{"schemaVersion":1,"record":{"key":"mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-health-based-character-portrait","type":"mechanic","id":"game-mechanics--gm-health-based-character-portrait","lang":"en","title":"Health-based character portrait","summary":"The hero’s face changes as health is lost. Increasing injury turns the portrait into an expressive status indicator.","updatedAt":"2026-10-22","status":"active","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-health-based-character-portrait/","jsonUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-health-based-character-portrait.json","markdownUrl":"https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/game-mechanics--gm-health-based-character-portrait.md","aliases":["Health-based portrait"],"tags":["Game design techniques","Health","Damage"],"sourceIds":["source-d4792d47ac6c0f2a","source-7fe47f347747e347","source-40ef72c32c514fc1"],"sources":[{"id":"source-d4792d47ac6c0f2a","title":"Game Mechanics: Health-based character portrait","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/health-based-character-portrait","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-7fe47f347747e347","title":"Wolfenstein 3D (1992)","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/health-based-character-portrait/game/wolfenstein-3d","verifiedAt":null},{"id":"source-40ef72c32c514fc1","title":"Doom (1993)","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/health-based-character-portrait/game/doom","verifiedAt":null}],"sections":[{"id":"principle","title":"How it works","body":"A face portrait changes with the character's health condition."},{"id":"variants","title":"Variants","body":"### How the technique works\n\n<a id=\"gm-health-based-character-portrait-rule\"></a>\n\n- A face portrait changes with the character's health condition. <a id=\"gm-health-based-character-portrait-definition\"></a>"},{"id":"context","title":"Context and limits","body":"All 199 Game Mechanics entries at the check date: player actions, systems, presentation techniques and contested patterns. Entries are grouped by their first source-card category; all categories appear in their descriptions. Definitions use original wording. References link to game-specific galleries; images and videos remain at the source."}],"relations":[],"placements":[{"catalogId":"game-mechanics","id":"gm-health-based-character-portrait","title":"Game design techniques","url":"https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/game-mechanics/#gm-health-based-character-portrait","categoryIds":["gm-category-health","gm-category-damage"]}],"supersededBy":[],"attributes":{"preview":{"updatedAt":"2026-10-22","title":"Health-based portrait","description":"The hero’s face changes as health is lost. Increasing injury turns the portrait into an expressive status indicator.","image":{"src":"images/mechanics/combat-health-based-character-portrait.webp","width":900,"height":506,"game":"Doom (1993)","sourceUrl":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/health-based-character-portrait","originalUrl":"https://cdn.gamemechanics.org/doom_health_portrait.jpg","credit":"id Software; image via GameMechanics.org","rights":"Game imagery © its respective rights holders. Source host: GameMechanics.org. All rights reserved; excluded from the portal’s MIT and CC BY 4.0 licenses.","caption":"Doomguy’s face at different health levels","alt":"A comparison of Doomguy portraits from healthy to badly wounded over a Doom gameplay screen.","markers":[{"x":18,"y":43,"label":"Portrait at high health"},{"x":80,"y":43,"label":"Severe facial injuries"}]},"tips":["Retain a numeric or another precise health indicator.","Make stages distinguishable without relying on color alone."],"examples":[{"title":"Doom (1993)","url":"https://gamemechanics.org/patterns/health-based-character-portrait"}]}},"endsAt":null,"provenance":"Editorial reference index based on the 199 public Game Mechanics pattern pages checked on 2026-10-20. Original concise RU/EN definitions by gamemechanics.pro; pattern names, category associations and game-reference URLs retained from gamemechanics.org. The source gallery includes a film analogy. Linked materials retain their original rights; references are upstream attributions, not independent verification.","license":"CC-BY-4.0","codeLicense":"MIT","attribution":"gamemechanics.pro contributors","catalogKey":"catalog/game-mechanics"}}