Expanded Universe: Difference between revisions

Please do not abbreviate it to [[EU]].

 

 

Not to be confused with the [[Robert A. Heinlein]] anthology known as ''Expanded Universe''.

 

 

* [[Battle Tech Expanded Universe]]

* 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.

* Other New Line Cinema horror properties such as ''[[A Nightmare On Elm Street (Film)|A Nightmare On Elm Street]]'', ''[[Final Destination (Film)|Final Destination]]'' and ''[[The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Film)|The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]'' also have a large number of novels, short story collections, comic books, and in Freddy's case, [[Freddys Nightmares|a television series]].

* ''[[Hellraiser (Film)|Hellraiser]]'' has a surprisingly huge, detailed [[Expanded Universe]], primarily due to many of the cast and crew from the film series contributing, even series originator [[Clive Barker]], and Peter Atkins (the writer of the second, third and fourth films).

* ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'' has a small [[Expanded Universe]] with comic books and graphic novels, not much of it [[Canon]] and [[Retcon|the rest getting smaller the longer the show goes on.]] Now that the show itself has been canceled, the [[Expanded Universe]] presumably has free rein again.

* ''[[Babylon 5 (TV)|Babylon 5]]'' has [[Expanded Universe]] in the form of Role-playing game sourcebooks. There are [[Canon|canonical]] comics and a lot of novels. Of the novels, only To Dream in the City of Sorrows, the Psi Corps trilogy, the Passing of the Techno-mages trilogy, the Legions of Fire trilogy, and the Anna Sheridan plot of The Shadow Within are [[Canon]]. The John Sheridan plot of The Shadow Within is not [[Canon]]. That's right, [[Canon]] and non-[[Canon]] in the same book.

** The other, Non-Season 8/After The Fall comics are up in the air in [[Continuity]], as are all non-Post Chosen novels (those that are Post-Chosen are just non-[[Canon]]). Many of the novels are either side stories or [[Prequel|prequels]]. The novel ''Go Ask Malice'', for example, is a backstory for Faith that goes up until the episode ''Faith, Hope, Trick''. It's status as [[Canon]], like all of the novels, is unknown, but it does give a backstory for a character with very little and it doesn't violate [[Canon]].

*** The only bit of non-show or non-Season 8 comic that is considered "[[Canon]]" came from the fairly short-lived ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' role-playing game, and that is Faith's last name; Lehane. This has been confirmed as [[Canon]] by its use in the Joss-Whedon-written last issue of the Season 8 comics.

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' has taken its background and turned it into an [[Expanded Universe]], with material spanning not only the tabletop game but countless novels, graphic novels and [[Video Game|video games]], not to mention the vast and incredibly detailed faux-historical accounts. The same's been done for ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]''.

* ''[[Dark Future (Tabletop 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.

 

* Some [[Video Game|games]] like ''[[Starcraft]]'', ''[[Diablo]]'' and ''[[Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri]] '' have a small [[Expanded Universe]], mainly consisting of a few books.

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

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' and ''[[Dragon Age]]'' have [[Expanded Universe|expanded universes]]. Rather than having books or comics that are simply adaptations, they tell their own coherent story. The novels and comics are often a source of critical plot related information, leading to some events or people being referenced that the gamer may never have heard of. One notable feature is that both novel series are written by the [[Video Game|games]]' lead writers, which is different from the usual operating procedure of [[Expanded Universe]] materials. The comics, on the other hand, are written by other people (in both series).

* ''[[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]].

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* ''[[Transformers]]''. A bunchload of comic books. A number of text stories. A handful of [[Video Game|video games]]. And that's not even counting that not all the cartoons are in the same [[Continuity]]. Many fans are split over what the primary source really is: the original cartoon is named as such by most, but many others choose the original comic series instead, or the British version thereof, with mixing-and-matching becoming increasingly popular. The term ''[[Canon]]'' is hard to apply here: It all happened, but didn't all happen in the same timeline. And with all the other [[Continuity|continuities]] created since, it's become an expanded ''multiverse.''

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has a number of comics that chronicle the adventures of the Gaang that are not shown in the TV series.

* ''[[Daria]]'' has one, including the show, its two [[All There in the Manual|published manuals]], its parent show ''[[Beavis and Butthead]]'' and any of its spin-offs. However, the ''term'' "Expanded Universe" usually refers to a group of interconnected [[Fan Verse|Fan Verses]] that most serious fans know, with its own set of [[Original Character|Original Characters]] who appear in multiple creators' fanworks.