Line #71 DemotedToExtra/TheDCU


1	!Franchise/TheDCU
2	[[foldercontrol]]
3
4	[[folder:Comic Books]]
5	!!Comic Books
6	%%Administrivia.ZeroContextExample* Also tends to happen to the ComicBook/DoomPatrol. Often lampshaded at the end of their newest guest appearance in some other hero team's series.
7	* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': Wally West started out as the original Kid Flash, before replacing Barry Allen as the Flash following ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. After that, Wally remained the main character in the ''Flash'' series until ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', when Bart Allen briefly took over the role for a year before Wally returned, at which point Wally took the series over again. Then ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' brought Barry Allen BackFromTheDead and he took the book back from Wally. And although they both remained active as the Flash, Wally only made ''two'' appearances in the series after that point and was effectively reduced to appearing in crowd shots, until DC launched ''ComicBook/New52'' and Wally was taken off the table, with his tenure as the Flash and Kid Flash completely retconned away, with Bart becoming the first Kid Flash. It took years before Wally was reintroduced, and the new version was so InNameOnly that ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' eventually [[DecompositeCharacter revealed]] him to be a cousin with the same first name.
8	* Reading ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' can be a bit jarring if you're a fan of ''ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre''. After the Golden Age Sandman spent years as the hero of his own cult classic series, he's reduced to a mere scene-filler in JSA and [[spoiler:dies in the first issue of the Post-Crisis series]].
9	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
10	** It happens a lot to the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', given the sheer number of characters, frequent {{RetCon}}s and all-out [[MultipleChoicePast continuity reboots]], generally [[ContinuitySnarl convoluted continuity]], and the fact that the team has been in existence since 1958, giving fans plenty of opportunity to start RunningTheAsylum. For example, Dyrk Magz aka Magno, spent all of ten issues as a member of the Legion before getting summarily depowered, was given just enough development to be interesting, and then mostly got relegated to the background before the 2001 ''Legion Worlds'' miniseries finally managed to abandon the character in a way that gave him no resolution but also left him in a position from which it would be hard to bring him back into play. And then the Legion's continuity was rebooted entirely a few years later anyhow.
11	** The Legion was the ''cause'' of this for ComicBook/{{Superboy}}. They originally appeared as supporting characters in a 1958 Superboy story "ComicBook/TheLegionOfSuperHeroes", then starting in 1962 they appeared as the backup feature in ''ComicBook/AdventureComics'' where Superboy had been the star since 1946. Within a year they had taken over the comic, reducing Superboy to the back up in what had been ''his'' title, and not long after solo Superboy stories stopped appearing altogether (though he continued to appear as a member of the Legion.) A decade later they repeated the feat when they started appearing in ''ComicBook/Superboy1949'' as a backup feature, which was renamed ''Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes'' and eventually just ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes1980'' as they again took over the comic and Superboy got PutOnABus.
12	** If you are a Superman secondary character and your name isn't ComicBook/LoisLane, ComicBook/JimmyOlsen, Perry White, [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara Zor-El]], ComicBook/KryptoTheSuperdog or ComicBook/LanaLang, you're out of luck. After a few years you'll be relegated to background or ComicBookLimbo, no matter how prominent you might have been. And not even Superman's cousin, dog and childhood sweetheart are absolutely safe.
13	** In the 60's, Kara Zor-El was treated as a prominent member of Superman's core cast, had her own backup strip, her own supporting cast and made frequent appearances across all books of the line. Then she was gradually pushed to the background during MediaNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks and [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths eventually killed off]]. She wouldn't be brought back until 18 years later in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', after half dozen of failed attempts to replace her with non-Kryptonian ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}s.
14	** Krypto was gradually phased out during the Bronze Age until disappearing altogether and getting killed off in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''. Leaving aside random cameos, Superman's trusty dog wouldn't be seen again until 2000 story arc "Return to Krypton", 14 years later.
15	** Pre-Crisis Van-Zee "Nightwing" and his partner Ak-Var "Flamebird" were the Kryptonian equivalent to "Batman and Robin". They even had their own feature in the ''ComicBook/SupermanFamily'' magazine. They were limboed by ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and the 1986 reboot, and they haven't been seen since then.
16	** Catherine Grant was a very prominent Daily Planet staff member from 1987 to 1993. Following her son's murder, she was put on a bus from which she didn't return until 2008 storyline ''ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac''.
17	** In ''ComicBook/SupermanSpaceAge'', the main five Justice League members all get some highlights and character moments except for poor Aquaman, who isn't even seen participating in the final battle.
18	* The original Titans West from the '70s ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' vanished when it came time for the New Teen Titans series, due to Marv Wolfman considering all of the characters (except Lilith and Beast Boy/Changeling) to be lame. Bumblebee and Mal Duncan (who were part of the original East Coast team towards the end of the '70s) were also PutOnABus, and Duela Dent showed up once as a fat phony who revealed that she had lied about her origin of being Two-Face's daughter. After the Crisis, Wolfman seized the opportunity to retcon Bumblebee and Mal (now called "Herald") as having been part of Titans West, and attempted to erase Duela from continuity completely. Caveman G'narrk (who died in a BusCrash Pre-Crisis) became a case of DeathByOriginStory, while Bat-Girl (retconned to Flamebird) and Golden Eagle became even more shallow "joke" characters stuck in a rut of CantCatchUp.
19	** The earlier Titans all became demoted when it was time for Dan Jurgens' version of the Titans, partly due to ExecutiveMeddling. Jurgens had originally planned to use Nightwing and the JSA member Wildcat as mentors for the team, but had to make do with using the de-aged Ray Palmer instead.
20	** Characters like the second ComicBook/WonderGirl suffered this in the change from ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' to the third volume of ''Teen Titans'', as Creator/GeoffJohns decided to pay more attention to ComicBook/{{Robin}} and ComicBook/{{Superboy}}. After ''One Year Later'', the focus then became Robin and Wonder Girl, which continued into Sean [=McKeever=]'s run.
21	* Franchise/WonderWoman hasn't been able to keep a stable supporting cast together in decades.
22	** In the Post-Crisis continuity Doctor Cyber went from [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 major Bronze Age villain]] to a minor antagonist.
23	** [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Pre-Crisis]] Gundra was a major enemy of the 1940s Wonder Woman. Post-Crisis she's appeared only once in the modern era, as part of Circe's vast collective of Wonder Woman villains.
24	** Originally Aphrodite was the Amazon's BigGood and remained key to Wonder Woman's "birth" and the Amazon's protection, secrecy, creation and island home throughout subsequent retcons and Crises until the ''ComicBook/New52'' where she gets about five words to say in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2011'' no characterization and is essentially a disinterested background character who shows up in group shots of Olympians.
25	** The ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'' borrows most heavily from the Post-Crisis books for the history of their Amazons and Olympians, however [[TheChessmaster Athena]], [[FriendlySniper Artemis]], [[ThePowerOfLove Aphrodite]], [[TeamMom Demeter]], [[OnlySaneMan Hestia]] and [[IntriguedByHumanity Hermes]]--the Olympian patrons who were responsible for the creation and protection of the Amazons and their island in that version--are left as background characters with no lines at best, with several of them not appearing at all since the Olympian focus is on the conflict between [[EvilVersusOblivion Ares and Zeus]].
26	%%Needs context about her previous role.** Queen Clea in the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Post-Crisis world]], where she faced Wonder Woman only twice, once as the leader of a new Villainy Incorporated, and once as part of Circe's massive supervillain collective.
27	%%Needs context about her previous role.** Osira, post-Crisis, was essentially used to introduce a new version of the invisible plane rather than a major threat.
28	* Lots of [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] characters in Franchise/TheDCU have been relegated to the team's reserves. It's hard to imagine that the Red Bee once had his own backup series. Lampshaded in James Robinson's ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'', where the Red Bee is seriously off during a Thanksgiving with dead superheroes.
29	[[/folder]]
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31	[[folder: Films]]
32	!!Films
33	* Commissioner Gordon (played by Creator/PatHingle) in the ''Film/BatmanFilmSeries''. He's the most competent non-costumed character in the [[Film/Batman1989 first film]], is barely in the [[Film/BatmanReturns second film]], shows up in his pajamas in the [[Film/BatmanForever third]], and then is [[ButtMonkey completely humiliated]] in the [[Film/BatmanAndRobin fourth]] (and yes, it was part of a major plot thread, but that's still no excuse).
34	* Combined with DecompositeCharacter, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamByGaslight'' sees [[spoiler:Jacob Packer, Bruce's HonoraryUncle in ''ComicBook/GothamByGaslight'', reduced to a mere cameo as Bruce's lawyer and Commissioner Gordon take his role as [[AdaptationalVillainy Jack the Ripper]]]].
35	* In the original comic version of ''ComicBook/BatmanHush'', a reformed [[ComicBook/TwoFace Harvey Dent/Two-Face]] was a key player in the arc. [[WesternAnimation/BatmanHush The animated version]] sees Two-Face in a montage of Batman and Catwoman working together and that's it.
36	* Superman's best friend Jimmy Olsen is a minor character in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', being a CIA [[TheMole mole]] who's covering as a reporter with no real ties to him or Lois Lane before suffering DeathByAdaptation. He's never even referred to by name, only confirmed to be Olsen through WordOfGod.
37	* Talia al Ghul is the BigBad of ''Batman and Son'' in the comics, but her movie role in ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'' is quite smaller. Much of her original role is given to ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} in the film.
38	* While not big players in ''ComicBook/PublicEnemies2004'', ComicBook/LoisLane, ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, and ComicBook/{{Katana}} did have lines. In [[WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanPublicEnemies its animated adaptation]], they do appear, but don't speak, with Lois Lane only appearing in the end. It's especially notable in Katana's case since in the comic, she was allied with Superman, Batman, and ComicBook/PowerGirl.
39	* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'':
40	** Crane goes from a major antagonist to a OneSceneWonder between the [[Film/BatmanBegins first]], [[Film/TheDarkKnight second]], and [[Film/TheDarkKnightRises third]] films.
41	** Alfred has very little screen time in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''. Though he does at least make the most of what he has, providing his usual insight, wisdom, and poignancy.
42	* ''Justice League: The New Frontier'', the animated film adaptation of ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier'', reduces the roles of several characters from the original comic to brief cameos or mentions, the most notable examples being the Justice Society (who are only briefly shown in the title sequence and mentioned by Superman), the Losers (who have their story from the beginning of the first issue omitted and are only shown briefly in a montage of imagery later in the film) and Thomas Kalmaku (who appears for a split-second as opposed to calling out Hal Jordan for calling him "Pieface").
43	* Lois Lane, usually a major character in ''Superman'' stories, plays a surprisingly small role in ''Film/SupermanIII''. She shows up in the beginning, says she's going to Bermuda and disappears for most of the movie. Then she comes back before the movie's over as if nothing happened! This was largely done in retaliation after Creator/MargotKidder criticized the producers for their decision to dismiss director Richard Donner from the franchise. It's a testament to how iconic the Superman mythos is in general, and Lois Lane in particular, that it wasn't worse.
44	* Not to the extent that she was in ''Superman III'', but Lois Lane still spends much of ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' sidelined in favor of Lacy. However, this time round she does at least have a few important bits, most notably where she gives Superman back his cape, which had wound up at the Daily Planet after Mr. Warfield tried to use it for a cheap headline after Superman's defeat.
45	* In ''Film/SupermanReturns'', rising star Creator/KalPenn plays Stanford, one of Luthor's {{Mooks}}, and among them gets the lion's share of close-ups, but almost none of his lines whatsoever made it to final cut.
46	* Captain Metropolis in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}''. In [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} the book]], he's a hopelessly naive superhero who forms the Crimebusters in the 1960s and tries to convince them that they can solve all of the world's problems. In the movie, Ozymandias forms the team ([[IAmNotShazam re-named "The Watchmen"]]). Metropolis becomes an unspeaking character who briefly appears in a flashback.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
50	!!Live-Action TV
51	* ''Series/{{Wonder Woman\|1975}}'': Steve Trevor (Jr.) during the last leg of the CBS era, where he was made Diana's boss instead of field partner.
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53
54	[[folder: Western Animation]]
55	!!Western Animation
56	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': Virtually every villain (except for Joker, Penguin, and [[spoiler:Hugo Strange]]) got hit with this in later seasons - some (like Killer Croc) being reduced to bit players right after their ''debut'' episodes. In "Rumors", the new VillainOfTheWeek even captures ''the entire rogues gallery'' without much trouble, and when they later escape and attack Batman and Robin ''en masse'', all of them are taken out in a matter of minutes.
57	%%Needs context about their previous roles.**Arguably reached its nadir in "Rumors", where the new VillainOfTheWeek captures ''the entire rogues gallery'' without much trouble, and when they later escape and attack Batman and Robin ''en masse'', all of them get taken out in a matter of minutes.
58	* Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse:
59	** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''
60	*** The Riddler rarely appears, but what episodes he did get are generally agreed to put a refreshing spin on the character. When the sequel series ''The New Batman Adventures'' rolled over, however, ol' Eddie got the shaft, despite getting a new character design more faithful to Creator/FrankGorshin's take on the character. You know things are bad when the new Riddler's biggest role was in a ''Superman'' episode. Creator/PaulDini admitted in the "Art of..." book that they didn't use the Riddler often because his gimmick of using riddles was hard to pull off in an action cartoon like theirs. He did get to shine in ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'', set in the same universe.
61	*** Summer Gleeson (Vicki Vale in everything but name) appears in a pretty large number of episodes in the first two seasons, as well as the ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm Mask of the Phantasm]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanAndMisterFreezeSubZero SubZero]]'' movies. In the show's final season, ''The New Batman Adventures'', she makes only two appearances, one of which is a non-speaking cameo.
62	*** Dick Grayson as Nightwing only makes seven appearances in all of ''The New Batman Adventures'', and only has a prominent role in three episodes ("[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE5YouScratchMyBack You Scratch My Back]]", "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE16AnimalAct Animal Act]]", and "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE17OldWounds Old Wounds]]").
63	** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'':
64	*** Dana Tan in the second and third seasons, with the introduction of [[SpotlightStealingSquad Max]]. Went from being Terry's main "normal person" confidante and having a scene in almost every episode to mostly being a background presence who got tossed a few lines every now and then, except for the one episode where she got to be a DamselInDistress. Notably, she was (and remained) the {{Official\|Couple}} ''{{Love Interest\|s}}.''
65	*** Terry's little brother and mother, Matt and Mary [=McGinnis=], while not as prominent as Dana, also had less and less screentime as the series continued.
66	** ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'':
67	*** The Big 7 in some extent suffers of this in the last season. Despite being the main characters, they only appear in less than half of the final thirteen episodes, with some episodes ("Patriot Act," "Grudge Match" and "Alive!") focusing on recurring characters instead.
68	*** Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} himself counts. Despite being one of the founding members of the [[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica League]] in the comics, he was replaced by Hawkgirl in the show. He appeared only sporadically, but this gave writers a way to logically work him into plots without running into the ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman [[NeverLiveItDown stigma]]. Then he outright vanished during the last season of ''Unlimited'', thanks to [[ExiledFromContinuity his rights being tied up in a potential live-action series]].
69	*** This befell Hal Jordan, too. In the comics, outside of a period mid-1990s to mid 2000s and some other brief periods, he's the main Franchise/GreenLantern. Here, he's mostly limited to a few cameos with his major roles going to either Kyle Rayner (his origin in getting the ring from a dying Abin Sur) or John Stewart (helping found the Justice League and getting Sinestro booted from the GLC, with the resultant personal enmity between the two).
70	%%Needs context about his previous role.*** ComicBook/TheFlash had no lines in the first season because of voice actor Michael Rosenbaum's commitments on ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' (though you may not notice simply on the basis that the cast is ''frickin' huge)''. He came roaring back for the second and third seasons though (in particular the SeasonFinale of the second season), and even [[LampshadeHanging complained to a fellow Leaguer about not getting any respect despite being one of the original seven]].
71	* Despite being a member of Titans East in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Bumblebee is all but ignored in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo''. She didn't even appear [[AdaptationalLateAppearance until several years]] into the show (and in a non-speaking role at that).
72	* Frieda in ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'', especially in comparison to her role in the comic series. She starts the show as Virgil's primary love interest, and is actually the first "civilian" to speak to Static, but after Daisy is introduced, she quickly becomes superfluous to both the plot of the show and the relationships between the characters.
73	* In the comics of the same name that ''WesternAnimation/SupermanBatmanPublicEnemies'' is based on, ComicBook/LoisLane, ComicBook/{{Katana}}, and ComicBook/{{Starfire}} spoke, whereas their counterparts in its AnimatedAdaptation didn't.
74	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'': The Wonder Twins and Gleek were frequent recurring allies to the Super Friends starting with their debut in the second iteration ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'', but only appeared in a handle of episodes in the penultimate iteration ''Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show'' before [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappearing altogether]] by the final series ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians''.
75	* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010''
76	** The entire Franchise/{{Justice League\|OfAmerica}}, since the series focuses on the sidekicks of the team. Creator/CartoonNetwork even touted the show this way in early promos, counting on the audiences familiar with the earlier ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' cartoon, which focused on the Justice League itself, to cause shock when the protagonists were revealed to instead be the children.
77	** Red Tornado's conspicuously absent in the second season (likely because Nightwing and the others have replaced him in the mentor role), and has only had one non-speaking appearance in "War".
78	** Secret, when compared to [[ComicBook/YoungJustice the comic]]. In that, she's a member of the team. In the show, she is present in only one episode and is limited to PokemonSpeak.
79	** The third season, ''Outsiders'', does this to the Team itself. Having been the focus and driving force of the entire series beforehand, the focus shifts to the titular Outsiders, consisting of former Team members with additional recruits. They make sporadic appearances throughout the first thirteen episodes, and only have one [[ADayInTheLimelight episode of focus to themselves]], but even then it's more focused on Miss Martian.
80	%%Needs context about their previous roles** ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} and [[{{ComicBook/Icon}} Rocket]] in season 2, both of whom graduated to the Justice League. Ironically, both of them were the last to join the team in the first season.
81	[[/folder]]

Context DemotedToExtra / TheDCU