History InNameOnly / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' went this route in adapting Imperiex, the main villain of ''ComicBook/OurWorldsAtWar''. In the comics, he was a present-day character who was an EnergyBeing that was in armor and was big enough that the heroes were more often FightingAShadow. The cartoon character was a human-sized cyborg conqueror from the 41st Century.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'' was based on a picture book for very young children called ''Petit Dernier'', as well as its sequel ''Petite Pousse'', but the cartoon has absolutely '''nothing''' in common with the books. Almost every single character in the cartoon is original to the show (the sole exceptions being Li'l One, Ma and Pa, and Granny, the last of whom underwent a massive change of personality), and two major characters in the books don't even ''appear'' in the cartoon (those being Lil One's DistaffCounterpart Petite Pousse and his best friend Grande Copine). Additionally, the two are polar opposites tonally, with the cartoon being a DenserAndWackier, RuderAndCruder SadistShow full of DemographicallyInappropriateHumor and FamilyUnfriendlyViolence compared to the soft, light, and fluffy preschool-appropriate tone of the books.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'' was based on a picture book for very young children called ''Petit Dernier'', as well as its sequel ''Petite Pousse'', the cartoon has absolutely '''nothing''' in common with the books. Almost every single character in the cartoon is original to the show (the sole exceptions being Li'l One, Ma and Pa, and Granny, the last of whom underwent a massive change of personality), and two major characters in the books don't even ''appear'' in the cartoon (those being Lil One's DistaffCounterpart Petite Pousse and his best friend Grande Copine). Additionally, the two are polar opposites tonally, with the cartoon being a DenserAndWackier, RuderAndCruder SadistShow full of DemographicallyInappropriateHumor and FamilyUnfriendlyViolence compared to the soft, light, and fluffy preschool-appropriate tone of the books.

* While by no means to the same extend in in ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'', Cassandra Cain in ''WesternAnimation/{{Batwheels}}'' is still this to a degree. While, like the Cassandra of the comics, she's a teenager who well-verse in combat, she's not as serious-minded as the Cassandra of the comics and is AbledInTheAdaptation like her DCEU counterpart. Furthermore, the Cassandra of ''Batwheels''[='=]s status as the tech person of the Batfamily and purple-and-yellow costumes owe more to Barbara Gordon, her status as a snarky biker and use of domino mask take after Barbara ''Wilson'' from ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', and her motorcycle helmet evokes the comics' Duke Thomas's identity of the Signal.

* While by more means to the same extend in in ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'', Cassandra Cain in ''WesternAnimation/Batwheels'' is still this to a degree. While, like the Cassandra of the comics, she's a teenager who well-verse in combat, she's not as serious-minded as the Cassandra of the comics and is AbledInTheAdaptation like her DCEU counterpart. Furthermore, the Cassandra of ''Batwheels''[='=]s status as the tech person of the Batfamily and purple-and-yellow costumes owe more to Barbara Gordon, her status as a snarky biker and use of domino mask take after Barbara ''Wilson'' from ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', and her motorcycle helmet evokes the comics' Duke Thomas's identity of the Signal.

* The Creator/CartoonNetwork series ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' is only related to the comic book series ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'' by them both nominally starring the same characters: the latter is a RecursiveAdaptation of the original ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' series, while the former is a DenserAndWackier comedic SpinOff of that series.

** The show itself is a radical shift in tone from its immediate predecessor (where most of the names came from), but that's happened ''every'' time the franchise got a reboot. Frankly, though, given the [[PeripheryDemographic huge fandom]] that showed up for this show, and the tension that happens frequently between the current "brony" fandom and fans of the previous generations, it's best to not bring this up.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' has virtually nothing in common with the original [[ComicBook/YoungJustice comic book of the same name]]. Not only are they very tonally different (one is mostly a wacky upbeat comedy, the other is deathly serious), but even their casts have little in common. For some idea, only ''one'' person on the team's original lineup was ever a member of Young Justice, that being the Connor Kent Superboy--hell, two members of the season 1 team, Miss Martian and the Kaldur'am/Jackson Hyde Aqualad, ''did not exist'' when ''Young Justice'' had its original run. Both tonally and character-wise, it has much more in common with the various mid-late-2000s runs of ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''. Showrunner Creator/GregWeisman has said that it was never intended to be an adaptation of the series to begin with and that the title was essentially given to them by some Creator/WarnerBros execs. However, the title does fit the central theme of the show, and there are some shout-outs and callbacks to the series' comic book namesake, with increasingly more characters who actually ''were'' members trickling in as the series went on. Incidentally, there ''was'' going to be a series closely based on the comic book years prior. That series materialized as ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', and ended up feeling very much in line with the original ''Young Justice'' despite the roster being taken from one of the more acclaimed ''Titans'' runs.

* Here's a suicidal drinking game for you; every time you see video game characters on ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' that look and/or act nothing like they did in their games, take a shot. The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' characters arguably got it the worst; Simon Belmont went from a badass [[Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982 Conan]]-looking warrior who singlehandedly killed Dracula, resurrected him, and then killed him again to a wimpy ButtMonkey blowhard in a standard AdventurerOutfit, while Alucard went from a good-aligned ClassicalMovieVampire to an evil TotallyRadical rebellious skater kid.

* The ''WesternAnimation/FishPolice'' cartoon had very little in common with its [[ComicBook/FishPolice source material]]. To name some of the changes: Inspector Gill went from looking like [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yz1vIhhPo3s/Try0Y86s6RI/AAAAAAAAErA/Mn_b7sq3diM/s1600/fishpolice1.jpg this]] to basically a fish {{Expy}} of ComicStrip/DickTracy. Also, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS he somehow lost an L from his surname]]. Angel went from being a slender, shapely, smart piece of eye candy and taking a FaceHeelTurn to a buxom nitwit who's involved with the antagonists from the start. The tone is much LighterAndSofter, with lots of FlintstoneTheming and fish puns. In short, it was about as far removed from the comics as it could be while still keeping the "quasi-film noir detectives '''[[RecycledInSpace UNDER THE SEA!]]'''" motif.

* ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls2019'' has very little in common with [[WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls its predecessor]] aside from a similar premise of revolving around an interpretation of the DC Universe taking place in a high school setting where the majority of the characters are [[AgeLift reinterpreted as teenagers]] and both continuities having the starting point focus on Wonder Woman being a novice heroine who's just learning about the existence of her peers. The most notable discrepancies include the heroines attending a regular high school in their secret identities instead of going to a SuperheroSchool and some characters who were [[AdaptationalHeroism reinterpreted as heroic]] in the previous canon [[TruerToTheText being as evil as they were in the mainline comics]] (Poison Ivy, for example).

** ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' is probably the closest to the origin, with Sonic and Tails acting as an adventuring duo combatting the wily plans of Dr. Robotnik. Robotnik is a LaughablyEvil goofball who employs two bumbling robot underlings, Scratch and Grounder. The show has a very stylized and cornball style but ultimately does kind of feel like the games in places.
** Besides the overall theme of nature vs. machinery, the only things ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' has in common with the games are Sonic, Tails (who was DemotedToExtra), the rings (which here act as a DeusExMachina device), Buzzbombers (which only [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness appeared in the pilot]]), and Robotnik (who looked quite different from his appearance in the games and was substantially more fearsome than any other interpretation of the character). This does not stop it from being one of the more highly regarded ''Sonic'' adaptations. This adaptation is the source material for ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', which managed to blend more of the games' canon with the setting of the show.
** ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'': The only things present from the franchise games are Sonic, Robotnik, the Chaos Emeralds and a few appearances by Knuckles. Even by the standards of the animated adaptations, this was ''very'' different from the source material (with Sonic having two siblings whom he forms a band with and characters who don't even look like they're anthropomorphic animals). Some of the setting is inspired by ''Sonic [=SatAM=]'', however (such as the design of Robotropolis and Robotnik himself).

* ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' is very much this trope. The only other time Iron Man has been a teenager was a brief period when Stark was replaced with his teenage self, in a very [[ComicBook/TheCrossing convoluted]] story that ended up being retconned out, and [[ComicBook/HeroesReborn most of the Marvel universe]] along with it. This Iron Man shares more of his background with Franchise/SpiderMan, what with the entire WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld premise. While it had some mixed reception at the time, it has since been deemed as one of the best interpretations of Iron Man there is, mostly thanks to picking up and adapting some of the highest quality storylines the comics had to offer, like "Armor Wars" and "Extremis", into this new setting.