characters they would have liked to have seen for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. GameSpy named her one of the "25 Extremely Rough Brawlers" in video gaming, praising the brutality of her fighting style and weapon. GameDaily named her, among other female characters in the Soul series, as an example of a strong and iconic female character in video gaming. The New York Times felt her appearance came from the same "Goth cyberaesthetic [...] that gave us The Matrix", one they felt was already becoming outdated. UGO named her one of the top eleven girls of gaming at number ten and one of the top eleven video game heroines at number eight, stating "What can you say about a chick that carries a whip? If you're talking about Ivy from the Soul Calibur series, you could say she's pretty intimidating." GameCentral said that Ivy is such a favorite of the series that "it’s impossible to imagine the game without [her]". Sex appeal Ivy's appearance, body, outfit, and demeanor have all been at the center of discussions about the character, and have been attributed as reasons owing to her status as a fan favorite. She is commonly compared to or described as a dominatrix, and has been noted both as the series' sexiest female. She has been displayed in various third-party media, her likeness appearing in material including magazine swimsuit issue pin-ups and periodicals such as Play's annual "Girls of Gaming" series. Other media outlets have compared her and Lara Croft in terms of attractiveness and sexualization. Other sources have used her as a standard for a character archetype, comparing later created female characters to her design and appearance. From her Soulcalibur II appearance, Ivy was nominated in G4's 2004 G-Phoria awards show under "Hottest Character", alongside Vanessa Z. Schneider and Rikku; she was further a character in their 2005 Video Game Vixens awards show, winning in the category of "Kinkiest Accessory". Several other "Top Ten" lists have also featured Ivy in similar context, including those by Team Xbox, Machinima.com, and Spike TV. Ivy appeared several times in GameDailys "Babe of the Week" series of articles, including as a stand-alone article and at eleventh place in their "Top 50 Hottest Game Babes" article. UGO.com ranked her eighteenth in their "Top 50 Videogame Hotties" article, stating "However much she instills fear in our hearts, we revel in the opportunity to stare at her