Longest-tenured Characters

[pelletboy]

Which characters survived the longest and did not become just versions of characters they are from the Zero Hour universe reboot til now? Isn't impulse the one who reset the universe in Zero Hour? Could he be the sole original being from the original universe surviving til now? Can you give a list of the longest-tenured heroes that did not undergo replacement of any sort?

[bat39]

Depends on how you define 'replacement'? Is the character the same character if just a few aspects of their past have been tweaked, as opposed to being rebooted completely? If the character is aware that their past has been altered, or if they regain memories of their 'past life', are they the same character?

An argument can be made for Wally West I suppose. I haven't actually read Flash War and the recent Flash comics, but even though he does have an altered New 52-inspired history, he does have an awareness of his original timeline.

Batman seems to have most of his past continuity intact. Again, haven't been following the books much lately but I believe he's recently remembered more about his 'true first meeting' with Selina, which harks back to the Golden Age. So an argument could be made in his case.

Superman's an interesting case. He's got an approximation of his 'true history' back, but it now includes Jon - who 'originally' wasn't part of his past, at least not the way the Rebirth timeline presents it. But Superman has some awareness that his past was changed.

Let's not forget that there's a version of Parallax, Barry and Kara Zor-El out there who supposedly undid COIE. I guess they also count as 'survivors' of an 'original timeline'.