Today is a big day for everyone on Earth but especially for the black communities as Barack Obama is the new President of the United States. The second article of our celebration is the list of the top 5 black video game characters from the past that won their fight and gained a definitive “winner” status. For some, their status changed with the time but knew it or not, those depicted in this article played a big role in their respective game and in the lives of many gamers.

5. Adam Hunter (Street of Rage, Sega Genesis)

The good time has gone. Once productive, peaceful and full of life, the city is now controlled by the syndicates of crime. Streets are full of punks and Rastas that want only two things: destroy everything in their paths and riot all day. Here comes Adam Hunter, a young police officer that decided to fix things up with his own fist (or baseball bat… or is it a pipe wrench?). 23 years of age and adept at boxing, he proceeds to clean every dark alley and beat the hell out of the marginal badasses. A man like Adam stood still to a force bigger than his own and made his way to the top by defeating Mr. X, boss of the bad syndicate. That was no small task but Adam earned his winner status hands down.

Note: Depending on how you finish the game, Adam can trade his heroic status for a loser one. The game give you choices at the end and depending of what you chose, you can become the new Boss of the syndicate of crime! Because of his occasional bad thoughts, Adam took the fifth spot on this list.

4. Michael Jackson (Moonwalker, Sega Genesis)

- WARNING. Controversy coming. -
Yes, a living person… that kills dead ones… while dancing! You might hate the man or just the game (like the angry video game nerd) but you can’t deny that at some point of his life, the man was truly a winner in the world and certainly in his digitalized form too. Forget all you heard for the past few years and go back in time for a minute… First, Michael was a savior for those poor little kids (guys, this is serious, stop laughing). Next, he had the ability to pull out magic tricks that makes zombies dance and vanish. Finally, he was walking in beats over your own MIDI version of the chilling Thriller record. Finally, all of this was done with a super duper cool attitude. Yeah, that is our 4th winner spot.

3. Jax (debuts in Mortal Kombat 2, Arcade)

Jax has been selected to be the leader of “Special Forces” because he is clear-headed, careful and very intelligent. Unfortunately, bad people (they had to be bad) have savagely killed every troopers of his squad. Jax could not do anything else than return justice. To achieve this, he uses the most advance technologies in the form of two bionic arms implants to improve his strength. All fights were worth fighting. No adversaries were too strong. He dives headfirst. Getting hurt in battle, Jax had to replace his broken body parts by more cybernetics parts to a point where he became a true cyborg. It is in the form of a complete robot tough that he finally put an end to his fight, victorious. If that is not determination, tell me what that is! If only it weren’t for the fact that he crushes his opponents heads with his two hands or decapitates the arms of villains after winning, that would have made an awesome story for kids. Nonetheless to say, Jax won his fight on his own way to earn the winner status.

2. Mike Tyson (Punch-Out!!, NES)

You didn’t had the chance to play as him in the game. You only had the chance to play his favorite Little “punching bag” Mac. Mike Tyson is without a doubt the toughest black (boss) character in a video game. You may say he’s definitely not a winner in his real life (killing his wife is definitely bad but biting an ear? No way!) and you would be right. Let’s just think about him now as the character he was in the game. Yes, a real badass mofo, but a big winner for sure: A “one punch to the floor” guy. Seeing his face was scary. Rare are those who made him kneel and those who did had shaky hands. Without a doubt, from all the kids that made it to the final fight, I’m guessing 95% failed. That was one tough boss that we hated to see winning.

1. The black boxer (in the game Boxing, Atari 2600, Activision)

One ring, two opponents. A white and a black guy. In that era of video games, that black guy had few abilities. With a push of a button, he could get 2 points for a close power-punch or get 1 point from farther distance. Nothing extraordinary. In fact, the white guy was exactly the same. Equals on every level putting aside the color of his skin. You may ask what’s so special about him then? Ladies and gentlemen, that black guy is probably THE first black guy that made it into a video game. That alone makes him a legend. Today is another first for a black guy who has the same (or even better!) abilities than all the white men that had his place before. He can win his fight in a round, or do his best and fail. Either way, a step is made in the right direction. The end of that story is yet to come and we will be there to see whatever will happen next. Ding! Ding! What did I hear? The round has just begun!