Total Drama Comeback

Fanfiction
Title:	Total Drama Comeback
Author(s):	The Kobold Necromancer
Date(s):	04 September 2008 - 10 February 2009
Length:	375,353 words
Genre:	Gen; F/M Humor/Drama
Fandom:	Total Drama
External Links:	Total Drama Comeback on FFN, Archived version Total Drama Comeback Wiki, Archived version
Total Drama Comeback Logo by StrayPhoenix.
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Total Drama Comeback by The Kobold Necromancer is an English Total Drama Canon Divergence Redemption AU fic for Ezekiel. In the story, a second season of Total Drama called Total Drama Comeback takes place after the events of Total Drama: Island (2007) instead of Total Drama: Action. Ezekiel, spurred by being eliminated first in Island, overcomes adversity and endures new challenges, alliances, betrayals and romances before placing third in Total Drama Comeback with his new-found friends Bridgette and Izzy, both of whom co-win the season. Kobold was a BNF in early Total Drama fandom.

The original 22 contestants return to Wawanakwa for a second season, almost straight after the first. Who will win? What new friendships and love interests will form? Will Heather endure, can Ezekiel survive, and will Izzy find the elusive jellybean smuggler? Completed, official pairings and more.

Comeback's summary on FFN

Total Drama Comeback is the most reviewed and favorited fanfiction in FanFiction.Net's Total Drama category as of October 2023. It established widespread fanon, inspired fanac, and spearheaded rarepairs such as Bridgette/Ezekiel and Ezekiel/Izzy into popularity for several years. It was the first completed Competition Fic, the general term for TD fan-seasons starring canonical characters. Comeback was also the first longfic to give Ezekiel the spotlight, as before he was considered a Blank Slate. Characterizations of Ezekiel, Tyler, Eva and Cody, to name a few, are often seen in fanworks made later, though the release of Total Drama: World Tour retconned some of these characterizations. Rarepairs which are canonical in Comeback include Katie/Noah, Beth/Justin, and Ezekiel/Heather.

Total Drama Comeback is frequently recommended to fans new to Total Drama fandom, though often with a disclaimer that it hasn't aged the best. Much of the humor in the story dates it squarely to the late 2000s. Critics of Total Drama Comeback also compare Ezekiel to that of a Gary Stu, as he's involved in plotlines that readers may believe were better off handled by other contestants and functions like the author's thinly-veiled self-insert. Competitionist Shipping also is in nearly full effect for its characters; few are single by the fic's end. Despite these setbacks, the story's engaging characterizations, fun dialogue and nostalgia factor still is praised by its readers, as seen on its Reviews Page, ^{Archived version}.

Total Drama Comeback has a sequel called Total Drama Battlegrounds. Featuring 22 new original contestants of Kobold's creation and the original 22 canon contestants, the fanfiction was popular, but was never finished and didn't influence fanon like Comeback had.

Influence on Total Drama Fanon

• Fanon Personal Names: Comeback gave last names to all of the contestants. Some of these names are controversial in modern Total Drama fandom, especially Noah's, expanded upon in his page. These names are used for many fanworks, often without the knowledge they even came from Total Drama Comeback due to Fannish Drift. The headcanons that Geoff is short for Geoffrey and Gwen is short for Gwendolyn may also be cited as factual information, though this is not entirely because of Comeback. Cody and Harold are not on this list, as they both have canonical last names.

The full names are:

• Beth Yensten
• Bridgette Summers
• Courtney Satella
• Devon Joseph "DJ" Benson
• Duncan Tarun
• Eva Garren
• Ezekiel Miller
• Geoffrey Algolen
• Gwendolyn Ingrid
• Heather Kasuga
• Izzy Connelly
• Justin Batofel
• Katie Uratu
• Leshawna Olongola
• Lindsay Top
• Noah Sterecra
• Owen Waterflower
• Sadie Unda
• Trenton Cooper
• Tyler Kenard

Fanon found in other fanworks are also in Comeback:

• Izzy ships Cody/Noah: Although it is canon that Izzy made fun of Noah for kissing Cody's ear, her shipping Cody/Noah is fanon.

Reviews

"Semi-Occasional fanfic review series no. 1: 'Total Drama Comeback'" by CaptainSkips, ^{Archived version}, dates to January 2nd, 2022. It is a long-form, in-depth review of Total Drama Comeback. Has 8 comments.

"Review of Total Drama Comeback" by Arias87, ^{Archived version}, dates to August 26th, 2011. It is another long-form, in-depth review of Total Drama Comeback. Has 9 comments and was favorited by Kobold himself, who also commented.

Blue-Star Violet chapter 53 . Mar 6, 2010

Though similar compliments have already been heavily overstated, I must say, this is THE most amazing story in the TDI section. I'm usually annoyed by all those second-season fics but you've written this so incredibly, I daresay you've changed my mind!

I deem both you and this story worthy of residing in my favorites. And let me conclude this by saying you deserve EVERY SINGLE positive review this story had gotten!

~Jasmine

...My biggest gripes have to do with his writing style, rather than his ships. Phonetic accents is such an annoying trope- it reduces readability and can often come off as classist- and he always writes Ezekiel's accent phonetically. Completionist-shipping, which he does at the end of Love Ain't Easy, It's Ezzy, just seems unrealistic and uninspired, implying that romance is necessary for every character to be satisfied. And the way Kobold writes female characters, especially in Love Ain't Easy It's Ezzy, focuses a lot on their looks (especially their breasts) and their love/lust for their boyfriends, to the point where they often feel more like accessories to their boyfriends rather than humans, and they're often dressed up in skimpy outfits. The Gwody arc in particular reeks of "written by a straight guy".

And even in regards to jumping ship to Bridgekiel, it's more of a reflection of the fact that he seems to project onto Zeke and ship him with whatever pretty girl he's attracted to (first he was shipped with Heather, then Izzy, then Bridgette, and he even planned on shipping him with Zoey). Again, that's just speculation, and there's nothing wrong with a little wish fulfillment.

TheComedyKid chapter 53 . Jul 10, 2018

I just got done reading this fic, and I must say, I loved every chapter of it! The challenges were hilarious and done really well, and it's impressive you you gave everyone a lot of character development despite this being written before TDA. I'm starting to like your TD Comeback AU much better than canon...

I also like how you gave the underdogs a lot of love in this fic, especially Noah, Eva, Cody, and Beth. Noah's sarcastic quips were a joy to read, as was Izzy's perverted wackiness! I also liked the Zeke/Izzy and Cody/Izzy moments. On top of that, my two favorite characters, Cody and Zeke, made the final 4. It was very fitting for Izzy and Bridgette to win TDC, they deserved it!

I was a bit bummed when Cody didn't win Beth's heart. Poor guy has been through two heartbreaks on this show. Judging on Eva's subtle glancing at Cody in this chapter, I suspect she likes him. Will something happen between the two? It's time for me to find out...

Your OC's are pretty interesting, I really like Crystal because I find British girls particularly attractive IRL. I'll read TDB and Crystal's matchmaking schemes!

GonardWithTheTDL chapter 53 . May 15, 2009

haha great story dude i was rootin for cody the whole time. You shouldof seen my reaction when he got voted off its late and i woke my sister up...i think im in trouble oh well great job and im lookin forward to the sequel good luck

FlygonNick chapter 53 . Aug 15, 2021

On a whim I decided to delve into the TDI fanfiction archive and found this gem of a story. Fantastic ride from beginning to end, and I have no qualms with who ended up winning.

Characterization was great across the board, expanding on everyone in every way. I think my favorites were Eva, Zeke and Tyler, though I honestly enjoyed just about everyone in this story. Especially since you kept the couples going, which was really nice for fluffy moments.

Really great to see everyone get some much-needed depth while keeping everyone within character. The humor was solid, the challenges and interactions between everyone was great, and I don't have any complaints about the fic. I'll see about looking into your other stories, but for now you get this review and two thumbs up from me.

Take care and stay awesome!

-FlygonNick

Example/Notable Recursive Fanac

The Kobold Necromancer's DeviantArt, ^{Archived version} has some fanworks and further information.

• TDBandTDC, ^{Archived version}, a DeviantArt community for Total Drama Comeback and its sequel.
• Katie from Total Drama Comeback by CRSTO20, ^{Archived version}, a drawing of Katie featuring her different outfit from chapter 5. Other characters this artist has drawn featuring their outfits in Comeback include Izzy, ^{Archived version} and Noah, ^{Archived version}.
• Ezekiel Fanfic Tropes, ^{Archived version}, overall Ezekiel meta which references Comeback. A discussion on Reddit.
• Total Drama Comeback wiki contest entry colorized by bad-asp, ^{Archived version}, a wallpaper featuring all 44 contestants in Total Drama Battlegrounds.

References/Further Reading

• Total Drama Comeback, ^{Archived version} on TVTropes