Adaptation Personality Change in Live-Action TV.
- All the Light We Cannot See: Both versions of Etienne begin the story as shut-ins, but the show's version of him is less delicate than that of the book and is more of a snarky man of action. Notably, he doesn't take days to come out of his room and meet Marie-Laure, and is already committing seditious acts for the French Resistance well before Manec dies.
- The Bates Motel version of Norma Bates is a lot more sympathetic than the Evil Matriarch from the Psycho films. Rather than abusing her son For the Evulz she is reimagined as a Troubled Abuser whose clingy and controlling behavior stems from a history of being abused herself, as well as trying to keep her already unstable son from harming others.
- Half the cast of The Boys (2019) received this treatment due to the show's Lighter and Softer nature compared to the comics, with the majority of characters becoming far more personable (with the exception of Homelander who managed to be even worse somehow).
- The Frenchman went from being an Ax-Crazy Boisterous Bruiser to a fairly mellow Gadgeteer Genius.
- Starlight is more sassy and assertive compared to her comic counterpart who needed significantly more time to learn to properly stand up for herself, and regains her faith in God after spending time with Hughie unlike comic Starlight who never fully recovered.
- Lamplighter in the comics was a sociopath who had no issue with burning children alive, but his show counterpart makes it clear that it was an accident and was deeply traumatized by the event.
- President of the United States Robert "Dakota Bob" Schafer is a right-wing Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Reasonable Authority Figure who's the one thing standing between Vought and practically world domination, which is why they want him dead so badly. His show counterpart, Secretary of Defense & presidential candidate Robert Singer, is a left-wing Puppet King for Vought who hates how dependent the government is on them but is willing to toe the line.
- Dakota Bob's partner Vic the Veep is given a total 180. In the comic, he was a Lethally Stupid Puppet King who could barely form complete sentences. In the show, she's a cunning Mole in Charge with superpowers.
- In the original The Worst Witch books Miss Bat appears only in the second book and appears to be your average strict teacher. The TV series has her as a Cloud Cuckoo Lander and much more empathetic to the students. Miss Drill is also written as a tough Drill Sergeant Nasty type of PE teacher in the books but is much more friendly in the TV series, as well as being rewritten to be mortal. She is implied to be a witch in the books.
- Smallville: Like Man of Steel would do later, General Zod is given a new personality and motivation for his actions. Depicted as more of a strategic planner due to being depowered for the most part, he actually seeks out to befriend Clark, believing he can help their people gain their powers like him, and actually strikes up a friendship with Lois (though, mostly to manipulate her). His motivation is also changed, instead of wishing to rule For the Evulz, he was originally a noble, charismatic military Captain who's family died in the battle of Kandor, and was denied the chance to clone his beloved son, resulting in his Start of Darkness. He's a literal Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds in this case too, as he's responsible for the destruction of Krypton in this continuity.
- In Penny Dreadful, unlike Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein has no apparent emotional life outside of his work. No family, no fianceé, no nuthin' until he meets the other adventurers. Dorian Gray also has depths that he didn't possess in Oscar Wilde's book, wherein he was actually glad he drove a lover to suicide and murdered his closest friend for causing a completely unforeseeable freak accident.
- The Casablanca TV series makes Sacha, a Plucky Comic Relief character in the original, much duller and more reserved.
- The 100 TV series has Bellamy start out as more selfish and ruthless than his book counterpart. Octavia loses her drug addiction issues from the book, while also becoming a more confident and adventurous free spirit. Clarke starts out with a personality fairly close to her book counterpart (albeit with a changed backstory), but thanks to Adaptation Expansion, her character development goes in a different direction.
- Madame Dorothea from City of Bones was originally reclusive and somber, "Dot" is sociable and upbeat in Shadowhunters.
- Along with being better looking, the characters of Rizzoli & Isles are practically a 180 from their counterparts in the books, where Maura is an ice queen, Jane is brusque and abrasive, Korsak is a loud mouthed jerk, Frost is a wimp, and so on.
- Several characters from the Land of Oz books are subject to this in Emerald City:
- The Wizard is less charming and more dour and menacing than in many other versions of the story.
- Glinda is more manipulative and cold.
- West is not a Card-Carrying Villain as usual, but a more troubled individual.
- East seems to have been a beloved ruler rather than an oppressive one, despite her hand in creating the Prison of the Abject. The Munja'kin almost vote to execute Dorothy for her death, and end up exiling her from their territory forever.
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017):
- Olaf's troupe aren't as evil as they were in the books, especially the Hook-Handed Man. Instead of being children haters like their boss, they appear to be more concerned for the children's well-safety (maybe) when they see see Olaf hold Sunny high above the table and strike Klaus in rage. Originally in the book, they applauded Olaf for the latter.
- Madame Lulu/Olivia Caliban also gets this treatment - in the books, she is on neither side, eventually selling the Baudelaires out to Count Olaf; in the series, her role is expanded so that she is featured from The Austere Academy onwards, and she is on the side of the Baudelaires.
- The Outer Limits (1995): In "Think Like a Dinosaur", Michael Burr is already rather morose when he meets Kamala Shastri as he is mourning the death of his wife Karen. In the short story by James Patrick Kelly, he is much more gregarious since there is no mention of him having experienced such a tragedy.
- Catch-22:
- In the book, Major —— de Coverly is The Voiceless and cuts such an impressive figure that no one dares speak to him. When he does speak, it's in broken English, suggesting that he's actually dimwitted. In the series, however, he's an erudite man who speaks frequently, never intimidates anyone, and is about as intelligent as anyone else on the base.
- In the books, Nately's whore is always tired and behaves coldly and mechanically around him, resenting his attention. After she finally gets some sleep, she falls in love with him. In the series, she is always charming and vivacious, milking Nately for as much money as she can while caring nothing for him one way or the other.
- The Vampire Diaries:
- Elena is a regular Plucky Girl at the beginning of the series, and a lot nicer than the Alpha Bitch she started out as in novels.
- Caroline is The Rival in the novels, a former Beta Bitch who schemes against Elena and has little to do with the supernatural. The series turns her into one of Elena’s True Companions. She is initially jealous of Elena and a bit of a Control Freak, but is aware of her own flaws and becomes a lot nicer after some Character Development.
- Katherine goes from a Psychopathic Manchild who commits murder as a part of her "game" with the Salvatore brothers, to an ambitious Vamp who kills to further her own goals. Her former romance with the brothers is in turn changed from a childish inability to comprehend why she can’t have them both, to her knowing full well and not caring that they would object and resorting to Mind Control to keep them both in line.
- Season 5 of Supergirl (2015) introduces a character named Andrea Rojas as the new owner of CatCo. In the comics, she's a left-wing vigilante who leaves philosophical quotes as a calling card. The TV version is a high-powered businesswoman who wants to "dumb down" CatCo to get clicks and, at least until Crisis changes her history, a reluctant assassin for Leviathan. There's arguably an Adaptational Plot Hole in the fact she still uses the code name Acrata, referring to an anti-authoritarian philosophy, in her role as an enforcer for the Ancient Conspiracy.
- The Twilight Zone (1985): In "The After Hours", Marsha Cole is a sweet, naive young woman who is frightened when the saleswoman asks her strange questions about her background. After discovering that she is a mannequin, she resists the others' attempt to force her to return and resume her "life" as a display in the department store Satler's. In the original episode, Marsha White appears to be somewhat older and is much more self-assured. She reacts with annoyance when the saleswoman makes personal remarks about her. After she recalls that she is a mannequin, she accepts her status without any further objection and decides to return to the store of her own volition.
- Brave New World:
- John the Savage is quite changed from how he is in the book. He shows far less of a cultured air and unlike his book counterpart he has casual sex with a string of women (plus some men) very willingly. His book counterpart only had sex once in a moment of weakness after using Soma, and felt terrible about it afterward, as he only wanted to have serious, monogamous relationships. This also goes hand-in-hand with Adaptational Badass, as he's more successful in shaking up the society of New London and is quicker to use violence.
- Lenina is another recipient of this. In the book, she was a much more shallow and superficial character who barely thinks much deeper about how her society functions. In the series, she's more inquisitive and becomes more actively defiant.
- Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Daredevil (2015):
- While Wilson Fisk retains his comics counterpart traits of being a romantic, as well as very intelligent and cultured, he's also depicted in the show as a bit of a Psychopathic Manchild.
- Karen Page in the comics did not have much in the way of personality and was generally a Damsel in Distress for most of her tenure. In the show, she's a Damsel out of Distress and much more proactive in solving problems.
- Luke Cage (2016): Luke is considerably more composed and philosophical than he is in the comics, where he was known for talking trash to Doctor Doom (famously saying "Where's my money, honey?" a line that was later incorporated into season 2).
- Moon Knight (2022): Steven Grant in the comics is a confident and outgoing wealthy socialite. In addition to making him the point-of-view character for the first half of this series, he's changed to a meek, dorky, and overall extremely friendly and polite man.
- Daredevil (2015):
- Fate: The Winx Saga, the Live-Action Adaptation of Winx Club:
- Aisha is more uptight and focused on school than her counterpart in the cartoon.
- Farah Dowling is much more stern and formal than her cartoon counterpart Faragonda. While Faragona never hesitated to enforce disciple, she was also warm and maternal toward her students.
- Once Upon a Time does this to many of the Disney characters it features, most notably Snow White and the Evil Queen, whose enmity defined the first season. In the animated Disney version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Snow White was a wide-eyed innocent and the Evil Queen was a Cold Ham who really did want her stepdaughter dead just for being prettier than her. In the series, while that's joked about as her motivation, she lashed out at Snow for telling a secret, and is generally much more emotional and active. Snow herself is an Action Girl who's willing and able to protect her family, and while usually cheerful and kind, even she occasionally contributes to the World of Snark.
- Gotham: Most previous adaptations of Alfred Pennyworth depict him as being almost always proper and polite when dealing with others and acting as a Servile Snarker in order to be a counterpoint to Batman's intensity and focus. In this series, Alfred is a much coarser character, speaking flippantly to Gordon and even angrily berating Bruce for disobeying him and putting himself in danger (while still calling the boy "Master"). While atypical, this gruffer portrayal is akin to the depictions of Alfred in Batman: Earth One and Beware the Batman, and is a stressed-out, grieving Alfred dealing with raising a traumatized orphan, rather than the kindly, wise butler he is in adaptations where Bruce is already a grown man.
- The Princess Wei Young: In the novel Wei Yang is a vicious, manipulative Anti-Hero. Xin Er, her equivalent in the series, isn't vicious or an Anti-Hero and is much less manipulative.
- She's Gotta Have It: Greer in the film was a stuffy, yuppieish, Sharp-Dressed Man with a strong disdain toward other Black men. The series character is a far more laidback man who favors casual wear and has no such opinion. Jamie is now the one usually in suits, with a high-paying office job, and kind of stuffy, switching this a bit with Greer.
- Lois & Clark: At the time of airing most people's perception of the Clark Kent/Superman characters were from Christopher Reeve's portrayal in the film series: Clark being incredibly dorky and irritating and Superman being almost inhumanly masterful and charismatic. Perhaps mindful of just how grating a "dork" Clark would be over an entire series and wanting to make the romance elements more believable the TV series Clark is much more assertive, confident and charismatic. (This is another call back to the 1950s series, where George Reeves often played Clark this way.) At the same time Superman is far more down to earth making the two personalities much more similar than the film incarnations.
- LazyTown: Sportacus was more manipulative and aggressive in the first play compared to later versions, though he was still on the side of good.
- Miss Lemon, Poirot's secretary in the Hercule Poirot novels, is The Spock. She has zero imagination and the closest thing she has to a hobby is an attempt to create the perfect filing system. Miss Lemon as she appears in Poirot is close to being a Ditzy Secretary, and to Poirot's exasperation, is sometimes shown to be an Agent Mulder.
- Interview with the Vampire (2022): In the books, Lestat de Lioncourt is subject to Characterization Marches On. Lestat in Interview with the Vampire (the first novel and the basis for the first season) is markedly different from Lestat in the rest of The Vampire Chronicles. The TV show deals with this discrepancy by rewriting the events of that book in a way that's more inline with Lestat's later characterization. It combines his original IWTV role as a villain whom Louis and Claudia must escape with Lestat's future enigmatic persona of "the brat prince," which results in a charming but abusive partner in the TV iteration.
