History Main / ReplacementFlatCharacter

* The Nagatoro of ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'', while still introduced as a LovingBully as she was in the image sets she originated from, eventually grew out of it and became more overtly affectionate with her Senpai while still hiding it beneath shallow insults and teasing. To pick up the sadistic slack, her two unnamed friends became Senpai's main bullying problems, often being much more cruel to him (but not as cruel as Nagatoro).
* In ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'', Madarame is the resident {{Straw|Character}} {{Otaku}}, uninterested in any friendships or interests outside of his otaku niche and utterly shameless about his obsessive {{fandom}} ([[{{Foil}} in contrast with]] main character Sasahara, who is more balanced and unsure just how deep down the otaku rabbit hole he wants to go). CharacterizationMarchesOn, however, and as Madarame becomes a more well-rounded person, Kuchiki is introduced. Kuchiki suffers from an AmbiguousDisorder and is seemingly incapable of relating to anyone or anything except through the lens of otaku culture. was in her first image set appearances).

* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl''

** Minerva Paradiso in book five is a ChildProdigy attempting to capture a magical being -- in this case a demon rather than an elf. The similarities are all there between her and Artemis, down to the [[ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming mythological names]]. WordOfGod says that her book was actually a DolledUpInstallment -- he had originally written it with Minerva as the protagonist, but then realized that he was basically writing a book about Artemis and just decided to bring him back as the lead character, while also establishing demons as another subspecies of fairy.

* The Nagatoro of ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'', while still introduced as a LovingBully as she was in the image sets she originated from, eventually grew out of it and became more overtly affectionate with her Senpai while still hiding it beneath shallow insults and teasing. To pick up the sadistic slack, her two unnamed friends became Senpai's main bullying problems, often being much more cruel to him (but not as cruel as Nagatoro

* In ''Film/HighSchoolMusical,'' Ryan Evans is pretty firmly characterised as a total idiot (he's unable to read the word 'Drama' despite being in the Drama club), but in the sequels, as his role in the narrative grows, he grows in intelligence, and is replaced with Jason as TheDitz whose role never really extends beyond being the one who makes stupid comments .

* The producers of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' tried a SpinOff starring yet another sleazy dad: ''TopOfTheHeap'', about Al and Peg's high school friend Charlie Verducci and his dumb but good-natured adult son Vinnie (played by a pre-''Series/{{Friends}}'' Creator/MattLeBlanc). But for all of Al's faults, it's always made clear that he loves his family and will put their needs before his own. Charlie, however, had none of Al's redeeming qualities (in the PoorlyDisguisedPilot, he threatened to ''kill his son's cat'' if Vinnie didn't go along with his schemes) and the show bombed ratings-wise. It was eventually {{retool}}ed, dropping Charlie in favor of the much-more-likable Vinnie, but this didn't fare much better since ''he'' was essentially just a male version of [[BrainlessBeauty Kelly]] but without her cleverness.

* The producers of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' tried a SpinOff starring yet another sleazy dad: ''TopOfTheHeap'', about Al and Peg's high school friend Charlie Verducci and his dimwitted 20-year-old son Vinnie. But for all of Al's faults, it's always made clear that he loves his family and will put their needs before his own. Vinnie, however, had none of Al's redeeming qualities (in the PoorlyDisguisedPilot, he threatened to ''kill his son's cat'' if Vinnie didn't go along with his schemes) and the show bombed ratings-wise. It was eventually {{retool}}ed, dropping Charlie in favor of the much-more-likable Vinnie, but this didn't fare much better since ''he'' was essentially just a male version of [[BrainlessBeauty Kelly]].

** 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 Pokémon contest in Sinnoh. However, May hasn't ''completely'' changed...

* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'': Before becoming the blanket-hugging, gospel-quoting weirdo we all know and love, Linus started out as a baby learning to cope with the world. Rerun was introduced to tell those sort of stories again, however, Charles Schulz didn't actually embrace the character until well into the last decade of the strip.

** Doodah Day, introduced in book 5 is basically a second Mulch Diggums. A reformed fairy criminal who lost his magic and is now helping the heroes. The only difference is that he's a pixie rather than a dwarf.

* When his AxCrazy antics started to get him in trouble and after adopting a cat as his animal companion, Belkar Bitterleaf from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' was forced to undergo CharacterDevelopment and become more likely to work with the rest of the party and show he actually cares about anything but killing. When the Order fought [[PsychoRangers the Linear Guild]] again, Belkar's new EvilCounterpart (after he killed the previous two) was a Kobold named Yukyuk, who was a Kobold Ranger with all of Belkar's old sadistic and murderous tendencies (in fact, he also seems SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of Linear Guild's first Kobold, whose personality was exactly like old Belkar's), riding a wolf, which was Belkar's original idea for an animal companion and tries to murder Belkar's cat out of sheer cruelty. [[spoiler:Belkar's biggest show of growth comes when he decides to ''not'' kill Yukyuk, who ends mind-controlled by V, though he's made to Squick use his mouth as the cat's toilet as punishment for hurting him and later dies when V sends him to trigger some traps.]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Fry's ex-girlfriend Michelle wound up freezing herself after Fry himself was accidentally frozen and woke up in the year 3000, but unlike Fry, who adjusted to the future surprisingly well, she had a lot of trouble with it and eventually hooked up with an also recently-thawed Creator/PaulyShore. WordOfGod says that this episode was made because the original concept of Fry being a FishOutOfTemporalWater hadn't really worked out, because he functions ''better'' in the future than he did in the 20th century.

** Also {{Inverted}}: WordOfGod says that [[ButtMonkey Pip]] [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared]] from the show largely because they realized that Butters filled the [[ThePollyanna same basic niche]] but was more interesting. Pip was always a CreatorsPest anyway, despite [[EnsembleDarkHorse being fairly popular with the fanbase]].

* Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog:

* Happened a couple of times 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 Pokémon contest in Sinnoh. However, May hasn't ''completel]'' changed...

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Fry's ex-girlfriend Michelle wound up freezing herself after Fry himself was accidentally frozen and woke up in the year 3000, but unlike Fry, who adjusted to the future surprisingly well, she had a lot of trouble with it and eventually hooked up with an also recently-thawed Pauly Shore. WordOfGod says that this episode was made because the original concept of Fry being a FishOutOfTemporalWater hadn't really worked out, because he functions ''better'' in the future than he did in the 20th century.

* Superboy/Conner Kent in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' started off as an aloof kid full of angst and anger issues with tremendous power, who was barely willing to socialize with others. Over the course of two seasons, he grew a lot as a person and became more focused, open and kind. Season 3 then introduces Geo-Force/Brion Markov, who is in many ways what Conner was when he started, and putting him next to Superboy highlights just how much Conner has grown over the years. Many characters point out that Brion is just like what Conner used to be, himself included, and he takes Brion under his wing specifically for that reason.

* ''Machinima/{{S|upermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers}}MG4'': The character of Desti was used as the rival character to Meggy during the 2018-19 episodes, as a sort of flat AlphaBitch designed to just get in her way. This changes during the Anime Arc, which attempts to flesh her out [[spoiler:before [[KilledOffForReal killing her off]] in "World War Mario"]]. For ''Machinima/MeggysDestinyAnSMG4Movie'', her title as the arrogant rival is replaced by Team Killer Ink, a quartet of Inklings that don't even attempt to be actual characters and exist purely to [[FantasticRacism hate humans because]] and pose as Meggy's final opponent during Splatfest. To say fans were upset that such shallow characters were the FinalBoss of a ''two year character arc'', to be instantly disposed of after the fact, would [[ReplacementScrappy be an understatement]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Fry's ex-girlfriend Michelle wound up freezing herself after Fry himself was accidentally frozen and woke up in the year 3000, but unlike Fry, who adjusted to the future surprisingly well, she had a lot of trouble with it and eventually hooked up with an also recently-thawed Pauly Shore. WordOfGod says that one reason they did this episode was because they realized that the original concept of Fry being a FishOutOfTemporalWater not only hadn't really worked out, because if anything, he functions ''better'' in the future than he did in the 20th century.

** 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 Pokémon contest in Sinnoh. However, May hasn't ''[[BigEater completely]]'' [[BerserkButton changed]]...

* In ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'', Madarame is the resident {{Straw|Character}} {{Otaku}}, uninterested in any friendships or interests outside of his otaku niche and utterly shameless about his obsessive {{fandom}} ([[{{Foil}} in contrast with]] main character Sasahara, who is more balanced and unsure just how deep down the otaku rabbit hole he wants to go). CharacterizationMarchesOn, however, and as Madarame becomes a more well-rounded person, Kuchiki is introduced. Kuchiki takes Madarame's early difficulty socializing UpToEleven, suffering from an AmbiguousDisorder and seemingly incapable of relating to anyone or anything except through the lens of otaku culture. was in her first image set appearances).
* Raian "the Devil" Kure in ''Manga/KenganAshura'' is a PsychoForHire who [[SmugSuper looks down to other fighters]] so much he refuses to use Kure Clan martial arts techniques in matches as they'd be wasted on worthless opponents and also end the fight too quickly to let him [[{{Sadist}} play with them]], so instead he relies on [[SuperMode Release]], despite it being supposed to be secret. Even his own family finds him a pain to work with, as he disregards orders and cares only about indulging his cruelty. He is one of few fighters who go into every fight with an open desire to murder his opponents (as opposed to merely have it be an option on the table). In ''Kengan Omega'' it seems he has mellowed out ''a little bit'' after [[spoiler:losing to Ohma and befriending him while helping Ohma recover from his injuries]]. He seems at least able to work with a team without openly antagonizing everyone all the time and willing to suppress his bloodlust to get Kengan's team a win in a tournament where killing is forbidden. His opponent is Alan "the King of Slaughter" Wu, a member of a renegade faction of the Chinese Wu family that Kure Clan also traces its roots to and also knows the secret of Release. Alan is everything Raian was two years prior ramped UpToEleven, even bringing a knife to ensure his opponent won't be leaving alive, despite how that would cost his team a match. Their fight is used to highlight how much Raian has changed, especially once he [[spoiler:notices Alan's brother, Edward. Raian drops his sadistic persona and offers Alan to live if he surrenders. When Alan refuses, Raian utterly overwhelms him with Kure techniques, kills him, and goes chasing after Edward. Edward Wu has become Kure Clan's enemy number one, and each family member has orders to hunt him at all costs, even if they have to botch a job they were hired for. Meaning Raian is actually following orders he'd once disregard]].

** Cameron, one of Ash's rivals in the Unova {{Tournament|Arc}} could qualify as another Ash-focused example, as he took all of the IdiotHero traits Ash had UpToEleven. {{Downplayed|Trope}} in that Ash was effectively ''[[{{Flanderization}} his own]]'' Replacement Flat Character during this arc[[note]][[TookALevelInDumbass returning to the idiot-hero part]] of his roots, but not the {{Jerkass}} part,[[/note]] and didn't really notice.

** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': The film ''Recap/KamenRiderBuildNewWorldKamenRiderCrossZ'' introduces Killbus, the [[GreaterScopeVillain bigger, badder]] brother of [[BigBad Evolt]]. His personality is basically the same his younger brother, but with his [[EvilIsHammy flamboyance]], sadism and {{omnicidal mania|c}} ramped UpToEleven, and without the [[TheChessmaster cunning]] and [[EnemyMine depth]] that his brother had.

* ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'': Aoki Ko was initially a distant ice queen who did not take part in the friendly aspect of FriendlyRivalry as much as the other characters. After a good [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]], she [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] and becomes a friendlier and more sympathetic character. Then [[spoiler: Iwase]] decides to get into manga, and takes Aoki's old role of the cold, distant IceQueen rival, being maybe even harsher than Aoki was. It comes complete with a LampshadeHanging when [[spoiler: Iwase]] reacts to the idea of exchanging ideas with her rivals the same way Aoki did two years before.

* Raian "the Devil" Kure in ''Manga/KenganAshura'' is a PsychoForHire who [[SmugSuper looks down to other fighters]] so much he refuses to use Kure Clan martial arts techniques in matches as they'd be wasted on worthless opponents and also end the fight too quickly to let him [[{{Sadist}} play with them]], so instead he relies on [[SuperMode Release]], despite it being supposed to be secret. Even his own family finds him a pain to work with, as he disregards orders and cares only about indulging his cruelty. He is one of few fighters who go into every fight with an open desire to murder his opponents (as opposed to merely have it be an option on the table). In ''Kengan Omega'' it seems he has mellowed out ''a little bit'' after [[spoiler: losing to Ohma and befriending him while helping Ohma recover from his injuries]]. He seems at least able to work with a team without openly antagonizing everyone all the time and willing to suppress his bloodlust to get Kengan's team a win in a tournament where killing is forbidden. His opponent is Alan "the King of Slaughter" Wu, a member of a renegade faction of the Chinese Wu family that Kure Clan also traces its roots to and also knows the secret of Release. Alan is everything Raian was two years prior ramped UpToEleven, even bringing a knife to ensure his opponent won't be leaving alive, despite how that would cost his team a match. Their fight is used to highlight how much Raian has changed, especially once he [[spoiler: notices Alan's brother, Edward. Raian drops his sadistic persona and offers Alan to live if he surrenders. When Alan refuses, Raian utterly overwhelms him with Kure techniques, kills him, and goes chasing after Edward. Edward Wu has become Kure Clan's enemy number one, and each family member has orders to hunt him at all costs, even if they have to botch a job they were hired for. Meaning Raian is actually following orders he'd once disregard]].

* In the second book of ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'', Spader, a new Traveler, spends the entire book on the same learning curve Bobby had in the first, letting Bobby show off his newfound confidence in comparison. His plot arc even follows some of the same points Bobby's did, down to [[spoiler: Uncle Press dying for him the same way that Osa did for Bobby]].

** ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': The film ''Recap/KamenRiderBuildNewWorldKamenRiderCrossZ'' introduces Killbus, the [[GreaterScopeVillain bigger, badder]] brother of [[BigBad Evolt]]. His personality is basically the same his younger brother, but with his [[EvilIsHammy flamboyance]], sadism and [[OmnicidalManiac omnicidal mania]] ramped UpToEleven, and without the [[TheChessmaster cunning]] and [[EnemyMine depth]] that his brother had.

* The producers of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' tried a SpinOff starring yet another sleazy dad: ''TopOfTheHeap'', about Al and Peg's high school friend Charlie Verducci and his dimwitted 20-year-old son Vinnie. But for all of Al's faults, it's always made clear that he loves his family and will put their needs before his own. Vinnie, however, had none of Al's redeeming qualities (in the PoorlyDisguisedPilot, he threatened to ''kill his son's cat'' if Vinnie didn't go along with his schemes) and the show bombed ratings-wise. It was eventually {{retool}}ed, dropping Charlie in favor of the much-more-likable Vinnie, but this didn't fare much better since ''he'' was essentially just a male version of [[BrainlessBeauty Kelly.]]

* ''[[Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'': The character of Desti was used as the rival character to Meggy during the 2018-19 episodes, as a sort of flat AlphaBitch designed to just get in her way. This changes during the Anime Arc, which attempts to flesh her out [[spoiler:before [[KilledOffForReal killing her off]] in "World War Mario"]]. For ''Machinima/MeggysDestinyAnSMG4Movie'', her title as the arrogant rival is replaced by Team Killer Ink, a quartet of Inklings that don't even attempt to be actual characters and exist purely to [[FantasticRacism hate humans because]] and pose as Meggy's final opponent during Splatfest. To say fans were upset that such shallow characters were the FinalBoss of a ''two year character arc'', to be instantly disposed of after the fact, would [[ReplacementScrappy be an understatement]].

* A variation on this happens in ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' with the protagonist, Dave, a computer {{geek}} employed by a MadScientist. Dave's early characterization revolved around his extreme geekiness and his FishOutOfWater status. As the years went by, however, his personality became more rounded and he got more and more at ease around mad science. Towards the and of the comic, [[MadScientist Helen]] creates a Dave clone who lacks the last few years of memories. Everybody else is shocked at how ''boring'' Dave used to be. (Although part of this was that the clone had a fully-functioning WeirdnessCensor, which the real Dave never did.) It is telling that when the "real" Dave [[spoiler:who just became a mad scientist himself]] meets his clone, he [[spoiler:kills him without the least hesitation.]]

* When his AxCrazy antics started to get him in trouble and after adopting a cat as his animal companion, Belkar Bitterleaf from ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' was forced to undergo CharacterDevelopment and become more likely to work with the rest of the party and show he actually cares about anything but killing. When the Order fought [[PsychoRangers the Linear Guild]] again, Belkar's new EvilCounterpart (after he killed the previous two) was a Kobold named Yukyuk, who was a Kobold Ranger with all of Belkar's old sadistic and murderous tendencies (in fact, he also seems SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of Linear Guild's first Kobold, whose personality was exactly like old Belkar's), riding a wolf, which was Belkar's original idea for an animal companion and tries to murder Belkar's cat out of sheer cruelty. [[spoiler: Belkar's biggest show of growth comes when he decides to ''not'' kill Yukyuk, who ends mind-controlled by V, though he's made to Squick use his mouth as the cat's toilet as punishment for hurting him and later dies when V sends him to trigger some traps.]]

** [[TheDon Valmont]]'s [[TheBrute brutish enforcer]] Tohru underwent a HeelFaceTurn after Season 1 and became a more nuanced [[TheBigGuy Big Guy]] with [[GentleGiant a pacifistic streak,]] [[MommasBoy a loving relationship with his mother,]] and [[HiddenDepths an interest in sorcery.]] As soon as he did, Hak Foo--an unambiguously evil, musclebound brute--instantly joined Valmont's team as his replacement [[TheBrute chief enforcer.]]
** Valmont himself underwent considerable CharacterDevelopment after he got [[GrandTheftMe possessed by Shendu]] after Season 1, found out the hard way that [[EvilIsNotAToy the dark arts are not to be trifled with,]] and eventually became an antiheroic ally of the heroes. Then in Season 3, [[EvilSorcerer Daolon Wong]] replaced him as the BigBad, and quickly showed that he actually ''was'' the sort of power-mad occult mastermind that Valmont ''seemed'' to be.

** Also {{Inverted}}: WordOfGod says that [[ButtMonkey Pip]] [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared]] from the show largely because they realized that Butters filled the [[ThePollyanna same basic niche]] but was more interesting. Pip was always a CreatorsPest anyway, despite [[EnsembleDarkhorse being fairly popular with the fanbase.]]

* {{Inverted}} in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama:'' The series has a habit of {{Flanderizing}} contestants until they can't really work as characters anymore, then replacing them with a more rounded SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute. The most obvious examples are [[InformedAttractiveness Justin]] ==> [[LatinLover Alejandro]] (both use their looks to manipulate people, but Alejandro isn't ''obsessively'' vain) and [[HotBlooded Eva]] ==> [[JerkJock Jo]] (both female jocks, but Jo isn't completely [[HairTriggerTemper blinded by rage]]).
** While less obvious, some also believe that [[ConspiracyTheorist Shawn]] was an attempt to redo [[ButtMonkey Ezekiel,]] as both are scruffy HomeschooledKids who wear a toque and struggle with {{Greed}}. If so, the difference is telling, since [[spoiler:Shawn actually wins his season.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'', Madarame is the resident {{Straw|Character}} {{Otaku}}, uninterested in any friendships or interests outside of his otaku niche and utterly shameless about his obsessive {{fandom}} ([[{{Foil}} in contrast with]] main character Sasahara, who is more balanced and unsure just how deep down the otaku rabbit hole he wants to go). CharacterizationMarchesOn, however, and as Madarame becomes a more well-rounded person, Kuchiki is introduced. Kuchiki takes Madarame's early difficulty socializing UpToEleven, suffering from an AmbiguousDisorder and seemingly incapable of relating to anyone or anything except through the lens of otaku culture.
* ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'': Aoki Ko was initially a distant ice queen who did not take part in the friendly aspect of FriendlyRivalry as much as the other characters. After a good [[DefrostingIceQueen defrosting]], she [[TookALevelInKindness takes a level in kindness]] and becomes a friendlier and more sympathetic character. Then [[spoiler: Iwase]] decides to get into manga, and takes Aoki's old role of the cold, distant IceQueen rival, being maybe even harsher than Aoki was. It comes complete with a LampshadeHanging when [[spoiler: Iwase]] reacts to the idea of exchanging ideas with her rivals the same way Aoki did two years before.
* The Nagatoro of ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'', while still introduced as a LovingBully as she was in the image sets she originated from, eventually grew out of it and became more overtly affectionate with her Senpai while still hiding it beneath shallow insults and teasing. To pick up the sadistic slack, her two unnamed friends became Senpai's main bullying problems, often being much more cruel to him (but not as cruel as Nagatoro was in her first image set appearances).
* Raian "the Devil" Kure in ''Manga/KenganAshura'' is a PsychoForHire who [[SmugSuper looks down to other fighters]] so much he refuses to use Kure Clan martial arts techniques in matches as they'd be wasted on worthless opponents and also end the fight too quickly to let him [[{{Sadist}} play with them]], so instead he relies on [[SuperMode Release]], despite it being supposed to be secret. Even his own family finds him a pain to work with, as he disregards orders and cares only about indulging his cruelty. He is one of few fighters who go into every fight with an open desire to murder his opponents (as opposed to merely have it be an option on the table). In ''Kengan Omega'' it seems he has mellowed out ''a little bit'' after [[spoiler: losing to Ohma and befriending him while helping Ohma recover from his injuries]]. He seems at least able to work with a team without openly antagonizing everyone all the time and willing to suppress his bloodlust to get Kengan's team a win in a tournament where killing is forbidden. His opponent is Alan "the King of Slaughter" Wu, a member of a renegade faction of the Chinese Wu family that Kure Clan also traces its roots to and also knows the secret of Release. Alan is everything Raian was two years prior ramped UpToEleven, even bringing a knife to ensure his opponent won't be leaving alive, despite how that would cost his team a match. Their fight is used to highlight how much Raian has changed, especially once he [[spoiler: notices Alan's brother, Edward. Raian drops his sadistic persona and offers Alan to live if he surrenders. When Alan refuses, Raian utterly overwhelms him with Kure techniques, kills him, and goes chasing after Edward. Edward Wu has become Kure Clan's enemy number one, and each family member has orders to hunt him at all costs, even if they have to botch a job they were hired for. Meaning Raian is actually following orders he'd once disregard]].

* In ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'', after Usagi's cynical and mercenary BountyHunter friend Gen had been given a deep JerkWithAHeartOfGold characterization and a DarkAndTroubledPast that explained his behavior, the minor character Inukai was introduced to take over Gen's original role as the foil to Usagi, being a ruthlessly amoral and greedy BountyHunter with far fewer scruples or sympathetic characteristics than Gen.
* Originally introduced as Comicbook/TheJoker's abused girlfriend and partner-in-crime, Comicbook/HarleyQuinn eventually underwent CharacterDevelopment as more of an AntiHero and even got her own series after breaking away from him. DC later introduced a new character called Punchline, who, as an outright villain obsessed with the Joker, seems intended to appeal to fans who preferred Harley's original role and characterization.

* In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Darkstripe served as the ButtMonkey until he died at the end of the first arc. When his spirit returned to seek vengeance along with the other villains in the fourth arc, Darkstripe had managed to grow stronger because of all the abuse he had suffered and he actually posed a credible threat. Because of this, another villain called Snowtuft was introduced to be the ButtMonkey, and got pushed around and beaten up by the other characters in all but one of his appearances.

* In the Franchise/StargateVerse:
** Archeologist Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) becomes steadily more physical and cool as ''Series/StargateSG1'' 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.
** In one episode Robert Rothman was a geekier archeologist when Daniel was temporarily unavailable.
** 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 ''Series/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.
** On the villainous side, Colonel Harry Maybourne starts off as TheHeavy of a traitorous rogue faction within the NID. But after a few seasons of character development and several EnemyMine scenarios with the heroes, he'd become too sympathetic to fill this role anymore (instead transitioning into a recurring ally, albeit one that could never be fully trusted) and was replaced in the NID by Colonel Frank Simmons, who was just as dirty as Maybourne had been but lacking any of his charm.
* Sawyer on ''{{Series/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.
* ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'': When Mary's friend Rhoda got her own spinoff, she brought along her younger sister Brenda to take on the "less cool friend" role.
* In ''Series/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.
** Meanwhile in the book (and less strongly in the episode "Me^2", the contrast is made between Rimmer and the copy of him that hasn't been "mellowed out" by Lister and co.
* After the eponymous star of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' grew into a confident, competent and somewhat superpowered spy, [[spoiler:his even-geekier best friend Morgan (who had been in the show since the beginning) was brought into the spy team, allowing him to be the same fish-out-of-water adventurer that Chuck used to be]].

* Part of {{Sidekick}} Sergeant Lewis' role in ''Series/InspectorMorse'' was being more lighthearted than the title character. When he starred in the spinoff ''Series/{{Lewis}}'', he took on a more serious stance and was balanced by his own more optimistic sidekick in Sergeant Hathaway.

* In ''Series/{{Empire}}'', right after Lucious comes to accept Jamal's homosexuality and names him as heir to Empire Records, homophobic rapper Black Rambo makes a scene at the press conference and refuses to work for a "batty boy." It seemed his only purpose was to show how much Lucious had developed, though at the very least, it's Jamal who socially destroys him in a rap battle.

* ''Series/Charmed1998'' has a rare main character example with Paige, whose major traits--being the youngest, the most gung-ho about magic ([[DependingOnTheWriter usually]]), her earlier estrangement from her sisters and [[EthicalSlut having a lot of casual relationships]]--puts her into the role that Phoebe had in earlier seasons. Given how much of a BaseBreakingCharacter Phoebe was during the show's second half, some would argue that Paige's lack of similar "growth" is a good thing.

* The producers of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' tried a SpinOff starring yet another sleazy dad: ''TopOfTheHeap'', about Al and Peg's high school friend Charlie Verducci and his dimwitted 20-year-old son Vinnie. But for all of Al's faults, it's always made clear that he loves his family and will put their needs before his own. Vinnie, however, had none of Al's redeeming qualities (in the PoorlyDisguisedPilot, he threatened to ''kill his son's cat'' if Vinnie didn't go along with his schemes) and the show bombed ratings-wise. It was eventually {{retool}}ed, dropping Charlie in favor of the much-more-likable Vinnie, but this didn't fare much better since ''he'' was essentially just a male version of [[BrainlessBeauty Kelly.]]
* April Nardini is this to Rory Gilmore on ''Series/GilmoreGirls''. Rory started out as a shy, naive, booksmart girl and gradually evolved into a confident social butterfly, at which point April was introduced. In the revival, where Rory is over thirty and April is in college, she is still this.
* ''Series/LeverageRedemption'': Breanna, Hardison's foster sister who takes his place as the resident PlayfulHacker, is a mild one. She's cocky and out of her depth, much like [[Series/{{Leverage}} early seasons Hardison]], as opposed to Hardison now, who runs charities in his spare time.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'', Philip the Diesel Boxcab's naive and childish (and somewhat cheeky) attitude very much replicates how Thomas and Percy were initially, who by now act as [[CoolBigSis Cool Big Bros]] to Philip.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark,'' [[StepfordSmiler Butters]] was originally the ButtMonkey whom the other boys would abuse or manipulate for their own benefit. This continued even after Butters became their friend and an AscendedExtra, but it wouldn't have made sense to use him in this role for "Elementary School Musical," so [[SpeechImpediment Scott Malkinson]] was created instead. Scott is now used whenever we need a character even less cool than Butters.
** Also {{Inverted}}: WordOfGod says that [[ButtMonkey Pip]] [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome disappeared]] from the show largely because they realized that Butters filled the [[ThePollyanna same basic niche]] but was more interesting. Pip was always a CreatorsPest anyway, despite [[EnsembleDarkhorse being fairly popular with the fanbase.]]
** During Season 19, Mr. Garrison left South Park to run for President of the United States of America, becoming a {{Trumplica}} in the process. A new character named Mrs. Nelson filled his place at school, but she received little focus until the Vaccination Special, by the end of which [[KilledOffForReal she died]] so that Mr. Garrison would get his old job back in the culmination of his RedemptionQuest.

* Superboy/Conner Kent in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' started off as an aloof kid full of angst and anger issues with tremendous power, who was barely willing to socialize with others. Over the course of two seasons, he grew a lot as a person and became more focused, open and kind. Season 3 then introduces Geo-Force/Brion Markov, who is in many ways what Conner was when he started, and putting him next to Superboy highlights just how much Conner has grown over the years. Many characters point out that Brion is just like what Conner used to be, himself included, and he takes Brion under his wing specifically for that reason.

* After the conclusion of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' revealed that the seemingly irredeemable [[TheDragon Darth Vader]] was actually a TragicVillain who was corrupted by the Dark Side as a young man, [[BigBad Emperor Palpatine]] joined the cast of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' as the resident evil Sith Lord.

Compare SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, where the original character leaves before being replaced by a similar one; OverAndUnderTheTop, where two characters start out similar but are different in degree; and CousinOliver, when a new character is brought in to fill the role of the cute child once the previous one nears puberty.

* In ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'', Madarame is the resident {{Straw|Character}} {{Otaku}}, uninterested in any friendships or interests outside of his otaku niche and utterly shameless about his obsessive {{fandom}} ([[{{Foil}} in contrast with]] [[OverAndUnderTheTop main character Sasahara,]] who is more balanced and unsure just how deep down the otaku rabbit hole he wants to go). CharacterizationMarchesOn, however, and as Madarame becomes a more well-rounded person, Kuchiki is introduced. Kuchiki takes Madarame's early difficulty socializing UpToEleven, suffering from an AmbiguousDisorder and seemingly incapable of relating to anyone or anything except through the lens of otaku culture.

* {{Inverted}} in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama:'' The series has a habit of {{Flanderizing}} contestants until they can't really work as characters anymore, then replacing them with a [[OverAndUnderTheTop more rounded]] SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute. The most obvious examples are [[InformedAttractiveness Justin]] ==> [[LatinLover Alejandro]] (both use their looks to manipulate people, but Alejandro isn't ''obsessively'' vain) and [[HotBlooded Eva]] ==> [[JerkJock Jo]] (both female jocks, but Jo isn't completely [[HairTriggerTemper blinded by rage]]).

* April Nardini is this to Rory Gilmore on Series/GilmoreGirls. Rory started out as a shy, naive, booksmart girl and gradually evolved into a confident social butterfly, at which point April was introduced. In the revival, where Rory is over thirty and April is in college, she is still this.

* ''Series/Peacemaker2022'': The arc of the show sees the titular character, [[ComicBook/{{Peacemaker}} Christopher "Peacemaker" Smith]], undergo a severe HeelFaceTurn as he grapples with genuine remorse for his actions during the events of ''Film/TheSuicideSquad''. As a counterpoint, we're introduced to [[ComicBook/{{Vigilante}} Adrian "Vigilante" Chase]], Peacemaker's partner and self-described "best friend", who is completely and utterly sociopathic and has zero compunctions about killing people.

* A variation on this happens in ''{{Webcomic/Narbonic}}'' with the protagonist, Dave, a computer {{geek}} employed by a MadScientist. Dave's early characterization revolved around his extreme geekiness and his FishOutOfWater status. As the years went by, however, his personality became more rounded and he got more and more at ease around mad science. Towards the and of the comic, [[MadScientist Helen]] creates a Dave clone who lacks the last few years of memories. Everybody else is shocked at how ''boring'' Dave used to be. (Although part of this was that the clone had a fully-functioning WeirdnessCensor, which the real Dave never did.) It is telling that when the "real" Dave [[spoiler:who just became a mad scientist himself]] meets his clone, he [[spoiler:kills him without the least hesitation.]]

* On ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'', Fry's ex-girlfriend Michelle wound up freezing herself after Fry himself was accidentally frozen and woke up in the year 3000, but unlike Fry, who adjusted to the future surprisingly well, she had a lot of trouble with it and eventually hooked up with an also recently-thawed Pauly Shore. WordOfGod says that one reason they did this episode was because they realized that the original concept of Fry being a FishOutOfTemporalWater not only hadn't really worked out, because if anything, he functions ''better'' in the future than he did in the 20th century.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** Amy started as a sweet-natured girl, but during Cream's introduction to the series, Amy would become more aggressive and short-tempered while still having her nice moments.
** After Knuckles became more of an ally to Sonic and more of a [[HairTriggerTemper hot-headed]] ComicRelief, [[AntiHero Shadow]] takes the role of the StockShonenRival from him.
** Both cases are somewhat of an {{inver|ted Trope}}sion in that Knuckles and Amy actually underwent {{Flanderization}} following the introductions of their "replacements", and were more rounded prior to that.

* Initially, Chad of the WebOriginal/VirginVsChad memes was rude, obnoxious, and deliberately did everything the Virgin wasn't doing because [[ConverseError cool people don't act like virgins]]. When his character was made more into a general BigManOnCampus and the memes posited him as unironically cool, Reddit quickly made a replacement: enter Brad, an even more obnoxious, rude bully that's never as cool as he thinks he is.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'', Philip the Diesel Boxcab's naive and childish (and somewhat cheeky) attitude very much replicates how Thomas and Percy were initially, who by now act as [[CoolBigSis Cool Big Bros]] to Philip.