Adaptation Personality Change in Video Games.
- Batman: Arkham Series:
- Jason Todd in Batman: Arkham Knight. Whereas his comic counterpart (at least pre-New 52) was truly sadistic, reveling in the deaths he caused, and clearly cared very little for the rest of the batfamily, here he's a Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds who still loves Barbara and Alfred, and seems largely unconcerned with his violent actions. Also, where in the comics (again, pre-New 52 only) he only gets worse, adding cops and civilians to his list of targets, here he makes a full Heel–Face Turn.
- Tim Drake's Robin is a lot more similar to Dick Grayson in the series, as he is older, uses a lot of sarcasm and has a relationship with Oracle.
- Batman: The Telltale Series:
- Renee Montoya in the comics and Batman: The Animated Series was a supporter of Batman. In the Telltale game, she's against the Batman and tries to arrest him, though she's sympathetic to him as Bruce Wayne.
- Vicki Vale in the comics and most media is a compassionate Intrepid Reporter who loves Bruce Wayne and sometimes Batman. In game however she despises Bruce for atrocities his father committed to her parents and Gotham in general which led to her being orphaned and abused and becoming a Tragic Villain. Vicki still likes Batman, but she's stricken to learn he and Bruce Wayne are the same person and refuses to be consoled by Bruce's words of sympathy.
- John Doe aka The Joker is of course vastly different from his Monster Clown comic counterpart (though the player can cause his Start of Darkness). The biggest difference between the comic version is that Telltale Joker isn't self-driven caring greatly for those he's close to and are nice to him whereas comic Joker only "cares" for his beloved nemesis Batman and everyone else are just pawns and playthings.
- Harley Quinn is a different beast from her animated and comic versions. In the Telltale game she's a cruel manipulative bitch while she's Cute and Psycho in other media and tends to have a compassionate side, albeit still highly mentally unstable and too prone to violence. In Telltale game she also effectively leads the Rogues Gallery while in most comics Harely is too immature for that kind of position.
- BIONICLE Heroes took a comedic approach to its source material and redefined character personalities (as well as abilities) from scratch. Axonn, a devoted paragon of justice who repeatedly beat back the villainous Piraka became a thuggish bad guy in service of said group, the brilliant but impulsive Brutaka exchanged personalities with the slow dimwit Krekka, the likewise rather intelligent Thok similarly became a hapless goof (when Reidak already filled the role of "the dumb one" in canon), and the utterly no-nonsense, brooding Zaktan became a grinning, showoff Large Ham. Despite the game being completely detached from the main franchise and featuring canonically long-dead characters as enemies, it's still perplexing that the developers reinterpreted certain characters seemingly at random, instead of picking ones that would have fit the roles the developers had in mind.
- Deltarune, the second game by Toby Fox, has multiple characters returning from his first game, Undertale. However due to Deltarune being in a different timeline and setting than Undertale, there are some differences in the characters. Perhaps the most glaring one is the meek shut-in in the northern part of town, who is all but said to be none other than Mettaton. Likewise, Alphys leaves an "anonymous" glowing review in the library of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2, favorably comparing it to the original in every respect; in Undertale, she savaged it as a terrible sequel. Undyne has no clue who Alphys, her eventual lover in Undertale, is. Bratty and Catty, two best friends, are also now hateful next-door neighbors.
- DmC: Devil May Cry infamously does this to several characters.
- Dante of course get this the most, in his original depiction and in the games following the second, Dante is a light-hearted, quip-happy Manchild. In the reboot "Donte" is far more moody and angsty and tends to cuss people with actual swear words instead of "Flock off, feather face". He's also inexplicably more successful with women being quite amorous while the irony with canon Dante was that he has lousy luck with ladies despite his good looks.
- Vergil's personality also differs from his canon portrayal where he is a Noble Demon who values honor, in the reboot Vergil is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who wants to enslave humanity after Mundus gets defeated. Canon Vergil also believes Guns Are Worthless while in the reboot he happily uses a sniper rifle to abort Lilith's demon baby.
- Mundus the Big Bad is also very different from his original depiction, where he was a Angelic Abomination and the Evil Overlord of the Underworld. In the reboot he's more like a Kingpin-figure in his normal form being a petty asshole demonic politician instead of a tyrannical god-like monster.
- Final Fantasy:
- Kefka in Final Fantasy VI is hateful, cruel and sadistic in the English localisation, when in the original Japanese he was a Psychopathic Manchild with Ambiguous Innocence. Even Square regarded the English version as an improvement, and took elements of his English characterization back into Kefka's appearance in Dissidia Final Fantasy.
- Final Fantasy VII Remake:
- Cloud comes across as a darker and much more emotionally repressed character than in the original due to more low-intensity physical acting, a generally more serious tone, and the removal of a lot of the choices players could make about his behaviour. In the original, Cloud had the option to hit on the girls or respond with enthusiasm or honesty to his friends, but in Remake, he always tries to push girls away and coldly rejects other people. The original presented Cloud's personality as very theatrical and overconfident, with continuous hair-flipping and pose-striking while in Remake he is more based around the idea of constantly holding back his emotions, displaying extreme anxiety when forced to go outside of his emotional comfort zone. Remake also adds a subplot that the magical treatments that gave Cloud his strength has drastically shortened his lifespan, which isn't indicated in the original and explains his stronger reticence to get involved with people. It's worth observing Cloud's character development in Remake still takes him up to the point he was at by the end of the Midgar section in the original, with him becoming much more expressive and earnest, dropping his mask in a vision of Aerith and doing cocky poses while flirting with Rufus. Not to mention the dance sequence Cloud partakes in the Honey Bee Inn, which is right in line with the goofy situations Cloud got in the original game. By the time of Intergrade Cloud like he’s original incarnation is able to smile and be easygoing while traveling with his friends.
- Barret in Remake comes off as consistently more well-balanced, socially responsible and smarter. In the original, Biggs, Wedge and most of the rest of the people of Sector 7 are terrified of him, with their awe of Cloud being linked in part to the fact that Cloud is able to stand up to him. Barret's also shown using much more physical violence, beating Biggs and intimidating other people by firing his weapon and bashing holes in walls, crates and, apparently, destroying Sector 7's communal TV by shooting it to pieces. The Remake Barret is A Father to His Men and popular in town for being a reliable local tough guy who helps out with various local causes, and while he still has a powerful temper he is detached enough to make wry fun of Cloud, and even consciously imitate him when need be. The original game had a couple of scenes that indicated Barret had a scholarly side to him, like his enthusiasm at going to Cosmo Canyon and making a reference to Buddhist literature which didn't translate, but in Remake he quotes Planetology texts and is visibly overwhelmed with delight when seeing the Shinra library.
- Tifa in the original game (in stark contrast with her wardrobe) was pretty shy and hesitant to express her own feelings, (particularly towards Cloud which also causes her to be unable talk to him about some important and strange discrepancies about their past) and in general was empathetic and motherly. In the Remake Tifa is much more outgoing as she actively helps people in the Section 7, is quite sultry and flirtatious when serving Cloud drinks (and doesn’t shy away from hugging or holding onto him) and is quite bold when comes to her Action Girl skills claiming to Cloud, “You’ve seen how much ass I can kick”. Although ironically Remake Tifa does have more Angst than the original as she completely breaks down at destruction of Sector 7 unlike the original game where she remained strong and consoled Barret who was the distraught one.
- Aerith in the original was a cross between a Mysterious Waif and Manic Pixie Dream Girl who was so lighthearted and childish she’d sometimes unintentionally be oblivious to other people’s troubles as was the case with Barret in the Gold Saucer. In Remake Aerith is still full of confidence and cheer, but she more readily shows a more serious side to her personality, this is seen in moments like when she warns Cloud not to fall in love with her, her fierce protection of Marlene when captured by Shinra and a cold dislike and dismissal of Sephiroth in the Final Battle.
Cloud: He's tough.Aerith: So what? Screw him.- Sephiroth is mostly a Noble Demon and soft spoken Big Bad in the original game whose backstory involving JENOVA and Hojo makes him somewhat sympathetic even if he’s not above mentally tormenting Cloud in revenge after the latter throws him into the Mako reactor. In Remake Sephiroth is somehow even crueler and more psychotic; he actively relishes taunting Cloud about how he murdered his mother “the shiver of her flesh yielding to cold steel” and even gives Cloud visions of him killing Tifa and Barret just For the Evulz. On the other hand Remake Sephiroth does encourage Cloud to get stronger and even offers him the chance to join him in “saving” the planet.
- Yuffie in Intergrade is very different from her original depiction due to Backported Development. In later titles like Advent Children and Dirge of Cerberus Yuffie is brash and sassy but still very heroic and kind; in the original FFVII, Yuffie was straight up rude and antagonistic, attempting to rob the party of their Materia and succeeds in doing so at one point forcing Cloud and co to chase back to her village of Wutai. Her Freudian Excuse is that she wants to restore her village to his former glory after it was wrecked by Shinra in the war, but even then Yuffie uses that sob story as a chance catch the party off-guard and trap them in a big cage. It’s not until the heroes save her from Don Corneo, that she becomes nicer. Intergrade ignores all of Yuffie’s early characterisation and has be a good natured Genki Girl who isn’t rude or insulting to anyone and her Materia stealing is for a heroic cause since she’s robbing Shinra.
- Heidegger is largely a comical and idiotic villain in the original Final Fantasy VII, with his main trait being his overwhelming temper and tendency to beat his own men. In Remake, he becomes a calculating villain, defined by his dated, wartime mindset and associated bigotry, who still terrorises his men, but does so verbally rather than by launching on them to beat them.
- The Turks, in the original, are portrayed as Punchclock Villain guys who are comical and therefore charming, but who do legitimately terrible things without guilt. In Remake, they are shown experiencing intense guilt and conflict over their mission to drop the Plate on Sector 7, knowing they have to do it out of their work ethic, but unable to make themselves do something so awful. Cloud, despite having No Social Skills, is even able to pick up on Reno's reluctance and calls his bluff on it, and Reno still isn't able to bring himself to do it.
- In the original, Reno was characterised as something of an incompetent blowhard, with three flunkies with him there to laugh at his jokes, hypocritically telling them not to step on the flowers after walking right through them himself, and then, thinking he's killed Aerith, remarking that she shouldn't have put up a fight. In Remake, he still has a big ego that motivates him, but it's more about rescuing his wounded pride after getting destroyed by a Phony Veteran than in abusing his power. When his men fire on Aerith in this version, he immediately reprimands them as his orders were to capture her alive.
- The Shinra Manager in the original stuck up for himself against Barret, but clearly hated his job and life. He was mostly seen (justifiably) whining about the increasingly awful travel and accommodation situations he had to endure as part of his work or getting owned by higher ranking employees in a Funny Background Event. In Remake, he's a true believer and sticks up for himself against Barret by unironically spouting corporate motivational catchphrases; he's also shown with a family he loves and works to look after.
- In Fire Emblem Gaiden, hero protagonist Alm was depicted as an All-Loving Hero that was merely fighting the kingdom of Rigel because he saw them as invaders to his home. When Alm appears in DLC for Fire Emblem: Awakening, this was turned upside-down by turning him into an almost exaggerated form of a Blood Knight. Come Shadows of Valentia, the remake of Gaiden, he was mostly turned back to his original interpretation of being calmer and less violent, though given some sterner moments in some instances, like blaming Clive for the events at the South Fortress before he learned the full story behind it.
- In The Great Giana Sisters, Giana is a cheeky teenager. In the Giana Sisters DS reboot, she is a cute cheerful child.
- Kirby's Avalanche for the SNES was Puyo Puyo (1992) with a Kirby coat of paint on it. Thus, it was handled by different people than the regular Kirby games, and since Kirby games have little dialogue and plot as it is, they had to make up a lot. As a result, Kirby (whose personality has since been tweaked to being little more than a toddler) is making dramatic anime-style speeches to his opponents or being a snarky little Jerkass with a big grin on his face; at one point he stomps on Whispy's root after being told not to do so, saying he's in the mood for apple pie.
- The Legend of Spyro: As a Darker and Edgier reboot of the Spyro the Dragon games, the trilogy ended up completely overhauling each of the three returning characters' personalities:
- Spyro himself goes from a cocky and arrogant, but still heroic Mascot with Attitude to a much more mature, serious, near-Paragon level hero. In addition, classic Spyro was uninterested in romance (though the Spyro Reignited Trilogy gave him subtle feelings for Elora), while LoS Spyro hooks up with a female dragon called Cynder by the end of the trilogy.
- Sparx remains Spyro's best friend, but he looks much more humanoid and goes from a capable ally who had his own levels in Spyro: Year of the Dragon to a pure Plucky Comic Relief. In addition, Sparx spoke entirely in buzzing in the classic series, but the LOS series made him Suddenly Speaking for the entire trilogy.
- Hunter functioned as a Plucky Comic Relief in the classic series (albeit one who gradually Took a Level in Badass), but the LOS series makes him a stoic Adaptational Badass who saves Spyro and Cynder a few times throughout the third game.
- In The Legend of Zelda series, the Zora are traditionally depicted as regal Fish Men, while the Gerudo are Desert Bandits (and in one case, pirates), respectively. Cadence of Hyrule, a Rogue like Spin-Off installment, abandons this in favor of making them a group of laid-back Surfer Dudes and a Desert Punk community of inquisitive scavenger-scientists, respectively.
- In the original Live A Live, the Bountiful Heart was a Depraved Bisexual who fought you because he was romantically interested in your party leader. In the remake, he's an overzealous Blood Knight who challenges your characters for the thrill of battle.
- A common trait to the Super Robot Wars series, as the different circumstances means that characters would develop differently than they did in their own shows. The Z series is famous for helping Shinn Asuka change from a rash, angry youth into a mature, young soldier. Other changes include Haman Khan being noticeably kinder than her show counterpart, as at several points she expresses genuine concern for Marida and Mineva's well-being. Though in the case of Mineva, Unicorn retroactively shows us that Haman had at least one Pet the Dog moment with Mineva in ZZ, likely due to Char calling her out in Zeta for her treatment of the girl. The SRW games just make the change in perspective apparent from the beginning.
- A more famous example that occurs in several SRW timelines is Shinji Ikari: Given the friendship, support, and respect he never attained in his home series, he goes from lonely and introverted to stable, cheerful, and open.
- In Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Gargoyle never knew that he was never from Atlantis but just a regular human being. In Super Robot Wars X, he does manage to figure out before he disintegrates and warns Nemo about the Keepers of Order.
- While it's hard to get a grasp on personalities in Super Smash Bros., some characters are still presented differently than they are in their home-series:
- Mario is presented as a far more serious individual than he is in Super Mario Bros.. He is a Perpetual Frowner and lacks his usual joviality.
- Luigi goes from being a heroic Cowardly Lion in his home series to an apathetic Butt-Monkey who is constantly sad and has a depressed-sounding voice. Even when later games try to make him seem more energetic as in his canonical depiction, he maintains the depressed tone in his voice.
- In F-Zero, Captain Falcon is rather stoic. In Smash, he is a Hot-Blooded Large Ham.
- Princess Peach is presented in a mildly Hotter and Sexier manner. Her chest is bigger and personality-wise she is more flirty and mischievous, in sharp contrast to her normal Purity Personified characterization. She also has some Ditzy Genius elements.
- While mostly true to his depiction in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link's Hair Flip taunt in Melee is unusual for him.
- Roy is, judging by his Kiai screams, much more Hot-Blooded than he is in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. In his case, it's justified due to that his game was still in development when he debuted in Melee, meaning his canon personality wasn't set in stone yet.
- A Lost in Translation example: in the English translation, some of Lucina's victory quotes (specifically "This is the Hero-King?" and "And they call you the Radiant Hero?", when she wins against Marth and Ike respectively) are delivered in a far more condescending way than she would ever act in Fire Emblem: Awakening, much less towards legendary heroes, or how the same lines are delivered in the Japanese version, which convey deep respect.
- Mega Man is presented as generally more robotic and stoic than he is in Mega Man (Classic). This extends to his design being less human-looking.
- Resident Evil 2 (Remake) does this to several members of the cast making them more realized and realistic characters instead of stoic 90s action heroes.
- Claire is a bit different from her 1998 counterpart. She's still looking for brother Chris and still cares about Sherry and Leon but this version of Claire swears like a sailor, gets aggressive and angry when upset (as seen with Annette), has flirtatious and awkward rapport with Leon and shows more enthusiasm about taking on giant eyeball monsters and Umbrella. She also comes close to tears after Elliot is ripped apart in front of her and apologies to his corpse for being unable to save him. Given Claire is only 19, this can be chalked up to Age-Appropriate Angst.
- Leon is also somewhat different from the original game, like Claire he tends F-Bomb when troubled and his more stoic than his naive 1998 version. The biggest change however is that Leon is far less gullible in the remake as seen when Ada uses her feminine wiles to manipulate him, in the original he is duped completely but in the remake Leon turns against Ada immediately when he learns from Annette that she's not a FBI agent and is notably quite pissed off. Remake Leon is also not above a few quips and even gives a Bring It to Mr X in the Final Battle.
- Robert Kendo was kinda sleazy (he hits on Claire) and a pretty unsympathetic loser in the original who gets devoured by zombies. In the remake Kendo is much more tragic as his daughter has been infected and he's utterly distraught his life has been ruined. It's even implied he takes his own life as well as mercy killing his daughter.
- Annette Birkin isn't a one-note Mad Scientist who's insanely loyal to husband's genius, she's horrified over what's happened to the city and is actually trying to destroy remaining T-Virus samples herself, which brings her into conflict with Ada who wants to steal them. Annette also cares greatly for her daughter Sherry in this version and claims her life is not Claire's concern and while she does write Sherry off as dead at one point she still saves her from infection at the end and apologizes for being a terrible mother, in the original Annette neglects Sherry throughout.
- Resident Evil 3 (Remake):
- Jill gets the most of this, even compared the aforementioned protagonists Leon and Claire. In the original Jill was cool and confident throughout the game displaying little angst beyond a hatred of Umbrella and a little sadness that the people of Raccoon City who didn’t have the strength to stop them. In the remake Jill is quite moody, swears at Carlos and has severe PTSD due to the Spencer Mansion incident and has nightmares about zombifying.
- Carlos was a Casanova Wannabe in the original and is bit of sucker later in the game after his machismo dries up. He’s also dismissive about the morality of working for Umbrella telling Jill "He’s just a mercenary". In the remake Carlos is incredibly professional and while he’s not above flirting with Jill he’s still quite respectful and admiring of her. His attitude towards Umbrella is different when he learns Jill was completely right about them and is ashamed of himself and the fact Jill trusted him regardless.
- Brad is a textbook Dirty Coward in the original game and shows no real concern for fellow S.T.A.R.S member Jill and only cares about his own skin when the zombies horde shows up. This makes his death at the spiked tentacle of Nemesis more karmic. In the remake Brad has a much braver personality, not only does he warn Jill about Nemesis’s attack but he also holds a door closed against the horde giving Jill a chance to escape and gets himself turned in the process.
- Nikolai was a stoic villain in the original, he’s pretty polite to Jill and even when showing his true colours is still fairly Affably Evil since he has nothing against Jill personally. In the remake Nikolai is a repulsive Smug Snake who delights in multiple Kick the Dog moments with Jill including locking a traincart so she can’t escape Nemesis, stomping her fingers when she’s dangling from a platform and destroying the cure to the T-Virus right in front of her.
- Tyrell from what little characterisation he gets in his one scene in the original is a paranoid grunt who threatens to kill Carlos in the hospital. In the remake he’s more likeable being Bash Brothers with Carlos and shows compassionate and selfless traits when he aids Jill in the finale before Nemesis kills him.
- The Shrek 2 game heavily modified Little Red Riding Hood's personality from how she was portrayed in the movie to justify making her a playable character. In the movie, she had little character beyond being afraid of ogres and otherwise appeared to be a normal little girl. In the game, she (now renamed Lil' Red) was reinvented as a spunky, sarcastic, tomboyish softball pitcher who isn't afraid to sass villains and is good friends with Shrek, Fiona and Donkey.
- When he created Spider-Man 2099, Peter David decided to make Miguel O'Hara a Contrasting Sequel Main Character, keeping quiet and being serious when as Spider-Man. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions presents its version of Miguel in a manner similar to most Peter Parker, quipping and making jokes in costume.
- Team Fortress 2: The comic generally tones down the characters' personalities (though the Soldier gets Flanderized) — Heavy and Spy go from a boisterous Blood Knight and a smarmy Jerkass (respectively) to being almost 100% serious, for example. The Catch-Up Comic
attributes these differences to the game being a documentary portraying the events of the comics. - Total War: Warhammer III:
- In tabletop material, the Great Unclean One Ku'gath Plaguefather is noted to be very dour and grim, in contrast to the normally jovial personalities of his kind, due to persisting feeling of guilt over having accidentally ruined Nurgle's greatest pox when he was still a Nurgling. Here, he is depicted as being as jolly and affable as all other Great Unclean Ones.
- In tabletop lore, Kairos Fateweaver has a single consciousness, and his two heads have a Knights and Knaves deal going: one head will speak the truth, the other will immediately follow up with an equally believable lie. In the game, Kairos acts as if he...they?...are conjoined twin Lords of Change; the heads debate each other, finish each other's sentences, refer to each other as "brother" and themselves in the plural, and don't seem to abide by the truth and lies aspect of his...their?...characterization.
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories: Due to the game being released before Battle City came out, Ishizu/Isis and Priest Seto are majorly different than their manga and anime counterparts.
