Video games have more than proven themselves as valuable pieces of entertainment. They're arguably more popular than movies and TV shows. However, with this equal footing comes an equal chance of copying.
Many pieces of entertainment take notes from each other during the creative process, so it's fitting that games do the same. This sometimes manifests in design. In crafting a character, developers might have a specific figure in mind, be it for aesthetic or personality. It may surprise gamers just how instrumental celebrities are in creating some of their favorite characters. Sometimes, inspiration simply comes from unlikely places.
7 Tawna — Crash Bandicoot
The zany bandicoot spends his first outing in the now-iconic franchise trying to save his girlfriend. She's his dream girl to a comical degree. Their relationship is akin to Roger and Jessica Rabbit. That's clear from her provocative proportions and big, blond hair. But most fans today don't know that Naughty Dog sought inspiration from another blond bombshell of the time.
Pamela Anderson dazzled viewers on Baywatch, becoming an international sex symbol thanks to her role on the beach-set show. The developers played on that. They kept Anderson's image in mind when designing Tawna, explaining her supermodel appearance. In essence, the object of Crash's desire was the same as everyone else's. It's a tongue-in-cheek quirk which many guys probably picked up on at the time.
6 Ganondorf — The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time
To complement the jump to a 3D environment, Nintendo saw fit to update The Legend of Zelda's notorious villain. This led to Ganon's redesign for Ocarina of Time. Instead of the pig-like monster of old, the newly-dubbed "Ganondorf" became an evil wizard and, therefore, more humanoid.
The template for this change was actor Christopher Lambert. He's imposing enough, but one must also consider the game was developed in the '90s. Lambert was a well-known genre actor, particularly in those days, earning a name for himself as Connor Macleod in Highlander and Raiden in the Mortal Kombat movie. Zelda is a cheesy series, so using an actor with cheese appeal is an inspired choice.
5 Samus — Metroid
Gamers played through the original Metroid like most macho shooters, albeit as an armored warrior with different proportions than most video game heroes of the era. Imagine their surprise, then, when Samus turned out to be a woman. As impactful as this twist is, it makes sense when fans learn about the developers' influences.
Specifically, they had Sigourney Weaver in mind, and it's easy to see why. The actress earned widespread acclaim for her non-nonsense role as the resilient Ripley in the Alien films. Metroid already takes notes from these sci-fi flicks for its enemy and level design, so why not the protagonist as well?
However, it was a peculiar move not to use Weaver in her entirety. For the body shape, the creators looked at Kim Basinger. She was also big at the time with The Natural and 9 1/2 Weeks. That said, she wasn't associated with sci-fi like Weaver.
4 Rex Colt — Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
This awesome expansion to Far Cry 3 is a throwback to techno sci-fi and '80s machismo, so Ubisoft needed a hero who could embody those qualities. They found one in Rex Colt: a cyborg commando who fires off as many one-liners as he does bullets. He doesn't just emulate the stars of the time, though. He is one of them.
The character's likeness comes from Michael Biehn. This gruff actor endeared himself to viewers with his underdog hero roles, the most famous of which are Kyle Reese in The Terminator and Dwayne Hicks in Aliens. Colt is a dead ringer for Reese in cutscenes. The difference is that he sports a cybernetic eye, which is ironic yet appropriate. Even more fitting, the developers got Biehn to voice the role.
3 Squall Leonhart — Final Fantasy 8
The iconic Final Fantasy 7 was a massive hit, so Square Enix wanted to recapture some of that success with the next entry. Part of that was crafting a new hero with a similarly downbeat, introspective persona to Cloud Strife. Enter Squall Leonhart, who leads Final Fantasy 8 with a somber edge offsetting his pretty boy looks. This JRPG protagonist might seem familiar to movie fans, though.
Character artist Tetsuya Nomura had River Phoenix in mind during the design phase. In his all-too-brief career, this young actor left a smoldering impression on audiences in Stand by Me and Running on Empty, so the creators wanted to draw on that for Squall. In particular, the hero is practically a doppelganger for Phoenix in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where he played a younger version of the famous archeologist. In all the spin-offs and cameos since, however, Squall has yet to turn into Harrison Ford.
2 The Cave Dragon — MediEvil
Sir Dan's adventures in MediEvil put players up against countless colorful characters, but among the more random is a serpentine dragon. The lizard issues a few threats in a heavy Scottish accent. It sounds like an impression of Sean Connery, and that's because it is.
Connery lent his iconic tones to another dragon in the 1996 film, Dragonheart. It was the most noteworthy thing about that movie. The original MediEvil was released two years later. It's not a stretch to assume the developers threw in this audio gag during development. The 2019 remake kept it intact, but today's gamers might not get the joke.
1 Jinx — League Of Legends
This gun-toting lunatic is the wild card of League of Legends. She loves wreaking havoc, and she has the technical expertise and super-sized arsenal to accomplish that goal tenfold. In short, she's madness incarnate.
To inform this rogue, the developers referenced someone who's channeled that madness numerous times. Renowned actress Helena Bonham Carter has made a career out of such quirky characters. Her roles in Fight Club, Sweeney Todd, and Harry Potter are just a few examples. She and Jinx even sport similarly unkempt appearances. In creating an icon of unhinged eccentricity, it's natural to draw from a performer who has that eccentricity down pat.