History Main / AlternateHistory

It is different from an AlternateUniverse, where the difference is in the fictional elements of the story. "What if Superman's ship [[Comicbook/SupermanRedSon landed in Soviet Russia]]?" or "What if Charles Xavier [[ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse died before creating the X-Men]]?" are examples. However, the alternate universe may lead to alternate history as well: [[AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome Alternate Reed Richards may change human society]], Dr. Doom may give up [[ThrowAwayCountry ruling Latveria]] and begin to conquer or destroy actual countries, or Red Skull [[PresidentEvil may be elected President]]. In those cases, the alternate history is a side consequence, not the basic premise.

Often set some time after the event (called a "PointOfDivergence", or POD, by fans of the genre), such stories typically describe a PresentDay world vastly changed by the difference, or follow another major historical event in light of the change. Sometimes linked with a TimeTravel story; the point of divergence is often caused by travelers from "our" timeline (OTL in alt-history parlance) seeking to effect a desired change. The protagonists may be {{original character}}s or [[HistoricalDomainCharacter actual historical figures]]. LampshadeHanging occurs often in these types of stories (an AllohistoricalAllusion); often, a character will stop to muse on what the world would be like if history had gone the way it did in the real world. Which, we suppose, is TruthInTelevision... after all, lampshading this trope is the entire point of alternate histories.

Often, the change's ultimate source is ForWantOfANail. If "historically unimportant" characters are involved, expect InSpiteOfANail. For less drastic changeovers (such as slight differences between their world and ours), see NeverWasThisUniverse. Some settings will undo these changes with RubberBandHistory.