History Main / DerivativeDifferentiation

* Having also been made by SquareSoft, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPGLegendOfTheSevenStars'' naturally has a lot in common with ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games and other Square {{Role Playing Game}}s of that era, albeit with ActionCommands and the obvious ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' trappings among other things. After Square partnered with Sony and left the Mario [=RPG=]s in {{Nintendo}}'s hands, however, Nintendo gave its ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games a different focus from typical Square [=RPG=]s, such as with a much heavier use of intricate ActionCommands, simplified battle stat calculations, fewer party members on screen at a time, and PreExistingEncounters with enemies that can be attacked for some damage at the beginning of a battle.

* ''SaintsRow'' started out as a pretty straightforward ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' clone, with the only caveat being ''Saint's Row's'' focus on gang violence. Each game has dialed up the DenserAndWackier aspects, with ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' dialing down the same. Putting ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' side by side with ''SaintsRowTheThird'' shows that the two bear very little resemblance to one another at this point, aside from gameplay involving stealing cars.

* ''Webcomic/Drowtales'' started off as the author Kern drawing up the events of the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' RP he and his friends were playing in the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting. By Chapter 4, however, the plot had diverged so much from its source material that he decided to just turn it into its own unique setting. He even went on to completely redo the earlier chapters ''twice'' to make them better fit the divergent setting.

* The ''{{Shannara}}'' series started off as fairly derivative of ''TheLordOfTheRings'', with the largest distinction being the former's AfterTheEnd setting. ''TheSwordOfShannara'' even took its general plot structure straight from ''The Lord Of The Rings''. As the series went on, however, the books developed more original plots, including an urban fantasy trilogy.

* Even though it wasn't a stick figure comic to begin with, it's easy to see that ''OurLittleAdventure'' is pretty heavily inspired by ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick.'' In 235 pages (and counting) ''OurLittleAdventure'''s style has changed [[ArtEvolution fairly considerably]], both in character design and setting design.
* ''TheWayOfTheMetagamer'' also began as an ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick'' ripoff, even copying a strip word-for-word. It starts to diverge after the SeriesHiatus, when the AuthorAvatar makes an appearance, and by the time TropeTan shows up the storyline is completely different. As for that one strip copied verbatim, it is now an OldShame, which the creator lampshaded [[BetterThanABareBulb like with almost everything else in the comic]].

* {{Deadpool}} used to be [[Comicbook/TeenTitans Deathstroke]] in red until they made him insane and gave him his own fighting style.

* {{SNK}}'s ''ArtOfFighting'' was perceived by gamers to be a cheap cash-in of rival company {{Capcom}}'s ''StreetFighter''. Despite this, ''Art Of Fighting'' set itself apart by introducing several new gameplay mechanics such as taunting, the addition of a spirit guage to regulate use of speacials, along with supers and desperation attacks. The game's scaling feature also became a series trademark.

* ''{{Gasaraki}}'' started out as a clone of ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', but evolved into more of a spiritual predecessor to ''CodeGeass''.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' used to just be ''{{Warhammer}}'' [[RecycledInSpace with space ships]] before adding its own mythos and creatures.

* The ''MetalGear'' series was initially just a tongue-in-cheek take-off of American spy and action films, but ''MetalGearSolid'' was where the series started to establish its own identity (as the SequelDisplacement can attest to).

* ''SaintsRow'' started out as a pretty straightforward ''GrandTheftAuto'' clone, with the only caveat being ''Saint's Row's'' focus on gang violence. Each game has dialed up the DenserAndWackier aspects, with ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' dialing down the same. Putting ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' side by side with ''SaintsRowTheThird'' shows that the two bear very little resemblance to one another at this point, aside from gameplay involving stealing cars.

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' used to just be ''{{Warhammer}}'' [[RecycledInSpace with space ships]] before adding its own mythos and creatures.

[[AC:Comic Books]]

[[AC:Literature]]

* The Russian version of ''[[MarriedWithChildren Married...With Children]]'' recycled all the scripts from all 11 American seasons and then had a contest for suggestions to write more.

[[AC:Tabletop Games]]

[[AC:Video Games]]

* [[{{SNK}} SNK's]] ''ArtOfFighting'' was perceived by gamers to be a cheap cash-in of rival company [[{{Capcom}} Capcom's]] ''StreetFighter''. Despite this, ''Art Of Fighting'' set itself apart by introducing several new gameplay mechanics such as taunting, the addition of a spirit guage to regulate use of speacials, along with supers and desperation attacks. The game's scaling feature also became a series trademark.

[[AC: Webcomics]]
* Even though it wasn't a stick figure comic to begin with, it's easy to see that ''OurLittleAdventure'' is pretty heavily inspired by ''OrderOfTheStick.'' In 235 pages (and counting) ''OurLittleAdventure'''s style has changed [[ArtEvolution fairly considerably]], both in character design and setting design.

* Even though it wasn't a stick figure comic to begin with, it's easy to see that ''OurLittleAdventure'' is pretty heavily inspired by ''OrderOfTheStick.'' In 235 pages (and counting) ''Our Little Adventure'''s style has changed [[ArtEvolution fairly considerably]], both in character design and setting design.

* {{Deadpool}} used to be [[TeenTitans Deathstroke]] in red until they made him insane and gave him his own fighting style.

* Even though it wasn't a stick figure comic to begin with, it's easy to see that ''OurLittleAdventure'' is pretty heavily inspired by ''OrderOfTheStick.'' In 235 pages (and counting) [[OurLittleAdventure Our Little Adventure's]] style has changed [[ArtEvolution fairly considerably]], both in character design and setting design.

* The [[TransAtlanticEquivalent US version]] of ''TheOffice'' began with the original scripts but actually ran longer than the original.

This technique can be quite a double-edged sword, however. Fans are bound to stay away from such derivative works, either because they know that [[SturgeonsLaw most imitations are bound to be bad]] or because the work is so similar that they feel no need to invest any time into experiencing more of the same, regardless of quality.

!!Examples

* ''Warhammer40000'' used to just be ''{{Warhammer}}'' [[RecycledInSpace with space ships]] before adding its own mythos and creatures.

* ''TribeTwelve'' started off as a largely forgettable ''MarbleHornets'' clone, but eventually found its own voice after the funeral submission, especially in "Night Recordings."

FollowTheLeader is ubiquitous in all media. The reasons for this vary, ranging from a desire to [[MoneyDearBoy attain some of the success of the original work]] to a desire to [[SincerestFormOfFlattery pay homage to a work that the creator of the derivative work adores]].