Surprisingly Similar Stories: Difference between revisions

 

 

This page is '''not''' a collection for them. Here, we should experiment with finding some less obvious, and probably ''nonexistent'' connections, through wordplay, and selective examples of plot points. 

{{examples}}

* A corporation is secretly engaging in shady science experiments in a remote and hostile location and through a catastrophic accident opens a portal to a harsh alien realm, unleashing its horrific denizens into our world, who then go on a killing spree and wipe out most of the inhabitants in the laboratory and its surrounding buildings. The hero has to go up against them with little to no aid in an attempt to close the portal that is allowing them in. When he reaches the portal, he discovers the only way to close it is to travel through it into their dimension and destroy some monstrous creature on the other side.

* Our story centres around a forbidden romance, the likes of which are so iconic that the character's names have entered pop culture and are recognizable amongst people who don't know the story. Our heroine is a teenage girl who while heartbreakingly passive throughout most of the story makes a startling act of defiance towards the end. Our hero is well-known for his [[Purple Prose|wordyness]] and childlike attitude that may make him unsympathetic. The lovers are forbidden from contact by society, most vehemently her parents, but eventually they come together under hard-to-keep secrecy. The story ends in tragedy when they are separated and both of them die

** ''[[Lolita]]''? Or ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''?

** ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'', or ''[[Fern Gully|Ferngully: The Last Rainforest]]''?

* A young man goes into hibernation, and when he wakes up, he is in the distant future. This young man is a bit of a slob who likes to drink beer and is usually referred to by his last name. He becomes friends with a robot who likes to watch a robot-themed soap opera. He is in love with a woman who is smarter than he is. He has lots of adventures travelling through space, and he is somehow his own ancestor. 

** Is it ''[[Dune]]''? Or ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]''?

* Our heroes obtain an ancient magical artifact from a small, old green creature who talks to himself in third person. Said artifact must be destroyed to kill the [[Evil Overlord]], but it ''can't'' be destroyed through normal physical or magical powers. Eventually, the artifact that the heroes wear around their neck feels unusually heavy, tries to possess them, and influences the team to split up permanently. 

* Neurotic and emotionally unstable teenage girl falls in love with a [[Friendly Neighborhood Vampire]] who attends her high school. There is lots of talking. Eventually, the two get caught up in love triangle with a werecreature that ends with the girl and the werecreature deciding to be [[Just Friends]]. 

** ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' or ''[[Bakemonogatari]]''? 

** Now, are we in fact talking about ''[[The Inheritance Cycle]]'' or [[Star Wars|something else]]...?

** Alternatively, an angsty orphan discovers he has rare mystical powers. He leaves home at the behest of a stranger to study them, gaining a new weapon along the way. He later discovers it is his destiny to confront the evil [[Dark Lord]], [[Mentor Occupational Hazard|his mentor dies]] (twice!) and the villain's [[The Dragon|right-hand man]] was [[The Atoner|not such an awful person]] after all.

** ''[[The Stars My Destination]]'' or ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]''?

* A young girl who thinks her life is too ordinary has her family kidnapped by a predatory fairy being who can give you every little thing you want, but at a terrible price. With some help from those who are familiar with the fairy's ways, the girl enters the fairy's unreal, cobbled-together world, does battle with her, and through pluck and brains manages to defeat her and rescue her family. 

* Clumsy but endearing Japanese school girl meets a mysterious stranger (a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]) and before she knows it, she's pulled into supernatural adventures with him and his [[Five-Man Band]]. They discover that she has a unique power that they desperately need. Over time The Crew grows close until they are [[True Companions|almost like family]]. Though they try to deny it, eventually the girl and no-longer mysterious stranger admit that they care for each other.

** Is it ''[[Inuyasha]]'', ''Crescent Moon'', ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', or ''Blackbird'' ?

* A blue hero regularly defeats an evil robot-building scientist, picking up lots of new friends over the course of many games, including a red [[Friendly Rival]]. Later in the series, they meet an amnesiac character who turns out to have been created for evil purposes but who ends up catching morals and performing a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. However, they prove popular enough to appear in the next game anyway with little explanation.

** ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' or ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]?''

** ''[[Doctor Who]]'' or ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''?

* A powerful man who once was a morally superior good guy gets seduced by a greater evil power. He becomes very evil himself, even though some doubt it has happened. He leads part of a huge army and is the public face for the larger evil that is widely feared but stays hidden for most of the time. In the end he inevitably meets his downfall by betrayal. Also, the man is played by [[Christopher Lee]].

*** Or is he one Lee away from [[Green Lantern|Sinestro?]]

* A classic [[Disney]] musical about British children starved of parental attention who come under the care of a woman with magical powers, including the ability to fly and to make inanimate objects come to life. Mostly live-action, but includes a memorable sequence in which the protagonists visit a fantasy world rendered in animation, with talking animals and a sporting event with an unlikely outcome. Features David Tomlinson in a major role and numerous songs written by the Sherman Brothers.

** ''[[Mass Effect]]'', or ''[[Babylon 5]]''?

** Also, both sets of representatives eventually employ an elite security organization that's above the law, and only accountable to the person/persons at the very top of said station's [[The Federation]] (SPECTRE's and Rangers).

** ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'', right? Are you sure it's not ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]''?

* This [[Darker and Edgier]] installment begins with the main hero of the story in heaven after having fallen to his/her death near the end of the previous arc. He/She comes back wrong before getting better. Meanwhile, his/her powerful wizard ally becomes obsessed with increasing hir magical power, and, in a [[Kick the Dog]] moment, callously disintegrates a [[Smug Snake]] villain who had themselves just crossed the [[Moral Event Horizon]] by murdering a likeable supporting character. Said wizard also undergoes a power upgrade combined with a darker, evil new look after hir loved ones are threatened and begins the next arc back to normal but still trying to atone for and deal with what (s)he did during hir flirtation with evil. 

* A painfully average young man meets an eccentric, [[Blithe Spirit|blithe, spirited]], unrestrainable [[Strange Girl]] who violates all rules of common etiquette, propriety, and modesty...and he's inexplicably attracted to her in some bizarre, frightened way. Despite the danger/folly of associating with her, he can't stay away, no matter how uncomfortable her strange habits, such as her history of serial dating, make him.

** ''[[Daisy Miller]]'' or ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya|Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu]]''?

** ''[[Mistborn]]'' or ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''?

** ''[[The Princess and the Frog]]'' or ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''?

* We open with our antihero, a man with a Scottish name and a nickname that means something significant in Latin. He's a war veteran who now finds himself in a less noble line of work. In the pilot, after a meeting with a potential client goes south, the client explains that it's offensively obvious that our antihero thinks he's better than all this. But does he really? While he doesn't like to talk about his origins, we eventually learn that he grew up as a poor, adopted farmhand before a traumatic event in the war prompted him to transform himself. Now, he struggles to be honorable even as he must constantly deceive. Women in his life: well, there's the one who's been devoted to him for years, but he just takes her for granted. The woman he wants is fiercely independent, and it drives him crazy to have to stand by as she sleeps with an endless succession of other men. Then there's the much younger woman who works for him, but there's no tension there. She's just interested in the new guy, who drives our antihero crazy with his arrogant ambition and elitist style. Witty, feminist, and original, the show enjoys a cult following and critical acclaim. It's never quite made it to the mainstream. Special mention has to go to Christina Hendricks's character, a talented redhead who tries to use a marriage as a means to an end, only to have it backfire horribly.

** ''[[Chzo Mythos|5 Days a Stranger]]'' or ''[[Scratches]]''?

* A [[A World Half Full|dark, but ultimately idealistic]] [[Seinen]] anime series starring an ''extremely'' morally dubious [[Tall, Dark and Handsome]] [[Anti-Hero]] with a [[Dark and Troubled Past]], [[Big Brother Instinct|sister issues]], and the apparently unwitting ability to [[Chick Magnet|cause anything with two X chromosomes to melt into a puddle of]] [[Squee]], both in [[Mr. Fanservice|and out]] of the story. Thanks to his behavior in his [[Secret Identity]], the fandom [[The Cowl|often compares]] him to [[Batman]]. The plot is a [[Gray and Grey Morality]]-filled [[Melee a Trois]] involving a corrupt government, [[La Résistance]], and psychics with one very specific power apiece, of which the protagonist is one. There's a [[Hero Antagonist]] with whom there's a certain amount of [[Ship Tease]] and [[UST]] going on (complicated by the fact that they don't know their friend is the criminal they're trying to stop) and a [[Mysterious Waif]] with green hair who knows more than she lets on, is a good bit [[Older Than They Look|older than she looks]], and has a complicated emotional relationship with the protagonist that may be at least partially romantic. Said green-haired character is obessively loved by a murderous [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]]. The anti-hero also has a [[Phenotype Stereotype]] rival who is more personally pleasant but also more ruthless. He is dubbed by [[Troy Baker]]. The second season is considered hit-or-miss in part due to a difficult-to-follow plot and the fact that the hero is much less likable for part of it, and features a younger character who shows up near the beginning and joins the protagonist ([[Replacement Scrappy|earning the wrath of part of the fandom]] for [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|"stealing the real main character's spotlight"]]). There's a good bit of Pizza Hut [[Product Placement]] (to the point that [[Memetic Mutation|it's become an internet joke]]), and the soundtrack is ''[[Crowning Music of Awesome|amazing]]''.

* A rather posh, blonde girl meets a white rabbit, who leads her to fall into a strange, unfamiliar world, full of talking animals and unusual characters. These include a grumpy bug, a sleepy creature who tells stories that go nowhere, a pair of twins who do battle and a malevolent monarch who wants the protagonist dead.

** ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'' or ''[[Brandy and Mr. Whiskers]]''?

* Our hero is a sensitive, if rather passive, young man, living in a dystopic society. One of his parents has been notably absent from his life, while the other one is manipulative and controlling. Due to the influence of said parent, he is forced into an uncaring social system that devastates his sense of self-worth and leads him to commit soul-destroying actions. A potential love interest offers temporary relief, but communication problems surface, and the characters drift apart, unable to overcome external pressures and their own insecurities. Under great stress, the protagonist withdraws to the safety of his own mind, walling himself off totally from the world. A [[Mind Screw]] sequence drenched in [[Nightmare Fuel]] (and loads of [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]) results. In the end, however, there is the briefest suggestion that things may be better in the future. [[Gainax Ending|Or not]].

* (Admittedly, part of this is probably a [[Shout-Out]]). A man with prodigious powers of illusion and trickery is prohibited from entering the United States, though he dearly wishes to, referring to it as "going home." Meanwhile, a younger man's father has just died in Australia, leaving behind unresolved issues in their relationship, though they were close enough that the son has taken up his father's profession. The son takes his father's body on a flight from Sydney to LAX for the funeral. Once over the ocean, though, the son becomes ensnared in the illusionist's scheme. He's subjected to a series of surreal experiences, culminating in a final reconciliation with his father. Along the way, he's followed by a mysterious series of six numbers, and ends up having to enter them into a device, without ever really understanding what's going on. On the other side of the fourth wall, the audience is [[The Untwist|surprised]] by the final revelation that, though parts of the story were illusions, the whole thing did not turn out to be a dream (that we know of, anyway). On the other hand, since the father and son's last name refers to an ancient profession associated with Jesus's apostles, maybe [[Everybody Is Jesus in Purgatory]].

** Wait, whose subconscious are we going through exactly? [[Inception|Robert Fischer]]'s or [[Lost|Jack Shephard]]'s?

** [[Harry Potter|Potter]] or [[The Dresden Files|Dresden]]?

* [[Love At First Sight]] [[Mayfly-December Romance]] story between an ageless supernatural creature and an emotionally disturbed human [[Single-Target Sexuality|who claims to have never felt attraction to another individual before]]. Despite suffering a great deal of physical or emotional abuse at the hands of the immortal, the human continues to maintain that their romance is based on True Love, and is eager to consumate their relationship, which the Immortal is hesitent to do.

** [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Prince Zuko]]? Or [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Shinji Ikari]]?

* A man and his wife become the emperor and empress of [[The Empire]], they have a son and a daughter, and the wife disappears. Years later the man and his son have a fight and the son decides to leave home. Fast forward a few years later, and the son has joined a rebellion against his dad, while his little sister is still in favor. Towards the end of the series, he finally [[Calling the Old Man Out|confronts said dad]] and {{spoiler|becomes emperor himself despite the expectations of every politically-savvy person in the country.}}

** The [[Avatar: The Last Airbender|Fire Nation]] or the [[Code Geass|Britannian Empire]]?

* Paraphrased from a wonderful person on [[My Anime List]].net: A guy beats the shit out of whiny bitches with superpowers and can negate said superpowers when his right hand makes contact with said whiny bitches.

** Is it ''[[Code Geass]]'' or ''[[Wicked (novel)|Wicked]]''?

* This is about [[Bishonen]] [[The Hero|hero]] of a quite [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism|cynical]] story who somehow gets bad publicity. Arguably a [[Char Clone]]. Voiced by [[Johnny Young Bosch]] on at least one occasion. He has a pacifistic girl companion who wants world peace. While a girl of the [[La Résistance]] he belongs in had a case of [[Bodyguard Crush]] with him, too bad he's a [[Celibate Hero]]. To achieve world peace, he do things most people see as "questionable". His enemies include a [[Hero Antagonist]] who later helps him at the end, and a [[Complete Monster|horrifyingly evil]] [[The Emperor|Emperor]]. In the end of the story, he pulls out a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], and while other people cheered at it, his companion girl cries in sorrow. [[Earn Your Happy Ending|Earn Your]] [[Bittersweet Ending]] indeed...[[Tear Jerker|T_T]] And many fans who truly (or [[Fan Dumb|excessively]]) loves him says that [[He's Just Hiding|He's Just Hiding.]]

** ''[[Ctrl+Alt+Del|Control Alt Delete]]'' or ''[[Family Guy]]''?

* The protagonist of this story is a teenage boy [[Gender Bender|who turns into a girl]] [[Murphy's Law|at the worst possible times]]. He soon meets his future love interest, a girl named Akane who [[Tsundere|alternates between shy/calm and rude/bitchy]] (One has red hair and the other has blue hair, but I can't remember which has which). Eventually, the protagonist soon nets a [[Harem]] of both girls and guys which he has trouble escaping. Several characters who enter the story are animals with human-like tendencies. Eventually, the show itself gradually switches from an action series with some [[Fan Service]] to a comedy that ramps the fanservice [[Up to Eleven]].

* This is about a red-clad sword-wielding [[Chaotic Good]] [[Badass]] hero. Somewhat of a [[Marty Stu]]. He's an [[The Atoner|atoner]] who [[Hunter of His Own Kind|hunts his own kind,]] and interestingly enough, he's the original of his kind. He's also [[The Obi-Wan]] to his naive blue-clad partner. While he is [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|certainly good-hearted, he acts cold]] and doesn't hesitate to [[Shoot the Dog]]. He also has lived for [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|about a hundred years or so.]] 

** [[Guilty Gear|Sol Badguy]] or [[Mega Man X|Zero]]?

* Even ''New York Times'' op-ed columnist Maureen Dowd has joined in the fun: read her [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/opinion/10dowd.html?_r=1&ref=opinion column] and see if you can guess what work of art she is talking about.

* Our protagonist is a young man who wakes up with [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|severe amnesia]] and [[Shapeshifter Weapon|the ability to morph his body into living weapons]]. He discovers that something recently happened ([[Super Prototype|possibly related to him]]) that is unexpectedly turning ordinary people into mutants. The young man tries to discover the source of his amnesia and stop the mutants from killing everyone, mostly by absorbing their mutations. The young man also deals with two separate organizations. One is an offspring of the military that is solely focused on the annihilation of all mutants, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|no matter what the cost]], and the other is the mutants, led by [[Big Bad|a mysterious person]] [[Humanoid Abomination|who can control his/her mutations]] and [[Complete Monster|wants to kill all humans]].

** Is it Don Bluth's ''[[Thumbelina]]'' or Leonard Bernstein's ''[[Candide]]''?

* A musical about how a hero leaves home and becomes a celebrity because he dislikes his normal life, or else it has been unkind to him. A villain wants to either enslave him or kill him for his own selfish reasons. In order to weaken the will of the hero, he sends a girl, who works as his slave due to te consequences of her own selfishness, and who also parades around in seductive dress, to seduce him. The girl, however, develops an actual crush on him and helps him escape the villain. In the end, the villain is no longer dominant over the hero and he gets to be with the woman he loves. Involves several instances of characters escaping death, and one instance of the hero being restored to his original self.

* A blond man who's pretty good with a sword arrives in the middle of a plot he doesn't understand. His love interest, a brunette, turns out to know more about the plot than she lets on. He meets a mentor character who is strangely similar to a legendary soldier he's otherwise familiar with. He has various battles with a man who refuses to drop dead no matter how many times he's killed and proves why you should hate him by killing someone which agitates a major character. He learns that his childhood was mostly fiction and is repeatedly visited by a person of ambiguous gender with their face covered. He's swallowed by a huge, unnatural sea monster controlled by his father figure, confronts his father figure in a replica of a location he knew from a simulation and fights giant robots.

** ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Voyager]]'' or ''[[Red Dwarf]]''?

* A movie musical with heavy visual effects (though most of them focused on aspects of one particular character) and score by Alan Menken. Stars two protagonists, one girl and one guy. The guy is downtrodden or misunderstood and the girl is blonde. The girl desperately wants to leave her home area but can't. The villain, who is given [[Crowning Music of Awesome|at least one show-stopping number]], acts as a force gradually growing stronger against one of the protagonists, who knows a secret that is vital to the villain's life. The villain also sings songs to keep the protagonist on a leash in order to gain nourishment. Features an adorable green character. One of the characters has a [[Disney Death|near-death experience]] caused by the villain. Also, a major plot point involves a plant with some kind of unique supernatural power. At least one of the songs has once been sung by Mandy Moore.

* A man in a long, black coat and his female associate challenge people to possibly deadly games which usually involve blades and makeshift devices. Contestants are briefed on the challenge beforehand and have a few hours to complete the challenge. All the materials required to succeed are available, but they must go to great lengths to acquire them. If they do, there's usually a face-off with their enemies before they can be considered winners. Their games end up being great re-run material for [[Channel 4]].

** This is ''[[Saw]]'', of course. Or is it ''[[Scrapheap Challenge]]''?

** So, is this ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force|Ben 10 Alien Force]]'' or ''[[Dragonball Z]]''?

* [[Love Makes You Crazy]] the series. [[Miyuki Sawashiro]] voices a foreigner living in Japan, and [[Hiroshi Kamiya]] is a well-educated [[Bishonen]] whose family goes for weird names.

* A man from a BBC One series of the mid-Noughties, with a brown coat and a massive female fan base, played by an actor whose voice is completely different to his character's. He has various companions in different series, including one named Tyler, but he is in all of them. He is the rival and occasional friend of a time-traveller played by John Simm and is eventually saved by {{spoiler|the character sacrificing himself at the end of the series}}. He's {{spoiler|technically died}} at least once.

** [[Doctor Who|The Tenth Doctor]] or [[Life On Mars|Gene Hunt]]?

** ''[[Naruto]]'' or ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star Trek]]''?

* A charismatic former revolutionary who was captured by the regime he tried to defeat. Said regime commits [[Mind Rape]] and a mindwipe on him. The revolutionary breaks free of the programming, steals a ''very'' [[Cool Ship]], and proceeds to raise hell. May have been trying to fight a greater evil coming from outside known space with said revolution. Before we get any real answers, however, he vanishes into the unknown and dies ignobly. Said cause was taken up by one of his followers who previously refused to go along with the revolution, gets a couple former crew members and two AI units from his/her predecessor, and the cool ship...only to die ignobly with the man whose influence s/he could never escape. 

** ''[[Beauty and the Beast]]'' or ''[[Tangled]]''?

* This story begins underground, with a burrowing colony whose philosophy is to dig as often as possible to avoid danger from the outside world. One digger, whose name ends with "-imon", accidentally causes animal-like creatures to attack the colony. He is then exiled from said colony, joining up with a large, boisterous friend. Eventually, the digger meets and rescues a young, innocent child who is related to the [[Big Bad]], left for dead. The digger relays his philosophy to said child and, after a [[Time Skip]], they go off to defeat the [[Big Bad]] and his forces.

** This is ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', right? Or is it {{spoiler|''[[The Lion King|The Lion King 1 1/2]]''}}?

** ''[[Dracula (novel)|Dracula]]'' or ''[[Harry Potter]]''?

* Let's see...four person main cast, but [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] among the guest stars, including politicians, alien ambassadors, allies and a large [[Rogues Gallery]]. [[The Hero|The field commander]] is borderline suicidal and lost his family due to tragedy. [[The Chick]] is a scientist who likely has the most common sense, but is still a trained fighter. [[The Smart Guy|There's a Ph.D.]] who signed on reluctantly, is grossly underpowered compared to his teammates, but can be really dangerous if pushed. And a [[The Big Guy|walking tank bred to be a fighter]] who is the only non-human crew. The commander back home has the unenviable task of putting up with both the team's antics and the crooked politicians trying to shut the project down. 

** ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers]]'' or ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''? (Lampshaded [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2A7mdZ6mcQ here] with the German version of the ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers|Galaxy Rangers]]'' theme)

* One day, a young boy without a mother or father is recruited by a teacher from a school of magic. He quickly gets acquainted with other students, including an intelligent girl he becomes fast friends with, and a blonde male that views the boy as a rival that's getting undeserved fame. Using a strange power he had since the day he was born, the boy overcomes all odds and finds success. However, it is because of this power that his friends are constantly put into near-death scenarios. In the end, the young boy uses everything he's learned at the school to try and save it, and accepts that he might have to die for the danger to go away for good. Oh, and the black-haired teacher that poses a threat to the boy near the end of his adventures had a ''really'' close relationship with one of the boy's parents.

* A kind-hearted male protagonist in a nice jacket goes back in time to [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong|prevent the deaths of those around him]]. His main skill is to manipulate small objects in order to effect changes in the timeline. When he uses his power, the world turns [[Deliberately Monochrome]] and [[Time Stands Still]]. The protagonist finds out that {{spoiler|the main villain has a twisted, murderous obsession that's gotten worse over the course of many years and a power that directly complements his own. The villain uses this power to directly oppose the hero and [[Make Wrong What Once Went Right]]}}. The result is a complex story spanning multiple timelines, and an ending which is a bit of a [[Mind Screw]] if you're not paying attention. The villain {{spoiler|can be talked out of his craziness}}. A mysterious cat proves central to the story, as it {{spoiler|time-travels while carrying the source of the hero's power and becomes immortal as a result due to an unexplained temporal effect}}.

** Which Nintendo DS game is this? Is it ''[[Time Hollow]]'', or {{spoiler|''[[Ghost Trick]]''}}?

** ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya|The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' or ''[[Medaka Box]]''?

* A girl is annoyed with her baby brother. However when he gets kidnapped by the shapeshifting monarch of [[The Fair Folk]], she allies with some eccentric but good-hearted beings to rescue him. Amongst the challenges she faces are illusions designed to hold her back: one that she's back home and it was [[All Just a Dream]], and one of a [[Dances and Balls|glorious ballroom]]. In the end, she defeats the monarch through sheer willpower. Oh, and early on she discovers that [[Our Fairies Are Different|winged fairies]] are basically vicious humanoid insects. 

* A girl with low self-esteem (despite being revered like a goddess by everyone around her, especially male admirers, who can't wait to risk their lives to protect her) moves against her will to a dark, gloomy, Gothic landscape. She is in a [[Star-Crossed Lovers]] plot with a guy for whom [[Stalking Is Love]] and who admits that he is bad news but claims he is so madly, passionately in love with her, he can't stay away. She literally can't function when she's separated from him. She meets a [[Nice Guy]] who would be a much safer, more dependable partner but rejects him in favor of [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|her bad boy]].

** ''[[The Mysteries of Udolpho]]'', ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' or ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]''?

** ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', or {{spoiler|''[[CROSS†CHANNEL]]''}}?

* A mysterious, handsome vampire is attracted to and intrigued by a clumsy human girl, who considers herself unattractive, because he can't read her mind. Said vampire is part of a family of vampires whose patriarch is trying to bring them to a new style of life and abandon old-fashioned stereotypes. [[Our Vampires Are Different|They are immune to sunlight and garlic]]. Oh, and the vampire has a bratty sister who absolutely hates the human girl. The human girl has a variety of friends/allies, including a tribe of pugnacious, loyal fighters and a very attractive man who can shapeshift into a furry animal, and is fighting against an army of evil vampires who have been created as a fighting force.

* A brilliant but ruthless and rather amoral revolutionary takes on a totalitarian dictatorship in a postapocalyptic world, driven by personal pain from being a victim of said dictatorship's most terrible prison. Along the way, he picks up a teenage girl as a protege and becomes [[Shrouded in Myth]]. In the end, he dies, but [[My Death Is Just the Beginning|his death is just the beginning]]. 

** ''[[Mistborn]]'': ''The Final Empire'' or ''[[V for Vendetta]]''?

** ''[[Tangled]]'' or ''[[Ico]]''?

* A woman becomes the undisputed ruler of her domain, with the aid of her weak-willed male companion. She believes everyone should be happy, and so creates a brightly-uniformed [[Culture Police]] that ruthlessly deals with people who don't fit her definition of how things should be, subjecting them to [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]. Then the [[Guile Hero]] and companion(s) show up, and deliberately defy her, allying with the locals and eventually forcing the ruler to confront the falseness of her beliefs. The heroes then leave, with the people free to act however they want.

* An evil [[Fairy Godmother]] is the power behind the throne, having transformed a frog into a puppet ruler. She wants to consolidate her power by [[Arranged Marriage|arranging a marriage]] for kingdom's princess. The princess has other ideas, and allies with the heroes. Lots of [[Fractured Fairy Tale|Fractured Fairytales]] take place before the big confrontation during the palace [[Dances and Balls|ball]], [[When the Clock Strikes Twelve]].

** ''[[Kamen Rider]]'', ''[[Ghost Rider]]'' or ''[[Blue Beetle|the third Blue Beetle]]''?

* A warrior of justice who has [[Anime Hair|dark spiky hair]] and wears [[Limited Wardrobe|the same blue-and-white outfit every day]] has just made the wrong enemy. The [[Evil Is Sexy|pretty-boy villain]], nominally an agent of justice himself but corrupted by his inflated ego, [[False Friend|pretends to be his friend]] while secretly masterminding a plot to have him taken out of commission. What the villain doesn't count on are the spiky-haired guy's young successors: while the successors may not have been strong enough to take out the villain on their own, they continue their predecessor's work and ultimately expose the truth. {{spoiler|The [[Villainous Breakdown]] at the end is the stuff of legends.}}

* A slacker with a guitar tries to impress a girl with oddly coloured hair and rollerblades by facing a gauntlet of enemies headed by shadowy, yet charismatic man. Along the way, he gains an acoustic theme about his love, a realization about what he's fighting for, and a serious self-confidence boost by the final boss. While treated favorably by critics, it wasn't too profitable.

** ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]'' or ''[[Gitaroo Man]]''?

* A group of British siblings [[Blitz Evacuees|sent to live in the country during World War Two]] discover magical secrets in the house where they are staying. There's a witch who intends to use her spells to win a war, and a world inhabited by talking animals with a lion as their king, and a climactic battle between good and evil, with swords and magic both in heavy use.

** Now, is the witch [[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe|the Big Bad]] or [[Bedknobs and Broomsticks|one of the good guys]]?

* During this game's expansion pack, an elderly official ranking in the seemingly good guy faction attempts to [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|establish peace and prosperity, albeit in a controversial and questionable way]], with the use of a special weapon. However, an army led by the previously villainous faction intervenes and meddles with the elder's plans. The official leads an army in white uniforms.

* A group of criminals enter into a wealthy man's dreams to trick him out of his secrets. In the course of the adventure, multiple layers of dreams are entered, "bigger guns" are summoned by the protagonists, the ultimate trick involves confronting the dreamer with a loved one that they're estranged from, people are removed from the dream by falling, and there's a risk that people stuck in the dream will enter a form of Limbo and go crazy if they stay in too long.

** ''[[Inception]]'' or [[Don Rosa]]'s [[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck|Dream of a Lifetime]]?

** ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' or ''[[Naruto]]''?

* He's a Chinese badass who likes to put on a front of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], during which he's generally [[Eyes Always Shut]] and his [[Big Eater]] status is played for humor. He started out as a [[Badass Normal]], but was turned into a [[Badass Abnormal]] and managed to avoid the sociopathy typically associated with those powers. He has a possible love interest voiced by [[Nana Mizuki]].

* An genetic experiment is undertaken by a group of scientists to create, from the genes of the strongest and brightest man/men on the planet, a superhuman. After two infants are born from this experiment, they're separated, with one being raised and taught by the best of the best to be an ubermensch, and the other is put through hardship for his life. In the end, we find out that one was deliberately made with the superior genes, while the other got the bad genes.

** Liquid and Solid Snake of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', or Jules and Vincent from ''[[Twins]]''?

** Is this ''Inception'' or ''Ocean's Eleven''?

* This show focuses on two main characters: a kind but dim-witted young boy and a non-human who wears little clothing. The two live at the boy's house with his young yet intelligent little sister, and go to school with a variety of unusual characters, all of which are simply regarded as students despite their extraordinary origins. At one point, a ghost schoolgirl possesses the body of one of the protagonists to indulge in her own desires.

* This show is about a lazy, misanthropic, unhygienic man with the emotional capacity of a 12-year old and his young and more successful foil. In each episode, the lazy man drags his foil into some hair-brained scheme, which will inevitably backfire in some way.

** ''[[Dan Vs.]]'' or ''[[Kochikame]]''?

* This story is about aliens that come to Earth. They're here to prevent humans from eventually developing technology that will destroy the universe. They give a [[Hannibal Lecture]] to the humans when they meet face-to-face, and the encounter ends with the aliens being defeated. Whether or not the universe is still doomed is left to the viewer's imagination.

** ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' or ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]]?''

** ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' or ''[[Scandinavia and The World]]''?

** ''[[Fate/stay night]]''? Or your average game of [[Diplomacy]]?

* This is a comic about a young adult living in a video game-esque world. He fights a variety of people who, in his mind, are out to get him, fighting for what he sees to be his true love. {{spoiler|However, he isn't as perfect as he thinks.}}

** ''[[Wuthering Heights (novel)|Wuthering Heights]]'' or ''[[The Secret Garden]]''?

* This story is an epic [[Space Opera]]. The main character is an emperor with a prolonged lifespan who finds himself fighting an old foe from his past, and switches between fighting with and aiding another monarchy. 

* In this video game, a protagonist with a blue and red color scheme and [[Anime Hair|very odd hair]] is just trying to do his job, but has to deal with a [[Genki Girl]] sidekick, a lolitastic [[Love Freak]] and a flamboyantly sophisticated rival. All of these characters, particularly the protagonist and his rival, turn out to be more closely connected than we originally thought. In a later game, the blue and red protagonist is replaced by a red and white one with some [[Parental Abandonment|family issues]]. Although most of the original cast are nowhere to be seen, the original protagonist is still there, and one female character returns for another important role. The new rival is blonde, famous and plays the guitar, and the new female lead is the subject of a major plot twist toward the end. Also, a blue creature with googly eyes, supposedly based on a [[Real Life]] animal, serves as a mascot in the series, and there's one guy who incorporates as much [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]] into his daily speech as possible.

** ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' or ''[[Disgaea]]''?

** ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'', right? Or is it ''[[Frasier]]''?

* Two swordsmen, a girl with guns and a super-intelligent [[Little Miss Badass]] fight against a large authority that is secretly an evil organization. The white-haired, red and black clad hero holds a massive grudge against a member of his family, but {{spoiler|it turns out they aren't so bad}}. The final boss is {{spoiler|a [[Treacherous Advisor]] to one of the main characters, who turns out to be both a former hero of legend and the de facto leader of the evil organization.}}

* A series that chronicles the occasionally weird [[Slice of Life|everyday adventures]] of a group of female friends, which includes a somewhat naive bookworm, an energentic and boastful girl who fancies herself a great athlete but is actually kind of a klutz, her hard-working and more level-headed [[Friendly Rival]], a girl who frets over her appearance a lot and is usually the most serious of the group, a bashful animal lover, and one girl who's [[Cloudcuckoolander|not all there.]]

** ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' or ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''?

* This beloved classic animated movie begins with the birth of the main character, a [[Talking Animal]]. He grows a bit older, meets the female lead, and grows very close to a parent who protects him and tells him about where his life is destined to take him. This parent is killed in a disaster during a series of events that began with the lethal intentions of the main villain (a predatory animal with a wounded eye). The grieving main character runs away, and promptly begins meeting new friends, and is then reunited the female lead, who stresses the threat posed by the villain but is initially ignored by the main character. Eventually, however, he comes to his senses, and he and his friends lead an attack on the villain (who ends up falling to his doom). At last, the hero stands on a rock overlooking the land that is his home. If we also mention that he sees his dead parent in a cloud at one point and remembers what he was taught, and that the supporting cast includes a duo of significantly mismatched size and a flying guy who usually frustrates the main character, then it should be obvious to anyone that this movie is ''The L''...

** ...''[[The Land Before Time|and Before Time]]'' or ...''[[The Lion King|ion King]]''?

** ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', or ''[[Firefly]]''?

* The [[Affectionate Parody]] of [[Disney Animated Canon|Classic Disney Films]] stars two acquaintances: A fat guy who's main color is green, and a somewhat annoying horse-like animal. Together they go on a huge journey, and have all kinds of strange adventures, including trying to cross a rope bridge but destroying it in the process, at the same time, each one discovering the friend he never had, while the fat green guy is trying to stop some homes from being destroyed. Sometime later in their journey, they encounter a ferocious kitty cat.

** [[Kyon: Big Damn Hero|Michikyuu Kanae]] or [[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni|Furude Rika]]?

* A legendary hero takes on a quest for a blonde girl and, accompanied by his regular comrade, sets out to help her. Shortly after arriving, he befriends a young girl under the tutelage of a professor, and begins assembling a force of natives to accomplish his goals. The blonde spends much of the game in the custody of a seemingly cybernetic character whose intentions are unclear to begin with. The [[Big Bad]] has an AI under his command, but it doesn't seem to know who to fight with. As the story progresses, the hero grows his fledgling army and travels through a forest, where he encounters a new female companion, before tackling a gigantic mech. Shortly after that, he visits a gloomy town with a dark secret. Before he can get the bottom of what's going on, he has to track down a character by visiting a variety of locations he has previously cleared. {{spoiler|The AI turns against its controller, but pays with its 'life'. The blonde is the final boss.}}

* A man whose first name is never given, but is referred to with a title, is bored with his life. He meets a badass guy who who the main character tries to be more like. Later he meets a girl, who eventually leaves him because he starts to go crazy. It is later revealed that the badass guy is actually {{spoiler|an alter-ego of the main character, who later "dies" due to a shot to the head.}}

** Is it ''[[American Idiot]]'' or ''[[Fight Club]]''?

** ''[[The Brittas Empire]]'' or ''[[Fawlty Towers]]''?

* These stunningly-beautiful, black-skinned nonhumans live underground and come to the surface only to raid for captives. They are considered to be some of the fiercest fighters in a [[World of Badass]] and as a race are [[Shrouded in Myth]]. They worship a power-mad goddess, follow a religion which teaches that they are the [[Master Race]], and their aristocracy is noted both for its decadence and bloodthirstiness. 

* Boy gets famous for defeating a God-like villains. His two best friends get together in the end, and the boy gets an extremely powerful weapon. One of the bad guys turns out not to be quite as bad as he seems. His mentor is somewhat eccentric.

** [[Harry Potter]] or [[Ben 10: Ultimate Alien|Ben 10 Ultimate Alien]]?

** ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' or ''[[Red Dwarf]]''?

* This story takes place during a war between Capitalist and Communist nations. Among the more notable characters on the Soviet side are a manipulative leader, a subordinate played by Andrew Divoff whose name starts with "Kr", and a worrysome scientist. {{spoiler|The scientist makes an attempt to defect to the Allies.}}

* An iconic duo in British popular fiction, consisting of a multitalented man who is far smarter than most of the other people in the cast, and his less intellectually brilliant devoted chronicler, who typically narrates their adventures. The genius, while never going into [[Villain Protagonist]] territory, can get into [[Good Is Not Nice]] or [[Manipulative Bastard]] territory at times. The chronicler is likable and popular with women, but his relationship with the genius outlasts any of his romances. Together, they're the most famous creations of a prolific author, and their adventures have been adapted into a Granada TV series.

** [[Sherlock Holmes|Sherlock Holmes and John Watson]] or [[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Bertie Wooster and Jeeves]]?

* The story centers around an [[Odd Couple]] composed of a quirky, immature, dark-haired [[Mr. Fanservice]] with unusual eating habits who wears a long billowy coat, and his shorter, lighter haired partner with post-traumatic issues. They investigate murders and have buckets of [[Ho Yay]]. The best-known villain of the series is a stylishly creepy [[Sissy Villain]]-slash-[[Evil Genius]] who just can't stay away from billowy coat boy.

** ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'' or ''[[Sherlock]]''?

** Got to be [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], right? Well, unless I'm talking about [[Spock's Beard]]...

* The story involves peril, adventure, and shadowy conspiratorial goings-on, but the emotional heart centers around an [[Odd Couple]] of two men who are ''very'' fond of each other. The younger one is a genius [[Guile Hero]] with killer cheekbones who has arguable sociopathic tendencies but remains on the side of good (in an antiheroic sort of way) and could even be seen as a bit of an understated woobie (or at least a sympathetic [[Broken Ace]]). The older one is a bit shorter, more cute than male-model handsome, very competent in his own skill set, and rather nicer than his partner. One of the guys has an [[Ambiguous Disorder]]. The other once served in the military and is an excellent shot. A sexually ambiguous dark-haired young man with a fondness for messing with the guys' heads makes an appearance as a villain. Who are this dynamic duo?

* This is a series of British TV dramas, composed of multiple very short mini-series, that is based (with notable deviations) on a series of classic British tales that are icons of their genre. The title character is a tall, thin, pale [[Badass Bookworm]] with curly dark hair, fangirl-bait cheekbones, and an aloof demeanor. He has a best friend/sidekick/foil who is a shorter, fairer-haired, more approachable [[Badass Adorable]]. They have lots of homoerotic subtext. One of the major supporting characters is an attractive in his own right older guy who functions as a [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]. A lot of the tension in the second miniseries is due to the machinations of an Irishman who has a thing against the main character. The last episode of the second miniseries involves a serious assault against the protagonist's reputation, and ends in a major character making a heartrending [[Heroic Sacrifice]].

* A nerd with few friends is consistently baffled by someone in pink who has many friends, and finds a rival prone to boasting and gloating who knows magic.

** Am I talking about [[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexter]] or [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|Twilight Sparkle]]?

* A [[Video Game]] [[Sequel]]. The protagonist of the first game has been kidnapped and is being held captive somewhere. Playing as their younger sibling, you have to rescue them.

* This is a famous cartoon series with a large [[Periphery Demographic]] and is extremely popular over the internet, spawning [[Fountain of Memes|hundreds of memes]]. The main protagonist's (who's VA's first name starts with a T) friends include a [[The Ditz|ditzy]] pink [[Big Eater]], and an action-loving girl with a southern accent. There is also a villain who started out [[Laughably Evil]], but [[Beware the Silly Ones|turned out to be]] [[Not So Harmless]], [[Moral Event Horizon|brainwashing some of the main characters]] and turning the town into an awful hellhole, which was enough to get him onto the [[Vile Villain Saccharine Show]] page. After this episode, the creator had stepped down. Also, in one episode, the friendly yellow character tried to become "more assertive" with the help of a mentor, but ended up losing friends. In another episode, the [[Workaholic]] kept on doing their job without getting any sleep, and went crazy from sleep deprivation. In fact, all of the main characters have had a [[Freak-Out|mental]] [[Sanity Slippage|breakdown]] at least once.

** ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' or ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''?

** [[Haruhi Suzumiya]] or {{spoiler|''[[Don Quixote]]''}} ?

* A man wakes up finding he has superpowers which eventually develop into godlike power, turning him into an unstoppable tank. However he finds that he is not the only one, and must stop them from causing chaos in the city (which has been quarantined, resulting in a [[Crapsack World]]). Eventually he discovers a shady organization is behind the quarantine, and they want you dead.

* A platonic life partnership made up of two individuals with distinctly different appearances and personalities: the dark-haired, creepy, smart-but-weird [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] and his [[Badass Adorable]] [[Morality Pet]]. One member of each pair wears a [[Badass Longcoat]].

** [[Homestuck|Equius and Nepeta]]? Or [[Sherlock|Sherlock and John]]?

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Just for Fun]]