Considering that the trope is often misused (a great part of the examples are actually Alternate History) and that outside Tvtropes What If? and Alternate History are the same thing, should this trope be renamed to something less ambiguous ? (like "In-Universe Alternate History")
Hide / Show Replies
Eh, without some numerical evidence of misuse there prolly won't be a rename - it has lots of wicks.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Here we go:
Anime and Manga
- Doraemon: not explicit enough to determine whereas it is a true What If? or Alternate History.
- Angel Sanctuary: correct.
- One Piece: seems to be correct, though the entry is quite vague; it could just be a Retcon.
- Evangelion ANIMA: correct.
- After War Gundam X: correct.
- Full Metal Panic: Alternate History.
- Kill la Kill: correct.
- Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story: correct.
- Magical Girl Lyrical IF: correct.
- The Dragon Ball movies: correct.
Audio Drama
- The only example is correct.
Card Games
- The only example is correct.
Comic Books
- Each one is correct (6 examples). NB: this figure counts the number of series, not each of the issues detailed in the entries themselves.
Fan Works
- Each one is correct (52 examples).
Film
- Donnie Darko: correct.
- C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America: Alternate History.
- It's a Wonderful Life: correct.
- Death of a President: Alternate History.
- Young Einstein: Alternate History.
- Lucy: Artistic License – Biology - 90% of Your Brain.
- OOO Den O All Riders Lets Go Kamen Riders: correct
- Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider #3: correct.
Literature
- Animorphs: correct.
- If: Worlds of Science Fiction: too vague to be relevant.
- Literature/Temeraire: Alternate History.
- The Tripods: Alternate History. The entry seems quite ambiguous at first. While the series premise is basically "The War of the Worlds with a Martian victory", The Tripods is a Spiritual Successor instead of a proper What If? story derived from The War of the Worlds.
- 1632: Alternate History.
- Trail of Glory: Alternate History.
- Worldwar: Alternate History.
- Literature/Timeline191: Alternate History.
- The Guns of the South: Alternate History.
- José Saramago: totally irrelevant.
- What If? historical essays: Alternate History.
- The Iron Man 2 novelization: correct.
- Wolfish Nature: Alternate History.
- The Indians Won: Alternate History.
- The "WW 2 Uchrony genre": Alternate History.
Live Action TV
- Smallville: correct.
- Fatherland: Alternate History.
- Heroes: irrelevant.
- Doctor Who: correct.
- The Sarah Jane Adventures: correct.
- Are You Afraid of the Dark?: irrelevant.
- Grey's Anatomy: correct.
- NewsRadio: correct.
- If...: Alternate History.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer: correct.
- Star Trek: The Original Series: correct.
- Sliders: Alternate History.
- Friends: correct.
- Andromeda: correct.
- Party of Five: correct.
- Stargate SG-1: correct.
- Farscape: correct.
- Felicity/Alias: the entry is about a meta-joke from the creator of both shows. Seems to be relevant in this context.
- JAG: correct.
- NCIS: correct.
- Bewitched: correct.
- Xena: Warrior Princess: correct.
- Six Feet Under: correct.
- The Big Bang Theory: correct.
- Dallas: correct.
- Supernatural: correct.
- Night and Day: correct.
Machinima
- Both examples are correct.
Music
- Hero Alternate History/Artistic License – Religion.
Newspaper Comics
- The only example is correct.
Roleplay
- The only example is correct.
Tabletop Games
- The only example is correct.
Video Games
- Shin Megami Tensei if...: correct.
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert: Alternate History.
- World in Conflict: Alternate History.
- Iron Storm: Alternate History.
- Turning Point: Fall of Liberty: Alternate History.
- Freedom Fighters: Alternate History.
- War Front: Turning Point: Alternate History.
- Dragon Ball Z videogame adaptations: correct.
- Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3: Alternate History.
- The World Ends with You: irrelevant.
- Lord of the Rings: Conquest: correct.
- Mega Man Battle Network: correct.
- The Force Unleashed: correct.
- AdventureQuest: correct.
- Dragon Age: Origins: correct.
- Gundam videogames: correct.
- Dead Rising 2: correct.
- Brink!: correct.
- Silent Storm: Alternate History.
- Left 4 Dead: correct.
- Fallout: Alternate History.
- The Legend of Zelda: correct.
- Assassin's Creed III: Alternate History.
- Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage: correct.
- Spider Man: correct.
- Disgaea: Hour of Darkness: correct.
- Sword Art Online Infinity Moment: correct.
- Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City: correct.
- Fire Emblem: Awakening: correct.
- Evil Dead: Regeneration: correct.
- Castlevania Fighter: correct.
- Terminator 3 Redemption: correct.
- In Your Arms Tonight: correct.
- Kiss of Revenge: correct.
- Love Letter from Thief X: correct.
Web Comics
- The only example is correct.
Web Originals
- Both examples are basically a variant of Alternate History, but about sports instead of historical events.
Western Animation
- Futurama: correct.
- Ben10: correct.
- Family Guy'': correct.
- Phineas and Ferb: correct.
- Wild Kratts: that's just a classical Sci-Fi premise.
- Western Animation/Freakazoid: Alternate History.
- The Magic Adventures of Mumfie: someone added it purely because a character has "what if [...]?" as a catchphrase.
- Adventure Time: correct.
Results:
- Correct uses of the trope : 130
- Misuses of the trope : 39
- Entries that are too vague or ambiguous to be sorted: 3
Note that more than a third of the correct uses come form the Fan Works section, and each of the listed fanfics lists the trope's definition. Since this trope is, by nature, almost impossible to misuse when refering to fanworks (by its very nature: Alternate History + already existing universe = proper What If? sticking to the trope's definition), the trope is actually more misused than those very stats seem to imply. On the other hand, novels and videogames misuse this trope the most.
Most of misuses are a confusion with Alternate History (predictible, since Alternate History and What are exactly the same thing out This Very Wiki). Some others are just wrong, usually with "the basic premise of the work could be summarized by a phrase starting with the trope's name".
I'm wondering if someone could add a warning on the page (the kind which is hidden and only appears in the page's source code, with lines introduced by %% symbols), but I'm unsure whether it's a moderator-only prerogative or not.
I prefer letting the page untouched for the moment, to allow other contributors to go read the erroneous entries without having to navigate in the archives-stored versions.
Edited by Psychopompos007
"Some others are just wrong, usually with "the basic premise of the work could be summarized by a phrase starting with the trope's name"."
I've been sorting the fanfic examples, and a lot of them are this, especially the crossovers. By its very definition, almost any fanfic AU/AR can fit in this trope. Perhaps we need a narrower definition?
- Ghoul Instructor Naruto
asks "What if Naruto was the gym teacher at Grimwood Academy instead of Shaggy?"
GarfBob SquareField: What if Spongebob Squarepants ended up at a pet shop and was brought by Jon Arbuckle?
Fluttershy and the Iron Giant: what if The Iron Giant landed in Equestria and befriended Fluttershy?
Re cut: That was a copypaste error; I left the namespace out. Please don't cut this article.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
We need a clearer image on the page. This is a mild JAFAAC because I can't read the speech bubbles in the image and I can't tell how it relates to the trope. Made if someone just finds a bigger version?
Don't make me destroy you. @ Castle Series
Should I split Fanworks into its own page? I'm sorting the examples and it's hella long (5+ pages in Libreoffice) eta: Sandbox.Fanworks What If
Edited by LongLiveHumour