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{{trope}}
[[File:robin555 574.png|link=Robin|frame|All '''five''' of the (canonical) Robins.<ref>In chronological order: Dick Grayson (left), Jason Todd (bottom center), Tim Drake (top center), Stephanie Brown (top right) and Damian Wayne (bottom right). Not shown: Carrie Kelly from ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]''.</ref> All of them have been sidekicks to the '''same guy'''<ref>One of them (Damian) was even a sidekick to another (Dick)!</ref>]]
{{quote|''"Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts,' he said. 'My name is Ryan; I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Roberts has been retired 15 years and living like a king in Patagonia.' Then he explained the name is the important thing to inspire the necessary fear. You see, no one would ever surrender to the Dread Pirate Westley."''
You just can't keep a good character down. Even in a setting where [[Death Is a Slap on The Wrist]], a hero can't keep his heroics up forever (nor do most want to) and even if super-villains and world-spanning disasters can't kill him, old age eventually will. But while a man can't beat the Reaper forever, the identity he holds is contained in a vessel comprising of little more than a name and a mask, meaning that if he cannot continue his Legacy, someone else can.
A Legacy Character is a character whose identity is passed down to them from an older character in the form of a title, job or persona for the newer character to assume. There are many ways this can come about:▼
▲A '''Legacy Character''' is a character whose identity is passed down to them from an older character in the form of a title, job or persona for the newer character to assume. There are many ways this can come about:
* A mentor may pass their mantle on to their [[Sidekick]].
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Chibi-Usa of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' could possibly count, being in training to become the next Sailor Moon, although she only ever appears in-series as a [[Bratty Half-Pint]] [[Sidekick]] with a cute addition to the name.
** By the same token, Usagi is destined to become the next Queen Serenity.
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** In addition, Kite's character design has been used by no fewer than ''four'' characters to date: Kite himself, Shugo, Azure Kite, Sakuya from .hack//Quantum, and Sora from [[The Movie]].
* In the manga ''[[Magic Kaito]]'', the title character discovers his father was a thief, the [[Kaitou]] Kid, and takes on the job, to finish what his father started before he died.
* Many fans consider ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''{{'}}s Yuki Judai a Legacy Character for ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''{{'}}s Yugi Mutou, especially as the former's Duel Spirit partner Winged Kuriboh was directly given to him by the latter. However, Judai is [[To Be a Master|still working on becoming the next "King Of Games"]].
** A more accurate version involves Kaiser: after the previous owner of the title, Marufuji Ryo, did a [[Face Heel Turn]] and defiled the title, his brother Sho begins waxing and waning in his desire to take it up himself and restore it to its original prestige. He's finally given the mantle (and subsequent deck) by Ryo after Ryo's brush with [[This Is Your Brain on Evil]], {{spoiler|and Sho proved himself worthy of the honor by using the deck to successfully defend against a rival bent on eradicating all trace of the Cyber-Style dueling method that made the title of Kaiser so famous}}.
* Ban and Ginji are the third generation of the ''[[GetBackers]]''.
* {{spoiler|The eponymous character}} of ''[[Kino's Journey]]'' took the mantle of the person who "enlightened" her after he died.
** Amusingly, she got the idea by accident—at least in the anime version. {{spoiler|Hermes}} mistook her {{spoiler|mourning the original Kino}} for saying her name, and she just ran with it.
* In ''[[
* Hinted at in the end of [[Captain Harlock]]: Endless Odyssey. It's noted in the beginning that Harlock has taken to space with the expressed purpose of {{spoiler|looking for a place to die.}} The end of this series saw him and Tadashi Daiba {{spoiler|locked in a [[Mexican Standoff]] after Harlock gave Tadashi one of his guns and said, essentially, "Kill me before I kill you.}} The credits rolled [[Morton's Fork|before anyone shot]], but it sure looked like a "Dread Pirate Harlock" ending...
* At the very end of ''[[Code Geass]]'' {{spoiler|Suzaku takes over the role of Zero permanently, at the request of Lelouch (the original Zero).}} Which is actually kind of messed up, given {{spoiler|the first thing Lelouch asks Suzaku to do as Zero is ''kill him''.}}
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* Yomiko Readman of ''[[Read or Die]]'' is the nineteenth person to use the codename "The Paper". Her immediate predecessor was her lover/mentor Donnie Nakajima.
== [[Comic Books]] ==▼
▲== Comic Books ==
* Black Owl, a [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] superhero from ''Prize Comics'', was the oldest comic example of this trope. During World War II, the original Black Owl joined the army, passing his costume to Walt Walters, father of Yank and Doodle, the superhero twins (and fellow ''Prize Comics'' characters) he once teamed up with.
* [[James Robinson]]'s ''[[Starman (comics)|Starman]]'' may have been the book responsible for the revival of the Legacy Character concept in [[The Modern Age of Comic Books]]. It introduced Jack Knight, the son of the [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] Starman and reluctant holder of the mantle, as well as grouping together all the unrelated characters who had used the name "Starman" over the years—apparently simply due to the coolness of the name—in a [[Myth Arc]] filled with atmosphere and scintillating characterization. One version even appears to have been inspired by the Ziggy Stardust song of the same name (complete with a [[Lampshade Hanging]] saying it was the other way around), which the original character preceded by about thirty years.
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** Except for Arisia whose family has comprised all of the Green Lanterns from her sector.
* The Trope is deconstructed with ''[[Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?]]'', in which it's revealed ''all'' of the various Batman incarnations are real. All of them.
* The five Robins, of [[Batman]] fame, are somewhat of a special case, each the sidekick of the same unchanging character. Dick Grayson, who went on to become Nightwing, left the job to Jason Todd, who was killed by [[The Joker]]. Tim Drake figured out Dick's and [[Batman|Bruce]]'s [[Secret Identity|identities]], and when he went to persuade Dick to become Robin again he found himself stepping into the position. At one point, Tim had a [[Ten-Minute Retirement]], leaving the space open for [[
** For a humorous take on the Robin history, see [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quM_641RG64&feature=channel_page The Drunken Guide to Comic Books].
** According to [[Marv Wolfman]], around the time Jason Todd was introduced, one of the Batman writers wanted to de-age Dick Grayson and return him to being Batman's sidekick. As writer on ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'', DC's hottest property at the time, Wolfman weilded a lot of power, and, not wanting to have Dick's [[Character Development]] undone, suggested that instead, Dick Grayson could move on to a new identity and a new Robin could be introduced as a publicity stunt (since that sort of thing had never really happened before).
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** The Crisis really messed this up: how Dick Grayson could know about the Kandorian Nightwing when, post-Crisis, there were no other surviving Kryptonians (and hence no Kandor) was never properly explained. Eventually, a Kandor was introduced, but it wasn't like the original, and Grayson was Nightwing long before the city appeared.
*** For the record, post-Crisis the original Nightwing was a mythological Kryptonian hero-figure. When Superman got on a kick for rediscovering his Kryptonian heritage he learned the story of Nightwing, told Dick Grayson about it, and Dick was inspired to adopt the name for himself.
* Batman's other sidekick, [[
* Clayface, one of the Batman villains, has had no fewer than ''six'' entirely different people take the name and powers. In an odd divergence, the ''original'' Clayface didn't actually ''have'' any powers—until he arranged to duplicate those of his three "heirs".
* Batman and Robin's British counterparts aren't exempt, either. The original Knight and Squire were the Earl of Wordenshire and his son Cyril. The Earl was killed by one of his archenemies, and Cyril sank into depression, ending up in the gutter, where he was found by Beryl Hutchinson. Cyril took up his father's codename, becoming the new Knight, and Beryl became the new Squire.
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** This is ironic, as Infinity Inc. were currently annoying the [[Justice Society of America|Justice Society]] by taking the name of not only the team which several members did their 'apprenticeship' in (and which they had many dead friends in), but also those dead friends (and family members), all while actively disrespecting their late namesakes.
* Following the death of Peter Parker in the final issue of ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' (which takes place in a seperate timeline from the mainstream Marvel universe), the Spider-Man identity was taken up by Miles Morales, a young boy with similar abilities.
** Let's not forget Miguel O'Hara, better known as Spider-Man 2099. Then of course, there's Ben Reilly, Peter's clone, who took over as Spidey for a short time in the 90's. What's more, there was an Initiative trio known as the Scarlet Spiders, named for Ben's alter ego, and using suits based on the "Iron Spider" suit Tony Stark created for Peter during Civil War; only one is still alive, but he's still active as the Scarlet Spider. But wait, there's more! During Identity Crisis, Spidey was wanted for murder, so Peter adopted not one but FOUR alternate identities, each of which he passed on to another hero after returning to the webs. There's Ricochet(Johnny Gallo,) Dusk (Cassie St. Commons,) Hornet (Scotty McDowell, who preceded Peter, and Eddie
* Peter Paker's daughter May "Mayday" Parker, takes up the role of Spider-Girl, a female variation of the Spider-Mantle, to fight crime. later she's aided by a new Scarlet Spider (The Black Cat's daughter) and her own clone (who becomes a toss-up between a traditional Spider-Girl crusader and a homicidal Venom-like avenger)
* When Marvel's [[Squadron Supreme]] returned to their own universe, they found another Nighthawk operating, the original being dead. The new one was the biological child of the original's worst enemy, and became the original's adopted son after the original Nighthawk had killed his father.
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* [[Marvel Comics]]' [[Immortal Iron Fist]] was [[Retcon|Ret Conned]] to being a legacy character, with a lineage stretching back hundreds of years. This is why Iron Fist is immortal: the position will never die, only its occupants. This is also true of the other immortal weapons; there will always be a Dog Brother #1, always a Cobra Warrior, etc.
* Power Man is a complicated example. The first Power Man was a villain named Erik Josten before the name passed to its most famous holder, [[Luke Cage, Hero for Hire|Luke Cage]]. Luke currently goes by his civilian name and no longer wears a costume, so the identity has since fallen to Victor Alvarez, an Afro-Latino teenager who fancies himself a "hero for hire."
* Black Knight is another odd duck. The original was an actual Arthurian knight named Sir Percy who had his mantle taken up hundreds of years later by his
* Unknown to Fastback of ''[[Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew]]'', his uncle Merton McSnurtle is actually the long-retired Golden Age superhero the Terrific Whatzit, who like his nephew also possessed super-speed powers (plus several other abilities Fastback lacked).
* Averted ''hard'' in ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]'': Except for his [[Brother-Sister Incest|weirdness with his half-sister]] and Force powers, including some time on [[The Dark Side]] (Cade's still there. And he can raise the dead.), Cade Skywalker is ''nothing'' like his ancestor.
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* Much like Witchblade, ''[[The Mask]]'' more accurately describes the eponymous [[Artifact of Doom]], with the name taken up by whoever wears it. Not all are heroes, and even those who ''are'' fit more into [[Anti-Hero]] territory.
* [[Black Canary]] is an interesting case, having become her ''own'' legacy character. Originally there was only one Black Canary; however, as she was tied to WWII it eventually got to the point where she was clearly decades older than she had ever looked (and considerably older than her lover Green Arrow). This was "fixed" with the retcon that she was actually inhabiting the braindead body of her previously unmentioned daughter. [[Crisis on Infinite Earths|Crisis]] simplified this creepy idea by simply establishing that there were two Canaries, assigning the [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] stories to the mother and the [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] ones to the daughter.
* Russian heroes who work for the Russian government in the Marvel Universe tend to be replaced a lot; many are little more than [[Badass Normal]]s who the Kremlin can replace by passing the equipment to someone else if the current owner dies or is in jail. The current Crimson Dynamo is the ''thirteenth'' man to have the name. The current Red Guardian (aka Vanguard) is the seventh, and the leader of the Winter Guard. The Titanium Man is an odd case; Boris Bullski was the first man to wear the armor and Kondrati Topolov (aka the Gremlin) was the second, but, since Toplov's death, several others wearing the armor have appeared, with their identities unrevealed; at least some of them might actually have been Bullski, but this has not been verified.
** As of ''[[World War Hulk]]'', Crimson Dynamo suits are apparently available for purchase on the black market to criminal and terrorist organizations around the world, so it's possible there are far more than thirteen; the Gamma Corps takes on a few of them (rather easily) in their first
▲** As of ''[[World War Hulk]]'', Crimson Dynamo suits are apparently available for purchase on the black market to criminal and terrorist organizations around the world; the Gamma Corps takes on a few of them(rather easily) in their first offical mission.
* There have been several Two-Faces in the [[Batman]] comics including the first Two-Face Harvey Kent, the (appropriately enough) second Two-Face Harvey Dent, his butler Wilkins, Paul Sloane, an actor, George Blake, a petty criminal and Harvey Apollo, ''another'' actor.
* The original ''Paperinik'' has [[Donald Duck]] accidentally inheriting the legacy of [[Gentleman Thief]] Fantomius, a spoof of violent anti-heroes like Diabolik. While Paperinik is treated more as a Batman spoof these days, the origin is kept, and becomes a plot point in modern versions where Donald has to deal with old allies of Fantomius who assume he is Robin Hood-style criminal as well. Including a woman who was in love with the old chap, and thinks Donald is him in a new mask...
* [[Vandal Savage]] from ''DC Comics'' eventually became [[Genre Savvy]] enough to figure out this trope and decided to go wipe out a few 'hero lines'. He got a couple but failed some as well. A steel-based villain was sent to kill Commander Steel's family. He was stabbed in the mouth, bleeding ensued and that gave steel powers to the man's grandson. [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|Way to go, Savage]].
* In ''[[
** Dr. Robotnik himself could qualify, as the original version of him was defeated and then replaced by a Robotnik from another universe.
* Jeff Terrell was the original Shaft from [[Rob Liefeld]]'s ''[[Youngblood]]'', but ended up being replaced by a government-appointed successor immediately after quitting the team. Jeff's former teammates take great pleasure in referring to the newbie as "Not-Shaft" in order to get under his skin.
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* The mantle of [[The Phantom]] has been passed from father to son for 21 generations, spanning over 400 years. A longer legacy than most.
* The original Ray, Lanford Terril, had his identity taken up by his son, Ray Terril, who in turn had the identity briefly taken over by a man named Stan Silver before returning to the mantle once Silver was revealed as a traitor. In the wake of the New52 reboot, a new Ray named Lucien Gates was introduced. While his origin story acknowledges that he took his name from an existing hero, it is unknown exactly which, if any of the other Rays are currently still considered canon.
* The title character of ''[[Turok (comics)|Turok]]'', both in the comics and the video game adaptations. "Turok" may have been the actual name of the first one, but afterwards it was treated as a title given to his successors, [[Magical Native American]] warriors tasked with keeping the beasts of the Lost Lands away from Earth, and the title has been held by seven individuals as of the 2017 Dynamite Comics series.
* In most DC Comics continuities, this is true of the Royal Flush Gang, a team of criminals with a playing card theme specifically based on the highest hand in poker. Exactly how many incarnations there have been depend on the continuity: the first Gang (who used a Clubs insignia) appeared as competition to [[The Joker]] in ''[[Justice League of America]]'' during [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|the Silver Age]]; the second showed up quite a bit later (Justice League #204), led by by [[Green Lantern]] villain Hector Hammond and using a Spades insignia. The third group appeared in ''[[The Dark Age of Comic Books|Superman: Man of Steel #121]]'', where they were now a much larger organization with 52 members, one for each card in a standard deck. A new version of the team appeared Post-Crisis, and another made a cameo in [[The New 52]].
** In animation, they appeared in ''[[Super Friends]]'' and the [[DC Animated Universe]]; two different gangs have been seen on camera, one in the "regular" time period of ''[[Justice League (Animation)|Justice League]]'' and another in the future setting of ''[[Batman Beyond]]''. In the latter, Batman claims the gang's roots go back even before his time, and the [[Series Finale]] suggests a new one is forming. In all cases, it seems each individual group had little connection to each other besides the names and inspiration.
* Maxima, - a villain who is traditionally a [[Stalker with a Crush]] or [[Yandere]] towards [[Superman]] - is this in [[The New 52]], where it is stated that "Maxima" is a title, not her name. Curiously, the version of Maxima who appears here is a lesbian - and is after [[Supergirl]].
* The moniker of the [[Foolkiller]] has been held by three individuals, Ross G. Everbest, Greg Salinger (also the current title holder), and Kurt Gerhardt; a fourth, Mike Trace, holds the identity in the MAX Comics imprint. While all four share the goal of hunting down and eliminating "fools", the definition of that term varies among them.
* [[X-Men]] villain Apocalypse has four henchmen named after [[The Four Horsemen]], but the turnover rate for all four is ''incredibly'' high. Not counting the eight unnamed individuals who made up the first and second incarnations of the team, the position of Death has been held by ''twelve'' superhumans (Angel, Caliban, Wolverine, Professor X, Gambit, Psylocke, Sanjar Javeed, Storm, Banshee, Daken, Grim Reaper, Sentry), Famine four times (Autumn Rolfson, Ahab, Sunfire, and Jeb Lee), Pestilence six times (Plague, Caliban, Polaris, and Ichisumi), and War seven times (Abraham Kieros, the Hulk, Deathbird, Gazer, Decimus Furius, Collossus, and a third unnamed individual). As that roster suggests, he habit of recruiting heroes (who are often either disgruntled or brainwashed) might be the biggest problem here.
== [[Fan
* This is the premise of several ''[[Death Note]]'' fanfics, like ''[[Kira Is Justice]]''.
* In the
* In the ''[[Fallout]]''/''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfic ''[[Fallout Equestria]]'', at least
* In ''[[Saw]]'', Jigsaw trains someone to do his job after he dies. [[Gambit Pileup|Four people]], actually.▼
▲== Film ==
* In ''[[The Santa Clause]]'', the [[God Job|job of being Santa]] was passed down whenever the old Santa died. To whoever got the Santa suit.▼
▲* In ''Saw'', Jigsaw trains someone to do his job after he dies. [[Gambit Pileup|Four people]], actually.
▲* In ''The Santa Clause'', the [[God Job|job of being Santa]] was passed down whenever the old Santa died. To whoever got the Santa suit.
▲** ''Ernest Saves Christmas'' has a similar premise, but the passing down of the job is due to the need to "recharge" Santa's mystical capabilities, which gradually fade as someone carries out the job. No dying necessary, but on the other hand, it puts Christmas in jeopardy.
** Another similar example, Aardman's ''[[Arthur Christmas]]'' has the job of Santa be passed down from father to son.
* In the [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] film series, Q's associate (nicknamed "R" by James) played by [[John Cleese]] from ''[[The World Is Not Enough]]'' succeeds the late Desmond Llewelyn's Q in the followup film ''[[Die Another Day]]''.
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** Though according to one of the producers, the original plan for ''Godzilla: Final Wars'' was to have Godzilla in that be Junior, but rewrites removed specifically naming himself as such.
** MOTHRA!
* A copyright issue forced the retconning of ''[[The Invisible Man (novel)|The Invisible Man]]'' into this in ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]''.
** That, and the original character (Griffin) was an [[Ax Crazy]] psychopathic rapist, which would've been harder to squeeze into a heroic role than the film's formula-stealing burglar.
* ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'': The Dread Pirate Roberts. The pirate captain who took Wesley as a protégé was in fact the fourth man to have the position, later [[Passing the Torch]] to Wesley himself. as he told Wesley, the name was the important part - nobody would be afraid of the Dread Pirate Wesley. It is implied at the end of the movie that Wesley in turn passes the title to Inigo, seeing as Inigo has no idea what to do now that he's achieved the goal he's pursued so long.<ref>This is also a [[Stealth Pun]]: In Inigo's own words, he has been in the revenge business for decades. The Dread Pirate Roberts' ship is ''The Revenge''.</ref>
▲* ''[[The Princess Bride (film)|The Princess Bride]]'': The Dread Pirate Roberts.
* Several exist in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' universe. Perhaps most notable are Jango Fett and Boba Fett, who becomes the best bounty hunter in the galaxy just like his genetic dad was twenty years prior.
* After the original Chatterer was killed in ''Hellbound: Hellraiser II'', two new character with similar attributes (Chatter Beast and Torso) showed up, with an entirely new Chatterer (dubbed Chatterer III, even though Chatterer II was just the original with enhancements) eventually appearing.
* In ''[[The A-Team (film)|The
* The 2000 version of ''[[Shaft]]'' features the titular ex-detective, played by [[Samuel L. Jackson]], getting a pep talk from his uncle, the original "bad mother...shut yo' mouth!" played by Richard Roundtree.
* Unlike [[Made of Iron|most slasher movie villains]], Ghostface from ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]'' is very much killable; the trouble is there's more than one. In order, they are: {{spoiler|Billy and Stu in the first film, Mrs. Loomis and Mickey in the second, Roman in the third, and Jill and Charlie in the fourth}}. Despite being several different people, they use [[Voice Changeling|voice masking]] when talking to their victims over the phone; the same actor does the phone voice throughout the series, and retains a similar personality, despite the various personalities the killers display when not in costume.
* In the 2006 movie ''[[Beerfest]]'',
* Jason Voorhees almost became one in the fifth ''[[Friday the 13th]]'' film, but poor reception forced him to return from the dead in the next sequel.
* Frankenstein in the ''[[Death Race]]'' movies.
* In ''[[The Fifth Element]]'', the [[Eldritch Abomination|Ultimate Evil]] who plans to attack the Earth is implied to be the second to do so, the first having done so 5,000 years ago, but was slain [[Artistic License Astronomy| with its body becoming Earth's moon]]. {{spoiler| At the end of the movie, the same fate befalls its successor, and it becomes Earth's second moon.}} This further suggests [[Fridge Horror| there may be even ''more'' of them.]]
== [[Literature]] ==
* Mandalore in the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]''.
* The Fat Controller in the original ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine|Railway Series]]'' was a nickname given to Sir Topham Hatt. This nickname was inherited by his son Sir Charles Topham Hatt, and later by Charles' own son Sir Steven Hatt.
* In ''[[The Princess Bride (novel)|The Princess Bride]]'', we have the Dread Pirate Roberts, where the previous Roberts handed the title over to another when he wanted to retire. And so forth—there've been about half a dozen Dread
** A similar situation is found in ''The Legend of Johnny Lingo'', wherein we learn that the "Johnny Lingo" that we've met is not the original bearer of that name, and is about to pass it on to his protegé.
* In the Science Fiction novel ''Santiago'' by Mike Resnick, the revolutionary anarchist Santiago is eventually revealed to be the title that different successors took.
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** Lauren Willig's ''[[Pink Carnation]]'' book series features the line of heroes that come ''after'' the Scarlet Pimpernel—the Purple Gentian and the Pink Carnation. (On the villain side, there's the Black Tulip.)
* Subverted with Belgarath and Polgara of ''[[The Belgariad]]''. The Tolnedrans refuse to believe that any kind of sorcery or magic can exist, so to settle the argument as to how Belgarath and Polgara can live so long, they decide that "Belgarath" and "Polgara" are hereditary titles that are passed down to each generation.
** But first played straight with Eternal Salmissra, the Queen of the snake-worshipping Nyissans. When the current Salmissra is advancing in age, palace eunuchs will search the country for
*** And then subverted after the current Salmissra upsets Polgara {{spoiler|by kidnapping Garion and nearly making him her slave, with the intent of turning him over to Torak in exchange for immortality}}. You'd think the Nyissans had learned from their predecessors not to make her or Belgarath angry, as that ploy had been used on them before. {{spoiler|Polgara grants Salmissra the immortality she wanted, but also turns her into a giant snake.}}
** And then there's Brand, the Rivan Warder. Always a solid and dependable person, [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|completely loyal to the Rivan Throne]], who gives up his own name when he takes on the function as Rivan Warder.
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* From the [[Star Trek Novel Verse]], there's Astraea, leader of the Oralian faith and vessel for the guiding spirit, Oralius.
{{quote|"My mother's name was Astraea. My daughter's name will be Astraea."}}
* In ''[[Robots of the Dawn]]'', [[Isaac Asimov]] features the Chairman of the Legislature of Aurora. In order to represent the continuity of the office, he is '''never''' addressed except as "Mr. Chairman".
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' series, The Archive. She is a living repository of all human knowledge (or at least, all written human knowledge-how much beyond that isn't terribly clear), and the job is passed down from mother to daughter as the mother nears the end of her life. Normally this isn't such a big deal as the daughter is usually somewhere in the general vicinity of middle age when this happens, but in the current Archive's case, it happened just after birth; she's seven when she first meets Harry.
* In ''[[Thursday Next|The Eyre Affair]]'', [[Big Bad|Acheron Hades]] has a mute henchman named Felix-8. As it turns out, he liked the original Felix so much that when he died, he found a random person off the street, mind-controlled him, then ''took Felix's face off and replaced the person's face with it''. As can be deduced, he'd done it seven times so far...
* In [[Kim Newman]]'s ''[[Diogenes Club]]'' story "Cold Snap", set in the 1970s, we're
* In ''[[Honor Harrington]]'', the Royal Manticoran Navy maintains a "List of Honor" to give a proper memorial to ships participating in (and mostly being destroyed or heavily damaged by) particularly heroic actions. Any name on the list wll be carried by a ship in active service - and when it's destroyed, the name is passed on to one newly built. Some are even restricted to a certain class of ship, as well. Notable examples are the ''Nike'' and ''Fearless'', though 20+ years of war is adding names with terrifying regularity.
* R.A. Salvatore's ''[[The Crimson Shadow]]'' has the main character accidentally inheriting a very famous thief's cloak of invisibility. The heroes of the book turn this to their advantage by using the publicity of having the Crimson Shadow on their side. One of the villains muses that the original Crimson Shadow is long dead and wasn't a particularly good thief.
* In the [[Expanded Universe]] novels for ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'' by [[Michael Ely]], the leaders of the factions survive the centuries by using life extension treatments developed by Zakharov. However, by the end of the second novel, Sheng-ji Yang is captured and imprisoned for attempting to eliminate all the other faction leaders. The opposition leader Jin Long is installed as the leader of the Human Hive in his place. However, Yang's daughter discovers that Long is actually Yang's clone, specifically created at his own request in the event he would become too rigid to deal with what was coming. Long was to become the new Yang (he even took the name) and used Yang's memory-recording machine to become more like the original. However, the third book reveals that the new Yang became corrupt and decadent, eschewing the original's philosophies in exchange for personal gratification. His wife (Yang's daughter; apparently, she suffers from a weird case of the Electra complex) assassinates him and also takes up the name/title Chairman Yang.
== [[Live
* In ''[[Help! I'm
* ''[[Star Trek]]'' has the various incarnations of the ''Enterprise NCC-1701''. In fact, many ships in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' have counterparts in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', though not all are similar to the originals in design.
** The ''Enterprise NCC-1701'' is widely assumed to be the only ship in Starfleet to have its serial number recycled consistently, which is a testament to the importance of Kirk's five-year mission and subsequent voyages in Federation history. At least one possible future - and probably all of them - has a ship named ''Enterprise'' with the serial number NCC-1701-'''J''' (in this particular future, [http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/USS_Enterprise_%28NCC-1701-J%29 a ''Universe''-class ship in operation in the 26th century]), which means the serial number has been carried on for ''three hundred years'' and borne by ''eleven different vessels''. '''Holy shit'''.
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** A more traditional example occurs in the finale of ''[[Gosei Sentai Dairanger]]'': {{spoiler|50 years after the defeat of Gohma, the grandchildren of the original Dairangers inherit their powers when Gohma returns.}}
** The main characters of ''[[Ninja Sentai Kakuranger]]'' are implied to have inherited their powers from their ancestors as well.
* The main character in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' holds a title that has been assigned to young women like her since before recorded history, Buffy likely having thousands of of predecessors, although in the final season (related in the comic book) Buffy is able to bestow the title on multiple other recruits while keeping it herself, in response to the task becoming bigger. The [[Grand Finale]] of the series shows this tradition will last until at least the 23rd Century.
* On ''[[Human Target]]'', the identity of Christopher Chance seems to be a Dread Pirate Roberts sort of deal; in the first season finale we meet the previous holder of the name (played by [[The Six Million Dollar Man|Lee Majors]]) and he explains that ''he'' picked it up from another guy. {{spoiler|The current Christopher Chance used to be an assassin, and it's implied that the one before him was one as well.}}
* Both the BBC ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' and the 1980s ITV ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'' feature the death of the real Robin Hood and a new figure taking up the name and tasks of Robin to continue the legend.
* ''[[The Onion
== [[Music]] ==▼
▲== Music ==
* In a somewhat controversial move, the rock band KISS has passed the makeup characters of the Spaceman and Catman on to new members (Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer respectively) following the departures of original members Ace Frehley and Peter Criss in the early 2000s (Frehley left in 2002. Criss departed in 2001, returned in 2003, and left again in 2004, replaced by Singer both times.). This move is in contrast to the pair's original exit in the early 80s, when their replacements (Vinnie Vincent and Eric Carr, respectively, with Singer taking up his first drummer stint with the band after Carr died in the early 90's) were given unique personas.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* [[The Phantom (comic strip)|The Phantom]] is possibly the oldest Legacy Character in all of comics and possibly the originator of this for comic books in general. He has no powers but gives the illusion of immortality due to the fact that the mantle of the Phantom is passed down from father to son in an unbroken line dating back to the 1500s. This was so creator Lee Falk could do stories involving
==
▲* [[The Phantom (comic strip)|The Phantom]] is possibly the oldest Legacy Character in all of comics and possibly the originator of this for comic books in general. He has no powers but gives the illusion of immortality due to the fact that the mantle of the Phantom is passed down from father to son in an unbroken line dating back to the 1500s. This was so creator Lee Falk could do stories involving Pirates, Mobsters, and everything in between. The sheer depth of history and number of Phantoms (over twenty in the 1930s alone, with some writers attempting to continue the history into the present day) marks him as possibly the best example.
* In Japanese [[Professional Wrestling]] (or ''puroresu'', as the cool kids call it), both Tiger Mask and his arch-rival, Black Tiger, have been played by four different wrestlers, and this is framed as the handing-down of a legacy. It's interesting to note that Tiger Mask is always a Japanese wrestler, and Black Tiger is always a foreigner. (Also of note is that the real identity of Black Tiger is publicly known, while Tiger Mask is kept secret).
** The "always a foreigner" rule for Black Tiger was averted with the appearance of the fifth Black Tiger, portrayed by Tatsuhiko Takaiwa. He didn't last long in the role, however.
* This is also popular in Mexican wrestling (or ''lucha libre''), due to the preponderance of masked wrestlers there. To name just one example, [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]]'s Rey Mysterio was known in his early career as Rey Misterio Jr. because his uncle, the original Rey Misterio, handed the mantle down to him (and had to seek special permission from said uncle in order to drop the Jr. from his ring name).
* Another ''[[Lucha Libre]]'' example is El Hijo del Santo, who inherited his mask from his father, the legendary El Santo, shortly before the latter died.
** And the original Rey Misterio's son is now wrestling as El Hijo de Rey Misterio.
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* When La Parka (Adolfo Tapia) starting working for WCW, AAA in Mexico created La Parka Jr. with Jesus Escobedo donning the mask. In 2003, AAA decided to enforce their trademark of the original character and Escobedo dropped the Jr. and Tapia became L.A. Park.
== [[Radio]] ==▼
▲== Radio ==
* In the original radio series, [[The Green Hornet]] was said to be the nephew of [[The Lone Ranger]]. The 1990s NOW comic, which did not have the rights to the Ranger, could only allude to this, but established that the Hornet identity was itself a legacy, featuring the nephew of the TV Hornet, who in turn was revealed to be the nephew of the radio character.
* ''[[Red Panda Adventures]]'' had the Red Squirrel, the Flying Squirrel's great-great-granddaughter, who came back in time because one of ''her'' [[Rogues Gallery]] was trying to wipe our heroes out and prevent her from existing. (She may or may not also be the Red Panda's great-great-granddaughter...)
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* The roleplaying game ''[[7th Sea]]'' has the Dread Pirate Reis. In this case, there's a lot more emphasis on the Dread part of the equation.
* Every time an Eldar Phoenix Lord in [[Warhammer 40,000]] dies, their soul is absorbed into the armor they wear. The next wearer of the armor adds their expertise to the knowledge and skills of all the prior Phoenix Lords, back to the first one whose name they still bear. No wonder these people can take on armies all by themselves.
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' set "Future Sight" introduced a cycle of five legacy characters, each holding the title of a former legend from ''Magic'' history. The five "future" legends (and the ones they descend from) are [https://web.archive.org/web/20090502035744/http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=136208 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade] ([
** Also, [
** As well, from the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090604150040/http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr153 Unhinged FAQTIWDAWCC] entry on [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74301 Fraction Jackson] (scroll down):
{{quote|''' This card's name and flavor text imply he is a singular person. Why isn't he a legendary creature?'''
Because there isn't just one Fraction Jackson. There is a Golden Age version. There is a Silver Age version. There is the Modern Age version, of course. There is the African American version that showed up in the seventies when the Silver Age version was briefly incapacitated. There, is of course, the alien version that retroactively predated the Golden Age version. There is the female version that briefly wore the costume during the scandal of Secret Crisis Conflict. Well, you get the idea. }}
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** There are also deliberately "open" legacies, such as the Scarab, enabling the PCs to take these roles.
* In Arthaus's first 3E Gazetteer for the [[Ravenloft]] setting, the narrator speculates that Harkon Lukas may be an example of this trope, as references to a bard with that name appear over and over throughout the oral history of Kartakass. {{spoiler|Subverted in that they're either false history or all the same guy, who's been the domain's unaging darklord since it was created.}}
* Crimson Banner Executioner in ''[[Exalted]]'' is a Sidereal whose reincarnations take up the magical armor and same name as their predecessor when they Exalt, and not only that, they are mentored by the spirit of their previous incarnation, which inhabits the armor.
* The Bounty Hunter in ''[[BattleTech]]'' - a series of mercenaries who all wore a [[Lost Technology|LosTech]] suit of [[Powered Armor]], and piloted neon green [[Humongous Mecha|battlemechs]] covered in [[Bling of War|cash signs]]. The Bounty Hunter hunts down notorious criminals on the battlefield. In-universe, the Bounty Hunter is also the subject of a bunch of action movies with gratuitous amounts of violence
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
* The [[The Legend of Zelda|''Legend of Zelda'' franchise]] features a new and not-very-different Link in nearly every game, with the same green tunic, Master Sword (or some other sword with potent magical properties), various other mainstay items, and left-handedness (except in ''[[Skyward Sword]]''). This was explicitly referenced in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'', where the Links are fully aware that they are taking up the mantle of the previous hero, and even ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl'' references it in one of [[Metal Gear Solid|Snake's]] codec conversations. Each release usually features a new Zelda, too, and in later games, this can approach [[Generation Xerox]] levels, with even minor characters like Malon and Beedle getting new incarnations.▼
▲== Video Games ==
** Apparently, while it had always been common to name Hylian princesses "Zelda" in honor of the one from ''Skyward Sword'', it wasn't until much later when the name became mandatory. Basically, the brother of the Zelda from ''[[Zelda II: The
▲* ''Zelda'' features a new and not-very-different Link in nearly every game, with the same green tunic, Master Sword (or some other sword with potent magical properties), various other mainstay items, and left-handedness (except in ''[[Skyward Sword]]''). This was explicitly referenced in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]]'', where the Links are fully aware that they are taking up the mantle of the previous hero, and even ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Brawl'' references it in one of [[Metal Gear Solid|Snake's]] codec conversations. Each release usually features a new Zelda, too, and in later games, this can approach [[Generation Xerox]] levels, with even minor characters like Malon and Beedle getting new incarnations.
▲** Apparently, while it had always been common to name Hylian princesses "Zelda" in honor of the one from ''Skyward Sword'', it wasn't until much later when the name became mandatory. Basically, the brother of the Zelda from ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|Zelda II the Adventure of Link]]'' grew jealous of her power, but his plan to take her power wound up with Zelda in an "eternal" sleep. Feeling guilty, he made a royal decree that all princesses of the Hyrule line shall be named "Zelda."
** The artbook ''Hyrule Historia'' makes note that only some of the Links are related to each other, but brings up the possibility that a number of them carry the blood of the Hylian Knights.
*** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The
** Impa, Zelda's nursemaid/bodyguard, actually looks different in each of her incarnations, having been everything from a feeble old woman to a muscular warrior.
** Hyrule itself is a Legacy Country in ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* Jack of Blades in ''[[Fable]]'' is not one man, but a series of men who have all been deceived into wearing Jack's Mask and becoming possessed.
* The various Cyborg Ninja in ''[[Metal Gear]]'', as well as the Snakes (from The Boss, to Big Boss/Naked Snake, to Solid Snake, and finally to Raiden).
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* The version of [[Donkey Kong]] that first appeared in ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' is the grandson (or possibly just son, depending on who you ask) of the giant ape who antagonized [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]] (Jumpman) in the original arcade game.
** And, in fact, the original Donkey Kong appears in that game as "Cranky Kong", an elderly ape complete with long white beard and cane.
* ''[[Anarchy Reigns]]'' has one with Blacker Baron being a copycat for Black Baron from [[MadWorld]].
* If ''Buriki One'' and ''Neo Geo Battle Coliseum'' have anything to say about it, [[Art of Fighting|Mr. Karate]] is a legacy character, in this case the title of the current master of Kyokugenryuu Karate (Takuma Sakazaki in AOF, his son Ryo later on.)
* The ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' spin-off series ''[[Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army|Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha]]'' has an in-universe example; the player character, who can be given any name, is known by almost everyone in-game as "Raidou Kuzunoha", and he is the fourteenth person to take up the mantle of the eponymous Devil Summoner.
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' has an in-universe Legacy Character in Manticore, the [[Alternate Company Equivalent]] of Batman, who took up his father's mantle after [[Harmful to Minors|watching his murder by one of his enemies]].
* The ''[[Overlord]]'' games follow different [[Evil Overlord]]s in each game, with the second game following the son of the one from the first game while Overlord: Dark Legends follows one of his predecessors.
* Corak, the [[Big Good]] of the first five ''[[Might and Magic]]'' games. Despite his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in the fifth game, another Corak appears in the eighth. An android, it seems "Corak" is the name of the model, meaning the one in ''VIII'' is a different Corak, built to replace the first.
* Lutz in ''[[Phantasy Star]]''. While he's supposed to be the same guy in the first two games, the English version renamed him Noah, leading to them being two different people who just happen to look alike and share memories and a personality. The fourth game is more straightforward. {{spoiler|Although Lutz has been dead for ages, his successors inherit his will and memory and become the next Lutz, which is a very important secret role in Esper society, and extremely confining. This is why Rune is gallivanting around Motavia when you first meet him; he's Number Five.}}
* ''[[Tekken]]'' has Yoshimitsu (highly suspected to be descended from the [[Soul Series]] character of the same name), King (who is in fact King II from the third game onwards), Kuma (who from the third game onwards is the second Kuma), Asuka (who is the niece of Jun, who only appeared in the second game and is presumed killed), Hwoarang (Baek's student), Christine (Eddy's student), Roger Jr. (Roger's wife and son) and the Jack robots (who are all updated versions of the previous one). Jin is Kazuya's son and fights like him. Julia is Michelle's daughter and Xiaoyu is Wang's granddaughter. As a result nearly all of the characters fight similarly to their older characters, but not identically.
* As of ''[[Soul Series|SoulCalibur V]]'', Nightmare has also become this. After the original Nightmare was [[Killed Off for Real]] by Siegfried at the end of the fourth game, Soul Edge obtained a new host known as Graf Dumas {{spoiler|who is implied, though not directly stated to be Raphael}}, who has also taken up the Nightmare identity. Siegfried even says at one point that "Nightmare" is the name given to the current wielder of Soul Edge.
** Astaroth and Yoshimitsu also qualify. The former is one of many clones that were created using the original Astaroth's heart. The latter is a new man who took on the identity after slaying the original Yoshimitsu and became Yoshimitsu The Second.
* ''[[Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions]]'' featured Serena Patel, the new Doctor Octopus from the year 2099. She idolized the original Doc Ock, and modeled her villainous identity after his as a tribute.
* ''[[Turok (series)|Turok]]'' features a Navajo Warrior in the first game named Tal'Set Fireseed. ''Turok 2'' takes place hundreds of years later and features Joshua Fireseed, Tal'Set's Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandson; a modern day teenager; who is then replaced by Danielle Fireseed, his Great-Great-Great Niece in the third game.
* The ''[[Breath of Fire]]'' series has an incarnation of Ryu and Princess Nina for each of its five installments.
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* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', the name of Darth Traya is a title passed down to Sith Lords who "[have] been betrayed in their heart, and will betray in turn."
* Throughout its 20+ year run, there has been one "Mega Man" for each of the ''seven'' series. The only exception, is the eponymous character from ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' [[I Am Not Shazam|despite popular beliefs.]] ''[[Mega Man ZX]]'' and ''Advent'' makes up for it by having "Mega Man" as an ''actual title'' used by other characters (including the [[Big Bad]]s!).
* Umbra from ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series is a very dark version of this. The name is actually of an [[Infinity+1 Sword]] enchanted by a witch to be able to devour souls. In ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'', there are characters who have named themselves after the sword. Both of them were warriors that found and used took the sword, but it had a mind of it's own and [[Nightmare Fuel|drove them insane, forcing them to kill everyone near and dear in order to sate it's ravenous hunger for souls.]] Only a few Umbras are known, but many more are hinted to have existed.
** Then there is the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, a demonic artefact which erases the identity of anyone who wears it and replaces it with that of the notorious master thief, The Gray Fox. The guild has been led by several people wearing the mask for at least three centuries. The player character can break the curse eventually, making it a nifty free ticket to unprosecuted crimes.
** On a lighter note, M'aiq the Liar is a Khajiit (read: cat-person) who appears in Morrowind, Oblivion, and now Skyrim to make fourth-wall-breaking jokes about the game's mechanics and other related topics. The Skyrim's M'aiq reveals they are a bloodline of Khajiits with the same name and character.
* ''[[Champions Online]]'' has "Black Mask", the first of whom had apparently fought in the American Revolution. The current "Black Mask" is the tenth one, and the first woman to bear the title.
** One mission even has you fight all of the Black Mask's previous incarnations when they get revived as zombies.
* ''[[Street Fighter]]'' has a stealth one in Yun. The "Lee Brothers", Yun and Yang, are in fact Lee's nephews. Yun has the same ponytail/blue cap combo and uses the same dash punch move. Of course, Lee only appeared in the first Street Fighter game, so hardly anybody knows who he is.
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'', over its long history, has a few examples of this.
** Most of the [[Summon Magic|summons]] ([[Depending on the Artist|...most of them]]) share names and appearances over the series.
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* There appear to have been at least three people known as "[[Wonder Boy]]" in the video game series of the same name: Bock Lee Temjin, AKA "Tom-Tom", from ''[[Wonder Boy (video game)|Wonder Boy]]'', ''[[Wonder Boy in Monster Land]]'', and ''[[Wonder Boy III the Dragons Trap]]''; Leo, from ''[[Video Game/Wonder Boy III Dragons Lair|Wonder Boy III Dragons Lair]]'', and Shion from ''[[Wonder Boy in Monster World]]''.
* The ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' series ''runs'' on this trope, with Desmond Miles being the descendant of Altaïr Ibn La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore da Firenze, both of whom were legendary Master Assassins (and eventual Grand Masters) of the Assassin Order in their day, and Desmond himself being trained to be an Assassin by immersion in Ezio's memories.
* All of the classes from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' are passed down from mercenary to mercenary.
* In ''[[Zettai Hero Project]]'', the title of Unlosing Ranger is passed along from person to person, often done very shortly after the previous Unlosing Ranger is killed. After giving up the title to the main character, Pirohiko (the previous title holder) stays with him as a [[Spirit Advisor]] of sorts until he is able to fulfill his mission and defeat Darkdeath Evilman.
* Reimu Hakurei in ''[[Touhou]]'' is one of many shrine maidens who held her position as keeper of balance in Gensokyo. "Hakurei" is her title and the name of her shrine, her actual birth name is unknown. How the process behind the succession to the title works is also mostly left to the players' imagination.
* Parodied in the webcomic ''[[Supermegatopia]]'' with Captain Mayfly; since mayflies only live about 24 hours, the mantle of Captain Mayfly tends to get passed down ''very'' quickly. A relatively straight example is [https://web.archive.org/web/20161018115152/http://www.supermegatopia.com/comics/bob.php Rocket Bob].▼
▲* Parodied in the webcomic ''[[Supermegatopia]]'' with Captain Mayfly; since mayflies only live about 24 hours, the mantle of Captain Mayfly tends to get passed down ''very'' quickly. A relatively straight example is [http://www.supermegatopia.com/comics/bob.php Rocket Bob].
* Lampshaded twice in ''[[Lightbringer (web comic)|Lightbringer]]''. First main character thought that if he dies, there will be no one to be his Legacy Character, because he's the world's first and only superhero. Later he says to his best friend that she's only person that could replace him if he died.
* In ''[[Magellan]]'': {{spoiler|Bill Banks takes the identity of Victory Man II}}
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* ''[[Spinnerette]]'': Green Gable is a superhero identity handed down the line of descent from the original [[Anne of Green Gables]]. The current one is [[Wholesome Crossdresser|the first dude in the costume]], which he [[Real Men Wear Pink|hasn't bothered to make even slightly manlier]].
== [[Web Original]] ==
▲== Web Original ==
* Due to its non-sliding timescale, the [[Less Than Three Comics|LessThanThree-Verse]] abounds in legacy characters, from Uncle Sam I & II (with Miss Liberty inbetween), to the three American Eagles, to Mr GL and his spiritual successor GL.
* In the [[Whateley Universe]], the superhero Champion is like this. The original Champion (back in the '30s and '40s) rescued two kids from a supervillain and gave them part of the Champion Force to keep them from dying (according to [[Word of God]]). They became Miss Champion and Champion Junior. When Champion died, he passed the Champion Force on to Champion Junior, who became the second Champion. They get killed eventually. The world is now on Champion number 6, with preparations already made for Champion 7.
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* The Grand Lake Heroes League in ''[[Legion of Nothing]]''. The League was original made up of former WWII special forces soldiers who came home and kept fighting bad guys. In the [[Present Day]], their children/grandchildren have restarted it, with many of them adopted their forebears identities, and in some cases, enemies.
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Beast Wars]]'' and pretty much every incarnation of ''[[Transformers]]'' since then, including several specific character homages. The Optimus Prime of any given series is almost always a parallel to the original, though generally in another continuity.
** ''Beast Wars'' Megatron actually paid homage to this trope, with a tendency to refer to the original as "my namesake". Worth noting is that Megatron is one of the few legacy characters who, rather than being ''offered'' the mantle, decided he wanted it and just ''took'' it.
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* In the original [[Ben 10]] series, its revealed that in one possible future, Ben gives his son Ken a second Omnitrix. To further the legacy, Ken wears the same outfit Ben wore as a kid. Also, an evil example occurs with Delvin, Kevin 11's son, who has his father's powers and pretends to be him in his first attack. {{spoiler|This ultimately ends up being an ironic legacy to both his own timeline and the [[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]] Timeline, he starts as a villain but joins Ben's team, the Alien Force Kevin does the same}}.
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' do this via [[Reincarnation]]. The responsibilities of learning all the elements, protecting the balance and being a bridge between the Spirit World and the physical world remain, with each successive Avatar treated as a unique being who can access their predecessors as individual [[Spirit Advisor]]s, or in gestalt in a [[Super Mode]].
** In a less benevolent example from ''Avatar'', there are the multiple Ju Dees created by the Dai Li of Ba Sing Se with hypnosis and brainwashing.
* In ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', the episode "Downtime" shows Kid Flash at a birthday party for Jay Garrick, the original Flash. Wally's uncle, Barry Allen, is his mentor and the present Flash. In the tie-in comics, Wally explains that Jay was active in the 1940s and '50s as The Flash, while Barry picked up the mantle after duplicating the original [[Freak Lab Accident]] that gave Jay his powers—and Wally, in turn, used Barry's notes to replicate the "accident" for a third time.
* ''[[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee]]'' has a legacy of heroes known by the title of Te Xuan Ze.
* ''[[Batman: The Brave
** Not to mention the series had more than one [[Blue Beetle]] appear.
{{quote|'''Blue Beetle (III):''' ''Knockoff?!'' I prefer to think of myself as a reimagined hero for a new generation.}}
** [[Black Canary]] is also noted to have taken her title from her mother.
* On ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', there are heroic examples in the super science mantle of the Ventures as well as Captain Sunshine {{spoiler|whose predecessor now acts at his butler, though still possessing superpowers of his own.}} On the villainous side, the Phantomos family line with the heir being the Phantom Limb as well as the Guild of Calamitous Intent passing down the Sovereign title.
{{quote|'''Phantom Limb:''' Who died and made ''you'' the Sovereign?
'''Sovereign:''' That would be my predecessor, ''Force Majeure.'' }}
* ''[[Miraculous Ladybug]]'' is big on this. The Miraculous charms are several thousand years old, and have been held by many humans, often by [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy| historic or mythical figures]].
** The Ladybug Miraculous - currently held by [[The Hero| protagonist Marinette]] - was first used by a woman in ancient China named Piáo Chóng; by sheer coincidence (probably) [[Identical Stranger| she and Marinette]] look very alike. [[Epileptic Trees| (Well,]] [[Reincarnation| it's ''probably'']] [[Identical Ancestor| a coincidence...]] Fans who [[Law of Conservation of Detail| know how this show works might say otherwise]].) Other holders include [[Magical Native American| La Mariquita]] (Native American Mexican woman, lived during the Mexican War of Independence), [[Aztec| Micazoyolin]] (Aztec warrior, probably from the 15th Century or earlier), [[Greek Mythology| Hippolyta]] and [[Joan of Arc]].
** The Cat Miraculous - currently held by Adrien - has only one named former holder (presumably there were many more), Hēi Māo, the first holder. Oddly, he was a close friend and frequent partner of Piáo Chóng, much like the current Ladybug and Cat Noir are. This, of course, doesn't help debunk a lot of the aforementioned odd fan theories, [[Reincarnation Romance| and adds a few...]]
** Other examples of this include [[The Pied Piper of Hamelin| the Pied Piper]] (former holder of the Fox Miraculous), [[Journey to the West| Sun Wukong]] (former holder of the Monkey Miraculous), and [[Celtic Mythology| Cernunnos]], who is known to have been a Miraculous holder, but which Miraculous he had is not revealed. [https://miraculousladybug.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Former_Miraculous_holders A full list of known former holders is here.]
** Marinette and Adrien's [[Eccentric Mentor]] Master Wang Fu was previously the holder of the Turtle Miraculous, which was later used mostly by Nino, although Master Fu did indeed use it one last time before officially retiring.
** Theoretically, Marinette (who as of the episode "Miracle Queen" is officially [[The Chooser of the One]]s) could "lend" a Miraculous to anyone if the crisis at hand was dire enough, but if that happens, she usually gives the same Miraculous to whoever is most familiar with it, like Alya given the Fox and Nano given the Turtle.
** Villain example: {{spoiler|Gabriele Agreste}} is the first Hawk Moth, but the episode {{spoiler| "Timetagger" reveals he will not be the last. No info has been given as yet about this second Hawk Moth's identity, although again, fans have quite a few suspects in mind.}}
* In both versions of ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'', the Sorceress is a title that has been held by many women who have protected Castle Greyskull. The original version shows how the current Sorceress gained the position as a young girl, while the relaunch names Queen Veena (wife and queen of King Greyskull, the warrior from whom the Castle's power originated) as the first Sorceress.
** Consequently, He-Man himself could be considered the second King Greyskull. In fact, when Adam chants "[[By the Power of Grayskull]]!" he is actually calling upon King Greyskull's power, ''not'' the Castle's.
* In ''[[Rudolph's Shiny New Year]]'', the role of Father Time is a title that one individual holds for one year, passing the position to the infant New Year every December 31st. In his efforts to rescue the next "heir" (at the bequest of the current Father Time), Rudolph recieves help from three previous holders of the title, O.M. (from the Stone Age), [[Knight in Shining Armor|Sir 1023]] (Medieval times), and Sev (Colonial America).
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* Ships, particularly of the naval sort, frequently use the names of illustrious predecessors:
** The
*** And the Enterprise space shuttle test vehicle. It would have been the second shuttle to fly, but design changes made the refit prohibitively expensive. This is more a legacy of ''[[Star Trek]]'' than of the US Navy directly, though.
** ''Ark Royal'' has been the name of five British naval vessels, four aircraft carriers.
** There have been six HMS ''Victory'' vessels. Number six is the Trafalgar one, still in commission as a museum ship.
** There have also been six ships to bear the USS ''Lexington'' moniker. The latest one was decommissioned in the 1970s and currently serves as a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas.
** The Dutch Royal Navy always has, by royal edict, a ''Jan van Speyk''. Named after a naval officer who chose to blow up his ship rather than surrender to the Belgians during the Belgian War of independence.
** Likewise, The Spanish Navy always has, by royal decree,
** The Australian Navy will have had
** Virtually every
** There have been five ''HMS Black Prince'' ([[She Is the King|all referred to as a "she"]]). [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Naval_Bombardments_on_D-Day.png During D-Day], the [[World War II]] example was assigned to perform what was [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Map_of_the_route_of_Edward_III%27s_chevauch%C3%A9e_of_1346.svg almost certainly deliberate nod to the line's namesake].
* Ruth Crowley wrote a newspaper advice column under the name [[wikipedia:Ann Landers|Ann Landers]], passing the name on to Esther Lederer. Lederer's sister Pauline Phillips began a competing column as [[wikipedia:Pauline Phillips|Abigail van Buren]], a pseudonym she passed on to her daughter. Lederer's daughter had her own column, ''[[The Beatles|Dear Prudence]]'', in ''Slate'', having taken it over from a different writer; it is [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928160505/http://www.slate.com/id/3531/landing/1 now written]
* Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the alleged leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network's Iraqi affiliate group, may be one of these. At least two different people have been identified as al-Baghdadi, and he's been killed at least once. This has led some believe it to be an assumed name that each new leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq assumes when the old leader is killed, allowing foreign terrorists to pass themselves off as domestic Iraqi insurgents.
* In a way, a real life historical example is the Roman emperors of antiquity. When Octavian assumed the numerous offices given to him by the senate (who, of course, were effectively obliged to gives them to him) he took the honorary title "Augustus", the military title "Imperator" and had already taken the family name "Caesar" from his adoptive father, the assassinated dictator Julius Caesar. When he died and powers passed to his step-son Tiberius, the new emperor on being "voted" his powers by the senate took all of these honorifics to demonstrate himself both a continuation of Caesar Augustus's position in the state and member of his direct family. The Roman emperors continued to take the titles "Imperator" and "Augustus" until the 7th century AD and, even when the Julio-Claudian line descended from Julius Caesar fell from power in 69AD, the name "Caesar" continued to be adopted since it had become so associated with the position of emperor. Thus what had been a family name became a euphamism for an autocratic office.
** Actually, [[wikipedia:Etymology of the name of Julius Caesar|Caesar]] is a ''[[wikipedia:Cognomen|cognomen]]'', that is a nickname-turned-family-name.
** Tsar is the Russian version of Caesar
** May also apply to the Roman Empire itself. Various subsequent empires that took over / developed from former parts of the Roman Empire portrayed themselves (with varying degrees of validity) as successors to the Rome Empire. [[Notable]]
* The officially-registered makeup patterns, stage names, and personas of professional clowns are passed down from mentor to student, often along family lines.
** [[Psychoville|So it doesn't have to be registered on an egg?]]
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* Quite a few Major League Soccer clubs are named after teams from the North American Soccer League, the only top flight league that ever existed in the United States (and Canada) before MLS: Portland Timbers, Seattle Sounders, San Jose Earthquakes and Vancouver Whitecaps.
** FC Dallas is named after a minor league club of the same name that existed in the late 1980s & early 1990s.
* Cecil Adams, the byline for ''[[The Straight Dope]]'' throughout its forty-five years of publication (1973 to 2018), is known to be a pseudonym. As of 2008, journalist [[w:Ed Zotti|Ed Zotti]] was known to be behind the name (as well as being the "Little Ed" occasionally credited as an assistant to Adams), but several other authors wrote as Adams over the course of the column's run. Their names, however, have never been revealed.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Legacy Tropes]]
[[Category:Superhero Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Legacy Character]]
[[Category:Will and Inheritance Tropes]]
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