* ApprovalOfGod: In the midst of the grossly overblown flame war over "Best Song Ever" ripping off [[Music/WhosNext "Baba O'Riley"]], [[Music/TheWho Pete Townshend]] said that he was flattered that the song was popular enough to be ripped off (and pointed out that it had already been a hundred times).
* ColbertBump: The One Direction fan base are strong enough to make new artists' careers (i.e., Ed Sheeran, 5 Seconds of Summer), derail rising artists (The Wanted) and bring once-mighty stars to their knees (Justin Bieber, though he later recovered).
* ContentLeak: An early version of their Comic Relief charity single ''One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)'' was leaked before the official release.
* CreatorBacklash: In an interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1 Radio, Zayn admits that he never [[http://www.ew.com/article/2016/01/27/zayn-malik-zane-lowe-one-direction-interview wanted to be in the group the first place]].
* CreatorKiller: Nothing has yet happened to 1D themselves, but they are one of, if not ''the'' main catalyst in the declining popularity of Music/JustinBieber (although Bieber's [[TookALevelInJerkass increasing]] {{Jerkass}} behavior that started around the time 1D became popular in the U.S. may have also had something to do with it), at least until 2015 (See Broken Streak above). Not to mention they destroyed Music/TheWanted. Their popularity also came at the expense of Austin Mahone, [=Emblem3=], Conor Maynard, Union J, and a whole other slew of heartthrobs. The only anomalies to this trend are 5 Seconds of Summer (a group closely affiliated with 1D and their openers on their 2013 and 2014 tours) and Music/ShawnMendes (who survives by primarily targeting adult contemporary audiences).
** They went on a long "hiatus" and everyone has pursued their own projects and careers.
* DuelingWorks: Their first (and only) post-Zayn album ''Made in the AM'' came out the same day as Music/JustinBieber’s comeback album ''Purpose''. Bieber won the Billboard #1, though on the day itself news of both were pushed aside as people heard of the 2015 Paris bombings.
* FakeAmerican:
** You wouldn't know Niall was Irish if you only ever heard him speak in his American accent.
** Louis pulls off a fairly good (if extraordinarily hammy) American accent, too.
* FakeBrit: Niall, the same as above. They all swapped accents in one video diary, and Niall's imitation of Louis's Yorkshire accent was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFoqWEn4Ato pretty hilarious]].
* FakeIrish: While Niall is actually Irish and just good at accents, Harry (who likes to imitate Niall's accent, especially when the band is actually ''in'' Ireland) is not.
* FandomLifeCycle: Their fandom was fairly large once they broke up, and the remainders now follow the members' solo careers.
* GenreRelaunch: 1D pretty much single-handedly revived the BoyBand in both the United States and the U.K., Sure the Music/JonasBrothers were big, but 1D have reached a level not seen since the likes of the Music/BackstreetBoys and Music/{{NSYNC}}
** After their hiatus, the boy band reinvented itself once again, with [[Music/{{BTS}} another international phenomenon]] [[IdolSinger leading the charge]].
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Liam was rejected by the X-Factor in its 2008 series. Had he made it farther, we might not have 1D as we know it.
** According to Music/{{Florrie}}, Xenomania (producers behind her and Music/GirlsAloud) were commissioned to record and produce several songs for their debut album, but none of the songs made it to the album for whatever reason.
* WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings: Zayn temporarily deactivated his Twitter account due to the hateful comments he received, in extreme cases being called a "[[UnfortunateImplications terrorist]]".