance made the series look nearly unbeatable while also highlighting how strangely low the game's seed had been.

Super Metroid won comfortably but failed to match the standard A Link to the Past had just set against weak opposition. The writeup treats that gap as an early sign that Super Metroid's hoped-for challenge to Zelda was already doomed.

Doom beat the higher-seeded EarthBound after a heavily debated matchup that the writeup says was less competitive than the hype suggested. It presents the result as a bracket buster driven by mainstream recognition overcoming a dedicated cult fanbase.

Final Fantasy VI comfortably defeated Mortal Kombat and began to look stronger than many observers had expected. The writeup treats the result as the first hint that the game belonged in the division's top tier rather than behind the presumed favorites.

Final Fantasy VII demolished Suikoden II in a routine opening match and looked every bit like a championship favorite. The writeup views the surrounding division largely as a waiting room for the expected showdown with Ocarina of Time.

Xenogears beat Pokémon Gold and Silver after the original poll had to be restarted because of a voting bug. The writeup considers anti-Pokémon sentiment an important part of the loss while also crediting Xenogears' Square RPG appeal.

Final Fantasy Tactics comfortably beat Dance Dance Revolution, though its opponent showed more support than many expected. The writeup says that resistance initially made Tactics look vulnerable before later matches revised the interpretation.

Metal Gear Solid comfortably dispatched Resident Evil and reinforced its status as one of the strongest non-Nintendo, non-Square properties on the site. The result set up what looked on paper like a very even meeting with Final Fantasy Tactics.

Symphony of the Night beat Perfect Dark after a matchup surrounded by elaborate pre-match strength theories. A long poll freeze interrupted the action, and Perfect Dark's late resistance left the writeup convinced that Castlevania had little chance against GoldenEye next.

GoldenEye easily beat Panzer Dragoon Saga and validated the view that it was much stronger than Perfect Dark in this contest setting. The writeup treats the match mainly as confirmation that Symphony of the Night faced an overwhelming next-round obstacle.

Super Mario 64 destroyed the obscure NiGHTS as expected. The writeup's main point is that Mario 64 was badly underseeded and deserved a much better fate than an immediate collision with Ocarina of Time.

Ocarina of Time crushed Fallout 2 and extended Zelda's dominant start. The writeup nevertheless argues that comparison with Final Fantasy VII's opener already favored the Square game in their anticipated divisional showdown.

StarCraft overturned Halo in one of the contest's defining first-round battles after both fanbases drew outside support into the poll. The writeup treats the result as proof that Halo was badly overseeded, StarCraft badly underseeded, and the StarCraft fanbase capable of changing the entire division.

Rally: The writeup explicitly describes mass Battle.net spamming, Xbox Live and Bungie involvement, and outside forces being brought in from across the internet to vote for both sides, with StarCraft ultimately benefiting most.

Kingdom Hearts barely recovered from SoulCalibur after entering the contest with much greater expectations. The match also coincided with a major site-layout change, and the writeup treats the narrow escape as evidence that Kingdom Hearts was the contest's biggest disappointment.

The Wind Waker comfortably beat Skies of Arcadia and posted the clearest opening result in an otherwise chaotic division. The writeup still considered the performance modest by Zelda standards, but enough to make Wind Waker the provisional divisional favorite.

Metroid Prime beat Half-Life after the PC game kept the opening portion more competitive than Gordon Freeman's contest reputation suggested. The writeup treats the result as another chapter in the GFNW joke while giving Half-Life credit for showing real strength.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance beat Fire Emblem in a match the writeup remembers mainly for very weak interest and turnout. The victory did little to inspire confidence, with the result framed as proof that Tactics Advance would fold against the first serious threat.

Final Fantasy X comfortably beat Shenmue but failed to look as strong as expected for a divisional favorite. The writeup says the result shifted the perceived edge toward The Wind Waker while leaving the division unsettled.

Vice City beat Knights of the Old Republic during an extended poll disrupted by site changes and downtime. The writeup says the win created serious second-round hype, while the unusual poll conditions made its true strength difficult to judge.

Super Smash Bros. Melee beat Metal Gear Solid 2 but looked much shakier than its seed suggested. The writeup credits Metal Gear Solid 2 with being underestimated and remembers the match for inspiring the joking phrase "Ulti-Style Blowout."

Super Mario Bros. 3 demolished Metroid and reclaimed the apparent favorite's position in the old-school division. The writeup treats the result as a straightforward show of strength before the eventual clash with Zelda.

Final Fantasy handled Contra convincingly and continued to look stronger than its place in the bracket suggested. The writeup emphasizes how much faith bracketmakers placed in the Final Fantasy name and builds anticipation for its meeting with Mario 3.

The Legend of Zelda flattened Donkey Kong and extended the series' unbeaten, dominant start. The writeup portrays Donkey Kong as an especially unreliable Nintendo property and says the result made an all-Zelda late bracket feel increasingly plausible.

Tetris comfortably beat Pong in an otherwise forgettable match. The writeup remembers the poll primarily for the widely loved paddle-versus-block match picture and for another weak turnout in a division already viewed as filler before the heavyweights met.

Chrono Trigger beat Super Mario RPG but again lost substantial strength during the day. The writeup says the recurring pattern kept alive doubts about Chrono Trigger's ability to survive stronger opponents later in the division.

Super Mario World crushed Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in a matchup many had expected to become the classic Mario-Sonic duel. The writeup treats the decisive result as proof that Mario World was a genuine threat to Chrono Trigger.

A Link to the Past demolished Super Metroid and delivered another startlingly strong Zelda result. The writeup says the margin transformed widespread Zelda confidence into genuine concern that the series might overwhelm the entire contest.

Final Fantasy VI handled Doom as expected, but the important story was how closely its apparent strength now matched Chrono Trigger and A Link to the Past. The writeup says the division had become a genuine multi-game race rather than the expected two-game collision.

Final Fantasy VII overwhelmed Xenogears in another routine step toward the expected Ocarina of Time showdown. The writeup treats the only real drama as measuring how convincingly the tournament favorite could dispatch familiar Square opposition.

Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy Tactics traded tiny leads throughout an exceptionally tight match before Metal Gear Solid escaped at the end. The writeup considers the finish controversial because a large site advertisement and a suspicious late vote jump left the author unwilling to treat the result as fully credible.

Cheat: The writeup calls Metal Gear Solid's late push suspicious, questions the credibility of the final result, and says the unexplained last-minute vote jump should have been investigated, while acknowledging there was no proof of cheating.

GoldenEye comfortably beat Symphony of the Night and ended the elaborate pre-match debate over that portion of the bracket. The writeup says Castlevania's earlier struggle with Perfect Dark had already revealed the mismatch and confirms GoldenEye as the clearly stronger property.

Ocarina of Time crushed the highly regarded Super Mario 64 and added another emphatic result to Zelda's unbeaten run. The writeup treats the same-fanbase matchup as evidence that Ocarina might be closer to Final Fantasy VII than earlier results had suggested.

SFF: The writeup explicitly describes Ocarina of Time versus fellow Nintendo icon Super Mario 64 as a match riddled with SFF when comparing it with Final Fantasy VII's same-round result.

StarCraft beat Kingdom Hearts from start to finish and proved that its Halo victory had not been a fluke. The writeup casts Kingdom Hearts as the contest's biggest disappointment and StarCraft as a fanbase that could no longer be dismissed as a novelty upset.

The Wind Waker beat Metroid Prime after the two Nintendo games stayed relatively close until the morning vote created separation. The writeup views the SFF matchup and weak turnout as further signs that Wind Waker was the vulnerable member of Zelda's otherwise dominant contest run.

SFF: The writeup groups Wind Waker versus fellow Nintendo title Metroid Prime with the contest's other SFF matches while discussing its unusually weak turnout.

Final Fantasy X beat Tactics Advance as expected but again failed to deliver the dominant performance its supporters wanted. The writeup says the result deepened the sense that Division 128 had no trustworthy favorite.

Super Smash Bros. Melee pulled away from Vice City after an early deadlock and survived another difficult matchup. The writeup gives Vice City credit but says the weak turnout and Melee's repeated struggles left the division without an obvious favorite.

Super Mario Bros. 3 beat Final Fantasy but looked much less dominant than expected for the division's presumed favorite. The writeup argues that strong loyalty to the Final Fantasy name explains much of the resistance while leaving Mario's prospects against Zelda less secure.

Zelda dismissed Tetris and looked like the clear favorite to take its division. The writeup treats the result as another step in Zelda's dominant opening run, with Mario 3 offering the only real counterargument.

Chrono Trigger turned a heavily debated matchup into a comfortable win and restored confidence after earlier daytime weakness. The writeup says Super Mario World had looked like a plausible upset pick, but Chrono Trigger established itself as a true divisional favorite.

Final Fantasy VI's sustained early lead punctured Zelda's aura of invincibility before A Link to the Past recovered and pulled away. The writeup also remembers the notoriously poor official artwork as an impetus for later user-created match pictures.

Final Fantasy VII crushed Metal Gear Solid and, in the writeup's view, became the unmistakable favorite for the entire contest. The performance was framed as a direct challenge to Ocarina of Time to show comparable strength the next day.

Ocarina of Time handled GoldenEye easily, but the writeup judged the showing insufficient to answer Final Fantasy VII's previous performance. The match is remembered mainly as the final setup for the division's anticipated showdown.

Starcraft shocked The Wind Waker with another late comeback, extending its improbable run and ending Zelda's unbeaten start. The writeup credits Battle.net rallying for making the difference and treats the result as Starcraft's arrival as a legitimate contest force.

Rally: The writeup attributes Starcraft's decisive late comeback to organized Battle.net promotion and heavy Saturday-night traffic. It explicitly rejects cheating as the explanation for this particular match.

Melee overturned the old assumption that Final Fantasy X would beat it comfortably. After an early lead, a comeback, and long stretches of near-even voting, Melee held off the late Square vote and advanced to face Starcraft.

Super Mario Bros. 3 won a highly anticipated divisional final with surprising ease and further ended Zelda's early aura of invincibility. The writeup treats the matchup as a clear case where shared Nintendo support favored Mario.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says SFF finally worked against a Zelda title, with Super Mario Bros. 3 benefiting in the all-Nintendo matchup against the original Zelda.

Chrono Trigger and A Link to the Past stayed virtually dead even for hours, repeatedly answering each other's small pushes. The writeup calls it one of the contest's greatest wire-to-wire matches before Chrono Trigger finally separated itself late.

Final Fantasy VII beat Ocarina of Time without the drama expected from the contest's supposed true final. The writeup treats the result as confirmation of Final Fantasy VII's superiority in this field and as another sign of Zelda's sudden collapse.

Melee ended Starcraft's Cinderella run in a chaotic divisional final dominated by outside promotion, flame wars, and a detected cheating surge. The writeup remembers the match as both a strong Melee win and a damaging controversy around Starcraft's run.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Starcraft was promoted through Battle.net and multiple Starcraft sites, while a separate sudden proxy-vote surge was identified as cheating. The controversy cast doubt over the legitimacy of parts of Starcraft's run even though Melee still won.

The hoped-for third Mario-versus-Crono-style classic never materialized. Chrono Trigger took control after the opening exchange and stayed ahead, producing an anticlimactic semifinal despite the rivalry surrounding it.

Final Fantasy VII dispatched Melee in a semifinal the writeup considered essentially predetermined. Melee's failure to make the match competitive reinforced the contemporary belief that it could not challenge an elite game.

Chrono Trigger briefly resisted, but Final Fantasy VII ultimately controlled the championship match as expected. The writeup spends more time reflecting on the contest itself than on a final it considered straightforward.

Link obliterated joke entrant CATS after an early poll glitch obscured the opening votes. The writeup's main interest is that CATS gave Link and Cloud a common opponent, immediately fueling comparisons between the two championship favorites.

Ganondorf beat Alucard in a respectable matchup between two characters the writeup considered badly underseeded. Much of the discussion centers on the bracket apparently being arranged to produce Link versus Ganondorf in the next round.

Yoshi routed Ryo Hazuki in a result the writeup sees mainly as further evidence of Ryo's decline into contest fodder. It argues that a character losing this badly to a mid-level Nintendo entrant no longer merits repeated appearances.

Luigi beat Pac-Man in a routine match but looked weaker than the writeup expected, raising concern before his heavily debated meeting with Yoshi. Pac-Man, meanwhile, is portrayed as a fading former top seed still capable of respectable support.

Magus dominated Luca Blight in a low-interest match before his difficult second-round draw. The writeup uses Luca's weak showing and the quiet poll to argue that vocal cult support does not translate into broad contest strength.

Crono demolished Conker and strengthened the argument that his previous result against Kefka did not require an SFF explanation. The writeup also criticizes Crono's seeding as an obvious attempt to force another Mario-Crono matchup.

Bowser overwhelmed Guybrush in a matchup the writeup considers a product of manipulated seeding rather than competitive bracket design. Guybrush is portrayed as overseeded fodder, while Bowser's reward is an intentionally unfavorable Mario matchup.

Mario finally delivered the kind of overwhelming first-round performance the writeup had long expected from him against a non-Nintendo opponent. The result is used to reassess earlier supposedly weak Mario showings as evidence that those opponents were stronger than believed.

Mega Man comfortably defeated Earthworm Jim, though the writeup spends much of its time celebrating Jim as a welcome contest newcomer and fan favorite. It ultimately judges Mega Man's showing impressive rather than weak.

Tidus won the contest's first heavily debated matchup, taking control early enough that Shadow's later resistance never became a real comeback. The writeup says the final closeness overstated the drama but still gave both characters credit for holding up outside their expected voting periods.

Tommy Vercetti beat Max Payne, but the writeup considers Max's respectable showing the more important result. Max avoided the feared same-company collapse and strengthened his case for remaining in the field, while Vercetti looked weaker than his old hype suggested.

Zero dominated Proto Man in a same-series matchup whose result the writeup warns should not be used to dismiss Proto Man as ordinary fodder. It treats the match as another example of the bracket manufacturing predictable company-based pairings.

SFF: The writeup explicitly describes Zero versus Proto Man as a first-round SFF blowout within the Mega Man family, arguing that Proto Man's poor result understates his standalone strength.

Frog and Liquid Snake unexpectedly produced a wire-to-wire classic, repeatedly trading momentum and staying nearly dead even for hours. Frog finally created a small late cushion and barely survived Liquid's last push, giving both newcomers immediate contest credibility.

Master Chief crushed Crash Bandicoot and looked far more formidable than the site's usual anti-Xbox reputation suggested. The writeup focuses equally on Master Chief's rising stock and Crash's dramatic fall from former high seed to expendable fodder.

Kefka surprised the board by leading early and forcing Knuckles to recover despite expectations of an easy Knuckles win. The writeup ultimately treats Knuckles' showing as disappointing and debates whether Kefka's picture and broader Square support helped explain the resistance.

Pic: The writeup says Kefka's recurring lettuce picture may have helped him attract unusually strong early support, before Knuckles took control later in the match.

Solid Snake annihilated Tanner in a blowout the writeup treats as evidence of Tanner's exceptional weakness rather than Snake's true ceiling. The mismatch became a lasting Board 8 reference point for hopeless new entrants and entertainingly lopsided polls.

Cloud still routed Duke Nukem, but Duke's memorable milk-carton picture gave the underdog an unusual opening burst and complicated early Link-Cloud comparisons. The writeup frames the match as the start of a contest-long contest between the two favorites' performances.

Pic: The writeup says Duke Nukem's milk-carton match picture drew humorous support, helping him take an early lead and plausibly contributing to Cloud's slight underperformance.

Vyse beat Laharl without much difficulty in what the writeup dismisses as a matchup between two cult characters with limited broader support. Vyse's previous contest exposure and greater familiarity are presented as enough to make the result predictable.

Kirby comfortably beat Kain in another routine early-round result. The writeup treats the match mainly as evidence that Legacy of Kain characters occupy contest slots without showing enough strength to justify them.

Squall beat Bomberman but performed noticeably below the writeup's expectations from the previous year's standings. The result raised doubts about whether Squall had lost strength and reinforced frustration with a bracket designed to funnel him toward Cloud.

Ness turned a heavily debated matchup into a convincing victory over Jak. The writeup argues that the board overvalued mainstream sales and undervalued how well a cult RPG character known to GameFAQs users could perform against another weak 3D platformer.

Auron beat Scorpion much more decisively than prior standings suggested and suddenly looked substantially stronger than expected. The writeup interprets the result mainly through possible distortion in Auron's previous Cloud matchup and Scorpion's continuing decline.

Vivi turned a supposedly close match into a decisive win over Donkey Kong, immediately establishing himself as a serious newcomer. The writeup sees the result as both evidence of Vivi's appeal and another demonstration that Donkey Kong's icon status does not translate reliably into contest strength.

Sephiroth obliterated Sly Cooper in a match the writeup considers entirely predetermined. Its main complaint is that the company-based division reduced Sephiroth's early path to meaningless setup matches before the expected confrontation with Cloud.

Sonic comfortably crushed Terry Bogard in another predetermined first-round match. The writeup's greater interest is that the Chaos Division finally introduced a section of the bracket with genuine uncertainty about later rounds.

Ryu beat KOS-MOS as expected, but the writeup uses the result mainly to infer that Samus had grown much stronger than older standings indicated. That implication sharply reduced the plausibility of Sonic upsetting her later in the division.

Tails upset heavily favored Viewtiful Joe and finally earned his first contest win. The writeup says earlier results had begun to expose Tails as underestimated, but the reversal still destroyed many expectations and became a notable prediction upset.

Dante destroyed Ratchet in another straightforward opening match, though the writeup warns against reading too much into the margin. Ratchet is grouped with the contest's other badly performing 3D platformer characters rather than treated as evidence of elite Dante strength.

Sora beat newcomer HK-47 comfortably, but the writeup says the matchup offered little reliable information because HK-47 had no contest baseline. Attention immediately shifted to whether Sora's previous results had understated his real strength before the next round.

Ryu Hayabusa and Jill Valentine produced a celebrated marathon after a server glitch forced their fiercely contested poll to be restarted. The second poll featured another series of major swings before Ryu survived Jill's final comeback attempt by the narrowest of margins.

Sam Fisher extended the Gordon Freeman Never Wins joke, but Freeman's unexpectedly competitive opening made Fisher look weak in his own right. The writeup treats the match more as another chapter in Freeman's losing legend than as a strong Fisher performance.

Samus demolished former top seed Lara Croft far more decisively than the writeup expected, turning an obvious win into a major statement about Samus's rising strength. Lara's showing is framed as another step in a steep decline from her early contest status.

Link annihilated Ganondorf so thoroughly that the writeup treats the result as both a historic SFF extreme and a championship statement. Ganondorf's standalone strength effectively vanished against the flagship character of his own series.

SFF: The writeup calls Link's destruction of fellow Zelda character Ganondorf the largest SFF beating yet seen, arguing that Ganondorf's normal strength was almost completely suppressed by Link.

Yoshi beat Luigi in a heavily debated Nintendo matchup that ultimately followed the available statistical clues more closely than the hype suggested. The writeup calls the result disappointingly predictable despite the same-fanbase conditions.

SFF: The writeup explicitly describes Yoshi versus Luigi as an SFF affair between Nintendo characters, though it notes that older extrapolated standings still predicted the matchup unusually well.

Crono crushed Magus in a matchup the writeup considers another casualty of the company-based bracket. Magus briefly led with Board 8 support, but the eventual SFF blowout left no useful opportunity to test his real strength.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Magus was hit by SFF against fellow Chrono Trigger character Crono, making the lopsided result a poor measure of Magus's standalone strength.

Mario routed Bowser in another predetermined Hyrule Division matchup, with the writeup again criticizing the bracket for sacrificing strong villains to company-based pairings. The result's main use was as an imperfect SFF comparison before Mario met Crono.

SFF: The writeup says Bowser was SFF'd heavily by Mario in their same-franchise matchup, and treats the result mainly as a distorted comparison point for the upcoming Mario-Crono rematch.

Mega Man demolished Tidus far more decisively than most of Board 8 expected, vindicating Heroic Mario's unusually confident prediction. The writeup treats Tidus's collapse as one of the contest's hardest results to explain.