History Main / SameStoryDifferentNames

An author makes a big hit. Then he proceeds to write more stories with essentially the same plot as their first hit.

* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. Every incarnation has a [[KidHero group of kids]] (except ''Savers'') getting TrappedInAnotherWorld (except ''Zero Two'', ''Tamers'' and ''Savers''), where strange beings called Digital Monsters live. They find out [[TheChosenOne they're supposed to save that world from evil monsters]] and that the events taking place there have [[SaveBothWorlds some kind of connection to the real world]].

* The ''Anime/SaintSeiya'' tends to recycle its own stories with the same formulas over and over again, specially in the mangas written by its original author, Masami Kurumada. He also tends to respeat over and over a similar formula in his other mangas. His formulatic and fast paced pattern became well known in Shonen Jump publication as the ''Kurumada style'' and it's considered a classic in oldschool mangas.

* Creator/TylerPerry receives a lot of criticism for this. His movies usually have a black woman in an abusive relationship (or who was in one) who is a single mom. She will meet a nice working class man, and hate him at first because of that, but they will grow to like each other. Meanwhile, somebody will have a problem with their baby mama, somebody will be on drugs, Madea will discipline some children and there will be some incest involved. But at the end, there will be a church scene where everyone finds Jesus and all is well. His first movie, ''Film/DiaryOfAMadBlackWoman'', actually received decent reviews, but his later movies [[CriticalDissonance have been poorly received by critics but made quite a bit of money.]]

* Creator/GordonKorman made his name with ''This Can't Be Happening at Literature/MacdonaldHall!'' featuring the crazy Bruno Walton and his OnlySaneMan roommate, Boots O'Neill. In addition to writing several sequels to the book, he also wrote several other "Crazy Awesome Guy and his Only Sane Man best friend get up to CrazyEnoughToWork schemes" books before eventually branching out. Such as:
** ''I Want to Go Home'' = summer camp version.

** ''Our Man Weston'' = with twins.
** ''Don't Care High'' = A Bruno and Boots-esque team at the world's most apathetic high school.
** ''A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag'' = this time, the Bruno Expy has the world's worst luck and is trying to finagle a trip to the world's luckiest island.
** Of course, some of his books he wrote in junior/senior high, which is a bit of an excuse.
* Almost all of the fantasy novels by Creator/LEModesittJr, and even some of his science fiction novels, feel like the same story [[WorldBuilding with a different coat of paint]]. Luckily for him, it's still a pretty good story (and it's [[WorldBuilding really nice paint]]).

* Most of Brian Jacques' ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' plots are ''very'' similar. Redwall's in trouble. A hero carries Martin's legendary sword and kicks ass. FamilyUnfriendlyViolence occurs. [[SacrificialLion Someone important]] (or not important, but [[SacrificialLamb very kind or innocent]]) dies. More FamilyUnfriendlyViolence. The BigBad gets a daily dosage of LaserGuidedKarma and dies. Redwall is saved. The end. All interspersed with lots of FoodPorn.

* The developer Creator/{{Psikyo}} was infamous for rigidly adhering to the formula set by the first ''VideoGame/AeroFighters'' for the entirety of its 90s shmups output: nearly all of their game were vertically-oriented shmups with 7 or 8 stages and a [[NewGamePlus second loop]]. The first three or four stages are played in a random order. Stages are short. Most bosses have two phase, usually going from a vehicle or battletation to a more humanoid or animalistic mecha... etc. While the games added at least one mechanic or changed the specific of how the random stage ordering or ChargedAttack works, the games were so interchangeable that until the company started making 3D games, all of their shmups shared the same bullets, powerups/bombs sprites and Continue? screen graphics.

* The developer Creator/{{Psikyo}} was infamous for rigidly adhering to the formula set by the first ''VideoGame/AeroFighters'' for the entirety of its 90s shmups output: nearly all of their game were vertically-oriented shmups with 7 or 8 stages and a [[NewGamePlus second loop]]. The first three or four stages are played in a random order. Stages are short. Most bosses have two phase, usually going from a vehicle or battletation to a more humanoid or animalistic mecha... etc. While the games added at least one mechanic or changed the specific of how the random stage ordering or ChargeAttack works, the games were so interchangeable that until the company started making 3D games, all of their shmups shared the same bullets, powerups/bombs sprites and Continue? screen graphics.

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''. Almost all of his 2D games have the same plot: the princess has been kidnapped. Cross a bunch of levels to reach Bowser's castle and save her. Sometimes, this is introduced as a plot twist (in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', you're saving {{Baleful Polymorph}}ed kings and the princess is safe at home until the final world).

* Creator/DeanKoontz novels, especially the ones from the 80's and 90's, will have a highly competent, good hero who is slightly depressed and withdrawn because of bad experiences in his past, who in the course of the plot will meet a woman who is either very confident and outgoing or extremely shy and sheltered but who also has enormous inner strength, they're always both very Christian and end up in a relationship. The villain is usually a pure evil monster with a scientific explanation, or a human man who believes himself to be a new god or somehow superior to the rest of the world. Then there's a choice of cute kid, noble (or actually magical) handicapped person, or cute, noble, highly intelligent dog (always a lab or golden retriever), or some combination of the above.

* The developer Creator/{{Psikyo}} was infamous for rigidly adhering to the formula set by the first ''VideoGame/AeroFighters'' for the entirety of its 90's shmups output: nearly all of their game were vertically-oriented shmups with 7 or 8 stages and a [[NewGamePlus second loop]]. The first three or four stages are played in a random order. Stages are short. Most bosses have two phase, usually going from a vehicle or battletation to a more humanoid or animalistic mecha... etc. While the games added at least one mechanic or changed the specific of how the random stage ordering or ChargeAttack works, the games were so interchangeable that until the company started making 3D games, all of their shmups shared the same bullets, powerups/bombs sprites and Continue? screen graphics.

Compare SpiritualSuccessor, which continues on the same themes without rehashing the story. See also {{Expy}}, StrictlyFormula, RecycledPremise, and RecycledScript. Also see BetterByADifferentName and its more vitriolic sibling TheyCopiedItSoItSucks, both of which are about people thinking a creator has done this to someone else's work.

* The ''Franchise/{{Tarzan}}'' film series and the ''ComicStrip/JungleJim'' film series are the same story: a white NatureHero lives in the jungle. It wasn't helped by the fact that Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller starred in both of them.

* In every main series ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' game there's this [[KidHero kid]] who just got their first Pokémon. They go traveling around the world and [[ToBeAMaster eventually becomes Pokémon Champion]]. They somehow manage to get in issues with Team Rocket/Magma/Aqua/Galactic/Plasma/whatever and foil Giovanni/Archer/Maxie/Archie/[[spoiler:Cyrus]]/[[spoiler:N]]/[[spoiler:Ghetsis]]/whoever's evil plans.

* Creator/GordonKorman made his name with ''This Can't Be Happening at Literature/MacdonaldHall!'' featuring CrazyAwesome Bruno Walton and his OnlySaneMan roommate, Boots O'Neill. In addition to writing several sequels to the book, he also wrote several other "Crazy Awesome Guy and his Only Sane Man best friend get up to CrazyEnoughToWork schemes" books before eventually branching out. Such as:

* Creator/TylerPerry receives a lot of criticism for this -- just look at his page quote. His movies usually have a black woman in an abusive relationship (or who was in one) who is a single mom. She will meet a nice working class man, and hate him at first because of that, but they will grow to like each other. Meanwhile, somebody will have a problem with their baby mama, somebody will be on drugs, Madea will discipline some children and there will be some incest involved. But at the end, there will be a church scene where everyone finds Jesus and all is well. His first movie, ''Film/DiaryOfAMadBlackWoman'', actually received decent reviews, but his later movies [[CriticalDissonance have been poorly received by critics but made quite a bit of money.]]

* The ''Anime/SaintSeiya'' tends to recycle it's own stories with the same formulas over and over again, specially in the mangas written by it's original author, Masami Kurumada.
** Masami Kuramada also tends to respeat over and over a similar formula in his different mangas. His formulatic and fast paced pattern became well known in Shonen Jump publication as the ''Kurumada style'' and it's considered a classic in oldschool mangas.

** Masami Kuramada also tends to respeat over and over a similar formula in his different mangas. His formulatic pattern became well known in Shonen Jump publication as the ''Kurumada style'' and it's considered a classic in oldschool mangas.

* Francise/{{Tarzan}} and ComicStrip/JungleJim are the same story: a white NatureHero lives in the jungle. It wasn't helped by the fact that Creator/JohnnyWeissmuller starred in both of them.

* Almost all of the fantasy novels by L.E. Modesitt Jr., and even some of his science fiction novels, feel like the same story [[WorldBuilding with a different coat of paint]]. Luckily for him, it's still a pretty good story (and it's [[WorldBuilding really nice paint]]).

* Most of David Gemmels books feature an old hero who becomes a mentor to a young hero, a fiery damsel who is rarely in distress, a magical order, and a hopeless battle.

* Quite a number of Creator/RaymondFeist's books follow the plotline of (1) one or two misfit boys get in trouble, (2) they randomly come across the ongoing battle against that evil wizard who keeps reincarnating throughout the series, (3) they get recruited by the shadow council, a group of powerful magicians, (4) they end up in a magical resort where EverybodyHasLotsOfSex, (4) the powerful magicians oppose the evil wizard, (5) the misfit boy(s), despite being way out of their league, happen to influence a key event causing victory, and (6) evil wizard escapes again.

* ''Film/EscapeFromLA'' is an act-for-act rehash of the first film, ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''.
** The plot is motivated by a government official in a position of power (the President in 1997, TheFundamentalist President's daughter in 2013) being involved in a hijacking on Air Force One[=/=]Three. They use an EscapePod to launch themselves into an isolated island while carrying a briefcase with a MacGuffin (a cassette holding the secret to nuclear fusion[=/=]the arming device for a global superweapon).
** Snake Plissken is arrested for past crimes and offered a choice between entering the isolated prison to rescue the VIP, or facing execution.
** Snake accepts the job and is given an ExactTimeToFailure in the form of an injection that will kill him if he doesn't complete his mission in time. He is also presented with his gear by the government officials and is presented with a wristwatch that can track his location and display how much time he has left to complete his mission.
** Snake is provided a high-tech, stealth way to enter the prison, complete with fancy 3D rendered entry. He manages to avoid some major obstacles along the way.
** Snake finds that the VIP's tracking device has been compromised and he must seek help to find the VIP.
** Snake sits on a chair to take a break and think about what to do next, only for someone to catch his attention.
** Snake encounters a sympathetic female character who's down on her luck and wants Snake to protect her and help her escape the prison. She is killed soon after their meeting in a pointless death to show how bleak the world within the prison is.
** Snake learns that the person who can help him is A) Someone he knew from his criminal days who B) screwed him over, and who C) insists on going by a different name or identity.
** Snake is captured by the BigBad while attempting to rescue the VIP and is forced to engage in a BloodSport game for his life.
** Snake wins the game against all odds, and manages to escape with his posse. In the process, most of his posse (with the exception of the VIP) is killed, while the villain is surprisingly shot down by a previously-meek character.
** Snake is pardoned for his crimes, but decides to double-cross the BigBad at the last moment via a StolenMacGuffinReveal. The President and his forces are left unsure of what to next as Snake walks off into an uncertain future...
* ''Film/TheTwilightSamurai'' and ''Film/TheHiddenBlade'' are both about a poor, extremely humble samurai who just wants to live a simple life. At the same time as he falls in love, he gets dragged into the violent world of politics against his will due to a rare technique of swordsmanship he possesses. Ultimately he uses his technique to escape from his predicament and gets married. Both films are written and directed by Yoji Yamada.
* Writer/director Kurt Wimmer admitted to rehashing many of the same concepts in ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' from his previous film ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}''. Both are about a [[InvincibleHero superhuman killing machine]] in a future {{dystopia}} who goes against a [[KnightTemplar quasi-religious]], fascist government that is built around fighting something (emotion/virus) that the hero possesses. The hero fights other superhuman enforcers in a number of [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomp Battles]] to reach the #2 man, who turns out to [[spoiler:A: have the same prohibited thing as the hero, B: be the real leader of the government, and C: be the toughest opponent of all.]]
* Two films written and produced by Creator/JohnHughes and directed by Howard Deutch in the late '80s, ''Film/PrettyInPink'' and ''Film/SomeKindOfWonderful'', have essentially the same plot but with most of the genders reversed. A poor teenager (Andie/Keith) has an unrequited crush on a rich classmate (Blaine/Amanda), unaware that her/his quirky platonic best friend (Duckie/Watts) is deeply in love with her/him and facing retribution from said rich kid's evil friend/boyfriend (Steff/Hardy). The difference is that, [[FocusGroupEnding because the test audience didn't like the ending]], in ''Pretty in Pink'' Andie ended up with Blaine; Hughes wrote ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' because he was upset at the ExecutiveMeddling.
* Creator/RogerCorman's ''Film/TheLittleShopOfHorrors'' is essentially Corman's ''Film/ABucketOfBlood'' for botanists instead of artists. It's also a case of Same ''Score'' Different Names; Corman commissioned the score for both movies, and a later movie, ''The Wasp Woman'', from the same guy. The composer, in the finest traditions of simply not caring, just handed over the score he wrote for ''Film/ABucketOfBlood'' every time.

* In ''Film/SingingInTheRain'', Cosmo suggests to Don Lockwood that they take the film they'd already celebrated, and simply slap a new name on it. It reminds Lockwood of something Kathy had said just earlier.

* ''Literature/JulianComstock'' and ''Literature/{{Spin}}''.

* Creator/AgathaChristie sometimes did this in short stories.
** The plot of "The Market Basing Mystery" (1923) was used to create its novella length DistaffCounterpart "Murder in the Mews" (1937).
** The short story "The Plymouth Express" (1923) was expanded and reworked into the novel ''The Mystery of the Blue Train'' (1928) with a change of killer and motive. (Ironically, both the short story and the novel were adapted into episodes in ''Agatha Christie's Series/{{Poirot}}''.)
** "The Submarine Plans" (1924) was expanded to create "The Incredible Theft" (1937).
** The plot of "The Kidnapped Prime Minister" (1924) was reused in "The Girdle of Hippolyta" (1939), with the victim changed from a male politician to a young schoolgirl and a corresponding change of motive.
** The central plot device of the [[Literature/TheMysteriousMrQuin Harley Quin]] short story "The Sign in the Sky" (1925) is also the key device in the Literature/HerculePoirot novel ''Taken at the Flood'' (1948).
** The plot of the Literature/MissMarple short story "The Blue Geranium" (1929), part of ''Literature/TheThirteenProblems'', was reused in the Hercule Poirot short story "The Lernaean Hydra" (1939).
** "The Mystery of the Baghdad Chest" (1932) was expanded to create "The Mystery of the Spanish Chest" (1960).
** The Hercule Poirot short story "Yellow Iris" (1937) was expanded, reworked, and reused as the Colonel Race novel ''Sparkling Cyanide'' (1945) with a change of killer and motive.
** The plot of the Miss Marple novel ''The Moving Finger'' (1942) was reused in the Hercule Poirot novel ''The Clocks'' (1963) by replacing the letter with a telephone call and changing the victim from a maid to an office worker. [[spoiler:The anonymous letter plot was replaced with a mystery / espionage plot for ''The Clocks'']].
** In ''Cards on the Table'', [[AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver]] is asked if she has ever reused a plot, and Poirot instantly mentions "The Lotus Murder" and "The Clue of the Candle-Wax" - which from the descriptions are her versions of ''Murder on the Links'' and "The Adventure of the Submarine Plans"/"The Incredible Theft".

* Ken Follett is prone to this.
** ''Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth'' and ''Literature/WorldWithoutEnd'' both take place in the same fictional priory in medieval England, in the 12th and 14th centuries respectively. They are both about a genius architect whose building project and love life are constantly threatened by conservative townsfolk, the church, politics, and petty rivalries. In both, the female lead and the architect's lover is a strangely liberated woman who is awfully assertive and independent for the middle ages. Both feature as an antagonist an evil rapist knight. Both turn on a closely guarded secret about the royal family (the sinking of the "White Ship" and death of Henry the Young King in the first, the murder of Edward II in the second). Both have the female lead traveling to the site of a great battle (Lincoln in the first, Crecy in the 2nd) to ask a boon of the king; both have the evil knight fighting in that battle.
** And his novels ''The Eye of the Needle'' and ''The Key to Rebecca'' both feature elite German spies who have information that could turn the war in the favour of the Axis. Both are are handy with hidden blades.

* [[Creator/KarelCapek Karel Čapek]] did this with his play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}'' and the novel ''Literature/WarWithTheNewts''. The major difference was that in the one case, the RobotRebellion involved actual robots (well, sort of...) and in the other case, involved a strange race of sentient newts that were [[SlaveRace enslaved/treated like robots]]. Because of the different media, though, both works stand pretty well on their own (though R.U.R. is far more famous, if only because it [[TropeNamer originated the term "robot"]]).
* Vivian Vande Velde's ''Dragon Bait'' and ''Companions of the Night'' tell virtually the same story: a teenage female protagonist with a MissingMom suffers a false accusation due to coincidental circumstances, and subsequently both her and her father's lives are endangered. Enter a TallDarkAndSnarky ReallySevenHundredYearsOld supernatural male lead who offers to guide the heroine in her quest for vindication. Despite the man's general dangerousness and untrustworthiness, the heroine accepts because she has no one else to turn to, and she quickly finds herself growing attached to him as he leads her around. This culminates in the capture of both the male lead and the heroine by the main villain. The villain is killed in such a way that the heroine is not (fully) responsible. The heroine then saves the male lead from his one weakness - daylight - and the books end on an ambiguously positive note. The difference? The male lead in ''Dragon's Bait'' is [[OurDragonsAreDifferent a dragon]]; in ''Companions of the Night,'' he's a much more marketable vampire.

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': The plot between Gordon and Barbara is very similar to Thomas and Martha Wayne in ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}.

-->-- '''''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation''''' on ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite''

* The ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' movies recycle the plot of whatever arc they are placed in the timeline and sometimes they don't even bother making the villains anything more than {{exp|y}}ies (Janemba to Buu etc). For example, ''Bojack Unbound'' is just a recycled Cell Games with Gohan beating Bojack in the exact same way he defeated Cell (going SSJ 2 and receiving moral support from the afterlife by Goku), ''Fusion Reborn'' is about the MadeOfEvil demon ''Janemba'' (instead of Majin Buu) being clobbered by the fusion ''Gogeta'' (instead of Vegetto). Even Garlic Jr. is just King Piccolo + Raditz... This practice is lampshaded hard by [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged the abridged version of Lord Slug]], where Lord Slug's plan is compared to King Piccolo's and some of his own minions accidentally call him King Piccolo. Likewise, the abridged versions of Cooler's movies (especially the second one) make a lot of jokes about how he's a copy of Freeza. (As Freeza's ''older'' brother, Cooler doesn't appreciate this.)

* As the ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation'' quote up on top suggests, the ''VideoGame/BioShock'' and ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' games shows elements of this. ''[=BioShock=]'' is quite close to ''System Shock 2'' in particular: [[spoiler:Atlas is Polito, seemingly benevolent VoiceWithAnInternetConnection helping you against the apparent enemy (The Many or Ryan). But then there is a midgame reveal and (Polito or Atlas) is shown to have been using you and to be the BigBad (Fontaine or SHODAN) after all.]] In the beginning, you get yourself out of a plane about to sink or a section about to decompress, visit a truly remarkable place (an underwater Objectivist utopia or humanity's first FTL ship), and spend most of your time there fighting people who have turned into zombies (Splicers or Hybrids). You make use of both weapons and magic (Plasmids or Psionics) while working your way first to one central enemy, [[spoiler: Ryan or The Many]] and then to another [[spoiler: Fontaine or SHODAN]]. On the way to the second enemy, you come across a helpful scientist or her logs (Delacroix or Tenenbaum) in a place that's otherwise devoid of non-hostiles.
** [[spoiler: VideoGame/BioshockInfinite latter established this as an inherent part of the {{Multiverse}} in which the games take place. "There is always a man, a lighthouse and a city" is the description used, one which applies to the Bioshock games and also to the System Shock games if taken a little metaphorically.]]

* The ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' movies recycle the plot of whatever arc they are placed in the timeline and sometimes they don't even bother making the villains anything more than {{exp|y}}ies (Janemba to Buu etc). For example, ''Bojack Unbound'' is just a recycled Cell Games with Gohan beating Bojack in the exact same way he defeated Cell (going SSJ 2 and receiving moral support from the afterlife by Goku), ''Fusion Reborn'' is about the MadeOfEvil demon ''Janemba'' (instead of Majin Buu) being clobbered by the fusion ''Gogeta'' (instead of Vegetto). Even Garlic Jr. is just King Piccolo + Raditz... This practice is lampshaded hard by [[WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged the abridged version of Lord Slug]], where Lord Slug's plan is compared to King Piccolo's.

* The ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series includes the most infamous {{Mission Pack Sequel}}s in Video Game history, especially considering how the second half of the [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic original NES games]] (''Mega Man 1 - 6'') used the exact same plot. While [[ExcusePlot simple and generic]], the first three games had a not-horrible progression of intensity: [[VideoGame/MegaMan Wily betrays Light]], [[VideoGame/MegaMan2 Wily's Revenge]], [[VideoGame/MegaMan3 Wily's False Reform]]. Games 4-6 (and, while we're here, ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'', ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'', and ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'') all involve the apparent BigBad making way for [[HijackedByGanon Wily to steal the endgame]]. 9 at least is honest enough to admit it's Wily behind the scenes upfront.

** In ''Cards on the Table'', [[AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver]] is asked if she's ever reused a plot, and Poirot instantly mentions "The Lotus Murder" and "The Clue of the Candle-Wax" - which from the descriptions are her versions of ''Murder on the Links'' and "The Adventure of the Submarine Plans"/"The Incredible Theft".

* The ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' movies recycle the plot of whatever arc they are placed in the timeline and sometimes they don't even bother making the villains anything more than {{exp|y}}ies (Janemba to Buu etc). For example, ''Bojack Unbound'' is just a recycled Cell Games with Gohan beating Bojack in the exact same way he defeated Cell (going SSJ 2 and receiving moral support from the afterlife by Goku), ''Fusion Reborn'' is about the MadeOfEvil demon ''Janemba'' (instead of Majin Buu) being clobbered by the fusion ''Gogeta'' (instead of Vegetto). Even Garlic Jr. is just King Piccolo + Raditz... This practice is lampshaded hard by [[WebOriginal/DragonBallZAbridged the abridged version of Lord Slug]], where Lord Slug's plan is compared to King Piccolo's.

* The ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' movies recycle the plot of whatever arc they are placed in the timeline and sometimes they don't even bother making the villains anything more than {{exp|y}}ies (Janemba to Buu etc). For example, ''Bojack Unbound'' is just a recycled Cell Games with Gohan beating Bojack in the exact same way he defeated Cell (going SSJ 2 and receiving moral support from the afterlife by Goku), ''Fusion Reborn'' is about the MadeOfEvil demon ''Janemba'' (instead of Majin Buu) being clobbered by the fusion ''Gogeta'' (instead of Vegetto). Even Garlick Jr. is just King Piccolo + Raditz...

* Writer/director Kurt Wimmer admitted to rehashing many of the same concepts in ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' from his previous film ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}''. Both are about a [[BoringInvincibleHero superhuman killing machine]] in a future {{dystopia}} who goes against a [[KnightTemplar quasi-religious]], fascist government that is built around fighting something (emotion/virus) that the hero possesses. The hero fights other superhuman enforcers in a number of [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomp Battles]] to reach the #2 man, who turns out to [[spoiler:A: have the same prohibited thing as the hero, B: be the real leader of the government, and C: be the toughest opponent of all.]]

* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' tells the story of Dr. Eggman discovering a SealedEvilInACan, trying to use it to build his evil empire, and finding out at the end that EvilIsNotAToy. Switch the title and you have the plot of the next half a dozen games in the series across consoles and handhelds.

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

* Creator/VanKootenEnDeBie: Their TV show had several different names over the years, but was always known as ''"Van Kooten en De Bie"'' and essentially the same format: the duo discussed what was in the news that week and then showed sketches or pre-recorded interviews with their characters in between.

* In the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series, ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', and (to a slightly lesser extent) ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' have extremely, extremely similar plots, events and setpieces, with only the names/justification changed (although the similarity between ''[=MGS1=]'' and ''[=MGS2=]'' is lampshaded/deconstructed by the story). ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' have suspiciously similar plots to each other as well, although it's not as clear. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' had its own plot, and, coincidentally or otherwise, it's [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks more often than the others considered by fans to be really incoherent and bad]]; On the other hand, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' had a mixture of plot points from all over the series wrapped in a revenge plot, and the story is considered by some fans to be lacking in narrative focus.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', and (to a slightly lesser extent) ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' have extremely, extremely similar plots, events and setpieces, with only the names/justification changed (although the similarity between ''[=MGS1=]'' and ''[=MGS2=]'' is lampshaded/deconstructed by the story). ''VideoGame/MetalGear'', ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' have suspiciously similar plots to each other as well, although it's not as clear. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' had its own plot, and, coincidentally or otherwise, it's [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks more often than the others considered by fans to be really incoherent and bad]]; On the other hand, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' had a mixture of plot points from all over the series wrapped in a revenge plot, and the story is considered by some fans to be lacking in narrative focus.

* Karel Čapek did this with his play ''Theatre/{{RUR}}'' and the novel ''Literature/WarWithTheNewts''. The major difference was that in the one case, the RobotRebellion involved actual robots (well, sort of...) and in the other case, involved a strange race of sentient newts that were [[SlaveRace enslaved/treated like robots]]. Because of the different media, though, both works stand pretty well on their own (though R.U.R. is far more famous, if only because it [[TropeNamer originated the term "robot"]]).

** In ''Cards on the Table'', [[AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver]] is asked if she's ever reused a plot, and Poirot instantly mentions "The Lotus Murder" and "The Clue of the Candle-Wax" - which from the descriptions are her versions of ''Murder on the Links'' and "The Adventure of the Submarine Plans". (In both cases [[spoiler: one person fakes the crime and another person then steps in and does it for real]].)

** In ''Cards on the Table'', [[AuthorAvatar Ariadne Oliver]] is asked if she's ever reused a plot, and Poirot instantly mentions "The Lotus Murder" and "The Clue of the Candle-Wax" - which from the descriptions are her versions of ''Murder on the Links'' and "The Adventure of the Submarine Plans".