Depending on the Artist: Difference between revisions

[[File:kenx9.jpg|link=Street Fighter (Videovideo Gamegame)|frame|Same character, we swear.]]

{{quote|''As is obvious, different artists interpret the character differently. Some artists see [[Touhou Project|Marisa]] as having small breasts, and others see her with even smaller breasts.''|[[Touhou Ibunshu (Fanfic)|UsuallyDead]], [http://usuallydead.com/stories/touhou/visualexplan/visualexplan.html Visual Explanation]}}

This is common in comics, where it often involves incidental parts of a character's outfit being either exaggerated or downplayed. For example, this is how the Superman symbol evolved to the familiar diamond-shape from the more triangular one of his first appearance.

Compare [[Off-Model]], [[Historical Beauty Update]], [[Adaptation Dye Job]], and [[Depending Onon the Writer]].

* In the ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]'' manga, since all the art styles are radically different, seeing cats appear in two different styles is quite jarring. This especially applies to Scourge and Tigerstar.

* Probably "Depending on the Colorist", but whether Misty has [[Blue Eyes]] or [[Green Eyes]] is this in the ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'' anime. In the games she has [[Blue Eyes]] though.

* The original penciller for ''[[The Sandman (Comic Book)|The Sandman]]'', Sam Kieth, depicted [[Justice League]] villain Doctor Destiny as completely bald and with horribly rotting, seemingly dripping skin. When Mike Dringenberg took over pencilling duties, Doctor Destiny acquired side hair and lost the rotting skin.

* In ''[[Arkham Asylum: aA Serious House Onon Serious Earth]]'', which predated Doctor Destiny's ''Sandman'' appearance, [[Grant Morrison (Creator)|Grant Morrison]] and [[Dave McKean]] made him similar to Kieth's depiction but they also had him in a wheelchair. The appearance Destiny has outside of ''Arkham Asylum'' and ''Sandman''? Despite Destiny predating [[He -Man and Thethe Masters of Thethe Universe|Skeletor]], you can be forgiven for easily getting the two mixed-up the majority of the time.

* ''[[The Sandman (Comic Book)|The Sandman]]''. This does make a bit of sense, considering it's stated early on that everybody who perceives the Endless see them a little differently. However, the way this attribute works is sometimes inconsistent. In the first volume, when he meets Nada in Hell, Dream still has his trademark chalk-white skin, only with African-style facial features. When they meet again in volume 4 he suddenly becomes black.

* ''[[Runaways (Comic Book)|Runaways]]'' has this. The more recent comics have a very different looking Chase, for instance, due to a change in artist.

*** Rogue was often drawn, early on (Avengers annual 10, her Dazzler issues), as middle-aged; with greying hair at the temples and visible crow's feet around her eyes.

*** Marrow's physical deformities are depicted entirely differently from artist to artist also - does she have bony ridges around her face or actual bones sticking out at odd angles from her forehead and shoulders, etc.? At least twice there's been an in-story explanation for this (her powers get altered) but at one point she was appearing in two different [[X -Men]] books that were supposedly taking place more-or-less simultaneously with appearances so different you could not have guessed it was the same character except through dialogue and process of elimination.

** Her costume's Stripperificness depends on who's drawing her today, particularly her shorts. This doesn't only apply to formal costume changes -- itchanges—it also happens in comics supposedly taking place at about the same time.

* ''[[Batman (Comic Book)|Batman]]''

** Arkham Asylum seems to change design and ''location'' depending on what era, artist, and book you're reading. One of the biggest lampshadings about this is during [[Animal Man (Comic Book)|Animal Man]], when Buddy sees almost '''five''' buildings in the same place, all looking radically different.

* Odds are you don't know that [[Superman (Comic Book)|Superman]] traditionally has another S symbol on the back of his cape. This is because most artists (except in his own series -- usuallyseries—usually) either simply forget about that or honestly think it's unnecessary.

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'': This is an odd use of the trope in a comic series based off of a live-action series. [[Invisibility|Claude's]] facial features tend to change depending on who's drawing the comic: when he first showed up in a storyline, he looked like Alan Rickman; the second time, he looked exactly like [[Christopher Eccleston]], as he should; the third time, he and everyone else in the comic looked pretty generic.

* [[Deadpool]] has been drawn with various skin colors-- graycolors—gray, brown, red, flesh-- andflesh—and with various skin textures-- lookingtextures—looking like gravel, like a burn victim, like a fairly normal person covered in tumors, like he's been sculpted out of pudding-- andpudding—and his ugliness is majorly played up on his date with Big Bertha for the sake of a gag. Somewhat justified in that the nature of his healing factor means that his form is liable to change from time to time.

* The eyes on [[Spider -Man|Spider-Man's]] mask change sizes quite frequently, even allowing for [[Expressive Mask|expressiveness]]. As do the sizes of the web nets under his arms, ranging from connecting elbow and waist to literally nonexistent. The spider emblem on his chest has gradually become less and less goofy. In some cases, some artist even drew the suit as red and black instead of red and blue. And don't even get started on what colour shading the symbiote suit is supposed to have...

** Ditko's early work suggests that Spidey's costume was ''originally'' red and black; black was often shown with blue highlights back in the four-color days. As the series progressed, the "highlights" slowly became the base color; John Romita's advent on the book entrenched that as canon.

*** Spider-Man's appearance in his red and blue costume was standard for years, based on the John Romita Sr. version. Then when Todd McFarlane became the artist in the late Eighties he made the eyes bigger, brought back the black base color and made the weblines look like spaghetti. Even after [[Mc Farlane]]McFarlane left this remained the look for most of the Nineties.

* "Cat Beast" (that is, the version of Beast from X-Men that is cat-like) has a tendency to look like a different animal depending on who draws him. He's been a grizzly bear, a baboon, a lion, and sometimes looks closer to the older version, "Ape Beast".

* The Brazilian ''[[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mega Man]]'' comic ''[[Novas Aventuras Dede Mega Man]]'' suffered from this trope especially hard, as it had a different artist for each issue... and sometimes had multiple artists within ''one issue.'' Characters could be drawn [[Super-Deformed]] in one issue, and with human proportions in another. Of course, this was the least of the comic's [[Schedule Slip|problems]].

* The color of [[The Phantom (Comiccomic Stripstrip)|The Phantom]]'s bodysuit varies greatly depending on which country the comic is published. In some it's grey, or purplish-blue, or green, or ''red''. That's right, the Ghost who Walks sneaks up on his foes in a bright red body stocking. Ninjas have nothing on his skill.

** This sudden shift was parodied in ''[[Supreme]]'' by Original Dax, the first incarnation of Lex Luthor [[Captain Ersatz]] Darius Dax to be revised and sent to the Daxia. He remarks with bewilderment that as more Daxes showed up, he notices all of them have hair and no beard, unlike him; he theorizes that some kind of higher power just decided it was better that way.

** Luthor's bout with obesity was not an art inconsistency. The character was reimagined as a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] in 1986 and stayed fat till 1991 when he died in a plane crash. His subsequent return to a more fit appearance was the result of a literal deal with the devil.

** It's probably ''most'' prevalent with Midge and Ethel. Ethel is portrayed as being [[Gonk|Repulsive]], yet there are some times where this supposed "ugliness" goes into [[Informed Flaw]]. Midge likewise is considered very attractive but she's often not portrayed any differently than background girls are, making this more of an [[Informed Attribute]].

** Mr. Zsasz can be either a dangerously skinny smoker with vacant eyes, or a [[Black Flag|Henry Rollins]] lookalike with crazy eyes.

*** Similarly, Marvel's Tiger Shark keeps alternating between costumed guy with shark powers and more shark than man because people don't care enough to keep track of what he's supposed to look like. Frankly, it's amazing that people ever remembered something like the Beast becoming a blue gorilla; You can be sure that if something like that happened now, it would never last.

** [[Batman|Bane's mask]] varies between luchadore and S&M.

** The Riddler started in a wacky green body-suit, until the actor playing him in the old [[Batman (TV series)|Adam West series]] decided he hated it and made his own costume, which came to be the standard depiction: a nice suit with a bowler hat and a question-mark on the tie. That's more-or-less his [[DCAU]] depiction to this day, although he often looks a lot like Art Carney. But back in the comics, compare the Riddler in "[[The Long Halloween]]"--a—a lanky old guy in a loose suit--tosuit—to the [[Joker]] miniseries by the guy who did "100 Bullets": the Riddler looks like a young, club-footed pimp with Elton John glasses.

** And let's not leave Scarecrow out of this mess. Dare to compare the versions where his head/mask is just as thin as the rest of him with the versions where his head/mask is oddly bulbous and probably the roundest part of his body. And then there's the debate about whether or not his mask is even supposed to have any eye and/or mouth-holes... and the oddly popular "noose necktie".

*** ^ And that's just when he's in the mask. When it's off, these questions arise - is Crane's hair blond, brown or red? Also, is he simply an average-looking guy or "dear God keep the mask on Scarecrow"? And exactly how old is he? (The last probably overlaps with [[Depending Onon the Writer|other factors]].)

* In the DCU series ''[[Fifty Two|52]]'', every issue had pencil layouts done by one artist, Keith Giffen, in order to keep this trope to a minimum. However, there were still a few minor slip-ups, the clearest example being Renee Montoya and Kate Kane. They were well-endowed but realistic when they first spoke to one another (They were still ''gorgeous'', of course, but it was manageable), but when they met in the park in the next issue they were both, quite literally, [[Most Common Superpower|bulging out of their tops]]. The commentaries usually passed it off as exactly this trope, and not a deliberate [[Fan Service|attempt to titillate readers]].

** PG in the white and gold outfit of the early 1990s was slim, athletic and of average height, sometimes. Recall Wally Wood originally drew her short (about 5'), zaftig and narrow-waisted.

* Jarvis, the Avenger's butler, is always depicted as a tall lean man. Except when drawn by John Byrne, in which case he will be short and pudgy.

* Traditionally Gambit from [[X -Men]] has eyes with black "whites" and red irises and pupils, but other colors turn up all the time.

* In the [[X Wing Series]], [http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/5372/blz10h.jpg Huff Darklighter] is a large, clearly overweight older man, balding but with long straight hair, also argumentative and contrary, particularly with the Rebels. In ''Darklighter'', [http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/8049/blz17.jpg Huff] is a slim older man with a full head of curly hair, a neat beard, and a decidedly more Rebel-loving bent.

* While the amount of cleavage shown in a superheroine's costume is always a variable, one character that tends to get hit very hard with it is [[Wonder Woman|Donna]] [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Troy,]] whose cleavage varies from modest to [[Absolute Cleavage|absolute]] from artist to artist.

* Vixen from the [[Justice League of America|Justice League]] has an odd one in how her powers are presented; she has the ability to take on the abilities of any animal, but DOTA, there may or may not be an aura looking like said animal around her when she does it.

* The ''[[Transformers]]'' are constantly switching between designs - be it the cartoon design, the model they were supposed to work from but tweaked, or art based on the toy but one artist using a different version. Sometimes, UK-written stories have slightly different color schemes from the US-written ones. The most [[Egregious]] ''recent'' examples are [[All Hail Megatron]] ([[Transformers Generation 1]] designs vs designs based on newer toys vs the designs used in [[Simon Furman]]'s books) and the [[Transformers (Filmfilm)|movieverse]] version of Arcee (goes from looking like her unused Movie 1 design to looking like ''[[Transformers Energon]]'' Arcee and back, until ''Revenge of the Fallen'' gave us a new official design.)

* Of all the [[Marvel]] characters, [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|the Hulk]] has probably the greatest variety of appearances. He started out looking like an 8-foot beefed up version of [[Frankenstein]]'s monster (probably not accidentally, as Universal's ''Frankenstein'' film was one of the inspirations for the character), but now varies tremendously from artist to artist: facial features resembling anything from a human brute through to a full-on caveman, how muscular he is, how big he is, his hairstyle, the amount of veins visible,the length of his limbs in relation to each other, the length and color of his shredded pants, etc. And that's just the Savage (green) Hulk, never mind his other personas...

* The, eh, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|black mask]] of the Batman villain [[Black Mask]] either looks like a fat slob or a rather more respectable skull. But everything varies; are his eyes fully visible, or just white spaces in the mask; is it permanently set, or can it make [[Expressive Mask|a surprisingly varied number of expressions]]?

* Another notorious entry for [[Ambiguously Brown]]; [[Green Arrow]] II, Connor Hawke. He's supposed to be 1/2 white, 1/4 African-American and 1/4 Korean. Good luck finding an artist who can draw it.

* The skin color and musculature of recurring [[Daredevil]] enemy Turk varies wildly. This necessitated the eventual [[Hand Wave]] that he has vitiligo and gets prescribed steroids to keep it in check.

* Fin Fang Foom sometimes wears [[Monster Modesty|incongruous purple pants]] and is sometimes a case of [[Nonhumans Lack Attributes]] (sometimes [https://web.archive.org/web/20131126063915/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/Foom%205.JPG both]).

* Iceman of the [[X -Men]] arguably owes his current status-quo to this phenomenon. It used to be that he just coated himself in ice (originally snow) during combat. His inclusion on ''[[Spider -Man and His Amazing Friends]]'' lead to a generation of kids that knew what he looked like but didn't really know anything else about him and it became a common misconception that he actually ''turned into'' ice (which ''is'' the most logical way to interpret his powers going on appearance alone). Eventually you started getting artists who [[Did Not Do the Research]] actually drawing him as transparent when in "iced up" form. Eventaully turning into ice was just made part of his power spread. Now, not only does he turn completely into ice, but no two artists can agree whether he looks pretty much the same as he used to, or like a normal person made of ice, or like some spiky-headed mosntrosity.

* Nocturne of the ''[[Exiles (Comic Book)|Exiles]]'' is the alternate-reality daughter of [[X -Men|Nightcrawler]] and the Scarlet Witch, and there's a surprising lack of agreement on how much of her father's physical quirks she inherited. Sometimes she has five fingers per hand, sometimes three. Sometimes she has normal feet, sometimes not. Artists can't even agree on whether or not she ''has a tail'' and really, at that point the editors should be stepping in (or at least giving them an official character model to work with). About the only thing they can agree on is that she's blue.

** In the Beano and [[The Dandy (Comic Bookcomics)|The Dandy]] favorites from the Forties there are two pages devoted to showing how Pansy Potter's appearance differed depending on the artist.

* [[Spider -Man]]'s Carlie Cooper falls victim to this a lot-to the point where fans aren't even sure what she's supposed to look like beyond "White and has glasses". Most notably is ever changing hair style and color which have NEVER been consistent between two issues. Ranges from pixie cut and light brown to past the shoulders and red-ish to just above the shoulders and more of a blondish to literally anything else. A lesser example is that intially colorist couldn't figure out how dark Lilly Hollister was supposed to be.

* This is discussed in ''[[American Splendor (Comic Book)|American Splendor]]'', when Joyce isn't sure what the real Harvey Pekar will look like, since some artists have him looking like a young [[Marlon Brando]] while others represent him like an ape with stink lines.

* Before a muppet version of Grover's mom was constructed for ''[[Sesame Street]]'', artists drawing for the books apparently don't agree with how she should look. Depictions range from an old lady to a [[Hot Shounen Mom]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104154015/http://www.toughpigs.com/myweekgroversmom01.htm Tough Pigs takes an extensive analysis on this one.]

** Apparently colourists are the bane of cartoonists' lives, as the cartoonists are often blamed for colouring problems. For example, some versions of a Peanuts strip which ''specifically says that this dog dish is yellow, as a plot point,'' shows the dish [[They Just Didn't Care|a different colour]]. Scott Adams, of [[Dilbert]], also caught the [[Unfortunate Implications]] flack when his colorist chose to give a thieving janitor character dark skin.

* This is very common in depictions of Biblical and mythological figures. For example, compare [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Good_shepherd_02b_close.jpg this third-century catacomb painting] of Jesus as the Good Shepherd with modern takes on the same subject by [https://web.archive.org/web/20140912155124/http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/AGF/8287~The-Good-Shepherd-Posters.jpg Gail Rein], [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20131218203638/http://cctheo.org/images/icon.jpg John Snogron], and [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20100923040351/http://jesusmafa.com/images/gimages/31.jpg an unnamed French artist].

** Taken to greater extremes as Christianity spreads around the world, where Jesus will often be given a [[Race Lift]] in the local church to reflect the local culture.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' gets this a lot, but probably the worst victim is the [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Demon Lord]] Demogorgon; the consistant part of its appearance is that it has two animalistic heads and tentacle arms. Its bulk, amount and color of hair, skin texture, number of tentacles (varies between one and two on each arm), arm structure, and the ''species of the animals its heads are'' has varried over the years, between hyenas, baboons, and mandrills.

** [http://lordsofaviron.com/images/Demogorgon.jpg Link]{{Dead link}}, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130121044713/http://www.briankohl.com/photogallery/images/fullsize/demogorgon.gif link], [https://web.archive.org/web/20071213114449/http://www.planewalking.dungeons.ru/denizens/abyssal%20lords/demogorgon.jpg link], [http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/dungeonscape_gallery/102803.jpg link], [http://www.eyeofthevortexonline.com/Images/cnash/demogorgon.jpg link for the most recent rendition]{{Dead link}}. [http://www.merzo.net/Gallery_Dungeons_and_Dragons/Demogorgon.gif and another link].

* ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'' artists can't seem to reach a consensus on what [[The Necromancer|Lim-Dul]] looks like. Dark Ritual shows him with black hair and ram's horns, his own card has him white-haired and with his horns out of the picture, and the comics draw him bald and with antlers.

* Before 4th edition [[Dungeons and& Dragons]], all Tieflings (the result of interbreeding between humans and demons) looked different, with the only constant being that there was ''some'' physical sign of their non-human heritage. Fourth edition standardized their appearance in theory - now all Tieflings have horns and tails - but artists vary widely in how human their faces look, whether their horns are curled like ram's or stick straight up (and whether that's random, consistent, or varies by gender), whether their tails are thin and flexible or thick and ungainly like a dinosaur's, etc.

* This seems to be an issue with ''Castlevania Judgment'', an attempt at making a [[Castlevania]] fighting game. One of its major selling points, in theory, would be the [[Fan Service]] of having characters from different branches of the franchise come together to battle each other -- butother—but the character designer, Takeshi Obata (of ''[[Hikaru no Go]]'' and ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'' fame,) made most of the characters look drastically different than they did in their original games. For instance, [http://castlevania.neoseeker.com/w/i/castlevania/1/18/EricLecarde.png this] is Eric Lecarde in his original appearance. [http://www.castlevaniadungeon.net/Images/Scans/judgment/eric.jpg This] is him in ''Judgment''.

** ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' is an interesting variation of this, as it contains characters from lots of different [[Final Fantasy]] games that have very different art styles (compare the [[Steampunk]] aesthetic of ''[[Final Fantasy VI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VI]]'' to the sci-fi [[Cyberpunk]]/[[Punk Punk|BioPunk]] style of ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'' to the standard [[Medieval European Fantasy]] fare of titles like [[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|IV]] and on and on ''and on and on''...) and makes them all conform to one art style for purposes of internal visual coherency. The style in question is done by main designer Tetsuya Nomura ([[Signature Style|quite obviously, to anyone familiar with the man's other works]]), but incorporating the [[Signature Style]] of the series' ''other'' main designer/illustrator [[Yoshitaka Amano]]--and—and this "Amanoization" applies as well to characters that were originally drawn by Nomura, such as [[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Tidus]] and [[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Squall]]. The overall effect is ...interesting, and [[Internet Backdraft|subject of]] [[Flame War|great debate]] [[Broken Base|among the fandom]].

*** And then the game does it deliberately and pushes it further with the Summon spells, which are represented by a variety of artwork--fromartwork—from the original concept art (like Malboro) to completely new designs (such as Carbuncle), all of which span the entire 20+ years of the series. For an example of this trope taken literally--theliterally—the "auto" Bahamut summon shows the [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091013075542/finalfantasy/images/1/1e/DFFBahamut.png dragon] as designed for ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'' by Tetsuya Nomura, while the "manual" Bahamut shows the [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091012124630/finalfantasy/images/3/35/DFFBahamut2.png same dragon]...as he was drawn by Amano for ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]''.

*** [[Ridiculously Cute Critter|The Moogles]]: In the early series they're vaguely catlike white-or-light-colored furballs with a pom-pom and tiny purple wings, like [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080309044554/finalfantasy/images/7/78/FFIX-Moogle_Concept.jpg so]. From VII-X, they look like plush-toy versions of the above basic design (and in some cases are actual plush toys). The ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' and ''[[Dissidia]]'' moogles look like the plush-toy variants, but more so and, most notably, with a comically oversized head and [[Gag Nose|big round clown nose]], as can be seen [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091008033351/finalfantasy/images/5/58/Dissidia_Moogle_Render.png here]. In the ''Crystal Chronicles'' spinoff series, moogles are like the "original-flavor" moogles, except [[Up to Eleven|even fluffier]] and overall less feline and more rodentine in appearance, a look shared with the moogle cameo in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]''. [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080407173622/finalfantasy/images/9/9e/Ffccking_moogle.jpg Forelimbs are optional]. And then the Ivalice moogles (''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (Video Game)|Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'', ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics a 2 (Video Game)|Final Fantasy Tactics a 2A2]]'', and ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'' among others) are ''completely'' different, [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070325003033/finalfantasy/images/e/e7/XII-moogles.jpg as you can see].

*** [[Horse of a Different Color|The Chocobos]]: The in-game appearance of the chocobos has varied surprisingly little over most of the series--largeseries—large, usually yellow flightless birds of varying degrees of cuteness/realism (''XII''-edition chocobos are probably the most realistic yet, while ''IX''-edition are probably the cutest). Except...when Yoshitaka Amano was asked to draw a flightless bird as a mount for ''[[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Final Fantasy II]]'', his original concept was [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100310110656/finalfantasy/images/8/8d/FFII_Chocobo.jpg this surreal specter], which was then forgotten about...until they made an OVA sequel to ''[[Final Fantasy V]]''. [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090103220902/finalfantasy/images/f/f0/Chocobo_LotC.jpg Behold].

*** [[Action Bomb|Bombs]]: Since their initial appearance in ''II'', Bombs have had a fairly standard [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070810093805/finalfantasy/images/3/3b/FFT-Bomb.jpg appearance]: floating fireball with eyes, a mouth, and tiny little arms. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120521091519/http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100123225911/finalfantasy/images/d/d5/Bomb_FFXIII.png Then came] ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]''.

*** [[Blob Monster|Flans]]: The standard ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080321183139/finalfantasy/images/d/dd/Waterflanffx.jpg flan] is a vaguely-cylindrical blob with eyes and a mouth, limb-like "appendages" optional--butoptional—but in their [[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|first appearance]], they take on an [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090316013112/finalfantasy/images/f/f8/Amano_FF1_Slime-Flan.jpg almost myconid appearance], which is later echoed in some of the ''Crystal Chronicles'' [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091002003500/finalfantasy/images/d/da/Flan_ffcc_EoT_DS.gif flan designs].

*** [[All Deserts Have Cacti|Cactuars]]: Cactuars, the cactus-people-enemies, were [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081201223142/finalfantasy/images/9/9d/Jumbo_Cactuar_ffx-2.jpg virtually identical] from ''VI'' through ''X''--then—then came ''XI'''s [https://web.archive.org/web/20120521091047/http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080428213309/finalfantasy/images/1/15/FFXISabotenders.jpg take], followed by the Ivalice [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090622042330/finalfantasy/images/d/d6/Cactoid_Summon.png interpretation].

*** [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons|Bahamut]] is usually drawn as a huge black dragon...for ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'', his design was [[Everything's Better Withwith Rainbows|distinctly more fabulous.]]

** ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]'' had many examples of this. Every character has their concept as drawn by Yoshitaka Amano, their little pixeled map sprite, their battle sprite, their menu portrait, the super-deformed chibi official art based on the sprite, and a 3D render. Internal consistency between any of those is the ''exception'', not the rule.

** ''[[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Final Fantasy II]]'' also gets it pretty bad, due to two main factors: The first is that it has been remade/ported no less than ''six times'', usually with an updated graphical look ([[The Hero|Firion]] is basically identical to Fighter in the NES version and doesn't begin looking like a different, unique character until the Playstation version) and sometimes with new official art by a new artist in the [[Feelies]]. Then there's the renditions of the main characters and villain in the FMV opening of some versions of the game, [[Off-Model|where they are utterly unrecognizable]]. Secondly, there's the little fact that Amano apparently could not decide how he wanted to draw Firion. Practically every concept piece features a very different-looking Firion, and a similar thing applies to art of the [[Big Bad|Emperor]]. It's so bad that Nomura's rendition of Firion for ''[[Dissidia]]'', which incorporates elements from practically all the official arts and recent sprites, looks more like "Firion" than [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080605190645/finalfantasy/images/1/1f/Amano_Firion_II.jpg "Firion"] does.

** ''[[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IV]]'' has some particularly [[Egregious]] examples. Among some prominent ones is the ''[[Nintendo Power]]'' art created from, apparently, whole cloth to, apparently, sell the art to Americans. These depictions of [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080209231154/finalfantasy/images/1/17/Rydia.jpg Rydia], [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071119185807/finalfantasy/images/b/b8/Rosa.jpg Rosa], [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071119185953/finalfantasy/images/d/d3/Edward.jpg Edward], [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071120181320/finalfantasy/images/1/14/Kains.jpg Kain], [https://web.archive.org/web/20141014125613/http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071119185718/finalfantasy/images/7/7c/Cecil2.jpg Cecil] and especially ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20141014125613/http://afghanant.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/2e165a1.jpg Palom and Porom]'' aren't very true-to form. In-game, the character Cecil gets it particularly bad, getting different art for the original concept, the DS remake, the sequel, and yet another for ''[[Dissidia]]'', in addition to the miscellaneous pixeled sprites "chibi" artwork, 3D renders, and inconsistent depictions of the exact color of his armor and skin. Really, he is rarely depicted the same way twice, even in the same game.

* Many [[Fighting Game|Fighting Games]]s include this trope. Characters inexplicably change appearance from one game to the other, and then may retain their oldest attire or not.

** As the picture at the top of the screen shows, the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series has undergone a ''lot'' of artists over the course of the last twenty-plus years. The one in the lower-right is a bonus - it's from ''[[SNSNK Kvsvs. Capcom|Capcom vs. SNK]]'', and was drawn by the artist from ''[[The King of Fighters]]''.

* ''[[Star Fox (Video Gameseries)|Star Fox]]'' has historically done this a lot.

* The eye color of the Original [[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mega Man]] and his sister Roll is oficially blue, but are often drawn [[Green Is Blue|green]] by different artists. Given that the rest of the heroes in the franchise come with green eyes, the confusion is understandable.

* [[Abstract Gender (Webcomic)|Abstract Gender]] went through several different artists, each with their own style and character design

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130914230208/http://www.livingwithinsanity.com/index/ Living With Insanity]. When Paul Salvi became the artist, he redesigned all the characters so that the only ones who look like they did when David Herbert drew them are the goth girl Sally and Afro guy.

* One show that deliberately invokes this trope is [[John Kricfalusi]]'s ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]'', due to his strict rule that the artists were never allowed to draw a character with the same pose or expression, or even draw the character the same way, twice.

* As one noted in the [[DVD Commentary]] of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', whether Sokka and Aang are lean but muscular or just flat-out scrawny-looking changes depending on the animator.

* Whatever you were used to seeing in the animation of ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'', ''[[A Pup Named Scooby -Doo]]'' and ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'', Kennedy Cartoons would turn it into a messy and odd squash and stretch show.

* The ''[[Fantastic Four: WorldsWorld's Greatest Heroes]]'' cartoon artist(s) seem to have given Johnny a chin you could put a eye out with.

* Gorgonzola from ''[[Chowder]]'' is possibly an example of this. Most of the time he's only drawn slightly chubby, not much.. but sometimes he is drawn almost as large as Chowder but on quite a few other occasions he's drawn really thin. (sometimes resulting in him looking like a baby with a unusually large head) Not to mention the disappearance and reappearance of his monobrow. The other characters are subject to this kind of thing (not necessarily weight, though)

* Froggo from ''[[Histeria (Animation)|Histeria!]]'' also falls into the whole "sometimes fat, sometimes thin" thing.

* ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'' - is Stan muscular, a bit tubby but still somewhat buff, or obese?

* Ranger Smith constantly changed his appearance in the original ''[[Yogi Bear (Animation)|Yogi Bear]]'' cartoons, even becoming a blonde in one episode of ''Yogi's Gang''.

* ''[[X-Men (Animationanimation)|X-Men]]'' fans will remember the [http://marvel.toonzone.net/xmen/revamp/ different character appearances] in the final episodes.

* ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|Family Guy]]'': [[Butt Monkey|Poor]], [[Hollywood Pudgy|poor]] Meg Griffin. In some episodes she simply happens to have a wide body type but a stomach most real life girls would kill for, while in others she's got a muffin top.

* Much like ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'', the storyboarders of ''[[Adventure Time (Animation)|Adventure Time]]'' very freely let their own style show in their episodes. This is usually most prominent in how Finn is drawn- sometimes he's a little more chubby or thin, his hat may or may not be rounded and more dimensional, his limbs may be more wiggly, etc. Jake's appearance widely varies too, but he may not count, being a [[Shape Shifter]].

* Spike from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''. His color scheme varies from episode to episode. Sometimes he's a light pinkish color, and sometimes he's a darker purplish.