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Self-Insert Fic: Difference between revisions
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* Interestingly deconstructed, averted, and played ''straight'' in ''[[Dreaming of Sunshine (Fanfic)|Dreaming of Sunshine]]'' the [[Author Avatar]] is not godpowered- and, in fact, attempts to change the timeline as little as possible. This is actually justified, as she is attempting to retain her advantage by not rendering her knowledge of future events useless. This is difficult, as she arrived many years before the worst of the shit starts to hit the fan. She has some skills beyond the norm, but those stem from being reborn with her memory intact, not from being an Uberninja.
* Nine times out of ten, a new original senshi in any ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' fanfiction will be a self-insert, replete with godlike powers and totally authority over everyone and everything -- the girl is usually related to a canon character as well. Considering the show's target audience was teenaged girls, which then became 5-13 girls when the show hit the US, this is not surprising.
* In the [[Bleach]] fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6820157/1/bFanfictional_b_bFugitive_b Fanfictional Fugitive], the author directly admits that the main character is [[Author Avatar|based on herself]] as much as possible. Then she starts to pretty much beat the entire shit out of her(self?) by both turning the character based on herself into a [[Wangst|whiny]], [[Minor Injury Overreaction|powerless]], [[
* [http://www.fanfiction.net/u/40569/ Jared "Skysaber"] [http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/ornstead.html Ornstead] is known for his deliberately over-the-top self-insert character Skysaber, an interdimensional superspy-troubleshooter who was actually apotheosized into a literal god during the course of ''[http://www.asynjor.com/fanfic/sharp.html The Bet]''.
** His current (August 2007) project is a "type two" Self Insert called ''My Gilded Life'', in which he has found himself taking over the life of Gilderoy Lockhart right at the end of ''[[Harry Potter]] and the Philosopher's Stone''; with his knowledge of the books he is deliberately and relentlessly running roughshod over canon. Sadly, he seems to be losing control of the story, and it's running off the rails.
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* Possibly the most notorious self-inserter of all was the one known only as "Oscar"; his [[Author Avatar]] was a 13-year-old ''[[Dragonball Z|Super Saiyan]]'' hermaphrodite (no, that is ''not'' a joke) who engaged in a sexual affair with Artemis from ''[[Sailor Moon]]''... in his ''cat'' form. (Again, that is ''not'' a joke, as much as one might wish it so.) In later stories, Oscar became "involved" with Felicia from ''[[Darkstalkers (Video Game)|Darkstalkers]]'' and [[Looney Tunes|Lola Bunny]]. To top it all off, the real Oscar then mysteriously disappeared, and is now presumed dead. [http://www.nabiki.com/mst/megane67/mst/oscarfic/ A link to an] [[MST]] [http://www.nabiki.com/mst/megane67/mst/oscarfic/ series of some of his work]; linking to the actual ''stories'' would be [[NSFW]].
* Dr. X of ''[http://www.suburbansenshi.com Suburban Senshi]'' is a surprisingly well-done self-insert, even with his gobs of power that mix and match multiple canons. It's all in the writing (and the fun social commentary, upon which the series could stand alone).
* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/741167/1/Not_A_Dirty_Word Not A Dirty Word]'' by Michael Fetter is a rather... twisted, if witty parody of the usual Type 2 self-insert, in which the male author finds himself stuck in the body of Kasumi Tendo of ''[[Ranma
** Speaking of ''Ranma ½'', fanfiction written in the mid-90's commonly featured [[Self
* [http://www.heavens-feel.com/elmer/evad1.txt Tom. Fucking. Dyron.] is one of the more audacious, unbelievable examples readily available. His 13-chapter fic, ''Evangelion 2: The DELTA Invasion'' ('''EVANGELION 2'''!), is the most ridiculous mess ever seen. Tom, the character, is... look, just read it. MSTed in the link above, ''do not'' attempt to read it raw.
* [[David Gonterman]]'s <s>fanfics</s> ''everything'' feature Gonterman himself (or an obvious [[Author Avatar]]) as the story's ''real'' hero. In the rare cases he isn't, it's because he made an obvious dream heroine, whose boyfriend will be suspiciously similar to him.
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* The ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' character Will Shakespeare, based loosely on [[Shakespeare|the playwright]], [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/459.html wrote himself] into his ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfic. And later into his novelization of the ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' movies, as [http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/874.html Willimir].
* When challenged to write a shameless self-insertion in the Harry Potter fandom, [http://sam-storyteller.livejournal.com/ Sam Storyteller] went the 'godlike powers and meta knowledge' route. The end result was a touching [http://sam-storyteller.dreamwidth.org/99272.html guardian angel] style piece which may just have turned the genre on its head.
* The hero of ''The Takers'' is [[Two
* Many Harry Potter fanfictions feature an 'American exchange student' (in a British school), who happens to have a main character fall in love with them and be friends with everyone (even the Slytherins). No reason is ever given behind the exchange, nor do any Hogwarts students ever go over to America..
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* ''[[I Carly]]'': There is copious amounts of this usually by having a new transfer student that just happens to have the same name as the author joining the same school as the iCarly [[Power Trio]]. They also usually end up in a [[Love Triangle]] with them all.
* The [[Professional Wrestling]] internet fanbase ''loves'' this kind of fiction, often called "Dynasties", "Legacies", "Diaries", or just plain "Fantasy Booking".
** The whole concept of taking a wrestling company and shaping it as the author sees fit doesn't necessarily have to be [[Self
** In 85% of wrestling fanfic these days The Undertaker ALWAYS has a daughter in her early-twenties who, of course, falls in love with [insert name here but it's usually Randy Orton].
** Almost as common is a girl showing up as Matt and Jeff Hardy's long-lost sister. This will not necessarily stop her from sleeping with one or both of them.
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=== Web Original ===
* Dan O'Brien of ''[[Cracked]]'' has these as a regular feature of his blog. However, they're the self insert of a [[Self
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* ''Transformers''. Oh ''Primus'', where do I start... The classic example would be infamous [[Tri Chess]] (that now seems to disappear off the web). ''[[Transformers Armada]]'' has it the worst, with almost every OC being a self insert of various degree and a [[Mary Sue]]. Regularly played with and parodied in Insecticomics.
* Who hasn't seen ones like this in X-Men Evolution? Plenty to see, some not that bad, some terrible, you decide.
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', due to the high and notable levels of [[Longing for Fictionland]] in its fandom, has a lot of "human in Equestria" stories, and it can be guessed a lot of these are self-insert fics. ''[[Through the Eyes of Another Pony (Fanfic)|Through the Eyes of Another Pony]]'' began as an attempt to pull off a self-insert character well, though the protagonist's characterization has since evolved away from simply being the authorial alter ego.
** "[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7153949/1/Filling_the_Gap Filling the Gap]" (warning: not very safe for work, or for people with quality standards) is an example of a poorly disguised [[Self
{{quote| ''... he found himself losing my grip on reality very quickly.''}}
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=== Film ===
* One of the (two) screenwriters for the [[B
* [[Charlie Kaufman]] wrote himself into the script of ''[[Adaptation]]'', a movie "adapted" from the book ''The Orchid Thief''. The movie is about him trying to adapt ''The Orchid Thief'', and eventually writing himself into the script.
** The wild thing is that he manages to go the [[This Loser Is You]] route as well as the (well-written) Mary Sue route by inventing a fictional twin brother Donald who is everything Charlie is not. He even goes so far as to list Donald Kaufman in the actual credits of the film alongside himself, meaning that he was the first fictional character to be nominated for an Academy Award.
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** [[Canon Sue|Bella]] is never given a physical description in the text, but [[Word of God|SMeyer's description of Bella on her website]] sounds [http://bs3073.k12.sd.us/images/Stephanie%20meyer.jpg suspiciously familiar]:
{{quote| "very fair-skinned, with long, straight, dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Her face is heart-shaped -- a wide forehead with a widow's peak, large, wide-spaced eyes, prominent cheekbones, and then a thin nose and a narrow jaw with a pointed chin. Her lips are a little out of proportion, a bit too full for her jaw line. Her eyebrows are darker than her hair and more straight than they are arched. She's five foot four inches tall, slender but not at all muscular, and weighs about 115 pounds. She has stubby fingernails because she has a nervous habit of biting them."}}
** Even [[Robert Pattinson]], the guy who plays Edward in [[The Film of the Book]] ''[[Twilight (Literature)|Twilight]]'', thinks the book is a [[Self
** However, in the books, Bella is given so little physical description (or depth of character) that she is in many ways the ultimate in self-insert Mary Sues, because any girl reading it can slide herself into Bella's place (assuming she's not just reading it for the lulz). Meyer flat out said that she "left out a detailed description of Bella in the book so that the reader could more easily step into her shoes."
** There's also the fact that Edward is Stephanie's own [[Relationship Sue]], having at one point stated that if an actual Edward Cullen came along, she would leave her husband and children without a second thought.
* Well known among [[Mary Sue]] [[Hatedom|sporking]] communities is the infamous and ([[So Bad
* Halfway between fanfic and literature, in the ''Beekeeper's Apprentice'' we are introduced to Mary Russell. It is unrevealed whether her middle name is Sue, but Mary is a Sherlock Holmes fan who runs into the aging detective in Sussex (at a point after where the Conan Doyle stories end). Mary eventually gets a degree in theology and marries Holmes. She is of course written by an author who is a Sherlock Holmes fan with a degree in theology. However, the series is written by a professional author and you can buy it in bookstores.
* Clive Cussler writes himself into every one of his later [[NUMA Series|Dirk Pitt novels]], either overtly (with him stating his full name to Pitt at some point) or slightly more subtly (His initials, for example). He generally appears for the sole purpose of assisting the main characters in their adventures, who never manage to remember him, though they do find him familiar on occasion.
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* [[Older Than Print]]: In ''The [[Divine Comedy]]'', Dante ''is'' the author Dante Alighieri with a heavy dose of [[Wish Fulfillment]]: he gets to see his real-life enemies burn in Hell, interact with famous people he admires, reunite with his real-life lost love Beatrice who turns out to have loved him so much that she set up this whole journey to save him, and ascend all the way up to Heaven to see God up close. That said, he's not as bad as most examples of this trope because he's not idealized or talked up as a paragon of masculinity and the books are more about the places he journeys through than his heroic deeds or specialness.
* In the ''[[Redwall]]'' Series, Gonff from ''Mossflower'' was supposedly based on the author, Brian Jacques. That the later book ''Doomwyte'' {{spoiler|deals with Gonff's descendants}} probably has something to do with this.
* An example of a very good [[Self
* Christopher Paolini, author of the ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'' has stated that his main character Eragon started out as a fantasy version of himself doing things the real Christopher could never do.(i.e. being a Dragon Rider).However, he also says Eragon eventually developed into his own character and is no longer this.
* It's tough to say whether it counts as Mary Sue or autobiography, but either way Rivella in 17th century proto-novel ''The Adventures of Rivella'' ''is'' the author, Delariviere Manley.
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* [[Charlie Brooker]] likes to write in sneering, cynical [[Only Sane Man]]-type characters who resemble himself. In ''[[Nathan Barley]]'' the character of Dan Ashcroft qualified, and in ''[[Dead Set]]'' it was the [[Big Brother]] producer, Patrick.
** Although both of these are also clearly shown to be enormous bastards, so what this says about Brooker's opinion of himself is open to discussion.
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' epsiode "Superstar", Johnathan "Short Idiot" Levinson uses demonic powers to alter reality into a painfully-bad [[Self
* On ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'', Sheldon wrote a ''[[Star Trek]]'' fanfic when he was a kid, about how a little kid from Texas is taken away by Mr. Spock to join the crew of the ''Enterprise''.
* This is the basic gimmick of ''Secret Girlfriend''. The main protagonist is you. He's never referred to by name and never says anything out loud, but all of his friends adore "you." All of the jokes (which you're basically supposed to insert) are hilarious. All of the girls want you and you end up with most of them. You would probably feel awesome if not for your two friends being total idiots and your ex-girlfriend being a [[Yandere]].
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* ''50 Cent: Bulletproof'' and its sequel ''50 Cent: Blood on the Sand''. According to [[The Other Wiki]], when asked to do the voice for the main character of ''[[Grand Theft Auto San Andreas]]'', 50 Cent replied that he would only voice himself in a video game. So these little self-insert adventures were developed for him.
* This trope is literally invoked in the ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' series with the [[Winnie the Pooh|100 Acre Wood]]. Thanks to the magical nature of the book (it sucks the reader from the "real" world into the story), restoring the Pages (and thereby reconstructing the world) and interacting with the characters, allows Sora to (inadvertently) rewrite the plot of ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' to include himself as a prominent character. When you lock the world's keyhole, it even includes him on the cover with the rest of the characters.
* In-universe example: The fifth arc of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni]]'' is largely a [[Self
* Accidentally happened in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', when Shinkawa designed Otacon to look like [[Hideo Kojima]], and Kojima ran with it and based Otacon's personality off his own as well. While Otacon is one of the most heroic characters and ends up [[Relationship Sue|having sex with Naomi, a character Kojima based on his ideal woman,]] the amount of [[The Woobie|abuse Kojima piled on him]] easily overwhelms all this and makes him look kind of pathetic.
* Sakupen in [[Dad Series|Dadgame]] is probably a parody of this played for laughs (his power is ''really'' over the top, plus he runs away screaming when first engaged) which does not stop him from being [[That One Boss|atrociously]] [[God Mode Sue|hard]].
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* ''[http://indiemadnesse.sandwich.net/extract/extract.html Self-Extraction]:'' a "charming little tale of the people who write themselves in, and the people who shoot them back out", written round-robin by a half-dozen or so authors. Initially played for laughs but gets more serious toward the [[Dead Fic|incomplete]] ending.
* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3107822/1/ The Wild Horse Thesis]'' has [[Ranma ½ (Manga)|Ranma Saotome]] inserted via magic spell into the place of Shinji Ikari of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' by Gosunkugi in the hopes of getting rid of him. Unfortunately for the caster, Ranma uses his situation to his advantage, and proceeds to wreak havoc on Gendo's plans to change the ending of the anime for the better. One of the better examples on this page, it was good enough to earn a place on the [[Fan Fic Recommendations]] listing.
* In the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' fanfic ''[[Project Gethinator (Fanfic)|Project Gethinator]]'', it's mentioned that {{spoiler|Admiral Daro'Xen}}, who is [[Yandere]] for Shepard in a big way, has written quite a few [[Self
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=== [[Real Life]] ===
* Historical example: Given the state of the facts, Martha Jane Canary-Burke, aka ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamity_Jane Calamity Jane] herself'', may be the world's first fangirl to create [[Self
* Similarly, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Leonowens Anna Leonowens] (the "I" in ''[[The King and I]]'') similarly exaggerated her role and influence at the court of the king of Siam, though not to the extremes her erstwhile "biographers" did in the works based on her own.
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