All There in the Manual: Difference between revisions

* [[The DCU]]'s super-hero espionage comic ''[[Checkmate]]'' has a supplemental website whose address, www.gideonii.com, was hinted at within the story. {{spoiler|Username CARL DRAPER, password wilhelmina; subject to change.}} It's [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|ostensibly the diary]] of a minor character within the story, written in the first person, with entries detailing various elements of the series in greater depth and hinting at future plot events.

* ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Book)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' v.4 had a role-playing sourcebook that included various pieces of info and backstory not in the comic itself. It's particularly notable because Volume 4 was set five years after the previous series and featured a radically different status quo, with many unexplained situations and characters which had histories the audience knew nothing of.

** This is actually extensively played with in the course of the story. All Fables that join Fabletown are granted a General Amnesty - meaning that their pasts are essentially 'forgiven' and thus, never need to be spoken of, ever again. As for Totenkinder herself, there is an in-universe theory that mundane recognition grants power - neo-revolutionary Goldilocks, for example, does not seem to be capable of dying because of how incredibly popular and enduring her story is. Totenkinder has stated she doesn't think much of this theory and has gone to great lengths to keep stories featuring her as low-key as possible, and yet she seems to display the same ability, dying again and again but always coming back. The one story she appears in that simply 'won't go away' - heavily implied to be Hansel and Gretel's story, in which she meets her end burned to death in her own oven - her name is never mentioned. 'Totenkinder', which literally means 'Child Killer', is very likely not remotely her real name.

** This can, however, be slightly frustrating when dealing with relatively major supporting characters that have incredibly obscure folktales - such as 'Kay', a man with a sliver of a broken magic mirror in his eye socket that is cursed with the ability to see all the evil done in the life of anyone he looks at. Luckily, the narrative ''usually'' makes such things clear in context.

* The fourth and final book in [[The Dalemark Quartet]] is followed by a "Guide to Dalemark," a sort of glossary of terms, places, and characters. It contains a lot of supplementary information not mentioned within the stories themselves.

* In case you were wondering just what the hell Gilead was, what purpose the Gunslingers had, and why the Tower's down to two Beams, try reading a book called ''Black House'' by Peter Straub and [[Stephen King]]. You'll actually get more information there about what ''[[The Dark Tower]]'' is all about that you will in all seven of King's books.

* [[The Dresden Files]] has an [[The Dresden Files (game)|RPG supplement]] that not only exists in-universe, but was edited for content by Dresden, and includes references to upcoming books.

* [[Eoin Colfer]] released a tie-in book to the ''[[Artemis Fowl]]'' series which contained some "interviews" with the main characters and the author, the substitution cipher for the Gnommish alphabet, and two short stories involving Holly Short and Mulch Diggums.

* Almost all of the powerup names in the ''[[Backyard Sports]]'' series nowadays come from the manuals for the respective games.

* Normally, the mostly-textless opening cutscene of ''[[Stretch Panic]]'' is utterly confusing and makes no sense. But with the multiple pages of story in the manual, it becomes...very confusing, making little sense. Given that it's a [[Treasure]] game, though, that's par for the course.

** Also, the same novelization explains the origin of his powers: He [[Deal with the Devil|made a pact with Satan]] to gain control of hellspawn to conquer the world. It also explained that he gained control of Hell because of his disposing of Satan.

* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Lunar: The Silver Star|Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete]]'', the Magic Emperor, has a huge air of mystery about his true identity for much of the game...provided you never look through your ocarina's playlist.

* In the first ''[[Shenmue]]'' every single character, from Ryo to Nozomi to the guys who exist only to get beaten up in the 70 Man Fight, has their own name and backstory, most of them fairly detailed and interesting. Did you know that the girl working outside the thrift shop is really the daughter of a wealthy family who ran away to escape an arranged marriage? Or that the reason Nozomi is in love with Ryo is due to him defending her from bullies? Unless you've gone out of your way to search for the bios most likely not.

* Much of the backstory in ''[[Nie R]]'' is kept in the supplementary book ''Grimoire Nier'', including the game's [[Gaiden Game|connection]] to ''[[Drakengard]]'' and the beginnings of Project Gestalt.

* ''[[The Reconstruction]]'', sort of. There's an in-game glossary that has background information and history on tons of things, some of which are part of the plot that the game itself only half-explains to you. Fortunately, though, none of it is really vital to understanding the actual plot.

* The plot of ''[[Shatterhand]]'' isn't really stated at all in the game proper.