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[[File:even a woman.jpg|link=Crisis on Infinite Earths|frame|The criminal and the ape-thing, okay. But a ''[[Rule 63|woman]]''?! That's just silly.]]
{{quote|'''John Oliver:''' You've stated you believe there could be an infinite number of parallel universes. Does that mean there is a universe out there where I am smarter than you?
'''[[Stephen Hawking]]:''' Yes, and also a universe where you are funny.
|''[[Last Week Tonight]]''}}
A story in which the characters we know are seen in a reality that's somehow different, often disturbingly so. If they can access multiple alternative realities, that's [[The Multiverse]].
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Specific variations:
* [[Alternate History]]
* [[Another Dimension]]
* [[Bizarro Universe]]
* [[For Want of a Nail]]
** [[In Spite of a Nail]]
* [[Mirror Universe]]
* [[The Multiverse]]
* [[Elseworld]]
* [[Wonderful Life]]
* [[Alternate Tooniverse]]
Another type of '''Alternate Universe''' is that which doesn't take any of the characters, but instead takes concepts, or machines. Such '''Alternate Universes''' are uncommon, but exist. ''[[Gundam]]'' is the perfect example, with no less than ''seven'' separate universes, all of them rehashing essentially the same plots and concepts—in particular, the conflict between those living in space and those living on Earth. With [[Humongous Mecha|giant robots.]]
{{examples}}
== Anime
* During the Third Impact sequence of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', Shinji is shown an alternate universe mirroring a stereotypical love comedy anime (which has since become an official ''Evangelion'' [[Elseworld]]).
* Every path in the multi-route ''[[Nasuverse|TYPE-MOON]]'' games is a potential outcome of the main scenario, which makes it rather difficult to establish [[Canon|the rules of the 'verse]] due to the plot differences in each route; according to [[Word of God]], [[The Multiverse|all of them are canon]].
* In the fourth ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' novel, ''The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya'', Kyon suddenly finds himself in a world without supernatural powers, with what SOS members remain leading normal, human lives.
** It is, however, quite important to the plot that it actually
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' has one of these in Episode 26 with {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad]]'s [[Lotus Eater Machine]].}}
** In a different vein, the new ''Parallel Works'' music videos leading up to the movie seem to be using these.
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* The [[Hetalia Bloodbath 2010]] event: {{spoiler|the culprits turn out to be alternate versions of various countries from another world where everyone has cat ears and they walk around nude like it's no problem, and apparently contains ''123 different Frances.'' The survival of that world depends on finding a nation with a certain mark on their chest or butt before the end of Christmas, hence the stripping.}} [[It Makes Sense in Context]].
** And that's not counting the [[High School AU]] or the [[Gender Bending|Nyotalia-verse]] {{spoiler|which Estonia stumbles upon}}.
*
== Comic Books ==
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* ''[[Sinister Dexter]]'' introduced an alternate universe, which fans dubbed the [[Fan Nickname|Doppelverse]], around the time it [[Cerebus Syndrome|got serious]]. The [[Point of Divergence]] is that in the Doppelverse, the title characters were killed while still a pair of punk kids, with the result that most of their enemies are still alive and can [[Back from the Dead|come back to make trouble]].
== Fan Works ==
* The ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' fanfic ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]'' is set in an alternate universe where the countries have more power and are able to bend the rules more than in canon. Romano proves this by overseeing a [[polyamory|polyamorous]] marriage between Germany, Italy, and Japan.▼
* Due to the
▲* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' fanfic ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]'' is set in an alternate universe where the countries have more power and are able to bend the rules more than in canon. Romano proves this by overseeing a [[polyamory|polyamorous]] marriage between Germany, Italy, and Japan.
▲* Due to the reality bending nature of AT-field in ''[[Aeon Natum Engel]]'', there was a brief glimpse of Episode 2 of the original ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', where Unit 01 got his head pierced with blood flying everywhere. The fic itself may or may not get into this after a certain [[Rocks Fall Everybody Dies]] ending.
* Two of these exist in ''[[Phoenix's SSBB Case Files]]'', [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|aptly named]] Alternate Turnabout and Alternate Turnabout 2. The first has Larry Butz working as a defense attorney, with Adrian Andrews at his side, while 2 features Franziska von Karma and assistant Dick Gumshoe working for the Wright and Co. Law Office.
* This trope is likely to be used by '''any''' [[Intercontinuity Crossover]] fanfic in which the melded continuities would otherwise contradict one another.
* ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' is set on another planet in an alternate universe. Additionally, the four visit three other universes (including one set in a 1950s New York, more or less); the Fans are watching from their universe; the Dalns gods inhabit yet another universe; and Jeft comes from still another.
* ''[[The Son of the Emperor]]'' mixes the real world with the world of ''[[My Little Pony:
* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7314071/1/Just_One_Big_Happy_Kingdom Just One, Big, Happy Kingdom]'' is a ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' fanfic in which an eighty-year-old Merlin decides to teach his younger self a lesson by putting him in a mirror universe ("Not-Camelot") and put Not-Merlin in the normal Camelot. It's one of those mirror everybody-is-his-opposite universes.
* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1594758/1/STRANGE_PATHS NIGHTWALKER: STRANGE PATHS]'' is a ''[[Nightwalker]]'' fic which basically has Riho as a [[Older Than They Look|300 or so year old vampire]] and Shido who starts out as a human detective.
* The ''[[Pony POV Series]]'' has such a thing. It's explained that all the worlds diverged from the [[The Earth Prime Theory|Heart World]] (implied to be the actual shows' timeline) and are effected by changes there, but can break off and continue on their own in the event the change in the Heart World is so great said universe can no longer harbor the connection. The ones the series itself focuses on are it's main timeline and the [[Bad Future|Discorded Timeline]], a [[Villain World]] ruled by Discord, but we also see a ''lot'' of alternate timelines which Princess Luna refers to as "possibilities and impossibilities". Applejack gets to see quite a few of them on two
* ''[[Streets of Rage Saga]]'', a 10-story saga based on the ''[[Streets of Rage]]'' game series (both the canon trilogy and several fan-made games and remakes based on said trilogy), takes place in a setting based on but highly different from the canon. Just a few brief examples, with the canon information in parentheses: Axel [[Parental Abandonment|lost his father in a fire]] that was set by the man who would later become [[The Dragon]] for the first story's [[Big Bad]] (in canon, no mention is made of Axel's family members); Blaze comes from a [[Doomed Hometown]] that was razed by [[The Syndicate]] (in canon, the only back-story on her is that she was a rookie cop who quit alongside Axel and Adam because of the force's corruption); and Mr. X is a U.S. senator with the full name of George Xetheus (in canon, his real name wasn't divulged and his role as a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] was only hinted at in canon and expounded on in Bombergames' remake).
* This trope runs rampant in the ''[[Undertale]]'' fandom, to the point where the most common [[Fandom Specific Plot]]s are "lets do an [[Alternate Universe Fic]] where the characters are some [[High Concept]]" and "let's do a [[Crossover Fic|crossover between AUs]]".
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* ''[[The One (film)|The One]]'' is a cross between this and [[Conservation of Ninjitsu]]. The villain is traveling around to the various universes killing all the alternate versions of himself so he'll have all the power that would otherwise be spread out between them. Since the hero is one of the alternates, he winds up with bigger and bigger slices of the power pie as well, making for a ''battle royale'' when it's down to just the two of them.
* [[Super Mario Bros. (film)|Super Mario Bros. The Movie]] posits a "sub-dimension" created through the impact of the meteorite into earth that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs continued to evolve in this sub-dimension in the city of "Dinohattan", a city mirroring New York city.
== Literature ==
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* In [[Teresa Edgerton]]'s ''[[Celydonn]]'' trilogy, the Inner Celydonn plays this role to Celydonn proper, so that, for example, the version of Tir Gwyngelli known in traveller's tales really exists as the home of [[The Fair Folk]].
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[The Number of the Beast]]'' and ''[[The Cat Who Walked Through Walls]]'' are based on this, exploring various fictional universes created not only by Heinlein but also others, especially [[Land of Oz|Oz]].
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** Created by Hex the magic AI as an emergency dumping-ground for a thaumic overload, an orange-sized spherical universe is kept on Rincewind's desk at [[Discworld]]'s Unseen University. Most of the UU faculty think this narrativium-deprived alternate reality is a silly waste of time; even so, the Archchancellor occasionally (meaning, whenever a new ''[[The Science of Discworld]]'' book is published) tasks his wizards to offset interlopers' tampering with the pocket universe's history. Silly or not, it ''is'' University property. {{spoiler|"Roundworld" is, of course, our own universe.}}
** Alternate Universe theory crops up elsewhere in Discworld, too, such as in ''[[
{{quote|'''Ridcully:''' You'd think I'd think of ''me'', wouldn't you? What a bastard!}}
* In ''[[Dragonlance]]'', Raistlin succeeds in becoming a god and killing every other god as well as all life in Krynn. Then Caramon time travels back to prevent him from succeeding.
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* Robert J. Sawyer's trilogy, "Hominids", "Humans", "Hybrids", is all about an alternate universe where Neanderthals didn't go extinct, but homo sapiens did.
* [[Michael Kurland]] has a few examples involving world-hopping, including ''The Unicorn Girl'' and ''The Whenabouts Of Burr''.
== Live Action TV ==
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* ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' had an episode where Alex goes through a mirror and enters a parallel universe where nearly everything is about her and in her favor.
* The ''[[Community]]'' episode "Remedial Chaos Theory" features the group rolling a die to choose who will go to the door to get the pizza. [[Genre Savvy|Abed]] warns that this will create 6 (actually 7) alternate universes. Everyone else of course dismisses this, but we the audience get to watch each one unfold. The differences ranges from different characters hooking up, mental break downs occurring, everyone having an awesome night, and ''everything going to shit''.
== Multiple Media ==
* ''[[Bionicle]]'' has the Olmak, also called the Mask of Dimensional Gates. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Does exactly that.]] Its wearer, Brutaka, has used it both to teleport and to send enemies to a dimension they probably won't return from. He tried to send his former friend Axonn into the Zone of Darkness (a pitch-black dimension with only flat, featureless plain with gravity), and also used his (then damaged) mask to teleport Takanuva to Karda Nui to warn the heroes of a great danger. However, the mask malfunctioned, and sent Takanuva into both [[Alternate History]] and a [[Bizarro Universe]]. After finally finding the another Olmak in one of those universes, Takanuva entered inter-dimensional space and got to his intended destination. This is a [[The Multiverse|Multiverse]] with a twist, as "our" dimension is explicitly called "the real universe", the rest are only pocket dimensions that shows how things would've turned out if they were done differently. Brutaka's mask was destroyed eventually, but the lunatic villain Vezon managed to get his hands on another one... and it ended up fusing to his face. Now he is a living dimensional gate, and has already visited several other universes (among them a few of those that Takanuva got lost in).
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[TORG]]'' features several different dimensions/realities, each corresponding to a different genre (such as Aysle, a traditional world of [[Medieval European Fantasy]]; the Cyberpapacy, a [[Cyberpunk]] world run by a [[Corrupt Church]]; the [[Space Opera]]-influenced dimension of the Space Gods; Orrorsh, a Lovecraftian [[Cosmic Horror Story]] in a ''Heart of Darkness'' style British colonial jungle setting; the Nile Empire, a world of Pulp Action Adventure; the Living Land, with sentient dinosaurs; and others), all cooperating to invade Earth.
** Part of what made ''TORG'' such an interesting game is that it was based on distinctly different rules for how reality worked, depending on the context of the home dimension. The Nile Empire, for example, had no room for moral ambiguities: every character was either Good or Evil, though they could change from one to the other under the right circumstances. Characters could engage in literal 'reality duels' with opponents from different dimensions, and the [[Big Bad|High Lords]] could do the same with entire areas of real estate.
* The ''[[GURPS]] [[Infinite Worlds]]'' setting involves the [[Player Characters|PCs]] as agents travelling through alternate universes. Officially ''all'' GURPS settings are universes within the ''Infinite Worlds''. This includes assorted [[Alternate History|Alternate Histories]] (''GURPS [[Magitek|Technomancer]]'', ''GURPS [[Instant AI, Just Add Water|Reign of Steel]]''), several universes where [[All Myths Are True]] (''GURPS [[King Arthur|Camelot]]'', ''GURPS [[Atlantis]]''), multiple worlds with superheros (''GURPS Supers'', ''GURPS International Super Teams''), and even universes inexplicably modeled on the popular fiction of the baseline universe (''GURPS [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan]]'', ''GURPS [[Discworld]]'')!
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* Wizards of the Coast long ago published a set of generic supplements for handling deities in roleplaying games, called ''The Primal Order''. One of the books in this series, ''Chessboards'', covered in exquisite detail how to design and manage an entire multiverse complete with cosmology.
* This trope is a common excuse for game masters to use, when importing player characters from one tabletop role-playing campaign to another.
== Video Games ==
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** It also seems to cross over into ''[[The Multiverse]]'' with certain people as they can go to other dimensions, and even meet themselves if they aren't careful.
* The ''[[Resistance]]'' games take place in a setting where after [[World War I]] Germany's economy wasn't totally devastated, therefore [[Adolf Hitler]] never rises to power and there was no [[World War II]]. Instead, creatures known as Chimera take over the entirety of Europe and by the sequel have wiped out the US.
* Based on what has thus far been fan-translated of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
* The DLC for ''[[Dragon Age]]'' entitled ''The Darkspawn Chronicles'' pitches the idea of a world where [[The Hero]] died near the beginning of the game, thus leaving [[The Woobie|Alistair]] to save the day. {{spoiler|It does not end well.}}
* In the second installment of the "Timeline" mod trilogy for ''[[Half-Life (series)|Half-Life]]'', Gordon Freeman is transported to a parallel Earth where the US never rebelled (the major superpowers are the British Empire, the Soviets and the Japanese), and an ice age began some 300 years earlier, threatening human survival. That world's Gordon Freeman has failed, so our world's equivalent is sent to stop the Xen invasion there (as well as an invasion of time-travelling Nazis from our dimension).
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* The [[Excuse Plot|plot]] of the [[Portal 2]] PeTI DLC involves this. Earth-Prime's version of Aperture is nearly broke, so they decided to cut test chamber construction costs by sneaking the designs into alternate versions of Aperture, letting ''them'' build it, then stealing them back. You can either play the part of a test chamber designer with the new level editor, or a test subject traveling between universes to test the new chambers. You end up running into various versions of Cave Johnson, all of whom are still running tests and crazy to some extent (save for the one who [[Half Life|stopped the resonance cascade experiments after buying Black Mesa]]).
* The ''Dawn of Victory'' mod for ''[[Sins of a Solar Empire]]'' has its premise based on an [[Alternate History]] where the course of [[World War Two]] is changed by the arrival of a powerful alien race known as the Scinfaxi (inspired by [[Harry Turtledove]]'s ''[[Worldwar]]'' series). After losing much territory to the invaders, the main world powers manage to develop nuclear weapons and beat them back to the Southern Hemisphere. They then rebuild and consolidate their power. Eventually, the Northern Hemisphere is divided between the Soviet Union, the Greater German Reich, and the Democratic Federation. They manage to develop interstellar flight and settle other worlds. After the Scinfaxi resume their advance, the human powers evacuate the remaining population from Earth and nuke the entire planet from orbit. Fast-forward a few centuries. The three main human nations (as well as many smaller states) are spread out over many star systems and vying for domination. Meanwhile, the Scinfaxi (a vast interstellar empire) are preparing to strike again.
== Web Animation ==
* The 150th [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad Email]] had Strong Bad visiting many of the website's alternate universes.
* The world of
== Web Comics ==
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* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', According to the commentary, the chapter "[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c59/p1.html Another Path]" was originally intended to be set in an alternate universe where {{spoiler|Paulo had sex with Lucy during her [[Heroic BSOD|Mental Breakdown]] in "Another Shoulder"}}. The final version has it as a daydream of Paulo's.
* [http://www.goblinscomic.com/02112011-4/The Maze of Many] in [[Goblins]] allows characters from multiple realities to exist in the same place simultaneously.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130719183412/http://www.drunkduck.com/Jix/ Jix] had a story that took place in an alternate reality where Remula had taken over the Earth and it was discovered later that the original Lauren had actually be transported to that universe when she caught up to her counterpart.
* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20130719023505/http://www.drunkduck.com/Dragon_City/ Dragon City], Erin's friend Natasha reveals herself to an alternate universe counterpart despite Erin having blue scales and Natasha having brown.
** Actually, as Natasha (the brown Erin) points out, due to genetics, Erin was more likely to be brown than blue and that the blue Erin is a genetic fluke.
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* In [[Goblins]], a dungeon called the ''Maze of Many'' serves as a point where the dimensions in the multiverse are drawn together. Adventurers who attempt to conquer the dungeon are required to compete against multiple versions of themselves, each from a different reality, being allowed infinite retries until each has completed the dungeon once and each reality is 'satisfied'.
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', initiating {{spoiler|the Scratch}} creates one of these by [[Reset Button|resetting the conditions of the game]], including the players and their universe. {{spoiler|As a result, the players of the initial session switch places with their ectobiological parents, and vice-versa.}} This has happened twice so far: once to Earth, and once to {{spoiler|Alternia}}.
== Web Original ==
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* ''[[Fate Nuovo Guerra]]'' takes one of ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'''s bad endings and runs with it as their [[Backstory]]. The Fifth Grail War results in the destruction of Fuyuki City, prompting the Einzberns to start a new Grail War elsewhere.
* A popular fad on [[YTMND]] is to take pre-existing memes and create Alternate Universe counterparts, usually under the PTKFGS moniker ("Punch The Keys, For God's Sake!", another one of [[Sean Connery]]'s lines from the famous scene in ''[[Finding Forrester]]'' that named the website), although even more Alternate Universe versions exist, usually as either "Yes Yes" or the elusive "Fourth Corner", where no-one can really agree on a final name for the latter.
== Western Animation ==
* "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything" in ''[[Darkwing Duck]]''
* ''[[Futurama]]'':
** In "The Farnsworth Parabox", Farnsworth creates a box leading to an alternate universe where coin tosses have different outcomes. There are also lots of other boxes, leading to other alternate universes, each linking to each other.
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** In "The Late Phillip J. Fry", after Farnsworth, Bender, and Fry go to the edge of the universe, a new, identical universe starts, and then that universe ends, so they end up in a third identical universe.
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' seems like it may take place in one, but then again, it may just be [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]].
* ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'' had
** Notably, the Justice Lords Universe depicted Arkham Asylum, and Gotham City for that matter, as very bright, Metropolis-esque places, in one of the few instances of the city being shown during the day.
** ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'' also featured a universe where Lois died, prompting Superman to team up with Luthor and take over Metropolis.
* The various incarnations of the ''[[Transformers]]'' franchise have done this quite a bit, with alternate timelines galore.
** Perhaps most notably is "[[Transformers: Shattered Glass|Shattered Glass]]", the 2008 BotCon event featuring heroic Decepticons and evil Autobots. With [[Beard of Evil|goatees]]. And [[Eyepatch of Power|eyepatches]].
*** The goatees are a [[Shout-Out]] to the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "Mirror Mirror," in which the Spock counterpart [[Beard of Evil|wore a goatee]]. The eyepatches are from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Inferno," in which the fascist counterpart to one of the recurring characters wore an eyepatch.
* In an episode of ''[[Rugrats]]'', Tommy and Chuckie think they're in a "Mirrorland."
* An episode of ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' featured a timeline where Cobra had succeeded in taking over the world.
* In ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]'', the whole family (except the female lead's brother) has a twin in an alternate universe, who all try to take out the heroes as [[Psycho Rangers]].
* ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'':
** "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" has the crew discover a world where much of their equipment doesn't work, but [[Functional Magic]] is commonplace. Oddly, [[The Spock|Spock]] adapts quickly.
*** Presumably he [[Sufficiently Analyzed Magic|Sufficiently Analyzed]] it first.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Settings]]
[[Category:Speculative Fiction]]
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[[Category:Alternate History Tropes]]
[[Category:Plots]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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