History Main / MyRealDaddy

* Although UsefulNotes/{{Mcdonalds}} was initially founded by Richard and Maurice [=McDonald=], it was Ray Kroc, who had purchased the rights from the brothers, who had made into the famous international fast food chain it is now, on top of founding many of the philosophies and ideologies that would define the chain to this day. Ray Kroc's impact and influence on the chain was so great that the current [=McDonalds=] corporation credits Ray Kroc as its creator as opposed to the [=McDonald=] brothers, which have become more or less, a footnote in the company's history.

* Although UsefulNotes/{{Mcdonalds}} was initially founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald, it was Ray Kroc, who had purchased the rights from the brothers, who had made into the famous international fast food chain it is now, on top of founding many of the philosophies and ideologies that would define the brand for years to come. Ray Kroc's impact and influence on the chain was so great that the current McDonalds corporation credits Ray Kroc as its creator as opposed to the McDonald Brothers, which have become more or less, a footnote in the company's history.

Compare AdaptationDisplacement, CantUnHearIt, BetterThanCanon, and CoveredUp. When done with a singular character, it may be a result of being the CreatorsFavorite. Contrast RunningTheAsylum, where such people are often regarded as [[WickedStepmother evil step-parents]], and OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight, where fans think a work is better when its creator is actively involved in it. Not to be confused FamilyOfChoice, where the ''characters'' decide who they feel their real parents are.

* Both "[[WordSaladTitle Luminous Big Kito]] [[{{Engrish}} Extrusion Nausea Maggots]]" and "Skilevaks" started off as cheap dollar store Halloween decorations made by no-name toy companies, but are now well-loved additions to ''Website/{{Bogleech}}.com'''s loosely connected "Noisy Tenant" mythos.

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** Like with Bardock and Future Trunks in their animated specials written by Takao Koyama, some people prefer the way Zamasu and Goku Black (especially the last one) are written by anime writer Creator/AtsuhiroTomioka in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' compared with the manga version (done by Creator/{{Toyotaro}} instead of Toriyama, in this case). Future Trunks and Future Mai also get this to a certain extent by having a bigger protagonistic role in their own saga, with much needed CharacterDevelopment and an effective GutPunch. Of course, like everything in ''Dragon Ball'', this is up to debate.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paul_roman_martinez_batman_creation_153042.jpg]]]]

** A third faction of Ultramarines fans reject both Ward (for portraying the Ultramarines as a {{MarySue}} army) and [=McNeill=] (for portraying them as LawfulStupid) and instead hold Relic Entertainment and Creator/{{THQ}}, of all people, as the "true" authors of the Ultramarines, thanks to their work on the ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine'' video game. This is because ''Space Marine'' shows the Ultramarines as heroic, determined, and diligent without making them unstoppable and flawless (Ward) or hidebound to the point of incompetence regarding the Codex Astartes ([=McNeill=]).

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[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/XMen https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/my_real_daddy_x_men2_2.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Top: the Creator/StanLee era of ''ComicBook/XMen'', which almost no one remembers. Bottom: the Creator/ChrisClaremont era, which ''everyone'' remembers.]]

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' example: Dr. Clef created the Scarlet King, but the entity was nothing more than background for SCP 231. It was Djoric instead who greatly expanded on the lore of the Scarlet King, giving readers most of what they know of the Scarlet King.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheBourneSeries'': [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] with OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight, one may argue that the Bourne series [[HasTwoMommies has two daddies]] with directors Creator/DougLiman and Creator/PaulGreengrass. With ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'', Liman gave the film a unique style, but it was Greengrass who would flesh it out in its sequels ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy'' and ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'', with Liman still involved as executive producer, garnering even greater acclaim. But when Greengrass turned down the offer to direct ''Film/TheBourneLegacy'', Creator/MattDamon left with him, saying he wouldn't do any more movies without him, and Liman left too. This is part of why ''Legacy'' hasn't been as well-received as its predecessors. Though it should be noted that Tony Gilroy wrote all four films (and directed ''Legacy''). It seems to go both ways, too: though Greengrass returned to direct the fifth film, ''Film/JasonBourne'' with Matt Damon coming back, this time around Gilroy was not involved at all, and it likewise was also not as well-received as the first three films.
* Although every one of the ''Film/CarryOn'' films was produced by Creator/PeterRogers and directed by Creator/GeraldThomas, and the core cast remained largely unchanged throughout the series' run, it was scriptwriter Creator/TalbotRothwell whom most fans regard as having really made the films what they were. The early, Norman Hudis-scripted films (up to and including ''Film/CarryOnCruising'') are regarded as middling, while the films made after Rothwell retired due to ill health (from ''Film/CarryOnBehind'' onward) are viewed as downright terrible.[[note]]It didn't help that Rothwell's departure coincided with those of long-running cast members Creator/SidJames, Creator/HattieJacques, and Creator/BarbaraWindsor.[[/note]]
* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse:
** Creator/ZackSnyder's ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' introduced us to Wonder Woman, who is shown to be a jaded immortal worn down by years of humanity's ugliness. [[Film/WonderWoman2017 Her solo film]] showed her as a BrokenBird who, in spite of all she saw, still had enough idealism to use the PowerOfLove against [[spoiler:her brother Ares]]. The direction Creator/PattyJenkins took Wonder Woman would lead to her film being the first critically acclaimed entry of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse and turn the character into more of a household name who is now as popular, if not more so, than Batman and Superman. That being said, she later took flak for where she was going with ''Film/WonderWoman1984''.
** Aquaman. When ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' first introduced Aquaman, he was depicted as a gruff, cynical loner and SourSupporter who only joined the team after being pressured by Mera. In Creator/JamesWan's ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'', he was changed into a down-to-earth ReluctantHero with a compelling personal journey of finding acceptance by the Atlanteans while also having HiddenDepths to complement his macho personality. These changes made Aquaman more relatable and less of a one-note "surfer dude" as seen in ''Justice League''. Public perception-wise, Wan also successfully [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] the character and his mythos enough to win over many who still [[ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman thought he was a useless superhero]].
** In spite of all the above criticism aimed at Snyder, ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' ended up much better received than the 2017 theatrical cut (in which he had no input), with a vastly improved team dynamic compared to Creator/JossWhedon's version (and much better received characterization for the heroes in it as well).
* While neither Creator/JustinLin nor Chris Morgan were involved with ''Film/TheFastAndTheFurious'' franchise until the later installments, both are credited as the real masterminds for the series. Their work on the movies gradually turned the series from a fairly mundane racing and crime drama series of films to an over-the-top series of action movies relying on the rules of both [[RuleOfFun Fun]] and [[RuleOfCool Cool]], focusing on the entire character ensemble with "family" being one of the core themes and having a greater sense of continuity. This retooled approach wound up being a hit with both critics and audiences and transformed the movies into a billion-dollar franchise.
* Officially speaking, the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' franchise was created by Victor Miller, the writer of [[Film/FridayThe13th1980 the first movie]], who is given a "Based on Characters Created By..." credit in all of its sequels. However, Miller did not have any involvement with those sequels, and thus, he didn't create the series' most famous attribute - Jason Voorhees as the invincible killer wearing a hockey mask - as Jason wasn't the villain until the second film. Furthermore, Miller wrote the original's script under hire for Sean S. Cunningham, its producer-director who conceived of the title and concept, and thus he couldn't even really be said to be the true creator of that movie. If anyone could be claimed as the real creative leader of the series, it'd be either Steve Miner -- both a co-producer of the first film and producer-director of the first two sequels, and thus the guy who gave us killer-Jason and his iconic costume -- or Frank Mancuso Jr., who produced all of the sequels at Paramount. And when discussing who the ''best'' writer and/or director on the series was, ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVIJasonLives'' writer-director Tom [=McLoughlin=] is the generally the person who most fans point to, as ''Jason Lives'' is not only often considered the best film in the series, along with rescuing the franchise after the terrible reception of the [[Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning previous sequel]], but the "Zombie Jason" idea it introduced would set the direction for the remainder of the original series, before its eventual ContinuityReboot.
* In UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood, a number of iconic screen actors and their personas largely depended on StarMakingRole from particular film-makers:
** Creator/CaryGrant made many films in TheThirties, often in a variety of roles, such as a cockney con-man in ''Sylvia Scarlett'' by Creator/GeorgeCukor (where he uses his real accent) but film historians note that the iconic image of Grant, as an elegant, classy, charismatic gentleman who can be a comic and dramatic lead, really began with director Creator/LeoMcCarey and his film ''Film/TheAwfulTruth''. [=McCarey=] who had a startling resemblance to Grant, actually had Grant imitate his fashion and dressing style to better convey his performance which at the time was PlayingAgainstType but in time became TypeCasting.
** The actor Marion Morrison was renamed Creator/JohnWayne by Creator/RaoulWalsh whose film ''Film/TheBigTrail'' was intended to launch him but failed instead. Wayne then spent the rest of TheThirties in minor parts before Creator/JohnFord gave him his break in ''Film/{{Stagecoach}}''. But film historians largely credit Creator/HowardHawks and his film ''Film/RedRiver'' for [[TropeCodifier codifying]] Wayne's familiar screen image as a RatedMForManly DeadpanSnarker action hero who was also a BruiserWithASoftCenter. Indeed Creator/JohnFord was famously noted to have remarked after seeing ''Red River'', "I didn't know that son of a bitch can act", and Ford after that indeed cast Wayne in a more nuanced and mythical manner in films like ''Film/TheSearchers'' and ''Film/TheManWhoShotLibertyValance''.
** While Creator/IanFleming created Franchise/JamesBond, his version was far closer to being a VillainProtagonist than even the darkest movie versions. Creator/TerenceYoung was really the creator of the suave Creator/SeanConnery Bond we all love. His instruction to Sean was to imitate him. Also the ''James Bond'' Theme. The authorship has been disputed for years with composer Music/JohnBarry arguing in court Monty Norman's claim of authorship and ultimately losing before he died. Monty Norman definitely did come up with the melody, borrowing it from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6EuzGhIyRQ "Good Sign, Bad Sign"]] a song he wrote for the musical "A House for Mr Biswas" but Barry's orchestration, with its electric guitar intro and big brassy sound, was what made it popular.
* As far as the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' films series goes, director Creator/AlfonsoCuaron is generally considered to be this by fans. While Cuaron only directed one film -- ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' -- it's generally considered to be where the franchise [[GrowingTheBeard came into its own]], becoming much darker and more dramatic than the first two films, which are generally considered slightly too juvenile in retrospect. ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' director Mike Newell also has a decent reputation among fans, it's just that his work wasn't as series-defining as Cuaron's.
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** While there wasn't exactly a dark, empty void where a Film/{{Thor}} fanbase should be, the character's popularity in the MCU skyrocketed with ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' at the hands of Creator/TaikaWaititi. Waititi encouraged Creator/ChrisHemsworth to improvise more, which led to a revamp of the character from a FishOutOfWater BoisterousBruiser to a lovable goofball of an IronWoobie GuileHero who can now match wits with Loki himself. Not only is ''Ragnarok'' the highest scored film of the ''Thor'' trilogy and [[FountainOfMemes more quotable than its predecessors]], but Thor's characterization in it continued into ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''.
** Whilst ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', directed by Joe Johnston, was relatively well-received, it was [[Creator/TheRussoBrothers Joe and Anthony Russo]] that helped increase the character's fanbase significantly with ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier The Winter Soldier]]'' and ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Civil War]]'', both of which are considered top contenders for the best film in the MCU. Additionally, once Creator/JossWhedon declined to direct ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' after the [[TroubledProduction behind-the-scenes drama]] on ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', the Russos were the frontrunners to direct ''Infinity War'' and ''[[Film/AvengersEndgame Endgame]]'', resulting in two Avengers movies that had more drama and depth than either [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the first film]] or the aforementioned ''Age of Ultron''.
** Much of how the cosmic side of the MCU worked, looked and felt can be attributed to Creator/JamesGunn and his work on the ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 films]] after previous sneak peeks in the first two ''Thor'' films. In some cases, it's suggested that his films' {{Bathos}}-mixed irreverent humor (often scored by period-specific pop music) changed the ''entirety of the franchise'' thanks to following directors wanting to emulate him, making Gunn the Real Daddy of the MCU itself. This is evidenced by the aforementioned Taika Waititi admitting that ''Guardians'' was a major influence on ''Ragnarok''. Furthermore, nobody in Hollywood wanted to take over the director's chair for ''Guardians 3'' after Gunn's initial firing as it was sacrilegious for anyone to take over the series that Gunn helped define, which subsequently lead to his rehiring.
** ComicBook/BlackWidow was introduced in ''Film/IronMan2'' by Creator/JonFavreau, but her role was mostly in a supporting capacity and whatever personality we could glean marked her as TheStoic and overly professional, not to mention quite the MsFanservice. Creator/JossWhedon expanded her character in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', giving her a PlatonicLifePartners friendship with ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, one of the wittiest senses of humor in the franchise, and a skill in quick-thinking that granted her almost complete control of any situation she found herself in, resulting in acts like her outsmarting Loki much to his confusion. Later installments in the MCU expanded on Whedon's portrayal of her as the character who "pretends [she] knows everything" and while Whedon's reputation and his credit as her Real Daddy has soured over the years thanks to a BrokenBase surrounding a subplot in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', her current characterization can easily be traced back to the first ''Avengers'' film.
* For ''Film/MissionImpossibleFilmSeries'':
** Creator/JJAbrams is considered this by far. [[Film/MissionImpossible The first film]], while for the most part well-liked is divisive for fans of the original show and [[Film/MissionImpossibleII the second]] falls under a case of {{Sequelitis}} for many. Abrams took over, first as director and co-writer for the third film and as producer for the subsequent sequels, and the following entries introduced major set pieces while also mixing in some character development, focused on the team's entire ensemble while Creator/TomCruise's Ethan Hunt remained the central character, signified why later installments [[StoppedNumberingSequels dropped their numbering]], introduced signature characters to the series such as Benji Dunn, William Brandt, and Ilsa Faust, while before Hunt and Luther Stickell were the only recurring characters in the series, and featured several [[MythologyGag affectionate nods]] to the show, most notably reintroducing recurring organization the Syndicate as the main antagonists of the films, all of which successfully transformed the franchise into the mega-hit it is with critics and audiences.
** Creator/ChristopherMcQuarrie, who directed and wrote the [[Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation fifth]] and [[Film/MissionImpossibleFallout sixth]] films in the series, has begun sharing this status. While the previous two films in the series were considered good, ''Rogue Nation'' and ''Fallout'' were seen as [[EvenBetterSequel even better]]. It was under his work where the introduction of the aforementioned fan favorite [[ActionGirl Ilsa Faust]] occurred and the Syndicate, only mentioned in previous movies, took center stage as the BigBad, allowing for a greater sense of continuity between his two films.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Creator/NicholasMeyer's work on the [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan second]], [[Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome fourth]] and [[Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry sixth]] movies; he's credited with defining the original series movie era, with his overall tone and atmosphere on display anytime that time period is shown in the subsequent TV shows.
** To a lesser extent this applies to Harve Bennett, who produced the second through fifth films. After the TroubledProduction of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' resulted in that film being produced ''way'' over-budget and led to Creator/GeneRoddenberry getting kicked upstairs, Bennett took over the film series, hired Meyer to direct the second film and proved that a ''Star Trek'' film could be made much more economically. He's not held in ''quite'' the same esteem as Meyer, however, due to the [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock third]] and [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier fifth]] films -- made without Meyer's involvement -- being SoOkayItsAverage and a critical and commercial disaster respectively.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** Even if the name of Creator/GeorgeLucas is ubiquitously associated with the franchise, his position as the primary creator of ''Star Wars'' has been questioned by some fans of the franchise. A lot of fans argue that the Original Trilogy movies ought to be credited less to Lucas than his collaborators. While Lucas wrote and directed ''Film/ANewHope'' by himself, many argue that producer Gary Kurtz ensured "quality control" over the final product[[note]]In actual fact, producer Kurtz negotiated final cut for Lucas at Twentieth Century Fox meaning he was never in position to say anything about the "quality" since that was entirely Lucas' domain[[/note]]. Others also credit George Lucas's wife at the time, Marcia Lucas[[note]]After the initial cut assembled by British editor John Jympson turned out to be absolute crap which some point out is a normal phenomenon for any rough cut in film history, it's called "rough" for a reason. Marcia (an experienced editor who worked on ''Film/TaxiDriver'', among other films) recut the film from scratch and that George couldn't make any suggestions until she and co-editors Paul Hirsch and Richard Chew had assembled a complete edit. Which is more or less normal practice for any editor[[/note]]. Meanwhile, Creator/MarkHamill and Creator/StevenSpielberg contend that Lucas was solely responsible for the overall vision and aesthetic of the films (a Space opera BMovie done on the scale of an EpicMovie with mixes of Japanese JidaiGeki and TheWestern) and that he had to constantly fight naysayers, producers, and cast and crew who didn't take the film seriously because [[ItWillNeverCatchOn the subject matter seemed childish to them]], as it did to most audiences of ScienceFiction BMovie before ''Star Wars''. In the case of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Lucas served as producer and writer; while the film was directed by Irvin Kershner, Lucas was entirely and ''solely'' responsible for the film's central PlotTwist (LukeIAmYourFather), as well as deciding on the Han/Leia romance, creating the characters of Yoda and Lando Calrissian, without which it's unlikely that ''The Empire Strikes Back'' would be as respected as it is. Lucas was also more hands-on in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' owing to the contentious direction of Richard Marquand.
** Creator/DaveFiloni is highly regarded by the fanbase for fixing and improving on the highly contentious prequels. His series ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' is beloved even amongst prequel haters for restoring the mysticism of the Force and humanizing the prequel characters, especially Anakin who actually became a likable and sympathetic figure. His work on ''Series/TheMandalorian'' was similarly well-regarded for the world-building and characterization of the Mandalorians.
** Creator/JonFavreau for showrunning ''The Mandalorian'', the Disney-era ''Star Wars'' live-action entry that has by far the least amount of BrokenBase compared to the films made since the buyout.
** The commercial success of Creator/TimothyZahn's ''[[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Thrawn Trilogy]]'' in addition to being important for the ExpandedUniverse also played a big part in convincing Lucas that interest in ''Star Wars'' hadn't died. While little of Zahn's works would ever be directly adapted into the live-action films, the city-planet of Coruscant first debuted in his pages, as well as a few other details which ultimately appeared in Lucas' Special Edition and later the prequels themselves. Thrawn himself would migrate to the ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'' animated series.
* For the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
** Creator/BryanSinger wrote, directed, and produced the first two films and he had this reputation and status for the first three films, returning after a hiatus to direct the well-received ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. The highly divisive reception of ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', directed by Creator/BrettRatner, was compounded by the fact of not having Singer at the helm.
** A lot of fans consider Creator/MatthewVaughn to be this for the later X-Men films. He was the director of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', which was considered the return to form of the franchise and became the first successful film in the series ''not'' [[SpotlightStealingSquad centered on]] ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}. He also changed the aesthetic of a trilogy that was formerly the {{Trope Maker|s}} and TropeCodifier for MovieSuperheroesWearBlack, introduced a much more humorous and sexy style (even those who liked the first ''X-Men'' films pointed out that they were rather overly serious with material that ''really'' did not work for that), made the costumes and visual design much more brighter and colourful (giving the ''First Class'' team a black and lemon yellow ensemble and setting the finale in broad daylight on the beaches of Cuba). When Singer returned to the franchise, with ''Days of Future Past'', he followed Vaughn's aesthetic, and the success of ''First Class'' also led studios to green-light more personal and director-driven takes on the series, and even push to the R-rating (Vaughn's film was the first superhero film with a PrecisionFStrike), leading to ''Film/Deadpool2016'' and ''Film/{{Logan}}''.
** Many fans consider Creator/JamesMangold to be the HonoraryUncle of the ''X-Men'' movies and the real daddy of Wolverine. By the 2010s, Wolverine turned into a bit of a joke largely thanks to his static personality and [[WolverinePublicity general overexposure]] in ''The Last Stand'' and ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine''. Mangold managed to reinvigorate the character with the solo movies ''Film/TheWolverine'' and ''Film/{{Logan}}'' by giving him a character arc of finding reconciliation with his violent past, thereby making Wolverine more interesting and less one-note killing machine. Furthermore, Mangold's movies are also gritty neo-noir thrillers that helped stand out from the other X-Men movies. Subsequently, both movies are widely respected for making the Wolverine relevant again in a way that honors the character's gritty roots.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* A publisher variant with ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': Though Microsoft has owned the bear and bird for far longer than Creator/{{Nintendo}} held any rights to them, you'll be hard-pressed to find a fan who doesn't think of ''Banjo-Kazooie'' as the latter's property at heart thanks to the first two games being among the most popular on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64. Doesn't really help that the franchise's output after creator Creator/{{Rare}} was bought by Microsoft consists of two oft-forgotten handheld titles and a third entry that [[FranchiseKiller outright killed the series]], consigning the characters to cameos and minor guest appearances for the next decade. A common refrain heard after Banjo and Kazooie were announced as DLC fighters for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' was that the two were back right where they belonged.
* Creator/{{Nintendo}} has another publisher variant in the ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' series, literally [[NetworkToTheRescue saving]] ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' after Creator/{{Sega}} dropped the title, and releasing the title alongside the first game on the UsefulNotes/WiiU. Even after the game became a AcclaimedFlop, Nintendo still decided to not only port over ''both'' games to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch right away, but also fund [[VideoGame/Bayonetta3 a third game]] despite the low sales. Some wonder why Sega even bothers to even keep the franchise at this point.
* ''VideoGame/{{BEMANI}}'':
** Naoki Maeda, despite having left his position of ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' sound producer to work on ''[[VideoGame/DanceMasters DanceEvolution]]'' before leaving Konami entirely to produce ''VideoGame/CrossBeats'' and later ''VideoGame/SEVENsCODE'', is still seen by many fans as the face of ''DDR'' despite the series' team having changed significantly since then, especially since he produced a large number of original ''DDR'' songs that gave the series its identity during its ''[[NumberedSequels nth MIX]]'' days. Fans feel that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks the quality of DDR games has declined ever since he left]].
** Takayuki "dj TAKA" Ishikawa is often seen as "the ''VideoGame/{{beatmania}} IIDX'' guy", having served as sound director for nearly every ''IIDX'' game until ''beatmania IIDX 16 EMPRESS''. He's still involved in ''BEMANI'' in other positions and with other games, but he's the musician most commonly associated with ''IIDX''.
* The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series were only a string of loosely connected titles made by various teams within Creator/{{Konami}} with only [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI the]] [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest NES]] [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse trilogy]] having a common team (led by Hitoshi Akamatsu) working on all three of them. After the success of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' (as well as the lukewarm reception for ''VideoGame/Castlevania64''), assistant director Koji Igarashi was promoted to series producer starting with ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance'' and from then on, the series started having a unified canon, with an art style overseen by illustrator Ayami Kojima (who became acclaimed for her contributions to the aforementioned ''Symphony'', which in turn solidified Alucard's appearance and BreakoutCharacter status compared to his ''CVIII'' debut) and music composed by Creator/MichiruYamane (who had already scored the previous installment, ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'', but likewise caught the attention of many with her work on ''Symphony''). The series later received a ContinuityReboot with ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'', but this new incarnation only lasted three games before Konami went back with Igarashi's canon with the smartphone game ''Grimoire of Souls''.
* The rivalry between developers Infinity Ward and Treyarch on the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series. Infinity Ward were the original creators of the franchise, and were behind ''Call of Duty'', ''Call of Duty 2'', and the genre-defining ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare''. Treyarch, meanwhile, were widely seen as the "B"-team due to starting with the well-received but comparatively-obscure console spin-off ''Call of Duty 2: Big Red One'', a game they would follow with the much reviled ''Call of Duty 3''; much of that ill-will would follow them in their next game in the series, ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' (an installment that would see a [[VindicatedByHistory reevaluation]] in the next decade). However, over time, Treyarch has received credit for being responsive to fan input and their willingness to experiment, innovate, and take the series in new directions with the likes of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' and especially ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', while Infinity Ward has been criticized for a perceived unwillingness to deviate from their long-time formula, as embodied by the mediocre reception of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts''. It doesn't help that many of the leading minds behind the better-regarded ''Infinity Ward [=CoD=]'' titles have moved on to [[VideoGame/{{Titanfall}} other things]].
* While the creator of the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series is Creator/HidekiKamiya, he only really had full involvement with [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 the very first game in the series]]. From [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening the third game]] onward, the series has been headed by Hideaki Itsuno, which is around the time the series and its protagonist truly hit their stride. One could even argue Itsuno took up this role as early as the tail end of ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'': Though credited as the sole director for ''[=DMC2=]'', he was not brought on board until incredibly late in the game's development cycle, taking the reins during what was very much a TroubledProduction and managing to piece together the final product in the span of '''six months'''. While it's unclear how many of the gameplay elements that carried over from ''[=DMC2=]'' to ''[=DMC3=]'' were Itsuno's doing, it has been noted that the endgame segments of ''2'''s story, particularly the last two missions of Dante's scenario, are more tonally and thematically consistent with Itsuno's contributions to the subsequent installments than the rest of the game, serving as a prelude to the heavier focus on character and narrative from ''3'' onward.
* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
** Although Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto was the creator of Franchise/DonkeyKong, the iconic [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong arcade game]] is largely seen as part of the ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' series instead, and that franchise didn't hit its own stride until the original ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros.]]'' for the NES. Most people consider the true shaper of the DK franchise to be Creator/{{Rare}}, creator of the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games. These games created DK's own corner of the Mario universe by introducing his supporting cast of Kongs such as Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong, and Dixie Kong, the setting of the tropical DK Isle and its surrounding islands, his obsession with bananas, and the villains King K. Rool and the Kremling Krew, all of which would be elements that would help DK gain a fandom of his own beyond being a footnote in the ''Mario'' series.
** After Rare's departure from Nintendo and buyout by [[Creator/XboxGameStudios Microsoft's gaming division]], the fans have not forgotten Rare, but have also embraced Creator/RetroStudios as a second "adoptive" daddy for the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise thanks to their work on ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' and ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze Tropical Freeze]]''. Not only did they save the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise from the DorkAge that started since Rare's departure in 2002 (or, depending on how you feel about ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', since that game's 1999 release), they also tried to add to the series' lore with new villains like the Tiki Tak Tribe and the Snowmads, and introducing new gameplay mechanics to the games, most notably the rocket barrel levels.
* For many fans of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, former writer Creator/MichaelKirkbride is considered this. Kirkbride wrote for both ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', as well as for the ActionAdventure [[GaidenGame spin-off]] ''Redguard''. In addition, Kirkbride wrote dozens of the series' [[Literature/TheElderScrollsInUniverseBooks in-universe books]]. Kirkbride is credited in particular for establishing the series' famous "lore", essentially taking the loose assembly of fantasy elements that existed as of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' and forming them into a unique ConstructedWorld with a deep backstory, mythology, and cosmology. He still contributes "[[LooseCanon Obscure Texts]]" to the series, essentially [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary items]] treated as canonical by most of the fanbase (or at least the equivalent of the series' famous in-universe UnreliableCanon). Kirkbride still does some freelance work on the series, and as of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', some of the concepts in his works have been officially referenced in-game (the idea of "[[ViciousCycle kalpas]]," [[LongDeadBadass Ysgramor]] and his [[BadassArmy 500 companions]], and some of the motivations of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]]), moving them to CanonImmigrant status.
* Though 2K owns the license of ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'', Turtle Rock Studios is the one beloved by the fandom due to their connection to the community and actually being the ones to make the game. This attitude only intensified after 2K revoked TRS's use of the franchise and [[BlatantLies called the game complete]], to which TRS responded by using their last few hours of authority to answer fan questions, wrap up the mysteries in the story, and talk about what they'd had planned.
* Creator/ObsidianEntertainment are seen as this by quite a few ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' fans, considering the company was primarily made up of former Black Isle employees. Creator/ChrisAvellone, in particular -- even though he wasn't involved until ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', as the editor and compiler of The Fallout Bible, he's accepted by many to be the true father. A large part of the reason for this is because ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'' is very short and only has a couple of factions. Most of the ''Fallout'' universe concepts actually originated in ''Fallout 2''. ''Fallout 1'' set up the general idea for the series, but ''Fallout 2'' took that idea and fleshed it out. Also keep in mind that there is a character in ''Fallout 1'' named after him, so it isn't like he was a new hire for ''Fallout 2''. He just wasn't directly working on ''Fallout 1'' when it was in development. This became HilariousInHindsight in 2020, as ''Fallout'', Obsidian, and Bethesda are now all owned by Creator/XboxGameStudios, with many people calling for Obsidian to return to the series they helped shape.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Hironobu Sakaguchi created the franchise and was director up through ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', as well as a (somewhat distant) producer of the series until he left shortly after the bomb of ''Anime/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' and the Creator/SquareEnix merger. The franchise's first direct sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', soon followed his departure, as did as the ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII''. Sakaguchi himself disliked creating sequels, insisting that each new ''Final Fantasy'' title [[NonLinearSequel have its own world and story]]. Some of the work he did following his departure, like ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' and ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'', are considered {{Cult Classic}}s that received a fair amount of hype when they became available on the UsefulNotes/XboxOne.
** Yoshinori Kitase was more influential in shaping the franchise into what it is known for. He started as the writer of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' (which got rid of many of the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' elements and introduced a new form of plot structure that is associated with the series), went on to help write fan favourites ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', was the person who decided on the "cinematic" aesthetic that went on to define the [=PS1=] ''FF'' entries, and then oversaw the next several games as a director while allowing his former co-writer Kazushige Nojima to handle the writing, before getting KickedUpstairs to producer around the time of Sakaguchi's departure. Within ''VII'' at least, the ''Compilation'' entry considered by far the best (''VideoGame/CrisisCore'') was the one he was directly involved with writing, and this was something he'd done even though it was unusual for him to be writing at all at that point in his career.
* [[Creator/{{Bungie}} Bungie Studios]] created the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, but it was Eric Nylund's ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'' that expanded its universe. The retcons that began to come about later, particularly in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', caused a good segment of fans to cry foul over negating parts of the Nylund books' continuity. There's still favoritism towards Bungie's end, though, now that Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries owns the series.
* There are fans who believe that Shinji Hashimoto, the Squaresoft executive who conceived of the idea of making a game alongside Disney, deserves credit as the Real Daddy of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' rather than series director Creator/TetsuyaNomura. It also helps that Hashimoto was the series' producer up until ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', after which he was promoted to the more distant role of Executive Producer, and all the producers who have come after him have done nothing to curb Nomura's more controversial qualities, [[TheChrisCarterEffect to many fans' dismay]].
* Though Roberta Williams created the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' series, fans generally consider the Creator/JaneJensen-penned ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI'' to be by far the best one out of all of them. Most ''KQ'' fan games either are inspired by it or seek to remake earlier games to more closely match it in tone/artistic quality.
* While Creator/MasahiroSakurai is the one who created ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' and directed some of the main games through its run in the 90s (''[[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand Dream Land]]'', ''[[VideoGame/KirbysAdventure Adventure]]'' + its remake, and ''[[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Super Star]]''), most fans nowadays tend to consider Shinichi Shimomura (the "[[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2 Dark]] [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 Matter]] [[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Trilogy]]") and Shinya Kumazaki (main director since ''Super Star Ultra'') as having given the series a much more planned direction than Sakurai did.
* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'': The series was created by Creator/SiliconKnights with ''Blood Omen'', but once Amy Henning stepped into the director's chair for ''Soul Reaver'' onwards, many people considered her to be the de facto shepherd for the series.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': While Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto created the franchise, it was a series of loosely connected games with no real storyline until Creator/EijiAonuma took over during ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime.'' From then on, the plots became more cohesive and {{continuity nod}}s became more frequent. The games also started to come out more frequently, with a game a year being released from 2000 to 2007. Of course, given Miyamoto's status amongst gamers, Aonuma has to share the spotlight a bit, but most fans only take his WordOfGod as canon.
* Creator/KeijiInafune was often identified as the "father of ''Franchise/MegaMan''" due to his involvement with the franchise since the original NES game. However, the actual lead designer of the original ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' was Akira Kitamura, who left Capcom during the development of ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' to form his own company before eventually retiring from the industry in the early 1990's. Since then, Inafune took a loose creative role in almost every Mega Man title until his highly publicized departure from Creator/{{Capcom}} in 2010.
* Following the derisive fan reaction to ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' fandom became split over whether Yoshio Sakamoto (the series producer/director of the 2D games) or Creator/RetroStudios (the developers behind the 3D ''Prime'' games) best deserve the title of series caretaker. Complicating the matter is that [[AuthorsSavingThrow Sakamoto has been taking criticisms]] of ''Other M'' to heart and since been delivering new 2D Metroid games with Creator/MercurySteam (including the long-awaited ''VideoGame/MetroidDread''), giving the ''Metroid'' franchise bigger publicity than it did in the past, while ''Prime 4'' still remains in DevelopmentHell in that same timeframe. Separate from that, there's the issue of who deserves the most credit for the franchise's creation in general: Sakamoto or Creator/GunpeiYokoi. Whereas the latter conceived the concept of ''Metroid'', the former developed the iconic maze-like gameplay and elements that became [[{{Metroidvania}} a genre onto itself]].
* While [[Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment Namco]] is the creator of ''VideoGame/PacMan'', some die-hard fans of the series as a whole argue that it was [[Creator/MidwayGames Midway]], Namco's American publisher at the time, who truly expanded the universe of the franchise. The initial sequels to ''Pac-Man'' developed by Namco themselves were never particularly popular due to suffering TheyChangedItNowItSucks, but the (mostly) unauthorized sequels developed under Midway's watch were received much better, with ''Ms. Pac-Man'' surpassing the original in financial success while the not-as-successful SpinOffspring games ''Jr. Pac-Man'' and ''Baby Pac-Man'' still left their mark on the franchise. Even though Namco terminated their relationship with Midway due to the unauthorized use of the IP, they eventually incorporated Midway's characters into later Namco games, starting with ''VideoGame/PacLand'' and most notably with the ''VideoGame/PacManWorld'' series. However, due to a combination of legal issues with the Midway sequels and a desire to move away from them, Bandai Namco eventually phased out the Midway characters first in the ''[[WesternAnimation/PacManAndTheGhostlyAdventures Ghostly Adventures]]'' reboot, and later in the maze games in favor of a back-to-basics "only Pac-Man" approach, much to the frustration of fans who like the Midway characters.
* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' franchise was created by Creator/SatoshiTajiri, but there are many fans who consider Junichi Masuda, who served as series director from [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Gen III]] to [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Gen VII]], as the Real Daddy of ''Pokémon'', as he further fleshed out the world of the franchise and established many enduring elements of it, with increasingly greater emphasis on story and character. This wasn't helped by the shy and reclusive Tajiri [[ReclusiveArtist completely disappearing from the public eye after Masuda took over]].
* ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'': Either Masamitsu Niitani of Creator/{{Compile}} or Mizuki Hosoyamada of Creator/{{Sega}}, depending on which side of the Compile-Sega [[BrokenBase fracture]] you sit on. Niitani's role in the creation of the series was relatively minimal, while Hosoyamada didn't play a major role until ''Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary''. Both are more recognized than Kazunari Yonemitsu, the man who actually developed the game.
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRevolver'' was initially created by Creator/{{Capcom}} but Creator/RockstarGames bought the franchise fairly far along in the development process. While ''Revolver'' did well critically and commercially, the franchise didn't really take off until its sequel, ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', which was developed entirely by Rockstar without any involvement from Capcom. The second game was released to critical acclaim and amazing sales, and is widely considered some of Rockstar's best offerings (if not the best), which is why the third game completely ignored ''Red Dead Revolver'' and went by the title ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', which was met with similar (if not greater) critical acclaim.
* While the first game in the ''VideoGame/SegaSuperstars'' series was made by Sonic Team, it's only after Sumo Digital started working on the series (particularly with the racing installments) that it gained popularity among fans.
* The creator of ''Franchise/SilentHill'' is Keiichiro Toyama, but he left Konami immediately after finishing the first game, and has not worked on the series since. For most fans, the real papa of the franchise is Music/AkiraYamaoka, the composer for every mainline game in the series (sans ''[[VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour Downpour]]'') in addition to serving as producer for two of them -- and was the only member of the games' staff to be involved with [[Film/SilentHill the movie]], as executive producer and co-composer.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': While the character of Knuckles the Echidna was created for ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' in 1994 by developer Takashi Yuda, his lore, background and personality weren't defined until ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', written by Akinori Nishiyama. While the debut of the character is iconic, more of what we know about Knuckles comes from ''Adventure'''s depiction.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' has master artist Kazuma Kaneko, whose demon designs have been used in every game of the franchise. Famous for treating ''every'' god, spirit or demon he draws with respect and care, with plenty of [[ShoutOut Shout-Outs]] to their original mythologies.
* While the [[VideoGame/StreetFighterI very first]] ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' was planned by "Finish" Hiroshi Matsumoto and "Piston" Takashi Nishiyama, who both left Creator/{{Capcom}} and to work for Creator/{{SNK}} in many of their early fighting games (including all of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' games until ''[='99=]''), the ''Street Fighter'' series didn't really take off until ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', which was planned by Akira "Akiman" Yasuda and Akira "Nin Nin" Nishitani (who both previously worked on the original ''VideoGame/FinalFight''). Afterward, Noritaka "Poo" Funamizu served as the planner for the ''Super'' and ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Alpha]]'' series, as well as general producer for ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII III]]''. Currently, Yoshinori Ono has been serving as the producer for ''Street Fighter'' (and Capcom's fighting games in general) since ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIV IV]]''.
* The ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' series was designed by many programming teams until Takanobu Terada took over as the producer of the series in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2 G'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoy. His name has been associated with it ever since.
* Richard Garriott rightly gets a lot of credit and respect for creating the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, but many fans consider the games to have been at their peak when Creator/WarrenSpector was working alongside Garriott, starting with ''VideoGame/UltimaVI'' and encompassing ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'' and ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII'', the two ''Worlds of Ultima'' games, and both ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld'' entries. Plus, Spector has the advantage of not being involved in ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII'' or ''[[VideoGame/UltimaIX IX]]'', which are widely considered the series' DorkAge.
* Nintendo employee Koichi Kawamoto created the "Sound Bomber" mode in ''VideoGame/MarioArtist Polygon Studio'' that served as the basis for the ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' series, and consequently he's sometimes referred to as "the creator of ''[=WarioWare=]''" in official interviews, although he's not actually been involved in the series proper beside "Concept" and "Prototype" credits for his work on ''Polygon Studio''. While Hirofumi Matsuoka directed the original game, fans usually see Goro Abe as the true creative lead of the series as he was heavily involved in the development of the original game and directed most of the sequels.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'' production team changed during the series' long run, particularly between the third and fourth series, but the influence of Brian Clemens was felt throughout. He wrote the second episode, became the series' most prolific scriptwriter and cast Creator/HonorBlackman and Creator/DianaRigg.
* While Creator/TerryNation created ''Series/BlakesSeven'', it was script editor Creator/ChrisBoucher who fleshed out his scripts and gave the characters personality. In fact, many of the series' best-loved episodes were written by Boucher.
* Although the original version of the film script was written by Creator/JossWhedon himself, director Fran Rubel Kuzui made ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' TheMovie what it is: a SoBadItsGood "comedy/horror" that is actually neither. The [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer TV series]] actually created by Creator/JossWhedon is what the fans know and love, and people [[FanonDisContinuity prefer to ignore]] the movie. This makes Joss Buffy's Dad at TWO points.
** Within the ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'', the works produced outside of Creator/JossWhedon's direct involvement (ExpandedUniverse) are usually considered part of an AlternateUniverse or [[FanonDiscontinuity didn't happen]]. These usually include the novels and most of the comics besides the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' season 8/9/10, ''ComicBook/{{Fray}}'', and ''Series/{{Angel}}: After The Fall'' series (though some don't consider any of the comics to be).
* Similarly to the [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse DCAU]] Voice Actors examples below, even the most fervent detractors of ''Series/{{Constantine}}'' would agree that Creator/MattRyan delivered as good a performance as there's ever going to be of ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'s John Constantine. This positive word of mouth led to Ryan eventually getting the chance to reprise the role of Constantine in both Season 4 of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' (with Constantine becoming a recurring character on ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' thereafter) and WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse entries starting with ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDark''.
* ''Series/TheDailyShow'' was originally started by Craig Kilborn as a [[Series/SaturdayNightLive "Weekend Update"]]-style comedy show. But in 1999, Creator/JonStewart became its new host, and under his guidance, the show changed from a light parody of local news to a deep and incisive political satire, held in higher esteem than many mainstream news outlets. In 2015, Jon stepped down as host [[Series/TheDailyShowWithTrevorNoah and was succeeded by Trevor Noah]], who acknowledged in his pilot episode how important Jon was [[CallBack by using a "step-dad" metaphor similar to the one made in Jon's first show]].
* While ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' was created by James Manos Jr., he had very little involvement in the series after the pilot, with the real figures behind the show's success being seen as initial showrunner Clyde Phillips and writer Melissa Rosenberg.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'', technically created by committee, has had many producers and head writers, but these are a few of the most commonly-cited examples.
** Creator/VerityLambert, the show's very first producer. For starters, she is the one who ensured that some aliens called the Daleks made it to air. In fact, the story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature Human Nature]]", which sees the Doctor become a human with no memories of his Time Lord self, claims that his parents were named "Sydney and Verity".
** TV theme composer Ron Grainer wrote the score for the ''Doctor Who'' theme, but it was ElectronicMusic pioneer Delia Derbyshire's production that made it stand out, so the piece is usually credited in modern times to her. Even Grainer regarded the theme as Derbyshire's, famously asking her 'did I write that?' after hearing her rendition (she responded, 'most of it'). Due to Derbyshire's contractual status within the BBC at the time, she was denied a credit and made no money other than her usual employee wage from the piece.
** Creator/DavidWhitaker, the show's first script editor, managed to establish multiple things that became part of the series' DNA forever after - the first TARDIS team (the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan), the first companion-switchover ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E3TheRescue The Rescue]]"), the first post-regeneration story ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks The Power of the Daleks]]"), and the first novelisation (''Dr. Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks''). He also established several important canon points like the TARDIS being a MagicFromTechnology EldritchAbomination SapientShip, the Doctor being 'cut off from [his] own planet' with his exact backstory a RiddleForTheAges, and incorporated mystical and psychedelic themes into the early show that would go on to influence later writers.
** The Daleks are ''Doctor Who'''s most popular and enduring monster, and their invention is credited to Creator/TerryNation - but many fans doubt it was ''his'' writing that was actually responsible for making the Daleks a hit. Fans inclined to credit the design for their success are likely to credit them to prop designer Raymond Cusick (who, like Derbyshire, was only paid his usual wage for the work). Other fans celebrate Creator/DavidWhitaker, script editor of the first couple of seasons of ''Doctor Who'' and Nation's uncredited cowriter, who also wrote the highly regarded AdaptationExpansion novelisation of the serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Daleks]]", ghostwrote much of the "Dalekmania" [[ExpandedUniverse spinoff material]] and wrote several fan-favourite DarkerAndEdgier Dalek serials ("Power of the Daleks", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks The Evil of the Daleks]]" and the second half of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]"). In Whitaker scripts [[DependingOnTheWriter Daleks tend to be]] a MagnificentBastard race, while in Nation scripts they're TheGrotesque and rather pathetic. Nation, for his part, disliked Whitaker's take on the Daleks and worked hard to end Whitaker's influence on the aliens in the 70s by such measures as having Whitaker creations ExiledFromContinuity. However, that didn't stop Creator/RussellTDavies' take from being clearly influenced by the Whitaker Dalek material more than the Nation stuff.
** Even though Creator/WilliamHartnell was the first actor to interpret the character of the Doctor, many people feel the definitive 'first' Doctor performance was Creator/PatrickTroughton, who introduced many of the performance and character elements that would influence later Doctor performances - being funnier and warmer, being younger and more active, having a CatchPhrase, getting CharacterFocus rather than being part of an ensemble cast, ComicalOverreacting, being more of an IdealHero rather than TheTrickster, and so on. He was also the first actor who was playing the Doctor as an unambiguous alien rather than as an AmbiguouslyHuman 'future' person, and the first to play an ''[[LegacyCharacter incarnation]]'' of the Doctor rather than just 'the Doctor', an element of the character crucial to how he is perceived.
** Even though he was the ''fourth'' television Doctor, Creator/TomBaker's performance was massively defining and influential, and it's easy to argue that every Doctor since has been in some way a reaction to him. He lasted almost seven years in the role, the longest tenure of any Doctor, and was the first Doctor consistently portrayed as being [[TheMentallyDisturbed mad]] rather than just eccentric, and the first to bring in elements of being a destructive force of cosmic justice, with a specific blend of darkness, whimsy and odd character quirks that became the 'default' take on character ever after. Due to his tendency to tinker with his scripts, add lines and occasionally entire unscripted scenes, and [[WagTheDirector take charge of direction]], he ended up being a heavy creative influence on the way the show was written and shot, with the result that much of the show's sense of humour is what he imprinted onto it. He was not the first Doctor whose performance was heavily [[MetaCasting based on his own personality]], but he was the one whose performance was ''most'' based on his own personality, and due to the influence of his era many of Baker's real-life personality quirks run through the psychology of the character to this day.
** Creator/TerranceDicks and Creator/BarryLetts acted as the script editor and producer for the Creator/JonPertwee era of the show. Dicks is one of the franchise's most prolific writers, penning [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations oodles of novelizations]] in addition to his TV work, which notably includes 20th anniversary special "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]" and Patrick Troughton's swansong, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]". Their era featured UNIT at its most prominent, and introduced such iconic elements of the show as the Master, the Sontarans, the Autons, and fan-favourite companion Sarah Jane Smith. Barry Letts is the only producer to return to the show in a similar capacity, when he acted as the executive producer for newcomer Creator/JohnNathanTurner's first year, and had also worked as a writer and director for a number of stories. Letts' influence bled past his run on the show and had a strong impact on the first year of...
** Creator/RobertHolmes and Creator/PhilipHinchcliffe, who were respectively the script editor and producer between 1974 and 1977. The era when they were in charge is considered by many to be a Golden Age for the series due to a genuinely frightening "gothic horror" atmosphere, a fan-favourite Doctor (Creator/TomBaker) and popular companions (Sarah, Harry, and Leela), as well as a seemingly endless streak of classic and beloved stories (including, but by no means limited to, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E2TheArkInSpace The Ark in Space]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E3PyramidsOfMars Pyramids of Mars]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]"). Holmes has written more individual TV episodes than any other writer, and in 2009 his story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]" was voted by the readers of ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' as the all-time greatest ''Doctor Who'' story. Holmes is also almost solely responsible for the creation of much of what we know of the Time Lords - the 13 regeneration limit, the artefacts of Rassilon, much of their characterization...
** Creator/RussellTDavies and/or Creator/StevenMoffat for those who started with the 2005 revival. RTD brought back the show for a whole new generation and is known for his sense of fun, adventure, and emotion, while those who prefer Moffat appreciate his more complex storylines that place greater emphasis on time travel and the Doctor himself. Moffat is also the only person to write at least one episode for every series of the revival up through Series 10, calling it a day with "[[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime Twice Upon a Time]]". Like his stories or hate them, no one can deny that he's brought a lot of great characters to the show, such as Captain Jack, River, the Weeping Angels, [[MemeticBadass Rory]], and Missy, amongst others.
* ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' does not have Thomas Harris attached, but is much better received than Harris' Franchise/HannibalLecter continuation (''Literature/{{Hannibal}}'') and [[FranchiseZombie the prequel he was basically forced to do]], (''Literature/HannibalRising'').
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' fans hold the opinion that Season 1's success was due largely to the involvement of Creator/BryanFuller, a belief that really gained steam after Fuller left to do ''Series/PushingDaisies'' and the show hit SeasonalRot in his absence.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' was created by Jeffrey Lieber, Creator/JJAbrams and Damon Lindelof - Lieber wrote the original pilot script before Abrams and Lindelof drastically reworked it. While Lindelof is (along with Carlton Cuse) the man who rightly takes the credit or blame for the series among the fans, to the general public Abrams is the name most associated with the series even though he had little to do with it after the first season and in fact only co-wrote one episode other than the pilot (see also most series Abrams produces - how often is ''Series/{{Revolution}}'' called a Creator/JJAbrams show in spite of Creator/EricKripke being the real main man?).
* Anthony Yerkovich is given the sole credit as creator of ''Series/MiamiVice'' but it was executive producer Creator/MichaelMann who was behind the groundbreaking look and the show, incorporating feature film-style cinematography and editing and using then-current hit songs on the soundtrack.
* Regardless of the whole debate about whether he or creator Joel Hodgson was the better host of the show, many agree that Michael J. Nelson's arrival as the head writer of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' was one of the biggest factors in helping the first full season of the show take on a much more structured and sophisticated style than the rather loose approach the team used in the "Season 0" broadcast on local channel KTMA.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' fans informally divide seasons by showrunner or writers at the time. While the contributions of Haim and Cheryl Saban, Shuki Levy, Creator/TonyOliver and others have been noted for ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', any PR fan will say that the shows that Judd "Chip" Lynn and Jonathan Tzachor produced, alongside head writer/story editor Jackie Marchand, are among PR's Golden Era (1995-[[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce 2001]]) and may also include Eddie Guzelian's ''[[Series/PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'' in the mix (with Lynn returning to wrap up ''RPM'' in 2009). Later, what they started considering PR's real daddy is Judd Lynn, as at the beginning of Neo Saban era since Samurai, Jonathan Tzachor, who was called back to direct that and Megaforce, didn't fare very well to the fans and fans were getting sick of his Sentai fanboyism. So... when Judd Lynn was called back for Dino Charge to replace Tzachor, cue fans giving a mass {{Squee}}
* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'':
** In the 25th anniversary special, the trope was played for laughs during the Weekend Update segment with three popular, former anchors. It begins with Creator/ChevyChase talking about how he originated the sketch and how he did it "the best ever." Then Creator/DennisMiller enters and takes issue with that, comparing Chase's one season to his six. ("You might've knocked her up, but I married her.") And then [[Creator/NormMacDonald Norm [=MacDonald=]]] shows up. (Though in a nod to his infamous firing, Norm says he didn't know about the special and just saw them on TV.)
** The fortieth anniversary Weekend Update seems to settle on Creator/JaneCurtin (Chevy Chase's immediate successor and host for Seasons 2 through 5, largely considered some of the show's best), as well as Creator/TinaFey and Creator/AmyPoehler (whose mid-oughts run regularly caused the segment [[MemeticMutation Internet popularity.]])
* ''Series/SesameStreet'':
** Contrary to popular belief, Creator/JimHenson was not actually the creator (that honor goes to Lloyd Morisset and Joan Ganz Cooney). However, the use of his Muppet characters became one of the defining elements of the show.
** A lot of people just credit Cooney with the creation of ''Sesame Street'', especially the media.
** [[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Jon_Stone Jon Stone,]] ''Sesame Street'''s {{Showrunner}} from 1969-94, isn't as well-known as Cooney or Henson but everyone who worked on the show says Stone was the one responsible for the show's signature style, especially the balance of comedy and heart.
** Ryan Dillon may be playing Elmo now, but Elmo's characterization is largely owed to Kevin Clash, whose colleagues reportedly had no idea what to do with the Muppet before Clash got his hands on it.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Creator/GeneRoddenberry created the series and wrote numerous episodes (as well as rewriting scripts by others) but it was later revealed that a co-producer on [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries original series]], Gene L. Coon, was nearly as important to the series' narrative excellence, with his contributions including creating the PrimeDirective, the Klingons and Khan Noonien Singh in his own stories, as well as (also) doing rewrites for others. (In fact, many of the best known elements of ''Star Trek'' were devised by writers other than Roddenberry, such as the mind meld and the nerve pinch.) Later, it's generally agreed by the fans that ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Next Generation]]'' and the movies got better once Roddenberry was [[KickedUpstairs promoted to executive consultant.]] While the Trek shows have all had numerous writers, Michael Piller and Creator/RonMoore are typically credited with setting the bar for ''Next Generation'' and ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' respectively. Later, Manny Coto would do a similar thing for ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' (with some help from Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens), but in that case it sadly proved too late to save the series from a curtailed run.
** Creator/JohnMFord is (or was) regarded by many as the real daddy of the Klingons, via his novel ''Literature/TheFinalReflection'' and his work on the Klingon supplement for FASA's Star Trek roleplaying game. While many of the specifics of Klingon culture he invented have since been rendered non-canon, many still credit him with deepening the Klingons, shifting them from duplicitous Cold War-era Russian [[{{Expy}} Expies]] into {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s and setting the stage for further development in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.
* While Shouzou Uehara was the original head writer of ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' and the franchise was conceived by Creator/ShotaroIshinomori, Hirohisa Soda was responsible for it GrowingTheBeard in [[Series/DengekiSentaiChangeman 1985]] and then keeping its beard for years. Soda was head writer of every ''Super Sentai'' series from [[Series/DaiSentaiGoggleFive 1982]] to [[Series/ChikyuuSentaiFiveman 1990]], and the shows of 1985-1990 are widely considered to be ''the'' definitive ''Super Sentai'', far more than Uehara's shows.
* The ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' is generally credited as the brainchild of Creator/EijiTsuburaya, who most certainly created the idea for Series/{{Ultraman}}. However, some fans would argue that equal credit should be given for several others. Tetsuo Kinjo (the head writer of ''Series/UltraQ'', ''Ultraman'', and ''Series/UltraSeven''), Tohl Narita (who designed Ultraman and almost all of the monsters in the early shows), and Eiji's son Hajime Tsuburaya (who would further develop the franchise after his father's death with ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'' and ''Series/UltramanAce'') -- all of whom also worked very closely with Eiji on the nascent development of the ''Ultra Series''.
* In Russia, the children's game show ''Zvyozdniy chas'' (roughly "Time to Shine") was created by Vlad Listyev in 1992 and initially fluctuated between hosts -- before 1993, there was Alexey Yakubov, soon replaced by Vladimir Bolshov, and in the beginning of 1993, there was a duo of Igor Bushmelev and Yelena Shmeleva (Igor and Lena). It was not until April 1993 that Sergei Suponev (of ''UsefulNotes/{{Dendy}}: The New Reality'' fame) took over the hosting duties, and only then did the show really find its legs and skyrocket in popularity. Suponev ended up taking over the showrunner position, and ''Zvyosdniy chas'' was ''his'' show until his unfortunate death in 2001. Nowadays, when they talk about the show, they mean the Suponev-hosted programs; no one talks about the first two hosts, and Igor and Lena are only brought up to talk about their inferiority to Suponev.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'' is created by Jeff Parker, Nathan Carlson and Phil Lollar. But while they are credited as such, the real driving force and creative input of the writing was done by some of the in house staff at Big Idea, such as Phil Vischer, Mike Nawrocki and Ron Smith as they worked a lot on the jokes and stories. Not helping that Ron Smith is interviewed a lot on the features and by the time the show came back in 2007/2008, Parker, Carlson and Lollar weren't credited as the creators anymore.
* Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko are the creators of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', but a sizable VocalMinority of fans ([[BrokenBase partly composed of those who disliked]] the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'') have come to see head writer Aaron Ehasz as the real driving force behind the first show, while [[FanNickname Bryke]] are considered to be amazing at art direction and crafting concepts, but to have little skill as actual writers. This was fueled even more by a series of rumors claiming that Ehasz was constantly arguing with Bryke in the writers room during the original series, with there being several ideas that they rejected (most prominently making FanPreferredCouple Zuko and Katara canon). However, these claims were debunked by Ehasz himself, and exactly what in ''Avatar'' can be seen as solely his contributions (outside a greater number of female characters) is now much less clear.
* While ''WesternAnimation/BlazingDragons'' is credited as the brainchild of Terry Jones, his involvement in its production amounted to little more than coming up with the basic concept of the show and then granting his approval to make it into a full cartoon. Instead, it would be Gavin Scott who would develop Jones' idea with a series bible and pilot script and the folks at Nelvana who would give it the humor and flare that the final product seen on television had.
* Creator/CartoonNetwork:
** Creator/CraigMcCracken ''or'' Creator/GenndyTartakovsky in regards to ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', depending on who you ask. Both [=McCracken=] and Tartakovsky, along with the less celebrated Paul Rudish, are also viewed as equally responsible for the creation and success of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''.
** In a more meta example, many of Creator/CartoonNetwork's earliest shows from the mid 90s to early 2000s [[note]] those being ''WesternAnimation/WhatACartoon'' (1995), ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' (1995), ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' (1996), ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' (1997), ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' (1997), and ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' (1998)[[/note]] are associated by viewers and fans alike with the channel's animation division; when in reality, they were actually produced by Creator/HannaBarbera. This goes double for Hanna-Barbera's sister company Creator/RubySpears, whose early home video releases were credited under the HB name for the longest time.
** ''Franchise/Ben10'' has a bit of this due to its BrokenBase nature. For the groups that don't see the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' series as the only good incarnation, nor enjoy the LighterAndSofter approach that Man of Action would later do, you have those who greatly prefer the Glen Murakami and Creator/DwayneMcDuffie headed sequel series (''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'') for being DarkerAndEdgier, as well as those who love Matt Youngberg and Derrick Wyatt's DenserAndWackier ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse''. For those who ''do'' see the original series as the only good or best incarnation yet don't subscribe to OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight in regards to Man of Action due to not liking their [[WesternAnimation/Ben102016 reboot of the franchise]], the head writer duo of Thomas Pugsley and Greg Klein hold the "Real Daddy" position.
* The original version of Creator/WalterLantz character ''WesternAnimation/ChillyWilly,'' created by director Paul J. Smith, was a PaletteSwap of Woody. It was Creator/TexAvery who helped flesh out his character and concept along with creating a much more distinctive design.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' the TV show was headed by Glenn Eichler, though the character was originally created by Creator/MikeJudge for ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead,'' The SpinOff tweaked her character a bit and, over the course of its five seasons, naturally explored her much more than her rare appearances on B&B could. The media even mistakes Eichler for Daria's creator fairly often.
* Butch Hartman may have created ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', but most fans credit the best stories and moments of CharacterDevelopment to head writer Steve Marmel, who wrote the basic outlines of the first two seasons and contributed scripts to many of its episodes.
* Although Spike Brandt and Tony Cervone are the creators of the 2003 ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers'' cartoon, many people think Creator/PaulDini and Tom Minton are the true creative force, and their absence in Season 3 made the decline in quality noticeable.
* While the bulk of the ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'' franchise up to the TV shorts attributes Felix as a creation of cartoonist Pat Sullivan, almost everybody today recognizes Creator/OttoMessmer as the real person behind Felix's creation and success... especially once information came to light that Sullivan had virtually nothing to do with making the Felix cartoons and was barely ever present at his own studio. The credits for ''WesternAnimation/TheTwistedTalesOfFelixTheCat'' go as far as to credit both Otto Messmer ''and'' Joe Oriolo as the creators of Felix, but [[UnPerson completely leaves out mentioning Pat Sullivan]].
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Most of the kids in the series had multiple actors, but there would be one who fans would consider ''the'' actor;
** Creator/BenDiskin is usually remembered as ''the'' Eugene, despite having been the third actor to voice him. He lasted three seasons in the part, and was the only one of the four boys who played him to have continued with voice acting after hitting puberty (and one of the few child actors on the show in general to have done so), thus establishing Eugene as one of the "breakthrough" roles of Diskin's career.
** Adam Wylie was so memorable as Curly that he was ''brought back'' to the role after having been replaced - ''twice''. In fact, of the four actors to voice Curly, two of the others only lasted for one episode each, and the third (Michael Welch) appeared in only two.
** Arnold himself is a bit unclear; There have been a total of ''seven'' Arnolds (counting the pilot, ''[[WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie The Jungle Movie]]'' and his TimeShiftedActor in flashbacks) [[note]]J.D. Daniels in the pilot, Lane Toran Caudell in Season 1, Philip Van Dyke in Seasons 2 and 3, Spencer Klein in Seasons 4 and 5 up to ''Hey Arnold! The Movie'', Creator/AlexDLinz in the post-movie episodes of Season 5, Mason Vale Cotton in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie'' and Rusty Flood during flashbacks in "Parents Day" and "Helga on the Couch"[[/note]] but two of them have a pretty good claim to being ''the'' Arnold.
*** Creator/LaneToran (then known and credited as Toran Caudell) was the first Arnold on the show proper [[note]]J.D. Daniels voiced him in the pilot, which was only shown in theaters[[/note]] and only lasted one season in the part (though he subbed in for Phillip Van Dyke in the Season 2 MusicalEpisode "What's Opera, Arnold?" because Van Dyke wasn't a confident singer). Even after his voice broke, he remained with the show for its entirety as the bully Wolfgang, a role created specifically for him. Due to FirstInstallmentWins, he's often remembered as "the" Arnold by the media -- in 2015, a widely reported story (with pictures!) noted how "the voice of Arnold" was all grown up. Toran is also frequently invited to fan conventions and panels reminiscing about his time on the show, alongside Creator/FrancescaMarieSmith; he even appeared on the official ''Hey Arnold!'' panel at the 2017 SDCC alongside the current Arnold (Mason Vale Cotton), the only past Arnold to do so. He also returned to provide voice work for ''The Jungle Movie'' [[note]]as Che, a tour guide on the trip to San Lorenzo[[/note]] and is, once again, the ''only'' past Arnold who made an appearance even though both Phillip Van Dyke and Spencer Klein played the role for longer.
*** Spencer Klein, unlike both Toran and Van Dyke (who later voiced {{One Shot Character}}s Sandy and Ludwig), appeared ''only'' as Arnold (he was replaced very late into the show's run, so Craig Bartlett didn't have time to recast him as somebody else, as he had done for the other two), and made the most appearances as the Football Head. [[note]]He's Arnold for 37 of the show's 100 episodes plus TheMovie, as opposed to 34 for Van Dyke, 26 for Toran, 3 for Alex D. Linz and one movie for Mason Vale Cotton.[[/note]] Each of the four voice actors portrayed Arnold slightly differently, but Klein's overtly romantic, serious, sensitive, and somewhat exaggerated goody-goody take on the character is how he is usually depicted in {{fanfiction}}.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Though creators Bob Schooley and Mark [=McCorkle=] get a fair amount of CreatorWorship, the show is generally considered to have GrowingTheBeard when Steve Loter began directing the series, expanding upon Ron's character and making Kim a bit more flawed.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
** The series as a whole was created by [[Creator/HarmanAndIsing Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising]] as a [[DuelingWorks competitor]] to ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'', yet it was through the efforts of Creator/FrizFreleng, Creator/TexAvery, Creator/ChuckJones and the amazing voice of Creator/MelBlanc that fleshed it out into a ZanyCartoon series well-known today.
** ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunny''. While an early version first appeared in "WesternAnimation/PorkysHareHunt" by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton, and his first "official" appearance was in "A Wild Hare" by Creator/TexAvery (who went on to direct a number of early Bugs Bunny cartoons before moving to [[WesternAnimation/TexAveryMGMCartoons MGM]]), the directors who fleshed him out most were Creator/BobClampett, Creator/FrizFreleng, Creator/RobertMcKimson and perhaps most notably Creator/ChuckJones. To say nothing of the contributions of others at Termite Terrace, like writer Michael Maltese and voice actor Creator/MelBlanc. In "The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie", Bugs commented that, "instead of having millions of children, like your ordinary run-of-the-mill rabbit, I have several fathers."
** WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck has an even more complicated history and inheritance. He was originally made by Avery, though he himself only directed three appearances of the character. Clampett took to making Daffy a recurring star and foil for WesternAnimation/PorkyPig, while Freleng and Jones are often credited for creating the contemporary rendition of the character; the jealous egomaniacal ButtMonkey rival to Bugs Bunny, with many other directors (especially Mckimson) credited for establishing loads of other nuances in-between that still made him feel like one same character.
** Tweety was created by Creator/BobClampett. During his first few cartoons, he was pink (presumably featherless), a bit homely looking, and had a bit of a mean-streak about him. He quickly became a hit, but then Clampett left Warner Bros and Creator/FrizFreleng had his go with the character in the cartoon "Tweetie Pie" (which was one of Clampett's unfinished shorts), giving him a bright, yellow coat of feathers at a request of the Hayes Office, made him cuter, a little more innocent, as well as his first pairing with Sylvester, [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird who would become his arch nemesis]]. The end result was another character to Freleng's roster, as well as the first Academy Award for the Warner Bros. animation studio.
** WesternAnimation/SpeedyGonzales first appeared in a Creator/RobertMckimson cartoon, though his design and some nuances of his character weren't fully realised yet. Friz Freleng once again cutened the character and paired him against Sylvester, making his contemporary rendition. Downplayed since Mckimson did continue making a large bulk of Speedy cartoons (and was responsible for the majority of his cartoons when Freleng took over as producer in the 60s), though these utilised Freleng's retool of the character.
** Freleng himself created WesternAnimation/PorkyPig, however he only directed a sporadic amount of his appearances, later admitting he wasn't that fond of using him. As such it was Clampett and Mckimson's turn to refine one of Freleng's characters, and were largely responsible for defining his neurotic StraightMan role against Daffy Duck. Of course Clampett was still responsible for Porky solely through this trope alone, Freleng objected when he later tried to take credit for making Porky's original model sheet.
** Henery Hawk was created in 1942 by Creator/ChuckJones, who used him sparingly. It was Creator/RobertMcKimson, however, who made him into a major character in the WesternAnimation/FoghornLeghorn cartoons and shaped him into the version known today.
* For the Marvel cartoons, Creator/SteveBlum ''is'' ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, Creator/FredTatasciore ''is'' [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]], Creator/NolanNorth ''is'' ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}, and Creator/JoshKeaton ''is'' Franchise/SpiderMan. Unfortunately, Keaton got unceremoniously booted from his role earlier than those other actors did, with multiple [=VAs=] replacing him.
* As something of a stock Disney fact, some consider Creator/UbIwerks the true creator of WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse as he originally drew and animated him. Yet others still attribute the character to Creator/WaltDisney, since he did give Mickey his personality. In the words of one Disney employee, "Ub designed Mickey's physical appearance, but Walt gave him his soul."
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is an interesting (and a bit extreme) example. This installment of the franchise will always belong to Creator/LaurenFaust, who has been ascribed near-godly status by the fandom. While most fans still acknowledge showrunners Meghan [=McCarthy=] and Jayson Thiessen, she's still considered number one and the ultimate WordOfGod despite having no influence following the second season. Faust has frequently tried to invoke GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld, but the fans ''still'' regard her as the final word. Even Bonnie Zacherle, the '''creator''' of the ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' franchise, gets phased out in comparison to Faust.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'': Despite originally starting out as a comic strip character created by E. C. Segar, Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer made Popeye into one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time, at one point eclipsing even ''Mickey Mouse''. In the original comic strips, Popeye wasn't even ''introduced'' until about ten years in; the focus of the first decade was Olive Oyl and her boyfriend at the time, Harold Hamgravy, with Olive's brother Castor and her parents Cole and Nana making frequent appearances. If you've ever heard of any of them (except Olive, of course), it wasn't from the cartoons.
* ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom'', including most of her supporting characters, were created by illustrator Martin Hsu. And while his designs were excellent (except for [[{{Gonk}} his version of Misery]]), it was the writers working for Creator/{{Nelvana}} who turned Gloomsville's residents into well-defined, fleshed-out characters.
* While Creator/MattGroening and Creator/JamesLBrooks get the bulk of credit for creating ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', John Ortved in his book ''The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History'' argues that co-developer, producer and writer Sam Simon deserves at least an equal share of the credit for making the series as good as it was. Simon worked on the series for only the first four seasons but for contractual reasons he kept receiving credit and royalties from the show until his death from cancer in March 2015. Fans also credit director and animator David Silverman, who has been involved with ''The Simpsons'' since the early Tracey Ullman shorts, for establishing and refining the show's visual identity. Silverman has been responsible for handling some of the show's most unique and challenging scenes, such as Homer's chili-induced hallucinations.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'':
** Creator and showrunner Creator/DaveFiloni is held in high regards for his treatment of ''Star Wars'' prequel era characters. While Asajj Ventress may have been created for ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'' and made numerous appearance in ''Star Wars'' comics, it wasn't until Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' where she became a compelling and interesting character. ''The Clone Wars'' depiction of Anakin Skywalker is seen by most as the best interpretation, given that he is at his most noble, sympathetic, and stable even as the series shows his fall to darkness.
** For some fans, ''The Clone Wars'' was this for everyone and everything that was in the Prequels. Especially Darth Maul, but also including various Jedi, senators, species, and, yes, even Jar Jar Binks.
* Though ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' was created by Daron Nefcy and has the same producers for the last three of its four seasons, there are those who credit the best era of the series as being the work of director Giancarlo Volpe (''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' and ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries''). This is because the series is seen as having [[GrowingTheBeard greatly improved in both comedy and drama]] when he joined at the start of Season 2, and his departure following Season 3's "Battle for Mewni" arc to work on ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' coincided with the show's growing BrokenBase surrounding [[SeasonalRot a continuously divisive latter half]].
* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'':
** Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created the franchise and made [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage the original comic]] a CultClassic. However, when [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 the first animated series]] was being developed, it was writer David Wise[[note]][[NamesTheSame no relation to the musician who once worked at Rare Ltd.]][[/note]] who turned the Turtles from grim and gritty crimefighters into the comical, pizza-loving heroes who made the franchise a smash hit. And Mirage staffers like Dan Berger and Steve Murphy (who both wrote many of the most beloved TMNT comics, both in the original gritty Mirage series and the kid-friendly cartoon-based ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesAdventures'') and Jim Lawson and Ryan Brown (who respectively created the fan-favorite supporting characters the Rat King and Leatherhead) also put their own stamp on the franchise.
** [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 The 2003 animated series]] is undeniably this for Karai. Before this, the character was relegated almost exclusively to the Mirage comics, with said comics consistently portraying her as an ally to the Turtles. Post-2003, not only is it standard operating procedure for a new iteration of the franchise to have Karai in it (even [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2014 the 2014 live-action film]] and [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesOutOfTheShadows its sequel]] included the character) but just about every single new iteration is directly based on the 2003 show's depiction of her as working directly under The Shredder (usually as his daughter or granddaughter), with most of them (the aforementioned live-action movies being the exception) being depicted as a conflicted character who varies between an enemy to the Turtles and an ally to them.
* For ''Transformers'', Creator/PeterCullen ''is'' Optimus Prime (if he isn't available than it should fall to Garry Chalk), Corey Burton is Shockwave, and Chris Latta is ''definitely'' Starscream (his death prevented him from ever reprising the role, but his iconic voice for the character is mimicked by virtually ''every'' voice actor that succeeded him aside from a few minor exceptions). Creator/FrankWelker is seen as ''the'' Megatron.
* ''WesternAnimation/WoodyWoodpecker'' was conceived by Creator/WalterLantz and Ben Hardaway, and designed by animation director Alex Lovy, yet many regard the cartoons that the trio worked on in the early-mid [=1940s=] to be mediocre at best, and the subsequent directors Creator/ShamusCulhane and especially Dick Lundy under whom the series ''really'' got good.
[[/folder]]

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Creator/AlanMoore:
** He was not the first or the last comics writer to work on ''ComicBook/SwampThing'', but virtually everyone regards his run as the definitive one.
** When people talk about both ''[[ComicBook/{{Miracleman}} Marvelman]]'' and ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'', it's almost always his take on the characters they're talking about.
** He would be one for ComicBook/{{Glory}}, but his plans for her never went beyond issue #0 and finally the title was snatched from him by Joe Keatinge and Sophie Campbell (then using the name Ross Campbell), who rewrote her entire history and redesigned her as something much cooler than the MsFanservice she previously was.
** He also happened to be on the other end of this trope at least once. Back when he was writing ComicBook/WildCATS he created an antagonist known as T.A.O., but these days when somebody talks about this character it's probably in context of Creator/EdBrubaker's ''ComicBook/{{Sleeper}}''.
* Bill Mantlo is this for ComicBook/AlphaFlight as he took the {{flat character}}s that Creator/JohnByrne created and gave them depth.
* Artemis Crock was a fairly forgettable enemy of ComicBook/InfinityInc and the [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]]. Then ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' used her as a main character, bringing her to a whole new audience and hinging a lot of the show's mystery and plot development on her. Co-Producers Brandon Vietti and Creator/GregWeisman deserve equal credit here -- Vietti was the one who suggested they use a female archer, instead of Speedy I, Roy Harper, and Creator/GregWeisman suggested Artemis rather than any of ComicBook/GreenArrow's associated female archers. They reasoned that her parents being two supervillains, Sportsmaster and Huntress, would be a good touchstone -- then decided that super assassin Cheshire/Jade Nguyen would be an interesting addition to the family unit, and thus gave Artemis and her mother a RaceLift, making them Vietnamese.
* Creator/MarkMillar is this to ''The Authority'' as the team's glory days were during his run, but it's a less benign example as the team collectively TookALevelInJerkass, growing more arrogant; no longer being reluctant but willing to resort to lethal force, but ''willingly'' defaulted to using it; and they began acting unilaterally in world affairs without a care for the valid concerns of others or a plan for the aftermath -- and even after Millar left, these personality changes were kept in place, as the team overthrew the U.S. government for a few years and even after they gave up control and tried to [[TookALevelInKindness take a level in kindness]], they reverted to the behavior of the Millar days. The ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' story "ComicBook/WhatsSoFunnyAboutTruthJusticeAndTheAmericanWay" and its AnimatedAdaptation, ''WesternAnimation/SupermanVsTheElite'', owe their existence as a response to Millar's run.
* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' have Roy Thomas; Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby may have created the title, but Thomas created the definitive original Avengers character, ComicBook/TheVision, and two of his major recurring villains -- the Grim Reaper and Ultron -- and introduced a number of ideas, characters, and tropes to the franchise that are used to this very day. Even the 2003 redefinition by Creator/BrianMichaelBendis calls back to the Thomas era fairly often.
* Franchise/{{Batman}}'s status as [[LongRunners Long-Runner]] owes itself greatly to the ability of several artists to adapt him and take him to different directions:
** Starting right at the beginning, Creator/BillFinger actually did ''far'' more to create Franchise/{{Batman}} himself than his more famous boss, Creator/BobKane (who ''did'' come up with the name). It was Finger who invented the idea of Batman as a detective, the design of the costume, the Bruce Wayne identity and origin, Robin and the RoguesGallery: Catwoman, the Joker and the name "Gotham City". The number of {{Unbuilt Trope}}s in the original comics, Joker's original unfunny characterization, greater violence, Batman's overall harshness, means that it remains a touchstone for later writers, with Finger's stories being ArmedWithCanon by Creator/AlanMoore and Creator/GrantMorrison. Finger finally started to get credited by DC in late 2015.
** The Dick Sprang era introduced the aesthetic of Batman that eventually transferred into the Series/Batman1966 TV Show. Bright splashy colours, multiple sidekicks, goofy and gimmicky villains, multiple puns, the "Holy...Batman" speech patterns, and a greater than usual quotient of homoeroticism and {{Camp}}. Whether you enjoyed it or not, Sprang defined the imagination of Batman and Gotham for three decades.
** Dennis O'Neil has possibly the farthest-reaching influence on the character in his long history. It was him (with artists like Creator/NealAdams and Jim Aparo) who took Batman from the sci-fi and camp of the 50s and 60s (both [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks in print]] and [[Series/Batman1966 on screen]]) to the Dark Knight people recognize today. He also introduced Arkham Asylum, basically invented the idea of Batman's RoguesGallery being both mentally ill and [[{{Foil}} reflections of Batman's own psyche,]] and introduced a host of new and revived villains (including Ra's al-Ghul and Two-Face). Later, he would become the editor of the Batman line and be the central creative influence on post-Crisis Batman, including editing Creator/FrankMiller's era-defining work and 90s mega-events like ''Knightfall'' and ''No Man's Land''.
** Franchise/{{Batman}} fans tend to be divided over which 'reboot' of the character best redefined him for the new generation; Creator/FrankMiller's bleak near-{{Deconstruction}} ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', Creator/TimBurton's gothic films -- ''Film/Batman1989'' and ''Film/BatmanReturns'' -- which introduced the idea of Gotham City being a blend of {{Bizarrchitecture}}, and gave Batman a Grappling Hook and Line Launcher leading to Creator/BruceTimm and Alan Burnett's more family-friendly but still FilmNoir-flavored ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', which kicked off the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse. It can honestly be said that Timm, Burnett, and Creator/PaulDini were Mr. Freeze's daddies for giving him a tragic backstory, and in this vein, also Mike Mignola, who designed Mr. Freeze for the animated series.
** ComicBook/TheJoker's origin story in Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke''. Although Joker was already re-defined as we know him in the 70s, for example by Steve Englehart, the idea of Joker and Batman being mutual {{Shadow Archetype}}s of OrderVersusChaos (a dynamic transferred to the Franchise/{{DCAU}}, ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' and the VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries) comes from him. Likewise, one can say that Creator/HeathLedger was responsible for Joker's revival as an anarchist nihilist, with only minimal grounding in the clown and show-business motif that had typified him for decades.
** Bill Finger and Dick Sprang may have created ComicBook/TheRiddler, but Frank Gorshin's portrayal of him on [[Series/Batman1966 the 1960s Batman TV show]] is what made him a major member of Batman's RoguesGallery for years to come. Some portrayals of him have dialed back the camp, but without Gorshin's manic popularity, there would be no Riddler today. He was also the one who designed the character's now-iconic "green suit and bowler hat" look, because he hated wearing the original spandex outfit. (And surprisingly, he also had a great influence on the portrayal of the ''Joker'' - Gorshin's split-second flips from manic laughing to hissing, homicidal determination was a major influence on the Joker's 70s character revival.)
** Though ComicBook/PoisonIvy has been around since the '60s, before Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Secret Origins'' issue about her she had little personality beyond being a FemmeFatale. Gaiman established her plant obsession and detachment from humanity, which have endured as her defining character traits, and been reworked into the film and animated versions.
** Kite Man is a joke villain that no one cared much about before Creator/TomKing and his Batman run. After that he became a joke villain that people liked for giving him more of a backstory and characteristics (and a catch phrase: Kite Man. Hell Yeah).
* Franchise/{{Lego}}:
** Greg Farshtey started out as the writer for the ''ComicBook/{{Bionicle}}'' comics (as a side-gig to his main job, which is writing and editing LEGO's magazines) before expanding to almost all of the line's written story material, from the novels to guide books, short stories and online serials. Not only that, but Farshtey let fans contact him personally with questions, leading to a few bits of AscendedFanon. He also revealed tidbits of storyline info that helped mend the universe together. Over a decade after the franchise's discontinuation, Greg continuies to act as ''Bionicle'''s sole official, still active connection to fans, and he still accepts and canonizes OfficialFanSubmittedContent.
** Christian Faber has eventually all but replaced Farshtey in a lot of fans' eyes when it was revealed how much he had contributed to the development of the franchise's universe, its subthemes, overarching stories and visual media. Likewise Alastair Swinnerton, whose passion for serious mythology-building lead to much of the brand's initial appeal.
** Ryder Windham was this for the ill-fated [[Toys/{{Bionicle 2015}} reboot]]'s media, which were otherwise infamous for their shallow and constantly self-contradictory writing, something that even Windham himself has complained about and tried to rectify. His comics and books expanded the story and world and assigned basic things like names, genders and personalities to the side characters and embellished the villains' side of the story. He is practically the only person involved with the reboot whose name fans remember.
* ComicBook/BlackAdam has Geoff Johns, who reworked the character into a WellIntentionedExtremist, and gave him a dead family and his AffablyEvil aspect.
* ''Comicbook/BlackPanther'':
** Creator/{{Christopher Priest|Comics}} is this for the character, to the point that it's made it nearly impossible for any other writer to have success with the character. Creator/ReginaldHudlin's series did OK... right up until he stopped copying Priest and started trying to do his own thing, at which point sales immediately tanked. This is an odd case, because Priest's run didn't sell particularly well, but has nonetheless become the go-to interpretation of the character.
** Don [=McGregor=] as well. He was the first writer to really do serious world-building for Wakanda, and introduced Erik Killmonger, who went on to become one of Black Panther's most popular villains. Most subsequent runs (including Priest's) have drawn on [=McGregor=]'s work to some degree. (Notably, [[Film/BlackPanther2018 the movie]] blends major story elements from both [=McGregor's=] and Priest's runs.)
* ComicBook/{{Blackhawk}} was created by Creator/WillEisner, Chuck Cuidera, and Bob Powell, but the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Blackhawk is most often associated with artist Reed Crandall.
* Although Marv Wolfman created ComicBook/{{Blade}} in 1973, David Goyer's film version of the character significantly altered his origin and mythos and helped popularize him. The comic was altered to better reflect film continuity.
* ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'' were started by Neil Gaiman, but it was John Ney Rieber who wrote the series [[GrowingTheBeard in which Tim Hunter really came into his own, and gave the series a world and mythology of its own]].
* ComicBook/{{Cable}} has two:
** He was created by Louise Simonson and Rob Liefeld as a paramilitary counterpart to Charles Xavier, but it was Fabian Nicieza who softened his character by giving him a strong paternal instinct and later introduced his friendship with Deadpool.
** Scott Lobdell wrote much of Cable's early years. While it was Bob Harras, Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio who decided to merge the Cable and Nathan Summers characters into a single entity, it was Lobdell who actually ''did something with it''. Lobdell established the world that Cable grew up in, his childhood being raised by Scott Summers and Jean Grey and his time forged in war growing up.
* Joe Simon and Creator/JackKirby created the ComicBook/CaptainAmerica character, but it wasn't until Creator/StanLee (also working with Kirby) brought him back from obscurity and created his signature "Man Out of Time" story that Cap really became a character people could relate to.
** When sales were low again, Steve Englehart was allowed to write the mag, and decided to stress Cap's [[IdealHero idealism]]. This became his defining character trait.
** Creator/EdBrubaker is credited with reinventing Captain America again for the modern comics world the same way Lee reinvented him for UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}. Typically, this isn't universal, and others might give that status to Mark Gruenwald or Creator/MarkWaid for their own lengthy runs on the character - Brubaker himself credited Waid with bringing back [[ComicBook/Agent13 Sharon Carter]], saying that if Waid hadn't done it, he'd have had to.
** Brubaker is also credited for turning ComicBook/BuckyBarnes from a JokeCharacter and footnote in comics history who was a blatant attempt at copying the success of ComicBook/{{Robin}} into a darker, more serious and much more complex character who went on to become a BreakoutCharacter under Brubaker's pen, first as the Winter Soldier, then [[LegacyCharacter taking over the Captain America mantle after Steve's death]], then as the Winter Soldier again in his own spy-thriller solo series, as well as writing a believable fan favorite romance with Natasha, to the point where he's now her definitive LoveInterest.
** The writers of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' mentioned Brubaker's run as the primary inspiration for their take on Bucky. Brubaker was also consulted by the directors of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. It's to the point that Brubaker actually had a cameo in the movie itself.
* ComicBook/CarolDanvers was previously a second-string Avenger who, though her role had been steadily built up following ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', was still most famous as "that woman [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] stole her powers from." In 2012, Carol was given the Captain Marvel name and a new costume by Creator/KellySueDeConnick, whose three years on the title, focusing on Carol's character and wrestling with both her past and the baggage that comes with being Captain Marvel, catapulted the character into the A-List, [[WolverinePublicity popping up everywhere]], creating a strong fan following in the form of the primarily (but not exclusively) female Carol Corps and earning Carol [[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 a solo film]] in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Previously, Carol had been CListFodder and her graduation to B-List was largely thanks to Chris Claremont, who first rebuilt the character after the disastrous "Rape of Ms. Marvel"/Marcus storyline in ''The Avengers'' #200 resulted in her being PutOnABus, retooling her first as a BadassNormal support woman for the X-Men after Xavier helped her with memories, and then turned her into Binary, one of the most powerful non-cosmic characters in the Marvel Universe (and even then, she was on-par with the Silver Surfer). Eventually she lost most of those powers and returned to being a second-string Avenger (and there was the alcoholism thing), but Claremont provided a base to build on.
* Majorie Liu is this for Logan's offspring, ComicBook/{{Daken}} -- it was once she joined his creator, Daniel Way, at writing the character, that he became the DepravedBisexual MagnificentBastard {{Troll}} people love. To be fair, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis putting him on ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' and other writers using him for cameos with the rest of the team probably helped a bit.
* ComicBook/{{Nova}} was a forgotten B-list (at best) hero before Creator/DanAbnett and Andy Lanning ([=DnA=]) took over the character for the original ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}'' crossover. They effectively transformed what was a Franchise/GreenLantern {{expy}} into a deep and interesting character, taking him from guilt-ridden survivor all the way to becoming a grizzled war veteran and even later on the social conscience and oftentimes OnlySaneMan of the cosmic side of the Marvel universe.
** [=DnA=] tried to do this with the entire cosmic side of Marvel, starting with their revival of the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' using both B-list cosmic characters and the original members and their later adoption of ComicBook/TheInhumans and later former X-Men staples, [[BeastMan the Shiar]]. While the ''Guardians'' revival (as well as the other books) were CutShort due to poor sales, their take on the team was a major influence on the ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' movie.
* Stan Lee and Bill Everett (with some elements from Wally Wood) may have created ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'', but today, several creators have a very strong claim to being the definitive writer of the character.
** Creator/FrankMiller's run in the 80s is still to this day a reference. It transformed Daredevil into the Noir-inspired Marvel version of Batman; gave him a religious identity as a conflicted Roman Catholic; made [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin the Kingpin]], previously a minor Silver Age Spider-Man villain, into Daredevil's BigBad as well as one of ''the'' most influential villains in comics in TheEighties (inspiring the post-Crisis version of Lex Luthor and post-resurrection Norman Osborn); introduced characters like [[Characters/MarvelComicsElektra Elektra]], Bullseye and others; and, generally, elevated Daredevil from C-List to one of Marvel's most important characters.
** The Creator/BrianMichaelBendis and Creator/EdBrubaker runs are considered high points of American comics in the early 21st century (Bendis was even nominated in the prestigious Angoulême festival for best album). Creator/MarkWaid managed to bring back the character's light side, while being widely acclaimed by fans of earlier, darker takes on the character.
* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} was originally created by Creator/RobLiefeld as an {{Expy}} of DC's Comicbook/{{Deathstroke}}. But then three people happened:
** Fabian Nicieza distinguished Wade from Deathstroke by giving him a cruelly ironic origin story, a sidekick (Weasel), and a sense of humour that quickly made him popular enough to support a regular series written by Joe Kelly. He also greatly expanded on the one non-Expy trait Liefeld had given Deadpool, his MotorMouth tendencies, into the constantly-wisecracking occasionally-HeroicComedicSociopath we all know and love. (This was practically a habit for Nicieza, who fleshed out other Liefeld character designs into lasting characters, including Comicbook/{{Cable}}, Shatterstar and Domino.)
** Joe Kelly wrote Deadpool's first ongoing series, giving him a larger supporting cast (now also including T-Ray and Blind Al in addition to Weasel), a more detailed origin story, and his penchant for breaking the fourth wall.
** Gerry Duggan took over starting with the Marvel Now series, toning back his randomness a bit after previous writer Daniel Way overdid it in many fans' eyes, while establishing Wade's most widely accepted backstory, eventually establishing details about his family, as well as exploring his humanity and morality.
* Dick Grayson was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger shortly after his mentor in 1940, and he was well-defined in his "ComicBook/{{Robin}}" persona until he was turned into ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} during Marv Wolfman and Creator/GeorgePerez's successful run on Franchise/TeenTitans in 1984. He struggled to find a niche after that, but it is Creator/ChuckDixon's run on the 1996 ''Nightwing'' series that is considered to be the defining run that codified the character ever since.
* For the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic, Steve Parkhouse's run on the Fifth and Sixth Doctors, particularly psychedelic epics "The Tides of Time" and "Voyager", is seen by many as the defining one; among other things, it introduced characters such as Shayde, Max, Dogbolter and [[EverythingsBetterWithPenguins Frobisher]], and was the first to demonstrate that the Sixth Doctor could be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap of his TV run. Scott Gray gives him a close run for his money, particularly for his epic run on the Eighth Doctor.
* Creator/CarlBarks is largely seen as the father of the ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse, to the point that Disney broke its tradition of not heavily featuring artists' names on its comic covers.
** Barks was the creator of Scrooge [=McDuck=], Gladstone Gander, the Beagle Boys, Gyro Gearloose, Magica [=DeSpell=] and the entire supporting cast and RoguesGallery of that world. Only Donald, his nephews, and Daisy Duck were created before by Disney and his animators. And in the case of Donald, one can argue that Barks more or less made him into a three-dimensional character and comics icon since as noted by Creator/ArtSpiegelman, unlike "that short-tempered little thing in the animated cartoons", Barks' Donald had grit, persistence, and a tenacity that were legitimately compelling virtues to mix with his bad luck and other self-destructive qualities, making him a highly relatable, flawed and tragic character, beloved across the world.
** This is buoyed by the fact that ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', much beloved by nostalgic [[TheEighties 1980s]] babies, is mostly taken from Barks' work and ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' is even more faithful to Barks' comics, treating it as canon. To better understand this, consider that before him, all WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck stories had NegativeContinuity. Now, Barks stories are considered continuity that almost all writers follow.
* [=DV8=] were created by Jim Lee, Brandon Choi and Scott J. Campbell as a bunch of PsychoRangers for ComicBook/{{Gen13}}. Once Ellis got his hands on them, in only eight issues he made them much more complicated and interesting, and every writer that took their series later followed in his footsteps. Fourteen years later however, he would pass the title of their real daddy to Creator/BrianWood, who earned it thanks to the extremely popular ''Gods And Monsters'' miniseries.
* The ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' will always be defined by the immortal hundred-issue starting run of Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby. Second place goes to Creator/JohnByrne, who wrote and drew the definitive ''modern'' FF.
** Out of all the people who worked on Marvel's First Family after Byrne, the two most fondly remembered runs, which had the most lasting impact and helped redefine the characters for new audiences, are respectively Creator/MarkWaid's and Creator/JonathanHickman's.
* ''[[Franchise/TheFlash Flash]]'' writers tend to have, appropriately enough, long runs. Cary Bates was ''the'' Barry Allen writer, with around 150 issues to his credit during his 13 years on the title. And although Wally West owes a lot to Bill Messner-Loebs, his Real Daddy is without a doubt Creator/MarkWaid. Waid added Jay Garrick and other speedsters to the supporting cast and established the Flash Family concept, brought an epic feel with the introduction of the Speed Force, and made Wally one of the most relatable heroes around; he brought ''The Flash'' back from B-list to A-list status, and the title has stayed there ever since. Noticeably, the Speed Force has made it to ''every'' adaptation of the Flash since its first appearance, and if the Flash inhabits a world where the LegacyCharacter concept exists, there ''will'' be a Flash family.
** At the least, Johns gets parental rights to the Flash Rogues. Under his pen, they went from a group of gimmicky, two-dimensional characters into one of the more twisted, yet complex rogues galleries in the DC Universe.
* ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey was created by Jordan B. Gorfinkel, but is primarily associated with Creator/GailSimone. She pulled the series out of the nosedive caused by Creator/ChuckDixon's departure and used it to make ComicBook/BlackCanary, ComicBook/{{Huntress}} and [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} Oracle]] three of the most well-developed heroines ever. In particular, Simone is ''the'' reason fans tend to like Barbara Gordon better as Oracle than as Batgirl. Simone also has this distinction for most of her ComicBook/SecretSix team, but especially Cat-Man. As well as the Six itself; few fans realize that several distinct teams predate hers, including one RealLife.
* Superboy-Prime has Creator/GeoffJohns. During the ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar, Superboy-Prime was one of the scariest, most sympathetic and yet unforgivable villains. He actually came across as a person who was so lost he might never be found. He was also the villain who you WANTED to see killed by the real Superman. Notably, he's actually considered damn near unreadable whenever anyone else is writing him.
* Also, Hank Henshaw, under Creator/GeoffJohns' capable stewardship (Also part of the Sinestro Corps War), is one of the best villainous tearjerkers EVER.
* ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'' isn't much talked about where Creator/GrantMorrison isn't involved.
** Nor is ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol''.
** And the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica. Suffice to say, if you call them [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsJLA the JLA]] (and not [[InitialismTitle for the sake of expediency]]), you're a Morrison fan. If you call them the Justice League, it's the DCAU or others.
* ComicBook/GreenArrow has had three major parental adoptions in his career: Dennis O'Neill and Neal Adams, whose teaming him with Green Lantern transformed him from a rip-off of Franchise/{{Batman}} to the social conscience of the DC Universe. Mike Grell whose ''Longbow Hunters'' series made him an urban RobinHood fighting the villains of the 1980s. And Creator/KevinSmith, whose mini-series of him effectively removed all the detritus that had become attached to the character during UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age|of Comic Books}}. His New 52 real daddy is by far Jeff Lemire, who managed to save his failing book and turn it into a major seller.
* Creator/GeoffJohns is undoubtedly this for the entire Franchise/GreenLantern mythos. This is especially true for Hal Jordan and Sinestro, who Johns had turned into one of the most complex and prominent villains in the DCU.
** Creator/BruceTimm [[Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse and co.]] can be considered this for John Stewart. Prior to their handling of him, John probably wasn't even in the top 10 of characters a fan would think of when "Green Lantern" was mentioned.
** Guy Gardner was originally created by John Broome and Gil Kane, but it was Joe Staton who gave him his famous costume, and Steve Englehart his well-known JerkWithAHeartOfGold characterization, which was developed further by Keith Giffen and J.M. [=DeMatteis=] during their run on ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational''.
* Creator/JackKirby and Creator/StanLee created Marvel's Hercules, no question, but Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak really made the character their own in the pages of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules''. Before Van Lente and Pak, Real Daddy status probably would've gone to Bob Layton whose ''Hercules: Prince of Power'' miniseries in the early 1980s established Herc as the loutish, womanizing BoisterousBruiser we all know and love.
* Creator/MattFraction and Creator/EdBrubaker's run on ''ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist'', which laid down a lot of new ground for the character and was almost universally praised. It introduced the grittier martial arts tone, the idea of a true Iron Fist legacy as well as the tournament between the cities. In addition, the two elevated Davos from a one-note bad guy into a character with a strong history with Danny's father and someone looking for a purpose in life.
* ''ComicBook/IronMan'':
** While the original creators like Creator/StanLee, Creator/JackKirby and Don Heck created much of the elements of the character, it was the team of David Michelinie and Bob Layton in the late 1970s and early 1980s who established the definitive modern take of the character. This includes inserting Jim Rhodes, the specialized armors, and Stark's emotional frailty problem, especially concerning alcohol.
** Rhodey is especially notable for taking over as Iron Man for a while after their run. Michelinie clearly didn't like this idea (the first thing he did when he returned to the title was get Rhodey out of the Iron Man suit), but it stuck; Tony soon gave Rhodey a unique suit with the codename Comicbook/WarMachine, which he still uses today.
** Michelinie and Layton had ''two'' runs, the first of which contained "Demon In A Bottle," the second of which contained "Armor Wars." They got to define Iron Man, and then go back and ''re''define him a few years later.
** Also while Iron Man's archenemy, the Mandarin, was created by Lee and Heck, the character suffered severely due to ValuesDissonance and was in danger of being phased out entirely. Matt Fraction used his epic-length ''Invincible Iron Man'' run to completely overhaul the character, ditching the YellowPeril elements and making him a brilliant MagnificentBastard villain who was Iron Man's [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Moriarty]]. He redefined the character and brought him back from the brink of obscurity.
** In addition, while Michelinie and Layton established the definitive modern take of the character, it is the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse's take of Iron Man that turned him into one of the biggest Marvel superheroes of the modern era. Before MCU, Iron Man was considered at best a B-list superhero; but Creator/JonFavreau's take and Creator/RobertDowneyJr's portrayal of the character brought a great deal of characterization to Tony and elevated Iron Man's status into a central part of the Marvel Universe and in the wider culture. MCU's effect to the character is so big that Iron Man's comics post-''[[Film/IronMan1 Iron Man]]'' used elements of Downey's appearance and characterization as the basis of the main-verse Tony Stark.
** The Brian Micheal Bendis-created character of Riri Williams, aka ''ComicBook/{{Ironheart}}'', wasn't exactly warmly received under Bendis' pen, when readers saw her as being overly callous. However, opinions regarding her changed when Jim Zub inducted her into his run of ''ComicBook/Champions2016'' where he reframed her odd behavior as her having NoSocialSkills and being InnocentlyInsensitive, which the other Champions took note of.
* Creator/JuddWinick didn't create Jason Todd, but he did bring him BackFromTheDead as the Red Hood while writing for ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', and made him [[TookALevelInBadass badass]] and [[TearJerker sympathetic]]. It's generally agreed upon that every interpretation of Jason afterwards, including Grant Morrison's, is inferior to Winnick's -- to the extent that most fans ignore everything done with Jason after that iconic storyline.
* Jim Starlin didn't create [[ComicBook/CaptainMarVell Captain Marvel]] or ComicBook/AdamWarlock, but his interpretations of the characters eclipse what came before.
* A minor example: when Mike [=McMahon=] started drawing ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', he gave the Judges a chunkier, more menacing look than Carlos Ezquerra's original vision. This look proved so popular that even subsequent Ezquerra-drawn strips used it.
* Many of the characters featured in the [=Giffen=]/[=DeMatteis=] era of the ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational'' were never as beloved before or since that run -- so much so that the post-''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' ''ComicBook/BoosterGold'' series (which some consider better than most of the stories told in JLI) constantly refers back to that time, as does ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueGenerationLost''.
* Roy Thomas is the adopted father of Golden Age DC heroes after writing ''Comicbook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' and creating ''ComicBook/InfinityInc'', with James Robinson, David S. Goyer and especially Creator/GeoffJohns taking over this role since the new millennium.
* The most fondly remembered version of the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' in the modern era is definitely Creator/GeoffJohns, who took over after James Robinson left the book, and built upon the team's family dynamic using a [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCHaracters large cast]] composed mainly of the earliest Golden Age superheroes and [[LegacyCharacter legacy characters]], which would remain the defining characteristic of the team for the rest of the post-Crisis era.
* The character of ComicBook/JohnConstantine, who Moore created during his tenure with Swampy before being spun off into his own series, has this relationship with Creator/GarthEnnis. Jamie Delano and/or Creator/MikeCarey are also in the running for this.
* Yost was this for [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider Kaine]], previously a classic NinetiesAntiHero in the worst way and one of the worse products of the Clone Saga, before returning for a fairly well-received HeroicSacrifice in ''Grim Hunt'', then a return in ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'' a year later. However, it was Yost who, in his [[ComicBook/ScarletSpider2012 2012 solo series]], made him a grumpy KnightInSourArmor ReluctantHero with a much darker version of Peter's [[DeadpanSnarker snark]], gave him a MoralityPet and a fun supporting cast, explored his past, his differences to Peter, his guilt over his past deeds, particularly his torment of Ben Reilly and his response to, effectively, having been given a second chance, as well as the mystical side-effects of his resurrection. While it was cancelled at issue #25, Yost carried him over to the reboot of ''ComicBook/NewWarriors'' and he remains popular enough to get a key role in ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' and a Scarlet Spider who is almost certainly him (or someone with Kaine's costume, powers and personality - the latter suitably toned down) has a starring role in Season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan.'
* Creator/KieronGillen has quickly become this for a few characters;
** His take on Mr. Sinister as a MadScientist has been embraced as the most interesting the character has been in years.
** His take on Loki in both [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] and ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMystery'' came with massive amounts of character development as both an adult and a child.
** Comicbook/AmericaChavez debuted in Creator/JoeCasey and Nick Dragotta's ''Vengeance'' miniseries. Creator/JamieMcKelvie's CivvieSpandex redesign in their 2013 run of ComicBook/YoungAvengers turned her into a BreakoutCharacter.
* Legion was created by Creator/ChrisClaremont as a ComicBook/NewMutants opponent and was, since then, written by many people. But Simon Spurrier was the one who gave him a complete revamp and reintroduced him as a MagnificentBastard on the pages of ''X-Men: Legacy'' vol.2, which quickly gave the character a dedicated fanbase.
* Paul Levitz is frequently considered this for ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', as he wrote the series during its height and wrote the defining story arcs for many of the franchise's heroes and villains. Creator/JimShooter also has quite a claim, having created most of the Legion's most recognizable rogues (the Fatal Five, Dr. Regulus, Universo, Mordru) and penning the iconic Ferro Lad HeroicSacrifice that established the Legion's attention to continuity and AnyoneCanDie aspect.
* While Marjorie Henderson Buell created ComicStrip/LittleLulu for the ''Saturday Evening Post'', it was John Stanley's nearly 15-year run on the Little Lulu comic books which defined the character.
* While the character of Creator/BrianMichaelBendis can be polarizing, ComicBook/LukeCage has become more of a mainstream character under his pen.
* Even though Neil Gaiman created the version of [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] from ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', it's Creator/{{Mike Carey}}'s run on the spin-off ''{{Comicbook/Lucifer}}'' that really defined the character.
* Just like Moore is remembered for ''Comicbook/SwampThing'', Creator/SteveGerber's reimagining of similarly-swampy hero ''Comicbook/ManThing'' is considered definitive.
* [[http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/stan-lees-universe-c-v-r.html The creation of the "Marvel Method"]] in [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks the Silver Age]] actually left a lot of open paternity questions for many of Marvel's iconic characters.
** Creator/StanLee -- among others -- got a flat "Writer" credit for contributing anything from a full panel-by-panel script to a little dialog polishing, it can be hard to say definitively who created what. This debate certainly gets bitter when it turns to compensation, as virtually every artist who worked with Marvel in this period feels they got hosed on royalties and copyright ownership later on.
** The little research we know about the authorship clarifies that the costumes, visual design and general plots of the early Fantastic Four, Thor and Spider-Man comics were entirely done by Creator/JackKirby and Creator/SteveDitko, while Lee worked on the dialogues and occasionally suggested the plots (i.e. a particular kind of fad and concept which Kirby would flesh out into Galactus, Dr. Doom and other Fantastic Four bad guys) and was heavily involved in the marketing (which is no small thing since without Lee's genius marketing, the comics would not have found the audience demographic, and cultural impact it did at the time). The distinctive rhythm of 60s Marvel, the alliterations and the PurpleProse captions are all Lee. Lee himself in early interviews when promoting the Marvel Method (at a time when such practises of stiffing the artist was the unquestioned status-quo and Lee [[FairForItsDay certainly did offer]] and shared more publicity and co-credits than others of his time).
* Creator/FloydGottfredson is often considered the [[ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse Mouse]] Counterpart to Creator/CarlBarks. Though the Disney shorts eventually toned down Mickey's character (which made him more marketable but caused him to suffer badly in comparison to characters that retained their edge like WesternAnimation/BugsBunny), Gottfredson maintained Franchise/MickeyMouse's adventurous spirit for several decades, which are considered an influence on modern interpretations of Mickey.
* Creator/PeterDavid gets this with ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]]'', adding a lot of depth and characterization to Bruce Banner and other supporting characters. He also gets this with several characters in ComicBook/XFactor, with David taking the credit for taking a team of CListFodder & making them interesting characters (something he actually expressed an actual preference for). Some examples:
*** Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) was originally a purely gimmicky background character, his power being that he could make multiple clones of himself. David actually bothered to take full advantage of this concept, as well as getting inside the head of a man who could never really be "alone", and turned Madrox into an interesting character. Specifically, he introduced Jamie's philosophical bent, his indecisiveness and his fascination with pop culture.
*** Layla Miller was originally the LivingMacGuffin in the ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' CrisisCrossover. Under David, she moved from [[OracularUrchin knowing stuff]], to [[spoiler:[[SheIsAllGrownUp travelling to the future as a tweenager and returning an attractive young woman]] who is dealing with the fact that her power ''isn't'' knowing the future, but [[BlessedWithSuck the ability to bring beings back from recent death]], [[CameBackWrong but without a conscience]]]]. He also presented her as a creepy child and chessmaster.
*** Quicksilver was often considered to be, for a long time, the son of Magneto who often switches between wanting approval from his father and completely trying to distance himself from the super villain. David actually incorporated a reason for him to be so much of a dick, by revealing that he does everything at super sonic speed, including thinking, and it makes him frustrated that the world seems to be in slow motion for him, as well as secretly enjoying being a hero despite his disdain of everything.
*** Shatterstar might be his most triumphant example. Added to the X-Factor roster because ''nobody else would want him'', he went from being a throwaway Creator/RobLiefeld creation, to an adorably LargeHam EnsembleDarkHorse bisexual interested in AnythingThatMoves, but determinedly forging a relationship with his teammate Rictor.
* While [[ComicBook/{{Robin}} Damian Wayne]] and [[ComicBook/{{Superboy}} Jon Kent]] were respectively created by Grant Morrison and Dan Jurgens, Peter J. Tomasi is the one who helped really define both as characters -- giving Damian his relationship with his father which has become his most important point as a character and giving Jon his super NiceGuy aspects, brought Damian back after his creator killed him off, and established their partnership in ''ComicBook/SuperSons''.
* Mary Joe Duffy is considered to be the reason ''[[ComicBook/LukeCageHeroForHire Power Man]] and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]]'' is such a fondly-remembered series. And Creator/MattFraction and Creator/EdBrubaker are this for Iron Fist.
* Garth Ennis has this status for ComicBook/ThePunisher, being one of the first to nail down a consistent characterization of the vigilante in his 2000 reboot. And before Garth Ennis came along, Creator/ChuckDixon's lengthy run on Punisher's solo title cemented the character who started out as a VillainOfTheWeek in Comicbook/SpiderMan.
* Creator/SteveDitko created ComicBook/TheQuestion as a mouthpiece for Creator/AynRand's UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} philosophy, but Dennis O'Neil's run on him in the 1980s is considered the definitive version of the character: a martial artist with insatiable curiosity. Others simply consider this groundwork for the Franchise/{{DCAU}} version, leading to an odd conundrum in that the DCAU's version of the character is clearly inspired by [[ComicBook/{{Watchmen}} Rorschach]]...who was written partly as an {{Expy}} for The Question. Meaning that Creator/AlanMoore is in the running for this status for a character ''he never actually wrote for''.
* Renee Montoya was originally just a minor character from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' who got lucky enough to get introduced into the main canon. However, it was only when Creator/GregRucka started writing for her that she slowly turned into an awesome, multi-layered detective. For details, see ComicBook/GothamCentral, ComicBook/FiftyTwo, and ComicBook/TheQuestion.
* Neil Gaiman's ''Sandman'' series stars almost entirely original characters, with only cameos by the Golden Age hero who inspired it. Nonetheless, it brought an otherwise completely forgotten character back into public perception, setting the path for Matt Wagner's ''Comicbook/SandmanMysteryTheatre'' to define Wesley Dodds for modern readers.
* James Robinson has taken the position of the ComicBook/ScarletWitch's Real Daddy, after writing a well-received solo series and pointing out that if you ask people to define Wanda's personality, it's either "aloof and quiet" or "completely batshit insane."
* Though he didn't come onboard until around halfway through ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''[='=]s lifespan, writer Ian Flynn is considered to have been the best writer for the series, taking characters and concepts from the previous DorkAge and reworking them to much greater acclaim (before [[ScrewedByTheLawyers legal issues ended up gutting them from continuity]]). Ian is even considered to be the best writer for the ''Franchise/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}'' franchise as a whole, in part due to his handling of characters largely ignored by Sonic Team since around 2010, and though the sentiment is far from universal, his return for [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW IDW's comic]] was largely well-received.
* Peter Milligan for ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan''. He completely reinvented Creator/SteveDitko's character, and now hardly anyone remembers what the original was like.
* Between adding her to replace Ben Grimm in the ComicBook/FantasticFour and her solo title, which was one of the longest running featuring a female character as the star, Creator/JohnByrne better defines ComicBook/SheHulk than her creator, Creator/StanLee. Notably, Lee only wrote a single issue of She-Hulk's first book, mostly to ensure Marvel's claim on the concept in case CBS introduced their own version for ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977''. For the remaining 24 issues of that first series, Creator/DavidAnthonyKraft slowly developed her into a distinct character from her cousin who could control her transformations and eventually decided to stay as the She-Hulk 24/7, which eventually became cemented, popularized, and further refined in ComicBook/TheAvengers under Creator/JimShooter and Creator/RogerStern, before Byrne took over the character after ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984''.
* The ''Spider-Man'' character ''ComicBook/{{Silk}}'' was created by Dan Slott and was very much hated by fans for numerous reasons: from the UnfortunateImplications that arise from her pheromone situation with Peter, to her effectively being the cause of several deaths in ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'', to her existence being a {{retcon}} of Peter's origin story. It was Robbie Thompson's solo run of the character that [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued her from the scrappy heap]] by reinventing her as being a bit of a {{Womanchild}} who works as TheMole for S.H.I.E.L.D.
* Fans are divided on just who ComicBook/SpiderMan's Real Daddy is, both in terms of the artist and the writer.
** Depending on who you ask, Spidey's definitive artist is either co-creator Creator/SteveDitko or John Romita, Sr., and Spidey's definitive writer is either co-creator Creator/StanLee or J.M. [=DeMatteis=]. And then there's the endless debates over whether Creator/StanLee or his artists (primarily Ditko and Romita) deserve more credit for the original [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] stories. All three debates have a tendency to turn quite vicious. In any case, Ditko, as per Lee himself, came up with the costumes, design and looks of not only Spider-Man but his supporting cast and RoguesGallery, and did most of the plots near the end. John Romita, Sr. on the other hand redesigned the look of not only Peter Parker (giving him an ArtEvolution that has mostly been Peter's default look across cartoons and other media) but also created Peter's gang (making Harry Osborn his best friend, starting the LoveTriangle between Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane, and designing the classic looks of both characters). Romita's features more or less shows up across many adaptations, with Harry Osborn being retroactively made into Peter's best friend (as can be seen in the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy''), relegating many of Ditko's run to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.
** Creator/GerryConway, the first writer who took over from Lee introduced characters like Hammerhead, the Jackal, and likewise is the author of the first and the least confusing clone saga. He's also seen by many as ''ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson's'' true creator. He first hinted at her character depth and moved her away from Lee-Romita Sr. hedonistic party girl (which Conway felt was an affect), and of course Conway wrote ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'' specifically to move MJ into the center of Peter's life and get rid of Gwen. That iconic story also led eventually to Harry Osborn becoming the Goblin and to Norman's first iconic death scene (being impaled on his own glider). Conway later wrote the graphic novel ''Parallel Lives'' about their relationship.
** Roger Stern's run is also considered to be a big highlight of the character's history, namely for raising up Peter's SuperStrength and battle skills. He also created the Hobgoblin -- the most prominent villain and storyline developed during his run -- is considered to not only be a fan favorite character, but one of the last great Spider-Man villains. Stern also made Felicia Hardy Peter's sidekick and anti-hero girlfriend and built up the third romance after Gwen and MJ. Stern also conceptualized part of Mary Jane's past with Tom [=DeFalco=] who later wrote the issues explaining that she had known Peter was Spider-Man and then describing her past.
** Creator/BrianMichaelBendis has had the biggest influence on the Spider-Man franchise since Ditko and Romita. His run on ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' was so successful and influential that many parts of it were adapted into games, cartoons and every Spider-Man movie since its first publication in 2000. As part of that run on ''Ultimate Spider-Man'', he also made his mark as co-creator and writer of ''ComicBook/MilesMorales'', the most popular character to take on the Spider name outside Peter Parker, and who went on to [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse headline his own theatrical film]] less than a decade after his creation.
** There's also the battle over ComicBook/{{Venom}}, split between Creator/JimShooter (who introduced the black costume in ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984''), Randy Schueller (a fan who drew up the black costume), Mike Zeck (who finalized and introduced the costume), David Michelinie (who created Eddie Brock and merged him with the symbiote) and Todd [=McFarlane=] (who designed Venom). This was bitter enough to prompt [=McFarlane=] to leave Marvel and start Creator/ImageComics. Michelinie is usually given the MyRealDaddy status.
* Most people who know ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' consider Creator/AndreFranquin as the series' father, regardless of whether or not they know it existed before: Franquin made it the Spirou we remember, and artists Tome and Janry were faithful to that (except maybe towards the end).
* Will Murray and Creator/SteveDitko may have created ComicBook/SquirrelGirl, but it was Dan Slott that made her into the character that she is today. Ryan North and Erica Henderson are latter-day paternity candidates for their work on Squirrel Girl's 2015 series. While both Slott and North portray her as a relentless optimist, Slott's Squirrel Girl is generally a comedic foil in rather dark plots while North's is more earnest, empowering, and child-reader-friendly.
* Chuck Dixon considers himself this for his creation [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} Stephanie Brown]] aka "the Spoiler," stating on his forum that he doesn't read anyone else's stories with the character because she's so alive in his head that any other interpretation wouldn't feel right. Despite that, a good majority of her fans tend to see Bryan Q. Miller, who wrote her ongoing series, as this; while Dixon is often respected for creating her and would be this without question otherwise, BQM managed to become synonymous with the character, and make her a competent hero on her own when many saw her as a sidekick's sidekick.
* James Robinson's Comicbook/{{Starman}} put that name on the map. And note that that's ''multiple'' Starmen -- Robinson has stated that he believes he did more to develop Ted Knight's character in four issues of ''ComicBook/TheGoldenAge'' than anyone had in fifty years of history before that, and he's really not bragging; it's just the truth. He also gets credit for making Starman (and occasionally Flash) rouge the Comicbook/{{Shade}} into the morally ambiguous immortal he is today.
* ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' has John Ostrander, who took the idea of a team of {{Boxed Crook}}s and made it ''work''. And even among the ranks of the Squad, ComicBook/{{Deadshot}} stands out as the character whom Ostrander most redefined, to the extent that all subsequent versions of Deadshot are basically riffs on his.
** Barbara Gordon was created for the [[Series/Batman1966 1960s show]] and was paralyzed in the pages of ComicBook/TheKillingJoke but didn't really become a hero in her own right until the late 80s. John Ostrander and his late wife Kim Yale got their hands on her on the aforementioned run of ''Suicide Squad'' and gave her the name Oracle. This take on the character was the definitive one until the ''{{Comicbook/Flashpoint}}'' reboot where she was made [[Comicbook/Batgirl2011 Batgirl]] again.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''
** Mort Weisinger had a ''massive'' influence over what Superman would become during UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|OfComicBooks}} and UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}}. As Batman was his favorite character at the time because of how his enemies actually challenged him, Weisinger sought to give Superman the same sort of challenge by giving him opponents that could actually physically stand up to him. Weisinger also ramped up the ScienceFiction element of Superman by introducing foes such as Brainiac and revamping Lex Luthor into a MadScientist, and by introducing more technological elements such as Superman's high-tech Fortress of Solitude and the Bottle City of Kandor. As such, much of DC's later staff point to Weisinger as the one who would truly shape the concept of Superman after he was created by Siegel and Shuster.
** From [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Max Fleischer]]'s work on the WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons we get "Faster than a Speeding Bullet, More Powerful than a Locomotive, Able to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound," (although a similar narration appeared in the [[Radio/TheAdventuresOfSuperman radio show]]) as well as Superman's ability to fly (animating the super-jumping he'd originally been intended to do was a pain in the arse, so Fleischer just said "forget it - he's Superman, so he can fly!") (although, it had done it before in the comics, where Leo Nowak drew Superman as flying instead of leaping.)
** Creator/ElliotSMaggin for UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} Franchise/{{Superman}}. He was the only comic writer who also wrote novels about the character and tried to greatly expand the mythos of Superman.
** Longtime Silver/Bronze Age artist Superman Curt Swan is probably the most prominent Superman artist of all time after Joe Shuster. Wayne Boring might be Superman's most popular non-Shuster Golden Age/early Silver Age artist.
* Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino in 1959, but they had little to do with the character afterwards.
** Jerry Siegel made sure to set her apart from Superman and created her first enemies, love interests and most of her initial supporting cast. Jim Mooney was her main artist during that period.
** Paul Kupperberg wrote Pre-Crisis Supergirl's best stories, making her step out of her cousin's shadow for good.
** Creator/MarkWaid and later Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle rehabilitated Post-Crisis Supergirl after a dreadful DorkAge and created one of the definite runs of the character. Sterling Gates also came up with her "Hope, Compassion and Help for all" motto.
* ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'':
** The Image/[=WildStorm=] team was originally created by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, but Creator/WarrenEllis' DarkerAndEdgier run on the title is considered the point where it [[GrowingTheBeard Grew The Beard]]. ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' spun off from characters, plotlines, and themes introduced in Ellis' run -- which speaks for itself.
* The team of Marv Wolfman and Creator/GeorgePerez didn't create ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'', but their much-celebrated run is responsible for the title as we know it today, and is the basis of the just as beloved [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans animated version]].
* Creator/WaltSimonson's [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]. It's telling that any list of the greatest Thor stories of all time will be largely populated by stories by Simonson, who injected a sense of myth and epic (particularly the battle between Thor and Jormungandr, when the entire issue was written in epic verse) to a previously forgettable series, making Loki far more complex and interesting than his previous incarnations. Basically, he did for Thor what Claremont did for the X-Men.
** The question of who Thor's modern dad is remains open, though some posit Straczynski, who brought Thor back after Ragnarok, while others posit Jason Aaron's Thor run -- even fans who dislike the new Thors (first [[spoiler:Jane Foster]], then the new "War Thor" in [[spoiler:Volstagg]]) admit that his initial Thor run, which explored the Nine Realms more, created new antagonists in the spectacularly creepy Gorr the God Butcher and the deceptively dangerous Roxxon CEO Dario Agger [[spoiler:(who can transform into the Minotaur, though he's actually less dangerous like this, since Thor can beat the crap out of him with impunity)]], and explored Thor's insecurities and personal doubts over his worthiness and the worthiness of gods in general, as well as bringing Malekith the Accursed back after over a decade of being PutOnABus (aside from a brief, comical appearance in the ''Incredible Hercules'') as an AxCrazy MagnificentBastard and making him the central villain of the series going forward. On the flip side Aaron absolutely cannot measure up to Kieron Gillen's (or Al Ewing's, and many others') interpretation of Loki in the eyes of most fans.
* Chuck Dixon is undoubtedly considered this for the third [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Robin, Tim Drake,]] thanks to three miniseries and a 100 issue run on Tim's ongoing title.
* Marvel's ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' comic was originally written by Bob Budiansky, but it was the work of Creator/SimonFurman, who started out writing {{filler}} strips for the UK reprint, that is the most celebrated and respected today. In fact, Furman has probably had more influence on the entire ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' mythos than any other writer.
** IDW's ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW Transformers]]'' continuity began under Furman's pen and was built on by Shane Mccarthy and Mike Costa when his run was CutShort. However it was the combined work of James Roberts and John Barber who pulled the verse out of a lengthy DorkAge and redefined the series with their critically acclaimed books, ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' and ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise''. They singlehandedly [[{{Pun}} transformed]] the IDW comics from a franchise footnote to one of the most acclaimed comics in years.
* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} actually has several candidate daddies;
** Back in 1974, original creator Len Wein established that Wolverine's powers were his "natural-born speed, strength, and savagery."
** In 1976, Creator/ChrisClaremont revealed that his claws were part of his body, rather than his uniform as previously thought, and introduced his SuperSenses. In 1977, Claremont created the first civilian identity for Wolvie when a random character calls him "Logan". Claremont and Creator/JohnByrne first hinted that Wolvie has "unbreakable bones in 1978, and revealed in 1979 that his entire skeleton is laced with adamantium. The original idea for the name "Logan" was that only a select few people knew about it and the X-Men were not among them. In 1980, Claremont and Byrne had Nightcrawler become the first X-Man to find out and soon enough the rest of the team started using it for their teammate. Also in 1980, the two of them introduced the backstory that James and Heather Hudson found Wolverine in a feral state and managed to help him recover his humanity. In 1981, Claremont and Byrne introduced Wolvie's HealingFactor.
** In 1983, Dennis O'Neil created the notion that the adamantium-lacing process was created by Japanese mastermind Lord Dawkwind, and also introduced Darkwind's daughter Yuriko. As Lady Deathstrike, Yuriko would become an essential addition to Wolverine's RoguesGallery.
** In 1986, Bill Mantlo established the mystery about who or what gave Wolvie his adamantium, and also introduced the notion that Wolvie is [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he looks]]. Specifically, Mantlo established Wolverine as a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran. In 1990, both Claremont and Larry Hama picked up on the reference and fleshed out his World War II background in two separate stories. Also in 1990, Jo Duffy created an origin story for Wolvie which has him cast out by humans and managing to survive on his own in the wilderness of Canada. While later contradicted by other origins, this basic element has stayed with the character through BroadStrokes adaptations.
** In 1991, Larry Hama introduced the concept of Wolverine's memory implants and essentially gave him a MultipleChoicePast. Also in 1991, Barry Windsor-Smith published a 12-part origin story about the mysterious project which gave Wolverine his adamantium skeleton and turned him into a LivingWeapon. The story was called "Weapon X" because that was the codename for the test subject, Wolverine. The name "Weapon X Program" was established by Larry Hama in 1992.
** The origin by Barry Windsor-Smith hinted that Wolverine had bone claws prior to his encounter with the Program. Once Wolverine lost the adamantium in 1993, it was Larry Hama who fleshed out the concept and established that the claws were part of the original mutation. He also worked out what these less-durable claws could and could not do.
** Finally the definite origin story for Wolverine, the real name "James Howlett," and his family background were all established by Paul Jenkins in 2001.
* Franchise/WonderWoman was created by William Marston, but for the modern take on the character, Creator/GeorgePerez and his ComicBook/PostCrisis recreation of the character is definitive to the point that director Creator/PattyJenkins, creator of the ''[[Film/WonderWoman2017 Wonder Woman]]'' feature film, considers his work on par with Marston himself. A number of fans also put Creator/GregRucka on a similar level, due to his modernizing of the Greek Gods and the increased presence of Diana on the political stage.
** DC clearly ''intended'' for Brian Azzarello's take to be definitive (particularly given that a version of his origin was used for [[Film/WonderWoman2017 the DECU movie]]), but Greg Rucka's subsequent ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' run moved away from it. However, Rucka's run itself was moved away from once it ended, and in popular consciousness (and due to the movie's popularity), aspects of Azzarello's run have stayed with the character, most notably her being the daughter of Zeus in one way or another.
* Craig Kyle and Creator/ChristopherYost created ComicBook/{{X 23}}, but didn't introduce her to the Franchise/MarvelUniverse (she's a CanonImmigrant), putting her in the hands of Creator/JoeQuesada and later Creator/ChrisClaremont, probably with the intention of invoking this trope; when it didn't work, they started writing her themselves. While their take was seen as superior to Quesada's and Claremont's and laid groundwork on the character, it still had its share of problems. It was Marjorie Liu's run on Laura's solo title that definitely did a lot to make fans like a character that had previously (often derisively) been called Girlverine and MarySue.
* Creator/WarrenEllis is seen as this for [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey a.k.a. X-Man]] (counterpart of ComicBook/{{Cable}}), along with Creator/DanAbnett. While the character was created by Creator/JephLoeb, as part of ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'', and written by Terry Kavanagh for the majority of his solo run, Ellis storyboarded the 'Shaman' storyline as part of the ''Revolution'' revamp of the X-books, which removed the previous plot tumour of Nate's genetic degeneration and drastically changed the series, making it more philosophical and cosmic-themed, changing Nate from a conventional HotBlooded KnightInSourArmor and JerkWithAHeartOfGold to a purposefully weird CrazySane AntiHero with a [[AllLovingHero Messiah Complex]] who took up a Doctor Strange-like role protecting reality. While the series only lasted another 12 issues, the depiction stuck (''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018'' and ''ComicBook/AgeOfXMan'' leaned hard into the Ellis depiction), being tweaked by Creator/DanAbnett to restore Nate's [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic sense of humour]] and dorkier traits, gently poking fun at his occasionally pretentious philosophy, while maintaining his role as an authority on reality-jumping/warping. Most readers admit, whether they like the character or not, that he is at least now somewhat distinctive.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Creator/ChrisClaremont, pushing it from a failed [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] idea into the Franchise/MarvelUniverse's biggest cash cow. ComicBook/{{Magneto}} can especially be considered his "baby". While the character existed long before he came along (having been introduced in the very first issue), he was, in his original form, your typical over-the-top villain ''and then some''. It was Claremont who fleshed him out into the WellIntentionedExtremist we know him as today, before bringing him through an affecting HeelFaceTurn. (This turned out to be [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor the first of many, though]].) To the fans, he's known as the "Father of X(-men)". It was also during the Claremont era that the X-Men came to be seen as an allegory for the Civil Rights Movement and as a metaphor for minority rights.
** Even though Fabian Nicieza is largely seen as the definitive writer for Comicbook/{{Gambit}} (writing his original series), Claremont's take on Gambit is still considered by many to be the superior version as far as the fact that Claremont's Gambit was a happy-go-lucky thief as opposed to Nicieza's brooding, angsty version. It also helps that Claremont loved pairing ComicBook/{{Storm}} and Gambit up together as a platonic duo whereas Nicieza preferred pairing Gambit up with Rogue for wangst-fueled storylines.
*** Weir and [=DeFilippis=] are this for two minor X-characters they took under their wings -- Icarus and Dust. Icarus debuted in a 1984 ''ComicBook/ROMSpaceKnight'' story as an extra, created by Bill Mantlo, and remained an obscure background character until 2004. Then writer Chuck Austen cast him as a main character in the storyline ''She Lies With Angels'', which unfortunately was one of the most hated stories in his, already controversial, X-Men run. When Icarus turned up as a cast member in New Mutants, he was not exactly a popular addition. As for Dust, her original portrayal by her creator, Creator/GrantMorrison, was full of UnfortunateImplications. Neither was well-liked until Weir and [=DeFilippis=] gave them rounded personalities and started building a close friendship and possible romance between them.
* When ComicBook/{{Vibe}} was introduced, he was a breakdancing stereotype. However, thanks to the New 52 reboot and the writing of Sterling Gates, he has become a much more likable and relatable character with a small, yet dedicated, fanbase.[[/folder]]

* Following the derisive fan reaction to ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' fandom became split over whether Yoshio Sakamoto (the series producer/director of the 2D games) or Creator/RetroStudios (the developers behind the 3D ''Prime'' games) best deserve the title of series caretaker. Complicating the matter is that [[AuthorsSavingThrow Sakamoto has been taking criticisms]]] of ''Other M'' to heart and since been delievering new 2D Metroid games with Creator/MercurySteam (including the long-awaited ''VideoGame/MetroidDread''), giving ''Metroid'' video game series bigger publicity than it did in the past, while ''Prime 4'' still remains in DevelopmentHell in that same timeframe. Separate from that, there's the issue of who deserves the most credit for the franchise's creation in general: Sakamoto or Creator/GunpeiYokoi. Whereas the latter conceived the concept of ''Metroid'', the former developed the iconic maze-like gameplay and elements that became [[{{Metroidvania}} a genre onto itself]].

* Following the derisive fan reaction to ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' fandom became split over whether Yoshio Sakamoto (the series producer/director of the 2D games) or Creator/RetroStudios (the developers behind the 3D ''Prime'' games) best deserve the title of series caretaker. Separate from that, there's the issue of who deserves the most credit for the franchise's creation in general: Sakamoto or Creator/GunpeiYokoi. Whereas the latter conceived the concept of ''Metroid'', the former developed the iconic maze-like gameplay and elements that became [[{{Metroidvania}} a genre onto itself]].

** David Whitaker, the show's first script editor, managed to establish multiple things that became part of the series' DNA forever after - the first TARDIS team (the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan), the first companion-switchover ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E3TheRescue The Rescue]]"), the first post-regeneration story ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E3ThePowerOfTheDaleks The Power of the Daleks]]"), and the first novelisation (''Dr. Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks''). He also established several important canon points like the TARDIS being a MagicFromTechnology EldritchAbomination SapientShip, the Doctor being 'cut off from [his] own planet' with his exact backstory a RiddleForTheAges, and incorporated mystical and psychedelic themes into the early show that would go on to influence later writers.
** The Daleks are ''Doctor Who'''s most popular and enduring monster, and their invention is credited to Creator/TerryNation - but many fans doubt it was ''his'' writing that was actually responsible for making the Daleks a hit. Fans inclined to credit the design for their success are likely to credit them to prop designer Raymond Cusick (who, like Derbyshire, was only paid his usual wage for the work). Other fans celebrate David Whitaker, script editor of the first couple of seasons of ''Doctor Who'' and Nation's uncredited cowriter, who also wrote the highly regarded AdaptationExpansion novelisation of the serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E2TheDaleks The Daleks]]", ghostwrote much of the "Dalekmania" [[ExpandedUniverse spinoff material]] and wrote several fan-favourite DarkerAndEdgier Dalek serials ("Power of the Daleks", "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks The Evil of the Daleks]]" and the second half of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]"). In Whitaker scripts [[DependingOnTheWriter Daleks tend to be]] a MagnificentBastard race, while in Nation scripts they're TheGrotesque and rather pathetic. Nation, for his part, disliked Whitaker's take on the Daleks and worked hard to end Whitaker's influence on the aliens in the 70s by such measures as having Whitaker creations ExiledFromContinuity. However, that didn't stop Creator/RussellTDavies' take from being clearly influenced by the Whitaker Dalek material more than the Nation stuff.

* The Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse;
** Creator/KevinConroy ''is'' Batman. And Creator/MarkHamill is ''the'' voice of ComicBook/TheJoker.
** With ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Creator/ClancyBrown, Creator/MichaelIronside and Creator/CoreyBurton ''are'' ComicBook/LexLuthor, ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} and ComicBook/{{Brainiac}}, respectively. With Franchise/{{Superman}} himself, fans tend to choose either Creator/TimDaly or ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'''s Creator/GeorgeNewbern.
** Creator/SusanEisenberg as Franchise/WonderWoman, Creator/CarlLumbly as ComicBook/MartianManhunter, Creator/PhilLaMarr as John Stewart and Creator/MichaelRosenbaum as [[Franchise/TheFlash Wally West]].

->''"[[Creator/BrianKVaughan Vaughan]] was last seen working on a revival of ''Comicbook/SwampThing'' over at [[Creator/VertigoComics Vertigo]], which is tantamount to wearing a sign around your neck saying 'I am not Creator/AlanMoore, please kick me'."''
-->-- '''Paul O'Brien''', ''[[http://www.housetoastonish.com/ The X-Axis]]''

** Bardock, the father of Goku, is an odd case, as he wasn't written originally by Toriyama. Instead, Bardock was the focus of a special called [[Anime/DragonBallZBardockTheFatherOfGoku "The Father of Goku"]], which dealt with the destruction of Planet Vegeta. The tragic nature of the character who didn't have anything heroic to his name other than friendship with his fallen comrades, and died by the hand of Frieza without doing much, was so memorable it made Bardock the BreakoutCharacter he is known today. When Toriyama decided to write him in ''[[Manga/JacoTheGalacticPatrolman Dragon Ball Minus]]'', most of the critical reception proved negative since it wasn't like [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks what was depicted in the animated special]]. As such, Bardock's real daddy is mostly considered to be Takao Koyama, the writer of the special, rather than Toriyama himself. Quite tellingly, when ''Minus'' was adapted into ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', Bardock's LastStand was mostly kept intact.

* ''Anime/KemonoFriends'' was Mine Yoshizaki's idea, with both the concept and the character designs provided by him. Despite being used as the basis for its inital game and manga projects, fans place TATSUKI and the animation team at Yaoyorozu as the ones who brought the franchise into the forefront by defining the most well-known version of the characters and setting, as well as introducing fan-favorite Kaban. The other projects are still acknowledged, and Yoshizaki is given his due, but it's the way the anime's first season was handled that made it famous.

** Dennis O'Neil has possibly the farthest-reaching influence on the character in his long history. It was him (with artists like Creator/NealAdams and Jim Aparo) who took Batman from the sci-fi and camp of the 50s and 60s (both [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks in print]] and [[Series/Batman1966 on screen]]) to the Dark Knight people recognize today. He also introduced Arkham Asylum, basically invented the idea of Batman's RoguesGallery being both mentally ill and [[{{Foil}} reflections of Batman's own psyche,]] and introduced a host of new and revived villains (including Ra's Al-Ghul and Two-Face). Later, he would become the editor of the Batman line and be the central creative influence on post-Crisis Batman, including editing Creator/FrankMiller's era-defining work and 90s mega-events like ''Knightfall'' and ''No Man's Land''.

** Fabian Nicieza distinguished Wade from Deathstroke by giving him a cruelly ironic origin story, a sidekick (Weasel), and a sense of humour that quickly made him popular enough to support a regular series written by Joe Kelly. He also greatly expanded on the one non-Expy trait Liefeld had given Deadpool, his MotorMouth tendencies, into the constantly-wisecracking occassionally-HeroicComedicSociopath we all know and love. (This was practically a habit for Nicieza, who fleshed out other Liefeld character designs into lasting characters, including Comicbook/{{Cable}}, Shatterstar and Domino.)
** Joe Kelly wrote Deadpool's first ongoing series, giving him a larger supporting cast (now also including T-Ray and Blind Al in addition to Weasel), a more detailed origin story, and his penchant for breaking the fourth wall.

* Paul Levitz is frequently considered this for ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', as he wrote the series during its height and wrote the defining story arcs for many of the franchises's heroes and villains. Creator/JimShooter also has quite a claim, having created most of the Legion's most recognizable rogues (the Fatal Five, Dr. Regulus, Universo, Mordru) and penning the iconic Ferro Lad HeroicSacrifice that established the Legion's attention to continuity and AnyoneCanDie aspect.

* Neil Gaiman's ''Sandman'' series stars almost entirely original characters, with only cameos by the Golden Age hero who inspired it. Nontheless, it brought an otherwise completley forgotten character back into public perception, setting the path for Matt Wagner's ''Comicbook/SandmanMysteryTheatre'' to define Wesley Dodds for modern readers.

* James Robinson's Comicbook/{{Starman}} put that name on the map. And note that that's ''multiple'' Starmen -- Robinson has stated that he believes he did more to develop Ted Knight's character in four issues of ''ComicBook/TheGoldenAge'' than anyone had in fifty years of history before that, and he's really not bragging; it's just the truth. Ho also gets credit for making Starman (and occasionally Flash) rouge the Comicbook/{{Shade}} into the morally ambiguous immortal he is today.

** From [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Max Fleischer]]'s work on the WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons we get "Faster than a Speeding Bullet, More Powerful than a Locomotive, Able to Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound," as well as Superman's ability to fly (animating the super-jumping he'd originally been intended to do was a pain in the arse, so Fleischer just said "forget it - he's Superman, so he can fly!")

* As far as the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' films series goes, directors Creator/AlfonsoCuaron is generally considered to be this by fans. While Cuaron only directed one film -- ''Film/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' -- it's generally considered to be where the franchise [[GrowingTheBeard came into its own]], becoming much darker and more dramatic than the first two films, which are generally considered slightly too juvenile in retrospect. ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' director Mike Newell also has a decent reputation among fans, it's just that his work wasn't as series-defining as Cuaron's.

** Many fans consider Creator/JamesMangold to be the HonoraryUncle of the ''X-Men'' movies and the real daddy of Wolverine. By the 2010s, Wolverine turned into a bit of a joke largely thanks to his static personality and [[WolverinePublicity general overexposure]] in ''The Last Stand'' and ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine''. Mangold managed to reinvigorate the character with the solo movies ''Film/TheWolverine'' and ''Film/{{Logan}}'' by giving him a character arc of finding reconciliation with his violent past, thereby making Wolverine more interesting and less one-note killing machine. Furthermore, Mangold's movies are also gritty neo-noir thrillers that helped stand out from the other X-Men movies. Subsequently, both movies are widely respected for making the Wolverine relevant again in a way that honor's the character's gritty roots.

** The creators of the ''Star Wars: The Essential Atlas'' very quickly exercised damage control and introduced a retcon that explained the massive discrepancies between Traviss' Mandalorians and the Mandalorians of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', with even more detailed rectons provided later in ''Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare''. The fact that for the most part those in charge of the continuity of the ''Star Wars'' franchise are waiting for the animated series to end before introducing retcons to fix canon and revising the Clone Wars timeline, but very quickly provided explanations for the Mandalorian contradiction, speaks volumes of how much Traviss' take on the Mandalorians, controversial though it is, has become popular. And eventually, ''The Clone Wars'' had Death Watch, a militant Mandalorian faction that Traviss had invented, seize power on Mandalore anyway.

* The creator of ''Franchise/SilentHill'' is Keiichiro Toyama, but he left Konami immediately after finishing the first game, and has not worked on the series since. For most fans, the real papa of the franchise is Music/AkiraYamaoka, the composer for every mainline game in the series (sans ''[[VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour Downpour]]'' -- in addition to serving as producer for two of them -- and was the only member of the games' staff to be involved with [[Film/SilentHill the movie]], as executive producer and co-composer.

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRevolver'' was initially created by Creator/{{Capcom}} but Creator/RockstarGames bought the franchise fairly far along in the development process. While ''Revolver'' did well critically commercially, the franchise didn't really take off until its sequel, ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', which was developed entirely by Rockstar without any involvement from Capcom. The second game was released to critical acclaim and amazing sales, and is widely considered some of Rockstar's best offerings (if not the best), which is why the third game completely ignored ''Red Dead Revolver'' and went by the title ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', which was met with similar (if not greater) critical acclaim.

* The rivalry between developers Infinity Ward and Treyarch on the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series. Infinity Ward were the original creators of the franchise, and were behind ''Call of Duty'', ''Call of Duty 2'', and the genre-defining ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare''. Treyarch, meanwhile, were widely seen as the "B"-team due to starting with the well-received but comparatively-obscure console spin-off ''Call of Duty 2: Big Red One'', a game they would follow with the much reviled ''Call of Duty 3''; much of that ill-will would follow them in their next game in the series, ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' (an installment that would see a [[VindicatedByHistory reevaluation]] in the next decade). However, over time, Treyarch has received credit for being responsive to fan input and their willingness to experiment, innovate, and take the series in new directions with the likes of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' and especially ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', while Infinity Ward has been criticized for a perceived unwillingness to deviate from their long-time formula, as embodied by the mediocre reception of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts''. It doesn't help that many of the leading minds behind the better-regarded ''Infinity War [=CoD=]'' titles have moved on to [[VideoGame/{{Titanfall}} other things]].

* No matter how long Microsoft's owned ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', you'll be hard-pressed to find a fan who doesn't think of them as a Creator/{{Nintendo}} property at heart thanks to the first two games, which were among the most popular games on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64. Doesn't really help that [[Creator/{{Rare}} the guys in charge dropped the series]] like a hot rock after ''Nuts & Bolts'', consigning the two to cameos and minor guest appearances for over a decade. A common refrain heard after Banjo and Kazooie were announced as DLC fighters for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' was that the two were back right where they belonged.
* Creator/{{Nintendo}} has become a publisher variant for ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', literally [[NetworkToTheRescue saving]] ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2'' after Creator/{{Sega}} dropped the title, and releasing the title alongside the first game on the UsefulNotes/WiiU. Even after the game became a AcclaimedFlop, Bayonetta got into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' and Nintendo ported over both the first and second games to the Switch, alongside getting an exclusive release of ''VideoGame/Bayonetta3''. Some wonder why Sega even bothers to even keep the franchise at this point.

* The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series were only a string of loosely connected titles made by various teams within Creator/{{Konami}} with only [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI the]] [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest NES]] [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse trilogy]] having a common team (led by Hitoshi Akamatsu) working on all three of them. After the success of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' (as well as the lukewarm reception for ''VideoGame/Castlevania64''), assistant director Koji Igarashi was promoted as producer of the series starting with ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance'' and from then on the series started having a unified canon, with an art style overseen by illustrator Ayami Kojima (who became acclaimed for her contributions to the aforementioned ''Symphony'', which in turn solidified Alucard's appearance and BreakoutCharacter status compared to his ''CVIII'' debut) and music composed by Creator/MichiruYamane (who had already scored the previous installment, ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'', but likewise caught the attention of many with her work on ''Symphony''). The series later received a ContinuityReboot with ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'', but this new incarnation only lasted three games before Konami went back with Igarashi's canon with the smartphone game ''Grimoire of Souls''.

** Although Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto was the creator of Franchise/DonkeyKong, the iconic [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong arcade game]] is largely seen as part of the ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' series instead, and that franchise didn't hit its own stride until the original ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 Super Mario Bros.]]'' for the NES. Most people consider the true shaper of the DK franchise to be Creator/{{Rare}}, creator of the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games. These games shaped DK's own corner of the Mario universe by introducing his supporting cast of Kongs such as Diddy Kong, Cranky Kong, and Dixie Kong, the setting of the tropical DK Isle and its surrounding islands, his obsession with bananas, and the villains King K. Rool and the Kremling Krew, all of which would be elements that would help DK gain a fandom of his own beyond being a footnote in the ''Mario'' series.
** After Rare's departure from Nintendo and buyout by [[Creator/XboxGameStudios Microsoft's gaming division]], the fans have not forgotten Rare, but have also embraced Creator/RetroStudios (themselves already considered the Real Daddy of ''Metroid'') as a second "adoptive" daddy for the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise thanks to their work on ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' and ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze Tropical Freeze]]''. Not only did they save the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise from the DorkAge that started since Rare left in 2002 (or in 1999, when ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' was released), they also tried to create their own stuff to develop the series' lore, like not using King K. Rool and the Kremlings and instead creating new villains like the Tiki Tak Tribe and the Snowmads, and introducing new gameplay mechanics to the games, most notably the rocket barrel levels.

* Following the derisive fan reaction to ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' fandom became split over whether Yoshio Sakamoto or Creator/RetroStudios best deserve the title of series caretaker. Separate from that, there's the issue of who deserves the most credit for the franchise's creation: Sakamoto or Creator/GunpeiYokoi. Whereas the latter conceived the franchise from its origins, the former developed the maze-like gameplay and elements that became [[{{Metroidvania}} a genre onto itself]].

* The creator of ''Franchise/SilentHill'' is Keiichiro Toyama, but he left Konami immediately after finishing the first game, and has not worked on the series since. For most fans, the real papa of the franchise is Music/AkiraYamaoka, who composed the music for every game in the series -- in addition to producing a number of them -- and was the only member of the games' staff to be involved with [[Film/SilentHill the movie]], as executive producer and co-composer.

** He also happened to be on the other end of this trope at least once. Back when he was writing ComicBook/WildCATS he created an antagonist known as T.A.O.. These days when somebody talks about this character it's probably in context of Creator/EdBrubaker's ''ComicBook/{{Sleeper}}''.
* Bill Mantlo is this for ComicBook/AlphaFlight as he took the {{flat character}}s that Creator/JohnByrne created and gave them depth.

** Dennis O'Neil has possibly the farthest-reaching influence on the character in his long history. It was him (with artists like Creator/NealAdams and Jim Aparo) who took Batman from the sci-fi and camp of the 50s and 60s (both [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks in print]] and [[Series/Batman1966 on screen]]) to the Dark Knight people recognize today. He also introduced Arkham Asylum, basically invented the idea of Batman's RoguesGallery being both mentally ill and [[{{Foil}} reflections of Batman's own psyche,]] and introduced a host of new and revived villains (including Ra's Al-Ghul and Two-Face). Later, he would become the editor of the Batman line and be the central creative influence on post-Crisis Batman, including editing Creator/FrankMiller's era-defining work and 90s mega-events like ''Knightfall'' and ''No Man's Land''.

* The character of ComicBook/JohnConstantine was created by Alan Moore during his tenure with Swamp Thing. He was spun off into his own series. His Real Daddy is considered Creator/GarthEnnis. Jamie Delano and/or Creator/MikeCarey are also in the running for this.