A while back I wrote an article about how certain video game and movie characters look exactly alike, but after watching the movie Big Trouble in Little China yesterday I wanted to take it a step further. Where these days there are lots of movie characters based on video game characters, there are actually some fun examples of the opposite. Some video game creators have admitted to some movies being the inspiration for some of their characters. And then there are others where you haven’t necessarily heard it from the creator, but similarities make it kind of obvious.
In this article we’ll take a look at both. Here are 7 video game characters that were inspired by movie characters
Blanka and the Monster from Big Trouble in Little China
I know everyone has established that Thunder and Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China is the inspiration for Raiden and Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat. However I think that this classic from John Carpenter inspired yet another video game character: Blanka. Blanka was once known as Jimmy, before he was in a plane crash as a little boy. This crash caused him to be raised in the wild, although he has connections to a local village. Ever since the crash, Blanka/Jimmy had been separated from his mother. According to some sources, Blanka acquired his electrical trait from the same plane crash due to an intense electrical storm at the time. And then I’m convinced he joined Lo Pan’s crew, wandered off and started fighting people in tournaments.
Chun Li and Kee Nang from Golden Child
There are just too many similarities here. It’s not necessarily in their stories but come on. Have any of you ever seen The Golden Child? Have you seen the moves Kee Nang was pulling in that movie? I mean she’s hot, has a great rack and can jump from trees. Does all kinds of cool kicks. The Street Fighter boys must have seen this movie.
Raiden and Lightning from Big Trouble in Little China
Tough to argue with this quote: The creators claimed they based Raiden’s character design off of Lopan’s three servants, The Three Storms from the film Big Trouble in Little China. The third storm, Lightning, exhibited the ability to ride and control lightning, and wore a hat that closely resembles Raiden’s straw hat.
Dutch from Predator and Rambo/ Bill Rizer and Lance Bean from Contra
Taken from Wikipedia: The first few Contra games centers around a pair of commandos named Bill Rizer and Lance Bean (who were originally modeled after action movie stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, both icons during the 1980s) who fought against alien invaders that attempted to invade the Earth by infiltrating their planet in the distant future of the 27th century
Molaram from Temple of Doom and Kratos from God of War
Look there’s no technical proof but come on….
Solid Snake from Metal Gear and Kyle Reese from Terminator
Well there’s no secret about this one. It’s not necessarily an entire character inspiration but it’s quite evident that this still shot of Reese in Terminator was the inspiration for this game cover.
Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat and Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China
Big Trouble in Little China strikes again!
