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5[[quoteright:250:[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steve_sam_cap_vert_4.png]]]]
6%%
7->'''Minute Man:''' I'm black?\
8'''Cosgro Toys Exec:''' We decided to take a multi-cultural approach.\
9'''Minute Man:''' But, I'm not black.\
10'''Cosgro Toys Exec:''' I think you have vaguely African features...
11-->-- ''Film/TheSpecials''
12
13So, the [[Creator/MarvelComics Big]] [[Creator/DCComics Two]] comic publishers have a couple of issues. The first: brand new characters not [[ContinuityPorn heavily tied to already existing characters and continuity]] have a hard time becoming popular and long-lasting. The second, the eras when characters could stick (the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver]] Ages) produced heterosexual white males almost exclusively. The solution to both? Take a preexisting character, and pass their [[LegacyCharacter superhero identity]] to a [[AffirmativeActionGirl woman]], [[TokenMinority racial minority]], or LGBT person!
14
15Trouble is, the legacy characters, minority or not, often also don't stick very well and there is a history of them being replaced. It also doesn't help that sometimes, these new characters don't catch on and fall out of a regular role, occasionally resulting in [[CListFodder another trope entirely]]. Furthermore, UnpleasableFanbase aside, depending on how the original character is treated or how the mantle is passed to the new one the preexisting fanbase may react very badly.
16
17This can also be very dangerous for people hoping to use this trope to promote diversity or inclusivity: should the new character be so badly received that it actually ''damages'' the name or brand, it also becomes easy for people to blame the diversity or inclusivity for the drop in quality.
18
19That said, several of these characters have gone on to be popular and enduring heroes in their own right.
20
21See also GenderFlip, RaceLift, ShesAManInJapan, MoreDiverseSequel.
22
23----
24!!Examples:
25[[index]]
26* AffirmativeActionLegacy/ComicBooks
27** AffirmativeActionLegacy/TheDCU
28** AffirmativeActionLegacy/MarvelUniverse
29[[/index]]
30[[foldercontrol]]
31
32[[folder:Fan Works]]
33* ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy''
34** Izuku, a Japanese teenager, is being tutored by a universe-displaced Peter Parker to become Spider-Man.
35** Lampshaded by Miles, who doesn't think much of this, and is rather annoyed when cuts on his costume reveal this to the world and the internet makes a fuss about him being a "black Spider-Man".
36* In ''Fanfic/DucktalesTwentyYearsLater'', the female Gosalyn has taken up the Darkwing Duck mantle.
37* ''WebOriginal/{{FNAFNG}}'': The next-generation of the Fazbear Legacy is comprised of five girls: Bearennice[[note]]Freddy and Beartha's daughter[[/note]], Carol[[note]]Toy Chica's and Chica's adoptive daughter[[/note]], Sarah[[note]]Foxy's and Mangle's daughter[[/note]], Enigma[[note]]Springtrap and Marionette's daughter[[/note]], and Danielle[[note]]Brenda and Roselle's adoptive daughter[[/note]]), and two boys (Kristian[[note]]Bonnie and Toy Bonnie's adoptive son[[/note]] and Paradigma[[note]]Springtrap and Marionette's son[[/note]]). Of them all, three of them are openly LGBT, with Carol being bisexual, Enigma being pansexual, and Danielle being a lesbian, and Enigma and her twin brother Paradigma are rabbit-Slimer hybrids thanks to their mother's dark magic allowing her to conceive them as her biological children.
38* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' AU fic ''Fanfic/SodorsLegendOfTheLostTreasureBadEnding'' has Sir Topham Hatt (bald, white, straight man) being replaced after his resignation by Charlene Bellis (long-black-haired, tan-skinned, lesbian woman).
39[[/folder]]
40
41[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
42* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' revolves around an Afro-Latino teenager Miles Morales, who becomes the new Spider-Man after his world's Peter Parker is killed by ComicBook/TheKingpin just like in the comics.
43[[/folder]]
44
45[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
46* Parodied in the above quote from ''Film/TheSpecials''. Especially funny considering James Gunn, who plays Minute Man, doesn't look even ''remotely'' like anything other than white.
47* In ''Film/Catwoman2004'', African-American Patience Philips is established as the latest successor to the Catwoman name.
48* ''Film/JamesBond'':
49** M (the chief of [=MI6=]) was first played by a woman, Dame Creator/JudiDench, starting with 1995's ''Film/GoldenEye''.
50** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' has the title of Agent 007 being held by a black woman (played by Creator/LashanaLynch), with James Bond having retired at the end of ''Film/{{Spectre}}''. Also in ''No Time to Die'', it turns out the GadgeteerGenius Q (Creator/BenWhishaw) who's there since ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' (and mentioned having predecessors in the latter film) is either gay or bisexual.
51* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse draws on a few from the comics:
52** Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}} in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse is the female Carol Danvers version instead of the older character of Captain Mar-Vell. Downplayed due to the fact that in this adaptation, Mar-Vell is (a) [[GenderFlip a woman]], and (b) never a superhero, but rather [[spoiler:Carol's late mentor and a defecting Kree scientist.]]
53** In the final minutes of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler: Sam Wilson, a black man, [[PassingTheTorch takes up the shield and mantle of Captain America]] from the retired white Steve Rogers, while ComicBook/{{Valkyrie|Marvel Comics}}, a [[WordOfGay bisexual]] woman of color, becomes the new [[OfferedTheCrown Asgardian ruler]] once Thor abdicates. Interestingly, Valkyrie's character progression is completely original to the films; unlike Carol as Captain Marvel or Sam as Captain America, there is no comic-book precedent for her as Thor's successor. In addition, it's implied that Morgan Stark may take up her late father's position as a PoweredArmor-using hero, although she is four years old and thus a long way away from doing so.]]
54** ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' adapts Jane Foster's time as Thor, although the original is still around and [[spoiler:Jane ultimately dies leaving the first Thor again as the sole bearer of the mantle again]] by the end.
55** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'': The title of Black Panther has already been established to have a long lineage, and this film sees it pass from T'Challa to his sister Shuri. The film also introduces Riri Williams/Ironheart, who is reverse-engineering Tony Stark's armor and becoming the most direct successor to Iron Man (going from a white man to a black woman).
56* ''Film/TheMaskOfZorro'': Two separate examples, one Watsonian and one Doylist:
57** In-universe, the entire film is about Diego De La Vega, a Spanish hidalgo, passing the mantle of Zorro on to Alejandro Murietta, a Mexican peasant. While it's easy to overlook by today's standards, this would have been a ''huge'' social gap during the era in which the movie is set, when monarchy and aristocracy were still firmly entrenched in most of the western world, ideas of human equality and universal rights were only beginning to challenge them, and even societies that were moderately serious about these things were still very inconsistent in their application.
58** Out-of-universe, Creator/AntonioBanderas was the first Hispanic actor to play the role of Zorro. This is no small irony considering that the character has always been portrayed as either a Spaniard or a Mexican (depending on exactly when a particular story is set), but his previous actors had all been Americans, of varying heritages but none of them Latino.
59* One of the main characters in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' is Ratcatcher 2, the female successor of the original male Ratcatcher.
60[[/folder]]
61
62[[folder:Literature]]
63* In ''Literature/DevilsCape'', the male Doctor Camelot is replaced by his daughter Katie.
64* In the last, unfinished ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' book, the title character was going to retire from his position in the Special Air Police and be replaced by a new character, Alexander "Minnie" Mackay, who was part Native American.
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68* During season 6 of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', John Diggle (a black man) briefly takes over the mantle of Green Arrow from Oliver Queen (a white man).
69* In season two of ''Series/{{Batwoman|2019}}'', Ryan Wilder (black gay woman) replaces Kate Kane (white gay woman) in the title role.
70* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
71** Brigadier Winifred Bambera (an African woman) to [[TheBrigadier Brigadier]] Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart in the story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]".
72** The revived series brought us the Brigadier's daughter, Kate, who now serves as the Doctor's contact within UNIT.
73** Invoked in-universe by the Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife The Doctor's Wife]]" and "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS4E5E6DeathOfTheDoctor Death of the Doctor]]", who confirms the long-held [[AscendedFanon fan belief]] that Time Lords can indeed change [[GenderBender genders]] and [[RaceLift ethnicities]] during a regeneration, although [[TheNthDoctor his incarnations]] are all white men as of those stories. The first female (mainline) Doctor would be Creator/JodieWhittaker's Thirteenth Doctor, who debuted in the 2017 Christmas special.
74** In the former episode, the Doctor mentions a friend of his named the Corsair, who was famous for changing sex in his/her regenerations, being described as a good man and a very ''[[GoodBadGirl bad]]'' girl.
75** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler Let's Kill Hitler]]" it's revealed that Mels, the black twenty-something childhood friend of Amy and Rory, is actually the previous incarnation of the white, middle-aged, River Song. Mels in turn regenerated from the white, seven year old Melody and was forced to grow up ''again'' after her first regeneration left her as a toddler.
76** On the villainous side of things, Missy is a female legacy to a male character, being [[spoiler:a regenerated Master]]. WordOfGod states this was to test the audience's reaction prior to casting a female Doctor.
77** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]" has a double example of this, when the Doctor shoots the commander of Gallifrey's military forces, who promptly regenerates from a white man into a black woman.
78* In ''Series/TheFlash2014,'' after Ronnie Raymond's HeroicSacrifice, both the potential successors to his role as Firestorm are black. Jefferson Jackson goes on to serve more time as Firestorm than Raymond ever did, appearing in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow.''
79* The TV side of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse includes its share as well:
80** ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' takes one of the examples from ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' and ends up deconstructing the trope with it, in that the "Affirmative Action" part ends up complicating things immensely. [[spoiler:The title of "Captain America" is [[CaptainPatriotic a major national symbol]]. How can a black man symbolize a country that has mistreated its black citizens for hundreds of years, and continues to do so? Sam starts the series deciding that he ''can't'', only for the government to turn around and give the identity to a white man instead. At the end of the season however, after said white guy goes off the deep end and Sam learns about the history of black super-soldiers in America and decides that it wouldn't be right to stop fighting for what's right despite all the injustices that happened to black people, he becomes Captain America instead and embraces the mantle.]]
81** ''Series/Hawkeye2021'' sees Clint Barton starting up a friendship and mentorship of Kate Bishop, though it's not clear at the end if she's actively serving as a superhero now or if she's using his codename while doing so.
82** Averted in ''Series/MsMarvel2022'', as while we still have a Pakistani-American girl following after a white woman; the actual "legacy" aspect of the comics is AdaptedOut. In the comics, Kamala Khan chose "Ms. Marvel" as a codename in honor of Carol Danvers, who had once gone by that title before becoming Captain Marvel. In this continuity, Carol had always been "Captain" and Kamala's name is presented as a case of StevenUlyssesPerhero instead since "marvel" is a valid translation of "kamal" in Urdu -- Kamala is certainly willing to exploit the similarity to her idol, but she's not actively setting herself up as Carol's successor.
83** ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'': Bruce's cousin Jennifer gains his powers, though Bruce isn't going anywhere and she's continuing her own legal career rather than get involved in crimefighting the way he does. This doesn't stop some in-universe misogynists from whining about another woman "stealing" a hero's title from its original male owner (they're also heard complaining about "[[Film/ThorLoveAndThunder Lady Thor]]").
84* ''Series/Stargirl2020'' revolves around the title character forming a new ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica after the originals are killed off by their archenemies. In addition to Stargirl herself (a teenage girl who uses the costume and staff of the deceased ComicBook/{{Starman}}), so far we have:
85** Yolanda Montez, a Latina girl who takes over the ComicBook/{{Wildcat}} identity from Ted Grant, a white male.
86** Beth Chapel, an African-American girl who takes over the Doctor Mid-Nite identity from Charles [=McNider=], another white male.
87** On the villains' side, the new Fiddler is Anaya Bowin, a woman of Indian descent who is married to the original white male Fiddler.
88[[/folder]]
89
90[[folder:Radio]]
91* A tragic but heartwarming real-life example of this occurred with the political podcast ''The Michael Brooks Show'' when the titular host passed away from a sudden health condition. The day after his passing, his sister Lisha took up the mantle as the host of the (still unchanged) show alongside its two prior hosts, Matt and David.
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Roleplay]]
95* ''My Superhero Legacy'', a LegacyCharacter-themed {{Superhero}} RP, has an example in Tae-hyun Chong, the fourth [[BlowYouAway Windwing]]. While the previous bearers were white, presumably cishet men, Tae-hyun is a queer Korean-American.
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
99* Bunker of ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'', like Captain America, both inverts and plays it straight. The current, main-timeline Bunker is white. A promo card depicts the World War II-era Bunker as a black man. And an alternate-future version of the character is also black.
100** Played straight with (aheh) Legacy, whose [[SuperpowerfulGenetics inherited abilities]] are passed down only to the first child in each generation. Said firstborn has been a son for long enough that the primary Legacy, the third to bear the identity, is Paul Parsons ''VIII''; his successor in the role is his daughter Pauline.
101* In ''TabletopGame/FreedomCity'', Raven II was the daughter of the original male Raven, and Johnny Rocket II is the original's gay grandson. The third edition, among other changes, introduces a new Lady Liberty; while the first three were white cis women, Sonja Gutierrez is Hispanic and trans.
102* In the 9th edition of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', the title of [[FourStarBadass Lord Castellan of Cadia]] passes down from Ursarkar E. Creed (a man) to his daughter Ursula Creed, Ursarkar himself having been abducted by the Necron Lord [[CollectorOfTheStrange Trazyn the Infinite]] at the tail end of 7th edition.
103[[/folder]]
104
105[[folder:Video Games]]
106* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy'' standard LegacyCharacter Cid has a granddaughter named Cidney in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''.
107* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'' newcomer, Kimberly, is the pupil of the ways of Bushin-ryu, who follows the steps of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' protagonist Guy, and his mentor, Zeku, before her.
108[[/folder]]
109
110[[folder:Webcomics]]
111* In ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'', [[http://www.shortpacked.com/comic/mammobombs Amber created]] the non-{{stripperiffic}} persona of '''AMAZI-GIRL''' in order to provide an actual female superhero role model, both for herself and others. When Lucy (who is black) was hired to the store, she bonded with Amber over the lack of female role models in comics. Later, after Amber has left the store, a thief is in the stockroom, and Robin [[http://www.shortpacked.com/comic/ready unveils the Amazi-Girl outfit]] for Lucy.
112-->'''Schtick-Shift:''' ...the hell do you think ''you'' are?\
113'''Lucy:''' I'm the new Amazi-Girl.\
114'''Robin:''' ''[from off-panel]'' [-psst, say it like it's a logo-]\
115'''Lucy:''' What?\
116'''Robin:''' [-like in comic books. say it like it's a logo-]\
117'''Lucy:''' Robin, this ''isn't'' a comic book. You can tell because I'm a woman with agency.\
118'''Robin:''' [-doooo eeeet-]\
119'''Lucy:''' ...I'm the new [[AC:AMAZI-GIRL?]]\
120'''Robin:''' [-muy bueno-]\
121'''Lucy:''' I said it the ''same way''.
122** In the end, Lucy decides Amazi-Girl brings out a side of her she doesn't like and decides not to take up the mantle. [[spoiler:But she does put the cape back on when the Soggies invade in the GrandFinale.]]
123[[/folder]]
124
125[[folder:Web Original]]
126* ComicBook/LessThanThreeComics' Brat Pack had mention of the future descendants of Uncle Sam (II). Sam married the daughter of black superheroine, Talon, and their children went on to become Uncle Sam III, and Miss Liberty II (after Uncle Sam II's mother (The original Uncle Sam was his grandfather, a UsefulNotes/{{W|orldWarII}}WII hero, and the <3-Verse's Captain America analog, a power which continued along the family line)).
127* Parodied in [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/marvel-reimagines-green-goblin-as-lefthanded,36507/ this]] article from Website/TheOnion, which announces Marvel is making a new version of the Green Goblin...left-handed.
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Western Animation]]
131* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' has a meta example with Kaldur'ahm/Aqualad; however, in this continuity Garth [[RefusalOfTheCall never became Aqualad]], instead going straight to his Tempest identity. The series also has Mal Duncan take on the Guardian identity after the original abandoned it, like his original comic book incarnation (see above). In this version, Mal was never Herald. We also have Jaime as the Blue Beetle, with his Caucasian forebears, Ted Kord and Dan Garrett, both mentioned.
132** In ''Outsiders'', Kaldur becomes the second Aquaman succeding Arthur Curry.
133* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' tends to use minority legacy heroes in favor of their predecessors, despite the show being primarily influenced by UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|Of Comic Books}}. The Jaime Reyes version of Blue Beetle, the Ryan Choi version of the Atom, and the Jason Rusch version of Firestorm are all used in major roles on the show. The only white legacy hero on the show is Dinah Lance, the second ComicBook/BlackCanary (the first being her mother, whom she's named after), the two exceptions being the Vic Sage version of the Question rather than Renee Montoya, and B'wana Beast instead of Freedom Beast. ''Brave and the Bold'' is essentially Modern Age comics with a Silver Age flair. Note that the originals sometimes appear as well. For example, two entire {{Flashback}} episodes dealt specifically with Ted Kord (Blue Beetle II).
134* The Franchise/{{Justice League|Of America}} featured in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has several examples of this. The new Franchise/GreenLantern is a Tibetan teenager named Kai-ro and ComicBook/TheAtom's successor is a black man known as Micron.
135* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' had an [[CanonForeigner entirely new character]] as the first Clayface; a black police officer named Ethan Bennett. Something of an inverse as well since the show established Basil Karlo (who was the first Clayface in the comics) as Bennett's successor.
136* In ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', Peter briefly utilizes the Iron Spider armor and identity before ditching it. The Iron Spider identity reappears in Season 3, where it is taken up by the Korean-American prodigy Amadeus Cho (who's presented as Peter's academic rival). Several other Spideys appear, including Miles Morales. Much like his comics counterpart, he became Spider-Man after the death of his universe's Peter Parker. The main Peter Parker is understandably very stunned by this (especially when he sees the gravestone) after meeting Miles and being told the story. He later reassures Miles, since Miles feels burdened that he could've done something sooner to save the other Peter, so that he can fully embrace his new role and mantle.
137* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra,'' a SequelSeries to ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' has Korra as the new Avatar. This is more of a meta example--Aang was not the first Avatar, and successors are always from a different nation and often opposite gender to their immediate forebears. Aang is male and from a Tibetan FantasyCounterpartCulture, but could pass for European in [[{{Animesque}} the show's art style]]; Korra is female, darker-skinned (being from a fantastical EskimoLand equivalent) and [[spoiler:bisexual]].
138* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}},'' the Hunters are a group of humans (eventually all part of the Canmore family) who hunt gargoyles, particularly [[BigBad Demona]]. While all the earliest one whom we've seen were male, there was a female Hunter (Fiona Canmore) as early as 1920; the modern age saw the title shared by Robyn Canmore and her two brothers.
139* In ''WesternAnimation/NextAvengersHeroesOfTomorrow,'' Thor's successor is his daughter, Torunn. {{Inverted|Trope}} with Pym, who becomes a male Wasp rather than succeeding his father as Giant-Man.
140[[/folder]]

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