| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/creator_driven_successor_prehistoric_park_w_caption.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Impossible Pictures presents [[Series/ChasedByDinosaurs two]] [[Series/PrehistoricPark different]] interpretations of "Nigel Marven running away from dinosaurs".]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Every writer has only one story to tell, and he has to find a way of telling it until the meaning becomes clearer and clearer, until the story becomes at once more narrow and larger, more and more precise, more and more reverberating."'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Creator/JamesBaldwin''' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | A Creator-Driven Successor is a work that is effectively a successor to another work by the same creator but belongs to a different franchise. This situation may be apparent if the creator takes care in having both works share similar themes, setting aesthetics, art style, or gameplay. A ThematicSeries may result from a string of creator-driven successors. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | This is a way for creators that want to follow up on their previous work to get around the problems posed by attempts to continue a franchise directly, whether by a sequel, prequel, or NonLinearSequel. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The inability to do so may be because: |
| 12 | * The creators are [[ScrewedByTheLawyers legally unable to make further continuations]] because [[GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld they quit working with the copyright holders of their previous work or failed to secure their permission.]] |
| 13 | * Their original work was written so conclusively that making further installments that do it justice would be [[ToughActToFollow too difficult]] or [[{{Sequelitis}} disrespectful]]. |
| 14 | * The creator wants their work's successor to have all the beloved things from their old work but without its unwanted baggage. |
| 15 | * The creator wants to add something new that clashes too hard with their previous work. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | The creator-driven successor status can be subverted by CanonWelding, where the seemingly distinct franchises are revealed to be in the same continuity. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | If creator-driven successors to a franchise are seen as better than official sequels [[BTeamSequel that were made without key creators]], OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight may result. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Compare SameStoryDifferentNames, for other instances of creators copying themselves. Compare StartMyOwn, where someone who's fed up with dealing with a particular organization for whatever reason leaves and starts a new one with a similar purpose. Not to be confused with SpiritualSuccessor, where it's the audience that regards a work as a virtual successor to another, regardless of whether the works share creators. |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !!Examples: |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 28 | * ''Manga/NewGame'', Creator/ShotaroTokuno's previous manga, was published in Magazine/MangaTimeKirara (which is best known for its ''{{iyashikei}}'' works), yet it got some flack for having ''iyashikei''-unfriendly story arcs where ''{{moe}}'' girls are pitted against each other in competition and have to suffer emotional losses. His next series, ''Manga/IdolXIdolStory'' (published on Kirara's online-only sister site Comic Fuz) has a premise that is '''nothing but''' ''moe'' girls being pitted against each other and forced to suffer emotional losses. In retrospect, the competition arcs in ''New Game!'' seem like a dry run for ''IDOL x IDOL STORY!'' |
| 29 | * Creator/MamoruHosoda's ''Anime/SummerWars'' is often regarded as a remake or successor to one of his previous films, ''Anime/DigimonTheMovie''. [[note]]More specifically, the ''Recap/DigimonAdventureMovieOurWarGame'' OVA that [[CompilationMovie makes up the bulk]] of what Fox Kids released as ''Digimon: The Movie''.[[/note]] Both feature similar artstyles, premise (teenage hackers fighting off a monster-like AI wreaking havoc on the Internet), and even a number of scenes (perhaps most notably [[spoiler:the climax, where the heroes are given the strength to fight on when people from all over the world log in to cheer on them]]). He would then follow up on them with ''Anime/Belle2021'', which builds on the concept of a massive social media space from ''Summer Wars'' used as a site for everything, right down to the site having whales as a notable mascot. |
| 30 | [[/folder]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 33 | * Creator/JackKirby surprisingly pulled this off twice in quick succession. |
| 34 | ** ''ComicBook/NewGods'' was originally intended to be a sequel to his ''Tales of Asgard'' series, which had ended with the Norse gods dying and a futuristic, technological people replacing them. When Kirby moved to DC, it had to officially be in its own continuity, although there are one or two callbacks to ''Tales'', such as a character finding the remains of the final battle. |
| 35 | ** In turn, when Kirby moved back to Marvel, he would recycle much of the same concepts he established in ''New Gods'' with ''ComicBook/TheEternals'', as both are races of PhysicalGods who reside in their own HiddenElfVillage[=s=] and would eventually be established to be the races from whom their settings' respective GalacticConqueror[=s=] hail from (Darkseid and Thanos respectively). |
| 36 | [[/folder]] |
| 37 | |
| 38 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 39 | * ''Fanfic/TheGoodHunter'', to ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls''. Written by the same author, [=StaffSergeant=], both fics revolve around a [[TheStoic stoic]], [[CelibateHero celibate]], [[WorldsStrongestMan overpowered]], [[AntiHero anti-heroic]] {{protagonist}} from ''VideoGame/BloodBorne'' interacting with a {{fantasy}} setting (''Kuroinu'' and ''MGE'' respectively) that has its originally heavy {{fanservice}} [[AdaptationalModesty toned down]], as well as more plot than the original canon. Said protagonists even have the same name (Cyril/Kyril Sutherland). |
| 40 | * [[https://fanfiction.net/s/14170131/1/Summoning-Two-Familiars Summoning Two Familiars]] to Fanfic/EnteringTheLoveHinaWorld. Both are written by [=JIL713=], and are SelfInsert {{FixFic}}s involving AuthorAvatar Anthony and NinjaMaid Faye attempting to help a [[AccidentalPervert harem protagonist]] (Manga/LoveHina's Keitaro and Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero's Saito respectively) and dish LaserGuidedKarma towards their main abusers (Naru and Motoko et al., and Louise respectively). Both fics open with Anthony watchig the source material and lamenting the state of things |
| 41 | [[/folder]] |
| 42 | |
| 43 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 44 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{A Christmas Carol|2009}}'' directed by Creator/RobertZemeckis serves as this to his preceding CGI-animated Christmas film ''WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress''. Both films are based on a classic book centered around the holiday and are about a person whose perspective on life and attitude towards the holiday are changed as he goes through a supernatural journey started by beings who want to help them "open their eyes" so to speak.. Each also has a leading actor who plays several roles in the film. Ironically enough a marionette puppet of Ebenezer Scrooge appears in the film during the scene where they are in a car filled with abandoned/misfit toys being used by the hobo ghost. The Scrooge played by Creator/JimCarrey in the subsequent film has a strikingly similar appearance/design. |
| 45 | * ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' was hotly anticipated by fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas''. In fact, with his distinctive style and usual repertory cast, you could consider the entire Creator/TimBurton oeuvre outside the more science fiction stuff one big de facto franchise. |
| 46 | * Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' would qualify as such to their preceding animated film ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''. Both films are based on classic myths/folk tales set in the ancient world. The main players include a well-meaning yet frowned-upon young male outsider, who has confidence issues and wants to feel acceptance/respect, and who comes to embrace himself for who he is by the end (Hercules and Aladdin), a conniving and snarky man of power (Hades and Jafar) within the inner circles of a jovial king he seeks to supplant (Zeus and the Sultan) with the aid of sealed away ancient beings of immense power (the Genie and the Titans) who ultimately is punished by being trapped in a dark place without the use of his power when beaten by the hero, the feisty woman the hero loves who is trapped in a life position she seeks to break free from (Meg and Jasmine), among others such as in the various comedic sidekicks. (Such as the heroes' anthropomorphized modes of transportation, the villains' comedic sidekicks who are regularly abused by their masters and do a lot of the grunt work.) Both films also have a lighter, more irreverent tone than the more serious films that preceded (''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''/''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'') and followed them (''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}''/''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'') in the Disney canon, with many comic anachronisms and pop culture references. Both films had the same pair of directors with Ron Clements and John Musker. And both, naturally, were animated Disney musicals with music by Music/AlanMenken. |
| 47 | * Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' would qualify as such to their preceding animated film ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''. Both films are based on classic pieces of literature based in France. The main players being a misunderstood/tortured man thought of as a monster by the outside world that lives in a monolithic building (Quasimodo and The Beast), his sidekicks in the form of legless anthropomorphic objects (the castle's denizens turned into household objects like Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts from ''Beast'' and the Notre Dame gargoyles Victor, Hugo, and Laverne from ''Hunchback''), the strong and compassionate woman that defends him who he falls for (Esermelda and Belle), a villainous man with influence in his hometown that is deeply arrogant and lusts after the female lead who ultimately dies in a final confrontation when he besieges the aforementioned monolithic building where he falls to his death (Frollo and Gaston). Both films had the same pair of directors with Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. And both, naturally, were animated Disney musicals with music by Music/AlanMenken. |
| 48 | [[/folder]] |
| 49 | |
| 50 | [[folder:Film -- Live Action]] |
| 51 | * ''Film/{{Argylle}}'' is pretty clearly a SpiritualSuccessor to the ''Film/{{Kingsman}}'' films, being a Creator/MatthewVaughn-[=directed=] spy film that's sprinkled with AffectionateParody of the genre, includes some of its cast (Creator/SamuelLJackson, Creator/SofiaBoutella), boasts the same kind of flashy action setpieces (in the climax in particular), throws a seemingly normal person into the world of espionage, and has a few twists and double-twists. ''Kingsman'' is even referenced in TheStinger. |
| 52 | * ''Film/{{Austerlitz}}'' (1960) was Abel Gance's second foray into the UsefulNotes/{{Napoleon|Bonaparte}}ic [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars era]] after the 1927 silent epic ''[[Film/Napoleon1927 Napoléon]]'' (which was intended to start a whole film saga that never saw the light of day). Gance reused many ideas he had in store for that unfinished saga in the film. |
| 53 | * ''Film/TaxiDriver'' (1976), ''Film/AmericanGigolo'' (1980) and ''Film/LightSleeper'' (1992). All written by Paul Schrader, all directed by him save for Taxi Driver, and all about turmoiled men navigating a sleazy urban setting in which they carve out a living, mostly a night(as a taxi driver, a male escort and a high-end drug dealer respectively). The three are considered a spritual trilogy of neo-noir classics(sometimes called the "God's Lonely Man" or "Lonely Man In A Room" trilogy) with their protagonists in different phases of life(20s, 30s, 40s) and numerous shared themes, tropes, actions and plot points. |
| 54 | * ''Film/{{Tenet}}'' is a MindScrew ScienceFiction neo-noir action film where a secret technology allows to defy natural law and gets used by powerful and shady businessmen, and it's directed and written by Creator/ChristopherNolan, just like ''Film/{{Inception}}''. |
| 55 | * ''Film/WhereHandsTouch'': This is now the third film from director Amma Asante to focus on a historical interracial love story (though this one is fictional, unlike ''Film/Belle2013'' and ''Film/AUnitedKingdom''). |
| 56 | * The movies Music/{{Eminem}} has been involved in are spiritually linked but have different characters and subject matter. ''Film/EightMile'' is based on his life, featuring a young white rapper struggling in Detroit's battle scene. ''Film/{{Southpaw}}'' is also based on Eminem's life, but as it was later, as a fading superstar struggling to overcome a prescription pill addiction, and changes the setting from music to boxing. ''Film/{{Bodied}}'' is another rap battle movie about a white rapper, but focuses on themes of freedom of speech, [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy white people in Black culture]] and regrets over [[JustJokingJustification going too far]] that parallel the cultural response to Eminem's music and the themes of his most admired work. |
| 57 | * Creator/ShaneBlack has written, and sometimes directed, three broadly similar darkly comedic neo-noir films, about a little, depressed alcoholic and a kind-hearted big guy investigating the death of a beautiful woman in Los Angeles and ultimately uncovering a ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''-esque conspiracy: ''Film/LethalWeapon1987'', ''Film/KissKissBangBang'', ''Film/TheNiceGuys'', and that's not to mention the ''Film/LethalWeapon'' sequels. |
| 58 | * ''Film/HorizonAnAmericanSaga'' is a new [[TheWestern Western]] set during (or immediately after) UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar directed by and starring Creator/KevinCostner after ''Film/DancesWithWolves'' and ''Film/OpenRange''. |
| 59 | * ''Film/LevyAndGoliath'' is another Creator/GerardOury film about [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} Jewish people/culture]] and a protagonist who finds himself chased by antagonists following a random encounter that happened to him, after ''Film/TheMadAdventuresOfRabbiJacob'' and ''Film/AceOfAces''. In fact, it's a reverse of ''Rabbi Jacob'', in that a religious Jewish man has to disguise as a gentile/non-religious person to escape the villains instead of the other way. And Music/VladimirCosma composed the soundtrack once again. |
| 60 | [[/folder]] |
| 61 | |
| 62 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 63 | * Monsignor Creator/RobertHughBenson made his name with his Catholic End-Times novel ''Literature/LordOfTheWorld'', which was so dystopian that it depressed a lot of readers. Eventually, enough of them wrote to him about this that he placated them by writing another End-Times novel with a different interpretation—that Christianity will become more dominant the closer the world gets to ending, instead of less. This book is ''Literature/TheDawnOfAll'', which ends with [[spoiler:it being all just a dream, because the writer truly believed the premise went against what the Bible teaches]]. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 67 | * The team behind 1998's ''Series/{{The Count of Monte Cristo|1998}}'' (actor Creator/GerardDepardieu, director Josée Dayan and screenwriter Didier Decoin) made a Creator/HonoreDeBalzac {{biopic}} in 1999, ''[[Series/LesMiserables2000 Les Misérables]]'' in 2000 and ''Literature/TheAccursedKings'' in 2005. All are prestige French TV {{miniseries}} (and three of them are set in the 19th century). Didier Decoin also wrote 2002's ''[[Series/Napoleon2002 Napoléon]]'' (which also starred Depardieu). |
| 68 | * ''Series/{{Endurance}}'' was this to the short-lived Fox Kids reality competition show ''Moolah Beach'', also created by J. D. Roth and Todd Nelson. ''Endurance'' itself got one in the form of the 2020 Creator/HBOMax reality competition show ''Karma'', co-created by Roth with music producer Scooter Braun, which is effectively a seventh season of ''Endurance'' in all but name and certain concepts (for example, ''Karma'' features the "Cave of Karma" instead of ''Endurance'''s Temple of Fate). |
| 69 | * ''Series/HailToTheChief'' is this to ''Series/{{Soap}}'', also created by Susan Harris. It has a very similar feel, of arc-driven over-the-top drama in the context of a half-hour sitcom. It has a token gay character who has actual stories. It even has the same style of Previously on…, ending with something like "Confused? You won't be after this episode of Hail to the Chief." |
| 70 | * The producers of ''Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs'' wanted to continue making spin-offs once Creator/TheBBC, who apparently owns the brand itself, lost interest. However, the format is generic enough that the producers could simply produce them under a different name and use AdvertisingByAssociation. |
| 71 | ** ''Series/PrehistoricPark'' is effectively an expanded version of the ''Series/ChasedByDinosaurs'' specials, this time directly incorporating time travel into the plot and adding a B-story set in the present day. That's because the two series share the same production company (Impossible Pictures), Producer (Jasper James), and presenter (Nigel Marven). However, Prehistoric Park aired on ITV, one of the BBC's rivals. |
| 72 | ** ''WesternAnimation/MarchOfTheDinosaurs'', also produced by Jasper James and aired on ITV, uses the ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' format. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 76 | * ''Music/AngusMcSix'' definitely continues the adventures of the lead singer's character Angus [=McFife=] from ''Music/{{Gloryhammer}}'', just without directly saying so using probably copyrighted names. Thus, we have Prince Angus coming back as Angus [[PunnyName McSix]], without stating that he used to be Angus [=McFife=]. He doesn't mention having owned the Hammer of Glory but sings "Glory left my hammer." And the background story says that, before encountering the new BigBad, he was expecting to fight his old enemy (without saying it was Zargothrax). Secondly, the tone of the new band is basically the same as Gloryhammer's, i.e., a gleefully outrageous parody of PowerMetal. |
| 77 | * Thomas Gabriel Fischer of ''Music/CelticFrost'' fame formed Triptykon, aiming to make its music as close to Monotheist-era Celtic Frost as humanly as possible. Celtic Frost itself was also a successor to Hellhammer. |
| 78 | * Music/KerryKing's solo work picks up right where he left off with Music/{{Slayer}}. |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 82 | * ''Gloomsbury'' to ''The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere'': a BBC Radio 4 slice-of-life sitcom written by Sue Limb about an exaggerated version of a well-known group of writers (the Romantic poets and the Bloomsbury set), filled with {{punny name}}s. |
| 83 | * In the 1940s, Creator/RuthPark wrote a children's radio serial called ''The Wide-Awake Bunyip'', about an amiable but foolish bunyip and his best friend, Mouse. The serial was canceled in 1951 after the death of the lead actor, then rebooted as ''Literature/TheMuddleHeadedWombat'', about an amiable but foolish wombat and his best friend, Mouse, with the same writer and production team and the same cast apart from the title role. |
| 84 | * ''Radio/XMinusOne'': This show was an effort to revive ''Radio/DimensionX'', an earlier ScienceFiction GenreAnthology which aired on NBC radio from 1950–1951. The director Creator/FredWeihe worked on both, as did scriptwriters Creator/ErnestKinoy and Creator/GeorgeLefferts. Out of the first thirty or so episodes, they {{Recycled|Script}} twenty-six of the scripts from the older RadioDrama. |
| 85 | [[/folder]] |
| 86 | |
| 87 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 88 | * The [[RealTimeStrategy RTS]] ''VideoGame/AmericanConquest'' has a lot in common with ''VideoGame/{{Cossacks}}: [[VideoGame/CossacksEuropeanWars European Wars]]'' (set in the 17th/18th centuries -- in the Americas instead of Europe -- and the possibility of building ''big'' armies especially) and was made by the same studio, Creator/GSCGameWorld. |
| 89 | * ''VideoGame/AnotherEden'' serves as one to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' as [=JRPGs=] focused on time travel and the consequences of meddling with history, all of which featured Masato Kato as a scenario writer and Creator/YasunoriMitsuda as a composer[[note]]AdvertisingByAssociation has led to the CommonKnowledge that Mitsuda did the entire score for ''Another Eden''. He only wrote the main theme and a few other key themes for the first volume of music and left everything else to other composers because he was too busy to commit full-time.[[/note]] [[https://youtu.be/YJsLOFXAEGE?t=379 This was not his original intent]] going in as Wright Flyer Studios approached him to work on their games and then asked if he could work on their time travel game, Kato was uninterested in writing more time travel narratives and had to be persuaded into writing for it. |
| 90 | * The fundraising campaign for ''VideoGame/ArmedFantasia: To the End of the Wilderness'' boasts that it's being headlined by Akifumi Kaneko, one of the creative minds behind the ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series. Similarly to that series, the game is a CattlePunk RPG with vibrant, stylized characters. The campaign even refers to the main type of weapon as [=ARM=]s. |
| 91 | * ''VideoGame/AstralChain'': |
| 92 | ** ''VideoGame/Bayonetta3'' takes many of the elements from ''VideoGame/AstralChain'' to the next level. Infernal Demons function similarly to the Legions but are at a much larger scale. Both function on a magic meter which causes them to disappear if it runs out or if they take too much damage. Pressing ZL at the end of a combo with perfect timing activates a powerful finisher similar to the Sync Attacks with Legions. |
| 93 | ** ''VideoGame/BayonettaOriginsCerezaAndTheLostDemon'' continues with the ''Astral Chain'' influence, specifically controlling two characters at once. Cereza is controlled with the left Joy-Con, while Cheshire is controlled with the right. |
| 94 | * ''VideoGame/Back4Blood'' was heavily advertised as this, often with tagline "by the creators of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''", both being CoOpMultiplayer zombie shooters with emphasis on teamwork and procedural level design honed by an AI "Game Director". Both ''Left 4 Dead'' and ''Back 4 Blood'' were created by the same studio, first as indie studio Turtle Rock Studios before ''Left 4 Dead'' was picked up by Creator/{{Valve|Corporation}} as a parent company/publisher that rechristened them "Valve South", though after the release of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', they split with Valve retaining the ''Left 4 Dead'' IP, returning to Turtle Rock and producing ''Back 4 Blood'' as themselves. |
| 95 | * ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' is one to ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'', both developed by Creator/ArcSystemWorks. At the time, [=ArcSys=] lost the rights to ''Guilty Gear'' due to a merger between Sega and Sammy Corporation and they couldn't develop a new fighting game for the series (hence why ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear2Overture'' was such a different game from the series and only features a handful of characters from the previous games). ''[=BlazBlue=]'' was originally planned to be an RPG, but in light of this outcome, it was changed to a fighting game. |
| 96 | * ''Bloodstained'': Koji Igarashi created the series as a successor to ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' following his departure from Creator/{{Konami}} in response to their lack of interest in continuing the franchise. ''VideoGame/BloodstainedCurseOfTheMoon'' harkens back to the early "Classicvania" games that feature level-to-level, linear platforming, while ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'' takes after the later {{Metroidvania}} games that focus on non-linear exploration. |
| 97 | * ''VideoGame/Bodycount2011'' is widely considered this to ''VideoGame/{{Black}}'', but as is often the case this does require an asterisk. While the project lead of ''Bodycount'' was the co-lead of ''Black'' (and also happened to be named Black, further cementing the association), by his own admission he was primarily responsible for the game's foundational structure rather than how it played, and also left ''Bodycount'' midway through development due to its TroubledProduction, being listed in the credits only under "special thanks". Besides him, the major overlaps in the dev teams for ''Bodycount'' and ''Black'' seem to be the graphics programmer and the two A.I. programmers, rather than anyone associated with level design or gameplay. |
| 98 | * ''VideoGame/BulletWitch'' is one to the Creator/{{Cavia}}'s own ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' video game for the Platform/PlayStation2 and shares the same team behind it. Both games share third-person shooting gameplay elements, however, they differ in that ''Bullet Witch'' is an original IP focuses more on run-and-gun action and features spell-casting, while the ''Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex'' game is a licensed game has an emphasis on platforming and features the ability to hack enemy cyborgs and terminals. |
| 99 | * ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': |
| 100 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'', to the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 first]] ''DMC'' game, but the traits are shared with later ''DMC'' games. Both were created by Hideki Kamiya, both share over the top action, and both have [[RuleOfCool styles of attacking]] where mixing it up grants a [[RankInflation higher score]] at the end of each section/chapter. |
| 101 | ** The Kamiya-era ''Devil May Cry'' received another spiritual successor in the form of ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance''; just replace Demons with Cyborgs and Giant Robots.[[labelnote:Note]]Which becomes HilariousInHindsight when it came into direct competition with a post-Kamiya ''DmC'' Devil May Cry[[/labelnote]] |
| 102 | ** For further irony, the "reboot", ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'', has combat and controls that owe more to developer Creator/{{Ninja Theory}}'s prior game ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'' instead of earlier ''Devil May Cry'' titles. To the point that many fans jokingly called [=DmC=], ''Heavenly Sword 2''. |
| 103 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': [[Creator/SpikeChunsoft Spike]], the developer of the ''VideoGame/DragonBallZBudokaiTenkaichi'' (or ''Sparking!'' in Japan) and ''VideoGame/DragonBallRagingBlast'' 3D arena fighter series of games, are back developing ''Sparking! ZERO''. This is the first entry in the ''Sparking!'' series in 13-16 years, and the first ''Sparking!'' game the studio has developed ever since its 2012 merger with Chunsoft Co., Ltd. to become Spike Chunsoft. |
| 104 | * ''VideoGame/EdensLastSunrise'' is this to Creator/SungazerSoftware's (when they were still known as Tilde-One Games) older game series: ''Videogame/TheReconstruction'', ''Videogame/IMissTheSunrise'', and ''Videogame/TheDrop'', as well as the unreleased, would-be final entry ''How Far'', from which [[WordOfGod remains of the plot were "scavenged"]] for ''Eden's Last Sunrise''. It uses many of the same ideas, locations and characters, placed in a new setting. |
| 105 | * ''VideoGame/EiyudenChronicleHundredHeroes'' is an in-development role-playing game whose development team, Rabbit & Bear Studios, incluldes Yoshitaka Murayama, the lead writer for the original entries in the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series, and Junko Kawano, who worked on the first and fourth entries. Akin to ''Suikoden'', the game is set in a fantasy world besieged by war and political intrigue, and the player can recruit [[CastOfSnowflakes over a hundred unique characters]] to fight for their cause. |
| 106 | * Creator/FromSoftware: |
| 107 | ** ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. Director Hidetaka Miyazaki and his team at Creator/FromSoftware wanted to create a follow up to their CultClassic ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', but publisher {{Creator/Sony|InteractiveEntertainment}} refused to greenlight a sequel, feeling that its sales were too low. Thus, they went over to Creator/BandaiNamco and created a successor under a slightly different name. |
| 108 | ** Ironically, the success of ''Dark Souls'' led Sony to approach From and Miyazaki with a new offer to make a game together, but rather than produce a sequel to ''Demon's Souls'', they chose to make yet another one of these, ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}''. |
| 109 | ** From did this yet again with ''VideoGame/EldenRing'', which retains many mechanics and ideas from the ''Souls'' games despite being a distinct series. Like with ''Bloodborne'', this was not done out of necessity, since From fully owns the rights to ''Dark Souls''. It was done deliberately since ''Elden Ring'', in spite of its similarities to the ''Souls'' games, puts its own spin on things with its WideOpenSandbox structure, and [[https://gameranx.com/updates/id/285227/article/elden-ring-director-unveils-why-they-didnt-make-the-game-into-dark-souls-iv/ to give more creative freedom]] to guest writer Creator/GeorgeRRMartin. |
| 110 | * The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games set in the Ivalice universe (including ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'', which technically isn't a ''Final Fantasy'' game) are successors to Quest's ''VideoGame/OgreBattle'' franchise as created by Creator/YasumiMatsuno. It started with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' being the ''Final Fantasy'' equivalent to ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'' (the title even being pointed out in interviews as the first note of similarity)[[note]]This is actually coincidental, Sakaguchi had Square trademark the name ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' in 1993, two years before ''Tactics Ogre'' was released, with the intent of making a strategy RPG that he was never actually able to get around to.[[/note]] with its conception as a matter of serendipitous timing: Hironobu Sakaguchi was impressed with ''Tactics Ogre'', learned Matsuno had recently left Quest, and offered him a job at Square. Matsuno saw this as an opportunity to become a PromotedFanboy and work on ''Final Fantasy'', so he accepted and a strategy game was one of the proposed projects available to him. He quickly took that up and brought in his ProductionPosse from ''Tactics Ogre'' (graphics director Hiroshi Minagawa, character designer Akihiko Yoshida, and composers Music/HitoshiSakimoto and Music/MasaharuIwata), who would go on to become the foundation for further Ivalice games. However, Matsuno didn't fully abandon ''Ogre Battle'' as Square eventually bought Quest in 2000, allowing him to work on both series even after going freelance as he wrote new story content for ''Tactics Ogre'' when it got remade and the Ivalice-related content in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. |
| 111 | * ''VideoGame/GameBuilderGarage'' to the ''VideoGame/NintendoLabo'' garage. This new title includes a large amount of new tutorial content wrapped around the same tools from Labo Garage to teach the player more about game development. Furthermore, several objects from the ''Labo'' games appear as Fancy Objects. |
| 112 | * Takashi Tokita's directorial debut at [[Creator/SquareEnix Squaresoft]] was ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', an RPG about heroes from various periods of history confronting a powerful evil all throughout time and space. His next game after that? ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', a RPG about... fundamentally the exact same premise. ''Chrono Trigger'' would however greatly streamline the concept (notably by building itself around a unified TimeTravel-based storyline, whereas each time period of ''Live A Live'' was practically its own mini-game with standalone plot and mechanics) and reach much greater success and popularity. |
| 113 | * ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'' was Keiji Inafune's attempt to create a new ''Franchise/MegaMan'' game on his own at a time when Creator/{{Capcom}} didn't want to. Ironically, the game's TroubledProduction, repeat occurrences of ScheduleSlip, and poor reception when it finally released led to increased scrutiny of Inafune's career, including discussions about [[MyRealDaddy how much credit he really deserved for the Mega Man series]]. |
| 114 | * ''VideoGame/NintendoLand'' continues the spirit of ''VideoGame/WiiSports'', since both games are fun and lighthearted games that [[TechDemoGame show off the capabilities of their consoles]]. The main difference is that the former is Nintendo franchise-themed. |
| 115 | * The fundraising campaign for ''VideoGame/PennyBlood'' boasts that it's being headlined by Matsuzo Machida, one of the creative minds behind the ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' series. Similarly to that series, the game is a gothic RPG set in a LovecraftCountry AlternateHistory of real life. Its main character, a private detective investigating paranormal incidents in the wake of the first World War, shares ''Shadow Hearts'' protagonist Yuri's main trait of having a powerful EnemyWithin that he needs to fight back against the otherworldly horrors but threatens to consume him if not maintained. |
| 116 | * Creator/{{Rare}} has spawned a few of these: |
| 117 | ** ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'', in terms of game mechanics, is a successor/sequel to ''VideoGame/Goldeneye1997'', but without the James Bond license, which Creator/{{Rare}} didn't renew due to being outbid by Creator/ElectronicArts, and because they wanted to pursue different creative ideas such as a female protagonist and a science-fiction setting. |
| 118 | ** Many of the developers who worked on both ''[=GoldenEye=]'' and ''Perfect Dark'' left Rare to form a new company, Free Radical Design, and developed the ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'' series, which further iterates on the gameplay from the former two games. |
| 119 | ** ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'' was made by many former Creator/{{Rare}} developers who left following the decision of their parent company, Creator/XboxGameStudios, to shift the company towards Kinect games and neglect their existing [=IPs=], such as ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', which ''Yooka-Laylee'' is patterned after. Its sequel, ''VideoGame/YookaLayleeAndTheImpossibleLair'', takes after ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', another Rare series. |
| 120 | * ''VideoGame/RivalsOfAether'' reuses the engine and some bits of code from Dan Fornace's previous game, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashLand'', while replacing the copyrighted characters and stages with a completely original setting. |
| 121 | * ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank'' was Creator/InsomniacGames breaking away from the inherent limitations of ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'', particularly that he was a quadruped, meaning he couldn't pick anything up. Notably, [[VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage the second game]] had him spit and gave him various Powerups, while [[VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon the third game]] introduced four playable side-characters, all of whom were bipeds. Insomniac's first project after that? ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002'', starring a biped whose main gimmick was holding weapons and gadgets that Spyro never could. |
| 122 | * ''VideoGame/RockBand'': Developer Creator/{{Harmonix}} developed the first two games in the ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' series, after which they parted ways with publisher Creator/{{Activision}}. The latter would continue the ''Guitar Hero'' series with [[BTeamSequel different developers]] while the former would start producing the ''Rock Band'' series, which added additional instruments besides the guitar, an innovation that Activision's later ''Guitar Hero'' games would also adopt. |
| 123 | * ''VideoGame/Shantae2002'': An side-scrolling adventure platformer starring a young teenaged heroine designed by Creator/WayForwardTechnologies is an unofficial follow up to their licensed [[VideoGame/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeriesZapped Sabrina]] [[VideoGame/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeriesSpooked games]] for the Platform/GameBoyColor. The three games all share a game engine and similar art and spritework. Shantae even shares the same walk cycle animation as Sabrina. |
| 124 | * ''VideoGame/{{Shadowverse}}'' was primarily designed by Creator/{{Cygames}} as a response to the failure of ''VideoGame/RageOfBahamut'' in the west, by reusing the card game format in a package that would receive a better response globally (that is to say, one that was a bit closer in rules and play style to ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''-style card games, and most specifically ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}''). |
| 125 | * ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'' |
| 126 | ** ''VideoGame/CannonDancer'' is one to the original ''[[VideoGame/StriderArcade Strider]]'', created by the same planner (Kouichi Yotsui) after he left Capcom and was asked to do a "Strider-like" game by his new company (Mitchell Corporation). The similarities in gameplay, style and story are so big even the staff referred to it as "Strider Hiryu Part II", and while Yotsui is adamant to call it a sequel, in later years he has relented somewhat and called it "his" version of ''Strider 2''. |
| 127 | ** 2011's Square-Enix title ''VideoGame/MoonDiver'' was also directed by Yotsui, and this time he came out right away stating that it can be considered "a sequel to the action games [he has] made in the past", and sure enough it plays and controls very closely to both ''Strider'' and ''Cannon Dancer''. |
| 128 | * ''VideoGame/TearRingSaga'', a Japanese-only strategy RPG for the Platform/PlayStation designed by ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' creator Shozo Kaga, is practically an unofficial ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' sequel, to the point that Nintendo sued Kaga's company, Tirnanog, for copyrights infringement (but lost the case). In 2019 he released ''another'' one called ''VideoGame/VestariaSaga I: War of the Scions''. |
| 129 | * ''VideoGame/TheSinkingCity'' was developed by Frogwares, famous for their ''{{VideoGame/Sherlock Holmes|Frogwares}}'' series of games. Like that series, the game is a detective mystery where the player must discover clues and solve cases. |
| 130 | * ''VideoGame/{{Wreckless}}'' was developed by staff that worked on the first two installments of the ''VideoGame/{{Runabout}}'' series. Both are comedic driving games involving doing timed driving challenges in real world cities. |
| 131 | * The entire ''Xeno'' metaseries is a chain of this. ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' was explicitly created when Squaresoft showed a lack of interest in turning ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' into a series, prompting creator Tetsuya Takahashi and his team to form their own studio called Creator/MonolithSoft and make a ContinuityReboot under Creator/BandaiNamco. And while the ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'' series didn't begin as such -- Monolith Soft's new owners, Creator/{{Nintendo}}, just thought the "Xeno" name would be a cool ProductionThrowback -- it would also go on to become a successor to both ''Saga'' and ''Gears'', sharing similar plot elements and themes to those past projects (AfterTheEnd setting, heavy Gnostic references, [[PersonOfMassDestruction super weapons in the form of young women]], etc.) while incorporating a number of ideas and concepts that the writers wanted to explore in those prior games but weren't able to due to the production issues that plagued them. |
| 132 | [[/folder]] |
| 133 | |
| 134 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 135 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' and ''VisualNovel/{{Policenauts}}'', both of which are sci-fi graphic adventure games directed by Creator/HideoKojima. |
| 136 | [[/folder]] |
| 137 | |
| 138 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 139 | * ''Webcomic/TheAccidentalSpaceSpy'' is a successor to ''Webcomic/HitmenForDestiny'' by the same author. The setting and characters are different, but they both explore how BizarreAlienBiology might come about through evolution, and rely on {{farce}}. |
| 140 | * ''Webcomic/{{Girly}}'' by Jackie Lesnick is meant to be a successor to her previous webcomic ''Webcomic/CuteWendy''. The two main characters from ''Cute Wendy'' are the mother and father/mother of Winter from ''Girly'', but the stories are separate and unique enough to be considered a league of its own. |
| 141 | * ''Webcomic/WeAreTheWyrecats'' is technically a sequel to ''Webcomic/RubyNation'', but it focuses on an (almost) entirely new cast of characters. What the two comics share is the same setting and the [[CreatorThumbprint same set of themes]]. |
| 142 | [[/folder]] |
| 143 | |
| 144 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 145 | * ''WebOriginal/SeventeenThousandSevenHundredSeventySix'' was originally conceived as a sequel to the author's earlier ''Literature/TheTimTebowCFLChronicles'', and both works revolve around an absurdist take on football and share similar existentialist themes. |
| 146 | * ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'' is this to Creator/LiamVickers' original series ''WebAnimation/InternecionCube'', as the latter was an exercise in storyboarding practice. Both share similar main characters - Max and N as the nervous NiceGuy characters contrasting their more murderous associates, [=IC-0n=] and V as CardCarryingVillain death robots, and Kirie and Uzi as the snarky goth schoolgirls who were transformed into [[MechanicalAbomination something]] [[BodyHorror abnormal]] after an encounter with a MechanicalAbomination that tried to kill them. |
| 147 | * ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' ran [[LongRunners from 2007 to 2023]], reaching its conclusion when creator [[Creator/BenCroshaw Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw]] resigned from Website/TheEscapist in solidarity with the chief-in-editor, Nick Calandra, who was fired by the website's corporate owners, Gamur Group. Yahtzee immediately expressed his desire to continue doing a weekly game review show along with its sister series of editorials, but [[GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld due to him not owning the rights]] to ''Zero Punctuation'', it would instead become ''WebAnimation/FullyRamblomatic'' (the sister editorial series becoming ''Semi Ramblomatic'') [[ChannelHop as part of the Second Wind channel]], formed alongside other former creators of The Escapist. Ironically enough, ''Fully Ramblomatic'' is the name of Yahtzee's longtime personal blog and [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness was originally the title of the first two video reviews he did]] before being picked up by The Escapist, so in a way, the successor is also RevisitingTheRoots. |
| 148 | [[/folder]] |
| 149 | |
| 150 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 151 | * ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'' can be seen as one to ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' as they're both realistic, SliceOfLife cartoons done by Creator/KlaskyCsupo that have middle school-aged protagonists. |
| 152 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' was more or less a continuation of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' with a new cast of AnimatedActors. Both are comedy toons created by Creator/StevenSpielberg dedicated to reviving WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes-style humor. |
| 153 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' is this to the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'' as it uses a lot of the same actors, similar character designs, and focus on lesser-known DC characters. |
| 154 | * ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' is one to ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' as a sci-fi superhero series written and produced by Creator/DwayneMcDuffie. |
| 155 | * ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' to ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' as all-CG cartoon series by Creator/RainmakerEntertainment. |
| 156 | ** ''WesternAnimation/ShadowRaiders'' is in turn a successor to both these shows, only much DarkerAndEdgier. |
| 157 | * ''WesternAnimation/BimblesBucket'' is very much is this to ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'', with a very similar dynamic, tone and even most of the characters [[{{Expy}} resembling those of the previous show]]. Both shows take place in a fantasy world where an EvilOverlord desires the heroes' magical trinket, sending bumbling minions with a ZanyScheme to steal it every episode. Both were projects created by Mike Jupp and Martin Gates Productions, meaning a good amount of the same people worked on both series. |
| 158 | * ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' and ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' to ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' as [[ProductionPosse the men on the three former shows had worked on the latter one]] [[note]]''Lazlo'' had not only Joe Murray but also Martin Olson and Antoine Guilbaud, who also worked on ''P&F'' with Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, who previously worked on ''SBSP'' with Stephen Hillenburg, Mr. (Doug) Lawrence, Alan Smart and Derek Drymon[[/note]]. |
| 159 | ** In turn, ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' and ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' can be considered this to the three above shows. J. G. Quintel worked on ''Camp Lazlo'' before creating ''Regular Show'', while a number of ''[=SpongeBob=]'' and ''Phineas and Ferb'' writers eventually jumped ship to ''AT'' and ''RS''[[note]]''RS'' had Mike Roth, who used to work on ''P&F'' as a writer with Kent Osborne and Martin Olson, both of whom wrote for ''SBSP'' before moving to ''AT'' along with Nate Cash, Merriwether Williams, and Derek Drymon.[[/note]]. |
| 160 | ** Furthermore, many crew members of those two shows moved over to ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' and ''WebAnimation/BeeAndPuppyCat''.[[note]]Kat Morris worked on ''RS'' before moving to ''SU'', former ''AT'' director Larry Leichliter directed every ''B&PC'' episode, Creator/PendletonWard moved to ''B&PC'' after ''AT'' ended, [[Creator/FrederatorStudios Fred Seibert]] was executive producer for both ''AT'' and ''B&PC'', Kent Osborne (writer for ''AT'' and one ''RS'' episode) moved to ''SU'' and ''B&PC'', and Creator/IanJonesQuartey worked on ''AT'' before moving to ''SU''[[/note]]. Also of note is that both of those shows' creators (Creator/RebeccaSugar and Natasha Allegri, respectively) worked on ''AT'' beforehand. |
| 161 | * ''WesternAnimation/CloseEnough'' to ''Regular Show''. The shows share the same creator, J.G. Quintel, as well as much of the same creative staff. Quintel himself notes that ''Close Enough'' makes use of the same comedic style and rough format of "mundane situations escalate to ridiculous, often life-threatening events", but with the plots now geared to reflect the lives of people in their 30s, as opposed to ''Regular Show'''s plots reflecting people in their 20s. |
| 162 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' to ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Animated sitcoms by Matt Groening set in a semi-CrapsackWorld with a cast full of lovable oafs, simple as that. |
| 163 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' to ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' as a family sitcom cartoon set in a specific time period far away from our own. There's also the much more obscure series ''WesternAnimation/TheRomanHolidays''. |
| 164 | * ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'' to ''WesternAnimation/RoadRovers''. Both are action cartoons with some comedy elements based on futuristic anthropomorphic superheroes, and are both made by Warner Bros. [[{{Expy}} Also, there's a number of character similarities.]] |
| 165 | * ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'' to ''WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit'': After losing Oswald to his distributor, Creator/WaltDisney created a new series of cartoons around a new character, Mickey, who was pretty much Oswald with the primary difference being that Walt owned full legal rights to Mickey. |
| 166 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' to ''WesternAnimation/WhateverHappenedToRobotJones''. Other than the obvious robot theme, the show's creators both worked on each other's shows. |
| 167 | * ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' is one to ''WesternAnimation/SidTheScienceKid'', as both shows are Creator/PBSKids shows that have a science-driven curriculum, and both shows star four kind-hearted, cute, curious children who just want to learn about science. It also helps that the [[Creator/CraigBartlett creator]] of ''Jet'' worked on ''Sid'' as a story editor, and ''Jet'' premiered eight years after ''Sid''. |
| 168 | * ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo'' was responsible for launching many spiritual successors from its own creators, all featuring teams of teens with a mascot character traveling around and solving mysteries. Among them were ''WesternAnimation/TheFunkyPhantom'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangface}}'', ''WesternAnimation/SpeedBuggy'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Jabberjaw}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/CaptainCavemanAndTheTeenAngels''. |
| 169 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpacePOP'' is one to ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollz}}''. The girls have similar archetypes and character designs to the Trollz characters, as do the villains and the characters' pets, and both shows were produced by the same man. |
| 170 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' shares much of the aesthetic qualities, storyline aspects, and humor as ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', another series that Ciro Nieli executive produced, down to having at least [[KnightOfCerebus one villain that's darker than the rest]]. |
| 171 | * ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' is a successor to ''WesternAnimation/APupNamedScoobyDoo'', which was the last project most of the WBA staff worked on together at Hanna-Barbera and featured younger versions of cartoon icons (much like how most of the Tiny Toon Adventures cast are {{junior counterpart}}s to the ''Looney Tunes'' cast). |
| 172 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' to ''WesternAnimation/TheTick''. They share a creator/writer (Jackson Publick), an actor/voice actor (Creator/PatrickWarburton), and numerous themes (including various genre [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructions]].) ''Tick'' creator Ben Edlund is also the only person to write an episode ("¡Viva los Muertos!") of the Venture Brothers outside of creators Publick and Doc Hammer. |
| 173 | * ''WesternAnimation/WorkItOutWombats'': Seven or so years before this show premiered, the show's producer, GBH created ''[[https://ahaisland.org Aha Island]]'', a miniseries about monkeys using computational thinking. ''Island'' and ''Wombats'' share many similarities; they both have a location called the Everything Emporium, they both have single-minded crab triplets, and they both have songs about seeing scary shadows at night. |
| 174 | [[/folder]] |
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