10 Shocking Video Game Character Redesigns

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder but sometimes all the beholders agree that they are shook. Developers are constantly subverting our expectations with innovative gameplay or interesting narrative twists but perhaps the slightly less pleasant surprises come when they mess with the faces of our favourite characters.
VO: Peter Austin (@ThatPeterAustin)
Script: Sharna Penny (@StrangePenny12)
Video Editor: Kieran Galaska (@beardburrito)
#VideoGameCharacters #CharacterRedesigns #VideoGameRemasters
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[@hedofsmeg]

I remember being pretty annoyed about Shaundis complete redesign from the 2nd to 3rd saints row games without any explanation till the 4th came out

[@bradyferguson1009]

I can almost hear a vain in peter’s head during the Spyro entry

[@markguzman7412]

I think you mean vein*

[@AgherDeadpan]

I think Toon Link would've fit this list, It's a really great redesign for link, but it wasn't what people were expecting after Majora's Mask. Still Everybody loves the design Nowadays.

[@executivefrog3875]

Not a redesign.

[@RavenWitchShade]

Will agree that Spyro's Skylanders design was a bit rough, but it did seem to get slightly tweaked over the series. I'll say he looked fairly decent by the time Academy was a thing. But yah, Remastered version is miles better :P

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

So, you don't feel hate Skylanders Academy Spyro designed after Remake classic Spyro Trilogy game released?

[@Xylarxcode]

Yuna's design and change in character made sense, though. The outfit she wears in FFX is her summoner garbs. She's much more serious and focused and mature in that one, because she's undertaking the hugely important task of ridding the world of a grave threat, even if only for a little while. In X-2, she has no more use for summoner garbs, because summoners aren't needed anymore. She comes more fun-loving and free spirited, because she can afford to be these things now. With the threat of Sin being removed and Yuna being able to enjoy herself without a care in the world, it only makes sense that she would do just that. Not only is it the first time in her life that she can go out and have fun, it's the first time in a fucking millenium that everyone can. I will note however, that it was a little jarring to have people adress her as Lady Yuna and show her nothing but respect and admiration when you're traipsing about chasing chocobos and collecting movies.

[@HairMetalIsGod]

How about Raiden from MGS? The transition to cyborg ninja is pretty abrupt :')

[@john_molden]

That was actually explained, we just never got the 5 years of downtime to explain it. But the upshot of it is this - - He tried to live a normal life but he just couldn't do it - he goes and saves Sunny from the Patriots - while he is hunting the patriots, he is captured and they perform the same experiments on him that they did on Gray Fox. - he escapes to Europe where he is helped by Big Mama and the resistence. - Dr. Madnar heals him and he spends the next few years searching for Big Boss' corpse. - soon he meets Snake in South America

[@BoogDude14]

The rock in wwe 2k20 was the craziest in my opinion. Completely abstract from the original, great decision by 2k

[@warpedopinionateddad6118]

Completely agree

[@MoeMoon]

Your mom after giving birth to ya was also an awful re-design.

[@BoogDude14]

@@MoeMoon right....

[@Astrall270]

But that game sucked

[@BoogDude14]

@@Astrall270 I know, it was sarcastic

[@Ronan34753]

Man Sonic has been through so many designs. Some good, some that become meme templates. But my personal favourites would be Yuji Uekawa's design for the Adventure games, and the Sonic 06 leaner Sonic design (ignoring how bad it looked during cutscenes, that was more so on the unfinished animations).

[@locke6066]

I was expecting the Spyro entry to just be Peter groaning for 2 minutes

[@ToriBudgets349]

Give Sharna more credit than that!

[@Mario87456]

Luckily for Spyro, Skylanders takes place in a separate continuity so they are not the same person.

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

Except someone claimed that Skylanders Spyro is continuing of The legend of Spyro series.

[@Mario87456]

Arcilion Venuture Samagoar Gumich Well whoever that person is they are a huge idiot.

[@TrifinityVortex]

Chris from resident evil going form a regular looking human to the hulk was pretty abrupt imo

[@thochaos13]

I'm so used to it now that I hadn't even thought about it. Good call.

[@JSAcousticJuice]

3:26 nice cameo from Simon Miller, there!

[@lelandvaughan4429]

100 points to Peter for using Vitriol in a sentence.

[@GodOfWarConnoisseur]

Lol the thumbnail 🤣🤣🤣 o.g. Spyro is looking at the dude like WTF???🤔

[@Banaanivatkuli]

I really love Skylanders but damn that Spyro looks nothing like it's supposed to. Fortunately there are hundreds of cooler looking characters.

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

Yeah, Skylanders franchise is not bad franchise, just for Spyro and Cynder should not be existed in Skylanders.

[@bodacious117]

Rank every single Mario kart track please

[@sodorflubbs5000]

I’m sorry I liked the Spyro in the sky lander game. I agree the figure was a bit much but the dragon was cute.

[@101Kamehameha]

"Number One: Bomberman Act Zero" Me: Okay, how bad could they have-- [shows image] Me: What... did you _do?!_

[@44Mosa]

The bomberman redesign could be reused for a doom style game

[@granzert1711]

Sparkster changing his happy face from Rocket Knight Adventures to his grim look in the sequel named after him.

[@tuckermitchell7869]

It's actually kinda hard to see the new Kratos now. RIP Shad Gaspard!

[@RyanBrown2K5]

Careful, guys. If you keep on flashing that virtue signal, the bulb will explode and burn you.

[@energydragon1147]

I love the Spyro redesign more in the Skylanders games

[@yourgameisstupid]

Everyone from Xenosaga Episode 1 to Episode 2. They went from quasi-anime to quasi-realistic characters, and changed the main character's voice actor as well. Big mistake. Thankfully they rectified everything with incredible Episode 3, but no one played that :(

[@aurahero4435]

" I'm Peter from what culture"

[@ciaranlongbow2071]

Big TP from whatculture energy on this one

[@chuckdontjudge]

As much as Peter loves Spyro I knew it would be on this list lol

[@Eric_barbosa]

Prince Of persia's redesign literally killed its franchise

[@leerobbo92]

Yeah, which is interesting since, when you think about it, every single PoP game has had a massive redesign of the main character. My first thought for this list was Warrior Within!

[@Googaliemoogalie]

You mean from "The Warrior within"? Didn't they change him back for the 3rd one?

[@mattjones5531]

@@Googaliemoogalie I think he mean the 2008 remake where you couldn't fall 2 feet without being saved -__-

[@jdmathews312]

Spyro's skylander design is pretty solid, should've gone with the legends design

[@austinb5254]

I honesty forgot about the infamous one. good god Im glad they changed it.

[@CocoHikari583]

I will never forgive them for what they did to Coco in crash of the titans/mind over mutant.

[@jamesasc7709]

SCALED BACK! I soiled myself at that one

[@chuckdontjudge]

"if u wanna get serious about it" lol nod to Simon from whatculture

[@Banaanivatkuli]

Banjo and Kazooie in Nuts and Bolts.

[@MidBoss666]

The only "good" thing about Bomberman: Act Zero is that it made people completely forget about Atomic Bomberman, which was more or less somewhere inbetween the original and Act Zero looks.

[@Frellyouall]

02:45 Caiman from Dorohedoro

[@Googaliemoogalie]

I thought you were gonna mention the Unicorn armour for the Doom Slayer in Doom Eternal - Doomicorn? I guess it isn't a redesign though

[@alexwaters159]

this is good

[@ElTequilla]

Chris Redfield went from a very average build, to an absolute unit by Resi 5. Just look at his arms. Neither in the good or bad category, but definitely a drastic change.

[@kozlov13]

I'm going to get so much hate for this but I really liked Spyro's design in Skylanders

[@vladimiriliev6893]

Honestly, i emotionally bonded with the brutish God of War!!!

[@James-gj8rn]

We already know that Peter HATED Spyros design in Skylanders from back when he was at Whatculture (i'm so glad i found Peter and Ben again

[@Googaliemoogalie]

Did you just rediscover them recently? you have a whole years worth of Videos to catch up on!

[@CitizenShayne]

@@Googaliemoogalie two years if they didn't know about vidiots

[@James-gj8rn]

@@CitizenShayne did they leave Vidiots?

[@FangMcFrost]

Joanna Dark is the first redesign that comes to my mind. Her redesign for Perfect Dark Zero was just awful and not needed at all.

[@hybonesdx]

How about needles Kane AKA sweet tooth I mean he's had way too many redesigns but to sum it up he goes for my green haired skinny clown to a buff and round red clown with hellfire for hair

[@CaptainCoolzCT-]

Ahh Sonic Boom Knuckles... literally just more red Crunch Bandicoot

[@darklinkinfinite]

The entire cast of Castlevania: Judgement

[@ajibarra23]

This makes me think of Riku in Kingdom Hearts 2.

[@iamlegend2833]

You failed to mention the complete redesign of Master Chief's armor in Halo 4...

[@BenXC]

Some mentions feel out of place here. Like Lara Croft or Kratos. They are just logical steps in the evolution of a character and are nowhere near shocking. Otherwise you could also use the blocky original FF7 Characters and compare them to their FF7Remake counterparts. I seriously was waiting for a "shocking" Uncharted 3 to 4 Nathan Drake comparison, though Ellie from Tlou 1 and 2 would have fit here. Even though it was shocking, people liked it in the end.

[@roryk101]

I find tidus in the pre-rendered cutscenes looks weird

[@jaziellugo134]

Spyro in the Skylander game was the first Spyro game I ever played so forgive me when I feel offended when you say you hated he’s design

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

Or simply just cashgrab.

[@captainfyita2682]

#1 - Bummerman... Bummerman...

[@zukato4119]

Jak 2 shocked me as a kid

[@Banaanivatkuli]

I like the Boom Knuckles more than the orginal because of the TV series and the comedy. Serious guy with sharp fists wasn't really a good character in a colorfull fun game.

[@ciaranlongbow2071]

Oh no 🙃 default KZbin commentator voice TP is back

[@boredgeek]

Wow, I have to say, the description of DmC Dante is way over the top here. I loved DmC and saw no huge issue with the redesign. People blew the change way out of proportion. Which makes sense cause Gamers TM like to do that :P

[@alwaysxnever]

Agree. I didn't mind the redesign at all.

[@brandonwithnell612]

the reason why jak 2 suceeded and bomberman 0 didnt is that jak 2 actually gave a solid reasoning as to why the game is so dark being expiramented on for years with dark energy would make anyone pissed lol and the gameplay and world itself compliments this tone by changing entirely instead of being a cheerful collectathon like its predecessor now its an oppressive resistance fighter, where as for bomber man all it did was go bomber man but edgy

[@thochaos13]

I had forgotten that crappy Cole. I'm glad they fixed his look. Shame about the voice though. The most recent shocking redesign I can think of is the RE VII Chris Redfield. All he had was the same name, nothing else was recognisable.

[@ViceStudios02]

And number 0: Tommy Angelo in the Mafia Definitive Edition

[@BreevoBK]

I was hoping John Marston was gonna be on this list

[@punkxkidd101]

Skip to 1:50 if u dont wanna hear this dude talk anymore than needed

[@newageBoundhippie]

yes, classic Spyro is the best design....but there's nothing wrong with Skylanders Spyro ( or Skylanders in general...the games themselves are enjoyable, at least the console ones & Superchargers Racing ). His design was tweaked & improved with each game and Academy managed what I consider a happy middle between his Skylanders look & his classic one. Of course, it's probably a safe bet that his design could have been much better if Activision wasn't forcing their annualization bullshit & thus pumping out new games & toys faster than most could keep up with ( and likely taking a toll on the devs too... ) and did anyone else get a Dr Psycho vibe from that Cortex redesign? Hadn't seen it in a while so I'd forgotten those horrid designs, but damn if I didn't think of Dr Psycho from the Harley Quinn animated series when I saw Cortex

[@JFain513]

Before watching the video I'm guessing Sonic.

[@bakedlizard6429]

The main character in halo. They even changed his name to locke

[@Googaliemoogalie]

Yea don't even get me started! ughhh

[@camesl]

Megaman - Street Fighter X Tekken

[@auburnhairedgamer279]

I was horrified too at Skylanders' Spyro and still am! But no, in all seriousness the toy model of him, some artwork and the better shots of him in the cartoon (was it?) has grown on me. I even like it more than the first Lengend of Spyro version; that hideous train-wreck of a design.

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

You say legend Spyro designed looks epic?

[@crystalgoddess4085]

Yoshitmitsu... in *_ANY_* Tekken or SoulCalibur game, seriously, they cannot keep his design consistent, granted this was only kind of explained for the difference between SoulCalibur IV & V, as it was not the same Yoshimitsu, as that is just the title given to the leader of the Manji ninja clan. So it is the same Yoshimitsu for SoulCalibur through to SoulCalibur IV, but then a completely different one for SoulCalibur V all the way to Tekken 7, yet his design is never consistent between games. To explain how SoulCalibur's Yoshimitsu is the same entity as Tekken's Yoshimitsu, it's simple, he gradually kept modifying his body to the point the only part of his original body that remained was his mind, he even still wields the same blade between franchises, the katana that contains a fragment of the cursed sword, Soul Edge.

[@buuam7555]

Sonics Asscot makes me irrationally mad not gonna lie..... and those clown shoes

[@TottiMessiTorres]

What about Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney when they turned Phoenix Wright into a card playing, hobo looking pianist? That was odd.

[@Jessica11458]

Boys no live reaction stream for the ps5? 😭

[@midnightwolfsbane7130]

I like the sky lander Spyro better that the remake version

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

That's your suit yourself.

[@DeathMetalDerf]

I could not possibly disagree with you more on Kratos. That's exactly how I handle everything in my life, and sure, the bodies start to pile-up after a while, but the beard really gets the ladies, ya know what I mean?🤣🤣🤣

[@homicidalkoala3239]

I will never understand the absolute vitriol people tap into when discussing DMC. I loved the hell out of the original designs and thought the new designs fit the aesthetic of the reboot. Virgil was and still is a fucking edgelord and what's more edgelord than an anonymous ripoff wearing a fedora who already had the katana to begin with. And I get the feeling a lot of the people who bring up the wig didnt actually play the game because they never bring up the fact that his devil trigger has the iconic white hair and red coat and he ends the boss fight against Virgil by more or less overusing devil trigger to the point it permanently changed his hair white. Not to mention character growth he goes through by the end. That punk emo asshole turns into someone who actually cares about the people he ultimately saves. I'm actually disappointed the sequel never got made.

[@joshuaraby7099]

Turok.

[@VanillaBear9915]

Hated the Wind Waker link and that it stuck around, hated spyro, banjo kazooie (nuts and bolts) but especially CONKER!!! DONT FUCK WITH MY LOVEABLE SQUIRREL!

[@StalwartShinobi]

Spyro is the only character that looked the same in the remake imo, hunter and moneybags looked too different for me

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

What about Cynder?

[@Jam29Josh]

Ya know just because you weren't paying attention doesn't mean that Kratos didn't have depth and maturity in any of the previous games. It's more likely that you were lacking it and that's why ya didn't see it.

[@executivefrog3875]

Holy hell, a mention of Spyro that was actually earned!

[@thunderhammerx2966]

Skylanders Spyro is best Spyro; old Spyro looks like a derp.

[@retrovideogamejunkie]

I guess I'm not the first one to say that Conker was far worst....

[@nightmaregaming9781]

Boy!

[@gabrieleprestifilippo9926]

Just two words.. Max Payne.

[@dorrangodfrey6413]

Knuckles from Sonic Boom anyone?

[@hsslegg]

Human reptile all the way.

[@AidenTheRealShadowwolf]

Its evolution 🤣

[@AidenTheRealShadowwolf]

For tiny kong

[@nate.draws.things]

I was so annoyed with the Spyro redesign in Skylanders. I grew up playing the old games and when I saw the toy in my nephew's room, I was like, "wait, what the fuck?" That.. thing looks nothing like Spyro; I don't know what the designers were thinking.

[@nixienooo]

Am I the only one who doesn’t really care for Spyro’s design? It was meant for a certain style of game. But Boom Sonic (+everyone else in the franchise) irks me, same with Tiny Kong

[@dostayer3369]

The only problematic boom designs are Knuckles and Sonic's, with only Knuckles being absolutely hideous (Sonic is actually fine during the TV series) The other redesigns were actually quite good, especially Tails and Amy, I actually prefer them to their mainline designs (especially Amy's). The hideous Shadow redesign never made it to the TV show luckily, it's actually quite similar to the mainline one. I think the reason for the redesign was to create easier models to animate and emote with? They are much more expressive than the mainline ones (although I'm not sure Sega really tried to make them expressive that much).

[@colbyvanquished7708]

Why do people think depicting sexy women is sexist? Sexy women exist, and they're appealing, so why can't they be represented? It's how the sexy women are *portrayed* that might make the depiction sexist, not their appearance.

[@andrewquick4176]

Much prefer human Reptile

[@Hot18Shot]

Master Chief's armor in Halo 4, just a janky uninspired ugly mess and also made Chief into a simp.

[@Eevian666]

Fun fact: Final fantasy characters and voices were so ridiculous and jarring at the time of the release of FF 10 that X-2 was made as a lighter take on what would fortunately become the new style of JRPG. By removing the player's need to actually read text and create a truly memorable experience, there is now an episodic overreliance on nostalgia rather than an unforgetable character driven experience, replaced with a stupefingly truncated androgynous teennromance. FF TACTICS=GOOD. FF TODAY=$$

[@jimmypackorino]

im sad you didn’t talk about shad gaspard being used as kratos’ body scan smh rip

[@bubbafontleroy]

I think Peter’s personal connection to Spyro clouds his judgement a bit, I rather like the sky lander redesign. I don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as Peter’s verbal evisceration of it would have you believe. Not saying it’s better than the original, I just think he came down very hard on it

[@gbt2009]

I don't watch this channel, I've never played Spyro nor know anything about Skylanders but that redesign looks absolutely horrifying. I agree with the host guy in that it's ugly and looks evil.

[@ethanmarsh6424]

Um say Australia again

[@JLebowskiii]

Max Payne anyone?

[@EoR_2B4GOT10]

agent ford from conduit to conduit 2 on the wii replace the unique agent character with no humor and a determination with an extremly lame duke nukem rippoff

[@JawaPunter]

Spyro from sky landers looks like he has an extra chromosome.

[@kneedeepandfriends7188]

Skylanders Spyro looks like a boglin....

[@arocomisgamusclademork1603]

Dog Goblin Gargoyle.

[@kakashihatake8017]

w

[@adamcowood7553]

Bubsy to bubsy 3d - worst ps1 game ever made

[@leondon5298]

Sup