Expanded Universe: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* [[BattleTech Expanded Universe]]

* [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]]

== Anime and Manga ==

* There are select fans of ''[[Naruto]]'' that consider the databooks as Expanded Universe.

* Light novels are this for many anime shows,telling original stories that are sometimes adapted as ''filler''.

 

== Film ==

** ...Except that [[George Lucas]] has said publicly and repeatedly that "only the films are [[Canon]]."

*** ...Except that's only with regards to his personal view of the series. The fact is that he appointed Leeland Chee as the official record keeper for Star Wars canon, and it is he, not Lucas, who ultimately determines the canonicity of Expanded Universe works.

* The cult favorite series ''[[Kolchak the Night Stalker]]'' has inspired a set of follow-on novels featuring the series characters. The latest one this editor can find was published in 2007–33 years after cancellation of the original series!

* ''[[Darkman]]'' spawned a series of (quite good) novels, and a short-lived comic book series. Recently the character was licensed to Dynamite Comics, who will be publishing original stories. They've already put out an [[Evil Dead]] crossover.

* ''[[Aliens]]'' and ''[[Predator]]'' have their own Expanded Universe, including several cross-over miniseries published by Dark Horse Comics during the late 80s and 90s. The first three miniseries for Aliens were originally a continuation of the second Alien movie; however, the release of ''Alien 3'' rendered the events of those series incompatible with the movie's [[Continuity]] since it killed Newt and Hicks at the beginning of the movie, and Ripley at the very end. Dark Horse got around this by rereleasing the series in graphic novel format, with new names for the series as well as [[Retcon|renaming Newt as Billie and Hicks as Wilkes]], and stuck with using original characters after that. There have also been many ''[[Aliens]]'' and ''[[Predator]]'' novels and [[Video Game|video games]] released, including a few ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'' games for the PC.

* Each of the eight major characters from ''[[Repo! The Genetic Opera]]'' have their own Myspace page. Whatever happens there is considered [[Canon]]. Rotti is understandably a very busy man and only occasionally present, but his children are there whenever they're supposed to be working, and Grave-Robber apparently drums up a lot of new clientele through the site.

* ''[[Labyrinth]]'' had a four-volume [[OEL Manga]] followup, ''[[Return to Labyrinth]]'', published over 2006-10.

* Although not actually canon, [[Red Dawn]] got an Expanded Universe in the form of [[Red Dawn Plus 20]].

 

== Literature ==

* The ''[[Cthulhu Mythos]]'' is a particularly informal Expanded Universe based around the works of [[H.P. Lovecraft]], all writers (and [[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]] game designers) after him are generally considered to be outside "The Mythos Proper".

* ''[[Warrior Cats]]'' has 13 comic books, 2 plays and 4 guidebooks (as well as one that was [[What Could Have Been|cancelled]]). These are all canon, being written by the authors themselves, except possibly ''Brightspirit's Mercy'', which happens in the middle of a book's story rather than in one the series' plentiful [[Time Skip|time skips]].

 

== Live Action TV ==

* The [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] may in fact be [[Canon]] to the TV series as two episodes directly reference it in [[Mythology Gag]]s. Other parts contradict it. But then the [[Whoniverse]] (Expanded and otherwise) tends towards [[Broad Strokes]] [[Continuity]] and to a large extent anything goes within it. Former producer [[Russell T. Davies]] has stated that he considers the [[Big Finish Doctor Who]] audio plays to be in-[[Continuity]]. That statement was made back when the audio plays explicitly broke from [[Continuity]] with the books; they've since been amended into a single [[Continuity]] by the audio play ''The Company of Friends''. The Series 3 episodes "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood" have been acknowledged as an adaptation of the Seventh Doctor [[Virgin New Adventures|New Adventures]] novel ''Human Nature'' (the novels themselves form two distinct and only semi-compatible [[Continuity|continuities]]) and, confusing things yet further, some writers of the spin-off material took the view they took place in [[Alternate Universe]]s to each other.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'''s spin-off ''[[Torchwood]]'' has its own expanded materials in the form of novels, magazine strips, and audios. Perhaps the most interesting one so far is the magazine strip "Shrouded", penned by Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones' actor). {{spoiler|Our Ianto is quite dead, but an evil Ianto from an alternate timeline is very much alive, and saw the funeral. Is this [[Canon]]?}}

* ''[[Lost]]'' has a relatively small Expanded Universe so far—a few books, two [[Alternate Reality Games]], and a [[Video Game]]. The only one of these that's been declared [[Canon]] is the first ARG, ''The [[Lost]] Experience''—and that only applies to the backstory information given relating to the series, not the main plot.

* ''[[Glee]]'' has its own [[Prequel]] book now.

* ''[[Charmed]]'' has novels of both original stories and several based on actual episodes.

* ''[[Firefly]]'' (the original [[The Verse|Verse]]) has a small Expanded Universe in form of comics, RPG supplements and one novelization (of ''[[Serenity]]'').

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* Back in the days before the internet, when [[Kayfabe]] reigned supreme, pro wrestling had the Apter magazines (named for Bill Apter, the most prolific publisher of such), which were something between an Expanded Universe and a [[Massively Multiplayer Crossover]] of all wrestling federations. While the Apter mags were not endorsed by any of the promotions they covered, and nothing reported in them (from rankings, to wrestler bios, to interviews, to "who would win?" fantasy supercards between promotions, etc.) could be considered [[Canon]] to any promotion in particular, the promoters of the time certainly didn't mind the help in exposing their characters and storylines to audiences.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* The [[BattleTech Expanded Universe]]: A long series of sci-fi novels, a pair of [[Video Game]] [[Spin-Off|spinoffs]], and even a [[Western Animation]] series.

* ''[[Dark Future (game)|Dark Future]]'' gained an expanded background courtesy of a series of novels by [[Kim Newman]], who also wrote many of the early ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]''-related fiction.

 

== Theme Parks ==

* Having one of these is the reason why ''[[The Haunted Mansion]]'' has a page separate from the rest of the [[Disney Theme Parks]], having spawned [[The Haunted Mansion (film)|a film]] with another coming soon, a [[Video Game]], a comic mini-series, and a few books.

 

== Video Games ==

* ''[[Halo]]'''s Expanded Universe consists of multiple novels, comics, guidebooks, online exclusives, live-action commercials, and [[Alternate Reality Game]]s, along with an [[Halo Legends|anime series]]. All of it, whether created directly by staff from Bungie or 343 (the studios behind the games), or by third parties working under their direct control, is not only completely canonical, but is closely integrated with the games. For example, much of ''[[Halo: Reach]]'' will only be understood by people who read the books; heck, this disclaimer even applies to its ''official website''.

** When canon does conflict, policy is that new material overrides old material, and that games and other media created directly by Bungie/343 staff take precedence over everything else.

* The [[Warcraft Expanded Universe]] consists of about ten books, one trilogy of manga, two western comic series and two tabletop RPGs.

* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series has built up an increasingly large Expanded Universe over time, particularly with regard to ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', which, in addition to its [[Prequel]] and [[Spin-Off]] [[Video Game|games]], has the ''[[Advent Children]]'' movie, two [[Anime]] OVA's and several novellas. There's also the ''Legend of the Crystals'' [[Anime]] OVA, which takes place 200 years after ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'', and the ''[[Final Fantasy Unlimited]]'' [[Anime]] series and the ''[[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within|Final Fantasy the Spirits Within]]'' movie (though their relationship to the [[Video Game|games]] is mostly thematic).

* ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'''s Expanded Universe includes ten novels (both adaptations of other material and original stories), multiple [[Video Game|game]] guides, a [[Western Animation]] series, a [[Collectible Card Game]], and a movie, all of which officially count towards [[Continuity]].

* ''[[Disgaea]]''’s Expanded Universe, the [[Disgaea Novels]], has currently 15 books. It introduces new family members of the game’s cast and is plays out like traditional [[Disgaea]] crossed with the [[Harem Genre]].

* [[Super Mario Bros.]] has/had one, having multiple TV shows, the movie, the anime movie, the various comics and the choose your own adventure books in various different 'continuities'. They tend to be even stranger than the original games.

** Note that Mario does not have a continuity, which means that each of these is as canon as any of the games.

* Surprisingly Gears of War has a very big one that includes the games, several books, and a comic book that as of 2012 is still going.

 

== Web Animation ==

 

== [[Web Comic]] ==

* In an interesting case, [[The Slender Man Mythos]] consists ''entirely'' of an Expanded Universe; you see, there's no real official [[Canon]], so its the fans who come up with everything.

* The film [[Red Dawn]] got an Expanded Universe in the form of a fan collaboration known as [[Red Dawn Plus 20]], which is a forum in which posters role play as veterans of the war in the present day, two decades after World War III's conclusion.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==