Whit's Replacement

[ArnoldtheRubberDucky]

If Whit somehow died or left the show for some reason, who should replace him as the central character of the show? You'll notice I've put characters who are currently defunct in the poll. This is so you can have a wider variety of options. Personally, I think that, out of all major characters past and present, Tom might be the best choice. He has a lot of Whit's qualities, and he has a specific relationship with every one of the major characters except for Wooton, and Penny, of course.

[SirWhit]

I think that Connie and Eugene in conjuction could fill in the role of Whit quite well. They've grown spiritually in the past few albums and could replace Whit if needed.

[Bethany Shepard]

Like you said Arnold, I think Tom would fill Whit's place well. But I like the idea of it staying in the family. So, either Tom or Jason. Jason, I think, would bring a different light to AiO.

[Patterson]

I know it's annoying when some newbie bumps a topic from years ago, but I got an idea. It's a little bit off topic, because he wouldn't be an immediate Whit stand in like Jack and Jason kinda were, but maybe eventually in the Odyssey timeline.

What if Matthew Parker would fill Whit's role in the future? I hate the idea of Whit ever dying (let's just face it, Whit's immortal and will probably move back to the Middle East eventually) but perhaps Matthew would be like Whit in the Odyssey future we're shown in The Present Long Ago. Matthew loves technology, is an incredibly patient human being (you'd have to be if you were Emily's best friend), and according to AiOwiki, Matthew even collects encyclopedias.

In the episode For Three dollars More, in the Room of Consequence, we get to see a possible future for Matthew. It's the ROC, so just a program not necessarily the future, but it seems in character for Matthew. In the program, adult Matthew wants to build a community center for homeless kids to play at, reminding me some of the scene with Whit and a little girl named Jenny in Recollections. Later in that episode once the center is built, Matthew is seen being great with kids and helping lead them to Christ. If Matthew's actual future is similar to what happened in the ROC program, I could easily see him being like Whit when he's older.

The best evidence of all is Matthew's hair. While I'm not a fan of Gary Locke's character designs post album 50, Matthew's hair has an arched part straight down the middle kinda like how Whit’s hair does. If he styled it a little, it could look like Whit's hair! It would look weird for a kid, but when Matthew’s an old man it might work pretty well.

Clearly Matthew's hair is a key component in determining his future. Or am I insane?

[MonkeyDude]

I really vibe with adult Matthew in For Three Dollars More, so you have my vote!

Never noticed the hair thing before. Hah!

[Polehaus53]

Thanks for reviving this topic, Patterson! Hmm, the question of who should be Whit’s replacement as a character is quite thought-provoking.

Whit has been replaced once in the past: As we all know, after Hal Smith passed away, the AIO Team brought in Whit’s son, Jason Whittaker, and Jack Allen, a childhood friend. They split the character of Whit into two pieces with them: Jason being Whit’s adventurous side, and Jack being the advice-giving side. The two of them functioned as a replacement of sorts for Whit until the AIO Team found Paul Herlinger to voice Whit.

My initial thought is Whit’s son, Jason Whittaker. I can definitely see him as the central character on the show again as he once was. He has a good amount of Whit’s qulaities. But in my opinion, in order for him to be a complete working replacement, he needs Jack with him; the balance of their two personalities is what made it work so well during Albums 21-28 with Whit’s absence. And of course, realistically speaking, with Jack Allan no longer available, this duo is unlikely to return.

Another person who instantly comes to mind is Pastor Wilson Knox. He grew up with Jack and Whit, and in all his episodes so far, he has shown to have some characteristics of Whit. He is good with kids, and he also has spiritual gifts like Whit, as seen in the recent Olivia’s Faith story arc in Albums 71-72. He even has more life experience, since he is even older than Whit! The main difference that I see is that he doesn’t seem to have Whit’s inventiveness or technology knowledge, and we also haven’t seen him get into any dangerous adventurous situations as Whit does on occasion. But overall, I think he seems like a solid candidate for a possible replacement for Whit as a character. I could definitely see him running Whit’s End and being central to the show. I know that there’s no way we can get an absolute replica of Whit but finding a character with the most similar qualities and personality traits in my mind seems to work.

Looking at the other characters on the poll, I can also see Tom Riley working as a replacement. As ArnoldtheRubberDucky said, he has Whit’s qualities and good connections across Odyssey. But unfortunately, with Tom officially deceased in the show, this can never happen.

As far as other characters go, I know I’m limiting myself to only the aspect of them running Whit’s End, but I feel like this is worth mentioning: In the episode “B-TV: Live!”, a bunch of hypothetical imagination sequences happen in which Eugene, Bernard, and Wooton take charge of Whit’s End. Each one makes changes according to their personality. Eugene changes it to an educated-people-only hangout spot where healthy deserts (that sounds like an oxymoron) are served. Bernard makes Whit’s End a decontamination service with cleanliness being its central focus (although he claims the place is for having fun). Wooton makes Whit’s End, for lack of better description than I can think of, like his own house.
I know that in the episode these were all meant to be exaggerated hyperbolic imaginations of the characters, but I can’t help but think these are all very close to being accurate to an extent if they were to actually happen. And I don’t even want to bother considering Bart Rathbone or Regis Blackgaard being Whit’s replacement. (although that also sounds kind of funny to think about. ) I would be in favor of Emily Jones, though. Emily RULES!

In the episode For Three dollars More, in the Room of Consequence, we get to see a possible future for Matthew. It's the ROC, so just a program not necessarily the future, but it seems in character for Matthew. In the program, adult Matthew wants to build a community center for homeless kids to play at, reminding me some of the scene with Whit and a little girl named Jenny in Recollections. Later in that episode once the center is built, Matthew is seen being great with kids and helping lead them to Christ. If Matthew's actual future is similar to what happened in the ROC program, I could easily see him being like Whit when he's older.

Woah, I didn’t even think of that! I just re-listened to “For Three Dollars More” and I completely see what you mean. Matthew functioning as a type of Whit in the future could definitely work! Of course, that is if his reality follows the one programmed in the Room of Consequence. If it does, then that would be amazing. I would be in favor of that, and then I would say that we should rename the machine to Room of Coincidences.