Alternate Universe: Difference between revisions

{{trope|wppage=Parallel universe (fiction)}}

[[File:even_a_womaneven 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.]]

Sometimes everyone has an [[Evil Twin]]. Other times, everyone has a twin that's just a little different. Allows the goodies to be baddies for an episode, or for half of the cast to be killed -- butkilled—but [[All the Myriad Ways|not really]]. Sometimes it's just part of [[Side-Story Bonus Art]].

If the writers want to depict an [['''Alternate Universe]]''', but the show's genre would not usually allow an [['''Alternate Universe]]''' ''per se'', the depiction may be accomplished via an extended [[Dream Sequence]].

May be meta-caused by aforementioned [[Alternate Continuity]]; as well as by any of the three varieties of [[Discontinuity]] ([[Canon Discontinuity]], [[Fanon Discontinuity]], or [[Negative Continuity]]). [[In-Universe]], though, there may be a specific [[Point of Divergence]] which caused events to run differently.

* [[Alternate History]] --— Some major event changed, like Germany wins [[WWII]].

* [[Another Dimension]] --— Different worlds don't have to resemble each other, [['''Alternate Universe]]''' is a subtrope of this.

* [[Bizarro Universe]] --— A lot of things in that world are reversed from the usual context, good is evil or vice versa, etc.

* [[For Want of a Nail]] --— One small change caused a huge difference between the universes.

** [[In Spite of a Nail]] --— Tiny changes have made the world almost the same but the differences are critical (or wildly different, but the cast is still the same and still together.)

* [[Mirror Universe]] --— Often a subset of [[Bizarro Universe]], Good and Evil are reversed, but otherwise most of the things are the same.

* [[The Multiverse]] --— The people involved have the capacity to cross over to more than one additional universe.

* [[Elseworld]] --— Famous character placed into a situation which potentially is wildly different.

* [[Wonderful Life]] --— You get to see how the world would have turned out if you were never born.

* [[Alternate Tooniverse]] --— An animated counterpart to reality.

Another type of [['''Alternate Universe]]''' is that which doesn't take any of the characters, but instead takes concepts, or machines. Such [[Alternate Universe|'''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 -- inconcepts—in particular, the conflict between those living in space and those living on Earth. With [[Humongous Mecha|giant robots.]]

== Anime &and Manga ==

** It is, however, quite important to the plot that it actually {{spoiler|was not an alternate universe, the one he has always been at had been rebuilt.}}

** The series [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102073710/http://www.onemanga.com/Tengen_Toppa_Gurren_Lagann_-_Guren_Gakuenhen/ also has a] [[High School AU]] manga. 

** One fan also seems to make an excellent example with an [https://web.archive.org/web/20130730145623/http://captainosaka.deviantart.com/art/DOUBLE-K-001-82688715 AU universe comic] about ''TTGL'' worthy of the series.

* In the [[Kyoto Animation]] adaptation of [[Key Visual Arts|Key's]] [[Visual Novel]] ''[[Clannad (visual novel)|Clannad]]'', Tomoyo's arc, which was never completed properly, was showcased in an AU OVA entitled ''Another World: Tomoyo Arc'', where Tomoya never met Nagisa and Tomoyo is the winning girl.

* A major plot twist in ''[[Rave Master]]'' involved this trope: {{spoiler|''the entire series'' exists within an [[Alternate Universe]], which was created when the last survivor of the original reality manipulated time in order to create a parallel world where [[The End of the World as We Know It]] didn't come to pass. The [[Omnicidal Maniac]] that was destroying this parallel world was in fact a balancing force created as a result of the unnatural divergence in the timestream}}.

* ''Steel Ball Run'' is an [[Alternate Universe]] to ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'', created ''in-continuity'' after {{spoiler|Stairway to Heaven reset the universe.}}

* The ''[[Kirby]]'' [[Kirby: ofRight theBack Starsat Ya!|anime]] is ''meant'' to be an alternate universe from the games, something many fans miss.

* ''[[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 Fromfrom the Dead|come back to make trouble]].

== FanfictionFan Works ==

* Due to the reality[[Reality Warper|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, EverybodyEveryone Dies]] ending.

* ''[[The Son of the Emperor]]'' mixes the real world with the world of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]''. This results in an Alternate Universe where the ponies grow to the size of horses and have been used for centuries in warfare, myticalmythical creatures like griffons are commonplace and magic exists.

* ''[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.

* 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 seperateseparate occasions, the one that means the most to her being the Orangejack universe, where she never left Manehatten. {{spoiler|She eventually gets to meet Orangejack and they team up to fight Nightmare Mirror, Applejack's own [[Super-Powered Evil Side]] who may or may not be another alternate version of her. It also turns out Orangejack is an Element Of Generosity and there are universes were Applejack was one of the other Elements as well, all of which are summoned to fight Nightmare Mirror.}} There's also a universe were Rainbow Dash turned into Nightmare Manacle, another where Pinkie Pie turned into Nightmare Granfalloon, and another were the mane cast are the [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|Mighty Morphing Power Ponies]] fighting a Goldar version of Gilda. Oh and {{spoiler|Pinkie Pie is actually the G3.5 Pinkie Pie and is how she is thanks to being left pretty much untouched by a [[Cosmic Retcon]] that turned that universe into the G4 universe.}}

** 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 ''[[Discworld/Lords and Ladies|Lords and Ladies]]'', where Ridcully, upon being told that there's a universe somewhere where he married his childhood sweetheart, gets annoyed that he wasn't invited to the wedding:

** The ''[[Alternate Universe]]'' part comes from the suggestion that there are universes where Caramon didn't succeed.

* "Ace" Rimmer (what a guy!) on ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' came from an [[Alternate Universe]], and travelled between dimensions. The Red Dwarf crew themselves had previously travelled into an Alternate Universe in the episode "Parallel Universe". Some episodes have featured similar alternate versions of characters and events, but were a result of time travel rather than passing into another Universe (notably "Timeslides" and "Inquisitor").

* ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' had an [[Alternate Universe]] in which Lois was lost in a jungle and Clark had not made himself into Superman.

* Nate experienced an [[Alternate Universe]] during a [[Near-Death Experience]] in an episode of ''[[Six Feet Under]]''.

* "Mirror, Mirror" in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' -- the—the [[Mirror Universe]] was used often in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]''.

* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]'' didn't make use of the [[Mirror Universe]], but in "Living Witness", a historian hundreds of years in Voyager's future has created a "historically accurate" holo-program depicting the crew as murderous thugs who started a war on his planet. It's up to the Emergency Medical Hologram (the only surviving witness) to put things right... which isn't easy, as he's being portrayed as a [[Mad Doctor]]. ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' also didn't have the mirror universe, although it did have alternate universe stories (as the term "mirror universe" in ''Star Trek'' refers specifically to that featured in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|The Original Series]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'').

* "Parallels" in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' -- "I do remember. I just remember it differently."

** Season 10 had an [[Alternate Universe]] as a major plot line, Clark discovers a kryptonian artifact called a "mirror box" and when activated it takes him to world where the Kents never adopted him, instead he was raised by Lionel and goes by the name "Clark Luthor". Clark Luthor himself is brought to Clark Kent's world and causes no end of trouble before the original Clark manages to switch them back. Then it turns out the alternate Lionel managed to come through to the main world with Clark, taking the place of the original Lionel (who was dead) with a story that he'd faked his death. Then Clark Luthor uses ''his'' mirror box to come back and send our Clark to his world, where he helps the alternate Jonathan reconnect with Martha, and convinces Clark Luthor to try and use his powers for good, rather than live in Lionel's shadow.

* In ''[[NCIS]]'', a generally reality based show, features a series of clips from [[Alternate Universe]] based on a series of What-If moments. What if Kate hadn't died? {{spoiler|Tony and Kate get married and have a kid. Yay! Ziva goes from crazy assassin to even crazier assassin. Aww.}} What if Gibbs also hadn't killed Pedro Hernandez? {{spoiler|His demons consume him, he quits NCIS sooner, he becomes a (likely) alchoholic, shuts himself in his basement for months, ''[[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|is rude to Abby]]'', [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and Abby/McGee and Tony/Kate become canon.]]}} What if Shannon and Kelly hadn't died? (Warning: ''major'' [[Tear Jerker]] behind those spoilers. {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|Gibbs dies fighting overseas. No matter what, he lost his family. Whaa . . . ]]}}

* ''[[VR .5]]'''s [[Missing Episode]], "Parallel Lives" had Duncan wake up one morning to find himself in a universe where Sydney, rather than her sister, had died in a car crash years earlier (of course, it eventually turned out that neither sister had actually died; both the car crash and the parallel universe were [[Cuckoo Nest|complex VR hoaxes]]. The episode was intended to test the viability of replacing the central character for the second season, a possibility which became moot when the series was not renewed).

* A slightly different take on this was done in "Author Author" in ''[[Star Trek: Voyager|Star Trek Voyager]]'', in which the Doctor created a holodeck program peopled by altered versions of the Voyager crew.

* An [[Alternate Universe]] is seen in the ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' episode "What Is And What Should Never Be", but it's really all in Dean's head and everything is his perception -- heperception—he's an utter bastard, Mary's perfect, Sam's a bit wussy and his soulmatey girlfriend looks like the reaper from the premiere. In his fantasy, his mother Mary and Sam's girlfriend Jessica were never killed by Azazel, so the Winchester family live perfectly normal lives and his Dad died peacefully.

** Another [[Alternate Universe]], or rather a series of them, pops up in the episode "Mystery Spot" thanks to a [[Groundhog Day Loop|repeating time loop]] in which Dean keeps dying. The iteration before the final time loop lasts months instead of the standard day, resulting in a dark, isolated Sam.

** Yet ''another'' AU episode took place in the sixth season, where the brothers are sent to a universe <ref> which is basically an exaggerated version of our [[Real Life|world]]</ref> where Supernatural [[Noticing the Fourth Wall|is just a TV show]] filmed in Canada, in which Sam and Dean are played by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, and there is no magic, demons, angels, monsters, or any supernatural beings at all.

*** Did we mention '''ZEPPELINS'''? I feel like we should do a quick mention of '''ZEPPELINS''', based on the frequency with which '''ZEPPELINS''' appear in the [[Alternate Universe]].

* ''[[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.

* The two ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' campaign settings of Greyhawk and Mystara are both alternate universes to Earth and each other, though this is rarely referenced in game materials and comes mostly from [[Word of God]].

** The point here is that, unlike most other official ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' settings, Mystara and Greyhawk share background elements pulled from early games (such as the aforementioned starship crash, the Barony of Blackmoor, and connections to Earth), but in slightly different formats.

** Gothic Earth, a spinoff of the [[Ravenloft]] product line, is an [[Alternate Universe]] version of our own planet in which supernatural horrors lurk beneath the facade of Victorian-era society. Also, some characters from classic fiction in our world are real there.

* Based on what has thus far been fan-translated of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] A's]]: The Battle of Aces'', it takes place in an AU where {{spoiler|Reinforce I/Eins survives and the corrupted Book of Darkness creates "Dark Pieces" of selected cast members ([[Demoted to Extra|sorry, Arf and Yuuno]]) to get its own back again.}}

* The world of VytalRemnant in ''[[RWBY]]'': twoa moonsshattered moon in the sky, active magic with technology, humanity all but trapped in five city-states and beseiged by hordes of monsters...

* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', the [[Word of God]] said that at least four [[Another Dimension|dimensions]] have meddled with the "main" one. Most of them are [[Alternate Universe|Alternate Universes]], each with its own version of Tedd or other main characters.

* ''[[Dinosaur Comics]]'' has an alternate universe where everyone has goatees, a [[Shout-Out]] to the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]'' episode "Mirror Mirror," in which the Spock counterpart wore a goatee. Anytime you see an alternate universe counterpart with a goatee, chances are it's a [[Shout-Out]] to "Mirror Mirror."

* [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.

** Fairly recently, a spin-off site effectively dedicated to [[Alternate Universe]] versions of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' was created, with the pilot in an interesting [[Continuity Nod]], being an alternate version of [[Battle Royale]], the concept which SotF was based off.

* 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.

* "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything" in ''[[Darkwing Duck]]'' --— a mirror universe set up to explain the origin of Negaduck (not to be confused with the self-proclaimed Negaduck whom Megavolt accidentally created in another episode by dividing Darkwing into good and evil clones) The portal to the Negaverse was lost at the end of this episode, in a traditional [[Status Quo Is God]] ending.

* ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League]]'' had several --: the retro-styled world of the Justice Guild, the dark dystopia of the Justice Lords, the Vandal Savage-ruled world created through time travel, and others.

*** The goatees are a [[Shout-Out]] to the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|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.

* ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series|Star Trek the Animated Series]]'':

[[Category:DoppelgangerDoppelgänger]]