History Main / AffirmativeActionLegacy

** ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' adapts Jane Foster's time as Thor.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' revolves around an Afro-Latino teenager named Miles Morales, who becomes the new Spider-Man after his world's Peter Parker is killed by ComicBook/TheKingpin.

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', Peter briefly utilizes the Iron Spider armor and identity before ditching it. The Iron Spider identity reappears in Season 3, where it is taken up by the Korean-American prodigy Amadeus Cho (who's presented as Peter's academic rival). Several other Spideys appear, including Miles Morales. Much like his comics counterpart, he became Spider-Man after the death of his universe's Peter Parker. The main Peter Parker is understandably very stunned by this (especially when he sees the gravestone.) He later reassures Miles, since Miles feels burdened that he could've done something sooner to save the other Peter.

* The Disney ''Franchise/StarWars'' Sequel trilogy suffered backlash for hinting that Finn, a black Stormtrooper, would be the main lead in place of Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker of the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy respectively, before revealing the true main character would be Rey, a white woman. The backlash also revolved around the impression that the heroes of the previous trilogies (Luke, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Anakin, etc) were demeaned in order to play up the new heroes (e.g. Han Solo revealed to have gone back to becoming a smuggler again before dying, Luke becoming a reclusive hermit before dying, [[RuleOfThree Leia becoming a failed military leader before dying]]), while Rey was portrayed as being vastly more skilled and powerful.
** Finn meanwhile became less relevant as the trilogy advanced, even becoming PluckyComicRelief in [[Film/StarWarsTheLastJedi the second film of the Sequel trilogy]]. His actor John Boyega became increasingly vocal about his dissatisfaction with what was done with the character.

[[folder:Film]]

** Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}} in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is the female Carol Danvers version instead of the older character of Captain Mar-Vell. Downplayed due to the fact that in this adaptation, Mar-Vell is (a) [[GenderFlip a woman]], and (b) never a superhero, but rather [[spoiler:Carol's late mentor and a defecting Kree scientist.]] Interestingly, a ''Ms. Marvel'' show starring Kamala Khan and set in the MCU is in the works, so it remains to be seen how the legacy aspect will be handled since Carol never used that name in this continuity. [[note]] Carol Danvers originally gained her powers during an adventure alongside Mar-Vell, and took up the name Ms. Marvel as a reference to this. [[/note]]

* In season two of ''Series/{{Batwoman|2019}}'', Ryan Wilder (black gay woman) replaces Kate Kane (white gay woman) in the title role.

Trouble is, the legacy characters, minority or not, often also don't stick very well and there is a history of them being replaced. It also doesn't help that sometimes, these new characters don't catch on and fall out of a regular role, occasionally resulting in [[CListFodder another trope entirely]]. Furthermore, UnpleasableFanbase aside, depending on how the original character is treated or how the mantle is passed to the new one the preexisting fanbase may react very badly (e.g. [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner]] being introduced by turning [[TheParagon Hal Jordan]] into the OmnicidalManiac Parallax).

This can also be very dangerous for people hoping to use this trope to promote diversity or inclusivity: should the new character be so badly received that it actually ''damages'' the name or brand, it also becomes easy for people to blame the diversity or inclusivity for the drop in quality. This is what happened with ''Series/DoctorWho'', where the introduction of the first female Doctor coincided with a massive drop in viewership. [[note]] While the Doctor becoming female was met with some backlash, the bigger problem was the impression the writing quality also nosedived.[[/note]]

** It has been confirmed that the upcoming ''Thor: Love and Thunder'' film will adapt Jane Foster's time as Thor, though it is unknown yet what this means for the original Thor.

* In the 9th edition of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', the title of Lord Castellan of Cadia passes down from Ursarkar E. Creed (a man) to his daugher Ursula Creed, Ursarkar himself having been abducted by the Necron Lord [[CollectorOfTheStrange Trazyn the Infinite]] at the end of 7th edition.

* In ''FanFic/DucktalesTwentyYearsLater'', the female Gosalyn has taken up the Darkwing Duck mantle.

** In the final minutes of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler: Sam Wilson, a black man, [[PassingTheTorch takes up the shield and mantle of Captain America]] from the retired white Steve Rogers, while Comicbook/{{Valkyrie|Marvel Comics}}, a [[WordOfGay bisexual]] woman of color, becomes the new [[OfferedTheCrown Asgardian ruler]] once Thor abdicates. Interestingly, Valkyrie's character progression is completely original to the films; unlike Carol as Captain Marvel or Sam as Captain America, there is no comic-book precedent for her as Thor's successor. In addition, it's implied that Morgan Stark may take up her late father's position as a PoweredArmor-using hero, although she is four years old and thus a long way away from doing so.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' revolves around an Afro-Latino teenager named Miles Morales, who becomes the new Spider-Man after his world's Peter Parker is killed by Comicbook/TheKingpin.

* ''Series/Stargirl2020'' revolves around the title character forming a new Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica after the originals are killed off by their archenemies. In addition to Stargirl herself (a teenage girl who uses the costume and staff of the deceased Comicbook/{{Starman}}), so far we have:
** Yolanda Montez, a Latina girl who takes over the Comicbook/{{Wildcat}} identity from Ted Grant, a white male.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' has a meta example with Kaldur'ahm/Aqualad; however, in this continuity Garth [[RefusalOfTheCall never became Aqualad]], instead going straight to his Tempest identity. The series also has Mal Duncan take on the Guardian identity after the original abandoned it, like his original comic book incarnation (see above). In this version, Mal was never Herald. We also have Jaime as the Blue Beetle, with his Caucasian forebears, Ted Kord and Dan Garrett, both mentioned.

* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'', Peter briefly utilizes the Iron Spider armor and identity before ditching it. The Iron Spider identity reappears in Season 3, where it is taken up by the Korean-American prodigy Amadeus Cho (who's presented as Peter's academic rival). Several other Spideys appear, including Miles Morales. Much like his comics counterpart, he became Spider-Man after the death of his universe's Peter Parker. The main Peter Parker is understandably very stunned by this (especially when he sees the gravestone.) He later reassures Miles, since Miles feels burdened that he could've done something sooner to save the other Peter.

Trouble is, the legacy characters, minority or not, often also don't stick very well and there is a history of them being replaced. It also doesn't help that sometimes, these new characters don't catch on and fall out of a regular role, occasionally resulting in [[CListFodder another trope entirely]]. On the other hand, several of these characters have gone on to be popular and enduring heroes in their own right.

** Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}} in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is the female Carol Danvers version instead of the older character of Captain Mar-Vell. Downplayed due to the fact that in this adaptation, Mar-Vell is (a) [[GenderFlip a woman]], and (b) never a superhero, but rather [[spoiler:Carol's late mentor and a defecting Kree scientist.]] Interestingly, a ''Ms. Marvel'' show starring Kamala Khan and set in the MCU is in the works, so it remains to be seen how the legacy aspect will be handled since Carol never used that name in this continuity.

** Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}} in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is the female ComicBook/CarolDanvers version instead of the older character of ComicBook/CaptainMarVell. Downplayed due to the fact that in this adaptation, Mar-Vell is (a) [[GenderFlip a woman]], and (b) never a superhero, but rather [[spoiler:Carol's late mentor and a defecting Kree scientist.]] Interestingly, a ''Ms. Marvel'' show starring Kamala Khan and set in the MCU is in the works, so it remains to be seen how the legacy aspect will be handled since Carol never used that name in this continuity.

* ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of ''Endgame''[='s=] examples and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is a major national symbol. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead. At the end of the season however, after said white guy goes off the deep end and Sam learns about the history of black super-soldiers in America and decides that it wouldn't be right to stop fighting for what's right despite all the injustices that happened to black people, he becomes Captain America instead and embraces the mantle.]]

** Invoked in-universe by the Doctor in "The Doctor's Wife" and "Death of the Doctor", who confirms the long-held [[AscendedFanon fan belief]] that Time Lords can indeed change [[GenderBender genders]] and [[RaceLift ethnicities]] during a regeneration, although [[TheNthDoctor his incarnations]] are all white men as of those stories. The first female (mainline) Doctor would be Creator/JodieWhittaker's Thirteenth Doctor, who debuted in the 2017 Christmas special.

** In "Let's Kill Hitler" it's revealed that Mels, the black twenty-something childhood friend of Amy and Rory, is actually the previous incarnation of the white, middle-aged, River Song. Mels in turn regenerated from the white, seven year old Melody and was forced to grow up ''again'' after her first regeneration left her as a toddler.

** "Hell Bent" has a double example of this, when the Doctor shoots the commander of Gallifrey's military forces, who promptly regenerates from a white man into a black woman.

** Invoked in-universe by the Doctor in "The Doctor's Wife" and "Death of the Doctor", who confirms the long-held [[AscendedFanon fan belief]] that Time Lords can indeed change [[GenderBender genders]] and [[RaceLift ethnicities]] during a regeneration, although [[TheNthDoctor his incarnations]] are all white men as of those stories.

** [[spoiler:TheMaster]] became a villainous example of this after regenerating into a female body (named Missy). WordOfGod states this was to test the audience's reaction prior to casting a female Doctor.

** The Thirteenth Doctor, played by Creator/JodieWhittaker, as of the 2017 ChristmasSpecial.

* ''Series/{{Stargirl 2020}}'' revolves around the title character forming a new Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica after the originals are killed off by their archenemies. In addition to Stargirl herself (a teenage girl who uses the costume and staff of the deceased Comicbook/{{Starman}}), so far we have:

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' standard LegacyCharacter Cid is getting a granddaughter named Cidney in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', a series first.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' tends to use minority legacy heroes in favor of their predecessors, despite the show being primarily influenced by UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}. The Jaime Reyes version of Blue Beetle, the Ryan Choi version of the Atom, and the Jason Rusch version of Firestorm are all used in major roles on the show. The only white legacy hero on the show is Dinah Lance, the second ComicBook/BlackCanary (the first being her mother, whom she's named after), the two exceptions being the Vic Sage version of the Question rather than Renee Montoya, and B'wana Beast instead of Freedom Beast. ''Brave and the Bold'' is essentially Modern Age comics with a Silver Age flair. Note that the originals sometimes appear as well. For example, two entire {{Flashback}} episodes dealt specifically with Ted Kord (Blue Beetle II).
* The Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} featured in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has several examples of this. The new Franchise/GreenLantern is a Tibetan teenager named Kai-ro and ComicBook/TheAtom's successor is a black man known as Micron.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra,'' a SequelSeries to ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' has Korra as the new Avatar. This is more of a meta example--Aang was not the first Avatar, and successors are always from a different nation and often opposite gender than their immediate forebears. Aang is male and from a Tibetan FantasyCounterpartCulture, but could pass for European in [[{{Animesque}} the show's art style]]; Korra is female, darker-skinned (being from a fantastical EskimoLand equivalent) and [[spoiler:bisexual]].

** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of ''Endgame''[='s=] examples and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is a major national symbol. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead. At the end of the season however, after said white guy goes off the deep end and Sam learns about the history of black super-soldiers in America and decides that it wouldn't be right to stop fighting for what's right despite all the injustices that happened to black people, he becomes Captain America instead and embraces the mantle.]]

** Beth Chapel, an African-American girl who takes over the Doctor Mid-Nite identity from Charles [=McNider=], another white male.

** M's secretary Moneypenny was played by the Afro-Caribbean British Creator/NaomieHarris starting with ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''. All of her predecessors were white.
** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' has the title of Agent 007 being held by a black woman (played by Creator/LashanaLynch), with James Bond having retired at the end of ''Film/{{Spectre}}''. Also in ''No Time to Die'', it turns out the GadgeteerGenius Q (Creator/BenWhishaw) is either gay or bisexual.

** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of ''Endgame''[='s=] examples and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is a major national symbol. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead. At the end of the season however, after said white guy goes off the deep end and Sam learns about the history of black super-soldiers in America and decides that it wouldn't be right to stop fighting for what's right despite all the injustices that happened to black people, he becomes Captain America instead and embraces the mantle.]]

* In season two of ''Series/{{Batwoman}}'', Ryan Wilder (black gay woman) replaces Kate Kane (white gay woman) in the title role.

** M was first played by a woman, Dame Creator/JudiDench, in 1995's ''Film/GoldenEye.''
** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' has the title of 007 being held by a black woman (played by Creator/LashanaLynch), with James Bond having retired at the end of ''Film/{{Spectre}}''.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'', [[http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=462 Amber created]] the non-{{stripperiffic}} persona of [[AC:AMAZI-GIRL]] in order to provide an actual female superhero rolemodel, both for herself and others. When Lucy (who is black) was hired to the store, she bonded with Amber over the lack of female rolemodels in comics. Later, after Amber has left the store, a thief is in the stockroom, and Robin [[http://www.shortpacked.com/index.php?id=1929 unveils the Amazi-Girl outfit]] for Lucy.

[[folder:DC Comics]]
* In the pages of Creator/GrantMorrison's ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' Bwana Beast (a MightyWhitey) was replaced by a black man from Africa who renamed the hero Freedom Beast.
** The final issue of ''Justice League of America'' vol. 2 had one of the heroes returning to Africa to find a successor for the Freedom Beast mantle much later in the time line.
** "The Last Days of Animal Man", a mini-series set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, depicts an unnamed African-American as the new Flash.
* Creator/GregWeisman created a new, black Aqualad named Kaldur'ahm for his ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' animated series, and the character was [[CanonImmigrant brought over into the comics]] as well (where he is Black Manta's estranged son). However, unlike most characters who exemplify this trope, Kaldur's predecessor had not gone by "Aqualad" in well over a decade. It's also worth noting that in the show's continuity Garth was never Aqualad, presumably making Kaldur the first.
** When Kaldur was reintroduced post-''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', he was also established as being gay.
* ComicBook/TheAtom:
** Ray Palmer (white male) replaced by Ryan Choi (Asian male). Choi's run in ''The All-New Atom'' ended in a [[MoodWhiplash thudding tonal shift]] around the time Ray Palmer returned from a self-imposed extradimensional exile.
** And then un-replaced with the return of Palmer and the death of Choi until he was later restored to life in ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}''.
** And then there's Rhonda Pineda, a Latina college student and another Atom. [[spoiler: Just kidding! She's the evil Atomica from [[MirrorUniverse Earth 3]], and a mole for the [[EvilCounterpart Crime Syndicate of America.]]]]
** ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' sees Choi reintroduced to DC's main continuity, several years younger, taking up the Atom identity to find Ray Palmer in the Microverse.
* The first ComicBook/{{Azrael}} (best known for temporarily [[LegacyLaunch becoming the new Batman]] during ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'') was a blonde named Jean-Paul Valley, while his successor was a black guy named Michael Lane. Like a few others on the list, this got reset in the New 52, with Jean-Paul back as Azrael.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}: Bette Kane (White and Jewish) replaced by Barbara Gordon (white) who was replaced with [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl2000}} Cassandra Cain]] (half-Chinese half-white) who was succeeded by [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl2009}} Stephanie Brown]] (white, lower-class), replaced with [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl2011}} Barbara Gordon]] (formerly disabled).
*** The final issue of [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}} Stephanie's run]] had her [[LotusEaterMachine dream an ideal future]] where she's a female ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} training Nell, a black RecurringExtra, to be Batgirl.
** ''ComicBook/TheNew52FuturesEnd'' introduced a future team known as the League of Batgirls. In addition to the aforementioned Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown, the team's third Batgirl was a 12-year old African-American girl named Tiffany Fox.
** The ''ComicBook/BatmanBeyond'' comic set in the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse has Barbara's mantle be eventually taken up by the brown skinned Nissa.
** In the ComicBook/New52, Cassandra has never been Batgirl, but becomes the new Orphan (the identity her Caucasian father had) after the original performs a HeroicSacrifice.
** A [[RetroactiveLegacy retcon story]] established that prior to becoming Franchise/{{Batman}}, Bruce Wayne operated as part of a team of Chinese superheroes under the name Darknight. Years later, a new, Chinese Darknight appeared as a member of the [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]].
** Katherine "Kate" Kane, the current ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}, is a Jewish lesbian. Interestingly, she is not a legacy within the comics themselves, as her predecessor (the original Batwoman) was {{retcon}}ned out of existence in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', and she is a reimagining of the same character instead of an inheritor of the title. That Batwoman was a straight gentile woman.
*** {{Retcon}}! ''[[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman Incorporated]]'' has established that Kathy Kane was the first Batwoman, for about a year early in Batman's career. Their relationship is that Kathy is Kate's aunt.
*** In addition, Kate Kane passed on the Batwoman mantle to the above-mentioned Bette Kane in the alternate future ''Titans Tomorrow....Today!'' storyline. And then Titans Tomorrow Batwoman was retconned to be Cassandra Cain.
** Another rare villain example can be found in the Batman foe Tally Man. The first was a white guy, while the second one introduced during the ''One Year Later'' event was a black guy. What happened to the original is never stated, though the ''[[ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land]]'' novelization [[AllThereInTheManual mentions that he was killed by]] Two-Face.
** Also from Batman comics: The original Ventriloquist, Arnold Wesker (male) was killed off in ''One Year Later'' and replaced by Peyton Riley (female). The ComicBook/New52 introduced yet another Ventriloquist (also female).
** Holly Robinson, who briefly replaced Selina Kyle as ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}, is a lesbian.
** The new Catwoman in ''ComicBook/BatmanBeyond'' is a [[AmbiguouslyBrown dark-skinned]] woman of mostly-unrevealed lineage.
** Genevieve Valentine's run on ''ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}'' introduces Eiko Hasigawa, a Japanese [[MafiaPrincess Yakuza Princess]] who temporarily becomes the new Catwoman after Selina retires to run the Calabrese crime family. It's also suggested that she may be a lesbian or bisexual.
** The original Ranger from the [[MultinationalTeam Batmen of All Nations]] was a white Australian. After his death, the mantle was passed onto Johnny Riley, an Aboriginal teen who joined [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batman Incorporated]] under the moniker of "Dark Ranger".
** The ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'' provides an in-universe villainous version when Tim faces off against an assassin code-named the Rising Sun Archer and research shows him that his current foe is the granddaughter of a WWII era male assassin who used the same name.
** The ComicBook/{{Robin}} legacy has zig-zagged this. Traditionally the role has been filled by white males, but at least two of those have retcons implying or explicitly stating they have other heritage:
*** [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]] (retconned Romani heritage) -> [[ComicBook/RedHood Jason Peter Todd]] (European and Asian ancestry [[note]]ComicBook/LadyShiva is one of the potential birth mothers he and Bats track down[[/note]]) -> [[ComicBook/RedRobin Tim Drake]] (white male [[note]]possible Jewish heritage via WordOfGod[[/note]]) -> [[ComicBook/Batgirl2009 Stephanie Brown]] (white woman [[note]]is no longer tied to the Robin legacy post-Flashpoint[[/note]]) -> Damian Wayne (Chinese, European and Arab ancestry). Damian-as-Batman has also featured in a couple of Creator/GrantMorrison possible future tales - in one story ''he's'' the RetiredBadass "Mr Wayne" who trains [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Terry McGinnis]].
*** Jason (prior to Flashpoint, anyway) was indicated to be mixed race, since when he and Batman were trying to find his biological mother the unmistakably Asian ComicBook/LadyShiva was one of the candidates. Dick had not yet been retconned to have Romani heritage so he inherited the role from a white guy. On the other hand Jason's first incarnation where he and his family were circus performers was unquestionably white given his red hair. Amusingly when writers keep both Jason's Asian and Dick's Romani heritage on the table this means [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim]] was the only non-POC male to be Robin.
*** In ''Future's End'', the new Robin is a black teenager named Duke Thomas.
*** Duke Thomas also appears in the main continuity as part of the ComicBook/WeAreRobin movement, a group of diverse teens who step up to help defend Gotham during a period when Bruce is dead and Damian is off WalkingTheEarth. Following the Waynes' respective returns, Duke is invited to become a part of the Batfamily proper by Batman, but explicitly not as a Robin; Bruce wants to try something new with his training, and so he instead becomes The Signal.
** In Earth-2, where superheroes aged normally, African-American lawyer Charles "Charley" Bullock took on the identity of Blackwing, donning a costume deliberately reminiscent of the now-retired Batman. He might also be said to be taking up {{ComicBook/Wildcat}}'s legacy as well, since he coincidentally met Grant as a teenager, and ended up being mentored by the older hero.
* ComicBook/BlueBeetle: Ted Kord (white male) replaced by Jaime Reyes (Latino male). Before the New 52, Jaime took up the mantle after Ted's death, while in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', Ted stepped down from active superheroics, Jaime discovered the Blue Beetle scarab independently, and the two of them eventually joined forces.
** Ryan, Jason, and Jaime also appear in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. All of their predecessors have also appeared in some capacity as well.
* Lee Walter Travis, the white male Crimson Avenger, was followed by Jill Carlyle, a black female Crimson Avenger.
* Happens at least three times over to ComicBook/DoctorFate in the New 52. The Earth-20 version is still Kent Nelson, but now he's black, the ComicBook/{{Earth 2}} version is a young Egyptian man called Khalid Ben-Hassin, and the main DCU version is a young Egyptian-American man called Khalid Nassour (fitting in these last two cases, since Doctor Fate's mythology is strongly tied to Egypt). Much like the original, they're doctors (well, Ben-Hassin is. Nassour is a medical student since he's younger.). Also, there were two female Doctor Fates who succeeded the original Kent Nelson when he apparently died, one of them being his widow Inza.
* Doctor Mid-Nite was originally Charles [=McNider=], a white man. He was replaced by Beth Chapel, a black woman, who was later replaced by Pieter Cross, another white man. As of ''Comicbook/DoomsdayClock'', Beth is back.
* The original Element Girl was Caucasian, while her successor Element Woman is Korean American.
* Franchise/TheFlash:
** In the mainstream DC Comics continuity, Irey West (who as mentioned above, is half white and half Korean) became the new Impulse. Bart Allen, the original ComicBook/{{Impulse}}, was a white male. However, Irey ''is'' the daughter of Wally West, another holder of Franchise/TheFlash mantle.
** In the ComicBook/{{New 52}} continuity, Wally went back to being a teenager, but was {{Race Lift}}ed to being half African-American. ComicBook/DCRebirth retcons it so that New 52 Wally is actually the cousin of the original Wally, who'd been [[RetGone removed from time]] for a few years before making a return, and sees New 52 Wally take up his cousin's Kid Flash mantle. The ''Future's End'' tie-in to the series has a possible future where New 52 Wally has replaced Barry as the Flash as well.
** The first Reverse-Flash, is the Caucasian Eobard Thawne. His successor is the formerly disabled Hunter Zolomon.
** Johnny Quick, a white male hero, was replaced by Jesse Chambers, his daughter. She now fights crime while using his costume and the slightly modified moniker of Jesse Quick. She eventually changed her costumed identity to Liberty Belle, originally her mother's.
** Franchise/TheFlash in ''Justice League [[ComicBook/BatmanBeyond Beyond]]'' is a black woman named Danica Williams.
** A villainous example for DC: The replacement Rogues featured an African-American Captain Cold. The original white one took back the identity pretty quickly though.
* ComicBook/{{Firestorm}}: Ronnie Raymond (white) replaced with Jason Rusch (black). Ronnie was eventually resurrected, and now they both share control over the composite Firestorm entity.
* ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' does this briefly. Readers are shown a number of alternate universes, one of which features black versions of Superman and Wonder Woman. The black Wonder Woman is revealed to be ComicBook/{{Nubia}}, Wonder Woman's largely-forgotten sister from [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 the 1970s]]. Meanwhile, the black Superman is the [[OurPresidentsAreDifferent president of the United States]]. (''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'' reveals that their Earth is one where most of the major heroes are black, with Batman as the exception.)
* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow'':
** ComicBook/GreenArrow II Connor Hawke is the son of the White Green Arrow Oliver Queen and a half Black, half Korean woman. For a while his skin seemed to go back and forth from issue to issue.
** It looks like he's gotten more white over time, and that he was darker at birth, canonically. A lot of colorists have messed it up over the years, though. It definitely does not help that his hair is dyed blonde. His coloring was fixed in ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}''.
** In ''Comicbook/TheNew52FuturesEnd'', the new Green Arrow is Emiko Queen, Oliver's half-Japanese younger sister.
** In the mainstream continuity, Emiko becomes the new Red Arrow after ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''.
** Speedy: ComicBook/GreenArrow's white male sidekick Roy Harper changed his code name to Arsenal and later Red Arrow, and Mia Dearden, an HIV-positive, female, former teen prostitute became the new Speedy.
* Franchise/GreenLantern: In the Golden Age, Alan Scott (white male). Scott's powers were similar to, but had a different source from, the Silver Age Green Lanterns, so he was not so much "replaced" as CoveredUp by Hal Jordan, who got replaced (sort of) by Guy Gardner (white) replaced with John Stewart (black) and later Kyle Rayner (originally white, later retconned to be half-Hispanic), followed by Simon Baz (Arab-American) and Jessica Cruz (neuroatypical Latina). However, the fact that the Green Lanterns are a police organization with 7200 members makes this more believable. Currently all serve as equal members of the Corps (despite at least one of them having been ''dead'' for a while, see "Spectre" below). The 2020 series ''Comicbook/FarSector'' introduces Sojourner "Jo" Mullein, a black woman, as Earth's newest Green Lantern.
** ''[[Creator/DCZoom Green Lantern: Legacy]]'' centers around Tai Pham, a young Vietnamese-American boy who becomes a Green Lantern.
** [[TheChosenMany The Green Lantern Corps]] members also include squirrels, a robot, a ''[[GeniusLoci planet]]'', alien ''smallpox'', a ''living math equation'', and are (or were) led by blue space midgets. Having a black guy and a white guy is downright boring by comparison (a point which a black man even uses to call Jordan out on his racism back in the 70s).
** The ''Toys/AmeComiGirls'' universe has a Chinese girl named Jade Yifei as the Green Lantern of Earth. She's a RaceLift of Jennifer-Lynn Hayden, Alan Scott's daughter in the main universe.
** The ComicBook/{{New 52}} reboot did something similar to Alan Scott, the AlternateUniverse Green Lantern. The original Golden Age version was your average white dude; in the New 52 he's still white but now a gay man. Notably, this trope wasn't the main purpose of the change; he had a gay son who was {{Retgone}}'d in the reboot, [[CompositeCharacter so they made]] ''[[CompositeCharacter him]]'' [[CompositeCharacter gay instead]].
** As mentioned above, the New 52 has since introduced a fifth Earth Lantern. The new Green Lantern is an Arab American man named Simon Baz, who became a member of the most recent iteration of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica.
*** Creator/GeoffJohns' final GL issue showed a possible future where Simon acts as a mentor to Jessica Cruz, a female, Latina Green Lantern. She appeared in the aftermath of ComicBook/ForeverEvil, where it turns out she's not a Green Lantern, but the new host to the Power Ring of Earth-3, so she's an affirmative action legacy ''villain''. However, she does end up becoming a Lantern at the end of ''ComicBook/DarkseidWar''.
** In the world of Batman Beyond (canonised in the comic multiverse as Earth-12), the new Green Lantern is a boy from Tibet, Kai-Ro. The comic book adaptation confirms his Tibetan background and living in a monastery with his older sister. Said sister [[spoiler: grew up to be ''Curare,'' the League of Assassins' best killer; the end of the story detailing this has her undergo the ritual that gave her the blue skin]]. It's not known if Kai-Ro is canon in Earth-0, the main DC comics universe, though given that Terry now more or less is, it's possible.
* In the 1970s the ComicBook/TeenTitans member Mal Duncan/Herald (African-American) took the identity of the ComicBook/{{Guardian}}, a white [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] hero. Even when a clone of the original character was introduced in ''Jimmy Olsen'' as security for Project Cadmus, he called himself the Golden Guardian, letting Mal keep the original name. (ComicBook/PostCrisis, none of this happened, and the clone was simply the Guardian.) In ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'', Jake Jordan (also African-American) is given the title Manhattan Guardian by a newspaper which bought the rights to the name and costume from Cadmus.
* The half-white, half-Latina Kendra Saunders was introduced as the new Hawkgirl in the 90s, but like many of the others on this list was eventually killed off to make way for the return of her white predecessor. It seems she has gotten the last laugh though, as she is now the Hawkgirl in the ComicBook/{{New 52}}.
** ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}'s ArchEnemy Shadow Thief was briefly replaced by a black man. The replacement quickly ended up in ComicBookLimbo, and the original returned to using the identity.
* Johnny Thunder's successor, Jakeem, is black. Though this may owe more to the fact that DC seems to have a thing about [[ComicBook/BlackLightning black guys with]] [[ComicBook/{{Static}} electric powers]].
* ComicBook/{{Judomaster}}: Rip Jagger (white man) replaced with Sonia Sato (Asian woman). There was a previous Asian Judomaster in the 90s. He appeared in one issue and was never seen again.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and ''Justice League Unlimited'' were criticized by some fans for using John Stewart (black) rather than Kyle Rayner (white), the current GL at the time, and the one already established in the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse. Other fans were pleased to see John finally get some recognition, though. John's military background in the show was also [[RetCanon carried over]] to the comic, where he was previously an architect.
** Kyle Rayner did eventually appear as a background Lantern, having previously been featured in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''. Hal Jordan was relegated to a ShoutOut - his name painted on a fighter jet at an airbase - and a five minute cameo when some TimeTravel shenanigans caused him to spontaneously take Stewart's place. Alan and several other Golden Age characters were used as the basis for an alternate world in one storyline.
** The usual seventh, ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, was recovering from a [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway laughable]] [[AudienceColoringAdaptation legacy]], so they needed a seventh and decided to [[TheSmurfettePrinciple add a second woman]]. Furthermore, they chose the more Hispanic-seeming (and voiced by Creator/MariaCanalsBarrera) Hawkgirl[[note]]In fact, all Thanagarians that appeared in the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse were voiced by Hispanic actors, making them some sort of FantasyCounterpartCulture[[/note]], as opposed to the more traditional, and white, Black Canary or Zatanna. Zatanna, Black Canary and Hawkman were introduced later, and the early introduction of Hawkgirl was used to set up and clear up the [[ContinuitySnarl Hawk-Snarl]].
* Several examples pop up in Creator/JuddWinick's ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueGenerationLost'' series. The future iteration of the Justice League features Damian Wayne (Bruce Wayne's mixed Chinese/European/Arab son) as the new Batman, an unnamed African-American woman as the new ComicBook/BlackCanary, and a Middle-Eastern woman named Sahar Shaheen as the new ComicBook/{{Shazam}}. Shazam would count as a {{Twofer|TokenMinority}}, since the original was a white male named Billy Batson.
* The trend was parodied in the ''[[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]] Presents: ComicBook/PlasticMan'' one-shot, where two children claim that Plastic Man is lame because he was never replaced by a minority like many of the popular heroes of the 90s were.
* The alternate future depicted in the final issue of ''ComicBook/{{Manhunter}}'' had two major examples. Jade, a white[[note]]Well, ''ethnically'' white; her actual skin color was ''green''[[/note]] female superhero from the current timeline had been replaced by her brother Todd's adopted Asian daughter, while [[ComicBook/{{Manhunter}} Kate Spencer]]'s gay son Ramsey had succeeded her as the new Manhunter. As a woman, Kate herself qualifies since each of the previous bearers of the Manhunter mantle were white males.
* Two examples in the ''[[Creator/MilestoneComics Milestone Forever]]'' series. Curtis Metcalf passed on the ComicBook/{{Hardware}} identity to the female Tiffany Evans, and it was implied that Raquel Erving (Rocket) had succeeded Augustus Freeman as the new ComicBook/{{Icon}}.
* ComicBook/{{Mister Miracle|2017}}, Scott Free of the ComicBook/NewGods is a {{Human Alien|s}} resembling a white male and his protege Shilo Norman is a black male teen. As a bonus, Shilo Norman is AmbiguouslyJewish.
* ComicBook/MisterTerrific: Terry Sloane (white male) replaced by Michael Holt (black male). Though Terry had been gone for a long time when Michael came along, which probably helped produce the especially positive response Holt has gotten from readers. He got his own series in 2011's ComicBook/{{New 52}} launch, something his predecessor never managed, though it didn't last long.
* ComicBook/TheQuestion: Vic Sage (white man) replaced with Renee Montoya (Hispanic gay woman, a [[TwoferTokenMinority Threefer]]), a CanonImmigrant from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' who had previously starred in ''ComicBook/GothamCentral''. She assumed the title in ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' upon Vic's death from lung cancer. The ComicBook/{{New 52}} version is back to being a white male - though thanks to having a radical new origin involving being {{UnPerson}}ed, we don't know if it's Vic in some form or a new guy altogether.
* The first three holders of ComicBook/TheRay identity, [[ComicBook/FreedomFightersDC Langford Terrill]], [[ComicBook/YoungJustice Ray Terrill]], and Stan Silver were white, while the ComicBook/New52 Ray, Lucien Gates, is Korean American. When Ray Terrill was reintroduced in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', he was changed from being straight to gay.
** The sexuality change was probably due to the Series/Arrow having the Ray be gay to match up with his actor
* ComicBook/{{Artemis}}, who is usually drawn looking very white but sometime is more AmbiguouslyBrown despite her iconic red hair, passed down the title of Shim'Tar to Akila, who has unquestionable Arabic ancestry and significantly darker skin. In the New 52 Akila is of Sub-Saharan ancestry, but she doesn't live nearly as long nor remain heroic.
* The original Son of Vulcan from Creator/CharltonComics was a white guy. He showed up in a 2005 DC mini-series [[DyingToBeReplaced just long enough to die and pass the mantle to a Latino kid named Miguel]].
* ComicBook/TheSpectre: Jim Corrigan (white male) was replaced (eventually) by Hal Jordan (another white male) who was replaced by Crispus Allen (black male). Crispus was killed (this being the Spectre, that's not the end of his career, it's his ''origin story'') by a white male who was also coincidentally named Jim Corrigan (to avoid any confusion, Hal Jordan is ''not'' a naming coincidence; the Hal who had been a Green Lantern became the Spectre after he died). The New 52 reset this so the original Jim Corrigan became the Spectre again.
* ComicBook/{{Starman}}: Ted Knight (white male) replaced by Mikaal Thomas (bisexual blue alien). To an extent... Mikaal wasn't bisexual in the seventies stories where he was ''the'' Starman; that was a later {{retcon}} by James Robinson. And while Robinson later wrote Mikaal as a Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} member, the Starman name belonged to Thom Kallor (straight white male alien) at first, so he was simply referred to as Mikaal. Once Thom left to return to the future, Mikaal began to be referred to as Starman again.
* ComicBook/{{Stargirl|DCComics}}: Female legacy of both Star-Spangled Kid and Starman.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** The criminal Toyman, Winslow Schott, and the heroic Japanese Toyman, Hiro Okamura, who was later revealed to be a robot constructed by Winslow. As of the ComicBook/{{New 52}}, Hiro was back to being the sole Toyman and an actual person again.
** John Henry Irons, one of the four would-be Supermen in ''[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Reign of the Supermen]]'' before adopting the code name "ComicBook/{{Steel}}". He was probably an invocation of this trope as much as the other Supermen invoked other trends in superheroics[[note]]AntiHeroSubstitute for the Eradicator and the Cyborg, for instance.[[/note]] at the time.
** Steel's niece, Natasha, also took over the mantle for a short time and uses it in the ''Toys/AmeComiGirls'' series.
** Superman often regards ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} as his successor, and in some continuities she takes over after her cousin gets killed or retires. In the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'' timeline Superman asks Supergirl to protect Earth after he's gone in at least two [[ComicBook/SupermanDoomed separate]] [[ComicBook/TheFinalDaysOfSuperman instances]].
** In ComicBook/DCRebirth, ComicBook/LoisLane (New 52 version) gets Superman's powers and becomes Superwoman, [[spoiler:ComicBook/LanaLang gets Superman's {{Energy Being|s}} powers and becomes another Superwoman]], and Kenan Kong, a Chinese guy from Shanghai, gets Superman's powers and becomes the China-based ComicBook/NewSuperMan.
** ''ComicBook/{{Earth 2}}'' introduces a black Kryptonian named Val-Zod as the second Franchise/{{Superman}} of that universe.
** ''ComicBook/NewSuperMan'', along with introducing a Chinese Super-Man, also introduces a Chinese Bat-Man and Wonder-Woman, and a Chinese-American female Flash.
* Tarantula is a dark example of this. The original was the heroic John Law (white man) and he was succeeded by Catalina Flores (Latino woman) who ''thought'' she was a hero, but her acting more for the thrill than for saving people, murdering criminals, feeding systematic corruption with bribes and raping ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} made it clear she is not.
* Mark Richards was the third villain to call himself Tattooed Man, and was the first African-American to hold the mantle (the original two were white guys).
* ComicBook/{{Wildcat}}: Ted Grant (white man) was replaced for a while by Yolanda Montez (Latina woman.) Ted returned to the role after Yolanda died but was later removed from history by the ''Comicbook/{{New 52}}'' reboot. However, as of ''Comicbook/DoomsdayClock'', both Ted ''and'' Yolanda are back.
* In ''ComicBook/YoungJustice2019'', Jinny Hex is the teen lesbian great-granddaughter of ComicBook/JonahHex.
* ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl'' had future versions of ComicBook/BlackCanary and ComicBook/{{Shazam}}, both of whom were black.
* Happened by necessity in the {{Elseworld}}s comic ''JLA: Created Equal'', where a {{Gendercide}} kills off every male on the planet. Barbara Gordon (the aforementioned Batgirl) becomes the new Green Lantern, and a black grad student named Jill Atherton becomes the new Atom after recreating Ray Palmer's size-changing technology from the notes he left behind.
* In the alternate future depicted in ''[[Creator/GrantMorrison JLA: Rock of Ages]]'', the white male ComicBook/{{Aztek}} had been killed off by ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}, and his costume and codename had been passed on to a black woman known as Azteka.
* ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' is chock full of this, as it takes place in a future where many ''classic'' white male superheroes are either dead or retired. Lian Harper (who has a white father and Asian mother) has become the new Red Hood (the original was a white male), the new Star Spangled Kid and Stripes are both black, Johnny Thunder's genie has been passed on to a black male, the new Judomaster is an Asian woman, ComicBook/{{Cyborg}} (a black male) has become the new Robotman, and Iris "Irey" West II (who has a white father and Asian mother, though with her blue eyes and light hair, apparently takes after her father) has become the new [[Franchise/TheFlash Kid Flash]].
** Too bad Creator/AlexRoss failed to do his research and drew both Kid Flash and Red Hood as ginger white kids.
** ComicBook/RedHood's mantle has since been taken by Jason Todd (White Male) though funny sidenote, with the ComicBook/{{New 52}} reboot, he's now working alongside (as well as becoming good friends with) Roy Harper in a world where Lian doesn't exist...yet.
** It should be mentioned that a lot of the ''Kingdom Come'' legacy characters became {{Canon Immigrant}}s.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' has been temporarily replaced by the aforementioned occasionally AmbiguouslyBrown ComicBook/{{Artemis}} and in some other universes it's Diana's "twin" sister Nubia, who has Sub-Saharan features, who became Wonder Woman instead.
* The new Reggie Long/Rorschach [=II=] introduced in ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' is black as opposed to the original white Rorschach in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.
* The ''Comicbook/DCFutureState'' event is similar to the ''Comicbook/MarvelNow'' event from Marvel, with a bunch of longtime character mantles now taken over by a new, more diverse crop of characters:
** The new Batman is Timothy "Jace" Fox, [[ComicBook/{{Batwing}} Luke Fox's]] brother (African-American).
** The new Wonder Woman is a young Amazon from South America woman named Yara Flor.
** The new Aquaman is Jackson Hyde/Kaldur'ahm (black [[TwoferTokenMinority and gay]]).

[[folder:Marvel Comics]]
* The third volume of ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan introduced thirteen-year-old Comicbook/MilesMorales, of Latino and African-American heritage, who took up the mantle of Franchise/SpiderMan.
** Similar to the Iron Man example below, in ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'', Miles and the animated ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'' Peter Parker go into the world of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'' to recruit that Peter Parker. When Miles unmasks at the end, that world's Peter is shocked, making animated Ultimate Peter worried that they got the racist Peter. Then, it turns out that he was surprised that Miles was a ''high school student'', not black, and he was quite proud that someone was continuing the legacy beyond him.
** One of Miles' enemies is a new [[RaceLift Latino version]] of the Scorpion. In the Ultimate universe, the first Scorpion was an actual clone of Peter Parker, making the new guy an example of this even if there doesn't appear to be any connection as of yet.
** In another villainous example, the second Ultimate ComicBook/{{Venom}} was [[spoiler: Conrad Marcus, the African-American scientist who created the spiders that gave Peter and Miles their powers in the first place]].
** After Miles was [[CanonImmigrant transplanted]] into the main Marvel Universe, he met Tiana Toomes, an up-and-coming anti-heroine calls herself "Starling." Her grandfather and mentor is Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. Peter Parker's classic rogue, [[Characters/SpiderManRoguesGalleryIToZ the Vulture]].
** Monica Chang, an Asian-American woman who was the holder of the ComicBook/BlackWidow mantle before Natasha Romanoff and then retired only for the alias to be passed down to Natasha. In the FaceHeelTurn and subsequent death of Natasha Romanoff, Chang comes back at Fury's request and takes up the alias again. This is an inversion. [[RetroactiveLegacy Sort of]].
** After Monica Chang became the director of ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}, [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]] succeeded her as the third Black Widow. She's the first non-heterosexual woman (she's either a lesbian or bisexual and has a crush on Kitty Pryde) to use the Black Widow identity.
** [[RetroactiveLegacy Inverted]] with Tyrone Cash, the original [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] in the Ultimate Marvel universe. It's established that Cash was originally an Afro-British scientist who taught Bruce Banner (the iconic Hulk) everything he knew, and was around years before Banner became a Hulk in his own right.
** The newest [[ComicBook/TheVision Vision]] from ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' is a young black man named Robert Mitchell.
* Phyla-Vell is a half-Kree lesbian who ends up becoming the ''fourth'' Captain Marvel for a while. Then she becomes the second ComicBook/{{Quasar}}. She's delightfully surprised when her predecessor, Wendell, manages to come back for a bit to help her. She however has become her own heroine in Martyr before being killed off.
** In addition, the character started out in an AU where she shared the Captain Marvel identity with her brother Genis.
** Avril Kincaid, Phyla's successor (as Quasar, not as Captain Marvel), is also a lesbian.
* Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes became the new ComicBook/IronMan twice during periods when Tony Stark was incapacitated (first when he'd suffered a severe alcohol relapse, and then a second time when he was infected with a techno-organic virus). When Stark returned to being Iron Man again after the second incident, Rhodes kept his suit and became ComicBook/WarMachine.
** During the ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|1984}}, Reed Richards got to see the man under the armour while repairing it. Jim asked him if he was surprised that the man under the armour was black; Reed just said that he knew that 'there was a man in there', reacting more along the lines of 'what's race got to do with anything?', being as unconcerned about the race of who was in the armor as he's always been about everyone else.
** The Iron Man of 3030 is [[spoiler: Rhodey Stark, Tony's African-American granddaughter]].
** After Tony Stark is rendered comatose at the conclusion of ''Comicbook/CivilWarII'', he is succeeded by Riri Williams - an [[TwoferTokenMinority African-American female]] super-genius ''who is all of fifteen years old''. She was later spun off in her own series as Comicbook/{{Ironheart}} after Tony returned.
** As for the other temporary successor, it's none other than the Roma we know as ''[[Comicbook/DoctorDoom Victor Von Doom]]'' (whom has had a HeelFaceTurn along with his face fixed as a farewell gift from Reed) as the Infamous Iron Man.
* The original Iron Patriot was ComicBook/NormanOsborn, a white male. The second was the above-mentioned James Rhodes, and the third is Toni Ho, who is Asian ''[[TwoferTokenMinority and]]'' a lesbian.
* ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} is a rather complicated example:
** Started as a white woman, but had a body swap making her an Asian woman. The Asian body has since become her most famous iteration, and some adaptations in other media have just used it without the earlier backstory (though she is born and raised in Britain) in all adaptations. The exception was the '90s WesternAnimation/XMen cartoon, which had her in original form. Her ''twin'' brother Captain Britain remains Caucasian even in the adaptations that have her of mixed descent. Speaking of whom, before she became Psylocke, she was briefly the second Captain Britain.
** In 2018, the body swap was reverted and Betsy returned to her original white body. However, this ended up leading to a new example: Betsy takes the identity of Captain Britain once again (and this time officially, as she was granted the Amulet of Right that powered her brother), and leads [[ComicBook/Excalibur2019 the new iteration of Excalibur]]. All in all, this leads to her being a bisexual woman taking the mantle of a heterosexual man. For added bonus, she's a mutant, and Brian is a human.
** Her original Psylocke identity at the same time is taken up by Kwannon, known for being the body Betsy had swapped to. This effectively makes her a ''true'' Japanese woman taking the identity of a hero who was originally white, and not culturally Japanese. (Perhaps worth noting is the fact that, when Betsy was originally BodySwapped, she was explicitly ''Chinese'' instead of Japanese, which was a later {{Retcon}}. Making Kwannon a Japanese successor to a White/Chinese/Japanese–but–culturally–British hero.)
* The original Wraith (an obscure Spider-Man villain) was a white male named Brian Dewolff. The second Wraith is Yuri Watanabe, a Japanese-American woman.
* The [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] hero Toro was a white kid named Thomas Raymond. The modern Toro is a Latino teenager named Benito Serrano.
** Though original Toro could turn his body into fire and fought during WWII, and the modern Toro has a Bull-like fighting form and is the legacy of a character from the Counter-Earth storylines. They're related in name only.
* Puck of ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'' was revealed to be the father of Zuzha Yu, a half-Chinese daughter who took up her dad's identity. Zuzha was eventually killed off in the pages of ''ComicBook/NewAvengers'', and the original Puck has since returned to using the name.
* Playing with the trope: [[ComicBook/CarolDanvers Ms. Marvel]] started off as a DistaffCounterpart of Captain Marvel but has since surpassed him in terms of screentime and popularity, and he was dead and she was a solo heroine for quite a long time. Basically, she started out as the AlternateCompanyEquivalent to ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and developed into the AlternateCompanyEquivalent of Franchise/WonderWoman. Though in terms of order, she's the ''fifth'' Captain Marvel at least (the one after Phyla was some sort of doppelganger and the other is ambiguous).
** Also done straight up with Carol as she becomes the second Captain America in the Manga/MarvelMangaverse.
** Played straight with her becoming the newest Captain Marvel in 2012.
** And now with Carol as the new Captain Marvel, they've introduced a Pakistani-American teenager named Kamala Khan as the new [[{{ComicBook/MsMarvel2014}} Ms. Marvel]]. Also one of the few Muslim superheroes in all of comicdom. Probably one of the major reasons she was accepted so well by the fandom is that Carol Danvers only stopped using the Ms. Marvel name because she was "promoted" to Captain Marvel instead of being killed off.
** Averted in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, where Carol is '''the''' Captain Marvel from the getgo. This trope is played straight however with the MCU adaptation of Mar-Vell, a male character, who they portrayed as a woman.
* Marvel's second Captain Marvel, ComicBook/MonicaRambeau, was a black woman. Like all the Marvel Captains Marvel since [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Mar-Vell]], she has undergone several name changes, and now operates under the name Spectrum. This provides a bit of an uncommon inversion of the trope, as she called herself Photon for a time, but the name ended up being stolen by Genis-Vell, a white male.
* The original Red Ronin was a HumongousMecha, while the second Red Ronin, Namie, is a [[ArtificialHuman life-like android]] that resembles a teenage Japanese girl.
* Clint Barton had his alias of ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} adopted by ComicBook/KateBishop. Barton has since returned to his old codename, but it doesn't appear that Bishop will be giving up her use of it anytime soon. As of 2015, the two most recent Hawkeye series have involved them going on adventures together.
* Unique example with Thunderbird. The first two users of the name were Apaches from America. The most recent user is from India.
* Ronin: InvertedTrope. Originally held by Maya Lopez, a deaf Hispanic woman, then passed on to white male (but also [[DependingOnTheWriter usually]] deaf) [[{{ComicBook/Hawkeye}} Clint Barton]].
** It's [[RetroactiveLegacy since been established]] that the original Ronin was a Japanese man in the 1940s. The most recent Ronin was another white guy named Alexei Shostakov (who used to be the Red Guardian, a [[RedScare villainous Soviet version]] of ComicBook/CaptainAmerica).
** Played straight with the newest Ronin, who [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil thanks to spoilers from Marvel]], was revealed to be [[spoiler: ComicBook/{{Blade}}]]. He was even given Barton's old costume by ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} and ComicBook/JessicaJones.
* The character Bill Foster initially fought crime under the name Black Goliath, before eventually changing his CodeName to simply Goliath, and later, Giant-Man. Goliath and Giant-Man are two identities originated by [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]].
** Incidentally, Dr. Pym is a bit of walking backstory generator. He built the first Ultron (who self-iterated into the current Ultron, and then built several other less notable villains) and gave Wasp her powers. In addition: his Ant-Man persona has three legacy heroes (all white males, though one had a daughter who became his (differently named) successor). Pym then went around as Giant-Man (see above for the only other Giant-Man) before rebranding himself Goliath (which spawned 4 legacies: Hawkeye, Black Goliath, a (white, male) villain now called Atlus, and Black Goliath's (black) nephew. Then he had a mental breakdown(/''FaceHeelTurn'') and became Yellowjacket. The Yellowjacket persona spawned a black/Hispanic female legacy character. Of final note, he briefly took up his ex-wife's mantle, making him also an inversion of this trope.
** After Pym merged with ComicBook/{{Ultron}}, Scott Lang gave the Giant-Man suit to a gay Indian-American man named Raz Malhotra.
* There have been numerous people who have borne the ComicBook/GhostRider title, most of them white males. ''ComicBook/FearItself'' introduced Alejandra Jones, a Nicaraguan woman, as the next Spirit of Vengeance (though her involvement was because of a conspiracy by Adam, yes that Adam.)
** The 2014 ''ComicBook/AllNewGhostRider'' gives us yet another new Rider, this time Robbie Reyes, a Latino male. Instead of being passed the mantle, it's forced on him. Granted, there are multiple Riders and each one with their own spirit of vengeance. One awesome shot shows Spirits from across the world.
** Before either of them was Ghost Rider [[ComicBook/Marvel2099 2099]], a Japanese-American hacker named Kenshiro "Zero" Cochrane.
* The original ComicBook/BlackPanther (African male) was replaced briefly by his younger sister ComicBook/{{Shuri}}.
** Prior to that, he was briefly replaced by Kasper Cole, a young man of mixed African-American and Jewish heritage. Cole later became one of several people to use the ComicBook/WhiteTiger name.
* While not intended to replace the original Franchise/{{Wolverine}} (who remained active), the original's son ComicBook/{{Daken}} operated with the ComicBook/DarkAvengers using the name Wolverine, and is half-Japanese and bisexual.
* The first two people to use the 3-D Man identity were two white brothers in the 1950s. The identity is currently used by Delroy Garrett, a black member of the ComicBook/AgentsOfAtlas and a former member of ComicBook/TheAvengers.
* There have been numerous hosts for ComicBook/CaptainUniverse, with the one who joined the ComicBook/MarvelNOW [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] roster being a black woman.
* The Korean-American genius ComicBook/AmadeusCho was initially introduced as a new version of the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] hero Mastermind Excello, though he usually goes by his real name. Following ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'', he became [[ComicBook/TotallyAwesomeHulk the new Hulk]]. Bruce Banner has since taken back the mantle, and Amadeus has renamed himself "Brawn."
* The first version of Nightmask from ''ComicBook/TheNewUniverse'' was a white guy named Keith Remsen. The new Nightmask introduced in the 2007 revival was a Japanese woman named Izanami Randall.
** The newest version of Nightmask, who is native to Earth 616, is an artificial human who resembles a black man.
* The ComicBook/NewMutants member Cypher was a white male, while his successor, Cipher, is a black teenage girl. [[DeathIsCheap The original has since come back from the dead]], but there's no real issues thanks to the two heroes having entirely different abilities.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** The original Sprite was ComicBook/KittyPryde. After ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'', a Chinese girl named Jia Jing was introduced as the new Sprite. There's no conflict though, since Kitty hasn't used the name in decades.
** The original Angel was Warren Worthington III. During Creator/GrantMorrison's run, the title passed to Angel Salvadore, an Afro-Latina teenager. Since Warren had changed his name to Archangel at the time, there was little conflict. Warren is now back to calling himself Angel, while Angel Salvadore operates without a CodeName.
** In ''ComicBook/BattleOfTheAtom'', the future version of Comicbook/JubileeMarvelComics (Chinese-American) is now the new Franchise/{{Wolverine}}. Also, Billy Kaplan (ComicBook/{{Wiccan}}, who as mentioned below is gay and Jewish) is the new [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Sorcerer Supreme]].
** ComicBook/{{X 23}}, the OppositeSexClone of Wolverine, took on Logan's mantle following ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|2015}}''.
* Marvel retroactively declared that there was a black ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, Isaiah Bradley, who, in a situation inspired by the unethical Tuskegee Experiments, was unwittingly dosed with a flawed recreation of the Super-Soldier serum used on Steve Rogers, the original, white Captain America. Bradley would eventually escape his captors with a Captain America Shield and costume, and, realizing his body and mind were breaking down from the flawed mixture, go on one final mission to destroy Germany's Super-Soldier program. Isaiah has his own modern day legacy: his grandson Eli Bradley operates as [[ComicBook/YoungAvengers Patriot]].
** Which is also a legacy name. The first Patriot Jeffrey Mace (white male) also substituted for the original Cap. Also retroactively. Around the time of ''Comicbook/SecretEmpire'', another new Patriot named Rayshaun Lucas was introduced, and, like Eli, he's a black teenager.
** In an AlternateUniverse seen in ''Children's Crusade'', Eli [[SidekickGraduationsStick has become the new Captain America]]. Meanwhile, ComicBook/TheFalcon has been succeeded by his daughter Samantha, the new [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes Bucky]] is an African American child named Steve (he's the son of Eli and Samantha), the new [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Captain Marvel]] is the openly-gay Teddy Altman (Hulkling, who is also half-Kree/half-Skrull, making him a rare example even outside human parameters), and the new ComicBook/DoctorStrange is Billy Kaplan (Wiccan), who is gay as well (incidentally, Billy and Teddy are dating). Furthermore, Billy is Scarlet Witch's son so somewhat following her footsteps while Teddy is the son of the original Mar-Vell and a Skrull Princess.
** Kiyoshi Morales is Commander A, the Captain America of the 25th century. He's of mixed African American, Japanese, Latino and Native American ancestry, meant as a nod to [[InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace the theory that most races will blend together in the future]]. He's also implied to be a descendant of ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}}. Given the name, he may be descended from Miles Morales as well.
** During the [[ComicBook/MarvelNOW Avengers NOW!]] initiative, Steve is replaced as Captain America by his former partner [[ComicBook/TheFalcon Sam Wilson]]. Wilson carries the mantle for several years (and even becomes the leader of the Comicbook/AllNewAllDifferentAvengers) before returning to his original Falcon identity after ''Comicbook/SecretEmpire''.
*** Interestingly, Sam would later receive his ''own'' legacy replacement in the form of Joaquin Torres, a Mexican-American teenager who became the new Falcon during the period when Sam was Captain America. Once Sam went back to using the Falcon name, Joaquin was understandably a little annoyed, but the two currently share the title (similar to Clint Barton and Kate Bishop or Peter Parker and Miles Morales).
** In the ''ComicBook/UltronForever'' crossover, one of the temporally-displaced Avengers is Danielle Cage, the daughter of ComicBook/LukeCage and ComicBook/JessicaJones. She serves as her timeline's version of Captain America, using an anti-gravity version of the iconic shield (based off the short-lived magnetic feature the shield had in the 60s ''Avengers'' comics).
*** Another alternate-universe-future Danielle shows up in ''ComicBook/USAvengers''. This one mentions that she's fought alongside several of her alternate selves, all of whom became Cap. Though in ''her'' timeline, Steve was Cap back in the Revolutionary War.
*** Near the end of ''Dead Man Logan'' (a series set in the post-apocalyptic dystopia of ''Comicbook/OldManLogan''), that universe's version of Danielle becomes the new Thor after managing to lift the deceased Thor's hammer. The follow-up series ''Avengers of the Wastelands'' sees Danielle form a new team of Avengers, one of whom is a black teenager named Dwight, who serves as the new Comicbook/AntMan.
** The ComicBook/Marvel2099 version of Captain America is a Latina woman named Roberta Mendez. Her teammates include Tania, an African-American woman who has become the new ComicBook/BlackWidow, and Sonny Frisco, the new Iron Man, who suffers from dwarfism. A new version of ComicBook/TheVision is also seen, and this one is a woman.
* Rikki Barnes took on [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers']] briefly used alias Nomad.
** She was also initially a female version of ComicBook/{{Bucky|Barnes}}, Cap's sidekick from the 40s.
** Lemar Hoskins also briefly used the Bucky identity before someone pointed out that "Buck" [[ValuesDissonance used to be a derogatory term for black men]]. He quickly changed his name to Battlestar and adopted a new costume.
* The first two holders of the Miss America identity were white women. The current holder of the title is a Latina teenager named Comicbook/AmericaChavez. Downplayed as America is her actual name, she rarely uses "Miss" in universe, and Creator/KieronGillen has said that she probably doesn't even know about her predecessors (she's originally from another universe).
* The first Golden Girl was a white woman named Elizabeth Ross, while her successor was a Japanese-American girl named Gwenny-Lou Sabuki. Sabuki's two granddaughters would later carry on her legacy as the heroines Goldfire and Radiance.
* ComicBook/{{Nova}} Sam Alexander is half-Latino. ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' revival from ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015'' introduces Anwen Bakian, a young black girl, as an alternate reality Nova.
* The original [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Sun Girl was a white blonde woman. The new Sun Girl seen in the ''ComicBook/NewWarriors'' is a biracial girl with an African-American mother.
* ComicBook/DoctorStrange was temporarily succeeded as "Sorcerer Supreme" by Haitian-born Jericho Drumm, aka Brother Voodoo. It seems that this was meant partially as a response to those who saw Strange as a MightyWhitey. The name "Doctor Strange" did not pass on because that is his real name (Stephen Strange) and title (neurosurgeon). However, Brother Voodoo is also a doctor in his own right (a psychologist) and so names himself Doctor Voodoo.
* Marvel's [[TheRemake relaunch]] of ''Creator/CrossGen'''s ''Sigil'' replaces future soldier Samandahl "Sam" Rey (white man) with OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Samantha "Sam" Rey (white woman).
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Marvel's [[ComicBook/Marvel2099 2099]] line had Miguel O'Hara as Spider-Man, half-Mexican, half-Irish.
** Similarly, ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'' introduces a new version of Spidey's nemesis Doctor Octopus for the 2099 era. The new Doc Ock is Serena Patel, an Indian-American woman.
*** It's been done to Doc Ock in the comics as well. During ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' he was killed by Kaine and replaced by a female Doctor Octopus. She was featured prominently during the storyline and fell into obscurity soon afterwards, not least because the original came back.
** The ComicBook/SpiderGirl seen in ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' is Ashley Barton, the half-African American daughter of ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and granddaughter of Peter Parker.
** In a rare ''villain'' example, the new [[ComicBook/TheKingpin Kingpin]] is black. Might double as a ShoutOut to Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan's portrayal in the 2003 ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'' movie.
** In the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' universe, [[spoiler:while Peter is still active as Spider-Man, Hobbie Brown, the Prowler, also doubles as Spider-Man when Peter's away from New York, since Peter is now a CEO]].
** This is part of [[ComicBook/SpiderVerse SP//dr]]'s backstory. The mecha was originally controlled by a man, but when he died, his daughter Peni took over.
* Combining this with CanonImmigrant, the miniseries ''Battle Scars'' introduced Marcus Johnson, whose real name was revealed to be Nick Fury, Jr., an African-American man based on the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel version of Fury and son of the original Nick Fury.
* A rare villain example would be the ComicBook/IronMan foe Detroit Steel. The original was a white guy named Doug Johnson III, while the second is a mixed-race (half-white and half-Chinese) woman named Sasha Hammer. And that isn't the only legacy Sasha's a part of as her mother is the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} enemy Justine Hammer (who herself is an example of this trope) and her father is Iron Man's archenemy, the Mandarin.
* Speaking of Justine Hammer, she herself is part of two: She took up the identity of the Crimson Cowl, which originated with Ultron (a robot, but usually presented in a male form) and later, after the death of her father, classic Iron Man foe Justin Hammer, took over his company.
* In a rare villain example, the original Beetle (Abe Jenkins), a former villain of Spider-Man, ended up making a HeelFaceTurn, and a newer iteration of the team, ''ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan'' has Janice Lincoln, biracial (half-African American, half-Dominican) daughter of Tombstone, as the new Beetle.
* ''ComicBook/SuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan'' actually {{lampshade|Hanging}}s the use of this trope in comics, especially in high profile instances like ''The Death Of Superman''. While trying to proclaim his innocence, Boomerang claims that there could be a bunch of other people using the Boomerang identity now, even a teenager or a black guy.
* After the Asgardians became unworthy of Mjölnir, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]'s title as God of Thunder was [[ComicBook/Thor2014 assumed by a woman in 2014]]. That woman was [[spoiler:ComicBook/JaneFoster. What makes her even more special is that [[IllGirl she's stricken with cancer]] and [[CastFromLifeSpan becoming Thor makes her cancer]] ''worse'']].
* For a while, ComicBook/ThePunisher was thought dead, so his MissionControl Microchip recruited Latino Navy SEAL Carlos Cruz to adopt his role. Cruz was later killed off and Frank Castle returned.
** Creator/GregRucka's run featured the Punisher recruiting a young woman named Rachel Cole-Alves as his DistaffCounterpart. The series ended with Frank in jail and Rachel taking his place as the new Punisher. Unfortunately, this plot point was abandoned, and Frank soon returned as the Punisher. In a case of TheBusCameBack, however, Rachel returned post-''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' as one of the heroes Frank and ComicBook/BlackWidow recruit to help take down ComicBook/BaronZemo.
** The female Punisher idea is OlderThanTheyThink: in the 90s policewoman Lynn Michaels briefly took the Punisher mantle.
* The ''ComicBook/MarvelOneHundredthAnniversarySpecial'' limited series was written on the premise that each issue was a comic book published in the year 2061, providing a possible glimpse of what the Marvel Universe will look like when it reaches its one hundredth anniversary. [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Perhaps as an intentional nod]] to the growing ubiquity of this trope, the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' issue shows that the new Comicbook/HumanTorch is an Asian boy named Lee Minh Cam.
* This trend is very noticeable in the announcement for the ''ComicBook/{{Generations|MarvelComics}}'' event, which pairs many of the legacy characters described above with their classic counterparts through a TimeTravel storyline. Ten pairings are shown in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ireuNkPPdPY teaser trailer]]. The ten classic-era characters are all white, with eight of them male and two female. Not one of the legacy characters is a white male; there are three non-white men, five white women, and two non-white women.
* In ''ComicBook/Champions2016'', Viv is the female 'offspring' of ComicBook/TheVision. She's also later revealed to be a lesbian.
* Played with in ''ComicBook/UnionJack''. Joey Chapman, the current Union Jack, is as British as his predecessors, but they were both in the upper class, whereas he is working-class.
* In the original ''Devil Dinosaur'' series by Creator/JackKirby, the KidWithTheRemoteControl was Moon-Boy, an apelike prehistoric humanoid. In ''Comicbook/MoonGirlAndDevilDinosaur'', that role is held by a young human girl named Lunella Lafayette.
* In ''ComicBook/ChipZdarskysDaredevil'', when Daredevil pleads guilty to second-degree murder and goes to jail, ''Elektra'' decides to become the new Daredevil.

[[folder:Other Comics]]
* ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has Cleopatra, a Franchise/WonderWoman {{Expy}} who in the present day is a dark-skinned woman. As a commentary on this trend, stories set earlier in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' universe, however, show a previous Cleopatra [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall who was a blonde Caucasian woman]].
* Women have donned the mantle of ''ComicStrip/ThePhantom'', though so far only temporarily (the oath made by the Phantoms specifies "sons"). The 21st and current Phantom's children consists of twins, a boy and a girl, and should he ever kick the bucket (yeah, right) it has been implied that the two of them might end up sharing the duties of the Phantom.
* In Dynamite's King Features comics, ComicStrip/MandrakeTheMagician's ally Lothar takes up the mantle of the Phantom while seeking the Phantom family's heir, becoming the first black Phantom. (The last of the Phantom family died with his heir missing. Lothar's predecessor couldn't find the heir, so he took on the Phantom mantle, and before he died, he asked Lothar to find the heir. Believing the world still needed a Phantom while he searched, Lothar decided to take on the name.) The actual heir to the Phantom legacy turns out to be a woman, Jen Harris.
* The original Fighting Yank eventually died, and his daughter Carol decided to carry on his legacy as the Fighting Spirit. In addition to being a woman (the original Fighting Yank was obviously a man), Carol was eventually revealed to be a lesbian as well, making her a twofer.
* During a period where Mark Grayson was unable to fulfill his duties, he was replaced in the ComicBook/{{Invincible}} role by his buddy Zandale Randolph. As ''Invincible'' {{deconstruct|ion}}s a number of superhero elements, replacing Mark with a black dude was likely an intentional invocation of this trope.
* The Golden Age hero American Crusader was a white man. His modern-day successor in the ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'' universe is a black man.
* In ''[[ComicBook/TwoThousandAD 2000 AD]]'', the character of Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter, was succeeded by his granddaughter, Samantha Slade.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'' franchise would count, since the main story revolves around an Italian-American cop named Sara Pezzini. According to WordOfGod, the ''Anime/{{Witchblade}}'' anime, the ''Manga/WitchbladeTakeru'' manga, and the novel ''Witchblade: Ao no Shōjo'' are all considered canon in the Top Cow universe, making these an example since the three protagonists (Masane Amaha, Takeru Ibaraki, and Yuri Miyazono) are all Japanese.
** Sara was also briefly replaced by Danielle Baptiste, a young bisexual woman.
* The Shield originally was a man named Joe Higgins. When the comic was rebooted in 1959, the main character was changed to a man named Lancelot Strong. Later on the character changed again to Michael Barnes. The 2015 reboot stars a woman named Victoria Adams.
* When Rebellion brought back many of the old IPC/Fleetway characters in ''Scream! and ComicBook/{{Misty}} HalloweenSpecial 2017'' and the following year's team book ''The Vigilant'', it's revealed that Dr Sin, the OccultDetective from the early ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' strip of the same name, has died, and has passed his mission on to his grandson, a black British hip-hop artist who calls himself Sin Tax. And Thunderbolt the Avenger from ''ComicBook/{{Buster}}'' (aka PC Mick Riley) has also died, passing his TransformationTrinket on to a female colleague, Mary Landson.
* In ''ComicBook/DeathDefyingDoctorMirage'', Li Hwen Mirage, the titular character from Valiant's old ''ComicBook/TheSecondLifeOfDoctorMirage'', has died, and the moniker is now reluctantly carried by his widow Shan Fong.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy''
** Izuku, a Japanese teenager, is being tutored by a universe-displaced Peter Parker to become Spider-Man.
** Lampshaded by Miles, who doesn't think much of this, and is rather annoyed when cuts on his costume reveal this to the world and the internet makes a fuss about him being a "black Spider-Man".
* In ''FanFic/DucktalesTwentyYearsLater'', the female Gosalyn has taken up the Darkwing Duck mantle.

[[folder:Film]]
* Parodied in the above quote from ''Film/TheSpecials''. Especially funny considering James Gunn, who plays Minute Man, doesn't look even ''remotely'' like anything other than white.
* In ''Film/Catwoman2004'', African-American Patience Philips is established as the latest successor to the Catwoman name.
* ''Film/JamesBond'':
** M was first played by a woman, Dame Creator/JudiDench, in 1995's ''Film/GoldenEye.''
** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' has the title of 007 being held by a black woman (played by Creator/LashanaLynch), with James Bond having retired at the end of ''Film/{{Spectre}}''.
* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse draws on a few from the comics:
** Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}} in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is the female ComicBook/CarolDanvers version instead of the older character of ComicBook/CaptainMarVell. Downplayed due to the fact that in this adaptation, Mar-Vell is (a) [[GenderFlip a woman]], and (b) never a superhero, but rather [[spoiler:Carol's late mentor and a defecting Kree scientist.]] Interestingly, a ''Ms. Marvel'' show starring Kamala Khan and set in the MCU is in the works, so it remains to be seen how the legacy aspect will be handled since Carol never used that name in this continuity.
** In the final minutes of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler: Sam Wilson, a black man, [[PassingTheTorch takes up the shield and mantle of Captain America]] from the retired white Steve Rogers, while Comicbook/{{Valkyrie|Marvel Comics}}, a [[WordOfGay bisexual]] woman of color, becomes the new [[OfferedTheCrown Asgardian ruler]] once Thor abdicates. Interestingly, Valkyrie's character progression is completely original to the films; unlike Carol as Captain Marvel or Sam as Captain America, there is no comic-book precedent for her as Thor's successor. In addition, it's implied that Morgan Stark may take up her late father's position as a PoweredArmor-using hero, although she is four years old and thus a long way away from doing so.]]
** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of ''Endgame''[='s=] examples and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is a major national symbol. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead. At the end of the season however, after said white guy goes off the deep end and Sam learns about the history of black super-soldiers in America and decides that it wouldn't be right to stop fighting for what's right despite all the injustices that happened to black people, he becomes Captain America instead and embraces the mantle.]]
** It has been confirmed that the upcoming ''Thor: Love and Thunder'' film will adapt Jane Foster's time as Thor, though it is unknown yet what this means for the original Thor.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' revolves around an Afro-Latino teenager named Miles Morales, who becomes the new Spider-Man after his world's Peter Parker is killed by Comicbook/TheKingpin.
* One of the main characters in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' is Ratcatcher 2, the female successor of the original male Ratcatcher.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/DevilsCape'', the male Doctor Camelot is replaced by his daughter Katie.
* In the last, unfinished ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' book, the title character was going to retire from his position in the Special Air Police and be replaced by a new character, Alexander "Minnie" Mackay, who was part Native American.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** Brigadier Winifred Bambera (an African woman) to [[TheBrigadier Brigadier]] Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in the story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]".
** The revived series brought us the Brigadier's daughter, Kate, who now serves as the Doctor's contact within UNIT.
** Invoked in-universe by the Doctor in "The Doctor's Wife" and "Death of the Doctor", who confirms the long-held [[AscendedFanon fan belief]] that Time Lords can indeed change [[GenderBender genders]] and [[RaceLift ethnicities]] during a regeneration, although [[TheNthDoctor his incarnations]] are all white men as of those stories.
** In the former episode, the Doctor mentions a friend of his named the Corsair, who was famous for changing sex in his/her regenerations, being described as a good man and a very ''[[GoodBadGirl bad]]'' girl.
** In "Let's Kill Hitler" it's revealed that Mels, the black twenty-something childhood friend of Amy and Rory, is actually the previous incarnation of the white, middle-aged, River Song. Mels in turn regenerated from the white, seven year old Melody and was forced to grow up ''again'' after her first regeneration left her as a toddler.
** [[spoiler:TheMaster]] became a villainous example of this after regenerating into a female body (named Missy). WordOfGod states this was to test the audience's reaction prior to casting a female Doctor.
** "Hell Bent" has a double example of this, when the Doctor shoots the commander of Gallifrey's military forces, who promptly regenerates from a white man into a black woman.
** The Thirteenth Doctor, played by Creator/JodieWhittaker, as of the 2017 ChristmasSpecial.
* In ''Series/TheFlash2014,'' after Ronnie Raymond's HeroicSacrifice, both the potential successors to his role as Firestorm are black. Jefferson Jackson goes on to serve more time as Firestorm than Raymond ever did, appearing in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow.''
* ''Series/{{Stargirl 2020}}'' revolves around the title character forming a new Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica after the originals are killed off by their archenemies. In addition to Stargirl herself (a teenage girl who uses the costume and staff of the deceased Comicbook/{{Starman}}), so far we have:
** Yolanda Montez, a Latina girl who takes over the Comicbook/{{Wildcat}} identity from Ted Grant, a white male.
** Beth Chapel, an African-American girl who takes over the Doctor Mid-Nite identity from Charles [=McNider=], another white male.
** On the villains' side, the new Fiddler is Anaya Bowin, a woman of Indian descent who is married to the original white male Fiddler.

[[folder:Radio]]
* A tragic but heartwarming real-life example of this occurred with the political podcast ''The Michael Brooks Show'' when the titular host passed away from a sudden health condition. The day after his passing, his sister Lisha took up the mantle as the host of the (still unchanged) show alongside its two prior hosts, Matt and David.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Bunker of ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'', like Captain America, both inverts and plays it straight. The current, main-timeline Bunker is white. A promo card depicts the World War II-era Bunker as a black man. And an alternate-future version of the character is also black.
** Played straight with (aheh) Legacy, whose [[SuperpowerfulGenetics inherited abilities]] are passed down only to the first child in each generation. Said firstborn has been a son for long enough that the primary Legacy, the third to bear the identity, is Paul Parsons ''VIII''; his successor in the role is his daughter Pauline.
* In ''TabletopGame/FreedomCity'', Raven II was the daughter of the original male Raven, and Johnny Rocket II is the original's gay grandson. The third edition, among other changes, introduces a new Lady Liberty; while the first three were white cis women, Sonja Gutierrez is Hispanic and trans.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' standard LegacyCharacter Cid is getting a granddaughter named Cidney in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', a series first.
[[/folder]]

* The first three holders of ComicBook/TheRay identity, [[ComicBook/FreedomFighters Langford Terrill]], [[ComicBook/YoungJustice Ray Terrill]], and Stan Silver were white, while the ComicBook/New52 Ray, Lucien Gates, is Korean American. When Ray Terrill was reintroduced in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', he was changed from being straight to gay.

** In ''ComicBook/BattleOfTheAtom'', the future version of Comicbook/{{Jubilee}} (Chinese-American) is now the new Franchise/{{Wolverine}}. Also, Billy Kaplan (ComicBook/{{Wiccan}}, who as mentioned below is gay and Jewish) is the new [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Sorcerer Supreme]].

** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of ''Endgame''[='s=] examples and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is a major national symbol. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead. At the end of the season however, after said white guy goes off the deep end and Sam learns about the history of black super-soldiers in America and decides that it wouldn't be right to stop fighting for what's right, he becomes Captain America instead.]]

** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of ''Endgame''[='s=] examples and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is a major national symbol. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead. At the end of the season however, after said white guy goes off the deep end, he becomes Captain America instead.]]

** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of ''Endgame''[='s=] examples and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is a major national symbol. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead.]]