Jump to content

Captain Ersatz: Difference between revisions

Captain Ersatz (view source)

Revision as of 03:30, 8 April 2014

2,713 bytes removed ,  10 years ago
m
Mass update links
VisualWikitext
(hottip->ref)
m (Mass update links)
Line 31:
 
* 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 (TV)]]''. The Kroffts (who had turned down an earlier request from McDonald's to license the ''Pufnstuf'' characters for advertising) [[wikipedia:McDonaldchr(27)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 ''[[Black AdderBlackadder]] the Third'', except he says "Bang on!" rather than "Woof!" Mayall even uses the same voice.
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* There's so many [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Rei Ayanami]] knockoffs, the site had to [[Up to Eleven|make a]] [[Rei Ayanami Expy|trope]] [[Up to Eleven|out of it]].
** [http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8431/ayanamis.jpg What Measure is a non-Ayanami]?
** There also are several Asuka Langley Soryu knockoffs (such like ''[[Dancougar Nova (Anime)|Dancougar Nova]]'' main character). Asuka herself is a ''[[Great Mazinger (Anime)|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.
** Actually acknowledged in the book's description, where it claims that the characters include "Digimor ''(sic)'' and Pokémon-style creatures", among others.
* ''[[Angel Beats (Anime)|Angel Beats]]'' has Yuri, who looks like a color swapped Haruhi from ''[[The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', only with straight bangs. She leads a group of students with a similar name to the group of students that Haruhi leads (SSS vs SOS) and even acts somewhat like her. Their backgrounds and goals are different, but their characters are pretty much the same otherwise. At least, initially.
* ''[[Angel Blade (Anime)|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 (Manga)|Bleach]]'' has one of the most famous Captain Ersatz, Orihime Inoue: ''Ushio and Tora'''s Mayuko is probably her long-lost twin sister. Shy and naive behaviour? Check. Second female lead? Check. Amazing supernatural barrier-creating and healing powers? Check. They even share the same ''freaking'' surname.
* ''[[Clannad (Visual Novel)|Clannad]]'' 's Fujibayashi sisters and ''[[Lucky Star (Anime)|Lucky Star]]'' 's Hiiragi sisters. Both pairs are twins, both have purple hair, the elder twin is a [[Tsundere]], the younger twin is quiet and reserved, they sport [[Tsurime Eyes|Tsurime]] and [[Tareme Eyes|Tareme]] respectively, both twins' hairstyles resemble their Ersatz counterpart's... Seriously.
** There is one notable difference between these two pairs of twins when it comes to [[Feminine Women Can Cook]]: The [[Lucky Star (Anime)|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)|Fujibayashi sisters]] [[Inverted Trope|Invert]] this concept. [[Lethal Chef|Ryou's]] cooking, although it looks good, makes [[Team Pet|Botan]] faint in disgust while [[Supreme Chef|Kyou's]] food is great to the point where [[Deadpan Snarker|Tomoya]] is honest about how good it is.
* ''[[Darker Than Black (Anime)|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 Eddy Honda, one of Ouka's opponents in her street fighting days, to Edmond Honda from Street Fighter II; a monster called "Ningen", with appearance and background nearly identical to Adam from [[Neon Genesis Evangelion]] and an unnamed alien judge who looked identical to the judge from Phoenix Wright, save for green skin and an antenna on his forehead.
* ''[[Gintama (Manga)|Gintama]]'' featured a large number of Captain Ersatzes throughout the series, most used for short parody scenes, like the [[Evil Overlord|intergalactic emperor]] Breeza, obviously a parody of Freeza from [[DragonballDragon Ball]] or the old man from the lake, the spirit of Gintoki's sword, who looked pretty much like a red version of the human form of the sword of [[Bleach]]'s protagonist, Ichigo.
* ''[[Kino's Journey (Light Novel)|Kino's Journey]]'''s "coliseum" episode. In that story, Kino fights knockoffs of the [[Batman]], [[The Nameless|Clint Eastwood]] and [[Star Wars|Luke Skywalker]].
* ''[[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|Fate/Staystay Nightnight]]''. 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.
* ''[[SoSora Rano No wo ToWoto]]'' 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.
** Their names even rhyme, c'mon that's just too easy.
Line 59:
* ''[[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 One Half]]'', 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 (Video Game)|Hojo]] and [[Fullmetal Alchemist|Ling Yao]].
* The title character of ''[[Kurohime]]'' is a [[Distaff Counterpart|gender-flip]] of [[Bastard!! (Manga)|Dark Schneider]].
* In the obscure 1960's ''[[Batman]]'' manga, Go Go the Magician ''is'' Flash villain Weather Wizard, just with a different name. This is probably due to the fact that the artist had been given some Batman comics and been told to adapt them into a Japanese style - evidently one of the issues was ''Detective Comics #353'', where Weather Wizard bedeviled Batman for a change. The reason for the name change is a little fuzzy, though. Maybe Weather Wizard's stylin' outfit gave the impression of him being one hip swinger, Clyde?
* Since the distinction between copyright free monsters and ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' originals would remain obscure to laymen for several more years, ''[[Bastard!! (Manga)|Bastard]]'''s manga originally featured a Beholder. After getting complaints from TSR's Japanese division the comic's supervisor Mr. Suzuki profusely apologized. The monster was slightly altered with comical arms and legs and renamed the "Suzuki Dogezaemon" for the collected volume. Dogeza meaning "apologizing on hands and knees," the incident gained some entertaining notoriety.
** 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 [[Lupin the Third]] movie "Farewell to Nostradamus" near the middle when Lupin is channel surfing one of the shows is a cartoon featuring a [[Tiny Toon Adventures|woodpecker who looks like Plucky Duck chasing a bear who looks like Buster Bunny]] with a mallet.
* ''[[Lost Brain (Manga)|Lost Brain]]'' has Rei Hiyama, a top student, bored with the world who comes upon a power of some kind and uses it to control and kill people in order to create what he considers an Utopia, where his will is the law. Also ends up playing [[Xanatos Speed Chess]] against an opposing [[Chessmaster]] who is leading the effort to catch him. Very similar to ''[[Death Note (Manga)|Death Note]]'''s Light Yagami.
* 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.}}
 
== 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>
** ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades]] this when Elongated Man points out he's basically what Plastic Man would be if he was a detective.
** Parodied further on ''[[Batman: theThe Brave And The Bold (Animation)|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'', in which the two of them are incredibly competitive with each other, to the point that an argument over who Batman prefers as a partner causes the criminal they're chasing to almost get away. After cleaning up their mess, Bats settles the matter by saying "[[Take a Third Option|Actually,]] [[I Work Alone|I prefer to work alone.]]"
** 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.
*** The alleged influence Plas had on Ralph's creation is lampshaded, with Plas calling Elongated Man a "D-list doppleganger".
Line 114:
* [[Mark Millar]]'s ''[[Wanted (Comic Book)|Wanted]]''. Originally it was a Legion of Doom Reboot and got shut down. So Mark Miller made it [[Darker and Edgier]] and changed the names. It's really obvious who most of the characters are supposed to be.
* 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 (Comic Book)|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: In ''[[Zenith]]: Phase III'', [[Grant Morrison]] used thinly veiled versions of characters owned by ''[[Two Thousand2000 AD (Comic Book)|Two Thousand AD]]'''s rival comic publishers. Those he could actually get the rights to just appeared as themselves.
* 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|Shout Outs]] galore. Rather odd, since Marvel UK published ''Doctor Who'' comics at the time, ''and'' the Doctor had already interacted with mainstream [[Marvel Universe]] characters.
** And now ''[[Community (TV)|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.
** Notably, the evil Captain Ersatzes of the [[Fantastic Four]] are the [[Big Bad|Big Bads]], on a quest to [[Reed Richards Is Useless|keep the mysteries of the world mysterious]] and willing to kill anyone who gets in their way.
Line 128:
*** Hornet from the same comics is an Ersatz of Batman.
** There is also Alpha One from [[The Mighty]] who has all of Superman's powers. He even has a secret headquarters.
** [[Milestone Comics]]' ''[[Icon (Comic Book)|Icon]]'' is also something of a [[What If]] Superman ("What if Superman's rocket crashed in the Deep South circa 1840... and he was black?")
* The entirety of Big Bang Comics is like this, being a pastiche of [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] and [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]] comics from... well, mainly DC. So read about the adventures of Ultiman ([[Superman]]), the Knight Watchman and Kid Galahad ([[Batman]] and Robin), the Blitz ([[The Flash]]), the Beacon ([[Green Lantern]]), the Atomic Sub ([[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]]), etc. This is lampshaded in DC's ''[[Final Crisis]]'', where Ultiman is seen as a member of the team of cross-dimensional Supermen.
** In fact, the entire Big Bang universe is super meta based on the real-life history of the characters emulated in the comics. Knight Watchman was created by two guys but only one gets any real credit or makes money off him, he had a well-received and influential cartoon in the 90s, etc.
Line 134:
** By a similar token, the Atomic Sub bears little actual resemblance to Aquaman as a character, being an aged scientist transplanted into a humanlike robot body, Robotman style. His archvillain the Subhuman is a more typical "prince of Atlantis" type.
** Interestingly, one issue featured the Knight Watchman working alongside a Silver Age version of [[Shadow Hawk]] - essentially Batman teaming up with Batman.
* ''[[Hack Slash]]'' has sometimes included flashback panels of old enemies who haven't appeared in the actual comic yet, many of whom are [[A Nightmare Onon Elm Street|very]] [[Friday the 13th (Filmfilm)|recognisable]]. The slasher "X-O", who makes a more substantial appearance, is very clearly a hybrid of [[Hellraiser (Film)|Pinhead]] and [[Batman|Mr. Zsasz]]. Also, the "Wunderkind" superhero comic that exists within the story is clearly a stand-in for ''[[Captain Marvel]]'', probably fictionalised because of the [[Loony Fan|unflattering depiction]] of its fans.
* In [[Astro City]], virtually all of the characters -- hero, villain, or otherwise -- are directly based on more established comic book characters. Of particular note are the Samaritan (Superman), Winged Victory (Wonder Woman), and the First Family (the Fantastic Four). Batman has analogues in the Confessor (brooding night vigilante with a young sidekick) and Leopardman (animal theme, and mentioned as having been suspected to be Anders Van Rupert, a millionaire with a butler). The Lamplighter is probably meant to be reminiscent of Green Lantern, but he's only really been referred to and never actually seen.
* [[John Constantine]] has a Captain Ersatz, Willoughby Kipling, who appeared in the [[Doom Patrol (Comic Book)|Doom Patrol]] in the early nineties. Willoughby was a foul tempered, drinking, smoking [[Knight Templar]].
** What a coincidence, ''[[Excalibur (Comic Book)|Excalibur]]'s'' Pete Wisdom fits the same description, and was created by [[Warren Ellis]], who later worked on ''[[Hellblazer (Comic Book)|Hellblazer]]''.
** In another coincidence, [[Felix Castor]] has a tremendous resemblance to [[John Constantine]], and was created by [[Mike Carey]], who had earlier worked on ''[[Hellblazer (Comic Book)|Hellblazer]]''.
** [[The Dresden Files (Literature)|Harry Dresden]] also uses many tropes identical to [[John Constantine]] (see [[Trenchcoat Brigade]]), and was created 15 years after John's first appearance by a fan of 80s and 90s comics.
* The Marvel [[Retcon]] series ''Marvel: the Lost Generation'' includes an ersatz Batman called Black Fox (millionaire playboy Dr. Robert Paine) with an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] called the "Fox Hole", a plane called the Flying Fox, a former [[Kid Sidekick]], etc. His sidekick grew up and teamed up with the empathic healer Nightingale, a Captain Ersatz of [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]' Raven.
* [[Jack Kirby]] created the Eternals as deliberate Captains Ersatz of the Gods of [[Greek Mythology]] and several other pantheons, with the idea that their adventures had "inspired the myths". For example, Makkari inspired Mercury, Ikaris inspired Icarus, Phastos inspired Hephestus...
Line 148:
*** Indeed, the Imperial Guard being an ersatz [[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Book)|Legion of Super-Heroes]].
*** Interestingly, the postboot Legion featured Gates, who may be an ersatz of an Imperial Guardsman who didn't have a clear Legion parallel previously.
** Considering the Imperial Guard were originally enemies of the ''[[X -Men (Comic Book)|X Men]]'', they arguably work as a deconstruction of the Superman mythos as well. They show what it might have been like if, instead of landing on Earth, Kal-El had wound up in some autocratic, politically unstable Alien empire where he was made to serve whatever ruler sat on the throne. Without Superman's moral center, Gladiator's just a blindly obedient thug.
* ''[[Supreme]]'''s entire universe is a tribute to DC's [[The Silver Age of Comic Books|Silver Age]]. Supreme is Superman, Supremium is Kryptonite, Suprema is Supergirl, Professor Night is Batman, Twilight is Robin, Darius Dax is Lex Luthor, Diana Dane is Lois Lane, Emerpus and Shadow Supreme are Bizarro, Glory is Wonder Woman, Doc Rocket is the Flash, [[Blackest Night|Black Hand]] [[Hilarious in Hindsight|is the Green Lantern]], Roy Roman is Aquaman, Mighty Man is Captain Marvel, the Fisherman is the Green Arrow...
** Even the tiniest things are different but plainly similar; rather than "super strength", Supreme has "strength supreme", and so forth. Supreme White and Supreme Gold are Superman Red and Superman Blue from a much-beloved Silver Age Imaginary Story, Original Dax is the Golden Age Lex Luthor... cataloguing every clear parallel to the Superman mythos would take all day, basically.
Line 177:
** '''Shape''' -- Plastic Man
*** This connection gets a gigantic [[Lampshade Hanging]] in ''[[JLA-Avengers]]'', where after spending a few minutes going "Who do these guys remind me of?", [[Hawkeye]] finally declares the JLA to be Squadron Supreme wannabes.
* Buck Wild from [[Milestone Comics|Milestone's]] ''[[Icon (Comic Book)|Icon]]'' is a Captain Ersatz of ''several'' different characters. His original costume and powers are clearly based on [[Luke Cage]], he later wore a suit to fly and teamed up with a patriotic hero like [[The Falcon (Comic Book)|the Falcon]] , got a special belt that gave him the power to shoot electricity like Black Lightning, and then finally became a grim soul avenger like [[Spawn]].
* Pretty much every villain faced by DC's ''Inferior Five'' is a Captain Ersatz of a character from a rival publisher. The evil agents of H.U.R.R.I.C.A.N.E. are based on the ''[[THUNDERT.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (Comic Book)|THUNDER Agents]]'', the Kooky Quartet on the [[Fantastic Four]] (with the nickname given to the Avengers after their first big roster shakeup), etc. Their version of Thor even mentions a comic book deal with a guy named [[Stan Lee|Stanley]], though he has to shave his beard off and bleach his hair blond first...
** Not to mention the [[Justice League of America|Freedom Brigade]], the parents of the Five themselves: Merryman (son of [[Captain America|The Patriot]] and [[wikipedia:Miss America chr(28)DC Comicschr(29)|Lady Liberty]]), Awkwardman (son of [[Superman|Mr. Might]] and [[Aquaman (Comic Book)|The Mermaid]]), Dumb Bunny (daughter of [[Wonder Woman]]), The Blimp (son of [[The Flash|Captain Swift]]) and White Feather (son of [[Green Arrow|The Bowman]]).
* Black Cat is often thought to be a knock-off of [[Catwoman (Comic Book)|Catwoman]] due to their extremely similar costumes and motifs, as well as their [[Dating Catwoman|forbidden romances with superheroes]]. However, this is a misconception, as the Black Cat was conceived as a foe for [[Spider Woman]], and Catwoman did not start wearing her iconic black leather outfit until the 80's, long after Black Cat debuted.
Line 189:
** In a ''Blue Bulleteer'' one-shot, the Blue Bulleteer runs into another hero using the same name as her - this one an ersatz version of Fawcett Comics' Bulletman. It even featured a backup story starring the other BB, which was really just a slightly edited Golden Age Bulletman story.
* DC's Boss Bosozoku and his successor Boss Bishounen are both motorcyclists with heads on fire. [[Ghost Rider]], right?
** Possibly not, or at least not entirely; all the Big Science Action team appear to be based on ''Japanese'' tropes. On the other hand, his teammate Cosmo Racer is very blatantly the [[Silver Surfer]] (as well as being [[Astro Boy (Mangamanga)|Astro Boy]]), so maybe.
** And while he doesn't resemble him much as a character, Big Atomic Lantern Boy's design is plainly based on Hayashida from ''[[Cromartie High School]]''.
* In ''The Intimates'', Mr. Hyde is a clear Superman parallel; Hyde is actually his real name and a joke about Superman's obvious dual identity, he wears glasses and teaches the Secret Identity class, he's squeamish around reporters (it's his ex...), and has all the powers you'd expect. Most of the other seminary teachers are also ersatzen; the Principal used to be Mr. Big, a Giant Man type hero, while the school counselor was once Dash Man, an ersatz Flash. Interestingly, none of the main characters are ersatzen.
Line 205:
* ''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]] and [[Judge Dredd]].
* ''[[Hellboy (Comic Bookcomics)|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|superheroes]].
** The Green Pedestrian Palm is blatantly [[Green Lantern]]; fittingly, a portrait of the real Green Lantern appears in the background of one panel.
Line 219:
** The Sons of Liberty, another group of Authority foes, are based on the [[Freedom Fighters (Comic Book)|Freedom Fighters]]: Paul Revere (Uncle Sam), Maiden America (Miss America), Dyno-Mite the Human Hand Grenade (Doll Man with elements of the Human Bomb), Johnny Rocketman (the Ray) and Fallout (the remaining elements of the Human Bomb).
* [[Batman]] himself is a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Zorro]]: Rich playboys both missing mothers who decide to use their vast wealth to fight crime? Hell, Bob Kane himself admitted to it. There is in fact no attempt to hide this, as Batman watches a Zorro movie the night his parents die.
* The original Guardians of the Globe in ''[[Invincible (Comic Book)|Invincible]]'' are clearly based on the original [[Justice League]]; the Red Rush is the Flash, War Woman is Wonder Woman, the Green Ghost is the Green Lantern, Martian Man is the Martian Manhunter, Darkwing is Batman, Aquarius is Aquaman, and the Immortal and Omniman are both Superman. They also had Black Samson, who seems to be based on Marvel's Doc Samson and [[Flash Gordon (Comiccomic Stripstrip)|Flash Gordon]].
** And we can't forget Damien Darkblood, Demon Detective, who is almost identical to Rorschach of ''Watchmen'' fame except slightly mellower.
** And many of Invincible's minor enemies are based on Spider-Man foes. The Elephant is the Rhino, Doc Seismic is the Shocker, Kursk is Electro, etc.
Line 245:
** Homer became [[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|the Inedible Bulk]] (including citing "the madder Bulk gets, the ''hungrier'' Bulk gets!" and "Bulk gnash!").
** Smithers became a take-off on Thor.
** Mrs. Krabappel = [[Vampirella (Comic Book)|Vampirella]] ("Vampiredna").
** Krusty the Clown = [[The Joker]], natch.
** Plus a pair of groups, Oldblood and WildB.R.A.T.S. based on [[Image Comics]] [[Nineties Anti-Hero]] teams [[Youngblood]] and [[Wild CATS|WildC.A.T.S.]] Ironically, the former team is made up of senior citizens.
* The Nigerian hero ''Powerman'' was intentionally created in order as a black version of [[Superman]].
* ''[[PS 238PS238]]'' is '''made''' of this trope. Virtually every main character is a [[Captain Ersatz]] of some other company's characters.
* Lampshaded and repeatedly played with in "Heal Thy Elf", an ''[[Elf Quest]]'' satire in that franchise's ''New Blood'' Special issue. At one point, the appearance of a thinly-veiled Charlie Brown [[Captain Ersatz]] is called out and derided ... by a thinly-veiled [[Captain Ersatz]] of the bugs from ''Pogo''.
* ''[[Justice League of America|Justice League Europe]]'' once met a clan of Parisian [[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]] named Behemoth, Seine, Angelique, Montparnasse, Montmartre, Champs-Elysse and Left Bank. Behemoth had an evil twin named Thomeheb and an ex-wife named Diabolique. The story was written by [[Greg Weisman]].
* The crime comic ''Kane'' has a hitman named Frankie who's basically Marv from [[Sin City]], face bandages, interior monologue and all... [[Elmuh Fudd Syndwome|until he speaks]]...
* Batton Lash's ''Supernatural Law'' comic is full of Ersatz versions of various horror movie, TV and comic characters, including Sod, the Thing Called It (a [[Swamp Thing (Comic Book)|Swamp Thing]] / [[Man-Thing]] pastiche) and "Mildred Winters, the Vampire Hater," a geeky analogue to [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]].
* In [[Asterix]] and the Falling Sky (2005, original French title Le ciel lui tombe sur la tête ) an alien leader named Toon is an obvious reference to [[Mickey Mouse]] (Uderzo, the comics creator, has said that this album was also a tribute to [[Walt Disney]]). The story also includes an army of Arnold Schwarzeneggers dressed like Superman, but with a star symbol in place of the "S".
* ''[[Marvel Zombies]] Return'' has a group of zombies that band together at the end. They consist of Sentry, [[Superman|an invincible guy with a cape and an "S" symbol,]] [[Moon Knight]], [[Batman|a billionaire nighttime detective,]] Thundra, [[Wonder Woman|a super-strong feminist Amazon,]] Quicksilver, [[The Flash|a speedster,]] Quasar, [[Green Lantern|the wielder of alien items that conjure things,]] Namor, [[Aquaman (Comic Book)|King of the Seas who swims fast and talks to fish,]] the Super-Skrull, [[Martian Manhunter|a shapeshifting green-skinned alien with lots of powers,]] and Giant-Man, a scientist who can change his size. [[Justice League of America|Hmm...]]
Line 283:
 
== Film ==
* When director F. W. Murnau sought to make a movie out of Bram Stoker's book ''[[Dracula (Literaturenovel)|Dracula]]'', but was unable to secure the rights, he made the movie anyway as ''[[Nosferatu (Film)|Nosferatu]]'', changing the names of the characters. (Dracula, for example, became Count Orlok.) In this case, though, the attempt was unsuccessful: Stoker's widow sued for copyright infringement and won, bankrupting the production company... and getting an order that all copies of the film be destroyed. The movie survived through piracy.
* Detective Anna Ramirez in ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'' was originally supposed to be Renée Montoya, but her name was changed at the last minute.
* The ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' trilogy is sometimes accused of this by ''[[Monkey Island]]'' fans, who cite similarities between Tia Dalma and the Voodoo Lady as evidence of their claim.
* In the 1976 [[Mystery Fiction]] spoof, ''[[Murder By Death]]'', various famous detectives are represented by [[Captain Ersatz]] characters:
** Sidney Wang ([[Peter Sellers]]): [[Charlie Chan]]
** Dick and Dora Charleston (David Niven and Maggie Smith): [[The Thin Man (Filmfilm)|Nick and Nora Charles]]
** Sam Diamond (Peter Falk): [[Sam Spade]]
** Miss Jessica Marbles (Elsa Lanchester): [[Miss Marple]]
** Milo Perrier (James Coco): [[Hercule Poirot]]
* The 1980 TV Movie ''Murder Can Hurt You'' itself seems to have been inspired by ''[[Murder By Death]]'', but with [[Captain Ersatz]] versions of '70s TV [[Cop Show]] characters like [[Columbo (TV)|Columbo]], [[Starsky and Hutch (TV series)|Starsky and Hutch]], [[Kojak]], etc.
* ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]'' is full of ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Expy]] characters, but Dark Helmet is obviously a geeky-looking parody of Darth Vader from ''[[Star Wars]]''.
* The [[Hammer Horror]] film ''X the Unknown'' was originally intended to be a sequel to [[Quatermass|The Quatermass Xperiment]]. However, they couldn't get the rights to the character of Bernard Quatermass at the time, so they made up a new character called Adam Royston. He is a [[Science Hero]] with the same general mannerisms as Quatermass, the only major difference is that his specialty is nuclear physics, not rocketry.
* ''[[Film/The Buddy Holly Story|The Buddy Holly Story]]'' had a fictionalized version of the Crickets (two members instead of three, names changed) because the real-life Crickets had already signed onto a different Buddy Holly project.
Line 299:
* Possibly Rufus from ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure]]'', [[Doctor Who|a quirky, sophisticated fellow in a time-travelling phone box]]...
* So many [[Spark Plug Entertainment]] characters.
* Officially, ''[[The Godfather (Film)|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 [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.
Line 314:
** Similarly, before Sherlock Holmes lapsed into the public domain, several novels pitted Arsene Lupin against "Herlock Sholmes".
*** And actually continue to do so, in the French-speaking world at least.
* [[Douglas Adams]]'s book ''[[Dirk GentlysGently's Holistic Detective Agency (Literature)|Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency]]'' was based on a script he'd written for ''[[Doctor Who]]'' ("Shada") that had never been completed due to a studio workers' strike. The character of Dirk Gently was created to replace the Doctor in the book, and the character of Richard MacDuff created as a Companion figure. Dirk Gently proved such an engaging character that Adams wrote a sequel, ''[[The Long Dark Tea -Time of the Soul (Literature)|The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul]]'', and was working on a third book [[Author Existence Failure|when he died]].
** Similarly, ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy (Franchise)/Life, The Universe And Everything|Life The Universe And Everything]]'' was largely based on his proposed script for a ''Doctor Who'' story, ''Doctor Who versus the Krikkitmen''. The role of the Doctor was taken by Slartibartfast (and towards the end by Trillian), largely because none of the other shiftless main characters of the ''Guide'' universe fit the bill.
** ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' actually borrows from both the above mentioned ''Shada'' and another Doctor Who serial, ''City of Death'', which Adams co-wrote. Compare the [[Big Bad]]'s plan in both.
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' novel ''Proven Guilty'', spirits that feed on fear manifest at a horror movie convention and thus take the forms of Totally-Not-[[Nightmare On Elm Street|Freddy]], [[Friday the 13th (Filmfilm)|Jason]], and other slashers to attack people.
** Don't forget the [[Alien|Xenomorph]]!
*** That's more of a [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]], actually. Harry even quotes the second movie while fighting it.
* In [[Kim Newman]]'s novel ''The Quorum'', several of the characters are fans of [[Captain Ersatz]] comics characters Amazon Queen ([[Wonder Woman]]) and The Streak (The Flash), with shades of [[Superman]]), and one is a comics writer creating ''[[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]]''-style series about them for comics company "ZC". The novel also mentions Dr. Shade, a British comics character who resembles [[The Shadow]], whose first appearance was in Newman's story "The Original Dr. Shade", which in the course of describing the character's fictional publishing history performs a [[Lampshade Hanging]] by mentioning that ''The Shadow'''s publishers once sued over the resemblance.
** And the ''[[Anno Dracula]]'' stories include a vampire slayer by the name of [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Barbie Winters]]...
* Michael Shea's novel ''Nift the Lean'' was written as a sequel to [[Jack Vance (Creator)|Jack Vance]]'s first Cugel the Clever novel before Vance himself wrote an official sequel. Thus, Nift is a [[Captain Ersatz]] of Cugel. However, since Nift is paired with a [[Barbarian Hero]] named Barnar, there's another level of ersatzes, as Barnar and Nift are respectively based off of [[Fafhrd and The Gray Mouser]].
* Minister Faust's ''From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain'' features several of these: Omnipotent Man (Superman), Flying Squirrel (Batman), Iron Maiden (Wonder Woman/Thor) and Fly Brother (Spider-Man).
* In a rather bizarre example, where [[Captain Ersatz]] meets [[Sure Why Not]] or who-knows-what, an erotic romance novel called ''The Stranger'' by Portia da Costa features an expy of [[Doctor Who|the Eighth Doctor]]. He has the same name as the actor who played Eight (Paul), and is almost exactly the same other than the name <ref>and being described as taller and younger than I personally would describe him</ref>, including the [[Trauma-Induced Amnesia|amnesia]]. And the heroine's surname, as some who've watched [[Withnail and I|Withnail & I]] may know, was the surname of another character Paul McGann played. Oddly enough, this all merits a sort of [[Continuity Nod]] in a [[Television Tie in Novel]] - the heroine is mentioned as someone the Doctor knew<ref>not, mind you, mentioned as someone he ''knew''</ref>. [[Fandom]] has speculated about which writer of the [[Television Tie in Novel|Television Tie In Novels]] is "Portia da Costa". So this means ''the Doctor'' has a ''published'' and ''semi-canon'' [[Narm|Narmful]] [[A Date Withwith Rosie Palms|Date With Rosie Palms]]<ref>"Claudia realised that caressing himself was as much a comfort to the young man as it was an act of sex. He seemed reassured by his body's own responses. But that took nothing away from the eroticism of his performance."</ref>, among other things, out there.
* Most of the superheroes in Perry Moore's young adult novel ''Hero'' are blatant parodies of DC characters, [[Wonder Woman|Warrior Woman]] being the most obvious.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' again: In the [[Faction Paradox]] series the Time Lords become the Great Houses, who travel in Timeships (TARDISes) and are led by a War King who is clearly the Master. The Homeworld of the Great Houses was formerly defended by artificial beings called "casts" (Shaydes from the ''[[Doctor Who Magazine (Magazine)|DWM]]'' comic strip), and an attempt to produce semi-sentient casts created homicidal maniacs called "babels" (N-Forms from the Eighth Doctor novels). The Doctor himself is only referred to as "[[Perspective Flip|the Evil Renegade]]".
* In ''What They Did To Princess Paragon'' by Robert Rodi, the eponymous Princess Paragon is very obviously [[Wonder Woman]]. Other characters created by Bang Comics include Acme-Man ([[Superman]]), the urban vigilante Moonman ([[Batman]], complete with campy 60s TV series), and other members of the Freedom Front ([[Justice League of America]]). Bang's rivals Electric Comics, meanwhile, created the explorer-team The Quasar Quintet ([[Fantastic Four]]), the irradiated monster Sherman Tank ([[Incredible Hulk (Comic Book)|Incredible Hulk]]), and the superhero team The Offenders ([[The Avengers (Comic Book)|The Avengers]]).
* [[Horde of Alien Locusts|The Vord]] in the ''[[Codex Alera]]'' are straight out of ''[[Starcraft]]''. If you're not thinking "[[Zerg Rush]] ''kekekekeke''" by halfway through ''Academ's Fury'', you're doing something wrong.
** The Zerg in turn are based on the aliens from, well, Aliens, just like the Protoss are based on the Predator race from guess-which-film.
* Before creating the Wold Newton Family, [[Philip Jose Farmer]] wrote a series of novels about John Cloamby, Lord Grandrith, who was raised by apes, and his half-brother Doc Caliban, a two-fisted adventurer. As well as serving as a [[Deconstruction]] of the pulps, these books advanced Farmer's early theories about the relationship between [[Tarzan]] and [[Doc Savage]], without actually naming names.
* Reading the ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' novel ''Cain's Last Stand'', it becomes obvious that Varan the Undefeatable is this to [[Adolf Hitler]], down to being described as looking exactly like him down to the moustasche and flashy uniforms, along with a similar personality. If it weren't for the mutations he has in the book, one would think Hitler himself paid visit to the ''[[Warhammer 40000 (Tabletop Game)|Warhammer 40000]]'' universe.
** And it's pretty much open knowledge that the entire Ciaphas Cain series is a 40k version of ''[[Flashman]]''.
* In Mary Gaitskill's novel ''Two Girls, Fat and Thin'', Dorothy, the "fat girl" of the title, is a devotee (and at one point, employee) of novelist "[[Ayn Rand (Creator)|Anna Granite]]" and her philosophy of "[[Useful Notes/Objectivism|Definitism]]."
* Aslan from [[The Chronicles of Narnia]] series, is very clearly a Captain Ersatz of Jesus. He could be argued as an [[Expy]] until the third book, where Lewis makes Aslan's real world identity quite clear.
* This is a repeating theme in Jonathan Lethem's ''Chronic City'', which contains numerous [[Captain Ersatz|Captains Ersatz]] of various culture references large and small. Interestingly, just as many and varied cultural touchstones are included as themselves, helping create a pervasive feeling of a pop cultural zeitgeist almost but not entirely our own. A few examples:
Line 340:
** Russ Grinspoon, described as "the lamer half of [the] well-forgotten seventies smooth-rock duo Grinspoon and Hale" is likely meant as an [[Alternate Universe]] [[Simon and Garfunkel|Art Garfunkel]].
* The main character of the superhero satire ''[[Super Folks]]'' by Robert Mayer has powers more-or-less identical to Superman (who's specified as missing and presumed dead at the beginning of the book). His secret identity is named David Brinkley, and because he comes from the planet Cronk, he's vulnerable to Cronkite. The book also includes ersatzen of Plastic Man and Mr. Mxyzptlk, among loads of others.
* ''[[The Sundering]]'' deliberately echoes ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' ([[Perspective Flip|but written from the villains' point of view]]), so the vast majority of characters directly correspond to someone from Tolkien's legendarium.
* ''[[Clifford the Big Red Dog]]'' featured a parody of ''[[Harry Potter]]'' called ''Peter Poundstone''.
* 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 (Literaturenovel)|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]]'' 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 (TV)|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 (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Angel (TV)|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 (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', was supposed to be a main character on the spinoff ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]''. Since the actor who played Whistler was unavailable at the time, the very similar character Allen Francis Doyle was created instead.
* 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 (TV)|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' was created with the intent to include Michelle Forbes' recurring character from ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation (TV)|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).
* And ''[[Star Trek: Voyager (TV)|Star Trek Voyager]]'' went as far as to cast the actor who had played Nicholas Locarno in TNG's "The First Duty" before changing the character's name to Tom Paris and altering his backstory to be more sympathetic.
** Though [[Word of God]] has [[Flip-Flop of God|flip-flopped]] on whether this was done because Locarno was unrepentant and therefore unsympathetic, or because they didn't want to have to pay royalties to the writer of "The First Duty".
* Parodied on ''[[30 Rock (TV)|Thirty Rock]]'' when Jenna intends to star in a biopic about Janis Joplin, but because of legal issues, the pic will be about a Janis Joplin facsimile called Jackie Jormp-Jomp.
* The BBC did a [[Captain Ersatz]] ''[[The Danza|Danza]]'' in the case of ''Happy Ever After''. When its creator decided that it had run for long enough, he declined to write any more episodes and eventually jumped ship, retaining the rights to the show's format as he did. So the BBC took the central couple from ''Happy Ever After'', changed their surname and character bios, put them in another suburban house, and carried on from there. Terry Fletcher (played by Terry Scott) and his wife June (June Whitfield) became Terry and June Medford in the imaginatively-named [[Britcom]] ''Terry and June''. If that wasn't enough, the characters Terry and June are near-identical [[Expy|expies]] of Ron and Vera Baines, the couple that Terry Scott and June Whitfield played in the feature film version of earlier suburban [[Britcom]] ''Bless This House''.
* ''[[Get Smart (TV)|Get Smart]]'' had a few examples:
** Comedian Joey Forman played a [[Charlie Chan]]-based [[Captain Ersatz]] called "Harry Hoo" on more than one occasion.
** Several one-off villains were also ersatzen; Wheelchair-bound mastermind Leadside was based on ''[[Ironside (TV)|Ironside]]'', [[Yellow Peril]] caricature Dr. Yes was based on ''[[Dr. No (Film)|Dr. No]]'', etc.
** And Smart got his own [[Captain Ersatz]], B. Wise, in an episode of ''[[F Troop]]''.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNt8vplcx5Y This] music video is not only a cover of [[Britney Spears]]' song ''Lucky'', but the video is also a pastiche of [[Super Sentai]] - and the [[Humongous Mecha]] is [[Sarcasm Mode|most definitely NOT]] [[Mazinger Z]].
Line 365:
** That same episode had a boy transformed by a magic comic book into [[Show Within a Show|Warrior Angel]]. Whereas Warrior Angel was always an [[Expy]] of Superman (with his nemesis Devilicus as an [[Expy]] for Lex), this "Warrior Angel" was a clear [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Captain Marvel]].
* ''[[Ten Items or Less]]'' has a parody of this tripe where the characters create a "Star Trok" Convention with "Blingons and Blomulans" (and [[Special Guest]] Jolene Blalock) so they don't get sued by Paramount.
* In ''[[The Event]],'' the President and his right-hand man are pretty much [[Twenty Four24|Palmer and Novick.]]
* ''[[TomorrowsTomorrow's Pioneers]]'' has the really-not-a-[[Mickey Mouse]]-rip-off Farfur. However, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi-c6lbFGC4 the extremely controversial subject matter] did draw Disney's attention to Farfur's ersatzen nature.
* ''[[Birds of Prey (TV series)|Birds of Prey]]'' had Darkstrike, a thinly-veiled [[Nightwing]] wannabe.
* ''[[The Mentalist]]'' has done this with the entire ''premise'' of ''[[Psych]]''.
** Gleefully [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in many episodes of ''Psych'':
Line 377:
'''Gus''': Exactly the same. <br />
'''Shawn''': A virtual carbon copy. }}
* ''[[Casualty]]'' and ''[[Holby City]]'' get away with having a [[Lady Gaga (Music)|Lady Gaga]] [[Captain Ersatz]] - who, unlike the real thing, dresses fairly plain-Jane, so to speak.
* [[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]].
Line 395:
** Ray Lloyd was dressed up as the not-quite-[[Mortal Kombat|Sub-Zero]] wrestler Glacier (a character who has since popped up in CHIKARA, making for a better fit.)
** [[Hulk Hogan]]'s "Ultimate Surprise" in WCW, teasing that the [[Ultimate Warrior]] had joined WCW. Instead, it was "The Renegade", who was a blatant copy of the [[Ultimate Warrior]]. Ironically, in September of 1998, the [[Ultimate Warrior]] ''did'' join WCW.
** 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 Byby Ganon|mind games on the part of RicFlair.]]
** Asya was a clone of the WWF's Chyna.
* Inverted by [[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 (Wrestlingwrestling)|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]].
Line 415:
** 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 and 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).
Line 425:
* ''[[Video Games/Temple Run|Temple Run]]'': While you don't get to play as the world's most famous explorer, [[Indiana Jones]], you do get to play as the world's second most famous explorer... Montana Smith. And yes, he wears the same iconic hat.
** [[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 (Franchise)|Pokémon]] that is colored very unusually (blue and yellow), has mouse-like ears, and has a cheerful smile. [[Kimba the White Lion (Manga)|Kimba the White Lion]], is that you?
* Captain Marcus Refelian of Activision's ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]: Away Team'' video game is something of an Ersatz of Commander Sisko.
* The ''[[Fire Pro Wrestling (Video Game)|Fire Pro Wrestling]]'' games are absolutely loaded with Captain Ersatzes of [[Professional Wrestling|pro wrestlers]] from around the world. Many of the American ones in some of the games have hilarious, [[Gratuitous English]] permutations on their real name. [[Stone Cold Steve Austin|"Steel Gold" Steam Odin]]? Seriously?
** Don't forget the [[Randy Savage]] clone Slim Jim Mr. Mann from ''Fire Pro Wrestling'' on the Game Boy Advance! Actually, that was probably one of those rare instances where a Fire Pro Wrestling game got an English translation that was [[Good Bad Translation|intentionally silly]].
* Solid Snake of ''[[Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)|Metal Gear Solid]]'' looks and acts like [[Kurt Russell]]'s [[Escape Fromfrom New York|Snake Plissken]] right down to the eyepatch, doesn't he? No wonder he appeals to the American audience. [[Americans Hate Tingle|Raiden]] [[Replacement Scrappy|on the other hand...]]
** 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]].
* ''[[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mega Man]]'' began his life when Capcom wanted to make an [[Astro Boy (Mangamanga)|Astro Boy]] game, but could not acquire the rights. He's come into his own right since then, of course.
** ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]]'' has [http://megaman.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mhx_vilestand.PNG Vile], who looks suspiciously like a [[Star Wars|certain bounty hunter...]]and his original Japanese name ''Vava'' even pronounces rather like Boba.
** 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.
* There are some [[Captain Ersatz]] (clones) characters in ''[[Tekken (Video Game)|Tekken]]'':
** Lei Wulong is a [[Captain Ersatz]] for [[Jackie Chan]].
** Marshall/Forrest Law is a...much more blatant [[Bruce Lee Clone|clone]] of [[Bruce Lee]].
** King is the [[Captain Ersatz]] of the Japanese wrestler Tiger Mask, with a little of Mexico's Fray Tormenta thrown in for good measure.
*** He also has elements of [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]].
** Craig Marduk looks a lot like...either Nathan Jones (his future actor in the 2009 Live Action Movie) or [[Goldberg]].
*** Nathan Jones has actually been confirmed as the inspiration behind Marduk. Jones and Marduk even share the exact same behavioural traits and a few similar moves.
** Raven is apparently an accident. The character designer claims that he just wanted to make "A cool Black Guy". The final product ''strongly'' resembled Wesley Snipes as ''[[Blade (Filmfilm)|Blade]]''.
** Christie Monteiro is modelled after Tyra Banks and was given a few of [[Britney Spears]]' dance moves in a couple of her ''Tekken 5'' win poses.
* ''[[Ghost Hunter]]'' is itself a [[Captain Ersatz]] for the ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' franchise.
* One example of taking this too far comes from ''[[The King of Fighters (Video Game)|The King of Fighters]] 2001'' with the character K9999, a [[Captain Ersatz]] of Tetsuo Shima from ''[[Akira (Manga)|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 (Video Gameseries)|Overlord]]'', especially when you get your best armor and a [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|Mace of Doom]], you're [[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|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]], just wearing a funny 18th-century costume and using a staff instead of a shield.
Line 457:
*** The Southern accent comes from Rogue, presumably.
** Bullet is [[The Flash]].
** Liberty Lad is Robin. A [[Batman (TV series)|Burt Ward-campy Robin]]. And Bucky, as the sidekick of the Minuteman.
** Blackbird is [[Black Canary]] (Sonic scream, wears fishnets) with [[Catwoman]]'s backstory.
** And then there's Supercollider - a super-strong, tough-talking bruiser with rocky orange skin and a thick Noo Yoik accent. Nope, can't think of anyone else who fits ''that'' description.
** It took this long to mention The Ant? Honestly, his 'Secret Origin' video may as well have just said "Yes, he's [[Spider -Man|Peter Parker]]. Now go have fun."
** Microwave is plainly meant to represent the Vision and the Red Tornado personality-wise.
** Man O' War and the Sea Urchin are [[Aquaman]] and Aqualad
* [[Virtua Fighter|El Blaze]] is NOT [[Professional Wrestling|Rey Mysterio]]. Rey Mysterio might be a little guy who flies around a lot in a mask and oversized pants determined to prove himself as good or better than the big guys, but he doesn't wear ribbons on his arms, after all.
** [[Street Fighter|El Fuerte]] just might be Mysterio, though, if Mysterio had a thing for cooking. Or he just might be Blaze, since they're both rather [[Large Ham|Large Hams.]] His outfit also bears more than a passing resemblance to El Místico.
* If it's possible for a ''series'' to have a [[Captain Ersatz]], then ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvaQbntJ4Yw&feature=related H.A.V.E. Online]'' (known in America as ''Microvolts'') a Korean online multiplayer shooter, is this in artistic tone to ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' (The gameplay of both are pretty dissimilar actually - H.A.V.E. Online is not class based, and is in 3rd person view). The choreography in the trailer is also pretty blatantly copied. Some people were not happy, to say the least -- though once the original outrage had passed they were a little more forgiving. It also has its own ripoff of [[Haruhi Suzumiya (Light Novel)|Haruhi Suzumiya]]. Ironically, [http://www.haruhisuzumiya.net/2011/03/27/haruhi-suzumiya-in-online-shooter-toy-wars/ the Japanese version of the game has the real Haruhi].
** Putting ''H.A.V.E. Online/Microvolts'' to shame though is ''Final Combat'', [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKS_QhtaWIA which] slightly ressembles ''Team Fortress 2''. And by "slightly resembles", we mean "is [[The Mockbuster]] of". Except that it also has straight Captain Ersatzes of the classes too (such as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvrj70MNxEU the Rocket] for the Soldier and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpqWiprWAAE the Fatman] for the Heavy), so it counts on both. Moreover, the maps are stolen from ''[[Battlefield Heroes]]''.
** Xunlei would eventually joke about it, saying that Valve clearly stole their idea four years before they had it.
* The 'Present' chapter of ''[[Live a Live]]'' includes a battle against a wrestler by the name of Max Morgan, who is a [[Writing Around Trademarks|none-too-subtle]] ripoff of [[Hulk Hogan]].
* Gravelyn from ''[[Adventure Quest Worlds (Video Game)|Adventure Quest Worlds]]'' is very much the ersatz of Jessica Rabbit as far as looks are concerned. They share the same red hair.
* Melody from ''[[Nostalgia]]'' is the spitting image of [[The Slayers|Lina Inverse]]. Doctor Brown is also pretty close to [[Indiana Jones|Indy]] in appearance.
* And it's still possible for ''games'' to have Ersatzes: Meet ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1lVpbnl6OU&fmt= Duludubi Star]'', a Chinese Totally-Not-''[[Super Mario Galaxy (Video Game)|Super Mario Galaxy]]''-Honest.
** Speaking of Chinese Mario bootlegs, the lottery game ''Dian Shi Ma Li'' starred an illegitimate relative of Mario from the [[Uncanny Valley]] called Fortran.
* A curvy female mage who lives in a secluded part of the world, is an acquaintance with [[Knight in Sour Armor|a gruff older mentor]], [[Not Good Withwith People|isn't very social]] and acts like a [[Deadpan Snarker]] to mask this personality flaw, and wears [[Stripperific|a cleavage-baring dress]] with [[Too Many Belts|a skirt made of belts.]] Now, did we just describe [[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Lulu]] or [[Dragon Age|Morrigan]]?
** [[Bullet Witch|Alicia]]
*** Lulu may be snarky, but is an incredibly good and ethical person. Morrigan is the [[Token Evil Teammate]] whose wanton cruelty has become something of a meme. Their roles in plot are dissimilar, their dresses are only similar in color (Morrigan's far more revealing and "rag-like," Lulu's elegant), and Morrigan is revealed to be quite an insecure, unworldly character compared to Lulu. Lulu openly is affectionate to people besides Tidus and is loyal to the central characters; Morrigan clearly has her own agenda. And the right answer is [[wikipedia:Morgan le Fay|Morgana]] or [[wikipedia:Medea|Medea]] or [[wikipedia:Circe|Circe]] or any number of the other inspirations for [[Hot Witch]], [[Dark Magical Girl]], and related tropes. This archetype is way too common for this comparison.
* ''[[Tales of Legendia (Video Game)|Tales of Legendia]]'' features the Oresoren, who are intelligent fuzzy creatures who are good with machines and have a [[Verbal Tic]]. Anyone familiar with ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' would recognize them as being similar to Moogles. It might be a coincidence... until you realize that one of the most significant Oresoren is named "Quppo", pronounced exactly the same as the verbal tic of the Moogles ("kupo").
* ''Human Grand Prix'' for the Nintendo 64 didn't have the rights to use the actual names of drivers, meaning that the game was filled with drivers with names such as Hamon Dill<ref>Damon Hill</ref>, Schael Mihumacher<ref>Michael Schumacher</ref>, Babens Rurrichello<ref>Rubens Barrichello</ref>, Hohnny Jerbert<ref>Johnny Herbert</ref>, Hika Makkinen<ref>Mika Hakkinen</ref>, Lean Ajesi<ref>Jean Alesi</ref> and Vacques Jilleneuve<ref>Jacques Villeneuve</ref>, among others. This was rectified for the US/European version of the game, ''F1 Pole Position 64'', which had the actual racer names.
* ''Cannon Spike'''s playable roster is composed almost entirely of characters from existing Capcom properties. The sole exception is Simone, who is just a hairstyle and a slight wardrobe change away from being Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa from Capcom's ''[[Alien vs. Predator|Alien Vs. Predator]]'' arcade game, whose ownership is apparently tied up with [[Twentieth Century Fox]].
* The ''[[World Heroes (Video Game)|World Heroes]]'' series has quite a few. Kim Dragon is a blatant clone of Bruce Lee. There's also a professional wrestler named Muscle Power who looked ''exactly'' like [[Hulk Hogan]] in his first appearance. They shaved off his mustache in the console releases of the first game and all the sequels, presumably so that Hogan wouldn't get any ideas about suing ADK.
* Balrog from ''[[Street Fighter II (Video Game)|Street Fighter II]]'' was modeled after Mike Tyson, right down to his character portrait in the original game. In fact, his name in the Japanese version was actually M. Bison (the "M" stood for "Mike"), but it was swapped with the names of the other two boss characters (Balrog and Vega) to avoid any potential likeness infringement overseas. Since Balrog was originally "Mike Bison" in Japan, this has led to the ongoing speculation on whether Mike (a character from the first ''[[Street Fighter (Videovideo Gamegame)|Street Fighter]]'') is the same guy or not.
** Likewise, Alex, the protagonist of ''[[Street Fighter III (Video Game)|Street Fighter III]]'', has some elements in common with [[Hulk Hogan]]. Capcom even gave him a special intro pose with Hugo (see below) imitating the legendary Hulk vs Andre the Giant fight from Wrestlemania.
** Andore from ''[[Final Fight (Video Game)|Final Fight]]'' is obviously modeled after [[Andre the Giant]]. When he appeared in ''[[Street Fighter III (Video Game)|Street Fighter III]]: 2nd Impact'', his name was changed to Hugo, presumably to avoid any likeness infringement, although he was still called "Andore" in ''Final Fight: Revenge'' and ''Streetwise'', which both came afterward.
* Jon Dowd from the ''MVP Baseball'' series is a Captain Ersatz of Barry Bonds, who was not in the MLBPA at the time.
* Rodin in ''[[Bayonetta]]'' is an ersatz of Morpheus from ''[[The Matrix]]''.
** Not to mention that [[Butt Monkey|Enzo]] is almost an exact copy of Joe Pesci.
* The first stage boss in the original arcade version of the first ''[[Double Dragon (Video Game)|Double Dragon]]'' is a head-swap of Abobo with a Mr.T-like beard and mohawk. In the arcade version of ''II'', Burnov resembles the masked version of the wrestler Neptuneman from the manga ''[[Kinnikuman]]'', Abore resembles a cross between the ''[[The Terminator]]'' and [[Andre the Giant]], and Bolo (who replaces the aforementioned Mr.T-lookalike) resembles his namesake from ''[[Enter the Dragon]]''.
** At one point in the rival beat-em-up ''[[Bad Dudes]]'', Karnov has a green [[Palette Swap]] similar to Abobo.
* The entire cast of the surprisingly good ''[[Street Fighter II (Video Game)|Street Fighter II]]'' ripoff ''Breakers'' is meant to suggest one character from that game or another. Tia is Chun Li (she even does her Lightning Kicks), Sho is Ryu, Pielle and Saizo split elements of Vega (Pielle being a vain Spaniard and Saizo being a ninja), Alsion III and Maherl split elements of Dhalsim (Alsion stretches and breathes poison, while Maherl inflates and breathes fire), Condor is T. Hawk, Rila is Blanka, Dao Long is Guile, and Bai Hu is M. Bison.
* The diagnostician from the cast of ''[[Trauma Center (Video Gameseries)|Trauma Team]]'' is more or less [[Cowboy Bebop (Anime)|Spike Spiegel]]. May qualify as an [[Expy]] instead, depending on just where you set the bar for "same character with serial numbers filed off dropped into a new continuity" vs. "Suspiciously similar but different character."
* Francis York Morgan of ''[[Deadly Premonition]]'' is one of Dale Cooper of ''[[Twin Peaks]]'', only perhaps even weirder and his [[Must Have Caffeine|love of coffee]] taken to fortune-telling levels.
* [http://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/8/82/Action_Replay_DSi.jpg A recent Action Replay DS package.] Warning: May include Not-Pokémon-At-All and Not-[[Super Mario Bros.|Bowser]]-At-All, among other Not-Game-Characters-At-All.
* The freeware [[Girls Love]] [[Visual Novel]] series ''Morning Star'' is heavily inspired by ''[[Mai-HiME (Anime)|Mai-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 (Video Game)|Persona 4]]'' looks (and acts) like [[Death Note (Manga)|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\]
* [[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 (Video Game)|Grand Theft Auto III]]'''s "Kingdom Come" mission behave eerily similar to the Exploding BOBS from the ''[[Marathon (Video Game)Trilogy|Marathon]]'' series.
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass]]'' gave us Linebeck, who has his share of similarities with a certain [[Pirates of the Caribbean|Captain called Jack]].
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online (Video Game)|The Lord of the Rings Online]]'' does this on occasion. The developers only have the right to use stuff from ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' and ''[[The Hobbit]]'', anything else is off-limits. This means that if something is referrenced to in ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' but the name only appears in say, ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', they can't use the actual name. For example, when Sauron disguises himself to fool the elves of Eregion, he does so under the name of Antheron, Lord of Gifts in-game, where the original name is Annatar, Gift-Lord. On top of that, the elven settlement he visits is named Mirobel in-game, where the original name is Ost-In-Edhil. Off course, as a good number of players are familiar with Tolkien's works, they quickly spot the similarities.
* Since the characters in ''[[Dragon Quest]] VIII'' were designed by Akira Toriyama, many of them are ersatzes of ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' characters; eg Hero=Kid Gohan, Trode=Namek Elder, Angelo=Trunks, Kalderasha=Mr. Satan, Valentina=Pan, Jessica=Bulma.
* There's a fairly strong fan case in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' for Prince Arthas Menethil's suspicious similarity to one [[Elric of Melnibone|King Elric VIII of Melniboné]].
* The characters in ''Cyclomaniacs'' are mostly hilariously blatant [[Captain Ersatz]] versions of prominent cultural figures, including [[Elvis Presley]] (Cycle King), [[Mr. T]] (Mr. C), [[The Prisoner|Number 6]] (Letter F - 'escaped from Wales on a souped-up penny farthing'), [[Top Gear|The Stig]] (The Wheel), and Laurel and Hardy (The Bowler Brothers); but also contains versions of prominent [[Indie Game]] figures, like Fancy Pants (Farty Pants).
* Walter Sullivan from ''[[Silent Hill 4]]'' looks like the late [[Nirvana (Music)|Kurt Cobain]].
* Heather Morris from ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'', and Lisa Rogan from ''[[The House of the Dead (Video Gameseries)|House of the Dead]] 3''. And both are the daughter of the protagonist of the first game in their respective series.
* The iPhone ''[[Punch Out]]'' clone ''Super K.O. Boxing 2'' features a boxer named Shogun. This boxer is actually from New York City, and is a [[Scary Black Man]] rather than an oriental. It makes little sense unless you've seen [[The Last Dragon]]. And in case you didn't already figure out that he was Sho'Nuff with the [[Serial Numbers Filed Off]], one of his moves causes his boxing gloves to glow.
* Nearly every NPC in ''[[Billy vs. SNAKEMAN]]''. Some of your allies even change who they are ersatzes of as they level up.
* In ''[[Poker Night At the Inventory (Video Game)|Poker Night At the Inventory]]'', there's a character who looks and sounds suspiciously like [[Tales of Monkey Island|Reginald Van Winslow]] but wears different clothing and is credited only as "The Host".
* The President in ''[[Silent Scope]] EX'' is a lookalike of George W. Bush.
* Wild Dog from ''[[Time Crisis]]'', and Dr. Curien from ''[[The House of the Dead (Video Gameseries)|House of the Dead]]''.
* If [[Perry Mason]]'s best friend was a japanese Reibai-tradition Spirit Medium, his name would be [[Phoenix Wright]], [[Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Ace Attorney]]!
* Confusingly enough, the version of [[Final Fantasy VII|Cloud]] in [[Kingdom Hearts]] looks and acts more like [[Dirge of Cerberus|Vincent]].
* Forget that, how about Vario Kraatz from ''[[Valkyria Chronicles II (Video Game)|Valkyria Chronicles II]]''? Jeez, the guy is [[Elvis Presley]]!
* ''[[WETWet (Videovideo Gamegame)|WET]]'' seems to this for the Kill Bill films.
* One of the Dream Club characters Rui is an Ersatz of [[Baka to Test To Shokanju|Baka No Test's]] Himeji. Heck it even has Hitomi Harada voicing her. Making Rui the future version of Himeji (Aka teacher by day, hostess by night)
* Most of the survivors in ''Bitejacker'' are based on either classic game characters (like [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]] or [[Earthbound|Ness]]) or veterans of the [[Zombie Apocalypse]] genre (like [[Left 4 Dead|Louis]]).
* The Dropship pilot from the ''[[Starcraft]]'' games takes most of her lines directly from the dropship pilot in ''[[Aliens]]''.
** ''[[Starcraft]]'' marines are a pretty obvious copy of ''[[Warhammer 40 K40000]]'' Space Marines (as are Marauders and Firebats to some extent). The zerg bear a pretty heavy resemblance to the Tyranids, but there's something of ''Alien'' in there too.
* Kuon Sumeragi from the Examu fighting game ''Daemon Bride'', resembles [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Setsuna F Seiei]], complete with the same [[Mamoru Miyano|voice actor]] and the last name (Setsuna's boss is ''Sumeragi'' Lee Noriega).
* Several [[Original Generation]] mecha from ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' bear a strong resemblance to other [[Humongous Mecha]] franchises:
** The Huckebeins are most [[Sarcasm Mode|definitely NOT]] [[Gundam|Gundams]], even though they're created by one of the most prolific Gundam mechanical designers out there. Likewise, the [[Super Robot Wars Alpha|R-1, R-2 Powered and R-3 Powered]] are all riffs of the [[Zeta Gundam]], [[Mobile Suit Gundam|Guncannon]] and [[Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory|Dendrobium Orchis]] with the [[Chars Counterattack|Nu Gundam's]] [[Attack Drones]], respectively.
*** This actually made the anime adaptations of ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]]'' problematic, despite the fact that it's owned by the company that made ''[[Gundam]]''. ''Divine Wars'' ended up cutting out the Huckebeins entirely, while ''The Inspector'' introduced the Exbein, which is simply the Huckebein with the head changed to look less Gundam-y. This then resulted in [[Canon Immigrant|Canon Immigration]], as the Exbein is slated to appear in ''Original Generations the Second''.
** The [[Super Robot]] Grungust is the ersatz combining aspects from both [[Mazinger Z]] and [[Daitarn 3]], with Mazinger Z's [[Eye Beams]], [[Rocket Punch]] and [[Chest Blaster]] for weapons, and Daitarn 3's [[Shoulders of Doom]], blue-and-gold-and-red paint scheme, [[Transforming Mecha|plane mode and tank mode]], and [[BFS]].
** The [[Law of Chromatic Superiority|red]] [[Super Robot Wars Advance|Laz Angriff]] looks and moves just like the [[Fang of the Sun Dougram]] [[A Mech Byby Any Other Name|Combat Armors]], but when the green [[Super Robot Wars Original Generation|Randgrith]] appears, parallels were also drawn on [[Armored Trooper VOTOMS]].
** The [[Super Robot Wars Alpha|Project Terrestrial Dream mecha]] and the [[Super Robot Wars Original Generation|Wildraubtier]] are really offshoots of the [[Super Dimension Fortress Macross|variable fighters]], due to their aerodynamic shape and weapon loadouts.
* Konami's 3DS game ''[[Doctor Lautrec And The Forgotten Knights]]'' is about a [[Nice Hat|top hat]]-wearing archaeologist who solves mysteries with the help of his young assistant by doing puzzles. [[Professor Layton|Sound familiar?]]
* The Imperial Defense Droid in ''Super [[Star Wars]]'' resembles the ED-209 from ''[[Robo CopRoboCop]]''.
* Guy Kazama in ''[[Last Alert]]'' is an ersatz of ''[[Rambo]]''.
** Even more funnier that he is also an ''ersartz'' of John Kyosuke Shiba, the main hero from the anime OVA [[Dog Soldier]]. They even share the ''[[Akira Kamiya|same freaking voice actor!]]''
* Pochi in ''[[Legacy of the Wizard]]'' greatly resembles Bub and Bob of ''[[Bubble Bobble (Video Game)|Bubble Bobble]]''.
* The [[True Final Boss]] of the first ''[[Blaster Master (Video Game)|Blaster Master]]'' looks like an orange version of the Gouf mobile suit from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'', complete with the energy whip, shield, and [[Spikes of Villainy]].
* At least some of the player-species in the classic economics-edutainment game ''[[MULE]]'' are examples of this, the most obvious being the Packer and the Gollumer, who are respectively [[PacmanPac-Man]] (with legs) and ''[[E.T. the Extraterrestrial (Film)Extra-Terrestrial|ET the Extraterrestrial]]''. The Bonzoid is pretty much a human-sized one-eyed [[King Kong]]. The Flapper and the M.U.L.E.s themselves bear more than a passing resemblance to the two types of [[Humongous Mecha|Imperial Walkers]] from ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]''.
* China has many online mon games, but some of them more like "Pokémon" in terms of gameplay. Altough at first one may think it's all original with those emoticon-like graphics, few games have few ''Mons'' that are ripoffs of certain Pokémon. For worse, they "evolve" from a completely different Mon. See [http://news.4399.com/aolaxing/yabi/muxi/201107-29-106726.html here] for an example. Of course there were used to be a plant-Kirlia/Gardevoir and Cyndaquil-like families, but they're probably taken down some time.
** Non Pokémon examples include the ersatzes of [http://news.4399.com/aolaxing/yabi/shuixi/201008-20-75843.html Crikey] from [[Ty the Tasmanian Tiger]] and [http://news.4399.com/aolaxing/zixun/201107-14-104276.html Amaterasu] (compare the pose!),
* ''[[Double Switch (Video Game)|Double Switch]]''. More than once, there is a mention of the Egyptian goddess Isix. Must be Isis they are talking about. Isn't Isis in the [[Public Domain]]?
* In the arcade version of ''[[Strider (Video Game)Hiryu|Strider]]'', [[The Dragon|Solo]] is an ersatz of [[Star Wars|Boba Fett]]. The Grandmaster, although resembling Emperor Palpatine, was actually based on Sauron from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' according to the developers.
* The Desert Ruins level from ''[[Spyro the Dragon|Spyro: Year Of The Dragon]]'' contains a character that is very blatantly [[Tomb Raider|Lara Croft]] turned into an anthropomorphic mouse.
* Sgt. Johnson from ''[[Halo]]'' : Sgt. Morris from ''[[Quake 4]]''. They may be both inspired by Sgt. Apone from ''[[Aliens]]''.
* In ''[[CryofCry of Fear]]'': Sawrunner (not to be mistaken with the boss Sawer) a maniac that brandishes a chainsaw, howls loudly when attacking, and wears a uncanny mask. He is just like Leatherface from ''[[The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Film)|The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]'', and it does not make him any less terrifying.
* In [[Acclaim]]'s ''[[Legends of Wrestling]] II'' career mode, regional promoters are somewhat based on existing promoters [[Vince McMahon]], Ted Turner (WCW), Paul Heyman, Christine Jarrett, Jim Crockett and Hiro Matsuda.
* Billy and Jimmy Lewis from ''Rage of the Dragons'' are obvious stand-ins for Billy and Jimmy ''Lee'' from ''[[Double Dragon]]''. The game was initially developed as a ''Double Dragon'' spin-off, but the developers were unable to secure the rights to the license. The game's sub-boss character, Abubo, is also an obvious stand-in for ''Abobo''.
* 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.
 
Line 546:
== Webcomics ==
* ''8BitTheater'' 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 (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'', and ''[[Alien (Filmfranchise)|Alien]]'' characters in "[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970929 The Sci-Fi Adventure]" or ''[[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|Harry Potter]]'' characters [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=020902 in the growing] [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, [http://www.faans.com/index.php?p=2065 Doctor Irving Riffington].
* 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)|Star Trek]]'' franchise. Quentyn meets the crew [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 (Anime)|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.
* ''[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|superhero]]
* Mr. Raven from ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' seems a heck of a lot like [[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|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.
* [[Anti-HEROES (Webcomic)|Anti-HEROES]] makes no secret about being inspired by ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' and besides having characters in the same style has some fairly similar characters:
** Kaal is pretty much Belkar if he was a ghost,
** 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 [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 (Webcomic)|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.
 
 
== Web Original ==
* Anyone who writes for [[The Erotic Mind Control Story Archive]] is [[Enforced Trope|forced to use this trope]] in their fiction. See, Warner Bros. slammed the site with legal threats in 1998 due to fan fiction on the site that used their characters. The site's webmaster deleted almost every single fanfic from the site and hasn't accepted any new fanfics since. Only four fanfics survive on the site to this day, but three of them are [[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]], and the fourth one is [[The X-Files]], both franchises that are not owned by Warner. Also, all four fics are [[The Artifact|legacy]]; they date from before 1998. To that effect, in the stories labeled "CB: Comic Book Superhero" and "SF: Science Fiction", you'll probably see characters that look exactly like Wonder Woman and Captain Picard, but have completely different names. The EMCSA also overlaps this trope with [[Gannon Banned]], as there are several other kinds of fiction banned from the site; however, on the official forums, there's a link to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine that you can use to get at the deleted stories.
* ''[[Open Blue]]'' has "Kukulu", a [[Super-Deformed]] copy of Cthulhu, as one of its [[Powers That Be]]. He also happens to be their [[Series Mascot]].
* ''[[Englishman]]'' uses blatant spoonerised names of any real life individuals who appear.
* ''[[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|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 (Web Animation)|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|Original Slash]]. [http://community.livejournal.com/bb_shousetsu Shousetsu Bang* Bang], an original yaoi magazine on [[Live Journal]], 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 [[Nation States]], who appear to be a sort of copy or [[Homage]] to Nissan, Holden, Peugeot, Opel, Chevrolet in one. Possibly an [[Expy]] too.
Line 588:
* [[DC Universe]] characters occasionally get [[Captain Ersatz]] replacements in animated adaptations:
** For a fairly minor C-list [[DC Universe]] hero, Black Lightning has an awful lot of animated [[Captain Ersatz]] versions (most, if not all, created to avoid paying royalties to Black Lightning's creators):
*** Black Vulcan was created by Hanna-Barbera for ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]''.
*** One episode of ''[[Static Shock]]'' features the temporary comeback of a retired 1960s hero named "Soul Power." While the writers of the show wanted to use Black Lightning, [[Executive Meddling|DC's executives refused permission]].
**** Tantrum from the episode of that show with the same name is basically a Captain Ersatz of the Incredible Hulk.
*** Even Black Lightning ''villains'' get [[Captain Ersatz|Ersatzed]]. The ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' episode "Double Date" features the crime lord "Steven Mandragora", a [[Captain Ersatz]] for Kingpin-esque albino villain Tobias Whale, who was the primary adversary in the original ''Black Lightning'' comic series.
*** On top of that, ''JLU'' featured a [[Captain Ersatz]] for Black Vulcan in Juice (alongside [[Captain Ersatz|ersatz]] versions of ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]'' characters the [[The Scrappy|Wonder Twins]], and the various [[Captain Ethnic|Captain Ethnics]].) For those keeping score, that's a Captain Ersatz of a Captain Ersatz.
*** ''[[Batman: theThe Brave And The Bold (Animation)|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' has ''finally'' bucked the Black Lightning trend, with his appearance as the de facto leader of the Outsiders. Of course since he's a teen on this show he's now a [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Static Shock]], which was lampshaded by Wildcat during the Outsiders' [[Heel Face Turn]] -- "It'll take more than a little [[Static Shock]] to keep me down!"
** ''JLU'' featured a thinly-disguised [[Captain Ersatz]] for [[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]] villain Black Manta, "Devil Ray." (Aquaman and related characters were off-limits while a live-action CW series was in development.)
*** This was lampshaded in an actual issue of ''Aquaman'', where someone mistakenly thinks Black Manta is actually called Devil Ray.
Line 599:
** While featuring characters who mostly predated the Marvel versions by decades, the team-ups between Dr. Fate, Aquaman, and Solomon Grundy, were meant to mirror Marvel's, ''[[The Defenders|Defenders]]'' (Fate = Dr. Strange, Aquaman = Sub-Mariner, Grundy = Hulk. The latter even acted and talked like the Hulk on the cartoon). They were later joined by AMAZO, a Silver Surfer mirror. Hawkgirl was the stand-in for Nighthawk.
** [[The Question]] became a more kid friendly clone of [[Watchmen|Rorschach]], making him a [[Captain Ersatz]] of his own [[Captain Ersatz]] (as well as ensuring that he will [[Never Live It Down]]).
** ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'' episode #18, "Return of the Gray Ghost" has Simon Trent, the star of a 1950s "costumed crimefighter" TV show, finding out that he was the inspiration for The Batman -- because as a child, Bruce Wayne used to watch the show with his father. The Gray Ghost is basically an [[Expy]] of both Will Eisner's ''[[The Spirit]]'' and Walter B. Gibson's ''[[The Shadow]]''. But there's still a [[Captain Ersatz]] here, since Simon Trent/The Gray Ghost is provided by ''Adam West'', the ''original'' TV [[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]....
** ''[[Superman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Superman the Animated Series]]'' introduced Luminus and Mala, who were essentially Doctor Light and Ursa with the serial numbers filed off. There was also Angela Chen, who was essentially [[Race Lift|an Asian American version of]] Cat Grant. She was even given Cat's job as a gossip columnist and her infamous rivalry with Lois Lane.
*** Mala's lover was Jax-Ur. While Jax-Ur is a supervillain from the comics, this Jax-Ur has little to do with his comics counterpart, and is General Zod in all but name.
** One episode of ''JLU'' featured Supergirl and several other heroes going to Tokyo to fight a giant turtle with tusks, which flew by retracting its legs into its shell and replacing them with rockets, causing it to spin like a flying saucer, but which was definitely ''not'' [[Gamera]].
Line 606:
** In the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "Legends," four of the leaguers get zapped into an alternate universe populated by parodic Captain Ersatzes of Golden Age DC heroes. (For example, there's the Green Guardsman, whose power ring doesn't work against aluminum.) In-universe, the John Stewart [[Green Lantern]] read all their comics growing up. The episode had originally been written to explicitly feature [[Justice Society of America]] characters, but [[DC Comics]] publisher Paul Levitz refused permission. This wound up being a fairly positive bit of [[Executive Meddling]] all around, both for the episode itself and because it allowed for greater use of JSA characters down the road.
*** The same episode featured the Justice League fighting a giant robot that looked almost exactly like one of the title mecha from ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. The commentary from [[Bruce Timm]] confirmed this was intentional.
** Since ''Superman'' comics were undergoing a revamp at the time, the producers of the ''[[Ruby-Spears Superman (Animation)|Ruby-Spears Superman]]'' cartoon weren't sure how to utilize Brainiac. Instead, they created an original character named Cybron.
** ''[[Batman: theThe Brave And The Bold (Animation)|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' had an episode focusing on circus heiress/vigilante Katrina Moldoff, who used Kathy Kane's costume but was never once called Batwoman (Riddler derisively nicknames her "Bat-Lady"). [[Word of God]] says that DC requested the rename because they didn't want this character's negative traits causing a backlash against the just-debuted Kate Kane Batwoman character.
** The same series featured Scream Queen, Equinox and Kru'll the Eternal, who were Captain Ersatzes of Silver Banshee, Libra and Vandal Savage respectively.
** Rumor from ''[[The Batman (Animation)|The Batman]]'' was originally supposed to be Hush until some [[Executive Meddling]] resulted in him becoming a new (but extremely similar) villain. Ellen Yin was also heavily based off Ellen Yindel from ''[[The Dark Knight Returns]]''.
** Superman X from ''[[Legion of Super -Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' is mostly a [[Composite Character]], but his costume and backstory were heavily lifed from the modern Superboy.
** ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'' had Val-Yor, who was physically based off [[Captain Atom]]. Additionally, Private H.I.V.E. was based off the Guardian, Billy Numerous was Multiple Man, Larry was Bat-Mite, Tramm was Lagoon Boy, Sarasim was Sarah Simms and Puppet King was the Puppeteer.
* The legal fight between Disney, Amblin Entertainment and original creator Gary Wolf over ownership of ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'' lead to the creation of the TV series ''[[Bonkers (Animation)|Bonkers]]''. Especially noticeable since Bonkers himself, a Disney property, is more obviously based on a [[Tex Avery]] style character.
* 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.
* Since they couldn't use other [[Godzilla|Toho Monsters]] for ''[[Godzilla: theThe 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.
* ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' and its spinoffs have episodes that include [[Barney and Friends (TV)|"Baloney" the Dinosaur]].
** Also Googily Goop, an obvious parody of [[Betty Boop]].
* From the black-and-white ''[[Looney Tunes]]'', Buddy is both a [[Captain Ersatz]] and a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] for Bosko. When Bosko's creators left WB for MGM and took the rights to Bosko with them, producer Leon Schlesinger quickly assembled a new animation team who hastily came up with the character of Buddy, who was, in Leonard Maltin's words, "Bosko in whiteface." The Buddy shorts are remembered for being particularly dull even by the standards of 1930s animation.
Line 624:
** 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 Ersatz|Captain Ersatzes]] of everyone from [[Robin Hood]] to [[Indiana Jones]] (as quoted above) to Elvis.
* The Muses of ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'' are [[Captain Ersatz|Captain Ersatzes]] of the black chorus girls from Menken's earlier, non-animated musical, ''[[Little Shop of Horrors]]''.
* Clearly done for copyright reasons, ''[[Arthur (Animationanimation)|Arthur]]'' has Henry Skreever ([[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|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 (TV)|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 (Literature)|Animorphs]]'').
* ''6teen'' uses this constantly, in fact the only thing they use that is the name of the real life thing is ''[[Star Wars]]'':
** Ironically, in the episode Nikki was annoying Darth's girlfriend (for those who remembers the plot) she and Jonesy saw a sci-fi movie that's an [[Expy]] of ''[[Star Wars]]'', but not the real one! Yet they had constant references in other episodes, namely around Darth!
Line 632:
** The funny thing, Dracula is a [[Public Domain Character]], they didn't needed to "create" a [[Captain Ersatz]].
* ''[[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-aA-Lympics]]. Others point out that Mumbly actually pre-dated Muttley (though he originally was a ''good guy''.)
** Muttley, created in 1968, pre-dates Mumbly, created in 1976.
** Issue #13 of the Laff-a-Lympics comic book shows that Dread Baron and Dick Dastardly were brothers.
*** It's been noted that Heatter-Quigley was given an on-screen credit on [[Wacky Races]] in spite of the fact that the live game show segment they were to have made as part of the show was scrapped. The Heatter-Quigley billing appears nowhere on [[Dastardly and Muttley Inin Their Flying Machines|either of]] [[The Perils of Penelope Pitstop|the show's spinoffs]], but it does appear in the copyright tag of a ''Dastardly & Muttley'' comic book story, "Truce Or Consequences" (Gold Key, Hanna-Barbera Fun-In #10, January 1972).
* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' has quite a few. Dr. Orpheus is [[Doctor Strange]]. Jefferson Twilight is [[Blade]]. The Groovy Gang are a bunch of psychotic parodies of Mystery, Inc. from ''[[Scooby Doo]]''. There are a lot, and they're mostly played for laughs. Surprisingly ''averted'' with Jonny Quest, Race Bannon, and Dr. Zin. When the creators found out the same people own the right to their show and ''[[Jonny Quest]]'', they had them make ''actual'' appearances. Later on, they had to start calling him "Action Johnny" for trademark reasons. Intellectual property law is a cruel mistress.
* ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' has two of its villains in this position: first, Dark Laser is obviously [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]]. In fact, his original episode was just an excuse to do an extended parody of Star Wars. The second is [[Sdrawkcab Name|Foop]], who is basically [[Family Guy|Stewie Griffin]]. No surprise, since Butch Hartman and [[Seth MacfarlaneMacFarlane]] are friends. Catman, portrayed by [[Adam Westing|TV's Adam West, is another example.]]
** Although Catman gets complicated, as he's an actual Batman villain (with the same costume), who is himself a thinly-veiled stand-in for a Golden Age hero named Catman.
* The [[Five-Man Band]] of ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'' are Captain Ersatzes of 1950's B-Movies:
Line 643:
** B.O.B. --> [[The Blob]]
** Dr. Cockroach [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate|PhD]] --> [[The Fly]]
** The Missing Link --> The [[Creature Fromfrom the Black Lagoon]]
** Insectosaurus --> Mothra
* Almost every episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' has one. A few examples: Sherry Bobbins (explicitly), "Angelica Button and the Dragon King's Trundle Bed", Count Fudgeula, Itchy and Scratchy, Menthol Moose, Rainier Wolfcastle (married to Maria Shriver Kennedy Quimby)... the list goes on and on.
* The wrestling episode of ''Ben10'' has a shocking number of comic book characters getting the treatment: [[X-Men|Wolverine, Cyclops,]] Wonder Man, [[Batman|Killer Croc]], even a gang boss based somewhat on Kingpin. The clincher? {{spoiler|Wolverine and Killer Croc were adopted by [[Spider -Man|Aunt May]].}}
* On the 1981 [[Filmation]] series ''Blackstar'' respect for a certain no-longer-living [[JRRJ. TolkienR. (Creator)R. Tolkien|author]] could not prevent the introduction of "[[The Hobbit (Literaturenovel)|Trobbits]]".
* A few episodes of ''[[Codename Kids Next Door (Animation)|Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' mention a show called "Dr. Timespace and the Continuums" (''[[Doctor Who]]''). In the [[Christmas Episode]], they fight Yule-themed pastiches of the X-Men. Yes, including a [[Wolverine]] with candy cane claws.
* The ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]'' episode "Heroes" had three obvious references to the [[Fantastic Four]] in form of another superhero team called the Terrific Trio: the stand-in for Mr. Fantastic was changed to "the 2D man", the Invisible Woman gained ice powers and was dubbed Freon, and the Thing and the Human Torch were merged into one character, Magma. The idea is then ruthlessly deconstructed with the "accident" {{spoiler|having been set up by a jealous admirer}}. Plus the mutation not only causes an end to normal life, but eventually ''psychosis''. [[Take That|Then they all go rogue and die.]] And the Captain of the shield like organization is not Nick Fury mixed with J. Jonah Jameson with a Hitler mustache.
* 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].
Line 657:
** 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 and Mandy]]'' examples:
** Hoss Delgado, an Ersatz of [[Escape Fromfrom New York|Snake Plissken]] and [[Evil Dead|Ash Williams]].
*** Not to mention a splash of [[Mad Max|Max Rockatansky]]
** There is also an entire [[Captain Ersatz|Ersatz]] of the ''[[Harry Potter (Literaturenovel)|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 [[Captain Ersatz|Ersatz]]es of [[The Rival|Draco]] and [[The Spock|Hermione]].
* ''[[The Tick]]'''s animated series had a lot of these. Amongst the most prominent was Die Fledermaus (a [[Batman]] parody), American Maid (a female [[Captain America]]), and Big Shot ([[The Punisher]]).
* An episode of ''[[The Mask (Animationanimation)|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 (Animation)|Animaniacs]]''.
* '''''[[Spell My Name Withwith a "The"|The]] [[Third Person Person|Boulder]]''' knows that '''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|he is]]''' [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[Dwayne Johnson|a certain well-known wrestler-turned-actor]].''
** At the time [[Mick Foley]], who voiced ''The Boulder'' made a living off of [[Affectionate Parody|having fun with]] [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]].
* Whenever a character from another series appears on ''[[MAD (Animation)|MAD]]'' (often), their design is modified slightly to ward off potential lawsuits - even for characters that are owned by its parent channel [[Cartoon Network]]. Example: when [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Applejack]] appears in the "[[Cowboys and Aliens|Cowboys and]] [[Ben 10: Alien Force (Animation)|Alien Force]]" skit, she wears a floppy [[Southern Belle]]-style sunhat instead of her normal cowboy hat, has two bands on her tail and ponytail instead of one, has a variation on Rarity's cutie mark, and is colored reddish-pink instead of orange.
* The [[DextersDexter's Laboratory]] universe has Major Glory, a [[Captain America|Captain Ersatz America]].
** Major Glory has bits of [[Superman]] in there, too, and then there's his housemate, [[Spell My Name Withwith a "The"|The]] [[The Hulk|Infraggable Krunk.]]
** Let's not forget the Viking God of Ragnarock 'n' roll, [[The Mighty Thor|Val Hallen]].
* In [[Secret Squirrel]] (H-B, 1965), the villain Yellow Pinky was a Captain Ersatz of James Bond villain Goldfinger.
* In [[Rango]], there is a brief appearance by [[Hunter S. Thompson]]'s own [[Captain Ersatz]] from [[Fear and Loathing Inin Las Vegas]]. Being as the main character is played by [[Johnny Depp]] in both films, this only makes matters better.
* [[Homestar Runner|Ostrich Thing with The Balls]] from [[Regular Show]].
* [[Jimmy Two -Shoes]] antagonist Luicus is basically another [[My Gym PartnersPartner's a Monkey|Principal Pixiefrog]].
* [[Chalk Zone]] had duos of these. The first being [[Those Two Guys|Reggie and his dad Bruno]] who look basically like [[Donkey Kong|DK]] and [[Donkey Kong Country|Diddy Kong]]. The other is Thor Throat and Brick Buster who look a lot similar to [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad and Strong Sad]].
* [[Scaredy Squirrel (Animation)|Scaredy Squirrel]] has this effect on [[Diddy Kong Racing|Conker]] [[Conkers Bad Fur Day (Video Game)|the Squirrel]].
* Bonkey the Green Dragon from ''[[Recess]]''.
* The main characters of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' started as [[Lauren Faust]]'s sketches of characters from the '80s show. Hasbro told her that Applejack and Spike were the only names and designs from that period that they still had rights to. So Faust [[In Name Only|renamed]] and [[Palette Swap|recolored]] the other five based on more recent characters in the franchise:
** Twilight -> Twilight Sparkle
** Firefly -> Rainbow Dash
Line 681:
** Surprise -> Pinkie Pie
** Sparkler -> Rarity
* The ''[[Pearlie (Animation)|Pearlie]]'' character Gobsmack is bascally an obvious expy to The Little Man (Big Nose in ''[[Pink Panther and Pals]]'') from ''[[The Pink Panther (Animationanimation)|The Pink Panther]]''. He evens has a big nose and rambles like The Little Man.
* ''[[The Goode Family]]'' episode "Gerold's Way or The Highway" has a cop character who's a straight Captain Ersatz to the Angry Cop from the [[Harvey Birdman]] episode "Booty Noir", who is no better either.
* ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]'': In an attempt to ride the show's success, disney tried to launch their own show called ''poopdeck'' with almost the exact same premise. When Cartoon network found out, they had disney cancel the show immediately on copyright basis and then made an entire episode devoted to the toying with idea with no small amount of vitrol (''Panfake'', for those familair with the episodes).
* ''[[SpongebobSpongeBob SquarePants]]'' has Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, an obvious parody of Batman and Robin, respectively, although appearance-wise they resemble Aquaman and Plastic Man, respctively.
** Even down to the fact that their flashback selves are voiced by Adam West and Burt Ward.
* ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball]]'' has [[Snakes Onon a Plane|''Alligators on a Train''.]]
* ''[[Johnny Test]]'' featured a parody of ''[[Pokémon (Franchise)|Pokémon]]'' called ''Tinymon'', including a spoof of Ash Ketchum named Blast Ketchup and most obviously, a spoof of Lugia named Screechareen.
* [[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]].
* The obviousness of Irma Langenstein from the 1980s incarnation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being the [[Captain Ersatz]] of Jeanette of The Chipettes.
 
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/881012"
Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.
More information