What exactly is Fictional Earth?

I'm having a hard time figuring out what distinguishes Fictional Earth from Constructed World.

The idea behind the trope is supposed to be that the planet is Earth, but its history and/or geography is different from the Earth we know. But, like, what's necessary to establish that it's supposed to be Earth in the first place?

Is it just that people call the planet they live on "the Earth" (or even just call the soil under their feet "earth")? Or do there have to be some pieces of our Earth's history/geography that still exist on that world, even if much else is different?

It's the Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit" of settings.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Jan 11th 2023 at 8:11:00 PM

The current description seems to be going by the first one — fictional worlds, clearly distinct from the real one, that are still called Earth. The laconic seems to be going for the same thing ("Same name, mass, Sun, Moon, etc., but a completely different world.") — that is, a few shared names for the planet and nearby celestial bodies, but otherwise a different world.

The examples are a bit more vague. They include the above description (completely different world with the same name), "Earth but upside down"^note which, strictly speaking, is just "Earth"; there's no gravity in space and map direction are arbitrary; historic Arabic maps also had north at the top, basically the real world with some fictional countries and cities, mythic prehistories of Earth, distant futures, and alternate histories. There are also a couple of examples that describe entirely fictional settings with neither geographical parallels nor shared names to the real world, as well as entirely fictional settings with Fantasy Counterpart Cultures.

The laconic is overly strict, I think - geography and local astronomy are both physical features of the setting. An "Earth" with an Alien Sky, two moons and a night full of Fictional Constellations, would also be a Fictional Earth.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Jan 14th 2023 at 10:03:26 AM

I guess my issue is, how do you delineate whether characters are using "Earth" as the proper name for their planet, or whether they're using "earth" to refer rocks and dirt and stuff, the physical substance that makes up their planet?

I think of Dragon Ball where Earth has different geography and more fanciful technology but for the sake of Worldbuilding it is still mostly a modern Earth with the "constructed" part being an All Myths Are True and Galactic Conqueror angle. Basically the Earth in question is cosmetically different but culturally very similar. This differs from something like The Lord of the Rings where everything is built from the ground up.

Edited by EmeraldSource on Jan 14th 2023 at 6:24:57 AM

Original TLP thread.

What about Shiver Star from Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards?

It is essentially Earth by another name but completely frozen over (albeit with the same layout of continents).

Capitalisation?

That sounds like a different trope, like a duplicate Earth. Star Trek had a few of those.