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{{trope}}
{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
Hmm...do any of these video game characters [[Expy|look familiar to you]]?
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Examples of [[Expy|Expies]] in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
* According to David Gaider, one of the top writers at ''[[BioWare]]'', virtually every ''Bioware'' character is an [[Expy]]. When posting about their writing process on the official forums, Gaider said that Bioware's writers build characters by taking characters from other media and giving them new names and backstories. His example was Alistair, who he is heavily based on Xander from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''
** Bioware characters also tend to be expies of each other, often sharing personality types, abilities and backstories. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130906182818/http://www.cracked.com/funny-3872-bioware/ This] ''Cracked'' article scratches the surface.
** [http://www.behindthename.com/name/alistair Alistair] is the Scottish form of Alexander, meaning Xander and Alistair even have the SAME NAME.
* Any game with a reasonably decent
* Being based off ''[[Plants vs. Zombies]]'', ''[[Mini Robot Wars]]'' has ''a lot'' of these. It still has an original storyline though.
** For the Minirobots (good guys)
*** Fuzors, being your resource-producing machines, are based off the sunflowers. Papa Fuzors are similar to Twin Sunflowers.
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*** And he gets his own expy in ''[[Luminous Arc 2]]'''s Kaph.
* In the Valve universe, we have the Scout from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' and Ellis from ''[[Left 4 Dead]] 2''. They're both baseball fans, they dress similarly, have similar personalities ("Grass grows, birds fly, the sun shines, and brotha...I hurt people" "Kill all sons of bitches, that's my 'fficial instructions") and use bats as weapons. They also have very thick accents from different parts of the US.
** ''[[Persona 5]]'s remake (Royal) has Takuto Maraki, whose appearance and {{spoiler|goal of creating an illusionary world}} reminds one of Sosuke Aizen from ''[[Bleach]]''. But unlike Sosuke Aizen, Takuto Maraki {{spoiler|wishes to create a utopia.}}
** There's also Gman from the ''[[Half-Life]]'' series and the Spy from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''. They both wear nice suits, act very proper and sophisticated (Spy's in game dialogue aside), and we can never seem to tell whose side they're really on. They're also seen carrying briefcases quite often (Gman's briefcase and the intelligence, which could be a whole other comparison altogether). Spy's ability to turn invisible with his watch could be compared to how Gman always seems to disappear whenever he wants.
* In a more mainstream example, we have Samus from ''[[Metroid]]'' and Master Chief from ''[[Halo]]''. Both are from military science fiction (FPS) games that wear full body armor, fight aliens and hardly ever say a word to anyone. They are both part of an elite group of fighters (Samus with the Bounty Hunters, Master Chief with the Spartans), and are considered the best within the groups. They have both fought 2 groups of aliens: A complex race of intelligent aliens, and a parasitic race of aliens (Samus with the Space Pirates and Metroids, and Chief with the Covenant and the Flood). Furthermore, both intelligent races have kicked their asses so many times over that the aliens have given nicknames to them ("The Hunter" for Samus and "The Demon" for Chief)
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** Not just Nico Bellic, mind, [[Older Than They Think|but also Tommy Vercetti from]] ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City|Vice City]]''.
*** Probably not so much, since Nico and Marston both seem to be conflicted characters, weary of violence, but grudgingly resigned to the inevitability of it despite looking and hoping for another way, while Tommy is an unrepentent (and indeed, proud and happy) psychopath.
*** Continuing the [[Grand Theft Auto]] and [[Red Dead Redemption]] comparison, [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas|Officer Tenpenny]] and [[Red Dead Redemption|Agent Edgar Ross]]. Both are badge wearing [[Manipulative Bastard
* ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'' is the king of this trope. The designs of all of the agents (save for Kahn...no, not "that" [[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Kahn]]) are americanized versions of their Japanese counterparts in Ouendan, literally making them exported characters.
** And again in ''Ouendan 2'' where the original ouendan have to face off against a completely different set of expies. If you were lucky enough to download the expansion you could play as the [[Elite Beat Agents]] as well. In the end Ouendan 2 wound up having SIXTEEN expies!
* There's often an Expy-like relationship between player characters in video game sequels where you play as [[
** Text adventures like ''[[Zork]]'' avoid it by having more detailed descriptions available.
* [[Jak and Daxter|Daxter]] is an expy for [[Animaniacs|Yakko Warner]]
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' has Meryl Silverburgh, an [[Expy]] of the original Meryl Silverburgh, a character in ''[[Policenauts]]''. The original Meryl, in turn, started life as an Expy/[[Distaff Counterpart]] of Solid Snake from ''[[Metal Gear]]''. All games were created by [[Hideo Kojima]]. He later lifted Benson Cunningham from ''[[Snatcher]]'', gave him a celebratory [[Race Lift]], and put him in ''[[Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops]]''.
** After the revelation of {{spoiler|Solid Snake being an imperfect clone of his nemesis Big Boss}}, the appearances were further retconned. Pretty much evident by how Naked Snake (Big Boss in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'') is basically Solid Snake with an eyepatch and 1960s-1970s equipment, complete with the same voice actor, and further evident in ''Portable Ops Plus'' with the optional appearance of "Old Snake," aka Solid Snake from ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]''...
*** {{spoiler|It makes sense that Naked would be just like Solid, the latter IS his clone...}}
** Dr. Pettrovich Madnar, who was the Metal Gear engineer in ''[[Metal Gear
** Drebin from [[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]], is a blatant expy of Smuggler from [[Deus Ex]]. Both characters are sunglasses wearing [[Dark-Skinned Blond|Dark Skinned Blonds]] who sell the protagonists weapons, act like they're above everything that's going on around them, and they even ''have the same voice actor.''
* The common criticism of Tetsuya Nomura's work ([[Author Appeal|apart from]] [[Memetic Mutation|buckles and zippers]]) is that he really only knows how to draw [[Only Six Faces|a handful of faces]], and just adds different eye colors and hair, and maybe mix-and-matches qualities from other character designs he's already done.
** Though it's a lot more subtle than most examples, Sora of the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series is technically an [[Expy]] of Mickey Mouse. They share a lot of similar personality traits, and his outfit in the first game was actually based on Mickey's classic look. Appearance-wise, Sora is also the expy of Sion Barzahd from one of Tetsuya Nomura's earlier games, ''The Bouncer''.
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** Also, Terra resembles Zack Fair from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', even though Zack himself appears in the game as a [[Cameo]]. Of course, it's the younger Zack pre [[Time Skip]] in ''Crisis Core'', while Terra more resembles the older, battle-hardened Zack.
** Nomura designed Xion as an Expy of Kairi as a [[Red Herring]], to throw fans off her actual origin of {{spoiler|a Sora replica.}}
** Here's another: He's [[The Lancer]] to his best bud, and early portions of the first game hinted at some kind of [[Love Triangle]]. He becomes a [[Rival Turned Evil]], but eventually gets over his [[Face Heel Turn]] and spends a large portion of the series as [[The Atoner]]. He realizes his weaknesses and confronts his [[Enemy Within]], [[Took a Level
** Xehanort, whether it's as {{spoiler|Master Xehanort,}} Xehanort the [[Deceptive Disciple]], Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, or Xemnas, comes off as the bizarre lovechild of [[Final Fantasy V|Exdeath]], [[Final Fantasy VI|Kefka]], and [[Final Fantasy VII|Sephiroth]]. Let's see... [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]? Yup. [[Complete Monster]] and [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]? Check. [[Omnicidal Maniac]]? Hoo boy! [[Large Ham]]? "'''[[Memetic Mutation|DARKNESS!]]'''" [[A God Am I]]? ''In spades''. The list goes on... And don't even get me started on Xemnas's use of '''[[Power of the Void|THE VOID]]'''.
* [[Yoshitaka Amano]] enjoys reusing character designs and design elements. (He just doesn't get called out on it - at all.) Let's see...
** [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070411215900/finalfantasy/images/b/b9/FFV-amano_leena.jpg Lenna's] and [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070411215942/finalfantasy/images/6/67/5-cara-a.jpg Krile's]{{Dead link}} designs, both from ''[[Final Fantasy V]]''. Their [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061226233718/finalfantasy/images/4/47/LennaCG.jpg FMV] [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061224210804/finalfantasy/images/e/e1/KrileCG.jpg renders] are even worse about this. They are both preceded by ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'''s [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100418181257/finalfantasy/images/2/21/Rosafarrell.jpg Rosa], the original Amano-pretty-blonde-lady-in-a-leotard-a-cape-some-sashes-and-boots.
** The unnamed Warrior/Knight depicted in Amano's early illustrations for ''[[Final Fantasy I]]'' looks quite a bit like a proto-[[Final Fantasy IV|Cecil]]. The first [[Black Knight|Dark Knight]] in the series, [[Final Fantasy II|Leon]], looks like [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080225080550/finalfantasy/images/1/18/Leon.jpg this]. The second, pre-[[Heel Face Turn]] Cecil, looks like [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060319225649/finalfantasy/images/4/41/Cecil_Dknight.jpg this].
** Lovely blonde princess rescued from the [[Big Bad]] by the hero and his party, who afterward expresses some attraction to the hero. Who am I talking about--[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080828212849/finalfantasy/images/4/4d/Princess_Sara.jpg Princess Sara] from ''[[Final Fantasy I]]'', or [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100121183758/finalfantasy/images/a/a7/Amano-FFII-Hilda.jpg Princess Hilda] from ''[[Final Fantasy II]]''? To compound that, [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090624153727/finalfantasy/images/c/c8/Cosmosfullart.png Cosmos' design] from ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'' was explicitly based on Princess Sarah from the first game.
*** Load up one of the newer remakes of FFI & head to Lufenia. Compare their features with those of Cosmos. Not a character, but interesting. Especially since {{spoiler|Cosmos comes from a Lufenian woman.}}
** The best example of recycling designs from ''[[Final Fantasy II]]'' for ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' has to be [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080605221050/finalfantasy/images/9/95/Amano_Ricard.jpg Ricard] and [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061224091542/finalfantasy/images/4/46/Kainhighwind.jpg Kain], both surnamed Highwind. ''Look at those pictures.'' What's more, a [[Mythology Gag]] that's [[All There in the Manual]] is that [[Final Fantasy IV|Kain's]] father is named Ricard...and [[Final Fantasy II|Ricard's]] son is named Kain.
** Compare the main heroine of ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20071103033216/finalfantasy/images/2/22/200px-Ff6_amano_tina.jpg Terra], with the above-mentioned [[Final Fantasy V|Lenna and Krile]]. She's also a near-clone of fellow heroine Celes in gameplay, although after all the above examples, their [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060523033328/finalfantasy/images/8/8a/Celes.jpg visual similarity] is not that pronounced, as long as you're not dealing with their [https://web.archive.org/web/20190915134337/http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080614155156/finalfantasy/images/4/49/CelesFMV.JPG FMV] [https://web.archive.org/web/20190915134418/http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080616052105/finalfantasy/images/a/a1/TerraFMV.JPG renders.]
** [[Final Fantasy VI|Setzer]] [http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081208212216/finalfantasy/images/3/3a/Amano_Setzer.jpg is wearing]{{Dead link}} [[Final Fantasy V|Faris's]] [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090306004027/finalfantasy/images/3/31/Amano_Faris_III.jpg coat.] In Amano's [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100321115238/finalfantasy/images/a/a4/AmanoSeph.jpg concept] for [[Final Fantasy VII|Sephiroth]] (yes, he did the original concept, ''really''), that long black coat reappears, slightly less baroque this time.
** Don't forget how Amano has a fondness for pale skin (May be justified with Cecil, given that Lunarians can have pale skin), frizzy white hair, spiked armor, catsuits, capes, eye shadow and black-blue lipstick. The CG-I renders for ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' used for the art illustrate it perfectly. Course, leave it to [[Fan Dumb]] to insist that all of his characters are 100% original.
** The characters are also expys of characters from different series. Zidane from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' was basically the ''Final Fantasy'' version of [[Dragon Ball|Goku]], and Kefka Palazzo was a direct lift of [[The Joker]] from [[Batman]].
* Beyond the visual designs of Nomura and Amano, ''Final Fantasy'' recycles a lot of character concepts from game to game. In any given game there's a good chance your main character has [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] and is gonna fall in love with a [[White Magician Girl]]. During the game you'll likely to meet up with a [[Chivalrous Pervert]], a woman who is [[Last of His Kind|last of her kind]], A [[Hot Chick with a Sword]], a [[The Stoic|stoic badass]], an [[Badass Grandpa|elderly mage]], a [[Genki Girl]], a [[Tagalong Kid]], and [[Ms. Fanservice|a female who seems to exist only for fanservice]]. On the villain side you have [[The Dragon]], who might be a [[Rival Turned Evil]], a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]], and the [[Big Bad]] who leads [[The Empire]]. There's a good chance at least one of them is [[Brainwashed]]. The Big Bad will either be an [[Evil Sorcerer]] clad in [[Spikes of Villainy]], or a [[Bishonen]] [[Woobie]] who may just be a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], and either way will have at least one [[Evil Plan]] in motion. The final boss will ''always'' be either an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] or an [[Eldritch Abomination]].
** All three SNES ''Final Fantasy'' main characters are [[Halfbreed|half-breeds]] of two different worlds.
** [[Final Fantasy X
*** Ditto [[Final Fantasy XIII|Lightning]] for [[Final Fantasy VII|Cloud]].
*** Wakka from ''FFX'' is very similar to Raijin from ''FFVIII''; a lovable oaf who is unquestioningly loyal, is pared up with a short tempered, authoritative woman who keeps him in line, and has a [[Verbal Tic]] of asking for confirmation whenever he makes a statement.
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**** When I first heard of ''Namco x Capcom'', I was hoping that [[Devil May Cry|Dante]] would be in it. When I saw Reiji, I realised he wouldn't be, since they were too similar. Bishonen demon hunters who use guns and swords and magic, have blonde sidekicks/love interests that are actually demons, dress in read jackets and black pants, father was died due to demons? Pretty blatant to me!
*** Monolith Soft, the developers of ''Namco x Capcom'', then made ''[[Endless Frontier|Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier]]'', which features [[Gender Flip|gender-flipped]] Expies of Kyosuke and Excellen, a regular [[Expy]] of Lamia, plus guest-stars Reiji, Xiaomu, and KOS-MOS herself (also including T-ELOS). The aforementioned director that made ''Namco x Capcom'' was involved in this too, so it's no wonder.
**** Strictly, they're not gender-flipped: they're ''name''-flipped. Kaguya Nanbu is the [[Expy]] of Excellen, and Haken Browning takes after
*** The sequel ''Endless Frontier EXCEED'' introduces Aledy Nassh, a blatant [[Super Robot Wars Compact 3|Folka Albark]] on foot, with a different hairstyle. He also comes along with an Ialdabaoth [[Expy]] painted black.
**** By the way, here's a list of that line of expies: Aledy is the expy of Folka, who is the expy of [[Fist of the North Star|Kenshiro]], who is an expy of [[Bruce Lee]]. Ooh, boy...
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*** Design-wise, [[Super Robot Wars L|Rushbird]] looks like an Obari-designed robot such as Gravion, while Straybird is pretty similar to Shurouga.
* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'': Pick an archetype, any archetype: [[Crutch Character|Jeigan]], Kain, Abel, Oguma, Nabarl, Est, Rena, and Julian seem to have counterparts appear in every game.
** It gets interesting when they have similar/the same Backstories. Kashimu from ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and Fir from ''The Sword of Seal'' were similar, while Oguma from ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and Deick from ''The Sword of Seal'' were the same. Kain and Abel in ''The Dark Dragon and the Sword of Light'' became Alan and Lance from ''The Sword of Seal''
** Going beyond just archetypes: Klein, from ''Sword of Seals'', is of noble blood, joins the party as a Level 1 Sniper, is a stern but loving big brother (to Clarine), and [[Bodyguard Crush|can have a relationship with a subordinate who is a Pegasus Knight]] ([[Spell My Name with an "S"|Tate/Thite/Thito]]). All of these are also true of ''Sacred Stones''' Innes (replacing Clarine and Tate with Tana and Vanessa).
** Also going beyond archtype, Dieck from ''Sword of Seals'' looks remarkably like [[One Piece|Roronoa Zoro]]. Don't believe me? Compare their features: short green hair, scarred and very muscular, swordsmen, good relationship with their [[True Companions|Nakama]], etc.
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* The ''[[Pokémon]]'' series as a whole has a ton of these, especially in the beginning of the games.
** The [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Player_character#Characters primary (male) character] of any ''[[Pokémon]]'' game (except Brendan) is remarkably similar to the original protagonist, Red.
** Similarly, [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Colosseum_Wes_3D.png Wes] from ''[[Pokémon Stadium|Pokémon Colosseum]]'' gets his own Expy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130508213124/http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/File:Michael.png Michael], in the sequel ''[[Pokémon Stadium|Pokémon XD]]''. [[Replacement Scrappy|Not all the fans were happy.]]
** With [[Pokémon Black and White|Generation V]] around the corner, the starters were revealed on various ''Pokémon'' sites. The Water-type starter for said generation, Oshawott, vaguely resembles Piplup, the Water-type starter from the [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl|previous generation]]. [http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/archive/b/b1/20090602030513%21393Piplup.png Notice]{{Dead link}} [http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/8/87/500Mijumaru.png anything?]{{Dead link}}
*** Subverted when they both evolve. Piplup becomes an emperor, while Oshawott becomes a samurai, and then {{spoiler|walks on all fours, due to being a samurai lord-horse combination, in turn due to Nintendo wanting to cram in some Fridge Brilliance.}}
** Compare Rattata, Sentret, Zigzagoon, Bidoof, and Patrat (Patrat is even called a Scout Pokémon like Sentret, though they have different ways of keeping watch; the former just constantly keeps watch in a pose with its paw above its eyes, and the latter stands on its long tail to raise itself up).
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** There's also Model A in ''[[Mega Man ZX]] Advent''. Both his appearance and personality are strikingly similar to that of Axl in the ''X'' series. {{spoiler|He's actually the biometal for Albert, [[Big Bad|a completely different character]].}}
*** Don't forget the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Enemy Mega Men]], which blatantly parallel the [[Four Is Death|Four Guardians]] of ''Zero''. Even their Biometals are expies of them.
*** And of course, Girouette. [[Bishonen]]? Check. [[Badass Long Hair]] [[Hair of Gold|Of Gold]]? Check. Being [[The Obi-Wan]]? Check. Being [[Mind Control
** Concrete Man bears a striking resemblance to Guts Man.
** Being the very first [[Sequel Series]] in the mythology, ''[[Mega Man X]]'' would technically be the first character to be a blatant [[Expy]]. Although, in an ironic twist, [[Executive Meddling|he only existed]] ''[[Executive Meddling|because]]'' [[Executive Meddling|of that status]].
* ''[[Warcraft]] III'''s scenario and characters seems to be [[Expy
** Sylvanas is pretty much Kerrigan with a different name.
*** To put it into perspective, what happened to Kerrigan was against her will and hated what she had become but nevertheless was ambitious, powerful and angry enough to embrace becoming the Queen Bitch of the Universe. Sylvanas was transformed against her will and she too hated what she became but could not embrace it, leading her to split from the Scourge and seeking her own path. Arthas was already ambitious and had a vengeful side to him that caused him to cross to the Scourge more or less willingly and embrace [[Complete Monster|what he became]], turning to the Lich King.
** Arthas is also pretty obviously inspired by [[The Elric Saga|Elric of Melniboné]], and [[Evil Weapon|Frostmourne]] by Stormbringer. They have the same motive, the swords have the same modus operandi (stealing souls of loved ones in particular), and to drive the point home, Arthas even essentially becomes an albino after being possessed.
* ''[[
** The [[Powered Armor|Power Armor]] of the Terran marines resemble that of the Space Marines from ''[[Warhammer
** The dropship pilot takes it to [[Captain Ersatz]] levels.
** The Zerg are an expy of ''Warhammer 40,000'''s Tyranids, which themselves are an expy of the ''[[Aliens]]'', making the aforementioned Undead from the ''[[Warcraft]] III'' example an [[Beyond the Impossible|expy of an expy of an expy]].
** The Battlecruiser captain is an expy of [[Robotech|Captain Gloval]]. Swarthy russian man with a [[Porn Stache]], wearing an officer's cap.
* 3/4 of the party from ''[[MOTHER 1|Earthbound Zero]]'' and ''[[
** There are also several characters in ''[[Mother 3]]'' who appear to be very similar to previous characters: However, they are almost exclusively NPCs.
* Masked magician Guile from ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' is an interesting case. He's based off of Magil, a similar masked magician from the ''other'' sequel to ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', the Japan-only ''Radical Dreamers'', who turns out to be {{spoiler|Magus from the first game, keeping an eye on [[Urban Legend of Zelda|his sister]].}} Guile was meant to have a similar reveal in ''[[Chrono Cross]]'', but that plot point was dropped in favor of focusing on the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|other 44 playable characters]], so the character was re-written as an enigmatic spellcaster...an act that ''infuriates'' scythe fans to this day. In Japan, he was named Alf, {{spoiler|after Magus' cat, Alfador}}.
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** Then there's Leah, an expy of Ayla. In the best ending, she even mentions that she'll be naming her daughter Ayla.
** ...And Luccia, an expy of Lucca.
** can't forget the similarities of the two [[
* Another criticism of [[Akira Toriyama]]'s artwork is how similar a lot of his characters look, in not only just the manga he writes, but also the video games he does the art for. Again, ignore how hard it can be to create a bunch of unique faces ''period'', given how much Akira Toriyama actually ''does''.
** In ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', Crono looks like a brown-haired Medieval [[Dragon Ball|Son Gohan]], Marle looks an awful lot like a younger [[Dragon Ball|Bulma]], Lucca looks like a teenage version of [[Dr. Slump|Arale]].
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** Though this may be missed by fans, Muffy is an [[Expy]] of Eve. They're both blond, wear red dresses, work at a bar, are flirty, are outgoing, and they both have abandonment problems.
* Touhou expies include Minamitsu Murasa and Byakuren Hijiri, from Touhou 12 (Undefined Fantastic Object), who share a number of similarities to Chiyuri Kitashirakawa and Yumemi Okazaki, from Touhou 3 (Phantasmagoria of Dim.Dream). Both Minamitsu and Chiyuri are young-looking sailor girls; Byakuren and Yumemi are their older superiors. Indeed, one fan hypothesis prior to the release of Undefined Fantastic Object was that Yumemi would be returning (due to her connection to spaceships).
* ''[[
** Valkenhayn R. Hellsing is the werewolf version of Slayer.
** Ragna the Bloodedge, the [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] version of Sol Badguy with only two belts, and uses demonic powers instead of [[Playing with Fire|fire]].
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** Bang Shishigami: Chipp Zanuff, take two.
** Litchi Faye Ling: Jam Kuradoberi's [[Chinese Girl|nature]] (and Instant Kill) + I-No's [[Stripperiffic|dressing style]] + Bridget's playing style + Millia Rage's story connections.
** Nu-13: ''Guilty Gear X''-era Dizzy. With Justice's [[Power Armor]]. Or [[
** And let's not forget Hazama, who is just ''too'' similar to [[Bleach|Gin Ichimaru]]. Even the comparison Rukia makes of Gin to a snake in Chapter 145 fits in, as Hazama has a snake-themed motif.
* ''[[Persona 4]]'''s Rise Kujikawa, on first glance, looks like [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Nena Trinity]] with different hair color and no freckles. While that alone doesn't instantly make her an [[Expy]], it is later revealed that Rise also has the similar cheery, flirtatious personality which functions as a mask (though what they mask is different: Rise is a good girl deep down, and Nena is [[Cute and Psycho]]. And they're both voiced by [[Rie Kugimiya]] while [[Playing Against Type|having nearly NO]] [[Tsundere]] qualities she is famous for and has a knack of wearing [[Zettai Ryouiki]] outfit.
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** Naoto looks almost exactly like the main character from ''[[Persona 3]]'', except for the hat and that the lack of hairbangs. Naoto even twirls a gun in battle, much like how the main character from Persona 3 does during a summoning sequence.
*** The hat along with the detective aspirations are a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army|Raidou Kuzunoha]]. The line of Naoto's sideburns also closely resembles Raidou's.
* Nel Zelpher from ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time]]'' has a very similar appearance and fighting style to [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Fear/Phia]] from the first ''[[Star Ocean 1|Star Ocean]]''. They also tend to act in very [[Tomboy|not-stereotypically-feminine]] ways, although it's different for
** To emphasize this, Phia's combat style in the PSP version is altered to make her even ''more'' like Nel, swapping her twin-dagger throwing basic attack for melee twin dagger attacks.
* ''[[Donkey Kong Jungle Beat]]'' did this on an epic scale to the characters from the DKC series, replacing Diddy Kong with The Helper Monkeys, Rambi with Hoofer, Enguarde with Orco, Squaks with the Helibirds and Flurl, amongst others. The fans of the [[Rare
* Cuisses, the [[Team Pet]] who can eat skill stones to fuse them from ''[[Jeanne D
* Parker from the original ''[[Red Faction]]'' and Alec Mason from ''Red Faction: Guerrilla'' are remarkably similar. They look quite a bit alike, and are both [[The Quiet One]], just short of [[Heroic Mime]], who are pulled into a role as hero and figurehead leader of the titular Red Faction through circumstance rather than choice.
* Guy Cecil from ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' IS [[Tales of Vesperia|Flynn Scifo]]'s [[Cloning Blues|replica]]. Their faces look almost exactly the same (eyes). Personality, not so much. But they both have a sense of justice (though one not as much as the other), and are both [[The Hero|the]] [[Vigilante Man|hero]]'s best friend.
** Actually, this should be reversed. Abyss came before Vesperia, so Flynn is Guy's replica. In fact, the Vesperia art book even goes so far as to point this out by showing Guy's chibi on the page with Flynn's chibi. Namco tried getting around this in the Tales of Vesperia [[
** Guy and Flynn are actually, it seems, ''both'' expies of [[Tales of Phantasia|Cress Albane]] (take a look at their artes), it just so happens that they (physically) resemble each other more closely than their common predecessor.
** The ''Tales'' series overflows with Expies. Pretty much every character in a Tales game from the last decade or so is either an evolution of an earlier ''Tales'' character or a fusion of two of them.
*** Depends on who does the art, though. Luca in ''[[Tales of Innocence]]'' ''DOES'' look a little like he could be a younger [[Tales of Legendia|Senel Cooldge]] and Richard does look a little like Will. (Rex Hasta even looks a bit like Vaclav...albeit more ''insane''.)
* Albus in ''[[Castlevania]] Order of Ecclessia'' a clear Expy of Balthier from ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]''. Not only do they [http://castlevania.wikia.com/wiki/File:Albus.jpg look, and dress] [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/File:Balthier.jpg almost exactly the same]{{Dead link}}, but they also fight with the same weapon. Unfortunately they don't ''act'' the same way, because Albus is a little too emotional to be on any caliber with the capital of cool that is the Sky Pirate.
* [[Big Bad|Willy's]] [[The Dragon|bodyguard]] Raymond in ''[[Double Dragon|Double Dragon Advance]]'' is based on the nameless final boss from the second NES game. While the Mysterious Warrior's fighting style from ''Double Dragon II'' was called "Gen-Satsu-Ken" (Phantom Murder Fist), Raymond's style is known as "Gen-Setsu-Ken" (Phantom Interception Fist).
** Duke, the [[Big Bad]] of ''Super Double Dragon'', also resembles the Mysterious Warrior.
* The Mousemallow species from ''[[Viva Pinata]]'' is probably inspired in Chu Chu from ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''. They even share the same color, purple. [http://pinataisland.info/viva/Image:Mousemallow.png take] [https://web.archive.org/web/20000929183526/http://rivendell.fortunecity.com/immortal/584/chuchu.jpg a look].
* Elyon in ''[[Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter]]'' is to Fou-lu in ''[[Breath of Fire IV]]'' as Zechs Marquise is to Char Aznable. And yes, this is even [[Word of God]]; the creators [http://www.dragon-tear.net/newnmk/?it=bof/interview.html actually admitted] in the [[All in The Manual|official Dragon Quarter artbook]] that Elyon was meant as an [[Alternate Universe]] Fou-lu expy. {{spoiler|This gets more hilarious when you realise that even Elyon's ''name'' is a shout-out to this; it's one of the many Hebrew names of God, translating to "The Most High". And Fou-lu was a literal [[God-Emperor]]. [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]]?}}
* ''[[Nostalgia]]'' has Doctor Brown, who looks like [[Indiana Jones]] with a [[Badass Moustache]]. Melody also looks wicked similar to [[The Slayers|Lina Inverse,]] except she's got blue eyes and a different costume.
* Much of ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka de]] 2'''s cast are expies of characters from the original storyline, to different degrees, in both the character design and personality (and the voice actors). The most blatant example is probably the [[Mismatched Eyes|odd-eyed]] [[Artificial Human]] [[Onmyodo|onmyouji]] Abe no Yasutsugu who even inherits Yasuaki's [[Catch Phrase]] "no problem" to an extent. An interesting case is [[Half-Identical Twins|Yukari-hime]] [[Talking to Himself|and Misono]], ''both'' of whom are expies of Fuji-hime from ''Haruka 1''; although Misono being a boy, the similarity is limited to his appearance, as his personality is quite a bit different, while Yukari is a more direct expy of Fuji.
** While the "expy" characteristic of the cast was slightly toned down in later games compared to ''Haruka 2'', it is pretty obvious that the character designs are still being recycled, just with more significant alterations. This trend continues, as was recently shown by the pictures of the characters from the upcoming fifth installment of the series, which prompted fans to start drawing comparisons to previous games once again.
* ''[[Mitsumete Knight]]'', which is a [[Spiritual Successor]] of ''[[Tokimeki Memorial|Tokimeki Memorial 1]]'', got a few [[Expy|Expies]], some more obvious than the others (for example, [[Bokukko|Hanna]] is a mix of [[Late for School|Yuko Asahina]] and [[Training
** [[The Big Guy|Lesley]] (of [[Gratuitous English|Ayako Katagiri]], sharing a love of painting and [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|a fear of water]]),
** [[Rich Bitch|Linda]] (of [[Alpha Bitch|Mira Kagami]], having the same hair color, the same [[Alpha Bitch|haughty voice]] [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!|and attitude]], a similar [[Noblewoman's Laugh]], and {{spoiler|comparable [[Hidden Depths]]}}),
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* One of the cast of ''[[Dragon Age]]'' is an assassin sent by the king after [[The Hero]] and fails to kill them but joins the party if his life is spared in turn, is a [[Casanova]] with a [[Lovable Rogue]] sort of persona, and has a Spanish accent. Oh, and he even loves leather boots <s> and is short with pointed ears and a striped face</s>. [[Shrek|Hmm...]]
*** Note: This is from the above admitted masters of Expies, Bioware. Another character is an expy of [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Xander]]
** The Qunari are [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]] with a strict caste system, almost religious devotion to that system, a grasp of technology beyond that of anyone else, a strong aversion to magic, and accept outsiders into their ranks so long as the outsiders accept to be bound by their rules. [[Warhammer
*** Unlike the Tau though, the Qunari are very, very far from being short and terrible in close-quarters combat.
* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl|White-haired]], [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red-eyed]], [[Boobs of Steel|powerful and well-endowed]] ([[Dark Action Girl|Dark]]) [[Action Girl]] in a tight-fitting black getup who's (unreasonably) loyal to her master and a member of an ancient race, whose powers her master gains in some form. Eh, doc, we talkin' Reinforce I from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] A's'' (2005-2006) or Selvaria Bles from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' (2008)?
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* ''[[Pangya]]'' brings us Max, who is [[Final Fantasy VII|Sephiroth]] if he were to take up sports.
* Drachma from ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' is a ship captain with a missing limb who's obsessed with getting revenge on [[Moby Dick|a whale]].
* According to [http://www.cracked.com/article_18530_5-pop-culture-classics-created-out-laziness.html Cracked] (assuming [[Unreliable Narrator|their information is accurate]]) [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]], [[
* Mostly [[No Export for You|unknown in]] [[Sega Saturn|the states]], Princess Gradriel in Vanillaware's cult hit ''Princess Crown'' has a long list of expies and growing. The [[Cute Bruiser|cute girl]] swinging a [[BFS|large sword]] while wearing a [[Impossibly Cool Clothes|dress mixed with plate armor]] was too fun of a design not to [[Homage|spread]]. She's practically become the [[Super Prototype|patron saint]] of [[Everything's Better with Princesses|royal]] [[Lady of War|ladies of war]].
** [[La Pucelle]]'s Eclair, including her [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Dark Form]].
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** Yggdra of [[Yggdra Union]] takes the classic silhouette to morally ambiguous territories of conquest.
** More of a [[The Cameo|cameo]], a different princess of the same name and costume shows up in [[Etrian Odyssey]] II.
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* Both [[Miko]] SHMUP Heroines Sayo Yuuki from ''[[Shikigami no Shiro]]'' and Reimu Hakurei from ''[[Touhou]]'' are said to be based on Sayo-chan/Pocky from Kiki Kaikai/Pocky and Rocky. The Bigger Sayo actually shares the same name and arcade publisher (Taito). Reimu in her PC-98 form is essentially Sayo-chan with Purple hair and a bow instead of an headband, and the creator of Touhou apparently was an [[Ascended Fanboy]] of Taito.
* If planes can have Expies, the one in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HGzvFzB0q0&annotation_id=annotation_220314&feature=iv this] ''[[Just Cause (video game)|Just Cause 2]]'' video can be mistaken for a X-02 Wyvern from ''[[Ace Combat]]'', apart from the two sets of fins and the visible ordnance.
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** Also Ix for Fintevius, who himself is one of Dr. Zachary.
*** Mecha Knuckles in [[Sonic Advance]] for Metal Knuckles.
* ''[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] Day of Reckoning'' has expies of its own characters in its story mode. You play through it once, choose the Raw brand as your character's home, and notice how the storyline captures the characters, their mannerisms, and their motivations very well... and then you play through it again on the Smackdown brand and notice how the Smackdown wrestlers are shoehorned into the exact same storyline. The game even invents a new stable, the New Ministry of Darkness, to be Smackdown's expy of Evolution.
* Grand Master Meio from ''[[Strider Hiryu|Strider]]'' and Osmund Saddler from ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' both resemble the Emperor from ''[[Star Wars]]'', and the latter even has a similar voice. The former also has a [[That's No Moon|Death Star-style space station]].
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' has these everywhere - millionaire playboy with no actual superpowers Justin Sinclair and kilt-clad time traveler Mender Lazarus are only two of the many.
** The most obvious example is actually [[Captain America (comics)|Statesman]] himself.
* Regina from ''[[Dino Crisis]]'' is an expy of Jill from ''[[Resident Evil]]''. In ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]'', you can unlock Regina's outfit.
** Speaking of Jill, she is an expy of [[Haunting Ground|Fiona]] for ''[[Resident Evil 5]]''.
* Bowser in ''[[New Super Mario Bros.]]''. is an expy of Crocomire in [[Super Metroid]], both of which [[Black Comedy|fall into magma and slip out of their flesh like a banana from its peel.]]
** Similarly, Dimentio from ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'' is essentially the Mario equivalent of Kefka Palazzo, as they are [[Laughably Evil]], [[The Sociopath|sociopathic]] [[Monster Clown
* Eboshidori, the first boss of ''[[Ikaruga]]'', with its elongated headgear and sauropod-like legs, looks like the [[Aliens|Xenomorph Queen]].
** Series wise, [[Super Paper Mario|Count Bleck and Dimentio]] are expies of [[Paper Mario (franchise)|Sir Grodus and Beldam of the Shadow Sirens.]] Grodus and Count Bleck are both the primary antagonists of their respective games. Their goals involve destroying the world. Beldam and Dimentio {{spoiler|pretend to be loyal to}} their bosses. They also use a main character's body as a host of the final boss (Grodus was aware of that plan. However, he wasn't aware that he wasn't able to control the Shadow Queen). Additionally, when they reveal their true intentions, they almost kill their boss.
* [[G Senjou Maou|Maou]] or {{spoiler|Kyouhei Samejima}} is such an obvious expy of Lelouch from Code Geass. They look alike, they are both voiced by ''[[Jun Fukuyama]]'', use revenge as their motif, is an absolute ''[[Chessmaster]]'' and ''[[Magnificent Bastard]]'' (in fact, Maou is probably a better Chess Master than Lelouch considering how he never failed), both are leaders of terrorist organizations and both {{spoiler|sacrifice their life at the end of the story}} The only difference between them is that Maou does not have a magical eye and is purely evil while Lelouch is good.
* Ben and Dan from ''[[Ben There, Dan That!]]'' and ''[[Time Gentlemen Please]]'' are reasonably blatant expies of [[Sam and Max]] - mostly notable because Ben and Dan frequently lampshade it. One of Ben's responses when looking at Dan is to call him 'the Max to my Sam', and they occasionally affectionately call each other 'Max' and 'Sam'. The main difference in terms of character is that Max's sociopathic violence has been given to Ben, leaving Dan as a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] and having him act as voice of reason when Ben does something disgusting or borderline evil in the pursuit of [[Adventure Game|adventure]].
* The cast of the ''[[Golden Sun]]'' games has been pretty formulaic: There are four heroes that can command classical elements, of which the Earth character is the leader and [[Heroic Mime]]. [[Cool Old Guy]] Kraden may also tag along for a while. The villains are two [[Red Right Hand|obviously not-normal-humans]] from an obscure society, a man in shades of blue and a woman in red/pink, assisted by a blue-haired man with his own agenda ({{spoiler|in fact, the ''same'' blue-haired man}}). The sequels have played slightly with the heroes setup; ''The Lost Age'' by having the original games' heroes join to make a party of eight, and ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn|Dark Dawn]]'' by having eight heroes that are Expies of both the previous games' parties: the first four are [[Generation Xerox|direct descendants of the original heroes]], and the second four have parallels to the ''Lost Age'' heroes with the elements mixed up: a [[Bishonen]] (Felix and Amiti), a [[Lady of War]] (Jenna and Sveta), an older sailor (Piers and Eoleo), and a young spiritual girl (Sheba and Himi).
* Red and Blue from ''[[
* [[Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness|Devilotte]] and [[Yatterman|Doronjo]]. One is a blonde, female comedic villain from a mecha game who is constantly accompanied by two male minions... while the other is a blonde, female comedic villain from a mecha anime who is constantly accompanied by two male minions. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in Doronjo's ending in ''[[
* Following [[Word of God]], Beowulf from ''Devil May Cry 3'' is strongly inspired on the mythological demon Pazuzu.
* A mouthy teenager with an attitude who goes on adventures whose name begins with "S", and a pink [[Distaff Counterpart]] who's head over heels for him but he doesn't like her back and shows discomfort at this crush? Are we talking about [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic and Amy]] or [[Spyro the Dragon|Spyro and Ember]]?
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* Upon the [[Cultural Translation]] of Tecmo's ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]'' to be released as ''Tecmo Cup Soccer Game'', the series ended up creating a huge amount of expies of the original anime/manga casts. The EU only game on Sega Genesis, ''Tecmo Cup Football Game,'' features a whole different storyline, but still retains the expies of the original characters, with an exception of David being Robert's older brother rather than a bestfriend like how Misaki is to Tsubasa.
* In the first ''[[Freddi Fish]]'' game, you can sometimes come across an [[Expy]] of [[Putt-Putt]] in fish form, who even shares the same first name as his voice actor.
* Very common in the [[Nasuverse]]. With ''[[
* Augustus Cole ("The Cole Train") from ''[[Gears of War]]'' is Terry Tate, Office Linebacker, a joke character from a series of Reebok commercials.
* ''[[Inazuma Eleven]] GO'' plays this with the [[Three Faces of Eve|manager trio,]] Sorano Aoi, Seto Midori, and Yamana Akane are expies to the prequel's Aki Kino, Raimon Natsumi, and Otonoshi Haruna.
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** This is [[Hilarious in Hindsight|funnier]] if you know that [[Ayako Kawasumi|Leina's VA]] voiced [[Fate/stay night|Saber]] who was Gilgamesh's ''lover'' in the past.
** Even more hilarious if you know that Leina pulls off an attack who looks like Rock's (and his father Geese) famous ''Raging Storm'' in the [[Queen's Blade]] OVA.
* The Hattori brothers Ryūichi and Ryūji from the [[Kunio
* Two factions are fighting each other. One can appear out of nowhere, while the other fields nigh-unstoppable tanks. Are we talking about [[Command
* ''[[Rusty Hearts]]'': A [[Bare-Fisted Monk]] [[Chinese Girl]] named Meilin(g)? [[Touhou|Why does that sound familiar?]]
* SolForce from ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'' is one for EarthForce from ''[[Babylon 5]]''. The name and functions are similar, the backstory of SolForce involves a democratic administration being suborned by jingoist militants that eventually get pushed back, just like the other, and the creators have even admitted to being fans of the show.
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** Darth Sion (also from KOTOR 2) bears a strong resemblance to The Nameless One (also from ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'') and is also an immortal.
* Wrath from ''[[The Binding of Isaac]]'' is very similar to bomberman.
* ''[[Dark Souls]]'' has the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130514061653/http://i.imgur.com/KzV2S.jpg Taurus Demon], who looks suspiciously like Zodd from [[Berserk]]
* When Baraka was introduced in ''[[Mortal Kombat 2]]'', he was called one of a "nomadic race of mutants" (his people would later be called Tarakans in ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance|Deadly Alliance]]'') he's got retractable blades in his wrists, a very keen sense of smell... Many fans have wondered it the dev team had a [[Wolverine|certain Canadian comic book hero]] in mind when they designed him.
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