KH FANFIC STEREOTYPES
| Fan Art | |
|---|---|
| Title: | KH FANFIC STEREOTYPES |
| Artist: | alltheickyjobs (since deleted), with addition by jade-of-impala (since deleted) |
| Date(s): | 28 May 2016 - earliest known reblog |
| First Published: | Tumblr |
| Medium: | Illustration |
| Genre/Style: | Parody, meta |
| Fandom: | Kingdom Hearts |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
KH FANFIC STEREOTYPES is a Tumblr post by alltheickyjobs that describes and visually illustrates some of the common stereotypes associated with the fanon characterization of the popular characters Sora, Riku, Roxas, and Axel—especially in the context of SoRiku and AkuRoku fan fiction—during the Kingdom Hearts fandom's "golden age", a period that roughly stretched from 2006 to 2010.
A number of KH fans responded that the post accurately depicted the fanon of that period.
Contents
Artist alltheickyjobs captioned the post as follows:
was thinking about early 2000s kingdom hearts fanfic and this came into my head.. I might not have done the tropes justice i read mostly akuroku
those were some interesting times!! (as in they were certainly a product of their time)
By "early 2000s", alltheickyjobs likely meant the latter half of the "Aughts",[1] following the release of Kingdom Hearts II (2006), which formally introduced Roxas and his friendship with Axel.
The post was published to Tumblr around 28 May 2016, the date of the earliest known reblog.
SORA
- ROXAS’ TWIN
- IS BOTTLED SUNSHINE
- COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS
- EATS PAOPU WITH RIKU
- HE'S NOT GAY HE JUST LOVES RIKU OKAY??
- "GIRLS ARE GROSS"
- "LOL RANDOM!"
- HUGS EVERYONE
- SPARKLE EYES
- PURE HOLY VIRGIN
- CRIES A LOT
RIKU
- REFORMED BAD BOY
- COMES FROM A BROKEN HOME
- SEPHIROTH IS HIS DAD
- SORA'S KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR
- EATS A PAOPU WITH SORA
- DOESN'T COMMUNICATE HOW HE FEELS ABOUT SORA EVER
- DATES ROXAS FIRST BUT IT ENDS VERY POORLY
- JEALOUS OF KAIRI
- FRIENDS WITH AXEL
- QUIET AS HELL
ROXAS
- SORA'S TWIN
- SO EMO
- "DAMAGED"
- PROBABLY A VIRGIN??
- EATS ICE CREAM ALWAYS
- NO ONE UNDERSTANDS HIM
- MEETS AXEL AT A COLLEGE PARTY
- GETS INTO TROUBLE OFTEN
- STARTS DOING DRUGS
- HAS A TERMINAL ILLNESS
- DIES
AXEL
- BAD BOY
- SMOKES
- WEARS LEATHER EXCLUSIVELY
- LOTS OF TATTOOS/PIERCINGS
- OWNS A MOTORCYCLE
- IS A PYRO!!!11!!LOL
- "PEDO" JOKES
- THIS IS HIS "NEXT LIFE"
- FRIENDS WITH RIKU
- DATED EVERYONE
- RENO IS HIS BROTHER
- GOT IT MEMORIZED
A short time later—around 30 May 2016, the date of the earliest known reblog—Tumblr user jade-of-impala added a piece covering fanon tropes associated with Kairi, though this expanded version of the post has not been as widely circulated as the original— ignoring Kairi once again, funnily enough. The addition was endorsed by alltheickyjobs, who apparently had works-in-progress covering Organization XIII fanon,[2] but those potential additions are not known to have ever been posted.
Kairi
- we don't talk about her
- enemy of soriku shippers
- mary sue, probably
- that one friend of Sora
- probably about as forgotten as Xion at the end of Days
Responses and reflections
Among the responses, there are recurring phrases, such as "accurate" and "(war) flashbacks". Many have testified that they've read and written fan fiction containing the very tropes as described in alltheickyjob's post, namely on sites such as FanFiction.Net (ff.net) and Quizilla; to date, it appears that no one has attempted to refute the post's representation of fanon tropes, though some users have chimed in with other common tropes omitted by the post.
[soras-majestic-butt, 29 May 2016]
#as someone who has been reading kh fic for like 10+ years i can attest this is tru #down to the damn t
[zeroin-kun, 29 May 2016]
#back in the days when i read alot of fanfiction #those were the typical tropes of their character in kh #this is so real it hurts me
[CameoAmalthea, 29 May 2016]
Late 2000s right? KH2 was 2005 and fandom peaked like 2008?
Then again I think of early 2000s as still the 90s maybe our internal clock of decades is like 5 years off *shrug*
Also the intersection of fandom and memes of the time. Like the “pedo” jokes were at the same time everyone thought pedo bear was funny (because 4chan set the standard for Internet humor) and it the joke was Axel comes off as such a creepy stalker in the prologue (and no one has any idea who he is since ReCOM and Days came out years later) so it’s like who are you? (A lot of the fandom didn’t even think he was older they just thought he was acting creepy and we’re making fun of much he fails at communication in the prologue and also like half the fandom thought he was Riku which is why they’re friends in fandom because fandom was sure they’re connected). So like fanon is a mix of making fun of canon, memes, borrowed tropes from other fandoms (mostly manga/anime and FFVII - Axel took so much from fanon Reno).
The fact Advent Children came out the same year as KH2 and the intersection in fandom for FFVII and KH where you just get fanon for FFVII from people who’ve never played the game and are just going on Advent Children, KH and what they’d heard (you couldn’t find FFVII to play back then it was hard to get). All of that mixed with 90s tropes and what teenage girls who would never be wild or date a bad boy IRL think a cool bad boy would be. (Leather or dark clothing, smoking or drinking, brooding, and using cuss words. Cuss words were edgy).
Also references to punk pop bands from the mid 2000s. Because everyone had a Band, mine was Green Day and later Panic at the Disco. Other people had Fall Out Boy or My Chemical Romance. I think everyone liked Blink 182 but no one liked them enough to really care.
If you look at fanfic tropes from a given time you get like a snap shot of pop culture and what a certain generation of teens thought was cool and later found embarrassing.
[tumtumtumimacatlover, 29 May 2016]
#these tropes still exist and I hate them #last time i was like #omg yay its been AGES since I read some kh fanfic :D #lets check some out! #and i was very dissapointed to see that after 10 years nothing really changed orz
[kidkytes, 29 May 2016]
#only thing that's missing is for Sora that is NEEDS PROTECTING ALL THE TIME #everything else is correct
[nightskypalace, 29 May 2016]
What i hate the most, is when kairi is described as a fake ass innocent bitch, a slut, hates riku, and just down right a bad guy. Like no, just stop. Kairi is literally a glass angel and a badass, she loves her friends equally and a cinnamon loser (i love her with my life ugh)
#ugh i hate fanfics #but lately everything is getting a little better #i love fanfics where soriku is a couple #but with kairi being an extremely supportive friend #and being an extreme badass
[bottomnoctis, 30 May 2016]
#ohhh my go do i remember reading every single trope here #and also don't forget how everyone treated kairi like she was the devil reborn #so many unapologetic kair!bashing fics that crossed my line of view #2006 - 2008 was such a time #people were more forgiving toward namine but not as much #but kairi was the most viciously attacked female character during that time #oh god the pure nostalgia that is radiating right now
[wrightfamily, 30 May 2016]
#tru lmao #also kairi was always described as #"a bitch" #and other derogatory words #and was nasty and mean for no reason #even tho that's the most ooc thing for her character
[piyoo, 30 May 2016]
#LOL WHAT FIC WAS THERE WHERE ROXAS DIED??? #I THOUGHT I READ SOME SHITTY STUFF BUT APPARENTLY NOT ALL OF IT #KH #ye olden days #to be fair #there are many aspects of these things that are reasonable considering canon #riku's reformed bad boy thing often works as a realistic parallel to what happened to him in kh #Sora is in fact fairly oblivious #Roxas had a shit time all the time and he did 'die' too tbh #and axel... well lol #axel is axel #he just invites all of that stuff not sure what it is about him in particular but #maybe just the fact that he doesn't follow the rules #he ultimately does what he wants #and that too translates to that sort of stuff in a more realistic setting
[where-music-will-guide-us, 30 May 2016]
#sh it #I remember these days #Born To Be Wild anyone? #or what was that one story #13th Circle? #ahhh ff.net my old friend
[mossymint, 30 May 2016]
#kingdom hearts #soriku #this is so fucking true #flashbacks to 2006 right here
[hidden-within-the-shadows, 30 May 2016]
#please don't bring me back to this dark time #i never read akuroku and it still applies #also kairi would be so ooc it hurt and everyone would hate her #the struggle to find a decent fanfic was real
[znapple, 31 May 2016]
I’m adding on Kairi, bc oh man…
- Doesn’t exist
- Vaguely mentioned in passing
If she does play a part:
- Psychotic and manipulative
- Jealous/Emotionally Abusive GF
- Either obsessed with Sora or Riku (or both)
- Whoever she’s obsessed with, she vehemently hates the other one
- Related to Axel
- Tactless mean girl stereotype with Selphie as her main pal
- Roadblock to everyone’s relationship
- Often referred to as ‘whore’ or ‘bitch’
- Dies
[drakillya, 31 May 2016]
#holy fuck its so true #kh #literally cannot believe they forgot demyx #aka the tropiest of all tropes
[bri333865, 3 Jun 2016]
#stares vacently into the distance in horror #hell #this went on until like 2011
[soulandseer, 3 Jun 2016]
#im d ying #some of this still survives today but way toned down which i can live w #i try to avoid these in my aus but shit happens my dude
[galaxynaga, 4 Jun 2016]
#holy shit my life is flashing before my mind #and most of it was on fanfiction.net and angel sites
[forevveraquarius, 6 Jun 2016]
#I'M SCREAMING #accurate #god #minus the pedo part thank god I never ran into any of those
[peachyforov, 20 Jun 2016]
#FAV #omg there was always something wrong with roxas like either he died or he died #also !! axel would always be like rOXIE !1 #and demyx would be all hyperactive puppy mode oh man those were the days
[larvaloverlord, 1 Jul 2016]
#this is too accurate #why did sora cry so much and why was riku the personification of chocolate axe
[s0urin, 2 Jul 2016]
#my taste is kh pairings is kind of... different so i didn't read akuroku and soriku #but i did read sporkings which made fun of them #thinking back on it that was kind of a dickish thing to do #like dedicating an entire lj page to mocking bad kh fics #but it was SO FUNNY
[abrakeydabra 6 Jul 2016]
#remember saix puppy #because i fucking do #didnt read fanfics but thos danm comics fucking hell
[carazami, 13 Jul 2016]
#I HATE THESE STEREOTYPES #AND OK ALWAYS CALLING SORA THE BROWNIE HAIRED BOY #LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK #and makign roxas a huge cutter?????? no
[sydchan, 18 Sep 2016]
#as someone who read a lot of kingdom hearts fanfic during that time i can tell you these are extremely accurate #also so many high school aus #good luck finding anything canonverse
[lifeofaweed, 13 Oct 2016]
#please dont #dont do me like this #this is slander #also cloud is roxas' older brother
[vegetablepopiah, 8 Dec 2016]
#that got it memorized line was in every akuroku fic #also these are so accurate i cringe #i still love them but.... #god the early 2000s was a bad period for fanfiction crackfics and random!xd humor #i still love them though
[actualgamergrill, 17 Feb 2017]
#GOT IT MEMORIZED #he says that like 5 times in canon so in fanfic that's basically his verbal tic lmao #why is kh fanfic so bad #prolly to balance out those lacking spines which is objectively the best fanfic ever written
[lapirin, 17 Feb 2017]
#oh my god #the amount of fics i've read with the characters written exactly like this in 07-09...
[kidkytes, 27 April 2017]
#WHERE'S THE LIE!? #ALL TRUE #RIKU ALWAYS DATES ROXAS AND TREATS HIM SO BAD BECAUSE HE'S IN LOVE WITH SORA #POOR ROXAS ALWAYS GOT HURT AND NEVER GOT A HAPPY ENDING IN STORIES AS LONG AS SORA AND RIKU DATED #ALSO SORA PURE HOLY VIRGIN AND IF YOU SMILE AT HIM HE JUST CRIES
[italian-shitstorm, 5 May 2017]
#I can't believe #In a lot of fics Reno was also Axel's cousin #And Roxas was always bullied #Yikes
[star-seeker-01, 18 Nov 2018]
I think about this whenever I see shipping drama on my dash. None of the “ purity shipping only ” police would have survived the mid 2000s fandom culture.
#I would love to make an anti shipper be subjected to mid 2000s fandom culture
Related fan works
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |