15 of the Hottest Computer-Generated Men We Wish Were Real

With the release of Final Fantasy XIII, the brains behind the franchise once again astound video gamers worldwide, with fantastical worlds and characters so vivid, we almost wish they were real.

As a female, self-professed avid movie watcher, television watcher, and ex-gamer, I have seen my fair share of mediums involving the use of computer rendered characters involving either computer animation or CGI, computer generated imagery, to create 3D character animations.

In the case of movies, television shows, and games; plot, direction, music, and visual effects are all important in developing characters, but let's all confess girls, it's the handsome actors that capture our attention and keep us going back for more. But what about the cartoons, video games, and movies that use CGI or computer animation to generate their leading men? Real actors can have their prop guns, cars, blood on their face to keep them interesting, but the video game hunks and CGI men have that unequivocal bad ass swagger to them and they've got the guns, the cars, and the blood too.

Certain parameters and rules were set in determining which games, movies and television shows could characters be selected from. Unfortunately for television shows, the majority of television shows that employ computer generated characters are computer animated cartoon series, which leaves about only two shows (Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Max Steele were considered) that characters can be extrapolated as "good looking." Thus, CGI characters from television shows are eliminated. Notable movie characters like Captain Jack Sparrow or comic book heroes like Batman or athletes like Kobe Bryant that are featured in video games aren't counted in this list since they were either played by real people in another medium or originated in 2D mediums or are already real in real life.

So here's a list to honor the creators and designers behind the artistry of the often forgotten 3D computer animated leading men. These are the men that have sprung from the imagination of collectively creative minds and into our television screens and computer monitors. A list of the hottest computer generated men we wish were real but unfortunately, remain digitized in a movie, television show, or video game.

15. Commander Shepard
Appearance: Mass Effect 2
Hello, Commander! Kick starting this list of hottest computer generated men we wish were real, is Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect series. Even though the character first appears in Mass Effect, the sequel's advanced graphics compliments Shepard's features much better. The default appearance of Commander Shepard is modeled after fashion model, Mark Vanderloo, which makes Commander Shepard, one good looking hunk. Shepard lands at 15 because unfortunately, the rendering of Shepard's face in the games from the front profile often makes his face look pinched and at times cross-eyed, while thankfully, his side profile remains largely the same as Vanderloo's.

14. The Prince of Persia
Appearance: The Prince of Persia series
Swarthy, swashbuckling, the Prince in the Prince of Persia series has gone through a numerous character redesign in both physical appearance and personality. While his pixel version in the early games in the series were 2D and nowhere near swoon worthy, the Prince has remained wholly a constant protagonist worthy of liking and admiring. While his grittier appearance in the Prince of Persia: Warrior Within was a departure over his counterparts in the rest of the series, the Prince's physical design in general throughout the Sands of Time series was wholly aesthetically pleasing. The 2008 reboot of the franchise also features a drastically different Prince, whose design on a whole also was intriguing, while the same complaints of the Prince lacking personality persisted.

13. The Apprentice aka Starkiller / Galen Marek
Appearance: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
The Apprentice is modeled after musician and Smallville actor, Sam Witwer, through motion capture, and thankfully the brains behind The Force Unleashed had sense enough to cast Sam Witwer as the Apprentice, because Sam Witwer is one good looking man . From his character development as an assassin to the stance he held his lightsaber in, kudos to Sam Witwer for his acting and contributing details that made the Apprentice not only hotter, but selfless and likable.

12. Seifer Almasy
Appearance: Final Fantasy VIII
Ah, one of the only blond Final Fantasy men that does not look overtly feminine or pretty boy. He possibly belongs to one of the best opening FMV a game can have, slicing up the protagonists face and receiving a mirrored scar in return. Nothing is more attractive on a video game character than a scar. Kudos to Seifer for being the only hot villian on this list.

11. Cloud Strife
Appearance: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Forgoing the 3D cube-like version of Cloud in Final Fantasy VII, Cloud's character design in Advent Children has him resembling a majority of the male population in Asia, with his pretty boy looks and overly stylized bleached blond hair. Angsty as always, Cloud is the wounded puppy, brooding hero that girls love to take home and mend, hoping in return, the hero will fall in love with her. At times Cloud is almost too pretty and dainty in Advent Children, but his overall design is an upgrade over his pixel counterpart in VII, which is why Cloud Strife lands at number 11. Unfortunately for his VII antagonist, Sephiroth, his Advent Children redesign was actually a downgrade to his VII cube-like counterpart and it's too bad, because Sephiroth was a great villain in VII.

10. Tidus
Appearance: Final Fantasy X
Unfortunately for Tidus, he appears in X, which has possibly one of the worst character designs for the two leads in the Final Fantasy universe. While the 90s pretty boy hair cut could be done without, Tidus loses serious points for his atrocious outfit. Shorts pants are bad enough, but uneven length short pants are worse. Luckily for Tidus, what he lacks in fashion tastes, he makes up for his infectious grin and character depth, starting the game as a worshiped, cocky athlete to a selfless hero and receiving one of the most emotional exits a video game character can have.

9. Jin Kazama
Appearance: Tekken 6
The protagonist of the current Tekken series, Jin Kazama is the quintessential tragic hero, with a personality driven by the tragedies struck in his life. Women will swoon over his pretty boy looks and bodybuilder-like body, which is so buffed up, it detracts from the character's overall design; however, the one positive from his buff body is that it's a thankful departure from the rail thin male protagonists in most Japanese RPG games. Jin's messed up family drama can scare anybody away, but for some reason, women can't help but gravitate to him. He gets to be on this list over Street Fighter's Ryu for the sheer fact that most depictions of Ryu in the Street Fighter series are usually 2D and Jin's just better looking than Ryu. With the evolution of technology, Jin's rendered form in Tekken 6 is swoon worthy and it doesn't hurt he's shirtless in virtually every fighting scene.

8. Snow Villiers
Appearance: Final Fantasy XIII
The game has just been released and yet Snow most likely has gotten all the female FF fans excited when they caught a glimpse of him in the trailers. Look wise, he's basically a hotter, more badass version of Final Fantasy X's Tidus. Bandanna, check. Trench coat, check. Loses points on the name though. Snow? Really? For a guy? It's no wonder the development team the game called him "Mr. 33 cm," instead of his actual name, since 33cm refers to his shoe size.

7. Cpl. Jake Sully
Appearance: Avatar
Cpl. Jake Sully is indeed human, but it is the avatar version of him that makes this list. Though the Na'vi blue skin and elongated features of his avatar may be offputting at first, as the film continues and the audience becomes acclimated to the Na'vi universe, his avatar version somehow makes Sam Worthington even more attractive. Bonus points for his alliance change ala John Smith in Disney's Pocahontas. What girl doesn't love it when the enemy falls in love with you and is willing to change sides? Never thought an alien could be hot, but Sully's avatar proves otherwise, kudos to the Avatar crew for making it work.

6. Dante / Nero
Appearance: Devil May Cry 4
Technically cheating here by placing both Dante and Nero in the same place, but both characters resemble each other so much that there really almost isn't a difference between the two except for the characters' age differences. Dante gets the one up over Nero, for the sheer fact that he's all man (and has been in the Devil May Cry series since its inception) and has a witty personality and cool attitude that audiences find likable and hot. Both make the white hair work, which is awesome since characters with white hair and look young are always mysteriously very appealing.

5. Ryu Hayabusa
Appearance: Ninja Gaiden
Being a ninja's is every guy's fantasy and Ryu is as iconic as ninja characters go in the video game world. Without his mask, Ryu's actually pretty handsome, with brown hair and a mix of European and Asian features. With his mask on though, Ryu is an imposing figure. His piercing green eyes become even more intimidating. Thankfully, Ryu's build isn't slight for a ninja, he's actually quite toned and built, which makes staring at him through a game even more fun.

4. Vincent Valentine
Appearance: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children / Dirge of Cerberus
Of all the Final Fantasy characters, Vincent Valentine probably has one of the coolest costumes ever designed and his overall appearance is formidable and mysterious. Red eyes, gaunt figure, long black hair, tattered red cloak, Vincent is striking in every which way. It's not surprising Vincent is a genetically modified human that first appears in Final Fantasy VII in a coffin nonetheless, perpetuating the ever long fantasy of attractive undead men. Hello, Vampires? Vincent > Edward. Thankfully, Vincent's character design was largely upgraded in Advent Children over his pixel counterpart in VII, and the animation crew responsible for his character deserve special accolades for animating one of the coolest cloaks ever.

3. Gray Edwards
Appearance: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
It's unfortunate that Spirits Within bombed in the box office and virtually no one except maybe my lonesome and critics saw it. The unprecedented and overly ambitious CGI animation for its time is why Gray Edwards is number three on this list. Employing the ultra sexy voice of Alex Baldwin, Gray Edwards even resembles, to a degree, a younger, possibly even more handsome and rugged version of Baldwin. His Ralph Lauren model good looks is accentuated by an even more noble and selfless heart.

2. Leon S. Kennedy
Appearance: Resident Evil 4
Somebody hose down all the female Resident Evil fans because Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil 4 makes him the hottest and most bad ass male character in the franchise. Even though he can be construed as another pretty boy, guys like him, girls like him, because he's the epitome of cool. He kicks butt, taking down zombies without a sweat while looking badass and hot at the same time. The character is definitely the best thing to ever happen to the franchise and his introduction in Resident Evil 2, was well received by fans and critics. The killer combination of redesigning his character design and casting Paul Mercier as his voice actor in RE4 was not only an upgrade over his appearance in RE2, but makes his appearance in RE4, the second hottest video game character we wish were real, but sadly, isn't.

1. Squall Leonhart
Appearance: Final Fantasy VIII
And the number one guy we wish was real, but isn't, goes to Squall Leonhart of Final Fantasy VIII.
Modeled after River Phoenix, how can you not wish Squall Leonhart wasn't real? Dark hair, blue eyes, looks good in not only a uniform but with a scar, Squall epitomizes the image of what a computer generated hunk should always aspire to be. He begins VIII as the archetypal loner, the kind of bad boy every girl wanted the guy to notice in high school, and ends the game with regained humanity and compassion. But while Squall has been criticized for coming across as unlikable because he represents to a point, how cold humans can be, his character does progress from loner to friend to lover. In the end, Squall gets the most gorgeous female character in the Final Fantasy universe, Rinoa Heartilly, and he set the hearts of women across the world aflutter with the iconic FMVs (Full Motion Videos) Final Fantasy VIII unprecedentedly set.