Fanfic / Total Drama Ocean

Total Drama Ocean is a Total Drama competition fic written by scubadivingmaui7. It is a fanmade fifth season with an aquatic theme.

After the latest between-season special of Total Drama, Chris and Chef have taken 25 (later 26) of the contestants from the previous four seasons, as well as 1 brand new competitor named Nathaniel (who ended up on the show by accident), and brought them all aboard a shoddy pirate ship they fished out from the depths in order to take the cast across the Seven Seas and have them participate in nautical-themed challenges. With the prize being raised to a whopping FIVE MILLION dollars, the drama to be had out at sea will be like nothing on land, with brand-new friendships and romances, intensified rivalries, many unexpected twists and turns along the way, and Chris' immorality reaching lower standards than ever thanks to the show now being filmed on international waters.

The author managed to write out the pre-season special and three full episodes, but after that the fic stopped being updated due to the author losing interest in the Total Drama series. However, they did post a series of synopses covering the story, challenges, and elimination order for the remaining 27 episodes that had been planned, and what we've been given is quite intriguing.

You can read it here.

Participating in this season are:

• Raging Starfish: Alejandro, Cody, Geoff, Heather, Izzy, Katie, Leshawna, Mike, Noah, Scott, Sierra, Trent, Zoey, Eva
• Bloodthirsty Sea Anemones: B, Brick, Bridgette, Cameron, Dakota(zoid), Dawn, Gwen, Harold, Lindsay, Nathaniel, Owen, Staci, Tyler

Tropes that apply to this fanfic:

• Arch-Enemy: The author describes Nathaniel as "Chris' Worst Nightmare", as he is the only contestant to actively oppose Chris' sadism rather than just grudgingly put up with it. And the feeling is mutual, as Chris hates him the most out of all the contestants for standing up to him and objecting to his cruelty.
• Ascended Extra: Many of the series' more under-utilized characters receive large amounts of focus for the season, especially Bridgette, Tyler, Dawn, Eva, Katie, Geoff, and B.
• Author Appeal: The ocean theme derives from the author's own passion for marine biology, surfing, and scuba diving.
• Big Bad: Scott for the first half of the season and then Eva in the second half.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Scott's strategy for the season. After realizing his Team Killer idea last season was poorly thought out and would have ultimately screwed him over in the end, he's decided to pretend he's reformed in order to secretly get as many of the finalists of previous seasons out as soon as possible.
• The Bully: Eva relentlessly picks on Bridgette (for "backstabbing" her back in the first season) and Tyler (for being a terrible athlete) once she enters the game.
• Butt-Monkey: Chris is far less of a Karma Houdini this time, and frequently gets harmed and humiliated throughout the season. In particular, he's now Fang's new favourite target.
• The Cameo: Many episodes give a cameo to one of the season's non-participating contestants.
• Captain Colorbeard: The pirate Deathbeard is referenced throughout the season, with his ship being the very one the contestants are on and his treasure being a recurring plot point.
• Cast Herd: Enforced. Scott's schemes result in two inter-team mega-alliances being formed - one made of the ROTI cast and one made of most of the OG cast - and going at war with each other.
• Cerebus Syndrome: After episode 15, things starts to pick up in terms of seriousness. Among other things, Mike starts becoming Mal, Eva's competitive nature and rivalry with Bridgette and Tyler increase the stakes, and Chris starts upping the drama even further when Blaineley manages to get him demoted from the host to a contestant.
• Covert Pervert: B shows signs of this, such as crafting a sail in the form of Dakota's gigantic panties.
• Cute Monster Girl: Taco the mermaid. In fact, Chris says that even though she's a mythical creature she's much too sweet and peppy to truly be considered a monster.
• Demoted to Extra: Many of the series' biggest Spotlight-Stealing Squad members are hit by this. Owen, Heather, Gwen, and Cameron are among the first eliminated in the competition, while Duncan and Courtney do not even participate in the season. Justified in-universe by Scott deliberately targeting them for elimination due to their ability to stay in the competition for long periods being seen as a threat by him.
  • Subverted in Alejandro's case: Scott initially tries to get him out early for the same reason, but his depression from being in the Drama Machine allows Scott to use him as his subordinate. The second he gets out however, Scott turns on him due to his confidence rising to the point he would be a threat again.
• Disappeared Dad: The reason why Trent is depressed during the first half of the season is because his father died before the reunion in Hawaii.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Katie goes through some of this thanks to being on the season without Sadie, although she still considers Sadie her BFFFL above all else and struggles to cope without her.
• Friend to All Living Things: Dawn, like in canon. Thanks to her animal communication powers and the fact that marine life features prominently throughout the season, she has many opportunities to befriend sea creatures and help her team win challenges as a result.
• From Bad to Worse: Thanks to her alliances with Scott and Chris, Eva goes from being a physical powerhouse capable of plowing through challenges with ease to being one who is also capable of manipulation and strategy.
• The Generic Guy: Nathaniel. Chris even lampshades this, complaining that he isn't interesting enough to be on reality TV.
• Giant Squid: No surprise that the season features appearances from them a few times. Dakotazoid fights one in episode 14!
• Heel–Face Turn: Scott, thanks to his friendship with Katie and some kind words from Dawn, grows from being even more bitter and nasty than he was last season (due to the trauma chair incident) to becoming a genuinely nice person.
• Heroic BSoD: Tyler gradually experiences one in the season as he comes to face the fact that he isn't actually any good at sports.
• Heroic Sacrifice: To prevent Dawn's elimination at Eva's hands, Nathaniel volunteers to take her place. Chris, who's been antagonized by Nathaniel all season, is more than happy to allow it.
• Hidden Depths: Staci, Eva, Noah, and a few other characters are given these by the season. Even Fang!
• Humiliation Conga: The whole season ends up being one for Chris, thanks to Nathaniel, Fang, and Blaineley. And to top it off, he gets arrested again at the end of the season.
• Interspecies Romance: Noah develops a relationship with a mermaid named Taco.
• Ironic Name: The pirate ship the contestants are sailing on for the season? The Jumbo Shrimp.
• Killer Rabbit: There's a minor Running Gag of packs of sea otters viciously attacking characters.
• The Leader: Scott for the ROTI contestants and Leshawna for the original cast of competitors during the "cast war" story arc.
• Lethally Stupid: Owen is this towards Nathaniel in his attempts to befriend him. While Nathaniel has no dislike for Owen and his intentions, he fears he would be better off without the big guy's presence.
• Misplaced Retribution:
  • Dawn helps Fang realize that his vendetta against Scott is this, and she points that he should really be angry at Chris for dumping the toxic waste that transformed him into a monster.
  • Tyler blames Dawn for getting Lindsay injured and voted off when it was actually the result of Mal's sabotage, causing a one-sided rivalry that prevents him from accepting her help against Eva.
  • Eva is STILL gunning after Bridgette for getting her voted off back at the beginning of Season 1, despite all of it being Heather's fault. Bridgette even lampshades how increasingly petty the grudge is becoming in a confessional.
• Morality Pet: Cameron is this to Scott, as he is grateful for how Cameron sharing the prize money with everyone last season allowed him to get out of the trauma chair and replace the body parts he lost to Fang. Katie later develops into this as Scott starts to see her less as a pawn to manipulate and more of a genuine friend.
• Naïve Newcomer: Nathaniel has never watched Total Drama prior to being cast for the season. As a result, he is legitimately horrified and angered by Chris' sociopathic behaviour and the tortuous challenges whereas the veteran contestants simply shrug at it and accept the misery.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Geoff and Bridgette are placed on separate teams, Trent worries that they'll break up like he and Gwen did in Action and tries to keep them together by any means. Instead, his actions almost cause them to actually break up. Thankfully, he patches things up between them and admits to the pair that everything was his fault.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Geoff and Noah form one over the course of the season.
  • Staci develops one with Gwen and Bridgette early on.
  • Due to the giant Sadie-shaped hole in her heart, Katie turns to Scott as a substitute. Initially, the friendship is one-sided, with Scott manipulating Katie's dependency for a friend to use her as a pawn, but he ultimately warms up to her.
• Oh, Crap!: Bridgette has a panic attack after Geoff is eliminated because she's scared she'll end up cheating on him again as a result of being separated on the competition, just like in World Tour. Fortunately, Nathaniel manages to calm her down and assure her she'll be fine.
• One-Man Army: Even after being reduced to a team of one in the last few episodes, Eva STILL manages to win challenges against the team of Bridgette, Tyler, Dawn, and Nathaniel.
• Only Sane Man: Nathaniel is the only contestant who is willing to do anything about Chris' immoral and life-threatening challenges rather than just accept it as a part of being on the show. He also tries to keep things cool and easy amongst the other contestants.
• Opposites Attract: Mellow, easygoing, down-to-earth Trent ends up in a relationship with the hyperactive, excitable, and outright insane Izzy.
• Our Mermaids Are Different: Noah has a subplot of him repeatedly sighting a mermaid when all by himself. Her name is Taco (she says it's Mermish for "jewel") and she develops a relationship with Noah, who she is the polar opposite of in personality.
• Relationship Upgrade: Cody and Sierra officially hook up early on, thanks to her toning down her obsession and Cody getting over his crush on Gwen.
• Revenge Fic: Has elements of this directed against Chris McLean. The author says that they've never liked how infrequent Chris' karma is and how he always gets his way, hence making him a massive Butt-Monkey for the season. They even describe Fang's recurring attacks on him as "glorious".
• Running Gag:
  • Chris being attacked by Fang.
  • Trent's guitar almost being destroyed.
  • Izzy's quest for a boyfriend.
  • The ship accidentally getting sunk.
  • Random characters being attacked by marine life, notably sea otters.
• Shamu Fu: Instead of receiving marshmallows, safe contestants get slapped by fish in the elimination ceremony.
• Ship Sinking: Harold and Leshawna's on-and-off relationship comes to an end for good when the two separately decide to break up with the other in the special. However, Leshawna does not take it very well, driving a fierce conflict between them during their time on the season.
• Ship Tease: Scott/Katie, Brick/Leshawna, Izzy/Trent (though it remains an Odd Friendship), Dawn/Nathaniel, and Noah/Taco the mermaid.
• Threatening Shark: No surprise that there are plenty of appearances from sharks throughout the season, given the ocean theme and Chris' love for using them in his challenges. Even Fang himself makes appearances.
• Token Adult: Nathaniel is a college-age student rather than a teenager like the other contestants. The maturity that comes with his position is part of what allows him to be the Only Sane Man on the show.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Chris is even less moral and even more sadistic than usual here due to having come to the realization that if he films his show on international waters he can get away with literally everything and avoid being arrested again.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Blaineley shows off more of her nice side when she becomes Chris' co-host and later sole host of the season (at least until Chris regains his position).
  • Scott begins to improve as a person and act less villainous thanks to some words of wisdom from Dawn and his growing friendship with Katie in the second half of the season.
• Villain Team-Up: Eva and Scott form an alliance once she debuts on the season. Later on, when Chris is demoted by Blaineley from host to contestant, he forms an alliance with Eva to help him get back in his old position.
• Villainous BSoD: Alejandro suffers from this for most of the season, due to still being in the robot suit and believing he has lost everything important to him as a result of it.
• Walk the Plank: The season's method of elimination.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Noah has to deal with his thalassophobia (fear of the open ocean) throughout the season.
• Woman Scorned: Leshawna is out for Harold's blood this season after Harold breaks up with her (despite her own plans to do the same), being shocked and outraged at how Harold isn't pining to have her back instead.