History Expy / Theatre

*** Action=Sampson
*** A-Rab=Abraham

*** The Nurse being taunted and insulted by the Montagues and thus unable to tell Romeo that Juliet's death is faked, resulting in Romeo killing himself=Anita being assaulted by the Jets and thus lying about Maria's death, resulting in Tony screaming for Chino to "come and get me too!"

*** The basic "Friar Laurence" type appears a third time as "Friar Francis" in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', once again convincing people that the best solution to any romantic difficulty is for the girl to fake her own death.

** Mimi is Mimì

** Cyrano is an expy of Grisóstomo, a [[MartyStu fair, intelligent, rich and easygoing guy]] [[RenaissanceMan who is a talented physic and poet]] so in love with the shepherdess [[MarySue beautiful, intelligent, easygoing and rich Marcela]] that he decides to become a shepherd himself just to court her. After a long chain of rejections, he decides to [[DrivenToSuicide kill himself]] and blames Marcela in his poems.

** Roxane is an expy of Marcela, [[MarySue the beautiful, intelligent, easygoing and rich woman]] [[SoBeautifulItsACurse who has become a shepherdess to escape the constant courtship of a lot of suitors]]. She is a friendly person, [[DoesNotLikeMen but is not interested in love.]] She is present at Grisóstomo’s burial and claims that she never leaded Grisóstomo on, [[BrutalHonesty she was sincere with him when she said she didn’t love him]] and if Grisóstomo [[DrivenToSuicide took his own life it was not because he was a]] LoveMartyr, but because he was a MartyrWithoutACause.

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%% Before adding examples, check the guidelines in the Expy cleanup thread (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13983140170A37263400) and make sure your example fits the criteria to qualify as an Expy. Don't just list minor or coincidental similarities. Also, explain why the character is an Expy - don't just say "X is an expy of Y" and leave it at that.

* The first ''VideoGame/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' {{Takarazuka}} musical is an adaptation of the "Rise from the Ashes" chapter from the original game, but with certain changes made to make the plot more personal to Phoenix. As a result, Lana Skye and her little sister Ema are replaced by Leona Clyde and her little sister Monica. They both serve the same role as their respective game counterparts, but with the added twist of Leona being Phoenix's former lover.

** Raguenau is an expy of M. Jourdain, protagonist of ''Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' (a play by Creator/{{Moliere}}.) M. Jourdain is a Burgher who dreams to be an [[BlueBlood Aristocrat]], [[TragicDream even when he really doesn’t understand exactly what an Aristocrat is]] All he knows is that Aristocrats are cool, and his naiveté makes him everyone’s ButtMonkey. Ragueneau is a baker who dreams to be a poet…

** Iachimo from ''Theatre/{{Cymbeline}}'' has a name essentially meaning "little Iago" and has a similar role in manipulating a character to wrongly suspect his love interest of cheating. The difference (fitting the names) is that while Iago is a really evil DiabolicalMastermind, Iachimo is an InefectualSympatheticVillain.

* In the operettas of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan:
** ''[[Theatre/UtopiaLtd Utopia, Ltd.]]'' features a Sir Edward Corcoran, KGB, who can be identified with Captain Corcoran of ''Theatre/HMSPinafore''--especially given that he sings part of the younger character's entrance song. Since [[spoiler: Corcoran and Ralph Rackstraw switch places]] at the end of the earlier musical, it is a matter of some debate which of the two (if either) the older character is supposed to be.
** Some believe that Dick Deadeye in ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'' may be an older, more jaded version of Dick Dauntless in ''Theatre/{{Ruddigore}}''.

* Wait? A man with ''questionable'' morals falls in love with a considerably more wholesome woman and much singing is involved? Are we talking about [[Theatre/GuysAndDolls Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown]] or [[TheMusicMan Professor Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian]]?

* Similarly, every character in {{Rent}} is based off of one in LaBoheme:

** Characters: Tony=Romeo, Maria=Juliet, Jets=Montagues, Sharks=Capulets, Bernado=Tybalt, Anita=Nurse/Lady Capulet, Riff=Mercutio, Chino=Paris, etc.
** Scenes: the opening fight, Juliet/Maria's betrothal to Paris/Chino, Juliet's debut party=Maria's first dance, the balcony scene=the fire escape scene, Romeo & Juliet's elopement (The Friar corresponds to Doc)= Tony and Maria acting out a wedding, Tybalt/Bernado killing Mercutio/Riff, Romeo/Tony killing Tybalt/Bernado, the Nurse being taunted and insulted by the Montagues and thus unable to tell Romeo that Juliet's death is faked=Anita being assaulted by the Jets and thus lying about Maria's death, leading to Romeo/Tony's suicidal response.

* Wait? A man with ''questionable'' morals falls in love with a considerably more wholesome woman and much singing is involved? Are we talking about [[GuysAndDolls Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown]] or [[TheMusicMan Professor Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian]]?

** Raguenau is an expy of M. Jourdain, protagonist of ''Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme'' (a play by Creator/{{Moliere}}.) M. Jourdain is a Burgher who dreams to be an [[BlueBlood Aristocrat]], [[TragicDream even when he really doesn’t understand exactly what an Aristocrat is]] [[FanDumb All he knows is that Aristocrats are cool]], and his naiveté makes him everyone’s ButtMonkey. Ragueneau is a baker who dreams to be a poet…

** Similarly, although the character in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is a ghost character (never appearing on stage), the Petruchio of that play ''could have been'' the same person as the one in ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'', given that both are from Verona.
** Outside of all of the women dressing as boys, Iachimo from ''Theatre/{{Cymbeline}}'' has a name essentially meaning "little Iago" and is something like that character as a HarmlessVillain.
** There's also a degree of expytude between ''Theatre/HenryIV'' and ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'' which were written at about the same time. In both plays, an idealistic AntiVillain Hotspur/Brutus faces off against an AntiHero MagnificentBastard Prince Hal/Marc Antony.

* Part of the reason for the many examples in the plays of Creator/WilliamShakespeare may be that he wrote most of his plays for the same actors, leading to plenty of ActorAllusion.
** An EpilepticTrees theory has argued that the Antonio of ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' is the same as the Antonio of ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice''. Both seem to be homosexual and it's argued that the character of the former, who is a sea captain, was able to become a wealthy merchant thanks to help from Sebastian and Viola.
** Similarly, although the character in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is a ghost character (never appearing on stage), the Petruchio of that play ''could have been'' the same person as the one in ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'', given that both are from Verona.
** Outside of all of the women dressing as boys, Iachimo from ''Theatre/{{Cymbeline}}'' has a name essentially meaning "little Iago" and is something like that character as a HarmlessVillain.
** There's also a degree of expytude between ''Theatre/HenryIV'' and ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'' which were written at about the same time. In both plays, an idealistic AntiVillain Hotspur/Brutus faces off against an AntiHero MagnificentBastard Prince Hal/Marc Antony.
** ''Theatre/TwoGentlemenOfVerona'', one of Shakespeare's earliest plays, is ''full'' of characters who would later be Expied:
*** ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'' has Launcelot (technically Launcelet, "little Launce"), an obvious copy of Launce. Both characters are [[CloudCuckoolander oddball]] servants who go off into comedic monologues, and their dialogues and jokes are eerily similar. Nerissa could also be seen as the new and improved Lucetta--both are maidservants who act as straight men in practically the same dialogue about suitors, and both assist their mistresses in disguising themselves as boys.
*** Plot outline: Guy A and Girl A are in love. Girl A's father doesn't want them to be together. Meanwhile, Guy B tries to catch Girl A but is continually rebuffed. Girl B, who Guy B dumped in favor of Girl A, lurks in the wings, feeling sorry for herself. In the end, Guy B changes his mind, he and Girl B get back together, and everyone's happy. Now decide for yourself whether you want these four to be called Valentine, Sylvia, Proteus and Julia or [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius and Helena]]. It doesn't really matter.
*** As an added bonus, ''each'' of the two couples informed one of Shakespeare's other famous couples. Sylvia [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet sneaks off to marry her man in a friar's cell, after which he is "banished" and believes it's a fate worse than death because be can't be with his new wife]]. [[note]] Both scenarios were inspired by Arthur Brook's poem ''Romeus and Juliet'', but the latter was a straight adaptation.[[/note]] Julia, [[Theatre/TwelfthNight disguised as a boy, ends up delivering love letters for the guy she herself in love with, while ambiguously trying to convince him that sending the letters is a bad idea]]. Just to make it more obvious, her alias is "Sebastian", which was used as the name of Viola' HalfIdenticalTwin who complicates the situation further.
*** The basic "Friar Laurence" type appears a third time as "Friar Francis" in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', once again convincing people that the best solution to any romantic difficulty is for the girl to fake her own death.
* Speaking of Shakespeare, not only does nearly every character in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' correspond to one in ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', so do many of the scenes:
** Characters: Tony=Romeo, Maria=Juliet, Jets=Montagues, Sharks=Capulets, Bernado=Tybalt, Anita=Nurse/Lady Capulet, Riff=Mercutio, Chino=Paris, etc.
** Scenes: the opening fight, Juliet/Maria's betrothal to Paris/Chino, Juliet's debut party=Maria's first dance, the balcony scene=the fire escape scene, Romeo & Juliet's elopement (The Friar corresponds to Doc)= Tony and Maria acting out a wedding, Tybalt/Bernado killing Mercutio/Riff, Romeo/Tony killing Tybalt/Bernado, the Nurse being taunted and insulted by the Montagues and thus unable to tell Romeo that Juliet's death is faked=Anita being assaulted by the Jets and thus lying about Maria's death, leading to Romeo/Tony's suicidal response.
** Jerome Robbins ''explicitly'' set out to produce a musical version of Romeo and Juliet set in contemporary times, so it's hardly surprising that there are such parallels.
* In the operettas of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan:
** ''[[Theatre/UtopiaLtd Utopia, Ltd.]]'' features a Sir Edward Corcoran, KGB, who can be identified with Captain Corcoran of ''Theatre/HMSPinafore''--especially given that he sings part of the younger character's entrance song. Since [[spoiler: Corcoran and Ralph Rackstraw switch places]] at the end of the earlier musical, it is a matter of some debate which of the two (if either) the older character is supposed to be.
** Some believe that Dick Deadeye in ''Theatre/HMSPinafore'' may be an older, more jaded version of Dick Dauntless in ''Theatre/{{Ruddigore}}''.
* In Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hoffmannsthal's opera ''Theatre/DerRosenkavalier'', the Marschallin and Octavian are versions of the Countess and Cherubino from ''Theatre/TheMarriageOfFigaro''.
* Wait? A man with ''questionable'' morals falls in love with a considerably more wholesome woman and much singing is involved? Are we talking about [[GuysAndDolls Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown]] or [[TheMusicMan Professor Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian]]?

** The basic "Friar Laurence" type appears a third time as "Friar Francis" in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', once again convincing people that the best solution to any romantic difficulty is for the girl to fake her own death.