History Main / DependingontheArtist

** [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers G1]] sometimes had episodes animated by a [[Creator/{{AKOM}} less-expensive studio]], but ''you got what you paid for''. Sometimes there's an AnimationBump to the point of looking better than [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie the movie]], sometimes the errors are so many and flagrant that it truly interferes with understanding what's going on. One of the cheaper company's particular quirks was that Chip Chase's jacket was dark blue with a light blue shirt beneath instead of brown with a white shirt, resulting in a rarity for the day, and even ''this'' day sometimes -- a human character who ''[[LimitedWardrobe actually owned more than one set of clothing]].''
** Many of the other episodes varied in how {{Animesque}} the show could look (sometimes even ''within'' episodes). For instance "Roll For It" and "SOS Dinobots" Have a distinct style compared to the rest of Season 1, and both "Nightmare Planet" and "Call of the Primitives" in Season 3 top even ''those'' episodes in how much they look like an anime.
** Although the transformation schemes of most G1 characters (like Prime, Bumblebee, the Dinobots, the Seekers) were fairly consistent, others weren't: some episodes showed Astrotrain's transformation as [[ShowAccuracyToyAccuracy toy accurate]] (his legs and feet becoming the front of his both vehicle modes, and a vehicle mode turning upside-down to become the other), while others depicted his transformation from locomotive to shuttle (or vice-versa) without the upside-down turn, or his wings on robot mode becoming the front of the locomotive.
** Ironhide and Ratchet have many different transformations (the only consistent part is the chest becoming the vehicles' front), mostly because their [[EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference original toy designs were very different from their character models for the cartoon]][[note]]most notably, the original toy design (identical for both characters) had part of the van mode becoming a separate platform from the robot mode in the transformation. The cartoon's transformation had to turn the whole van into the robot mode[[/note]], so the animators lacked a good visual reference to work on.

* Some of the key animators for ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' had previously worked on ''WesternAnimation/RenAndStimpy'', and it shows in the series' extremely loose style. The size of Robotnik relative to everyone else, the size of his head relative to the rest of his body, whether he had ears, whether or not his mother had a mustache, what the surrounding countryside looked like...all of these were up to interpretation.
** In some episodes Grounder is sometimes a lighter shade of green.

* WebOriginal/JennyEverywhere intentionally encourages this -- she's an open source {{superhero}} with a very vague description, so anybody can interpret her anyway they wish. The most common interpretation has her wearing aviator goggles and a scarf, and the official description calls her "[[AmbiguouslyBrown Native American]] ''[[AmbiguouslyBrown or]]'' [[AmbiguouslyBrown Asian]]."

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': There's a few artists that had a distinguishable style, but the one that stood out the most was C.H. Greenblatt (who later created the above-mentioned ''Chowder'' and ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBeaks''). Watch any of his boarded episodes, and you can always tell that he's drawing those wacky facial expressions, especially Fear of a Krabby Patty, which was very OffModel. In the post-sequel era, newcomer storyboard artist Adam Paloian is heading this direction as well. If you want proof, [[http://adampaloian.tumblr.com/ these are his drawings]].

** Does Luna wear earrings on both sides or just one? While her usual 3/4 view implies she has paperclip earrings on both sides, as do most of her forward facing shots, a single shot in "One Flu over the Loud House" shows her with only one earring on the right, and later productions (like her forward facing shots in later seasons, ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouseMovie'' and even the live action movie) have her wearing a single paperclip on her left ear.

* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}’s'' King Dedede has had some design changes here and there. His most reoccuring design has him with large eyes, a cream onesie, and gloves. However, in the original ''VideoGame/Kirby's Dream Land'', [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 its sequel]] and ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' shows him without the onesie and with no gloves, and a more duck-like beak. ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'' and ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'' then altered his appearance to look more portly, have a thinner and smaller beak, and more oval-shaped eyes and smaller pupils, before switching back to the ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' design for the rest of his appearances, with minor tweaks and alterations. ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' suddenly returned Dedede to his ''Crystal Shards'' design, and if ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLandDeluxe'' is of any indication, this new design is permanent. On the other side of things, the design of Dedede's onesie hasn't remained consistent; in the games, it's a regular onesie, but in Dedede's artwork for ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' and his card in ''Ultra's'' Kirby Card Swipe subgame show it is actually Dedede's cream-colored belly. And sometimes, it can also be Dedede's updated onesie from the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''VideoGame/StarFox'' has historically done this a lot.
** Between the VaporWare (but leaked) ''Star Fox 2'' and ''Star Fox 64'', the Star Wolf characters changed dramatically in appearance, with Wolf standing out the most. Not only does he have an eye scar instead of his later patch, but it's on the ''opposite eye''.
** Katt is another extreme version of this, becoming an artistic TheOtherDarrin in ''Command''.

* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series has undergone a ''lot'' of artists over the course of the last twenty-plus years. The one in the lower-right is a bonus -- it's from ''VideoGame/SNKVsCapcom'', and was drawn by the artist from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters''.

** Like with ''[=FFIV=]'' and ''[=FFVII=]'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''’s promotional art on official magazines could be quite different from the art from the game. One famous PSM cover drawn by Joe Madureira [[https://i.imgur.com/E6qDspC_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium depicts Tidus]] as a RatedMForManly badass clutching Yuna to his muscly chest while seriously staring off into the distance, completely unlike the easygoing, occasionally irritating goofball he actually is in the game. Another PSM [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91XV0k14DDL.jpg cover]] depicts an older looking, more well endowed Yuna doing the Sending Dance like it’s an action pose.

%%* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}’s'' King Dedede has had some design changes here and there.

* One of the characters in ''Franchise/AngryBirds'' is Hal, whose most notable feature is his long beak. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/differenthals_361.PNG Here are three different interpretations of him.]] The top image is how he looks in the games, the middle is his appearance in the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjl9tg9smgc Summer Pignic]]" special (which is part of Rovio Entertainment's early animation efforts and can also be seen in both a promotional image for the Mighy Eagle and the ''Bad Piggies' Egg Recipes'' cookbook), and the bottom is from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmoPzPPoMV8 this]] promotion for Coca-Cola's 2012 Olympics campaign in China (which featured the art style made standard since the "Ham-O-Ween" special).

''Series/SesameStreet'' picture books:
** Before a Muppet version of Grover's mom was constructed for the show, artists drawing for the books apparently don't agree with how she should look. Depictions range from an old lady to a young mother. [[http://toughpigs.com/myweekgroversmom01.htm Tough Pigs takes an extensive analysis on this one.]]
** Likewise, before Elmo's parents appeared as Muppets on he show, different picture book artists drew them with different hairstyles, but nearly always portrayed them both as looking just like grownup versions of Elmo. When they finally appeared on the show, however, father Louie had the same red color as Elmo but a different head shape and brown hair, while mother Mae was a light orange monster with purple hair.
* [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Ben Skywalker]]. His hair is officially "flame-red" but has been depicted as [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:BenSkywalker_Atlas.jpg reddish-brown]], [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ben_funeral.JPG sandy blond]], [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Benfury.jpg brown]], and [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ben_Skywalker.JPG fully blond]]. The faces don't entirely match up, either.

** The first ''Devil May Cry'' game has still has the hallmarks of being a off-brand ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' with Dante character and appearance [[PeekABangs akin]] to Leon Scott Kennedy before becoming his own character and a lot of the aesthetics being proto-''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 RE4]]''. Creator/HidekiKamiya's style is also apparent with the concept of [[OurAngelsAreDifferent eldritch angelic beings]] carrying over to ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}''.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Misty's eye color switches between blue and green often in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' {{anime}}. In the games, she has green eyes in all appearances.
** Ash has no consistent height besides being shorter than adults. In some episodes he reaches Jessie's chin and in others he only reaches her shoulders. He's seemingly grown to same height as Misty during the Battle Frontier but is reverted to being shorter in Kalos.

* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' much like ''Street Fighter'' has had multiple different designers, artists and improved better engines and resulting in the aesthetic and the characters fluctuating in appearance from title to title. The designs of the first two games ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil RE1]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 RE2]]'' were heavily based off Isao Ōishi’s [[https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Isao+oshi&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi9ibn057nzAhVQoUsFHRFyDqQQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=Isao+oshi&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIECAAQDTIECAAQDToHCCMQ7wMQJ1CED1jEFmCCHWgAcAB4AIAB9QGIAaoGkgEFMC4yLjKYAQCgAQHAAQE&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=1bJfYf3KLtDCrtoPkeS5oAo&bih=715&biw=414&client=safari&prmd=mivxn&hl=en-GB artwork]] having a bright and sudo-anime style to the characters and monsters. In ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 RE4]]'' and it's following titles the artstyle is much [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] and the characters are more realistic-looking while still being stylised, this is thanks to the games being powered by the MT Framework engine. However ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil7 RE7]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake RE2make]]'', ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake RE3make]]'' and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' are powered by the RE Engine and as such the world, characters and monsters are photorealistic and much less stylized.
** Chris Redfield notably is almost never [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQMSWiMPRvOk2Y9IZz_PdZk04SNkUkWbHjzjg&usqp=CAU consistent from game to game]], due to different engines, graphics and being modelled on different people. This is the same for every character, with hair and eye color changing [[InconsistentColoring frequently]]. For example Claire Redfield goes from [[https://i.imgur.com/zgBBb5q.jpg brunette, to auburn, to redheaded and then back to brunette]] for the remake of the second game. There’s also [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRPxfLm98SxIwJ4hiSwrwtGjPkjIVis8KW0dA&usqp=CAU Leon]] who depending on the graphics and model bounces back and forth between pretty boy and hardened badass or a deadringer for Dante and his hair goes from reddish brown to dirty blond.

** Alice's bust tends to alternate between being full-on GagBoobs to even being smaller at points, while her stubble and body hair comes and goes. She may or may not have sideburns, and her mole tends to change places.

*** And then the game does it deliberately and pushes it further with the Summon spells, which are represented by a variety of artwork--from the original concept art (like Malboro) to completely new designs (such as Carbuncle), all of which span the entire 20+ years of the series. For an example of this trope taken literally--the "auto" Bahamut summon shows the [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091013075542/finalfantasy/images/1/1e/DFFBahamut.png dragon]] as designed for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' by Tetsuya Nomura, while the "manual" Bahamut shows the [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091012124630/finalfantasy/images/3/35/DFFBahamut2.png same dragon]]...as he was drawn by Amano for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''.

** Ironhide and Ratchet have many different transformations (the only consistensy is the chest becoming the vehicles' front), mostly because their [[EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference original toy designs being very different from their character models for the cartoon]].

** In the Goofy Gophers short "Two Gophers from Texas" which was directed by "Creator/ArtDavis", the two gophers change drastically in appearance depending on who's animating. Don Williams drew them short and chubby with short stubby tails and pointed ears while Bill Melendez drew them taller and thinner with long tails and round ears.

* Every storyboard artist for ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has a different art style and it shows in the episodes. For example, for Jasper, in "The Return", her jaw is much larger, her long hair is slightly elevated, and her body type is slightly broader. In the episode right after that, "Jail Break", her jawline is less defined, her hair is hanging loosely, and her body type is smaller.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' discouraged strict adherence to model sheets and actively encouraged its animators to express their individual styles, so characters' proportions and sizes in relation to each other change frequently and drastically between episodes. Sometimes characters will be drawn with visible musculature and anatomy, sometimes with borderline RubberHoseLimbs. This is quite noticeable with Peridot - she's rather short for a Crystal Gem with her limb enhancers removed, [[https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/231/340/cfd.png but she seems to get progressively stubbier as the series goes on]].

** Does Luna wear earrings on both sides or just one? While her usual 3/4 view implies she haves paperclip earrings on both sides, as most of her forward facing shots, a single shot in "One Flu over the Loud House" shows her with only one earring on the right, and later productions (like her forward facing shots in later seasons, ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouseMovie'' and even the live action movie) have her wearing a single paperclip on her left ear.

* The last season of ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' was done by a different studio from the first two, and the character designs were cheaper-looking than in the earlier seasons: in particular Kid Icarus haves more baby-like proportions, haves a slightly different hairdo and goes around barefoot instead of his usual sandals, Simon Belmont lacks goggles on his forehead, Mother Brain's design is overall simplified and Lana's footwear was changed from a pair of boots to what looks like a pair of shin guards worn over blue flats.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', while Marin's appearance is mostly consistent throughout her appearances in official art in Japan and North America (other than some inconsistency regarding whether the collar of her dress is blue or yellow), the German strategy guide decided to give her a totally different, more exotic appearance with a bare midriff, a bead necklace, and blonde hair rather than red.
** For whatever reason, the Zelda from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' has ''three'' different designs: A short haired brunette in a pink dress, the same design but as a blonde, and a long haired blonde in a red dress (which matches her sprites if Link is fully equipped). Most fans associate her with the brunette design and ''Hyrule Historia'' later canonized it.
* The eye color of the Original VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}} and his sister Roll is officially blue, but are often UsefulNotes/{{green|IsBlue}} by different artists. Given that the rest of the heroes in the franchise come with green eyes, the confusion is understandable.

* Being a fan-made transformation of [[BigBad Bowser]] from ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]]'', JustForFun/{{Bowsette}} doesn't really have a defined appearance. Most artists stuck with [[http://twitter.com/ayyk92/status/1042465252221181954 her original depiction in ayyk92's comic]] as a CuteMonsterGirl version of Princess Peach in a dark dress and [[MorphicResonance some of Bowser's traits]], some made her into a FieryRedhead like the real Bowser, some [[HadesShaded darkened her skin]], some do both, and that's not getting into [[BuxomIsBetter breast size]] and [[{{Stripperiffic}} what kind of outfit she wears]], or even if she's wearing the [[PowerUp Super Crown]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'', for whatever reason, the characters' looks can change from episode to episode. For example, in one episode Mindy might have slightly darker skin but reddish-brown hair, or slightly lighter skin but blackish-brown hair. Also, Mindy might be way shorter or the same height as Mitchell. Sean may either have light brown, reddish-brown, or flat out blonde hair. His eye color also varies. It might be green, blue, or grey. Sydney sometimes has a different color hair-tie than her usual yellow, like green or red. She might even wear grey leggings at night as shown in the end of Back to Bortron 7 and Jet's Time Machine. Jet's hair color also varies. It might be reddish-orange, red with orange tips, dark red, or even pink! (Jet seems to have pink hair in the beginning of "Lone Star")