Transmigration

Tropes and genres
Synonym(s)	body change
Related tropes/genres	Reincarnation, bodyswap
See also	Isekai, Self-insertion, time travel
Related articles on Fanlore.

Transmigration is when a person's soul is transferred into another body, frequently in an entirely different world, but not necessarily. A character who transmigrates is usually referred to as a transmigrator.

Transmigration often happens following the person's death, though it's not a requirement of the trope. Characters can also transmigrate into each other's bodies, resulting in a bodyswap.

The trope gained strength/recognition with its use in Chinese and Korean webnovels, but its origin goes back to ancient Greece with the term -- attributed to Pythagoras -- metempsychosis.

Many pieces of transmigration fiction specifically deal with the idea of a protagonist entering into a world that they are aware is fictional, such as a video game or manga. In such works, the protagonist often uses their knowledge of the work they have transmigrated into in order to make changes to the original plot.

Relation to Other Tropes

Isekai

This genre has some similarities with the isekai genre, which originates from Japanese media.

Both genres can be used to explore how an average, modern-day person might react to waking up in a completely foreign world and role (frequently to serve as escapism or a power fantasy with variations on what type of changes they bring to the setting).

In some stories, the new setting is an entirely original world, while in others it is a fictional world that already existed in that modern-day person's world.

Transmigration always involves a character being removed from their original body, whereas characters in isekai stories may retain their body. Additionally, transportation between worlds is required for isekai stories, whereas the transmigration genre also includes stories self-contained to one world, such as in body swap stories where two characters in the same setting switch bodies.

Self-Insert

This trope also has some commonalities with a certain execution of the self-insert trope (especially self-insert OCs), where a character from the modern day is transplanted into a different world and affects it with their knowledge.

However, in these stories it is fairly common for the displaced character to be reborn as a baby or at the start of their new body's life, whereas transmigration typically places the person in an existing body or role.

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is similar to transmigration in that a person's soul is given a new life, which may be in a different world, place, or role than their original life. However, a reincarnated person may have no recollection, or only hazy memories, of their past life, while transmigrators typically recall their previous life with clarity. Additionally, reincarnation requires a person to die and then be reborn, starting from the beginning of their new life. A person doesn't have to die to transmigrate, and they may transmigrate into an established body of someone who has already existed for many years. In these cases, the transmigrator is not starting a fresh, new life as much as they are taking over the life of someone else.

Bodyswap

A body swap can occur when two or more characters transmigrate into each others' bodies. This is a less common form of transmigration than situations where a person transmigrates into a body and the fate of the person/soul previously inhabiting that body is unknown.

Subtropes

Protagonist Transmigration

In this type of story, the main character transmigrates into the body of the central character of a fictional work. Sometimes, this type of novel involves the protagonist themselves traveling back in time and using their foreknowledge to alter events that they already lived through.

Protagonist's Parent or Guardian Transmigration

In this type of transmigration story, the main character transmigrates into the body of a character who serves as a caretaker for a major character in a fictional work. These stories are often heavy on fluff and domesticity.

Villain/Villainess Transmigration

In this type of story, the main character transmigrates into the body of an antagonist of a fictional work. Often, these stories feature characters transmigrating into the bodies of characters that they know will die or meet some other undesirable fate, and the plot revolves around the transmigrator attempting to make changes that will avert that fate.

Canon Fodder Transmigration

These stories feature the protagonist transmigrating into the life of a minor character in a fictional work. Similar to villain transmigration stories, these stories often focus on the protagonist's efforts to avoid dying or otherwise meeting the same fate as their counterpart in the original work.

Canon and Fanwork Examples

Canon media

• Ghost Whisperer, Jim Clancy -- protagonist's husband -- dies and transmigrates to Sam Lucas's newly deceased body.
• Drop Dead Diva, a thin young model dies and transmigrates to the body of a chubby lawyer.
• The films Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Down to Earth (2001), all of which adapt the stage play Heaven Can Wait (1938) by Harry Segall, where a young man dies before the hour and returns to earth in an old man's body to live what his lack of life.
• Source Code (2011), where a young soldier transmigrates to the body of a deceased, reliving the past several times, in order to prevent a bomb attack on a train.
• Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, where the main character transmigrates into the body of the villain of a webnovel he read.
• My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, in which the main character transmigrates into the villainess of an otome game.

Fanworks

• Fix It In Post by qikiqtarjuaq. After a cast party stunt gone wrong, Zhu Yilong and Bai Yu find themselves transported to the Guardian universe, where they have to fix what went wrong in order to return to the real world.
• Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen. A Naruto SI OC fanfiction centered on a person who reincarnates as a member of the Nara clan
• I just haven't learned how to be human (as you are yet) by imsotiredbutigottafinishthisfic. A Nakahara Chuuya/Dazai Osamu fic inspired by Bgtea's Entirely Out Of Spite and Scum Villian's Self Saving System. In this, Chuuya Nakahara reincarnates as a villain of his favorite manga.

Thematic lists and rec sets for transmigration stories

• Geek Culture: Geek's Guide to Transmigration Novels
• Transmigration Novel Recommendations thread from r/noveltranslations
• transmigration novel reviews by michilun on WordPress
• Transmigration Time list by Saygo on MyDramaList
• Transmigration BL list by misania_chan on WattPad

External Links

• Transmigration tag on NovelUpdates
• Transmigration tag on AO3
• Transmigration tag on WattPad