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World War II
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Related tropes/genres | Nazi, Historical AU, World War I |
| See also | Real World Events in Fanworks |
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| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
World War II is an international conflict that took place from 1939 to 1945. It is a popular setting in fiction and art. That same popularity has found its way into fanworks, with many fan creators setting their fanworks during this time period.
There are usually two main types of fanworks set in WWII: fanworks for media that is canonically set within WWII, for example Band of Brothers; or alternative universes, where a fan takes characters from a different setting, usually a more modern one, and places them in WWII, these are referred to more generally as historical AUs. There is also third smaller type that usually involves sci-fi time travel type elements that will send a character from a modern setting back in time to WWII.
Additionally, there is a small sub-set of fanworks that are set in alternative histories where the events of WWII turn out differently, it could be as large as "the Nazis won the war" to as small as "what if this particular person lived?".
It is common for WWII fanworks to focus on soldiers and the battlefield, most popularly focused on the ally forces, like USA, UK, Canada, etc. There are some fanworks that will feature Nazi characters. AUs that cast a character from another fandom as a Nazi, or show these characters in a sympathetic light in any way, can be quite controversial, see the Nazi article for more information.
There is also a smaller group of fanworks that can focus on non-solders, like nurses, medics, spies, or those left at home to deal with life on the home front.
Examples of Fandoms That are Set in or Around WWII
- Band of Brothers
- Black Sheep Squadron
- Captain America (Movieverse and comicsverse)
- Casablanca
- The Charioteer by Mary Renault
- Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe)
- Colditz
- Combat!
- Garrison's Gorillas
- HBO War Fandom
- Hellboy
- Hetalia: Axis Powers
- Hogan's Heroes
- Pearl Harbor
- The Rat Patrol
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
Canon Inspired Settings
- National Service by burntcopper.(Chronicles of Narnia) (2009–2015)
- The Stone Gryphon series by rthstewart. The Pevensies during the war; AU for The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia) (2009–2022)
Alternative Universes
- Nom de Guerre by Taleya (The Sentinel) (unknown date)
- Metamorphosis (crossover story) by tasha (Starsky & Hutch, Professionals and Forever Knight) (1994)
- Le Coeur de Lion by JSwrdsmth (Star Trek: Voyager) (2000-2001)
- Odds Against by tasha (Starsky and Hutch/Forever Knight/Professionals) (2002)
- Missed the Saturday Dance by Zoetrope (Stargate Atlantis) (2006)
- Their finest hour by Emily Shore. Set at Dunkirk (Swallows and Amazons) (2008)
- Post-WWII Ray/Gerard series by pearl_o (My Chemical Romance) (2009)
- in sickness and in health by mwestbelle, WWII AU in which Bob married his fallen comrade's wife out of duty, but Frank is not so fallen. (My Chemical Romance) (2011)
- (Podfic) Horseshoes and Hand Grenades by crinklysolutions, helens78, izzady and Luzula (due South) (2012)
- I'll Be Seing You by thepsychicclam. Sterek meet in 1941. (Teen Wolf) (2013)
- Ninety One Whiskey (Supernatural) (2014-2016)
- Enigma by khorazir, an epic 300k series set at Bletchley Park. (Sherlock) (2014-2019)
- Au Cafe Pequod by sunflowerseedsandscience (The X-Files) (2016)
- Flyboys (Star Wars story) by gefionne (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy) (2016-2018)
- Blackbird by sixpences (Podfic) by Rhea314. AU. (Yuri On Ice) (2017)
- I Carry These Heart-Shapes Only to You by ships_to_sail (Schitt's Creek) (2020)
- Moonlight Serenade by acoolusername, a Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor historical AU. (Supergirl) (2020)
- Where Have All The Flowers Gone by perkynurples. Lt Colonel Thorin Durin exchanges letters with Bilbo Baggins, the man who is housing his nephews during the war. AU. (The Hobbit) (2020)
- Hart's Divide by TheSSClexa, an AU in which Lexa is an injured pilot and Clarke is her doctor. (The 100) (2021)
Time Travel
- To memory now I can't recall by Etharei (MCU) (2014)
Vids
- Wonder Woman - Fan Film by Jesse V. Johnson. Wonder Woman is captured by Nazis (Wonder Woman) (2013)
Zines
Canon Inspired Settings
- Leapin' Jeeps (Various) (1980s)
- Special Circumstances (Various) (1980s-1990s)
- The G-2 Files (Various) (1990s)
- World War II Special Gen Collection (Various) (2007)
Alternative Universes
- Ever a Long Journey by jann (Magnificent Seven) (2007)
Time Travel
- 1942: From Starship to Lancaster by Jackie Regan and Joyce Devlin (Star Trek: TOS) (1984)
- Orcadia by Joyce Devlin and Maggie Symon (Star Trek: TOS) (1991)
- Oswiecim by Gabrielle Lawson. Julian Bashir time travels to Auschwitz (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) (1998)
Example Art Gallery
Hurt Bucky Barnes by Maichan-art (MCU) (2015)
Art by Romanimp for the fic The Scheme of Things (MCU) (2015)
Art by QueenStardust for the fic Fly Boys (Star Wars Sequel Trilogy) (2018)
