Popularity Power/Web Original

GameFAQs has the Character Battles which seemingly pit two characters against each other and have users vote for the winner. While there is some debate going on, popularity ultimately decides the winner. This is sometimes ridiculed to the degree it's practically a subversion of itself, such as a Tetris piece winning the contest.
- And now sister site Gamespot is doing the same. Though it has become a subversion of itself with heavy interference, first from 4chan who managed to have the Bubble Bobble beat Master Chief and Sonic the Hedgehog before bowing down to Samus, and later from Valve themselves, who pushed a massive rally call for Gordon Freeman, which went to... well, it allowed Valve to proclaim this: "There are other great game heroes, and we're gonna let you play with them, but Gordon Freeman is THE BEST GAME HERO OF ALL TIME"
Subverted to hell and back in the Earth 2706 universe. A-list characters are relegated to guest star appearances, while C- and D-list heroes, and even more so villains, are given the spotlight.