Touching on a post I made earlier about why a finalised character design is chosen over the plentiful flow of other ideas, I have decided to link that in with what I plan to explore next; how character behaviour influences the way a character looks, and how character personalities are chosen. I find it very interesting that some character appearances go "against the grain" in the way that you would absolutely not expect their aesthetic qualities to match their behaviour.
One example that springs to mind is Conker from a well-known Nintendo 64 and Xbox game "Conker's Bad Fur Day". He is depicted as a small, fluffy, adorable-looking squirrel. Every child's dream pet, right? But upon playing this odd yet hilarious game, we soon discover that Conker is not cute and cuddly at all! It was released in 2001 by Rare and THQ and was originally intended for a family audience. To contradict this, you'll soon find a heavy dose of toilet humour, sexual themes, inappropriate language, and violence.
But what made Rare (the developers) give Conker such a bad attitude? It may seem obvious with a clue in the title - "bad fur day" - but there isn't really any indication by looking at him. There are various tip offs on the cover of the game such as Conker holding a glass a beer. Other images show him smoking, holding a gun, and standing next to an anthropomorphic, sexualised rabbit (who goes by the name of Berri). Maybe the company wanted to push boundaries in terms of how characters are depicted, or maybe they had a bad day at the office and lashed out all their anger and stress on Conker!
A still from one of the game levels showing some of that famous toilet humour. The "Great Mighty Poo" has a look that screams "antagonist" so is appropriate for his personality. The use of brown and dirty greens and yellows give the impression of uncleanliness and a vile set of characteristics.
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