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* ''Series/SesameStreet'': When Creator/BillIrwin, the actor for Mr. Noodle in the ''Elmo's World'' segments, had to take leave to work on ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', Creator/MichaelJeter was brought in to play Mr. Noodle's brother, also named Mr. Noodle.
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** {{Discussed}} in Creator/DougWalker's "Disneycember" reviews of the Disney cheapquels--aside from "Ursula's crazy sister" in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea,'' he was actually really annoyed when he realized that [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning the prequel]]'s villain wasn't a young Ursula, but a new character with the same backstory and a similar appearance.
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** {{Discussed}} in Creator/DougWalker's "Disneycember" reviews of the Disney cheapquels--aside from "Ursula's crazy sister" in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea,'' he was actually really annoyed when he realized that [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIIArielsBeginning [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidArielsBeginning the prequel]]'s villain wasn't a young Ursula, but a new character with the same backstory and a similar appearance.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the hyenas from [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the original film]] were (somewhat infamously) replaced by "the outsiders", a group of rogue lions who were banished from the Pride Lands for allegedly siding with Scar during his takeover (a pretty glaring {{plot hole}}, since the first film never shows or mentions any lions siding with Scar). They fulfill exactly the same role as the hyenas, and are basically identical to them in personality, right down to living in the Outlands (which was apparently left vacant after the hyenas inexplicably left).[[note]] A popular theory among fans is that they ''were'' the hyenas in an early draft of the film, but were reimagined as evil lions--either to make Simba's hatred of them come across less like [[FantasticRacism blatant racism]], or to avoid Kiara and Kovu having an InterspeciesRomance.[[/note]]
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the hyenas from [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the original film]] were (somewhat infamously) replaced by "the outsiders", a group of rogue lions who were banished from the Pride Lands for allegedly siding with Scar during his takeover (a pretty glaring {{plot hole}}, since the first film never shows or mentions any lions siding with Scar). They fulfill exactly the same role as the hyenas, and are basically identical to them in personality, right down to living in the Outlands (which was apparently left vacant after the hyenas inexplicably left).[[note]] A popular theory among fans is that they ''were'' the hyenas in an early draft of the film, but were reimagined as evil lions--either to make Simba's hatred of them come across less like [[FantasticRacism blatant racism]], or to avoid Kiara and Kovu having an InterspeciesRomance. Or else that Zira and her children were always lions, but that the rest of the Outsiders were meant to be hyenas, until the writers realized that Zira would never ally herself with her beloved Scar's murderers. [[/note]]
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* InUniverse example in ''Fanfic/StargateSpartanSiege'' - upon encounter the Replicators, John notes that they match up almost exactly to what he'd expect a mechanical version of The Flood to be, as both are a HordeOfAlienLocusts (though the former are GreyGoo while the latter are {{Parasite Zombie}}s) with a hive mind who, as revealed two chapters prior, have fought the Forerunners.
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[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': Ema Skye. [[spoiler:The game was originally released with 4 cases, 3 of which had Maya as the player's sidekick, helping with investigations and providing funny interactions. Maya leaves for her spiritual training at the end of the 4th case, so when a 5th case was added in the DS re-release she couldn't return as sidekick. Instead, your client is Ema, who takes on the same role, is just 1 year younger than Maya, and has similar animations and facial expressions. Phoenix lampshades the similarities between her and Maya both having older sisters, and Lana happened to know Mia. Ema resembling Maya is even part of the reason why he took the case.]]
[[/folder]]
* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'': Ema Skye. [[spoiler:The game was originally released with 4 cases, 3 of which had Maya as the player's sidekick, helping with investigations and providing funny interactions. Maya leaves for her spiritual training at the end of the 4th case, so when a 5th case was added in the DS re-release she couldn't return as sidekick. Instead, your client is Ema, who takes on the same role, is just 1 year younger than Maya, and has similar animations and facial expressions. Phoenix lampshades the similarities between her and Maya both having older sisters, and Lana happened to know Mia. Ema resembling Maya is even part of the reason why he took the case.]]
[[/folder]]
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* In ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'', Takeo Kumagami replaces Kanuka Clancy after Clancy returns to America. They have very similar skills and fulfill the same police positions, although Kumagami is given a few quirks to distinguish her.
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* In ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'', ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}'', Takeo Kumagami replaces Kanuka Clancy after Clancy returns to America. They have very similar skills and fulfill the same police positions, although Kumagami is given a few quirks to distinguish her.
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* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute/AnimeAndManga
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* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute/{{Literature}}
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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The character Priss from ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' was originally going to be killed off and replaced by Vision, who was suspiciously similar (brown hair, kind of feisty, was a singer) but ultimately fans liked the character, so she wasn't killed off after all, thus avoiding the trope entirely.
* The Clear Cards in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakuraClearCard'' share similarities to the Clow/Sakura cards that came before them. This turns out to be a JustifiedTrope: [[spoiler:Sakura unconsciously created them with her growing magic, and, being so familiar with her Sakura cards, naturally the Clear Cards were going to turn out similar.]]
* [[{{Bifauxnen}} Tomboyish]] teen sleuth Masumi Sera from ''Manga/CaseClosed'' was created as a replacement for Natsuki Koshimizu, a tomboyish one-shot detective from earlier in the series. According to Gosho Aoyama, Sera was created because Natsuki had become unexpectedly popular with the fans, but the fact that [[spoiler:she killed someone and was subsequently arrested for the crime]] made it impossible to use her in future stories.
* ''Manga/CorpsePrincess'''s [[spoiler:Keisei]] dies, allowing Ouri to come closer to [[spoiler:Makina]] and to also be brought into the story as a major player instead of a male damsel in distress and hapless bystander. About 2 episodes later [[spoiler:Keisei's mentor]] is introduced. He has a very similar hairstyle and replaces the former as the even more [[spoiler:perverted comic relief and Ouri's new mentor.]]
* Vincent Volaju is one for Vicious in the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' movie.
* After Tup Dop, a supporting character of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' was killed, he was replaced by his equally chubby and androgynous sister, Cash Dop.
* Near from ''Manga/DeathNote''. This is intentional -- Near ''tries'' to imitate L [[spoiler: and eventually admits that he failed to imitate L, but succeeded through TeethClenchedTeamwork]]. The reasoning in the story being rather interesting, Near has more tendency to 'cheat' in his methods, the example being that if he were in L's shoes, he'd have released all information on the Death Note to the public and let the ensuing mass manhunt capture Kira. He tries to imitate L because he knows that in the real world, his methods would cause far too much collateral damage even if they succeeded. According to WordOfGod the initial plan was for Near and Mello to be L's sons but the concept was dropped early on.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' is infamous for this. Every male protagonist is a HotBlooded IdiotHero with GogglesDoNothing and brown hair, both in the anime and in the video games. The main exception was ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' and ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', with Marcus and Hiro deliberately breaking the goggle trend.
** {{Lampshaded}} in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', where Tai declared Davis to be the leader of the new group, partly due to being the character most like him.
** [[TheEmperor The Digimon Emperor]] is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Neo Saiba of the manga. And after his HeelFaceTurn, Ken gained a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' with Koichi Kimura.
** ''Each season's'' [[TheLancer lancer]] is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of Matt from the first season. Him, Ken, Rika, Koji, Thomas, and Chris are varying degrees of [[RedOniBlueOni blue oni to the Goggle Boy's red oni,]] each has some connection to the color blue, all but Ken and Chris are partnered with or transform into canids, and three of them are blond males. Chris's an odd duck, though, as he is partnered with a Greymon, traditionally associated with the Goggle Boy. At least it's blue this time around.
** The real SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute breaker is Takato from ''Anime/DigimonTamers.'' While he has goggles, it's because he's a fan of the InUniverse Digimon franchise. In personality, he's nothing like the HotBlooded main characters of series past and future (Masaru/Marcus is ''very much'' a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in all but headgear) and has to grow into the role of being TheHero instead of being gung-ho from the beginning. Secondary character Kazu is the goggle-head archetype, but remains a member of ThoseTwoGuys.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** Creator/AkiraToriyama planned on having Goku and Vegeta [[FusionDance fuse]] during the Buu Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallZ''; however, at the time ''Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn'' was about to come out and one of the film's big selling points was that ''it'' was going to be the first appearance of Goku and Vegeta's Fusion, Gogeta. Not wanting to step on [[Creator/ToeiAnimation Toei's]] toes, Toriyama invented Vegito, who's created when Goku and Vegeta use a completely different method of fusion. Interestingly, for many years, Vegito seemed to be the "official" fusion, appearing in the manga and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' while Gogeta remained in the dubious canon territory of ''[[NonSerialMovie Fusion Reborn]]'' and ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' (though of course, both appeared in video games). It was not until the ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' movie that Gogeta appeared in a work officially declared canon by Toriyama. The ''Super'' version of Gogeta plays this trope even straighter than before, having basically the same cocky personality as Vegito instead of being a serious, no-nonsense fighter like the ''Fusion Reborn'' version of Gogeta.
** Uub, introduced in the finale of ''Z'', is one of both Piccolo (Junior) and Nam from the original ''Manga/DragonBall'' series. A {{reincarnation}} of a villain Goku defeated, he meets the latter in a World Tournament, and his introduction heralds a turning point/end of a series. He is also an Indian that needed the money for his village like Nam.
** As WebVideo/MistareFusion pointed out in his Dragon Ball Dissection videos, The Kaioshin fulfills the same role in the early Buu Saga that Future Trunks did in the previous arc: Mysterious [[{{Bishonen}} bishie]] who somehow knows of Goku, has no patience for the reckless behaviour of the rest of the cast, and has come to warn them of an imminent threat to earth. Unlike Trunks, he never joins the main cast for battles of any sort after this and is DemotedToExtra.
** The villains from most of the ''DBZ'' movies are stand-ins[=/=]retreads of villains from the original manga: [[Anime/DragonBallZDeadZone Garlic Jr.]] is a much more menacing Pilaf[[note]]They even share voice actors in several countries, including the original Japanese and both Creator/{{Funimation}} and Creator/TheOceanGroup's English dubs[[/note]], [[Anime/DragonBallZTheTreeOfMight Tullece]] copies Vegeta (while also being a take on [[WhatIf "What if Goku had stayed evil?"]]), [[Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug Lord Slug]] is a transparent copy of Demon King Piccolo, [[Anime/DragonBallZCoolersRevenge Cooler]] is (obviously) a copy of his younger brother Freeza, and [[Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn Janemba]] is a riff on Majin Buu. [[Anime/DragonBallZSuperAndroid13 No. 13]] has some vague similarities to Cell, mostly in that he absorbs parts from his "brothers" to assume a more powerful form.
** On the flip side, the Saiyans from Universe 6 that appear in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' bear a resemblance with Saiyans who never appeared in the original manga, with Cabba being pretty similar to Vegeta's younger brother Tarble (Sans the weird wife), and Kale is essentially a [[GenderFlip female]], canonical version of Broly from the movies. Caulifla doesn't follow this pattern, though. Unless she's meant to be a female counterpart to Goku, since they're both prodigies at fighting who quickly learn new techniques just by watching somebody else use them.
* After Raoh was killed off in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', the authors introduced a very similar antagonist named Kaioh, who also rode a huge elephant-sized horse. He is eventually revealed to be Raoh's [[AssPull previously unmentioned]] [[BackupTwin blood-related older brother.]]
* ''Manga/FoodWars: Shokugeki no Soma'': The first chapter introduces Mayumi Kurase who is Souma's UnluckyChildhoodFriend who admires Souma's cooking and she's a ShrinkingViolet. But as soon as Souma transfers to Tootsuki in chapter 3, Kurase is left behind in Souma's hometown, and Megumi Tadokoro is introduced in the same chapter, a ShrinkingViolet who admires Souma's cooking. Not only are their given names very similar, they both have the same yellow eyes.
* After performing a HeroicSacrifice in ''Manga/GetterRobo'', [[TheBigGuy Musashi]] was replaced by a new pilot named Benkei. Across the various iterations of the franchise, both characters tend to have a similar pattern of being a fat ButtMonkey who is prone to injury and death. They're so similar that at least one adaptation cut out the middleman and made the two of them into a CompositeCharacter.
* After Takashi was killed early on in ''Anime/GoLion'', he was replaced by his [[BackUpTwin brother]] Ryou. The two were so similar that the American adaptation, ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'', [[CompositeCharacter combined them into one character]] ("Sven").
* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', Byakuya comes in after Kagura's death and not only looks and acts like her, but has similar powers and plays the same role that she played.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** The Runaway Girl ([[NamedByTheAdaptation named Anne in the anime]]) from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' is a very obvious attempt to replicate Poco and Smokey, the TagalongKid characters from the previous [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood two]] [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Parts]].
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'':
*** Yoshihiro Kira is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Gray Fly, being an older gentleman with a similar appearance who is [[UndyingLoyalty completely devoted]] to helping the BigBad.
*** Terunosuke Miyamoto is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Steely Dan, being a [[SmugSnake smug]] PsychoForHire with a similar hairstyle.
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'':
*** Illuso is very similar to ''Stardust Crusaders''' J. Geil, being a SmugSnake with a mirror based [[FightingSpirit Stand]]. Even their introductions are very similar.
*** Cioccolata is an intelligent but violent man with a powerful but hard to control Stand [[WalkingWasteland ability]]. Many believe he is meant to act as this for Fugo after Araki [[WhatCouldHaveBeen scraped the plans]] for him to act as TheMole for the boss.
*** [[spoiler:Diavolo acts as this for Dio Brando, seemingly for the purpose of having [[TheHero Giorno]] face off against someone with a [[AxCrazy similar]] [[TheSociopath personality]] to his father]].
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'':
*** Johngalli A acts as this to N'Doul from ''Stardust Crusaders'', being a blind man completely loyal to DIO. They even have similar canes.
*** Narciso Anasui is basically a heroic version of ''Golden Wind'''s Diavolo, a pink-haired man with an aggressive attitude who wears a mesh shirt.
** A large amount of the characters from [[AlternateContinuity Parts 7 and 8]] act as this for characters from the Original Universe. Of the characters from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Steel Ball Run]]'':
*** Stephen Steel is this to ''Battle Tendency'' era Speedwagon, an older NonActionGuy whose wealth and power allows him to assist the heroes from behind the scenes.
*** Mountain Tim is this to ''Phantom Blood'' era Speedwagon, a firmly good-aligned character with a tophat. The scar he gets during his fight with Oyecomova also looks similar to Speedwagon's own scar.
*** Diego Brando is this to Dio Brando, though he proves to be far less evil and much more sympathetic.
*** Urmd Avdol is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Muhammed Avdol, though he's much more of a {{Jerkass}} than Muhammed was.
*** Fritz von Strohiem is this to ''Battle Tendency'''s Rudolf von Strohiem, though whereas Rudolf was a [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]], Fritz is a [[WesternTerrorists Western Terrorist]].
*** Pork Pie Hat Kid is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Pesci, both being {{Gonk}}s with fish-hook based Stands.
** Of the characters from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'':
*** Josuke Higashikata is, surprisingly enough, ''not'' this for the Josuke Higashikata of ''Diamond Is Unbreakable''. Instead, he's one for [[spoiler:''Golden Wind'''s Diavolo. Both have {{Mysterious Past}}s, both have Stand abilities based around "removing" things, and while Diavolo was [[SplitPersonality two people inhabiting the same body]], Josuke is two people [[FusionDance fused together]]]].
*** The members of Higashikata family in general are similar to Team Bucciarati from ''Golden Wind'', the most notable being Daiya, who has many traits reminiscent of Bruno and Narancia. On another note, Daiya's appearance is very similar to Sugar Mountain from ''Steel Ball Run''.
*** Jobin Higashikata is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Yoshikage Kira, a stylish businessman with a hidden "wacky" side, whose goal is based around living his idea of a "quiet life".
*** Mitsuba Higashikata is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Aya Tsuji, having a storyline based around beauty and a... fascination with breasts.
*** Kyo Nijimura is this to ''Stardust Crusaders'' era Jotaro, the child of Holy Joestar, who she's fiercely protective of. She also has a similar [[TheStoic personality]] and color scheme.
*** While how it works is different, how people make use of the Stand, Les Feuilles, is similar to how ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Tamami Kobayashi uses his Stand, The Lock.
*** Rina Higashikata is this to Erina Pendleton, having a similar name and marrying into the Joestar family.
*** [[spoiler:Josefumi Kujo is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Noriaki Kakyoin, having been saved by the son of Holy Joestar, and later dying in his idea of happiness]].
*** Kaato Higashikata is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Yoshihiro Kira, being fiercely protective of her children, willing to go to extreme lengths to do so, and is the cause of her child's StartOfDarkness.
*** Zaihei Nigatake is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Toyohiro Hanedaichi, a man with a BlessedWithSuck Stand ability that can be transferred to other people, only to end up stuck with his Stand again by the end of his arc.
*** Blue Hawaii, the Stand of Dolomite, is similar to Justice, the Stand of Enya from ''Stardust Crusaders'', being able to control bodies to attack opponents. The fight against the Stand, however, is very similar to the fight against Highway Star from ''Diamond Is Unbreakable''.
*** Similarly to Zaihei, Rai Mamezuku is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Toyohiro Kanedaichi, both living in high-altitude, steel homes with methods of harvesting crops. On another note, Rai's Stand, Doggy Style, is essentially a slightly less combatant version of Jolyne Cujoh's Stone Free from ''Stone Ocean''.
*** Urban Guerrilla is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Cioccolata, being a MadDoctor with a virus-based Stand and a "pet" with the ability to [[SandIsWater liquify the ground]].
*** Doremifasolati Do is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Secco, a "pet" to an AxCrazy [[MadDoctor doctor]] with the ability to [[SandIsWater liquify the ground]].
*** Poor Tom may be this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Mannish Boy, though whereas Mannish Boy was [[BrainyBaby a baby with adult intelligence]], Poor Tom is [[OlderThanTheyLook an adult who just looks like a baby]].
*** Similar to Urban Guerrilla, Wu Tomoki is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Cioccolata, a doctor who performs unethical treatments on his patients, and has a Stand that allows him to perform DetachmentCombat.
*** Satoru Akefu is this to Diavolo from ''Golden Wind'', the leader of a criminal organization who prefers to hide in the shadows, while being the User of a fate controlling Stand. Also, like Diavolo, [[spoiler:Satoru has a younger "alter-ego", but whereas Diavolo has his SplitPersonality, Doppio, [[{{Humanshifting}} Satoru]] has his User, Tooru]]. On another note, his Stand is similar to both Killer Queen Bites the Dust from ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'', an ability that discourages direct combat and must be defeated with unconventional means, [[spoiler:Silver Chariot Requiem from ''Golden Wind'', an autonomous Stand with [[ItCanThink a mind of its own]] that wears all black]], and [=D4C=]: Love Train from ''Steel Ball Run'', an ability based around altering probability and using the environment to attack opponents.
*** [[spoiler:Tooru is one to Doppio from ''Golden Wind'', a young, seemingly unimportant member of a criminal organization who turns out to be much more important than they appear, but whereas Doppio was TheDragon, Tooru is the true BigBad. On another note, he also shares a number of similarities with Kars from ''Battle Tendency'', a member of an inhuman species with a vision rejected by society, and has a respect for nature despite his general hatred for humanity]].
* In ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'', Kindaichi gains himself an unofficial assistant/CameraFiend named Ryuta Saki, whose habit of recording videos wherever he goes proves to be a great help for Kindaichi's sleuthing. After [[spoiler:Ryuta is murdered in the "Hotel Europa Murder Case"]], his role is taken by his younger brother, Ryuji Saki, who has the exact same hobby as his brother. The only difference is that Ryuji is slightly more cheerful.
* In ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'', the Hückebein family more or less have the same role as the Wolkenritter during ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]'', albeit [[DarkerAndEdgier more grim]].
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' [[spoiler:Neil Dilandy, killed late in the 1st series, is replaced by his twin brother Lyle Dilandy.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sai, the quiet, serious and emotionally distant ninja replaced Sasuke, the quiet, serious and emotionally distant ninja. It doesn't help that they look so similar, either. Much like Sasuke during the early arcs, Sai's rocky friendship with Naruto and Sakura has slowly eroded his stoicism. The similarities between Sai and Sasuke have been lampshaded in-series. During his introduction this was played for drama, with Naruto and Sakura openly hostile at Sai attempting to replace Sasuke. Afterward it was played for comedy, such as Konohamaru's use of both Sai and Sasuke in his male version of the Sexy Jutsu.
* In ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'', Takeo Kumagami replaces Kanuka Clancy after Clancy returns to America. They have very similar skills and fulfill the same police positions, although Kumagami is given a few quirks to distinguish her.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** The female coordinator character May (who replaced the significantly different Misty) was replaced by the female coordinator character Dawn.
** Dawn was then replaced by Iris, who in a roundabout way, is actually closer to Misty in terms of personality. Iris would later be replaced by Serena, who also has a personality similar to May and Dawn.
** Brock was replaced with Cilan, who is the same with more food focus and less lechery. Cilan was later replaced by Clemont (another gym leader who became fascinated by Ash's battle style and the resident TeamChef). For the Orange League, Brock was replaced by Tracey.
** While it skipped several years, Bonnie is essentially a DistaffCounterpart to Max. Her relationship with Clemont is similar to May and Max's, with the biggest difference being the genders reversed.
** Ash's classmates in ''Sun and Moon'' share many elements with his companions from past sagas. For example, Lana is associated with Water-types and is an avid fisherwoman, much like Misty and Sophocles is a GadgeteerGenius who has an affinity for Electric-types, kind of like Clemont. At the same time though, they have unique traits that set them apart from the character they're generally based on, which makes this a DownplayedExample.
** Jessie and James release their Victreebel (a carnivorous plant Pokémon) and Arbok (a poisonous snake Pokémon). Later on, James acquires a Cacnea (a cactus Pokémon) and Carnivine (a carnivorous plant Pokémon), which both retain Victreebel's tendency to accidentally injure its owner in displays of affection, and Jessie gets a Seviper, which is...a poisonous snake Pokémon. Their main Pokémon in ''Sun and Moon'' are similar to the ones they had in ''X and Y'' (a ghost for Jessie and a sea creature for James).
** Ash gets a new bird Pokémon in every region (Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow, Staraptor, Unfezant, Talonflame and Rowlet respectively).
** The Mewtwo that appears in ''[[Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened Genesect and the Legend Awakened]]'' is a different one from the one in ''[[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie Mewtwo Strikes Back]]'' and [[Anime/PokemonMewtwoReturns its direct sequel]]. However, despite a slight change in personality, voice and abilities, it functions almost exactly like the original, and little in-universe justifies the existence of this new one (a bizarre break from canon, as prior to this it was universally depicted as a SingleSpecimenSpecies). Made even more apparent considering the prologue dedicated to it gives it almost the exact same past as the old one, but with all things Team Rocket related removed, and the film's ending, which [[spoiler:puts it in a city... which is exactly where we last saw the original Mewtwo]]. Some of this can be explained by [[ScrewedByTheLawyers The Pokemon Company not actually possessing the rights to the original anime Mewtwo and failing to renegotiate them for the 16th movie]].
** The 1998 Japan-only radio drama ''Radio/ItsAWhiteTomorrowTeamRocket'' introduced a Team Rocket trainee named "Mondo". Years later, an extremely similar looking ex-Team Rocket member named "Yusaku" ("Christopher" in the English dub) appeared as a Character of the Day in Sinnoh.
* Sakuya Tougane is one for [[PutOnABus Shinya Kougami]] in the second season of ''Anime/PsychoPass''. It is strongly implied, OTOH, that he ''is'' [[TheBusCameBack Kougami]] in a PaperThinDisguise, though ultimately it just was the animators {{troll}}ing the audience. [[spoiler: With Tougane turning out to be one of the main villains of the series.]]
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'': Lyra Orpheus was popular in the first movie and so later on in the Hades Saga, Lyra Orphee was created with the exact same backstory, lover, Cloth and hair style except he wasn't as dark and wasn't a villain.
* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' is unique in that the third {{O|riginalVideoAnimation}}VA did something of an alternate continuity substitution. Mihoshi's partner in the Galaxy Police had long been Kiyone Makibi in the Universe and Tokyo continuities, but in [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]] Kiyone was the name of Tenchi's Mother (The first movie, based off the first TV series, named her Achika). OVA 3 introduces us to Noike, who happens to be Mihoshi's previously not known to exist GXP partner, while Tenchi's mother is finally officially named as Kiyone (and (re)introduced, in a way, by Tenchi's older sister who is strangely identical to her).
* Scattorshot in ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' is an {{expy}} of Ironhide from ''Anime/TransformersEnergon''. Likewise, the Jones family in ''Energon'' is this to the Witwickys from ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1''.
[[/folder]]
* The character Priss from ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' was originally going to be killed off and replaced by Vision, who was suspiciously similar (brown hair, kind of feisty, was a singer) but ultimately fans liked the character, so she wasn't killed off after all, thus avoiding the trope entirely.
* The Clear Cards in ''Manga/CardcaptorSakuraClearCard'' share similarities to the Clow/Sakura cards that came before them. This turns out to be a JustifiedTrope: [[spoiler:Sakura unconsciously created them with her growing magic, and, being so familiar with her Sakura cards, naturally the Clear Cards were going to turn out similar.]]
* [[{{Bifauxnen}} Tomboyish]] teen sleuth Masumi Sera from ''Manga/CaseClosed'' was created as a replacement for Natsuki Koshimizu, a tomboyish one-shot detective from earlier in the series. According to Gosho Aoyama, Sera was created because Natsuki had become unexpectedly popular with the fans, but the fact that [[spoiler:she killed someone and was subsequently arrested for the crime]] made it impossible to use her in future stories.
* ''Manga/CorpsePrincess'''s [[spoiler:Keisei]] dies, allowing Ouri to come closer to [[spoiler:Makina]] and to also be brought into the story as a major player instead of a male damsel in distress and hapless bystander. About 2 episodes later [[spoiler:Keisei's mentor]] is introduced. He has a very similar hairstyle and replaces the former as the even more [[spoiler:perverted comic relief and Ouri's new mentor.]]
* Vincent Volaju is one for Vicious in the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' movie.
* After Tup Dop, a supporting character of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' was killed, he was replaced by his equally chubby and androgynous sister, Cash Dop.
* Near from ''Manga/DeathNote''. This is intentional -- Near ''tries'' to imitate L [[spoiler: and eventually admits that he failed to imitate L, but succeeded through TeethClenchedTeamwork]]. The reasoning in the story being rather interesting, Near has more tendency to 'cheat' in his methods, the example being that if he were in L's shoes, he'd have released all information on the Death Note to the public and let the ensuing mass manhunt capture Kira. He tries to imitate L because he knows that in the real world, his methods would cause far too much collateral damage even if they succeeded. According to WordOfGod the initial plan was for Near and Mello to be L's sons but the concept was dropped early on.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' is infamous for this. Every male protagonist is a HotBlooded IdiotHero with GogglesDoNothing and brown hair, both in the anime and in the video games. The main exception was ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'' and ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', with Marcus and Hiro deliberately breaking the goggle trend.
** {{Lampshaded}} in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', where Tai declared Davis to be the leader of the new group, partly due to being the character most like him.
** [[TheEmperor The Digimon Emperor]] is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Neo Saiba of the manga. And after his HeelFaceTurn, Ken gained a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' with Koichi Kimura.
** ''Each season's'' [[TheLancer lancer]] is a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of Matt from the first season. Him, Ken, Rika, Koji, Thomas, and Chris are varying degrees of [[RedOniBlueOni blue oni to the Goggle Boy's red oni,]] each has some connection to the color blue, all but Ken and Chris are partnered with or transform into canids, and three of them are blond males. Chris's an odd duck, though, as he is partnered with a Greymon, traditionally associated with the Goggle Boy. At least it's blue this time around.
** The real SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute breaker is Takato from ''Anime/DigimonTamers.'' While he has goggles, it's because he's a fan of the InUniverse Digimon franchise. In personality, he's nothing like the HotBlooded main characters of series past and future (Masaru/Marcus is ''very much'' a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in all but headgear) and has to grow into the role of being TheHero instead of being gung-ho from the beginning. Secondary character Kazu is the goggle-head archetype, but remains a member of ThoseTwoGuys.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** Creator/AkiraToriyama planned on having Goku and Vegeta [[FusionDance fuse]] during the Buu Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallZ''; however, at the time ''Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn'' was about to come out and one of the film's big selling points was that ''it'' was going to be the first appearance of Goku and Vegeta's Fusion, Gogeta. Not wanting to step on [[Creator/ToeiAnimation Toei's]] toes, Toriyama invented Vegito, who's created when Goku and Vegeta use a completely different method of fusion. Interestingly, for many years, Vegito seemed to be the "official" fusion, appearing in the manga and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' while Gogeta remained in the dubious canon territory of ''[[NonSerialMovie Fusion Reborn]]'' and ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' (though of course, both appeared in video games). It was not until the ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'' movie that Gogeta appeared in a work officially declared canon by Toriyama. The ''Super'' version of Gogeta plays this trope even straighter than before, having basically the same cocky personality as Vegito instead of being a serious, no-nonsense fighter like the ''Fusion Reborn'' version of Gogeta.
** Uub, introduced in the finale of ''Z'', is one of both Piccolo (Junior) and Nam from the original ''Manga/DragonBall'' series. A {{reincarnation}} of a villain Goku defeated, he meets the latter in a World Tournament, and his introduction heralds a turning point/end of a series. He is also an Indian that needed the money for his village like Nam.
** As WebVideo/MistareFusion pointed out in his Dragon Ball Dissection videos, The Kaioshin fulfills the same role in the early Buu Saga that Future Trunks did in the previous arc: Mysterious [[{{Bishonen}} bishie]] who somehow knows of Goku, has no patience for the reckless behaviour of the rest of the cast, and has come to warn them of an imminent threat to earth. Unlike Trunks, he never joins the main cast for battles of any sort after this and is DemotedToExtra.
** The villains from most of the ''DBZ'' movies are stand-ins[=/=]retreads of villains from the original manga: [[Anime/DragonBallZDeadZone Garlic Jr.]] is a much more menacing Pilaf[[note]]They even share voice actors in several countries, including the original Japanese and both Creator/{{Funimation}} and Creator/TheOceanGroup's English dubs[[/note]], [[Anime/DragonBallZTheTreeOfMight Tullece]] copies Vegeta (while also being a take on [[WhatIf "What if Goku had stayed evil?"]]), [[Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug Lord Slug]] is a transparent copy of Demon King Piccolo, [[Anime/DragonBallZCoolersRevenge Cooler]] is (obviously) a copy of his younger brother Freeza, and [[Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn Janemba]] is a riff on Majin Buu. [[Anime/DragonBallZSuperAndroid13 No. 13]] has some vague similarities to Cell, mostly in that he absorbs parts from his "brothers" to assume a more powerful form.
** On the flip side, the Saiyans from Universe 6 that appear in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' bear a resemblance with Saiyans who never appeared in the original manga, with Cabba being pretty similar to Vegeta's younger brother Tarble (Sans the weird wife), and Kale is essentially a [[GenderFlip female]], canonical version of Broly from the movies. Caulifla doesn't follow this pattern, though. Unless she's meant to be a female counterpart to Goku, since they're both prodigies at fighting who quickly learn new techniques just by watching somebody else use them.
* After Raoh was killed off in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', the authors introduced a very similar antagonist named Kaioh, who also rode a huge elephant-sized horse. He is eventually revealed to be Raoh's [[AssPull previously unmentioned]] [[BackupTwin blood-related older brother.]]
* ''Manga/FoodWars: Shokugeki no Soma'': The first chapter introduces Mayumi Kurase who is Souma's UnluckyChildhoodFriend who admires Souma's cooking and she's a ShrinkingViolet. But as soon as Souma transfers to Tootsuki in chapter 3, Kurase is left behind in Souma's hometown, and Megumi Tadokoro is introduced in the same chapter, a ShrinkingViolet who admires Souma's cooking. Not only are their given names very similar, they both have the same yellow eyes.
* After performing a HeroicSacrifice in ''Manga/GetterRobo'', [[TheBigGuy Musashi]] was replaced by a new pilot named Benkei. Across the various iterations of the franchise, both characters tend to have a similar pattern of being a fat ButtMonkey who is prone to injury and death. They're so similar that at least one adaptation cut out the middleman and made the two of them into a CompositeCharacter.
* After Takashi was killed early on in ''Anime/GoLion'', he was replaced by his [[BackUpTwin brother]] Ryou. The two were so similar that the American adaptation, ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'', [[CompositeCharacter combined them into one character]] ("Sven").
* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', Byakuya comes in after Kagura's death and not only looks and acts like her, but has similar powers and plays the same role that she played.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** The Runaway Girl ([[NamedByTheAdaptation named Anne in the anime]]) from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' is a very obvious attempt to replicate Poco and Smokey, the TagalongKid characters from the previous [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood two]] [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Parts]].
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'':
*** Yoshihiro Kira is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Gray Fly, being an older gentleman with a similar appearance who is [[UndyingLoyalty completely devoted]] to helping the BigBad.
*** Terunosuke Miyamoto is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Steely Dan, being a [[SmugSnake smug]] PsychoForHire with a similar hairstyle.
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'':
*** Illuso is very similar to ''Stardust Crusaders''' J. Geil, being a SmugSnake with a mirror based [[FightingSpirit Stand]]. Even their introductions are very similar.
*** Cioccolata is an intelligent but violent man with a powerful but hard to control Stand [[WalkingWasteland ability]]. Many believe he is meant to act as this for Fugo after Araki [[WhatCouldHaveBeen scraped the plans]] for him to act as TheMole for the boss.
*** [[spoiler:Diavolo acts as this for Dio Brando, seemingly for the purpose of having [[TheHero Giorno]] face off against someone with a [[AxCrazy similar]] [[TheSociopath personality]] to his father]].
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'':
*** Johngalli A acts as this to N'Doul from ''Stardust Crusaders'', being a blind man completely loyal to DIO. They even have similar canes.
*** Narciso Anasui is basically a heroic version of ''Golden Wind'''s Diavolo, a pink-haired man with an aggressive attitude who wears a mesh shirt.
** A large amount of the characters from [[AlternateContinuity Parts 7 and 8]] act as this for characters from the Original Universe. Of the characters from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Steel Ball Run]]'':
*** Stephen Steel is this to ''Battle Tendency'' era Speedwagon, an older NonActionGuy whose wealth and power allows him to assist the heroes from behind the scenes.
*** Mountain Tim is this to ''Phantom Blood'' era Speedwagon, a firmly good-aligned character with a tophat. The scar he gets during his fight with Oyecomova also looks similar to Speedwagon's own scar.
*** Diego Brando is this to Dio Brando, though he proves to be far less evil and much more sympathetic.
*** Urmd Avdol is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Muhammed Avdol, though he's much more of a {{Jerkass}} than Muhammed was.
*** Fritz von Strohiem is this to ''Battle Tendency'''s Rudolf von Strohiem, though whereas Rudolf was a [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]], Fritz is a [[WesternTerrorists Western Terrorist]].
*** Pork Pie Hat Kid is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Pesci, both being {{Gonk}}s with fish-hook based Stands.
** Of the characters from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'':
*** Josuke Higashikata is, surprisingly enough, ''not'' this for the Josuke Higashikata of ''Diamond Is Unbreakable''. Instead, he's one for [[spoiler:''Golden Wind'''s Diavolo. Both have {{Mysterious Past}}s, both have Stand abilities based around "removing" things, and while Diavolo was [[SplitPersonality two people inhabiting the same body]], Josuke is two people [[FusionDance fused together]]]].
*** The members of Higashikata family in general are similar to Team Bucciarati from ''Golden Wind'', the most notable being Daiya, who has many traits reminiscent of Bruno and Narancia. On another note, Daiya's appearance is very similar to Sugar Mountain from ''Steel Ball Run''.
*** Jobin Higashikata is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Yoshikage Kira, a stylish businessman with a hidden "wacky" side, whose goal is based around living his idea of a "quiet life".
*** Mitsuba Higashikata is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Aya Tsuji, having a storyline based around beauty and a... fascination with breasts.
*** Kyo Nijimura is this to ''Stardust Crusaders'' era Jotaro, the child of Holy Joestar, who she's fiercely protective of. She also has a similar [[TheStoic personality]] and color scheme.
*** While how it works is different, how people make use of the Stand, Les Feuilles, is similar to how ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Tamami Kobayashi uses his Stand, The Lock.
*** Rina Higashikata is this to Erina Pendleton, having a similar name and marrying into the Joestar family.
*** [[spoiler:Josefumi Kujo is this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Noriaki Kakyoin, having been saved by the son of Holy Joestar, and later dying in his idea of happiness]].
*** Kaato Higashikata is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Yoshihiro Kira, being fiercely protective of her children, willing to go to extreme lengths to do so, and is the cause of her child's StartOfDarkness.
*** Zaihei Nigatake is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Toyohiro Hanedaichi, a man with a BlessedWithSuck Stand ability that can be transferred to other people, only to end up stuck with his Stand again by the end of his arc.
*** Blue Hawaii, the Stand of Dolomite, is similar to Justice, the Stand of Enya from ''Stardust Crusaders'', being able to control bodies to attack opponents. The fight against the Stand, however, is very similar to the fight against Highway Star from ''Diamond Is Unbreakable''.
*** Similarly to Zaihei, Rai Mamezuku is this to ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'''s Toyohiro Kanedaichi, both living in high-altitude, steel homes with methods of harvesting crops. On another note, Rai's Stand, Doggy Style, is essentially a slightly less combatant version of Jolyne Cujoh's Stone Free from ''Stone Ocean''.
*** Urban Guerrilla is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Cioccolata, being a MadDoctor with a virus-based Stand and a "pet" with the ability to [[SandIsWater liquify the ground]].
*** Doremifasolati Do is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Secco, a "pet" to an AxCrazy [[MadDoctor doctor]] with the ability to [[SandIsWater liquify the ground]].
*** Poor Tom may be this to ''Stardust Crusaders''' Mannish Boy, though whereas Mannish Boy was [[BrainyBaby a baby with adult intelligence]], Poor Tom is [[OlderThanTheyLook an adult who just looks like a baby]].
*** Similar to Urban Guerrilla, Wu Tomoki is this to ''Golden Wind'''s Cioccolata, a doctor who performs unethical treatments on his patients, and has a Stand that allows him to perform DetachmentCombat.
*** Satoru Akefu is this to Diavolo from ''Golden Wind'', the leader of a criminal organization who prefers to hide in the shadows, while being the User of a fate controlling Stand. Also, like Diavolo, [[spoiler:Satoru has a younger "alter-ego", but whereas Diavolo has his SplitPersonality, Doppio, [[{{Humanshifting}} Satoru]] has his User, Tooru]]. On another note, his Stand is similar to both Killer Queen Bites the Dust from ''Diamond Is Unbreakable'', an ability that discourages direct combat and must be defeated with unconventional means, [[spoiler:Silver Chariot Requiem from ''Golden Wind'', an autonomous Stand with [[ItCanThink a mind of its own]] that wears all black]], and [=D4C=]: Love Train from ''Steel Ball Run'', an ability based around altering probability and using the environment to attack opponents.
*** [[spoiler:Tooru is one to Doppio from ''Golden Wind'', a young, seemingly unimportant member of a criminal organization who turns out to be much more important than they appear, but whereas Doppio was TheDragon, Tooru is the true BigBad. On another note, he also shares a number of similarities with Kars from ''Battle Tendency'', a member of an inhuman species with a vision rejected by society, and has a respect for nature despite his general hatred for humanity]].
* In ''Manga/TheKindaichiCaseFiles'', Kindaichi gains himself an unofficial assistant/CameraFiend named Ryuta Saki, whose habit of recording videos wherever he goes proves to be a great help for Kindaichi's sleuthing. After [[spoiler:Ryuta is murdered in the "Hotel Europa Murder Case"]], his role is taken by his younger brother, Ryuji Saki, who has the exact same hobby as his brother. The only difference is that Ryuji is slightly more cheerful.
* In ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'', the Hückebein family more or less have the same role as the Wolkenritter during ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]'', albeit [[DarkerAndEdgier more grim]].
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' [[spoiler:Neil Dilandy, killed late in the 1st series, is replaced by his twin brother Lyle Dilandy.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sai, the quiet, serious and emotionally distant ninja replaced Sasuke, the quiet, serious and emotionally distant ninja. It doesn't help that they look so similar, either. Much like Sasuke during the early arcs, Sai's rocky friendship with Naruto and Sakura has slowly eroded his stoicism. The similarities between Sai and Sasuke have been lampshaded in-series. During his introduction this was played for drama, with Naruto and Sakura openly hostile at Sai attempting to replace Sasuke. Afterward it was played for comedy, such as Konohamaru's use of both Sai and Sasuke in his male version of the Sexy Jutsu.
* In ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'', Takeo Kumagami replaces Kanuka Clancy after Clancy returns to America. They have very similar skills and fulfill the same police positions, although Kumagami is given a few quirks to distinguish her.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** The female coordinator character May (who replaced the significantly different Misty) was replaced by the female coordinator character Dawn.
** Dawn was then replaced by Iris, who in a roundabout way, is actually closer to Misty in terms of personality. Iris would later be replaced by Serena, who also has a personality similar to May and Dawn.
** Brock was replaced with Cilan, who is the same with more food focus and less lechery. Cilan was later replaced by Clemont (another gym leader who became fascinated by Ash's battle style and the resident TeamChef). For the Orange League, Brock was replaced by Tracey.
** While it skipped several years, Bonnie is essentially a DistaffCounterpart to Max. Her relationship with Clemont is similar to May and Max's, with the biggest difference being the genders reversed.
** Ash's classmates in ''Sun and Moon'' share many elements with his companions from past sagas. For example, Lana is associated with Water-types and is an avid fisherwoman, much like Misty and Sophocles is a GadgeteerGenius who has an affinity for Electric-types, kind of like Clemont. At the same time though, they have unique traits that set them apart from the character they're generally based on, which makes this a DownplayedExample.
** Jessie and James release their Victreebel (a carnivorous plant Pokémon) and Arbok (a poisonous snake Pokémon). Later on, James acquires a Cacnea (a cactus Pokémon) and Carnivine (a carnivorous plant Pokémon), which both retain Victreebel's tendency to accidentally injure its owner in displays of affection, and Jessie gets a Seviper, which is...a poisonous snake Pokémon. Their main Pokémon in ''Sun and Moon'' are similar to the ones they had in ''X and Y'' (a ghost for Jessie and a sea creature for James).
** Ash gets a new bird Pokémon in every region (Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow, Staraptor, Unfezant, Talonflame and Rowlet respectively).
** The Mewtwo that appears in ''[[Anime/PokemonGenesectAndTheLegendAwakened Genesect and the Legend Awakened]]'' is a different one from the one in ''[[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie Mewtwo Strikes Back]]'' and [[Anime/PokemonMewtwoReturns its direct sequel]]. However, despite a slight change in personality, voice and abilities, it functions almost exactly like the original, and little in-universe justifies the existence of this new one (a bizarre break from canon, as prior to this it was universally depicted as a SingleSpecimenSpecies). Made even more apparent considering the prologue dedicated to it gives it almost the exact same past as the old one, but with all things Team Rocket related removed, and the film's ending, which [[spoiler:puts it in a city... which is exactly where we last saw the original Mewtwo]]. Some of this can be explained by [[ScrewedByTheLawyers The Pokemon Company not actually possessing the rights to the original anime Mewtwo and failing to renegotiate them for the 16th movie]].
** The 1998 Japan-only radio drama ''Radio/ItsAWhiteTomorrowTeamRocket'' introduced a Team Rocket trainee named "Mondo". Years later, an extremely similar looking ex-Team Rocket member named "Yusaku" ("Christopher" in the English dub) appeared as a Character of the Day in Sinnoh.
* Sakuya Tougane is one for [[PutOnABus Shinya Kougami]] in the second season of ''Anime/PsychoPass''. It is strongly implied, OTOH, that he ''is'' [[TheBusCameBack Kougami]] in a PaperThinDisguise, though ultimately it just was the animators {{troll}}ing the audience. [[spoiler: With Tougane turning out to be one of the main villains of the series.]]
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'': Lyra Orpheus was popular in the first movie and so later on in the Hades Saga, Lyra Orphee was created with the exact same backstory, lover, Cloth and hair style except he wasn't as dark and wasn't a villain.
* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' is unique in that the third {{O|riginalVideoAnimation}}VA did something of an alternate continuity substitution. Mihoshi's partner in the Galaxy Police had long been Kiyone Makibi in the Universe and Tokyo continuities, but in [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]] Kiyone was the name of Tenchi's Mother (The first movie, based off the first TV series, named her Achika). OVA 3 introduces us to Noike, who happens to be Mihoshi's previously not known to exist GXP partner, while Tenchi's mother is finally officially named as Kiyone (and (re)introduced, in a way, by Tenchi's older sister who is strangely identical to her).
* Scattorshot in ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' is an {{expy}} of Ironhide from ''Anime/TransformersEnergon''. Likewise, the Jones family in ''Energon'' is this to the Witwickys from ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1''.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* The 1996 ''Franchise/StarWars'' spin-off ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' (novel, comic book, video game, and breakfast cereal), being set between ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', has some examples:
** Han Solo is replaced by the lovable scamp Dash Rendar. Dash not only sports Han's in-your-face attitude, he flies a nearly identical ship to the ''Millennium Falcon'' and has a wacky robot sidekick. Though hastily [[BusCrash offed]] when he no longer served a purpose, Dash apparently [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat still exists]] in the hazier reaches of the "Expanded Universe."
** Ben in [[Literature/LegacyOfTheForce LOTF's]] a substitute for Anakin; Tahiri even tries to seduce him... and he's 13!
** Gavin Darklighter, who is the cousin of Biggs Darklighter.
* In ''Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye'' (set between ''Film/ANewHope'' and ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''), sise, kindly old Force-Sensitive mentor Halla and hulking, furry, LanguageBarrier-limited aliens Hin and Kee fill the roles Obi-Wan and Chewbacca did in the first movie.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** After [[spoiler:Ned Stark]]'s death at the end of the first book, Davos Seaworth shows up to serve the function of TheStoic, family and honor oriented, speaker-of-truth-to-power to a Baratheon king. They even mirror each other in interesting ways, particularly their fates ([[spoiler:Ned is killed in a last minute whim of Joffrey's, Davos miraculously survives his ship's sinking]]) compared to their children's ([[spoiler:Ned's children find ways to thrive in adversity, while four of Davos' sons are killed in battle]]).
** Oberyn "The Red Viper" Martel was TooCoolToLive, and fans have suspected that TheScrappy Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne was created as one of these. Both men are the black sheep of their families and have badass reputations and are known by cool nicknames. More to the point, both men are from the some place and Dayne interacts with Oberyn's family members.
** In-universe example: Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane, a huge, insanely strong and brutal thug is supposedly killed at the end of Book 3. In Book 5, a similar-sized knight who refuses to take off his armor called Robert Strong appears. Many characters suspect that Strong is in fact Clegane's zombified corpse.
* A meta-example in Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/TheBaroqueCycle'': Daniel Waterhouse [[ConversationalTroping notes]] that some people can be replaced in their positions with only the most superficial elements changing, but other people are more crucial to the story, and their loss will forever change the status quo no matter who replaces them.
* The Olivia Goldsmith novel ''Switcheroo'' has Sylvie rocked to discover her husband Bob is having an affair. When she tracks down the mistress, Maria, the two are stunned to realize that, except for twenty years in age, they look almost exactly alike. They both sardonically note how Bob "probably doesn't even realize" he traded his wife for a younger version. With the aid of plastic surgery and makeup, the two switch places, at first for revenge but Sylvie finding herself falling back in love with her husband.
** A wild series of circumstances has Boba and Sylvie finding Maria in bed with Bob's best friend. It takes the friend openly saying "you never told me your mistress looks just like your wife" for Bob to ''finally'' see the resemblance.
* ''Literature/InDeath'' series: ''Eternity In Death'' has Eve and Peabody questioning the housekeeper who worked for the murder victim. Then they go to see the murder victim's friend, whose housekeeper might have been a clone of the previous one. The story states that the two housekeepers are sisters.
* Laura [=McCall=] for Taffy Sinclair in ''The Fabulous Five'' series. Even though Taffy is still present, she and the group have called a truce in the final book of the previous series and she has become somewhat nicer. Laura is the new AlphaBitch and apparently doesn't have any of the FreudianExcuse that Taffy did (overbearing stage mother, etc.)
* In ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'': [[spoiler:Cyril is essentially an older Thomas, brought in to replace him after his death.]]
* In Creator/JamesEllroy's novel ''The Big Nowhere'', one of the protagonists is Buzz Meeks, a disgraced ex-DirtyCop who has since gone on to become a crooked PrivateDetective, Hollywood fixer, and enforcer for EccentricMillionaire Howard Hughes. Since Meeks was [[spoiler:killed off]] early in ''Film/LAConfidential'', his role in Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy was filled by Pete Bondurant, a character with a virtually identical backstory.
* In Creator/ElmoreLeonard's novel ''Split Images'', Detroit homicide detective Bryan Hurd is an obvious stand-in for Detroit homicide detective Raymond Cruz. Cruz appeared in some of Leonard's prior work, which was being optioned at the time.
* In Creator/RickRiordan's ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', there is Reyna and Piper.
* The ''Literature/StarCarrier'' series' fourth book, ''Deep Space'', takes place after a 20-year TimeSkip, and while Trevor Gray, the character for whom Lieutenant Donald Gregory substitutes, is still a major character, he's been promoted and is now the captain of the eponymous star carrier ''America''. Both characters are looked down on by their squadmates for their upbringing (Gray grew up on the [[RuinsOfTheModernAge Periphery]] in the sea-level-rise-created ruins of New York, while Gregory was born on one of Earth's colonies), and both gained fame for [[NotTheIntendedUse using ostensibly non-offensive tech in offensive ways]] (Gray gained [[NomDeGuerre his call sign, "Sandy",]] by using anti-missile countermeasures as [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic kill weapons]], while Gregory used his drive singularity to [[WeaponizedExhaust destroy a Slan warship]]).
* In-universe example in ''Literature/VampireAcademy''. When Dimitri turned into a Stringoi and Rose quit her training, Lissa needed new guardians. Grant was a seasoned guardian and trainer, similar to Dimitri. Serena was a girl close to Lissa's age, similar to Rose.
* The late Chicago-based author John R. Powers wrote the Last Catholic Trilogy in the 1970s, consisting of the fictionalized memoirs ''The Last Catholic in America'' (about life as a young boy going to a Catholic grammar school in the '50s), ''Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?'' (about life as a teenager going to a Catholic high school in the '60s), and ''The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice Cream God'' (about life as a twentysomething approaching the 1970s, going to a community college, and finding a job and romance). The first two novels are narrated in Main/FirstPersonPerspective by our protagonist Eddie Ryan. The third is narrated the same way by protagonist Tim Conroy, who, for all intents and purposes, ''is'' Eddie Ryan but with a different name. The reason for the switch was possibly that the third novel [[spoiler: has a DownerEnding, where we learn that Tim dies of cancer at age 27. It may have been the case that Powers did not want to take his readers through three books, [[ShootTheShaggyDog only for them to see their hero die at the end]].]]
* Dr. Carolyn [=McConnell=], in the Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures ''Doctor Who'' spin-off novel ''Vampire Science'', is a substitute for Dr. Grace Holloway, due to the novel publishers discovering late in its creation that the rights to Grace, who was created in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie Doctor Who:The Movie]]'', were owned by Fox and that they [[ScrewedByTheLawyers weren't allowed]] to use her. Like Dr Grace, Dr Carolyn is a San Francisco medical doctor who had a previous adventure with the Eighth Doctor (established in the book's prologue).
* Detective Renee Ballard for Detective Literature/HarryBosch in the works of mystery novelist Creator/MichaelConnelly. The Harry Bosch [[TheVerse universe]] has characters aging in real time, which means that by the 2010s Harry Bosch, born in 1950, started to get too old for homicide detective adventures. How to fix that? Come up with Detective Ballard, who was orphaned at a young age like Harry Bosch (technically Ballard wasn't an orphan but she had a MissingMom), has a lack of personal attachments like Bosch, views her job as a "mission" in the way that Bosch does, is a CowboyCop just like Bosch, has a SherlockScan similar to Bosch's, has an oddball habit like Bosch (Bosch is intensely devoted to jazz music while Ballard is a surfer) and like Bosch has a difficult relationship with LAPD command (Bosch because he's a CowboyCop in general, Ballard because she made a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor).
* ''Literature/AliensStevePerryTrilogy'', based on Creator/DarkHorseComics first ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' comics, sees with two of the main characters in the change of the story to novel form as the comics were published between ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' and ''Film/Alien3'' thus featured Hicks and Newt -- whereas the novels, published ''after Film/Alien3'' sees them replaced with characters named Wilks and Billie. The novels also changed Ripley to be a gynoid who only thought she was Ripley.
* Since FirstInstallmentWins, ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'''s most famous villain is Jadis the White Witch, who is KilledOffForReal in [[Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe the first book]]. In ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' we meet the Lady of the Green Kirtle, another color-themed witch who wants to take over Narnia and is prone to MindControl. They might even be connected: the Lady is described as "one of the Northern witches," and [[Literature/TheMagiciansNephew the prequel]] establishes that Jadis was hiding up there before her takeover...
* In the ''[[Literature/MrMen Mr Men and Little Miss]]'' books each character has [[FlatCharacter one main personality trait]] and there is a brand-new character in every book, which has led to a lot of characters which are essentially interchangeable in terms of personality. As well as the large number of characters with [[DistaffCounterpart distaff/spear counterparts]], we have:
** Mr Muddle, Mr Wrong, Mr Dizzy, Little Miss Dotty, and Little Miss Scatterbrain, who are all TheDitz.
** Mr Funny, Mr Silly, Mr Nonsense, Mr Topsy-Turvy and Little Miss Contrary are all {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s.
** Mr Bump, Mr Clumsy and Little Miss Whoops are all TheKlutz.
** Mr Busy, Little Miss Busy, Mr Rush and Little Miss Quick all focus on being fast.
** Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Bad, Little Miss Trouble and Mr Mischief are all ThePrankster.
** Mr Worry and Mr Jelly are both {{Nervous Wreck}}s.
** Mr Grumpy, Mr Grumble and Mr Rude are all {{Jerkass}}es.
** Mr Happy, Mr Cheerful and Little Miss Sunshine are all ThePollyanna.
* ''Literature/SergeStorms'' :
** Before retconning stoner {{Sidekick}} Coleman's death in the first book, the author had Serge acquire a second stoner sidekick, Lenny, for several books. In ''Gator-a-Go'', when City and Country meet Coleman for the first time, they immediately compare him to Lenny. Serge replies, "Coleman's the original: Lenny, beta version, initial glitches intact."
** After Sharon is written out of the series (minus one AnachronicOrder reappearance), the next book introduces RecurringCharacter Ingrid "Country" Praline, another blond woman who sometimes does drugs (albeit weed instead of coke) and assists Serge throughout various schemes that she is often apathetic to while having regular CoitusEnsues moments with Serge and bickering with him just as regularly. However, unlike TokenEvilTeammate Sharon, Country is a NiceGirl, or a JerkWithAHeartOfGold at worst, values her friendships, doesn't commit crimes out of greed, can be more genuinely helpful than Sharon, and avoids the SexIsViolence aspect of Serge and Sharon's relationship.
** By the time of ''Atomic Lobster'' (book 10), Serge tends to date women of a higher intellectual caliber than Sharon and Country (with his occasional reunions with Country being among the rare exceptions to this). However, like Sharon, his MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness GirlOfTheWeek Rachael is a blond stripper with criminal inclinations (although Rachael is more of a ShamelessFanserviceGirl petty crook compared to Sharon’s status as TheVamp and an AxCrazy armed robber and BlackWidow with a much higher body count), a preoccupation with doing coke, a fiery temper, and a SexIsViolence relationship with Serge. Serge and Coleman lampshade the trope and comment it's like the two women were separated at birth. They only reconsider this opinion at the end of the book, [[spoiler:upon learning that Sharon and Rachael are [[BackupTwin actual sisters]] rather than {{Identical Stranger}}s]]. Rachael also has a dancing style that is nearly identical to Country's.
** Story from ''Nuclear Jellyfish'' (book 11) has many notable similarities to Rachael, some but not all of which she also shares with Sharon. Both are strippers with similar appearances who can be hot-headed and, near the end of their respective books, are set up to potentially have dangerous fallings out with Serge [[spoiler:due to harm that befell their respective siblings]]. However, the two also diverge in many ways. Rachael is coarse, undriven, and dim, while Story is an intelligent and articulate part-time college student. [[spoiler: Rachael gets wasted and tries to kill Serge with little to no premeditation after learning that he killed her sister. Story is seemingly plotting to manipulate and kill Serge from their first meeting because she wrongly thinks he put her brother in the hospital, but the ending reveals she always knew Serge was innocent and has been working with him to kill the real culprits]].
[[/folder]]
* The 1996 ''Franchise/StarWars'' spin-off ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' (novel, comic book, video game, and breakfast cereal), being set between ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', has some examples:
** Han Solo is replaced by the lovable scamp Dash Rendar. Dash not only sports Han's in-your-face attitude, he flies a nearly identical ship to the ''Millennium Falcon'' and has a wacky robot sidekick. Though hastily [[BusCrash offed]] when he no longer served a purpose, Dash apparently [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat still exists]] in the hazier reaches of the "Expanded Universe."
** Ben in [[Literature/LegacyOfTheForce LOTF's]] a substitute for Anakin; Tahiri even tries to seduce him... and he's 13!
** Gavin Darklighter, who is the cousin of Biggs Darklighter.
* In ''Literature/SplinterOfTheMindsEye'' (set between ''Film/ANewHope'' and ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''), sise, kindly old Force-Sensitive mentor Halla and hulking, furry, LanguageBarrier-limited aliens Hin and Kee fill the roles Obi-Wan and Chewbacca did in the first movie.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** After [[spoiler:Ned Stark]]'s death at the end of the first book, Davos Seaworth shows up to serve the function of TheStoic, family and honor oriented, speaker-of-truth-to-power to a Baratheon king. They even mirror each other in interesting ways, particularly their fates ([[spoiler:Ned is killed in a last minute whim of Joffrey's, Davos miraculously survives his ship's sinking]]) compared to their children's ([[spoiler:Ned's children find ways to thrive in adversity, while four of Davos' sons are killed in battle]]).
** Oberyn "The Red Viper" Martel was TooCoolToLive, and fans have suspected that TheScrappy Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne was created as one of these. Both men are the black sheep of their families and have badass reputations and are known by cool nicknames. More to the point, both men are from the some place and Dayne interacts with Oberyn's family members.
** In-universe example: Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane, a huge, insanely strong and brutal thug is supposedly killed at the end of Book 3. In Book 5, a similar-sized knight who refuses to take off his armor called Robert Strong appears. Many characters suspect that Strong is in fact Clegane's zombified corpse.
* A meta-example in Creator/NealStephenson's ''Literature/TheBaroqueCycle'': Daniel Waterhouse [[ConversationalTroping notes]] that some people can be replaced in their positions with only the most superficial elements changing, but other people are more crucial to the story, and their loss will forever change the status quo no matter who replaces them.
* The Olivia Goldsmith novel ''Switcheroo'' has Sylvie rocked to discover her husband Bob is having an affair. When she tracks down the mistress, Maria, the two are stunned to realize that, except for twenty years in age, they look almost exactly alike. They both sardonically note how Bob "probably doesn't even realize" he traded his wife for a younger version. With the aid of plastic surgery and makeup, the two switch places, at first for revenge but Sylvie finding herself falling back in love with her husband.
** A wild series of circumstances has Boba and Sylvie finding Maria in bed with Bob's best friend. It takes the friend openly saying "you never told me your mistress looks just like your wife" for Bob to ''finally'' see the resemblance.
* ''Literature/InDeath'' series: ''Eternity In Death'' has Eve and Peabody questioning the housekeeper who worked for the murder victim. Then they go to see the murder victim's friend, whose housekeeper might have been a clone of the previous one. The story states that the two housekeepers are sisters.
* Laura [=McCall=] for Taffy Sinclair in ''The Fabulous Five'' series. Even though Taffy is still present, she and the group have called a truce in the final book of the previous series and she has become somewhat nicer. Laura is the new AlphaBitch and apparently doesn't have any of the FreudianExcuse that Taffy did (overbearing stage mother, etc.)
* In ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'': [[spoiler:Cyril is essentially an older Thomas, brought in to replace him after his death.]]
* In Creator/JamesEllroy's novel ''The Big Nowhere'', one of the protagonists is Buzz Meeks, a disgraced ex-DirtyCop who has since gone on to become a crooked PrivateDetective, Hollywood fixer, and enforcer for EccentricMillionaire Howard Hughes. Since Meeks was [[spoiler:killed off]] early in ''Film/LAConfidential'', his role in Ellroy's Underworld USA trilogy was filled by Pete Bondurant, a character with a virtually identical backstory.
* In Creator/ElmoreLeonard's novel ''Split Images'', Detroit homicide detective Bryan Hurd is an obvious stand-in for Detroit homicide detective Raymond Cruz. Cruz appeared in some of Leonard's prior work, which was being optioned at the time.
* In Creator/RickRiordan's ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', there is Reyna and Piper.
* The ''Literature/StarCarrier'' series' fourth book, ''Deep Space'', takes place after a 20-year TimeSkip, and while Trevor Gray, the character for whom Lieutenant Donald Gregory substitutes, is still a major character, he's been promoted and is now the captain of the eponymous star carrier ''America''. Both characters are looked down on by their squadmates for their upbringing (Gray grew up on the [[RuinsOfTheModernAge Periphery]] in the sea-level-rise-created ruins of New York, while Gregory was born on one of Earth's colonies), and both gained fame for [[NotTheIntendedUse using ostensibly non-offensive tech in offensive ways]] (Gray gained [[NomDeGuerre his call sign, "Sandy",]] by using anti-missile countermeasures as [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter kinetic kill weapons]], while Gregory used his drive singularity to [[WeaponizedExhaust destroy a Slan warship]]).
* In-universe example in ''Literature/VampireAcademy''. When Dimitri turned into a Stringoi and Rose quit her training, Lissa needed new guardians. Grant was a seasoned guardian and trainer, similar to Dimitri. Serena was a girl close to Lissa's age, similar to Rose.
* The late Chicago-based author John R. Powers wrote the Last Catholic Trilogy in the 1970s, consisting of the fictionalized memoirs ''The Last Catholic in America'' (about life as a young boy going to a Catholic grammar school in the '50s), ''Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?'' (about life as a teenager going to a Catholic high school in the '60s), and ''The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice Cream God'' (about life as a twentysomething approaching the 1970s, going to a community college, and finding a job and romance). The first two novels are narrated in Main/FirstPersonPerspective by our protagonist Eddie Ryan. The third is narrated the same way by protagonist Tim Conroy, who, for all intents and purposes, ''is'' Eddie Ryan but with a different name. The reason for the switch was possibly that the third novel [[spoiler: has a DownerEnding, where we learn that Tim dies of cancer at age 27. It may have been the case that Powers did not want to take his readers through three books, [[ShootTheShaggyDog only for them to see their hero die at the end]].]]
* Dr. Carolyn [=McConnell=], in the Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures ''Doctor Who'' spin-off novel ''Vampire Science'', is a substitute for Dr. Grace Holloway, due to the novel publishers discovering late in its creation that the rights to Grace, who was created in ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie Doctor Who:The Movie]]'', were owned by Fox and that they [[ScrewedByTheLawyers weren't allowed]] to use her. Like Dr Grace, Dr Carolyn is a San Francisco medical doctor who had a previous adventure with the Eighth Doctor (established in the book's prologue).
* Detective Renee Ballard for Detective Literature/HarryBosch in the works of mystery novelist Creator/MichaelConnelly. The Harry Bosch [[TheVerse universe]] has characters aging in real time, which means that by the 2010s Harry Bosch, born in 1950, started to get too old for homicide detective adventures. How to fix that? Come up with Detective Ballard, who was orphaned at a young age like Harry Bosch (technically Ballard wasn't an orphan but she had a MissingMom), has a lack of personal attachments like Bosch, views her job as a "mission" in the way that Bosch does, is a CowboyCop just like Bosch, has a SherlockScan similar to Bosch's, has an oddball habit like Bosch (Bosch is intensely devoted to jazz music while Ballard is a surfer) and like Bosch has a difficult relationship with LAPD command (Bosch because he's a CowboyCop in general, Ballard because she made a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor).
* ''Literature/AliensStevePerryTrilogy'', based on Creator/DarkHorseComics first ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' comics, sees with two of the main characters in the change of the story to novel form as the comics were published between ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' and ''Film/Alien3'' thus featured Hicks and Newt -- whereas the novels, published ''after Film/Alien3'' sees them replaced with characters named Wilks and Billie. The novels also changed Ripley to be a gynoid who only thought she was Ripley.
* Since FirstInstallmentWins, ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'''s most famous villain is Jadis the White Witch, who is KilledOffForReal in [[Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe the first book]]. In ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' we meet the Lady of the Green Kirtle, another color-themed witch who wants to take over Narnia and is prone to MindControl. They might even be connected: the Lady is described as "one of the Northern witches," and [[Literature/TheMagiciansNephew the prequel]] establishes that Jadis was hiding up there before her takeover...
* In the ''[[Literature/MrMen Mr Men and Little Miss]]'' books each character has [[FlatCharacter one main personality trait]] and there is a brand-new character in every book, which has led to a lot of characters which are essentially interchangeable in terms of personality. As well as the large number of characters with [[DistaffCounterpart distaff/spear counterparts]], we have:
** Mr Muddle, Mr Wrong, Mr Dizzy, Little Miss Dotty, and Little Miss Scatterbrain, who are all TheDitz.
** Mr Funny, Mr Silly, Mr Nonsense, Mr Topsy-Turvy and Little Miss Contrary are all {{Cloudcuckoolander}}s.
** Mr Bump, Mr Clumsy and Little Miss Whoops are all TheKlutz.
** Mr Busy, Little Miss Busy, Mr Rush and Little Miss Quick all focus on being fast.
** Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Bad, Little Miss Trouble and Mr Mischief are all ThePrankster.
** Mr Worry and Mr Jelly are both {{Nervous Wreck}}s.
** Mr Grumpy, Mr Grumble and Mr Rude are all {{Jerkass}}es.
** Mr Happy, Mr Cheerful and Little Miss Sunshine are all ThePollyanna.
* ''Literature/SergeStorms'' :
** Before retconning stoner {{Sidekick}} Coleman's death in the first book, the author had Serge acquire a second stoner sidekick, Lenny, for several books. In ''Gator-a-Go'', when City and Country meet Coleman for the first time, they immediately compare him to Lenny. Serge replies, "Coleman's the original: Lenny, beta version, initial glitches intact."
** After Sharon is written out of the series (minus one AnachronicOrder reappearance), the next book introduces RecurringCharacter Ingrid "Country" Praline, another blond woman who sometimes does drugs (albeit weed instead of coke) and assists Serge throughout various schemes that she is often apathetic to while having regular CoitusEnsues moments with Serge and bickering with him just as regularly. However, unlike TokenEvilTeammate Sharon, Country is a NiceGirl, or a JerkWithAHeartOfGold at worst, values her friendships, doesn't commit crimes out of greed, can be more genuinely helpful than Sharon, and avoids the SexIsViolence aspect of Serge and Sharon's relationship.
** By the time of ''Atomic Lobster'' (book 10), Serge tends to date women of a higher intellectual caliber than Sharon and Country (with his occasional reunions with Country being among the rare exceptions to this). However, like Sharon, his MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness GirlOfTheWeek Rachael is a blond stripper with criminal inclinations (although Rachael is more of a ShamelessFanserviceGirl petty crook compared to Sharon’s status as TheVamp and an AxCrazy armed robber and BlackWidow with a much higher body count), a preoccupation with doing coke, a fiery temper, and a SexIsViolence relationship with Serge. Serge and Coleman lampshade the trope and comment it's like the two women were separated at birth. They only reconsider this opinion at the end of the book, [[spoiler:upon learning that Sharon and Rachael are [[BackupTwin actual sisters]] rather than {{Identical Stranger}}s]]. Rachael also has a dancing style that is nearly identical to Country's.
** Story from ''Nuclear Jellyfish'' (book 11) has many notable similarities to Rachael, some but not all of which she also shares with Sharon. Both are strippers with similar appearances who can be hot-headed and, near the end of their respective books, are set up to potentially have dangerous fallings out with Serge [[spoiler:due to harm that befell their respective siblings]]. However, the two also diverge in many ways. Rachael is coarse, undriven, and dim, while Story is an intelligent and articulate part-time college student. [[spoiler: Rachael gets wasted and tries to kill Serge with little to no premeditation after learning that he killed her sister. Story is seemingly plotting to manipulate and kill Serge from their first meeting because she wrongly thinks he put her brother in the hospital, but the ending reveals she always knew Serge was innocent and has been working with him to kill the real culprits]].
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* After Music/TheFall's frontman Mark E. Smith and keyboardist/girlfriend Julia Nagle had a major falling out in the late 1990s, tensions between the two intensified, with the two first breaking up and then Nagle leaving The Fall ca. 2001. Suspiciously Similar Substitute -- and Smith's eventual third wife -- Elena Poulou became The Fall's keyboardist in late 2002.
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* After Music/TheFall's Music/{{The Fall|Band}}'s frontman Mark E. Smith and keyboardist/girlfriend Julia Nagle had a major falling out in the late 1990s, tensions between the two intensified, with the two first breaking up and then Nagle leaving The Fall ca. 2001. Suspiciously Similar Substitute -- and Smith's eventual third wife -- Elena Poulou became The Fall's keyboardist in late 2002.
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* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Following Gideon Jura's HeroicSacrifice, Wizards of the Coast introduced Basri Ket, a similarly heroic white-aligned planeswalker with distinctive armour and an unusual weapon design. For bonus points, both Gideon's home plane of Theros and Basri's home plane of Amonkhet are [[FantasyCounterpartCulture themed after prominent cultures of the ancient world]] (Greece and Egypt respectively), and Gideon was even one of the main characters of Amonkhet block.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the hyenas from [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the original film]] were (somewhat infamously) replaced by "the outsiders", a group of rogue lions who were banished from the Pride Lands for allegedly siding with Scar during his takeover (a pretty glaring {{plot hole}}, since the first film never mentions any lions siding with Scar). They fulfill exactly the same role as the hyenas, and are basically identical to them in personality, right down to living in the Outlands (which was apparently left vacant after the hyenas inexplicably left). [[note]] A popular theory among fans is that they ''were'' the hyenas in an early draft of the film, but were reimagined as evil lions--either to make Simba's hatred of them come across less like [[FantasticRacism blatant racism]], or to avoid Kiara and Kovu having an InterspeciesRomance.[[/note]]
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the hyenas from [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the original film]] were (somewhat infamously) replaced by "the outsiders", a group of rogue lions who were banished from the Pride Lands for allegedly siding with Scar during his takeover (a pretty glaring {{plot hole}}, since the first film never shows or mentions any lions siding with Scar). They fulfill exactly the same role as the hyenas, and are basically identical to them in personality, right down to living in the Outlands (which was apparently left vacant after the hyenas inexplicably left). [[note]] A popular theory among fans is that they ''were'' the hyenas in an early draft of the film, but were reimagined as evil lions--either to make Simba's hatred of them come across less like [[FantasticRacism blatant racism]], or to avoid Kiara and Kovu having an InterspeciesRomance.[[/note]]
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A Suspiciously Similar Substitute is dangerously prone to becoming [[TheScrappy hated by the fanbase]], creating a ReplacementScrappy, and for a very understandable reason. If they're too similar, fans may become annoyed at the removal of a well liked character if their replacement is just the same guy with a different name and face. They may wonder why the character needed to be replaced if the story can still be told with the previous character, and get annoyed at the unneeded change of character.And due to being a new character the work may need to dedicate some time properly introducing this person, which may come across as CharacterShilling. Although for the opposite of this effect, see MorePopularReplacement.
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A Suspiciously Similar Substitute is dangerously prone to becoming [[TheScrappy hated by the fanbase]], creating a ReplacementScrappy, and for a very understandable reason. If they're too similar, fans may become annoyed at the removal of a well liked character if their replacement is just the same guy with a different name and face. They may wonder why the character needed to be replaced if the story can still be told with the previous character, and get annoyed at the unneeded change of character. And due to being a new character the work may need to dedicate some time properly introducing this person, which may come across as CharacterShilling. Although for the opposite of this effect, see MorePopularReplacement.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', there were plans to feature Peach's steward Toadsworth, but he was [[AdaptedOut scrapped]]. A Toad councilor similar to him, with glasses, a bowtie, and a deep voice, takes his place.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the hyenas from [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 the original film]] were (somewhat infamously) replaced by "the outsiders", a group of rogue lions who were banished from the Pride Lands for allegedly siding with Scar during his takeover (a pretty glaring {{plot hole}}, since the first film never mentions any lions siding with Scar). They fulfill exactly the same role as the hyenas, and are basically identical to them in personality, right down to living in the Outlands (which was apparently left vacant after the hyenas inexplicably left). [[note]] A popular theory among fans is that they ''were'' the hyenas in an early draft of the film, but were reimagined as evil lions--either to make Simba's hatred of them come across less like [[FantasticRacism blatant racism]], or to avoid Kiara and Kovu having an InterspeciesRomance.[[/note]]
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* Taken to memetic levels by the Music/{{Sugababes}}. Every member replacement in the group has been very familiar in vibe to the girl they replaced. Heidi replaced Siobhán, the soulful white one. Amelle replaced Mutya, the soulful "ethnic" one. And finally, Jade replaced Keisha, the… soulful black one.
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** Very prevalent in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and its many children, nieces, and nephews. Generally speaking, the roles are healer, front-line fighter, magic and brains, and skills and stealth, with ranged combat and group face floating between those four roles. If the character was the group's skill character, the group is frozen out of that part of the game unless a replacement comes along.
*** The extent to which this applies to D&D varies heavily based on the edition.
*** The extent to which this applies to D&D varies heavily based on the edition.
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** Very prevalent in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and its many children, nieces, and nephews. Generally speaking, the roles are healer, front-line fighter, magic and brains, and skills and stealth, with ranged combat and group face floating between those four roles. If the character was the group's skill character, the group is frozen out of that part of the game unless a replacement comes along.
***along. The extent to which this applies to D&D varies heavily based on the edition.edition.
** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The 5th Edition Grey Knights codex was widely disliked both from a gameplay ''and'' story perspective for being too powerful, most notably quasi-GodModeSue Kaldor Draigo, widely disparaged as one writer's (a self-admitted Ultramarines fanboy) attempt to have Roboute Guilliman (the Ultramarines' Primarch, stuck in stasis since Literature/TheHorusHeresy) running around again. A few editions later, Roboute Guilliman ''does'' get de-stasised... and the fanbase has actually embraced his return (it helps that he functions as the OnlySaneMan, seeing the Imperium for the rotting mess that it is and determined to start fixing things).
***
** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The 5th Edition Grey Knights codex was widely disliked both from a gameplay ''and'' story perspective for being too powerful, most notably quasi-GodModeSue Kaldor Draigo, widely disparaged as one writer's (a self-admitted Ultramarines fanboy) attempt to have Roboute Guilliman (the Ultramarines' Primarch, stuck in stasis since Literature/TheHorusHeresy) running around again. A few editions later, Roboute Guilliman ''does'' get de-stasised... and the fanbase has actually embraced his return (it helps that he functions as the OnlySaneMan, seeing the Imperium for the rotting mess that it is and determined to start fixing things).
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* ''Music/TouhouShinkaiAwakeningDeepMythos'' introduces Insumo as the Stage 1 boss, a mermaid living in Misty Lake that's normally calm and collected but driven to aggression by the related story incident. That description can easily apply to [[VideoGame/TouhouKishinjouDoubleDealingCharacter Wakasagihime]], another Stage 1 boss in ''Franchise/{{Touhou|Project}}'' canon.
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* Lampshaded in ''[[WilliamBazillion The Chronicles of William Bazillion]]'' [[http://www.webcomicsnation.com/andrew/bazillion/series.php?view=archive&chapter=25371&mpe=1&fromwhich=1&direction=f here]].
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* German death metal band Morgoth abruptly departed with their lead singer Marc Grewe in 2014, just before recording for their first album in nearly two decades began. He was replaced with Disbelief vocalist Karsten Jäger, who was noted for having an extremely similar voice to Marc to the point that even longtime fans of the band could barely tell the difference between them.
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* ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/hero-of-the-new-world-my-hero-academia-x-one-piece.1020217/#post-84833269 Hero of the New World]]'': The OC member of the Flying Six in Kaido's crew is largely X. Drake with the serial numbers filed off. Both are former marines who reached the highest ranks before defecting, ate a carnosaur Ancient Zoan, and are weapon users.
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Some shows will take risks in such replacements, making the replacements truly different characters, rather than a similar character with a twist. That is much harder on the writers, since they can't simply tweak the scripts they had already written for the old character. Usually when this happens it is very intentional on the part of the production.
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Some shows will take risks in such replacements, [[ContrastingReplacementCharacter making the replacements truly different characters, rather than a similar character with a twist.twist]]. That is much harder on the writers, since they can't simply tweak the scripts they had already written for the old character. Usually when this happens it is very intentional on the part of the production.
