History Main / AntiHeroSubstitute

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': [[GriefInducedSplit Emma and Mark Russell]] are substitutes for the late Joe Brody from [[Film/Godzilla2014 the previous film]]; having lost family (their son) as a casualty of the Kaiju destroying a city years ago, and having never quite moved past it while continuing to focus more on their own grief than on what really mattered to them, just like Joe. From the film's start, Mark and Emma embody different aspects that Joe had combined: Emma is a driven {{workaholic}} who has become a scientific genius and pioneering expert in using bio-acoustics to better understand the Titans, while Mark has become an emotional recluse, has lost his glamorous former-job amidst the emotional fallout, and has estranged himself from the rest of his family. However, both of them are, in their own ways, a lot more dickish and moody than Joe ever was: Mark is a [[HotBlooded hot-headed]] [[{{Jerkass}} jerk]] who is holding a one-sided enmity [[AnimalNemesis against Godzilla]] for his involvement in Mark's loss, and he's prone to [[MisdirectedOutburst lashing out with anger and self-righteousness at the people whom are doing nothing but try to help him]], plus he can't even say that he spent all those years he was isolating himself and neglecting his family doing something semi-''productive'' with his grief like Joe did; [[spoiler:whilst Emma, instead of merely using her wits to seek answers on why she suffered while being unintentionally inattentive to her family like Joe; instead uses her wits to ''engineer the likely deaths of millions to billions'' in an "[[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans ends justify the means]]" effort to save the world, and she's emotionally manipulated her daughter into being her accomplice without a thought whilst literally leaving her daughter's father for dead]].

* At the beginning of season five of ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'', Nucky Thomson has replaced his bodyguard Eddie Kessler, [[spoiler:who committed suicide when being blackmailed by the FBI.]] Kessler was affable, decent, but determined and capable in a fight -- by no means a hero, but [[ALighterShadeOfGrey one of the nicest characters in the setting]], and fast becoming a MoralityPet for Nucky. The replacement is silent, menacing, and viciously brutal in a fight -- even slicing the ear off a dead attacker and keeping it in his suit pocket. The implication is that Nucky [[spoiler:hates that he got personally attached to Kessler only to lose him, and has hired a bloodthirsty stoic he won't mistake for a friend.]]
-->'''Senator:''' Doesn't say much, does he?\\
'''Nucky:''' [[BeingPersonalIsntProfessional That's what I like about him.]]

* Johnny Lawrence in ''Series/CobraKai'' is like Miyagi in that he mentors young people... but he's also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

This happened a '''lot''' during UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks. Back then, it was common to presumptuously expect readers to like the new character, but writers have gotten savvier since then. Now, the DarkerAndEdgier version of the hero is commonly portrayed as a villain or a psychopath (or, sometimes, be redeemed), as the NinetiesAntiHero archetype has grown less popular over time. Some heroes were put through this in order to show why a hero shouldn't become DarkerAndEdgier as a subtle TakeThat to the fandom. For example, Super Patriot replaced Captain America temporarily in the 1980's to show that the Cap'n wasn't the jingoistic, nationalistic unthinking supporter of the United States government some fans thought he was or wanted him to be.

** ''{{Series/Angel}}'' also did this with Spike, to comedic effect. Where Angel would pound rapists into the pavement and recieve a smooch as reward (to Spike's vocal disgust), "Blondie Bear" just chides the girls for stupidly walking home at night ''and'' alone.

SubTrope of SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute. May overlap with CostumeCopycat. Could be an ElCidPloy gone bad. Contrast with the RedeemingReplacement. Might be designed as a TemporaryScrappy, which is a purposefully dislikable character that enters and goes in a short span.

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/{{Knightfall}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_azrael-b_3286.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"I'm the goddamn Batman, and I'll '''kill''' you!\\
In the name of '''God'''!"]]

->'''ComicBook/{{Robin}}:''' The old Batman would never descend to this level!\\
'''Azrael-As-Batman:''' The old Batman was created for older times.
-->-- ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}''

* Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog

Subtrope of SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute. May overlap with CostumeCopycat. Could be an ElCidPloy gone bad. Contrast with the RedeemingReplacement. Might be designed as a TemporaryScrappy, which is a purposefully dislikable character that enters and goes in a short span.

!!Examples:

When the substitute is bad enough, there'll be often a storyline where [[HesBack the original hero is back]] and will have to fight the substitute for the position and wins. The substitute is then reduced to a villain (either minor or major) or just a minor hero. Alternatively, said substitute may be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap by giving them a CharacterDevelopment and/or (when said substitute took the original's name) a name change.

** And ''again'', revealed gradually with Thirteen, as while Twelve {{character development}}ed into a much softer version of himself, he also had a buttload of trauma that unlike the other Doctors he had no time to process, plus wanted to die for real, so Thirteen represses ''everything'', shuts herself off and her simmering rage comes out in a sadistic GrinOfAudacity at the villains in season 11, and outright yelling at her companions in season 12.

** E-123 Omega serves as a replacement for E-102 Gamma. Both were robots [[HeelFaceTurn formerly]] in the service of Eggman. But Gamma was an AntiVillain who switched sides out of care for others and [[NiceGuy in general grew to be a kind-hearted soul]], Omega on the other hand is a full front AntiHero who is easily one of the most violent characters in the series and it's quite clear that the prime reason e's even on the heroes side is the fact they oppose Eggman.

** EP 5 replaces [[spoiler:Battler himself]] for [[spoiler:Furudo Erika]]. It's played with irony considering the second is more or less an aspect of the BigBad and Battler is not incapacitated and actively fighting the against change.

Subtrope of SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute. May overlap with CostumeCopycat. Could be an ElCidPloy gone bad. Contrast with the RedeemingReplacement.

** The Eighth Doctor sat on the sidelines during the Time War, a major interstellar conflict set in-between the classic series and the revamp. Upon learning that an seemingly fatal incident he was involved in actually was fatal, meaning that [[YouAreAlreadyDead he was already dead]], he chose to drink an elixir that was specifically formulated to give Time Lords more-than-usual conscious control over the nature of their next self, becoming the "War Doctor", played by Creator/JohnHurt, who was specifically crafted by his former self to be a person who would [[ShootTheDog do anything necessary]] to end the war. What the War Doctor eventually did led to his subsequent selves refusing to even consider him deserving of being called "the Doctor", to the point that it's strongly implied that he is the one thing in the universe that Eleven is most frightened of.

** The Eighth Doctor sat on the sidelines during the Time War, a major interstellar conflict set in-between the classic series and the revamp. Upon learning that an seemingly fatal incident he was involved in actually was fatal, meaning that [[YouAreAlreadyDead he was already dead]], he chose to drink an elixir that was specifically formulated to give Time Lords more-than-usual conscious control over the nature of their next self, becoming the "War Doctor", played by Creator/JohnHurt, who was specifically crafted by his former self to be a person who would [[ShootTheDog do anything necessary]] to end the war. What the War Doctor eventually did led to his subsequent selves refusing to even consider him deserving of being called "the Doctor", to the point that it's strongly implied that he is the one thing in the universe that Eleven is most frightened of.\\\
This is lampooned in the ''JustForFun/InspectorSpacetime'' "series", in which the Inspector was ''very'' briefly played by an A-list actor and bummed around as a dirty cop.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In the ''Manga/{{Batman}}'' manga, the Hangman deliberately tries to do this to Batman, but [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope Jumps Off The Slippery Slope]] right at the beginning by [[EngineeredHeroism persuading a mentally-disabled man to commit a robbery]] and then killing him, to establish his vigilante credentials.

* The introduction of K' in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters '99'', blatant attempt at DarkerAndEdgier, had a very mixed reception. Unlike most examples however, he received enough CharacterDevelopment to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap save him]] from [[ReplacementScrappy the heap]], and is now a [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favourite]]. Then SNK went even ''further'' down the line with VillainProtagonist Ash Crimson in the next arc. The reception was even ''[[CreatorsPet more]]'' [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff mixed]].

** E-123 Omega serves as a replacement for E-102 Gamma. Both were robots [[HeelFaceTurn formerly]] in the service of Eggman. But Gamma was an AntiVillain who switched sides out of care for others and was [[NiceGuy in general grew to be a kind hearted soul]], Omega on the other hand is a full front AntiHero who is easily one of the most violent characters in the series and it's quite clear that the prime reason He's even on the heroes side is the fact they oppose Eggman.

* E-123 Omega from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, serves as a replacement for E-102 Gamma. Both were robots [[HeelFaceTurn formerly]] in the service of Eggman. But Gamma was an AntiVillain who switched sides out of care for others and was [[NiceGuy in general grew to be a kind hearted soul]], Omega on the other hand is a full front AntiHero who is easily one of the most violent characters in the series and it's quite clear that the prime reason He's even on the heroes side is the fact they oppose Eggman.

->'''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]:''' The old Batman would never descend to this level!\\

* Happened to ''Manga/AstroBoy'' of all people in a one-shot gag manga Creator/OsamuTezuka did as a nostalgia piece for Bungei Shunju, a popular men's magazine of the day. After Astro's apparent death in the final episode of the first TV series the ministry of science was ordered to create a replacement, but since they tried to make him [[HumansAreFlawed more humanlike than the original he turned out to be a selfish, greedy, shiftless sex maniac]].

** Part 3: The [[FunPersonified goofy and cheerful Joseph Joestar]] is replaced with the [[TheStoic emotionally distant and serious Jotaro Kujo]].
** Part 4: Basically the reverse happens: the [[TheStoic emotionally distant and serious Jotaro Kujo]] is replaced with the [[FunPersonified goofy and cheerful Josuke Higashikata]].

* E-123 Omega from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series, serves as a replacement for E-102 Gamma. Both were robots [[HeelFaceTurn formerly]] in the service of Eggman, but Gamma was an AntiVillain who switched sides out of care for others, while Omega on the other hand is only really a [[AntiHero hero]] since that's the side that opposes Eggman.

[[folder:Live Action Television]]

*** Among companions, IntrepidReporter Sarah Jane Smith was replaced by Leela, a FuturePrimitive who was very willing to kill (an impulse Four did little to rein in). Later, chirpy health nut Mel was replaced by proud juvenile delinquent and DemolitionsExpert Ace.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': In the third season, Watson is replaced as Sherlock's apprentice by Kitty Winter, a grim, snarky young punkish woman who is deeply traumatised by having been raped and tortured in the past, and has a distinctly violent and ruthless streak, [[spoiler:and ends up fleeing New York City after torturing and disfiguring the guy who abused her.]]

* ''Series/{{Elementary}}: In the third season, Watson is replaced as Sherlock's apprentice by Kitty Winter, a grim, snarky young punkish woman who is deeply traumatised by having been raped and tortured in the past, and has a distinctly violent and ruthless streak, [[spoiler:and ends up fleeing New York City after torturing and disfiguring the guy who abused her.]]

* VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon has [[FriendToAllLivingThings Shana]] get benched and lose her power as a Dragoon. Her successor is Miranda, a WarriorPrincess with a penchant for punching people.