History Main / SerialNumbersFiledOff

'''No examples, please.''' This only defines a fandom term.

->''"It isn't 'like' VideoGame/SystemShock2. It '''is''' ''System Shock 2''"''

->''"It isn't 'like' ''VideoGame/SystemShock2''. It '''is''' ''System Shock 2''"''

Fanfic writers will sometimes convert their fanfics into original properties as an AscendedFanfic. In the event that the original fanfic is available, you can actually directly see which character was filed off into which character by comparing the orginal fanfic with the new work.

Creator/RobertAHeinlein used this exact term in his book "Glory Road": ''That's the way with writers; they'll steal anything, file off the serial numbers, and claim it for their own.''

-->-- ''WebVideo/ZeroPunctuation'' reviewing ''VideoGame/BioShock1''

When a attempt to FollowTheLeader seems to be almost ''exactly'' like the leader, but with cosmetic identifiers (the "serial numbers") changed. The blatant copying of characters and plot is on a level that would make even makers of TheMockbuster blush. (Although that [[SincerestFormOfFlattery needn't mean the quality is bad....]])

When a FollowTheLeader seems to be almost ''exactly'' like the leader, but with cosmetic identifiers (the "serial numbers") changed. The blatant copying of characters and plot is on a level that would make even makers of TheMockbuster blush. (Although that [[SincerestFormOfFlattery needn't mean the quality is bad....]])

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%% No examples please. This only defines a fandom term.
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->"It isn't "like" ''VideoGame/SystemShock2''. It '''is''' ''System Shock 2''."
-->--''WebVideo/ZeroPunctuation'' reveiwing ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}''

->"''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'' isn't "like" ''VideoGame/SystemShock2''. It '''is''' ''System Shock 2''."
-->--''WebVideo/ZeroPunctuation''

->''"File off the serial numbers, change the body lines a bit. give it a new paint job, switch it over the state line, and it's yours!- that's the secret of literary success. Editors always claim to be looking for new stories but they don't buy them; they buy 'mixture as before.'"\\
--'''Richard Campbell''' in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TheCatWhoWalksThroughWalls''

[[caption-width-right:350:No, ''Chik'N Bash'' is ''[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial not]]'' an ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' ripoff.\\

[[caption-width-right:350:No, ''Chik'N Bash'' is [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial ''not'']] an ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' ripoff.\\

Contrast DolledUpInstallment, InNameOnly (both are when a work seems to have the serial numbers of another work scribbled on), ShoddyKnockoffProduct (a ripoff that seeks to look like a work, but is a very poor copy) LawyerFriendlyCameo (when shown as part of a work of fiction).

[[caption-width-right:350:No, ''Chik'N Bash'' is ''not'' an ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' ripoff.\\

->''"File off the serial numbers, change the body lines a bit. give it a new paint job, switch it over the state line, and it's yours!- that's the secret of literary success. Editors always claim to be looking for new stories but they don't buy them; they buy 'mixture as before.' Because the cash customers want to be entertained, not amazed, not instructed, not frightened."''
-->--'''Richard Campbell''' in Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TheCatWhoWalksThroughWalls''

Contrast DolledUpInstallment, InNameOnly (both are when a work seems to have the serial numbers of another work scribbled on), ShoddyKnockoffProduct (a ripoff that seeks to look like a work, but is a very poor copy) and, when shown as part of a work of fiction, LawyerFriendlyCameo.

Contrast DolledUpInstallment, InNameOnly (both are when a work seems to have the serial numbers of another work scribbled on), ShoddyKnockoffProduct (a ripoff that seeks to look like a work, but is a very poor copy).

[[caption-width-right:350:[[SerialEscalation Not pictured]], ''Crush The Castle'', the game VideoGame/AngryBirds is in and of itself is a rip-off of.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:No, ''Chik'N Bash'' is ''not'' an ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' ripoff.\\
Pink pigs. Chickens. See? ''Totally'' original.]]

Fanfic writers will sometimes convert their fanfics into original properties as an AscendedFanfic. In the event that the original fanfic is available, you can actually directly see which character was filed off into which character by comparing the orginal fanfic with the new work.

%%No examples please. This only defines a fandom term.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/ChickNBash http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chicknbash_4767.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:What? ''Chick'N Bash'' is an ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' ripoff? No, see, there's a chicken and the pigs are pink instead of green. It's ''completely'' different.]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chicknbash_4767.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:What? Chick'N Bash is an ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' ripoff? No, see, there's a chicken and the pigs are pink instead of green. It's ''completely'' different.]]

When a FollowTheLeader seems to be almost exactly like the leader, just with "the SerialNumbersFiledOff". The blatant copying of characters and plot is on a level that would make even makers of TheMockbuster blush. Although that need not mean the quality is bad.

Sometimes this can be by the very creators of the source work, perhaps as a form of applying CaptainErsatz to an entire series. See AlternateCompanyEquivalent.

Named because some stolen goods (particularly firearms) would have the serial numbers filed off to make them untraceable.