You know that protagonist who has no personality or distinguishing features, allowing them to serve as stand-ins for the reader? This is that, taken to its logical extreme.
Reader Insert Fic is a genre of fanfiction where the protagonist is the reader. The protagonist of these stories is a Featureless Protagonist whose name is usually "Y/N" (as in, your name), "___", "(your name)", or "F/N L/N" (first name, last name). Essentially, Y/N isn't just a character the reader projects onto, they are the reader. Usually used for Shipping and Wish-Fulfillment, where the Reader falls in love with a canon character in the story; these are called "×Reader" fanfics. While this is usually a fanfic trope, some original fiction is written this way.
However, since it's almost impossible to write a protagonist that every reader can relate to, many Y/Ns end up being more like Original Characters. For example, Y/N is, more often than not, a teenage girl because Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls. While the writers of these stories usually try to make the protagonist a Lead You Can Relate To by making every trait that can't be left ambiguous as generic as possible, this can be a bit of an Audience-Alienating Premise for readers who are not in the assumed reader demographic.
Tropes common in Reader-Insert fics include:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: The downplayed "Good Girl Y/N meets Troubled, but Cute Bad Boy" is a common plot of original reader-insert stories.
- Conveniently an Orphan: That way, the author doesn't have to worry that Y/N's parents differ from the reader's. Also creates some easy angst.
- Cute Clumsy Girl: Y/N is often written this way.
- Deadpan Snarker: Y/N often has a lot of snappy comebacks.
- High School AU: Many Reader-Insert stories take place in high school, because the authors and the readers are usually teenage girls.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: If Y/N is female, she is usually described as much shorter than the male love interest.
- "Meet the Celebrity" Contest: This happens a lot in Real Person Fics.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Y/N is, in high school settings, usually either the most bullied kid in the school (who just happens to have a secret power/curse/magical bloodline), or a perfectly average student with no notable traits.
- Shrinking Violet: This is one of the most common personalities for Y/N.
Combine this with Sturgeon's Law and the fact that these stories are usually written by young and inexperienced writers, and parodies of reader-inserts and the expected tropes that come with them abound. In fact, Reader-Inserts are a bit of an Undead Horse Trope, as they continue to be produced in large quantities despite the amount of mockery they have received.
These stories are extremely popular on Wattpad and Archive of Our Own, but are expressly forbidden on FanFiction.Net.
A similar story format was developed independently on 4chan, where the reader is called Anon. Unlike the usually female, attractive, and likable Y/N, Anon is often depicted as a pathetic, nerdy, often perverted Basement-Dweller. Due to My Little Pony's popularity with 4chan users, Fim Fiction Dot Net has a whole category for "Anon" fics.
Compare and Contrast Real-Person Fic, Self-Insert Fic, Author Avatar, Relationship Sue, Lead You Can Relate To, Original Character, Escapist Character, Wish-Fulfillment. If Y/N is a nerdy/outcast character, compare This Loser Is You. This is also a subtrope of Hello, [Insert Name Here] and Audience Surrogate. See also Perverse Sexual Lust and Celeb Crush, the reason why many of these stories are created.
As per Wiki rules, do not add any examples that are Porn Without Plot.
Note: There is a category of custom-made books for young children where the story is personalized with the child's name and a simplified illustration of the child. These are usually purchased by doting family members as gifts for birthdays or holidays. Needless to say, this trope is not about those.
Examples:
Fan Work Examples (Sorted by Source Material)
Anime & Manga- Death Note:
- Criminally Insane
is about a, well, criminally insane reader who can see shinigami being hired by L to help investigate Kira.
- I Think We're Alone Now is about the reader carrying on a secret relationship with L.
- In The Insomniac, the reader is a psychotic murderer who can see shinigami and gets hired by L to help with the Kira case. Romance ensues.
- Criminally Insane
- My Hero Academia:
- Toward A Bright Future is about a young woman Y/N character who was found unconscious on the grounds of the hero school U.A., with no memory of her name or origins, but becomes Class 1-A's newest Teaching Assistant to protect her students from harm using her Quirk of being able to see the future.
- One Piece:
- Learning to Love You is about Luffy asking the reader to be his girlfriend because he wants to know what it's like to be in a relationship.
- Roomies is, as the title suggests, about the reader being roommates with Monkey D. Luffy.
- Learning to Love You
Films — Live Action
- Marvel Cinematic Universe:
- Her Widow is about Y/N forming a romantic relationship with Natasha.
- Three Years is a series of short one-shot fanfics where the reader is shipped with Tony Stark, Logan Howlett, and Bucky Barnes.
- Her Widow
Music
- BTS:
- The series All The Stars is about the reader's romantic relationships with various members of BTS.
- In Baby, Baby, the reader is a surrogate mother of Jimin and Taehyung's child.
- In the "×Reader" i got youniverse series, the reader is referred to in Second-Person Narration and is the manager of the band.
- In ''We'll Remember, the reader goes to a fansign and gets to meet BTS in person.
- The series All The Stars
Canon and In-Universe Examples
- CrushxReader is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, and not only is the protagonist a stand-in for the reader, the love interest is meant to be a stand-in for the reader's crush.
- Iino from Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is mentioned to be a big fan of these types of stories, regularly reading them to fuel her desire for validation. She initially focused on Harry Potter stories, but these days she prefers Real-Person Fics.
- Twisted Faith is an Isekai story with a rare male protagonist where the reader is sent to a Dark Fantasy world as a character who is going to be sacrificed to their god.
Parodies
- This story, fittingly titled Y/n Slander, absolutely skewers many of the cliches of reader-insert stories as well as Wattpad young adult fiction in general, such as excessive stuttering, wild teen parties, and unnecessary description of Y/N's appearance.
