History FandomSpecificPlot / VideoGames

*** The 'character swap' AU, popularized by Underswap and Storyshift of ''Webcomic/{{Storyshift}}'': taking characters and placing them in other characters' roles. It's essentially the direct descendant of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'''s Bloodswap plot.

** A recurring idea is known as Gasterblaster Sans, where he is overtaken by the power source of the Gaster Blasters he uses in the No Mercy run, putting him through a BalefulPolymorph into a skeletal monster of either canine or reptilian appearance. Or sometimes his head just changes shape. Either way, it's always PlayedForDrama. Whether he's fully mentally aware himself and in control during the ordeal varies depending on the author. Sometimes Papyrus is put through this plot as well, due to being related to Sans and the implied connection both share with W.D. Gaster.

** Aloy/Avad fics are reasonably common, and they almost always explore what it would be like for an ActionGirl from a matriarchial society to marry the king of a patriarchial society. About half of them have "Sun-Queen" somewhere in the title.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'':

** It's extremely common to find {{Fix Fic}}s that save one - or more - characters that die in canon. Prime examples include Malik's brother Kadar, any of Ezio's family members (if not all), [[spoiler:Lucy]], [[spoiler:Haytham]], [[spoiler:Mary Reed]] or more. Basically, there's at least one fan-favourite rescue target per game, and they have spawned sub-categories on their own. It also very frequently overlaps with Shipping fics, if the target is not a relative.

** OC characters joining the Templars or the Brotherhood. Usually a romance fic.
** In terms of crossovers, there are a few particularly popular ones.
*** Crossing over the "Desmond lives" plot with ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' is far from unheard of even in non-crossover fics, as it's heavily implied they exist in a SharedUniverse. Aiden Pearce gets caught up with Desmond after he canonically kills that Templar executive of Abstergo entertainment. Though it's rare he actually joins the Assassins.
*** ''VideoGame/{{Protoype}}'' crossover are extremely popular, to the point that they have the FanNickname "[=ProtoCreed=]". Usually taking place either before canon or as part of a "Desmond lives" plot, Desmond and Alex Mercer coincidentally meet up and start working together to take down the evil corporations in their lives - AFTER the initial wave of distrust and "oh my god WhatAreYou".

** A number of fans have taken it upon themselves to try and bridge together [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the original series]] and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX X]]'' because, well, [[LeftHanging it's not like the actual games are going to do this any time soon]]. Common plot points include Zero [[KillThemAll killing the original cast]] (a popular albeit {{Jossed}} piece of {{Fanon}}), the use of either [[VideoGame/MegaMan8 Evil Energy]] or [[VideoGame/MegaMan10 Roboenza]], and the [[VideoGame/MegaMan9 robot expiration dates]] [[note]]so far, Roboenza and the robot expiration dates are {{Red Herring}}s in regards to certain aspects of the ''X'' series, specifically TheVirus and the concept of Mavericks[[/note]]. Even outside of this, expect to see quite a few Robot Mistresses (female Robot Masters) pop up, since they're so rare in canon (the only ones being Roll and Splash Woman). There is also the tendency to make new scientists for the Classic series, for similar reasons (only Light, Wily and Cossack are around).

** One of the series' most popular fanfic trends is to have an OC, often someone from the real world, join Sora, Donald, and Goofy on their travels, usually during ''II''. Most times, the OC gains a keyblade and falls in love with either Sora or Riku. Some fics even go UpToEleven and give [[AlwaysFemale her]] the χ-blade itself. [[SturgeonsLaw When poorly written]], the fic ends up being a novelization of the game with the OC shoehorned in. A common unwritten rule when writing these kinds of fics nowadays is "Don't give your OC a Keyblade and don't make Sora fall in love with them."

*** A RoleSwapAU exploring what would happen if someone else [[spoier: i.e Dimitri or Claude]] had the role of the Flame Emperor.

*** [[RuleThirtyFour Unsurprisingly]], ''Franchise/DragonAge'' has lots of dark ritual (of MateOrDie and StalkerWithATestTube type), both fics and fanart, usually with Alistair as the, uh, second participant and Female!Warden and/or him agonizing over the decision. These range from pure angst to smutty hatesex to conflicted tender lovin' to humiliating performance problems to big happy threesomes. One FandomVIP fancomic artist, Aimo, even collaborated with the game's head writer on a comic based on a deleted scene where Morrigan herself agonizes about it beforehand.

*** Aged-up Kana fics are extremely common (as is fanart), whether by a TimeSkip or just an AgeLift.

*** Other stories include ones where Iris never died, ones where Gate lives and gets together with Alia, ones where the author's favorite Maverick never died and became good again ...

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2''
** [[spoiler:Many fanfiction authors always find a way to spare Arthur from succumbing to Tuberculosis at the end of Chapter 6, often by having another character nurse him back to health or just eliminating the entire plot thread altogether by having someone else ([[LoveToHate Micah Bell]] would be the most popular choice) to collect Mr. Downes' debt on his stead]].
** Another notable AU plot is the biggest what if of Arthur's backstory: [[spoiler:what if [[OutlivingOnesOffspring Isaac Morgan]] was still alive. His mother, Eliza's, survival is optional.]]

** Sega has a pretty strict rule against showing Sonic cry, or even being that emotional. Naturally, many fan works try their best to break Sonic to his limits.

** There's more than a few fan-works that feature Infinite making an illusion of Maria in order to play with Shadow's heart.

** Though more pronounced in TheNineties when Sonic was at the height of his popularity, there is an abundance of DarkFic stories in which Sonic, Shadow, an original character, or some other character snaps and goes on a killing spree. These stories are typically a series of loosely connected short scenes in which the chosen character finds a pre-existing character, says a PreMortemOneLiner, and kills the other character quickly but bloodily, upon which the chosen character moves on to the next victim. Any attempts to confront the character becomes a CurbStompBattle with the other side having even messier deaths than usual. They end either with [[TheBadGuyWins the chosen character ruling over the remaining characters through fear and terror]] or just [[NoEnding abruptly end]] once the character kills their last victim and the author has presumably had their fill of WishFulfillment. Nearly all of these are of ''very'' low quality, having initially flooded fanfiction and fanart websites, but they were eventually banned or rejected. Now they are most commonly found on message boards, social media, and anywhere else these stories can be put up without an approval process.

* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''

** The ''Knights of the Fallen Empire'' expansion sees yet another variation of the "alternate player character options join the player's main" story. Only one of the eight classes can become the Outlander, while the seven that are not chosen suffer various {{Uncertain Doom}}s. As with other Bioware games, this led to stories where one or more of the classes the player didn't choose appears and joins up with the Outlander.

** A fairly large amount of Bowser/Peach fanworks center around the popular question of ''just what the heck do they get up to while Mario's busy adventuring to rescue her from Bowser's clutches.'' Many also portray Peach as taking a motherly role towards Bowser's eight unruly children. However, this once again is based off of a canon incident (that of Bowser Junior being convinced that she's his mom and even calling her "Mama Peach"). It's actually unknown just how the seven older Koopalings feel about Peach, but the image of them looking up to her as their mom is cute nonetheless.

** Bowser and Peach are in a SecretRelationship. Optionally, Bowser Jr actually ''is'' their ChildOfForbiddenLove together, but they keep it a secret.

** If you're reading a [[DarkFic non-fluffy]] or non-comedic fic, there's a good chance it involves Master Hand transferring people from their universes into a tournament. Just how much the fighters actually enjoy this (anything from some feeling forced to [[BloodKnight loving it]]), along with how violent and gory the fighting can get (can they get injured, is the fighting toned down similar to a sport, or is it a free-for-all blood bath?), differs from fanwork to fanwork.

** There are many examples of various members of the main party of ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' joining the God-Generals in fanworks. Guy seems to be the most popular character for this since he's initially working for Van, but Jade's quite common as well. It's also more of a fanart phenomenon than anything because of the cool God-General uniforms.

** [=AUs=] in general are very popular in the Undertale fandom. They run the gamut from cosmetic changes (like Outertale, which is Undertale [[RecycledInSpace in space]]), to character swaps, to human [=AUs=], to NightmareFuel [=AUs=]. Some of the [=AUs=] even have their own blog, and there is also a lot of fanart where characters from the original Undertale or an AU meet characters from another AU. Some of the more basic types are:

** There's such a specific FandomSpecificPlot that occurs so regularly in the fic fandom that there's even a FanNickname for [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] it. Called "The Post-''[=DotD=]'' template," it goes a little like this: A new ancient evil emerges, and Spyro, Cynder, and a ''[[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters ton]]'' of [[OriginalCharacter OCs]] (one of them possibly a human turned dragon) must stop it. A long the way, they encounter [[Franchise/SpyroTheDragon Flame and Ember]] who some how managed to survive the temple raid at the start of the first game, and nine times out of ten Ember is [[CharacterDerailment derailed]] into a [[invoked]] [[RonTheDeathEater death eater]] to make Cynder seem more likable. While all this is going on, Spyro and Cynder are struggling with their [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Super-Powered Evil Sides]] while also trying to admit their feelings for one another despite Cynder already admitting her love for Spyro at the end of ''Dawn of the Dragon'', with some contrived situation (usually caused by [[RonTheDeathEater Ember]]) breaking them up, only to get back together a few chapters later with little to no problem. Also, double points if Malefor shows up and pulls a [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Wily]] by [[HijackedByGanon hijacking the plot]]. It's impossible to count the number of fics that give Spyro a brother/sister who is ''also'' a purple dragon (despite the fact that only one purple dragon is born every ten generations) on both hands.

** One common {{Crossover}} plot in the fandom is replacing the Human Systems Alliance with a space-capable human civilization from another series, such as the [[Series/BabylonFive Earth Alliance]], [[Franchise/{{Halo}} UNSC]] or [[Anime/{{Macross}} U.N. Spacy]]. These "replacement" plots almost invariably have a reenactment of the First Contact War with the Turian Hierarchy, even if it makes no logical sense for the turians and humans to be fighting, and often results a gratuitous CurbStompBattle, even if by all logic (and basic physics) the curb-stomp should be going the other way. For variety, some authors instead use the [[ButtMonkey Batarian Hegemony]] as the enemy the replacement civilization fights.

*** There are a bevy of post-game Midna/Link fanfics that involve Midna either remaining in Hyrule for some reason (often Link stopping her with a love confession) or Link searching for a way to get to the Twilight Realm to be with her (or some new problem in Hyrule manages to tie into that desire anyway). A variant includes Link and Midna having made love sometime during the adventure, with Midna discovering that she's pregnant after returning, prompting her to figure out a way back to Link so they can raise their child together.

** Thanks to the controversial nature of the [[ContestedSequel third game]], particularly its [[EndingAversion finale]], fix-fics centered on it are rather common. However, extent of the rewriting varies greatly, from the entire game to just specific details of the ending. For instance, there's plenty of fix-it fic allowing Shepard to survive a non-Destruction ending and reunite with their love interest, or allowing the geth to survive the destroy ending, with EDI's survival being optional.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'':
** The fandom contains a ton of stories about Dr. Cain completing one final case before either retiring or dying.
** A number of fans have taken it upon themselves to try and bridge together [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic the original series]] and ''X'' because, well, [[LeftHanging it's not like the actual games are going to do this any time soon]]. Common plot points include Zero [[KillThemAll killing the original cast]] (a popular albeit {{Jossed}} piece of {{Fanon}}), the use of either [[VideoGame/MegaMan8 Evil Energy]] or [[VideoGame/MegaMan10 Roboenza]], and the [[VideoGame/MegaMan9 robot expiration dates]] [[note]]so far, Roboenza and the robot expiration dates are {{Red Herring}}s in regards to certain aspects of the ''X'' series, specifically TheVirus and the concept of Mavericks[[/note]]. Even outside of this, expect to see quite a few Robot Mistresses (female Robot Masters) pop up, since they're so rare in canon (the only ones being Roll and Splash Woman). There is also the tendency to make new scientists for the Classic series, for similar reasons (only Light, Wily and Cossack are around).
** There are fics that don't try to "fix" the story as much as try to have it ''make sense'', like explaining how a computer virus can actually affect a physical environment (even ''humans'') or how reploid "souls" can go back to their bodies. Besides that, there's a lot of fic splintering off from X5/X6, which had multiple endings and was a pretty important point in the series.
** Other stories include ones where Iris never died, ones where Gate lives and gets together with Alia, ones where the author's favorite Maverick never died and became good again ...

** It's popular in some Persona fics to have characters involved in each other's social links/confidants instead of the protagonist, and in some cases, this is done for shipping purposes.
** ''VideoGame/Persona2'' - ''Eternal Punishment'' in particular has a huge number of {{Fix Fic}}s where Tatsuya gets his happy ending. Most of those fics have Jun also somehow remembering the events of ''Innocent Sin'' and ending up together with Tatsuya. Maya is slightly less common but also frequent choice.

** [[spoiler: Many fanfiction authors always find a way to spare Arthur from succumbing to Tuberculosis at the end of Chapter 6, often by having another character nurse him back to health or just eliminating the entire plot thread altogether by having someone else ([[LoveToHate Micah Bell]] would be the most popular choice) to collect Mr. Downes' debt on his stead]].
** Another notable AU plot is the biggest what if of Arthur's backstory: [[spoiler: what if [[OutlivingOnesOffspring Isaac Morgan]] was still alive. His mother, Eliza's, survival is optional.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'': Thanks to the series hitting a nineteen-year long CliffhangerWall after ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', there are many {{Continuation}} fics that build off the ending's implication that Samus is now a fugitive being hunted by the Galactic Federation. Trailers for ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' show that this is not the case, with Samus being hired by the Federation to investigate a planet to make sure that the X really are extinct.

** This series of video games has the most bullet points of any work on {{Chickification}}, and not a single straight example is from an officially published entry! Yet that example listing is far from comprehensive, otherwise it would be a subpage spawing article onto itself. ''A lot'' of fans have something against the high number of {{Action Heroine}}s in the series and prefer stories where more of the females are emotionally fragile whining weepers who don't train for fights.

* There's at least one ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' fanfic in which Taretha Foxton leaves Durnholde Keep with Thrall and survives as a result. There are also a few that address the chemistry between Jaina and Thrall during ''Warcraft 3'' (and the expansion) that even Thrall's voice actor doesn't want to admit to. And that's not even getting into events with Garrosh.