Shared universe
A
Shared universe is a
literary technique in which several different authors share settings and characters which appear in their respective works of fiction, often referring to events taking place in the other writers' stories. It can also be called a "shared setting." It can be a
metafictional device. Shared fictional universes tend to appear more frequently in
fantasy and
science fiction than in other genres.
Some of the largest shared universes come from American
comic books. The concept of a shared universe in comics involves writers, editors and artists, who together create a series of titles where events in one book would have repercussions in another title, and serialized stories would show characters grow and change. Headline characters in one title would make cameo or guest appearances in other books. This idea was strongly developed in the
Marvel Universe in the early 1960s, and seen also in other publishers in recent years, but it was pioneered by the
DC Comics (originally known as National Periodical Publications) and in particular by writer
Gardner Fox, who laid the groundwork for much of the
DC Universe.
* The
Star Wars franchise is unusual in that, at least in theory, every official work in it is considered
canonical and must fit with all the others, although
George Lucas is not bound by the latter restriction.
* The
Star Trek and
Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchises each have a vast empire of subsidiary and mostly non-
canonical novels and comic books, and a vast community of dedicated, sometimes obsessive
fanfiction writers.
* All
Doctor Who licensed fiction is, at least in theory, set in the same shared universe as the television series on which it is based. However, since the
BBC has a somewhat
laissez-faire attitude towards the
Doctor Who canon, divergent, sometimes contradictory, versions of the
Doctor Who universe have appeared in different media (novels, comics, and
audio dramas). These strands are sometimes referred to as separate universes (for example, "the
Big Finish universe" or "the
New Adventures universe"). Furthermore, due to both artistic and legal considerations, spin-offs from the spin-offs such as the
Bernice Summerfield and
Faction Paradox series, may or may not be considered to be part of the same universe as the officially licensed novels in which they originated.
* The
Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game has millions of players worldwide, many of whom play characters in shared settings such as
Faerûn,
Eberron, and
Ravenloft. There are also many novels and magazines dedicated to these shared settings. In addition, although these settings differ from one another in history and geography, they have many other elements in common (eg: live for several hundred years, but are not immortal; wizards must memorise spells each day); these settings are actually separate parts of a greater shared setting (
Planescape).
*
Marvel,
DC, and many other
comic book publishers over the years have each had proprietary shared universes, in which characters from one comic book (such as
Superman) often interact with characters from other comic books in the same universe (such as
Wonder Woman). Series featuring a group or team of characters, each with their own individual adventures written by other writers, are common. From time to time, two comics publishers may jointly produce a "
crossover" in which characters from their respective universes interact; these stories are commonly presented as "out of continuity" to avoid entangling the universes. At one point in the 1990s, DC and Marvel cooperated in the temporary, highly hyped,
Amalgam universe, which blended elements from the two universes, including merged characters (e.g.
Batman and
Wolverine were combined as the
Dark Claw).
* The cartoon libraries of
Warner Brothers,
Disney,
Hanna-Barbera, and other animation houses each contain somewhat-independent stories featuring various combinations of their respective characters, created by a variety of writers and animators. Furthermore,
Who Framed Roger Rabbit featured
Toons from various cartoon universes, most notably a musical interlude with
Donald and
Daffy Ducks, and an action sequence with
Bugs Bunny and
Mickey Mouse. Doing so implied a
metafictional "tooniverse" that produces animated movie stars, which later Toon-related works have expanded upon.
* The
USA Network ran several advertisements in mid-
2006 starring three main characters of different USA television series â€"
Adrian Monk (
Monk), Johnny Smith (
The Dead Zone), and
Shawn Spencer (
Psych) â€" interacting with each other in various settings, to promote new episodes of each of the series.
* Mortimer and Randolph Duke, two characters from
Trading Places made a shared-universe appearance in another
Eddie Murphy film,
Coming to America, except they were now homeless after having lost all their money due to Murphy's character in the former movie.
*
Thieves' World, created by
Robert Lynn Asprin, was used as the setting for a series of anthologies and novels by a variety of writers Asprin was friendly with.
*
Liavek, edited by
Will Shetterly and
Emma Bull.
Merovingen Nights, edited by
C. J. Cherryh.
*
George R. R. Martin edited the
Wild Cards series of short story anthologies, set in a shared fictional universe involving costumed superheroes.
* The
Man-Kzin Wars is a series of anthologies of short stories by different authors set in
Larry Niven's
Known Space, the same
science fictional universe as his
Ringworld and "The Warriors". Niven stated that, as he had never experienced war first-hand, he did not feel competent to write war stories set in the interstellar war period of his future history, and so allowed others (including
Poul Anderson and
Dean Ing) to try their hand at it.
* The
Temps,
Weerde and
Villains! universes, created by the
Midnight Rose Collective
*
Heroes in Hell, edited by
Janet Morris* Florida humor writer
Dave Barry and Florida 'environmental thriller' writer
Carl Hiassen collaborated on a 1998 novel entitled
Naked Came the Manatee, a
parody of the earlier novel by 20 Long Island Newsday writers called
Naked Came the Stranger, in which Barry wrote the first chapter, using entirely new characters, and then passed it along to a chain of 12 other writers in what Barry refers to as the "South Florida Bunch of Whacko's" genre, culminating with a final wrap-up chapter written by Hiaasen. Many of the writers introduced their own series characters into the book -- making it, in most of the cases, the only time those characters ever shared the pages of a novel.
*
Assiti Shards, created and edited by
Eric Flint*
August Derleth and others wrote stories which connected the
Conan the Barbarian stories by
Robert E. Howard with the 1920s era
Cthulhu Mythos stories of
H. P. Lovecraft, and some stories by
Clark Ashton Smith, placing them in a shared fictional universe along with Derleth's own new Cthulhu Mythos stories. Some argue that the Cthulhu Mythos itself is Derleth's invention, and that Lovecraft did not actually intend to set these stories in a common world.
*
Ruth Plumly Thompson and various other authors wrote sequels to
L. Frank Baum's
Oz stories.
*
Greg Bear,
Gregory Benford, and
David Brin wrote novels set in
Isaac Asimov's
Foundation universe.
The
Internet boom in the 1990s made it possible for amateur authors with similar interests to write stories in the same shared universes. Since these authors mostly came from the
role-playing game,
furry fandom, and
fanfiction geek subcultures, the resulting shared universes tend toward those themes and genres most prevalent in those subcultures.
While professional/corporate shared universes usually attempt to maintain overall
continuity, the sheer number of amateur writers working in any given shared universe make for less stringent continuity between writers. This is particularly true in fanfiction; because fanfiction stories draw heavily on
canonical characters and events, such elements will inevitably be written about by many different authors, making some contradictions inevitable. A subgroup of writers may strive for continuity with one another, while disregarding others working within the same setting.
There is no clear dividing line between authors who use online methods to coordinate shared universe stories, and roleplayers who rely on player consensus in preference to
gamemaster or
dice to determine the course of events. The use of online
chat and
forums for roleplaying purposes has given rise to a great deal of collaborative story-writing, of varying literary merits. Some
newsgroups play host to long-running shared-universe stories created in this way.
Originally, shared universe stories were typically written by a small group of authors (most commonly, only two) who were already on friendly terms. With online stories, material may be written by a large number of authors who are strangers to one another.
This state of affairs often gives rise to friction between authors with conflicting visions; one of the most common points of disagreement is when authors seek to promote their favorite characters over those of other authors.
To avoid these conflicts, online forums frequently develop codes of
etiquette that govern interaction. These codes vary according to the forum, but often include variants on these elements:
*Restrictions on story scope, e.g. "No technology beyond that available on present-day Earth", or "No explicit sexual material".
*Statements of aim, e.g. "This setting exists to explore the interactions between characters who wouldn't usually be able to talk to one another. Please don't change it in ways that would detract from that goal."
*Each character is the property of a specific author; do not write speech, thoughts, or actions for another author's character except with their permission.
*Do not involve another author's character in certain types of subplot (often, any subplot) without that author's consent.
*Certain settings are 'common ground' and may not be significantly altered without agreement by other authors.
The threaded nature of some forums, and the fact that such stories are usually visible to readers before they are complete, can present a difficulty in keeping events in a linear chronology. If unchecked, story time can 'branch' in the same way as threaded conversations do. Approaches to this problem include:
*Planning out events likely to branch 'behind the scenes' before making them public (e.g. over email between authors).
*
Retconning as necessary to restore linearity.
*Imposing rules on who can add to the story, when, to ensure that each author's contribution is taken into account before the next is added.
*Accepting 'threaded time', either as a reality of the shared universe or by doing one's best to ignore it.
*
Alternative universe (fan fiction)*
Fan fiction*
Canon (fiction)*
Devilbunnies*
The Legion of Net.Heroes*
Superguy*
The Transformation Story Archive*
The Black Admiral Universe*
rec.arts.comics.creative newsgroup
