History Main / AdaptationalProtagonist

* ''WesternAnimation/GremlinsSecretsOfTheMogwai'': Sam Wing becomes the main character of the prequel.

* ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'': This musical adaptation of Gregory Maguire's ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'' elevates G(a)linda to [[{{Deuteragonist}} co-protagonist]] when she was just a supporting character in the novel and the original Oz books. The story is still about Elphaba's journey but her interactions with Glinda matter as much. Glinda even gets her own CharacterArc.

* ''Fanfic/{{Intercom}}'': ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' is the tale of Joy and Sadness, a dysfunctional duo of emotions that live in a girl's brain (Riley), with the girl serving more as a setting and a way to showcase the consequence of Joy and Sadness' actions. ''Intercom'', on the other hand, puts all of the emotions as the supporting cast and brings Riley to the forefront. Once she learns she has five little voices in her head, it's no longer her emotions piloting her but exploring her own mindscape, befriending her emotions, and struggling to get more agency in her life.

* ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyXote'': A cartoon of 2007 that recounts the ''Literature/DonQuixote'' from the UnreliableNarrator perspective of Dapple and Rosinante--respectively, Sancho Panza's donkey and Don Quixote's horse. The film can be considered Dapple and Rosinante's autobiography.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'': The show focuses on a young Peter Parker and his roommates and friends: the mutants Firestar (Angelica Jones)--created for the show--and Iceman (Bobby Drake). In the comics, Bobby Drake is a regular member of the X-Men and has sparingly starred in his own arcs and comic series, being the PluckyComicRelief whenever he is a team player. Unlike the comics, Iceman becomes part of the protagonists and doesn't belong to the X-Men team (which pops here and there during the series).

** The ''ComicBook/{{Civil War|2006}}'' event was a CrisisCrossover involving the whole Marvel Universe and focusing on different viewpoints from the two fractions of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and ComicBook/IronMan. While both of them and some other superheroes are involved in the narrative of ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', the movie is clearly a Captain America movie and a follow up to Steve Rogers' and Bucky Barnes' story in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.

** An odd case with ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': The Sakaar-arc of that movies is based on ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'' which is a story about [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]]. While Hulk appears in the movie as deuteragonist, the protagonist of the movie is of course [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] - who isn't part of the original storyline at all.

** ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'' is losly based on ''ComicBook/AvengersTheKreeSkrullWar''. The movie lets out all the other Avengers and while the storyline in the comics involves [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Captain Marvel]], it is the Mar-Vell incarnation of the character while the movie is about [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]].

* ''Film/{{Renfield|2023}}'': This 2023 movie is a HorrorComedy movie based on ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' (1897), that surprisingly brings to the spotlight a lesser character of the book: Renfield, Dracula's sycophantic familiar. ''Renfield'' focuses on the master-servant[=/=]slave relationship between the vampire lord and TheRenfield, but from the point of view of the latter, and how such a relationship can be psychologically detrimental to the familiar, who is exploited by his master.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': In ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'', the Avengers are basically there to help up the death toll and make for an exciting battle with the all-but-godlike Thanos. In particular, Iron Man has his head unceremoniously pulled off and Captain America is the last man standing before Thanos shatters his shield and snaps his neck. Instead, Adam Warlock is the one who plans and finally carries out a plan to bring Thanos down. When the story was adapted into the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', the Avengers take center stage, with Iron Man being the one to put Thanos down once and for all; at this point in the MCU, Adam Warlock had yet to exist aside from a cameo in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', and would not surface until the aftermath in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3''.

It can overlap with PragmaticAdaptation, such as when one particular character is chosen to be the protagonist in a film from an otherwise equally-weighted EnsembleCast --usually with a SwitchingPOV conceit-- to make the story easier to structure into a screenplay. In which case it's probably an EnforcedTrope.

Very common in FanWorks, although for entirely different reasons. One of the perks of writing fanfiction is that you can speculate how the story would look if it was about other characters --who have strengths, weaknesses, skillsets, wants, and needs different from that of the original lead.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Arenas}}'': The original ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'' has no clear protagonist --the DecoyProtagonist Sarge turns out to be the very first boss of the game and the protagonists of ''VideoGame/QuakeI'' and ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' --respectively Ranger and Bitterman-- are just made into regular fighters. Meanwhile, the [[VideoGame/{{Doom}} the Doom Marine]] is just another combatant. This web animation, by contrast, ''Arenas'' is entirely focused on Doom's trials and tribulations during the whole thing.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': In the original tale of ''Literature/{{Aladdin}}'', Aladdin is the protagonist, and the tale focuses on his rise from a lowly commoner to a rich prince by the use of a magic lamp. The princess of the original tale, Badroulbadour (meaning "Full Moon of Moons") is the StandardHeroReward for Aladdin --or, in Princess Jasmine's words, "a prize to be won". Fast forward to 1992 and Disney's version tries to rectify the princess's presence in their adaptation by developing her character so she can be somewhat of equal standing with Aladdin.
* ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyXote'': A cartoon of 2007 that recounts the ''Literature/DonQuixote'' from the UnreliableNarrator perspective of Dapple and Rosinante -- respectively, Sancho Panza's donkey and Don Quixote's horse. The film can be considered Dapple and Rosinante's autobiography.
* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'': The film is loosely inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's ''The Snow Queen''. Unlike the tale, it has two female protagonists, the sisters Queen Elsa and Princess Anna. Anna is this movie's version of Gerda, TheHeroine of the original story, while Elsa is a CompositeCharacter of Gerda's male friend, Kai, and the Snow Queen --who is not so much of a true villain, just the one who takes Kai with her during a snowy night, prompting Gerda's quest for him.

* ''Film/BramStokersDracula'': In the original ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', following the first act --told from Jonathan's POV-- the novel rotates between the protagonists (as well as some minor characters), as the story is told primarily via letters, diary entries and so forth. Despite him being the primary antagonist, we never get Dracula's personal perspective. In the 1992 film, Dracula is positioned as the VillainProtagonist of the story, with his [[PromotedToLoveInterest relationship with Mina]] getting particular prominence. Also, the movie goes for a ReincarnationRomance angle between Mina and Dracula. As such, Mina is also given more focus compared to the other protagonists.

* ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'' takes Disney's ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' and reworks its story so that the main character is none other than the original's BigBad, Maleficent-- relegating Princess Aurora and the Three Fairies (who had the biggest share of the spotlight in the 1959 animation) to supporting characters.

* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'': The play turns Sweeney Todd into its VillainProtagonist thanks to a good helping of AdaptationalSympathy --which includes the loss of his daughter, the DamselInDistress Joanna. This is a far cry from the original ''[[Literature/TheStringOfPearls Sweeney Todd]]'' story, ''Literature/TheStringOfPearls,'' where Joanna is the protagonist trying to save her boyfriend from the villainous Todd, [[RelatedInTheAdaptation with whom she has no familial connection]].

* ''VideoGame/GihrensGreed'': The playable characters don't have a protagonist role in the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' series they first appear as those are normally small in scale. There, they end to be GreaterScopeParagon, GreaterScopeVillain, BigGood, or BigBad characters. Here, they are the leaders of the various factions in a war simulation based on the ''Gundam'' lore and canonical events. In some cases, the playable character only interacts with those {{Plot Point}}s as if they were receiving after-action reports --e.g. "[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam General, the 08th MS team successfully destroyed the experimental Mobile Armor, but Lieutenant Shiro Amada is MIA.]]". In others, they influence the possible outcome --e.g. playing as Blex in the Zeta Gundam era and failing to take precautions results in your assassination like in canon.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'': The show focuses on a young Peter Parker and his roommates and friends: the mutants Firestar (Angelica Jones) --created for the show-- and Iceman (Bobby Drake). In the comics, Bobby Drake is a regular member of the X-Men and has sparingly starred in his own arcs and comic series, being the PluckyComicRelief whenever he is a team player. Unlike the comics, Iceman becomes part of the protagonists and doesn't belong to the X-Men team (which pops here and there during the series).

* ''Fanfic/MyDeepestDarkestSecret'': In the [[Webcomic/DarkMoonTheBloodAltar original webtoon]], Solon was at best a supporting character, albeit one with a minor character arc following the reveal of his [[VampiricWerewolf true heritage]]. Here, he's the main protagonist and the whole story centers on said character arc: him [[DefrostingIceKing becoming less distrustful and aggressive]] and [[TookALevelInKindess more calmer and kinder]], identity crisis over his [[VampiricWerewolf hybrid]] heritage and relationship with Enzy.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Velma}}'': In a lot of ''Scooby-Doo'' properties, Velma is a main character but the role of protagonist goes to Scooby (with Shaggy often serving as the {{Deuteragonist}}. Velma is the main protagonist of this show due to Scooby being AdaptedOut.

* ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'': The play turns Sweeney Todd into its VillainProtagonist thanks to a good helping of AdaptationalSympathy --which includes the loss of his daughter, the DamselInDistress Joanna. This is a far cry from the original ''[[Literature/TheStringOfPearls SweeneyTodd]]'' story, ''Literature/TheStringOfPearls,'' where Joanna is the protagonist trying to save her boyfriend from the villainous Todd, [[RelatedInTheAdaptation with whom she has no familial connection]].