This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
- If published works (and derivative works of public domain materials) count as fanfic, then the most famous example today would probably be Wicked, which turned the simple good vs. evil conflict of The Wizard Of Oz on its head.
- Interestingly enough, when Dorothy was introduced in the book, she was notable as a source of idealism and innocence — the etymology of her name was even explored to give her the title "Goddess of Gifts." In the musical, her role was greatly reduced; her name isn't even mentioned, and she's only seen once in silhouette.
- The writer of Wicked, Gregory Maguire, has made a cottage industry out of this practice, also creating revisionist versions of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
- Although there's disagreement over whether it's well-done or just squick, American McGee's Alice is essentially a video-game Dark Fic for Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, replacing the light-heartedness and satirical symbolism with dark and gory content and symbolism of a different sort, set in a mental Wonderland corrupted by Alice's going mad following a fire and the death of her parents.
This is all either External Retcon and/or Grimmification.
Nezumi: Yes it is. But does that actually stop it from being Dark Fic? It's fan-made fiction of a darker tone than the relatively light-hearted work it was derived from. The difference is that it's commercially distributed... and I'm not certain whether that's mutually exclusive with being a Dark Fic.
Ununnilium: I know what you mean, but the concept of Fan Fic is basically defined by copyright law; remove that aspect, and every single kind of Derivative Works falls under it.
Nezumi: Oh, no, I understand that. I wasn't trying to argue that Fan Fic extends to those examples... but whether Dark Fic actually isn't actually strictly a Fan Fic trope, but a more general Derivative Works trope.
Anonymous: How is My Name Is Might Have Been a Dark Fic? It's not really dark aside from the After the End setting.
- Dark Fic for Avatar The Last Airbender generally occurs in an Alternate Universe where the Fire Nation managed to conquer the world, although plenty simply address the Fridge Logic inherent in what a century-long war would do to the world.
Okay -
- Anything serious by marvel26 can give chills. Especially when the logic behind it all makes sense. His story Manifest Destiny is a chilling depiction of the Dark Side of Aang's "love" for Katara to it's logical extreme. And by the same author is His Father's Son, a story that explores Zuko as Fire Lord Post-Series.
