History Main / ArtworkAndGameGraphicsSegregation

* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'' and its remake, Ramus clearly has brown hair in cutscenes and portraits but his sprite has dark blue hair.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'': Richter Belmont's sprites in-game depict him with short hair, similar to his previous appearance in Dracula X. However, his artwork (and even his in-game portrait) show him to have at least shoulder-length hair and be wearing a completely different outfit with a BadassLongcoat, reflecting the TimeSkip that occurs after the prologue. The UpdatedRerelease for UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn redrew his sprites in the main scenario to better match his artwork.

*** The Bulbasaur family feature bluish-teal skin in official art, but bright yellow-green in-game. Additionally, Bulbasaur's bulb is the same color as its skin in-game, a trait carried over from its UsefulNotes/SuperGameBoy sprites in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue''.

** ''VideoGame/MarioBros'': In the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 port, the official artwork depicts Mario in a white cap & overalls with a red shirt and Luigi in a beige cap & overalls with a brown shirt. In-game, Mario wears blue with a brown shirt, while Luigi wears green with a brown shirt.

*** In official artwork, Mario wears a red cap & overalls with a blue shirt, yet wears a brown shirt in-game. Meanwhile, Luigi has no official artwork, and consequently wears white with a green shirt to match his artwork from the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 port of ''VideoGame/MarioBros''. ''Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.'' would riff on this by featuring a number of sleep mode screens where Mario and Luigi are colored identically to their in-game sprites.

** In the original ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'', the only official artwork of Mario (mostly recycled from ''VideoGame/MarioGolf'') uses his UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 design, when his in-game model uses his UsefulNotes/GameCube re-design.

!!Examples of this trope in action include the following:

* Despite Marth receiving a redesign in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'', his battle sprite in Book 2 still depicts Marth's appearance from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', pantsless and all. While his portrait in Book 1 resembles his original appearance, his portrait in Book 2 closely resembles his redesign, so it is likely a case of graphical oversight.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'': Lyn's battle sprite as a Lord depicts her with long sleeves, even though she has short sleeves in her official art. Her battle sprite as Blade Lord correctly depicts her with short sleeves.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'':
*** Although this iteration of Link is firmly established as a brunette nowadays, period materials would occasionally [[AdaptationDyeJob depict him as a blonde]]. Most official art depicts this as a very light shade of brown, so it's likely that most printed materials either got confused, couldn't match the tone with a limited ink palette, or both.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames The Legend of Zelda CD-i Games]]'', specifically ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'', depict their respective heroes on the cover with artwork matching the contemporary ''A Link to the Past''. The in-game graphics, however, play a bit more [[DerangedAnimation loose]] with their designs, and Zelda never wears the the long dress from the cover art in either game.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', promotional artwork depicts Link with a sash across his chest for his scabbard. However, his in-game model just has his scabbard [[SticksToTheBack inexplicably stick to his back, with no strap]]. The sash was added in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' and later back into ''Ocarina'' via the 3D remake.
* In the original ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'', the only official artwork of Mario (mostly recycled from ''VideoGame/MarioGolf'') uses his UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 design, when his in-game model uses his UsefulNotes/GameCube re-design.

* ''Franchise/MegaMan'': Sometimes in the NES games, the alternate color schemes for Mega Man's weapons would look different in-game than in official art.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
** ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'':
*** Ninten's clay model depicts him in a striped blue and yellow shirt. However, his in-game sprite only features a single black stripe, changed to peach in the international version.
*** Queen Mary's official art depicts her in a small gold tiara and an elaborate pink dress. Due to graphical limitations, her in-game sprite depicts her in a simplistic pink gown with a matching large pink crown.
*** Teddy's in-battle sprite depicts him with a small tattoo on his left bicep, which is absent from his clay model.
*** Official illustrations of the Flying Men showcase them wearing red overalls; their in-game sprites, meanwhile, wear pink overalls, despite the fact that their hair and beaks are still red. Their sprites in ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'', for comparison, correctly depict their overalls as red.
** ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'':
*** When Nintendo of America was localizing ''Mother 2'' into ''[=EarthBound=]'', they made their own versions of Ness and Paula's clay model art. While the original artwork is faithful to their in-game appearances, the US artwork for the two differ in several ways: for one thing, they were both made taller than Jeff and Poo (possibly due to them both being [[AgeLift aged-up to 13]] as they were both in the 11-12 range in the Japanese version). Paula lost her bow, possibly in an attempt to make her look less feminine, Ness's hat is flipped the other way, the tuft of hair sticking out of his hat is now pointing left and made spikier (it was pointed downward and more rounded in the Japanese version), and [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore he wears a slightly more serious expression on his face.]] Nintendo did not change their sprites in the game proper to match the new artwork.
*** Paula is depicted with a hand-bag in all of her artwork that is never seen in-game.
*** Pokey Minch's official artwork, based on his appearance at the start of the game, features him wearing baggy blue shorts held up by a single suspender. His appropriate in-game sprite, however, depicts him wearing overalls with both suspenders up. This would go on to influence [[spoiler:his design in ''VideoGame/Mother3'', which features him wearing overalls like his sprite in ''[=EarthBound=]'']].
*** Picky Minch's clay model depicts him with a large "P" on his shirt. His in-game sprite, however, features an "M" to better fit within the constraints of the game's downward walking animation, which takes the forward-facing sprite and horizontally flips it back and forth. Meanwhile, his hand-drawn artwork features a completely different outfit, depicting him in black pants, a blank black shirt, pink shoes, and a pink bib (his clay model and sprite, for comparison, show him wearing a black tee shirt, blue shorts, and blue shoes).
*** Frankie Fly's clay model and in-game sprite are mirrored versions of one another, which affects the positioning of his knives and the buttons on his suit jacket. In addition, his clay model wears a solid red suit compared to his sprite's pinstripe suit and his sprite lacks the knife-shaped pendant that his clay model wears.
*** Mr. Carpainter's sprite is a mirrored version of his clay model. Consequently, while his clay model depicts him holding his paintbrush in his right hand and pointing to it with his left, his sprite holds his paintbrush in his left and points to it with his right. Additionally, his clay model wears a black tie that blends in with his shirt, while his sprite wears a yellow tie.
*** Master Belch's clay model is blue with a dark green coat of slime on the back of his head. His in-game sprites, meanwhile, depict him as a solid teal-green.
*** The Mani Mani Statue's clay model depicts it with a metallic gold surface, which is accurately conveyed on its overworld sprites. However, its battle sprite depicts it with a neon pink and purple sheen; its proper gold coloration is instead possessed by Ness' Nightmare, which takes the Mani Mani Statue's form.
*** The Pogo Punk's pogo stick is depicted as a large blade in his clay model, while his sprite depicts it as a large spike.
*** The Worthless Protoplasm is depicted as grayish-pink in its official artwork, but its in-game sprite is bluish-purple.
*** The Ghost of Starman's in-game sprite depicts it with a pink aura, a glowing pink visor, and a pink emblem on its chest. Its clay model, meanwhile, lacks the glow and features a black visor and a red emblem.
*** The Teddy Bear is depicted with orange fur and a white muzzle in its official artwork, while its in-game sprite sports burgundy fur and a dark pink muzzle.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wario}}'':
** ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3'':
*** Minotaur's artwork depicts a skull tattoo on his bicep, which is absent from his in-game sprite. For comparison, the other bosses with this marking, Spike Koopa and Penguin, do feature it on their sprites.
*** Genie's official art depicts him as fair-skinned and wearing a red hat, a red vest with no trim, red pants, and bracelets the same color as his skin. In-game, meanwhile, he has dark skin (using the same shade of gray as his vest), his vest has a white trim, and he wears a white hat, black pants, and white bracelets.
** ''VideoGame/VirtualBoyWarioLand'': Various pieces of official art depict Wario wearing his plumber's cap from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins''; in-game, meanwhile, he is only ever seen in his pith helmet from ''VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3''.
** ''VideoGame/WarioLandII'':
*** In the Game Boy Color version, Wario's transformations all tint him a specific color (such as Bouncy Wario being blue, Hot Wario being red, and Dizzy Wario being purple); the official art for these forms, meanwhile, depict him using the exact same color scheme as his normal form.
*** Hen's official art depicts her with a large pair of NonMammalMammaries; in-game, however, her chest is no larger than the average chicken.
** ''VideoGame/WarioLand3'':
*** Wario is depicted in official artwork with his usual yellow hat and shirt and purple overalls. In-game, however, he wears black overalls over white clothes due to palette limitations. The sole exception is his close-up on the results screen, which features him in his typical color scheme.
*** The official art for Vampire Wario shows him with yellow sclerae and black pupils; his sprite, meanwhile, depicts him with black sclerae and yellow pupils.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDiGames The Legend of Zelda CD-i Games]]'', specifically ''Link: The Faces of Evil'' and ''Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon'', depict their respective heroes on the cover with artwork matching the contemporary ''A Link to the Past''. The in-game graphics, however, play a bit more [[DerangedAnimation loose]] with their designs.

*** Salamence is shown to be the same shade of blue as its base form Bagon in official art, but the in-game sprites make it purple instead.

* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'': In Kim Kitsuragi's character portrait, he wears his jacket zipped up. His in-game model however wears the jacket unzipped.

* ''VideoGame/DragonRage'': [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]], The artwork one can find on the game's box art resembles Cael in gameplay, but not the [[{{Cutscene}} cutscenes]].

*** Famously, the color of Link's hair in this game. He appears dirty blonde in official artwork, but pink in-game. There have been theories for why this is, ranging from graphical limitations to consistency with his pink bunny form later on, but all of this has been disproven.

*** Aghanim's robes are portrayed as green in-game but are depicted as red in all other media.

** The color scheme for Metal Blade in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' is supposed to be brown and yellow, but appears brown and tan.
** Similarly, Top Spin in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' is supposed to be gray and yellow, but appears gray and tan in-game.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'':

*** Yoshi has orange arms in-game, while his official artwork and all future appearances would depict him with green arms. ''Super Mario Advance 2'' and the ''Super Mario Maker'' games would recolor his arms green.

* ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'':
** When Nintendo of America was localizing ''Mother 2'' into ''[=EarthBound=]'', they made their own versions of Ness and Paula's clay model art. While the original artwork is faithful to their in-game appearances, the US artwork for the two differ in several ways: for one thing, they were both made taller than Jeff and Poo (possibly due to them both being [[AgeLift aged-up to 13]] as they were both in the 11-12 range in the Japanese version). Paula lost her bow, possibly in an attempt to make her look less feminine, Ness's hat is flipped the other way, the tuft of hair sticking out of his hat is now pointing left and made spikier (it was pointed downward and more rounded in the Japanese version), and [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore he wears a slightly more serious expression on his face.]] Nintendo did not change their sprites in the game proper to match the new artwork.
** Paula is depicted with a hand-bag in all of her artwork that is never seen in-game.
** Pokey's official artwork, based on his appearance at the start of the game, features him wearing baggy blue shorts held up by a single suspender. His appropriate in-game sprite, however, depicts him wearing overalls with both suspenders up.
** Master Belch's clay model is blue with a dark green coat of slime on the back of his head. His in-game sprites, meanwhile, depict him as a solid teal-green.
** The Worthless Protoplasm is depicted as grayish-pink in its official artwork, but its in-game sprite is bluish-purple.
** The Ghost of Starman's in-game sprite depicts it with a pink aura, a glowing pink visor, and a pink emblem on its chest. Its clay model, meanwhile, lacks the glow and features a black visor and a red emblem.

* Promotional artwork and tie-in media of ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'' depict Jacket's signature varsity jacket as brown with beige sleeves, but in the game itself, it appears to be yellow with white sleeves.

** Ayla is shown with a [[PrimitiveClubs club]], despite in-game being a BareFistedMonk.
** Robo has what appears to be an {{arm cannon}} in artwork, but has two hands in-game, and his primary weapon is his fists.

*** Kirby's official art in the game's manual depicts him with small BlushStickers consisting of two hatched lines. However, his cheeks are blank in-game (as is also the case on the Japanese box art and cartridge label), even during the game's ending, which features a close enough view of Kirby to potentially make these markings visible.

*** The game's US box art depicts Gordo as having a mouth, which is absent from its in-game sprite.

*** Mario and Luigi are shown wearing blue overalls in official art, but on their in-game sprites, their overalls are black. In Battle Mode, meanwhile, Mario's overalls are the proper shade of blue, but Luigi's are teal. Due to palette limitations, the colors of their overalls also carry over to their hair and mustaches, which are black in-game.

** Ayla is shown with a club, despite in-game being a BareFistedMonk.
** Robo has what appears to be an arm cannon in artwork, but has two hands in-game, and his primary weapon is his fists.

** On the game's cover art, Marle is seen using fire magic to enchant Crono's sword; in-game, Marle casts ice magic.

** Ayla is shown with a club, despite in-game being a BareFistedMonk

*** Salamence is shown to be the same shade of blue as its base form Bagon in official art, but the in-game sprites make him purple instead.

* ''[[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 EarthBound]]'':

** Aside from that, Paula is depicted with a hand-bag in all of her artwork that is never seen in-game.

* When Nintendo of America was localizing ''Mother 2'' into ''[[VideoGame/EarthBound1994 EarthBound]]'', they made their own versions of Ness and Paula's clay model art. While the original artwork is faithful to their in-game appearances, the US artwork for the two differ in several ways: for one thing, they were both made taller than Jeff and Poo (possibly due to them both being [[AgeLift aged-up to 13]] as they were both in the 11-12 range in the Japanese version). Paula lost her bow, possibly in an attempt to make her look less feminine, Ness's hat is flipped the other way, the tuft of hair sticking out of his hat is now pointing left and made spikier (it was pointed downward and more rounded in the Japanese version), and [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore he wears a slightly more serious expression on his face.]] Nintendo did not change their sprites in the game proper to match the new artwork.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'': Bowser's official artwork depicts him with his standard orange skin color, but due to a developer oversight, his skin is the same shade of green as his shell. Graphic designer Shigefumi Hino openly regretted this mistake, stating that he especially felt bad about it due to Bowser being a central character in the game. Consequently, the ''Super Mario World'' mode in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker2'' features new Bowser sprites based on his modern design.