History Main / Fanfic

Some franchises -- such as ''Franchise/StarTrek'' -- have actually turned fan fiction into a profit center by creating {{Tie In Novel}}s. These books are usually penned by young and upcoming authors, often former fanfic writers, and represent an intermediate state between fan fiction and completely original fiction.

Not all fanfic is written, though that's the most common form. It can be in any [[{{Formats}} format]] that can tell a story. In Japan, {{manga}} ''{{doujinshi}}'' (amateur "comic books") are a common vehicle; and with the increasing ease of their production on personal computers, [[FanVid fan videos]] (ranging from {{anime}} series, to ''Franchise/StarWars'') have already appeared.

One famous example of this is the manga/anime ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', released well before the Internet became ubiquitous and when many fans had no easy access to the original source material. All manner of details (including the explanation of Akane's mallet as either a [[KiAttacks ki attack]] or as residing in a [[HyperspaceMallet hyperdimensional pocket]], her {{Flanderization}} into a "psychobitch", her [[LethalChef lethal cooking]] (rather than being just bad), and the names and fates of the many {{missing mo|m}}thers were never touched on in the show but became standardized in ''Ranma'' fan fiction over the course of approximately a decade. The process was accelerated and exacerbated by the appearance of fanfiction written by people who had never actually seen the show itself and whose only exposure to ''Ranma'' was other fanfiction.

* Troper/{{Firechick12012}}

* Creator/{{Milarqui}}

* FanFic/PhantomsAnge

Not all fanfic is written, though that's the most common form. It can be in any [[{{Formats}} format]] that can tell a story. In Japan, ''{{doujinshi}}'' (amateur "comic books") are a common vehicle; and with the increasing ease of their production on personal computers, [[FanVid fan videos]] (ranging from {{anime}} series, to ''Franchise/StarWars'') have already appeared.

* BetrayalFic: A fan-fiction where the main character is betrayed by their loved ones, usually resulting in a swift change of alliances and demeanor.

* PseudocanonicalFic: Expanding the universe.

* Creator/{{Starcharter 75}} (''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'')

Currently, the [[NotableFanfictionArchives largest source of fanfiction on the Net]] (and probably anywhere else) is the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly named]] Website/FanFictionDotNet, which as of 2013, offers approximately nine million stories across all but a select few canons (which were banned due to creator request) and an automated system for posting. A newer site called an Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn is starting to nip at Website/FanFictionDotNet's heels though with over 1.7 million stories and less restrictions on what can and can not be posted. And to top it all off, in mid-2013, Amazon.com joined in the act with its Kindle Worlds program, which allows for the publication and sale (!) of fan fiction from specific 'verses.

One problem with fanfiction is sometimes writers don't do their research even when it is very simple. A common occurrence is when an author from a country other than the original work's country of origin writes characters as if they are from their own country. An example is Harry Potter where non-British writers (particularly American) make characters act and think like an American would; this also happens vice versa as seen in Fifty Shades of Grey.

* Creator/Weavillain (WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse)

* to continue a story that ended prematurely (see ContinuationFic);

Although fanfic exploded along with [[TheInternet the Internet]], it existed ''well'' before the Net did. Such luminaries as John Stuart Mill contributed unauthorized, original stories set in a fictional universe. Before medieval French troubadours were shipping [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Launcelot and Guinevere]], the ancient Greeks were writing plays about relationships between characters in ''Literature/TheIliad''. In Creator/{{Plato}}'s ''Literature/{{Symposium}}'' one character complains that a play by Creator/{{Aeschylus}} got the characterization of Achilles and Patroclus wrong. [[SlashFic Namely, that it got the]] LoverAndBeloved dynamic backwards.

* FixFic: The writer is re-writng the story the way they think it "should" be.

* HurtComfortFic: A fan-fiction about Alice comforting Bob who is emotionally hurt.

* SlashFic: Usually erotic {{shipping}} of two characters, often the same sex.

* Creator/ChronicleKing

* FanWorks/OtherMedia (Advertising, Music, Puppet Shows, Theater, Theme Parks, Toys...)

* CoffeeShopAU: A fan-fiction set at a coffee shop, usually in a romantic context.

* AccusationFic: A fanfiction where an episode is rewritten so that the character the author blamed gets the worst of it.
* CrackFic: Bizarre fanfiction.