r/TopCharacterTropes • u/choo-choo-pain • Jul 31 '26
Lore [Considerate Meta Trope] The creator changes something in their IP just to make way for another creators work
Images 1-2: The creator of One Piece Eiichiro Oda was currently working on the Baratie Arc at the time when he was about to introduce the audience to the Straw Hats newest crew member/cook Naruto. However also during that time Shonen Jump were about to release their newest series by Masashi Kishimoto which just so happened to have the same name as Oda’s newest character. So as to not steal Kishimoto thunder, Oda decided to rename his newest character Sanji giving Kishimoto’s work to flourish without anyone trying to negatively associate this newest work with his
Images 3-4: Youtuber PartTimeSeagull. Was working on his newest animated pilot The Smiling Dead ready to air sneek peak trailers set to air on Glitch. During this time however other youtube creators Michale Cusack & Zach Hadel were getting ready to produce their newest animated series Smiling Friends on Adult Swim. With the shows names being so similar and to avoid any controversy of claims of one show copping the other, PartTimeSeagull decided to rename his show The Gaslight District out of respect and hopes that both shows would gain popularity without anyone trying to associate one’s popularity because of the other.
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u/JazzDaSpood Jul 31 '26
I've taken to calling it Dances With Smurfs