History Main / FromClonesToGenre

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16775024810.46252900 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
->''"I'm hesitant to use the term ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' clone anymore, because open world games are becoming so ubiquitous that the term feels hopelessly quaint, like how we used to call {{First Person Shooter}}s ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' clones."''
-->-- ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' on ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} 2: World in Flames''

While genres can be known for a variety of works, they don't always start out that way. Usually they start out as loads of obvious FollowTheLeader copies of a GenreBusting or making work, or a GenrePopularizer for a genre so small that [[GatewaySeries this is the first time the mainstream has heard of it]]. Eventually many of the followers stop being that (though copies still exist), and start having loads of works that stand on their own. '''This is the point that you don't just have a bunch of clones, you have a full genre.'''

This doesn't always happen, though. Sometimes, the followers are stuck in SmallReferencePools, and keep referring back to GenrePopularizer as an inspiration or threshold: the MascotWithAttitude [[DiscreditedTrope fell out of favor]] due to how late this trope came into being, with so many hopefuls in TheNineties trying to be TotallyRadical like [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] before [[PlayingWithATrope variants of this archetype]] became more prevalent during the TurnOfTheMillennium. Other times, the genre is so [[CharacteristicTrope characteristic]] to the GenrePopularizer that it's impossible to stand out as a unique product: {{Mascot Racer}}s have yet to go past just being ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' clones in spite of both ''Mario Kart'' and the clones having been around since TheNineties. On the other hand, this can happen almost immediately: ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' was such a simple game, any clone needed to set itself apart to avoid getting sued.

Compare DerivativeDifferentiation (which can be used to help the clones stand out on their own). A TropeCodifier can [[InvertedTrope invert]] this, if it comes long after the TropeMaker and the original genre was relatively differentiated and well-established before then, and it's followed by a sequence of clones.

The opposite is GenreKiller.
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!!Examples (State the genre, popularizer, and then the turning point to full genre):

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Originally, RealRobot shows were ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' clones. Then came ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', which took the genre [[TropeCodifier into more or less what we know today]], and finally things like ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'' and ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS'' that went for harder science fiction.
* MagicalGirl:
** ''Anime/SailorMoon'' bears the title of being both TropeCodifier and GenrePopularizer of the MagicalGirlWarrior genre, but it also started a fad of similar shows [[FollowTheLeader trying to repeat the formula]]. This led to ''every'' MagicalGirl show being called a "''Sailor Moon'' ripoff" for ''decades'', especially in the west, even though they'd actually gone From Clones to Genre very quickly. This slowly dropped off as [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha shows]] [[Anime/UtaKata for]] [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica a]] [[Anime/MyHime different]] [[Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero audience]] drew the people who were calling "ripoff" into the genre and ''Anime/PrettyCure,'' a shoujo series that kept the action of an action-adventure shonen series, kept them there... until ''Anime/GlitterForce'', the Americanized dub of ''Smile Pretty Cure!'', was released onto Creator/{{Netflix}}. Suddenly, people who hadn't watched anime since the early nineties were calling "''Sailor Moon'' ripoff!" all over again, making the entire magical girl fandom groan, "We'd finally gotten ''past'' all that!"
** In Japan, the aforementioned outliers started to get so popular that they solicited cries of "clone" to other series on their own. Dark MagicalGirl works (now recognized here as the MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction) get called "[[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Madoka]] Clones" (even with works that came before it), heavily actionized series get called "[=PreCure=] Clones", and overly technological series get called "[[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Nanoha]] Clones".
* The term "{{Moe}}" was coined in the mid-to-late '90s, and many other shows had moe elements, but ''Manga/KOn'' was the first instance of an entire show being described as such, and was a big enough hit that it spawned a wave of other "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" shows.
* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' is not the first manga or anime themed around schoolgirls going through school life, but it is the TropeCodifier. For years, similar series were seen as clones, but they've become so common that they're called SchoolgirlSeries.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* A lot of early superhero comics were [[SupermanSubstitute pretty bald-faced knockoffs]] of Franchise/{{Superman}}, with ComicBook/WonderManFox being a good example: man in spandex with SuperStrength punches gangsters and mad scientists while fighting for justice and maintaining his SecretIdentity. The only difference tended to be the origin, and even that was usually so throwaway and unimportant that you could probably swap it around between multiple characters and never notice. The exact point at which superheroes broke out of the "Superman clone" mindset is somewhat uncertain, but it was definitely starting by late 1939, when characters like Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/{{Sandman|MysteryTheatre}} started borrowing liberally from ''Literature/TheShadow'' and other crime pulp, and ''Marvel Comics #1'' depicted a lot of characters with different powers and antiheroic tendencies. By 1940, though Superman clones were still fairly common, the vast majority of superheroes were at least distinctly putting their own take on the concept.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* TheAbridgedSeries. Started by ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', now a genre unto itself with multiple variations.
* ''Fanfic/SquidwardsSuicide'' was the first (or, at the very least, the Codifier) for the LostEpisode {{Creepypasta}} type. While the genre has generally expanded to include other forms of media (such as Flash Games), the concept of "seemingly-innocent kids' show that has a dark, twisted side" has become a genre in its own right, and ''Squidward's Suicide'' is generally considered the origin of that genre.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* [[FoundFootageFilms Found-footage]] horror films got their start with ''Film/CannibalHolocaust'' in 1980. ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' in 1999 proved that the genre could be commercially successful, but it took the success of ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' in the US and ''[[Film/{{REC}} [REC]]]'' in Europe, both in 2007[[note]]Well, technically. ''Paranormal Activity'' saw its first festival screenings that year, but wasn't released theatrically until 2009. ''[REC]'', meanwhile, took until 2008 to reach the UK, and 2009 to reach the US.[[/note]], to prove that the style could be used to tell more stories than just riffs on ''Blair Witch''.
* ''{{Film/Halloween 1978}}'' was the first official teen SlasherMovie (though ''[[Film/BlackChristmas1974 Black Christmas]]'' and ''[[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]'' predate it). ''Film/FridayThe13th1980'' was the first big imitator, and their successes spawned loads of movies featuring serial killers stalking teenagers - ''Film/TheHouseOnSororityRow'', ''Film/AprilFoolsDay'', ''Film/MyBloodyValentine'', ''Film/NewYearsEvil'', ''Film/SleepawayCamp'' etc. The genre died down towards the end of the '80s, but got revived in the '90s with the success of ''{{Film/Scream 1996}}''. ''Scream'' was then followed by a slew of its own imitators - thus creating the 'self aware teen slasher' subgenre.
* ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'' marked the first notable time that Hollywood's former leading ladies starred in horror stories as [[IWasQuiteALooker formerly glamorous]] women now going mad. Imitators included ''Film/HushHushSweetCharlotte'', ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToAuntAlice?'', ''Film/WhoeverSlewAuntieRoo'' and ''Film/WhatsTheMatterWithHelen'' - eventually creating the 'Psycho Biddy' subgenre. Almost all of the films were headlined by women who had been stars during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood - Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Olivia de Havilland, Shelley Winters, Debbie Reynolds, Geraldine Page, etc.
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' was the start of the giant monster era in Japan in 1954, with a legion of knockoffs coming out in the next five years, most notably Film/{{Gamera}} which turned into its own franchise. As the franchise grew, and became more interconnected with the sequels like ''Film/GhidorahTheThreeHeadedMonster'', the Kaiju genre as we know it now was born. Of course, the genre [[OlderThanTelevision has its roots going further back]], with 1925's ''Film/TheLostWorld'' and 1933's ''[[Film/KingKong1933 King Kong]]'' being early inspirations.
* ''Film/SevenSamurai'' was followed by its clone ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven''. Once you got to the sci-fi version in ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'' it was the MagnificentSevenSamurai Trope.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The {{Cyberpunk}} and by extension all other PunkPunk Genres were all started by Creator/WilliamGibson's ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}''. The turning point was when author Creator/KWJeter decided to call the genre in which he was writing {{Steampunk}}, leading to, if not every other work of PunkPunk, at least the idea of PunkPunk as a category.
* GonzoJournalism was launched by "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved", written by Creator/HunterSThompson for "Scanlan's Monthly" in May 1970. Scanlan's [[TropeNamer named]] what Thompson did--basically send his notebook of whiskey-soaked observations from the weekend in for publication barely edited--"gonzo", and Thompson more or less went along with it to both the style and the name. Afterward, both he and other writers aimed to reproduce the style of that one article. Today, various other authors have put their own spin on the style, transforming it from "Creator/HunterSThompson clones" to "a form of journalism started by Hunter S. Thompson."
* Kids' novels taking the form of the protagonist's diary had been an established format for years, such as Jim Benton's popular series ''Dear Dumb Diary''. The popularity of ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' when it got published and its lined paper design with sketches from the main character himself pushing the old diary format into found literature territory [[TropeCodifier inspired]] a whole glut of epistolary children's novels accompanied with drawings in its wake (''Dork Diaries'', ''The Loser List'', etc).
* While TrappedInAnotherWorld, {{Reincarnation}}, and RPGMechanicsVerse stories are hardly new concepts, ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' was popular enough to inspire plenty of independent LightNovel[=s=] and web-serialized stories where a character ends up transporting or getting reincarnated into a JRPG-like fantasy land such as ''LightNovel/{{Konosuba}}'', ''LightNovel/ReZero'', ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'', and ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd''. They started catching steam around the early 2010s, and the handiness of the Website/FanFictionDotNet[=/=]Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn-like platform [[https://syosetu.com Shousetsu Ka ni Narou]] to publish these series led to "Narou Isekai" ("''Narou''-style Parallel World") and "Narou Tensei" ("''Narou'' Reincarnation") stories becoming considered a genre in their own right. The ubiquity of these stories getting published, adapted into [[AnimatedAdaptation various]] [[{{Manga}} media]] and translated and exported out past Japan led to those specific types of stories being classified as part of the "Isekai" genre in the West.
* ''Literature/SoloLeveling'' has spawned its own unique genre of RPGMechanicsVerse {{Manhwa}} and WebSerialNovel[=s=] in which the modern world (usually focusing on UsefulNotes/SouthKorea) gets invaded by monsters from another world, people unlock magical abilities to fight off the monsters, and form [[CreatureHunterOrganization guilds meant to coordinate monster hunts]] which occur in specialized dungeons. Examples of this genre include ''The Undefeated Newbie'', ''Leveling Beyond the Max'', ''My Daughter is the Final Boss'', and ''SSS-Class Revival Hunter''.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' made quite a stir among the young adult readers and became exceptionally popular. For quite some time after ''Twilight'''s release, other "ParanormalRomance" books such as the ''[[Literature/TheHouseOfNight House of Night]]'' series and the ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' series were referred to as "Twilight ripoffs". It took the movies for ''Vampire Academy'' and ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'' being released for people to start using the term "paranormal romance" instead of calling them "Twilight ripoffs".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* PostBritpop. Started by the countless imitators of Music/{{Radiohead}}'s albums ''Music/TheBends'' and ''Music/OKComputer'', of which the most defining were Music/{{Travis}}'s ''The Man Who'' for the folksy variety, and Music/{{Doves}}' ''Lost Souls'' for the art-rock variety.
* Several critics (such as [[http://www.metalireland.com/2012/12/26/monuments-gnosis/ this one]]) have expressed skepticism of the use of the term "{{djent}}" as a generic label in its own right, arguing that all of the bands in the so-called genre have yet to move past simply imitating Music/{{Meshuggah}}.
* NuMetal was formed when Music/{{KoRn}} released their [[SelfTitledAlbum self titled]] debut album in 1994 to unexpected success. Naturally, many bands took note of their downtuned guitars, funk-influenced bass playing, angsty lyrics, and equal use of all instrumentation, and then ran with that formula in hopes of achieving that same success. The name comes from an interview with Coal Chamber.
* At first, GFunk was just the specific production style of Music/DrDre, who favoured Music/GeorgeClinton samples but liked to have them replayed by live musicians due to his obsession with sound quality. Music/SnoopDogg's album ''Doggystyle'', produced by Dre, has a track on it called "G-Funk", in which Snoop names the genre. Music/IceCube then started making songs imitating Dre's style, and other rappers from the West Coast and beyond all began to copy it. By the late 90s, the G-Funk sound would be so ubiquitous that Music/SpiceGirls would be using slurry raps and portamento synths on their pop singles.
* Much of the criticism of Music/{{Eminem}}'s legacy in hip-hop is to do with this. He is one of the most respected and skilled emcees of all time, and has been an influence on many prominent artists like Music/JayZ, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/KanyeWest, Music/NickiMinaj, Music/EdSheeran, Music/JuiceWRLD, Music/LanaDelRey, Music/TylerTheCreator, Music/DannyBrown and Music/JCole, to name just a few. However, his position as the most visible white rapper has led to him having an outsized influence on ''white'' rappers, spawning a subgenre -- sometimes known specifically as White Rap, although many of the artists within the genre are not white -- who emulate Eminem's SignatureStyle, quick and aggressive rapping, heavy rhyming and wordplay, vocal gimmicks, CardCarryingVillain or confessional lyrics, and mockery of artists who don't use this aesthetic. It's worth pointing out that few, if any, of the rappers in this subgenre share Eminem's musicality, performance ability, or omnivorous love of hip-hop -- many have admitted to ''only'' listening to Eminem, with many not even going deeper than the records he made in TheNewTens. Eminem himself has had mixed opinions about these rappers -- while he has collaborated with and supported more respected members of the genre like Music/{{Logic}} and Music/JoynerLucas, and shouted out Music/{{Hopsin}} (one of few Eminem clones who tries to rip off his ''early'' style), he has also sneered at "[[BoomerangBigots honkies]] [[KnockingTheKnockoff sounding like me]]", dismissed Music/{{NF}} as "a ''Recovery'' clone of me", slapped at Music/{{Macklemore}} for trying to be TheMoralSubstitute to him, and made Music/MachineGunKelly the subject of the most commercially successful DissTrack of all time ("Killshot"). He's also collaborated with plenty of rappers seen in opposition to the subgenre, such as Music/JackHarlow (who, incidentally, cites Eminem as an influence).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* ''Podcast/RandomAssault'': First as a homage to ''Podcast/TalkRadar'', Random Assault then became it's own thing like PCN-Gen, KGB, GNA, and Pixel Heroes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* Genres exist in JournalRoleplay too. Though it's still fairly different from the modern understanding, Roleplay/DramaDramaDuck was the beginning of "reverse jamjars", where characters meet at an interdimensional hub (though in this case it's the Internet) at their own discretion and still live in their own worlds. Island is usually credited as the first crack jamjar, and Landels, its successor Damned, and Econtra made horror into a journal game genre by developing the usual traits of a horror RP -- for example, free reign for character death but having it come at a price, powers being [[PowerLimiter limited]] or [[BroughtDownToNormal removed]], a mystery the players don't know the answer to, and the event system, common in other games for silly fun, being used to break the characters' spirits.
** Multifandom games based on existing canons began with things like Marshmallow Mateys and had Soul Campaign as the TropeCodifier, and ''those'' got more and more diverse, to the point that they've started their own genres that don't have to be based on existing properties. The two biggest instances are wide-world jamjars with player stat micromanagement (previously known as Roleplay/{{Route 29}} clones) and murdergames (discussed further below).
** Sages of Chaos, initially a ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''-styled "dressing room" (essentially a way to test out playing characters), was the first "multiversal dressing room" game (meaning characters from all canons were welcome). These sorts of communities became the norm from the 2000s to early 2010s, and while dressing rooms have fallen out of style, most if not all current games are still multifandom.
** ''Roleplay/IslandRP'' was the first game to use the concept of the "closed world" RP game or "jamjar." Nowadays, "Jamjars" or even "spooky jamjars" are quite the norm, although the [[CrackFic crack jamjars]] Island popularized have long fallen by the wayside.
** ''Roleplay/DramaDramaDuck'' was the first reverse jamjar, where canons can all meet together without getting stuck in another universe.
** ''Roleplay/TheSkyTides'' for AU games as well as for plot-heavy games, which over time completely eclipsed the slice-of-life and CrackFic games popular at the time it launched in the late 2000s. Come the late 2010s, while AU games had started to fall out of fashion, just about every game still ''had'' to have an intricate mod-directed metaplot like ''TST'' did, or risk dying.
** The [[DeadlyGame murdergame genre]] has two specific originators: ''Murder Manor,'' based on TabletopGame/Werewolf1997''/''Mafia, and ''Roleplay/DanganRoleplay,'' based on ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''. Each spawned its own subgenre, named for its key game mechanic: "scapegoating" games (or "mafia" games) allow for the possibility of failure so a successful culprit can stay alive if the case can't be solved, whereas "mass-ex" games (or "danganlikes") treat that as a fail state and prioritize making the case solvable because the characters ''must'' solve it or bad-end the game. Since these games launched in 2015, murdergames started popping up in both styles (the initial "clones" actually asked the mods of the originals for permission to copy their game mechanics) and have their own very active subculture within the JournalRoleplay community. Some people play exclusively in one style, others in both.
*** Predating these was [[https://asylums.insanejournal.com/sabra_la_tau/profile Sabra La Tau]], which started in 2009 and was based on wanting an excuse to have player characters participate in in-character Werewolf and other similar games. It was probably the first game to be referred to by its playerbase as a "murdergame" due to how these games within the game often turned deadly, though the overall format differed from later games.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', which got its start as a companion book for the [[WarGaming tabletop wargame]] ''Chainmail'', spawned not one but two entire genres: {{TabletopRPG}}s and [[WesternRPG Computer]] RolePlayingGames.
* While trading cards had been around for years, 1993's ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' made them into an actual game. It was not the first -- the earliest collectible card game was published in the late 19th century -- but it was the first real success. This prompted a glut of trading card games that were very similar to ''Magic.'' The turning point came in the late '90s, with the success of very different trading card games like ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' and Decipher's ''Franchise/StarWars'' TCG.
* In 2008, Donald X. Vaccarino took the idea of each player using a deck, a la ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', and put a new spin on it. What if, instead of players creating their deck ahead of time and bringing to the match, players had to start with the same limited deck and build it up from the same pool of cards as their opponent? Thus was born ''TabletopGame/{{Dominion}}'', which launched an entire genre that would be known as deck-building games. There were a fair number of forgettable clones, but games like ''Ascension'', ''Thunderstone'', and ''Marvel Legendary'' have established reputations as excellent games in their own right, by playing around with themes and mechanics based on Dominion's main ideas.
** The deckbuilding game tabletop genre would later go on to inspire a unique ''video game'' genre, the Deckbuilding Roguelike, started by ''VideoGame/SlayTheSpire.''
* The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' franchise spawned craze in Japan for anything with collectable monsters, that would later be imitated by series such as ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' (via the ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' series) and ''VideoGame/{{Telefang}}'' (which overseas was ironically sold as a bootleg ''Pokemon'' game, after being poorly translated). The collectable monster concept proved successful as a card game as well, when the Pokemon card game was released. This success would lead to ''Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters'' becoming extremely successful. The success of ''Anime/YuGiOh'' lead to imitators trying to get on the bandwagon of making a show about a game, so that kids will want to buy the real version. With so many shows like this out there nowadays, such as ''Anime/DuelMasters'', ''Franchise/{{Beyblade}}'', ''Battle B-Daman'', ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'', ''Anime/{{Bakugan}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Chaotic}}'' just to name a few, one could say that "Card Game Animes" have become a genre. They all feature a tournament arc, talking about what the game is "truly about", and posing dramatically while playing the game.
** It should be noted that the concept of actually capturing monsters to fight with was first shown, in fact, with ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV''. The ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series ''was'' in development at the time, though, and although it didn't start the trend it ''did'' refine it, becoming the precursor to what Monster Battling is today.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* As in the quote, the FirstPersonShooter started out with the template [[TropeCodifier codified]] by ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', to the point that those that came after were commonly called "''Doom'' clones." (France used the GratuitousEnglish "Doom-like", then briefly "Quake-like" for games using polygonal 3D) The turning points are largely accepted to be ''VideoGame/{{GoldenEye|1997}}'' for consoles and ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' on PC, which integrated the gameplay with a stronger focus on story and giving actual goals and objectives more complex than "get to the exit, kill everything along the way". There are a variety of FPS sub-genres, such as {{Tactical Shooter}}s (which themselves are split between more arcadey games like ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', more realistic but still accessible ones like ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'', and outright simulators like ''VideoGame/{{ARMA}}''), ones with RolePlayingGame elements like ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' and ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'', and multiplayer-only ones like ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', itself the progenitor of several clones that eventually lead to the HeroShooter. Games that ''are'' clearly inspired by ''Doom'' (large weapon arsenal, fast movement, singleplayer focus, low level of [[FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism realism]]) still exist, though, and are often nicknamed "boomer shooters."
** ''Borderlands'' itself birthed a new sub-genre now called [[LooterShooter "looter shooters"]] that combined first-person shooting gameplay with the "kill stuff, collect the things they drop, and make your character better with it" elements found in [=RPGs=].
* Likewise, {{Third Person Shooter}}s were once called ''Franchise/TombRaider'' clones. Games like ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'', ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'', and ''VideoGame/SOCOMUSNavySeals'', changed that, so it was its own genre (albeit a sister genre to FPS). Later, games like ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' and ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' would popularize the "Over the Shoulder Shooter" aka "Broshooter" style of third-person shooter.
* The FightingGame genre was actually well established before ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', but after that game, [[InvertedTrope almost all games in that genre quickly became clones]]. It got to a point where Capcom infamously sued Data East due to [[SerialNumbersFiledOff how similar]] ''VideoGame/FightersHistory'' was to ''SFII''. While some games set themselves apart, like ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', those were through gimmicks like blood. [[SelfPlagiarism Even later Capcom fighters]] were just ''SFII'' clones. The turning point to finally making the genre distinct again was ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'', not just with the UsefulNotes/PolygonalGraphics, but adding a different style than the acrobatics and special moves of ''SFII''. Later games like ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soulcalibur]]'' added their own dimensions. And then there was ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' that laid the foundation for the kind of high paced fighters that ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' would later refine, forming yet another distinct style for the genre.
* Now aside from {{Western RPG}}s having an open world for years (such as the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, going all the way back to ''[[VideoGame/UltimaIV Quest of the Avatar]]'' in 1985), WideOpenSandbox games were largely clones of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', until deliberate twists on the open world (such as ''VideoGame/BurnoutParadise'', ''VideoGame/{{Crackdown}}'' and ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'') made it into a full genre.
* [[MobilePhoneGame Mobile]] games with an [[AllegedlyFreeGame allegedly free]] {{freemium}} model can be identified as the clone of a more familiar example of such a game-- A ''VideoGame/RageOfBahamut'' clone would involve collecting and evolving cards for combat. A genre description such as "match three game" would refer to a ''VideoGame/PuzzleAndDragons'' or ''VideoGame/CandyCrushSaga'' clone. A "village or farm" game will be a ''VideoGame/{{Farmville}}'' clone. A "base builder" would be a ''VideoGame/ClashOfClans'' clone.
* {{Roguelike}}s are an odd case; the term has been used to refer to plenty of games with wildly varying mechanics, and only two things in common: RandomlyGeneratedLevels and item placement, and {{permadeath}} with no way to recover saved games. Everything from ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' to ''Minecraft''[='=]s hardcore mode qualifies, in a way. Yet the name continues to stick because nobody's ever agreed on a better one.
** ''Rogue-lite'' is becoming a more common term to refer to games that only have those elements, while Roguelike is more restricted to games that are actually similar to ''Rogue''. It's arguable whether either could really be counted as a genre; they are more a set of gameplay elements that can be applied to games in nearly any other genre.
* The MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame genre is largely an inversion.
** While rising from [[MultiUserDungeon an earlier genre]] and having some [[VideoGame/Meridian59 earlier]] [[VideoGame/TheRealmOnline entries]], the genre first started to become recognized around the time of ''VideoGame/UltimaOnline'' and began gaining wide popularity with ''VideoGame/EverQuest''. The different approaches between these games led to the creation of the terms "sandbox MMO" and "theme park MMO" to describe two very different approaches to design within the genre. In the following years, major franchises such as [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Final Fantasy]] and [[VideoGame/StarWarsGalaxies Star Wars]], along with popular themes such as [[VideoGame/CityOfHeroes Superheroes]], would offer their own variants on these takes.
** However, after ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' brought the genre into the mainstream, [[FollowTheLeader imitators]] wanted so badly to copy the game's success that the term "[=WoW-clone=]" became synonymous with the genre, and for good reason. Entries into the genre began to forgo innovation in favor of copying extremely specific details from ''World of Warcraft'', from the appearance (not merely functionality) of the UI, to exclamation-mark-granted, quest-driven gameplay, to a two-faction setting populated with races of similar archetypes. It got to the point that a major criticism of ''VideoGame/WarhammerOnline'' was that it forced infamously bitter enemies of an established setting into permanent alliances simply to match Warcraft's faction system (even betraying the well-received three-faction system from the developer's own popular, [[VideoGame/DarkAgeOfCamelot pre-[=WoW=] MMO]]).
** By the time games like ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' and ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' set out to question major conventions of the [=WoW-clone=] formula, they were sometimes criticized for "[[NoTrueScotsman not being real [=MMOs=]]]", and the industry largely moved onto other trends. With the rise of persistent online connectivity across the entire gaming industry, [=MMORPGs=] lost a lot of their novelty, leading to the term MMORPG itself sometimes now being used to refer to pretty much anything with some online component.
* South Korea would have its own version of the transition from clone to genre for the MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame. Largely contemporary with, but rarely considered a true competitor to the [=WoW-clone=] era, was a variant dubbed the "Korean MMO", due to following their own clone-level formula and being primarily developed in South Korea (including Japanese published games developed in South Korea).
** These games once shared (with memetically little variation) click-to-move movement, a very utilitarian, metallic-textured UI, the character creation being a choice between lightly customizable, pre-designed "characters" (with a pre-determined sex) of built-in archetypes, heavy LevelGrinding-centric gameplay, enemies and items laden with CallARabbitASmeerp (or CallASmeerpARabbit), an EquipmentUpgrade system based around luck, the ability to specifically set up a market stall to sell items to other players, as well as a high frequency of highly visible joke items, like a [[GoofySuit panda outfit]] in an historical setting. Most infamous was the frequency of gameplay being designed around AllegedlyFreeGame business models, which was a major deterrent in the West before free-to-play models spread worldwide.
** Ironically, one of the first Korean-developed [=MMOs=] to make a name for breaking out of this formula and show that variety could exist, ''VideoGame/{{Aion}}'', leaned heavily on the ''World of Warcraft'' formula instead. However, by the time ''VideoGame/BlackDesertOnline'' came out (2015), there had been enough divergence for Korean-made [=MMOs=] that its release saw the stigma in the West replaced with hype.
* The MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena genre is a zig-zagging example that began as a custom map for ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft}}'' called ''[[TropeMaker Aeon of Strife]]''. The idea was popularized with ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'', a custom map styled after Aeon of Strife for ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III'', and initally led to a wave of imitators being referred to as "[=DotA=] clones". The term "MOBA" was coined by Riot Games for ''League of Legends'' as a marketing term specifically because everybody was referring to the genre as "[=DotA=] clones" and they didn't want their game always being compared to ''[=DotA=]''.
** The idea of merely being a clone was challenged by ''VideoGame/{{Demigod}}'', one of the first standalone, retail examples of the genre. It retained the basic premise of two teams of player-controlled heroes managing lanes of AI-controlled armies in order to destroy their enemy's headquarters, but played around a lot with the details.
** The genre wouldn't start to break out until ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', which ironically skewed much more closely to the original mods. The term "[=DotA=] clone" persisted in part because of the sheer ''specificity'' of (often unintentional) elements of the original custom maps that became perceived as necessary for a MOBA, including CaptainErsatz characters of the original [=DotA=] cast (which were in turn often based on the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III'' characters whose models they used), core strategies leaning on a ViolationOfCommonSense, and intentionally [[AscendedGlitch recreating engine limitations]] from ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III''. The map most notably became treated so heavily as a SacredCow that the eventual "official" sequel, ''VideoGame/Dota2'', would use a stylized representation of the map as its logo.
** By the time ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' came along and marketed itself on defying MOBA expectations, including having its own maps, fixing bugs, and removing unintuitive mechanics, while retaining the core premise, the FollowTheLeader fad had moved onto other genres entirely.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' spawned (or popularised) two types of genres, voxel-based [[WideOpenSandbox sandbox games]] as well as SurvivalSandbox games. While the concept of building blocks in a video game was not new by any stretch of the imagination[[note]] Despite being commonly referred to as "Virtual LEGO" ''Minecraft''[='s=] creator Notch had said Lego had nothing to do with the creation of the game. One it ''was'' largely inspired by though was ''VideoGame/{{Infiniminer}}'' [[/note]], ''Minecraft'' put it together in such a unique package that it was bound to attract [[FollowTheLeader imitators]], such as ''[=FortressCraft=]''[[note]]Ironically, the game started as the most popular XNA game ever, but when it decided to go mainstream, it became a completely sideways genre, focusing on TowerDefense[=/=]Production Line Factory gameplay[[/note]], to games inspired by it, such as ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}''. However such a plethora of games with similar concepts but large twists are coming out now (''VideoGame/AceOfSpades'', ''VideoGame/{{GunCraft}}'', ''Mythruna'', etc), that it is far too many to count, and many of them are standing up on their own merits. Even ''VideoGame/DontStarve'' counts as one; it's all the SurvivalSandbox and [[ItemCrafting crafting]] aspects of Minecraft with the voxel based terrain part taken out. Other "Survival Games" are cropping up as well. Directly-competing games like ''VideoGame/{{Rust}}'' and ''VideoGame/SevenDaysToDie'' came out at pretty much the same time.
** Indeed, some of the more unique Minecraft-inspired games have become popular enough to get their ''own'' imitators, such as the loot and combat focused ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' with ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'' and ''VideoGame/EdgeOfSpace'', and the automation and logistics centered ''VideoGame/{{Factorio}}'' with ''VideoGame/{{Satisfactory}}''.
* The term {{Metroidvania}} is used to describe platformers that have a large continuous map, and the progress is governed by acquiring new abilities rather than through EventFlags. The term is now used as a genre, but was originally used to refer to the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games that used this formula, in the same sense that they'd be called ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' clones, since ''Metroid'' did the formula first.
* The PlatformFighter genre started with ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', and early attempts to copy its success were merely just that, pale copies with no attempt to shake up the formula. Later, ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'' shakes up the formula with a different life and super system, contributing to making itself distinct. ''VideoGame/AirDashOnline'', while being the {{Trope Namer|s}}, brought focus to the genre's competitive viability after ''Melee''[='=]s accidental success in the area, followed by ''Super Smash Bros.'' tributes ''VideoGame/SuperSmashFlash2'' and ''VideoGame/ProjectM'', and the genre is only continuing to grow with ''VideoGame/RivalsOfAether'' diversifying the formula further with implementing a [[PunchParry parrying system]] and removing focus on grabs and recovery.
* Games in the same vein as ''VideoGame/DearEsther'' were frequently compared to it, or described using the dismissive label "walking simulators." Eventually these games became varied and populated enough to be considered a genre in their own right, under the term EnvironmentalNarrativeGames.
* The BattleRoyaleGame genre of deathmatch/survival multiplayer games was pioneered by mods for ''VideoGame/DayZ'' and ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' (themselves influenced by the films and books ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' and ''Literature/TheHungerGames''), popularized by ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'', and turned into a genre by ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'', which managed to defy the "''PUBG'' clone" label (despite the protests of ''PUBG''[='=]s developer) through its faster-paced gameplay, LighterAndSofter art design, and incorporation of shelter-building mechanics.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' and its predecessor ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' have given rise to a new form of ActionRPG featuring low-execution high-stakes combat and an overall tough but fair sense of difficulty, known as the SoulsLikeRPG. This template has been taken and modified ranging from straight-up clones like ''VideoGame/LordsOfTheFallen'' to more unique takes like ''VideoGame/TheSurge'', ''VideoGame/{{Nioh}}'', ''VideoGame/CodeVein'' and ''VideoGame/ImmortalUnchained'' and even 2D versions like ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary''. Even the creators of ''Demon's Souls'' and ''Dark Souls'', Creator/FromSoftware, have made their own unique take on the genre with ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', which many ''Souls'' fans more or less consider to be part of the same series, collectively called "Soulsborne".
** The design sensibilities of a Soulslike game can be extended even into other genres. ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'' is a Soulslike {{Metroidvania}}, adapting the pattern-based combat, limited healing, and mechanic of resting refilling ones health but also causing enemies to respawn (it even uses the Soulsborne games' unusual wrinkle of using a single, combined currency for money and experience points). ''VideoGame/DeadCells'' is a fast paced action roguelike that specifically labels its combat as "Soulslite."
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}''-clone used to be a common term for what are now usually called {{action RPG}}s. However, action-RPG has spread to be applied to such a wide variety of different games that terms like ''Diablo''-clone are coming back into more frequent use again.
* ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' that led to many similar, predominantly indie, games about living on a farm. They've since become their own sub-genre of LifeSimulationGame that this site calls the FarmLifeSim genre. Until then, ''Story of Seasons'' was considered a "JRPG" or a "farm sim".
* ''VideoGame/SlayTheSpire'' popularized the idea of the "deckbuilding roguelike," and codified many of its tropes. Something of a cross between deckbuilding board games like ''TabletopGame/{{Dominion}}'' and ''VideoGame/DarkSouls,'' the core of the game revolves around tweaking a deck of cards to defeat enemies whose "intents" (their action during their turn of combat) are clearly visible to the player. It's inspired a number of clearly related but distinct games since, like ''Pirates Outlaws'' and ''VideoGame/{{Inscryption}}''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Banished}}'' together with the following ''VideoGame/FrostPunk'' popularized the concept of the grim ''Survival City Builder'', with each having their own chain of imitators. Before these, [[SimulationGame city-building games]] were dominated by [[AnEntrepreneurIsYou keeping your balance books in the green]], nobody would have associated them with a FightToSurvive in an environment where money is irrelevant.
* ''VideoGame/VampireSurvivors''' extremely addictive formula and low price tag inspired an entire genre of top-down action games where you fight against large groups of enemies, have to physically walk over to ExperiencePoints to collect them, and are offered a random selection of upgrades with each experience level, many of which cause your weapons (which, in most games of the genre, fire automatically) undergo SerialEscalation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* [[VirtualYouTuber Virtual]] Website/{{YouTube}}rs. Popularized by the self-styled "first virtual [=YouTuber=]" WebAnimation/KizunaAI, later got to the point that official 3D model developers and media companies [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-04-15/virtual-youtuber-trend-expands-with-talent-agencies-tv-appearances/.130149 started lending assistance to them]] to bring them up to the level of real-life internet stars. It's gotten to the point that Twitch has a specific "Vtuber" tag you can browse!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* The {{Video Review Show}}s made in the wake of ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' and ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' were (accused of being) clones and parodies of these shows, with the more popular derivatives like ''WebVideo/TheIrateGamer'' receiving clones and parodies of their own. However, as later shows rejected the AccentuateTheNegative CausticCritic format of these shows, this trope would move out from their shadows and become a genre all its own.
* Rap Battles. First, there was ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory''. Then, ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattleParodies''. Then, ''Video Game Rap Battles'', [=HarryPotter2875=], ''Epic Rap Battles of Cartoons'', ''Princess Rap Battles'', ''Infinite Source Rap Battles'', ''Epic Crap Battles of History'', ad nauseum.
* The code for ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon'' becoming open-source led to plenty of "Website/{{Twitch}} Plays [X]" streams being created in its wake. Eventually, the site would classify "Twitch Plays" as its own separate genre.
[[/folder]]
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* ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToBabyJane'' marked the first notable time that Hollywood's former leading ladies starred in horror stories as [[IWasQuiteALooker formerly glamorous]] women now going mad. Imitators included ''Film/HushHushSweetCharlotte'', ''Film/WhatEverHappenedToAuntAlice?'', ''Film/WhoeverSlewAuntieRoo?'' and ''Film/WhatsTheMatterWithHelen'' - eventually creating the 'Psycho Biddy' subgenre. Almost all of the films were headlined by women who had been stars during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood - Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Olivia de Havilland, Shelley Winters, Debbie Reynolds, Geraldine Page, etc.

* While TrappedInAnotherWorld, {{Reincarnation}}, and RPGMechanicsVerse stories are hardly new concepts, web novel works like ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' and ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'' were popular enough to inspire plenty of independent web-serialized stories where a character ends up transporting or getting reincarnated into a JRPG-like fantasy land. They started catching steam around the early 2010s, and the handiness of the Website/FanFictionDotNet[=/=]Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn-like platform [[https://syosetu.com Shousetsu Ka ni Narou]] to publish these series led to "Narou Isekai" ("''Narou''-style Parallel World") and "Narou Tensei" ("''Narou'' Reincarnation") stories becoming considered a genre in their own right. The ubiquity of these stories getting published, adapted into [[AnimatedAdaptation various]] [[{{Manga}} media]] and translated and exported out past Japan led to those specific types of stories being classified as part of the "Isekai" genre in the West.

* A lot of early superhero comics were [[SupermanSubstitute pretty bald-faced knockoffs]] of Franchise/{{Superman}}, with ComicBook/WonderManFox being a good example: man in spandex with SuperStrength punches gangsters and mad scientists while fighting for justice and maintaining his SecretIdentity. The only difference tended to be the origin, and even that was usually so throwaway and unimportant that you could probably swap it around between multiple characters and never notice. The exact point at which superheroes broke out of the "Superman clone" mindset is somewhat uncertain, but it was definitely starting by late 1939, when characters like Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/TheSandman started borrowing liberally from ''Literature/TheShadow'' and other crime pulp, and ''Marvel Comics #1'' depicted a lot of characters with different powers and antiheroic tendencies. By 1940, though Superman clones were still fairly common, the vast majority of superheroes were at least distinctly putting their own take on the concept.

* While TrappedInAnotherWorld, {{Reincarnation}}, and RPGMechanicsVerse stories are hardly new concepts, web novel works like ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' and ''LightNovel/TenseiShitaraSlimeDattaKen'' were popular enough to inspire plenty of independent web-serialized stories where a character ends up transporting or getting reincarnated into a JRPG-like fantasy land. They started catching steam around the early 2010s, and the handiness of the Website/FanFictionDotNet[=/=]Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn-like platform [[https://syosetu.com Shousetsu Ka ni Narou]] to publish these series led to "Narou Isekai" ("''Narou''-style Parallel World") and "Narou Tensei" ("''Narou'' Reincarnation") stories becoming considered a genre in their own right. The ubiquity of these stories getting published, adapted into [[AnimatedAdaptation various]] [[{{Manga}} media]] and translated and exported out past Japan led to those specific types of stories being classified as part of the "Isekai" genre in the West.

* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' spawned countless imitators, applying the same formula to other anime series, and almost all called "[name of anime show]: TheAbridgedSeries".

* The term "{{Moe}}" was coined in the mid-to-late '90s, and many other shows had moe elements, but ''Anime/KOn'' was the first instance of an entire show being described as such, and was a big enough hit that it spawned a wave of other "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" shows.

* ''VideoGame/{{Banished}}'' together with the following ''VideoGame/FrostPunk'' popularized the concept of the grim ''Survival City Builder'', with each having their own chain of imitators. Before these, VideoGame/CityBuildingSeries were dominated by [[AnEntrepreneurIsYou keeping your balance books in the green]], nobody would have associated them with a FightToSurvive in an environment where money is irrelevant.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' spawned not one but two entire genres: both TabletopRPG and Computer RolePlayingGames.

* The code for ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemon'' becoming open-source led to plenty of "Website/{{Twitch}} Plays [X]" streams being created in its wake. Eventually, the site would classify "Twitch Plays" as its own separate genre.