History Main / TheNthDoctor

[[quoteright:228:[[Series/DoctorWho http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thenthdoctor2.jpg]]]]

** Further complicated by [[spoiler: the revelation in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of The Doctor"]] that there actually ''is'' a Nth Doctor played by JohnHurt, who did something [[ThisIsUnforgivable so horrific]] that the other incarnations simply ''[[UnPerson refuse]]'' to speak about him or acknowledge him as being "The Doctor" - and he himself doesn't think he's "The Doctor" either.]]

** Further complicated by [[spoiler: the revelation in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of The Doctor"]] that there actually ''is'' a Nth Doctor played by JohnHurt, who did something [[ThisIsUnforgivable so horrific]] that the other incarnations simply ''[[UnPerson refuse]]'' to speak about him or acknowledge him as being "The Doctor".]]
** Again complicated a bit with the reveal that [[spoiler: Paul Mcgann's Doctor regenerated into John Hurt's Doctor, making John Hurt's Doctor (called the War Doctor) the 9th Doctor and the formerly 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors the 10th, 11th, and 12th Doctors.]]

** Again complicated a bit with the reveal that [[spoiler: Paul McGann's Doctor regenerated into John Hurt's Doctor, making John Hurt's Doctor (called the War Doctor) the 9th Doctor and the formerly 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors the 10th, 11th, and 12th Doctors.]]

* ''TheMatrixRevolutions'': Mary Alice replaced Gloria Foster as The Oracle because the character's appearance had changed due to The Merovingian being given her "termination code". In reality, this was an ad hoc handwave made up by the writers because Gloria Foster had died.

** ''DieAnotherDay'' was supposed to make this theory canon, but ExecutiveMeddling stopped that plan.
** As was ''{{Skyfall}}'' until further ExecutiveMeddling nixed that idea (Craig's Bond has Connery Bond's car, all other agents use pseudonyms except 007). [[MindScrew Which raises more questions than it answers, really...]]

* Jobe Smith was played by Jeff Fahey in ''TheLawnmowerMan'' and Matt Frewer in ''Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace''. The clever rationale is that the explosion at the end of the first film badly burned him, and so he looked different after his face was reconstructed using skin grafts.

* Tomie from the live action adaptations of ''JunjiIto'''s comic of the same name is this. Due to cloning and regeneration no two Tomie's look alike.

* HeathLedger's [[AuthorExistenceFailure death]] was dealt with in his unfinished movie ''TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'' this way. JohnnyDepp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell played his character in different dimensions.

* In the English dub of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist: Brotherhood'', when the [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]] Greed was [[spoiler:reabsorbed into Father then brought back into a new body]] he changed voice actor from Christopher Patton to Troy Baker. Said plot element was in the manga long before the story was adapted into animation and dubbed into English (indeed both had the same voice in the Japanese version) but the timing seems to imply this trope. Unfortunately, this results in a DubInducedPlotHole when Bido recognizes the new Greed as the same person by his voice even though it's completely different.

* Tomie from the live action adaptations of Junji Ito's comic of the same name is this. Due to cloning and regeneration no two Tomie's look alike.

* Used in ''StargateAtlantis'' for [[spoiler: Elizabeth Weir. Previously played by Torri Higginson, Weir returned first as a faceless, fuzzy-voiced VirtualGhost, who then built herself a replicator body played by Michelle Morgan, who had in the previous season played F.R.A.N., a replicator [=McKay=] made. This allowed them to explain that to save time, Weir simply used the last template in the replicator machine, rather than try to remake her own appearance from scratch]].
** Interestingly, [[spoiler: Elizabeth Weir was also a TheOtherDarrin, played by Jessica Steen in the ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode ''The Lost City'', before becoming a lead character on ''StargateAtlantis'', played by Torri Higginson]].

* Used for numerous minor characters on ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'', but this is an [[JustifiedTrope acceptable technique]] as the characters themselves are parasitic aliens (Goa'uld or Tok'ra) living in changable human hosts.

* Two cases in ''{{Kamen Rider Den-O}}'': When Hana's actress Yuriko Shiratori [[RealLifeWritesThePlot left the show for unknown reasons]], she was replaced by the much-younger Tamaki Matsumoto, and it was explained that [[TimeyWimeyBall her timeline had been rewritten]] to [[FountainOfYouth make her younger]]. When Ryotaro's actor Takeru Satoh moved on to other roles after the third movie, he was replaced with Takuya Mizoguchi (who previously played [[MyFutureSelfAndMe Ryotaro's younger self]] in the first movie), and the TimeyWimeyBall was again used to explain it. Interestingly, both Matsumoto and Mizoguchi bear a striking resemblance to their predecessors, a fact which becomes more pronounced as they [[SheIsAllGrownUp grow up]].

* In ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', Rita Repulsa was originally portrayed using stock footage of MachikoSoga as Witch Bandra from ''KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'' (with Barbara Goodson dubbing her voice) until the beginning of Season 2 when she was shrunken and [[PutOnABus imprisoned inside a small space dumpster]] by [[TheManBehindTheMan her master]] Lord Zedd. When she returned to full size later during the same season (now played by Carla Perez in all new American-made footage), her servant Finster gave her a magical makeover in order to explain her different appearance.

* In the English dub of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist: Brotherhood'', when the [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]] Greed was [[spoiler:reabsorbed into Father then brought back into a new body]] he changed voice actor from Christopher Patton to Troy Baker. Said plot element was in the manga long before the story was adapted into animation and dubbed into English (indeed both had the same voice in the Japanese version) but the timing seems to imply this trope. Unfortunately, this results in DubInducedPlotHole when Bido recognizes the new Greed as the same person by his voice even though it's completely different.

* Parodied in the 2008 ''Film/GetSmart'' movie. Agent 99 (AnneHathaway) is shown to have undertaken extensive plastic surgery after her cover was blown. She used to look like a 40 year old blond woman. Now, she's a brunette in her mid-twenties.

* Parodied in the animated film ''Disney/{{Bolt}}''. [[spoiler:When Penny decides to quit being an actor, the TV show she works for replaces her and explains her change in appearance as the result of reconstructive plastic surgery.]]

*** ''DieAnotherDay'' was supposed to make this theory canon, but ExecutiveMeddling stopped that plan.
**** As was ''{{Skyfall}}'' until further ExecutiveMeddling nixed that idea (Craig's Bond has Connery Bond's car, all other agents use pseudonyms except 007). [[MindScrew Which raises more questions than it answers, really...]]

**** As was ''{{Skyfall}}'' until further ExecutiveMeddling nixed that idea (Craig's Bond has Connery Bond's car, all other agents use pseudonyms except 007).

*** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' was supposed to make this theory canon, but ExecutiveMeddling stopped that plan.
**** As was ''Film/Skyfall'' until further ExecutiveMeddling nixed that idea (Craig's Bond has Connery Bond's car, all other agents use pseudonyms except 007).

** Further complicated by [[spoiler: the revelation in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor "The Name of the Death"]] that there actually ''is'' a Nth Doctor played by JohnHurt, who did something [[ThisIsUnforgivable so horrific]] that the other incarnations simply ''[[UnPerson refuse]]'' to speak about him or acknowledge him as being "The Doctor".]]

* In the Disney Sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place. Max is struck with a spell that turns him into a little girl and is replaced by said actress for five episodes until they managed to reverse the spell.

* In ''BigBadBeetleborgs'', Jo becomes the victim of a botched magical spell that alters her face from that of Shannon Chandler to that of Brittany Konarzewski. The change is permanent but a new spell makes everyone but the other heroes (and the viewer, of course) see her old face.

** One of the most infamous (and convoluted) versions of this occurred on ''DaysOfOurLives'': When Wayne Northrop - the actor portraying Roman Brady - left the show in 1984, his character was PutOnABus via [=shooting/=][[NeverFoundTheBody body snatching]]. Two years later, the younger, taller Drake Hogestyn took over the role. Playing this trope straight, they [[HandWave explained his physical differences]] by plastic surgery needed to recover from the injuries suffered at the hands of [[BigBadEvilGuy Stefano DiMera]]. Then Northrop returned four years after that... ''as Roman Brady''. He'd been held prisoner by DiMera, while DiMera sent brainwashed mercenary John Black (who, in an extra dash of Soap Operaness, turned out to be Stefano's half-brother) to take over Roman's life and be his spy ([[BecomingTheMask That didn't work so well for Stefano]]). But Northrop only stuck around three more years before leaving again. This time they went straight TheOtherDarrin and brought in Josh Taylor to play Roman (and has since 1997).