History Main / CharacterRerailment

** Bart went through a failed attempt at this around 2010-12. He was initially a BrattyHalfPint who frequently got in trouble for his outrageous pranks and snappy one-liners, but the coming of more "extreme" characters like [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Eric Cartman]] and [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Peter Griffin]], as well as [[ValuesDissonance society's more lax stance on child discipline]], made Bart's once-shocking antics seem tame by comparison. Episodes like "Love is a Many Strangled Thing" and "Postcard from the Wedge" tried to return him to his "bad boy" roots, but because of the writers' attempts to outdo his successors, Bart ended up coming off as [[TheSociopath a destructive, uncaring monster]].
** This is showcased in the ''Simpsons/Family Guy'' crossover, where Bart and Stewie become fast friends over their love of pranks. Though Bart changes his mind when he discovers that Stewie is willing to go much farther than Bart is comfortable with.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' subverted this trope with Stewie: in the season 9 premiere, he killed a character for the first time in years and revealed that he still wanted to kill Lois, although this still hasn't happened.
** Although Stewie attempted to make himself evil again after Brian called him out on how soft he had gotten. [[GoneHorriblyRight It worked]]. Unfortunately, the writers dialed this new evil Stewie's chaotic tendencies to extremes, turning him into an idiot, while completely discarding his mastermind-style evil from the original characterization. [[IntendedAudienceReaction But then, that was the whole point.]]
** Joe was originally a HandicappedBadass cop who became an excuse to make cripple jokes after the show got UnCanceled. The previous characterization is somewhat more apparent in recent episodes such as "Joe's Revenge".

* Zigzagged with WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse: He was originally depicted as a brave action hero, but later shorts changed him into a laid-back slacker while WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck took the spotlight. Now, he's either back to being an action hero [[VideoGame/EpicMickey in several]] [[Franchise/KingdomHearts video games]], is [[WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse the owner of a nightclub for other Disney characters]], or a ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer''-esque [[WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse kids' show]] host.

* The {{Franchise/DCAU}} team has admitted that Superman got [[TheWorfEffect derailed into a punching bag]] during the first season of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' and [[NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech took steps in the subsequent seasons to remind viewers]] why he's, well, ''{{Franchise/Superman}}''.

->'''Stewie:''' I've always been about world domination. The hell did you think I was talking about when I said "victory shall be mine"?\\

* Gilgamesh of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', while a popular AwesomeEgo and SmugSuper, was noted by history-driven fans to be at odds with [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh his real-life mythological counterpart]]. The mythological Gilgamesh started as an arrogant tyrant but became humble and more mature over his adventures, while the Archer-class Servant from ''Fate'' remained a self-centered tyrant that lives only on his whims, as if his CharacterDevelopment never happened. ''[[VideoGame/FateExtra Fate/EXTRA CCC]]'' remedied this discrepancy by having him as the protagonist's Servant, showing a much more decent and wise, if still arrogant, side to him, as well as exploring his real-life backstory, including explaining its changes in the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'s version. It notably makes him much more sympathetic by detailing his friendship with Enkidu. This characterization consisting of a mix of his real life self and his ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' self continues in ''Literature/FateStrangeFake'', which has him paired with a young girl in a war in which his best friend participates. As a result, he is much more relaxed, and frequently advises his Master, in an assholish way, about standing up for herself. ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' went further by introducing a Caster-class version of Gilgamesh, who represents Gilgamesh in his capacity as king of Uruk: though still sharp-tongued and prideful, he is a genuinely good king that cares for his subjects and overworks himself to govern his kingdom.

** After the above theatrical cut turned Batman into a laughingstock with truly embarrassing lines who acted like a highschool girl with a childish crush smiling awkwardly upon Superman's return, ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' rerails Batman into a badass and dignified leader who proves himself capable on the field once more while retaining his newfound idealism from the concluding hour or so of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''. Also from ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'', Barry Allen's awkward obsessions with "brunch" and "Pet Sematary" that needlessly amplified his AmbiguousDisorder in the 2017 film are excised and he's not afraid to go fighting anymore. Superman meanwhile is much less of a SmugSuper upon his return here with no quipping in his fight against Steppenwolf bar [[NoSell "Not. Impressed."]], which is more in line with his HumbleHero portrayal in the previous two films without sacrificing his full transition into TheCape.

** With Peaches absent, Manny has shed his OverprotectiveDad traits and is more like the JerkWithAHeartOfGold he was in the first two films.

*** Kalos had it's own lingering flaws by the end of it's run in terms of Ash's [[VanillaProtagonist somewhat vanilla and overly serious personality]], being a capable battler but lacking much else in terms of quirks besides being very upbeat and forever engrossed by Pokemon. Alola fills in this remaining hole, making Ash still competent and insightful, but much more emotive and childlike again, and even reemerging some of his awkward or ButtMonkey qualities without undermining his gained experience as a trainer too heavily, and sometimes even blending it into giving him some SuccessThroughInsanity in strategy and training.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Kaname Ohgi went through a lot of derailment, going from the Black Knights' VoiceOfReason and OnlySaneMan to an idiotic {{hypocrite}} who made increasingly rash and idiotic decisions, backstabbing Lelouch based on VillainsNeverLie and functionally surrendering the ''entire world'' to Britannia in an under-the-table deal to free Japan), becoming quite TheScrappy as a result. ''Anime/CodeGeassLelouchOfTheResurrection'' and its preceding movie trilogy makes efforts to revert Ohgi back to his original characterization; in the last compilation film, he begs for Lelouch to tell the truth before Schneizel's men and Rolo interfere, and he also punched Diethard for working behind the Black Knights' backs. He may also feel guilty for reluctantly making a deal with Schneizel, having stepped down from his position as Japan's Prime Minister at the start of ''Re;surrection'' (which takes place a year after the Zero Requiem), and even briefly attempts to commit suicide during his talk with Lelouch at Zilkhstan before the latter casually snaps him out of it.

* While in the past two or three volumes, she was [[AxCrazy murderously insane]] in every single chapter, in volume 8 of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'', Chiri returns to her original characterization as [[SuperOCD very uptight]], but still somewhat the StraightMan.

** For most of his history, Sonic's KidSidekick Tails was a HumbleHero and a former bullied ShrinkingViolet that began to break out of his shell after meeting Sonic and receiving his encouragement. As a result he started [[BigBrotherWorship looking up to Sonic]] and striving to become [[IJustWantToBeBadass as cool and capable as him]]. Come ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and his personality and relationship with Sonic are significantly altered. Suddenly he started acting more sardonic, even snarking and making jabs at his very hero. Sonic was given his fair share of snark as well, basically calling Tails useless at one point even though he had aided him [[GadgeteerGenius with his inventions in said game]] -- a far cry from the supportive CoolBigBro he (Sonic) used to be. ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' continued the derailment, making Tails more petty and jealous to the point of holding a grudge against Sonic and accusing him of not believing in him for daring to [[EnemyMine accept Eggman's help]] when a new foe was threatening the fate of their world with a machine stolen from him (Eggman). Years later the official Sonic social media started releasing a series of videos with Tails as a VirtualYouTuber, and one of the things the first episode did was rerail his character and re-establish his old relationship with Sonic.

Sometimes used as an AuthorsSavingThrow or ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat. A temporary reversion to prior characterization is a CharacterCheck. Can be an AdaptationPersonalityChange if this occurs in a new adaptation of a story that's been comprehensively derailed. See also, WeWantOurJerkBack, FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', "Mr. and Mrs. Stewie"

** That being said, what counts as Character Derailment or Rerailment depends on the fan, due to the Sonic franchise's notoriously BrokenBase (and the series' constant admission onto the CerebusRollercoaster). Some consider the shift to the more light-hearted games from ''Unleashed'' on as CharacterDerailment and yearn for the more serious, complex stories of the previous era. However, others saw this change as a rerailment, as after a few years of being portrayed as a goody-goody {{invincible hero}}, Sonic was back to being the snarky MascotWithAttitude that he was, to these fans, always supposed to be.

* A perfect example of how this trope can lead to a BrokenBase is the case of the Brotherhood of Steel from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''. When introduced in [[VideoGame/Fallout1 the first game]], the Brotherhood were essentially a bunch of xenophobic jerks who claimed a vaguely noble origin/ideology of "protect the Wasteland from people abusing the technology of the past", but who were pretty clearly shown to be just douchebags who wanted to hog the best tech for themselves and use this to bully those around them. This is emphasized in [[VideoGame/Fallout2 the second game]], where they have lost their stranglehold on the supply of advanced technology and so are becoming increasingly irrelevant to the goings-on of the world around them. Then came ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', where the Capital Wasteland Chapter of the Brotherhood had abandoned essentially all of the original Brotherhood's teachings and instead set themselves up as futuristic knights, striving to protect and defend the good people of the Capital Wasteland. Though it was called out InUniverse that this isn't the traditional ideology of the Brotherhood and the "Outcasts", Brotherhood members who left the Chapter rather than abandon their traditions, became an interactive minor faction in their own right, many older fans bitterly complained about the change, even as newer fans found them quite interesting. ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' attempted to rerail by showing how other Brotherhood Chapters elsewhere were still following their old traditions... slowly dying out in the process. Finally, in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', the Capital Wasteland Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel re-emerged after having merging their former leader's philosophy with the philosophy of their roots... which lead to some fans of their depiction in the previous game complaining about the perceived CharacterDerailment.

** Bart went through a failed attempt at this around 2010-12. He was initially BrattyHalfPint who frequently got in trouble for his outrageous pranks and snappy one-liners, but the coming of more "extreme" characters like [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark Eric Cartman]] and [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Peter Griffin]], as well as [[ValuesDissonance society's more lax stance on child discipline]], made Bart's once-shocking antics seem tame by comparison. Episodes like "Love is a Many Strangled Thing" and "Postcard from the Wedge" tried to return him to his "bad boy" roots, but because of the writers' attempts to outdo his successors, Bart ended up coming off as [[TheSociopath a destructive, uncaring monster]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'': In the first season, Johnny was arrogant and socially inept, but he still had common sense. Seasons 2 and 3 cranked up his stupidity to the point that he couldn't even solve the [[https://www.tutorialspoint.com/prolog/prolog_monkey_and_banana_problem.htm monkey and banana problem]] (his solution was to use the stools as wings to fly to the bananas). When Van Partible returned for season 4, Johnny went back to his Season 1 characterization.

** Homer goes from {{Jerkass}} to the original Homer sometimes at will.

** Earlier in the series, Knuckles was a devoted guardian who nevertheless [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles would get smug and laugh at being able to outwit Sonic]], and was a bit gullible due to [[TheHermit his lack of interaction with people]]. ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' did away with his smugness, instead focusing on and exploring his devotion and seriousness. ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' attempted to bring back his smug side by making him into a [[TheLancer Lancer]] who is smug at getting one over Sonic, but it marked the point in which his HotBlooded nature and naivety started to get [[{{Flanderization}} exaggerated]] in a case of TookALevelInDumbass and BadassDecay, with later games following suit and culminating in his ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' self becoming a full-on DumbMuscle. Ironically, his original character profiles described him as being clever despite his gullibility. His role as the guardian of Angel Island also started to get frequently overlooked in favor of being another generic associate of Sonic. And then he returned to his ''Adventure'' persona again in ''VideoGame/SonicRunners'', even explicitly saying that he's concerned about what happens to his island when he's away. Similarly, ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' restored his more serious demeanor and a bit of his intellect, having him make the plans for [[LaResistance the Resistance]], albeit very straightforward ones.

** [[TerribleTrio Jessie, James, and Meowth]] were first introduced as true members of the evil Team Rocket organization, constantly obeying their leader [[BigBad Giovanni]] all the time. But after their obsession with capturing Ash Ketchum's Pikachu began in the show's second episode, they started to ignore Giovanni and mainly went after Pikachu, which inevitably resulted in them constantly getting kicked around and "being blasted off again" every single time, even when Ash continued his journeys beyond Kanto. By Sinnoh, they had gone from their original intentions of {{Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain}}s to an outright GoldfishPoopGang with silly dances and Boss Fantasies being seen as outright detrimental to both the show in general and the Terrible [=TRio=] specifically. The writers for the ''Best Wishes'' arc made them super competent and super important; which generated (yet another) BrokenBase and was ultimately seen as [[CerebusSyndrome swinging the pendulum too far the other way]]. Early Kalos seems to have split the difference, wherein Team Rocket's plans are self-contained and usually doomed to failure, yet Pikachu is now an ''occasional'' target, giving way to the [[VictimOfTheWeek Pokémon of the Week]] [[note]]which sometimes is not a Pokémon[[/note]] and the trio sometimes still putting up a NotSoHarmless offence against Ash's team that led to intense two-way fights instead of one-sided beatings. This has struck fans early on as a "happy medium."

** Sonic's KidSidekick Tails was originally a HumbleHero and a bullied ShrinkingViolet that began to break out of his shell after meeting Sonic and receiving his encouragement. As a result he started looking up to Sonic and striving to become as cool and capable as him. Come ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and his personality and relationship with Sonic are significantly altered. Suddenly he started acting more sardonic, even snarking and making jabs at his very hero. Sonic was given his fair share of snark as well, basically calling Tails useless at one point even though he had aided him [[GadgeteerGenius with his inventions in said game]] -- a far cry from the supportive CoolBigBro he (Sonic) used to be. ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' continued the derailment, making Tails more petty and jealous to the point of holding a grudge against Sonic and accusing him of not believing in him for daring to [[EnemyMine accept Eggman's help]] when a new foe was threatening the fate of their world with a machine stolen from him. Years later the official Sonic social media started releasing a series of videos with Tails as a VirtualYouTuber, and one of the things the first episode did was rerail his character and re-establish his old relationship with Sonic.

*** Around the time of the series' AudienceAlienatingEra in the mid-2000s, a lot of Sonic's attitude was downplayed in favor of presenting him as more of a generic nice guy, mainly in localizations.[[note]]Whereas Junichi Kanemaru consistently played Sonic in an energetic way denoting of attitude, Jason Griffith would voice him in a much more deadpan or passive manner. Add to that the fact nuances like Sonic's propensity for GratuitousEnglish were LostInTranslation.[[/note]] ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' tried to counter this by making him into a sassier and [[LargeHam hammier]] MotorMouth, but fans increasingly began to complain that it felt like Sonic was ''[[{{Flanderization}} too]]'' [[{{Flanderization}} sassy and arrogant]] now, making him more annoying than entertaining or likable. Interestingly, the original Japanese script of ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' attempted to rerail him by toning down his hamminess... only for [[DubPersonalityChange the English dub to amp it back up]], resulting in his sass jarring horribly with the story's darker direction (including the dub-added "tortured for six months" thing).

** Earlier in the series, Knuckles went from a [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles smug echidna who laughed at being able to outwit Sonic]] to an [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure extremely committed guardian who is a bit gullible]]. ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' attempted to combine the two portrayals into a [[TheLancer Lancer]] who is smug at getting one over Sonic, but it marked the point in which Knuckles' HotBlooded nature and naivety started to get [[{{Flanderization}} exaggerated]] in a case of TookALevelInDumbass and BadassDecay, with later games following suit and culminating in his ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'' self becoming a full-on DumbMuscle. His role as guardian of Angel Island is also frequently overlooked in favor of being another generic associate of Sonic. And then he returns to his ''Adventure'' persona again in ''VideoGame/SonicRunners'', even explicitly saying that he's concerned about what happens to his island when he's away. Similarly, ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' slightly re-re-rails him, restoring his more serious demeanor and a bit of his intellect, having him make the plans for [[LaResistance the Resistance]], albeit very straightforward ones.

** Sonic's KidSidekick Tails was originally a HumbleHero and a bullied ShrinkingViolet that began to break out of his shell after meeting Sonic and receiving his encouragement. As a result he started admiring Sonic and striving to become as cool and capable as him. Come ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and his personality and relationship with Sonic is significantly altered. Suddenly he started acting more sardonic, even snarking and making jabs at his very hero. Sonic was given his fair share of snark as well, even talking Tails' role down and all but implying he was useless despite having aided him [[GadgeteerGenius with his inventions in said game]] -- a far cry from the supportive CoolBigBro he used to be. ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' furthered the derailment, making Tails more vitriolic and jealous, calling Sonic out for daring to [[EnemyMine accept Eggman's help]] when they had a common enemy that was threatening the fate of their world. Years later the Sonic social media started releasing a series of videos with Tails as a VirtualYouTuber, and one of the things the first episode did was rerail his character and re-establish his old relationship with Sonic, with Tails once again admiring him and Sonic acting supportive and encouraging toward him.

** Sonic's KidSidekick Tails was originally a HumbleHero and a bullied ShrinkingViolet that began to break out of his shell after meeting Sonic and receiving his encouragement. As a result he started admiring Sonic and striving to become as cool and capable as him. Come ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and his personality and relationship with Sonic is significantly altered. Suddenly he started acting more sardonic, even snarking and making jabs at his very hero. Sonic was given his fair share of snark as well, even talking Tails' role down and all but implying he was useless despite having aided him [[GadgeteerGenius with his inventions in said game]] -- a far cry from the supportive CoolBigBro he used to be. ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' furthered the derailment, making Tails more vitriolic and jealous, calling Sonic out for daring to [[EnemyMine accept Eggman's help]] when they had a common enemy that was threatening the fate of their world. Years later the Sonic social media started releasing a series of videos with Tails as a VirtualYouTuber, and one of the things the first episode did was rerail his character and re-establishing his old relationship with Sonic, with Tails once again admiring him and Sonic acting supportive and encouraging toward him.

** Sonic's KidSidekick Tails was originally a HumbleHero and a bullied ShrinkingViolet that began to break out of his shell after meeting Sonic and receiving his encouragement. As a result he started admiring Sonic and striving to become as cool and capable as him. Come ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and his personality and relationship with Sonic is significantly altered. Suddenly he started acting more sardonic, even snarking and making jabs at his very hero. Sonic was given his fair share of snark as well, even talking Tails' role down and all but implying he was useless despite having aided him [[GadgeteerGenius with his inventions in said game]] -- a far cry from the supportive CoolBigBro he used to be. ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' furthered the derailment, making Tails more vitriolic and jealous, calling Sonic out for daring to [[EnemyMine accept Eggman's help]] when they had a common enemy that was threatening the fate of their world. Years later the Sonic social media started releasing a series of videos with Tails as a VirtualYouTuber, and one of the things the first episode did was rerail his character and re-establishing his old relationship with Sonic, with Tails once again admiring him and Sonic acting supporting and encouraging toward him.

* Onua's personality from ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' was very inconsistent despite him being a StaticCharacter. Originally a GeniusBruiser who only spoke if it was really necessary, the first movie (and the non-canon tie-in game) portrayed him more as a tough but jolly muscle guy. His [[Toys/Bionicle2015 Generation 2]] counterpart was also meant to be wise and smart, to which the 2015 online webisodes didn't quite do justice, mostly due to how dumb the voice work made him sound. Finally, he got re-railed in ''The Journey to One'' animated mini-series: a soft-spoken and mature heavyweight, equally capable physically and mentally.

* Orihime Inoue from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is an odd case of rerailment due to CharacterDevelopment instead of undoing CharacterDerailment. She has recently gone back to being her humorous, perky self like how she was to begin with rather than the [[BrokenBird broken, emotional character]] she's been portrayed as throughout the Hueco Mundo arc as a result of a MASSIVE BreakTheCutie process that involved her being kidnapped, being mentally/physically/sexually (manga only) harrassed by the enemy, being forced to see her friends being hurt in several ways, and ultimately watching her LoveInterest being beaten to near death. This is because all her issues from said arc were wrapped up and she was free to be a content person once more, [[PluckyGirl with added life experiences and stronger determination]].

** First in ''Film/RebirthOfMothra3'' he was once again a lone villain acting under his own will, as opposed to the Showa and Heisei Ghidorahs being made into the attack dogs of the humanoid villains of the film. He also gets back his status as a nigh-unstoppable juggernaut and being TheDreaded to the point that Belvera, the ''Rebirth of Mothra''[='=]s central antagonist, doesn't even thinks about trying to control him; it also restores his sadism which had been slowly written out in films after ''Film/GhidorahTheThreeHeadedMonster''.