A genre of Fanfiction in which we find our plucky young heroes fighting in a large military conflict, whether they want to or not. These fics almost always involve the main characters joining the military in some way, and almost always involve a focus on the weapons, tactics, and politics involved in war and how the characters react to them — as opposed to the characters themselves. Of course, this is helped a long quite a bit if said characters are already in the military. This comes up a lot in series involving immortals (where this often expands on said immortal character's Backstory) and/or Time Travel combined with Historical Fics.
Gun Porn is entirely optional.
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- Bleach:
- Downfall takes a far more realistic outlook on the Winter War and is bitterly violent in both ideology and combat.
- Winter War focuses on La Résistance after Aizen's forces win the Fake Karakura Town battle, Seireitei is occupied, and the rescue party to Hueco Mundo fails.
- "Ranma Goes to War"
and its first (but not second) sequel, sees Ranma, Ryouga, and Kuno getting drafted into a conflict against North Korea.
- Given what subject manner the canon content was original inspired by, it probably isn't too surprising that Hetalia: Axis Powers has many fics of this nature, running the gambit of world history.
- The Poké Wars series is, as the name indicates, a set of war stories set in the Pokémon universe. It's not about war between humans, but between a faction of Pokemon that decided that humans have to be eradicated no matter what, and the humans and Pokémon allied to them. The initial stories are more of a survival action genre, while the Expanded Universe details a proper war effort where both factions are truly established.
- Zero 2: A Revision is somewhat a Digimon 02 war fic, there things goes much more bloodier than the actual series. It gives us questions of what would happen if the Digital Emperor was more sociopathic and had nuclear weapons, if Demon attacked the Real World with a real invasion army, if Devimon returned from the dead and digivolved to a mega, if the Flood and the Covenant from the Halo universe decided to pay a visit, if Malo Myotismon had the power of a God and so on.
- The TSAB – Acturus War: The TSAB goes to war against the Democratic Republic of Acturus.
- The Faceless (Disguise of Carnivorism) is a Death Note War Fic where the human race is dying out while they kill each other over whether or not they should kill each other to serve the Gods of Death.
- Considering the war drama settings of Mobile Suit Gundam and its numerous series, as well as the War Is Hell message, it's no surprise to see many fanfics follow the canonical trend. They come as side stories, sequels, or even prequels to the wars already seen.
- The Morrigan, a Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury fic, has a Point of Divergence that prevents Quiet Zero from being stopped in its infancy. As a result, it rises to become a major power in the solar system, at war with the Space Assembly League and Benerit Group. Meanwhile, the Dawn of Fold terrorist group exploits the chaos by driving the Benerit and SAL off the earth, uniting it under their banner. The characters from the show fight either on the front lines, or are high ranking or even leaders of the various factions.
- Kokuten: No Massacre means the Uchiha are very much alive and kicking to execute their long-planned coup d'état, therefore Konoha is in the middle of a Civil War. Shinobi kids (such as Ino and Konoha's resident jinchuuriki) are being kidnapped as bargaining chips against Konoha's key operatives, ANBU has been deployed in full force, skirmishes are rampant, and eventually, the Hyuga Clan is convinced to aid the Uchiha Police force in combat.
Comic Books
- All the Roofs of Uncertainty starts during the final battle between earth and extraterrestrial invaders and deals with the aftermath of the fight for the protagonist in the JLA's field hospital.
Crossover
- The backstory of Fallout: Equestria involves the Mane Six becoming Equestria's military leaders under Princess Luna after Princess Celestia abdicates following the Littlehorn Massacre, leading to a genocidal total war against the zebra nation. They fail miserably, all of their combined personality flaws and Luna's mismanagement contributing to Equestria's ruin, with four of the one of them disappearing, two dying horrific deaths during the apocalypse and the other two being consigned to staying alive and witnessing the downfall of their world without being able to do anything. The "luckiest" one gets locked in a Stable.
- The Last of the Cliffhangers Unit featured the cast of Higher Ground in the Future Badass arc of a largely uncompleted Mega Crossover in which Scott's stepmother Elaine is a demon general and the Cliffhangers are a Special Forces Unit. The fic really only covers the beginning and the end and doesn't really going into the complexities of the actual meat of the actual war part of it. The second chapter of Curse of Life, Miracle of Death takes place in the same timeframe (the first and third chapters were largely self-insertion).
- The plot of MLP Next Generation: Know Fear! and its sequels is driven by a war between Equestria and the griffons.
- The Night Unfurls is a Crossover between Bloodborne and Kuroinu.note The original version of the story has Kyril and the Black Dogs, the most renowned mercenary group in Eostia, being tasked with ending the centuries-old war against Olga, which they do under 2 chapters. However, said mercenary group proceeds to stage a military coup against the country. The rest of the plot details how Eostia, the "good" faction, has to contend with enemies from the outside (the Black Dogs) and the inside (traitors working for the Black Dogs).
- Of State deals with a war between the United Norse Kingdom under Hiccup's leadership and the Northern Alliance, with Arendelle eventually getting caught in the crossfire.
- The whole idea of Pink Alert 3 is a huge World War breaking out between the icy Soviet Pony Republic, the battered Holy Equestrian Alliance and the underwater Aquestrian Empire. The magic begins when Soviet tanks invade the Alliance without warning (but possibly not without justification, considering what life is like for the ponies and other creatures living there) and the Equestrians mobilize their armies, including their ridiculously overpowered Air Force, to defend themselves. Further into the backstory, there was also the Pink Rebellion, a Communist uprising against the unchallenged tyranny of the Alicorns. It failed, but perhaps luckily, led to the Republic being established in the Frozen North by the surviving rebels.
- PonyCraft: Friends of Equestria is a crossover of StarCraft II and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (as Star Craft is a war game, well$). Here, Twilight also has to learn how to be a leader.
- There is also Ace Combat: Equestria Chronicles, with Rainbow Dash being The Heroine.
- Reunions Are a Bitch is probably one of the best examples in the Intercontinuity Crossover category. Featuring what has got to be the most detailed (and, as a consequence, one of the longest) description and execution of a crossover between Stargate SG-1 and Battlestar Galactica ever made. For lovers of realism, politics, and massive space battles it's a must. Can be read here.
- The Terminators: Army of Legend is based around the trials and tribulations of an elite army from the moment of their inception and onward to present day. There are a large number of conflicts that occur throughout the series, but the most prominent is easily the Second American Civil War between radical United States President Barry Mabao and the Terminator Militia. The Second Civil War spans two volumes, one of them surpassing quadruple digits in its page length. Even after the conclusion of the war, its effect still radiates even far in the future of the storyline.
- Time War chronicles the events of the Time Lords being dropped into the Star Trek universe at the end of the last great Time War.
- ''Trek Wars: The Furry Conflict is exactly that: a pitched conflict of good and evil across two galaxies in a dystopic alternate timeline where the UFP and the Empire are whaling on each-other with everything they got and everyone (save for a few Star Wars species) is a furry. Notable for being one of the longest running (and by longest, we mean it updates maybe twice a year) crossover series on the net.
Films — Animation
- Twilight Valley. Yes, a The Land Before Time war fic!
- Out of the Shadows is even more of a war fic taking place in the Land Before Time universe there almost everyone dies, included the main characters.
- Out of the Shadows
- Ice on the Rhine: A Frozen fanfic starting from the assumption that Frozen is set during the Napoleonic Wars. It is a crossover with various other Disney films (though mainly Tangled). In which Elsa builds a giant ice dragon to fight with Napoleon's armies at Waterloo, Anna is a semi-psychopathic soldier, and other such fun things.
Films — Live-Action
- Rise Of The Red Eclipse: A Star Wars fic that has plenty of huge battles in space and on the ground while also trying to use realistic physics in place of the Space Is an Ocean tactics that Star Wars universe is infamous for at times.
- Tarkin's Fist: The story is dedicated to the war fought between the nations of the Earth and a faction of stranded castaways from the Galactic Empire. The narrative focuses on ground forces from the Empire and countries around the world, as well as the political maneuvers of the leaders of each faction as they struggle for control of the Solar System.
- Top Gun: Lonestar is a fan sequel to Top Gun: Maverick, written by the below-mentioned Major Nomad.
Literature
- There's a Good Omens fanfic series that sends Crowley to the trenches.
- The Worldwar fanfic Worldwar: War of Equals has The Race, thanks to a twist of fate, arrive in 2011 instead of 1942.
- In the Warriors fic Bluefur's Choice, the Clans are at war with one another.
Live-Action TV
- Firefly fanfic does this quite a bit, with the Miranda wave being the catalyst for a second major war between the Alliance and the Independents. Prequels or flashback chapters focusing on Mal and Zoe's wartime experiences are also common.
- The Gateworld Virtual Fleet: It focuses mostly on the galactic and intergalactic conflicts in the future of the Stargate-verse.
- In Doctor Who, the Last Great Time War has never been reviewed in canon, save as a Noodle Incident (for cost measures, the Time War lies according to Russell T Davies above the budget of the whole BBC in a year). Needless to say, this means the Eighth Doctor has some fanfiction about this occasion.
- With the reveal of the War Doctor he seems to be taking this role.
- ''The Last Great Time War'' is a good example, revealing many mysteries about the Time War and striving to be the first fanfiction to cover it fully.
- ''The Last Great Time War''
- With the reveal of the War Doctor he seems to be taking this role.
- Sherlock has the War AU ''Two Two One Bravo Baker''.
- Loaded March is this for Merlin (2008).
Toys
- Scars of War deals with recovery from a war, rather than the war itself. Ponyland is recovering from several years of war.
Video Games
- ''CombatEvolution'' is a Halo fanfic that attempts to rewrite a well known event in the Halo canon . . . with really, really, REALLY expensive weapons systems. If you like Gun Porn, you will LOVE this fic.
- Speaking of Halo, it has a crossover with Warhammer 40k called Chains Of The Kindred.
- And then there's From Harvest to the Ark, which follows the life of an 'ordinary' UNSC soldier, and is notable for paying close attention to military structure and slang.
- Speaking of Halo, it has a crossover with Warhammer 40k called Chains Of The Kindred.
- Exoria is a distant, modern-day sequel to The Legend of Zelda series. Despite managing to stay true to the usual Zelda formula, such as item acquisitions, dungeon grinds, and boss fights, the author never fails to remind you that the story is set in the midst of a continental war, and things can get brutal.
- Played with in the Zelda fanfic Liberty Rock. Link goes off to help hold a fort in a neighboring country's civil war, but rather than focusing on the tactics, politics, or weaponry, the main focus of the story is on the characters' days besieged in the fort dealing with monotony, stress, and dwindling hope.
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater fanfic The Joy of Battle is set during World War II, which fits with MGS canon. Unlike the majority of MGS fics, especially those taking place during World War II, The Joy of Battle averts most War Fic tropes in that the story is about the characters with war as a backdrop and a complication.
- Tiberium Wars is one of the better-known examples. A full-blown novelization of one of the most popular RTS franchises out there.
- Armored Core fanfic Armored Core: from the Ashes is set very closely after the events of Armored Core for Answer, and with the reformed ORCA winning.
- Mario Warfare, a retake on Super Mario Bros. in the style of modern military action.
- Numerous Kerbal Space Program fan-works and GameMods.
- Creator/Thuggery is a solid example of a military-themed fanfiction author:
- How It Begins and Written by the Victor are war-fic novelizations of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, respectively.
- Pinnacle Wraith is a more realistic take on the plot of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, with plenty of Gun Porn and military action.
- Major Nomad has written several of these, specifically for Battlefield 4, Left 4 Dead, and the Call of Duty series.
Western Animation
- World War Etheria depicts a formalized war without dipping into Artistic License – Military; detailing all the politics, tactical maneuvering and logistics that a globe spanning conflict entails. More in depth then showcased in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power but still keeping the characters at the forefront.
- A lesser known example, but still worth mentioning, is the Kim Possible fanfic Horrors Of War. Featuring everyone's favorite teen heroes, and Josh, traveling back in time to The Vietnam War. Obviously, a certain combat trope is in full effect here.
- Popular in the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom:
- The Immortal Game, which is all about the Mane Cast leading one side of a war for control of Equestria (against Celestia and Luna's parents). For bonus points, the original title was "Ponies Make War''.
- Equestria Total War features a full-on invasion of Equestria by Gryphonia.
- A Kingdom Divided has Luna rebel against Celestia after unrest owing to economic downturn and a belief that the elder Princess can't or won't sympathize with the poorer classes.
- M.A.N.E. is an alternate-universe story about the build up to, and aftermath of, a nuclear war between Equestria and their rival nation, the Union of Saddle Republics, or USR.
- The Conversion Bureau spawned a large number of recursive fanfiction stories in this vein. Turns out, having a massive magical barrier that's going to erase all human culture and the ponies running what can only be called a horrifying Assimilation Plot on the humans makes for great fodder for war fics. The most prolific of these include The Conversion Bureau: The Other Side of the Spectrum (and its Continuity Reboot Spectrum), The Conversion Bureau: Not Alone, The Negotiations-verse, and The Conversion Bureau: Cold War.
- Prince Iroh by Acastus. An Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic which tells the story of Iroh's first big break in the Hundred Year War.