Alternate Company Equivalent: Difference between revisions

 

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* Goku from ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' is pretty much an Alternate Company Equivalent to [[Superman]]... if you ignore ''[[Journey to the West]]'' (''Dragon Ball''{{'}}s source) coming out a few ''centuries'' before Superman did.

 

* The grandest example of all is ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]''. DC had just purchased [[Charlton Comics]], a minor competitor, and got [[Alan Moore]] to write a story incorporating their characters into the DC Universe, and what he came up with was amazing—except it killed off and/or rendered unusable several of the characters they had just bought, defeating the point of buying them. So, they had him change the names and stories a bit, and ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' was born. Originally, Rorshach was [[The Question]], the Comedian was the Shield, Dr. Manhattan was [[Captain Atom]]...

* [[Marvel Universe|Marvel's]] [[The Sentry]] is essentially Marvel's [[Superman]] equivalent. (Part of his backstory is that he was supposedly created in the '60s, but was powerful enough that he actually made his writers and readers [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|forget he existed]].) At the moment, in both powers and personality, he's changed enough to be different from Superman, if only by being [[Ax Crazy]], and handled in (sometimes) interesting ways.

** The most successful Superman equivalent is actually [[The Mighty Thor|Thor]]. They wanted to create a hero as powerful as Superman, in a different way. How to do that? Don't make him a man. [[Physical God|Make him a god]].

*** Yet for some strange reason, fans tend to regard the [[Incredible Hulk]] as the Marvel Comics equivalent of Superman. The two of them were even pitted against each other in the ''Marvel vs DC'' crossover.

* Marvel has also had several Batman equivalents, starting with Nighthawk of the [[Squadron Supreme]] (of whom there have been at least three different versions) and [[Moon Knight]], who has a similar role, abilities, equipment and even a butler assistant. [[Daredevil]] is often seen as one as well and operates in a vaguely similar [[City Noir]] setting, and [[Iron Man]] matches well in the department of [[Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?|gadgetry]] and [[Crimefighting with Cash]].

** One of the Nighthawks even gained artificial wings, turning him into an ersatz of another Dc hero, [[Hawkman]].

* Still in the [[Marvel Universe]], the original lineup of the superpowered Imperial Guard surrounding the Shi'ar empress Lilandra was composed of alternate company equivalents of DC's [[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]].

** Which actually makes the aforementioned Gladiator a copy of [[Superboy]].

** Interestingly, after their first run-in with the Imperial Guard [[Wolverine]] would steal Timber Wolf counterpart Fang's costume and wear it for much of the team's adventures in space, meaning [[Mind Screw|Wolverine was wearing the suit of the guy based on the guy he himself was partially based on.]]

* Also Marvel: The company's 1980s-vintage [[The New Universe|New Universe]] line originally started with the idea of taking DC's most famous character concepts and doing them Marvel-style; however by the time the New Universe reached the stands, the only survivor of this concept was ''Star Brand'', based on [[Green Lantern]].

** Amusingly, he was the villain in the [[Intercontinuity Crossover]] ''Superman/Fantastic Four''. And he ''noticed'' the parallels between his origin and that of the Fantastic Four.

** The Fantastic Four and their origin are also homaged in an issue of [[Booster Gold]], where Booster stops a rocket launch and four suspiciously familiar astronauts complain about it.

** The Fantastic Four are themselves reminiscent of an older DC Comics team, the Challengers of the Unknown (also a [[Jack Kirby]] creation), albeit ones that became better known than the original.

* DC's [[Lobo]] is an obvious parody of the gritty [[Nineties Anti-Hero]], while his powers are specific parodies of Marvel's [[Wolverine]].

** Lobo himself was parodied in Marvel when [[Deadpool]] meets up with a very similar character named "Dirty Wolff"

*** Deadpool himself is fairly similar to Lobo, both being the [[Heroic Sociopath]] played for laughs. They even both have Self-Demonstrating Articles on this website!

* In the 70s, the [[Justice League of America]] faced a team of [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers]]-duplicates called the Champions of Angor. In the 80s, they joined forces with the remains of that team against duplicates of Sabretooth (Tracker), Doc Ock (Gorgon), [[Magneto]] (Dr. Diehard), [[Doctor Doom]] (Lord Havok), and Dormammu (Dreamslayer). Two members of the Champions would subsequently join Justice League Europe: Bluejay (based on Yellowjacket) and the Silver Sorceress (based on the [[Scarlet Witch]]).

** The original Squadron Supreme and Champions of Angor stories were the result of another pseudo-crossover, in the same spirit as the Crusaders stories, and instigated by the same writer (Roy Thomas).

* A [[Story Arc]] in ''Superman/Batman'' featured "The Maximums", parodies of both the [[Marvel Universe]]'s [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Avengers]] and their [[Ultimate Marvel]] equivalents, the Ultimates. In the last issue, Mxyzptlk did a [[Lampshade Hanging]] on this, asking the other characters to guess who they were based on. (The in-story answer was that they were created by mix-and-matching aspects of Superman and Batman. What, if anything, this was meant to imply about the Marvel writers who created the Avengers is left as an exercise for the reader.)

** Ironically, the writer of that arc, [[Jeph Loeb]], went on to write ''[[The Ultimates]]'' themselves some years later.

* Marvel's [[Deadpool]] looks suspiciously like DC's Deathstroke, both of them starting off as evil mercenaries; even their names are similar (Wade Wilson and Slade Wilson respectively, though Wade was not named until years and many writers after his intro) but through [[Character Development]], and Deadpool's [[No Fourth Wall]] ability, they're now completely different from each other.

** Acknowledged in ''Superman/Batman'''s first annual, written by former Deadpool writer Joe Kelly, which involves the heroes fighting both Deathstroke and their [[Evil Counterpart]]s. Deathstroke's good counterpart from the same universe as the villains is portrayed as being an obvious [[Captain Ersatz]] of Deadpool, complete with the regeneration powers and smart-alec attitude.

* [[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog]] is full of these, having met in-universe versions of characters from ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' and ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]]'', as well as other comic companies.

** For a specific straight example of this trope, there's the villain [[Magnificent Bastard|Mammoth Mogul]], who is more or less an [[Expy]] of DC's [[Vandal Savage]].

* Another [[Anime]]-to-American-comics example: Japanese super-team Big Science Action in [[The DCU]] features pastiches of [[Ultraman]], [[Astro Boy (manga)|Astro Boy]], Kaneda from ''[[Akira]]'', and the [[Humongous Mecha|robots]] from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''.

** And another: in the 90's, there was a Japan-based hero team at Marvel called '''Big Hero 6'''. One member was called ''Lemon Honey'' and is believed to be based somewhat on [[Cutey Honey]].

* The [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]] teamed up with a group called the ReCombatants who bore a similarity to [[Eclipse Comics]]' [[DNAgents]] (the name is a pun on "recombinant DNA"). At the same time, the DNAgents teamed with Project Youngblood, based on the Titans.

* The [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage|comic book]] and [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|cartoon]] have The Justice Force, yet another Justice League A.C.E. About half its members ape Justice Leaguers to some extent, with the most blatant being Green Mantle, a parody of Green Lantern on everything from costume to civilian name to comic book cover.

* Marvel has the [[Thunderbolts]] while DC has the [[Suicide Squad]]. Both teams are headed mostly be reformed villains or bad guys forced to fight crime.

* Marvel and DC have two futuristic superhero teams with ties to the present continuities: [[Guardians of the Galaxy]] and [[Legion of Super-Heroes]]. Both teams are vastly different but share the same concept as well as "modern" versions of said teams: Galactic Guardians and L.E.G.I.O.N.

* DC's Cassandra Cain ([[Batgirl]]) and Marvel's [[X-23]] are very similar in many ways, which has been noted by fans.

** To clarify: they were both [[Tyke Bomb|raised as assassins]] and had really crappy childhoods, they are both [[No Social Skills|severely lacking in social skills]] because of that, they have similar relationships with their father/mentor (depending on which girl you're talking about), they have similar skill sets and [[Waif Fu|fighting styles]], and they're both rather dark and intimidating in looks/costume design. On the other hand, X-23 is superpowered while Batgirl [[Badass Normal|is not]], and X-23 has a [[Dark Action Girl]] personality while Batgirl is quite [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|the]] [[Cute Mute|opposite]].

* As Hispanic (or Half-Hispanic) replacements for insect (or arachnid) based characters created (or co-created) by [[Steve Ditko]] this claim has been made about [[Blue Beetle|Jaime Reyes]] and [[Ultimate Spider-Man|Miles Morales]].

* Shiner a comic strip from [[Whizzer and Chips]] by the publishers IPC about a boy who always gets into fights is very similiar to an older strip in [[The Beano]] from rival publisher DC Thomson called Scrapper, the strip ran in the 1950s but it was a spinoff from Lord Snooty and his pals focusing on one of his pals. Unsurprisingly this pal is called Scrapper who was one of Snooty's original pals first appearing in the Beano's first issue in 1938 and the character still appeared in the Lord Snooty strip until the late 80s. Another strip in another of DC Thomson's comics [[The Beezer]] had a strip coinidentally called Scrapper also about a boy who always got into fights unlike [[The Beano]] strip of the same name this strip ran at the same time as Shiner appeared.

* In terms of resident [[Super Speed|speedsters]], DC has [[The Flash]] and Marvel has [[Quicksilver]]. Although there are beings capable of super-speed in both universes, both men are ''the'' best-known speedsters for their respective sides, both are considered the fastest, and they've been paired against each other in crossovers (which of them will win depends on the story and/or reader voting). The major differences between them include the fact that the Flash is a [[Legacy Character]] (at least four different individuals in DC's comic timeline have inherited the title from the Golden Age to now) whereas Quicksilver is the only known individual whose sole power is moving really fast; Flash is unquestionably a hero, whereas Quicksilver's gone through the [[Heel Face Revolving Door]] several times; and Flash gained his speed through a [[Freak Lab Accident]] (Speed Force connection notwithstanding), whereas Quicksilver got his speed by virtue of being a mutant.

** Another key difference between them is that The Flash can run at the speed of light, whereas Wolverines claws are unsheathed at a faster speed than Quicksilver can run.*

* DC's Amanda Waller and Marvel's Henry Peter Gyrich are both government officials who are suspicious of the superhero community in their respective universes.

 

* CoreFire, Elphin, and Blackwolf from Austin Grossman's ''[[Soon I Will Be Invincible]]'' are all easily recognizable pastiches of [[Superman]], [[Wonder Woman]], and [[Batman]], respectively.

** Other characters are also less-obviously drawn from other Marvel and DC characters. The central superhero group is sort of like a cross between the Avengers and the JLA, Doctor Impossible is a bit [[Lex Luthor]] plus superpowers (and sympathy), Damsel is a bit Donna Troy + Ms. Marvel with some Storm thrown in, Rainbow Triumph is obviously Robin, Mister Magic is mostly [[Doctor Strange]], and so on.

 

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' and ''[[Doctor Who]]'' have a similar relationship with their monsters, most notably with the Cybermen and The Borg.

* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' had a baddie that was a complete rip-off of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, looking as though they had stolen one of the costumes and added a few spikes and spines to make it look [[Darker and Edgier|more villainous]].

* Parodied on ''[[The Daily Show]]''. When Jim Cramer went on various [[NBC]] shows to defend himself against attacks from Jon Stewart, Stewart countered by inserting himself onto various Viacom shows. This included ''[[Dora the Explorer]]'' and [[MTV]]'s ''Real Life''.

 

* Due to [[Disney Channel]] and [[Nickelodeon]] having affiliations with some record labels (Walt Disney Records/Hollywood Records for the former and Sony Music/Columbia Records for the latter), this is inevitable. Examples include:

** [[The Jonas Brothers]] or [[Allstar Weekend]] to [[Big Time Rush]]

** [[Selena Gomez]] and [[Demi Lovato]] to [[Miranda Cosgrove]] and [[Victoria Dawn Justice]], respectively

 

* Most Indo-European mythologies have very similar gods, either as the result of them having their origins in a single ancient religion or because both are personifications of the same concept. Examples include [[Classical Mythology|Hades]] and [[Finnish Mythology|Tuoni]], Apollo and [[Norse Mythology|Freyr]], and Zeus and [[Hindu Mythology|Indra]].

 

* Demolition and the Powers of Pain were both Alternate Company Equivalent versions of the Road Warriors. Amusingly all three teams ended up in the WWE in 1990 resulting in Demolition matches with the Legion of Doom. The Powers of Pain were quietly split up.

* Abyss can be considered the [[TNA]] version of [[Kane (wrestling)|Kane]].

* Originally AAA's La Parka Jr. was the Alternate Company Equivalent of WCW's La Parka (though the latter started in AAA, and thus they owned the mask). When WCW's La Parka joined CMLL, he was forced to become L.A. [[Par K]], Alternate Company Equivalent to the now Jr-lacking La Parka.

 

* The primary setting of the superhero roleplaying game ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' Freedom City, includes obvious equivalents for DC and Marvel characters, often even playing with similar names: a man with the last name Summers (like the X-Men's Cyclops) runs an academy for teenage heroes, though the character is more of a Batman analog, while the Centurion is the Freedom City's Superman.

** Not to mention the aforementioned school for teenage heroes is named the 'Claremont' Academy.

* Palladium Books' ''Heroes Unlimited'' states that one of the goals behind making the game was to allow players, if they wished, to make characters based on their favorite superheros from the comics. While it doesn't flat out tell you how to, to names of various superpowers make it pretty obvious (and easy) to make, for example, a Wolverine<ref>[[Healing Factor]] + Heightened Sense of Smell + Claws + Indestructible Bones</ref> or Spider-Man<ref>Adhesion + Heightened Sense of Awareness + Swing Line</ref> [[Expy]].

 

* Bandai's Machine Robo line of [[Transforming Mecha]] (later licensed to Tonka as the Gobots) to Hasbro/Takara's [[Transformers]]. Or was it the other way around? Made even more confusing by the fact that Hasbro later acquired the Gobots license, but not the one for the original Machine Robo.

** To make matters more confusing, since Hasbro's acquisition of Tonka, Go-Bots occasionally show up in Transformers: Cy-Kill and Scooter were both killed by Jhiaxus, Cop-Tur and Leader-1 are Minicons (possibly homages rather than ACES), and Crasher (under the name Fissure, sometimes) has officially crossed over and leads a squad of Decepticons, and even has a toy out.

* One of Hasbro's offerings, Kre-O, is clearly meant to be their equivalent to [[LEGO]]; they'd previously ventured into construction blocks with the short-lived Built to Rule series, but that didn't catch on. Perhaps the second time's the charm?

* Matchbox toy cars to Hot Wheels toy cars (now they belong to the same company)

 

* This also shows up in [[Fighting Game]]s. For example, we have Mai, Yuri, Chun-Li and Sakura, the first two from SNK's ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' series and the latter two from Capcom's ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series. A great deal of [[Lampshade Hanging]]s are done in the prefight conversations ''[[SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos]]'', as the characters who resemble each other comment on the similarities.

** [[Joke Character|Dan Hibiki]] of the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series was created as a [[Take That|parody]] of Ryo Sakazaki and Robert Garcia, with some of Yuri's mannerisms thrown in. Similar to the above example, Dan is frequently mistaken for Robert in the crossover games due to a pronounced (and intentional) resemblance, and is also considered a counterpart of fellow goofball Joe Higashi.

** Synapse, the token speedster, is generally considered an equivalent to [[The Flash]].

** Back Alley Brawler seems to have a little of [[Luke Cage, Hero for Hire]], and/or Wildcat.

** On the other hand, any player character which ventures too closely to a trademarked character was likely to get "generic"ed by the staff. After the game was revived in 2019, the same restriction was imposed to avoid unwanted legal complications.

* Just as [[Nintendo]] has ''[[Mario Kart]]'', [[Sega]] had ''Sonic Drift''.

** Hudson's TurboGrafx CD [[Beat'Em Up]] ''Riot Zone'' was actually a remake of the Sega/Westone arcade game ''Riot City''.

* [[Naughty Dog]] and [[Insomniac Games]], two of the most prominent western developers for the [[PlayStation]] line throughout its history, have always seemed like mirror reflections of each other.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** Vienna Dockler for [[Alias (TV series)|Sydney Bistrow]] ([[Don't Explain the Joke|Austria or Australia]]?)

** Lobe the Mexican Wolfman = [[Lobo]] but with [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|all the endurance of Taco Bell's chihuahua]].

 

* ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' example: The Vindicators, a group at [[Super-Hero School|Whateley Academy]], who have a rivalry with Team Kimba, are pretty obviously [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]: Kismet as the Scarlet Witch, Captain Canada! as Captain America, Donner as Thor, Dynamaxx as Iron Man, Lemure as The Vision, and Sizemax as Giant-man. Elite League is pretty much this trope with the animated Justice League. The Good Ol' Boyz are a parody too, but not of a superhero team.

* ''[[Less Than Three Comics]]'' is practically made of this trope. From Uncle Sam (Captain America) to Thunderbolt (Thor) to The Shadow (Batman).

* There are several of these in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', most visibly the Neuman Family, who are pretty obviously a combination of the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] and the [[Power Pack]].

 

* [[Toon Disney]] and the [[Nicktoons]] Network were Disney and Nickelodeon's equivalents to Turner's [[Cartoon Network]].

** Disney Channel and Nickelodeon have been almost equivalents ever since the Disney Channel's [[Network Decay|switch to a kids/teens only format]] in 1997. Later, they stopped making cartoons and left only their most popular cartoons (''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' and ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' respectively), and made only live action shows with similar plots (''[[Jonas]]'' and ''[[Big Time Rush]]'', ''[[Victorious]]'' and ''[[Shake It Up]]'', etc.). Then they simultaneously released new cartoons with their veteran actors (''[[Planet Sheen]]'', ''[[Tuff Puppy]]'', and ''[[Fish Hooks]]'').

* In 2012, [[Cartoon Network]] began a block called DC Nation, featuring cartoons and shorts adapted from [[DC Comics]]. That same year, [[Disney XD]] began a block called Marvel Universe, featuring cartoons and shorts adaped from [[Marvel Comics]].

 

* Alternate Country Equivalents are common in Real Life, especially in the armed forces. The success of the M16's smaller 5.56mm round was copied by the Soviets for the 5.45mm AK-74 (not to be confused with the earlier AK-47, which it is derived from), and eventually the Chinese 5.8mm round. Happens with tanks, jets, even nukes. If it isn't at least based on another country's stuff, it's the original to be copied for some other country's stuff.

* Soft drink manufacturers love to do this. Just going with the Big Two...