Character Portrait: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Certain games have a drawing of a character's face, usually in a portrait style. In [[RPG]]s or other games with menus, these are usually displayed next to the character's name. Also, in some games with talking [[NPC]]s where one can't directly see characters' faces, a portrait may be displayed next to their text box. If they don't, then they may be of [[Nominal Importance]]. (Some games may try to give everyone a portrait, but there are usually unique ones for important characters, making this an example of [[You All Look Familiar]]) Prevalent in [[RPG]]s, since there tend to be a lot of NPCs in them.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Cave Story]]''. There's some interesting variations: Balrog's head is so large that his character portrait can only show half of his face, and Misery's hair is a different color in the portrait than it is on her sprite.

* ''[[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.

 

* Seems to be pretty common in adventure games. The ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' series, some of the ''[[King's Quest]]'' games, and ''[[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]]'' 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.

* The PC adventure game ''[[Secrets of Da Vinci: The Forbidden Manuscript]]'' shows an ''interactive'' portrait of Valdo, the protagonist, on the inventory screen. It indicates what he's wearing and is where the player changes his outfit. After Valdo meets the character Marie, she also appears in his portrait, and their relative position to one another indicates the current state of their relationship.

 

* ''[[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''.

* ''[[Mega Man X]]'' used them in the first game onwards, and passed it on to the ''[[Mega Man Zero|Zero]]'' and ''[[Mega Man ZX|ZX]]'' games. Classic ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' followed suit in the SNES and [[PlayStation]] titles (one of which was later ported to GBA stateside). ''[[Mega Man Legends|Legends]]'' used them in places (not necessarily for dialogue, though). ''[[Mega Man Battle Network|Battle Network]]'' and ''[[Mega Man Star Force|Starforce]]'', by virtue of being RPGs, use them the most extensively.

 

 

* The ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series.

* The ''[[Castlevania]]'' games, at least since Symphony of the Night.

* ''[[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.

* ''[[Xenogears]]'' uses basic portraits in the dialogue boxes.

* The PSP remakes of ''[[Star Ocean 1]]'' and ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story]]'' featured this.

 

* ''[[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]]s will have five or six, while minor characters will only have one.

* ''[[Mitsumete Knight|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.

* ''[[Naval Ops|Warship Gunner 2]]'' uses portraits whenever someone's speaking.

 

* 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 ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]''.

** 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.

* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'', being based on anime and manga, uses this to an extend.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Used by ''[[The Pocalypse]]''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Video Game Tropes]]