Tech Uplift
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Synonym(s) | Industrial Revolution, Industrialization, One-Man Industrial Revolution |
| Related tropes/genres | AU, crossover |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
A tech uplift, also known as an Industrial Revolution fic (and several variations thereof), is a form of AU or crossover fanfiction. It refers to fanfics involving one or more character-inserts, usually self-inserts, that arrive or are reborn in less technologically-advanced societies. These characters then work to implement improvements in their new worlds. They may travel through space, time, or into an alternate universe. There are many examples in A Song of Ice and Fire and the Warhammer fandoms, but some are also historical what-ifs. The classic example is Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
The insert-character introduces agricultural, mechanical, medical, and other reforms or improvements. Sometimes the insert is reborn as an absolute monarch with the power to implement new technology. Frequently, the SI is a minor lord or farmer.
The fics vary in scope, motive, and in the success of the endeavors. The very ambitious (and usually least practical) fics jump straight to introducing gunpowder and printing presses to medieval settings. More modest fics might involve an SI-farmer inventing a seed drill. The four-field crop rotation system is a classic, as are canals, penicillin, and the assembly line process. Sometimes the SI ushers in the future for monetary gain. In other fics, the SI is an idealist trying to elevate the new world she's inhabiting.
Sometimes, these works don't contain any characters with technologically advanced foreknowledge, instead relying on its main character being — through changed circumstances — intelligent enough to deduce and introduce the necessary changes.
The reception of stories in this category is usually controversial. The viability of tech uplifts is much discussed and debated on Alternate History and Space Battles.
Fandom Examples
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
A Song of Ice and Fire
- Greyjoy alla Breve (mirror) by AndrewJTalon (2015) — “A SI takes over Theon Greyjoy when he's brought to Winterfell as a hostage, and proceeds to bring the Industrial Revolution to Westeros, with the contents of the internet in his mind.”
- Oh God, am I the Mannis Now? by Sir_Rabby (2016) — “An escape attempt gone wrong caused a chain of events that led to young Stannis Baratheon getting knocked on the head. Instead of the Mannis the Self Insert wakes up with hunger knotting his belly. It's the late stages of the Siege of Storms End by the Tyrell host and the situation is looking dire. Will knowing that it probably wont last much longer make the hunger gnaw any less?”
- Down a Rabbit Hole to Westeros by Lamia_Kuei (2019) — “A SI into Selyse Florent, later Selyse Baratheon. Refusing this time around to be vexed by a mustache, lack of indoor plumbing, and no more guacamole in favor of keeping her eyes on the prize: Surviving the upcoming Long Night and not letting Melisandre go Full Melisandre.”
- Deeds, not Words by Brentwist and Deimos124012 (2021) — “The forty-fifth year after the coming of the Dragon, a man is displaced and pushed into the body of a Westerosi boy, bringing change to a stagnant world.”
- Never Cut Twice by thales85 (2021) — “Participating in the Game of Thrones did sound like fun but let me tell you, it is not. Nine parts boredom and one part terror is more like it. Still, i will do my best to survive and even thrive if i can manage it...and stay alive long enough to do it. Follow the SI son of a minor northern house on his journey.”
- Maester Wolf by cc100 (2022) — “What if Jon Snow wasn't the stupidest man in Westeros? A new beginning where Jon is Lyanna's son, but Ned Stark hides him in a different way, which has a major impact on the Wars to Come. A more cunning Snow changes the outcomes for his brothers and sisters.”
- Coin and Conformity by Wyrdsmithe (2023) — “A man wakes up one day to find that he isn't in his apartment, isn't in his own body, and isn't even on Earth anymore. The language, the geography, the culture, the stars, and even the technology level are all different. Even worse, in this backwards medieval society he had found himself in, he woke up in the body of a woman. A woman who had just given birth to her first child, a son.”
How To Train Your Dragon
- A Thing Of Vikings by athingofvikings (2017) — “Take History. Add Dragons. Stir until a Genius makes friends with them and things explode. Take the resulting stock of Hiccup and tamed dragons and set it to simmering in 1040 AD, in the Scottish Hebrides. Add more Kings, Emperors, Romans, Vikings, Conquerors, Spies, Warriors, Thieves, Knights and Nobles, to taste. Take cover, and sit back to watch the fireworks.”
The Hobbit
- Ghelekabad Books by icarus_chained (2013) — “In an Erebor recovered under Thrain and in the process of rebuilding under his son Thorin, a wandering bookseller named Bilbo Baggins falls in with a bad, or at least rather suspect, crowd, and somewhat accidentally starts an industrial revolution with the help of a young scribe and a brain-damaged toymaker.”