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DC Universe (view source)

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{{quote|''"It's the [[Weirdness Magnet|DC Universe.]] The [[The World Is Always Doomed|end of the world]] isn't even [[Seen It All|an excuse]] for [[City of Adventure|getting off work]] [[Genre Savvy|anymore."]]''|'''Linkara''', ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall (Web Video)|Atop the Fourth Wall]]''}}
 
The '''DC Universe''' is the [[Shared Universe|shared universe]] belonging to [[DC Comics]], established in 1934 and now the oldest major [[Comic Books|comic book]] publishing company. This is mostly used as a vehicle for their extensive [[Superhero]] mythos, although the [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink|nature]] of the universe allows for almost unlimited storytelling potential in many different genres.
 
The DC Universe is primarily responsible for establishing the concept of the super-hero in popular culture, with [[Batman (Franchise)|Batman]], [[Superman (Franchise)|Superman]] and [[Wonder Woman]] as some of their oldest and most popular characters. Their introduction of the [[Justice Society of America]] during [[World War II]] was also the first real super-hero team book, using the [[Crossover|cross-over]] to establish the first shared universe in comics history. Their massive early popularity was stunted by the invention of the [[Comics Code]] which nearly killed the industry, and many of the [[Bowdlerise|bowdlerised]] stories from this era are responsible for several negative stereotypes about the medium. There was a revival in the late fifties and early sixties with the creation of newer more imaginative updates of characters like [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]] and [[The Flash]], leading to DC's biggest characters forming the [[Justice League of America|Justice League]]. To explain the difference in continuity, they established a [[Multiverse]] with the different versions of the heroes occupying different world. The popularity of this team book also inspired [[Marvel Comics]] to publish their own team book [[Fantastic Four]], leading into an era of more maturely written super-hero stories dealing with the development of characters and more serious problems.
 
One of their most controversial moves was the epic storyline ''[[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]]'' during the eighties, an effort to untangle their years of [[Continuity Snarl]] by destroying the Multiverse and establishing one linear continuity for all of the characters to co-exist in. This included revising much of the universe's history and updating the origins of many characters. The Multiverse has been brought back during [[Infinite Crisis]], although the mainstream continuity has only been changed in minor ways reflecting the story-telling needs of the writers. There was a second, much more widespread reboot of the DC Universe in September 2011 with all titles being restarted back to number 1, with these titles referred to as the "[[New 52]]".
 
Their distinguished competition is the [[Marvel Universe]], published by [[Marvel Comics]]. The two lines appear similar at first glance, but there are some very subtle differences between the two. While there are many exceptions, the main difference is that the super-hero community tends to have a stricter sense of [[Black and White Morality|black-and-white morality]] at DC. This is written as a mature philosophical stand-point, dealing with the heroic archetype and their place as trusted members of society; in the DCU the general public tend to have greater respect for their heroes and treat them with higher esteem.
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** The characters of Fawcett Comics, such as [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]] and the Marvel Family.
** The characters of Quality Comics, such as [[Plastic Man]], Kid Eternity and the [[Freedom Fighters (Comic Book)|Freedom Fighters]].
** The characters of Charlton Comics, such as [[Captain Atom (Comic Book)|Captain Atom]], [[Blue Beetle]] and [[The Question]].
** The characters of [[Milestone Comics]], such as [[Static (Comic Bookcomics)|Static]], [[Hardware (Comic Book)|Hardware]] and [[Icon (Comic Book)|Icon]] & Rocket.
** The characters of the Red Circle (formerly owned by [[Archie Comics]]) such as the Mighty Crusaders, the Shield and the Web.
** The characters of [[Wildstorm]] Comics, such as [[Stormwatch]], Grifter, [[The Authority]] and the [[Wild CATS]], who have joined the mainstream continuity (along with the people in the [[Vertigo Comics]] line) as of the [[New 52]].
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** The [[Wildstorm]] universe has nominally been part of the DC Multiverse since the company was bought by DC, though crossovers are rare. With [[Flashpoint (Comic Book)|Flashpoint]], however, many Wildstorm characters have shown up as part of the main DCU.
** ''[[Kingdom Come]]'' and ''[[Tangent Comics]]'' are perhaps the most famous of numerous works detailing specific [[Alternate Universe|Alternate Universes]].
** Occasionally mention will be made of the [[Vertigo Comics|Vertigo Universe]], but Vertigo's recurring characters ([[The Sandman]], [[Swamp Thing (Comic Book)|Swamp Thing]], [[Lucifer (Comic Book)|Lucifer]], etc.) really take place in their own little corners of [[The DCU]] that [[Exiled From Continuity|no longer interact with the rest of the universe]] due to [[Executive Meddling]]. Up until 2011, anyway, when they made a comeback.
** ''We'' are ostensibly a part of the DC multiverse, Earth-Prime. Except between 1985 and 2005, when we didn't actually exist.
* [[No Communities Were Harmed]]: The aforementioned [[City of Adventure|Cities Of Adventure]].
* [[Present Day]]: Mostly. [[Time Travel]] is common, as are series set in [[The Wild West]], [[World War II]], or [[The Future]].
* [[Shout -Out]]
* [[Superhero]]: Of course.
* [[Underwear of Power]]: [[Trope Maker]], really. (Although they are technically exercise trunks, not underwear.)
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* [[Adam Strange]]
* [[Ambush Bug]]
* [[Amethyst Princess of Gemworld (Comic Book)|Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld]]
* [[Angel and Thethe Ape]]
* [[Animal Man (Comic Book)|Animal Man]]
* [[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]]
* [[The Atom]]
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* [[Aztek]]
* [[Batgirl (Comic Book)|Batgirl]]
* [[Batman (Franchise)|Batman]]
* [[Batwoman (Comic Book)|Batwoman]]
* [[Black Canary]]
* [[Blackest Night]]
* [[Blackhawk]]
* [[Black Lightning (Comic Book)|Black Lightning]]
* [[Black Orchid (Comic Book)|Black Orchid]]
* [[Blue Beetle]]
* [[Blue Devil]]
* [[Booster Gold]]
* [[Brightest Day]]
* [[Captain Atom (Comic Book)|Captain Atom]]
* [[Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew (Comic Book)|Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew]]
* [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]]
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* [[Checkmate]]
* [[The Creeper]]
* [[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]]
* [[Deadman (Comic Book)|Deadman]]
* [[Demon Knights (Comic Book)|Demon Knights]]
* [[Dial H for Hero (Comic Book)|Dial H for Hero]]
* [[Doctor Fate]]
* [[Doom Patrol (Comic Book)|Doom Patrol]]
* [[Elongated Man]]
* [[Enemy Ace]]
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* [[Flash]]
* [[Flashpoint (Comic Book)|Flashpoint]]
* [[Flex Mentallo (Comic Book)|Flex Mentallo]]
* [[Freedom Fighters (Comic Book)|Freedom Fighters]]
* [[Global Guardians]]
* [[Green Arrow]]
* [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]]
* [[Harley Quinn (Comic Book)|Harley Quinn]]
* [[Hawkman]]
* [[Hourman]]
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* [[Infinite Crisis]]
* [[Jimmy Olsen]]
* [[Hellblazer (Comic Book)|John Constantine]]
* [[The Joker]]
* [[Jonah Hex]]
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* [[Robin (Comic Book)|Robin]]
* [[The Sandman]]
* [[Scare Tactics (Comic Bookcomics)|Scare Tactics]]
* [[Secret Six]]
* [[Sgt Rock (Comic Book)|Sgt Rock]]
* [[Shadowpact (Comic Book)|Shadowpact]]
* [[The Spectre]]
* [[Starman (Comic Book)|Starman]]
* [[Static (Comic Bookcomics)|Static]]
* [[Steel]]
* [[Suicide Squad]]
* [[Superboy]]
* [[Supergirl]]
* [[Superman (Franchise)|Superman]]
* [[Swamp Thing (Comic Book)|Swamp Thing]]
* [[Tangent Comics]]
* [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]
* [[Unknown Soldier]]
* [[Vixen (Comic Bookcomics)|Vixen]]
* [[The Warlord (Comic Book)|The Warlord]]
* [[Wonder Girl]]
* The [[Wonder Twins]]
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TV series set in (parts of) [[The DCU]]:
 
[[Superman (Franchise)|Superman]]-based (mostly in Metropolis, but given ol' Kal-El's range all bets are off):
* ''[[The Adventures of Superman (TV)|The Adventures of Superman]]''
* ''[[The New Adventures of Superman (Animation)|The New Adventures of Superman]]''
* ''[[The Adventures of Superboy]]''
* ''[[Lois and Clark (TV)|Lois and Clark]]''
* ''[[Superman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Superman the Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Smallville (TV)|Smallville]]'' (Obviously, not set in Metropolis. Well, not for the majority of the series. Set mostly there towards the end, though.)
* ''[[Krypto the Superdog (Animationanimation)|Krypto the Superdog]]''
 
[[Batman (Comic Book)|Batman]]-based (in Gotham City, with rare field trips):
* ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]''
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]''
* ''[[Birds of Prey]]'' (short-lived series focusing on "Batman Family" members)
* ''[[Gotham Girls]]'' (2002 female-centric online cartoon series)
* ''[[The Batman (Animation)|The Batman]]''
* ''[[Batman: theThe Brave And The Bold (Animation)|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]''
 
[[Justice League of America]]-based:
* ''[[Super FriendsSuperfriends]]'' (Along with its many sequels and permutations.)
* ''Legends of the Superheroes'' (A short-lived 1970s series which attempted to bring the campy style of ''[[Batman]]'' to the JLA, and failed miserably.)
* ''Justice League of America'', a failed [[Pilot Movie]] based around the post-''Justice League International'' incarnation of the team.
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Other single characters:
* [[Catwoman (Comic Book)|Catwoman]]
** Widely-panned [[Catwoman (Filmfilm)|2004 movie]], with few links to either the comics or other movie versions.
* [[Flash]]
** ''[[The Flash]]'', 1990-91 series with John Wesley Shipp as Barry Allen.
* [[Green Lantern (Comic Book)|Green Lantern]]
** [[Green Lantern (Filmfilm)|2011 film]]
* [[Supergirl]]
** 1984 movie
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Other TV series:
* ''[[Aquaman (Comic Book)|Aquaman]]'' (Failed [[Pilot]])
** Although a successful 1960s cartoon was why he was included in the [[Super FriendsSuperfriends]] to begin with.
* ''[[Wonder Woman]]''
* ''[[Shazam]]!'' ([[I Am Not Shazam|Not actually the hero's name.]] His name is Captain Marvel. The wizard who gave Billy Batson his powers ''is'' named Shazam. However, no series using the character can use the "Captain Marvel" name because [[Marvel Comics]] has its own character with that name and regularly publishes comic book series with that name. He was featured in a 1974 live-action series, 1981 cartoon (both produced by [[Filmation]]), and a planned 2008 cartoon.))
* ''[[Swamp Thing]]'' (1990 live action series, 1991 cartoon, plus movies made in 1982 and 1989)
* ''[[Static Shock]]'' (Originally a Milestone title)
* ''[[Isis (Comic Bookcomics)|Isis]]'' (Originally by virtue of crossovers with ''[[Shazam]]'', though DC [[Canon Immigrant|did eventually publish a short-lived Isis comic book]]. More recently, they've added a DCU version of the character as Black Adam's consort and, eventually, wife, though {{spoiler|they killed her off not long after. She's now alive again though}}.)
** And she {{spoiler|[[Taken for Granite|was a statue]] for a while. Then she came back. Go fig.}}
 
Other team shows:
* ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]'' (The last season is full of the same mix, albeit focusing on the ''TT'' and ''[[Doom Patrol]]'' characters. This may or may not also be in continuity with the DCAU below, despite its very different look and style, and fan debates over this continue as the [[Word of God]] has been lacking, instead giving what amounts to the continuity version of a [[Ship Tease]].)
* ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]''
* ''[[Young Justice (Animationanimation)|Young Justice]]'' (Though it shares the title of the comic book series it is not a straight up adaptation of it and includes a wide variety of DCU stories, including Teen Titans and Justice League.)
 
A subset of [[The DCU]] is the [[DCAU|DC Animated Universe]] (AKA the "Timmverse" or the "Diniverse"), consisting of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'' and every other series that takes place in the same universe. It has its own [[Canon]], with more than one [[Crossover]] between series, and is best known for its distinctive artstyle, based on the works of Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. This universe has ended with the final season of ''[[Justice League|Justice League Unlimited]]''.
 
Series in the DCAU:
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Superman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Superman the Animated Series]]''
* ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]''
* ''[[The Zeta Project (Animation)|The Zeta Project]]''
* ''[[Static Shock (Animation)|Static Shock]]''
* ''[[Gotham Girls]]''
* ''[[Justice League (Animationanimation)|Justice League]]'' and ''Justice League Unlimited''
 
DC and [[Warner Brothers]] recently began a new series of animated movies, released straight to DVD, called [[DC Universe Original Animated Movies]]. Mostly they focus on individual characters, including some, like [[Wonder Woman]], who have never had their own animated series. All movies with the exception of the Superman/Batman titles (which are loosely related to each other) are standalone stories.
 
* ''[[The Death of Superman|Superman: Doomsday]]''
* ''[[Justice League: theThe New Frontier]]''
* ''[[Batman Gotham Knight (Animation)|Batman: Gotham Knight]]''
* ''[[Wonder Woman]]''
* ''[[Green Lantern: First Flight (Animation)|Green Lantern First Flight]]''
* ''[[Superman /Batman: Public Enemies]]''
* ''[[Justice League Crisis On Two Earths]]''
* ''[[Batman: Under the Red Hood]]''
* ''[[Superman /Batman: Apocalypse]]''
 
{{reflist}}
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