1 ) 3014 votes separated 2nd from 4th today. Will we get a match where the last character comes even closer to moving on by the end of the round? by the end of the contest?
Probably not... Lara/Daxter/Wesker has a chance of being close, maybe. I doubt any later matches will get that close, either, but who knows?

2 ) Who's the strongest newcomer in your opinion?
Link. Oh, wait, newcomer. So far, it's looking to be Mewtwo. Include the latter half... yeah, I'll still say Mewtwo.

3 ) The most impressive?
Mudkip... sheesh. Pokemon aside, I'll go with... maybe Fox McCloud?

4 ) Rank the Noble Niners according to their Round 1 matches: (Suggested by Ngamer)
Mega Man : 50.49% on Arthas, Diablo & KOS-MOS
Samus : 51.75% on Axel, Frog & Kerrigan
Cloud : 61.24% on Jill, Ocelot & Zolomy
Sephiroth : 55.23% on CATS, MK & Peach
Mario : 57.91% on Big Boss, Pac-Man & Wander
Link : 70.50% on Agent J, Bidoof & Edgey
Crono : 48.18% on Sam Fisher, Simon Belmont & Raiden

I'll just rank them according to retro-expectations. Cloud > Mega Man > Link > Samus > Crono > Mario > Sephiroth .

5 ) Star(s) of the first half of round 1?
All the Pokemon, Fox McCloud, Crash Bandicoot, Pyramid Head, Meta Knight...

6 ) Turd(s) of the first half of round 1?
Agent J, Magus, Midna, Zelos, Raiden, Edgeworth, CATS

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"Ah, a party! We haven't had one of those. It could be fun! So...what is a party?"
"Well, you drink punch and eat CAKE! ...I think."