History SailorEarth / Literature

* Since most of the plot of ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' takes place in the American North East, it is easy to write about events that take place in other parts of the world either as a member of the Protectorate/Wards or one of the superpowered gangs that will fight that particular branch. Inserting new characters into Brockton Bay itself is also easy with transfers from one Protectorate branch to another.

* Since most of the plot of ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' takes place in the American North East, it is easy to write about events that take place in other parts of the world either as a member of the Protectorate/Wards or one of the superpowered gangs that will fight that particular branch. Inserting new characters into Brockton Bay itself is also easy with transfers from one Protectorate branch to another.

** A few authors invent a 21st [[RingOfPower Great Ring]], though canon has only twenty. Gandalf briefly mentioned some "lesser rings" in ''[=LoTR=]'' Book I Chapter 2. If lesser rings do show up (as they did in ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline''), expect them to follow the naming convention of the Three: a Quenya word ending with *-ya*.

** A few authors invent a 21st [[RingOfPower Great Ring]], though canon has only twenty. Gandalf briefly mentioned some "lesser rings" in ''[=LoTR=]'' Book I Chapter 2.

* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' is constantly prone to a new demigod, which is made extremely easy by the ending of the fifth book [[spoiler:stating that more and more demigods will be claimed and are coming across the border to Camp]]. And the sequel reveals [[spoiler: that there's also a camp for the children of [[LiteralSplitPersonality the Roman gods]]]]. And ''then'' the sister series gave us not only characters [[spoiler: descended from Egyptian gods]] and an AncientConspiracy, but confirmed they all exist in the same 'verse. And the next series, ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'', gave us [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the Norse gods]].

* In ''Franchise/JamesBond'' fanfics, there will often be a character whose codename is either 00x or a letter besides M and Q. This is not helped since the movies have, at various times, either shown or mentioned 3 different 006s, 3 different 009s, 2 different 002s, a 003, a 008, and even a 0011. Most of the other 00 agents that have more than a passing mention in the movies tend to wind up dead shortly thereafter. It's very clear that not only do numbers get recycled when their former owners die, but that any given number works as long as it's preceded by 00 -- making 0013, 0069, 0099, or even 008675309 all valid code-names.
** Makes sense; 00 is simply an agent status, showing they have license to kill.
** Combined with the EpilepticTree that James Bond is merely a code name, there exist plenty of fanfics starring a brand new Bond after the previous one was killed/retired. At least it's better than ones about Bond being a WMG/TimeLord.
** Mildly lampshaded in the film version of ''Casino Royale''.
--->'''James:''' (''to M'') "Well, I understand double 0s have a very short life expectancy..."

* Quite a few ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' fanfics have somebody new join the team. This plays out interestingly, because the Animorphs already had a SixthRanger, but he [[SixthRangerTraitor sold them out to Visser Three]] to get his parents back. So, naturally, there is some skepticism in the group if they want to take in another new member, TouchedByVorlons or otherwise. But it gets resolved within a chapter, after the OriginalCharacter promises not to kill them in their sleep, and Marco mentions he needs a pairing buddy.
** Another obvious mechanism: Vissers. Vissers Three and One are recurring villains, and with 47 Vissers, only a few of whom we've met, it's easy to bring in a new one.
** ''Alternamorphs'', the {{Gamebooks}} spinoff, actually embrace this trope. In the second one, the reader even plays as [[ForegoneConclusion the aforementioned Sixth Ranger]].
** There were also the Auxiliary Animorphs who were mostly people who were not suitable controllers (due to being disabled in some way), and a fanfic can easily put the new character in the shoes of one of them, sometimes with varying disabilities. (A good example would be somebody who is autistic and wouldn't be suitable because different behaviours would alert non-controllers that something is up.)
** There can also be another faction of Auxiliary Animorphs who were deemed unsuitable controllers for other reasons -- such as they are children and are too young to be of any use as of yet, they're too old, or they do not have the proper social status to become a good controller.
* ''Literature/TheClique'' has a common theme in their fanfiction: A new clique comes in and competes with the Pretty Committee.
* 99% of fanfiction for Mary Hoffman's ''Literature/{{Stravaganza}}'' series involves the introduction of a new Stravagante.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' used this quite often.
** Obviously, at the end of ''Return of the Jedi'', Han/Leia is standard, but what about Luke? Enter Mara Jade.
** Who helped Leia get the Death Star plans? A former stormtrooper turned mercenary turned Jedi Knight named [[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Kyle Katarn]].
** Luke needs Jedi students, so... Kevin J. Anderson gave him a dozen. In the FixFic ''I, Jedi'', in addition to that dozen, Mara, and Kyle, we have Corran Horn.
** The surviving Y-wing pilot from ''A New Hope'' is canonically you in the ''X-wing'' games.
** So we have Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin. They need friends to join in on their adventures, plus show romantic subtext. Hence Tenel Ka, Zekk, and Tahiri, respectively. There's also Lowbacca.
* ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' [[AllThereInTheManual has]] ''The Island of Sodor'' and ''Sodor: Reading Between The Lines'', which suggest that there are eighty locomotives on the Fat Controller's railway alone, as well as a number of engines formerly working on Sodor and several branch lines, minor railways and industries that could be rail-served. Fanfic characters are therefore usually just a case of finding a gap in the Sodor stockbooks and dropping an engine (often [[AuthorAppeal the author's favourite class of locomotive]]) in. In many cases, as real locomotives have been turned into characters in the series proper, creating a character is often as simple as putting a face on a real engine and inventing a reason for them to come to Sodor.
* Most ''Literature/{{Holes}}'' fanfics have someone new coming to Camp Green Lake -- and it's almost always a girl, despite the fact that it's an all-boys camp. This is rarely even {{Handwave}}d.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Lost Targaryens who just ''happen'' to stumble on dragon eggs and start conquering stuff.
** There are a lot of noble houses in Westeros, but only a few of them have names: the rest are only mentioned by their heraldry. This allows for would-be Sailor Earth makers to create their own house by making up a coat of arms or taking one of the many heraldic designs described in the book. The ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' tabletop RPG by Green Ronin includes this as an option in its character-building process.
** It is not hard to add an original character in via an additional Sand Snake: [[ReallyGetsAround It is not hard to write Oberyn Martell having gotten another child into the world without stretching the suspension of disbelief]], and with how far he traveled there are very few origins for said child you can't realistically do (and most of them are probably genetic limitations).
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', there are 73 past Games, meaning 73 opportunities for fans to invent their own victors provided they're not accounted for (after all, [[spoiler: the 75th Hunger Games had a special gimmick that past victors are Tributes]]). Not only that, but it also provides opportunities for 23 other Tributes, leading to a grand total of 1776 total Tributes that may or may not have been accounted for. There's also the Quarter Quells, special Hunger Games with different gimmicks. It's mentioned that there's more than three and they could stretch out to last hundreds upon hundreds of Hunger Games. And of course, if you wish to invoke the WhatIf scenarios, [[spoiler:[[LaserGuidedKarma A Capitol Tribute-based Hunger Games]] and [[BadFuture Hunger Games stretching from the 76th onwards]] are possible, and thus the Victors, Tributes, and Quells grow]].
* The ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' series has an interesting inversion in the official ''Tales'' trilogy; a historian claims to have discovered evidence that there was a gnome member of the original 'Heroes Of The Lance', who was written out of the Chronicles and his existence completely hushed up by the rest of the heroes.
* With ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' fics and RP fora, this tends to manifest itself mainly in four ways -- all of which have ''some'' basis in canon:
** A dragon outside the five standard colors (female Greens and Gold/Queens, and male Blues, Browns and Bronzes); one that isn't a sport or a runt like Ruth (canonical White dragon). Often written to have special abilities (the ability to talk physically as well as mentally being a popular one).
** Female Bronze/Brown riders and male Queen riders.
** Riders with Journeyman Craft ranks (usually Harpers)
** Children of Lord Holders (Pernese equivalents to princes and princesses) becoming riders. This one does apply to canon character Lessa, established in ''Masterharper of Pern'' (covering Robinton's life up until the main series begins) as the daughter of the Lord Holder of Ruatha and the only survivor of her family after Fax's takeover.
* The majority of ''Literature/MaximumRide'' fanfics and [=RPs=] features a new mutant or group of mutants that has broken out of a lab. The former always joins up with Max's [[spoiler:or Fang]]'s flock and the later usually becomes their own.
* Creator/HPLovecraft's Franchise/CthulhuMythos is essentially a huge bunch of professional fanfics of the CosmicHorrorStory's TropeCodifier, and was that way even during Lovecraft's life, as he and his author friends freely cribbed from each other. Many writers have added their own [[TomeOfEldritchLore forbidden books]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos_arcane_literature]], [[StarfishAliens weird species]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cthulhu_Mythos_species]], [[EldritchAbomination god-things]][[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu_Mythos_deities]], and Masks of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyarlathotep Nyarlathotep]] to the mix. A positive example, as many of these have become quite popular among fans.
* ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'' original characters are significantly rarer, due to the ''much'' smaller fandom size, compared to sister-series ''Literature/WarriorCats'', but they still pop up. They're pretty much all Leashed Dogs who join the Wild Pack after their owners evacuate due to the earthquake.
* Want to create a new ''Literature/MrMen'' or Little Miss character? Couldn't be simpler! Just draw a brightly coloured simple shape, add a distinctive characteristic, name the character after that characteristic, and there you go!
* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' makes it all too easy to add a character who is one of TheChosenMany. If being a Herald or a Companion doesn't suit you, you can join the Bards, the Healers, the Tayledras, Shin'a'in, or Kale'da'in, any number of mentioned religious orders, any number of named mercenary Companies, any number of named non-human races, or even become a member of any one of those groups ''in the past''.
* Since most of the plot of ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' takes place in the American North East, it is easy to write about events that take place in other parts of the world either as a member of the Protectorate/Wards or one of the superpowered gangs that will fight that particular branch. Inserting new characters into Brockton Bay itself is also easy with transfers from one Protectorate branch to another.
* Very common in ''Literature/DaughtersOfTheMoon'' fanfiction. Since the Daughters are either predestined by birth or granted the title by Selene after they earn her favor, many fanfics involve a new girl with mysterious powers moving to L.A., meeting and befriending the original team, and then discovering that she's a Daughter of the Moon. Either that or the author will create a whole new team of Daughters altogether.
* Literature/WingsOfFire makes it easy. Just choose a tribe and follow the naming conventions of said tribe and you're good to go. As of this writing there are ten tribes to choose from and plenty of fans have come up with their own tribes.

* Want to create a new ''Literature/MrMen'' or Little Misses character? Couldn't be simpler! Just draw a brightly coloured simple shape, add a distinctive characteristic, name the character after that characteristic, and there you go!

** New professors, too; Defense Against the Dark Arts professors are of course especially common given the position's turnover rate. Implausibly young ones are worryingly common.