The Construction of Transmedial Characters by Fans and Industry

This paper explores how audiences build/actualize transmedial characters by studying the way in which fan fiction writers recreate the character of Toshizō Hijikata (frrom the game Hakuoki). It proposes that transmedial characters can be understood as a network of recognizable traits and relations built from several media instantiations. It finally argues that considering the performative dimension of fan fiction writing can yield more productive analyses than focusing on canon, consistency or faithfulness to a historical truth.