When creators or developers show blatant favoritism toward one character in a multi-character series, constantly giving them new content, storylines, or screen time—while
ignoring everyone else in the cast.
Usually starts small, but before long, the “
favorite child” becomes the face of the whole franchise. It’s like when the devs clearly have a crush on their own creation.
The term comes from Kiriko in
Overwatch 2, who’s gotten endless skins, emotes since launch, and out of place lore tie-ins—while half the roster hasn’t been mentioned in years.
• “Man, every update is just
about that one hero again. This character's got major Kirikofication.”
• “
Captain Carter showing up in every episode and given god like powers? Yep, classic Kirikofication.”
•“They keep giving this specific character content and are
ignoring the rest of the cast. They Kirikofied that character hard!