Line #33 SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute/WesternAnimation


1	* Capt. Murphy on ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'', replaced by Capt. Shanks after the death of Murphy's voice actor, Harry Goz. LampshadeHanging occurs when Shanks (who is actually voiced by [[{{Nepotism}} Goz's son Michael]]) tells the crew (and, indirectly, [[NoFourthWall the audience]]) that he's a replacement, and if they don't like it, they can "go watch '[[{{anime}} annie-may]]'".
2	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
3	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E11WhereNoFanHasGoneBefore Where No Fan Has Gone Before]]", having united ''almost'' all the ''Series/{{Star Trek\|The Original Series}}'' original cast, gave us a Suspiciously Similar Substitute named "Welshy" who apparently replaced Creator/JamesDoohan for a musical reunion in the 22nd century. This was almost certainly a pointed comment on Doohan's refusal to participate, since the late De Forrest Kelley was just TheVoiceless and Welshy was quickly killed off. This was lampshaded in the episode's working title -- "We Got Everybody But Scotty".
4	** {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E20Godfellas Godfellas]]" with Helper, a Bender replacement that makes wacky noises.
5	** In "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E12WhenAliensAttack When Aliens Attack]]", Professor Farnsworth assumes Fry, Leela and Bender have died in the latest mission, prompting him to hire a nigh-identical trio.
6	--->'''Farnsworth:''' ''[to the near-Leela, -Fry and -Bender duplicates respectively]'' You'll be the captain, you'll be the delivery boy, and you'll be the alcoholic, foul-mouthed... ''[notices regular crew standing in the doorway]'' Oh God, you're alive! [[VerbalBackspace ...I mean thank God! You're alive!]] ''[to the near-duplicates]'' Sorry. Check back in three days... a week, at the most.
7	* Darby replacing Christopher Robin in ''My Friends Tigger and Pooh''. Though Christopher Robin does appear a few times in the later episodes.
8	* Sunbow's ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' series:
9	** Lady Jaye and Scarlett are interchangeable, despite being written as very different characters in [[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel the Marvel comic]].
10	** Duke from the Sunbow series was essentially a carbon copy of Hawk from the Marvel comics, who was the originally established blond-haired leader of G.I. Joe. This change was done since at the time the animated series started, Hasbro was phasing out the original 1982 lineup and wanted to [[MerchandiseDriven promote the newer figures being released in 1983]], from which Duke was part of. Duke's character design even resembled the way Hawk was depicted in Sunbow's original TV ads for the ''G.I. Joe'' toys and comics ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXY8BMXDKSA see here]]). When a second Hawk action figure was released in 1986, he was introduced to the animated series during the year's season as Duke's heretofore unseen commanding officer, getting an AdaptationDyeJob in the process from blond to black hair.
11	** When Hasbro relaunched the ''G.I. Joe'' toyline in 2001, they wanted to bring back Roadblock into the lineup, but couldn't due to trademark issues with the character's name. So Heavy Duty, an already-existing separate character, was made into a virtual Roadblock clone. The ''Spy Troops'' CG animated series tried to [[HandWave explain away]] their similarities by claiming they were cousins.
12	** The [=DiC=]-produced continuation of the Sunbow series featured a journalist named Jose Riviera in the episodes "Injustice and the Cobra Way" and "Cobra Land". The character was practically Hector Ramirez in all but name, the reason he was used in place of Ramirez being unknown.
13	* King Larry replacing King Louie in ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse''. This was due to legal action when Gia Maione, the wife of original actor and now deceased entertainer Louis Prima, sued Disney for unauthorized use of her husband's persona because voice actor Creator/{{Jim Cummings\|1952}}' impression (as heard in ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'') was ''too dead on''. Part of the out of court settlement is that Disney could no longer use King Louie.
14	* Firestar was created for ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends'' after plans to use the Comicbook/HumanTorch, the creators' original choice for a flame-wielding hero, [[ExiledFromContinuity fell through due to rights issues]].
15	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
16	** Though the character existed before, Gil took Lionel Hutz's job as the family's lawyer after Creator/PhilHartman died. Incidentally, Gil debuted in the same episode where Lionel Hutz had his last speaking role.
17	** This trope is parodied in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS22E9DonnieFatso Donnie Fatso]]", in which Fat Tony is replaced by his nearly identical cousin Fit Tony, who gains weight and is eventually called Fat Tony.
18	** In the DVDCommentary to "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E14AloneAgainNaturaDiddily Alone Again, Natura-Diddily]]", some of the writers joke that since they miss Maude Flanders, they should write an episode in which Ned gets remarried to a woman that looks and sounds just like Maude. In the 22nd-season finale, Ned begins dating [[spoiler:and by the next season has married]] Edna Krabappel.
19	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E18AStarIsBurns A Star Is Burns]]", C. Montgomery Burns hires Creator/StevenSpielberg's "nonunion Mexican equivalent", Señor [[ElSpanishO Spielbergo]], to direct the fictionalized biopic ''A Burns for All Seasons''.
20	--->Es muy bueno.
21	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS24E21TheSagaOfCarl The Saga of Carl]]", Homer, Lenny, and Moe try to find a replacement for Carl after he leaves the country. Initially they try putting Lou the Cop in the role, but he storms out when he realizes all they're looking for is a new TokenBlack guy.
22	** A very subtle example only confirmed via WordOfGod [[https://twitter.com/mikepriceinla/status/450448972000161793 Lunchlady Doris was retired in the seventh season when her voice actress Doris Grau died]]. She supposedly returned in season 18 voiced by Creator/TressMacNeille, but it turns out the character's name is [[https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Lunchlady_Dora Lunchlady Dora]].
23	** Sideshow Mel, Krusty the Clown's replacement for his previous sidekick Sideshow Bob after the latter framed him for arm robbery, has an awful lot in common with Bob--both are sophisticated, [[SmartPeopleSpeakTheQueensEnglish British-accented]] [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra Classically Trained Extras]] with impressive vocal chops who are deeply tired of being the butt of Krusty's constant onstage slapstick and general disrespect. It seems Krusty didn't learn much from the last incident.
24	* When she was shoehorned into ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'', [[CreatorsPet/WesternAnimation Elmyra Duff]] found a ReplacementGoldfish in Rudy Mookich, a [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Nelson Muntz]] {{Expy}} who was just as much of an asshole as [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome Montana Max]], and Furrball and Byron were replaced by Mr. Pussy-Wussy and Mr. Shellbutt. Maybe ''that'', along with the other conflicts in relation to ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', was the real problem with ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain''...
25	* Whizz The Robot became this in ''Noddy In Toyland'', where he replaced Mr. Sparks the mechanic. He previously was not this in his introductory series ''Say It With Noddy''.
26	* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' mirrored its non-animated counterpart in using Coy and Vance instead of Bo and Luke for one season only, though that season was its first.
27	* The two-part ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "The Call" was originally supposed to feature Comicbook/WonderWoman as part of the future [[Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]. When [[ExiledFromContinuity legal red tape prevented this]], the writers replaced her with Big Barda, another dark-haired AmazonianBeauty with super strength and a red costume.
28	* ''Franchise/Ben10'':
29	** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', a half of Ben's new alien forms were unmistakably overly similar to his alien forms from the Original Series (or outright {{Composite Character}}s. Chromastone was basically a rehash of Diamondhead with energy beams à la Eye Guy, Echo Echo of Ditto with Blitzwolfer's sonic howl, Humongousaur of Four Arms with the ability to grow tall like Way Big (nowhere near as tall, but the spirit is there), Jetray of [=XLR8=] plus flight (Stinkfly) and breathing underwater (Ripjaws), Big Chill of Ghostfreak and Arctiguana, Brainstorm of Grey Matter and Frankenstrike, and Swampfire of Heatblast and Wildvine.
30	*** In the two-part, season 3 premiere of ''Alien Force'', Chromastone was destroyed and has been replaced with [[WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}} Diamondhead]]. This could also count as DiscardAndDraw. This could easily be considered a reverse example, as Chromastone was something of this or an {{expy}} for Diamondhead in the first place. A later episode [[spoiler:brought back Chromastone and revealed his connection to the alien race Diamondhead comes from.]]
31	*** [=SevenSeven=] in ''Alien Force'' to [=SixSix=] from the Original Series. Besides their names and armor colours (and the face under the helmet), the two are almost identical.
32	** ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'':
33	*** Fasttrack, who shares the exact same coloration and [[SuperSpeed powers]] as [=XLR8=], which is rather peculiar, as his existence could be considered redundant and unnecessary, considering Ben likely ''has'' [=XLR8=] in his Ultimatrix, as almost every alien he's had in the previous two series is unlocked. Though he seems to be somewhat stronger and Matt Wayne [[WordOfGod did say]] that Fasttrack is stronger. Although unfortunately for this he isn't considered as popular as [=XLR8=]. Whom even sees use in the ''Creator/ManOfActionStudios''-helmed ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10GeneratorRexHeroesUnited Heroes United]]'' Crossover with ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex''. Ultimately, it would be revealed that Fasttrack was just easier to draw.
34	*** Aggregor. A sociopathic alien with an open-shirted design voiced by Creator/JohnDiMaggio and with a connection to Kevin? Why does this sound so much like [[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Ragnarok]]?
35	** In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'':
36	*** Servantis is a rather blatant one of Driscoll (the Forever King) from the Original Series, down to looking the same before his transformation into a Cerebrocrustacean hybrid.
37	*** It might be unintentional, but fans have noticed Maltruant the Chronosapien shares similarities with Malware, being from the same species as one of Ben's aliens with a RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver color scheme and a name starting with "Mal".
38	*** Astrodactyl is a particularly big SSS of Jetray via being a flying speed-alien whose powers include firing energy beams.
39	*** Feedback turns out to be a downplayed one of Chromastone, as both functioned as Ben's "energy absorption" aliens and both were also "killed" at one point in Ben's career, though Ben wasn't as devastated about Chromastone since he was busy fighting Vilgax.
40	* In ''WesternAnimation/MickeysTwiceUponAChristmas'', Max's girlfriend Mona is a semi-Jonas Quinn of Roxanne from ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie''; she's actually voiced by the same VA, Creator/KellieMartin. The plot at hand is that he's bringing his girlfriend from college home for Christmas to meet his dad. Roxanne obviously met Goofy before, so they came up with a new, suspiciously similar girlfriend character. (And, to be realistic, how many of you were still with your high school crush/sweetheart in college?)
41	* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Revenge of the Island'', ''Pahkitew Island'' and the 2023 reboot, some of the new contestants are such to the original contestants.
42	** Brick is one to Tyler, as they are loyal and kindhearted athletic types with "Leave No Man Behind" mentalities and serve as [[IronButtmonkey pain magnets]] for a season. To a lesser extent, Brick is also one to DJ, both having soft hearts and sensitive characters underneath their great strength and imposing appearance.
43	** Dakota is one to Lindsay, as both are highly attractive and pampered but sweet {{Dumb Blonde}}s who have the first major romance of their debut season (Lindsay with Tyler and Dakota with Sam).
44	** Dawn is one to Bridgette, as both are kindhearted, pacifistic, blonde-haired, animal-loving {{Granola Girl}}s who were among the first targeted for elimination by a season's BigBad (Alejandro for Bridgette in ''World Tour'' and Scott for Dawn in ''Revenge of the Island''; both eliminating them in [[BreakTheCutie a cruel and humiliating manner]]), thereby establishing the villains' threatening and despicable natures.
45	** Jo is one to Eva, as both are violent and ill-tempered tomboyish JerkJock-ettes; however, Jo takes the general premise of Eva's character (brawn, serious attitude, and bullying character) and builds a much more complex and competent competitor than her (Jo lacks Eva's HairTriggerTemper, which is always the cause of the latter's downfall, and is much smarter than her).
46	** Scott is one to Alejandro and Heather as they are all arrogant, manipulative antagonists, who feign friendship in order to get ahead. Like Heather, Scott is bad at hiding his true nature, becomes a ButtMonkey as time passes, and eventually gets a Hispanic love interest. [[spoiler:Like Alejandro, he gets severely injured towards the end of the season and is put into a mechanical suit to recover.]]
47	*** Scott is also one to Duncan. Both are considered to be the "bad boys" of their respective generations, [[spoiler: placed fourth in their debut seasons]], and had failed relationships with [[OppositesAttract Courtney]].
48	*** Alejandro himself is one to Justin, being a major ChickMagnet and MrFanservice who uses their good looks to manipulate others and seduce girls for their own ends. However, Alejandro ultimately become Justin's MorePopularReplacement due to the latter being a largely FlatCharacter who lacked Alejandro's competence at anything beyond the reach of his handsome appearance.
49	** Zoey is one to Beth, as both are extremely nice but socially awkward girls with {{Friendless Background}}s who seek to make friends and get everyone to like them. However she later becomes closer to Bridgette, sharing her role as the kindhearted TeamMom.
50	** Cameron is one to Harold and Cody, being very intelligent and physically weak nerds (in fact, Cameron takes these traits up to eleven compared to them) who are part of a BullyAndWimpPairing (with Jo for Cameron and Duncan for the other two). This is further affirmed in ''All-Stars'', where Sierra literally sees Cameron as Cody. He also is one to Beth, sharing her nerdy appearance, small stature, FriendlessBackground, and servitude under a mean and manipulative girl (Jo for Cameron and Heather for Beth) whom they ultimately backstab in the end.
51	** Sam is one to Cody, being a fellow techno-geek whose main plot involves pining after a girl who would normally be way out of their reach (Gwen for Cody and Dakota for Sam). The difference is that Sam succeeds, where as Cody fails twice. He's also one to Owen in ''All-Stars'', sharing the latter's BigEater tendencies, NiceGuy qualities, and being a major [[IronButtmonkey pain magnet]].
52	** Shawn is one to Ezekiel, as both are scruffy, toque-wearing HomeschooledKids whose unusual quirks and lack of social skills usually isolate them from everyone else. Ironically, whereas Ezekiel was the first voted off in both of his participating seasons, Shawn became one of the finalists in his season (and unlike Ezekiel, found a love interest who helped him become less of a social outsider). He's also one to Harold, being a scruffy CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass with poor social skills and a romance with a larger dark-skinned girl (Jasmine for Shawn and Leshawna for Harold).
53	** Topher is one to Sierra, as both are crazed {{Ascended Fan\|boy}}s who totally obsess over Chris [=McLean=] and worship the very ground he walks on. The difference is that Topher wants to ''become'' the next Chris. He's also one to Justin, being a handsome narcissist who contributes little to the team beyond standing around and looking pretty.
54	** Ella is one to Dawn, as both are oddball {{Nice Girl}}s who are unfailingly kind to everyone, have an affinity with nature, and [[FriendToAllLivingThings have befriended many animals]]. She's also one to Lindsay, due to both being incredibly sweet but naive and childish girls labelled "princesses" who have a one-sided conflict with a mean girl labelled as a "queen".
55	** Dave to Noah, as they are both {{Non Action Snarker}}s of Indian descent who frequently gripe about the craziness or stupidity of everyone around them despite being NotSoAboveItAll themselves (Dave is a huge NeatFreak while Noah is BrilliantButLazy in the extreme).
56	** Twin cheerleaders Amy and Samey are these to Heather and Lindsay, as stereotypical popular high school girls (of the CruelCheerleader and AlphaBitch varieties) with a dynamic in which one of each pair (Amy and Heather; both {{Alpha Bitch}}es) mistreats the other (Samey and Lindsay; both kindhearted blonde cheerleaders) as an expendable lackey until they are finally backstabbed as a result of it.
57	** Jasmine is one to Mike's personality Manitoba Smith, as both are {{Awesome Aussie}}s and {{Action Survivor}}s.
58	** Sky is one to another of Mike's personalities - in this case, Svetlana, who is another PassionateSportsGirl with a kind heart underneath their competitive drive and the pride they take in their athleticism.
59	*** Sky is one to Courtney, particularly her nicer first season interpretation. They're both athletic and intelligent {{Determinator}} {{Competition Freak}}s with the capacity for civility, leadership, and being moral and reasonable people, as well as an unfortunate tendency to have their friendships and relationships destroyed by their obsessive need to succeed at and come first in everything. Sky also has a great deal in common with Zoey, being a NiceGirl and OnlySaneWoman who possesses surprising strength and agility for her unassuming appearance.
60	** Max is one to Mike's SuperpoweredEvilSide Mal, as both are born troublemakers and {{Card Carrying Villain}}s who take pride doing things ForTheEvulz. Especially notable is that their names differ by one letter. The difference is that Max is entirely PlayedForLaughs while Mal is PlayedForDrama.
61	** Rodney is one to DJ, as both are timid {{Gentle Giant}}s with BlackDotEyes. To a lesser extent, he's this to Ezekiel, being a socially inept FarmBoy best known for their troubles when it comes to girls (although Rodney's is because of being a CasanovaWannabe while Ezekiel is an InnocentBigot). He also has a very similar color scheme to Scott, who was also raised on a farm.
62	** Sugar is one to Owen, as both are dimwitted, overweight, blonde-haired {{Big Eater}}s and {{Extreme Omnivore}}s with major {{Gasshole}} tendencies. But personality-wise, Sugar is more like Owen's EvilCounterpart, given that Owen is one of the nicest people on the show while Sugar is one of the meanest.
63	** Scarlett is one to Harold, as both are nerdy, bespectacled redheads whose high intelligence tends to alienate them from their teammates who rarely care for or understand what they're talking about, but they are also much more than they seem (the difference being that Scarlett is a mentally unstable BitchInSheepsClothing while Harold is a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass). She's also one to Izzy's Brainzilla persona, being a crazy genius redhead (the difference is that Izzy's craziness is PlayedForLaughs while Scarlett's is PlayedForDrama).
64	** Beardo is one to B, as both are heavyset African-Canadian teens with unusual talents who don't talk much and are among the first eliminated in their season. He's also one to Staci, due to being the first voted off their teams for annoying everyone with their vocals (Staci's constant lying and Beardo's sound effects)
65	** Caleb is one to Justin, as both are male contestants who hypnotise everyone else with their looks [[spoiler:and are early boots who get eliminated for something that is not their fault]].
66	** Wayne and Raj are this to Katie and Sadie, with both duos [[ThoseTwoGuys always being seen together]] [[HeterosexualLifePartners and being known for being inseparable]].
67	** [[spoiler:Julia]] is one to Heather, with both being a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of an AlphaBitch, and neither one being afraid of getting their hands dirty in order to get further in the game. [[spoiler:Julia]] is also one to Scarlett in the sense that [[spoiler:[[BitchInSheepsClothing both pretend to be nice people]] before their true colors are revealed, though Julia is nowhere near as sociopathic as Scarlett is]].
68	** Lauren, a.k.a [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Scary Girl]], is one to Izzy, as both of them are by far the most crazy and unpredictable of all contestants to date. The difference is that Izzy is more of a CloudCuckooLander type of crazy whereas Scary Girl is a NightmareFetishist type of crazy.
69	** Axel is one to Shawn, as both of them are [[CrazySurvivalist Crazy Survivalists]] who believe that a ZombieApocalypse could take place in the future. Axel is also similar to Eva and Jo in the sense that the three are strong, athletic girls with a very short temper.
70	** Priya is one to Sky, as both of them are athletic girls with a competitive streak, but still friendly and easy-going. [[spoiler:both of them also make it all the way into the finale of their respective debut seasons]].
71	** Ripper is one to Sugar, as both come off as [[EvilCounterpart Evil Counterparts]] of Owen; being unpleasant and with a tendency to fart at a lot.
72	* Like its parent series, ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'' has a few:
73	** Taylor to Heather and Amy. All three are stereotypical rich, attractive, spoiled, and self-centered {{Alpha Bitch}}es who constantly push their closest female teammate around ([[PushoverParents Kelly]] for Taylor, Lindsay for Heather, and Samey for Amy) until their victims finally snap and give them some much-deserved retribution. It's worth noting in this particular case, Taylor and Amy share [[Creator/BrynMcAuley the same voice actress]].
74	** Miles and Laurie to Bridgette, with all three being kind {{Granola Girl}}s who love animals, care a lot about nature and the environment, and known for being vegetarians. The two also share a lot in common with Dawn in that regard.
75	** Devin to Trent, as both are kind, caring, and generally mild-mannered young men who are [[IronButtMonkey major pain magnets]], can be quite ObliviousToLove, and may behave rather obsessively or erratically when distressed over the state of their relationships. They even look somewhat similar.
76	** Devin's partner Carrie is one to Bridgette, as both are sweet and kindhearted blondes noted for their extremely strong feelings for their romantic interests (Geoff for Bridgette and Devin for Carrie). They even share [[Creator/KristinFairlie the same voice actress]]. But later on Carrie becomes one for Zoey, being a NiceGirl whose entire character seems based on a WillTheyOrWontThey with her season-long love interest (who in Zoey's case is Mike).
77	** Adversity Twins Mickey and Jay to Cameron. Like Cameron, the twins are small, timid, and extremely physically weak teens who are hopeless in most physical challenges but still manage to pull through due to their resilience and determination. Notable in that the twins' designs were actually recycled from Cameron's original design.
78	** Emma to Sky. Both have similar skin colours (although Emma is Asian whereas Sky is Native American), are very competitive and focused on the prize but remain good-natured and fair-minded characters despite that, and end up developing a romance with a contestant of Indian descent (Dave for Sky and Noah for Emma) despite coming into the game with no intentions for love, which ends up threatening their focus on the game.
79	** Stephanie to Courtney, as both are massive {{Competition Freak}}s with dark skin whose aggressive and temperamental behaviour during the game leads to numerous arguments with their respective boyfriends (Duncan for Courtney and Ryan for Stephanie) and the breakdown of their relationship, despite both of them still having strong feelings for each other.
80	** Jacques and Josee to Alejandro. They all have extremely admirable and charismatic public personas, as well as numerous talents, but are in fact cruel and ruthless FauxAffablyEvil BitchInSheepsClothing-types who will stoop to any level to win the competition. They even both debut in a season themed around world travel.
81	** Sanders and [=MacArthur=] mirror Brick and Jo, forming a tough, disciplined, and physically capable dynamic in which one (Sanders and Brick) is much more moral, less aggressive, and less violent than the other (Jo and [=MacArthur=]).
82	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': Predaking, as a WarriorPoet NobleDemon who joins Megatron out of a desire for revenge against the Autobots who murdered his kin [[spoiler:and later clashes with Megatron over honor, but does not join the Autobots just because of that]]; is very much similar to [[spoiler:the late]] Dreadwing.
83	* In the 1980s, there was an animated PublicServiceAnnouncement featuring the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''. Since the producers didn't have the animation rights to ComicBook/{{Robin}}, they swapped him out for an extremely similar teen hero named the Protector.
84	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales\|1987}}'', Launchpad [=McQuack=] and later Fenton Crackshell both acted in the role WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck had from the original Uncle Scrooge comics, namely being the other adult character working with Scrooge and the nephews. The writers of the show were worried that Donald's presence would outshine Scrooge and the nephews, which was why the two other characters were created and so they would serve as the fifth member of the FiveManBand in the first and second seasons. However, Donald did notably have a minor recurring role in the first season, where he would properly retake his position from the comics in the few episodes he appeared in.
85	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
86	** The main characters were meant to be characters from G1, but had to be changed due to Hasbro's trademarks for said characters expiring. In this case though, it's less obvious with some because Creator/LaurenFaust based their personalities on her own interpretations of them from her childhood, not their canonical personalities. Surprise/Pinkie and Firefly/Dash are similar but the other three are not.
87	** Starlight Glimmer serves as this for Sunset Shimmer. Both served as unicorn antagonists that were direct foils to protagonist Twilight Sparkle, before ultimately becoming redeemed and joining the main cast. However, while Sunset would only appear in the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Equestria Girls]]'' spin-offs and would even become that series' de facto protagonist, Starlight was in the main show and simply became another member of the widening ensemble cast (though the sixth season is largely dedicated to her redemption arc).
88	** Starlight Glimmer can also be considered a substitute for Twilight Sparkle's [[CharacterizationMarchesOn early characterization]] prior to becoming an alicorn. The similar name, similar design, the ObsessivelyOrganized tendencies in her personality, the lack of social background and [[NoSocialSkills naivete]], and the immense magical potential and ability that leads to her becoming being taken in as a student in the study of Friendship by an Alicorn Princess, just like Twilight originally was. This led to LampshadeHanging on at least one occasion, where another character had problems telling the two apart.
89	** The Student/Young 6 from season 8 essentially fulfill a similar role to the one the Cutie Mark Crusaders had in the beginning, and while the Crusaders still show up, the Student 6 have popped up much more frequently.
90	* Its status as a Sequel Series to ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' makes some amount of this inevitable in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', but the most striking examples are...
91	** ''Korra''[='s=] Mako for ''Avatar''[='s=] Zuko, as the brooding, troubled firebender who has a tendency to get embroiled in shipping wars.
92	** And ''Korra''[='s=] Bolin for ''Avatar''[='s=] Sokka, as the wisecracking, sarcastic and somewhat bumbling comic relief. They both even have a similar inferiority-complex arc in their respective third seasons, Sokka because he's a BadassNormal in a group of super-powered kung-fu wizards (until he finds a mentor and gains skill in swordsmanship), Bolin because he is only a "normal" Earthbender without a specialization like Mako's lightning-bending or Toph's metal-bending (until he learns how to lavabend).
93	* Speaking of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Admiral Zhao [[spoiler:died at the end of the Book 1 finale]] and gets replaced with Princess Azula, who is sent to drop the hammer and finish her predecessor's job. However, where Zhao was [[TheBrute a hacksaw]], Azula is a [[MagnificentBastard finely honed scalpel]] and ends up a ''far'' bigger threat.
94	* The [[WesternAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls 2019 reboot]] of ''WebAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'' replaced [[AdaptationalHeroism adaptational heroines]] Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy with Zatanna and Green Lantern, and reverted the two back to villainesses/anti-heroines.
95	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' had Monique replacing Ron Stoppable because he moved away from Middleton (the ''Kim Possible'' original movie was made for TV and was produced for the ''Creator/DisneyChannel'' and ''Creator/WaltDisneyTelevisionAnimation''). It only lasted a few minutes.
96	* ''WesternAnimation/SheZow'' had a sickly version of the main character, thus getting Kelly (his big sister) to become the superhero(ine) for a day (a la ''Literature/FreakyFriday'').
97	* Brittany from ''Franchise/AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' is one of these. A year prior to her and her sisters appearing, a solo Chipette named Charlene appeared in [[Music/AlvinAndTheChipmunks an album]] called ''The Chipmunks Go Hollywood''. She had a blonde ponytail and was Alvin's love interest. A year later the other two Chipettes were introduced alongside Brittany, with Charlene being replaced. The main difference between the two is that Charlene had lighter hair and a black nose. Brittany is a rare case of the substitute being more well-known than the original.
98	* ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatDefendersOfTheRealm'' had several examples:
99	** Oniro was a rather blatant stand-in for Shang Tsung, even possessing the latter's trademark [[{{Shapeshifter}} Shapeshifting]] abilities and a variation of his {{Catchphrase}} ("Your soul will belong to me!" instead of "Your soul is mine!"). He was presumably created due to the show [[BroadStrokes loosely following the canon of]] the first [[Film/MortalKombatTheMovie live-action movie]], where Shang Tsung was killed by Liu Kang during the final battle. Shang Tsung himself would later be resurrected in the show's ninth episode, [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome eliminating any further need for Oniro to exist]].
100	** One episode had a CanonForeigner named Ruby, a female assassin dressed in red. Ruby was a HeroicSeductress and an old childhood friend of Kitana, you know, kind of like the one with the name of a ''green'' precious stone. (The reason Ruby was used in place of Jade was because the writers wanted her to have a background with Ermac too, and it seemed designing a new character was preferable to them than messing up the core character's background).
101	** Reptile was replaced with Komodai, a virtually identical LizardFolk ninja in a green outfit. Like Shang Tsung, the real Reptile was likely absent due to having been killed off in the movie.
102	** Baraka was replaced with another Tarkatan warrior named Karbrac, whose name was even a phonetic anagram of Baraka's.
103	* [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] couldn't be used in ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1967'' due to licensing issues, necessitating the creation of an {{Expy}} named Prince Triton.
104	** The Namor segment of ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'' cannot use the Fantastic Four, the solution was to use the [[ComicBook/XMen X-Men]] with the name ''Allies for Peace'', interestingly, there were no restrictions for Lady Dorma and ComicBook/DoctorDoom, who appeared in both series.
105	* The Lizard appeared as a recurring villain in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'', but was permanently cured in the fourth season. When the show's two-part GrandFinale necessitated getting the Sinister Six back together for one last battle, the writers had ComicBook/DoctorOctopus randomly turn Crossbones into the new Lizard.
106	* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'':
107	** Cat Grant was dropped in favor of a CanonForeigner named Angela Chen, who was pretty much the exact same character apart from having a different name and being Asian-American.
108	** DC had a rule at the time that Superman was the last Kryptonian. ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} had to be made into a CanonForeigner. However, all they did was slightly change her backstory so that she wasn't Superman's biological cousin and she wasn't from Krypton, but a sister planet which also exploded. Her personality, general design, and even first name are the same as the Kara Danvers/Linda Lee version of the character.
109	* As covered in the Comic Books section, the ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' franchise eventually had to deal with the murky legal status of ComicBook/{{Angela\|AsgardsAssassin}} due to a dispute between Creator/ToddMcFarlane and Creator/NeilGaiman over ownership of the character. This meant that Angela was unceremoniously dropped from the [[WesternAnimation/ToddMcFarlanesSpawn TV series]], leading to the introduction of an extremely similar character named Jade in the third season.
110	* In the SoftReboot to ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'', ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBusRidesAgain'', Professor (formerly "Ms") Valerie Frizzle passes the torch to her sister Fiona Frizzle. They [[StrongFamilyResemblance look near identical]], sound similar, go by the same name, and are both upbeat {{Cool Teacher}}s.
111	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' and its [[WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016 reboot]] both have episodes featuring "fourth Powerpuff Girls". Bunny and Bliss are both purple themed, both are biologically unstable, and both are taller than the main trio. The difference is that Bliss is more realistically tall than Bunny and that she's [[LongLostRelative the long-lost older sister]] of the others.
112	* When told the Scarecrow was off-limits, ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' replaced him with Hugo Strange for the episode [[Recap/TheBatmanS4E6StrangeNewWorld "Strange New World"]], a change looked upon favorably since [[spoiler:the Scarecrow's presence would've given away that Batman was really dosed with a hallucinogenic compound that made him see zombies everywhere rather than Gotham's citizens being turned into zombies.]]
113	* WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse started out as this to WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit. This extends to WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse being one to Oswald's wife Ortensia. Both Mickey and Minnie were created by Walt Disney because he lost the rights to Oswald. The four characters designs were near identical and they played extremely similar roles. Eventually, CharacterizationMarchesOn and EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference took place. As of Oswald's revival in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', he and Mickey [[DivergentCharacterEvolution aren't that similar anymore]]. Minnie and Ortensia still bare similarities, however at least Minnie now has a different design from Ortensia.
114	* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'': For ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTalesInTheHouse'', Mr. Nezzer was replaced by a substitute called Ichabeezer because, according to Phil Vischer, Creator/DreamWorksAnimation believed he was a black stereotype. [[note]]For clarity, Vischer based Mr. Nezzer's voice on an imitation of Oogie Boogie from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', who spoke with a jazzy flair and was voiced by a black actor.[[/note]]
115	* ''WesternAnimation/PinkaliciousAndPeterrific'': In the original ''Pinkalicious'' books, Pinkalicious had two friends named Molly and Rose. In the series, they were written out and replaced with Jasmine and Lila, respectively. Both of them look very similar to Molly and Rose.
116	* The factions in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' are the Maximals and Predacons. How do these two groups differ from the Autobots and Decepticons? ''Very'' slightly. Although somewhat justified as these Maximals and Predacons are descendants of said factions from the far future, the Autobots and Decepticons respectively. Still quite impressive how despite many centuries of evolution the factions share a few traits with their ancestors (although size definitely wasn't one of them).
117	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' has three Shredders, with the latter two heavily resembling the first one, despite being separate characters:
118	** The Demon Shredder is somewhat justified, as he is said to be the inspiration for Ch'rell to take on the mantle of the Shredder, hence their similarity. The Demon Shredder also feels different enough to be seen as his own character.
119	** Played completely straight with the Cyber Shredder in ''Back to the Sewer''. This Shredder is formed from a digital backup of Ch'rell's personality. So apart from his drastically different looks, he is essentially the same character as the first Shredder.
120	** Khan, also from the ''Back to the Sewer'' season feels very similar to early series Hun. Both simply exist to be a lackey to the Shredder who's named after a historical conqueror. (Atilla the Hun and Gengis Khan). This character is probably created as such, since Hun permanently severed his ties to the Shredder and went his own way.
121	* When Disney scrapped the ''Franchise/StarWars'' Expanded Universe when they bought the franchise, they took a lot of characters with it. While some have come back, like Thrawn, there are also a number of these floating around. Like for instance a certain Jedi in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' who survived Order 66, has a samurai-like haircut, is very distrustful of clones, was a founding member of the Rebel Alliance, and goes into a deep depression after [[spoiler:being blinded by a character voiced by Sam Witwer]]. Whether intentional or not, Kanan Jarrus bears a striking resemblance to the now Legends character Rahm Kota from ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed''.
122	** One of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars ''’s fan favorite characters started out as one of these. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally, the role as Anakin’s second in command would have been filled by]] [[ComicBook/StarWarsRepublic ARC Trooper Alpha]], but Creator/GeorgeLucas realized that would mean the entire main cast of the show would have names starting with the letter “A” (Anakin, Ashoka, Artoo, and Alpha) so he vetoed the idea and a substitute named Captain Rex was born. Eventually however, Rex would [[CharacterizationMarchesOn develop his own personality]] as a more kind hearted leader who would eventually join the Rebel Alliance, where Alpha seemed to believe MurderIsTheBestSolution.
123	* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersAtWork'':
124	** Roze, the new administrator of Laugh Floor F, is one to her [[AlwaysIdenticalTwins twin sister]] Roz, both being slug creatures with a [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan sense of humor]], are portrayed by a man in a deep, gravely voice, and are feared by Mike Wazowski. Roze, however, has no mole or glasses, dyed her hair pink, wears a green shirt instead of a red one, and actively goes out of her way to bother Mike.
125	** Duncan, the TokenEvilTeammate of MIFT, is a smooth-talking, shift-eyed schemer who's looking to move up in the company, and is willing to kill his coworkers if they pose any possible threat to his ascension. Aside from him being competent at his job, not wanting to backstab his boss and is willing to wait until he retires (or dies), and actually being courteous to his other teammates, Duncan is practically a slightly nicer version of Randall.
126	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'':
127	** The original 1973 series featured a pair of teenage sidekicks to the Super Friends named Wendy and Marvin as well as a TeamPet known as Wonder Dog. Starting with the second series ''The All-New Super Friends Hour'', the three were replaced by the Wonder Twins (Zan and Jayna) and their pet alien monkey Gleek.
128	** In the ''Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show'' episode "The Case of the Dreadful Dolls", the villain is the Dollmaker, who has a lot in common with the series' incarnation of Toyman (mainly in that he's a toy-themed villain who wears a clown-like costume and is voiced by Creator/FrankWelker). Toyman was apparently supposed to be the antagonist of the episode before the production team found that they no longer had the rights to use Toyman and had to make do with a new villain, which is supported by a lot of evidence in the final version of the episode (particularly, the Dollmaker's hideout being in Schott's Toy Factory[[note]]The original Toyman's real name is Winslow Schott.[[/note]] and the Super Friends regarding Dollmaker [[RememberTheNewGuy as if he were a previously encountered enemy]]).
129	* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' has an interesting example via the [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheWitchsGhost Hex Girls]], who act as one to [[ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats Josie and the Pussycats]] (who had previously guest-starred in a episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'', back when Hanna-Barbera used to broadcast their AnimatedAdaptation). While their gimmicks are different, both are BlondeBrunetteRedhead trios of teenage girls who perform as a musical band and help to solve mysteries, similarities that were highlighted a little further for the band's appearance in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndGuessWho'' (which incidentally is a SpiritualSuccessor to the aforementioned series).
130	* On ''WesternAnimation/LaffALympics,'' Dick Dastardly and Muttley were originally intended to be the captains of the Really Rottens, but it's been reputed that Heatter-Quigley (who was co-credited on ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'') co-owned the characters. In Dastardly's stead was the Dread Baron (a comic book posits the two are brothers) and in Muttley's stead was Mumbly who was actually created a year prior.
131	* In ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekProdigy'', the Diviner is modeled on Khan Noonien Singh--a powerful tyrant who's trying to save his people and despises the Federation for a well-intentioned act that doomed them. It's not flagrantly obvious because he's teased as having a nobler purpose behind his misdeeds. But when he finally reveals the whole truth to Gwyn, [[spoiler:it's that he was on the "xenophobe" side of the war that destroyed his people after the Federation contacted them and revealed a wider galaxy, and he came back in time to destroy the Federation first.]]
132	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' spent 13 seasons revolving around the title character's combative relationship with Lana Kane, his partner in the field. Then, in the 14th and final season, Lana was KickedUpstairs to run the agency -- and almost immediately recruited a new agent named Zara Khan, who had a similar dynamic with Archer. Just to ram the point home, the episode in which Khan was recruited finished with Archer yelling "Zara... Zara!" in exactly the same way he would previously have yelled "Lana... Lana!"
133	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In seasons 2-4, Pretty was an AlphaBitch and a {{jerkass}} who enjoyed fatshaming Kaeloo, insulting everyone around her, and bullying her kind-hearted and soft-spoken ButtMonkey sister Eugly. In season 5, Pretty undergoes a sudden offscreen HeelFaceTurn and becomes super nice with zero explanation, [[SameCharacterButDifferent almost as if she were a completely different character]]; the same season introduces Stumpy's little sister Cramoisie, who is... a {{jerkass}} who enjoys fatshaming Kaeloo, insulting everyone around her, and bullying her kind-hearted and soft-spoken ButtMonkey sister Violasse. She even has green eyes and primarily wears red clothes, just like Pretty.

Context SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute / WesternAnimation