History Main / MemeticPersonalityChange

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': A lot of fanfictions tend to have Vegeta [[HeyYou never calling someone by their name]] aside from Goku and Trunks, like "Earth Woman" for Bulma, "Kakarot's Brat" for Gohan, or "The Bald One" for Krillin despite the fact that Vegeta regularly call them by their name, particularly after his CharacterDevelopment. Creator/TeamFourStar has stated that they can't imagine Vegeta ever calling someone by their real name, and since their [[WebVideo/DragonBallAbridged show]] has led to a lot of AdaptationDisplacement, it's no surprise this is popular. It was made AscendedFanon in ''VideoGame/DragonBallFighterz'', though only for his barks when calling for an assist.

** Shampoo being TheNicknamer for everyone she meets, not unlike the Vegeta example above.

** Usagi is not a saint that refuses to kill or hurt anyone. [[GoodIsNotSoft She has killed someone or something in every canon she's been in]]. However, in TheNineties [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]], Sailor Moon kills just two characters who are neither a puppet-like MonsterOfTheWeek, nor an EldritchAbomination -- though several more die when she deflects their attacks upon them or damages power-amplifying devices -- and goes to ''extreme'' lengths to avoid killing anyone remotely human during seasons three through five. So it is not hard to see where this idea comes from. However, in the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], she toasts quite a few evildoers.
** Mamoru breaks up with Usagi ''once'' in the anime because he had been having nightmares warning him that if they stayed together she would be in danger. This tends to be exaggerated by fans into him dumping or cheating on her all the time.

* The ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' KinkMeme has spawned the idea that Anderson has a dinosaur fetish. [[TheWatson John]] also seems to have a jam fetish.

** Marth is believed to be arrogant and narcissistic, while Roy is believed to be hyperactive and dumb. They are actually humble, just, and intelligent rulers, like many ''Fire Emblem'' Lords. It is especially egregious for Roy, who is often a complete ''inversion'' of his actual character as an extremely WiseBeyondTheirYears GuileHero. Similarly, Ike is believed to be a dumb meathead, while he is actually quite intelligent and a great leader. (''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' is probably partly to blame for that, to the point it's even [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/disregard-that]] lampshaded by Creator/KatieTiedrich.) To be fair, [[DependingOnTheWriter Marth's personality has never been consistent throughout the actual games either]], going from childish, innocent, and naive in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Dark Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'' to serious, mature, and noble (in line with later Lords) in ''Shadow Dragon'', only to revert back to his original depiction in ''New Mystery''. [[spoiler:Though Tiki describes him as a MagneticHero in ''Awakening''... to correct ''Lucina's'' own AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of him. (Lucina believed Marth to be TheStoic, and when she [[SweetPollyOliver disguised herself as "Marth"]] she went by it.)]]

** Marth is believed to be arrogant and narcissistic, while Roy is believed to be hyperactive and dumb. They are actually humble, just, and intelligent rulers, like many ''Fire Emblem'' Lords. It is especially egregious for Roy, who is often a complete ''inversion'' of his actual character as an extremely WiseBeyondTheirYears GuileHero. Similarly, Ike is believed to be a dumb meathead, while he is actually quite intelligent and a great leader. (''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' is probably partly to blame for that, to the point it's even [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/disregard-that lampshaded by Creator/KatieTiedrich]].) To be fair, [[DependingOnTheWriter Marth's personality has never been consistent throughout the actual games either]], going from childish, innocent, and naive in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Dark Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'' to serious, mature, and noble (in line with later Lords) in ''Shadow Dragon'', only to revert back to his original depiction in ''New Mystery''. [[spoiler:Though Tiki describes him as a MagneticHero in ''Awakening''... to correct ''Lucina's'' own AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of him. (Lucina believed Marth to be TheStoic, and when she [[SweetPollyOliver disguised herself as "Marth"]] she went by it.)]]

** Marth is believed to be arrogant and narcissistic, while Roy is believed to be hyperactive and dumb. They are actually humble, just, and intelligent rulers, like many ''Fire Emblem'' Lords. It is especially egregious for Roy, who is often a complete ''inversion'' of his actual character as an extremely WiseBeyondTheirYears GuileHero. Similarly, Ike is believed to be a dumb meathead, while he is actually quite intelligent and a great leader. (''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' is probably partly to blame for that, to the point it's even [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/disregard-that lampshaded by Creator/KatieTiedrich.]]) To be fair, [[DependingOnTheWriter Marth's personality has never been consistent throughout the actual games either]], going from childish, innocent, and naive in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Dark Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'' to serious, mature, and noble (in line with later Lords) in ''Shadow Dragon'', only to revert back to his original depiction in ''New Mystery''. [[spoiler:Though Tiki describes him as a MagneticHero in ''Awakening''... to correct ''Lucina's'' own AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of him. (Lucina believed Marth to be TheStoic, and when she [[SweetPollyOliver disguised herself as "Marth"]] she went by it.)]]

** Marth is believed to be arrogant and narcissistic, while Roy is believed to be hyperactive and dumb. They are actually humble, just, and intelligent rulers, like many ''Fire Emblem'' Lords. It is especially egregious for Roy, who is often a complete ''inversion'' of his actual character as an extremely WiseBeyondTheirYears GuileHero. Similarly, Ike is believed to be a dumb meathead, while he is actually quite intelligent and a great leader. (''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' is probably partly to blame for that, to the point it's even [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/disregard-that lampshaded by Katie Tiedrich.]]) To be fair, [[DependingOnTheWriter Marth's personality has never been consistent throughout the actual games either]], going from childish, innocent, and naive in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Dark Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'' to serious, mature, and noble (in line with later Lords) in ''Shadow Dragon'', only to revert back to his original depiction in ''New Mystery''. [[spoiler:Though Tiki describes him as a MagneticHero in ''Awakening''... to correct ''Lucina's'' own AlternativeCharacterInterpretation of him. (Lucina believed Marth to be TheStoic, and when she [[SweetPollyOliver disguised herself as "Marth"]] she went by it.)]]

** [[spoiler: The Fallen Child]] is, DependingOnTheWriter, a TragicVillain or a CompleteMonster. In Canon, all we have to base their personality on is what little of their actions and words we see, and Asriel's saying that [[AmbiguousSituation they weren't a very nice person]]. Complicating things further is the other bit of fanon that they're either the narrator or a representation of the player's actions, so whether they ''have'' a canon personality at all is a matter of debate. There is one thing that all members of the fandom can agree on, however: they ''definitely'' [[TrademarkFavoriteFood love chocolate]]. It's also popular to portray them as hating white chocolate.

** Portrayals of Marina as an extreme ManicPixieDreamGirl are common in the fandom, despite her in-game behavior being quite subdued in comparison.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''

** Keigo Takami / Hawks: Fandom likes to think that he would become a villain or at least turn his back to heroics given a real chance, and that he sees the world with JadeColoredGlasses. Instead, Hawks has a self-addmitted case of ChronicHeroSyndrome which started when he was still a young child, and confesses that he's an optimist. He would NEVER give up on heroics and saving people.

** [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 The Fury]] peppering his speech with [[ClusterFBomb profanities]], [[AudienceColoringAdaptation made popular]] by his depiction in ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxhound''.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Homura's VerbalTic "Homu homu", which she never ever said in the series.

** The main character Ranma is commonly depicted in various, occasionally mutually exclusive manners. These include refusing to fight women, refusing to use weapons (and being dismissive of those who do), thinking women are weak and incompentent, not caring about the sanctity human life, caring about human life ''too much'', being callous to people he talks to, etc. Of those only the one about his reluctance to fight women has any basis in canon, where it is just that: A reluctance. He's perfectly capable of fighting women if the need arises.

* ComicBook/MoonKnight has received this as a combination of the character's [[DependingOnTheWriter canon-but-fluctuating]] insanity and a popular (edited) meme of him demanding money from Dracula and calling him "you big fucking nerd". This ballooned out into depictions of Moon Knight as an AxCrazy CloudCuckoolander SirSwearsALot, and also Dracula's arch nemesis (the two have barely, if ever, interacted). [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/aa5d1a413a02174125aa296e99cb8a1f/e207b8f3de823649-82/s640x960/6f95f12ed83bdf5dc22fb04b6ef104cdcd53e387.jpg The "random bullshit, go!" edit]] sums most of it up.

** The entire goblin race got AdaptationalNiceGuy on the fandom's part. The fans had quite a vision of goblin culture as a very strict society with an almost feudal Japan-like fixation on honor, partly to avert the UnfortunateImplications [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything of a race of untrustworthy hook-nosed individuals running banks]]. Even today, it's still common to see goblins portrayed this way, both for the mentioned reason as well as out of habit.

** Boromir is a HeManWomanHater or even a StrawMisogynist. He thinks that women can't do anything. In fan fiction, Boromir acts rude to any woman he meets; and if the woman offers to help the group, Boromir argues against her. Fans do this to make their female characters seem more special.

** Within a large part of the fandom, Steven himself often gets flanderized into an [[TroubledButCute emotionally dammaged]] [[ProneToTears crybaby.]] Often this is done in a DarkFic to play up the trauma he's implied to have been experiencing on his adventures or in more normal fics just because it makes him fit into a [[SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan more submissive]] [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy and sensitive]] role when paired with other characters.

** Papyrus hating puns, which is utterly contradicted by his portrayal in the game. He only groans at ''[[PungeonMaster Sans]]''' puns (most of which are [[LamePunReaction acknowledged as cringeworthy in-universe]]) and even then, it's implied that he's less annoyed by the puns themselves than by Sans not taking his guard duties seriously. Heck, not only does he [[ActuallyPrettyFunny manage to smile at one of Sans' puns]] (with his response to Sans pointing this out naturally being "I AM AND I HATE IT!"), but he actually makes a number of puns himself throughout the game-- even more than Sans does, actually!

** Due to his [[SmugSnake smug dispositon]] and abusive tendancies, It's also common for [[spoiler: Eddy's brother]] to be depicted as a TroubledButCute {{Narcissist}} at best or a [[TheSociopath irredemably corrupt,]] [[FetishizedAbuser slimy and abusive sexual predator]] at worst.
** Ditto Marie, who's also given a love of punk rock (or rock in general) due to her choice of attire.

** Sideswipe is an indomitable [[ThePrankster prankster]] and loves to pull practical jokes on anyone and everyone he can find. Sunstreaker is not nearly so enthusiastic, but helps his twin anyway out of a sense of brotherly duty. He's also a highly skilled artist, able to paint and sculpt things almost as beautiful as he is. [[AwesomeEgo Almost.]] Also, he's usually portrayed as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
** On the deceptions' side, Skywarp, Rumble and Frenzy are the resident pranksters.
** Continuing from above, ''Website/TFWikiDotNet'''s belief that Skywarp enjoys pushing other bots down stairs. This has zero basis in canon, but as the wiki puts it, he seems like the kind of bot who'd enjoy doing so.

** Sans never paying his tab at Grillby's. He was only seen putting a meal on his tab once, but fans think it fits well with his slacker image.

** Papyrus hating puns, which is utterly contradicted by his portrayal in the game. He only groans at ''[[PungeonMaster Sans]]''' puns (most of which are acknowledged as cringeworthy in-universe) and even then, it's implied that he's less annoyed by the puns themselves than by Sans not taking his guard duties seriously. Heck, not only does he [[ActuallyPrettyFunny manage to smile at one of Sans' puns]] (with his response to Sans pointing this out naturally being "I AM AND I HATE IT!"), but he actually makes a number of puns himself throughout the game-- even more than Sans does, actually!

** Despite never seeing Wind swearing in the comics, it's extremely popular to see him swearing heavily in FanWorks and fan interpretations. Mostly stems from him being an actual pirate for a little while. Plus, there is a certain ''attraction'' with having a seemingly nice and innocent little blond kid who also just happened to have '''stabbed Ganon in the head''', swear like it's nobody else's business.

** Fellow villain Zaheer is typecast as a Hipster. He also ''will'' shove quotes from Guru Laghima (an ''[[InsistentTerminology airbender]]'') into casual conversation and then [[DontExplainTheJoke explain where the quote came from]]. More seriously, he's portrayed as an EvilVegetarian and-or StraightEdgeEvil.

** Fans like to interpret Lynn as experiencing HeightAngst, considering she's older than Lincoln yet is about the same height as him. This is especially evident in fan works where the two are aged up, in which Lincoln is at least a foot taller than Lynn. It's also taken to the extreme in some works with all the Loud siblings as adults, which often depict Lynn as having become the shortest sibling overall.

** Lyra Heartstrings is characterized as obsessed with humans, most specifically hands, due to a FunnyBackgroundEvent in "Dragonshy" where she sits on a bench like a human. Sometimes she's simply fascinated by humans, and sometimes she wants to ''be'' a human. While most personalities assigned to background ponies became AscendedFanon, the lack of humans in the show's main universe (''WesternAnimation/EquestriaGirls'' notwithstanding) left the human-loving Lyra exclusive to fandom memes.

** There's a surprising amount of "Lars is depressed" fics, some of which involve him [[SelfHarm Self Harming]] or [[DrivenToSuicide attempting suicide]]. In addition, some of those same fics feature the idea that Lars UsedToBeASweetKid, a lot like Steven actually, and Sadie was a BullyHunter for his sake.

*** Blue Diamond is comically portrayed to [[HeartbreakAndIceCream drown her sorrows in ice cream]].

** Papyrus hating puns, which is utterly contradicted by his portrayal in the game. He only groans at ''[[PungeonMaster Sans]]''' puns (most of which are acknowledged as cringeworthy in-universe) and even then, it's implied that he's less annoyed by the puns themselves than by Sans not taking his guard duties seriously.

** Papyrus hating puns, which is utterly contradicted by his portrayal in the game. He only groans at ''[[PungeonMaster Sans]]''' puns.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' and ''IV'' has fans depict Juna as bisexual due to the numerous amount of times she sees a member of old Class VII, a Thors graduate, [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky or characters from]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure previous arcs]] and calls them beautiful or pretty and yet still crushes on [[TheHero Rean]].
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie'': The entire Magical Alisa minigame turns out to be nothing more than just a dream where she sleeps on her desk inside her dorm room. Considering the MagicalGirl outfits of some of those women in her dream plus her instructor and fans had a field day.

** Kuno calling Ranma a sorcerer and beats him with sorcery. In canon, though Kuno believes that Ranma practices some kind of magic, he never refers to him as a sorcerer, despite doing so constantly in fan works. And he's most certainly skilled enough as a martial artist to recognize that Ranma never used any sort of magic in their duels against each other, because as stated above, Kuno is ''not'' a sore loser.

** Usagi is not a saint that refuses to kill or hurt anyone. She has killed someone or something in every canon she's been in. However, in TheNineties [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]], Sailor Moon kills just two characters who are neither a puppet-like MonsterOfTheWeek, nor an EldritchAbomination -- though several more die when she deflects their attacks upon them or damages power-amplifying devices -- and goes to ''extreme'' lengths to avoid killing anyone remotely human during seasons three through five. So it is not hard to see where this idea comes from. However, in the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], she toasts quite a few evildoers.

** Kristoff not knowing how to read. This is extrapolating from him being [[RaisedByWolves Raised by Trolls]], but there's no reason why they wouldn't have taught him to read. In fact, he is shown to at least know how to write "Happy Birthday" in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenFever'', though admittedly that's not the same thing as knowing how to read, and he could have learned to write between ''Frozen'' and ''Frozen Fever'' since the latter takes place almost a year after the former.

** Lupin having an obsession with chocolate is total Fanon. The real reason he carries it around is to ward off dementors, after which he is never seen with the food again. The series actually implies werewolves in general tend to prefer more meaty flavors.
** The entire goblin race got AdaptationalNiceGuy on the fandom's part. The fans had quite a vision of goblin culture as a very strict society with an almost feudal japan-like fixation on honor, partly to avert the UnfortunateImplications [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything of a race of untrustworthy hook-nosed individuals running banks]]. Even today, it's still common to see goblins portrayed this way, both for the mentioned reason as well as out of habit.
* ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'':

** Not surprisingly the fandom has a lot of ideas about [[EvilIsCool Azula]], like that she bullied Zuko because she wanted to take the throne from him, that she'd be a [[MaternallyChallenged terrible mother]] (really just an [[AxCrazy extrapolation from canon]], honestly) and that she was a FilleFatale as a child (which the one time we see her as a child is not shown to be the case. [[NoYay also ew]])
** There's also Avatar Kyoshi, which the fandom portrays as a blood thirsty psychopath that loves violence, which is nothing like the actual character, whose acts of violence are merely a case of IDidWhatIHadToDo.

*** Pearl mentioned she liked pie [[CharacterizationMarchesOn in an early episode]], and this has been handwaved as her enjoying ''making'' pie instead of eating it. However, fans sometimes depict eating pie as being a guilty pleasure for hers.

** Sideswipe is an indomitable prankster and loves to pull practical jokes on anyone and everyone he can find. Sunstreaker is not nearly so enthusiastic, but helps his twin anyway out of a sense of brotherly duty. He's also a highly skilled artist, able to paint and sculpt things almost as beautiful as he is. [[AwesomeEgo Almost.]] Also, he's usually portrayed as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

** Sally Acorn, of ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' fame, is widely known as one of the very few female characters whose design averted the standard PantslessMalesFullyDressedFemales design scheme, with her clothes consisting of nothing but boots and (later on) a vest much like the male characters in the franchise. Despite the show and the [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics follow-up comics]] never exploring or even calling attention to this aspect, fans often portray Sally as a CulturalRebel and a ShamelessFanserviceGirl who refuses to play along with the setting's "[[DoubleStandard dress code]]," going around "naked" in the same manner as someone who [[DoesNotLikeShoes prefers walking barefooted]].

** Axel became a complete slicker who would abuse his in-game {{Catchphrase}} "Got it memorized?"

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'': The fact he has [[BornLucky an unnatural streak of luck]] has made the fandom believe Kyosuke is an avid poker player, given his [[ILikeThoseOdds bad]] [[MillionToOneChance gambling]] [[TheGambler habits]], compounded with "[[CatchPhrase I don't mind betting on tough odds]]". There are indeed other ways to gamble besides poker, people.

** Sans will usually be portrayed as much more {{Wangst}} prone in Fan Works (he's popular with female fans, you see). The real Sans shows some depressive traits, but they're more based on just plain not caring about anything [[spoiler: because he knows it'll just reset again and they'll never get a happy ending]]. In a more minor case, he apparently likes [[MemeticHandGesture snapping his fingers]].

* ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'': Astolfo in canon is a WholesomeCrossdresser who picks his attire because he likes cute things and is often oblivious (or at least apathetic) [[ViewerGenderConfusion to how he is viewed by people around him]] (mainly a scene where Jeanne is shocked that Astolfo is a guy and he finds it hilarious that she didn't know). In many fan works, Astolfo a ShamelessFanserviceGuy who delights in [[StupidSexyFlanders making people question their sexuality]] by acting far more effeminate while also throwing in more reminders that he is, in fact, male.