GameFAQsContests.com

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.