What fiction characters started out completly diffrent than how they are now?

[ouryL]

How 'bout Blondie? (the comic strip)
She started out as a 20’s flapper - Blondie Boopadoop and Dagwood was a wanna-be not-so-great Gatsby!

[Dr.Rieux]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

I don’t think that’s quite true. In every serious film adaptation as well as the original novel, the name Frankenstein is always applied only to the Doctor, and never the monster. That misappellation was no doubt due to confusion among children seeing the films. Interestingly however, the original Frankenstein was a French-speaking Swiss who was frequently addressed as M.(onsieur) Frankenstein. He didn’t become a German nobleman until the advent of the films.

In the novel, he wasn’t even a doctor–just a university droput.

[CalMeacham]

I don’t think that’s quite true. In every serious film adaptation as well as the original novel, the name Frankenstein is always applied only to the Doctor, and never the monster. That misappellation was no doubt due to confusion among children seeing the films. Interestingly however, the original Frankenstein was a French-speaking Swiss who was frequently addressed as M.(onsieur) Frankenstein. He didn’t become a German nobleman until the advent of the films.

The name “Frankenstein” was applied to the monster even before the first Universal film came out. There’s a reproduction of the program from Peggy Webling’s play in the published edition of the script of the 1931 movie “Frankenstein” that clearlt calls the monster by that name. I think the tradition extends even farther back to 19th century stage adaptations.

In the novel, he wasn’t even a doctor–just a university droput.

That’s not fair – he wasn’t a dropout – he was an undergraduate when he performed his first experiment, though. And you can’t blame someone for skipping classes when his creation is killing off his family.

[Rocketeer]

@marque elf

…The actress playing Lois Lane on the original Superman series changed. One was Noel Neill. The other did fewer shows and I forget her name.

Phyllis Coates?

(Little voice inside: And why in the world do I know that?)

[Kent_Clark]

For that matter, the Lois Lane character changed dramatically between the Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill roles.

In itsthe first season The Adventures of Superman was a much darker show, more like a detective series. Lois Lane was a tough-talking crime busting reporter who testified against the Mob and wasn’t afraid to slap a bad guy.

Between the first and second seasons, producers discovered that the only people actually watching the show were kids, and that the parents were upset about the violence of the story lines. The entire series was lightened up, and Neill’s portrayal of Lois Lane became more of the lovesick schoolgirl crush on Superman.