History Main / SameStoryDifferentNames

* ''VideoGame/Game/MegaMan 1''-''6'' (and ''9'' and ''10'') are infamous for this. They all are essentially exactly the same, gameplay wise, just with different levels and bosses.

* ''MetalGear 2'', ''MetalGearSolid'', ''MetalGearSolid 2'', and (to a slightly lesser extent) ''MetalGearSolid: Portable Ops'' and ''MetalGear: Ghost Babel'' have extremely, extremely similar plots, events and setpieces, with only the names/justification changed (although the similarity between ''[=MGS1=]'' and ''[=MGS2=]'' is lampshaded/deconstructed by the story). ''MetalGear'', ''MetalGearSolid 3'' and ''MetalGearSolid: Peace Walker'' have suspiciously similar plots to each other as well, although it's not as clear as with the first four. ''MetalGearSolid 4'' had its own plot, and, coincidentally or otherwise, it's [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks more often than the others considered by fans to be really incoherent and bad]].

** ''MetalGear Ac!d'' and its sequel have very similar stories, events and setpieces to each other, too. (Snake infiltrates a laboratory performing experiments on children due to the urging of a general keeping information from him, gets a blond female MissFanservice assistant, develops a rivalry with an enemy [[TheBrute Brute]] who is [[WorthyOpponent actually a pretty]] [[PunchclockVillain nice guy]], is [[StalkerWithACrush stalked somewhat homoerotically]] by the lead scientist in the base, is constantly plagued by the suspicion that his memories may be lies and he may just be the TomatoInTheMirror, and ends up in the thrall of the manipulations of an extremely powerful little girl with the spirit of a dead person living on inside them.) The similarity between them is lampshaded in the story with a couple of obvious {{Nostalgia Level}}s, but not justified at all. They also both do callbacks to ''MetalGearSolid'' with levels where you have to go out of your way to get sniper rifles.

* The critically/fan-acclaimed albums for Metallica tend to be down to an 8-9 song formula. Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice For All, and Death Magnetic all follow a similar structure to the music, with varying music lengths based on how advanced CD/LP technology is at the time.

* The majority of the ''FinalFantasy'' series. 90% of the [[BigBad Big Bads]] are PsychoPrototype [[OmnicidalManiac Omnicidal Maniacs]] who want to bring about the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt it because they're either [[CardCarryingVillain completely evil]] or [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity completely batshit insane.]]
** YourMilageMayVary. Only Kuja, Kefka and Sephiroth where PsychoPrototype and motives vary between SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum, Nihilism, [[AGodAmI seeking Godhood]], valuing their own people over humanity or simply because [[ItsWhatIDo its what they where programed to do]].

* ''Game/MegaMan 1''-''6'' (and ''9'' and ''10'') are infamous for this. They all are essentially exactly the same, gameplay wise, just with different levels and bosses.

* Two films written and produced by JohnHughes and directed by Howard Deutch in the late '80s, ''PrettyInPink'' and ''SomeKindOfWonderful'', have essentially the same plot but with most of the genders reversed. A poor teenager (Andie/Keith) has an unrequited crush on a rich classmate (Blaine/Amanda), unaware that her/his quirky platonic best friend (Duckie/Watts) is deeply in love with her/him and facing retribution from said rich kid's evil friend/boyfriend (Steff/Hardy). The difference is that, [[FocusGroupEnding because the test audience didn't like the ending]], in ''Pretty in Pink'' Andie ended up with Blaine; Hughes wrote ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' because he was upset at the ExecutiveMeddling. ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' arguably ends up the better movie for it, too, since the story includes Hughes's personal appreciation for art and music, themes which were largely missing from ''Pretty in Pink''.

* Karel Čapek did this with his play [[RossumsUniversalRobots R.U.R.]] and novel "War With the Newts". The major difference was that in the one case, the [[RobotRebellion robot rebellion]] involved actual robots (well, sort of...) and in the other case, involved a strange race of sentient newts that were [[SlaveRace enslaved/treated like robots]]. Because of the different media, though, both works stand pretty well on their own (though R.U.R. is far more famous, if only because it [[TropeNamer originated the term "robot"]]).

** Furthermore, in addition to having the same plot, Modesitt uses [[{{Microts}} the same fictional units]] in vastly different settings that have nothing to do with each other. Time is measured in "eightdays" instead of weeks, distance is in "kays", and "ser" is the gender-neutral equivalent to "sir".
*** What, you mean 'kays' as in kilometers as in the unit of distance used in the majority of the world outside the US? I think we can give him a pass on that one.
**** Yes, as kilometers, but he uses these units in his fantasy books as well.

* Most of DavidEddings' work is like this, following a very clear HighFantasy outline with lots of Expys, LampshadeHanging, and snark (though he did tend to play around a bit with what personalities occupied what roles- in TheBelgariad, for example, TheHero is a farmboy ChosenOne and the BigBad is a GodOfEvil in the traditional Satanic vein; in TheElenium, the roles are held by a KnightInSourArmor and an EldritchAbomination, respectively). Early on, Eddings had more than enough skill to pull this off and was a great case-study in TropesAreNotBad. Later Eddings- well, YourMileageMayVary (except for [[SoBadItsHorrible The Dreamers]], where it probably won't).

* SarahDessen's books almost always follow this formula: . The girl has an annoying, messed up family situation, girl doesn't know how to deal with it, girl meets boy, boy fixes everything in girl's hypothetical world, and then there's always that moment when Girl and Boy are going to have a falling out, but they'll be back together by the end.

An Author makes a big hit. Then he proceeds to write more stories with essentially the same plot as their first hit.

* Vivian Vande Velde's ''Dragon Bait'' and ''Companions of the Night'' tell virtually the same story: a teenage female protagonist with a MissingMom suffers a false accusation, and subsequently both her and her father's lives are endangered. Enter a TallDarkAndSnarky ReallySevenHundredYearsOld supernatural male lead who offers to guide the heroine in her quest. Despite the man's general dangerousness and untrustworthiness, the heroine accepts because she has no one else to turn to, and she quickly finds herself growing attached to him. This culminates in the capture of both the male lead and the heroine by the main villain. The villain is killed in such a way that the heroine is not (fully) responsible. The heroine then saves the male lead from his one weakness - daylight - and the books end on an ambiguously positive note. The difference? The male lead in ''Dragon's Bait'' is [[OurDragonsAreDifferent a dragon]]; in ''Companions of the Night,'' he's a much more marketable vampire.

* ''MetalGear 2'', ''MetalGearSolid'', ''MetalGearSolid 2'', and (to a slightly lesser extent) ''MetalGearSolid: Portable Ops'' have extremely, extremely similar plots, events and setpieces, with only the names/justification changed (although the similarity between ''[=MGS1=]'' and ''[=MGS2=]'' is lampshaded/deconstructed by the story). ''MetalGear'', ''MetalGearSolid 3'' and ''MetalGearSolid: Peace Walker'' have suspiciously similar plots to each other as well, although it's not as clear as with the first four. ''MetalGearSolid 4'' had its own plot, and, coincidentally or otherwise, it's often considered by fans to be really incoherent and bad.

** ''MetalGear Ac!d'' and its sequel have very similar stories, events and setpieces to each other, too. (Snake infiltrates a laboratory performing experiments on children due to the urging of a general keeping information from him, gets a blond female FetishFuelStationAttendent assistant, develops a rivalry with an enemy [[TheBrute Brute]] who is [[WorthyOpponent actually a pretty]] [[PunchclockVillain nice guy]], is [[StalkerWithACrush stalked somewhat homoerotically]] by the lead scientist in the base, is constantly plagued by the suspicion that his memories may be lies and he may just be the TomatoInTheMirror, and ends up in the thrall of the manipulations of an extremely powerful little girl with the spirit of a dead person living on inside them.) The similarity between them is lampshaded in the story with a couple of obvious {{Nostalgia Level}}s, but not justified at all. They also both do callbacks to ''MetalGearSolid'' with levels where you have to go out of your way to get sniper rifles.

Compare SpiritualSuccessor, which is more angled toward sequels than rehashing. See also {{Expy}} and StrictlyFormula.

* Two films written and produced by JohnHughes in the late '80s, ''PrettyInPink'' and ''SomeKindOfWonderful'', have essentially the same plot but with most of the genders reversed. A poor teenager (Andie/Keith) has an unrequited crush on a rich classmate (Blaine/Amanda), unaware that her/his quirky platonic best friend (Duckie/Watts) is deeply in love with her/him and facing retribution from said rich kid's evil friend/boyfriend (Steff/Hardy). The difference is that, [[FocusGroupEnding because the test audience didn't like the ending]], in ''Pretty in Pink'' Andie ended up with Blaine; Hughes wrote ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' because he was upset at the ExecutiveMeddling. ''Some Kind of Wonderful'' arguably ends up the better movie for it, too, since the story includes Hughes's personal appreciation for art and music, themes which were largely missing from ''Pretty in Pink''.

* ''{{Megaman}}'' 1-6 (and 9 and 10) are infamous for this. They all are essentially exactly the same, gameplay wise, just with different levels and bosses.

* ''FirstDaughter'' and ''ChasingLiberty''. Both films are about the President's daughter, who manages to convince her father to give her more freedom, then falls in love with a guy who is really a Secret Service agent.

Compare SpiritualSuccessor, which is more angled toward sequels than rehashing. See also {{Expy}}.

* GilbertAndSullivan. It'd be easier to count the number of shows that don't revolve around the "beautiful soprano engaged to the elderly comic patter baritone is seduced by the valiant young tenor, who is himself sought by an aging alto hag" plotline than the ones that do have it. Only a few shows like ''The Pirates of Penzance'' (where the elderly comic patter baritone is the father of the beautiful soprano, not the rival love interest) and ''Ruddigore'' (where the patter baritone is the romantic lead) partially avert this trope.

Compare SpiritualSuccessor, which is more angled toward sequels than rehashing.