| 1 | DivergentCharacterEvolution in VideoGames. |
| 2 | ---- |
| 3 | * In ''VideoGame/TwentyXX'', Nina and Ace were largely the same character, only differing in the primary weapons they could equip; Nina used long-range blasters while Ace used close-range armaments. In the sequel, ''VideoGame/ThirtyXX'', they now have completely different powers to acquire, and Nina gains the ability to combine powers, making them much more distinct. |
| 4 | * ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'': Ema Skye was originally a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for [[GenkiGirl Maya Fey]] during the fifth case in the [[UpdatedRerelease DS re-release]] of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', with the main thing that differentiated them being that Ema was energetic about science whereas Maya was energetic about mysticism. When Ema returns in [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney the fourth game]] as an [[ShesAllGrownUp adult]] her aspirations for becoming a forensic investigator didn't quite work out, causing her to grow into a far more bitter and resentful person, although her old enthusiasm is still [[{{Tsundere}} there beneath the surface]]. She does eventually manage to succeed in becoming a forensic investigator and naturally becomes a lot more upbeat, but still retains a lot of her snarkiness. |
| 5 | * In early versions of ''VideoGame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf'', Adler was a palette swap of Elektrosoldat, but when he was turned into his own character his moves got radically different inputs and properties. Similarly, in the arcade version Perfecti is no longer a palette swap of Mycale - she is instead an entirely different character with no shared moves. |
| 6 | * Ryo Sakazaki and his best buddy Robert Garcia, the Ryu and Ken analogues of ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'', have this as part of their backstory. Ryo's principle of Kyokugen Karate, while well-balanced, seems to have a slight emphasis on punching and striking techniques, whereas Robert's style focuses on kicks. Note that this difference was established well before Ken would start incorporating a larger repertoire of kicks into his moveset in later iterations of ''Street Fighter''. |
| 7 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'' and ''Battletoads and VideoGame/DoubleDragon'', the toads all played the same, and while large sprites and artwork gave them individual designs, their in-game sprites were just recolors. ''Battletoads in Battlemaniacs'' gave them different combos and finishing moves (though they still functioned the same) and their sprites now reflected the different designs from the artwork. The arcade game took this even further with by making Rash a FragileSpeedster, Zitz a JackOfAllStats, and Pimple a MightyGlacier, all with their own moves. Similarly initially all the toads used the same transformations, mostly blunt objectsts like ram horns, boots, and wrecking balls. ''Battlemaniacs'' gave them individual themes, with Rash prefering razor sharp weapons like axes and claws, while Pimple took the bludgeoning techniques up a notch using anvils and stone fists. When the arcade game came in, Zitz got his own theme as machinery like bulldozers, circular saws and power drills. |
| 8 | * ''Franchise/BlazBlue'': |
| 9 | ** Zig-zagged with Nu-13 and Lambda-11. Nu was written out after the first game, with Lambda replacing her with some balance changes (Nu was still present as her [[SuperMode Unlimited Form]]). Lambda was written out after the second, with Nu coming back with the ability to use both movesets, ''then'' in the UpdatedRerelease, Lambda came back, Nu lost the extra moves, and while the two do still have very similar movesets, their Drives (character specific gimmick) and Overdrives (temporary power up) work differently, Lambda going for quality and Nu for quantity. This extends to their characterizations. Both started as [[EmptyShell tortured automatons]] who obeyed without question and eventually became childlike, but in different ways. Nu is a [[OmnicidalManiac world-hating]] {{Yandere}} who wants to kill/screw/fuse with her [[VillainousIncest "brother"]] Ragna [[MasochismTango and views their fights as a budding romance]]. Lambda is mostly innocent and [[TheWorldIsJustAwesome curious about the world]], has a healthy relationship with her [[BigBrotherInstinct "big sister"]] Noel and only fights because Kokonoe [[ShootTheDog reluctantly orders her to.]] |
| 10 | ** [[spoiler:Defied for the following pairs; Jin and Hakumen, Noel and Mu-12, Tsubaki and Izayoi, Hazama and Terumi; despite those pairs being ''the exact same person'', they have nothing in common (sans Jin and Hakumen sharing a super).]] |
| 11 | * ''VideoGame/BloodyRoar 2'' handles this rather oddly: for starters, the clone character, Shenlong, is a literal clone of the returning character Long. On top of that, it's ''Long'' who gets a new moveset, while Shenlong has Long's moves from the first game. From ''3'' on they switched, with Long getting his old moves back and Shenlong getting a similar but simplified moveset. Similar cases involve Yugo and Uriko, whose movesets changed rather drastically in the second game (Yugo going from an untrained kid to a professional boxer, Uriko going from a BrainwashedAndCrazy {{Super|Soldier}}-{{Child Soldier|s}} as the FinalBoss to a playable student of the aforementioned Long) and, respectively, Fang (secret character in ''Extreme'' who shares Yugo's moveset from the first game) and Uranus (secret character in ''3'' onwards who is essentially a playable version of final-boss Uriko). More traditional examples involve Shina (the adopted daughter of Gado) and the second Bakuryu and Kohryu (respectively the {{legacy|Character}} and a resurrected mecha-clone of the original Bakuryu), who play rather similarly to, but still distinctive from their originators. Not to mention as well Jenny and Stun, who are straight-up [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replacements]] for Fox and Mitsuko and keep their general playstyles while adding more moves to make them unique. |
| 12 | * "Soap" [=MacTavish=] was the typical silent protagonist for the British missions in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'' who played identically to, and was effectively interchangeable with, Paul Jackson from the American missions. In ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2 Modern Warfare 2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3 3]]'', he was made into a non-player character for several missions, and accordingly given a strong personality and voice actor. |
| 13 | ** Price's playable section in ''[=CoD4=]'' likewise had him play identically to Soap, right down to being silent despite the dialogue he gets in the rest of the game. When he's playable again for the finale of ''[=MW3=]'', he's taken a cue from the ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' cast and talks just as much under your control as he did when an NPC (by comparison, Soap returns to being silent when he's made playable again in the finale of ''[=MW2=]''), and for the first half of the mission he's also given NighInvulnerable Juggernaut armor that Soap and all the other player characters never had access to. |
| 14 | * In the early ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games, Simon and Trevor Belmont were practically [[IdenticalGrandson interchangeable relatives]], with identical control schemes and overall very similar designs, both featuring long blonde hair and plate armor. Lack of characterization in those days also meant that neither really had a distinct personality. Starting with ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChronicles,'' Simon was redesigned as a stoic {{Bishonen}} with red hair and black leather clothing, and in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness,'' Trevor was given dark hair, and a scar over his eye. ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaJudgment'' differentiated them further, making Simon even more of a Bishonen while making Trevor into more of a grizzled veteran with an eyepatch, and the two were given somewhat different movesets. Subsequent members of the Belmont clan have generally had more distinctive appearances, personalities and fighting styles from the get-go as the series embraced more complex mechanics and narratives. |
| 15 | * The playable nations in the early ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' games only differed in their city names, leaders' AI and titles. ''Civ III'' introduced the idea of national Unique Units, and gave each civilization two picks from a list of traits such as Militaristic, Industrious, Religious, etc., which ''Civ IV'' built upon by also adding unique buildings, and giving some civs the choice between multiple leaders with differing traits. This did help each civilization feel more distinct, but their unique units and buildings were just slightly-improved replacements for generic units and buildings. Then ''Civ V'' rolled around and replaced the traits system with a unique ability for every civ, each one different and many of them quite powerful: the Inca move through hill terrain as easily as other factions move along roads, Egypt builds great Wonders faster, the Polynesians can sail across oceans from the start of the game, and so forth. ''Civ VI'' has built upon this by giving national leaders distinct agendas based on their historical personalities, so President Teddy Roosevelt is a BullyHunter and Czar Peter the Great is a modernizer who looks favorably upon more-advanced nations. |
| 16 | * Subfactions were introduced in the later ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games to give the existing factions diversity in multiplayer matches; previous games with different countries/factions/whatever simply had one or two slightly-changed attributes that [[GuideDangIt you are never made aware of]] (''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'') or one unit/ability no one else gets or has to rely on tech buildings to use (''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2''). |
| 17 | ** The ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlertSeries'' started as a possible prequel spin-off of the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries''. ''Red Alert 2'' made that portion of the franchise known for being DenserAndWackier, with no links to the ''Tiberian'' games other than [[CommandAndConquerEconomy basic gameplay elements]]. |
| 18 | ** GDI and Nod both looked similar in the first game because they use units close to real life equivalents present in the late 20th century. In the Tiberian Sun series, GDI began to rely on HumongousMecha, MiniMecha and hover technology. Nod embraced the CartoonishSupervillainy aesthetic complete with scorpion-shaped buildings and vehicles, aircraft that look like they came from another planet and armies of cyborgs. |
| 19 | * In the original ''VideoGame/ConquestOfTheNewWorld'', all European powers were created equal, and only the High Native player functioned differently. In the Deluxe Edition, this was changed to give each power (including the Natives) a buff, causing each power to play slightly differently. For example, the French get better native relations and dominant cavalry, while the Dutch are masters of finance and the European trade. |
| 20 | * Genbei "Jaguar" Yagyu inverts this trope between ''Neo VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' and ''Contra [=ReBirth=]''. In ''Neo'', he's slower but more powerful than series protagonist Bill Rizer, and you can unlock the option to replace one of his guns with a powerful but melee-range katana. In ''[=ReBirth=]'', he not only plays identically to Bill, but dresses like him, too. |
| 21 | * In a very odd bit of differentiation mixup, the ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' series features the extended ninja sub-plot playing itself out in the characters' fighting styles as well. Kasumi and Ayane, the game's BashBrothers pair, are similar in fighting style, though with differences: Kasumi's moves set up follow-up combos far more easily, while Ayane is greased lightning with lots of very fast but proportionately weaker strikes. Hayabusa, Kasumi's bodyguard and friend, shares some of her moves, but is slightly more powerful than either for sheer hit potential and has more grappling techniques. Hayate, Kasumi's brother, first appeared in ''Dead or Alive 2'' as Ein, an amnesiac, featuring a similar fighting style to Kasumi, but with much more emphasis on punishing single hits and short combos, though he kept some of the acrobatics. Then ''Dead or Alive 3'' introduced Hitomi, his training partner during his amnesiac phase who is a pure karate practitioner as opposed to Hayate's karate/ninjutsu hybrid, and is slightly harder hitting and faster than him, but much more linear, lacking Hayate's jumping abilities. |
| 22 | ** Definitively Leon and Bayman. Bayman was in the first ''Dead or Alive'', but was [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replaced]] by Leon in ''Dead or Alive 2''. They retained their similarities in ''Dead or Alive 3'', where they both appeared, but in ''Dead or Alive 4'', Bayman has gained a bit more speed to his moves, while Leon retains a more powerful strike potential, and GuestFighter [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Spartan Nicole-458]] uses their shared Russian Sabo style as a skeleton upon which the rest of her unique style was built up from. |
| 23 | * ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncientsAllStars'' has two successors: ''VideoGame/HeroesOfNewerth'', originally its SpiritualSuccessor, and ''VideoGame/Dota2'', its official sequel. A large percentage of ''[=DotA=]'''s heroes were ported over to ''Heroes of Newerth'' in early development, with near or completely identical skillsets and stats. Since both games are developed and balanced by two different groups, the same equivalent heroes deviated from each other. Some remained mostly the same, while some heroes were reworked and rebalanced to be very different from each other. |
| 24 | ** Spirit Breaker/Rampage: Rampage's Horned Strike was changed from being chance-based to activating on a cooldown, and his ultimate was changed from a delayed blink strike to a single-target disable that lets him drag an enemy behind him, while with Spirit Breaker his skillset's power was shifted even further towards Greater Bash. While Spirit Breaker plays like a ganker/carry hybrid who builds attack speed to get more Greater Bash procs and stunlock enemies, Rampage is a pure ganker with lots of front-loaded physical damage and reliable single-target disables, at the cost of scaling. |
| 25 | ** Bloodseeker/Blood Hunter: Both had their first ability replaced from a single-target silence/[=DoT=]/attack damage boost buff. Bloodseeker's is purely a buff which grants bonus attack speed and spell damage at the cost of health degeneration (and before that it was a damage dealt/taken amplifier that can target either team), while Blood Hunter's is purely a debuff which deals damage over time and silences the target, extending the timer when he autoattacks the target. Bloodseeker had his two passives fused into one skill and gained a new active skill which deals damage and silence over a huge area after a delay. Blood Hunter gained the ability to insta-kill creeps on a cooldown, which lets him be played as a jungler. |
| 26 | ** Silencer/Vindicator: Both heroes had their polarizing and frustrating abilities to apply a debuff that drains health and mana until they cast a spell and a passive silence-after-spellcast aura changed. Silencer's Arcane Curse just deals damage over time and slows, but casting an ability extends the duration, while Last Word is now a single-target active ability, but has a longer duration and deals damage when triggered. Vindicator's Sage's Lore was changed to dealing flat damage and disarming enemies, and Glyph of Silence places a destructible totem that silences nearby enemies when they cast an ability. Silencer can temporarily or permanently steal Intelligence with his Glaive of Wisdom, while Vindicator's Master's Incantation deals bonus damage against silenced units. |
| 27 | ** Treant Protector/Keeper of the Forest: Both heroes were significantly reworked, the only thing they now share being their ultimates. Treant Protector now has global range on his Living Armor and gained the ability to be invisible near trees as an innate passive, but also gained Leech Seed to steal health and and give it to allies, and Nature's Grasp to slow and damage enemies in a long line, giving him better support and crowd control. Keeper of the Forest changed to a jungler and pusher, gaining the ability to summon animated trees. He can give himself or an ally invisibility near trees, but also gives them or buildings an armor/regen buff and give himself a rooting attack out of stealth. |
| 28 | ** Lich/Plague Rider: While they kept their two signature nukes, their new abilities give them different utility. Plague Rider had his Plague Shield replaced with Earthblight, binding enemies to a target area and reducing their magic armor to help make his ultimate more devastating, while Extinguish still lets him deny lane creeps or even kill enemy creeps and sustain his mana while laning. Lich's Frost Shield was given a potent attack damage reduction and pulses that slow and damages nearby enemies, and Sinister Gaze, while it can't deny creeps, gives him a channeled single-target disable that drains mana from enemy heroes. |
| 29 | ** Faceless Void/Chronos: Faceless Void gained a more complex and thematic skillset. He no longer has passive chance to avoid damage, but his Time Leap reverses damage taken in the last few seconds. Time Lock has less bonus damage and stun duration, but it now procs a second attack. He gained a new active skill, Time Dilation, slowing nearby enemies' cooldown reduction rate, and their move speed, which is stronger the more skills on cooldown the enemy has. |
| 30 | ** Spectre/Sand Wraith: Sand Wraith was reworked to be a more traditional illusion-based carry, with two of his skills replaced with a skill that summons controllable illusions and a passive attack speed bonus to himself and his illusions. His Desert's Curse also now causes all his illusions to focus on the target with free pathing/haste. Spectre is generally the same, with Desolate for ganking lone targets and Dispersion still being her most important scaling skill, necessitating a tanky build. |
| 31 | ** Dazzle/Demented Shaman: Demented Shaman is an odd case where he was changed several times only to end up back to square one. Even in the beginning, Dazzle's [[LastChanceHitPoint Shallow Grave]] equivalent was replaced with a weaker damage reduction buff, but then replaced with an AutoRevive skill. It was then reworked to be an ultimate skill with a stronger heal and have it passively be on himself when not on another hero, with his old ultimate, Storm Cloud, be weaker and either give or reduce armor over time for only one team, then his single-target slow/stun summoned minions to chain Healing Wave into for burst damage. Then he was returned to be about the same as his old version. Dazzle had his first ability replaced with an [=AoE=] cone that dealt [=DoT=] and slow, and his ultimate is now a passive that gives him cooldown reduction and an armor debuff with each spellcast, playing off his ability to spam spells. |
| 32 | ** Vengeful Spirit/Andromeda: Despite their nearly identical skillset, they have vastly different secondary utility past early game. Vengeful Spirit's higher Agility gain and stronger damage aura lets her be played as a semi-carry, which can be boosted further with Aghamin's Shard to steal attack damage with Terror, and Aghamin's Scepter to spawn a powerful illusion of herself on death, giving her better team fight presence. Andromeda lacks such scaling and remains a pure support, but her ultimate leaves behind an illusion of herself to apply her aura and gains movespeed after casting. Staff of the Master also gives her magic immunity upon swapping to further improve her survivability, and it also gives her a passive bonus attack range boost after hitting an enemy with a spell, giving her stronger harassment ability. |
| 33 | ** Anti-Mage/Magebane: Magebane was reworked, changing his primary attribute from Agility to Strength and switching out his FragileSpeedster and MagikarpPower traits for more of a MightyGlacier one. His Flash of Anti-Magic has less range and longer cooldown, but it slows and deals damage in an area and reduces the cooldown and grants him a magic damage shield if it hits an enemy hero, and Master of the Mantra grants him passive magic damage resistance and grants bonus attack speed plus extra magic damage reduction that affects the whole team when he hits enemy heroes, and it has an active which gives him a temporary aura that causes enemies to take damage based on mana spent. He lost a significant amount of late game potential and doesn't have the Armor gain and insane damage and mobility as he used to, but it makes him much more viable in the early to mid game as a magic damage tank and lets him play the AntiMagic role properly. |
| 34 | * Across the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series, Dante and Vergil have gone down two completely different paths. |
| 35 | ** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'', Vergil as Nelo Angelo was a MirrorMatch boss that recycled Dante's attack animations while adding a couple of new ones. |
| 36 | ** Come his playable debut in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3'', Vergil was heavily based of Dante's gameplay with a few changes; While Dante had multiple weapons and gun, he could only equip two of each at a time, while Vergil had only three weapons and the only ranged weapon being summoned swords but was able to cycle between all melee weapons freely, Dante's weapons all had multiple combos while Vergil only had one for each weapon[[note]]Along side back directional attacks such as launchers and lunge attacks[[/note]] but dealt more damage than Dante, and while Dante had multiple Styles such as Swordmaster and Trickster, Vergil only had the Darkslayer style which acted similar to Trickster but sacrificing horizontal dashing for vertical teleports. |
| 37 | ** With ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' both characters were given significant upgrades to their existing movesets. Dante was given access to all his Style and Weapons at once, making him a MasterOfAll that was able to shift from one fighting style to another instantly and encouraging a more chaotic and freeform style of play. While he wasn't included in the base roster, come ''Special Edition'' Vergil was given the Concentration mechanic which boosted his weapons depending on the level of Concentration, with the level being increased by landing hits and [[TheSlowWalk moving calmly]] while it decreased by taking damage, missing attacks, and running rather than walking, along with altering his Judgement Cut to have a JustFrameBonus and giving him a LimitBreak in the form of Judgement Cut End. While he might not have been as flashy as his brother, he was by far the more broken character in the game. |
| 38 | ** With ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', Dante was given even more weapons to use with his existing abilities and Styles from 4 alongside the Sin Devil Trigger, an insanely powerful form that changes Dante's moveset for massive damage at the cost of no healing and no way to cancel it early outside of a specific skill. In contrast, Vergil gained a Sin Devil Trigger that simply empowered his existing moveset that could be cancelled at any time while also healing, and replaced the normal Devil Trigger with [[DoppelgangerAttack Doppelganger]] on top over everything from 4, making the pair completely different in how they are played and approached by the player. |
| 39 | * Zigzagged throughout the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series. In the [[VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness first]] game, many of the basic creatable classes have male-female variation, which except for sprites and ''tiny'' Stat variations, are exactly the same. In the [[VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories second game]], each class is given different unique passive abilities to differentiate them, and there are more variations to the Stat spread of the male-female variants (like how the Male Warrior has better HP and DEF and is better at Axe while the Female Warrior has more HIT and SPD and better with Spears). The [[VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice third game, however]] introduces ''more'' male-female variants to the existing single-gender classes (for example now there's a male version of the previously female-only Archers), with differing Evilities and secondary weapon (the male archer can also learn Sword skills while the female can learn Spear skills), but nearly identical Stats. The [[VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten fourth game]] then removes nearly all gender variants introduced in the third game. |
| 40 | * Franchise/DonkeyKong and Mario started on [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong the same game]] but the latter got [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros his own game franchise]] known for its speed and wide open levels while the former remained a slow-moving puzzle game. DK got a second lease on life when ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' was released on SNES and he finally got his own fast-paced game complete with distinct gameplay and style. |
| 41 | * The ''Franchise/{{Doom}}'' series has the Hell Knight, introduced in ''VideoGame/DoomII'' as a less durable palette-swapped [[EliteMook Baron of Hell]] that fought exactly the same by throwing green fireballs. In ''VideoGame/Doom3'' they got a different appearance and served the same role as the Baron of Hell, being a more durable enemy that still threw green fire. Come [[VideoGame/{{Doom2016}} the 2016 game]], the Hell Knight is now a CloseRangeCombatant with similar looks to its ''Doom 3'' incarnation and lacks a fireball attack, while the Baron of Hell fights with both close and long range green attacks while still retaining [[BigRedDevil its looks from the first game]]. |
| 42 | * ''Super VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' differentiated Billy's and Jimmy's fighting styles by giving them different basic moves, giving Billy the faster attacks and Jimmy the stronger ones. No other Double Dragon game attempted to give the Lee brothers different moves besides the [=iPhone=] version and the two fighting games. |
| 43 | * ''Franchise/DragonAge'': |
| 44 | ** Elves in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' were short humans with pointed ears. In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', the elves have acquired a much more distinct facial structure and a cultural preference for [[PrefersGoingBarefoot going barefoot]]. Compare [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100116162230/dragonage/images/3/33/NPC-Marethari.png Marethari in Origins]] to [[http://images.wikia.com/dragonage/images/b/b6/MarethariDAII.png Marethari in DA2]]. Also, Dalish elves not raised in human lands have Welsh accents. |
| 45 | ** There are also the Qunari; they were tall, dark-skinned humans with white hair in ''Origins'', to the point that party member Sten didn't look like a different race at all other than his height. As of ''II'', Qunari were given more distinct features, namely horns and grayish skin, and Sten was retconned in the expanded material into being one of the rare few born without horns. |
| 46 | * Several examples can be found in ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterZ'', usually to help distinguish characters who, lorewise, weren't that distinct in their fighting styles. This is most notable amongst the DLC characters. |
| 47 | ** Cooler, Frieza's movie-only brother, was basically a more intimidating version of Perfect Form Freeza without the stamina issues in the anime. In this game, Cooler plays as a more brutish, physically orientated fighter, with an emphasis on grappling and savagely beating down enemies. |
| 48 | ** In the canon, Androids 17 and 18 were practically indistinguishable when introduced. Inspired by how this trope was applied in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', Android 17 in this game has a unique fighting style based more around solo brawling and zoning, with barriers that are shorter-lived than his sister's, but which allow him to trigger a CounterAttack. |
| 49 | ** The GT version of Goku has a different mechanic for charging up his Spirit Bomb attack, and has new moves based on his wielding of the Power Pole, which keeps him from feeling like a MovesetClone. |
| 50 | ** The two different versions of Broly were introduced in different "seasons" of DLC, so this trope was used to make them different. Original Broly fights only in his Legendary Super Saiyan Form and is a MightyGlacier character that prefers to NoSell attacks whilst exploiting his supreme reach and power to crush foes. Super Broly only transforms for special attacks, and in gameplay he focuses on grappling the enemy with powerful throws and charges so that he can throw out his specials and prevent the enemy from getting free. |
| 51 | * In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series has a Justified example when this happened to Peryite, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of [[{{Plaguemaster}} Pestilence]], Tasks, and Order, upon the introduction of Jyggalag, Daedric Prince of Order, in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'''s ''Shivering Isles'' expansion. Peryite's association with "Order" became downplayed and replaced with "Natural Order", essentially the cycle of growth and decay. Meanwhile, Jyggalag came to represent the idea of "Perfect Order", essentially inorganic stasis. The implication is that Peryite became tasked with representing the greater scope of "order" while Jyggalag was [[spoiler:[[SealedInsideAPersonShapedCan sealed as]] [[MadGod Sheogorath]]]], because [[SomeoneHasToDoIt Someone Had To Do It]]. It also helps to explain why Peryite is looked down upon as a "loathesome" ButtMonkey by the other Daedric Princes, who are primarily [[OrderVersusChaos chaotic in nature]]. Come ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', Peryite's quest fully emphasizes his association with [[MysticalPlague pestilence]]. |
| 52 | * Inverted in the ''VideoGame/FZero'' series. The series originally featured four characters with markedly different play styles, but as the cast expanded, those original four have drifted to the middle, becoming little more than mildly differentiated [[JackOfAllStats Jacks of All Stats]]. |
| 53 | * ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': |
| 54 | ** Though the Gorgon sisters Stheno and Euryale were functionally identical in both appearance and personality when they debuted in ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'', they were significantly reworked when brought back for ''Grand Order''. |
| 55 | *** More emphasis is placed on Euryale being younger then Stheno. She's generally more childish than Stheno, including being more energetic, vainer and more prone to loneliness. Euryale's outfit differs a lot from Stheno's, having silver jewelry, adorning her headband with flowers and a much shorter dress in keeping with her immaturity. She also wields a weapon to protect herself, unlike Stheno, who would rather manipulate others to fight for her. |
| 56 | *** Stheno is distinguished by being a bit more mature than her little sister and instead having quite the sadistic streak to her. Her outfit changes after her third Ascension, getting more ribbons and a new, partially see-through dress, among other things. |
| 57 | ** When Jeanne Alter was first introduced, she was pretty much a direct copy of the standard Jeanne but in black--same class, similar skills and stats, and even her artwork was basically a slightly modified PaletteSwap. It was basically just her personality that differed; an unstable but oddly endearing CardCarryingVillain as opposed to a saintly IdealHero. When she became a BreakoutVillain and was PromotedToPlayable, nearly all of this was dropped; though she was still a doppelganger in appearance, she had entirely new artwork and animations, more tweaks in her outfit and ascensions, and an entirely opposite focus (Jeanne being a passive StoneWall Ruler while Jalter is an aggressive GlassCannon Avenger). |
| 58 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 59 | ** The Job Change classes in the first ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' were just improved versions of the baseline classes, with the exception of Ninjas and Knights getting some low end magic. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', they were split into new classes with their own unique tools, except for the absent Red Wizard. Black and White Magi (the ''FFIII'' version of the Black and White Wizards) have more access to higher level spell slots but less access to lower ones, Knights don't have the weapon variety of Warriors but can tank hits for allies and gain the Defend command, Black Belts gain the Boost command and Ninjas can throw shuriken for massive damage but lacks the steal command the Thief was given in that game. While most of these classes don't come back in later ''FF'' games, this stuck for the Ninja, who has since become completely separate from the Thief in terms of abilities, even in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI games that don't use a job system]]. |
| 60 | ** An inverted example from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart. While they both start as difficult and selfish people, and undergo significant development during their respective games, they actually had very distinct personalities. Cloud is a cocky, arrogant tough guy with plenty of light and goofy moments, while Squall starts off as a solitary {{jerkass}} who puts up a false wall of confidence to hide his emotional turmoil. Since ''Advent Children'', the franchise has applied that end-game character development to their incarnations in other games, which means they've basically swapped: Squall's arc has him learn ThePowerOfFriendship so he's the confident, snarky one and Cloud got a BittersweetEnding, so now he's constantly brooding, plagued by crushing doubt over his identity and/or grief. |
| 61 | ** Hurdy used to be a PaletteSwap version of the Mooglings in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'', he takes off his hat and had his own unique clothing, along with his other Moogling brothers Sorbet and Horne. |
| 62 | * ''Franchise/FireEmblem'': |
| 63 | ** In what may be a shocking discovery for recent ''Fire Emblem'' fans, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in the first game]], ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', the FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights promoted into the MightyGlacier Dragon[=/=]Wyvern Rider class, making the latter simply an upgrade of the former (and just as dodgy). The second game, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'', introduced Falcoknight as a promotion to Pegasus Knight, which was a more traditional "the same but better" promotion, and lacked Wyverns altogether. In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', the classes were split into two separate lines, with Falcoknight returning and Wyvern Rider being a separate class that promotes into Wyvern Lord, a division that has mostly remained since. What was more, for the first eight games, both classes used lances initially and added swords after promotion. In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', Wyvern Lords swapped swords for axes, and in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', Wyvern Rider started with axes and gained lances on promotion. Since then, Wyvern Rider/Lord has been an axe class. |
| 64 | ** In the GBA games, Assassins and Swordmasters were both FragileSpeedster classes that used swords, with the only real difference being that Assassins have a small chance to OneHitKill a target. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path Of Radiance]]'' introduced a seperate weapon class for knives, which Assassins wield instead of swords. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' didn't have knives, but gave Assassins access to bows in addition to swords. |
| 65 | ** Character-specific example: In ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', a number of characters had identical or near-identical portraits. This included Bord and Cord, Dolph and Macellan, Vyland and Matthis, and Gordin, Sedgar, and Tomas. (And this isn't even getting into the characters with PaletteSwap portraits, or the various bosses.) ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'' and the DS remakes give them increasingly distinct appearances. |
| 66 | ** In the early games, there was the Mercenary class, which was a speedy foot class that fought with swords and could promote into the Hero class, which was essentially a better Mercenary. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' introduced the Swordfighter (translated as Myrmidon) class, which was mostly identical to Mercenary but could promote into either Forrest (a class that looked and behaved largely identically to Hero) or Swordmaster (a more Eastern-inspired sword class with an additional skill that gave it a chance to get in an extra attack). ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' reintroduced Mercenary, but turned it into a promoted class that acted as the promotion of both some Myrmidons and also the Fighters, and gave it access to axes as a counterpart to Swordmaster's extra skill. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' finally codified the changes by establishing Mercenary and Myrmidon as two separate classlines, with the former having somewhat more balanced stats and promoting into Hero (which can use axes, like ''Thracia'''s Mercenary) and the latter having FragileSpeedster stats and promoting into Swordmaster (which has a boosted critical rate as a counterpart to its old skill). Most future games keep to this model. |
| 67 | ** This also affected Ogma and Navarre of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon''. They were largely identical in the first game, being Mercenaries with very similar statlines--Ogma had slightly higher base stats and Navarre had slightly higher growths, but this mostly evened out to them being pretty much the same after being raised. In the DS remake, Ogma stayed basically the same, but Navarre became a Myrmidon, and his Strength growth was lowered to distinguish him further. |
| 68 | * ''VideoGame/GianaSisters'': Giana's sister Maria in ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' started out as simply a green-haired {{Palette Swap}} of her. ''VideoGame/GianaSistersTwistedDreams'' revamped her design to be more individual. While Giana has blonde hair in a bob and wears a blue dress, Maria has her green hair in a long ponytail with a ribbon in it and wears a red dress. Her design in the endless runner spinoff ''Dream Runners'' however dials her back to essentially a palette swap, however all the characters in that game look near-identical. |
| 69 | * The ''VideoGame/GundamVsSeries'' has an odd example of this with [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Wing Gundam Zero]]. Firstly, ''Gundam vs. Gundam Next'' had only the TV version, but the home version added the ''Endless Waltz'' version, which was given unique traits. The sequel series ''Gundam Extreme Vs.'' started with only the movie version (which was a CompositeCharacter of the ''Next'' incarnations), but ''Extreme Vs. Full Boost'' brought back the TV version, which required '''re'''-divergence. Ironically, this lead to the two swapping some of their traits: In ''Next'', Wing Zero TV was ranged-centric and fired continuous beams from its [[{{BFG}} twin buster rifle]] while Wing Zero EW was more melee-focused and fired beam shots; in ''Extreme Vs.'' it's the other way around. Other changes include Wing Zero EW being more agile (since it's not a TransformingMecha) while Wing Zero TV has the ZERO System as a temporary buff that negates enemy tracking. |
| 70 | * In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Matsuri'' [[spoiler:Hanyuu's daughter]] Oka looked exactly like Rika except that her hair was darker. In the Kotohogushi-hen arc in ''Kizuna'' for the Platform/NintendoDS she received a slight redesign and also received her own artwork. |
| 71 | * When ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' first came out, an art book revealed that the developers had toyed around with the concept of a female version of Link before rejecting it. When making the ''Legends'' UpdatedRerelease, they brushed off the concept and made a new CanonForeigner character called Linkle. Instead of just being Link only female, like the original concept art portrayed, Linkle's final design bears some similarities to Link (green clothes, blond hair, pointy ears) but also some sharp contrasts: Link is a legendary hero while Linkle only ''thinks'' she's one, Linkle is a GenkiGirl in contrast to how (adult) Link tends to be TheStoic, and Link is primarily a swordsman but Linkle is TheGunslinger with dual crossbows. |
| 72 | * ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'' has a rather strange example in that it originated in an entirely different series: Pit has a PaletteSwap in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' which gave him black hair and black wings, but it differed in appearance only. In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' they took that palette swap and turned him into the anti-hero Dark Pit, with an entirely different personality and having layers of depth. In the ''Kid Icarus'' canon Dark Pit spends the first 15 minutes of his existence thinking he's the real Pit, and for most of the game [[CloneAngst he's really bitter about being a clone]], seen by the world as little more than an EvilKnockoff. Eventually he finds out that GoodFeelsGood (in contrast to regular Pit who indulges in the KnightInShiningArmor image) and settles into a comfortable rhythm. Things came full circle in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', in which Dark Pit is a separate character from Pit, but with almost no difference in moveset (which the following game would term an "Echo Fighter") and little opportunity to display the difference in personality. |
| 73 | * In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', numerous cases of SignificantDoubleCasting come to a head when nearly the entire cast of the series comes together for the GrandFinale. This resulted in some instant VocalEvolution to distinguish characters who previously sounded exactly the same but now had to be distinguishable. |
| 74 | ** Sora and Vanitas, both played by Creator/HaleyJoelOsment. While Osment already put on a youthful affect for Sora and used his natural voice for Vanitas, the two extensively interact in ''III'' and so Vanitas was made noticeably raspier. |
| 75 | ** Roxas and Ventus, {{Identical Stranger}}s both voiced by Music/{{Jesse McCartney}}, don't interact ''much''; only when they do is it noticeable that Roxas's voice is slightly deeper. |
| 76 | ** Inverted, however, with Creator/RichardEpcar's two characters, Ansem and Terra-Xehanort. When Epcar debuted in ''VIdeoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', he played Ansem in an impression of Creator/BillyZane, who played the role in the first game, and Xehanort in a more youthful voice. In all subsequent appearances, the deep and harsh voice Epcar settled into was used for both characters. |
| 77 | ** Also inverted with Kairi and Xion. While the duo are ''supposed'' to be played by the same actress, Creator/HaydenPanettiere's scheduling conflicts meant that for much of the series' English dub, Kairi was usually voiced by Hayden while Xion was usually voiced by Creator/AlysonStoner. As of ''III'', Alyson has been made the permanent voice of both characters, who now sound about the same as was the original intention. |
| 78 | * In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kyo and Iori, like Ryu and Ken, were essentially clones of each other in their original appearance, but their gameplay styles began to diverge as times went by: Kyo lost his fireball and gained more powerful normal moves while Iori became quicker and more mobile. |
| 79 | ** And then, by ''The King of Fighters XII'', Iori had lost his fire powers completely, while Kyo pretty much lost his fiery "Rekka-style" moves and had regained his fireball... (Though in ''XIII'', the Rekka-style Kyo and Flames Iori are available as [[DownloadableContent DLC]] alongside the more "classic" Kyo and the flameless Iori.) |
| 80 | ** Even more so, Clark and Ralf from the same series (working for an actual honest-to-gosh ColonelBadass, Heidern) start as nearly identical wrestler/brawler characters, but over the years have differentiated so that Ralf has more punching-based "brawling" special moves and fewer and less-effective command throws (although still more than the average character) and Clark has become almost a pure wrestler, with more throws and almost no other special moves. At the same time, their personalities were distinguished, with Clark being the quiet, sensitive, friendly guy and Ralf being quite the BoisterousBruiser. They are both still complete badasses, of course, and compared to the rest of the cast, effectively {{Badass Normal}}s. |
| 81 | *** Even more so when you realize this: in a game where most characters have element-based superpowers and genetically altered genes, Ralf is the only character that has a ''[[MegatonPunch special move that can remove almost two-thirds of your health bar]]''. (And in some circumstances it can take off all of your health bar from 100%!) |
| 82 | *** Also, both were the protagonists of ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', [[DubNameChange Paul and Vince]], who both played and looked identical. |
| 83 | ** The same goes for Mature and Vice, Rugal's {{Sexy Secretar|y}}ies who [[AscendedExtra made the jump to playable status]] as members of Iori's team in ''KOF '96''. While they already had clear signs of differentiation from the beginning (Mature is a speed-based character, Vice is a grappler), every appearance of theirs since then (excluding ''XIII'' due to [[ArtShift the shift to redrawn, HD sprites]]) has furthered the gap. |
| 84 | * ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'': |
| 85 | ** While not "characters" in the traditional sense, several of Kirby's copy ability hats introduced in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' originally used {{Palette Swap}}s of the same sprite that were later given more distinct designs, particularly upon the switch to 3D models. |
| 86 | *** Bomb originally used the same floppy hat as Sword, just blue instead of green; the newer design is a cone-shaped party popper hat. |
| 87 | *** Mirror used a recolored version of Beam's jester hat, which eventually was distinguished by removing its pom poms and adding a mirror-shaped headband. |
| 88 | *** Suplex originally used a simple blue headband, corresponding to Fighter's red headband; the newer design swaps it out for a championship belt worn around Kirby's head. |
| 89 | *** Ninja and Stone used to use the same hat, a simple samurai helmet, with differing colors. In ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'', Ninja's hat was replaced with a more traditional ninja robe, while Stone's became a crown of boulders with bull horns, completely dropping the samurai design altogether. |
| 90 | *** Wheel, Paint, and Yo-Yo all used recolors of the same hat, a backwards baseball cap. The same basic designs for Wheel and Yo-Yo were kept in later games, but distinguished by the designs on their backs; Yo-Yo also gained a PointlessBandAid. (Paint never reappeared and ended up being effectively replaced by Artist, which has a completely unique red ArtsyBeret.) |
| 91 | ** In ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'', Dark Meta Knight was simply a PaletteSwap EvilTwin of Meta Knight and shared the latter's fighting style. Later games give him a more threatening look with a tattered cape and wings, as well as a scarred mask. (This design was always present in his official art, but not in-game.) He also received a brand-new fighting style that emphasizes wild and reckless attacks to [[ForceAndFinesse contrast]] Meta Knight's finesse and restraint, along with mirror-based attacks to [[IncrediblyLamePun reflect]] his origins as a resident of the Mirror World. As playable Dream Friends in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', the two only share the most basic swordfighting fundamentals, and Dark Meta Knight's equivalents have differing functionality and AttackReflector properties. |
| 92 | * The Materials of the ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable'' games. When they were originally introduced as a trio of {{Evil Twin}}s in ''The Battle of Aces'', they were basically {{Palette Swap}}s of the three Aces except with different stats. When they returned in ''The Gears of Destiny'' sequel due to [[BreakoutVillain popular demand]], they received their own unique move sets to differentiate them from their originals. This gets several {{Lampshade Hanging}}s in sequel and the [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary materials]] related to it, such as the Materials explaining that the time they spent [[FromASingleCell recovering from their deaths]] was used to devise their own fighting styles and spells, and other characters pointing out that for copies, they don't actually act, fight, or even look that much like the people they were supposed to be based on. |
| 93 | * When ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' came out, this trope came into play with ComicBook/IronMan and War Machine (who debuted in the previous game as a palette swap of the former). Originally, War Machine had a very similar moveset, with one extra special move (a kneeling version of his Shoulder Cannon) and one extra Hyper (War Destroyer). However, even with that game, there was a secret palette swap (Hyper Armor War Machine) that used missiles for his special attacks instead of lasers. So when Iron Man and War Machine were used in the same game, they went with his alternate missile-heavy moveset for War Machine while keeping Iron Man's original laser-heavy moveset. |
| 94 | * ''VideoGame/MegaManX3'' gave Zero his first playable appearance, where he played like X but with endgame-level health and damage and a Beam Saber upgrade (which X could gain later in the game), more or less making him a variant of ATasteOfPower. In [[VideoGame/MegaManX4 the next game]], Zero traded his Z Buster style for a purely close range style to completely distance himself from his partner, using his beam saber and abilities that were triggered by specific button inputs rather than selecting them and using them one at a time like X's weapons. |
| 95 | ** ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX7 X7]]'', with Axl's debut appearance. Aside from his Copy, dodge, hovering and a couple of different guns, Axl was very similar to X in style and how he used enemy weapons. ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX8 X8]]'' modified Axl's play style: he retained his Copy, dodge and hover moves, while getting the unique ability to aim his gun in the eight cardinal directions (though he had to stand/hover in one place while firing, unlike X). For each boss defeated, he instead received a new gun that fired projectiles based on a secondary attack each boss used, with different looks and properties from X's, and without needing weapon energy to boot. Oddly, a lot of these changes resulted in him being pretty similar to Bass's playstyle from the classic series, particularly the eight-way-shooting focus. |
| 96 | * ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' contains an interesting example that applies to the series as a whole. One of the basic concepts behind BN was the idea of a divergent timeline [[PointOfDivergence where Dr. Light turned to network technology rather than robotics]]. This idea informed the series up until ''Battle Network 4'', which introduced an alternate version of Classic Mega Man character Duo... problem is, Duo shouldn't have ''had'' an alternate version, [[NonSequiturCausality since he's from outer space]]. From then on, Battle Network was less and less informed by the Classic series, and its sequel SpinOff, ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'', didn't even bother to look back. |
| 97 | * ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 2|SonsOfLiberty}}'''s Raiden starts out playing near-identically to Snake - the only major difference is that Raiden's cartwheel doubles as a jump to cross small gaps, whereas Snake's roll still technically counts as never leaving the ground. It isn't until the very end of the game that he gets the sword that allows him to showcase his ImplausibleFencingPowers, which Snake doesn't possess. His switch from being a gameplay clone of Snake to having his own play style is actually part of the plot, with him transitioning in ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'' to being that game's [[OnceAnEpisode requisite]] Cyborg Ninja. |
| 98 | * ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' is a very well known case of progressive Divergent Character Evolution. In the first game, Tarma is basically just a PaletteSwap of Marco, who even had the same death scream as him. In ''2'', although Fio is not an exact Palette Swap of Eri, she also has the same death scream as her. In ''X'' and ''3'', every character had a different death scream at last, and was given some backstory. And finally, in ''6'', they were completely differentiated by being given different in-game abilities. |
| 99 | * ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'': In the original Platform/PlayStation2 game and its UpdatedRerelease, the Great Sword weapon class included scythes and [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]]. There was also a unique Lance that looked like a gigantic cannon with a bayonet attached - the cannon itself being non-functional (it was just for RuleOfCool). In subsequent entries, these weapons became their own classes. Katanas became the "Longsword" class, [[GlassCannon eschewing the guard for more speed and a higher attack rate]]; while the Great Sword itself changed into a weapon centered on massively powerful {{Charged Attack}}s [[MightyGlacier even if the big thing gave you all the mobility of cold molasses]]. The special Lance became the prototype for the new "Gunlance" class - this time the cannon ''works'', and firing it delivers a short-ranged ArmourPiercingAttack blast that [[LogicalWeakness quickly wears out the barrel, necessitating more frequent pauses to sharpen]]; the original Lance became a more [[StoneWall defensive weapon]], granting you a Super Guard letting you NoSell some of the strongest monster attacks in the game, but no Lance can hope to match an equivalent tier Gunlance's offensive power. |
| 100 | * ''Franchise/MortalKombat'': |
| 101 | ** The PaletteSwap ninjas that have since become mascots for the franchise were initially a way to add more characters to the game while [[SerendipityWritesThePlot conserving limited memory]]. It started in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'' with Scorpion, Sub Zero, and Reptile. They had the same sprite but in different colors (yellow, blue, and green respectively), and had the same basic moves, but Scorpion and Sub-Zero had different special moves and standing animations, while Reptile was a hidden boss with both Sub-Zero's and Scorpion's signature moves. In ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'', Reptile was made playable and given his own unique abilities, and the three male ninjas were joined by the palette-swapped Kitana and Mileena as regular characters, along with the hidden bosses Jade,[[note]]a green female ninja with Kitana's moves and immunity to projectiles[[/note]] Smoke, and Noob Saibot.[[note]]Both male ninjas--grey and black respectively--with Scorpion's moves[[/note]] By ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 Mortal Kombat Trilogy]]'', which closed out the franchise's 2D era, there were eight palette-swapped male ninjas, four palette-swapped female ninjas, and three [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborg ninjas]], but they were all given distinct backstories and special moves by that point. Once the games went 3D, all the "ninja" characters were each given a unique model and, since they were no longer sharing the same digitized sprites, they could have different basic moves, making them all as distinct from each other as the non-ninja characters. Appearance-wise, the three most drastic changes were giving Rain a flowing cape, making Reptile more animalistic,[[note]]Though ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' establishes that he has an innate ability to switch between a human and lizard form[[/note]] and giving Ermac a floating stance and mummy-like costume. |
| 102 | *** When Smoke's human form was first made playable as an unlockable character in ''Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3,'' his moveset was completely identical to Scorpion's. Human Smoke would not return until ''Mortal Kombat 9'' (''Deception'' and ''Armageddon'' had him as a cyborg, instead), where he now had an entire moveset of his own, with some of the moves being carried over from his cyborg form. |
| 103 | *** This comes to a head with Chameleon and Khameleon in ''Trilogy'', both of whom are exact replicas of every other male and female ninja, respectively. They would switch between playstyles of the other ninjas at random. When they returned for ''Mortal Kombat Armageddon'', they were only given select special moves from the other ninjas, and their own combos. |
| 104 | ** In ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'', Jarek and Tanya were {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s of Kano and Kitana, respectively. The two older Kombatants were DummiedOut when ExecutiveMeddling demanded more new characters. While Tanya has always been distinct by having a more [[SheFu acrobatic]] fighting style compared to Kitana's punches and [[CombatHandFan fan-slashes]], Jarek was nothing but a MovesetClone of Kano, right down to possessing EyeBeams ''despite not having a cybernetic eye''. His only unique ability was his signature Rhino Stomp, but even that was most likely meant as a new move for Kano. It took until ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'' for Jarek to reappear with a new moveset consisting of lasso attacks in order to stand out. |
| 105 | ** Much like Tanya and Jarek above, Shinnok from the same game was also a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, in this case for Shang Tsung. Like Shang Tsung, he could steal other's movesets, however, unlike Shang Tsung, he couldn't completely morph into that character. Come ''Armageddon'' (the first and so far, only game with them both playable), Shinnok lost this ability, and was given more moves of his own. |
| 106 | ** When Frost debuted in ''Deadly Alliance'', she wasn't much more than a "[[DistaffCounterpart female Sub-Zero]]." By ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', she was now a cyborg, and given some attacks to build around that. |
| 107 | * ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': In ''Advance Wars'', Andy's villainous clone was originally [[MirrorMatch a copy-paste of him]]. The VideoGameRemake made the Andy Clone a separate character with his own portraits and voice acting, though he's still a MovesetClone of Andy in function. |
| 108 | * In ''VideoGame/PacManParty'', the four iconic ghosts of ''VideoGame/PacMan'' were given more distinctive looks in order to differentiate one another. No longer were they simple {{Palette Swap}}s of one another. Each of the ghosts had distinctive "hairstyles". Blinky retained the basic ghost shape, Inky was made skinnier, Pinky was given more feminine features, and Clyde became fat and huge. |
| 109 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'', Cassie originally used a bow as her weapon. When another archer was added in the form of Sha Lin, Cassie was later redesigned with a crossbow to differentiate the two. It helps that Cassie's bow acted more like a crossbow in the first place, lacking the ChargedAttack expected from bows. |
| 110 | * The original ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'' for the {{Platform/MSX}} gave its characters different personalities, but they all used the ''Gradius'' moveset. ''Parodius Da!'' did give Vic Viper, Octopus, Twinbee and Pentarou each a different moveset. |
| 111 | * The ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4'' crossover ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'' does this for both its main protagonists and the {{Mission Control}}s Fuuka and Rise. |
| 112 | ** The protagonists of ''3'' and ''4'' are both identical in their base games in that they can change their Personas constantly, and thus they have no fixed stats or skillset, unlike their teammates who only have one Persona each. In ''Q'', however, everyone can equip a sub-Persona in addition to their main ones, so both protagonists are given differing builds. The P4 hero is a JackOfAllStats who specializes in [[ShockAndAwe lightning magic]], while the P3 hero's stats are generally higher than the rest of the party and specializes in [[PlayingWithFire fire magic.]] The P3 hero's higher stats are likely to compensate that he starts off weak to two elements (one being the instant-killing [[CastingAShadow dark element]]). |
| 113 | ** The two support characters, Fuuka and Rise, served identical roles in their games, although in the ''Golden'' re-release of ''P4,'' Rise was given additional battle-assisting skills that Fuuka never got in ''P3.'' In ''PQ'', Fuuka's skills revolve around [[TheMedic healing]], while Rise's skills streamline and make battles more efficient (she can cut SP costs for on round, and her ultimate skill makes the party completely immune to damage for a turn). |
| 114 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 115 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' have four executives of Team Rocket, who are all unnamed and (aside from the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple one woman]]) identical in appearance. The [[VideoGameRemake remakes]], ''[=HeartGold and SoulSilver=]'', flesh out their characters, giving each a unique name and design. Similarly, while ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' were the only games to have two villain teams, Team Aqua and Team Magma, the members of said teams were practically identical in every way ''but'' appearance in spite of their diametrically opposed objectives. ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' do a lot to make them more unique, with a distinct look and personality for the admins and leaders; even [[{{Mooks}} grunts]] get differing dialogue and demeanors between versions. |
| 116 | ** With Pokémon themselves, quite a few species that were [[{{Expy}} similar to previous species]] may end up getting changes between generations that make them more distinct. To list them all would take up the rest of the page, but one example would be between Clefable, Wigglytuff, and Blissey. Previously they were all pink girly Normal types with high hit points, but bad attack and defense. But after their introduction, they've started to diversify, with ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' bringing the most dramatic change: [[OurFairiesAreDifferent The Fairy type]]. Clefable was {{retcon}}ed to be a Fairy type, Wigglytuff was made a dual Normal/Fairy, and Blissey remained a Normal type. Another very common case of this is when one generation introduces very similar Pokémon families meant to be each other's counterparts in different versions, only for subsequent generations to give only some of them additional evolutions or forms: for instance, Gloom, Scyther, Ursaring, and Dusclops eventually got new evolutions (Scyther even got two) while their original close counterparts Weepinbell, Pinsir, Donphan, and Banette did not. |
| 117 | ** X and Y also introduced [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]] and with it, Gardevoir and [[PaletteSwap Shiny Gardevoir]]. Regular Mega Gardevoir wears a dress that is white like a wedding dress, while the Shiny form wears black like a funeral dress. Official artwork such as trading cards now give Shiny Gardevoir a dour demeanor to match this macabre makeover. |
| 118 | * ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' has a fair few characters that have evolved over the years, the most notable being [[FightingIrish Aran Ryan]]. In the SNES game, he was a bland palette swap of Piston Hurricane who fought by the rules. In the Wii game, he's a ''[[AxCrazy complete lunatic]]'' who [[{{Heel}} threatens Mac, the referee and the audience]]. He breaks just about every rule of boxing, from using his elbows to loading his gloves with horseshoes to tying a rope to one of said horseshoe gloves and ''using it as a flail.'' |
| 119 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}'' and its sequels, the red Raiden (1P) and blue Raiden (2P) play identically except in ''Raiden DX'', in which the two ships differ in which axis they move faster along (Red is faster vertically, Blue is faster horizontally). In ''VideoGame/RaidenFighters'', the two ships are significantly different; the red Raiden (Raiden mk-II) uses the toothpaste laser and a delayed-detonation bomb for its weapons, while the blue one (Raiden mk-II Beta) uses missiles, spread shots with no rapid-fire capability, and a weak cluster bomb. |
| 120 | * In ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven'' for the GBA, the Space Dancers and Cosmo Dancers were interchangeable, the Cosmo Dancers only representing a higher difficulty level. In the DS version, both sets of dancers received minor redesigns and hobbies, with the Space Dancers being the focus of the Rhythm Rally games and the Cosmo Dancers being the focus of the Space Soccer games. |
| 121 | * Happens in the ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' series with Matsu and Kasuga. Both formerly used Kenshin and Sasuke's movesets before gaining their own in the second game. Similarly, a few [=NPCs=] who used polearms merely had copies of either Toshie or Shingen's movesets before actually getting their own. |
| 122 | * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 123 | ** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', Sonic and Tails played the same way. Starting with ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic the Hedgehog 3]]'', Tails was given his own play style (he is unable to use the shield power-ups as double jumps, but gains a limited flying ability). Tails' play style has gotten to the point of being unrecognizable in some of the more recent games, most memorably walking in a mecha in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. |
| 124 | ** Also, Shadow in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''. His techniques went from being very similar to Sonic in ''Sonic Adventure 2'' and ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' to a different style. However, the fact that he became slower could raise different questions. |
| 125 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' has a variation involving stages. [[VideoGame/SonicHeroes Seaside Hill]] was originally a complete throwback to [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Green Hill Zone]], having palm trees and checkered soil, but since Green Hill Zone has reappeared playing up those elements, Seaside Hill in ''Generations'' plays up the ruins and water aspect more and even adding underwater elements. |
| 126 | ** Amy was originally a spunky but sweet girl. After Cream was introduced in ''Sonic Advance 2'' less focus was put on Amy being TheHeart and more emphasis was put on her spunk and attitude. This ended up {{flanderiz|ation}}ing her into being more a [[HairTriggerTemper temperamental]] BrattyHalfPint than she originally was. Cream took over as the sweet little girl of the franchise. With time this was reversed. After ''Sonic Generations'' more emphasis was put on Amy's nice side and her energy was dialed down, while Cream was DemotedToExtra. Amy's ''gameplay'', on the other hand, underwent an inversion of this. She started out playing very differently from the other hedgehog characters: not being able to curl into a ball and being far slower. Later games gradually made her moveset more Sonic-like with the occasional hammer attack, and in ''VideoGame/SonicDreamTeam'' she's an outright MovesetClone of him. |
| 127 | ** When reintroduced in ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', Classic Sonic was simply Sonic as a child. By ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' he is a completely separate Sonic from a parallel dimension. (Though this was later retconned back to the ''Generations'' explanation) He's also differentiated from his Modern design by being a HeroicMime. |
| 128 | * ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'': |
| 129 | ** In the original Arcade version of ''Soul Edge'', Mitsurugi was in the game by default, but he could be replaced by Hwang if the owner of the cabinet wished. This was done primarily for the Korean market, where samurai are a touchy subject due to previous conflicts between Korea and Japan. In this version of the game, the two characters share the same moves. However, when a new version of ''Soul Edge'' was created due to the original being widely considered too hard, Hwang was added to the main roster (along with boss character Cervantes), and his moveset was differentiated substantially. This was carried through to the Playstation version (renamed ''Soulblade'' in Europe), where Hwang ended up having his own clone character, Han Myong, who only appeared in that game. |
| 130 | ** Following on from the above example, in the first ''Soul Calibur'', Arthur was the optional replacement character for Mitsurugi, and when he appeared as an unlockable character in later games, his moves were changed somewhat too. |
| 131 | ** Siegfried and Nightmare had their movesets almost entirely differentiated in ''Soul Calibur III''. Nightmare had started as a hidden costume for Siegfried in ''Soul Edge/Blade'', became a separate character in ''Soul Calibur'' and was back to ''different costumes for the same character'' in the second. |
| 132 | ** In ''III'', Amy (making her debut as a playable character), Li Long and Hwang Seong-Gyeong (returning) had the generic create-a-character Rapier, Nunchaku and Chinese Sword movesets; thus they had far fewer moves than normal characters, were largely semi clones of Raphael, Maxi, and Yun-Seong, respectively, and aside from Hwang had no side throws. In ''SCIII: Arcade Edition'', the three were shifted into more intricate arcade-worthy characters. This served as the last time that Li Long and Hwang were playable, while the loss of the create-a-character specific weapon disciplines in ''IV'' meant that Amy had nothing to be compared to. |
| 133 | *** Zig-zagging the trope, Li Long and Hwang's appearances in ''Soulcalibur IV'' and ''Broken Destiny''[='s=] Quick Match mode have them use the same moves as their replacements Maxi and Yun-seong respectively. |
| 134 | ** As an inversion, because the create-a-character classes were different enough from the originals for them to be ''missed'' in ''Soulcalibur IV/V'''s create-a-modes, Many fans of ''III'' were pissed that their characters had to fight the exact same way as the main cast. |
| 135 | ** Lizardman was almost entirely a clone of Sophitia in his first appearance, only evolving as the series went on. Later he'd get a more animalistic style, including a crawl stance. In ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', he ditched the shield entirely for two axes. |
| 136 | ** Kilik and Seong Mi-na were very similar at first, but they evolved into two different characters, although still sharing some moves, as time went on. The true point was ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'', where Seong Mi-na gains many unique moves and even inherits moves from Xiba in ''V'', making them play little like each other apart from their base weapon. |
| 137 | * One accusation made toward ''Franchise/StarCraft'' is referenced in one of Artanis' StopPokingMe lines: "This is ''not'' ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' [[RecycledWithAGimmick in space!]] It's much more sophisticated!" The original ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' is indeed very similar to the later ''Warcraft'' titles, but the two have since diverged, especially as ''Warcraft'' transformed into [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft an MMORPG]]. |
| 138 | * In the ''Franchise/StarFox'' series, all of Fox's wingmen were pretty much the same at the beginning, other than in personality. This was changed in the unreleased ''VideoGame/StarFox2'', which allowed you to choose your character, with each flying a different ship with different properties. It reverted back in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'', where you could only play as characters other than Fox in multiplayer, and that being a purely cosmetic choice. Things stayed that way until ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', which gave the players different stats on the ground (health, running speed, accuracy with weapons) and different strengths in vehicles (Falco was the best Arwing pilot, Slippy was the best Landmaster driver, Fox was a JackOfAllStats, etc.). ''VideoGame/StarFoxCommand'' took things even further and finally incorporated the different ships choices from ''Star Fox 2''. |
| 139 | * Happens InUniverse in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}''. In the early days of humanity's space exploration efforts, several colony ships were sent into a small wormhole at the edge of the Oort Cloud. The wormhole collapsed shortly after, cutting off the one remaining colony ship from the rest of the human race. Centuries later, those colonists have founded the [[TheEmpire Commonwealth of Man]], a militaristic dictatorship with a hatred for all forms of alien life and a desire to expand, while the rest of humanity founded the [[TheFederation United Nations of Earth]], a democratic empire that with a much more positive view of alien life, and a desire to gather as many allies as possible. |
| 140 | * According to interviews, ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsFriendsOfMineralTown'' contains self-divergent evolution by doing away with several [[TheArtifact artifacts]] from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon64'': |
| 141 | ** Gray's original design stems from him being a farmer. He has a more casual design, with gloves included, to both fit his occupation change of blacksmith and the fact he recently moved from the city. His hair is also blond instead of red because he isn't Ann's brother anymore. |
| 142 | ** Karen's GirlinessUpgrade suits her more toned down CoolBigSis personality more than her punkier ''64'' design. |
| 143 | ** Both Karen and Cliff lack blond bangs. Their blond bangs were because they were the grandchildren of the blonde Eve from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon1'', which isn't mentioned in the Mineral Town games. |
| 144 | ** Popuri's original design was intended for a girl who works with flowers, not chickens, so she was given a more sturdy looking dress. |
| 145 | ** Sasha's original design fit when she was a soft, depressed woman but it's unusually sweet-looking for her {{Gossipy Hen|s}} personality in ''Back to Nature''. Her redesign makes her more angular looking and sharp. |
| 146 | ** Harris was a postal worker in ''64'' and was changed to be a police officer. His new look now gives him a badge and a vest to look like a more modern officer. Also giving him a mustache that is a similar style to his father Thomas. |
| 147 | ** The Harvest Goddess received a new design because her old design has been reused for Dessie in newer ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' games. |
| 148 | ** Elli wears an apron because she was originally a baker. ''Back to Nature'' changed her to a nurse but kept the same design. Her new redesign features crosses to emphasise that she's a nurse. |
| 149 | ** Kai's short sleeved and urban-looking redesign better fits him being a traveler who only comes to town during summer. |
| 150 | * ''Franchise/StreetFighter'': |
| 151 | ** Ryu and Ken originally played [[MovesetClone the exact same way]] in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterI''. They have since been differentiated in both moveset and characterization. Although they both use the [[{{Shotoclone}} same fighting style]], Ryu is now a [[KamehameHadoken Hadoken]] specialist and usually fights defensively, while Ken is more aggressive and prefers the {{Shoryuken}}. Starting with ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', Ken was differentiated from Ryu even further, utilizing a more aggressive moveset that focuses more on close-range combat and fast kicks and gaining a different [[SuperMode V-Trigger]] to set himself apart, and even no longer wearing his traditional red gi. |
| 152 | ** Similarly, Nash served as Guile's replacement in the ''Alpha'' series and played nearly identically to him, but after returning in ''V'', his moveset was completely revamped, diverging himself from a Guile clone (which is actually reversed in the game's lore, where it was actually him who taught Guile his special moves). |
| 153 | ** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' introduced twin brothers Yun and Yang. Originally, they played identically to the point that they shared the same slot in the player select screen (you'd select Yang with a kick button), but in ''2nd Impact'', Yun and Yang were officially made into separate characters with different Special Moves and Super Arts. |
| 154 | * [[DualBoss Mona and Lisa]] in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' were palette swaps of Blaze and basically fought exactly like she does. The twins return in the third game with a completely new look and a move set unique to them. |
| 155 | * The [[SameSexTriplets Kuniang sisters]] from ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}''. In the [[VideoGame/StriderArcade first game]], the three use the same {{Palette Swap}}ped sprite and have the same attack, and only their leader (Ton Pooh) got an official description and dialogue, the other two being merely {{Filler}} for the boss fight. In ''Strider 2'', the three were given different designs and hairstyles, with Bei Pooh becoming a FemmeFatale with a large ponytail, Sai Pooh getting a pigtailed childish look and Ton Pooh retaining the original design. Finally, the [[VideoGame/Strider2014 2014 ''Strider'']] gave each a weapon and fleshed out the two sister's personalities, turning [[SpellMyNameWithAnS B/Pei]] into an AxCrazy BloodKnight and Nang Pooh[[note]]Though Sai Pooh got replaced by Nang Pooh, for all intents and purposes they are the same character.[[/note]] becoming the [[OnlySaneMan Only Sane Woman]] keeping both her more hot-headed sisters in check. |
| 156 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 157 | ** Luigi is the former {{Trope Namer|s}}. He was originally a PaletteSwap of his brother Mario created for [[ColorCodedMultiplayer multiplayer]], and identical to him in every way. Since then, Luigi's become taller and more slender than his brother and he has a different gameplay style, being able to jump higher at the cost of low-traction. Their personalities have drifted apart as well; Mario eventually developed into a HotBlooded adventurous type, while Luigi became more reserved, developing a second-banana complex, a fear of ghosts, and a tendency towards [[TheChewToy bad luck]]. He is also said to harbor dark secrets and hidden resentment. [[EnsembleDarkhorse Some fans prefer Luigi]] to the perceived squeaky-clean Mario for this reason. Luigi's development into a different character started with both versions of ''Super Mario Bros. 2''. [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels The Japanese version]] saw him gain his higher jumps and worse traction playstyle for the first time while [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2 the US version]], being a re-skin of the [[NoExportForYou Japan-only]] ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'', gave him a taller look to distinguish him from Mario along with the Mama character's high-jump ability (possibly because this was a trait he already had in the Japanese version). While ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' had Luigi back to being just Mario in green during gameplay, his official art used the tall design and when ''Mario 3'' and ''Mario World'' got updated graphics for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars'', Luigi got his taller and thinner design back. |
| 158 | ** [[VideoGame/SuperMarioLand Daisy]] was so similar to Princess Peach in her original appearance that many fans assumed she was the same character. ([[Film/SuperMarioBros1993 The movie]] doesn't help the confusion, as it gave her Peach's appearance.) Daisy has since been split off into a more tomboyish cowgirl portrayal, especially shown in games such as ''Mario Strikers''. She's also become a [[BetaCouple potential]] [[PairTheSpares love]] [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy interest]] for Luigi. Daisy was originally nearly a palette swap of Peach, with the only exception of being redesigned for the Platform/Nintendo64 era to have slightly tanned skin while Peach was fair skinned. By ''VideoGame/MarioParty4'' and later, Daisy's skin became fair like Peach's again (although the former's tan have returned since ''VideoGame/MarioGolf: Super Rush''), but Daisy's hair was shortened to neck length, she received a different hairstyle, a wider face, a brand new voice actor in ''Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour'', and her eyes were made larger in comparison to Peach's eyes. Her body frame was also changed to look chubbier than Peach's in ''VideoGame/MarioTennis: Ultra Smash''. |
| 159 | ** Another example from the ''Mario'' series is the Koopalings Lemmy and Iggy. While the two looked [[http://images.wikia.com/egamia/images/4/45/Lemmy_Koopa.gif rather]] [[http://images.wikia.com/egamia/images/c/cb/Iggy_Koopa.gif similar]] in earlier games, Iggy's appearance in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' has him looking... well, like [[http://images.wikia.com/nintendo/en/images/9/99/Iggy_Koopa_Super_Mario_Wii.jpg this]]. It's also notable that Iggy seems to have apparently gone insane... Well, [[SanitySlippage more insane...]] |
| 160 | ** Wario was once simply an evil Mario and the BigBad and FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'' who used dark versions of Mario's powerups, but has since become more of a greedy AntiHero and ditched the dark powerups for SuperStrength, NighInvulnerability, and bizarre transformations and powerups based on how he is injured. |
| 161 | ** Goombas were given an [[YouDontLookLikeYou odd change in appearance and behavior]] in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. These Goombas would eventually be renamed to Galoomba and would occasionally appear in future games alongside the original Goombas. This is a DubInducedPlotHole being fixed as they were always different in Japan. |
| 162 | ** Tiny Kong was originally a short, kiddie Kong similar to her sister Dixie Kong. When ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing DS'' came out, Tiny's design was tweaked in order to replace Banjo's on the roster. Tiny's new design is much taller and even more anthropomorphic-looking than her sister's. |
| 163 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' notably features the return of Mario's original girlfriend Pauline from [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong the classic arcade game that started it all]]. To differentiate her from Peach (who was originally something of a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for her), the game portrays her as a thoroughly modern city girl who serves at the Mayor of [[BigApplesauce New Donk City]]. She also ''sings'', in contrast to the traditionally voiceless Peach. |
| 164 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' had a quintet of Toads that accompanied Mario, Peach, and Toadsworth for the game, who looked identical aside from color and did not have distinct traits. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' has the Toad Brigade, a quintet of Toads that share the same colors as the group in ''Sunshine'', but have more distinct roles: The Blue Toad wears glasses and gives hints, the Yellow Toad is a {{sleepyhead}}, the Green Toad runs a banking system and is often seen digging with a pickaxe, the Purple Toad delivers letters, and the Red Toad would become Captain Toad. It is not confirmed if these are the same Toads as the ones from ''Sunshine'', but they fall under the same general role as the main Toad [=NPCs=] for the game. |
| 165 | * In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'', the player built up their own character by selecting genders, choosing a face (from four males and four females), giving them names, and adding a personality (Cool, Shy, Weird, or HotBlooded) and accompanying voice. The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' sub-series combined these factors and fleshed them out into the characters Kusuha Mizuha, Brooklyn "Bullet" Luckfield, Rio Mei Long, Ryoto Hikawa, Leona Garstein, Tasuku Shinguji, Yuuki Jaggar, and Ricarla "Carla" Borgnine (which were the default names associated with each character archetype/gender combination). |
| 166 | ** ''Alpha 2'' and ''3'' then adopted the Kusuha and Bullet characters as the canon heroes of ''Alpha'' (with the "player" and main character assumed to have been Kusuha) and developed them even further, taking their story and character development to appropriate extremes. |
| 167 | ** It's worth noting that ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4'' did this, as well. However, only two of the eight "standard" characters (those being Irmgult "Irm" Kazahara and Ring Mao) have been included in ''Original Generation'' at this time. As a MythologyGag, in OG (and their cameos in ''Alpha'') they're ''significantly'' older than they were in the games they first appeared in, and instead of being a standard couple as per ''4'' and its re-releases, they bicker LikeAnOldMarriedCouple. |
| 168 | * ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': |
| 169 | ** This trope's original name, "Luigification," came from ''Smash Bros.'' fandom, referring to Luigi becoming less of a Mario MovesetClone between the original ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee''. Naming it after Luigi was very fitting even ignoring ''Smash Bros.'', as noted above. |
| 170 | ** In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', the characters that were clones in ''Melee'' got more of this to the point that there are no true clones in ''Brawl''; there are only semi-clones. This continued onward into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'', with Dr. Mario becoming more of a MightyGlacier compared to Mario than in ''Melee'', while retaining similar (but not the same) movesets. Roy also received significant changes when he was released as DLC, gaining a different stance and attack animations from Marth and turning him into a true LightningBruiser as well as taking advantage the critical hitbox of his sword. |
| 171 | ** In ''Brawl'', Giga Bowser, as Bowser's Final Smash, had all of the same moves, just made significantly more powerful. In ''for 3DS/Wii U'', Bowser has been redesigned to be closer to his appearance in the main ''Mario'' series, with many of his moves changed to make him less bestial and more agile; Giga Bowser, on the other hand, remains exactly the same as in ''Brawl'', the contrast further accentuating his monstrous, feral nature. |
| 172 | ** The effects of character evolution can be seen clearly in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', which branded {{Moveset Clone}}s as "Echo Fighters". Characters that were blatant clones in ''for 3DS/Wii U'' and hadn't had time to diverge from the originals, like Lucina and Dark Pit, were reclassified as Echoes of those originals; while those that ''had'' diverged, like Ganondorf (a slower and less-flashy Captain Falcon) and the aforementioned Dr. Mario, continued to be considered separate characters. |
| 173 | ** A play on this trope occurs to returning characters Young Link and Pichu in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''. They still play as they were in ''Melee'', but because their "originals" Link and Pikachu changed so much over the installments, their "clone" aspect is practically removed. |
| 174 | * The original Creator/{{Konami}} ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'' tried to balance the characters: Raphael is the fastest (but with the shortest range), Michelangelo is [[MightyGlacier the strongest (but slowest)]], Donatello has the most range (but is the weakest) and Leonardo [[JackOfAllStats is the second in all attributes]]. The later games had Raph becoming the strongest and Mike the fastest, as it fits their personalities more. |
| 175 | * Done with several boss characters in ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'': |
| 176 | ** Kunimitsu was initially a [[ViewerGenderConfusion gender-neutral]] PaletteSwap of Yoshimitsu, but in the second game was clearly modeled as female and given a slightly different moveset. The first ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' uses her ''Tekken 2'' persona and moves with a few additional touches, but in ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' she was given a brand new move set that differentiates her from Yoshimitsu. |
| 177 | ** Jin started as a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for his father Kazuya, but with a few moves from his mother Jun (who was also absent). Jin got his own fighting style when Kazuya came back in ''4''. |
| 178 | ** Much like Jin above, Asuka started as a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for Jun when she debuted in ''VideoGame/Tekken5''. Asuka would become less like Jun overtime, so by the time Jun herself returned for ''Tag Tournament 2'', their movesets shared little similarity. |
| 179 | ** Anna started out as what amounted to an alternative costume for her sister Nina. Nowadays Anna has an almost entirely different moveset, and some of the moves she still shares with Nina have been given a personal twist. Notably, she was only included in ''Tekken 3'' at the last minute, whereas other clone characters weren't, which meant they significantly changed her moves from that point on. |
| 180 | ** In the first two games Lee was a clone of Marshall Law with the occasional special move. From ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' onward, he grew to be a more distinctive character with better combos. |
| 181 | ** Jack and P-Jack had the same moves in the first ''Tekken'' game, although P-Jack was more powerful and looked cooler. In the second, P-Jack can fly whereas Jack-2 can't. This was carried over to Gun Jack and all the Jacks afterwards, as well as being retroactively applied to Jack-2 when he appeared in ''Tekken Tag Tournament''. |
| 182 | *** In the first game, Jack, P. Jack, Kuma and Ganryu used almost entirely the same moveset. This was expanded slightly in ''Tekken 2'', giving them individual special moves, but they still had a lot of the core moves. P. Jack notably introduced his flight ability. ''Tekken 3'' sought to resolve the similarities by getting rid of clone characters, so it removed Ganryu, only included one Jack (Gun Jack) who had P. Jack's introduced moves, and introduced Kuma's son, [[{{Flanderization}} who can't hit as hard as the original Kuma]] and has some [[JokeCharacter comedy special moves]], as well as his clone, Panda. Ganryu was absent from ''VideoGame/Tekken4'' as well but had an updated moveset when he returned in ''Tekken 5''. Also in ''Tekken 5'', Kuma and Ganryu were both given different punch moves to differentiate them from Jack-5. By ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' you can play as all four and they are all sufficiently different. |
| 183 | ** King and Armor King originally played mostly the same, just with Armor King having a few extra moves. For this reason, Armor King was removed for ''Tekken 3'', and then [[KilledOffForReal killed off]] in ''Tekken 4''. When Armor King returned in ''Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection'', with the brother of the original now [[LegacyCharacter assuming the identity]], he is given many more moves of his own, while losing some of the moves he stole from King before. |
| 184 | ** In ''Tekken 4'', Miharu Hirano once shared the moveset of her friend Ling Xiayou. It's not until ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' where she finally becomes her own character and different moveset variations. Not to mention that she got ProgressivelyPrettier. |
| 185 | * ''VideoGame/{{Temtem}}'': |
| 186 | ** Saku and Loali are both Nature/Wind Temtem found early in the game. Originally, they were both special attackers, but the [[https://crema.gg/temtem/patch-0-8-3/ 0.8.3 update]] swapped Saku's physical and special attack stats and gave it a physically-oriented movepool to differentiate them. |
| 187 | ** Mastione was given the Water type in the [[https://crema.gg/temtem/patch-0-9/ 0.9 update]] in order to differentiate it from other physical-attacking Fire-types. |
| 188 | * The main focus of ''VideoGame/{{Timberborn}}''[='=]s update 4 was making the Iron Teeth more distinct from the Folktails, so it introduced a slew of exclusive buildings and crops for each faction. |
| 189 | * The first ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal'''s character roster contained a dune buggy called Pit Viper which spat out acid blobs as a special attack. However, when the time came for the sequel, instead of repeating the same move (projectiles were extremely common as it stood), they gave it a new one (a jump-based slamming attack) to differentiate it more from other vehicles, and they also redid its color scheme, calling the vehicle Grasshopper from then on. |
| 190 | * In the original ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'', Lenneth was the only playable valkyrie, so there was no need to set her apart from her sisters. She could use swords and bows in battle. Hrist appears as an enemy in the game as well, but she's just a PaletteSwap of Lenneth, with black armor and hair and a red Nibelung Valesti. In [[VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile2Silmeria the second game]], all three valkyries are playable. Lenneth loses her ability to use bows, and they become the weapon of choice for Silmeria. Hrist uses spears in battle, a weapon that Lenneth couldn't use at all in the first game. All three sisters use swords for Nibelung Valesti, though. |
| 191 | * The all-girl fighting series ''Variable Geo'' (the series that ''VideoGame/AdvancedVariableGeo'' is part of) has done this exactly twice. Initially, [[TheHero Yuka]] and [[{{Ninja}} Chiho]] played very similarly to one another, with the only real difference between them being their differently animated special moves. However, as the series went on, Chiho developed into more of a GlassCannon by playing up her ninja-ness and giving her new abilities while Yuka remained largely the same [[JackOfAllStats balanced]] character. When Yuka was sidelined for a later game's story mode, she was [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replaced]] with Tamao, an [[AscendedFanboy Ascended]] HeroWorshipper who copied all of Yuka's moves. The following game had them diverge by once again keeping Yuka more or less the same, while turning Tamao into a borderline JokeCharacter who botched her attacks and had to improvise on the fly to stay in the game. |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'''s Sarah and Jacky Bryant have very similar fighting styles at first. Throughout the sequels however, they have developed far different fighting styles and backstories over the course of five games. Sarah's official fighting style has been changed from Jeet Kune Do to just Martial Arts (or more specifically, what the Japanese definition of the English term "Martial Arts"). |
| 193 | * ''VideoGame/WarCraft'': |
| 194 | ** Orcs and Humans were pretty identical in the first two games, but in ''Warcraft III'', humans are the JackOfAllStats while orcs have powerful but expensive units and weak magic. |
| 195 | ** In ''Warcraft II'', the two races were identical in every aspect, except their respective {{Magic Knight}}s (Paladin and Ogre-mage) and true [[SquishyWizard mages]] (Mage and Death Knight) had different spells. The Orcs had most of the advantage with Bloodlust over Healing, but Mages had some tricks up their sleeve in the late-game with Invisibility and Polymorph. |
| 196 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' |
| 197 | ** The Shaman and the Paladin class both inverted and played this straight. They were originally exclusive to the Horde and Alliance, respectively. While both classes are {{Magic Knight}}s, the problem was that they functioned in entirely different manners and it turned out to be a pain to balance out. They tried several things, including making the two classes more and more similar. This was not really liked, since the classes have very different functions outside of buffing. As a result, the first expansion ''The Burning Crusade'' gave both factions access to them, the Alliance gaining Draenei shamans and the Horde getting Blood Elf paladins. They were then free to start their divergent evolution without worrying about wrecking the faction power balance. |
| 198 | ** The sixth expansion to the game, ''Legions'', overhauled many of the class specializations so they stood out more. One of the best examples is the Rogue class specializations. Before, all three specs were more-or-less the same ''(Subtlety relied on Stealth a bit more than the other two, Assassination used poisons sometimes, Combat was some sort of weird jack-of-all-trades)''. In ''Legions'', Subtlety was revamped to focus even more on Stealth, even [[CastingAShadow using the shadows themselves]] to attack the enemy. Assassination focused on damage-over-time: heavy bleeding and poisoning to drain the life out of their targets. Combat was renamed "Outlaw" and eschewed Stealth almost entirely ''(Ambush is pretty much their only Stealth-attack)'', focusing more on [[CombatPragmatist cheap shots and dirty tricks]], including bringing a gun to a knife fight and bribing a humanoid enemy with (fool's) gold so they fight as an ally for a short time. |
| 199 | ** Hunters are also being heavily differentiated in ''Legions''. Beast Mastery is still classic Hunter, combining ranged attacks with your loyal attack animal, but Survival Hunters get rid of most of the ranged attacks, preferring to grab a melee weapon and fight right next to their pet. Marksmanship Hunters can skip having a pet entirely, and emphasize ranged attacks, focusing on high-damage sniping. |
| 200 | ** Gnomes were originally nothing more than shorter Dwarves with different class options, until the lead-up to ''Cataclysm'' finally gave them some focus by making the liberation of their lost capital city Gnomeregan a major in-game event. Post-''Cata'', Gnomes were given their own starting area, New Tinkertown (the reclaimed portions of Gnomeregan, named after the Gnomish district in the Dwarven capital Ironforge), and with Goblins becoming a playable race for the Horde, greater emphasis is placed on their rivalry. ''Cata'' also allowed new race-class combos; the new Gnome priests, rather than worshipping some abstract concept or deity, are uniquely styled after medical doctors, and their leaders are referred to as surgeons. |
| 201 | * ''Franchise/YokaiWatch'' has Nate and Katie similar in the first two games as selectable protagonists with similar stories. Then in ''3'', Katie gets replaced by Hailey. Come the fourth game where Katie is playable once again, but not as a selectable protagonist. |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext DivergentCharacterEvolution / VideoGames
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
