History RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap / TheDCU

* Jess Chambers is possibly the first example of a character being pre-emptively rescued. They were intended to be the new [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] in a ContinuityReboot termed "5G" that was the brainchild of divisive Editor in Chief Creator/DanDiDio, and would have seen the [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan-beloved]] and [[CreatorsPest DiDio-hated]] Wally West being possessed by a demon and slaughtering the entire Flash Family to clear the way for Jess. If that had happened, Jess would been despised forever, regardless of their merits as a character. Then [=DiDio=] was fired and 5G was cancelled; the speedster genocide and Jess as the Flash did appear in the ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' event, but with ''Future State'' [[WordOfGod confirmed]] to not be the canon future of the DCU, and Jess kept safely away from the incredibly bleak Flash storyline, people were free to get to know and like them, and many fans are excited for them to make the jump to the main line of comics.
* Wallace "Ace" West II was introduced as a new take on fan-favourite Flash Wally West, once again a teenager being mentored by Barry Allen. However, Robert Venditti and Van Jansen wanted to "update" Wally, and as such changed Wally from a Flash fanboy from a broken home who saw superheroes as an escape and loved his time with Barry Allen and Iris West... to a delinquent who looked up to his criminal uncle and hated the Flash for arresting him for murder, and who doesn't care about Iris and hates Barry. The fact that this was accompanied by an ''Franchise/Arrowverse''-synergy RaceLift into a black character meant it also carried loads of unfortunate implications, and his AgeLift also meant he was no longer in the same generation as his old friends. This new Wally was so disliked that ComicBook/DCRebirth kicked off by bringing back ''the original'' Wally West, and retconned this one into his cousin. This brought down the hate somewhat, but Wallace was still not particularly liked since his characterisation flipped on a dime between a naïve kid defined by his daddy issues to a cocky jackass, and the name issue was a bit confusing. It took until ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier for Wallace to be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. He was paired up with his cousin Wally, started going by "Ace" to help differentiate them, and Jeremy Adams took him being defined by his daddy issues and refined it into Ace wanting to be acknowledged ''at all'', which was done by having Wally act as a hands-off trolling mentor to force Ace to step up when Wally thrust responsibility on him. He became liked enough that he got a spinoff miniseries alongside Avery Ho.

* Jess Chambers is possibly the first example of a character being pre-emptively rescued. They were intended to be the new [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] in a ContinuityReboot termed "5G" that was the brainchild of divisive Editor in Chief Creator/DanDiDio, and would have seen the [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan-beloved]] and [[CreatorsPest DiDio-hated]] Wally West being possessed by a demon and slaughtering the entire Flash Family to clear the way for Jess. If that had happened, Jess would been despised forever, regardless of their merits as a character. Then [=DiDio=] was fired and 5G was cancelled; the speedster genocide and Jess as the Flash did appear in the ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' event, but with ''Future State'' [[WordOfGod confirmed]] to not be the canon future of the DCU, and Jess kept safely away from the incredibly bleak Flash storyline, people were free to get to know and like them, and many fans are excited for them to make the jump to the main line of comics.

* Flamebird (formerly Bat-Girl) of the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' was one of the common characters to find on fans' "most hated Titan" lists due to her ditziness, her gaudy costume, and her one-sided obsession with Nightwing. Geoff Johns and Ben Raab attempted to make her a somewhat more serious fighter when she refused to accept Nightwing's demand for her to quit, and gave her a heavily revamped look. But this wasn't convincing for enough fans, as the character wound up back in limbo and was often just trotted out for crowd scenes. After her history with the Titans was erased in the ComicBook/New52 reboot, JH Williams' Batwoman series went back to portraying her as ditzy and clueless to the point where she was brutally stabbed and left in a coma for several issues. Since her healing, she's now taken on the name "Hawkfire" and sports a DarkerAndEdgier costume and attitude about crime-fighting. Time will tell if it sticks.

* ''ComicBook/{{Robin}}'': Damian Wayne, the son of ComicBook/{{Batman}} and Talia al-Ghul, initially came off as a violent {{jerkass}}. But after he becomes the new Robin next to Dick Grayson's Batman after his father's death, he became much more likable, thanks to some character development by Creator/GrantMorrison and Creator/PaulDini, who have effectively made him into the {{Tsundere}} youngest member of the Bat-Family who, despite his bravado, has grown to appreciate his new family and has been told that there is '''much''' he still needs to improve on. He also started acting more his age instead of trying to pretend he was older and more mature. This is also a reason people liked Colin Wilkes aka Abuse: Damian was interacting with someone his own age without showing massive disdain for the person. There's one moment in particular between him and Dick Grayson that shows how he's starting to open up more: after Dick, Damian, and Alfred realize that Bruce really ''is'' still alive, and are exploring secret parts of Wayne Manor to find clues Bruce left for them in the past:

* ComicBook/SuperboyPrime had, by ''ComicBook/LegionOfThreeWorlds'', become a VillainSue, a StrawFan, and a colossal {{Jerkass}}. Then, there came ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', where he featured in a crazily metatextual story, became the butt of several ''massive'' TakeThatScrappy scenes, started receiving major repercussions, and was shown being almost heroic for once - trying to save the heroes from getting killed off in the latest event, something you'd expect from a genuine fan. ''ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'' has him drop his more volatile traits, with Prime coming off as a mixture of his ''ComicBook/DCComicsPresents''/''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' and early ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', and ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'' incarnations. He's still hung up on how things have gotten so much worse and wants to create a "perfect" world, but he's more of a seriously-jaded fan than a whiny strawman or hypocritical monster like previous appearances. [[HeelFaceTurn He even sides with the Justice League]] after Wonder Woman convinces him that it's worth taking a chance on trying to save all the worlds rather than only protect his desired one, proving that he's finally changed for the better. This ultimately leads to the tie-in ''The Secret Origin'', where Prime battles the Batman Who Laughs and sacrifices his life to give everyone a fighting chance to defeat the monster, being rewarded by being sent back to his Earth-Prime no longer the reviled monster. What makes this poignant is that Prime is doing this on his own volition, knowing hero and villain alike hate his guts and that he could easily just take the villain's power or even side with him. [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold And no one knows he did this except for Krypto]].

!!Franchise/TheDCU

* Jess Chambers is possibly the first example of a character being pre-emptively rescued. They were intended to be the new [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] in a ContinuityReboot termed "5G" that was the brainchild of divisive Editor in Chief Creator/DanDiDio, and would have seen the [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan-beloved]] and [[CreatorsPest DiDio-hated]] Wally West being possessed by a demon and slaughtering the entire Flash Family to clear the way for Jess. If that had happened, Jess would been despised forever, regardless of their merits as a character. [=DiDio=] was fired and 5G was cancelled. The speedster genocide and Jess as the Flash did appear in the ComicBook/DCFutureState event, but with Future Sate [[WordOfGod confirmed]] to not be the canon future of the DCU, and Jess kept safely away from the incredibly bleak Flash storyline, people were free to get to know and like them, and many fans are excited for them to make the jump to the main line of comics.

* Jess Chambers is possibly the first example of a character being pre-emptively rescued. They were intended to be the new [[ComicBook/TheFlash Flash]] in a ContinuityReboot termed "5G" that was the brainchild of divisive Editor in Chief Creator/DanDiDio, and would have seen the [[EnsembleDarkhose fan-beloved]] and [[CreatorsPest DiDio-hated]] Wally West being possessed by a demon and slaughtering the entire Flash Family to clear the way for Jess. If that had happened, Jess would been despised forever, regardless of their merits as a character. [=DiDio=] was fired and 5G was cancelled. The speedster genocide and Jess as the Flash did appear in the ComicBook/DCFutureState event, but with Future Sate [[WordOfGod confirmed]] to not be the canon future of the DCU, and Jess kept safely away from the incredibly bleak Flash storyline, people were free to get to know and like them, and many fans are excited for them to make the jump to the main line of comics.

* Similarly, ''ComicBook/{{Blackhawk}}'''s Chop-Chop started out as a rather horrendous "Chinaman" comic-relief stereotype (even, arguably, by the standards of its time.) Subsequent eras gradually improved the character. By the '60s, Chop-Chop was recognizably human, and by the '80s, he was a competent equal member of the team in the Evanier/Spiegle run, and a worldly, sophisticated, and articulate character going by the name Weng Chan in Creator/HowardChaykin's re-tooling of the series.

* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': Kyle Rayner initially received a lot of hate from ''Green Lantern'' fans when he [[ReplacementScrappy replaced Hal Jordan]] and the whole GL Corps after the controversial ''Emerald Twilight'' arc. However, over time, Rayner was presented as a likable character, thanks to ''ComicBook/JLA97''. Once Rayner's creator, Ron Marz, got through his period of making him as unlike his predecessors as possible, he also helped temper his previously brash character quite a bit.

* Damian Wayne, the son of Franchise/{{Batman}} and Talia al-Ghul, initially came off as a violent {{jerkass}}. But after he becomes the new Comicbook/{{Robin}} next to Dick Grayson's Batman after his father's death, many fans are surprised to find that he is becoming much more likable, thanks to some character development by Creator/GrantMorrison (his creator) and Creator/PaulDini, who have effectively made him into the {{Tsundere}} youngest member of the Bat-Family who, despite his bravado, has grown to appreciate his new family (he has more-or-less grown to accept Tim Drake ''and'' [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2009}} Stephanie Brown]], and has admitted to preferring to work under Dick Than his father!) and has been told that there is '''much''' he still needs to improve on. But take notice that this is still at least a work in progress, as the fanbase at large has merely decided to changed their opinion from him being near universally reviled to seeing the character as a BaseBreakingCharacter.
** Probably the biggest part of rescuing him from the Scrappy heap was when he started acting more his age instead of trying to pretend he was older and more mature. There's one moment in particular between him and Dick Grayson that shows how he's starting to open up more, has come to truly respect Dick, and is willing to show his vulnerabilities. It happens after Dick, Damian, and Alfred realize that Bruce really ''is'' still alive, and are exploring secret parts of Wayne Manor to find clues Bruce left for them in the past.
-->'''Damian:''' If my father returns... ''we'' can't be Batman and Robin any more, can we?
-->'''Dick:''' No, I guess not. It's a small price to pay for getting him back alive.
-->'''Damian:''' What will ''I'' do? Do you think my father will let me stay on as Robin?
-->'''Dick:''' You honestly think he'd put up with you the way I do? ''[pause]'' ...Damian, I'm ''joking.''
** This is also a reason people liked Colin Wilkes aka Abuse: Damian was interacting with someone his own age without showing massive disdain for the person. He even fist-bumped him! Given as Damian clearly was supportive of Colin being Abuse, many are hoping for his return to continue to prove Damian isn't a total prick.
* Matter-Eater Lad of the ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' started out as a total weirdo with an incredibly [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lame power]] who was eventually written out of the storyline, first by going back to his home planet and eventually [[AlasPoorScrappy going into a coma]] after saving the universe by eating a "Miracle Machine" that was warping reality. During the "[[TimeSkip Five Years Later]]" era, though, he was re-imagined with a rock-star persona (CoolShades and all), gleefully reveling in his own absurdity.
-->"All this roughhousing is giving me an appetite * CHOMP* and you don't want to give '''me''' *gulp* an appetite."
** In the most recent [[ContinuityReboot reboot]] of the series, he ''[[TookALevelInBadass bit a guy's finger off]]'' (the guy in question had electrical powers and was threatening to shove said finger through Matter-Eater Lad's eye socket and cook his brain -- thus demonstrating the difference between talking like a badass and actually being one).
** In [[WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes the animated series]] he has the "rock star" design and gets this line:
--->'''Brainiac 5''': (to restrained villain) Move anything, and he'll bite it off.\\
(We then get a shot of Matter-Eater Lad with a big-ass grin on his face)
* Kyle Rayner initially received a lot of hate from ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' fans (mainly Hal Jordan fans) when he [[ReplacementScrappy replaced Hal Jordan]] after the controversial ''Emerald Twilight'' arc. However, over time, Rayner was presented as a likable character, thanks to Grant Morrison's run on [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]. Fans argue that under Creator/GeoffJohns, Kyle lost a good bit of his limelight, but given that he's got his own book (as well as being the sole White Lantern), it seems that he's still in a good place.
** Once Rayner's creator, Ron Marz, got through his period of making him as unlike his predecessors as possible, he also helped temper his previously brash character quite a bit.
* The filk-rock band Ookla the Mok have a song called "Arthur Curry" about what a lame hero Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} is. It includes the line "Not even Creator/PeterDavid can make me cool."
** Except Peter David & Creator/GrantMorrison DID make him cool. And if you give his ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' incarnation a chance, Creator/GeoffJohns has shown that, yes in the right hands, even [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Aquaman can be cool. But not as much as his wife.
* Superboy-Prime had, by ''[[Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes ComicBook/LegionOfThreeWorlds]]'', become a VillainSue, a StrawFan, and a positively colossal {{Jerkass}}. Then, there came ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'', where he featured in a crazily metatextual story, became the butt of several ''massive'' TakeThatScrappy scenes, started receiving major repercussions, and was shown being almost heroic for once - trying to save the heroes of the DCU from getting killed off in the latest event, something you'd expect from a genuine fan. Some fans have since reevaluated him. Unfortunately, his next appearance put him back into has old Jerkass VillainSue routine in the last issues of the pre-''ComicBook/New52'' ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.
** [[ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal Death Metal]] has him drop his [[PsychopathicManchild more]] [[ItsAllAboutMe volatile]] [[StrawFan traits]], with Prime coming off as a mixture of his [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Crisis On]] [[UsedToBeASweetKid Infinite Earths]], early-[[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis Infinite]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist Crisis]], and ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'' incarnations. He's still hung up on how things have gotten so much worse and wants to create a "perfect" world, but he's more of a seriously-jaded fan than a whiny strawman or hypocritical monster like previous appearances. [[HeelFaceTurn He even sides with the Justice League]] after Wonder Woman convinces him that it's worth taking a chance on trying to save all the worlds rather than only protect his desired one, proving that he's finally changed for the better. This ultimately leads to the tie-in ''The Secret Origin'', where Prime battles the Batman Who Laughs and sacrifices his life to give everyone a fighting chance to defeat the monster, being rewarded by being sent back to his Earth-Prime no longer the reviled monster. What makes this poignant is that Prime is doing this on his own volition, knowing hero and villain alike hate his guts and that he could easily just take the villain's power or even side with him. [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold And no one knows he did this except for Krypto]].
* ComicBook/{{Vixen}}, a charter member of the [[DorkAge widely reviled Detroit-era]] Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}, experienced a comeback, after many years of being regulated to ComicBookLimbo and infrequent (and often non-speaking) guest spots. Many fans chalk this up to appearances on the popular ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' animated series, as well as ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', or even earlier with a notable guest appearance in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan''. This is even mentioned in-story at one point, with the narration pointing out that Vixen was experiencing a second wind of sorts after years of obscurity.

* As of the ComicBook/New52; it would appear '''ComicBook/{{Vibe}}''' of all people is getting this; getting a re-vamped backstory, a serious power-boost, membership in the new JLA and his own ongoing series. Not too bad for one of the long time contenders of "Worst Member of the Justice League EVER". Of course, being a main character in [[Series/TheFlash2014 the TV series]] probably did him some favors...
* One of Creator/WillEisner's few mistakes with ''ComicBook/TheSpirit'' was Ebony White, a highly stereotyped black kid who drove the Spirit's cab. ([[FairForItsDay Compared to the other black characters of the era, he was downright progressive]].) Darwyn Cooke's 2007 series turned Ebony into a more realistic and thought-out character (albeit still a thirteen-year-old who drives a cab, but this is a comic).
* Similarly, ''Comicbook/{{Blackhawk}}'''s Chop-Chop started out as a rather horrendous "Chinaman" comic-relief stereotype (even, arguably, by the standards of its time.) Subsequent eras gradually improved the character. By the '60s, Chop-Chop was recognizably human, and by the '80s, he was a competent equal member of the team in the Evanier/Spiegle run, and a worldly, sophisticated, and articulate character going by the name Weng Chan in Creator/HowardChaykin's re-tooling of the series.

* Superboy-Prime had, by ''[[Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Legion of Three Worlds]]'', become a VillainSue, a StrawFan, and a positively colossal {{Jerkass}}. Then, there came ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'', where he featured in a crazily metatextual story, became the butt of several ''massive'' TakeThatScrappy scenes, started receiving major repercussions, and was shown being almost heroic for once - trying to save the heroes of the DCU from getting killed off in the latest event, something you'd expect from a genuine fan. Some fans have since reevaluated him. Unfortunately, his next appearance put him back into has old Jerkass VillainSue routine in the last issues of the pre-''ComicBook/New52'' ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

* Matter-Eater Lad of the ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'' started out as a total weirdo with an incredibly [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway lame power]] who was eventually written out of the storyline, first by going back to his home planet and eventually [[AlasPoorScrappy going into a coma]] after saving the universe by eating a "Miracle Machine" that was warping reality. During the "[[TimeSkip Five Years Later]]" era, though, he was re-imagined with a rock-star persona (CoolShades and all), gleefully reveling in his own absurdity.

* Superboy-Prime had, by ''[[Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} Legion of Three Worlds]]'', become a VillainSue, a StrawFan, and a positively colossal {{Jerkass}}. Then, there came ''Comicbook/BlackestNight'', where he featured in a crazily metatextual story, became the butt of several ''massive'' TakeThatScrappy scenes, started receiving major repercussions, and was shown being almost heroic for once - trying to save the heroes of the DCU from getting killed off in the latest event, something you'd expect from a genuine fan. Some fans have since reevaluated him. Unfortunately, his next appearance put him back into has old Jerkass VillainSue routine in the last issues of the pre-''ComicBook/New52'' ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.

* As of the ComicBook/New52; it would appear '''ComicBook/{{Vibe}}''' of all people is getting this; getting a re-vamped backstory, a serious power-boost, membership in the new JLA and his own ongoing series. Not too bad for one of the long time contenders of "Worst Member of the Justice League EVER". Of course, being a main character in [[Series/TheFlash2014 the TV series]] probably did him some favors...