Replacement Scrappy / Anime & Manga

• Akari Ozora got alot of flak from the Aikatsu! fandom for replacing the much-beloved Ichigo Hoshimiya as the lead protagonist even before it became official. Solid Character Development and some pretty fun interactions with a new cast of characters introduced in the third season managed to get her respect from a number of detractors, but she still remains something of a Base-Breaking Character within the fandom.
• In Bakuman。, Miura got this in series from the main characters for replacing Hattori as their editor. Mashiro and Takagi preferred not to go into gag manga, while Miura preferred to make more humorous series, partly as a result of a desire to have someone under him get serialized, leading to a few arguments until they managed to work out their issues and get along better together. This also happened when he replaced Hattori (again) as Iwase's editor, and this was particularly infuriating for her because she'd been attracted to Hattori.
• And also to the new versions of the Knight Sabers in Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040.
• As suggested by the quote on the page, in Code Geass Rolo Lamperouge becomes a Replacement Scrappy in-universe for Lelouch after Lelouch discovers that Rolo was sent to replace Lelouch's true sibling, Nunnally.
  • This eventually changes when Lelouch accepts Rolo right before he died, though even then he only accepts him as the brother of "Lelouch Lamperouge", and not of "Lelouch Vi Britannia."
    • What Lelouch means by making that difference is that, although they are not related by blood (Rolo is not a vi Britannia and he didn't share Lelouch's childhood as a prince either), he should have realised sooner that they were indeed brothers anyway (symbolized by the surname Lamperouge, which is equally fake for both and also refers to the time they spent together living happily as ordinary students).
• Near and Mello in Death Note, who replace L (particularly Near, who gets the official job.) Made worse by the fact that their appearance coincided with a massive change in the setup of the manga. Light's in charge of the investigation, detective cat and mouse games take a back seat to a more political game, and the intense rivalry between L and Light never develops an equivalent with the new characters. Also, the distribution of victories between the sides of Kira and L are drastically different and more one-sided.
  • Or more specifically with the Foe Yay, it too becomes one sided and distictly rapey too, with Near obsessively calling him and then hanging up, the very strange faces he makes while thinking about Light and the reveal in the manga that he wants to KEEP him.
• Digimon:
  • In Digimon Adventure 02, Daisuke Motomiya, or Davis, is pretty much a shameless expy of Taichi (Tai) Yagami/Kamiya from its predecessor except noticeably dumber and possessing an unrequited crush on Hikari that he is very annoying about. Davis' example gets very strange in the English dub. The head writer openly admitted to hating him, so gave him deliberately awful lines. But in the show itself, Daisuke was the only person willing to forgive fan-favorite Ken after the whole Digimon Kaiser thing, causing his popularity to skyrocket. It caused a Broken Base between fans who thought this redeemed his character, and fans who still hated him.
  • Tagiru Akashi is this for Taiki (Mikey) Kudo in the sequel to Digimon Fusion, even more so than Davis. Oddly, this is in spite of the latter being a deuteragonist; Tagiru just happened to have more Spotlight-Stealing Squad moments than necessary.
• This happened to the Retooled versions of Kei and Yuri in Dirty Pair Flash.
• Dragon Ball:
  • Dragon Ball Z gives us a weird example with Main Timeline Trunks. The Trunks introduced in the Android saga is a Badass from a dark future whose experiences has humbled him and made him serious and fans liked him. But when history changed so that the androids are defeated, the Trunks of the main timeline is allowed to grow up with both his parents and comes off like a spoiled brat. Fortunately for fans, Future Trunks was brought back as a main character in alternate timeline series Dragon Ball Super, but that incarnation of him has a variety of problems on its own.
  • Jimmy Firecracker the Combat Commentator for the Cell Games is undoubtedly is this compared to World Tournament Announcer, with fans finding him far less characteristic and forgettable only existing to shill Fake Ultimate Hero Mr Satan. Thankfully Toriyama brought back the World Tournament Announcer for the Buu Saga Tournament Arc.
  • Dragon Ball Super:
    • Kale The Berserker Amazonian Beauty does get a bit of this compared her obvious inspiration the then non-canon Broly whose long been a fan favorite movie villain and some fans weren't satisfied with the Distaff Counterpart. This died down when Broly thanks to his new movie became a Canon Immigrant^note  although ironically due to Broly's Adaptational Heroism you'll still find old school fans preferring his original Chaotic Evil characterization .
    • The Universe 6 Saiyans in general despite their heroism, get some flack from fans compared to the much preferred Universe 7 Saiyans. The reasons for this include: their Noodle People designs, their deliberate lack of tails (the only thing that makes Saiyans visually unique from Earthlings), their mostly passive attitude to combat compared to their Universe 7 counterparts and above all their ability to go Super Saiyan without so much as a Despair Event Horizon or the bare minimum training like Goten and Trunks. Although with that said Caulifla and Kale would garner popularity (more so than Cabba) especially when they fuse into Kefla, even making it into Dragon Ball FighterZ.
    • Minor character Yurin comes off as a Suspiciously Similar Substitute for Lunch aka Launch from the original series right down to Hot-Blooded attitude and obsession with Tenshinhan. In this case it's more due to be Lunch's existence being continually ignored in the canon (barring Filler, Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! and Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot) that Yurin's presence aggravates long time fans.
• An in-universe example from Fairy Tail: This trope is reason for Aquarius' attitude towards Lucy.
• Lyrical Nanoha fans were generally drawn to the series for the following reasons: Action Girl Nanoha and cast who manage to simultaneously be adorable and badass, and the large amount of Les Yay instigated mostly by Nanoha. So, you can just imagine the massive uproar that occurred when it was announced that the very male Touma will replace Nanoha as the main character in the fourth season. Poor Touma, when the fandom wants you to either die from the get-go or turn out to be female all along, and there are betting pools on how long he'll last before he gets Demoted to Extra, you know you have a tough road ahead of you.
  • Plenty of Nanoha fans were upset with season 3, when Yuuno and Chrono virtually vanished, and the four new characters were given so much facetime. It was necessary to insert most of these characters for the later plot twists. But still, lots of griping about Subaru and Tea.
    • Though mostly outside of Japan and barely so anymore anywhere, with Subaru in particular becoming a beloved character in her own right.
  • And then there's the Hückebein, who are considered to be poor replacements for the Wolkenritter, mainly because while the Wolkenritter had a sympathetic motivation and a strong sense of morality, the Hückebein are self-centered Jerkasses. The fact that they're Invincible Villains with Story-Breaker Powers doesn't help either.
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 had a couple of examples in the second season:
  • Lyle Dylandy, aka Lockon Stratos II, danced around this trope's line, including in-universe. He replaced fan-favorite Neil Dylandy, even to the point of piloting the same Gundam, having a similar combat style, taking the same code-name, and being the dead guy's identical twin brother on top of that seemed like a total cop-out by the writers. Fans were very divided on whether to accept him. In the end, though, his character developed and differed in several ways from the guy he replaced, and he was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.
  • Mileina received a little bit of this as well for replacing the lovable Christina Sierra. Being much more immature probably didn't help.
• Another in-universe example comes from Gundam 0080, where the Cyclops Team members are pretty open in their dislike for Bernie, who was assigned to them shortly after they lost a long-time member of the team.
• Probably the biggest reason many Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny fans hate Shinn Asuka is that he's not Kira. The fact that Kira is still a major member of the cast does not help, with a few fans stating that the series needed to focus on Kira from the earliest possible moment. Not helping Shinn's case are his Jerkass attitude, his blaming others for everything and his lack of positive Character Development. However, this has reduced thanks to more sympathetic renditions in Super Robot Wars games.
• Naruto:
  • Sai, who replaced Sasuke Uchiha on Team 7 in Naruto, was hated by two groups of fans: Sasuke fans that hated the idea of someone replacing him, and Sasuke haters who didn't take to the character and even saw him as worse than the guy he replaced. However, Sai proves to be quite different. Sasuke has always been portrayed as the non-smiling stoic and so most fans probably assumed Sai would play the same role. Instead we have someone who always smiles, cracks jokes about Naruto and expresses how he feels from the get-go as opposed to staying silent and generally is shown to be less and less like Sasuke. In-universe, Naruto himself says at one point that he can never replace Sasuke.
  • Madara never gets the end of it from people who can't accept anyone but Orochimaru as the final villain, or who were disappointed that the apparent leader of Akatsuki until then, Pain, was not the main villain either. And it turns out that Madara is not the main villain either! Or at least the series is not going in that direction. Though since Sasuke has just revived Orochimaru without batting an eyelid, the people who dislike the idea of Tobi as the final villain can be happy once more.
• In One Piece Rebecca from the Dressrosa arc gets accused of being a poor substitute for Vivi from the Alabasta arc, both beautiful princesses^note Although Rebecca wasn't a princess for most of her life. And when she finally became a princess, she stepped down soon after. with a dead mother and living father who has had her country taken over by a Warlord of the Sea (Crocodile for Vivi, Doflamingo for Rebecca). But whilst Vivi is a long time beloved fan favorite and honorary member of the Straw Hats, Rebecca is less liked, being a Faux Action Girl whose Prone to Tears and a Damsel Scrappy in the Final Battle of the arc. Though to be fair, the dislike for Rebecca can be mainly chalked up to Dressrosa's Arc Fatigue.
• Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo, which follows Count D at his new Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday in Tokyo, introduces Wu Fei to fill the role held by Leon Orcot in the original. Many fans who are less than pleased about Leon's absence from the new series are rather disenchanted with Wu Fei as a result.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Some people disliked May because she replaced Misty. Although in the previous arc, Misty's character was largely changed by the introduction of Togepi, who is a major Scrappy in his own right for this reason; fans mainly remember Misty at her peak for being a strong and dedicated female character, whereas May was portrayed as more of a stereotypical girl. (It didn't help that most of her Pokémon were arguably feminine.) However, May eventually gained a large fanbase of her own, and come next arc, some people disliked Dawn because she replaced May and/or Misty.
  • A good number of fans hated Tracey for replacing Brock, some even making up reasons like "he's a fat pervert" to justify this. (Incredibly unreasonable considering that Brock, himself, is a far more of a pervert than Tracey ever was.)
  • Iris originally suffered this before Best Wishes! came out, not because she was replacing Dawn but because she wasn't the female protagonist of Black and White. It got worse when she was introduced, as she garnered a Hatedom for her overused catchphrase (“such a kid”) and the fact that she was made to be a replica of Misty.
  • Finally, Trip is considered a poor successor to Paul. While Trip and Paul do not have much in common besides similar appearances and being The Stoic, Trip is seen as bland and uninspired after the Tough Act to Follow that was Ash and Paul's ideological clash, especially because Ash Took a Level in Dumbass in order to justify Trip's constant wins.
  • And then the 16th movie brought back fan favourite Mewtwo... except no, it's a different Mewtwo with no relation to the old one, and with more of a kind, motherly, feminine voice and personality rather than the Anti-Villain, manly voice and personality of the old one. Needless to say, fans are NOT happy at this New Mewtwo reducing a one-of-a-kind character into just another Pokémon species (this is a problem the anime has with just about any legendary Pokémon, but Mewtwo had a unique backstory all his own), let alone the implications for the fourth Super Smash Bros. game. Even her English voice actress braced herself for a fandom backlash. It was revealed years later that rights issues with Takeshi Shudō's estate were responsible for replacement of the original Mewtwo.
  • By the time of Pokémon the Series: XY, the cast had been swapped so frequently that the fans' general reaction to it had softened considerably. Serena remains a very divisive character but most vitriol tends to get directed to the exceution of her arc rather than her status as a Pokegirl
  • Though not as extreme as some previous examples, some Serena fans see Lillie as one of her.
  • And don't get us started when it was revealed that Misty and Brock would be replaced in Pokémon: I Choose You!.
  • Pokémon Journeys: The Series: Team Rocket having specific Pokémon with their own unique personalities that they battle Ash and the gang with has been replaced by the Rocket Prize Master, which just gives them random Pokémon with little to no personality that get discarded at the end of the episode.
• Pretty Cure:
  • Also the initial reaction to Saki and Mai of Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star, although this didn't last long.
  • Aguri/Cure Ace of Doki Doki! PreCure for replacing the well liked Regina, who the show was leading up to her making a Heel–Face Turn and becoming a Cure. Made worse by the fact that she breaks tradition of a previously established character becoming a Cure by being a new character that we've never seen before.
• The wraiths in Puella Magi Madoka Magica are this to the witches, since they became the analogue for witches when Madoka remade the universe to erase them. Despite their importance to the series, most fans find them to be boring and ugly in comparison to the highly varied and characterful witches, especially given that the series is pretty vague on just what they are (since they only appear for a few minutes in the last episode). Many a writer has grumbled about having to use wraiths in Continuation Fic, often creating whole reams of fanon to make them more interesting or just writing non-action W.A.F.F.. Even the staff seems to dislike them, placing them Out of Focus in nearly all official material.
• Ranma ½: Sasuke the Ninja, who replaces Hikaru Gosunkugi in the anime adaptations of the latter's first appearances. Even if it doesn't really make sense, such disguising oneself as a balcony just to be near Akane during a Romeo & Juliet play. Gratuitous Ninja didn't work.
• Sgt. Frog: Joriri gets a lot of hate in fandom; his debut episode was suspiciously similar to a manga flashback starring Garuru, enough that fans immediately believed he was 'replacing' Giroro's older brother. Though the chapter was later adapted accurately, that first impression has not gone away, as he continues to show up and 'taint' the Chibi-Kero episodes.
• Pokota, the Guest-Star Party Member for the fourth and fifth anime seasons of the Slayers anime, is exceptionally unpopular compared to the earlier "guests"- almost as powerful as Lina with many displays of Bratty Half-Pint moments, and rather naive.
  • Zelgadiss and Amelia's replacements in the Light Novel series, Luke and Millina, are no where near as loved or popular as they are; compared to the former two, Luke and Millina have virtually no established background, no Character Development, and are exceptionally bland personality wise: Luke is a less outspoken Expy of Lina, while Millina is a perpetual grouch, and a Satellite Love Interest for Luke. The greater majority of fans outside of Japan have most likely never heard of either of them, and even in Japan they get little love. Case in point: three of the Slayers Special light novels (the prequel to the main series) have side stories for Gourry (Lina's lancer in the books), Zelgadiss, and Amelia; none exist for Luke and Millina.
  • The voice actors for the ADV Films dubs of the movies, especially Cynthia Martinez as Lina, are widely disliked. Also, when Crispin Freeman replaced Daniel Cronin in the first season, he was disliked because of his more "vibrant" voice, but now the opposite (dislike of Cronin's voice) is true. When Veronica Taylor began voicing Amelia, however, she was considered to be a huge improvement.
• Despite being different series, Decoe and Bocoe from Sonic X are often seen as Replacement Scrappies for Scratch and Grounder from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog was never even shown in Japan, so the Sonic X creators couldn't have known about Scratch and Grounder in the first place.
• Yuna Kamihara from Stitch!, for a fair amount of Western Lilo & Stitch fans, which lead to the meme, "The Japanese hate Lilo!" Wang Ai Ling from the Chinese Stitch & Ai also gets this to a lesser extent, with some fans arguing that she is too similar to Lilo.
• Tenchi Muyo! fans were angry that the role of 'Mihoshi's partner' was passed from Kiyone Makibi to Noike. Noike is hated for a lot of different reasons, but this is the main one that comes up.
• Subverted by Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. After Kamina's death, a lot of fans freaked out when they heard that he would be semi-replaced by Nia. However, by the end of her three-episode-long introduction, she had gained a level of popularity rivaling that of the original three, and as more Woobie-tastic Character Development followed, her popularity finally equaled that of the original Power Trio.
  • Also flat-out inverted in the last act of the show, when Viral pulled a Heel–Face Turn to become Gurren's pilot, which was most likely because of the character's existing fanbase.
• Taking Ichigo's place as the leader of the Mew Mews is one of many, many reasons that Berry Shirayuki from Tokyo Mew Mew à la Mode is so unlikeable. What's more, Executive Meddling took it all the way - Ichigo's powers mysteriously mutated, so she functions as Berry's powerup item and nothing more.
• A lot of Weiß Kreuz fans were not impressed by Izumi Sena taking over Omi's role as the youngest and most idealistic member of Weiss in Weiss Kreuz Gluhen. Interestingly, there was much less backlash against Chloe in the Weiss Side B manga, in spite of the fact that he took over Yoji's role in the team.
• Crow in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds starts out like this in season 3 for replacing Dark Magical Girl Aki's status as the third-billed hero while she was Demoted to Extra after a two-arcs long Character Development. He became outright disliked after accusation of being a spotlight hog and a Creator's Pet in later episodes. This is not helped by the fact that to the majority of the audience, Aki is an interesting, sympathetic, badass and plot-relevant female human character who has a rather large fanbase, especially given the YGO franchise poor track record. Even after being rescued into a Base-Breaking Character, he still never achieved Aki's popularity during the first two arcs.

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