History Main / LegacyLaunch

* ''ComicBook/IronMan'': Tony Stark is replaced by James Rhodes. When Stark returns to the role, Rhodey becomes Comicbook/WarMachine, which is basically ComicBook/IronMan with MoreDakka and a [[MilitarySuperhero military background]].
* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': Thor is bonded to another mortal temporarily. When Thor was separated and banished, the mortal, having been valorous and physically dependent on the joining, was given his own powers to become Thunderstrike.

* John Henry Irons was introduced as a potential LegacyCharacter for Superman, but the plan all along was for Superman to return and Irons continued on as "ComicBook/{{Steel}}" with only the S-Shield missing (though he was already very different from Superman.)
* Jean-Paul Valley was briefly ComicBook/{{Batman}} but went crazy forcing Bruce to return to the mantle. After rehabilitating, Valley returned to his original identity of Comicbook/{{Azrael}}.
* [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]] has inverted this, having created a number of identities for himself, Giant-Man, Goliath, Ant-Man, and Yellowjacket because he was never quite happy with them but has allowed other characters to use these identities (including ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} who already had his own identity.)
* Marvel temporarily retired King T'Challa, the original ComicBook/BlackPanther, and passed the mantle to a more "relatable" character named Kasper Cole. The final arc of [[Creator/ChristopherPriestComics Christopher Priest]]'s ''Black Panther'' run saw T'Challa reclaiming the mantle and Kasper becoming the new ComicBook/WhiteTiger instead.
* {{ComicBook/Daken}} got his first solo series when he briefly stole the ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} identity while part of the ComicBook/DarkAvengers. Once that series ended, Daken received his own solo title without the Wolverine costume.
* Simon Baz, the newest Comicbook/GreenLantern, was introduced amid much fanfare about DC having a Muslim superhero. Creator/GeoffJohns made Simon the lead in his final year of ''Green Lantern'', before returning the book to Hal Jordan and placing Baz in the new ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague''. He still uses the GL name, he just no longer has his own solo book.

* Monica Rambeau became Marvel Comic's ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} for a while but eventually took on her own name as Photon, and later Spectrum.
* ComicBook/TheCloneSaga was originally planned to be this. Peter Parker was to discover that his long thought dead clone had gone on to live another life as Ben Reilly. Then Ben was to be revealed as the true Peter Parker with our Peter Parker being the clone, with Ben then becoming Spider-Man for a while. Then it would be revealed that Peter was the real Peter Parker with the hope that by then Ben would be popular enough to launch his own series as the Comicbook/ScarletSpider.

* ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark is replaced by James Rhodes. When Stark returns to the role, Rhodey becomes Comicbook/WarMachine, which is basically ComicBook/IronMan with MoreDakka and a [[MilitarySuperhero military background]].
* [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] was bonded to another mortal temporarily. When Thor was separated and banished, the mortal, having been valorous and physically dependent on the joining, was given his own powers to become Thunderstrike.

* Jean-Paul Valley was briefly ComicBook/{{Batman}} but went crazy forcing Bruce to return to the mantle. After rehabilitating, Valley became Comicbook/{{Azrael}}.

# David assumes a new superhero identity of his own and his popularity (hopefully) endures.

As mentioned [[LegacyCharacter elsewhere]], the Big Two comic book companies have a stable of characters with proven staying power culled from decades of trial and error, but sometimes they want to launch a new character for various reasons. New characters tend to fail due to a combination of SturgeonsLaw and fandom's attachment to the existing vetted characters.

# After a while, a fandom has developed for David, and Bob returns.
# David graciously abdicates Trope Man back to the original.
# David assumes a new superhero identity of his own.

Quite often, the new identity will have a lot in common with the old one. Similar powers and tools, usually with a different personality. This character can sometimes be a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, or Expy, and sometimes is a {{Foil}} for the original. YoungerAndHipper and DarkerAndEdgier seem to coincide with this trope too, probably because the original heroes are [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] creations.

* {{ComicBook/Daken}} got his first solo series when he briefly stole the {{Wolverine}} identity while part of the ComicBook/DarkAvengers. Once that series ended, Daken received his own solo title without the Wolverine costume.

* ComicBook/MonicaRambeau became Marvel Comic's ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} for a while but eventually took on her own name as Photon. She currently uses the name Spectrum as a member of the Mighty Avengers.

* ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark is replaced by James Rhodes. When Stark returns to the role, Rhodey becomes Comicbook/WarMachine, which is basically ComicBook/IronMan with MoreDakka and a military background.

!!Examples Include:

!Examples Include:

** When Steve was incapacitated again by being depowered, he handed his shield over to ComicBook/TheFalcon, Sam Wilson, his long standing sidekick. After he [[ComicBook/AvengersStandoff got his youth back]], the two [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaSteveRogers operated]] [[ComicBook/NickSpencersCaptainAmerica simultaneously]] as Captain America with Steve using a new shield. When it turned out the young Steve was [[ComicBook/SecretEmpire actually a cosmic cube created imposter]], the real Steve was restored by that same sentient cosmic cube and Sam gave up what he considered to be a tainted mantle. So Sam got his first ever ongoing as The Falcon, after two series as Captain America.

* ComicBook/MonicaRambeau became Marvel Comic's [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Captain Marvel]] for a while but eventually took on her own name as Photon. She currently uses the name Spectrum as a member of the Mighty Avengers.

As mentioned [[LegacyCharacter elsewhere]], the Big Two comic book companies have a stable of characters with proven staying power culled from decades of trial and error but sometimes they want to launch a new character for various reasons. New characters tend to fail due to a combination of SturgeonsLaw and fandom's attachment to the existing vetted characters.

As mentioned [[LegacyCharacter elsewhere]] the Big Two comic book companies have a stable of characters with proven staying power culled from decades of trial and error but sometimes they want to launch a new character for various reasons. New characters tend to fail due to a combination of SturgeonsLaw and fandom's attachment to the existing vetted characters.

* ComicBook/TheCloneSaga was originally planned to be this. Peter Parker was to discover that his long thought dead clone had gone on to live another life as Ben Reilly. Then Ben was to be revealed as the true Peter Parker with our Peter Parker being the clone, with Ben then becoming Spider-Man for a while. Then it would be revealed that Peter was the real Peter Parker with the hope that by then Ben would be popular enough to launch his own series as the Comicbook/ScarletSpider.

* Simon Baz, the newest Comicbook/GreenLantern, was introduced amid much fanfare about DC having a Muslim superhero. Creator/GeoffJohns made Simon the lead in his final year of ''Green Lantern'', before returning the book to Hal Jordan and placing Baz in the new ''JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''. He still uses the GL name, he just no longer has his own solo book.

* Jean-Paul Valley was briefly Batman but went crazy forcing Bruce to return to the mantle. After rehabilitating, Valley became Comicbook/{{Azrael}}.

* [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] was bonded to another mortal temporarily. When Thor was separated and banished, the mortal, having been valorous and physically dependent on the joining was given his own powers to become Thunderstrike.