The 100 best video game quotes of all-time (2024)

The best video game quotes are windows into the heart and soul of our favorite adventures. We all know that games have the ability to drive us through a whole range of emotions, and often times that can be through the power of one fantastically written or delivered line. That's why there are so many memorable game quotes out there – the sort that elicit joy and excitement as quickly as they can make us laugh or cry. Some of the best video game quotes are also just a little bit silly, because that's gaming for you.

Truth be told, ranking the best video game quotes is one of the toughest lists we've pulled together. We've gone through the best games of all-time, the best video game consoles and hardware, the best heroes in video games, the best villains in video games, and even the best game characters... but there's just so many damned good quotes out there! It's impossible to capture them all. So keep on reading to see if your favorite made the cut in our list of the 100 best video game quotes of all-time.

Best video game quotes: 100-91

– Andrew Ryan, Bioshock

99. "Get over here!"

– Scorpion, Mortal Kombat

98. "What is better? To be born good or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"

– Paarthurnax, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

• Games like Skyrim

97. "The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world."

– G-Man, Half-Life 2

96. "Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls, and asks the ghosts if honor matters. The silence is your answer."

– Javik, Mass Effect 3

95. "Bring me a bucket, and I'll show you a bucket!"

– Psycho, Borderlands 2

• Best Borderlands games

94. "Wanting something does not give you the right to have it."

– Ezio Auditore, Assassin's Creed 2

• Best Assassin's Creed games

93. "Even in dark times, we cannot relinquish the things that make us human."

– Khan, Metro 2033

– Vortigaunt, Half-Life 2

91. "The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth. But I think that's a luxury, not a curse. To know you're close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take...inventory."

– Captain Price, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

• Best Call of Duty games

Best video game quotes: 90-81

90. "It's a funny thing, ambition. It can take one to sublime heights or harrowing depths. And sometimes they are one and the same."

– Emily Kaldwin, Dishonored

• Best Arkane games

89. "A hero need not speak. When he is gone, the world will speak for him."

– Halo

88. "No gods or kings. Only man."

– Andrew Ryan, BioShock

87. "Some trees flourish, others die. Some cattle grow strong, others are taken by wolves. Some men are born rich enough and dumb enough to enjoy their lives. Ain't nothing fair."

– John Marston, Red Dead Redemption

• Games like Red Dead Redemption

86. "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."

– The Jackal, Far Cry 2

• Best Far Cry games

85. "It's time to kick ass and chew bubblegum... and I'm all outta gum."

– Duke Nukem, Duke Nukem 3D

84. "Life is cruel. Of this I have no doubt. One can only hope that one leaves behind a lasting legacy. But so often, the legacies we leave behind... are not the ones we intended."

– Queen Myrrah, Gears of War 2

83. “…”

– Link, The Legend of Zelda (any of them)

• Best Zelda games

82. "If our lives are already written, it would take a courageous man to change the script."

– Alan Wake, Alan Wake

81. "It's easy to forget what a sin is in the middle of a battlefield."

– Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid

Best video game quotes: 80-71

80. "You know, being Caroline taught me a valuable lesson. I thought you were my greatest enemy, when all along you were my best friend. The surge of emotion that shot through me when I saved your life taught me an even more valuable lesson – where Caroline lives in my brain."

– GLaDOS, Portal 2

79. "The courage to walk into the Darkness, but strength to return to the Light."

– Parables of the Allspring, Destiny

78. "Who are you, that do not know your history?"

– Ulysses, Fallout New Vegas

• Games like Fallout

77. "Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better."

– Chief, Animal Crossing.

• Games like Animal Crossing

76. "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."

– Flemeth, Dragon Age Origins.

75. "Most test subjects do experience some cognitive deterioration after a few months in suspension. Now you've been under for... quite a lot longer, and it's not out of the question that you might have a very minor case of serious brain damage. But don't be alarmed, alright? Although, if you do feel alarm, try to hold onto that feeling because that is the proper reaction to being told you have brain damage."

– Wheatley, Portal 2.

74. "Trust me."

– BT-7274, Titanfall 2

73. "If history only remembers one in a thousands of us, then the future will be filled with stories of who we were and what we did."

– Battlefield 1

• Best Battlefield games

72. "We're made up of thousands of parts with thousands of functions all working in tandem to keep us alive. Yet if only one part of our imperfect machine fails, life fails. It makes one realize how fragile, how flawed we are."

– Ingun Black-Briar, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

• Best Elder Scrolls games

71. "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

– Ezio Auditore, Assassin’s Creed 2

Best video game quotes: 70-61

70. "Nothing is more badass than treating a woman with respect!"

– Mr. Torgue, Borderlands 2

69. "Good men mean well. We just don't always end up doing well."

– Isaac Clarke, Dead Space 3

68. "It’s dangerous to go alone, take this!"

– Old Man, The Legend of Zelda

67. "War. War never changes."

– Narrator, Fallout 3

66. "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHRHGHHHGH thump"

– Tarhiel, Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

65. "The best solution to a problem is usually the easiest one. And I'll be honest - killing you is hard. You know what my days used to be like? I just tested. Nobody murdered me, or put me in a potato, or fed me to birds. I had a pretty good life. And then you showed up. You dangerous, mute lunatic. So you know what? You win. Just go. [chuckles] It's been fun. Don't come back."

– GLaDOS, Portal 2

64. "Boss... you were right. It's not about changing the world. It's about doing our best to leave the world... the way it is. It's about respecting the will of others, and believing in your own."

– Big Boss, Metal Gear Solid 4

63. "Often when we guess at others' motives, we reveal only our own."

– Mara Sov, Destiny

62. "Endure and survive."

– Ellie, The Last of Us

61. "Death is inevitable. Our fear of it makes us play safe, blocks out emotion. It's a losing game. Without passion, you are already dead."

– Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne

Best video game quotes: 60-51

60. "..."

– Gordon Freeman, Half-Life

59. "You gave them the one thing that was stolen from them. A chance. A chance to learn. To find love. To live. And in the end what was your reward? You never said. But I think I know: a family."

– Brigid Tenenbaum, BioShock

58. "Protocol one: link to Pilot. Protocol two: uphold the mission. Protocol three: protect the Pilot."

– BT-7274, Titanfall 2

• Best FPS games

57. "You are here, and it’s beautiful, and escaping isn’t always something bad."

– Delilah, Firewatch

• Games like Firewatch

56. "You can’t undo what you’ve already done, but you can face up to it."

– Frank Coleridge, Silent Hill: Downpour

55. "I miss the internet"

– Graffiti, Left 4 Dead

54. "Life is all about resolve. Outcome is secondary."

– Waka, Okami

53. "Stay awhile, and listen!"

– Deckard Cain, Diablo 2

52. "Thank you Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!"

– Toad, Super Mario Bros.

• Best Mario games

51. "It's a-me, Mario!"

– Mario Auditore, Assassin’s Creed 2

Best video game quotes: 50-41

50. "I WILL KILL YOUR DICKS!"

– Trishka Novak, Bulletstorm

49. "What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets."

– Dracula, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

• Best Metroidvania games

48. "My brothers and sisters... I will see you again. Someday. You've given them back to me."

– Lord Saladin Forge, Destiny

47. "…*co*cks shotgun*"

– Doomguy, DOOM

• Best shooters

46. "Finish him!"

– Mortal Kombat announcer, Mortal Kombat

• Best fighting games

45. "A man chooses; a slave obeys."

– Andrew Ryan, BioShock

44. "We both said a lot of things that you're going to regret. But I think we can put our differences behind us. For science. You monster."

– GLaDOS, Portal 2

43. "Snake? Snake? SNAAAAAAAAKE!!!"

–The Colonel, Metal Gear Solid 2

42. "Wake me when you need me."

– John-117, Halo 3

• Best Halo games

41. "Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and brother, I hurt people."

– The Scout, Team Fortress 2

Best video game quotes: 40-31

40. "Requiescat in pace."

– Ezio Auditore, Assassin’s Creed 2

39. "Every puzzle has an answer."

– Professor Layton, Professor Layton and the Curious Village

38. "Hey! Listen!"

– Na'vi, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

• Games like Zelda

37. "I used to be an adventurer like you, until I took an arrow to the knee."

– Town Guard, Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.

36. "It's super effective!"

– Pokemon series

• Best Pokemon games

35. "The Kid just rages for a while."

– Narrator, Bastion

34. "Space. Space. I'm in space. SPAAAAAAACE!"

– Space Core, Portal 2

33. "The ending isn’t any more important than any of the moments leading to it."

– Dr Rosalene, To The Moon

32. "Do a barrel roll!"

– Star Fox 64

• Best N64 games

31. "I'm rackin' my brain trying to think of a name for that diamond pony I bought. I was gonna call it 'piss-for-brains' in honor of you, but that just feels immature. Maybe... 'Butt Stallion'?"

– Handsome Jack, Borderlands 2

Best video game quotes: 30-21

30. "No matter how dark the night, morning always comes, and our journey begins anew."

– Lulu, Final Fantasy 10

• Best Final Fantasy games

29. "Hope is what makes us strong. It is why we are here. It is what we fight with when all else is lost."

– Pandora, God of War 3

• Games like God of War

28. "A sword wields no strength unless the hands that holds it has courage."

– The Hero's Shade, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

27. "Steel wins battles. Gold wins wars."

– Davion the Dragon Knight, DOTA 2

26. "War. War never changes. But men do, through the roads they walk."

– The narrator, Fallout: New Vegas

25. "Science isn't about why! It’s about why not!"

– Cave Johnson, Portal 2

24. "Stop right there, criminal scum!"

– Town Guard, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

• Best RPG games

23. "There was a HOLE here. It's gone now."

– In-game text, Silent Hill 2

22. "I don’t want to set the world on fire…"

– Song, Fallout 3

• Best open world games

21. "Hard to see big picture behind pile of corpses."

– Mordin Solus, Mass Effect 3

Best video game quotes: 20-11

20. "Tell me Bats. What are you really scared of? Failing to save this cesspool of a city? Not finding the Commissioner in time? Me, in a thong?"

– The Joker, Batman: Arkham Asylum

• Best Batman games

19. "Does this unit have a soul?"

– Legion, Mass Effect 3

• Best BioWare games

18. "You are not a good person. You know that, right? Good people don't end up here."

– GLaDOS, Portal 2

• Best puzzle games

17. "Federico: It is a good life we lead, brother. Ezio: The best. May it never change. Federico: And may it never change us."

– Federico and Ezio Auditore, Assassin's Creed 2

16. "I raised you, and loved you, I've given you weapons, taught you techniques, endowed you with knowledge. There's nothing more for me to give you. All that's left for you to take is my life."

– The Boss, Metal Gear Solid 3

15. "It's more important to master the cards you're holding than to complain about the ones your opponents were dealt."

– Grimsley, Pokemon Black and White

• Games like Pokemon

14. "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

– Admiral Tolwyn, Wing Commander 4

• Best Retro games

13. "Are you a boy or a girl?"

– Pokemon

• The making of Pokemon Red and Blue

– Mr Torgue, Borderlands 2

11. "War is where the young and stupid are tricked by the old and bitter into killing each other."

– Niko Bellic, GTA 4

• Games like GTA

Best video game quotes: 10-1

10. "What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!"

– Clay Kaczmarek, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

9. "When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?! Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am?! I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!"

– Cave Johnson, Portal 2

8. "Praise the sun!"

– Solaire of Astora, Dark Souls

• Best FromSoftware games

7. "Send me out...with a bang."

– Sgt. Avery Johnson, Halo 3

• Games like Halo

6. "You have died of dysentery."

– The Oregon Trail

• Best classic PC games

5. "Batman: You want to know something funny? Even after everything you've done, I would have saved you. The Joker: [laughs, coughs] Actually, that is pretty funny."

– Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman and Joker

4. "Do you like hurting other people?"

– Richard, Hotline Miami

3. "YOU DIED"

– Dark Souls

• Games like Dark Souls

2. "Ghost: This path should lead us straight to the grave. [pause] Ghost: The World's Grave. Not ours."

– Ghost, Destiny

1. "I've struggled a long time with survivin', but no matter what you have to find something to fight for."

– Joel, The Last of Us

• Games like Last of Us

Looking for something new to play? Then why don't you check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox Series X games.