The 10 WORST Video Game Character Redesigns

“Dead Rising 4” (2016)

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Frank West is undeniably the face of the Dead Rising franchise despite having only appeared in the first game and some DLC, but the loveable photographer connected with fans of the series in a way the other protagonists never could. So understandably there was a lot of hype and expectation when it was announced Frank West would be returning for the series’ fourth installment. That is until it was revealed that the original voice actor Terence J. Rotolo wouldn’t be returning as Frank as the developer wanted a “more grizzled take” on the character leading to quite a lot of backlash for Capcom. While the rest of the game ended up being a mostly average experience, with an inconsistent tone throughout, specifically when it came to Frank West in particular who longtime fans found irritating and lacking the charm of the character’s original incarnation.

“Middle-earth: Shadow of War” (2017)

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Now we’re messing with not only video game characters but characters from established literature and lore. The Middle Earth series already took more than a few liberties with Tolkien’s masterwork, but the introduction of Shelob into the game’s canon might have been a step further than die-hard fans were willing to accept. Within both the novels and the movies Shelob is well established as a monstrous spider-thing living in the cavernous pass to Mordor, what she most definitely is not within the literature, or films is a dark-haired sexy woman. The developers had already played a bit fast and loose with the established lore of Tolkien’s work, and while the team did admittedly do a fair job of explaining her transformation within the universe, this one was a bit too difficult for longtime fans to overlook.

“Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric” (2014)

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In the mid-90s, Knuckles was the epitome of cool. His stoic nature and villain turned hero arc was one of the best things about the original Sonic games back on the Sega Genesis and the character has retained a loyal fan base ever since. Which is what makes Sega’s decision to redesign the entire Sonic team for Sonic Boom all the more infuriating. While every character in the game suffered from these decisions, none suffered more than Knuckles. Gone was his no-nonsense attitude and dark mysterious nature and was instead replaced by an overly buff version that skipped leg day and instead played into every single “dumb jock” trope imaginable. Somehow his character managed to fare better in the animated series, but this redesign remains a stain on the Echidna’s legacy.

“Perfect Dark Zero” (2005)

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Following up one of arguably the most seminal first-person shooters of all time Goldeneye 007 is no easy task and somehow Rare managed to outdo themselves with their N64 classic follow-up Perfect Dark. Swapping 007 for a sleek futuristic spy thriller full of espionage action and aliens, Perfect Dark improved on everything that Goldeneye laid the groundwork for and remains one of the highest rated FPS of all time. Fans were understandably excited when Rare announced a return for Joanna Dark and as a launch title for Microsoft Xbox 360. Sadly however, this was not the same confident spy fans adored and was instead replaced with a typical mid-2000s surfer style babe who looked like she just walked off the set of a Mountain Dew commercial. Bizarrely, this version of Joanna is somehow supposed to be only 3 years younger than the version fans know and love.

“Young Conker” (2016)

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Despite his cute and cuddly appearance, Conker is most definitely not for the young or fair of heart. His crude and crass outing on the N64 stood out for its mature and obscene take on the standard platformer and many parents would easily mistake him for another Nintendo mascot. Acquiring Rare in 2002, Microsoft did little with the many properties from the studio but saw fit to resurrect the squirrel for its new peripheral the Hololens in 2016. The redesign of the crude rodent drew immediate criticism by longtime fans who had been waiting for a new Conker game only to be met with this abomination of the beloved character. Thankfully the game came and went with many completely disregarding the title entirely, but Young Conker remains one of the biggest insults to the character for fans of the two-decade old series. Do better Microsoft. The win is right there.

Few characters within the Resident Evil universe have gone through as many radical transformations as Chris Redfield. Originally your standard action movie star fare in the original Resident Evil, by the time Chris reappeared in Resident Evil 5, he seemed to have spent all his time off fighting the zombie hordes hitting the gym with Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, Capcom overcompensated the reaction to this new version of Chris by slimming him down again for his cameo appearance at the end of Resident Evil 7, ironically making him even more unrecognizable. Thankfully, Capcom managed to finally nail down a perfect balance of realistic but beefy with his appearance in Resident Evil Village and this has widely been accepted as the best representation of the character since his incarnation.

“Metroid: Other M” (2010)

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Samus Aran has undeniably gone through a number of changes over the years, but these redesigns were mostly reserved for the famed Bounty Hunter’s instantly recognizable armor rather than the character herself. All of that changed however with the release of Team Ninja’s take on the character in Metroid Other M. Instead of the confident and capable bounty hunter, fans were instead introduced to an overly emotional Samus who constantly second guesses herself and had to wait for direct orders before making any decisions, even if her life was in the balance. While attempting to directly address the numerous near-death experiences and likely PTSD Samus had endured during her many adventures up to Other M, the developers leaned into this aspect of Samus’ backstory too heavily and in turn betrayed everything the character represented.

“Bomberman: Act Zero” (2006)

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Throughout the mid-2000s there was a trend in which developers felt the need to take what were once cute and recognizable characters or mascots and give them a dark and edgy makeover, and by far the most egregious of this trend was Bombeman: Act Zero. Gone was the cute, bubbly, and colorful Bomberman, replaced by a generic robotic android power mech and the vibrant worlds were instead replaced with bland, dystopian arenas barely distinguishable from one another. The gameplay itself remained largely unchanged but fans couldn’t overlook the drastic changes to the beloved character and this bomb remains an unexploded dud in the Bomberman’s storied history.

“DmC: Devil May Cry” (2013)

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The backlash for this one was swift and immediate. With development of the renowned hack and slash series switching from Capcom to Ninja Theory, the developer decided to update the character to near disastrous results. Many bemoaned not only the character’s lack of stylish white hair, but also the changes to his character which changed his laid back and cool attitude to a more unlikable asshole than the cocky demon hunter the series had become known for. Adding insult to an already frustrated community, Ninja Theory seemed to throw shade at fans upset over the redesign and openly mocked them with Dante donning a white wig and proclaiming, “Never in a million years.” Fan backlash over the new Dante or as the community dubbed him “Donte” redesign, caused many to overlook what was a decent game in its own right.

During the golden age of the PS1, there were two unquestionable mascots of the platform in the form of Naughty Dog’s Crash Bandicoot and Insomniac’s Spyro the Dragon. After both developers left those IPs behind, these characters both went through some drastic overhauls under their new developers, but Spyro unfortunately got the shortest end of the stick when it came to redesigns. As the face of the Skylanders series, Spyro’s young and energetic appearance was replaced with a darker and moodier generic dragon design, complete with scales and much sharper edges, and an eternal scowl etched onto his once cheerful face. For a product aimed specifically at children, why did the friendly dragon need to suffer such a fate that arguably made him far less approachable than his original incarnation? Thank God for the Reignited Trilogy, as it returned the dragon to his former adorable glory. Which redesign of a beloved character did you hate the most? Let us know down in the comments.