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Alternate Universe Fic: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
All fanfic is arguably an [[Alternate Continuity]], since the audience can assume it intends to follow [[Canon]] to a specific point, then branch off. Indeed, the only major fic types that ''don't'' branch off are post series [[Continuation]] fics and those written to fit neatly into canon, as they don't disrupt the continuity. However, labeling something an ''AU Fic'' sometimes has a different implication, where one fundamental aspect of the series is completely overhauled from its point of origin.
The standards for how much is fundamental to the series vary by fandom and by time of writing, but the fic types that are usually considered AU are the following:
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* '''[[Continuation]]''' - There are also the [[Continuation]] fics written before the series has finished, which are [[Jossed|rendered AU]] when new episodes in canon contradict the events of the fic. This is more of an [[Alternate Continuity]], as the opening paragraph mentions, but tends to be considered AU too. Retrospectively, these fics become the [[What If]] variaton mentioned above, but are written from a different stance. (''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' ficdom was particularly prone to these until after the publication of ''[[Harry Potter/Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|Deathly Hallows]]''.)
Full-blown AU fic is tricky, as it should require a fair notion of the original series itself, making it harder to read for some casual fans. There's also the major danger of the [[Transplanted Character Fic]], because if you change the plot too much the story's not so much a [[Fanfic]] as an original story with familiar names. On the plus side, rookie fans who might suffer from [[Continuity Lock Out]] in the canon series because they only found it after it became established may be able to enjoy AU fics, particularly if they actually explain a lot of the universe and don't [[Fan Myopia|assume that you know all the important things already]]. Trying to follow ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' when you first start watching in its fifth season, with all the [[Character Development]] that's taken place up to that point, is a lot harder than cutting your teeth on an AU fic that starts out with the Scoobies in high school and doesn't require any advance knowledge of the setting.
See also [[Universal Adaptor Cast]] and [[Fix Fic]]. Other types, such as [[Mary Sue]] and [[Crossover]] fics, are arguably AU too, but don't get counted as such.
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== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Downfall (fanfic)|Downfall]]'' is a continuity where Aizen never was the villain, instead {{spoiler|Unohana, you know... [[Team Mom]]... is the [[Big Bad]]. Kyoraku and Ukitake follow her. Nel is Primera. Gin and Ran are Soul Society's resident experts on relationships. Rukia dies.}}
* Gregg "Metroanime" Sharp's ''[http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/sharp.html The Bet]'' is a cycle of stories based around a competition by a group of gods, demons, spirits and the occasional mortal to see who can make the biggest change in one of several "standard" timelines (the [[Canon]] versions of ''[[Ranma ½|[[Ranma
* ''A Fox in Tokyo'' by [[Doghead Thirteen]] is one for ''[[Naruto]]'', where the main change is that it's set in the author's [[Mega Crossover]] [[Top Dog]] universe, which includes a modern-day Tokyo where Nerima is a separate country owned and ruled by [[Ranma ½|Soun Tendo]], who is a werewolf. Needs to be seen to be believed.
* ''[[Team 8]]:'' Another ''[[Naruto]]'' fic. Something (currently a [[Noodle Incident]]) happens in Kurenai's past, and when she is tapped to train a genin team, she goes out of her way to request a specific newly-graduated ninja--her ninja team consists of Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and {{spoiler|Naruto Uzumaki}}.
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* It takes place in a new cyberpunk/gothic setting, but ''[[Soul Eater]]'' has an AU by Ryo Hoshi called ''[[Fan Fic/Shadows On The Walls|Shadows on the Walls]]'', which has a very strange mix of People In Jars, Lotus Eater Machine, and features some familiar faces traveling as a band...and has the Cargo Ship of Soul Eater Evans and booze. Oh, right, and Maka is a prostitute and Noah [[Memetic Molester|does what he does best.]]
* Another one for ''[[Soul Eater]]'' would be ''[[Fan Fic/A Souls Songbook|A Soul's Songbook]]'', which is a result of a single [[What If]] involving a switch in who won a battle nearly a thousand years before the start of the canon that ends up turning it into a [[Crapsack World]] run by the [[Big Bad]] of the canon, with, among other things, a rare example of [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] sharing a world with Real Jesus...and the [[Eldritch Abomination]] cult.
* ''[[Fan Fic/Genius Is A Curse|Genius is a Curse]]'', a [[Death Note]] [[Dark Fic]], where Ryuk never drops his Death Note, and Light never becomes Kira, and thus has nothing to alleviate his sheer boredom with. Deals with clinical depression.
* By the same author as ''Genius is a Curse'', a more extreme example of AU. [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4382737/1/ It's Just A Game]. The page description: "It's [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future|2016]] & Light is bored to death. Ryuk offers him the Death Note, a program that lets him wreak havoc anonymously in a virtual world. L pursues this Kira, but when real people start dying, the line between fantasy and reality blurs beyond recognition." L works for Wammy House, the software company making the game, and Ryuk is a disillusioned game programmer they fired. Seems to toy with [[Your Mind Makes It Real]].
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist: Threads of Time|Fullmetal Alchemist Threads of Time]]'' focuses on the notion of Alphonse attaching Edward's soul to a suit of armor, and Alphonse obtaining automail limbs.
* ''[[Fan Fic/Zeon Quest|Zeon Quest]]'' is a Gundam AU fic focusing on how one soldier has managed to already permanently alter the Universal Century.
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== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'':
** The ''[[Fan Fic/Retrograde|Retrograde]]'' series by Ltlj. Its main premise is that the Daedalus did ''not'' reach Atlantis in time, but rather, the shadowy bad guys of the NID sent the Iapetus to destroy Atlantis first.
** ''[[Fan Fic/Out Of Bounds|Out Of Bounds]]'' by Icarus (figure skating AU)
** ''[[Fan Fic/Written By The Victors|Written By The Victors]]'' by Speranza (secession AU)
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== Tabletop Games ==
* The Warhammer 40,000 universe, courtesy of the Bolter and Chainsword forum, has a variation of the canon universes Horus Heresy entitled The Dornian Heresy. Essentially it explores the setting replacing the main antagonist with the titular brother - Rogal Dorn. Still a work in progress.
** Also of note is a seperate attempt, from the same forum, to replace the main antagonist of the Horus Heresy with another of his brothers - Roboute Guilliman.
== Video Games ==
* One [[Red Stormtrooper|troper]] is working on a [[Valkyria Chronicles]] / [[Real Life]] double AU, called ''[[Battlefield Gallia]]''. It's still early in the war (November 1940, Operation Sea Lion), but [[World War Two]] as we know it will take place in some shape, albeit in really mutated form. {{spoiler|As of yet, Gallia mostly resembles Poland, and we all know who [[Those Wacky Nazis|won there]].}}
* ''[[Renegade (fanfic)|Renegade]]'' is a crossover fic that explores how differently the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' universe would be if elements of the ''[[Command
* ''[[A Complete Turnabout]]'', an ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' fanfiction, takes place in an [[Alternate Universe]] where the DL-6 incident never happened, with the twist that the main character is Canon!Phoenix, trusted into Alternate!Phoenix' life for reasons yet to be revealed.
* ''[[Devil May Cry]]'''s Dante being Nero's father in "[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6822576/1/Like_Father_Like_Son Like Father, Like Son]" ({{spoiler|Which, hell, [[Shrug of God|might even be canon]], but the generally accepted theory is Vergil}}). [[Sink-or-Swim Fatherhood]] [[Hilarity Ensues|hijinks ensue]].
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== Webcomics ==
* ''[[Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name]]'' has several well-loved and widely played with [[A Us]]:
** [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6062841/1/bDead_b_of_bNight_b Dead Of Night] is a swapped 'verse, with zombie!Hanna, Unzombie, vampire!Worth, human!Conrad, and so on. Pairings are [[Slash Fic|Conrad/Worth]] and [[Heterosexual Life Partners|platonic]] Hanna/Unzombie. Has [http://squireofbabylon.deviantart.com/#/d2wtm0h coverart], [http://miyazaki-a2.deviantart.com/art/Dead-of-Night-chp10-illus-175972329 Chapter illustration], and [http://demyrie.deviantart.com/art/Guardian-171023390 assorted] [http://demyrie.deviantart.com/journal/36074007/#/d3279di other] [http://demyrie.deviantart.com/art/DoN-Bohemian-Rhapsody-172879876 comics] [http://demyrie.deviantart.com/art/Predator-171430088 and] [http://demyrie.deviantart.com/gallery/25501156?offset=48#/d2syn13 art].
** The Punk AU has... well, a brash and outlandishly dressed Hanna, with Unzombie as a police officer he ends up working with. sometimes slash, sometimes pre-slash or friendship.:
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== Western Animation ==
* [http://www.annkniggendorf.de/gr/timeline.html AKK's] "Raumjager" for ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' uses a timeline where [[Nazi Germany]] not only won, but has gone on to conquer the galaxy, and the normally persecuted Shane is now considered a paragon of the ubermenchen ideal...scarier when you remember that the writer is German herself. She also wrote "If Only," where Niko [[Be Careful What You Wish For|wishes the tragedy that brought the Rangers together never happened]].
* [http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Fanon:A:TLAR A:TLAR] is a full-on AU reboot of the ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' storyline.
* ''[[Fan Fic/Pirates Versus Privates|Pirates Versus Privates]]'' takes almost every Disney canon there is and smashes them together, though it focuses the most on the Sensational Six.
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