History Main / ChangingOfTheGuard

* The ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds'' series did this when it switched into a DarkerAndEdgier season, throwing out [[VillainDecay decayed villains]] and immediately establishing the threat of the new ones with the death of two of the ensemble. Their mourning was short-lived due to the addition of Creator/AdrianPaul as an AntiHero.

** Discworld/{{Mort}} and Ysabell's story ended with them HappilyMarried. So for [[Discworld/SoulMusic the next novel]] that needed a young clueless human to take on Death's role and mess things up, their [[SpinOffspring daughter]] Susan was introduced.
** ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'' also ends with Magrat, the [[TheHecateSisters Maiden]] of the Lancre coven, getting married. Luckily, the same novel introduces a coven of young girls messing about, one of whom -- Agnes Nitt -- actually has some talent and becomes Third Witch ([[RefusalOfTheCall eventually]]) in the next coven novel. Arguably, the Tiffany Aching novels mark a Changing Of The Guard for the entire witches series, with Tiff becoming the main character while Nanny and Granny fade into support roles.
** ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' starts off being about Carrot Ironfounderson, the secret heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork who joins and breathes new life into the night watch and turns his boss Captain Samuel Vimes around from being a burned out alcoholic into a capable watch commander again. Subsequent "watch" stories focus almost entirely on Vimes as the [[OldSoldier grizzled veteran]].

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' focuses on Amuro Ray and Char Anzable as the main protagonist and antagonist, respectively. The sequel, ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', picks up 7 years later, with new protagonist Kamille Bidan taking over as the main character, with Amuro and Char moving to supporting roles. Also spawned two more {{Changing of the Guard}}s later in the franchise.

** ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies'' also ends with Magrat, the [[TheHecateSisters Maiden]] of the Lancre coven, getting married. Luckily, the same novel introduces a coven of young girls messing about, one of whom -- Agnes Nitt -- actually has some talent and becomes Third Witch ([[RefusalOfTheCall eventually]]) in the next coven novel. Arguably, the Tiffany Aching novels mark a ChangingOfTheGuard for the entire witches series, with Tiff becoming the main character while Nanny and Granny fade into support roles.

* Part One of ''Manga/TokyoESP'' focuses on [[ActionGirl Rinka]] and [[TeleportersAndTransporters Azuma]], who go missing so Part Two features new protagonists [[AnIcePerson Jun]] and [[TheStoic Zeusu]].

** ''Disney/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' is about [[TheHero Simba's]] daughter, Kiara, rather than about Simba.
** ''Disney/{{The Little Mermaid II Return To The Sea}}'' is about Ariel's daughter more than Ariel herself.
** ''Disney/{{Lady And The Tramp II Scamps Adventure}}'' is, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the title indicates]], about Lady and Tramp's son Scamp, not them.
** ''Disney/ReturnToNeverLand'' is about Wendy's daughter Jane going to Never Land with Peter Pan.i

** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' does this [[spoiler: for the Bond series' supporting cast]]. By the end of the film [[spoiler: Judi Dench's M has died, been replaced by Creator/RalphFiennes' male M. We are introduced to a quartermaster, or Q, for the first time in a Bond movie with Creator/DanielCraig. At the end we learn that the [[GirlOfTheWeek Bond Girl]] throughout the movie was named "Moneypenny" all along, when she decides [[StayInTheKitchen to give up being a field agent for a desk job]].]] The more things change, the more they stay the same.

* ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'' is about a new, all-female team, with a [[TheCameo cameo or supporting role from]] Creator/BillMurray.

* At the end of VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII, [[spoiler:Vanille and Fang all die as a result of the plot and Lightning is gone for story reasons, so they're out.]] Bring in Lightning's sister, Serah. Conveniently, Lightning, while in Valhalla[[spoiler: (Heaven if you will)]], is able to summon Noel to give her some help. Hope, Vanille, Fang, [[Main/GuestStarPartyMember Snow]], and Sahz also make appearances, not counting DLC.

* The main ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series has had 7/14/15 heroes so far (depending on how you count); [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red/Leaf]], [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Ethan/Kris/Lyra]], [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Brendan/May]], [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Lucas/Dawn]], [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Hilbert/Hilda]], [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Nate/Rosa]], and [[VideoGame/PokemonXandY Calem/Serena]]. In the Orre games, there's Wes in ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' and Michael in ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness''. [[VideoGame/PokemonRanger Ranger games]] have 3/6 heroes (Lunick/Solana, Kellyn/Kate, and Ben/Summer). Then there's Mark/Mint from the [[TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}} TCG games]], an unnamed hero from ''Pokémon Conquest'', Todd Snap from ''VideoGame/PokemonSnap'' and Lucy Fleetfloot from ''Pokémon Troizei/Link''. In a series that revolves around "gotta catch 'em all", this was probably the best way to avoid continually invoking BagOfSpilling.

* Most of the main good guys from the first three ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' books have a lot of authority in the [[DividedStatesOfAmerica new nation-states]] by the time the second series rolls around. This would put a crimp in their ability to go haring off to find the SwordOfPlotAdvancement when such a trip would take several years - a fact the resident Tolkien geek deeply laments - and so the task falls to the previously established ChosenOne, his childhood friend, and [[ShoutOut se]][[Literature/LordOfTheRings ven]] more characters who either could be missed by blinking in the first three books or are completely new. While they're away, we do get the occasional glimpse of the old guard struggling to stave off the new BigBad.

* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', has two selectable protagonists, one of which is the son of one of the protagonists in ''VideoGame/StarOcean''. (e.g. Star Ocean The First Departure)

* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', has two selectable protagonists, one of which is the son of one of the protagonists in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheFirstDeparture''. (e.g. Star Ocean 1)

* ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', has two selectable protagonists, one of which is the son of one of the protagonists in ''Videogame/StarOceanTheFirstDeparture''. (e.g. Star Ocean 1)

* At the end of VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII, [[spoiler:Lightning, Vanille, and Fang all die as a result of the plot, so they're out.]] Bring in Lightning's sister, Serah. Conveniently, Lightning, while in Valhalla[[spoiler: (Heaven if you will)]], is able to summon Noel to give her some help. Vanille, Fang, [[Main/GuestStarPartyMember Snow]], and Sahz also make appearances, not counting DLC.

* ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' followed in ''Street Fighter III'''s footsteps with ''Garou: Mark Of The Wolves'', the final game in the series, which had Terry as the only returning character.

Story's over. TheHero and the LoveInterest have [[TheyDo married]], settled down, have no further interest in adventures - and, besides, who would look after the kids while they saved the world? Or maybe he was PutOnABus or perhaps - gasp - he [[DeaderThanDead died]] and ''stayed dead''.

** ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' starts off being about Carrot Ironfounderson, the secret heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork who joins and breathes new life into the night watch and turns his boss Captain Samuel Vimes around from being a burned out alcoholic into a capable watch commander again. Subsequent "watch" stories focus almost entirely on Vimes who is far more interesting as the [[BadassGrandpa grizzled veteran]].

* The first four entries of the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'' featured [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesWolverine Wolverine]] as the main protagonist, but ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' has [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMagneto Magneto]] and [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesProfessorCharlesXavier Professor X]] as the two lead characters.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'':
** In the episode "[[Recap/TheLegendOfKorraS1E1WelcomeToRepublicCity Welcome to Republic City]]" Katara, aged survivor of the previous series ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' {{lampshade|d trope}}s this in her PassingTheTorch speech to young Avatar Korra:

** It was played with a little bit previously, as the Avatar is a constantly reincarnated series of heroes, and Aang was frequently compared with his previous incarnations Roku and Kyoshi. Korra gets it a little worse, though, as there are plenty of people living who still remember Aang.

* The ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds'' series did this when it switched into a DarkerAndEdgier season, throwing out [[VillainDecay decayed villains]] and immediately establishing the threat of the new ones with the death of two of the ensemble. Their mourning was short-lived due to the addition of Adrian Paul as an AntiHero.

** ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid II: Return to the Sea'' is about Ariel's daughter more than Ariel herself.
** ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp II: Scamp's Adventure'' is, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the title indicates]], about Lady and Tramp's son Scamp, not them.

* With every new arc and region of ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'' comes new protagonists, with the old ones occasionally providing backup. The best thing about this is that since the focus isn't on one character all the time, nobody suffers from BadassDecay.