History Main / NotAsYouKnowThem

* The most excessive (and infamously so) case may be the prologue to Kyle Rayner's term as Franchise/GreenLantern, which required a FaceHeelTurn from [[TheCape signature GL]] Hal Jordan, who in turn either killed or depowered every other member of the Green Lantern Corps. They were careful ''not'' to do this when Hal was redeemed and returned as Franchise/GreenLantern. Kyle got ''upgraded'' to "Ion" and was [[KickedUpstairs promoted out of the way]].
* New Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} is in. Old Aquaman gets to be turned into a squid-faced being called the Dweller, whom Creator/{{DC|Comics}} keeps around to keep his fans reading... until he is KilledOffForReal.

*** [[spoiler:[[Comicbook/BlackestNight And then the original Aquaman was subsequently resurrected as a Black Lantern zombie.]]]]
*** [[spoiler:[[Comicbook/BrightestDay And then Aquaman officially joined the living.]] Incidentally, one of the guys at DC said the Aquaman that appeared in ''Final Crisis'' was from an alternate universe.]]
* Ryan Choi is the New [[ComicBook/TheAtom Atom]]. Old Atom ran off after [[ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004 his ex-wife (whom he still loved) went crazy/evil]]. After a "Search for Ray Palmer", the old Atom has been found, but he is now portrayed as cowardly, and eventually this is revealed to be the result of a complicated plot from his nemesis Chronos to discredit him. Then Ryan gets killed, and the ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'' mini has Ray Palmer torturing a supervillain by shrinking down and stepping on the bad guy's brain. Take note: that's exactly how [[spoiler:his ex-wife Jean Loring]] accidentally murdered [[spoiler:Sue Dibny]]. And this is the same Ray Palmer who in ''Blackest Night'' [[spoiler:was chosen to be temporarily a member of the Indigo Tribe to help battle Nekron. Each of the Corps are based on a particular emotion, which is how they recruit potential members i.e Scarecrow was made into a Sinestro Corps member due to his obsession with fear. Want to know what the Indigo Tribe's emotion is? Compassion. Possible FridgeBrilliance as Indigo Tribe seems to be made up of brainwashed individuals devoid of compassion, who are infected with it by the rings. People already overly-compassionate wouldn't be able to handle all the extra compassion that the ring comes with.]]
* ''ComicBook/TheBatmanStrikes'', the tie-in comic to ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' gives the usual team-up Poison Ivy and ComicBook/HarleyQuinn, but switches the roles around: making Harley the (relatively speaking) level-headed brains of the operation, while Ivy is the unstable one. It helps that Ivy is an impulsive teenager in this continuity, while Harley - while still a daffy hedonist - is a bit more independent and cunning than usual.
* In the last arc of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Klara was suddenly turned into a psychotic brat in advance of plans to resurrect Gert Yorkes and restore the team to the lineup it had at the beginning of its second volume. When those plans failed to pan out (due to Marvel cancelling the series), Klara was saddled with the comic-book version of PTSD.
** In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways 2015}}'', Molly, the only returning member from the original team (and supposedly only included because someone higher up insisted on it), was reduced to being a TagalongKid so that she wouldn't overshadow the new team.
* In ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'', after the writers decided to have Ben Grimm reunite with his ex Alicia Masters, his then-girlfriend Sharon Ventura was given a FaceHeelTurn wherein she made a deal with Doctor Doom in hopes of being restored to her normal form, which naturally caused a rift between her and Ben and ultimately led to her being kicked off the team.
* In ''ComicBook/{{The Vision 2015}}'', Victor Mancha was retconned into being a drug-addled thief and murderer who was still fated to become [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Victorious]] so that he could be killed off by Vision's wife without imperiling Vision's career with ComicBook/TheAvengers.
* In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2011'' Hermes' former characterization of being fascinated by humans even though he still very much sees himself as superior and is dangerously offended any time a human dares to question him or refuse to worship him, is replaced by him being a dour pessimist who doesn't care for humanity so that Dionysus, who was an easily overlooked background character in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'', can spout lines about how fascinating humanity and their achievements are to a skeptical Hermes.
* Poor ComicBook/WallyWest. Once ComicBook/TheFlash, arguably the most iconic Flash, he was DemotedToExtra when DC head Dan [=DiDio=] decided to revive his mentor Barry Allen, and was ExiledFromContinuity to make things 'simpler' for Barry than having an adult surrogate son and former sidekick sharing the mantle. After fan backlash forced them to bring Wally back, they initially did so as a rebooted, [[YouDontLookLikeYou 12-year old young biracial]] kid angry at the Flash, but when ''this'' proved unpopular, they reintroduced the actual Wally West who escaped ''literal'' exile from reality. However, because Wally was forgotten by the universe, his wife no longer able to remember him, the world forgetting his achievements and many allies seeing him as a stranger, Wally was even more of a StepfordSmiler than before, more powerful but having seemingly forgotten his other abilities, until eventually his memory of his twin children were restored, leaving him in a constant state of fear that eventually caused him to have a nervous breakdown. While in therapy, he was exposed to the mental trauma of every other patient, causing him to accidentally lose control of his powers and the resulting backlash killed several other heroes; the trauma of ''that'' caused him to go on the run in a convoluted AttemptedSuicide that lead to him being jailed, recruited by a Space God, then told his depression was clogging up the multiverse and he sacrificed his personhood to fix it by becoming the new Dr Manhattan-powered Metron. All this, because DC thought having ''two'' Flashes would be confusing, after years of having ''four'' with no problem. Thankfully, this all got a ''huge'' AuthorsSavingThrow, and he dropped the Dr Manhattan schtick, reunited with his family, became the "main" Flash again with Barry's blessing, discovered [[spoiler: the events of ''Heroes in Crisis'' weren't his fault at all, and eventually that nobody was even killed]], and even formed a bond with the other Wally, now going by Ace, who turned out to be his cousin.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'', Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} is turned into basically the sum of all the ''bad'' qualities Wolverine used to have before they made him a CanonSue (right down to being easily pushed to AxCrazy, causing a ''lot'' of collateral damage in one episode while raving like a madman.) When he can be bothered to do something other than angst over Jean being missing, his role is "[[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong the one who's always wrong so Wolverine can be right]]." This results in the perfect paragon that is this incarnation of Wolverine being given Cyclops' leadership role in the premiere. This even extends to flashbacks from ''before'' Jean went missing: where in the comics (and other versions) Wolverine had been disrespectful to Scott, and openly flirted with Jean even in front of him (to the point that it's hard to know at first if he truly has feelings for Jean or if he just wants to piss Scott off!) the WATXM version has Scott as a possesssive, jealous JerkAss who can't stand Logan even saying hello to her, when Logan hasn't done anything wrong.

* Poor ComicBook/WallyWest. Once ComicBook/TheFlash, arguably the most iconic Flash, he was DemotedToExtra when DC head Dan [=DiDio=] decided to revive his mentor Barry Allen, and was ExiledFromContinuity to make things 'simpler' for Barry than having an adult surrogate son and former sidekick sharing the mantle. After fan backlash forced them to bring Wally back, they initially did so as a rebooted, [[YouDontLookLikeYou 12-year old young biracial]] kid angry at the Flash, but when ''this'' proved unpopular, they reintroduced the actual Wally West who escaped ''literal'' exile from reality. However, because Wally was forgotten by the universe, his wife no longer able to remember him, the world forgetting his achievements and many allies seeing him as a stranger, Wally was even more of a StepfordSmiler than before, more powerful but having seemingly forgotten his other abilities, until eventually his memory of his twin children were restored, leaving him in a constant state of fear that eventually caused him to have a nervous breakdown. While in therapy, he was exposed to the mental trauma of every other patient, causing him to accidentally lose control of his powers and the resulting backlash killed several other heroes; the trauma of ''that'' caused him to go on the run in a convoluted AttemptedSuicide that lead to him being jailed, recruited by a Space God, then told his depression was clogging up the multiverse and he sacrificed his personhood to fix it by becoming the new Dr Manhattan-powered Metron. All this, because DC thought having ''two'' Flashes would be confusing, after years of having ''four'' with no problem. Thankfully, this all got a ''huge'' AuthorsSavingThrow, and he dropped the Dr Manhattan schtick, reunited with his family, became the "main" Flash again with Barry's blessing, discovered [[spoiler: the events of ''Identity Crisis'' weren't his fault at all, and eventually that nobody was even killed]], and even formed a bond with the other Wally, now going by Ace, who turned out to be his cousin.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Contra}} Contra: Shattered Soldier]]'' plays this straight: Lance Bean, player 2 in the early ''Contra'' games, was apparently killed off between games (causing him to be replaced by Lucia, [[MsFanservice a female protagonist]]), only to be revealed that he still alive and is in fact the terrorist leader ([[spoiler:the game attempts to justify by this by revealing that Lance is a WellIntentionedExtremist who was fighting against the evil masterminds actually responsible for the Alien Wars]]). ''Neo Contra'' lampshades by having Lucia, Lance's replacement, do a FaceHeelTurn herself.

* Ryan Choi is the New [[ComicBook/TheAtom Atom]]. Old Atom ran off after [[ComicBook/IdentityCrisis his ex-wife (whom he still loved) went crazy/evil]]. After a "Search for Ray Palmer", the old Atom has been found, but he is now portrayed as cowardly, and eventually this is revealed to be the result of a complicated plot from his nemesis Chronos to discredit him. Then Ryan gets killed, and the ''Comicbook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'' mini has Ray Palmer torturing a supervillain by shrinking down and stepping on the bad guy's brain. Take note: that's exactly how [[spoiler:his ex-wife Jean Loring]] accidentally murdered [[spoiler:Sue Dibny]]. And this is the same Ray Palmer who in ''Blackest Night'' [[spoiler:was chosen to be temporarily a member of the Indigo Tribe to help battle Nekron. Each of the Corps are based on a particular emotion, which is how they recruit potential members i.e Scarecrow was made into a Sinestro Corps member due to his obsession with fear. Want to know what the Indigo Tribe's emotion is? Compassion. Possible FridgeBrilliance as Indigo Tribe seems to be made up of brainwashed individuals devoid of compassion, who are infected with it by the rings. People already overly-compassionate wouldn't be able to handle all the extra compassion that the ring comes with.]]

* Poor ComicBook/WallyWest. Once ComicBook/TheFlash, arguably the most iconic Flash, he was DemotedToExtra when DC head Dan [=DiDio=] decided to revive his mentor Barry Allen, and was ExiledFromContinuity to make things 'simpler' for Barry than having an adult surrogate son and former sidekick sharing the mantle. After fan backlash forced them to bring Wally back, they initially did so as a rebooted, [[YouDontLookLikeYou 12-year old young biracial]] kid angry at the Flash, but when ''this'' proved unpopular, they reintroduced the actual Wally West who escaped ''literal'' exile from reality. However, because Wally was forgotten by the universe, his wife no longer able to remember him, the world forgetting his achievements and many allies seeing him as a stranger, Wally was even more of a StepfordSmiler than before, more powerful but having seemingly forgotten his other abilities, until eventually his memory of his twin children were restored, leaving him in a constant state of fear that eventually caused him to have a nervous breakdown. While in therapy, he was exposed to the mental trauma of every other patient, causing him to accidentally lose control of his powers and the resulting backlash killed several other heroes; the trauma of ''that'' caused him to go on the run in a convoluted AttemptedSuicide that lead to him being jailed, recruited by a Space God, then told his depression was clogging up the multiverse and he sacrificed his personhood to fix it by becoming the new Dr Manhattan-powered Metron. All this, because DC thought having ''two'' Flashes would be confusing, after years of having ''four'' with no problem. Thankfully, this all got a ''huge'' AuthorsSavingThrow, and he reunited with his family, became the "main" Flash again, discovered [[spoiler: the events of ''Identity Crisis'' weren't his fault at all, and eventually that nobody was even killed]], and even formed a bond with the other Wally, now going by Ace, who turned out to be his cousin.

* Poor ComicBook/WallyWest. Once ComicBook/TheFlash, arguably the most iconic Flash, he was DemotedToExtra when DC head Dan [=DiDio=] decided to revive his mentor Barry Allen, and was ExiledFromContinuity to make things 'simpler' for Barry than having an adult surrogate son and former sidekick sharing the mantle. After fan backlash forced them to bring Wally back, they initially did so as a rebooted, [[YouDontLookLikeYou 12-year old young biracial]] kid angry at the Flash, but when ''this'' proved unpopular, they reintroduced the actual Wally West who escaped ''literal'' exile from reality. However, because Wally was forgotten by the universe, his wife no longer able to remember him, the world forgetting his achievements and many allies seeing him as a stranger, Wally was even more of a StepfordSmiler than before, more powerful but having seemingly forgotten his other abilities, until eventually his memory of his twin children were restored, leaving him in a constant state of fear that eventually caused him to have a nervous breakdown. While in therapy, he was exposed to the mental trauma of every other patient, causing him to accidentally lose control of his powers and the resulting backlash killed several other heroes; the trauma of ''that'' caused him to go on the run in a convoluted AttemptedSuicide that lead to him being jailed, recruited by a Space God, then told his depression was clogging up the multiverse and he sacrificed his personhood to fix it by becoming the new Dr Manhattan-powered Metron. All this, because DC thought having ''two'' Flashes would be confusing, after years of having ''four'' with no problem.

* In ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds1988'', mercenary John Kincaid joined the cast in the second season to fight alien invaders, and the cast changed as a result. The character he was replacing (Lt. Paul Ironhorse) was kidnapped, replaced with a doppelganger, and then shot himself in the head. Kincaid got more depressed as the series went on, especially when his brother (who he thought was dead) came back - and then died for real. Even the main cast was affected. The lead, Harrison Blackwood, lost his quirky nature, and started carrying weapons, when he refused to do so in the first season, and his accomplice, Suzanne, became so stupid that she didn't know how to bake a cake!
** Maybe not a good example, since ExecutiveMeddling just turned ''everything'' DarkerAndEdgier, wrecking all the characters and the entire show in the bargain.

* Jim Phelps in the ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movies. Creator/PeterGraves, who played Phelps in [[Series/MissionImpossible the original TV series,]] wisely refused to return as the character inexplicably turns evil so the new guy can kick his ass on the way to becoming the new main character.

* ''Theatre/HarryPotterAndTheCursedChild'' was criticized by some longtime fans for poorly handling its ChangingOfTheGuard by making Harry overly emotional and indecisive to the point of {{wangst}} with the CharacterDevelopment he gained in the sixth and seventh books seemingly gone, and his [[SpinOffspring son Albus]] not being much better.

* ''The Batman Strikes'', the tie-in comic to ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' gives the usual team-up Poison Ivy and ComicBook/HarleyQuinn, but switches the roles around: making Harley the (relatively speaking) level-headed brains of the operation, while Ivy is the unstable one. It helps that Ivy is an impulsive teenager in this continuity, while Harley - while still a daffy hedonist - is a bit more independent and cunning than usual.

** [[SubvertedTrope By the end, however]], [[spoiler:the new characters are all [[KillEmAll killed off]], leaving Shannon and Stan [[FinalGirl the only ones alive]] to defeat Kenny]].

** Popuri in ''64'' lives with her parents in her mother's flower shop in town. Popuri's dream is to cover the world with flowers, like her grandmother Nina. Popuri takes flowers and plants very seriously. She has a father complex as her dad is gone for half the year. Because of this Poppuri often acts [[TheDitz childish]], since her father babies her when he is around. In ''[=BtN=]'', Popuri is the spoiled little sister of Rick who lives at the chicken farm with her mother. Popuri's father left a long time ago to search for medicine for [[IllGirl Lillia]] but has never returned. This has caused Rick to assume the role of "man of the house." Popuri wants to be something more than a meer chicken farmer and is attracted to Kai, who will take her away with him if the two get married. Popuri loves chickens and some of her favorite gifts are eggs as well as flowers.