History Flanderization / VideoGames

* Malfurion Stormrage from WorldOfWarcraft has suffered from a severe case of flanderization that takes him dangerously close to CharacterDerailment levels. While he was always one to put aside differences to face a common threat, ''Cataclysm'' has made this his sole character trait. He's so focused on stopping Ragnaros that he blatantly ignores the Horde's attacks on Night Elf settlements, infamously going so far as to defend them in the Leyara questline. This would be somewhat justifiable if he were a strictly neutral character, but he's supposed to be the ''leader of the Night Elves''.

* In {{Knuckles Chaotix}}, Espio was a detective and had the ability to walk on walls and ceilings. In {{Sonic Heroes}}, he was given more personality and also had some ninja elements to them due to his previous abilities, plus the fact that he should have {{Invisibility}}, due to being a chameleon and all. It seemed more like a hobby than anything major. In {{Sonic Generations}}, Espio's ninja qualities have been enhanced to an obvious degree, with more ninja mannerisms, a heavier focus on his invisibility and shurikens, and his voice sounding like it was ripped straight from the animes.

** Inverted in the case of Nightwolf. Originally a parody of Thunder Hawk in ''MK3'', he became TheSmartGuy in the cartoon, and in ''Deception'', we had him literally going through hell to rescue Liu Kang. Then in MortalKombat9 he became the leader of the Defenders of Earthrealm.

** The most notable example of Flanderization regarding him can be found in the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series. In the first game, he had [[ButtMonkey very bad luck]], and wasn't as brave as Mario, but he was still capable enough in his own right. In later games (particularly Partners in Time), he's a complete wuss who can't seem to do anything without screwing up and getting hurt.

** The most notable example of Flanderization regarding him can be found in the Mario and Luigi series. In the first game, he had [[ButtMonkey very bad luck]], and wasn't as brave as Mario, but he was still capable enough in his own right. In later games (particularly Partners in Time), he's a complete wuss who can't seem to do anything without screwing up and getting hurt.

* In {{Knuckles Chaotix}}, Espio was a detective and had the ability to walk on walls and ceilings. In {{Sonic Heroes}}, he was given more personality and also had some ninja elements to them due to his previous abilities, plus the fact that he should have {{Invisibility}}, due to being a chameleon and all. It seemed more like a hobby than anything major. In {{Sonic Generations}}, Espio's ninja qualities have been enhanced to an obvious degree, with more ninja mannerisms, a heavier focus on his invisibility and shurikens, and his voice sounding like it was ripped straight from the animes.

** Also Gumshoe. In the first game he's not the brightest bulb (mistaking Phoenix for Larry a few times for example), but still fairly competent in his job, sucessful in BigDamnHeroes moments and gathering a few decent clues. The later games took his InspectorLestrade aspects, magnified them and made him into a total Ditz with GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity, who borders on being a RalphWiggum by the time of ''Investigations''.

* Captain Qwark from the ''{{Ratchet and Clank}}'' series has become an increasingly unintelligent character in recent games. In the first game, he wasn't portrayed as being particularly stupid, but was shown as being cowardly and rather incompetent. In the second game, Qwark successfully takes control of the {{Megacorp}} corporation and executes a EvilPlan that only fails when he puts the batteries of the Helix-O-Morph in backwards (it's a long story). In the third game, Qwark goes completely bananas (literally) when he for some reason is acting as the chief of a monkey tribe on a tropical planet. After his subsequent HeelFaceTurn, he has been portrayed as exceedingly vain and in ''Size Matters'' and ''Tools of Destruction'' he borders on RalphWiggum territory.

** Mai's voluptuousness in ''Fatal Fury 2'' and ''Special'' was also nowhere near as exaggerated as it was in later games. It wasn't until the ''KOF'' games, when they gave more revealing clothing and bouncing breasts, that her status as MissFanservice was cemented, with heavy contribution (pun intended) from Masami Obari via the ''Fatal Fury'' anime films.

* Bowser himself has also gone through some personality changes over the years. He started off as being someone who wanted to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, take the princess, and beat Mario, to becoming a tough guy with an image to keep and would be rather be caught dead than to assist Mario in some of the RPG spin off games. He goes down even further by kidnapping the princess (and possibly taking over the world/galaxy) because he likes her and finds fighting Mario more of a sport rather than a need to get rid of someone standing in his way for total domination.
* Luigi started out as a recolor of Mario but started to grow in character. In the first Paper Mario game he keeps asking to join Mario on his adventure, even if he’s scared of ghosts. However, when he got [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion his own game]] in which he was shown as TheSoCalledCoward, he faced his fear of ghosts head on. Since then, though, being a coward has been his main character trait. [[TropesAreTools Not that this]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse is a bad thing.]]
** Luigi's cowardice could be a case of Canon Immigration, as even back in the western cartoons Luigi was shown as easily rattled and averse to conflict, whereas Mario never backed down from a challenge.
* This has happened to Princess Daisy of all characters. After her DivergentCharacterEvolution away from Peach, Daisy became more of a [[TomboyPrincess tomboy]] with a spunky side, but was still generally soft-spoken and rather calm. As the games went on however, Daisy became more hyperactive, louder and more shrill with each new appearance. Needless to say, [[TheScrappy this hasn't worked]] [[MostAnnoyingSound out too well]].

** Bowser himself has also gone through some personality changes over the years. He started off as being someone who wanted to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, take the princess, and beat Mario, to becoming a tough guy with an image to keep and would be rather be caught dead than to assist Mario in some of the RPG spin off games. He goes down even further by kidnapping the princess (and possibly taking over the world/galaxy) because he likes her and finds fighting Mario more of a sport rather than a need to get rid of someone standing in his way for total domination.
** Luigi started out as a recolor of Mario but started to grow in character. In the first Paper Mario game he keeps asking to join Mario on his adventure, even if he’s scared of ghosts. However, when he got [[VideoGame/LuigisMansion his own game]] in which he was shown as TheSoCalledCoward, he faced his fear of ghosts head on. Since then, though, being a coward has been his main character trait. [[TropesAreTools Not that this]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse is a bad thing.]]
*** Luigi's cowardice could be a case of Canon Immigration, as even back in the western cartoons Luigi was shown as easily rattled and averse to conflict, whereas Mario never backed down from a challenge.

* Arguably inverted in ''LegendOfZelda'', with Ganondorf. In the first games he starts out as some sort of boar/pig monster, in ''OcarinaOfTime'' it is revealed he was a human wizard, but came off as an unruly and savage power hungry tyrant. In ''WindWaker'' he is depicted as intelligent and sophisticated, and despite the controversial insertion in ''TwilightPrincess'', that was his most eerie and intimidating appearance of all.

* Paul Phoenix from Tekken has gradually become more of a joke character as the series has progressed. He remains one of the toughest characters in the game, however. Kuma began in Tekken 1 as a fearsome and realistic bear character but began to become a joke in Tekken 2. His identically named son who appears from Tekken 3 onwards is a complete joke character due to the introduction of Panda.

* The ''Disgaea'' series always bring back the characters of the previous games as bonus characters. However, they always come back as flanderized versions of themselves. The ur-example is Laharl, the protagonist of the first game. He starts out as an annoying, self-entitled brat but goes on to deal with a potent childhood trauma, stops shutting out his feelings, gains devoted allies, and even a LoveInterest. He's still kind of a jerk at the end, but you can tell he's [[CharacterDevelopment matured.]] When he appears in the sequels he's still the Overlord, but he acts like a annoying brat who wants to be the main character again for more screentime and related benefits, such as being able to win every battle because the player can just reset and grind more until he wins.

* Arguably inverted in ''Legend of Zelda'', with Ganondorf. In the first games he starts out as some sort of boar/pig monster, in ''Ocarina of Time'' it is revealed he was a human wizard, but came off as an unruly and savage power hungry tyrant. In ''Wind Waker'' he is depicted as intelligent and sophisticated, and despite the controversial insertion in ''Twilight Princess'', that was his most eerie and intimidating appearance of all.

* ''{{Persona 4}}'' has this in-universe with the characters' Shadows, which reduce them to a single defining (and completely overblown) character trait.

** From {{Final Fantasy IX}} we have Kuja, though his choice in fashion was... questionable, his eerie rhythm, generally {{complete monster}} actions, and the unholy mother of all {{Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum}}s, and skin that was compared to steel made him a ''very'' legitimate and creepy threat, though most people tend to remember him for his appearance in Dissidia, as an AmbiguouslyGay, [[{{Dude looks like a lady}} very feminine]] sort of [[SmugSnake manchild]] who gets no respect from the other villains due to his age and only really wants to be [[{{Unfortunate implications}} alone with Zidane]]. The {{Prequel}} does explain this though: [[spoiler: it's all Kefka's fault.]]

** Not to mention a lot of ''fans'' flanderize the characters, thanks to PoesLaw. Playing the original ''FinalFantasyVII'', you might actually be ''surprised'' to find that Cloud is ''NOT'' eternally whining and brooding, or that the characters actually ''DON'T'' cry as much as the {{Hatedom}} (and ''HateDumb'') say they do.

* Done on purpose to the Brotherhood of Steel in ''{{Fallout}}''. From Fallout 1 to Fallout 2 they become significantly more secular and generally bigger [[JerkAss jerk asses]], then even more so in Fallout New Vegas. This is due to the time differences between the games, as each generation drifts further and further away from the [[MotiveDecay original intentions of the organisation and into more overt technology worship]] and becomes increasingly secular and elitist, which was originally a very minor aspect of the BoS.

** Which might be more or less accurate on his 'real' persona base on Guo Jia's comment on him in Romance of the Three Kingdom(the source material).
* The ''Disgaea'' series always bring back the characters of the previous games as bonus characters. However, they always come back as flanderized versions of themselves. The ur-example is Laharl, the protagonist of the first game, went throught a journey to become the Overlord in wich he started as a annoying brat, but had to deal with a childhood trauma, stop shutting down his feelings, gained allies and overall became more mature, even earning a LoveInterest. In Disgaea 2 and 3, he's still the Overlord, but acts like a annoying brat who wants to be the main character again to earn more screentime and having main character benefits, such as being able to win every battle because the player can just reset and grind more until he wins.
** Etna starts as King Krichevskoy's vassal, who, after the king's death, is given the mission of raising Laharl. Long story short, she starts loathing the prince because of his brattiness but ends up gaining a considerable respect for him as he matures on, settling as his second-hand demon. Cue Disgaea 2, where she leaves Laharl in a quest for power because she hates him. To say nothing of the other games she appear on, where she usually is a obsessed sweeth tooth in a quest for some legendary dessert, while in the original game the fact that she likes sweets is brought up once or twice at best.

* {{Civilization}} has Gandhi. In the original game, civs are random, so Gandhi isn't always the peaceful ruler that he's famous for being in real life. in particular, fans got a kick out of and made a meme out of Gandhi threatening them with nuclear weapons. In Civ 5, he's specifically programmed to use nukes more than any other AI is programmed to use or do ''anything''.

** That's mostly in the main games, though. The RPGs usually avert this.

** {{Final Fantasy XII}} also suffers from this, but more on the part of the fans. Vaan is often regarded by fans as the driving force behind why the game was ultimately less well received, citing his being whiny and uninteresting, and taking up too much screen time. However, these traits are only present, at best, until the first big dungeon of the game, at which point Vaan is pushed to the side until he grows up a little. He's still a bit of an idiot, but he's a seventeen year old boy idiot, and is overall a decent character.

* Arguably inverted in Legend of Zelda, with Ganondorf. In the first games he starts out as some sort of boar/pig monster, in Ocarina of Time it is revealed he was a human wizard, but came off as an unruly and savage power hungry tyrant. In Windwaker he is depicted as intelligent and sophisticated, and despite the poorly done insertion in Twilight Princess, that was his most eerie and intimidating appearance of all.

** From {{Final Fantasy IX}} we have Kuja, though his choice in fashion was... questionable, his eerie rhythm, generally {{complete monster}} actions, and the unholy mother of all {{Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum}}s, and skin that was compared to steel made him a ''very'' legitimate and creepy threat, though most people tend to remember him for his appearance in Dissidia, as an AmbiguouslyGay, [[{{Dude looks like a lady}} very feminine]] sort of [[SmugSnake manchild]] who gets no respect from the other villains due to his age and only really wants to be [[{{Unfortunate implications}} alone with Zidane]].

** Not to mention a lot of ''fans'' flanderize the characters, thanks to PoesLaw. Playing the original ''FinalFantasyVII'', you might actually be ''surprised'' to find that Cloud is ''NOT'' eternally whining and brooding, or that the characters actually ''DON'T'' cry as much as the HateDom (and ''HateDumb'') say they do.

** From {{Final Fantasy IX}} we have Kuja, though his choice in fashion was... questionable, his eerie rhythm, nicknaming, generally {{complete monster}} actions, and the unholy mother of all {{Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum}}s, and skin that was compared to steel made him a ''very'' legitimate and creepy threat, though most people tend to remember him for his appearance in Dissidia, as an {{Ambiguously Gay}}, [[{{Dude looks like a lady}} very feminine]] sort of manchild who gets no respect from the other villains due to his age and only really wants to be [[{{Unfortunate implications}} alone with Zidane]].
** Not to mention a lot of ''fans'' flanderize the characters, thanks to PoesLaw. Playing the original ''FinalFantasyVII'', you might actually be ''surprised'' to find that Cloud is ''NOT'' eternally whining and brooding, or that the characters actually ''DON'T'' cry as much as the HateDom and HateDumb say they do.

** There's also Aerith and Yuffie. Aerith was originally a headstrong PluckyGirl with a strong spiritual side and a slight flirtatious streak. The girl threatened to ''rip off a guy's balls'' at one point. In the spin-offs whatever stubbornness and flirtatiousness she had is gone, and her spiritual powers and connection to the planet have become her core character traits--as a result the girl is portrayed as a saint, the human incarnation of IncorruptiblePurePureness with powers so strong she can save the world from beyond the grave. Meanwile Yuffie was originally a bit goofy and silly. but she was still quite cunning, witty and sneaky--she ''is'' a ninja after all, and the former TropeNamer for WutaiTheft. In spin-offs she's a typical GenkiGirl and is just loud and hyper. ''Crisis Core'' [[CharacterRerailment rectified both of these though]]; and Aerith and Yuffie are more or less back to how they were in the original game.

* In ''FinalFantasyVII'' Cloud Strife actually did very little brooding, preferring to focus on fighting Sephiroth and saving the planet from Shinra. The guy even cracked a few jokes at his friends and could take a jab back in return, and is very caring of his friends and claims he "trusts everyone". His archrival Sephiroth was a DarkMessiah who wanted to [[AGodAmI become a god]] to reshape the planet into his own personal utopia, and he screwed with Cloud's head to do it in revenge for Cloud defeating him years prior. Ever since the original game Cloud has been warped into a loner who brushes off his friends' attempts to help him while he broods and angsts over Sephiroth, and Sephiroth's only character traits now are his ability to manipulate Cloud's emotions and taunt Cloud with the fact he's so good at it. Cloud's Flanderization is at least partly justified: during the original game he was channeling a false persona so players didn't meet the "real" Cloud until the last few missions of the game. Sephiroth on the other hand has no such excuse. The FoeYay between them has also gotten increasingly heavy-handed, to the point Sephiroth almost seems more like a jealous stalker or a scorned ex than Cloud's hated enemy.

* In ''FinalFantasyVII'' Cloud Strife actually did very little brooding, preferring to focus on fighting Sephiroth and saving the planet from Shinra. The guy even cracked a few jokes at his friends and could take a jab back in return. His archrival Sephiroth was a DarkMessiah who wanted to [[AGodAmI become a god]] to reshape the planet into his own personal utopia, and he screwed with Cloud's head to do it in revenge for Cloud defeating him years prior. Ever since the original game Cloud has been warped into a loner who brushes off his friends' attempts to help him while he broods and angsts over Sephiroth, and Sephiroth's only character traits now are his ability to manipulate Cloud's emotions and taunt Cloud with the fact he's so good at it. Cloud's Flanderization is at least partly justified: during the original game he was channeling a false persona so players didn't meet the "real" Cloud until the last few missions of the game. Sephiroth on the other hand has no such excuse. The FoeYay between them has also gotten increasingly heavy-handed, to the point Sephiroth almost seems more like a jealous stalker or a scorned ex than Cloud's hated enemy.