There is no threshold. And yes, I agree, all fanfics are technically AUs, particularly canon divergence. But allow me to paste the description of it on Fanlore, since my explanation doesn't seem to be clear enough:
The term AU covers a wide range of divergence from the original canon, from universes where only a tiny tweak has occurred to diverge it from the canon to AUs that are so different as to border on origfic - sometimes called "radical AUs". Some fans question the merits of calling these works fanfiction, arguing that they are so unrecognisable as to be effectively original. Another argument is that all fanworks are by their nature AUs, as they will inevitably differ from the canon in some way, shape or form.
So here's what I'll leave you with: it all depends on who you're asking when it comes to AUs. I don't think there's a threshold, as I said before, since everything is just up to interpretation by those who write fanfic/have been involved. Thanks for your input; have a great day. Hope the Fanlore explanation helps more than I did. Also, I'm not here to argue, since all that the commenter was asking for was what qualifies as an AU, and I gave my answer. Nice try, though.
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Hakvrei Sun 08 Feb 2026 06:29PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 08 Feb 2026 06:34PM UTC
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