Captain Ersatz: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''I'm not Sonic! I'm my original character, Blonic!''
''And I'm not Tails. I'm my original character, Blails!''
''People really need to get their facts straight.''
|[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}8fGFjoeyc6I BLONIC]}}
The character equivalent of a [[Bland-Name Product]].
This character's design is a mix of legal issues and homage. Just as someone who wants to incorporate a Wal-Mart into a story but can't manage the [[Product Placement]] might use "[[Brand X|Box Mart]]," a person who wants to write [[Superman|Captain Original]], but can't because a rival comic company owns the trademark, will create '''[[Captain Marvel|Captain Ersatz]]'''. Sometimes, these characters are used as affectionate [[Shout-Out]]s to a series or creator that may have inspired them. At other times, they are used as [[Parody|parodies]] or [[Take That]]s against the original characters they're based on (and [[Biting the Hand Humor|possibly the company who owns them]]).
Done when an artist or writer wants to use a character but for whatever reason [[Exiled From Continuity|isn't allowed to]] at the present time, especially due to uncertainty of ownership, or else certainty that that character is trademarked into someone else's continuity and isn't going to be loaned out.
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This character tends to evolve into their own direction if they make later appearances.
Captain Ersatzes are somewhat rare in American parody, as their copyright law allows use of the original characters in parody. They also (usually) aren't found in [[Fanfic]]: that [[Sailor Earth]] is a [[Copy Cat Sue]] (and they can just outright use a [[Crossover]]). Sometimes multiple characters will be distilled into one, creating a [[Composite Character]]. The same doesn't hold true for Anime & Manga parodies though, which often resort to
Contrast [[Writing Around Trademarks]], where the similarity was unplanned and unwanted; [[Expy]], where a character is very similar to but not obviously supposed to be another character, and [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]], who replaces an existing original in the same continuity.
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Compare [[Alternate Company Equivalent]], [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]], and [[Brand X]]. The [[Shotoclone]] is a particular application in [[Video Games]]. See also [[Counterpart Comparison]] and [[Expy]], for characters who are similar to earlier characters, but aren't actually carbon copies, and the musical version, [[Suspiciously Similar Song]]. If the character represents a [[Real Life]] celebrity, see [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]].
No relation to [[Captain Obvious]], [[
{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* Ronald [[McDonald's|McDonald]]: The Washington D.C. version of Bozo The Clown, played by Willard Scott, was so popular public appearances would require police to direct traffic. After the show was cancelled, local franchise owners asked Scott to create a similar character to continue the promotion. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML263lBEVRE Ronald McDonald was born.]
** The original incarnation of McDonaldLand was a blatant copy of the cast and setting of [[Sid and Marty Krofft Productions]]' 70s-era children's show ''[[H.R. Pufnstuf]]''. The Kroffts (who had turned down an earlier request from McDonald's to license the ''Pufnstuf'' characters for advertising) [[wikipedia:McDonald's legal cases#H.R. Pufnstuf .2F McDonaldland|sued and won]], forcing McDonald's to not only pay damages, but to dramatically retool McDonaldLand.
* The Bombadier, a [[Large Ham]] [[Napoleonic Wars]] soldier played by Rik Mayall in adverts for Bombadier Real Ale, is what Lord Flashheart would have been if he'd appeared in ''[[Blackadder]] the Third'', except he says "Bang on!" rather than "Woof!" Mayall even uses the same voice.
== Anime
* There's so many [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Rei Ayanami]] knockoffs, tropes sites had to [[Rei Ayanami Expy|make a trope]] [[Up to Eleven|out of it]].
** [http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8431/ayanamis.jpg What Measure is a non-Ayanami]?{{dead link}}
** There also are several Asuka Langley Soryu knockoffs (such like ''[[Dancougar Nova]]'' main character). Asuka herself is a ''[[Great Mazinger|Tetsuya Tsurugi]]'' Captain Ersatz.
* ''500 Manga Creatures'', a book that purported to provide manga clipart, might as well have been named "300 Manga Creatures Plus 200 Potential Lawsuits from Game Freak" thanks to its inclusion of somewhat obvious examples of this trope applied to the Pokémon franchise. Kyogre, Dratini, Dragonair, Zapdos, Shuckle, Metang, Metagross, Shroomish, Swablu, and Bagon are just the most blatantly obvious ones.
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* ''[[Angel Blade]]'' [[Hentai|H-series]] has a few characters that may be pretty familiar to some people, but the most-definitely-not-[[Kekko Kamen]] heroine is the most obvious example. Justified since AB is basically a parody of Kekko Kamen.
** At least two characters are CEs of [[Fatal Fury|Mai Shiranui]] (the director apparently includes one in every project he works on as a [[Shout-Out]], two more are basically the lead females of ''Gowcaizer'' renamed, and one more is Mizuki from ''[[Gravion]]'' given the same treatment.
* ''[[Bleach]]'' has one of the most famous Captain Ersatz, Orihime Inoue
* ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]''
** There is one notable difference between these two pairs of twins when it comes to [[Feminine Women Can Cook]]: The [[Lucky Star|Hiiragi twins]] play it straight. Tsukasa is a very good chef and is among the only things where her [[Dojikko]] tendencies do not show, and Konata often teases Kagami about her cooking. However, the [[Clannad (visual novel)
* ''[[Darker than Black]]'' has Amber, who bears a suspicious similarity to [[Code Geass|C.C.]], and November 11 is basically [[Phenotype Stereotype|blond]], [[An Ice Person|ice-wielding]] [[James Bond]].
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' has, among others, Baio and Ouka Nishizawa, whose younger selves are heavily based on Ryu and Chun-Li from ''[[Street Fighter]]'', although in the present their lives are radically different.
** Other examples include Eddy Honda, one of Ouka's opponents in her street fighting days
* ''[[Gintama]]'' featured a large number of Captain Ersatzes throughout the series, most used for short parody scenes, like the [[Evil Overlord|intergalactic emperor]] Breeza
* In the ''[[Kino's Journey]]''
* ''[[Last Exile]]'''s creators admit that the character Alex Row was heavily based on [[Captain Harlock]].
* ''[[Princess Lover]]'' has Sylvia van Hossen, who is almost a complete clone of Saber of ''[[Fate/stay night]]''. Even to the point where several fans thought it was her until she was named. The only difference between them seems to be their backstory and Sylvia's much bigger breasts.
* ''[[So Ra No Wo To]]'' has been accused of this, what with most of the cast strongly resembling ''[[K-On!]]!'' characters, plus [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Rei]]/[[Suzumiya Haruhi|Nagato]].
* ''[[Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo]]'' has Takane, who is a carbon copy of Chikane from ''[[Kannazuki no Miko]]''—except she is probably not lesbian, at least as far as we know. Hell, their names even rhyme! And then there's the intensely over-dramatic AI Leopard, who is, of course, voiced by [[Jun Fukuyama]].
* ''[[Soul Eater]]'' has [[Lucky Charms Title|Black]]☆[[Lucky Charms Title|Star]], who bears a striking resemblance to another [[Large Ham|loud mouthed]], [[Blasphemous Boast|overly confident]], [[Naruto|ninja in orange]] who's quite [[Highly-Visible Ninja|poor at being one
** If you compare the main cast to the one in [[Shaman King]], you can see a lot of uncanny resemblances. For example, Black☆Star looks like Horo-Horo, Death the Kid looks like Tao Ren, and Stein is just like Faust VIII.▼
▲* ''[[Soul Eater]]'' has [[Lucky Charms Title|Black]]☆[[Lucky Charms Title|Star]] who bears a striking resemblance to another [[Large Ham|loud mouthed]], [[Blasphemous Boast|overly confident]], [[Naruto|ninja in orange]] who's quite [[Highly-Visible Ninja|poor at being one.]] However, as the manga's progressed Black☆Star has matured and developed into his own character.
▲** If you compare the main cast to the one in [[Shaman King]], you can see a lot of uncanny resemblances. For example, Black☆Star looks like Horo-Horo, Death the Kid looks like Tao Ren and Stein is just like Faust VIII.
* ''[[Tenchi Muyo! GXP]]'' has Seiryo Tennan and Amane Kaunaq who are a [[Shout-Out]] to Tatewaki Kuno and Akane Tendo of ''[[Ranma ½]]'', including the obsessive stalker-violent tomboy childhood "relationship" to one another.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' has Daitokuji-sensei, who looks like a cross between [[Final Fantasy VII|Hojo]] and [[Fullmetal Alchemist|Ling Yao]].
* The title character of ''[[Kurohime]]'' is a [[Distaff Counterpart|gender-flip]] of [[Bastard!!|Dark Schneider]].
* In the obscure
* Since the distinction between copyright
** Konami would reference this in their ''[[Castlevania]]'' games with their own mock-Beholder, the [[Bilingual Bonus|Dogether]].
* Early translations of ''[[Lupin III]]'' had to change the main character into an Ersatz because the original author had never asked permission to create a character based on [[Arsène Lupin]]. He would be called "Rupan" or "Wolf" - or, in the French version, "Edgar of Burglary."
** Just like in the literature example below, Lupin III was forced to face off against "Herlock Sholmes III."
** In the ''
*
* In ''[[Guilty Crown]]'', there is an [[In-Universe]] example. Shu is similar to Gai, he wants to be, and Inori is similar to Mana, {{spoiler|Shu's older sister gone mad. She even looks like her, and is an [[Artificial Human]], and Mana will be reborn in her body.}}
* In the ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' franchise, Goku is meant to be a super-hero version of Sun Wukong the Monkey King, the protagonist of the 16th century Chinese epic ''[[Journey to the West]]'', the original manga being a very loose adaptation of the story. This is obvious to Japanese viewers, as Monkey King is a cultural icon in eastern nations, but not as apparent for Western audiences.
== Comic Books ==
* According to some accounts, [[Elongated Man]] was created because there were doubts as to whether [[DC Comics]] owned [[Plastic Man]], despite ostensibly acquiring all of Quality Comics' (Plastic Man's original publisher) assets. Quality Comics characters' legal status was murky, however. Ironically, Plastic Man turned out to be one of the few Quality characters DC Comics actually owned outright. Artist and co-creator Carmine Infantino plausibly [[Word of God|contradicts]] the above theory, however. He started as a one-off rival to ''[[The Flash]]'', one who wasn't expected to be an important ongoing character. Infantino also says he wasn't consciously thinking of Plastic Man at the time, though "It must have been in the back of my mind. I loved Jack Cole's work, so it had to be in my mind, maybe instinctively."<ref>''Carmine Infantino: Penciler, Publisher, Provocateur'' (2010 book)</ref>The alleged influence Plas had on Ralph's creation is lampshaded, with Plas calling Elongated Man a "D-list doppleganger".
** ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' [[
** Parodied further on ''[[Batman: The
** The difference ''does'' get pointed out by Ralph that Plas is the jokester ex-con. Elongated Man is the ex-police detective. Also, one's powers are inherent, while Ralph has to drink a special formula to gain his powers.
* Ever wonder what comic strips are in the ''Daily Planet''? ''Way'' back in ''[[Superman]] #19'' (from 1942), readers got a glimpse of it, when a villain named Funnyface used a device to bring comic strip characters to life, the strips in question being Captain Ersatz versions of strips that were popular at the time: ''[[Dick Tracy (comic strip)|Detective Craig]]'', ''[[The Lone Ranger|
▲** Morrison made it a point to lampshade this so readers would get the point, too. The first time he sees Zauriel, [[Aquaman]] momentarily mistakes him for Hawkman. Later on, [[Superman]] invites him to join, saying, "there's always room in the Justice League for, well...a big guy with wings like you."
▲** In Morrison's X-Men run, he introduces a character named Fantomex who is based on the classic pulp characters [[Fantomas]] and [[Diabolik]].
▲* Ever wonder what comic strips are in the ''Daily Planet''? ''Way'' back in ''[[Superman]] #19'' (from 1942), readers got a glimpse of it, when a villain named Funnyface used a device to bring comic strip characters to life, the strips in question being Captain Ersatz versions of strips that were popular at the time: ''[[Dick Tracy (comic strip)|Detective Craig]]'', ''[[The Lone Ranger| The Solitary Rider]]'', ''[[Prince Valiant (Comic Strip)| Prince Peril]]'', ''[[Li'l Abner| Happy Daze]]'', and ''[[Flash Gordon| Streak Dugan]]''.
* The primary ''[[Watchmen]]'' cast are Captain Ersatzes of [[Charlton Comics]] characters:
** Rorschach -> [[The Question]]
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** Later, at DC,long time Deadpool writer Joe Kelly paid tribute to this origin in ''[[Superman]]''/''[[Batman]] Annual #1'', where the Earth-3 counterpart of Deathstroke appeared as a thinly-disguised version of Deadpool, who was always interrupted before he could finish telling people his name. The comic was also drawn by Ed McGuiness, who worked on Deadpool's solo series for a very long time, beginning with the very first issue.
** Also, DC has a guy named Red Tool in [[Harley Quinn]]'s title who is a parody of Deadpool, making him a DC parody of a Marvel character who parodied a DC character!
** When Liefeld was dismissed from the [[Heroes Reborn]] '[[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]]' series, he decided to use re-use the unpublished art as a reprise of Joe Simon's character [[Captain Patriotic|Fighting American]], but licensing delays lead to the interim creation of ''Agent America''.
** Liefeld also created ''[[Youngblood]]'', a superhero team whose character lineup was based on the ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' spin-off he proposed while working for DC Comics. [[Alan Moore]] then used the ''[[Youngblood: Judgment Day|Judgment Day]]'' crossover event to transform ''[[Youngblood]]'' into a pastiche of the ''original''
** Other Liefeld ersatzes include:
*** New Men -> [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]
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* British Comics Example: Thirteen-year old nerdy orphan who lives with an aunt and uncle, Billy Farmer gets scratched by a radioactive leopard. He begins to gain powers like those of a big cat, speed, strength, agility, night vision and a 'Leopard Sense' that tingles in the presence of danger. He takes to wearing a leotard in leopard spots and crime fighting as Leopard Boy/Leopard Man/''[http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/l/leoplime.htm The Leopard from Lime Street]'' (series title). Actually a very good [[Spider-Man]] rip-off with a British setting and nicely altered characters and powers.
* Another British comics example: In the 50s, when British publisher L. Miller ran out of ''[[Captain Marvel]]'' stories to reprint, he commissioned Mick Anglo to create a similar superhero, ''Marvelman'' (known in America as ''[[Miracleman]]''). Due to the exceptional quality of these stories (particularly Alan Moore's 1980s revival), Marvelman/Miracleman became a beloved character in his own right.
* Still another British comics example
* The original ''[[Doctor Who]]'' comic strips didn't have the rights to the Daleks at first, so they used similar enemies called Trods. Eventually the company did get the rights to use the Daleks, so they took advantage of it by creating a storyline in which the Daleks EX-TER-MIN-ATE the Trods!
** [[Marvel Comics]] also created eccentric time-traveler [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/jagamble.htm Professor Gamble] and his enemies, the marauding robot army of [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/incinerators.htm Incinerators], Ersatzes (Ersatzii?) of ''Doctor Who'''s Doctor and the Daleks respectively, with [[Shout-Out
** And now ''[[Community]]'' has gotten in on it with ''[[Inspector Spacetime]]'', complete with a time & space travelling red telephone booth, a similar theme song and the Dalek knock-offs, the "Blorgons", who shout "ERADICATE!"
* Nearly all the (non-series-star) characters in ''[[Planetary]]'' were created as Captains Ersatz of some existing character or trope, simply so the Planetary team could interact with visitors from many continuities.
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** Also the Samaritan from ''[[Astro City]]''.
** The most recent Superman Captain Ersatz would probably be The Sentry, who is a damn near blatant "Marvelization" of Superman.
** Statesman actually gets double points for being basically a [[Composite Character
** Then there is Plutonian (Tony) from [[Irredeemable]] who is an obvious Ersatz, yet is also a complex and divergent character in his own right. Of course, [[Mark Waid]].
*** Hornet from the same comics is an Ersatz of Batman.
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** '''TA''' -- The Wasp
** '''Tin Man''' -- Iron Man
*** Later we would see more in the Squadron's own comic:
** '''Amphibian''' -- Aquaman
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* Marvel's ''Ultimate Adventures'' centered around Batman pastiche Hawk-Owl and his sidekick Woody. Accompanying them was Hawk-Owl's butler Daniel (Alfred). He also had an Asian chauffeur based on the Green Hornet's Kato, and his Aunt Ruth is a combination of Aunt Harriet from the '60s Batman show and Spider-Man's Aunt May. And the Principal is a parody of the Joker and Two-Face.
* ''Kill All Parents''' heroes are all strongly based on famous Marvel and DC guys. The list is long, but to give an example you have the Locust and Larva Lad standing in for Batman and Robin.
* Every alleged "hero" that [[Marshal Law]] finds himself up against is an Ersatz. The Public Spirit is Superman, Private Eyes is Batman, the Secret Tribunal are the X-Men, the Jesus Society of America are the Justice Society of America (and include a Captain America-like [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] Public Spirit), the heroes holed up in a Manhattan asylum are all based on Marvel characters (and for the most part go unnamed). Pat Mills described Marshall himself as an unholy fusion of [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]] and [[Judge Dredd]].
* ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'''s backstory features the Torch of Liberty, a thinly-disguised Captain America stand-in.
* "Whatever Happened to the Green Pedestrian Palm?", a ''Future Shocks'' story, has a cast composed almost entirely of just-barely-veiled [[Parodies]] of American [[superhero]]es.
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** Bathroom Buster is [[Daredevil]]
** The Rush is [[The Flash]]
** Captain Condom (<small>yes, that is his superhero name</small> might be [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]].
** Astrodeus is Marvel's Galactus.
* [[The Authority]] faced off against Ersatzes of classic Marvel heroes in [[Mark Millar]]'s inaugural arc. The Americans were obviously Avengers pastiches with named ones being the Commander (Captain America), Tank Man ([[Iron Man]]), Hornet (Wasp) and Titan (Giant Man) while the rest were clearly based on Thor, Hulk, [[Black Panther]], [[Scarlet Witch]], Hawkeye, and the Vision. Later, they took down unnamed Ersatz teams resembling the X-Men, Inhumans, Fantastic Four (with additional Silver Surfer, Galactus, Watcher and H.E.R.B.I.E. knock-offs, all of which are most famously associated with the FF) and the Howling Commandos while other Wildstorm heroes fought Ersatzes of Spider-man, the Punisher, Daredevil, Elektra, Doctor Strange, Namor and others. The story's [[Big Bad]], Jackob Krigstein was an evil ersatz [[Jack Kirby]].
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** Dwight is quite obviously based on [[Mike Hammer]].
** Miller was always disappointed in ''[[The Dead Pool]]'' (the movie, not the [[Deadpool|comic character]]) so he wrote what he thought should be the real final case of [[Dirty Harry|Harry Callahan.]] Enter: John Hartigan.
*** The Yellow Bastard is a horrific case in that [[Frank Miller]] has admitted that he was based off of a grown-up (and deranged) version of the [https://web.archive.org/web/20120630010744/http://www.bookpalace.com/acatalog/YellowKid.jpg Yellow Kid].
* ''Holy Terror'' by [[Frank Miller]] was initially conceived as a comic that would have Batman fighting al-Qaeda, and when DC refused to publish it as such the serial numbers got filed off. Nevertheless, it's still pretty obvious who "[[Batman|the Fixer]]", "[[Catwoman (comics)|Natalie Stack]]" and the police commissioner of "Empire City" are supposed to be.
* The mostly forgotton 1966 "Captain Marvel" from MF Enterprises had a rogues gallery composed almost entirely of Captain Ersatz'z. Including guys called Plastic Man (later changed to Elastic Man), Dr. Fate, The Bat (Later changed to The Ray), Tinyman (Captain Ersatz of Dollman),and Atom Jaw (Captain Ersatz of Iron Jaw, arch-foe of the then-popular hero Crimebuster)
* The Kindle-based comic book series [[Limekiller At Large]] features a number of these. The Blue Pangolin (The Ted Kord version of Blue Beetle), The Alloy Angel (Iron Man), Commander Dynamic (Superman), The Knoir Knight and Chickadee the Boy Diversion(Batman and Robin), Quantum Phyllis (Dr. Manhattan), and the American Ranger (a mash-up of Captain America and the Lone Ranger).
* Much of the cast of ''[[Jack Staff]]'' is made up of Ersatz versions of either [[Marvel Comics]] heroes, or British pulp comic heroes. This is because the series was originally pitched as a Marvel series. Jack Staff himself is based on Captain Britain and Union Jack; Becky Burdock is partially based on Captain Britain's sister Betsy Braddock/Psylocke. The Hurricane is Captain Hurricane, Tom Tom the Robot Boy is Archie the Robot, and General Tubbs is General Jumbo.
* Captain Strong was a character released by DC Comics in 1973, who was a pretty blatant rip-off of [[Popeye]], made after DC tried and failed to obtain the comic book rights to the actual Popeye [https://web.archive.org/web/20210902083259/https://comicvine1.cbsistatic.com/uploads/scale_medium/11114/111147698/4639645-4e3qfd.jpg (judge for yourself here)]. Although, he seemed to have evolved later into an [[Affectionate Parody]] of the character when making appearances in [[Harley Quinn]]'s comic during [[The New 52]].
== Film ==
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* Officially, ''[[The Godfather]]'' isn’t about the Mafia at all. When the real Mafia began making complaints and threats, the filmmakers compromised, removing all references to "the Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra". So the film is actually about a fictitious crime organisation that just happens to be based around five fictitious Italian-American families – it’s usually referred to as "the Five Families" when mentioned on screen.
** Actually, some claim that the filmmakers pretended to compromise to avoid having to argue. In fact, the words "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" probably were not in the script to begin with. First of all, both titles refer to specific gangs, and no organized crime family that is not a member of either would use the terms. Secondly, if you *are* in the Mafia, do you really sit around talking about it with other people in it?
*** Yes, as [https://web.archive.org/web/20130822172040/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878651,00.html too many mobsters] [http://articles.latimes.com/1991-08-03/news/mn-157_1_john-gotti have learned] after getting indicted. It's true they don't use the words "Mafia" though ... the usual hint is that, if someone new enters the conversation and one of the wiseguys introduces him as "a friend of ours", they can speak freely. Someone introduced as "a friend of mine" means otherwise.
**** Averted in ''Part II'', where during the senator hearings, the words Mafia and Cosa Nostra are mentioned multiple times (here by an outsider).
* A series of ''El Látigo'' ("The Whip") films were produced in Mexico. El Latigo is a ''very'' close imitation of the famous ''gringo''-created hero of Old California, [[Zorro]].
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** While BBV eventually did get licensing rights to various ''Doctor Who'' monsters, the Big Two remained exceptions. They never attempted fake-Daleks, but the Cyberons are, well, Cybermen.
** BBV eventually self-parodied this, with a video called "Do You Have A Licence To Save This Planet?" in which a swarm of ''Doctor Who'' monsters (and the Cyberons) are fought by Sylvester McCoy as ... the Chiropodist.
== Literature ==
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* Al Ewing's contributions to the ''Pax Britannia'' [[Shared World]] (set in a [[Steampunk]] [[Dystopia]] 20th century) feature El Sombra, a masked swordsman named Djego, whose main difference from [[Zorro]] is that he's decidedly not a nobleman. ''Gods Of Manhattan'' is a [[Two-Fisted Tales]] pastiche which also includes Doc Thunder ([[Doc Savage]] with a dash of [[Gladiator (novel)|Hugo Danner]]), the Blood Spider ([[The Shadow]] with elements of [[The Spider]]), the Blue Ghost ([[The Spirit]]) and Jack Scorpio, Agent of S.T.E.A.M. ([[Nick Fury]]).
▲== Live Action TV ==
* The live-action TV series of ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'' replaced Die Fledermaus and American Maid, who were in the animated cartoon but not the original comic book, with Bat Manuel and Captain Liberty.
* ''[[Charmed]]'' had a demon character named Kira who could see the future, [[Actor Allusion|played by]] [[Charisma Carpenter]]. Carpenter played Cordelia on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Angel]]'', who gained the ability to see when people were or would be in trouble.
* Whistler, who appeared in a few Season Two episodes of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', was supposed to be a main character on the spinoff ''[[Angel]]''. Since the actor who played Whistler was unavailable at the time, the very similar character Allen Francis Doyle was created instead.
** Averted, however, in the episode "Buffy versus Dracula". Originally, writer Morti Noxon was going to use a Captain Ersatz of Dracula here, until Joss Whedon said, "Why not Dracula? He's [[Public Domain Character| public domain."]]
* Comparisons between Al Swearengen of ''[[Deadwood]]'' and Silas Benjamin of ''[[Kings]]'' are pretty inevitable: Both are played in the same highflown style by Ian MacShane; both are amoral and ruthless in attempting to maintain their grip on power but affectionate to those close to them, and both have a tendency to slip into lofty monologues. Except for their different wardrobes and Silas' network-mandated inability to curse like Swearengen, they're essentially the same character portrayed by the same actor.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' was created with the intent to include Michelle Forbes' recurring character from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', Ro Laren, but the actress declined to star as a regular in the series. So the character of Kira Nerys was created as a near-identical substitute (abrasive personality, lack of trust in Starfleet).
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* [[Rhyme and Reason]], an ABC game show from 1975, was a Captain Ersatz of CBS's [[Match Game]] in that it had two contestants trying to match words (the rhyming word of a poem) with a panel of six celebrities.
* In 1961, Goodson-Todman created a Captain Ersatz of its own show [[The Price Is Right]] with ''Say When!!'', which had two contestants selecting items from a pool of merchandise and trying to not go over a target value. In turn, 1975's ''Give-N-Take'' was an ersatz ''Say When!!'' with a spinning arrow. When G-T revived ''The Price Is Right'' in 1972 for CBS and nighttime syndication, they turned it into an ersatz [[Let's Make a Deal]].
== Newspaper Comics ==
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* ''The Adventures of Aaron'' once ran a strip with "The Ghost of [[Calvin and Hobbes|Calvin]]". A couple footnotes make it clear: "Any similarities between Ghost of Calvin and ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is purely coincidental." See it [http://www.kerzap.com/calvin/aaron.tribute.html here].
* In the comic strip ''[[For Better or For Worse]]'', it originally seemed as if the artist had intended to pair Liz of with her next door neighbor, Christopher; when he and his family were dropped from the strip, Mrs Johnston altered his serial number and created [[Creator's Pet|Anthony Caine.]]
== Professional Wrestling ==
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** Renegade wasn't even WCW's first Captain Ersatz for Warrior—that "honor" would go to The Black Scorpion, a masked [[Heel]] who menaced Sting with allusions to the history that they "shared" (that, in reality, he and Warrior shared). While Warrior was still a main-eventer in WWF, no less. After painting themselves into a corner by continually insinuating that the person behind the mask was somebody who couldn't ''possibly'' have really been there, they ended up [[Hand Wave|handwaving]] the whole thing away as [[Hijacked by Ganon|mind games on the part of RicFlair.]]
** Asya was a clone of the WWF's Chyna.
* Inverted by [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] during the mid 90's. After [[Scott Hall]] and [[Kevin Nash]] (Razor Ramon and Diesel, respectively) jumped ship to rival promotion WCW, WWE still owned the copyright to their characters. Out of legal necessity, and part of a [[Jim Ross]] [[Face Heel Turn]], they got replacement wrestlers to play Razor and Diesel, to act as J.R.'s enforcers and show off his power in the company. Rick Bogner played Fake Razor Ramon and Glenn Jacobs (who had already appeared as the [[Depraved Dentist]] Isaac Yankem, and who would later be better known as [[Kane (wrestling)|Kane]]) to play Fake Diesel. Only counts if it's possible to Captain Ersatz your own characters; it's more an [[Actor Swap]], seeing how it's theoretically the ''same'' characters – complicated by the fact that the swap was so blatant and insulting, viewers weren't really even supposed to buy into it.
** WCW then Ersatzed J.R. himself as 'Oklahoma', in an incredibly tasteless [[Take That]] (including [[Dude, Not Funny|mocking Ross's Bell's Palsy]]).
** Gillberg! Arguably a combination of this trope and [[Affectionate Parody]].
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** Wrestler Jay Lethal's Black Machismo gimmick was so named because, aside from being black, his appearance and mannerisms were virtually identical to those of the famous WWF wrestler [[Randy Savage|Randy "Macho Man" Savage]]. Of course, the gimmick was more of an homage/parody than a straight Captain Ersatz, and Lethal often took the gag a bit further by referring to other wrestlers by the name of some of Macho Man's contemporaries, rather than by their own names. He even had an appropriate hometown, Elizabeth, New Jersey.
** Stone Cold Shark Boy, though more a parody than a true Captain Ersatz.
** Black Reign was meant as a Captain Ersatz of [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s Goldust (specifically, drawn from his "The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust" period). This is more [[Writing Around Trademarks]] than anything, since Black Reign and Goldust are both played by Dustin Rhodes.
== Radio ==
* BBV's ''Audio Adventures in Time & Space'', starring Sylvester McCoy as "The Professor" and Sophie Aldred as "Alice", Ersatzes of ''[[Doctor Who]]'''s Seventh Doctor and Ace (also played by McCoy and Aldred) actually attracted enough attention from the BBC that they had to hurriedly makes some characterization changes.
** Another line of BBV audios starred Nicholas Briggs (who had previously played the Doctor in non-commercial fanvids) as the Traveler.
== Tabletop Games ==
* The ''Freedom City'' setting for the [[Tabletop RPG]] ''Mutants and Masterminds'' is filled with Captain Ersatzes of the characters from ''[[Astro City]]'', who in turn are mostly Captain Ersatzes of the most famous comic characters out there. The Freedom City [[Sourcebook]] even [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade]] on this by ending with art of a road sign that reads, "You are now leaving Freedom City, please drive carefully", mimicking the ending tag from the ''[[Astro City]]'' comics.
** Their ''Paragons'' campaign setting -- intended to be a bit more gritty than four-color -- includes Captains Ersatz of characters from other companies' campaign worlds.
** In a picture in the 3E Hero's Handbook, there's even a character wearing a shirt that says "Ersatz" on the front.
* Looking for 1980s cartoon Captain Ersatzes, then you won't be surprise that [[Cartoon Action Hour]] has more than its fair share. For I.E, the Black Widow from "Strikeforce Freedom" is a blonde hair version of [[The Baroness]] from ''[[G.I. Joe]]''.
* The Swedish superhero game ''Supergänget'' (published in English as ''Supercrew'') features some among their quick examples - The Weasel ([[Wolverine]], but female), The Tomani ([[The Incredible Hulk]] with a [[Shout-Out]] to children's author Christine Nöstlinger) and Tapir Man ([[Spider-Man|Rhino]], and being a caricature of a friend of the author), among others.
* Play in any tabletop game long enough, and you will see a player or game master create an ersatz rendition of a character from another story, whether it be from science fiction, fantasy, history, or even modern politics. In particular, the iconic Drizzt Do'Urden of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]' ''Forgotten Realms'' campaign world has [[Overused Copycat Character|spawned enough copies]] to qualify Drizzt-clones as their own population demographic.
* The card game ''Sentinels of the Multiverse'' features homages to several well-known comic book characters, like Legacy (Superman), the Wraith (a female Batman), Tempest (Aquaman with hints of the Martian Manhunter) and Ra (Thor).
=== Gamebooks ===
* [[Generic Doomsday Villain|The Evil Power Master]], the villain in two ''Choose Your Own Adventure'' books has more than a few things in common with [[Flash Gordon| a famous villain known for being "merciless".]]
== Video Games ==
* Hazama is the standout case from ''[[BlazBlue]]''. Voiced (in English) by [[Doug Erholtz]], has a low-cut hair style and keeps his [[Eyes Always Shut]], with a [[Cheshire Cat Grin]], a snake motif and a sadistic, manipulative demeanor, who [[Faux Affably Evil|pretends to amiable and polite]]? ''Clearly'' [[Bleach|Gin Ichimaru before he went to the Soul Society]].
** Terumi, his ghost form, looks suspiciously like the [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Anti-Spiral]].
* ''[[
** [[Pitfall|Pitfall Harry]] is also obviously inspired by Indy, and his [[Theme Music Power-Up]] in the second game sounds similar to the "Raiders March".
* Shinx, a lion cub [[Pokémon]] that is colored very unusually (blue and yellow), has mouse-like ears, and has a cheerful smile. [[Kimba the White Lion]], is that you?
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** Also the cover art for Metal Gear is based on a screen shot of Kyle Reese from Terminator.
*** Speaking of that, the first game had a Terminator ersatz named... [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]].
** They hang a lampshade on this in [[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]: Solid Snake's "disguise" persona is "Lieutenant JG Iroquois Plissken". [[Spotting the Thread|Raiden catches him because of snake's headset and claimed rank.]]
* ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' began his life when Capcom wanted to make an [[Astro Boy (manga)|Astro Boy]] game, but could not acquire the rights. He's come into his own right since then, of course.
**
** The Killer Bullets in the first game resemble the Bullet Bills from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'', which are ironically called Killers in the Japanese series. They never appeared in the series again, possibly due to Nintendo threatening legal action.
* In 1983, there was a laserdisc arcade game called ''Cliff Hanger'', where the protagonist was a [[Gentleman Thief]] named Cliff who looked suspiciously like the one [[Lupin III|from a popular manga and anime]]. Which makes perfect sense, because it uses animated footage from two ''[[Lupin III]]'' movies, most prominently ''The Castle of Cagliostro'', and some from ''The Mystery of Mamo''.
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* ''[[Ghost Hunter]]'' is itself a Captain Ersatz for the ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' franchise.
* One example of taking this too far comes from ''[[The King of Fighters]] 2001'' with the character K9999, a Captain Ersatz of Tetsuo Shima from ''[[Akira]]'' who even had the same voice actor. After SNK Playmore bought the rights to all of the Eolith-owned characters from ''KOF 2k1'' and ''KOF 2k2'', K9999 became a legal liability for the company and was replaced by a more original character Nameless in the [[Updated Rerelease]] ''The King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match'', who substitutes K9999 in the canon.
* Along with the above-mentioned Statesman, ''[[City of Heroes]]'' has a lot of characters and concepts that are pretty clear homages to various comic book characters. The entire [[Mutants|Mutation origin]] is straight out of ''[[X-Men]]'', and the evil Arachnos organisation is essentially [[G.I. Joe|Cobra]] with the snake iconography replaced by spiders.
* [[Player Character|You]] in ''[[Overlord (series)|Overlord]]'', especially when you get your best armor and a [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Mace of Doom]], you're [[The Lord of the Rings|Sauron]]'s equally [[Evil Twin]].
* Both ''[[Freedom Force]]'' games are rife with this. All of the characters have Captain Ersatz powers.
** The Minuteman is [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]], just wearing a funny 18th-century costume and using a staff instead of a shield.
** Mentor is [[Martian Manhunter]] with a touch of Professor X
** El Diablo is [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Human Torch]].
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* The freeware [[Girls Love]] [[Visual Novel]] series ''Morning Star'' is heavily inspired by ''[[My-HiME]]'', and has a [[Student Council President]] who looks exactly like Shizuru Fujino. Amusingly, the Shizuru-lookalike's name is ''Natsuki'', Shizuru's crush.
* Tohru Adachi of ''[[Persona 4]]'' looks (and acts) like [[Death Note|Matsuda]]. {{spoiler|At least, up until [[The Reveal]].}}
* For the web game ''Caesary'' (which has actually been advertised on TV Tropes itself), there's this [[Hot Amazon]] character... which is blatantly meant to be a [[Wonder Woman]] knockoff. Seriously, the only differences are that she has more armor and (slightly) less clothing. Link here: [http://g.caesary.net/regpv.do?cno=dc&scno=0&lp=dccs001&gclid=COjYwsXS6aICFQiX2AodxV7iYw\]{{Dead link}}
* [[Halo|343 Guilty Spark]] talks like [[Star Wars|C-3P0]]. "Hello, I am 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Installation 04", and "Your behavior is not in accordance with established protocols".
* The SPANKED-up [[Action Bomb|suicide bombers]] in ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'''s "Kingdom Come" mission behave eerily similar to the Exploding BOBS from the ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' series.
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* The [[Hentai]] game ''Season of the Sakura'' was really blatant about this, with the primary cast all coming from famous anime; the protagonist's father and school principal are [[Tenchi Muyo!|Nobuyuki and Yosho/Katsuhito Masaki]], his homeroom teacher is [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Misato Katsuragi]], his best friend is [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Kensuke Aida]], and the girls he can romance include [[Magic Knight Rayearth|Hikaru Shido, Umi Ryuzaki, Fuu Houji]], [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley]], [[Kaitou Saint Tail|Seira Mimori, Meimi Haneoka]], and [[Welcome to Pia Carrot|Shoko Inaba]]. They don't even try hiding it; the character designs are identical (except for one or two having different hair colors), their personalities are pretty much the same, and some (such as Seira and Meimi) don't even get new names.
* The [[Nintendo DS]] fighting game ''[[Windy X Windam]]'' has character designs that are heavily based on ''[[Guilty Gear]]''. Big is basically Potemkin minus his gigantic gauntlet; swordsman Kirikou is Ky Kiske with fire abilities instead of lightning; and Jack and Stin are clones of Slayer and Bridget, respectively.
* Every character in ''[[Battle Golfer Yui]]'' is clearly a reference to other characters from Japanese media.
** Yui Mizuhara is a reference to the protagonists of [[Shotaro Ishinomori]]'s works, primarily [[Kamen Rider Black]]'s Kotaro Minami. She even is forcibly turned into a cyborg, rescued by a defector of the organization, and has to fight against her former organization. Black Fire and Black Sun are similar titles as well.
** Mitsuru Hagata is a reference to Mitsuru Hanagata from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_the_Giants Star of the Giants], with a Hoshi as his rival and an Akiko as his crush.
** GeGeGe no Kitako is a reference to [[GeGeGe no Kitaro]]. She even has an eyeball parent guiding her. And she attacks Yui because Otter Man<ref>a reference to Nezumi Otoko</ref> forged a letter.
** Kaiketsu Dibot is a reference to [[Kaiketsu Zubat]], complete with a desire to avenge Asuka.
** Professor G is a combined reference to [[Mazinger Z|Doctor Hell]] and [[Kikaider|Dr. Gill]]. He even has brainwashed cyborgs as minions and a flute that controls {{spoiler|Ran}}. Prof. G even uses Gil as his alias.
** {{spoiler|Ran Ryuzaki/Shadow Thunder}} is a reference to [[Kamen Rider Black|Shadow Moon]] and [[Kikaider|Hakaider]], complete with important connection to main character.
==
* ''[[8-Bit Theater]]'' is home to the Sulk, Arachna-Dude, Alloyed-Guy, and the Mediocre Four.
* Done a number of times in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' when it decides to parody certain stories, such as ''[[Star Trek]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'', and ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]'' characters in "[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970929 The Sci-Fi Adventure]" or ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' characters [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=020902 in the growing] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030922090613/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030915 number of] [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=050822 "Torg Potter"] [http://pics.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=080305 stories].
** While on the topic of Sluggy, [[Fans]] brings us, [
* Cousin Dougal in ''[[Platinum Grit]]'' is an eight hundred year old sword-wielding immortal Scotsman. And his last name is [[Mc Wickening]].
* ''[[Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger]]'' (itself a [[Spin-Off]] from ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'' IN SPACE!) has recently taken a rusty razor blade to the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise. Quentyn meets the crew [https://web.archive.org/web/20130312225649/http://www.rhjunior.com/QQSR/00016.html in this strip].
* The majority of the cast of ''[[Sonichu]]'' consists of ''Sonic'' [[Palette Swap|recolors]]. Firstly, Sonichu is an ersatz that the author made sometime in the 1990s when a teacher wouldn't allow him to use [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] or Pikachu in a class project due to copyright. There's also Simonla Rosechu, who was originally a (male) [[Fan Character]] created by a troll who's a fan of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', but Chris decided to [[Gender Flip|change his gender]] and turn him into a Rosechu before using her in the comic. Add in two characters based off Zelda (Zelina Rosechu, Clawdorf and Darkbind Sonichu), [[Sailor Moon|Sailor Megtune]] and various others. The only characters who seem to be completely original are Kel, a generic Pokémon trainer, and Count Graduon, the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Chris's high school graduation.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130817082623/http://workhate.co.uk/?p=9 Captain Broadband]'' has a clown pop up at one point to [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|specifically]] inform the audience that Captain Broadband was created long before another blue garbed, [[Nigh Invulnerability|nigh invulnerable]] [[The Tick (animation)|superhero]]
* Mr. Raven from ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' seems a heck of a lot like [[Harry Potter (novel)|Snape]].
* ''[[Attack of the Super Wizards]]'' stars public domain characters, one of whom, Stardust, was created to be an ersatz [[Superman]]. The comic also includes ersatz versions of Krypto, Lois Lane, Batman, Wonder Woman, Cthulhu, Alan Moore, and others.
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** Aldran is a magic user like Vaarsuvius and has the [[Deadpan Snarker]] personality of Vaarsuvius and Roy and an [[Evil Twin]] (or possibly Good Twin), just like Elan.
** Kerris and Lana are both pretty much Haley, except the first is a [[Horny Devils|Tiefling]] and the second is a vampire, and Kerris' species also makes her quite similar to the villain Nale's succubus girlfriend, Sabine.
* Batdragon of [https://web.archive.org/web/20130719023505/http://www.drunkduck.com/Dragon_City/ Dragon City] and his daughter Batdragongirl both fit this trope as they're parodies of Batman and Batgirl (respectively).
* ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' gives us [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0253.html Larry Gardener].
** And Zzdtri is a spoof of Drizzt, and his status as an [[Overused Copycat Character]]. His first appearance has him dragged away by copyright lawyers, but he later returns having realized that parody is protected under Fair Use.
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* ''[[Englishman]]'' uses blatant spoonerised names of any real life individuals who appear.
* ''[[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]'' has spawned possibly enough imitators on ''[[YouTube]]'' to start a list. Noteworthy mentions include ''[[The Irate Gamer]]'' and ''Game Dude''.
* Musical example in popular [[YouTube]] spoof series ''[[How It Should Have Ended]]''. Ever since the ''[[Terminator]]'' episode, they have been using tunes which bear a rather obvious resemblance to the actual soundtrack, even the iconic ones like ''[[Star Wars]]''.
* Quite common in [[Slash Fic|Original Slash]]. [http://community.livejournal.com/bb_shousetsu Shousetsu Bang* Bang], an original yaoi magazine on [[LiveJournal]], even has this as one of its rules - "If you're hung up on characters that don't belong to you, change their names and details, AU them, and the Editor will be happy to think of you as one of those people who always draw their seme to look like [[Yu Yu Hakusho|Youko Kurama]]."
* Also, Celsan Automotive LLC on [[NationStates]], who appear to be a sort of copy or [[Homage]] to Nissan, Holden, Peugeot, Opel, Chevrolet in one. Possibly an [[Expy]] too.
* Ever since [[Marble Hornets]] came up with totheark, nearly every single [[Slender Man]]-related blog/video series has had a similar character.
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== Western Animation ==
* From the early years of [[The Golden Age of Animation]], we have the Warner Bros. star Foxy, whose image is adorned at the top of this page, and whom some of you might even remember appearing in the ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' episode
** In fact, he and Roxy had to be completely redesigned for ''
* Probably the most well known Captain Ersatz of all time would have to be none other than [[Mickey Mouse]]. How, and of whom was he a Captain Ersatz of? [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
** ...and that guy was, in turn a pretty obvious Captain Ersatz of [[Felix the Cat
* [[Woody Woodpecker]] is a rather obvious one of the early Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny prototypes. No surprise, since the Bugs Bunny prototypes and [[Woody Woodpecker]] were made by Ben Hardaway, who was a prominent writer in the [[Woody Woodpecker]] cartoons after he left Warner Bros. for Universal Cartoons.
** [[Mel Blanc]] himself voiced Woody for his first few appearances (and invented that famously annoying laugh) before being replaced because of his contract with Warner Brothers.
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* Schizophrenic and completely divorced from reality, Loogie from the Jetix series ''[[Get Ed]]'' is so similar to Sheen from Nickelodeon's ''[[Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius]]'' that it hurts.
* [[Little Audrey]] was created by Paramount's [[Famous Studios]] to be a Captain Ersatz of [[Little Lulu]], who Paramount lost the rights to make cartoons of. Both characters would survive for decades in comic books and eventually both wound up under the ownership of the same company.
* [[Mighty Mouse]] is a Captain Ersatz of an older, similar character who appeared in animated shorts called Super Mouse, which was something of a prototype for Mighty Mouse. The original ''Super Mouse'' cartoons were - and occasionally still are - shown, with the narration edited with the character's name changed to "Mighty Mouse".
* Since they couldn't use other [[Godzilla|Toho Monsters]] for ''[[Godzilla: The Series]]'', the writers simply created their own monsters as a sort of [[Homage]] to classic Japanese Godzilla foes. Examples include a giant Megapede/Cicada monster instead of Mothra, a garbage eating [[Nanomachines|Nanomachine]] cluster instead of Hedorah, a [[Robot Me|cyborg version of the original American Godzilla]] instead of Mechagodzilla, and even a robotic yeti as a replacement for [[King Kong|everyone's favorite giant ape]].
* The Galafems and their queen, Hippsodeth from ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' are obvious stand-ins for the Amazons and their queen, Hippolyta.
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** Made more suspicious by the fact that in another episode the teen Spies were wearing the same colors as the [[PP Gs]] (not the exact dresses, but the colors matched still!).
* ''[[Super Mario Bros Super Show]]'' (the animated segment) Captain Ersatzes of everyone from [[Robin Hood]] to [[Indiana Jones]] (as quoted above) to Elvis.
* The Muses of ''[[Hercules (1997 film)
* Clearly done for copyright reasons, ''[[Arthur (animation)|Arthur]]'' has Henry Skreever ([[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]), Persimmony Glitchet ([[A Series of Unfortunate Events|Lemony Snicket]]), Bionic Bunny ([[Superman]] and [[The Six Million Dollar Man]]), Dark Bunny ([[Batman]]), Mary Moo Cow ([[Barney and Friends|Barney the Dinosaur]]... although given that an episode focuses on its cancellation in favor of "Stock Market Today", it may also be an homage to the locally produced children's shows which were once popular in the 70's and 80's), the Love Ducks ([[The Teletubbies]]) and the Vegimorphs (''[[Animorphs]]'').
* ''[[6teen]]'' uses this constantly,
** Ironically, in
** Whether or not Ron the rent-a-cop is a Captain Ersatz or an [[Affectionate Parody]] of [[Christopher Walken]] is open for debate, but he did do a dead-on reenactment of the Fatboy Slim "Weapon of Choice" video in one episode.
* ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' included Captain Ersatzes of rival shows and various movies, including [[Dracula]] (referred to by his real name, "Count Tepes"). There were only three things that were referred to by their real names: ''[[Star Wars]]'', ''[[Newhart]]'', and [[Cthulhu Mythos|Cthulhu]].
** The funny thing, Dracula is a [[Public Domain Character]], they didn't needed to "create" a Captain Ersatz.
** Dracula was indeed mentioned in that episode; in-universe, the original novel was, according to Tepes, a fictional account of the history of his family, with many liberties taken.
* ''[[Kappa Mikey]]'', a parody of anime, contains tons of characters who are legal rip-offs of real anime characters, in the same vein as ''[[Drawn Together]]''. The character Gonard gets bonus points, since he is believed by fans to be an expy of [[Dragonball Z|Goku]], thanks in no small part to both of them sharing the [[Sean Schemmel|same English voice actor]]!
* Depending on who you ask, The Dread Baron and Mumbly are either these, or Expys. According to some accounts, Hanna-Barbera was in a legal conflict with Heatter-Quigley (who helped co-create ''[[Wacky Races]]'') over who owned the rights to the Dick Dastardly and Muttley characters, which led to the creation of the new characters for the show [[Laff-A-Lympics]]. Others point out that Mumbly actually pre-dated Muttley (though he originally was a ''good guy''.)
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* The [[Genius Cripple|Disabled Professor]] in ''[[Family Guy]]'', whose name is apparently Steve, is an ersatz [[Stephen Hawking]], with a similar [[Machine Monotone]] voice.
* ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' very briefly shows a parody of Ren and Stimpy (in this case they're a squirrel and a chicken instead of a cat and dog) and Beavis and Butthead (who are portrayed as two furry animals, Beaver and Hoghead) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXaQdkTYc4w here].
* ''[[
** During the Daemon arc, Frisket, Matrix, Enzo and AndrAla encounter a mod user character who is a spoof of [[Austin Powers]]. While playing, Frisket reboots into a version of Mr. Bigglesworth, Matrix reboots into an exact version of Doctor Evil (complete with placing his pinky near his mouth in a sinister fashion if the shout out wasn't already enough), Enzo reboots into a version of Mini-me, and AndrAla reboots into a Fembot. In one scene, AndrAla actually shoots the Austin Powers user while trying to lure her in bed, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lrVdNctp0E as seen here].
** In "My Two Bobs", there was also a Dragon Ball Z/Pokémon parody.
** Almost all of the games are a Shoutout to various other pieces of popular culture, so if a episode featured a game (which it usually did) you're bound to find a few Captains or so among the cast.
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
** Hoss Delgado, an Ersatz of [[Escape from New York|Snake Plissken]] and [[Evil Dead|Ash Williams]].
*** Not to mention a splash of [[Mad Max|Max Rockatansky]]
** There is also an entire Ersatz of the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' universe. Harry Potter (a parseltongued wizard who can talk to snakes) is replaced by Nigel Planter (a partial-tongue "wizard" who can talk to snacks), Lord Voldemort is replaced by Lord Moldybutt (complete with the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named title), and Dean Toadblatts replacing Dumbledore in title and Snape in his attitude toward Nigel. It also featured Ersatzes of [[The Rival|Draco]] and [[The Spock|Hermione]].
** [[Dracula]] is a recurring character on this show, but seems to have been intentionally based on [[Blacula]].
* ''[[The Tick (animation)]]'''s animated series had a lot of these. Amongst the most prominent was Die Fledermaus (a [[Batman]] parody), American Maid (a female [[Captain America (comics)|Captain America]]), and Big Shot ([[The Punisher]]).
* An episode of ''[[The Mask (animation)|The Mask]]'' dealt with Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask spending time with and causing mischief with his favorite cartoon characters The Goofalototots Stinko, Pinko, and Snot, who are obvious expys of Yakko, Wakko, and Dot from ''[[Animaniacs]]''.
* '''''[[Spell My Name with a "The"|The]] [[Third Person Person|Boulder]]''' knows that '''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender|he is]]''' Captain Ersatz of [[Dwayne Johnson|a certain well-known wrestler-turned-actor]].''
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* [[The Ricky Gervais Show]] has [[Monopoly|Knobopoly]], [[Operation|Knobration]] and [[Chess|Chess Cock]].
* An episode of ''[[Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi]]'' titled ''In the Cards'' features a trading card game called [[Yu-Gi-Oh!|Stu-Pi-Doh]].
* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''
** The obviousness of Irma Langenstein from
** Also, Karai - who first appeared in a 1993 comic and later in the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)| 2003 series]] - may have been at least partially based on Lotus from the 1987 series episode "Lotus Blossom". The characters looked similar, and both had a crush on Leonardo, despite being on the villains' side. The fact that Karai was the [[Final Boss]] of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters]]'' (where character designs are based on the 1987 series) complicates this even more.
* ''[[Rick and Morty]]'' were this, originally. The two protagonists were in a short parody film of ''[[Back to The Future]]'' where they parodied Doc Brown and Marty McFly. However, they were quickly adapted to an original series.
* In the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", the creature guarding the entrance to the Master In-Pile is obviously a beholder, a popular monster in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''. Of course, seeing as [[Gary Gygax]] himself designed the beholder and was known to be a fan of the show (even appearing as a guest star in one episode), he likely approved.
* Many of the bad guys on ''[[Laff-A-Lympics]]'' were this, due to a snafu over who owned rights to the names. The Great Fondoo even mentions this in the ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' sketch that parodies ''[[Munich]]'' using the ''Laff-A-Lympics'' cast.
** Dread Baron was the most obvious, and clearly supposed to be Dick Dastardly.
** The Creepy family were in fact the Gruesomes, who first appeared in ''[[The Flintstones]]'' - the Gruesomes in turn were expies of the J. Evil Scientist Family.
** Daisy Mayhem was an evil version of ''[[Li'l Abner]]'' character Moonbeam McSwine, the only Captain Ersatz on the show where the source is not from Hanna-Barbera.
* In ''[[The Owl House]]'', Lilith's mentor, Flora D'splora. Her name, short hair with bangs, dark complexion, monkey-like Palisman, and archeology expertise makes is obvious [[Dora the Explorer| who she is supposed to be]]. Luz even lampshades it by suspiciously saying, "I have questions about that name," when she shows up in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen". The fact that voice her actress is Eileen Galindo, who was also the voice of Dora's mother in that cartoon seems to confirm it.
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[[Category:Trope Names from German]]
[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]
[[Category:All the Tropes Superhero Team]]
[[Category:Follow the Leader]]
[[Category:Walter Lantz]]▼
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