Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Adaptation Personality Change / Western Animation

Go To

Adaptation Personality Change in Western Animation.

The following have their own pages:

  • Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog reworks Sonic into The Trickster, often employing disguises to fool Scratch and Grounder, made Tails a borderline example of The Load due to an Age Lift, and played up Robotnik's Laughably Evil traits and temper.
  • Scarface's mate in The Animals of Farthing Wood is mostly just a background character and isn't necessarily evil but the cartoon expands her role into a proper Femme Fatale. Also Friendly takes on Bold's role as the sneak between Charmer and Ranger, making his name in the cartoon rather ironic.
  • Arcane:
    • While the core of her Punch-First-Ask-Questions-Eventually personality from the League of Legends is still there, Vi in Arcane is less playful, more somber, and a lot more angry. She's also shown to be far more intelligent (of the street smart variety) than the Dumb Jock who punches stuff the game protrays her as.
    • While Jayce is still fairly narcissistic, he's more friendly and well-meaning than in the game. He's also fairly idealistic and naive at the beginning of the show.
  • Avengers Assemble:
  • The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes,
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Happens in-universe with the Ember Island Players, who put on a pro-Fire Nation play using highly Flanderized versions of the Gaang (notably, Katara is a blubbery wangster in love with Zuko). Toph is the only one happy with her version, because they made her a hulking Boisterous Bruiser who uses echolocation instead of seismic sense.
  • Back to the Future: In the movies, Marty McFly causes some problems because of his impulsiveness, but he serves as a capable, quick-witted assistant to Doc and comes across as a loyal, kind person in general. The version from the series appears ditzier and more self-centered.
  • Daisy Duck is usually the responsible and down-to-earth foil to Donald, but in Mickey MouseWorks and House of Mouse, she became a self-centered kook who obliviously makes things difficult for her friends.
  • In Ben 10 (2016), while Gwen Tennyson is still more mature than her cousin Ben, retaining her role as the voice of reason, she is now willing to join in on his more questionable schemes and misadventures. She is also far more friendly and outwardly supportive towards him, in stark contrast to the regular Hypocritical Heartwarming at play in the original 2005 series.
  • The Boondocks does this to a few characters:
    • In the comic strip, Huey remains an activist while in the animated series, he claims to have retired.
    • Cindy goes from being Jazmine's friend who is so ignorant about Black racial issues that she doesn't even realize Jazmine is half-Black to a Pretty Fly for a White Guy Distaff Counterpart for Riley as well as his friend and rival, and having no relationship at all with Jazmine.
    • In the comics, Jazmine is shown having issues accepting her mixed-race heritage while none of this shows up in the animated series.
  • Bugs Bunny Builders:
    • In the original Looney Tunes shorts, Chester the Terrier was a jumpy Hero-Worshipper for Spike the Bulldog. In this series, he is quiet and works as a rollerskating waiter for Hector.
    • In original Looney Tunes shorts, Penelope Pussycat is shy and meek. In this series, she's a flamboyant and confident fashionista.
  • DC Super Hero Girls 2019: This version of Jessica Cruz, as opposed to being an anxious Cowardly Lion, is an outgoing, pacifist Granola Girl. This incarnation (and most other adaptations of the character, for that matter) also forego the struggles with agoraphobia and self-loathing serve as the foundation of the comic book original's persona.
  • DuckTales (2017) has a bunch of these:
    • The triplets undergo Divergent Character Evolution: Huey is The Leader and a bit of a geek, Dewey is the brash adventurer with some Middle Child Syndrome, and Louie is a lazy Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
    • Webby was a surrogate Annoying Younger Sibling in the original series, and too girly for a show that was targeted mostly at boys; here, aside from being the boys' age, she's more of an Action Girl Cloud Cuckoolander who idolizes adventurers, but retains some vulnerability as she worries about being accepted.
    • In the old series, Mrs. Beakley had a few cool moments early on, but eventually her Hysterical Woman side got Flanderized. In this version, she's an unflappable Battle Butler whom the villains know not to mess with.
    • Gyro Gearloose was much more of a Nice Guy in the original series. Here his Mad Scientist traits are played up, and he's more of an Insufferable Genius toward people who don't respect his intelligence (namely, anyone but Scrooge).
    • Flintheart Glomgold was Scrooge's arch-nemesis in the original cartoon, and Duck comics. Here he's been downgraded to a Sitcom Arch-Nemesis, who is often Laughing Mad who is ineffective with his many (many) schemes because he keeps trying to kill Scroogenote  and whereas the 80's cartoon changed Glomgold from being a South African in the comics to a Scottish heritagenote , he's eventually revealed in "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!" to be a fake Scot.
    • Drake Mallard, alias Darkwing Duck, was an egotistical Jerk with a Heart of Gold in the original series, who became a superhero for the fame and glory, only showcasing his deep desire to be a hero when the situation got really bad. Here, while he still has somewhat of an ego, his primary motivation is to help serve as an example to others, and give them inspiration to stand up for themselves. He's also much nicer to Launchpad and Gosalyn, treating them as equal partners in his crimefighting efforts rather than being a pushover with them.
    • Scrooge's miserliness is massively downplayed compared to his other incarnations. While '87 Scrooge would be stingy to the point of refusing to pay for anything beyond the barest necessities, '17 Scrooge is well aware that some things just cost money, employs people of questionable value to the organization, and budgets for costly supernatural defenses. He also nearly went bankrupt trying to save Della. Many of his dicoveries are also put to very altruistic purposes, such as an energy-generating crystal providing clean free energy for all of Ducksburg. Instead, this Scrooge's defining traits are his thirst for adventure and being a complete badass.
  • Face's Music Party: Downplayed with Face. While they're definitely still prone to being giddy at times, they're much more laid back and relaxed than in the original bumpers.
  • Almost every new incarnation of the Felix the Cat series completely overhauls his personality.
  • The Fimbles in the series the Fimbles are friendly and vegetarian, while in the book that inspired it Lucy Anna and the Finders, they are much more aggressive and threaten to eat Lucy Anna multiple times.
  • Few comic book adaptations copy the source material 1:1, and Invincible (2021) is no exception:
    • Mark in the show is more sensitive (emotionally and physically) and while his comic counterpart was more desensitized to collateral damage, seeing someone die or failing to save someone caused him quite a bit of trauma and made him question whether he was cut out to be a hero.
    • Atom Eve in the comics was more of a stereotypical Girl Next Door with frequent emotional outbursts and silent longing, whereas her animated counterpart is much more mature and composed from the get-go. After Rex cheats on her in the comics, she's extremely upset and vents her feelings to Mark, even breaking down in hysterical tears. In the show, she's still justifiably furious when she discovers the affair, but she gets over it much more quickly (though she still doesn't forgive Rex).
    • Mark's first girlfriend Amber was changed from a typical Dumb Blonde to a Sassy Black Woman.
    • Mark's best friend Will was an average everyday guy who realized his sexuality in college, while in the show he's Camp Gay from the start.
    • Monster Girl is more down-to-earth in the show, as opposed to the comic where she was desperate to maintain an adult image in the face of her powers and was a serial flirt.
    • Dupli-Kate was an Adaptational Nice Guy, as she didn't know Eve and Rex were still in a relationship when letting Rex sleep with her and apologizes for it after realizing her mistake unlike in the comic where she showed no remorse over it.
  • Jellystone!: While some characters are close in personality to their original selves, others are different.
    • Hardy Har-Har is clearly NOT the depressive pessimist her original is.
    • Brain, while not being a genius, sure as hell isn't a dumbass like her original (instead, she's The Stoic).
  • Josie and the Pussycats: In the original comics, Alexander Cabot III was egotistical and a jerk, but perfectly willing to take on bad guys. In the show, while he remains egotistical, he's much friendlier, but a coward who almost always panics and runs away or begs for his life when faced with danger. This is because the studio decided to make him an Expy of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. Also, in the comic books, he was always trying to score with Josie, but in the show he doesn't seem to have any romantic interest in her, or anybody else.
  • The Looney Tunes Show:
    • Daffy Duck. In the original shorts - at least, in his most iconic personalities - he was fairly intelligent and clever, but occasionally gullible and was often defeated due to his greed and selfishness. Here, he's a lazy idiot who can't do anything right.
    • Lola Bunny. Her original character in Space Jam is an exaggerated sex symbol whom Bugs is head over heels in love with, and in the show, she's an energetic Cloudcuckoolander who infuriates him because she has No Sense of Personal Space and borders on being a Stalker with a Crush.
  • For the Nick Jr. (Treehouse TV in Canada) Animated Adaptation of Rosemary Wells's Max and Ruby series. Max's big sister Ruby was more cheerful compared to her personality in the books. Especially in the earlier books such as "Max's Chocolate Chicken" and "Max's Christmas" where she was more of a Deadpan Snarker and more stern. This was also shown in the 90's Animated Adaptation for those two books which were released on VHS. However Ruby did start becoming more cheerful in later entries of the books.
  • Mickey Mouse may be an odd variation in that it was his adaptation interpretations that avoided such a change. While the Mickey of Classic Disney Shorts was slowly tamed into The Everyman, the comics continued to refer to his earlier more adventurous and abrasive persona for a long period of time. Epic Mickey even plays with this, allowing you to choose between evolving Mickey into either his former or latter persona.
  • When Miles Morales made his debut in the Ultimate Marvel universe, he was reluctant to use his powers, only doing so after the Peter Parker of his universe died. Additionally, he was a Cowardly Lion, getting scared easily. Marvel's Spider-Man sees him jump at the chance to be a superhero and start off pretty cocky. Additionally, even before getting his powers, comics!Miles was introverted, whereas the show's Miles is outgoing.
  • Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023): Lunella in the comics is a bratty Insufferable Genius. Her TV incarnation is much more humble and friendly.
  • Muppet Babies (2018):
    • In Muppet Babies (1984), Gonzo had an obvious but unrequited crush on Piggy. In the 2018 series, he doesn't.
    • Piggy's crush on Kermit from the 1984 series has also vanished in the 2018 series, possibly because the Piggy/Kermit romance has been toned down in her adult counterpart in later years and they're portrayed more as Amicable Exes in the 2018 series.
    • Rizzo wasn't part of the original Muppet Babies series, but compared to his adult counterpart he's a lot calmer and more laid-back in the 2018 series.
    • In the 1984 series, Scooter and Skeeter were Polar Opposite Twins, Scooter being a socially awkward computer nerd, and Skeeter being an energetic tomboy who likes sports (even to the point where they sang a song about how different they are in "Sing a Song of Superheroes"). In the 2018 series, while they still have differences, they're close to being Single-Minded Twins who initially do everything together, with the main difference in their introduction being that Scooter suffers more seperation anxiety when they're apart for the first time.
  • My Adventures with Superman:
    • Lois Lane of the comics is usually portrayed as a brutally honest and hard-nosed woman with a Deadpan Snarker side who's willing to stand up to anyone. Here, Lois is a tomboyish and cheery Genki Girl who's more eager to prove herself. This version of her is also much more obviously in love with Clark from the start, whereas her comic counterpart initially couldn't care less about him and was much more subdued in her attraction when she finally did start to fall in love.
    • In the comics, as well as the previous animated series that she originates from, Livewire is a massive Attention Whore whose desire for notoriety is what fuels her actions as a supervillain, and is also rather irresponsible (with said irresponsibility being what caused her to gain her powers in the first place). Here, she's a more serious minded character who's actively trying to remain on the down-low so as to avoid getting found out and arrested. An especially notable point of this change comes in how she ends up being recruited into the Suicide Squad, whereas in the comics, she's such a dangerous loose cannon that not even Amanda Waller is capable of controlling her. While Leslie does ultimately prove in "Zero Day, Part 2" to be far more than Task Force X is able to handle, this ends up having less to do with her personality and more with her newfound Shock and Awe abilities making her too powerful for them to control.
    • In the comics, Scrapper of the Newsboy Legion is the most feisty and most stereotypical "Dead End Kid" of the group. His show counterpart, Patti, retains that energetic personality, but takes it even further in a way that can best be described as "feral".
    • Comics character General Wade Eiling is a ruthless individual willing no go to any length to get results, even if it costs civilian lives. The General, who serves as a Composite Character of Eiling, is far more of a Reasonable Authority Figure who's actually concerned with protecting civilians, as seen when he orders Slade to stand down while Superman saves a bridge full of people. General Sam Lane, the other character who the General is based on, is similarly fairly ruthless from time to time in the comics (though not to the same extent as Eiling).
  • My Little Pony:
  • In the animated CGI Peter Rabbit series. Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny are a lot more tolerable and caring then they were in the original books. Especially Benjamin Bunny, who was a greedy jerk in the book while Benjamin in the CGI series is a kind-hearted Lovable Coward.
  • Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars has a few. The most obvious is Isabella, who goes from a cheerful cutie to a cynical Han Solo Expy; it's so wrong that fans found it hilarious. Phineas and Ferb themselves are mostly the same (until Ferb is Sithinated), except that they're initially content to stay on Tatooine and not go on any adventures until the plot requires it. Also, instead of Isabella having a crush on the oblivious Phineas, he likes her while she's Tsundere.
  • All the three main characters of The Powerpuff Girls (2016):
    • Blossom. She is still "the smart one" but her Wise Beyond Their Years and Child Prodigy traits are downplayed. She's not nearly The Leader she was before and she doesn't understand certain things, such as her thinking colts are young horses and fillies are "horses with attitude".
    • Buttercup's aggressiveness has been upped. She does a lot of the fighting and is angrier than in original show, to the point where an episode has her sisters essentially staging an intervention to get her to calm down after she goes into a berserk rage where she severely destroys a festival and gives Bubbles a black eye. Even outside of fighting she does things like being the Class Clown when in the original continuity she only did that alongside other kids.
    • Bubbles is Cute But Psycho instead of being cute and sweet. She's incredibly prone to random bouts of anger for comedic reasons.
  • Many characters of The Railway Series have ended up altered in Thomas & Friends due to Flanderization coming into play during the show's long run. Thomas in particular is a more rude and pretentious character in most of the novels (only warming in the very later books). While early seasons kept to this depiction, he quickly became more altruistic and kind as the show branched away from the novels, as well as becoming something of a Cloud Cuckoo Lander come the CGI transition. Wiser supporting characters such as Edward and Toby also became more flawed and childlike to enable more spotlight episodes, while Henry, Gordon and James underwent a more thorough Divergent Character Evolution. This is put on display in The Adventure Begins, which readapts some of the earliest stories of the books and TV series. Thomas is far more idealistic and innocent than he was in his debut novel. Meanwhile Henry is far more meek and gentle, his hatred of the rain is treated more as phobia (in the books he was merely pompous about getting his paint spoiled).
  • Rugrats (2021): As the show is set in 2021 and the characters are now born in different decades, Lou Pickles goes from being a Grumpy Old Man to a New-Age Retro Hippie.
  • Scooby-Doo franchise:
    • Scooby.
      • In the live-action movies he is really more of a dumbass.
      • In Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated he is more of a jerk - mostly when competing with Velma in their jealous rivalry for Shaggy's attentions. His feuding with Velma is especially jarring when you remember that in previous incarnations like A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy?, Velma is all but stated to be Scooby's second best friend. He gets better, though.
    • Daphne originally was the clumsy girl who would satellite around Fred and occasionally be the Damsel in Distress. The 80's series would have her graduate to Team Mom who handles the bulk of the mystery-solving duties supplanting Fred and Velma, who were taken out of the show.
    • Scrappy-Doo at first a rambunctious catchphrase-spewing youngster and who would get Shaggy and his uncle Scooby into trouble constantly. An unfortunate character trait that would make him the infamous Trope Namer. Later shows in the Eighties rectified this by make Scrappy much more responsible and mature beyond his uncle that he effectively shared the mystery-solving job with Daphne.
    • Fred was originally the second smartest in the gang but has Taken a Level in Dumbass ever since Daphne started becoming more competent. Essentially Daphne took a good portion of his leadership skills and intelligence. Some incarnations Flanderize this even more. Mystery Incorporated give back his intelligence but made him completely oblivious to Daphne's affections.
    • In Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!, this happens to Daphne, rendering her a Cloud Cuckoolander compared with previous incarnations, although she remains very competent and courageous.
    • Velma in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. She is more cynical, self-centered, vain, and sarcastic, similar to the titular protagonist of Daria. Most of these changes however, are to do with her being written a lot more like an actual teenager would act. She also fights with Scooby a lot for Shaggy's affections.
  • The 2018 reboot of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power changes the personalities of several characters who appeared in the original 1980s cartoon.
    • Madam Razz was an inept sorceress in the 1980s cartoon, but is a competent magic user (if a little senile) in the reboot. Unlike her 1980s counterpart, this Razz also has knowledge of major players and events (the First Ones, Mara, the true nature of the She-Ra mantle, portal catastrophes) that the main characters lack.
    • Catra was a vamp in the original cartoon, but isn't shown using feminine wiles in the reboot. Her personality is angrier, edgier, and more vulnerable in the reboot series.
    • Scorpia is warm and nurturing in the reboot, in contrast to the cruel Scorpia of the 1980s cartoon.
    • Hordak was loud, boorish, and quick to punish underlings in the 1980s cartoon. In the reboot, he's articulate, pragmatic, and coldly efficient. He also has hopes, insecurities, and a capacity for romantic love that his 1980s counterpart lacked.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM)
  • Among the other changes to Hotstreak in Static Shock was a willingness to work with non-white people, including Talon (Latina), Shiv (Asian), Ebon (African-American), and Kangorr (Jamican). In the comics, Hotstreak was a racist bigot.
  • Teen Titans:
    • Teen Titans (2003):
      • Robin is more straight-laced and serious than Dick ever was as Robin.
      • Starfire is more naive, innocent, and insecure, as opposed to the hotheaded and forceful Starfire of the comics.
      • The Cyborg of the cartoon comics more easygoing laidback than his comic counterpart, who's more pensive and concerned about his nature as a cyborg costing him his humanity.
      • Raven was The Stoic in the comics, whereas in the show, while she tries to keep herself from getting too emotional, will express emotion and be sarcastic.
    • All of the Titans on Teen Titans Go! barring Raven have notably had their intelligence taken down a notch from the original Teen Titans (2003). In Cyborg's case, it's to complement Beast Boy already being Book Dumb and to set them up as Those Two Guys.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The characters are reinterpreted in every retelling, especially Michelangelo and Raphael. They typically fit the same archetype, but express it in different ways:
    • All were extremely flanderized in the 1987 series, except for Leonardo who was only mildly flanderized. Donatello went from being intellectual to being a Gadgeteer Genius, Michelangelo went from being mostly laidback to being a Surfer Dude obsessed with pizza, but most egregiously, Raphael went from being dark and violent to being snarky and constantly breaking the fourth wall.
    • Michelangelo: Mirage Comics - laidback, 1987 series - Surfer Dude, First film series - jokester, 2003 series - prankster, 2012 series - Kiddie Kid, 2018 series - artist/acrobat.
    • Raphael: Mirage Comics - violent, 1987 series - wise cracker, First film series - brooding, 2003 series - gruff, 2012 series - Big Brother Bully With A Heart of Gold.
      • Raph is the Wolverine of the TMNT. While he remains the most short-fused and quickest to resort to hitting things, in an adaptation where he's not allowed to actually introduce living enemies' vital organs to his sai onscreen, he becomes a guy whose bark is worse than his bite.
    • Leonardo in the 2018 series, who went from being the serious, level-headed leader of the group, to the laidback wisecracking jokester.
  • Time Warp Trio: The TV show adaption made Joe, Sam and Fred far less snarky and selfish than they were in the book series. Sam also wasn't so cowardly in the book series and neither was Freddi. Jodie is portrayed as more of a Valley Girl in the Television adaption (though this is toned down a lot in later episodes).
  • In the Tiny Toon Adventures episode "Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian", Plucky and Hamton apparently swapped personalities: Hamton being a prima donna who's upset over being upstaged by Buster and Babs, and Plucky being a doormat.
  • On Total DramaRama, a few characters receive significant overhauls in their personalities. To name some of the big ones - Gwen is changed from a Perky Goth to a sociopathic Creepy Child; Cody goes from a nerd to an innocent Cheerful Child; and Beth is now a Jerkass obsessed with bees and nose picking instead of the socially awkward Nice Girl of the original show.
  • Transformers: Cyberverse: Grimlock goes from being the angry, antisocial, Good Is Not Nice Blood Knight he's typically portrayed as in most iterations of the Transformers and instead is friendly, well-spoken, and prefers peace over conflict (though he's still a very skilled warrior).
  • The Harry Osborn shown in Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) is probably the nicest version of the character in existence - not only is he happy to be working with Spider-Man, but when Spidey reveals his identity to him, he's shown to be even more prouder to be working alongside him. Most other Harrys would have been distrustful and react with disgust.
  • Voltron: Legendary Defender switches up some of the main cast's personalities from the original Voltron. Allura is a tougher warrior, Coran is now comic relief as opposed to a serious guardian, and Keith is aloof and troubled as opposed to a friendly leader. This is lampshaded when the original show is used as the In-Universe chronicles of the Paladins' adventures.
    Hunk: They got it so wrong.
  • Lots of these in Wayside: Principal Kidswatter is changed from a fearsome Dean Bitterman to a goofy Manchild; Maurecia becomes a Tsundere tomboy instead of a Nice Girl with a Sweet Tooth; Myron is a power-hungry jerkass instead of a model student; and Dana is changed from being extremely overemotional to being a rules-obsessed overachiever.
  • The 4Kids version of Winx Club changes up the characters' personalities, having them act like typical teenagers, to better suit a younger audience. For instance, Stella becomes more of a bossy hothead, Musa acts like a hip-hopper, and the Trix act similar to a mean girl clique.
  • W.I.T.C.H.: The main characters get this compared to their comics counterpart:
    • In the comics, Will is often very insecure, and has low self-esteem and parental issues. In the cartoon, she is more of a normal Standardized Leader who is much less angsty.
    • In the comics, Irma is the girliest of them all, as well as the most immature, and she likes to make jokes to irritate Cornelia. In the cartoon, she becomes a tomboy, whose sarcasm is often a reaction to Cornelia's ego and immaturity.
    • In the comics, Taranee is a reserved nerdy girl. In the cartoon, she's even nerdier, and also an extremely shy Nervous Wreck, though she gets better in the second season.
    • In the comics, Cornelia is a mature, elegant, and serious Proper Lady. In the cartoon, she's a vain, bratty, and spoiled Valley Girl, taking part of Irma's personality from the comics.
    • Hay Lin is the most similar to her comic counterpart, but she seems to be an even bigger Cloudcuckoolander, rarely showing her Hidden Depths and relationship with her family, like in the comics.

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top