Talk:Altpower

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On the "Expanding to Other Fandoms"

The current phrasing on the page makes it sound like Worm alt-power fics inspired/led to alt power being a popular trope in other fandoms, and I don't have the data to really say either way but I don't think this is true?? At the very least, BNHA is way too big for Worm to be a major inspiration for most of these people, I highly doubt most BNHA writers (of altpower fics or otherwise) have even heard of Worm.

I mean, I would *love* to investigate altpower tropes across different fandoms and how they might influence each other, but I don't even know where to start with that really. Quaelegit (talk) 09:09, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

I don't think they know the trope by that name or know where it came from but I've seen countless fanworks where BNHA characters have different powers than canon. I don't know about works in English but I saw many in Portuguese. I confess I don't know Worm and I don't think I've ever heard of him, but the trope is very familiar to me. If I have correctly understood the translation of the page as it was before my edit -- Ellakbhesse (talk) 11:32, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

Yeah, I think the general concept exists in both fandoms, but the current wording implies that the BHNA altpower fanfics come from or were inspired by Worm altpower fanfics. It seems more likely that it happened independently, so the wording should reflect that. I think it would be fine to still mention BNHA since it's such a similar concept. I'll try and make the edit. Is the term "altpower" used in BHNA fandom? -- DivinerSpirit (talk) 00:08, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
My English is not one of the best. maybe then it's better to reverse my edit and correct the text to reflect what you said DivinerSpirit? -- Ellakbhesse (talk) 01:02, 21 April 2022 (UTC)
I haven't seen it used in the BNHA fandom at all, but it's a huge fandom so I don't want to say definitely no. I think your current edit is fine, but i'm going to try and research this a bit myself and see if I can add more discussion to the page. Quaelegit (talk) 12:32, 21 April 2022 (UTC)


User:Sobqjmv sphinx -- I don't want to revert your edit without some discussion, but I think the new phrasing of the lede actually makes the situation less clear. "Altpower" as a discrete term and genre is not used in the BNHA fandom, as far as I've found on some investigation (if this has changed in the last few months, though, I would love to see examples!). As you can see from earlier discussion on this talk page, very similar premises DO occur a lot in BNHA fanworks, but not necessarily as part of a conscious genre and others of such BNHA don't seem to think of their fics as "altpower". The previous wording on the page tried to reflect this. Can I ask what differences you wanted to make clear with your edit, so we can try to find a wording that makes us both happy? -- Quaelegit (talk) 00:55, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

Ah, sorry. I think that clarifying that the trope is common in multiple fandoms but the term is not would work best. Sobqjmv sphinx (talk) 00:59, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

Sorry I missed your reply earlier! Thank you for your suggestions, I've reworked the lede to try and include them. It's still a bit awkward, and I have a lot more I'd like to add, so definitely feel free to keep reworking it, and I'd welcome further discussion here on the talk page as well. -- Quaelegit (talk) 12:09, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

Other fandoms besides Worm and BNHA

Although I did not create this article, I think my past edits may have biased it, because I'm much more familiar with BNHA and Worm fandoms than any other superhero fandoms. It seems at least plausible to me that the concept exists in those other fandoms -- in fact I would expect it to pre-date both Worm and BNHA since those are much more recent than many other superhero fandoms. I'm starting discussion on the talk page because, while I *am* trying to research this myself (although not much to show for it over the last 9 months, sorry), I would very much appreciate help and opinions from other fanlore editors!

I tried asking Marvel and DCU fans in a few of my fanfic discords, and they reported that they do see fics that give canon characters non-canon powers, but one distinction is that they much more commonly see power *swaps* -- "What if Batman got a Green Lantern ring", or "AU where the Fantastic Four got eachothers powers". You don't see as much, e.g., "Daredevil but he can see ghosts". Again, this is just what a few friends reported, I think I need more research and discussion before i feel I have something solid enought o write about in the article proper, but I wanted to record it here. -- Quaelegit (talk) 01:13, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

naruto altpower fics often include Naruto being “smarter” and more willing to kill, while worm altpower fics often have Taylor be a hero and have her villains redeemed. Naruto and Worm both feature shonen protagonists, with their fandoms unconsciously shifting their protagonists to be more like the other. In this essay I will

Scabby on Parahumans Discord, 2020

Given the phrasing* and the context, I'm guessing this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it's an example of someone applying the alt-power framing to Naruto fanfic (which is something I've seen come up a few times).
*"in this essay i will" is a tumblr meme, a way of ending a post making an assertion that poster expects others to find ridiculous, implying that the poster would be willing to write an essay to back up said assertion -- Quaelegit (talk) 12:34, 5 December 2022 (UTC)


Origin of "altpower"

earliest usage i've found in the Parahumans fandom (so far) -- August 2013: https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/wormverse-crossover-ideas-recs-and-fic-discussion.265902/post-11586635 (people were discussing AUs giving taylor other powers since the start of that thread, adn probably earlier, but that specific reply uses the phrase "alternate powersets")

provisional conclusion:seems like it had become common in the fandom by late 2014, and i haven't found any evidence of it being used by SB for other fandoms before Worm came out -- Quaelegit (talk) 05:08, 8 December 2022 (UTC)

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