History Main / LegacyImmortality

* A villainous version in {{Gargoyles}} is The Hunter. The original was a scarred man who Demona clawed as a young boy, and many others keep taking up his mask to hunt her and other Gargoyles down.
** Except Demona knows that they're a family, having killed a good number of Hunters herself.

->''"Duffman can never die! (beat) ...Only the actors who play him!"

** ''Superman Batman Generations'' plays with this by having the Bat-Family work to maintain the illusion that Batman has always been a single person, even when the mantle is passed from Bruce to Dick Grayson to Bruce Wayne Jr. and finally back to the original after he becomes immortal and takes up the job again in 1999.

* In one of the ill-fated series offered by Atlas Comics in the 70's, it was left completely up in the air whether the CampbellianHero was an immortal superman or the latest in a long (family) line of adventurers.

A character is said to have [[{{Immortality}} lived for centuries]]; his name found all throughout the history books. When our hero or heroes finally meet him, he reveals his deepest, darkest secret-- he's not actually immortal. As it turns out, he is merely the latest in a long line of [[SpellMyNameWithAThe Bob The Immortals.]] Apparently, the original Bob secretly trained a second to take up his name, appearance and personality. The second continued this with a third, and so on until present day. (There was always someone to TakeUpMySword.)

* In ''{{Recess}}'', the school's pet hamster is constantly changed around - and nobody ever notices.

* Old Tom Parr probably used this technique.

* In ''ThePhantom'', the main character is the 21st phantom: All of them come from a single family where the son of the current Phantom becomes the next Phantom when the current one is killed. The page quote is sworn by each of them upon taking up the mantle.

* The main antagonist of the ''Blake and Mortimer'' two-part book ''The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent'' claims to be none other than the ancient Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Mortimer met him during his youth in Colonial India and meets him again in 1958. However [[spoiler:the latter Ashoka turns out to be the ''daughter'' of the former. [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane We never learn who the previous Ashoka was, though...]]]]

* The main antagonist of the ''Blake and Mortimer'' two-part book ''The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent'' claims to be none other than the ancient Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Mortimer met him during his youth in Colonial India and meets him again in 1958. However [[spoiler:the latter Ashoka turns out to be the ''daughter'' of the former. In an interesting subversion, we never learn who the previous Ashoka was...]]

*** More of a case that something as blatantly fantastic as the [[spoiler:[[{{Immortality}} Lazarus Pits]]]]) couldn't be in the realistic Nolanverse.

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* ThePhantom is merely the latest in a long series of men who have taken the mantle of the "Ghost Who Walks".

** Well, it's actually implied that the "first" Ra's in the film was a decoy to begin with. Ducard was probably already Ra's. However, the second part is true: if you're familiar with Ra's outide the films, there are entirely different reasons why he would appear immortal.

* What? No one's mentioned the [[ThePrincessBride Dread Pirate Roberts]] yet?

* In a later series of ''RedDwarf'' it is revealed that [[spoiler:[[TheAce Ace Rimmer]] is not one man, but a legacy of Hologram Rimmers from countless dimentions...]]

* The titular (anti)hero of SantiagoMythOfTheFarFuture [[spoiler: There have apparently been at least four 'Santiagos' and the book ends with a fifth.]]

* The titular (anti)hero of SantiagoALegendOfTheFarFuture [[spoiler: There have apparently been at least four 'Santiagos' and the book ends with a fifth.]]

* In ''ThePrincessBride'', [[spoiler:the Dread Pirate Roberts turns out to be this]]. It may be possible, however, that [[spoiler:people only think he's immortal because]] no one bothered to do the math.
** Then again, [[spoiler:the original Dread Pirate Roberts is still alive, but retired, living like a king in Patagonia, so it's not like he's even been around long enough for people to think he's "immortal".]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* In the first ''{{Fable}}'', it is implied by an NPC that "Jack Of Blades" (the game's main villain) is not immortal, but several people wearing his robe and mask throughout the ages. In The Lost Chapters it is revealed that this is partially true -- [[spoiler: Jack can possess people from beyond the grave if they put on his mask]].
* This is the explanation for Yoshimitsu to appearing in both ''{{Tekken}}'' and ''SoulCalibur'' -- the leader of the Manji clan adopts the name, personality, and fighting style, while using the same sword.
* In ''Oblivion'', the [[spoiler:Gray Fox]] works this way. He actually was many people in row wearing the same magical mask. The mask was cursed, it prevented everyone from recognizing the wearer's true identity even when it wasn't worn, until [[spoiler: the PC uncursed it.]]

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* ThePhantom is merely the latest in a long series of men who have taken the mantle of the "Ghost Who Walks".

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* In ''ThePrincessBride'', [[spoiler:the Dread Pirate Roberts turns out to be this]]. It may be possible, however, that [[spoiler:people only think he's immortal because]] no one bothered to do the math.
** Then again, [[spoiler:the original Dread Pirate Roberts is still alive, but retired, living like a king in Patagonia, so it's not like he's even been around long enough for people to think he's "immortal".]]
* Inverted in the ''{{Belgariad}}'', where the [[FlatEarthAtheist Tolnedrans]] think it's the case for Belgarath and Polgara, who are both genuine [[{{Immortality}} type two immortals.]]
** Another example in the same series is Queen Salmissra, though she's somewhat of a subversion as she was never intended to deceive the public. Instead it's the Nyissans' own absentminded god, because he forgot to make the original Salmissra immortal.
* Also inverted in the EndersGame series. Valentine is a published writer under the name "Demosthenes," and she was also born about a thousand years ago (although, through the anomalies of general relativity, she hasn't had any more years of subjective experience than any normal human). Because Demosthenes has been writing for a thousand years, he/she/they are believed to be this kind of legacy character, rather than all of the books and articles being written by the same person.
* This is the story behind the villainous Mycroft Ward from ''The Raw Shark Texts''.
* Lampshaded in [[ForgottenRealms Homeland]], where a student assumes the identity of his dead master (who had a disfigured face), and briefly considers the possibility of the pattern continuing for millennia. It doesn't happen, though.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In the first episode of the revived ''DoctorWho'' this is one theory about how come the same man was seen in various times (Titanic, JFK assassination, etc.)
* In a later series of ''RedDwarf'' it is revealed that [[spoiler:[[TheAce Ace Rimmer]] is not one man, but a legacy of Hologram Rimmers from countless dimentions...]]

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* ThePhantom is merely the latest in a long series of men who have taken the mantle of the "Ghost Who Walks". The TropeCodifier.