All The Tropes

Self-Insert Fic: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Self-Insert Fic (view source)

Revision as of 15:16, 26 February 2015

87 bytes removed ,  9 years ago
m
clean up
VisualWikitext
m (update links)
m (clean up)
Line 4:
{{quote|''<small>"Once upon a time, there was [[Little Red Riding Hood|a little girl with an adorable red cape]] and</small> '''[[Large Ham|great FLAAAMING eyebrows]]'''!"''|[[Eldritch Abomination|Aku]], ''[[Samurai Jack]]''}}
 
As the name implies, a [['''Self-Insert Fic]]''' is one where the author has made a simulacrum of him- or [[Most Fan Fic Writers Are Female|herself]] -- commonly—commonly called an ''[[Author Avatar|avatar]]'' -- in—in the story's world as a key character. If the author has any sense of subtlety, the resulting character won't share their name or alias, but it's still easy to tell who that "new character" is.
 
The self-insert is very often a [[Mary Sue]] -- in—in matter of fact, the ''original'' Mary Sue ([[Trope Namer|she who gives that trope its name]]) was born from a parody of the standard [['''Self-Insert Fic]]'''. In the most extreme cases -- whichcases—which are [[Sturgeon's Law|''usually'' but not always quite bad]] -- the—the insert character gains some degree of godlike power, or retains considerable ([[OOC]]) knowledge of the series in which he's been inserted, or both, and ''uses'' them to [[Fix Fic|adjust things to his or her liking]]. In rare instances, it might work well -- especiallywell—especially if the people in the setting -- heroessetting—heroes and villains -- reactvillains—react accordingly to the new situation and the guy that knows all the stuff he saw in the (anime/game/etc) and the situation changes in ways the character can't anticipate.
 
However, equally common is the subversion, where the main character applies [[This Loser Is You]] to themselves and ends up as [[The Ditz]], [[The Fool]], or in extreme cases a [[Butt Monkey]]. Care must be taken to not still make themselves more important than anybody else, lest they just end up with an [[Anti-Sue]]. The main rule is to never put the character in a high-ranking story position, although they may be the narrator.
 
The Self-Insert has two primary varieties: the Self as New Character, where the author simply opens the top of the story and drops a copy of himself right in (a new body may be necessary to fit in with anthropomorphic worlds, but it's still you), and the Self as Existing Character, where the author finds himself forced to take over the life (and sometimes the body) of an existing [[Canon]] character -- withoutcharacter—without necessarily being restrained to staying "in character" for their new role. See [[Possession Sue]] for the latter.
 
Note that self-insertion isn't ''[[Tropes Are Not Bad|automatically]]'' [[Tropes Are Not Bad|bad]]. After all, there's nothing wrong with [[Wish Fulfillment|wanting to be a hero in your favorite show]] -- provided—provided that you remember to insert your flaws as well as your fantasies. After all, not everybody loves and adores you in real life, so they're not all going to love and adore you in a fanfic, either. Play it this way, and even if somebody does notice that you've just written an [[Author Avatar]], they probably won't mind ''too'' much. Self-insertion, complete with flaws and realistic reactions from everyone involved, is just as good a way to make a new OC as any other. What was originally a self-insert can even adapt and evolve into a genuine Original Character.
 
Even hooking up with your dream character can be acceptable provided they do so realistically. For example, Starscream from just about any ''[[Transformers]]'' universe is a real creep, as are many other Seekers. Maybe your OC will eventually hook up with him but it's hardly likely to be an instant thing when he won't stop perving your chassis or shut up about how much better than you he is, and it probably won't be genuine lovin' for a while either.
Line 27:
=== Anime & Manga ===
* Interestingly deconstructed, averted, and played ''straight'' in ''[[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 -- theeverything—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]], [[It's All About Me|selfish]] and generally [[Dirty Coward|unlikable]] [[Damsel in Distress|damsel in constant distress]] and making [[Author Avatar|Fanfic!Myrthe]] experience an [[Deus Angst Machina|ongoing]] [[Chew Toy|series]] [[Mind Rape|of]] [[Break the Haughty|nasty]] [[Everything Trying to Kill You|events]]. And then lets her character react to these events [[Deconstruction|in a way]] that does [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|not]] [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids|flatter]] [[Freak-Out|her]] [[Dirty Coward|character]] at all.
* [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]''.
Line 43:
* 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]]'' 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 ½|Ranma One Half]]'' -- and—and finds he has to abide by her [[Yamato Nadeshiko|"rules of behavior"]]. His efforts to find loopholes in those rules, and the repercussions his successes have on the established plot, are what really make this a fun story. Just, please, ignore the utterly cringeworthy prologue describing Jesus getting mad at the author and punishing him with the insert.
** Speaking of ''Ranma ½'', fanfiction written in the mid-90's commonly featured [[Self-Insert Fic]], but with amusing twists due to authors trying to avoid the pitfalls of this trope. The most common twist was usually the author being deposited in the fic wholesale, with no changes from their real self, and the story characters teaming up to reap gallons of pain on the author for the things they've "put them through".
* [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.
Line 72:
* ''[[iCarly]]'': 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-Insert Fic]] material, but when the story opens with Vince McMahon handing over control of the family business to a total stranger, the tone is irreversibly set. (And don't start on the number of women's wrestlers who get into romance...)
** 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.
* Parodied extensively in the British comedy show ''[[Garth Marenghi's Darkplace]]''. The show is based on the premise that Garth Marenghi wrote and starred in a 80s low-budget hospital-based horror show. Many jokes are based on the idea that Garth Marenghi not only wrote the series, but also plays the central role in the show. As such, his own character -- Doctorcharacter—Doctor Rick Dagless, M.D. -- exhibits outrageously unrealistic traits.
* Lampshaded and spoofed in [http://web.archive.org/web/20030711193142/members.aol.com/tjats/204.html this episode of Science Fiction Theater 1,000,000,000] (a fan fiction series based on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'') where the [[Author Avatar]] tries to play the role straight, but after probing by Crow and Servo, he then turns into a typical [[Marty Stu]], even changing the series into Freedom Fighter Theater 3000 for a time.
{{quote|'''MAGIC VOICE:''' Warning! Unauthorized use of self insertion!
Line 115:
* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4483666/1/Neos_Happy_Funtime_Land Neo's Happy Funtime Land]'' by [[User:Neo The Saiyan Angel]] is an excellent parody of a Self Insert, in which the author rewrites an episode of ''[[Kim Possible]]'' and secretly tricks the animators and voice actors into producing it. The author describes herself as an "absolutely gorgeous person..." for a paragraph or two. Neo goes so far as to change a character's hair with the snap of her fingers, saying that she liked it better blond.
* [[User:Donteatacowman]]'s brief fic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4616905/1/The_Strange_Self_Insert The Strange Self Insert]'' sees the author dropped into ''[[Kim Possible]]'' to gush over Ron (but she preferred him evil) and tell Kim she's one-dimensional. Unsurprisingly, they decide to send her home as quickly as possible.
* In the ''[[Animaniacs]]'' fanfic ''A Horrible World of Plot Holes and Spelling Errors'', the author inserted herself into the fic. Dot immediately recognized her as "that bitch who had me strangled to death by a drug addict on Christmas Eve". Since the fic was a parody of current fics, the Warners encountered no less than three [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]]s (two of which were hopelessly in love with Yakko), spelling errors galore, and a crazed fan of Dot. The Warners go to the author to see what was going on. She explained that it was a parody of Mary Sues and the role they play.
* ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. Where to begin? There's ''tons'' of them out there. When you find one, expect that the Sue will be in love with Danny and have ghost powers [[New Powers as the Plot Demands|for no explainable reason]].
* ''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|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]]'' 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-Insert Fic]] where the author accidentally switches [[Point of View|from third person to first]] at times, forgetting that they're supposed to pretend the protagonist totally isn't them. This story perhaps beats a record by doing so in ''the very second sentence'', and then doing so again, in both cases in the middle of a sentence--tosentence—to surreal effect.
{{quote|''... he found himself losing my grip on reality very quickly.''}}
 
Line 126:
=== Crossover ===
* <s>[[Atop the Fourth Wall|Linkara]]</s> [[Atop the Fourth Wall|Psyweedle]] wrote himself in as [[God Mode Sue|The Webmaster]] in a fic he <s> plagiarized from Dr. Who</s> wrote [[Old Shame|when he was 13.]]
* The [[Anti Cliche and Mary Sue Elimination Society]] is actually made up of (mostly) self-inserts to, ironically, [[Mary Sue Hunter|combat]] [[Mary Sue|Mary Sues]]s themselves; however, [[He Who Fights Monsters|the inserts actually work hard not to make themselves into Sues]]. Mostly through [[Lampshade Hanging|liberal usage of lampshades]].
* The character of Peter Chung in [[Star Destroyer Dot Net|Mike Wong's]] ''[http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Fanfic/Conquest/index.html Conquest]''; his academic and ethnic backgrounds are similar to those of the author's, and when analysing Imperial technology, he even brings up some of the same points made on the main part of the site.
 
Line 155:
** [[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 (novel)|Twilight]]'', thinks the book is a [[Self-Insert Fic]].
** 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.
Line 165:
* [[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-Insert Fic]] is Charlotte Bronte's ''[[Jane Eyre]]''. Like Jane, Charlotte was a governess to the children of Constantine Heger, a married man who she was "lonely" and "homesick for" when apart from him, and "attached to" when she was in his company. No crazy ladies in the attic at the Heger home, though. Jane's strong moral character and love for/ambivalence towards the rules set forth by God were also very much a part of Charlotte's personality. [[Self-Insert Fic]] can be cool!
* 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.
Line 191:
* [[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-Insert Fic]], complete with the Scooby Gang following him around like stunned guppies. It even includes a bit of [[Twin Threesome Fantasy]] for good measure.
* 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]].
Line 199:
* ''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-Insert Fic]] written by the main villain, whose [[Author Avatar]] hijacks the story from the usual protagonists and proceeds to wreak havoc on the plot and characters.
* 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]].
Line 233:
 
=== Fan Fic ===
* The fic ''Martian Manhunter'' turns the concept of the [[Self-Insert Fic]] on its ear, along with the [[Fusion Fic]]. [[Veronica Mars]] finds herself, along with her supporting cast and backstory, shoehorned into her favorite TV show, ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. It plays out as a self-insert fic, and yet it isn't. Much [[Better Than It Sounds]] here.
* Similarly, ''[http://archives.eyrie.org/anime/Shoujo-Kakumei-Utena/utena.ma-vie-et-roses.gz Ma Vie Et Roses]'' by Scott Johnson and Scott Jamison subverts and plays with Self Insertion. In this ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' fic, an anime fan finds himself shoved into a show he's barely even heard of. One of the authors, who was genuinely unfamiliar with the series at the time, wrote the actions of the pseudo-[[Author Avatar]] Skyler Sands, while the other wrote the rest of the fic around him. Acting out of true ignorance, Skyler manages to thread his way through the main action while still ranging far afield (such as ending up joining the Shadow Girls' avante-garde theatre group). Skyler is very [[Genre Savvy]], which helps (but not enough), and eventually ends up speculating on the existence and motives of the "meta-Skyler" who put him in the story.
* ''[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|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]]'', it's mentioned that {{spoiler|Admiral Daro'Xen}}, who is [[Yandere]] for Shepard in a big way, has written quite a few [[Self-Insert Fic]] [[Real Person Fic|Real Person Fics]]s involving herself and Shepard. According to those who know of them, they're quite sick and depraved, second only to [[Noodle Incident|what Prazza did in]] ''[[Noodle Incident|Fornax]]''[[Noodle Incident|'s Forbidden Issue]], and illustrate quite nicely how completely fucked up {{spoiler|Admiral Xen}} is.
 
 
Line 245:
 
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* Historical example: Given the state of the facts, Martha Jane Canary-Burke, aka ''[[wikipedia:Calamity Jane|Calamity Jane]] herself'', may be the world's first fangirl to create [[Self-Insert Fic]] -- herFic—her claims of relationship to Wild Bill Hickok and serving under Custer are largely unverifiable or false by history.
* Similarly, [[wikipedia: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.
 
Gethbot
Bots
10,856

edits

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1262126"