History InformedSpecies / VideoGames

** Nack the Weasel doesn't look much like a weasel or have any weasel-like features. This is a result of his species being changed from the Japanese version, in which he's actually [[MixAndMatchCritter half-jerboa, half-wolf]].

** Krystal from the unreleased UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 game ''VideoGame/DinosaurPlanet'' is meant to be a fox however she looks like some sort of cat instead. When the game was changed to ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' she was redesigned to look more fox-like (and be HotterAndSexier).

** Trinity barely resembles a ''Troodon'', having horns and no killing claws on the feet.

** In par of DinosaurMedia, the ''Velociraptor'' look more like oversized, featherless ''Deinonychus''.

* ''Videogame/FreedomPlanet'': Sash Lilac is supposed to be a dragon, but in actuality looks more like a purple cat-thing. Her horns and very short tail also makes her vaguely resemble a goat. There are a number of pandas in the game too, most of whom are mostly white and would be more identifiable as polar bears than pandas if not for the black around their eyes (which some characters do not have). It helps that the game had its origins as a ''Sonic'' fangame, and still has a similar art style. It's zig-zagged as far as dragons go, however--other dragons depicted are much more recognizable as dragons than Lilac.

* ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved'': While most dinosaur designs take considerable creative liberties, most of them are still recognizable as their fossil counterparts. However, some look more like hybrids, such as the ''Triceratops'', which has a frill more closely resembling a styracosaur, and the pteranodons have crests like those of ''Caulkicephalus''. There's even an in-universe example with the brontosaurs, which the in-game dossier acknowledge as essentially being generic sauropods rather than a specific genus, even suggesting that they might more accurately be another genus such as ''Argentinosaurus'' or ''Dreadnoughtus''. All of this is at least partly justified, though, because it's made clear that the various dinosaurs and other creatures don't actually exist here naturally and many of them have been changed drastically from being transplanted to the Ark, such that almost all of them are officially classified with different species names: even the tyrannosaurs, despite being referred to as Rexes in-game, are actually the fictional species ''Tyrannosaurus'' '''''dominum''''', not ''Tyrannosaurus rex''; the dossier for them says that everyone just calls them Rexes, anyway, so that's their common rather than scientific name.

** Moe and Joe are supposed to be Komodo dragons, but they are green and have tail spines, which monitor lizards do not have. They look more like green iguanas instead.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'', Duma is consistently referred to as a Divine Dragon, yet he uses both Fell and Earth magic. The only thing connecting him to the Divine Dragons is his similar, but distinct, design as a dragon to his sister.
** Loptus from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' is stated to be an Earth Dragon, but his design and powers are more closely related to a Dark Dragon. It's worth noting that the description of his tome on the Fire Emblem Museum refers to him as a Dark Dragon. Though with Earth Dragon Medeus' ascension into a Dark Dragon in Mystery of the Emblem Book 2, such mutation is possible on Loptous as well.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'': Downplayed with Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]]. They are both dragons, but their human forms lack the traits that make them easily identifiable as one, most notably the pointed ears that manaketes are known to have, therefore coming off as just ordinary humans otherwise. Their dragon forms were never seen, [[spoiler:and likely never will be as they both lost/discarded their dragonstones at some point]]. However, this doesn't mean they lack draconic powers. Both Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]] have weapons and abilities that only they can use due to their status as Divine and Fell Dragons respectively. Both have been shown capable of firing laser beams from their hands; mimicking a dragon's BreathWeapon. Likewise Alear's status as a Divine Dragon [[spoiler:(Actually Half-Fell Dragon due to being one of Sombron's children)]] grants them the ability to summon Emblems, [[spoiler:while Veyle's Fell Dragon blood allows her to create the Corrupted]]. Furthermore, both Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]] still retain their lengthy lifespans.

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'': Downplayed with Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]]. They are both dragons, but their human forms lack the traits that make them easily identifiable as one, most notably the pointed ears that manaketes are known to have, therefore coming off as just ordinary humans otherwise. Their dragon forms were never seen, [[spoiler:and likely never will be as they both lost/discarded their dragonstones at some point]]. However, this doesn't mean they lack draconic powers. Both Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]] have weapons and abilities that only they can use due to their status as Divine and Fell Dragons respectively. Both have been shown capable of firing laser beams from their hands; mimicking a dragon's BreathWeapon. Likewise Alear's status as a Divine Dragon [[spoiler:(Actually Half-Fell Dragon)]] grants them the ability to summon Emblems, [[spoiler:while Veyle's Fell Dragon blood allows her to create the Corrupted]]. Furthermore, both Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]] still retain their lengthy lifespans.

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage]]'': Downplayed with Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]]. They are both dragons, but their human forms lack the traits that make them easily identifiable as one, most notably the pointed ears that manaketes are known to have, therefore coming off as just ordinary humans otherwise. Their dragon forms were never seen, [[spoiler:and likely never will be as they both lost/discarded their dragonstones at some point]]. However, this doesn't mean they lack draconic powers. Both Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]] have weapons and abilities that only they can use due to their status as Divine and Fell Dragons respectively. Both have been shown capable of firing laser beams from their hands; mimicking a dragon's BreathWeapon. Likewise Alear's status as a Divine Dragon [[spoiler:(Actually Half-Fell Dragon)]] grants them the ability to summon Emblems, [[spoiler:while Veyle's Fell Dragon blood allows her to create the Corrupted]]. Furthermore, both Alear and [[spoiler:Veyle]] still retain their lengthy lifespans.

** Knuckles's resemblance to an actual echidna is pretty loose; he lacks the echidna's long snout and tongue entirely, his quills are like dreadlocks, (and in general, he can't curl into a ball like Sonic can unless every character can as well), and he has a long crooked tail (most echidnas have stubby, basically vestigial ones although some echidnas have slightly longer tails). His signature spiked knuckles are the only thing that might mark him as one, if you generously say they're meant to be claws. Other than that, he looks more like a red dog with gelled-up dreadlocks.

* Evil the Cat from ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' looks more like a deformed rat than a cat; compare him with Bob the Goldfish's burly cat henchmen (henchcats?). Also Psycrow doesn't look all that much like a crow.

** The franchise's many hedgehogs vary, with Classic Sonic probably being the best (prominent spikes and pudgy proportions, abilities involve curling into a ball). On the other end of the spectrum, there's Amy, who doesn't even look like she belongs to the same species as Sonic relative to the others. In her classic design (which resembled [[DistaffCounterpart a pink Sonic in a dress]]), she looked a bit more like a hedgehog than her current design, where she looks more like a cat with a bob twig.

* ''VideoGame/TheWindRoad'' has a GiantSpider boss called the "Black Widow", which... isn't. Said spider is entirely red, for starters, and has thick, furry legs that makes it closer to a tarantula.

** The ''Mosasaurus'' from the second game look more like crocodiles with fins and eel-like tails, plus they're much smaller than the real animal.

** The ''Mosasaurus'' from the second game look more like a cross between pliosaurs and crocodiles, plus they're much smaller than the real animal.

** The ''Mosasaurus'' from the second game look more like mutated crocodiles.

** The ''Therizinosaurus'' came from a period [[ScienceMarchesOn before much of anything about the species's appearance was known aside from its arms.]] Consequently, while the real thing was a plant-eater with a long neck and a somewhat dumpy build, the in-game one looks more like a generic theropod. What's less excusable is the size: even going by the information at the time, it's about a third the size it should be, and its signature sickle-handed claws are quite small. They're not a bad match for ''Megaraptor'', though, especially considering that [[AccidentallyCorrectZoology at the time]], ''[[AccidentallyCorrectZoology Megaraptor]]'' [[AccidentallyCorrectZoology was thought to be a giant dromaeosaur instead.]]

** The ''Therizinosaurus'' came from a period [[ScienceMarchesOn before much of anything about the species's appearance was known aside from its arms.]] Consequently, while the real thing was a plant-eater with a long neck and a somewhat dumpy build, the in-game one looks more like a generic theropod. What's less excusable is the size: even going by the information at the time, it's about a third the size it should be, and its signature sickle-handed claws are quite small. They're not a bad match for ''Megaraptor'', though, especially considering that [[AccidentallyCorrectZoology at the time, ''[[AccidentallyCorrectZoology Megaraptor]]'' [[AccidentallyCorrectZoology was thought to be a giant dromaeosaur instead.]]

** The ''Therizinosaurus'' came from a period [[ScienceMarchesOn before much of anything about the species's appearance was known aside from its arms.]] Consequently, while the real thing was a plant-eater with a long neck and a somewhat dumpy build, the in-game one looks more like a generic theropod. What's less excusable is the size: even going by the information at the time, it's about a third the size it should be, and its signature sickle-handed claws are quite small. They're not a bad match for ''Megaraptor'', though, especially considering that [[AccidentallyCorrectZoology at the time, ''Megaraptor'' was thought to be a giant dromaeosaur instead.]]

* ''VideoGame/AFKArena'': Vurk, Skreg, Drez, and Kren are supposed to all be part of the same tribe of rats in the original Chinese version. However, while they do have traits in common with ''each other'', none of them resemble rats at all. Vurk and Skreg are frequently mistaken for canines such as jackals or hyenas, Drez is frequently mistaken for a fennec fox or stoat, and Kren closer resembles a bobcat or lynx. Because of these, the English translation tries to [[AvertedTrope avert this trope]] by calling them a fictional species, Durri, instead.

* ''Videogame/CluCluLand'' player character Bubbles is supposed to be a balloonfish, a specific variety of pufferfish/blowfish, but she does not even look like a generic puffer fish/blow fish. Bubbles is just a round ball with arms and two noodle legs or maybe a [[DependingOnTheArtist stubby tail]]. Furthermore, Bubbles does not act like a puffer fish. Rather than biting anything of ''puffing up'', her method of attack is to stun the target with sound waves, like a sperm whale, and then smash them against a wall, like a sea otter. Her most immediately noticeable attribute is her strong forward momentum, so strong that she cannot freely stop or change directions, which is the exact opposite of a real balloon fish, which can turn and stop quite well but only move forward quickly in short bursts.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'':
** Cranky Kong is supposed to be a gorilla like Donkey, and in fact he was the original Donkey Kong, but he [[MiniatureSeniorCitizens looks more like a baboon]].
** Despite being labeled as a rattlesnake, Rattly barely resembles such. He doesn't even have the rattle at the end of his tail.
* Falco Lombardi from the ''VideoGame/StarFox'' franchise is said to be a pheasant by WordOfGod, but looks more like a falcon with pheasant-like plumage. The fact that his first name is Falco doesn't help.
** Krystal from the unreleased UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 game ''VideoGame/DinosaurPlanet'' is meant to be a fox however she looks like some sort of cat instead. When the game was changed to ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' she was redesigned to look more fox-like (and be HotterAndSexier).

* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'':
** While Hunter was identifiable as a cheetah, the resemblance was somewhat vague and in general he looked more like a generic feline with spots. Averted in ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'', where Hunter significantly looks more like a cheetah, having the stripes along the sides of his muzzle cheetahs are well-known for having.
** Moneybags the bear looked more like Muppetesque nearly flat-faced, wide-mouthed [[{{Pun}} "koala bear"]] reminiscent of Fozzie Bear, but derpier. Averted in ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'', where Moneybags' new look gives him a properly smug expression on his face, and looks significantly more like a bear, having a more noticeable snout, with fur on the sides resembling sideburns.

* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': Banjo is supposed to be a bear, but his long snout and stout physique make him look more like a dog. Also, his feet, hands, and belly don't have any fur on them, much like a gorilla's, and designwise, he gets inspiration from Donkey Kong with the exception of his face, so he ends up looking more like a dog/bear/gorilla hybrid.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'': Due to the extremely varied and cartoony designs of many of the villagers, they sometimes strongly resemble ''other'' species than the ones they are. For example, Tucker is officially an elephant villager, but resembles a woolly mammoth (complete with a stereotypical caveman leopard-print clothing), and Drago, who is officially an alligator, but ([[ALizardNamedLiz as his name implies]]) looks like a dragon, complete with a "burn" catchphrase, dragon shirt, and a traditional Eastern-style house, and the ostrich villager species is basically an umbrella category for long-necked birds, with only two of them, Sandy and Sprocket, looking like an ostrich. Others, like Sprocket and Ribbot, also [[AmbiguousRobots look like robots]].
* ''VideoGame/AFKArena'': Vurk, Skreg, Drez, and Kren are supposed to all be part of the same tribe of rats in the original Chinese version. However, while they do have traits in common with ''each other'', none of them resemble rats at all. Vurk and Skreg are frequently mistaken for canines such as jackals or hyenas, Drez is frequently mistaken for a fennec fox or stoat, and Kren closer resembles a bobcat or lynx. Because of these, the English translation tries to [[AvertedTrope avert this trope]] by calling them a fictional species, Durri, instead.
* ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved'': While most dinosaur designs take considerable creative liberties, most of them are still recognizable as their fossil counterparts. However, some look more like hybrids, such as the ''Triceratops'', which has a frill more closely resembling a styracosaur, and the pteranodons have crests like those of ''Caulkicephalus''. There's even an in-universe example with the brontosaurs, which the in-game dossier acknowledge as essentially being generic sauropods rather than a specific genus, even suggesting that they might more accurately be another genus such as ''Argentinosaurus'' or ''Dreadnoughtus''. All of this is at least partly justified, though, because it's made clear that the various dinosaurs and other creatures don't actually exist here naturally and many of them have been changed drastically from being transplanted to the Ark, such that almost all of them are officially classified with different species names: even the tyrannosaurs, despite being referred to as Rexes in-game, are actually the fictional species ''Tyrannosaurus'' '''''dominum''''', not ''Tyrannosaurus rex''; the dossier for them says that everyone just calls them Rexes, anyway, so that's their common rather than scientific name.
* ''VideoGame/{{Carnivores}}'': Most of the dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts the player hunts are based on outdated restorations from vintage paleoart. Granted, considering the games take place on the alien planet of FMM UV-32, these inaccuracies can be justified by the fact that technically speaking, none of these creatures are true dinosaurs but rather extraterrestrial lifeforms that have evolved to possess a superficial resemblance to true dinos:
** The ''Allosaurus'' looks more like some type of 90s-inspired dromaeosaur, including being smaller than the real animal. Apparently, its model was originally intended for the Raptor, before the latter got an overhaul and this model was used to represent ''Allosaurus'' instead.
** The ''Chasmosaurus'' from the second game more closely resembles a ''Triceratops''.
** The ''Ankylosaurus'' is much smaller and more slender than the real animal, and it also has a dragging tail, spiked osteoderms, and a more subtle tail club.
** In ''Ice Age'', there is a wild boar that obviously resembles a warthog.
** Also from ''Ice Age'', the Yeti has bird-like feet of a theropod dinosaur and three-fingered hands. While the creature still has status as a cryptid, most reports state it would have hands and feet no different than a primate.
** The ''Troodon'' from ''Dinosaur Hunter'' lacks the killing claw on its foot, making it look more like a ''Compsognathus''.
** ''Dinosaur Hunter HD'' and ''Reborn'' had ''Gallimimus'' and ''Pelecanimimus'' that both look more like ''Compsognathus''. Especially jarring with the former, whose incarnations in previous installments looked more like the real animal.
* ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'':
** Rockhopper is supposed to be a [[MeaningfulName rockhopper penguin]], but besides having [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife red feathers]] (many penguins are coloured strangely in this game, anyway) and [[NonMammalianHair a beard]], his BigOlEyebrows are black instead of yellow and don't really resemble the spiky feathers the real species has, not to mention that he lacks spiky feathers on top of his head. He should also have red eyes. However, the Earth Day party features more realistically-looking rockhopper penguins.
** The ''[[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/clubpenguin/images/b/b4/Velociraptor.png/revision/latest?cb=20151018084445 Utahraptor]]'' from the play "The penguin that time forgot" looks nothing like any species of dromaeosaur. It's tripodal, featherless (besides some kind of crest, which wasn't present on the real animal), has two fingers, three toes (including its dewclaw) and lacks its sickle-claw. However, the Raptors from the Prehistoric Parties looks more like real raptors, including [[ShownTheirWork being decently feathered]].

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** The Buzzy Beetle enemies (which are basically fireproof Koopa Troopas) look more like hunchbacked, gray turtles than actual beetles.
** Monty Moles resemble gophers rather than moles.
** [[BigFriendlyDog Poochie]], Yoshi's pet dog from ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' for some reason does not look like a dog at all and looks more like a platypus instead. Polterpup of ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' shares a similar appearance, implying that it's the same breed as Poochie.

* In the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise, with exception of the title character (who barely passes as a hedgehog at least in modern form) and a handful of others (Cream the Rabbit, Vanilla the Rabbit, Vector the Crocodile, Tails the Fox, Espio the Chameleon, and Blaze the Cat, all of whom are more recognizable animals), pretty much none of the anthro characters actually resemble the animal they're supposed to be:
** Knuckles's resemblance to an actual echidna is pretty loose; he lacks the echidna's long snout and tongue entirely, his quills are like dreadlocks, (and in general, he can't curl into a ball like Sonic can unless every character can as well), and he has a long crooked tail (most echidnas have stubby, basically vestigial ones although some echidnas have slightly longer tails). His signature spiked knuckles are the only thing that might mark him as one, if you generously say they're meant to be claws. Other than that, he looks more like a red dog with gelled-up dreadlocks.
** The franchise's many hedgehogs vary, with Classic Sonic probably being the best (prominent spikes and pudgy proportions, abilities involve curling into a ball). On the other end of the spectrum, there's Amy, who doesn't even look like she belongs to the same species as Sonic relative to the others. In her classic design (which resembled [[DistaffCounterpart a pink Sonic in a dress]]), she looked a bit more like a hedgehog than her current design, where she looks more like a cat.
** Nack the Weasel doesn't look much like a weasel or have any weasel-like features. This is a result of his species being changed from the Japanese version, in which he's actually [[MixAndMatchCritter half-jerboa, half-wolf]].
** Mighty the Armadillo can be hard to identify as an armadillo at first glance. He lacks their long snout and rough looking skin. The only visible armadillo traits he has are the ears and the ''heavily stylized'' armor on his back, and even then, the latter does not appear to be composed of individual plates. He does curl into a ball, but in this series, that's not very species-dependant.
** The Babylon Rogues are identifiable as birds of some sort, thanks to their beaks, but really don't depict their exact species well. Jet the Hawk's green feathers and red markings around his eyes make him look like a hybrid between a parrot and a hawk, not helped by Jason Griffith playing the character with such a nasally voice. Wave the Swallow has a curved beak like Jet's instead a straight beak like swallows have; she has a greater resemblance to a swallow tailed kite rather than an actual swallow. Storm the Albatross, with his bulky body, lack of wide wings, and small round eyes, looks more like an owl than an albatross.
** Big the Cat is pretty tricky to identify as a cat. He does have a few cat traits, such as whiskers and a long tail, but all his other features are very off; his ears, for instance, definitely aren't cat ears, being about as long as his entire body. His massive, rotund body and DumbMuscle GentleGiant personality also don't call to mind your stereotypical cat, nor the fact that he looks almost nothing like Blaze, the other main cat in the franchise. Without knowing his name, you could just as easily call him a raccoon or a lemur.

* ''VIdeoGame/JitsuSquad'' has one of the bosses, Viper the [[SNakePeople snake-woman]], who despite her namesake looks more like a cobra (hood and all).

* Fire Leo from ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'', despite being a lion actually doesn't even look like a lion at all. Joe actually calls him a dog, but he hates being referred to as such. His brother, Frost Tiger, looks more like a tiger than Leo does a lion, but also has a mane and a very similar build and appearance otherwise. This suggests they're actually ligers (or tigons), but neither are accurate to any type of big cat.
* Yooka in ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'' is supposed to be a chameleon, but aside from his tongue attack and his (obtained later in the game) invisibility move, it's hard to tell. It doesn't help that most characters just call him "lizard."

* ''VideoGame/BloodWest'' has the "Leech" enemies who looks suspiciously reptilian. They appear closer to zombified crocodiles than leeches, although they do have the ability to suck blood.