History Main / NonStandardCharacterDesign

** Thanks to [=TCNick3=] changing his [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tcnick3.png profile picture]] from a [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Piplup]] to [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tcnick3_2024.png an image of himself wearing his custom Daisy costume]] in 2024, Brent is now the only member of the group to not have an original avatar, as his [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_of_skill.png profile picture]] is simply a render of Reinhardt from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' with an edited smile and crown.

* LetsPlay/PartyCrashers:

* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' Toothless's design is less cartoony than the other dragons. He was always meant to stand out characterwise, by being of the rarest and most intelligent dragon species.

** Thanks to [=TCNick3=] changing his profile picture from a Piplup to an image of himself wearing his custom Daisy costume in 2024, Brent is now the only member of the group to not have an original avatar, as his [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/king_of_skill.png profile picture]] is simply a render of Reinhardt from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' with an edited smile and crown.

** Thanks to Nick changing his profile picture from a Piplup to an image of himself wearing his custom Daisy costume in 2024, Brent is now the only member of the group to not have an original avatar, as his profile picture is simply an image of Reinhardt's ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' render with an edited smile and crown.

* LetsPlay/PartyCrashers: Thanks to [=TCNick3=] changing his profile picture from a [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Piplup]] to an image of himself wearing his custom Daisy costume in 2024, Brent is now the only member of the group to not have an original avatar, as his profile picture is simply an image of Reinhardt from ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' with an edited smile and crown.

* Everyone in the ''ComicBook/{{Animorphs}}'' graphic novels has black eyebrows except Mr. Chapman, whose eyebrows are the same colour as his hair.
* Almost everyone in ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' has BlackBeadEyes on default. Kevin's most noticeable feature are his baby blue eyes, which make him really stand out from the others. He had black eyes in his first appearance but was redesigned later.
* This is how you tell if a character in an ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' comic is an ComicBookFantasyCasting version of a real person -- fictional characters are quite clean and grotesque-looking, but caricatures are a lot more realistic and detailed. Compare Boneywasawarriorwayayix (who was modelled after the editor of the magazine ''Asterix'' was originally printed in, ''Pilote''), Dubbleosix (a Sean Connery parody) and Spartakis (based on Kirk Douglas) to non-caricature characters like Fulliautomatix or Caligula Minus and the difference is obvious. This is occasionally really useful, since a lot of the "cameos" are French celebrities that no-one outside of France would identify.\\\

* Used in Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}}'s run on ''ComicBook/BlackPanther''. Future Panther (and his former companions Abner Little and Princess Zanda) are drawn in a distinctly [[http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Costello_Panther_3.jpg Kirbyesqe style.]] Other characters are drawn in a more modern style, highlighting how these three are in a very different world.
* The Bone cousins in ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' are drawn in a simpler, more cartoony style than the other characters. Unlike the other characters they also obey cartoon physics, most notably in a scene where Phoney Bone tries to hide a partly eaten pie by shoving it into Fone Bone's mouth and [[DinnerDeformation Fone Bone's head assumes the shape of the pie, complete with missing segment.]] They are also the ''first'' characters shown -- Thorn, the first human character, doesn't appear until chapter 2.
* The aardvarks in ''ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark'' are drawn in a cartoony style, with liberal use of zip-a-tone. Everything else, especially as the [[ArtEvolution art gets better]], is much more realistic and hard-edged, and zip-a-tone is used nowhere else.
* In the ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'' comic, ''The Quest for Kalevala'', Creator/DonRosa decided to draw [[Literature/TheKalevala Väinämöinen and Louhi]] with realistic human noses instead of [[{{Dogfaces}} the usual dog-noses reserved for supporting cast]]. In contrast, Elias Lönnrot, who is a historical character and not a character from ''Kalevala'', is drawn with a dog-nose.
* Tojo is a cub that appears in ''Franchise/TheLionKing'' comics, standing out among other cubs due to being one of the few lions with blue eyes.

* The black Cuban-Mexican protagonist in the Mexican comic book series ''ComicBook/MeminPinguin'' is drawn in a cartoony style while everyone else, including his three friends, is done in a far more realistic style.
* In ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'', whenever real people (or Franchise/{{Superman}}) show up, they're drawn with realistic faces, which contrasts with the usual characters looking cartoony. Then there's also the CrossOver with ''El Capitan Trueno'', where the Trueno characters get sometimes drawn in their original realistic style and sometimes look cartoony... and sometimes it's a mix... you can see why we don't like talking about that.
* In Fawcett and DC Comics' ''Captain Marvel[=/=]ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' series, characters designed by C.C. Beck (and Pete Constanza, working in Beck's style) generally tended to be much more cartoonish and simplified in appearance then those from Mac Raboy, Jack Binder, and other artists. Until the final issues of the 70's ''Shazam'' title, however, they were almost always drawn "on-model", particularly Billy with his classic BlackBeadEyes. The trend is most noticeable in [[http://cdn.coollinesartwork.com/Images/Category_2/subcat_43177/ShazamGoldenBookPgs67.jpg the finely detailed work of Kurt Schaffenberger,]] where Billy often looks bizarre and inhuman next to the realistic Freddy and Mary. When Don Newton took over as the main artist, he standardized Billy's look to match Mary and Freddy. Some non-DCU spin-off media (such as ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'') still use the Beck designs, even if the other characters are less cartoonish looking.

[[folder:Web Video]]

** Franky Franklin has a simplified design when compared with the other adult characters, having a squarish head, round eyes and solid black pupils, befitting his primary role as comic relief.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': Besides her unusual hair color, Anya's eyes are noticeably larger and more exaggerated compared to even the other child characters. Her eyes do slowly become less detailed as the manga goes on, with the focus instead switched towards giving her a number of exaggerated expressions.

* Xabungle of ''Anime/{{Xabungle}}'' and the [[MilitaryMashupMachine transformable landship]] Iron Gear's robot mode stick out like a sore thumb as humanoid robots in a world where nearly every other machine is of a TabletopGame/BattleTech-ish ChickenWalker type. Justified since they came from early drafts of the show, which was a more serious {{mecha}} series set in space.

** It had a hefty does of this due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. About two dozen of the game's earliest [[HumongousMecha BattleMech]] designs were licensed from Japanese studios (such as ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''), whose thin and generally more graceful lines stood in stark contrast with the boxy, WalkingTank-style American original designs. The difference became even more magnified as the [[ArtEvolution game adopted the chunky American aesthetic entirely]]. However, a [[ExecutiveMeddling legal fustercluck]] caused the designs to be dropped for almost a decade before being redesigned; they still look gangly, but not to the hilarious degree of the original designs.

** As it was one of the first titans ever produced, the Lucius Pattern Warhound suffers from a similar problem as the Defiler; namely it was boxy and much more mechanical looking than the more rounded, dog-headed Mars Pattern Warhound. Functionally the two are identical, but the aesthetic set by the Mars Pattern Warhound would later go on to influencing the design of the Reaver Titan and the (much smaller) Imperial Knight Titans. While a Lucius Pattern Reaver was produced, it was in epic scale (a 40k scale one was never made) and thus the Lucius pattern warhound remains the odd one out in the imperial lineup of titans. This is made all the more evident as the Lucius Warhound is much more easily scratch built than any of the other ones (due to it's blocky nature) so most people will more likely own one than the Mars pattern variants.

** The original Pohatu figure was only one with an inverted torso, so that he had a kicking action whereas the other Toa swung their arms. This carries over to his first Nuva form. He was also the first Bionicle to come with an accessory, namely a Systems rock that acted as a soccer ball for him.
** Besides the playsets, Tarakava are the only Bionicle sets to make extensive use of System bricks, namely in their brick-built midsection.
** Whereas most Bionicle beings have tribal-looking masks, robotic faces or animalistic heads, the Piraka have organic faces made out of rubber and bear big toothy, cartoony grins. The Toa Inika stand out in the same fashion, having rubber masks and actual mouth openings, sans Matoro and Kongu[[note]]though the latter still stands out for having what seems like a toothy sneer on his mask and being TwoFaced, making him the first non-Toa of Ice to have an asymmetric mask[[/note]]. InUniverse, this is due to the unique transformation of the Inika by the Red Star turning their masks into organic ones.

* In ''Manhua/CyberWeaponZ'', all the fighters in the Shaolin temple wear the same garments, except Rosaland. It may be because she's not officially part of the program. Another case is Bu-Kang who fills in for the role of the PluckyComicRelief and is earmarked that way by looking like [[Franchise/DragonBall Krillin]].

!!Example Subpages:

* NonStandardCharacterDesign/AnimeAndManga
* NonStandardCharacterDesign/ComicBooks
* [[NonStandardCharacterDesign/AnimatedFilms Films -- Animated]]

* NonStandardCharacterDesign/{{Webcomics}}

!!Other Examples:

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': The pupils of Careful S.'s eyes are designed differently from the other Supermen of his team. His look more like real-life eyes, having an iris and a pupil, whereas the other Supermen have just a simple black pupil with a highlight inside.

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* In ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'', only the two main characters are drawn with the well-recognizable pointy noses. Any disguises they wear have to include a mask for this reason (and the masks [[LatexPerfection somehow fit right over their noses]]).
* In ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'', Dick and the rest of the police are drawn fairly realistically -- but his relatives B.O. Plenty and Gravel Gertie are like Popeye characters. The crooks that Dick pursues are also freakish, but they're supposed to be freakish-looking in-universe.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'' once when Beetle appears in what turns out to be a DreamSequence [[HeroicBuild looking like a character from a superhero comic]]. Another time, a bunch of characters from other comics appear briefly, drawn as in the originals.
* In ''ComicStrip/PriscillasPop'', Hollyhock has a simple head and face design unlike the other humans.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'':
** By the mid 1950s, the characters have became more detailed while Charlie Brown still has the simple design he had from the start. Later, the other characters got simpler designs and this was no longer the case.
** Lucy was drawn with much more realistic eyes, however she got the BlackBeadEyes like everyone else later but with marks.
* ''Tillie the Toiler'': Mac is drawn rather cartoony compared to the semi-realistic style of the comic.

[[folder:EasternAnimation]]
* While the majority of the characters from ''Animation/AdventuresOfCaptainVrungel'' have exaggerated proportions mostly made up of circles, are very cartoony-looking, and are animated using paper-doll animation, the mob boss main antagonist, Chief, is almost always only shown with just the bottom half of his face, which is depicted as cel-animated lips and a cigar moving on top of a still painting rendered somewhat more realistically than the rest of the characters. [[spoiler: This was done to hide his true identity as [[EvilAllAlong Archibald Dandy]] of the Yacht Club, and when the camera cuts from a close-up of his face to showing his full body, the design fits in with the rest of the cast.]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
** Both Mike Meekins and Spark Brushel stand out as cartoony compared to the rest of the cast.
** Before ArtEvolution kicks in, Maya Fey looks very cartoony as well.
** In contrast to the bright colors and simple faces of everyone else, Detective Badd has drawn facial definition and much darker colors.
** Aristotle Means resembles a Greco-roman marble statue.
** ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit Of Justice]]'' spoilers: [[spoiler: [[GodSavesUsFromTheQueen Queen Ga'ran]], in her prosecutor outfit, resembles an ObviouslyEvil [[ArachnidAppearanceAndAttire spider-themed]] VainSorceress straight from a fantasy RPG.]]
* Monokuma in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' (and Usami in [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair the sequel]]) is drawn to look like a kawaii mascot without many details, whereas all the other characters have a more realistic pop-art manga-type look. There is also ([[RecurringElement traditionally]]) one character among each cast of characters who looks almost nothing like any of the other characters: [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc Hifumi Yamada]], [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair Teruteru Hanamura]], and [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Ryoma Hoshi]], respectively.
* All the bird characters in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' are represented by stock photographs of real birds. In ''Holiday Star'', the King is an extremely stylized watercolor painting of a bird that matches the fantasy world he lives in. [[spoiler: It's an early clue that [[FromNobodyToNightmare whatever he used to be]], [[EldritchAbomination he isn't any more]].]]
* In ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', the [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130214024943/katawashoujo/images/e/e4/Shopkeep.png owner of the antique shop]] who shows up in Lilly's and Hanako's routes has a more "painted" look to him, rather than the {{animesque}} design of the rest of the characters.
[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:350:No, this wasn't done with Photoshop. It's just that [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} this guy]] ''[[WrongGenreSavvy thinks]]'' he lives in a HotBlooded {{Shonen|Demographic}} {{anime}}.]]

Compare ArtShift (when the art itself shifts in style temporarily), ArtStyleDissonance (where the art intentionally clashes with tone of a work), MasculineLinesFeminineCurves (women tend to be drawn more realistically than men in many illustrated works), FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras (when the major characters look non-standard compared to the background characters) and ArtStyleClash (when a work uses different art styles to highlight conflict or themes). CartoonishCompanions, NoCartoonFish, and RealisticSpeciesCartoonySpecies are {{subtrope}}s. Sometimes EvilIsAngular can result in this if there's a heavily skewed hero/villain character ratio.

Compare ArtShift (when the art itself shifts in style temporarily), ArtStyleDissonance (where the art intentionally clashes with tone of a work), MasculineLinesFeminineCurves (women tend to be drawn more realistically than men in many illustrated works) and FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras (when the major characters look non-standard compared to the background characters). CartoonishCompanions, NoCartoonFish, and RealisticSpeciesCartoonySpecies are {{subtrope}}s. Sometimes EvilIsAngular can result in this if there's a heavily skewed hero/villain character ratio.

* In ''WebAnimation/ChiknNuggit'' all of the main characters are animals designed in chibi-esque style. So when [[FatherTime Bezel]] is introduced, he immediately stands out, with him being a tall humanoid in a purple and cyan suit with a clock for a head. His appearance gets [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] [[https://www.tiktok.com/@chikn.nuggit/video/7153672690019110187 a couple]] [[https://www.tiktok.com/@chikn.nuggit/video/7212660653041995051of times]] by [[SitcomArchNemesis Fwench Fwy]], who complains about them not picking a more fitting form to blend in like they did.

* In the ''Literature/{{Franklin}}'' books, most of the bird characters, such as Goose and Mr. Owl, are anthropomorphic, complete with FeatherFingers. The only exception is Hawk, who is a realistically-drawn red-tailed hawk.

** Lumpy is taller than the rest, and is one of the few characters to lack a heart-shaped nose. In addition, his hands don't turn mitten-esque like the other animals and has simple beady black pupils rather than the traditional PieEyed pupils. Furthermore, his popsicle stick head and bulbous nose sticks out amongst the rounded oval-esque faces of the other characters.

* Lumpy from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' is taller than the rest, and is one of the few characters to lack a heart-shaped nose. In addition, his hands don't turn mitten-esque like the other animals and has simple beady black pupils rather than the traditional PieEyed pupils. Furthermore, his popsicle stick head and bulbous nose sticks out amongst the rounded oval-esque faces of the other characters.

** ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit Of Justice]]'' spoilers: [[spoiler: [[GodSavesUsFromTheQueen Queen Ga'ran]], in her prosecutor outfit, resembles an ObvioslyEvil [[ArachnidAppearanceAndAttire spider-themed]] VainSorceress straight from a fantasy RPG.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:No, this wasn't done with Photoshop. It's just that [[CloudCuckooLander this guy]] [[WrongGenreSavvy thinks]] he lives in a ''HotBlooded'' {{Shonen|Demographic}} {{anime}}.]]

*** Lesovikk, contains the only Toa to use the light-up Piraka eye/brain piece instead of the usual Toa piece.

** In general, this is going to be a problem with anyone using something from another set to fill in for a missing piece. It's less of a problem during playtime, when all of your sets will likely be mixed up.

** Two of the titans from the 2007 line, Gadunka and Maxilos, had custom designed bodies. Maxilos, being a fully robotic character in a world of Bio{{mechanical Lifeforms}}, had a hollow body with more articulation than most sets, and Gadunka, being [[MakeMyMonsterGrow an enlarged Rahi]], had a huge head on a squat body made from three Toa torso pieces and a Matoran body piece arranged triangularly.
*** While not as much, fellow 2007 titan Hydraxon has individual fingers similar to Axonn, this time made from a minifig arm piece common in the playsets and ''Toys/LEGOExoForce'' and the small claw/tooth piece as the fingernails.
*** [[RuleOfThree Another]] 2007 titan set, Lesovikk, contains the only Toa to use the Piraka eye/brain piece instead of the usual Toa piece.

Compare ArtShift (when the art itself shifts in style temporarily), MasculineLinesFeminineCurves (women tend to be drawn more realistically than men in many illustrated works) and FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras (when the major characters look non-standard compared to the background characters). CartoonishCompanions, NoCartoonFish, and RealisticSpeciesCartoonySpecies are {{subtrope}}s. Sometimes EvilIsAngular can result in this if there's a heavily skewed hero/villain character ratio.