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Changing of the Guard (view source)

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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Digimon Adventure 02 (Anime)|Digimon Adventure 02]]'' picked up where [[Digimon Adventure (Anime)|the first]] left off by having the two youngest kids team up with a whole new group, while the older heroes served as mentors.
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam SEED (Anime)|Mobile Suit Gundam SEED]]'' primarily focuses on Kira. In the sequel, ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', Kira and his love Lacus are happily living together with [[Babies Ever After|a score of orphans]], and the focus shifts instead to Kira's friend Athrun and a younger Gundam pilot, Shinn. About halfway through the series, Kira and Lacus came back as the primary protagonists alongside Athrun.
* ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'' passes the torch to a different [[Badass Family|Joestar]] every new series, although they usually wind up in conflict with [[Big Bad|Dio]] (even indirectly) at some point. It's also common for supporting characters in one series to show up in another, like Polnareff's involvement in Part 5.
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vi VidViVid|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] [[Spin Offspring|ViVid]]'' has Nanoha actually [[Heroic RROD|listening to her doctors' advice for once]] and [[Retired Badass|temporarily resting her wings]], letting her daughter Vivio, whose training she's personally overseeing and who she had proclaimed to be skilled enough to have her own [[Transformation Trinket|Intelligent Device]], take over as main character. The Guard changes back in ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force|Force]]'', however.
* ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' changes the main character from Mai to Arika in both versions, but the nature of Mai's eventual reappearance is ''very'' different between the two adaptations.
* Tishe ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'' OVA switches halfway through from Parn to Spark as the main character. Of course, {{spoiler|he's actually just being [[Badass]] offscreen, and returns just in time for the [[Battle Royale With Cheese]].}}
* Similarly, the second season of ''[[Superbook]]'' had Gizmo team up with a young friend of the main characters of the first season, Joy and Chris. They kept in contact with them through a communication screen in Gizmo's stomach (he's a robot).
* The first few episodes of ''[[Transformers Headmasters]]'' moved the main characters [[Character Focus|out of the spotlight]] to focus on the Headmasters. Something similar happened between ''[[Transformers Super God Masterforce|Masterforce]]'' and ''[[Transformers Victory|Victory]]''.
* Akira Toriyama wanted to do this in ''[[Dragon Ball (Manga)|Dragon Ball]]'', switching the focus from Goku to his son Gohan, but the audience and the publisher kept demanding more Goku.
** It has been said that he originally ''did'' want to change from Goku to Gohan, but switched the main focus back to Goku because he decided that Gohan wasn't fit for the role.
* With every new arc and region of ''[[Pokémon Special (Manga)|Pokémon Special]]'' comes new protagonists, with the old ones occasionally providing backup. The best thing about this is that since the focus isn't on one character all the time, nobody suffers from [[Badass Decay]].
 
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In a controversial decision, the folds in charge [[Ultimate Spider -Man]] allowed Peter to be killed off. A successor named Miles Morales [[Legacy Character|took up]] [[Taking Up the Mantle|the mantle]], despite being younger, smaller, and afraid of his powers.
* ''[[Astro City]]'' had a two-issue story arc on this trope. [[Spider -Man]] [[Expy]] Jack-In-The-Box is confronted by [[Enfante Terrible|nightmarish futuristic versions of his son,]] who blame Jack for their fate (in their [[Alternate History]], Jack died before they were born, and was therefore [[Parental Abandonment|unable to be a father figure in his life]]). When Jack later discovers his wife is pregnant with the as-yet-unborn son, he [[Sadistic Choice|has to decide]] between giving up his super-hero identity or risk leaving behind a [[Fetus Terrible|twisted offspring.]] The problem is resolved when {{spoiler|Jack passes his super-hero identity to an acrobatic [[Street Urchin|gang member,]] whom he aids from [[Mission Control|his home basement]] with remote-control spy cameras and microphones.}}
 
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Short Circuit (Film)|Short Circuit]] 2'', sure it's still Johnny Five but now Guttenberg has been replaced with his quirky not-really-Indian sidekick.
* The ''[[Tremors]]'' series passes the "hero torch" from Val (gets married) to Earl (opens a theme park) to Burt (when last heard from, still at it..)
* ''[[Smokey and Thethe Bandit]]'' Part 3 with Snowman dressed as The Bandit.
* The often rumoured but [[Development Hell|not yet in production]] ''[[Ghostbusters (Film)|Ghostbusters]]'' 3 is supposed to be about the old team training a new set of recruits.
* ''[[Indiana Jones and Thethe Kingdom of The Crystal Skull (Film)|Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of Thethe Crystal Skull]]'' introduces Indy's son Mutt, who may get a film of his own if Spielberg wants to make another film. Even so, the film ends with a pointed subversion of passing the torch as Indy's trademark hat is blown off its rack and Mutt picks it up. He's about to try it on when Indy snatches it back.
* Like the [[Indiana Jones]] above, [[Rocky Balboa]] had a perfectly good opportunity to pass off his Best Boxer EVAR mantle to a young man named Steps (who did not have any other purpose to the story). He doesn't, though.
* A meta-version of this occurs in the beginning of ''[[The Rundown]]'' when The Rock enters a club and passes Arnold Schwarzenegger, who wishes him a good time as he's leaving the club.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Raymond E. Feist's [[The Riftwar Cycle|Riftwar Series]]. While most of the powerful magicians are long-lived, supporting characters in the later books are typically descendants of the original protagonists. Famous examples are the descendants of Duke Borric and Jimmy the Hand.
* [[JRRJ. R. R. Tolkien (Creator)|JRR Tolkien]] wrestled with the idea of having Bilbo have more adventures after ''[[The Hobbit (Literaturenovel)|The Hobbit]]'', but quickly decided on having a son or other relative have them instead, although it took him a while to write about [[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|Frodo]].
* [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] played with this in his [[John Carter of Mars|Mars books]]. After the third book, he began writing about a larger stable of viewpoint characters, as John Carter's own romance arc had been completed and he needed new princesses to rescue and heroes to rescue them. John Carter remained a central figure and [[The Hero]] throughout the series, however
* [[Andre Norton]]'s ''[[Witch World]]'' started with two books about Simon Tregarth. Then she wrote them about his children, or about other characters in the same world.
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** Ethan of Athos qualify also for this trope, as the book is focus on Elli Quinn and Ethan.
** [[Lois McMaster Bujold]] has done this again with the first two ''[[Chalion]]'' books. Amusingly, the heroine of the second one is the ''mother'' of a supporting character in the first.
* Done constantly in ''[[Xanth (Literature)|Xanth]]''. What generation of Bink's family are we on now?
** Averted in [[Piers Anthony|the same author's]] ''[[Incarnations of Immortality]]'', because most of the important protagonists are immortal, so characters from the 1200s mingle with space-age teenagers without missing a beat.
** In the ''[[Apprentice Adept]]'' series, this is played with. The main characters in Book 4 and 5 are from the second generation, but in Book 6, the first-, second- and third-generation heroes all get equal screen time and are equally relevant to the plot.
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** And there are a few novels that predate the construction of the Abbey, so not even that is entirely constant.
* ''[[Dragonlance]] Chronicles'' has Tanis as its lead character but its sequel ''Legends'' set shortly after has the twins Caramon and Raistlin take the spotlight. The next book set years later has the children of the heroes from Chronicles as the main cast.
* The last few ''[[Anne of Green Gables (Literature)|Anne of Green Gables]]'' books are mostly about her kids.
* ''The Sacketts'' series by Louis L'amour has this built-in and happening over and over. As the title suggest, the series is meant to be about the Sackett family, not one particular hero.
* Every new one of ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'' has a new changing of the guard: First, there were the 4 Pevensie siblings. Then there were two and a cousin. Then the cousin and a friend... The [[Prequel]] even established a minor character from the first published book as the major character in a previous adventure.
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* [[Rick Riordan]]'s ''[[The Heroes of Olympus|The Lost Hero]]'' centers about three entirely new demi-gods, not Percy Jackson and his friends.
* The first four books of the [[X Wing Series]] had Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron, but the primary focus was unmistakeably Corran Horn. Those four books ended with the Rogues, including Wedge and Corran, deciding to help a planet's defenses build up after "killing" the [[Big Bad]]. The next three books were to be written by another author, who wanted to write from the POV of some of Wedge's friends creating a new squadron. [[Executive Meddling]] nixed this, so [[Aaron Allston]] had Wedge leave the Rogues for a while and create a new squadron himself. Some other characters are in common, but in different or reduced roles.
* The first series of the ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]'' books started off with Firestar as the [[The Hero|main character]]. He was then replaced by Brambleclaw in the ''[[Warrior Cats the New Prophecy]]''. In ''Power of Three'', he turns into a background character like Firestar, and is replaced by Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf. ''Omen of the Stars'' has Ivypool and Dovewing as its main focus, with the ''Power of Three'' characters still in tow.
* Most of the main good guys from the first three ''[[Emberverse]]'' books have a lot of authority in the [[Divided States of America|new nation-states]] by the time the second series rolls around. This would put a crimp in their ability to go haring off to find the [[Sword of Plot Advancement]] when such a trip would take several years - a fact the resident Tolkien geek deeply laments - and so the task falls to the previously established [[Chosen One]], his childhood friend, and [[Shout-Out|se]][[Lord of the Rings|ven]] more characters who either could be missed by blinking in the first three books or are completely new. While they're away, we do get the occasional glimpse of the old guard struggling to stave off the new [[Big Bad]].
* ''[[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]]''
** [[Discworld (Literature)/Mort|Mort]] and Ysabell's story ended with them [[Happily Married]]. So for [[Discworld (Literature)/Soul Music|the next novel]] that needed a young clueless human to take on Death's role and mess things up, their [[Spin Offspring|daughter]] Susan was introduced.
** ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Lords and Ladies|Lords and Ladies]]'' also ends with Magrat, the [[The Hecate Sisters|Maiden]] of the Lancre coven, getting married. Luckily, the same novel introduces a coven of young girls messing about, one of whom -- Agnes Nitt -- actually has some talent and becomes Third Witch ([[Refusal of the Call|eventually]]) in the next coven novel. Arguably, the Tiffany Aching novels mark a [[Changing of the Guard]] for the entire witches series, with Tiff becoming the main character while Nanny and Granny fade into support roles.
* After a while, the [[Thoroughbred]] series stopped focussing on Ashley and her friends and timeskipped a few years to focus on their kids instead.
 
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* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' did a lot of this in its early seasons: when old actors left or started getting too old for their roles, they transferred their powers to new ones and went off to do stuff.
* The ''[[War of the Worlds]]'' series did this when it switched into a [[Darker and Edgier]] season, throwing out [[Villain Decay|decayed villains]] and immediately establishing the threat of the new ones with the death of two of the ensemble. Their mourning was short-lifed due to the addition of Adrian Paul as an [[Anti-Hero]].
* In ''[[M*A*S*H (TV)|Mash]]'' this happens to several major cast members: Henry's tour of duty ends and gets killed on his way home, and is replaced by Potter. Trapper goes home as well, in comes BJ. Frank breaks down, and is replaced by Charles. When Radar leaves, Klinger takes over his role as the company clerk.
* Agent John Doggett replaced Fox Mulder as the male lead after the latter was abducted by the aliens in the eighth season of ''[[The X-Files (TV)|The X-Files]]''. In the ninth season, Monica Reyes replaced Dana Scully as the female lead, [[Deuteragonist|completing the guard change]].
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story (Video Game)|Star Ocean the Second Story]]'', has two selectable protagonists, one of which is the son of one of the protagonists in ''[[Videogame/Star Ocean The First Departure|Star Ocean The First Departure]]''. (e.g. Star Ocean 1)
* The [[And the Adventure Continues...|ending]] of [[Neverwinter Nights]] was set up for another adventure, but they move on to entirely new groups of heroes in the expansions and the sequel.
* Most games in the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series focus on a different Belmont, although sometimes they're not available due to plot purposes, like in ''Bloodlines'', ''Symphony Of The Night'', and ''Portrait Of Ruin''.
* Later installments of the ''[[King's Quest]]'' series focus on the adventures of Graham's (the original protagonist) descendants.
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* ''[[Fire Emblem]] 4'' skips 17 years after its halfway point, so pretty much your entire army will be replaced by the children of your units.
** This trope works backwards in the 6th and 7th ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' games. FE 7 was a prequel to FE 6, so it naturally starred the parents of several of the 6th game's characters.
* ''[[Chrono Trigger (Video Game)|Chrono Trigger]]'' and ''[[Chrono Cross (Video Game)|Chrono Cross]]''. The main characters from the former are all out of the picture somehow (dead, in another time, or busy elsewhere), but before they left they set up an unimaginably complex [[Gambit Roulette]] to produce the main characters of the latter and get them to be in the right places at the right times.
* Apollo Justice takes over from Phoenix Wright in the ''[[Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Ace Attorney]]'' games. Well, he ''technically'' does - the fact that the entire Apollo Justice game centres on what happened to Phoenix left some fans unconvinced. Still, Phoenix's pals were absent, to allow for a new cast.
** It actually was suppose to be a whole new set of characters but [[Executive Meddling]] caused it to include Phoenix and the writers had to make it so that Phoenix couldn't just swoop in and save the day.
* The son of the main characters from the previous game is implied to the new hero in ''[[Final Fantasy IV the After Years]]'' and the game also focuses a good deal on the other children of the previous heroes as well, but the old heroes are quite active in the story themselves as well.
* ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' continues the history of Thedas post-Fifth Blight (which was depicted in ''Origins'') but with a new lead character and a mostly brand-new [[Player Party|supporting cast]].
* ''[[Valis (Video Game)|Valis]] IV'' introduces a new heroine named Lena Brande, since Yuko, heroine of the previous games, [[Ascended to A Higher Plane of Existence]] at the end of ''Valis III''. Cham and Valna return as supporting characters.
* All the games in ''[[The Tale of Alltynex]]'' trilogy does this.
* At the end of [[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]], Tidus {{spoiler|ceases to exist due to the fact that Jecht's existance as Sin was the only thing keeping him alive}}. Obviously, ''[[Square Enix]]'' couldn't make him the protagonist of [[Final Fantasy X 2 (Video Game)|the sequel]], so the story centers around Yuna instead and her quest to bring him back.
* ''Pokémon'' series has had by far 6/12/13 heroes (depending on how you count) ([[Pokémon Red and Blue|Red/Leaf]], [[Pokémon Gold and Silver|Ethan/Kris/Lyra]], [[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire|Brendan/May]], [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl|Lucas/Dawn]], [[Pokémon Black and White|Hilbert/Hilda and the new, unnamed heroes]]) in the main series. In Orre games, there's Wes in [[Pokémon Colosseum]] and Michael in Pokémon XD. [[Pokémon Ranger|Ranger games]] have 3/6 heroes (Lunick/Solana, Kellyn/Kate and Ben/Summer). Then there's Mark/Mint from TCG games, an unnamed hero from Pokémon Conquest, Todd Snap from Pokémon Snap and Lucy Fleetfloot from Pokémon Troizei/Link. It's probably used to justify [[Bag of Spilling]].
 
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]'' is about [[Batman]]'s replacement. The original Batman acts as [[The Obi-Wan]].
* The entire purpose of ''[[Transformers: theThe Movie]]'' was to kill off the old [[Merchandise-Driven|toys]] to make room for new ones.
** Almost happened with the GI Joe Movie as well, which was in production around the same time. The negative reactions from the audiences prompted the executives to rework the plot, allowing Duke to live. Still happened to an extent with Cobra Commander however.
* A common Disney tactic:
** ''[[The Lion King (Disney)|The Lion King]] 2'' is about [[The Hero|Simba]]'s daughter, Kiara, rather than about Simba.
** ''[[The Little Mermaid (Disney)|The Little Mermaid]] II: Return to the Sea'' is about Ariel's daughter more than Ariel herself.
** ''[[Lady and The Tramp (Disney)|Lady and Thethe Tramp]] II: Scamp's Adventure'' is, [[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|as the title indicates]], about Lady and Tramp's son Scamp, not them.
* ''[[Extreme Ghostbusters (Animation)|Extreme Ghostbusters]]'' does what the above-mentioned ''Ghostbusters 3'' planned to do: focus on Egon training a new group. [[The Real Ghostbusters (Animation)|The Real Ghostbusters]] haven't quite quit, though, and return for one two-parter.
* This was sort of the entire point of ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures (Animation)|Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' -- the old school [[Looney Tunes]] ran an academy at which they could teach their skills to the next generation of [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute|Suspiciously Similar Substitutes]].
* In the ''[[The Legend of Korra (Animation)|The Legend of Korra]],'' episode "Welcome to Republic City" Katara, aged survivor of the previous series ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]],'' [[Lampshaded Trope|lampshades]] this in her [[Passing the Torch]] speech to young Avatar Korra:
{{quote| '''Katara''': "Aang's time has passed. My brother and many of my friends are gone. It's time for you and your generation to take on the responsibility of keeping peace and balance in the world. But I think you're going to be a great Avatar." }}
** It was played with a little bit previously, as the Avatar is a constantly reincarnated series of heroes, and Aang was frequently compared with his previous incarnations Roku and Kyoshi. Korra gets it a little worse though as there are plenty of people living who still remember Aang.
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