History Main / JuniorCounterpart

-->-- '''Speed''' to '''Quicksilver''', ''Comicbook/TheChildrensCrusade''

[[folder: Music]]

The Junior Counterpart is a character that serves as a younger, less experienced MirrorCharacter to an older, wiser character. A character of this sort is often present to have similar origins, appearance, or character to the older character, but is either more [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]], naive, or reckless than the older character, and always less experienced. It's far more likely that the junior is the protagonist as he is most often shown to be the underdog, with the senior functioning as a DecoyProtagonist.

-->-- '''[[ComicBook/YoungAvengers Speed]]''' to '''ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}''', ''Comicbook/TheChildrensCrusade''

* {{Invoked}} in ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' wherein the team intentionally patterns themselves of their role models, ComicBook/TheAvengers, in hopes of becoming {{Promoted Fanboy}}s. Some members of the team are even blood related to their counterparts, such as [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang's]] daughter Cassie and ComicBook/ScarletWitch's kids Billy and Tommy (Billy got her witch powers whereas Tommy got ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}'s SuperSpeed).
* ComicBook/YoungJustice's core four and founding members are junior counterparts to four of the founding members of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica with ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}} (Kon-el), ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} (Tim), ComicBook/{{Wondergirl}} (Cassie) and ComicBook/{{Impulse}} (Bart).

* Many of the Robins are this in some capacity to Franchise/{{Batman}}, but [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]] is perhaps the closest to Bruce in origin, as his own parents were murdered and Dick was motivated to get revenge on the ones responsible. Unlike most sidekicks of his era or the rest of the Bat Family, he doesn't have a bat or darkness motif at all since he was designed to be PluckyComicRelief. Later the third Robin, [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] would grow to be the most like Bruce in personality and the way he approaches tactics.
** Cassandra Cain from ''ComicBook/Batgirl2000'' is this as well. Her origins are being a play on the idea of a single murder scarring a child so much they become determined to never let it happen again. She is canonically a better fighter than Bruce, incredibly stealthy, a living lie detector and very terrifying. But she lacks many of his other skills, is very reckless and impulsive, and her drive to save lives is so high she had thrown fights out of fear of killing her opponent or is known for TakingTheBullet.

-->'''Sasso:''' What happened to you? What are you acting like this for? It doesn't make sense you should hate this guy, because this guy is you 20 years ago!

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': Nanoha is this to Gil Graham. Both of them came from Earth (Gil from England and Nanoha from Japan), were introduced to magic after finding an injured mage in the woods, and eventually [[StayWithTheAliens moved off world]] to join the TSAB.

[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/Superboy1994 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/convergence_superboy_vol_1_2_textless.png]]]]

The Junior Counterpart is a character that serves as a younger, less experienced {{Foil}} to an older, wiser character. A character of this sort is often present to have similar origins, appearance, or character to the older character, but is either more [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]], naive, or reckless than the older character, and always less experienced. It's far more likely that the junior is the protagonist as he is most often shown to be the underdog, with the senior functioning as a DecoyProtagonist.

* ''Literature/ShounenHollywood - HOLLY STAGE'' has Daiki Tomii, the second "Tommy" of the eponymous group. Like Minoru, the first one, he shares his orphanage background, media interests, marketing color, and even his role as TheHeart. The Hollywood Tokyo president chose him for Shounen Hollywood exactly because of those similarities.

* [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Nanoha]] is this to Gil Graham. Both of them came from Earth (Gil from England and Nanoha from Japan), were introduced to magic after finding an injured mage in the woods, and eventually [[StayWithTheAliens moved off world]] to join the TSAB.

* Roy Harper, back when he was ComicBook/GreenArrow's sidekick Speedy, was a young version of Ollie, not only due to his archery abilities, but also because he turned out to be as much of a ladies' man as his mentor.
* {{Invoked}} in ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' wherein the team intentionally patterns themselves of their role models, ComicBook/TheAvengers, in hopes of becoming {{Promoted Fanboy}}s. Some members of the team are even blood related to their counterparts, such as [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang's]] daughter Cassie and ComicBook/ScarletWitch's kids Billy and Tommy (Billy got her witch powers whereas Tommy got ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}'s SuperSpeed).
* ComicBook/YoungJustice's core four and founding members are junior counterparts to four of the founding members of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica with ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}} (Kon-el), ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} (Tim), ComicBook/{{Wondergirl}} (Cassie) and ComicBook/{{Impulse}} (Bart).

* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': In certain respects, Jean Grey is a younger female version of her father figure Charles. She's a NiceGirl with a FriendlessBackground who is tormented by her telepathy because she has difficulty blocking out the thoughts of others, and she suffers from {{Past Experience Nightmare}}s, which makes the two of them BirdsOfAFeather. Jean becomes a source of emotional support to Scott after [[spoiler:his brother dies]], which mirrors how Xavier comforts her when she's distressed. Jean is compassionate towards a dehumanized Wolverine even after she had witnessed him [[spoiler:butcher ''all'' of Stryker's soldiers]], just as Charles is forgiving of Magneto's mass murder because he can still sense the goodness in his old friend. Jean adopts the PstandardPsychicPstance that her mentor no longer uses, which reinforces the idea that she's a surrogate variant of DaddysGirl.[[note]]She fits "The third possible character is the socially awkward one who gets understanding and encouragement from her father" type.[[/note]] Their sameness is also displayed visually because Jean wears a 3/4-sleeve blazer which is similar to the Professor's (albeit in a different colour), and conveniently, they're both beautiful in a feminine way (Xavier is a LongHairedPrettyBoy).

* In ''Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes'', the character Brent is a smaller, younger version of Taylor from the first film.

* Axl of ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' is one for X - in fact he replaces X for a while until all the 8 Mavericks of the game are defeated. He plays similarly to X, but without access to charged attacks that X is popular for. Axl undergoes DivergentCharacterEvolution in the next game, though.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' has Bowser Junior, Bowser's son, and Donkey Kong Junior, the son of the first VideoGame/DonkeyKong who would grow up to be the [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry Donkey Kong]] we know today. The series also ran with the concept after Baby Mario appeared in ''VideoGame/MarioTennis''. Since then they've introduced Baby versions of Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Rosalina existing simultaneously with their adult counterparts. The latter two haven't even appeared in any official non-spinoff titles yet.
* The ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series has [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Young Link]] and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Toon Link]], who are younger, faster versions of the full-grown [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]]. ''Melee'' also has [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pichu]], a younger relative of Pikachu who is [[JokeCharacter weaker and downright reckless]].

* The main and recurring characters of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' are teenage (barring certain characters like Sweetie and Sneezer) counterparts of the characters from the classic ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoons, often even sharing the ''Looney Tunes'' characters' personality traits. While still considered the junior counterpart of Elmer Fudd, Elmyra's personality contrasts that of her mentor, in the sense that [[Main/AndCallHimGeorge she means no true harm to animals she sees, yet is considered a dangerous threat to them]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'': Captain Marvel, Jr. was one of, if not the first. ComicBook/{{Superboy}}, [[ComicBook/TheFlash Kid Flash]], ComicBbook/WonderGirl and the rest were all created to cash in on ''his'' popularity.

** Renly Baratheon is presented as this to his older brother King Robert. Not only does Renly have nearly the same appearance as Robert did in his youth, but Renly has a charismatic, gregarious personality, something which Robert lost in the years since his rebellion. [[spoiler:This is eventually subverted later on, as charisma aside, Renly does not have the martial prowess to back his charisma up, unlike Robert in his youth.]]

* {{Invoked}} in ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' wherein the team intentionally patterns themselves of their role models, ComicBook/TheAvengers, in hopes of becoming {{Promoted Fanboy}}s. Some members of the team are even blood related to their counterparts, such as [[ComicBook/AntMan Scott Lang's]] daughter Cassie and ComicBook/ScarletWitch's kids Billy and Tommy (Billy got her with powers whereas Tommy got ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}'s SuperSpeed).

* In ''Fanfic/BlueMoon'', although Bella Swan and Buffy Summers don't meet [[spoiler:until near the end]], a few characters seem to consider Bella basically a younger version of Buffy given her relationship to Edward mirroring Buffy's relationship with Angel, save for the fact that this one has a chance as Bella can become a vampire to be with Edward without losing her soul, to the extent that Faith calls Bella 'Little B' and the Slayers as a whole trust Bella to wield the Scythe in the fight with the Volturi.

* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': In certain respects, Jean Grey is a younger female version of her father figure Charles. She's a NiceGirl with a FriendlessBackground who is tormented by her telepathy because she has difficulty blocking out the thoughts of others, and she suffers from BadDreams, which makes the two of them BirdsOfAFeather. Jean becomes a source of emotional support to Scott after [[spoiler:his brother dies]], which mirrors how Xavier comforts her when she's distressed. Jean is compassionate towards a dehumanized Wolverine even after she had witnessed him [[spoiler:butcher ''all'' of Stryker's soldiers]], just as Charles is forgiving of Magneto's mass murder because he can still sense the goodness in his old friend. Jean adopts the PstandardPsychicPstance that her mentor no longer uses, which reinforces the idea that she's a surrogate variant of DaddysGirl.[[note]]She fits "The third possible character is the socially awkward one who gets understanding and encouragement from her father" type.[[/note]] Their sameness is also displayed visually because Jean wears a 3/4-sleeve blazer which is similar to the Professor's (albeit in a different colour), and conveniently, they're both beautiful in a feminine way (Xavier is a LongHairedPrettyBoy).

* ''WebOriginal/HowToHero'' features Hatboy who is this to Hatman.

* Axl of ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' is one for X - in fact he replaces X for a while until all the 8 Mavericks of the game are defeated. He plays similarly to X, but without access to chqrged attacks that X is popular for. Axl undergoes DivergentCharacterEvolution in the next game, though.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', Riju and Yunobo are younger counterparts to the Champions Urbosa and Daruk respectively. The former are much less confidant in themselves compared to the latter but still perform heroic deeds with Link's help.

-->-- '''Speed''' to '''Quicksilver''', ''Comicbook/TheChildrensCrusade''

* ComicBook/YoungJustice's core four and founding members are junior counterparts to four of the founding members of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica with ComicBook/{{Superboy}} (Kon-el), ComicBook/{{Robin}} (Tim), ComicBook/{{Wondergirl}} (Cassie) and ComicBook/{{Impulse}} (Bart).

* Crops up a several times in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', by blood relation or not.

** In ''Literature/AStormOfSwords'', Jaime Lannister notes that Loras Tyrell is pretty much himself as a youth: a gifted, reckless, impulsive knight who is very close to his lookalike sister.

** Renly Baratheon is presented as this to his older brother King Robert. Not only does Renly have nearly the same appearance as Robert did in his youth, but Renly has a charismatic, gregarious personality, something which Robert lost in the years since his rebellion.