History ContrastingSequelMainCharacter / Literature

* ''Literature/InAnotherWorldWithMySmartphone's main protagonist Touya Mochizuki serves as the polar opposite to ''Literature/ChronoCrown'''s main protagonist Norn Patolakshe, due to both works being a nature of CanonWelding. Unlike the quiet and soft-spoken yet mature-minded Norn, Touya speaks a lot, is more comfortable at talking, but has some bouts of immaturity. While Norn is shown to be intimidating even towards her older sister Elluka due to the latter's {{Womanchild}} nature, as revealed in Volume 21 Touya before his death was well-loved by his family and he instead gets intimidated by his mother. Norn looks younger, who looks six despite being fifteen, due to Noir's Crown ability, while Touya is a teenage boy who looks like his age [[spoiler:(but chronologically younger due to his [[AlternativeCalendar new world having 16 months per year and the people age slower]])]]. And unlike Norn who is purely from another world, Touya originated from Earth before he was resurrected.

** Daine of ''Literature/TheImmortals'' isn't as different from Alanna as the rest, but she's a NatureHero and foreigner to Tortall who is almost exclusively a mage rather than a knight and combatant.
** Keladry of ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' is a spiritual successor to Alanna of ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' as a knight-in-training, but they're quite different to each other. Alanna is short, quick-tempered, quick to fight, has a very powerful magic Gift, and has a MissingMom and a [[ParentalNeglect neglectful]] father who eventually dies too. Kel is very tall and keeps growing (5'8" last time we see it mentioned) and quite TheStoic -- while not averse to a fight, she doesn't like to if it's not needful. She's also a BadassNormal without even a sniff of magic and has GoodParents who remain quite alive throughout her books. Their motives for choosing to become a knight are also different: Alanna does it for adventure and to escape from life as a ProperLady, while Kel does it to protect others.
** Aly of the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet'' is a ConsummateLiar and TheSpymaster, while the previous three ladies are quite straightforward and honorable. Her story also takes place outside of Tortall, a first in the series.
** ''Literature/BekaCooper'' is a commoner living in Corus' slums, and as such her life and morality is a lot messier than any of the previous protagonists, and she meets most nobles at a distance.[[note]]While Daine ''is'' a village-born commoner, the king's personal [[TheArchmage Archmage]] takes her under his wing as soon as she gets into Tortall.[[/note]] She's also a ShrinkingViolet who [[FramingDevice keeps a journal]].

** Keladry of ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' is a spiritual successor to Alanna of ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'' as a knight-in-training, but they're quite different to each other. Alanna is short, quick-tempered, quick to fight, and has a very powerful magic Gift. Kel is very tall and keeps growing (5'8" last time we see it mentioned) and quite TheStoic — while not averse to a fight, she doesn't like to if it's not needful. She's also a BadassNormal without even a sniff of magic and has GoodParents who remain quite alive throughout her books.

** Bianca lived a sheltered life and never had anything terrible happen prior to the first book. Skye understands loss and heartbreak all too well; her older brother died and her boyfriend dumped her for another girl shortly after. Bianca is inexperienced with romance prior to meeting Lucas and aside from a brief dalliance with Balthazar, Lucas remains her first and only love. Skye was in a relationship with Craig for nearly three years until he broke up with her; she subsequently falls in love with Balthazar.

* ''Literature/{{Evernight}}'': Skye is the female lead of ''[[SpinOff Balthazar]]'' and is a {{foil}} to Bianca, the lead of the main series, in many ways.
** Bianca starts out as unconfident and shy to the point of mild social anxiety, with her character development revolving around her becoming more confident and resilient. While Skye has insecurities, she's comparatively a lot more self-confident and assertive, with her character development being more about her learning to be vulnerable and not bottle-up her feelings.
** Bianca's parents are very loving and devoted to their daughter, to the point of being overprotective. While Skye's parents do love her, they tend to be more distant from her (physically and emotionally), to point of being borderline neglectful.
** Bianca lived a very sheltered life and never had anything terrible happen prior to the first book. Skye understands loss and heartbreak all too well; her older brother died and her boyfriend dumped her for another girl shortly after.
** Bianca is inexperienced with romance prior to meeting Lucas and aside from a brief dalliance with Balthazar, Lucas remains her first and only love. Skye was in a relationship with Craig for nearly three years until he broke up with her; she subsequently falls in love with Balthazar.
** Skye and Bianca both grew up knowing about parts of the supernatural world but being ignorant of others. Bianca's parents are vampires and she's part vampire, but she knew nothing about wraiths; Skye grew up in a haunted house but had no idea vampires existed.
** Bianca never liked the idea of attending Evernight Academy, misses her small-town high school and doesn't much much enjoy her time at Evernight, while Skye loved Evernight and misses it after being forced to return to her old school in a small town.

* ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'' gives us Captain Calhoun, who is far more pragmatic, almost ruthless, compared to the other Starfleet captain protagonists. In particular, he is the only person besides Kirk to pass the Kobiyashimaru test, but they used polar opposite methods: Kirk simply cheated by tampering with the testing computer, while Calhoun made the unprecedented decision to ShootTheDog.
* ''Literature/DouluoDalu'' has one with each installment.
** The first protagonist is Tang San, an extremely gifted prodigy who is living his second life after committing suicide in his first. He was born with dual spirits, an extreme rarity, and specialized in binding his opponents with his Blue Silver Grass and debilitating them with poison. He was also [[spoiler:born into the Clear Sky Clan, one of the most powerful families in the world]], which he didn't learn about until he's in his late teens as he grew up as the son of a blacksmith in a tiny village.
** The second series' protagonist is Huo Yuhao. He's a HeroicBastard born into the Mubai clan but was ostracized and thrown out along with his mother, who died of illness from neglect, making Yuhao swear revenge. He wasn't a natural born genius but instead stumbled upon Daydream, a 1 million-year-old Spirit Beast who wanted to help Yuhao become a god so they can both achieve immortality. In combat, Yuhao is coldly calculating and pragmatic like Tang San, but his tactics differ in that he focuses on mental attacks and the use of illusions to bewilder and crush the minds of his foes while using Absolute Ice for attack and defense.
** The third series' protagonist is Tang Wulin. Raised by a working-class family, he's down-to-earth, cheerful, and something of a GeniusDitz, being a prodigious blacksmith. He's known for his BigEater tendencies, being referred to as "Rice Bucket" both affectionately and derisively for being able to consume bowl after bowl of rice and toppings and his friends frequently [[FoodAsBribe use food as a bribe]] to get him to do stuff for them. He relies far more on the brute force provided by the Golden Dragon King resting within his body, creating scales along his arms for InstantArmor, but also has access to the same Blue Silver Grass used by Tang San.
* ''Literature/AmaranthineSaga'':
** Tsumiko, the heroine of the first book, is an extremely powerful Beacon, who can bring the most powerful Amaranthine to their knees with the sheer brillance of her soul. However, she was raised in a highly sheltered religious school, and did not know she was a Reaver or of the existence of the Amaranthine, even [[TheUnmasquedWorld post-Emergence]] until she was uncovered as the Hajime heir. She is an orphan with a younger brother, with whom she has an uncomplicated, loving relationship, as her sole family,allowing her to be easily folded into the world of her love interest, and she generally takes a [[SilkHidingSteel passive]] role.
** Kimiko, the heroine of the second book, has so little power she's barely a Reaver. Even her love interest describes her soul as a "tiny star," and her presence barely registers when other Reavers are in the room. She was raised as a Reaver, however, and has a highly specialized skill set that shows intimate knowledge of Amaranthine culture. Her family is large and interferring, and Kimiko has no intention of leaving them. The story is deliberately framed so Kimiko must take the active role in her courtship, and she continues to be the "public figure" in her relationship.
** The third book's heroine, Tamiko, attempts to take a sort of medium path between Tsumiko and Kimiko, making her a middle-of-the-road Reaver, who didn't know she had any powers, but also has strong and unbreakable ties to her family, and is a take-charge kind of person forced to play a more passive role. Considering all three characters originated as {{Expies}} of [[Anime/InuYasha Kagome]], there's a surprising amount of contrast.
* ''Literature/TheHeartstrikers'': The main character of ''Heartstrikers'' is Julius Heartstriker, a dragon who acts too much like a human. In the sequel series ''Literature/{{DFZ}}'', the main character is Opal Yong-ae, a human who acts like a dragon (despite how much she denies it).
* ''Literature/TheSupervillainySaga'': Specifically, ''[[Literature/TalesOfSupervillainyCindysSeven Tales Of Supervillainy: Cindy's Seven]]''. As the first book not starring Gary Karkofsky AKA Merciless: The Supervillain without [=MercyTM=], we see how she differs. Cindy Wakowski AKA Red Riding Hood is much more driven by whimsy, ruthless, and uncaring about collateral damage. Also, where Gary is a Papa Wolf, Cindy is a ambivalent parent at best.
* In ''Literature/TheLockedTomb'' the main protagonist in each book is wildly different from each other. Gideon is [[BookDumb poorly educated]], vulgar, and straightforward with [[MasterSwordsman great physical prowess]]. Harrow is a [[SquishyWizard feeble]] but [[TeenGenius studious and brilliant]] necromancer with NoSocialSkills. Nona is kindhearted and optimistic but ignorant and childlike, with a supernatural ability to [[LivingLieDetector read body language]] and [[{{Omniglot}} understand all of them]], and the only one who likes the person she is. Meanwhile from first impressions, Alecto is [[HumanoidAbomination inhuman]] and [[UnstoppableRage wrathful]].
* Creator/JaneAusten wrote ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' to be "less light, bright, and sparkling" than ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice''. Rather than a SpiritedYoungLady like Elizabeth Bennet, Fanny Price is a ShrinkingViolet who only gains a sense of true self-worth after long struggle. Mary Crawford, her rival, is like Elizabeth on the surface but without Elizabeth's willingness to undertake self-reflection and personal growth. Henry Crawford, the "wrong" suitor, does Fanny a favor out of love but it's an easy task done with the express purpose of gaining her gratitude (as opposed to Darcy making a genuine sacrifice and trying to keep it secret to ''avoid'' Elizabeth feeling obliged). Overall, the protagonists in ''Pride and Prejudice'' deal largely with faults of behavior, while ''Mansfield Park'' looks at faults of character.