History RedeemingReplacement / ComicBooks

[[AC:MarvelUniverse]]
* In Comicbook/SpiderMan,
** Phil Urich stumbled on a Green Goblin costume and got doused in the SuperSerum (note, it was explicitly this -- unlike the earlier PsychoSerum, this one didn't make you insane), producing the irony of a guy a lot like Peter Parker (snarky journalist UnluckyEverydude) taking on the identity of Peter's worst enemy. In the main Comicbook/SpiderMan series, Urich did end up suffering from mental problems and ultimately pulled a FaceHeelTurn.\\\
In the ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'' series, things went better, and he is an HonoraryUncle to the heroine, and has moonlighted as a superhero in both his Green Goblin costume and as the "Golden Goblin" (basically a PaletteSwap Hobgoblin).
** Also in the ''Spider Girl'' series is Normie Osborn. Following his father and grandfather, he took on the Green Goblin identity as a villain, but after conquering his demons ended up being a Redeeming Replacement for Venom (although he doesn't call himself that)- he was forcibly merged with the symbiote but managed to stay mostly sane with it and fight crime. Similarly to the irony with Urich, Normie is a friend and love interest to May Parker, despite running around in the costume of one of her father's worst enemies.
** And the series has another example in Brenda Drago, Raptor, who ends up marrying Normie Osborn. She's the daughter of Blackie Drago, the second Vulture, and started out as a criminal, but then reformed and became an antihero.
** Back in the main Franchise/MarvelUniverse, the Comicbook/{{Venom}} symbiote spent some time as a US military asset bonded to Flash Thompson, who took the job because [[AscendedFanboy it was a chance to be Spider-Man.]]
** The first Wraith was Brian [=DeWolff=], a powerful psychic who had a HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, but is mostly remembered for attempting a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the police department when his sister, Detective Jean [=DeWolff=] was killed, only to be [[CListFodder immediately shot by the Scourge of the Underworld]]. His successor is a heroic vigilante who [[spoiler: uses Spider-villain technology to pose as Jean's ghost]].
** The alternate-universe-heavy series ComicBook/WebWarriors, spinning out of ComicBook/SpiderVerse, introduced Octavia Otto, a gender- and morality-flipped version of Doc Ock who was the TokenGoodTeammate in an evil cabal of AU Electros and Ocks. She joined the Web Warriors and was still helping AU Spiders fight the good fight as of ComicBook/SpiderGeddon.
* The versions of Sabretooth and Mimic that were members of the ''Comicbook/{{Exiles}}'' were heroes from {{alternate universe}}s. However, the original Mimic isn't so bad these days.
* While on his deathbed, B-List supervillain the Black Knight begged his nephew Dane Whitman to restore honor to their family legacy and to atone for his crimes. Whitman did so, becoming a heroic Black Knight still active to this day. The villainous Black Knight is also something of an inversion: he based the identity and his equipment off of his heroic ancestor, the medieval Black Knight.
** Dane Whitman's debut also deconstructed the concept: when he first tried to join the Avengers, [[LetsYouAndHimFight they immediately attacked him]] assuming him to be his villainous uncle (understandable, since he kept the full-face mask).
* ''Loki'':
** Loki's various [[TheNthDoctor deaths and rebirths]] since the Comicbook/{{Siege}} are in-universe attempts to create one of these, as evil is predictable, Loki would rather die than be predictable, and that's ''very'' literal. Turns out it's not as easy as it sounds, mostly because Loki is Loki and dreadfully prone to sabotage themself.
** First the evil one [[DeaderThanDead died]] in a HeroicSacrifice and was replaced by the KidHero Kid!Loki. Then, just when things were looking up for him, Siege! Loki screwed the new version over from beyond the grave by trying to usurp his good name with a CloningGambit. [[DeathOfPersonality This backfired]], creating [[ComicBook/LokiAgentOfAsgard Agent Loki.]] ''That'' version then had to deal with an evil future self trying to force them back into their old ways. All this just served to create a ''fourth'' Loki, who was last seen stepping outside the universe to whatever's waiting after ComicBook/SecretWars2015.

[[AC:Franchise/DCUniverse]]
* One version of Toyman is a [[{{otaku}} young Japanese genius]], while the other versions of the character are all villains. Unfortunately he, like all other versions, turned out to be a super-advanced android, created by the one and only original Toyman. However, the ComicBook/New52 CosmicRetcon saw him back as a human and as a heroic Toyman.
* The ComicBook/RedHood in most continuities is an identity used by ComicBook/TheJoker before he became a MonsterClown. The identity has also been taken by some of the Comicbook/{{Robin}}s, mainly Jason Todd, typically when acting as anti-heroes. And in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', it was the identity of a good Joker from an AlternateUniverse.
* Also in Franchise/{{Batman}}, Dick Grayson wound up being this to Jean Paul-Valley. In "Prodigal", the direct followup to the "ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}" saga, Bruce takes a sabbatical not long after reclaiming the mantle of the Bat from Valley in order to avoid burning himself out again. Dick takes over during in his absence and explicitly makes sure to remind everyone that there's still a Batman who can show compassion and has rules when it comes to the law.
* The female Dr. Light, who (like the Toyman example above) is a Japanese genius. She's also a HotScientist and MamaBear - as opposed to the first Dr. Light, who was a man, a villain, and a [[ComicBook/IdentityCrisis rapist (by retcon)]].
* ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'':
** This is the basic idea behind Brainiac 5, descendant of Franchise/{{Superman}} villain Comicbook/{{Brainiac}}. (There are intervening Brainiacs of varied morality, but they weren't really focused on until well after B5 had been introduced.)
** Also from the Legion, Danielle Foccart assumed the codename "Computo" in the [=V4=] era when she gained {{Technopath}}ic powers -- after the villainous AI that possessed her in her first appearance (her brother Jacques' origin as the second Invisible Kid).
* Faust, a (generally) heroic magic-user in the DCU, is the son of ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' villain Felix Faust.
* The Golden Age villain Brain Wave had a son that called himself Brain Wave Jr. and became a member of Comicbook/InfinityInc. Of course, he's now gone a long way from being the hero that he was.
* Owen Mercer, the son of the first [[Characters/TheFlash Captain Boomerang]], tried to be one of these.
* One story in the ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' universe had Iris "Kid Flash" West encounter the Fiddler's great-grandson, Iowa Bowin, who believed his ancestor had "a headful of bad wiring", and wants to use his guitar version of Isaac's weaponized violin to be a hero.
* The original Terra in ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' turned out to be TheMole for the team and an unrepentant villain. Her first successor was a deliberate attempt to show a heroic version of Terra, to the point where some DC editors and writers even wanted her to be the original resurrected (this wound up averted in the end). The third ComicBook/{{Terra}} (who was originally planned to be an unrelated character) was even more of an example, as she lacked the second Terra's identity crisis issues and the original's sociopathy, and was a much more idealistic hero without much angst at all.
* You wouldn't think ''Superman'' would need one of these, but in the ''ComicBook/Injustice2'' comic, Conner Kent ends up donning the classic suit (red trunks and all) years after the original went KnightTemplar.
* ''ComicBook/BatmanLastKnightOnEarth'' focuses on a younger, more optimistic clone of Batman after [[spoiler:the original Bruce Wayne became a FallenHero and the the BigBad, Omega.]]