Anybody have a tag for this?

[darklyndsea]

So, I was looking back over my already-posted fic and realized that there's a trope that I really want a name for but don't have one to tag with. Basically, it's where one character at some point starts living the life of another canon character. Normally, it's done with crossovers but I've seen it done via time travel too. Does anybody have a good tag for that?

Comments

[stealthily]

Do you mean like a body-swap, or just that their life circumstances change to mirror that of the other character? I'd suggest searching Tv Tropes, particularly their "You know that thing where..." forum.

[darklyndsea]

Not really either of those, unless I'm misunderstanding you.

Like, a typical plot might be Harry Potter lives his life up to whatever point, then creates a new identity, gets a new job, etc. and lives his life out as John Sheppard/Albus Dumbledore/whoever, and his new identity didn't exist before he created it.

[franzeska]

Oh, like that type of fic where the actor's character from a different show/movie is secretly the future version of the canon character? I've never seen a general term for it, especially when it goes beyond same-actor-different-project sources for the assumed identity.

[darklyndsea]

Exactly! You'd think that there would be a term for it, since it's definitely a theme some people look for, but I've never seen one.

[elf]

Identity takeover?

I've seen it done a couple of other ways--ghost/possession things, and a mind swap where one of the characters dies.

[darklyndsea]

I think identity takeover makes it sound more like there was previously a person living that life, and then it got stolen, and in most of the fic I've seen it's a new identity.

[trixieleitz]

Ooh, there's a fantastic Inception fic that does that! Must see if I can find it again.

As for a tag - I'm not aware of any that are in use, but if I were to make something up, maybe something like "identity shift"? or "identity merge"?

[healingmirth]

There are a ton of those in Inception, but the only one I have bookmarked is the Calvin and Hobbes one, and that's not tagged anything other than crossover. I don't think I've read any of the ones that use JGL's other roles as the younger identity.

I can't come up with anything pithy. The closest I can get is something like "merged canon characters" but even that doesn't express it.


If I have time later I'll look at the Inception crossovers and see if anyone came up with something good.

[trixieleitz]

The one I'm thinking of isn't a crossover; my Inception fanfic enabler tracked it down to here.

[healingmirth]

Maybe "character welding"? After canon welding: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CanonWelding

Or just canon welding, as-is.

[darklyndsea]

I kind of like character welding; it gets across the whole two characters as one aspect, and that for inexpert authors the transition can be...lumpy.