History Main / TransplantedCharacterFic

* ''{{Touhou}}'' doujin. An example: a doujin that takes place in normal world, the main character is Youmu, and she is doing some errand for her landlady(?) Yuyuko. In doing so, she meets a lot of Touhou characters doing normal things that normal people do. For example, Eirin is running a drug store. The doujin would have made a very poignant philosophical discourse about the impermanent nature of everything. (In Japanese, they call this ''mono no aware''.)

** A similar problem is omnipresent to a certain degree in ''{{Digimon}}'', ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'', and ''{{Bakugan}}''.

* Pretty much any fic with ''FireEmblem'''s Marth turns him into a PossessionSue due to the Fangirl author not playing Shadow Dragon [[DidNotDoTheResearch or even doing any research]].

* CartoonNetwork's AdultSwim late night "adult" programming block has a few shows wherein the entire premise is the as-blatant-as-possible application of this trope to the original source material, usually utterly forgettable and short-lived HannaBarbera cartoon shows from the AnimationAgeGhetto:

See also FusionFic, FilmFic

* There's at least one fanfic out there that replaces the entire cast of ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'' with ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' characters.
** Or just Naruto himself taking over a random series usually with the [[TenchiSolution all girls falling for him]]

This is a fic in which the setting and premise of the original are changed completely, and so only the characters are the same. Sometimes it can lead to an effect like an original fic with the characters from another story pasted in.

* There's at least one fanfic out there that replaces the entire cast of ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'' with ''{{Naruto}}'' characters.

** Although, some human AU fics do qualify as victims of this trope. [[http://disney-hetalia.deviantart.com/gallery/24410267#/d53sqr3 Birdie and the Beast]], a Prussia/Canada BeautyAndTheBeast FilmFic, is basically a transcript of the movie with the names swapped and changed details, along with the [[RonTheDeathEater changing]] of Denmark to be Gaston.
* There are several AU ''ToyStory'' fics that depict the toys as humans. Quite a few of them feature these characters as ''[[HighSchoolAU high school students.]]''
* While ''Fanfic/TheReturn'' is very well written and interesting, it has almost nothing whatsoever to do with its ostensible sources, RanmaOneHalf and SailorMoon. The Ranma elements suffer from changed setting and skillset, and all the characters' personalities being utterly destroyed and transformed into something [[BlueAndOrangeMorality other]] ''in-story'', while the Sailor Moon characters come out with personalities and abilities more or less intact, but story tone so dark as to make it almost unrecognizable.
* Similarly, ''Fanfic/OnAClearDayYouCanSeeForever'' is a great story, but Ranma's been drastically changed by having almost literally been through hell, and the 'parallel' universe that the SailorMoon characters are from is a dark UrbanFantasy complete with gods, mages, vampires, werewolves, and airships, with only lingering archetypal resemblances to the source material.
* ''FinalFantasyVIII [[FinalFantasyVIIITheAltimateRewrite The Altimate Rewrite]]'' is not so much an attempt at passing an original story off as a fanfic as it is the writer's attempt to improve on the original by making extensive changes to just about every element of the game's setting, characters, and plot. The result is, in any case, very far removed from its source material.
* The ''{{Homestuck}}'' fandom has spun off all sorts of bizarre AUs with little resemblance to the original other than the names and descriptions of characters. [[HighSchoolAU High school]], [[FilmNoir noir]], [[BedlamHouse asylum]], [[FanFic/TrollCops cop drama]], you name it.

It's very tempting to some newer writers to create an original story, insert known characters into it, and pass it off as some kind of AlternateUniverseFic. Most of the premise is dropped, and ''if'' the characters still act in a familiar way, all we have is their names to prove who they are.

When not seen as outright gutting, this is a different and often less accepted beast than GenreShift, resulting in a comedy [[RecycledINSPACE suddenly set]] in a SciFi setting, or [[HighSchoolAU an action series having its character shoved into a high school drama.]] The latter is pretty common, especially in {{Shipping}} FanFic, and almost universally bad. Also a way writers get the NonActionGuy together with the ActionGirl. Those pesky powers and confidence that comes with them interfere.

** In one fic, Harry wasn't just extremely OOC, but also got a complete makeover and a new name. All canon magic was soon forgotten in favour of spells invented by the author (which didn't really fit into the canon world). The only other canon character in thet fic was Draco Malfoy, who had also been given a new name and appearance.

* The [[RougeAnglesOfSatin Grammatically-broken]] (and [[MissingEpisode lost]]) ''Warhammer 40000 Trouble'', when the author suddenly turn your UnluckyEverydude ChickMagnet into a scheming MagnificentBastard that also ProperlyParanoid, [[XMeetsY then adding]] ''{{WarHammer40000}}'' [[{{Anvilicious}} just to cement]] [[SenselessSacrifice his point]]. The catch? Considering [[ShotgunWedding HOW The Harem story]] [[MagneticGirlfriend started]]...{{Deconstruction}} ensues. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Oh]], and his BromanticFoil is [[GenreSavvy a Hardcore fan of W40K]], GenreShift to a whole level...
* One example is the ''[[http://www.lop.shoesforindustry.net/ Lust Over Pendle]]'' series of ''HarryPotter'' fanfiction by A.J. Hall, a series of suspense/mystery novels using [[DracoInLeatherPants Draco]] and Neville as a [[SlashFic couple]] solving mysteries, effectively turning them into the {{Hardy Boys}}. Magic is hardly mentioned at all, everyone constantly interacts with {{Muggles}} and one climax features a "magical" nuclear device that doesn't seem very magical at all. In other words, if you changed the name and dropped what little premise of magic actually included in the story, you'd have a pretty good original novel. With the premise sticking halfway to it, readers keep on forgetting that this is supposed to be a HarryPotter fanfiction even ''with'' the names used.

* A lot of ''{{Redwall}}'' fic is original furry fiction put on the fanfic sites to get more reviews. [[FanFic/SoullessShell soulless shell]] is a prime example, with the only connection to the Redwall universe being that rats and the other vermin are the evil races. Main character [[GodModeSue Leif]] has the ability to shoot laser beams, teleport and turn into a demon, while no magical powers exist in the Redwall universe.

* Popular series ''{{Kingdom Hearts}}'' gets this very often. Most of the stories on Fanfiction.net's front page for it will usually be ''nothing about the game at all'', with practically every character being in an AlternateUniverse setting, acting little to nothing like themselves...and gay.
* Proof that TropesAreNotBad is ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5661265/1/ Gears And Springs]]'' by superstarultra, a ''{{Suzumiya Haruhi}}'' AU fic in a setting without any supernatural elements or anything to connect it to the source material aside from the character names. Basically, the fic is about a human Yuki who [[GadgeteerGenius builds a sentient, robotic Ryoko]] that [[spoiler:kills all of Yuki's friends in horrible ways, and Yuki herself is DrivenToSuicide.]]

** Or just Naruto himself taking over a random series usually with the [[TenchiSolution all girls falling for him]]

* There are several AU ''{{Toy Story}}'' fics that depict the toys as humans. Quite a few of them feature these characters as ''[[HighSchoolAU high school students.]]''

** ''HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'', using characters from the original ''Birdman'' now employed at a law firm taking on defendants/[[{{Main/Crossover}}guest characters from more famous cartoons of the same time period]]. Puts new meaning to the phrase LawyerFriendlyCameo.

** ''StarTrekEnterprise'' was ''going'' to work the Kzinti into the Trek-verse proper but [[WhatCouldHaveBeen season five never happened.]]

* The ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode ''Sub Rosa'' was initially pitched by a freelance writer, later developed into a story credit by Jeri Taylor and a teleplay by Brannon Braga. Many felt the final product was basically the Anne Rice novel ''The Witching Hour'' - only with Doctor Crusher and a TechnoBabble "ghost." [[WordOfGod Taylor]] denied Rice's novel as the inspiration, instead saying they were simply doing an homage to ''The Innocents'' movie and utilizing various gothic tropes.
* Much like "The Slaver Weapon" example below, the ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Catspaw" was loosely based on the writer RobertBloch's earlier unrelated short story "Broomstick Ride" (though with a different ending).

* LarryNiven's ''StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Slaver Weapon" was actually another story of his, "The Soft Weapon", Trekified.

* The ''{{Homestuck}}'' fandom has spun off all sorts of bizarre AUs with little resemblance to the original other than the names and descriptions of characters. [[HighSchoolAU High school]], noir, asylum, [[FanFic/TrollCops cop drama]], you name it.

* The ''{{Homestuck}}'' fandom has spun off all sorts of bizarre AUs with little resemblance to the original other than the names and descriptions of characters. [[HighSchoolAU High school]], noir, [[FanFic/TrollCops cop drama]], you name it.

* Proof that TropesAreNotBad is ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5661265/1/ Gears And Springs]]'' by superstarultra, a ''{{Suzumiya Haruhi}}'' AU fic in a setting without any supernatural elements or anything to connect it to the source material aside from the character names. Basically, the fic is about a human Yuki who [[GadgeteerGenius builds a sentient, robotic Ryoko]] that [[spoiler:kills all of Yuki's friends in horrible ways, and Yuki herself is DrivenToSuicide.]] And it's ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel chilling]]''.

* The {{Homestuck}} fandom has spun off all sorts of bizarre AUs with little resemblance to the original other than the names and descriptions of characters. High school, noir, cop drama, you name it.
* The entire 'uberfic' movement within the Xena fandom quite often (but not always) even did away with the ''names'' of the canon characters, and simply wrote original fiction with characters who archetypally resembled Xena and Gabrielle. Many of these stories ''did'' go on to be published as small-press fiction. If you encounter a lesbian romance that features a strong dark-haired woman with a painful past and an innocent blonde who believes in helping others and has had an unsatisfying relationship with an ex-or-dead husband, you've probably found an Uber.

* A vast, '''''vast''''' majority of ''GundamWing'' fanfiction consists of taking the Gundam Pilots and plopping them into a completely different setting just to facilitate them [[YaoiGuys getting hot and heavy with each other]]. The number of fics actually dealing with the plot and events of the series, let alone set in the After Colony universe, is a definite minority. DieForOurShip, AntiShippingGoggles, and {{Wimpification}} take care of most of the rest of the canon.

* There's at least one fanfic out there that replaces the entire cast of ''AiYoriAoshi'' with ''{{Naruto}}'' characters.
* In ''AxisPowersHetalia'' fandom, the fics that fall into this trope the most frequently are...''not'' the human AU ones, the majority of which actually at least try to keep the characters IC and their relationships reminiscent of their canon ones, even in HighSchoolAU (which was actually originated by ''the author himself''!). No, the fics that most often invoke this trope are the ones that ''do'' keep the "characters are {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of nations" premise...but completely rewrite the characters' personalities (often [[RonTheDeathEater for the worse]]) for the sake of "historical accuracy" (i.e. "fitting the fanwriters' own ideas about history, even if they directly contradict established APH canon" or even "using [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade 'history']] as an excuse to make a character DieForOurShip or become RonTheDeathEater"), to the point where the characters are essentially national {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s that were created by someone other than the series' author.

It's very tempting to some newer writers to create an original story, insert known characters into it, and pass it off as FanFic. Most of the premise is dropped, and ''if'' the characters still act in a familiar way, all we have is their names to prove who they are.