Most powerful Video Game Quotes of All Time

Gamers have a weird superpower: we can remember video game quotes from decades ago, but forget what we had for lunch yesterday.

Whether it’s Navi shouting “Hey! Listen!” until you want to throw your controller, or Skyrim guards reminding you (again) about that unfortunate arrow-to-the-knee incident, these lines stick with us.

That’s why we pulled together the ultimate list of gaming’s greatest quotes, and to make life easier, we split them into categories.

Looking for the all-time classics?

Got ‘em.

Need some inspiration?

Covered.

Want a quote that’ll punch you in the feelings?

Oh yeah, those are here too.

Dive in, reminisce, and maybe shout a few out loud just to confuse anyone in the room who hasn’t played the game. (Their loss!)

1. “FINISH HIM!” – Mortal Kombat
   A classic quote yelled at the player after they have beaten the opponent. This allowed the player to perform a bloody fatality or simply smack their opponent to conclude the fight.
2. “It’s dangerous to go alone, take this!” – The Legend of Zelda
3. “Thank you, Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!” – Super Mario
4. “Do a barrel roll!” – Star Fox 64
5. “Hey! Look! Listen!” – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
   Infamous words by Na’vi, Link’s fairy companion has become known by all gamers.
6. “I used to be an adventurer like you until I took an arrow to the knee.” – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
   Uttered by passing guards, this quote quickly became a fast-spreading meme on the internet, where people would repeat it and add their new flavor to it.
7. “You Have Died” – Dark Souls
   The infamous screen in which many players will become intimately acquainted with, the ‘you have died’ screen is the bane of my existence!
8. “Waka Waka Waka” – Pacman
   The iconic sounds of Pacman gobbling down those dots can be heard if you think about it enough!
9. “Stay awhile and listen!” – Diablo 2
10. “The cake is a lie” – Portal
11. “You require more vespene gas” and “Not Enough Minerals” – StarCraft
    Players will immediately recognize these snippets of dialogue when they eventually run out of resources.
12. “Snake? Snake? SNAKE!” – Metal Gear Solid
    When Snake dies in-game, the colonel will emphatically scream this through the codec, along with some dramatic musical score.
13. “Praise the sun!” – Dark Souls
    This is Solaire the knight of the sun’s motto, which quickly became a favorite quote online amongst Dark Souls gamers.
14. “It’s a-me, Mario!” – Assassin’s Creed II
    This in-joke for video gamers is said by Ezio’s uncle Mario after meeting on the road. It quickly became one of the more iconic quotes within the game for its reference to our favorite Italian plumber.
15. “Get over here!” – Mortal Kombat
16. “No Russian.” – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
    This controversial quote opened up the level in which you were tasked with massacring the population of an airport to maintain cover within a terrorist’s good graces.
17. “War…war never changes” – Fallout
18. “A man chooses; a slave obeys.” – Bioshock
    The maniacal Andrew Ryan emphasizes this philosophical line near the end of the game when the player finally meets him in person.
19. “Would you kindly…” – Bioshock
    Without giving anything away, this infamous quote turns into the biggest plot point of the first Bioshock game. (Video)
20. “The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.” – Half-Life 2
21. “You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?” – The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
22. “It’s time to kick ass and chew bubble gum…and I’m all outta gum.” – Duke Nukem
    Duke Nukem is the crazy, macho protagonist of the titular game series of FPS games involving crazy aliens, explosions, and more. Duke utters this while blowing aliens away and it just adds to the action, humor, and fast-paced gaming.
23. “All your base are belong to us.” – Zero Wing
24. “Stop right there, criminal scum!” – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
    Nefarious players will be hearing this more than others, but this classic line is delivered with such gusto and passion that it borders on parody.

26. “Endure and survive.” – The Last of Us
27. “Hope is what makes us strong. It is why we are here. It is what we fight with when all else is lost.” – God of War 3
28. “A hero need not speak. When he is gone, the world will speak for him” – Halo
29. “Good! Now we can fight as warriors. Hand-to-hand, it is the basis of all combat. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon.” – Metal Gear Solid
    Another Gray Fox quote. He’s filled with rage, but ready to accept a worthy challenger who can match his zeal.
30. “The world fears the inevitable plummet into the abyss. Watch for that moment and when it comes, do not hesitate to leap. It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly.” – Dragon Age: Origins
31. “What is bravery, without a dash of recklessness?” – Dark Souls
32. “I don’t need a weapon; my friends are my power!” – Kingdom Hearts
    
33. “Kept you waiting, huh?” — Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes
    Big Boss looks directly at the camera and the player while he adds this cheeky line of dialogue at the beginning of GZ.
34. “Don’t make a girl a promise if you know you can’t keep it.” – Halo 3
35. “Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow. Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands.” – Final Fantasy X

36. “The thing about happiness is that you only know you had it when it’s gone…” – Fallout 4
    
37. “Life isn’t just about passing on your genes… Building the future and keeping the past alive are one and the same thing.” – Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
38. “Men are but flesh and blood. They know their doom, but not the hour.” – The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
39. “Dreams have a nasty habit of going bad when you’re not looking.” – Max Payne
40. “Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies… There’s no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views.” – Final Fantasy VIII
41. “At the end of the day, as long as there are two people left on the planet, someone is gonna want someone dead.” – Team Fortress 2
42. “My past is not a memory. It’s a force at my back… What’s past is prologue.” – Metroid: The Other M
43. “Our world… has trained us to be miserly with forgiveness…” – Braid
44. “Some trees flourish, others die… Ain’t nothing fair.” – Red Dead Redemption
45. “You can’t break a man the way you break a dog or a horse… The harder you beat a man, the taller he stands.” – Far Cry 2
46. “War is where the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other.” – Grand Theft Auto IV
    Niko gives us some philosophic wisdom here when discussing the ways of war and conflict.
47. “Why walk when you can ride?” – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
    The fast traveling stilt striders say this to the player character in an iconic gravelly voice.
48. “You mustn’t allow yourself to be chained to fate… Human beings can choose the kind of life that they want to live.” – Metal Gear Solid
    
49. “All men dream – but not equally…” – Uncharted 3
50. “There are two ways of arguing with a woman, and neither one works.” – Red Dead Redemption

51. “Nothing is true, everything is permitted.” – Assassin’s Creed franchise
52. “What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live, the tales we tell ourselves.” – Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
53. “Only a mind free of impediments is capable of grasping the chaotic beauty of the world.” – Assassin’s Creed
54. “You gave them the one thing that was stolen from them… a family.” – Bioshock
    Dr Tenenbaum speaks directly to the player during the game’s good ending, speaking these kind words regarding the Little Sisters.
55. “Grass grows, birds fly, the sun shines, and brother, I hurt people.” – Team Fortress 2
56. “The healthy human mind doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth… To know you’re close to the end is a kind of freedom.” – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
    
57. “What is a drop of rain, compared to the storm? What is a thought, compared to the mind?” – System Shock 2
58. “So, I guess I’d become what they wanted me to be, a killer… I wouldn’t know right from wrong if one of them was helping the poor and the other was banging my sister…” – Max Payne 3
    
59. “I am Andrew Ryan, and I’m here to ask you a question… I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture.” – Bioshock
    This is Andrew Ryan’s pitch for Rapture using his Randian philosophy of objectivism.

61. “They were all dead… The final gunshot… And then it was over.” – Max Payne
    The neo-noir masterpiece Max Payne is filled with beautiful, dreary quotes. The game opens with this heavy hitter and quickly sets the scene for the dark odyssey the player will go on.
62. “I’ve struggled a long time with survivin’, but no matter what you have to find something to fight for.” – The Last of Us
    After the death of his daughter, Joel has to keep scraping to survive after 20 years of a plague-infested America.
63. “I raised you, and loved you… All that’s left for you to take is my life.” – Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
    This emotional quote comes at the showdown between Snake and the Boss. Everything has led to this, as the quote exhibits, and it’s an extremely powerful scene.
64. “Boss… you were right… It’s about doing our best to leave the world… the way it is.” – Metal Gear Solid IV

Related: See our favorite video game memes.

61. “Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if honor matters. Their silence is your answer.” – Mass Effect 3
62. “The truth, Walker, is that you’re here because you wanted to feel like something you’re not: A hero.” – Spec Ops: The Line
63. “Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?” – Far Cry 3
    Our antagonist, Vaas confronts the player and well… tells them about insanity. Very appropriate coming from him.
64. “Force answers force, war breeds war, and death only brings death…” – Metro 2033
65. Batman: “You want to know something funny? Even after everything you’ve done, I would have saved you.” / The Joker: “That is pretty funny.” – Batman: Arkham City
    

70. “We’re not tools of the government or anyone else… I always fought for what I believed in.” – Metal Gear Solid
71. “Most test subjects do experience some cognitive deterioration… try to hold onto that feeling…” – Portal 2
    
72. “It is a good life we lead, brother… And may it never change us.” – Assassin’s Creed II
    Ezio and his brother have this touching exchange at the beginning of the second game, shortly before tumultuous events throws everything into chaos.
73. “Do you like hurting other people?” – Hotline Miami
74. “Tell me Bats… Me, in a thong?” – Batman: Arkham Asylum
    Just one of the humorous classic lines challenging Batman, the Joker steals the show in all of his appearances.
75. “The sun went down with practiced bravado… Front row center.” – Max Payne
    This dark quote appears right before the murder of Max’s wife and baby, setting off the crazy course of events that define Max’s journey and motives for years to come.
76. “A famous explorer once said that the extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are.” – Tomb Raider

80. “I’m Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel!” – Mass Effect 2
    This classic quote comes from the second Mass Effect, in which you can endorse a store on the Citadel for a discount… creating a humorous chorus across the Citadel.
81. “What is a man? A Miserable little pile of secrets!” – Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
    Uttered by the infamous Dracula, this quote comes as a melodramatic exclamation before Richter fights Dracula in the prologue.
82. “The right man in the wrong place…” – Half-Life 2
83. “Good men mean well. We just don’t always end up doing well.” – Dead Space 3
84. “Why walk when you can ride?” – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
85. “You have died of dysentery.” – Oregon Trail
86. “Men are but flesh and blood…” – Oblivion
87. “Time passes, people move…” – Ocarina of Time
88. “At the end of the day, as long as there are two people left…” – Team Fortress 2
89. “The only thing that can defeat power, is more power.” – Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
90. “Someday you’re bound to lose everything. Everybody around you will be gone.” – Final Fantasy VIII
91. “Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president?” – Bad Dudes
92. “Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin. One cannot exist without the other.” – Twilight Princess
93. “DEATH IS A PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMUNISM” – Fallout 3
94. “…it is merely an observation on the nature of reality… nothing is true… everything is permitted.” – AC: Revelations
95. “It ain’t no secret I didn’t get these scars falling over in church.” – Red Dead Redemption
    
96. “What is better – to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?” – Skyrim
97. “I am Andrew Ryan… I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture.” – Bioshock
98. “Love is just a chemical. We give it meaning by choice.” – Bioshock 2
99. “War has changed” – Metal Gear Solid IV
100. “If our lives are already written, it would take a courageous man to change the script.” – Alan Wake
101. “Had to be me… Someone else might have got it wrong.” – Mass Effect 3
102. “[silence]” – The Legend of Zelda
103. “NOTHING IS MORE BADASS THAN TREATING A WOMAN WITH RESPECT!” – Borderlands 2
104. “Frostmourne hungers” – WarCraft III
105. “Kept you waiting, huh?” — Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes