10 Video Game Characters Who MASSIVELY Changed Before Release
You wouldn't recognize these characters in their original form!
Game development is a long and complicated process in which nothing is ever set in stone. A game might start off as one thing and come out as completely different on the other side, as the creators come up with new ideas and adapt to any issues that happen along the way.
The changes a title undergoes are not limited to its gameplay, however. In many cases, it also affects the game's characters, even the most beloved ones.
Yes, it might come as a surprise to some, but not every one of your favorite characters started off the way they are. They might have had a different backstory, a different design, a different attitude, or, in very radical cases, they could have even been an entirely different person altogether!
Their original concept has obviously been abandoned, but the stories of their tumultuous origin are still around, and delving into them can be an incredibly illuminating experience.
Did you know Arthur Morgan was supposed to be more villainous? That Mario owned a gun? Or that Sonic the Hedgehog started as Sonic the Rabbit?
If you're curious where your favorite characters began and what they could've become in an alternate reality, the following list is for you!
10. Lara Croft Was Going To Be A Man - Tomb Raider
Lara Croft, the gaming industry's most recognizable female protagonist, is oftentimes compared to another legendary treasure hunter, Indiana Jones, on account of nothing more than their shared line of work.
However, this comparison is actually not as baseless as it seems, as in reality, Lara Croft's early design was directly inspired by Indians Jones, and by inspired, we mean completely ripped off!
Toby Gard, the lead graphic artist for the first Tomb Raider game, initially envisioned Lara as "a male lead with a whip and a hat." If that doesn't sound too original to you, then you would be in agreement with Core's co-founder, Jeremy Smith, who told Gard to come up with a less Indiana Jonesy design, thus leading to the creation of Lara Croft.
It's pretty wild that the most iconic woman in gaming was almost a generic Indiana Jones lookalike. Moreover, it makes you wonder how poorly her franchise would do if instead of a badass female archeologist, you played a cheap knockoff of a much more popular character.
Lara already has it pretty bad with the Indie comparison. Whippy McGoo would've been obliterated by them!