History Main / PaletteSwap

*** Delthea's portraits depict her with different palettes and expressions, though her posing's still the same.

*** In the true tradition of the red/green cavalier duo, [[TheLadette Sully]] and [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy Stahl]], have red and green cavalier outfits, respectively, and the red and green lining is used for their paladin and great knight uniforms.
*** Kellam, an armor knight, has orange lining on his uniform. Like Sully and Stahl, he keeps that color for his great knight outfit; ditto goes for Sully's future daughter Kjelle, only with light purple instead.
*** [[GenkiGirl Lissa]] has a yellow dress for her cleric and war cleric classes, and she gets a green and yellow sage robe - it's actually identical to her sister [[TheOjou Emmeryn's outfit]]. Lissa's future son Owain also gets a dark yellow colored myrmidon/swordmaster outfit.
*** Both Miriel (first generation) and Brady ([[RichBitch Maribelle's]] son) get unique-looking sage's robes (Miriel's is black with a thin gold collar, while Brady's is dark purple with the same Roman Numeral collar as Lissa's), and Brady also gets a black and purple war monk outfit.
*** [[BrokenAce Cordelia]] and her daughter [[{{Tsundere}} Severa]] have red lining for their Pegasus knight and mercenary/hero outfits. Flavia's hero uniform also has red linings.
*** Nowi, Nah, and Tiki are green, red, and bright yellow-colored dragons, respectively.[[note]]A female Morgan, if any of these women are her mother, can also become a dragon, but will always have Nowi's coloring[[/note]]

*** Finally, Say'ri has a light purple swordmaster outfit.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' retains the unique color palette for each character's base class model as well as their "canon" promotion. (For instance, Kaze and Saizo wear green and red as Ninjas and Master Ninjas, respectively.) It also keeps ''Awakening''[='=]s use of palette swapping the second generation characters' hair based on their parent's color.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia'' takes this to its logical extreme, with each character getting their own unique palette regardless of what class they're currently in. So, Gray and Tobin will always be wearing green and yellow versions of their classes' uniforms, respectively.

*** Zeke's portrait is basically a mirrored version of [[spoiler: Camus']] because [[spoiler: "Ezekiel" is an alias given to Camus after he landed in Valentia and lost his memories]].

*** Sonya's portrait is based on Marla and Hestia's to show their sibling relationship. However, Sonya's portrait has a different color scheme because she's recruitable and, unlike them, is still human.  

** There is usually just one or two (if both genders are possible) character models per class; everyone in a particular class is a palette swap of that model. Generic units are coloured by affiliation, while playable, boss and other important characters have their own unique colour scheme. Some characters have their own individual class (e.g. Lord) and thus look unique. ''Radiant Dawn'' alleviates this to some extent by giving every player and important character a unique skin to their model which reflects their actual appearance, but the model's animations do not change at all. That is why the fans clamor for the official character art--these portraits tend to add a touch of personalization that the in-game models often do not portray. Several exceptions exist to this tendency, particularly in the GBA era. ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced three apprentice classes; there is only one character each that as such looks rather unique... until he/she promotes into a proper class. ''Blazing Sword'''s Hawkeye - comparatively not that important a character - has his own completely unique [[TheBerserker Berserker]] sprite which differs significantly from the normal in its movement, whereas all other Berserkers use the generic sprite. Weird.
** Boss portraits are perhaps the more obvious example of this trope in the series, as after the NES era it wasn't really an acceptable break from reality based on technical constraints, unlike everyone's battle sprites being identical. The older the game, the more likely you'll run into a lookalike boss with a random palette. The [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Jugdral]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 duology]] is most notorious for this since it was done with semi-important villains, though [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight the original game]] was even worse. After ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', which memorably had [[ExaggeratedTrope six palette swaps of the same boss character all as the bosses of the same chapter]], the practice waned through the [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade following]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade handheld]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones games]] before finally ending for good in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''.

*** Cain and Abel look ''very'' similar because they share most of the same structures in their portraits, with only opposite colors and minor details such as hairstyles and Abel's ''Trope/GoofyBuckteeth''.

*** Palla, Catria, and Est all have the same poses, head shapes, body types, and armor shapes, which is fitting because they're sisters in the same class. In addition, Palla and Est also make the same expression: looking to the left. The only differences are their signature hair colors (green for Palla, blue for Catria, and pink for Est), hair styles, armor colors (blue for Palla, red for Catria, and pink for Est), and Catria's facial expression (looking to the right).

*** Dolph and Macellan share portraits. They both wear green armor and have a single tooth coming from the bottom of their mouths.

** [[BrokenBase Backlash ensued]] when in [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Gen V]], the Kami trio turned out to mostly be this (there are some minor differences, such as the number of horns and the shape of their tails). It's alleviated a bit in ''Black and White 2'', however, as the Kami trio are all given alternate "beast" forms that are ''very'' different from each other (being a bird, a dragon and a tiger, respectively).

* ''VideoGame/MarvelHeroes'' had the concept of "Enhanced Costumes," which could be used to turn your character into another Marvel hero or villain with similar abilities and the same moves and stats. These included ComicBook/SpiderGwen for ComicBook/SpiderMan, ComicBook/{{Shuri}} for ComicBook/BlackPanther, ComicBook/BetaRayBill and [[ComicBook/Thor2014 Jane Foster]] for [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], Sam Alexander for ComicBook/{{Nova}}, Captain Mar-Vell for ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} and Kate Bishop for ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}.

* Toy Biz did the same thing with their ''ComicBook/XMen: [[https://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure?action=seriesitemlist&id=278&ssid=20 Mutant Armor]]'' and ''Franchise/SpiderMan: [[https://www.figurerealm.com/actionfigure?action=seriesitemlist&id=214&ssid=39 Techno Wars]]'' lines. If you're wondering why Spider-Man and the X-Men would need to wear suits of PoweredArmor despite already having superpowers, it's because the toys were actually unreleased ComicBook/IronMan figures from his [[WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries cancelled TV show]]. So for instance, with only a new head sculpt and paint job, the Magnetic Iron Man figure became a "Battle Armor ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}" figure, Radiation Iron Man became "Radioactive Spider Armor Spider-Man," Living Laser (who was itself a retooled version of an unreleased U.S. Agent figure) became "Astral Plane ComicBook/ProfessorX," and so on.

** In ''Mortal Kombat 11'', Shang Tsung has the ability to transform into various ninjas and use their abilities. All his ninja transformations have him transform into their classic looks, even his fatal blow has him exclusively use moves from Sub-Zero, Scorpion and finally, Noob Saibot. He can also use Ermac's Force Lift, Rain's Superkick, Reptile's slide and Smoke's projectile parry.

* The main characters in the arcade versions of ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' and ''VideoGame/SuperC'' used different sprites for Bill and Lance (Bill wore a white tank top, while Lance was shirtless). Due to hardware limitations of the NES, their versions of both games used the same sprite for Bill and Lance, changing only the color of their pants, making Bill the "blue guy" and Lance the "red guy". Oddly enough, ''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars'' for the SNES followed this convention as well. In ''Super C'' and ''Contra III'', the red colored enemy soldiers are usually the ones who actually shoot their guns. Also, the four main characters in ''Contra 4'' (Bill and Lance, and their "counterparts", Mad Dog and Scorpion) are all palette swaps of the same sprite, with no real playing differences between them. This was due to a 4-Players Mode that was DummiedOut from the final version of the game. The extra characters (Probotector, Sheena, Lucia, Jimbo/Sully) all happen to have four selectable color palettes each as well.

** Other famous or reoccurring redecos include Optimus Prime into both Nemesis Prime and Ultra Magnus (under the armor, Ultra Magnus is a white Prime), Bumblebee into Cliffjumper, Megatron into Galvatron (particularly popularized by the ''Unicron Trilogy'' shows), Soundwave into Blaster, Rumble and Frenzy, Ironhide and Ratchet, and Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw.

* Leareth in the ''Literature/LastHeraldMageTrilogy'' magically models his face and body to closely resemble those of his great enemy, Herald-Mage Vanyel, except where Van has silver eyes, MysticalWhiteHair, and wears Herald's Whites Leareth are all black. This is done as a show of how much power he has, that he can spend some on taunting a foe by becoming his dark reflection.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelHeroes'' had the concept of "Enhanced Costumes," which could be used to turn your character into another Marvel hero or villain with similar abilities and the same moves and stats. These included ComicBook/SpiderGwen for Franchise/SpiderMan, ComicBook/{{Shuri}} for ComicBook/BlackPanther, ComicBook/BetaRayBill and [[ComicBook/Thor2014 Jane Foster]] for [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], Sam Alexander for ComicBook/{{Nova}}, Captain Mar-Vell for ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} and Kate Bishop for ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}.

* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'', the EvilSorcerer Infidel once did ''[[NoodleIncident something]]'' that gave Samaritan a blue costume and red hair (instead of his normal red-costume-and-blue-hair ensemble).
* The [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Hobgoblin]] is effectively a palette swap of the Green Goblin, albeit with a hooded cape. There is an in-story reason, as the person behind the Hobgoblin mask intentionally dyed it a different color.
* In ''[[ComicBook/TheUltimates Ultimate Comics: Avengers]]'', Gregory Stark is introduced as Tony's twin brother. He has blond hair and wears white suits.
* In the short lived ContinuityReboot ''ComicBook/WonderWomanOdyssey'' ComicBook/{{Artemis}}'s costume and build are identical to Diana's in all but coloration, to reflect her former status as Diana's rival.

* ''Anime/CTheMoneyAndSoulOfPossibility'' has several facets of [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110603165740/soulcontrol/images/7/73/Masakaki_sea.jpg one]] [[http://animeotaku.animeblogger.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/C_masakaki2-e1304591765298.jpg basic]] [[http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ln1m8bmEsk1qanb6ao1_500.png design.]]

* Miniatures wargames will often have this. The players will actually play the same army by the same rules, but represent in-universe alignments by paint scheme. For example, one player may represent the WWII 10th Mountain Division and another may represent a US Ranger Battalion by using the same miniatures and rule set, but simply paint the 10th in snow and the Rangers in drab greens. This is especially prevalent in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' where many in universe armies might follow the same rule set. In the case of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 a number of factions started out life as simple palette swaps, but have developed over the years to get their own models and/or rules. The Space Marine chapters are a good example - originally Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Ultramarines and Space Wolves were just red, dark green, blue and grey versions of the same thing, but now they have their own distinct stylings and rules. Other factions, such as Eldar Craftworlds and Ork Clans, are still just different colour schemes, though each can be characterised somewhat by choice of units taken as well as the livery.
* The fourth edition of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and its player base have been noted for actively embracing the concept of "reskinning" powers, monsters, and potentially even entire character classes to allow for more variety in play -- that is, basically taking one mechanic, stat block or the like and simply reusing it as-is (with perhaps some minor tweaks along the way) to represent something potentially ''described'' entirely differently from the original.

* ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' was guilty of this. Similar looking animals (like ''Utahraptor'' and ''Dromaeosaurus'', as well as ''Dryosaurus'', ''Leaellynasaura'', and the small ornithopods in "Death of a Dynasty") were just these. Certain animals (like large theropods and ornithopods) only got new heads. You can tell, because many creatures have the exact same folds and blood vessels on their skin. Then, there is ''Plesiopleurodon'', which is just StockFootage of ''Liopleurodon'' from the previous episode, only tinted lighter. ''Quetzalcoatlus'' is the worst offender, as in its case it's obvious that the animators didn't have much time; it's just the ''Ornithocheirus'' from "Giant of the Skies" with a few minor tweaks. They didn't even edit out the teeth!

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* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'': Nearly all the different indigen species have a counterpart that looks and acts very similar to them. For example, Liceors are swaps of Saltats, Caros are swaps of Grexes, Viragoes are swaps of Vigents, and Jaculs are swaps of Auravis. Usually, the two species live on different continents (Liceors are only found in Sylvalum, for example, while Saltats are everywhere else), but there is some occasional cross-over.

** The only difference between Bael and Dagon lies in their color palette; the former has a white body with a blue Rusalka, which are inverted by the latter. This is even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Dagon's Boss File description:

* ''VideoGame/MarvelHeroes'' had the concept of "Enhanced Costumes," which could be used to turn your character into another Marvel hero or villain with similar abilities and the same moves and stats. These included ComicBook/SpiderGwen for Franchise/SpiderMan, ComicBook/{{Shuri}} for ComicBook/BlackPanther, ComicBook/BetaRayBill and [[ComicBook/{{Thor 2014}} Jane Foster]] for [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]], Sam Alexander for ComicBook/{{Nova}}, Captain Mar-Vell for ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} and Kate Bishop for ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}.

* [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'s [[PowerCopying Variable Weapon System]] allows him to adopt enemies' powers along with a new color scheme.

* Toys/{{amiibo}} support in ''VideoGame/YoshisWoollyWorld'' allows you to play as a Yoshi texture-swapped to look like that character. Characters such as [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]], [[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 Ness]] and {{Franchise/Sonic|TheHedgehog}} are supported. The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' amiibo, though, just give you a Yoshi with an amiibo logo.

** In ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInAChristmasCarol'', the time and space vortexes the Ghosts of Christmas use are identical effects, just yellow for past, green for present, and red for future. Also, the twins wears identical {{Pimped Out Dress}}es, save for different colors, such as having [[FluffyFashionFeathers feather headdresses]], one {{pink| means feminine}} and the other [[TrueBlueFemininity blue]].

** The "blind bag" minifigures even went so far as to have Fluttershy - ''one of the Mane Six!'' - as a Pallete Swap of Rainbow Dash. (Which is somewhat amusing after the events of the third season episode "Magic Duel"...) She finally got her own unique mold in a set released in mid-2013[[note]]but her collector's card still has her as a RD palette swap as of Wave 11[[/note]]. Several other characters who've appeared on the show, though, are still recolors at the blindbag scale, such as Cheerilee[[note]]of Pinkie Pie[[/note]], Trixie Lulamoon[[note]]of Rarity in wave 4, then of Twilight Sparkle in later issues[[/note]], Lyra Heartstrings[[note]]of Twilight in the blind bags, but Rarity in the [[http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/File:Mib-groovin-hooves.jpg Groovin' Hooves]] set[[/note]], Bon Bon(Sweetie Drops)[[note]]of Applejack[[/note]], Daisy(Flower Wishes)[[note]]Pinkie Pie again[[/note]], Blossomforth and Helia[[note]]both of Rainbow Dash[[/note]], Strawberry Sunrise[[note]]of Derpy[[/note]], and Peachy Pie[[note]]also of Pinkie Pie, ironically[[/note]].

** There is also Forsythia[[note]]Rarity, and also appears in the mobile game as a minor charcter[[/note]] and Fizzy Pop[[note]]Pinkie Pie, and seems to be based on the same g3 pony who inspired the colors and real name of the movie’s villain[[/note]

* ''Series/PrehistoricPark'' did this with the ''same species''; the adult ''Tyrannosaurus'' uses the same body of the juveniles, only with a different head, because they did not have the budget to make two ''Tyrannosaurus'' models. This results in the adults looking too slim and lanky compared to the real animal. They also recoloured the ''T. rex'' orange to make the ''Albertosaurus'' in the later episode.