History DependingOnTheWriter / VideoGames

* Nero in the ''Franchise/FateSeries'' ranges heavily. She presents herself as a cheerful, [[BoisterousBruiser boisterous]], [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething battle-ready Emperor]] [[HundredPercentAdorationRating who is loved by all]] and drips with AwesomeEgo. In some appearances, this is mostly a front for her massive InferioritySuperiorityComplex and her guilt over her [[MyGreatestFailure complete failure]] as a ruler. In others, it's taken at face value.

*** On a side note, different forms of media change what sort of breath the Manaketes breath which is depicted as blue ''stuff'' in-game. Aforementioned game conversations describe them as fireballs, while the promotional comics sometimes depict it as ice breath.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' offers two contradictory Pokédex entries for Araquanid. While ''Moon'''s entry describes it as a NonMaliciousMonster who brings weak Pokémon into its water bubble for safety, in ''Sun'' it notes that small Pokémon that enter said water bubble ''[[CruelAndUnusualDeath drown]]'', implying that's how it hunts its prey.

** Luigi's personality generally contrasts his brother's (clumsy and timid everyman rather than athletic and brave hero), the ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' games and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games are the most notable ones with this portrayal, but some games scrap this for a more adventurous Luigi who can be foolhardier than his brother, most notably the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series. And in the very earliest games prior to his DivergentCharacterEvolution, he showed no signs of being either.

* While this happens a lot in any RPG with multiple endings/plotlines over multiple games, special mention goes to the KnightsOfTheOldRepublic series, which went from a single-player game where the player could end up with half a dozen versions of Revan, to an MMO where there was only one version of Revan, which was supposed to loosely correspond to the first game's light side path with caster abilities (something that was mechanically discouraged to begin with, since the light side powers focused on melee buffs in the first game) but in fact resembles no version of the character the first game could produce in any way. The Watsonian explanation was that in the time-jump after the first game he recovered the rest of his memories, and is now effectively a master of ''both'' sides of the force (and has gone completely mad for unrelated reasons). It becomes a plot point in his own expansion story; after he died for real he generates two Force Ghosts with completely different personalities, one light side and one dark side, neither one of which matches the one he had in earlier appearances in the same game.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' has a pretty bad case of this, due in no part to how long the series has been in business. There have been numerous writers working on the series, and most of them don't seem to coincide considering the widely differing characterizations the cast have had between games. And this isn't even getting into [[ComicBook/SonicTheComic the]] [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog many]], [[WesternAnimation/SonicSATAM many]], [[WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground different]], [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog adaptations]] [[Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie through]] the series` run. To give a few examples:
** Depictions of Amy vary wildly. Sometimes she's a normal girl who has a rather affectionate crush on eponymous hero, but still cares about her friends and their well-being. Other times, she's an obsessive and clingy StalkerWithACrush who thinks about nothing but Sonic, threatens people with violence when they don't inform her of his whereabouts, and may even ''hallucinate'' that he's around when he isn't.
** In the 90's, Knuckles was the chuckling, mischievous rival to Sonic. In the first half of the 2000s, he was the no nonsense AloofAlly to Sonic, and nowadays he's the DumbMuscle UnknownRival to Sonic. Makes you wonder where he'll be in the next couple of years.
** Even Sonic himself gets this; sometimes he's more of a straight laced NiceGuy, other times he's a cocky braggart. This is most noticeable when comparing his westernized TotallyRadical persona to the laid-back one depicted in ''Adventure''. Recent games have reached a middle ground due to many fans missing his cockier persona.

** Dr. Eggman's portrayal also varies widely. Sometimes he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who genuinely wants to make the world a better place. Other times, he's merely a PragmaticVillain who wants to keep the world intact so he can rule. Still other times, he's one hair short of an OmnicidalManiac who would trigger near-apocalyptic events just to rule over the few survivors.

** Bowser is often like this. While other characters change personality in most adaptations and spinoffs as well, Bowser is a character who's completely different between the main series and many spinoffs. In the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Main Platformers]], he's a competent EvilOverlord and CardCarryingVillain. In the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series he can be anything from a BoisterousWeakling who's only truly competent when he's working with the [[GoodIsNotDumb good guys]] to a competent if blunt BoisterousBruiser [[AFatherToHisMen father to his men]] whose only defeats are delivered by the brothers themselves. In the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series he's a NobleDemon with an unrequited crush on the Princess and doesn't like it when other villains [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou infringe on his territory]]. ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' has him as an AttentionWhore CardCarryingVillain who's only capable of PokeThePoodle levels on villainy and who [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex probably just wants to be loved]]. In VideoGame/SuperSmashBros, he's a terrifying monster with little if any humor to him at all. Other spinoffs tend to have him as a FriendlyEnemy of Mario's. The cartoons and anime series vary his personality per episode, and his size varies between appearances.

** Luigi's personality generally contrasts his brother's (clumsy and timid rather than athletic and brave), the ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' games and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games are the most notable ones with this portrayal, but some games scrap this for a more adventurous Luigi who can be foolhardier than his brother, most notably the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series.

** What is "Super Mario"? It changes a lot really. Sometimes Mario's normal form is "small Mario" and he becomes a giant with a Super Mushroom and other games have "Super Mario" being the default and "small Mario" being him shrunk down.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has had this happen - often with certain [[InternetBackdraft controversial]] faction leaders or characters...

** The cast of shipgirls, despite being the game's focus, is also prone to very different interpretations, since each only has a small set of lines and many of their current traits derive from {{Fanon}}. Perhaps the worst is Kitakami: she can be a stoic warrior, a cunning tactician, a cranky loner, a {{Gadfly}}, or an outright bully towards Abukuma[[note]]Referencing a collision between the two ships that left Abukuma disabled[[/note]].

* In ''Franchise/DevilMayCry'' Trish’s personality as Dante’s partner was somewhat different in Kamiya’s vision when portrayed in ''Viewtiful Joe''; Trish was more of a traditional partner who follows the hero, Dante, being the voice of reason and expressing deep concern for him, coupled with jokes that Trish was being too “motherly”. Trish in Itsuno’s vision, and effectively the canon version of Trish as it stands, is more of a playful independent spirit, who while undoubtedly loyal to Dante she isn’t above playing tricks and teasing him, such as increasing his debt and delivering Sparda right onto the enemies hands to make things more fun; still Dante has also been adjusted accordingly, being able to take all of Trish’s playfulness.

** Peach's character changes quite a bit: ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' casts her mostly as a Cloudcuckoolander, whereas in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' she's a DeadpanSnarker, and other games place her at various points in between. She also flip-flops between PrincessClassic and RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething, in large part depending whether she is a playable character.

* In ''Franchise/DevilMayCry'' Trish’s personality as Dante’s partner was somewhat different in Kamiya’s vision when portrayed in ''Viewtiful Joe 2''; Trish was more of a traditional partner who follows the hero, Dante, being the voice of reason and expressing deep concern for him, coupled with jokes that Trish was being too “motherly”. Trish in Itsuno’s vision, and effectively the canon version of Trish as it stands, is more of a playful independent spirit, who while undoubtedly loyal to Dante she isn’t above playing tricks and teasing him, such as increasing his debt and delivering Sparda right onto the enemies hands to make things more fun; still Dante has also been adjusted accordingly, being able to take all of Trish’s playfulness.

* VideoGame/CarmenSandiego varies between FriendlyEnemy, CardCarryingVillain and everywhere in between. Especially notable is her portrayal in the ''WesternAnimation/WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'' cartoon, which took her to such {{Anti Villain}}ous levels that by the show's end she was teaming up with the heroes to take down "real" bad guys with regularity. She even once saved the heroes, supposedly because it's not a game if there's no one to play against.

** Bowser is often like this. While other characters change personality in most adaptations and spinoffs as well, Bowser is a character who's completely different between the main series and many spinoffs. In the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Main Platformers]], he's a competent EvilOverlord and CardCarryingVillain. In the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series he can be anything from a BoisterousWeakling who's only truly competent when he's working with the [[GoodIsNotDumb good guys]] to a competent if blunt BoisterousBruiser [[AFatherToHisMen father to his men]] whose only defeats are delivered by the brothers themselves. In the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series he's a NobleDemon with an unrequited crush on the Princess and doesn't like it when other villains [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou infringe on his territory]]. ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' has him as an AttentionWhore CardCarryingVillain who's only capable of PokeThePoodle levels on villainy and who [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex probably just wants to be loved]]. In Franchise/SuperSmashBros, he's a terrifying monster with little if any humor to him at all. Other spinoffs tend to have him as a FriendlyEnemy of Mario's. The cartoons and anime series vary his personality per episode, and his size varies between appearances.

** Bowser is often like this. While other characters change personality in most adaptations and spinoffs as well, Bowser is a character who's completely different between the main series and many spinoffs. In the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Main Platformers]], he's a competent EvilOverlord and CardCarryingVillain. In the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series he can be anything from a BoisterousWeakling who's only truly competent when he's working with the [[GoodIsNotDumb good guys]] to a competent if blunt BoisterousBruiser [[AFatherToHisMen father to his men]] whose only defeats are delivered by the brothers themselves. In the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series he's a NobleDemon with an unrequited crush on the Princess and doesn't like it when other villains [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou infringe on his territory]]. ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' has him as an AttentionWhore CardCarryingVillain who's only capable of PokeThePoodle levels on villainy and who [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex probably just wants to be loved]]. Other spinoffs tend to have him as a FriendlyEnemy of Mario's. The cartoons and anime series vary his personality per episode, and his size varies between appearances.

** [[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Leon Magnus]] suffers from a lack of consistent personality. In the original PSX game he was a JerkAss AntiVillain played somewhat sympathetically due to his abused background. In [[VideoGame/TalesOfTheWorld Radiant Mythology 1]] he stayed relatively similar, but after the appearance of [[spoiler: Judas]] in ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'' writers began giving him more [[spoiler: Judas-like]] traits and making [[spoiler: Judas]] have a sharper temper akin to Leon's. This got to the point where in the PS2 remake Leon is made into much more of a JerkWithAHeartOfGold DefrostingIceQueen rather than an angry nihilist... But then ''VideoGame/TalesOfLink'' uses a characterization closer to the PSX version!

* While this happens a lot in any RPG with multiple endings/plotlines over multiple games, special mention goes to the KnightsOfTheOldRepublic series, which went from a single-player game where the player could end up with half a dozen versions of Revan, to an MMO where there was only one version of Revan, which was supposed to loosely correspond to the first game's light side path with caster abilities (something that was mechanically discouraged to begin with, since the light side powers focused on melee buffs in the first game) but in fact resembles no version of the character the first game could produce in any way. The Watsonian explanation was that in the time-jump after the first game he recovered the rest of his memories, and is now effectively a master of ''both'' sides of the force (and has gone completely mad for unrelated reasons).

** Bowser is often like this. While other characters change personality in most adaptations and spinoffs as well, Bowser is a character who's completely different between the main series and many spinoffs. In the [[SuperMarioBros Main Platformers]], he's a competent EvilOverlord and CardCarryingVillain. In the VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi series he can be anything from a BoisterousWeakling who's only truly competent when he's working with the [[GoodIsNotDumb good guys]] to a competent if blunt BoisterousBruiser [[AFatherToHisMen father to his men]] whose only defeats are delivered by the brothers themselves. In the VideoGame/PaperMario series he's a NobleDemon with an unrequited crush on the Princess and doesn't like it when other villains [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou infringe on his territory]]. VideoGame/MarioParty has him as an AttentionWhore CardCarryingVillain who's only capable of PokeThePoodle levels on villainy and who [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex probably just wants to be loved]]. Other spinoffs tend to have him as a FriendlyEnemy of Mario's. The cartoons and anime series vary his personality per episode, and his size varies between appearances.

** Some of the Koopalings personalities also vary a bit. In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'', the first game to give them speech, Roy is BookDumb, Ludwig is a SmallNameBigEgo and Morton comes across as OnlySaneMan. The [[VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash next game]] to feature them however portrays Morton as the DumbMuscle who uses HulkSpeak, Roy as DangerouslyGenreSavvy and Ludwig as a GadgeteerGenius.

** Some of the Koopalings personalities also vary a bit. In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'', the first game to give them speech, Roy is BookDumb, Ludwig is a SmallNameBigEgo and Morton comes across as OnlySaneMan. The [[VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash next game]] to feature them owever portrays Morton as the DumbMuscle who uses HulkSpeak, Roy as DangerouslyGenreSavvy and Ludwig as a GadgeteerGenius.

** In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', the game's main villain Kefka Palazzo was presented as a PsychopathicManchild and TheFool. When [[{{Woolseyism}} Ted Woolsey]] translated the game for English-speaking audiences, he emphasized the character's hatred and sadism while keeping his sense of humour, which resulted in Kefka becoming much more popular in English-speaking regions (and probably had a large amount to do with why Final Fantasy VI itself is much more popular in English-speaking regions than it is in Japan). This would in turn influence his portrayal in all versions of ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''.
** Depending on which one of his appearances it is, Cloud Strife of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' can be a cocky-funny and self-centred young man with a hidden vulnerable side, a genuinely cold and dramatic NinetiesAntiHero, or a stoic secretly plagued with deep emotion. Cloud's Japanese voice actor opined in ''Ultimania'' that, while there are parts of Cloud that remain constant, he considers him a different character in every appearance. Both ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' and ''VideoGame/BeforeCrisis'' are prequels which show us very different interpretations of the teenage Cloud; in ''Crisis Core'' he's a sweet, boyish NiceGuy who is shy about his affection for Zack, and in ''Before Crisis'' he's a much more aggressive and troubled teenager who ignores his superiors' orders and gets into danger out of desperation to prove himself.

* In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', the game's main villain Kefka Palazzo was presented as a PsychopathicManchild and TheFool. When [[{{Woolseyism}} Ted Woolsey]] translated the game for English-speaking audiences, he emphasized the character's hatred and sadism while keeping his sense of humour, which resulted in Kefka becoming much more popular in English-speaking regions (and probably had a large amount to do with why Final Fantasy VI itself is much more popular in English-speaking regions than it is in Japan). This would in turn influence his portrayal in all versions of ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''.

** Luigi's personality generally contrasts his brother's (clumsy and timid rather than athletic and brave), the ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' games and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games are the most notable ones with this portrayal, but some games scrap this for a more adventurous Luigi who can be fool hardier than his brother, most notably the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series.
** Whether or not Luigi is a HeroicMime is another deal: In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' and the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series he has full dialogue, while the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series he simply speaks Italian sounding {{Simlish}} like his brother.

** The Horde as a whole seems to have a problem with this. In Warcraft I and II, the orcs were typical AlwaysChaoticEvil fantasy orcs. Warcraft III expanded their history to explain why they were so evil in the past, and partially served as a redemption story for the orcs and the Horde as a whole. This was all well and good, but the way it's been handled since has been inconsistent. Sometimes the pre-corruption orcs are portrayed as good and noble and were deeply deceived. Sometimes the pre-corruption orcs are portrayed as warmongers nearly indistinguishable from their corrupted selves, even as we're told they're simply tragic heroes. From one minute to another, the Horde can claim that they're only fighting out of desperation to defend their homes, to itching to pick fights with and bathe in the blood of passive neighbors. The main problem seems to stem from wanting to continue showing the Horde as the barbaric, bloodthirsty faction that thirsts for a good kill and a good death, even after their redemption and return to peaceful ways. A lot of times, the differences are clearly between the writers of the main plots and the writers of the quests and world content. In Warlords of Draenor, where we see most of the orcs still become ruthless conquerors without the corruption, even the still good Frostwolf orcs have NPCs that threaten to do horrible things to Alliance characters for no reason (note that in this timeline, the only experience the Frostwolves have with the Alliance are the Alliance rescuing their people from a mutual enemy). Meanwhile, the leader of the Frostwolves is treated like a mutual hero who is friends to both sides in all of the story content.

* While this happens a lot in any RPG with multiple endings/plotlines over multiple games, special mention goes to the KnightsOfTheOldRepublic series, which went from a single-player game where the player could end up with half a dozen versions of Revan, to an MMO where there was only one version of Revan, which was supposed to loosely correspond to the first game's light side path with caster abilities (something that was mechanically discouraged to begin with, since the light side powers focused on melee buffs in the first game) but in fact resembles no version of the character the first game could produce in any way. The Watsonian explanation was that in the time-jump after the first game he recovered the rest of his memories, and is now effectively a master of ''both'' sides of the force (and has gone completely mad for unrelated reasons).