Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

'''Cam Mitchell:''' Easy, just bring in a character to replace him.<br />

''Everyone looks at Cam in silence''<br />

 

A character who joins the cast as a replacement for a character who has left the show due to real-life distractions (contract negotiations, death, etc.) despite being integral to the plot or concept of the series. Invariably, this character fills the [[Stock Character]] slot left vacant by the departed, whether that be [[Plucky Comic Relief|comic relief]], [[The Smart Guy|intellectual]], or [[The Big Guy|musclebound bruiser]].

For ''very'' suspiciously similar substitutes, see [[Backup Twin]]. Compare [[Discard and Draw]], which does the same sort of thing with superpowers instead of characters. The [[Inverted Trope|inversion]], where the ''same'' character fills a ''different'' role, is [[Same Character but Different]].

 

{{examples}}

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** Lest we forget Brock's one-season substitute with the artist Tracey (who was a rather different character).

*** As of ''Best Wishes'', we have Cilan, who's basically Brock with more food focus and less lechery.

** In terms of actual Pokémon, Jessie and James end up releasing their Victreebel (a fly-trap Pokémon), Weezing (a poisonous gas cloud Pokémon), and Arbok (a poisonous snake Pokémon). Later on, James acquires a Cacnea, which retains Victreebel's tendency to accidentally injure its owner in displays of affection, and Jessie gets a Seviper, which is...a poisonous snake Pokémon. Ash also gets a new bird Pokémon in every region which eventually is fully evolved (Pidgeot, Noctowl, Swellow and Staraptor, respectively).

** James also gains a Carnivine, who bites him on the head to show its affection.

** Justified, since Near ''tries'' to imitate L {{spoiler|and eventually admits that he failed to imitate L, but succeeded through [[Teeth-Clenched Teamwork]]}}.

** There's also the renegade Gento successors, Boltz and Taiga, who appear only in the anime to replace Jakoh's sons, Sheeno and Jask, from the manga.

 

 

== Comic Books ==

** As a long-running tradition in ''X-Men'', the team roster ''always'' has to include one plucky, [[Badass Adorable]] teenage girl who adopts [[Wolverine]] as a [[Big Brother Mentor]]. When the character grows out of the role, she's always replaced by another one. Kitty Pryde started the tradition, and her replacements have included Jubilee, Marrow, Armor, Pixie, and [[X-23]]. Marrow shook up the tradition a bit by having Gambit as her mentor instead, but the writers cut out the middleman with X-23 by making her Wolverine's [[Distaff Counterpart|female clone]] (the closest thing to an actual little sister Wolvie's ever going to get).

* Parodied in ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]: The Black Dossier'', where we're told the British Government, in assembling the 1950s League, tried to find substitutes of the ''entire'' 1890s League. It didn't work.

** This went as far as to have Wolf hit on Worrals, when Worrals was openly gay.

* The Pre-Crisis version of Jason Todd, who took over the role of [[Batman]]'s sidekick [[Robin (Comic Book)|Robin]] after Dick Grayson became [[Nightwing]], was a carbon copy of Dick Grayson right down to having a similar origin story (his parents were acrobats murdered by Killer Croc). This was averted with the Post-Crisis version, which revised Jason's origin as a street hoodlum who was picked up by Batman. Oddly enough, Pre-Crisis Todd was a red-haired boy who dyed his hair black, while Post-Crisis Todd was naturally black-haired.

** But wait, post relaunch: black hair, no white stripe, and this is his natural colour again.

* In a rather peculiar example, when the [[Batgirl (Comic Book)|Batgirl]] mantle was [[Batgirl 2011 (Comic Book)|returned to Barbara Gordon]] [[Batgirl 2009 (Comic Book)|from Stephanie Brown]] following ''[[Flashpoint (Comic Book)|Flashpoint]]'', Barbara's personality appeared to shift to be closer to [[Lighter and Softer]] Stephanie's, so she was a similar replacement to her replacement's replacement. Incidentally becoming the [[Replacement Scrappy]] to the [[Replacement Scrappy]], yet both of whom have [[Vocal Minority]] fanbases. The Batgirl question is a massive [[Base Breaker]] with a lot of [[Executive Meddling]].

* A cross between this and [[Psycho Rangers]] happens with [[Norman Osborn]]'s [[Dark Avengers]]; villainous ranged-combat expert Bullseye imitates heroic archer [[Hawkeye]], the new [[Venom (Comic Book)|Venom]] symbiote imitates [[Spider-Man]], [[Wolverine]]'s [[Daken|psychotic son]] takes his place, and so on.

* In ''JLA'' comics, Vibe was a member of the poorly received [[Dork Age|Detroit League]] who, like the other newcomers to the team introduced in that run, had a stroke of misfortune or two when the roster needed to be cleared up for a new team. In his case, he died. Later, the Conglomorate, a rival team to the Justice League, is formed, featuring Vibe's identically-powered brother Reverb (as well as Vibe's JL teammate Gypsy). This was written by the same writer who killed off Vibe in the first place, mind you; of course, Reverb lacks Vibe's out-there personality and is generally unlikable for the opposite reason.

 

== Film ==

* Lt. Mauser replaced Capt. Harris in the 2nd & 3rd ''[[Police Academy]]'', acting as that film's villain and having more or less the same traits has Harris had, filling the same role. They were so similar that when Harris returned in the 4th movie, he was paired of with Mauser's assistant, Proctor, and the two had the same relationship Mauser and Proctor had.

** This is changed in the [[Animated Adaptation]], where Mauser becomes a good guy, whereas Harris remains an antagonist.

** Also, when Steve Guttenberg refused to reprise his role as Sgt. Mahoney for the 5th and 6th movies, Commandant Lassard's nephew Nick was brought in to fill Mahoney's shoes, while the 7th movie had a cadet named Kyle Connors also fill the very same spot.

** Both Roman and Dom are back in ''[[Fast Five]]''.

* ''[[Beerfest]]'' plays this one for gags, when Landfill dies and the character is promptly replaced by his twin brother, portrayed by the same actor, who asks the rest of the characters to refer to him by his dead brother's name and never speak of the death again.

** Don't forget him promptly sleeping with his dead brother's widow.

** Not to mention how Landfill pretty much told him everything about his friends, so he feels that he's already known them all his entire life.

* ''Los Superagentes: Nueva Generación''. Unlike the recent sequels to ''Bañeros'' and ''Brigada Explosiva'', the new characters were clearly meant to replace the originals, as per the original Tiburon and Delfin show up in insultingly short cameos as opposing to joining in the action. Worse, the original Mojarrita and Chief of Acuario don't even show up.

** Julio De Grazia (the original Mojarrita) died in 1989.

** Though he still had the same M.O. and a related motive, Jason was a markedly different killer than {{spoiler|his mother (Mostly due to the fact that his mother had several "higher-functions" Jason lacked)}}. {{spoiler|Roy Burns}} from ''Part V'' (Following Jason being "[[Killed Off for Real]]"... for one film) would be a more "traditional" example. When disguised as Jason, {{spoiler|Roy}} not only used his M.O. but also acted like Jason; silently determined instead of deceptive, crazy-violent and motive-hissing.

** When Crazy Ralph was killed in ''Part 2'', audiences were introduced to very similar doomsayers in ''Part III'' and ''VIII''.

* Jamie Kennedy as the new Mask in ''[[Son of the Mask]]''.

* ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Phantom Menace]]'' had Captain Panaka (Hugh Quarshie), Queen Amidala's bodyguard. After Quarshie was unable to make it to the location shooting for ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' he was replaced in with Gregar Typho (Jay Laga'aia). Aside from the [[Eyepatch of Power]], they're pretty much the same, both in appearance and personality, to the point that some viewers wondered why Captain Panaka was suddenly sporting an eyepatch.

* ''[[Rockstar]]'' depicts such a replacement when the main character Chris, lead singer of a tribute band, is hired to replace his idol due to his intentionally similar appearance and slightly better vocals. The film culminates in Chris {{spoiler|picking a fan out of the audience at a concert to replace himself}}.

* Played in ''[[The Gamers]]'': Ambrose dies, to be replaced by the nearly-indistinguishable Magellan, with a heaping helping of [[Plug N Play Friends]].

** Also in ''City Slickers II'' Bruno Kirby did not return from the first movie, so his spot was filled by Jon Lovitz, playing Billy Crystal's annoying brother.

** Also, [[Megan Fox]]'s Mikaela being replaced by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's Carly.

** Actually, it was his wife's chiropractor.

* [[The Three Stooges|The Third Stooge]]. While Shemp was not Suspiciously Similar, Curly Joe was trying to copy the more popular (than Shemp) original Curly.

** Curly had ''two'' Suspiciously Similar Substitutes: Joe Besser and (Curly) Joe DeRita.

** Gavin Darklighter, who is the cousin of Biggs Darklighter.

** Heck, with the repeated "new Dark Lords" and "new superweapons," the WHOLE Expanded Universe should be called Shadows of the Empire!

** Oberyn "The Red Viper" Martel was [[Too Cool to Live]], and fans have suspected that [[The Scrappy]] Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne was created as one of these. Both men are the black sheep of their families and have badass reputations and are known by cool nicknames. More to the point, both men are from the some place and Dayne interacts with Oberyn's family members.

* A meta-example in [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[The Baroque Cycle]]'': Daniel Waterhouse [[Conversational Troping|notes]] that some people can be replaced in their positions with only the most superficial elements changing, but other people are more crucial to the story, and their loss will forever change the status quo no matter who replaces them.

 

== Live Action TV ==

** Quinn sometimes had knowledge that made very little sense for an alien. Daniel, of course, was a linguist and archaeologist who had spent his career studying Earth languages and cultures. How Quinn, an alien, was able to spontaneously recognize markings on an alien ship as similar to ancient Celtic is unclear.

** This trope received its [[Lampshade Hanging]] (along with about a hundred others) in "200," when an actor backs out from playing the lead in the [[Show Within a Show]] based on the SG team's adventures, leading to the page quote above. And at the end, we find out the "Colonel Danning" character from ''Wormhole X-Treme!'' was substituted. "Dr. Levant" is not indicated to have had a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] when he left the show, but much like the ''real'' ''Stargate SG-1'', they may have resolved to never speak of it.

*** Made easier because the 'other character' was a Wraith, requiring full makeup and making her all but unrecognizable, even for those watching for her.

** One could argue that ''Crowley'' is the suspiciously similar substitute, assuming of course that the show even needed to replace Gabriel in the first place.

** Later in the series, fans commented that the character "Frank" was just an unnecessary replacement for Bobby, who was taken away from the leads to supposedly "strip the show back down to just the brothers."

* Speaking of ''Frasier'', this trope was neatly deconstructed/lampshaded with Mel Karnofski, Niles' [[Romantic False Lead]] between divorcing Maris and getting together with Daphne. Mel was a blatantly obvious slightly-milder carbon-copy of Maris (or rather, [[The Ghost|Maris's actions and descriptions]] given a more subtle form and voice), paralleling her in everything from being a manipulative and domineering [[Jerkass]] to her hysterical, unstable, mood-swinging, and obsessively fussy and neurotic behavior -- and Niles is unable to see it. Frasier outright ''tells'' Niles that he's repeating a horrible pattern (Maris was quite emotionally abusive and generally had an adverse effect on Niles' mental state), and speculates that he's just jumping at the chance for someone comfortingly familiar due to the fact that Daphne is getting engaged and he (apparently) no longer has a chance with her.

* Phil Capra (for Joel Fleischman) on ''[[Northern Exposure]]''.

** Bram first appears in the same episode in which Ceaser dies (the actor didn't want to stay in Hawaii) and takes over his role, which was promised to be important at least for the season.

** Also the various informants, starting with Deep Throat, coming into X, and finishing with Marita Covarrubias.

** One case was forced: "Travelers" and "Agua Mala" featured Arthur Dales, the first FBI agent to deal with X-Files. Dales' actor Darren McGavin suffered a stroke filming "The Unnatural", leading him to be replaced with M. Emmet Walsh playing [[Name's the Same|his brother Arthur Dales]], a former police officer (who lampshades his parents didn't have much creativity with names). To make it worse, both Dales were played in flashbacks by the same actor.

** This is actually lampshaded [[Incredibly Lame Pun|depres]][[Tear Jerker|singly]] in the episode "Depressing News," when Hawkeye is lamenting to B.J. how the war rolls on even as the people fighting it are killed or replaced (using the surplus tongue depressors that have been shipped to the 4077th as a visual aid):

{{quote| '''Hawkeye:''' Tongue depressors, doctors, soldiers, we're all the same...(''holds up one tongue depressor'') Trapper John goes. No problem, there's plenty more where he came from. (''tosses it aside and picks up another'') B.J. Hunnicutt. Same size, same shape. (''picks up another'') Frank Burns out... (''picks up another'') Winchester in. Just a hair's difference. (''picks up another'') Henry Blake. (''snaps it in two'') Rest in peace, Henry. (''picks up another'') Incoming Sherman Potter. (''to B.J.'') My God, hasn't this elimination tournament gone on long enough?}}

** [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|Radar]] wasn't given a replacement character but instead his duties were handed off to [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Klinger.]]

** Sgt. Luther Rizzo is arguably a substitute for Sgt. Zelmo Zale.

** Lonnie Henderson is probably a better example, going so far as to step in as Ford's love interest in season 2 to replace Katie Hitchcock.

* Ida Mae Brindle on ''[[Small Wonder]]''.

** Ivanova was herself a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] for Laurel Takashima from the [[Pilot Movie]] ''Babylon 5: The Gathering''.

*** That's how it ended up, but according to JMS that wasn't the original intention. The two characters were originally supposed to coexist until the end of the second season when Laurel would turn out to be [[The Mole]] and leave the show (written in because JMS knew Tamlyn Tomita wouldn't want to commit to five years) and Ivanova would become the executive officer... but then Tamlyn Tomita decided not to come back for the series at all.

** Likewise, Talia Winters replaced Lyta Alexander when the series began; in a recursive twist, though, when Andrea Thompson decided to leave the show, they brought back Lyta in a double-un-[[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] maneuver.

** Stephen Franklin replaced Benjamin Kyle. Noticing a pattern yet? Hell, let's face it - if this wiki had been around ten years ago, the page you're reading would be called "John Sheridan."

** Straczynski has stated that every major character on the show had an "escape hatch" for each season, to allow the actor to be replaced if necessary without affecting the overall story arc.

*** ''Babylon 5'' did this with alien species too. After the Shadows left the galaxy, a suspiciously similar race called the Hand appeared.

* Flo replacing the deceased Selma on ''[[Night Court]]''. Flo then also died a year later, leading to the younger Roz. (Also on this show, Lana was replaced by Mac, and Liz was replaced by Billie, then Christine).

* Oliver (for Jeff) on ''[[Coupling]]''

** Joel was sort of a father figure to the 'bots. His replacement, Mike, interacted with the 'bots as their equal (at best) and tended to be more overtly sarcastic. The [[Flame War|flame wars]] over which of the two was better are [[Internet Backdraft|notorious]].

** TV's Frank was Dr. Clayton Forrester's minion and punching-bag; when he departed, he was replaced by Pearl Forrester, Clayton's mom and one of the few people capable of cowing her son into submission. After Clayton departed, Pearl took over as the head Mad, and gained her own minions, Bobo and Observer.

** TV's Frank himself being a replacement for Dr Erhardt, who [[Hand Wave|"went missing"]] after the first season. Prompting Joel to remark during "Earth vs. The Spider" when a character who looked alot like Dr Erhardt was eaten "So THATS what happened to him!"

*** The actor playing Dr. Erhardt also provided the voice of Tom Servo during the show's first Comedy Channel season. When he left, and Kevin took over for Tom Servo in season 2, a fan mailed in an 11-page long banner screaming "I HATE SERVO'S NEW VOICE". ("Does he realize," Kevin later commented, "That he just sent hate mail to a puppet?")

** Noranti somehow replaces Zhaan, as "cleric/spiritual leader/healer" on the ship too.

** This was more of Zhaan being replaced by two characters: her science side by Jool and her spiritual side by Stark. Then Jool is replaced by Sikozu and Stark by Noranti.

* Sergeant Baker replaced Sergeant Kinchloe as 'radio operator who happens to be black' on ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'' in the final season. Unfortunately, unlike Kinchloe, Baker didn't have much characterization outside 'radio operator who happens to be black' and wasn't the most satisfying of replacements.

* An interesting exception can be found on ''[[A Different World]]''. Originally it was a star vehicle created for Lisa Bonet by [[Bill Cosby]]'s production house, but after Bonet's 1988 pregnancy forced her from the program after the first season, no substitute for her was cast. Instead, it became an ensemble show, and eventually two minor characters -- Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert -- evolved into its real stars and carried the show for five more years.

** They also had the character of Flash, nicknamed because he was an adult with the hyperactivity of a 4 year old. Essentially another Cody given a justification.

** Pulaski was indeed a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]], but not for Crusher. She shared far more personality traits with McCoy.

*** And Tom Paris was a suspiciously similar substitute for a character the same actor played on Next Gen for various complex reasons.

* Actually this trope has been in ''[[Star Trek]]'' from the start were Captain Pike is replaced after the [[Pilot]] with Captain Kirk. Both are square jawed, two fisted adventurers with a close friendship with the ship's physician and a mild romantic interest in a female yeoman.

** Pike was not exactly an established character, though, since the pilot was not shown in the series' regular run. Yes, it was chopped up to become the story-within-a-story of "Menagerie" but that was run well after Kirk was established as Captain.

*** And, of course, Xon was created to replace Spock when [[Leonard Nimoy]] decided he didn't want to do the "Phase II" series.

** Captain Picard is based on Captain Pike.

* Before the series adopted its [[Super Sentai|Japanese counterpart]]'s format of each season essentially being a standalone show, ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' did have some cast changes, always preserving the number of [[Token Minority]] characters. The second Pink Ranger, Katherine Hillard, is an especially egregious example, not being much like [[The Ditz|her predecessor]] before becoming a Ranger, but then rapidly becoming her clone. ([[Dark Action Girl|Dark Action Girls]] take heed: [[Good Is Dumb]]).

** They did manage a successful change in ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy]]'', where actress Valerie Vernon had to leave due to being diagnosed with leukemia. Originally they were going to take the previous pink ranger and bring her in as a replacement, but when that deal fell through, they took [[Power Rangers in Space|the previous season]]'s reformed [[Big Bad]], Karone, and made her the replacement. In this case, the character was vastly different because she had aspects of [[The Atoner]].

** Another successful change was [[Johnny Yong Bosch|Adam Park]], the second Black Ranger. While Zack was fun-loving and energetic, Adam was fairly quiet and thoughtful. Early on, this was pretty much all his character had to him, but an ad-lib in [[The Movie]] ([[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|his dejected "I'm a frog..."]] when finding out what his spirit animal is) gave him some Woobie points and being the second-longest serving ranger gave him fairly decent character development. He's one of the most popular characters in the series now and the only pre-Disney buyout ranger to appear in the 15th anniversary [[Reunion Show]].

** ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'' has done this to most of the cast of the shows they visited, using the conceit of [[Alternate Universe|Alternate Universes]]. Sometimes these changes are justified (for instance [[Kamen Rider Kuuga]]'s actor considers the series an [[Old Shame]]). However, a good number of actors have returned to play their original characters as well, even if they're also AU incarnations.

** The old-school Riders had a recurring, cross-seasonal ally named Tobei Tachibana. He started out as Hongo's friend who ran the motorbike racing club, but got more and more involved with things Rider-related just due to being close to the guys trouble followed most, becoming something of a [[Badass Normal]]. When [[The Powers That Be]] decided to bring the character back in ''[[Kamen Rider Skyrider]]'' but the actor declined, the Tachibana role in that and [[Kamen Rider Super-1|the following]] series went to the nigh-identical Genjiro Tani. His personality and role were exactly Tachibana's, and sometimes past Riders talked to Tani as if they knew him ''much'' better than they did, as if scripts with Tachibana in mind had already been written. They really shoulda gone the [[Magic Plastic Surgery]] route.

''Joe and Josh stare''<br />

'''Donna''' "I mean... he will to other people!" }}

* Speaking of [[wikipedia:Profiler (TV series)|Profiler]]'s, for that show's final season, exit Ally Walker, enter Jamie Luner.

** Exit off-screen nemesis Jack, enter off-screen nemesis Damian Kennasas.

** Nancy was Nellie on steroids; actually vicious enough to unthinkingly put people's lives in danger, much like their mother. When Nell returns for a visit, even she is struck by the resemblance--and put off as well, fearing her mother is making the same mistakes--which was an understatement.

* ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'' replaced Michael Praed's Robin of Locksley with Jason Connery's Robert of Huntingdon, tying two contradictory legends together by making [[Robin Hood]] a [[Legacy Character]].

** Likewise, on the BBC version, the character of Marian was replaced with Kate...who had the same personality as her predecessor, only blonde and poor (and shrill). The result was cringe-inducing considering that Kate was written as arrogant, impetuous, and initially antagonistic toward Robin, just as Marian was. What the writers failed to realize was that such traits are understandable and even endearing in a privileged noblewoman who had been jilted by Robin, but completely nonsensical in a peasant girl who had no reason to be any of these things.

* ''[[Law and Order]]'' has always had six main characters: two detectives, their chief, the DA, the executive assistant DA, and a regular assistant DA. Given that the series [[Long Runners|lasted for 20 seasons]], all six roles have been substituted as actors move on, some of them several times over. It also helps that the show is heavily story-based, and not too dependent on characterizations.

* Coy and Vance replaced Bo and Luke Duke in ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]''. They were such substitutes, they even had the same ''hair color''.

** But they did swap shirt colors with the originals.

** Deputy Cletus Hogg, although his initial appearance on the show preceded Enos' departure for his own series, and he was allowed to stay on even after Enos returned.

** Roscoe was also replaced briefly by two different sheriffs - including [[The Other Darrin]] himself.

* In the Australian teen series ''[[Wicked Science]]'', the girl in Toby's group, Dina, was replaced by Toby's cousin Sasha in Season 2.

** Also Mr Grainger, the head of menswear, was replaced by Tebbs, Goldberg, Klein, and Grossman before they eliminated role and made Mr Humphries head of the department.

* Charlie Crawford replaced Mike Flaherty as the Deputy Mayor on ''[[Spin City]]''. The key difference was that Charlie was a [[Handsome Lech]] and Mike wasn't.

** Andy's steady girlfriend in the first season was pharmacist Ellie Walker; after she was written out of the show (apparently due to lack of chemistry between Andy Griffith and Elinor Donahue), Andy was given a couple more temporary love interests before Helen Crump was finally introduced in season 3.

** When the show was retooled as ''Mayberry, R.F.D.'', Sam Jones and his son Mike essentially became the substitutes for Andy and Opie Taylor.

* ''[[My Three Sons]]'' did this a lot. They replaced grandpa Bub with Uncle Charlie. Later the oldest son left so the dad adopted the youngest son's friend.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' did this recently, when Howard Attfield, who played Donna Noble's father in "The Runaway Bride," died during the filming of Series 4. They filled his role with Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins), who had been created as a one-off guest character in "Voyage of the Damned" and was promptly retconned as her maternal grandfather.

** The Doctor's regeneration was designed specifically to avoid this. Originally there was no plans for him to regenerate he wasn't even designated an alien, it only came about when [[William Hartnell]] had to leave the show due to health issues. A producer thought it would be a novel idea and thus the doctor as we know him was born.

** The real offenders are the early companions. Once Barbara and Ian left, Steven replaced them. Before that, Vicki replaced Susan, and was later replaced herself by Dodo, with Sara and Katarina briefly holding the role. The companion model of a young heroic male and attractive young female was used as a counterpart to the older Hartnell, and the slightly old Troughton, at which point it was changed for a sidekick-type model. There were several exceptions -

** The original plans for Season 7 had Zoe as the Third Doctor's companion; when her actress declined to stay on, they created Liz, a similar [[Hot Scientist]], to replace her.

*** Stephen Fry had to pull out of writing a script because he couldn't find the time to rewrite his episode to accommodate Martha Jones instead of Rose Tyler as the companion.

** Subverted hard in the same miniseries when a character {{spoiler|who seems like he's being built up to be a substitute for Owen suddenly shoots Jack in the back, and then gets shot himself. RTD says this was intentional, because he thinks it's a disservice to characters to outright replace them with a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]].}}

** Luke has a nightmare about being replaced in ''The Nightmare Man''.

** In ''Goodbye Sarah Jane Smith'', Ruby attempts to become this for Sarah Jane.

* ''[[Due South]]'' did this surprisingly well, mixing in a bit of [[Sister Becky]]. One character is sent away "under cover" while the main character is out of town. The replacement is introduced as someone pretending to be that character, in order to maintain his cover.

** For bonus points, the replacement is almost nothing like his predecessor, {{spoiler|with almost everybody except Fraser seeming to be totally unaware of this}}

*** Stephen Fry and Tony Slattery were both members of the Cambridge Footlights at the same time, by the way. And Slattery took up the position of Footlights president after Fry's good friend and frequent collaborator Hugh Laurie served in that position for a year.

** At the end of Season 2, NCIS agent Kate Todd is shot and killed by Ari Haswari, a Hamas terrorist working undercover within Mossad. Then at the beginning of Season 3, Mossad agent Ziva David, Ari's sister, joins the NCIS team as a Liaison Officer. Ziva resembles Kate physically- both are slim, brown eyed brunettes. And Ziva quickly picks up Kate's habit of engaging in rivalry, banter and [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]] with NCIS agent Tony DiNozzo. Otherwise, Kate and Ziva are quite different characters, but this is not a case of [[The Other Darrin]].

** Subverted in the 7th season opener when the team interviews replacements for Ziva. Two don't live up to their hype, and one came in at the wrong time. {{spoiler|Ziva returns at the end, at least physically.}}

** A certain segment of the fanbase believes that [[Epileptic Trees|Arturo was substituted by]] ''his own alternate''.

*** To be fair, the episode that this happens in allows for that interpretation as [[The Professor|Arturo's]] villainous duplicate tries to replace him so he can escape his own world and just before they slide they are having a classic "which is the real one?" battle, and after the slide the [[The Professor|Arturo]] who was left behind gives a quiet, "Oh, my God."

*** Series creator [[Tracy Torme]] has tormented fans by saying that he knows which Arturo made the jump, but will never reveal it.

* Done by necessity quite a lot on gentle old dears' British comedy ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]'', as elderly cast members die off with inconvenient regularity. (Currently only one member of the original central trio is still alive).

** Also parodied in the series, when René's death was faked and he was forced to pose as his own [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] twin brother for the rest of the show.

*** '''René:''' "I am ''also'' named René."

* The German police drama ''Siska'' did this when they replaced the eponymous lead character with his never-before-mentioned brother after he was killed off.

* ''[[Everwood]]'', for some extent at least: Linda and Amanda are both facing a tragedy of sorts, both feel uneasy around Nina (foreshadowing, much?) and both have a similar relationship with Andy: the rocky start, people against the affair, having a hard time fitting in Andy's family life, and finally breaking up over something directly related to the aforementioned tragedy. Amy's best friends, Laynie and Hannah (who never appeared simultaneously, although they'd be best friends themselves in ''Grey's Anatomy'', same actresses, different characters), also share some traits: tragedy again (pretty much the common denominator for everybody in the show), introverted, both have an older brother (one of them {{spoiler|dies}} and the other {{spoiler|has a strong chance of inheriting Huntington's}}), both are somewhat "dark" and both girls click with Ephram instantly (Laynie actually dates him, Hannah is more a best friend / neighbour / like sibling type). Last but not least, Stephanie is in many ways a short-lived Madison II (college-girl, very different from Ephram, great with Deliah, kind with Amy in spite of her (Amy's) jealousy).

* ''[[Teachers]]'' initially both justified and averted it. It justified it because, in a school, teachers genuinely do come and go and get replaced, so it never seemed odd to have cast changes between series. They averted it by not replacing characters with direct clones, particularly after main character Simon left and the show became an ensemble piece. Unfortunately, after the third series, [[Ensemble Darkhorse|ensemble darkhorses]] Kurt and Brian left, along with Simon's arbitrary replacement Matt, to be replaced by Damien and Ben, substitutes for Kurt and Brian, and Ewan, a substitute for Simon. Cue [[Seasonal Rot]] and no fifth series.

* Sandy Duncan's character on ''[[The Hogan Family]]'', which was ''Valerie'' before Valerie Harper quit.

* Neil Morrissey as Tony Smart from series 2 of ''[[Men Behaving Badly]]'', replacing Harry Enfield as Dermot Povey. Since this happened on [[ITV]], and the show only became popular after the third series was taken up by [[The BBC]], most viewers have only the vaguest idea there ever ''was'' a Dermot Povey. (In one [[Clip Show]], a single scene from series 1 is shown, prompting Tony to ask "Who was that?")

** Yet instead of getting an empty-headed loser, which were the funniest parts about Eric and Kelso, we ended up with a smart pretty-boy, which is ultimately, a [[Mary Sue|Gary Stu]]. [[Replacement Scrappy|This did not go unnoticed by the viewers.]]

* In ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]'', substitutes are always the same gender as the outgoing character, for no particular reason but to make up the numbers. {{spoiler|Jenna is replaced by Dayna, Blake is replaced by Tarrant, and Cally is replaced by Soolin.}} Slightly subverted in the episode 'Rescue', though, where the tough guy and the female pilot are replaced by a male pilot and a tough chick, respectively.

** Although Jess's character was VASTLY different from Tristan's, and the dynamics of the relationship between him and Rory were much more even.

** Logan Huntzberger, however, was basically just Tristan 2.0.

** Due to the death of Stanley Kamel (Dr. Kroger), Hector Elizondo has taken on the role of a new psychiatrist for Adrian Monk.

** While we're at it, Spike, the Vampire-fighting-for-good, is curiously similar to Angel. Eventually even the slightly-different motivation, the behaviour-dampening hardware placed in his brain, is written out and he is given a soul just like his counterpart. And yeah, they both date Buffy.

** Their personalities are not remotely similar, though.

** There's a textbook [[Subverted Trope|subversion]] in season 1, after Angel loses Doyle. He complains that his link to the Powers That Be is gone, only to be told that "whenever a door closes, another opens." Enter a very Doyle-like character...who turns out, after a series of misdirections, to be the [[Monster of the Week]], not the new sidekick. Cordelia [[Discard and Draw|gains Doyle's powers and role]].

** Doyle himself was a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] for Whistler, a character who appeared briefly in flashbacks in ''Buffy'''s second season finale and recruited Angel to the side of good. Both are sarcastic demons (half-demon, in Doyle's case) who work for the [[Powers That Be]]. Doyle was originally intended to ''be'' Whistler, but the actor was unavailable when the show was greenlit, so they reworked him as newcomer Doyle.

* ''The Streets of San Francisco'' - Dan Robbins, for Steve Keller.

* Inverted, somewhat, on ''[[All in The Family]]'': The character of George Jefferson was expressly written for Sherman Helmsley, who [[Absentee Actor|was unavailable]] at the time the show's early seasons were shot due to his appearance in a Broadway musical; the character of George's brother, Henry Jefferson, was devised as a placeholder until Helmsley became available in Season 4 (although George was "on" the show as an [[He Who Must Not Be Seen|offscreen character]] in the earlier seasons).

* When Mickey left ''[[Hustle]]'' after season 3, Billy was introduced as a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] for ''Danny'', with Danny taking up Mickey's role. In season 5, Mickey's back and the Danny/Billy role is taken by Sean, with his sister Emma as the new Stacie.

** This was because Mark Frankel's character Julian Luna had quickly [[Ensemble Darkhorse|taken over as star of the show]] after proving far more popular than the original lead -- C. Thomas Howell's Frank Kohanek -- who was [[The Scrappy|intensely disliked by fans and critics alike]]. Frank was supposed to be written out in Season 2, and Julian made the lead. Without the fan favorite, the producers believed that the show was too weak to continue.

* After Howard Hesseman left ''[[Head of the Class]]'' in 1990, Billy Connolly's character substituted him for the show's final season.

** Mrs. Garrett was eventually substituted herself on ''The Facts Of Life'' by her sister, Beverly Ann Stickle.

* ''[[The Love Boat]]'' replaced Julie McCoy with her sister Judy as "Your Cruise Director," following actress Lauren Tewes' departure from the show due to cocaine addiction.

* Sophie's cousin Barney in the fifth series of ''[[Peep Show]]'' is a fairly obvious replacement for her brother Jamie from series four; they look similar, are both musicians, both obsessed with Jeremy, and Barney even hangs around with Sophie's father for no explained reason.

* ''[[Happy Days]]'', upon the leaving of [[Ron Howard]], brought in a family friend named Roger who replaced the 'straight-man' tendencies of Richie.

* There have been seven [[Iron Chef|Iron Chefs]]: Chen Kenichi (Chinese), Hiroyuki Sakai (French), Masaharu Morimoto (Japanese), and Masahiko Kobe (Italian) are the ones American viewers are most familiar with. The dubbed version tried to push the idea that Morimoto was the direct successor to Rokusaburo Michiba, the original IC Japanese. In truth, Morimoto was a substitute to a substitute: Michiba's replacement was Koumei Nakamura (Who can be spotted behind Chairman Kaga in the opening credits, where Kaga is standing behind the pile of strawberries). There's also the original IC French, Yutaka Ishinabe (Who's portrait can be spotted in the opening panorama).

** The character of Mandy is another example. If the producers couldn't get Mia Kirshner the actress who played her they created another sexy terrorist. Season 4's Nicole is a prime example, because she behaves in EXACTLY the same way as Mandy would, {{spoiler|she has sex with a character to get him on side, then reveals her true colours. Mandy did more or less the same thing in the first episode}}

* Lucy replaced Kate in ''[[Not Going Out]]''.

** DB Russell is said to be a more straight version of this, because he has some similarities to Grissom, though not so close that it screams "Grissom Light".

** By comparison, ''[[CSI: NY]]'' replaced Aiden Burn with another occasionally-sarcastic female character, who was even suggested to be in a relationship with the same character, at least until she was [[Killed Off for Real]]. Her other traits were added to a previously-existing background character, who occasionally takes Don Flack's place.

** Completely averted, character wise. While the dynamic of "Older Guy", "Younger Guy", and "Younger Girl" still existed, the characters filling each slot were completely different. Thirteen, the character suffering most from accusations of the like was actually as completely different from her predecessor as was possible.

* ''[[NYPD Blue]]'' is the master of this trope, having replaced Andy Sipowicz's partner ''three times''. Jimmy Smits replaced David Caruso when the latter decided he was too big to do the show. Rick Schroeder replaced Smits. Mark-Paul Gosselaar replaced Schroeder. Gosselaar and Schroeder are the best examples here, both having similar physical make-ups and similar character personalities.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'' replaced Billy Keikeya with Tory Foster. This is actually the only Battlestar example. Given the improvisational nature of the series' writing it's unclear if Billy would have followed a similar arc to Tory, had Paul Campbell remained on the show.

** This trope is played straight or averted, as the lack of similarity between the two characters is noted by Roslin and Adama in Tory's very first appearance.

* In ''[[The George Lopez Show]]'', Carmen is replaced with Angie's niece Veronica Palmero because of creative differences between Carmen's actress, Masiela Lusha, and George Lopez. Veronica is pretty much the same as Carmen, only more shallow and with a sadder story.

** It's actually a subversion, since what little personality the writers had a chance to give to her dialogue, and a good deal of the acting Aloma Wright did, was meant to create the impression of an anti-Laverne.

*** [[Shout-Out|Laverne and Shirley]]?

** For the last season, the main character is basically JD and Elliot combined (narrator, daydreaming delusions, blonde, crazy, bullied by Dr. Cox...) and Denise is also given some more obvious JD traits after he leaves.

** Also inverted - Rimmer is killed off in the first episode and replaced by a hologram, portrayed by the same actor. Hologram Rimmer was written out of the story in Series VII after Chris Barrie chose to leave the show. He returned in Series VIII to play the revived original Rimmer.

** Jim was actually rather different in personality from Dan, a more friendly and avuncular sort whereas Dan was a hardass with a ruthless streak. Also, Dan sometimes supervised the missions remotely rather than joining them, whereas Jim was always part of the mission team. Jim was also more suited for romantic roles than Dan. However, Paris was an exact replacement for Rollin, with the exact same skill set (disguise, magic, cheating at cards, pickpocketing). In his first season (year 4), he was basically Rollin by another name, but in season 5, when the show got more character-driven for a time, he developed a distinct, more casual and "hip" personality.

* Averted, kind of, in ''[[Bones]]''. At the start of season 3 we were given recurring character Sweets, a young, clever psychologist. He became a regular with his name added to the opening credits at the end of the season when Zack, the young, clever anthropologist, left the show. Averted in that the characters don't have much more in common and that Sweets is very well-liked. Also averted in that Zach's in-universe role (anthropology student in the lab) is now pointedly rotated between five different guest characters, because everyone agrees that Zach is irreplaceable anyway.

** Sully could be seen as a variation of this trope. Booth had not left the series, but Agent Tim Sullivan was brought in as a replacement boyfriend for Brennan-but he was so much like Booth that the fans dubbed him "Booth Light".

* ''[[The Tick]]'' suffered from a number of poor copies meant to be substitutes when Fox failed to get the rights for any characters besides The Tick and Arthur. But given that it was Fox, no one was really surprised as the show's days were numbered from day one.

** Though, to give credit where credit is due, Bat Manuel is one of the funniest television characters ever.

* Arden replaced Chelsea as the [[Alpha Bitch]] for seasons two and three of ''[[Naturally Sadie]]''.

* Ashley's ultimate demise in ''[[Sanctuary]]'' was particularly predictable because in the two episodes preceding it, they were already gearing up her replacement.

* In ''[[The Thick of It]]'' series three has a new Minister For Social Affairs - Nicola Murray replacing Hugh Abbot. Her only points of difference with her predecessor are that she's a woman, and that she's not best friends with her main ministerial advisor. This is entirely justified, as the premise of the show is that all politicians are the same.

* Carried out with style by British fantasy show ''[[Hex]]'', where new girl Ella, an experienced witch, shows up at the start of the second season and by the end of the second episode has {{spoiler|[[It Makes Sense in Context|stabbed original lead witch Cassie]] and taken her place as the show's main character.}} She goes on the have an almost identical doomed relationship with [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|demon spawn Malachi]] that Cassie had with demon Azazeal in the first season. To round things off, Malachi is Cassie and Azazeal's [[Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome|magically-aged]] son.

* ''[[Drop the Dead Donkey]]'' replaced Alex, the one sensible person in the Globelink office, with Helen, a virtually identical character, at the end of the second series. Both of them even had one-night stands with Dave (despite Helen being a lesbian).

* Averted in, of all things, ''[[Mutant X]]'', which saw Lexa replace Emma at the start of the final season after {{spoiler|Emma's death in the previous finale.}} Counts as an aversion because, rather than the new character being designed to fill [[Super-Hero Speciation|the superpowered gap in the team]] the old one had left, telempathic Emma was replaced with light-manipulating Lexa, whose personality, loyalties, and storyline were radically different to Emma's.

* On ''[[The Cosby Show]]'', when Rudy got too old to be the Cute Little Kid, a step-granddaughter was written into the cast to be fill the role. Unlike other examples, Rudy stayed.

* Really head-spinning example from THE PAPER CHASE: When the study group is formed during the pilot episode, one woman is included. In the very second episode, that character's place in the study group, with no explanation, has been taken by another woman, Logan, who remains a major character throughout the series.

* [[Criminal Minds|Emily Prentiss and David Rossi]] were replacements for Elle Greenaway and Jason Gideon respectively. Both characters were initially hated by many fans, but gained pretty good fanbases the longer they remained on the show.

** The trope is played straight with Prentiss, but not Rossi. [[Word of God]] from creator Ed Bernero on the "About Face" commentary says they wanted to make him as least like Gideon as possible, so they made him an egotistical wannabe rock star of a profiler who doesn't really "do" teams, and the first thing he does is [[Take That|shoot a bird]].

* A few from ''[[Neighbours]]'', though the straightest examples may be Tom Ramsay replacing his brother Max, and Oliver Barnes being hastily written in to replace his brother Will/Sebastian, even taking over his whole character arc.

* On the final season of ''[[Waiting for God]]'', Jane's [[Bonnie Scotland|Scottish]] grandfather, Jamie, came in, after the actor playing [[Dirty Old Man|Basil]] died.

* The German soap opera ''[[Alles Was Zahlt]]'' originally dealt with Diana Sommer, who was a plucky blonde delivery girl turned up-and-coming figure skater. In the first episode Diana was sort of hit by a car... which led to the ''[[Meet Cute]]'' introduction to her boyfriend Julian. After Julian {{spoiler|died}} and the actress playing Diana decided to leave the show, a new character was introduced: the plucky blonde circus performer turn up-and-coming figure skater, Stella. Upon arriving in town her car broke down, which meant she almost got rear-ended by her immediate love interest, Lars. It wouldn't be so bad if Stella and Lars were bearable, but unfortunately, they're not.

* Carla Borrego for Maddie Magellan in ''[[Jonathan Creek]]''.

* Agent Shaw on ''[[Chuck]]'' seems pretty similar to {{spoiler|Bryce}} from Seasons 1 and 2. They're both romantic rivals to the lead character, they both [[The Mentor|mentor]] him on how to be a spy, and they both are super spies.

* When [[Nickelodeon]]'s variety show ''[[All That]]'' began, Katrina Johnson was easily the youngest-looking cast member and was mostly used to play a variety of little girl characters. In Season 3, with Katrina looking too old to pull off these roles, Amanda Bynes was added to the cast to fill the void. Katrina left the show entirely later in that season.

* ''[[Designing Women]]'': Charlene was replaced by her sister Carlene, who was about as similar as you can get.

** More so on ''Saved By The Bell: The New Class,'' most blatantly in their first season. The new youngsters were virtual carbon copies of their old-class counterparts: Scott for Zack (even breaking the Fourth Wall in the same way), Weasel for Screech, Tommy D for Slater, Linday for Kelly, and Megan for Lisa and Jessie (due to her being Weasel's unrequited crush, as well as the smart one in the group).

* ''[[White Collar]]'' introduced FBI agent Diana Barrigan in the pilot, but when the actress had other commitments, she was replaced without explanation by the character Lauren Cruz. (Who was subsequently re-replaced without explanation by Barrigan in season 2).

** Diana took a job in Washington, DC because it's where her girlfriend was from, and decided to come back to New York. Lauren left with no explanation.

* In ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'', DCI Barnaby was replaced by... DCI Barnaby (his cousin, who had the same rank and personality, but was played by a different actor). Also, he had already changed his sidekick twice.

* In the second season of ''[[In Treatment]]'' Luke and Bess, a couple whose divorce was harming their son, were clearly substitutes for Jake and Amy in the first season. This is because, in the Israeli series the show is based on, the corresponding couple's arc continued into the second season.

** The Season 2-4 recasting of ''[[3-2-1 Contact]]'': Miguel=Marc, Robin=Trini, Kathy=Lisa.

* Played with on ''[[Tremors]]: The Series'' when Michael Gross was unavailable for shooting. The female scientist who appeared in the episode was given a personality Suspiciously Similar to Gross's Burt Gummer, a similarity which was Lampshaded by the other characters, although she didn't perform his usual in-universe functions of shooting or blowing up monsters.

** Valerie herself replaced Jenny in season 2.

* Annie replaced Fi as the protagonist in the final season of ''[[So Weird]]''. Like Fi, Annie had paranormal encounters which she posted on a website. The "twist" was that she was a [[Idol Singer|singer]].

* Averted and played straight by ''[[The Red Green Show]]''. The marina owner changed from the reasonably-built but lazy Glen Brachston to the overweight and even ''lazier'' Dwight Cardiff. However, they averted this with the role of animal control officer: the original one, Garth Harble, loved animals, while replacement Ed Frid was terrified of them.

* ''[[Primeval]]'' had Sarah Page, who {{spoiler|was killed because her actress couldn't continue acting for the show}}, and was replaced by Jess Parker. However, their roles are very different; Sarah was an expert in mythology and ancient cultures, while Jess is a techie and team coordinator.

** Sarah in turn replaced Jenny Lewis, who was an alternate-timeline duplicate of Claudia Brown, played by the same actress but with a completely different personality and role, an inversion of the typical [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]].

** The series has also been through three different leading men and two different tough-guy supporting men. Only three cast members have stayed with the show through its entire run.

*** The leading men are a particularly interesting example of this. With the first switch the authors went for a genuine attempt to not make the substitute suspiciously similar, and in fact the character changed the entire tone of the series. When this second leader was in turn switched out they brought in a replacement that was suspiciously similar to leading man number one, up to and including his accent. The tone of the series also switched back, becomming particularly obvious when number two reappeared for one more episode.

* Reviews of ''[[The X Factor]]'''s new judges Kelly Rowland, Tulisa, and Gary Barlow recall up their respective predecessors, Dannii Minogue, Cheryl Cole, and Simon Cowell. Some reviewers even noted that Tulisa even physically resembled Cheryl in terms of looks and personality.

* ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' replaced Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard and Lady Marjorie Bellamy, with Georgina, the daughter of a couple killed in the Titanic disaster alongside Lady Marjorie. The changeover wasn't immediate, and demure, idealistic Elizabeth had a very different character to the louche Georgina, but Georgina filled the same role, so it may count. Lady Marjorie's role went through two changes as well, with Hazel and then Virginia Bellamy taking over the position of mistress of the house. Downstairs, after Emily's {{spoiler|suicide}}, the show also went through a handful of identikit kitchenmaids before settling on the hapless Ruby.

* Leonard Rossiter's final role on UK television was as a supermarket manager in the dreadful sitcom ''Tripper's Day''. After his death, he was replaced by [[Bruce Forsyth]] and the show was renamed ''Slinger's Day''. This was even worse than the original but was somehow renewed for a second (six-episode) season and even crossed the Atlantic to become ''Check It Out''.

* Averted in ''[[Twin Peaks]]'', when [[Kyle Mac Lachlan]] talked the producers out of turning teenage sexpot Audrey Horne into the love interest for his character, Agent Dale Cooper. Instead, they introduced [[Heather Graham]] as Annie ... a formerly suicidal former nun. Definitely not a teenage sexpot.

* One episode of ''[[El Chavo Del Ocho]]'' featured Don Ramon's cousin Don Roman. Roman practically did and suffered like his cousin did in a similar episode.

** At the same time, George, the resident werewolf, also left. His role in the house was replaced by another werewolf who had almost nothing in common with George. The reason? Tom, his replacement, had been an on-and-off recurring character since the first series. Zero new characterization was required.

* Put-upon straight man, oftentimes [[Only Sane Employee]], and Leslie's original love interest Mark Brendanawicz leaves [[Parks and Recreation]] at the end of Season 2, the same time put-upon straight man, [[Only Sane Employee]], and Leslie's love interest Ben Wyatt joins the cast.

 

 

== Music ==

** Well, not surprising, considering the album they wrote about Bon Scott's death ''Back In Black'', has been considered one of the greatest albums in rock history.

* Pretty much every [[Death Metal]] band that hasn't had the same singer for their whole career does this. If you listen to every death metal 'singer' in the industry, you probably won't be able to tell ''any'' of them apart, as many use the same so-low-pitched-you-can't-tell-what-they're-saying vocal style. For example, [[Cannibal Corpse]] had two different singers, but nobody could even tell.

** And Arch Enemy managed to change the gender or their lead vocalist without many people knowing. You can tell their later vocalist is female if you listen, though.

* Randy Meisner was the bass-player and high-voiced backing vocalist in the band Poco. He left to join what would become Eagles (filling the same role) and was replaced by Timothy B. Schmitt, whose distinctive features were also the high vocals, long hair and slight ''metrosexual'' vibe. When Randy left Eagles, guess who replaced him? The fact they're both introverted serious family men (as opposed to other band members who were party animals in their time) helps a lot too.

* Averted when [[American Idol]] contestant Chris Daughtry declined band Fuel's offer to replace their lead singer in favor of having his own band, Daughtry. Daughtry has recorded several huge hits since.

** Not that quickly; they spent the next half-decade recording prog albums with the occasional hit single, and didn't transition fully to pop until Phil Collins launched his solo career.

* Arena-rock über-group Journey is enjoying something of a career resurgence, largely in part to having hired Phillipines-born singer [[Ascended Fanboy|Arnel Pineda]] to handle lead vocal duties. And while Pineda looks not-a-lot like their former powerhouse tenor Steve Perry, their similarity in vocal tone is [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EvRZBJIKf4 undeniable].

* Country music group Shenandoah had a hard time holding a lead singer after Marty Raybon left. However, one of the replacements was Jimmy Yeary, who sounded uncannily like Raybon.

 

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

 

 

== Radio ==

* In ''[[The Jack Benny Program]]'', there were several cast changes over the years: Bob Crosby for Phil Harris; Dennis Day for Kenny Baker.

 

 

== Video Games ==

** People originally even suspected they were one and the same character. This was later disproven in canon.

* Colt in ''[[Monster Rancher]] 2'' can be resumed as one 12 year old Holly with a tomboy hairstyle.

** This is mostly justified on the basis that ''Tekken 3'' takes place 19 years after the previous game and that some of the characters were attacked by Ogre.

** Azazel is reminiscent of True Ogre, [[SNK Boss|but much tougher]].

* In ''[[Suikoden II]]'' we have {{spoiler|Boris Wizen}}, who shares the Tengou Star with his father {{spoiler|Ridley Wizen}} and will take his place if he dies in the Dunan Unification War. The player can indirectly decide who (s)he wants to keep: When {{spoiler|Nanami asks you to run away in Tinto}} you can decide whether or not you want to do it. If you do, {{spoiler|Ridley}} will be killed as a result and you will also see a few additional cutscenes, including the introduction of the new {{spoiler|Kobold General}}. The only differences here are the looks and personalities.

** On the other hand, they are radically different in terms of personality: while Gamma was a conflicted and ultimately tragic character, Omega is a borderline mechanical psychopath that wants to obliterate his former master (and everything he built) and then ultimately take over. And [[Rule of Cool|he talks like a]] [[Doctor Who|Dalek]].

** ''[[Sonic Battle]]'' has a different Gamma substitute, "Chaos Gamma" -- a mass-produced model based on Gamma without enough intelligence to rebel against its master.

** The main reason is that Raidou has the Pierce skill, an absolute necessity if you want to face the [[True Final Boss]] (and honestly, at the point you recruit Raidou/Dante, that's the only thing ''left'' for you to do). Dante was cool, but his lack of Pierce, inability to ''get'' Pierce (because you couldn't fuse him with anything) and permanent consumption of one of your party slots reduced him to [[Awesome but Impractical]].

** The Wii installment has a boxer named Disco Kid. This was originally supposed to be a character named Kid Quick from the first arcade game, but as the staff updated his design, he changed so radically that they decided it would be easier to make an entirely different character out of him. His files on the disc are still labeled "kid_quick."

** Piston Honda from the NES version was essentially a substitute for Piston Hurricane from the first arcade game. The SNES game brought back Piston Hurricane (along with other previously arcade-exclusive opponents), only to bring back Piston Honda (under the guise of Piston Hond'''o''') in the Wii installment.

* In ''[[Pikmin]] 2'', when your main [[Sidekick]] Louie goes missing after you complete the game's main mission, he gets replaced with the President of the Hocotate Shipping Company, who remains with you even after you rescue Louie.

* ''[[Elite Beat Agents]]'', a remake of ''[[Osu Tatakae Ouendan]]'' substituted the entire cast, replacing the cheer squads with a MIB organization. However, [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], as some people might tell you that EBA is ''better'' than Ouendan.

** EBA is much more than a substitute. It's a completely different game that uses the same engine. There's a difference.

* In the ''[[Soul Series|Soul Calibur]]'' games, Maxi replaces Li Long (from the prequel, ''Soul Edge'') as the game's [[Epic Flail|nunchaku]] user, after Li's {{spoiler|defeat at the hands of Cervantes}}. Li has only returned as a bonus character in ''Soul Calibur III''.

** Cassandra replaces Sophitia in ''Soul Calibur II'' (though Sophitia can be unlocked in the home versions), and Yunsung/Yun-seong replaces Hwang in spirit and general appearance, although doesn't have exactly the same moves. It's also notable that in this game the unlockable character Assassin DOES have the same moves as Hwang, and his fellow unlockable Berserker has those of Rock, however neither of these characters are canon to the story and so were probably included due to fan service (and their use in Story mode). Kilik replaces Seung Mina officially although both characters are still available, and his moves have become more unique by III.

** It's worth mentioning that when ''Soul Calibur'' was in development, [[Namco Bandai]] wished to completely overhaul the roster and only include a couple of characters from Soul Edge/Blade. Eventually, however, all the characters barring Li Long and Han Myong returned for the home version (Soul Edge was renamed Inferno). Li Long returned later anyway. As a result some of the characters in Soul Calibur start off closer to clone characters than they are original (Kilik, Astaroth, etc) but end up becoming different later on.

* ''VICE: Project Doom'' on the NES. Your character's informant that they talk to at the end of each stage will leave partially through the game. A stand-in will fill in for her. You find out where your original informant went as the game progresses.

** Vice and Mature's original role as Rugal's secretaries was taken over by Aya and Hermoine in ''The King of Fighters '98''.

* The heroes of ''[[Golden Axe]] III'', Kain Grinder and Sarah Barn, look and fight similarly to Ax Battler and Tyris Flare, respectively (though the U.S. version still mistakenly refers to them as Ax and Tyris). Sarah even gets Tyris' repertoire of fire magic. Gilius Thunderhead is the only character from the previous installments to return in that game, though not as a playable character.

** From one game to the next half the cast will be this for the previous game. There's a set of archetypes that are well known in the fandom such as the two (occasionally three) cavaliers and the [[Crutch Character|Jeigan]].

* In the PSP Game ''[[Jeanne D Arc]]'', {{spoiler|Liane is burned at the stake in Jeanne's place, and replaced by Cuisses}}, who is, thankfully, virtually the same. (Because {{spoiler|Liane}} was probably one of your healers)

*** Peach herself was sort of a substitute for Pauline, the damsel in ''[[Donkey Kong]]'', except she's one of the few examples to overshadow her predecessor. When they brought back Pauline in the [[Game Boy]] version, they had to dye her hair color to brown to distinguish her.

*** Pauline's recent revival in ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis'' could possibly count as a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]] of this trope, since she's ironically replaced Peach (replacing your replacement?) as Mario's main woman in the game (even despite having Mini-Peaches and not Mini-Paulines). Not to mention, probably very few younger gamers knew who Pauline was, meaning ''she'' was ''Peach's'' replacement... [[Nostalgia Filter|in their minds.]]

**** Some Japanese fans actually consider the ''DK94'' version of Pauline to be a different character from the Pauline in the original 1981 arcade game, since the original Pauline was actually named "Lady" in Japan.

** Also, Seviper replaces Ekans and Arbok in Hoenn games, due to the latter two not being native to Hoenn.

** All the playable trainers of the main series, are, of one gameplay point of view, near identical between themselves. And more male trainers have the appearance reminiscent of Red, the original Player Character.

* While ''Final Fight 2'', the straight-to-[[SNES]] sequel to ''[[Final Fight]]'', kept Haggar from the original game, it also replaced Guy and Cody with Guy's sister-in-law Maki and South American swordsman Carlos respectively. While their techniques have many aesthetic differences from their predecessors (i.e: Carlos uses his sword for his special attack instead of a spinning jump kick), they're pretty much the same and they even have the same abilities (Maki can do an off-the-wall jump kick, while Carlos can stab enemies with a knife).

* Lampshaded in the intro of ''[[Megarace]] 2''. Lance tells his assistant, "You're fired," then turns to the camera and says, "Just kidding, folks. You'll be seeing Charlene, or somebody surprisingly similar, throughout the show. Believe me, you won't tell the difference. ''I'' won't, and I should know."

* ''[[Contra|Contra: Hard Corps]]'' for the [[Sega Genesis]] substituted the traditional ''Contra'' heroes of Bill Rizer and Lance Bean with four new characters. Among the cast includes Sheena Etranzi (a female commando), Brad Fang (a cyborg werewolf), Browny (a tiny robot), and Ray Poward (a standard male commando). Guess which of these characters is most like Bill Rizer (hint: it's not the woman, the werewolf, nor the robot)...

* In ''[[Samurai Warriors]]'', perky [[Ninja]] girl Kunoichi got replaced by Nene, the wife of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. They meet up briefly in a gaiden battle in [[Warriors Orochi]] 2, and Kunoichi [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] said replacement: "Well, if it isn't my [[Spiritual Successor]]!" (And those are her exact words).

* According to [[Word of God]], Roxas from ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' was made one of these on purpose in ''358/2 days'', due to worries that people might be uncomfortable playing through the whole game with a character who plays too differently from Sora. So his stats, abilities and even magical capabilities were Sora-fied. This, however, is justified, since Roxas and Sora are essentially the same person anyway.

** There's also Maladus, the main villain of ''Spirit Tracks'', who greatly resembles the normal main villain of the series, Ganon.

* Nu-13 was killed off at the end of ''[[Blaz Blue Calamity Trigger]]'' by falling into a dead time-stream. ''[[Blaz Blue Continuum Shift]]'' introduced Lambda-11, who re-uses Nu's sprites and rebalanced versions of Nu's moves. Justified because both characters are mass-produced robot clones.

** ''Continuum Shift'' later reveals that {{spoiler|Lambda-11 actually has Nu's soul.}} Expect this trope to happen again if a sequel to ''Continuum Shift'' is announced, because {{spoiler|Lambda also dies in the end of ''Continuum Shift''.}}

** You'd think a white-haired and feral man-mountain and a gray-haired 15-year old with Freddy Krueger's gloves wouldn't be too similar. You'd be not-right.

* ''[[Legend of Dragoon]]'' replaces {{spoiler|Lavitz with Albert after the former's death}} and also replaces Shana with Miranda later on. Functionally, they're almost identical, having the same additions and spells with a few minor traits. Although to some, Miranda is pretty much a [[Replacement Scrappy]].

** That would be because of the fact that Miranda has nothing really unique about her compared to Shana sans her personality, which is rarely expressed or see after the conclusion of the Mille Saseau arc in the game. Albert, on the other hand, is a significant supporting character with a distinct personality. Not to mention the fact that Lavitz's Additions have of the speed of a [[Mighty Glacier]] while Albert's Additions are more of a [[Lightning Bruiser]] type.

** Pash, it's not just appearance and class. The latter has the same cheerful personality and similar alignment as the former, allowing {{spoiler|Imoen to become a much darker character.}}

** In terms of party utility, {{spoiler|Yoshimo also counts as Imoen's substitute. He is also a thief-type class}}, becomes available shortly before the need for replacement appears and right after he becomes unavailable, the original character returns.

** Yes and no. There are some similarities between the two, most notably the hair color, glasses and occupation. Fighting styles are completely different however, as well as attitudes, and Luccia's [[Herr Doctor|accent.]]

** Continues into the 3rd game for characters who died in ''2''. {{spoiler|Mordin}} is replaced by {{spoiler|another salarian named Padok Wiks (who appears regardless, but quickly vanishes if Mordin is still alive)}}, {{spoiler|Grunt}} is replaced by {{spoiler|a generic krogan soldier}}, {{spoiler|Miranda}} is replaced by {{spoiler|her sister Oriana}}, {{spoiler|Tali}} is replaced by {{spoiler|Admiral Raan}}, and {{spoiler|Legion}} is replaced by...{{spoiler|a backup copy of itself (who doesn't have memory of Shepard)}}. {{spoiler|Garrus, Jacob, Jack, Zaeed, Kasumi, Samara, and Thane}} simply have their parts skipped if they died. Joker will even [[Lampshade Hanging|insist on referring to]] {{spoiler|Padok}} as "Not-{{spoiler|Mordin}}".

** The most extreme ''Mass Effect'' example is the original Citadel Council. If left to die in ''Mass Effect 1'', they are replaced in ''Mass Effect 2'' by a "new" council that uses ''identical'' models. (Although a conversation with Udina in ''Mass Effect 3'' mentions the change of names if they were replaced.) Their personalities are basically identical, with the notable exception that the replacements despise you even more than usual, whereas the originals owe you their lives.

* ''[[Professor Layton]] and the Specter's Flute'' is a [[Prequel]], and therefore set before Layton meets Inspector Chelmey or Don Paolo. So there's an entirely different Scotland Yard inspector and deranged supervillain.

* Rena Hayami, the protagonist of ''R: Racing Evolution'', a simulation spinoff of the ''[[Ridge Racer]]'' series, bears a resemblance to Reiko Nagase from the main series.

* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', when the Zul'Aman instance was retooled from a 10-man Level 70 raid to a 5-man Level 85 Heroic dungeon, the final boss, Zul'Jin, being canonically dead as of Cataclysm, was replaced by Daakara the Invincible. While Zul'jin started as a troll, then turned into a bear, eagle, lynx and dragonhawk in turn each time players took off 20% health, Daakara started as a troll, then switched to either a bear then an eagle, or a lynx then a dragonhawk, with mostly similar mechanics to Zul'jin's versions of the forms.

** In the Blackrock Depths instance, if players completed the quest to rescue Princess Moira from Dagran Thaurissan, she would be replaced by a Priestess of Thaurissan on subsequent encounters, who would also heal Dagran.

* [[Saints Row|When Gat dies]] in the second mission of the third game, Shaundi, previously the [[Fun Personified]] [[One of the Boys]] character from the second game, becomes the boss's borderline psychotic ally while Pierce, formerly the [[Ambiguously Gay]] [[Butt Monkey]], takes on Gat's role as the Boss's right hand man. While Pierce got to keep his personality, Shaundi had little to nothing of her former self left. Does it count as SSS if the replacement was an already existing character?

* In [[Yoshis Island]] DS, about half the bosses and a good few of the levels are nearly the same thing as their equivalents from the first game. The Big Burt Bros are the most obvious, they're literally just two smaller versions of Burt the Bashful, killed the exact same way and found in a level with roughly the same layout. Others include Bungee Piranha (which is very much like Naval Piranha, complete with a castle designed like a sewer system) and Bowser himself, who pretty much acts as a near identical replacement to both Hookbill the Koopa and the giant version of his baby self.

 

 

== Web Animation ==

** There's also "Onion Bubs," and the various other versions used to replace "Original Bubs."

 

== Western Animation ==

* Capt. Murphy on ''[[Sealab 2021]]'', replaced by Capt. Shanks after the death of Murphy's voice actor Harry Goz. [[Lampshade Hanging]] occurs when Shanks (who is actually voiced by Goz's son Michael) tells the crew (and, indirectly, [[No Fourth Wall|the audience]]) that he's a replacement, and if they don't like it, they can "go watch '[[Anime|annie-may]]'."

** This substitute was lampshaded in the episode's working title - "We Got Everybody But Scotty."

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the episode "Godfellas" with Helper, a Bender replacement that makes wacky noises.

** Duke from the Sunbow series was essentially a carbon copy of Hawk from the Marvel comics, who was the originally established blond-haired leader of G.I. Joe. This change was done since at the time the animated series started, Hasbro was phasing out the original 1982 lineup and wanted to [[Merchandise-Driven|promote the newer figures being released in 1983]], from which Duke was part of. Duke's character design even resembled the way Hawk was depicted in Sunbow's original TV ads for the ''G.I. Joe'' toys and comics ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXY8BMXDKSA see here]). When a second Hawk action figure was released in 1986, he was introduced to the animated series during the year's season as Duke's heretofore unseen commanding officer, getting an [[Adaptation Dye Job]] in the process from blond to black hair.

** When Hasbro relaunched the ''G.I. Joe'' toyline in 2001, they wanted to bring back Roadblock into the lineup, but couldn't due to trademark issues with the character's name. So Heavy Duty, an already-existing separate character, was made into a virtual Roadblock clone. The ''Spy Troops'' CG animated series tried to [[Hand Wave|explain away]] their similarities by claiming they were cousins.

* King Larry replacing King Louie in ''[[House of Mouse]]''.

** This trope is parodied in "Donnie Fatso", in which Fat Tony is replaced by his nearly identical cousin Fit Tony, who gains weight and is eventually called Fat Tony.

** In the DVD commentary to "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", some of the writers joke that since they miss Maude Flanders, they should write an episode in which Ned gets remarried to a woman that looks and sounds just like Maude.

** In "A Star Is Burns", C. Montgomery Burns hires [[Steven Spielberg]]'s "non-union Mexican equivalent", Senor Spielbergo, to direct the fictionalized bio-pic ''A Burns for All Seasons''.

** Indeed, he merely walks up to the boys from just off-screen, and announces that he was "hanging out." This despite the fact that in that episode, they've ''traveled to Canada''.

** Unlike most other un-substituted SSS's, [[Breakout Character|Butters]] also managed to maintain an increased presence on the show, becoming somewhat of an [[Mauve Shirt]].

* Whizz The Robot became this in ''[[Noddy In Toyland]]'', where he replaced Mr. Sparks the mechanic. He previously was not this in his introductory series ''[[Say It With Noddy]]''.

* The [[Animated Adaptation]] of ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]'' mirrored its non-animated counterpart in using Coy and Vance instead of Bo and Duke for one season only, though that season was its first.

** This could easily be considered a reverse example, as Chromastone was something of this or an [[Expy]] for Diamondhead in the first place.

*** A recent episode {{spoiler|brought back Chromastone and revealed his connection to the alien race Diamondhead comes from}}.

*** Though the mentality behind making another very fast character (and similar substitutes in general) could be accepted if one were to consider the idea that of the million aliens connected to the Ultimatrix, it's highly likely that several of them naturally have the same powers.

**** This of course circles back to why sets of 10 were created. [[Fridge Brilliance|Variety without redundancy.]]

* In ''Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas'', Max's girlfriend Mona is a semi-Jonas Quinn of Roxanne from ''[[A Goofy Movie]]''; she's actually voiced by the same VA, Kellie Martin. The plot at hand is that he's bringing his girlfriend from college home for Christmas to meet his dad. Roxanne obviously met Goofy before, so they came up with a new, suspiciously similar girlfriend character. (And, to be realistic, how many of you were still with your high school crush/sweetheart in college?)

** Brick is one to DJ, as both are strong, but sensitive guys.

** Dakota is one to Lindsay, as both are rich, spoiled, dumb blondes.