History YMMV / WhatIf

* TearJerker: Quite a few.
** In "What If Someone Else Had Become -- the Amazing Spider-Man", all three stories end pretty tragically.
*** Flash, not being a science whiz like Peter, never invents web-shooters, and so he falls to his death while fighting the Vulture.
*** Betty, due to using up all her web fluid posing for some pictures earlier, finds herself unable to stop the thief who ended up killing Uncle Ben. She's devastated when she finds out, leading her to [[ItsAllMyFault blame herself]] and hang up her webs for good.
*** John Jameson uses a {{jetpack}} for mobility in his career of heroism. But as he flies off to save a runaway space capsule, he runs out of fuel while clinging to it, and [[HeroicSacrifice saves the occupants by letting himself be crushed when it crashes]]. J. Jonah Jameson [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone thinks it's his fault for pushing him into leaving the space program and becoming a superhero]].
** "What If Dr. Doom Had Become a Hero?" has Doom reluctantly selling his wife Valeria to Mephisto in exchange for the rest of his kingdom... and immediately regretting it. After this, every year he tries to retrieve her -- failing each time. The comic ends on yet another of his failed attempts to get her back.
** In "What If Peter Parker Had to Destroy Spider-Man?", Peter staying home [[ForWantOfANail means the burglar who would've killed Uncle Ben robs the Watson house instead]], killing ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson. While Peter had never met her, the incident still deeply affects him, and strengthens his resolve to prevent tragedies like it from happening.
** "What If Uncle Ben Had Lived" has Aunt May be the one who first hears the burglar break into the house, and thus, becomes his victim. Her last words?
--> ''...Ben...''
** And of course, Ben finds her only minutes afterwards.
--> '''Ben''': May! May! ...I love you, May...
*** What makes this even sadder is that Ben and Peter aren't nearly as close as May and Peter were in the canon stories, because while the two do love eachother, Ben simply doesn't know how to assume parental roles by himself, that's just not how men of his generation were brought up. He's a bit more involved in Peter's personal life than May was, but he just doesn't relate to him the same way.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The post [[http://what-if.xkcd.com/40/ "Pressure Cooker,"]] which described exploding pressure cookers among other things, came six days before [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon_bombings somebody used a pair of pressure cookers filled with shrapnel to bomb the Boston Marathon.]]

** What If? Vol 2 11 is both this and HarsherInHindsight. In the second story, "What If... The Fantastic Four all had the stretching power of Mister Fantastic?", Sue Storm marries Ben Grimm instead of Reed. The same thing happens in the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe. Unfortunately, [[CompleteMonster Ultimate Reed]] [[FaceHeelTurn doesn't]] [[ItsAllAboutMe take it]] [[OmnicidalManiac nearly as well]].

* HarsherInHindsight: "What if Spiderman Had Not Married Mary Jane" became more like a canon after the release of ComicBook/OneMoreDay in 2007.

** What If? Vol 2 11 is both this and HarsherInHindsight. In the second story, "What If... The Fantastic Four all had the stretching power of Mister Fantastic?", Sue Storm marry's Ben Grimm instead of Reed. The same thing happens in the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe. Unfortunately, [[CompleteMonster Ultimate Reed]] [[FaceHeelTurn doesn't]] [[ItsAllAboutMe take it]] [[OmnicidalManiac nearly as well]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: A rare one for Randall, but it still happened. A question on how much power can be produced by [[Film/StarWars The Force]] compares Yoda's power output to that of a Smart Car, with Yoda popping out of the front hood of said car. However, the Smart Car is a rear-engine car, with the [[InsistentTerminology front flap]] covering various auxiliary components.

* HilariousInHindsight: "[[https://what-if.xkcd.com/142/ Space Jetta]]" in January 2016, about the effects of a car re-entering that atmosphere, had one comic panel that jokes about UsefulNotes/SpaceX sending Teslas into space by accident. A bit over two years later, [[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43063379 they did it on purpose]].

* HarsherInHindsight/ FunnyAneurysmMoment: "What if Spiderman Had Not Married Mary Jane" became more like a canon after the release of ComicBook/OneMoreDay in 2007.

!!''WesternAnimation/WhatIf'' the series
* AscendedMeme: Ever since Peggy Carter became the BreakoutCharacter of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', loads and loads of fan-art has been made depicting her as picking up the shield as an alternate Captain America. Even an issue of Exiles features Peggy-as-Cap joining the team. This series (connected to the MCU) features her becoming a super soldier for real.

* CompleteMonster:
** ''What If? Age of Ultron'': As in [[ComicBook/AgeOfUltron canon]], ComicBook/{{Ultron}} is a [[AIIsACrapshoot genocidal]] and [[RoboticPsychopath psychopathic]] machine obsessed with nothing less than [[OmnicidalManiac the total annihilation of all organic life]]. Created by Hank Pym to be a protector of the Earth, Ultron quickly grew [[AGodAmI a god complex]] and proceeded to [[KillAllHumans slaughter every man, woman, and child]] on Earth within a month, after which he drew out any rebels' defeats, taking sick glee in watching their hope slowly die and seeing them turn on one another. After successfully killing every living thing on the planet, Ultron allows his "father" Hank Pym to live, solely so that for the decades to come, he can [[ColdBloodedTorture brutally torture]] him, wipe his memory of the torture, then start all over again to [[MindRape slowly break his human spirit]], all because he "can". Later learning of the multiverse, Ultron organizes full-scale wars on 4 alternate dimensions nearby , massacring everything in his path on 4 separate Earths. Ultron's final plan is to continue spreading his influence across every reality, hoping to eventually kill every living thing in the multiverse, uncaring that this plan could very well destroy reality itself. Continuing his streak of misanthropy and sadism displayed in many of his iterations, this Ultron sticks out as one of his most depraved variations yet.
** ''What If... Captain America Fought in the Civil War?'': Colonel Buck "Bucky" Barnes is the seemingly kind commander of the Union regiment known as the "Redlegs", however his seemingly noble appearance is quickly shown to nothing but a mask. In truth, Barnes is a cruel sociopath who uses his position to [[SociopathicSoldier organize the massacre of every man, woman, and child]] in defenseless towns in Confederacy territory, while claiming that said towns are Confederate hideouts, so as to loot all the money and treasure the townsfolk possess. When a lone soldier, Steve Rogers, refuses to kill three children on Barnes's orders, Barnes wastes no time in trying to kill the man, and, later learning that Rogers has taken up residence at a nearby Union base, Barnes orders everyone in the base slaughtered after his face is turned by magic into a white skull of death to represent his true personality. Even after his defeat, Barnes later escapes and reforms the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan into a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain white supremacist terrorist group]] that, even decades later, continues Barnes's mass murdering agenda, regularly targeting highly-populated public buildings and dueling with any heroes in their way. Barnes, later known as White Skull, was a twisted composition of the canon Marvel characters James ComicBook/BuckyBarnes and the ComicBook/RedSkull, and obviously took far more personality cues from the latter, as evidenced by his homicidal greed and sadism.
** ''What If...Daredevil Lived in Feudal Japan?'': The Giant Shogun, an adaptation of the canon character ComicBook/TheKingpin, is the [[FatBastard massive]], hedonistic boss of the {{Yakuza}} who simultaneously runs Japan through manipulating the Emperor. The Shogun regularly orders assassinations, forces innocents into slavery, and often blackmails warriors into doing his bidding, notably [[EyeScream blinding]] the [[WouldHurtAChild infant son]] of Old Devil to force him into servitude in exchange for the cure for the blindness. Forcing Old Devil to massacre an entire ship of Americans so as to allow one of his spies to steal weapons plans, the Shogun [[NeckSnap snaps his spy's neck]] when [[YouHaveFailedMe he fails]], has the man's wife murdered, then begins transforming their child daughter Elektra into his personal killing machine, tormenting and raping her along the way. Years after murdering Old Devil, taunting him about the fact that there was never a cure for his son, Masahiro's, blindness, the Shogun poisons his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Stick to prevent any power struggles, murders one of his own men to steal his horse when he comes under attack, and leaves the Emperor of Japan to die to cover his escape. When confronted by a now-grown Elektra and Masahiro, the Shogun orders them both be incapacitated by a marksman, wanting to draw their deaths out painfully in public later as a show of what happens to those who defy him. A sadistic, greedy scumbag who cares for no one but himself, the Giant Shogun was nowhere close to his counterpart the Kingpin in nobility, honor, or grace, substituting these for depravity and malice tenfold.

** The joke scenario in #34, "What if Every Avenger Remained an Avenger", depicts the silliness of an Avengers team with dozens of members. Ever since ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', that lineup has looked downright sparse.

* AscendedFanon: Ever since Peggy Carter became the BreakoutCharacter of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', loads and loads of fan-art has been made depicting her as picking up the shield as an alternate Captain America. Even an issue of Exiles features Peggy-as-Cap joining the team. This series (connected to the MCU) features her becoming a super soldier for real.

** HarsherInHindsight/ FunnyAneurysmMoment: "What if Spiderman Had Not Married Mary Jane" became more like a canon after the release of ComicBook/OneMoreDay in 2007.
*** Similarly, the parody issue (vol.1 #34) had a short story asking "What if Iron Man had an eating problem instead of a drinking problem?", showing Tony Stark becoming morbidly obese from over-indulging on fast food. According to Creator/RobertDowneyJr, he realized he'd hit rock bottom one night when he was scarfing down tons of fast food burgers, which lead to his quitting drugs and cleaning up his life...which, in turn, led to his being cast as Film/IronMan.

* UnfortunateImplications: "What if Conan the Barbarian were stranded in the 20th Century?" (v1 #43) plays the MightyWhitey trope razor-straight. Conan decides he wants to run his own gang, so he finds the person he wants as his second-in-command: a ScaryBlackMan with a ProudWarriorRaceGuy attitude about his African heritage. After Conan overpowers him, he declares that the Cimmerian has the spirit of a "black brother", and thus Conan ends up in charge of a gang of African-Americans who dress in tribal costumes who call themselves "The Barbarians".

* HilariousInHindsight: "[[https://what-if.xkcd.com/142/ Space Jetta]]" in January 2016, about the effects of a car re-entering that atmosphere, had one comic panel that jokes about SpaceX sending Teslas into space by accident. A bit over two years later, [[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-43063379 they did it on purpose]].

* HilariousInHindsight: Plenty of scenarios in the comic actually happened as time went on - Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four in the Hickman run, Hulk became a barbarian in the ''PlanetHulk'' series, ComicBookTime means that Captain America was probably revived decades after both iterations of "What if Cap were revived today?", Elektra's survival has been retconned in...

* UnfortunateImplications: In "What if Conan the Barbarian were stranded in the 20th Century?" (v1 #43), Conan ends up the leader of a gang of African-American criminals by defeating their ScaryBlackMan leader and swaying them to his ways, with them adopting the name "The Barbarians" and wearing tribal costumes. In other words, it's MightyWhitey played razor-straight, only transported from DarkestAfrica to 1977 New York City.

** HarsherInHindsight/ FunnyAneurysmMoment: "What if Spiderman Had Not Married Mary Jane" became more like a canon after the release of [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ComicBook/OneMoreDay?from=Main.OneMoreDay "One More Day"]] in 2007.

** ''What If...Daredevil Lived in Feudal Japan?'': The Giant Shogun, an adaptation of the canon character ComicBook/TheKingpin, is the [[FatBastard massive]], hedonistic boss of TheYakuza who simultaneously runs Japan through manipulating the Emperor. The Shogun regularly orders assassinations, forces innocents into slavery, and often blackmails warriors into doing his bidding, notably [[EyeScream blinding]] the [[WouldHurtAChild infant son]] of Old Devil to force him into servitude in exchange for the cure for the blindness. Forcing Old Devil to massacre an entire ship of Americans so as to allow one of his spies to steal weapons plans, the Shogun [[NeckSnap snaps his spy's neck]] when [[YouHaveFailedMe he fails]], has the man's wife murdered, then begins transforming their child daughter Elektra into his personal killing machine, tormenting and raping her along the way. Years after murdering Old Devil, taunting him about the fact that there was never a cure for his son, Masahiro's, blindness, the Shogun poisons his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Stick to prevent any power struggles, murders one of his own men to steal his horse when he comes under attack, and leaves the Emperor of Japan to die to cover his escape. When confronted by a now-grown Elektra and Masahiro, the Shogun orders them both be incapacitated by a marksman, wanting to draw their deaths out painfully in public later as a show of what happens to those who defy him. A sadistic, greedy scumbag who cares for no one but himself, the Giant Shogun was nowhere close to his counterpart the Kingpin in nobility, honor, or grace, substituting these for depravity and malice tenfold.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In the original ending of ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'', the Shi'Ar left Jean without powers. Editor Jim Shooter did not like it, because that would be too soft for someone who had just killed an entire solar system; and the ending was rewritten to be Jean's death. The original ending was eventually published in "Phoenix: the untold story". One of the "What if" stories takes this original ending as a premise, and builds from there.