Spiritual successor

A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product line or media franchise of its predecessor, and is thus only a successor "in spirit". Spiritual successors often have similar themes and styles to their preceding material, but are generally a distinct intellectual property.

In fiction, the term generally refers to a work by a creator that shares similarities to one of their earlier works, but is set in a different continuity, and features distinct characters and settings. Such works may arise when licensing issues prevent a creator from releasing a direct sequel using the same copyrighted characters and names as the original.

In literature

Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, published between 1887 and 1927, drew a large number of pastiches from other authors as early as the 1900s to capture the same mystery and spirit as Doyle's writings. Subsequently, Doyle and his publishers, and since then Doyle's estate, had aggressive enforced copyright on the Holmes character, often requiring authors that were publishing stories to change any use of Holmes' name to something else. The name "Herlock Sholmes" became one of the more common variations on this, notably in Maurice Leblanc's ''Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes'', with the Sholmes character having a personality similar, but not quite exactly like Holmes to further distance potential copyright issues.

The character Solar Pons, a pastiche of Holmes, appeared in several books not authorized by the estate of Conan Doyle beginning in 1945. These copyright issues have continued into contemporary times: in the case ''Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd.'' (2014), it was determined that the characters of Holmes and Watson were in the public domain. However, certain story elements were under copyright until 2023.

In films and television

In films and television shows, spiritual successor often describes similar works by the same creator or starring the same cast. For example, the show '' Parks and Recreation'' is a spiritual successor to ''The Office.'' Both are workplace mockumentaries developed by Greg Daniels, featuring satirical humor and characters being filmed by an in-universe documentary film crew.

The film ''10 Cloverfield Lane'' was not originally scripted with any connection to ''Cloverfield''. When the film was acquired by Bad Robot, producer J. J. Abrams recognized a common element of a giant monster attack between the two films, and chose to market ''10 Cloverfield Lane'' as a spiritual successor to ''Cloverfield'' to help bring interest to the newer film, which allowed him to establish a franchise he could build upon in the future.

Spiritual successors are common in Indian film industries, particularly Bollywood, where films marketed as sequels do not share continuity with their predecessors.

In video games

Games by the same studio

Spiritual successor games are sometimes made by the same studio as the original, but with a new title due to licensing issues. Some examples of these include:

* The ''Dark Souls'' series by FromSoftware was inspired by the studio's earlier game, ''Demon's Souls,'' an exclusive title for the PlayStation 3. Because Sony Interactive Entertainment held the rights to ''Demon's Souls'', the studio was unable to produce a direct sequel on other platforms, leading them to create a new property with similar gameplay mechanics. ''Demon's Souls'' itself was a spiritual successor to '' King's Field''.
* Irrational Games' ''BioShock'' is a spiritual successor to their earlier ''System Shock 2''. While ''System Shock 2'' was met with critical acclaim, it was considered a commercial failure, and publisher Electronic Arts would not allow a third title in the series. After several years and other projects at Irrational, as well as being acquired by a new publisher 2K Games, the studio developed ''BioShock'', with a similar free-form narrative structure.
* ''Shadow of the Colossus'' was considered a spiritual successor to '' Ico'' by Fumito Ueda, who directed both games as leader of Team Ico. Ueda expressed that he did not necessarily want a direct canonical connection between the games, but that both had similar narrative themes and elements that he wanted players to interpret on their own.
* Created by Facepunch Studios, S&box (stylized as ''s&box'') is an upcoming spiritual successor to ''Garry's Mod''. Unlike the latter being a sandbox mod of the Source engine, ''s&box'' is a game engine and platform built on top of Source 2.

Games by the same staff

Alternatively, a successor may be developed by some of the staff who worked on the preceding game, under a new studio name. Examples of these include:

* '' Yooka-Laylee'' is a spiritual successor evoking the style and gameplay of Rare's ''Banjo-Kazooie.'' It was developed by Playtonic Games, which consisted of many former Rare staff members, including composer Grant Kirkhope. Yooka and Laylee, the game's animal protagonists, serve as direct stand-ins for the original game's Banjo and Kazooie.
* '' Mighty No. 9'' closely resembles the gameplay and character design of the ''Mega Man'' series, which project lead Keiji Inafune worked on before leaving Capcom, and is considered a spiritual successor.
* '' Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night'' is considered a spiritual successor to the '' Castlevania'' series, created by Koji Igarashi who had led development of several ''Castlevania'' games before leaving Konami.
* A number of games from Bullfrog Productions have spawned spiritual successors in the years after the studio was closed by Electronic Arts in 2001, with these projects typically led by former staff from Bullfrog having found their own studios. These include '' Godus'' by Peter Molyneux's studio 22cans, succeeding '' Populous''; 5 Lives Studios' '' Satellite Reign'', succeeding '' Syndicate Wars''; and '' Two Point Hospital'' by Mark Webley and Gary Carr's Two Point Studios, succeeding '' Theme Hospital''.
* '' P.N.03'' has been called the spiritual predecessor of ''Bayonetta'' for its "combat...with stylish dance-inspired movements" and "flashy, energetic, intense" gameplay and character design. ''P.N.03'' director Shinji Mikami later co-founded PlatinumGames, the studio that developed ''Bayonetta'', and ''Bayonetta'' director and PlatinumGames co-founder Hideki Kamiya also directed ''Resident Evil 2'', ''Devil May Cry'', and '' Viewtiful Joe'', the last of which was part of the Capcom Five with ''P.N.03''.

Common themes only

The term is also more broadly applied to video games developed by a different studio with no connection to the original, and simply inspired by the gameplay, aesthetics or other elements of the preceding work. Examples of such games include:

* The game '' Cities: Skylines'' (along with other city-builder games) is considered a spiritual successor to the ''SimCity'' series, both focusing on constructing and managing a simulated city.
* ''Axiom Verge'' is a side-scrolling Metroidvania game that succeeds the ''Metroid'' series.
* The ''Mother'' series (known as ''EarthBound'' outside Japan) has directly inspired a number of pixel-art, role-playing indie games featuring children in playable character roles as spiritual successors to the series. These include ''Undertale'' and '' Citizens of Earth''.
* ''War for the Overworld'' (succeeding ''Dungeon Keeper'') crossed through several of these categories over the course of the development. Originating as a fan-made direct sequel to ''Dungeon Keeper 2'', the game then became a spiritual successor with only thematic connection after moving away from the ''Dungeon Keeper'' IP. Finally, the hiring of returning voice actor Richard Ridings presented a direct staff connection to the original.

In sports

In sports, the Ravens–Steelers rivalry is considered the spiritual successor to the older Browns–Steelers rivalry due to the original Cleveland Browns relocation to Baltimore, as well as the reactivated Browns having a 6–30 record against the Steelers since returning to the league in 1999.

In other industries

The Honda CR-Z is regarded as the spiritual successor to the second generation Honda CR-X in both name and exterior design, despite a nearly two decade time difference in production. The Toyota Fortuner SUV is a spiritual successor to the Toyota 4Runner SUV mainly because they both share the same platform as the Hilux pickup truck. The Canon Cat computer was Jef Raskin's spiritual successor to the Apple Macintosh.

See also

* Canon (fiction)
* Continuation novel
* Phoenix club (sports)
* Reboot (fiction)
* Remake
* Revisionism (fictional)
* Sequel
* Spin-off (media)
** Gaiden
* Digression

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiritual Successor
*Spiritual successor
Sequel, spiritual
Film and video terminology
Video game terminology