Captain Ersatz
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
A fictional character created as a knock-off of another character whose copyright is owned by a separate entity.
Register: slang
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
> And Astro City isn't mainly about the superhero powers and fights,
No, it's mainly about the Captain Ersatz's and Kurt pretending to be a real novelist. Except, you know, his main characters are all superheroes and supervillains, so however much he apes Raymond Chandler his resolutions usually inv
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “Captain Ersatz” mean?
A fictional character created as a knock-off of another character whose copyright is owned by a separate entity.
Is “Captain Ersatz” formal or informal?
Captain Ersatz is generally slang.