History Main / ReplacementScrappy

* Creator/VCAndrews fans don't much like Andrew Neiderman, her ghostwriter after she died. This intensified in recent years, due to the downward quality with each book published.
** For the actual books, Annie Stonewall from ''Literature/TheCasteelSeries'' is this for her mother Heaven in ''Gates of Paradise''. Fans found her to be incredibly whiny and spoiled compared to Heaven, and even fans that liked ''Gates of Paradise'' felt Annie was one of the worst parts about the book.

* The UK's Admiral Insurance has received a lot of criticism for replacing their original mascot the Admiral with a female version. She was intended to be a strong and independent business woman, but ended up coming off as annoyingly obnoxious. Out of all the videos on their Website/YouTube channel, the ones featuring her tend to get the lowest ratings.

* In 1989, Hershey's released its ''Christmas Bells'' commercial where the Hershey's Kisses, arranged in a Christmas tree, rang in bell tones to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". It got an upgrade from stop-motion to CGI in 2012 while keeping the audio the same. Then in 2020, a new commercial was introduced where the Kisses start ringing normally until [[MomentKiller a little girl's hand swoops in and grabs one of them]]. The scene then changes to the girl baking cookies with her father set to an almost painfully "hip" remix of the song, with her putting the Kiss in one of them. Hershey's received immediate backlash, especially from people who noticed that the abducted Kiss was ''the same one that concluded the song''. Within a month, [[AuthorsSavingThrow Hershey's began to air the original commercial again]], though they still aired the new commercial indiscriminately. This didn't stop both commercials from being used in the following years, however.

* In 1989, Hershey's released its ''Christmas Bells'' commercial where the Hershey's Kisses, arranged in a Christmas tree, rang in bell tones to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". It got an upgrade from stop-motion to CGI in 2012 while keeping the audio the same. Then in 2020, a new commercial was introduced where the Kisses start ringing normally until [[MomentKiller a little girl's hand swoops in and grabs one of them]]. The scene then changes to the girl baking cookies with her father set to an almost painfully "hip" remix of the song, with her putting the Kiss in one of them. Hershey's received immediate backlash, especially from people who noticed that the abducted Kiss was ''the same one that concluded the song''. Within a month, [[AuthorsSavingThrow Hershey's began to air the original commercial again]], though they still aired the new commercial indiscriminately. This didn't stop both commercials from airing the following years, however.

* In 1989, Hershey's released its ''Christmas Bells'' commercial where the Hershey's Kisses, arranged in a Christmas tree, rang in bell tones to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". It got an upgrade from stop-motion to CGI in 2012 while keeping the audio the same. Then in 2020, a new commercial was introduced where the Kisses start ringing normally until [[MomentKiller a little girl's hand swoops in and grabs one of them]]. The scene then changes to the girl baking cookies with her father set to an almost painfully "hip" remix of the song, with her putting the Kiss in one of them. Hershey's received immediate backlash, especially from people who noticed that the abducted Kiss was ''the same one that concluded the song''. Within a month, [[AuthorsSavingThrow Hershey's began to air the original commercial again]], though they still aired the new commercial indiscriminately. This didn't stop both commercials from airing during the two following years, however. The remixed 2020 ad was finally retired for the 2023 holiday season.

* In 1989, Hershey's released its ''Christmas Bells'' commercial where the Hershey's Kisses, arranged in a Christmas tree, rang in bell tones to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". It got an upgrade from stop-motion to CGI in 2012 while keeping the audio the same. Then in 2020, a new commercial was introduced where the Kisses start ringing normally until [[MomentKiller a little girl's hand swoops in and grabs one of them]]. The scene then changes to the girl baking cookies with her father set to an almost painfully "hip" remix of the song, with her putting the Kiss in one of them. Hershey's received immediate backlash, especially from people who noticed that the abducted Kiss was ''the same one that concluded the song''. Within a month, [[AuthorsSavingThrow Hershey's began to air the original commercial again]], though they still aired the new commercial indiscriminately. This didn't stop both commercials from airing the following years, however.

** Parodied when Kenny died "permanently" (he came back after one season), the three remaining boys took a previously minor character, Butters, as his replacement. They then proceeded to [[ButtMonkey manipulate and torture him]], [[WoundedGazelleGambit constantly comparing him to their sadly missed Kenny to try to force him to do things their way]]. After a few episodes they "fired" him for not being good enough, and replaced him with ''another'' minor character, Tweek. Interestingly, the boys warm up to him a lot quicker (aside from [[JerkAss Cartman]]), even though he also vanished after a few episodes. Meanwhile Butters, despite being officially "demoted," actually wound up being a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion both in and out universe – even after Kenny's resurrection he continues to be a major character on par with the others, as well as quite the EnsembleDarkHorse, his relationship with the other boys is also developed somewhat (only a season later it is made clear the others at least like him a lot more than Cartman).

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Ironically, despite Brian coming first and Vinny coming in to replace him after his death, ''Brian'' ended up becoming one to Vinny. After Brian was [[BackFromTheDead brought back]], [[TookALevelInJerkass he took a]] ''[[TookALevelInJerkass huge]]'' [[TookALevelInJerkass level in Jerkass]], with episodes like "Herpe, the Love Sore," "Brian's a Bad Father," and "Brian the Closer" being cited as especially low points for him. Vinny meanwhile, in spite of his flaws, was a clear JerkWithAHeartOfGold, to the point of his final episode consisted of him selflessly helping Stewie finding a way to alter the timeline to bring Brian back, even though he knew that this would keep him from ever meeting the Griffins, causing him to be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap for many. Now many fans are wishing that Brian's death had been permanent and Vinny had stayed with the Griffins for more than those four episodes.

* No one was happy when Free Credit Score hired a new band to replace the old one. ''No one.'' Thankfully, the company realized this, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38icBN1f1_g and judging by this commercial]], it looks like the old band is coming back.

* The makers of the German chocolate bar [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinder_Chocolate ''Kinder Schokolade'']] certainly didn't expect ''[[http://www.weg-mit-kevin.de/?site=Startseite that]]'' kind of backlash when in 2005, after decades, they replaced the boy on the packaging.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameII'': [[SissyVillain Sarousch]] is generally considered to be far inferior to the iconic Frollo of [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney the previous film]], being a FlatCharacter with a nonsensical evil plan. He's even considered worse than the above-mentioned Morgana in this regard, and he's often seen as the weakest Creator/{{Disney}} villain of all.

* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries''
** Creator/AndrewGarfield himself seems to be this to Creator/TobeyMaguire, as many Maguire fans see Maguire as their [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy preferred Peter]] and somewhat resent Andrew for not being him. Doubly ironic considering many comic fans have commented on the fact that Garfield's portrayal is much closer to the original Lee-Ditko comics, and was much closer to John Romita Sr. redesign of Peter, which has been his default look for the majority of comics and in the ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' comics, as opposed to Ditko's Spider-Man which is the EarlyInstallmentWeirdness of the franchise. Complaints usually involve Andrew's Peter being far less likable than Tobey's, which is mostly because Garfield portrayed the character as a ClassicalAntiHero whereas Maguire is portrayed with a more traditional heroic personality. Andrew's emotional range as an actor has also been called into question as being too flat and too wooden throughout the movies (though it must be said that similar complaints have been leveled against Maguire's performance). Other comic book fans, however, welcomed the film and reboot. Eventually though, reception toward Garfield’s portrayal softened as the actor was honest about his own misgivings with the films and went on to act in a number of celebrated performances. Consequently, [[spoiler:TASM Peter’s return in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' was widely celebrated, and his redemptive moment to save MJ the way he couldn’t save Gwen was hailed as one of the best parts of the movie.]]
** Richard Parker gets flak from fans for hijacking the plot of [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan the sequel]] and removing much of Uncle Ben's impact on Peter. A lot of critics have noted that the entire subplot involving him and his operation against Oscorp was actually unnecessary for the story of the sequel and the time spent developing it should have been reserved for other characters.

** Speaking of ''The Temple of Doom'', fans would ironically find Mutt Williams from ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' this compared to Short Round. Despite Mutt being Indy’s biological son and Short Round just a [[ParentalSubstitute surrogate]], most fans find the latter’s bond vastly more touching and important (he even gets to wear the hat) with Mutt being seen by fans as a woeful InadequateInheritor to his iconic father, which is also partly due to some infamous scenes in the fourth movie and Creator/ShiaLaBeouf being a controversial actor in RealLife. [[spoiler:''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheDialOfDestiny'' would even go as far as killing his character off-screen]]. The fact that Short Round’s actor Creator/KeHuyQuan got a CareerResurrection with an Oscar only helped this fan sentiment.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse''
** Fans were initially upset at Creator/DonCheadle for [[TheOtherDarrin replacing]] Creator/TerrenceHoward as ComicBook/WarMachine in ''Film/IronMan2''. Comic fans, in particular, preferred Howard since his appearance was TruerToTheText. Fortunately, Cheadle eventually found his footing in the role and [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap became well-liked in his own right]].
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' set up [[Comicbook/Agent13 Sharon Carter]] to be Cap's new love interest, a move that annoyed fans of the enormously popular Peggy Carter, Steve's love interest from [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger the first movie]]. They especially took offense when Steve and Sharon got TheBigDamnKiss in the ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar same movie]]'' as [[spoiler:Peggy's funeral]], something even Creator/HayleyAtwell was not pleased about. This may explain why she got the ChuckCunninghamSyndrome treatment after ''Civil War'' and [[spoiler:Atwell had the last laugh when Steve ends up dancing with and kissing Peggy in an alternate lifetime at the end of ''[[Film/AvengersEndgame Endgame]]''. [[FlipFlopOfGod Or something.]]]]

*** Much like Richard Parker in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'', [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] gets ''a lot'' of flak from many Spider-Man fans for effectively removing Ben Parker's influence and impact on this version of Peter. Even those who don't want another on-screen rehash of Ben's DeathByOriginStory wished that the films at least mention him explicitly.
*** Michelle Jones being set up as Peter Parker's LoveInterest annoyed fans who were holding out for ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson's potential appearance in the MCU down the line. The fact that Michelle goes by MJ, which is Mary Jane's nickname, is a subject of contention among fans, which is further complicated when ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' reveals her last name is actually Watson all along and that she simply goes by Jones due to [[NomDeMom her issues with her father]]. Nonetheless, it's still not hard to find fans wanting a traditional MJ (especially since Creator/KirstenDunst wasn’t particularly accurate personality-wise to the comics either).

*** First is Riri Williams aka Ironheart, who was considered this compared to the late Iron Man. Now in all fairness Tony Stark was always gonna be a ToughActToFollow after an eleven movie saga and incredible CharacterDevelopment, but poor Riri still got harsh flak for stepping into his shoes (even the Iron Man fans that didn’t mind Riri still wished Rhodey would take the mantle instead). This was also conflated by the fact the movie isn’t about her and she has a smaller role in it, so her SuperheroOrigin into becoming Ironheart feels squeezed in and doesn’t have the narrative weight that Tony’s did. This was not helped by the special effects and design of Riri’s PoweredArmour not holding up as well as Tony’s.

* This happens in the ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' Movie when Rocky get injured during martial arts practice and has to be replaced by [[spoiler:his generally more annoying younger brother]]. Behind the scenes this was done to help sell the movie to younger audiences and to fill in the blue ranger role after the actor who portrayed Rocky was hurt in a similar way.

** As a galactic conqueror, Snoke isn't exactly as popular as Emperor Palpatine and fans weren't impressed by how he got [[spoiler: killed in the second installment of the trilogy. It's eventually revealed in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' that Snoke is a literal clone of Palpatine.]]

* ''Film/SupermanIII'': While viewers were looking forward to see how Clark's relationship with ComicBook/LoisLane would develop, actress Creator/MargotKidder argued with the producers over the firing of original director Creator/RichardDonner. As a result she was reduced to a cameo, and her role as Superman's love interest filled by ComicBook/LanaLang. However, [[InvertedTrope some fans wound up prefering Lana to Lois]], due to Lana being in love with Clark where Lois loved Superman.

* The Latin American Exchange suddenly had a lot more fans when Mexican America formed in Wrestling/{{TNA}}.

* {{Franchise/Barbie}} was with Ken for forty-three years before Mattel decided to have them break up so she could date Blaine, an Australian surfer. Sales meant that their relationship was significantly shorter.

* Roy's fate in ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' was sealed from the moment the fandom's infamous Nabu fangirls first discovered his existence, thinking it would ruin any chance of the latter [[HesJustHiding just hiding]]. It also didn't help that he was a ''massive'' FlatCharacter with no personality.

** Gil Gunderson is often seen as one for Lionel Hutz, as he fills the same role of an incompetent authority figure who's usually on the side of the family. After the tragic death of Creator/PhilHartman, Gil tended to assume the role of the family's attorney in any court-related episodes, but with Hutz's [[CloudCuckoolander charming idiocy]] and [[AmoralAttorney slimeball panache]] replaced by a whiny StrawLoser.

* Speaking of ''Omniverse'', the villains of the show suffered this. The first new BigBad was Malware, a scary and amoral mechamorph who was beloved by fans. When he was defeated, he was replaced with characters like the Incurseans, the Rooters, and Maltruant. None of the new villains were able to generate even remotely the level of interest that Malware had, being seen as pale imitations. One of the biggest reasons for the show's SeasonalRot was that Malware's absence left a directionless hole that couldn't be filled. Worse yet, the show was cancelled just as Malware was set to return in a big way.

*** Michelle Jones being set up as Peter Parker's LoveInterest annoyed fans who were holding out for ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson's potential appearance in the MCU down the line. The fact that Michelle goes by MJ, which is Mary Jane's nickname, is a subject of contention among fans. Subverted in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' revealing Michelle was [[CanonCharacterAllAlong Mary Jane all along]] she simply legally changed her name to Michelle Jones due to her issues with her father. Though you still find fans wanting a traditional MJ (especially since Creator/KirstenDunst wasn’t particularly accurate personality-wise to the comics either).
** ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'' unavoidably runs into this with the two [[LegacyCharacter Legacy Characters]].

*** Second and much more depressingly there’s Shuri taking over from T’Challa after Creator/ChadwickBoseman’s tragic passing leading to RealLifeWritesThePlot and Shuri taking the mantle. While it makes most sense for Shuri to take the title and has even canonically done so in the comics, a good deal of fans simply don’t like her in the role, not helped by some behind the scenes controversy from Shuri’s actor Creator/LetitiaWright sharing an anti-vaccination video (which she has since regretted). Even fans who like Shuri in the role despite the painful absence of T’Challa still felt Nakia, M’Baku or Okoye would’ve probably been better taking/sharing the title, one of the film’s writers confirmed both Nakia and M’Baku were seriously considered for taking on the mantle before they settled on Shuri.

* ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'' features multiple of these. Most prominently there’s Maria Bello [[TheOtherDarrin taking over]] from Creator/RachelWeisz as Evey and simply lacking what people adored about Eveline in the first place, particularly the chemistry with Rick. There’s also the grown up Alex taking over from his father as TheHero (the film initially intended to kill off Rick completely) which much like Mutt in ''The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' was a PassingTheTorch pretty much nobody wanted, due to Luke Ford just not having Creator/BrendanFraser’s charisma. To a much lesser extent there’s Emperor Han aka the Dragon Emperor who has some positives (being played by Creator/JetLi) but still considered pretty inferior to Imhotep.

* Deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]] with Wrestling/JasonJordan in regards to Wrestling/TheShield. After Wrestling/DeanAmbrose got put on the shelf for nine months, Jordan's {{kayfabe}} father Wrestling/KurtAngle allowed Jordan to replace Ambrose as Wrestling/SethRollins' tag team partner, allowing them to win the RAW Tag Team Titles. Jordan subsequently tried to take Ambrose's place in the Shield. That's where the invoked part comes into play -- not only did the fans hate Jordan for trying, but so did the Shield themselves. Rollins can barely tolerate Jordan (with it becoming increasingly obvious how much he wants Ambrose in Jordan's place), only does so for the titles, and finds his patience increasingly worn out by Jordan landing them in unnecessary fights. Wrestling/RomanReigns can't even bother with that much, having taken Ambrose's injury really badly and blatantly hating Jordan as a result.

** Most of the Season 3 cast developed strong followings, mostly thanks to getting a lot more CharacterFocus compared to the CastHerd of earlier seasons. However, very few defenders exist for Daniel and Wheelie, who filled the "[[KidAppealCharacter younger robot]] and TagalongKid" slot previously filled by Spike and Bumblebee. Spike and Bumblebee are considered by a lot of fans to be how to do a KidAppealCharacter ''right'', with their understated roles, genuine competence, and charming eagerness. On the other hand, Daniel and Wheelie are considered to be how to do it ''wrong'' - Daniel, for being ''too'' young, constantly crying, and acting like an idiot, Wheelie, for his dorky design, [[RhymesOnADime constantly rhyming,]] and having the [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter tracker/survivalist]] elements of his character constantly downplayed in favor of making him Robot ComicStrip/{{Dennis the Menace|US}}.

** Another example is Master Fu, while he was a massive [[BaseBreakingCharacter]], many agree that Su-Han is a mediocre replacement at best due to his arguably even greater ineptitude regarding the Miracle Box as well as being absent when he is needed most.

** Another example is Master Fu, while he was a massive [[Base-BreakingCharacter]], many agree that Su-Han is a mediocre replacement at best due to his arguably even greater ineptitude regarding the Miracle Box as well as being absent when he is needed most.

** Rey in general for the SequelSeries was intended to replace Luke (the biggest hero in the franchise) which is a tall order for ''anyone'' and predictably did not go over well with a large section of fans when ''Film/TheLastJedi'' killed Luke off and ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' had Rey taking his surname as well. This was further not helped by the ''Series/TheMandalorian'' and ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'' featuring a Luke in his prime being awesome, which only made particular fans bemoan the HijackedDestiny even more. Time will tell whether Rey’s upcoming solo film will rescue her from heavy dislike, like ''Clone Wars (2008)'' did with Ahsoka.

** [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Epcot's]] Imagination pavilion has Nigel Channing, who replaced Dreamfinder as the host of a revamp of its dark ride. Unusually for this trope, he predated the revamp; he was imported from the popular 3-D ''Honey, I Shrunk the Audience'' in an attempt to tie all of the pavilion's attractions together. Then again, the Journey Into Imagination revamps are largely TheyChangedItNowItSucks anyway, thanks in part to penny-pinching on the part of Ride/DisneyThemeParks at the time.

** When ''Franchise/TheHauntedMansion'' at Disneyland replaced their [[IWillWaitForYou Mourning Bride character]] with the more modern [[BlackWidow Constance Hatchway]], with updated effects and a more sinister personality, casual park visitors responded fairly well to her; but [[BrokenBase many]] [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks die-hard]] Mansion fans did not react well to the new character.

Attempting this in-universe can be risky because it can backfire when the audience [[EnsembleDarkhorse actually likes the replacement character]] who [[BreakoutCharacter ends up becoming a fan favorite]]. However, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, this can actually be a technique [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap to make the replacement character]] [[TheWoobie more sympathetic]] or [[TakeThatScrappy can be satisfying when it turns out they ARE a Replacement Scrappy after all]].

* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'': InUniverse example with the Cerulean Gym's history. It was founded and originally led by Misty's grandmother Ondine Waterflower, who was considered one of the best Gym Leaders of her time. Unfortunately, her son barely inherited a portion of her talent, and her eldest granddaughters not even that, so they're viewed in this light and the gym's rep has plummeted as a result. Both the Cerulean Don George and Agent Joy see that Misty has the potential to be a RedeemingReplacement should she take it over one day, however.

* Flash Sentry from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' was TheScrappy in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1 the first movie]] due being a SatelliteLoveInterest to Twilight Sparkle, but he still got one in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree Legend of Everfree]]'' with Timber Spruce, who had the same issues. Whether Timber is better or worse [[BaseBreakingCharacter is debated]], but it didn't help his case that he debuted ''just'' as Flash was starting to get RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea'': While Morgana does have her fans, general consensus is that she's simply a far weaker version of the iconic [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ursula]], not helped by her RememberTheNewGuy status.

* Buzz's new crew in ''Westernanimation/{{Lightyear}}'' was not liked as replacements for the suporting cast of ''Westernanimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand''. And WordOfGod [[https://twitter.com/AngusMacLane/status/1535763232178089986 saying that]] [[Franchise/ToyStory in-universe]] the show is supposed to be an AnimatedAdaptation ironically makes Mira, Booster and XR a retroactive MorePopularReplacement.

* ''Film/TheMummyTombOfTheDragonEmperor'' features multiple of these. Most prominently there’s Maria Bello [[TheOtherDarrin taking over]] from Creator/RachelWeisz as Evey and simply lacking what people adored about Eveline in the first place, particularly the chemistry with Rick. There’s also the grown up Alex taking over from his father as TheHero (the film initially intended to kill off Rick completely) which much like Mutt in ''The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' was a PassingTheTorch pretty much nobody wanted, due to Luke Ford just not having Creator/BrendanFraser’s charisma. To a much lesser extent there’s Emperor Han aka the Dragon Emperor who has some positives (being played by Creator/JetLi) but still considered pretty inferior to Imhotep.

* This happens in the ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' Movie when Rocky get injured during martial arts practice and has to be replaced by [[spoiler:his generally more annoying younger brother]]. Behind the scenes this was done to help sell the movie to younger audiences and to fill in the blue ranger role after the actor who portrayed Rocky was hurt in a similar way.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** In ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' the shiny new Starship ''Excelsior'' threatens to be the Replacement Scrappy for the ''Enterprise''. This was actually going to happen for real in ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', but a backlash from fans caused the powers that be to rethink that plan. Apparently the backlash was so much that it was actually {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the fourth movie, specifically during shuttle ride through Spacedock, where Sulu claims that he's hoping the former ''Enterprise'' crew would received the ''Excelsior'', to which Scotty scoffs at the idea and calls the ship a "bucket of bolts". Then the shuttle turns toward the ''Excelsior's'' direction (with the camera following throughout), making it seem like Sulu's wish was going to come true... only for the ''Enterprise''-A to appear behind the ''Excelsior''. You could almost hear the original theater audience's cheers at that point.
** Between the third and fourth movies, the Creator/{{DC|Comics}} ''Star Trek'' comics did in fact have Kirk and Co. on the ''Excelsior''... except for Spock, who was given command of the science vessel ''Surak. By the time the fourth movie came out, the comics writers had put everything back in place... but this was one reason many fans thought the crew would wind up on ''Excelsior. Nice fake-out be the moviemakers to make us think (for all of 0.43 seconds) that this was happening.
** Ironically enough, the ''Excelsior'' would become one of the most popular starships in the ST fandom, both due to its unique design (at the time) and for being captained by Sulu (replacing the original captain [[JerkAss Styles]]) in ''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country''. One supposes this was partly due to ''not'' becoming the Replacement Scrappy as everyone feared, instead establishing itself as its own "character" from the ''Enterprise''. Almost burning out her engines to get to ''Enterprise'' in time to have her back, in the latter's final mission, against a cutting-edge prototype stealth warship probably didn't hurt either.

* ''Film/BluesBrothers2000'': Mighty Mac is this to Jake. While he's a ''very'' good singer and at times comes close to being a decent replacement, he simply couldn't fill Jake's shoes (and given that Jake was played by the irreplaceable Creator/JohnBelushi, ''any'' replacement character was going to have their work cut out for them).
* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIII'': Walker is considered a major step down from the Shredder.
* ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer'': After spending most of the previous film accompanied by his loyal friend and cunning warrior Subotai, this time Conan has a roguish sidekick Malak. Not only he's much less competent overall in comparison to Subotai, he also seems to recognize things Subotai, not him, was a witness to in the first place, which made him appear even more as a cheap replacement and didn't endear fans to him any further.
* ''{{Film/Mean Girls 2}}'': Many fans of the original ''{{Film/Mean Girls}}'' consider the sequel with different characters unnecessary and inferior to its predecessor. The sequel counterpart of Cady Heron, Jo Mitchell, for example, is very different to Cady. When Cady starts at her new school, she has never been to a real school before, having been homeschooled. She is 16 when she starts high school. As such, she starts off very intelligent and academic, but also naïve. Jo on the other hand, is a {{Tomboy}} who changes schools at least three times a year because of her father's job, and does not get good grades. Regina George, the mean girl and Leader of the Plastics, was ruthless, calculating, manipulative, and prefered starting rumours and talking behind people's backs rather than openly bullying them. While Mandi Weatherly, Regina’s sequel counterpart, is overall just spoiled and cruel, lacking manipulation skills and openly bullying Abby Hanover, Janis Ian’s counterpart. While Janis is a quirky, artsy {{Goth}} with a bitter hatred for Regina, Abby is shy and very wealthy. The only thing they really have in common is they both like Art. Gretchen Wierners and Hope Plotkin are very different as well. Gretchen is rich but insecure, secretly despising Regina but too nervous to disobey Regina or confront her unfaithful boyfriend. Hope on the other hand, is a Hypochondriac, and that’s all we really get to know about her. Karen Smith is very dumb, yet sweet in the movie while her counterpart Chastity is ditzy, yet also arrogant and mean. Cady’s love interest, Aaron Samuels, is a good guy, though a {{Hypocrite}}, and is overall level-headed. Tyler Adams on the other hand is, though a nice guy, rude to his stepsister Mandi, who seems to genuinely care about him. This might be part of Mandi’s mean streak.
* Creator/ValerieLemercier's roles in ''Film/LesVisiteurs'', Frénégonde de Pouille and Béatrice de Montmirail, were among the most lauded things about the film, especially her {{Sour Prude|s}} portrayal of Béatrice, to the point she won a César Award for Best Supporting Role. She refused to come back for the sequel, ''The Corridors of Time'', and was replaced in both roles by Muriel Robin (complete with a FlashbackWithTheOtherDarrin) and it didn't sit well -- she looks nothing like Lemercier, the writing of her Béatrice lacks the wit and nuance of Lemercier or interesting things to do, and she poorly tries to imitate the posh accent Lemercier had.

* The short story ''Johnny Come Lately'' by Marc Singer tells the story from the ''Scrappy's'' point of view; based heavily on the Franchise/GreenLantern furor outlined [[ReplacementScrappy/ComicBooks here]], it tells the story of a young man picked at random as the replacement for a well-admired superhero after his death and the destruction of his league by the sentient hourglass that was his symbol, who finds his every effort, no matter how sincere, sneered at and put down by ingrates [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer for no other reason]] than he's the new guy. The replacement isn't best pleased at his new lot in life.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' regularly had characters (especially Luke) being [[DeusExitMachina written out]] temporarily. So ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' readers hate Dash Rendar for his similarity to Han Solo. (It takes place between ''Empire'' and ''Jedi''.) And ''Literature/FateOfTheJedi'' readers hate Kenth Hamner for trying to replace Luke. Oddly, Ben isn't hated, despite often being considered an {{Expy}} of Anakin Solo. Parodied with [[EldritchAbomination Abeloth]], who tries to impersonate Mara and Callista and gets the Replacement Scrappy treatment [[spoiler:(and a few fatal lightsaber wounds)]] from Luke himself for her efforts.

* ''Toys/HeroFactory'' used to be this for many ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' fans, particularly those who were in it for the story rather than the toys. As for the toys, the "CCBS" building system introduced in ''Hero Factory'', which completely replaced ''BIONICLE'''s older style, is more divisive with a fair share of supporters, despite what many haters say.

* Way before the ''BIONICLE'' - ''Hero Factory'' debacle, LEGO received scorn for replacing their original foray into the world of buildable robotic action figures, ''Toys/{{Slizer}}'', with the much more esoteric ''Toys/RoboRiders'', which were weird-looking alien motorbikes instead of posable action figures. The line wasn't a success, and for its follow-up (''BIONICLE''), they went back to and refined the ''Slizer'' formula instead.

* Fans of ''WesternAnimation/BluesClues'' absolutely hate Joe for the simple fact that he replaced Steve, and for only that reason. It didn't help that the show underwent some major retooling not long after he was cast. Naturally, the actor took the brunt of the backlash despite having nothing to do with, say, live-action puppet sequences.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''
** A case of this happening in-series is when Enzo has to replace Bob as guardian. Despite being just as competent at saving the day, the people think of the most inane reasons to dislike him. Like being green instead of blue.
** Also, in a bizarre case of meta-trope, certain Bootniks hated Matrix for "replacing" Enzo, despite him ''being the [[TimeSkip older version]] of Enzo''. The [[PlotRelevantAgeUp abrupt transformation]] was just too much for some oldschoolers to parse.
** Parodied in the second movie where Bob is believed to be a copy when another Bob, who looks and sounds more like the original shows up. This is particularly highlighted in the opening scene which takes place in front of a live audience. The audience cheers when any other character enters, but when Bob arrives, all we hear are the crickets chirping.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' (similar to Star Wars’s SequelSeries) had its cast be considered this by certain fans compared to their adored predecessors. Korra’s hot headed immaturity and shallow behaviour as the Avatar in Book 1 made her disliked to a section of fans in comparison to Aang, though to the show’s credit this formed part of Korra’s CharacterDevelopment afterwards with her growing as a person and moving out of Aang’s shadow. Similarly Bolin was considered inferior to Sokka and Toph whose shoes he was filling as the comic relief and the group’s Earthbender (though Toph herself would come back) but he managed to become one of the show’s most liked characters over time. Probably the one that plays this straight is Mako, whom despite being a clear substitute for fellow brooding pretty boy Zuko, is nowhere near as liked by the fans.

* Creator/{{Toonami}} gets hit hard with this: the first 3 [=TOMs=] have had changes, but still kept the basic structure (a somewhat humanoid robot with a cool motorcycle helmetish head). More importantly, the TOM models have increased in awesome over the years. [=TOM4=]'s head and torso looks like they were ripped off WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends, and his limbs looked like vacuum cleaner hoses. And they replaced SARA, his AI sidekick, with a couple of 'explorer robots'. Much earlier, TOM himself got hit with this when he introduced himself as "the new [[WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast Moltar]]" though fans quickly warmed up to him.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** Parodied when Kenny died "permanently" (he came back after one season), the three remaining boys took a previously minor character, Butters, as his replacement. They then proceeded to [[ButtMonkey manipulate and torture him]], [[WoundedGazelleGambit constantly comparing him to their sadly missed Kenny to try to force him to do things their way]]. After a few episodes they "fired" him for not being good enough, and replaced him with ''another'' minor character, Tweek. Interestingly, the boys warm up to him a lot quicker (aside from [[JerkAss Cartman]]), even though he also vanished after a few episodes. Meanwhile Butters, despite being officially "demoted," actually wound up being a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion both in and out universe – even after Kenny's resurrection he continues to be a major character on par with the others, as well as quite the EnsembleDarkHorse, his relationship with the other boys is also developed somewhat (only a season later it is made clear the others at least like him a lot more than Cartman).
*** Also parodied much earlier in "Succubus" when Chef quits his job as [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep the school chef]] and is replaced with a skinny white {{Cloudcuckoolander}} named Mr. Derp, who has NoFourthWall and believes that the viewers will love him as much as Chef.
*** Within the fanbase, both Butters and Tweek had actually received backlash from fans that missed Kenny. When Butters had been replaced with Tweek (although it too wouldn't last long), his fans also cried foul and directed their anger at the other character. In the end after all was said and done, Butters' role continued to grow in the series while Tweek's appearances decreased, culminating in him vanishing from the classroom scenes in season 15, though he did begin to regain a role as a supporting character outside the main boys after the show became serialised.
** Detective Yates gets this treatment for replacing the much funnier Officer Barbrady. Being an unmitigated {{Jerkass}} IdiotHoudini who's a RabidCop at best and a KillerCop at worst doesn't help either.
* Subverted in-show in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''. In one episode, Mandy and Grim replace Billy with a new friend named Bobby. The two of them wind up thinking Bobby is ''better'' than Billy ever was, much to Billy's horror. Eventually though, Billy destroyed Bobby with Grim's scythe, and Mandy doesn't even care, showing that even liking someone better than Billy doesn't mean she ''likes'' them.
* Many ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' fans greatly dislike Oogtar the caveboy from the ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' cartoon, who was essentially an obnoxious replacement for a major character from the games (Toad, though granted, he didn't appear in the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' game), despite the fact that no cavepeople, including Oogtar, ever appeared in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' video game. Didn't help that the cartoon already had [[EnsembleDarkhorse Yoshi]] for that kind of role, meaning Oogtar was completely pointless.
* When ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1978'' was in development, a prior contract with Universal was already in place for a potential Human Torch movie, which kept him from being used. So they replaced him with HERBIE, Reed Richards' assistant robot. The irony here is that Johnny Storm was originally a replacement himself. Oddly, fans didn't mind when HERBIE was added to the comics. The Torch ''wasn't'' kept out of those.
%%insufficient context* Dimmy from ''WesternAnimation/TheSnorks'' was written out of the scripts after season two, at the same time that Corky, Big Weed, and Lil Seaweed were introduced.
* During the ninth season of the original ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}'' cartoon, the Shredder and his crew were replaced by invading alien Lord Dregg, who took over as BigBad during the show's last two seasons. While capably voiced by Creator/TonyJay and arguably more menacing and effective than the Shredder, many fans found that he lacked the charm of his predecessors.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' webisodes, Jay Sherman's new make-up lady/girlfriend Jennifer is this, replacing his original make-up woman Doris and his ''actual'' girlfriend Alice Tompkins, both of whom are loved characters from the original TV series. In this case, the substitution itself was mildly justified because neither character's voice actor was available (Doris's had died and Alice's had retired).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** Parodied in the episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet"; when Barney replaces Wiggum in the titular band, Wiggum spitefully organises a gang of fans to picket their next gig shouting "Wiggum forever! Barney never!" at the stage, while Wiggum watches with a smug smile on his face. Then Barney opens his mouth, reveals he can sing ten times better than Wiggum, and the chants immediately switch to "Barney forever! Wiggum never!" Wiggum ends up slinking out of the bar unnoticed. Like most of the episode, this parodies a similar situation Music/TheBeatles faced (specifically, when Music/RingoStarr replaced [[ThePeteBest Pete Best]]).
** Also parodied in the infamous episode "The Principal and the Pauper," in which Principal Skinner is revealed to be an impostor named Armin Tamzarian who assumed Skinner's identity when the latter was assumed dead. The real Skinner (voiced by Creator/MartinSheen) takes Armin's place as principal while Armin leaves town. However, despite the real Skinner being a nice and reasonable fellow, the other Springfield citizens decide to kick him out of town (even his ''mother,'' who preferred the doormat Armin to the independent Seymour) and get a judge to order everyone never speak of this again under penalty of torture because… they prefer the old Skinner. There's a reason most fans (and some writers) follow suit and pretend this episode never happened.
** Parodied in the "Behind The Laughter" episode which explains that, while Bart was serving jail time for assaulting a flight attendant, his role was taken by ComicBook/RichieRich and said episodes proved highly unpopular.
** Happened to Marge's current German voice actress Anke Engelke – she took over after Marge's original voice Elisabeth Volkmann passed away in 2006. This also happened to Christoph Jablonka, the new voice actor for Homer Simpson since Norbert Gastell, who was almost universally beloved by German Simpsons fans, died at the (admittedly quite proud) age of 86.
** This also happens a lot in the Brazilian dub, as [[ExecutiveMeddling the studio constantly replaces the voice actors for any reason]]. The most emblematic case was in 2007, when Homer's voice actor Waldyr Sant'Anna was withdrawn from the series due to a lawsuit he had moved against Fox, due to the unauthorized use of his voice in ''The Simpsons'' DVD box sets. Shortly before [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie the movie]], he was replaced by Carlos Alberto, who inevitably received heavy backlash from the Brazilian fans.
** Gil Gunderson is often seen as one for Lionel Hutz, as he fills the same role of an incompetent authority figure who's usually on the side of the family. After the tragic death of Creator/PhilHartman, Gil tended to assume the role of the family's attorney in any court-related episodes, but with Hutz's [[CloudCuckoolander charming idiocy]] and [[AmoralAttorney slimeball panache]] replaced by a whiny StrawLoser.
* Fans of ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' aren't very fond of Mona from ''WesternAnimation/MickeysTwiceUponAChristmas'', who replaces Roxanne as Max's girlfriend. She's also a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, right down to sharing the same voice actress. Apparently she ''was'' going to be Roxanne at first, but the animators had a hard time rendering her floppy hair in CGI. So they created a new character, rather than [[FridgeLogic just say that Roxanne got a haircut]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' fandom went through this phase with the announcement of the fourth season and the fact that there would be a new cast replacing the old one, and needless to say, it did NOT going well for fans of the original cast.
** When it was announced that Don would be the host for "The Ridonculous Race", many fans that liked Chris [=McLean=] did not take the news very well.

** Despite [[CanonForeigner Sunset Shimmer]] hailing from a [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls separate series]], many criticized [[SixthRanger Starlight Glimmer]] for being an inferior replacement rather than have Sunset appear in the show. Besides Sunset's [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks redemption arc]] being a ToughActToFollow, Starlight was far more EasilyForgiven for far worse with [[CharacterShilling everyone praising her]] despite continued bad habits and her redeeming moments requiring everyone else look bad with her getting [[SpotlightStealingSquad far too much time in the spotlight]] (many fans even disparagingly refer to Season 6 as "The Starlight Glimmer show"). This died down during Season 7 which showed she got a different story direction, distinct personality, own characters dynamics, and ''far'' less time in the spotlight, but if it redeemed her [[BaseBreakingCharacter is contentious]].
** The Cutie Mark Crusader's StoryArc had effectively concluded by Season 7, so in Season 8 they were DemotedToExtra in favor of [[PartyOfRepresentatives the Young Six]] Gallus, Silverstream, Smolder, Yona, Sandbar, and Ocellus. While they had fans and were liked for WorldBuilding their respective species cultures, many found them comparatively {{Flat Character}}s who never got the chance to endear themselves like the Crusaders did.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', Fasttrack is highly disliked among the fanbase, due to his powers and coloration seeming ''very'' similar to that of [=XLR8=], who is a fan favorite and a series mainstay since the original show. There had been other "replacement" Omnitrix forms before, but they always had unique traits that let them develop voices of their own; Fasttrack ''didn't'' have that. WordOfGod's claims that he's faster and stronger have provoked a few [[CreatorsPet favoritism]] accusations. It seems most of the show's staff didn't like him that much either, seeing as he was ''deliberately'' left out of the next series, ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse Omniverse]]'', which had made a point to bring almost every form back.
* Speaking of ''Omniverse'', the villains of the show suffered this. The first new BigBad was Malware, a scary and amoral mechamorph who was beloved by fans. When he was defeated, he was replaced with characters like the Incurseans, the Rooters, and Maltruant. None of the new villains were able to generate even remotely the level of interest that Malware had, being seen as pale imitations. One of the biggest reasons for the show's SeasonalRot was that Malware's absence left a directionless hole that couldn't be filled. Worse yet, the show was cancelled just as Malware was set to return in a big way.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'':
** Rodimus Prime, formerly Hot Rod, who took over as leader after Optimus died in TheMovie. Rodimus was not only not accepted because he wasn't Optimus, but he was partly responsible for the death of his predecessor (his attempt to help Optimus during his climactic battle with Megatron just gave Megatron a chance to fatally wound him). Worse, he was sometimes insecure over his leadership abilities, when he wasn't also being sharply sarcastic. However, Rodimus Prime also has a share of fans who like him ''better'' than Optimus, for the very same qualities he's hated for. To a lesser degree, the rest of the 1986 Transformers cast brought in after the movie suffered from this, as many of the beloved older characters had been killed off [[MerchandiseDriven to sell toys]] or [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome just weren't shown anymore]].
** Most of the Season 3 cast developed strong followings, mostly thanks to getting a lot more CharacterFocus compared to the CastHerd of earlier seasons. However, very few defenders exist for Daniel and Wheelie, who filled the "[[KidAppealCharacter younger robot]] and TagalongKid" slot previously filled by Spike and Bumblebee. Spike and Bumblebee are considered by a lot of fans to be how to do a KidAppealCharacter ''right'', with their understated roles, genuine competence, and charming eagerness. On the other hand, Daniel and Wheelie are considered to be how to do it ''wrong'' - Daniel, for being ''too'' young, constantly crying, and acting like an idiot, Wheelie, for his dorky design, [[RhymesOnADime constantly rhyming,]] and having the [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter tracker/survivalist]] elements of his character constantly downplayed in favor of making him Robot ComicStrip/{{Dennis the Menace|US}}.

* Another voice actor example in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Arnold had four voice actors throughout the series (five if you count the pilot episode), but his final voice actor, Creator/AlexDLinz is near-universally disliked by the fandom for two reasons. One, Linz's voice was higher-pitched than the previous actors making Arnold sound too young (much like Myles Jeffery above). Two, he replaced Spencer Klein, who most fans consider to be ''the'' Arnold despite the fact that Klein was the third person to voice him [[note]]though he lasted the longest, his take on Arnold is how fanfic writers usually portray him and unlike his predecessors [[Creator/LaneToran Toran Caudell]] and Phillip Van Dyke, Klein did not portray any other character after his voice broke.[[/note]] and played Arnold when he was at his most bland (as Arnold became an OutOfFocus, VanillaProtagonist to allow other characters to develop). Linz only voices Arnold in the last three episodes and when the GrandFinale known as ''[[WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie The Jungle Movie]]'' was UnCanceled, they cast Mason Vale Cotton (who sounds closer to the others) as Arnold.
* ''WesternAnimation/LegendsOfChima'' is widely considered this by fans of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'' (''Chima'' began the same year ''Ninjago'' was originally intended to end) and the 2011 version of ''WesternAnimation/{{ThunderCats|2011}}'' (the main character of ''Chima'' is Lion-O in LEGO form, even though the similarities end there). It's gotten to the point where the art director for ''[=ThunderCats=] 2011'' thinks that ''Chima'' is a ''[=ThunderCats=]'' knock-off.
* Roy's fate in ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' was sealed from the moment the fandom's infamous Nabu fangirls first discovered his existence, thinking it would ruin any chance of the latter [[HesJustHiding just hiding]]. It also didn't help that he was a ''massive'' FlatCharacter with no personality.
** The selkies seem are this for the pixies, being essentially rehashes without anything that made the pixies likable. Thankfully they don't return after season 5.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Ironically, despite Brian coming first and Vinny coming in to replace him after his death, ''Brian'' ended up becoming one to Vinny. After Brian was [[BackFromTheDead brought back]], [[TookALevelInJerkass he took a]] ''[[TookALevelInJerkass huge]]'' [[TookALevelInJerkass level in Jerkass]], with episodes like "Herpe, the Love Sore," "Brian's a Bad Father," and "Brian the Closer" being cited as especially low points for him. Vinny meanwhile, in spite of his flaws, was a clear JerkWithAHeartOfGold, to the point of his final episode consisted of him selflessly helping Stewie finding a way to alter the timeline to bring Brian back, even though he knew that this would keep him from ever meeting the Griffins, causing him to be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap for many. Now many fans are wishing that Brian's death had been permanent and Vinny had stayed with the Griffins for more than those four episodes.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'' is seen as this for ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' by many. Even though ''Spectacular'''s [[ScrewedByTheLawyers fate was sealed]], ''Ultimate'' gets a lot of flak for being DenserAndWackier, with the [[SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness drama and dark tone replaced with slapstick]] and [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall jokes]], and not being faithful to any existing version of Franchise/SpiderMan.

* Fans of ''Planet Sketch'' consider Melville from season 2 a poor replacement for June Spume.
* The Stingers are this to The Misfits in ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}''. They're more {{Base Break|ingCharacter}}ers than true Scrappies though. For one Riot is a male lead singer, when previously all the bands were all-female. More important though is Riot [[DieForOurShip likes Jem]]. He's indifferent to Jerrica but loves her alter ego Jem, saying she is the perfect women and he is the perfect man so they are destined for each other. Jem was already in a confusing love triangle involving Rio and herself, never mind Riot and Minx (who wants Rio). There's also the issue that the [[EnsembleDarkhorse beloved]] Misfits were put on the bench for The Stingers. Romance was emphasized heavily in the third season. Some fans think The Stingers are why the show was cancelled but the reality was Hasbro wasn't liking the toy sales.

* Many assumed that the reason Oopsy was introduced in ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsAdventuresInCareALot'' was to replace Good Luck Bear... which he technically didn't. Good Luck Bear was {{demoted to extra}} for reasons unknown, which may be the reason for the common assumption.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': After threatening and iconic villain Slade was seemingly defeated for good at the end of season 2, hammy and incompetent Brother Blood took his place in season 3 as the ArcVillain. Thankfully, Slade was brought back in season 4.
* Many fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'' weren't happy when ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBusRidesAgain'' replaced Valerie Frizzle and Phoebe with Fiona Frizzle and Jyoti, respectively. While the elder Ms. Frizzle at least still appears during the EveryEpisodeEnding (and the original series ended with her retirement anyway), Phoebe wasn't so lucky--she receives a throwaway line about "transferring back to her old school" and is then simply never mentioned again, with Jyoti taking her place in the class.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] with LANOS in ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries''. Partway into the series, the Science Director decides to decommission [[SpaceshipGirl Aya]] (over the objections of her crewmates) and foists a new, non-sapient AI called LANOS on them as a replacement. The Green Lanterns all immediately hate him, dismissing him as an annoying, LiteralMinded [[ArtificialStupidity moron]] with no real value. Getting Aya back quickly becomes their first priority. [[spoiler:And yet, in the end, he ends up being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap, in-universe and out; when [[FaceHeelTurn the Anti-Monitor-corrupted Aya]] is threatening to destroy the heroes, LANOS [[HeroicSacrifice bravely gives his life to save his crew]] and afterwards you can tell [[DeconstructedTrope everyone feels kinda bad for not giving him a chance to prove himself until it was too late]].]]
* ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'''s "Mighty Pups" saga brought along a new villain named Ladybird, whose shtick is that she steals whatever she can get her hands on. Ladybird was already a BaseBreakingCharacter for her annoying voice, but something else fans derided her for was being too similar to Sid Swashbuckle, the villain of the "Sea Patrol" saga and one of the series' [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan favourites]], who had been missing from the series for quite some time when Ladybird made her debut. The producers seemed to have taken the hint, as Ladybird was later retired while Swashbuckle returned to the series.
* An In-Universe example from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', with Darius seeing Hunter as one. When he was younger, Darius was mentored by the [[TheDragon Golden Guard]], a powerful witch with a massive rebellious streak who he clearly became very close to. The Golden Guard disappeared under mysterious circumstances one day, and while Darius was grieving that loss, the title of Golden Guard was given to Belos's nephew Hunter, a loud, moody teenager who would take orders from ''anyone'' if they offered him even the slightest scrap of approval. Darius spent years taking his grief out on Hunter, believing he didn't deserve to have the title that used to belong to his mentor, and wilfully blinding himself to the fact that [[AbusiveParents Hunter was being severely abused by Belos]]. Darius ends up warming up to Hunter after he disobeys a direct order to protect his new friends in "Any Sport in a Storm" -- but by this point the abuse had been going on for ''years''.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' has [[NiceGuy Zoé Lee]] to [[AlphaBitch Chloé Bourgeois]]. While the verdict is out on whether Zoé is a better or worse hero than Chloé, many agree that as a civilian she is [[FlatCharacter lacking in depth]] and seems to only exist to replace Chloé, [[spoiler: which seemingly comes true near the end of Season 5]]. It also doesn't help that the majority of her episodes seem to focus on [[CreatorsPest heavily slandering Chloé]] while Zoé is constantly [[CharacterShilling placed on a pedestal]]. As such she is of little relevance outside of her hero status as well as her relationship with Chloé.
** Another example is Master Fu, while he was a massive [[Base-BreakingCharacter]], many agree that Su-Han is a mediocre replacement at best due to his arguably even greater ineptitude regarding the Miracle Box as well as being absent when he is needed most.

* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'': Several fans of the series have complained about the [[TokenRomance love interests]] in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom The Temple of Doom]]'' and ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'' in comparison to Marion in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', this is given a LampshadeHanging that produces a heartwarming moment.
* ''Film/JamesBond'': Creator/BernardLee and Creator/LoisMaxwell's replacements as M and Miss Moneypenny, Robert Brown and Caroline Bliss, are generally seen as inferior replacements (though no fault of the actors). Brown was seen as too amiable and avuncular for the role and the fact that he was friends with Creator/RogerMoore made them seem more like work friends than superior and subordinate. While he worked better against Creator/TimothyDalton, his antagonistic portrayal in ''Film/LicenceToKill'' didn't help. Bliss' Moneypenny didn't make much of an impression (Dalton's tenure being cut short didn't help) and instead of the flirty banter, we have someone having a schoolgirl crush. Both their replacements, Creator/JudiDench and Creator/SamanthaBond, were much more well-received. It helps that they lasted much longer in the roles.
* ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' introduces ''Spinosaurus'' as a new dinosaur antagonist... and does so by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7tNqjsclhs having it]] {{Curb Stomp|Battle}} the long-established fan favourite, the ''Tyrannosaurus Rex''. Arguably one of the most infamous examples in film - for many years after the release of the film, documentary clips on Website/YouTube featuring ''Spinosaurus'' were full of negative comments left by angry fans of the series. ''Film/JurassicWorld'' contains a big TakeThat to ''Spinosaurus'' by [[spoiler:having Rexie smash through a specimen's skeleton when she gets introduced in the film's climax]].

*** Michelle Jones being set up as Peter Parker's LoveInterest annoyed fans who were holding out for ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson's potential appearance in the MCU down the line. The fact that Michelle goes by MJ, which is Mary Jane's nickname, is a subject of contention among fans.

** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'': Does this again with Kylo Ren, the successor to Darth Vader. There's a section of fans that do like him but many find him not as cool or intimidating or badass. (Even InUniverse, he struggles to live up Vader's legacy and reputation)

* One of the most famous examples is Wrestling/LexLuger's {{face}} run in Wrestling/{{WW|E}}F, where he was essentially Wrestling/HulkHogan's Replacement Scrappy. Despite (or perhaps because of) him playing the AllAmericanFace to an even greater hilt than Hogan himself, the fans still saw him as a cheap imitation and hated him. [[CreatorsPet But the bookers kept trying, and trying, and trying to get him over...]] It didn't help that Luger's "Narcissist" gimmick was rather well-liked and was getting pretty over when it was just inexplicably dumped for the "Made in the USA" gimmick.

* Dimmy from ''WesternAnimation/TheSnorks'' was written out of the scripts after season two, at the same time that Corky, Big Weed, and Lil Seaweed were introduced.

Contrast MorePopularReplacement.

-->-- '''Josef Kobold''' (to Agt. Doggett), ''Series/TheXFiles'', "[[Recap/TheXFilesS09E03Daemonicus Dæmonicus]]"

-->-- '''Josef Kobold''' (to Agt. Doggett), ''Series/TheXFiles'', "Daemonicus"

* When ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' started airing, this was at the exact magnetic center of much of the controversy, better known as [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Trukk_not_munky TRUKK NOT MUNKY.]]
** Rodimus Prime, formerly Hot Rod, who took over as leader after Optimus died in TheMovie. Rodimus was not only not accepted because he wasn't Optimus, but he was partly responsible for the death of his predecessor (his attempt to help Optimus during his climactic battle with Megatron just gave Megatron a chance to fatally wound him). Worse, he was sometimes insecure over his leadership abilities, when he wasn't also being sharply sarcastic. However, Rodimus Prime also has a share of fans who like him ''better'' than Optimus, for the very same qualities he's hated for. To a lesser degree, the rest of the 1986 Transformers cast brought in after the movie suffered from this, as many of the beloved older characters had been killed off [[MerchandiseDriven to sell toys]] or just weren't shown anymore.

** ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' developed Optimus Primal into a religious leader, while Cheetor stepped up into his place as a SupportingLeader. The new writers introduced Nightscream to fill in Cheetor's old role as the kid. Unfortunately, Cheetor was ''designed'' to grow from a naive and hot-headed newbie to a capable fighter and leader, while Nightscream was just a moody teen. It also doesn't help that Nightscream was outright unlikable at times, like when he mocked the other Maximals for losing the Beast Wars to the point [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Rattrap]] warned him to shut his mouth, because he lost friends in that war.

* When ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1978'' was in development, a prior contract with Universal was already in place for a potential Human Torch movie, which kept him from being used. So they replaced him with HERBIE (above pic), Reed Richards' assistant robot. The irony here is that Johnny Storm was originally a replacement himself. Oddly, fans didn't mind when HERBIE was added to the comics. The Torch ''wasn't'' kept out of those.

** Buddy was a character created in 1933 by then director Earl Duvall to replace the studio's previous star, Bosko, after Creator/HarmanAndIsing left the studio and took the character with them. Both the audiences ''and'' [[CreatorBacklash the creators]] absolutely hated Buddy: Creator/BobClampett described him in an interview as "Bosko in whiteface", and the character had no comedic potential whatsoever. The first short staring him, ''Buddy's Day Out'', was so painfully boring that it actually needed reshoots to add gags, something absolutely unheard of back in the day, and even then the completed product was ''a slog''. Needless to say, a replacement was necessary fast, and WesternAnimation/PorkyPig managed to save face for the struggling studio during the mid 1930s.

** The highly unpopular "One-Step Changers" and other simplified ''Transformers'' merch aimed strictly at very young kids have replaced much of the "regular" toy lines in Europe in the early 2010s. Many large retailer chains carry them in mass quantities, with the more detailed and highly regarded ''Generations'' toys, which for years have been unavailable, still being rare and hard to find. The alleged reason for this distribution method is that there aren't as many older fans living in the affected territories as in the States or Japan, and low-quality, simplified toys based on current cartoons or movies are easier to sell to kids.

* An In-Universe example from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', with Darius seeing Hunter as one. When he was younger, Darius was mentored by the [[TheDragon Golden Guard]], a powerful witch with a massive rebellious streak who he clearly became very close to. The Golden Guard disappeared under mysterious circumstances one day, and while Darius was grieving that loss, the title of Golden Guard was given to Belos's nephew Hunter, a loud, moody teenager who would take orders from ''anyone'' if they offered him even the slightest scrap of approval. Darius spent years taking his grief out on Hunter, believing he didn't deserve to have the title that used to belong to his mentor, and wilfully blinding himself to the fact that Hunter was being severely abused by Belos. Darius ends up warming up to Hunter after he disobeys a direct order to protect his new friends in "Any Sport in a Storm" -- but by this point the abuse had been going on for ''years''.