What If (glossary term)
From Fanlore
| Synonyms: | |
| See also: | episode tag, fix it, alternative universe, missing scene, for want of a nail, butterfly effect |
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What if refers to fanworks that ask this question and then go on to imagine a possible result. The end product may be an alternate universe, a missing scene or another speculation. The concept is similar to Marvel comics' various lines of What if comics, which ask experimental questions separate of comics canon.
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
- Eleutherophobia (Animorphs)
- The Dome Cycle (Blake's 7)
- The Sum of Its Parts (Teen Wolf)
- the family evans by dirgewithoutmusic (Harry Potter, 2015): What if, when Petunia Dursley found a little boy on her front doorstep, she took him in? Not into the cupboard under the stairs, not into a twisted childhood of tarnished worth and neglect—what if she took him in?
- the summer queen by honey_wheeler (A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, 2012)
- No Featherbed For Me by vixleonard (Game of Thrones, 2014): Arya Stark wanted to be a knight; she wanted to find glory and adventure with Needle in her hand. But that is not an appropriate life for a highborn lady, and that was all Arya of House Stark was allowed to be.
- One May Smile, and Smile, and Be A Villain by AvaRose (My Hero Academia Villain AU, 2018) : Canon divergence where Midoriya Izuku never meets All Might, never inherits One For All, never attends Yuuei.
- The Problem With Zuko by AvocadoLove (Avatar: The Last Airbender, 2010): Lu Ten never died at Ba Sing Se, and Fire Lord Iroh rules the nation with an iron fist. Zuko is merely the son of the second prince, overlooked by his more talented younger sister and can only dream of the day when he will be finally allowed to prove himself in battle.
What ifs are common in The Lion King fandom:
Vids
- What if SIMBA had helped his father? (Lion king AU)
- What if Kovu dies? (Lion King AU)
- What if Simba died instead of Mufasa?? (CROSSOVER)
Meta
- The Society for the Rescue of Fictional Characters ; archive link by janni (2005)
