Generation Xerox as seen in Western Animation.
- An episode of the Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Animated Adaptation shows Ace Ventura's medieval ancestor as a pet detective, Guado's ancestor as a corrupt sheriff, and Woodstock's ancestor as the informer of Ace's ancestor (complete with a steampunk computer).
- American Dad!:
- Hayley and Stan have exactly the same personality — both are controlling, obsessed with being right, and generally treat their partners like crap. The twist is that while Stan is a hardcore conservative, Hayley is a hardcore liberal. This is reinforced by the similarity of appearance — they're the only two members of the family to share the same hair color.
- Stan was a geek in his youth just like Steve...something he's spent most of his adulthood trying to cover up.
- An episode of American Dragon: Jake Long had a Flash Back to The '70s, when Grandpa was the Chinese Dragon. And far from the wise Old Master Jake knows, he's an egotistical showboater who talks in a constant stream of barely comprehensible slang, just like Jake.
- Arcane: The sisters Vi and Powder parallel Vander and Silco : a pair of siblings, with the younger one idolizing the older until they experience what they perceive as a betrayal and abandonment by their sibling, with the incident dividing them onto opposite sides of a conflict. In addition, the older sibling is a physically-powerful hand-to-hand fighter, with the younger being weaker and requiring weapons and pragmatism to be an effective fighter. Though Vander adopted both Vi and Powder, the show focuses on him mentoring Vi while Silco comes to adopt Powder turned Jinx.
- Batman Beyond:
- Subverted quite a bit as the Distant Finale shows Terry was a Tyke Bomb that was designed to follow the path to becoming Batman almost exactly, but despite this, he ends up being somewhat different. For instance, Terry is not afraid to kill his enemies if he has to, and as he demonstrated to the Joker himself, he's not afraid of fighting dirty or turning someone's mind games around on them. By the time of Batman Beyond Bruce is just a reclusive old man, and Waller tells Terry that he doesn't have to be a loner to be Batman, and he's still seeing his high school girlfriend and was last seen planning to propose to her.
- The tie-in comic revealed that the Wayne Powers enforcer who killed Warren McGinnis was Jake Chill, great-nephew of Joe.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- In "Time Out For Vengeance", the show's take on The Return of Bruce Wayne, the historic Batmen are Bruce's ancestors, rather than Bruce travelling through time. Yes, even Cave Batman.
- The What If? episode "The Knights of Tomorrow!" ends with Damian Wayne having become the new Batman, and his son acting as the new Robin.
- Ben 10: Played with in the What If? Flash Forward episode "Ken 10", featuring Ben's nearly-identical son Ken (he has darker skin, like his mother, and slightly darker brown hair, but is otherwise a Ben clone) is given an Omnitrix by his father on his tenth birthday because he got his when he was ten. It also has the same limitations as his original (time limit, a limited number of aliens), and then Ken goes on to meet Devlin, the transforming, superpowered son of Ben's formal rival Kevin (Theme Naming, anyone? Oh yes). Ken also offers Devlin the opportunity to join the Tennyson family, the same offer Ben made Kevin as a child. However, Devlin actually accepts the offer, unlike his father. Also, Ken must have inherited his mother's brains, as he actually thinks to use Grey Matter to hack the Omnitrix's master control, something neither Ben, Gwen, or Max ever considered. The episode's moral is in defiance of this trope, basically saying that no matter how similar they may seem, children are not carbon copies of their parents and will take different paths.
- One time-traveling (of sorts) episode of Danny Phantom revealed Jack's obsession with ghost hunting isn't self-contained; his pilgrim ancestor John Fenton Nightingale did it, too!
- Downplayed on Daria — Daria looks and acts remarkably similar to her aunt, Amy, while one could argue there's at least some personality resemblance between Quinn and their other aunt, Rita. Their mother Helen and Rita can't be in the same room for more than a few minutes without fighting, and though Amy keeps distant from the rest of the family, it turns out she becomes just as petty when added to the mix; all this makes Quinn begins to worry that she and Daria will never grow out of their own issues and hate each other forever.
- In the Darkwing Duck episode "Darkwing Doubloon", we learn that in the late 1600s, there was still a Drake Mallard who fought evildoers under the identity of the Darkwing Doubloon. His crew includes historical versions of his daughter Gosalyn, his pilot Launchpad McQuack, and fellow Justice Ducks Stegmutt and Gizmoduck, while their nemeses include pirate versions of the Fearsome Five, led by Captain Negaduck. Drake's present-day neighbours, the Muddlefoots, were royalty in those days, and King Herb is just as good-natured but naive as his descendant, while Prince Tank still bullies his younger brother Honker.
- Dexter's Laboratory:
- Inverted in one episode when Dexter ages himself into an old man with an aging machine by accident, and his family mistakes him with his grandpa. In a later episode, we actually get to see his grandfather.
- At the beginning of another episode, Mom makes muffins, acting in Dexter's typical grandiose manner ("AT LAST! MY MUFFINS ARE COMPLETED!"), while Dad screws around the kitchen in a very Dee Dee-like fashion. It's here that viewers are clued into who takes after whom.
- Dragons: The Nine Realms: Tom Kullersen befriends a member of the Nightfury-family of dragons and founds a team of Dragon Riders protecting dragons from dragon hunters who want to misuse them for their own goals. In Season 5, he is revealed to be a descendant of Hiccup.
- DuckTales (2017).
- Done as a quick gag in the season two finale "Moonvasion!". Fethry, Gladstone, Donald, and Della strike action poses as they make their way to the main fight. The camera then zooms out to show Huey, Louie, Dewey, and Webby respectively in the same exact stances. When Dewey realizes this, he's dismayed to realize that he's the Uncle Donald of the group.
- "The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck" features an ancestor of Fenton who not only looks identical to him and has the same dorky mannerisms, he even ends up wearing a Steampunk version of the Gizmoduck armor.
- "From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22!", the first episode where Scrooge and Webby interact with each other to a significant degree, takes time to show parallels between the two characters, from their mannerisms to their battle tactics. While the episode depicts this as a result of Webby's idolization of Scrooge (as Mrs. Beakley isolated her from Scrooge as she grew up in his mansion), the events of the Grand Finale of the series, which reveal that Webby is Scrooge's daughter and heir, shed a different light on this episode.
- Exaggerated in El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. The episode "The Grave Escape" reveals that all the men in the Rivera Family have alternated between resembling White Pantera (being Heroic Build superheroes) and Puma Loco (being miniature Evil Old Folks piloting Mini-Mecha) going all the way back to the first El Tigre, who like Manny could not decide between being either good or evil and was driven into insanity over it.
- Enforced in Ever After High. The main characters are the children of fairy tale characters and are expected to pledge to completely follow their parents' stories and replace them so that the story continues to live on in a parallel Earth (implied to be the same Earth upon which Monster High is set, which gives the Scarily Ever After line a new meaning). This has been going on for centuries, with Apple White being from a very long line of princesses who graduated to live out the story of Snow White. The story begins when the other main character, Raven Queen, wonders if maybe she should Screw Destiny and not poison Apple when she becomes Snow.
- In The Fairly OddParents!, Timmy's 19th-century ancestor has Cosmo and Wanda as his fairy godparents. And his successor from the far beyond future will also have them. And his future kids. Makes sense. Fairies go to the kids that need them most, and flash-forwards show that Timmy is going to be just as neglectful as his parents were. Going even further into this trope, we even see that he uses a freakily similar babysitter.
- Famous 5: On the Case, the Disney cartoon based loosely on The Famous Five, plays this straight with the children of the original Five. Both boys have sons, both girls have daughters. Julian and his son Max are both action leaders, Dick and Dylan are both smart guys, George and Jo are tomboys, Allie and Anne are girly girls. And, well, Timmy Jr is still a dog, but that one's justified. George herself becomes a Gender Flipped version of her father Quentin, as the eccentric scientist whose discoveries sometimes lead to the Five's cases.
- Gravity Falls: A major theme as the protagonists are Polar Opposite Twins named Dipper and Mabel, who eventually learn that they have the same dynamic as their great-uncles Stan and Ford, who have been estranged for decades (even before the accident that caused Ford to go missing for 30 years) despite being inseparable as children. Mabel begins to worry that the same thing will happen to them eventually. Bill Cipher manipulates these feelings to cause Weirdmageddon.
- Hey Arnold!:
- A subversion of the "replay with last-minute change" occurs when Helga is a finalist in the same spelling bee as her sister before her and gets the same last word, "qualm". Like her sister Olga, Helga does know how to spell the word... but deliberately misspells it, in order to defy her father and step out of Olga's shadow.
- In another episode Grandpa tells Arnold about his childhood and the girl that bullied him. Although it skips a generation, we learn that Pookie picked on Phil the same way Helga picks on Arnold.
- Arnold and Gerald get in a fight. Phil and his best friend had a similar argument in their youth.
- And then there was the episode where it was revealed that every man from his grandpa's line dies at midnight of his 81st birthday. Arnold's grandfather thought that he was going to die but then he realised that he did a miscalculation and he has 10 more years to live.
- Grandpa's father seemed very similar to him in personality as did his grandfather. In one flashback we see that Phil even had a similar relationship with his grandfather that Phil currently has with Arnold.
- In The Western, Identical Grandson episode of Jackie Chan Adventures, Valmont's ancestor is trying to release Shendu, and ends up being defeated by Jackie's ancestor.
- Lampshaded when Jade insists that one character was her counterpart, and a sudden dust cloud hides the character's replacement by Old West!Jade.
- Young Jackie was sent to San Francisco from Hong Kong to be with his uncle, just like Jade was sent to be with Jackie.
- Jerrica from Jem looks like her deceased mother and became a popular musician like her as well. No one outside of her bandmates knows this though since Jerrica sings as her alter ego "Jem" and Jerrica just seems like the band's manager.
- An episode of Kim Possible shows her 19th-century ancestor as an adventurous reporter in the vein of Tintin, Ron's ancestor as her partner, and the ancestors of Shego and Drakken as her archenemies. (Of course, that turns out to be All Just a Dream... Or Was It a Dream?) Naturally, Ron spends half the episode lampshading the trope. Word of God says the Generation Xerox characters were real.
- At the end of The Legend of Korra Book 3, Jinora finally becomes an Airbending master, getting her entire head shaved and getting her Airbender tattoo. In fact, she looks just like her grandpa Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
- Subverted with Toph's family. Toph tries to enforce this trope by ending her parental supervision of her daughters Lin and Suyin after they become teenagers, to simulate her leaving her parents behind in the original series to find her place in the world after she became a teenager. Instead, it causes both daughters to have personal mental issues that haunt them throughout their lives. Toph later apologizes to Lin for her actions.
- Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin have a similar dynamic to that of their parents Aang and Katara and Uncle Sokka who were the main Power Trio of the original show. Bumi is the oldest, a Badass Normal, and The Smart Guy like Sokka. Kya is the middle in age, only girl, and a waterbender like their mom. Tenzin is The Baby of the Bunch airbender like their dad. Although in personality, Bumi is the most like Aang and Tenzin is like Katara.
- Legion of Super Heroes (2006) had Alexis Luthor, a spoiled rich kid who befriended Superman before going off to become a villain. Not surprisingly, she's revealed to be a distant descendant of Lex Luthor.
- In Littlest Pet Shop (2012), one of the episodes heavily features flashbacks to the time of Henrietta Twombly, great-great-grandmother of Mrs. Twombly, the owner of Littlest Pet Shop. In the flashback, Henrietta looked exactly like Mrs. Twombly, except with typical 19th-century clothing, and had pets that look and sound exactly like the day camp regulars (and happened to be named Dog, Hedgehog, Skunk, Monkey, Panda, Mongoose, and Gecko). This also extends to Brittany and Whittany Biskit's ancestors from that time, Whittman and Brittman Biskit, who were male but otherwise looked like the Biskit Twins (with handlebar mustaches) and even used the same Like Is, Like, a Comma speech. To top it all off, Blythe also had an ancestor from that time, a young sheriff named Sheriff Blythe, who looked and sounded exactly like modern-day Blythe.
- Miraculous Ladybug: When we finally meet Chloé's mother in "Style Queen", she's shown to be as much of an Alpha Bitch as her daughter. It's all but stated that Chloé adopted her bratty personality so that her mother would actually pay attention to her.
- Moral Orel plays with this. Clay's relationship with his father as a child was somewhat similar to his own relationship with his son. Although Clay was less of a Cheerful Child than Orel and more of a Spoiled Brat with a Freudian Excuse. This is averted in the Distant Finale, in which Orel grows up to be a happier, much better family man than Clay.
- The French cartoon called Once Upon A Time... Mankind is about the history of humanity, and features the same five characters from prehistoric times until 20 Minutes into the Future.
- The Owl House:
- Downplayed in the episode "Them's the Breaks, Kid", where Eda tells her protege and surrogate daughter Luz the story of how she first met Raine. It's shown to strongly parallel Luz's own story with her girlfriend Amity, and while there are several major differences most notably the fact that Raine and Eda started off on much better terms than Amity and Luz did, they're shown going through similar events to several iconic moments from the first season.
- While it was never actually animated, storyboards for "For the Future" reveal that Luz's parents first met at a Cosmic Frontier convention, mirroring how Luz and Amity first bonded over their shared love of The Good Witch Azura.
- Popeye and Son (Hanna-Barbera, 1987). Popeye Jr. hates spinach but will eat it when the chips are down.
- In The Powerpuff Girls episode "West In Pieces," the 19th-century ancestor of Professor Utonium creates the Steamypuff Girls using steampunk technology.
- In Recess, the Ashleys are this to their mothers. They even have a Catchphrase: "Ludicrous!" instead of "Scandalous!"
- Rocky and Bullwinkle had a Fractured Fairy Tales segment consisting of a follow-up to Snow White where the Wicked Queen's son became jealous of Snow White's son being deemed by the Magic Mirror to be the handsomest man in the land. The story follows most of the same beats as the original fairy tale, the only difference being that the one who wakes Joe White up with a kiss is his sister Flo White.
- Rugrats:
- In one episode, Tommy's great-aunt Miriam visits; at the end of the episode, we find out that, as a child, she had the same relationship with Grandpa that Angelica has with Tommy, and even mentions "those two kids from down the street, Bill and Jill". It's even lampshaded when she says that Angelica is just like her.
- The episode "Sour Pickles" reveals that Stu Pickles acted and sounded like his son Tommy when he was his age, making it a three-generation Xerox. Similarly, Drew Pickles acted a bit like a male version of his daughter Angelica as a toddler, while Chuckie's father Chas is essentially an older version of Chuckie with a mustache.
- Another episode reveals that Charlotte Pickles acted like her daughter Angelica when she was her age.
- Dil Pickles inherits Stu's love for inventing in All Grown Up!, and his inventions are just as eccentric. Drew comments that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
- An episode of All Grown Up! reveals that, as a young adult, Grandpa Boris had a best friend named Oleg who was a lot like Chas and Chuckie.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated had Scooby and the gang find that they've unknowingly been following in the footsteps of the original Mystery Inc, which also consisted of two guys, two girls, and an animal. In fact, the original group's counterparts to Fred and Daphne turn out to be Fred's biological parents. It is also later revealed that various iterations of Mystery Inc throughout history have followed this composition, with a different Talking Animal each time.
- The Simpsons:
- In "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish," Abe Simpson's WWII military unit was revealed to mostly consist of the fathers of male Springfielders, including those of Chief Wiggum, Barney Gumble, and Seymour Skinner — all of whom looked and acted exactly like their sons.
- The various intellectual and emotional dysfunctions of the Simpson family, which, to Lisa's relief, only seem to affect the male line. According to the episode "Lisa the Simpson," Abe, his son Homer, and Homer's son Bart all started life reasonably intelligent and began to lose their smarts at the age of eight. Furthermore, Abe subjected Homer to abuse and neglect which Homer, despite his best efforts at Breaking the Cycle of Bad Parenting, has likewise inflicted to varying degrees on his children, Bart in particular. While Abe's relationship with Homer and Homer's with Bart are conflicted, Abe and Bart relate to each other with less friction, and in at least one future timeline Bart likewise has two sons who don't respect him but adore Homer.
- Sofia the First: King Gideon IV once jumped to conclusions and thought trolls were attacking. (They were just banging the clubs on the floor because they like the sound) He ordered the guards to seize the trolls, who ran away to the cave under the palace and ever since forbidden from leaving. Upon learning the trolls' side of the story, Princess Sofia tried to set things right but King Roland II (King Gideon IV's grandson) had basically the same reaction his grandfather did. The misunderstanding was eventually cleared.
- Steven Universe:
- Played darkly as Pearl tries to make Connie into the same suicidal overly-protective knight figure for Steven that Pearl had been for Steven's mother, Rose. Steven realizes this before it is too late, and manages to convince Connie that Pearl is wrong and they should be a Battle Couple instead.
- A major conflict of the series is Steven himself worrying about whether he's a carbon copy of his mother, and if that is a good thing or not.
- Totally Spies!:
- One episode features the team that came before Sam, Alex, and Clover: Pam, Alice, and Crimson.
- A better example come from the girls' mothers Carmen, Gabriella, and Stella, who look like older versions of the girls. They even become WOOHP agents.
- Transformers: Optimus and his crew crash-land in the distant past on Earth and must fend off attacks from Megatron and his band of miscreants while defending the planet and attempting to return to Cybertron. Now, are we talking about Prime or Primal? To further draw parallels, Cheetor takes up Bumblebee's mantle and Terrorsaur makes a good Starscream Expy.
- The Venture Bros. episode "ORB" shows a flashback of Victorian-era adventurers who all seem conspicuously similar to modern characters. (Granted, the modern equivalents aren't a team anymore.)
- The unaired pilot for a Wacky Races revival, Wacky Races Forever, had the offspring of the original racers. The reboot features an episode with Dick Dastardly the pilot as the grandfather of Dick Dastardly the 2017 racer. The leaf usually doesn't fall far from the tree, but in this case, it's grandfather telling his grandson to just cross the finish line, advice that gets ignored since as the token villain, Dastardly the racer has to cheat.
- In The Zeta Project, Bennett's son is visually identical to him but, personality-wise, is much more mellow, carefree, and easy-going. Oddly, despite being a confrontational person, Bennett gets along great with his kid despite the night and day difference. It's implied that pre-Sanity Slippage, this is what Bennett himself was like.
