History Main / RewritingReality

* In Creator/DCComics, John Ostrander's run on ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' briefly featured a character called "The Writer" who had the ability to control reality by writing on his laptop. However, now he was part of "the continuity" the other Writers could control him. He was soon killed due to writer's block. Canonically, the character was Creator/GrantMorrison, who wrote themself into continuity in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan.''
* Creator/GrantMorrison gave the ability to Pulse-8, an Ultramarine Corps character he created in ''ComicBook/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}'', and the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp in ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers''. The Unknown Men resembled Morrison.
* The ''ComicBook/YoungbloodJudgmentDay'' mini-series from Awesome Comics dealt with a mysterious book that could warp reality. Writing in the book would cause what the writer had written to come to pass.
* ''ComicBook/ShadeTheChangingMan'':
** An arc from ''Shade the Changing Man'' featured an inversion. Anything that frustrated writer Miles Laimling wrote would be fictional, even if it were true before. Miles drew inspiration from personalities around him, and as their traits became more lifelike in his fiction, those traits would fade from the individuals they were inspired from.
** Played straight at the end of the arc when Laimling types a passage that grants Shade his full size and powers back, not by negating the effects trapping him, but by affirming that he had them.
* One of the latter Mike Wieringo issues of ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' had God, who resembled Creator/JackKirby, re-draw reality. Ben Grimm literally gets his rockiness drawn onto him to "compress his sub-plot". Writing shows up when God gets a call giving Him several ideas. When questioned, He states it was His "Collaborator. [[Creator/StanLee 'Nuff said.]]"
* Kevin Thorne from the Creator/VertigoComics title ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' is the 'Literal' personification of this trope.

* It becomes a centre plot point in the final book of the 6-books comic ''ComicBook/{{Koma}}'', by Wazem e Peeters (2003-2008). The tale starts in a victorian-like industrial town, where is living Addidas, an ill child with a thing for strange words. [[spoiler:She finds an underworld where giant humanoids are maintaining machineries linked with every single human - but not her]]. In the last volume, [[spoiler: the child meets one of the demiurges that constructed the devices (a creepy red amorphous creature) that thinks of her as a virus, since she is able to be alive also if her machine is destroyed. So she is "real" and we have ''the duel'': both begins to warp the reality with gestures (the blob) and words (the child), but using a vocabulary the child is able to rewrite the being itself]].
* A ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' comic featured a pulp writer whose creations came to life, unknown to him. One group of these creations ran rampant because the writer didn't finish their book, leaving them uncontrolled and unstoppable. Superman finally figured out what was happening and got the writer to finish the book, whose ending caused the bad guys to remove themselves from existence.
* Marvel's [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] anthology series ''Tales To Astonish'' (the series which would later feature the first appearance of Ant-Man) had a few of these. One involved a writer whose stories started coming true, spawning monsters who were destroyed exactly as the story went. Unfortunately, he didn't realize the connection until after writing a story about "X," a shapeshifter that could not be destroyed by any means. He discovers that his antique typewriter is the source of this power, and destroys it when X tries to stop him from re-writing the story. X evidently has NoOntologicalInertia, and fades into nothingness.
* A very odd story in ''The Brave and the Bold'' has the WesternTerrorists who were the villains of that issue kidnapping artist Jim Aparo and forcing him to redraw the story so that Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} and ComicBook/SgtRock were killed.
* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'' had an enchanted/possessed inkset that made whatever was painted with it come to life.
* The final issue of the first series of ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' has Everett find a book with this power and use it to explore a number of potential scenarios. In the end he burns it, preventing the scenarios from taking place... Except for a single page that brings Lyla back from the future.
* Loki in ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryGillen'' does this to give the previously invincible Serpent a weakness. This backfires later on Loki when said weakness (a girl the Serpent once cared for) turns out to be alive... and angry.

* The canon ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comic books feature such a book as a long term plot device. Due to many magical resets a book the good guys control is now the tome of magic and new rules written in it become the rules of magic. If they make sense with what came before. Making a normal human a mighty wizard would be rejecting but tweaking a wizard's powers would easily work.
* An issue of ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'' had Donatello stumble across a young artist (based on Jack Kirby) who possessed jewel strapped to a pencil that brought anything he drew to life for a few minutes before vanishing into a puff of smoke, save for an ominous looking door. Sure enough, said door led to the world the drawn characters had been vanishing to, the natives now being terrorized by the robotic monsters the artist had been making for the last month. Donatello attempted to fight back against the monsters, augmented by enhancements his friend drew for him, but was in danger of being overwhelmed by superior numbers. Finally the artist had the bright idea to go back through his sketchbook and draw bindings and cuffs on the robots, rendering them immobile. The dimension was never revisited again but the jewel came back into play in April O'Neil's backstory when it was revealed she was drawn to life by her father. She only lasts indefinitely because he used ink instead of pencil.
* ComicBook/TheInhumans have the Reader, a merc with RealityWarper powers who can indirectly do this, either by reading or writing something in braille. While working with Matt Murdock during ''ComicBook/DaredevilCharlesSoule'' to remove the Kingpin from the mayor's office (which happened thanks to his efforts in fighting HYDRA during ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire''), he accidentally brought "Mike Murdock", an identity Matt concocted as a FakeTwinGambit to throw Karen and Foggy off when they got close to realizing he was ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} into coming to life as a separate person.

* In ''Film/RubySparks'', a geek writes about a beautiful woman who comes to life. He finds that anything he writes about her affects her.

* ''VideoGame/HackNSlash'' actually features this as an ability obtainable by ''the player'', along with some other characters, and it's for real, with all the power and freedom such an ability should give you. This is because this in-game ability gives you the freedom to rewrite what ''really does make up'' the game's universe—that is, the [[NoFourthWall compiled Lua bytecode]] of the game and its engine. You can do this to solve puzzles, bypass obstacles, or just mess around. You can give yourself insane amounts of health, walk on water and bottomless pits, and even make characters look like other characters, to simply scratch the surface.

** The Sacred Tome fulfills the wishes written upon it, but this comes with a hefty price in mana. Also, damaging the book or its writings [[NoOntologicalInertia inflicts the same on whatever was created by that particular line of text]], so needless to say doing so is usually a ''spectacularly'' bad idea -- especially if your entire netherworld is written down in it. It goes without saying that [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds Zetta does it anyway]]. When writing something into the book, the book's spirit has to accept the wish before it becomes reality. This explains why King Drake III's wish for Zetta to yield control of his Netherworld to him (Zetta -> Drake, that is) continues to disappear when it is written down. Pram reprimands him on it after being tipped off by Trenia. [[spoiler:That's how she knew about that function, too - Trenia was the spirit of the Sacred Tome before Zetta confined himself inside it.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'' Royal [[spoiler:Takuto Maruki, a counsellor,]] gains the power to rewrite reality, which he then uses to create a perfect world without suffering.

* From ''Anime/{{Scryed}}'', the Alter (superpower) of Unkei is called "Mad S'''p'''ri'''c'''t" [sic] and enables him to write a script for reality that people will follow, and alter perceptions and (to a lesser extent) memories to fit. Not as powerful as other examples of the trope, as he can't seem to make someone behave completely out of character, he can't affect the perceptions of a character with super-powered perceptions, and the only times we see it used it was directed at a single victim. It also doesn't work very well if the person figures out what's going on. Which is bad, because then they are majorly pissed. Unkei doesn't do himself any favors by being an obliviously hack writer who doesn't research his targets, leading to his illusions inevitably backfiring.

*** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E36AWorldOfHisOwn A World of His Own]]" has a variation, in that anything the author speaks into a tape recorder becomes real. He can also destroy the creations by destroying the tape. This is how he stops a fight between his wife and mistress. Cut to Creator/RodSerling's closing monologue about how the story is complete fiction. The main character interrupts Rod to warn him about saying such things, revealing a line of tape labelled "Rod Serling" and tossing it onto the fire. This was the first appearance of Rod onscreen to do the monologue and was so well received that he came on for almost every episode afterwards. However, it was the only time he interacted with the story's characters.
*** "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E111PrintersDevil Printer's Devil]]" features a linotype machine (gotten via a DealWithTheDevil) that causes the horrific accidents that are reported on before they actually happen to become reality. The reporter who writes these 'scoops' is in fact the devil. The 'infernal machine' is eventually used to break the contract that got it to begin with.
** ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "The Library", an aspiring writer named Ellie Pendleton gets a job working at a mysterious private library which is BiggerOnTheInside. It is run by Gloria, who explains to her that each book is an accurate, up-to-date account of the life of a living person. That night, Ellie is annoyed by all of the noise made by her obnoxious neighbor Doug Kelleher and his new live-in girlfriend Carla Hollencamp. At the library the next day, she rewrites Doug's life story so that he is a kind-hearted and extremely dedicated priest. However, she feels guilty because Carla is so miserable at being alone so she uses the opportunity to fix her up with the building's wealthy landlord Edwin [=DeWitt=]. When she returns home, Carla is happy and wearing an expensive fur coat but Edwin is bankrupt from lavishing her with so many presents. Ellie rewrites Edwin's life story so that he is financially stable but she finds that her younger sister Lori is leading a strike against the inflated rent that he charges. The next day, she gives herself and Lori a nice house by the ocean. However, as soon as she arrives at her new home, Ellie learns that Lori drowned after rescuing a little boy from the sea. Devastated, Ellie admits to Gloria what she has been doing and pleads for her help. After chastising her for not realizing that people's lives are interconnected, Gloria shoos her out of the library. She immediately finds Lori alive and well and returned to her original self.
* In the ''Series/AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'' episode "Tale of the Dream Machine", an aspiring young writer discovers a typewriter that causes anyone he writes about to dream the story. However, he soon discovers that when the stories written on the typewriter are read, they come true, and he had written a story about his best friend being BuriedAlive.

** In the same series, there is also the Book, which is capable of much more powerful reality-altering; writing in it permanently rewrites past, present and future to fit with what you've written. As a result, everyone wants to get their hands on it, even if it means razing Yokohama to the ground. Late in the series, [[spoiler:the Decay of Angels manage to get their hands on at least one page, and use it to frame the Armed Detective Agency.]]

* In ''Anime/{{Shelter|2016}}'', Rin has the power to change the world around her using a tablet[[spoiler: because she is in a virtual reality machine.]]

* Creator/GrantMorrison gave the ability to Pulse-8, an Ultramarine Corps character he created in ''Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}'', and the Seven Unknown Men of Slaughter Swamp in ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers''. The Unknown Men resembled Morrison.

* A very odd story in ''The Brave and the Bold'' has the WesternTerrorists who were the villains of that issue kidnapping artist Jim Aparo and forcing him to redraw the story so that Franchise/{{Batman}} and ComicBook/SgtRock were killed.

* An issue of ''ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage'' had Donatello stumble across a young artist (based on Jack Kirby) who possessed jewel strapped to a pencil that brought anything he drew to life for a few minutes before vanishing into a puff of smoke, save for an ominous looking door. Sure enough, said door lead to the world the drawn characters had been vanishing to, the natives now being terrorized by the robotic monsters the artist had been making for the last month. Donatello attempted to fight back against the monsters, augmented by enhancements his friend drew for him, but was in danger of being overwhelmed by superior numbers. Finally the artist had the bright idea to go back through his sketchbook and draw bindings and cuffs on the robots, rendering them immobile. The dimension was never revisited again but the jewel came back into play in April O'Neil's backstory when it was revealed she was drawn to life by her father. She only lasts indefinitely because he used ink instead of pencil.

* The Creator/StephenKing story ''Word Processor of the Gods''. (This was adapted into a ''Series/TalesFromTheDarkside'' episode of the same title.)

* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' novel "The Blob That Ate Everyone", the hero gets a magic typewriter that causes anything he types to become reality. In the end, we find out that [[spoiler:the typewriter actually gave the kid the power to [[RealityWarper warp reality]] ''with his mind''. And then we find out that the entire book was a story written by a blob monster, which he was reading to his friend.]]

* The Creator/AnthonyBoucher story "We Print the Truth" features a newspaper editor who is granted a wish--and wishes for the eponymous motto of his paper to be literally true. He finds out just ''how'' literal when things like a misprinted age turn real. HilarityEnsues... until he finally realizes that this must stop and invokes something on the order of the [[LogicBomb Epimenides Paradox]] to do so.

* ''Series/TheColbertReport'': Stephen Colbert thinks he can do this with Website/{{Wikipedia}}, creating [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colbert_Report#Wikipedia_references "Wikiality."]] Fans immediately created [[http://www.wikiality.net/ Wikiality.net,]] where Colbert's word really ''is'' law.

* In ''Series/Charmed1998'', Paige and Kyle are sucked into a magical book and become their characters. Phoebe is able to help out by writing stuff in it. Unfortunately, she is limited to the genre of the book in respect to what she could change, so she can't write them out. So, while causing a flat tire or dropping a piano nearly on a character is possible, changing things so that the bad guys don't have guns or they all die suddenly cannot be done.

* ''Franchise/Arrowverse}}'':

* ''Webcomic/DresdenCodak'' possesses a writer who has the power to alter reality by writing it. However, he has a [[http://www.dresdencodak.com/cartoons/dc_030.htm few rules]] about it.

* The Celestial Files in ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'' tell the world what it should be. For example, put a [[GenderBender boy's file in the "girl" file]] and HilarityEnsues. It's interesting in this case that the ''contents'' of the file tell all about who you are, while the ''location'' of the file in the system tells the world what you are. One of the threats to the protagonists is that eventually the system's error-correction will notice the discrepancy and fix it by editing the contents, making them lose their RippleEffectProofMemory and [[DeathOfPersonality erase their original selves entirely]].

* ''Film/Goosebumps2015'' has this as its premise.

-->'''Jack Gates''': I have to go to... Cleveland? Jesus, I hate Cleveland!
::later:
-->'''Jack Gable''': What are you doing here? I sent you to Cleveland!
-->'''Jack Gates''': I should kill you for [[PlaceWorseThanDeath that alone]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' gives this power to John in an odd, [[CosmicRetcon Cosmic]] {{Retgone}} way.
* The bulk of guardian-witch powers in ''Webcomic/{{Whither}}''.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In the first episode of ''Ashen's Tech Dump'', Dr. Ashen interviews a researcher who has cracked the "source code" used by God to create the universe and wrote a program to access its functions with simple keywords. To Ashen's dismay, rather than use this power for anything noble, he was more interested in using it to start booty parties.
* It is implied that this is how low magic works in ''Roleplay/{{Adylheim}}'', with the caster's using various [[WordsCanBreakMyBones words of power]] (among other things) to cast spells.
* ''Roleplay/TheMadScientistWars'': Andrew Tinker's most powerful skill, as his knowledge of Literature due to having a doctorate in English allows him to re-write reality around him. He can do it by writing on just about anything, although he prefers to use an old Notebook of his. There are even implications he may eventually be able to do this without writing. While he's very aware of the consequences and tries not to rely on it ''too'' much, so far he has:
** Brought the Dead back to life (Although it has been established that he can't do it if too much time has passed).
** Created little odds and ends - a new Cravat, a new room in his house.
** Made a character he wrote real, a Demon named Sayasuke- ''and inserted him into the last 500 years of Japanese history to support his backstory.''

-->-- '''[[Music/PoetsOfTheFall Old Gods Of Asgard]]''', "The Poet And The Muse", ''VideoGame/AlanWake''

*** The episode "Printer's Devil" features a linotype machine (gotten via a DealWithTheDevil) that causes the horrific accidents that are reported on before they actually happen to become reality. The reporter who writes these 'scoops' is in fact the devil. The 'infernal machine' is eventually used to break the contract that got it to begin with.
*** Episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E36AWorldOfHisOwn A World of His Own]]" had a variation, in that anything the author spoke into a tape recorder became real. He could also destroy the creations by destroying the tape. This is how he stopped a fight between his wife and mistress. Cut to Creator/RodSerling's closing monologue about how the story was complete fiction. The main character interrupts Rod to warn him about saying such things, revealing a line of tape labelled "Rod Serling" and tossing it onto the fire. This was the first appearance of Rod onscreen to do the monologue and was so well received that he came on for almost every episode afterwards. However, it was the only time he interacted with the story's characters.

* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' episode "The Quill Is Mightier...".

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Milagro" features a serial killer spawned from a story written by Mulder's next-door neighbor.
* Creator/CliveBarker's ''Series/MastersOfHorror'' episode "Valerie on the Stairs" is about a RoundRobin story which, unbeknownst to its authors, was causing real people to be murdered. Eventually, the story's characters broke from the script and [[spoiler: killed the authors]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Mind Robber", the Doctor and his companions wind up in the Land of Fiction, populated entirely by characters who are fictional (even within the world of ''Doctor Who'') or mythical--e.g. Medusa, Rapunzel, Gulliver. The Land is controlled by the Master of the Land of Fiction (not to be confused with recurring villain The Master), a prolific hack writer who somehow wound up in this place. He makes everything happen by writing it. The Doctor finds a typewriter in the villain's castle and they have a Rewriting Reality showdown. (Also, the Doctor's companions are temporarily turned into fiction.)

* In ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's notebook made anything written in it with his pen real. Fortunately, the person who ended up using it only copied Poe's horror deathtraps.
* In ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', Paige and Kyle were sucked into a magical book and become their characters. Phoebe was able to help out by writing stuff in it. Unfortunately, she is limited to the genre of the book in respect to what she could change so she couldn't write them out. So, while causing a flat tire or dropping a piano nearly on a character is possible, changing things so the bad guys don't have guns or they all die suddenly cannot be done.

* The Series/ArrowVerse:
** ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' establishes a difference between altering the timeline and rewriting reality itself. The first case has rules and consequences, while the second has none. Thus far, only one object is known to be able to do the latter - the [[PublicDomainArtifact Spear of Destiny]], which is why Rip and three of the JSA members split it and hid it across space and time. [[spoiler:The Legion manages to get the Spear and uses it to remake reality to suit their own desires: Thawne is now the head of S.T.A.R. Labs, having trapped the Black Flash, Darhk is the Mayor of Star City with magical powers, Merlyn has brought his family back to life and forced Nyssa to live a miserable, closeted life in the middle of nowhere, Snart and Mick rule Central City and can steal without consequences, and all the heroes (e.g. Barry, Oliver, John, Felicity) are dead. The Legends (minus Mick) have new lives either relegated into nothingness (Ray, Nate), working for Thawne (Jax, Stein), or working for Darhk (Sara, Amaya). There are only two known ways of destroying the Spear: throw it into an extremely-powerful reactor or use the blood of Christ.]] However, Sara finds a way to neutralize it a different way: [[spoiler:by using the Spear to depower itself. The Spear then disintegrates along with Thawne, when the Black Flash erases him from existence]].
** ''Series/{{Elseworlds}}'', the 2018 CrisisCrossover, has the Book of Destiny, which allows the user to make any changes to reality they can will into existence. While still experimenting with it, Dr. John Deegan tries to make himself the Flash, but instead somehow causes Barry and Oliver to [[FreakyFridayFlip switch lives]]. Later, once he has a better idea of what he's doing, he turns himself into a version of Superman who operates as the KnightTemplar leader of a law enforcement agency. Meanwhile, he also turns Barry and Oliver into wanted criminals and locks Kara away in the Pipeline. Later still, once the real Superman has managed to steal the book and use it to partially revert reality to normal, Deegan has a VillainousBreakdown and, upon retrieving it, starts randomly changing things in such a way that it seems to be building up to a RealityBreakingParadox. In the end, [[spoiler: Oliver manages to destroy the book, hitting the ResetButton on all the changes and leaving Deegan [[RedRightHand heavily deformed]] as a result of the power backlash]].

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', [[BunnyEarsLawyer Rohan]] [[MadArtist Kishibe]]'s [[FightingSpirit Stand]], Heaven's Door, lets him turn people into human books and rewrite them. While he usually uses it to manipulate memories and control a person's actions, it has also shown the ability to control what happens to them. Since whatever's in the human-books is ''absolutely true'', he can make just about anything happen to someone, such as, hypothetically, writing "I will punch myself in the face whenever I hear somebody sneeze".

* The conflict of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'' revolves around a magic journal that can rewrite reality falling into the hands of the evil pirate Burger-Beard. And it just so happens that the Krabby Patty Secret Formula is written on one of the missing pages to the journal...

* In Creator/DCComics, John Ostrander's run on ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'' briefly featured a character called "The Writer" who had the ability to control reality by writing on his laptop. However, now he was part of "the continuity" the other Writers could control him. He was soon killed due to writer's block. Canonically, the character was Creator/GrantMorrison, who wrote himself into continuity in ''ComicBook/AnimalMan.''

** Fry writes the reality at the end of "The Day The Earth Stood Stupid", and thus saves the planet. The Giant Brain trapped Stupid!Leela and Fry in several books. Fry breaks free of the illusion, and tries to attack the Brain. However, he's crushed to death by a bookcase, but it's only an illusion based on a story Fry has quickly written. The Giant Brain then announces that it is leaving Earth "for no raisin [sic]".

* The Creator/JohnCandy movie ''Delirious'' had him as a soap opera writer named Jack Gable. After taking a head injury, he found himself in his own soap opera. The limitation was that he could only directly affect characters for which he was the primary writer before. This did not prevent him from causing all kind of chaos before having his karmic epiphany. Fun included forcing Raymond Burr's character to not leave his house because he had to wait for the cable guy, and when Robert Wagner made an inconvenient guest appearance as Jack Gates:

-->'''Jack Gable''': What are you doing here? I sent you to Cleveland.
-->'''Jack Gates''': I should kill you for that alone.

* In ''Anime/{{Shelter}}'', Rin has the power to change the world around her using a tablet[[spoiler: because she is in a virtual reality machine.]]

* ''Literature/DateALive'': Nia Honjou can write or draw in manga form in her book, Rasiel, and it will come true. It has a limitation that it cannot control beings who are stronger than her and it cannot do things that are impossible.

Also compare with ArtInitiatesLife where the visual arts shape reality, or FormulaicMagic where it is pure mathematics that will change reality. See also IKnowYourTrueName, LanguageOfMagic, and AllJustADream.