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A literal and figurative pass of the hat.

"Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high."
John McCrae, In Flanders Fields

The Hero decides to leave the business. Perhaps the thrill is gone. Perhaps he wants to settle down and marry more than he wants to adventure. Perhaps he knows that age or injury has slowed him down too much; he can not do the job anymore.

But the job has to be done. It's time to pick a successor.

The Hero, therefore, formally hands the work over to someone else who can do the job. Perhaps a sidekick promotion or a former apprentice. A Legacy Character may involve this.

Usually, the immediate problem is gone, and the hero is leaving on a high note, but both he and his successor are aware that the problem or that type of problem will happen again; he has not fixed the world. Therefore, the Master-Apprentice Chain is about to take effect.

If the hero wants to leave, this can form a Happy Ending. The less he wants it, the more a Bittersweet Ending it is.

Differs from Take Up My Sword in that the hero is still around and may be up to the role of Old Master. If the hero dies very quickly afterward, it can overlap with Take Up My Sword. However, it usually happens in the beginning or middle of a story; Passing The Torch is usually an Ending Trope. The only time it can happen at the beginning is if he were the hero in the backstory (or prior installment) and in the main story is already the Mentor Archetype.

May be physically embodied in an object that the retiring hero gives the new one.

The inversion of 10-Minute Retirement and He's Back!.

A Sub-Trope to Changing of the Guard, where the role of main character changes for any reason or by any procedure. Passing the Torch requires either the Hero to be part of the succession planning and/or handing off the office either personally or by explicit proxy.

See also Spinoff Sendoff‎, a way of "passing the baton" from one series to another.


Example subpages:

Other examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Advertising 
  • During a rebranding for Noggin in 2003, an indent was aired several times where the channel's mascot, Feetface, introduced her successors, Moose and Zee. It’s rumored there was a version aired exactly at the time of the rebranding, but that would be lost media.

    Fan Works 
  • Becoming Lífþrasir: In the farewell letters to Stoick and Astrid, Hiccup mentions that he nominates Astrid to replace him as heir of the Hooligan Tribe, feeling that she would make a far better replacement that Snotlout ever would.
  • Infinity Crisis:
    • After talking with Rocket over his grief at Groot’s death, Mick Rory indirectly offers to be Rocket’s new partner by giving him Snart’s cold-gun, which Rocket immediately approves of as a weapon.
    • Despite his history with the hammer, when Mjolnir accepts Jane as its wielder after its restoration, Thor assures her that she can keep it.
  • The Superjail! fanfic Extended Stay ends with this. Now that the Warden and the Mistress have successfully conquered the world, they leave their twins Matilda and Ethan, who have come of age at twenty years old, with the responsibility of running Ultraprison and Superjail respectively. Meanwhile, the long-time married duo move into the White House with their other son Edward.
  • The Legend of Spyro fanfic Passing the Torch has this as its basic plot. An elderly Spyro meets with the next Purple Dragon, Asuka, when she turns twelve years old. He then informs her of what she really is and what is expected of her, helping her accept the responsibility that comes with it. It turns out waiting to do this was the only thing keeping him alive, and he finally lets his body give out and die now that he's passed his role on.
  • The Pieces Lie Where They Fell: The new generation of Element-Bearers each meet their predecessor's spirit and learn their true identities when they earn their respective Element.
  • Discussed in the Steven Interlude sidestory of Pokémon Reset Bloodlines. The title character strongly believes that it's the duty of his generation to guide the new one and set them on the right path to lead the world towards a better future- He shares this point with Sawyer, who at the time is a student in the Rustboro Trainer School.
  • In crossover fanfiction The Little Pony Legend, the story of Shadow of Ronin is centered around a new adventure involving Iris, the daughter of Korra and Mako, and Akari, Flash and Twilight's daughter. A New Beginning further emphasizes this with Iris, Akari, and the rest of their friends becoming the Guardians of Harmony and continuing the legacy of their predecessors.
  • Subverted in Kara of Rokyn. Superman expected Supergirl to take over eventually, but she grew tired of the burdens and hardships of being an active hero over one decade, and retired before him.
  • Re: Smash Generation's first chapter begins with Rue meeting with Axann and Chrislma about writing the new storyline.
  • The Lost Hero: In a chapter actually called "Passing The Torch", when Clark Kent decides to retire, he first tests his son Conner by fighting him. When Conner wins, Clark gives him his cape and tells him he is the new Superman.
  • Invoked in the epilogue of Angel/The Hunger Games fic "Demon's Games"; after Angel has been elected the new President of Panem after defeating the Senior Partners, over a year later various characters are all aware that Peeta's role as Angel's secretary is basically Angel training him to take on the role afterwards, as Angel has reinstated term limits so he won't be Panem's eternal president but wants someone he can trust to carry on after he steps down.
  • Cinders and Ashes: the Chronicles of Kamen Rider Dante subverts the trope. Hoshi intends on passing the torch to several people, though either they reject him or a fight ensues that forces him into the fray. After the first arc, though, Hoshi begins to actively defy this trope, citing how no one would be able to go through the battles he endured and the deaths he witnessed.
    Hoshi: How do I expect Tachibana to fight? Or Mizushino for that matter? You’re asking me to let someone else take the lumps and watch people die. Had I left Hanamori to fight, he probably would have..."
  • A Moon and World Apart: As first revealed in chapter 20, and elaborated on later, Luna is planning on giving up her Roles as Lady of Night and Dreams in the near future, having made special arrangements with Trojan, the Lord of Nightmares, to take the lesser position of Adjunct to Dreams and Nightmares. And she wants Celestia to do the same thing, stepping down as Lady of Day and accompanying her in becoming an Adjunct of Dreams and Nightmares before they leave Equuis's solar system together with her people.
  • The Myth of Link & Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a fanmade novelized adaptation of the namesake game, and thus, features the four Champions' spirits. The final main chapter of this novel is the four Champions visiting their successors, and for all intents and purposes, entrusting them to be the Champions of their respective races going forward.
  • In What Tomorrow Brings, after Jake decides he'll return to the original universe, he visits James in the middle of the night and gives him the morphing cube along with a list of instructions.
  • The Legend of Genji:
    • In his later years, Tenzin passed on leadership of the Air Nation to his eldest daughter Jinora.
    • After her Career-Ending Injury, Lin made the decision to retire and promoted Mako to her position as Republic City's police chief.
    • Varrick stepped down from leading Varrick Global Industries and handed control of the company over to his daughter Minli after she proved to be everything that he dreamt of in a successor.
  • With This Ring: When Paul originally asked about buying Alan Scott's personal lantern, he was just looking for a way to recharge the ring that had mysteriously appeared on his finger. However, he stays in touch with Alan, and eventually learns that Alan viewed their transaction this way — which motivates him to live up to Alan's wish.
    Alan: You give me something new to hope for, you understand? 'S why I wanted you to have my lantern, why I tried to browbeat Diana into taking you on. Why I want you to be the best darn super hero you can be. And if there's anything else you need my help with, you just ask, yeah?

    His core desire. When I looked into his soul with the Ophidian's Eyes.
    Legacy.
    Me.
    Challenge accepted.
  • True Potential: In Chapter 113, Homura offers to teach Shikamaru his Ninja Art: Holy Barricade technique, which he accepts.

    Films - Animation 
  • In An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, it's implied that law dog Wylie Burp trained Tiger to be his replacement. As he says at the end; "Just remember Fievel, one man's sunset is another man's dawn."
  • A minor example occurs in Cars 3 when Lightning McQueen decides to let his former trainer Cruz Ramirez take over for him mid-race during the Florida 500, so she can fulfill her racing dream and prove Sterling wrong.
  • In Epic, the life of the forest has to do this every hundred years. The film opens on the very day Queen Tara is to choose her heir.
  • At the end of Frozen II, Anna is crowned the new queen of Arendelle when Elsa decides to leave for the forest.
  • The end of Disney's Tarzan.
    "Take care of them... my son."
  • Toy Story 3 ends with Andy giving all of his toys to the young Bonnie, daughter to a friend of his mom's, before he goes off to college.
    • Toy Story 4 ends with Woody giving his sheriff badge to Jessie when he chooses to leave the gang and roam free with Bo.

    Music 

    Podcasts 
  • Acquisitions Incorporated: After being the game's Dungeon Master for 11 years, Chris Perkins handed the reigns over to Jeremy Crawford, a fellow WotC producer and Perkins' own DM. The change happened on-camera in the special episode "The Old Switcheroo" (coinciding with the party falling through a portal to Ravnica) just before the PAX Unplugged 2018 live show. Perkins' decision to step down was, according to Crawford, motivated by his heavy workload at WotC, the necessary travel schedule, and the "intense anxiety" of running the live games at PAX.

    Professional Wrestling 
  • Lou Thesz wanted to pass the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship belt to Rikidozan, but as the champion, who he defends it against and where were decided by the collective votes of the NWA members and Rikidozan was based in Japan, which only has one, this obviously did not happen. So Thesz decided to pass the World Heavyweight Title to his student, Dick Hutton, and created the NWA International Heavyweight Title for the purpose of losing it to Rikidozan, who was forever grateful. Rikidozan went on to become quite possibly the biggest star pro wrestling has ever seen, but Hutton was deemed a weak draw with no charisma by the NWA and replaced with Pat O'Connor, who ran into legal troubles and was succeeded by Buddy Rogers, who pissed off so many promoters they asked Thesz to come back, which Thesz did.
  • Pretty much every wrestler with a Tiger Mask gimmick or some derivative of it was approved of by Satoru Sayama, except the Black Tigers, of course.
  • Yoshiaki Fujiwara to Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki, whom he deemed his top students in professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Suzuki also has strong allusions to Karl Gotch. Masakatsu Funaki would go on to pass it to Yuki Kondo, which sadly ended up not going too far in retrospect.
  • Randy Savage set up his own wrestling promotion for the purpose of losing to Antonio Banks. While said company folded before this could actually take place, Banks would take note and later pass the torch to Kofi Kingston in WWE (not that it did much good in the long run).
  • Eddie Guerrero had such a moment with Low Ki, insisting that Low Ki beat him clean at Impact Championship Wrestling. Low Ki wouldn't quite go to Eddie's level of super stardom, he's never been a Black Tiger or anything, but he has become well established in some of the same venues as Eddie, such as New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
  • Discussed in TNA when Raven declared Kevin Sullivan too late to pass his torch, boasting he had become more evil than him already.
  • Kazushi Sakuraba ended his career in PRIDE without a candidate to hold his torch, but Olympic judoka Hidehiko Yoshida was chosen by the management to become the next native star.
  • In 2011, retired Haitian wrestler Tyree Pride gave his endorsement to Tokyo Monster Kahagas regarding the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title. On one hand Kahagas exceeded expectations by bulking up an becoming World Heavyweight Champion, on the other hand Ring Warriors pulled Pride out of retirement for a Bahamas show as the NWA attempted to reestablish itself in the Caribbean.
  • At the 3/29/2012 Ring Warriors show, Ivan Koloff showed up to pass the torch to Brett Adams and The Red Devil Fight Team.
  • Bull Nakano passed the torch to Yuzuki Aikawa and Hikaru Shida by putting the comparative newcomers in the main event of her own retirement show.
  • Jerry Lynn wanted to pass the torch to Mike Bennett in Ring of Honor, but after Maria Kanellis interfered in their match he decided to just praise the promotion's young talent in general.
  • At the Masters Of The Ring Entertainment Lasting Legacy: A Tribute to Women In Wrestling expo dedicated to WWF, WCW and GLOW veterans, Just Cause Pro Wrestling held a tournament between more active title contenders and Ivory, representing the former generation, presented a trophy to eventual winner, NWA World Women's Champion Santana Garrett.
  • In the March 14, 2016 episode of Monday Night RAW, Mick Foley comes to Dean Ambrose and not only tells him to take him a tour of all the pain he's been through over the years, but gives him a little something extra. That extra is the barb wire bat!
  • On Raw is XXX, the January 23, 2023 30-year anniversary of WWE Raw, The Undertaker made his first appearance onscreen after his official retirement two years previous, coming out as his more true-to-self American Badass persona to interrupt LA Knight in the middle of one of his characteristic self-aggrandizing promos. When Knight wisely tried to cut his losses and leave, Bray Wyatt hemmed him back into the ring from the ramp, where Undertaker immediately proceeded to grab Knight by the throat in preparation for a Chokeslam...only to throw Knight to Wyatt as the latter entered the ring, letting him do the deed with a Sister Abigail instead. With Knight legally dead at this point, Undertaker moved past Wyatt, briefly whispered something in his ear, and left the ring to ride out on his bike, finally passing the supernatural torch he held as the Deadman to the man nearly the entire wrestling universe agreed deserved it the most.

    Puppet Shows 
  • In the Sesame Street episode, So Long, Mr. Hooper, As Big Bird whines and complains about the death of Mr. Hooper that who would take over Hooper's Store. And David replies "Big Bird, I am going to take care of the store. Mr. Hooper left it to me. I will make you your birdseed milkshakes, and we will tell you stories and see you are okay."
    • Same thing happened in 1989 when David left to live with his grandmother in a farm in Florida in 1989 after Northern Calloway's health issues (He died in 1990), And David gave the store to the retired firefighter, Mr. Handford.
    • In 1998, Mr. Handford quietly passed the torch to Alan and became the new owner of Hooper's Store.
  • In the The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss episode, "Mrs. Zabarelli's Holiday Baton", after directing the Jingle Day pageant for 49 years, Mrs. Zabarelli retires and gives the job and her baton to her prize student, Annie DeLoo. The episode ends in the future, with an elderly Annie passing the job and the baton to her prize student, Arianna.

    Roleplay 

    Sports 
  • Happened symbolically during the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games. Seven British Olympians nominated seven young up-and-coming athletes to light the Olympic Flame in their stead, literally passing the torch to them in the process.
    • In the 2016 Rio Games, Michael Phelps retires and leaves 19-year old prodigy Katie Ledecky to step up to the plate. Perhaps best exemplified by this photoset.

    Tabletop Games 

    Toys 
  • In BIONICLE, Turaga are created when Toa do this. This serves a number of simultaneous purposes: a new generation of Toa can appear, the wisdom and guidance of the prior generation of Toa is preserved and passed down, and it also allows the Toa to use a Game-Breaker like giving up their powers so as to save all of the known Matoran from Makuta's sleep spell.

    Video Games 
  • Kira☆Kira: Curtain Call, Shikanosuke's sister, Yuko, becomes the bassist of d2b after Shikanosuke graduates, even donning a similar stage costume.
  • King's Quest:
    • King's Quest III: Subverted in the ending (and the beginning of King's Quest IV). Graham, swept up in the joy of being reunited with both his children, takes off his trusty adventurer's cap and tosses it at them, with the idea that the one who catches it will take up adventuring. He ends up having a heart attack as it's in mid-air. The cap falls to the floor, and neither child picks it up. It does, however, lead into Rosella setting off to save her dad, and putting the hat back on him on her triumphant return, saying her dad's still got a few more adventures in him. She turns out to be right.
    • Kings Quest (2015) ends like this too, except Graham's death from old age is final this time — no magic fruit, no last-minute save, and it's his grand-daughter Gwen who is taking up his cap.
  • Left 4 Dead 2: After Bill dies, the original survivors stop trying to get to the military and are now heading to the island, resulting in them sort of passing the torch to the new survivors. There's even achievement saying it after to beat the Passing.
  • The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon: In the after-credits scene, Ignitus is brought to the Chronicler because, in light of the new dawn for the world, he wishes to pass the title over to Ignitus.
  • inFAMOUS 2: In the evil ending, Cole decides to side with The Beast in his Well-Intentioned Extremist methods of saving humanity by activating Conduits and curing them of the plague at the cost of killing anyone who isn't a Conduit. After the RFI, the only thing capable of stopping him, is destroyed, The Beast reveals that he hates what he's become and only did what he did because he didn't have a choice, so he opts to transfer his powers to Cole so that he could see their plan through and the former can finally die.
    The Beast: Cole, I cant... I can't do this anymore.
    Cole: What? After all this?
    The Beast: No! I believe in the plan, but I'm so tired. I've had enough killing. I should have died a long time ago.
    Cole: John...
    The Beast: But I know you. If I gave you the power, you would see it through.
  • Dark Souls: In the very beginning, you meet Almost Dead Guy Oscar, knight of Astoria, who asks you to ring the Bells of Awakening in his stead.
  • Thief: Deadly Shadows: The ending strongly hints towards this, although anything definite is purely in the realm of fan speculation.
  • In Kirby Star Allies, Bugzzy's Guest Star description reveals that he has retired from his position as the "king of insects" following his near 10-year absence from the series since Kirby Super Star Ultra, and has passed down the role to fellow insect Beetley.
  • In Mass Effect, David Anderson is revealed to have been a candidate for the position of first human Spectre, but because of Saren's hatred of humanity, he intentionally sabotaged the mission that was meant to prove Anderson's worth. Twenty years later, Anderson's protege, Commander Shepard, picks up where their mentor left off; being made a Spectre in order to track Saren down after he publicly went rogue and began attacking human colonies. Saren and Anderson's history is first mentioned by the latter as he hands command of The Normandy to Shepard, solidifying the change of guard.
  • Several examples in the Assassin's Creed games. In the second game, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze is arrested on trumped up charges of treason (naturally, the Templars are behind this). When his son Ezio visits him in jail, Giovanni tells Ezio about a secret room behind the fireplace and the chest there. In the chest, Ezio finds his father's assassin robes and weapons. Unfortunately, he lacks the necessary training to save his father and brothers from execution. In the third game, Achilles Davenport is an old man living out the rest of his days in his homestead having failed to keep the Templars out of the New World. Along comes a half-Mohawk boy seeking to save his people and avenge his mother's death. Downplayed in that it takes many years of training before Achilles deems Connor ready to put on the robes of the first New World Assassin, which were passed down to Achilles himself. Oh, and that moment is when Connor finds Achilles's body in his house, having finally succumbed to old age. At the end of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Ezio strips off his Assassin gear and uses an Apple to communicate with his descendant Desmond, effectively passing him the torch.
  • Twenty minutes into Phantasy Star Nova, your captain, Magnus, dies. Action Girl Fieldia subsequently takes Magnus's place as captain of your ship.
  • In The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Tribunal deity Vivec, having spent the last 4000 years watching over and protecting the people of Morrowind, passes this responsibility onto the Nerevarine at the end of the main quest.
    Vivec: "There are lesser monsters and villains of all kinds who prey upon the people... The Tribunal and the Temple are happy to yield to you the duties of fighting the enemies of Morrowind."
  • This is a Central Theme in Final Fantasy V. It turns out that the "Light Warriors" of this generation are following in the footsteps of the Dawn Warriors who previously fought Exdeath. In fact, Galuf turns out to be one of them, and Bartz's deceased father was one too. When the party meets the other two surviving members, they each pull a Heroic Sacrifice and entrust their responsibility to the new generation, as does Galuf when he eventually falls in battle and passes his abilities on to his granddaughter. At the Final Battle, their spirits appear before the Light Warriors, giving them one last boost and congratulating them on achieving a final victory over Exdeath once it's over.
  • In Bloodborne, when you finish her questline, Eileen the Crow retires from the hunt and gives you her equipment.
  • Sakura Wars (2019) follows Sumire Kanzaki, a former soldier in the Imperial Combat Revue, leading a new generation of the Revue in protecting Tokyo. In the game's climax, Sakura Shinguji, the series's original female lead, saves Sakura Amamiya from the Archdemon, passing the torch to her with words of encouragement: "The stage awaits!"
  • In Wildermyth, heroes age visibly in the multi-year periods of peace between chapters, and while they'll see through the current chapter once they hit their retirement age, they withdraw from battle permanently afterwards. The party's name and legacy, and the responsibility of permanently resolving the campaign, is handed down to younger heroes recruited along the way - potentially including the retiring hero's child(ren). A three-chapter campaign isn't quite long enough for your original characters to bow out before the ending, but longer campaigns will be finished by the second or possibly even third generation of heroes.
  • This is an important mechanic in the World Neverland series. Your character will eventually get old and die, so you'll need to pass on to one of their children. If you pass on to one of your children, that child will inherit all of your items and money, but not all of your stats, and will be able to do certain things you yourself couldn't.
  • Towards the climax of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, key characters from the Kiryu saga make appearances, and lend their support to new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga. This includes Kiryu himself. This is somewhat subverted after beating the superboss, where Kiryu (who orchestrated the fight between Ichiban and Shin Amon) states that rather than the successor of his legacy, Ichiban should be seen as his own man walking his own path. The Penultimate Chapter is even titled "Passing The Torch" since it involves Kiryu challenging Ichiban and his crew to a fight as his way of testing their worthiness.
    Kiryu: Good luck out there, Kasuga. You're gonna do great.
  • Resident Evil 6 In the final chapter of Chris' campaign, he tells his protegé Piers Nivans that he can't let the war follow him forever, and decides he's going to retire after they rescue Jake Muller, hoping that Piers can take his place in the BSAA team. Subverted in the end, as Piers is forced to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to ensure Chris's survival, and Chris decides to forgo his retirement and continue fighting in his friend's memory.
  • The Imperial China chapter of Live A Live deals with an aging martial artist attempting to find a successor to pass his teachings onto and finds three disciples. Eventually, event happen that lead to two of the disciples getting killed by a rival school with the Sole Survivor becoming the Earthen Heart Master upon the master's death.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has a subplot about the ghost of a previous hero appearing before Link to pass down his sword arts so that he can ease his regrets about not passing them down in life. Hyrule Historia reveals that the ghost in question is the Hero of Time, the Link who appeared in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.
  • The Galaxy Angel II trilogy has this trope happening in some form on each one of the installments.
    • In Zettai Ryouiki no Tobira, Tact Mayers, the protagonist of the original Galaxy Angel trilogy gives Kazuya Shiranami a telepathic fur that he can use to read the Rune Angels emotions, entrusting him with caring for them just like Tact did to the Moon Angels in his time.
    • In Mugen Kairo no Kagi, Tact is transferred out of the Luxiole to become Chief of the UPW organization, and his position as the ship's commander is given to Coco Nutmilk, his chief operator. Tact actually gives Coco a holographic message with his thought patterns to cheer her up when she's feeling unsure of being able to lead the ship as effectively as Tact, and she manages to embrace her role.
    • Eigou Kaiki no Toki has the biggest one: in order to save Planet Val-Rundal from a black hole, Tact and the Moon Angel Wing end up having to sacrifice the Elsior and their Emblem Frames, thus officially passing the torch to their successors in the Luxiole and the Rune Angel Wing.
  • Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach: The Ruin DLC reveals the official line Fazbear Entertainment took regarding Bonnie's replacement in the band with Monty was him deciding to retire and passing his bass on to Monty. Fans still complained, wanting Bonnie back, leading management to try to Unperson Bonnie as much as possible and push Monty as the Superior Successor. The implication that Monty actually killed Bonnie to get his spot in the band makes this worse.
  • Yandere Simulator: After Budo defeats the previously undefeated Raibaru in a sparring match, she passes her bandana and leadership of the Martial Arts Club to him and quits, feeling she could finally pursue other interests now that she's been defeated. She would soon befriend Osana, making her a difficult obstacle for Yan-chan to overcome in her quest for Senpai.

    Webcomics 
  • Eugene Greenhilt in The Order of the Stick, passes on the quest to kill Xykon to his son Roy when he gets too old to carry it out. He has an ulterior motive though; Eugene swore a Blood Oath to kill Xykon, so he can't move onto the afterlife until the lich is dead.
    • It's subverted in that the prequel On The Origin of PCs shows Eugene doesn't think Roy can do it. He just told Roy about the oath so Roy can tell his little sister (who took up wizardry) and have her do it. Bonus content in print collections show that even now he just hopes the best Roy can do is find some useful intel on Xykon.
  • In Pacificators, it's very strongly implied to be the case between Daryl Smithson and her very famous grandmother Helen. Helen has given Daryl her special staff, and Daryl is strongly implied to have inherited her grandmother's talents.
  • Magick Chicks: Faith abdicates her position as student council president to Melissa, near the end of chapter 15, after learning she'd been subconsciously effecting the rest of the student body. Then used her power to launch Melissa and Sandi outside the spell circle, entrusting Melissa to save Artemis in her stead.
  • In Guilded Age, Harky passes on the magical gem that made him an avatar of his god to Penk in order to make him an avatar and a worthy Champion.

    Web Original 
  • In Noob: Le Conseil des Trois Factions, Amaras gives up his guild's command to someone else near the end. While he admits to have wanted to retire from his leadership position for while, events more or less force him to transfer command to someone who wasn't exactly his first choice.
  • In the Red Panda Adventures, after coming back from fighting behind enemy lines in Europe, the Red Panda starts operating with an eye towards retirement once the World War II is over and things have settled down. Kit notes he's looking at the Danger Federation, a collection of rookie superheroes, and Mr. Amazing, one of its more powerful members, as retirement plans. However the DF is spread out across Canada and Mr. Amazing doesn't survive the war. A successor is eventually found in the form of the Black Eagle, whose secret identity is someone who has been in the Red Panda's circle since he was a little boy.

    Web Video 

    Western Animation 
  • The Animals of Farthing Wood: In the finale, Fox passes on the role of leader of the animals to his grandson, Plucky.
  • Assassin's Creed: Embers: The show ends with Ezio having well and truly left the Assassin life behind him, but with a younger Assassin heading off with enemies of her own to take down.
  • The Batman: In the Season 4 episode "Artifacts", Nightwing (an older, future Robin) assists an older, Dark Knight Returns-esque Batman in battle against Mr. Freeze. When it becomes clear that Batman isn't as efficient as he used to be; Nightwing suggests maybe it's time to pass the torch. Batman however, being the stubborn bastard he is, replies that he would pass the torch when "the mission" (i.e. to ensure Gotham's protection) is over, to which Nightwing dryly notes will never happen.
  • Batman Beyond: Terry McGinnis takes up the mantle of Batman some years after aging had forced Bruce Wayne to retire. It's downplayed in that Bruce isn't completely gone from the scene, acting the role of Mission Control. When Barbara Gordon (former Batgirl, now commissioner) returns to the Batcave to warn Batman, she isn't sure which of them she should be speaking to.
  • Batman: The Brave and the Bold: The Season 2 episode "The Knights of Tomorrow!" has a vision of a future where an older Batman get married to Catwoman and starts a family. He then passed the mantle of Batman to Nightwing, and it gets passed down the line.
  • Blue's Clues: Steve eventually left the show (because of his actor starting to lose his hair) and passed the torch on to his cousin Joe, wishing him luck in finding the rest of the clues.
  • Fish Hooks: Halfway through the second season, Nurse Fishington becomes the new principal of Freshwater High after Stickler leaves.
  • Gravity Falls (the image provider): In the Grand Finale, Soos overhears Stan and Ford discussing their plan to shut down the Mystery Shack so they go on the adventures they yearned to go on since childhood, and is deeply upset by this. He then gives a Rousing Speech so inspiring to Stan that it gives him the idea to give Soos the job as the new manager. In fact, this was actually foreshadowed back in Season 1's "Little Dipper".
  • Hammerman: The premise of the show revolves around a retired hero passing the torch to a successor, the main character.
  • Hot Stuff: A literal version of the trope occurs when the first person to possess fire passed it on to future generations in this manner.
  • Kim Possible: This is both subverted and parodied in the Season 2 episode "The Fearless Ferret", when Timothy North reveals that he was once "The Fearless Ferret" and convinces Ron Stoppable to take up the Ferret mantle (fun fact: Will Friedle played both Ron and Terry McGinnis). It's later revealed that North was just an actor in a series who became deluded when his show was canceled.
  • The Legend of Korra: An elderly Katara essentially does this to Korra, since as the world's latest Avatar after Aang, she and her friends now serve the world's peacekeepers and protectors, just as Katara and her friends did back in their youth.
    Katara: Aang's time has passed. My brother and many of my friends are gone. It's time for you and your generation to take on the responsibility of keeping peace and balance in the world. But I think you're going to be a great Avatar. Goodbye, Korra.
  • The Lion Guard: The final episode has Kion and his friends relinquish their duties as the Lion Guard to Vitani and her Lion Guard, before leaving permanently for the Tree of Life to be part of the Night Pride.
  • Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series: In the pilot episode, Canard, the original captain of the team, passes on his mask to Wildwing before sacrificing himself to save the team.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: In the first two episodes of season 9, "The Beginning Of The End - Part 1" and "Part 2", Princess Celestia and Princess Luna decide to retire from ruling over Equestria, and appoint Twilight Sparkle as their successor. The Grand Finale has her completely assume the position. The 20th episode of the same season, "A Horse-Shoe In", has Twilight appoint Starlight Glimmer as the headmare of the School of Friendship.
  • Thomas & Friends: At the end of the special, The Adventure Begins, Glynn, the original #1 engine, passes down his branch line and his number to Thomas.
    Glynn: Look after the branch line, Thomas, and wear that number with pride!
  • The Venture Brothers: In the Season 4 episode "Any Which Way But Zeus", Desmond, Captain Sunshine's butler is revealed to have been the original Captain Sunshine, and the modern one was his Wonderboy. Dragoon states that he arched him back in the 1960's in his heyday. Of course he has retained all his powers but is still a weak old man.
  • Winx Club: Nebula has become the new Queen of Tir Nan Og after Morgana stepped down from the throne.
  • Young Justice:
    • In Season 2, Wally intended for Bart Allen to take the mantle of Kid Flash while he and Artemis return to retirement. Wally's death at the end of the season turned this into Take Up My Sword instead.
    • Between Season 2 and 3, King Orin handed the mantle of Aquaman to his protege Kaldur'Ahm, allowing him more time to both his kingdom and his family.

    Real Life 
  • Some comic book creators who have the full rights to the property they created willingly pass the torch of continuing their series to others once they step down. This was the case for Asterix, when Albert Uderzo appointed Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad to continue the series.
  • The whole reason for a new creative team taking over Star Wars after Disney bought Lucasfilm. George Lucas was batting around the idea of a sequel trilogy for years but couldn't decide if he should go through with it or move on to other projects. When Disney approached him about making a sequel series he decided to pass on his creation to the next generation of filmmakers, thus keeping the universe he created alive while allowing him to retire from the franchise (of course the alternate theory is that Lucas was Kicked Upstairs after Disney bought Lucasfilm, and they proceeded with or without his approval, though with a person who worked closely with Lucas before, Kathleen Kennedy).
  • A not-uncommon scenario for classic characters is for their roles to be inherited by the mentees of the original actors and performers
    • Jimmy MacDonald and Clarence Nash had trained Disney animation staffers Wayne Allwine and Tony Anselmo to take on the roles of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, roles Allwine and Anselmo inherited from their predecessors after their retirements.
    • This is the standard operating procedure for The Muppets, both on projects relating to Sesame Street and The Muppet Show; when a Muppet performer begins to retire or decline in health, they will geneally begin the process of handpicking their successor and allow them to ease into their characters. Frank Oz picked Eric Jacobson to succeed him in most of his roles, while Caroll Spinney and Jerry Nelson similarly picked Matt Vogel to take on most of their famous characters (in the case of Vogel, he would physically perform characters like Big Bird and the Count, while Spinney and Nelson recorded their voices in post, taking over the roles completely after their passings).
    • When Daws Butler died, Yogi Bear and a number of his other Hanna-Barbera characters were inherited by Greg Burson, who Butler personally trained in his voice-acting class.
  • Pythagoras originally had to pay his first student to teach him. Eventually, when he saw that his student was genuinely interested, he told him he was too poor to continue paying him, so the student offered to pay him instead to continue the lessons. Eventually, his circle grew as he took on more and more students.
  • Often happens when a current head of state retires and is succeeded by a new head. Among U.S. presidents, William Howard Taft gets special mention for becoming the Chief Justice after his presidency and personally swearing successors Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover into office.

 
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PRT - Passing The Torch

At the end of the first half of Power Rangers Turbo, Tommy, Adam, Tanya, and Kat decided to pass their powers to four new Rangers they personally chosen to fight with Blue Turbo Ranger Justin. Even the title of this episode was called "Passing the Torch".

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