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In fan fiction, authors have the freedom to introduce important characters earlier or later than they appeared in the source material if their story calls for it. The following is a list of examples of the former.


Stories with their own pages:


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    Crossovers 
  • Adventures on the Friendship Express has a cameo from Flash Sentry in chapter 8. Season 3 of Friendship is Magic has not ended here yet, so Twilight does not have her wings either, so this is also before he is canonically introduced.
  • Amazing Fantasy:
    • Izuku meets Hanta Sero, Kyouka Jirou, and Neito Monoma while preparing for the U.A. Entrance Exam, months before he meets them in canon.
    • All For One appears as the ominous voice Mysterio calls as early as Issue #3 before Izuku even starts his training.
    • Stain makes his first on-screen appearance in Issue #6, rather than after the Sports Festival.
    • Izuku meets Hanta Sero, Kyouka Jirou, and Neito Monoma while preparing for the U.A. Entrance Exam, months before he meets them in canon.
    • All For One appears as the ominous voice Mysterio calls as early as Issue #3 before Izuku even starts his training.
    • Stain makes his first on-screen appearance in Issue #6, rather than after the Sports Festival.
  • 'And Thus...' (A MHA / XC2 Crossover): Melissa Shield already appears in the first chapter due to being online friends with Izumi.
    • Rumi Usagiyama/Mirko appears in Chapter 4, set on **Izumi's first day at U.A. Academy, when she had her first canon appearance much later.
    • Melissa Shield already appears in the first chapter due to being online friends with Izumi.
    • Rumi Usagiyama/Mirko appears in Chapter 4, set on Izumi's first day at U.A. Academy, when she had her first canon appearance much later.
  • BlazBlue Alternative: Remnant:
    • Penny originally first appeared in RWBY during the events of episode 15 of Volume 1. Here, she first appears working at Tukson's Boot Trade just after the events of "The Badge and the Burden".
    • Neo first appears helping Roman with his heists and later aids him against Ragna, Blake, and Makoto during the events of "Black and White" in Volume 1, whereas canonically, she wouldn't first appear until the fourth episode of Volume 2.
  • Citadel of the Heart:
    • It would take an entire page dedicated to this fic to list all of the Pokémon examples on their own, but let's just say MF217 loves to use various Pokémon, Types, Moves, and Abilities introduced in later Generations significantly earlier in the timeline than they otherwise appeared. For instance, in Shadow Heat, he previews Willy's team of having a Galarian Linoone among his team. As for an example that applies to Pokémon already in the game, Nascour showcases all three Legendary Beasts in his possession long before each of them would otherwise individually appear later on.
      • Truth and Ideals had a more traditional example such as those mentioned elsewhere on this page for Pokémon as a whole, with a Lucario appearing holding a Key Stone and a Lucarionite, in a fic which up until his debut was primarily an adaptation of Pokémon Black and White.
    • Diary of an Analog: Long story short, none of the 1999 DigiDestined lose their ability to go Ultimate or higher by virtue of the Crests having remained internalized within them ever since the battle with Apocalymon, with the physical Crests themselves still being destroyed. Directly because of this, MagnaAngemon and Angewomon both appear significantly earlier in Diary of an Analog than they otherwise did in Digimon Adventure 02. For bonus points, the Starter Villain isn't the Digimon Emperor for the first few chapters, but is instead an Alphamon, with mentions of other Royal Knights being spoken of such as Crusadermon and Gallantmon.
  • Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron:
    • Nonette, who never showed up until the opening of R2, appears at the end of Tears of the Balmera, revealing she's recognized Rai as Prince Zephyr.
    • Lotor and his generals appear a whole season before they are even mentioned, watching Lelouch's speech as Zero.
    • Not a person, but the various methods used to make flying Knightmares (such as the float system) didn't make an appearance until the middle of the first season. Here, prototype version are deployed just after the Battle of Narita in order to defend the Avalon while it carries Nunnally.
  • Code Prime:
    • The Glaston Knights make their first appearance during the Battle of Narita when in canon, they were first summoned directly prior to the school festival. Only Edgar and David leave the battle alive.
    • Unicron makes a cameo in Chapters 2 and 16, appearing in C.C.'s code-induced visions.
    • While Wheeljack shows up around the same time as he did in canon, he decides to stay with the Autobots and Black Knights instead of going back into space.
    • In the Code Geass canon, the Glinda Knights weren't formed until after the Black Rebellion. As they are name dropped by Cornelia in Chapter 19, it's implied that they were formed around the same time the Black Knights were.
    • Originally the Knights of the Round first appeared in Episode 2 of R2. Here, Gino, Anya, Nonette, and Monica all debut in Chapter 20, with Bismarck, Dorothea and Luciano showing up in Chapter 31.
    • While first appearing in Episode 3 of R2, Kanon Maldini shows up in Chapter 34 helping the Decepticons in their invasion of Pendragon.
    • The original debut of Starscream's Seeker armada was in the Season 2 finale of Transformers Prime. Here, they are first mentioned to have arrived at the Nemesis in Chapter 32, and they make their first full appearance in Chapter 34.
    • The Lancelot Albion and the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements, ninth-generation Knightmare Frames that appeared near the end of Code Geass's second season, appear in the first chapter of R2.
  • Enchanting Heist (Persona 5 and The Owl House):
    • Lilith returns to the Owl House a little earlier than in canon, due to Eda's summons, specifically showing up just after "Yesterday's Lie" as opposed to showing up after "Follies at the Coven Day Parade" to celebrate her new job.
    • While explaining what she knows of Personas, Lilith states that she once caught an ever so fleeting glimpse of Emperor Belos conversing with a shadowy jester that she assumes to be a Persona. Anyone familiar with The Owl House's later episodes will recognize that figure as actually being The Collector, though it's downplayed as he has yet to make a full appearance in the story as of yet.
    • King's status as the last of the Titans appears significantly earlier than in canon, as it is a drop of his blood that accidentally warps himself, Luz and Amity into the Persona Universe.
    • In a way, Philemon himself. In Persona 5, nothing about the Velvet Room is done by him personally, solely Igor and his attendants. In Enchanting Heist, it's implied that Luz, Amity and King were personally selected as his representatives.
    • Kasumi Yoshizawa aka Sumire Yoshizawa appears a little earlier than in canon, with Luz accidentally running into her in the hallways of Shujin. From that point on, due to both of them being first years and sharing a homeroom, Kasumi becomes a member of Luz's very small friend circle, and even joins in on the effort to stop Kamoshida.
  • Hero Academia D×D: Muscular is already with the League of Villains and appears with them during the USJ arc.
  • An Impractical Guide to Godhood: Daedalus, Ethan, the Triumvirate Holdings emperors and several other characters show up much earlier than in canon.
  • Infinity Train: Star Finder: Stella appeared on Season 3 from the original show. Here, she appear on the equivalent of Season 1/2 in this AU.
  • JoJo New Universe:
    • Stands as a whole make their first appearance in Phantom Blood through Twilight Sparkle's Stand "Love is in Bloom", which she uses to protect Danny from Dio when they first arrive at the Joestar Manor.
    • Enya Geil, an arc villain in Stardust Crusaders, appears in the events of Phantom Blood as a young woman that becomes Dio's most loyal follower and lover.
    • Joseph Joestar's famous "OH MY GOD" from his Stardust Crusaders days are first spoken during the events of Battle Tendency, 50 years earlier than canon, when Kars uses a surprise attack on Lisa Lisa during their duel.
    • Jolyne Kujo appears during the events of Diamond is Unbreakable, 12 years before the events of Stone Ocean.
  • The J-WITCH Series has multiple examples:
    • In Jackie Chan Adventures canon, the Ice Crew didn't appear until an episode late in Season 4. Here, they appear while the JCA side of the story is still in the equivalent of Season 3.
    • In W.I.T.C.H. canon, Miranda is introduced a few episodes after Elyon is taken to Meridian. Here, due to Cedric's cover being blown by Section 13 before he can fully win Elyon over, Miranda is brought in to help finish the job.
    • Jeek first appeared in a late episode of the first season of W.I.T.C.H.. In this fic, his first appearance occurs in the chapter that takes place between said cartoon's third and fourth episodes, with him learning that Valmont has stolen the Heart of Kandrakar and reporting this back to Phobos.
    • The Council of Kandrakar didn't appear before the second season in canon, but here they appear at the end of "Return of the Queen" midway through Season 1 to discuss the unexpected appearance of Jade's Auremere.
  • Lelouch of the Wings of Rebellion: Chinese Federation characters like Li Xingke and High Eunuch Gao Hai, who don't appear in Code Geass until the second season, are introduced in the fifth Story Arc, around the time of the first season, with the latter being the Arc Villain as the fifth Palace ruler.
  • Metal Gear: Green:
    • All Might appears during Madam President's speech after the Elemental Heroes went missing, unaware of what they did.
    • Lady Nagant appears during the Brothers Arc when she would've appeared when All for One hired her to whack Izuku in the Tartarus Escapees Arc.
    • All the UA staff show up much earlier than their respective canon counterparts.
    • David Shield shows up when Night Owl visits I-Island in the Tyrant arc.
      • His daughter shows up in a phone call on Chapter 62.
    • Hawks shows up during the Showstoppers Arc investigating the murders of HPSC reps alongside Ocelot, when he would've shown up at the Hero Billboard Arc.
    • Spinner shows up during the UA arc, when he would've shown up after the Stain Arc.
  • My Bloody Academia: In Nui's case, she originally didn't appear until halfway through Kill La Kill. Nui appears far earlier when she arrives at the USJ alongside the League of Villains. In fact, she appears in the story long before Satsuki does.
  • My Hero Academia: Unchained Predator:
    • Miruko appears in Chapter 2 when she originally appeared in the Pro Hero arc. Hawks shows up in person on Chapter 8, when his first debut is at the Hero Billboards.
    • Nine and his crew appear on I-Island instead of Heroes Rising, being in charge of the Steel Sabers, an infamous mercenary organization that killed 246 heroes.
    • Lady Nagant shows up in Chapter 12 as a vigilante when her debut was when All for One busted her out of Tartarus and hired her to hunt down and kill Izuku.
  • My Hero Playthrough: Izuku meets Tsuyu in chapter four, which takes place ten months before the UA Entrance Exam. Her siblings appear in the next chapter, while in the manga they did not appear until a bonus chapter released during the Hideout Raid arc.
  • In Neither a Bird nor a Plane, it's Deku!, several characters are introduced significantly before they are in canon.
    • While scouring newspapers in his middle school library for any signs of surviving Kryptonians, Izuku has to come up with an excuse as to why he has headphones on. He ends up quickly punching his YouTube app and bringing up the first video on the list, which happens to be a clip by Gentle and La Brava, who Izuku doesn't hear about until his first fall semester in the original manga.
    • Izuku meets Momo Yaoyorozu while looking for a place to eat in Nagoya. After helping her retrieve her phone from a storm drain, they strike up conversation over lunch and end up discovering that they both admire Princess Shazam, becoming fast friends and study partners in preparation for the U.A. Entrance Exam.
    • While attending the U.A. Culture Festival with his parents, Izuku runs into Kendo Rappa, a member of the yakuza and the Eight Precepts of Death under Kai Chisaki, who doesn't appear until the raid on Chisaki's hideout.
    • Itsuka Kendou ends up knocking a robot that would have plowed into Izuku while he was busy thinking and muttering in the middle of the U.A. Entrance Exam's practical portion, becoming a close friend of his afterward. In canon, the two don't meet until the Sports Festival.
  • Of Gemstones and Watches has notable uses of this trope.
    • Echo Echo, Spidermonkey, Astrodactyl, Water Hazard and Eatle all appear earlier than they did in Ben 10 canon.
    • Michelle Morningstar appears during Chapter 8.
    • Clancy appears during Chapter 4.
    • Driba appears at the Rushmore base before Max fires him for both screwing up the base's defenses and letting Ben and Ruby sneak away from him.
    • Verdona appears during Chapter 12.
    • Several aliens, like Rath, Clockwork, Big Chill, etc, appear in Chapter 14 as either one of Ben 10k's transformations or as part of one of Animo 10k's creations.
    • Psyphon appears here when he didn't appear at all in the canon original series.
    • Sunny and Deefus appear in Chapter 15.
    • The Saturdays appear in Chapter 17.
    • The bounty hunters after Kevin in Chapter 18 are led by Khyber, and it's implied that two of them that blew themselves up were the Vreedle Brothers.
    • Alien X appears in Chapter 20.
    • Raven appears before a 12-year old Ben, who was camping with Ruby, apparently testing him for some reason.
    • Kwarrel was recruited by the Plumbers out of prison, allowing him to meet Kevin in the late summer to early fall period after the main series road trip.
    • Rook appears in Chapter 27.
    • Fistrik appears in chapter 29, along with Servantis.
  • Pokémon Crossing: Lechonk (a Pokémon from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet) cameod in the Hoenn region before Scarlet and Violet released.
  • Because Remnant Inferis: DOOM begins both before and during the events of Volume 1, many characters from RWBY that first appeared in later Volumes make earlier appearances here. The same is said for the characters from Doom Eternal, as this is set immediately after the events of Doom (2016).
    • Ironwood appears in Chapter 2 before his Vol. 2 debut alongside Winter, who's first appearance here takes place before her Volume 3 appearance.
    • Deag Grav makes his debut in Chapter 5 while his first appearance was late in DOOM Eternal. This also predates his canonical appearance since the chapter was made well before even DOOM Eternal's previews came out.
    • Jacques first appears in this story around the beginning of the events of where Volume 2 would occur. He canonically first appeared at the end of Volume 3.
    • The Marauder first appears in Chapter 22 both before when he'd originally show up in the game and before the game itself was even released.
  • The renegade hero!!!....Invader Zim?: Zim ends up so determined to prove to himself that he is in fact evil (and not the hero that the rest of the universe mistakenly believes him to be) that he ends up creating Minimoose to use as an ultimate weapon a full season before he would have in canon.
  • RWBY: Epic of Remnant: The story starts in Fate/Grand Order's Babylonia chapter, but Gudako has Ivan the Terrible and Abigail Williams as Servants. They don't get met until much later in the game.
  • Total Loud Island: Dawn, who canonically debuted in the show's fourth season, is part of the original cast here in order to balance out the genders with Lincoln's addition.
  • Turnabout Storm:
    • The fan novelization has a cameo from Flash Sentry in chapter 52. Keep in mind that Twilight doesn't even have her wings yet, so this is happening way before he is canonically introduced. The author has confirmed Flash is in the story as a nod to the movie. Shining Armour also counts, since he is introduced in the season 2 finale, and the story takes place before that point.
    • Chapter 54 has a cameo from Sunset Shimmer in a flashback. This was actually suggested by the author of the original.
  • Universe Falls: The Arc 1 finale "Magic and Mystery" ends with a Cryptic Conversation between Bill Cipher (who didn't appear in Gravity Falls until "Dreamscaperers") and Yellow Diamond (who didn't appear in Steven Universe until "Message Received").
  • Yugioh EQG: It is stated in-universe that Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon were, respectively, the first Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz monsters ever created. This is not the case in either the real world or the Yugioh anime the cards appear in.

    Animorphs 
  • All Assorted Animorphs AUs: "What if James, not David, became the seventh Animorph?" introduces James during the events of book 20, while he first appeared in book 50 in canon.
  • In Dæmorphing, Loren shows up shortly after the events of book 15 (a whole 34 books before she appeared in the main series in canon), Mr. Tidwell and Illim appear during the brief adaptation of #27 (two books earlier), and the Taxxon Rebellion in the loose adaptation of #51 (two books earlier in the main series).

    Bleach 
  • In Project Tatterdemalion, a Bleach AU in which Hollows are the result of The Virus and shinigami those of its vaccine, a pre-Hollow Nel gets a brief cameo as a coworker of Ichigo's parents who was infected- well before the introduction of Arrancar, or indeed any version of the events of Bleach canon.
  • Vow of the King:
    • Mayuri, Nemu, and Yoruichi all appear in the first chapter, a full season sooner than canon.
    • Candice Catnipp and Bambietta Basterbine officially debut at the start of the Soul Society arc (though there's hints of their arrival in earlier chapters), whereas they didn't appear until the final arc of the manga.

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer 
  • Btvs: Seasons Rewrite:
    • In the original canon, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce didn't appear until the events of "Bad Girls," the thirteenth episode of Season 3. Here, he appears much earlier during "Myhnegon," an adaptation of the seventh episode "Revelations."
    • Allen Francis Doyle didn't appear in the Buffyverse until "City of", the pilot episode of Angel Season 1. Here, he debuts alongside Wesley in "Myhnegon."
    • Inverted with Anya. In canon, she appeared in "The Wish," the ninth episode of Season 3. Here, she doesn't appear until the second chapter of the Season 4 rewrite.

    Charmed 
  • In the Charmed fic "Charmed Alternate", Piper meets Paige just after Grams' funeral a few months before the pilot episode, with Paige becoming Piper's best friend before they become witches. She is present in the house when Phoebe casts the spell to summon their powers, but even after meeting Melinda Warren, none of the four are aware that Paige is an actual relative and assume that she is another witch raised without knowledge of her powers whose magic was activated with the Halliwells' by chance.

    Code Geass 
  • In Of Monsters and Men, Rolo appears early on in the story instead of only first being introduced during R2.

    Date A Live 
  • Date A Live: Altered Timeline: Several characters make an earlier first appearance than in canon:
    • Mana Takamiya appears as the little sister that wakes up Shinji Takamiya (renamed from Shido Itsuka in canon).
    • Yoshino, Natsumi, and Mukuro appear as classmates of Mana and Kotori's school, Keisei Junior High.
    • Miku debuts here with Kurumi and Nia as her classmates.
    • Kaguya and Yuzuru are introduced as being part of Shido's school at the start.
    • Ellen appears as a DEM mole in Shido's school.
    • Isaac Wescott also makes a direct appearance in chapter 2 instead of the Yamai Arc.
  • Date A Re:Live: Several characters made earlier first appearances than in canon:
    • Mana Takamiya appeared in the first chapter instead of making her debut during Yoshino's arc.
    • Instead of making their debut in the Yamai arc, Isaac Westcott, Ellen Mathers, and their organization make their first appearance during the first arc where they replace the AST as Tohka's aggressors. Jessica Bailey also debuts in Chapter 5 instead of Miku's arc.

    DC Universe 

Arrowverse

  • In the The Flash (2014) fic "Containment" and its sequels, Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein exist in their proper 'merged' state as Firestorm from the moment they regain consciousness, Ronnie in control while able to communicate with Stein, with the result that Firestorm becomes Central City's first superhero and is able to give Barry some advice when he regains consciousness.
  • To Hell and Back (Arrowverse):
    • Ra's al Ghul, as he plays a major part in the backstory of all three leads. His daughter Nyssa is a lesser examplenote  for the same reason.
    • Ralph Dibny appears much earlier than he does in canon, thanks to a What If?; as Barry never joined the CCPD as a CSI in this timeline, Ralph was never caught tampering with evidence and thus was never fired. This same nail also presumably prevented his death during the Particle Accelerator Explosion, which was reversed by Flashpoint in canon.
    • Samantha Arias and Ruby Arias appear early on as well, and even meet Kara earlier, thanks to Ruby being enrolled in the same class as Kal-El at Balliol Prep. Sam and Kara even become best friends.
    • Maseo Yamashiro starts making appearances once Slade re-enters the story, as he still a member of A.R.G.U.S. in this timeline thanks to another nail.
  • Vigilantes' Dawn:
    • Sara, technically. Sara did not make an in-person appearance (beyond flashbacks) until Season Two. However, since it was Laurel that went on the Gambit, she's present from the beginning.
    • Nyssa also makes an early appearance, due to Laurel exposing her survival earlier than Sara did with hers in canon.

Batman

  • Batman Revisited: A few characters, owing to this being an Ultimate Universe for the Batman Mythos.
    • Cassandra Cain shows up at the end of the first chapter, which is set not long after Dick Grayson became Nightwing (Which happened a good 15 years before she showed up in real life.)
    • Renee Montoya is here despite similarly not debuting till much later; she's also already The Question, when that took 15 years to happen after her debut.

Other

  • In Crisis on Infinite Earths: The Brave New World, as Barry, Kara, Sara and J'onn learn more about their new merged timeline, they learn that Oliver and Sara met Barry and Kara at the same time before either of them assumed their costumed identities, the two meeting while Barry was on the train to Starling City to investigate the theft at Queen Consolidated and Kara keeping an eye on things in case of a superhuman threat she could help with.

    Destiny 
  • TITANOMACH features a fair amount of them, by virtue of being a highly Alternate Universe take on Destiny:
    • The Ghosts show up soon after the Traveler's arrival over Mars instead of being created at the end of the Collapse.
    • The Eliksni House of Light shows up in Triumvirate's second interlude... or more specifically, its Kell, Mithrax. This is by virtue of the Eliksni also having Guardians of their own from the get-go - they are all implied to be a part of the House of Light.

    Dexter 
  • Our time to endure basically does this for most of Dexter and Debra's associates; after Harry dies when they're teenagers, they're sent to separate foster homes, resulting in them meeting the likes of Doakes and Quinn as teens rather than when they're all adults, while Doctor Evelyn Vogel makes contact with Dexter to try and help him on her own.

    Discworld 

    Dragon Ball 
  • The Warrior's Daughter: In Dragon Ball canon, Bulla is born at Age 780 and shows up in the epilogue of the original series. Here, she is born at Age 766 and shows up at the beginning of the Android Arc.

    Encanto 
  • In Encanto Mirabel doesn't meet Bruno until a day after Antonio's gift ceremony. In The Mouse in the Walls she finds out about him weeks before then.

    Fire Emblem 

Fire Emblem Fates

  • A Brighter Dark: Azama shows up just after the events of the game's Chapter 5, Laslow and Peri show up during the game's Chapter 6, and Selena, Beruka, and Gunter fully join the party far earlier than in canon, with Gunter avoiding his original Disney Death.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

  • Monica returns to the Black Eagles shortly after Byleth arrives at Garreg Mach in A Chance for a New Dawn, as a result of Bernadetta going to the Golden Deer house. The reason for her disappearance the previous year is also explained as her being away dealing with family business, instead of being kidnapped.

    Harry Potter 
  • Harry Potter and the Boiling Isles:
    • Raine Whispers makes their first appearance during Chapter 11, set during the events of "Covention", well before their first canonical appearance, which was a brief non-speaking role in "Hunting Palismen".
    • Darius and Eberwolf show up in the equivalent of "Hooty's Moving Hassle", where in canon their first appearance was over a season later in "Eda's Requiem".
    • Harry meets Viney during the equivalent of "Something Ventured, Someone Framed", which is several episodes before her canonical introduction in "The First Day".
    • Dell crosses paths with the kids in the equivalent of "Escape of the Palisman", a full season before his first flashback appearance in "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door" and first present-day appearance in "Elsewhere and Elsewhen". The same chapter also features an appearance by Flapjack, likewise appearing nearly a full season before his first appearance in "Hunting Palismen".
    • There are three examples of this in the equivalent of "Sense and Insensitivity". Emperor Belos and Hunter both appear half a season before their respective debut and silent cameos in the Season 1 finale episodes, and Hunter's proper debut in "Separate Tides". Vitimir also appears, while his first appearance in the form of a non-speaking role happened a season later in "Hunting Palismen".

    High School DxD 
  • Marriage of Heaven and Hell:
    • Kalawarner, Dohnaseek, and Mittelt all appear before Raynare this time around. This leads to Kalawarner dying much earlier.
    • Diodora Astaroth appears at in the first chapter of Volume 2 instead of Volume 5 and is revealed to be working for Halja.
    • Suzaku Himejima appears in Volume 2, whereas she appears much later in the Light Novel.
  • The Roots Of Hope:
    • Rossweisse and Odin appear in the first chapter, well before their canonical debut in Volume 5/Season 3.
    • The Grim Reaper Bennia didn't appear until Volume 14 as Sona's newest Knight. Here she appears during the fic's second volume, months before. Consequently this also means she's a case of Adaptation Species Change as she has yet to be reincarnated as a Devil.
    • Suzaku Himejima, Akeno's cousin, appears during the events of Kyoto instead of Volume 24 in canon.

    Honkai Impact 3rd 
  • In Snippets of Sirin Shariac's life, with Schicksal and Anti-Entropy having a better working relationship, World Serpent becomes their target and is forced to become active much sooner than in canon, where they waited until after the Herrscher of Void-incident. The Breakout arc is directly stated to be set a year before the game's events.

    Jackie Chan Adventures 
  • In The Ultimate Evil and its sequel, The Stronger Evil, several villains appear earlier than in the fic's source materials.
    • Daolon Wong first appeared in one of the second season's filler episodes that took place after the Demon World duology. In The Ultimate Evil, he makes a cameo appearance during the Demon World section.
    • Drago and the Ice Crew first appeared in two filler episodes of the fourth season when Tarakudo's Oni Mask arc was still unfinished. In The Stronger Evil, Drago and the Ice Crew appear before Tarakudo does, and the fifth season's Demon Chi arc starts before the Oni Mask arc. The latter commences only when Drago instead of Daolon Wong unwittingly brings Tarakudo on the board.

    Marvel Universe 
  • Sixes and Sevens:
    • Sue Storm is working as a maid at the Kensington hotel in 1947, both discovering the wounded Thompson and meeting Peggy Carter afterwards. This is long before her usual appearance, where she and the rest of the Fantastic Four are contemporaries of standard Avengers like Iron Man and company.
    • In the comics, Swarm wasn't created until after Fritz von Meyer fled to Argentina after World War II. Here, von Meyer is consumed by his bees during the height of the war, and has reformed a few years later while the war is still ongoing.
    • Illa the Living Moon appears in the 1920s, whereas she didn't appear in the comics until 2017. Since she's one of Ego's children, this also prompts a cameo from him around the same time, about sixty years before Yondu kidnapped Peter Quill.
    • May Reilly, the future Aunt May from Spider-Man, is one of Sue's co-workers at the Kensington Hotel in 1947.

    Miraculous Ladybug 
  • Alya and the Harem Reality has among the mentioned Akumas that Ladybug, Rena Rouge, and Queen Bee have fought being Weredad and Psychomedian, the former even getting some details about the fight explained. In the show Weredad first appeared in the third season and Psychomedian season four, while the point of time the story is set is the early second season.
  • Cheshire (Miraculous Ladybug):
    • Mayura appears much earlier than in canon, during the Rogercop incident due Hawkmoth's fixing the Peacock Miraculous with the help of Marinette's translation of the Grimoire.
    • Due to King Monkey's Uproar messing with Kaalki's power, Cheshire obtains the Eagle Miraculous, meeting Lirii and also meeting the United Heroes.
    • Cheshire meets Luka after the Pixalator incident.
  • Crimson and Noire:
    • Kagami (who in canon appeared in season 2) appears in chapter 24, before the equivalent events of the season 1 penultimate episode "Volpina" and the season 2 premiere "The Collector".
    • Zoe, Chloe's half-sister who debuted in season 4, arrives in Paris during chapter 40, which follows the events of Gorizilla's debut.
    • Luka (who appeared in season 2) appears in chapter 21, before equivalent events of season 2 take place.
  • Scarlet Lady: In canon, Marianne Lenore only makes her debut in Season 3 episode Backwarder. In this fic, she appears at the end of "Mr. Pigeon".

    My Hero Academia 
  • Crimson and Emerald:
    • Mandalay was contacted by Toshinori to help them investigate the Vestiges in One for All through her telepathy.
    • Camie and Inasa come a lot earlier in attempt to get Shiketsu's most famous alumni, Hawks, to hook up his fellow Shiketsu students with interns.
  • The Gunslinger Hero: Flintlock: Several characters make early appearances in the context of the canon timeline of events as a result of Izumi's actions and presence:
    • Himiko Toga and Jin Bubaigawara are living with Izumi at the start of the story, having been adopted into the family. This came to be after Izumi saved the two from human traffickers at the age of nineteen before bringing them into her home.
    • Melissa appears after the events of the USJ Attack, where it is revealed that she was keeping track of Izumi's vitals, and was notified by her computer that she had supposedly flatlined during the USJ Attack.
    • Izumi encounters Eri way earlier than she would in canon, meeting her almost immediately after the USJ.
    • Lady Nagant shows up after the USJ, is married to Snipe, and helps Izumi babysit her class while she recovers.
  • For the Want of a Nail Series:
    • Mastermind: Strategist for Hire:
      • Giran is introduced following Izuku in Chapter 3, long before his canonical appearance.
      • Giran introduces Izuku to Himiko Toga in Chapter 5, before her canonical introduction among several other new recruits of the League.
      • Izuku first learns of La Brava after Giran recommends her to him in Chapter 10, whilst in canon she isn't introduced until the Culture Festival Arc.
      • Giran introduces Izuku to the League of Villains as they are planning their attack on the USJ, whilst in canon they make their first appearance at said attack.
      • Chitose Kizuki (aka Curious of the Meta Liberation Army) is introduced just before the UA sports festival working on the Mastermind story while she wasn't intoduced until the League of Villains arc.
    • Deku? I think he's some pro...:
      • Ms. Joke, Brave, Tsukauchi, Sir Nighteye, and Eraserhead are all introduced before Izuku even enters U.A.
      • Izuku meets Momo, Shoto, Tenya and Inasa at the entrance exam for recommendation students.
    • Viridian: The Green Guide:
      • Amplifier first appears during Izuku's first night as a vigilante, whilst in canon she didn't appear until My Hero Academia: Two Heroes.
      • Kaminari first appears working at a hardware store whilst Izuku is shopping for weapons, whilst in canon he doesn't appear until Izuku enters U.A.
    • Cheat Code: Support Strategist: Originally, Mei didn't get introduced to the series until the Sports Festival Arc, and Power Loader first appeared during the Final Exams Arc. Here, Izuku meets Mei during the Support Course Entrance Exam, along with Power Loader.
    • Shadows: The Horror Movie Heroes: Shinsou is introduced while being beaten up for having a 'villainous' Quirk in the first chapter, whereas in canon he first appears during the Sports Festival.
  • In Leviathan, Mirio Togata, who canonically doesn't appear until much later in canon, steps in to stop a conflict between Bit and a random stranger after Bit's attempts to test his lightsaber ended up burning the man's hair off. Mirio had watched the Entrance Exam and congratulates Izuku for his performance during it.
  • Maelstrom:
    • Izuku first meets Eraserhead at 13 years old, three years before his canonical introduction as the teacher of Class 1-A.
    • Tensei (referred to as Ingenium) first turns up when Izuku takes his Hero license exam, where in canon he was first introduced in the Hero Killer Arc.
  • One for All and Eight for the Ninth:
    • The first seven One For All holders, minus Second and Third who ignore Izuku, all make appearances in the first chapter. The Second and Third show up in the following chapter.
    • All the girls of the canon Class 1-B along with Tetsutetsu appear in chapter three due to the reworked classes.
    • Izuku's Gamma Suit, with the compression sleeves for arms and legs and reinforced boots and gauntlets, appears shortly before the USJ incident.
    • The Hosu Nomu are instead brought to the USJ by Shigaraki.
    • David Shield makes an appearance after the USJ Incident when All Might calls him for advice on how to be a father to Izuku.
    • Melissa Shield appears in chapter 11 during a video call with All Might and Izuku.
  • Rise of the Last Villain:
    • Stain appears the day of All Might's offer, offering to teach Izuku how to fight, whereas in canon he appears during the Internship Arc.
    • Tomura Shigaraki and the League of Villains appear during the time between the Sludge Villain incident and the UA entrance exams, whereas in canon they debut during the USJ attack.
    • A minor example, but Hawks shows up during the Kamino battle as part of the team that kills All for One, whereas in canon he doesn't show up until the Hero Billboard Chart event.
  • Time Again Series: Bakugo meets Shinso at a gym before they go to UA, while Shinso is not introduced until the Sports' Festival in canon.
  • With Confidence: Mina appears before the UA Entrance Exams and Izuku overhearing her inspires him to go to an arcade to practice dancing to improve his footwork.

    My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 
  • In the audio version of Daughter of Discord (the second story in the Bride of Discord verse) has both Twilight's daughter Twinkle and Rarity's youngest daughter Jewel, among the children she's telling the story to in the Nested Story Reveal, despite the fact that those two didn't appear in the fan fics until Son-In-Law of Discord and CMC: The Next Generation respectively. This was done in part to fulfill the wish of Make-A-Wish kid pokeyinmypocket, who voiced both characters.
  • The Differentverse: Several characters (and one concept) appear earlier than in canon.
    • Cadance gets namedropped in the first chapter, and makes a full appearance in chapter 5. This is in stark contrast to canon, where she wasn't even hinted at until the end of season 2.
    • Shining Armor gets namedropped in chapter 2 (again, in stark contrast to canon, where he wasn't even mentioned until the end of season 2).
    • Pinkie Promises make their first appearance in chapter 2, as opposed to the last third of season 1 as in canon.
    • Cranky Doodle Donkey, who debuted in season 2 of canon, gets namedropped (as "Cranky") during the trip through the Everfree.
  • A Diplomatic Visit:
    • The series begins and largely takes place during season 4, but Scootaloo's aunts Holiday and Lofty, and Rainbow Dash's parents Windy Whistles and Bow Hot Hoof, are featured in chapter 3 of the sequel; their first show appearances weren't until seasons 9 and 7, respectively.
    • After being teased in the first story, the locales of Mount Aris and Seaquestria are featured in chapter 3 of the second. There, Twilight and Spike meet Queen Novo, her daughter Princess Skystar, her sister Ocean Flow, her niece and nephew Silverstream and Terramar, and the siblings' father Sky Beak. General Seaspray is also referenced, though not seen in person.
    • Aside from Silverstream, her classmate Ocellus also makes an early appearance, and a small yak matching Yona's description appears in chapter 12.
    • The real Grogar is mentioned late in the first story and actually appears in the second, albeit still sealed away. This is long before he was mentioned in season 7 of canon, as a character in a storybook.
    • Smolder (unnamed at the time, but later confirmed to be her) appears in chapter 1 of Diplomacy Through Schooling, Neighsay debuts in chapter 4 (which is taking place around the time season 5 starts), and Gallus and Sandbar debut in chapter 7. Sunburst also appears in the flesh in chapter 7, soon after the events of "The Cutie Map".
  • A Moon and World Apart: The story starts at about the same time as the series, but some characters from later on appear much earlier.
    • Sunset Shimmer is one of the main characters from the beginning, rather than only being introduced after the events of season 3.
    • Blueblood (first referenced in episode 3 and debuting in episode 26), Cadance, Shining Armor (the latter 2 introduced in season 2's finale), Twilight's mom (cameoing very late in season 1 via flashback) and Neighsay (as a Director rather than a Chancellor, but still the same character who debuted in season 8) all appear before Celestia sends her student to Ponyville.
    • Chapter 5 establishes that the Cutie Mark Crusaders have already come together as a group, instead of about halfway through the first season.
    • Sunset Shimmer is shown to have adopted her leopard gecko Ray while she's still living in Canterlot, years before his debut at approximately the same time as season seven.
    • Chapter 10 introduces Sassy Saddles, years before her canon debut in season 5.
    • Chapter 11 includes a discussion on Zecora, who debuted in episode 9, and makes a description-only mention of Zesty Gourmand, who debuted in season 6.
    • Chapter 14 introduces Braeburn, whose canon debut was late in season 1.
    • Chapter 20 introduces Lightning Dust and Rolling Thunder, long before their canon debuts in seasons 3 and 9.
  • The Quiververse, due to it being an AU, has had the odd event from later seasons happening much earlier due to the experiences of the characters within. The events of 'Amending Fences' have been stated to occur much sooner than before, for example, and the characters presented therein thus play roles in the plot much sooner than they did in canon.
  • Runaway Crusaders: has a cameo from Applejack's parents in a dream of hers. The fanfic is a sequel to the season 2 episode "Ponyville Confidential" whereas Bright Mac and Pear Butter debuted in a episode of season 7.

    Naruto 
  • Son of the Sannin:
    • Several characters who weren't introduced until Part II appeared during the timeframe of Part I or before, either in major or minor roles. Among them: Danzo, Karin, Fu, A, Killer B, Karui and Yamato.
    • Zabuza Momochi (with Haku in tow) first appears as a mercenary hired during the Uchiha insurrection, which takes place long before Naruto has graduated the Academy.
    • Sai is a borderline example, as he appears during the period between Part I and Part II instead of Part II proper.
    • Mei Terumi and Chojuro both appear long before the Kage Summit arc.
    • Hamura Otsutsuki himself, of all people, appears before Hinata at the end of Chapter 56.
    • Samui and Atsui appear shortly after Naruto and company defeat Hidan and Kakuzu, while in canon they weren't introduced until Pain's assault on Konoha.
    • The members of Akatsuki have a brief appearance much earlier than in canon, while the story is still covering the years before the timeframe of Part I. But as early as Chapter 4, Toneri Otsutsuki of all people, appears briefly, as the mastermind behind the Hyuga affair, and by extension Hinata's kidnapping when she was a child.
  • True Potential:
    • In the Naruto canon, Onoki, Kurotsuchi, Han, Rōshi, Kahyō, Mei, Ao, Utakata, Suigetsu, Yagura, Gamaken, and Karin all made their debut after the Time Skip. In this fanfic, they instead do so before the time skip.
    • The Akatsuki appear much earlier due to Kakuzu being involved in Naruto's first C-Rank Mission.
    • Kido Tsumiki from Sakura Hiden: Thoughts of Love, Riding Upon a Spring Breeze, Tanuki Shigaraki, the Nue, Tagoritsuhime, Tagitsuhime, Ichikishimahime, and the White Snake Sage from the Boruto anime, Metoro and Etoro from Gaara Hiden: A Sandstorm Mirage, and En Oyashiro, Chino, Nowaki, Amuda, Karyu, and Futsu from Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise all make their debuts in the Shippūden era in True Potential rather than after it.

    Neon Genesis Evangelion 
  • Advice and Trust: Kaworu was supposed to come along after the defeat of the Sixteenth Angel. Here he arrives at NERV shortly after the defeat of the Fourteenth.
  • Doing It Right This Time: Kaworu shows up for the first time in chapter 2, shortly after Sachiel's defeat. In canon he showed up half a year later.
  • Evangelion 303: Asuka and Kaworu show up in the first scene of the first chapter. In canon they appeared in chapter 8 and chapter 24, respectively.
  • The One I Love Is...: Shinji meets Kaworu shortly after the defeat of the Thirteenth Angel. In canon, Kaworu came along after the death of the Sixteenth.
  • Read the Fine Print (Evangelion): Asuka appears after the arrival of the Fourth Angel instead of after the defeat of the Fifth.

    One Piece 
  • This Bites!:
    • Bartolomeo was present for Luffy's would-be execution in Loguetown in canon. In this fic, Cross takes the opportunity to temper his passion to be a pirate like Luffy, and suggest that he actually do it right (in canon, while he and presumably his crew had the necessary power to survive in the New World, they had very poor seafaring skills, making it an outright miracle that they made it as far as they did).
    • Characters that would only appear in future locations, like the Whitebeard Pirates, the Marine higher-ups, or the Revolutionaries appear to show current events, or as spectators to Cross's SBS Broadcast, even though the Straw Hats have yet to meet them in person. As of Chapter 30, Admiral Akainu makes an appearance, and he does not like the SBS.
    • Chapter 31 has both Doflamingo and Scratchman Apoo calling in to the SBS Broadcast.
    • By Chapter 36, due to the popularity of the SBS, it's almost easier to list the characters who haven't made an appearance yet.

    The Owl House 
  • The Light of Abyss:
    • Hunter appears at the Covention and referees Luz and Amity's duel, long before his canonical first appearance at the end of Season 1. The author justifies this by pointing out that as Belos' right hand, it doesn't make much sense to put off introducing him so long.
    • The BATTs make their debut in the equivalent of "Young Blood, Old Souls", before their canonical appearance in "Eda's Requiem", by destroying the petrification machine in an attempt to rescue Eda.
  • The Silver Raven:
    • Hunter/The Golden Guard makes his first appearance during Chapter 14, set during the events of "The First Day", well before his first canonical appearance, which was a brief cameo in "Agony of a Witch".
    • The rest of the Coven heads appear during Chapter 14, which is set in the Season 1 timeframe. In the series, they originally wouldn't appear until Season 2.

    Persona 

Crossovers

  • Hours 'Verse:
    • Minato meets Lavenza and Margaret right after the events of Persona 3. Lavenza also joins her siblings in visiting Yasogami's culture festival in Catch Perfect.
    • Futaba recovers from her change of heart and awakening much sooner and defeats Medjed earlier.
    • In canon Persona 5, you couldn't start the Tower Confidant until September. Here, Akira is already friends with Shinya in August.
    • Akechi joins the Phantom Thieves in Okumura's Palace, due to Akira confronting him about his status as a Persona-user earlier on.
  • Throw Away Your Mask:
    • Ken becomes one of Akechi's social links in May 2009; around a month earlier than his first cameo in canon, and much earlier than his rise to plot importance.
    • Theodore mentions Margaret and Lavenza to Akechi while he's living in Iwatodai. Lavenza later joins him, Elizabeth, and Akechi on a trip to the aquarium.
    • Akira lives in Inaba, and he and Akechi meet when the latter moves to investigate the serial murder case there.

Persona 4

  • In Persona 4 SILVER BLUE, this happens to a lot of characters and locations, mostly because this is a What If? fanfic where Labrys wakes up earlier than in canon and takes Yu's place as the main protagonist. She also makes a lot of choices that Yu didn't in the original story, so she ends up meeting some people and visiting some places earlier than Yu. Labrys herself could arguably count as an example too, since her first appearance in canon was after the Inaba murder cases, while here, she wakes up before the murders begin.

Persona 5

  • The Persona 5 Adult Confidant AU has the Reaper making its first appearance during Sojiro's first trip to the Metaverse, unlike in canon, where the Reaper can only appear as early as the Phantom Thieves first trip into Mementos.
  • Royalty-free Rerun:
    • Haru meets the Phantom Thieves in April, unlike in canon where she wasn't properly introduced until a few months later.
    • Sumire meets Akechi during a trip to Mementos on 4/15; in the original game, Akechi only properly met the thieves on 6/9, during their trip to the TV station.

    Pokémon 
  • In Challenger, besides Pokémon from every region showing up (Ash's third Pokémon is a Sandile), many characters appear earlier than canon as well. Giovanni appears in the second chapter, having been at the Viridian City Pokémon Center at the same time as Ash, while Silver and Luna end up traveling with Ash's students/apprentices after he takes a break from challenging Gyms to train more.
  • In The Chosen One's Journey, Steven and Cynthia appear as early as Kanto, along with Pokémon from the first five (later six) generations.
  • Pokémon Reset Bloodlines has several instances of this. Justified, since the new timeline is completely different:
    • Mimey started working for the Ketchum family some time before Ash went on his Pokémon journey.
    • Misty caught Horsea and Psyduck before she even met Ash in this timeline.
    • Serena makes a few cameo appearances during the main story while Ash is still traveling through Kanto, since they kept in touch with each other this time around.
    • Ash meets Paul in the Vermillion City Gym, far earlier than in canon.
    • Burgundy is met aboard the St. Anne this time around.
    • Iris appears in Kanto and starts travelling with Ash long before Unova.
    • Ash has captured several of his Pokémon before even leaving Kanto, including Aipom, Snivy, Goomy and Roggenrola.
  • Pokemon Secret Journeys follows the lead of other Ash Ketchum Peggy Sue stories like Ashes of the Past and the above-mentioned Reset Bloodlines by having a few characters show up in the new timeline a bit sooner than their Canon debuts:
    • Looker makes an appearance early into the Kanto arc, investigating an evil scheme of Dr Eggman's.
    • Similarly to Reset, Mimey has already been living with the Ketchum family for years before Ash started his journey.
  • Welcome To The World Of Pokemon has game mechanics that appear earlier than they do in canon. Mega Evolution, a Pokémon X and Y mechanic, appears as early as Red With Rage.

    Psychonauts 
  • Later, Traitor takes place during the events of the first game, and it contains enemies like Doubts and Regrets, which didn't appear until Psychonauts 2.

    RWBY 
  • Can One Change Fix All of RWBY?:
    • Neopolitan/Trivia, Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, and Salem's canon selves didn't appear in full until Volume 2 (the former three) and Volume 3 (Salem). In this iteration, they all appear much earlier in the timeline due to being teachers and the headmistress of Beacon Academy respectively. Cinder also obtains her Grimm left arm before the Fall of Beacon instead of after.
    • Instead of first appearing during the Mistral arc as in canon, the Lamp of Knowledge first appears during the Beacon arc. A flashback during that arc shows Cinder, Mercury and Emerald killing Amber to retrieve the Relic. In the present time frame, the Lamp makes its first appearance during the Fall of Beacon, and Jinn emerges from the Lamp for the first time just after the Fall.

  • A New World on her Shoulders: Because half the story is set in Atlas, characters from later volumes in RWBY, such as Winter, Jacques, Caroline, Ciel, and Penny appear much earlier than they did in canon and play various roles. On the Vale side, Ilia appears before her original debut in Volume 4 and Vernal appears before her Volume 5 debut as members of Yang's team.
  • A Rabbit Among Wolves: Thanks to Adam's demise, Ilia travels to Vale to act as a liaison between Jaune and Sienna Khan, thereby showing up three volumes early.
  • Ruby and Nora: Ilia and Trifa appear before the fall of Beacon, when in canon they appeared much after that event.
  • RWBY: Scars:
    • CVFY first cameo at the Beacon initiation helping with the new students. Coco and Velvet are formally introduced in the scene where Cardin bullies Velvet (which in the original RWBY was originally meant to be Cardin bullying a nameless extra before Velvet was made an Ascended Extra).
    • Neo is referenced in Volume 1.
    • Neptune is introduced alongside his Sun, not a few episodes afterwards.

    Shantae 
  • Shantae: A New Genie:
    • Harmony, a character who makes her first appearance in the fifth game in the series, Seven Sirens, appears as early as chapter 3, which covers the first game.
    • Chef Girl, now named Emma, and Wobble Bell turn up in chapter 5, which covers the events of the first game, despite not appearing until Risky's Revenge.
    • Shantae's Harpy transformation turns up in the boss fight in the Dribble Fountain when in-game, it doesn't appear until the final dungeon.

    Smallville 
  • In Smallville: New Beginnings, Clark meets Oliver early during the events of the show's first season when his use of the Legion ring sends him and Lois back further than he had anticipated; using his advance knowledge, one of Clark's first steps is to have Oliver buy up the land where the Kawatche caves were discovered, as well as help Clark collect up the kryptonite from around Smallville to eliminate it as a threat.

    Star Wars 
  • Darth Vader: Hero of Naboo:
    • Upon returning to Coruscant, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan end up meeting Dooku before he left the order, who quickly helps them in calming down the situation during Vader's faux attack on the Jedi Temple.
    • While waiting to find out the results of his meeting with the Council, Anakin meets toddler Ahsoka, who quickly latches onto him.
  • Star Wars Uncut: In this Fan Film version of A New Hope some characters who don't appear in canon until later films show up.
    • Jar-Jar Binks note  can be seen in a few scenes.
    • There are Ewoksnote  at the medal ceremony at the end.
  • Thieves Can Be Heroes!:
    • Makoto Niijima gets named and has a much more prominent role in the early parts of the story than in the original game due to being Izuku's Childhood Friend. She funnels him information and doing her best to support him when she didn't bother with the Thieves much at all until the third major target in the games.
    • In Chapter 17, Futaba Sakura, who doesn't appear until after the third major heist in the games, has a short appearance after she listens in on Izuku and his mom's reunion while lamenting that she'll never get to experience that ever again.

    Supermarioglitchy4's Super Mario 64 Bloopers 
  • Mario and The Wah-Pocalypse:
    • In this retelling of The Waluigi Arc from SMG4, SMG3 makes his debut in Chapter 17, which takes place during the events of "Waluigi's Time". In the original, he didn't appear at all until the end.
    • Axol, a character who wasn't introduced in the SMG4 universe at all until the Anime Arc, makes a cameo in Chapter 38.

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 
  • Turtle Kittens:
    • In the series, Casey Jones doesn't encounter any of the Hamato Clan until Season 2. Here, he tussles with Raphael and becomes their friend in what would have been the third episode.
    • In the series, the Turtles meet Leatherhead 12 episodes in and Spike is mutated into Slash in the second season. Here, they meet both of them before meeting the Foot Clan.
  • Underneath the Sakura Tree: While we weren't introduced to Shinigami in the series until midway through Season 4 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012), here we are introduced to her partying with Karai right before the Shredder finds out that there is presence of the Hamato Clan in New York.

    Total Drama 
  • A Codette World Tour: Staci, a contestant who canonically first appears in Total Drama's fourth season Revenge of the Island, replaces Blaineley's time as a contestant on the show's third season Total Drama World Tour.
  • Random Drama Series: Many of the Revenge of the Island and Pahkitew Island characters, as well as Alejandro, now appear earlier than they did in canon due to the cast shuffling: Alejandro, Amy, Mike, Samey, Scarlett, Shawn, Sky, Staci, Sugar, and Zoey now debut in Island while Beardo and Ella debut in ROTI.
  • Reality Collides: The Ezekiel Chronicles: The contestants of the later seasons of Total Drama would make their appearances as viewers during the interlude chapters.
  • Total Drama Action: All-In: Blaineley is introduced in this version of Action's Aftermaths as Geoff's co-host rather than debuting in World Tour.
  • Total Drama All Mixed Up: Island: Anne Maria, Beardo, Cameron, Dakota, Jasmine, Lightning, Rodney, Sam, and Sugar all debut in Island instead of their respective seasons.
  • Total Shuffled Island Series: Many of the Revenge of the Island and Pahkitew Island characters, as well as both World Tour newcomers, now appear earlier than they did in canon due to the cast shuffling: Alejandro, Sierra, B, Dakota, Dawn, Jo, Lightning, Sam, Scott, Staci, Amy, Beardo, Samey, Scarlett, Shawn, Sugar and Topher now debut in Island, Ella debuts in World Tour, and Jasmine and Leonard debut in ROTI.

    The Walking Dead (Telltale Games) 
  • Old Scars: The Cabin survivors are introduced to Clementine shortly after the events of Season 1, instead of being introduced after Clementine travels with Christa for a year and a half.

    Xenoblade Chronicles 
  • Where We Don't Belong: On account of the Ouroboros waking up in very different locations across their respective worlds, this was bound to happen:
    • Both Egil and Vanea appear within the first few chapters due to Lanz waking up in Agniratha.
    • Due to Sena waking up near Garfont Village, we meet Vandham and his mercenaries before Rex and his group make it to Uraya.
    • Alvis appears in Chapter 4 during the attack on Colony 9 to stop Noah from interfering.
    • Eunie encounters Gael'gar, whose only appearances are in the Future Connected epilogue, in Chapter 6.
    • Similar to Gael'gar, Maxis, who also only appeared in Future Connected, is introduced in Chapter 9, set around the same time as the Colony 6 incident.
    • Chapter 15 has the Bionis group encountering Fogbeasts while on their way to Makna Forest.

    Yu-Gi-Oh! 
  • The Domino City Effect:
    • Rebecca Hawkins appears in Duelist Kingdom as a contestant, as opposed to appearing after Yugi won the tournament and challenging him to duel.
    • Vivian Wong also appears in Duelist Kingdom instead of in the KC Grand Prix.
    • Fonda Fontaine, the nurse from Yu-Gi-Oh GX, appears about ten years earlier than her canon counterpart as an Eliminator working for Pegasus.

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