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| 6 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/d0b3c489_bfcd_4c0f_bcd8_db1f81fe761d.jpeg]] |
| 7 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008 Hulk Smash]], [[Film/TheAmazingBulk Bulk Trash]]!]] |
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| 10 | %% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread: |
| 11 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900 |
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| 14 | %% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks! |
| 15 | %% Please put the animated examples in their proper place (e.g. The Incredibles is an animated FILM, so it should go in that folder rather than the Western Animation folder). |
| 16 | %% Page quote proposed in Image Pickin' thread and was brought to General Page Quotes discussion: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=451#comment-11264 |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ->''"New music? Man, all these bands are just ripping off Music/JudasPriest."'' |
| 19 | -->-- '''Otto''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E21MontyCantBuyMeLove Monty Can't Buy Me Love]]" |
| 20 | |
| 21 | There's a high demand for innovation and new ideas, so if a new work has similarities to an older or more popular one, expect those similarities to be the dominant subject in discussion about the work, even if they're entirely superficial. Some people go on to say that if you can't come up with an original idea, don't even bother trying to make the work, despite the fact that most original works get ignored because of lack of advertising or that it's just not something publishers recognize and they're afraid to give it a chance. It's often a Catch-22 when genuine attempts to shake up the market are ignored, whereas StrictlyFormula works fly off the shelves ''because'' of the familiarity, [[CriticalDissonance despite the criticisms of lack of originality]]. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | Of course, many times creators do [[OlderThanTheyThink borrow ideas from another work]] as inspiration to create new stories and concepts. Considering that just about everything has been done, it's difficult to properly think of something new and fresh. This is not always the case, however, as sometimes creators [[FollowTheLeader deliberately try to copy]] a [[CashCowFranchise particular franchise]] as soon as its success becomes evident. They will immediately try to make something to compete -- and most of the time it will fail miserably because it was rushed or just implemented poorly. Other times it might come up with a really cool and ingenious new spin on the idea, and still never reach the same kind of popularity as its competition because somehow being too much like the original is deplorable. |
| 24 | |
| 25 | The error here is the automatic assumption that just because something is ''similar'', it can't have any value on its own merits. If everything that was derivative was that bad, it wouldn't be done so much. Some can actually be quite good on their own. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | This assumption can be infuriating to creators of products that are similar to products being designed simultaneously. Their options are to either reduce the quality of your work in order to get it out first or be written off as a cheap imitation of the competitor's product (which ''they'' probably watered down to be first out of the gate). Many "ripoffs" were in fact in development at the same time, but due to the development window for most modern media, could be released months or even years apart. This can also make the fans of the more "popular" feature look really hypocritical if the alleged victim of ripoffs wasn't all that original to begin with. [[CoveredUp In extreme cases, an older, lesser-known work is accused of copying the more popular work that borrowed from it.]] This is often a huge BerserkButton for fans of the original and the original creator. Has also been known as "The Hydrox Effect" because people assumed that Hydrox was a knock-off of Oreo, even though Hydrox came out in 1908 and Oreo, which came out in 1912, was inspired by Hydrox. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | The absurd extreme of this is when old-timers show off their long memories by dismissing new shows as rehashes of older productions which a lot of the times undermine the vast history of things that came before it outside of SmallReferencePools. The idea this trope exists as much in the modern era is a little sad. Putting it bluntly, if you have the time to be reading this page and having a bad reaction to it, perhaps it's time to learn a little more. The examples below could very well be a nice place to start. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | You'll notice that sometimes this trope is invoked not ''only'' by [[FandomRivalry rival fans]] and [[HateDumb trolly haters]], but people who actually aren't fans of the genre, even so much as [[{{Hatedom}} hating it in its entirety]]. You'll notice that when people are typically not fans of a genre or series, similar to its cousin ItsTheSameNowItSucks. The two almost go hand-in-hand, this way, since a non-fan would not really notice how many subtle differences since, after all, they see it and aren't looking for that stuff, that is, if they actually see the work they're invoking this trope, on. Sometimes people are actually calling out things based upon ''meta-concepts'' of the genre. Expect to see criticisms of this type in the form of a list comparing the two works using broad generalizations. |
| 32 | |
| 33 | Compare OlderThanTheyThink. Compare and sometimes contrast with OnceOriginalNowCommon when the original suffers due to the amount (and sometimes the quality) of similar works released later. Contrast NotSoCheapImitation, when the "copying" work ends up being regarded as superior to its inspiration. Not to be confused with TheyChangedItNowItSucks, where a sequel or an official adaptation changes an aspect of an original work for better or worse. Also not to be confused with ItsTheSameNowItSucks, the polar opposite. |
| 34 | |
| 35 | See also ItsBeenDone and BetterByADifferentName. Related to MediaNotes/{{Plagiarism}}, which takes this trope to its logical extreme by directly ripping off entire unchanged portions of another work. [[AndThatsTerrible And that's a sucky thing to do]]. Not to be confused with ShoddyKnockoffProduct and TheMockbuster, which is for works which ''do'' copy other works and ''do'' suck. |
| 36 | ---- |
| 37 | !!Examples |
| 38 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 39 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 40 | * ''Anime/PokemonRangerAndTheTempleOfTheSea'' is probably more well known nowadays as rehash of the Misty and Togepi arc from ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'', with Manaphy regarding May as its mother throughout the movie. |
| 41 | * ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'''s anime adaptation is often derided as a "poor man's Manga/{{Hellsing}}" by those who have only seen the first episode. Many of them don't realize that the supernatural gunslinging/monster-slaying elements that are introduced in that episode aren't the main focus of the series, nor do they stick around to see the crime drama storytelling direction that the series takes. |
| 42 | * Funnily enough, ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'''s own main character has been criticized for "stealing [[Manga/{{Trigun}} Vash The Stampede's]] outfit". While the author has admitted to [[{{Expy}} borrowing the color scheme and glasses]], he otherwise looks much different from Vash. |
| 43 | * Show the trailer for ''Anime/LastExile'' to any random stranger, and they'll likely respond with either "Looks like a steampunk ''VideoGame/FinalFantasy''." or "Looks a lot like ''Franchise/StarWars'' in steampunk flavor." |
| 44 | * ''Manga/{{Lady}}'' is frequently called a ''Manga/CandyCandy'' ripoff.[[note]] |
| 45 | ** ''Candy Candy'' is set in the US before the First World War. ''Lady!!'' is set in contemporary Britain during the 1920s. |
| 46 | ** Lynn and Candy are kind-hearted girls that draw in people with their selflessness, no matter how much they suffer. |
| 47 | ** Lynn and Candy both live ordinary lives, until one day, they're suddenly thrusted into wealthy families and have to adapt to a ProperLady lifestyle. |
| 48 | ** Both Lynn and Candy have two HateSink step-siblings that frequently abuse them, play tricks on them and try to ruin their lives. They never get punished because they're protected by their WickedStepmother. |
| 49 | ** Both have step-sisters with pink hair who are also {{Alpha Bitch}}es. Said stepsisters also like the same boy they like, and behave as {{Green Eyed Monster}}s towards them. Eliza also has a grey RightHandCat, while Mary has a white one named Prince. |
| 50 | ** Lynn and Candy both fall for a handsome blonde man who rides a white horse, [[spoiler: but both times he was TheNotLoveInterest. Arthur Brighton already had feelings for Sarah, whereas Candy's first love Anthony died at a young age.]][[/note]] Even the author admits to being a huge fan of ''Manga/CandyCandy'' and stated it inspired her to write the manga. |
| 51 | * ''Anime/DuelMasters'': |
| 52 | ** It had this issue in being compared to ''Anime/YuGiOh'' for a good while, and ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' itself is scoffed at by fans of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. Which is interesting, because the author of ''Manga/YuGiOh'' stated on a website that he based the card game in his series on ''Magic the Gathering.'' |
| 53 | ** And the ''TabletopGame/DuelMasters'' card game (yes, there really is such a thing) is in turn produced by Wizards of the Coast, the ''makers'' of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''...which makes a kind of sense since the game really does have more in common with Magic than with ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh''. And, of course, the ''Franchise/DuelMasters'' manga is ''actually'' about Magic...which is what got Wizards interested in the property in the first place. |
| 54 | * When ''[[Anime/SmilePrecure Glitter Force]]'' was licensed by Netflix, many people saw it as a ''Anime/SailorMoon'' clone because they're both MagicalGirl anime. ''Glitter Force'' is the English version of ''Smile! Pretty Cure'', the ''ninth'' installment of ''Anime/PrettyCure'' franchise. |
| 55 | * ''Anime/GunXSword'' is often dismissed as being a ripoff of ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', since they're both {{Space Western}} with a loner protagonist WalkingTheEarth, only there's also HumongousMecha in the latter. Of course, after the first episode, the show leaves the desert and never comes back, quickly distancing itself from any similarities to ''Manga/{{Trigun}}''. |
| 56 | * ''VideoGame/HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe'' constantly gets bashed by reviewers for being ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' with SerialNumbersFiledOff, on the grounds of having exactly the same combination of plot devices[[note]]TrappedInAnotherWorld + FantasyCounterpartCulture + {{Miko}} + TheFourGods + CastFullOfPrettyBoys + GottaCatchThemAll + DebutQueue + ElementalPowers + PersonalityPowers + BodyguardCrush[[/note]] as the basis. Note that ''Haruka'' is originally a [[ShoujoDemographic female-oriented]] DatingSim, for which a premise of a girl getting stuck in a fantasy world with loads of pretty guys as her guardians wouldn't exactly be a bad idea. |
| 57 | * ''Anime/AfroSamurai'' is often accused of stealing the whole "hip-hop meets samurai action" concept also found in ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo''. That is, until you tell them about the [[OlderThanTheyThink original 1999 doujinshi of the same name that served as the framework for the series.]] Furthermore, the "hip-hop meets Asian folklore" concept was around [[OlderThanTheyThink before either series existed]]. |
| 58 | * ''VideoGame/InitialDArcadeStage'' fans like to do this to ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight''. Which is particularly ludicrous, given that Initial D's type of racing (mountain pass) and Wangan Midnight's type of racing (highway) aren't even remotely comparable. Wangan Midnight has more in common with ''VideoGame/OutRun'' or ''Super Bikes'' than ''Initial D''. |
| 59 | * ''Anime/KabaneriOfTheIronFortress'' has a bad reputation for being an obvious rip-off of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' since both were produced by the same [[Creator/ProductionIG studio]] (at least the first 3 seasons), and director, and producer, with the plot being '''extremely''' similar (terrifying man-eating creatures have led humanity to create massive walls to protect themselves, a HotBlooded protagonist who loses his family because of these monsters and later becomes partially a monster himself, a very strong female character fighting beside him, etc.). The fact that both shows have a character voiced by {{Creator/Yuuki Kaji}} doesn't help, as well. |
| 60 | * ''Manga/OutlawStar'' got flack as a supposed rip-off of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', mostly due to both being Creator/{{Sunrise}}-produced {{Space Western}}s with a relatively similar naming convention. Of course, not only do the similarities stop there but ''Manga/OutlawStar'' technically [[OlderThanTheyThink predates]] ''Bebop'' as a manga series, to say nothing of the fact that Outlaw Star the anime began production several months before Cowboy Bebop. |
| 61 | * ''Anime/SCryEd'' is compared to ''ComicBook/XMen'' a ''lot''. Sometimes considered a rip-off entirely and dismissed because of that and more. |
| 62 | ** There was also that TV show called ''Mutant X'', where Mutant X was the name of a team of young adult mutant with superpowers (such as cat-like agility, SuperStrength, [[MindProbe telepathy]], [[{{Intangibility}} density shifting]], the [[ShockAndAwe ability to throw lightning]]), formed by a scientist to defend the mutants and work for their integration in human society while an evil government conspiracy tried to capture or eliminate them and study them. [[ComicBook/XMen Sound familiar?]] |
| 63 | ** ''Film/{{Push}}'' gets similar treatment, despite having far fewer similarities. Most people seem to ignore the fact that superpowers were around before ''ComicBook/XMen''. |
| 64 | ** ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' also gets a lot of this. Though in this case, the show seems to own up to it. For instance, many fans have noted that April looks ''[[ComicBookFantasyCasting a lot]]'' like Creator/HalleBerry's portrayal of [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]]. |
| 65 | * It's hard to think of a post-1992 MagicalGirl anime that ''hasn't'' been condemned as a ''Anime/SailorMoon'' rip-off, with ''Manga/WeddingPeach'' being the most frequent target (and, in fairness, with the most justification). The fact that it and ''Anime/SailorMoon'' had the same character designer doesn't help. What ''did'' help was ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', as people praising it as a MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction had to thus... actually acknowledge MagicalGirl as a genre. However, that didn't break past the general anime fandom, as the ''Glitter Force'' example above got most of its hate from parents and people who weren't quite anime fans but had watched ''Sailor Moon'' as children. |
| 66 | * Many [[MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction dark mahou shoujo series]] like ''Literature/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'' and ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero'' began to get accusations as "rip-off of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''", even if they were openly inspired by ''Madoka'' and apart from atmosphere and cruelty had a completely different setting. |
| 67 | * While not as extreme as other examples of "Anything within the same genre as this is a rip-off" but for a while, in the US a known complaint in Shounen anime is that "if you've seen ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' you have seen any given Shounen anime nowadays". |
| 68 | * ''Anime/LaSeineNoHoshi'' is often derided as a ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'' rip-off amongst English-speaking anime fans. Not helping matters is that the anime also blatantly copies ''Franchise/{{Zorro}}'', and the creators have outright admitted it's also based on the 1963 French movie ''La Tulipe Noir'', to the point one of the main characters is also named "The Black Tulip". |
| 69 | * On that same train of thought, there was a common sentiment in the late 1990s and early 2000s, though less so today, that ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' was nothing more than a ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' copy, and inferior besides. Bringing up one among fans of the other was generally agreed to be a very bad idea; it was considered to be possibly the most heated FandomRivalry of its time. The same was true, to a lesser extent, of other {{Mon}}s series, which would inevitably be referred to as ''Pokémon'' ripoffs (or ''Franchise/{{YuGiOh}}'' ripoffs, if they involve card games) outside of Japan. |
| 70 | * ''Anime/RahXephon'' often gets treated as a cheap knockoff of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', forgetting that ''[=RahXephon=]'' does it on purpose to {{reconstruct|ion}}. Many of the GenreDeconstruction elements present in both shows are tools that have been used as long as the HumongousMecha genre has existed in Japan; the same shows that influenced ''Evangelion''. It also helps to keep in mind that the two shows shared staff (including at least one writer) and that the two directors of the respective shows are friends. |
| 71 | * As soon as ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'' aired, hardcore fans of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' immediately took to bashing the former on social media, calling it an inferior copy. In all fairness, it is very easy to make that comparison, especially when the same [[Creator/ProductionIG studio]] and [[Music/HiroyukiSawano OST composer]] are working on the show, and when official promotional materials for ''Seraph'' stated Wit's desire to make it into another ''[=SnK=]''. |
| 72 | * ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' is often called a ripoff of ''Franchise/DotHack'', though the only real similarity is being trapped in a virtual reality MMO. For the former, it's the premise of the series. For the latter, it's only a handful of characters, and the majority of the plot is barely a blip in the overall game world. In addition, the original web novel of the former was released around the same time the first game of the latter was released, which leads to people on both sides of the debate either saying the timing proves the ripoff, or shows that the premises were simply coincidental. |
| 73 | * ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'' is called an anime ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid''. In the sense that both involve a daughter of a sea deity going onto land. Certain other aspects, such as the girl turning to sea foam if her love is unrequited, are carried over as well. That said, [[Anime/HowlsMovingCastle many]] [[Anime/{{Arrietty}} of]] Creator/StudioGhibli's [[Anime/WhenMarnieWasThere films]] are adaptations of Western books. |
| 74 | * ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'' is an AffectionateParody of the {{Mon}}s genre. You would be amazed at how many negative reviews just don't ''get'' that. |
| 75 | * ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' has been compared with ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' [[HateDumb just because Doraemon has "mon" at the end of its name]]. |
| 76 | * ''Manga/{{Kakegurui}}'' has received many accusations from fans of ''Manga/{{Kaiji}}'' because of the alleged rip-off only on the grounds that both works have TheGamblingAddict as the main setting and studying of human psychology with its help. |
| 77 | * ''Anime/DinosaurKing'' has a stigma of being a blatant ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' knockoff because they're both {{mon}} anime. Much of this belief also stems from the fact it shares several voice English actors with ''Pokémon'' in similar roles, including the protagonist Max sounding like a slightly deeper voiced Ash. |
| 78 | * ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'' was often accused of being secondary to ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' in that it reused the story premise, the two heroines' appearance, and the musical style. This may have resulted in the mediocre popularity of the show; however, some praised ''Madlax'' for being more monolithic and consequent than ''Noir'', owing to all its episodes and subplots being tightly intertwined and held together by the primary plot. |
| 79 | * ''Anime/BuddyDaddies'' has been decried as a knockoff of ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' due to its premise about a pair of assassins having to adopt and raise a young girl, as well as certain similarities in the designs of analogous characters: Kazuki to Loid, Rei to Yor, and Miri to Anya. |
| 80 | [[/folder]] |
| 81 | |
| 82 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 83 | * Some people hate ''Animation/PakdamPakdai'' due to it basically being a cheaper version of ''WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroaches''. On that note, ''Pakdam Pakdai'' takes major inspiration from ''Oggy'' due to the latter being [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff popular in India]], the country ''Pakdam Pakdai'' comes from. |
| 84 | * The ''Manhua/LittleCherry'' 2008 cartoon from China has been accused of copying ''Manga/ChibiMarukoChan'' for its character names and premise. The former's name in Chinese (Xiao Ying Tao), which has been used since the comics' beginning a decade earlier, is very similar to the latter's name (Yingtao Xiao Wanzi). However, the former has been distinguished by its popular culture references, slapstick, adult jokes in the preceding Flash animation adaptation, and fantasy settings in the later seasons and comics. |
| 85 | * The Chinese cartoon ''Animation/MiracleStar'' has been accused of copying ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' due to its use of an identical art style and even recreating scenes from actual ''Gumball'' episodes. When the original creators found out, they got their own back by making the episode "The Copycats", where Gumball and his family encounter their ''Miracle Star'' counterparts. |
| 86 | * Some feel that ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'' is a rip-off of ''Franchise/TomAndJerry'' (due to sharing the same concept of SapientEatSapient with slapstick humor) and/or ''WesternAnimation/{{The Smurfs|1981}}'' (due to the main characters having similar personalities) and does the formula worse due to BlackAndWhiteMorality. |
| 87 | * ''Animation/FlowerAngel'' gets some flak since, at least in its first season, it exhibits a number of similarities to ''Anime/CardcaptorSakura'' in its episode formula (a magical girl protagonist and her cute non-human sidekick go around capturing cards/fairies). |
| 88 | * Many viewers accuse ''Animation/BalalaTheFairies'' of being a ripoff of ''Anime/PrettyCure''. Seeing as some parts of the {{Transformation Sequence}}s are copied frame-by-frame from several ''Precure'' seasons' own transformation sequences, the accusation is not exactly baseless. |
| 89 | [[/folder]] |
| 90 | |
| 91 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 92 | * ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} from Marvel is somehow accused of ripping off [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] from DC because they have the same name. |
| 93 | ** Don't get anyone started on [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}. |
| 94 | ** Or ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and ComicBook/GreenArrow. |
| 95 | ** Or ComicBook/GhostRider and ComicBook/{{Spawn}} (who is more a composite of the rider and Spider-Man villain Venom). |
| 96 | ** The Captain Marvel thing has led to several lawsuits back and forth between DC and Marvel. This is part of the reason that DC's Captain Marvel's comic is called [[IAmNotShazam SHAZAM!]] with the well known [[IAmNotShazam unfortunate consequences]]. |
| 97 | ** ''Before'' DC owned the "Shazam!" Captain Marvel, they successfully sued Creator/FawcettComics on the grounds that they invented the caped FlyingBrick. That Cap was a very different character beyond that didn't occur to them until they owned him, and suddenly realised there was room for both Big Blue and Big Red ''in the same universe''. |
| 98 | * The ComicBook/XMen are sometimes called a rip-off of ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'', as both series feature a group of superpowered "freaks" put together by a man in a wheelchair. However, the X-Men debuted only three months after the Doom Patrol. Some like to argue that the long publishing lead times comics had during that era makes any similarities coincidental but considering the Doom Patrol had obvious similarities to the older ComicBook/FantasticFour, it's just as likely DC decided to crib from Marvel and Marvel cribbed right back. |
| 99 | * Many of Creator/RobLiefeld's works were clearly "influenced by" similar Marvel and DC properties. This—among other things—gave Liefeld haters just that much more ammunition. |
| 100 | ** ''ComicBook/YoungbloodImageComics'' is the remnant of a Comicbook/TeenTitans spin-off Liefeld had created. The character of Shaft is clearly a CaptainErsatz of ComicBook/GreenArrow's sidekick Speedy. That said, Marvel properties also found themselves duplicated in the pages of ''Youngblood'' and it doesn't take much that Cougar is essentially a repaint of [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] or that Sentinel is either [[Characters/MarvelComicsTonyStark Iron Man]] or [[Characters/IronManHeroes War Machine]] without the helmet. |
| 101 | ** Then there's Glory: Franchise/WonderWoman with white hair. |
| 102 | ** His Fighting American reboot went so far as to ''[[DolledUpInstallment recycle art and character designs]]'' from his short-lived ComicBook/HeroesReborn ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' run. You can guess how the critics reacted. |
| 103 | * One of the criticisms of ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' is it's pretty blatantly trying to cash in on ''Film/TheHungerGames''. Not that it's the [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter only criticism]]. The covers of the early issues were [[HomageShot homages]] to works like ''Film/BattleRoyale'', ''Hunger Games'', and ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'', and Arcade even flat-out states ''[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall in-universe]]'' that he stole the idea from a book. |
| 104 | * ''ComicBook/RoyalRoy'' was Marvel's answer to Harvey Comics' ''ComicBook/RichieRich''. Other than the title character being a prince of some fictional kingdom, the similarities between Roy and Richie was so much it prompted Harvey to sue Creator/StarComics for copyright infringement. |
| 105 | * Combining with SelfPlagiarism, many detractors have said that Creator/ScottSnyder and Greg Capullo's ''ComicBook/BatmanEndgame'' is more or less a reheat of their earlier story [[spoiler: ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'', including both stories having [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] as the BigBad. Both stories feature the Joker scaring everyone, dispersing Joker Venom in a fashion that infects many people in Gotham (this time as a virus), having Batman's allies Jokerized and used as weapons against him (The Bat-Family in ''[=DotF=]'', the Justice League in ''Endgame''), invading the Batcave, doing all of this out of a HoYay sense of WomanScorned (and being ItsAllAboutMe, {{rage quit}}ting because of the events of ''[=DotF=]''), being pretty much unstoppable for a good chunk of the story. Both also have a {{bittersweet ending}} (''[=DotF=]'' ending with the Bat-Family disbanding, ''Endgame'' ending with Batman missing and presumed dead)]] |
| 106 | * Devin Grayson's ''ComicBook/{{Nightwing}}'' arc known as "Nightwing: Alone". Or—as its detractors call it—''[[ComicBook/BornAgain Born Again 2:]] [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo Electric Boogaloo]]''. Not that lifting ''Born Again'' wholesale in and of itself was the problem. It was that, possibly save Superman himself, Nightwing was the least-suited A-list character in the DCU to do that kind of storyline, and Grayson did not adjust the story at all to account for that. For instance, Kingpin {{expy}} [[BigBad Blockbuster]] threatened to destroy all of Dick's loved ones. Those loved ones included [[Characters/TeenTitansStarfire Starfire]], a FlyingBrick who cold turn Blockbuster into dog food and ''Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} himself.'' |
| 107 | * Back in the days when the concept of intellectual property was non-existent in communist Vietnam, there was a comic book series known as ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_Hesman Dũng sĩ Hesman]]'', a ripoff of the ''Anime/{{Voltron}}'' franchise. This ripoff is blatantly, unapologetically bad: it's exactly Voltron, rebranded as "Hesman", "reimagined" by way of bastardizing, and commercialized without permission or even knowledge of the IP owners. One notable distinctive quality about Hesman is that he was hilariously [[NoWaterProofingInTheFuture vulnerable to water]] despite being a futuristic hi-tech robot and all. |
| 108 | [[/folder]] |
| 109 | |
| 110 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 111 | * ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' took a lot of flak for its many similarities to ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' early on, before Berke Breathed established [[ArtEvolution his own unique style]]. |
| 112 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Buckles}}'' has gotten this reaction from most comic strip readers, who believe it copied ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''. |
| 113 | [[/folder]] |
| 114 | |
| 115 | [[folder:Disney]] |
| 116 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'' are both accused of ripping off the other one. The latter went through DevelopmentHell (and Aladdin itself wasn't exactly sitting in Development Heaven, so that's saying something), so it was only ''released'' after Aladdin, and in a heavily meddled-with cut at that, making ''it'' look like the rip-off to people who didn't know that it was in production long before ''Aladdin'' was. |
| 117 | * ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' sometimes gets called a ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' rip-off, even though all they had in common was that they are about a HalfHumanHybrid with supernatural powers. If that wasn't crazy enough, the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' fans then began to accuse ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' of being a rip-off, though at least ''that'' had the excuse that the two shows actually shared a premise and aired [[DuelingWorks roughly the same time]]. For the record though, it's purely a coincidence—those who worked on ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' had never even heard of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' until the rip-off complaints came in. |
| 118 | * ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' would also have produced less ranting if Disney had simply admitted (with no shame required really) that their character concepts were based from ''Anime/NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater''. There was a counter-argument that ''Nadia'' itself had characters and concepts copied from other shows, including western shows. ''Atlantis'', from start to finish, was also like the ''Stargate'' movie. The creators have admitted to taking a good deal from ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea''. |
| 119 | * ''WesternAnimation/Cars1'' received some mild bashing for being ''Film/DocHollywood'' [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE with automobiles]]—not enough to dent Creator/{{Pixar}}'s track record, though. Probably because it wasn't original when ''Doc Hollywood'' did it. It's a standard Hollywood formula. |
| 120 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'' has received some rather unfair hatred from a lot of people who accuse it of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'' solely because both films are set during Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and feature music-loving protagonists. Nevermind the fact that ''Coco'' [[OlderThanTheyThink was already in production]] when ''The Book of Life'' came out and that director Jorge Gutierrez has stated to be excited for the film. |
| 121 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' bears glaring similarity to ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'' with Dinosaur's gorgeous GGI animation being one of the only characteristics that distinguishes it from the latter. The main characters of the film include a sauropod, a ceratopsian, and a mute armored dinosaur who decide to stay with one another (and avoid predators) while migrating to a greener place following the destruction of their home. Critic Desson Howe of The Washngton Post had the following to say in his review of the film: |
| 122 | -->'''Howe:''' Okay. So they spent good money, used up disc space and took their time mounting the awesome special effects. And awesome they are. We're talking very realistic, raging, screaming, tail-whiplashing creatures.But all they did for the script, apparently, was to download "The Land Before Time." As with the Don Bluth movie, a group of dinosaurs escapes carnage and destruction for the promise of lush, green nesting grounds. End of story. Basically, "Dinosaur" depends entirely on its scaly stars, technical glitz and BIG LOUD SOUND EFFECTS for entertainment value. |
| 123 | * Some have accused ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' of being like ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' or ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' due to the idea of kids meeting supernatural for the former and the kid's mystery show of the latter. ''Gravity Falls'' is generally more serious than ''Billy And Mandy'' while also darker than ''Scooby-Doo'' (though ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' comes close). |
| 124 | * Despite good critical reception, ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' was scoffed at for being a ripoff of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' (rather than as it was clearly intended, an [[AffectionateParody affectionate]] [[SatireParodyPastiche pastiche]]), considering three of the family members have the same powers save for Dash. The costumes in the film have also been noted for looking similar to ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}''. In fact, Syndrome himself is said to bear some resemblance to the title character (mostly with the hairstyle). On the other hand, given the negative reception of the ''Fantastic Four'' movies, it is often joked as the best ''Fantastic Four'' movie ever made. |
| 125 | * ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' did not do as well in Japan as it did in other countries because many Japanese netizens [[http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/04/20/disney-pixars-new-movie-attracts-criticism-again-in-japan/ thought that it was a rip-off]] of ''Manga/PoisonBerryInMyBrain'', which had a movie adaptation come out two months earlier. |
| 126 | * ''Just a Thought'', a short made for Disney's Short Circuit program, has been criticized for plagiarizing ''WebAnimation/InAHeartbeat'' using a straight couple instead of a gay couple. |
| 127 | * There's a rather large controversy on the (Internet regarding whether or not ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' is a rip-off of the classic anime series ''Anime/KimbaTheWhiteLion''. This was even referenced in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' in which Mufasa appears in the clouds to Lisa and says, "You must avenge my death, Kimba...I mean—[[LastSecondWordSwap Simba]]." (ItMakesSenseInContext) One of the arguments against this being that it's more ''Hamlet'' with lions. |
| 128 | ** This viewpoint is discussed and criticized by Adam of ''WebVideo/YourMovieSucksDotOrg'' in the [[https://youtu.be/G5B1mIfQuo4 video]] about the "Kimba Crowd" that bashes ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' for supposedly copying elements from ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion''. It argues that the comparisons between the two works are misleading (and in several cases poorly researched)—the "plagiarized" elements are just superficial similarities and common tropes that both of the works happen to use. He also argues that the accusations of plagiarism are not just an insult to the talented people who worked on ''TLK'', but also a disservice to ''Kimba''—they give the impression that ''Kimba'' is so much like ''TLK'' that it's not worth checking out if you've already watched ''TLK''. Of course, this didn't stop people from accusing ''TLK'' to be a rip-off of ''Kimba'' anyway. |
| 129 | * Many people compare ''WesternAnimation/RayaAndTheLastDragon'' to ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' simply by virtue of it being an Asian-inspired fantasy work, as if that alone were enough to make it a ripoff. But even if one ''ignores'' the shared cultural aspects of the two works, there are a number of uncanny similarities between them—the world being divided into multiple nations that once lived in harmony, the wildlife consisting of MixAndMatchCritters, one of which is the main character's mount, plus a comic-relief creature resembling a monkey, a magical being who once kept the balance between the nations and is the [[LastOfHisKind Last of Their Kind]], [[spoiler: a villain who seeks said magical being but does a HeelFaceTurn]], and a little girl who is secretly a PintSizedPowerhouse. Many ''Avatar'' fans therefore consider ''Raya'' to be a second-rate imitation of the series, held back by its adherence to Disney's formula and missing the maturity and nuance that made ''Avatar'' good. |
| 130 | * A common complaint against ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' is just that it's simply ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' in TheWildWest. Tonto is Jack, The Lone Ranger is Will Turner, The Royal Navy replaced by the U.S Cavalry, etc. As in "Creator/JohnnyDepp is Johnny Depp" and "Virtually every movie with Depp becomes a comedy about him". |
| 131 | * {{Defied|Trope}} with ''Newt'', a planned film that Creator/{{Pixar}} cancelled due to its premise being too similar to ''WesternAnimation/{{Rio}}''. |
| 132 | * ''[[WesternAnimation/WallE WALL•E]]'' has been accused of copying the premise of the film ''{{Film/Idiocracy}}'', while portraying a future where mankind has become obese and indolent. In addition, for some people, the design of the protagonist would have been copied from the robot Johnny 5 of the movie ''Film/ShortCircuit''. |
| 133 | [[/folder]] |
| 134 | |
| 135 | [[folder:Eastern European Animation]] |
| 136 | * Some westerners deride ''Animation/NuPogodi'' for being a Soviet knockoff of ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'', due to following a similar chase formula. The creators of ''Nu, Pogodi!'' deny this, noting that none of them could see ''Tom & Jerry'' behind the Iron Curtain. |
| 137 | [[/folder]] |
| 138 | |
| 139 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 140 | * ''Fanfic/SuperSmashBrosTheAnimatedSeries'' very obviously rips off [=SMG4=], except without any of the humor value. |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 144 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Beowulf|2007}}'' was wrongfully accused of trying to rip off ''Film/ThreeHundred'' because of the main character's signature phrase ''"I AM BEOWULF!"'' is somehow similar to ''"THIS IS SPARTAA!!!"'' How that becomes ''ripoff material'' [[FanMyopia is beyond some people.]] Let's also recall that [[PunctuatedForEmphasis we have an entire page full of examples of people yelling that way]], and that ''Beowulf'' [[ProductionLeadTime was filmed first, anyway.]] |
| 145 | * Creator/DreamWorksAnimation was commonly seen this way early on in its history; the worst offenders were ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/SharkTale'', respectively seen as copies of Disney/Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' and ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' (it didn't help that [[DuelingWorks the former examples came out in the same year]]). Comparisons between ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' and ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' (or ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc''), ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' (the latter is a Warner Bros. film, of course), and even ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' and ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'' are also common. This eventually faded, however, as [=DreamWorks=] [[GrowingTheBeard developed its own identity]] and shook off its reputation of being a maker of Disney and other animation studios rip-offs, with ''WesternAnimation/{{How to Train Your Dragon|2010}}'' being a SpiritualSuccessor to ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' (right down to [[Creator/ChrisSanders sharing]] [[Creator/DeanDeblois directors]]). This has shown some signs of coming back with ''WesternAnimation/RubyGillmanTeenageKraken'' being accused of being derivative of ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' (right down to the central family in the former film claiming to be Canadian whereas that of the latter actually are) and ''WesternAnimation/{{Luca}}'' (given that they both star sea monsters who are disguised as humans). |
| 146 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameGoldenFilms'' has been widely panned for many reasons. One of them is that the villain is a carbon copy of Gaston from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''. |
| 147 | * ''WesternAnimation/PenguinsOfMadagascar'' was accused of copying the plot of ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'': In both films there was a villain whose plot involved turning friendly characters into monsters, using a potion for that. Still, the North Wind Organization was seen as a rip-off of the Anti-Villain League. |
| 148 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie'' has actually become infamous for this. It's been criticized for blatantly ripping off ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'', ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' [[note]]both for the same reason: the film centers around exploring the inside of a smartphone and how the characters (being emojis and other phone-related stuff) function in it, which is pretty much what IO and [=WiR=] did only with emotions and video games respectively[[/note]], ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' [[note]]due to the similar-sounding title and the fact that one of the characters, Jailbreak, strongly resembles Wyldstyle[[/note]] and even ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'' [[note]]Jailbreak, again, also resembles the character Chloe Price[[/note]]. |
| 149 | * The direct-to-video ''WesternAnimation/JosephKingOfDreams'' was often disregarded as a cheap foreign knock-off of ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'', until audiences realized that it was made by [[Creator/DreamWorksAnimation the same production company]], and moreover received good reviews. The Ben Affleck vehicle was simply a result of [=DreamWorks'=] success with ''Prince of Egypt'' giving them the ability to run a much lower-budget, higher-margin sequel in ''Joseph''. |
| 150 | * ''WesternAnimation/Luck2022'': One of the biggest criticisms aimed at the film from critics and viewers was how it tried a bit too hard at replicating Creator/{{Pixar}} and their films in terms of its themes and setting, right down to having an identical art style. It didn't help that the film came out at a point in which animation studios were starting to divert away from replicating Pixar's style in favor of more unique and experimental styles that have been very well-received across the board, making ''Luck'''s attempts at channeling Pixar all the more egregious. Of course, much of this can be boiled down to the film being done by several former staff members at Disney/Pixar, on top of Skydance Animation being headed by former Pixar head honcho Creator/JohnLasseter. |
| 151 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretLifeOfPets'' was ridiculed during its advertising phase as a bland ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' clone. While they do share certain plot and premise similarities, the overall tone of the films are actually rather different. ''Secret Life of Pets'', for example, uses a lot of BlackComedy, where ''Toy Story'' has hardly any. |
| 152 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Sing}}'' was in some circles accused of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'' as the films were released mere months apart from each other, even though the only true similarity between the two is that they both take place in a WorldOfFunnyAnimals. And ''Sing's'' production was far more consistent compared to ''Zootopia's'', which had a tendency to change its premise and character focus repeatedly, so the possibility of the former taking ideas from the latter seems pretty slim. |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | |
| 155 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 156 | * ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', so much so that they once had an entire section dedicated to this trope on the Trivia page. |
| 157 | * ''Film/CoolWorld'' by Creator/RalphBakshi, had been riddled with bad reviews for mainly trying to copy ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' because it used the same [[RogerRabbitEffect real-world/cartoon integration special effects]]. |
| 158 | * Creator/GeorgeARomero's ''Film/DiaryOfTheDead'' had the misfortune of being released barely three months after the Spanish film ''Film/{{REC}}'', which was also was about a zombie outbreak shot in POV-style that was done very effectively. It also had to compete with the POV monster film ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'', released barely a month before. |
| 159 | ** All three have the misfortune of being released nine years after box-office hit ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'', the film which against nearly all point-of-view and "found footage" movies are judged. |
| 160 | * Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse |
| 161 | ** Some viewers noticed that ''Film/ManOfSteel'' followed ''Film/BatmanBegins'''s steps way too closely, as it not only imitated said films path for its hero (such as traveling the world to find one's self) but also elements such as the anachronistic order, the WellIntentionedExtremist villain who attacks the hero's home (Gotham/Earth) with a device that alters the environment, the function of Lois Lane and Rachel Dawes and the relationship between the hero and the Government (specially between the trustworthy Gordon/Hardy and the skeptical Loeb/Swanwick). It doesn't help that both films share a screenwriter (David Goyer) and a producer (Creator/ChristopherNolan). |
| 162 | ** The secondary villain of ''Film/WonderWoman1984'', Barbara Minerva/Cheetah, is a nerd who becomes fixated on the hero, only to be consumed by jealousy and become their enemy once they gain powers—just like Catwoman in ''Film/BatmanReturns'', the Riddler in ''Film/BatmanForever'', Syndrome in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', Electro in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' and Killian in ''Film/IronMan3''. Even the PlayingAgainstType casting of Creator/KristenWiig (a comic actor) is similar to Creator/JimCarrey playing the Riddler or Creator/JasonLee playing Syndrome. |
| 163 | * Thanks to its very similar plot and the casting of Creator/TommyLeeJones, most reviews of ''Film/DoubleJeopardy'' compared it to ''Film/TheFugitive'', and ''not'' in a flattering way. |
| 164 | * The 2000s ''Film/{{Fantastic Four|2005}}'' movies have been accused of ripping off Creator/SamRaimi's ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', notably for copying the grounded yet campy tone of Raimi's films and changing the character Doctor Doom into a Norman Osborn knock-off. |
| 165 | * The ''Film/ForrestGump'' vs. ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' debate. Both are written by the same screenwriter and detail the life of men with some sort of handicap that have similar story elements (chasing after the woman of their dreams, encountering various people, [[spoiler: the possibility of having a child with a similar handicap]] and feature innovative SpecialEffects. Both have their individual merits. |
| 166 | * One of the most common criticisms regarding the first American remake of ''Film/{{Godzilla|1998}}'' was that the plot was essentially a rip-off of ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'' (IE: Giant reptile goes to New York to breed) with hints of ''Franchise/KingKong'', ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' and ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' thrown in for good measure rather than, well, a ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' movie. The biggest source of criticisms in this regard are Godzilla's offspring, which look and act ''extremely'' similar to the raptors in ''Jurassic Park''. |
| 167 | * With the release of ''Film/TheHungerGames'' movie comes the inevitable comparisons to ''Film/BattleRoyale.'' It's relatively rare to find ''Film/BattleRoyale'' compared to the earlier ''Film/TheRunningMan'' because then we'd have to acknowledge that it's possible for a work to be good without being especially original. And somehow, practically nobody notices the plot elements borrowed from ''Film/SoylentGreen'' (the starvation and overpopulation thing, not the "it's made from people!" thing, which wasn't the main point of the film and wasn't a plot point ''at all'' in the [[Literature/MakeRoomMakeRoom original novel]]). This went the other way around when other YA Dystopia novels started getting adaptations. ''Literature/TheMazeRunner'' and ''{{Literature/Divergent}}'' got a large amount of hate for similarities to ''The Hunger Games''. |
| 168 | * ''Film/TheIsland2005'' is frequently accused of ripping-off the extremely obscure TV movie ''Film/{{Clonus}}'', mostly known for being featured on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. After [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] fans compiled a list of a hundred similarities between the movie, ''Clonus'' producer Robert S. Fiveson would sue Dreamworks and a court would rule that he had a prima facie case of infringement. Before the case went to trial, Dreamworks would settle privately out of court. |
| 169 | * Do ''not'' ever start drawing comparisons between the new ''Film/JamesBond'' series (starting with ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'') and the [[Film/TheBourneSeries Jason Bourne films]] in front of a large group of Bond fans. Half will agree with you and the other half will ''unleash the fury''. ''Film/QuantumOfSolace'' is a particular sore point, as those who don't like the movie will point out it feels like a ''Bourne'' masquerading as a 007 movie. |
| 170 | ** Then there's [[Film/TheTransporter Frank Martin]], described by one reviewer as "a sort of third-party international man of mystery for those who think James Bond is too effete and Jason Bourne just doesn't have enough chest hair." |
| 171 | ** While on Bond, the unofficial ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain'', which as Website/TheAgonyBooth's Mr. Mendo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF_xQxPuadA put]]: |
| 172 | -->"If this looks like a ripoff of [[Film/{{Thunderball}} a better Bond film]]... [[RecycledScript it's because it is]]!" |
| 173 | * Any movie whose scenes remotely resemble "BulletTime" after ''Film/TheMatrix'' suffer from this: |
| 174 | ** A lot of people figured ''Film/TheOne'' was just a rip off of ''The Matrix'', only with Creator/JetLi and more bullet time sequences. Considering that it came out practically soon after the first Matrix film and uses many of the same conventions, it was bound to be met with a little negativity, regardless of the fact that the two movies could not be more different. |
| 175 | ** In the DVD commentary for ''Film/{{Blade|1998}}'' it's pointed out (tongue-in-cheek) that they used a Bullet Time scene first, so these should be regarded as ''Blade'' rip-offs. |
| 176 | ** When ''Film/TheMatrix'' was new, there was a small but vocal minority that dismissed it due to some thematic and aesthetic similarities with ''Film/DarkCity''. |
| 177 | ** The GunKata fighting style, the themes of anti-conformity, and the Neo-like wardrobe of Christian Bale's character in ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' made many reviewers draw comparisons to ''The Matrix''. |
| 178 | * ''Film/Leviathan1989'': The chief criticisms of the film is the fact the basic plot is ''Film/{{Alien}}'' meets ''Film/TheThing1982'', except underwater, with little originality beyond that. The fact it came out very close to two other underwater sci-fi movies, ''Film/TheAbyss'' and ''Film/DeepStarSix'', definitely did not help, leading it to be critically thrashed and become a BoxOfficeBomb. |
| 179 | * Thousands of people wrote off the 2009 horror film ''Film/{{Orphan}}'' for ripping off ''Film/TheGoodSon'', acting as if a beloved, many decades-old classic had been violated. This hilariously overlooked the fact that ''The Good Son'' was an obscure, poorly received film except for those who made joking ''Film/HomeAlone'' references to it because Creator/MacaulayCulkin played that film's villain. But when ''Orphan'' came out, suddenly people began acting as if ''The Good Son'' was one of the most popular and beloved films of all time, and that ''Orphan'' was some kind of abomination. What these people overlooked was that both films are predated by ''Film/TheBadSeed1956'', which came out literally [[OlderThanTheyThink decades]] prior, and that all subsequent [[CreepyChild "Evil Child"]] films are derivative of that film, and that Orphan, in fact, is probably the most original of them, and that the similarities between the films are completely undone by Orphan's twist ending. The likely explanation is that the trolls responsible had little knowledge of cinema predating the late '80s-'90s, and thus, remembering ''The Good Son'', thought they were making a brilliant discovery and were eager to become "famous" for pointing it out. |
| 180 | * Creator/GusVanSant's remake of the horror classic ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' got this response by critics and fans. The was because the film was a shot by shot updated version in color with no difference at all from the original film unlike most remakes which have some things different or changed from the original. Also, Vince Vaughn, who played Norman Bates was not nearly as creepy or convincing as Anthony Perkins in the original film. There is a reason you [[FanonDiscontinuity hardly hear anything]] about the remake of the film. |
| 181 | * The Creator/JudeLaw action vehicle ''Film/RepoMen'' has drawn some rather unhappy comparisons to ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera''. |
| 182 | * ''Film/ReservoirDogs ''has been accused of being rather similar in terms of plot, dialogue, and characters to the film ''City On Fire''. However, this is rather debatable if you compare scenes from both movies back to back. |
| 183 | * The movie ''Film/SafeHaven'' has been accused of ripping off ''Film/SleepingWithTheEnemy'' due to some very similar elements—heroine catching a bus away from her abusive husband during a rainstorm, taking refuge in a small, picturesque town, her husband finding her and stalking her through the local festivities, etc. |
| 184 | ** For that matter, ''Film/{{Enough}}'' has received criticism for the same reason regarding its similarities to the latter film (wealthy, abusive ControlFreak husband, housewife going on the run, she changes identity, she falls for someone else who helps her, [[spoiler: an ultimate showdown with the husband where he ends up dead, etc.)]] Not helping anything is the fact that both films air routinely on Creator/{{Lifetime}}. |
| 185 | * ''Film/ShakespeareInLove'' was accused of being an unacknowledged adaptation of the mid-20th-century novel ''No Bed For Bacon'' by Caryl Brahms and S J Simon. |
| 186 | * ''Film/Smile2022'' was noted for its plot regarding a fatal curse being heavily reminiscent of ''Film/ItFollows'' and ''Film/TheRing''. Even the "entity makes its presence known with [[CheshireCatGrin creepy smiles]]" had appeared a few years prior in ''Film/TruthOrDare2018''. |
| 187 | * ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'''s first movie poster was accused of being a rip-off of posters for ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. After the film came out many ''Star Trek'' fans were upset with how much this film tried to replicate previous ''Star Trek'' stories "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E11Homefront Homefront]]", "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E12ParadiseLost Paradise Lost]]" and the beloved ''[[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Wrath of Khan]]''. |
| 188 | * The 2011 movie ''Film/TheTallMan'' is about [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos a tall, humanoid figure that kidnaps children.]] There's (perfectly plausible) rumors going around that this movie's ''concept'' actually came before Slender Man, but don't expect any of his fans from /x/ to hear a word of it. |
| 189 | * ''Film/ThirteenGoingOnThirty'' has often been criticized for ripping off ''Film/{{Big}}''—completely disregarding the fact that the former has TimeTravel in it, while the latter didn't. It'd be overly generous to say this means the two are ''nothing'' alike, but several other movies have also used the OvernightAgeUp plot (obviously, seeing how it's a trope), and one of them even came out the same year as ''Big''. Its title, incidentally, was '''''[[Film/FourteenGoingOnThirty 14]]''' [[Film/FourteenGoingOnThirty Going on 30]]''. |
| 190 | * The Creator/RobinWilliams movie ''Film/{{Jack|1996}}'' was accused of ripping off ''Big'' as well. This was mostly by people who never saw the actual movie, [[NeverTrustATrailer just the trailers]]. ''Big'' is a comedy about a kid becoming an adult through magic, ''Jack'' is a ''drama'' about a kid who ages very rapidly because of a disorder. |
| 191 | * ''Film/{{Zathura}}'' had been scoffed at largely as a ''Film/{{Jumanji}}'' ripoff. Presumably then, the people who think this didn't know both films [[SpiritualSuccessor were based on books written by the same person]], and then in the ''Zathura'' novel the Zathura game was found in the same box as the Jumanji game. Of course, even if not a rip-off, it is still JustForFun/RecycledInSpace. |
| 192 | * ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' listed this among the [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-common-movie-arguments-that-are-always-wrong/#ixzz1tUF4XdFL 6 Common Movie Arguments That Are Always Wrong]] (#4). |
| 193 | * Despite [[OlderThanYouThink parody movies having been done back in the dawn of cinematic history]], a lot of the newer ones are long forgotten for trying to cash in on ''Film/ScaryMovie''. |
| 194 | * For a time, anything that was in the Sci-fi genre was automatically considered to be a rip-off of ''Franchise/StarWars''. Regardless of whether if it was the least bit deserving or not. Amusingly, ''Star Wars'' itself is explicitly based on the [[TheHerosJourney The Hero Cycle]], a pattern of storytelling that has been observed occurring in independent cultures for thousands of years, so even ''Star Wars'' [[OlderThanYouThink isn't all that original.]] |
| 195 | * Name a movie, and the odds are that someone has derided it for elements it shares with another film (even if both were being shot concurrently and thus couldn't copy each other). For example, the train fight in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' is accused of being a rip-off of the one in ''Film/SpiderMan2'', and many Disney films are accused of plagiarizing from anime, the latter of which is ironic because Walt Disney's style inspired early anime and manga and that Disney has "plagiarized" from many other sources that hardly get fussed over. |
| 196 | * ''Film/PacificRim'': |
| 197 | ** It received a lot of flack from anime fans due to similarities to the plot of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' (both are about emotionally-damaged pilots using giant robots to fight off invading aliens). These criticisms tend to ignore that ''Eva'' was not the first anime to have that basic premise (and was explicitly inspired by works like ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon''), and that Creator/GuillermoDelToro has stated that ''he's never even watched Evangelion''. |
| 198 | ** Many mainstream audience members also called the movie a rip-off of the ''Film/{{Transformers|FilmSeries}}'' franchise, despite having literally nothing in common with those movies other than having robots in some capacity. |
| 199 | ** [[https://1-media-cdn.foolz.us/ffuuka/board/m/image/1373/03/1373033170477.png This collage of print screens of online comments]] shows newer casual audiences comparing it to ''Transformers'', newer anime audiences comparing it to ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', older anime audiences comparing it to ''Evangelion'', older casual audiences comparing it to ''Film/RobotJox'' and Hispanic audiences comparing it to the anime ''Mazinger Z'' (it is hugely popular there). Talk about TheGenerationGap. At the bottom right, surrounded by anime screenshots as reaction to the ignorance of the other comments shows Creator/GuillermoDelToro's answer to an online Q&A about ''Film/PacificRim'' stating he cites many works as his influences but ''Evangelion'' is not one of them. |
| 200 | * The 2007 movie ''Film/{{Disturbia}}'' was criticized by some as being a rip-off of the Creator/AlfredHitchcock classic ''Film/RearWindow'', even leading to a copyright infringement lawsuit by the copyright holders of the original source material for ''Rear Window''. While the film was never expressly marketed as a direct remake of ''Rear Window'', in interviews executive producer Creator/StevenSpielberg and lead actor Creator/ShiaLaBeouf admitted they both studied ''Rear Window'' extensively in preparation for the film. |
| 201 | * The Wayans brothers' ''Film/LittleMan'', a movie about a pint-sized criminal who masquerades as a baby to retrieve a diamond he had stolen that ended up in the hands of an unsuspecting couple, has been accused of ripping off the plot of a WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon, "Baby Buggy Bunny". As a result, the movie ended up winning a UsefulNotes/GoldenRaspberryAward for Worst Remake/Rip-Off. |
| 202 | * Pick a SlasherMovie. Webvideo/TheCinemaSnob even says that calling a slasher "''Film/{{Halloween|1978}}'' rip-off" is like comparing all movies with killers in the jungle to ''Franchise/FridayThe13th''. |
| 203 | * ''Film/SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman'' got some criticism for allegedly copying ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', although the only real similarity is that a white stag appears as a representation of the forest spirit. The director is actually a fan of the anime, which served as a visual reference for the film, and the stag scene is a direct ShoutOut to it. |
| 204 | * A rare example of this getting actual legal backing involved the 2012 SF action movie ''Film/{{Lockout}}'', which was widely criticised for its JustForFun/RecycledInSpace similarity to ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''. Creator/JohnCarpenter, the writer-director of the earlier film, successfully sued the ''Lockout'' producers in France for copyright infringement. |
| 205 | * ''Film/TheRoommate'' was criticised for copying ''Film/SingleWhiteFemale''. The director denied this was the case, but it's hard to take this seriously when at least one scene is lifted frame for frame from the latter. |
| 206 | * Some viewers have accused ''Film/{{Bloodthirsty}}'' of being a ripoff of ''Film/{{Raw}}'', with the premise of a vegan/vegetarian developing a thirst for blood and flesh and a reveal that ItRunsInTheFamily (though ''Bloodthirsty'' protagonist Grey's is more [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent supernatural]]), all the way down to [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTU3MDUxMDI0MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzk3OTg3MDI@._V1_.jpg identical]] [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMGYxMjgxYzItNGZhYS00ZDEzLTkyNTgtMGU2MWVlZjdlYWM3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjI0MDI1NTc@._V1_.jpg posters]]. |
| 207 | * A common criticism of ''Film/BulletTrain'' is that it's too reminiscent of the styles of Creator/QuentinTarantino and Creator/GuyRitchie (''Film/PulpFiction'', ''Film/KillBill'', and ''Film/{{Snatch}}'' are the most common films used for comparison), with several critics comparing it to the movies made by the many Tarantino wannabes and imitators that dominated the film festival circuit in the late 90s. |
| 208 | [[/folder]] |
| 209 | |
| 210 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 211 | * One complaint that some readers of ''Literature/TheColdMoons'' have is that it's too close to ''Literature/WatershipDown''. They're both about British wildlife running from human danger, but one is about badgers and the other is about rabbits. |
| 212 | * Mentioning ''Literature/TheHost2008'' in Literature/{{Animorphs}} or [[Series/StargateSG1 Stargate]] fan circles is generally a bad idea. |
| 213 | * ''Literature/HowOpalMehtaGotKissedGotWildAndGotALife'' is an ''extreme'' example. It initially sold well until readers started to notice many similarities between the plot and prose to previously published books, including Megan [=McCafferty=]'s ''Literature/JessicaDarling'' series, Tanuja Desai Hidier's ''Born Confused'', Creator/MegCabot's ''Literature/ThePrincessDiaries'', Sophie Kinsella's ''Can You Keep a Secret?'' and even a Creator/SalmanRushdie book. The author admitted she had read some of these books as a teen and may have been subconsciously influenced by them. However, upon analysis it was found that whole sentences or even entire passages were identical or near-identical to other authors' works, which to many people - including ''Opal Mehta'' publisher Little, Brown and Co. - looked too suspicious to be a mere coincidence. Readers and critics rapidly turned on the book, resulting it being recalled by the publisher and all remaining shelf copies destroyed. Although not mentioned much during the initial controversy, several readers have also noted ''Opal Mehta'' bears a lot of similarities to ''Film/MeanGirls'' and ''Film/ShesAllThat'' (with one Goodreads review even describing it as "a less good ''Mean Girls''"). |
| 214 | * You're bound to see ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' compared to ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' all the time. Many hipsters claim the whole thing is a ripoff that tries and fails to copy ''Battle Royale''. Of course, by this logic, ''Battle Royale'' is just a rip-off of ''The Running Man'', which rips off the Roman Coliseum, which rips off the Labyrinth at Knossos. Creator/StephenKing [[https://web.archive.org/web/20101012125816/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20419951_20223443,00.html himself]] acknowledged that the DeadlyGame plot of ''The Hunger Games'' isn't original (citing ''Royale'', ''Running Man'', and another of his books, ''Literature/TheLongWalk''), but that isn't a bad thing. |
| 215 | * A common criticism of the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' is that the series, though ''especially'' the [[Literature/{{Eragon}} first book]], is very similar in terms of plot, characters and setting to other fantasy or speculative fiction series, in particular ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'', while doing little to add original ideas to these elements. The later books arguably [[GrowingTheBeard get better]] about this, but some people still see the ''Cycle'' as a blatant rip-off of these other series. |
| 216 | * By far the biggest criticism of ''Literature/TheIronTower'' trilogy is that it's clearly ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff, with some arguing it's even more blatant about this than the [[Literature/TheSwordOfShannaraTrilogy original Shannara books]]. It's hard not to notice the similarities (Warrows are basically Hobbits, the EvilOverlord's standard is a burning red ring on a black background, the protagonists' journey through Kraggen-Cor is very similar to the trek through the Mines of Moria, and the battle of Challerain Keep is almost beat-for-beat the same as the Siege of Minas Tirith, to name just a few). To be fair, it's been said that the author originally planned for the ''[[Literature/{{Mithgar}} The Silver Call]]'' duology to be a sequel to ''The Lord of the Rings'', only to realize how messy it would be to get the legal rights and so had to come up with a (mostly) new backstory for the duology that was different enough from ''The Lord of the Rings'' that he wouldn't get in trouble for plagiarism, which ended up being expanded into ''The Iron Tower'' trilogy. Some still enjoy the books in spite of the obvious influence of ''The Lord of the Rings'', while others dismiss it as an inferior knock-off. |
| 217 | * ''Literature/TheKingsAvatar'' features a male ExperiencedProtagonist, an expert at a MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame with vast knowledge and incredible skills about the InUniverse title, while alienating himself from his peers. Unfortunately, this description also fits ''Sword Art Online'' protagonist "Kirito" just as well, thus its fans will label ''The King's Avatar'' as another Chinese knockoff, not knowing that whereas ''Sword Art Online'' dabbles into ScienceFantasy with DeadlyGame elements, ''The King's Avatar'' focuses its narrative on UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming with no ScienceFiction subject matter at all. However, because ''The King's Avatar'' began releasing as a web novel in 2011, a year before ''Sword Art Online'' started airing its AnimatedAdaptation, to some fans of the latter, this would have been long and popular enough to rip off. |
| 218 | * Turned on its head in the Creator/JorgeLuisBorges short story, "Pierre Menard, Author of the ''Quixote''". The title character starts off attempting to translate Cervante's ''Literature/DonQuixote'', but decides to go further and so thoroughly immerse himself in the text that he can recreate it, word for word, in the original 17th century Spanish. In effect, Menard literally republishes a classic novel (or just the first few chapters—he dies before he can finish it) under his own name. And the literary community absolutely loves him for it. The narrator of the short story, a critic himself, rapturously describes how this new version of the ''Quixote'' is packed with so much more meaning than the original, even though both texts are identical. |
| 219 | * Betsy Cornwell's YA fantasy ''Literature/{{Mechanica}}'' has received some backlash for "ripping off" Marissa Meyer's ''[[Literature/TheLunarChronicles Cinder]]'', since both are ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'' retellings where the Cinderella character is a mechanic. Even though they have almost nothing else in common, they even draw on different genres (''Cinder'' being [[ScienceFiction Sci-Fi]] while ''Mechanica'' is SteamPunk), and Cornwell started work on ''Mechanica'' well before ''Cinder'' was published. |
| 220 | * ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'': |
| 221 | ** A not-insignificant number of people accuse Creator/CassandraClare of plagiarizing several other works, most notably ''Literature/HarryPotter'' and ''Franchise/StarWars''. |
| 222 | ** There's actually some logical basis in this—Clare copied large amounts of texts from other sources without citing them in ''Fanfic/TheDracoTrilogy'': a Harry Potter fan fiction she wrote before ''City of Bones'' was published. In fact, the fics were taken down and the trilogy is largely a reworked and renamed version of the fic. Her fans argue that Clare learned her lesson from that and that the elements Clare is accused of copying weren't invented by the people she 'copied' them from. |
| 223 | * It's been pointed out that some parts of ''Literature/ThroneOfGlass'', though ''especially'' the final book ''Kingdom of Ash'', appear to be lifted straight from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (in particular the [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings films]]) with only minimal changes. Some of this ranges from similar-sounding names and lines, all the way to scenes and plot points that appear near-identical to ''The Lord of the Rings'' (Manon summons allies to war by starting a beacon-lighting chain across mountains much like Pippin in ''Return of the King'', the siege of Anielle is similar to Helm's Deep, the dam scene resembles the Ents' attack on Isengard and so on). Even people who otherwise enjoyed the books picked up on the similarities, while detractors criticize it as yet another high fantasy story trying to ride on the coattails of ''The Lord of the Rings'' and barely even trying to disguise this. |
| 224 | * This is a common critical reaction to large, 'experimental' novels. Most often it is said 'like Ulysses, but why bother?', though that started changing to 'like Infinite Jest, but why bother?' OlderThanTheyThink, though—even the 'first' overtly experimental, digressive novel, ''Literature/TristramShandy'', was panned for being a derivative of earlier works. |
| 225 | * ''Literature/WarriorCats'' has gotten some flak from ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' for its similarities, including an orange tabby protagonist, similar naming scheme, and usage of cats living in "clans". |
| 226 | [[/folder]] |
| 227 | |
| 228 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 229 | * American {{Toku}}satsu: Basically every HenshinHero show in this genre to come out since ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' (be they original American shows, American adaptations of Japanese tokusatsu or American dubbed Japanese tokusatsu). |
| 230 | ** ''Series/MaskedRider'', ''Series/VRTroopers'', ''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'', ''Series/BigBadBeetleborgs'' and ''Series/KamenRiderDragonKnight'' are just a few examples of adaptations. |
| 231 | ** ''Series/TheMysticKnightsOfTirNaNog'' would be an original show example. |
| 232 | ** ''Series/UltramanTiga'' and ''Series/UltraSeven'' would be dub examples. However, ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' English dubs [[OlderThanTheyThink had been around before]] ''Power Rangers'', as Creator/PeterFernandez's ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' dub had aired on syndicated TV in the US for years until the rise of cable. |
| 233 | ** It should be noted that ''Masked Rider'', ''VR Troopers'', ''Beetleborgs'', and ''Mystic Knights'' were all produced by Saban, the creators of ''Power Rangers'' itself, trying to replicate their own success. And that's not even counting the whining that fans of the American adaptations get from the fans of the Japanese originals, some of whom don't seem to understand that American companies actually licensed the footage from Japan to make their shows and didn't just plagiarize it behind their backs. |
| 234 | ** There's an important thing to remember here, in many ways, Japan '''''likes''''' ''Power Rangers.'' From a business standpoint, licensing fees bring a good stream of revenue to Toei (it's actually believed that the increasing prevalence of GottaCatchEmAll in ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' was being caused by trying to replace the diminishing revenue from the Disney Era with more merchandising.) Furthermore, ''Power Rangers'' is dubbed and broadcast in Japan, and is still watched (In fact, when ''Lost Galaxy'' was brought to Japan, it outperformed its source material ''Gingaman.'') |
| 235 | * Any pair of young, male presenters on British television will be compared to Creator/AntAndDec and accused of trying to copy them. Ironically, many of the comparisons aren't by Ant and Dec fans, but by people who dislike them and therefore conclude that anyone remotely similar to them is exactly like them. |
| 236 | * In the early years, ''Series/BabylonFive'' was widely accused of copying ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', as ''DS 9'' premiered a month earlier than the ''B5'' pilot film, and a whole ''year'' earlier than the ''B5'' series. But Creator/JMichaelStraczynski then publicly stated that he'd pitched an early version of ''Babylon 5'' to Paramount '''before''' ''DS 9'' was in development, which meant ''B5'' fans started to publicy accuse ''DS 9'' of actually copying ''B5''. Though the invective can get heated between two camps of fandom, there are plenty who enjoy both shows. As well, numerous ''Trek'' creative personnel have encouraged ''Trek'' fans to check out ''Babylon 5'', while numerous ''B5'' writers and crew have professed their love for ''Star Trek'' in general, and even ''DS 9'' specifically. |
| 237 | * Nickelodeon series ''Series/{{Taina}}'' is very similar to the later Nick series ''Series/{{Victorious}}''. Bringing up the latter to a huge fan of the former can be a problem because ''Taina'' was cancelled quite early while ''Victorious'' was AdoredByTheNetwork for several years. |
| 238 | * ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' got vilified by a few ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fans for being a FeministFantasy about young women who fight demons. Hilariously enough, the two shows shared a few cast members, the most notable of whom was Charisma Carpenter—regular on ''Buffy'' and recurring part on ''Charmed''. But then again there were plenty who were fans of both. |
| 239 | * ''{{Series/Dinosaurs}}'' was thought by many to be a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' (only with animatronic puppets on a live-action set rather than an animated series). Seeing as how the former takes place in prehistoric times, this could even be in the same vein as ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' and ''The Flintstones''. One episode of ''The Simpsons'' was a not-so-subtle TakeThat featuring the characters watching the show with Bart saying, "It's like they saw our lives and put it up on screen". A ''Dinosaurs'' episode also had Earl complain that the reason there's no originality on TV is that once an original show becomes popular, every network decides to play FollowTheLeader and create rip-offs of said original show, with Baby saying, "Don't have a cow, man". |
| 240 | * ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': |
| 241 | ** The series premiered in the same year as the ''Series/UpstairsDownstairs'' reboot. "Upstairs, Downstairs" co-creator Jean Marsh was quoted as saying, "Maybe it's coincidence, and maybe I'm the Queen of Persia". |
| 242 | ** The original "Upstairs, Downstairs" had a Scottish butler named Hudson. "Downton Abbey" had an English butler named Carson alongside a Scottish housekeeper named Mrs. Hughes. |
| 243 | ** “Upstairs, Downstairs” had a nasty, scheming chauffeur named Thomas. “Downton Abbey” had a nice chauffeur named Tom, and a nasty, scheming under-butler named Thomas. |
| 244 | * ''Series/FifthGear'' is often accused of being a rip-off of ''Series/TopGearUK''. |
| 245 | ** ''Fifth Gear'' is the continuation of the original ''Top Gear'', done by some of the same people from Old ''Top Gear'''s cancellation in 2001, just under a new name. In fact, while ''Top Gear'' dates back to TheSeventies, its highly successful {{Retool}} began several months after ''Fifth Gear''. |
| 246 | * The American ''Sherlock Holmes'' SettingUpdate ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' has has this problem in comparison to BBC's ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. Many accused it of being a blatant ripoff because they were released a few years apart. This issue has since waned, with both being popular successes, but there's still a heavy FandomRivalry between ''Elementary'' and ''Sherlock'' fans. |
| 247 | * When ''{{Series/Firefly}}'' first showed up, word among anime fans was that it was a Live-Action Rip-Off of ''Manga/OutlawStar'', primarily due to the 'naked girl in the box in the first episode' and the CoolShip. The two shows turned out to be very different, not in the least because ''Outlaw Star'' had 26 episodes and ''Firefly'' had 13 (and [[TheMovie a movie]]). Then, as seen above, ''Manga/OutlawStar'' got this too. |
| 248 | * ''Series/{{Friends}}'' was constantly being accused of being a ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' ripoff. However, anyone who actually follows both shows realizes that they have very different styles of humor[[note]]For the record, the show probably bore more similarities to ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' than ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''[[/note]]. In turn, every new sitcom soon after ''Friends'' became popular was automatically accused of being a ''Friends'' ripoff, apparently just on general principles. Drew Carey has a whole section in his book ''Dirty Jokes and Beer'' about how this happened and even his own sitcom, which he said was much more like ''Roseanne'', was not exempt from the accusation. |
| 249 | * ''Series/{{Friends}}'' is considered a ''Series/LivingSingle'' ripoff. To wit, the latter show was brought to NBC in 1993, one year before the former show was conceived, but was rejected. Many believe that they stole the idea to create it and it became a source of much controversy due to it outlasting the first show and [[MinorityShowGhetto having much more advertising and awards]] while ''Living Single'' is erroneously accused of being a ripoff of ''it.'' This was made even worse when ''Friends'' star Creator/DavidSchwimmer said in a 2003 interview that their should be a Black ''Friends'' only for fans to justifiably get angry about how ''Living Single'' was a preexisting Black ''Friends'' and for claiming ignorance about the show. |
| 250 | * ''Series/{{Hex}}'' was called by critics "British Buffy". |
| 251 | * ''Series/{{Hyperdrive}}'' is a sitcom about a bunch of incompetents on a spaceship. Although that's as far as the similarities with ''Series/RedDwarf'' go, a few insist it's a blatant rip-off. |
| 252 | * ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'' obtained suspicious similarities to ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' that led to this. Notably one writer crossed over from ''Bewitched'' to work on ''Jeannie'' and pulled a few {{Retcon}}s to match—such as Jeannie suddenly being from a family of genies instead of a cursed human, her and Tony getting married like Darrin and Samantha, Jeannie having an EvilBrunetteTwin, etc. |
| 253 | * ''Series/LittleBritain'' is frequently accused of ripping off ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' and ''Series/TheFastShow''. In turn, ''Series/TheCatherineTateShow'' gets flak for copying ''Little Britain.'' |
| 254 | * ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' is considered a ''Friends'' ripoff, because it has six leads (and one girl is weird, and one guy is a HandsomeLech who is also dumb), divided perfectly by gender. And a LocalHangout where they sit on the only sofa. And the general humour comes from sexual situations and observations. So obviously there are ''some'' similarities, but the tone, style, and types of jokes told are often completely different. |
| 255 | ** And ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'', mainly as the show focused on, well, a bunch of friends. |
| 256 | ** Inverted in [[Creator/{{Channel4}} E4]] trailers for ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', which uses this as a selling point: "It's basically new episodes of ''Series/{{Friends}}'' without boring ruddy Ross." |
| 257 | * ''Series/MisterEd'' was quite similar to a few films with Donald O'Connor and " Francis the Talking Mule." |
| 258 | * When ''Series/{{Password}}'' became a hit on CBS, NBC countered with ''[[Series/YouDontSay You Don't Say!]]'', using names instead of regular words. It was identical to the set up which had host Tom Kennedy's lectern in the middle of the panel. Threatened with a lawsuit from Goodson-Todman, the company moved the lectern to the left. Regardless, it had a nice six-year run. |
| 259 | * In ''Series/{{Psych}}'', Shawn walks up to a police department desk and identifies himself as a psychic. "Like ''Series/TheMentalist'' only [[HypocriticalHumor not fake]]." |
| 260 | * ''Series/OnceUponATime'' takes much of its basic premise from Vertigo Comics' ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', although the series is much more action-oriented and campy soap-opera than the book it copied from. |
| 261 | * For most late '50s-early '60s private eye shows, expect complaints that they seemed too similar to ''Series/PeterGunn''. |
| 262 | * ''Series/RhymeAndReason'' was ABC's answer to ''[[Series/MatchGame Match Game '75]]'' on CBS. |
| 263 | * A possible case is ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'' and the later ''Series/RobinHood''. The second series of ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'' ended with Robin's death, and there is speculation that the second season finale of ''Series/RobinHood'' chose to kill off Maid Marian in the attempt to emulate what the creators' believed was the "shock value" of the preceding series, except of course that they killed Marian instead of Robin. The key difference was that the former series had to write around [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Michael Praed's]] decision to leave the show, whereas Marian's death in the later series was a creative decision and had nothing to do with actress Lucy Griffith (despite later attempts to blame the decision on her). Although ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'' brought in a [[LegacyCharacter "new" Robin Hood]], neither series survived more than one more season without their leads. |
| 264 | * There are people who watch ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' who seem completely incapable of enjoying any sketch that has a premise that's even remotely similar to another sketch from a previous season. Since the show has been on for more than 30 years, this means there aren't very many sketches they can enjoy. |
| 265 | * ''Series/TheShield'' and ''Series/TheWire'' endure this, as far as the showrunners unknowingly aping the other show as they progressed. ''The Wire'' gave us Marlo Stanfield, a decidedly Shield-like villain, Carcetti (whose political ambitions mirrored Shield character Acaveda's political ambitions), a convoluted fake serial killer storyline that came across like something Vic Mackey would have thought up as part of a crazy scheme. ''The Shield'' meanwhile, in it's final seasons, began aping ''The Wire''-themed issues about police work such as crime stats (something the show had largely downplayed) hanging over the head of the Farmington District, the elimination of beloved character Lem (which paralleled the death of Stringer Bell, who was killed off in spite of his popularity for the sake of the story being told), and an ending that had MAJOR elements from the final fate of Marlo Stanfield. as far as what happened to the Strike Team. |
| 266 | * ''Splatalot'''s rather short run on Nickelodeon in America led to people accusing it as a medieval-themed kid-friendly ''Wipeout'' rip-off. |
| 267 | * A newer example that will likely only get worse: there is a good deal of ire directed at ''Series/StargateUniverse'' by people claiming it's a rip-off of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. |
| 268 | ** The original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|1978}}'' still gets much criticism today for ripping off ''Film/ANewHope''. No wonder the DarkerAndEdgier remake received rave reviews as it strayed from being a typical show [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE about a space colony]] as far as possible. |
| 269 | |
| 270 | * ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was released around the time when ''Series/RedDwarf'' was becoming very popular and received accusation of copying it... Being lost in space, a holographic character... (They even had "Blue Alert") |
| 271 | ** Inverted with ''Series/StargateUniverse'', which from the moment it was announced was mockingly referred to as ''Stargate: Voyager''. |
| 272 | * ''Series/{{Supertrain}}'' easily fell victim to this—and for good reason, too, because almost everybody who saw it quickly realized that it was a big rip-off of ''Series/TheLoveBoat''. |
| 273 | * ''The Talk'' on CBS was immediately panned because it's ''The View'' for moms. With six women instead of five. In the middle of the afternoon. In Los Angeles. |
| 274 | * ''Series/{{Top Gear|US}}'' on the American History Channel is a direct spin-off from the successful British ''Series/{{Top Gear|UK}}'', copying the latter series' use of three presenters, The Stig, silly themed segments, style of cinematography and auto reviews, and cramming celebrities into a small car. |
| 275 | * ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter'' was so strikingly similar to ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' because both were co-created by Ron Leavitt. WordOfGod says it wasn't their intention to be so similar to ''Children'', but it simply turned out that way. |
| 276 | * This happens a great deal with Singaporean television, especially the children's programming. ''My Classmate Dad'' is a FreakyFridayFlip {{sitcom}} that basically is the actual ''Literature/FreakyFriday'' with a lower standard of spoken English. ''Cosmo and George'' is about an alien who befriends a human who shows him the ropes of living on earth, mimicking the concept of ''Series/MorkAndMindy''. The Chinese-language drama serials aren't exempt from this respect. ''CID'' is ''Series/{{CSI}}'', ''The Time Machine'' copies (even by name) ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'', ''Baby Blues'' copies [[ComicStrip/BabyBlues the strip of the same name]], ''[[{{Fanservice}} Beach. Ball. Babes.]]'' is ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' (specifically volleyball tournament game), and ''Mrs P.I.'' is ''Series/ScarecrowAndMrsKing''. |
| 277 | * When a Belgian watches Dutch television you can expect this trope to come up. A good example of this is the Dutch investigative journalism TV show ''Rambam'', which Belgians say is a rip-off of one of their shows called ''Basta'' and not as well-done as ''Basta''. A lot of Dutchmen usually agree with them though. |
| 278 | * ''Series/SchittsCreek'' was dismissed by a lot of critics as an ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' knockoff, since both shows are satirical single-camera comedies about an AmbiguouslyJewish family that loses its fortune and has a LadyDrunk matriarch. However, after a few episodes ''Schitt's Creek'' differentiated itself by having a much more sentimental and kind tone and ongoing RomanticComedy stories for the two adult children. Both shows have strong, passionate cult followings, and they even share a lot of fans who can respect both approaches to comedy. |
| 279 | * The 2020 Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} series ''Series/TheAstronauts'' got a lot of backlash for ripping off ''VideoGame/AmongUs'' because they both have astronauts, but ''The Astronauts'' was greenlit way before ''Among Us'' hit the mainstream. |
| 280 | * The fifth season of ''Series/MasterchefAustralia'' was considered to be the AudienceAlienatingEra of the series because they changed their usual tone and style to put a greater emphasis on the contestants' loud personality to copy its rival cooking reality show series, ''Series/MyKitchenRules''. ''MKR'' had a greater viewership than ''Masterchef'', though most of the same viewers admits to only "hate-watch" the former out of BileFascination, and the latter is generally agreed to be the more superior cooking show. Suffice to say, the change caused ratings tanked for ''Masterchef'' that year. |
| 281 | * ''Series/ControlZ'': After the trailer was made available, some fans complained that the upcoming third season was a Latin rehash to ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer''. |
| 282 | [[/folder]] |
| 283 | |
| 284 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 285 | * Music/{{Aerosmith}} got a lot of bad press for (allegedly) copying Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}. They got over it, though. They have also been frequently compared to Music/LedZeppelin and Music/TheYardbirds, with the latter comparison making a lot of sense since Aerosmith are big fans of The Yardbirds. |
| 286 | * Any new R&B female singer will get compared to Music/{{Beyonce}}, and before she came out it was Music/JanetJackson. |
| 287 | * Most pop-punk bands since the mid-2000s will be unfavorably compared to Music/FallOutBoy at some point. This is mainly because a lot of the lead singers of these bands have similar voices. The most famous victim is Music/AllTimeLow, despite the fact that they were started ''before Fall Out Boy was famous.'' Also, people accuse Fall Out Boy of being a rip-off of Music/{{Blink 182}}, and less commonly, Music/GreenDay. |
| 288 | * British band ''The Horrors'' were often accused of being a rip-off of Australian post-punk band The Birthday Party. This subsided once they [[GenreShift changed their sound completely]] on their second album. |
| 289 | * ''Music/HamptonTheHamster'', originally known for being the name behind “The Hansterdance Song” was turned into a group featuring him and new characters. Many have noticed this being too similar to Franchise/AlvinAndTheChipmunks and it did not preform well commercially as opposed to the original song it was intended to be based around. |
| 290 | * Music/LadyGaga gets this quite a bit from haters, who say she copied countless artists, among them Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/DavidBowie, Music/BritneySpears, Music/CyndiLauper, among others. For the record, she has outright admitted to having been inspired by many of the artists she allegedly copies. |
| 291 | * Even though Music/MichaelJackson clearly learned a lot from Music/JamesBrown's dancing style, many pop artists since the 1980s have been accused of copying Jackson's dancing moves. |
| 292 | * Following his debut album (which scored major hits but was [[SoOkayItsAverage tepidly received by critics]]), Music/BrunoMars discovered his true calling as a GenreThrowback artist, scoring hits from directly pastiching everything he's a fan of, from Music/ThePolice, to {{Music/Prince}}, to 70's-style {{funk}}, to 90's-style NewJackSwing, and more. [[GrowingTheBeard This shift got him way more respect from critics]], but it consequently invited criticisms of unoriginality—even when he's being praised as a performer, especially cynical takes dock points from him because he doesn't attempt to reinvent the wheel or make it his own unique sound. |
| 293 | * Music/MrBungle fans will frequently tell you that Music/FaithNoMore is a watered-down version of Mr Bungle, despite the fact that Music/MikePatton is in both bands so they're mostly fans of both anyway. Mr Bungle fans will also try to tell you Music/RedHotChiliPeppers copied Mr Bungle, missing the point that Red Hot Chili Peppers released several records before Mr Bungle did (not counting demo tapes). Red Hot Chili Peppers had [[FandomRivalry a long-lasting rivalry with]] Mr Bungle/Faith No More's singer Mike Patton in which Patton did some things he later apologised for. Red Hot Chili Peppers FanDumb will often still proclaim their hatred for Mike Patton nonetheless. |
| 294 | * Music/{{Muse}} are frequently accused of copying Music/{{Radiohead}}, despite having much more of a progressive-classical-rock mentality. |
| 295 | * Ozma have never quite shaken the Music/{{Weezer}} comparisons, due to being a PowerPop group with a geeky image who prominently use {{New Wave|Music}}-influenced keyboard melodies. It's not always negative though—it seems that for every one person who dismisses them as too derivative, there's someone else who's a fan of both Weezer ''and'' Ozma. The fact that their debut came out a few months after Weezer's [[BrokenBase base-breaking third album]] may have even contributed to their popularity, and it's notable that their earliest big break came from being voted in by Weezer fans to be an opening act for a 2001 tour. |
| 296 | * These days, any alternative rock band with a female singer will be accused of trying to steal the spotlight from Music/{{Paramore}}. The most common victim is Hey Monday—likely the reason why Cassadee Pope left the group and began a country career. |
| 297 | * The German band Music/{{Rammstein}} is often (and probably justified) accused of [[strike:copying]] being inspired by Slovenian band Laibach's style. Laibach's reaction? That's alright, because art is inherently unoriginal. |
| 298 | ** Along with a little bit of a TakeThat when they said "Rammstein is Laibach for kids, and Laibach is Rammstein for grown-ups." |
| 299 | * It is impossible to be a fan of both Music/SarahBrightman and Katherine Jenkins, at least if you read either singer's forums. |
| 300 | * Any gothic metal band with a female singer will be compared to Music/LacunaCoil, Music/WithinTemptation, or Music/{{Evanescence}}. If the vocalist occasionally screams they'll get compared to Arch Enemy. |
| 301 | * The {{deathcore}} genre often has this criticism leveled at it, possibly due to the almost copycat-like nature of most of the bands within the genre. |
| 302 | ** Usually whichever band is the oldest mocks whoever is newest, never mind that they all are more or less emulating The Birthday Party and ''there's nothing wrong with that.'' |
| 303 | * Especially in the early to mid-1960s a lot of rock groups looked and sounded like Beatle clones: Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/TheMonkees, Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clark Five,... Some bands eventually created their own sound, but others have been forgotten as being nothing more than pathetic attempts to cash in on the Beatles' success. |
| 304 | * ''Extremely'' prevalent in music fandom/journalism. How many times have you heard "______ is just doing the same thing Music/TheBeatles did in the '60s"? |
| 305 | * Music/{{Silverchair}}: |
| 306 | ** Early in their career, they were referred to as a shitty knockoff of Nirvana, or Pearl Jam. [[Series/BananasInPyjamas "Nirvana in Pyjamas"]] was occasionally used as an epithet (also referencing their youth and Australian background). With every preceding album, the band began experimenting with softer, more progressive sounds, which tended to stop these comparisons. |
| 307 | ** PostGrunge receives a lot of flak from many people due to many bands' overexaggerated attempts to sound like Music/{{Nirvana}}, Music/PearlJam, and Music/AliceInChains. Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCrTkr5dp3Q this]] ''Series/MadTV1995'' sketch. |
| 308 | ** {{Music/Nirvana}} themselves get flak for sounding like Music/ThePixies (even though Kurt Cobain openly acknowledged their debt to the band), for the riff to 'Teen Spirit' sounding like Boston's "More Than A Feeling" (also acknowledged at the time by the band), and a huge amount of HypeBacklash from people discovering that there were "Alt rock" bands ''before'' Nirvana and thus declaring Nirvana to be Music/{{Mudhoney}} / Music/BlackFlag / Music/DinosaurJr, etc. ripoffs. |
| 309 | * It would take no less than a miracle of God to get critics not to use this argument against Sean Lennon or any other musician related to Music/TheBeatles. |
| 310 | * Jakob Dylan has the same problem. Hilariously lampshaded in The Axis of Awesome's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBVnMf2t7w&e 4 Chords]]". |
| 311 | * After Music/TupacShakur was murdered, many future Hip Hop artists were accused of copying him. Some of the more famous examples include Music/{{DMX}} and Ja Rule.B |
| 312 | * Go to any Music/{{Slipknot}} or Music/{{Mushroomhead}} music video on Platform/YouTube and you'll often see {{Flame War}}s between fans about which band is better, and about which band ripped the other one off. |
| 313 | * In succession, Britain revealed several white women with a soul inspiration (Music/JossStone, Music/AmyWinehouse, Music/{{Duffy}}, Music/{{Adele}}) which led to them getting their originality questioned—even if not only there was a GenreThrowback, but they ''were'' doing covers of old songs. |
| 314 | * The 19th-century music critic Hans von Bülow joked that Richard Wagner's early opera ''Rienzi'' was "Meyerbeer's best opera." |
| 315 | * This is the source of 99% of the hate Music/OwlCity gets, due to the similarities to older act Music/ThePostalService. Owl City's Adam Young denied their direct influence in early interviews, but also noted that, since The Postal Service put out one album and split up, there was room for another act to become a SpiritualSuccessor. |
| 316 | * Think of any modern crooner who specializes in singing songs from (or songs reminiscent of) The Great American Songbook, from Music/MichaelBuble to Harry Connick Jr to pop and rock musicians who occasionally dabble in the style like Music/RodStewart or Music/RobbieWilliams. Whether they consciously or subconsciously borrow from the sound, image, or style of classic crooners like Music/FrankSinatra, Music/DeanMartin, Nat King Cole, Music/JohnnyMathis, or Tony Bennett or not, they will be compared positively or negatively to them. |
| 317 | * It is hard to find press discussing male piano-playing singer-songwriters without comparisons to Music/EltonJohn, Music/BillyJoel or Music/BenFolds, or females not compared to Music/CaroleKing, Music/ToriAmos or Nina Simone. |
| 318 | * Music/ToriAmos herself was dogged during her early career by accusations, especially from British people, that she was a Music/KateBush copyist. One early reviewer out and out claimed that the only reason Amos had a career was because of Bush's glacial working pace and reluctance to play live. |
| 319 | * One reason a lot of critics weren't initially too fond of Music/BlueCheer was because they sounded like a cruder version of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. |
| 320 | * In their early years, Music/{{Marillion}} were often accused of ripping off Music/{{Genesis|Band}}, with their then-frontman Fish being labeled as a "Music/PeterGabriel clone" and their song "Grendel" getting unfavorably compared to Genesis' "Music/SuppersReady" (both being long songs that go through distinct sections with different musical styles). This seems to have died down quite a bit as time went on, though. |
| 321 | * Music/{{Garbage}} have frequently been accused of ripping off Music/{{Curve}}, due to their similar musical styles and similarities between the personas of the groups' lead singers. Curve alleged that Garbage's founding member Butch Vig started the group after Curve rejected his application to produce them. |
| 322 | * Music/FiveSecondsOfSummer detractors bring up the fact that they keep ripping off their inspirations, mostly Music/AllTimeLow, rather than trying to form an effective identity for themselves. It's one of the reasons they've garnered as big a hatedom as they have so fast. |
| 323 | * A massive backlash against Music/GretaVanFleet was formed due to them being perceived as copying Music/LedZeppelin without having any unique spin on the older band's sound. The band consistently dismisses these claims. |
| 324 | * Kingdom Come were also dogged by Music/LedZeppelin comparisons throughout their career, with Jimmy Page himself even claiming that they went beyond simply using a similar style by "actually ripping riffs right off". The band dismissed the comparisons and claimed that their primary influences were {{Music/ACDC}} and Music/TheBeatles—in one interview vocalist Lenny Wolf went so far as to say he'd never ''heard'' of Led Zeppelin before he started the group. |
| 325 | * As an operatic composer, Bedřich Smetana was accused of following Music/RichardWagner too closely, a fact that persuaded him to initially write his most famous stage work, ''Prodaná nevěsta'', with spoken dialogue. Richard Strauss was also accused in his early career of following Wagner. |
| 326 | * Music/TalkTalk's first two albums were frequently criticized by the press and public for sounding too much like Music/DuranDuran, who were one of the hottest names in British SynthPop in the early '80s. The band's subsequent three albums, which ditched the synths in favor of organic instruments and became exponentially more experimental with each new release, are much more beloved. |
| 327 | * Music/{{Radiohead}}'s first album, ''Music/PabloHoney'', is widely viewed as the black sheep of the band's catalog, and a big reason for that is its perceived similarities to Music/{{Nirvana}}. The fact that Thom Yorke appeared to consciously model his appearance and public presence on Music/KurtCobain during this time didn't help matters. Similar criticisms are often directed at other material that Radiohead put out during this time, most prominently the non-album single "Pop Is Dead". ''Music/TheBends'' is often regarded as Radiohead's GrowingTheBeard moment in part because it discarded the Nirvana influences in favor of a more atmospheric sound. |
| 328 | [[/folder]] |
| 329 | |
| 330 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 331 | * Wrestling/{{Sting}}'s [[ComicBook/TheCrow Crow]] inspired gimmick gets hate from some fans for this reason. His angle with the Wrestling/{{new World order}} was also seen as too similar to Wrestling/TheUndertaker's ([[FleetingDemographicRule then]])old MO. |
| 332 | * [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]] has been mocked as "Wrestling/{{WWE}} Lite" due to its occasional gimmicks and storylines similar to those used by "that promotion up north." At its core, it is a ReplacementScrappy for Wrestling/{{WCW}}. |
| 333 | ** They also hire many former WWE talents, such as Wrestling/KurtAngle, Wrestling/KevinNash, Wrestling/MickFoley, Wrestling/{{Tazz}}, Wrestling/BookerT, Wrestling/ScottSteiner, [[Wrestling/LisaMarieVaron Tara (Victoria)]], [[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys Team 3D (The Dudley Boys)]], Wrestling/BobbyLashley, Wrestling/ElijahBurke, Wrestling/StevieRichards, Matt Morgan, Wrestling/{{Rh|yno}}ino, and [[Wrestling/ShawnDaivari Shiek Abdul Bashir (Daivari)]], most of whom get booked stronger than "homegrown" talent or wrestlers who otherwise did not make a name for themselves in WWE (or ECW, or WCW). |
| 334 | ** Current Roster, add in what they've siphoned from the WWE development, previous referees/commentators, copied gimmicks...if TNA even signs a guy who's been looked at by a WWE employee wrestling fans will complain. |
| 335 | ** From the wrestler's point of view, it makes sense to go to TNA after the WWE sent you walking. It's the next biggest wrestling promotion after all. Still, it seems that every time the WWE fires or releases a wrestler it takes less than a month for them to resurface in TNA. It also doesn't help that some of the time TNA has the wrestlers do their same WWE gimmicks but under another name (Team 3D being the biggest). |
| 336 | ** "Less than a month" is generally an exaggeration, given that the typical No-Compete clause (which prevents a released performer from appearing with another company) in a WWE contract has a 90-day window. |
| 337 | ** Additionally, Team 3D ''legally'' can't call themselves the Dudley Boyz anymore due to [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope WWE]] just as they own the rights/names/gimmicks to previous wrestlers (i.e. [[InNameOnly "Fake Diesel," "The Real Double-J."]]) |
| 338 | ** Others mockingly refer to TNA as Wrestling/{{WCW}} 2: Electric Boogaloo, since they took on a lot of former WCW staff (both performers and creative staff) and generally see it as heading down the same road WCW did. |
| 339 | * Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling bringing in Wrestling/BrockLesnar got complaints that they were simply copying Wrestling/AllJapanProWrestling, who had brought Wrestling/{{Goldberg}} out of his self-induced obscurity earlier. |
| 340 | * Wrestling/LayCool got some hate in their early days for being a rip-off of TNA's Wrestling/TheBeautifulPeople. Possibly in response to this, [=LayCool=] began to move past the ''Film/MeanGirls''-esque character traits and played up the [[HoYay Les Yay]] between Layla and Michelle, plus their backstage pull with Wrestling/VickieGuerrero. Showing how this trope can really change, TNA later got this when they had Wrestling/GailKim and Wrestling/MadisonRayne as a Les Yay duo who had backstage pull in the form of Karen Jarrett. What makes this hilarious is that they feuded with one of the former members of the Beautiful People (Wrestling/VelvetSky)—and Madison had been part of the group for a while too. |
| 341 | * Wrestling/TheRiottSquad (Wrestling/RubyRiott, Sarah Logan and Wrestling/LivMorgan) being made up of a punk, a generic brunette, and a pretty blonde led to accusations that the group was simply a copy of Wrestling/{{Paige}}'s team Absolution, with Sarah and Liv serving as the clones, respectively, of Wrestling/SonyaDeville and Wrestling/MandyRose. |
| 342 | [[/folder]] |
| 343 | |
| 344 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 345 | * Does your SimulationGame feature real-life aircraft, [[AirstrikeImpossible trench run missions]], a plot where two factions are at war with each other, and the ability to customize your aircraft? If so, then consider your game to be a rip-off of ''VideoGame/AceCombat''. |
| 346 | * Any conversation amongst enthusiasts involving ''VideoGame/AngryBirds'' that doesn't include some offhand remark about the game being a ''Crush the Castle'' knockoff will inevitably include one about ''VideoGame/BoomBlox'' instead. |
| 347 | * During its heyday, ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' was often mocked as a rip-off of ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'', despite the numerous gameplay differences that set ''Art of Fighting'' apart from it. The accusation has persisted over 20 years later, as of this writing, with many still dismissing AOF as a cheap SF II imitator. The irony being that the ''Street Fighter'' franchise has [[FanMyopia borrowed more]] ''[[OlderThanTheyThink from AOF]]'' than the what AOF is believed to have done. |
| 348 | * ''VideoGame/ArteryGearFusion'' has received frequent comparisons with ''VideoGame/EpicSeven'' due to extremely similar turn-based gameplay, presentation and character kits. |
| 349 | * 2005 Russian game ''Brigade E5: New Jagged Union'' is an exceptionally bad rip-off of the 1999 cult classic ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance 2''. |
| 350 | * Is your game set in modern conflict, adheres to RealIsBrown rule, and has class customization and [=RPG=] elements in the multiplayer? Then someone is bound to call it a clone of either ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' or ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}''. |
| 351 | ** Given the FandomRivalry between the ''Call of Duty'' and ''Battlefield'' series, ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWWII'' has been accused of ripping off ''VideoGame/Battlefield1''. ''WWII'' features many mechanics like bayonet charging, specialized classes, and gas grenades that are seen as directly lifted from ''Battlefield 1''. Notably, the War mode of ''WWII'' has drawn unfavorably comparisons to the Operations mode of ''[=BF1=]'' for its asymmetric, team-focused, objective-based design. Even the basic premise of ''WWII'' is seen by some as a blatant attempt to recapture the success of ''[=BF1=]'''s historical throwback angle. Amusingly, this went the other way from previous accusations—before ''[=BF1=]'', most ''Battlefield'' campaigns were seen as poor knock-offs of ''Call of Duty'' campaigns, often lifting wholesale setpieces, events and characters with nary an understanding of why they worked in ''Call of Duty''. ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2'' was the first to jump on the bandwagon, but it got a pass for being [[GrandfatherClause one of the earliest]] (coming out just a few months after ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', the point after which copying ''Call of Duty'' became an epidemic in the shooter genre, and for still having original elements (most notably the [[WreakingHavok destructibility of the environments]] and [[TakeThat taking the piss]] out of ''[=MW2=]'' at every chance)—later games, whose stories were almost entirely built off of ripping off ''Call of Duty'' plot points, not so much. |
| 352 | * Anyone who ever talks about the unlicensed NES game Caltron/Myriad 6 in 1 will justify its low score on the sole basis that all the games on the cartridge are total rip-offs of other games. |
| 353 | * ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow'' is declared ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'''s ripoff due to their similarities in combat mechanisms. To the lesser extent, ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games on [=PS2=] are compared with ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' because of their battle systems and white-haired protagonists. |
| 354 | * Inverted with the clone games on early computers such as the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum. Whenever a game managed to be a total rip-off of a popular arcade title it was considered worth getting (and in certain cases those clone games would even be considered as the best games you could buy for that computer, didn't matter how much of a blatant rip-off it was). |
| 355 | * ''VideoGame/ColdFear'' plays with this trope. Most people quickly wrote it off as a carbon-copy of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' and forgot about it. However, anyone who's actually played it, while admitting it basically ''is'' a complete rip-off, views it as an underrated masterpiece and one of the greatest horror games ever made. |
| 356 | * Many 3D {{Collectathon Platformer}}s, such as ''Spyro the Dragon'' and ''Ty the Tasmanian Tiger'', have been derided as ''Banjo-Kazooie'' clones due to their similarities. ''Banjo-Kazooie'' itself was accused of ripping off of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' when it was new, due to it being the first popular game after ''Super Mario 64'' to have collectathon mechanics, though this died down after the aforementioned subgenre took off and became popular. |
| 357 | * ''VideoGame/{{Conan}}'' was also widely accused of ripping off ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'', which among other things, was a major factor in the lukewarm critical reception it received. |
| 358 | * ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' was accused of being a ripoff from ''Resident Evil 4'' just because it used the "same" shoulder camera. |
| 359 | * The original ''VideoGame/DarkCloud'' game was compared to ''Zelda''. [[VideoGame/DarkChronicle Its sequel]] was, however, [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel much more well-received]]—although this actually [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools wasn't thought of as a bad thing by some magazines]]. |
| 360 | * Sometimes, ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' has the issue of being compared to ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', though there aren't ''that'' many similarities. ''Pokémon'' itself ended up being accused of ripping off ''Digimon'' with post-''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Ruby and Sapphire]]'' games allegedly having "Digimon-like" designs for new Pokémon and the Mega Evolutions from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' supposedly being taken from Mega-level Digimon. |
| 361 | * The most common criticism leveled against ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' is that it is a ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' clone, though both were created for Nintendo. |
| 362 | * Some fans dislike the fact ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' copied Mass Effect's dialogue wheel wholesale. Yep, Creator/BioWare [[SelfPlagiarism plagiarized]] themselves. |
| 363 | * This trope holds true for even individual aspects of monster-collecting games. See ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters'' -- with its in-depth breeding system -- which released in Japan in 1998, more than a full year prior to ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver''... [[OlderThanTheyThink yet it still catches a lot of flak for copying breeding from]] ''[[OlderThanTheyThink Pokémon]]''. The ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series had already dabbled in the monster recruiting arts in its [[VideoGame/DragonQuestV fifth]] and [[VideoGame/DragonQuestVI sixth]] installments, though the Platform/NintendoDS remake of the latter replaced that feature with the ability to learn moves typically used by monsters (the remake of the former on the same system still has the monster recruitment feature, though). |
| 364 | * In his review of ''VideoGame/DrakeOfThe99Dragons'', WebVideo/ProJared had this to say: |
| 365 | -->'''Jared:''' Hold on, now... Drake has [[GunsAkimbo two pistols]], [[NotSoBadassLongcoat a trenchcoat]], can [[WallRun run on walls]], and go into BulletTime. ''And'' this game came out in 2003, the same year that [[Film/TheMatrixReloaded the last two]] ''[[Franchise/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' [[Film/TheMatrixRevolutions movies]] were in theaters. [{{Beat}}] [[SarcasmMode I'm sure they weren't trying to capitalize on that market at all]]. |
| 366 | * ''VideoGame/EnchantedPortals'' got a ''ton'' of hate when it was announced, due to its artstyle and gameplay being ''extremely'' similar to ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}''. The design of the bosses was specifically noted to be so close that it could count as plagiarism. |
| 367 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' gets a lot of hate for copying mechanics from its competitors, though this has since cooled off. ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'' fans ''and'' the developers accused the game of being a rip-off since it too is a 100 player BattleRoyale game, though even Epic Games themselves fully admitted that the "Battle Royale" mode was wholly inspired by that game. Likewise, ''Apex Legends'' fans weren't too pleased when the game added a ping system and a teammate respawn mechanic just a month after the release of their game (the former Ping system would also be integrated in games like ''[[VideoGame/CounterStrike CS:GO]]'' not long after either). It's also compared to ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', due to both being free-to-play multiplayer shooters with goofy humor and more colorful graphics. |
| 368 | * Whenever a game that features driving and shooting set roughly in the modern day is released, it is automatically compared to ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' or even considered a ''GTA'' rip off. |
| 369 | ** The first ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}}'' is probably one of the best examples of this. Despite the obvious differences that Mercenaries takes place in a warzone with little in the way of law enforcement to speak of, and with a heavier emphasis on blowing stuff up as opposed to car chases. It didn't help matters that the game was released roughly the same time as ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. So several reviewers dismissed Mercenaries while giving glowing reviews to San Andreas. |
| 370 | ** And yet ''GTA 3'' is itself an aversion of this trope; the Leader it ripped off, ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'', is sadly forgotten. In fact, ''GTA'' threw out everything unique to its franchise in order to emulate a game that is now as mired in obscurity as ''GTA 1&2''. |
| 371 | ** Ironically, the later ''Driver'' games tried to be more like ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', however they languished in the marketplace. ''VideoGame/DriverSanFrancisco'', the fifth entry in the series, ditched the GTA elements for a new framing device (you switch between cars by "possessing" their drivers—it's a long story) and has, as a result, gotten at the very least critical acclaim for it. |
| 372 | * When it was announced that Bethesda would be making ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', many long-term ''Fallout'' fans decried the new game as merely "''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' with guns". They must have hit on a good formula, though, as despite (or maybe because of) the similarities, the ''Elder Scrolls'' and ''Fallout'' series have both become flagships for Bethesda. |
| 373 | * Some may say that ''VideoGame/FateExtra'' is just ''VideoGame/Persona3'' with ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' characters and concepts. The fact that two ex-Creator/{{Atlus}} employees worked on the developing team doesn't help. |
| 374 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 375 | ** Lightning, of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', is often accused of being a gender-swap of Cloud from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. It doesn't help that the director of ''FFXIII'' specifically asked for Lightning to be designed to be "like a female version of Cloud," and that the opening of FFXIII is similar to ''FFVII'''s. |
| 376 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' tends to be dubbed as the Final Fantasy version of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' due to the game having similar interfaces, pacing, and mechanics. The producer behind ''Final Fantasy XIV'' admitted to being a big fan of ''World of Warcraft'' and had his team play it and other MMORPG games to fully understand how the genre works before they were allowed to develop the game. |
| 377 | ** Thanks to the epic remixes of the song "O Fortuna" (despite that it's not actually a video game song outside of ''VideoGame/DraculaUnleashed'') as well as the song "OneWingedAngel" and ''its'' various remixes, you'll have to try ''very'' hard to use a song with [[OminousLatinChanting Latin lyrics]] ([[BilingualBonus especially if they mean something]]) without someone saying it's a ripoff of these two. This fate seems to have fallen "Born Anew" in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', which ''would'' have gotten a free pass if it was composed by Creator/NobuoUematsu. The lyrics for "OneWingedAngel" were all ripped from "O Fortuna" anyway. |
| 378 | * Any BeatEmUp that is similar to ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' is basically doomed to be called a "''Final Fight'' clone". |
| 379 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFight: Streetwise'' was accused of trying to cash in on the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' franchise. |
| 380 | * ''VideoGame/FZero'' fans occasionally consider ''VideoGame/{{Wipeout}}'' a rip-off. |
| 381 | * The trailers for ''VideoGame/HAVEOnline'' looked almost ridiculously similar to popular game ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. Not just ''similar'', people were finding exact shots ripped off from [=TF2's=] trailers. The Chinese FPS: ''Final Combat'' is receiving the same reception from ''Team Fortress 2'' fans for having a very similar style, gameplay, maps, and trailers. More of the same was directed at the game as more promotional material appeared online...though it wasn't for unoriginality, but ''theft'', as ''Final Combat'' was caught using ''Team Fortress 2'' models and animations, and maps from both ''Team Fortress 2'' and ''VideoGame/BattlefieldHeroes''. It's flagrant enough that Valve is considering legal action. Being unoriginal really ''is'' bad when it's demonstrably stealing. |
| 382 | * ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}'' has received some flak as an apparent rip-off of ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'', when, in truth, the games differ on several points (the biggest being that ''Ib'' has a more linear plot and MultipleEndings, while ''Yume Nikki'' is extremely open-ended), and are only similar in that both games star a young, brunette girl as their protagonist, and both rely on SurrealHorror over {{Gorn}} to unsettle the audience. |
| 383 | * Fans of {{Rhythm Game}}s are divided over whether ''VideoGame/InTheGroove'' is this and had [[ScrewedByTheNetwork it]] coming for being too ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution''-like or a quality FollowTheLeader game that shouldn't have had its life cut short. |
| 384 | * ''VideoGame/KillerInstinct'' was accused of this for trying to be like ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. |
| 385 | * Several ActionAdventure games are mentioned as being like ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', in some cases being called ripoffs, like ''VideoGame/{{Alundra}}'', ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', and even ''VideoGame/BraveFencerMusashi''. And they're RPG-like games that borrow ''very little'' from Zelda. The Platform/PlayStation4-exclusive (console-wise) ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' got hit bad by this in ''its own native country'' (China) for being a [[FollowTheLeader clone]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''. The HypeBacklash (it is the spotlight of the show) surrounding this got so bad during its announcement in [=ChinaJoy=] 2019 that Chinese Nintendo fans [[FlippingTheBird raised their middle fingers]] to said announcement and one particular angry fan '''smashed a [=PS4=]''' in front of Sony's booth. |
| 386 | * ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'': People who are too lazy to create levels will just go to the Cool Levels page and look for any copyable levels. This is why the community has been flooded with multiple copies of the same level by different people, and sometimes even the SAME people will take a level and publish it 20 times. Case in point, here's what you get if you search "[[http://lbp.me/search/v?q=The+Best+Mortal+Kombat+Level+Ever&p=1&l=12 The Best Mortal Kombat Level Ever]]" on [=lbp.me=]. The arrows at the bottom of the screen will be there for a while. |
| 387 | * ''VideoGame/LimboOfTheLost'' gets most of its flak for [[MediaNotes/{{Plagiarism}} stealing copyrighted assets]] from games like ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'', ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'' and ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'', among others. Incredibly, this is largely averted by many reviews: despite the ''literal'' copying, this is often only one of many criticisms of the game's overall perceived quality. |
| 388 | * When the original ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' was released, it was accused of only having BulletTime as a gameplay mechanic in order to capitalize on the popularity of ''Film/TheMatrix''. In fact, the game had gone into development well in advance of ''The Matrix'' being released. |
| 389 | * Microsoft has likewise been getting a lot of this, such as with their version of Nintendo's Miis. |
| 390 | ** Microsoft has been fielding similar accusations from Apple's [[FanDumb faithful]] for years, who seem to honestly believe that Apple invented the WIMP (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers) interface paradigm. [[OlderThanTheyThink For the record, Apple stole it from the Xerox PARC laboratory]]. |
| 391 | ** The Kinect was called a "Wii Wannabe" as well. |
| 392 | * ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': |
| 393 | ** Some people would think that ''Roblox'' is a ripoff of ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', but ''Roblox'' [[OlderThanTheyThink came before MC.]] In fact, almost any game that involves mining blocks and moving them around, ItemCrafting, and/or some form of SurvivalSandbox feature is going to get slammed with this, the most blatant being ''VideoGame/FortressCraft''. |
| 394 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' also gets accused of being a ''Minecraft'' clone, though the games have nothing in common besides having pixelated graphics and having mining and crafting as core mechanics. |
| 395 | ** In turn, ''Minecraft'' is frequently accused of "ripping off" other games like ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' and ''VideoGame/{{Infiniminer}}'' (though the creator of ''Infiniminer'', Zachary Barth, [[http://allthingsd.com/20131105/qotd-the-game-that-changed-everything/ doesn't like being asked if he feels ripped off and that inspiration is all part of the creative process]]) , as shown in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N__BhXhbSUs video]]. |
| 396 | * Any fighting game where you can kill your opponent at the end of a match will have a ''splendid'' time beating the "''Franchise/MortalKombat'' ripoff" allegations. |
| 397 | * ''VideoGame/{{MUGEN}}'' has what we call "spriteswapped" characters. These are basically what you get when somebody takes a character and swaps all the sprites with their own, leading to a "new" character that plays almost exactly like the old one. Among the community, this is very much frowned upon as it not only shows laziness but also shows a lack of respect for the original character's author. |
| 398 | * A strange inversion with most MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena games -- it doesn't tend to be, "You copied ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'', so you suck," it tends to be more, "You ''didn't'' copy ''Defense of the Ancients'', so you suck." |
| 399 | * Some people have noticed that ''VideoGame/{{MUSECA}}''[='=]s controller bears a striking resemblance to that of another rhythm game, ''Neon FM'', and have accused Konami of copying it [[DoubleStandard while happily shutting down]] clones of the [=eAMUSEMENT=] network and ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' look-a-like ''VideoGame/InTheGroove''. |
| 400 | * ''VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'' and ''VideoGame/MultiVersus'' got a mix of both this trope and "They copied it, therefore it's meant to kill ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''", due to features these games have that ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' doesn't like ''NASB''[='=]s more ''Melee''-esque gameplay that Sakurai is known for being hesitant to go back to, and ''MVS'' having an increased focus on team battles and being FreeToPlay. The fact that they didn't kill ''Smash'' (to be fair they weren't meant to in the first place) makes people not into these games lean more into thinking they're just this trope. |
| 401 | * In a reversal, ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' was released a couple of months before ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', as Link turned into a wolf and the similarities between the games many said Nintendo had stolen the idea despite the fact that both games were developed in the same time frame (from 2004 to 2006), making any deliberate plagiarism impossible. |
| 402 | * ''Okiraku/Family Kart 3D'' gets this for being similar to ''Mario Kart''. |
| 403 | * The popularity of ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' means that any HeroShooter released in its wake will draw immediate comparisons to Blizzard's game regardless of merit. Both ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{LawBreakers}}'' flopped because general audiences dismissed them at face-value as ''Overwatch'' knock-offs, especially with ''Battleborn'' since it too has a cartoony art style and was released in the same month as ''Overwatch''. Likewise, ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' was seen as ''Overwatch'' with a HighFantasy setting despite the fact that ''Paladins'' was in development first. Even ''VideoGame/ApexLegends'' (a gritty battle royale game) and ''VideoGame/{{Valorant}}'' (a hardcore tactical shooter) received flak from some hardcore ''Overwatch'' fans just because they too have a colorful cast of heroes with unique abilities. |
| 404 | * It didn't take too long for ''{{VideoGame/Palworld}}'' to receive flak for its creatures being too similar to ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''. Furthermore, a number of players and reviewers have criticized it for being too derivative of other open-world survival games or MonsSeries, creating a game that's soulless, uncoordinated, uninspired and lacking a proper identity in their eyes. |
| 405 | * ''VideoGame/PAYDAYTheHeist'' gets some flak for being similar to ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' because it's cops VS robbers to survivors VS zombies and that's where the similarities end. |
| 406 | * Almost any JRPG with RelationshipValues released nowadays will be compared to any ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' game after ''2'', regardless of how much else the game has in common. Unless a game had them in previous entries in its series, in which case it may be overlooked. |
| 407 | * An InUniverse example happens in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' with ''The Plumed Punisher'', a Khura'inese ripoff of ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Steel Samurai]]'' that the creators [[BlatantLies insist is totally original]]. We get to see how the cast's two biggest ''Steel Samurai'' fans react to this: Maya loves both shows and wishes to see a {{Crossover}} made, while Edgeworth is absolutely ''furious''. |
| 408 | -->'''Edgeworth:''' It's an outrage! Especially [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong the theme song]]! |
| 409 | * ''VideoGame/PlayStationAllStarsBattleRoyale'' frequently gets accused of being a ripoff of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', even though the gameplay really isn't all that similar. (The offense has much more in common with ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' than ''Smash'', the maneuverability options are different, there's no directional influence, and the killing method is completely different) Not helping is Sony's infamous decision to put ''Super Smash Bros.'' onto the tags of the [=YouTube=] trailers, showing that either the ripoff was intentional or Sony is just pimping out the video with tags that they know will generate more traffic. |
| 410 | * Discussed by the Pickford Brothers, creators of ''VideoGame/{{Plok}}''. One of the reasons why they don't plan on reintroducing Plok is that they imagine it would be hard for them to convince people that their [[DetachmentCombat limb-throwing hero]] isn't a ripoff of ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'', despite ''Plok'' preceding ''Rayman'' by two years. |
| 411 | * A meta-example. During the development of ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' and ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'', members of Creator/IdSoftware and Creator/EpicGames's teams would often sling mud at each other in their public .plan files, which reached the point of one of ''Unreal'''s staff members openly accusing the team at id of stealing ideas from ''Unreal''. His justification? ''"[[https://web.archive.org/web/20100312034459/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/june03/dumbestmoments/index2.shtml Unreal has a bald guy and a girl with a ponytail. Quake II has a bald guy and a girl with a ponytail]]."'' |
| 412 | * One of the biggest complaints surrounding the original ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'' is that most of its assets were copied and pasted from the Game Boy ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games, with many of the sprites being noticeable edit jobs of existing ''Pokémon'' sprites, and the gameplay format being hardly any different. Thankfully, ''Robopon 2'' would go against these notions by not only polishing the gameplay to be something new and unique, but also making its own art style completely distinct from ''Pokémon''. |
| 413 | * ''VideoGame/RockBand'' fans often claim ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'' stole any number of ideas, the most notable one being full band play. The less-informed will argue the opposite, not realizing (or ignoring) that ''Guitar Hero 1'' & ''2'' were made by Harmonix (Forbes gets it wrong in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120430012052/http://www.forbes.com:80/forbes/2009/0202/052_3.html this article]]). Meanwhile, ''Guitar Hero'' is inspired from ''Guitar Freaks'' in Japan, but that game only had three frets, no hammer-ons, and Konami [[FrivolousLawsuit seemed pretty determined]] [[NoExportForYou to deprive non-Japanese gamers of it]]. |
| 414 | * Despite Rumble being an arcade feature at the time, the controller design coming from the Vectrex, the sticks coming from the Atari 5200 (historically, the first games system with analogue joysticks), and connectivity coming from the Dreamcast. Nintendo rips something off, Sony does it twice. |
| 415 | * The original ''VideoGame/{{Saints Row|1}}'', while not terribly received, was considered by-and-large to be a copy of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. The series [[GrowingTheBeard grew its beard]] with ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'', which helped distinguish it from GTA as being a more comedic game than its [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV more serious contemporary]], with each game subsequent going [[DenserAndWackier further and further off the rails]]. |
| 416 | * The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series gets dismissed as "''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' with demons" quite a bit overseas. Particularly interesting, considering ''[=MegaTen=]'' [[TropeMakers created]] {{Mon}}s gameplay nearly a decade before the first ''Pokemon'' game was even out. |
| 417 | * A rather unusual case, again involving Creator/{{SNK}}, that involved a character: K9999 got a lot of flak in his debut in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001''. Why? Everything he did, Tetsuo Shima from ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}'' did first. SNK agreed with said criticism, and proceeded to [[BuryYourArt violently suppress everything pertaining to the character]] for a while before redesigning and reintroducing him in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV''. |
| 418 | * The obscure Genesis platformer ''VideoGame/{{Socket}}'' received mixed reviews at the time of release due to taking so much from the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series. The UK-based ''Sega Zone'' magazine gave the game a score of '''[[BrokeTheRatingScale zero]]''' on the very basis of this trope. |
| 419 | * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 420 | ** When ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' was initially revealed, some people, going by just a couple short CG trailers, compared it to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''. As more information was revealed, the comparison was further extended by the presence of the Luma-like Wisps, Sweet Mountain Zone and the drill power. Ironically, when ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' came around, it got some flak for World Bowser being a theme park late in the game, specifically for looking a lot like the first world in Sonic Colors. |
| 421 | ** ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' got even more flak for looking even more like ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', as its stage design seems to borrow a lot of the gravity gimmicks that ''Galaxy'' had. Even though it's equally likely, if not more so, that the design takes ideas from the Platform/SegaSaturn {{Vaporware}} game ''Sonic X-Treme''. |
| 422 | ** One of the criticisms against ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle'' was the game taking after ''VideoGame/MarioParty'', never mind that the game was co-developed by the [[Creator/HudsonSoft same developer]]. |
| 423 | ** {{Averted|Trope}} by ''VideoGame/SonicAndSegaAllStarsRacing'', which unabashedly borrows from the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series, but does it ''so well'' that few complain. |
| 424 | * Make a game that looks and plays too much like ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', and Sonic fans will soon mercilessly tear into it for their similarities. This happened to both ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' and ''VideoGame/SparkTheElectricJester'' for "playing too much like ''Sonic''", and it's created a FandomRivalry between fans of Sonic games and fans of Sonic-inspired games with very little overlap. |
| 425 | * Several people note that [[FollowTheLeader Sony's peripheral devices are rip-offs of Nintendo's controllers]]. From the SNES-like design, to the rumble, the control sticks, and the motion sensor technology and connectivity between consoles and portables, Sony has been accused of being a copycat. Reportedly, PS Move has actually been in development since before the Wii was even announced (cost being the main reason it didn't launch with the [=PS3=] itself, as the system cost enough to manufacture as it was [[http://kotaku.com/5640867/motion-gaming-gains-momentum]]). While this doesn't quite disprove the idea of Sony having Spies in Nintendo to steal from them, it does highlight the silliness of the issue. |
| 426 | * ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions'' was accused of being a shameless rip-off of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' due to some similarities in Noir's gameplay and his final boss segment. |
| 427 | * Because of the use of HighFantasy elements and Elijah Wood, many of [[Franchise/SpyroTheDragon the older]] ''[[Franchise/SpyroTheDragon Spyro]]'' FanDumb bashes the ''Legend'' series for being a ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' rip off. Considering that the ''Legend'' series doesn't even have the StandardFantasyRaces, has {{Steampunk}} elements, and no rings involved. |
| 428 | * ''Franchise/StarCraft'' gets a crapton of hate from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' fans for perceived similarities. The two fans often argue that the other game practically stole everything from them, and the similarities between the [[BugWar Tyranids and Zerg]] especially remain a huge point of contention between the two [[note]]nevermind that back in the old ''Space Hulk'' days, the Genestealers, the progenitors to the eventually developed Tyranid faction, were blatant [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorph]] knock-offs, down to the sneaking through air vents and dishing out a FaceFullOfAlienWingWong[[/note]]. Hell, it's taken to such an extent that the [=40K=] side promotes an UrbanLegendOfZelda that says ''[=StarCraft=]'' was born from a botched game development deal between Blizzard and Games Workshop to produce a 40k RTS game. Similar sentiments exist between ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' fans as well. |
| 429 | * ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' has had this issue amongst ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' (and ''VideoGame/RuneFactory'') fans. While many like the game as a fun alternative, others see it as ''too'' close for comfort and essentially just being an indie knockoff with not much original. It doesn't help that ''Stardew Valley'' was originally a ''Story of Seasons'' FanGame. |
| 430 | * Many people accused ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' of trying to be too much like a ''Zelda'' game. |
| 431 | * When the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' series got popular with the second installment any 2-D fighter that anyone ever heard of during the early to mid-'90s was automatically deemed a rip-off to ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' regardless of whether it was actually deserving or not. The only ones who remotely escaped this were ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' (due to digitized actors and the Graphic Violence, though not the first) and ''VideoGame/SamuraiShodown'' (Weapons based fighter, though not the first). While this attitude was starting to fade during the late 90s and the 2000s it was a rather popular sentiment for the genre back then. |
| 432 | ** The Data East fighting game ''[[VideoGame/FightersHistory Fighter's History]]'' plays with this trope a bit. Sure there might be someone thinking "Okay not all 2-D fighters were rip-offs of VideoGame/StreetFighterII but if anything deserved to be a called a rip-off then this game was it!" and Capcom agreed to that. While Capcom called Fighters History "overly inspired from Street Fighter II", one of the reasons why Capcom lost that case is because Data East called the original VideoGame/StreetFighterI a rip-off of the original arcade version of their 1984 fighter ''Karate Champ''. Even though Kunio-kun and Double Dragon creator Technos Japan actually developed it while Data East only released it, Technos Japan was founded by three former Data East employees. A little-known Japanese website in English known as [[http://www.jap-sai.com/Games/Fighters_History/Fighters_History.htm Jap-Sai]] considers it to actually be a tribute and not a 'direct copy'. |
| 433 | ** Oddly enough, some people still believe to this day that ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'' ripped off ''Street Fighter'' despite the fact that the gameplay is significantly different in every aspect. Of course, a main character named ''Ryo'' and a Guile-like army dude probably didn't remotely help. |
| 434 | ** ''Ryu'' is to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit what ''Ryo'' is to Mickey Mouse; same creators, but for different companies. |
| 435 | ** ''VideoGame/FatalFury'', even though both it and SFII were in development at the same time. |
| 436 | ** ''Fatal Fury 2'' is "Street Fighter 2 with some Fatal Fury 1 elements tossed in", as well as four-button layout instead of SFII's six-button layout, though. |
| 437 | ** And ''Time Killers'' is the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' of ''Mortal Kombat''; both it and MK were in development at the same time. |
| 438 | ** ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters XII'' came out right after ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV''. Claims of FollowTheLeader were made even though ''King of Fighters XII'' was in development as early as 2006, far before ''Street Fighter IV'' was revealed to the public. |
| 439 | ** Same for ''VideoGame/SuperFighter'' who was also accused of copying ''Street Fighter II'', although it's an MS-DOS exclusive. |
| 440 | * ''VideoGame/ThrillDrive'', a popular game that ran contrary to ''VideoGame/{{Burnout}}'' concept of taking out other cars in a violent matter had a 4th installation that ran contrary to everything that made Thrill Drive the game it was with PowerUp items, a system that encourage maximum carnage as well as BoostPad, Japanese fans were not too amused |
| 441 | * There have been accusations of ''Tiki Towers'' being a ripoff of ''VideoGame/WorldOfGoo'', despite using slightly different gameplay mechanics. |
| 442 | * ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': |
| 443 | ** There are ''Touhou'' fans who, not aware of the ShootEmUp genre's history, complain that other BulletHell games are ''Touhou'' ripoffs. |
| 444 | ** ''Mrs. Estacion'' is heavily inspired by ''Touhou'', being a Bullet Hell game with a similar style, a female cast and (most controversially) some bullet patterns that arguably look a little too similar to patterns found in ''Touhou''. These factors contributed to its negative reception in Japan, where it was dismissed as a ''Touhou'' rip-off. |
| 445 | ** Some ''Touhou'' fans dislike the ''VideoGame/LenEn'' series and accuse it of being a ''Touhou'' rip-off because of its similar genre, style and setting. Even the developer's blog has described it as "similar to a certain shrine maiden danmaku shooting game, but if you try it you may think it's pretty different... but it's really nothing more than a rip-off of Touhou"-type danmaku shooting game. |
| 446 | * The Platform/WiiU's controller gets some hate for looking too similar to the iPad. |
| 447 | * "Like ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' but..." syndrome has begun to really invade [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMO[=RPGs=]]], due to said game's amazing economic success. In particular, user interfaces and tutorial zones tend to be described as ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE in SPACE]] or transplanted to other fantasy series (occasionally even other games that [[OlderThanTheyThink came out first]]). This isn't always a bad thing—''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' wouldn't have been successful if it had a bad UI or especially boring early quests—but a lot of reviewers spend two or three days in a new game and advocate sticking with the precursor. |
| 448 | * ''VideoGame/WorldDaiStarYumeNoStellarium'' got this right out of the gate from ''VideoGame/ProjectSekai'' players due to its gameplay being quite similar to that of the latter, right down to the variable-width notes and 12-lane hallway-perspective gameplay. It does have some notable differences such as hold notes with flick notes within them, the release of hold notes not being timed, accuracy scoring being the main scoring system outside of Audition mode (which is very unusual for {{gacha|Games}} idol {{rhythm game}}s, as many of them solely use scoring systems based both on player performance ''and'' card parameters, resulting in a BribingYourWayToVictory situation), and a dedicated difficulty for multi-finger charts, but it hasn't stopped many ''Project Sekai'' players from protesting the game as a "''[=ProSeka=]'' ripoff", resulting in a FandomRivalry between the two games' player bases. |
| 449 | * This is ''VideoGame/YokaiWatch'''s number 1 issue. It's a CashCowFranchise in Japan but outside of its home country it can't escape the stigma of being a "''Pokémon'' ripoff". A large number of Nintendo-focused fans and reviewers scoff at it purely for being a kid-friendly {{mon}} JRPG that ''isn't'' ''Pokémon''. |
| 450 | * ''VideoGame/{{Foamstars}}'' saw its reveal trailer get hit with the universally observation that it was clearly an AlternateCompanyEquivalent to Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' series. Almost shamefully so, as fans of the latter quickly poked fun at how [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgtvJ9QvZ78 all of the specials]] showcased in the trailer have direct counterparts in ''Splatoon''. While this sentiment would lessen somewhat once more details emerged and it became clear how ''Foamstars'' would differentiate itself -- with many also coming to like the idea of [[GenrePopularizer "Splatoon-likes" becoming a thing]] -- there are still plenty who dismiss it as being little more than a ripoff. |
| 451 | [[/folder]] |
| 452 | |
| 453 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 454 | * ''[[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Danganronpa V3]]'' follows along with the same structure for murder cases as the first two games, with [[spoiler:an important or easily dislikable character getting killed, someone killing another due to an important connection to a past life, two victims on opposite ends of the sliding scale of silly and serious, a sacrifice pact to save the remainder of the students, and a murder that establishes how violently the mastermind wants to battle against the remainder of the participants with main characters becoming the blackened and the victim. ''V3''[='s=] final battle is also the same, as the protagonist works with everyone else to defy the mastermind and survive as a remainder in spite of the circumstances the mastermind has positioned them in; the reveal of the environment being a ''Truman Show'' copy having confusing execution enforced those who were already disappointed by the repeated formula and never wanted to associate themselves with ''Danganronpa'' ever again]]. Reception from the formula being done a third time included people calling the story "dull" and the formula "generic," despite it actually being completely unique to ''Danganronpa'''s forte. |
| 455 | * The ''Silverio'' series of visual novels from Light frequently get hit by this as it is often seen as a half baked copy of fellow Light and [[FollowTheLeader more successful author]] Takeshi Masada's works such as the ''VisualNovel/ShinzaBanshoSeries''. Most notably it uses a similar complex prose and long and intricate chants, yet is often seen as failing to understand and capture what makes Masada's works so beloved. |
| 456 | [[/folder]] |
| 457 | |
| 458 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 459 | * Some people think that ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' is a knockoff of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', despite the former's plot, characters, world and deities being completely different. The only trait they share is the same genre and some visual similarities in character design. ''Our Little Adventure'' isn't even a stick figure comic. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d back in [[https://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/first.html the prologue strip]]. |
| 460 | -->'''Quizmalia''': ...And yes, we are aware that this kind of looks like Rich Burlew's 'The Order of the Stick'. It was an inspiration and a starting point in design. We're just hoping certain fanboys won't attack it simply because it '''looks''' similar. |
| 461 | [[/folder]] |
| 462 | |
| 463 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 464 | * Many [[TheAbridgedSeries Abridged series]] are dismissed just for copying Creator/LittleKuriboh, regardless of whether they have different jokes or even parody the series differently. This can come off as a bit hypocritical, given Kuriboh's own heavy reliance on pop culture references. ''Naruto Abridged'' made fun of this. |
| 465 | -->You're copying Little Kuriboh! He said the word "the", and you so said it in your last episode! |
| 466 | * Don't ''ever'' do [[CausticCritic ranting reviews]] on Platform/YouTube, unless you want to be labeled an [[WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd AVGN]] ripoff. [[FanDumb Even when your topic has NOTHING to do with video games]]. And there are videos on [=YouTube=] calling the [=AVGN=] a Creator/{{Seanbaby}} ripoff. This is because Seanbaby predates AVGN, and made fun of NES games for the same reasons. Some of his lines are even almost exactly the same. Also, legions of overzealous fans will call for your blood if you decide to review a game or film that some other critic has also reviewed. Apparently, [[FanDumb no two critics may review the same work EVER.]] |
| 467 | * Many people on Website/DeviantART are just eager to pounce on people that copied (just short of actually taking the person's work) artwork off someone else or made a similar picture, whether by accident or on purpose. Even putting characters in similar poses will get many people flamed because "true art" is original. The mentality can get so bad that all it takes is one artist making a journal crying that someone ripped off his or her work and the people responding go and flame the hell out of the target. |
| 468 | ** One art thief actually tried to use this to her advantage. Jen "Spunkywulf" Seng is a very popular artist and animator, especially in the UsefulNotes/FurryFandom. An artist named "Mochi" may have traced her art and that of others. After Jen and her friend tried to discuss it privately, Mochi wrote a journal entry making Jen out to be some sort of elitist who was begrudging Mochi being "inspired" by her work, presumably expecting Jen to be cowed by the flames of Mochi's few hundred fans. Unfortunately, Jen herself has ''thousands'' of fans, and she was perfectly willing to call Mochi out. |
| 469 | ** One of the more hilarious aspects of DA is how the Whiteknighting sometimes backfires against the artists themselves. Let's say you want to draw things your parents/relations wouldn't agree with too much. Perhaps you're even a squeaky clean artist who wants to throw a couple boobies into your work to avoid people FROM work from finding out and getting you canned. So you make a new name, and upload new works to that, and gain fans. Eventually, one of your thousands of old fans finds the new account and starts watching...And then they notice minor similarities like how you draw hands and how the new account has no signature on pictures. [[FanDumb Cue mass reporting spree for art theft.]] |
| 470 | ** Despite the fact that many people do not like copying of styles, some artists actually ''encourage'' other artists to mimic their style. One mention should go to Razzek, a woman who pressingly tells people to draw characters (whether original or Fan Art) in her style. [[SmallNameBigEgo Being how she is both on DA and on other sites]], some people have actually given in to her demands and it has resulted in a lot of various characters being nearly "rip-offs" of the artist's style. |
| 471 | * ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheDarkFate'' has been accused of copying ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheStories'' and to some extent ''WebAnimation/FiveNightsAtFreddysForgottenEvents'' due to its identical premise and its characters, especially Toy Bonnie who in this series is essentially a [[DistaffCounterpart Spear Counterpart]] of Toy Chica from ''The Stories''. |
| 472 | * For ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' fans: |
| 473 | ** There's ''[[SerialNumbersFiledOff London Mobile Buddies]]''. Both feature colorful cartoon characters who mostly have pie-shaped eyes and buck teeth and can suffer from bloody and gory injuries and deaths, with the latter show's cast being what can be described as "living mutant phones" [[WordOfGod according to the creator]]. If that's not enough, LMB has characters that are pretty much blatant rip-offs from not only HTF itself, but also other shows/franchises like ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' (he even made up an evolutionary line of few of his characters, whose mid-form and final form usually end up being blatant rip-offs on their own), and a few others. Even several of its shorts are plagiarized from other sources. A notable one is "Wikky's Restaurant", which is [[WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends "Flippin' Burgers"]]. |
| 474 | ** What makes this worse is that the creator managed to press the BerserkButton of various fans due to his recent tendency of [[TakeThat drawing his characters beating up/killing the characters that are they're based on]] (for example, Bulkey vs. Cuddles) in an attempt to make them [[DarkerAndEdgier more hardcore]]. He has, so far, managed to piss off not only HTF fans but also [[Franchise/MyLittlePony MLP]] fans and possibly ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' fans (this one has only a single artwork, which depicts Kenny being killed by Merio). He probably also angered [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys FNAF]] fans by featuring an artwork of Bulkey beheading Freddy by kicking the latter's head off, especially with the artwork having part of title like [[TakeThat "What a piece of Animal Junk"]]. |
| 475 | * Several people outside of Japan compare MAD Videos and other similar videos mostly found on Nico Nico Douga (NND) to YouTubePoop, though Know Your Meme researchers found that [=MADs=] were created as far back as 1978, 28 years before [=YouTube=] Poop was created. Some people outside of Japan refer to [=MADs=] as [=YouTube=] Poop Music Videos ([=YTPMVs=]). |
| 476 | * Every gaming webcomic that isn't ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' has been accused of ripping off the same. ''Penny Arcade'' itself summed the trope up: the difference between "derivative" and "{{Homage}}" is "Whether or not I liked it." |
| 477 | * Any [=YouTuber=] playing a HorrorGame with facecam will be accused of ripping off LetsPlay/PewDiePie. Actually, anyone who does a LetsPlay runs this risk, even though there have been Let's Plays long before [=PewDiePie=] came onto the scene. |
| 478 | * Make any kind of science (or destruction) channel in the veins of ''Series/MythBusters'' or ''Brainiac'' and you get this. |
| 479 | ** Do any kind of chemistry experiment? You're just copying ''Nurd Rage''. [[FanDumb Even if your channel is tied to that of a university]]. |
| 480 | ** Do any kind of philosophy/science videos and you're copying ''WebVideo/VSauce'', even though they started out doing video game humour. |
| 481 | ** Make a microwave show? You're just copying ''WebVideo/IsItAGoodIdeaToMicrowaveThis'', even if you've been microwaving things on Platform/YouTube since before "the original and best" got their start in May of 2007. |
| 482 | ** Do anything with "will it" in the title? You're just ripping off ''Advertising/WillItBlend'', or if you're ''Will It Blend?'', then you're just ripping off David Letterman's "Will It Float?" |
| 483 | ** Do any kind of smashing video and you're a copycat of ''The Smash Doctor'' or Garret Claridge. |
| 484 | * [=YouTube=] beauty gurus are in a Catch-22. They copy each other so much that people say that all beauty gurus are the same, not just in their topics or what kinds of videos they do, but in their mannerisms down to how they speak, their word choices when describing things, their actions, everything. However, they almost have to do this to get views and subscribers since originality doesn't seem to attract the kind of audience that make up a majority of beauty guru viewers, females between ages 11 and 23. Beauty gurus that have refused to adopt the fake "beauty guru" persona and use/review products they like instead of following trends often get overlooked (even if, for example they do unboxing, review, outfit of the day, and tutorial videos) while you see teenage girls getting thousands of subscribers in months just by copying popular beauty channels, and other girls seeing this and following suit. Despite this, these channels will often get hate comments about copying others. |
| 485 | * ''WebAnimation/TooLoud'', a web cartoon on Platform/YouTube made by Dreamworks TV of all people, has been accused of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''... even though the only things they have in common are that one of ''Too Loud'''s main characters bears a striking resemblance to Lincoln Loud, and that of course the web cartoon has "loud" in its name. |
| 486 | * ''WebVideo/TheMysteriousMrEnter'' was accused by a few of his critics for stealing the term "Animated Atrocities" from another reviewer, "[=BigManX=]" since the latter brought the term up back in 2012. |
| 487 | [[/folder]] |
| 488 | |
| 489 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 490 | * ''WesternAnimation/AngelsFriends'' was accused of being a rip-off of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', which was accused of being a rip-off of WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}, which was accused of being a rip-off of ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', which was accused of being a rip-off of ''ComicBook/WonderWoman''. God, that's alot of rip-offs... |
| 491 | * Some Marvel fans feel the efforts to make ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' closer to the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse are excessive (such as quoting it), to the point the show feels more like a promotion of the movies rather than its own thing. |
| 492 | * ''WesternAnimation/CoconutFredsFruitSaladIsland'' was hated by many for being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. It doesn't help that [[Creator/RobPaulsen the main character's voice actor]] [[OldShame felt this way as well.]] |
| 493 | * ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' is sometimes accused of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' due to its similar humour, art style, and the personalities of the titular duo (with [[FatIdiot Cow]] being perceived as too much like Stimpy and [[TheNapoleon Chicken]] being too much like Ren). This is rather ironic, seeing as how ''Cow And Chicken'' is actually Creator/JohnKricfalusi's favorite cartoon from the 1990s. |
| 494 | * Similar to ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'', ''WesternAnimation/OggyAndTheCockroaches'' got panned on the Internet due to some people seeing it as a ''Franchise/TomAndJerry'' rip-off, due to many similarities -- both use the RoadRunnerVsCoyote formula even though they're still fundamentally different, and ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' due to sharing similar artstyles and slapstick humor. Not that it stops people from becoming fans of the show anyway. |
| 495 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Detention}}'' was often panned for being a rip-off of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}''. This was during a time when Creator/OneSaturdayMorning was beating Creator/KidsWB in the ratings, so WB had to make their own series. It lasted 13 episodes. |
| 496 | * ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest'' has its haters for being a rip-off of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''. Think about it: It's about two ingenious sisters that make experiments for their brother Johnny. His sisters are redheads with horn-rimmed glasses, and Johnny is blonde. The only difference between the two shows is that the lab rat is the star instead of the genius. It's also accused of being a knock-off of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' due to similar plots and character designs, and it doesn't help much that Scott Fellows (creator of ''Johnny Test'') used to work on ''The Fairly [=OddParents=]!'' as a writer. |
| 497 | * ''WesternAnimation/RainbowButterflyUnicornKitty'' is frequently accused of being a ''WesternAnimation/{{Unikitty}}'' knockoff, due to them both being vaguely MerchandiseDriven comedies where the main character is [[MixAndMatchCritters part unicorn and part cat]]. |
| 498 | * ''Every'' adult animated series after 1990 copied ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Some, like ''WesternAnimation/CapitolCritters'', ''WesternAnimation/FamilyDog'', ''WesternAnimation/TheOblongs'', and ''WesternAnimation/FishPolice'', were canceled just as quickly as they premiered; others, like ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', and ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' are still around, while others, like ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' were LongRunners that suffered [[SeasonalRot ups and downs in quality]] thanks to CharacterizationMarchesOn, {{Flanderization}}, and/or ExecutiveMeddling, but managed to be entertaining from beginning to end. In fact, ''Series/TheHoneymooners'', ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', and ''WesternAnimation/WaitTillYourFatherGetsHome'' (an obscure late 1960s animated DomCom set up as a cartoon version of ''Series/AllInTheFamily'') are the real inspirations behind ''The Simpsons'', a fact lampshaded on ''The Simpsons'' itself when in court deciding who owned the rights to Itchy and Scratchy. Roger Meyers pointed out shows that owed their existence to earlier shows, naming ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' and ''Series/TheHoneymooners'', then asking the judge, "If you take away our right to steal ideas, where are they going to come from?" He then points to Marge, whose best "original" idea for a cartoon is "Ghost Mutt." |
| 499 | ** In return for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' being compared to ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', [[WesternAnimation/{{Brickleberry}} Daniel Tosh's]] [[WesternAnimation/ParadisePD cartoons]] are frequently accused of copying not only ''Family Guy'', but also ''South Park'' due to their overuse of VulgarHumor and BlackComedy (the two shows even have a very similar artstyle to ''Family Guy''). |
| 500 | *** Ever since ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' became popular, there have been people accusing ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' of taking pages from that show. One example is when "Homer the Moe" reused the same jukebox gag from "Let's Go to the Hop", only with more blood. |
| 501 | ** When ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' first came out, many people wrote it off as a more politically hamfisted ''Family Guy'' (to the point that ''The Simpsons'' had a gag about it in "The Italian Bob"). Though ''American Dad!'' has found its own identity since then (as well as becoming far less {{Anvilicious}}), it still occasionally gets this accusation. |
| 502 | * ''WesternAnimation/SindyTheFairyPrincess'' is hated by Franchise/{{Barbie}} fans because the titular character is accused of being a ripoff of Barbie (being a blonde-haired blue-eyed doll who's kind-hearted and sings). The movie itself has many similarities to ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAsRapunzel'' and it's predecessor films. Even the parent company behind Sindy faced a [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/sindy-dolls-up-for-her-court-outing-1562808.html lawsuit]] over it's similarties to Barbie. |
| 503 | * ''WesternAnimation/SquirrelBoy'' gets this, as the haters blame Rodney and Andy for copying [[WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends Mac and Bloo]]. This also happens with ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey''. The centerpiece of the controversy is that all three shows revolve around an OnlySaneMan boy who has a {{Jerkass}} non-human for a best friend. |
| 504 | * ''WesternAnimation/SuperRobotMonkeyTeamHyperforceGo''—The one review online accuses it of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Powerpuff Girls|1998}}'', despite the fact there was barely anything similar. |
| 505 | * Creator/HannaBarbera gets hit by this trope on the Internet. Mostly by non-fans as to why they "ruined animation". Due to their nature to copy everything, [[SelfPlagiarism including themselves]]. Most of their characters were based on actors from the '50s and '60s and they created so many ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' clones that Creator/{{Boomerang}} ran a block called "Those Meddling Kids". The most JustForFun/{{Egregious}} example that doesn't have to do with Scooby-Doo is ''The Partridge Family 2200 AD'', which is ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'' with the Partridge Family in place of the titular family. Which makes sense, because it was originally supposed to be a Jetsons sequel series with the family a few years older but the network bought the show under the demand they substitute the Partridges for the Jetsons. |
| 506 | * In the 1930s every animation studio tried to copy Disney, often resulting in incredibly bland, saccharine characters and storylines. |
| 507 | ** In the 1940s and 1950s many animation studios tried to copy WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes and Creator/TexAvery by creating wild characters, aggressively violent gags or fourth wall breaking jokes. Even plots were copied: compare Franchise/TomAndJerry's ''WesternAnimation/TheCatConcerto'' with WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's WesternAnimation/RhapsodyRabbit (that one actually resulted in Warner Bros. and MGM accusing each other of plagiarism) or Creator/TexAvery's WesternAnimation/BadLuckBlackie and Tom and Jerry's The Bodyguard. Not even Disney was above borrowing ''Looney Tunes'' style humor for their shorts, but they made a point to ''always'' make their antagonists (usually Donald or Pluto) the instigators. |
| 508 | ** Certain gags have been recycled as well, including the famous PaintedTunnelRealTrain joke. |
| 509 | ** The earliest ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' cartoons had an odd relationship with this trope. On the one hand, [[CaptainErsatz Foxy]] is such a blatant copy of WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse that not only is he the page image for CaptainErsatz, but Disney himself sued Harman and Ising over it. On the other hand, the ''Merrie Melodies'' just happened to have a tall dog character called Goopy Geer, who is often accused of copying WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, but actually predates him by about a month (even then, Goofy was called Dippy Dawg in his first appearance). |
| 510 | * Even before it hit the airwaves, cartoon fans were accusing ''WesternAnimation/SanjayAndCraig'' of copying the humor and art style of ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' and/or ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. It's also been criticized for copying ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'', although that one is at least justifiable as Jay Howell is the character designer of both shows. Other shows feel Sanjay and Craig's pain, as well. Almost any show with two usually male main characters having crazy misadventures made since Regular Show, including ''WesternAnimation/{{Breadwinners}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'', ''WesternAnimation/WelcomeToTheWayne'', and, at least before it aired, even ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' has been accused of copying ''Regular Show'''s style at some point. |
| 511 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats1985'' fans have accused ''WesternAnimation/LegendsOfChima'' of being a shamelessly blatant rip-off. Promos of it airing shortly after [[WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011 The remake's]] cancellation certainly didn't help. |
| 512 | * ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' has been accused by some of being a copycat of an older cartoon from Britain called ''Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings'', which has an almost identical premise. However, WordOfGod is that [=ChalkZone=] creators Bill Burnett and Larry Huber were not even aware of the latter cartoon until ''years'' after their show ended. |
| 513 | * Around Fall 2023, ''The Daily Wire'' announced the release of their new animated children's cartoon, ''WesternAnimation/ChipChilla''. Ever since they posted the preview, the show [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ica8oc9h7TU received flack]] for being near-identical to the popular Australian children's cartoon ''WesternAnimation/{{Bluey}}'', down to the similar character designs and premises (both are about a family of [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation anthropomorphic, blue animals]]). ''Chip Chilla'' itself has been described as boring and lackluster in comparision to it's Aussie counterpart. |
| 514 | * Creator/FamousStudios is often accused of copying other cartoon studios, in particular [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Warner Bros.]] and Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer cartoons. |
| 515 | ** ''Finnegan's Flea'' imitates Creator/ChuckJones' classic short ''WesternAnimation/OneFroggyEvening''. This opens with a bum standing in a frozen stupor in a bar where the bartender tends to his nourishment needs. He explains to a patron that the guy—Finnegan—had become acquainted with a singing flea, and together they worked their way up to successfully secure a career in show business. They go to said bar to celebrate, where the bartender sees the flea and swats it dead. That caused Finnegan to become frozen in his stunned stupor. |
| 516 | ** ''WesternAnimation/HermanAndKatnip'' gets a lot of vitriol for being a clone of ''Franchise/TomAndJerry'', only with more FamilyUnfriendlyViolence and sadism heaped on. |
| 517 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 518 | ** ''WesternAnimation/FillyFuntasia'' and the toyline it was based on, was often accused by bronies of ripping off Friendship is Magic, as both franchises were about magical horses and since Filly toys outsold My Little Pony toys in Germany considerably from its introduction in 2007 to circa 2016. |
| 519 | ** Many people have compared both the show and the toys to the Franchise/CareBears franchise due to their surprisingly similar concepts, and a few have even accused the former of being outright taking/reworking ideas from the latter. [[note]]while a large amount of Franchise/MyLittlePony fans might not be happy about it, the accusations aren't entirely unfounded.[[/note]] |
| 520 | ** ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' was perceived by some bronies as an attempt by Hasbro to replicate their earlier PeripheryDemographic-drawing traits of Friendship is Magic. |
| 521 | ** Combined with TheyChangedItNowItSucks, when the trailer for ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyPonyLife'' appeared it did ''not'' get a warm reception from fans who felt it was ripping its tone and art style straight from DenserAndWackier reboots like ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThundercatsRoar'' and, given how utterly divisive such works have been, [[ThisIsGoingToSuck feared the absolute worst]]. Ironically when it came out it [[SoOkayItsAverage got an okay reception]] and has actually been described as "Teen Titans GO done ''right''". |
| 522 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}'' is rather controversial in some circles for being very similar to ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot''. They ran around the same time and both featured [[RobotKid robot youth]] who spent time amongst humans while fighting evil. |
| 523 | * ''WesternAnimation/PinkyMalinky'' has already gained the vitriol of fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' for being suspiciously close to the latter's concept (a mischievous kid in middle school and his quirky sidekick [he even wears an orange jacket] have weird adventures) and using a similar mixed media look with the only truly noticeable difference being the humor which goes for something that is obviously not satire. Only time will tell if ''Pinky Malinky'' ends up decent since it's staff previously worked on ''Gumball''. |
| 524 | * ''WesternAnimation/WelcomeToTheWayne'' has already gathered heat from people who see it as a ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' ripoff, given that two of the main characters (Olly and Saraline Timbers) have a fairly lot in common with Dipper and Mabel Pines. Many people point to this as a contributing factor [[ScrewedByTheNetwork as to why the show]] [[ShortRunners died an early death]]. |
| 525 | * ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' gets a lot of flak by some who feel that it's nothing more than a cheap ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' due to similarities between the main characters (a WideEyedIdealist and [[ThePollyanna Pollyanna]] with a FatIdiot [[FatBestFriend Best Friend]] and genius female friend while annoying a {{Jerkass}} who hates him). |
| 526 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiretteInvestigates'' has received flak for its similarities to ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', including but not limited to the crime-fighting protagonists' names and appearances not being far apart, a feline-themed partner they're attached to (a boy in a cat-themed outfit in ''Miraculous'' vs. a pet cat in ''Mirette''), and Paris being the protagonists' home. This is likely coincidental, as the protagonist of ''Miraculous'' was created in 2005, five years before the show was announced, while ''Mirette'' is based on a book series that began in 2008. |
| 527 | * Even ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBeaks'' has been accused of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' before it even aired, due to the fact that Harvey, Fee, and Foo have the same color scheme as Gumball, Anais, and Darwin. Of course, anyone who has ever seen either show will tell you they have absolutely nothing in common. |
| 528 | * From the pilot alone, ''WesternAnimation/VictorAndValentino'' received accusations of copying ''Gravity Falls'' due to their similar premises that involve a pair of siblings (or half-siblings in the case of Victor and Valentino) spending the summer with an elderly relative in a town that has more than meets the eye. |
| 529 | * ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'' has an episode suspiciously similar in premise and execution to an episode of ''Anime/ErgoProxy'': In both instances, the episode opens with the main protagonists of the show inexplicably on a game show, and it's quickly evident that they are as confused as you, the viewer, as to what they are doing there or how they got there; the entire concept of being on such a show is completely out of context for the setting and tone of the series and continuity with where the previous episode left off. Yet one thing is clear: the host of the show seems to have godlike power over his own tacky little gameshow universe and the protagonists are his complete playthings in his surreal game—and severe consequences are promised for failure to play the game well, or refusal to play it at all. But while at first the premise seems nightmarish, as the episode wears on, it becomes obvious that there is more to the host and the game: increasingly, the way he poses his questions begins to take the form of {{Exposition Dump}}s that contain very interesting information—information that is incredibly valuable to our protagonists, who have been struggling to understand a mystery for ages that this bizarre omnipotent game show host is now just busting open—in a way that bends, but doesn't quite break, the FourthWall. The episode plays out with some tension, with it never quite being clear whether the host is sadistic and insane or some kind of benign benefactor, but ultimately the heroes all survive the ordeal and are returned to their regular world/continuity—shaken, but with a better understanding of the threats they face next. So...not exactly an episode premise that is likely to have repeated too closely without the second case occurring with some "inspiration" from the first. |
| 530 | * ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' occasionally had the issue of being compared to ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' due to the former premiering two years after the latter on [[Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} the same network]] and having generally mild similarities (mostly gross-out humor and {{demographically inappropriate humour}}), even though the two were otherwise pretty different (for example, ''Rocko'' did a better job at being subtle in its adult humor and featured much more satire). |
| 531 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheShnookumsAndMeatFunnyCartoonShow'' was often compared unfavorably with ''Ren & Stimpy'', not helped by the use of a cat and dog as its main characters. However, it also had some key differences: not only did the series have supporting segments in the form of Pith Possum and Tex Tinstar (by contrast, the most ''Ren and Stimpy'' had were a few shorts starring side characters, most prominently Powdered Toast Man), it also had a largely different sense of humor. ''Ren and Stimpy'' relied on gross-out gags, BlackComedy, and even some psychological elements, while ''Shnookums and Meat'', gross-out jokes aside, was more of a traditional slapstick gag comedy. |
| 532 | * ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' has its detractors claiming the show is ''Ren & Stimpy'', except Ren is the cat, Stimpy is the dog, and the characters are attached to each other. While the show ''did'' have a few gross-out gags, it was predominantly a SadistShow and put a heavier emphasis on BlackComedy and KafkaKomedy. It didn't rely on DemographicallyInappropriateHumour as much, either. |
| 533 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangbone}}'' is frequently accused of copying ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', but with the MagicalGirl replaced with a BarbarianHero. This isn't helped by the fact that both aired on Creator/DisneyXD in the United States. However, this is not true—''Fangbone!'' was originally a book series from 2012, and the AnimatedAdaptation was set to premiere in 2014, a year before ''Star vs. the Forces of Evil'' came out. However, the show was held back until 2016 after Creator/DHXMedia got ahold of the distribution rights. Taylor Abrahamse, Fangbone's voice actor, has stated that aside from the similar premise, the two shows have little in common. |
| 534 | * Several ''WesternAnimation/PAWPatrol'' fans have accused the Disney Junior show ''WesternAnimation/{{SuperKitties}}'' of being a shameless ripoff the minute it was announced, since both shows involve a group of animals (puppies in ''PAW Patrol'' and kittens in ''[=SuperKitties=]'') helping and/or rescuing the residents of the city they live in. It doesn't help that the announcement was made around the same time ''PAW Patrol'' itself introduced a heroic team of cats called the Cat Pack. |
| 535 | * ''WesternAnimation/ScaredySquirrel'' has a number of haters who accuse it of copying ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. The reality is that the show is based on a [[Literature/ScaredySquirrel book series of the same name]] (albeit InNameOnly), and the two shows don't really have much in common anyway aside from the characters having vaguely similar personalities. |
| 536 | * When ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'' was new, it was accused of being a ripoff of ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer''. Apart from Molly and Dora looking somewhat similar, the two shows have absolutely nothing in common. It was even accused of ripping off ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'' at one point, which is ironic because the two shows eventually had a {{crossover}} episode. |
| 537 | * Adult series ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'' has sometimes been accused of being ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' but with demons and monsters instead of aliens and robots. Both are set in an alternative version of New York and star a fish-out-of-water human main character who adapts soon enough to the bizarre new world, and who also has a non-human girlfriend and best buddy. Though Mark Lilly is a white collar worker instead of a delivery boy like Fry, and is smarter, more driven and cynical than him. |
| 538 | [[/folder]] |
| 539 | |
| 540 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 541 | * Copying other people's ideas was the very essence of H.J. Heinz's business strategies. (Yes, ''that'' Heinz, whose company now controls the ketchup market.) Possibly [[AvertedTrope averted]], due to his insistence on always one-upping the competition when he imitated something. For instance, he added vinegar and thickened ketchup to extend its shelf life; ketchup was previously rather mild in flavor and quite runny. |
| 542 | * Creator/DenisLeary obviously borrowed a lot of his style and jokes from Creator/BillHicks, to the point that many people call him a blatant rip-off. It doesn't help that Hicks himself claimed that Leary stole from him and their friendship ended after Hicks thought this. |
| 543 | * In their memoirs, {{Silent Movie}}s actresses Creator/LillianGish and Miriam Cooper both mentioned their distaste for Carol Dempster, who became D.W. Griffith's leading lady in the 1920s after Gish and Cooper had moved on. They both claimed that Dempster was not a true actress because—according to them—she imitated their acting styles and the acting styles of other actresses, including Gish's sister Dorothy. (They did not consider this to be the SincerestFormOfFlattery.) While Dempster was no shining light of the silent screen—partly because Griffith's creativity seemed to run out of steam after his A-list stars left him—her films were somewhat popular at the time. This also shows a rather different attitude to acting to today's—seeing as now, being able to mimic and change one's acting style radically would usually be considered artistically superior to having an 'acting style' that someone ''could'' replicate obviously enough to be recognised! |
| 544 | * Romans liked to copy Greek art, often making perfect replicas in marble. Among artistic communities, it's often thought that this copying made the Romans less worthy, artistically speaking. Of course, even today with complicated techniques and high-tech tools, it's very hard to make an exact copy. It's interesting to learn that early artists were not sure how to portray the Buddha. They started off using a symbol (a footprint with a wheel inside) and moved on from there. Many earlier sculptures of the Buddha feature flowing robes and other elements borrowed from Greco-Roman sculpture, and it took quite a while before the present-day image of Buddha became canon. |
| 545 | * Creator/CarlosMencia has been accused of ripping-off so many comedians that Creator/JoeRogan even interrupted one of his stand-up acts to call him out on it. |
| 546 | * When the third-generation Hyundai Coupe was released it was criticised for looking like a Ferrari. As [[Series/TopGearUK Jeremy Clarkson]] said, "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20100110121759/http://www.topgear.com:80/uk/jeremy-clarkson/clarkson-coupes-2003-03-12 Some criticise it for looking too like the Ferrari 456 but isn't that like being criticised for painting like Turner?]]" |
| 547 | [[/folder]] |
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