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One thing's for sure, though: The reviewer will act as though the similarity is all you need to know. It was [[Better by a Different Name]].
There's a high demand for innovation and new ideas, so if a new work has similarities to an older or more popular one, expect those similarities to be the dominant subject in discussion about the work, even if they're entirely superficial. Some people go on to say "if you can't come up with an original idea, don't even bother trying to make the game." Despite the fact that most original works get ignored because of lack of advertising or that it's just not something publishers recognize and they're afraid to give it a chance. You can see the obvious Catch-22 situation, here, when genuine attempts to shake up the market or are ignored, whereas [[Strictly Formula]] works that copy ''much'' more than ''you'' did fly off the shelves merely ''because'' of the familiarity.
Of course, many times creators do [[Older Than You Think|borrow ideas from another work]] as inspiration to create new stories and concepts. Considering that just about everything has been done, it's difficult to properly think of something new and fresh. This is not always the case, however, as sometimes creators [[Follow the Leader|deliberately try to copy]] off a [[Cash Cow Franchise|particular franchise]] as soon as its success becomes evident. They will immediately try to make something to
The error here is the automatic assumption that just because something is ''similar'', it can't have any value on its own merits. If everything that was derivative was that bad, it wouldn't be done so much. Some can actually be quite good on their own. And enough followers can even make [[From Clones to Genre]].
This assumption can be infuriating to creators of products that are similar to products being designed simultaneously. Your options are to either reduce the quality of your work in order to get it out first, or be written off as a cheap imitation of your competitor's product (which ''they'' probably watered down to beat ''you'' out of the gate). Many "ripoffs" were in fact in development at the same time, but due to the development window for most modern media, could be released months or even years apart. This can also make the fans of the more "popular" feature look really [[Hypocritical Fandom|hypocritical]] if the alleged victim of ripoffs wasn't all that original to begin with.
The absurd extreme of this is when old-timers show off their long memories by dismissing new shows as rehashes of older productions which don't just fall outside [[Small Reference Pools]] but at least have been [[Keep Circulating the Tapes|out of public release]] for many years, and possibly don't even survive except within the old-timers' recollections.
There are some things that don't typically get called out on it despite using it merely because it just ''works''. Such as say, several [[RPG Elements]] and control schemes in general.
You'll notice that sometimes this trope is invoked not ''only'' by [[Fandom Rivalry|rival fans]] and [[Hate Dumb|trolly haters]], but people who actually aren't fans of the genre, even so much as [[Hatedom|hating it in its entirety]]. You'll notice that when people are typically not fans of a genre or series, similar to its cousin [[
This is the justification behind [[Sequelphobic|Sequelphobia]]. Compare [[Older Than They Think]]. Compare and sometimes contrast with [[Seinfeld Is Unfunny]] when the original suffers due to amount (and sometimes the quality) of similar works released later. Not to be confused with [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]], where a sequel or an official adaptation changes an aspect of an original work for better or worse. Also not to be confused with [[It's the Same, Now It Sucks]], the polar opposite.
See also [[It's Been Done]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[S-Cry-ed]]'' is compared to ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' a ''lot''. Sometimes considered a rip-off entirely and dismissed because of that and more.
** There was also that TV show called ''Mutant X'', where Mutant X was the name of a team of young adult mutant with superpowers (such as cat-like agility, [[Super Strength]], [[Mind Probe|telepathy]], [[Intangible Man|density shifting]], the [[Shock and Awe|ability to throw lightning]]), formed by a scientist to defend the mutants and work for their integration in human society while an evil government conspiracy tried to capture or eliminate them and study them. [[X-Men|Sound familiar?]]
*** It should. The show was created by Marvel Studios, and the suing and counter suing between Marvel, Fox and Tribune is epic.
** ''[[Push]]'' gets similar treatment, despite having far fewer similarities. Most people seem to ignore the fact that [[Stock Super Powers]] were around before ''[[X-Men]]''.
* ''[[Duel Masters]]'' had this issue in being compared to ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' for a good while, and ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' itself is scoffed at by fans of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.
** Which is interesting, because the author of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' stated on a website that he based the card game in his series on ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]''.
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** And Mecha Musume is just Humikane's brand. Mecha ''Shoujo'' was around quite a while before that.
* ''[[Initial D Arcade Stage]]'' fans like to do this to ''[[Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune]]''. Which is particularly ludicrous, given that Initial D's type of racing (mountain pass) and Wangan Midnight's type of racing (highway) aren't even remotely comparable. Wangan Midnight has more in common with ''[[Out Run]]'' or ''Super Bikes'' than ''Initial D''.
* Watching the first few episodes of ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' get it called ''[[Trigun]]'' [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Mecha|but with mechs]] and compared to many works like it. [http://www.animenewsnetwork.
** Not only is it ''not'' [[Trigun]] with mechs, but the cast come across their first large body of water as early as episode '''2''', and a few episodes later leave the desert entirely. Needless to say, any similarities to Trigun stop right there.
* ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka de]]'' constantly gets bashed by reviewers for being ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' with [[Serial Numbers Filed Off]], on the grounds of having exactly the same combination of plot devices<ref>[[Trapped in Another World]] + [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] + [[Miko]] + [[The Four Gods]] + [[Cast Full of Pretty Boys]] + [[Gotta Catch Them All]] + [[Debut Queue]] + [[Elemental Powers]] + [[Personality Powers]] + [[Bodyguard Crush]]</ref> as the basis. Note that ''Haruka'' is originally a [[Shoujo|female-oriented]] [[Dating Sim]], for which a premise of a girl getting stuck in a fantasy world with loads of pretty guys as her guardians wouldn't exactly be a bad idea.
* ''[[Outlaw Star]]'' got flack as a supposed rip-off of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', mostly due to both being [[Sunrise (company)|Sunrise]]-produced [[Space Western
* While not as extreme as other examples of "Anything within the same genre as this is a rip-off" but for a while in the US a known complaint in Shounen anime is that "if you've seen [[Dragonball Z]] you have pretty much seen any given Shounen anime nowadays".
* It's hard to think of a post-1992 [[Magical Girl]] anime that ''hasn't'' been condemned as a ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' rip-off, with ''[[Wedding Peach]]'' being the most frequent target (and, in fairness, with the most justification). The fact that it and ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' had the same character designer doesn't help.
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== Comic Books ==
* [[Captain Marvel]] from Marvel is somehow accused of ripping off Captain Marvel from DC because [[Name's the Same|they have the same name]].
** Don't get anyone started on Namor and [[
*** Or Hawkeye and [[Green Arrow]].
*** Or [[Ghost Rider]] and [[Spawn]].
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*** ''Before'' DC owned the "Shazam!" Captain Marvel, they sucessfully sued Fawcett Publishing on the grounds that they invented the caped [[Flying Brick]]. That Cap was a very different character beyond that didn't occur to them until they owned him, and suddenly realised there was room for both Big Blue and Big Red ''in the same universe''.
**** Back in the early 40s, the idea of a superhero in general was still quite new. It was only becoming a recognized genre, and so what are now genre tropes were seen as specific characteristics of Superman.
***** Perhaps, but it was in the 40s that DC introduced [[
**** The Superman/Captain Marvel thing is complicated. Basically, the case ping-ponged through the appeals system, the appeals court found DC lost the copyright to Superman [[Off on a Technicality|on a technicality]], the Supreme Court reversed (and set a precedent; copyright abandonment has to be intentional), Fawcett wasn't making money with the character anymore, so they settled. DC had filed similar lawsuits against characters that were more obviously Superman rip-offs, but it's not known where the case would have went.
* Many of Rob Liefeld's works were clearly "influenced by" similar Marvel and DC properties.
** ''Youngblood'' is the remnant of a Teen Titans spin-off Liefeld had created. The character of Shaft is clearly a [[Captain Ersatz]] of Speedy. That said, Marvel properties found themselves duplicated in the pages of ''Youngblood'' and it doesn't take much that Cougar is essentially a repaint of [[Wolverine]] or that Sentinel is either Iron Man or War Machine without his helmet.
** Then there's Glory: Wonder Woman with white hair.
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== Film ==
* ''[[Cracked.com]]''
* For a time, anything that was in the Sci-fi genre was automatically considered to be a rip-off of [[Star Wars]]. (Regardless of whether if it was the least bit deserving or not.)
** Amusingly, Star Wars itself is explicitly based on the [[
** Not to mention the fact that Star Wars isn't really even sci-fi at all. It's fantasy with some sci-fi trappings.
* Name a movie, and the odds are that someone has derided it for elements it shares with another film. For example, the train fight in ''[[Batman Begins]]'' is accused of being a rip-off of the one in ''[[Spider-Man (film)|Spider Man]] 2'', and many Disney films are accused of plagiarizing from anime, the latter of which is ironic because Walt Disney's style inspired early anime and manga and that Disney has "plagiarized" from many other sources that hardly get fussed over.
** Disney often receives criticism for its plagiarizing of fairy tales as well.
*** I'm pretty sure adapting [[Public Domain]] fairy tales into movies with the same name isn't plagiarism.
* Do ''not'' ever start drawing comparisons between the new ''[[James Bond (film)|James Bond]]'' series (starting with ''[[Casino Royale]]'') and the [[The Bourne Series (film)|Jason Bourne films]] in front of a large group of Bond fans. Half will agree with you and the other half will ''unleash the fury''.
** Then there's [[The Transporter|Frank Martin]], described by one reviewer as "a sort of third-party international man of mystery for those who think James Bond is too effete and Jason Bourne just doesn't have enough chest hair."
** While on Bond, the unofficial ''[[Never Say Never Again]]'', which as [[Agony Booth]]'s Mr. Mendo [https://web.archive.org/web/20130917025513/http://www.agonybooth.com/video286_Never_Say_Never_Again_James_Bond.aspx put]:
{{quote|"If this looks like a ripoff of [[Thunderball|a better Bond film]]... [[Recycled Script|it's because it is]]!"}}
* ''[[Beowulf (film)|Beowulf]]'' was wrongfully accused of trying to rip off ''~300~'' because of the main character's signature phrase ''"I AM BEOWULF!"'' is somehow similar to ''"THIS IS SPARTAA!!!"''. How that becomes ''ripoff material'' is beyond some people. Let's also recall that [[
** Before both of them, there was a film starring Leonidas himself, called ''Beowulf & Grendel''. For some reason, no-one ever knows about it.
*** Because, just like the more recent Beowulf film, it's only ''very'' loosely based on ''Beowulf'', has enormous amounts of [[Adaptation Expansion]], leaves out at ''[[Everybody Remembers the Stripper|least]]'' half the [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|meme source]] (which does nothing to stop it from being ''good'', just saying), [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and had a]] [[Best for Last|low]] (or poorly used) [[Screwed by the Network|advertising]] [[Viral Marketing|budget]]. Thus is shown the [[Your Mileage May Vary|blur]] of the gap between "[[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]]" and "[[
* A lot of people figured ''[[The One (film)|The One]]'' was just a rip off of ''[[The Matrix]]'', only with [[Jet Li]] and more bullet time sequences. Considering that it came out practically soon after the first Matrix film and uses many of the same conventions, it was bound to be met with a little negativity, regardless of the fact that the two movies could not be more different.
** While we're on the subject, ''anything'' remotely resembling "[[Bullet Time]]" after ''[[The Matrix]]''.
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** And all three had the misfortune of being released nine years after box-office hit ''[[The Blair Witch Project]]''. Although ''Cannibal Holocaust'' did [[Apocalyptic Log|it]] [[Older Than They Think|first]].
* ''[[13 Going on 30|Thirteen Going On Thirty]]'', has often been criticized for ripping off on ''[[Big]]'' - completely disregarding the fact that the former has [[Time Travel]] in it, while the latter didn't.
** [[Your Mileage May Vary|YMMV]]. While the method of ''how'' she becomes 30 is different, it's probably generous to say that means it's nothing like Big.
*** The [[Robin Williams]] movie ''Jack'' was accused of ripping off ''Big'' as well. This was mostly by people who never saw the actual movie, [[Never Trust a Trailer|just the trailers]]. ''Big'' was a comedy, ''Jack'' was a ''[[Tear Jerker]]''.
* The Jude Law action vehicle ''[[Repo Men]]'' has drawn some rather unhappy comparisons to ''[[Repo! The Genetic Opera]]''.
* ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'', so much so that they've got an entire section dedicated to this trope on the main page.
* One of the most common criticisms regarding the American remake of ''[[Godzilla]]'' was that the plot was essentially a rip-off of ''The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms'' (IE: Giant reptile goes to New York to breed.) with hints of ''[[King Kong]]'', ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' and ''[[Alien
** Which is ironic, considering that the original Japanese film ''[[Godzilla|Gojira]]'' itself took elements from ''The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms'' as well. Though, at least Ishiro Honda and Tomoyuki Tanaka had the common sense to keep their film from becoming a blatant rip-off.
** Heck, ''many'' Kaiju films are often considered to be rip-offs of either Godzilla or King Kong. It doesn't help that the 60s-70s saw a huge wave of [[Follow the Leader|"(Insert giant animal here) destroying Japan/Korea/China"]] movies. One particularly (in)famous example would be the 1960s South Korean film ''Yongary'', which was about a giant ancient dinosaur that could breathe fire.
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* The 2011 movie ''The Tall Man'' is about [[Slender Man Mythos|a tall, humanoid figure that kidnaps children.]] There's (perfectly plausible) rumors going around that this movie's ''concept'' actually came before Slenderman, but don't expect any of his fans from /x/ to hear a word of it.
* ''[[The Island]]'' is frequently accused of ripping-off the extremely obscure TV movie ''[[Clonus]]'', mostly known for being featured on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''. After [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]] fans compiled a list of a hundred similarities between the movie, ''Clonus'' producer Robert S. Fiveson would sue Dreamworks and a court would rule that he had a prima facie case of infringement. Before the case went to trial, Dreamworks would settle privately out of court.
* ''[[Reservoir Dogs]] ''has been accused of being rather similar in terms of plot, dialogue and characters to the film ''City On Fire''. However, this is rather debatable if you compare scenes from both movies back to back.
* With the release of ''[[The Hunger Games (film)|The Hunger Games]]'' movie comes the inevitable comparisons to [[Battle Royale]].
== Literature ==
* Sadly, a lot of genres are accused of this, making it hard to find your way through when "classics" are hyped up (sometimes to the point of [[Hype Backlash|backlash]]). A ''lot'' of these accusers don't know the common characteristics and [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch|may have only read one example of the genre]] (often seemingly beyond criticism thanks to [[Nostalgia Filter
* This is a common critical reaction to large, 'experimental' novels. Most often it is said 'like Ulysses, but why bother?', though recently that's changing to 'like Infinite Jest, but why bother?' [[Older Than They Think]], though---even the 'first' overtly experimental, digressive novel, ''[[Tristram Shandy]]'', was panned for being derivative of earlier works.
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** And ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'', mainly as the show focused on, well, a bunch of friends.
** Inverted in [[Channel 4|E4]] trailers for ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', which uses this as a selling point: "It's basically new episodes of ''[[Friends]]'' without boring ruddy Ross."
*** [[How I Met Your Mother]] is accused of this in general
* There are people who watch ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' who seem completely incapable of enjoying any sketch that has a premise that's even remotely similar to another sketch from a previous season. Since the show has been on for more than 30 years, this means there aren't very many sketches they can enjoy.
* When ''[[Firefly]]'' first showed up, word among anime fans was that it was a Live Action Rip-Off of ''[[Outlaw Star]]'', primarily due to the '[[Girl in a Box|naked girl in the box]] in the first episode' and the [[Cool Ship]]. The two shows turned out to be very different, not in the least because ''Outlaw Star'' had 26 episodes and ''Firefly'' had 13 (and [[The Movie|a movie]]). Then, as seen above, ''[[Outlaw Star]]'' got this too.
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* ''Top Gear'' on the American History Channel is a direct spin-off from the successful British ''[[Top Gear]]'', copying the latter series' use of three presenters, The Stig, silly themed segments, style of cinematography and auto reviews, and cramming celebrities into a small car.
* In ''[[Psych]]'', Shawn walks up to a police department desk and identifies himself as a psychic. "Like ''[[The Mentalist]]'' only [[Hypocritical Humor|not fake]]."
* A newer example that will likely only get worse: there is a good deal of ire directed at ''[[Stargate Universe]]'' by people claiming it's a rip-off of
** [[Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)|The original ''
* A possible case is ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'' and the later ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]''. The second series of ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'' ended with Robin's death, and there is speculation that the second season finale of ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' chose to kill off Maid Marian in the attempt to emulate what the creators' believed was the "shock value" of the
* Any pair of young, male presenters on British television will be compared to ''[[Ant and Dec]]'' and accused of trying to copy them. Ironically, many of the comparisons aren't by Ant and Dec fans, but by people who dislike them and therefore conclude that anyone remotely similar to them is exactly like them.
* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' was released around the time when ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' was becoming very popular and received accusation of copying it... Being lost in space, a holographic character... (They even had "Blue Alert")
** Inverted with ''[[Stargate Universe]]'', which from the moment it was announced was mockingly referred to as ''Stargate: Voyager''.
* [[Unhappily Ever After]] was so strikingly similar to [[Married... with Children]] because both were co-created by Ron Leavitt. [[Word of God]] says it wasn't their intention to be so similar to ''Children'', but it simply turned out that way.
* This happens a great deal with Singaporean television, especially the childrens' programming. ''My Classmate Dad'' is a [[Body Swap]] [[Sitcom]] that basically is ''[[Freaky Friday]]'' with a lower standard of spoken English. ''Cosmo and George'' is about an alien who befriends a human who shows him the ropes of living on earth, [[Mork and Mindy|which is a startlingly]] [[Sarcasm Mode|original concept]]. The Chinese-language drama serials are almost as bad in this respect. ''CID'' is ''[[CSI]]'', ''The Time Machine'' is [[The Time Machine|uh...]], ''Baby Blues'' is [[Baby Blues|uh...]], ''[[Fan Service|Beach. Ball. Babes.]]'' is ''[[Dead or Alive]]'' (specifically volleyball tournament game, that is), and a really new one, ''Mrs P.I.'', is pretty much ''[[Scarecrow and Mrs. King]]''. The best part is that even if the shows are ''tenuously'' original, the English translations of their names, as you can gather, ruin everything.
* When [[Password]] became a hit on CBS, NBC countered with [[You Don't Say|You Don't Say!]], using names instead of regular words. It was identical to the set up which had host Tom Kennedy's lecturn in the middle of the panel. Threatened with a lawsuit from Goodson-Todman, the lecturn was moved to the viewer's left. Regardless, it had a nice six-year run.
* [[Rhyme and Reason]] was ABC's answer to [[Match Game|Match Game '75]] on CBS.
== Music ==
* This is the response that most cover versions of famous songs get.
* ''Extremely'' prevalent in music fandom/journalism. How many times have you heard "______ is just doing the same thing [[The Beatles]] did in the '60s"?
* Especially in the early tot mid 1960s a lot of rock groups looked and sounded like Beatle clones: [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Monkees]], Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clarke Five,... Some bands eventually created their own sound, but others have been forgotten as being nothing more than pathetic attempts to cash in on the Beatles' success.
** Speaking of The Beatles, it would take no less than a miracle of God to get critics not to use this argument against Sean Lennon or any other musician related to a Beatle. (Paul's son James wants to gather the sons of the other Beatles and form a group. Sean, Dhani Harrison and Jason Starkey are interested.)
*** Jakob [[Bob Dylan|Dylan]] has the same problem.
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* The [[Deathcore]] genre often has this criticism leveled at it, possibly due to the almost copycat-like nature of most of the bands within the genre.
** Usually whichever band is the oldest mocks whoever is newest, never mind that they all are more or less emulating The Birthday Party and ''there's nothing wrong with that.''
* Any new R&B female singer will get compared to [[
* Any gothic metal band with a female singer will be compared to Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation or Evanescence. If the vocalist occasionally screams they'll get compared to Arch Enemy.
* [[Muse]] are frequently accused of copying [[Radiohead]], despite having much more of a rock and classical mentality.
* Mr Bungle fans will frequently tell you that [[Faith No More]] is a watered down version of Mr Bungle, despite the fact that [[Mike Patton]] is in both bands so they're mostly fans of both anyway. Mr Bungle fans will also try to tell you [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] copied Mr Bungle, missing the point that Red Hot Chili Peppers released several records before Mr Bungle did (not counting demo tapes). Red Hot Chili Peppers had [[Fandom Rivalry|a long lasting rivalry with]] Mr Bungle/Faith No More's singer Mike Patton in which Patton did some things he later apologised for. Red Hot Chili Peppers [[Fan Dumb]] will often still proclaim their hatred for Mike Patton nonetheless.
* [[Power Pop]] group Ozma have never quite shaken the [[Weezer]] comparisons. It's not always negative though - it seems that for every one person who dismisses them as too derivative, there's someone else who's a fan of both Weezer ''and'' Ozma. The fact that their debut came out a few months after Weezer's [[Broken Base|base-breaking third album]] may have even contributed to their popularity.
* Even though [[Michael Jackson]] clearly learned a lot from [[James Brown]]'s dancing style: many pop artists since the 1980s have been accused of copying Jackson's dancing moves.
== Newspaper Comics ==
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== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* [[TNA]] has been mocked as "[[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] Lite" due to its occasional gimmicks and storylines similar to those used by "that promotion up north."
** Not to mention that they also hire many former WWE talents (Kurt Angle, Kevin Nash, Mick Foley, Taz, Booker T, Scott Steiner, Tara (Victoria), Team 3D (The Dudley Boys), Bobby Lashley, Elijah Burke, Stevie Richards, Matt Morgan, Rhino, and Shiek Abdul Bashir (Daivari) are all currently on the active TNA roster).
** Current Roster, add in what they've siphoned from the WWE development, previous refrees/commentators, copied gimmicks...if TNA even signs a guy who's been looked at by a WWE employee wrestling fans will complain.
** From the wrestler's point of view, it makes sense to go to TNA after the WWE sent you walking. It's the next biggest wrestling promotion after all. Still, it seems that every time the WWE fires or releases a wrestler it takes less than month for them to resurface in TNA. It also doesn't help that some of the time TNA has the wrestlers do their same WWE gimmicks but under another name (Team 3D being the biggest).
*** "Less tham a month" is generally an exaggeration, given that the typical No-Compete clause (which prevents a released performer from appearing with another company) in a WWE contract has a 90 day window.
*** Additionally, Team 3D ''legally'' can't call themselves the Dudley Boyz anymore due [[Disney Owns This Trope|WWE]] just as they own the rights/names/gimmicks to previous wrestlers (i.e. [[In Name Only|"Fake Diesel," "The Real Double-J."]])
== Video Games ==
* Jim Sterling discusses this trope, as well as its prevalence amongst the Video Game format [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTewf9XZtOA here].
* Any sort of show or game with a [[Mon|monster-collecting]] or -raising element as a [[Sidequest]] or main premise will inevitably draw comparisions to the genre codifier, ''[[Pokémon]]''.
** ''[[Bomberman]]'' has seen the harshest of criticism thus far with their Charaboms.
** Sometimes ''[[Digimon]]'' has the issue of being compared to ''[[Pokémon]]'', though there aren't ''that'' many similarities.
*** Pick any ''Digimon'' game and you'll be able to come across people who believe it's a rip-off of something.
** A strange example, the ''Rumble Arena'' series is almost invariably likened to ''Super Smash Bros.'' (although not necessarily seen as a negative) or, alternatively, attacked for ''not'' being like ''SSB''. Amusingly, ''Digimon World'' is occasionally accused of [[Did Not Do the Research|ripping off]] ''Tamagotchi''.
** The ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'' series gets hit by this very hard: despite having made its debut on the Famicom, ''[[Mega Ten]]'' is usually known as "[[Pokémon]] with demons".
** This is true even for individual aspects of monster-collecting games. See [[Dragon Quest Monsters]] - with its in-depth breeding system - which released in Japan in 1998, more than a full year prior to [[Pokémon]] Gold and Silver... [[Older Than They Think|yet it still catches a lot of flak for copying breeding from Pokemon]].
*** Not to mention that similar to the [[Mega Ten]] example above, the [[Dragon Quest]] series had already dabbled in the monster recruiting arts in its [[Dragon Quest V|fifth]] and [[Dragon Quest VI|sixth]] installments, though the [[Nintendo DS]] remake of the latter replaced that feature with the ability to learn moves typically used by monsters (the remake of the former on the same system still has the monster recruitment feature, though).
* A strange inversion with most [[Multiplayer Online Battle Arena]] games - it doesn't tend to be "You copied ''[[Defense of the Ancients]]'', so you suck", it tends to be more "You ''didn't'' copy ''Defense of the Ancients'', so you suck."
* ''[[Magical Doropie]]'' aka ''The Krion Conquest'', a departure from the original [[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]] series by Vic Tokai. Combined with [[Bad Export for You|ludicrously butchered]] and [[Bowdlerize|ludicrously off-line]] localization, this game became a complete critical disaster. {{spoiler|[[Your Mileage May Vary|In some instances, however,]] [[Better Than It Sounds|this wasn't even what the game deserved.]]}}
* The original ''[[Dark Cloud]]'' game was compared to ''Zelda''. Its sequel was, however, [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel|much more well-received]] - Although this actually [[Tropes Are Tools|wasn't thought of as a bad thing by some magazines]].
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* Several people note that [[Follow the Leader|Sony's peripheral devices are rip-offs of Nintendo's controllers]]. From the SNES-like design, to the rumble, the control sticks and, most recently, the motion sensor technology and connectivity between consoles and portables, Sony has been accused of being a copycat.
** Sony's sixaxis was patented two weeks before Nintendo made their unveiling.
** Reportedly, PS Move has actually been in development since before the Wii was even announced (cost being the main reason it didn't launch with the [[Play Station 3]] itself, as the system cost enough to manufacture as it was [http://kotaku.com/5640867/motion-gaming-gains-momentum\]). While this doesn't quite disprove the idea of Sony having Spies in Nintendo to steal from them, it does highlight the silliness of the issue.
** Despite Rumble being an arcade feature at the time, the controller design coming from the Vectrex, the sticks coming from the Atari 5200 (historically, the first games system with analogue joysticks), and connectivity coming from the Dreamcast. Nintendo rips something off, Sony does it twice.
** Even the first Playstation was originally meant to be an SNES peripheral, so it goes back quite a ways.
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** Microsoft has been fielding similar accusations from Apple's [[Fan Dumb|faithful]] for years, who seem to honestly believe that Apple invented the WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers) interface paradigm. [[Older Than They Think|For the record, Apple stole it from the Xerox PARC laboratory]].
*** Xerox is the user interface bicycle: Everyone's had a ride.
**** This is actually considered the Microsoft business model, where they wait for a market to flourish, then buy their way into it. From Internet Explorer, to [[
**** Almost every big tech company does this to a certain degree. They are big conservative organisations who really don't like taking risks. It's smaller companies that tend to actually do all the innovating and the big companies (particularly MS but by far most shamelessly apple) who claim that they were responsible for it. iPods, iPhones, iPads ? All concepts proved by smaller companies that apple band-wagoned onto. Only tech-illiterate followers of fashion think apple or microsoft or any big tech company genuine innovated anything. It's essentially the huge PR machine that the big companies have that makes thee world think they got their first.
** The Kinect was called a "Wii Wannabe"...Which is ironic for two reasons. '''1)''' The Motion-Capture and control in the Kinect is only similar to the Wii in that...it's motion-control. '''2)''' It's more comparable to the Sony Eye Toy than the Nintendo Wii.
* A new game in development, called ''Wiki'', looks ''very'' similar to ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker]]''. Nintendo was already on Sony's case about it.
** Why on Sony's case? They had nothing to do with it.
** Similarly, many people accused ''Starfox Adventures'' of trying to be too much like a ''Zelda'' game.
** On the other hand, is anybody really ''surprised'' that a game called "Wiki" is building on other developers' work?
* ''[[Final Fight]]: Streetwise'' was accused of trying to cash in on the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' franchise. Then again, you can't blame them: the market has thousands of titles just about [[Follow the Leader|trying to be like San Andreas]].
* Any Beat-em-up that was similar to ''[[Final Fight]]'' was basically doomed to be called a "[[Final Fight]] clone". Even its 3D successors, ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'', suffers the same fate.
** A couple times there actually ''have'' been ripoffs [[Dynasty Warrios]] even moreso than people assume fundamental gameplay tropes - such as ''blatantly copying the interface''.
* [[Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions|Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions]] was accused of being a shameless rip-off of [[Batman: Arkham Asylum]] due to some similarities in Noir's gameplay and his final boss segment.
** [[Sarcasm Mode|Not to mention the fact that using the spotlights to blind Vulture is exactly the same as using a spotlight to escape Scarecrow's nightmare world.]]
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** When ''[[Sonic Colors]]'' was initially revealed, some people, going by just a couple short CG trailers, are comparing it to ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]''. Funny, when you consider there's a level in ''[[Sonic Adventure 2]]'', a game from ''2001'', that is very reminiscent of ''Super Mario Galaxy'' and [[Older Than They Think|gravity gimmicks as such were already present in Genesis-era Sonic games]]. As more information was revealed, the comparison was further extended by the presence of the Luma-like Wisps, Sweet Mountain Zone and the drill power.
* "Like ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' but..." syndrome has begun to really invade [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPGs]], due to said game's amazing economic success. In particular, user interfaces and tutorial zones tend to be described as ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' [[Recycled in Space|in SPACE]] or transplanted to other fantasy series (occasionally even other games that [[Older Than They Think|came out first]]). This isn't always a bad thing - ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' wouldn't have been successful if it had a bad UI or especially boring early quests - but a lot of reviewers spend two or three days in a new game and advocate sticking with the precursor.
** "It's like WOW" has become a common complaint about ''[[Dungeons
** 'WOW Clone' is a frequent insult used against games that are deemed too similar to [[World of Warcraft]] or simly too mainstream or lacking a feature the speaker likes.
* Speaking of [[World of Warcraft]], let's not forget the "It's [[High Fantasy]] for the lowest common denominator" or "It's just a ripoff of Lord of the Rings". But you can bet 90% of these people are trolls who are just mindless anti-fans who don't know how they practically have nothing in common with each other beyond common [[High Fantasy]] traits and some nods to it. (Such as the human male joke about the "Ruler of the bracelet" due to the movies being released around the time [[WoW]] was, and icecrown having similar architecture) If you're saying [[World of Warcraft]] is a ripoff of Lord of the Rings, you '''''also''''' have to say Warhammer is to escape the fallacy, because by your logic, all [[High Fantasy]] is [[The Lord of the Rings]].
** It was openly admitted that the Ice Crown was a Mordor rip-o... I mean, [[Shout-Out]]. The Lich King bears some visual similarities to Sauron too. Blizzard [[Lampshade Hanging|makes fun of it]]. Everyone laughs. Punch is served.
** Speaking of which, practically the archetypal [[Fan Dumb]] related to this trope is Warhammer vs. Warcraft. Each side accuses the other of stealing... basically everything from the other. For instance, the endless debates about which came first, the [[Bug War|Tyranids or the Zerg]] (''[[Alien]]'' did it before either, for the record, and ''[[Starship Troopers]]'' did it [[Older Than You Think|before that]]). To put it bluntly, both Wars were ripping off their predecessors rather than each other.
*** Warhammer versus Warcraft [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/4/10/ was discussed in one strip] of [[Penny Arcade]].
** On the technical side, you must admit that [[WoW]] has and will continue to borrow, copy, and abuse ideas that work in other games. Nothing in Warcraft is truly unique or innovative, except perhaps the attitude that it should be a game for every player instead of just the hardcore elitists. Some of the most recent useful changes have come from incorporating fan-Mods like Power Auras into the basic user interface. Because having a text message for "this ability has procced!" is just too complicated for some players.
*** And again...look at tech companies who shamelessly "Steal from each other". Games are no different.
* Some may say that [[Fate Extra]] is just [[Persona 3]] with [[Fate/stay night]] characters and concepts. The fact that bosses happen every full moon and two ex-ATLUS employees worked on the developing team doesn't help.
* A meta-example. During the development of ''[[Quake II]]'' and ''[[Unreal]]'', members of [[Id Software]] and [[Epic Games]]'s teams would often sling mud at eachother in their public .plan files, which reached the point of one of Unreal's staff members openly accusing the team at id of stealing ideas from Unreal. His justification? ''"[https://web.archive.org/web/20120612054257/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/june03/dumbestmoments/index2.shtml Unreal has a bald guy and a girl with a ponytail. Quake II has a bald guy and a girl with a ponytail]."''
* Fans of [[Rhythm
* There have been accusations of ''Tiki Towers'' being a ripoff of ''[[World of Goo]]'', despite using slightly different gameplay mechanics.
* ''[[Xenogears]]'': Red head heroine, Giant robots and religious tones: "This is an ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' rip-off", said some [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch|uninformed fans of the anime]]. The usual answer they get is "Xenogears is '''very different''': [[Take That|the story actually makes sense]]."
* Fans of RPGs constantly say that FPSes are a ripoff of games like ''[[Doom]]'' and ''Wolfenstein 3D'', and likewise fans of FPSes and "Sandbox games" say the same about RPGs. (It does ''not'' matter where.) Despite that obviously neither of them have played anymore than the actual ripoffs or games trying to be "Traditional".
** Whenever a game with a few similarities to ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' is released, it is automatically compared to ''GTA'' or even considered a ''GTA'' rip off.
*** The First [[Mercenaries]] is probably one of the best examples of this. Despite the obvious differences that Mercenaries takes place in a warzone with little in the way of law enforcement to speak of, and with a heavier emphasis on blowing stuff up as opposed to car chases. It didn't help matters that the game was released roughly the same time as ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]''. So several reviewers dismissed Mercenaries while giving glowing reviews to San Andreas.
*** And yet ''GTA 3'' is itself an aversion of this trope; the Leader it ripped off, ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0257570/ Driver]'', is sadly forgotten, and doesn't even have a page here. In fact, ''GTA'' threw out everything unique to its franchise in order to emulate a game that is now as mired in obscurity as ''GTA 1&2''.
**** Ironically, the later ''Driver'' games tried to be more like ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'', however they languished in the marketplace. Driver: San Fransico, the fifth entry in the series, ditched the GTA elements for a new framing device (you switch between cars by "possessing" their drivers - it's a long story) and has, as a result gotten at the very least critical acclaim for it.
** Western RPGs and MMORPGs have somehow managed to escape being flagged as a ripoff of ''[[Dungeons
*** And there are still old-time MUDders who consider graphic MMORPG's to be a rip-off of MUD, with a graphical front-end to excuse charging money for what they'd played for free for over a decade. Due to similarities, the conviction was so strong that ''[[
**** Rip-off? More like "the same, with peddleable name". The only difference is that the old generation used "chessboard" space. But it was the same with single-player games and you ''could'' put a graphical client on the same DikuMUD looking like an old CRPG.
** Most MMOFPSes have somehow managed to escape being widely compared to other games with similar goals or even ''[[Counter-Strike]]'' - If by using fundamental gameplay tropes is enough to constitute for a "Ripoff", it's amazing how there have probably been three or four original FPS-games made ''period''.
*** And here you can see a rather arrant [[Double Standard]] at work; you'll notice more often than not people will throw "
* The music of video games gets this, sometimes. It's often intentional, as is the case with most licensed games (That don't flat out [[The Problem with Licensed Games|ignore the source's soundtrack]]) and even to try replicating the feel of some other famous soundtracks. Given that a lot of game composers are actually still alive and in practice; it remains yet unknown whether or not their successor(s) will get this fate thrown onto their music.
** Thanks to the epic remixes of the song "O Fortuna" (despite that it's not actually a video game song outside of ''[[Dracula Unleashed]]'') as well as the song "[[One-Winged Angel]]" and ''its'' various remixes, you'll have to try ''very'' hard to use a song with [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Latin lyrics]] ([[Bilingual Bonus|especially if they mean something]]) without someone saying it's a ripoff of these two. This fate seems to have fallen "Born Anew" in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'', which ''would'' have gotten a free pass if it was composed by [[Nobuo Uematsu]].
*** The lyrics for "[[One-Winged Angel]]" were all ripped from "O Fortuna" anyway.
* Some people are bashing ''[[TMNT]]: Smash Up'', because it has the ''[[Super Smash Bros.]].'' engine, panning it because they think it will be Super Smash Bros. [[In Space|with Turtles]], but the gameplay is showing that there are some differences, namely that there are health meters rather then stock damage, the enviroments change consistently, and guard breaks are different, and the people developing the game in question? The team who MADE Super Smash Bros., as well as Team Ninja, so they're really bashing themselves.
** And now - never mind it took until 2012 - Sony has its own [[Alternate Company Equivalent]]: ''[[
* I'm not sure if there was any back then, but I'm pretty sure ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' or ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' may have been labeled ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' ripoffs because of similar engines (Okay, Darkwing Duck used the ''5'' engine, but still), Ducktales had it's own original gameplay though, your weapon didn't shoot plasma at the opponent, you had to use Scrooge's cane as a weapon, pogo stick (not making that up), and to trigger things, ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' works a little more similar to Mega Man, so it's slightly more justified, the only difference? You can grab a hold of something to get higher in the stage.
** Of course, given that they were ''made'' by ''CAPCOM''...Definitive [[Did Not Do the Research|research failures]] there.
* ''[[Thrill Drive]]'', a popular game that ran contrary to ''[[Burnout]]'' concept of taking out other cars in a violent matter had a 4th installation that ran contrary to everything that made Thrill Drive the game it was with [[Power-Up]] items, a system that encourage maximum carnage as well as [[Boost Pad]], Japanese fans were not too amused
* The trailers for the yet-to-be-released ''[[HAVE Online]]'' looked almost ridiculously similar to popular game ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''. Not just ''similar'', people were finding exact shots ripped off from TF2's trailers.
** The Chinese FPS: ''Final Combat'' is receiving the same reception from ''Team Fortress 2'' fans for having a very similar style, gameplay, maps, and trailers.
* ''[[Killer Instinct]]'' was accused of this for trying to be like [[Mortal Kombat]].
* ''[[F-Zero]]'' fans occasionally consider ''[[Wipeout]]'' a rip-off.
* [[Rock Band]] fans often claim [[Guitar Hero]] stole any number of ideas, the most notable one being full band play. The less-informed will argue the opposite, not realizing (or ignoring) that Guitar Hero 1 & 2 were made by Harmonix (Forbes gets it wrong in [https://web.archive.org/web/20130101065939/http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0202/052_3.html this article]). Meanwhile, Guitar Hero is inspired from Guitar Freaks in Japan, but that game only had three frets, no hammer-ons, and Konami [[Frivolous Lawsuit|seemed pretty determined]] [[No Export for You|to deprive non-Japanese gamers of it]].
* Any Stealth-Action Game will inevitably get compared to and get accused of copying either [[Metal Gear Solid]] or [[Syphon Filter]](...which is accused of being a Metal Gear Solid clone itself)
* Because of the use of [[High Fantasy]] elements and Elijah Wood, many of [[Spyro the Dragon|the older Spyro]] [[Fan Dumb]] bashes the ''Legend'' series for being a [[The Lord of the Rings]] rip off... Considering that the ''Legend'' series doesn't even have [[Five Races]], has [[Steampunk]] elements, and no rings involved. [[Fridge Logic|And you play as a dragon...]]
* [[Limbo of the Lost]] gets most of its flak for [[Plagiarism|stealing copyrighted assets]] from games like ''[[Thief]]'', ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'', ''Painkiller'', ''[[Return to Castle Wolfenstein]]'' and ''[[Unreal Tournament]]'', among others.
** Incredibly, this is largely averted by many reviews: despite the ''literal'' copying, this is often only one of many criticisms of the game's overall perceived quality.
* When the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series got popular with the second installment pretty much any 2-D fighter that anyone ever heard of during the early to mid 90s was automatically deemed a rip-off to ''[[Street Fighter II]]'' regardless of whether it was actually deserving or not. The only ones whom remotely escaped this were ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' (due to digitized actors and the Graphic Violence, though not the first) and ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' (Weapons based fighter, though not the first). While this attitude was starting to fade during the late 90's and the 2000's it was a rather popular sentiment for the genre back then.
** The Data East fighting game "Fighter's History" plays with this trope a bit. Sure there might be someone thinking "Okay not all 2-D fighters were rip-offs of [[Street Fighter II]] but if anything deserved to be a called a rip-off then this game was it!" and Capcom agreed to that. While Capcom called Fighters History "overly inspired from Street Fighter II", one of the reasons why Capcom lost that case is because Data East called the original [[Street Fighter]] a rip-off of the original arcade version of their 1984 fighter ''Karate Champ''. Even though, Kunio-kun and Double Dragon creator Technos Japan actually developed it while Data East only released it, Technos Japan was founded by three former Data East employees. A little-known Japanese website in English known as [http://www.jap-sai.com/Games/Fighters_History/Fighters_History.htm Jap-Sai] considers it to actually be a tribute and not a 'direct copy'.
*** But this wasn't the first time a company sues another in fighting game history for "copying". Data East lost after they sued Epyx for releasing ''International Karate'' created by System 3, due to resembling Karate Champ.
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** Oddly enough, some people still believe to this day that ''[[Art of Fighting]]'' ripped off ''Street Fighter'' despite the fact that the gameplay is significantly different in every aspect. Of course, a main character named ''Ryo'' and a Guile-like army dude probably didn't remotely help.
*** ''Ryu'' is to Ozwald the Lucky Rabbit, and ''Ryo'' is to Mickey Mouse; same creators, but for different companies.
** Ditto ''[[Fatal Fury]]'', even though both it and SFII were in development at the same time.
*** ''Fatal Fury 2'' is pretty much "Street Fighter 2 with some Fatal Fury 1 elements tossed in", as well as four-button layout instead of SFII's six-button layout, though.
** And ''Time Killers'' is the ''[[Fatal Fury]]'' of ''Mortal Kombat''; both it and MK were in development at the same time.
** ''[[King of Fighters]] XII'' came out right after ''[[Street Fighter]] IV''. Claims of [[Follow the Leader]] were made even though ''King of Fighters XII'' was in development as early as 2006, far before ''Street Fighter IV'' was revealed to the public.
* The most common criticism leveled against [[Donkey Kong Country]] is that it is a [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]] clone, though both were created for Nintendo.
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** This was actually intentional, according to [[Word of God]], Lightning was conceived as a "female Cloud".
* The [[Wii U]]'s controller currently gets some hate for looking too similar to the iPad.
* Does your [[Simulation Game]] feature real-life aircraft, [[Airstrike Impossible|trench run missions]], a plot where two factions are at war with each other, and the ability to customize your aircraft, along with a silent-but-deadly, faceless protagonist who somehow has a knack of racking up a massive kill count with or without allies and things like that? If so, then consider your game to be a rip-off of [[Ace Combat]].
* ''[[Castlevania: Lords of Shadow]]'' is declared [[God of War (series)|God of War]]'s ripoff due to their similarities in combat mechanisms. To the lesser extent, Castlevania games on [[
* ''[[
== Web Original ==▼
* Don't ''ever'' do [[Caustic Critic|ranting reviews]] on [[YouTube]], unless you want to be labeled an [[The Angry Video Game Nerd|AVGN]] ripoff.▼
** And there are videos on [[YouTube]] calling the AVGN a Seanbaby ripoff. This is because seanbaby predates AVGN, and made fun of NES games for pretty much the same reasons. Some of his lines are even almost exactly the same.▼
* Many Abridged series are dismissed just for copying [[Little Kuriboh]], regardless of whether they have different jokes or even parody the series differently. This can come off as a bit hypocrital, given Kuriboh's own heavy reliance on pop culture references.▼
** ''[[Naruto Abridged]]'' made fun of this.▼
{{quote|
*** Since The Abridged Genre runs on [[Follow the Leader]], this was inevitable...▼
* Many people on [[Deviant ART]] are just eager to pounce on people that copied (just short of actually taking the person's work) artwork off someone else or made a similar picture, whether by accident or on purpose. Even putting characters in similar poses will get many people flamed because "true art" is original. The mentality can get so bad that all it takes is one artist making a journal crying that someone ripped off his or her work and the people responding go and flame the hell out of the target.▼
** Never '''EVER''' draw in anything that's even remniscent of anime. Period. You will immmediatly be told that you copied and now it sucks. Never '''ever''' draw fanart. You are copying.
** One art thief actually tried to use this to her advantage. Jen "Spunkywulf" Seng is a very popular artist and animator, especially in the [[Furry Fandom]]. An artist named "Mochi" may have traced her art and that of others. After Jen and her friend tried to discuss it privately, Mochi wrote a journal entry making Jen out to be some sort of elitist who was begrudging Mochi being "inspired" by her work, presumably expecting Jen to be cowed by the flames of Mochi's few hundred fans. Unfortunately, Jen herself has ''thousands'' of fans, and she was perfectly willing to call Mochi out. [
** One of the more hilarious aspects of DA is how the Whiteknighting sometimes backfires against the artists themselves.
** Despite the fact that many people do not like copying of styles, some artists actually ''encourage'' other artists to mimic their style. One mention should go to Razzek, a woman who pressingly tells people to draw characters (whether original or Fan Art) in her style. [[Small Name, Big Ego|Being how she is both on DA and on other sites]], some people have actually given into her demands and it has resulted in a lot of various characters being nearly "rip offs" of the artist's style.▼
*** Really though, this is just one of the ''many'' "artistic-heads" that cause over half of the trends (and problems) in [[Deviant ART]]. If someone has been on DA long enough, has enough artistic talent to win over some fans, and possibly a [[Small Name, Big Ego|big ego]], you can bet your bottom dollar that those fans will mimic the artist's style because they think it's good. Sadly, this results in less variety of styles and more so the whole "tracing/copying wars" that are seen by those who [[The Theme Park Version|think of the place as Deviant Tart]], where as those who actually have their unique style and ideas never really get noticed.▼
** Probably because deviantART ''was'' ear-deep in <s>filter-processed copypasted pics</s> "[http://encyclopediadramatica.
* Several people outside of Japan compare MAD Videos and other similar videos mostly found on Nico Nico Douga (NND) to [[YouTube]] Poop, though Know Your Meme researchers found that [[MA Ds]] were created as far back as 1978, 28 years before [[YouTube]] Poop was created.
** Some people outside of Japan refer to [[MA Ds]] as [[YouTube]] Poop Music Videos ([[YTPM Vs]]), though [[MA Ds]] are usually made with talent and soul, while [[YT Ps]] and [[YTPM Vs]] are often less artistic.▼
* Every gaming webcomic that isn't ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' has been accused of ripping off the same.▼
** ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' itself summed the trope up: the difference between "derivative" and "[[Homage]]" is "Whether or not I liked it".▼
== Western Animation ==
* In the 1930s every animation studio tried to copy Disney, often ending in [[Tastes Like Diabetes]] results with bland characters and storylines.
** In the 1940s and 1950s many animation studio's tried to copy [[Looney Tunes]] and [[Tex Avery]] by creating wild characters, aggressively violent gags or fourth wall breaking jokes. Even plots were copied: compare [[Tom and Jerry]]'s [[The Cat Concerto]] with [[Bugs Bunny]]'s [[Rhapsody Rabbit]] or [[Tex Avery]]'s [[Bad Luck Blackie]] and [[Tom and Jerry]]'s [[The Bodyguard]].
** Certain gags have been recycled as well, including the famous [[Painted Tunnel, Real Train]] joke.
* Despite good reception overall, ''[[The Incredibles]]'' was scoffed at for being a ripoff of the [[Fantastic Four]] (rather than as it was clearly intended, an [[Affectionate Parody|affectionate]] [[Satire, Parody, Pastiche|pastiche]]), considering three of the family members have the same powers save for Dash.
** Realistically, it was only two. Mr. Incredible was more of an [[Homage]] to 40's era [[Superman]]. That, and y'know, he wasn't made entirely of rock.
** Interestingly, they seem to have avoided the whole "It's like ''[[Watchmen]]'' ergo it sucks considering they cover a similar theme (ie. superheroes are seen as nuisances and are made illegal by the government) considering how quick [[Fan Dumb|Watchmen fans]] are to pull this card. It's probably because the extent of the similarities is just that they were made illegal and seen as nuisances; after that the only thing they have in common are probably costume colours.
*** The costumes in the film have also been noted for looking similar to ''[[Freakazoid!]]''. In fact, Syndrome himself is said to bear some resemblance to the title character (mostly with the hairstyle).
* ''[[Cars]]'' received some mild bashing for being ''[[Doc Hollywood]]'' [[Recycled in Space|with automobiles!]] - not enough to dent [[Pixar]]'s track record, though.
** Probably because it wasn't original when ''[[Doc Hollywood]]'' did it. It's a standard Hollywood formula.
* [[Dreamworks Animation]] has been hit with accusations of ripping off [[Pixar]] with [[Antz|An]][[A Bug's Life|tz]] and [[Shark Tale|Shark]] [[Finding Nemo|Tale]] being the most prominent offenders (It didn't help that [[Dueling Movies|the movies came out in the same years as each other]]). Comparisons between [[Flushed Away]] and [[Ratatouille]], [[Shrek]] and [[Monsters, Inc.]], and now [[Megamind]] and [[The Incredibles]] are also common.
* ''Every'' adult animated series after 1990 copied ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''. Some, like ''Capital Critters'', ''Family Dog'', ''The Oblongs'', and ''Fish Police'', got canceled just as quickly as they premiered; others, like ''Futurama'', ''[[South Park]]'', and the [[Seth MacFarlane]] trio (''[[Family Guy]]'', ''[[American Dad]]'', and ''The Cleveland Show'') are still around, while others, like ''Daria'' and ''[[King of the Hill]]'' were [[Long Runners]] that did suffer from some mild to moderate [[Seasonal Rot]] thanks to [[Characterization Marches On]], [[Flanderization]], and/or [[Executive Meddling]], but managed to be entertaining from beginning to end. It should be noted to the ignorant that ''[[The Honeymooners]]'', ''[[The Flintstones]]'', and ''[[Wait Till Your Father Gets Home]]'' (an obscure late 1960s animated [[Dom Com]] set up as a cartoon version of ''[[All in The Family]]'') are the real inspirations behind ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
* There's a rather large controversy on the internet regarding whether or not ''[[The Lion King]]'' is a rip-off of the classic anime series ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]''. Comparisons between the two can be seen here- [http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm Yeah, a LOT of similarities, aren't there?]
** This was even referenced in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in which [[The Lion King|Mufasa]] appears in the clouds to Lisa and says-"[[Take That|Kimba...I mean--]][[Last-Second Word Swap|Simba]]...avenge me."
** Except for the fact that the actual stories are as different as night and day.
*** Agree. Most of those "similarities" aren't
** Not as many as ''[[Hamlet]]'' and the African ''Tale
*** Though the people behind Lion King did give credit to [[Hamlet]], at least. There probably be lessing [[Internet Backdraft|ranting]] if they at least said there was similarities.
*** And, interestingly, ''[[Hamlet]]'' ''itself'' was a pretty blatant copy of the Danish legend of Amled. So supposedly, Disney ripped off a ripoff.
** When you consider that the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y14TwUGQ3xE ending they originally had planned] kinda hits the nail home.
* Speaking of the above, ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]'' would also have produced less [[Internet Backdraft|ranting]] if Disney had simply admitted (with no shame required really) that their character concepts were based from ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]''. There was a counter-argument that Nadia itself had characters and concepts copied from other shows, including western shows.
** Atlantis, from start to finish, was also like the ''Stargate'' movie.
*** The creators have admitted to taking a good deal from [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]].
** Atlantis is also an awful lot like James Gurney's Dinotopia: The World Beneath. While to be fair they're based off the same legends, those legends don't involve animal-style mechs and stuff, so...
* The more [[Serious Business|rabid fans]] of ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' accused the series ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' of being a rip-off of the former...even though all they had in common was that they are about a [[Half-Human Hybrid]] with supernatural powers. If that wasn't crazy enough, the ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' fans then began to accuse ''[[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee]]'' of being a rip-off. Ironic, considering that [[Older Than They Think|shows/cartoons starring a teen with supernatural powers have been around since at least the 1960s.]]
** The resemblance between ''[[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee]]'' and ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' are a lot more uncanny mind, between hidden fantasy creatures living unknown to the wider world, an ethnic main character who must learn to live up to an important title thrusted upon them, a Chinese grandparent mentor and a [[Talking Animal|talking bulldog protagonist]].
** [[Irony]]: the two shows are basically products of the same bunch (there's even jokes thrown in about [[Actor Allusion|the VAs they have in common]]). Yes, they're ripping off ''themselves'', somehow.
* ''[[Squirrel Boy]]'' gets this, as the haters blame Rodney and Andy for copying... [[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends|Mac and Bloo]].
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* ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]'' - The one review online accuses it of being a ''[[Powerpuff Girls]]'' ripoff, despite the fact there was barely anything similar.
* ''[[Detention]]'' was often panned for being a rip-off of ''[[Recess]]''. This was during a time when [[One Saturday Morning]] was beating [[Kids WB]] in the ratings, so WB had to make their own series. It lasted 13 episodes.
* [[Angel's Friends]] was accussed of being a rip-off of [[Winx Club]], which was accussed of being a rip-off of [[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]], which was accussed of being a rip-off of [[Sailor Moon]], which was accussed of being a rip-off of [[Wonder Woman]]
* [[Cow and Chicken]] was accused of being a ripoff of [[Ren and Stimpy]]. This is rather ironic, seeing as how Cow And Chicken is actually [[John Kricfalusi]]'s favorite cartoon from the 1990's.
** Rather irritatingly, ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'' also was frequently accused of being a ''[[Ren and Stimpy]]'' rip-off/knock-off during its "early-to-mid-[[The Nineties|1990s]]" heyday, despite the fact that said shows were practically polar opposites of each other in terms of what their humor styles '''actually focused on''' (''R&S'' focused on its [[Gross Up Close-Up|visual]] humor and [[Surreal Humor|utter nonsensical-ness]] while ''RML'' focused on its writing and characters; also, ''R&S'' focused on being a satire of cartoons themselves while ''RML'' focused on being a more traditional satire of society).
* [[Johnny Test]] has its haters for being a rip-off of [[Dexter's Laboratory]]. Think about it: It's about two ingenious sisters that make experiments for their brother Johnny. The only difference between the two shows is that the lab rat is the star instead of the genius.
* Several ''[[PAW Patrol]]'' fans have accused the Disney Junior show ''SuperKitties'' of being a shameless ripoff the minute it was announced, since both shows involve a group of animals (puppies in ''PAW Patrol'' and kittens in ''SuperKitties'') helping and/or rescuing the residents of the city they live in. It doesn't help that the announcement was made around the same time ''PAW Patrol'' itself introduced a heroic team of cats called the Cat Pack.
▲== Web Original ==
▲* Don't ''ever'' do [[Caustic Critic|ranting reviews]] on [[YouTube]], unless you want to be labeled an [[The Angry Video Game Nerd|AVGN]] ripoff.
▲** And there are videos on [[YouTube]] calling the AVGN a Seanbaby ripoff. This is because seanbaby predates AVGN, and made fun of NES games for pretty much the same reasons. Some of his lines are even almost exactly the same.
▲* Many Abridged series are dismissed just for copying [[Little Kuriboh]], regardless of whether they have different jokes or even parody the series differently. This can come off as a bit hypocrital, given Kuriboh's own heavy reliance on pop culture references.
▲** ''[[Naruto Abridged]]'' made fun of this.
▲{{quote| You're copying Little Kuriboh! He said the word "the", and you so said it in your last episode!}}
▲*** Since The Abridged Genre runs on [[Follow the Leader]], this was inevitable...
▲* Many people on [[Deviant ART]] are just eager to pounce on people that copied (just short of actually taking the person's work) artwork off someone else or made a similar picture, whether by accident or on purpose. Even putting characters in similar poses will get many people flamed because "true art" is original. The mentality can get so bad that all it takes is one artist making a journal crying that someone ripped off his or her work and the people responding go and flame the hell out of the target.
▲** Never '''EVER''' draw in anything that's even remniscent of anime. Period. You will immmediatly be told that you copied and now it sucks. Never '''ever''' draw fanart. You are copying.
▲** One art thief actually tried to use this to her advantage. Jen "Spunkywulf" Seng is a very popular artist and animator, especially in the [[Furry Fandom]]. An artist named "Mochi" may have traced her art and that of others. After Jen and her friend tried to discuss it privately, Mochi wrote a journal entry making Jen out to be some sort of elitist who was begrudging Mochi being "inspired" by her work, presumably expecting Jen to be cowed by the flames of Mochi's few hundred fans. Unfortunately, Jen herself has ''thousands'' of fans, and she was perfectly willing to call Mochi out. [http://www.crushyiffdestroy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3358 Hilarity ensued].
▲** One of the more hilarious aspects of DA is how the Whiteknighting sometimes backfires against the artists themselves. Lets say you want to draw things your parents/relations wouldn't agree with too much. Perhaps you're even a squeaky clean artist who wants to throw a couple boobies into your work to avoid people FROM work from finding out and getting you canned. So you make a new name, and upload new works to that, and gain fans. Eventually, one of your thousands of old fans finds the new account and starts watching...And then they notice minor similarities like how you draw hands and how the new account has no signature on pictures. [[Fan Dumb|Cue mass reporting spree for art theft.]] Even if they aren't trying to hide from anyone, if they make a second account on a whim, for example furry artist Inuki...yea...
▲** Despite the fact that many people do not like copying of styles, some artists actually ''encourage'' other artists to mimic their style. One mention should go to Razzek, a woman who pressingly tells people to draw characters (whether original or Fan Art) in her style. [[Small Name, Big Ego|Being how she is both on DA and on other sites]], some people have actually given into her demands and it has resulted in a lot of various characters being nearly "rip offs" of the artist's style.
▲*** Really though, this is just one of the ''many'' "artistic-heads" that cause over half of the trends (and problems) in [[Deviant ART]]. If someone has been on DA long enough, has enough artistic talent to win over some fans, and possibly a [[Small Name, Big Ego|big ego]], you can bet your bottom dollar that those fans will mimic the artist's style because they think it's good. Sadly, this results in less variety of styles and more so the whole "tracing/copying wars" that are seen by those who [[The Theme Park Version|think of the place as Deviant Tart]], where as those who actually have their unique style and ideas never really get noticed.
▲** Probably because deviantART ''was'' ear-deep in <s>filter-processed copypasted pics</s> "[http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Image:Tartletmanual.jpg Tracing]" for long. Which in itself [[Tropes Are Not Bad|isn't "horrible"]], of course -- as long as the works such remix is derived from are given proper credits.
▲* Several people outside of Japan compare MAD Videos and other similar videos mostly found on Nico Nico Douga (NND) to [[YouTube]] Poop, though Know Your Meme researchers found that [[MA Ds]] were created as far back as 1978, 28 years before [[YouTube]] Poop was created.
▲** Some people outside of Japan refer to [[MA Ds]] as [[YouTube]] Poop Music Videos ([[YTPM Vs]]), though [[MA Ds]] are usually made with talent and soul, while [[YT Ps]] and [[YTPM Vs]] are often less artistic.
▲* Every gaming webcomic that isn't ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' has been accused of ripping off the same.
▲** ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' itself summed the trope up: the difference between "derivative" and "[[Homage]]" is "Whether or not I liked it".
== Real Life ==
* Romans liked to copy Greek art, often making perfect replicas in marble. Among artistic communities, it's often thought that this copying made the Romans less worthy, artistically speaking. Of course, even today with complicated techniques and high-tech tools, it's very hard to make an exact copy.
** Which says something about the pretentiousness of the art world.
*** Or that good talent shouldn't be wasted on rehashing old stuff.
*** It also should be noted that in many cases the originals did not survive (being made of bronze, they were melted down), so it is not easy to gauge how exact the copies are.
** It's interesting to learn that early artists were not sure how to portray the Buddha. They started off using a symbol (a footprint with a wheel inside), and moved on from there. Many earlier sculptures of the Buddha feature flowing robes and other elements borrowed from Greco-Roman sculpture, and it took quite a while before the present-day image of Buddha became canon.
* A very [[Averted Trope]] when it comes to military technology and techniques - the slower you are to copy, the frequently worse off you are. That doesn't mean you should come up with something new ever, of course.
** Unlike the arts, any sort of applied sciences tend to dodge this, since the idea isn't to impress with one's originality, but rather to find something that works better than anything else currently out there.
* Copying other people's ideas was the very essence of H.J. Heinz's business strategies. (Yes, ''that'' Heinz, whose company now controls the ketchup market.) Possibly [[Averted Trope|averted]], due to his insistence on always one-upping the competition when he imitated something. For instance, he added vinegar and thickened ketchup to extend its shelf life; ketchup was previously rather mild in flavor and quite runny.
* Snowclones submitted as YKTTW on [[
* In their memoirs, [[Silent Films]] actresses [[Lillian Gish]] and Miriam Cooper both mentioned their distaste for Carol Dempster, who became D.W. Griffith's leading lady in the 1920s after Gish and Cooper had moved on. They both claimed that Dempster was not a true actress
* [[Denis Leary]] obviously borrowed a lot of his style and jokes from [[Bill Hicks]], to the point that many people
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