History Main / ReplacementFlatCharacter

* When MarvelComics made in all-fated attempt to turn then-popular villain Venom into an AntiHero (despite the character being made of pure NightmareFuel), they decided to fill his vacant villainy niche with an ''[[BeyondTheImpossible even more]]'' [[NightmareFuelUnleaded nauseatingly evil]] [[SendInTheClones version of the same character]] named Carnage. [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Unsurprisingly,]] Venom failed to catch on as a hero, and returned to villainy very quickly. But Carnage is still around, along with a [[SendInTheClones couple of other symbiotes.]]

* [[Series/{{Friends}}]] had a one-episode example. As time wore on, the originally spoiled selfish Rachel become more complex and likeable (eventually taking over the role of OnlySaneMan after all the other characters Flanderized into near self-parody.) To highlight this, a few seasons in, we meet Rachel's sister Jill, who was as spoiled and selfish as Rachel does, and highlights how far Rachel has come.

** Similarly, Anya became this for Cordy, who probably underwent the most amount of character development in the entire Buffyverse.

* In ''ToyStory2'', Buzz was given one of these in the form of [[spoiler:a newly unpackaged Buzz Lightyear toy. Like the first Buzz, he had no idea he was a toy. This only served to remind our Buzz Prime how annoying and stuck up he'd acted right out of the box. "[[IHatePastMe Tell me I wasn't this deluded...]]"]]

* ''ArchieComics'' has Cheryl Blossom, who was introduced as a MsFanservice-type, but also as a contrast to Veronica, who had undergone enough character development that there was some need for a new version of her. Cheryl is bitcher, richer and skankier than Veronica ever was.

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) became steadily more relaxed, funny, confident, modern and so on, so in time, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce (Alexis Denisof) was brought in to fill the role of wet, panicky, geeky, trapped in the past, obsessed with manners and decorum, and having no sense of humour. Interestingly, Wesley then underwent a [[BadassNormal similar]] [[TookALevelInBadass transformation]] as he transitioned from ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' to ''{{Series/Angel}}'', becoming a fully rounded character in time.

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) became steadily more relaxed, funny, confident, modern and so on, so in time, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce (Alexis Denisof) was brought in to fill the role of wet, panicky, geeky, trapped in the past, obsessed with manners and decorum, and having no sense of humour. Interestingly, Wesley then underwent a [[BadassNormal similar]] [[TookALevelInBadass transformation]] as he transitioned from ''{{Buffy}}'' to ''{{Series/Angel}}'', becoming a fully rounded character in time.

* Minerva Paradiso in ArtemisFowl book five is a child genius attempting to capture a fairy - in this case not a police officer, but a demon. The similarities are all there between her and Artemis, down to the Greek God names.

* In the StargateVerse:
** Archeologist Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) becomes steadily more physical and cool as ''{{Series/Stargate SG-1}}'' goes on (and the writers run out of allergy and geek jokes). During the episode "Meridian", he is [[spoiler:rendered unavailable/thought to be dead and is]] temporarily replaced by an anthropologist, Jonas Quinn who is essentially the big geek Daniel used to be, and remains an ongoing (intermittent) figure of fun.

* ''ArchieComics'' has Cheryl Blossom, who was introduced as a MsFanservice-type, but also as a contrast to Veronica, who had undergone enough character development that there was some need for a new version of her. Cheryl is bitcher, richer and skankier than Veronica was.

* In ''ToyStory2'', Buzz was given one of these in the form of [[spoiler:a newly unpackaged Buzz Lightyear toy. Like The first Buzz, he had no idea he was a toy. This only served to remind our Buzz Prime how annoying and stuck up he'd acted right out of the box. "[[IHatePastMe Tell me I wasn't this deluded...]]"]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': When [[ExpositionFairy Navi]] is first paired up with Link, [[ExpectedSomeoneTaller she's unimpressed]] by the [[ChosenOne chosen hero,]] but warms up to him pretty quickly. In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask the sequel,]] she's replaced by Tatl, who [[{{Tsundere}} outright despises Link at first, but warms up to him by the end.]]

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) became steadily more relaxed, funny, confident, modern and so on, so in time, Wesley Wyndham-Price (Alexis Denisof) was brought in to fill the role of wet, panicky, geeky, trapped in the past, obsessed with manners and decorum, and having no sense of humour. Interestingly, Wesley then underwent a [[BadassNormal similar]] [[TookALevelInBadass transformation]] as he transitioned from ''{{Buffy}}'' to ''{{Series/Angel}}'', becoming a fully rounded character in time.

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) became steadily more relaxed, funny, confident, modern and so on, so in time, Wesley Wyndham-Price (Alexis Denisof) was brought in to fill the role of wet, panicky, geeky, trapped in the past, obsessed with manners and decorum, and having no sense of humour. Interestingly, Wesley then underwent a [[BadssNormalsimilar]] [[TookALevelInBadass transformation]] as he transitioned from ''{{Buffy}}'' to ''{{Series/Angel}}'', becoming a fully rounded character in time.

* On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) became steadily more relaxed, funny, confident, modern and so on, so in time, Wesley Wyndham-Price (Alexis Denisof) was brought in to fill the role of wet, panicky, geeky, trapped in the past, obsessed with manners and decorum, and having no sense of humour. Interestingly, Wesley then underwent a similar transformation as he transitioned from ''{{Buffy}}'' to ''{{Series/Angel}}'', becoming a fully rounded character in time.

* In ''Film/ToyStory 2'', Buzz was given one of these in the form of [[spoiler:a newly unpackaged Buzz Lightyear toy. Like The first Buzz, he had no idea he was a toy. This only served to remind our Buzz Prime how annoying and stuck up he'd acted right out of the box. "[[IHatePastMe Tell me I wasn't this deluded...]]"]]

* In ''Film/ToyStory2'', Buzz was given one of these in the form of [[spoiler:a newly unpackaged Buzz Lightyear toy. Like The first Buzz, he had no idea he was a toy. This only served to remind our Buzz Prime how annoying and stuck up he'd acted right out of the box. "[[IHatePastMe Tell me I wasn't this deluded...]]"]]

* In ''[[Film/ToyStory Toy Story 2]]'', Buzz was given one of these in the form of [[spoiler:a newly unpackaged Buzz Lightyear toy. Like The first Buzz, he had no idea he was a toy. This only served to remind our Buzz Prime how annoying and stuck up he'd acted right out of the box. "[[IHatePastMe Tell me I wasn't this deluded...]]"]]

* In ''WebOriginal/HomestarRunner'', Strong Sad has become much more strong and confident, losing a lot of his {{Wangst}} and occasionally getting his own back on Strong Bad. Therefore Coach Z and the King of Town have filled in as "pathetic losers" in his place.

->''I'm a teamster compared to you!''
-->-- ''{{Frasier}}'' to the former TropeNamer, Niles

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* In ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'', May was brought in as a brand new starting trainer, as main character Ash was becoming a bit more mature and experienced with two regions and the Orange Islands under his belt. This would later be repeated when May and her SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Dawn meet in the same Pokemon contest in Sinnoh. However, May hasn't ''[[BigEater completely]]'' [[BerserkButton changed]]...

[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* ArchieComics has Cheryl Blossom, who was introduced as a MsFanservice-type, but also as a contrast to Veronica, who had undergone enough character development that there was some need for a new version of her. Cheryl is bitcher, richer and skankier than Veronica was.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* On ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Watcher Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head) became steadily more relaxed, funny, confident, modern and so on, so in time, Wesley Wyndham-Price (Alexis Denisof) was brought in to fill the role of wet, panicky, geeky, trapped in the past, obsessed with manners and decorum, and having no sense of humour. Interestingly, Wesley then underwent a similar transformation as he transitioned from ''{{Buffy}}'' to ''{{Angel}}'', becoming a fully rounded character in time.

** Archeologist Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) becomes steadily more physical and cool as ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' goes on (and the writers run out of allergy and geek jokes). During the episode "Meridian", he is [[spoiler: rendered unavailable/thought to be dead and is]] temporarily replaced by an anthropologist, Jonas Quinn who is essentially the big geek Daniel used to be, and remains an ongoing (intermittent) figure of fun.

** Dr. [=McKay=] starts out as a recurring ''SG-1'' character who shows up whenever there's a need for a scientist to jerkily disagree with the main characters. On ''StargateAtlantis'', he ''is'' one of the main characters, so he gets some character development and Dr. Kavanagh is introduced to take over the "recurring jerk scientist" role.
* Sawyer on ''{{Lost}}'' started out a JerkAss and developed into a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. In season 4, he exhibits little (if any) jerky behavior at all, but then Miles was introduced and became the replacement jerk.
** This is lampshaded even before it becomes blatant:
--->'''Miles''': Where the hell did they go, tubby?
--->'''Hurley''': Oh, awesome, the ship sent us another Sawyer.
* When [[TheMaryTylerMooreShow Mary's]] friend Rhoda got her own spinoff, she brought along her younger sister Brenda to take on the "less cool friend" role.
* In ''RedDwarf'', Rimmer ends up being his own Replacement Flat Character, so to speak: in the TV series, the "original" Rimmer gradually becomes more fleshed out and - if not likeable - [[FreudianExcuse understandable]]. He even shows the occasional moment of bravery, before leaving in series VII [[spoiler:to become "the next Ace Rimmer"]]. Then in series VIII he's resurrected by nanobots as his old, pre-hologram self, and is back to being "you as you used to be" as a disgusted Lister puts it.

[[AC:WebAnimation]]
* In ''HomestarRunner'', Strong Sad has become much more strong and confident, losing a lot of his {{Wangst}} and occasionally getting his own back on Strong Bad. Therefore Coach Z and the King of Town have filled in as "pathetic losers" in his place.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''[[ToyStory Toy Story 2]]'', Buzz was given one of these in the form of [[spoiler: a newly unpackaged Buzz Lightyear toy. Like The first Buzz, he had no idea he was a toy. This only served to remind our Buzz Prime how annoying and stuck up he'd acted right out of the box. "[[IHatePastMe Tell me I wasn't this deluded...]]"]]

-->-- ''{{Frasier}}'' to the TropeNamer

[[AC:TropeNamer]]
* ''{{Frasier}}''. Frasier was introduced in ''{{Cheers}}'' as an uptight, prissy intellectual who was usually the butt of jokes. Over time, he developed and even had his [[DayInTheLimelight days in the limelight]]; for example, the episode "Love Is a Lonely Snipe-Hunter"). Once he was given his own show, ''{{Frasier}}'', and became the central character, he had to become more complex and well-rounded, eschewing one-dimensional prissyness for more of a straight man role. Cue the appearance of his brother Niles, who was everything Frasier used to be and more -- geeky, neurotic, and the butt of (almost) every joke.
** As these things go, Niles himself gradually became more well-rounded and relaxed. Had there been a ''Niles'' SpinOff, Niles would have received a TheNiles of his very own..
*** The original show pitch for Frasier didn't include Niles - he was a happy afterthought when a casting director noticed how much David Hyde Pierce resembled KelseyGrammer.
**** Frasier's wife Lilith served as a "proto-TheNiles" on Cheers.
**** Frasier himself served as The Niles to Diane Chambers.

* In ''RedDwarf'', Rimmer ends up being his own Niles, so to speak: in the TV series, the "original" Rimmer gradually becomes more fleshed out and - if not likeable - [[FreudianExcuse understandable]]. He even shows the occasional moment of bravery, before leaving in Season 7 [[spoiler:to become "the next Ace Rimmer"]]. Then in Season 8 he's resurrected by nanobots as his old, pre-hologram self, and is back to being "you as you used to be" as a disgusted Lister puts it.

** Tom was, arguably enough, The Niles for Callum in the first season.