History SailorEarth / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' is an IntercontinuityCrossover bringing together thirty ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' characters from all over the series to fight on behalf of the gods Cosmos and Chaos. ''Dissidia'' and its prequel ''Dissidia 012'' explain these wars occur as a cycle -- when one side loses they get their memories of the battle erased, and are revived to fight again. The two games cover the 12th and 13th cycles, and the 13th one of the last. That leaves Cycles 1-11 unseen, with no real information on who was fighting in them, for which side, and what happened that they didn't make it to future cycles. (The most players ''do'' get to see is a glimpse of an unknown cycle wherein [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Prishe]], a Warrior of Cosmos, [[spoiler:first discovers an {{amnesiac|Hero}} [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior of Light]], gives him a name, and provides him with all sorts of life advice]]. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Her whereabouts are unknown in the present]][[labelnote:*]]a Japan-only Official Quest reveals she vanishes after Garland managed to kill Cosmos in a later cycle, but that's it[[/labelnote]] and [[spoiler:her choice of name for [=WoL=] is unvoiced]].) As a result, it's common for fanfiction to be set in one of those earlier cycles with new characters drawn into the war, and from there you can take the story anywhere you want it to go. ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 NT]]'' put some restrictions on this idea (particularly as many of the new characters featured are either suggested or outright confirmed to be newcomers to the cycle of war), but the core concept remains viable.

** The RPG design of the series means it's very common to see the canon protagonist ([[VideoGame/Fallout1 the Vault Dweller]], [[VideoGame/Fallout3 the Lone Wanderer]], etc) as [=OCs=]. Another common fic premise is to have someone's protag from another game in the series visit a different game's setting (such as [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Courier 6]] deciding to relocate to [[VideoGame/Fallout4 the Commonwealth]]).

* Minor compared to others on this page, but it's not unheard of for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' fans to create new mysterious, [[EldritchAbomination eldritch]] {{Crossover Exclusive Villain}}s for the Smashers to fight in the vein of [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Tabuu]], [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU the Master Core]], and [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Galeem and Dharkon]].

** New yokai characters are easy to make. Just look up a {{youkai}} that hasn't been used, make it LighterAndSofter, and you have a new character. Heck, you don't even have to use a youkai. Supernatural and mythological creatures in general, no matter the country of origin, work.
** Original Yo-Kai Watch owners appear in quite a few fan works. Have an average Joe come across a mysterious watch, have them try it on, and suddenly they can see yokai.

* The premise of ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' makes it fairly easy to make {{OCs}}, since every character is supposed to represent some aspect of the game industry. All you have to do is come up with something that the franchise hasn't already covered and make a character out of it with some quirks as {{Historical In Joke}}s. This is also true for any series about {{Moe Anthropomorphism}}s, but Neptunia makes it especially easy because outside {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s the series is limited to niche Japanese companies and individual franchises, as Creator/IdeaFactory is a small company that needs to obtain the rights. Combine that with the fact that [[CreatorProvincialism the series focuses mostly on the Japanese game industry]], and that Creator/CompileHeart didn't try to make recognizable parodies of anything big outside the Platform/{{Xbox}}, Platform/{{PlayStation}}, and Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/{{Sega}} consoles until [[VideoGame/MegaDimensionNeptuniaVII the fourth main game]], and it's obvious that there's a ''lot'' of unexplored territory compared to something like ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' that doesn't need to worry about copyright infringement.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', it's established that the eight Gym Leaders you battle in the game are the "Major League" Gyms; there are ten "Minor League" Gyms representing the other types that you don't encounter, though you can obtain their uniforms at shops located at or near the Gyms. Two of these Gyms are led by Gym Leaders that are Major League Gym Leaders [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo in the other version]][[note]]Fighting-type Leader Bea and Rock-type Leader Gordie are only fought in ''Sword'', while Ghost-type Leader Allister and Ice-type Leader Melony are only fought in ''Shield''[[/note]], while the DLC introduced characters affiliated with two more of the Minor Gyms, one in each version [[spoiler:who eventually become their Leaders]] [[note]]Poison-type Leader Klara appears in ''Sword'', Psychic-type Leader Avery appears in ''Shield''[[/note]], as well as a ''former'' Leader of another Gym ([[spoiler:Peony, former Steel-type Gym Leader]]). That still leaves plenty of room for fans to come up with their own designs and teams for the remaining Gym Leaders. And that's not counting the Fairy and Dark Gyms, who change their Leaders after the original story ([[spoiler:Opal and Piers retire with former rivals Bede and Marnie taking their places respectively]]).

* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': It's fairly easy to make your own Vessel OC. Just create a unique mask shape, give a color for the cloak, and lastly a brief backstory on how they [[spoiler:managed to escape the Abyss]]. Most fanfictions involving OC Vessels have them either being [[HeroOfAnotherStory a hero of another story]], interacting with the other [=NPCs=] around Hallownest or even appearing in other kingdoms.
* The initial cast of ''VideoGame/KanColle'' featured girls who were [[AnthropomorphicPersonification the spirits of warships]] that were part of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Naturally, fan works tended to take advantage of this by adding shipgirls from other countries' naval forces, particularly [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII the U.S. Navy]] (''FanFic/PacificWorldWarIIUsNavyShipgirls'' being one such). The game's gradually started adding its own foreign shipgirls, but even so, there's still a huge number of potential shipgirls available for fans.

** The (currently nonexistent) tenth class or some other type of RED/BLU/Mann Co. staff not present in the game but implied to exist as a vast network of operatives in the supplementary comics. (Notably, the Administrator started life as such a character before she became AscendedFanon, and Grey and Olivia Mann can be seen as parodies of such character types.)

* The premise of ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' makes it fairly easy to make {{OCs}}, since every character is supposed to represent some aspect of the game industry. All you have to do is come up with something that the franchise hasn't already covered and make a character out of it with some quirks as {{Historical In Joke}}s. This is also true for any series about {{Moe Anthropomorphism}}s, but Neptunia makes it especially easy because outside {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s the series is limited to niche Japanese companies and individual franchises, as Creator/IdeaFactory is a small company that needs to obtain the rights. Combine that with the fact that [[CreatorProvincialism the series focuses mostly on the Japanese game industry]], and that Creator/CompileHeart didn't try to make recognizable parodies of anything big outside the Platform/{{Xbox}}, Platform/{{PlayStation}}, and Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/{{Sega}} consoles until [[VideoGame/MegaDimensionNeptuniaVII the seventh game]], and it's obvious that there's a ''lot'' of unexplored territory compared to something like ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' that doesn't need to worry about copyright infringement.

* The premise of ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' makes it fairly easy to make {{OCs}}, since every character is supposed to represent some aspect of the game industry. All you have to do is come up with something that the franchise hasn't already covered and make a character out of it with some quirks as {{Historical In Joke}}s. This is also true for any series about {{Moe Anthropomorphism}}s, but Neptunia makes it especially easy because outside {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s the series is limited to niche Japanese companies and individual franchises, as Creator/IdeaFactory is a small company that needs to obtain the rights. Combine that with the fact that [[CreatorProvincialism the series focuses mostly on the Japanese game industry]], and that Creator/CompileHeart didn't try to make recognizable parodies of anything big outside the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}}, and Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/{{Sega}} consoles until [[VideoGame/MegaDimensionNeptuniaVII the seventh game]], and it's obvious that there's a ''lot'' of unexplored territory compared to something like ''VideoGame/AzurLane'' that doesn't need to worry about copyright infringement.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':

** If one wants to make a vault dweller (or even design a new vault), there are at least 118 (excluding test or display vaults) in canon and we only know the purpose of around 32 of them. Just pick a geographic location unclaimed by a main series game (New York, New Orleans, the PNW, Texas, and the Midwest are all viable candidates), choose a plausible experiment that isn't too deadly or psychosis-causing, and you've got a vault!

** Other possibilities involve creating new characters tied to the prolific weapon manufactures found in game, or creating new weapon manufacturers entirely (though this is a little more convoluted--the gear creation system on which ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' is based has a number of very specific rules to follow).

* ''VideoGame/CookieRun'' makes it easy--there's no shortage of foods, after all.

** Creating an original android model is fairly easy: pick 2 letters to begin, then a hundred number (100, 200, 300, etc.) to end. Give them a monochrome uniform, the triangle and armband, the LED, and an intended purpose, and that covers it. One could also just use a model that exists in-game--whether they look different than others of the same kind is up to the creator.

* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' is an IntercontinuityCrossover bringing together thirty ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' characters from all over the series to fight on behalf of the gods Cosmos and Chaos. ''Dissidia'' and its prequel ''Dissidia 012'' explain these wars occur as a cycle--when one side loses they get their memories of the battle erased, and are revived to fight again. The two games cover the 12th and 13th cycles, and the 13th one of the last. That leaves Cycles 1-11 unseen, with no real information on who was fighting in them, for which side, and what happened that they didn't make it to future cycles. (The most players ''do'' get to see is a glimpse of an unknown cycle wherein [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI Prishe]], a Warrior of Cosmos, [[spoiler:first discovers an {{amnesiac|Hero}} [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior of Light]], gives him a name, and provides him with all sorts of life advice]]. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Her whereabouts are unknown in the present]][[labelnote:*]]a Japan-only Official Quest reveals she vanishes after Garland managed to kill Cosmos in a later cycle, but that's it[[/labelnote]] and [[spoiler:her choice of name for [=WoL=] is unvoiced]].) As a result, it's common for fanfiction to be set in one of those earlier cycles with new characters drawn into the war, and from there you can take the story anywhere you want it to go. ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 NT]]'' put some restrictions on this idea (particularly as many of the new characters featured are either suggested or outright confirmed to be newcomers to the cycle of war), but the core concept remains viable.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' is naturally rife with this, as all of the games are war stories. If it doesn't involve adding an original character into the army, it's usually a prequel or sequel telling about barely-told events and histories, with [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Renault's past]] or [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance anything regarding the Branded]] being very popular subjects. And since [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening the 3DS]] [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates installments]] ([[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden remakes notwithstanding]]) have [[PlayerCharacter character avatars]] and the [[TimeTravel Outrealm]] [[TheMultiverse Gate]], there's even more fertile ground, with EpilepticTrees abound.

* A widely underused example in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' comes from the moderately obscure ''EX'' titles, [[AlternateContinuity which branch off from]] ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters97 KOF '97]]'' [[AlternateContinuity in place of]] the NESTS Chronicles that began in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters99 '99]]''. Over the course of the two games, players are introduced to the members of the Ten Sacred Treasures (based on the debatably historical artifacts of the same name reportedly housed in Isonokami Shrine). ''EX'' marks the debut of Moe Habana, with the sequel bringing in Reiji Oogami, Jun Kagami, Miu Kurosaki, and Sinobu Amou, but only Moe, Reiji, and Sinobu have their treasures revealed. Strangely, the members of the Three Sacred Treasures (Kyo Kusanagi, Iori Yagami, and Chizuru Kagura) are counted among the Ten's ranks despite possessing [[PublicDomainArtifact the Imperial Regalia of Japan/Treasures of Amaterasu]], which are theorized by some to be the inspiration for the Ten Sacred Treasures due to overall similarities between the two legends. Presumably, if the ''EX'' story wasn't LeftHanging, the remaining two members would have made an appearance, and the oddity mentioned above means there actually should be ''five'' unseen characters.

** There's also characters who are either the "real" last creations of Light or Wily, or prototypes of X or Zero, and were also sealed away in a capsule until discovered, some of which tend to have caused the "Cataclysm," the by-now {{Jossed}} Fanon theory that got rid of the Classic series characters. The "prototypes of X or Zero" bit was turned AscendedFanon with χ -kai-, one of the WhatIf characters in ''VideoGame/MegaManXDive'' who is an EvilKnockoff of X made by Wily using X's stolen blueprints but left unfinished due to Wily's difficulties in creating a logic circuit for him until [[VideoGame/MegaManX2 Serges]]--who's implied to be a future incarnation of Wily--uncovered him in 21XX and completed χ with that era's technology. [[note]]χ's ''[=DiVE=]'' backstory is actually a slight {{retcon}} of his lore as part of the [=TruForce=] Collectibles Designer Series for New York Comic Con 2015, wherein χ was based on the original Blue Bomber's design but discarded in favor of the further-along-in-development Zero.[[/note]]

** In a variant of the above, the fact that the ''Battle Network'' series exists in an AlternateTimeline to the Classic games where [[ForWantOfANail the development of internet technology was prioritized over robotics]] leads to certain characters from one series being reimagined in the other, similar to how Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, and Dr. Cossack have Tadashi Hikari, Lord Wily, and Cossak as counterparts. Examples include introducing [[VideoGame/MegaMan4 Kalinka]] as Cossak's daughter (it helps that there's [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/b/bf/Cossakconceptart.jpg concept art of her]] for ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork3WhiteAndBlue BN3]]'' as the series' character designer assumed a version of Kalinka would also appear) and having a Classic version of [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork4RedSunAndBlueMoon Dr.]] [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork5TeamColonelAndTeamProtoMan Regal]] show up, owing to the fact that [[spoiler:he's Wily's son]].

* It's rather easy to make your own VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies plant. All you have to do is take a preexisting plant or mushroom species, then give them a BadassAdorable or BotanicalAbomination design, humorous Almanac entry, and sun cost.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', it's established that the eight Gym Leaders you battle in the game are the "Major League" Gyms; there are ten "Minor League" Gyms representing the other types that you don't encounter, though you can obtain their uniforms at shops located at or near the Gyms. Two of these Gyms are led by Gym Leaders that [[ForWantOfANail are Major League Gym Leaders]] [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo in the other version]][[note]]Fighting-type Leader Bea and Rock-type Leader Gordie are only fought in ''Sword'', while Ghost-type Leader Allister and Ice-type Leader Melony are only fought in ''Shield''[[/note]], while the DLC introduced characters affiliated with two more of the Minor Gyms, one in each version [[spoiler:who eventually become their Leaders]] [[note]]Poison-type Leader Klara appears in ''Sword'', Psychic-type Leader Avery appears in ''Shield''[[/note]], as well as a ''former'' Leader of another Gym ([[spoiler:Peony, former Steel-type Gym Leader]]). That still leaves plenty of room for fans to come up with their own designs and teams for the remaining Gym Leaders. And that's not counting the Fairy and Dark Gyms, who change their Leaders after the original story ([[spoiler:Opal and Piers retire with former rivals Bede and Marnie taking their places respectively]]).

** More than a few fan characters [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 were created by Professor Robotnik]] [[VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog on the ARK]] as "backup {{ultimate lifeform}}s."

* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' [=OCs=] mostly follow a basic pattern: A new Inkling is in town, they start out messing around in the turf battles, then they do the events of Hero Mode and save the day. Falling in love with one of the Squid Sisters or Off The Hook (mainly Marina) members is optional, but it still happens a lot.

** Pokémon themselves are very easy for people to create. A few of them are creative enough, while most of them are not. A fan favourite would be made-up Eeveelutions. In one notable case, [[HilariousInHindsight fans came up with Leafeon, right down to the name, far before it was introduced in canon]]. [[http://pokemonanrui.proboards.com/index.cgi One site]] somehow managed to come up with not only the name [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Team Plasma]], but nearly the same goal they had... in 2008.

** It's not even limited to the four unexplored universes, as Fanfic/KhaosOmega and another author (who actually ''inspired'' Khaos in the first place) have both implemented new Emblem Frames that a male crewmember unexpectedly finds himself compatible with (and both even end up romantically involved with one of their team's female Angels -- Khaos did it in NEUE (the second trilogy's main universe) and the other author did it in EDEN).

** Creating a new region isn't entirely difficult. All one needs to do to create a convincing region is to take an existing country, or just a particular area of one, and add arbitrary routes and towns whose names [[ThemeNaming follow a particular theme]].

** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet Generation IX]]'' introduced the concept of Paradox Pokémon: versions of modern-day Pokémon that are either their distant prehistoric ancestors or their equally-distant cyborg descendants. All you need to make one of your own is to take a pre-existing Pokémon, change one of its types and either add elements of prehistoric megafauna or make it a robot ([[ThemeNaming and in that case add "Iron" to its name]]).

* ''Soul Edge'', the first entry of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'', introduced series mainstay Sophitia Alexandra, one of [[TheChosenMany 24 holy warriors]] tasked with destroying the titular EvilWeapon by [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Hephaestus]]. Only one other holy warrior has been seen since, with the following game, ''Soulcalibur'', bringing in Aeon Calcos aka [[WasOnceAMan Lizardman]]. [[note]]Who was presumably the 14th holy warrior sent out by the Greek god of the forge, given that the divine weapon given to him is called the Xi Sword. Comparatively, Sophitia possesses the Ω Sword, suggesting she was the 24th and last of these warriors.[[/note]] This leaves a whopping 22 characters unaccounted for, though few fans have ever touched upon the subject -- possibly because of Aeon's pitiable fate and the fact that Sophitia mostly succeeds in her mission during her first journey, either making the remaining holy warriors DoomedByCanon or rendering their quests [[AllForNothing pointless]]. Then along came ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', where it's revealed (via [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]]) that Hephaestus has sent out another group of holy warriors, whose objectives are destroying Soul Edge (again) and slaying a certain Lizardman himself on account on Aeon being bestowed with CannibalismSuperpower by Ares (who Hephaestus most certainly does ''not'' want to obtain Soul Edge). The identity of these new holy warriors? The custom characters who face Aeon in a Destined Battle during Arcade Mode.

** In a similar vein, new scientists tend to come up, thanks to the series having so few of them (Drs. Light, Wily and Cossack). Occasionally, some of them do follow Cossack's [[MusicalThemeNaming musical naming theme]] or even Light and Wily's [[NamedAfterSomeoneFamous famous intellectual first name theme]]. This is made fairly easy as many Robot Masters (such as in ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan6 6]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan7 7]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan8 8]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan10 10]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan11 11]]'') were built by other, unnamed creators before Wily reprogrammed them, intentionally or, as in ''10'', inadvertently.

* It's rather easy to make your own VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies plant. All you have to do is take a preexisting plant [[MushroonsArePlants or mushroom]] species, then give them a BadassAdorable or BotanicalAbomination design, humorous Almanac entry, and sun cost.

* It's rather easy to make your own VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies plant. All you have to do is take a preexisting plant [[MushroonsArePlanta or mushroom]] species, then give them a BadassAdorable or Botanical abomination design, humorous Almanac entry, and sun cost.

* It's become quite popular to think up new animatronic characters for ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys''. Basically you just need to think of an animal, give them a cute-sounding name (canonically they are all [[AlliterativeName alliterative with their species, or last name if they have one]], but this isn't always followed with fan characters), and make them into a creepy anthropomorphic robot. Optionally, they could also be given their own musical instrument to play in the band, or some other specialized role at the pizza place. Some people try to justify their characters' absence in the original game by giving them backstories involving being taken out of active use; others have gone so far as to make up an entirely new restaurant competing with Freddy's for their characters to inhabit. As later games in the series have introduced different variations on the existing characters ("toy", "withered", "phantom", "nightmare", "funtime", "scrap", "rockstar", and "glamrock"), fans have often given such variations to their own characters.

* ''VideoGame/StarFlightTheLostColony'': The protagonist civilization was colonized by the surviving members of Noah 3. In the [[VideoGame/{{Starflight}} original games]], we only know of Noah 2 (Arth), Noah 9 (The Mechans' original masters), and Noah 6 (the descendants that would eventually become the [[spoiler: the Umanu.]]

** Fanfics involve aspiring Trainers just starting out on their journeys... and written in a way that makes the canon human characters look like incompetent chumps. On the other hand, that isn't difficult to achieve, as writing characters with ''sense'' puts them miles above the canon cast, or at least [[IdiotHero Ash]]. With the introduction of Trainer customization in [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Generation VI]] (thus meaning the {{Player Character}}s [[AuthorAvatar can now resemble the actual player]]), these types of stories have only become more prevalent. Bonus points if the trainer begins his/her journey with a Pokémon that's not a regional starter, usually an Eevee (three video games actually ''require'' an Eevee-related starter, [[VideoGame/PokemonColosseum one of which gives the player two of its evolutions]]) or Pseudo-Legendary.

*** Of all the Pokémon to give fan-made regional variants and evolutions to, Yamask stands out as one of the most popular, with fake variants of the Spirit Pokémon seeing a sharp rise in popularity with the introduction of the Galarian Yamask line. This is likely due to its concept, a LivingShadow that holds a piece of a larger item that eventually evolves into a spirit possessing said item. This essentially allows for endless possibilities for Yamask variant concepts, from a pillow-holding Yamask evolving into a possessed bed to one that holds a flashlight that eventually becomes a whole lighthouse.
** Another popular fan art topic is variations where a Pokémon whose father was a different species than the mother would take on different physical characteristics, ranging from different color pallets to changed physical characteristics.

* ''VideoGame/{{Broforce}}'' lends itself to this easily: just take a character from any action-packed franchise, insert the word "Bro" somewhere in the original name and you get a new member of Broforce. Some popular examples include [[Film/ThreeHundred Lebronidas]], [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Spabrow]] or [[Manga/OnePunchMan One-Punch Bro]]

* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' is an IntercontinuityCrossover bringing together thirty ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' characters from all over the series to fight on behalf of the gods Cosmos and Chaos. ''Dissidia'' and its prequel ''Dissidia 012'' explain these wars occur as a cycle--when one side loses they get their memories of the battle erased, and are revived to fight again. The two games cover the 12th and 13th cycles, and the 13th one of the last. That leaves Cycles 1-11 unseen, with no real information on who was fighting in them, for which side, and what happened that they didn't make it to future cycles. As a result it's common for fanfiction to be set in one of those earlier cycles with new characters drawn into the war, and from there you can take the story anywhere you want it to go.

* The premise of ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' makes it fairly easy to make {{OCs}}, since every character is supposed to represent some aspect of the game industry. All you have to do is come up with something that the franchise hasn't already covered and make a character out of it with some quirks as {{Historical In Joke}}s. This is also true for any series about {{Moe Anthropomorphism}}s, but Neptunia makes it especially easy because outside {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s the series is limited to niche Japanese companies and individual franchises, as Creator/IdeaFactory is a small company that needs to obtain the rights. Combine that with the fact that [[CreatorProvincialism the series focuses mostly on the Japanese game industry]], and that Creator/CompileHeart didn't try to make recognizable parodies of anything big outside the UsefulNotes/{{Xbox}}, UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}}, and Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Creator/{{Sega}} consoles until [[VideoGame/MegaDimensionNeptuniaVII the seventh game]], and it's obvious that there's a ''lot'' of unexplored territory compared to something like VideoGame/AzurLane that doesn't need to worry about copyright infringement.

* ''Soul Edge'', the first entry of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' introduced series mainstay Sophitia Alexandra, one of [[TheChosenMany 24 holy warriors]] tasked with destroying the titular EvilWeapon by [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Hephaestus]]. Only one other holy warrior has been seen since, with the following game, ''Soulcalibur'', bringing in Aeon Calcos aka [[WasOnceAMan Lizardman]]. [[note]]Who was presumably the 14th holy warrior sent out by the Greek god of the forge, given that the divine weapon given to him is called the Xi Sword. Comparatively, Sophitia possesses the Ω Sword, suggesting she was the 24th and last of these warriors.[[/note]] This leaves a whopping 22 characters unaccounted for, though few fans have ever touched upon the subject -- possibly because of Aeon's pitiable fate and the fact that Sophitia mostly succeeds in her mission during her first journey, either making the remaining holy warriors DoomedByCanon or rendering their quests [[AllForNothing pointless]]. Then along came ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', where it's revealed (via [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]]) that Hephaestus has sent out another group of holy warriors, whose objectives are destroying Soul Edge (again) and slaying a certain Lizardman himself on account on Aeon being bestowed with CannibalismSuperpower by Ares (who Hephaestus most certainly does ''not'' want to obtain Soul Edge). The identity of these new holy warriors? The custom characters who face Aeon in a Destined Battle during Arcade Mode.

** ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork Battle Network]]'' isn't hard to do this with either, being as there are several Classic Robot Masters and other robots that went unused by the end of the series, while ''[[VideoGame/MegaManNetworkTransmission Network Transmission]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork5TeamColonelAndTeamProtoMan 5]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork6CybeastGregarAndCybeastFalzar 6]]'' bring in Zero, Colonel, and Iris -- opening up possibilities for more ''X'' series-based [[{{Expy}} Expies]]. That's not even counting the possibility of random officials and/or other [=NetBattlers=] and their Navis made up wholesale, or giving an operator to [[KillAllHumans Bass]]. This can also work in reverse, as both ''Battle Network'' (''[[Anime/MegaManNTWarrior NT Warrior]]'' included) and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Star Force]]'' have introduced [=NetNavis=] who do not have a canon Robot Master counterpart in the original series. On top of this, one Navi (Ring.EXE from ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleChipChallenge Battle Chip Challenge]]'') is [[GenderFlip the opposite gender]] of the Robot Master they're based on (Ring Man of ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan4 MM4]]''), opening up yet another door. As the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Legends]]'' series demonstrates, it doesn't stop there either: at least one Navi is influenced by a ''Legends'' character [[note]]Glyde.EXE, based on Glyde from ''[=MML2=]''[[/note]] and no less than four other characters have cross-series counterparts between ''Battle Network'' and ''Legends''. [[note]]Yai Ayanokoji is based on Yaito of Pokte Village from ''Legends 2'', while Shu and her brothers Appo and Dah from the same game became '''Shu'''ko Kido and her brothers Atsu and Ty in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork4RedSunAndBlueMoon BN4: Blue Moon]]'' and ''[=BN6=]: Falzar''. Ms. Millions from ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork2 BN2]]'' is speculated to be based on Yōkan, the mayor of Pokte Village, due to [[MsFanservice their similar designs and demeanor]], but doesn't have any WordOfGod confirming the parallels were intentional. Additionally, Dr. Wily has a second counterpart in the form of Wily, the Uptown boat house owner in ''Legends'', while Princess Pride from ''[=BN2=]'' and ''[=BN5=]: Team Colonel'' [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/megaman/images/1/19/PrincessPride-concept2.jpg was originally conceptualized]] as Princess '''Tron''' (as in Tron Bonne) before evolving into her own character.[[/note]]

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', it's established that the eight Gym Leaders you battle in the game are the "Major League" Gyms; there are ten "Minor League" Gyms representing the other types that you don't encounter, though you can obtain their uniforms at shops located at or near the Gyms. Two of these Gyms are led by Gym Leaders that [[ForWantOfANail are Major League Gym Leaders]] [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo in the other version]][[note]]Fighting-type Leader Bea and Rock-type Leader Gordie are only fought in ''Sword'', while Ghost-type Leader Allister and Ice-type Leader Melony are only fought in ''Shield''[[/note]], while the DLC introduced characters affiliated with two more of the Minor Gyms, one in each version [[spoiler:who eventually become their Leaders]] [[note]]Poison-type Leader Klara appears in ''Sword'', Psychic-type Leader Avery appears in ''Shield''[[/note]], as well as a ''former'' Leader of another Gym ([[spoiler:Peony, former Steel-type Gym Leader]]). That still leaves plenty of room for fans to come up with their own designs and teams for the remaining Gym Leaders. And that's not counting the Fairy and Dark Gyms, who change their Leaders after the original story [[spoiler:Opal and Piers retire with former rivals Bede and Marnie taking their places respectively]]).

* ''Soul Edge'', the first entry of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'' introduced series mainstay Sophitia Alexandra, one of [[TheChosenMany 24 holy warriors]] tasked with destroying the titular EvilWeapon by [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Hephaestus]]. Only one other holy warrior has been seen since, with the following game, ''Soulcalibur'', bringing in Aeon Calcos aka [[WasOnceAMan Lizardman]]. [[note]]Who was presumably the 14th holy warrior sent out by the Greek god of the forge, given that the divine weapon given to him is called the Xi Sword. Comparatively, Sophitia possesses the Ω Sword, suggesting she was the 24th and last of these warriors.[[/note]] This leaves a whopping 22 characters unaccounted for, though few fans have ever touched upon the subject--possibly because of Aeon's pitiable fate and the fact that Sophitia mostly succeeds in her mission during her first journey, either making the remaining holy warriors DoomedByCanon or rendering their quests [[AllForNothing pointless]]. Then along came ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', where it's revealed (via [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]]) that Hephaestus has sent out another group of holy warriors, whose objectives are destroying Soul Edge (again) and slaying a certain Lizardman himself on account on Aeon being bestowed with CannibalismSuperpower by Ares (who Hephaestus most certainly does ''not'' want to obtain Soul Edge). The identity of these new holy warriors? The custom characters who face Aeon in a Destined Battle during Arcade Mode.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' [=OCs=] mostly follow a basic pattern: A new inkling is in town, they start out messing around in the turf battles, then they do the events of Hero Mode and save the day. Falling in love with one of the Squid Sisters or Off The Hook (mainly Marina) members is optional, but it still happens a lot.