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| 3 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
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| 6 | %% Image revised per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1600721532048563500 |
| 7 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
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| 9 | [[quoteright:197:[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/luigidivergence.png]]]] |
| 10 | [[caption-width-right:197:Not just a PaletteSwap anymore.]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | Named after the biological phenomenon known as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divergent_evolution Divergent Evolution]], where two closely related species develop wildly different traits over time. Here it means an act of CharacterDevelopment wherein a character who was extremely similar to another character is given his or her own identity. |
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| 14 | This is extremely common in video games, where characters who were originally identical to the lead (usually to allow for two-player play, [[SendInTheClones or just because the lead is popular]]) are often given their own special abilities and personality quirks in later games. It can also happen in {{crossover}}s when two characters that were very similar in their own series are allowed to [[CastSpeciation interact with each other]]. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Related to DerivativeDifferentiation. See also CastSpeciation, NotSoSimilar, ReplacementFlatCharacter, MirrorCharacter. Compare CharacterizationMarchesOn. For in-universe examples, see DuplicateDivergence and TwinDesynch. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | !!Example subpages: |
| 20 | [[index]] |
| 21 | * DivergentCharacterEvolution/VideoGames |
| 22 | ** ''DivergentCharacterEvolution/SpyroReignitedTrilogy'' |
| 23 | * DivergentCharacterEvolution/WesternAnimation |
| 24 | [[/index]] |
| 25 | |
| 26 | !!Other examples: |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 30 | * Yakko from ''Anime/AkazukinChaCha'' started as Chacha's DarkActionGirl counterpart in her first appearance. After that, she switches from magic to alchemy. |
| 31 | * ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'': Muramatsu and Yoshida were simply just Terasaka's two lackeys, but they weren't as quirky as Terasaka. They later gain distinctive individual traits and interests; Muramatsu is a SupremeChef and becomes more snarky, while Yoshida's interests in vehicles eventually leads to him crafting some of those. Similarly, Hazama who was also hanging a lot with the delinquent trio also has become more distinct and her interests in dark literature and dark writing is often used for some jokes. |
| 32 | * In ''Manga/AstroBoy'', Astro usually has black "hair" just like the boy he's modeled after (Tobio). In the 2003 anime, Tobio has brown hair to differentiate them more. This change also helps establish Astro more as a failed ReplacementGoldfish. |
| 33 | * Played straight and also zig-zagged in ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita: Last Order''. Sechs, Elf, and Zwölf start as clones of Alita in the Tuned arc of the first series, but by the time they are reunited at the start of Last Order, Elf and Zwölf have switched to more waifish bodies and Sechs has gone feral. Sechs's divergence continues when she [[spoiler:switches to a male body]], while Elf and Zwölf's [[spoiler:similarity to Alita actually increases over time]]. |
| 34 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': |
| 35 | ** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': |
| 36 | *** Kale, the Universe 6 Saiyan, was created due to Broly's popularity. The first time she turned Super Saiyan, she behaved like a [[DistaffCounterpart gender-swapped]] Broly of [[Anime/DragonBallZBrolySecondComing Movie 10]]. However, this side of her slowly changed so that her berserker transformation was treated more like a Hulk-like SuperpoweredEvilSide blinded by rage, instead of Broly's AxCrazy BloodKnight personality. By the end of the series, she managed to control such power and become distinct enough in terms of [[GirlyBruiser moveset]] and character relationship compared to her inspiration. |
| 37 | *** No. 17 and No. 18 didn't have very distinct movesets, and such, video games would often give them some moves of the other. It isn't until the Tournament of Power that their movesets start to differentiate from each other, as No. 17's Barrier becomes his SignatureMove and has different variations of it, whereas his older twin never uses a Barrier in the entire series since her introduction in the Cell Saga. In fact, No. 18's movesets is rather generic for the series' standard. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/ElfenLied'': The manga gives us Mariko's four successful clones that were created by Dr. Nousou, named Alicia, Barbara, Cynthia, and Diana. They all share the same personality, either with or without the MindControlDevice. However, despite being essentially the same character, each of the four clones has distinct roles in the narrative. [[spoiler:Diana serves as an early SacrificialLamb to demonstrate how far their TykeBomb treat goes, but she later returns as a ChekhovsGunman and the HopeSpot for Arakawa. Alicia and Barbara display their heroic UndyingLoyalty to Nousou by trying to save his life even when he orders them to abandon him, resulting in Alicia getting killed by Lucy. Cynthia, who got [[HalfTheWomanSheUsedToBe cut in half]] by Lucy earlier in the raid, manages to land a sneak attack on her before Lucy can kill Barbara, but half-dead Cynthia is discovered by Dr. Kurama and dies in his arms, which brings back his trauma of losing Mariko again. At the hospital, having become curious about Alicia and Barbara's love for him, he removes Barbara's MindControlDevice from her head, which results in her killing him for his past sins. Barbara would then go out of her way to fight Nana and be confronted by Kurama, with the result of the conflict ending Kurama's journey of coming to terms with Mariko's death.]] |
| 39 | * In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', Jumonji, Kuroki, and Togano started out as stereotypical delinquents. This didn't last, with Togano becoming an aspiring artist, Jumonji outed as a smart guy hanging out with the wrong crowd, and Kuroki remaining a typical, but friendlier, thug. Despite all being linemen, they also began to be differentiated by their abilities, with Kuroki being the fastest, Togano the strongest and Jumonji the smartest and most technically skilled. |
| 40 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has [[ThoseTwoGuys Maria Ross and Denny Brosh.]] In their first appearance, they're mainly comic relief and thus rather similar in personality. ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' delegates this role to Brosh and makes Ross more serious; it also develops her into something of a surrogate mother figure for Edward. The manga followed suit to an extent, throwing Ross into the serious portions of the plot and [[OutOfFocus leaving Brosh on the sidelines.]] |
| 41 | * ''Manga/GunslingerGirl Teatrino'' does this to Angelica and Claes in terms of design. In the manga and original anime they both have long, blueish-black hair and blue eyes. ''Teatrino'' [[AdaptationDyeJob changed]] Angelica's design so that she has brown hair and green eyes. |
| 42 | * ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': |
| 43 | ** In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', [[TheHero Nanoha]] and [[TheLancer Fate]] initially functioned very similarly in combat, save that Fate had more of a preference for Melee combat due to Bardiche's [[SinisterScythe Scythe Form]]. Starting in ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]'' Fate began to become more of a FragileSpeedster while Nanoha continued becoming more and more of a MightyGlacier. This trend continued in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers''. |
| 44 | ** When the plot from [[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable the video games]] was adapted into a [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaReflection two]] [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaDetonation part]] movie, the Materials (the {{Evil Twin}}s of Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate) were all given unique weapons rather than simply having recolors of their originals'. |
| 45 | * ''Manga/MigiAndDali'', being about scheming twins, initially had them start out as pretty similar (and intentionally so since they're pretending to be one person). However, as time goes on they become very distinct from each other; Migi was more emotional, a bit dumb, and often seemed to rely on Dali to come up with plans (but had a knack for impersonating his foster mother), while Dali tries to position himself as the older brother but has a hot temper and a BigBrotherInstinct when Migi is pushed too far. |
| 46 | * ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' featured a replacement twin who at first appears a lot like his [[spoiler:murdered]] twin older brother. This lasts about three episodes when he starts to get pissed by it and shows some people he is very different. In the end, they are not 'that' different... they have similar core personalities, but simply handle life differently starting from there: |
| 47 | ** [[spoiler:Remarked when the surviving twin kills the BloodKnight who murdered his entire family, and who his brother died trying to get revenge against - yet doesn't do it out of revenge, but because the other rejected the LastSecondChance he gave him. Well, that and the guy was about to shoot ''him''.]] |
| 48 | ** Outside of piloting the same Gundam set, they had slightly different inclinations. [[spoiler:Neal]] was pretty much "The Sniper" of the team and would only resort to full frontal combat in dire situations. On the other hand, [[spoiler:Lyle]] was more well rounded and while he was a skilled sniper as well, he usually would eschew the rifle in favor of his handguns. You can see this better when the third gundam, which is tailored closer to his own abilities, puts more emphasis on multi-targeting over outright sniping. |
| 49 | * And then there's ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamSEEDAstray'', where the titular Astray Frames start out as palette swaps of each other until they end up in the hands of three different pilots: hot-blooded mechanic Lowe gives his Red Frame a silly loadout of melee weapons such as katanas and a makeshift [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Shining Finger]], cool mercenary Gai outfits the Blue Frame with a large arsenal of guns and artillery, and BigBad Rondo customizes the Gold Frame using parts scavenged from the recently destroyed [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Blitz Gundam]], granting it stealth and pilebunkers. |
| 50 | * Sakura and Ino from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' were originally both depicted as rather mean Sasuke fangirls. By the end of the Forest of Death, Sakura took a huge leap in terms of character development. She became nicer, her feelings for Sasuke were developing into actual love, and she received an ImportantHaircut. After Ino and Sakura rekindled their friendship, Ino began behaving nicer too and eventually stopped crushing on Sasuke. By ''Shippuden'' Ino was more fashionable and upbeat than Sakura, while Sakura became more tomboyish and fought with her fists more. In-series, Sakura and Ino actually were more individual pre-series but became more bratty and similar after they learned they both liked Sasuke. |
| 51 | * The twins, Homare and Misao in ''Manga/OkaneGaNai''. There is no way to distinguish them from one another by appearance, but over the course of the series Homare is shown to be much more emotional, and eventually he realizes he is wildly in love with Ayase. |
| 52 | * The Matsuno brothers of ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'' started out as generally similar-acting sextuplets. By the sequel series ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'', they've all grown personalities and appearances to set themselves apart: Osomatsu becomes a bullheaded young man with an "act first, think later" mentality, [[CasanovaWannabe Karamatsu]] tries acting cool to impress girls, [[NotSoAboveItAll Choromatsu]] finds fault with the gang's actions even if he indulges in them himself, [[LazyBum Ichimatsu]] became apathetic and lazy, [[{{Keet}} Jyuushimatsu]] is a ball of energy, and [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide Todomatsu]] became a manipulative SocialClimber. For sake of the audience, they were also made ColorCodedCharacters. |
| 53 | * The twins Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin from ''Anime/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' start out as SingleMindedTwins, but start to show differences in their personalities once they realize that Haruhi can tell them apart. [[spoiler:Kaoru becomes the more mature of the two, but is overly self-sacrificing. By the time the mini-arc is over, they're beginning to force themselves to grow apart by dying their hair and nearly drop the twincest act, but decide that is too much.]] |
| 54 | * The Nakano sisters of ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets''. As children, they were so alike it was all but impossible to tell them apart, but by the present time they've all diverged in personality and appearance: |
| 55 | ** Ichika has BoyishShortHair and [[TheTease developed a flirtatious personality]]. She aspires to become an actress. |
| 56 | ** Nino is the only one who keeps her long hair, with two butterfly-shaped ribbons, and is a {{Tsundere}} that leans more to the Tsun-tsun side. |
| 57 | ** Miku has medium-length hair, is a [[ShrinkingViolet quiet and withdrawn]] and [[HeadphonesEqualIsolation wears a pair of large headphones around her neck]]. |
| 58 | ** Yotsuba has short hair with a bunny-ears-like ribbon, is [[GenkiGirl cheerful and lively]] and [[PassionateSportsGirl the most athletic of the four]]. She's also the [[TheDitz less]] [[DumbJock academically-inclined]] of the five. |
| 59 | ** Itsuki has an IdiotHair and is also a {{Tsundere}}, but less abrassive than Nino. She's quite stubborn and prideful and often tries to act more mature than she really is. |
| 60 | * Repeatedly happened to Minako/Sailor Venus from ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', who Usagi was originally an expy of. In the [[Manga/SailorMoon original manga]], the main difference is Venus' superhero persona is much more capable and composed. Other adaptations played with these extremes. [[Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon Her live-action self]] was made almost completely serious and sober, while TheNineties [[Anime/SailorMoon animated counterpart]] is an outright Fruit Loop. |
| 61 | * The Big Five in ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Initially they're an OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness, with the collective goal of taking over [=KaibaCorp=] for unspecified, but undoubtedly sinister intentions. In the "Virtual Nightmare" arc, they're all given separate personalities and objectives, and while they all share the goal of defeating Kaiba and escaping into the real world, their reasons for hating him are fleshed out, with them gaining separate backstories and motivations. BigBad Oshita/[[DubNameChange Ganzley]] and AmoralAttorney [[EvilGenius Ooka]]/[[DubNameChange Johnson]] are just greedy while the latter is also a cheating coward, the rather pitiable Otaki/[[DubNameChange Crump]] is furious at Kaiba for mocking his penguin obsession, [[TheBrute Ota]]/[[DubNameChange Nezbitt's]] angry about his work being disposed of and his lab destroyed, and [[TheDragon Daimon]]/[[DubNameChange Leichter's]] TheResenter par excellence and believes that he should have inherited the company. |
| 62 | * This has become one of the most attractive traits of the ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' franchise's series. Each series contains a CastOfExpies of characters from a or multiple previous series, only for their differences to become apparent through CharacterDevelopment as their series goes on. Some of the more prominent examples: |
| 63 | ** Manjoume of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' starts out as the hero's Seto Kaiba, but unlike Kaiba, he eventually overcomes his arrogance, obsession with defeating the hero, and antipathy to friendship and is able to progress much further as a duelist and a person at every opportunity where Kaiba explicitly refused to change. |
| 64 | ** Another ''GX'' Kaiba expy, Kaiser Ryo, starts out heroic if aloof, but his need to be the best eventually drives him to full-blown villainy -- the opposite of Kaiba's arc and much more extreme. |
| 65 | ** ''Anime/{{Yu Gi Oh 5Ds}}'' character Sherry takes after ''GX'' character Edo Phoenix, but whereas Edo was an AntiHero whose quest for his father's killer led him to become more heroic over time, Sherry starts off as a hero whose quest for her parents' killer eventually drives her to a temporary FaceHeelTurn. |
| 66 | [[/folder]] |
| 67 | |
| 68 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 69 | * When ComicBook/AlphaFlight first appeared in the pages of ''ComicBook/XMen'', the twins Northstar and Aurora first appeared as HalfIdenticalTwins with identical mutant powers (super speed, flight, and generating blinding light when they touch), matching costumes, and being stereotypical Snooty Quebecois. But when Alpha Flight spun off into its own series, this trope came into play. Northstar had long disapproved of Aurora's relationship with teammate Sasquatch, and when things came to a head, she ended their informal partnership and had Sasquatch, a geneticist, alter her powers to be distinct from her brother's so that she could generate light on her own, at the cost of her speed being slightly slower. She also designed a new costume for herself. Even though they eventually healed their rift, they remained distinct and even developed further, with Aurora being defined by her SplitPersonality and tumultuous romances, while Northstar came out as gay (the first mainstream superhero to do so) and has closer ties with the X-Men. |
| 70 | * In the early 2000s ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' tried to censor reprint issues containing Cheryl Blossom, who was a controversial character due to being [[MsFanservice very fanservicey]] even compared to Veronica. They created Ginger Lopez and replaced Cheryl with her. Eventually they stopped this practice but made Ginger into an individual character. This involved smoothing out her design a little bit, so her earliest appearances have a more angular look similar to Cheryl's. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'': Inverted. Before 2011, the 'canon' Batgirls were quite distinct. Barbara Gordon was at the time written as a woman in her 20s, a librarian by day who was quite intelligent and took crime-fighting as seriously as Batman did, before retiring. Cassandra Cain was a taciturn, dyslexic OneManArmy who took saving lives more seriously than Batman due to her traumatic childhood. Stephanie Brown was a FunPersonified GenkiGirl who had been fighting crime since she was 15 under other aliases before being given the costume. Essentially, they fell into the same archetypes the Robins did, with Barbara as the brains, Cass as the muscle, and Steph as the heart. After ''ComicBook/TheNew52'' though, Cass and Steph were PutOnABus while Barbara was [[ThrowingOffTheDisability cured of her paralysis]] and returned to being the sole Batgirl, and her ''ComicBook/Batgirl2011'' adventures had her become DenserAndWackier, with a personality similar to Stephanie (by coincidence; her writer at the time, Brendan Fletcher, claims to have never actually read Steph's book and just believed Batgirl-as-a-concept should be FunPersonified regardless of who wears the cowl), and it was treated as if Barbara [[RetCon had always been this way]]. |
| 72 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': During the '60s, Batman's major enemies were giggling, haughty robbers with different gimmicks. In modern times, they've gone in very different directions: the Joker is a terrifying homicidal lunatic, the Penguin is a crafty businessman and black marketer, Catwoman became a morally ambiguous antihero, Two-Face is a tormented gangster with a {{split personality}}, Poison Ivy is a [[TheVamp seductive]] ecoterrorist, Mister Freeze is a brilliant and stoic {{mad scientist}}, etc. The Riddler has struggled a bit, at various times being a [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins cybercriminal]], a [[ComicBook/{{Joker}} drug dealer]], a private eye, or just a resentful guy trying to lash out at his former employers. |
| 73 | * ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} started out in 1964 as a slight variation on Creator/MarvelComics' then-recent {{breakout character}} ComicBook/SpiderMan: a bespectacled {{everyman}} New Yorker who lived a double life as an acrobatic [[RedIsHeroic red-suited]] superhero, was [[YouKilledMyFather motivated by the death of a father figure]] (in this case, his actual father), and spent a lot of time swinging between buildings. His distinctions were that he was [[DisabilitySuperpower blind]], worked as a lawyer (instead of a newspaper photographer), was from Manhattan (instead of Queens), and had a devil gimmick (instead of a spider), but they were otherwise noticeably similar. Creator/FrankMiller's seminal run in the 1980s is generally credited with bringing Matt Murdock out of Peter Parker's shadow; he established Daredevil as a hard-bitten crimefighter with strong FilmNoir influences, cemented the merciless mob boss "The Kingpin" as his ArchEnemy, and made his tragic love affair with ComicBook/{{Elektra}} a lynchpin of his story.[[note]] Ironically, the Kingpin actually started as a villain in ''Spider-Man's'' RoguesGallery but became permanently associated with Daredevil thanks to Miller's influence.[[/note]] With the introduction of Daredevil's mentor Stick, he also retroactively established him as a highly-skilled [[IKnowKungFu martial artist]] with years of training--contrasting Peter Parker, who was a science nerd who mostly taught himself to fight. |
| 74 | * In the 1980s DC introduced ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}}, a BadassNormal mercenary who frequently fought the ComicBook/TeenTitans. A few years later Marvel would introduce ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, essentially an expy of Deathstroke with a slightly different costume. However, while Deathstroke has remained pretty much the same over the years, Deadpool has transformed into a [[NoFourthWall fourth wall breaking]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} cloudcuckoolander]] with [[GoodThingYouCanHeal powerful healing abilities.]] |
| 75 | * [[ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics Disney]]: |
| 76 | ** The 1940s ''José Carioca'' comics made in the US introduced José's neighbors, a black bird named Nestor and a white bird named João, who were drawn similarly and often appeared as Main/ThoseTwoGuys who were seen either helping José in his schemes for blending into the high society or [[SarcasticDevotee mocking him for his wannabe aristocratic lifestyle]]. After José's comic strip ended its run in 1944, the characters became considerably different. |
| 77 | *** Nestor was brought back by the Brazilian comics in 1967 as José's [[BestFriend closest friend]], and has since become one of the most prominent characters in the locally made stories. Over the years, he also went through considerable Main/ArtEvolution, which gave him a shorter round beak, different clothes, and a new "hairstyle", with very distinctive round feathers in his head. |
| 78 | *** João, on the other hand, was mostly forgotten for decades, appearing only in a handful of Brazilian stories before making a comeback in the Dutch comics. However, since those stories are made in the style of the old US comics, his appearance and personality remained unchanged. |
| 79 | * ''ComicBook/ElongatedMan'' was originally conceptualized as a CaptainErsatz of ''ComicBook/PlasticMan''... except for the fact that DC Comics had acquired the latter's rights. Realizing the inherent problems of having [[CastSpeciation two different]] [[RubberMan stretchy superheroes]], DC began playing up Elongated Man's detective skills and Plastic Man's zaniness. |
| 80 | * When ComicBook/GreenArrow started out, he ''was'' ComicBook/{{Batman}}, except with a Robin Hood costume, and all his gadgets had arrows stuck to them instead of looking like bats. Rich playboy persona, underground cave, goofy-themed car, red-clad teen sidekick, he had it all. Later books evolved him to be fairly different from Batman, highlighting Oliver Queen's "playboy" part over the "rich" part. He eventually branched into politics of all things, becoming a famously loud-spoken far-left activist, something fairly unheard of among superheroes at the time. |
| 81 | * ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' Guy Gardner started out somewhat more generic when he was first introduced as the other guy the ring could have gone to but was developed into a {{Jerkass}} when he became a regular (and then a JerkWithAHeartOfGold). Johns went to even further lengths to distinguish the various Lanterns, when he brought back Hal Jordan and the Corps by showing how the personalities of the Lanterns affected how they used (or didn't use) their rings and what sort of constructs they built. Case in point, ''ComicBook/GreenLanternRebirth'' goes into detail about the way Rayner, Gardner, Stewart, Jordan, and Kilowog use their rings. Stewart, being an architect, has constructs that look like a blueprint, with every individual detail within them planned out. Rayner, being an artist, often uses a construct pencil to "draw" other constructs, and the eraser construct to change details about them. Gardner's ring is literally leaking green light at all times, because "his willpower can't wait to escape". Jordan likes to go for a combination of brute force and precision, hence boxing gloves, missiles, etc. Kilowog's is the only ring among the regularly appearing characters that makes a sound, and it sounds like a cannon. |
| 82 | * In ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'', all of the characters originally came from self-contained comic books, and they all played the role of TheHero to their own supporting casts. After they united to form the Justice League, their personalities became more diversified so that they could play off of each other more effectively. Franchise/{{Superman}} became more friendly and idealistic, Franchise/{{Batman}} became more cold and stoic, Franchise/WonderWoman became more proud and regal, Franchise/GreenLantern became more cocky and adventurous, and Franchise/TheFlash became more plucky and fun-loving. |
| 83 | * ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' started out as a precursor to the more well-known ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''. Like the League, the Society was an alliance of Creator/DCComics superheroes who joined together to fight evildoers too strong for just one of them. But once the Society was revived after the Justice League became a major hit, the writers had to find a new core concept for the team so that they wouldn't be too similar. They went through several different schticks over the years; first they were an {{alternate universe}} version of the Justice League, then [[RetiredBadass an aging group of semi-retired superheroes]], then a group of [[OldSuperhero senior citizen superheroes]], and then--[[GrowingTheBeard most successfully]]--a multigenerational [[TrueCompanions family]] of superheroes who united to [[PassingTheTorch train the next generation of heroes]]. In the first issue of Creator/GeoffJohns' 2007 run, ComicBook/{{Batman}} explicitly lays out the differences between the two of them: |
| 84 | -->"The Justice League is a strike force. The Justice Society is a family." |
| 85 | * Creator/AlanMoore's seminal ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'' run does this for most of the characters from Mick Anglo's original ''Marvelman''. Since ''Marvelman'' was conceived as a British answer to ''[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]'' after it was temporarily cancelled due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers legal issues]], most of the main characters were (unsurprisingly) blatant clones of characters from ''Captain Marvel''; Marvelman was Captain Marvel, Kid Marvelman was Captain Marvel Jr., Nastyman was ComicBook/BlackAdam, Guntag Borghelm was Shazam, and so on. But since Moore's run is a complete reimagining [[TimeSkip set decades after the original]], it allows most of the characters to evolve beyond their roots. Hence: Michael Moran is (unlike Billy Batson) a jaded and cynical middle-aged man who transforms into a younger and more virile version of himself, Miracleman's loyal kid sidekick Kid Marvelman is a terrifyingly psychotic adult supervillain, and it's ultimately revealed that Guntag Borghelm never even existed--because Miracleman ''actually'' got his powers from a secret government project that designed him as a {{living weapon}} (giving him a drastically different {{origin story}} from Captain Marvel). |
| 86 | * ComicBook/MoonKnight was initially pretty much a stand-in for DC's Batman, a comparison helped by the fact he was created by a writer who was known to be a massive Batman fanboy. Both were TerrorHero BadassNormal characters with a rich playboy persona, with the biggest difference being Moon Knight [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness had a whole deal with werewolves]] and his backstory involved being a marine blessed by an Egyptian god, and he took the secret identity concept a step further by having ''three'' secret identities (a rich playboy movie producer/businessman, a working-class taxi driver, and his ''real'' identity of a retired PrivateMilitaryContractor and ex-marine). As time went on, the character's TerrorHero aspect became even more pronounced than Batman's, with him depicted as a barely-contained SociopathicHero prone to excessive violence who was a toxic influence on all his friends, his 'blessed by Egyptian moon god' became MaybeMagicMaybeMundane with a serious possibility that it was all in his head, and the alternate secret identities became legitimate split personalities. Now, Moon Knight is best known for his repeated struggles with mental illness, with occasional forays into the supernatural. Also his teen sidekick [[EvilFormerFriend became a]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborg zombie serial killer]], and his 'Alfred' became a paraplegic man and also came out of the closet. |
| 87 | * ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} and ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} were arguably created as Marvel's [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent equivalents]] of ComicBook/TheFlash and ComicBook/GreenArrow ([[JustForFun/XMeetsY "If they were villains!"]]), but grew to be quite distinctive in their own rights. After they both underwent a {{Heel Face Turn}}s and joined the Avengers, they became antiheroic superheroes with fully fleshed-out histories and character dynamics; Hawkeye's characterization was largely defined by his [[DarkAndTroubledPast checkered past]] and his [[SlapSlapKiss tumultuous relationship]] with ComicBook/BlackWidow, and Quicksilver's characterization was largely defined by his arrogance and his troubled relationship with [[ArchnemesisDad his father]] ComicBook/{{Magneto}}. |
| 88 | * ''ComicBook/{{Robin}}'': |
| 89 | ** The second Robin, Jason Todd, was originally a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for Dick Grayson who was also an orphaned acrobat, differing only in hair color and style. When the universe was revamped with ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', Jason was turned into a troubled juvenile delinquent. |
| 90 | ** The first three Robins (Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake) tend to have their differences emphasized when together. Dick is the heart, Jason is the muscle, Tim is the brains. After Damian Wayne's introduction, he tends to be the BrattyHalfPint TagalongKid. |
| 91 | * ComicBook/{{Shazam}} started out in the 1940s as "Captain Marvel", a hugely popular superhero who was inspired by and similar to ComicBook/{{Superman}}--to the point that National Comics (predecessor to Creator/DCComics) sued his publisher for copyright infringement and [[ScrewedByTheLawyers got his series cancelled]], largely because they were angry that it was outselling ''Superman''.[[note]]Today, comics historians and legal authorities generally agree that Fawcett foolishly threw in the towel because superhero stories were dipping in popularity at the time (seemingly making the character less valuable), and a publisher who understood their products and their brand would have fought a better case[[/note]] DC Comics eventually bought the rights to him, and he became a character in the Franchise/DCUniverse who inhabited the same continuity as Superman.[[note]] Funnily enough, Superman also borrowed several popular elements from Captain Marvel around that time; Captain Marvel's {{flight}} powers likely inspired Superman's, his DistaffCounterpart Mary Marvel likely inspired ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, and his young sidekick Captain Marvel Jr. likely inspired ComicBook/{{Superboy}}.[[/note]] The two characters took on their own identities after that, where Captain Marvel's stories tended to emphasize his magical origins (since he got his superpowers from a [[WizardClassic wizard]]), while Superman's stories emphasized his sci-fi origins (since he was born on another planet). Captain Marvel also became noticeably more innocent and optimistic (since he was a [[OlderAlterEgo child in an adult's body]]), while the adult Superman became wiser and more mature with age. |
| 92 | * In ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', Amy looks less "[[TertiarySexualCharacteristics Sonic but pink]]" than her initial design from ''VideoGame/SonicCD'' thanks to one lil' change: her quills. Until the final arc gave her the modern bob quillstyle, Amy wore her quills upwards instead of backward like Sonic's. |
| 93 | * When ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was first introduced in 1958, she wasn't appreciably different from ComicBook/{{Superman}} apart from her age and gender--and even her age didn't set her apart from Superman ''that'' much since she debuted when ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' (following the adventures of a teenage Clark Kent) was already a popular long-running comic book. To make her more unique, most modern interpretations of the character strongly emphasize the ChildOfTwoWorlds aspect of her backstory: unlike her cousin Kal-El (who was sent to Earth as an infant, and has effectively no memories of the planet Krypton), Kara Zor-El grew up on Krypton and wasn't sent to Earth until she was a teenager--meaning that her Kryptonian heritage is a deeply ingrained part of her identity, and she actually has to struggle to adjust to human culture. |
| 94 | * This occurred to the original comic book ''ComicBook/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|Mirage}}'', who, after starting out as flat characters, eventually began developing individual traits. The earliest issues were in black and white, but the colored issues had all their bandannas colored red. The 1987 cartoon differentiated them further by [[{{Flanderization}} focusing each Turtle's characterization on a single trait]] ("[[ExpositoryThemeTune Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines, Raphael is cool but rude, Michelangelo is a party dude!]]"), while the color coding of their bandannas happened at about the same time as the comics. All subsequent adaptations have taken their cues from that. |
| 95 | * ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'': Skywarp and Thundercracker spent a lot of time as just characters meant to fill space and be pallet swaps for Starscream. Their bios only giving them character. The IDW comics start with them just being two minions, Thundercracker slightly smarter. In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron'' they divide up, Thundercracker abandoning the cause, and Skywarp being more solidly devoted to it. Come ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'', Thundercracker has pulled a HeelFaceTurn and helps the Autobots, while Skywarp tries to prove his worth as the BigBad of Bumblebee's mini-series. |
| 96 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': In the first few issues, most of the core characters were clear [[{{Expy}} expies]] of characters from the more-popular ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. Professor X was a fatherly scientist like Mister Fantastic, the Beast was a tough-talking brute like the Thing, Marvel Girl was an innocent young ingenue with levitation abilities like Invisible Girl, Iceman was the cocky young PluckyComicRelief like the Human Torch (but with [[AnIcePerson ice powers]] instead of [[PlayingWithFire fire powers]]), and ComicBook/{{Magneto}} was a megalomaniac super-villain with a distinctive metal helmet like ComicBook/DoctorDoom. But as the series gradually became more popular, most of the characters gradually developed their own unique roles and personalities: Professor X became more of a MentorArchetype and a political activist, while his surrogate son ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} came into his own as the team leader; the Beast became a BadassBookworm who uses [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness flowery speech]], even as his appearance became more bestial [[note]] Though it should be noted that as an aviator, engineer, and astronaut, Ben Grimm is himself [[SmarterThanYouLook smarter than he looks]][[/note]]; Marvel Girl became a powerful telepath, and started going by her real name "Jean Grey"; and Magneto became a tormented WellIntentionedExtremist who eventually redeemed himself and became an antihero. As a whole, the X-Men also became established as [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Mutant freedom fighters]] [[HeroWithBadPublicity hated by most of the public]]--strongly contrasting the Four, who were beloved celebrities. |
| 97 | * ComicBook/WonderWoman ally Nubia was originally created as the "black Wonder Woman" with the exact same costume and powers, whose connection to Diana varied based on continuity. However, later appearances have made Nubia more distinct by giving her a costume that's primarily blue rather than red, and polearms as her weapon of choice. |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 101 | * In the ''ComicStrip/OverTheHedge'' comic, Verne used to be a lot more like RJ; you could usually swap their dialog with neither one seeming out of character. Then the cartoonists decided they needed more conflict. Today, Verne has so little in common with RJ that we wonder why Verne doesn't leave. (He does sometimes, but [[StatusQuoIsGod never for long]].) |
| 102 | [[/folder]] |
| 103 | |
| 104 | [[folder:Eastern Animation]] |
| 105 | * Early on ''Animation/MashaAndTheBear'', Masha's animals that live with her, a pig, a goat, and a dog, were three animals that had the same trait of running away or hiding from [[AndCallHimGeorge Masha's affections and games]]. As the series went by, the pig, who was given the name Rosie, developed her own personality as someone who liked music and dance, [[AscendedExtra she eventually became a more prominent character]], [[AnthropomorphicShift and also became a bit more anthropomorphic]]. Meanwhile [[NoNameGiven the goat and the dog]] remained as {{Flat Character}}s, appearing only in Masha's house or in scenes that required many characters. |
| 106 | [[/folder]] |
| 107 | |
| 108 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 109 | * Ninten and Ness from ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' look near identical. To distinguish Ninten from his more popular {{expy}} Ness, fans redesign Ninten in fan art. Fans almost always draw Ninten wearing a handkerchief around his neck (something taken from the live-action commercial for ''VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings''). Some differentiate him even more from Ness by changing the colors of his shirt (usually to red, white, and blue instead of its canon blue and yellow, which also comes from the commercial). |
| 110 | * Adeleine and Ado from ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}''. Officially, it's currently ambiguous whether they are the same character or not, but evidence from prior to the release of ''Kirby 64'' makes it seem fairly clear that Adeleine was at the very least originally meant to be Ado herself. Most notably, the design used for Ado in manga adaptions looks almost exactly like Adeleine's eventual look. But these days, fans who consider them to be different characters distinguish them via the different traits they sport in ''Dream Land 3'' and ''Kirby 64'' respectively. |
| 111 | * ''Fanfic/CodeGeassPaladinsOfVoltron'': The Lions mostly match up with their ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' selves but with some differences due to the new ones added to the roster. |
| 112 | ** Red is still [[PlayingWithFire Fire]]. |
| 113 | ** Blue is still [[MakingASplash Water]]. |
| 114 | ** Green is still [[GreenThumb Forest]]. |
| 115 | ** Yellow is now [[LightEmUp Light]]. |
| 116 | ** Black is still [[BlowYouAway Sky]]. |
| 117 | ** Orange is [[DishingOutDirt Earth]]. |
| 118 | ** Purple is [[CastingAShadow Darkness]] ('''[[DarkIsNotEvil WHICH DOESN'T MAKE IT EVIL!]]'''). |
| 119 | * In ''FanFic/TrollCops'', there are several characters who essentially have the same origin but diverge over time. |
| 120 | ** [[TimeMaster Dave Strider]] has abused TimeTravel to create a whole mafia of paradox clones of himself, leaving the eldest clone in charge while he fights crime as the costumed vigilante Crowbro. Most of these clones have very short life expectancies due to their nature as paradoxes, and as a result are significantly more paranoid than Alpha Dave. The eldest clone serving as TheDon, however, has somehow survived for several years in his role, but his belief that as a paradox clone, his days are numbered has led to him being significantly more open with his emotions than TheStoic Alpha Dave. Alpha Dave doesn't take kindly to the divergence, however, and ultimately their differences lead to a violent falling-out. |
| 121 | ** When she was a rookie officer, Aradia Megido was brutally attacked by the Mindfang Pirates, ending up in a coma. When all the signs pointed to her not waking up, Dr. Horuss Zahhak Jr. did an experimental procedure to copy her soul into a robot shell, which apparently proved successful despite her now being largely an EmotionlessGirl. [[spoiler:Unbeknownst to everybody, her body was then swiped by [[BigBad Tavros]], who nursed her back to health and convinced her to turn her back on the city that turned its back on her. Live!Aradia is now TheBaroness and TheDragon to Mr. Pupa, while Aradiabot is still a faithful officer in the APD.]] In a twist, though, [[spoiler:Aradiabot seems to no longer be emotionless now that her living counterpart has awakened,]] although it's subtle enough that only Equius has noticed so far. Only time will tell how that will pan out. |
| 122 | * In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', both Misty and Iris were {{Tsundere}}s whose goal was ToBeAMaster of a specific Pokémon type (Water and Dragon respectively). In ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', while Misty still keeps those aspects, Iris's WildChild traits from canon [[CharacterExaggeration are given more focus,]] and her long-term goal is to become stronger to save [[RaisedByWolves her adoptive family of Dragon-type Pokémon]] from Hunter J. |
| 123 | * In ''Fanfic/PokemonCrossing'', most villagers of the same personality act the same way aside from a few aesthetic differences. Here, several villagers get distinct personalities from each other: |
| 124 | ** Cranky: Apollo is a distinguished gentleman who looks out for the Hoenn region, while Frank is a chain-smoking rebel who kept to himself after a tragedy. Static is an overworked engineer and only close to his wife, while Butch is a reliable father who has several friends throughout his hometown of Petalburg City. |
| 125 | ** Lazy: Beau is beaten into submission by his boss Dobie, while Filbert is unwilling to commit crimes and is uneasy around his boss Judy. Benedict is more passionate and hotheaded, while Bob is a stoner who owns a hippie store. |
| 126 | * ''Webcomic/FiveYearsLater'' has a number of alien species given distinct traits to diverge them from similarly-powered aliens more. |
| 127 | ** In-series, Saiyans are descendants of Kryptonians whose colony was abandoned and eventually resettled on planet Vegeta and evolved on the planet. The evolution seems to have cost them some of the super abilities a Kryptonian can have (such as super breath and laser vision) in exchange for learning how to use ki for energy blasts and transform into a Golden Super Mode. |
| 128 | ** Eatle's design for the events of Five Years Later depicts him with wings and the ability to fly, giving him further divergence from Upchuck. |
| 129 | ** Fasttrack is listed as having enhanced smell and hearing to distinguish him a bit from fellow speed aliens. |
| 130 | ** Ditto possesses a telepathic ability to communicate among his duplicates that Echo Echo is noted in Beyond to explicitly not possess. |
| 131 | ** Toepick's species evolved from Eye Guy's Optocoid species when stranded on a planet with twelve times gravity and mutatgenic Corrodium which squashed the cartilige forms down into dumpier appearances and limited the species eye's to their faces while gaining paralyzing gas and light powers. |
| 132 | * In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', [[BigBadEnsemble Galeem and Dharkon]] were largely interchangeable [[GenericDoomsdayVillain Generic Doomsday Villains]] whose biggest difference was their [[LightDarknessJuxtaposition opposite]] [[OrderVsChaos motifs]]. ''[[https://incorrectsmashbrosquotes.tumblr.com Incorrect Smash Bros Quotes]]'' differentiates them through their [[AdaptationPersonalityChange opposite personalities]]--Galeem is a deeply neurotic DeadpanSnarker and OnlySaneMan (albeit not without [[HairTriggerTemper issues of]] [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex his own]]) while Dharkon is an energetic, [[{{Manchild}} somewhat childish]] {{Keet}} who lacks any sort of impulse control, common sense, or brain cells. |
| 133 | * In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' canon, Tom and his second Yeerk [[TheDividual never appeared apart]] once the latter was introduced. In ''Fanfic/WhatTomorrowBrings'', the real Tom is one of the narrators, while [[NamedByTheAdaptation Feriss 512]] makes multiple appearances in his previous human host. |
| 134 | * In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', Chloé and Lila fill similar roles: they're both {{Alpha Bitch}}es who love to torment Marinette, are {{Abhorrent Admirer}}s of Adrien, and eventually [[spoiler:team up with the BigBad]]. In ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'', while Chloé remains the same (if not worse), Lila ends up undergoing CharacterDevelopment and becoming a nicer person in order to distinguish her from the other girl. |
| 135 | * ''Fanfic/CNAkumas'': |
| 136 | ** In [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998 the original]] ''Powerpuff Girls'' cartoon, the Rowdyruff Boys started out nigh-identical to each other but eventually started getting their own individual personality traits. ''CN Akumas'' ends up taking the divergence even further -- Boomer is a vain BrainlessBeauty but also the nicest of the three, Brick is the hotheaded leader with some HiddenDepths, and Butch is both the meanest of the three and TheStoner. |
| 137 | ** In ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'', Susan and Mary were practically SingleMindedTwins, with only one or two minor personality differences between them. In ''CN Akumas'', they’ve been re-written to be a downplayed example of TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry; Mary is still intelligent but more outgoing, fashionable, and superstitious, while Susan is introverted and highly logical in her thinking. |
| 138 | [[/folder]] |
| 139 | |
| 140 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 141 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'' series: In the original, Drizella and Anastasia are nearly indistinguishable, in terms of personality, except that Drizella tends to take the lead. [[WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIDreamsComeTrue The]] [[WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime sequels]] develop this, making Drizella truly mean-spirited, but Anastasia a doormat who's been overpowered by her mother and sister all her life, and who eventually undergoes a HeelFaceTurn and full-on redemption. |
| 142 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' Ariel's sisters had more-or-less the same face and no known personalities. Future adaptations, such as the ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1992'' cartoon, licensed comics, and ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidArielsBeginning'' prequel film, give them more varying designs and more individualized personalities. |
| 143 | [[/folder]] |
| 144 | |
| 145 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 146 | * ''Film/CruelIntentions'' inverts it. In the original movie, both Kathryn and Sebastian are attractive, [[MagnificentBastard intelligent]] young people who pride themselves on their ability to [[ReallyGetsAround bed any member of the opposite sex they choose]]. The two main differences between them are [[DistaffCounterpart their sex organs]] and the expectations society has of them due to said organs. In the prequel ''Film/CruelIntentions2'', [[spoiler:Sebastian is kind and considerate, and Kathryn is cold, calculating, and uses sex as a weapon; and frequently destroys other people's lives for her own amusement or revenge. Both try to convert the other to their way of thinking, but Sebastian is broken by Kathryn and ends up becoming a male version of her.]] |
| 147 | * ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' gives Crabbe and Goyle some defining quirks and characteristics. Crabbe becomes the group's ButtMonkey who Malfoy constantly abuses, while Goyle becomes Malfoy’s right-hand man. Crabbe was also given a few running gags, such as getting injured in his ass, supporting Harry (much to Draco’s annoyance), and [[NotSoAboveItAll letting his emotions get the better off him (also to Draco’s annoyance)]]. Goyle meanwhile is portrayed as [[TheQuietOne quiet]], [[SmugSnake smug]], meaner, and [[HairTriggerTemper having a very short temper]]. He also tries to punch his way out of most situations (such as hitting a firework or trying to punch the spider on Draco’s face). |
| 148 | * ''Film/ThePrestige'' is a very impressive and interesting example as you don't even realize there ''is'' a [[ThoseTwoGuys duo]] until the end of the movie. [[spoiler:Creator/ChristianBale is actually playing two characters, identical twins who regularly [[TwinSwitch take turns playing the role of Alfred Borden]]. If you [[RewatchBonus rewatch the movie with that in mind]], you'll slowly discover that, far from being TheDividual they initially appear as, the twins have very different personalities that [[CharacterDevelopment develop]] in distinct ways over the course of the film. The one who gets framed for murder by Angier is very passionate and [[HairTriggerTemper hot-tempered]], is obsessed with upholding the StageMagician craft, was in love with the stagehand Olivia, [[{{Archenemy}} hates Angier deeply]], and was probably the one who started the whole mess by tying the knot that causes Angier's wife to drown in a performance gone wrong. The one who [[EarnYourHappyEnding walks off into the sunset]] at the end is a much more laidback NiceGuy who loved and married Sarah (and is the father of her child), regularly [[ReconcileTheBitterFoes tries to defuse tensions with Angier]], and quickly realizes that the feud is going way too far, but he is also an ExtremeDoormat who fails to stand up to his brother until far too late.]] |
| 149 | * Leon from ''Film/TheProfessional'' came to be when Creator/LucBesson noticed Creator/JeanReno's character in ''[[Film/{{Nikita}} La Femme Nikita]]'', Victor the Cleaner (also a ConsummateProfessional implacable hitman), was kind of wasted as a One-Scene Wonder, and so decided to make a movie centered around an {{Expy}} of him, played by the same actor. But along the project León and Victor ended up diverging, so while they're both extremely skilled hitmen, Victor is a lot more mature and cold while León is more childlike and humane. Besson describes Léon as "Victor's more humane and principled American cousin". |
| 150 | * The ''Franchise/StarWars'' {{sequel}}s feature an odd [[ZigZaggedTrope zig-zagging]] case of this. In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', most of the main characters are implicitly framed as {{foil}}s for the main cast of the Original Trilogy: Rey is a Force-sensitive orphan from a backwater desert planet (like Luke Skywalker), Poe Dameron is a cocky and rebellious {{ace pilot}} (like Han Solo), Kylo Ren is a tormented fallen Jedi dressed in black armor (like Darth Vader), and Supreme Leader Snoke is an elderly master of the Dark Side (like Emperor Palpatine). But in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', as most of the characters undergo CharacterDevelopment, it gradually becomes clear that they aren't nearly as similar to their counterparts in the Original Trilogy as they initially seemed: Rey is revealed to be [[spoiler:the child of two impoverished junk traders who sold her into slavery]]; Poe is forced to grow into a responsible leader after his rebellious attitude gets him into trouble; Kylo is revealed to be a delusional WellIntentionedExtremist who considers himself AboveGoodAndEvil, and he seemingly gives up his last chance at redemption; and Snoke turns out to be [[BigBadWannabe much less powerful and important than he initially seemed]], ultimately being [[spoiler:betrayed and killed by Kylo]]. But in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', many of those changes are significantly dialed back, and the main characters are retroactively revealed to be (if anything) even '''more''' similar to their counterparts in the Original Trilogy than they initially seemed: Rey turns out to be [[spoiler:the secret descendant of a Sith Lord]] (just like Luke); Poe turns out to be a reformed spice smuggler (just like Han); Kylo ends up as Emperor Palpatine's apprentice, and ultimately [[spoiler:redeems himself before [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dying]]]] (just like Vader); and Snoke is revealed to be [[spoiler:a literal clone created by Emperor Palpatine to do his bidding]]. |
| 151 | * In ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014'', the individual turtles are much more visually diverse than in any past incarnation. It goes beyond [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience color coding their masks]] and weapons, to major clothing differences and physical stature. |
| 152 | ** Raphael is incredibly muscular compared to the other three. On top of that, his mask is a bandana fashioned like a do-rag, and he's covered in training bandages. He also has a character scarred on his right shoulder. |
| 153 | ** Leonardo sports shoulder guards and other samurai-style armor garments. He's also the most "average" build of the four. |
| 154 | ** Donatello is decked from head to shell in various gadgets, including goggles mounted on his forehead and stereotypically taped NerdGlasses. He's also the tallest and thinnest of the brothers. |
| 155 | ** Michelangelo has a puka shell necklace, sneakers, and a hoodie around his waist. Even when he's serious, his general facial composition still makes him look dopey. He's also the shortest and roundest turtle. |
| 156 | * The ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' would make some alterations to characters who were originally {{Palette Swap}}s. The toyline, on the other hand, was prone to repaints that maintained that tradition before an official version was introduced. |
| 157 | ** Ironhide and Ratchet were originally mini-vans colored red for Ironhide and white ambulance-styled for Ratchet. The movies have Ironhide as a black pickup truck and Ratchet was a green search and rescue-styled H-1 Hummer. |
| 158 | ** Arcee, Chromia, and Elita-1 were very similar in design as the requisite {{Fem Bot}}s, while the movie has them all as motorcycles they are individualized with different unicycle-themed robot modes and weapons. |
| 159 | ** Bumblebee and Cliffjumper are the most traditional palette swaps in the franchise, while the toyline always had a Cliffjumper redeco from a Bumblebee toy the ''Film/{{Bumblebee}}'' film has him appear solely styled after Bumblebee's Cybertronian form but never takes on an Earth form. |
| 160 | ** Frenzy and Rumble were cassette minions of Soundwave and ThoseTwoGuys to the point the fandom had an in-joke of FIBRIR "Frenzy is blue, Rumble is red" as a moniker to remember which was which, and alternatively FIRRIB because it wasn't consistent between toys and media. In the first film, Frenzy appears as his own character entirely who transforms into a boombox and is vaguely connected to Barricade rather than Soundwave. |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | |
| 163 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 164 | * In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, the faculty of Unseen University are initially portrayed as fairly interchangeable, even in the Ridcully years when they start being consistent from book to book: a bunch of old men prone to arguing about minutae. While none of them ever ''stop'' being this, the most frequently mentioned members gradually start showing further quirks: the Bursar slowly descends into madness due to having to work with Ridcully; the Dean of Pentangles is fat even by wizard standards, the most rebellious, and most prone to being affected by whatever weirdness is happening this time; the Senior Wrangler is not entirely sure about his wizardly vow of celibacy and the one who at least explains to Ponder Stibbons ''why'' he thinks everything the younger wizard says should be dismissed out of hand, and so on. |
| 165 | * ''Literature/DorkDiaries'': Nikki's best friends, Chloe Garcia and Zoey Franklin, used to be treated as one similar, inseparable pair, but later on, Chloe became more of the silly one while Zoey became the mature one of the duo. |
| 166 | * Originally, ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' were fairly interchangeable from each other. Right around the time the series switched publishers in the 1970s, however, they decided to split the characters apart, making Frank much more bookish, shy, and logical, and Joe more athletic, boisterous, and impulsive. |
| 167 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 168 | ** For most of the series, Draco's friends Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle are his interchangeable minions but in the last book, Crabbe turns out to be more ruthless than Draco when [[spoiler: he defies him and actively tries to kill Harry]]. |
| 169 | ** Fred and George are an identical pair of troublemakers (and are twins to boot). In the final book, George gets an ear blown off by dark magic, making it easy to tell them apart. And then, of course, [[spoiler:Fred dies]]. |
| 170 | *** Although, if you look closely at the scenes they're in (the clearest of which is Goblet of Fire, where we see them arguing about whether or not to [[spoiler: blackmail Ludo Bagman]]), it's clear that Fred tends to take the lead, and is the more aggressive and has the shortest fuse of the two. [[WordOfGod After the series]] George [[spoiler: marries Fred's ex-girlfriend Angelina]]. |
| 171 | ** Parvati and Lavender are two girls who spend their time together and don't have any defined personality traits to distinguish them. But in the sixth book, Lavender becomes Ron's clingy, dramatic girlfriend. Parvati meanwhile shows embarrassment at her best friend's SickeninglySweethearts behaviour. |
| 172 | * In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' Katniss' prep team starts off as basically one character. But through ''Catching Fire'' and ''Mockingjay'', [[TheMcCoy Octavia]] is more emotionally unstable, and [[TheSpock Venia]] is slightly more level-headed than the other two. |
| 173 | * Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella Baratheon of ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' start out as ThoseTwoGuys but the latter is revealed to be WiseBeyondTheirYears when she is shipped off to Dorne. |
| 174 | * Inverted in ''Literature/StClares'', where the twin protagonists, Pat and Isabel, start off as distinct individuals--with Pat being the more rebellious and outgoing of the two. As the books went on, Pat matures and becomes as responsible as her sister is. It gets to the point where, when both twins become candidates for the school's Head Girl, the teachers decide that they are both too similar to pick one from, and they end up giving the position to ''both'' Sullivans. |
| 175 | * ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'' is one of the TropeMakers of the modern HighFantasy genre, and thus has influenced many tropes and creators within that genre. Usually, when many modern fantasy writers follow Tolkien's example, it involves altering and diverging from the min archetype to make new fantasy tropes that stick. One example is how the races of [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]] and [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Goblins]] came to be in fantasy. To Tolkien, the words "goblin" and "orc" were used interchangeably, and there was no key difference apart from language. However, as decades went by, the word "orc" became more associated with bigger, violent brutes while "goblin" was a word for smaller, sneakier monsters. The two species have diverged so much, it's why this website has a trope each for both of them. |
| 176 | [[/folder]] |
| 177 | |
| 178 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 179 | * In early episodes of ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Grizz and Dot Com were pretty much just a pair of dim-witted bulkheads who follow Tracy around. Now Grizz is an emotional soul and Dot Com is a well-spoken [[TheSmartGuy Smart Guy.]] Their initial lack of characterization can be put down to no one ever paying attention to them, which remains a RunningGag. |
| 180 | * In ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Agents Fitz and Simmons were originally treated as [[TheDividual near-identical quirky British lab techs.]] In fact, in the series premiere, they were first referred to as "[[PortmanteauCoupleName Fitz-Simmons]]" and it was only ''later'' clarified to the audience that they are in fact two separate people. Their only major differences at first were gender, place of birth, and specialty, with Leo Fitz being a male Scottish engineer and Dr. Jemma Simmons a female English biochemist. Over the course of the first season, more differences crop up; Fitz is a CowardlyLion with a crush on Simmons [[CannotSpitItOut he can’t bring himself to tell her about,]] while Simmons is a bit of a NightmareFetishist but a [[BadLiar horrible liar.]] The second season has split them up and put them in different situations several times, and by the time they admit their love and become a couple in the third season, they have both adequately evolved into separate characters. |
| 181 | * The Cylons of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' started out mass-produced, with each model line sharing an identical personality. By the end of the series, the models most sympathetic to humans, especially the Sixes and Eights, had diverged to having unique identities (and even names for the Sixes). Meanwhile, the antagonistic models such as the Cavils (Ones), Dorals (Fives), and Simons (Fours) remained monolithic and identical. |
| 182 | * In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Amy was introduced as a DistaffCounterpart to Sheldon, more or less exactly like him in every way. As the show progresses Amy began to spend time with Penny, became her "bestie", and began to open up socially, revealing a lonely and troubled childhood responsible for how she is, and developing normal desires for attention and romance from Sheldon that eventually lead to him declaring them an OfficialCouple. |
| 183 | * In the first three seasons of ''Series/{{Boy Meets World}}'', best friends Cory and Shawn were both originally depicted as class clowns and academic slackers who barely skated by in school. Starting in the fourth season, both characters started to develop their own identities. Cory became an archetype for the white, middle-class, suburban All-American "good boy" who has a steady relationship with his high school sweetheart, generally obeys and honors his parents, has a deep friendship with his best friend, and does fairly decently in school. Shawn, on the other hand, became synonymous with the disturbed, troubled soul who grew up in a broken home and had a lot of social and emotional baggage. Shawn's slacker persona was maintained throughout the high school episodes. However, starting in Season 6, when the characters were all in college, Shawn's knack for writing and his love of English literature and poetry was revealed and established. While neither he nor Cory was on Topanga's academic level by any means, their school performance was drastically better compared to the first two or three seasons. |
| 184 | * ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': At the show’s start, [[ThoseTwoGuys Scully and Hitchcock]] were pretty much TheDividual, indistinguishable from one another except in appearance. Over time, they were given more and more characterization to differentiate them; Scully is smarter and nicer, but in bad shape health-wise and often has poor self-esteem, while Hitchcock is more mean and perverted, but also more physically capable and confident. |
| 185 | * Famously [[InvertedTrope inverted]] in ''Series/{{Community}}'' with [[HeterosexualLifePartners Troy and Abed]]. At the start of the show, Abed was a socially awkward geek (heavily implied to be on the autism spectrum) who relied on pop culture to understand the world around him, while Troy was a snarky and charismatic [[LovableJock jock]] [[BookDumb with a ditzy streak]]. But after their OddFriendship was established, the two of them became considerably more similar in both personality and interests, gradually evolving into a pair of equally quirky and geeky best friends. While they didn't quite become ''identical'' (Abed retained his schtick of [[MetaGuy calling out pop culture clichés]], and Troy remained the more socially adept of the duo), many episodes revolved around how inseparable they were. |
| 186 | * ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'' reinterprets the [=SeX=] Men, minor characters from Creator/GrantMorrison's run on [[ComicBook/DoomPatrol the comic book]], as three distinct people (with Kiss being a bald and bearded Caucasian male, Cuddles being a clean-shaven Caucasian male with a full head of hair and Torture being [[AdaptationalDiversity a black woman]]), when their incarnations in the source material were bizarre-looking, [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue-skinned]] men who would've been completely identical and indistinguishable if they didn't have nametags on their jackets. |
| 187 | * In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', main character John Crichton was split into two identical beings (not cloned- the original Crichton was transformed into two Crichtons, each with an equal claim to being the "real" John Crichton), who were distinguished only by the colour of their shirts. The crew split up into two groups on two different ships, each one taking a Crichton with them. The groups were separate for almost a whole season, and the two Crichtons lived different lives and developed different personalities, [[spoiler: and one of them died]]. This was symbolised by them playing an endless game of rock-paper-scissors when they were first split and constantly tying, but when the crew reunited, they played one last round [[spoiler: (the survivor against a recording of the dead one)]], and finally broke the tie. |
| 188 | * Brittany and Santana on ''Series/{{Glee}}'' start out as [[AlphaBitch Quinn]]'s interchangeable minions (Brittany in particular had next to no lines and was basically a prop), with the occasional throwaway line about them secretly having sex. Over the course of the series however, the two gained distinctive personalities of their own: Brittany a BrainlessBeauty but a LovableAlphaBitch, openly bisexual, and one of the two best dancers in the Glee club; and Santana became one of the best singers in the group, as well as a SpicyLatina and LipstickLesbian whose {{gayngst}} was perhaps the most beloved storyline of the third season. And their relationship went from a minor running gag to being fully explored. After [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim Finn's death]], they became the show's BetaCouple behind Kurt and Blaine. |
| 189 | * When [[Series/LaverneAndShirley Laverne and Shirley]] were introduced on ''Series/HappyDays'', they were both tough-talking blue-collar women with no real difference in personality. When the characters got their own SpinOff, the writers made [[TomBoyAndGirlyGirl Laverne a tomboy and Shirley a "girly girl."]] |
| 190 | * ''Series/TheMagicians'': Margo was originally nothing more than Elliot's [[FagHag bitchy sidekick]] who was so unimportant in the first season, she's PutOnABus for several episodes. Her character grows in prominence from the second season onwards, and she goes on to become a strong member of the team in her own right. Not only does she gain a long-term love interest in Josh, but the Margo-centric episode "All That Shiny Armor" is considered by many to be one of the best in the entire series, and in the final scene of the final episode, ''she'' is the last character shown before it cuts to black. |
| 191 | * Starting late in the first season of ''Series/{{Maverick}}'', episodes started to alternate between focusing on series mainstay Bret Maverick (played by James Garner) and his brother, Bart (played by Jack Kelly). Although Bret and Bart were written identically (writers were told to always write for Garner, and the producers would later just select which character would lead due to scheduling), the actors' portrayals quickly established Bret as the fun-loving, wisecracking brother, and Bart as the more serious-minded of the two. The same process happened to a later Maverick as well, as Creator/RogerMoore played Beau Maverick as a refined gentleman, at odds with the other two brothers' portrayals, despite the character, again, being written exactly the same. As for the final Maverick brother (Robert Colbert as Brent Maverick), he only appeared in two episodes, and thus never really found a personality of his own. |
| 192 | * Lindsay and Marly from ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine'' were originally identical snooty blondes. As the series progressed, Marly became the evident assertive leader, and Lindsay started to [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold reveal her heart of gold]]. |
| 193 | * At the beginning of ''Series/TheOC'', Summer and Holly were distingushable only by hair color, both being vapid, self-absorbed party girls who happened to be friends of Marissa. Summer grew more likeable, [[PromotionToOpeningTitles became a main character]] and hooked up with Seth. Holly had an affair with Marissa's boyfriend and was quickly PutOnABus after the cheating was revealed. This is actually Lampshaded by the show in the "The Chrismukk-huh?" where see an alternate universe where Summer continued to be friends with Holly rather than going through CharacterDevelopment. It is not a pretty picture. |
| 194 | * The Shittenou from ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' wear the same uniform. ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' gives them distinct uniforms and different facial types. Jadeite is a pretty boy with curly blonde hair. Nephrite is a FieryRedhead with a uniform to match. Zoisite wears all white and is the most melancholic. Kunzite has the harshest facial features and is the most overly villainous. |
| 195 | * ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'': Season 14 finalist Daya Betty comes from the same {{drag|queen}} family as Season 12's Crystal Methyd. They're not the first pair of queens on the show to share a lineage ([[TangledFamilyTree far from it, in fact]]), but Daya was criticized in the early episodes of the season for having a very similar makeup style and offbeat aesthetic as her sister. But as the season went on, Daya started showcasing her own punk-inspired looks whereas Crystal is more whimsical, making it clear that Daya isn't "Crystal 2.0." |
| 196 | * ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'': Tex and Rex started as SingleMindedTwins. As the series wore on, Tex became more sedentary and laid-back, while Rex was more outgoing and more likely to leave their spot and take the centerstage. During songs where they get split up, you can tell which is which by where they are and what they're doing. |
| 197 | * On ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', the Wraith started off being interchangeable, down to all the male ones being played by James Lafazanos and all the female ones being played by Andee Frizzell. The only exceptions were when more than one Wraith was on-screen at a time. Eventually, FriendlyEnemy "Todd" (Creator/ChristopherHeyerdahl) and JerkassWoobie "Michael" ([[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Connor Trinneer]]) came out of the literally nameless mass. |
| 198 | * ''Series/TheWire'': Herc and Carver start the show as partners and comic relief, who are also known for being hotheaded cops that relish in doing things "the Western District way". Towards the end of season 3, Carver is given a talking-to by Major Colvin and subsequently matures into a much better cop who is more focused on the community than on chasing statistics-based arrests, while Herc doesn't mature and eventually finds himself kicked off the force for political reasons. |
| 199 | * ''Literature/TheWorstWitch'': |
| 200 | ** Fenella and Griselda are ThoseTwoGuys. In the first few episodes, Griselda seems to be more snarky while Fenella is more caring. This difference is dropped quickly, and both become {{Cool Big Sis}}es to the first years. |
| 201 | ** Ruby and Jadu were the TokenMinority characters in the FiveManBand without too much to distinguish them. As the show went on, Ruby's love of modern conveniences was expanded on to make her something of a GadgeteerGenius. Jadu doesn't get the same development but does show herself to be a great motivational speaker more than once. |
| 202 | [[/folder]] |
| 203 | |
| 204 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 205 | * Music/JohnFrusciante of the Music/RedHotChiliPeppers was initially a clone of the man he was replacing, Hillel Slovak. It's especially evident in live performances from the Mother's Milk period, where he nails the old funk-punk songs perfectly (he had been an RHCP fan since the first album and learnt all their songs). However, he had melodic traits which developed over time. Rick Rubin encouraged the band to utilise them, paying off when Frusciante wrote the ballad "Under The Bridge", the band's biggest hit ever. During a period of time away from the band, in which he was addicted to heroin and cocaine, he created some extremely odd, dark, and trippy solo music, which was mostly acoustic and not performed with a band. Some of this style, though raw, laid the blueprint for RHCP's own musical evolution into an alternative rock band, notably the ballad "Femininity". When Frusciante returned to the band, he fed some of this dark and melodic playing style into the album Californication, notably in such tracks as "Otherside". Frusciante's next album "To Record Only Water For Ten Days" featured synth textures and drum machine, and an entirely melodic collection of songs. It went over well with the band and producer Rick Rubin, and the style of next album By The Way evolved directly from "To Record Only Water"'s atmospheric qualities, and the full band style of By The Way fed back into John's solo album "Shadows Collide With People". Frusciante, however, kept experimenting over the years, surprising fans with his Letur-Lefr EP and subsequent releases, which were electronic-based and didn't feature as much guitar or vocals, to the point where his current style is considerably distinct to the style he created with RHCP that is still their trademark. Unsurprisingly, he has no interest in returning to the band, something which a lot of fans fail to accept. |
| 206 | ** His replacement (and previous solo collaborator), Josh Klinghoffer, seems to be going in the opposite direction - when he started, he was trying to emulate John's melodic style, but over time, he has shown such a knowledge of RHCP's funk back catalogue that fans hope he will steer them back into that direction. |
| 207 | * Music/MissyElliott's early rap style was essentially a female version of her production partner Music/{{Timbaland}}, as they both had a very similar low-key, talky, digitized rap voice. Initially, the only thing that set Missy apart was that she sang more often. But her third album, 2001's ''Miss E...So Addictive'', saw her develop her own distinctive rap style that was louder and more exuberant, which she has been using ever since. |
| 208 | * Music/TheBeatles were one of the most famous examples of this phenomenon being invoked in RealLife by professional performers. When they first achieved mainstream superstardom in the early 1960s, they famously sported identical bowl-cut hairstyles and suits and ties--but as the decade wore on, they gradually adopted more distinctive and unique appearances and public personas. Music/JohnLennon and Music/GeorgeHarrison grew their hair out, Lennon began wearing his iconic circular glasses and sporting a prominent beard, and Harrison and Music/RingoStarr grew out their mustaches. In terms of public personas, Lennon became known for his political activism, Harrison became known for his interest in Eastern spirituality and Indian classical music, Ringo became known for his image as the lovable everyman of the group, while Music/PaulMcCartney mostly doubled down on his image as a charming and charismatic pop star. |
| 209 | [[/folder]] |
| 210 | |
| 211 | [[folder:Mythology & Religion]] |
| 212 | * In Myth/EgyptianMythology, Sekhmet and Bastet seem to have both started out as lion-headed war goddesses. Over time, Bastet was depicted more as [[CatGirl a housecat]] and a protector of the home rather than the nation and added some associations with fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth. |
| 213 | [[/folder]] |
| 214 | |
| 215 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 216 | * Many people who debut as a TagTeam start very similar to each other but break apart and start developing their own personalities and move sets, see Wrestling/ShawnMichaels and Wrestling/MartyJannetty, Wrestling/MattHardy and Wrestling/JeffHardy, Wrestling/{{Sting}} and Wrestling/UltimateWarrior, and Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} and Wrestling/{{Christian}}. Usually doesn't happen in the case of [[TagTeamTwins identical twins]], though. |
| 217 | * Inverted in the case of twins Dave and highly prolific referee Earl Hebner. Dave Hebner was the assigned official for an explosive 1988 rematch of the legendary Wrestling/HulkHogan vs. Wrestling/AndreTheGiant title match from the previous year's Wrestling/WrestleMania III. But unbeknownst to Hogan, André's manager Wrestling/TedDiBiase had bribed an unknown to get [[MagicPlasticSurgery plastic surgery to look like Hebner]] (in the unknown's role was Earl Hebner. Earl and Dave are identical twins, so this was easy to pull off). In Dave's place in the ring (while Dave was locked in a closet backstage), Earl played the EvilTwin, counting a clearly invalid pinfall against Hogan. Although the twin referee angle was thoroughly explored in WWF Magazine, it was very quickly dropped though due to Dave suffering an injury. Earl would later become a normal "good guy" referee like his brother. |
| 218 | * Wrestling/MsChif and [[Wrestling/HunterJohnston Delirious]] were initially both ruthlessly violent screamers. Delirious was the more active of the two in Gateway Championship Wrestling, so this wasn't much issue at first, but as [=MsChif=]'s winning streak continued to increase and her ring time with it, Delirious instead became an AffablyEvil Unintelligible hyperactive MotorMouth while [=MsChif=] became more of an ambitious schemer and rabble-rouser. Delirious's change in personality could be explained by him changing his mask from white to green, as he also wore red masks when acting much more vindictive while on the path of revenge in Wrestling/RingOfHonor and black masks when the thrall of Wrestling/JimmyJacobs caused him to turn on his friends in The Age Of The Fall. All the same, when he was forced to wear white while BrainWashed for Wrestling/UltraMantisBlack's Order Of The Neo Solar Temple and again by Wrestling/DieBruderschaftDesKreuzes in Wrestling/{{Chikara}}, Delirious indeed did go back to something resembling his old personality but never did go back to screaming. |
| 219 | * When [[Wrestling/AngelinaLove Angel Williams]] and [[Wrestling/JessicaKresa ODB]] first met in IWA Mid-South, the two were very close in size and body type, even closer in wrestling style. As the years went on both got implants but Angel became skinnier and accordingly a lot more [[LeanAndMean methodical and vicious]] while ODB became [[BoisterousBruiser wilder and rougher]] to the point the [[NoSell cross body catch]] was about the only thing they had in common by the time they were helping to found Wrestling/{{TNA}}'s knockouts division. |
| 220 | * The Wrestling/BellaTwins's initial act was as a pair of identical sisters who looked, wrestled, and acted the same (so they could pull off a TwinSwitch). As of 2013, Nikki had gotten breast implants and started powerlifting to give herself AmazonianBeauty in contrast to Brie's waifier frame. ''Series/TotalDivas'' established Brie as a level-headed, hard-drinking GranolaGirl, and Nikki as a passionate lover of high fashion and expensive gifts. Ring-wise, Nikki came to wrestle a more power-based offence and Brie opted for more aerial moves. |
| 221 | * Wrestling/BulletClub and The Kingdom were coincidentally similar in that they were both {{heel}} power stables who frequently did homages to older acts(Wrestling/{{n|ewWorldorder}}Wo and Wrestling/{{D|generationX}}X for the former, Wrestling/CMPunk and [[Wrestling/MattHardy Hardy]] [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Boyz]] for the latter). However, before the Club made it to Wrestling/{{R|ingOfHonor}}OH, they lost Wrestling/PrinceDevitt and replaced him with Wrestling/AJStyles, a wrestler the fans had all but given up on seeing in ROH again. After his successful [[Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling IWGP]] Heavyweight Title Defense at ''War Of The Worlds'', Styles would be attacked without provocation by Kingdom leader Wrestling/AdamCole, who incidentally was the one member most unlike anyone in Bullet Club at the time, and be saved by Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi and Wrestling/JushinThunderLiger, giving Styles strong association with established baby {{face}}s and allowing the rest of the Club to collectively HeelFaceTurn in ROH as they went on to support Styles as he sought retribution against Cole and inevitably ran into the rest of The Kingdom. |
| 222 | * The Beautiful Fierce Females were a TerribleTrio of vain {{Alpha Bitch}}es with no traits to distinguish them. Wrestling/SummerRae eventually morphed into an air-headed bimbo who could only get fluke wins. {{Wrestling/Charlotte}} was the first of the group to make a HeelFaceTurn into GoodIsNotNice - acknowledging many of her challengers as {{Worthy Opponent}}s. Wrestling/SashaBanks meanwhile became far more ruthless and sadistic, while also adopting a rhinestone-loving ghetto girl persona. |
| 223 | * Early in his career, Wrestling/{{Sting}} wrestled in a tag team as "Flash" Borden alongside [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior Jim Hellwig]] (who would later become better known as "The Ultimate Warrior"), and his look and persona were ''very'' similar to his: bleached blond hair, flamboyant personality, clean-cut All-American attitude, and colorful face paint. The two would ultimately go their separate ways in 1987 after Hellwig was signed to Wrestling/{{WWF}} as the Ultimate Warrior, while Sting went to Jim Crockett Promotions (later renamed Wrestling/{{WCW}}). By the early 1990s, Sting gradually adopted a more distinct look and ring presence, growing out his naturally black hair and wearing darker colors, and displaying a more low-key personality. But during his iconic feud with Wrestling/HulkHogan and the Wrestling/NewWorldOrder in 1996, he ''drastically'' overhauled his entire persona by adopting a {{goth}}ic alter ego inspired by ''ComicBook/TheCrow''--complete with ghost-white face paint, all-black clothing (including a [[BadassLongcoat trench coat]]), and an eerily [[TheQuietOne silent]] and [[TheStoic stoic]] demeanor. His new look and attitude proved to be so popular with fans that they've endured to this day. |
| 224 | [[/folder]] |
| 225 | |
| 226 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 227 | * In the first edition of ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'', [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] were characterized as slightly shorter [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarfs]] with larger noses, shorter tempers, and even more of a DyingRace. After being left out of the next two editions, they made a surprise return in the 4th edition; they are now slightly different looking, albeit often mistaken for a beardless dwarf or a skinny [[{{Hobbits}} halfling]], prefer swamps to hills, and have become a MageSpecies with a natural affinity for Ulgu, the Wind of Shadows that empowers [[MasterOfIllusion illusonists]] and [[CastingAShadow nethermancers]]. Their greatest enemy are no longer the orcs and goblins, but rather the {{the Witch Hunter}}s of the human Empire. They also got PromotedToPlayable in the process. |
| 228 | * Jaya Ballard was a character that showed up in the flavor text of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' cards whenever they wanted someone they could attribute a quote to that had to do with PlayingWithFire. She eventually got a card and appeared in the story proper, where she was depicted as a HotBlooded FieryRedhead. She went away but eventually was replaced by Chandra Nalaar, who also has all of those properties. Eventually, we find out that she actually went to the school of pyromancy Jaya started, and she comes back as a CoolOldLady mentor figure for Chandra. To differentiate them, Chandra fights by making as much fire as she possibly can, while Jaya uses smaller, more precise fire blasts - when a spell is attributed to one of them when they both appear, Chandra's usually do more damage, which Jaya's are usually cheaper and can hit multiple targets. |
| 229 | [[/folder]] |
| 230 | |
| 231 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 232 | * The opera ''Theatre/CosiFanTutte'', by composer Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, focuses on two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, who are seduced by two strangers who are actually [[ItMakesSenseInContext each other's fiancés in disguise]]. In the first act, the two women have almost identical personalities and musical styles, and usually sing together. In the second act, as they begin to fall for their new suitors, their personalities begin to diverge, with Dorabella's music becoming more lighthearted and Fiordiligi's more serious and passionate. |
| 233 | [[/folder]] |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 236 | * Giggles and Petunia from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends''. They were originally just girly girls with no difference in personality. Giggles' personality stayed basically the same, although with her getting more generally associated with romance (being the girl most commonly paired up with male characters and having a Valentine's Day-themed Smoochie) and having a brief stint as an environmentalist in one episode. Petunia, however, gained a more concrete character trait in the TV series in the form of a ''[[SanitySlippage serious]]'' NeatFreak streak. |
| 237 | * In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', Donut and Caboose were originally just an identical pair of dumb rookies. But now, Donut is AmbiguouslyGay with somewhat below-average intelligence, and Caboose is [[TooDumbToLive a complete idiot who thinks]] [[TheDitz electricity is invisible magic]]. |
| 238 | ** Initially ''every'' character was just a PaletteSwap of one another due to the show being a Franchise/{{Halo}} {{Machinima}}, with [[SniperRifle Church]] and [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter Sarge]] at least having unique weapons. Tucker got [[LaserBlade a sword]] and Lopez was reduced to a head in season 3, Caboose changed to a [[AwesomeAnachronisticApparel Mark V helmet and picked up an assault rifle]] in ''Reconstruction'', and Grif took the Meta's grenade launcher in season 10 before it was confiscated and he switched to a [[EnergyWeapon Suppressor]] in season 12. |
| 239 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': |
| 240 | ** Yang's biological mother Raven was given this visually. When she cameos in volume 2, Raven looks like a palette swap of her daughter. Her updated design in volume 4 makes her look older and adds some design differences, such as the way their hair looks. |
| 241 | ** When depicted as a portrait in volume 4, Willow resembled an older version of her daughter Winter. Her appearance in volume 7 ditched the PrimAndProperBun for a MotherlySidePlait, making the resemblance less extreme. |
| 242 | * In ''WebAnimation/StarshipGoldfish'' the RobotBuddy Ghostworth gets killed and brought back from a backup copy creating New Ghostworth, initially New Ghostworth is angsty about it but thanks to [[ItMakesSenseInContext a conversation with an automated kitchen]] he gets over it, meanwhile we find out the original, or Classic Ghostworth survived and turned out [[FaceHeelTurn rather different.]] |
| 243 | * In early issues of ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad'', the girls were pretty much identical in personality, with their traits being mostly an InformedAttribute. Around the third issue, they became based on various teenage girl cliches (AlphaBitch, GoGetterGirl, and HollywoodHomely). |
| 244 | * ''WebAnimation/YourFavoriteMartian'': Benatar and Axel started off looking very similarly, with the same features, facial expressions, same hairdo (except Benatar's was blonde and had shorter hair), and the fact they were both just background characters. With the new art style, Axel retained the hairstyle, facial expression, and background character status but his muscles grew larger, while Benatar turned into a more PrettyBoy type with softened features and also gained more prominence in the band. |
| 245 | [[/folder]] |
| 246 | |
| 247 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 248 | * Occurs with Akuma and Kari in the sprite comic [=AkumaTH=]. They both started out as literal {{Shotoclone}}s, both using the same fighting style. They diverged fairly quickly, however, with Akuma focusing on energy attacks and Kari focusing on punches and kicks. Kari did the most [[InnocentInnuendo deviating]], most notably with her [[SignatureMove signature]] Monsoon Kick, a hurricane kick that rotates vertically and moves horizontally, instead of the other way around. |
| 249 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Tedd and Elliot started out being alike in perversion but over time due to CharacterizationMarchesOn Elliot became more and more reserved. Eventually it got to the point where he actually [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-12-13 failed at thinking perverted thoughts]]. Meanwhile, Tedd also underwent CharacterDevelopment and became more of a ChivalrousPervert but a pervert nonetheless. |
| 250 | ** Elliot and Ellen started out being almost exactly the same apart from their genders, but that is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since Ellen is an OppositeSexClone of Elliot and was "born" with a perfect copy of his memories and personality. However, her initial CloneAngst and subsequent attempts to establish her own identity led to this trope. (Which is ''[[JustForFun/TropeOverdosed also]]'' [[JustForFun/TropeOverdosed illustrated]] in the same "failed at perversion" comic above.) |
| 251 | ** Rich and Larry were originally two guys of jerkish speech whose only distinguishing traits were that one was fat and the other was taller. Once they got some real focus, Larry was shown as less homophobic and more willing to listen when people tell him he's wrong, which results in him promising to try to act better in the future at the end of the arc. Rich, meanwhile, was shown to be something of a conspiracy theorist. |
| 252 | * When Tabitha [[http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/1065781/page-131-another-thoroughly-embarrassed-teen/ first]] [[http://faroutthere.smackjeeves.com/comics/1065782/page-132-unnatural-strength-not-available-in-all-models/ appeared]] in ''Webcomic/FarOutThere'', she and Layla looked virtually identical. As time passed, Tabitha has gradually become much, MUCH [[HugeSchoolgirl taller]] and skinnier, while Layla has become neither. |
| 253 | * In his very first appearance in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Nale was nearly identical to his twin brother Elan, even going so far as to multiclass to have the same powers as a bard. This was enforced; once Nale had his FaceHeelTurn, he dropped the facade to reveal the cunning mastermind beneath and has been going further in that direction ever since while Elan becomes even more GenreSavvy in line with his bardic training. [[spoiler:After Nale's death, Elan began to adopt more of his brother's traits; he was no longer restrained to being the "Good" Twin, and felt no guilt for letting their father fall hundreds of feet from an airship.]] |
| 254 | * The earlier strips of ''Webcomic/{{PHD}}'' portrays the University professors as a group of sinister HiveMind whose sole purpose of existence is to cause misery to the students during Quals. They have since gained individual characterisation and personalities. |
| 255 | * When the Secret Bakery first appears in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', it's for the sake of a SimilarSquad gag. As we see more of the characters this impression gets reduced. When Marten starts dating Padma, nobody comments on him dating Alternative Dora (the way they did when it turned out Angus used to get insulted by Renee), because by this point she's ''not'' except in appearance, and when they split up, the Bakery becomes OutOfFocus until Renee returns as Brun's friend, and doesn't even ''look'' like Faye any more. |
| 256 | * Happens to Nick and Shep in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''. Originally, they were both idiots. Shep gradually got smarter, moving up to about average IQ; Nick...[[TheDitz didn't]]. |
| 257 | ** Nick also didn't follow the fate of the other beef-chunk recruits either though, he's still with the company (Shep retired and Hob died). |
| 258 | ** There's 750 million of Gav's gate-clones. It was kind of fun until everyone used to them, but... Eventually they started "[[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-12-25 The Diversity Engineering Institute]]". After all, 750,000,000 borderline {{mad scientist}}s will obviously do more and better if each have somewhat different perspective. |
| 259 | * Rosalie and Marie from ''Webcomic/SisterClaire''. Early in the comic, the two are basically the exact same character, down to being IdenticalTwins. As the story went on, the two branched off to be quite different. Roise developing a hot-headed temperament and a bad habit of acting rashly and angrily. While Marie grew into the gentler, more empathic side of the two, with a hinted crush on Claire. |
| 260 | * Azu and Rau from ''Webcomic/AStoryOfFire''. They both begin as callous, murderous oni, but after recovering their human memories they follow completely opposite developments which put them at odds in the finale. |
| 261 | [[/folder]] |
| 262 | |
| 263 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 264 | * Linkara and Holokara in ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall''. Holokara is a hologram programmed with all of Linkara's memories, whom he calls in when he leaves to find out why his [[BroughtDownToNormal magic stopped working]], and starts off as basically identical to him. Then Linkara finds out that his magic stopped working because [[spoiler: he was starting to become [[TookALevelInJerkass increasingly arrogant and self-centered]] and [[SpiritAdvisor the magic gun]] feared he was [[FaceHeelTurn becoming evil]]. This leads him to [[TheAtoner begin working on improving himself]]. While he's doing this, however, Holokara (who never had such an epiphany) heads [[FallenHero further]] [[EvilCounterPart and]] [[AIIsACrapshoot further]] down the slippery slope, eventually [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope threatening to]] '''[[AxeCrazy brutally murder]]''' [[TrueCompanions 90s Kid and Harvey]] if they [[DisproportionateRetribution get in the way of his reviews]] and [[PsychopathicManchild developing a plan to bomb the Marvel offices]] [[SeriousBusiness if they don't]] RetCon [[SeriousBusiness all the ways they've screwed up his favorite heroes over the years.]] [[NightmareFuel And this is what Linkara would have become had he not gone on his journey.]]]] |
| 265 | * ''WebVideo/DormLife'': Britney and Courtney started off as seemingly-interchangeable {{Alpha Bitch}}es, although there were subtle clues from the beginning that Britney was much smarter than Courtney. Once Britney and Mike started bonding, Britney's HiddenDepths came more into play. Since an entire season of ''WebVideo/DormLife'' would be produced at one time, this was done intentionally. |
| 266 | * ''WebVideo/StopSkelatonsFromFighting'': Derek started out as ''The Happy Video Game Nerd'' with the gimmick that he was the opposite of the Angry Nerd, and many of his early videos are shot-for-shot remakes of the Angry Nerd's videos, only with him extolling a good game instead of swearing at a bad one. Now, he does his own thing, although he still dresses like the Angry Nerd and drinks at the end of every review (which is actually something the ''Angry'' Nerd has generally stopped doing). |
| 267 | * ''Roleplay/InkCity'' has a crack community called Labocabana, the events within being non-canon to the main game. This has resulted in certain characters developing ''very'' differently within Labocanon, such as [[WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} Yakko and Dot]]. This has had direct effects on the main story, thanks to [[spoiler:Labo!Dot crossing the MoralEventHorizon and her mun trying to prevent IC!Dot from making the same choice by showing her what happened through the FourthWall]]. |
| 268 | * [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Alex Kralie and Jay]] both started off as somewhat awkward film students with spotty memory, shaky camera hands, and writer credits on ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets''. Since then, Jay's become less of an AudienceSurrogate and Alex has [[AxCrazy likewise diverged.]] |
| 269 | * ''Knowledge Hub,'' a [=YouTube=] channel started by Tyler Franklin, originated as a clone of his brother Cody's channel WebAnimation/AlternateHistoryHub, using the same avatars and format. The early videos were even originally narrated by Cody before Tyler decided to do it himself. In 2019, he dropped his brother's format entirely and veered off in a DenserAndWackier direction. |
| 270 | * In ''WebAnimation/MadnessCombat'', the protagonist Hank looked exactly like a normal Madness Combat character but became more different each time he [[DeathIsCheap died and resurrected]] by getting bandages and ninja-like clothes. The same applies to Sanford and Deimos, who we actually see get their unique appearances in real time in ''5.5'' and ''6.5''. |
| 271 | * In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', Couette started out as Sparadrap's DistaffCounterpart before she started showing signs of being more self-centered than him (e.g. sometimes complaining about [[WardrobeWound the state of her clothes]] in the middle of a battle) and knowing random pieces of in-game trivia. In the meantime, Sparadrap remained the franchise poster boy for KindheartedSimpleton. The divergent evolution is at different stages depending on the media between Couette being a frequent no-show in the webseries, the novels covering short timespans with much bigger time skips between them and the comic storyline being less advanced than the two previous. |
| 272 | * Zig-zagged by ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'' and ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic''. She started out being just a simple girl version of his basic traits - snarky manchild doing linear reviews – but then something changed. She got a three-dimensional characterization of her own, as well as adopting a more analysis-review Style, but the similarities ran much deeper (to name but a few; both have histories of abuse, bad {{inferiority superiority complex}}es, desperation for power and psychopathic child tendencies) as well as their differences turning ying-yang (overly dominant/worryingly submissive, emotionally repressed/can't hide anything, hates kids but loves animals/hates animals but loves kids), much to her self-loathing denial and his clingy love. |
| 273 | [[/folder]] |
| 274 | |
| 275 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 276 | * Some automobile models started out as trims: |
| 277 | ** Between 1992 and 2014, the Subaru Impreza WRX was a performance version of the Impreza. Since 2014, the Impreza name was dropped and the WRX shares fewer and fewer parts with the regular Impreza. |
| 278 | * In online slang, "himbo" has been originally created as a DistaffCounterpart to "bimbo" - a term for a woman with strongly emphasized, or outright exaggerated, physical traits associated with traditional femininity, low sexual inhibitions combined with a strong libido and either [[TheDitz not very bright]] or lacking interest in things beyond good looks and sex. However, himbo[[note]]Not to be confused with with the JerkJock or the KindheartedSimpleton.[[/note]] quickly became associated with a very specific type of character - a NiceGuy [[{{Hunk}} both handsome and muscular, often physically big]] and [[TheDitz not very smart]]. The "himbo" ended up differentiating from "bimbo" so much to get its own DistaffCounterpart - "fembo", an AmazonianBeauty with a ditzy mind but a wholesome personality. |
| 279 | [[/folder]] |
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