3 Pokémon
This one needs no explanation, we hope; chances are that even the elderly are in the know after witnessing Pokémon GO crowds milling about in the parks! But long before the sprawling franchise made its way onto our mobile phones, it was on every kid’s Nintendo device and swapped around at school in the form of Pokémon cards.
It might feel like Ash, Pikachu, and their ragtag bunch of friends have been around for forever, but in fact, Pokémon made its first debut just two decades ago in 1996 as a game on the Nintendo Game Boy. The first anime season followed a year later and made the popularity of Pokémon even more widespread, which engendered more games, which in turn led to more anime shows—and the cycle continues to this day, with over 1,110 episodes and 13 seasons under the franchise’s belt.