From concept art to polygons: The evolution of a game character

Hollywood & Games returns to Los Angeles on December 10, bringing together 250+ executives, founders, investors and decision-makers at the Grammy Museum's Clive Davis Theater. Explore the business of entertainment's biggest partnership through independent, journalist-led conversations on IP, investment, storytelling and new opportunities across gaming and Hollywood. Space is limited. Secure your seat today.

Before your favorite game heroes (and villains) looked all sexy and bad-ass as 3D models, they started out as fugly drawings on a napkin or raw sketches on a tablet.

Some characters, like Ultra Street Fighter IV’s Decapre [pictured above] all come from existing designs — in this case, Cammy — but artists still have to make multiple illustrations until they get every detail right and ready for rendering.

See how much 10 popular characters changed from concept art to in-game polygonal models in the following side-by-side images.

Click here for more cool comparisons.


Deathshead

Wilhelm “Deathshead” Strasse (Wolfenstein: The New Order)


Garret

Garret (Thief)


Ellie

Ellie (The Last of Us)


Dracula

Dracula (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2)