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They’re Real?

In today’s modern age of gaming developers will often base their creations on real people.  In the past it was jarring to see an “actor” pop up as a video game character, especially if they were were relatively well known. Can you imagine the nightmare of plopping in Super Mario 4 and seeing a CG version of Danny Devito hurling fireballs from his swollen quasi-dwarven finger tips?  When actors are under the radar it tends to work much better due to the fact that most players have no clue that they are actually playing as someone “real”. Here is a brief list of some characters that are actual humans in actual life.

Julia Voth was scanned in as Jill Valentine for the RE:Remake

Jill Valentine / Julia Voth (Resident Evil) – Zombie killer and “master of unlocking” Jill Valentine has been played by a variety of people over the years, but the model used for Jill since 2002 has been none other than Julia Voth.  Julia has been in a variety of roles including the amazingly fun “Bitch Slap” released in 2009.   When interviewed, Julia revealed that she loves being identified with the iconic character.   I urge you all to check out Bitch Slap, it’s a load of fun. *Updated* Check out our exclusive interview with Julia Voth! Thanks again Julia!

Mark Vanderloo is Commander Shephard

Mark Vanderloo / Commander Shephard (Mass Effect)- After playing countless hours of Mass Effect I was surprised to find out that Commander Shephard is indeed a real person.  Dutch supermodel Mark Vanderloo was scanned by Bioware to create one of the most iconic characters of all time.  Most fans operated under the belief that the default Shep was created using Bioware’s character building technology, but in reality we’re looking at Mr. Vanderloo.

Yvonne Strahovski is Miranda Lawson

Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson (Mass Effect 2) – Yvonne is known for her role on Chuck, but many gamers had no clue that Mass Effect love interest Miranda Lawson was indeed a real person.  The Mass Effect community has sort of a love hate relationship with Miranda due to her icy personality and extreme loyalty to Cerberus, but nerds everywhere rejoiced when romance was achieved.

Thanks G4 for the Clip

Morrigan is actually model Victorria Johnson

Morrigan is Victorria Johnson (Dragon Age: Origins)- I have never worked harder at a relationship than I did trying to romance the wicked Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins.  It turns out that Morrigan was based on model Victorria Johnson.  After some “research” I discovered that Victoria’s hobbies include: Runes Of Magic, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Gaming, and Hiking.  That officially makes her one of us.

So there you have it.  Just a few actors who have brought some amazing characters to life.

. *Updated* Check out our exclusive interview with Julia Voth!

This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. helloscientist

    Morrigan was EASY. Try going after Leliana, now that’s hard work.

  2. Pilx

    Did you know Halo’s Master Chief is really Justin Bieber.

  3. Madson

    “This is Commander Shepard, and Mark Vanderloo is my favorite supermodel on the Citadel.”

    200+ hours with this dude and I had no idea. I don’t suppose he’s the voice actor though?

  4. Madson

    Oh, and HORRIBLE sculpt of Jill… But the source… yowza!

    1. Ash

      I didn’t want to post some of the pictures I found of Julia Voth just in case my wife ever decided to check this site.

  5. Madson

    You should look up the picture of Nathan Drake and Nolan North ( I know he’s the voice and mo cap but he still looks like a aging version on Drake)

  6. Beast_Mode

    black ops is based on my time in the Navy. Except, i did it alone. no team.

    1. Pilx

      Same story with me and Lego Batman.

  7. Micah G

    Video game Jill’s eyes give me the freaky willies

  8. Dom.C

    All I see was Miranda when I was watching that Yvonne Vid……..lol

  9. Ash

    Dom, if you you thought the above clip of Yvonne was very “Miranda”.. check this out..

    http://www.nerdappropriate.com/2011/01/29/chuck-finally-gives-a-nod-to-mass-effect-2/

  10. juiceMaker

    Heard all about doppelgangers.but this is something else! o.O

  11. David Montero

    You are missing Kaidan Alenko face model, his name is Luciano Costa

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