It took me a minute to figure out what I wanted to celebrate, because 2025 gave us a lot of good ones. This time I've picked a selection that straddles the gap between the shitters that I've hunted myself, and those submitted by the Bucket Brigade.
In Third Place, the Urgently-Required Shitter from the Hogwarts Legacy Room of Requirement. It's so unnecessary, which is why I love this one. My favorite thing about shitter hunting is the unexpected ones, like this overgrown, stoic cryptid, looking like the Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth. It's like the Daedric Prince of Flushing. It's beautiful that there was a shitter in this place. The condensation drip from that tank has got to be devastating.
Second Place goes to these stunning Aristocratic Medieval Vampire shitters from Resident Evil: Village. This was submitted by bucket brigadier ILikeSocks! It is one of the best I have ever seen and these receive historical cosplay recognition in several categories, including Craftsmanship (artisan enamel bowls in mahogany wood reflecting peerless attention to detail), Performance (the gender inclusivity of this shitter is unmatched thus far in the industry), and Spirit (adding richness to the player experience by simply existing within this scene). Resident Evil continues to pioneer excellence in shitter representation. Let's keep upholding the standard throughout 2026. Just maybe we'll some other games rise to this heretofore unattained echelon.
And finally, our First Place Blue Bowl of 2025 is the Untold Shitter, from Stories Untold! Which is indeed very told. This winner was submitted by bucket brigadier Rockin' T! We get told all about it in a very clear narrative that is discovered while playing the game within the game. This shitter is highly unique, in fact, I don't know if there's another shitter like this on the planet. While playing a text-based RPG on a virtual PC within the game itself, the player discovers a shitter. And it is within your imagination alone that you must witness this shitter. This means we all encounter this experience differently, it is colored with our own individually-unique lived histories and it is only within ourselves that we can know the truth of this shitter. The features of this shitter are only implied. No one can tell you what this shitter looks like. You tell yourself. This has become my aphorism for this next calendar year.
Here's to another absolute banger of a year at Gaming Thrones. We eagerly look forward to what 2026 can bring ... in the way of shitters, because that's really all we have to look forward to. So buckle up. No shitters so far have seatbelts, but you know what, baby, never say never. Bucket Brigadier of the Year is on its way, I promise, but I've been fucking busy and I know you understand and I thank you so very much for that. Please look forward to it!
