Point of Divergence: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Content added Content deleted
m (cnp error. Special:Interwiki)
(examples template, trope needs examples, added categories)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{trope|wppage=Point of divergence}}
{{trope|wppage=Point of divergence}}
A point of divergence is a specific event in an [[Alternate Universe|alternate history]] story that occurs differently than it did in factual history. Most alternate history authors will change a single event, creating a "ripple effect" that sets up the scenario. This divergence, which acts as the story's [[The "Unicorn In The Garden" Rule|"unicorn in the garden"]] or [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness/One Big Lie|"one big lie"]], may range in importance and realism from a character dropping or not dropping a piece of paper at a crucial time, to time travel and alien invasion (such as Harry Turtledove's [[Worldwar|"Balance" series]], when World War II is interrupted by a fleet of lizard-people from outer space).
A point of divergence is a specific event in an [[Alternate Universe|alternate history]] story that occurs differently than it did in factual history. Most alternate history authors will change a single event, creating a "ripple effect" that sets up the scenario. This divergence, which acts as the story's [[The "Unicorn In The Garden" Rule|"unicorn in the garden"]] or [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness/One Big Lie|"one big lie"]], may range in importance and realism from a character dropping or not dropping a piece of paper at a crucial time, to time travel and alien invasion (such as Harry Turtledove's [[Worldwar|"Balance" series]], when World War II is interrupted by a fleet of lizard-people from outer space).

{{examples}}
{{Trope Needs Examples}}


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:{{BASEPAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Pages needing more categories]]
[[Category:Time Travel Tropes]]
[[Category:Tropes Needing Examples]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Alternate History Tropes]]

Revision as of 04:37, 2 June 2018

A point of divergence is a specific event in an alternate history story that occurs differently than it did in factual history. Most alternate history authors will change a single event, creating a "ripple effect" that sets up the scenario. This divergence, which acts as the story's "unicorn in the garden" or "one big lie", may range in importance and realism from a character dropping or not dropping a piece of paper at a crucial time, to time travel and alien invasion (such as Harry Turtledove's "Balance" series, when World War II is interrupted by a fleet of lizard-people from outer space).

Examples of Point of Divergence include:

This trope has no examples and desperately needs them. You can help this wiki by adding those examples.