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{{trope}}
A
The reasons for this are varied, but one common cause is when creative teams are unable to retain the rights to the original work, which would make a direct sequel impossible. Other times, designers don't feel like continuing the same story of the original work (and risking [[Sequelitis]]), but their distinctive style remains. Sometimes, a
Present in all sorts of media, although the term
A spiritual successor may succumb to [[Better by a Different Name]].
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Contrast [[They Copied It, So It Sucks]], [[Dolled-Up Installment]], [[In Name Only]], [[Dueling Shows]], and [[Thematic Series]]. See also [[Production Posse]].
The [[Inverted Trope|opposite]] is [[Spiritual Antithesis]], though it is possible to be
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'' is a
* [[Keiko Takemiya]]'s ''[[Kaze to Ki no Uta]]'' is the spiritual successor to "The Door To Summer", a one-volume manga she wrote. They both contain similar story elements, as well as both being adapted into 60-minute [[OVA
** Both of these series in turn are spiritual successors to ''In the Sunroom'', a lesser known manga of hers, which also have similar story elements of the two series mentioned above.
* ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' is a
** ''[[Michiko to Hatchin]]'' is a further succession, judging from the art style and Watanabe's involvement.
* ''[[Blue Submarine No. 6]]'' is a
* ''[[Soul Eater]]'' is sometimes considered to be spiritual successor of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. Note that Soul Eater's writer Atsushi Okubo has worked as Hiromu Arakawa's assistant.
** Their animated adaptations even suffered similar fates. Both shows started to overtake the manga on which they were based and, rather than try to pad out the show with filler, the writers came up with [[Gecko Ending|their own ending]] for the show to tie up the loose ends. They faced similar [[Base Breaker|responses from the fandom too]].
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* ''[[NEEDLESS]]'' is basically a Spiritual Successor to ''[[S-Cry-ed]]''.
* ''[[Noir (anime)|Noir]]'' was succeeded by ''[[Madlax]]'', and ''[[Madlax]]'', by ''[[El Cazador de la Bruja]]'', being part of Studio Bee Train's [[Girls with Guns]] trilogy.
* ''[[RahXephon]]'''s creator has said it's a
** The average person who has watched ''[[RahXephon]]'' will more likely compare it to ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', though.
*** That's because both of them can be considered as spiritual successors of [[Megazone 23]], with [[Humongous Mecha]].
* ''[[Touka Gettan]]'' is a
** ''[[Kannazuki no Miko]]'' has occasionally been cited as a
* ''[[The Five Star Stories]]'' by Mamoru Nagano is a
** There are hints in the manga that it is, in fact, in the exact same continuity - that it is a prequel of sorts, pre-dating L-Gaim by a good span of time.
* ''[[Air Gear]]'' is a
* ''[[Xam'd: Lost Memories]]'' is an obvious
* Subverted to hell and back with ''[[Daitarn 3]]'', by [[Yoshiyuki Tomino]]. Similar name as the series that came before it, ''[[Zambot 3]]''? Check. Similar design for the robot? Check. Similar weapons like a "Sun Attack" which is almost identical to Zambot's "Moon Attack"? Check. Three main characters? Check. [[Kill'Em All]] ending? HELL NO! Although Zambot 3 was one of the first [[Deconstruction
** Speaking of Tomino, ''[[Overman King Gainer]]'' is one to ''[[Combat Mecha Xabungle]]''.
** ''[[The Big O]]'' could be seen as a successor to Daitarn3, only using Batman instead of James Bond.
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*** [[Development Hell|When it some day comes out...]]
* ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' has been stated to be a spiritual successor to ''[[Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind]]''; both have similar themes and characters, but ''PM'' has rather more depressingly realistic overtones, and replaces the former's [[Happy Ending]] with a [[Bittersweet Ending]].
* ''[[Darker
* ''[[Ninku]]'' shares many similarities with Naruto despite coming first. Examples like the fact that Fuusuke is a wind ninja who wears orange and uses the kuatsuken (resembling Rasengan).
* ''[[One Piece]]'' is the successor to [[Dragon Ball]] and [[Dragonball Z]]
*
* ''[[Durarara!!]]'' is this to ''[[Baccano!]]'', although the two are different in tone and setting, they share the same creator, the same "[[Loads and Loads of Characters]] with distinct plotlines on a collision course" writing style, and the same jazzy musical style.
** They also happen to share the universe, though taking place in different countries and decades apart, only two characters from the first make a brief cameo in the second.
* First, Junichi Sato directed ''[[Prétear]]'', a [[Magical Girl]] series that is (very) loosely based on "[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (novel)|Snow White]]", and features a [[Redheaded Hero
* ''[[Space Carrier Blue Noah]]'' to ''[[Space Battleship Yamato]]'', by the same producer.
* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' to ''[[Rose of Versailles]]''.
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* ''[[Tamayura]]'' is the spiritual successor to ''[[Kamichu!]]''. Not only is the show about a tightly-knit group of teenage girls, with the mood, art style and theme practically lifted from its illustrious predecessor, but it also [[Real Place Background|takes place in Takehara]], an old town not far from ''[[Kamichu!]]'s'' Onomichi and similar to Onomichi in many respects. Still, an argument could me made for ''[[Sketchbook]]'' as an influence, considering the age of the characters and the art theme (not to mention the opening).
* ''[[Nodame Cantabile]]'' is seen as the spiritual succesor to ''[[Honey and Clover]]''. Both are about students in art schools (drama ensues, obviously), both anime adaptations were made by the [[J.C.Staff|same studio]], with a very similar drawing style.
* People have started seeing ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]]'' as a spiritual successor to ''[[Ranma
* Several themes in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' can be traced to scriptwriter [[Gen Urobuchi]]'s afterword to the first volume of ''[[Fate/Zero]]'', of which he was also the author.
** And to [[Bokurano]]
* ''[[Dororon Enma-kun]] Meramera'' to [[Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen]] - they both take famous [[Go Nagai]]'s manga, revamp it for modern audience and introduce new plotlines and characters, including at last one [[Canon Immigrant]].
* Both the anime and game series ''[[Inazuma Eleven]]'' is this to ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]''.
* ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure]]'' to ''[[Dragon Ball]]''.
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* [[Fist of the North Star]] is this for ''[[Mad Max]]'', [[X Meets Y|but with]] [[Bruce Lee]].
* The ''[[Pretty Cure]]'' franchise as a whole is this to ''[[Sailor Moon]]''
* Happens so much with [[Gainax]] that it's almost inevitable:
** ''[[Gunbuster]]'' was this to ''[[Aim for the Ace!]]'', ''[[Top Gun]]'' and ''[[Getter Robo]]''. Then ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' was this to GunBuster and ''[[Devilman]]''. Then ''[[FLCL]]'' was that to NGE. Then ''[[Gurren Lagann]]'' was this to all of them before but especially ''[[Getter Robo]]''. Goes even farther with Gainax's own successor, Trigger and ''[[Kill la Kill]]'', ''[[Little Witch Academia]]'' and Darling In The Franxx.
== Comic Books ==
* [[Greg Rucka]]'s ''[[Queen and Country]]'' series is a homage/update of British spy series ''[[The Sandbaggers]]''.
** Likewise, his book ''Stumptown'' is supposed to be a modern day version of the ''[[The Rockford Files]]''.
* The Metabarons is heavily inspired by and can be seen as a
* The [[Justice League of America]] is quite open about being inspired (both in the comics and in real life) by the [[Justice Society of America]].
* Johnathan Hickman's ''[[SHIELD]]'' picks up on a lot of the similar thematic elements that were explored in [[Warren Ellis]]' ''[[Planetary]]''.
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== Fan Works ==
* ''[[Luminosity]]'' is doing to the ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' universe what ''[[Harry Potter and
* Horrifyingly, ''[[
** There's also ''Muffins'' and ''Dresses''.
== Film ==
* ''[[Colombiana]]'' to ''[[Léon: The Professional]]''
* ''[[Parker Lewis Can't Lose]]'' is seen as the
* ''[[The Wonder Years]]'' is reasonably seen as a
** It's also seen as a successor to ''[[A Christmas Story]]''.
** And don't forgot ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' which stars Ben Savage, the younger brother of Fred Savage, who was the main character in ''The Wonder Years''.
** ''[[Everybody Hates Chris]]'' could be seen as the African-American version of ''[[The Wonder Years]]''.
* ''[[Dead Set]]'' can be seen as the spiritual [[Prequel]] to ''[[28 Days Later]]'', showing how the disease spread in its first few days, and how society fell to the point that we see it in ''28 Days Later''.
** Actually, this can't be a case. Dead Set is about undead zombies, 28 Days Later is about rage-infected (but still living) victims who do not consume flesh.
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** ''[[Big Fish]]'' is also kinda similar to ''[[Forrest Gump]]''
* The 2007 movie ''[[Knocked Up]]'' is considered by many to be a spiritual sequel to ''[[The 40-Year-Old Virgin]]''. It was originally intended to be a direct sequel.
** And now a direct sequel to ''Knocked Up'' is in the works for a Christmas 2012 release.{{verify}}
* 1997's ''[[Fierce Creatures]]'' featured the same core cast and much of the same crew as 1988's ''[[A Fish Called Wanda]]'', and includes at least one explicit [[Shout-Out]] to the earlier film, although they are in no way connected to each other.
** The actors also play more-or-less similar characters, with Kevin Kline as a dimwitted egomaniac, Jamie Lee Curtis as seductive and manipulative, John Cleese as a stuffy square, and Michael Palin as a weird guy.
* ''[[Labyrinth]]'' is a spiritual sequel to ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'', in so far as both films feature the puppeteering of the [[Jim Henson]] corps, scenarios co-authored by Henson himself, and production design by Brian Froud. George Lucas was also reportedly involved in the making of both films, though only credited in ''Labyrinth.''
** ''[[Mirror Mask]]'' was designed to be the
*** All three films have been released as a single DVD set called the "Jim Henson fantasy film collection" (which was, incidentally, a ploy to move unsold copies of the original ''Dark Crystal'' and ''Labyrinth'' DVDs after the deluxe versions came out).
* The Dee Wallace Stone comedy ''[[Invisible Mom]]'' had both a
* ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' is the
* ''[[Scream (film)|Scream]]'' can be considered the spiritual successor of the obscure '80s slasher film ''[http://www.eatmybrains.com/showreview.php?id=30 Return To Horror High]''. Not only does the killer in both movies have a black cloak and a white featureless mask, but RTHH was very post-modern for a film of its age: it is about a director making a horror movie about a series of unsolved murders happened in a high school, set in that same school, where the actors playing the parts of the students are getting murdered in "real life"; there's the conflict between the scriptwriter of the film and the director who only wants tits & blood, and the actresses that complain of being used only as fanservice...
* ''[[Talladega Nights]]: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' is the
* ''[[Corpse Bride]]'' was hotly anticipated by fans of ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]''. In fact, with his distinctive style and usual repertory cast, you could consider the entire [[Tim Burton]] oeuvre outside the more science fiction stuff one big de facto franchise.
** Henry Selick's ''[[James and the Giant Peach]]'' and ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]'' could also be seen as
*** In fact, Jack Skellington makes a cameo in ''Peach'' as an undead pirate.
* ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'', directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley, was highly touted and received a couple of Oscar nods. The two got together for ''[[Atonement]]'', [[Oscar Bait|a serious attempt at the awards]].
* ''Date Movie'', ''Epic Movie'', ''Meet The Spartans'', and ''Disaster Movie'' (the only real link being [[Seltzer and Friedberg|their directors]], their inability to actually parody the genre they claim, and their total lack of quality), though this dubious quartet probably couldn't come across as more contrived and crass by being a series of ''actual'' sequels.
* [[David Lynch]]'s latest and supposedly last movie, ''[[Inland Empire]]'', is very much a
** Meanwhile, Lynch intended for ''[[Mulholland Drive]]'' to be a
* ''[[Ishtar]]'' was intended to be a
** The animated ''[[The Road to El Dorado]]'', on the other hand succeeded admirably.
** ''[[Spies Like Us]]'' was, during production, described as a Road movie, and even features Bob Hope in a cameo ... hitting a golf ball into the same tent as the characters in the middle of Afghanistan.
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** Replace those titles with ''Flesh for Frankenstein'' and ''Blood for Dracula'', and the statement is still valid.
* ''[[From Beyond]]'' shares ''[[Re-Animator]]'''s over-the-top approach to [[H.P. Lovecraft|Lovecraftian]] source material, as well as a significant chunk of the cast and crew. Both star [[Jeffrey Combs]] as a [[Mad Scientist]] (borderline) [[Villain Protagonist]].
* ''[[Best in Show]]'', ''[[A Mighty Wind]]'', and ''[[For Your Consideration]]'' are all spiritual successors to ''Waiting for Guffman'', which in itself was a
* A lot of [[Jackie Chan]] movies can be considered spiritual successors of each other, especially his earlier works. You could argue this extends at least some extent to other martial arts movie starts like Bruce Lee and Jet Li.
* 1997's ''[[L.A. Confidential]]'', despite being made by a totally different cast and crew, is considered by many fans to be the
* There is some discussion over whether ''Confidence'' is a
* Similar to the ''Knocked Up'' example, ''[[Pineapple Express]]'' is a
* ''[[War, Inc.]]'' is the spiritual successor to ''[[Grosse Pointe Blank]]''. They both feature John Cusack as a hitman having doubts about his career choice with Joan Cusack as his assistant and Dan Aykroyd in a supporting role.
** ''[[Grosse Pointe Blank]]'' itself is a spiritual successor to ''Say Anything'' - although there are some important differences in the backstory, Martin Blank feels in many ways like an alternate history version of Lloyd Dobler 10 years later, with the point of departure being when he joins the army out of high school instead of hooking up with the girl. They're both played by John Cusack (and they both kickbox).
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* ''[[Runaway Bride]]'' is the spiritual successor to ''[[Pretty Woman]]'' (shared lead couple).
* ''[[Foxy Brown]]'' was the successor to ''[[Coffy]]''. It was originally meant to be a sequel titled ''Burn, Coffy, Burn,'' but the [[Executive Meddling|producers changed it at the last minute.]]
* [[Tim Burton]]'s version of ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (film)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' could be the spiritual successor to ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]'' - When Johnny Depp's character brings his gorgeous blonde wife back to the city things [[It Got Worse|go horribly wrong, and then they get worse]].
* ''[[eXistenZ]]'' is essentially ''[[Videodrome]]'' for the new millennium.
* It could be said that ''[[2012]]'' is the
* Both ''[[Babel]]'' and ''[[21 Grams|Twenty One Grams]]'' which were directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu are considered the spiritual sequels of the Mexican film ''[[Amores Perros]]'' (also directed by him).
** The three films also share a screenwriter. The director and screenwriter consider the three films a trilogy.
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** Another attempt at a ''Blade Runner'' sequel (written by [[David Peoples]], co-writer of ''Blade Runner'') became the blueprint for the Kurt Russell film ''[[Soldier]]''.
* The ''[[Tales from the Darkside]]'' movie is regarded as the spiritual successor to the ''[[Creepshow]]'' series (while ironically, 'Creepshow 3' is disavowed by fans as an [[In Name Only]] work). After all, it's a macabre horror anthology with writing by [[Stephen King]] and George Romero, and work by Tom Savini (who in fact went on record as saying that ''[[Tales from the Darkside]]'' is the "real" 'Creepshow 3'), and was originally going to be the third [[Creepshow]] installment until producers decided to cash in on the ''[[Tales from the Darkside]]'' name.
* The film ''[[Revolutionary Road]]'' is an interesting subversion of
* ''[[Erik the Viking]]'' succeeds marvelously as a
* Many elements that make up the movie ''[[Hot Tub Time Machine]]'' are evocative of many [[The Eighties|80s movies]]; particularly the themes of ''[[Back to The Future]]'' (which also starred Crispin Glover) and the ski resort setting from ''[[Better Off Dead]]'' (which also starred John Cusack).
* ''[[Mystery of the Wax Museum]]'' is the
* ''Adventureland'' carries all the hallmarks you'd expect if they made a ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'' movie.
** This one is more of a spiritual successor to ''[[Garden State]]'' than anything, as they feature very similar narratives, characters and settings (Pennsylvania borders New Jersey).
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* ''[[Paranormal Activity]]'' to ''[[The Blair Witch Project]]''. Just replace the search for a legendary witch with a demon haunting a young couple and they pretty much are the same movie.
* Darren Aronofsky has stated that ''[[Black Swan]]'' was a "companion piece" to his previous film ''[[The Wrestler]]''. In a way, the former is the latter's foil: ''The Wrestler'' is about finding beauty in a brutal sport while '' Black Swan'' is all about the brutality of a beautiful artform.
* The movie ''[[Tomboy (film)|Tomboy]]'' can be seen as a
* ''[[Horrible Bosses]]'' to ''[[Office Space]]''. Both feature three men getting revenge on a boss and have [[Jennifer Aniston]] in a supporting role.
* ''[[The Hangover]]'' to ''[[Very Bad Things]]''. The former features nearly the exact same premise as the latter, but [[Lighter and Softer]] (for one, a baby replaces the dead hooker in ''The Hangover'').
* ''[[Halloween (film)|Halloween]]'' is a
* [[Jerry Lewis]]'s comic style has been so influential in movies that many latter-day comedy film stars have been dubbed his successors. Pee-wee Herman, [[Jim Carrey]], and [[Adam Sandler]] have all been explicitly compared to Lewis.
* The plot points don't match up exactly, but 1999 Best Picture Academy Award winner ''[[American Beauty]]'' feels uncannily like a [[Darker and Edgier]] retelling of the 1955 [[Billy Wilder]] comedy ''[[The Seven Year Itch]]''. Both feature as their protagonists disillusioned, frustrated middle-aged men, [[Henpecked Husband|harassed by their wives]] and sick of their jobs, who develop a sexual fixation on a much younger woman (in the case of ''American Beauty'', ''[[Lolicon|much]]'', [[Lolicon|much younger]]); both men are prone to [[Imagine Spot
* The indie film ''Meek's Cutoff'' is an accidental [[The Movie|film adaptation]] of the ''[[Oregon Trail]]'' series.
* ''[[Strange Days]]'' is essentially an unofficial sequel to ''[[Brainstorm]]''.
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== Literature ==
* [[Dave Barry]]'s two novels ''[[Big Trouble]]'' and ''[[Tricky Business]]''.
* [[John Christopher]]'s ''[[The Tripods]]'' trilogy is, as the name suggests, a
* Joe Haldeman's ''[[Forever Peace]]'' is, as the name implies, a
* [[Lewis Carroll]]'s epic nonsense poem ''The Hunting of the Snark'' is a
* Donald Kingsbury's ''Psychohistorical Crisis'' is a
* Frank Herbert wrote four short stories, published later as "The Godmakers", they shared theme and concepts with his masterpiece ''[[Dune]]''.
* [[David Eddings]] various works were ''made'' of this, being all [[High Fantasy]] epics told from a slighlty different slant. ''[[The Belgariad]]'' was a basic coming-of-age story; ''[[The Elenium]]'' followed a loosely similar plot but was [[Darker and Edgier]] with a world-weary adult hero; ''[[The Redemption of Althalus]]'' was largely the story of that universe's [[Eccentric Mentor|Belgarath-equivalent]]; and ''[[Literature/The Dreamers|The Dreamers]]'' was the most out-there, being told from the perspective of [[Physical God|the gods]].
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** The relationship between ''VALIS'' and its earlier version ''Radio Free Albemuth'' is actually a much more typical example of the trope, as they heavily overlap in themes but are emphatically ''not'' part of the same [[The Verse|Verse]]. Or they would have been if PKD hadn't left ''Radio Free Albemuth'' unpublished during his lifetime, so that it came out about five years after ''VALIS''.
* In the extras to the DVD of Dreamcatcher, Stephen King notes that the book (and subsequent film) can be seen as a Spiritual Successor to The Body/Stand By Me.
* Mary Schmich's essay [http://plodplod.blogspot.com/2006/07/advice-like-youth-probably-just-wasted.html "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young"] [[Covered Up|(better known From Baz Lurhman's "Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen")]] is considered by many to be a
* Lois Lowry's book ''Gathering Blue'' is a "companion novel" to ''[[The Giver]]''; it's another postapocalyptic novel which may be in the same universe, but shows a society that has gone the opposite direction.
** ''Messenger'' is similar. It has a number of the same characters (Mattie, Kira, Jonas, {{spoiler|Kira's father}}, etc) and Jonas at one point alludes to his previous village and how the people there made peace with him after he left, but most of the plot focuses on the corruption of the new society that Jonas has built.
* [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain'' is a... complicated example. The name indicates that it is an actual sequel (which would disqualify it), but as it turns out it is essentially a ''remake'': taking the basic concept of [[Fantastic Voyage (film)|Fantastic Voyage]] (miniaturization technology as a potentially crucial part in the Cold War and an attempt to use it to save the life or knowledge of someone who has made a critical breakthrough but failed to communicate it before falling into a coma), and then writing his own story around it, free of the constraints he was acting under when he wrote the novelization to the movie and able to update the science to 1980s standards.
* [[Glamorama]] is a
* ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' has many similarities to ''[[The Book of the Named]]'' - so much that people were claiming that the Ratha series copied Warriors, until it was pointed out to them that ''Ratha's Creature'' was written in the 1980s and ''Into the Wild'' came out in 2003.
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** And so is ''[[No Ordinary Family]]''.
* ''[[The Middle]]'' is one to ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]''. The creators don't even try to hide this by...at least giving the show a different name.
* ''[[That '70s Show]]'' is basically the same concept as ''[[Happy Days]]''.
* ''[[Reed Between The Lines]]'' is intended to be a new millennium version of ''[[The Cosby Show]]''. Both shows even have Malcolm-Jamal Warner in starring roles.
* ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' is this to ''[[Lizzie McGuire]]'', due to the show's lead [[Miley Cyrus]] having [[Hilary Duff]] as her idol and reason why the show was made.
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** ''[[Shake It Up]]'' is the spiritual successor of ''[[Hannah Montana]]''.
* Pair of Kings could be considered as Wizard of Waverly Place's as their both fantasy comedy with action elements and some grim world elements there and there.
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' may be considered a
* ''[[Eli Stone]]'' to ''[[Ally McBeal]]'', both about a lawyer who hallucinates, though both in different ways.
* ''[[The Bill]]'' was a spiritual successor to ''[[The Sweeney]]''. It was made by the same production house (Thames Television), and in its very earliest years it even shared some of the same production team (in particular original executive producer Lloyd Shirley).
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** Not to mention numerous online ''MST3K''-inspired projects - most notably ''[[Unskippable]]''.
*** A significant portion of the [[Caustic Critic]] wave of recent years (including [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]] and [[The Nostalgia Critic]] among others) were directly inspired by ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', with the creators being huge fans; Doug Walker even won a contest to do a [[Riff Trax]] of ''[[The Lion King]]''.
* ''[[The Young Ones]]'' had two spiritual successors, ''[[Filthy Rich
** One of the live ''Bottom'' stage shows had them going back in time and reverting to their characters from ''The Young Ones''.
* [[Tokusatsu]] series ''[[Tomica Hero Rescue Force]]'' is the
* ''Endurance'' was a clear successor to JD Roth's previous kids-reality show ''Moolah Beach''.
* ''[[
** Also ''[[Drake and Josh]]'' itself is the spiritual successor of ''[[Kenan and Kel]]''.
** It could be said that "[[Drake and Josh]]" was much more a spiritual successor of ''[[The Amanda Show]]'', to the point of being a very indirect spinoff. Drake and Josh were regular cast members on ''The Amanda Show''. ''The Amanda Show'' itself, and the aforementioned ''Kenan and Kel'', were both spiritual successors to ''[[All That]]''.
** ...which was a spiritual successor to [[Nickelodeon]]'s other sketch comedy series of the early [[The Nineties|Nineties]], ''[[Roundhouse]],'' which was an updated version of the network's fondly remembered ''[[You Can't Do That on Television]],'' which itself, was inspired by network [[Variety Show|variety shows]] such as ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' and ''[[Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In]]'' (see a few entries below).
* ''[[Big Time Rush]]'' is the spiritual successor to ''[[The Monkees]].''
** ''[[The Monkees]]'' itself was, more or less, a spiritual successor to [[The Beatles]]' films ''[[A Hard Day's Night]]'' and ''[[Help!]]!''
* ''[[Rescue Me]]'' is a
** As was ''[[The Unusuals]]''.
* ''The Stranger'' was an independent direct-to-video (and audio) spiritual successor to ''[[Doctor Who]]'', starring Colin Baker and other actors from the show during its long hiatus.
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* ''[[Psychoville]]'', to ''[[The League of Gentlemen]]''.
* ''[[The West Wing]]'' was born of material and ideas left over from creator Aaron Sorkin's movie ''The American President.''
** ''[[Studio 60
* ''[[All That]]'' was a spiritual successor to the early 90's Nick sketch show ''Roundhouse'', which was a spiritual successor to the immensely popular ''[[You Can't Do That on Television]]''.
** In a similar vein, ''[[Mad TV]]'' was a spiritual successor to ''In Living Color,'' being Fox's competitor to ''Saturday Night Live'' with there being only a year between the two. In Living Color is known for giving rise to the careers of [[Jim Carrey]], [[Jamie Foxx]], Jennifer Lopez, and Shawn and Marlon Wayans, while [[Mad TV]] arguably did the same for Orlando Jones, Phil Lamarr, Nicole Sullivan, Alex Borstein, Bobby Lee, and current SNL featured player Taran Killam.
* The entire [[
* Drew Carey's ''Green Screen Show'' and ''Drew Carey's Improv-a-Ganza'' are this to ''[[Whose Line Is It Anyway?]]''.
** So is ''[[Mock the Week]]'', even sharing several identical games and a couple of guests.
* ''[[The Pacific]]'' to ''[[Band of Brothers]]''.
* ''[[Choujinki Metalder]]'' was produced by [[Toei]] to be an [[The Eighties|Eighties]]' version of ''[[Kikaider|Jinzou Ningen Kikaider]]''. Both involved robotic superheroes with a two-tone color scheme on their body (blue on the left side and red on the right), both end their names with "der" ("Kikaider" literally means "Machineder"), their human forms are modeled after the likeness of their creator's dead son (Jiro's likeness came from Taro's, while Ryusei Tsurugi's was from Tatsuo Koga), and they're both assisted by a rival cyborg in black who formerly worked for the enemy (Hakaider and Topgunder).
* ''[[The Wire]]'' is generally seen as a spiritual successor to David Simon's earlier Baltimore police series, ''[[Homicide: Life
* ''[[Night Gallery]]'', a supernatural anthology narrated by [[Rod Serling]], can be considered one for ''[[The Twilight Zone]]''.
** Although considering that Serling didn't have script approval on ''[[Night Gallery]]'' it might be more of a dispirited sequel.
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** It's more like ''[[Fame]]'':The tv series with its theme of people wanting to be special and being a musical, except set in a regular school instead of a performing arts school.
*** As mentioned on ''[[Fame]]'''s page, ''[[Victorious]]'' and ''[[Dream High]]'' can be seen as screwball comedy and [[Korean Drama]] versions of it, as well.
** The 2003 movie ''Camp'' was, essentially, ''Glee'' with a smaller budget and way more [[Subverted Trope|subversion]]. It takes place in a musical theater summer camp, all of the numbers are [[Show Within a Show]], and the lead character is a [[Pet Homosexual|Pet Heterosexual
** Actually, ''Glee'' is closer in tune to another Ryan Murphy high school based show, ''[[Popular]]'' (except without the music).
* ''[[Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman]]'' was this to ''[[Zoom (TV series)|Zoom]]'', the first season of FETCH! even having one of the same castmates.
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*** Several characters (portrayed by the same actor/actress) have appeared from one show to the other, completing the belief that all three shows exist in the same 'universe'.
*** Not exactly. The universes where clearly different, with Pushing Daisies being retro-cute, Dead Like Me being fairly normal (save the supernatural elements) and Wonderfalls somewhere in between. All of them do carry themes of fantasy, uniqueness, life and death, golden retrievers and touching people.
* Some people believe ''[[Battlestar Galactica
* Most of Jack Webb's later series (e.g., ''[[Adam-12]]'', ''[[Emergency]]'', ''[[Project UFO]]'') can be considered spiritual successors to his own ''[[Dragnet]]''. They all share a basic
* ''[[The Borgias]]'' to ''[[The Tudors]]''.
* ''[[Sliders]]'' is a
* ''[[The Good Wife]]'' is perhaps this to ''[[Canterburys Law]]'', as both are courtroom dramas starring [[Julianna Margulies]].
* ''[[Cheers]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'' and was actually written as an American version of the selfsame. It was only when the writers realized that the overwhelming majority of the plots were taking place in the hotel bar that they cut the hotel out and just set the show in the bar.
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* The short-lived sitcom "Good News" is this to ''Amen'' as they were both created by the same people, took place in a church, shared the same sets, shared a Hettabrink sister (Amelia), and most of the plots involved an [[Amoral Attorney]] and the church's reverend. The only thing that's different on GN is that there's no Thelma or Rolly, and GN is set in inner-city [[Los Angeles]] while Amen is set in Philadelphia.
* The Lifetime mini series, ''Marry Me'' is a spiritual successor to ''Maneater''.
* ''[[
* ''[[Deadliest Warrior]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''[[Animal Face
* ''My Summer With Des'' (one-off slice-of-life dramedy by Arthur Smith against the backdrop of Euro '96) is a spiritual successor to ''An Evening With Gary Lineker'' (one-off slice-of-life dramedy by Smith and Chris England against the backdrop of the 1990 World Cup).
* ''[[Jessie]]'' could be considered a successor to ''[[The Nanny]]'', since they are both about regular women being hired as nannies for wealthy families through pure happenstance.
** Not to mention that the creator/executive producer for the former, Pamela Eells O'Connell, was one of the original writers for the latter.
* ''[[Chuck]]'', in a lot of ways, is a combination Spiritual Successor. Take one part ''Jake20'' (everyday geek infused with [[Applied Phlebotinum]] to make him a badass), one part ''[[She Spies]]'' (a borderline [[Affectionate Parody]] of the spy genre), mix well, top with [[Adam Baldwin]], and serve.
* [[The BBC]]'s music show ''[[Later with Jools Holland]]'' is without a doubt the
* ''[[The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff]]'' (surreal [[Charles Dickens|Dickensian]] parody written by Mark Evans) is a Spiritual [[Sound to Screen Adaptation]] of ''[[Bleak Expectations]]'' (surreal Dickensian parody written by Mark Evans).
* ''[[Homeland]]'' is a
* ''[[Downton Abbey]]'' can be considered a spiritual successor to ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs]]'', given the similar themes (both deal with the lives of a large aristocratic family and their servants, both are period pieces, and both feature numerous characters) that both shows share. As a bonus, Julian Fellowes, the creator of ''Downton'', even admits to his show being a successor to ''Upstairs Downstairs''.
** It can also be seen as a
* ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' was a
** At the time, ''[[Northern Exposure]]'' was also seen as a [[Lighter and Softer]] spiritual successor to ''[[Twin Peaks]]''
* While not ''exactly'' a case of
* "Reaper" to "[[The Loop]]". Both had Bret Harrison playing a guy named Sam, who hangs out with his slacker friends. And they both got worse the second season, although YMMV on The Loop. Also Bret Harrison played a guy named Sam on ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'', who (like in Reaper) had a blonde mother named Linda.
* "[[Mr. Sunshine]]" to "[[Better Off Ted]]", and "[[Better Off Ted]]" to "[[Andy Richter Controls the Universe]]".
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* Guitarist Jerry Cantrell's second solo album, "Degradation Trip", has been described as a spiritual successor to Alice in Chains' ''Dirt'' album.
* Chickenfoot is this for Van Halen, considering half of Chickenfoot is comprised of the two least crazy members of Van Halen, and the actual Van Halen has degenerated into a rather pathetic nostalgia act.
* Some fans consider [[
* So many of [[Frank Zappa]]'s albums were this to each other, it would take a lot of space to list them all.
* [[Tom Waits]]' "Swordfishtrombones" was the precursor for "Franks Wild Years" [sic], which was followed by "Rain Dogs". Collectively, they are known as the Frank O'Brien Trilogy.
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* When [[16 Horsepower]] started drifting apart, the frontman and primary songwriter started recording and performing under the moniker [[Woven Hand]], basically picking up exactly where his first band left off.
* [[Ludwig Van Beethoven]] is seen as this to [[Johann Sebastian Bach]], and Johannes Brahms is seen as this to Beethoven.
* Both [[Post-Grunge]] and [[Metalcore]] have been called the
* [[Britney Spears]] is considered to be the 00's successor to [[Madonna]]. Noted on her Wikipedia page, by the clear majority.
* [[Porcupine Tree]] is, according to critics and lots of fans, the spiritual successor to [[King Crimson]]. Hell, even frontmen from both bands (Steven Wilson and Robert Fripp respectively) agree on this!
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* TNA currently is WCW had WCW not been bought out by [[Vince McMahon]].
** In particular, TNA in 2010-2011 was almost exactly the same as WCW in 1996-1997. [[Face Heel Turn|Heel turn]] by [[Hulk Hogan]] and his emergence as the leader of a dictatorial faction (New World Order in WCW, Immortal in TNA), Eric Bischoff as his sycophant, and [[
** Interestingly, TNA usually refuses to acknowledge WWE by name (references are often highly elliptical) even though WWE took on all of WCW's canon as part of its own continuity when it incorporated it.
* In fact, [[Fleeting Demographic Rule|we have a similar trope that more specifically covers pro wrestling]].
* ECW was so great it needed two promotions to fill the void it left. [[Ring of Honor]] is the successor to the technical wrestling and [[Combat Zone Wrestling]] is the successor to hardcore wrestling. Both promotions run most of their shows in ECW's home venues such as The Arena in Philadelphia and The Manhattan Center in New York.
* The [[UFC]] is considered by most to be the successor to Pro Wrestling in general, since it follows the same exact model, although lately they have been trying to move away from that stucture.
** More accurately, UFC is [[Doing
* WWE's World Heavyweight Championship is this to the WCW's top title of a similar name and design, which was unified into the WWE Championship months after the "entertainment company"'s purchase of WCW.
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Pathfinder]]'' is Paizo's refinement of ''[[Dungeons
== Theater ==
* [[William Shakespeare]] used a limited amount of themes in his works, to the point that some of his plays are almost identical in mood. For example: ''[[King Lear]]'', ''[[Timon of Athens]]'', and ''[[Titus Andronicus (theatre)|Titus Andronicus]]'' are all dark and heart-wrenching tragedies with [[Bittersweet Ending
* Director-writer Franco Dragone helmed the bulk of [[Cirque Du Soleil]]'s shows through 1998, and has since struck out on his own. Two of his solo shows, ''Le Reve'' (2005, Las Vegas) and ''The House of Dancing Water'' (2010, Macau, China) can be seen as spiritual successors to one of his last Cirque efforts, ''"O"'' (1998, Las Vegas), if only for the fact that they're all stylized fantasies that take place in, around, and upon enormous pools that can be converted to conventional stages as needed. (''Le Reve'', which was competing directly against ''"O"'', was initially poorly regarded by critics for being little more than a grim [[Recycled Premise|recycling of]] the Cirque effort, and substantial [[
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** The story: {{spoiler|The back-story reveals that Unova's two dragons, Reshiram and Zekrom (and probably Kyurem) were once one, and twin heroes formed Unova alongside it. However, one twin wanted things to remain natural and the other was in favor of urbanization. The dragon then split in two as a result, the older twin forming Reshiram and the younger twin forming Zekrom. N and Ghetsis are said to be the decendents of one of these twins.}}
** The Pokémon: Drilbur and its evolution, Excadrill, are reminiscent of the Mischievous Mole and Reconstructed Mole enemies respectively. Garbodor is similar to the Forlorn Junk Heap. Many others resemble enemies from the other Mother series games.
** One could make a case for the entire [[Pokémon|Pokémon series]] being a spiritual successor to the [[MOTHER]] series, considering that the two series were made in part by a common developer (Creatures Inc.), and share [https://web.archive.org/web/20130410093358/http://fangamer.com/forum/Games/Mother2/Earthbound-nods-references-and-similarities-in-the-Pokemon-games a number of uncanny similarities.]
* Raw Thrills, the arcade game devhouse headed by [[Eugene Jarvis]], has three instances of this.
** ''Target: Terror'' is a
** The ''[[The Fast and the Furious|Fast and the Furious]]'' arcade driver series is the
** And their latest project, ''H2Overdrive'', is the
* Rareware's ''Goldeneye 007'' and ''[[Perfect Dark]]'' are likely the prime video game examples. Perfect Dark is built on Goldeneye's game engine, so it feels like a natural extension of the same game, despite [[James Bond|Bond]] being nowhere in sight. They even use [[Rare Guns]] and settings from Goldeneye with the names slightly changed. Goldeneye had another
* Fumito Ueda's ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'' was thought to be a
** Team Ico's upcoming game "[[The Last Guardian]]" appears very likely to be one to both Ico AND SOTC.
* ''[[
* Chris Taylor's ''[[Total Annihilation]]'' and ''[[Supreme Commander]]''.
* The ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' series was conceived and created in-house by Nintendo's Intelligent Systems after a direct sequel to ''[[Super Mario RPG]]: Legend of the Seven Stars'' became impossible due to Nintendo and Square's late-nineties falling-out.
** Likewise for the hand-held game ''[[
* ''[[System Shock]]'' has two. ''[[
* ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'' and ''[[Terranigma]]'' are considered to form a thematic, though unofficial, trilogy as successors to ''[[Soul Blazer]]''. Although there ''are'' direct links included; The first boss of ''[[Soul Blazer]]'' is a [[Bonus Boss]] in Illusion of Gaia, with a storyline explanation of why, albeit a somewhat bizarre one. Meanwhile, ''[[Terranigma]]'' is explicitly referred to as "[[Illusion of Gaia]] 2" in a [[Developer's Room]] [[Easter Egg]].
** There's also a dog named Turbo who shows up in all three games.
** To some, ''The Granstream Saga'' on the [[
* The turbulent history of ''[[Wasteland (video game)|Wasteland]]'''s developers has prompted a lot of this:
** After Interplay made ''Wasteland'' for Electronic Arts, EA made a "sequel" named ''[[Fountain Of Dreams]]'', which they ultimately decided not to market as a sequel to ''Wasteland''.
** Since IP couldn't get the rights to ''[[Wasteland (video game)|Wasteland]]'' back from EA, IP (specifically, the RPG group inside IP, Black Isle Studios) instead repurposed a prototype ''[[GURPS]]'' RPG to make ''[[Fallout]]'' and ''[[Fallout 2]]''.
*** After ''[[Fallout 2]]'', IP committed [[Ink Stain Adaptation|many dark and evil deeds]] that [[Executive Meddling|sapped away BIS' strength]] and ultimately led to all of BIS' development efforts (Including ''Fallout 3'', codenamed "[[Fallout: Van Buren|Project Van Buren]]") [[Too Good to Last|being canceled]]. After firing droves of BIS employees, shutting BIS down, and ultimately going down in flames itself, IP put Fallout on the auction block.
*** Much of BIS had regrouped as Troika and created another
** As the crowning glory to this nonsense, InXile head Brian Fargo (the producer of the original ''[[Wasteland (video game)|Wasteland]]'') has reacquired the rights to ''Wasteland'' recently, opening up the possibility for ''Wasteland'' itself to get an actual sequel.
*** Which, as of March 2012, is actually happening thanks to [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2 Kickstarter's success].
** Interplay also released ''Dragon Wars'', the spiritual successor to ''[[The
** The scepter then has to go to ''Afterfall'' which is being developed as a spiritual successor to Fallout, set in Nuclear Winter Eastern Europe.
* Bioware's ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' was a
** ''[[Mass Effect]]'', also by [[BioWare]], on the oher hand is not a
** And then there's ''[[Dragon Age]]'', a
* ''[[Ikaruga]]'' was a
** The octahedron-shaped object also makes an appearance in both games. The track that plays when you fight it is even called "The Stone-Like", which was its name in ''[[Radiant Silvergun]]''.
* The ''[[Track Mania]]'' series is considered to be the
* ''[[Maximo]]'' was created as an heir to the ''[[Ghosts 'n Goblins
** And the fact that the protagonist is stripped to his boxer shorts after taking enough damage.
* ''[[Fallout 3]]'' bears the distinction of being the spiritual sequel of ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series while itself being an ''actual'' sequel to another game.
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** And history has now repeated itself: ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'' is a spiritual successor to both ''[[Xenogears]]'' and ''[[Xenosaga]]'', once again caused by Namco retaining the ''saga'' franchise while Monolith, now owned by [[Nintendo]], wanted to make more ''Xeno'' games.
* The 2000 RPG ''[[Wizards And Warriors RPG|Wizards and Warriors]]'' by D. W. Bradley (not to be confused with the NES [[Wizards and Warriors]] game) is one for the ''[[Wizardry]]'' series. Bradley was also the creator of ''Wizardry'' games 5 through 7.
* The arcade top-down [[Shoot
** ''Smash TV'' later got its own
*** {{spoiler|It's actually Hitler}}.
* Chris Sawyer's ''[[Transport Tycoon]]'' and ''[[Locomotion]]''.
* Valve's ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'' is officially the
* One of the victory conditions in ''[[Civilization]] II'' is to make a journey to Alpha Centauri, thus beginning the colonization of the galaxy by your side. ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'' can thus be seen as the direct sequel to this particular victory. Or, it's just ''Civilization II'' {{smallcaps|[[Recycled in Space|IN SPACE!]]}}
* ''[[Rise of Nations]]'', a strategy game designed by Brian Reynolds, is to some degree a
** ''[[Rise of Nations]]'' ''is'' the third ''[[Age of Empires]]'' game. Period.
** In turn, ''[[Rise of Legends]]'' is a
* While ''[[Guitar Hero]] III'' is obviously the notional sequel to ''Guitar Hero II'', many feel that the "soul" of the franchise has moved along to ''[[Rock Band]]''; after Harmonix, the series' creator, sold the Guitar Hero IP to Activision, they moved on to Rock Band, making it the game which still employs the ''Guitar Hero II'' development team, game engine, and philosophy regarding note chart design.
** While we're on the subject of ''[[Rock Band]]'', ''Unplugged'' for the PSP hearkens back to Harmonix's pre-Guitar Hero days, playing much more like ''Frequency'' or ''Amplitude'' (in fact, it was orginally supposed to be a direct sequel to the latter, but Sony then vetoed the idea, forcing Harmonix to slap the ''Rock Band'' label on it). The DS version of ''Rock Band 3'' continues the trend, while the DS version of ''Lego Rock Band'' is similar but more watered-down than the other two.
** Also on the subject, there's a disgruntled group of fans of ''GH I'' & ''II'' that feel that the 'soul' of the series isn't the subtle control differences, scrolling note layout pattern or the level of difficulty, but the fun and wacky spirit of the first two games is part of neither Rock Band or Guitar Hero. The closest to this spirit is probably Lego Rock Band.
* ''[[
** Furthermore, from comments made by [[Suda 51|Goichi Suda]], it sounds like "[[Lollipop Chainsaw]]" will be one for No More Heroes.
* ''[[Far Cry]]'', as well as spawning a couple of re-imaginings, also has a spiritual sequel, ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'', which was made by the same company, is set in a similar location, and includes similar themes.
** In fact, ''[[Crysis (series)|Crysis]]'' plays ''much'' more like a sequel to ''[[Far Cry]]'' than ''[[Far Cry]] 2'' does. ''[[Far Cry]] 2'' was developed by a different team, is highly non-linear in terms of both storyline and gameplay (it's a "sandbox game"), and is ''still'' not connected to the original's storyline in any way. Other than brand recognition, there is really no reason to call it a sequel. Thus, while a
* The game ''Heavenly Guardian'' was originally supposed to be a game in the ''Kiki Kai Kai'' series (Pocky and Rocky), and had its sprites reworked into a new game when the publisher lost the license.
* The little-known GameCube game ''[[Gotcha Force]]'' is considered by its fans a thematic successor to ''[[Virtual On]]''.
** It's also a Spiritual Successor-slash-[[Serial Numbers Filed Off]] version of the [[Gundam vs. Series]].
* In a rare example of spiritual sequels crossing from one franchise to another, a group of developers wanted to make a new ''[[Ultima Underworld]]'' game, but failed to secure the license. They changed the project to a
** [[Ultima VI]] received its own spiritual sequel in the form of ''[[Cythera]]'', which featured an improved resolution and expanded skills.
* ''[[Lego Indiana Jones]]'' to ''[[Lego Star Wars]]'', and ''Lego [[Batman]]'' to both of ''them'' - we tropers have even filed all three as [[Lego Adaptation Game|a single series]]. It helps that they ran out of [[Star Wars]] movies to adapt.
** Similarly, ''[[Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures]]'' was a
* ''[[Hotel Dusk: Room 215]]'' is considered to be the
** ''[[Again (video game)|Again]]'' is the
* ''[[Odin Sphere]]'' is a
** The ''[[Wii]]'' game [[Muramasa: The Demon Blade]] is a spiritual successor to both of them, and was in earlier stages referred to as ''Princess Crown 3'', in the same way ''Odin Sphere'' was named ''Princess Crown 2''.
* ''[[Haunting Ground]]'' is considered to be the
* ''[[God Hand]]'' is said to be a better 3D version of ''[[Final Fight]]'' than either of the actual 3D ''Final Fight'' games (one which was a competitive fighting game, and other a ''GTA''-clone).
** ''[[MadWorld]]'' appears to be a
* ''[[Super Robot Wars W]]'' for the [[Nintendo DS]] is the
** Similarly, the original mecha of ''[[Super Robot Wars Advance]]'' are descended from the mecha of [[Super Robot Wars 64]], and [[Super Robot Wars MX|SRW MX]] is considered to be a successor of the Compact/Impact series.
** ''K'' is actually a successor to ''Z'' - created out of all the content the devs wished they could have put in the latter, and sharing a few series and several themes.
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** As are ''[[Cute Knight Kingdom]]'' and ''Spirited Heart'', and the Flash game ''Project Princess''.
* The ''[[Boktai]]'' series (including ''Lunar Knights'') can be considered a spiritual successor to ''[[Metal Gear|Metal Gear: Ghost Babel]]''. The game engine is very similar, and Ikuya Nakamura, the director of all the ''Boktai'' games, was also the character designer of ''Ghost Babel''.
* The ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' series seems like a
* Nintendo recently announced a Chinese company is developing an MMORPG featuring all of the Disney franchises separated into different worlds that the players can visit called "Disney Fantasy Online". That's right, it's an MMORPG version of [[Kingdom Hearts]] with the Square elements subtracted. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131031115557/http://dsn.91.com/ The website] really screams it out, since the Disney characters are wearing the same outfits they do in [[Kingdom Hearts]].
* The Wii's menu system (including the default channels and at least part of ''[[Wii Sports]]'') is a Spiritual Successor to ''[[Mario Paint]]''. The music is too similar to be a coincidence, and the Wiimote works a lot like the old SNES Mouse did.
** The way you can customize the Wii menu through drag-and-drop is also very similar to the GBA Movie Player. Both the Wii and GBAMP also have 512MB of memory.
* ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' is considered by many to be a
** Fans of ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' are very confused by that notion, seeing as the two titles have almost nothing in common, gameplay and story wise.
* Some people consider the ''[[Ryu ga Gotoku|Yakuza]]'' series as a
* Despite being a [[Beat'Em Up|beat-'em-up]] instead of a competitive [[Fighting Game]], ''[[Final Fight]]'' is a spiritual successor to the original ''[[Street Fighter]]''. It was even marketed at trade shows under the [[Working Title]] ''Street Fighter '89''. Guy and Sodom would later show up as playable characters in the original ''[[Street Fighter Alpha]]'', followed by Rolento and Cody in the sequels.
* ''[[
* ''[[Guilty Gear]] 2: Overture'' is a spiritual successor to the ''[[Herzog Zwei|Herzog]]'' Real-Time-Strategy/Action hybrid games. Really.
* The Pandora is the spiritual successor to the GP2x which is the spiritual successor to the GP32. While all three handhelds differ in developers, companies, and even nationalities, the philosophy of being and open games device anyone can make games for has been present and strengthened throughout the series.
** A more closely-related successor to the GP2X is the Wiz, made by the same company (Gamepark Holdings). The Pandora, it should be noted, is made by a separate group of developers though its underlying philosophy is very similar to the GP32, GP2X, and Wiz.
* The ''[[Age of Wonders]]'' series is a spiritual successor to ''[[Master of Magic]]''.
* ''[[
* ''[[Dawn of War]] 2'' plays more like ''Company of Heroes'' than ''Dawn of War 1''. It largely abandons base-building, which was a major part of Dawn of War 1.
* ''[[Battle Garegga]]''{{'}}s spiritual sequel is ''Armed Police Batrider'', which inherits many of ''Battle Garegga''{{'}}s mechanics, such as [[Rewarding Vandalism|bombing the scenery]] for powerups and medals, as well as the medal chaining system, and even has [[Guest Fighter|guest appearances]] by the ships of ''Battle Garegga'' and the ''Mahou Daisakusen'' series. ''Batrider'' in turn had a spiritual sequel in ''Battle Bakraid'', which borrows ''Garegga''{{'}}s option changing feature, has a somewhat modified medal chaining system, and the "tickle laser"-cum-charge-shot from ''Batrider''.
** The [[Dynamic Difficulty]] system of these games is lifted from Zanac, of all things, only made completely and utterly inconvenient (notably, the removal of every rank reduction method except dying.)
** Ibara, sharing the same main designer also counts as a
* ''[[NBA Jam]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''Arch Rivals'' (both are arcade-style basketball games created by Midway which played fast and loose with the rules).
** Likewise, ''NFL Blitz'' to ''High Impact Football''.
* ''[[Noby Noby Boy]]'' and ''[[Katamari Damacy]]'', due to sharing the same creator.
* ''[[Heretic]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''[[Doom (series)|Doom]]''. Both are published by id Software, and both use the id Tech 1 game engine. In fact, using the [[God Mode]] and Weapons cheats from ''Doom'' will result in [[No Fair Cheating|death and loss of all weapons]], respectively, when used in ''Heretic''.
* ''[[Star Ocean 1]]'' was a
** ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''[[Tales of Eternia]]'' design-wise. Never mind that it's already a long-distance prequel to ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]'', which makes it a spiritual successor as far as the theme is concerned.
* ''[[Snatcher]]'' and ''[[Policenauts]]'', both of which are sci-fi graphic adventure games directed by [[Hideo Kojima]].
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* ''[[Nexus War]]'' to ''[[Urban Dead]]'', with the added twist that the former made off with a substantial chunk of the latter's ''player base'' when it came out. So not only does it have similar mechanics and interface, it's played by all the same people.
* ''[[Sigma Star Saga]]'' is considered this in regards to ''[[The Guardian Legend]]''. While both games are hybridizations of the [[Action Adventure]] and [[Shoot'Em Up]] genres, ''Sigma'' is more story-driven.
* ''[[Super Robot Wars]] [[Super Robot Wars Original Generation|OG Saga:]] [[Endless Frontier]]'' is considered a
* ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' is an obvious spiritual successor to one-off [[Mega Ten]] [[Gaiden Game]] ''[[
** ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]'', was, meanwhile, a
** ''[[Devil Survivor]]'' is a Spiritual Successor for the ''Majin Tensei'' spinoff series, although this statement is based only on the fact that they are strategy games.
* ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'' is this to ''[[The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction]]''. Both are superhuman [[Wide Open Sandbox]] games by Radical Entertainment that downright relish in their [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]].
** According to [[Word of God]], the inspiration for ''Prototype'' came about due to Hulk's "weaponize" ability; that is, the ability to turn vehicles and such into [[Improvised Weapon|improvised weapons]], rather than limiting the player to "pick up and throw." Reportedly, during testing, somebody posed the question "[[What If]] you could weaponize the ''player?''"
* ''Demon Sword'': Spiritual successor to ''[[Legend of Kage]]''. Irem's ''Ninja Spirit'', although made by completely different developers, was also a spiritual successor (pardon the pun).
* The popular, but now dated, ''[[X-COM]]'' series has a number of unrelated spiritual successors, including the ''[[UFO:
* ''Krazy Rain'' is a spiritual sequel to the massively-multipler online [[Rhythm Game]] ''O2Jam''.
* ''[[Ray Series|Raystorm]]'': spiritual successor to ''Rayforce''. ''Raycrisis'' is the official prequel to ''Rayforce''.
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* ''[[Strikers 1945]] series'': Successor to the ''[[Aero Fighters]]'' series, but more [[Bullet Hell]]-ish.
* ''[[Border Down]]'': Successor to ''[[Metal Black]]'', a [[Shoot'Em Up]] by Taito. Hiroyuki Maruyama, the president of G.rev, started the company and did subcontracting work for [[Treasure]] and Taito to generate revenue just to make this game. Why? He just really liked ''Metal Black''.
* ''[[Hellgate
* ''[[Razing Storm]]'' is the spiritual sequel to ''Crisis Zone'', the [[Gaiden Game]] to ''[[Time Crisis]]''. Like ''Crisis Zone'', you use a machine gun instead of ''Time Crisis'''s handguns (though for bigger targets, you (automatically) switch to stronger weapons), and instead of hiding behind objects, you take cover behind a heavy-duty shield. ''Razing Storm'' has since been renamed ''Time Crisis: Razing Storm'' for its [[Play Station 3]] release.
* The ''[[Tetris]]'' clone ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20141014204820/http://tetrisconcept.net/forum/showthread.html?t=1381 NullpoMino]'' is somewhat of a spiritual successor to ''Heboris: Unofficial Expansion'' (sharing the same font and a similar level of customization), developed from scratch due to ''Heboris UE'''s source
* ''[[Metal Slug]]'' is the spiritual successor to ''Gunforce 2'' and ''[[In the Hunt]]'', which were made by the same staff back when they were working for Irem.
** Bu the same developers, the golf game ''Neo Turf Masters'' is a spiritual sequel to the ''Major Title'' series.
* The Konami arcade game ''M.I.A.: Missing In Action'' is pretty much an unofficial official sequel to ''[[Rush N Attack]]'' (aka ''Green Beret''), using what is essentially a more advanced version of the same engine, but with a different setting (being set in Vietnam instead of Russia).
* Irem's ''[[Vigilante (video game)|Vigilante]]'' is pretty much a more advanced version of their earlier single-plane [[Beat'Em Up]] ''[[Kung
* ''Tear Ring Saga'', a Japanese-only strategy RPG for the [[
** One of the games in the series ''[[Fire Emblem:
* ''[[Gunstar Heroes]]'' was considered a spiritual successor to ''[[Contra|Contra III: The Alien Wars]]'' due to the fact that two of its main programmers worked on both games. In fact, it was the closest thing to a ''Contra'' game for the [[Sega Genesis]] before Konami decided to release ''Contra: Hard Corps''.
* ''[[Tetris the Grand Master]]'' is the spiritual successor to Sega's ''Tetris'' games, and borrows many elements such as the piece colors, the bottom-biased rotation system, fast sideways movement and soft drop, and piece lock delay (a feature present in all of Sega's ''Tetris'' games but not in Nintendo's, at least for a while).
* ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' (the original game) was a
* ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' to ''Street Smarts''. The first stage music from the latter is even featured as the Versus Mode theme in the former.
* The Mitchell arcade game ''[[Cannon Dancer|Osman]]'' and feelplus/SquareEnix's recent ''[[Moon Diver]]'' are this to Capcom's ''[[Strider Hiryu|Strider]]'', both developed by the same designer (Kouichi Yotsui).
* Data East's [[Neo Geo]] platformer ''Spinmaster'' stars the same characters from the Genesis game ''Dashin' Desperadoes'', but plays more like a modernized version (literally and figuratively) of the original ''Joe & Mac'' (aka ''Caveman Ninja'') than the game it's supposed to be a sequel to (which was more of a racing platform game). ''Spinmaster'' might as well had been called ''Joe & Mac'' [[Recycled in Space|AS INDIANA JONES-STYLE TREASURE HUNTERS]].
* ''[[Neo Geo Battle Coliseum]]'' is a practically a sequel to ''[[SNK vs. Capcom|SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos]]'', only without the Capcom characters.
* The first [[Video Games]] (and arcade games in general) can be seen as a
* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games set in the Ivalice universe (including ''[[Vagrant Story]]'', which technically isn't a ''Final Fantasy'' game) are successors to Quest's ''[[Ogre Battle]]'' franchise. ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', the first game in the Ivalice universe, was already a spiritual successor of ''Tactics Ogre'' in its gameplay. Not surprisingly, Yasumi Matsuno, the director of most of the Ivalice series, was also the director of ''Ogre Battle'' and ''Tactics Ogre'', as well as the script writer of ''[[Ogre Battle 64]]'', while Hiroshi Minagawa and Akihiko Yoshida were the illustrators in most of his games. After the release of ''Vagrant Story'', Squaresoft actually purchased all of Quest's assets and absorbed them into the company.
** Technically "[[Final Fantasy]]" can be seen as a 'Spiritual Series" as virtually none of the games have direct relation to each other, unless they have odd numberings or alternate subheadings, like [[
* The ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' arcade game by [[Konami]] is a spiritual sequel to an obscure pseudo-3D shoot-'em-up titled ''Devastators'' by the same company, which itself was loosely based on the 3D stages from the original ''[[Contra]]''.
* ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' is a spiritual sequel to the two-installment ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]''. It shares many elements with ''Higurashi'': written by the same person, {{spoiler|[[Groundhog Day Loop]] that loops at the beginning of each new arc}}, and [[Wham! Episode|spikes]] from happy scenes to [[Nightmare Fuel]]; however, it's in an entirely new setting: instead of a small, secluded village, it takes place on an island owned by a multi-million-yen family with new characters. It does have a couple [[Continuity Nod
** But that hasn't stopped the fans from theorising that there is a connection between the series, especially around {{spoiler|Bernkastel and Rika since it is hinted that Bernkastel is the collection of memories that was used to revive Rika each time she died in Higurashi}} plus that Higurashi was labeled When They Cry 1 & 2 (Higurashi and Higurashi Kai) while Umineko is When They Cry 3 & 4 (Umineko and Umineko Chiru). This might indicate a closer connection between the series.
* The team that worked on ''Pro Wrestling'' for the NES later formed Human and developed the ''[[Fire Pro Wrestling]]'' series.
* ''[[
* [[Word of God]] says that ''[[Golden Sun]]'' is this to the ''[[Shining Force]]'' tactical RPG series, which makes sense considering Camelot was the ones who developed said series before they split with SEGA. In fact, the [[Executive Meddling|botched release]] of ''Shining Force III'' on the [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]] is the whole reason why they split and started ''[[Golden Sun]]''.
* According to Turn10, they consider ''[[Forza Motorsport]] 3'' to be the true spiritual successor to Polyphony Digital's ''[[Gran Turismo]]'' series. To paraphrase Polyphony Digital president Kazunori Yamauchi, "No it bloody well isn't".
* The ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'' series got, [[Long Runners|during its 15 years-long run and ongoing]], three Spiritual Successors:
** ''[[Mitsumete Knight]]'' in 1997, which used ''Tokimeki Memorial 1'''s game engine and most of its mechanics, with several twists such as easier girl management, an expanded battle system, and a rich medieval/heroic-fantasy storyline where [[Anyone Can Die]] ;
** ''[[Meine Liebe]]'' in 2001, using too the same game engine than Tokimemo but in a [[Gender Flip
** ''[[Love Plus]]'' in 2009, reducing the datable characters to a measly three of them, but with lots more development around them and an ''After Story'' of sorts where the player can interact with the girl long after having they have confessed their feelings (a system which got a lot of controversy, especially with some [[Otaku]] [http://kotaku.com/5409877/the-one-about-the-guy-who-married-a-video-game pushing the thing] a bit too far).
** In 2007, Konami released ''Brooktown High'' in English. It was an [[In Name Only]] successor to the ''Tokimeki Memorial'' series. It received mixed reviews and weak sales.
** ''Shira Oka: Second Chances'' was meant to be an unofficial fan-made spiritual successor to ''Tokimeki Memorial'', but in English. It began development around 2005, but the full game was not released to the public until December 2010. Therefore, the title of "first fan-made spiritual successor in English with a commercial release" goes to the independent game ''Summer Session''.
* ''Refazel'' was supposed to ''be'' the sequel to ''Ferazel's Wand''
* The ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' video game by Bandai for the [[Super NES]] is a spiritual successor to the ''[[Choujin Sentai Jetman]]'' game by Angel for the [[Famicom]]. Not that surprising, considering [[Natsume]] developed both.
* ''[[The Sky Crawlers]]: Innocent Aces'', a Wii flight sim game made by Project Aces with [[WW 2]] like planes, is this to the ''[[Ace Combat]]'' series.
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* ''[[Elemental War of Magic]]'' is the spiritual successor to ''[[Master of Magic]]''.
* While ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'' is the official sequel to [[Red Dead Revolver]], ''Redemption'' has a lot more in common with the Activision-made ''Gun'' than it's true predecessor.
** Also, [[Red Dead Redemption]] is considered a
*** [[
* ''Blur'' is this to the ''Project Gotham Racing'' series, which itself was a spiritual successor to the Dreamcast game ''Metropolis Street Racer''.
* ''[[Ikari Warriors]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''Front Line''. Both had a rotary aiming control.
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** And interestingly enough, the series it used to [[Dueling Games|duel]] with, ''[[Tony Hawks Pro Skater]]'', is itself a spiritual successor to ''720 Degrees''.
* ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'' is a spiritual sequel to ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]]'' and ''[[Deus Ex]]'', an action-RPG where choices result in tangible consequences and gameplay is more heavily affected by one's character sheet than most games, including other RPGs. More cynically, ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'' gets a lot of undeserved flak and is often brushed aside as an attempt at "''[[Mass Effect]]'' [[In Space|with SPIES]]" that failed miserably, so it also shares living with a bad rap (as well as some genuine technical problems) with ''Bloodlines.''
* ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'' has a spiritual successor by the name ''[[Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril]]'', endorsed by the maker of ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]''.
* ''[[Medal of Honor]]'': Allied Assault led to Infinity Ward's ''[[Call of Duty]]'' 1, 2, and the [[Modern Warfare]] trilogy''.
* ''[[Jade Empire]]'' is either the successor to ''[[Bridge of Birds]]'', or the only game adaptation it's ever going to get.
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* The 1995 pinball machine ''Attack From Mars'' turned out to be a huge seller, but didn't get a proper sequel until the Pinball 2000 machine ''Revenge From Mars''. In the meantime, the 1997 pinball ''Medieval Madness'' was created by the same developers and, despite the different premise, was far more similar to the original game's structure than the sequel was.
* Konami's ''Dance Masters'' is sort of a spiritual successor to ''Para Para Paradise'', and even has several parapara/eurobeat songs, including the famed "Night of Fire".
* [[
* [[Bulletstorm]] is this to the [[Painkiller]].
* In Japan, [[Hudson Soft]] produced the NES and MSX ports of ''[[Video Game/Star Force|Star Force]]'' and ran a nationwide tournament around it. But ''Star Force'' was a [[Tecmo]] game, and so Hudson developed a rather similar game called ''[[Star Soldier]]'' to feature in the next year's tournament. ''Star Force'' and ''Star Soldier'' each had their own line of sequels.
* ''[[Bayonetta]]'' to ''[[Devil May Cry]]'', moreso the first DMC game, but the traits are shared with later DMC games. Both were created by Hideki Kamiya, both share over the top action, and both have [[Rule of Cool|styles of attacking]] where mixing it up grants a [[Rank Inflation|higher score]] at the end of each section/chapter.
* ''[[Bangai-O]]'' was originally supposed to be a remake of an old Japanese PC game called ''Hover Attack''.
* ''[[Jumping Flash]]'' is very similar to an earlier game by the same developers, ''Geograph Seal'' for the [[Sharp
* [[Treasure]]'s ''Bleach'' fighting games for the Nintendo DS are considered to be spiritual successors to ''Yu Yu Hakusho: Maky?t? Issen'' for the Japanese Mega Drive.
* ''[[One Piece]]: Gigant Battle'' for the DS was developed by Ganbarion, makers of ''Jump Super Stars'' and ''Jump Ultimate Stars'', and reuses many of the same assets.
* ''[[Forbidden Siren]]'' was made by former members of Team Silent, the original developers for the ''[[Silent Hill]]'' series.
* After a falling out between the developer and publisher of ''[[Operation Flashpoint]]'', the publisher won the rights to the name and would reuse it for [[Operation Flashpoint (Codemasters)|a rather different duology]], while the developer kept the rights to the engine behind ''Operation Flashpoint'' and went on to create the ''[[Arm A]]'' series, which is widely considered to be the true successor to ''Operation Flashpoint'' to the point that the developers collectively call both series the [[The Verse|Armaversum]].
** As a twist, for the tenth anniversary of the original ''Operation Flashpoint'', the developers released a final patch (just over six years after the penultimate patch) that actually renamed the game to ''ARMA: Cold War Assault'', as well as removing a Codemaster-included campaign called "Red Hammer."
* ''[[E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy|EYE Divine Cybermancy]]'' has been called a successor to ''[[Deus Ex]]''.
* ''[[Alan Wake]]'' developed by Remedy Entertainment, is the
* ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]-2'' is slated to be something of a
* [http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=6105 Parodied by Valve], who tried to pass off ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'' as the spiritual successor to Midway's Rail Shooter ''[[Revolution X]]'', starring Aerosmith.
* ''[[HAWX]]'', to ''[[Blazing Angels]]'' (both arcade flight sims by [[Ubisoft]]'s Romanian studio).
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* The rare coin-op ''Nightmare in the Dark'' is a spiritual successor of sorts to the more well-known ''[[Snow Bros]].'', except that you control a hunchback who engulfs enemies in balls of fire rather than snowmen burying enemies in snow by pelting them with snowballs.
* [[Sega]]'s ''Confidential Mission'' is considered by many a spiritual successor to their ''[[Virtua Cop]]'' games.
* ''[[Dark Souls]]'', with its near-identical gameplay, probably would be ''[[
* ''[[R-Type]]'' had a line of actual sequels, but before most of these Irem made a spiritual successor titled ''X-Multiply''.
* ''[[Command
** And ''[[Universe At War]]'' is in turn the spiritual successor to ''[[Command
* ''[[Twin Cobra]]'' was a spiritual successor to ''[[Tiger Heli]]'', which in turn had a predecessor in ''Gyrodine'', whose programmers went on to found [[Toaplan]], the company which made the other two games. All three of these helicopter-based vertical shooters were distributed by [[Taito]].
* ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' is considered to be a spiritual successor to ''[[Phantasy Star]]'' since both were developed by Sega's Overworks studios, and they're both turn-based roleplaying games. In fact, some fans consider Skies to be more a successor to Phantasy Star than [[Phantasy Star Online]].
* ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]'' too is considered such to ''Skies of Arcadia''. While Valkyria is a strategy RPG instead of turn-based, it has some members of Sega's now extinct Overworks studios on its development, and even Skies protagonists Vyse and Aika [[Previous Player Character Cameo|make a cameo in it]].
** It's also been described as one to the ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' games, especially given how many of the same people responsible for developing them were also involved with ''Valkyria Chronicles.''
* ''Pochi & Nyaa'', apparently the last game [[Compile]] released before bankruptcy, was an obvious attempt to recapture some of the gameplay and aesthetics of the ''[[Puyo Puyo]]'' [[Cash Cow Franchise]] which they no longer owned.
* ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' can be seen as ''[[Live a Live]]'s''
** The sequel, ''[[Chrono Cross]]'', got its own
* ''Obliterator'', a [[Platform Game]] by [[Psygnosis]], features a slightly more refined form of the mouse-based control system and gameplay of their earlier game ''Barbarian'' (not to be confused with ''Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior''), but takes place in a science fiction setting instead.
* The Vic Tokai [[Platform Game
* [[Word of God]] claims that [[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron]] is a spiritual successor to their previous game, [[Transformers: War for Cybertron|War for Cybertron]] rather than a true sequel.
* Doublesix's ''All Zombies Must Die'' is a spiritual successor to their earlier zombie-slaying game, ''Burn Zombie Burn''.
* ''[[Fire Pro Wrestling]]'' is this to Nintendo's classic ''Pro Wrestling'' game, following the same style of gameplay mechanics as well as the use of [[Captain Ersatz]] versions of existing wrestlers.
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
* People have joked that ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' is a
* The ''[[X Universe]]'' series is widely considered a
* ''[[Skullgirls]]'' is being considered a spiritual successor to ''[[Arcana Heart]]'', according to people in the fighting game community who attend [[Tournament Play|professional tournaments]] and have played both of them.
* ''[[Kenka Bancho]]'' is sometimes considered to be the 3D version of ''[[Kunio
* The [[Those Two Guys|Two Guys]] [[Author Avatar|from Andromeda]], the guys behind the [[Space Quest]] games, have just recently come back together to try and create a "[http://tgakick.com SpaceVenture]" that looks every inch like it'll be a successor to their previous series. They've even gotten Gary Owens back to narrate again!
* The original ''[[Resident Evil (video game)|Resident Evil]]'' was conceived when Capcom wanted an updated version of their Famicom horror RPG ''[[Sweet Home]]''. An [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D15_EyEajMg early teaser] for ''Biohazard'' even used an arrangement of the ''Sweet Home'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsUdzKuXMFg battle theme] and it is believed that the international title of ''Resident Evil'' came from a line in ''Sweet Home'' which describes the mansion where the game is set "a place of residing evil."
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* ''Project P-100'', an upcoming Wii-U project by [[Platinum Games]], seems to be based somewhat on ''[[Viewtiful Joe]]''.
* The Sega arcade game ''[[Congo Bongo]]'' may had seemed like a blatant ''[[Donkey Kong]]''-ripoff, but in reality the game's developer, Ikegami Tsushinki, was the same company Nintendo contracted to handle the programming for ''Donkey Kong''.
* Eugen System's ''Wargame'' series is generally treated as this to its own RTS game ''R.U.S.E.'' albeit set during the [[Cold War]]. Its other RTS game ''[[Act of War]]'' and ''Act of Aggression'' are seen as this to the ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' franchise.
* ''[[Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''[[Suikoden]]''.
* ''[[Yooka-Laylee]]'' is a spiritual successor to ''[[Banjo-Kazooie]]''.
* Although the series has since gained its own identity, the very first ''[[Ratchet & Clank]]'' game can be considered a successor to Rare's ''[[Jet Force Gemini]]'', as both games follow very similar plot points; a hero travels across the galaxy fighting to stop the villain, they have a ton of destructive weapons at their disposal to accomplish that task, and both feature a robotic companion that was created by the antagonist but ends up siding with the good guys.
== Webcomics ==
* In John Allison's own words: [[Bad Machinery]] "is son of [[Scary Go Round]] in the same way that Scary Go Round was son of [[Bobbins]]."
* Shaenon Garrity's ''[[Skin Horse]]'' is a bit of an odd duck
* ''Girly'' by Josh Lesnick is... kind of a Spiritual Successor to his previous webcomic ''[[Cute Wendy]]''. The two main characters from ''Cute Wendy'' are the mother and father/mother of Winter from ''Girly'', but the stories are separate and unique enough to be considered a league of its own.
* [[Three Panel Soul]] is the
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* ''[[The Jetsons]]'' to ''[[The Flintstones]]''. There's also the much more obscure series ''The Roman Holidays''.
* ''[[Animaniacs]]'' to ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''
** ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' to both [[Looney Tunes]] and ''[[A Pup Named Scooby
* It might be a stretch, since one is animated and the other wasn't, but ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' often feels like the
* ''[[Adventure Time]]'' (and to a lesser extent ''[[Regular Show]]'') to ''[[The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack]]''.
** And Flapjack is one to "[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* ''[[Loonatics Unleashed]]'' to [[Road Rovers]] . Both are action cartoons with some comedy elements based on futuristic anthropomorphic superheroes, and are both made by Warner Bros. [[Expy|Also, there's a number of character similarities.]]
* ''[[The Boondocks]]'' is sometimes said to be this to ''[[Coonskin]]''.
* While ''[[MAD]]'' is more of a spinoff to ''[[Mad TV]]'', it's somewhat of this trope to ''[[
* ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball]]'' to ''[[Chowder]]''.
* ''[[Moral Orel]]'' is an ironic- and ''very'' [[Black Comedy|dark]]- successor to ''[[Davey and Goliath]]''.
* ''[[Lloyd in Space]]'' and the 2010 reboot of ''[[Pound Puppies]]'' to ''[[Recess]]''
* ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'' and ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' to ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' to ''[[The Fairly
* ''[[The Flintstones]]'' to ''[[The Honeymooners]]'' deliberately.
* ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' to ''[[Get Smart]]''.
* ''[[Exo Squad]]'' to ''[[Robotech]]''. The viewers weren't the only ones to notice. Matchbox toys released a short lived toyline which blended the two.
* ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'' (and ''[[Courage the Cowardly Dog]]'') to ''[[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]''.
== Other ==
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[[Category:Raising Sim]]▼
[[Category:Derivative Works]]
[[Category:Disney Channel]]
[[Category:Game Boy Advance]]
▲[[Category:Raising Sim]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
▲[[Category:Spiritual Successor]]
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