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Sidekick Graduations Stick: Difference between revisions
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Yet, take a look at the major characters of [[The DCU]] or the [[Marvel Universe]] today and five or ten years ago. Things will be different, but not ''that'' different, and most of the major changes will seem to have happened recently. The companies that own these characters, like all large corporations, are conservative, and all these dramatic changes have a noticeable tendency to cancel out in the long run. Once a character establishes an iconic status quo, or becomes part of another character's iconic status quo, it can be extremely difficult to change anything major about that character.
There is, however, one category of change that's an interesting exception: the "graduation" of [[Sidekick|sidekicks]] to become independent heroes in their own right, or [[Legacy Character|assume their mentor's mantle]]. Perhaps it is only because this tends to be accompanied by [[Comic Book Time|finally aging the character from a teen to an adult]], and even in the [[Retcon|Ret Con]]-happy world of comics, reversing that without breaking the [[Willing Suspension of
Still, it also seems that negative fan reaction to these changes is also much, much rarer than with the average change. What little of it there is tends to occur [[Legacy Character|when another character's mantle is taken by the graduating sidekick]], with [[Replacement Scrappy|fans of that character being understandably upset at the displacement]], rather than desire to see the sidekick remain a sidekick. When that sort of thing happens, it's most often remedied by simply having the character graduate ''again'', creating their own hero identity and handing the [[Legacy Character]] baton back to its proper holder.
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== Comic Books ==
* Wally West, aka the [[Flash]], previously the greatest example of this trope, is now the greatest subversion. After the second Flash, Barry Allen, died in the [[Crisis
** Bart Allen is another subversion. Originally Impulse, then Kid Flash, then the Flash, then dead, then back to Kid Flash, then [[The New 52]], and now he's a ''different'' Kid Flash.
* [[
** Arguable exception: in the storyline following "Knightsend", he became Batman briefly, then returned to being Nightwing. This was, however, always intended to be temporary.
*** And then he became Batman an a more permanent basis with Bruce Wayne's 'inconveniencing' in the event ''[[Final Crisis]]''. Fans guessed this would be reverted as soon as Bruce got back, but it actually stuck around for a little while with ''both'' men operating as Batman - in fact, Bruce is ''franchising'' and appointing even more Batmen worldwide. It'll eventually be reversed by the post-''[[Flashpoint (Comic Book)|Flashpoint]]'' relaunch.
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** Though recently Bucky went back to the Winter Soldier codename after [[Not Quite Dead|supposedly dying]] during [[Fear Itself (Comic Book)|Fear Itself]]. He still operates as a hero, and will be getting his own independent on-going series next year.
* [[
* Subverted and lampshaded in recent issues of [[The Incredible Hulk]]. With Bruce Banner safely locked away in a military base and unable to turn into the Hulk, a new, [[Red Hulk]] (called "Rulk" by fans) shows up from out of nowhere. Who is he? All signs pointed to Rick Jones, the original Hulk's old sidekick, having graduated into the role...which just made it all the more shocking when we learn that Rick has graduated, but NOT into the Red Hulk...instead, he's become a creature called A-Bomb, strong enough to fight Rulk on his own level.
** Granted, Rick was [[Captain Mar-Vell|Captain Marvel]] on at least two previous occasions.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Doctor and his companions aren't exactly superheroes and sidekicks, but three of his companions have gone on to have major roles in holding down the fort in modern-day Earth: in ''[[
** The only reason Rose Tyler isn't holding down the fort in modern-day Earth is because she's doing the same on a parallel version thereof. Mickey did it as well during series 2, though he eventually moved back to his own Earth. (In fact, there was originally supposed to be a Rose Tyler-based spinoff called ''Rose Tyler: Earth Defence,'' which got pretty far into pre-production before being cancelled by Russel T. Davies on the grounds that a spin-off would kill the emotional impact of her departure in ''Doomsday.'' Between what information we know and how she appeared in later episodes like ''Turn Left,'' it appeared to be something of a proto-''Torchwood.''
** This seems to happen to everyone the Doctor takes on as a companion in the new series; they all grow from their time with him and become heroic alien-fighters in their own right. {{spoiler|Except Donna. Poor, poor, Donna. Although even she qualified, before she got her memory wiped.}} Davros brought this up during the season four finale, although he put a rather dark spin on it.
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
** Barbara Gordon going from Batgirl to [[Batman Beyond
* ''[[Young Justice (
** As of season two, Robin is now Nightwing, with Tim Drake taking up the Robin identity.
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