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The defined rules or procedures of a series as gleaned from writers, producers and directors which are followed to maintain a sense of pacing or continuity. Can get ''very'' long if a franchise runs long enough. These usually include:
* Main characters, supporting characters, and major [[
* Existing sets, and whether they are redresses of other sets or permanent structures on their own. There may also be a list of warehoused sets built for one purpose but available for reuse or recycle.
* Standard prop and set usages ("Plasma guns have three settings, and they work thusly...").
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* Sometimes a glossary of show-specific jargon is included.
A [[Universe Bible]] is an actual physical document, and is standard fare for any television production; it contains virtually ''everything'' about the series, and is constantly updated and referenced during
Sometimes animation guidelines, in-depth notes for people animating a given series, can fall under this heading, but it's technically a different field.
This can result in the production of an actual book for the fans (see [[Universe Compendium]]), commonly called "Official Guides To __". These can be useful in combating [[Fanon]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The [[Series Bible
* ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'': Series writer Chiaki J. Konaka posted up the setting notes on [http://www.konaka.com/alice6/tamers/ his website], and provided a nifty English translation for the notes.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* The 1990s comic book speculation saw the advent of several upstart publishers and new shared universes created by established publishers. Many of those projects had Universe Bibles.
** [[Milestone Comics]]' ''Dakotaverse'' line (home of [[Static (comics)|Static]], [[Hardware (
** [[Dark Horse Comics]]' [[Comics Greatest World]] line had one of those as well.
** As did [[Marvel Comics]]' Razorline imprint.
** [[Malibu Comics]]' [[The Ultraverse]] is the most elaborate comic book example of
* ''[[Universal War One]]'' provides an example of an in-universe Bible. Each issue's title refers to an event of [[The Bible]] and each chapter starts with a quotation of the fictional ''Bible of Canaan'', which was written by one of the main character of the comic.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Most ''[[Star Trek]]'' series have some form of "series bible" made by the head writer as a guide for the other writers. This can be as simple as the "thumbnail sketches" outlining each character's basic traits, used in the casting process. Series Bibles for all of the ''[[Star Trek]]''
* Series creator Ron D. Moore wrote the [http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Battlestar_Galactica/Battlestar_Galactica_Series_Bible.pdf series bible] for
** The problem Baltar's backstory in the series bible ran into in season 3 was that it was originally going to play into the "lost Sagittaron Storyarc" that Baltar was himself a Sagittaron, but when the plotline was aborted they still wanted to stay true to this outline of the character. Therefore, the writers changed it that Baltar was from another poor colony, Aerelon, though it was not quite as poor and oppressed as Sagitarron. Essentially, if Sagittaron is like being a poor farmer's son in northern Ireland, a dirt-poor warzone, they changed it so that Baltar is from the "breadbasket" farming planet, vaguely like Yorkshire or Nebraska, which while still rural wasn't a warzone whose population was openly discriminated against by the other colonies. Even though this was in the series bible, the actor that played Baltar pointed out that if they wanted him to be from a different colony from the beginning, it made no sense for him to speak with a British accent while pretending to be a Caprican, then show that his "natural" Aerelon accent sounds like a Yorkshire accent.
** Ultimately, the ''Battlestar Galactica'' series bible
** The writers became increasingly flippant and casual about "continuity" and "established rules" as the series progressed, particularly the noted break in tone and quality before and after the season two finale. At the beginning of season three, Ron Moore and David Eick wrote a second "series bible" of a sort, but meant a a "Cylon story bible", called
* The Series Bible for ''[[Babylon 5]]'' was sold by the official fan club as a collectible. It's no longer available, but copies can sometimes be found on eBay.
* Barbara Hall, creator of ''[[Joan of Arcadia]]'', had a list of ten rules for the show's writers about how God should behave. Appropriately, these were called "The Ten Commandments of ''Joan of Arcadia''".
* The ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' and ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' production team has mentioned the fact that instead of using a show bible they check facts about the show from fansites. To be fair though, Gateworld is probably more obsessive about fact-checking than [[The Powers That Be]] were.
* ''[[Seinfeld]]'' creator [[Larry David]] famously stated that the show had two rules: "No hugging, no learning." The former was [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the series finale when Jerry and George nearly embrace, then say "Oh yeah" and back away from each other.
* If you want to actually read one, here's a reproduction of the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130304183557/http://series.airwolf.tv/briefings/bible.html one used by] ''[[Airwolf]]''.
** Speaking of 80s series, ''[[Knight Rider]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20150504235405/http://www.knightriderarchive.com/krtos/features/bible.html had one too].
* Alluded to in one of the [[DVD Commentary]] tracks for ''[[Freaks and Geeks]]'', where John Francis Daley says of the set, "I opened the drawer of the nightstand, and there was a notebook, with journal entries ''by Sam Weir'' [his character]."
** [http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Freaks_and_Geeks/Freaks_and_Geeks_Bible.pdf Here it is.]
* ''[[Lost]]'' apparently
* Legendarily bad 1970s Canadian SF series ''[[The Starlost]]'' had [http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Misc_Bibles/The_Starlost_Bible.pdf a bible] written by SF author [[Ben Bova]], with an introduction and notes by series creator [[Harlan Ellison]]. It was good. [[So Bad It's Horrible|The show was not.]]
* [http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/ This site] has, along with script PDFS, Universe Bibles for many different series.
== [[Literature]] ==
* [[Word of God]] has said that the [[Whateley Universe]] has a
* The ''[[Nasuverse]]'' has a massively complex
* You wanna write a ''[[Star Wars]]'' novel? You'd better get used to long conversations with Leland Chee. Then get Abel G. Peña to fix any mistakes you made. And that's if [[Word of God|George Lucas]] doesn't Joss your idea himself. It's even got a cool name: [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Holocron_continuity_database The Holocron].
* ''[[Faction Paradox]]'' has a couple of examples. The Book of the War is a universe bible framed as an in-universe encyclopedia of the first fifty years of the titular Second War in Heaven, and thus a good reference point for the 'default' status quo of the setting, but the series' creator has also released a more straightforward essay on the setting intended as a set of reference points for other writers.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Each ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' setting has a
== [[Toys]] ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* There is also a ''[[Doom]]'' [http://5years.doomworld.com/doombible/ bible], made by Tom Hall. This version was scrapped, however. To famously quote John Carmack: "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but [[Excuse Plot|it's not that important]]."
* The ''[[Fallout]]'' series has
* Bungie Studios, developers of ''[[Halo]]'', have a "Halo Story Bible" which contains all the facts, design elements, and history of the ''Halo'' universe.
* Several versions of the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]] Bible'' have been leaked online. The Sonic Bible was written by the American localization team, who had nothing to base it on other than a prototype of the game itself. Considering games back then just dropped you in on the action with only the faintest outline of a plot, [[So Bad It's Good|the bible ends up being quite humorous to anyone who is familiar with the character today]].
* The development team for the MMORPG ''[[City of Heroes]]''
* Instruction manuals of many games give details that the game doesn't. For instance, in ''Bomberman 64'' it says that Hades was a machine for mining remodeled into a fighting machine by Orion, and in ''Star Fox Adventures'' it says Krystal is the only survivor from Planet Cerinia.
* For ''[[Dragon Age]]'' Bioware has apparently lost sections of the bible including the elven language and several developers admit to using the fan made wiki when convenient.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Legendary animator [[Chuck Jones]] liked to enforce strict rules about the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' series he oversaw. See [[wikipedia:Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner#Laws and rules|TOW]].
* Matt Groening claims that there are [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E5DD1730F937A35752C1A9679C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all three rules] for ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': "[A]nimals should always behave like animals, the Simpsons should avoid reflecting on their own celebrity, and the Springfield universe should never become overtly cartoonlike." These rules have been
* ''[[Jem and The Holograms]]'' has one.
* ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]'' had one written by Michael Halperin in 1982. It was included on one of the DVDs.
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* The bible for ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'' is included as a PDF extra on [[Shout Factory]]'s DVD release.
* The season 1 bible for ''[[Gargoyles]]'' can be found at [http://www.angelfire.com/rings/katsaris/garbible.htm Lost Tales: Gargoyles].
* Interestingly, Nate Morgan, a prominent supporting cast member of [[Archie Comics]]' later ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (comics)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' comics, was culled from [https://web.archive.org/web/20111122071212/http://www.sonicsatam.com/behind.php#bible an early series bible] for [[Sonic Sat AM|the animated series]].
* Ted Pedersen, story editor of ''[[Sky Surfer Strike Force]]'', has posted the series bible [http://timetreks.net/skybib.html here]
* ''[[Wing Commander Academy]]'' had one, which can be found online, although there are some considerable differences between it and the actual show. Since the show only lasted a single season, the [[Series Bible]] presumably just never got updated (or the updated version was never published online).
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' revealed it relied on a [[Series Bible]] at least as far as character and setting designs went. Revealed in the [[All There in the Manual|Art Of Avatar: The Last Airbender Artbook.]]
* The entire ''Transformers Aligned'' continuity, which includes ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', has one.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Canon Universe]]
[[Category:Consistency]]
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