History CharacterizationMarchesOn / ComicBooks

*** The earlier far wackier points of series are rather jarring to see. Most notably the characterizations of Sonic and Robotnik are based more primarily on their ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' counterparts, with Sonic being a goofy KarmicTrickster and Robotnik being a childish HarmlessVillain. The other Freedom Fighters are far more comedic than they are in later issues and even [[WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM the original show they came from]]. Princess Sally Acorn in particular started off as TheFinickyOne and was far more neurotic and self-righteous, before becoming [[WomenAreWiser Closer To Earth]] and much more lucid and easy going.

*** And in ''VideoGame/EpicMickey'', this goes UpToEleven as the Phantom Blot has become [[EldritchAbomination something else altogether]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Micronauts}}'': Team leader Commander Arcturus Rann in the beginning had a more rakish personality somewhat like [[Franchise/StarWars Han Solo]]. His speech included slang, mild swearing, and Solo-isms such as "Biotron, get your bolted butt back here!". Later, Rann's speech would become more mature and stilted as becoming of a legendary hero of the Microverse. On the other hand, Marionette, a princess of Homeworld, would start off speaking more formally, but later adopt hipster slang into her speech. Justified in her case as she is said to have spent some time on Earth away from the team.

* In the early "Man of Iron" story in the Marvel UK ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers Generation 1]]'' comic, Optimus Prime orders that the Man of Iron and his navigator and ship be destroyed to prevent the Decepticons getting their hands on them. This is the same Optimus Prime who generally goes out of his way to ''save'' noncombatants.

** His ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' incarnation takes a step even further, to the point of clashing with even the later comics version (and some early points of the show itself). While Scrooge remains somewhat curmudgeonly and closely tied to his money, he tames greatly, becoming more primarily a warm father figure for the triplets.

** Veronica was more aggressive and generally mean early on. She didn't get along wth Betty either. Over the decades she was toned down from an AlphaBitch to a LovableAlphaBitch and is best friends with Betty.

* Franchise/{{Tintin}}, in his earlier adventures, tended to defeat his enemies by beating them up. His condescension to the natives and cruelty to animals in ''[[Recap/TintinTintinInTheCongo Tintin in the Congo]]'' are a jarring contrast to his humane attitude in the later adventures.
** Originally, the Tintin stories reflected the attitudes of Herge's mentors, who encouraged him to write religious and political propaganda pieces (''[[Recap/TintinTintinInTheLandOfTheSoviets Tintin in the Land of the Soviets]]'') and his work reflected European colonial attitudes circa 1930. A turnaround came when Herge befriended a Chinese student in Brussels who taught him about Chinese society, politics, and culture. As a result ''[[Recap/TintinTheBlueLotus The Blue Lotus]]'' is critical of Western imperialism in China and criticizes westerners making racist comments about the Chinese.
** In ''Recap/TintinTheCrabWithTheGoldenClaws,'' [[OlderSidekick Captain Haddock]] was a weak-willed alcoholic who was [[TheMillstone almost assured to mess up anything and get himself and Tintin in trouble]]. Later stories make him more competent and heroic (when not drunk), [[ButtMonkey and relegate his screw-ups to comedy relief]].
* In the early "Man of Iron" story in the Marvel UK ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers Generation 1]]'' comic, Optimus Prime orders that the Man of Iron and his navigator and ship be destroyed to prevent the Decepticons getting their hands on them. This is the same Optimus Prime who generally goes out of his way to ''save'' noncombatants.

* Jaime from the Spanish ''ComicBook/{{Superlopez}}'' series was originally created as López's work rival, who would report everything he did wrong to their boss in an attempt to get him fired and take his girlfriend. They bonded notably in book no. 10 and became friends from then on, with Jaime appearing now as a nice, caring man. His old personality can only be seen briefly in books 35 and 36.
* In the first volume of ''ComicBook/TheDemonMages'', the Gorgon actress Ari spoke without any pronounced accents. Outside of the comics, she's known for her Southern Belle-type accent. Only in the second half of the second volume does it begin to show.
* ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'': The Caliph's chamberlain introduced in ''Iznogoud's Birthday'' was initially not specifically aggressive to Iznogoud and starts acting antagonistic toward him as a reaction to his anger and obnoxiousness. When the same chamberlain is reintroduced in later comics, he is portrayed as being basically Iznogoud's ArchEnemy who is trying to protect the Caliph against his overthrowing attempts. Being jailed at the end of ''Iznogoud's Birthday'' didn't help as well (although Iznogoud had good reasons to do that, to be fair).
* The Splinter who is a loving, if flawed, father is nowhere in evidence in the first issue of ''[[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', where he casually tells his sons that the reason he's been training them for years is so that they can attempt to kill a man they have never met to satisfy a vendetta they had never heard about before, a mission he intends for them to undertake with no actionable intelligence and no expectation of survival. While technically still canonical, future stories have had to gloss over these details, since they're completely at odds with the characters the turtles and Splinter would eventually become.

** ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'':

* CharacterizationMarchesOn/Franchise/TheDCU

* CharacterizationMarchesOn/DCUniverse

!!DC
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** In his earliest appearances, while Batman wasn't any more particularly kill-happy than any other heroes, it's kind of shocking to see the archetypal TechnicalPacifist clearly killing off criminals, often using guns. Case in point, a line from a showdown with his first nemesis:
---> '''Batman:''' ''[as he watches the man in question '''burn to death''']'' Death... to Doctor Death!
** He also displayed a fondness for puns and cracked jokes during fights, not unlike what Spider-Man would do later. IE, "Have a seat", while smacking villains with a chair, or, while beating the Joker "You may be the JOKER, but I am the KING OF CLUBS!" or "You played your last hand!". Now, he's oh so very much TheStoic.
** And, on more than one occasion, he referred to himself as "Poppa", in the third person, as in "Quiet, or Poppa spank!" or "Right into Poppa's arms!".
** The first Catwoman story depicts Batman deliberately allowing her to escape purely because he thinks she's hot, and then joking about it with Robin. Ever since then, he's been nothing but angsty about his obsession with her.
** ComicBook/TheJoker was originally a sneering, humorless criminal mastermind instead of the cackling lunatic we know today. He was named after the Joker in playing cards, seeing as how he never told a single joke, and never laughed in his initial appearance (though he did smile, rather terrifyingly). ''The Man Who Laughs'' later rewrote the Joker's first story with the current portrayal of the Joker. The Joker wasn't intended to be insane by Finger and Kane. Even during the Silver Age where the Joker became his Clown Prince of Crime version, the Joker was sent to prison when he was defeated instead of an asylum or otherwise remotely treated like a criminal who could get an insanity defense.
** ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} was, like Batman, shown to kill people in her earlier appearances, when she would later become established as a ClassyCatBurglar whose morally-ambiguous or outright heroic nature rested on her scrupulous refusal to kill the innocent. (But not other villains, as Black Mask found out. [[DeathIsCheap Twice]].)
** Selina's whole backstory has changed since she was first created as well. Especially now that she and Batman are more often than not an OfficialCouple after she learned his secret in ComicBook/BatmanHush (that ran from 2002-2003). She used to be a rich socialite as well who robbed because she was bored. Now she's a poor street orphan who robbed to take care of her sister as a way to play up the UptownGirl angle in their relationship.
** ComicBook/{{Robin}} was also shown to use brutal force on crooks in his debut, hitting them with rocks from a sling and shoving them off scaffolding to their deaths. This first origin story also depicted him as ''eight'' years old while doing all these feats (compared to later retcons that would establish him as either ten or twelve).
** Alfred is remembered as the Wayne family's loyal butler, however he was originally written as a CluelessDetective who wasn't quite up to par with the World's Greatest Detective, Batman. Rather than swear revenge, he ended up serving in the Wayne Manor and the Batcave. Nowdays Alfred is just written as TheJeeves. Alfred was also originally overweight and clean shaven, but adopted his iconic thin, mustached appearance after a stay at a health spa. Alfred also didn't become a major character until Denny O'Neil's run in the 70s. Bruce had previously been raised by an uncle.
** Renee Montoya's sexuality is a defining character trait for her under Creator/GregRucka, but when she was originally created for ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' the plan ([[AllThereInTheManual according to background info in the series bible]]) was that she was intended to be driven in her own fight on crime by the memory of her dead ''husband''. It was not until ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'' that she was outed as a lesbian, which would become an integral part of an award-winning arc of that series and several [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo follow]] [[ComicBook/TheQuestion up]] comics. The same source also says that she would butt heads with Batman over his methods, whereas in almost all her appearances Renee admires him and understands why he acts outside the law.
** ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'': When Francis D'Anjou, Nora Fries' new husband, first appeared in ''Batman: Gotham Adventures'' #5, he was a scientist that greatly respected Victor Fries, having read everything he ever wrote, was grateful when Victor rescued him because he was Nora's new husband, and even shows that he knows that Nora still loves Victor and was respectful of her feelings for him. In his next appearance in ''Batman: Gotham Adventures'' #51, Francis is now greatly resentful to Victor and is jealous of Nora for having feelings for him, going so far as to hide all the letters Victor has been sending Nora asking for her to see him one more time. In his final appearance in 'Batman Adventures'' #15, Francis goes as far as to frame Victor for attacking him by having a robot freeze him, hoping to convince Nora to see Victor as a monster. This backfires when Nora refuses to believe Victor was behind the attack, and Nightwing discovers the truth, leading to Francis being arrested and sent to prison, with Nora leaving him.
** Batman's suspicion and hostility towards Superman is a relatively new thing. Prior to the '80s, Bruce and Clark got along just fine. By 1985, however, the two were established as polar opposites who clashed over varying differences.
** When her origin was first established, ComicBook/HarleyQuinn didn't take her profession as a psychiatrist seriously, as her motivation for becoming one is to successfully rehabilitate high-profile Arkham inmates like the Joker and write a tell-all book. In fact, she resorted to SextraCredit to make up for unsatisfying medical school grades. Later writers made her much more passionate about her career, with ''ComicBook/{{Harleen}}'' recontextualizing the school incident as a TeacherStudentRomance in a way that doesn't rely on her grades.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}:
** Original Superman was an outlaw hero not above dispensing rough justice in his earliest appearances. It is a little shocking for modern readers to see the character who would later become [[TheCape 'the Big Blue Boyscout']] seize a torturer and fling him to his death. Likewise, given the [[AllLovingHero international sensibilities]] that have long been part of the character's defining traits, it's quite jarring to see some of the World War II propaganda where we're told "Superman Says: 'You can slap a Jap with war bonds and stamps!'" among other political incorrectness.
** DC later retconned these early out-of-character moments as being the Superman and Batman from Earth-2, so they're technically separate characters from the "main" Superman and Batman. Shows that they were aware just how much characterization had marched on in all those years.
** Creator/JohnByrne acknowledged this in ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'' as part of the characters' evolution over time. In 1939, Franchise/{{Batman}} takes one of the Ultra-Humanite's goons on top of a giant planet model to interrogate him and lets him fall when the mook doesn't give any useful information. When he's caught by Superman, Bat-Man remarks "If I'd known you were there to catch him, I wouldn't have let him fall", and Superman responds "If I'd known you'd let him fall, I wouldn't have caught him." They resume the interrogation and, when the mook still refuses to talk, Superman makes as if to throw him off the sphere once more, at which point he finally sings.
** The Comicbook/{{New 52}} has also characterized young Superman similarly as his early incarnation.
* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'':
** Modern interpretations of Hal Jordan have him as something of a womanizer and conservative, but in his earliest comics, he was liberal to an extreme given the late 50s. This would change in his crossovers with Green Arrow, who (as a Robin Hood {{Expy}}) defaulted to being more liberal.
** It's kind of a shock to see how Guy Gardner was originally a pretty mellow character before (in a convoluted series of events) he received brain damage that manifested itself in the form of the arrogant, violent, unstable, and often childish personality that the character is best known for. DC has since tried to sweep this under the rug by {{retcon}}ning the brain damage thing altogether. Some flashbacks imply that Guy has always been, as he puts it, "the crazy one." Likewise, those who are most familiar with the mostly-stoic Marine in the Franchise/{{DCAU}} version of John Stewart, which has since been incorporated into the comics, may be surprised at how, well, [[JiveTurkey funky]] he is in his early comics appearances.
** In UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks, Sinestro was very generic and banal in his evil; his conquest of his planet (seen in flashback) involved him sitting on a throne, demanding tribute in the form of money and jewels in exchange for his services as protector and killing anyone who called out on what a selfish lout he was. It wasn't until 1991's Emerald Dawn II, that Sinestro's past was completely reworked to make him a UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler-esque control-freak who conquered his homeworld "to protect it" as the driving force behind the evil he did.
* ''Franchise/TheFlash'':
** Jay Garrick was initially shown as someone willing to kill his enemies, before mellowing into much more typically TheCape, albeit one with a playful personality. After a TimeSkip when his comic was out of publication, he grew up, and nowadays Jay is almost exclusively written as TeamDad to others, who can be quite a hard-ass but is a CoolOldGuy and PapaWolf at his core.
** [[LegacyCharacter Barry Allen]] throughout the Silver Age, while ostensibly a NiceGuy, was a ''huge'' conservative; he butted heads with Green Arrow (the poster child for loudmouth liberal superheroes), would get into fights with hippies, and was very much a traditional man with traditional values. Even his traditional hairstyle was a crew-cut (which was lampshaded and even used by Iris West as source of an AffectionateNickname), his day job was working for the police, and unlike most heroes, he was already engaged when introduced so instead of scouting for girls, he was already settling down. ''None'' of this is retained in his modern interpretations, who tend to stick more apolitical but are indicated to be left-leaning [[note]]likely, as the rest of the Flash Family are fairly left-leaning, with his successor Wally West especially having undergone extensive CharacterDevelopment early in his career that lead to him growing out of the midwestern conservativism Barry had taught him and becoming quite liberal thanks to the influence of Pied Piper, Barry's conservatism has been downplayed and erased to make him more appeasing to the likely left-leaning fanbase[[/note]].
** ComicBook/WallyWest, prior to graduating from Kid Flash to Flash, once actually retired to focus on school work, which is completely at odds with his later characterisation as having always been a huge AscendedFanboy. Likewise, in his youth he was eager to settle down with his girlfriend Frankie Kane, but after they broke up and he became The Flash, he became something of a skirt-chaser, and occasionally made chauvinistic remarks towards women. After a while, this completely disappeared and he was written with a SingleTargetSexuality for his love interest, Linda Park; though this was in-part a reflection of Wally's larger CharacterDevelopment and also just a reflection of how much he loved Linda, he's only depicted as having been a player in his youth rather than someone with misogynistic leanings (especially as he's depicted as being extremely close to his Aunt Iris and a very supportive friend to the women in his life).
** Jesse Quick, when first introduced, was a bubbly, upbeat self-described bookworm and [[AscendedFanboy ascended fangirl]], who was a huge fan of both the JSA and The Flash. When she was [[{{Transplant}} transplanted]] from ''JSA to ''The Flash'' (and later, ''Titans''), she was written as more of a studious and anxious tomboy, a {{Workaholic}} busy-body, and much more hotheaded. A lot of this can be justified though by the fact that early on she suffered a BrokenPedestal moment with Wally[[note]]who lead her on to manipulate her as part of an OperationJealousy gambit to make Impulse take things seriously; he did so because he was desperate and thought he was dying, but even he acknowledged it was a dick move and did his best to make it up to her[[/note]], and then shortly after her father died, saddling her with his company that she wasn't at all qualified to run, making her extremely busy all the time. Later still, she became much more upbeat again when she returned to JSA, due to falling in love with [[ComicBook/{{Hourman}} Rick Tyler]].
** In a case that was ''not'' well-received, Bart Allen went from a character with severe AttentionDeficitOohShiny, upbeat though hot-headed and quick to anger, and a total goofball who was pretty uninterested in anything serious, like relationships. Then he upgraded from Impulse to Kid Flash and suddenly lost the ADHD, became quite angsty, and developed a tendency to make pervy remarks; ''then'' he got a PlotRelevantAgeUp and became The Flash, which lead to even more angsty seriousness. Fans did ''not'' like this, so when he was [[ComicBookDeath killed off and came back]], he was [[CharacterRerailment back to being an immature kid with ADHD]].
** Wallace West, when initially introduced, just went by "Wally"[[note]]he was intended to be the Post-Flashpoint version of Wally West, but fan revolt lead to them going DecompositeCharacter and "revealing" he was actually just Wally's cousin who shared the same name thanks to being named after a mutual grandfather[[/note]] and was initially a delinquent and [[AngryBlackMan Angry Black Kid]] who ''hated'' the Flash. Then suddenly he became a happy teen genius, as the writing team didn't know what to do with him and his earlier characterisation was criticised for being offensively stereotypical. After ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' gave him his superhero origin, he was streamlined into a kid who just wanted love, a WellDoneSonGuy who thought his dad didn't love him, and desperate for an older male parental figure to show him some damn support.
** August Heart/Godspeed, when first introduced was a CowboyCop turned KnightTemplar SerialKiller and EvilFormerFriend to Barry Allen. He wasn't particularly well-liked, so he got retooled into the Flash's TokenEvilTeammate and WildCard. Though this could just be CharacterDevelopment, it happened largely off-screen so instead comes off as just changing plans for him.
* Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}} was far more of a dirtbag in his earliest appearances, in sharp contrast to his eventual AntiVillain status. One of his earliest appearances had him kidnapping Cyborg's love interest in order to lure the Teen Titans into a trap, something that would seem at odds with his NeverHurtAnInnocent guidelines that would be established in later issues, and recreate the Doom Patrol's way of dying - a traumatic event for Changeling - ForTheEvulz. This can be explained by the creative differences between George Perez, who saw Slade as a ruthless villain whose "code" was only a personal justification, and Marv Wolfman, who did not see him as a villain but as an honorable victim of circumstance. Thus when Perez left the title, Deathstroke's more noble characterization took hold. However, Creator/ChristopherPriest eventually restored Deathstroke to his original characterization in ''ComicBook/DeathstrokeRebirth''.
* The ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' foe Cheshire also started off with ''some'' standards before later comics made her into the completely vile figure she's known as today. She used to avoid CollateralDamage during her assassinations (for instance, she left a witness BoundAndGagged and even assured the man that she had no intention of harming him), and [[EvenEvilHasStandards even turned the tables on some racist South Africans who had hired her to kill a black civil rights worker]]. [[MoralEventHorizon Then she went and nuked an entire country, and hasn't looked back since…]] In an interesting case, ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' portrayed Cheshire closer to her original comic book depiction. She steered clear of killing innocents, had some PetTheDog moments, and even had genuine affection for her younger sister, Artemis. This caused some fans who were more familiar with Cheshire's vile phase to claim she was being written horribly OutOfCharacter.
* In the original comics, ComicBook/PlasticMan was no less serious than any other superhero at the time - he was the OnlySaneMan of his world, which was filled with wacky, cartoony characters. In fact, even his [[RubberMan powers]] were amusing, which made for an enormous contrast with his early, [[TheComicallySerious comically serious]] personality. Over the years, Plas received a much more light-hearted, jokester disposition, being mostly comic relief and FunPersonified in his modern portrayals, such as the one in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.
* When she was first introduced in ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'', Monstress was basically a female [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Ben Grimm]], in both speech patterns and attitude. Once she joined the team, the writers decided it was more interesting if this hulking monster was an upbeat fashionista who called everyone "dear" or "sweetie".
* ComicBook/GreenArrow was originally and for a long time after his introduction mild mannered and apolitical - essentially a better adjusted equivalent to Batman, at a time when even Batman was more prone to smiling than his current incarnation. His left wing politics and spikier personality generally only became part of his character in the late Sixties, nearly three decades after the character's introduction.
* Terra as originally written in ''ComicBook/TheJudasContract'' has become this over the years. In the original ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' comics from the 1980s she was canonically "psychopathic" and "evil". She had no ulterior motive for being TheMole or hating the Titans, besides just being cruel and hating "goody-two-shoes" people. WordOfGod is that Terra's AgeGapRomance with Deathstroke was there to make her seem even more gross. Terra's original interpretation, however, has caused a lot of ValuesDissonance, especially with people criticizing the SlutShaming factor to her relationship with Deathstroke and noting how Terra is vilified while Deathstroke often gets treated far more positively. As a result, since the 2000s DC has made an emphasis to portray her as a less one-dimensional character, being a troubled youth who fell in love with an older man who ended up emotionally manipulating her (or even, in some comics, drugging her). She's still evil ForTheEvulz, but she's a more morally ambiguous character.
* ComicBook/AmandaWaller was originally a tough, intimidating woman who also had a strong moral code. Indeed, much of her meanness was just an act, and she was willing to go against orders for the sake of her ComicBook/SuicideSquad. When she believed that the U.S. government had been corrupted, she took the Squad and went rogue. These days, however, most readers know her as a sociopathic manipulator who believes in MyCountryRightOrWrong and throws away the lives of the Squad at the drop of a hat.
* Franchise/WonderWoman was the only one of the characters who would go on to become DC's big three to start out with a no kill rule, and in the UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks became the only one of the three ''not'' to have a strict no killing rule.

!!Marvel
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': From its origins in 1962 to about 1994, it was known for having [[DynamicCharacter dynamic]] real-time characterization where characters grew and changed, even after it adopted a sliding time scale. Death was death and so on. ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' ended its realism, and ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' exchanged the dynamic characters with StaticCharacter. Likewise most of the story is told from Peter's POV and we rarely see the story from the viewpoint of other characters, so their characterization marched on at a different pace:
** Pre-OMD, you had Spider-Man who started off as hotheaded and ready to fight for little reason. As early as ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #1, Spidey breaks into the ComicBook/FantasticFour's house to fight them in order to prove his worth as a potential member. He mellowed out once he became an adult so a lot of this could be chalked up to him being a teenage boy who just got super powers.
** Gwen Stacy was easily the most inconsistently written character in the classic period. When co-creator Creator/SteveDitko was around, he consistently wrote her as a stuck-up college-aged AlphaBitch and beauty queen who got in because of her class and looks. Then after he stepped down, and John Romita wanting a more regular social circle and a change of scenery, had her rewritten into a more virtuous girl. Then her father was introduced and she became a weepy DaddysGirl who largely followed the men in her life. Most notably she was [[BettyAndVeronica the Veronica and then the Betty]] in the ongoing LoveTriangle with Peter and MJ, before winding up Spider-Man's [[NiceGirl very sweet girlfriend]], and then, her father died which she blamed on Spider-Man, which did a number on her relationship with Peter who was convinced that she wouldn't accept his double life at all. Then there came ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'', where posthumously she became a SatelliteCharacter for Mary Jane (right from her death issue, where MJ is easily the most important female character), and MJ often revealed her more vulnerable side whenever Gwen came, feeling upset about her poor background compared to hers and guilty about taking her place in Peter's life. Her later portrayal (Peter's one true love who was TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth) didn't exist until after her death.
** In his earliest appearances the Green Goblin was a SmugSnake who kept [[KarmaHoudini getting away after his plans failed]] and whose [[TheFaceless face we never saw.]] Then he was unmasked as ComicBook/NormanOsborn shortly after successfully learning Spider-Man's own identity, spent some time as a JekyllAndHyde, killed Gwen Stacy, got posthumously upgraded into the BigBad, and was turned into a {{Chessmaster}} upon his [[BackFromTheDead resurrection]], where he has more or less stayed ever since. In short, a major change due to being a BreakoutVillain.
** Mary Jane Watson was set up by Aunt May as a BlindDate for her wallflower love-shy nephew (as she saw it) even if Peter felt he was actually doing a good job getting past that ([[BlatantLies he wasn't]] but he did have a relationship with Betty Brant). Aunt May kept hyping MJ as an ideal match for Peter and readers, after being told contextually that she was indeed very beautiful, were in suspense for her introduction. And when revealed in #42, as a charismatic AudienceSurrogate (a 60s party girl who thought Spider-Man was cool and so was Peter), despite her characterization by Lee and Romita as a flaky party-girl, was seen by fans to be the more interesting character. One of those fans, Creator/GerryConway, wrote the death of Gwen Stacy specifically to develop her character and revealed a more courageous, compassionate, and loyal side than previously expected. Later writers, Marv Wolfman, Creator/RogerStern, Tom [=Defalco=] revealed a much more complex character and made her one of the most important supporting characters not just in Spider-Man but Marvel Comics as a whole, and finally Peter's wife, and Post-OMD still his best known and most popular love interest.
** Aunt May is another example. In the beginning, she was a sweet, extremely old and extremely frail old lady but, readers also felt that she was [[CloudCuckooLander somewhat senile and detached from reality]]. That she allowed herself to be charmed by ComicBook/DoctorOctopus and saw Mary Jane Watson as a suitable partner and future wife for Peter (''before'' MJ's characterization marched on) was portrayed as evidence for this by writers. Then in the late 1970s she became more involved in the real world, e. g. joining the Gray Panthers, a bypass operation removed her recurrent health problems, and by all appearances she actually became younger. During Roger Stern's run her reasons for continuing matchmaking also was revealed as much more canny than previously imagined; she commented to Peter that both he and MJ "had lost so much" which stunned Peter when he realized that in all the time they dated, he never asked MJ about her life and later he learned that MJ really was someone he had more in common and that his Aunt was right about her all along. Writers also implied that Aunt May knew Peter's secret, which was confirmed in the wonderfully written (but later retconned) issue #400. After the Clone Saga, May discovered the secret a second time in ''ComicBook/JMSSpiderMan'', has a sane conversation with him about it, and is ''totally able to deal with it,'' making her the [[CoolOldLady coolest old lady]] on Earth. Later episodes have her helping with the secret identity in ways that make you wonder how he ''ever'' got along when she ''didn't'' know. [[ComicBook/OneMoreDay Then, it was all retconned a second time]].
** In the Post-OMD era, with StaticCharacter for all, in essence characterizations are composite from different periods in history since the undoing of the marriage and the concurrent maturity and growth that comes from characters making that commitment, meant that Peter in Post-OMD is an unlucky but optimistic ButtMonkey and ManChild, Aunt May remarries, grows younger, and lives apart from Peter but still remains his only family. Mary Jane is Peter's on-off girlfriend, sometimes bitter, sometimes loving and friendly, other times distant, and other times flaky like always.
* ''Comicbook/XMen''
** In the first two or so issues of, Beast essentially sexually harassed Jean Grey and was a big dumb oaf, but as early as the third issue, he became a self-described bookworm who used a much more impressive vocabulary and was far kinder to people around him, and it was treated as if he had always been so. Interestingly, in a much later arc, the Beast, now blue and furry (which is also this trope, as ''some'' don't know he wasn't always this way), has his appearance restored to his original human form, but at the cost of his intelligence dwindling as he uses his powers. He eventually talks much like his day-one self.
** ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}}'s first appearances had him as a crime boss and then a ComicBook/{{Magneto}}-esque mutant supremacist, giving the same sort of speeches with more BoldInflation during [[ReplacementFlatCharacter a time when Magneto had become the New Mutants' mentor.]] The [[TheSocialDarwinist "survival of the fittest"]] aspect of his philosophy emerged soon afterward and those other characterizations quickly fell by the wayside. His backstory and status as a rare but overwhelming threat came later still.
** The original plan for the ''Comicbook/XFactor'' comic (where Apocalypse was first introduced) was that the shadowy mastermind that X-Factor had been fighting against was planned to be minor Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} and Spider-Man villain the Owl. When a new writer came in, they decided to create a new villain.
** Magneto himself is a good example of this. The Creator/StanLee/Creator/JackKirby version of the character was just a straightforward villain with essentially no character depth. Creator/ChrisClaremont gave Magneto a sympathetic backstory and changed him into a WellIntentionedExtremist, and these changes have more or less stuck over the intervening decades. Unfortunately, post-Claremont writers and editors re-cardboardified Magneto to some considerable extent.
** ComicBook/{{Rogue}} got her start as a villainous henchwoman working for Mystique, taking on and nearly single-handedly defeating the entire team of Comicbook/TheAvengers with a bravado that would be out of place on the troubled young girl she was soon developed into. This is particularly strange when you consider that nearly all of Rogue's earliest appearances - including that encounter with the Avengers - were written by Creator/ChrisClaremont.
** According to a tenacious urban legend, Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}'s origin was ''intended'' to be that he was actually a wolverine mutated into human form. Creator/LenWein himself, Wolverine's co-creator, has made it clear that this is just a myth. Old plans that ''were'' made are that his claws were originally intended to be built into his gloves, and WordOfGod states that he was planned to be about as strong as Franchise/SpiderMan (i.e. at the low end of superhuman strength in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, but still able to lift about 10 tons).
** He also started out as a thug with a bad temper whose main contribution to fights was rushing in recklessly and getting [[TheWorfEffect swatted aside]] to prove that the villain couldn't be beaten without teamwork. During ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga, he TookALevelInBadass and never looked back. It's also surprising (considering how important it is to his modern characterization) how long it is between his first appearance and the first explicit mention of his HealingFactor (he says that he heals fast a little earlier, but it's in more of a "don't fuss over me just because I got myself beaten" context than an "I have a superhuman ability to heal" one).
** And how about Charles Xavier himself? In the first twenty or so issues, he used his powers a lot more, reading minds whenever he pleased, communicating telepathically even to people in the same room, harboring a secret crush on Jean Grey, and mind-wiping several of the X-Men's foes in order to get them out of the way for good. While some later writers would portray Xavier as a {{Jerkass}}, it never reached this level. Early Professor X also had a close relationship with the US government and freely deployed the X-Men as government agents, a setup that would be unthinkable in the later "hated and feared" days.
** Also, Iceman. Nowadays, he is mostly known as a funny guy. In the beginning, he would often attack his teammates during mission briefings. While this was probably intended to show him as immature (he was two years younger than the rest), it just made him look like a JerkAss and an idiot.
* In several of the early comics, the Green [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] was slightly more intelligent and could talk better, barely even referring to himself in the 3rd person. Then eventually this paved way to the more popular dumb beast that always spouted "[[HulkSpeak Puny human make Hulk angry! Hulk smash!]]" Though later retcons would establish that this behavior was still canon. The Hulk has [[SplitPersonality multiple personalities]], with some of them being quite intelligent while others are just mindless, screaming monsters.
* Hannibal King, friend of ''ComicBook/{{Blade}}'', was originally introduced in ''Comicbook/TheTombOfDracula'' as a no-nonsense private eye who tended to stay calm, unobtrusive, and most professional. In ''Night Stalkers'', he became very emo, angsty, and melodramatic. And in later appearances, he became a goofy, bumbling, comic relief punching bag. This third characterization may be a response to ''Film/BladeTrinity'' and Creator/RyanReynolds' characterization of King.
* [[ComicBook/ChaosWar The Chaos King]], A.K.A. [[Myth/JapaneseMythology Amatsu-Mikaboshi]], did not [[GratuitousIambicPentameter speak entirely in haiku]] in his first appearance. It was only in ''ComicBook/IncredibleHercules'' that this bit of characterization was introduced, and he's spoken this way ever since, because [[RuleOfCool it just sounds cool]]. One wonders why a "Chaos King" would take the effort to speak in such orderly fashion, but as the man (or primal chaos-being) said himself:
--> ''The contradiction / is what makes it so very / chaotic, [[SophisticatedAsHell get it]]?"
* Before becoming [[ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} Moonstone]], Karla Sofen was introduced as a scantily-clad gun moll for the ComicBook/CaptainAmerica villain Doctor Faustus. There was also no hint of the cunning and manipulative personality she would later become known for.
* ComicBook/{{Ultimate|Marvel}} Comicbook/NickFury was a ''lot'' different in his initial appearance, being more like Tony Stark (i.e. a suave, cocky and insanely rich ladies man) than the stoic Creator/SamuelLJackson [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed inspired]] character who later appeared in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates''.
* Aaron Stack the Machine Man started out as a very [[NiceGuy nice guy]] -- the only robot in his series who ''didn't'' [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine go mad]] and have to be put down like a wild animal, because he was [[RoboFamily lovingly raised as a son by]] [[MotherlyScientist the man who built him.]] [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Years later]] though, he went through a [[TraumaCongaLine series of traumatic experiences]] [[ComicBookDeath (getting destroyed and rebuilt,]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy infected with]] [[ComicBook/XMen Sentinel programming,]] and finally kidnapped by aliens and unceremoniously rejected as being somehow unfit) -- leading to his suffering a full fledged [[FreakOut nervous breakdown]] that turned him into the [[SecondLawMyAss misanthropic]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold jerk]] he was in ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}.'' He stayed that way for years, but recent portrayals have shown him [[CharacterCheck acting like his much mellower old self,]] so we must assume that he has [[HesBack finally managed to work past it.]]

** Original Superman was an outlaw hero not above dispensing rough justice in his earliest appearances. It is a little shocking for modern readers to see the character who would later become [[TheCape 'the Big Blue Boyscout']] seize a torturer and fling him to his death. Likewise, given the [[AllLovingHero international sensibilities]] that have long been one of the character's defining traits, it's quite jarring to see some of the World War II propaganda, where we're told "Superman Says: 'You can slap a Jap with war bonds and stamps!'" among other political incorrectness.

** Original Superman was an outlaw hero not above dispensing rough justice in his earliest appearances. It is a little shocking for modern readers to see the character who would later become [[TheCape 'the Big Blue Boyscout']] seize a torturer and fling him to his death.

** ComicBook/TheJoker was originally a sneering, humorless criminal mastermind instead of the cackling lunatic we know today. He was named after the Joker in playing cards, seeing as how he never told a single joke, and never laughed in his initial appearance (though he did smile, rather terrifyingly). ''The Man Who Laughs'' later rewrote the Joker's first story with the current portrayal of the Joker.
*** The Joker wasn't intended to be insane by Finger and Kane. Even during the Silver Age where the Joker became his Clown Prince of Crime version, the Joker was sent to prison when he was defeated instead of an asylum or otherwise remotely treated like a criminal who could get an insanity defense.

** Also Alfred is remembered as the Wayne family's loyal butler, however he was originally written as a CluelessDetective who wasn't quite up to par with the World's Greatest Detective, Batman. Rather than swear revenge, he ended up serving in the Wayne Manor and the Batcave. Nowdays Alfred is just written as TheJeeves.
*** Alfred was also originally overweight and clean shaven, but adopted his iconic thin, mustached appearance after a stay at a health spa.
*** Alfred also didn't become a major character until Denny O'Neil's run in the 70s. Bruce had previously been raised by an uncle.

** Alfred was also originally overweight and clean shaven, but adopted his iconic thin, mustached appearance after a stay at a health spa.
** Alfred also didn't become a major character until Denny O'Neil's run in the 70s. Bruce had previously been raised by an uncle.

** Amy in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' is known as a badass OnlySaneMan of the Freedom Fighters. Her earliest appearances, however, have her much like her game version would be known as. Amy is less proactive and teases Sonic a lot. This personality change was due to ExecutiveMeddling, as it was thought female readers needed a strong female role model. She was mostly reversed in the final arc, the ''Adventure'' adaptation, which makes it seem odd when Amy is standing around instead of being in the action.

** The earlier far wackier points of ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' series are rather jarring to see. Most notably the characterizations of Sonic and Robotnik are based more primarily on their ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' counterparts, with Sonic being a goofy KarmicTrickster and Robotnik being a childish HarmlessVillain. The other Freedom Fighters are far more comedic than they are in later issues and even [[WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM the original show they came from]]. Princess Sally Acorn in particular started off as TheFinickyOne and was far more neurotic and self righteous, before becoming [[WomenAreWiser Closer To Earth]] and much more lucid and easy going.

** In a case that was ''not'' well-received, Bart Allen went from a character with severe AttentionDeficitOohShiny, upbeat though hot-headed and quick to anger, and a total goofball who was pretty uninterested in anything serious, like relationships. Then he upgraded from Impulse to Kid Flash and suddenly lost the ADHD, became quite angsty, and developed a tendency to make pervy remarks; ''then'' he got a PlotReleventAgeUp and became The Flash, which lead to even more angsty seriousness. Fans did ''not'' like this, so when he was [[ComicBookDeath killed off and came back]], he was [[CharacterRerailment back to being an immature kid with ADHD]].
** Wallace West, when initially introduced, just went by "Wally"[[note]]he was intended to be the Post-Flashpoint version of Wally West, but fan revolt lead to them going DecompositeCharacter and "revealing" he was actually just Wally's cousin who shared the same name thanks to being named after a mutual grandfather[[/note]] and was initially a JuvenileDelinquent and [[AngryBlackMan Angry Black Kid]] who ''hated'' the Flash. Then suddenly he became a happy teen genius, as the writing team didn't know what to do with him and his earlier characterisation was criticised for being offensively stereotypical. After ''DCRebirth'' gave him his superhero origin, he was streamlined into a kid who just wanted love, a WellDoneSonGuy who thought his dad didn't love him, and desperate for an older male parental figure to show him some damn support.