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{{trope}}
[[File:rsz gfs 107557 2 30 6046.jpg|link=Persona 4|frame]]
Certain games have a drawing of a character's face, usually in a portrait style. In [[RPG
Certain games may also have different portraits for the same character to indicate facial expressions and the like. [[Going Through the Motions|A few facial expressions, anyway]].
{{examples
=== Action Adventure ===
* ''[[
* ''[[Solatorobo]]'' has portraits for most every character, excepting the ''absolute most minor'' of NPCs, and most characters have at least one alternate portrait for different moods or facial expressions. Some major characters not only get face portraits but also full-body portraits that show up for dramatic moments or soliloquies.
=== Adventure Games ===▼
* Seems to be pretty common in adventure games. The ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' series, some of the ''[[King's Quest]]'' games, and ''[[
▲== Adventure Games ==
▲* Seems to be pretty common in adventure games. The ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' series, some of the ''[[King's Quest]]'' games, and ''[[Gabriel Knight (Video Game)|Gabriel Knight]]'' all had text boxes with pictures of the characters' faces. [[Quest for Glory]] IV (which had very detailed pictures featuring most of the character's upper body) and ''[[Gabriel Knight (Video Game)|Gabriel Knight]]'' had pictures whose mouths moved when they spoke.
** ''[[King's Quest V]]'' was one of the earliest games to feature these, with close-up images of Cedric, Icebella, and Beetrice, among others. ''[[King's Quest VI]]'' featured 16- and 256-color versions, and they were even voiced and animated in the talkie edition.
* Most CING games like [[Hotel Dusk: Room 215]] and [[Trace Memory]].
* The only way you see characters in ''[[Phoenix Wright]]''. When investigating (or talking to someone on the witness stand) they look right at the camera, where as in court, you and the prosecutor are on either side of the room. (You will sometimes also give your assistant a stray look, who's positioned to be looking at the middle of the court room.) Notably, all the characters have unique animations, ranging from sweating, waving, bouncing up and down, and, upon proving someone guilty, a "freak out" animation.
* The PC adventure game ''[[Secrets of Da Vinci:
=== Platformers ===▼
▲== Platformers ==
* ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]'' actually uses this ''despite'' having the characters in question in clear view, right next to the heroes and with their faces visible. They do this for the bosses as well as certain other characters.
* ''[[Metroid]] Fusion''.
* ''[[
* ''[[Panel
===
▲* ''[[Panel De Pon]]'' and ''[[Tetris Attack]]'' both use them for dialogue. Both games animate blinking; PdP animates mouth movements, TA does not.
▲== [[RP Gs]] ==
▲* The ''[[Baldurs Gate]]'' series.
* The ''[[Castlevania]]'' games, at least since Symphony of the Night.
* ''[[
* Most ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games use them on the menus; the only ones that use them in dialogue are the ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Grandia II]]''. Perhaps vitally important as the character models don't even have ''mouths''.
** ''[[Grandia (
* In ''[[The Granstream Saga]]'', all character emotion is depicted via portraits as the 3D models don't even have ''faces''.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]: Chain of Memories''.
** Not just Chain of Memories - 358/2 Days has them too in conversations. It has to, since outside of FMVs the models always have the same blank stare going.
** Also done with ''[[Kingdom
* The ''[[Lunar]]'' series.
* The ''[[MARDEK]]'' series uses character portraits for every single talking character in the game. With expressions and all!
* ''[[
* In ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'', you have to choose a portrait for your character. It doesn't have to be even remotely connected with your actual appearance, though. The same goes for all the [[NPC
** However, in Neverwinter Nights 2, the portrait is rendered directly from your characters 3D face, including whatever equipment you currently have on.
* The ''[[Persona (
** Of particular note, ''[[
* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]''.
* ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]''. In the first, only story-important NPCs and the starting forms of the Hero and Partner had portraits. In the second, every Pokemon has a portrait, but again only certain NPCs and the starters' first evolutions have alternate portraits for different moods.
** Also done rarely in [[Pokémon Black and White]], only used when characters are talking via the [[X Transceiver]] or when talking with N.
* Most [[RPG Maker]] games.
** ''[[
** Completely averted in ''[[Visions and Voices|Visions & Voices]]''. There aren't even menu portraits.
** ''[[
* ''[[Suikoden]]''. In particular, ''[[Suikoden Tactics]]'' gives generic characters [[Eyeless Face|eyeless portraits]].
* Skits in the ''[[Tales
** Most of the games also have these by each character's status in and out of battle. In the latter case, they're often animated and have their expressions change based on what's happening to them.
* The ''[[Ultima]]'' series from VI on, until it goes 3D in IX and just zooms in on people.
* ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'' has portraits which take up approximately half of the screen when dialogue boxes are present. There are several portraits for each playable character which help reflect the emotional aspects of the dialogue.
* ''[[Inazuma Eleven]]'' has a unique face portrait for every single character in the game. [[Loads and Loads of Characters|All 1000+]] [[Cast of Snowflakes|of them]]. Although only characters important to the story have multiple portraits for different facial expressions.
* In ''[[Wild
** You could use a similar tactic in ''[[Wild
* ''[[
* The PSP remakes of ''[[
=== Simulation Games ===
* ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' uses the "multiple portraits for different emotions" version, when it's not using [[Going Through the Motions]]. You can tell how important a character is by how many portraits they have; [[Love Interest
▲== Simulation Games ==
* ''[[Mitsumete Knight
▲* ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' uses the "multiple portraits for different emotions" version, when it's not using [[Going Through the Motions]]. You can tell how important a character is by how many portraits they have; [[Love Interest|Love Interests]] will have five or six, while minor characters will only have one.
* The ''[[Trauma Center (
▲* ''[[Mitsumete Knight (Video Game)|Mitsumete Knight R: Daibouken Hen]]'' uses the text box version of this trope for all voiced characters of the game. Their facial expressions however change in real time as the dialogue is unfolding, instead of waiting for the dialogue to finish to change the expression, and instead of using the swapping a new portrait method.
▲* The ''[[Trauma Center (Video Game)|Trauma Center]]'' series, with multiple portraits for different emotions.
* ''[[Naval Ops|Warship Gunner 2]]'' uses portraits whenever someone's speaking.
=== Turn-Based Strategy ===▼
▲== Turn-Based Strategy ==
* Most Japanese strategy games have this, at least in the menu, to make it easier to recognize who or what class they are.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' and ''[[
* Most of the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' games use these.
** Interestingly, these ones have a few different expressions, move their mouths when speaking, and blink, even if their portrait isn't currently the "active" one. They also have a tendency to move around to simulate the person they represent moving.
* The ''[[Shining Force]]'' series use these for all the characters in your party. The ''[[Shining Force]] Gaiden'' games also used them for cutscenes. Only characters who are in the eponymous force or have speaking roles got portraits, though.
* ''[[Tactics Ogre:
* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'', being based on anime and manga, uses this to an extend.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Used by ''[[The Pocalypse]]''.
* Used by the [[Web Comic|fake]] [[Adventure Game]] ''[[Silent Hill: Promise]]''.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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