Adaptational Sympathy in Fan Works.
Crossovers
- Child of the Storm: Inverted. While Petunia Dursley wasn't given much sympathy for her actions in the story and never redeemed herself, there was a little sympathy in the fact that it was implied that deep down she's regretful about how her relationship with her sister went, that they had a great relationship before her sister got magic. Petunia let her jealousy destroy her relationship with her sister and the fact that even at her worst, she would never let Harry die, even if she could never bring herself to say she loves her sister and apologize to Harry openly. In this story, that sympathy is thrown out the window because everyone is appalled at how she treated Harry all his life all because of her jealousy for her sister, and while never stated, it's implied that her parents favored her sister over her. However, we don't know to what extent, and it's clear from the flashback that she is fed and well clothes, that favoritism was nothing compared to the abuse she did to Harry. This story makes it clear that Petunia's parents were both good people who loved her and her sister equally, and she just hated them because her parents treated her sister well when she wanted them to favor her. Every single character sees Petunia as a pathetic woman child who never grew up and married a horrible man. Petunia and her husband are sent to jail, and they, aside from a few appearances, are mostly forgotten.
- Guardians, Wizards, and Kung-Fu Fighters: Raythor is made more sympathetic here than he was in his canonical Season 1 appearance, with the heroes quickly feeling guilt for framing him after seeing his fate.
- Infinity Train: Blossomverse:
- Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail:
- Downplayed and Inverted. As a whole, The Apex is treated with less sympathy in this story than in canon because of the scope of their crimes, and the traumas they cause are shown here where it was only implied in the show. While Infinity Train: Voyage of Wisteria does show them in a sympathetic light because they have realized what they're done, it also shows that they have a long way to go before they can be forgiven and make up for what they done.
- Zig-Zagged with Grace, as the series emphasizes how she spent most of her time on the Train as a cult leader encouraging kids to treat it as their own personal playground. In the prequel, Grace "saves" Tokio by casually murdering a denizen, while Blossoming Trail reveals that she cheered Simon on while he was ripping out Lexi's pages, then helped bury him alive for their own sick amusement. Yet she is also shown to legitimately regret her actions as it sinks in just how much pain and trauma she'd caused, and garners more sympathy as she loses everything she'd built with the Apex and becomes an outcast. In the sequel, she ultimately gets murdered by Ogami and is reborn as a denizen herself. While some believe she deserved such a fate, others who weren't so pleased by her death call them out on their lack of empathy.
- Inverted. For Simon Laurent, all the sympathetic traits he had before he went off the deep end in canon are gone. In canon, he did care for Grace, and even those he betrayed her when she saves his life, he was horrified with his actions, and it was clear that despite himself, he did feel guilty about what he was becoming and that he was destroying himself. His death was treated as a tragedy and was mourned by Grace and the Apex kids. In this story, he had no hesitation in making a deal with the devil, betraying Grace or murdering a little girl for kicks. He truly embraced being a monster and had no regrets, so his death was given no sympathy, and he was mourned by no one aside than Grace and Samantha.
- Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily: While Specter motives to follow Ryoken were mostly out of loyalty to the cause, the audience doesn't see him truly connect to the Ignis barring a single tear he sheds over Earth. Here, the cause of his train entrance is due to the fact he couldn't get a chance to bond with the Earth Ignis and is conflicted with his loyalties with Ryoken (who wants the Ignis eradicated no questions asked).
- Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail:
- J-WITCH Series:
- In the comics and cartoon, Phobos was nothing but a power-hungry tyrant. Here, he was framed for the murder of his parents, and genuinely did want to be a good ruler at the start, his rule being not For the Evulz but to bring order to Meridian. He also has a caring side and generally cares for Elyon, which his canon counterpart did not.
- Raythor is more sympathetic in his first appearance than in canon because of his nobility, code of honor, and belief that Phobos is trying to rule well.
- Kage and its Recursive Fanfiction Shadows over Meridian:
- Raythor is made far more sympathetic over the fact that he was framed and how callous the Guardians and Rebellion are over his fate.
- Miranada is also made more sympathetic by being given a tragic backstory that explains her bitterness and hatred toward Elyon and the rebellion. She also has a kind side she keeps hidden, and some of her crueler canon actions are just an act to better blend into Phobos' court, such as her rumored eating of Passlings turning out to just be a lie.
- Lurdens and Mogriffs were portrayed in canon as mere beastly mooks loyal to Phobos. Here, it's established that they've had to fight with humans and other Meridianites who wanted them gone just for existing or to take the riches of their territories, and because Phobos is the first ruler in Meridian's history who gave them the right to live in their ancestral lands, they're ready to fight and die for him if needed.
- Rebloom: The Cookies of Darkness are portrayed as the heroes of this story, despite their motivations being essentially the same as in canon. Everything they do during the course of this comic is clearly justified, but their canon actions aren't really addressed, so it's unclear whether they're even still "villains" or not.
- In Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, Monaca Towa was treated by the narrative as a remorseless Enfant Terrible willing to psychologically manipulate and let the Warriors of Hope, her own allies, outright die, and none of the protagonists willing to let her troubled past justify all the evil she had done. In Danganronpa: Paradise Lost however, she is depicted in a much more tragic light, with more emphasis being added to her abuse at the hands of her father and brother and how it affected her, her feeling guilt over how she treated the Warriors of Hope, and the climax having the survivors expressing sympathy for what she had gone through and agreeing that she is not beyond redemption.
- Danny Phantom: Stranded: During the series, Star was shown to be a rather unpleasant popular girl, just like Paulina. Tucker and Sam describe her as a "satellite" as "a marginally attractive girl who always orbits around the popular girl." Star was portrayed as being rather spoiled and bossy, having only been willing to date Tucker ONLY because Danny had been dating Paulina at the time, and she didn't have anyone else to hang out with. However, even when dating, Star was very bossy, controlling, and mean to Tucker during their relationship, treating him more like a servant than a boyfriend, to the point where Tucker was HAPPY that she dumped him for Kwan in the end.
- She did show some sympathetic traits by choosing to date Kwan (even though he was unpopular at the time) and also telling Tucker that she hoped they could still be friends. However, she was being rather condescending as possible and making it clear that even if they can't be as cool as Danny and Paulina, she and Kwan still consider themselves cooler than him and Sam.
- Later in the series, it is revealed that she's still friends with Valerie, despite her being kicked out of the A-Listers. It's also hinted that their friendship may be more genuine than the one she has with Paulina since, while Star doesn't hesitate to be vocal about her dislike of Danny, she doesn't do anything to interfere with their relationship.
- Despite these sympathetic moments, Star remains rude and bratty, not hesitating to mock Danny and his friends and not hesitating to call him a "freak" when he's within earshot.
- In the Stranded series, she has added sympathetic traits and character development. It is revealed here that most of her negative traits resulted from having a bad home life. Star's mother ran off with another man and left her, her father was VERY busy with work, and her dealing with an abusive, bullying step-sister, etc. These negative traits worsened due to being partly affected by the A-lister's toxic influence.
- It is shown that Star originally joined the A-listers out of loneliness and depression caused by her parent's divorce, as well as wanting to compete with Colette's popularity. It is later revealed that Star followed the A-listers due to fearing them, peer pressure, and more or less brainwashed herself into believing that they are in the right with their actions.
- It isn't until her experience on Specter Island with Danny that she breaks out of this mindset and begins questioning her life choices and the reality of the A-listers. Upon realizing that her past actions were shallow and unjustifiable, as well as that Dash and Paulina aren't real friends and can't trust them. Star finally breaks away from their negative influence when she leaves the A-listers and becomes much happier and kinder, thanks to developing a healthier relationship with Danny.
- Dragon Ball Z Abridged does this with Doctor Gero. While still responsible for the same acts as his canon counterpart his obsession with killing Goku stems from Goku killing his son in his attack on the Red Ribbon Army, while in canon his son died in an unrelated incident and his grudge essentially stemmed from Goku costing him his job.
- The Black Sheep Dog Series puts Sirius's parents, especially his father, in a much better light than the original novels. In canon, Mrs. Black is characterised as an extremely haughty and unpleasant harpy who is constantly screaming insults and abuse towards those she considers beneath him, including her own son; and while not much is said about Sirius's father, it is implied that he's not much better than his wife. The fic goes to great lengths to show that both Walburga and Orion do love their children, but due to their own warped upbringings and ingrained family values, couldn't express them openly. Orion, in particular, is portrayed as a Troubled Abuser with a Hidden Heart of Gold who is Secretly Dying, and overall has much more cause to angst than his wayward son.
- The Rigel Black Chronicles: Whereas Tom Riddle in canon was a megalomaniac sociopath with a veneer of Fantastic Racism, here he went into politics instead of terrorism, turning up the racism but dropping the other parts. Harry is astonished to learn that his ultimate goal is to avert a population implosion caused by magical inbreeding, by having purebloods marry half-bloods — but pushing Muggle-borns out, because he hates Muggle influence as much as ever. He genuinely believes that his actions are necessary, even though Harry's sure there must be a better way.Harry: What if he's right and wrong?
- It's not unheard of for fics to portray Stella in a much more understandable and human light than the cruel, abusive and selfish wife she is in canon, particularly in fics which began writing before Season 2 of Helluva Boss cemented Canon Stella's characterization. Common ways in which she's written sympathetically include showing that she genuinely loves Octavia (her feelings on her daughter in canon are a lot more ambiguous as of this writing), giving her a Freudian Excuse in the form of Abusive Parents or a horrible relationship with her brother Andrealphus, and/or giving her reasons beyond personal pride for being infuriated by Stolas' affair with Blitzo (such as legitimate concern about the repercussions it could have on their family's socio-political standing among Hell's ruthless nobility). Some work-specific examples:
- Owl's Hell That Ends Well: For all her spite, bitterness, vitriol, and antagonism towards Stolas' adoptive daughter Loona, Stella is, at her core, a deeply broken woman; as a result of her hideous upbringing under her Abusive Parents, including her pedophilic mother who raped her when she was only 10 years old, as a result of believing that the only real friend she'd ever had had abandoned her to her horrible home life to save his own skin, and as a result of her grief over losing Octavia and not knowing what happened to her for years. Stella here lacks the internal spoiled attitude and short-sightedness of her canon portrayal, and she isn't responsible for the hit on Stolas at the Harvest Moon Festival. And despite her ill treatment of Loona for years, Stella isn't wrong that Stolas is episodically using the girl as a Replacement Goldfish for Octavia without realizing it — Stella also gradually lightens up with Loona, forming a complicated, one-sided codependent relationship with the girl based on their commonalities, which Stella can air around Loona without fear of being politically backstabbed.
- Shadows Over Hell: While Stella is still incredibly bigoted and hotheaded, her anger at Stolas for his affair, as well as Octavia's friendship with Loona, is caused by her being very politically and image focused, and she's worried how the rest of Hell might view them, as a result of their careless mingling with the lowerclass. A justified reason given how narrow-minded and power-focused the upperclass of Hell can be. While she genuinely loves her daughter and believes she's doing what's best for her family by discouraging their reckless and seemingly frivolous pursuits, her prioritizing image over their happiness causes her relationship with Stolas and Octavia to sour immensely. Over time, she comes to see the error of her ways and works to rebuild the bridges between the two, becoming a much more open-minded and relaxed as she does. Especially after the Uproar occurs.
- In Limitless Potential, Chill Penguin is granted a Freudian Excuse for his actions, as he struggles with how disrespectfully the other Maverick Hunters treat him, with Sigma exploiting his insecurities to lure him over to his side.
- The Black Flower portrays Audrey in a much more sympathetic light, especially with the revelation that Zoé is a Child by Rape. Hence, much of Audrey's mistreatment of her stems from painfully recalling the circumstances behind her conception.
- The Karma of Lies depicts Adrien as a self-centered Jerkass who brings both his and Lila's Laser-Guided Karma crashing down upon his head through his choices, actively rejecting every opportunity he might have had to avert disaster out of an arrogant belief that he was protected by Protagonist-Centered Morality. The Recursive Fanfic Karma Overbalance instead makes him out as the tragic victim of a Karmic Misfire.
- Scarlet Lady:
- "The Gamer" both plays this straight and inverts it for Marinette and Max, respectively. In the original episode, Marinette is blamed for Max's elimination from the qualifying matches of the Ultimate Mecha Strike III tournament, accused of only competing because she hoped to get closer to Adrien, who also qualified for the other top spot. Max's anger at her is treated as totally justified, and in the end, she cedes her place to him, apologizing for being inconsiderate of his feelings. This version, meanwhile, points out that Marinette earned her position fairly while Max was a Sore Loser who only blamed Marinette despite how Adrien also defeated him, out of outrage that he was beaten by a girl. Ultimately, Max has a Jerkass Realization by the end, and Adrien is the one who gives up his position at the tournament, reasoning that Max is better at co-op than he is.
- In the original "Captain Hardrock", Anarka is playing music loud enough to shake the entire street, then gets akumatized over arguing with Officer Roger for ticketing her for the offense. Here, the concert hasn't even begun before Chloé spitefully accuses her of trying to deafen her, while Roger refuses to listen to Anarka and slaps her with a list of Felony Misdemeanors and trumped-up charges.
- Downplayed in "Guitar Villain''; while XY is still a preening, smug Jerkass, he has to deal with Scarlet Lady as an Abhorrent Admirer.
- Tomoe is given a Freudian Excuse for her attempts to prevent Kagami from making friends in "Ikari Gozen"; when she lost her sight, all of her Fair-Weather Friends abandoned her, and she doesn't want her daughter to go through the same heartbreak.
- "Crocoduel" explains Jagged Stone's lack of involvement in his kids' lives by revealing that his manager prevented him from learning about Anarka's pregnancy, giving her a forged "Dear John" Letter which convinced her that Jagged Stone was dumping her so that their children wouldn't "cramp his rock-and-roll lifestyle".
- Throughout the series, it's repeatedly highlighted how Chloé's bratty behavior stems from Parental Issues and adults being useless: her mother is a Rich Bitch who doesn't acknowledge her existence, her father regularly abuses his position and caters to her whims, and Mme. Bustier not only refuses to even try disciplining her, but expects her victims to Turn the Other Cheek and go out of their way to include her in activities. When Audrey returns to Paris in Season Five, it becomes even clearer that Chloé has been mimicking her mother's mannerisms all along, desperately vying for her attention only to be completely blown off and dismissed as "unexceptional". While it's also emphasized that her Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse, and that Chloé is also responsible for her own problems, it's made clear that she was fundamentally failed by her parents and primary teacher. The original show, in comparison, abandoned the idea that Chloé has a Freudian Excuse in favor of doubling down on a "no one influenced her, she was just born bad" narrative — to the point that her getting handed off to her (still verbally abusive) mother at the end of season 5 was treated as Laser-Guided Karma for her actions.
- Abraxas (Hrodvitnon):
- The expansion on San's (Ghidorah's left head's) and Ghidorah's general characterization and backstory gives the former even more sympathetic traits and redeeming qualities than he was presented with in canon, and the physical and auditory abuse he suffers from Ghidorah's other two heads is not Played for Laughs here. The San head has been under chronic physical and verbal abuse from his brother heads whilst having absolutely no-one else to turn to for billions of years, which has in turn made San dependent, severely love-starved, and prone to self-blame and self-loathing; to say nothing of what he went through before all that with the Makers. San also truly likes and cares for his Morality Pet Vivienne Graham, taking his new responsibilities as her brother head to heart after their fusion.
- Rodan, sort of. In the MonsterVerse canon, he was made out to be a morally-dubious Wild Card who has no fixed loyalties, temporarily joined King Ghidorah's side and stayed on it longer than the other Titans. In this fic, it's made clear that Rodan only served Ghidorah because the latter dominated and enthralled him, and he apparently didn't enjoy being Ghidorah's slave one bit. His temper and attitude problems are all him, though.
- Downplayed somewhat with King Ghidorah in general. Ghidorah is still a planet-destroying Omnicidal Maniac who enjoys torturing and massacring everyone and thing in sight, and the middle and right heads are just as irredeemably evil as any of the three-headed dragon's movie portrayals ever were; but unlike the MonsterVerse canon portrayal and all of Ghidorah's other licensed portrayals, this version has a clear Freudian Excuse. Ghidorah was ripped away from its natural home by advanced aliens who viciously experimented on and tortured it to turn it into their living weapon, and after Ghidorah killed them all in revenge, the excruciatingly painful Terrible Ticking that the aliens had implanted in Ghidorah's brains to make it act lingered, and it drove the monster to keep wiping out entire planets just so it could make the noise temporarily diminish with every planet that Ghidorah exterminated. Over billions of years, Ghidorah's eternal circumstances drove it mad with rage, hate, bitterness and pain, and it moulded the three heads' minds and personalities into the depraved, genocidal sadists that they are now. "Damnatio Memoriae" in Abraxas: Empty Fullness recounts Ghidorah's emotionally excruciating Start of Darkness.
- Odaliaverse depicts Odalia Blight as the victim of her own Abusive Parents, who finds herself given a second chance at building a better future for herself through a Peggy Sue plot following her death in the original timeline.
- Pip in Time explores more of the Caleb and Philip "Pip" Wittebane's upbringing in 17th-century Gravesfield that was only hinted at in the episodes "Hollow Mind" and "Thanks to Them" through the first two chapters plus various flashbacks, highlighting how hard and awful life was back in Gravesfield for the brothers contrary to Pip's nostalgia filter.
- In the flashback dreams that Pip has, it's revealed that he was abused by his teacher for writing with his left hand, and was seen as a weirdo at best by his peers, with several hints suggesting they're waiting for the chance to accuse him as a witch. Pip insists everything is fine, but there are moments where he subconsciously admits it's not.
- Caleb's side of the story reveals just how exhausted and fearful he was underneath his cheerful, big brother mask he puts on for Pip. He's witnessed several of his human neighbors being wrongfully accused and traumatized by the witch hunts, has taken many jobs just to support his brother and himself, and is deeply worried that his brother's oblivious, reckless behavior would lead the townspeople to accuse either of them of being a witch.
- Steal the Truth, Reach Out For Your Heart has a Downplayed example with Kamoshida, exploring his backstory and revealing that he Used to Be a Sweet Kid who got severely bullied. He found acceptance after joining his high school's volleyball team, only for his success and rise to fame to go to his head and transform him into a monstrously selfish Jerkass.
- Destinies of Remnant:
- Many of this What If? fic's and its sequels' storylines that feature Adam Taurus place a lot more emphasis on the tragedy which created him, whilst not whitewashing his crimes and his He Who Fights Monsters status. Particularly, in the timeline where Adam fails to kill the human racist who attacked Ghira and the latter loses his life, Adam is consequently more restrained, conflicted and unsure of himself as he never gained a hero complex which made him slip ever further into needless killing.
- Whereas Cinder in canon is a complete monster despite her awful origin story, Cinder in several chapters of this fic which focus heavily on her make her out to be more of a bitter soul who was hurt by the world first, disillusioning her with huntsmen and huntresses, even if she's still presented as no less malicious, cruel and irredeemable for it than in canon.
- Fixing RWBY: Several of the villains are treated more sympathetically and three-dimensionally than their canon counterparts.
- Roman Torchwick, even before his Hazy-Feel Turn occurs. Whereas his canon counterpart was presented as little more than a charming, hammy but sadistic and unrepentant criminal mastermind, and any moral reservations he had about helping Cinder to commit mass terrorism and murder against the Kingdom of Vale were only hinted at; in this version, Roman gets a couple extra scenes in the Volume 2 rewrite where his reservations about hurting Team RWBY and helping Cinder are laid bare while he's conversing with Neo in private. To say nothing of Roman's dark and painful backstory as the sole survivor of the Apathy Grimm in his childhood, which is presented in detail in the same volume rewrite where his turn to the heroes' side begins.
- Adam Taurus is still as insane, bloodthirsty and beyond reasoning as his canon counterpart, except that whereas canon ultimately presented Adam as a complete monster; in this version, Adam's backstory of both he and his mother enduring extremely violent racism and abuse is more fleshed out and played for full pathos. Whereas the canon Adam's death by Blake and Yang was presented as justice and as Blake overcoming a Psycho Ex-Boyfriend, Adam's death by all of Team RWBY in the Volume 6 rewrite is instead presented as being more akin to putting down a rabid dog as a necessity — Weiss even delivers a sincere apology to Adam's face for her family's crimes against the Faunus which made him what he is, but Adam is too far gone to accept it.
- Leonardo Lionheart. Instead of turning traitor and feeding Mistral's huntsman population into Salem's meat-grinder because he's a spineless Dirty Coward; here, Lionheart did so because he snapped under the pressure from (A) being a Faunus headmaster to the huntsman academy in one of the most Faunus-racist kingdoms on Remnant, making half the kingdom loathe him and the other half put him in a pedestal, and (B) from learning the truth about Salem's Complete Immortality. It's also made clear that Lionheart never wanted his position as headmaster of Haven but was thrust into the role by Ozpin, and he's grown to despise his former leader and friend for that.
- Knight of Salem: Leonardo Lionheart to a degree. Rather than the P.O.S. Dirty Coward that canon made him out to be; although he's still that in this fic, the fic makes it quite clear how horrible and unenviable his position as Oxpin's ostensible top ally and Salem's secret mole is, even if it is Played for Laughs due to the fic's genre. Lionheart is caught between the most dangerous woman on Remnant (who would torture and kill him and anyone he knows without batting an eye) and the most dangerous man on Remnant, living every minute of his life in constant fear of having his cover blown, on top of all the responsibilities that come with his role as headmaster of one of the world's four prime huntsman academies; to say nothing of all the absolute chaos that gets dropped at his feet in the fic's present by Salem, Jaune and Tyrian's meandering across Remnant.
- Relic of the Future:
- Whereas canon made Raven killing the previous Spring Maiden out to be a premeditated murder intended to gain the Spring Maiden's power for herself, this fic's expansion on the details reveals that Raven actually killed the Maiden in a fight to stop her from willingly bringing a Maiden's power to Salem, and she didn't particularly want the Maiden's power due to the target it paints on her back. Jaune takes this as a sign that Raven is a lot more capable of changing for the better than her older self's actions in the original timeline made it seem.
- Jacques Schnee, though still a scheming slimeball, wasn't always as completely dickish and sociopathic as his canon self was portrayed as, racking up several sympathetic traits and hidden depths. In the new timeline where he eases up over time, Jacques takes responsibility for irrevocably garnering himself an ugly reputation to ensure the success of the Schnee Dust Company, and Jaune comes to suspect that a lot of canon Jacques' worst behavior might have stemmed from frustration at knowing the business he'd poured decades of his life into keeping alive would be inherited by someone more likely to ruin it after Winter had renounced her heirhood. Jacques is also revealed to be disgusted at how his company's use of Faunus cheap laborers has provided a breeding ground for racist workplace abuse against them.
- To The Stars explains why Lina is such a condescending, arrogant Rich Bitch by saying that she was unpopular at school growing up and so craved recognition.
- Doctor Eggman, known for lacking any sort of Freudian Excuse for his actions and being defined as purely evil in the Sonic The Hedgehog video games, is portrayed as somewhat of a misguided scientist in Sonic Legacy, looking for a cure for death.
- Jimmy's Visit With Dr. Franklin: No explanation to why Jimmy committed the shooting was ever given except for what he typed in his Battle Journal, though that was pretty vague and never elaborated on, here he is given a clear and sympathetic reason for his actions.
- She's Not So Famous:
- The actual show never depicts Blaineley as much more than your average self-absorbed diva. This fic shows that while she was egotistical in her younger years, she was also a Beleaguered Assistant working long hours at a news studio for little-to-no pay.
- Instead of being sadistic For the Evulz, this fic establishes that Chris was bullied by the older members of his band, giving him a disdain for teenagers.
