Composite Character / Live-Action TV

Composite Character in Live-Action TV.

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The following have their own pages:

• Arrowverse
• Game of Thrones
• Marvel Cinematic Universe
• Power Rangers

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• Bellamy from The 100 has mostly the same backstory as in the books, but (at least early on) he also takes on the antagonistic, leader-of-the-camp role that Graham filled in the novels.
• Alex Rider (2020): Dr. Greif takes some elements from Herod Sayle, the Big Bad of first book in the Alex Rider novels due to the series not adapting that book: he is the one Ian Ryder is investigating that results in Ian getting killed by Yassen Gregorovitch and Alex being forcibly drafted to take his uncle's place. Also like Sayle, Greif is killed by Gregorovitch to tie up loose ends for the organization the latter works for, SCORPIA, after Greif's plan had failed.
• Beetleborgs: The Beetleborgs, by virtue of their armored forms, are composites of the main heroes of Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto.
• The Huntress featured in Birds of Prey is the original Helena Wayne (renamed Helena Kyle) version of the character, but is also a member of the titular team like the later Helena Bertinelli Huntress.
• In the first episode of Black Mirror, Prime Minister Michael Callow takes a fair amount of qualities and mannerisms from both real PM David Cameron and his Deputy PM Nick Clegg.
• The Boys (2019):
  • Black Noir is a composite of his comic counterpart and the comic's version of The Deep. Like the comic Black Noir he was created to be The Seven's Internal Affairs and a check on Homelander. However, like the comic version of The Deep he is one of the least violent and kindest members of The Seven, and is a black man whose race is hidden from the general public. Meanwhile the comic version of Black Noir was a deranged Serial Killer and clone of Homelander who committed many of the crimes Homelander was blamed for.
  • Similarly Homelander in the series is a composite of his comics counterpart and Comics!Black Noir, as he actually does do all the terrible things that Black Noir famed him for in the comics.
• Charmed (2018): Macy Vaughn has similarities to Prue and her replacement Paige from the 1998 series.
  • Like Prue, Macy is the eldest, most rational sister with the power of telekinesis who is killed off at the end of the third season.
  • Like Paige, Macy is a witch hybrid who was given up as a baby before reuniting with her sisters as an adult.
• Chernobyl: Ulana Khomyuk, played by Emily Watson, is a composite of the hundreds of scientists who independently learned about the disaster at the plant and pitched in their knowledge to help contain it. The Real-Person Epilogue at the end of the final episode includes a slide dedicated to the scientists in question.
• In the Cheyenne episode "Argonauts", Cheyenne becomes a composite character of two characters from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Howard, the experienced prospector who serves as a mediator between the two novice prospectors, and Cody, the man who follows them.
• Daisy Jones & The Six: The novel's Chuck Williams (the group's original rhythm guitarist who dies in Vietnam) and Pete Loving (the bassist who stays out of the documentary) are combined here into Chuck Loving, who quits the band early to go to college.
• In the Death Note live-action drama:
  • Mello is actually Near's Split Personality rather than his rival.
  • The seeming Canon Foreigner Shoko Himura is a combination of several different characters. She looks very similar to Naomi Misora and has her past history with L, but turns out to really be named Halle Lidner and is Mello's Number Two, and begins dressing like Mello and takes his role as Sayu's kidnapper after going rogue.
• Doctor Who:
  • "The Androids of Tara" is a Whole-Plot Reference to The Prisoner of Zenda. The serial's Big Bad, Count Grendel, is a composite of two villains from the novel, Duke Michael of Streslau (the noble who kidnaps the king in an attempt to steal the throne) and Rupert of Hentzau (his Dragon who duels the hero at the climax and escapes).
  • When Tom Baker declined to participate in "The Five Doctors", the Fourth Doctor's lines were given to the Fifth Doctor, with the Fifth Doctor's role being given to the First Doctor, resulting in him spending a large amount of the plot paired with Fifth Doctor companion Tegan.
  • "Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday": Yvonne Hartman, head of the Torchwood Institute, is a combination of Yvonne Hartley and Doctorman Allan from the Big Finish Doctor Who story "Spare Parts".
  • "The Next Doctor": Rosita, the title character's companion, combines aspects of Rose, Martha and Donna, all three main companions the new series had had up to that point.
• Dracula (2020)'s version of Jonathan Harker blends both his original character from the novel and Renfield. Curiously, there is a Renfield in the story, but he only serves his traditional role as Dracula's unwilling lackey in Broad Strokes, where Harker is the one who becomes something like a Familiar and dies trying to atone for what he's done.
• Nearly all the characters in the TV-version of The Dresden Files are easily identifiable as composites of characters from the books.
  • Officer Connie Murphy takes her last name, gun skills and occupation from Karrin Murphy from the books, but her inquisitiveness and ethnicity from Harry's other Love Interest Susan Rodriguez.
  • Bianca the somewhat friendly and slightly flirtatious vampire takes her name, court affiliation and occupation from the openly hostile Bianca from the books, and her willingness to work and flirt with Harry and her more obvious sex appeal from Lara Raith.
  • The vaguely antagonistic Warden Morgan is a combination of the books' anti-Harry sword-swinging badass Donald Morgan and pro-Harry sword-swinging badass Michael Carpenter.
  • Show!Bob is a spirit living in a skull who provides information like Book!Bob, but drops the orange glow and obsession with sex in favour of a humanoid form and tendency to drop philosophical advice presumably stolen from the books' dream-version of Harry's father.
  • Justin Morningway combines the paternal role and magical ability of Justin DuMorne with the impeccable suit-wearing and Xanatos Gambits that characterize Nicodemus Archleone and a little of the misguided but genuine parental affection the Leanansidhe shows Harry.
• Elementary: Moriarty is the same person as Irene Adler.
• Emerald City:
  • Zigzagged with Glinda, who is the Good Witch of the South in the books. She is referred to as the Witch of the North, suggesting that, as in the 1939 film, she's a composite of both characters. However there is also a Witch of the South in the show's backstory, referred to as the deceased mother of the other three witches.
  • Jack has the same name and a similar role (that of Tip's friend) as the book character Jack Pumpkinhead; but in "Science and Magic", he has most of his body and heart replaced with metal, becoming the show's version of the Tin Man. Furthermore, since his new heart is clockwork (rather than the Tin Man's hollow chest), and the doctor who "repaired" him works for the Kingdom of Ev, he also appears to be a nod to Tik-Tok.
  • Eamonn appears to be the show's version of Omby Amby, the lone soldier in the Emerald City from the books; however "Lions in Winter" reveals that he's also an analogue of the cowardly lion.
• The Expanse:
  • Camina Drummer is the most significant of the composite characters. The show is based on the first 6 books in the series and book Drummer's role in them is very minor. TV show Drummer keeps her role as Chief of Security on Tycho Station, but usurps Samara Rosenberg's role as a very close friend to main character Naomi Nagata, then takes Carlos de Baca's (aka Bull) role from the books (without dying like he does in the books, due to the intervention of Naomi) and lastly takes over Michio's role as a Belter rebel pirate ship captain.
  • Bull's absence from the series due to Drummer taking his role in turn allows him to show up in Season 5 in a position that is effectively the role of main character Alex but with a name change, due to Alex being killed off abruptly at the end of Season 4 because his actor was fired from the show for misconduct right before Season 5 was about to start filming.
• Robert Barone from Everybody Loves Raymond is one of these. His features, being a cop, being divorced, jealous of his brother, doing "crazy chin" etc, are taken from Ray's brother Richard, but his name is taken from Ray's other brother Robert. When asked why the TV Ray didn't have two brothers like the real one, Ray claimed the real Robert was "the normal one" in his family, and therefore felt he wasn't interesting enough for the show.
• Fate: The Winx Saga, the Live-Action Adaptation of Winx Club:
  • Queen Luna, while technically based on her animated counterpart, looks much more like Stella's former Evil Stepmother Countess Cassandra in characterization.
  • Stella herself in this version appears to be a sort of amalgamation with Chimera (Cassandra's biological daughter) and Diaspro (Sky's ex-girlfriend) although, compared to the two girls in the animated series, she is portrayed in a much more understanding and sympathetic light.
• Gia, the made-for-television biography of model Gia Carangi, has several of these characters, most significantly, her makeup artist-turned-girlfriend.
• In the Sky1 adaptation of Going Postal, Crispin Horsefry becomes Reacher Gilt's second in command, representing the entire board of the Grand Trunk in the novel. Also Mustrum Ridcully is given Professor Pelc's role as Mr. Exposition.
• The 2005 Hallmark Miniseries Hercules has Antaeus who is a combination of Antaeus, Zeus, the Cretan Bull, and Cerberus. Antaeus is Hercules' enemy and a Son of Mother Earth, Hercules' father, a bandit leader called the Cretan Bull, and is the one present when Hercules goes down to the gates of Hades instead of Cerberus.
• The BBC/HBO adaptation of His Dark Materials, like the film adaptation before it, combines the characters of Billy Costa and Tony Makarios, making Billy the “severed child” looking for his lost daemon instead of having him survive and escape Bolvangar with Lyra and Roger.
• In the Sky1 adaptation of Hogfather, Teatime's crew is drastically reduced, with Chickenwire standing in for Catseye and Peachy. And Sideney gets Peachy's Karmic Death rather than his own.
• Horatio Hornblower (mini-series): Archie Kennedy is a composite of various minor characters throughout the series of novels it is based on. He notably given actions of a sailor named Hales in "The Even Chance" (AKA "The Duel") by having a seizure during a raid, forcing Horatio to knock him out to keep him quiet, and Midshipman Bracegirdle's lines in "The Frogs and the Lobsters" (AKA "The Wrong War"), as Bracegirdle had been rewritten as the Indefatigable's first lieutenant.
• Joe Pickett :
  • The governor who Joe tickets for fishing without a license and his Big Good successor are combined into one governor in the show.
  • Deputy Cricket Ludlow plays similar plot roles to both Friend on the Force Mike Reed and Nate's girlfriend Alisha (who still appears in the show, but with an Age Lift, slight Adaptational Job Change, and lack of any apparent connection to Nate) from the books.
• Kamen Rider:
  • In Alternate Universes visited in Kamen Rider Decade:
    • The Kamen Rider Agito arc did this with its version of protagonist Shoichi, who was a composite of the three main Riders of the original Agito show, having been G3 until his powers started developing, turning him into Gills before he finally reaches the "perfect evolution" of Agito. Even his name is a composite: his surname Ashikawa comes from Ryo Ashihara (Gills) and Makoto Hikawa (G3).
    • Also, the Kamen Rider 555 arc has a friend of Takumi whose name is Yuri (half Yuka and half Mari, at least in name - she's little like either character.)
    • In the Kamen Rider Kabuto arc, Tendou's two sisters are combined into one character, Mayu. To get her, we combine Hiyori's turning out to be a Worm with Jyuka's being an adorable teenage girl who idolizes her bro. The storyline happens in a much more satisfying way than it did in Kabuto due to the lack of sudden actor departures.
  • In Kamen Rider Ryuki, three unnamed characters were possessed by Kanzaki, and turned into Kamen Rider Odin. In Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, they became the singular Vic Frasier (Kamen Rider Wrath). Wrath was possessed by Xaviax, so we still have the Rider form as the Big Bad's avatar throughout both series.
    • Also Ryuki's two main females, Reiko Momoi, Intrepid Reporter and senior to Shinji, and Yui Kanzaki, the only non-rider who could see the mirror world were combined into one character in Maya Young.
    • Likewise, after being vented, Kamen Rider Siren's powers and deck are temporarily given to Maya.
    • Richie Preston/Kamen Rider Incisor takes his suit and role as the first enemy Rider from Masashi Sudo/Kamen Rider Scissors and his characterization^note a rich kid kicked out by his father to teach him to work for his wealth from Mitsuru Sano/Kamen Rider Imperer.
    • Our hero himself is an example and an inversion at once. We have Kit as Dragon Knight (aka Ryuki, Shinji's Rider suit) until his disloyal alternate self takes over after his Disney Death. After his return, Kit becomes Onyx (aka Ryuga, the evil mirror Shinji's Rider suit.) However, we first see Onyx in a dream of Kit's in which he takes Xaviax's lure. This means Dragon Knight is a composite of Ryuki and Ryuga, but Onyx is splitting Ryuga into two characters.
    • There's also some of Len's counterpart Ren in Kit. There's a Rider whose greatest desire is to see a certain loved one restored. Said loved one is brought out of coma just long enough to try and tempt said Rider. So, are we talking about Kit's dad or Ren's fiancee, now?
    • You'll have to go back two seasons to find his last counterpart (as the guy in red who has visions of himself in an evil, black version of the suit, dies, gets better, gains the black suit for real, and uses it for good.)
    • The two Alternative Riders (former colleagues of the Big Bad who developed their own powers to thwart him) were merged into Eubulon the Advent Master, who also supplants Kanzaki as the creator of the Rider powers.
• In Legend of the Seeker, Cara was primarily the character of the same name from the books with traits of two other Mord-Sith from the third book on thrown in, and was darker than any of them. Nicci filled the roles of three distinct and very different Sisters of the Dark; the schemer Liliana who tried to deceive Richard and steal his magic, their leader and strongest Ulicia, and the Anti-Villain Nicci who didn't become important until much later in the series. Curiously, Ulicia did show up briefly, only for Nicci to kill her and absorb her Han.
• Nearly everyone in "The Jewel in the Passage", The Lenny Henry Show pastiche of Costume Drama set in The Raj, is a composite of characters from the 1984 film version of A Passage to India and the 1984 TV version of The Jewel in the Crown, since part of the joke is that the two were just similar enough that it was possible to get confused as to exactly which events belonged to which story.
• In the 1996 revival of The Liver Birds, Polly James reprises the role of Beryl, except that Beryl has become a composite of the Beryl she played in the first four seasons and Carol, Beryl's replacement in seasons 5-9. Notably, Beryl has somehow acquired Carol's family.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power:
  • This version of Galadriel appears to have a number of similarities with her uncle Fëanor compared to her literature version. She is much more martial, Hot-Blooded, brash, arrogant and aggressive, less diplomatic about what she wants and prone to Didn't Think This Through. She is also steadily slipping into She Who Fights Monsters territory in her zealous hunt for Sauron, after he murdered her brother Finrod, as Fëanor did in his hunt for Morgoth and the stolen Silmarils, with it being It's Personal between them after Morgoth murdered his father.
  • Despite being revealed to be a repentant Sauron, Halbrand's subplot is fashioned after Aragorn from the LOTR trilogy. While he lets everyone believe he is the lost heir of the Southlands, the people are pinning all their hopes in terms of uniting them, as he follows same road as Aragorn. He chose the path of self-imposed exile; Aragorn is troubled by his inheritance because of Isildur falling to the temptation of the One Ring, and Halbrand because he swore an oath to Morgoth. Galadriel tells Halbrand, in her attempt to convince him to reclaim his birthright, that men like him indeed used to fight alongside Morgoth, but not he himself, in a similar fashion to Arwen assuring Aragorn that he is Isildur's heir, not Isildur himself. After his introduction, Halbrand is scruffy-looking most of the time, but after He Cleans Up Nicely, he gets the same "returning king" feel as Aragorn does.
• M*A*S*H: The television version of Major Frank Burns combines the incompetence and ego of the novel's Captain Frank Burns with the holier-than-thou piousness of Major Hobson.
• Dex from Masked Rider was based off of Kamen Rider BLACK RX. In several episodes, Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J were used in Stock Footage as his Rider Form. Due to the differences in the suits, this did not go unnoticed.
  • One notable Monster of the Week in Masked Rider was Hydrasect, who had a One-Winged Angel form called Arachnida. Both forms came from the unrelated monsters Hachi Onna and Kumo Onna from Kamen Rider J and Kamen Rider Zo, respectively.
• Mayfair Witches: Ciprien Grieves is a combination of two different characters from the books, Michael Curry and Aaron Lightener.
• The 1998 Merlin (1998) series does this at least twice, combining Morgan le Fay with Morgause into a single character that isn't much like either of them simply called Morgan le Fay, and also combining two different Elaines (there's a lot in Arthurian Mythology) into a single character of that name.
  • Averted in the television series of the same name: not only are Morgana and Morgause separate characters (half-sisters), but so were Vivienne (their mother), the Lady of the Lake (a druid girl called Freya) and Nimueh (an evil sorceress), three very distinct characters that are usually conflated in various retellings, and the source material itself. There was also another character called Vivian who had no relation whatsoever to the above characters.
    • In Merlin (2008), the titular character is the one to throw Excalibur back to the Lady of the Lake after Arthur's death, a role that in most legendary sources belongs to Sir Bedivere.
• Carla in Nikita combines elements of two different characters from La Femme Nikita: the first is Carla herself, while the second is Adrian, the exiled founder of Section One, who is plotting to once again obtain control of the group.
• Once Upon a Time has too many characters to list. Notable examples include:
  • Mr. Glass (the Evil Queen's mirror/Genie of Agrabah)
  • Mr. Gold (Rumplestiltskin/The Beast/the crocodile that took Captain Hook's hand) The third being a reference to the appearance of his skin once he becomes "The Dark One". He was also Cinderella's fairy godmother. Sort of.
  • Ruby (Little Red Riding Hood, The Big Bad Wolf, and probably Rose Red
  • Cora (The miller's daughter from Rumpelstiltskin and The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.
  • Peter Pan is also The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
  • Regina (the evil queen from Snow White) is also the baby from Rumpelstiltskin. Also subverted as she pretends to be Ursula (the Sea Witch from The Little Mermaid (1989)) and has her role as the person who makes the deal with Ariel to temporarily make her human, but it turns out Ursula actually does exist.
  • Elsa and Anna's mother, the queen of Arendelle, from Frozen is identified as Gerda, the protagonist of "The Snow Queen".
  • The Sorcerer (the one with the Apprentice^note Who isn't Mickey Mouse, but is clearly based on that character.), who was named Yen Sid in Fantasia, is Merlin.
  • The soft reboot in season 7 does it to the series itself: The new setup has Henry as both Charming/David to Cinderella/Jacinda's Snow White/Mary Margaret and Emma to Lucy's, well, him.
  • The show's take on Tiana from The Princess and the Frog is an actual (albeit Impoverished Patrician) princess, who initially goes seeking a prince to marry - basically closer to Lottie in the film - before realising she can be her own hero. Her Hyperion Heights counterpart, Sabrine, is the genuinely poor but determined woman who wants to make a success of a food business.
  • The New Enchanted Forest version of Lady Tremaine turns out to also be Rapunzel.
• The Once Upon a Time spinoff, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, gives us The Knave of Hearts/Will Scarlet from Robin Hood. As well as the Red Queen being one of (the pre-reboot) Cinderella's stepsisters.
• On The Orville, a pastiche of Star Trek, Isaac is similar to Data (he's an android attempting to understand human emotion) and Spock (he's a member of a race that sees itself as superior to others).
• In Peacemaker (2022), the title character’s father Auggie Smith is also the armored supervillain White Dragon. In the Suicide Squad comics, White Dragon was actually the second alter ego of the white supremacist vigilante William Heller.
• In the Poirot adaptation of Mrs McGinty's Dead, Deirdre Henderson, the wrongfully-accused man's love interest, is written out. Instead Poirot's matchmaking pairs him with Maude Williams.
• In the Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon live-action series, Motoki's personality seems to be an amalgam with two other minor male characters cut from the series. He knows Usagi and seems to fit the awkward nerdy friend role of Umino, while Motoki's relationship with Makoto (as an oblivious crusher, rather than the traditional reverse) and Mamoru (as a protected friend rather than someone older than him) has elements of Asanuma.
• Done, kind of, in Robin Hood. At the end of Season Two, Marian, Will Scarlett, and Djaq the Saracen are written permanently out of the show. The next season introduces Kate, who fills all their niches in the group and show, as well as aspects of their personalities. She takes the place of Marian as Love Interest and Tsundere, Djaq as Token Girl, and Will as the representative of the suffering peasantry. She also experiences the murder of her brother (like Allan), has a tempestuous relationship with her parent (like Marian) and is separated from her family (like Little John). Naturally, she was considered an instant Replacement Scrappy and ended up a Creator's Pet in record time.
• While RoboCop: The Series's version of OCP's Chairman serves as its counterpart to the Old Man from the first two films and Charlie Lippencott likewise for the two techs from 2 and Marie Lazarus from RoboCop 3, their placement in the opening credits' recreation of RoboCop's unveiling suggests that the Chairman and Lippencott also filled Bob Morton and Donald Johnson's respective roles as the overseer of the RoboCop project and its second-in-command.
• Seinfeld - Elaine was a composite of various ex-girlfriends of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David. (The other main characters were based on Seinfeld, David, and David's neighbor Kenny Kramer.)
• Sharpe had a tendency to do this, in order to avoid having too many characters, with many recurring characters from the books becoming one-off characters and/or suffering Chuck Cunningham Syndrome. For instance, the company of men that follow Sharpe in the books are reduced to half a dozen key characters. Two specific examples occur in Sharpe's Revenge to avoid bringing back characters from Sharpe's Siege: Maillot is a composite of Maillot (the officer guarding Napoleon's treasure) and Lassan (Lucille's brother), while Wigram is a composite of Wigram (the officer in charge of Sharpe's court martial) and Bampfylde (the officer Sharpe fights a duel with).
  • In Sharpe's Eagle, Major Lennox is basically the novel's Captain Lennox (a veteran soldier killed because of Simmerson's incompetence) with the rank of Major Forrest (the kindly South Essex second-in-command who was Adapted Out of the series).
  • In Sharpe's Honour, the role of Angel, a partisan boy who accompanies Sharpe on his search for La Marquesa, is given to Harper, while Nairn is basically a composite of several characters absent from the episode: Hogan (the intelligence officer who fakes Sharpe's death), Leroy (Sharpe's superior who halts his duel) and to a lesser extent Frederickson (who guides Hogan and Angel to their meeting with Sharpe).
• Sherlock
  • Charles Augustus Magnussen is a version of the blackmailer Charles Augustus Milverton in the original Sherlock Holmes stories, but also takes on major elements of Conan Doyle's Professor Moriarty in appearance, personality and plot role that were not elements of the very different Jim Moriarty who appears in Sherlock.
  • Billy Wiggins is mostly Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars, but takes his first name from Billy the messenger boy, who first appeared in the stage plays
  • Mary Morstan is one of Mary Morstan (later Watson) from the original stories, the unnamed woman who kills Milverton, and, of all people, Colonel Sebastian Moran. She also has some elements of her Canon counterpart's father, Arthur Morstan, as he was the one who had a secret past involving a group of four people and the word "Agra".
• Opie in Sons of Anarchy embodies two characters from Hamlet: Horatio, the main character's doubting friend who turns believer and confidant, and a platonic version of Ophelia, the hero's best friend who recently fell out but soon reunites with him. (Interestingly, Ophelia herself is decomposited into Opie and Tara).
• Station Eleven: In addition to his novel role, Jeevan fills the role of Kirsten's brother and initial protector, who doesn't appear in the show.
• Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad: While Naoto Sho and Gridman were separate characters who merged together, Sam Collins and Servo are one and the same.
• Roald Dahl wrote two short stories, "A Dip in the Pool" and "Botibol", with different main characters that both had the unusual surname Botibol. When these stories were adapted for Tales of the Unexpected, both were played by Jack Weston, so it appears that they decided to treat them as the same character. However, "A Dip in the Pool", which came first, ends with Mr Botibol left to be drowned. He is also the only character to appear in more than one story across the entire series.
• The Tudors: Henry VIII in Real Life had two sisters, Mary and Margaret. The character portrayed in the show is given the biography of Mary, but the name of Margaret; creator Michael Hirst said this was to reduce confusion on the set, since Henry's daughter Mary was a major character. There are a number of Thomases in the show, but they're almost always referred to by their last names or titles—Cromwell, More, Wolsey, etc. Edward Seymour's wife Anne Stanhope has a storyline which is an altered (and expanded) version of his historical first wife's antics. This one doesn't have even a flimsy plot excuse, it's simply for the sake of more random sex - oh, and ensuring the complete lack of functional marriages in the show.
• The Twilight Zone (1959):
  • In "Third from the Sun", William and Eve Sturka have only one child, a daughter named Jody. In the short story by Richard Matheson, the unnamed equivalent characters have two children.
  • In "Elegy", Peter Kirby is a composite of four characters from the short story by Charles Beaumont: Lt. Peterson, Chitterwick, Goeblin and Milton.
  • In "Passage on the Lady Anne", Ian Burgess is a composite of Burgess and Colonel Van Vylman from the short story "Song for a Lady" by Charles Beaumont. In the story, it is Van Vylman who makes the speech lamenting that the Lady Anne's time has gone due to people spending most of their time rushing about.
• The Twilight Zone (1985):
  • In "Nightcrawlers", the Big Bob's diner patrons Ray and Lindy have a son named Ricky. In the short story by Robert McCammon, they have two unnamed children, a boy and a girl.
  • In "A Matter of Minutes", the unnamed supervisor is a composite of the supervisor Iridel and the producer from the short story "Yesterday Was Monday" by Theodore Sturgeon.
• The Vampire Diaries: Bonnie Bennett is a combination of the fair, redheaded, and rather ditzy version from the novels and Meredith, the darker-skinned and more serious best friend.
• The History Channel's Vikings does this a lot:
  • The lead hero Ragnar Lodbrok himself occasionally steps in for various other Norse chieftains. For example, his daring and clever trick to play dead and sneak into Paris inside of a coffin was supposedly originally done by another famous Viking raider Hastein in the capture of Luna, Italy. Albeit, Hastein was a good pal of Björn and, possibly, Ragnar's son as well.
  • The whole Paris story arc in Season 3 is three separate historical events glued together - the quick and successful siege of Paris in 845 by Ragnar, when the vikings breached the city walls, overrun and occupied Paris, and were subsequently paid off with around 2,570 kilos of silver; the much longer and failed siege of Paris in 885-886 by Rollo, Sigred and Sinric, when the vikings stormed the city several times using elaborate siege weapons, while Paris was defended by Count Odo; and the Mediterranean voyage of Hastein and Björn Ironside in 859-862, when they tricked the guards of the city of Luna by staging a funeral of Hastein.
  • Thus, the Frankish king in the show is made up of Charles II the Bald (843-877), Charlemagne's grandson, and Charles III the Fat (885-888), who was the Holy Roman Emperor. Ironically, the show's king is both Charlemagne's grandson and the Emperor, but neither bald, nor fat.
  • Frankish princess Gisla is generally modeled after princess Gisela, Rollo's future wife, but her pious attitude, clerical speech manners, refusal to marry different nobles and her heroic actions during the siege of Paris strangely mimic Gozlin, the Bishop of Paris, known for fighting and boosting morale.
  • Ragnar had three wives - Lagertha, Thora and Aslaug. Apparently, the showrunners decided that it would be too much, so they cut Thora out altogether and gave some of her characteristics, such as love for mysticism and various prophecies, to Aslaug. While Björn was made Lagertha's son, instead of Aslaug's.
• VR Troopers has its share of examples:
  • Dark Heart is directly based on Top Gunder of Chōjinki Metalder, but his backstory as Ryan Steele's father, Tyler, not only merges Dr. Koga from Metalder, but Dr. Bio from Jikuu Senshi Spielban.
  • Grimlord, while directly based on God Neros from Metalder, effectively supplants Queen Pandora and Kubilai as the main villain of the entire conglomerate. Slightly subverted in that counterparts for both villains did appear, but were Demoted to Extra, Kubilai (a.k.a. Oraclon) becoming Grimlord's monster-maker and Pandora (a.k.a. Desponda, Despera's sister) becoming a one-shot guest villain.
  • Ryan Steele, by virtue of his two armored forms, is a composite of Metalder and Shaider.
  • J.B. Reese and Kaitlin Starr were composites of Spielban and Diana Lady, as well as Metalder's two human friends, Hakko and Mai (despite the fact that Spielban was the hero of his own show, J.B. was more of a sidekick to Ryan like Hakko was to Ryusei, while Kaitlin was a reporter like Mai). When footage of Spielban's sister Helen Lady (who wore the same suit as Diana Lady) was adapted into VR Troopers, she became a mirror image of Kaitlin who could be summoned in battle, essentially making Kaitlin a composite of three characters.
• The Walking Dead (2010):
  • The show's version of The Governor is a combination of brothers Brian and Philip Blake from the comics since he is both the Governor and the real father of Penny.
  • Lilly Chambler is a combination of Lilly Caul and April Chalmers from the comics/novel.
  • Due to Dale's early death, his succeeding characterizations and story arcs were instead fused with Hershel Greene's. 
  • Tomas from the prison group is a combination of Thomas Richards and Dexter from the comics, while at the same time possess The Governor's comic appearance.
• In the 1973 Water Margin series, Gao Qiu is responsible for releasing the 108 demons/future Liangshan Heroes instead of one-chapter character Marshal Hong.
• WKRP in Cincinnati had an In-Universe example. In writing up her visit to a children's home, Bailey fabricated an anecdote about a young boy giving her a picture he had drawn. At first, Andy was upset that the story was false, worrying that the station would lose its licence. This was averted when the director of the Children's home happily asserted that the boy was a composite of several children - all of whom had drawn pictures for Bailey.
• Wolf Hall condenses the six Protestants burned under Thomas More's chancellorship into the single character of James Bainham. Bainham was also a real person and a reader of Tyndale's English Bible alongside Thomas Cromwell, but certain actions (such as holding his hand in a candle flame while awaiting execution) were attributed to other characters in the book.
• The live-action Yu Yu Hakusho (2023) series combines the Triad from the manga’s “Rescue Yukina” arc with Team Toguro from the “Dark Tournament” arc.

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