Your favourite "legacy" character

[rosac]

Some heroes are born, some are made and some are part of a legacy. Green Lantern, NOVA, Robin, The flash. All have had multiple people take up the mantle and become the icon, the title holder.

So who is your favourite?

For me-

Orson Randall and Danny Rand- The Immortal Iron fist-

Both are inheritors to the title Iron Fist- The best fighter from a race of fighters who is given the honour of taking on an undead dragon in combat in order to claim powers beyond mere mortals- fists harder than iron and chi related powers. Although there are lots of Iron Fists who are all very cool in their own ways (Individual iron fists use of their powers varies depending upon their personal preferences/pre dragon fight skills) These two have the greatest backstories. They may be stereotypical "white saviour" characters but their interactions with Kun Lun, the mystical realms, Davos, the other immortal weapons all set them above for me. The immortal iron fist comic series is woefully underated.

Miles Morales- Spider man- An interesting take on a legacy character as Morales really really doesn;t want to be spider man but the death of parker and subsequent guilt over his lack of intervention pushes him into the role.

Morales own backstory and difficulties presented by age/education/family is very well done, and his journey to move out from Peter Parkers shadow is good to watch. It's honestly not a surprise he's one of the few ultimate character to survive.

 

[McMarbles]

The Jaime Reyes version of Blue Beetle. He's like the millennial Spider-Man that millennial Spider-Man himself failed to be.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

I was always partial to John Stewert myself. Justice League cartoon, you know?

 

[happyninja42]

OOOOOH! One of my favorite subjects! *does a clappy happy dance in his chair*

I'm a total sucker for legacy stories, hands down my favorite kind of tale.

Sadly I'm not a good memory bank when it comes to randomly listing those type characters, but I'll give it a try!

John Henry Irons, after the Death of Superman. I didn't read much of his story arc, as I got really burned out on comics in the 90's, but I loved the concept of him. He was just a dude. He didn't claim to be Superman, in fact he flat out shot down that idea on a talk show in the comic series. When asked why he thought he was Supes, he basically said "I don't, he's dead. I'm not him, but I honor the work he did, and the sacrifice he made for the people of this world. And I feel someone should take up his mantle and continue his work. So I made myself a steel suit and a big fucking hammer, and call myself the Man of Steel, in honor of him." I loved that reason. It is work that must be done, so I will do it.

Spoiler: Major spoilers for the Dresden Files: Skin Game

Sir Waldo, Mother Fucking Butters! Jedi Knight of the Cross! Oh my fucking god did I lose my shit when he took up the blade, partly because I had been saying he should be the one to get the sword for years, but also because of the entire way that scene played out. It was just so badass and perfect, it actually made me cry with awesome tears, it being so awesome.

Miles Morales is definitely up there, for reasons similar to John Irons. Someone needed to do the work, he had the power to do it, he should do it. I also liked his character more than Peter honestly. He wasn't doing it out of a guilt complex over the death of his father. No, he does it because he genuinely believes that he should help people, and even demonstrates this when he first gets his powers. Openly jumping up to save someone, without a costume or anything. He didn't even think about it, he just helped save the person.

I know there are a ton more, I just can't think of any of them at this time. I'll probably randomly jump back in here to add a few more here and there as they trickle into my brain.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Totally the Primes.
Zeta Prime, Sentinel Prime, Nominus Prime, Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime. The Matrix of Leadership is a powerful thing, and needs the best AutoBot in each generation to lead the war against the Decepticons.

 

[ryan_cs]

Terry Mcginnis, even though I've only seen him in the movie.

 

[happyninja42]

Totally the Primes.
Zeta Prime, Sentinel Prime, Nominus Prime, Optimus Prime, Rodimus Prime. The Matrix of Leadership is a powerful thing, and needs the best AutoBot in each generation to lead the war against the Decepticons.

Ooh! Yeah, Rodimus claiming the Matrix in the Transformers movie, that was badass. I cried in that scene, though I think it was more due to Optimus' line of "Until All....are...One", and then his grip goes slack. Awesome death scene.

Let's see, after further thought, I think Luke Skywalker, and Rey earn a strong mention, at least for myself. Luke, taking on the mantle of the "Last of the Jedi", and all the shit he had to do in order to pass those trials. And Rey doing similar in Force Awakens, but more of the reluctant hero kind of angle with her.

 

[PapaGreg096]

Robbie Reyes- I really like Robbie because for him it isn't about just saving the world but also to make sure his community is safe and out of harm's way which is one of the many reasons why I like street level heroes.

Josuke- Similar to Robbie but I also like that his main goal besides wanting to stop a serial killer is to make some money.

 

[FalloutJack]

Well...Batman, of course. If you mean which one, probably The Animated Series. This includes Old Bruce for Batman Beyond.

 

[King Billi]

I've always liked the idea of legacy characters more so than any specific examples particularly from comic books since no one ever stays dead or retired for long they often end up trying to have everyone operating at the same time.

Wally West always seemed like a fascinating character to me as the Flash but after reading The Flash Rebirth wherein they set up Barry Allen and Wally both as the Flash as well as the original Flash and about half a dozen other ancillary Speedsters and sidekicks and whatnot all operating at the same time and I found I just couldn't care about any of them.

I also think there are around Six earth based Green Lanterns that exist at the moment... I get that each of them have their own fans and I think the two newest recruits brought in some diversity but it does get a bit unwieldy storytelling wise.

 

[King Billi]

Actually I suppose Robin would have to be it for me as each of the individuals to hold that mantle all maintain their own unique personality even while they all look more or less identical in the actual costume.

They're also all characters which I recognise all for their actual identities moreso than their costume which I feel is somewhat necessary for a legacy character.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I guess that would be the Joester for me (one of the things I loved about the franchise) perticually Joseph despite being unfaithful. He was funny and yet collective with his plan leading him to his infamous "prediction" lines.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Spoiler: Optimus Primal

http://www.tfarchive.com/fandom/features/thirtieth-anniversary/thirty-greatest-characters/characters/08_Optimus_Primal.php

His archenemy was considerably more popular and he had a MASSIVE legacy to live up to, but the boss monkey definitely earned his place on that list and in my mind as a truly 'prime' commander who still had a soft side. Yes, even after his understandable crisis of faith and subsequent transformation into a Christ analogue in Beast Machines- he remained one of the best characters in that show.

'Sometimes, crazy works' -Primal

'A leader who struggles on despite bickering teammates, cunning adversaries, and an increasingly bad situation, yet remains calm and caring towards those in his care, is well deserving of praise.'

-Zach Baringer

Dick Grayson as Batman and Damian Wayne as Robin during a period in the comics where Bruce Wayne is MIA and presumed dead.

It felt like a return to form after a time when Bruce had become far too grim and obsessive for any associate to put up with (gee, what does THAT remind you of?). Dick had become more focused since his days as Robin but not to the point of absurdity, and his time solo as Nightwing fighting his own collection of rogues including Deathstroke had honed his skills into a worthy adult replacement for Bruce, as well as someone able to tolerate Damian.

Of course, it didn't last. Status Quo is God, especially when it comes to Bruce Wayne.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

The Jaime Reyes version of Blue Beetle. He's like the millennial Spider-Man that millennial Spider-Man himself failed to be.

I really like Jaime too and I'm really interested with the new approach DC is taking with...Rebrith? I just got a new number 1 and the premise is Ted Kord (Blue Beetle no 2) is the tech/support for Jaime Reyes (Current Blue Beetle). Not sure how I feel about the magical angle though it could end up bringing Ted out of The Bug and into the fight.

Other than Jaime I really liked Guy Gardener as he was portrayed in The Brave and the Bold. He was a massive jerk but everybody loved him except Batman and it just tickled me.

 

[Cicada 5]

Jaime Reyes with Wally West as a close second.