The Multiverse: Difference between revisions

'''Many Worlds:''' The main setting is one of many dimensions that are entirely different and unique, such as [[Land of Oz|Oz]], [[Chronicles of Narnia|Narnia]], [[Alice in Wonderland|Wonderland]], that sort of thing.

 

 

In some occasions it's the way for a creator to tie several different works via [[Canon Welding]], or to create [[Crossover]].

This provides all sorts of interesting ideas for things you can do, for good or bad. If it involves trans-universe [[Sex Tourism]], you have "[[Your Universe or Mine?]]" (or [[Screw Yourself]] sometimes). However, beware [[Evil Twin]], and similar beings.

 

 

''Not'' the same thing as [[Alternate Continuity]], but it makes a handy way to link them if the writers are so inclined. See also [[Bizarro Universe]], [[Another Dimension]] and [[Alternate Universe]]. Compare [[Rubber Band History]].

 

{{examples}}

* Yuuko from ''[[×××HOLiC]]'' is called the Witch of Dimension for her ability to create gates to any [[Alternate Universe]]. It's her services which allow the cast of ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'' to hop for one dimensions to another trying to collect all the [[Gotta Catch Them All|feathers]].

* ''[[Noein]]'' has this where every universe is a [[For Want of a Nail]] situation, running off the theory that for every decision made, [[Another Dimension]] is created where the other option was chosen. [[Contemplate Our Navels|Much philosophy ensues]].

* The setting of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' is advanced enough to have fairly casual inter-dimensional travel, with the [[The Federation|Time-Space Administration Bureau]] monitoring the security, safety, and cultural growth of every dimension.

* ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' is the one ''huge'' metaseries with literally ''tens'' of alternative continuities, explored in various TV series, OVAs, [[All There in the Manual|novels, mangas, doujinshis]] etc. It also includes other series and titles by the same author and studio, and even the works by the other creators with sometimes completely different premises. It was [[Word of God|explicitly stated]] by its creator, Masaki Kajishima, that ''[[All Myths Are True|all]]'' [[All Myths Are True|these titles and interpretations are true]] and represent different aspects of the same Multiverse, and he doesn't mind sharing. On the other hand, he restricts himself to the ''[[Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Oh-Ki]]'' (that is, original OVAs) storyline and its spinoffs like ''[[Tenchi Muyo! GXP]],'' and consider it the main and central storyline.

* ''[[Bokurano]]'': The main characters are [[Humongous Mecha|fighting aliens]] who are [[The End of the World as We Know It|attempting to destroy the Earth]]. Eventually it is revealed that {{spoiler|the aliens are [[Another Dimension|actually humans from alternate Earths]]. The Earths tend to be fairly similar and can easily be mistaken for one another (which the main characters did), though there are not [[Identical Stranger|any alternates of individuals from one world to another]]}}.

* ''[[The Slayers]]'' takes place in one (sometimes called “the red world”) of four universes, each of which has a good and evil god with five subordinates a piece, all projections floating atop a multiversal golden sea of chaos, A.K.A. {{spoiler|The Lord of Nightmares}}. This doesn't really come into play for the most part, aside from in the anime-original ''TRY'' season, which concerns “overworlders” searching for five [[Plot Coupon]] weapons from their universe…

** Though [[Jossed|the author says it's not so]], [[Fanon]] holds that ''[[Lost Universe]]'' takes place in the “black world” from ''Slayers TRY''.

* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' has {{spoiler|Byakuran}} become a [[Physical God]] of all parallel universes, using the [[MacGuffin|three sets of rings and pacifiers]] in order to do so.

 

* The comic ''[[Fables]]'' mainly features our own world, but also a indefinite number of Fairy Tale worlds which are connected by gates. The gates to our world are closely guarded by the New York Fables since they were conquered by the [[Big Bad|Adversary]].

** This latter plays a role in the War against the Adversary.

 

== [[Fan Works]] ==

* ''[[The Open Door]]'' is centered around the concept of the so-called heroes exploring the [[Mega Crossover]] multiverse in search of ways to improve themselves in preparation to [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Punch Out their enemies]]. Universes are sorted according to an "energy gradient", which roughly serves as a [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] by paralleling each universe's capacity for technology, magic and psychic power. Parts of it have been sealed off and can only be accessed from other parts of the multiverse through "hub universes", with that of ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' serving as one of these. Interestingly, it also has [[Alternate Universe]]s; the second chapter shows that at least one version of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' different from the native ''[[Thousand Shinji]]'' one exists, while later chapters also show that {{spoiler|[[Warhammer 40,000|canon!40k]] }} also exists.

* JLA Watchtower and [[DC Nation]] laughed off "52 Pick Up" (as referenced above), going with the older concept of Hypertime.

** The travel method has become something of a [[Running Gag]], with one of the main characters (Balian) being regularly advised to stay on land. Even that doesn't work. Mostly they tend to arrive in tree's, leading to Legolas remarking that whoever organises these jumps has a serious lack of imagination.

* ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' takes place in or mentions at least six different universes, and Jeft refers to existence as the Infiniverse.

* ''[[Stars Above]]'' uses this concept.

* ''[[A Brane of Extraordinary Women]]'' documents events occurring in several universes within a Multiverse, one of which is [[The Teraverse]].

 

* The [[Big Bad]] in the movie ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' discovers since he can cross over to other movies and other worlds, he can bring back the worst of the worst villains. They'll have a formal party: [[A Nightmare on Elm Street|Freddy Krueger]], and [[Friday the 13th (film)|Jason]] can supply the meat, Hannibal Lecter can do the catering, etc. And it will all take place in what is apparently the "Real World", because here ''[[Crapsack World|the bad guys can win!]]''.

 

* The trope's name comes from Moorcock's books. His many books range a vast array of worlds yet a sizable proportion of them are connected via [[Canon Welding]]. [[Robert A. Heinlein]] used this name in ''[[The Number of the Beast]]'' (see below) as well.

* [[Roger Zelazny]]'s ''[[Book of Amber]]'' has one reality, Amber, which casts an infinite number of Shadows, each one a full world (with Earth among them) or some strange reality area (like that bar [[Alice in Wonderland|where Cheshire Cat hangs out]], or bridge-linked islands floating in a starry sky without any ground below). The Princes of Amber can travel at will to these worlds by using Tarot cards as portals (some can make their own, but it's uncommon), or by walking the shadows and altering them until they stand in the world they desire. On the "opposite end" are Courts of Chaos — the Rim, and beyond it there are no Shadows, just Chaos. Then there's "land between the shadows" aka "negative space". Then there's the "mirrorworld".

* The Crystal-verse series by Vladislav Krapivin. "Great Crystal" being the model of Multiverse most commonly used by those interested in such matters. The variant worlds and some stranger places are mostly navigable via "facet intersections", where one can walk between the worlds, though usually are anisotropic, open [[When the Planets Align|periodically]] rather constantly, and accessibility of edge areas (thus set of routes available for a given individual) varies. Talents for using and finding routes vary wildly, and are trainable. Some people also can travel anywhere "directly", that is rip themselves out of the current continuum, to float in non-space for a few seconds and be dropped in another place, usually wherever desired, though their visualisation of process and attitudes vary wildly (on the average they [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|find it very unsettling and avoid unless needed]]). And there are "mechanical" means, if less than convenient ones. Worlds and places range in Multiverse-awareness from not having such theories in common knowledge (you may meet "our world" there, unless it's that other one, or… etc), to having regular local fairs where people can buy unusual confections and cool weird trinkets without caring about their origin, to studying Multiverse in ways resembling radio astronomy, to treating services of a guide for interspatial travel as yet another legitimate business (if somewhat exotic one).

 

* The TV show ''[[Sliders]]'' did this, although the heroes had no control over where they ended up each week.

* Kirk, McCoy, and several others were transported to a [[Mirror Universe]] in the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of the original ''[[Star Trek]],'' in which a dark Earth-based empire ruled the galaxy. This was very much an [[In Spite of a Nail]] universe, since everything was much the same except the moral/ethical bent of the Federation's counterpart and its citizens.

* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' is a bit tricky. There are alternate timeline-style universes, like the fascist universe of ''Inferno'', or Pete's World from "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel"; post-the Last Great Time War, it's potentially multiverse-destabilising for a TARDIS to hop between such universes. There are also pocket dimensions linked to the main universe, such as E-Space or the Land of Fiction.

 

* The [[Tabletop Games]] ''[[Rifts]]'' is part of Palladium Books' "Megaverse", which includes all of its other games (naturally), plus a number of other realms with some of the games.

* The [[Tabletop Games]] ''[[Planescape]]'', and by extension, the computer game ''[[Planescape: Torment]]''.

* Wizards of the Coast long ago published a set of generic supplements for handling deities in roleplaying games, called ''The Primal Order''. One of the books in this series, ''Chessboards'', covered in exquisite detail how to design and manage an entire multiverse complete with cosmology.

 

* ''[[Transformers]]'' has a whole pile of alternate universes which sometimes cross over, and which [[Word of God|Hasbro and Takara]] disagree over which are actually separate and which simply occur to the side of other stories. The Transformers of the [[Transformers: TransTech|Axiom Nexus]] have grouped all continuities into a number of [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Universal_stream universal streams], with each stream corresponding to a continuity group. Thus, for example, Primax is the G1/Beast Era family, Tyran is the live-action movies, Gargent is the [[Challenge of the Go Bots|GoBots]], [[Fourth Wall|Quadwal]] is the [[Real Life|real world]], etc. Some of these are [[Mirror Universe|negative-polarity universes]] in which Decepticons are good and Autobots are evil; these are assigned negative numbers. To make things ''really'' nuts, there are also multiversal singularities, of which only one exists in all reality. Some of these, such as Alpha Trion, exist in every universe simultaneously, while others, like Vector Prime and The Fallen, travel between universes. There are also [[Our Souls Are Different|sparks]] that resonate across the universe, giving rise to multiple similar but separate versions of Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, and various others.

** It should be noted that this is [[All There in the Manual]]. There's no sign in any of the televised series or available-at-your-comics-shop comic books <ref>Aside from Fun Publications' ''[[Transformers Timelines]]'', which do receive limited direct market print runs</ref> - that is, any canonical stories - that you could "[[Sliders|slide]]" from ''[[Transformers Armada]]'' into ''[[Transformers Animated]],'' despite years of "collector's club" and convention exclusive materials that suggest you can. Fingers are still crossed around the fandom for a ''[[Turtles Forever]]'' sort of project someday, somehow.

** The [[Transformers Aligned Universe]], which includes ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', the ''[[Transformers War For Cypertron|War for Cybertron]]'' video game series and the novels retelling the narrative of the games, are apparently considered to be outside the multiverse.

 

* The ''[[Myst]]'' games (and books) are primarily concerned with a magical means of inter-universe travel (and universe creation, if you believe Gehn).

** In ''Myst III: Exile'', Saavedro seems to be capable of annihilating the new D'ni age by destroying the age definition book, so Gehn has a definite point.

** Also used as a source of infinite [[Mana]] by taking a small amount from an infinite number of alternate realities, using a tool designed by the aforementioned character. Incidentally, this is also a perpetual motion machine since it powers itself.

* In ''[[Ratchet and Clank]] Future: Tools of Destruction'', the all-knowing (for the most part), IRIS Supercomputer mentions that existence is divided into infinite dimensions.

* The multiverse is a key point to ''[[Suikoden Tierkreis]]'', though the player/lead PC only technically ever gets to see one (the reason why is also a plot point).

* ''[[Touhou Project]]'' involves quite a bit of world-hopping. Based upon a relatively Buddhist notion of the universe, like the [[Nippon Ichi]] example above, with multiple hells (Jigoku) and netherworlds (Makai), it gives the heroines plenty of reason to go [[To Hell and Back]]. This seems to have been more frequent earlier on in the series, when there weren't as many characters, and Gensokyo wasn't as fleshed out. Gensokyo itself seems to be a semi-self-contained world kept vaguely apart from the real/outside world by the Great Hakurei Barrier, in spite of being physically built in Japan. Alternate worlds the heroines may visit include:

* Though not officially stated, the Rift from ''[[Final Fantasy V]]'' seems to be a wall seperating all the various universes of the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games. Only Gilgamesh has been shown to be able to get around it freely so far. After his banishment there by Exdeath, and his subsequent [[Heroic Sacrifice]] against Necrophobe, he sets off on a quest to collect rare weapons, appearing in the worlds of ''Final Fantasies'' ''[[Final Fantasy I|I]]'' (remake), ''[[Final Fantasy IV: The After Years|IV]]'', ''[[Final Fantasy VI|VI]]'' (remake), ''[[Final Fantasy VIII|VIII]]'', ''[[Final Fantasy IX|IX]]'', and ''[[Final Fantasy XII|XII]]''. At some point, he also manages to find his way into [[Dissidia Final Fantasy|the conflict between the gods Cosmos and Chaos]], and is overjoyed to find Bartz there, having been itching to get a rematch against him. Unfortunately, Bartz has only the faintest of memories of his home world in this continuity, making ol' Gilgamesh an [[Unknown Rival]] to him.

* ''Anachronox'' takes place in one universe but {{spoiler|deals with the universe before this one and the universe after this one}}; if there was a second game, we would have [[San Dimas Time|gone to the former]]. Plot: {{spoiler|In the next universe, two forces - "Chaos" and "Order" - are pitted against one another for survival. Order managed to trapped Chaos in this universe. Chaos is trying to find a natural doorway into the previous universe where it seeks to destroy this universe and the next universe, and Order in the process.}}

 

* ''[[All Over the House]]'' is linked to ''[[The Life of Nob T. Mouse]]'' via portals and random dimensional jumps. As a result, there are in-universe examples of crossover media, such as ''The Blobland Gang'' stories, which Tesrin of ''All over the house'' read as a child. These are based on Hubert Schlongson's visits to Blob City, which is the main setting of ''The Life Of Nob T Mouse''.

* ''[[Bob and George]]'' has a lot of different universes, most of them with completely crazy versions of the characters. (One universe is the universe of the original Japanese Rockman games.)

* [http://amultiverse.com/ Scenes From a Multiverse], a comic about life in an ordinary multiverse.

 

* The ''[[League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions]]'' was a multiverse. A few of the other universes were other cybersoaps on Nitcentral.

* In ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', there are a lot of alternate universes. Just to name a few...

* Really, what would The Multiverse be like without [[Jenny Everywhere]]?

 

* ''[[Futurama]]'' did this, and we discover a world where coin flips always have the opposite results—as a result, Leela and Fry are married, Bender is gold-plated instead of his usual color ("Bite my glorious golden ass!"), etc. As it turns out, both universes are stored in a box in the other one.

** They later visit dozens of other universes—ones where they're all [[Planet of Hats|robots, or hippies, or Romans...]]

* The end of ''Spider-Man: TAS'' featured a team-up of several Spider-Men to prevent [[Omnicidal Maniac|Spider-Carnage from destroying a multiverse]]. One of them didn't have any powers and was really an actor playing Spider-Man in a movie. [[Hilarious in Hindsight|His universe was strongly implied to be "ours"]].

 

 

 

{{reflist}}