History Main / DistinctiveAppearances

* Have it all be ColorCodedCharacters. PowerRangers has survived on this for years, the Red Ranger is the leader. The Pink Ranger or Yellow Ranger is the chick. Not bad for a team costume that covers their face, huh?

* This was talked about on the DVD of ''SpiderMan 2'', where they said it was really fun to create Doctor Octopus because all you needed was his silhouette and you can tell it is him.

* Every single Robot Master in the ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series is designed with a distinct body, which helps a lot when you consider how they [[OnlySixFaces tend to have similar faces]]. Many can also be told apart by their silhouettes (much like the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' example above), if ''9'' and ''10'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPScPaInWOI promo]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeIRUVPROOU videos]] are any indication.

* This was Creator/{{Todd McFarlane}}'s objective when he started drawing ''Franchise/{{Spider-Man}}'', and it mostly worked. His silhouette is pretty standard... except that it's often contorted into odd poses, and sometimes those big white eyes are staring out of it.

* In ''Film/RushHour 2'' the fight in the massage parlor had all of the {{mook}}s wearing blue robes with JackieChan wearing a purple robe and, well, Chris Tucker stands out with little trouble, but they still had him do the fight shirtless.

* ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' gives Noble Team distinctive appearances beyond the striking colors sported by some major [=SPARTANs=] in other parts of the series and the armor customization seen in different games. Jorge towers over his teammates, Kat's scrawny prosthetic arm is always exposed and Emile's visor (never open in-game) sports a sinister skull while Jun is the only one with anything approximating a sensible camo pattern (makes sense due to his role as a sniper). Carter and default armor Noble Six are the only members whose armor is remotely standard issue; with Carter that draws attention to the fact he is the leader and for Six it leaves them open for character customization.

* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': In some levels, heroes are distinguished by looking like units from a jarringly different era. At the battle of Hastings, for example, William is unhorsed and runs around in a ''toga'' (a style last seen in the Greek campaign before AlexanderTheGreat's conquests) until he finds another.

* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' has the title character wearing her trademark OdangoHair with long [[GirlishPigtails twintails]], making her very distinct and recognizable throughout the whole Magical Girl genre.

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftI'': as HeroUnits are just more powerful units with different portraits and voices, the problem is solved by making them a different team color, usually teal.
* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': HeroUnits are not only twice the size of regular units, they also glow with their team's color and have their names hover over their heads.

* In early {{superhero}} comics, colorful costumes and iconography where often the only way to tell heroes apart due to level of art (and quality of the color printing) produced at the time. This is why Batman and Superman were able to pass as each other when needed for the longest time.

* PlayedForLaughs in the Canadian ''Stevie Diamond'' book series by Linda Bailey. The titular character has distinctive frizzy hair, and she becomes incredibly self-conscious about it when the lifeguard at the local pool tells he to get out of the pool by yelling "Hey You! The kid with the hair!" That' right, ''the'' hair.

* Despite being very much a ImprobablyFemaleCast, it's possible to tell nearly every member of the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' cast apart by their silhouette, as demonstrated in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3C-VevI36s this video]]. The abundance of {{Nice Hat}}s and nonhuman features (ears, tails, horns etc.) and distinct accessories certain helps.

* ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' gives Noble Team distinctive appearances beyond the striking colors sported by some major SPARTANs in other parts of the series and the armor customization seen in different games. Jorge towers over his teammates, Kat's scrawny prosthetic arm is always exposed and Emile's visor (never open in-game) sports a sinister skull while Jun is the only one with anything approximating a sensible camo pattern (makes sense due to his role as a sniper). Carter and default armor Noble Six are the only members whose armor is remotely standard issue, with Carter that draws attention to the fact he is the leader and for Six it leaves them open for character customization.

*** Also, apparently the reason Creator/SamuelLJackson wanted a purple lightsaber was so he could pick himself out in crowd shots.
* During production of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', an animator did outlines of each of the Parr's heads, to make sure each of them was distinct from the other. Creator/BradBird liked the sketch so much he had it made into a T-shirt.

* It is hard, very hard to mistake one character for another in ''WebComic/TowerOfGod''. It could be the fact that one of the main characters is a miniature version of Godzilla. Maybe because that Purple Jumpsuit only belongs to one person. Anyway, despite having very similar faces (except for Godzilla and the other LizardFolk) character designs tend to so one-of-a-kind that most characters can be identified from afar. That even goes for all the background characters from season one.

* {{Wolverine}} with his claws extended in the crouch stance.
* This was {{Todd McFarlane}}'s objective when he started drawing ''{{Spider-Man}}'', and it mostly worked. His silhouette is pretty standard... except that it's often contorted into odd poses, and sometimes those big white eyes are staring out of it.

* Anyone who has tried to illustrate ''MyImmortal'' has run into this problem. Everyone is deathly pale. Everyone has dyed their hair black. Everyone wears the same "goffic" clothes. All the distinctive aspects of any character's canon appearance (Harry's glasses, for example) are soundly eliminated.

* Several monsters created by {{Toho}} certainly apply here. One can easily recognize Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, King Ghidorah, Anguirus, and Gigan for example due to their distinctive appearances.
* ''StarWars'': Is there anyone who can't [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tpm_teaser.jpg recognize Darth Vader by his shadow?]]

* During production of ''TheIncredibles'', an animator did outlines of each of the Parr's heads, to make sure each of them was distinct from the other. Brad Bird liked the sketch so much he had it made into a T-shirt.

* In ''RushHour 2'' the fight in the massage parlor had all of the {{mook}}s wearing blue robes with JackieChan wearing a purple robe and, well, Chris Tucker stands out with little trouble, but they still had him do the fight shirtless.
* The first {{Film/Transformers}} film was criticized because the robot characters were so complex it was hard to tell them apart in past paced action scenes, especially characters with remotely similar color schemes. The later films addressed this by adding more colored parts to existing characters, and adopting vastly more distinctive appearances for new ones.

* Subverted in the ''KnightAndRogueSeries''. Fisk and Michael are both plain looking. So plain looking that people trying to catch them have an easier time trying to ask about their horses. However, Michael happens to have a scar on his face that, in the second book, is faked by a framer so that everyone will be on the lookout for that particular distinguishing feature.

* ''{{Scrubs}}'' had all the people in the hospital separated into colors: white lab coats or blue scrubs for medical doctors, green scrubs for surgeons, pink (or purple) scrubs for nurses and the maintenance/janitorial crew wear black. Even then J.D. usually wears a different shade of blue than most of the other doctors (or at least Elliot, who is also a medical doctor). Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso are generally the only main characters to regularly [[DressedToHeal wear labcoats]].

** They also introduced a special captain's uniform to make them different from other operations staff. Kirk had the green wraparound tunic (acknowledged with ''Enterprise's'' MirrorUniverse episode). Picard had a two layer outfit with a velvet jacket over a gray shirt. ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' introduced the Starfleet uniform change with a black and gray jumpsuit with color coded turtleneck undershirts, but Picard spent most of the film wearing a red shirt under a vest. That same outfit was later worn by Sisko in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine.''

* ''GreenWing'' does something very similar to Scrubs, at least to a certain extent, which obviously makes sense when they're both set in hospitals. Oddly, while all three wear green scrubs in the operating theatre, Mac will continue to wear his while Caroline and Guy change back into their white lab coats.

* This is why the main ''{{Peanuts}}'' characters have different patterns on their clothing. Charlie Brown has the distinctive zigzag, Linus wears stripes, Sally has polka dots. When Charles Schulz realized that Rerun looked too much like Linus, he gave Rerun a flatter hairstyle and ever-present overalls.

* ''GearsOfWar'' designed TheHero Marcus as having the default armor style for the game, with everything else being derived from his design. For Dominic they gave him a shoulder light as well as a knife on his chest to give him a different silhouette. Cole has bare arms and Baird has blonde hair with blue armor. The Carmine brothers are always based on a new "generic COG soldier" design that is used for all the extra characters, which incidentally also makes them stand out as a generic soldier who is nonetheless a member of the main team.

* Every single Robot Master in the VideoGame/MegaMan series is designed with a distinct body, which helps a lot when you consider how they [[OnlySixFaces tend to have similar faces]]. Many can also be told apart by their silhouettes (much like the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' example above), if ''9'' and ''10'''s [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPScPaInWOI promo]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeIRUVPROOU videos]] are any indication.
* ''HaloReach'' gives Noble Team distinctive appearances beyond the striking colors sported by some major SPARTANs in other parts of the series and the armor customization seen in different games. Jorge towers over his teammates, Kat's scrawny prosthetic arm is always exposed and Emile's visor (never open in-game) sports a sinister skull while Jun is the only one with anything approximating a sensible camo pattern (makes sense due to his role as a sniper). Carter and default armor Noble Six are the only members whose armor is remotely standard issue, with Carter that draws attention to the fact he is the leader and for Six it leaves them open for character customization.
* All over the place in SuperMarioBros. Even similar-looking characters like Mario and Luigi are easily distinguished by physical differences such as height, clothing color, and even the curliness of their mustache and sideburns.

* Due to their unique accessories, and the careful design of their fur and tails, no two characters in ''BittersweetCandyBowl'' have the same silhouette. Without, however, a few look rather similar - this is most notably played with when [[spoiler:Sandy is finally introduced on-screen in the present.]]

* {{Transformers}} does this most especially when the toy designs were actually for the franchise and not repackaged from other toy lines. Optimus Prime's chest windows are more the rule than the exception. In fact, since most of the other Autobots have the front grill of the car become their chest, having the front windows become his chest is what makes him visually unique and thereby the leader. With ''TransformersAnimated'', the outlines for every main character is very distinct.

** It's actually one of creator MattGroening's rules that the character design department MUST make all new characters instantly recognizable by silhouette, but not draw attention from the main family, or it gets rejected.
** This can also be seen in Futurama where Matt Groening described Fry's "hair horns" as being particularly useful in maintaining a unique silhouette.
* The ''PhineasAndFerb'' creators used to work on ''TheSimpsons,'' so they designed the major characters based on the same concept. The title characters are the most obvious examples, especially Phineas, who has a triangular head.

* Even if Henry and June from ''KaBlam!'' wore the same outfit, had the same eyes, and sported the same hair, there's a way to tell them apart. Henry has freckles, and June has some baby fat she didn't burn off yet.

* ''CowboyBebop'' made the main cast all very distinctive, with the slender Spike, muscular and bearded Jet, curvy Faye and waif redhead Ed. Apparently the designer even said that he avoids drawing characters with perfectly symmetrical appearances and that is why Jet had the mechanical right arm and the metal piece under his left eye.

* It is hard, very hard to mistake one character for another in ''TowerOfGod''. It could be the fact that one of the main characters is a miniature version of Godzilla. Maybe because that Purple Jumpsuit only belongs to one person. Anyway, despite having very similar faces (except for Godzilla and the other LizardFolk) character designs tend to so one-of-a-kind that most characters can be identified from afar. That even goes for all the background characters from season one.

* ''{{Scrubs}}'' had all the people in the hospital separated into colors: white lab coats or blue scrubs for medical doctors, green scrubs for surgeons, pink (or purple) scrubs for nurses and the maintenance crew wear black. Even then J.D. usually wears a different shade of blue than most of the other doctors (or at least Elliot, who is also a medical doctor). Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso are generally the only main characters to regularly [[DressedToHeal wear labcoats]].

** You can also look at the ethnicity and general size of the characters. J.D. is very skinny and dark hair, Turk is black, Carla is Dominican, Dr. Cox has curly hair and is muscular, Elliot has blond hair, Dr. Kelso is short and heavy set, and The Janitor is tall and looming.
** In the episode where J.D., Turk and Carla all got scooters, they matched the colour-coding of their scrubs, in what might have been a mild LampshadeHanging.