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They Copied It, So It Sucks: Difference between revisions
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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 [[Its the Same So It Sucks]]. The two almost go hand-in-hand, this way, since a non-fan would not really notice how many subtle differences since, after all, they see it and aren't looking for that stuff, that is, [[Blind Bashing|if they actually see the work they're invoking this trope, on]]. Sometimes people are actually calling out things based upon ''meta-concepts'' of the genre.
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 [[
See also [[
----
'''Examples:'''
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== Comic Books ==
* [[Captain Marvel]] from Marvel is somehow accused of ripping off Captain Marvel from DC because [[
** Don't get anyone started on Namor and [[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]].
*** Or Hawkeye and [[Green Arrow]].
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* [[Cracked]] listed this among the [http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-common-movie-arguments-that-are-always-wrong/#ixzz1tUF4XdFL 6 Common Movie Arguments That Are Always Wrong] (#4).
* 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 [[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.
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* ''[[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 [[This Is Sparta|we have an entire page full of examples of people yelling that way]], and that ''Beowulf'' [[Animation Lead Time|was filmed first, anyway.]]
** 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 "[[Its the Same So It Sucks|It's The Same]]/TheyCopiedItSoItSucks".
* 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]]''.
*** Even though ''[[Max Payne (Video Game)|Max Payne]]'', which also used "bullet time", was in development before ''[[The Matrix]]'' came out.'
*** In the DVD commentary for ''[[Blade]]'' it's pointed out (tongue-in-cheek) that they used a Bullet Time scene first, so these should be regarded as ''Blade'' rip-offs.
* In what is probably the crowning example of the trope, thousands of people wrote off the the 2009 horror film ''Orphan'' for ripping off ''[[The Good Son]]'', acting as if a beloved, many decades-old classic had been violated. This hilariously overlooked the fact that [[The Good Son]] was an obscure film despised by most everyone(some would even call it underrated) except for those who made joking [[Home Alone]] references to it because Macauly Culkin played that film's villain. But when Orphan came out, suddenly people began acting as if [[The Good Son]] was one of the most popular and beloved films of all time, and that Orphan was some kind of abomination. What these people overlooked was that both films are predated by [[The Bad Seed]], which came out literally [[Older Than They Think|decades]] prior, and that all subsequent [[Creepy Child|"Evil Child"]] films are derivative of that film, and that Orphan, in fact, is probably the most original of them, and that the similarities between the films are completely undone by Orphan's twist-ending. The likely explanation is that the trolls responsible had little knowledge of cinema predating the late 80s-90s, and thus, remembering [[The Good Son]], thought they were making a [[What Do You Mean
* Despite [[Older Than You Think|parody movies having been done back in the dawn of cinematic history]], a lot of the newer ones are long forgotten for trying to cash in on ''[[Scary Movie]]''. Then again, Scary Movie did repopularize parody movies...
* ''[[Cool World]]'' by Ralph Bakshi, had been riddled with bad reviews for mainly trying to copy ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]'' because it used the same [[Roger Rabbit Effect|real-world/cartoon integration special effects]].
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*** The latter movie having the same misfortune of this trope, considering it came out a year after [REC].
** 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]].
* ''[[
** [[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]]''.
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**** 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 (Video Game)|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 "[[They Copied It, So It Sucks]]" at [[RPG|RPGs]] of ''all'' kind when they are not really a fan of [[RPG|RPGs]] and have a minimalistic view of the genre. (Many only seem to view the genre as all being clones of one representative of it.) You can pretty much copypaste "RPG" out with "Platformer", "Wide open sandbox", "FPS", "Shmup", the list goes on and on. Naturally they won't say that to their own genre unless it's ''actually'' a blatant ripoff because, once more, fans are able to tell apart say, ''[[Halo]]'' from ''[[Counter-Strike (Video Game)|Counter-Strike]]''. Unfortunately; many reviewers fall into this [[Double Standard]] and throw this trope around a ''lot''.
* 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
*** The lyrics for "[[One
* 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]]: ''[[Play Station All Stars Battle Royale (Video Game)|Play Station All Stars Battle Royale]]''. The Nintendo fandom's response has been ''furious''.
* I'm not sure if there was any back then, but I'm pretty sure ''[[Duck Tales]]'' 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
* The trailers for the yet-to-be-released ''[[HAVE Online]]'' looked almost ridiculously similar to popular game ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video 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.
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* 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? If so, then consider your game to be a rip-off of [[Ace Combat]].
* ''[[Castlevania Lords of Shadow]]'' is declared [[God of War (Video Game)|God of War]]'s ripoff due to their similarities in combat mechanisms. To the lesser extent, Castlevania games on [[PS 2]] are compared with [[Devil May Cry]] because of their battle systems and [[White
* ''[[Playstation All Stars Battle Royale]]'' is already getting slammed for being a ripoff of ''[[Super Smash Bros]]'', despite a Sony version of SSB being in demand for quite a while before the idea for the game was offically conceived. SSB [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nekketsu_Kakut<!-- C58D_Densetsu wasn't even the first]] MascotFighter. But in the complainers' defense, it doesn't help that a Nintendo Wii can be seen in the background in a photo on the game's website. -->
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* 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 (Animation)|Tom and Jerry]]'s [[The Cat Concerto]] with [[Bugs Bunny]]'s [[Rhapsody Rabbit]] or [[Tex Avery]]'s [[Bad Luck Blackie]] and [[Tom and Jerry (Animation)|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.
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* ''[[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 (Animation)|An]][[A
* ''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 (Animation)|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]]''.
*** A fact lampshaded on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' when in court deciding who owned the rights to Itchy and Scratchy. Roger Meyers pointed out shows that owed their existence to earlier shows, naming ''[[The Flintstones]]'' and ''[[The Honeymooners]]'', then asking the judge, "If you take away our right to steal ideas, where are they going to come from?" He then points to Marge, whose best "original" idea for a cartoon is "Ghost Mutt."
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*** 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
** 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.
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* ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'' and ''[[The Thief and The Cobbler (Animation)|The Thief and The Cobbler]]'' are both accused of ripping off the other one. The latter went through [[Development Hell]] (and Aladdin itself wasn't exactly sitting in Development Heaven, so that's saying something), so it was only ''released'' after Aladdin, and in a heavily meddled-with cut at that, making ''it'' look like the rip-off to people who didn't know that it was in production before Aladdin was.
* Lampshaded in ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]'', when Robin meets Speedy for the first time, [[Beast Boy]] quips to Cyborg, "dude, I didn't know Robin had a clone!"
* [[Hanna
* ''[[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.
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** 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.
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[[Category:They Copied It So It Sucks]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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