Line #12 AdaptationSpeciesChange/ComicBooks


1	AdaptationSpeciesChange in ComicBooks.
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3	* Keeping with its {{Demythification}} schtick, ''ComicBook/AgeOfBronze'' changes all demigods (and one centaur) to humans.
4	* In ''ComicBook/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'', the normally human Betty and Veronica from ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' are shown to be witches. Ms. Grundy is a witch as well.
5	* ''ComicBook/KidSherlock'' changed Watson from a human to an [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic dog]].
6	* Creator/DCComics:
7	** In pre-''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' Creator/DCComics continuity both the Champions of Angor/Justifiers and the Extremists were HumanAliens from Angor: [[AllPlanetsAreEarthLike an earth-like planet]] that also had [[ContrivedCoincidence similar technology and pop-culture]]. In their re-imaginings as the heroes and villains of Earth-8 in both ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'' and ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'' they are humans from that universe's version of Earth.
8	** ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'':
9	*** In the original Golden Age comics, Aquaman was not an Atlantean, but rather a human who learned to survive underwater thanks to ancient scientific techniques discovered by his father. It wouldn’t be until the Silver Age that he would be {{Retcon}}ned as [[HalfHumanHybrid the son of a human man and an Atlantean woman]].
10	*** In the Silver Age comics, Ocean Master was Orm Curry, a full-blooded human and Arthur's half-brother. The post-''Crisis'' continuity reimagined him as the son of an Atlantean wizard who was raised on land by his Inuit mother, before the ''ComicBook/New52'' reboot solidified Orm as a full-blooded Atlantean and the son of the same queen who gave birth to Aquaman.
11	** The ComicBook/New52 ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'' storyline "ComicBook/DarkseidWar" introduces a version of Ardora, Luthor's love interest from the planet Lexor. Only in this universe, she's [[ComicBook/NewGods Apokaliptian]].
12	** ComicBook/WonderWoman:
13	*** In Wondy’s original origin in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'' she’s an Amazon woman who was made out of clay by Hippolyta and brought to life after she prayed to it. This version of Diana’s backstory remained the status quo for decades, until ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2011'' changed it forever, turning Diana into an actual [[SemiDivine Demigod]] as the daughter of Zeus. Hippolyta reveals she made up the story that Diana was born from clay to protect her from the truth and Hera's wrath.
14	*** In her [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 original appearance]], Giganta was a female ape that became human due to an experiment (in a later retcon, ComicBook/WonderWoman's foe Dr. Psycho was the experimenter). [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Post-Crisis]], she was retooled as a human scientist who conducted the experiment herself, accidentally transferring her mind to a gorilla, and from there to a size-changing strongwoman. (''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' had also previously portrayed her as a size-changing human, sharing Apache Chief's origin.) There's also a bit of CompositeCharacter here: in the original story the scientist who created Giganta was named Dr. Zool, in the post-Crisis version, the scientist who ''became'' Giganta was Dr. Doris Zuel.
15	*** In ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'' the Duke of Deception is a human granted a magical artifact and powers by Ares, while the original Duke was one of Mars' non-human ethereal lieutenants.
16	** In the original ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' series, the Gargoyle was a human criminal who merely wore a winged costume and mask that made him look like a monster. ''ComicBook/PostCrisis'', the Gargoyle was reimagined as a human (actually Mister Twister, the first villain the Titans ever faced) who had been transformed into a winged, demonic creature by an EldritchAbomination called the Antithesis.
17	** Pre-Crisis, Golden Eagle was simply a young ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} fanboy from Midway City named Charlie Parker, who lucked out and got his own winged suit from Matter Master. Post-Crisis, this no longer worked, as Golden Eagle had now debuted as a superhero and member of the Teen Titans ''before'' Hawkman had even come to Earth. Decades later, this would be settled with the revelation that "Charlie" was actually Ch'al Andar, the son of a Thanagarian SleeperAgent and his human wife.
18	** A sort of example with the post-Zero Hour version of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'' Princess Projectra, who goes by Sensor. She's still a member of the royal family of the planet Orando, but the Orandans have gone from humanoid aliens to giant snake aliens.
19	** ComicBook/{{Shazam}}:
20	*** In the Golden Age Marvel Family stories, Tawky Tawny was just an ordinary tiger who could somehow talk and walk on his hind legs. (Even when this got an explanation, it pretty much came down to "some guy in the jungle had a DisposableSuperheroMaker potion.") ComicBook/PostCrisis and in many modern adaptations, he's some kind of magical being, often working for [[TheChooserOfTheOne the Wizard]]. He may also be a shapeshifter, so that he can turn from his [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm usual tiger form]] into a human. (The other option is to include a normal, non-sapient tiger named Tawny as a MythologyGag.) In the 2019 ''Shazam'' book he's from the Beastlands, one of the Magiclands filled with FunnyAnimals.
21	*** The 2019 book is all over this, tying all of the Monster Society of Evil to the Magiclands. Mr Mind and the Crocodile Men have gone from aliens to Beastlanders; Mr Atom has gone from a human-built robot to a creation of the Gamelands; Jeepers has gone from the last survivor of a race of Earth bat-people to a creature of the Darklands; Goat-Man has gone from one of Mr Mind's artificial bodies to another Beastlander (and had an AdaptationNameChange to Scapegoat); and Evil Eye has gone from another alien to a denizen of the Monsterlands (and has also changed in appearance from a humanoid green giant to an EldritchAbomination).
22	** The Jackson Hyde/Kaldur'ahm version of Aqualad initially had his origin told in ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'', where it was shown that his biological parents were Black Manta and an unnamed human woman. Since he was born a natural human, his powers were said to be the result of Xebelian scientists having experimented on him when he was a baby. Aqualad's rebooted origin in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' instead depicts him as the son of Black Manta and a Xebelian named Lucia, with his powers having been naturally inherited from his mother. Note that both backstories differ from his origin in the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' cartoon he was created for, where he was the son of Black Manta and an Atlantean woman named Sha'lain'a.
23	** Ultraman, ComicBook/{{Superman}}'s evil MirrorUniverse counterpart on the [[PsychoRangers Crime Syndicate of America]], was originally a Kryptonian who was sent to Earth as a baby, just like his heroic opposite. However, Creator/GrantMorrison's post-Crisis reboot of Ultraman instead depicted him as a human astronaut whose body was rebuilt and heavily augmented by unidentified extraterrestrial beings after he nearly died in a [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace hyperspace]] accident. Ultraman's New 52 backstory from ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013'' restored the original pre-Crisis idea of him being a Kryptonian raised by Earthlings.
24	** ''ComicBook/TeenTitansEarthOne'':
25	*** ComicBook/{{Raven}} is usually half-demon in most continuities, but here she appears to be entirely human, [[MagicalNativeAmerican albeit not a normal one]].
26	*** [[spoiler:Garth/Tempest]] is normally an Atlantean. Here, like most of the Titans, he is a human [[spoiler:genetically enhanced with Tamaranian DNA]].
27	** ComicBook/{{Starfire}}'s ComicBook/DCYou series ''ComicBook/Starfire2015'' [[CanonImmigrant imported]] Silkie, her pet from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' and ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo.'' In the cartoons, he was a genetically engineered creation of villain Killer Moth; the comic version is an alien creature from her home planet [[AdaptationNameChange renamed "Syl'Khee"]].
28	*** In his original pre-Crisis appearance, Ultraa is from an unknown planet, and was raised in Australia on Earth-Prime. In post-Crisis continuity he's from Almerac, the same planet as Maxima, and is actually her [[ArrangedMarriage betrothed]]. His appearence in ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'' follows the second portrayal.
29	** ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
30	*** ''ComicBook/SupergirlAdventuresGirlOfSteel'': In this continuity, both Kara and Zod are from planet Argo instead of Krypton due to the then-standing ban on multiple Kryptonian characters (once the ban was lifted, Kara was quietly retconned back into being Superman's Kryptonian blood cousin).
31	*** In the 80's comics, Kristen Wells is a human from the future (in fact, Jimmy Olsen's descendant) who uses 29th century technology to become Superwoman. In post-Crisis continuity, she's the title character of the storyline "ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian", real name Karsta Wor-Ul.
32	*** In the ''Series/{{Smallville}} Season 11'' comics, [[spoiler: Mr Majestic]] is a Kryptonian, in fact [[spoiler: an alternate version of Clark himself]], rather than [[spoiler: a Kherubim]].
33	*** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' had Mercy Graves as a normal human woman Lex Luthor took in to act as his muscle. When she became a CanonImmigrant and was bought into the comics during ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'', she was reimagined as an Amazon.
34	** ''ComicBook/AngelAndTheApe'': Sam Simeon appears in ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013''. Rather than a Gorilla City native (or, as he was pre-Creator/PhilFoglio, just an inexplicably intelligent gorilla), he's a human who was experimenting on Gorilla City DNA and suffered a FreakLabAccident that turned him into an ape in an expensive suit.
35	** In ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes2020'', [[ComicBook/{{Valor}} Mon-El]] is a Kryptonian rather than a Daxamite like prior-incarnations of the character.
36	** The premise of ''ComicBook/RWBYJusticeLeague'' is reimagining the ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica as natives of Remnant. To this end, ComicBook/{{Batman}}, a normal human being, and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, half-human and half-Atlantean, are made into [[BeastMan Faunus]] (based respectively on a bat naturally and a fish).
37	** The ''ComicBook/JustImagineStanLeeCreatingTheDCUniverse'' interpretation of Aquaman is a super-powered human rather than a human-Atlantean hybrid.
38	** In ''ComicBook/Team7New52'', Mr Majestic is [[spoiler: an Earth human who was the guinea pig in an experiment to create a Superman-level government agent.]]
39	* In Creator/DellComics' ComicBookAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/MadMonsterParty'', the creature "It" is changed from a giant ape into a giant humanoid fish monster. In spite of the character no longer being a Franchise/KingKong CaptainErsatz, [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole nothing is done about Felix offering the creature a banana or Baron von Frankenstein calling the monster an overgrown chimpanzee]].
40	* Creator/MarvelComics:
41	** In ''ComicBook/Marvel1602'', [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parquagh]] and [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk David Banner]] explicitly become "Witchbreed" (i.e., {{mutants}}) after getting exposed to the interdimensional radiation of a PortalDoor. While Spidey and Hulk have had radiation permanently alter their genes in the main universe, they distinctly lack homo superior genes and as such are not considered mutants.
42	*** In the sequel, [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Dr. Octopus]] is revealed to be a {{Cthulhumanoid}} rather than just a regular man with robotic arms.
43	** In ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars\|2015}}: [[ComicBook/Marvel1602 1602]]: Witch Hunter ComicBook/{{Angela\|AsgardsAssassin}}'', Angela and Sera are human, not Asgardian and Hevenite. When they meet Gardiner's Men, the 1602 version of the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Goodman Root (Characters/{{Groot}}) and Madame Gomorrah (Gamora) are human, and the Aroughcun (Characters/RocketRaccoon) is an actual raccoon.
44	*** The same comic does this to an actual RealLife historical figure. As it’s discovered that [[UsefulNotes/JamesVIAndI King James]] instead of being a regular human, was Witchbreed himself and could make [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} claws pop out of his hands]].
45	** ''ComicBook/MarvelNoir'': In ''ComicBook/XMenNoir'', the ComicBook/XMen are not mutants, but rather human criminals who thanks to discredited psychiatrist Charles Xavier believe sociopathy is "the next state in human behavioral evolution". In the same universe, [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] is a normal man who cut his ears into the shape of a shark's fins and [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] wasn't a PhysicalGod but a unnamed Norwegian man who ferociously protected a castle he found from the Nazis with a hammer, "as if he were some Norse God on Earth".
46	** ''ComicBook/UltimateFF'' featured Miles Morhames, a version of [[Characters/MarvelComicsMilesMorales Miles Morales]] from a version of the ''ComicBook/SpiderHam'' universe. He was, like Peter Porker, a pig. ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentAvengers Annual'' #1 had a story in a more conventional version of the ''Spider-Ham'' verse in which the Miles counterpart was Spider-Mole (though it's worth mentioning that this is in-universe fan fiction that ComicBook/{{Ms Marvel\|2014}} is reading). Yet another story introduced [[https://twitter.com/jasonlatour/status/1146433427937345540 Meows Morales]], Spider-Cat. "Miles" or "Morales" don't just lend themselves to puns as well as "Peter Parker".
47	** ''ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel\|MarvelComics}}'': In [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]]’s original origin story she was a normal woman who got accidentally infused with Kree superpowers after getting hit with the Psyche-Magnitron. In Carol’s 2018 comic, it’s [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] that she’s a HalfHumanHybrid and the Kree device only awakened the latent Kree DNA from her mother Mari-Ell aka Marie.
48	** ''ComicBook/XMenGrandDesign'':
49	*** The mini-series makes Mimic a mutant instead of a human who got powers from a scientific accident.
50	*** Changeling is not a mutant, but an alien android created by the Mutant Master. This was presumably done to make ComicBook/ProfessorX's infamous use of Changeling to fake his own death less morally dubious.
51	** ''[[ComicBook/XMen2019 House of X]]'' [[{{Retcon}} changes]] [[Characters/XMenMutants Moira MacTaggert]] into a Mutant, in contrast to the previous decades of comic continuity where she was a human woman.
52	** ''ComicBook/{{Figment\|DisneyKingdoms}}'': In the original version of Ride/JourneyIntoImagination and interviews related to it, it's implied that Dreamfinder is an AnthropomorphicPersonification of creativity. In this series, he is human.
53	* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
54	** In the initial Sega of America ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'' lore, Sally Acorn was a squirrel ([[ShesAManInJapan named Ricky in the current lore]]), however she was radically redesigned and re-imagined for ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' with the cartoon's staff never quite deciding what she was meant to be even after the series had ended (head writer Ben Hurst speculated that her father King Acorn ''might'' be a fox and her mother ''might'' be a squirrel). The comics decided to make Sally a ground squirrel, before this was {{retcon}}ned so that she was half-squirrel via her father and half-chipmunk via her mother, and this was maintained even after the continuity reboot, with the only change being that post-reboot King Acorn now had a tail similar to Ray the Flying Squirrel's, as opposed to the fox tail he’d had pre-reboot as [[TheArtifact an artifact]] from [=SatAm=]).
55	** In the pre-reboot continuity, Doctor Robotnik[=/=]Eggman, his nephew Snively from ''[=SatAM=]'', his grandfather Gerald Robotnik and cousin Maria from ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', were not human, instead they were part of a devolved mutant [[HumanSubspecies human subspecies]] descended from humanity called Overlanders. Despite the ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' adaptation adding actual humans to the comic, Creator/IanFlynn confirmed that the G.U.N Commander ([[NamedByTheAdaptation named "Abraham Tower"]]) from the games is also an Overlander.
56	** In ''[=SatAM=]'' the sorcerer [[CartoonCreature Naugus' species was never identified]]. In the pre-reboot comics, Ixis Naugus was revealed to be the result of three wizards (a rhino, a lobster and a bat) accidentally merging themselves into one being. In the post-reboot comics this was no longer the case, and Walter Naugus was now a [[AllTrollsAreDifferent troll]].
57	** Witchcart, the AmbiguouslyHuman witch from ''VideoGame/TailsSkyPatrol'', became the troll Wendy Naugus due to being [[RelatedInTheAdaptation re-imagined as the sister]] of [[AdaptationNameChange Walter Naugus]].
58	** Breezie the Hedgehog was introduced in ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' as a robot hedgehog. In the comics, she's a real hedgehog.
59	* In ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'', Jedi Master Depa Billaba was Chalactan, a [[HumanSubspecies Near-Human]] species that [[HumanAliens looked identical to humans on the outside]]. In new canon, Chalactans have been retconned into another human culture.
60	* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel: Has its [[AdaptationSpeciesChange/UltimateMarvel own page]].
61	* Blubber Bear was a bear in ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces''. In ''ComicBook/WackyRaceland'' he's a human man who wears the pelt of a bear that gave him brain damage before the Announcer brought him and Luke into the Race. Similarly, Sawtooth has gone from a FunnyAnimal beaver to an "androgynous street urchin" with Jaws-from-''Film/JamesBond'' style ScaryTeeth. Muttley, however, remains a dog.
62	* In ''Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's Snifter of Terror'' #1, Creator/PaulCornell's adaptation of "Literature/TheBlackCat" is retitled "The Black Dog". It also has a PerspectiveFlip, being narrated by the dog rather than the master.
63	* Creator/IDWPublishing's ''ComicBook/{{Gobots}}'' miniseries depicts the [=GoBots=] as man-made sentient robots, when ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGobots'' established that they are technically cyborgs due to starting out as an organic race before having their brains inserted into robotic bodies.
64	* ''ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse'':
65	** G.B. Blackrock originated as a human corporate executive in [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel the Marvel Comics Transformers continuity]]. His counterpart in the 2005 IDW continuity, who made his debut in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'' after it was rebranded as ''The Transformers'' volume 2, was eventually revealed to be [[TomatoInTheMirror a Cybertronian who was conditioned into believing he was human]].
66	** ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'' established the titular character as hailing from the planet Galador and depicted him as a {{Human Alien\|s}} when he wasn't wearing the Space Knight armor. Because Hasbro and IDW were unable to utilize any elements that were created for the Marvel comic, ''ComicBook/RomIDW'' makes it so that his home planet is now Elonia and his unarmored self is depicted as a blue-skinned {{Rubber Forehead Alien\|s}}.
67	** ''ComicBook/GIJoe2016'' reveals Doc to actually be a Dire Wraith (the Wraiths being a race of shape-shifting aliens that Rom has made it his mission to hunt down) and his daughter (an interpretation of his [[GenderFlip female counterpart]] from ''ComicBook/GIJoeReloaded'') to be a HalfHumanHybrid.
68	** Sergeant Savage's archenemy Garrison Kreiger, aka General Blitz, is revealed at the end of ''First Strike'' to be [[spoiler:a CompositeCharacter with Merklynn, the wizard from ''WesternAnimation/{{Visionaries}}'', which makes him a Prysmosian rather than a human.]]
69	* Originally, in ''Series/NinjaTurtlesTheNextMutation'', Venus was a turtle that was mutated like the other Ninja Turtles. When he was brought into ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIDW'', Venus was reimagined as a human named "Bonnie" who was mutated a frog-based mutant and forced to undergo experiments to look more like a turtle.

Context AdaptationSpeciesChange / ComicBooks