->''The next worst word you can couple with the word "fan" is, you guessed it, the word "'''fiction'''"...''
->-- '''Strong Bad''', ''HomestarRunner'' [[http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail188.html "fan club"]]

->''"I have looked terror square in its single, milky eye...There was "fan fiction"!"''
->--''Shelley Winters [[http://scarygoround.com/index.php?date=20060906 meets her fanclub]] in ScaryGoRound.''

This page regards fanfic tropes. To discuss, recommend and advertise notable fanfics, we have the Main/FanficRecommendations page.

Fan Fiction. Supplemental stories written by fans of a pop-culture franchise (or, alternatively, [[RealPersonFic a celebrity's "real life"]]), using the show's pre-established characters and story arcs. Can be used to fill in plot holes, or [[{{Lemon}} have characters get into randy, nasty sex, and lots of it.]]

[[SturgeonsLaw In what are often extremely bad cases]], some fanfic [[SelfInsertFic inserts the author into the middle of his favorite action]], usually in the form of a MarySue or MartyStu.

It is also often used to explore {{Crossover}}s, combining characters and plot threads from different stories and attempting to create a unified whole from the mix. The classic debate of "Could the ''Enterprise'' defeat a Star Destroyer?" is thus open to creative energies, as are many other such what-ifs, most of which take the form of [[UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny "Wouldn't it be cool if X and Y teamed up to take on Z?"]].

FanFic is the place where EpilepticTrees are planted and cultivated. Expect many, many, ''many'' more fics to star the EnsembleDarkhorse rather than TheHero.

Fan fiction provides a clear and compelling example of [[SturgeonsLaw Sturgeon's Law]] ("90% of everything is [[GoshDangitToHeck crud]]"). All but the remaining 10% of it is ghastly stuff studded with [[RougeAnglesOfSatin misspellings]], poor grammar, and [[JargonDebate horrid malapropisms]]; 50% of ''that'' is usually DeadFic. For shows pointed at the demographic, melodramatic teenagers, [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls most likely girls]], are the authors, which doesn't help. On the other hand, the best {{Fanfic}} can be as good as, and sometimes much better than, the source material.

Saying "It was a {{Fanfic}} episode," though, is not usually a compliment.

Some franchises -- such as ''StarTrek'' -- have actually turned fan fiction into a profit center by creating [[TelevisionTieInNovels lines of books based on the show.]] These books are usually penned by young and upcoming authors, often former {{Fanfic}} writers, and represent an intermediate step between fan fiction and completely original fiction.

Although {{Fanfic}} exploded along with the Internet, it existed ''well'' before the Net did. One notable example: In ''StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', Khan and Chekov recognize each other upon meeting. However, "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E22SpaceSeed Space Seed]]", the episode of ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' in which Khan appears, is a first season episode, and Chekov did not join the cast of the show until the second season. The semi-official RetCon (not explained in any of the shows or movies, but widely propagated by producers and actors in convention appearances) is that Chekov was on the ''Enterprise'' at that time, he just wasn't part of the bridge crew yet and thus didn't appear on screen. A very funny fanfic distributed in print ('zines, photocopies, etc.) not long after the movie came out expands on that, envisioning Khan and Chekov bumping into each other in the bathroom. Sillier versions have Khan vowing revenge on Chekov for making him wait for the cubicle.

Of course, fanfiction probably goes back as far as literature; even such luminaries as John Stuart Mill contributed unauthorized, original stories set in a fictional universe. Before medieval French troubadours were shipping Launcelot and Guinevere, the ancient Greeks were writing plays about relationships between characters in ''{{The Iliad}}''. In {{Plato}}'s ''Symposium'' one character complains that a fanfic play by {{Aeschylus}} got the characterization of Achilles and Patroclus wrong.

Not all {{Fanfic}} is written, though that's the most common form. It can be in any [[{{Formats}} format]] that can tell a story. In Japan, ''{{doujinshi}}'' (fan-made "comic books") is a common vehicle; and with the increasing ease of their production on personal computers, [[FanVid fan videos]] (ranging from {{anime}} series, to ''StarWars'') have already appeared.

The distinction between {{Fanfic}} and original fiction, as we know it today, is largely created by modern copyright law; much of classical writing is actually "fanfiction" based on older sources. The major distinction between fanfic and a story inspired by another story is that the story a fanfic is based on has one or more "official" versions, usually owned by a company, a creator, or both. Thus, things like ''[[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/infancythomas-a-mrjames.html The Infancy Gospel of Thomas]]'', a piece of biblical apocrypha featuring Angry!Uber!Baby Jesus, or variations on Arthurian legend where there is no Holy Grail and Lancelot's affair with Guenivere never happens, would not "count" by this definition.

No statement on the legality of {{Fanfic}} has ever been given in American formal law or in its courts. Some argue that it's a form of copyright infringement; however, see [[http://www.tushnet.com/law/fanficarticle.html "Legal Fictions: Copyright, Fan Fiction, and a New Common Law"]], and note the above precedents.

Authors often have conflicted reactions to fan fiction set in "their" universe. JK Rowling has largely embraced HarryPotter FanFic, albeit with certain limitations, for example. Similarly, ButchHartman has embraced FanFic and FanArt on his series, save SlashFic, and fic/art that conform to RuleThirtyFour (there have even been Hartman sightings on [=~Fanfiction.net~=]). And Naoko Takeuchi apparently adores ''SailorMoon'' FanFic, even {{lemon}}s, and was known to encourage fan writers in editorial asides in her manga. By contrast, George RR Martin, author of the epic fantasy series ''ASongOfIceAndFire,'' recently expressed his disdain for the practice, saying that "creating your own characters is a part of writing." He's even gone so far as to threaten legal action should he become aware of any fan fiction set in the Westeros universe.

Such authors do have reason to worry -- as MercedesLackey takes pains to point out on her website, a fan writer was once able to wrest control (via a successful lawsuit) of part of {{Darkover}} away from its creator, MarionZimmerBradley. This is the ultimate nightmare of ''any'' writer, fan or professional, and drives some of the more [[strike:lunatic]] draconian efforts to suppress fan creativity.

Some fanfiction becomes well-known enough to influence other fanfics, which themselves influence more fanfics, and so on in a domino effect. This can and does result in the creation and perpetuation of {{fanon}}, when one author comes up with a "cool detail" and others blindly copy it without realizing it was his invention. Furthermore, characters can become [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderized]] by the feedback loops of fanfiction, sometimes [[MemeticMutation changing dramatically from their original form]].

Eventually, this accretion of fan-born details and mutations turns into things that "everybody knows" about the series. Those new to or unfamiliar with the original material are frequently confused into believing that it ''obviously'' must be {{canon}} if so many people mention it, even 'facts' of the EpilepticTrees variety. This is especially the case with series that have long runs and which gloss over details which are unimportant to the plot but are of interest to the fans and the fan writers.

One famous example of this is the anime ''[[{{RanmaOneHalf}} Ranma 1/2]]'', released well before the Internet became ubiquitous and when many fans had no easy access to the original source material. All manner of details (including the explanation of Akane's mallet as either a [[KiAttacks ki attack]] or as residing in a [[HyperspaceMallet hyperdimensional pocket]], her {{Flanderization}} into a "psychobitch", her [[LethalChef lethal cooking]] (rather than being just bad), and the names and fates of the many [[ParentalAbandonment missing mothers]]) were never touched on in the show but became standardized in ''Ranma'' fan fiction over the course of approximately a decade. The process was accelerated and exacerbated by the appearance of fanfiction written by people who had never actually ''seen'' the show itself and whose only exposure to ''Ranma'' was other fanfiction.

Another famous example is the HarryPotter fanfic ''The Draco Trilogy'', which was apparently so widely read that details such as Blaise Zabini being female and Ginny's name being Virginia were taken to be canon, although they were both refuted by later books.

It's not surprising that fans of some shows occasionally pen [=FAQs=] solely to reduce the accumulation of {{fanon}} in this way.

Currently, the [[NotableFanfictionArchives largest source of fanfiction on the Net]] (and probably anywhere else) is the aptly named [=~Fanfiction.net~=], which offers a couple million stories across all but a select few canons (which were banned due to creator request) and an automated system for posting. While other sites exist, no other site offers as large an audience.

See also MemeticMutation and {{Shipping}}. Compare with other FanWork forms, such as {{Fanart}}, {{Fanvid}}, and {{Fanime}}.

For fanfic-specific tropes see FanficTropes. Of course, [[FanFicRecommendations the hive mind have a few favorites.]] [[Horrible/{{Fanfic}} And a few unfavourites.]] [[SoBadItsGood/{{Fanfic}} Not to forget a few favorite unfavorites]], if that doesn't [[LogicBomb confuse you too much]]. [[TroperWorks Some here have even written a few.]] [[FanFic/FanFics And here are some that people took the time to make a page for.]]
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!!Categories of Fanfics

''By formats'':
* AfterActionReport
* {{Drabble}}
* {{MST}} (verb form of Mystery Science Theater)
* PoemFic
* ScriptFic
* SongFic
* SpamFic

''By genres'':
* CrackFic
* DarkFic
* GenFic
* {{Lemon}}
** {{Lime}}
** {{PWP}}
* SlashFic
* {{WAFF}} (Warm And Fuzzy Feeling)
* {{kidfic}}
* Fanfic/WarFic

''By relationship with canon'':
* AltFic
* AlternateUniverseFic
* {{Continuation}}
* ElsewhereFic
* FixFic
* OriginalFlavour
* PatchworkFic
* PeggySue
* RevengeFic
** HateFic

''Others'':
* DeadFic
* FanVerse
* {{Ficdom}}
* OldShame

''Also'':
* NotableFanfictionArchives
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