Adaptational Attractiveness: Difference between revisions

== Anime and Manga ==

** It happened in the manga as well, but it was justified that the men at Slayersverse only like enormous boobs and extremely masculine girls.

* Therru from Ursula LeGuin's [[Earthsea]] fantasy series is so disfigured by third-degree burns as to make people unwilling to look at her. In the Studio Ghibli adaptation ''Tales from Earthsea'', she's a cute young girl with some bad sunburn.

* Scar is younger in the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|anime]]. Ed, while not ugly at all in the manga, doesn't quite have the same sort of facial structure as his manga counterpart originally did; it's less square. While Ed in the manga and second anime hits a growth spurt eventually, towering over Winry, in the anime he becomes taller by [[The Movie]] but is still shorter then his biologically thirteen year old brother despite the fact he's 18-19 (the movie takes place 2 years after the series). He also seems to only be about Winry's height.

* Quite a lot of ''[[Metal Fight Beyblade]]'' characters had their appearances changed from the manga to make them more attractive in the anime. One of the most notable is Ryutaro Fukami. He went from [[media:Ryuutarou 1 9953.jpg|looking like a bratty kid with buckteeth]] to [[media:150px-Ryutaro 4826.jpg|actually being quite pretty]].

** Less frizzy hair?

** And yet averted when Hoffman played the lead role in ''[[The Graduate]]'', as his character is described in the source novel as being blonde, tanned and athletic looking.

* Every single film adaptation of one of Roald Dahl's works can come across as this almost automatically, because of the books' art style for the illustrations, which makes everyone seem a notch or two less attractive than they presumably are supposed to be. If you're beautiful or cute, you look average. If you're average, you look ugly, and if you're ugly, you look like a troll.

** The White Queen goes from [http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alicepic/through-the-looking-glass/2book25.jpg this] to [http://static.reelmovienews.com/images/gallery/the-white-queen-photo.jpg this].

** Inverted as well. The Red Queen [http://students.ou.edu/E/Valerie.N.Edwards-1/RedQueen2.jpg may not have been attractive] in the original illustrations, but the film version is a literal freak with a grotesquely over-sized head (though played by perfectly lovely actress [[Helena Bonham Carter]]).

* In the novel of ''Little Children'', the character Ronnie bears very little physical resemblance to Jackie Earle Haley, being an overweight, balding chain-smoker who wears glasses. While Haley is no George Clooney, he brought a far more sympathetic interpretation to the character than what was probably intended. Sarah Peirce was also described as being not very pretty in the book. In the movie they worked over time to make [[Kate Winslet]] seem frumpy but their best efforts made her look [[Hollywood Homely]].

* In ''[[The Princess Bride (novel)|The Princess Bride]]'', Prince Humperdink is ridiculously over-muscled, and Vizzini is a hunchback.

** Some people thought that the overall cast was too young and attractive to portray some of the middle-aged and beaten-down characters. (Although the age issue was out of necessity, to allow the actors to portray their younger selves in flashbacks.) Rorschach in particular is supposed to be "fascinatingly ugly". Compare [http://images.wikia.com/watchmen/images/b/b2/Walter_Kovacs.jpg comics] and [http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3440/3254751049_8527a1974a_o.jpg movie] versions.

** In the comic, a deconstruction of the superhero genre, the characters' costumes were intended to look somewhat silly to highlight the inherent absurdity of classic superhero costumes. In the movie, however, the costumes are played straight, and look much more stylish.

* In ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]]'':

** Even without going into the inevitabilities of with puberty striking the three, at age 11, Harry is supposed to have a skinny face and knobby knees, with his green eyes being his only good feature. It's a similar story for Ron and Hermione. Hermione in particular is rather average until she gets an opportunity to [[She Cleans Up Nicely|clean up nicely]]. In the film series, all the lead child characters were played by cute kids. As the characters mature, however, their appearances shape up a bit and the actors correspond a bit better.

** In [[Harry Potter (novel)|the book series]], Severus Snape is supposed to have greasy hair, a sallow face, yellowish teeth and a body rather too thin to be healthy. In the film series, he is played by Alan Rickman, whose mature sexiness cannot be obscured by an unflattering wig. This helped the character graduate into his current [[Draco in Leather Pants]] role in the fandom. Ironically, author Rowling had Rickman in mind while writing the character, though he is also based on a teacher she didn't like.

** Dolores Umbridge looked somewhat like a toad. In the movie, she looked as close to cute as a woman can be while also looking like an evil grandmother. This might actually have worked out, since if anything it made her ''more'' hateful.

** [[J. K. Rowling]] says that she always wondered why [[Fan Girl|fangirls]] [[Draco in Leather Pants|loved Draco Malfoy so much]], since she never imagined him as particularly attractive. The answer is Tom Felton's suave, stylish portrayal of the character in the last three-four films, especially in ''Half-Blood Prince''.

** Viktor Krum is described in the books as gangly and hook-nosed, with a habit of slouching. He was played by [http://images.wikia.com/harrypotter/images/4/40/Krum_003.jpg Stanislav Ianevski.]

** James is described in the book as very average and unremarkable in appearance, the producers still cast [http://www.truetwilight.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/james.jpg Cam Gigandet] in the role.

** Bella Swan thinks of herself as rather plain and unfashionable, while [http://www.9sn.net/resim/Kristen-Stewart.jpg Kristen Stewart] plays her in the movies. However, some readers infer that Bella is overly hard on her appearance.

* ''21'', a movie based on the book about several MIT students gaming casinos in Blackjack. The (actual, still living) MIT students are replaced with vastly more attractive ([[Race Lift|and all white]]) actors for the movie.

* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', hobbits are generally portly, but with the exception of Sean Astin, who is already stocky and gained some weight for the role of Sam, the producers hired slender actors for the Fellowship hobbits. Director Peter Jackson didn't want the characters to look like midgets by being overly stocky. Frodo in the books is described as "stout," and, while he's supposed to look younger than his actual age (fifty), teenage [[Elijah Wood]] is definitely stretching it.

* A minor, strange case in the film version of ''[[V for Vendetta]]'': in the comic, V's mask has a round face and an upturned nose, making him look sort of like a doll with a mustache and a goatee, making some of his panels look [[Narm Charm|more inappropriately cute]] than usual in especially serious scenes. In the film, he has a longer face and a long, straight nose, making him look more masculine.

* To quote Miles Kreuger on the film adaptations of ''[[Show Boat]]'': "Cap'n Andy's three tarts in the 1936 version are gaudily dressed and made up for their profession: in this (1951) film they are three wholesome extra girls who might be expected at Lady Astor's in their chic finery." Kreuger made similar observations about Helen Morgan (who appeared in the 1936 film) vs. Ava Gardner (of the 1951 film) as Julie in the scene where she sings "Bill".

** [http://www.ironoutlaw.com/assets/Gang_Byrne.jpg This] is Australian outlaw Joe Byrne. Not a bad looking guy, actually. [http://content9.flixster.com/poll/17/30/173055_std.jpg This] is Joe Byrne as portrayed by Orlando Bloom.

** [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Ned_Kelly_in_1880.png This] is what Ned Kelly looked like. [http://mozi-iz.freeblog.hu/files/1heath-ned-kelly.jpg This] is what he looked like being played by Heath Ledger. (though Heath ''did'' get a beard later on in the film).

* The play ''Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune'' originally starred Kathy Bates and Kenneth Welsh, and was revived with Stanley Tucci and Edie Falco. The 1991 film version, ''Frankie and Johnny'', starred Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. Yes, that's right, a young Michelle Pfeiffer in a role originated by Kathy Bates.

* L in the anime/manga ''[[Death Note]]'' is not intended to be a sight for sore eyes and is noted in universe for being pretty odd looking. The [[Live Action Adaptation|live-action actor]], [[Mr. Fanservice|on the other hand...]]

* The novel ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' makes it clear that Susie the Bear really is ugly, she has major acne scars. In the movie she is played by Nastassja Kinski (with no fake scars or anything) who only ''thinks'' she is ugly. This ruins a major plot point, totally changes the character (instead of being ugly and knowing it, she is beautiful and thinks she is ugly), and ruins [[An Aesop]] about beauty.

* In the ''[[Master and Commander (film)|Master and Commander]]'' film of the [[Aubrey-Maturin]] series, both Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are far more attractive than their book counterparts. Something of a [[Pragmatic Adaptation]], however, because in the books Stephen is 5'6" and "indefinably odd-looking" or "pitifully small and distorted", and Jack more than 6 feet tall, but Paul Bettany is, at 6'3", four inches taller than Russell Crowe. Jack in the books is usually more than 16 stone, but Russell Crowe only gained a little for the role.

* In the [[Ripliad|Tom Ripley]] novels, Tom's housekeeper/MoralityPet Madame Antoinette is a middle aged-elderly Frenchwoman of friendly but average appearance. In the film ''Ripley Under Ground'', which is a somewhat [[Lighter and Softer]] [[Pragmatic Adaptation]], Antoinette is a pretty young woman who is the maid (not a [[French Maid]] though except in a literal sense) of Tom's future wife, but is also friendly with her/likes Tom as in the novels.

* In ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|Batman Begins]]'' and ''[[The Dark Knight Saga|The Dark Knight]]'', typically scrawny, geeky Scarecrow is played by [[Cillian Murphy]]. He goes from [http://www.dccomics.com/media/_dcu/heroes_and_villains/origin_stories/scarecrow/1.jpg this] to ''[http://spc.fotolog.com/photo/12/57/80/cillian_spain/1222252378283_f.jpg this]''.

* An odd example happened in the film version of ''[[Sin City]]'' where the fat, balding, middle-aged serial killer named Kevin was played by [[Elijah Wood]]. The fanbase was still very pleased with the result.

* In ''[[Sense and Sensibility (novel)|Sense and Sensibility]]'', Colonel Brandon is described as being not nearly as handsome as Willoughby. He's described as the 18th century version of "okay looking," and someone that Marianne became attached to because he was kind to her when she was ill. In [[Sense and Sensibility (film)|the 1995 film]], he's played by [[Alan Rickman]]. [http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3424226816/nm0000614 Willoughby who?] Plenty of women would have snapped up the movie version of Colonel Brandon without a second glance at Willoughby. Kind, honorable and Alan Rickman sexy? Sign us up!

* It's difficult to claim this trope for adaptations of theatre productions, because the characters are played by so many different actors it's hard to claim which actor is the "right" amount of attractive. However, comparing the original castings of [[media:Lansbury Hearn Sweeney Todd 4505.jpg|Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett]] in ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (theatre)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' with the versions shown in [[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (film)|movie]], and it's hard to claim [[Johnny Depp]] and [[Helena Bonham Carter]] are accurate, especially given Todd's backstory, and while Benjamin Barker was supposedly attractive before he was exiled at least to Mrs. Lovett, after his ordeal he'd probably look a little more messed up than Johnny Depp with a skunk stripe.

* In the novel ''Taffin'', the title character is overweight and unattractive. In the movie, he's played by PIERCE BROSNAN.

* [[Dracula]]. In the book Dracula was old and ugly, with hairy palms, whilst most of the films make him younger, suave, and [[Tall, Dark and Handsome]]. The most extreme example must be the 1979 version, which makes Dracula look like [http://image.toutlecine.com/photos/d/r/a/dracula-1979-11-g.jpg this] and have a voice that could melt butter.

** A lot of the movies make his ''personality'' more attractive as well. In the book he was an old man, tired with [[Who Wants to Live Forever?|immortality]], who wanted to take over the world, whose bite seems to be a metaphor for rape and sexually transmitted disease. In the movies, he seduces Mina and/or Lucy, with plently of angst over the loneliness of living forever and being a vampire.

* Inverted in the ''[[Fletch]]'' movies. In the books, Fletch was a handsome, young, blond, extremely muscular man who could bed any woman he wanted. In the movies, he was played by a forty-something Chevy Chase.

* In [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Carrie]]'', the title character is overweight, has thinning dark hair, acne in her face and chest and back, and possibly hirsutism (she seems to have all the signs of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome- hence explaining her late puberty). In the movie, she is played by Sissy Spacek, who is slender, has thick shiny blonde hair, and clear skin- and thus her late puberty is likely due to something else! Though the filmmakers did at least acknowledge this by having the gym teacher tell Carrie that she is a pretty girl but just needs to work on her appearance.

** Given how the other characters react to Katniss, she could easily be an [[Unreliable Narrator]] who [[She Cleans Up Nicely|cleans up nicely]]. She's a successful hunter, so she isn't necessarily starving.

* In the second ''[[Silent Hill (film)|Silent Hill]]'' film, [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110728041835/silent/images/thumb/4/4c/Bio_v.jpg/830px-Bio_v.jpg Vincent] is being played by [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/blog_post_349_width/2011/11/kit_harrington_a_p.jpg Kit Harrington].

* [[Bonnie and Clyde]] were played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, both much prettier than the [[Real Life]] originals.

* In the novel [[Agent Pendergast|Relic]], the character of police lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta was portrayed as overweight and near middle age. In the film adaptation, he was played by Tom Sizemore.

* In Dozerfleet Comics' [[Ciem Webcomic Series|Gerosha universe]], [[The Scarlet Letter|Hester Prynne]] is [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|remarkably]] more like a [[Disney Princess]] than Nathaniel Hawthorne ever described her being. Makes Dimmesdale ''that much more'' sympathetic. Hero Machine render [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111003201556/dozerfleet/images/0/06/Hester-HeroMachine.png here].

* For Chinese literature, this tends to happen to the main characters in modern Asian adaptations of [[Jin Yong|Jin Yong's]] work. One rather noticeable example can be found in a 2008 adaptation of ''Legend of the Condor Heroes'', where the protagonist Guo Jing is played by teen idol and heart throb Hu Ge. Guo Jing is normally described as being a rather stout, muscular man who is not exactly known for being incredibly handsome or refined. Hu Ge, on the other hand, is pretty much a [[Real Life]] equivalent of a [[Bishonen]]. Needless to say, it can be rather unnerving for certain fans to see other characters mention how "manly" and "plain" Guo Jing is, when [[media:[[U 1735 P 28 T 3 D 1319149 F 326 DT 20061108153936]].JPG|he]] [[media:200837173742479.jpg|looks]] [[media:220H553P07 small.jpg|prettier]] than some of the ''female cast''.

* Averted with [[Erin Brockovich]] as Julia Roberts and the real life Erin Brockovich look enough alike that they could be mistaken as sisters.

* ''[[Bridge of Birds]]'' has an in-universe example: {{spoiler|Lotus Cloud is described as not being conventionally beautiful, having "thick legs" and a "flat face" and her only exceptional feature being her [[When She Smiles|bewitching grin]], but the ancient myth about her true goddess identity describes her as "the most beautiful girl in the world".}} When this discrepancy is pointed out to Master Li, he dismisses it as a "mere literary convention" and says that physical beauty has always been a highly overvalued trait.

* One of the many problems with the [[Foreign Remake|American]] [[Red Dwarf]] pilot. Lister has all his negative qualities removed, like his slobbishness and his laziness. The actor is the Adonis-like [[Craig Bierko]], as opposed to the average looking [[Craig Charles]].

* If artwork is anything to go by, samurai Uesugi Kenshin was [[wikipedia:Uesugi Kenshin|rugged, large and hairy]]. In the TV drama ''Fuurin Kazan'' Uesugi Kenshin was played by [[Bishonen]] rock star [[Gackt]], who looked even ''[http://s45.radikal.ru/i107/0903/cd/20c1c5ec8e78.jpg prettier than most of the female cast]''.

* In the [[Agatha Christie]] novels that feature her, Poirot's secretary Miss Lemon was frequently described as "ugly" or "hideous". In the ''[[Poirot]]'' series she was portrayed by Pauline Moran, who was well past her hey-day, but certainly not unattractive.

* In ''[[Brideshead Revisited]]'', Charles' narration describes the adult Cordelia as very unattractive, even ugly. In the mini-series, the actress has bad skin and an unflattering haircut, but is still quite attractive. Possibly justified, in that Charles is obsessed with aesthetics and thus an [[Unreliable Narrator]].

== Theatre ==

* In ''[[Wicked (novel)|Wicked]]'', Elphaba is described as having a large nose and otherwise being, appearance-wise, sort of an acquired taste. In [[Wicked (theatre)|the musical version]] she's [[Hollywood Homely]]. Then again, not even green skin can make most of her actresses unattractive.

* In ''Phantom of the Opera'', the original book has the Phantom (Erik) wearing a full mask, and his face behind the mask extremely grotesque. He is described as deformed. In the stage musical, the deformities are limited to half his face, and the portion of his face not covered by the half-mask is handsome. This was done because full face prosthetics inhibited the actor's singing. It also often makes the deformed side actually look worse in comparison- from a skull in the book to a handsome man who appears to be ''rotting'' on one side. The fact that his hair turns out to be a wig, and that he's bald except for a few ratty, diseased-looking wisps of gray hair even on the good side, also makes the deformity makeup pretty effective in the final scene.

* While [[Super Mario Bros.|Princess Peach]] is now depicted as looking like [http://www.mariowiki.com/images/thumb/3/38/NSMBWiiPeach.png/240px-NSMBWiiPeach.png this], her sprite from the original ''[[Super Mario Bros. (video game)|Super Mario Bros]]'' game, on the other hand, actually looked like [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110608051811/nintendo/en/images/1/1d/Super_Mario_Bros._Peach_sprite.jpg this]. UUUUGGGGHHHH!!!! Though her official art looks [http://www.mariowiki.com/images/9/98/PrincessSML.png pretty much] the same since she debuted, so this is more due to hardware limitations.

** Inverted with the Dic cartoons. Peach is still pretty, but not to the length of the games.

* Many ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' fans were surprised at how attractive certain characters were made in ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children|Final Fantasy VII Advent Children]]''. Particular mention goes to: The grizzly middle-aged [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:CidHighwind-FFVIIArt.png Cid] was turned into a [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:Advent-Children-Cid.jpg handsome, well-muscled man], while the hunched, lanky and gangly [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:Reno-artwork.jpg Reno] was turned into a [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:Reno3.jpg fanservicey] [[Bishonen]].

** Vincent's Limit Breaks underwent this treatment. Originally, they were supposed to be parodies of classic horror movie monsters: [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:Vincent-FFVIIArt.png Vincent] himself resembles a vampire, [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:FFVII-GalianBeast.png Galian Beast] resembles a hideous, purple beast, [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:FFVII-DeathGigas.png Death Gigas] resembles Frankenstein's monster, [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:FFVII-HellMasker.png Hellmasker] resembles various slasher-movie killers, and [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:FFVII-Chaos.png Chaos] resembles a winged demon. However, in ''[[Dirge of Cerberus]]'', Galian Beast was changed to look much more like an oversized, humanoid dog. And Chaos was changed to look like a winged Vincent in [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:FFDoc_Chaos.jpg bondage gear]. Presumably, the other two limits were too absurd or ugly to be included in the game.

== Western Animation ==

* [http://www.titanstower.com/assets/animated/behind%20scenes/animatedcompare/terra.jpg Terra] from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''. In [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|the source comics]] she has buck teeth, short fluffy hair, and is otherwise a rather (while exaggerated) "normal" teenage girl. In the cartoon she's petite and has long hair. It's a bit hilarious though, since cartoon's version of Terra is everything the original hates.

* In the early ''[[Bionicle]]'' movies, the animators took a number of liberties with the characters' appearances, [[Show Accuracy, Toy Accuracy|making them look quite different to the toys]]. In ''Mask of Light'', Gali's figure is less bulky and she now looks more like a [[FemBot]]. Pohatu is also considerably more handsome there than in his toy form.

** In ''Legends of Metru Nui'', they even went as far as giving Nokama what can only be described as a robo-cleavage. Seems unnecessary, after they had already turned her ugly toy-mug into a quite nice-looking, feminine face.

* Sally Acorn from the ''[[Sonic Sat AM|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' television series is a slightly complicated case. See, [[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)|the first game]] featured many cute animal critters rescued from defeated enemies, their names almost all ending in -cky. One of these characters was Ricky the Squirrel, who was given the moniker Sally Acorn (and a corresponding [[Gender Flip]]) in western promotional materials. Ricky/Sally looked mostly like a generic normal squirrel; some early promotional comics gave the latter a red or pink bow to offset this slightly, but that was about it. However, when it came time to make the TV series, Sally's design was ''completely'' redone, no longer bearing any resemblance to Ricky but instead being a relatively attractive [[Funny Animal]]. [[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|The comic book]] then arguably took it [[Up to Eleven]]; [[Depending on the Artist]], she could either be fairly similar to her TV appearance, or have certain aspects exaggerated to make her an even ''more'' attractive, [[Half Dressed Funny Animal]] [[Petting Zoo Person]].

* ''[[Superman vs. the Elite]]'''s Manchester Black, while still retaining the thuggish look of the character from the comics, has him be a little bit thinner, having a much less gaunt face, as well as having [[Animesque]] hair.