History Main / LostInImitation

A common cause of the UnbuiltTrope. Compare RetCanon, SeinfeldIsUnfunny, AudienceColoringAdaptation. Since the first imitators change things from the original work, this is strongly related to SadlyMythtaken and BeamMeUpScotty.

* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' got hit with this ''hard'', as referenced in the quote above. It is claimed to be the origin of all modern vampire stereotypes and the definitive line between the vampires of folklore and the vampires of literature, film, and fiction, but most of his archetypal image -- slicked black hair with a [[VillainousWidowsPeak widow's peak]], black high-collared stage cape, tuxedo, off-tempo Eastern European accent -- is 100% Creator/BelaLugosi, as seen in [[Theatre/Dracula1924 the 1927 Broadway play]] and [[Film/Dracula1931 1931 film]], compounded by endless imitations. In the book, Dracula was a gaunt old man with dead-white hair and skin, a hawky face, and a flowing moustache, who grew young when he drank blood and spoke English ''more flawlessly than the native English speakers'' ([[UncannyValley to the point where it mildly creeps them out]]). Also, the origin of sunlight killing vampires outright was introduced by the silent German film ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}''. In ''Dracula'', the only difference it makes is that they lose access to their powers until they get out of it.

* The popularity of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' has led to numerous adaptations of [[ComicBook/TeenTitans the comic of the same name]] such as ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTeenTitans'' to use that version's team roster (ComicBook/{{Robin}}, [[Characters/TeenTitansStarfire Starfire]], [[Characters/TeenTitansNewTeenTitans Raven, Cyborg, and Beast Boy]]) despite it not being the original lineup.

** In ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'', Virginia (who knows the child-friendly versions) has to have originals explained to her to understand what's going on. And, including the 1987 live-action movie, an animated movie by Jetlag Productions, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Snow_White one animated series]], this remains one of only four works that included the stepmother's other attempts on Snow White, including the poison comb.

* Since the 70s, almost all of the works in the ''Franchise/{{Lupin III}}'' franchise have been more heavily influenced by the LighterAndSofter [[Anime/{{Lupin III}} TV adaptations]], rather than the original DarkerAndEdgier [[Manga/{{Lupin III}} manga]]. The 2012 ''[[Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine Fujiko Mine]]'' anime was the first series to actually revisit the source material's violent and hyper-sexual tone.

* A common complaint from Tolkien fans about ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' movies was that Gimli's more comical and somewhat cruder depiction borrowed more from the [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame accumulated exaggerated stereotypes of dwarves in modern fantasy]] than Tolkien's 'original' dwarves, including a broad Scottish-style brogue which is nowhere in evidence from the way their dialogue is written.

* In the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' comic books, Characters/RocketRaccoon does not speak with any sort of discernible accent, but was given a cockney UsefulNotes/{{British accent|s}} in ''VideoGame/UltimateMarvelVsCapcom3''. This proved popular enough that he was given the same one in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', and a New York / Creator/JoePesci-ish accent in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012''. When it was revealed that Creator/BradleyCooper would not be using an accent in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', some people complained, even though that's how Rocket sounds in the source material.

* The original story of ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' did not have a HappilyEverAfter ending or have the Sea Witch as a WickedWitch or an UnscaledMerfolk. The prince instead falls for and marries the princess of another kingdom, and the price for the little mermaid’s failure to win his heart is dying the day after his wedding and the Sea Witch was a neautral character rather than a villain. Creator/WaltDisney himself [[https://collider.com/little-mermaid-walt-disney-hans-christian-anderson-movie/ originally planned a more faithful ending to the original text for his own adaptation.]] However he died before production really started, and when his team revived [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 the project, they changed the ending completely]], and several adaptations that came after followed the same concept of the mermaid successfully winning the prince and becoming his bride, as well as the Sea Witch being evil.

* The original story of ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' did not have a HappilyEverAfter ending or have the Sea Witch as a WickedWitch or an UnscaledMerfolk. The prince instead falls for and marries the princess of another kingdom, and the price for the little mermaid’s failure to win his heart is dying the day after his wedding. The Sea Witch also wasn’t evil or a UnscaledMerfolk. Creator/WaltDisney himself [[https://collider.com/little-mermaid-walt-disney-hans-christian-anderson-movie/ originally planned a more faithful ending to the original text for his own adaptation.]] However he died before production really started, and when his team revived [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 the project, they changed the ending completely]], and several adaptations that came after followed the same concept of the mermaid successfully winning the prince and becoming his bride, as well as the Sea Witch.

* The original story of ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' did not have a HappilyEverAfter ending or have the Sea Witch as an evil UnscaledMerfolk. The prince instead falls for and marries the princess of another kingdom, and the price for the little mermaid’s failure to win his heart is dying the day after his wedding. The Sea Witch also wasn’t evil or a UnscaledMerfolk. Creator/WaltDisney himself [[https://collider.com/little-mermaid-walt-disney-hans-christian-anderson-movie/ originally planned a more faithful ending to the original text for his own adaptation.]] However he died before production really started, and when his team revived [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 the project, they changed the ending completely]], and several adaptations that came after followed the same concept of the mermaid successfully winning the prince and becoming his bride, as well as the Sea Witch being evil and being an UnscaledMerfolk.

* The original story of ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'' did not have a HappilyEverAfter ending. The prince instead falls for and marries the princess of another kingdom, and the price for the little mermaid’s failure to win his heart is dying the day after his wedding. Creator/WaltDisney himself [[https://collider.com/little-mermaid-walt-disney-hans-christian-anderson-movie/ originally planned a more faithful ending to the original text for his own adaptation.]] However he died before production really started, and when his team revived [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 the project, they changed the ending completely]], and several adaptations that came after followed the same concept of the mermaid successfully winning the prince and becoming his bride.

** The idea of Moby Dick being completely white may stem from the fact that the real life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mocha_Dick Mocha Dick]], who was the inspiration behind Melville's novel was albino.

** In the comics, the Characters/{{Juggernaut}} is [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]]'s step-brother and isn't even a mutant, getting his powers from a magic gem, and he originally worked alone or with one partner. Since he's one of the X-Men's [[RoguesGallery most iconic villains]], he tends to be one of Magneto's henchmen in adaptations, usually not mentioning the nature of his powers and his relationship to Prof. X or actually making him a mutant and/or not related to Xavier at all. It's even partially made it back to the comics: while he's still Xavier's non-mutant stepbrother, writers more familiar with the adaptations than the comics often have him mention being a former member of the Brotherhood. He finally did appear as a member of a short-lived incarnation of the Brotherhood, albeit one largely unconnected to previous versions aside from using the same name; this hasn't stopped artists from drawing him fighting alongside Magneto (which he has never done) in flashbacks.

* ''Fanfic/{{Cupcakes}}'' is a particularly infamous ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic that has inspired hundreds of fanworks. The problem is, most seem to be based less on the actual fic and more off of other fanworks. In the original fanfic, the creepiness comes from Pinkie being her [[PsychopathicManChild normal, fluffy maned self]]. ''Blog/AskPinkaminaDianePie'' helped cement the image of ''Cupcakes''' Pinkie being a monotone, straight haired mane named "Pinkamena". The fanfic actually came out ''before'' the episode "Party of One", where the aspect of the character was introduced.[[note]]And while on the subject, Pinkamena as a psychopathic, alternate personality [[MemeticPsychopath is purely a fan invention]] popularized by that blog. In canon, it's just Pinkie's appearance when she's having a bad day or is low on energy.[[/note]] It also spurred a lot of works to have Scootaloo as Pinkie's assistant, despite the fanfic having [[spoiler:Apple Bloom]] in that role instead.

->"''Literature/{{Dracula}} would make a marvelous movie. In fact, nobody has ever made it...all the movies are based on the play."''

* ''Literature/TheJungleBook:'' An overarching example is that virtually any "adaptation of ''The Jungle Book''" is only going to adapt the Mowgli stories; adaptations of the other seven stories are few and far between.
** Despite being TruerToTheText, ''Film/{{Mowgli}}'' has it so that Bagheera finds baby Mowgli and brings him to the wolves to raise, as in [[WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967 the Disney version]]. In the book, Mowgli wanders into the wolves' den himself. It also has Bagheera urging Mowgli to return to the village to avoid Shere Khan; in the book, these are separate issues.

* In the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' comic books, Characters/RocketRaccoon does not speak with any sort of discernible accent, but was given a cockney UsefulNotes/{{British accent|s}} in ''VideoGame/UltimateMarvelVsCapcom3''. This proved popular enough that he was given the same one in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', and a New York / Creator/JoePesci-ish accent in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan''. When it was revealed that Creator/BradleyCooper would not be using an accent in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', some people complained, even though that's how Rocket sounds in the source material.

* Some adaptations of [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] since ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' have drawn from Creator/MarkHamill's performance as the character, particularly either the high pitch, slight rasp or both, and definitely the laugh. It can be jarring for even older fans to watch [[Film/Batman1989 the 1989 film]] again and note that [[Creator/JackNicholson Jack Nicholson]]'s laugh for the character was very different: more "weasel" than [[TheHyena "hyena"]], and often a lot more lower-pitched than the Joker is "supposed" to laugh. Nicholson himself drew from the "hoo-hoo-hoo" laugh (not unlike that of Tigger of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' fame) popularized by Creator/CesarRomero on the [[Series/Batman1966 TV series]].

* Ever since ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' cast Creator/PhilMorris to play the Comicbook/MartianManhunter's "John Jones" identity, just about every subsequent adaptation (such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'' and ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'') has made the Manhunter's [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm human form]] a black man.

*** The Symbiote originally had minimal influence over Peter's mind at best -- the reason he gave it up was because it had a habit of taking his (sleeping) body out at night to websling and because he discovered it was alive and planning on merging with him on a genetic level -- which freaked him out. In fact, the original comics symbiote had no emotions of its own, but developed them as a result of spending so long bonded to Spider-Man, even sacrificing itself (well, almost) to save its former host after being rejected. Though Eddie Brock, who hated Spider-Man, was able to use it to go against him as Comicbook/{{Venom}}, the symbiote still tried to jump ship and return to Spider-Man when Spidey made the offer. In [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries the '90s animated series]], the symbiote was portrayed as having its own, extremely aggressive personality, which was starting to overwrite Peter's as the bond grew stronger, and all adaptations since have taken this up.

*** Also, none of the adaptations since -- ''Ultimate'' ([[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan comic]] and [[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan cartoon]]), ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan Spectacular]]'', or [[Film/SpiderMan3 film]] -- have kept its origin from ''Comicbook/SecretWars1984'', where it essentially came from an alien vending machine. ''Spectacular'' and ''3'' had it come from space, as in the '90s animated series; the ''Ultimate'' comic had it as a product of his father's research into a cure for cancer; and the ''Ultimate'' cartoon had [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]] create it.

* Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles:

** In addition, every adaptation has Frankenstein using some form of electricity to animate his creation. In the book, the framing device is the Doctor telling his story to a sea captain, and when he gets to ''how'' he created the monster he basically says, "And then I gave it life. [[AndSomeOtherStuff I'm not telling you how, because I don't want anybody to repeat what I did]]." Obviously, that wouldn't have worked on the big screen. The only exceptions are [[Film/{{Frankenstein 1910}} the 1910 version]] by Edison Studios -- that one uses a vat of chemicals -- and the 1973 TV-movie ''Frankenstein: The True Story'', which uses solar energy. Ever since the famous Universal version, however, electricity has been standard.\\

** [[Film/{{Frankenstein2004}} The 2004 movie]] is one of the few screen adaptations of the source material that averts the [[SmallReferencePools stereotypical look of Frankenstein's creation established by the Karloff films]], trying to be more faithful to Shelley's original description.

** In ''Franchise/{{Fate|Series}}'' the long standing tradition of {{Gender Flip}}ing is in effect but Frankenstein is a CompositeCharacter of the Bride and quite attractive, except to Victor Frankenstein who tried to kill her and cancelled his original plans of making a pair, despite the deviation and how she's a HollywoodCyborg the book's events appeared to have played out. Also Mary Shelley's letters had indicated that the Monster was going to be named Adam, in VideoGame/FateGrandOrder Victor's second attempt of Frankenstein was appropriately named Eve.

* In [[Literature/{{Madeline}} the books]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Madeline}} original cartoon specials]] of ''Madeline'', Madeline's parents were alive and well, just like those of her schoolmates. But [[Film/{{Madeline}} the 1998 live-action film]] portrayed her as a HeartwarmingOrphan whose only mother figure was Miss Clavel. Afterwards, the cartoon series promptly [[{{Retcon}} Retconned]] her into an orphan too and made the animated feature ''Madeline: Lost In Paris'' revolve around her lack of family.

** In the legends, [[TheEvilPrince Mordred]]'s mother is Morgause. C. J. Riethmüller's 1848 play ''Launcelot of the Lake'' seems to be the first adaptation to make Morgan le Fay (Morgause's more villainous sister) the mom instead, but it's since become very common. ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'' is probably the TropeCodifier, though.

** The book's Dracula doesn't even live in Transylvania. Jonathan travels '''across''' Transylvania, and finds Dracula's castle right after crossing the border. It is presumably in Wallachia, where the historical Vlad Dracul was actually from. However, much like ''Literature/MobyDick'''s real color, this is only mentioned briefly after a respectable part of the book spent in Transylvania, so it is no wonder most people remember Transylvania and forget the crossing of the border.

** Likewise, it's becoming increasingly common to feature ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/BlackWidow, and ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} as founding members of the Avengers, even though they were not founders in the comics and indeed replaced ''actual'' founders ComicBook/AntMan and [[Characters/AntManHeroes The Wasp]] in the movie. Captain America was retroactively given founder status in the comics, as he essentially replaced [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]] so early in the team's history.

* ComicBook/BlackCanary and ComicBook/GreenArrow are a prominent BattleCouple in the comics. In live-action adaptations? Not so much. ''Series/BirdsOfPrey2002'' and the ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' did not adapt Green Arrow (''Birds of Prey'' was canceled before [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Oliver's planned appearance]]) and instead focuses on Black Canary's dynamic with [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey her team]], while both ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' had Green Arrow end up with a blonde hacker.

* Franchise/TheFlash:
** Barry Allen is blond but [[Series/TheFlash1990 every single]] [[Series/{{Arrowverse}} live-action]] [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse adaptation]] depicted him [[AdaptationDyeJob as a brunet]].

* When ComicBook/{{Robin}} was introduced in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', he was redesigned so that his elf boots and scaly shorts were replaced with pants and a pair of more practical black combat boots, bringing him closer to the then-current Tim Drake look, despite the character being Dick Grayson. (The design originally arose from a concept for ''Film/BatmanReturns'', which was meant to be Dick Grayson.) Virtually every cartoon to feature Robin since then (''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'', ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'') has used a similarly "modern" design rather than using his classic look. Also, the new black-and-red costume Tim Drake got when he finally appeared in the cartoon (since his comic look was stolen by Grayson) eventually made it back to the comics.
** Likewise when he graduates to Characters/{{Nightwing|DickGrayson}}. Nearly every DC Comics adaptation following ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' featuring Dick's adult identity (a BadFuture in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', a not-so-bad future in ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' and ''WesternAnimation/SonOfBatman'') uses a variant of the costume from ''New Batman Adventures'': a blue bird ChestInsignia with serrated wings on an otherwise unmarked black outfit. Make the bird red (and of course add the infamous nipples) and you have his Robin outfit from ''Film/BatmanAndRobin.'' Nightwing has never worn this outfit in the comics, the closest being a black outfit with a blue stripe that went down the arms and formed a sort of arrow on the chest. His ''ComicBook/New52'' outfit was kind of like this, but with a red, more stylised bird. ''Teen Titans'' and ''Young Justice'' also follow ''NBA'' in not including the bat-symbol mask. (Exceptions: ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' uses the original seventies costume; ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' uses the blue-stripe version.)

* Ever since ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' cast Creator/PhilMorris to play the Comicbook/MartianManhunter's "John Jones" identity, just about every subsequent adaptation (such as ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' and ''Series/{{Supergirl 2015}}'') has made the Manhunter's [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm human form]] a black man.

* [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]]'s {{bodyguard|Babes}} Mercy Graves from ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' proved popular enough to not only become a CanonImmigrant, but has also been featured in a number of subsequent adaptations such as ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' and ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. Even when Mercy herself doesn't appear, it's become pretty standard for Luthor to now have [[{{Expy}} a female bodyguard or assistant]] whenever he appears in an adaptation. In another example, ''The Batman'' {{Race Lift}}ed Mercy into an Asian woman, an idea that was later used in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''.

** Creator/RichardDonner's original ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and its sequel, ''Film/SupermanII'' remain the main template for live-action adaptations to the extent that recent Superman movies like Creator/BryanSinger's ''Film/SupermanReturns'' and ''Film/ManOfSteel'' still use the same familiar tropes and characteristics from these movies with Singer using the first two movies (made in TheSeventies) as continuity. For instance, Superman's RoguesGallery in movies can be restricted to Luthor and Zod, and it took ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' to introduce a new member of Superman's RoguesGallery: Doomsday, who was himself a deformed clone of [[spoiler:General Zod's body]]. There have been talks of bringing in ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}, Mxyzsptlk, [[Characters/SupermanBizarro Bizarro]], Toyman, and Parasite among many other villains, along with secondary characters like Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} into the movie continuity[[note]]Even ''Superman III'' was supposed to have Brainiac, Mxyzsptlk, AND Supergirl in its original treatment[[/note]] but the first two Donner movies remain the main reference point.

* In the original comics, Cheshire doesn't wear a mask. The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' animated series featured her briefly, but her appearance was quite memorable, and she wore a big grinning cat mask, its smile the last to fade when she was being stealthy. Since then, all her animated appearances (''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'') feature it.
* The popularity of the 2003 ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' cartoons has led to numerous adaptations of [[Franchise/TeenTitans the comic of the same name]] such as ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTeenTitans'' to use that version's team roster (ComicBook/{{Robin}}, ComicBook/{{Starfire}}, ComicBook/{{Raven}}, ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}, and ComicBook/BeastBoy) despite it not being the original lineup.

** In the comics, the ComicBook/{{Juggernaut|MarvelComics}} is [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]]'s step-brother and isn't even a mutant, getting his powers from a magic gem, and he originally worked alone or with one partner. Since he's one of the X-Men's [[RoguesGallery most iconic villains]], he tends to be one of Magneto's henchmen in adaptations, usually not mentioning the nature of his powers and his relationship to Prof. X or actually making him a mutant and/or not related to Xavier at all. It's even partially made it back to the comics: while he's still Xavier's non-mutant stepbrother, writers more familiar with the adaptations than the comics often have him mention being a former member of the Brotherhood. He finally did appear as a member of a short-lived incarnation of the Brotherhood, albeit one largely unconnected to previous versions aside from using the same name; this hasn't stopped artists from drawing him fighting alongside Magneto (which he has never done) in flashbacks.

* Films based on the biblical Exodus tend to borrow a lot from Creator/CecilBDeMille[='s=] ''Film/TheTenCommandments'', most notably the Pharaoh being called Ramses ([[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep he's referred to only as "Pharaoh" in the Bible]]). It's also common to depict the Pharaoh as bald, apparently just because Creator/YulBrynner was. (To be fair, however, most high-class Egyptians ''did'' deliberately shave their heads, though they often wore wigs.)

* [[Characters/BlackCanaryTheBlackCanary Black Canary]] and ComicBook/GreenArrow are a prominent BattleCouple in the comics. In live-action adaptations? Not so much. ''Series/BirdsOfPrey2002'' and the ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' did not adapt Green Arrow (''Birds of Prey'' was canceled before [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Oliver's planned appearance]]) and instead focuses on Black Canary's dynamic with [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey her team]], while both ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and the ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' had Green Arrow end up with a blonde hacker.

** In the book, Scrooge goes to Fred's house for Christmas Day, then meets Bob Cratchit at work the next day; we never actually see him meet the rest of Bob's family. Every adaptation ever has him go over to the Cratchits' on Christmas Day.

** In the United States at least, the pop-culture image of the novel is heavily influenced by the [[TheSixties '60s]] musical ''Theatre/ManOfLaMancha'' and its movie [[AdaptationDisplacement adaptation]], which is actually an original story about Cervantes directing [[ShowWithinAShow a theatre adaptation of his novel]] while awaiting trial by UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition (something that [[ArtisticLicenseHistory never happened in reality]]). This includes the heroic interpretation of Don Quixote, the BeamMeUpScotty line ''"Too much sanity may be madness and maddest of all..."'', and Aldonza being a [[PlatonicProstitution beautiful]] [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold prostitute]] instead of the rough, unsophisticated country girl in the book.