History LegacyCharacter / TheDCU

* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow''
** During the 90s, in line with stories like ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' and ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight'', Oliver Queen became increasingly suicidal from the events of the ''Crossroads'' that lead him to murder a criminal as well traumatized from his best friend's fall from grace in ''ComicBook/ZeroHour''. Green Arrow Vol 2 #0 would introduce a plucky blasian 18 year old who way staying at the monastery that Ollie had returned to named '''Connor Hawke''' who was a massive fan of Oliver Queen and knew he was the Green Arrow. The storyline ''Where Angels Fear To Tread'' would reveal that he was Ollie's illegitimate son from a college relationship as well as feature Oliver's death. As a subversion of the Oliver Queen in ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', Ollie decided to sacrifice his life to save a missile from devastating Metropolis instead of becoming an amputee, passing off his mantle to his son. Connor Hawke would have a fairly good solo run of Vol 2's publication, becoming part of the ComicBook/{{JLA}} and becoming friends with the second half of the Hard-Traveling Heroes duo, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. As Oliver was revived in Kevin Smith's ''{{ComicBook/Quiver}}'' storyline, the two decided to both fight under the same title of Green Arrow. Post-Flashpoint however, Connor was retconned out of existence before finally reappearing in ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' as a supporting character of ''ComicBook/Robin2021'', finally reuniting with the rest of the Arrowfam in ''ComicBook/GreenArrow2023''.

** During the 90s, in line with stories like ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' and ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight'', Oliver Queen became increasingly suicidal from the events of the ''Crossroads'' that lead him to murder a criminal as well traumatized from his best friend's fall from grace in ''ComicBook/ZeroHour''. Green Arrow Vol 2 #0 would introduce a plucky blasian 18 year old who way staying at the monastery that Ollie had returned to named '''Connor Hawke''' who was a massive fan of Oliver Queen and knew he was the Green Arrow. The storyline ''Where Angels Fear To Tread'' would reveal that he was Ollie's illegitimate son from a college relationship as well as feature Oliver's death. As a subversion of the Oliver Queen in ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', Ollie decided to sacrifice his life to save a missile from devastating Metropolis instead of becoming an amputee, passing off his mantle to his son. Connor Hawke would have a fairly good solo run of Vol 2's publication, becoming part of the ComicBook/JLA and becoming friends with the second half of the Hard-Traveling Heroes duo, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. As Oliver was revived in Kevin Smith's ''{{ComicBook/Quiver}}'' storyline, the two decided to both fight under the same title of Green Arrow. Post-Flashpoint however, Connor was retconned out of existence before finally reappearing in ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' as a supporting character of ''ComicBook/Robin2021'', finally reuniting with the rest of the Arrowfam in ''ComicBook/GreenArrow2023''.
*** ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' would feature a CompositeCharacter of ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'''s Olivia Queen, Mia Dearden, and Connor Hawke named '''Mia Queen''' who succeeded Oliver as the Green Arrow after his death in Crisis.
*** On ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'''s Earth 16, Oliver Queen was succeeded by Connor Hawke, who in the show is John Diggle's son.

* ''ComicBook/StarmanDCComics'':
** May have been the book responsible for the revival of the Legacy Character concept in MediaNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks. It introduced Jack Knight, the son of the [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Starman and reluctant holder of the mantle, as well as grouping together all the unrelated characters who had used the name "Starman" over the years -- apparently simply due to the coolness of the name -- in a MythArc filled with atmosphere and scintillating characterization. One version even appears to have been inspired by the Ziggy Stardust song of the same name (complete with a LampshadeHanging saying it was the other way around), which the original character preceded by about thirty years.
** After the series ended, Jack Knight handed off his Cosmic Rod to Courtney Whitmore, AKA the second [[ComicBook/StarsAndSTRIPE Star-Spangled Kid]] / Stargirl, who was a product of a different legacy -- her stepfather was Stripesy, the adult sidekick of the Golden Age Star-Spangled Kid. (Though the Star-Spangled Kid ''had'' used a variant of Starman's rod, a Cosmic Belt, during the '80s in ''ComicBook/InfinityInc''. The JSA's legacy connections are complicated.)
** When the JSA was rebooted following ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', a new Starman joined the team. It was eventually revealed to be the [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Legionnaire]] ''Star Boy'' AKA Thom Kallor, who had previously spent time on [[ComicBook/KingdomCome Earth-22]]. While all he shares with the other Starmen is the name and the ability to fly, Thom has the power of density manipulation and schizophrenia... [[spoiler:and his suit is a map of TheMultiverse and can function as a portable Cosmic Treadmill to allow easy multiversal travel]].
* ''ComicBook/GreenArrow''
** During the 90s, in line with stories like ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'', ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' and ''ComicBook/EmeraldTwilight'', Oliver Queen became increasingly suicidal from the events of the ''Crossroads'' that lead him to murder a criminal as well traumatized from his best friend's fall from grace in ''ComicBook/ZeroHour''. Green Arrow Vol 2 #0 would introduce a plucky blasian 18 year old who way staying at the monastery that Ollie had returned to named '''Connor Hawke''' who was a massive fan of Oliver Queen and knew he was the Green Arrow. The storyline ''Where Angels Fear To Tread'' would reveal that he was Ollie's illegitimate son from a college relationship as well as feature Oliver's death. As a subversion of the Oliver Queen in ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', Ollie decided to sacrifice his life to save a missile from devastating Metropolis instead of becoming an amputee, passing off his mantle to his son. Connor Hawke would have a fairly good solo run of Vol 2's publication, becoming part of the ComicBook/JLA and becoming friends with the second half of the Hard-Traveling Heroes duo, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. As Oliver was revived in Kevin Smith's ''{{ComicBook/Quiver}}'' storyline, the two decided to both fight under the same title of Green Arrow. Post-Flashpoint however, Connor was retconned out of existence before finally reappearing in ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' as a supporting character of ''ComicBook/Robin2021'', finally reuniting with the rest of the Arrowfam in ''ComicBook/GreenArrow2023''.
*** ''{{Series/Arrow}}'' would feature a CompositeCharacter of ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'''s Olivia Queen, Mia Dearden, and Connor Hawke named '''Mia Queen''' who succeeded Oliver as the Green Arrow after his death in Crisis.
*** On ''{{Franchise/Arrowverse}}'''s Earth 16, Oliver Queen was succeeded by Connor Hawke, who in the show is John Diggle's son.
** Roy Harper is the original sidekick of Green Arrow under the mantle of Speedy. He retired from the role after falling out of contact with Ollie, becoming Arsenal in the New Titans storyline ''ComicBook/TheDarknening'', and, after finally reconciling with Ollie, became '''Red Arrow''' of the Justice League. The title of Speedy would then be passed onto Mia Dearden, a young HIV-positive teenage girl.
*** Emiko Queen, the {{Expy}} of Thea Queen from {{Series/Arrow}}, succeeds Roy Harper as '''Red Arrow''' in ''ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth''.
*** The ''ComicBook/Earth2'' version of Red Arrow is revealed to be Connor Hawke.
** Bonnie King-Jones is '''Miss Arrowette''', a young adult Olympic athlete who idolizes Green Arrow. As she grows up, she falls in love with a reporter named Bernell Jones and eventually marries him. The payout from his death allows her to raise her daughter as the superhero she always wanted to be, becoming a helicopter parent. ''ComicBook/Impulse'' reveals the second Miss Arrowette, or just '''Arrowette''', Suzanne "Cissie" King-Jones who is Bonnie's daughter. After Max Mercury reports Bonnie to Child Services, she decides to become a better superhero in spite of her mother. She becomes a member of ComicBook/YoungJustice before retiring after an attempted homicide.
** Oliver Queen's rival, the '''Dark Archer''' or Merlyn, is an League of Assassins member by the name of Arthur King who is on the same level of proficiency of archery as Green Arrow. The New 52 would introduce a brand new version of the Dark Archer, this time being the CanonImmigrant '''Tommy Merlyn''' from ''{{Series/Arrow}}'' who is the son of the show's version of Arthur King named "Malcolm Merlyn. ''ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth'' would integrate ''Arrow'' lore back into the comics by featuring the Malcolm Merlyn, the father of Tommy Merlyn and is meant to be the same Dark Archer as the "Arthur King" version of the character, as a secondary antagonist to the run.
** In the Silver Age, Johnathan "Midas" Mallory is the '''Red Dart''', a dart-wielding crook who convinced people he was a hero to help him get away with crimes. ''ComicBook/GreenArrowJeffLemire'' would reveal a female successor as part of the Longbow Hunters.
* Franchise/GreenLantern:
** Alan Scott, the [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Franchise/GreenLantern, [[{{Retcon}} turned out]] to have unconsciously taken the name of the universe-spanning special forces group known as the Green Lantern [[TheChosenMany Corps]]. His powers are even (indirectly) connected to theirs, [[RetCon revealed]] as the excess magic removed from the universe by the Corps' bosses, the Guardians. The [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Green Lantern, who begat the Corps, was the {{revival}} style of legacy, notable for not quite ''being'' a legacy in-character.
*** On ComicBook/Earth2 of the New 52, Alan is the only GL, with no sign of the Corps.
** The Corps also makes legacies the standard practice, as when a Lantern dies his/her ring seeks out a suitable replacement. Two notable legacies within the Corps include the Korugarian Lanterns, where Katma Tui and later Soranik Natu have had to live down the reputation of their predecessor Thaal Sinestro; and the Rrab family, as Arisia Rrab is the fourth member of her family in a row to become a Lantern.
* ComicBook/PhantomLady was originally Sandra Knight in World War II. Then because time passes, she gave the mantle to her niece Dee in the 80s. Because time still passes on, Dee died passing it on to Sandra's grandaughter Stormy Knight in 2006. In 2012, the ComicBook/New52 introduced the latest Phantom Lady, Jennifer Knight.
* ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}:

* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** In "ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman1961", Kara Zor-El takes up the role of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} to fight crime and protect Earth after her cousin ComicBook/{{Superman}} gets murdered by ComicBook/LexLuthor.
--->'''Supergirl:''' You can stop wasting bullets! I have all of Superman's astonishing powers! -- Gangdom may have succeeded in treacherously killing Superman, but I'm going to carry on his great work!
** After the death of the original Supergirl, several characters (Matrix, Andromeda, Linda, Cir-El...) took up the mantle of Supergirl before Kara Zor-El returned to the main universe in "ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004".
** In ''ComicBook/TheFinalDaysOfSuperman'', Superman tells his cousin that he is dying and asks her to carry on in his name. In ''ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth'', she joins the Department of Extra-normal Operations to help her restore her powers and carry on her cousin's work.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** There have been two ComicBook/{{Wonder Girl}}s not counting Diana herself: Donna Troy and Cassandra Sandsmark. The former became Wonder Woman [[ComicBook/WonderWoman2006 briefly following Diana's retirement]] after ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''.
** There have been four ComicBook/{{Cheetah}}s: Priscilla Rich, Deborah "Debbie" Domaine, Sebastian Ballesteros, and Barbara Minerva.
** Doctor Poison is another legacy villain, with the original's granddaughter taking up the code name and amoral scientific practices of her grandmother.
** For a time prior the W name itself was a legacy title. Diana's mother was retconned to have been the first Wonder Woman via time travel after taking up her daughter's mantle in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'', and in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'' Donna became the new Wonder Woman after Diana left the role after she was in a position where she was forced to kill.
* Creator/AlanMoore referenced this in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', creating Legacy Characters in the context of a contained story. The "original" Silk Spectre retired early in this world's history and started training and stage-mothering her daughter to succeed her, while Nite Owl I handed over his mantle to an admirer.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** During ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' arc, there were four vigilantes that took up the mantle, two claiming to be the original revived [[spoiler:with one turning out to be the actual villain]] and [[ComicBook/{{Superboy}} a third]] identifying as a clone of the original. The last, [[ComicBook/{{Steel}} John Henry Irons]], was claimed by a psychic that his body was possessed by Superman's spirit after he lost his own, though Irons himself openly admitted that he wasn't Superman from the start and that he wore the shield and cape in honor of the man who once saved him.
** Following the death of the New 52 Superman in ''ComicBook/TheFinalDaysOfSuperman'', his legacy is taken up by the pre-Flashpoint Superman, the New 52 Supergirl, ComicBook/LexLuthor, [[ComicBook/{{Superwoman}} Lois Lane]] and [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/{{Superwoman}} Lana Lang]]]], and ComicBook/NewSuperMan Kenan Kong, DC deliberately homaging ''The Death of Superman''.
** ''ComicBook/NewSuperMan'' features the Chinese government creating a Justice League of China, with Chinese versions of Justice League members, including Kenan as Super-Man, [[ThemeInitials Baixi Wang as Bat-Man, Deilan Peng as Wonder-Woman]], and Chinese-American Avery Ho as the Flash.
** ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' sees Clark's son, Jonathan Kent, taking on his father's mantle after his father's disappearance.
* 'ComicBook/TheSandman1989'':
** Gaiman's version of the character, instead of being the latest in the line, is presented as the original of which the earlier characters are merely imitations. [[spoiler:Used straight as well: the original Dream dies at the end, passing on his powers to a successor.]]
** In Gaiman's version, the Sandman is Morpheus, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Dream, and a being who is more powerful than most gods. In 1988, as Gaiman's series began, he escaped from a seven-decade-long imprisonment, which not coincidentally put him out of the way during the years in which the earlier Sandman characters had been operating.
** The original Sandman was Wesley Dodds, a 1930s fedora-and-gasmask-wearing hero with a "gas gun" that knocked out criminals, leaving them for the police to pick up the next morning. In Gaiman's {{Revision}}, it was explained that this Sandman was (without being consciously aware of it) symbolically filling a gap left in the world by Morpheus' imprisonment. A later series with him, ''ComicBook/SandmanMysteryTheatre'', [[RetCon revealed]] that he was originally driven by DreamingOfThingsToCome, caused by said imprisonment.
** DC also published, in the 1970s, a superhero called the Sandman who lived in a dream dome and patrolled people's dreams with his wife. In Gaiman's {{Revision}}, the dream world he patrolled was only a small part of the total Dreaming, staked out by a pair of rogue nightmares during Morpheus' imprisonment; the nightmares posed as his comic-relief sidekicks while manipulating this Sandman's actions to their own ends.
*** This version of the Sandman hit the legacy character jackpot. He's Hector Hall, the son of the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl. He joined the legacy team ComicBook/InfinityInc as the Silver Scarab, then became the faux-Sandman after his death. Prior to that he married Lyta Trevor, who was the daughter of the Golden Age Wonder Woman. After Morpheus returned him to the realm of the dead, Hector was reincarnated and took on ''another'' legacy mantle as ComicBook/DoctorFate, until he died yet again, only to be reunited with his and Lyta's son, who was now the new Dream (as well as arguably the old Dream).
** The Sandman's former sidekick, Sandy Hawkins, drew from ''both'' Sandmen when he joined the [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]]; he took on the gas mask and sleep gas of Wesley Dodds, and the prophetic dreams that connected him to Dream. He was also briefly ensnared by the aforementioned rogue nightmares and forced to play out the adventures of the '70s Sandman.
* Being a team that has been active since WWII, it comes as no surprise that the ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' has inspired more than a few heroes to take up their mantles:
** Following the death of the original Dr. Mid-Nite (Charles [=McNider=]) he was followed by two of his students who ended up with similar and similarly compensated sight disabilities; Beth Chapel as Dr. Midnight and Pieter Cross as Dr. Mid-Nite II.
** The first ComicBook/{{Hourman}} was Rex Tyler whose son, Rick, followed in his footsteps after joining ''ComicBook/InfinityInc'' After Rex died during the ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'' [[CrisisCrossover crossover event]] and Rick retired due to health concerns over his extensive use of [[SuperSerum Miraclo]], they were replaced by an android from the future named "Tyler".
** The original ComicBook/MisterTerrific was Terry Sloane, a genius millionaire and Olympic athlete who had decided to become a hero after preventing a woman from committing suicide while he was attempting the same. His successor, Michael Holt, was likewise a genius and an Olympic athlete who was also suicidal after the death of his wife but, inspired by Terry Sloane's story, ended up taking the mantle and becoming a hero.
** When ComicBook/{{Wildcat}} retired for a brief period of time during the 80s, he was replaced by his goddaughter Yolanda Montez. Then, upon discovering a [[LukeYouAreMyFather hitherto-unknown son]] with conveniently catlike powers, Ted decided the son should use the same code name, with a bit of LampshadeHanging regarding all the other legacies out there. Unusually, this led to both the original and the legacy being active on the same team with the same code name.
* Ronnie Raymond, the original ComicBook/{{Firestorm|DCComics}}, was killed off in the controversial ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis2004'' storyline and had his powers passed on to teenager Jason Rusch. Several years later during the events of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', Ronnie was resurrected and merged with Jason. In the wake of the DC relaunch, a new Firestorm series was launched that retconned Ronnie and Jason into being teenage contemporaries who both became Firestorm together after being caught up in the same nuclear accident.
* Firestorm's ArchEnemy Killer Frost is also a legacy. The original Killer Frost was Crystal Frost, who died and was replaced by her protege, Louise Lincoln. A third Killer Frost named Caitlin Snow was introduced in the DC relaunch.
* The first [[ComicBook/TheAtom Atom]] was Al Pratt back during the 1940's, but the title was made most famous by the second bearer, Ray Palmer, in the 1960's. Palmer briefly passed on the identity to teenager Adam Cray during the 1980's, but became the Atom once again after Cray's murder. In 2006, Palmer was succeeded by Ryan Choi, but was again forced out of retirement after Choi was killed just a few years later during the ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' event; the controversy over the racial implications of Choi's death saw the death itself getting fixed in ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'', and in a younger version of Choi becoming the Atom alongside Palmer in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth''. (Adam Cray was also brought back in ''Rebirth'', but not as the Atom.)
* The ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} and Hawkgirl/woman ContinuitySnarl began as a well-intentioned attempt to turn the [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Hawks into in-story as well as revival Legacy Characters of the [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ones. Since the originals were humans with a mystical origin and the second set were alien SpacePolice, and since several contradicting origin stories had been given for both pairs by writers who couldn't be bothered to give a rat's ass about continuity, this eventually snowballed into a tangled mess which resulted in all the various characters with "Hawk" in front of their names being merged into a giant crazy hawk-god thing and PutOnABus for several years.
* The original Amazing-Man was Will Everett, a member of the ComicBook/AllStarSquadron. Decades later, the identity was taken up by his nephew, Will Everett III, who was a member of the [[Franchise/JusticeLeague Justice League and Extreme Justice]]. After his death, the identity was taken over by his cousin, Markus Clay, who was a member of the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. In the wake of the ComicBook/New52 relaunch, a new Amazing-Man named Rocker Bonn has been introduced as a former agent of ComicBook/{{Checkmate}}.
* ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'':
** ComicBook/InfinityInc gives this a passing mention, denigrating then-Titans Zachary Zatara and Little Barda as "blood brats," heroes who never actually earned their powers. The term "legacy powers" is also used, making this trope's title more or less canon, in a slang sort of way.
** The Infinity Inc. seen in 52 also played this trope straight. They had new versions of Nuklon, Skyman, Jade, and Fury, all of which were mantles that belonged to members of the original team.
* ''ComicBook/InferiorFive'': Each of the titular five half-rate superheroes was the son or daughter of one or more competent, and somehow [[CaptainErsatz familiar-looking]] heroes.
* Arn Munro of ''Young All-Stars'' is a weirdly recursive example; he was loosely intended as a replacement for the Golden Age Superman, who was retconned out of existence when Arn was created, but in-story he is the son of Hugo Danner, the protagonist of ''Literature/{{Gladiator}}'', a 1930 novel that was an influence on Superman's creation.
* Creator/GrantMorrison played with this when they created a new version of the Shining Knight. Apparently the ''entire Myth/KingArthur story'' repeats itself every so often. The original Shining Knight, Sir Justin, came from the [[AnachronismStew anachronistic]] 5th century of ''La Morte D'Arthur'', and ended up in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The third Knight, Sir Ystina, is the same character's counterpart from a much earlier Camelot which has more of a "Celtic twilight" feel, who ended up in the 21st century. This is parodied in the ''ComicBook/DemonKnights'' series, when Jason Blood and Xanadu, both refugees from the anachronistic Camelot, are accosted by Ystin, who insists that they're lying about being survivors of Camelot. But because her accusations are in Welsh, none of them understand her. Jason shrugs and advises his companions to smile and nod.
* Several other characters created by Morrison for ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'' qualify as well. As well as the SpinOffspring Gimmix, I, Spider and the Whip III, there were:
** Boy Blue, successor to Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.
** Dyno-Mite Dan, successor to T.N.T and Dan the Dyna-Mite (he bought a knock-off of his predecessors' rings on E-bay).
** The Manhattan Guardian, successor to the ComicBook/{{Guardian}} (the paper he works for bought the rights to the name and image when the secret government project the Guardian worked for went under).
** Bulleteer, successor to Bulletman and Bulletgirl [[spoiler: and descendant of Aurakles, the first superhero.]]
* There have been three ComicBook/{{Blue Beetle}}s. Unlike most other examples, all three are significantly different: Dan Garrett was a world adventurer who could use some of the Blue Beetle scarab's powers. Ted Kord, a wealthy industrialist, was a kind of lighthearted version of Batman, and the scarab never worked for him. Jaime Reyes is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who's fully bonded with the scarab, giving him a [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Power Suit]] which acts as a sort of DoAnythingRobot.

* In a unique villain-to-hero example, Rose Canton, the Golden Age villainess Thorn, was eventually replaced by Rhosyn "Rose" Forrest, a feminist vigilante. Like her predecessor, Rhosyn suffers from a split-personality disorder, but possesses none of the superpowers held by the original. Though not an outright villain like her predecessor, the modern Thorn frequently uses lethal force and has found herself as both an ally and enemy of the ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey.
* The original ComicBook/SwampThing was Alex Olsen, who appeared in one ''ComicBook/HouseOfSecrets'' story, before the more famous Alec Holland incarnation was created. The ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' mythology created by Creator/AlanMoore and his successors would make both incarnations part of a lineage of Erl-Kings that dated to before humanity.
* Unknown to Fastback of ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'', his uncle Merton [=McSnurtle=] is actually the long-retired Golden Age superhero the Terrific Whatzit, who like his nephew also possessed super-speed powers (plus several other abilities Fastback lacked).
* Immortal Man in Darkness of Franchise/TheDCU's ComicBook/GreatTen is not actually immortal; the technology that gives him his powers will eventually kill him, and they simply keep replacing him. The "Immortal" name is a publicity thing. When one dies, there's a whole set of guys waiting in the wings to replace him. "''You'' are immortal now!" And yes, pilots line up for the privilege to fly the Dragonwing even after being informed that it will be the death of them; the latest describes the first time he saw the craft as "love at first sight".
* Also from the Great Ten is the Accomplished Perfect Physician, who is the seventeenth to bear the title and wield the powers of the greatest medical mind on the planet. Played with in that he's not the guy who was supposed to succeed the title; he was a soldier sent to beat back Tibetan dissidents and inadvertently killed the actual successor before being strongarmed into taking his place.
* DC's Spirit of Vengeance, ComicBook/TheSpectre, got retconned into a legacy with the John Ostrander series. The Spectre itself has existed almost since creation began, but has been compelled to take mortal hosts following the Crucifixion.
* ComicBook/BlackCanary is an interesting case, having become her ''own'' legacy character. Originally there was only one Black Canary; however, as she was [[RefugeeFromTime tied to WWII]] it eventually got to the point where she was clearly decades older than she had ever looked (and considerably older than her lover Green Arrow). This was "fixed" with the retcon that she was actually inhabiting the braindead body of her previously unmentioned daughter. [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Crisis]] simplified this creepy idea by simply establishing that there were two Canaries, assigning the [[MediaNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] stories to the mother and the [[MediaNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ones to the daughter.
* ComicBook/VandalSavage from DC Comics eventually figured out this trope and decided to go wipe out a few 'hero lines'. He got a couple but failed some as well. A steel-based villain was sent to kill Commander Steel's family. He was stabbed in the mouth, bleeding ensued and that gave steel powers to the man's grandson. [[NiceJobFixingItVillain Way to go, Savage]].
* [[ComicBook/TheRay The original Ray]], Langford Terrill, had his identity taken up by his son, Ray Terrill, who in turn had the identity briefly taken over by a man named Stan Silver before returning to the mantle once Silver was revealed as a traitor. In the wake of the ComicBook/New52 reboot, a new Ray named Lucien Gates was introduced. He acknowledges that he took his name from an existing hero, and ComicBook/DCRebirth shows that at least one of the other Rays, Ray Terrill, is around in the new continuity.
** Langford himself became a legacy character pre-New 52, taking up the mantle of obscure hero Neon the Unknown to become Neon.
* In ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'', after V dies, Evey figures out that V had been preparing her to become V herself. Which she then does.
* This is the basis of ''[[ComicBook/TheMultiversity The Just #1]]''. Besides already established legacy characters [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Damian Wayne]], [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Chris Kent]], [[ComicBook/KingdomCome Off]][[ComicBook/PlasticMan spring]], ComicBook/{{Steel}} (Natasha Irons), [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica Jakeem Thunder]], [[ComicBook/TheFlash Impulse, Flash]] (Wally West), ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} (Garth), [[ComicBook/WonderWoman Artemis]], [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner]], and [[ComicBook/TeenTitans the]] [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker's]] [[ComicBook/KingdomCome Daughter]], Earth-16 features Alexis Luthor (ComicBook/LexLuthor's daughter), Sister Miracle ([[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers Mister Miracle II]]'s daughter), Megamorpho (ComicBook/{{Metamorpho}}'s daughter), Menta (Mento of the ComicBook/DoomPatrol's daughter), and a new version of [[ComicBook/YoungJustice Arrowette]] who is [[ComicBook/GreenArrow Connor Hawke]]'s daughter.
* ComicBook/DoctorFate is a hard one to keep track of, even without the ContinuitySnarl. The title passed from archaeologist Kent Nelson to mother-and-son duo Linda and Eric Strauss, then to Kent's wife Inza. Following ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'', treasure hunter Jared Stevens took up the mantle as simply "Fate", then was replaced by Hector Hall, who returned to being Doctor Fate. Hall in turn was succeeded by psychoanalyst Kent V. Nelson, the original Kent Nelson's grand-nephew. The legacy effectively got a fresh start after the New 52 reboot, with medical student Khalid Nassour taking up the mantle; his series eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Kent Nelson had been Doctor Fate before him]].
* The original, pre-Crisis ComicBook/{{Superboy}} was Clark Kent himself during his teen years in Smallville. Post-Crisis, it was established that Clark was ''never'' Superboy, and the first Superboy was a clone of Superman named Kon-El, later Conner Kent. Then ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' happened and established that Clark ''had'' briefly been Superboy, making Conner the second.
** Then the ''New 52'' happened, and established that Clark had never been Superboy again, and Conner Kent was again the first Superboy, again a clone. He was replaced by his EvilCounterpart and the source of his DNA, Jon Lane Kent, the future son of Superman and Lois Lane, though the public didn't know Superboy was switched out. Both entered Comic Book Limbo, just in time for the Pre-Flashpoint Superman to return, with Lois and his son, [[Characters/SupermanJonathanSamuelKent Jonathan "Samuel" Kent]]. Jonathan helps his dad for a bit before becoming the second, but really the third, Superboy... before DC fused the Pre-Flashpoint and New 52 Supermen's histories together, and it's unclear if Clark was ever Superboy anymore.

** In ''[[Franchise/TheFlash Flash]]'' Annual #9, Bryan Mallory receives the Holy Shroud, namely Wally West's Flash costume, from the Martian Manhunter and becomes the Flash so that he can defeat his twin brother Tristan.

** In ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' Annual #5, a female Ratbat receives memories of Wonder Woman's adventures on Old Earth from a [[TransferableMemory memory transfer device]]. This experience inspires her to fashion a costume resembling Wonder Woman's and fight the Unremembered who are invading her territory.
** In ''[[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman: Shadow of the Bat]]'' Annual #4, Starman was the hero of Finger City before it fell to the Lizard-Men.
* While the first and second holders of the ComicBook/RedTornado hero name are unrelated ''Kingdom Come'' introduced a Red Tornado III who was the granddaughter of the first. The first Red Tornado also had a pair of sidekicks called the Cyclone Kids who got their own legacy character in their neice and Red Tornado's granddaughter who uses the superhero name Cyclone.
* The ComicBook/{{Shazam}} legacy is quite an odd one. The first champion for the wizard was Teth-Adam, who became Black Adam. Black Adam didn't work out and, centuries later, the wizard chose Billy Batson, who'd become Captain Marvel/Shazam. The wizard would die in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' and Billy would replace the wizard while his adopted brother Freddy Freeman would take over as "Shazam". Then, the New 52 happened, the wizard was revived and this time Billy and his adopted sibling''s'' became his champions.
* Nearly everyone in ''Comicbook/DCOneMillion''. In addition to Justice Legion A being legacy characters for the JLA (plus Starman and Hourman), Justice Legion B are the Comicbook/TeenTitans, Justice Legion L are the Comicbook/LegionOfSuperheroes, Justice Legion T are Comicbook/YoungJustice, and Justice Legion Z are the Legion of Super-Pets. Superman's friends include an Olsen and a Luthor, and the villains imprisoned in Pluto are mostly legacies for Batman's RoguesGallery. There's also an Azrael, a clan of Green Arrows, a Captain Marvel, and so on.
* In ''ComicBook/SupermanSpaceAge'', Hal Jordan is killed fighting Brainiac, leading John Stewart to take over.
* Creator/TangentComics:

* The ComicBook/New52 ''ComicBook/{{Animal Man|2011}}'' series establishes that there were previous champions of the Red dubbed Animal Man prior to Buddy Baker obtaining his powers and donning the mantle.

** May have been the book responsible for the revival of the Legacy Character concept in UsefulNotes/TheModernAgeOfComicBooks. It introduced Jack Knight, the son of the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Starman and reluctant holder of the mantle, as well as grouping together all the unrelated characters who had used the name "Starman" over the years -- apparently simply due to the coolness of the name -- in a MythArc filled with atmosphere and scintillating characterization. One version even appears to have been inspired by the Ziggy Stardust song of the same name (complete with a LampshadeHanging saying it was the other way around), which the original character preceded by about thirty years.

** Alan Scott, the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Franchise/GreenLantern, [[{{Retcon}} turned out]] to have unconsciously taken the name of the universe-spanning special forces group known as the Green Lantern [[TheChosenMany Corps]]. His powers are even (indirectly) connected to theirs, [[RetCon revealed]] as the excess magic removed from the universe by the Corps' bosses, the Guardians. The [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Green Lantern, who begat the Corps, was the {{revival}} style of legacy, notable for not quite ''being'' a legacy in-character.

* The ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} and Hawkgirl/woman ContinuitySnarl began as a well-intentioned attempt to turn the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] Hawks into in-story as well as revival Legacy Characters of the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ones. Since the originals were humans with a mystical origin and the second set were alien SpacePolice, and since several contradicting origin stories had been given for both pairs by writers who couldn't be bothered to give a rat's ass about continuity, this eventually snowballed into a tangled mess which resulted in all the various characters with "Hawk" in front of their names being merged into a giant crazy hawk-god thing and PutOnABus for several years.

* ComicBook/BlackCanary is an interesting case, having become her ''own'' legacy character. Originally there was only one Black Canary; however, as she was [[RefugeeFromTime tied to WWII]] it eventually got to the point where she was clearly decades older than she had ever looked (and considerably older than her lover Green Arrow). This was "fixed" with the retcon that she was actually inhabiting the braindead body of her previously unmentioned daughter. [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths Crisis]] simplified this creepy idea by simply establishing that there were two Canaries, assigning the [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] stories to the mother and the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ones to the daughter.

** Aquaman also had a replacement when he became the Dweller in the Depths. This proved to only be temporary, and the replacement Aquaman underwent ChuckCunninghamSyndrome.

** ''Tangent: Superman's Reign'', the FullyAbsorbedFinale where the remaining Tangent heroes team up with the Justice League to stop the Tangent universe Superman, has Lori Lemaris become the second Tangent Manhunter after the death of her predecessor.

** The original [[Literature/TheInvisibleMan Invisible Man]] gets raped and killed by [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDoctorJekyllAndMrHyde Hyde]] in retaliation to [[PayEvilUntoEvil assaulting]] [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Mina]] in Volume II. ''Black Dossier'' later reveals that in the 1940's, a League formed after the disbanding of the original League had a scientist named Peter Bradey (from the 1958 ''Invisible Man'' ITV series) become a new Invisible Man after recreating the invisibility formula from Griffin's notes. Unfortunately, he wasn't as effective because he had a cough from smoking that frequently gave him away.

* This is the backstory to DC's ''[[ShallowParody Inferior Five]]'': Each of the titular five half-rate superheroes was the son or daughter of one or more competent, and somehow [[CaptainErsatz familiar-looking]] heroes.

* Ronnie Raymond, the original ComicBook/{{Firestorm|DCComics}}, was killed off in the controversial ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' storyline and had his powers passed on to teenager Jason Rusch. Several years later during the events of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', Ronnie was resurrected and merged with Jason. In the wake of the DC relaunch, a new Firestorm series was launched that retconned Ronnie and Jason into being teenage contemporaries who both became Firestorm together after being caught up in the same nuclear accident.

** During the 90s, in line with stories like ''ComicBook/Knightfall'', ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' and ''ComicBook/Emerald Twilight'', Oliver Queen became increasingly suicidal from the events of the ''Crossroads'' that lead him to murder a criminal as well traumatized from his best friend's fall from grace in ''ComicBook/ZeroHour''. Green Arrow Vol 2 #0 would introduce a plucky blasian 18 year old who way staying at the monastery that Ollie had returned to named Connor Hawke who was a massive fan of Oliver Queen and knew he was the Green Arrow. The storyline ''Where Angels Fear To Tread'' would reveal that he was Ollie's illegitimate son from a college relationship as well as feature Oliver's death. As a subversion of the Oliver Queen in ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'', Ollie decided to sacrifice his life to save a missile from devastating Metropolis instead of becoming an amputee, passing off his mantle to his son. Connor Hawke would have a fairly good solo run of Vol 2's publication, becoming part of the ComicBook/JLA and becoming friends with the second half of the Hard-Traveling Heroes duo, Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. As Oliver was revived in Kevin Smith's ''ComicBook/Quiver'' storyline, the two decided to both fight under the same title of Green Arrow. Post-Flashpoint however, Connor was retconned out of existence before finally reappearing in ''ComicBook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' as a supporting character of ''ComicBook/Robin2021'', finally reuniting with the rest of the Arrowfam in ''ComicBook/GreenArrow2023''.
** Roy Harper is the original sidekick of Green Arrow under the mantle of Speedy. He retired from the role after falling out of contact with Ollie, becoming Arsenal in the storyline ''ComicBook/TheDarknening'', and, after finally reconciling with Ollie, became '''Red Arrow''' of the Justice League. The title of Speedy would then be passed onto Mia Dearden, a young HIV-positive teenage girl.
** Oliver Queen's rival, the '''Dark Archer''' or Merlyn, is an League of Assassins member by the name of Arthur King who is on the same level of proficiency of archery as Green Arrow. The New 52 would introduce a brand new version of the Dark Archer, this time being the ''CanonImmigrant'' '''Tommy Merlyn''' from ''Series/Arrow'' who is the son of the show's version of Arthur King named "Malcolm Merlyn. ''ComicBook/GreenArrowRebirth'' would integrate ''Arrow'' lore back into the comics by featuring the Malcolm Merlyn, the father of Tommy Merlyn and is meant to be the same Dark Archer as the "Arthur King" version of the character, as a secondary antagonist to the run.

* A similar problem resulted when Oliver Queen, the ComicBook/GreenArrow, came back from the dead... thereby putting him in conflict with his illegitimate son, Connor Hawke, the ''current'' Green Arrow. The two shared the title for a few years, but then, probably for ease of use, Connor Hawke was shot and declared brain-dead.

* Franchise/TheFlash:
** The original Flash was Jay Garrick, created in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. He fell into obscurity and the SuperSpeed superhero concept was revamped into a new character, Barry Allen, in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks. Jay existed as a comic book character in this version, and Barry took the name from him. Later, Barry met a Jay who existed for real on another Earth in a story that established TheMultiverse of DC. Barry's nephew Wally West also became Barry's similarly powered sidekick Kid Flash. After Barry died in the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' reboot, Wally took up his mantle. The CosmicRetcon event also established Jay was a real person who still had inspired Barry. Wally served as the Flash for many years until the mantle passed to Barry's grandson Bart Allen. Then it passed to Wally again after Bart was killed. Then Barry came back from the dead and he and Wally shared it. Then the universe [[ComicBook/TheNew52 was rebooted again]], and Barry became the only Flash on the mainstream Earth. And with ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', the original Wally has returned from the Speed Force as the Flash, once again sharing the name with Barry. And a while after that, Avery Ho would become China's Flash, although she was initially only tangentially associated with the main Flash family. Jay Garrick would eventually make an appearance as well, having be retconned out of existence.
*** In ''ComicBook/TheNew52FuturesEnd'', the New 52 version of Wally West (later retconned into being the cousin of the original Wally) became the second Flash in that timeline.
** The Kid Flash identity. The original is Wally West, who retired from superheroics after a fashion but briefly returned to it during ''Crisis on Infinite Earths''. That same story saw him take up the Flash identity. Decades down the line, his cousin and Barry Allen's grandson Bart Allen, then going by ComicBook/{{Impulse}}, took up the Kid Flash identity. Then the New 52 happened, and Bart was established as the ''first'' Kid Flash, having never been Impulse. He wasn't well-received and went off into Comic Book Limbo, and by that time, a new version of Wally West was introduced. In ''DC Rebirth'', this Wally West officially became the new Kid Flash...the ''third'' one, because by that point, the ''original'' Wally West returned, and was established as having been the first Kid Flash.
*** In ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'', Iris West II, the daughter of Wally, is the second Kid Flash, having taken up her father's mantle.
** Impulse was the name used by Bart Allen as a way of side-stepping being the new Kid Flash. He eventually ''did'' become Kid Flash, and years later, Wally West's daughter, Iris "Irey" West II gained super speed and picked up the Impulse codename.
** Much of the Wally West's RoguesGallery consisted of successors to the original -- in one case a son, but usually just another criminal who somehow got hold of the original's gear. The second Mirror Master, Evan [=McCulloch=], an assassin who was eventually hired by the FBI and given the first Mirror Master Sam Scudder's technology so he could take out high-value targets while pretending to be a supervillain. He eventually got sick of the work, killed his superiors, and went freelance, eventually winding up in the Rogues and earned their acceptance.
** Similarly, the the second Trickster, Axel Walker, is a teenager who stole the technology of Jesse James, the first Trickster. James had retired by this point, becoming an FBI agent, and was actively planning to shut down the Rogues. He ''despised'' Axel and after some mind control stuff, took back the mantle of the Trickster. However, after the Rogues got Bart Allen killed, James would end up in some trouble and eventually was killed. Axel still used the Trickster identity in this time, and the Rogues let him tag along, and grew to like him.
** This was taken to the point of parody with Chillblaine, an identity taken by a succession of dumb but good-looking crooks with Captain Cold's gear, all "recruited" by Cold's sister, Golden Glider. Eventually she made the mistake of choosing someone who was actually ''dangerous'' and he killed her. Cold came out of retirement to avenge her, and ended up back in the role of the Rogues' leader.
** This was actually inverted in one case, with the Reverse-Flash. The first (second if you count Jay Garrick's own EvilCounterpart, The Rival) Reverse-Flash to be shown in the comics is Eobard Thawne, a time-traveling criminal from the 25th century. However, the next Reverse-Flash to be shown, [[FaceHeelTurn Hunter Zolomon]], was born in the present day and took on the identity of Zoom after being inspired by a discussion he previously had with Wally West about Thawne. When Thawne himself eventually shows up again via his usual TimeTravel antics to team-up with Zolomon, he's quite amused.
--> '''Thawne:''' [[LampshadeHanging I've created a legacy five centuries before I'll even be born]]. It's backwards. It's ''in reverse''.

* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:
** In an imaginary story (''Superman'' vol. 1 #149: "The Death of Superman!"), Kara Zor-El takes up the role of ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} to fight crime and protect Earth after her cousin Franchise/{{Superman}} gets murdered by ComicBook/LexLuthor.

** After the death of the original Supergirl, two characters took up the mantle of Supergirl (Matrix and Linda Danvers) before Kara Zor-El returned to the main universe.
** In ''ComicBook/TheFinalDaysOfSuperman'', Superman tells his cousin that he is dying and asks her to carry on in his name. In ''ComicBook/SupergirlRebirth'', she joins the DEO - Department of Extra-normal Operations - to help her restore her powers and carry on her cousin's work.

* Franchise/{{Superman}}:
** During ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman arc, there were four vigilantes that took up the mantle, two claiming to be the original revived [[spoiler:with one turning out to be the actual villain]] and [[ComicBook/{{Superboy}} a third]] identifying as a clone of the original. The last, [[ComicBook/{{Steel}} John Henry Irons]], was claimed by a psychic that his body was possessed by Superman's spirit after he lost his own, though Irons himself openly admitted that he wasn't Superman from the start and that he wore the shield and cape in honor of the man who once saved him.

** Speaking of [[ComicBook/NewSuperMan Kenan Kong]], his series features the Chinese government creating a Justice League of China, with Chinese versions of Justice League members, including Kenan as Super-Man, [[ThemeInitials Baixi Wang as Bat-Man, Deilan Peng as Wonder-Woman]], and Chinese-American Avery Ho as the Flash.

* Played with in Creator/NeilGaiman's rendition of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', where his version of the character, instead of being the latest in the line, is presented as the original of which the earlier characters are merely imitations. [[spoiler:Used straight as well: the original Dream dies at the end, passing on his powers to a successor.]]

** The original Flash was Jay Garrick, created in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. He fell into obscurity and the SuperSpeed superhero concept was revamped into a new character, Barry Allen, in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks. Jay existed as a comic book character in this version, and Barry took the name from him. Later, Barry met a Jay who existed for real on another Earth in a story that established TheMultiverse of DC. Barry's nephew ComicBook/WallyWest also became Barry's similarly powered sidekick Kid Flash. After Barry died in the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' reboot, Wally took up his mantle. The CosmicRetcon event also established Jay was a real person who still had inspired Barry. Wally served as the Flash for many years until the mantle passed to Barry's grandson Bart Allen. Then it passed to Wally again after Bart was killed. Then Barry came back from the dead and he and Wally shared it. Then the universe [[ComicBook/TheNew52 was rebooted again]], and Barry became the only Flash on the mainstream Earth. And with ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', the original Wally has returned from the Speed Force as the Flash, once again sharing the name with Barry. And a while after that, Avery Ho would become China's Flash, although she was initially only tangentially associated with the main Flash family. Jay Garrick would eventually make an appearance as well, having be retconned out of existence.
*** In ''ComicBook/FuturesEnd'', the New 52 version of Wally West (later retconned into being the cousin of the original Wally) became the second Flash in that timeline.

* Creator/JamesRobinson's ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'':

* Creator/GrantMorrison played with this when he created a new version of the Shining Knight. Apparently the ''entire Myth/KingArthur story'' repeats itself every so often. The original Shining Knight, Sir Justin, came from the [[AnachronismStew anachronistic]] 5th century of ''La Morte D'Arthur'', and ended up in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The third Knight, Sir Ystina, is the same character's counterpart from a much earlier Camelot which has more of a "Celtic twilight" feel, who ended up in the 21st century. This is parodied in the ''ComicBook/DemonKnights'' series, when Jason Blood and Xanadu, both refugees from the anachronistic Camelot, are accosted by Ystin, who insists that they're lying about being survivors of Camelot. But because her accusations are in Welsh, none of them understand her. Jason shrugs and advises his companions to smile and nod.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanSpaceAge'', Hal Jordan is killed fighting Brainiac, leading John Stewart to take over.

* Nearly everyone in ''Comicbook/DCOneMillion''. In addition to Justice Legion A being legacy characters for the JLA (plus Starman and Hourman), Justice Legion B are the Comicbook/TeenTitans, Justice Legion L are the Comicbook/LegionOfSuperheroes, Justice Legion T are Comicbook/YoungJustice, and Justice Legion Z are the Legion of Super-Pets. Superman's friends include an Olsen and a Luthor, and the villains imprisoned in Pluto are mostly legacies for Batman's RoguesGallery. There's also an Azrael, a clan of Green Arrows, a Captain Marvel, and so on.

** The original Flash was Jay Garrick, created in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. He fell into obscurity and the SuperSpeed superhero concept was revamped into a new character, Barry Allen, in UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks. Jay existed as a comic book character in this version, and Barry took the name from him. Later, Barry met a Jay who existed for real on another Earth in a story that established the DC {{Multiverse}}. Barry's nephew ComicBook/WallyWest also became Barry's similarly powered sidekick Kid Flash. After Barry died in the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' reboot, Wally took up his mantle. The CosmicRetcon event also established Jay was a real person who still had inspired Barry. Wally served as the Flash for many years until the mantle passed to Barry's grandson Bart Allen. Then it passed to Wally again after Bart was killed. Then Barry came back from the dead and he and Wally shared it. Then the universe [[ComicBook/TheNew52 was rebooted again]], and Barry became the only Flash on the mainstream Earth. And with ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', the original Wally has returned from the Speed Force as the Flash, once again sharing the name with Barry. And a while after that, Avery Ho would become China's Flash, although she was initially only tangentially associated with the main Flash family. Jay Garrick would eventually make an appearance as well, having be retconned out of existence.

* The ComicBook/{{Shazam}} legacy is quite an odd one. The first champion for the wizard was Teth-Adam, who became Black Adam. Black Adam didn't work out and, centuries later, the wizard chose Billy Batson, who'd become Captain Marvel/Shazam. The wizard would die in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' and Billy would replace the wizard while his adopted brother Freddy Freeman would take over as "Shazam". Then, the New 52 happened, the wizard was revived and this time Billy and his adopted sibling''s'' became his champions.

** Then the ''New 52'' happened, and established that Clark had never been Superboy again, and Conner Kent was again the first Superboy, again a clone. He was replaced by his EvilCounterpart and the source of his DNA, Jon Lane Kent, the future son of Superman and Lois Lane, though the public didn't know Superboy was switched out. Both entered Comic Book Limbo, just in time for the Pre-Flashpoint Superman to return, with Lois and his son, ComicBook/{{Jonathan|SamuelKent}} ''[[ComicBook/JonathanSamuelKent Samuel]]'' [[ComicBook/JonathanSamuelKent Kent]]. Jonathan helps his dad for a bit before becoming the second, but really the third, Superboy... before DC fused the Pre-Flashpoint and New 52 Supermen's histories together, and it's unclear if Clark was ever Superboy anymore.

* Ronnie Raymond, the original ComicBook/{{Firestorm}}, was killed off in the controversial ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' storyline and had his powers passed on to teenager Jason Rusch. Several years later during the events of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', Ronnie was resurrected and merged with Jason. In the wake of the DC relaunch, a new Firestorm series was launched that retconned Ronnie and Jason into being teenage contemporaries who both became Firestorm together after being caught up in the same nuclear accident.

** When the JSA was rebooted following ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', a new Starman joined the team. It was eventually revealed to be the [[ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}} Legionnaire]] ''Star Boy'' AKA Thom Kallor, who had previously spent time on [[ComicBook/KingdomCome Earth-22]]. While all he shares with the other Starmen is the name and the ability to fly, Thom has the power of density manipulation and schizophrenia... [[spoiler:and his suit is a map of TheMultiverse and can function as a portable Cosmic Treadmill to allow easy multiversal travel]].

** The first ComicBook/{{Hourman}} was Rex Tyler whose son, Rick, followed in his footsteps after joining ''ComicBook/InfinityInc'' After Rex died during the ''ComicBook/ZeroHour'' [[CrisisCrossover crossover event]] and Rick retired due to health concerns over his extensive use of [[SuperSerum Miraclo]], they were replaced by an android from the future named "Tyler".

* ComicBook/DoctorFate is a hard one to keep track of, even without the ContinuitySnarl. The title passed from archaeologist Kent Nelson to mother-and-son duo Linda and Eric Strauss, then to Kent's wife Inza. Following ''ComicBook/ZeroHour'', treasure hunter Jared Stevens took up the mantle as simply "Fate", then was replaced by Hector Hall, who returned to being Doctor Fate. Hall in turn was succeeded by psychoanalyst Kent V. Nelson, the original Kent Nelson's grand-nephew. The legacy effectively got a fresh start after the New 52 reboot, with medical student Khalid Nassour taking up the mantle; his series eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Kent Nelson had been Doctor Fate before him]].