History ComicBook / WhatIf

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Vol 2, Issue #76 has Flash Thompson lash out violently at and threaten to kill the occupants of a car that almost ran him over... who turn out to be bank robbers.

* SpiritualSequel: Of a sort. Vol.2's issue 92 was revisited in two different ways in the main Marvel Universe. Joshua Guthrie was given a mutant power and became a student at the Xavier Institute, and a teenager named Juston Seyfert would find an abandoned Sentinel and repair it.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Some storylines could showcase surprisingly logical results from the decisions (like how a powerless Ben Grimm is easy prey for the Hulk).
** Several stories have Wolverine dying by being thrown into space where his {{healing factor}} is useless without any oxygen.
** When the Punisher is tricked into killing Spider-Man (v2 #58), he discovers that the police may have been willing to turn a blind eye to him wiping out gangsters but killing a super-hero makes the Punisher Public Enemy #1. Plus, the Punisher finds himself hunted by every costumed hero in New York and openly noting how he's "out my league and over my head" with panels showing his guns useless on the likes of Luke Cage and the Thing, outmatched against Captain America and barely able to escape the Human Torch.

* CloningBlues: In "What if Spider-Man's clone lived?" (vol. 1 #30), the Spider-Clone seals away the real Spidey and goes on to take back his life, believing that he's the real Spidey. He ends up finding evidence that, nope, he's the Clone and is almost tempted to kill the real Spidey, but changes his mind.

* OutsideContextProblem: The ''What If? Annihilation'' special begins with the events of ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}'' being treated as this in regards to ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', as Nova arrives on Earth during the climax of the latter crossover and is shocked and appalled that Earth's heroes have been ignorant of the threat of the Annihilation Wave up until then.

* InSpiteOfANail: Many stories have premises that, on paper, should completely redefine everything. What if the hero died in that famed story arc? What if the hero [[SupermanStaysOutOfGotham stays out of the adventure]]? What if the OriginStory does not take place? The actual result is that something happens so things stay the same, at least in BroadStrokes. The hero dies, but a LegacyCharacter replaces him. The hero does not take part, but another hero steps in and does more or less the same things. The tragic origin story is averted, but the main consequence takes place anyway because of some other reason.

* ImAHumanitarian: Implied and ultimately averted in "What If...Kraven the Hunter Killed Spider-Man" (vol. 2, no. 17); going on the premise of Kraven actually killing Spidey during the "Kraven's Last Hunt" story line (instead of tranquilizing him,) an increasingly unhinged Kraven begins dressing up as Spider-Man and raves about his obsession with "becoming the Spider." It gets to the point where he feels he has to "consume the Spider" in order to achieve his goal. Apparently consuming an actual hive of spiders wasn't enough for him, so he proceeds to dig up Spider-Man from his grave, and looks like he's about to indulge in cannibalism, only to be stopped by Captain America, Daredevil, and ComicBook/HumanTorch.

* Volume 2, issue 35-39: "What if the Fantastic Five fought Doctor Doom & Annihilus?", "What if the Cosmic Avengers battled the ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy?", "What if Wolverine had been Lord of the Vampires during ''ComicBook/{{Inferno}}''?", "What if Thor was a thrall of Seth?" & "What if the Watcher saved the universe?" -- A 5-part epic titled "Timequake", in which the Time-Keepers plot to kill the nexus beings of four different realities, but a mysterious being called the Whisperer is secretly thwarting them for their own ends, culminating in Uatu assisting the Time Variance Authority in stopping a crisis threatening the multiverse.

* EarthShatteringKaboom: Suffered by Earth itself in "What if the Avengers lost Operation Galactic Storm?" (v2 #55) And this is around the start!
* EatsBabies: "What if the ComicBook/XMen had lost ComicBook/Inferno1988?" (v2 #6) had a demon-corrupted ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} literally get handed a squalling infant by N'astirh, followed by a claw-popping ''snikt!'' and a barely DiscretionShot of Wolverine bending over the child's body.

* BadassBoast: At the climax of "What if New York became Ka-Zar's [[Characters/MarvelComicsSavageLand Savage Land]]?" (vol.2 #112), upon realizing that Thanos may have used the Terraformer to transform more than just New York - that the entirety of the universe may now look like the Savage Land - Shanna the She-Devil declares that Thanos should start running for fear of her wrath. For the uninformed, Shanna is a BadassNormal jungle-woman, whilst Thanos is a PhysicalGod.

* BadassBoast: At the climax of "What if New York became Ka Zar's Savage Land?" (vol.2 #112), upon realizing that Thanos may have used the Terraformer to transform more than just New York - that the entirety of the universe may now look like the Savage Land - ComicBook/ShannaTheSheDevil declares that Thanos should start running for fear of her wrath. For the uninformed, Shanna is a BadassNormal jungle-woman, whilst Thanos is a PhysicalGod.

* Volume 1, issue 9: "What if the Avengers Had Fought Evil During the 1950s?" -- Used as a major plot point in ''Comicbook/AvengersForever'', this later became semi-canon and led to ''ComicBook/AgentsOfAtlas''.

* AnyoneCanDie: One of the main draws of the series is that, free from the binds of canon, WhatIf can outright avert JokerImmunity and the obligatory immunity of heroes by killing anybody off that it damn well pleases. Expect to see Spider-Man, Comicbook/TheKingpin and even Comicbook/DoctorDoom die a lot through a number of issues, and don't expect the ActuallyADoombot trope to save Doom either, as most of the time when he dies, it's the actual Doom and not a Doombot.

* ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: In "What if Wolverine had lived during the Age of Conan the Barbarian?" (v2 #16), ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} [[LetsYouAndHimFight fights]] Comicbook/RedSonja and defeats her. When he lets her live, she assumes he's heard about her BestHerToBedHer condition, and prepares to be raped -- and is puzzled (and a bit offended) when he's not interested. They end up in a real romantic relationship after Wolverine end up trapped in the past (while Conan is flung into his place in the future), and the two become a legendary BattleCouple.

** In "What if Spider-Man's Parents destroyed his family?", Spidey is framed for the deaths of [[Comicbook/MaryJaneWatson Mary Jane]] and Aunt May, who were killed by the robots of Richard and Mary Parker. Spidey goes on a rampage, murdering the Vulture and the Chameleon, but upon catching up to his "parents", their final battle ends with them shifting back into their human forms, dying as them and framing Spidey for their deaths. Spidey is arrested by an army of other superheroes and a shadowy figure [[spoiler:implied to be the Harry Osborn Green Goblin]] laughs in victory.
* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: In "What if Comicbook/{{Rogue}} possessed the power of Thor?" (v2 #66), Rogue is besieged by the voices of the victims she absorbed and finds herself overwhelmed. Ultimately, Thor's gets through to her and convinces her to accept the power fully and be the hero she should be.

** In the "What if all of the ComicBook/FantasticFour [[IdenticallyPoweredTeam had the same power]]?" issue (v2 #11), two of the universes end this way, one has an outright DownerEnding, and one has an unambiguously happy ending. In the universe where they all become Human Torches, a stray spark during a battle with the Miracle Man results in a fire that kills a little girl; the team quit superheroing as a result, with Sue becoming a nun, Reed throwing himself into his lab work, and Johnny focusing on exploiting his fire immunity to become a professional racecar driver--only Ben Grimm eventually resumes the mantle of the Human Torch and joins the Avengers. In the universe where they all become Comicbook/MisterFantastic, Ben and Sue find their powers "ugly" and "stupid" and so they refuse to become superheroes; instead, they pursue a normal life together and get married, causing Reed to become a bitter recluse who stays in his lab--only Johnny gets a happy ending, using his powers to become a wealthy and much-admired entertainer.

** Another is "What If the Hulk Kept the Mind of Bruce Banner", which eventually results in Hulk, Reed Richards and Comicbook/ProfessorX using a machine to combine their metahuman energies to repel Comicbook/{{Galactus}}. It works, but they're permanently depowered as a result.

** "What if the Avengers had fought Galactus?" (v2 #41) has the point of departure be the Fantasic Four's spaceship crash landing upon reentry, killing them all. As a result, Doom becomes an ally of the West, Namor [[LossOfIdentity still has amnesia]], Captain America is never found, and the incident that the issue is named for: the Avengers[[note]]Iron Man, [[Comicbook/AntMan Giant-Man]], Comicbook/TheWasp, Comicbook/{{Quicksilver}}, Comicbook/ScarletWitch, Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}}, Thor, [[Comicbook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]], the Hulk, and even the Swordsman[[/note]] becoming entangled with the Galactus incident. The result from ''that'' is [[spoiler:the Silver Surfer joining the Avengers after being released from Galactus' control, and Galactus' hunger being satiated... at the cost of the Watcher's own life]]. Uatu even points out that [[spoiler: his counterpart's death was why he was so reluctant to share this particular story for so long]].

*** In issue #12, Rick Jones saves Bruce Banner from the Gamma Bomb explosion, and thus becomes Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk after being exposed to the radiation.

*** In issue #44, Frank Castle becomes the host of the Comicbook/{{Venom}} symbiote instead of Eddie Brock.

*** In #79, Comicbook/JeanGrey is knocked unconscious during the X-Men's escape from Steven Lang's satellite, meaning that Comicbook/{{Storm}} takes her place as the mutant who pilots the space shuttle and becomes the Phoenix Force's host.

** "What If the Silver Surfer Had Not Escaped Earth?" (v2 #22) has the Surfer (in this version a member of the Fantastic Four) make a deal with Comicbook/{{Mephisto}} for his soul to save the rest of the Four (aside from Johnny Storm whom Mephisto burned alive). In a twist however, Mephisto discovers that the Surfer's IncorruptiblePurePureness burns ''him'', and because of the deal, Mephisto [[HoistByHisOwnPetard is now trapped burning in agony until the end of time]] in the light of the Surfer's soul.
** "What If the Alien Costume Had Possessed Spider-Man?" (v2 #4) has Comicbook/BlackCat sell herself into servitude to The Kingpin for life in return for a sonic weapon to kill the Venom symbiote in revenge for the death of Peter Parker, who the symbiote had killed by draining his life energy. She solemnly accepts her life as Fisk's assassin once she's avenged her one true love.

** "What If the [[Comicbook/InvisibleWoman Invisible Girl]] Had Died?" (v1 #42) explores a scenario that would have happened if Reed Richards had not prevented this from happening to Sue in "Let There Be... Life!" (''ComicBook/FantasticFour Annual'' #6).

** In "What If the [[Comicbook/InvisibleWoman Invisible Girl]] Had Died?" (v1 #42), [[spoiler:Reed Richards is, thanks to Annihilus's interference, too late to save his wife Sue from dying in childbirth. Shattered, he then devotes the final days of his life to hunting down Annihilus and killing him in a MurderSuicide]].

** "What if the X-Men Condemned Comicbook/{{Gambit}} to death?" (vol.2 #106) has Gambit be forced to duel [[Comicbook/WarrenWorthingtonIII Archangel]] over his role in the Morlock Massacre. Whilst Archangel spares his life, he decrees that Gambit is to be forever exiled from the X-men. Then Marrow steps in and kills Gambit anyway.

** "What If the Hulk Evolved into the Maestro" (vol 2 #80) sees an attempt to cure Bruce Banner instead result in the creation of an intelligent, cunning, and utterly ruthless Hulk. When Mr. Fantastic and Comicbook/TheThing try to stop him, he kills Reed and exposes Ben to a heavy dose of radiation that makes him mutate even further. Bruce's final act is to commit SuicideByCop in order to prevent this evil Hulk from doing any further damage.
** "What If...Norman Osborn won the Comicbook/{{Siege}} of Asgard?" has the Sentry present to lay waste to the Avengers and the other heroes, only for him to learn that Osborn had ordered the death of his wife, leading him to embrace [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Void]] as an OmnicidalManiac, destroying Earth before, as that world's Watcher notes, moving on to the rest of the universe.

* EnemyMine: "What if Iron Man lost the Comicbook/ArmorWars?" (v2 #8) had an outlaw Tony Stark teaming up with some of his armored foes, such as Stilt-Man, The Beetle and Firebrand, to get back at Justin Hammer, who'd caused his downfall.

* ForWantOfANail: A common plot device. An interesting variant is "What if Vision of the Avengers conquered the Earth?" (vol. 2 #19), where we're given dual nails - the initial premise, in which the Avengers are unable to save Comicbook/TheVision from inserting his conscious through every computer and he ends up taking control of them all. The second nail comes from the Vision's message to the United Nations. In one version, the nations of the world accepts, Earth becomes a major galactic power with all beings beloved by all and they end up bringing an end to the threat of the Kree and Skrull by allowing friendlier members of their people to take power; another version has Genoshia freak out and nuke New York to stop the Vision. Not only does this fail, this ends up leading to the Vision recruiting Doctor Doom, the Mad Thinker, Kingpin and the Supreme Hydra, who take over the Earth and turn humanity into a conquering species.

* FreakyFridayFlip: "What If Tony Stark Became Doctor Doom?" (in the ''Iron Man: Demon in an Armor'' one-shot) has Victor Von Doom do this to Tony Stark during their college years, giving Tony LaserGuidedAmnesia in the bargain. Doom, in Stark's body, becomes a hugely successful CorruptCorporateExecutive, while Tony, in Doom's body, achieves a number of doctorates on his own and creates a business empire in Latveria. Later, after Doom (in Comicbook/IronMan-style power armor) is defeated by Stark (in a modified Doctor Doom armor) after attempting to sabotage Von Doom Industries, Doom offers to reverse the mind-swap in exchange for amnesty. Stark declines, stating that Doom has made the name Stark synonymous with corruption and avarice, and he wants no part of that name now.

* GenghisGambit: In "What if Comicbook/{{Magneto}} ruled all mutants?" (v2 #85), Magneto does this to unite the factions of Acolytes battling on Asteroid M, faking that the first baby born on the Asteroid is a "Homo Ultima" in order to scare the Acolytes into ceasing their feuding.

* AGodAmI: "What If the Silver Surfer Had Kept Comicbook/TheInfinityGauntlet" (v2 #49) had the Surfer set himself up as the omnipotent God of the universe with the intent of "fixing it". He initially does okay, removing hunger, disease, war and transforms Death into a less terrifying entity, as well as destroying Mephisto. However, the power eventually begins to corrupt him, and when he almost lashes out at his lost love Shala-Bal for questioning him, he comes to his senses, destroys the Infinity Gems and the Gauntlet, and retreats to an Eden-like world with Shala-Bal as a mortal.

** In "Death & Dishonor" (vol.2 #101), to Comicbook/{{Apocalypse}}'s horror, Archangel turns on ''all'' mutants, wiping out the most powerful first through manipulation and ultimately exterminating them all before turning on Apocalypse himself.

** In "What if the ComicBook/SilverSurfer remained the Cosmic Carnage?" (vol. 2 #108), the Silver Surfer does this to destroy himself and the Comicbook/{{Carnage}} symbiote after they end up being permanently bound together.

* HugeGuyTinyGirl: "What if Comicbook/{{Dazzler}} had become the herald of Galactus?" (v1 #33) eventually turns into a love story between the two.

* ImAHumanitarian: Implied and ultimately averted in "What If...Kraven the Hunter Killed Spider-Man" (vol. 2, no. 17); going on the premise of Kraven actually killing Spidey during the "Kraven's Last Hunt" story line (instead of tranquilizing him,) an increasingly unhinged Kraven begins dressing up as Spider-Man and raves about his obsession with "becoming the Spider." It gets to the point where he feels he has to "consume the Spider" in order to achieve his goal. Apparently consuming an actual hive of spiders wasn't enough for him, so he proceeds to dig up Spider-Man from his grave, and looks like he's about to indulge in cannibalism, only to be stopped by Captain America, Daredevil, and Comicbook/HumanTorch.

** "What if Jane Foster had found the hammer of Thor?" (v1 #10), where Jane stumbles into the cave that Donald Blake should have and becomes "Thordis". When she arrives in Asgard to deal with Comicbook/{{Loki}}, Odin's shocked that a female has the hammer and that it was meant for his son. When Jane stops Ragnarok from occurring, Odin rewards her for her valor by turning her into a true goddess and being his bride and returns the hammer to Donald Blake, who becomes Thor once more.

** "Brave New World" (v2 #114) had the heroes getting trapped in Battleworld after the events of ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'', settling down and having children. All the kids have combinations of their parents' powers ''and'' traits; ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and Rogue[[note]]With [[Comicbook/CarolDanvers Ms. Marvel]]'s personality having taken over[[/note]] have a daughter who has strength, flight, and is a natural leader, while Human Torch and the Wasp's son has HotWings and [[KillItWithFire fire projection]] (but only when he's shrunk) and is a smartass.

* MissedTheCall: "What If... Barbara Ketch Had Become Comicbook/GhostRider" (vol2, #45) had Jack Ketch's sister living and becoming a more violent Ghost Rider than her brother.
* MommasBoy: "Children in the Attic" (vol2, #98) focused on if Comicbook/{{Mystique}} hadn't abandoned Comicbook/{{Nightcrawler}}. Named Michael, she keeps him locked in a highly furnished attic while she trains the Brotherhood with Destiny. She does love him, but her [[MyBelovedSmother smothering]] and overprotective nature has made him very weak-willed.

** Black Cat in ''"What If The Amazing Spider-Man Had Not Married Mary Jane?"'' (v2 #20-21) takes a much more proactive and violent approach to Spider-Man's RoguesGallery, killing Kraven during the "Comicbook/KravensLastHunt" event with poisoned claws and almost blasting Eddie Brock to smithereens during Venom's first outing (if not for Peter's intervention). [[spoiler:She also kills the Vulture as a twisted way of cleaning up her own messes, since her bragging to Mary Jane allowed the villain to figure out Spider-Man's identity.]]

** In "What If the All-New, All-Different X-Men Had Never Existed?" (v2 #23), the Shi'ar find a way to permanently destroy the Phoenix Force, but doing so will require someone to sacrifice their life. Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} is fully prepared to do it, but Nightcrawler[[note]]who, in this reality, was an enemy of the X-Men before spying on them and [[HeelRealization realizing that they were the good guys all along]][[/note]] [[TapOnTheHead knocks him out]] and takes his place. He even tells the X-Men that Cyclops's death would destroy the group, but "I, on the other hand, will not be missed."

** In "What if the All-New All-Different X-Men had died on their first mission?" (v2 #9), a new team is formed comprised of ComicBook/{{Beast|Marvel Comics}}, Namorita, Warpath (going by his late brother's code name Thunderbird) Wolfsbane, ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} and the Comicbook/ScarletWitch. However, Pietro and Wanda turn down the invitation at the end due to other commitments, but promise to come running when called on.
** In "What If Wolverine Had Become An Agent of Comicbook/{{SHIELD}}" (v2 #7), Logan turned down Professor Xavier's request for him to join the X-Men, but promised the Professor that he would look out for potential threats to the X-Men from his position as a SHIELD agent. Later when he succeeded Nick Fury as Director of SHIELD, he used his position to discredit Stephen Lang and Senator Robert Kelly, thus ending governmental persecution of mutants.

** In ''Comicbook/AvengersDisassembled'', Doctor Strange says that there's no such thing as Chaos Magic, which confused the hell out of fans since it contradicts years' worth of stories. In the What If, Strange not only reveals that it wasn't really him[[note]]It was an illusion created by the Scarlet Witch[[/note]], but specifically responds to that line with "Of course there's Chaos Magic. It's too dangerous for most to use for the obvious reason -- it's too chaotic."

** In v2 #75, "What if Blink had lived?", Blink ends up entering the realm of the In-Betweener, the abstract entity that controls the timestream, and starts trying to give all her friends a utopian reality, only to nearly cause the complete collapse of existence. It only really falls apart when Blink decides she's become powerful enough erase the deaths of Comicbook/GenerationX, [[RealityBreakingParadox even though their deaths were what put her in a position to claim the In-Betweener's power]]. She's forced to reset everything back the way it was, although she is allowed to become an apprentice to the In-Betweener instead of dying.

** "I'll Be Your Best Friend!" (v2 #92) was the tale of a boy and his robot -- specifically Josh, kid brother of Cannonball, an [[ComicBook/XMen X-Man]] and a damaged Sentinel (robot designed to kill mutants such as the X-Men.) Many readers questioned why this story was published as a "What If" given that it could've easily fit into Earth-616 canon.

* DespairEventHorizon: In "What If the [[Comicbook/InvisibleWoman Invisible Girl]] Had Died?" (v1 #42), [[spoiler:Reed Richards is, thanks to Annihilus's interference, too late to save his wife Sue from dying in childbirth. Shattered, he then devotes the final days of his life to hunting down Annihilus and killing him in a MurderSuicide]].

* InspirationallyDisabiled: In "What If Spider-Man Had Never Lost His Extra Arms", while learning that he's missed his chance to remove said extra arms, Professor X suggests that Spidey use them as an inspiration for good, though secretly hoping it would improve mutant relations. After coming to terms with his transformation, Xavier's wish comes true as Spidey because a spokesperson for the physically challenged.

* InspirationalDisability: In "What If Spider-Man Had Never Lost His Extra Arms", while learning that he's missed his chance to remove said extra arms, Professor X suggests that Spidey use them as an inspiration for good, though secretly hoping it would improve mutant relations. After coming to terms with his transformation, Xavier's wish comes true as Spidey because a spokesperson for the physically challenged.

* ''ComicBook/WhatIfMilesMorales'', #1-5 (2022)

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/What_If_Cover_3263.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:350: This is the [[CrackFic 34th issue]], and no, the Watcher [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer is NOT joking]].]]

** "What if someone else ''besides'' Spider-Man had been bitten by the radioactive spider?" (v1 #7) offers three stories in which Flash Thompson, Betty Brant and John Jameson, respectively, get bitten by the radioactive spider and attempt to be heroes. Flash is killed (due to not having Peter's web-shooters when fighting the Vulture), Betty quits after causing Uncle Ben to die and John performs a HeroicSacrifice and inspires other heroes. All three of them end up the same way - due to participating in various events, Peter Parker is inspired to become Spider-Man, using the remains of the radioactive spider.

* TheStationsOfTheCanon: The concept gets [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] in "What If Flash Thompson Became Spider-Man?" As Flash gets pinned beneath Doc Ock's collapsing base (recreating the SignatureScene from ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #33), the Unseen narrates that some events are so critical to the fabric of reality that they will always happen no matter how far a timeline otherwise diverges from its original path.

* Volume 1, issue 32: "What if the Avengers Had Become Pawns of Korvac?" -- The ultimate KillEmAll story of the series, in which in alternate outcome for ''ComicBook/TheKorvacSaga'', Korvac, on a quest for order, achieves total annihilation of the universe with the Ultimate Nullifier.

* KillEmAll: Some issues end this way; often they're "What if the heroes had lost [famous battle]?" ("[[ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga Dark Phoenix goes critical and destroys the universe]]" happens more than once), but sometimes they result from [[ForWantOfANail seemingly insignificant causes]].

* AGodAmI: "What If the Silver Surfer Had Kept Comicbook/TheInfinityGauntlet" (v2 #49) had the Surfer set himself up as the omnipotent God of the universe with the intent of "fixing it". He initially does okay, removing hunger, disease, war and transforms Death into a less terrifying entity, as well as destroying Mephisto. However, the power eventually begins to corrupt him, and when he almost lashes out at his lost love Shala-Bal for questioning him, he comes to his senses, destroys the Infinity Gems and the Gauntlet, and retreats to an Eden-like world with Shala-Bal as a mortal.

* ElvisLives: Played with in "What If Thanos changed Galactus into a human being?" (v2 #34). Thanos turned a defeated Galactus into an amnesiac with a body resembling Elvis and dropped him in a trailer park. The country woman who finds him helps "Elvis" remember who he was and his "purpose." [[spoiler:When [[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]] finds him after beating Thanos, "Elvis" is happier as the "King of Rock and Roll." Having the good woman and her son as support didn't hurt either.]]