History Main / CanonCharacterAllAlong

* In ''Series/JessicaJones'', it wasn't immediately apparent that Will Simpson was based on any Marvel character. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that he is MCU's version of Nuke, [[AdaptationNameChange aka]] ''[[AdaptationNameChange Frank]]'' [[AdaptationNameChange Simpson]]]]

** The villain Oberhauser from ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' is revealed to be Bond's old nemesis from the earlier films, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.

** Then one canon character is whammed into another with the revelation that Irene Adler was Moriarty all along.

->'''James T. Kirk''': I looked up John Harrison. Until a year ago he didn't exist.
->'''Harrison''': John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause, a smokescreen to conceal my true identity. [[spoiler:My name is... '''KHAN.''']]
-->--''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness''

->'''Harrison''': John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause, a smokescreen to conceal my true identity. [[spoiler:My name is... KHAN.]]

** Benedict Cumberbatch's character is introduced as "John Harrison", but halfway through is revealed to be this universe's [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Khan Noonien Singh]].

-> '''James T. Kirk''': I looked up John Harrison. Until a year ago he didn't exist. \\
-> '''Harrison''': John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause, a smokescreen to conceal my true identity. [[spoiler:My name is... KHAN.]]

'''James T. Kirk''': I looked up John Harrison. Until a year ago he didn't exist. \\
'''Harrison''': John Harrison was a fiction created the moment I was awoken by your Admiral Marcus to help him advance his cause, a smokescreen to conceal my true identity. [[spoiler:My name is... KHAN.]]

** The MI6 field agent Eve from ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' has her last name revealed at the end [[spoiler: Moneypenny]].

* ZigZagged on ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' with Chloe Sullivan who, when she writes her first piece for the ''Daily Planet'', uses her cousin's Lois Lane's name as her ''nom de plume'' - setting up that Chloe is the ''Smallville''-verse Lois. But later in the series Lois proper shows up.

* The villain Oberhauser in the Franchise/JamesBond film ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' is revealed to be Bond's old nemesis from the earlier films, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.
* The MI6 field agent Eve from the Franchise/JamesBond film ''Film/{{Skyfall}} has her last name revealed at the end [[spoiler: Moneypenny]].

One solution that writers have utilized is to write a story that features those established characters... albeit in the guise of someone completely new. Often, he or she doesn't look like any famous character from the main work's canon nor would he or she even have that recognizable name. If done well, fans will speculate who that "mysterious character" is. Maybe they don't believe that the "new" character would be anyone special. Maybe they will think that the "new" character is a BadassNormal with a mysterious background. Or maybe they'll think that the "new" character will be a groundbreaking addition to a work's mythos. But, if done successfully, [[TemptingFate fans will certainly not think that]] [[OverlyLongGag "new" character]] is someone already established in a work's canon.

One solution that writers have utilized is to write a story that features those established characters... albeit in the guise of someone completely new. Often, he or she doesn't look like any famous character from the main work's canon nor would he or she even have that recognizable name. If done well, fans will speculate who that "mysterious character" is. Maybe they don't believe that the "new" character would be anyone special. Maybe they will think that the "new" character is a BadassNormal with a mysterious background. Or maybe they'll think that the "new" character will be a groundbreaking addition to a work's mythos. But, if done successfully, fans will certainly not think that [[OverlyLongGag "new" character]] is someone already established in a work's canon.

LongRunners often face the challenge of keeping established characters fresh. Sometimes, the audience gets bored with a particular character. Sometimes, the writer ran out of fresh situations to give to that character. And sometimes, the writer wants to reimagine or explore new depths of a character, but finds it challenging to convince fans to give his/her interpretation a chance ([[ToughActToFollow especially if one previous storyline or interpretation is adored and seen as the standard for all subsequent stories to follow]]). For whatever reason, a writer wants to develop new material involving certain characters but doesn't want to run the risk of either beating a dead horse or [[BrokenBase dividing the fanbase]].

One solution that writers have utilized is to write a story that features those established characters... albeit in the guise of someone completely new. Often, he or she doesn't look like any famous character from the main work's canon nor would he or she even have that recognizable name. If done well, fans will speculate who that "mysterious character" is. Maybe they don't believe that the "new" character would be anyone special. Maybe they will think that the "new" character is a BadassNormal with a mysterious background. Or maybe they'll think that will be a groundbreaking addition to a work's mythos. But, if done successfully, fans will certainly not think that [[OverlyLongGag "new" character]] is someone already established in a work's canon.

One solution that writers have utilized is to write a story that features those established characters... albeit in the guise of someone completely new. Often, he or she doesn't look like any famous character from the main work's canon nor would he or she even have that recognizable name. If done well, fans will speculate who that "mysterious character" is. Maybe they don't believe that "new" character to be anyone special. Maybe they will think that the "new" character is a BadassNormal with a mysterious background. Or maybe they'll think that will be a groundbreaking addition to a work's mythos. But, if done successfully, fans will certainly not think that [[OverlyLongGag "new" character]] is someone already established in a work's canon.

Compare with RedHerringShirt. Sometimes overlaps with HijackedByGanon.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' does this with its titular villain. Up until the game's release, Rocksteady insisted that the Arkham Knight was an original character who stood as Batman's antithesis. While the Arkham Knight's identity was indeed original, [[spoiler: his true identity, Jason Todd aka Red Hood, was an already established character in the comics]].

One solution that writers have utilized is to write a story that features those established characters... albeit in the guise of someone completely new. Often, he or she doesn't look like any famous character from the main work's canon nor might he or she even have that recognizable name. If done well, fans will speculate who that "mysterious character" is. Maybe they don't believe that "new" character to be anyone special. Maybe they will think that the "new" character is a BadassNormal with a mysterious background. Or maybe they'll think that will be a groundbreaking addition to a work's mythos. But, if done successfully, fans will certainly not think that [[OverlyLongGag "new" character]] is someone already established in a work's canon.

* Done routinely on ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012]]''. Most of the major mutants have had their origin stories totally revamped. Seemingly original humans will get slimed by mutagen, and the turtles will give them a nickname that matches an established mutant from another continuity. Shredder's new apprentice Chris Bradford got mutated twice before he became Rahzar from the films, arms dealer Steranko and master thief Zeck get mutated into a Rhino and Warthog and take on the names Bebop and Rocksteady from the 87 show etc.

** Near the end, John Blake reveals that his first name is Robin and follows Bruce's footsteps, showing that he is a CompositeCharacter of several of the {{ComicBook/Robin}}s. Ironically, he was originally speculated to be an entirely different Canon Character All Along-one from a book where the Joker stole a little boys pies.

* Season 1 Big Bad of Series/TheFlash2014 Dr. Wells appears at first to be an original character but in a twist Wells is not only the Reverse Flash, but the original Reverse Flash, Eobard Thawne.

* Done routinely on the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 2012 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' series]]. Most of the major mutants have had their origin stories totally revamped. Seemingly original humans will get slimed by mutagen, and the turtles will give them a nickname that matches an established mutant from another continuity. Shredder's new apprentice Chris Bradford got mutated twice before he became Rahzar from the films, arms dealer Steranko and master thief Zeck get mutated into a Rhino and Warthog and take on the names Bebop and Rocksteady from the 87 show etc.

LongRunners often face the challenge of keeping established characters fresh. Sometimes, the audience gets bored with a particular character. Sometimes, the writer ran out of fresh situations to give to that character. And sometimes, the writer wants to reimagine or explore new depths of a character, but finds it challenging to convince fans to give his/her interpretation a chance ([[ToughActToFollow especially if one previous storyline or interpretation is adored and seen as the standard for all subsequent stories to follow]]) For whatever reason, a writer wants to develop new material involving certain characters but doesn't want to run the risk of either beating a dead horse or [[BrokenBase divide the fanbase]].

A character from a derived work. Doesn't look like any famous character from the Canon. Doesn't even have any recognizable name. Maybe doesn't believe himself/herself to be anyone special. Maybe a BadassNormal. Maybe a mysterious background. But certainly not someone famous.

Until one day... Wham! It turns out he was a Canon character after all.

Compare RedHerringShirt. Sometimes overlaps with HijackedByGanon.

Warning, spoilers:

Compare RedHerringShirt.