Forgotten Gaming Mascots #3: Karnov

On 02/03/2021 at 08:47 AM by The Last Ninja

Games: Karnov (Arcade, NES/1987), Karnov's Revenge (Arcade, Neo Geo/1994)

Mascot for: Data East

Karnov is a giant buff bald dude from the Soviet Union who is apparently a mercenary for good. The game's cover describes him as "the brave warrior that stands alone against the evil that rule the world." Cool. His first and only solo game is an action platformer in which he takes on the most ridiculous opponents (such as dinosaurs, hopping fish men, centipede women, and ostrich-riding skeleton warriors, just to name a few). Oh yeah, and Karnov can also blow fire. While his name is in the title, Karnov's Revenge is simply a typical fighting game which just so happens to have Karnov as one of the characters.

What happened: For some reason, Data East didn't make any more solo Karnov games (although he's appeared in plenty of other games, such as Bad Dudes and Fighter's History). Maybe the reason is because he's a very stereotypical Russion thug and the Russians probably don't appreciate that. It's really a shame, though. How awesome would it be to have Karnov as a playable character in Smash Bros?

KnightDriver

02/03/2021 at 08:05 PM

I thought Karnov was that Russian Chess master, but that was Karpov. Too bad. I wanted a muscle-bound brute to represent a chess master in video games.

I want to see him take on a dinosaur too.

The Last Ninja

02/04/2021 at 10:17 AM

That's not a bad idea. It would make a chess a little more exciting.

02/04/2021 at 04:30 PM

You know, just about anything makes Chess more exciting. I got some popcorn. Wow, suddenly this game isn't so bad.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/03/2021 at 10:40 PM

I was honestly thinking more along the lines of he didn't get more standalone games cause Americans weren't exactly keen on playing as a Russian hero.

Could be either/or, I guess.

02/04/2021 at 10:19 AM

That's a very good point since the Cold War was still a hot button issue in the world.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/04/2021 at 11:30 AM

"A mercenary for good." Only in video games.

Cary Woodham

02/04/2021 at 06:48 PM

In the Japanese version of his game, Karnov is actually a bad guy. Kind of like Wario before Wario even existed.

Karnov is probably forgotten because his company, Data East, is out of business. He did show up in a lot of games, though!

When I was a kid, I had a Russian Blue cat and I wanted to give him a Russian name. But I was just a little kid and didn't know any Russian names. My dad suggested Chekov, after the guy from Star Trek, so we went with that. I'm not even a big Star Trek fan either. But If I got another Russian Blue cat, I know what I would name it: Karnov!

02/04/2021 at 10:39 PM

wait wait wait, there are BLUE cats?

Seriously though, you're pbably right about Karnov being forgotten because the company went under, but I think they could've made a couple more Karnov games before they went kaput.

02/05/2021 at 08:16 AM

In cat breeding terms, 'blue' is just another word for 'gray.' I'm not sure WHY that is, but that's it. Russian Blues are very pretty cats, though. And smart, too! I taught my old cat Chekov how to play fetch, open doors, and even use the toilet instead of the litter box. I'm not joking either!

My gosh, how many Karnov games do you want? Data East put him EVERYWHERE back then. I mean, he was even an enemy in the Russian stage of TumblePop!

02/06/2021 at 01:27 AM

I'm not happy until he's in Smash Bros!

02/06/2021 at 08:41 AM

Yeah Karnov will be in Smash when Waluigi is in Smash. Actually I don't care about Waluigi, but it seems the internet sure likes him. But if Karnov makes it in Smash, you know what that means? KARNOV AMIIBO!

The last game Karnov was in was actually Heavy Burger, a fun twin stick shooter that was also a mash up of classic Data East arcade titles. I reviewed it a couple of years ago:

http://www.gamerdad.com/blog/2018/11/19/heavy-burger-switch-pc/

PixlBit