What If (glossary term)

Synonyms:
See also:	episode tag, fix it, alternative universe, missing scene, canon divergence, 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, a canon divergence or another speculation. The concept is similar to Marvel comics' various lines of What if comics, which ask experimental questions separate of comics canon.

Variations

• Episode Tags: A what-if story that takes place immediately after the end of an episode may be called an episode tag.
• For Want Of A Nail describes stories in which one small change causes considerable changes to the canon storyline.

Example Fanworks

Fanfiction

• Eleutherophobia by SoloMoon, a what if fic about Tom Berenson surviving the events of #54: The Beginning (Animorphs, 2014-2022)
• The Dome Cycle by M. Fae Glasgow - according to one rec, this is a what if they'd won and still weren't happy? fic (Blake's 7, 1989-1993)
• The Sum of Its Parts by KouriArashi, a what if Peter Hale abducts Stiles at the end of Season 1 (Teen Wolf, 2012-2016)
• the family evans by dirgewithoutmusic; 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? (Harry Potter, 2015)
• the summer queen by honey_wheeler, a what if story where Queen Sansa chooses an all-female Queensguard (A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, 2012)
• No Featherbed For Me by vixleonard is a Prince Gendry story - ie. what if Gendry is the legitimate first born son and heir to the Iron Throne (Game of Thrones, 2014)
• One May Smile, and Smile, and Be A Villain by AvaRose, is Canon divergence where Midoriya Izuku never meets All Might, never inherits One For All, never attends Yuuei. (My Hero Academia Villain AU, 2018)
• The Problem With Zuko by AvocadoLove; 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. (Avatar: The Last Airbender, 2010)

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, ^{Archived version} by janni (2005)

Resources

• What-If works on AO3