History Main / RoleSwapAU

** One story has Betty and Veronica being romantically interested with Jughead, while Archie is his best friend whose presence they could barely tolerate. However, after the two had a CookingDuel to win Jug's affections, he ends up [[ThirdOptionLoveInterest choosing Gaston (Veronica's chef)'s niece]], and Betty and Veronica immediately drop him in favour of Archie after seeing him enjoy their cooking.
** Another has Betty as the rich heiress (with Smithers being her servant) and Veronica as the normal girl. Later, Veronica's mother win the lottery, allowing the Lodges to be as rich as this universe's Betty. Veronica ''immediately'' starts behaving like her usual SpoiledBrat self.

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': There are several stories that swap around killers, victims, survivors and even entire casts.

** Another swap AU of the casts of the first two games can be found in [=GameBawesome=]'s ''Fanfic/AlternativeClassDespair'' series, with Chiaki serving as protagonist of the Killing School Life. Notably, unlike the previously-mentioned examples, Junko is still the mastermind here, she just [[WhatIf chose to brainwash her classmates in Class 78 into Despair rather than her upperclassmen in Class 77]].

*** ''Webcomic/Persona5AdultConfidantAU'' is a ''Persona 5'' webcomic and and character concepts involving swapping around the ages of the core cast and adult confidants, having the largely passive supporting cast into the protagonists of the story.

* ''Fanfic/LegendOfKatara'' is an ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fanfic where Aang is freed over a decade earlier from the iceberg and soon dying from the aftereffects of being frozen for years. Katara ends up becoming the next Avatar in the cycle, with Aang serving as her spirit guide and airbending teacher.

** ''Fanfic/TotalDramaIslandRecast'' has the second and third generation casts swapping with the originals, with the ''Revenge of the Island'' cast as the Screaming Gophers and the ''Pahkitew Island'' cast as the Killer Bass.

** Rather than [[spoiler:2B killing Adam and Eve becoming the DiskOneFinalBoss]], the anime has [[spoiler:[[TakingTheBullet Eve arriving and saving his brother at the cost of his life]], which pushes Adam [[DespairEventHorizon away from his pursuit of knowledge and vowing to destroy everything]] as the final boss of the first season]].

** Downplayed example in ''Fanfic/ObitoSensei'', where changes [[ForWantOfANail from Obito and Rin's survival]] leads Sakura to become the more combat-focused [[TheHero heroine]] in place of Naruto. Meanwhile, Naruto starts learning medical jutsu [[spoiler:during a mission as a FakeDefector alongside Sakura and Sasuke]].
** ''Webcomic/OrangeLemonsSanninSwap'' has Orochimaru [[ForWantOfANail target Naruto in the Forest of Death]]. After he joins Sound, Sakura convinces Jiraiya to train her, while Tsunade takes Sasuke on as an apprentice.

* ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist''

* ''FanFic/ReversalOfFate'' is a ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' fanfic where Sakura and Syaoran's role in the story are swapped, with Syaoran being the one who lost his memory, and Sakura going on a quest to retrieve them.

* "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/23790751 Embers]]" is a one-shot ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' fic where Hans is the one born with powers, while Elsa is the visiting royal who manages to prompt him to reveal his magic. She even paraphrases one of his lines from the film ("don't be the monster they fear you are"), albeit in a much tamer context.

* ''WesternAnimation/TrollsBandTogether'': The [[https://www.instagram.com/p/C1DG6Uuvrj1/?img_index=1 Crystal John Dory AU]] follows the idea that, instead of Floyd, Velvet and Veneer captured John Dory instead and, unlike with Floyd, who held out hope, John Dory comes to believe that his brothers ''aren't'' going to come for him do his perfectionist behavior. Some versions additionally swap who the more sympathetic villain is, with Velvet beginning to have doubts in the plan while Veneer becomes more villainous.

** ''Fanfic/BlackbirdArrow'' offers an interesting variation on the FandomSpecificPlot of Laurel joining the League of Assassins instead of Sara. Typically that happens because Laurel went on the ''Gambit'' with Oliver instead of Sara. Here, Sara was still the one who went with Oliver and was eventually rescued by Nyssa and brought to Nanda Parbat, but was found by her mother before she could properly join the League, [[ParentalBetrayal who subsequently offered Laurel to them in Sara's place]].

* The ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12401461/1/Pink-With-Evil Pink With Evil]]'' has the Green Ranger Tommy Oliver as part of the original five rangers while Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart is the new-comer that gets brainwashed by Rita Repulsa before being freed and joining the heroes.

** Based on the above is ''Fanfic/DanganronpaClassSwitch'' which swaps all three casts around, with Rantaro as the protagonist of the Killing School Life, Leon as the protagonist of the Killing School Trip, [[spoiler:Kaito as the Mastermind behind the Killing Games and Tsumugi standing in for Mukuro as the missing, disguised student.]]

*** ''FanFic/BackRoute'' and ''Fanfic/AnEncoreFromMyCryingHeart'' also follow similar plot lines, with Shuichi being taken out of the story early on, leaving Kaede as the protagonist.
** [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/26241298/chapters/63872014 Danganronpa: Parallel Island]], part of a larger story called Fanfic/DanganronpaThePARALLEL, follows a similar example to the first three, switching the casts between the two games with a twist. In here, [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc Class 78]] is forced to participate in the Killing School Trip. In addition to the initial class switch, four characters from Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool have been included as participants, consisting of Koichi Kizakura, Kyosuke Munakata, Ruruka Ando, and Ryota Mitarai.

** ''Fanfic/AnEagleAmongLions'' largely takes place in a timeline where Edelgard has only one Crest and all of her siblings are alive, and the tragedies that befell her in her world were instead inflicted upon Dimitri ''in addition to'' the Tragedy of Duscur. [[spoiler:Dimitri takes on Edelgard's role as the Flame Emperor equivalent, calling himself "The Hurricane King", and ''Mercedes'', of all people, is his loyal Death Knight, on account of her half-brother Emile dying as a victim of the aforementioned Tragedy. In addition, Thales has taken on the form of Felix's father Rodrigue instead of Edelgard's uncle Volkhard von Arundel, and Kronya uses Felix's brother Glenn as her disguise instead of that of Monica von Ochs (who shows up much later in a minor role as one of Emperor Burkhart's consorts)]].

* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}''

** ''VideoGame/Persona5''

* ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfCynderSeries'' is a series of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' fanfics where Cynder was raised by dragonflies, [[spoiler:while Spyro was raised as Malefor's pawn.]]

** [[spoiler:Asriel]] is now the one who admires the Royal Guard, while [[spoiler:Temmie's true form is now Monster Kid.]]

%%* ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'': Claus's Journey has [[spoiler:Lucas going after the Mecha Drago and becoming the Masked Man instead of Claus.]] Link or Trope Page needed.

** ''Fanfic/AnotherChronicle'' is a ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' where Nia becomes the Aegis' driver instead of Rex, who simply becomes another party member.

** A common AU is "bloodswap," where the blood colors of the trolls are swapped so they have different societal roles as per the FantasticCasteSystem. There's even a blog dedicated to giving advice on accurately making bloodswap [=AUs=].
** A similar concept is "kidswap," where the upbringings for the kids are swapped, either putting them under different guardians or swapping the roles of the guardians as well. In these fics, the kids will swap surnames to indicate their new upbringing, such as Dave Strider and John Egbert swapping to become Dave Egbert and John Strider.

** "Music/AlternateRealities" is about how the other members of the Mane 6 would rule Equestria if they were the Princess of Friendship instead of Twilight.

** ''WebComic/TagTeamAU'' plays with this trope. Luz, having ended up in the Demon Realm 7 years before she did in canon, is adopted by Belos, effectively swapping her role with Hunter's, even to the point of her becoming the Golden Guard. At the same time, Hunter is still the Golden Guard, and Luz is considered his sister and partner. He eventually goes to learn about humanity and wild magic from Eda (at Luz' request), effectively taking Luz' role in the original story.

-->-- '''Vergil''', ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', regarding '''Dante'''.

* ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'': ''Sugary Spire'' is a fangame where Peppino (now named Pizzano) and The Noise (now named Pizzelle) are swapped; and the game is themed around sweets instead of pizza.

*** After some {{Foreshadowing}}, it's revealed [[spoiler:that Natalie is the weilder of the Butterfly Miraculous in place of Gabriel]]. It's also revealed that [[spoiler:Gabriel's wife Emilie]] had used the Butterfly Miraculous before.

** In ''Webcomic/WitchesAmongHumans'', the entire setting of the webcomic is established as a complete inversion of its parent series. While ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' is about a human that stumbles in a demon-infested MagicalLand, ''Witches Among Humans'' is about a witch (Luz) that gets lost in the human world.

* ''Fanfic/CatRa'' is a ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' fanfic that has Catra finding the Sword of Protection and joining the Rebellion while Adora stays with the Horde.

** ''Fanfic/OpalSapphireRubyAndSteven'' is a fanfic where Opal (Pearl and Amethyst) is the Crystal Gem's permament fusion and leader in place of Garnet, while Ruby and Sapphire remain separate Gems. Later in the story, [[spoiler:Peridot is the one to fuse with Lapis and gets imprisoned, while Jasper ends befriending Steven and becomes an AloofAlly to the Crystal Gems]].

*** The series ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/3887674 Velvet Siblings]]'' swaps the roles of the Velvet Room guests and their attendants: the first story ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/52296247 Your Smile]]'', based on ''VideoGame/Persona3'', focuses on Elizabeth and Theodore Shelley with Minato and Kotone as their attendants, while setting up their sisters Margaret and Lavenza to fill the protagonist roles future stories. [[spoiler:The story also swaps Aigis and Ryoji, making the former the messenger of Nyx and the latter a robot working for SEES. [[InSpiteOfANail However]], Nyx is still sealed inside Minato, who is still forced to sacrifice himself while Elizabeth survives.]] ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/52566958 Our Truth]]'' swaps Margaret with Yu in the events of ''VideoGame/Persona4'' and the ''[[VideoGame/Persona4Arena Arena]]'' [[VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax games]].

*** The series ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/3887674 Velvet Siblings]]'' swaps the roles of the Velvet Room guests and their attendants: the first story ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/52296247 Your Smile]]'', based on ''VideoGame/Persona3'', focuses on Elizabeth and Theodore with Minato and Kotone as their attendants, while setting up Margaret and Lavenza to fill the protagonist roles in possible future stories. [[spoiler:The story also swaps Aigis and Ryoji, making the former the messenger of Nyx and the latter a robot working for SEES. [[InSpiteOfANail However]], Nyx is still sealed inside Minato, who is still forced to sacrifice himself while Elizabeth survives.]]

*** The series ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/3887674 Velvet Siblings]]'' swaps the roles of the Velvet Room guests and their attendants: the first story ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/52296247 Your Smile]]'', based on ''VideoGame/Persona3'', focuses on Elizabeth and Theodore with Minato and Kotone as their attendants, while setting up Margaret and Lavenza to fill the protagonist roles in future stories. [[spoiler:The story also swaps Aigis and Ryoji, making the former the messenger of Nyx and the latter a robot working for SEES. [[InSpiteOfANail However]], Nyx is still sealed inside Minato, who is still forced to sacrifice himself while Elizabeth survives.]]

*** The series ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/series/3887674 Velvet Siblings]]'' swaps the roles of the Velvet Room guests and their attendants: the first story ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/52296247 Your Smile]]'', based on ''VideoGame/Persona3'', focuses on Elizabeth and Theodore with Minato and Kotone as their attendants, while setting up Margaret and Lavenza to fill the protagonist roles in later stories.

** ''Overall Series'': ''Fanfic/BeyondTheMirror'' is a fanfic that uses this for a part of the story's basis. The overall concept for this story is that the swap occurs between the Personas and their Users with the three protagonists being the humanized selves of Orpheus, Izanagi, and Arsène as a result of this swap.

** ''Fanfic/RainboomsAndRoyalty'' follows the premise that [[ForWantOfANail Princess Celestia chose to follow Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom rather than Twilight Sparkle's magic surge]] during the event that resulted in all the Mane 6 getting their Cutie Marks, resulting in Rainbow becoming Celestia's student rather than Twilight.

* The [[https://hrodvitnon.tumblr.com/tagged/graham%20lives%21%20%2ASTOMP%20STOMP%2A/chrono "Graham Lives" AU]] on ''Fanfic/{{Abraxas|Hrodvitnon}}'' author Hrodvitnon's Tumblr is a version of ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' and the wider Franchise/MonsterVerse where Ghidorah killed Mark Russell instead of Vivienne Graham in Antarctica. The basic plots of ''King of the Monsters'' and ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' largely play out the same, with Vivienne becoming Madison Russell's legal guardian after both her parents are dead, although Vivienne is in some ways even more furious at Emma Russell's betrayal and is much more emotional over Serizawa's HeroicSacrifice than Mark was in her shoes, as well as being much more of a ReasonableAuthorityFigure with a better relationship with Madison than Mark as a Monarch director was. Other possible ripple effects that were discussed by the author with others include; Vivienne being too slow to save the G-Team and the Isla de Mara evacuees, Monarch instead of Alan Jonah gaining custody of Ghidorah's severed left head, and Vivienne confronting Apex Cybernetics with Walter Simmons attempting to assassinate her.

* The ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/OwlsHellThatEndsWell'' sees Octavia being adopted and raised by Blitzo from a young age, while her original father Stolas takes Blitzo's place of adopting and raising Loona. This is the result of a seven-year-old Octavia being kidnapped from Stolas and Stella's home by an insane imp with links to a magically-powerful conspiracy before she escaped and was found by Blitzo, having been gaslit before her escape and by other factors into believing Stolas and Stella had cleaned their hands of her; while Loona was taken in by a bereaved Stolas when the latter was scouting the hellhound orphanage for future bodyguards, and he came to accept her as a daughter as his presence helped him through his grief over losing Octavia.

* The ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/OwlsHellThatEndsWell'' sees Octavia being adopted and raised by Blitzo from a young age, while her original father Stolas adopts and raises Loona in Blitzo's place. This is the result of a seven-year-old Octavia being kidnapped from Stolas and Stella's home by an insane imp with links to a magically-powerful conspiracy before she escaped and was found by Blitzo, having been gaslit before her escape and by other factors into believing Stolas and Stella had cleaned their hands of her; while Loona was taken in by a bereaved Stolas when the latter was scouting the hellhound orphanage for future bodyguards, and he came to accept her as a daughter as his presence helped him through his grief over losing Octavia.