>>725478016
>Do they take place at the same time every year?
Yeah. Queen's happens in early November, King's happens in early December.
>Who is responsible for starting them?
Think it's some group of anons who collaborate on /co/ and /tnt/ or something. They're in communications with the mods so they have their blessing.
>How do you submit a character?
At the start of the tournament there is a Nomination phase where you need a certain amount of replies to your nominating post to have that character be nominated. Then the next day during Preliminaries, everyone votes for what characters want to be in the tournament. Even though 1000+ characters make it into Preliminaries, only 128 enter the actual tournament.
>How does the voting work?
You vote via the Google Doc link in the OP.
>Is the entire thing just an excuse to draw character fanart?
Kinda sorta. I'd say it's more of a celebration of vidya in general, but drawing fanart is a fun way to participate. You can do whatever you want to support your favorite characters. Some people do cum tributes, make short games, fake cutscenes, music, various other art projects, you can do literally whatever.
>What happens when one is chosen? Is there an archive of old winners?
When a character wins Queen of /v/, they're permanently disqualified from ever participating again, but they are immortalized as a winner of the tournament. The winners so far are Samus Aran, Reimu Hakurei, Recette Lemongrass, Midna, Curly Brace, and Madotsuki.
>Do other boards other than co and v have them?
There are, but I don't know when those happen nor do I care.
>What is the point of them?
To celebrate video games.