The flanderization trope is when a character with a wide range of traits sees one of those traits become exaggerated to the point where it becomes their whole character. It’s named for Ned Flanders from The Simpsons, who first appeared as a gentle Christian neighbor to the family, and is now portrayed as an obsessively religious evangelist.
Video games are not immune to the trope, as there are several characters across all genres that have come to be defined by a single obvious trait, especially in long-running franchises. It’s not always an inherently bad thing, however, as some of these examples show, but it can still sometimes be disappointing to see a complex character become much less complex.
8 Dante (Devil May Cry)
In the original Devil May Cry, Dante was definitely a cocky character who didn’t take things too seriously, but there was a dark, serious side to him as well due to his conflicting feelings about his heritage, and this blend of silly and serious made him an interesting character.
More recent games have decided to restrict him to the class clown role, though, with Devil May Cry 5 even going to the extreme of giving him a cowboy hat “weapon” which he reveals with a full dance routine, and seemingly being incapable of taking anything particularly seriously. It’s still fun though, and arguably more enjoyable than his original incarnation at times.
7 Chris Redfield (Resident Evil)
Resident Evil’s Chris Redfield is strong. Trained in the Air Force before joining the Raccoon City Police Department as a member of special unit S.T.A.R.S. He’s known as a skilled marksman and exactly the kind of man you want on your side in a fight. Over the years, though, Capcom have gotten more and more determined to show off his strength in increasingly bizarre ways.
His appearance in Resident Evil: Code Veronica introduces him climbing a sheer cliff face without any gear, but the peak of this came in Resident Evil 5. Not only has he drastically increased his muscle mass, but the climax of the game sees him punching a massive boulder out of his way. Somehow, even with all the retcons within the Resident Evil series, that remains canon according to Resident Evil Village.
6 Solid Snake (Metal Gear)
In the Metal Gear series, Solid Snake is a complex character with a difficult past. He’s a man revered by the public for his military achievements, while suffering guilt for being so good at killing. His character is meant to critique the military and the effects it has on those who serve, based on Hideo Kojima’s notable anti-war political views.
As the Metal Gear series went on, though, some quirkier aspects of Snake’s personality seemed to take over. Most ridiculous of these quirks is his love of cardboard boxes. While a fun stealth item in the original Metal Gear Solid, as the series has gone on Snake has gained an almost obsessive relationship with them, from his identity being revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2 because he’s seen moving around in one, to a deep meaningful speech about how safe boxes make him feel in the third game. Bizarre.
5 Luigi (Super Mario)
The Super Mario franchise isn’t one known for complex characters at the best of times, so this is an unusual case of a character gaining a single defining character trait where they simply had none before. Luigi was originally introduced as a palette swap of Mario for the Mario Bros arcade game, a role he would continue for many mainline games after that, usually as a second player sprite.
When the Gamecube launched, Luigi gained his own game, and with it, his own unique personality. However, that personality was mostly cowardice, with his jaunt through haunted mansions showing him as a reluctant hero who would prefer to go home. This has come to define who Luigi is throughout the entire franchise ever since.
4 Sonic The Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog was always meant to be a mascot with attitude, designed to make Sega stand out next to Nintendo and Mario. However, there were always other aspects to his character that led to a devoted fanbase that persists today. At heart, he is a laid back character that cares about his friends and wants to do the right thing, although not afraid to throw some sarcastic remark around here and there.
As the series has progressed, Sonic’s snark has been amplified to such a degree that it’s nearly impossible to find a line in Sonic Colors that isn’t a snide joke, like he’s expecting a studio audience to react at any given moment. Sometimes this is fun, but other times it can be jarring, and it all comes at the expense of Sonic’s other traits.
3 Cloud (Final Fantasy 7)
Cloud Strife is an interesting character. He spends a lot of time in Final Fantasy VII being a gruff, stoic mercenary, emotionally distant from those around him and only interested in his grunt work. Except this isn’t entirely true, as the story repeatedly shows this to be a front concealing someone much more insecure, traumatized from events in his past. Cloud’s story is one that sees him grow past this tragedy and learn to be himself and not hide behind an emotionally distant facade.
Not that you’d know this from seeing him in spin-offs like Dissidia or Kingdom Hearts, or the movie sequel Advent Children, where Cloud is often reduced to being moody and disinterested with few redeeming traits to balance this. It’s a bizarre choice that undermines his whole character arc and makes him much less interesting.
2 Kratos (God Of War)
The first God of War game is a Greek tragedy in video game form. It stars Kratos, a Spartan soldier who gets involved in a Faustian pact with Ares, the god of war, to grant him strength to lead troops into victory in war. This leads to him being forced to kill his own family, and the grief and betrayal this inflicts leads to him violently seeking revenge on Ares.
The sequels and spin-offs continued this violent rampage, as Kratos laid waste to most of the Greek pantheon, but this time he appears less like a tragic Greek mythical figure and more a ball of pure rage the player might feel less sympathetic for. He does get a rare instance of reverse Flanderization in the 2018 God of War, though, where he’s once again a complex and interesting character, which is great for everyone.
1 Captain Qwark (Ratchet & Clank)
Captain Qwark is introduced as the galaxy’s great hero in the first Ratchet & Clank, only to be revealed as an egotistical celebrity willing to sell his image to anyone willing to buy, including the villains. He represented the concept of never meeting your heroes because they might not turn out as nice as you’d like them to be.
From the third game onwards, however, Qwark underwent a massive change. Insomniac began to take his vanity and cowardice and exaggerated them to the point where his more sinister side vanished. In more recent Ratchet & Clank games, you’re more likely to see Qwark as little more than a bumbling vain coward than a stealth villain.