The 1990s

Ah the 1990's...  I used to think nothing happened then. Not a Yeti in sight. Back in 2008, I even did a whole post and infographic about the total dearth of Himalayan hominids in 1990's popular culture. On the time line, I depicted the whole decade blank.  But I was wrong. Dead wrong.  Now, after years of tireless cybersleuthing and research, I can finally update the graphic. Now look at it:

Feast your eyes on all them Yeti.  Where did he go in the Nineties?  Into video games. À la Tron.

Let's zoom in:

Every one of them's a video game character - DuckTales and SkiFree being the most famous.  Over the course of the decade, you can actually see the evolution of Yetis, and vis-à-vis all video games, from 16-bit to 32-bit, Fourth Generation to Fifth. And Yeti's present in every style of game as it was invented: platform, beat-em ups, adventure, fighting, rpgs, first-person/third-person shooters, and tie-ins to popular movies/cartoons (even when the source material didn't have one). Yeti is the perfect pixellated antagonist.  Every game needs an ice level, and who better to terrorize it than an Abominable Snowman?

1990    DuckTales (game)
1990    Impossamole (game)
1990    Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (game)
1990    King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (game)
1990    Yeti (game)
1990    Ultimate Stuntman (game)
1990    Chew Man Fu (game)
1990    TMNT Keeper (comic)
1990    Manhunter (comic)
1991    SkiFree (game)
1991    Lucky Dime Caper (game)
1991    The Simpsons: Bart versus the World (game)
1991    Woody Woodpecker (comic)
1991    Shonen ashibe (comic)
1992    Monster In My Pocket (game)
1992    E.V.O.: Search for Eden (game)
1992    Shape Shifter (game)
1992    Global Gladiators (game)
1992    Legend of Kyrandia (game)
1992    Disney's Magical Quest (game)

Exceptions to video games in the Nineties?  Barely anyone saw the live-action kids' film "To Catch a Yeti", but it's a sight to behold. In the latter part of the decade, we see a few kids cartoons on Saturday mornings (Godzilla, Captain Planet, Wild Thornberrys, Roswell Conspiracies), an R.L. Stine horror book, cameos in Power Rangers and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic, as well as the weirdest professional wrestler of all time.

1992    Hook (game)
1992    Addams Family (game)
1992    Winter Camp (game)
1993    To Catch A Yeti (film)
1993    Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (game)
1993    Mr. Nutz (game)
1993    Bomberman 93 (game)
1993    Yeti with Betty comic
1994    Sears Plush Zeke O'Connor (toy)
1994    Darkstalkers (game)
1994    Final Fantasy VI (game)
1994    Primal Rage (game)
1994    Mighty Max (animation)
1994    Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (game)
1995    WCW Wrestler (television)
1995    Hexen (game)
1995    Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday (game)
1995    Terranigma (game)
1995    Captain Planet (animation)
1995    Arc the Lad (game)
1995    Seiken Densetsu 3 (game)
1995    The Story of Dingku (game)
1995    Disney Magical Quest 3 (game)

1995    R.L. Stine's The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena (book)
1995    Power Rangers (television)
1995    Scooby Doo (comic)
1996    Diablo (game)
1996    Star Ocean (game)
1996    Donkey Kong Country (animation)
1997    Fisher-Price Great Adventures All-in-One Arctic Expedition (toy)
1997    Tibia (game)
1997    Grandia (game)
1997    Tomb Raider II (game)
1997    Nightmare Creatures (game)
1997    Gnome (book)
1997    Sonic the Hedgehog (comic)
1998    Simpsons episode "King of the Hill" (animation)
1998    Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (game)
1998    Scooby Doo's Snow Monster (comic)
1998    Sonic the Hedgehog's Eddy (comic)
1999    EverQuest (game)
1999    Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (game)
1999    Monster Rancher 2 (game)
1999    Legend of Mana (game)
1999    Valkyrie Profile (game)
1999    Wild Thornberrys (animation)
1999    Roswell Conspiracies (animation)
1999    Godzilla Robo-yeti (animation)
1999    Madman (comic)

On to the 2000s...