Wasn't abbey the sorta lead then? I might be getting mixed up, sorta drifted out after carter.
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Times a series has successfully passed the torch to a new main character?
- Thread starter KevinCow
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I'd say Doctor Who counts under the pretense that each Doctor is their own separate person. The main character is still the Doctor, but he ultimately become someone else.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
Not a specific series, but when Arnie passed the action hero torch to Rock in Rundown was amazing.
Transistor
Banned
Not a specific series, but when Arnie passed the action hero torch to Rock in Rundown was amazing.
That was a really good scene.
Violence Jack
Member
Maybe Highlander?
And when David Tennant took over on Doctor Who.
And when David Tennant took over on Doctor Who.
plagiarize
Banned
Misfits and Being Human both successfully changed their *entire* casts over time.
Spartacus I think you can count even though it was recast, since the prequel series Gods of the Arena came after season 1 and had a different main character, and is fantastic, and Andy (sadly) never returned to play Spartacus again.
Spartacus I think you can count even though it was recast, since the prequel series Gods of the Arena came after season 1 and had a different main character, and is fantastic, and Andy (sadly) never returned to play Spartacus again.
Actually, if we're talking chat shows - while it's not quite what the OP is asking for, I think it's close enough to be of interest - there's the interesting case of The Jack Docherty Show on Channel 5 here in the UK; Jack was away fairly frequently (often around school holidays), so the show at those points was rebranded as Not The Jack Docherty Show with a number of stand-ins. And one of those stand-ins was Graham Norton. At the 1997 British Comedy Awards, Norton won Top Comedy Newcomer over Docherty, landed his own show on Channel 4, and his career shot through the roof after that - he's now the host of BBC 1's main chat show.
Then they did it again in season 5 with Ivanova to Lochley and it wasn't so good.
A Fish Aficionado
I am going to make it through this year if it kills me
Maybe, but for the most part it was Carter. Abby and Kovacs both had episodes dedicated to the character but it was Carter who was the "lead".
The Abby and her mother episodes were awesome.
Lights and Waves
Member
Reboot.
The show shifted from Bob to older Enzo in season 3:
And it pulled it off without a hitch. It's rare for an animated series to completely shift in tone and replace the main character successfully, but Reboot succeeded.
SO TRUE. It was so much better with older Enzo.
In reading about old comics, I found out the interesting story about The Red Tornado, which started out as Scribbly, a slice-of-life comedy about a young cartoonist - but as superhero comics came to the fore, they changed one of the characters into a comedy superheroine, Ma Hunkel as The Red Tornado - and she has survived as a lasting Golden Age character.
Yes! I preferred DA McCoy to EADA McCoy.
I'm rewatching Power Rangers now.
No, they make it very clear once he returns as the White Power Ranger that he's the new leader. Zordon explicitly states that Tommy is "the new leader"... and then cuts to Jason nodding in approval going "this is great".
... And I think he was a better leader too. This becomes even more evident in Zeo Rangers where Jason returns as the Gold Ranger and is more than impressed and okay with how much Tommy grew as a leader.
Yeah. I'm still shaking my head over the New 52 Reboot stuff. Just... wow. And I miss the ginger hair...
Fight me in real life.
Gonna have to agree with him. Terry is much better but Dickbats is great too.
Succinct Verbosity
Member
Oh wait, now that I think about it - Young justice season 2 was almost entirely a new cast, and I think that worked out well enough.
ClivePwned
Member
Blakes 7: replaced not just the main character but the titular character. Pretty sure there weren't even seven of them anymore.
damn straight. Avon was such a better lead.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Reboot.
The show shifted from Bob to older Enzo in season 3:
And it pulled it off without a hitch. It's rare for an animated series to completely shift in tone and replace the main character successfully, but Reboot succeeded.
My Format?
.....I have no format. I am a RENEGADE, lost on the net.
that switch was amazing
Transistor
Banned
Everyone preferred McCoy. The McCoy/Brisco/Green years were the best.
I would think Doctor Who would actually count for something like this. Unlike Bond regeneration is a core part of the Doctor's character and they will often change his personality quite a bit.
davidwhangchoi
Member
Transformers: Rodimus Prime giving matrix of leadership to Optimus
I can see your argument, but I still think that replacing Jeff with Still Jeff, But He Looks And Acts Different is slightly different from replacing Jeff with Greg, if you know what I mean.
Peter Capaldi may look and act differently from Matt Smith, but he's still the Doctor. What I'm saying is more like if they'd decided to permanently kill off the Doctor we know and replace him with River Song as the new main character.
Blue Beetle did this twice. First from Dan Garret to Ted Kord, then from Ted Kord to Jaime Reyes. The funny part is all three heroes had drastically different power sets and stories, yet Kord and Reyes are both pretty beloved today.
Also, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure does this every new arc in a way; while they have different names, they can all be abbreviated as "JoJo" (or GioGio). While some JoJos are more popular than others, they all have their fans.
Also, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure does this every new arc in a way; while they have different names, they can all be abbreviated as "JoJo" (or GioGio). While some JoJos are more popular than others, they all have their fans.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Though a lot of the movie and third series were well written, it wasn't successful. They switched back to Optimus nine months later.
I think Enzo from Reboot is the best example.
Both the Babylon 5 and the Earth: Final Conflict examples fit, but these switches occurred during the first season / start of second season, when the show is still finding its footing and this kind of major change is more forgiving. The Bob to Enzo switch happened season 3-4, and was accompanied with a major tonal shift to the show.
Both the Babylon 5 and the Earth: Final Conflict examples fit, but these switches occurred during the first season / start of second season, when the show is still finding its footing and this kind of major change is more forgiving. The Bob to Enzo switch happened season 3-4, and was accompanied with a major tonal shift to the show.
Trickster
Member
(Babylon 5 is the real answer)
Litterally started watching DS9 yesterday. When does this change happen?
Season 3 or 4, I think? I believe he goes from hair w/ no beard to hair w/ beard to bald w/ beard. Basically it's a nice slow transformation from mediocre Sisko to The Sisko.
It's like seeing Walter White become Heisenberg over a longer period. Bald dudes with goatees don't fuck around.
Except that comparison's unfair, because Walter White is a glorious fuck-up while Sisko fucks other people up. Best Star Trek captain.
soundscream
Member
Ugh if that was what was supposed to happen he would have stayed and she would have left. Max always is on the move after every movie.
To clarify, I think Terry is a great Batman.
But Dick Grayson had a much bigger, much longer, much more satisfying arc to become Batman.
I always loved the idea of Dick Grayson as "Batman done right" according to Bruce's own testimonials. "Did you raise him so he'd turn out like you?" "So that he WOULDN'T."
The DCAU version, as much as I ADORE the DCAU, botched this HARD. Dick Grayson never had a falling out with Batman in the comics; Bruce was his father, for all intents and purposes, and Dick was every part of it Bruce's son. Bruce saw the tragedy of Dick's childhood and saw the cycle repeating, so he stepped in to guide it and avoid the mistakes he made. Where Bruce rejects his chances of happiness and pushes people away, Dick Grayson succeeds in managing to balance a healthy hero and civilian life, of being a crimefighter but allowing himself friends, family, and loved ones. Where Batman can't "turn it off", Grayson found the balance.
And Dick Grayson grew into his own man, stepping out of the shadow of Robin to become Nightwing and reluctantly becoming Batman when the world needed it... and then stepped out of Bruce's shadow to become his own man, his own Batman. Not Bruce, but himself.
When Bruce was "dead", Dick Grayson had to leverage everything he had to restore order to Gotham. But he wasn't Bruce; he wasn't as keen of a detective, he wasn't as experienced, he didn't have the same brute strength. He was more agile and acrobatic, he enjoyed playing mind-games with his opponents more, and, unlike Bruce, he was charming as hell and had a way with people. He leveraged that. No other hero in the DC comics universe probably has the connections and history he has, the deep and unyielding friendship with so many heroes, because Grayson had been a hero since before he was a teenager. When Gotham needed defending, all he had to do was call in those favors, to ask, and everyone - even some villains - respected him enough to do their part.
And when it came time to reform the Justice League, there he was, asking people to their face to join. And his friends responded. "I'm not joining because Batman is asking me to; I'm joining because YOU asked me to."
His dynamic with Damien Wayne as Robin was untouchable and still one of the greatest runs in comic book history. And I hold "The Black Mirror" up as a comic storyline every bit as good as The Long Halloween or The Dark Knight Returns.
For the first time in comics, Batman was no longer in "god mode". He made mistakes. He bled constantly. He screwed up. He was vulnerable. He was insecure. But the weight of the title didn't defeat him; Grayson owned it and made it his own, and the reason it works better for me than it did Terry was because of the history he had with Bruce and the rest of the clan, even their former adversaries. One of my favorite moments was when Harvey Dent figures out there's a new Batman because Grayson SMILES during the fights and enjoys watching thugs flee at the sight of him, something Bruce had stopped allowing himself to enjoy.
Grayon's run was always going to be temporary... but it was a huge thrill, and it was the culmination of a journey that began all the way back in 1940. To see the plucky kid sidekick of Batman grow into the man under the cowl itself still sends shivers up my spine.
Dick Grayson is easily my favorite Batman.
OT might not be the best place for a game pull, but Zone of the Enders 2 switched out Leo from ZOE1, putting him in the rival/buddy seat instead. Other than that? I guess the Godfather from part 1 to part 2. Although whether you can say Part 1 had a definitive main character is another matter entirely...
Kid Kamikaze10
Member
Blakes 7: replaced not just the main character but the titular character. Pretty sure there weren't even seven of them anymore.
To me, this is the iconic one.
They even went as far as...
Having the replacement main character kill the main/titular character. Essentially by mistake too!
bobbychalkers
Member
I dunno I bailed out on the final season of Being Human because the old cast barring one were gone, plus the plot was getting stupid.
The Doctor is more of a title rather than a name and every Doctor behave differently and win the audience over.
If you take the first Doctor and compare him with the current one they are like two different people.
Heck when they replace Matt for Capaldi a lot of women were upset because they went with an old man.
I think so too. The show went from the standard silly one-off cartoon format where everything ends up the same by the end of each episode, to a more serious tone where there was actual plot and character progression.
I'm still sad that it ended. That was the show I grew up on.
I preferred Mike and I watched Joel during the Comedy Central days. Mike was always better.
Not a specific series, but when Arnie passed the action hero torch to Rock in Rundown was amazing.
Took awhile to get going but no stopping Rock now.
JonnyDBrit
Member
More broadly the franchise as a whole does it, but considering that the 'Zordon' era is much closer to being one continuous story, its easier to argue the case there in particular. Partial transitions of teams that nevertheless didn't quite kill the series (whether in story or in terms of ratings, though it came close), and merits for each can be found. That's kinda astonishing really.
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