History LegacyCharacter / VideoGames

** Throughout the franchise, [[VideoGame/Fallout1 three]] [[VideoGame/Fallout3 different]] [[VideoGame/Fallout4 dogs]] (thus far) have been named "Dogmeat" and become the companion of a main character.

*** The book ''Literature/HyruleHistoria'' makes note that "Link" is often just a name that the storytellers of series' "legends" give to the hero after the fact, regardless of their real name: probably as a reference to the fact that while Link is his CanonName, you can [[HelloInsertNameHere name the hero in each game]] except for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords Adventures]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]''. Even games which note that the new Link has the same [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman legacy clothes,]] [[AncestralWeapon legacy weapons,]] and [[HeroicSpirit legacy soul]] as his predecessor never mention whether he has the same name as the previous hero, or what that hero's given name was, only that he was the Hero of Time, Winds, Men, etc.

** Every canonical game has a new iteration of Jack robot that is [[KingBobTheNth an update of the previous one]]. Each game usually only has one iteration, though the first two games also have [[SuperPrototype Prototype Jack]] fighting alongside the main one. The sole exception to this rule is ''Tekken Tag Tournament'', which features three Jacks (Jack-2, Gun Jack, and Prototype Jack).

* ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'' has Yoshimitsu (though only in the context of the lore, as he's highly suspected to be descended from the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' character of the same name; see above); King (King II from the third game onward, one of the orphans raised by the original King); Kuma (who from ''T3'' onward is his son, Kuma II); Hwoarang (Baek's student); Christie (Eddy's student and granddaughter of his master); Asuka (the niece of Jun Kazama, who, prior to ''VideoGame/Tekken8'', only [[DreamMatchGame canonically]] appeared in the second game and was presumed dead); Roger Jr. (Roger's wife and son; [[NonIndicativeName the mother is the one who actually fights]]); Armor King (the version debuting in ''[[VideoGame/Tekken5 5:DR]]'' is revealed in ''6'' to be the younger brother of the first Armor King, who was killed by Marduk before the events of ''[[VideoGame/Tekken4 T4]]'', though both brothers shared the title and were even a TagTeam at one point); Raven (swapped out in ''[[VideoGame/Tekken7 T7]]'' for his teacher and DistaffCounterpart, Master Raven); Kunimitsu (succeeded by her daughter, Kunimitsu II, in ''7''); and the Jack robots (who are all [[KingBobTheNth updated versions of the previous one]]; there's usually only one per game outside of the ''Tag'' titles, though the first two games had Prototype Jack alongside his successors). Additionally, Jin is Kazuya Mishima's son and fights like him (though with some touches from his mother Jun); Julia is Michelle Chang's (adopted) daughter; Xiaoyu is a distant relative of Wang Jinrei (and not his granddaughter like the localization of ''T5'' led many to believe); and Alisa is a RobotGirl in the likeness of Dr. Bosconovitch's deceased daughter (if not said daughter reanimated). As a result, most of the characters (excepting Hwoarang, Xiaoyu, Jin post-DivergentCharacterEvolution, and Alisa) [[MovesetClone fight similarly]] to their older counterparts, but not identically.

** Throughout its 20+ year run, there has been one Mega Man for each of the ''seven'' series. The only exception, is the eponymous character from ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' [[IAmNotShazam despite popular belief]]. ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' and ''ZX Advent'' make up for it by having "Mega Man" as an ''actual'' title used by [[TheChosenMany other characters]] (including the {{Big Bad}}s!).

** The most famous one is [[TheEngineer Cid]]. ''Every'' mainline game (and even some of the spin-offs) has a Cid, and he always has something to do with the games' airships -- to the point that he was {{retcon}}ned into [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI the first game]] itself by the remakes mentioning him (Cid of the Lufaine) as the creator of the [[CoolAirship Airship]]. In fact, some games (like ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]'' and arguably ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV XV]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI XVI]]'') even have ''multiple'' Cids. And as shown by ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin'', they don't even have to be human; that Cid -- one of the few who ''[[BreakingOldTrends isn't]]'' an engineer, mechanic, or researcher/inventor of some sort or even associated with airships (instead serving as a blacksmith) -- is [[spoiler:a Tonberry]]! For bonus points, the Cid of ''[=SoP=]'' states he was named by someone who is implied to be the aforementioned Cid of the Lufaine.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'' series of games sometimes re-uses concepts and names across multiple titles, such as a bald blacksmith named Hagel Boldness and a cute ghost girl named Pamela Ibis. In DLC for the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover that is ''VideoGame/NelkeAndTheLegendaryAlchemistsAteliersOfTheNewWorld'', it is even possible for various Pamelas and Hagels to meet each other, proving that they are all different individuals.

*** The book ''Literature/HyruleHistoria'' makes note that "Link" is often just a name that the storytellers of series' "legends" give to the hero after the fact, regardless of their real name: probably as a reference to the fact that while Link is his CanonName, you can [[HelloInsertNameHere name the hero in each game]] except for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures Four Swords Adventures]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''. Even games which note that the new Link has the same [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman legacy clothes,]] [[AncestralWeapon legacy weapons,]] and [[HeroicSpirit legacy soul]] as his predecessor never mention whether he has the same name as the previous hero, or what that hero's given name was, only that he was the Hero of Time, Winds, Men, etc.