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Standalone works:
#-L
Ace Attorney
- The plot of Dirty Sympathy is "What if Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney was a "Strangers on a Train"-Plot Murder" in which Klavier and Apollo, trapped in abusive relationships, agree to take down the other's abuser. Daryan Crescend didn't kill Romain LeTouse and Kristoph didn't kill Shadi Enigmar, they were both framed.
- Ah! My Goddess: What If?
is pretty much dedicated to this trope. From Keiichi's wish being granted by a different mystical being to Keiichi gaining an angel, the world of Ah! My Goddess is changed with each question. - Ah! My Valkyrie is a fanfic that asks "what if Lind was the one who granted Keiichi's wish instead of Belldandy?". If you're wondering why Lind's the one granting wishes, she was asked to fill in for Belldandy.
- The Goddess and the Sky asks "What if Sora was the one who was visited by Belldandy?" Answer: after tasting Belldandy's cooking, she accidentally wishes that Belldandy would marry her.
- Akame ga KILL!: Vanity's Final Virtue: What if both Night Raid and the Jaegars are betrayed by their respective allies and end up joining forces?
- The Turning Point: What if Malcho escaped from his volcanic prison, and befriended a young mage?
- The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: What if Alex became Yassen Gregorovich’s apprentice post Skeleton Key?
- Everything's Better with Friends: What if Marcy, Sasha, and Anne weren't separated when they got transported to Amphibia?
- Sasha and the Frogs: Essentially what happens if Sasha ended up with the Plantars while Anne ends up in Toad Tower, and how the different people and environments affect both characters' development.
- All Assorted Animorphs AUs is a collection of one-shot Animorphs what-ifs, some of which are based on divergences from the original series (What if they were all 33 instead of 13? 23? What if Elfangor and Loren raised Tobias? What if Jake was the one who got stuck in morph? What if Marco was the one split in half?), while others are pure Transplanted Character Fics with the Animorphs in a different setting, usually not involving aliens or morphing.
- Darkest Timeline: What if Guinevere never had an affair with Lancelot?
- Blood and Cross: What if Ratonhnhaké:ton's village was destroyed by George Washington when he was thirteen and he was captured as a slave?
- Templar Connor: What if Haytham heard of the attack on Ziio's village and discovered that he had a son?
- the way forward: What if Haytham Kenway had joined the Assassin Brotherhood after discovering the truth about his father?
- Morality Chain: What if Azula and Zuko had a healthy, loving brother-sister relationship?
- Battle For BFDI But There Is No Split: What if Two didn't show up and BFB didn't split in Episode 16? A LOT changes, including but not limited to the show dragging on for 80+ episodes, Hawkfrost replacing Income Tax Return Document, crowds of recommended characters coming back, and more.
- Strange Company: What if Mitchell wasn't killed by George and eight years after was part of the vampires as they took over the world?
- When Memories Fail: What if Mitchell was killed by George while in werewolf form, but was resurrected like Herrick?
- Downfall works on this premise, messing freely with everything, while explicitly keeping everyone within their canon character constraints. Aizen is a plotter. Unohana is Team Mom... and she kills people with her bare hands.
- Difficult To Fight Against Anger is a what-if story where Warren Mears doesn't kill Tara Maclay, but instead sexually assaults her.
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
- Revenge of the Energy Vampire: What if Nos-4-A2 survived his apparent destruction on Planet Z, and went after XR for revenge?
- (Un)Natural: What if Karen interrupted Martha's suicide?
- Alpha Move: What if Miguel had gone through with introducing himself to Sam's parents in season 1?
- Reawakening: What if Sam (instead of Miguel) started the cafeteria fight with Kyler and his gang, and thus instead of a 1 on 4 fight, there was a 2 vs. 4 fight?
- A bunch of fanfics explore what would happen if Lelouch is discovered by one of his half-siblings and he is forced back into the royal family.
- A bunch of fanfics explore what would happen if Lelouch stayed in Britannia instead of being exiled to Japan.
- Lady Luck's Favor: what if Desiree was the first sentient ghost Danny met?
- The Many Dates of Danny Fenton: What if Danny Fenton signed up for a teen dating service?
- TMDDF: What If?: What if Danny's dates went differently?
- Alternative Class Despair: What if Junko decided to brainwash her classmates into becoming the Remnants of Despair instead of her upperclassmen?
- Extra Life: What if Izuru managed to save Chiaki before she died?
- Point of Divergence: What if Nagito Komaeda didn't have frototemporal dementia?
- Three-Point Shot: What if Kaede survived the first trial?
- Valhalla's Angel: What if Hajime had an ultimate talent and was a member of Class 77-B?
- A Force of Four: What if Earth-Two survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths and Power Girl became the Earth's main protector after her cousin's demise?
- Constant Temptation can be summed up as "What if L and Light fell in love with each other, and had to deal with Beyond Birthday?".
- A Posse Ad Esse: What if Dr Wood's powers were real and tangible? What would happen if, by a fluke, they spread to every toy in the building?
- A Girl and her Bat asks "what if Demidevimon was Kari's partner instead of Gatomon" (as well as "what if Puppetmon made a Heel–Face Turn?").
- Young Lazarus: What if the Doctor found a way to rescue Adric from the doomed freighter, only for the rescue to produce some unpleasant side-effects that the Doctor's companions (including Adric) then have to fix?
- Beyond Heroes: What if Bethany Hawke was the Herald of Andraste?
- Asterion's Heaven: What if Captain Ginyu had to prove that the condemned souls of his men could change?
- Elisif the Dragon-Queen series: What if Elisif was the Dragonborn?
- At least 90% of The Familiar of Zero fanfics have the same concept — "What if Louise summoned someone (or something) OTHER than Saito to be her familiar?" It's a good excuse to write a Crossover. Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be a crossover - many stories have her summoning a more badass version of Saito, or an Original Character.
- Some fanfics explore what would happen if Saito's contract with Louise was terminated by Louise's father.
- Some fanfics explore what would happen is Saito was summoned by someone else, such as Tabitha, Henrietta, or Kirche.
- Family Guy Fanon: While the whole wiki is built around being an Alternative Continuity, there are some What Ifs.
- Season 11 - What if Vinny was a main character for an entire season?
- "Kimi Stupid Love": What if Quagmire's date from "Take My Wife" Kimi became his wife (this What If lasts over seven seasons)
- "Need for Weed": What if Mr. Weed didn't die in "Mr. Saturday Knight" and Peter became Head of Toy Development like he was promised? (only what if to last a single episode)
- Griffin vs. Thompson arc onwards - What if Meg met her real father Stan Thompson?
- The Ghost of Ochs: What if Monica from Fire Emblem: Three Houses was the real one? Hilarious in Hindsight, as there would later go on to be an official Alternate Timeline that would go on to ask that exact same question.
- A Dragon Without Wings: What if Lilac was paralysed from the waist down?
- Freedom Dies With Me: What if Lilac didn't recover from her torture?
- The Freedom Planet Multiverse Lists give a huge amount of What If material, such as;
- Age of Steam: What if Avalice was Steampunk?
- Lilith: What if Lilac was possessed by a demon?
- Media Heroines: What if Team Lilac started Youtube channels?
- Tattooverse: What if Freedom Planet was Darker and Edgier?
- Eyes of the Cat is solely dependent on the premise that Kyo, as the cat of the zodiac, may be able to see ghosts.
- Best Kept Secret: What if Roy and Riza were secretly married throughout Fullmetal Alchemist?
- Desert Gold: What if Trisha was Ishvalan?
- Gold Eyes To Red: What if Ed and Al were half-brothers? More specifically, what if Al was half Ishvalan?
- Love Can Surprise You At Any Time In Your Life: What if Lars had gotten Leela pregnant in Bender's Big Score?
- Symphony of Angels: What if Demona DIDN'T betray Macbeth in 1057 A.D?
- And the Unethical Binding Contract: What if the Triwizard Tournament took place in Harry's first year, not his fourth?
- boy with a scar is a series of such stories, each a different AU. These include "what if Neville was the Chosen One?", "what if Petunia refused to take Harry in, and he was raised at Hogwarts?", "what if Petunia actually raised Harry as a son?", and "what if Petunia and Vernon died so that Lily and James had to take care of Dudley?"
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: What if Petunia married a scientist, and Harry grew up as a Rationalist?
- In the language of flowers: What if Petunia was the witch and Lily the muggle?
- Percy Take the Wheel: What if Percy Weasley was Promoted to Parent?
- The Child of Azkaban: What if Harry grew up in Azkaban?
- The Scrambled Sorting Saga: What if the Sorting Hat went a little mad and then started sorting students into houses it wants instead of the ones they wish to be in?
- There had been a few fics in Hetalia: Axis Powers asking what would have happened if the Americans didn't win the American Revolution.
- Kanashī, Wütend, Desolato is basically a What If? for Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità: instead of supporting Germany's, Italy's, and Japan's relationship, what if most of the countries scorned and tormented them upon finding out? Things do not turn out well.
- Requiem for an Adventurer: What if Hilda actually did meet her end in the destruction of Victoria Van Gale's weather station?
- Black as Night: What if Astrid accidentally blinded Hiccup?
- bent or broken, it's the family tree: What if Djali was Esmeralda's son instead of her goat?
- You Are Mine: What if Frollo had taken in Esmeralda instead of Quasimodo?
- Nothing Burns Like The Snow: What if Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray stayed in District 12 together, and started taking care of Katniss and Prim shortly after the death of their father?
- The Parts We Play: What if Katniss was pregnant during the 74th Hunger Games and Prim volunteers to take her place?
- The Discount Smeet: what if an adult Dib rescued a smeet Zim from an intergalactic market, and came to see the alien as his own child?
- Science Knows No Bounds: what if Professor Membrane met Almighty Tallest Miyuki?
- Jurassic What If...?: The premise of every episode hinges on alternate takes on canon Jurassic Park and Jurassic World stories, originating from one alteration to the characters' choices or the setting.
- So the Trauma: What if Eric from Kim Possible: So The Drama was an "Erica"? Or, more specifically, what if Kim was gay?
- Hurricane Heartbeat: What if Ventus ended up inadvertently possessing a young Sora's body at the end of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep?
- Kingdom Hearts: The Antipode:
- The base premise explores a scenario where Riku inherited the Keyblade as fate intended. The snowball effect of his decisions as Keybearer eventually result in the story diverging completely from canon, with subsequent installments exploring the repercussions this entails in the bigger picture.
- A plot twist in Act 3: All That's Left reveals a second Point of Divergence: namely that Terra broke free from Xehanort's control during the fall of Radiant Garden, in the process becoming this universe's iteration of Xemnas.
- Runaway Wind: What if Sora's Heroic Sacrifice in Kingdom Hearts revived Ventus in addition to Kairi?
- Shen vs. Kai asks what Kung Fu Panda 2 would've been like had the Big Bad of Kung Fu Panda 3 also been involved.
- 'Till we Eternally Rest: What if Dio went through with his original plan to kill Jonathan with the Stone Mask?
- Letting Go Of Hate: What if Kiara had saved Zira?
- This trope is the driving force for the premise behind Where There's Life, There's Hope. What if Simba had actually taken Kovu when Zira "offered" him, but to protect him and give him a better life? Needless to say, everything changes.
- Episodes from Middle Earth consists entirely of one-shots asking this question. Some of them are light-hearted (e.g. "what if Bilbo and Thorin got turned into children?"), while some are dark and depressing (e.g. "what if half of the company died in the Thunder Battle?").
- Sent Home Tied Up in a Sack asks "What if Elrond DID send Pippin home from Rivendell?" The answer...Well, let's just say Nice Job Breaking It, Hero is putting it mildly.
- Walt Disney Presents: The Lord of the Rings: What if Walt Disney made The Lord of the Rings into an animated movie?
- Touch the darkness once more explores the alternative in which Galadriel accepted Sauron's offer to be Queen Consort.
- Missing Linc: what if Lincoln Loud's sisters had to find him after he went missing?
- An Alternate Keitaro Urashima: What if Keitaro didn't take his Childhood Marriage Promise to Naru so seriously?
- Contract Labor: What if Keitaro wasn't an Extreme Doormat?
- For His Own Sake: What if Keitaro finally wised up to the abuse he was suffering?
- I'll Be Seeing You: what if Keitaro was blind?
- Kid Keitaro: What if Keitaro was 8 years old when he came to the Hinata Inn?
- Love Hina Double Trouble: What if Keitaro was Philip's partner instead of Shotaro?
- Prince of PolPol: what if Keitaro was the heir of an island kingdom, and ended up married to ALL of the Hinata girls (and Nyamo)?
- Alleged city of Angels: What if Lucifer and Chloe had slept together in Season 2, leading to Chloe getting pregnant?
- Belief: What if Azreal had told Ella who she really was when they first met?
- Devilish Savior: What if Trixie was kidnapped when she was two and later adopted by Lucifer?
- Game Theory: What if Precia wasn't quite as crazy? It's rather astonishing how spectacularly the story goes Off the Rails from canon due to that small change.
M-Z
Marvel Cinematic Universe
- The Artist's Garden at Madripoor: Steve goes Madripoor in order to acquire the last component for the Quantum Tunnel and discovers that Sharon is the Power Broker, the city's Judge, Jury, and Executioner. Steve feels anger at himself and guilt for failing to find her and causing her fall from grace. He resolves to actually help her, such as getting her a long overdue pardon. This leads to him choosing not to stay in the past with Peggy.
- every glove that laid him down: What if Jack Murdock became Daredevil?
- The Fourth of July: What if Sharon was assigned to be Steve's partner after The Avengers (2012)?
- A Little Red and Blue: What if Sharon was sent to the year 1944 and met the past Steve and Bucky?
- Loki of Midgard: What if Loki discovered his Frost Giant origins earlier and left Asgard for Earth?
- The Storms of War: What if Steve and Sharon met back up and continued their relationship after the events of Captain America: Civil War?
- The (only/best/most wonderful) Family I (could ever) Have: What if Sharon's parents were killed alongside Howard and Maria Stark by the Winter Soldier and she was adopted by Tony?
- something here will eventually have to explode: What if Kraglin and Nebula were sent to to acquire the power stone in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) instead of Peter and Gamora?
- The Fallen Hawk: What if Hawkeye was secretly a HYDRA agent and was exposed after the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier?
- Ripples: What if Steve changed his mind about staying with Peggy in Avengers: Endgame?
- What Makes A Family: What if Melina and Alexei defected to S.H.I.E.L.D. to keep Natasha and Yelena safe from the Red Room?
- A Being Composed of Pure Light: What if Loki was the father of Peter Quill?
- Beyond Death: What if Thanos crash-landed on Earth and ended up falling in love with a human woman?
- The X-Men fic The Wraith Saga explores how the story might have continued if Jean Grey had survived her infamous "death" in The Dark Phoenix Saga.
- Merc!Shepard AU: Exactly What It Says on the Tin. What if Shepard didn't join the Alliance and instead became a mercenary crime lord?
- No Place Like Home: what if Orko's uncle found a way to retrieve him from Eternia, and Prince Adam and Man-At-Arms were accidentally dragged along as well?
- Stronger Than Destiny: What if Mordred had overheard Merlin and Gaius talking about his destiny to kill Arthur?
- The Sorcerer's New Groove: What if Uther was more appreciative of all the times Merlin saved Arthur's life and kept rewarding him?
- The Final Final Redux: The question is asked as to "What if Axl Heck was informed he had the wrong time written down (by four Audience Surrogate characters) and got to take his last final on time?". The result is him getting to spend a lot more time with his new girlfriend Lexie Brooks while waiting for the results and overall, a sweet story of the two reflecting on how happy they are to have gotten together.
- Wed Locked: What if Sabine was a runaway princess, and Marinette was forced to take part in an Arranged Marriage?
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Paradox: What if Flay Allster survived the war and her escape shuttle never got hit by the Providence's DRAGOONs?
- Many fanfics take advantage of the series premise (the government revealed the existence of monsters to the world and created cultural exchange programs, with some humans being sent to live with monsters and monsters being sent to live with humans) to ask "What if my Original Character joined the program and had to live with several monsters?" Both the gender and the species of the monsters depend on the author's preferences.
- Make a Man Out of You: What if Mulan was a trans man instead of a Sweet Polly Oliver?
- I Can't Be a Magical Girl!! You, a Magical Girl, Say: What if Izuku became a Magical Girl Warrior?
- Quirk: Magical Girl Mascot: What if Izuku's Quirk caused him to become a Mentor Mascot?
- A bunch of fanfics explore what would happen if Izuku gave up on his dream of being a hero after All Might told him he could not be a hero without a quirk.
- A bunch of fanfics explore what would happen if, after All Might tells Izuku that he cannot be a hero without a quirk, Izuku becomes so broken that he takes Bakugo's advice and jumps to his death.
- A bunch of fanfics explore what would happen if Izuku decides to become a quirkless hero so that he can show everyone that he can become a hero without a quirk.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- Party of None explores what would happen if Pinkie Pie overpowered Rainbow Dash when the latter tried to take her to her surprise birthday party during her Sanity Slippage. Let's just say it's not pleasant...
- The Pony POV Series addresses multiple what-if scenarios whenever someone looks into the Truth and glimpses The Multiverse. These vary from relatively minor changes ("What if Celestia turned Nightmare instead of Luna?") to more major changes ("What if Applejack was a different Element of Harmony?"). Many recursive fanfics have been written based on these scenarios.
- There's also the canonical Dark World Series, which addresses what would have happened if Discord had won and if Twilight became a Nightmare as a result.
- A World Without Rainbows is one of a few FIM fanfics that ask the question: "What if Rainbow Dash failed to/didn't pull off her first Sonic Rainboom?"
- Your Best Shot is another MLP: FiM What If, asking "What if Rainbow Dash had been present when Discord gave the Mane Cast their first shot at him?" The result: Twilight and Discord swap powers, and part of their physical appearance.
- Son of the Sannin: what if Naruto had been raised by Jiraiya and Tsunade, and the sannin had been around Konoha during those years he grew up?
- In a more specific example in-story, what if the Uchiha clan had pulled off their planned coup d'etat?
- A bunch of fanfics explore what would happen if Naruto was banished for the Hidden Leaf Village following the events of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission.
- Advice and Trust is an alternate universe where Shinji kissed Asuka back when she kissed him. Some of the consequences caused by that change are: Shinji and Asuka getting together and befriending Rei, Rei falling for both teens, Hikari becoming an Eva pilot instead of Touji, Shinji never merging with Unit-01...
- The Child of Love is an Alternate Universe fic where Asuka had sex with Shinji and got pregnant, and that situation forces both teenagers to get their act together, fix their relationship, and learn to be parents.
- Children of an Elder God replaces the canonical Eldritch Abominations with the Great Old Ones of the Cthulhu Mythos. As a result, the main characters look saner but they become Humanoid Abominations, and their world is more insane, darker, and bleaker.
- A Crown of Stars features a scenario where Shinji and Asuka's lives got worse after Third Impact until someone from another dimension took an interest in them.
- Evangelion 303: What if Second Impact never happened, the Children were adult soldiers who pilot experimental jet fighters instead of mechas, and SEELE was a terrorist organization?
- HERZ: SEELE fails to take over NERV in 2015. SEELE is exposed, NERV becomes a UN anti-Evangelion proliferation organization, and the main characters spend the next decade getting over their psychological issues and thwarting SEELE's plans.
- Higher Learning: What if after Third Impact, Shinji and Asuka's grandson went back in time and became their teacher to help them with their psychological issues and so averting the end of the world?
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Genocide features an alternate universe where NERV manages through political maneuvering to avert SEELE's attack for a time, which further results in the seclude for the Human Instrumentality Project being pushed dramatically back. Shinji gets time to recover somewhat from his latest traumas and tries to fix his relationship with his family while his father and SEELE make plans for their imminent confrontation, using new puppets and tools.
- What if...: What if Captain Hook turned into the Dark One to get his revenge on Rumplestiltskin?
- Though a Bird Can't Fly, That Doesn't Mean It Never Will asks the question "What if Kuina had been blinded instead of killed in her accident?"
- Foggy Nights and Phantom Flights: What if Goro Akechi got adopted by the Dojima family prior to the events of Persona 4?
- Persona 4 SILVER BLUE: The whole premise of this story is basically: “What if Labrys was the main character of Persona 4 instead of Yu Narukami?”
- made her grave: This shows several "What if..." scenarios that could have prevented Marion Crane's death.
- Later, Traitor: What if Frazie went to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp instead of Raz?
- Dual Destinies: What if Ranma was meant to be a pair of twin brothers joined in one body and then finally split into twins for real?
- John Biles' Ranma ½: Elseworlds (sadly on extended hiatus) explored variations such as "what if Ukyo stayed together with Ranma from the start?" to "what if Akane went to Jyusenkyo instead of Ranma?" to "what if the story takes place in the World of Darkness?"
- Adamantine Mist: What if Kasumi became engaged to Ranma?
- Amazon Aid: What if Cologne decided that Ranma and Akane should get together for the good of her people?
- A Clean Slate: what if Ranma lost the food challenge to Shampoo?
- Ranma the Second time Around: “What If? Ranma had a chance to go back in time, and fix the problems with his life?”
- Sendai: What if Ranma and Akane decided to leave Nerima?
- Same Time Next Year: What if Ranma and Akane met when they were children?
- The Silent Horse: What if Akane saved Ranma from being gang-raped?
- Tabula Rasa - what if Ranma's female form became permanent?
- Togetherness: What if Akane ended up in a coma before she and Ranma ever met?
- Waking Up: What if the events of Ranma ½ were all just a mass hallucination?
- Your Own Personal Shampoo - What if Shampoo had to become Ranma's slave and not his wife if she lost to him?
- The Unlikeliest Pair: What if Rimmer was the one who got put into stasis instead of Lister and the person who was revived as a hologram was Kochanski instead?
- Back to Prison: What if Tucker had decided to abandon Wash at Sidewinder?
- Several fanfics revolve around the question "what if someone OTHER than Tsukune entered Yokai Academy?". Like the Familiar of Zero example above, it's usually an excuse for a crossover, Rosario to Kiva being a notable example.
- Breaking The Chains: What if Blake and Weiss, not Blake and Yang, fought Adam in Volume 6?
- Can One Change Fix All of RWBY?: "What if Salem and Ozpin's roles were reversed?"
- Destinies of Remnant and its sequel Paths of Remnant have a series of "what if" stories as their premise, each one occurring independently from the others and confined in its own continuity. Current chapters include such "what ifs" as:
- What if Roman Torchwick survived the Battle of Beacon?
- What if Ruby Rose and Tyrian Callows died in Oniyuri?
- What if Pyrrha Nikos refused to become the Fall Maiden?
- What if Cinder Fall became a Huntress?
- What if Penny Polendina never fought Pyrrha Nikos at the Vytal Festival tournament?
- What if Adam Taurus let Ghira Belladonna die?
- What if vampires plagued Remnant instead of the Grimm?
- What if Salem died instead of Ozma?
- What if Ruby Rose worked for Roman Torchwick?
- What if Neopolitan became a hero?
- What if Sienna Khan had lived?
- What if Salem knew of the young Silver-Eyed Warrior?
- Cardinal King asks, "What if the Senshi had been corrupted during the Silver Millennium instead of the Shitennou?".
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
- Cat-Ra: what if Catra became She-Ra while Adora remained with the Horde?
- A few chapters following a battle with an Idol or Sycophanta in In the Eye of the Beholder have an alternate scenario where things didn't quite go the same way, ranging from a New Game Plus version of the same fight to outright Bad Endings with a Total Party Kill.
- Full Life Wo Sagashite: What if Lisa Simpson became a Magic Idol Singer?
- Lisa Fitzgerald: What if Lisa was not a Simpson?
- The Thompsons: What if Homer and Marge were not the parents of Bart, Lisa and Maggie?
- Divine Wind: What if Sylvia survived the attack on Team Alchemical instead of Undine?
- Team (Alt)chemical - Alchemical Star: What if the members of Team Alchemical had all received different Elemental Powers, with Gwen — the powerful Alchemical Star — as their leader?
- Benzene ~ Benzine ~ Aniline: What if Benzene was a trans girl who got the Dream?
- Empath: The Luckiest Smurf has two "what if" scenarios, explored by Empath's great-grandson Traveler who has the power to explore the alternate timelines of those that he comes in contact with (similar to Waverider's ability from Armageddon 2001). In Smurfette's alternate timeline, she falls in love with and marries Papa Smurf, having a child through him and causing the entire Smurf Village to rebel against Papa Smurf and throw him and his new family out of the village. In Hefty's alternate timeline, Empath returns to Psychelia and in time becomes the next Psyche Master while Smurfette falls in love with and marries Hefty, resulting in Empath-as-Psyche Master abducting Hefty and torturing him out of spite for not being able to marry Smurfette.
- In the fic The Joinery, the entire premise is what if Ned Stark became king instead of Robert Baratheon and married Cersei Lannister.
- The Alternate Universe Fic Ned Stark Lives, which is about Eddard Stark being allowed by Cersei to take the black instead of being executed by her insane son. Despite the War of the Five Kings being more or less averted by this change, the story is just as violent as the original series.
- How Do I Admit I'm Falling Apart: What if Sonic was trans?
- Slow Dancing in a Burning Room: What if Mary Jane didn't know Peter was Spider-Man?
- VenomCat Library: What if after the events of Venom Inc, Black Cat comes up with a plan to make Venom her crime fighting partner?
- Wedding of the Century: What if Peter and Mary Jane never went on the blind date set up by their aunts?
- What If Harry Knew All Along?: What if after getting his powers in Spider-Man, Peter told Harry from the start?
- What If Rosie Octavius Survived?: Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Sensory Overload: What if Agent 8 had Aspergers?
- Splatoon - Crimson Gaze: What if Marie accidentally killed Callie at the end of Octo Canyon?
- Throwing Shade: What if Callie became addicted to the Hypnoshades?
- Explored in the alternate universes created in Between the Mountain and the River:
- What if Vulcan never joined the Federation?
- What if Nero succeeded in destroying Earth?
- What if Nero never left Spock on Delta Vega?
- there's a home for us: What if Spock's parents adopted Kirk?
- Prompt #3 for the Star Trek Online forums' Unofficial Literary Challenge #7 asked for the writers to do this with their cast of characters. The results:
- Marcusdkane's Turn a Different Corner had Marcus Kane stay on Vulcan and marry his friend T'Reya in 2363, rather than rejoining Starfleet to command the USS Akira.
- Worffan 101's untitled entry changed a major detail of his prime universe Romulan character D'trel's backstory. Instead of D'trel's lover Adani being captured and tortured to death by the Tal'Shiar when they raided a Unificationist cell, D'trel died instead of Adani. The story then proceeds to the present to analyze the results of the less-bloody-minded Adani being the one to face Hakeev instead of D'trel.
- StarSword's The Road Not Taken decided that rather than transferring to Starfleet when the Bajoran Militia disbanded its Space Navy, Kanril Eleya stayed in the Militia and became Space Police. In the present Eleya is now a captain (O-3 rather than O-6) in the Militia and the security chief of Deep Space 9. Results are mixed: while it's mentioned briefly that the Borg attack at Vega Colony resulted in the complete destruction of Starfleet's forces without Eleya having been there, Eleya herself is actually happier.
- Marcusdkane's Turn a Different Corner
- Like Father, Like Daughter: what if Marco and Hekapoo had a daughter during those sixteen years Marco spent chasing Hekapoo?
- The Royal Protector asks the question "What would have happened if Star Butterfly's parents had sent her to St. Olga's?" Answer: Star undergoes Mind Rape, and the abuse she suffers at St. Olga's divides her mind into a Princess Classic and a Blood Knight, with Star's parents having to live with the guilt for causing it.
- The Jedi Padme Trilogy is based on the idea of Padmé as a Jedi, as well as a few other things.
- Reversed Destines: what if Luke Skywalker was Prince Luke Organa while his sister was Leia Amidala Skywalker and brought up by her aunt and uncle?
- the price of freedom: What if the Jedi Order never freed Anakin and kept him as a slave in secret, until Ahsoka discovered the truth?
- Uncertain Point of View: This is a series of one-shots all about this, showing alternate outcomes to key moments in the franchise.
- Of Fathers and Angels: What if Leia was kidnapped at six years old and Bail Organa asked Darth Vader for help?
- The Apprentice: What if Anakin didn't turn to the Dark Side, but Palpatine kidnapped a baby Luke?
- Blueswap AU: What if Blue Diamond was Steven's mother instead of Rose Quartz?
- Both Connie Parallel and Buck Dewniverse ask "what if Steven WASN'T the human-Gem hybrid?".
- Connieswap: What if Connie was a Crystal Gem, not Steven?
- The "Momswap AU", which is basically "what if Steven was being raised by the Homeworld Gems instead of the Crystal Gems?". Here is one of the better versions.
- Opal, Sapphire, Ruby, and STEVEN! asks "what if Opal was the permafusion instead of Garnet?".
- Revelations: What if Steven Universe admitted that he wasn't Rose Quartz at the trial?
- Steven Universe: Gone Wrong: What if Steven Universe was actually harmed from Spinel's Rejuvenator?
- An Unexpected Child basically answers the question "What if the Mistress had gotten pregnant with the Warden's child after the Lockdown of Love?"
- All Roads: What if Adam's mom was killed a year after he first met John, and Dean learned about his brother years earlier?
- Alternate Shift: What if Dean was the one that was missing in the Pilot instead of John?
- Don't Go Where I Can't Follow: What if Sam and Dean saved Meg from being killed by Crowley?
- Fate Twists: What if Amara was the one to lock God away?
- It Goes Like This: What if Sam and Dean became the vessels of Lucifer and Michael, but were both able to regain control of their bodies?
- Little Green Soldier: What if Adam was raised by John along with Dean and Sam?
- The Best Laid Plans...: What if Jessica Moore was a witch?
- The Emma [Winchester] Gospels: What if Dean had run into Emma in Purgatory and brought her back with him?
- Match Made in Hell: What if Uriel met with the newly resurrected Dean instead of Castiel?
- Unlikely Savior: What if Crowley rescued Dean from Hell instead of Castiel?
- We've Both Changed: What if in the episode "Bad Boys", Dean didn't see Sam in the Impala and instead chose to stay with Sonny, leaving his brother alone with their father?
- Yesterday, Upon The Stair: What if the British Men of Letters captured and brainwashed Sam into working for them?
- The Dimension Hoppers covers this from various power rangers/sentai (and a few others).
- The Devil’s Kiss depicts a universe,where Chisato ends up being brainwashed by Nezirejia.
- An in-universe example occurs in How Else It Could Have Been - David wonders how several events (e.g. Thomas being sent to Harwick, or the day Emily was accidentally derailed by Donald and Douglas) would have played out if he had come to Sodor directly after Sailor John's Naval downfall and been there for the events in question, then describes what he thinks would have happened. He also does this in his fantasy of how the events of Murder on the Express might have played out if he'd been present, when he wonders what would have happened if he'd been on the Express when his father was murdered.
- something rich and strange: What if Captain Haddock was the captain of a sailing ship during the reign of King Charles the Second, and Tintin was a young merman?
- Transformation: What if Tintin was really a woman?
- Cast Swap: What if the contestants of Total Drama Pahkitew Island debuted on Total Drama Revenge of the Island instead, and vice versa?
- For Want of a Mohawk: What if Duncan never woke up in "Dodgebrawl" and was eliminated early as a result? One major change is Courtney's arc focusing more on her leadership skills, not her romance with Duncan.
- In Legacy, the climactic encounter with the chainsaw psycho note turns out differently than the canon version. That single change drives the entire story, with consequences that are still felt a decade later.
- More Than Just Me In My Head: What if Zoey had Split Personalities like Mike?
- Total Alternate Island is a retelling of the first season, but with six additional campers joining the game at the start. This also alters some couplings as well.
- Total Drama Action: All-In explores the possibility of what would happen if all 22 of the original Island competitors got to compete in Action.
- Total Drama Underdogs: What if Ezekiel wasn't the first eliminated on Total Drama Island?
- The Total Shuffled Island Series asks "What if the debut seasons of all the contestants were scrambled around?"
- The Random Drama Series asks the same question, but also adds "What if there was a seventh season of Total Drama with 16 new contestants thrown into the mix as well?"
- The Brat Prince of Vos: What if Megatron had to agree to bond with The Starscream in order to gain the alliance of the city of Vos?
- The Cassetticon Hot Rod series: what if Hot Rod was a Cassetticon?
- A Child Shall Lead Them (Transformers) basically asks, "What if Swoop became the next Prime instead of Hot Rod?"
- The Galvadad series: What if Galvatron became the adoptive father of Hot Rod?
- Healing Old Wounds: What if Megatron and Trepan accidentally bonded to each other?
- Pariah AU: What if Starscream was falsely imprisoned and during the Cybertronian Civil War was released to become a soldier for the Autobots?
- The Primacy series: What if Ratchet accompanied Orion and Megatronus to the Council meeting and became the next Prime?
- Screaming Silence: what if Starscream was enslaved by a particularly sadistic Autobot?
- Spike the Sparkling: What if Spike was turned into a sparkling?.
- Suddenly: What if June Darby was raised by the Shattered Glass version of the Decepticons?
- unerase it if you want: What if Mei went through with the ritual to seal her red panda spirit away?
- The Lone Wolf: What if Michael became a lycan the night his wife died in the car accident, and met Selene a few months before the start of the film?
- This is the key to Victory: What if Ryuunosuke was chosen as Lum's opponent in the tag game?
- Those Annoying Humans: What if Ataru lost the tag game to Lum?
- Urusei Yatsura: Love to Skate! asks "What if Ataru wasn't the one chosen to be Lum's opponent in that fateful game of tag?". Among other things, there's no Defeat by Modesty (Lum lets the Original Character who replaces Ataru win after he saves her from a nasty fall), and the Accidental Proposal occurs when his rhetorical question about proposing is taken out of context.
- Days We've Lost: The main premise of the story is what if the cop that was transporting Lee Everett to prison avoided crashing the car and got Lee to prison safely. There are a few other changes that lead to other characters from the games meeting the characters from the comics, including Chuck being a prisoner with Lee, Kenny's group meeting Rick's before arriving at the prison, and Larry and Lilly being members of Woodbury.
- You and I'll be Safe and Sound Universe: What if Ben survived and became the caretaker of Clementine?
- Clémentine: What if Brambleclaw was told the truth about his kits prior to Squirrelflight taking them in?
- The author's note for Gone Wrong mentions that the idea for the fic came from wondering what would have happened if Roger had shot Doom.
- At its core Wolfblood asks the question "What if it was Milena sent to Kaer Morhen rather than Jaskier in The Accidental Warlord And His Pack?" though there are other major differences as well to allow for a truly separate AU.
- Quite popular for fanfics of Worm - unsurprising, since it is about superheroes. One of the most popular concepts is to swap main character Taylor's insect control power for something much more potent, but sometimes they play off of more Butterfly of Doom type changes.
- Bird poses the question "What if Taylor's first experiences after becoming a parahuman took place in an insane asylum for parahumans." The premise is taken further, with a host of additional AU elements mixed in.
- An Eternal History:
- What if Rex had resonated with a certain other Blade months before ever encountering the Aegis?
- What if Amalthus had employed the direct use of other Blades besides Haze?
- What if Mòrag had become the Empress of Mor Ardain, and Niall had become Special Inquisitor?
- What if the cast of Xenoblade Chronicles 1 had made their way to Alrest, with their own agendas?
- What if the Battle of Sword Valley was not won with the Monado, but a portion of Zanza's soul? What if Fiora was not the one converted into a Mechon Face unit, but Dunban? What if Brighid was possessed by Zanza?
- Re: Yin Yang Who? is where the Series Finale takes a sinister turn for the worse.
- Damona In The Details - what if Nate became engaged to Damona?
- The Unwanted Harem Of Nathan Adams - what if Nate gained an Unwanted Harem?
- My Dark King: What if Jack had lost his duel with Dark Signer!Carly and became a Dark Signer himself?
- Outcasts: What if Aki ran away from home and inadvertently shipped into Satellite and became childhood friends with Yusei, Crow and Jack?
- A Mother's Touch: What if Yoko Sakaki was more involved during Reiji's buy-out of You Show Duel School?
- Symposium Of Supremacy: What if Zarc won and he made numerous Deal with the Devils to ensure his reign was infinite?
Crossovers:
General
General
- The Fuku Fic subgenre revolves around one simple question - What if Ranma Saotome became a Magical Girl, such as a Sailor Senshi?
Specific
- 10 ton adventure asks "What if Ben 10 had been there for Dumbo instead of Timothy Mouse?".
- Ah, Ataru's Goddess - what if Ataru received a wish from Belldandy?
- Anime X Marvel tells stories about anime series having Marvel Comics elements.
- "The Princess and the Spider" follows the Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man being transported to the world of Re:Zero after his death in Avengers: Infinity War.
- "Dark Fury" has Tanjiro Kamado finding the Venom symbiote and forming a bond with it.
- "The Spirit of Vengeance" has Issei Hyoudou being turned into the Ghost Rider.
- "Mystic Adventures" has Naruto Uzumaki being trained under Doctor Strange.
- "Armored Adventures is Izuku Midoriya becoming Iron Man.
- "The Last King" has Bell Cranel discovering Thor's Hammer, Mjolnir.
- "The First Avengers" has Captain America joining Joseph Joestar in fighting the Pillar-Men while having to deal with Red Skull and Hydra.
- The "Spiderverse Saga" follows the premise of either Spider characters becoming one of the protagonists of the anime or anime characters becoming Spider-Men.
- As This Train Goes, a Recursive Fanfiction of Edventure Of The Thousand Year Door, answers the questions "What if Sarah was the legendary hero? What if Edd and the others weren't charged with collecting the crystal stars?"
- The Beast That I Am: What if Shinobu Maehara became the She-Hulk?
- Children of Time: What if Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson became the Doctor's companions instead of Martha?
- Child of the Storm: What if Thor was Harry Potter's father?
- Fantasy of Utter Ridiculousness: The basis of the story's Alternate Ending. What if Coop was able to defend against Suika's final strike and counterattack instead of resorting to evasion?
- Fluttershy and the Iron Giant: what if The Iron Giant landed in Equestria and befriended Fluttershy?
- Fooly Falls: What if Haruko Haruhara met Dipper and Mabel Pines instead of Naota Nandaba?
- GarfBob SquareField: What if Spongebob Squarepants ended up at a pet shop and was bought by Jon Arbuckle?
- Ghoul Instructor Naruto asks "What if Naruto was the gym teacher at Grimwood Academy instead of Shaggy?"
- The Bubblegum Crisis / Ah! My Goddess crossover A Goddess Comes to Call asks what would've happened if Keiichi DIDN'T wish for Belldandy to stay with him. He instead wishes for the girl who would be perfect for him, and ends up with Chihiro. Belldandy, meanwhile, is accidentally summoned fifty years later by Linna, who makes the wish for Belldandy to stay with her, and the goddesses (and Mara) get involved with the Knight Sabers and boomers (and Yuri).
- Gravity Soul: What if Bill Cipher struck a deal with Kishin Asura?
- The Grim EDventures of Ed, Edd n Eddy asks the question "What if Grim never met Billy and Mandy but Ed, Edd n Eddy instead?"
- Harry Potter And The Invincible Technomage: What if Harry Potter was adopted and raised by Tony Stark?
- Harry Potter in the City of Angels: What if Harry Potter's aunt and uncle abandoned him in Los Angeles and he was later found and adopted by Maze.
- Infinity Train: Blossomverse: The stories were spawned off by different questions.
- Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail: What if Chloe got sent onto the Infinity Train after getting sick and tired of people pushing her to get into Pokémon?
- Infinity Train: Knight of the Orange Lily: What would happen if Gladion was called out for hiding information about his sister's trauma?
- Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus: What if Professor Sycamore never told Ash about Alain's appearance and got taken away by the Infinity Train?
- Infinity Train: Court of Cyclamen: What if Bede got sucked into the Train after he was called out for his apathy?
- Inheritance of Cards and Demons: what if Rin became the Card Captor after Sakura?
- Knight of the Wizardmon: what if Wizardmon was transported to the world of Forever Knight following his Heroic Sacrifice?
- Last Child of Krypton: What if Shinji Ikari was Superman?
- Legacy of the Red Sun: What if Luke Skywalker died, and baby Kal-El landed on Tatooine? Also what if Han Solo remained an Imperial agent?
- Lisa ½ is basically "what if Bart and Lisa Simpson visited the Jusenkyo springs and fell in?".
- The Ranma ½ / Urusei Yatsura story Lum Sum Purple is basically "what if Shampoo was Lum's opponent in the tag game, and ended up accidentally marrying her?". Since Shampoo isn't a pervert, she defeats Lum using her own fighting skills, and the Accidental Proposal occurs when she gives Lum the Kiss of Death, and it's misinterpreted as the Kiss of Marriage. Also, since Ataru isn't around to wake Kurama up, that honor falls to Perfume (an Original Character who happens to be Shampoo's cousin).
- Magical Pony Lyrical Twilight asks what if the events of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha happened in Equestria?
- Marvel Gems Universe: What if the Crystal Gems existed in the Marvel Universe?
- The Mermaid and the Genie: what if Genie was the one to grant Ariel's wish?
- Neon Genesis EvangeléMon: What if Neon Genesis Evangelion took place in the world of Pokémon?
- A New Divide: What if Harry Potter was reborn as a Seekerlet?
- Onegai, Megami-Sama! asks "What if Matagu Shido accidentally summoned Peorth and wished for her to be his girlfriend?".
- Paris Burning - what if the Doctor met the characters from The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
- Pataki Magi Helga Magica - what if Helga Pataki was approached by Kyuubey?
- Perfectly Alien: What if a ten-year-old Harry Potter visited the Hoover Dam and was turned into a sparkling by the Allspark?
- Professor Morningstar: What if Lucifer Morningstar became a professor at Hogwarts during Harry's Fifth Year?
- Ranma Club asks "What if Ranma Saotome was the reincarnation of the Specialists (yes, all of them), and moved to Magix, where the entire Winx Club fell in love with him?".
- Respect explores what would happen if Yayoi Kise became a Puella Magi instead of a Precure. The results aren't pretty.
- RWBY: Rose In Black: What if Ruby Rose bonded to a symbiote?
- Sailor Star: What if Star Butterfly was Sailor Moon?
- Shelluva Boss: What if the Immediate Murder Professionals were hired to kill the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by the Utrom Shredder?
- Superwomen of Eva 2: Lone Heir of Krypton: In several bonus scenes the author described several alternate scenarios where Asuka became The Spectre, Raven, Etrigan, a Red Lantern... rather being Supergirl.
- In fact, the ENTIRE concept behind the Superwomen of Eva series is "What if (insert female Eva character here) gained the powers of a Marvel or DC superheroine?".
- Sly Cooper: Boiling Blood: What if Sly Cooper was sent to the Boiling Isles at the end of Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time instead of ancient Egypt?
- Take the Green and Go: What if Shego went back in time and drowned at Jusenkyo? And what if Ranma fell into the same spring she drowned in?
- Tekka Dread: What if Hibiki was replaced by Ranma (with the powers of a Tekkaman) at the start of Vandread?
- The Kids Are Alright: What if Matt Murdock got placed in the Vasquez household?
- Those Obnoxious Ghosts: What if Danny Phantom was the one who challenged and became accidentally engaged to Lum?
- Those Obnoxious Relatives - What if Lum was the cousin of the Tendo girls?
- Through Time and Space - What if Samus Aran was hired to capture Starscream?
- Tom and Jerry: The Harry Potter Days can be boiled down to "what if Tom and Jerry became the pets of Harry Potter, and were assigned to protect him by Dumbledore?".
- Truth, Justice and the Gallifreyan Way - what if the Doctor met Clark Kent?
- Turnabout Storm: What if no Big Damn Hero had come to turn the tides of the case when all seemed lost? A contest held by the author encouraged fans to answer this themselves by creating their own Downer Ending, the winner becoming the "official" alternate outcome.
- The Vampire of Steel: What if Supergirl didn't get killed by the Anti-Monitor and met Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
- The Sailor Moon/Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha fanfic White Devil of the Moon: What if Nanoha Takamachi and not Usagi Tsukino was the reincarnated Moon Princess?
- The Wizard of Gotham - what if Harry Potter became Poison Ivy's sidekick?
