Hollywood Genetics: Difference between revisions

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This can even interfere with the plot if a physical resemblance is a plot point (especially in an adaptation when characters get an [[Adaptation Dye Job]] or otherwise don't match the character in the original work).

There are certain [[Justified Trope|justifications]]; the mechanics behind real life genetic inheritance [[Reality Is Unrealistic|are more complicated]] than the Mendelian model, which doesn't factor in mutations, malfunctions, and polygenetic traits. Also, casting around getting the the most plausible genetics is not always ~~practical--after~~ all, you're not going to turn down [[Harrison Ford]] for a part because his eyes are the wrong color.

There are certain [[Justified Trope|justifications]]; the mechanics behind real life genetic inheritance [[Reality Is Unrealistic|are more complicated]] than the Mendelian model, which doesn't factor in mutations, malfunctions, and polygenetic traits. Also, casting around getting the the most plausible genetics is not always practical—after all, you're not going to turn down [[Harrison Ford]] for a part because his eyes are the wrong color.

On the other hand, you don't have that excuse in non-visual media or in animation where the powers that be have complete control over how characters look. And you could always give Harrison Ford contacts.

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** Gohan looks like both of his parents, while Goten looks exactly liked Goku did in the original Dragonball, [[Hereditary Hairstyle|including his hairstyle]]. Gohan's daughter Pan in turn inherited the shape of her mother Videl's eyes but his eye color.

* ''[[Naruto]]'' averts this with the title character, whose [[Implausible Hair Color]] and eye color were inherited from his father; less obvious traits, like the shape of his face, were inherited from his mother. Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha look exactly like their mother Mitoko except for the creases under their father Fugaku's eyes that Itachi inherited.

* Chibi-Usa from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' generated a ton of [[Wild Mass Guessing]] and [[Fan Wank]] back in the day because her coloration (pink hair, red eyes) was so different from that of her parents (blonde, blue-eyed Usagi and black haired, blue-eyed Mamoru). According to [[Word of God]], her coloration was meant to make her resemble a baby rabbit to match her [[Punny Name]]. Also, hair colors in the manga weren't ~~static--sometimes~~ her mother Usagi was depicted with silver hair and even pink hair in her original design. Usagi herself is the daughter of a purple-haired mother and a black-haired, dark-eyed father and has a brother with light brown hair and dark blue eyes.

* Chibi-Usa from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' generated a ton of [[Wild Mass Guessing]] and [[Fan Wank]] back in the day because her coloration (pink hair, red eyes) was so different from that of her parents (blonde, blue-eyed Usagi and black haired, blue-eyed Mamoru). According to [[Word of God]], her coloration was meant to make her resemble a baby rabbit to match her [[Punny Name]]. Also, hair colors in the manga weren't static—sometimes her mother Usagi was depicted with silver hair and even pink hair in her original design. Usagi herself is the daughter of a purple-haired mother and a black-haired, dark-eyed father and has a brother with light brown hair and dark blue eyes.

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* In ''[[Reba]]'', the redheaded title character and her blond ex-husband Brock have blonde Cheyenne, redheaded Kyra, and... brown-haired Jake? In one episode it's stated that Brock dyes his hair, but it's not made clear if blond was his original color or not.

* ''[[Roots]]'''s Chicken George is the son is Kunta Kinte's daughter Kizzy and her white slave master; he is one of the darkest characters in the series, significantly more so than his mother (and looks about the same age, though that's due to a [[Playing Gertrude|different trope]]).

* On ''[[Smallville]]'', half-Dutch, half-Chinese Kristen Kreuk was cast as Lana Lang. Oddly, unlike their version of Pete Ross, there was no [[Race Lift]] ~~involved--both~~ her mother and father were portrayed by Caucasian actors. Potentially played with after the reveal that{{spoiler|Lewis Lang isn't her biological father}} but then {{spoiler|when she finds her bio-dad, he turns out to be white, too.}} Many viewers at first sight assume the [[What the Hell, Casting Agency?]] was involved.

* On ''[[Smallville]]'', half-Dutch, half-Chinese Kristen Kreuk was cast as Lana Lang. Oddly, unlike their version of Pete Ross, there was no [[Race Lift]] involved—both her mother and father were portrayed by Caucasian actors. Potentially played with after the reveal that{{spoiler|Lewis Lang isn't her biological father}} but then {{spoiler|when she finds her bio-dad, he turns out to be white, too.}} Many viewers at first sight assume the [[What the Hell, Casting Agency?]] was involved.

* On ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', Wesley Crusher has brown eyes when both of his parents have blue. Picard, on the other hand, has brown eyes...

* Several on ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'':

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== Video Games ==

* [[Gaia Online]], otherwise pretty good about NPC hair colors, retconned Ian into being a vampire in '07, around the time his father Vladimir was introduced (and [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|killed]]). Ian's hair has since been recolored black, which he says is his natural color. The problem? Vlad has been confirmed as having dark ''brown'', possibly even auburn, hair, and Ian's late mother Rosalie was a ''blonde''.

* [[Xenogears]] plays with ~~this--because~~ both of her parents are blond (as is everyone else on the [[Floating Continent]] Solaris) and she's a redhead, Elly feels like a literal [[Redheaded Stepchild]] to her mother, thinking that her real mother was her red-haired nanny. However, this is both plausible (the way red hair works genetically allows for blonds to be recessive for it) and {{spoiler|a moot point anyway, since the reason she looks like she does is because she is a [[Reincarnation]] of [[The Messiah|The Anti-Type]].}}

* [[Xenogears]] plays with this—because both of her parents are blond (as is everyone else on the [[Floating Continent]] Solaris) and she's a redhead, Elly feels like a literal [[Redheaded Stepchild]] to her mother, thinking that her real mother was her red-haired nanny. However, this is both plausible (the way red hair works genetically allows for blonds to be recessive for it) and {{spoiler|a moot point anyway, since the reason she looks like she does is because she is a [[Reincarnation]] of [[The Messiah|The Anti-Type]].}}

* Played oh-so-straight in ''[[Solatorobo]]'', where not only can vastly different races within the species breed freely (foxes with wolves and housecats with lions, for example), but Caninu and Felineko can have children with no problems as well. To top off the [[Hollywood Genetics]], their offspring will be ''either'' Caninu ''or'' Felineko, not some sort of dog-cat hybrid.

* Played oh-so-straight in ''[[Solatorobo]]'', where not only can vastly different races within the species breed freely (foxes with wolves and housecats with lions, for example), but Caninu and Felineko can have children with no problems as well. To top off the Hollywood Genetics, their offspring will be ''either'' Caninu ''or'' Felineko, not some sort of dog-cat hybrid.