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A lot has been made about the majority of games made into movies being rather bad. For the most part, these movies attempt to recreate the game characters to deliver an experience that fans will be familiar with and enjoy. But sometimes movies or games decide to use the same character or creature in a very different way to how the former medium has portrayed them. Movies can add new character traits, and games can move away from the established character of the original franchise.
Here are three characters or creatures from the world of gaming of which our perceptions were unexpectedly changed when they hit the big screen.
Charizard, Pokémon: The First Movie (1998) (above)
Charmander was, and likely still is, the most popular of all three original starter Pokemon from the first games of 1996, with its evolutionary line into Charmeleon and Charizard proving to be the foundations of a formidable team. The Pokémon never failed to be an almighty and obedient ally, winning battles left, right, and centre. But the television series Indigo League (1997-1999) and movie Pokemon: The First Movie (1998) portrayed Charizard in a very different light.
In the series, Charmander started as a sweet, abandoned Pokémon who befriended protagonist Ash. But when it evolved into Charmeleon, it turned disobedient, even more so after evolved into Charizard. For many episodes, Charizard simply disobeyed Ash in battle, resulting in losses. But, despite his disobedience, https://screenrant.com/pokemon-best-charizard-facts/ found that Charizard displayed its full, ferocious rage by using as many as 19 moves in the series – far more than any other featured Pokémon.
(picture source: Benz, via Twitter)
Leprechauns, Leprechaun (1993)
Leprechauns have long been associated with happiness, cheer, and good luck. If you get the end of the rainbow, you’ll find their pot of gold and be rich for life. This is why the mystical creature was often attached to games of chance, offering the gamers good luck before they played. However, in 1993, Warwick Davis took on the role of a ghastly, evil leprechaun in the Leprechaun movie, which also starred Jennifer Aniston, to flip that perception on its head.
But, despite the Leprechaun horror-comedy franchise having recently released its eighth movie – the second without original star Davis – games have been fighting back to restore the image of the once joyous and lucky creature, away from the images concocted by those who have seen the film. Games like the Rainbow Riches slot at https://games.paddypower.com/game/rainbow-riches-gsgf feature the odd-looking creature prominently to give good luck, as well as include other such associations to the myth, such as the wishing well, a pot of gold, and a rainbow. Today once again, leprechauns are associated with riches rather than horror stories.
(picture source: Horror 31, via Twitter)
Spider-Man, Captain America: Civil War (2016)
In 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man finally made his big entrance to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the form of a young teen getting to grips with his superpowers. His origin movie, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) elaborated on him being skilful, strong, brave, but somewhat obstinate before he battled the mad titan in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
Portrayed as a young superhero who’s learning his abilities, and having his hand held by Iron Man, who greatly enhances his control over his abilities with special suits, fans expected a character much like this in the hotly anticipated Marvel’s Spider-Man game. But, the studio, Insomniac, had already decided to go another way, per https://gamerant.com/spider-man-insomniac-movie-827/, with an established Spider-Man that’s already got his gadgets, knows his skills, can fight very well, and is very popular among the people of his city.
Movies have been able to give us another way to experience some great characters and creatures that also feature in the world of gaming, even if some of the films themselves aren’t that great.
(picture source: Best of Tom, via Twitter)