History Main / SameCharacterButDifferent

* ''WesternAnimation/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2015'':
** Played with. The Guardians are very different in both personality and appearance than how they've previously been seen in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' and the first season of ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' as they're being based more on their movie counterparts but more recent episodes of ''Avengers Assemble'' and ''WesternAnimation/HulkAndTheAgentsOfSmash'' have featured the updated Guardians.
** But played straight in the cases of the Collector, Grandmaster, The Supreme Intelligence and Ronan the Accuser who like the Guardians have extremely different personalities and appearances than they did in ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' and ''Hulk and the Agents of SMASH'', which is especially jarring when the former and this show go back to back and feature both versions of the characters, not to mention that the season finale of the latter featured the redesigned Guardians and the original version of Ronan.
* Cleveland Jr. from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' was portrayed as a little, energetic kid... until ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', when he reappeared transformed into a fat, slow-witted Chris Griffin {{Expy}}. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the episode ''A Rodent Like This'' when Junior points out to Rallo that he looks nothing like Cleveland and it is revealed [[spoiler:that the real Cleveland Junior was killed and the current one [[ItMakesSenseInContext is really a spy who replaced him in order to get to his next target]]]]. Naturally the episode has a ResetButtonEnding.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''
** Ezekiel was introduced as a home-schooled loner who was always destined to be eliminated first and forgotten. Come ''World Tour'', he stowes away on the plane and becomes malnourished and feral, pretty much turning into [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]], where he'd spend the rest of his time terrorizing the cast with his [[RecurringExtra Where's Waldo]] style cameos.
** This was kind of done with [[InformedAttractiveness Justin]]. In the first season proper, he was very OutOfFocus--he only spoke in the first episode and got voted off around episode five. In the first season special, however, he [[SuddenlySpeaking talks a lot more]] and is presented as a rather crafty antagonist. Season two continued with this characterization and set him up as the new villain, only to [[AbortedArc forget about that arc]] and replace him with Courtney.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Xergiok the Goblin King]] was introduced as a tyrant whom [[KidHero Finn]] and [[NonHumanSidekick Jake]] had to defeat. He reappears seasons later having been magically blinded, peacefully [[FriendToAllLivingThings caring for a flock of giant birds]]. [[spoiler:He goes through a FaceHeelRevolvingDoor, temporarily turning evil again]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'': One of the main reasons this series gets a lot of criticism is that the characters' characterizations aren't completely consistent with the [[WesternAnimation/BeastWars original series]], most notably:
** Optimus Primal becoming an extremist who is so focused on the mission that he thinks little of the other Maximals' feelings (which, to be fair, is called out InUniverse)
** Megatron developing a supremacist hatred of organic life, which he had never exhibited during the Beast Wars

** Compare Black Tarantula's appearances in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' (late [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]]) with those in Creator/EdBrubaker's ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} ([[UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks Modern Age]]). You will be surprised how much he changed, without any reason. And, what's the most scary, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it was good for him]].

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': In the ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureCrazyDiamondsDemonicHeartbreak Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak]]'' spin-off, Hol Horse, Mariah, and the Oingo Brothers from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' have moved on and gone about their separate ways after becoming better people, although they were still stricken with guilt and trauma due to serving DIO. Mariah and Kenny G. end up settling down together, with the Oingo Boingo brothers occasionally helping people through their professions.

** The ''Franchise/BerniceSummerfield'' novels feature a brief appearance by Chris Cwej, the WideEyedIdealist who was [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]]'s companion alongside Benny in the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures. Only now he's a cynical and bitter Time Lord agent who has had his memory altered and believes he was kidnapped by "the evil renegade". Then he regenerates (the Time Lords having given him that ability), so he doesn't even ''look'' like the original Chris any more. The ''Literature/FactionParadox'' books take it further, with a whole army of "Cwejen": Cwej-Primes are the original tall, blond version, Cwej-Plus are the post-regeneration fat and balding variety, and Cwej-Magnus are bio-armored shock troops. One FP novel involves a Cwej-Prime allying with the Nazis to hunt down renegade Time Lor-- [[WritingAroundTrademarks ahem, members of the Great Houses]].

** Varga plants show up in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E2MissionToTheUnknown Mission to the Unknown]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E4TheDaleksMasterPlan The Daleks' Master Plan]]" (the first story being a direct prequel to the latter), in which they are TheVirus -- they walk around on their roots, stab people with three-inch thorns and anyone hit with their toxin slowly transforms into one, losing their mind in the process. They eventually show up almost fifty years later in the ''Doctor Who'' adventure game "[[Recap/DoctorWhoTAGE01CityOfTheDaleks City of the Daleks]]", as much smaller {{Man Eating Plant}}s with pointedly immobile roots that rhythmically shoot out tentacles to grab food.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' Danni Sullivan was introduced as a love interest for J.D. and during her initial appearances she was a fun, likable, sensitive girl whose only real flaw was that she wanted a serious relationship while J.D. was still interested in Elliot. After breaking up with J.D. she left the show only to return sometime later as a chain smoking, self absorbed, airhead party girl. The show {{Handwaved}} her totally different personality as being a result of her trying to be what she thought J.D. wanted in a girl.

** Richard "Big Dick" Casablancas is an abusive parent who turned his two sons against each other and bullied his younger son (Beaver/Cassidy) [[spoiler:which at least played a part in Beaver turning to mass murder.]] When he came back partway through Season 3, though, he'd genuinely seen the error of his ways, was remorseful, seemed horrified, and looked to make amends with his other son Dick. However, in the revival Season 4, he was even more corrupt and remorseless, and even [[spoiler:nearly got his surviving son killed. It was an accident, but it still didn't stop him on executing his plan.]]

* Pictured above is Phoenix Wright from the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, a promising lawyer and a really caring person in [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the first trilogy]]. And then came ''[[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo Justice]]'', 7 years later, where Phoenix was now a scruffy-looking man who played poker at the basement of a bar and has a 15-year-old adopted daughter. Although when you get to play as him, you learn that he's still the same guy on the inside and we learn what happened: [[spoiler: He got disbarred as a lawyer when he was set up and tricked into presenting forged evidence, costing him his career. As for Trucy Wright, she was the daughter of a man that Phoenix was representing and who disappeared when she was 8. Afterward, Phoenix adopted her as his own daughter and took on odd jobs, such as playing poker, to support her. Turns out these are connected; the man who tricked Phoenix into using forged evidence was the original defending lawyer of Trucy's biological father, who dropped him when he saw him play poker. Or rather, gauged him as a ruthless man and thus dishonest. Given how he ruined Phoenix's career out of his pride being slighted, he was not wrong.]] Then it [[AuthorsSavingThrow came full circle]], with Phoenix resuming the role of protagonist in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', [[HesBack returning to being a lawyer after getting his name cleared]]. For the most part, he kept the mature, mentor personality, but his inner monologues reveal that sometimes he can be as clueless as his rookie partners (which could be chalked up to being out of the field for seven years). Trucy meanwhile becomes Phoenix's new assistant and she's quite capable in her own right.

* Cleveland Jr. from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' was portrayed as a little, energetic kid and then was almost never seen anymore for the longest time... until ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'' when he reappeared transformed into a fat, slow-witted Chris Griffin {{Expy}}. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the episode ''A Rodent Like This'' when Junior points out to Rallo that he looks nothing like Cleveland and it is revealed [[spoiler:that the real Cleveland Junior was killed and the current one [[ItMakesSenseInContext is really a spy who replaced him in order to get to his next target]]]]. Naturally the episode has a ResetButtonEnding.

* Princess Pride from ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' is an extreme example. When she made her debut in the second game, she was a remorseless terrorist who nearly led several people to their deaths. Come the fifth game, [[HeelFaceTurn she joins the heroes]] in the battle against [[BigBad Nebula]] and is by far one of the nicest characters in the team. This may be attributed to her portrayal in [[Anime/MegaManNTWarrior the anime adaptation]], where she was a [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]] [[AdaptationalHeroism from the start]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Xergiok the Goblin King]] was introduced as a tyrant whom [[KidHero Finn]] and [[NonHumanSidekick Jake]] had to defeat. He reappears seasons later having been magically blinded, peacefully [[FriendToAllLivingThings caring for a flock of giant birds]]. [[spoiler:He goes through a FaceHeelRevolvingDoor, temporarily turning evil again]].

** ComicBook/NormanOsborn was seemingly killed during a fight with Spider-Man in 1973, leading to his son Harry Osborn taking up the mantle. Norman, revealed to have a HealingFactor that let him survive impalement, returned in the 1990's, having orchestrated ComicBook/TheCloneSaga, and has since become a BigBad within the Marvel Universe in general. Prior to his "death", Osborn was an absentee father and CorruptCorporateExecutive, but had something of a split personality that wanted to make a name for himself in New York's underworld by dressing in a bizarre costume, but following his return he became a MagnificentBastard [[TheSociopath sociopath]] with the Goblin persona now seemingly being merged with the original Norman.

* Pictured above is Phoenix Wright from the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, a promising lawyer and a really caring person in [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the first trilogy]]. And then came ''[[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo Justice]]'', 7 years later, where Phoenix was now a scruffy-looking man who played poker at the basement of a bar and has a 15-year-old adopted daughter. Although when you get to play as him, you learn that he's still the same guy on the inside and we learn what happened: [[spoiler: He got disbarred as a lawyer when he was set up and tricked into presenting forged evidence, costing him his career. As for Trucy Wright, she was the daughter of a man that Phoenix was representing and who disappeared when she was 8. Afterward, Phoenix adopted her as his own daughter and took on odd jobs, such as playing poker, to support her. Turns out these are connected; the man who tricked Phoenix into using forged evidence was the original defending lawyer of Trucy's biological father, who dropped him when he saw him play poker. Or rather, gauged him as a ruthless man and thus dishonest. Given how he ruined Phoenix's career out of his pride being slighted, he was not wrong.]] Then it [[AuthorsSavingThrow came full circle]], with Phoenix resuming the role of protagonist in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', [[HesBack returning to being a lawyer after getting his name cleared]]. For the most part, he kept the mature, mentor personality, but his inner monologues reveal that sometimes he can be as clueless as his rookie partners (which could be chalked up to being out of the field for seven years). Trucy meanwhile becomes Phoenix's new assistant and she's quite capable in her own [[JustForPun right]].

* Eren Yeager in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Throughout the first half of the series, he's a HotBlooded LeeroyJenkins with a scary amount of passion for exterminating the Titan race that is driving humanity to extinction and who took his home and mother from him. He undergoes a ''very'' big change in the last half of the series, becoming more cold, cunning and above all else ruthless. His dress and look also radically change, wearing much more civilian clothes rather than his military garb. It actually started right before the four-year TimeSkip, where he acts much more reversed and wistful. [[spoiler:It's later revealed this is a result of him seeing his father's memories that, as the next inheritor of the Attack Titan, [[StableTimeLoop he in fact drove his father to take the Coordinate for the sake of his plan]], and revealing to him [[SelfFulfillingProphecy just what he would, and did, become to protect his people]].]]

* Eren Yeager in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Throughout the first half of the series, he's a HotBlooded LeeroyJenkins with a scary amount of passion for exterminating the Titan race that is driving humanity to extinction and who took his home and mother from him. He undergoes a ''very'' big change in the last half of the series, becoming more cold, cunning and above all else ruthless. His dress and look also radically change, wearing much more civillian clothes rather than his military garb. It actually started right before the four-year TimeSkip, where he acts much more reversed and whistful. [[spoiler:It's later revealed this is a result of him seeing his father's memories that, as the next interitor of the Attack Titan, [[StableTimeLoop he in fact drove his father to take the Coordinate for the sake of his plan]], and revealing to him [[SelfFulfillingProphecy just want he would, and did, become to protect his people]].]]

* This is extremely common in series with large casts. ComicBook/XMen in particular has a huge and revolving cast, leading to numerous characters change off panel. Usually, they either join some other team or seek higher education. For example, the character Karma. When we're first introduced to her, she is older than the rest of the New Mutants, and considerably more mature, conservative, and acts as a parental surrogate to her brother and sister. She eventually leaves when her siblings are kidnapped. Then cut to several years later when she meets X-Force in a desert rave, with dyed pink hair, body piercings, and revealing clothing. She would also later come out as a lesbian.

* ComicBook/NormanOsborn was seemingly killed during a fight with Spider-Man in 1973, leading to his son Harry Osborn taking up the mantle. Norman, revealed to have a HealingFactor that let him survive impalement, returned in the 1990's, having orchestrated ComicBook/TheCloneSaga, and has since become a BigBad within the Marvel Universe in general. Prior to his "death", Osborn was an absentee father and CorruptCorporateExecutive, but had something of a split personality that wanted to make a name for himself in New York's underworld by dressing in a bizarre costume, but following his return he became a MagnificentBastard [[TheSociopath sociopath]] with the Goblin persona now seemingly being merged with the original Norman.
** This also goes for Harry Osborn, who came back with a very different personality from his previous one after ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' (namely that he's not insane and evil anymore). ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManNickSpencer'' would eventually retcon that this Harry is actually a clone, and the original Harry is still dead.

* Compare Black Tarantula's appearances in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' (late [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks Dark Age]]) with those in Creator/EdBrubaker's ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} ([[UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks Modern Age]]). You will be surprised how much he changed, without any reason. And, what's the most scary, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools it was good for him]].

* Android 17 in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is a straight-laced, pragmatic, no-nonsense character in both personality and fighting style. He's also something of a StraightMan to the sillier characters, with a deadpan sense of humor. This is basically the complete opposite of how he was characterized in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', where he was the most carefree and lackadaisical of his trio, screwing around in his fights and annoying his sister with his constant showboating and playing around. He also liked to fight, while his ''Super'' incarnation doesn't dislike it, but derives no particular enjoyment from it either, seeing it as a means to an end (e.g. material gain, like that boat he wanted). Possibly justifed by the revelation that he got married and has children now (one biological and the other two adopted) during his absence. As such, it's likely [[ChildrenRaiseYou being a family man caused him to become more mature and grounded]].

** This is also a complaint among some readers with several characters as they're written in the ComicBook/{{New 52}}. In particular, the older members of the JSA who had the most radical changes, such as being [[YoungerAndHipper aged down significantly.]] Other readers argue that the core of most characters remains the same. There's certainly quite a bit of BrokenBase for the entire DCU due to this.
*** [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Billy Batson]] is another example. Traditionally he begins his superhero career as a [[ChildrenAreInnocent ten-year-old]] and is the living embodiment of IncorruptiblePurePureness. The new version is fifteen and is supposed to be a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, but initially came off as too much of a jerk for a lot of Billy's old fans to accept, though he did grow to be a nicer person once he finally found a family where he belonged.
*** Similar to Billy is [[ComicBook/TheFlash Wally West]], when he finally came back. Before the reboot, Wally was Barry Allen's nephew and sidekick, an AscendedFanboy who loved the Flash before he gained his powers, a founding member of the Teen Titans, was mostly a decent guy save for being shamelessly flirty and snarky, and for several decades had succeeded Barry as the Flash and had been married with two kids. When he shows up in the new continuity, he's now a 12 year old (even younger than he was when he was Kid Flash) half-black JerkAss who hates the Flash for putting his uncle in jail, is yet to bond with Barry and doesn't seem to like him much. In old continuity he was Dick Grayson's best friend and the same age as him and Roy Harper, but then he's about a decade younger than them.
*** Finally subverted with ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''. This character obviously [[ReplacementScrappy wasn't accepted by fans]] and eventually led to DC reintroducing the original version of the Wally in ''DC Rebirth'' (down to making him Dick Grayson's best friend again), thus turning him into a DecompositeCharacter. He's now the cousin of the original Wally, who were both independently given their grandfather's name. This has led to the black Wally, who now generally goes by Wallace, or Ace for short, being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.
* This is extremely common in series with large casts. ComicBook/XMen in particular, due to their revolving cast there were numerous characters change off panel. Usually they either join some other team, or seek higher education. For example the character Karma. When we're first introduced to her, she is older than the rest of the New Mutants, and considerably more mature, conservative, and acts as a parental surrogate to her brother and sister. She eventually leaves when her siblings are kidnapped. Then cut to several years later when she meets X-Force in a desert rave, with dyed pink hair, body piercings, and revealing clothing. She would also later come out as a lesbian.
** Likewise many X-Men would display different or enhanced powers after an absence. Moonstar, for example gained the ability to display past events in the form of illusions. In the X-Treme X-Men series ''Mekanix'', Karma was able to possess up to twenty people at a time, whereas previously she was only able to possess one or two. When Dazzler rejoined the X-Men in the "Eve of Destruction" storyline, she displayed the ability to create hard light images, previously she could only create bursts of light or lasers.

** This also goes for Harry Osborn, who came back with a very different personality from his previous one after ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' (namely that he's not insane and evil anymore).

*** throughout the classic era went through many changes, from a manipulative gentlemanly villain in Creator/RogerDelgado's time, to a walking corpse as the Burned Master, to a flamboyantly evil comic book villain as Creator/AnthonyAinley to a more desperate, savage animalistic character with Creator/EricRoberts' portrayal. Nevertheless all of these different incarnations followed the same core personality. All of the Masters in the Classic era were motivated by a desire for power, a hatred of the Doctor (although he occasionally regarded the Doctor as a WorthyOpponent, and on one occasion offered to share ultimate power with him), and from the burned Master on; a desire to prolong his own life. (The Delgado Master, though not needing to prolong his life, was still written as a coward willing to sacrifice billions to save himself.) They all used the same tactics of manipulation, hypnosis, placing themselves in positions of authority etc.

* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Season 2 introduced an evil speedster named Zoom as the BigBad of the season, who was a [[TheSociopath sociopathic]] SerialKiller. However [[spoiler:after his defeat at the end of the season, he gets [[DraggedOffToHell dragged off by Time Wraiths into the Speed Force.]] In there he degrades to a zombie-like state with no semblance of humanity remaining, and is forced to be a slave of the Speed Force for all eternity where he hunts down time aberrations.]] On the surface it sounds like an interesting direction to take his character in, but ''nothing'' was left of the [[spoiler: Zoom]] we knew, to the point that it never ended up ''mattering'' that [[spoiler: the Black Flash]] turned out to be him, and nothing would've changed if he hadn't.
* This is why long-term fans of ''Series/GeneralHospital'' cringe whenever they hear a beloved character from the 1980's is coming back.

** Kevin in the original series was an EnfantTerrible with extra terrible, being ''frighteningly'' murderous. In some ways he was more evil than even some season {{Big Bad}}s: A TakeOverTheWorld type will kill you because you're in the way; Kevin will kill you just because he ''can.'' In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', he's reintroduced as a criminal of the more "out to make a dishonest buck" type and quickly makes a HeelFaceTurn after falling in LoveAtFirstSight (well, first sight in the new series) with Gwen. His powers have gone from energy absorption to the ability to transform into any material he touches. When his past was discussed, it was softened considerably - apparently, viewers were supposed to believe he'd ''always'' been the mostly harmless ne'er-do-well he'd been in the first ten minutes of ''Alien Force.'' It should tell you something when TheDreaded BigBad ''Vilgax,'' once described as "Darth Vader without the sense of humor," turned out to actually care about his people and is a UniversallyBelovedLeader back home and it wasn't considered to be nearly the same level of derailment as Kevin's change. Some of his behavior can be attributed to the five-year TimeSkip, but certain changes like his lack of sociopathy and rather abrupt HeelFaceTurn struck a sizable chunk of the fanbase as ham-fisted. It took until ''Ultimate Alien'' before any explanation was given for how Kevin became sane - it was still being demanded at that point because even after ''years'' of this new characterization, Saint Kevin was just too big a horse pill for fans to swallow. In all fairness the writers ''did'' have a explanation in mind they would have used in the third season of ''Alien Force'', but thanks to ExecutiveMeddling it was scrapped and they ended up having to incorparate it into the sequel series instead.
** It's to the point that Ben and Gwen giving Kevin a chance needed ''every'' bit as much explaining away because it's just that unthinkable after what he'd been like. After a time travel episode that Original Series Ben wasn't supposed to remember once he'd returned to the past, Professor Paradox [[AuthorsSavingThrow explained that he'd remember it very faintly]], maybe just enough to consider the idea of Kevin becoming good when meeting him again. ''Omniverse'' took it farther, establishing that the gang had met the criminal-but-not-psychotic version of Kevin between the original series and AF/UA, though this serves as another SeriesContinuityError on ''Omniverse's'' part since it was already established that Ben and Gwen hadn't seen Kevin since he was locked in Null Void. Yes, it actually took years to make the new Kevin make sense, and ''more'' years to make Ben and Gwen ''entertaining the idea that Kevin could be in their midst and not kill them for fun'' make sense! That's how you know you've fallen into this trope big-time. [[note]](For the record, if you care, the reason given for his change was that his powers can absorb matter ''or'' energy, but storing energy drives him insane. He learned to rid himself of that energy between series, and has stuck to a matter-only diet since then.)[[/note]]

*** The Sacha Darwan incarnation is something of a reaction to Missy (and especially her HeelFaceTurn), but is even more of a ranting psychopath, and a full-blown OmnicidalManiac, who isn't interested in power or control, but just in making everything burn and seeing the Doctor suffer. In addition to a greater degree of sadism than past incarnations, he also has a self-destructive streak, rather than being desperate to extend his life, expressing disappointment when it looks like one of his plans might fail to kill anyone ''including himself''.

** The Macra first show up as hyperintelligent, spacefaring [[GiantEnemyCrab crab monsters]] with hypnotic powers in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E7TheMacraTerror The Macra Terror]]", and return 40 years later in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E3Gridlock Gridlock]]" as much bigger crab monsters that are no longer sapient and have no psychic powers. The Doctor claims that they've devolved into dumb animals over billions of years. On the other hand, one reference book holds that the Macra from "Gridlock" escaped from the New New York Zoo when the power failed, suggesting they were non-sapient to begin with. The non-sapient Macra show up in an Eleventh Doctor {{Gamebook|s}} as well.

** throughout the classic era went through many changes, from a manipulative gentlemanly villain in Creator/RogerDelgado's time, to a walking corpse as the Burned Master, to a flamboyantly evil comic book villain as Creator/AnthonyAinley to a more desperate, savage animalistic character with Creator/EricRoberts' portrayal. Nevertheless all of these different incarnations followed the same core personality. All of the Masters in the Classic era were motivated by a desire for power, a hatred of the Doctor (although he occasionally regarded the Doctor as a WorthyOpponent, and on one occasion offered to share ultimate power with him), and from the burned Master on; a desire to prolong his own life. (The Delgado Master, though not needing to prolong his life, was still written as a coward willing to sacrifice billions to save himself.) They all used the same tactics of manipulation, hypnosis, placing themselves in positions of authority etc.
** The John Simm Master, while having the same motivations and tactics, was given a totally different, more sympathetic origin story. His relationship with the Doctor was completely retooled too. The Doctor was shown to try and redeem the Simm Master (while there were shades of this in the Third Doctor era, with the Doctor reminiscing about their schooldays together, and being quick to take an EnemyMine position against a greater threat, the Fourth viewed him as the "quintessence of evil"). Author Creator/RussellTDavies also added sexual tension between the Doctor and the Master that was never present before. (Word of god from the character's creators Creator/TerranceDicks and Creator/BarryLetts as well as his portrayers, Anthony Ainley and Roger Delgado, always stated that the two were warring brothers in the Classic era -- although the ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'' novelist David [=McIntee=], who wrote several books featuring the Delgado Master, has said he wrote them as "bitter exes".)
** By the time of the female Master, written by Steven Moffat, much more focus is given to aspects of the Master's personality that were downplayed in earlier portrayals. Missy is possibly outright in love with the Doctor (stating that her hearts are maintained by him), and at the very least her primary motivation is "I want my pal back". Has no real desire for power or to dominate (she even gives up a near indestructible Cyber army in her first story, stating she doesn't need it; rather handing them over into the Doctor in hopes that he would use them and prove that, as she'd been saying, [[NotSoDifferentRemark they're not that different]].) Her cowardice is not made a major point, nor is her manipulative nature, although she does show elements of this. She also never demonstrates any hypnotic ability. Even in terms of outer personality whilst the Classic era Masters were mostly more calm and affably evil, Missy is an outright psychopath. All of these changes made Missy the most controversial incarnation of the character, though there were many who appreciated Michelle Gomez's performance.
** The Sacha Darwan incarnation is something of a reaction to Missy (and especially her HeelFaceTurn), but is even more of a ranting psychopath, and a full-blown OmnicidalManiac, who isn't interested in power or control, but just in making everything burn and seeing the Doctor suffer. In addition to a greater degree of sadism than past incarnations, he also has a self-destructive streak, rather than being desperate to extend his life, expressing disappointment when it looks like one of his plans might fail to kill anyone ''including himself''.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E5TheBrainOfMorbius "The Brain of Morbius"]], we're told TheIgor Condo was rescued from a Dravidian ship, leading most to assume Condo's quirky traits (his large size, ugliness and low intelligence) were because he was a Dravidian. "[[Recap/DoctorWho2007TDWASTheInfiniteQuest The Infinite Quest]]" features Dravidians... but now they're InsectoidAliens who live in hives.

** Hex from the original ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'' series was a ruthless villain and a major enemy of the Tennysons. His reappearances in ''Alien Force'' are similar, but ''Ultimate Alien'' emphasizes his care for his niece, Charmcaster. Then ''Omniverse'' came along and by the Hex appeared, he'd completely abandoned villainry and was content with his new job as a university professor. Not only that, but he became a lot friendlier. [[LampshadeHanging Even Gwen and the others are puzzled by this 180 in personality.]]

* Eren Yeager in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Throughout the first half of the series, he's a HotBlooded LeeroyJenkins with a scary amount of passion for exterminating the Titan race that is driving humanity to extinction and who took his home and mother from him. He undergoes a ''very'' big change in the last half of the series, becoming more cold, cunning and above all else ruthless. His dress and look also radically change, wearing much more civillian clothes rather than his military garb. It actually started right before the four-year timeskip, where he acts much more reversed and whistful. [[spoiler: It's later revealed this is a result of him seeing his father's memories that, as the next interitor of the Attack Titan, [[StableTimeLoop he in fact drove his father to take the Coordinate for the sake of his plan,]] and revealing to him [[SelfFulfillingProphecy just want he would, and did, become to protect his people]].]]
* Android 17 in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is a straight-laced, pragmatic, no-nonsense character in both personality and fighting style. He's also something of a StraightMan to the sillier characters, with a deadpan sense of humor. This is basically the complete opposite of how he was characterized in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', where he was the most carefree and lackadaisical of his trio, screwing around in his fights and annoying his sister with his constant showboating and playing around. He also liked to fight, while his ''Super'' incarnation doesn't dislike it, but derives no particular enjoyment from it either, seeing it as a means to an end (e.g. material gain, like that boat he wanted). Possibly justifed by the revelation that he got married and has children now (one biological and the other two adopted) during his absence. As such, it's likely [[ChildrenRaiseYou being a family man caused him to become more mature and grounded.]]
* [[spoiler:[[FallenHero Obito Uchiha]]]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' who BecameTheirOwnAntithesis, Kakashi changed a lot from who he was as a child too.

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' villain [[TortureTechnician Taylor]] is introduced with her human and [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerk]] personalities largely blended together; the real Taylor had been a voluntary Controller, and the Yeerk had been [[HumanityIsInfectious totally enraptured]] by her new identity. When she reappears ten books later this mental instability is pretty much absent to make her more of a ManipulativeBitch, and human!Taylor tries to warn [[DarkAndTroubledPast Tobias]] not to listen to her.
** {{Inverted}}, time-wise, with Vice-Principal Chapman. In the main books, he became a Controller [[PapaWolf to protect his daughter]], and generally seems to be a decent guy stuck in a terrible situation. In the prequel book ''The Andalite Chronicles,'' a teenager named Hedrick Chapman winds up [[TheQuisling selling out the Earth to the Yeerks]] and then apparently dies; someone identical is later seen on Earth, but seems to have no memory of going into space. There's enough of a disconnect between the characterizations that [[http://cinnamonbunzuh.blogspot.com/2011/11/andalite-chronicles.html some suggest]] that Hedrick did die in space and the other Chapman appearances are his brother or something.

* Colin and Christie from seasons 5 & 31 of ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' are the returnee team with the longest gap between their seasons, 15 years in fact. [[note]] In a bit of interesting trivia, the Gaghan kids who were the bright spots of the [[SeasonalRot much maligned]] family season were the other choice as the casting team was specifically looking for someone from the earlier seasons. She was 10 and he was 12 when they ran but now they're adults [[/note]] When they did the show the first time they were both in their mid-twenties and had only been together for a year. Colin was extremely hot-headed, including almost getting arrested over $100 and giving the show its most [[MemeticMutation iconic line]], "My ox is broken, this is bullshit!". Christie was a bit of a SatelliteLoveInterest to him that only did one of the roadblocks. He and Christie constantly bickered and their relationship was pretty volatile all around, though they both claim it was [[ManipulativeEditing played up for drama]] a good bit. Come season 31, they both meditate and do yoga every day. Colin was calm, cool, and collected. He even hugged other racers and locals wherever he went. He didn't even freak out when he got hit in the head with a nail. Christie was much more of an equal partner this go around, both in the tasks and the narrative. They were still really competitive (and ended up winning) but they were a lot better as a team and didn't let the stress get to them. Colin even said that last time they were too worried about winning each leg that they burnt themselves out towards the end but this time they were a lot more cognizant about pacing themselves.

* Pictured above is Phoenix Wright from the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, a promising lawyer and a really caring person in [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney the first trilogy]]. And then came ''[[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo Justice]]'', 7 years later, where Phoenix was now a scruffy-looking man who played poker at the basement of a bar and has a 15-year-old adopted daughter. Although when you get to play as him, you learn that he's still the same guy on the inside and we learn what happened: [[spoiler: He got disbarred as a lawyer when he was set up and tricked into presenting forged evidence, costing him his career. As for Trucy Wright, she was the daughter of a man that Phoenix was representing and who disappeared when she was 8. Afterward, Phoenix adopted her as his own daughter and took on odd jobs, such as playing poker, to support her. Turns out these are connected; the man who tricked Phoenix into using forged evidence was the original defending lawyer of Trucy's biological father, who dropped him when he saw him play poker. Or rather, gauged him as a ruthless man and thus dishonest. Given how he ruined Phoenix's career out of his pride being slighted, he was not wrong.]] Then it [[AuthorsSavingThrow became full circle]], after he became the protagonist of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', [[HesBack he returns to being a lawyer after getting his name cleared]]. For the most part, he kept the mature, mentor personality, but his inner monologues reveal that sometimes he can be as clueless as his rookie partners (which could be chalked up to being out of the field for seven years.) Trucy meanwhile becomes Phoenix's new assistant and she's quite capable in her own [[JustForPun right]].

* Cody Travers of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' is originally portrayed as a motivated and heroic figure, out to save his girlfriend Jessica from the Mad Gear Gang. Later on Capcom brought him back as part of the cast of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha 3'' but much to the surprise of players, he returned as an escaped convict, complete with prison clothes and handcuffs on his wrists, though his taunt reveals he can take them off at any time if he wished. (Conversely, Guy, Rolento, and Sodom were mostly unchanged from their ''Final Fight'' appearances.) Capcom explained that his battle with the Mad Gear Gang had given birth to [[BloodKnight an addiction to fighting]] and he was thrown in prison for his constant brawling. Later, in ''Super VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'', he escapes prison again to look for some excitement (with all evidence suggesting [[CardboardPrison he can bust out of jail any time he wants unquestioned]]) and tells Guy in his ending that prison is where he belongs. Further on, in ''Final Fight: Streetwise'', he falls even further due to a bum knee and juicing on a radical drug in order to stay competitive, though he tries to coach his brother due to the potential Cody sees in Kyle, was said to have deliberately taken the fall for a different crime ''Guy'' had committed (Guy also on the receiving end of this trope in ''Streetwise'' to a lesser extent), and [[spoiler:later regains the full use of his legs thanks to said drug]].
** It should be noted, however, that Guy feels, deep down, Cody remains a hero and is willing to fight him to make a point of it and convince Cody to join him in the battle against injustice (hence their Rival Battles in ''Alpha 3'' and ''SSFIV''). Cody himself says [[ChronicHeroSyndrome he can't idly sit by]] while evil--like Bison and Seth--is at large (again affirmed by his ''Street Fighter'' appearances, particularly his ''Alpha 3'' ending), and depending on the continuity, Cody may have even been falsely accused and jailed for ''Poison's'' crimes. ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' shows Guy's faith in Cody isn't unwarranted, as Cody cleans up his act, gets exonerated of his crimes by Haggar, and goes on to become Metro City's next mayor--[[ImNotAHeroIm though Cody insists he's not hero material]].
* Charlie, previously presumed dead in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' series, returns in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV''. He is now covered in unsettling, wrong-colored skin grafts held together by giant staples, has a PowerCrystal stuck into the middle of his forehead, and his physical transformation seems to have induced a personality transformation as well with Charlie issuing cold threats of lethal violence if you are unfortunate enough to be his opponent. His moveset is also different, replete with FlashStep teleports and the ability to call upon a dark green energy of sorts. The story mode explains that [[spoiler:he was revived by Illuminati agents and is given a task to kill Bison and stop the Shadaloo group, and he's told that while he's given enhanced powers, his revival won't last long, so he's pretty dead-set on his mission. The ''Alpha 2'' ending of him getting betrayed by his own Air Force members (who are implied to be Shadaloo's mole troops) and got thrown out of his aircraft also makes him bitter and untrusting.]]

* [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Jill Valentine]] manages to do this in a non-storyline way in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''. In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' she was still wearing her S.T.A.R.S. uniform and was able to do things like a flaming dash and summon zombies, birds, and a Tyrant for her Hyper Combo. Come ''[=MvC3=]'', where she came in as DownloadableContent, she was modeled after her appearance in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', where she was under Wesker's control. As a result she fought like an acrobatic assassin, using things like sommersault kicks and attacking with her Skorpion submachine gun. The two ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' iterations of Jill are completely different from each other with zero overlap, essentially making them two distinct characters in the same series of games.

** Even though he was the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'', ComicBook/{{Thanos}} is also playable in said game. However, he retained his [[GameBreaker game-breaking]] normal attacks even as a playable character. He had 6 Hyper Combos, representing his usage of each of the 6 [[ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet Infinity Gems]]. He was toned down considerably in ''[=MvC2=]'', where his normals weren't given such high priority and he only had access to 4 Hyper Combos, missing the ones where he uses the Time and Mind Gems. [[TheBusCameBack Making his return to the series]] in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'', Thanos's moveset was given quite an overhaul. He has several new normals, special moves, and most importantly, Hyper Combos [[note]]considering that the usage of the rechristened Infinity [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse Stones]] are a part of the universal gameplay mechanics of ''[=MvCI=]'', Thanos no longer has access to them for Hyper Combos[[/note]].

* Faust going from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' ''Xrd'' to ''-STRIVE-'' went from being the jovial, wacky and eccentric doctor to having a downright creepy, horrifying personality on top of somehow looking more malformed, without quite going back to his original DeadlyDoctor Dr. Baldhead personality. There was initially ''zero'' explanation for his dramatic change, and all series director Daisuke had to say about it is [[ShrugOfGod a big shrug]]. ''Another Story'' finally shows how this sudden change of characterization happened, that being [[spoiler:[[EmptyShell his soul left his body after overexertion from trying to save Delilah, and his body is animated purely by his will to help people as a doctor]]]].
* VideoGame/{{The 7th Saga}} has seven playable apprentices. One of them is controlled by the player. One is recruited as the player's ally (maybe). One of them hired Pison to stop you (maybe). One of them snaps, so they [[spoiler: murder a king and steal the king's rune]]. One found a rune, only to be defeated by the player (or, perhaps, join the player). On rare occasions, one may betray and attack the player when they find a rune. The rest either temporarily joined the player or did nothing of note. But again, all seven apprentices are playable; five of them can fill any role, while the other two can't snap or betray you but can fill any other role. This means Same Character, But Different applies to '''''every''''' playable character.

* Eren Yeager in ''Manga/{{AttackOnTitan}}''. Throughout the first half of the series, he's a HotBlooded LeeroyJenkins with a scary amount of passion for exterminating the Titan race that is driving humanity to extinction and who took his home and mother from him. He undergoes a ''very'' big change in the last half of the series, becoming more cold, cunning and above all else ruthless. His dress and look also radically change, wearing much more civillian clothes rather than his military garb. It actually started right before the four-year timeskip, where he acts much more reversed and whistful. [[spoiler: It's later revealed this is a result of him seeing his father's memories that, as the next interitor of the Attack Titan, [[StableTimeLoop he in fact drove his father to take the Coordinate for the sake of his plan,]] and revealing to him [[SelfFulfillingProphecy just want he would, and did, become to protect his people]].]]

*** Finally subverted with ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''. This character obviously [[ReplacementScrappy wasn't accepted by fans]] and eventually led to DC reintroducing the original version of the Wally in ''DC Rebirth'' (down to making him Dick Grayson's best friend again), thus turning him into a DecompositeCharacter. He's now the cousin of the original Wally, who were both independently given their grandfather's name. This has led to the black Wally, who now generally goes by Wallace, being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.

** Kevin in the original series was an EnfantTerrible with extra terrible, being ''frighteningly'' murderous. In some ways he was more evil than even some season {{Big Bad}}s: A TakeOverTheWorld type will kill you because you're in the way; Kevin will kill you just because he ''can.'' In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' and ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', he's reintroduced as a criminal of the more "out to make a dishonest buck" type and quickly makes a HeelFaceTurn after falling in LoveAtFirstSight (well, first sight in the new series) with Gwen. His powers have gone from energy absorption to the ability to transform into any material he touches. When his past was discussed, it was softened considerably - apparently, viewers were supposed to believe he'd ''always'' been the mostly harmless ne'er-do-well he'd been in the first ten minutes of ''Alien Force.'' It should tell you something when TheDreaded BigBad ''Vilgax,'' once described as "Darth Vader without the sense of humor," turned out to actually care about his people and have a OneHundredPercentAdorationRating back home and it wasn't considered to be nearly the same level of derailment as Kevin's change. Some of his behavior can be attributed to the five-year TimeSkip, but certain changes like his lack of sociopathy and rather abrupt HeelFaceTurn struck a sizable chunk of the fanbase as ham-fisted. It took until ''Ultimate Alien'' before any explanation was given for how Kevin became sane - it was still being demanded at that point because even after ''years'' of this new characterization, Saint Kevin was just too big a horse pill for fans to swallow. In all fairness the writers ''did'' have a explanation in mind they would have used in the third season of ''Alien Force'', but thanks to ExecutiveMeddling it was scrapped and they ended up having to incorparate it into the sequel series instead.

* ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' brought back [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers the original]] SixthRanger, Tommy Oliver, as the mentor to the new team. While his personality wasn't too far off from his original portrayal, we're supposed to accept that in the six or seven years since we last saw him he got a doctorate in paleontology and worked on some secret dinosaur-related research, and that he's now a high school teacher. Now we would probably accept it without question if it was Tommy's teammate Billy, an established TVGenius, that did that, but when Tommy's excuse in the original series for arriving late to fights was being forgetful...

* A central theme of the ''VisualNovel/WorldEndEconomica'' visual novel trilogy by [[LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf Isuna Hasekura]] is the changes made to the setting and characters in the {{Time Skip}}s between each of the instalments. In each episode, the characters look and act noticeably different and more mature. This is especially notable in Haru, the protagonist, who goes from an overambitious and bratty teenager to an almost emotionless adult after [[spoiler:Barton's betrayal leaves Haru two million [[WeirdCurrency mools]] in debt, and everybody he worked so hard to protect homeless, permanently shattering Haru's dream]] at the end of episode.01.

* Superboy-Prime in Creator/DCComics was introduced during ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' as an AscendedFanboy from the real world (or what was closest to it) who became Superboy during the Crisis. He finally went to a better place with the original Superman and Lois. He was brought back during ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' where it was revealed his untreated PTSD from the deaths of all his loved ones and being gaslit by a PoisonousFriend into thinking he helped save the wrong people after being forced to watch his former heroes wind up in darker, more cynical points in their lives. After snapping completely, he spent years as an embittered PhysicalGod that embodied toxic internet comics culture before that problem became more widely known, until winding up being involved in yet another reboot where he finally had someone actually try ''talking'' to him, where he finally did a HeelFaceTurn.