History ReplacementScrappy / VideoGames

* ''Videogame/MechWarrior'''s "Unseen" [[HumongousMecha BattleMechs]] - a carryover from the [[Tabletopgame/BattleTech original tabletop game's]] [[ExecutiveMeddling legal scuffle]] with [[Anime/{{Robotech}} Harmony Gold]] over licensed robot designs - have been missing from the commercial games since ''Mechwarrior 3'' despite many of the designs being fan favorites, like the ''Warhammer'', ''Marauder'', and ''Rifleman.'' Come ''Mechwarrior Online'', the fan-favorite ''Rifleman'' is replaced by the ''Jagermech'', a mech with a very similar [[AntiAir role and loadout]], but with an absolutely hideous design, looking like a ''Rifleman'' that has been squashed in a a trash compacter. Notably, the ''Jagermech'' design ran concurrent to the ''Rifleman'' on the board game, both debuting in the original, but due to its status as a JokeCharacter to many players of the tabletop game, it was often poorly regarded by longtime fans. Similar circumstances have surrounded other favorites, most notably the remaining 65-ton classic, the ''Crusader'', which was based on the Armored Veritechs of ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross''. In its place, a new design called the ''Roughneck'' was added to the game, but fans have been critical of the inclusion of the ''Roughneck'', as it is a new design created from whole cloth by the devs, lending it a sort of SailorEarth stigma.
** Snarky ''[=MechWarrior=] Living Legends'' [[note]]a officially licensed but noncommercial game[[/note]] players noted how ''they'' had an original Rifleman, Warhammer, and possibly even a Marauder in the future, until they got ScrewedByTheLawyers by ''Mechwarrior Online'', which by extension turned the entirety of ''MWO'' into a replacement scrappy for ''MWLL'' (now being the only mechwarrior game in town); fans of both games were ''not'' happy, absolutely [[CreatorKiller ruining the reputation of ''MWO'''s developers]]
* The title character of ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'' was demoted to OptionalPartyMember so the apparently 13-year old [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots reploid]] Axl could steal the lead role.
** For many, Axl was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap with his subsequent appearances in ''VideoGame/MegaManXCommandMission'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' thanks to improved gameplay mechanics (with DivergentCharacterEvolution from the vastly superior X between ''X7'' and ''X8''). He even gets to [[spoiler:deliver a ShutUpHannibal to the BigBad of ''X8'' [[TalkToTheFist via gunshot]]]]! The only real problem for Axl in ''X8'' was that he was necessary for item collection (and thus, OneHundredPercentCompletion) alongside X, which required players to bench [[EnsembleDarkhorse Zero]] for a good portion of the game.

* Hoxton in ''PAYDAY 2'' is not the same character that appeared in ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist''. With the exception of Wolf and Bain, all of the crew in the sequel have been changed to different characters to reflect the ones seen in the web series. New Hoxton is disliked because he's American and lacks charisma and charm compared to the old version of the character that was British.
** This is addressed in the "Hoxton Breakout" DLC, where Old Hoxton has as much contempt for New Hoxton (Now Houston) as the fans did, reclaimed his name from Houston, and regularly insults Houston in-game if they're in the same crew.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' suffered from this, and quite intensely. Fans were not hesitant in vocalizing their vehement hatred of the end of the game, wherein [[spoiler: the player gains control of Jack after his father, protagonist John Marston's, death]]. Fan either hate [[spoiler: Jack]] for not being John, or for being too ''much'' like John. Either way, finding fans who don't outright swear off the game after the twist is a difficult feat indeed.
** Weirdly enough, this situation repeated itself while simultaneously getting twisted around in [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2 the second game]]. When it was first announced, many feared Arthur Morgan would be this to John. Instead, Arthur ending up being hailed as one of the best video game protagonists ever, with many people feeling he's actually ''[[EvenBetterSequel better]]'' than John. [[spoiler:So when Rockstar repeated the twist from the first game (Arthur dies and you play the epilogue as John), a lot of players were ''pissed'', to the point that some would refuse to play the story past a certain point just so they could keep playing as Arthur.]] Effectively, John somehow went from being the beloved original to being a Replacement Scrappy in and of himself... though, even then, he gets ''way'' less hate than [[spoiler:Jack]]; unlike him, people mostly think that John isn't a bad character, [[OvershadowedByAwesome Arthur is just better]].

** Played straight with Toon Link though, since there were some people who didn't like ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' that went berserk when Young Link was replaced by him. However, thanks to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this no longer seems to be the case, as both Young Link and Toon Link are playable characters.

** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' in general was very poorly received at first, in no small part due to the entirely new roster (with only Ryu and Ken returning from previous games.) Subsequent rereleases would try to remedy this by adding in a few more returning characters, and eventually many of the new characters that were hated before went on to become {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s of the series.

** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the lovely, mysterious, and compelling Rosalina was replaced by Lubba, an obese purple Luma who won't stop telling bad jokes except when he gives you generic words of encouragement. The same words of encouragement. Even after you've already heard them. Right after completing a [[NintendoHard Prankster Comet stage]], which will ''not'' leave you in the mood for his rambling. [[spoiler:At least Rosalina makes TheCameo in the ending]].

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' intentionally does this with Raiden. Maybe he would have been more liked if he hadn't, to make his inherent not-Snake-ness worse, also for being a distinctly {{Bishounen}} ThisLoserIsYou character who spent a lot of time {{Narm}}ing at his girlfriend over the Codec. This is made even worse in that he remained practically hidden away by Kojima until the Prologue section of the game ended. The opening introduction even goes as far as to either show none of the Plant chapter, or when they had to, only show the villains, or to make sure Raiden isn't very visible. But then [[TookALevelInBadass gave the fans something to talk about]] in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Metal Gear Solid 4]]''.

** Played straight with Toon Link though, since there are still a lot of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' haters out there, who went berserk when Young Link was replaced by him.

** Stanley the Bugman from the third game was originally this for replacing the beloved Jumpman (or Mario). Nowadays however, he's an EnsembleDarkhorse.

** In ''VideoGame/TeamSonicRacing'': The Chao replacing Cream in Team Rose hasn't gone over well. This alongside her conspicuous absence in ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' has left many fans to question if she'll be phased out of the cast altogether. Making matters worse is that one of the playable Chao is Omochao, who is often seen as [[TheScrappy one of the most hated and annoying characters in the whole franchise]].

** A character aversion is Wrex's replacement, Grunt. Wrex was a BloodKnight, DeadpanSnarker, and a fan favorite. At first, the trailers for ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' show Grunt as a simple BloodKnight, the krogan [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. However, Grunt was [[DesignerBabies grown in a tank]] to be the ultimate krogan, leading to some [[CloningBlues existentialist angst]] (not {{Wangst}}) that helps flesh him out, and goes away as part of his [[ComingOfAgeStory loyalty mission]]. Additional CharacterDevelopment led to fans accepting him as a good character in his own right. Ironically, the reveal that James Vega is a Soldier whose skill set focuses on defense at first led to him becoming a proper replacement scrappy for Grunt. Like Grunt, however, he has since become an aversion once the game was released.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' has downplayed example: A RecurringElement in the ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' series is the presence of Territorial Rotbart, a [[PurposefullyOverpowered level 81]] gorilla type enemy who wanders around each game's [[GreenHillZone early open areas]], and the subject of much MemeticMutation by the series' fans, who typically assert that getting annihilated by Rotbart is an integral part of any ''Xenoblade'' game. The fans were therefore not happy when ''3'' replaced Rotbart with a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in Jingoistic Giganticus, who is only level ''80'', and has considerably less aggressive AI, making it much easier to avoid.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', Steven Stone is the Champion of the Hoenn region, and he becomes one of the most popular Champions in the series among fans. However, in ''Emerald'', Wallace replaces Steven as the Hoenn Champion, and Wallace's role as the Champion is not very well-received, due to Steven's greater popularity, Wallace being generally considered to be the easier boss[[note]]Due to his team's lack of type diversity compared to Steven, making it [[ElementalRockPaperScissors more vulnerable]] to [[ShockAndAwe Electric]] and [[GreenThumb Grass]]-type moves.[[/note]] ''and'' being the Water-type Champion in a region already ''infamous'' for the large amount of water routes and Water-type Pokémon the later parts of the game contain — and comes after both a villainous team based around Water-types (not helped by Team Aqua getting more focus than Team Magma in ''Emerald'') and a Water-type Gym Leader. It does not help that despite no longer being the Champion in ''Emerald'', Steven still gets more screen time than Wallace and becomes a {{Superboss}} whom can be battled against in the post-game, with his team's level being much higher than Wallace's.
** The Gen III Pokémon in general were initially seen as this due to being part of the first reboot style games, only 200 of the 387 mons being present, the ArtShift of the Hoenn mons, and many a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Hoenn set (e.g. Beautifly and Dustox to Butterfree and Venomoth). This had faded over time and Hoenn has gained a substantial fanbase in its own right because of the change in style that gave them their own distinct personalities despite fulfulling similar roles.

** It was later revealed that ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' would have new protagonists instead of bringing back [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Hilbert and Hilda]]. The new male protagonist has become a major case of divisiveness. He mostly receives hate for appearing to be more immature than [[TheHero Hilbert]]. The female has been received a bit more warmly, but that doesn't stop some from disliking her for being more girly in appearance than [[TheLadette Hilda]]. However, a trailer done in the style of a movie trailer has [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap won over many fans for the male protagonist]], who is portrayed as much cooler than his official art let on.