Fanfic / The 40

Artwork created by user betsybugaboo

The 40 is a Massive Multiplayer Crossover series of reaction fanfics done by The_Ravenclaw_Werewolf where 40 characters from other cartoons, anime, and manga series were kidnapped by an unnamed, god-like, multiversal being to watch their respective journeys.

Cast List (Eastern Naming order applying for the In-Universe Japanese characters)

Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender (Recurring Antagonist, later Heel–Face Turn Deuteragonist)

Midoriya Izuku from My Hero Academia (Main Protagonist)

Yukihira Souma from Food Wars! (Main Protagonist)

Hanako from Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (Main Protagonist)

Mankanshoku Mako from Kill la Kill (Tritagonist)

Kobayashi from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (Main Protagonist)

Honda Tohru from Fruits Basket (Main Protagonist)

Fujiwara Chika from Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (Secondary Protagonist)

Nanase Haruka from Free! (Main Protagonist)

Naegi Makoto from Danganronpa (Main Protagonist)

Ciel Phantomhive from Black Butler (Main Protagonist)

Katsuki Yuuri from Yuri!!! on Ice (Main Protagonist)

Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop (Main Protagonist)

Shouyou Hinata from Haikyuu!! (Primary Protagonist)

Saiki Kusuo from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (Main Protagonist)

Levi Ackerman from Attack on Titan (Tritagonist)

Suzui Ryōta from Kakegurui (Tritagonist)

Heine Wittgenstein from The Royal Tutor (Main Protagonist)

White Blood Cell U-1146 from Cells at Work! (Deuteragonist)

Hasegawa Langa from Sk8 the Infinity (Deuteragonist)

Killua Zoldyck from Hunter × Hunter (Deuteragonist)

Kamado Tanjirou from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Main Protagonist)

Kuroko Tetsuya from Kuroko's Basketball (Main Protagonist)

Ishigami Senku from Dr. STONE (Main Protagonist)

Okumura Rin from Blue Exorcist (Main Protagonist)

Gojō Satoru from Jujutsu Kaisen (Primary Protagonist)

Fujioka Haruhi from Ouran Highschool Host Club (Main Protagonist)

Emma from The Promised Neverland (Main Protagonist)

Serinuma Kae from Kiss Him, Not Me (Main Protagonist)

Korra from The Legend of Korra (Main Protagonist)

L from Death Note (Anti-Hero/Hero Antagonist)

Shiota Nagisa from Assassination Classroom (Primary Protagonist)

Saitama from One-Punch Man (Main Protagonist)

Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist (Main Protagonist)

Legoshi from Beastars (Main Protagonist)

Feliciano Vargas (North Italy) from Hetalia: Axis Powers (Villain Protagonist/Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain)

Fujinuma Satoru from ERASED (Main Protagonist)

Kageyama "Mob" Shigeo from Mob Psycho 100 (Main Protagonist)

Satō Mafuyu from given (Primary Protagonist)

Suzuki Iruma from Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun (Main Protagonist)

The first story is Main Character Syndrome (With Exceptions), a Prolonged Prologue where the 40 characters first wake up from their slumber and navigate in their new surroundings all while trying to get along.

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The 40 provides examples of:

• Adaptation Dye-Job: L has his pale complexion from the anime, whereas, in the manga, his skin is more naturally colored.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Since the cast hasn't undergone a Character Development due to being pulled from their home worlds before going on their meaningful life-changing journeys—or, at most, shortly after they've begun—they still act the same way they had started out at that point in time.
• Adaptation Species Change: Justified with Okumura Rin. He was pulled from his world before the life-changing event that would unseal his inherent Demon powers, thus he's still mostly human.
• Adaptational Angst Downgrade: The whole purpose of The Cloaked Figure is for them to survive and find happiness by bringing The 40 together and viewing their own worlds had it never intervened.
  • While Izuku still suffered 11 years of Fantastic Ableism, at least he was pulled from his world just before being confronted by Bakugou Katsuki at the end of the school day, ^note his notebook being burned by Bakugou, "advised" by Bakugou to not attend U.A. High with a "friendly pat on the shoulder", and further advised by him to "take swan dive off the roof and hope to be reborn with a Quirk", nearly getting Kill and Replace by the Sludge Villain, seeing All Might's true state, and then experiencing the dream shattering event of his hero telling him that he shouldn't be a hero without a Quirk in the same day. Plus, Izuku is surrounded by supportive people who won't mock him for his lack of a Quirk and has plenty of time to gain Character Development from the viewings before they get to his eventual story.
  • For Chika, she at least hadn't been traumatized from putting up with Miyuki's awful learning personally, plus gaining plenty of Character Development from the viewings before it gets to her story.
  • Rin has yet to learn his true heritage and is surrounded by supportive friends and adults who don't treat him like a "Demon Child" compared to the people back in his world besides his family. Plus, he'll have some time for Character Development from the viewings before it gets to his story.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Subverted. Some of the characters who still have unresolved issues, start off with hardships Pre-Character Development before the start of their respective series, or even just experienced a traumatizing event around the beginning of their series, and are still reeling inwards. But the purpose of The Cloaked Figure's viewings of their worlds is to help them find happiness.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Some characters still have unpleasant traits since they haven't undergone Character Development/Took a Level in Kindness yet.
  • For Prince Zuko, he's still obsessed with reclaiming his honor by capturing the Avatar along with his brooding temper and elitist attitude from the series. Although it's lessened thanks to Izuku's presence.
  • For Fujiwara Chika, while still a Nice Girl, is a hedonistic Manipulative Bitch with a certain tendency to troll others. Also like Zuko, she does possess an elitist attitude that is currently kept under wraps.
  • The Truth of all people gets hit with this in The 40. In the original Fullmetal Alchemist series, The Truth is always seen as polite to those who attempted human transmutation and rarely drops this mannerism unless the ones who appear before them are incredibly heinous and pridefully blind to their own faults. Here, they spend their first appearance in rage at the cloaked figure and show to be very tense against it, mainly due to its current plans breaking many rules. Furthermore, The Truth shows an explicitly low view of mortals, especially humans for their constant hubris to the point of A God Am I levels.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Zuko's Noble Bigot tendencies from Avatar: The Last Airbender, such as his elitist comments towards Katara and Sokka's social status (which is ironic since they're technically royalty due to being the children of the Southern Water Tribe's leader), are nowhere to be seen in the story. But mainly due to pragmatism and the Positive Friend Influence from Izuku.
  • Downplayed. While Spike still has his He-Man Woman Hater and Child Hater tendencies, he isn't vocal about them in the story compared to his home series. Mainly since he needs everyone's cooperation to get home and he isn't fully unsympathetic to everyone's justified panic about their situation.
• Adaptational Skill: Thanks to Adaptation Expansion, each member of The 40 will show a talent or skill that wasn't seen or known in their original source material, is considered an Informed Attribute, or later gains them in the current story.
  • As per Mr_Ravenclaw_Werewolf's reply to Omnitheist27, Izuku will eventually get into shape and learn various forms of martial arts.
  • Unlike in Kaguya-Sama: Love is War, Chika is shown to be capable of cooking to the point of being able to quickly get into a rhythm with Souma and Rin as Sous Chef.^note Then again, she's talented in a variety of fields back in her own world, with culinary arts likely being one of them.
• Adaptational Protagonist: Many of the characters that were either the Deuteragonist or an important supporting character in their own series' get their own viewpoints in the story.
• Adaptational Slimness: Justified. Izuku still has his Geek Physique since he hadn't met All Might yet and would later undergo Training from Hell. According to Mr_Ravenclaw_Werewolf, this trope will soon be inverted.
• Adaptational Superpower Change:
  • Since Izuku hadn't met All Might, he doesn't gain One for All and is still Quirkless. Instead, he'll eventually undergo Training from Hell and learn martial arts.
  • Levi only has a combat knife as a substitute for the 3D Maneuver Gear, as no Titans are around.
• Adaptational Wimp: Zig-Zagged. For a given relative definition of "wimp", some of the cast were pulled from their worlds before undergoing Took a Level in Badass.
  • Since Izuku was pulled into The Figure's first created universe before meeting All Might, which he would later undergo intense physical training to gain One for All, Izuku is still Quirkless with a Geek Physique, relegating him to being an Awesomeness by Analysis Non-Action Guy in The 40. However, Mr_Ravenclaw_Werewolf replies to Omnitheist27 that Izuku will eventually get into shape and learn martial arts.
  • Incredibly downplayed with Levi as he's still the hardened badass he is depicted in his original series, as he's able to restrain Spike Spiegel. It's just that he's surrounded by characters who are also good fighters and possess literal superpowers.
  • Since Rin was pulled from his world during the dinner scene in the manga and hasn't unsealed the Kota sword containing his full Demon powers, he only possesses his Super-Strength.
• All Myths Are True: In the vast, endless possibilities of The Multiverse, every deity, demon, angel, hero, and supernatural creature of various known and dead religions and mythology exists.
• All Planets Are Earth-Like: The current setting that was created by The Cloaked Figure for The 40 pretty much resembles the climate and habitability and any other part conveniently like good ol' Terra's. Except that, there's only a single landmass in the form of an island surrounded by the neverending expansion of the sea.
• Alternate Universe Fic: By all intent and purposes, every member of The 40 starts off their own series before the beginning or at least early in the beginning. Then The Cloaked Figure wisk them away to have them watch their canon stories unfold...
• Always a Bigger Fish:
  • In their own worlds, Korra, Gojo, Saiki, Mob, and Saitama would be the World's Strongest Man, Physical God, or Invincible Hero. Here, they're clearly outclassed by The Cloaked Figure in both power and intelligence, with Word of God confirming to Omnitheist27 that it can easily defeat them all even if they work together.
  • If that wasn't enough, The Cloaked Figure is even this among the other deities, such as The Truth, The Shinigami King, and many, many more.
• Anti-Hero: The 40 have plenty of examples in their group, especially those who are antagonists back in their own worlds (Zuko, L, and North Italy).
• Ascended Meme:
  • It's a well-known fan theory that before Horikoshi's appearance at Comic-Con 2018, fans believed that Todoroki Shouto's character from My Hero Academia was inspired by Prince Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender, only for their similarities to be completely coincidental. In The 40, not only do both Zuko and Midoriya Izuku become fast acquaintances, but their relationship does resemble the ones that they would have in their original stories with Aang and Todoroki Shouto respectively.
  • Fans compare Gojo's character and personality from Jujutsu Kaisen to be similar to Kakashi Hatake from Naruto, a fact that Kae takes note of in her POV chapter.
• Author Avatar: The unnamed cloaked figure who kidnapped the 40 casts serves as one for The_Ravenclaw_Werewolf.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Several of the characters are this, as they were in their original stories, including Nagisa, Izuku, Ciel, and especially L.
• Bad Vibrations: Killua accidentally freaks people out trying to kick down a door causing the whole mansion to shake.
• Benevolent Abomination: The Cloaked Figure is a Humanoid Abomination whose plans and intentions for kidnapping The 40 from their worlds is for them to come together and watch their canon journeys to find happiness in return for saving it all those super eons ago.
• Beyond the Impossible: This is pretty much the norm for the 40 cast's reactions as they witness the overall Alien Geometries of the universe they were pulled in created by The Cloaked Figure, and the Bizarrchitecture of their current residency. And that's only a preview for the other things to come.
• Bizarrchitecture: The mansion that The 40 is currently taking residence in is built like this, including long spiral stairways, endless hallways, and some of the rooms being "bigger on the inside".
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: Certain characters can come off as this due to their upbringing and beliefs, especially with ones who are of different species such as White Blood Cell U-1146 and Legoshi.
• Breaking Old Trends: Unlike most reaction stories, where the cast immediately starts watching their stories in the first or second chapter, The 40 gives a long prologue of the characters interacting with each other before the reactions begin.
• Byronic Hero: Characters who started as antagonists to the protagonists in their own series or have plenty of flaws before their stories gain this status.
• Combat Compliment: Although none of the cast has fought each other nor witnessed their worlds yet, they would frequently give compliments to one another for what abilities, mundane or supernatural, they have shown so far.
• Commonality Connection: Many members of The 40 befriend each other quickly due to shared interests.
• Cosmic Plaything: As a whole, The 40 are seen as this trope by the God-like beings of The Multiverse.
• Deity of Human Origin: The cloaked figure who kidnapped the 40 casts used to be mortal (whether it was originally human is unclear), but eventually, gained Godhood.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: It's a given since The 40 casts come from different backgrounds and cultures, especially regarding Western and Eastern values. Furthermore, not only do all of them get a Character Check, but some of the issues that Japanese culture either doesn't show, focus on, or make a big deal out of in the original Japanese franchises are also being cross-examined in the fic.
• Earth Is Young: The current setting that The Cloaked Figure made to pull The 40 is only a day old so far.
• Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: As kind and forgiving as some of the heroes are, the jerks and antagonists that the later chapters would eventually reveal are too much for the heroes to tolerate or forgive.
• For Happiness: One of the reasons why the cloaked figure pulled The 40 from their worlds is to help them find happiness.
• Fourth-Wall Observer: Saiki, as in his own home series. He isn't particularly happy that he's in a Fan Fic. Sae is just below this, as she knows that most of the others are from fictional works that exist in her world but is unaware that she is fictional and/or in a fanfic.
• Fusion Fic: The dynamics of the 40 cast have similarities with the established ones in their own respective home dimensions or what's to come. For example, it didn't take long for Prince Zuko to get along with Midoriya Izuku in an aloof but understanding partnership, not unlike Todoroki Shouto's relationship with Izuku in the canon manga. Especially when Todoroki Shouto is an entirely unintentional, coincidental Captain Ersatz/Expy of Prince Zuko.
• Hero of Another Story: Each member of The 40 is either The Hero, The Protagonist, The Antagonist, or a very important supporting character in their own world before being pulled into The Cloaked Figure's first created universe.
• Hurt/Comfort Fic: Another part of the premise is for The 40 to learn to accept comfort from each other in their emotional times.
• Island of Mystery: The 40 cast's current location in the unknown dimension takes place on an unidentified island, with the only things around being a massive forest teeming with regular wildlife and a Bizarrchitecture mansion surrounded by an ocean that stretches for miles on end.
• "Let's Watch Our Show" Plot: One of the main premises of the fic is The 40 to watch their own respective journeys.
• Living Is More than Surviving: According to the cloaked figure, one of the main reasons for gathering the 40 casts is to give them a better chance to live rather than survive had it not intervened.
• Lost in Translation: In-Universe. Since the 40 casts came from different cultures, languages, and writing systems, it's no surprise that some of the things they'll read in the library would have different meanings if the books' writings are similar to the language they're already familiar with back home. A good example is the books that Zuko and Korra were reading that are written with Chinese letters but are meant to be read in the context of Japanese kanji, which Izuku can recognize and translate.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: After all, the cast of The 40 are either their home series' Protagonist, Deuteragonist, Hero Protagonist, Hero Antagonist, and even Villain Protagonist. They're all kidnapped from their worlds and brought together to witness the events.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Word of God states that none of the members of The 40 underwent an Art Shift and still look like how they're drawn/animated in their original series, which makes sense given that none of them belong in the current world created by The Cloaked Figure. Illustrated in the page image for your convenience
• Nurse with Good Intentions: Both Emma and U-1146 try to help Ciel during his panic attack, but don't know how to properly approach him and accidentally make it a bit worse until Katsuki steps in to help. Emma later apologizes and Ciel says that while he doesn't want to mention it again, he does thank her for her good intentions.
• Older Than They Look: In general, all of The 40 cast would be older than what their appearances would suggest by the end of the viewings but some of the characters tend to have a younger appearance despite being older.
  • Hanako appears to be 13 but is actually 60. Justified since he died around the age of 13 as a human.
  • Levi in his early 30s, but his relatively short height (5'3) makes him look like a teenager.
  • Heine is 40, but his short height (5'1) and childlike looks make him look younger than Levi, who's in his early 30s but looks like a mid to late-teen due to his stern face and hard-to-see tear troughs beneath his eyes.
  • Senku looks 15 and still acts his age despite his intelligence, but he's over 3 millennia in chronological age.
  • L is 24, but can still pass himself off in his late teens.
  • Edward is 15 but his short height (4'10) makes him look younger than that.
  • Feliciano appears about 20 physically but is the personification of (Northern) Italy and is centuries old.
• Original Character:
  • The unnamed cloaked figure is an entirely original character created for the story, and the current one responsible for the 40 casts' current predicament.
  • After Chapter 35, a Hard Light AI nicknamed Indigo makes an appearance and serves as an addition to The 40 cast as a general helper.
• Original Flavor: Despite the reactions taking quite a long time to show, the author does implement the interactions of The 40 with each other and the tone of their individual original series quite well.
• Outside-Context Problem: While some members of The 40 aren't strangers to the supernatural, the existence of The Cloaked Figure and its omnipotence is clearly something that they aren't prepared to deal with on their own.
• Polyglot: Feliciano Vargas, who by virtue of being an anthropomorphic country speaks any given language fluently. Hence, he’s the only one who doesn’t get a pair of translation earplugs.
• Prolonged Prologue: Word of God states that the first story will be focusing on The 40 casts' interactions and navigation of their new surroundings, in a whopping 40 chapters.
• Quirky Work: In-Universe. Out of all the members of The 40, Naegi Makoto stands out for being the only one whose original series is a video game. The rest either comes from manga, anime, or even American cartoons.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: When you have a diverse 40-member cast with their own unique upbringing, language, and culture, you are going to be on one hell of a ride.
• Reality Warper: The Cloaked Figure is capable of this, along with many other multidimensional beings and gods.
• Really 700 Years Old: Unlike the rest of The 40, besides Hanako, Ishigami Senku is well over 3000 years old despite being biologically 15. Italy also appears 20 but is centuries old.
  • Also downplayed in regards to all of them in general, with the Foregone Conclusion of them going to be mentally older and wiser as they'll get transported back to their original worlds and timelines.
• Recursive Fanfiction: As a result of the fic's Breaking Old Trends regarding the Prolonged Prologue and giving all the characters' development and interaction compared to most reaction fics, while still keeping their individual series' Original Flavour, The 40 becomes very popular to the point of inspiring other writers to write their own versions.
  • For KallinPresley, theirs is still in production involving Western Animation characters.
  • For Omnitheist27, it's an Original Generation anthology fic with the premise of a Cast of Expies/Original Characters in various Excuse Plots, 13 Tales of the Anteverse (An Ode to The 40).
• Science Hero: Edward Elric and Ishigami Senku are both an alchemist and a scientist respectively.
• Show Within a Show: It overlaps with Real Life Writes the Plot. Serinuma Kae recognized some of the other cast members, such as Levi and Ciel as fictional characters from popular manga and anime since those stories existed in her world (but under slightly different names) in the year 2016.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • By going on their own lives, The Cloaked Figure was saved by them in unknown circumstances. Leading to the events of the story.
  • The Cloaked Figure itself does this to The 40 by pulling them into its first created universe before their stories start, with the intention of having them learn of their respective futures and have a chance for happiness.
• Tongue-Tied: None of The 40 are allowed to discuss important details of themselves or their worlds until they reach a certain point in the viewing. Any attempt will cause an unknown force to prevent that.
• Trapped in Another World: The 40 casts' current predicament.
• Trauma Button: The surprise application of the Pýli bracelets accidentally slams Ciel's trauma button and causes him to have a major panic attack.
• Villain of Another Story: Zuko and L are both primary antagonists back in their own worlds, and North Italy is one of the Villain Protagonists of his own world. Whereas Zuko later made a Heel–Face Turn, and Italy is an Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain, L was always a hero since his adversary, Yagami Light is the Villain Protagonist.
• Wardrobe Flaw of Characterization: Nanase notes that Ciel had difficulty dressing himself post-panic attack nap, both showing how young he is, how dependent he is on Sebastian, and some general historical basis- upper-class Victorians generally had servants to help them get dressed, particularly with all the elaborate ties and buttons that were in fashion at the time.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: How long The 40 be living in The Cloaked Figure's first created universe as they watched their respective futures is unknown, but by the time they are sent back to their own worlds, it'll be as they never had left in the first place.
• Young Face, Old Eyes: Haruhi, Tetsuya, and Mob all note that several of the other characters have these.
  "There are so many kids here who have that same look of hurt in their eyes, no matter how well they try to hide it. A child should not have the eyes of an adult."
• You Remind Me of X: A Running Gag in the story is how each of the individual cast reminds them of people they know back in their respective home dimensions due to having similar sounding or literally the same voices.
• You Wake Up in a Room: The starting premise of the "Waking Up arc".