Character design can be one of the more fun aspects of game development. All those artists sketching away, gradually pulling a basic figure into the final character picture by picture. Plus, the amount of concept art gives the player something to unlock as they progress through the game.
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Sometimes, however, a character’s inspirations can seem a little obvious.Street Fighter 6’s Manon looks like a ballet judoka in combat, but resembles Lady Gaga outside of it, complete with backing dancers. If the star did inspire the character, she wouldn’t be the firstcelebrity behind a character’s looks.
7Bill Rizer & Lance Bean from Contra
The gun-toting protagonists fromContra(orGryzorin the arcades) don’t really look like anyone in-game. Though with them being two shirtless beefcakes fighting against aliens, there had to be a touch ofRambo,Predator, andAliensin there. For example, their names come fromAliensactors Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and Michael Biehn.
The art on the game cover is another story. Blue-bandana Bill is clearly based on Arnold Schwarzenegger inPredator. Red-bandana Lance, whodoes resemble John Rambo, was drawn from another screenshot of Arnold in the same movie. That’s because artist Bob Wakelin, who thought the game was a"Predator/Aliensrip-off",drew it as such, complete with a little Xenomorph face in the middle.
6Fei Long from Street Fighter
Martial arts superstars have inspired a brace of fighting game characters.Mortal Kombat’s Johnny Cage’s original look took inspiration from Jean-Claude Van Damme inBloodsport, whileArt of FightingandKing of Fighters’ Muay Thai fighter King resembles Dutch kickboxer Saskia Van Rijswijk inChina White. Then there’s Bruce Lee. The world’s most famous kung fu action hero has inspired so many fighting game characters that they could fill out a roster on their own.
The bookUndisputed Street Fighter: The Art & Innovation Behind the Game-Changing Seriesdescribes how the team behindSuper Street Fighter 2produced Fei Long, one of the first Lee-alikes in the genre. It was rumored that his resemblance to the legend was why Fei Long hadn’t appeared in a game sinceUltra Street Fighter 4. However, both Lee’s family andSF6’s director Takayuki Nakayamahave denied this. Otherwise, Van Damme, Van Rijswijk, and others would have similar cases after Netherrealm Studios and SNK.
5Lei Wulong from Tekken
Tekkenliked Bruce Lee enough to replicate him twice in their games with Marshall and Forest Law. However, they also thought they could use Hong Kong’s other top kung fu movie star: Jackie Chan. Concept art for the firstTekkenshowed an old-school Chan lookalike, but it wasn’t untilTekken 2that this figure would become thesuper cop Lei Wulong.
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Or rather, ‘Super Police’, as he is nicknamed in the games. It’s a little more legally distinct from the Jackie Chan movieSuper Cop. His playful approach to stances resembles Chan’s more light-hearted approach to action in his movies. More blatantly, one of his classic win poses is a move-for-move re-enactment of Jackie Chan’s intoxicated sways from the third act ofDrunken Master.
4Jennifer Simpson from Clock Tower
Resident Evilmade survival horror popular when it was released in 1996, but it wasn’t the first.One of its predecessorscame out just a year earlier on the SNES. Originally made by Human Entertainment,Clock Towersaw Jennifer Simpson and her friends being adopted by the Barrows Family, only to end up stalked through their manor by the murderous Scissorman. Jennifer has to find a way out safely or become part of the body count.
In Issue #121 ofRetro Gamer, and inThe Untold History of Japanese Game Developers Vol 2, the developers talked about their influences. One of them was the 1985 Giallo horror moviePhenomena, where a young girl fights off a serial killer in a boarding school. The leader character Jennifer Corvino, played by Jennifer Connelly, inspired Jennifer Simpson’s design. If the long dark hair, white outfit, and face didn’t give it away, the name Jennifer likely would.
Some characters don’t start off as celebrity pastiches. They just evolve that way. In the firstDead or Alivegame, Zack was a flashy, cocky Muay Thai fighter that didn’t seem to be modeled after anyone specifically. By the second installment, he got a redesign that made him look more outrageous, like his notorious alien Teletubby outfit. His more subdued green hair and crop top combo drew comparisons with basketball star Dennis Rodman.
Some sources even said it was based on his look in the movieDouble Team, in which he fought Mickey Rourke with Jean-Claude Van Damme. Rodman himself appreciated the resemblance though, saying “He is one wild character, just like me, and a bit of a prankster, which I can relate to.” He would then go on to voice the character in the firstDOA Xtreme Beach Volleyballgame.
2Kenshi from Mortal Kombat
Not every celebrity is so keen on the connection. Keanu Reeves wasn’t so keen on two of his top roles,John WickandThe Matrix’s Neo, turning up in aMortal Kombatgame. In an interview withEsquiremagazine, he said “Neo, John Wick.They’re doing their own thing.Mortal Kombatis doing their own thing”. That does leave the door open for Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan though.
Unless things change,MKfans will have to make do with Kenshi. Fans couldn’t help comparing the blind warrior’s blindfolded look and telekinetic powers with Neo’s look inThe Matrix Revolutionsafter he’s blinded. Yet the character predated Neo’s blind look by roughly 2 years, debuting in 2002’sMK: Deadly Alliance. Never one to shy away from an Easter egg,MK’s developers hinted at the resemblance in an intro between Kenshi and Cassie Cage inMortal Kombat X.
1Andrew Ryan from Bioshock
The problem with calling awareness to something is that it can also popularize it. The originalBioshockcriticized Objectivism, a philosophy championed by Ayn Rand. She described it in her workAtlas Shruggedas “the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.”
The game’s villain Andrew Ryan takes this to its extreme when his undersea city Rapturebecomes a hellscapebecause rich people thought their selfishness would produce altruism. Ryan’s look was based on the early 20th century’s most infamousbillionaire Howard Hughes. When it comes to the well-off thinking that their own interests matter above everyone else’s though, there’s no shortage of sources to draw inspiration from.
