Video games have evolved in such a fast way that developers can bring their vision to reality in an almost unsettling manner. From blocky 8-bit games, the character’s role has significantly increased. Connecting and relating to them have become of big importance and creators devoting resources to create characters that players would easily be able to identify themselves. Though technologies bring a lot of possibilities, many of the best and most popular characters were inspired by movies or even some real-world people.
Keanu Reeves – Johnny Silverhand
Beloved by fans all around the world, Keanu Reeves is known for his role as Neo in the Matrix series and John Wick in… John Wick. Calm, collected and not chasing clout – both his personality and memorable appearance make it impossible not to adore the actor. In Cyberpunk 2077, Keanu played Johnny Silverhand – an ex-army soldier, who led Samurai music band that later split up. His girlfriend was kidnapped by the Arasaka corporation and killed when Johnny and his team tried to rescue her. Unlike John Wick, who had a chance for revenge, Silverhand did not get the revenge he wanted. Almost killed by cyborgs, Johnny was caught by Arasaka, interrogated and his consciousness transferred to the chip that the player uses. And who would not like to have Keanu Reeves-reminiscent game companion?
image via youtube.com
Steven Ogg – Trevor Philips
Released in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V is the second best-selling game ever released with its memorable trio – Michael, Trevor and Franklin. Trevor Philips was played by Steven Ogg whose voice and appearance are heavily reminiscent of Trevor himself. Explosive manners and behavior, face and haircut – as the actor says himself, working with Rockstar Games have also awakened his inner “Trevor Philips”. One of the most viral videos with the actor is him swearing at the fan just like Trevor Philips would.
image via primagames.com
Julie Voth – Jill Valentine
Jill Valentine is one of the most recognizable female characters in video games. Mostly known for being Chris Redfield’s assistant, the former S.T.A.R.S is trying to stay alive by shooting zombies and completing various missions. With a respectable amount of game entries, the appearance of Jill has been altered in every one of them to better fit the aesthetics. When releasing the remastered version of the original Resident Evil, Capcom used Julie Volt as a base to model Julie Valentine. As the community provided highly positive feedback, the appearance became the default look for all the upcoming Resident Evil series games.
image via ceriselightning.deviantart.com and reddit.com
Neneh Cherry – Lara Croft
Introduced in 1996 and regaining popularity in 2013 once again, Lara Croft is undoubtedly one of the most famous female characters in video games. She is known for her adventurous personality and, without a surprise, gorgeous appearance. Opposite to many rumors, Lara Croft was not modeled after any fashion model or popular actresses – she was actually based on Swedish singer Neneh Cherry and the fictional Tank Girl character from comics. If Lara’s facial features were influenced by Neneh Cherry, her personality and outfit were surely inspired by Tank Girl. Also, it should be noted that in series games from 2013, Megan Farquest became the face of Lara Croft, yet for many, visuals Neneh Cherry was one of their childhood highlights.
image via tombraider.wikia.com and digitizedgraffiti.com
Ellen Page – Ellie
For many, The Last Of Us is one of the greatest video games. It has an engaging plot, relatable characters and stunning graphics, yet another reason for success was the relationship between protagonists Joel and Ellie. And even at the first glance, Ellie has a very obvious strong resemblance to Canadian actress Ellen Page. The game developer, Naughty Dogg, has never made an official statement that Ellie was based on an actress. Also, both voice acting and motion capture were done by Ashley Johnson, the resemblance is charmingly strong. Even Ellen Page herself criticized how similar she looked to the fictional character that she did not have anything to do with.
image via giantbomb.com and wall.alphacoders.com
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