History Main / PlanetOfCopyhats

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* {{Parodied}} in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. Drow are supposed to be AlwaysChaoticEvil, but then this character Drizzt Do'Urden came along in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting, who was a WhiteSheep of the species.[[OverusedCopycatCharacter Drizzt got extensively copied]], leading to the paradoxical circumstance in which ''[[FlockOfWolves every Drow]]'' is a WhiteSheep from an AlwaysChaoticEvil species. (However, it turns out that ''this'' particular Drizzt {{Expy}} is indeed evil.)

** Impa was introduced in the [[AllThereInTheManual instruction booklets]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' and ''ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' as Princess Zelda's elderly handmaid who guides Link in rescuing the Princess and saving Hyrule. Her first in-game appearance in ''Ocarina of Time'' makes her a much younger bodyguard for Zelda, but she still has white hair, and she is also portrayed as a member of the Sheikah, a tribe dedicated to protecting the Royal Family of Hyrule. She and the "fellow Sheikah" character Sheik have ninja-like clothes and methods of disappearing. Come ''Breath of the Wild'', and the Sheikah characters inhabiting Kakariko Village ''all'' have MysticalWhiteHair regardless of age, a {{Wutai}} culture with heavy ninja influences, and combat outfits very similar to Sheik's. Their distant ancestors also built all the {{Magitek}} buildings and machines scattered across Hyrule 10,000 years ago in order to help defeat Ganon, taking the whole "protect the Royal Family" thing to CrazyPrepared levels.

** While not the first Bajoran seen on screen, [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Ro Laren]] was the first with any real amount of screen time. In an episode she shows a more religious side (compared to Geordi). Come ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', religion became the Bajorans' hat. A rather mild example, though, but conspicuous because of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s atheist tenor. They also acquired the hat that the Bajorans who weren't saintly calm spiritual leaders were generally short-tempered ex-terrorists. (It didn't help that the main Bajoran character in ''[=DS9=]'' was a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for Ensign Ro when Michelle Forbes wouldn't commit to being a regular character.) Ironically, when Ro Laren became a main character in the ''Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch'' novels they [[DivergentCharacterEvolution distinguished her from Kira]] by saying she ''[[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch wasn't]]'' religious, and thought the {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s in the wormhole were simply that.

** [[BigBad Ganon]] was first established as a thief in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', where the backstory makes out his attainment of the Triforce to be thievery. Come ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', and it turns out the whole Gerudo tribe, which Ganondorf belongs to, wears a Thievery Hat ([[EvenEvilHasStandards though it appears they aren't too fond of how far Ganondorf takes such tendencies]]). This hat is dropped in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', however, where they aren't portrayed as being radically different from Hylians besides the OneGenderRace rule.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'', the four main characters arrive to Africa and meet their own species. Apparently, all hippos are sassy like Gloria, all giraffes are neurotic and hypochondria-prone like Melman, and all zebras are laid-back and wise-cracking like Marty (as well as [[PlanetOfSteves look and sound exactly like him]]). Averted with Alex, who's an odd one out of his species with his flamboyant mannerisms and love of dancing.

* Jabba the Hutt was a crime boss, so the Hutts became an ''entire species'' of crime bosses.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Consistently subverted, which sets the tone for the new EU. Aliens from minor races consistently show up and act nothing like their representatives from the movies. Watto was a Toydarian slaver and ruthless businessman; the Toydarians in the series are a peace-loving kingdom with philanthropy written directly into their constitution. The Twi'Leks are portrayed as a normal people (even though their homeworld is under siege during the series), and not a single dancing girl shows up. No Rodian we see is a bounty hunter, and while they almost support the Separatists, they are simply trying to survive in a galaxy gone mad. The Besalisk, the race of the Diner owner Dexter from Attack of the Clones, is represented in series by Pong Krell, who is a lot more fit, aggressive, and hard tempered than the friendly Dexter. Even the Mandalorians, the most infamous ProudWarriorRace PlanetOfHats from the old EU, get some of this. They are actually pacifists, having kicked out all the war-mongering crazies a few decades before the Clone Wars. The Deathwatch still acts like old Mandalorians, but they're an organization united by the fact that they want to act like old Mandalorians, so they're not a normal example.

* Zig-zagged by the gems in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. We eventually find out gems are made artificially in distinct types ''designed'' to be interchangeable, but are still capable of individuality and the main cast are a bunch of defectors from their Homeworld who are far from typical.

* {{Parodied}} in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. Drow are supposed to be AlwaysChaoticEvil, but then this character Drizzt Do'Urden came along in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting, who was a WhiteSheep of the species. [[OverusedCopycatCharacter Drizzt got extensively copied]], leading to the paradoxical circumstance in which ''every Drow'' is a WhiteSheep from an AlwaysChaoticEvil species. (Though ''this'' particular drow is indeed evil.)

** Impa was introduced in the [[AllThereInTheManual instruction booklets]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' and ''ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' as Princess Zelda's elderly handmaid who guides Link in rescuing the Princess and saving Hyrule. Her first in-game appearance in ''Ocarina of Time'' makes her a much younger bodyguard for Zelda, but she still has white hair, and she is also portrayed as a member of the Sheikah, a tribe dedicated to protecting the Royal Family of Hyrule. She and the "fellow Sheikah" character Sheik have ninja-like clothes and methods of disappearing. Come ''Breath of the Wild'', and the Sheikah characters inhabiting Kakariko Village ''all'' have white hair regardless of age, a {{Wutai}} culture with heavy ninja influences, and combat outfits very similar to Sheik's. Their distant ancestors also built all the {{Magitek}} buildings and machines scattered across Hyrule 10,000 years ago in order to help defeat Ganon, taking the whole "protect the Royal Family" thing to CrazyPrepared levels.

If the original quirky character manages to stand out from the rest of their people at all, it will often be because they've ''toned down'' their culture's hat to bring their behavior more in line with the ensemble, possibly citing that [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch their species doth protest too much]] and thus turning out to be wearing a [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] for a hat. Conversely, the trope may be partly psychologically [[JustifiedTrope justified]] when a FishOutOfWater wears their hat proudly to uphold their cultural identity while living in a different culture.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Consistently subverted, which sets the tone for the new EU. Aliens from minor races consistently show up and act nothing like their representatives from the movies. Watto was a Toydarian slaver and ruthless businessman; the Toydarians in the series are a peace-loving kingdom with philanthropy written directly into their constitution. The Twi'Leks are portrayed as a normal people (even though their homeworld is under siege during the series), and not a single dancing girl shows up. No Rodian we see is a bounty hunter, and while they almost support the Separatists, they are simply trying to survive in a galaxy gone mad. Even the Mandalorians, the most infamous ProudWarriorRace PlanetOfHats from the old EU, get some of this. They are actually pacifists, having kicked out all the war-mongering crazies a few decades before the Clone Wars. The Deathwatch still acts like old Mandalorians, but they're an organization united by the fact that they want to act like old Mandalorians, so they're not a normal example.

* Female Twi'leks are all {{Beautiful Slave Girl}}s because of Oola from ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', and males are all criminals because of Bib Fortuna, Jabba's majordomo. Also created the dichotomy that while Female Twi'leks tend to be more seductive and beautiful, male ones tend to be rather ugly, especially if they are evil. And because Bib Fortuna fell victim to Luke's mind trick (nothing to be ashamed of, because at this point Luke is quite powerful) has many things classify Twi'leks as being WeakWilled, due to Obi-wan's earlier line about it working better on the feeble minded. Jabba calling Fortuna a "weak minded fool" probably didn't help.

* Female Twi'leks are all {{Beautiful Slave Girl}}s because of Oola from ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', and males are all criminals because of Bib Fortuna, Jabba's majordomo. Also created the dichotomy that while Female Twi'leks tend to be more seductive and beautiful, male ones tend to be rather ugly, especially if they are evil. And because Bib Fortuna fell victim to Luke's mind trick (nothing to be ashamed of, because at this point Luke is quite powerful) has many things classify Twi'leks as being WeakWilled, due to Obi-wan's earlier line about it working better on the feeble minded.

* Sullustans becoming a race of navigator copilots after Lando's ''Millennium Falcon'' copilot (also ''ReturnOfTheJedi'').

** [[BigBad Ganon]] was first established as a thief in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', where the backstory makes out his attainment of the Triforce to be thievery. Come ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', and it turns out the whole Gerudo tribe, which Ganondorf belongs to, wears a Thievery Hat ([[EvenEvilHasStandards though it appears they aren't too fond of how far Ganondorf takes such tendencies]]). This hat is dropped in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', however, where they aren't portrayed as being radically different from Hylians besides the OneGenderRace rule.
** Impa was introduced in the [[AllThereInTheManual instruction booklets]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' and ''ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' as Princess Zelda's elderly handmaid who guides Link in rescuing the Princess and saving Hyrule. Her first in-game appearance in ''Ocarina of Time'' makes her a much younger bodyguard for Zelda, but she still has white hair, and she is also portrayed as a member of the Sheikah, a tribe dedicated to protecting the Royal Family of Hyrule. She and the "fellow Sheikah" character Sheik have ninja-like clothes and methods of disappearing. Come ''Breath of the Wild'', and the Sheikah characters inhabiting Kakariko Village ''all'' have white hair regardless of age, a {{Wutai}} culture with heavy ninja influences, and combat outfits very similar to Sheik's. Their distant ancestors also built all the {{Magitek}} building and machines scattered across Hyrule 10,000 years ago in order to help defeat Ganon, taking the whole "protect the Royal Family" thing to CrazyPrepared levels.

* [[BigBad Ganon]] was first established as a thief in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', where the backstory makes out his attainment of the Triforce to be thievery. Come ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', and it turns out the whole Gerudo tribe, which Ganondorf belongs to, wears a Thievery Hat ([[EvenEvilHasStandards though it appears they aren't too fond of how far Ganondorf takes such tendencies]]).

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' had Roodaka, a treacherous and cruel female Vortixx, and possible the only toy whose gender you could guess [[TertiarySexualCharacteristics simply by]] [[NonMammalMammaries her looks]]. When we learn of the Vortixx culture, it turns out that every female of her race is as mean, but not only that, as it's also revealed that the whole species looks ''exactly'' like her... including the males.

** A weird example in the revival series, after a certain point the regeneration effect for the Doctor and ''all'' other Time Lords is modeled consistently after the streaming golden energy effect used by the Ninth Doctor in "The Parting of the Ways", even though that was supposed to show the time vortex radiation leaving his body. The Doctor's regenerations in the classic series had used various effects, with the only other Time Lord seen regenerating (Romana) doing so in a [[CostumeTestMontage totally different way]]. Though it did serve a purpose: sometimes you didn't know a character ''was'' a Time Lord until you saw the regen effect; there being such a thing as What A Regeneration Looks Like that is unmistakable was a very good thing.

** The Sontarans were introduced in "The Time Warrior" with a Hat based on an exaggeration of the the historical setting of the story, which was the Medieval period - a BloodKnight race which focused strongly on BlueAndOrangeMorality and conquest. They quickly derailed into general time-travelling soldiers to use when Daleks wouldn't be appropriate (described by some as "poor man's Daleks"). The revival series attempted to {{Retool}} them to use their cloning as their Hat, but then Strax, a Sontaran written as TheDitz, was introduced. Future appearances of the Sontarans in both the show and the spinoff media inherit a lot of Strax's traits, such as outrageous CardCarryingVillain elements, bumbling mannerisms and inability to understand the concept of gender. (This despite Strax being established as a bit cracked due to CameBackWrong. Compare him in "A Good Man Goes To War" to ''everything else.'') When last seen as the villains of the episode, they were basically Klingons by another name.

[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', the T-800 wields a minigun in one scene because it is most effective in achieving a particular goal (namely, scaring off the police). ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' and ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'', in contrast, show the T-800s using the minigun as their preferred weapon of choice.
* In ''Film/SesameStreetPresentsFollowThatBird'', it turns out that Grouches (like Oscar) are a distinct species of monster that have the same preferences for trash and snarkiness, as seen in the pre-credits "Grouch Anthem" and [[FoodFight the Don't Drop Inn sequence]]. This is reinforced in ''Elmo in Grouchland'', where we also learn that all Grouches have a HiddenHeartOfGold as well.

* ''Film/{{Predator}}'' is about a visiting alien who [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunts people]]. So naturally, [[Franchise/{{Predator}} the series]] is about an alien species that hunts people. There's also a [[Franchise/AlienVsPredator series of crossovers]] that imagines how they would interact with Xenomorphs; apparently, they hunt them too.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}} 2'', the four main characters arrive to Africa and meet their own species. Apparently, all hippos are sassy like Gloria, all giraffes are neurotic and hypochondria-prone like Melman, and all zebras are laid-back and wise-cracking like Marty (as well as [[PlanetOfSteves look and sound exactly like him]]). Averted with Alex, who's an odd one out of his species with his flamboyant mannerisms and love of dancing.
* ''Predator'' is about a visiting alien who [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunts people]]. So naturally, the series is about an alien species that hunts people. There's also a [[Franchise/AlienVsPredator series of crossovers]] that imagines how they would interact with Xenomorphs; apparently, they hunt them too.