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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.

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.

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."

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.

Bowser opened the villains contest by obliterating Pyramid Head, whose nomination the writeup credits largely to a dedicated Board 8 supporter. The result immediately placed Pyramid Head among the weakest entrants the contest had seen.

Sigma beat Andross but performed far worse than the pre-contest hype around Mega Man X suggested. The writeup calls the win pyrrhic and treats it as an early warning that Sigma had little chance against Bowser.

Revolver Ocelot beat Nemesis but looked much weaker than Board 8 expected, throwing his projected path through the division into doubt. The writeup spends much of the match reopening arguments about Nemesis, Wesker, and Dr. Wily rather than celebrating Ocelot's win.

Dr. Wily handled Ultros cleanly and looked stronger than Ocelot had the previous day. The writeup treats the match mostly as a preview that shifted confidence toward Wily in their looming second-round meeting.

Sephiroth annihilated Ramirez in a deliberately lopsided matchup born from a Board 8 request. The writeup treats the result as confirmation that the overwhelming pre-contest favorite showed no sign of vulnerability.

Vergil comfortably beat Ghaleon after a late wave of debate had given the cult RPG villain some support. The writeup argues that Ghaleon's terrible picture only made an already difficult matchup worse.

Pic: The writeup says Ghaleon's exceptionally poor match picture effectively erased whatever upset chance he had, while Vergil received the much more flattering image.

Lavos beat Mother Brain as expected, but the match was considerably more competitive than many anticipated. The writeup uses Mother Brain's resistance mainly to raise expectations for Ridley in the later Ridley-Diablo matchup.

Liquid Snake crushed Officer Tenpenny and initially justified the lofty reputation he had gained from his close 2004 loss to Frog. The writeup notes that nothing in this opener hinted at the weakness Liquid would show later.

Kefka beat Mithos comfortably but steadily lost ground as the day progressed, failing to look convincing for a top seed. The writeup says the result immediately encouraged arguments that Wesker could eliminate him in the next round.

Wesker defeated Luca Blight but performed so poorly that the writeup immediately abandoned the idea of him threatening Kefka. A hyped potential contender became one of the contest's early disappointments in a single match.

M. Bison demolished Albedo and sparked a night of Psycho Crusher jokes and Board 8 fads. The writeup also notes that Bison steadily lost ground later, a warning sign that would matter in his next matchup.

Diablo turned a heavily debated matchup with Ridley into a clear win and emerged as a serious divisional threat. An outside Diablo-site rally arrived later, but the writeup argues that the match had already been decided on its own merits.

Rally: The writeup says diabloii.net linked directly to the poll during the match, adding outside support for Diablo. It also stresses that Diablo had already taken firm control before the rally appeared.

Ganondorf obliterated Giygas in a matchup the writeup considered barely worth holding. The result simply reinforced Ganondorf's status as a pre-contest lock for the final while placing Giygas among the weakest entrants.

Ansem eventually escaped CATS, but CATS led for hours and came far closer to a real win than Board 8 believed possible. The writeup remembers the match almost entirely as CATS proving that joke support could become meaningful against the right opponent.

Pic: The writeup says CATS finally received the recognizable picture fans associated with him rather than his old image, and argues that this likely made a major difference in his unusually strong showing.

Robotnik held off Sin in a close matchup dominated by Board 8 arguments around one loud Sin supporter. The writeup says Sin mounted a respectable recovery despite a disastrous picture, while an attempted outside rally failed to overturn the result.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says Sin was badly hurt by one of the contest's worst match pictures, which reduced him to an unrecognizable dorsal fin. It also says a vocal Sin supporter tried to rally votes from outside websites during the match.

Master Hand stunned Kuja in the round's defining upset after almost everyone dismissed the glove as an automatic loss. The writeup remembers the result as both absurd and unforgettable, turning a supposedly obvious match into the contest's biggest board explosion.

Mario opened the contest with the expected blowout, and the writeup mainly watches turnout and whether the result strengthened his case as the favorite. It also notes the Gamespot banner and the unusual ability to keep voting after the poll had technically ended.

Ness's upset over CJ becomes the jumping-off point for a long discussion of the board's race arguments, representation in games, and whether Grand Theft Auto simply underperforms on GameFAQs.

Zero beat Ryu Hayabusa comfortably in a deliberately uneventful match after the previous day's chaos. The writeup nevertheless saw Ryu's late recovery as a mild warning that Zero might be somewhat overrated.

Lloyd never seriously risked losing, but Wesker performed much better than the writeup expected against the Tales protagonist. The result was treated as a clear Lloyd underperformance and another sign that recent statistics were hard to trust.

Samus demolished Yuri and strengthened the case that she could win the entire contest. The writeup treats the performance as an impressive answer to people who thought Mario should be favored in their anticipated matchup.

Frog survived Riku, but Riku's sustained pressure convinced the writeup that Frog's celebrated 2004 strength had been badly overstated. Instead of reinforcing Frog's reputation, the close win turned him into one of the contest's biggest statistical question marks.

Ganondorf beat Yuna as expected while the writeup debated whether the result helped or hurt his standing against Auron. It also explicitly points to suspicious voting on Yuna's side.

Cheat: The writeup says TRE identified numerous examples of blatant cheating coming from Yuna's side of the poll.

Auron cruised past Big Boss in what the writeup treats mostly as a preview of Auron's coming match with Ganondorf. Big Boss's poor picture is singled out as a reason not to read too much into the size of the win.

Pic: The writeup argues that Big Boss's unrecognizable cartoon-style picture hurt him and that a recognizable Naked Snake image would have performed better against Auron.

Snake predictably overwhelmed Manny, but the writeup treats Manny's appearance itself as a victory after a long Board 8 nomination campaign. Much of the discussion pushes back against claims that Snake's huge win was somehow disappointing.

Zelda turned a heavily debated matchup into an easy win, badly undercutting the statistical case for Vivi. The writeup interprets the result as evidence of both Zelda's growth and the wider Nintendo boost that was becoming a major contest storyline.

Alucard beat Kratos, but Kratos's strong daytime showing made the favorite look far less convincing than expected. The writeup saw the result as a warning that Alucard was aging and would be vulnerable against Sora.

Sora handled Agent 47 comfortably, yet the writeup still considered the performance mediocre for the matchup. More importantly, Riku's earlier showing against Frog had already shifted the coming Sora-Alucard debate strongly toward Sora.

Kirby demolished Cecil far beyond expectations and immediately looked much stronger than his seeding reputation suggested. The writeup credits both Kirby's rise and Cecil's terrible picture while treating the result as an early sign of a broad Nintendo boost.

Pic: The writeup calls Cecil's Amano image one of the worst match pictures in the contest and accepts that the picture likely contributed to how badly he underperformed against Kirby.

Tidus won comfortably, but the writeup turns the King of All Cosmos into a running joke while arguing that Tidus still performed too poorly to beat Kirby. The result became another strike against Tidus's old reputation as an elite-level character.

Bowser beat Chun-Li almost exactly as expected, leaving the writeup with little new information about his strength. The real focus remained the anticipated second-round showdown with Ryu.

Ryu beat Rikku but fell dramatically short of Board 8's expectations as his percentage kept sliding through the day. The writeup saw the performance as effectively ending the case for Ryu over Bowser before their match even arrived.

Master Chief won easily enough, but CATS performed much better than expected and made the top seed look unimpressive. The writeup strongly credits CATS's recognizable face picture for helping him outperform his old numbers.

Pic: The writeup explicitly argues that CATS's recognizable face picture helps him perform much better than the eggplant-style image used in other contests.

Donkey Kong beat Sam Fisher in a match the writeup repeatedly calls dull. DK started above expectations but gradually gave enough back that the result offered little confidence about his next round.

Kefka and Vercetti produced a long, volatile comeback battle that became one of the contest's biggest Board 8 explosions. The drama was ultimately overshadowed by confirmed and alleged vote-stuffing on both sides, turning a classic close match into a major cheating controversy.

Cheat: The writeup documents extensive vote-stuffing and exploit use around both entrants, including votes removed by CJayC and admitted multi-voting by several users. It treats cheating as central to the match's final hours and aftermath.

Crono easily dispatched Zidane in a remarkably steady poll after the chaos of Kefka-Vercetti. The writeup mainly wonders whether shared Square support suppressed Zidane, without reaching a firm conclusion.

Dante crushed Terra and quickly ended what little upset speculation had existed around the matchup. The writeup treats Terra's weakness as another example of an ensemble-cast Final Fantasy character failing to translate game popularity into contest strength.

Vincent flattened Kerrigan in a match that many had overthought because of StarCraft's earlier contest success. The writeup treats Vincent's debut as a statement performance and Kerrigan's result as a major failure of Board 8 expectations.

Knuckles stunned a board that had essentially treated Magus as a lock and even a possible division winner. Magus led early before Knuckles's daytime strength took over, producing one of the contest's most memorable bracket-busting upsets.

Squall overwhelmed Geno in a match whose main question was how much shared-fanbase suppression would appear. The result also helped frame the now-unpredictable Devil Division after Magus's upset loss.

SFF: The writeup says Squall likely applied some SFF to Geno, a Square-created side character from Super Mario RPG, and uses that as evidence for how Squall might have treated Magus.

Sonic easily beat Jin, but Jin held up better than an unsupported newcomer was expected to. The writeup treats the result as mildly concerning for Sonic ahead of the anticipated Mega Man showdown.

Diablo beat Kratos Aurion without serious trouble and largely matched expectations from his strong villains-contest run. The writeup sees the result as a useful confirmation of Diablo's strength rather than a major storyline of its own.

Tifa's long-awaited contest debut became a rout as she performed far beyond expectations against Vyse. The writeup immediately debates whether Tifa was truly elite or whether Vyse had simply been overrated for years.

Luigi demolished KOS-MOS despite projections that had the matchup much closer. The writeup treats the result as one of the clearest early examples of the contest-wide Nintendo boost and a warning that Tifa's next match might not be easy.

Mega Man crushed Conker but slipped below the performance the writeup wanted from him, giving new life to Sonic supporters. The result was treated mainly as an imperfect preview of their eventual divisional clash.

Leon extended Gordon Freeman's famous losing streak, though Gordon once again performed better than a supposedly hopeless underdog should. The writeup turns the recurring GFNW joke into the main story of another Freeman defeat.

Yoshi handled Laharl almost exactly as expected in one of the first round's least eventful matches. The writeup treats it as little more than another easy Nintendo win before Yoshi's projected meeting with Mega Man.

Pac-Man upset heavily favored Ocelot in a close first-round finale that eliminated the remaining perfect brackets. The writeup celebrates Pac-Man's overdue major win while blaming Ocelot's poor picture for at least part of the upset.

Pic: The writeup argues that Ocelot's faded old-man picture hurt him in the close loss and says a recognizable in-game Metal Gear image likely would have improved his performance enough to win.

Zelda opened the Best Series Ever contest with a routine blowout that immediately became notable for its enormous vote total. The writeup says the performance set a new individual-vote record and started early talk that Zelda might challenge Final Fantasy for the title.

Mega Man X handled Suikoden exactly as expected in a lopsided but unremarkable opener. The writeup mostly focuses on X finally appearing prominently in a contest picture and on the poor bracket reward of facing Zelda next.

Pokémon erased years of contest pessimism by crushing Star Ocean after even its own supporters had grown nervous about the matchup. The writeup treats the win as overdue vindication for a franchise with a history of disappointing contest results.

Metroid demolished Kirby and immediately killed the brief Pokémon-over-Metroid bandwagon. The writeup is unsure whether fanbase overlap mattered, ultimately leaning more toward Kirby's games simply being weaker than Kirby's character popularity suggests.

Metal Gear crushed Soul Calibur and made its old Spring 2004 statistical standing look badly inflated. The writeup treats the result as the first warning that several highly rated series from that earlier bracket had been overrated.

Fire Emblem won a matchup the writeup considered less uncertain than the near-even brackets suggested. The result is framed as a modest vindication for the growing Nintendo series and another reminder that Silent Hill remained highly niche on GameFAQs.

Castlevania upset Halo and, more surprisingly, neutralized the daytime voting strength that had defined Halo and Master Chief in earlier contests. The writeup treats the result as both a satisfying upset and another exposure of Halo's unreliable contest reputation.

Kingdom Hearts crushed Harvest Moon, yet the writeup says people still treated the performance as disappointing because Castlevania had just upset Halo. It rejects that panic and argues that Kingdom Hearts remained difficult to judge after its sequel.

Super Mario Bros. annihilated Madden in the contest's signature joke-fodder matchup. The writeup highlights another individual-vote record and says the performance strengthened early belief that Mario could challenge Final Fantasy.

Warcraft upset GTA in a close match dominated by outside-site campaigning, especially from the World of Warcraft community. The aftermath also confirmed vote stuffing, mostly for GTA, but the writeup stresses that Warcraft still won fairly without those fraudulent votes deciding the result.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says both sides rallied heavily, with World of Warcraft forum traffic giving Warcraft the decisive outside push. It also quotes CJayC confirming egregious vote stuffing, overwhelmingly for GTA, while stating that the fraudulent votes were insufficient to change Warcraft's legitimate win.

Sonic crushed Devil May Cry in a straightforward match that mattered mainly as a measuring stick for the coming Super Smash Bros. clash. The strong showing added momentum to arguments that Sonic could win that much more important second-round match.

Super Smash Bros. easily dispatched Dragon Quest while the writeup spends as much time on fan complaints as on the stable blowout itself. The result kept the coming Sonic matchup uncertain rather than answering whether Smash was truly strong enough.

Final Fantasy answered Zelda and Mario's huge opening performances with a massive blowout of Diablo. The writeup still stops short of calling the contest over, arguing that Diablo's limited series depth made the result less definitive than it first appeared.

Mega Man decisively beat Mario Kart after Board 8 had spent far more time debating the matchup than the writeup thought necessary. The result is presented as a case of the board overthinking how voters would interpret the broad Mega Man series name.

Street Fighter easily beat The Elder Scrolls despite loud pre-match confidence from some Elder Scrolls fans. The writeup remembers the poll largely for the ugly fan arguments it produced and for setting up a more meaningful Street Fighter-Resident Evil matchup.

Resident Evil obliterated Shadow Hearts in another first-round mismatch and nearly reached the contest's biggest vote and percentage landmarks. The writeup treats Shadow Hearts as contest joke fodder and warns against reading too much strength into such a lopsided pairing.

Samus opened the contest with an easy win over joke entrant Nidoran F, whose nomination had been heavily rallied before the bracket began. The writeup rejects the idea that Samus's less-than-absurd dominance revealed anything meaningful about her strength.

Ada beat a little-known Jade without difficulty, leaving the writeup unsure whether Ada was strong or Jade was simply very weak. The main useful observation was another poor Resident Evil daytime performance.

Rikku overwhelmed an obscure Lenneth and reinforced the idea that her prior strong showing was no fluke. The writeup treats the result as a quiet but convincing confirmation of Rikku's midcard strength.

Kairi and Claire traded control through sharply different voting periods before Kingdom Hearts' daytime strength turned the late match decisively toward Kairi. The writeup also records a vote-stuffing allegation involving a Claire supporter.

Cheat: The writeup says Smurf bragged about vote-stuffing for Claire and was banned during the match, while noting that whether he actually altered any votes remained unknown.

Tifa produced the first performance the writeup considered truly dominant, while Ivy and the broader Soul Calibur cast looked increasingly weak. The unusually high interest around the match picture is treated more as spectacle than as an explanation for the result.

The Boss beat Celes comfortably after a pre-match debate the writeup considered badly overhyped. Much of the analysis argues that Final Fantasy VI's ensemble cast had repeatedly failed to translate the game's popularity into strong character results.

Jill beat Sheena without being threatened, but her weak daytime performance concerned the writeup. The result is framed as an early warning that Jill could struggle badly if she reached a genuinely close match later.

The writeup is mostly a personal rant about Peach, Daisy, Mario, and Luigi; the match itself is treated as an effortless Peach win that strengthened confidence in her next round.

Zelda demolished Carmen Sandiego in what the writeup calls one of the contest's most dominant performances. The showing immediately fueled a serious bandwagon that Zelda might threaten Samus later in the bracket.

Terra beat Kerrigan in a match preceded by enough picture complaints that the official image was changed. The writeup says the altered picture did not rescue Kerrigan and instead treats the result as another example of weak PC-character strength.

KOS-MOS beat Amy more easily than the writeup expected, helped by Amy's poor standing even among Sonic fans. Amy's strong daytime recovery was the only notable trend and foreshadowed how important that voting bloc could become later.

Aeris beat Marle comfortably, with only a small amount of SFF according to the writeup. More concerning for Aeris was her failure to dominate the daytime vote, which weakened confidence that she could challenge Zelda later.

SFF: The writeup says Aeris and Marle showed some SFF from their overlapping Square and role-playing fanbases, but characterizes the effect as minimal rather than a major suppression.

Yuna quietly delivered a dominant opening win over Roll after being dismissed as a weak top seed. The writeup treats the performance as an early sign that Yuna was stronger than the division's reputation suggested.

Joanna beat Cortana without much difficulty after brief early hopes for a closer match. The writeup frames Cortana's failure as another example of Halo-related entrants being overrated by people who confuse game popularity with character strength.

Chun-Li beat Kasumi as expected and was never in danger, though her poor daytime vote gave back some of the early margin. The writeup considers the match largely routine despite pre-match discussion of possible fighting-game overlap.

Lara looked dominant against Alyx, but the writeup argues that the performance was deceptive because Alyx was obscure and the match drew little interest. It rejects the result as evidence of a true Lara resurgence.

Snake overwhelmed Soma in a stronger opening performance than his familiar early-round fodder beatings. The writeup still notes his history of fading later, but treats the result as the first hint that this contest might be different.

Squall crushed Tidus in what the writeup calls an SFF beating through and through. The result further buried Tidus's old reputation while briefly making a later Squall upset of Snake seem plausible.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls the result an SFF beating, with Squall suppressing fellow Final Fantasy lead Tidus far beyond what their ordinary statistical gap suggested.

Yoshi beat Riku in a seeding upset but steadily lost ground after a blistering start. The writeup treats Riku's resistance as a moral victory and as a warning that Yoshi's coming match with Dante had become much less comfortable.

Dante beat Ryu Hayabusa almost exactly as the writeup's prior expectations suggested. The routine result kept Dante looking steadier than Yoshi heading into their debated second-round meeting.

Sora beat the widely disliked Tingle in a completely stable and predictable match. The writeup finds almost no useful trend information in the result beyond another easy Kingdom Hearts win.

Gordon Freeman ended the long-running GFNW joke by beating Board 8 favorite Phoenix Wright after an early Phoenix lead. The writeup argues that the Phoenix upset hype was mostly fad power rather than a realistic assessment of the matchup.

Ryu beat Kratos without serious danger even though casual brackets had strongly favored Kratos. The writeup is more interested in Kratos's powerful daytime recovery, which suggested he could become dangerous in a genuinely winnable future match.

Mega Man beat Axel, but his strong early showing steadily deteriorated once the morning and daytime votes arrived. The writeup treats the decline as an overlooked warning of the much larger collapse that would become obvious later.

Sonic steamrolled perennial fodder CATS after the customary brief opening lead. The writeup discusses the familiar CATS picture debate but ultimately says the hybrid image makes the result too ambiguous for useful conclusions.

Vincent won a heavily debated match after Ganondorf's early advantage faded with the opening Nintendo surge. The upset exposed problems in the old statistics and immediately triggered a large Vincent-over-Sonic bandwagon.

Kirby beat Prince of Persia but steadily lost ground after a stronger opening. The writeup credits Prince with proving respectable midcard strength while treating Kirby's performance as another bad sign before the next round.

Luigi demolished a favored Zero in the kind of debated match he had historically failed to win. The writeup treats the result as both a personal breakthrough for Luigi and a serious embarrassment for the statistical consensus.

Crono comfortably beat Captain Falcon in his debut as a top seed. The only concern in the writeup is Crono's familiar daytime weakness, which allowed Falcon to recover substantially after the early stages.

Bowser beat Leon, but Leon performed much better than the old projections suggested. Combined with Kirby's earlier showing, the result made the writeup question how legitimate their inflated prior-year statistical reputations had been.

Auron beat Alucard comfortably, continuing a long decline from Alucard's early-contest upset reputation. The writeup is left debating whether Alucard had truly weakened or whether earlier statistical distortions had simply hidden his real level.

Sub-Zero upset Master Chief after taking control early and surviving the familiar Halo afternoon push. The writeup treats the loss as another chapter in Halo's recurring early-round failures and a memorable winning debut for Sub-Zero.

The first four-way contest match immediately showed how different the new format could be. Yoshi took first comfortably, while Knuckles survived Rikku after major voting swings and Vaan's shared fanbase hurt Rikku in the fight for second.

LFF: The writeup explicitly identifies Vaan as the contest's first clear LFF case, saying his shared Square support drained enough from Rikku to cost her an advancing spot.

Mega Man took the expected first place, but the real story was KOS-MOS advancing while Diablo and Arthas split overlapping support. The writeup treats the result as the match that taught Board 8 how LFF worked in four-way polls.

LFF: The writeup says Diablo and Arthas weakened each other by sharing the same Blizzard fanbase, allowing KOS-MOS to advance despite neither Blizzard entrant being individually helpless.