History Main / AdaptationalAngstDowngrade

* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': Despite the war being potentially WORSE due to a much stronger opponent, the autobots are actually good for all the black knights in creating a circle of trust that makes everyone's relationships better.
** The good imperial siblings ([[spoiler: Lelouch, Nunally, Cornelia, Euphemia]]) all find each other again, open up, and find a new father figure in Optimus Prime.
** Kallen starts repairing her emotional health thanks to Arcee and Cliffjumper talking her through her isolation so that by R2 she can actually mentor others having been in their space.

* Shirou Emiya of canon ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' dreamed of being a hero, but had to deal with the fact that he lived in a CrapsackWorld that ran on BlackAndGreyMorality at the best of times; the varying timelines forced him to either find a compromise, suffer a CynicismCatalyst, or abandon his dream entirely. The Shirou Emiya of [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/emiya-sensei-illustrated-fate-my-hero-academia.940049/ Emiya Sensei?]], by contrast, grew up in the world of ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' which, while still far from being a SugawBowl, has being a genuine, unambiguous hero as a standard career choice; as a result, he's a much more well-adjusted, genuinely happy person who can save lives as the very popular and successful hero Archer. He even lacks his canon self-destructive habits, presumably having them trained out of him by his teachers before they could get as bad as they did in some routes.

* Loona’s troubled childhood in ''Fanfic/OwlsHellThatEndsWell'' is arguably much less traumatic or painful as in canon. While she still livd in the streets most of her childhood, was betrayed by her mentor, was abused at her orphanage, antagonized by Stella and felt like a replacement for Octavia for most of her life, there were improvements from how the regular Loona had it. For one she lived in an actual orphanage rather than a glorified kennel. She was adopted as a child rather than a late teen, sparing her from years of isolation and neglect. And she was happily adopted by the wealthy and loving Prince Stolas, who treated her like his own daughter.

* All of the problems regarding Fubuki Shirou's split personality and his struggling to get over it are removed in ''Anime/InazumaElevenAres'', where his family didn't die in the avalanche accident.

* ''Fanfic/SoftSupportsAndThePunksThatNeedThem'': While Chloe's father still dies and it takes a heavy toll on her, her LongDistanceRelationship with Max and being able to depend on the Caulfields when drama at home becomes too much has mellowed her out considerably compared to her counterdependent-canon counterpart. She's still a punk and a rebel, but she's level-headed not to get herself expelled.

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{What If|2021}}'' episode "[[Recap/WhatIfS1E7WhatIfThorWereAnOnlyChild What If... Thor Were an Only Child?]]", we see what things would be like if, instead of adopting him as his son, Odin returned an infant Loki to his father Laufey. Instead of being raised as a back-up heir in Asgard, Loki is the crowned-prince of a version of Jotunheim with a more relaxed relationship with Asgard. Without the baggage of being an OrcRaisedByElves, he doesn't suffer the SanitySlippage of his Sacred Timeline counterpart goes through, going from being an on-again, off-again supervillain with DelusionsOfGrandeur and a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder to a life-long friend of Thor's who goes along with his zany antics.

* The ''WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021'' episode "[[Recap/WhatIfS1E7WhatIfThorWereAnOnlyChild What If... Thor Were an Only Child?]]", we see what things would be like if, instead of adopting him as his son, Odin returned an infant Loki to his father Laufey. Instead of being raised as a back-up heir in Asgard, Loki is the crowned-prince of a version of Jotunheim with a more relaxed relationship with Asgard. Without the baggage of being an OrcRaisedByElves, he doesn't suffer the SanitySlippage of his Sacred Timeline counterpart goes through, going from being an on-again, off-again supervillain with DelusionsOfGrandeur and a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder to a life-long friend of Thor's who goes along with his zany antics.

* ''AudioPlay/EvangelionAfterTheEnd'' is an AffectionateParody to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', with much lighter tone than the original. In this audio play, Kaworu is alive, and Asuka is no longer in a coma.

* ''AudioPlay/EvangelionAfterTheEnd'' is a AffectionateParody to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', with much lighter tone than the original. In this audio play, Kaworu is alive, and Asuka is no longer in a coma.

** In the manga version of ''Anime/PetitEva'', TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt had never happened. In the anime version, well, [[MindScrew something happened]], but Kaworu [[AmbiguousSituation apparently]] prevented the destruction.

* ''WebAnimation/JustArt'' is a Website/{{YouTube}} channel that is known for having an animatic series where the main girls of the visual novel are goofy teenagers getting up to different hijacks in every episode, thus removing all psychological elements from the source material.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Fanfic/ImNobody'': Thanks to Roxas giving the Organization the middle finger much earlier than he did in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', he averts his, Xion and Axel's entire TraumaCongaLine, which includes a massive amount of PoorCommunicationKills, {{Poisonous Friend}}hips, CloningBlues and WhatMeasureIsANonHuman. Since none of that ever happens here and they're in a far healthier state of mind surrounded by positive influences instead of toxic ones, they're all far more well-adjusted as a result. This becomes visible in moments like Roxas' encounter with [=DiZ=] and his FantasticRacism spiel or the InternalReveal that he is Sora's Nobody, as he shuts down the former quickly and has no issues with the latter being secure in his own identity - a far cry from canon.

* ''Series/FateTheWinxSaga'' doesn't include Aisha's backstory as an [[LonelyRichKid isolated princess]] who grew up in a very strict environment.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': "In Brightest Day" has Kyle Rayner [[CompositeCharacter given Hal Jordan's origin of becoming a Green Lantern by inheriting Abin Sur's ring]], which also comes with omitting the tragic detail of his comic's backstory where his girlfriend was murdered by Major Force early in his career as a Green Lantern.

** [[Series/JukenSentaiGekiranger GekiRed]] lost both his parents to [[spoiler:Long, the actual BigBad of the series]]. [[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Casey]] didn't lose anyone in his backstory.
** [[Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger GoseiBlue]] lost his brother-in-arms [=GoseiGreen=] to a MonsterOfTheWeek before the Goseigers were fully assembled. Gosei Green was not adapted into ''[[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce Megaforce]]''.
** In ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' Gokai Red's mentor [=AkaRed=] was missing and presumed dead [[spoiler:only to resurface later]]. Gokai Blue's [[spoiler: mentor Sid Bamick was forcibly and irreversibly converted into the cybernetic warrior [[TheDragon Barizorg]], who Gokai Blue was forced to slay in battle]]. Gokai Yellow lost her kid sister to a terminal illness as they had lived in poverty. Gokai Pink's homeworld of Famille was destroyed by a MonsterOfTheWeek who incinerated her mother and father in front of her. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Gokai Green's]] planet was destroyed by TheEmpire as well. The five Mega Rangers did not endure such losses [[spoiler: to the point that Barizorg becomes Argus, a robot warrior with no personal connection to the Blue Ranger]], with the closest they get being [[spoiler: the temporary disappearance of Robo Knight (Gosei Knight)]]. This is inverted in the case of the SixthRanger; [[TokenHuman Token Earthling]] Gokai Silver did not lose anyone in his backstory, whilst [[TokenNonHuman Token Extra-terrestrial]] Orion lived through the conquest of his homeworld of Andresia by the Armada.

* ''Fanfic/WhiteWolfOfWesteros'': Due to Geralt of Rivia joining up and making friends with them, all of House Stark's kids is given this in one way or another (so far).

* This occurs in the ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' franchise in regards to [[JerkassWoobie Zelgadis's]] [[CursedWithAwesome chimeric state]]; despite being used as a ButtMonkey ploy several times in the anime, he's actually less prudish in regards to his appearance, and ''embraces'' the awe and nicknames that he receives from strangers (i.e "The Heartless, Mystical Swordsman); if for nothing else, he gets upset when he's being used for a silly ploy (such as being used as an anchor.). In the original novels, he is far more sensitive about his appearance and not frivolous at all; a side-story featuring him emphasizes this angst in which he broods over the fact that he made friends who see beyond his appearance in the first place.

* Shirou Emiya of canon ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' dreamed of being a hero, but had to deal with the fact that he lived in a CrapsackWorld that ran on BlackAndGreyMorality at the best of times; the varying timelines forced him to either find a compromise, suffer a cynicism catalyst, or abandon his dream entirely. The Shirou Emiya of [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/emiya-sensei-illustrated-fate-my-hero-academia.940049/ Emiya Sensei?]], by contrast, grew up in the world of ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' which, while not exactly the most noblebright of settings, has being a genuine, unambiguous hero as a standard career choice; as a result, he's a much more well-adjusted, genuinely happy person who can save lives as the very popular and successful hero Archer. He even lacks his canon self-destructive habits, presumably having them trained out of him by his teachers before they could get as bad as they did in some routes.

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': "In Brightest Day" has Kyle Rayner [[CompositeCharacter given Hal Jordan's origin of becoming a Green Lantern by inheriting Abin Sur's ring]], which also comes with omitting the tragic detail of his comic's backstory where his girlfriend was murdered by Major Force.