Creating a truly memorable video game character takes more work than just the right look at
the right time, and even the most talented character artists rarely nail things the first
time around.
Like the rest of game development, character design is an iterative process.
You try something, test it, and then refine and revise until it works.
And thank goodness the early concepts for these now-iconic characters went through the
revision process, 'cause some of them… just… oof.
If you play a lot of video games, you absolutely know the following men, women, and assorted
creatures - but you probably wouldn't recognize them based on their early designs.
Fair warning, though: you may just want a memory wipe after laying eyes on some of these
guys.
The Little Sisters - Bioshock
Even diehard Bioshock fans might not know that their favorite pint-sized ADAM collectors
weren't always called "Little Sisters" - partly because they didn't start off as young girls
at all!
The Gatherers, as they were originally named, were slimy slugs.
The problem with that, BioShock concept artist Robb Waters says, is that the design made
it hard to empathize with the Gatherers.
Waters noted:
"It was kinda cool looking, but you didn't care if you beat it to death."
After shutting down a bunch of designs ranging from frogs with ADAM canisters attached to
their butts, a dog in a wheelchair, chipmunks, robots, and more, Waters' team decided to
put an old woman's face on a little girl's body.
That was the turning point.
At director Ken Levine's behest, BioShock's artists used that concept as a springboard
to merge cute and spooky into one design, and voila!
The Little Sisters were born.
Pikachu - Pokémon
Ask anybody to describe the ever-iconic Pikachu, and, chances are, they're all gonna say the
same thing: pointy ears, red cheeks, cute and cuddly and so on.
Oh - and a mouse.
Duhh.
Everybody knows that.
But, as artist Atsuko Nishida tells Siliconera, when she arrived at Game Freak, she was simply
told to design an electric-themed creature.
Nobody said anything about a mouse.
Thus, Nishida came up with a character that she describes as daifuku - a type of sweet
Japanese rice cake - with ears.
Sadly, there aren't any sketches of Pikachu's original design floating around.
The daifuku-like aesthetic didn't last long anyway.
Nishida dubbed her creation Pikachu, and while game designer Koji Nishino liked the name,
he wanted the creature to be even cuter.
Meanwhile, Nishida decided that Pikachu would store his electricity in his cheeks, similar
to how squirrels carry their food, and that he should have a lightning bolt-shaped tail.
Inklings - Splatoon
Nintendo, we love you - but we're getting a little tired of playing as the same plumber-turned-messiah
of Mushroom Kingdom game in, game out.
The same goes for his dinosaur sidekick, Yoshi.
We crave diversity!
That's why we love the Splatoon games so much.
A brand new universe, exciting new gameplay, a slew of new characters to -
What's that?
We're being told that Splatoon actually started as a Yoshi game.
Are you serious?
What a bunch of -
Ahem.
Sorry about that.
Anyway.
Yeah, Splatoon started life as a Yoshi-themed title, but before long Nintendo realized that
the spray 'n play turf wars were better suited to original characters.
Early in development, blocks of tofu stood in for the ink-slinging heroes, but as production
continued the soy curds were replaced by rabbits, an animal known for being fiercely territorial.
But why are rabbits shooting ink?
Why are they swimming through it?
Change the characters to squids, however, and everything makes a lot more sense.
Still, Nintendo didn't hit upon human-looking cephalopods right away.
Initial Inkling designs looked like Super Mario Bros.' Bloopers wearing t-shirts and
shoes.
It's funny, but also kind of weird, and we're glad that the big N decided to go with the
hybrid squid-kids instead.
Splatoon's legions of fans probably agree.
Kratos - God of War
Before Kratos had a kid and embraced his softer side - kind of, anyway - he was a true man's
man.
He killed anyone and everyone who so much as looked at him funny.
He lured beautiful women to bed with a mere snap of his fingers, and left them behind
just as quickly.
And he looked... almost exactly like a Disney prince.
Yes - it sounds crazy,, but it's true.
The early concept art tells the story.
According to God of War concept artist Erik San Juan, Kratos' look didn't click until
someone scrawled a quick sketch on a napkin, using Disney's take on Tarzan as reference.
Look closely, and you can see the similarities, especially in proto-Kratos' jawline and his
mop of hair.
From there, things got refined further - thank the gods.
" Every time we took away a piece of armor, every time we took away a helmet, a shield,
we started seeing more of this animalistic side of this character."
Kratos' unkempt 'do transformed into dreadlocks and braids before disappearing entirely, while
a goatee helped balance out Kratos' sharp facial features.
Add in Kratos' signature white skin and red paint, and suddenly the Ghost of Sparta looks
like we all remember him - and much better for it.
Gordon Freeman - Half-Life
Parallel universes… alternate realities… it's pretty cool to imagine what things would
be like in a world just like ours, but slightly different.
"So this is London?"
"Yup."
"Your city?"
"That's the one."
"And that includes the zeppelins?"
Or, that might have been what you thought before you decided to go digging into Half-Life's
data and you caught a glimpse of what could've been.
That's right: everybody's favorite bespectacled, geeky hunk, Gordon Freeman was almost a biker
rocking a ZZ Top beard, a flat top, and eyes filled with rage.
Just look at him.
The would-be space murderer even has his own semi-official nickname: "Ivan the Space Biker."
If he'd been allowed to live, it goes without saying that Half-Life would've felt very,
very different.
Valve eventually came to its senses and changed Freeman's design, but you can still find Ivan
in the game's original data, too.
Install the original Half-Life on your machine and look for a little file called "doctor.mdl."
Yup, that's Ivan in all of his psychopathic glory, just lurking inside of your computer
and waiting for the perfect time to strike.
And we thought The G-Man was creepy.
Yeesh.
Sora - Kingdom Hearts
You don't have to be a big Kingdom Hearts fan to recognize Sora, the series' main hero.
If the floppy board shorts, round sneakers, and spikey 'do don't ring a bell, then the
boy's signature weapon, the Keyblade, certainly will.
Well, guess what?
Not only did preliminary versions of Sora wield an entirely different weapon, but early
on, he wasn't even human.
"Uh, guys?
You kinda lost me a few minutes ago."
According to no less of an authority than the game's lead director Tetsuya Nomura, Sora's
original design was much more "beast-like" than his final incarnation.
Nomura told Japanese gaming mag Famitsu that Sora was envisioned as a mix between a human
and a lion, complete with a tail and animal-like ears.
What about his Keyblade, you ask?
Well, it was nowhere in sight - instead, Sora armed himself with a regular old chainsaw.
The idea behind the beastly design was to make Sora fit in among Disney characters like
Donald, Goofy, and Mickey, who are all animals.
In the end, however, the hero's more animalistic features were dropped - you see, Final Fantasy
IX's protagonist, Zidane, already had a monkey-like tail.
Some good news, though: if you're bummed that we never got a furry Sora, keep an eye out.
When the kid visits the world of Monsters, Inc. in Kingdom Hearts III, he's a whole heck
of a lot fuzzier than normal.
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