PSI Academy Census

It's been 20 years since the release of Psychonauts and we've been celebrating over the last week with a variety of cool things. Scott Campbell revealed fantastic new art of the cast and there's been all kinds of fan-reactions. We've already shown fan art but there's much more to go over!

Some time ago we opened up a form for young (and maybe not so young!) PSI-Cadets to share their stories and creations. We've scoured over your responses to get concrete numbers of character popularity as well as insight into your various creations. One thing is clear: this is a very beloved game and we have super-talented fans!

Psychonauts is packed with characters! Most stories are. But when Tim's writing a story, he loves to fill 'em up to the margins with distinct personalities. For a game like Psychonauts that diversity is really important. Real life is full of all kinds of people with different backgrounds and all kinds of struggles. That's not even some kind of sappy forced-message either! That's life! If you look around and keep track, you'll realize that the journey has been stacked with characters as distinct as Loboto and numerous as the Whispering Rock campers! But with so many characters, we wanted to know: who is your favorite?

Our fan survey got the answers, and whereas the Grim Fandango survey had some curveballs, I think this one went the way that you might expect. So! Who are the most popular characters? Here's the list!

1. Raz
2. Sasha and Milla
3. Loboto
4. Ford
5. Coach Oleander

Honorable Mentions (which means the folks one or two votes away from being in the top five) include the following: Dogen, Lili, Boyd, Edgar, and Pokeylope. Shout outs to the lovely turtle! And yes, you read that second place entry correctly. In a lovely twist of fate, both Sasha and Milla had the same number of votes! As for Raz? He didn't sweep the field as much as Manny did for Grim Fandango—the skeletal salesman took 45% of the vote back during our last poll—but he still was the clear winner with 33% of all the votes.

That's partially the power of being the protagonist, but your responses made something else very clear: you really find it easy to identify with our young hero. For some of you, it comes from his desire to do good coupled with a relatable self-doubt and for many of the folks responding, especially our younger respondents, there was something more innate. Which is very cool, but don't take my word for it.

Here's what you had to say about our top three (four?) characters!

Razputin "Raz" Aquato

He's the psychic-wunderkind! Feared by squirrels and beloved by the fans, there was no way that Raz wasn't gonna come out on top in our poll. He's heroic, he's fallible, and he's voiced immaculately by Richard Horvitz. Raz is one of the iconic video game characters and you all really love him.

Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello

You really can't have one without the other! Both halves of our dynamic duo gathered 9.42% of the character popularity vote individually, and tied for the second most popular character spot. For Sasha, it's undoubtedly a combination of his cool head, suave looks, and distinct presence. Milla? It's all about that mix of fun and fancy free exterior with the shocking backstory. And together? Well, is it a romance? I'm not gonna say but they really do seem fond of each other's company! I can't wait for them to finally hold hands in Psychonauts XIII.

But that's enough rambling. Here's what you had to say:

Dr. Caligosto Loboto

Everyone likes a villain and it's even more fun when they're part mastermind and part silly little guy. Loboto's journey through the series is an interesting one. He's pretty scary in the first game but throughout Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin we really get a sense of how rough his life was. In Psychonauts 2 he's basically a villain against his own will! And you all love him for it. He got tons of support at the polls and you'll see some amazing Loboto cosplay in one of the galleries later. He has plenty of fans. Here's what some of them had to say.

Speaking of cosplay, let's get right into it! We've showcased fan art and projects like a LEGO version of Psychonauts but we haven't shown the other stuff. The things that require makeup and sewing and needles and cooking. The art and crafts, as you might say. Psychonauts is in some ways a niche game compared to the big juggernauts of the world and not always something you see cosplayed on a convention floor but every now and then you'll see a pair of goggles or some merit badges and that's when stuff gets really awesome.

The nice thing about Raz is that he's both very closet-cosplayable while having stuff that you can also creative high quality versions of. A fine jacket, googly goggles, different kinds of facepaint. He's a very approachable character! That said, Psychonauts has a pretty unique art-style and that offers chances for some very far out cosplay. You can see versions of that in the gallery above thanks to fun masks and warped head prosthetics. Pretty trippy!

But what about other crafts? We received a lot of those. Y'all are very good at stitching plushies and turning clay into detailed figurines. One person even shared an outline of Psychonauts themepark, which I think we'll actually show in more detail down the road. If you can think of it, someone was making it. Cakes, toys. Nothing was off limits!

That's a dizzying display of crafts! Maybe those cakes have even inspired you to make something of you own. If so, you're in luck because we were also sent a cookbook by CJ Malone with a variety of recipes. It's hard to choose our favorite but we're gonna go with something themed to the Psychic Six and our favorite cookout champ: Compton Boole.

Here's a recipe for Compton's Strawberry Jam Croque Madame!

Ingredients

• 2 slices thick brioche bread
• 2 tbs strawberry jam
• 4 thin slices honey ham
• 1/4 cup shredded Emmental cheese
• 1 tbs cream cheese, softened
• 1 medium egg
• Cracked black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbs butter, softened

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter both sides of onebrioche slice and place on a baking sheet. Layer with jam,honey ham, and half Emmental cheese.

Butter the other slice of brioche with butter on one side and cream cheese on the other.Sprinkle cream cheese side with black pepper and place cheese side down on the sandwich. Top with remaining Emmental and bake for 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bread is golden.

Meanwhile fry egg over medium-high heat in a small nonstick or greased skillet to desired doneness. Top sandwich with egg and serve immediately.

It's been a dang good time looking back at Psychonauts with all of you. There's some stuff we've kept in our pocket for a rainy day which we'll share eventually as well! The mark that this game has left is pretty clear Every time we talk to fans or sit down Tim for a moment to pick his brain for any linger thoughts, we stumble upon gold. There's just something about Razputin Aquato and his strange misadventures that really ignites the imagination.

I don't know when Double Fine will return to the world of Psychonauts but it's clear that there's so, so much more to explore. That strange possibility space inspires amazing fan art and stories. It brings people from all around the world together in celebration. There's worlds inside all of us and there's limitless potential for the series. We've only scratched the surface and I have no doubt that Raz will continue to inspire people for decades to come.

Thank you all for your love and support. Thank you all for sharing your creativity with us. Whatever the future brings, we're so happy to know that we have such amazing and innovated fans. See you out there, PSI-Cadets!