History Main / IconicStarterEquipment

** Tidus' Brotherhood blade (which looks like it's made of water) is the one that appears on posters.

** Link's iconic outfit is his green tunic. In some games he can find other outfits that offer some benefit over his standard one, meaning that the players will rarely use his default one after acquiring them. ''Twilight Princess'' averts this because while Link's alternate outfits of the Zora Armor and Magic Armor give him the ability to breathe underwater and invincibility, respectively, both are made highly situational by their respective downsides of making him extremely weak to fire and ice attacks and draining his rupees, giving players a reason to equip his standard outfit again. In ''Ocarina of Time'', Link can swap out his green Kokiri Tunic for the Goron or Zora Tunics, which respectively grant him the ability to withstand high temperatures and breathe underwater. Unlike in ''Twilight Princess'', the only benefit to switching back to the default outfit is that it can't be eaten by Like Likes, meaning that once you acquire them, you'll probably be wearing the Goron or Zora Tunics for the rest of the game. This makes for an awkward moment with the introduction to ''The Wind Waker'', in which young boys are said to wear green tunics to mark their coming of age in commemoration of the green-clad Hero from ''Ocarina of Time'' who defeated Ganon, even though many players probably defeated Ganon wearing the red Goron or blue Zora Tunics in the latter game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': The player character is commonly shown wielding the Saw Cleaver and wearing the Hunter Set, the former being one of the choices of starter weapon, and the latter becoming available very early in the game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'': 47's trusty piano cord (for strangulations) has been present in every iteration, due to its noiseless nature, the fact it's unconscious, and the fact that it doesn't need ammo.

* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' and [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 its sequel]], the most iconic weapon is the crowbar, which is also the very first weapon you acquire. Being a FirstPersonShooter, there are a number of firearms that the player acquires during the game, and would certainly prefer to use if possible, and yet Gordon's close-range ImprovisedWeapon remains his most iconic.

* ''VideoGame/ArTonelico'': All promotional materials use [[MageSpecies Reyvateils]]' original clothes, even though the player will likely replace them as soon as other costumes become avilable. When they reappear in ''VideoGame/CrossEdge'', they also retain their outfits. Somewhat justified, because they actually [[InstantCostumeChange change into]] these costumes via [[MagicMusic Song Magic]] at the start of every battle.
** Averted within the series proper, as all returning characters have completly different outfits. In fact, the only recurring costume in the series is Aurica's GoofySuit that the player will [[JokeItem never use]] anyway.

*** Cloud's Buster Sword is what most people picture him wielding and it's the weapon he wields in all spinoffs, cameo appearances, etc. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' it's even given MagikarpPower properties so that it stays viable even after the acquisition of other swords, whereas in the original game you'll ditch it and never look back as soon as you get another sword.

** The prologue starts off with Link wearing the Champion Leathers and the Hylian Hood and Trousers, which have only decent defense when upgraded and no set bonus abilities like most of the other armor sets the player can obtain.
** The Archaic Set is the first armor the player receives in the game proper. It not only has no set bonus traits, but it can't even be upgraded, meaning literally anything else in the game is more useful. As such, any player who isn't doing a SelfImposedChallenge or wearing it solely for the sake of style will swap it for something else as soon as they can.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Cloud's Buster Sword is what most people picture him wielding and it's the weapon he wields in all spinoffs, cameo appearances, etc. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' it's even given MagikarpPower properties so that it stays viable even after the acquisition of other swords, whereas in the original game you'll ditch it and never look back as soon as you get another sword.

[[caption-width-right:350:How most people see Shulk vs. how ''Xenoblade'' fans see Shulk.[[note]]Unless they are playing the [[UpdatedRerelease Definitive Edition]] and set the costume aesthetics to not change[[/note]]]]

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'': Chrom is consistently depicted wielding the basic form of the Falchion, which has deteriorated in power in the two millennia since [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Marth]] wielded it. Although it having [[BreakableWeapons unlimited uses]] and a [[WeaponOfXSlaying dragonslaying attribute]] means it'll never be ''completely'' useless, its low attack power means that Chrom will likely spend most of the game wielding other weapons until the Falchion is upgraded into the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Exalted Falchion]] near the end of the game, a [[PowerGlows different-looking]] form that has been scarcely, if ever, depicted outside of ''Awakening''.
* Similarly, Corrin from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' is usually depicted with the basic and weakest form of the Yato, rather than any of its other forms. Rarely, the Yato's "[[EleventhHourSuperpower Omega]]" form may be depicted instead, as in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'', new units are almost always based on the design and mechanics of that character's starting class, while promoted class designs are usually saved for special alts, such as legendaries and brave alts. Likewise, the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' characters have all started out in their pre-timeskip designs, despite the later post-timeskip costumes usually being more popular. However, it's also common for unit's weapons to be named after late-game items, as those are more likely to be personalised to the character, which can lead to odd situations where a hero looks and acts like they just joined the army but are using weapons from much later on.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'': Averted - both Alphen and Shionne wear four different sets of clothes and weapons throughout the game, but promotions use only Alphen's third and Shionne's second costumes. Mostly because their earlier costumes are inappropriate for {{JRPG}} heroes (slave's rugs with full-face mask and pajama-like simple dress respectively), ant later ones are rather spoilerfic ([[spoiler:really fancy costumes, as befits the Sovereign and the Maiden]]).

* Similarly, Corrin from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' is usually depicted with the basic and weakest form of the Yato, rather than any of its other forms. Rarely, the Yato's "[[EleventhHourSuperpower Omega]]" form may be depicted instead.