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A parallel universe, also known as a parallel dimension, alternate universe, or alternate reality, is a hypothetical self-contained plane of existence, co-existing with one's own. The sum of all potential parallel universes that constitute
reality Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, re ...
is often called a " multiverse". While the four terms are generally synonymous and can be used interchangeably in most cases, there is sometimes an additional connotation implied with the term "alternate universe/reality" that implies that the reality is a variant of our own, with some overlap with the similarly named alternate history.
Fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...
has long borrowed an idea of "another world" from
myth Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
,
legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...
and
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...
.
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
,
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
,
Olympus Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to: Mountains In antiquity Greece * Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology * Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Le ...
, and Valhalla are all "alternative universes" different from the familiar material realm.
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
reflected deeply on the parallel realities, resulting in Platonism, in which the upper reality is perfect while the lower earthly reality is an imperfect shadow of the heavenly. The concept is also found in ancient
Hindu mythology Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and ...
, in texts such as the
Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...
, which expressed an infinite number of universes, each with its own gods. Similarly in
Persian literature Persian literature ( fa, ادبیات فارسی, Adabiyâte fârsi, ) comprises oral compositions and written texts in the Persian language and is one of the world's oldest literatures. It spans over two-and-a-half millennia. Its sources h ...
, "The Adventures of Bulukiya," a tale in the ''
One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'', describes the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
Bulukiya learning of alternative worlds/universes that are similar to but still distinct from his own. One of the first
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
examples is Murray Leinster's short story, ''Sidewise in Time'', in which portions of alternative universes replace corresponding geographical regions in this universe. ''Sidewise in Time'' describes it in the manner that similar to requiring both
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...
and
latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...
coordinates in order to mark your location on Earth, so too does time: traveling along latitude is akin to
time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
moving through past, present and future, while traveling along longitude is to travel perpendicular to time and to other realities, hence the name of the short story. Thus, another common term for a parallel universe is "another dimension," stemming from the idea that if the 4th
dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coord ...
is time, the 5th dimension—a direction at a right angle to the fourth—is an alternate reality. In modern literature, parallel universes can be roughly divided into two categories: to allow for stories where elements that would ordinarily violate the laws of nature; and to serve as a starting point for speculative fiction, asking oneself "What if vent turned out differently?". Examples of the former include Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' and
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', while examples of the latter include Harry Turtledove's ''Worldwar'' series. A parallel universe—or more specifically, continued interaction between the parallel universe and our own—may serve as a central plot point, or it may simply be mentioned and quickly dismissed, having served its purpose of establishing a realm unconstrained by realism. The aforementioned ''Discworld'', for example, only very rarely mentions our world or any other worlds, as Pratchett set the books in a parallel universe instead of "our" reality to allow for magic on the Disc. ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' also utilizes to a lesser extent the idea of parallel universes is brought up but only briefly mentioned in the introduction and ending, its main purpose to bring the
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
from "our" reality to the setting of the books.


Science fiction

While technically incorrect, and looked down upon by hard science-fiction fans and authors, the idea of another "
dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coord ...
" has become synonymous with the term "parallel universe". The usage is particularly common in
movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
, television and comic books and much less so in modern prose science fiction. The idea of a parallel world was popularized in comic books with the publication of ''The Flash'' #123, ''Flash of Two Worlds'' in 1961. In written science fiction, "new dimension" more commonly—and more accurately—refer to additional
coordinate axes A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in ...
, beyond the three spatial axes with which we are familiar. By proposing travel along these extra axes, which are not normally perceptible, the traveler can reach worlds that are otherwise unreachable and invisible. In 1884, Edwin A. Abbott wrote the seminal novel exploring this concept called '' Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions''. It describes a world of two dimensions inhabited by living squares, triangles, and circles, called Flatland, as well as Pointland (0 dimensions), Lineland (1 dimension), and Spaceland (three dimensions) and finally posits the possibilities of even greater dimensions.
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
, in his foreword to the Signet Classics 1984 edition, described ''Flatland'' as "The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions". In 1895, '' The Time Machine'' by H. G. Wells used time as an additional "dimension" in this sense, taking the
four-dimensional A four-dimensional space (4D) is a mathematical extension of the concept of three-dimensional or 3D space. Three-dimensional space is the simplest possible abstraction of the observation that one only needs three numbers, called '' dimensions'' ...
model of classical physics and interpreting time as a space-like dimension in which humans could travel with the right equipment. Wells also used the concept of parallel universes as a consequence of time as the fourth dimension in stories like ''
The Wonderful Visit ''The Wonderful Visit'' is an 1895 novel by H. G. Wells. With an angel—a creature of fantasy unlike a religious angel—as protagonist and taking place in contemporary England, the book could be classified as contemporary fantasy, although th ...
'' and ''
Men Like Gods ''Men Like Gods'' (1923) is a novel, referred to by the author as a "scientific fantasy", by English writer H. G. Wells. It features a utopia located in a parallel universe. Plot summary ''Men Like Gods'' is set in the summer of 1921. Its pro ...
'', an idea proposed by the astronomer Simon Newcomb, who talked about both time and parallel universes; "Add a fourth dimension to space, and there is room for an indefinite number of universes, all alongside of each other, as there is for an indefinite number of sheets of paper when we pile them upon each other." There are many examples where authors have explicitly created additional spatial dimensions for their characters to travel in, to reach parallel universes. In ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
'', the Doctor accidentally enters a parallel universe while attempting to repair the TARDIS console in " Inferno". Douglas Adams, in the last book of the '' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' series, '' Mostly Harmless'', uses the idea of
probability Probability is the branch of mathematics concerning numerical descriptions of how likely an event is to occur, or how likely it is that a proposition is true. The probability of an event is a number between 0 and 1, where, roughly speaking, ...
as an extra axis in addition to the classical four dimensions of space and time similar to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, although according to the novel they were more a model to capture the continuity of space, time and probability. Robert A. Heinlein, in '' The Number of the Beast'', postulated a six-dimensional universe. In addition to the three spatial dimensions, he invoked
symmetry Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definiti ...
to add two new temporal dimensions, so there would be two sets of three. Like the fourth dimension of H. G. Wells' "Time Traveller," these extra dimensions can be traveled by persons using the right equipment.


Hyperspace

Perhaps the most common use of the concept of a parallel universe in science fiction is the concept of hyperspace. Used in science fiction, the concept of "hyperspace" often refers to a parallel universe that can be used as a faster-than-light shortcut for interstellar travel. Rationales for this form of hyperspace vary from work to work, but the two common elements are: #It is possible to enter and exit from this hyperspace with reasonable ease. #There is reason to enter and exit hyperspace rather than travel conventionally (in most settings, 'hyperspace' is considered a faster form of travel). Sometimes "hyperspace" is used to refer to the concept of additional
coordinate axes A Cartesian coordinate system (, ) in a plane is a coordinate system that specifies each point uniquely by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances to the point from two fixed perpendicular oriented lines, measured in ...
. In this model, the universe is thought to be "crumpled" in some higher spatial dimension, and that traveling in this higher spatial dimension, a ship can move vast distances in the common spatial dimensions. An analogy is to crumple a newspaper into a ball and stick a needle straight through: the needle will make widely spaced holes in the two-dimensional surface of the paper. While this idea invokes a "new dimension", it is not an example of a parallel universe. It ''is'' a more scientifically plausible use of hyperspace. (See
wormhole A wormhole ( Einstein-Rosen bridge) is a hypothetical structure connecting disparate points in spacetime, and is based on a special solution of the Einstein field equations. A wormhole can be visualized as a tunnel with two ends at separate ...
.) While the use of hyperspace is common, it is mostly used as a plot device and thus of secondary importance. While a parallel universe may be invoked by the concept, the nature of the universe is not often explored. So, while stories involving hyperspace might be the most common use of the parallel universe concept in fiction, it is not the most common source of fiction ''about'' parallel universes.


Time travel

Time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...
can result in multiple universes if a time traveller can change the past. In one interpretation, alternative histories as a result of time travel are not parallel universes: while multiple parallel universes can co-exist simultaneously, only one history or alternative history can exist at any one moment, as alternative history usually involves, in essence, overriding the original timeline with a new one. As a result, travel between alternative histories is not possible without reverting the timeline back to the original. There are exceptions to the above, and an alternate history doesn't necessarily overwrite the old one. There are no rules written in stone regarding this. Modern ideas of time travel pose the idea of branching timelines, such as the 2009 ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' reboot and '' Avengers: Endgame''. Technically, if a timeline is not explicitly stated to have been erased, it is still there. Parallel universes as a result of time travel can serve simply as the backdrop, or it may be a central plot point. '' The Guns of the South'' by Harry Turtledove, where the Confederate Army is given thousands of AK-47 rifles and ends up winning the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
, is a good example of the former, while
Fritz Leiber Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert ...
's novel '' The Big Time'' where a war between two alternative futures manipulating history to create a timeline that results in or realizes their own world is a good example of the latter.


Multiple worlds and time travel

Subscribing to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, alternative histories in fiction can arise as a natural phenomenon of the universe. In these works, the idea is that each choice every person makes, each leading to a different result, both occur, so when a person decides between jam or
butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condim ...
on his toast, two universes are created: one where that person chose jam, and another where that person chose butter. The concept of "sidewise" time travel, a term taken from Murray Leinster's " Sidewise in Time", is used to allow characters to pass through many different alternative histories, all descendant from some common branch point. Often, worlds that are more similar to each other are considered closer to each other in terms of this sidewise travel. For example, a universe where World War II ended differently would be "closer" to us than one where Imperial China colonized the New World in the 15th century. H. Beam Piper used this concept, naming it "paratime" and writing a series of stories involving the Paratime Police who regulated travel between these alternative realities as well as the technology to do so.
Keith Laumer John Keith Laumer ( – ) was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service. His older brother March Laumer wa ...
used the same concept of "sideways" time travel in his 1962 novel ''
Worlds of the Imperium ''Worlds of the Imperium'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Keith Laumer. It originally appeared in '' Fantastic Stories of the Imagination'' between February and April 1961. The following year it was published by Ace Books as an Ace ...
''. More recently, novels such as
Frederik Pohl Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellit ...
's '' The Coming of the Quantum Cats'' and
Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work e ...
's '' Anathem'' explore human-scale readings of the "many worlds" interpretation, postulating that historical events or human consciousness spawns or allows "travel" among alternative universes. Universe 'types' frequently explored in sidewise and alternative history works include worlds whose Nazis won the Second World War, as in '' The Man in the High Castle'' by Philip K. Dick, ''
SS-GB ''SS-GB'' is an alternative history novel by Len Deighton, set in a United Kingdom conquered and occupied by Germany during the Second World War. The novel's title refers to the branch of the Nazi SS that controls Britain. It was first publi ...
'' by
Len Deighton Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books, history and military history, but he is best known for his spy novels. After completing his national service in the Royal Air ...
, and '' Fatherland'' by Robert Harris, and worlds whose Roman Empire never fell, as in ''
Roma Eterna ''Roma Eterna'' is a science fiction fixup novel by American writer Robert Silverberg, published in 2003, which presents an alternative history in which the Roman Empire survives to the present day. Each of the ten chapters was first published a ...
'' by
Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gran ...
. ''
Romanitas ''Romanitas'' is the collection of political and cultural concepts and practices by which the Romans defined themselves. It is a Latin word, first coined in the third century AD, meaning "Roman-ness" and has been used by modern historians as sho ...
'' by Sophia McDougall, and ''
Warlords of Utopia ''Warlords of Utopia'' is an original novel by Lance Parkin set in the Faction Paradox universe. Parkin developed the idea for a ''Doctor Who'' book that was not published. The published version is his second attempt to write it for Faction Par ...
'' by Lance Parkin.


Similar concepts


Counter-Earth

The concept of counter-Earth might seem similar to a parallel universe but is actually a distinct idea. A counter-earth is a planet that shares Earth's orbit but is on the opposition side of the sun, therefore, cannot be seen from Earth. There would be no necessity that such a planet would be like
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...
in any way, although typically in fiction it is practically identical to Earth. Since Counter-Earth is not only within our universe but within our own
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
, reaching it can be accomplished with ordinary space travel.


Convergent evolution and parallel evolution

Convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...
is a biological concept whereby unrelated species acquire similar traits because they adapted to a similar environment and/or played similar roles in their ecosystems. In fiction, the concept is extended whereby similar planets will result in races with similar cultures and/or histories. Again, this is not a true parallel universe since such planets exist within the same universe as our own, but the stories are similar in some respects. ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' frequently explored such worlds, in episodes including "
Bread and Circuses "Bread and circuses" (or bread and games; from Latin: ''panem et circenses'') is a metonymic phrase referring to superficial appeasement. It is attributed to Juvenal, a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE, and is used ...
", "
The Omega Glory "The Omega Glory" is the twenty-third episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Vincent McEveety, it was first broadcast March 1, 1968. In the episod ...
", and " Miri". The 2017 episode of British science fiction television programme ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
'', " The Doctor Falls", explains the different origins of the
Cybermen The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ( ...
as parallel evolution, due to the inevitability of humans and human-like species attempting to upgrade themselves through technology; this perspective resolves continuity differences in the Cybermen's history. Convergent evolution may also be due to contamination. In this case, a planet may start out differently from Earth, but due to the influence of Earth's culture, the planet comes to resemble Earth in some way. ''Star Trek'' also frequently used this theory as well, for example, in " Patterns of Force" and " A Piece of the Action".


Simulated reality

Simulated realities are digital constructs featured in science fiction such as '' The Matrix''.


Parallel Universe Theory

In 1954,
Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
doctoral applicant
Hugh Everett III Hugh Everett III (; November 11, 1930 – July 19, 1982) was an American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, which he termed his "relative state" formulation. In contrast to the then-dominant Cope ...
proposed that parallel universes co-exist with and diverge from our own universe. Everett's Many-Worlds Theory, as it came to be known, wanted to respond to some unanswered inquiries raised in the developing field of quantum material science. In 2012 two quantum physicists, Dr S.Haroche and Dr D. Worland, received a Nobel Prize for their experiments which showed that "a particle can be at two locations at the same time."


Fantasy


Transportation of modern characters to fantasy universe

It is common in fantasy for authors to find ways to bring a protagonist from "our" world to the fantasy world. Before the mid-20th century, this was most often done by hiding fantastic worlds within unknown, distant locations on Earth; peasants who seldom, if ever, traveled far from their villages could not conclusively say that it was impossible that an ogre or other fantastical beings could live an hour away. Characters in the author's world could board a ship and find themselves on a fantastic island, as
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Du ...
does in '' Gulliver's Travels'' or in the 1949 novel '' Silverlock'' by John Myers Myers, or be sucked up into a
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...
and land in Oz. These " lost world" stories can be seen as geographic equivalents of a "parallel universe," as the worlds portrayed are separate from our own, and hidden to everyone except those who take the difficult journey there. The geographic "lost world" can blur into a more explicit "parallel universe" when the fantasy realm overlaps a section of the "real" world, but is much larger inside than out, as in Robert Holdstock's novel '' Mythago Wood''. However, increasing geographical knowledge meant that such locations had to be farther and farther off. Perhaps influenced by ideas from science fiction, many works chose a setting that takes place in another, separate reality. As it is now not possible to reach these worlds via conventional travel, a common
trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...
is a portal or artifact that connects our world and the fantasy world together, examples being the wardrobe in
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...
' '' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' or the sigil in James Branch Cabell's '' The Cream of the Jest''. In some cases, physical travel is not even possible, and the character in our reality travels in a dream or some other altered state of consciousness. Examples include the '' Dream Cycle'' stories by H. P. Lovecraft or the ''
Thomas Covenant ''The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'' is a series of ten high fantasy novels written by American author Stephen R. Donaldson. The series began as a trilogy, entitled ''The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever''. This was followed by an ...
'' stories of
Stephen R. Donaldson Stephen Reeder Donaldson (born May 13, 1947) is an American fantasy, science fiction and mystery novelist, most famous for ''The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'', his ten-novel fantasy series. His work is characterized by psychological complexit ...
. Often, stories of this type have as a major theme the nature of reality itself, questioning whether the dream-world is as real as the waking world. Science fiction often employs this theme in the ideas of cyberspace and
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), edu ...
.


Between the worlds

In a few cases, the interaction between the worlds is an important element, so that the focus is not on simply the fantasy world, but on ours as well. Sometimes the intent is to let them mingle and see what would happen, such as introducing a computer programmer into a high fantasy world as seen in Rick Cook's '' Wizardry'' series, while other times an attempt to keep them from mingling becomes a major plot point, such as in Aaron Allston's '' Doc Sidhe.'' In that story, our "grim world" is paralleled by a "fair world" where the elves live and history echoes ours, where a major portion of the plot deals with preventing a change in interactions between the worlds.


Fantasy multiverses

The idea of a multiverse is as fertile a subject for fantasy as it is for science fiction, allowing for epic settings and godlike protagonists. One example of an epic and far-ranging fantasy "multiverse" is that of Michael Moorcock, who actually named the concept in a 1963 science fiction novel ''The Sundered Worlds''. Like many authors after him, Moorcock was inspired by the many worlds interpretation of
quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
, saying, "It was an idea in the air, as most of these are, and I would have come across a reference to it in ''New Scientist'' (one of my best friends was then editor) ... rphysicist friends would have been talking about it. ... Sometimes what happens is that you are imagining these things in the context of fiction while the physicists and mathematicians are imagining them in terms of science. I suspect it is the romantic imagination working, as it often does, perfectly efficiently in both the arts and the sciences." Unlike many science-fiction interpretations, Moorcock's '' Eternal Champion'' stories go far beyond alternative history to include mythic and
sword and sorcery Sword and sorcery (S&S) is a subgenre of fantasy characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent adventures. Elements of romance, magic, and the supernatural are also often present. Unlike works of high fantasy, the ...
settings as well as worlds more similar to, or the same as, our own. The term 'polycosmos' was coined as an alternative to 'multiverse' by the author and editor
Paul le Page Barnett Paul le Page Barnett (22 November 1949 – 3 February 2020), known by the pen name of John Grant, was a Scottish writer and editor of science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction. Biography Born Paul le Page Barnett in Aberdeen, Scotland, Grant ...
(also known by the pseudonym John Grant), and is built from Greek rather than
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...
s. It is used by Barnett to describe a concept binding together a number of his works, its nature meaning that "all characters, real or fictional ..have to co-exist in all possible real, created or dreamt worlds; ..they're playing hugely different roles in their various manifestations, and the relationships between them can vary quite dramatically, but the essence of them remains the same."


Fictional universe as alternative universe

There are many examples of the
meta-fiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...
al idea of having the author's created universe (or any author's universe) rise to the same level of "reality" as the universe we're familiar with. The theme is present in works as diverse as H.G. Wells' ''
Men Like Gods ''Men Like Gods'' (1923) is a novel, referred to by the author as a "scientific fantasy", by English writer H. G. Wells. It features a utopia located in a parallel universe. Plot summary ''Men Like Gods'' is set in the summer of 1921. Its pro ...
'', Myers' ''Silverlock'', and Heinlein's ''Number of the Beast''. Fletcher Pratt and L. Sprague de Camp took the protagonist of the
Harold Shea The "Harold Shea" Stories is a name given to a series of five science fantasy stories by the collaborative team of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt and to its later continuation by de Camp alone, Christopher Stasheff, Holly Lisle, John Mad ...
series through the worlds of Norse myth, Edmund Spenser's '' The Faerie Queene'',
Ludovico Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic ''Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describes the ...
's ''
Orlando Furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'', more loosely ''Raging Roland'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was ...
'', and the ''
Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and ...
'' – without ever quite settling whether writers created these parallel worlds by writing these works, or received impressions from the worlds and wrote them down. In an interlude set in " Xanadu", a character claims that the universe is dangerous because the poem went unfinished, but whether this was his misapprehension or not is not established. Some fictional approaches definitively establish the independence of the parallel world, sometimes by having the world differ from the book's account; other approaches have works of fiction create and affect the parallel world: L. Sprague de Camp's ''
Solomon's Stone ''Solomon's Stone'' is a fantasy novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in the magazine '' Unknown Worlds'' in June 1942. It was reprinted in the Summer 1949 issue of the British edition of ''Unknown'', and then publ ...
'', taking place on an astral plane, is populated by the daydreams of mundane people, and in Rebecca Lickiss's ''Eccentric Circles'', an elf is grateful to Tolkien for transforming elves from dainty little creatures. These stories often place the author, or authors in general, in the same position as Zelazny's characters in Amber. Questioning, in a literal fashion, if writing is an act of creating a new world, or an act of discovery of a pre-existing world. Occasionally, this approach becomes self-referential, treating the literary universe of the work itself as explicitly parallel to the universe where the work was created. Stephen King's seven-volume '' Dark Tower'' series hinges upon the existence of multiple parallel worlds, many of which are King's own literary creations. Ultimately the characters become aware that they are only "real" in King's literary universe (this can be debated as an example of breaking the fourth wall), and even travel to a world – twice – in which (again, within the novel) they meet Stephen King and alter events in the real Stephen King's world outside of the books. An early instance of this was in works by Gardner Fox for DC Comics in the 1960s, in which characters from the Golden Age (which was supposed to be a series of comic books within the DC Comics universe) would cross over into the main DC Comics universe. One comic book did provide an explanation for a fictional universe existing as a parallel universe. The parallel world does "exist" and it resonates into the "real world". Some people in the "real world" pick up on this resonance, gaining information about the parallel world which they then use to write stories. Robert Heinlein, in '' The Number of the Beast'', quantizes the many parallel fictional universes - in terms of ''fictions''. A number of fictional universes are accessible along one of the three axes of time which Dr. Jacob Burroughs' "time twister" can access. Each quantum level change - a ''fiction'' - along this time axis corresponds to a different universe from one of several bodies of fiction known to all four travelers in the inter-universal, time traveling vehicle ''Gay Deceiver''. Heinlein also " breaks the fourth wall" by having "both Heinleins" (Robert and his wife
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...
) visit an inter-universal science-fiction and fantasy convention in the book's last chapter. The convention was convened on Heinlein character Lazarus Long's estate on the planet "Tertius" to attract the evil "Black Hats" who pursued the main characters of ''The Number of the Beast'' through space and time in order to destroy Dr. Burroughs and his invention. Heinlein continues this literary conceit in '' The Cat Who Walks Through Walls'' and ''
To Sail Beyond the Sunset ''To Sail Beyond the Sunset'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1987. It was the last novel published before his death in 1988. The title is taken from the poem " Ulysses", by Alfred Tennyson. The stan ...
'', using characters from throughout his science-fictional career, hauled forth from their own "fictions" to unite in the war against the "Black Hats". Heinlein also wrote a stand-alone novel, '' Job: A Comedy of Justice'', whose two protagonists fall from alternative universe into alternative universe (often naked), and after a number of such adventures die and enter a stereotypically Fundamentalist Christian Heaven (with many of its internal contradictions explored in the novel). Their harrowing adventures through the universes are then revealed to have been "destruction testing" of their souls by
Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...
, sanctioned by the Creator person of the Christian God (
Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he po ...
). The Devil appears as the most sympathetic of the gods in the story, who expresses contempt for the other gods' cavalier treatment of the story's main characters. Thus, '' Job: A Comedy of Justice'' rings in the theological dimension (if only for the purpose of satirizing evangelical Christianity) of parallel universes, that their existence can be used by God (or a number of gods, Loki seems to have made himself available to do Yahweh's dirty work in this novel). It manages also to have a fictional multiverse angle in that references are made to Heinlein's early SF/fantasy short story " They", a solipsistic tale in which reality is constantly being transmogrified behind the scenes to throw the central character off his guard and keep him from seeing reality as it is, which was set in the same Heinlein fictional universe as '' The Moon is a Harsh Mistress''.


Elfland

Elfland, or Faerie, the otherworldly home not only of
elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes ...
and fairies but goblins,
troll A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human ...
s, and other folkloric creatures, has an ambiguous appearance in folklore. On one hand, the land often appears to be contiguous with 'ordinary' land.
Thomas the Rhymer Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...
might, on being taken by the Queen of Faerie, be taken on a road like one leading to Heaven or Hell. This is not exclusive to English or French folklore. In
Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern per ...
, Elfland ( Alfheim) was also the name of what today is the Swedish province of
Bohuslän Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North ...
. In the sagas, it said that the people of this petty kingdom were more beautiful than other people, as they were related to the
elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes ...
, showing that not only the territory was associated with elves, but also the race of its people. While sometimes folklore seems to show fairy intrusion into human lands – " Tam Lin" does not show any otherworldly aspects about the land in which the confrontation takes place – at other times the otherworldly aspects are clear. Most frequently, time can flow differently for those trapped by the fairy dance than in the lands they come from; although, in an additional complication, it may only be an appearance, as many returning from Faerie, such as Oisín, have found that time "catches up" with them as soon as they have contact with ordinary lands. Fantasy writers have taken up the ambiguity. Some writers depict the land of the elves as a full-blown parallel universe, with portals the only entry – as in Josepha Sherman's Prince of the Sidhe series or Esther Friesner's ''
Elf Defense An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...
'' – and others have depicted it as the next land over, possibly difficult to reach for magical reasons –
Hope Mirrlees (Helen) Hope Mirrlees (8 April 1887 – 1 August 1978) was a British poet, novelist, and translator. She is best known for the 1926 ''Lud-in-the-Mist'', a fantasy novel and influential classic, David Langford and Mike Ashley, "Mirrlees, Hope", ...
's '' Lud-in-the-Mist'', or Lord Dunsany's '' The King of Elfland's Daughter''. In some cases, the boundary between Elfland and more ordinary lands is not fixed. Not only the inhabitants but Faerie itself can pour into more mundane regions. Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' series proposes that the world of the Elves is a "parasite" universe, that drifts between and latches onto others such as Discworld and our own world (referred to as "Roundworld" in the novels). In the young teenage book ''
Mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such a ...
'' by
Kathryn James Kathryn is a feminine given name and comes from the Greek meaning for 'pure'. It is a variant of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: * Kathryn Beaumont (born 1938), English voice actress and school teacher best known for her Dis ...
, the Elven world lies through a patch of mist in the woods. It was constructed when the Elven were thrown out of our world. Travel to and fro is possible by those in the know, but can have lethal consequences.


Isekai

Isekai, is a subgenre of Japanese fantasy light novels, manga, anime, and video games revolving around a normal person being transported to or trapped in a parallel universe. Often, this universe already exists in the protagonist's world as a fictional universe, but it may also be unbeknownst to them.


Films

The most famous treatment of the alternative universe concept in film could be considered '' The Wizard of Oz'', which portrays a parallel world, famously separating the magical realm of the Land of Oz from the mundane world by filming it in Technicolor while filming the scenes set in
Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...
in sepia. At times, alternative universes have been featured in small scale independent productions such as Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's ''
It Happened Here ''It Happened Here'' (also known as ''It Happened Here: The Story of Hitler's England'') is a 1964 British black-and-white film written, produced and directed by Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo, who began work on the film as teenagers. The film ...
'' (1964), featuring an alternative United Kingdom which had undergone Operation Sea Lion in 1940 and had been defeated and occupied by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. It focused on moral questions related to the professional ethics of Pauline, a nurse forced into Nazi collaboration. Another common use of the theme is as a prison for villains or demons. The idea is used in the first two ''
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
'' movies starring Christopher Reeve where
Kryptonian Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to refe ...
villains were sentenced to the
Phantom Zone The Phantom Zone is a prison-like parallel dimension appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is mainly associated with stories featuring Superman. It first appeared in ''Adventure Comics'' #283 (April 1961), and was created ...
from where they eventually escaped. An almost exactly parallel use of the idea is presented in the film '' The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'', where the "8th dimension" is essentially a "phantom zone" used to imprison the villainous Red Lectroids. Uses in
horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...
s include the 1986 film '' From Beyond'' (based on the H. P. Lovecraft story of the same name) where a scientific experiment induces the experimenters to perceive
aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
from a parallel universe, with bad results. The 1987 John Carpenter film '' Prince of Darkness'' is based on the premise that the essence of a being described as
Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...
, trapped in a glass canister and found in an abandoned church in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, is actually an alien being that is the 'son' of something even more evil and powerful, trapped in another universe. The protagonists accidentally free the creature, who then attempts to release his "father" by reaching in through a
mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...
. 1997 film
Event Horizon (film) ''Event Horizon'' is a 1997 science fiction horror film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and written by Philip Eisner. It stars Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan and Joely Richardson. Set in 2047, it follows a crew of astronauts ...
directed by Paul W. S. Anderson tells about a crew of eponymous space ship who are accidentally travelled to another dimension (implied to be
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
), turning them insane and ended up killing each other. Some films present parallel realities that are actually different contrasting versions of the narrative itself. Commonly this motif is presented as different points of view revolving around a central (but sometimes unknowable) "truth", the seminal example being Akira Kurosawa's ''
Rashomon is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/ crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori, and Takashi Shimura as v ...
''. Conversely, often in film noir and crime dramas, the alternative narrative is a fiction created by a central character, intentionally – as in '' The Usual Suspects'' – or unintentionally – as in '' Angel Heart''. Less often, the alternative narratives are given equal weight in the story, making them truly alternative universes, such as in the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
film '' Run Lola Run'', the short-lived British West End musical '' Our House'' and the British film '' Sliding Doors''. More recent films that have explicitly explored parallel universes are: the 2000 film ''
The Family Man ''The Family Man'' is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Brett Ratner, from a screenplay by David Diamond and David Weissman. The film stars Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni, with Don Cheadle, Saul Rubinek, and Jerem ...
'', the 2001 cult film '' Donnie Darko'', which deals with what it terms a "tangent universe" that erupts from our own universe; '' Super Mario Bros.'' (1993) has the eponymous heroes cross over into a parallel universe ruled by humanoids who evolved from dinosaurs; '' The One'' (2001) starring
Jet Li Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen. After three years ...
, in which there is a complex system of realities in which Jet Li's character is a police officer in one universe and a
serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
in another, who travels to other universes to destroy versions of himself, so that he can take their energy; and '' FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions'' (2004), the main character runs away from a totalitarian nightmare, and he enters into a cyber-afterlife alternative reality. The current ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' films are set in an alternative universe created by the first film's villain traveling back in time, thus allowing the franchise to be
rebooted ''Rebooted'' is the third season of the computer-animated television series '' Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu'' (titled ''Ninjago'' from the eleventh season onward). The series was created by Michael Hegner and Tommy Andreasen. The season aired fr ...
without affecting the continuity of any other ''Star Trek'' film or show. The 2011 science-fiction thriller ''
Source Code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the ...
'' employs the concepts of quantum reality and parallel universes. The characters in ''
The Cloverfield Paradox ''The Cloverfield Paradox'' is a 2018 American science fiction horror film directed by Julius Onah and written by Oren Uziel, from a story by Uziel and Doug Jung, and produced by J. J. Abramss Bad Robot Productions. It is the third film in th ...
'', the third installment of the franchise, accidentally create a ripple in the time-space continuum and travel into an alternative universe, where the monster and the events in the first film transpired. This concept has been also been passively depicted in the view of a romantic couple in the Indian Tamil Film Irandam Ulagam. In the 2000 film '' The Beach,'' Leonardo DiCaprio's character Richard, while sitting on the beach with love interest Françoís ( Virginie Ledoyen). describes the utopia they have found in Thailand as their own parallel universe. The
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...
heavily features the multiverse. ''
Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...
'' features the Dark Dimension and the Masters of the Mystic Arts, who draw upon mystical energies from other realities. In '' Avengers: Endgame'', the 2023 Avengers create alternate timelines during the Time Heist. The ramifications of these actions are explored in the television series ''
Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...
'', which focuses on the 2012 variant of
Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi ...
and the Time Variance Authority. A female variant of Loki, Sylvie, kills the mastermind behind the TVA who kept the Sacred Timeline in order, which leads to the rebirth of the Multiverse. The animated series '' What If...?'' follows multiple variants of MCU characters and timelines guided by The Watcher. '' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' features Ta Lo, a mythical village also set in an alternate universe that houses many
Chinese mythological creatures Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...
and where the climax of the film takes place. '' Spider-Man: No Way Home'' has
Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...
encounter villains from the '' Spider-Man trilogy'' and '' The Amazing Spider-Man series'' and prevents their original deaths with help of other variants of himself. '' Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'' features Doctor Strange travelling throughout the multiverse trying to protect
America Chavez America Chavez is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta, Chavez was the second character to use the moniker Miss America, after Madeline Joyce. Chavez first appeared in ' ...
from the
Scarlet Witch Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Her first appearance was in ''The X-Men'' #4 (March 19 ...
, who seeks her power. Along the way, they encounter other variants of Strange, Christine Palmer, and the
Illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...
. The DC Extended Universe will also bring in the multiverse with its upcoming film ''The Flash'' (2023), when the title character, played by Ezra Miller, goes back in time to prevent his mother's murder, thus opening the multiverse. The film will feature both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck both reprising their versions of
Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...
, with the film also introducing the DCEU version of Supergirl, portrayed by
Sasha Calle Sasha Calle (; born August 7) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Lola Rosales on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', which earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. She will portray the superheroine Supergirl i ...
, and Miller portraying an alternate version of the character from the Keaton Batman universe.


Television

The idea of parallel universes has received treatment in a number of television series, usually as a single story or episode in a more general
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
or
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...
storyline. * The 1990s TV series ''
Sliders Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * ''The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...
'' depicts a group of adventurers visiting assorted parallel universes, as they attempt to find their "home" universe. Included in the 1st season is a universe where the world is stuck in the ice age, with no life anywhere. Another episode includes 'Honest Abe' never to be president, in which the United States loses World War I and World War II, and they are controlled by a senator, and technology is at an all-time low. * One of the earliest television plots to feature parallel time (outside of the Twilight Zone) was a 1970 storyline on the soap opera ''
Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinspo ...
''. Vampire Barnabas Collins found a room in Collinwood which served as a portal to parallel time, and he entered the room in an attempt to escape from his current problems. A year later, the show again traveled to parallel time, the setting this time being 1841. * A well known and often imitated example is the original ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' episode entitled " Mirror, Mirror". The episode introduced an alternative version of the ''Star Trek'' universe where the main characters were barbaric and cruel to the point of being evil. When the parallel universe concept is
parodied A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...
, the allusion is often to this ''Star Trek'' episode. A previous episode for the ''Trek'' series first hinted at the potential of differing reality planes (and their occupants), titled "
The Alternative Factor "The Alternative Factor" is the twenty-seventh episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek''. Written by Don Ingalls and directed by Gerd Oswald, it first aired on March 30, 1967. In the episode, th ...
". A mad scientist from "our" universe, named Lazarus B., hunts down the sane Lazarus A.; resident of an antimatter-comprised continuum. His counterpart, in a state of paranoia, claims the double threatens his and the very cosmos' existence. With help from Captain Kirk, A traps B along with him in a "anti"-universe, for eternity, thus bringing balance to both
matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic part ...
-oriented realms. A similar plot was used in the ''Codename: Kids Next Door'' episode Operation: P.O.O.L.. * The mirror universe of ''Star Trek'' was further developed by later series in the franchise. In several episodes of ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...
'', the later evolution of the mirror universe is explored. A two-part episode of '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', entitled "
In a Mirror, Darkly "In a Mirror, Darkly" is the eighteenth and nineteenth episodes of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', and originally aired on April 22 and 29, 2005. This installment was dev ...
", serves as a prequel, introducing the early developments of the Mirror Universe. * In the 1970s young adult British SF series
The Tomorrow People ''The Tomorrow People'' is a British children's science fiction television series created by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran from 30 April 1973 to 19 February 1979. The theme music was ...
, its second-season episode, ''A Rift in Time'' (March–April 1974) pitted the three telepath core characters and allies against time travelling interlopers from an alternative history where the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
developed the
steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...
in the first century CE, had a technological head start, did not fragment during the fifth century and underwent accelerated technological development. The Roman eagle standard was planted on the Moon in the fifth century and by its alternative twentieth century, it had mastered interstellar travel, had a galactic empire and time travel. Consequently, the Tomorrow People had to rectify this aberrant timeline by dismantling and disabling the anomalous steam engine. * Multiple episodes of '' Red Dwarf'' use the concept. In "Parallel Universe" the crew meet alternative versions of themselves: the analogues of Lister, Rimmer and Holly are female, while the Cat's alternative is a dog. "Dimension Jump" introduces a heroic alternative Rimmer, a version of whom reappears in "Stoke Me a Clipper". The next episode, "Ouroboros", makes contact with a timeline in which Kochanski, rather than Lister, was the sole survivor of the original disaster; this alternative Kochanski then joins the crew for the remaining episodes. * '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' experienced a Parallel universe where she was a mental patient in '' Normal Again'' and not really "The Slayer" at all. In the end, she has to choose between a universe where her mother and father are together and alive (mother) or one with her friends and sister in it where she has to fight for her life daily. In The Wish (Buffy the Vampire Slayer),
Cordelia Chase Cordelia Chase is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer''; she also appeared on ''Buffy's'' spin-off series, ''Angel''. Portrayed by Charisma Carpenter, the character appears as a s ...
inadvertently created a dystopian alternative reality in which Buffy had never moved from LA to Sunnydale. Her core-universe allies
Xander Harris Alexander Lavelle Harris is a fictional character created for the action-horror/fantasy television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2003). He was developed by Joss Whedon and portrayed throughout the television series by Nicholas Brend ...
and Willow Rosenberg had become vampires in that timeline. * The plot of the season four episode of ''
Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcas ...
'', entitled "Brain Drain", features
The Source of All Evil ''Charmed'' is an American television series that was originally broadcast by The WB for eight seasons from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006. The series narrative follows a trio of sisters, known as the Charmed Ones, the most powerful good w ...
kidnapping Piper Halliwell and forcing her into a deep coma, where she experiences an alternative reality in which the Halliwell manor is actually a mental institution. She and her sisters serve as patients in this universe, their powers only a manifestation of their minds, a ruse put up to trick Piper into willingly relinquishing the sisters' magic. * The ''Stargate'' franchise includes many stories in which alternate timelines, alternate dimensions and alternate realities are explored. These include the '' Stargate SG-1'' episodes "There But For the Grace of God", "Point of View", "Crystal Skull", "2010", " Moebius" parts 1 and 2, "Babylon", "Ripple Effect", "Arthur's Mantle", "The Road Not Taken", " Unending" and the direct-to-DVD movie '' Stargate: Continuum'', the '' Stargate Atlantis'' episodes "Before I Sleep", "McKay and Mrs. Miller", "The Last Man", "
The Daedalus Variations "The Daedalus Variations" is the 84th episode of the science fiction television series ''Stargate Atlantis'', and is the fourth episode in the series' fifth season. The episode first aired on August 1, 2008 on the Sci Fi Channel in the United Sta ...
", "Vegas" and " Enemy at the Gate", and the '' Stargate Universe'' episodes "Time", "Twin Destinies", "Common Descent" and "Epilogue". * The animated series, '' Futurama'', had an episode where the characters travel between "Universe 1" and "Universe A (also known as universe Γ)" via boxes containing each universe; and one of the major jokes is an extended argument between the two sets of characters over which set were the "evil" ones. They also had another episode where they travel to the edge of the universe and in the distance was the cowboy universe where everyone was dressed as cowboys. It was accidentally invented by Professor Farnsworth. * The idea of a parallel universe and the concept of déjà vu was a major plot line of the first-season finale of '' Fringe'', guest-starring
Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...
of ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
''. The show has gone on to feature the parallel universe prominently. * In the 2010 season of ''
Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography * Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland *Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
'', the result of characters traveling back in time to prevent the crash of Oceanic Flight 815 apparently creates a parallel reality in which the Flight never crashed, rather than resetting time itself in the characters' original timeline. The show continued to show two "sets" of the characters following different destinies, until it was revealed in the series finale that there was really only one reality created by the characters themselves to assist themselves in leaving behind the physical world and passing on to an afterlife after their respective deaths. * In the
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
and
manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...
series of ''
Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 '' Dragon Ball'' anime series and adapts the latter 325 chapters of the original ...
'', in the Androids Saga, Future Trunks returns to the past to give Goku medicine to prevent him from dying of a heart disease and warns him of the Androids, in the process creating a timeline split of parallel realities. This event leads to the appearance of Cell, who kills the same Future Trunks after he originally returns from the past of and kills the Androids via a remote control in his own timeline. Cell does this in order to go to the main timeline of the series when the Androids are still alive for him to absorb. Back in the same past the series follows, Future Trunks discovers the existence of the time machine Cell stole in the original future reality, leading him to make the decision to stay in past instead. This creates a parallel reality for his own future timeline where he is physically capable of killing both the Androids and Cell once he returns after the events of the Cell Saga. ** Its sequel, ''
Dragon Ball Super is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou. A sequel to Toriyama's original ''Dragon Ball'' manga, it follows the adventures of Goku and friends during the ten-year timeskip after the defeat of Maji ...
'', later features separate universes that are in pairs whose numbers add up to the total number of the universe: 12 in this case. Previously there were 18 universes, but Zeno (the supreme ruler of the Dragon Ball Multiverse) destroyed 6 of them in a fit of rage. Previously, Daizenshuu 7 stated that the typical Dragon Ball Universe had only 4 galaxies, but ''Dragon Ball Super'' effectively retcons this, where Whis says that the universe contains endless galaxies. **The spin-off series ''
Super Dragon Ball Heroes is a Japanese trading card arcade game based on the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise. It debuted on November 11, 2010 in Japan. In 2016, an update launched that improved the user experience in the form of enhanced graphics and easier acc ...
'' features alternate versions of the main characters who protect the flow of time as part of the "Time Patrol". They usually have the "Xeno" moniker in addition to their names (e.g. Goku Xeno, Vegeta Xeno, Trunks Xeno, etc.). * The anime '' Turn A Gundam'' attempted to combine all the parallel Gundam universes (other incarnations of the series, with similar themes but differing stories and characters, that had played out at different times since the debut of the concept in the 1970s) of the metaseries into one single reality. * The anime and manga series '' Eureka Seven: AO'' takes place in a parallel universe that is different from the one in the series' predecessor '' Eureka Seven''. The ''E7'' series started off in the year 12005, and the ''AO'' world, which takes place in the year 2025, would be the home of the two main characters' son. * The anime and manga series '' Katekyo Hitman Reborn!'' by Akira Amano features this idea in its third main arc, known as Future arc. * The anime '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'' features a parallel world in one of the final episodes. This parallel world is a sharp contrast to the harsh, dark "reality" of the show and presents a world where all the characters enjoy a much happier life. This parallel world would become the basis for the new Evangelion manga series '' Angelic Days''. * The anime series ''
Bakugan is a Japanese anime adventure television series produced by TMS Entertainment, Dentsu Inc., and Nelvana Limited under the direction of Mitsuo Hashimoto. The story centers on the lives of creatures called Bakugan and the "battle brawlers" ...
'' features a parallel universe called Vestroia and is the homeworld of fantastic creatures called Bakugan. The series' hero Dan Kuso alongside his friends and teammates must save Earth and Vestroia from total destruction. Season 2 & 3 feature another universe where Dan and his team save the day. They go to another dimension or universe through a pathway. The other universe has also other life forms and other types of technology. * In another anime series, ''
Digimon , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise encompassing virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures, who inhabit a ...
'', there is a parallel universe called "digital world". The show's child protagonists meet digital monsters, or digimon, from this world and become partners and friends. In the third story arc of '' Digimon Fusion'', the Clockmaker (who is later revealed to be Bagramon) and his partner Clockmon travel through space-time to recruit heroes from previous series so they can help the Fusion Fighters to defeat Quartzmon before DigiQuartz can absorb each human and digital world in the multiverse. * In the anime series ''
Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. Its first episode debuted at Comiket 72 for Windows on August 17, 2007. The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of tw ...
'' the rounds of the battle between Battler and Beatrice take place in different dimensions, in order to show all kinds of possibilities (much to Battler's dismay) also the character Bernkastel is known for her ability to travel into different worlds by the usage of "fragments". * In the '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode " Parallels", Lt.
Worf Worf, son of Mogh is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG'') and seasons four through seven of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (''DS9'') as well as t ...
traveled to several parallel universes when his shuttlecraft went through a time space fissure. * The ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
'' episode
Remedial Chaos Theory "Remedial Chaos Theory" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American television series '' Community''. The episode was written by Chris McKenna and directed by Jeff Melman. It originally aired on October 13, 2011 on NBC. It follows ...
, six different timelines and one "prime" timeline are explored, each having a different outcome based on which member of the study group goes to get the pizza. One timeline, dubbed the "Darkest Timeline", results in the greatest amount of terrible incidents and ends with Abed donning a felt goatee bearing resemblance to Spock's in "Mirror, Mirror". * In the 2003 anime series of '' Fullmetal Alchemist'', there exists a gateway that can be conjured by alchemists that acts as a source of all knowledge and energy; towards the end of the series, it is revealed that this gateway connects the world of the anime with the real world, set during the first decades of the 20th century. It is revealed that the two worlds shared a common history until their histories diverged, apparently due to the success of alchemy in one world and that of modern physics in the other.


As an ongoing subplot

Sometimes a television series will use parallel universes as an ongoing subplot. ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (abbreviated as ''DS9'') is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller. The fourth series in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise, it originally aired in syndication from ...
'', '' Star Trek: Enterprise'' and '' Star Trek: Discovery'' elaborated on the premise of the original series' "Mirror" universe and developed multi-episode story arcs based on the premise. Other examples are the science fiction series '' Stargate SG-1'', the fantasy/horror series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', ''
Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
'' and the romance/fantasy '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Following the precedent set by ''Star Trek'', these story arcs show alternative universes that have turned out "worse" than the "original" universe: in ''Stargate SG-1'' the first two encountered parallel realities featured Earth being overwhelmed by an unstoppable Goa'uld onslaught; in ''Buffy'', two episodes concern a timeline in which Buffy came to Sunnydale too late to stop the vampires from taking control; ''Lois & Clark'' repeatedly visits an alternative universe where
Clark Kent Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, died when he was ten years of age, and Lois Lane is also apparently dead. Clark eventually becomes Superman, with help from the "original" Lois Lane, but he is immediately revealed as Clark Kent and so has no life of his own. In addition to following ''Star Trek's'' lead, showing the "evil" variants of the main storyline gives the writers an opportunity to show what is at stake by portraying the worst that could happen and the consequences if the protagonists fail or the importance of a character's presence. '' Once Upon a Time'' often talks about alternative realms or universes in which all different forms of magic, and non-magic may occur, depending on the realm. According to the Mad Hatter (Sebastian Stan), they "touch each other in a long line of lands, each just as real as the last". He referred to our world's tendency to deny such things as arrogant. In the season 1 finale of ''
The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'', the Reverse-Flash opens a singularity that connects his world to a parallel universe called Earth-2. In the second season,
The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
starts facing villains from that earth who also have doppelgangers on Earth-1 sent by Zoom. The array of Earth-2 villains consists of Atom Smasher, Sand Demon, King Shark, and Dr. Light; all are sent by Zoom to kill The Flash with the assurance of being taken back home. However, they are not the only ones who arrive from the singularity; this also includes the Earth-2 Flash after a close death and loss of speed from a confrontation with Zoom. When the Earth-2 Flash (called Jay Garrick) introduces himself to Team Flash, Barry (The Flash) distrusts him at first and places him in the metahuman pipeline at S.T.A.R. Labs. When The Flash starts having a hard time facing off against Sand Demon, he frees Jay so that he could help him as well as train him in his speed. With a new trick taught by Jay, Barry defeats Sand Demon. Later on, the Earth-2 counterpart of Harrison Wells, arrives on Earth-1 as well. He steals a weapon from Mercury Labs and saves Barry from the Earth-2 King Shark. When Jay confronts and sees Wells again, the argument gets heated between them before Barry intercedes. Up until season 7, a new version of Wells was featured every season. The "Alf Stewart Rape Dungeon" series, created by artist Mr Doodleburger, uses footage from the Australian TV drama show
Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (often abbreviated as ''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a tri ...
, but through the use of clever overlaid audio tracks, casts one of the main characters of the show, long running character
Alf Stewart Alfred James "Alf" Stewart is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera '' Home and Away'', played by Ray Meagher. Alf was created as one of the show's eighteen original characters. Meagher originally auditioned for the role of Tom F ...
as a vicious violent character in a parallel version of Home and Away. ''see main article'' Alf Stewart Rape Dungeon Series


Television series involving parallel universes

There have been a few series where parallel universes were central to the series itself. * '' The Fantastic Journey'', in which several travellers lost in the Bermuda Triangle find themselves in another world * '' Otherworld'', in which a family gets trapped in an alternative world * ''
Sliders Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * ''The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...
'', where a young man invents a worm-hole generator that allows travel to "alternative" Earths. Several characters travel across a series of "alternative" Earths, trying to get back to their home universe * '' Parallax'', in which a boy discovers portals to multiple parallel universes in his home town * '' The Midnight Gospel'', in which Clancy Gilroy, a spacecaster travelling through planets to interview guests for his spacecast within his simulator. * '' Charlie Jade'', in which the titular character is accidentally thrown into our universe and is looking for a way back to his own. The series features three universes - alpha, beta and gamma * ''
Awake Wakefulness is a daily recurring brain state and state of consciousness in which an individual is conscious and engages in coherent cognitive and behavioral responses to the external world. Being awake is the opposite of being asleep, in which m ...
'', where a man switches between realities whenever he goes to sleep: one in which his wife survived a car accident that killed their son, and one in which his son survived but his wife died * In the TV series '' Fringe'', a main element of the series is the loss of balance and the eventual collision of two universes and the moral ramifications of it. Most main characters have a doppelganger who is usually slightly different from their prime selves. * In the South Korean Drama ''
Dr. Jin ''Dr. Jin'' () is a 2012 South Korean historical television drama series, starring Song Seung-heon in the title role of Dr. Jin, a 21st-century neurosurgeon who travels back in time to the Joseon Dynasty. Also starring Park Min-young, Lee Beom- ...
'' (2012), the concept of parallel universes was used. A doctor travels into the past, specifically, the Joseon era, and this results in major changes in history. * ''
Rick and Morty , creator = Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon , developer = , voices = {{plainlist, * Justin Roiland * Chris Parnell * Spencer Grammer * Sarah Chalke * Kari Wahlgren , composer = Ryan Elder , count ...
'', in which there is an infinite number of realities and universes. * '' Stranger Things'', in which a small town becomes home to a gateway between dimensions. * ''
The Flash The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'', in which Barry Allen travels to multiple parallel universes in the multiverse with the help of his super speed. * ''
Supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
'', in which several episodes deal with parallel universes, particularly the thirteenth season which features storylines centering around parallel universes known as Apocalypse World and The Bad Place which appears in the backdoor pilot to the proposed spinoff ''Supernatural: Wayward Sisters''. Apocalypse World is depicted as a dark post-apocalyptic universe where ''Supernatural's'' main protagonists Sam and
Dean Winchester Dean Winchester is one of the two protagonists from the American drama television series '' Supernatural'', along with his younger brother Sam. He is portrayed primarily by Jensen Ackles. Other versions of the character having been portrayed by ...
were never born and thus could not stop the end of the world. * ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...
'', in which a crack between two parallel universes opens up during the Rose Tyler plot. In which her Father still lives, however, the Cybermen control the parallel earth and pass through to ours. * '' The Man in the High Castle'', where in a parallel universe
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
have won
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, based on the novel by Philip K. Dick. * '' The King: Eternal Monarch'', in which the country of Korea is unified as a single kingdom in a parallel reality to the Koreas being separated. The two lead characters travel between their respective realities, one from the Republic of South Korea, the other being the aforementioned king. * '' Dark'', where (previous) existence of an original world was revealed only in the last (third) season. Original world there was destroyed/split into two parallel ones by a genius scientist in pain, because his son's family was lost in an accident and he desperately wanted them back alive. Each of two worlds has their own protagonists group (Sic Mundus Creatus Est vs Erit Lux) fighting for a supremacy of time travel, available in three flavours: via a local cave, swirling blob of God particles and portable drones. * '' The OA'', in which characters discover parallel universes and attempt to travel to them. * ''
Amphibia Amphibians are four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terrestrial, fossorial, arbo ...
'', the main character
Anne Boonchuy Anne Savisa Boonchuy ( ; Thai: แอนน์ สาวิสา บุญช่วย) is the main protagonist of the Disney Channel animated series ''Amphibia'', created by Matt Braly. She is voiced by Brenda Song. The character debuted in ...
along with her friends Sasha Waybright and Marcy Wu are transported to the kingdom of Amphibia. '' The Owl House'', where the main character Luz Noceda follows a magic door to the Boiling Isles, is confirmed to share the same universe and multiverse as ''Amphibia'' in the Season 2 finale, "
King's Tide "King's Tide" is the 21st episode and the season finale of the second season of the American animated television series ''The Owl House'', and the 40th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Bridget Underwood, and the teleplay ...
". * '' What If...?'', based on the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
series of the same name, which explores how the
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...
might have unfolded if key moments in its history had occurred differently.


Books

''Time Echoes Trilogy'' by Bryan Davis addresses the idea of parallel worlds as it delves into a plot in which the main character travels between three different "earths" each moving at a different speed of time so one earth is 20 years in the past while another one is 10 minutes into the future when compared to the earth from which the character exists. ''Overstrike'' by C. M. Angus features high-functioning schizophrenics with the ability to simultaneously perceive multiple realities.


Comic books

Parallel universes in modern comics have become particularly rich and complex, in large part due to the continual problem of continuity faced by the major two publishers,
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
and
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...
. The two publishers have used the multiverse concept to fix problems arising from integrating characters from other publishers into their own canon, and from having major serial protagonists with continuous histories lasting, as in the case of
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...
, over 70 years. Additionally, both publishers have used new alternative universes to re-imagine their own characters. (See ''
Multiverse (DC Comics) In DC Comics, the Multiverse is a "cosmic construct" composed of the many fictional universes the stories of DC take place in. The worlds in this multiverse share a space and fate in common, and its structure has changed several times in the ...
'' and '' Multiverse (Marvel Comics)'') DC's ''Michael Moorcock's Multiverse'' collected 12 issues in 1999 with an introduction by Moorcock which offered a sophisticated description of his rationale.
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...
inaugurated its multiverse in the early 1960s, with the reintroduction of
Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...
superheroes the
Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic Boo ...
now located on Earth-Two, and devised a "mirror universe" scenario of inverted morality and supervillain domination of
Earth-Three Earth-Three, or simply Earth-3 or Earth 3, is a “partially-reversed” Earth, where supervillainous counterparts of the mainstream DC superheroes reside. It first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #29 (1964), and the concept has been reb ...
shortly afterwards, several years before ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' devised its own darker alternative universe. There was a lull before DC inaugurated additional alternative universes in the seventies, such as Earth-X, where there was an Axis victory in World War II, Earth-S, home to the Fawcett Comics superheroes of the forties and fifties, such as Captain Marvel, and Earth-Prime, where superheroes only existed in fictional forms. Therefore, comic books, in general, are one of the few entertainment mediums where the concept of parallel universes are a major and ongoing theme. DC in particular periodically revisits the idea in major
crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...
storylines, such as '' Crisis on Infinite Earths'' and '' Infinite Crisis'', where Marvel has a series called '' What If...'' that's devoted to exploring alternative realities, which sometimes impact the "main" universe's continuity. DC's version of "What If..." is the Elseworlds imprint. DC Comics series '' 52'' heralded the return of the Multiverse. ''52'' was a mega-crossover event tied to ''Infinite Crisis'' which was the sequel to the 1980s ''Crisis on Infinite Earths''. The aim was to yet again address many of the problems and confusions brought on by the Multiverse in the DCU. Now 52 Earths exist and including some Elseworld tales such as '' Kingdom Come'', DC's
imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...
and an Earth devoted to the Charlton Comics heroes of DC. ''
Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and ev ...
'' and ''Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer'' and the ''Tales of the Multiverse'' stories expand upon this new multiverse. Marvel has also had many large crossover events which depicted an alternative universe, many springing from events in the
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
books, such as 1981's '' Days of Future Past'', 1995's '' Age of Apocalypse'', and 2006's ''
House of M "House of M" is a 2005 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a core eight-issue comic book limited series written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by Olivier Coipel and a number of crossover tie-in books. Its fir ...
'' and 2014's '' Spider-Verse'' storyline involving alternate versions of Spider-Man. In addition, the Squadron Supreme is a DC inspired Marvel Universe that has been used several times, often crossing over into the mainstream Universe in the Avengers comic.
Exiles Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
is an offshoot of the ''
X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
'' franchise that allows characters to hop from one alternative reality to another, leaving the original, main
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians o ...
intact. The Marvel UK line has long had multiverse stories including the Jaspers' Warp storyline of Captain Britain's first series (it was here that the designation Earth-616 was first applied to the mainstream
Marvel Universe The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians o ...
). Marvel Comics, as of 2000, launched their most popular parallel universe, the Ultimate Universe. It is a smaller subline to the mainstream titles and features Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four and the
Ultimates The Ultimates is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics and created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, which first started publication from '' The Ultimates'' #1 (March 2002), as part of the company's Ultimate Marve ...
(their "Avengers"). The graphic novel Watchmen is set in an alternative history, in 1985 where superheroes exist, the Vietnam War was won by the United States, and
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
is in his fifth term as President of the United States. The Soviet Union and the United States are still locked in an escalating "Cold War" as in our own world, but as the Soviet Union invades
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...
in this world and threatens Pakistan, nuclear war may be imminent. In 1973, Tammy published ''The Clock and Cluny Jones'', where a mysterious grandfather clock hurls bully Cluny Jones into a harsh alternative reality where she becomes the bullied. This story was reprinted in Misty annual 1985 as ''Grandfather's Clock.'' In 1978, Misty published ''The Sentinels''. The Sentinels were two crumbling apartment blocks that connected the mainstream world with an alternative reality where
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
conquered Britain in 1940. In 1981, Jinty published ''Worlds Apart.'' Six girls experience alternative worlds ruled by greed, sports-mania, vanity, crime, intellectualism, and fear. These are in fact their dream worlds becoming real after they are knocked out by a mysterious gas from a chemical tanker that crashed into their school. In 1977 Jinty also published ''Land of No Tears'' where a lame girl travels to a future world where people with things wrong with them are cruelly treated, and emotions are banned. The parallel universe concept has also appeared prominently in the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' comic series from Archie Comics. The first and most oft-recurring case of this is another "mirror universe" where Sonic and his various allies are evil or anti-heroic while the counterpart of the evil Dr. Robotnik is good. Another recurring universe featured in the series is a
perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It c ...
dimension that runs through all others, known as the No Zone. The inhabitants of this universe monitor travel between the others, often stepping in with their Zone Cop police force to punish those who travel without authorization between worlds. In more recent years, the comic has adapted the alternative dimension from the video games Sonic Rush and
Sonic Rush Adventure is a 2007 adventure platform game for the Nintendo DS and the sequel to 2005's ''Sonic Rush''. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails, who are teleported to an alternate dimension and seek the help of Blaze the Cat, while battling a band of ro ...
, home to Sonic's ally Blaze the Cat. The continuities seen in various other Sonic franchises also exist in the comic, most notably those based on the cartoon series Sonic Underground and Sonic X. For some years, a number of other universes were also featured that parodied various popular franchises, such as
Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The se ...
,
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...
, and various titles from
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
. Archie has also used this concept as the basis for crossovers between Sonic and other titles that they publish, including
Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeare ...
and Mega Man. The various Transformers comics also feature the parallel universe concept, and feature the various continuities from different branches of the franchise as parallel worlds that occasionally make contact with each other. Quite notably, the annual Botcon fan convention introduced a comic storyline that featured Cliffjumper, an Autobot from the original Transformers series, entering an alternative universe where his fellow Autobots are evil and the Decepticons are good. This universe is known as the "Shattered Glass" universe, and continued on in comics and text based stories after its initial release.


Audio drama

Within the Wires takes place in a parallel universe in which family structures and countries have been abolished after a "Great Reckoning" has killed a large share of the world population. In The Gray Area, the seven part serial "Paths Not Taken" takes place in an alternative universe in which Donald Trump has won a second presidential term, gay people are criminalized and arrested, and a violent authoritarian movement known as the "Thanksgiving Cleanse" has swept the nation. In addition, the main universe of the series takes place in a timeline in which Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presidential election. Victoriocity takes place in an alternative 1887 London, where "Queen Victoria is a cyborg and a real-life architect is worshipped by a legion of laborers."


Video games

* In the adventure game ''9: The Last Resort'' (1996), after resolving several mind-blowing and unique puzzles, the player gets past "The Tiki Guards"; and a door opens up to "The Void" - actually a room to another universe, which houses the entirety of space. * ''Banjo-Kazooie (video game), Banjo-Kazooie'' (1998) features a world called "Click Clock Wood", which has spring, summer, autumn and winter variants. The environment develops between the seasons making some areas accessible or inaccessible, and actions taken in one season affect the outcome in others. * The first-person shooter ''BioShock Infinite'' (2013) features the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics. The main character is named Booker Dewitt, an homage to physicist ''Bryce DeWitt''. * The 2018 fighting game ''BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'' brings together the universes in a ''BlazBlue'', ''Persona 4 Arena'', ''Under Night In-Birth'', and ''RWBY'' in a singularity called the “Phantom Field” where the characters fight over the “Keystones”. * The story of ''Chrono Cross'' (1999) centers around travel between two alternative timelines, the original or "Another World" and "Home World" which is a Many-worlds interpretation, branch created by the actions of the heroes of the game's predecessor, ''Chrono Trigger''. *''City of Heroes'' (2004), a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, features a Player vs Player (PvP) zone called Recluse's Victory. It is an alternative future in a constant state of flux, as heroes and villains battle for the future of Earth. * ''Crash Twinsanity'' (2004) features Crash, Cortex, and Nina traveling to the "10th dimension", which could also be a parallel universe (suggested by the theme and how everything seems to be opposite, with the presence of an "Evil Crash", and also planned to have "Good Cortex" and "Evil Coco", but they were cut during development). * In the psychological horror point-and-click adventure game ''Dark Seed (video game), Dark Seed'' (1992), the main character Mike Dawson discovers a parallel universe by going through his living room mirror. * ''The Darkness (video game), The Darkness'' (2007) pivots around a world of darkness you travel to when you die, which is occupied by World War 1 soldiers. * ''EarthBound'' (1994) features many areas of the game that can be considered alternative dimensions. The first is an illusion created by the Mani Mani Statue that transforms the metropolis of Fourside into a bizarre neon metropolis called Moonside, filled with unusual characters and enemies. The second is Magicant, the world of Ness's subconscious that is accessed after obtaining the Eight Melodies. Finally, toward the end of the game, the protagonists arrive at the Cave to the Past, where they travel back in time to the haunting past dimension of the cave to face Giygas. * ''The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' (2006) features an alternative hellish world called "Oblivion", as well as a painting you can climb into and a quest where you enter a dream world. *''Fallout (series), Fallout'' series (1997– ) takes place in a subtly different universe. For example, the ship that landed the first men on the moon in 1969 is called ''Valiant 11'', rather than Apollo 11. This universe diverged from ours after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, which resulted in a lack of advanced computers, the Cold War, VHS, etc. * In Freedom Force (2002 video game), ''Freedom Force'' (2002), most of the story is set in Patriot City, but a number of other locations and time periods are used, including magical realms, prehistoric times, and realms entirely removed from time and space. *''Half-Life (series), Half-Life'' series (1998– ) revolves heavily around alternative universes. Xen is a location in the first ''Half-Life'' game, accidentally discovered by scientists and described as a border world between dimensions, where the player must travel to stop an alien invasion. Half-Life 2 features a multidimensional empire called Combine (Half-Life), The Combine which has successfully conquered Earth and subdued humanity, among countless other universes and species. *''Heroes of the Storm'' (2015) takes place in the Nexus, a strange limbo of clashing universes, which collide from across space, time, and dimensions. The Nexus exists in the center of a trans-dimensional cosmic storm, which can rip worlds and universes in and out of existence, and it can also pull worlds into stability. Some of the central realms in the Nexus are examples of these points of stability. Every Realm within the Nexus has one stone called "Singularity", and only the one who achieves it through conquest can become the Realm Lord. Many powerful warriors have been sucked into the Nexus, including combatants from ''Warcraft'', ''StarCraft (series), StarCraft'', ''Diablo (series), Diablo'', and Overwatch (video game), ''Overwatch'' universes. New combatants are constantly arriving, some of them are chosen after they died in their original reality. *''Kingdom Hearts'' series (2002– ) features a Disney/Square Enix's ''Final Fantasy'' multiverse, in which various worlds are based on Disney films or concepts from the ''Final Fantasy'' line. The series also introduces the concept of different "Realms" corresponding to Light, Darkness, and In-Between where all of the worlds take place. * The series ''Legacy of Kain'' (1996– ) is played through several realms and timelines. * ''The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past'' (1991) features a dark and twisted parallel version of Hyrule called the "Dark World". In the ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ocarina of Time'' (1998) after the main protagonist, Link, defeats the dark lord, Ganon, he travels back in time to his childhood. This results in two alternative histories for Hyrule. In one a younger version Link travels to the land of Termina in ''The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Majora's Mask'' (2000). In the other Link is no longer present allowing Ganon to return to go on a rampage that forced the gods of Hyrule to flood the world in ''The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Wind Waker'' (2002). There is also a scenario in which Link is killed by Ganon in the final battle, resulting in an alternative history in which Hyrule is put in an era of decline, leading to the events of ''The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, A Link to the Past''. The ''The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Majora's Mask'' takes place in Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule. Almost all of the characters from ''The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Ocarina of Time'' reappear in the game. The ''The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages'' (2001) use a similar concept to that which is used in ''The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, A Link to the Past''. In those games, the player must switch between the parallel past and present worlds (Ages) and between spring, summer, autumn and winter (Seasons) to progress through the game. In the first half of ''The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Twilight Princess'' (2006), areas of Hyrule are veiled by the Twilight Realm. These areas are dusky and brooding in appearance, Link cannot transform out of wolf form, characters only appear as spirits that cannot be communicated with, and enemies are twilight variations of their regular forms. Otherwise, the Twilight Realm is identical to regular Hyrule. * The world of the classic cult adventure games of ''The Longest Journey'' (1999) created by Ragnar Thornqast, along with its sequels, deals with the existence of two parallel universes – technological (Stark) and magical (Arcadia). * ''Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' (2004) involves a world, "Aether", having an alternative self in the, "Dark" realm, universe, or dimension. The protagonist, Samus, finds out that she just dropped into a hopeless war for the Luminoth, the dominant species of Light Aether against the Ing, the dominant species of Dark Aether. She also finds her counterpart, Dark Samus or Metroid Prime's essence inside Samus's Phazon Suit. * In the adventure PC game ''Myst'' (1993), the unnamed protagonist travels to multiple alternative worlds through the use of special books, which describe a world within and transport the user to that world when a window on the front page is touched. * In ''OtherSpace'' (1998), a text-based science fiction MMORPG, refugees from Earth's universe were forced to migrate to a parallel universe called "Hiverspace", whose quantum divergence occurred billions of years in the past, after damage to the time/space continuum began to tear their own universe apart. Eventually, they were able to find a means back to a past universe whose quantum divergence from their original ones was relatively minor. * In the role-playing game ''Outcast (video game), Outcast'' (1999), a probe is sent to a parallel universe and is attacked by an "entity". Cutter Slade must escort a team of scientists across to the other world in order to retrieve and repair the damaged probe before the earth is consumed by a black hole. * ''Persona 2: Eternal Punishment'' (2000) takes place in an alternative universe called "This Side" where in the events of Innocent Sin did not take place and the characters have never met in the past. * ''Persona 4'' (2008) features the main cast entering an alternate dimension called the TV World, which exists as part of the Collective Unconscious in the larger ''Megami Tensei'' multiverse, to find a serial killer in the town of Inaba. *''Portal 2'' (2011), an action-adventure video game, features a game-mode entitled "Perpetual Testing Initiative" (PeTI), where a plot item features protagonist "Bendy" through thousands of different worlds of which character Cave Johnson exist in different roles entitled "The Multiverse", and the PeTI's parallel universes are different from the main ''Half-Life''/''Portal'' timeline. * ''Resistance: Fall of Man'' (2006) is set in alternative universe where Tsarist Russia never experienced the Russian Revolution but instead became the bridgehead for an aggressive alien invasion from a species known as the "Chimera", who then proceed to overrun Western Europe, Great Britain, Canada and much of the United States, and where there has been no Second World War as a result. The events of the game and its sequels begin in its alternative 1951. * In the survival horror video game series ''Silent Hill'' (1999– ), the town of Silent Hill fluctuates between the real world, where ''Silent Hill'' is seemingly just an ordinary tourist town, the Fog World, which is like the real world, except the town is shrouded in thick fog and is nearly uninhabited except for monsters and a few people, and a dark and dilapidated version of the town called the "Other World". * Each Zone in ''Sonic CD'' (1993) has four variations: Past, Present, Bad Future and Good Future, each displaying some subtle and not-so subtle alterations. The series has also seen alternative dimensions, and parallel universes in the case of the '' Sonic Rush'' (2005), in which Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic encounters a hero from another world named Blaze the Cat whose nemesis is an alternative counterpart of his own foe, Dr. Eggman. The ''Sonic'' series of Sonic The Hedgehog 2006, Generations And Rivals also makes use of the concept of Wormholes, and alternative timelines. * ''Sudeki'' (2004) is set in a realm of light and a parallel realm of darkness. * ''Super Mario 64'' (1996) features a world called "Tiny Huge Island" which has two variants: one scaled up, the other scaled down. The player can only access certain parts of the level to obtain certain stars depending on which variant they are into. The two variants can be switched between via portals in the world. * ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' (1988) features a "Magic Potion" item that when used, creates a doorway allowing the player to temporarily access "Subspace"; a mirrored silhouette version of the world where items can be found. * After the completion of the Special World in ''Super Mario World'' (1990), the overworld transforms from a green-colored springtime to an orange-colored autumnal setting. Many enemies encountered in the game are transformed into bizarre counterparts. * In ''Super Paper Mario'' (2007), the town "Flipside" (which acts as the game's central hub) has an alternative mirrored version called "Flopside". While Flipside appears pristine and the residents there are typically cheerful, Flopside appears somewhat dilapidated and is populated by surly characters. * Both titles of the ''When They Cry'' visual novel series (''Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Higurashi'' and ''Umineko'' for short) contain the concept of parallel worlds. These series both involve some kind of murder mystery. As soon as the main character has 'lost', another parallel world, called a Fragment, is chosen to be observed. This continues until the entire mystery is solved. * The visual novel/puzzle video game series ''Zero Escape'' heavily uses the concept of multiple realities as the basis for its plot as well as its central gameplay mechanic of traversing through realities and altering history. In this fictional universe, characters use a method of travelling between different timelines called "SHIFT" (short for "Spacetime Human Internal Fluctuating Travel"). * In the Kirby (series), Kirby series, some of the most prominent locations are other dimensions in the form of Another Dimension, The Mirror World, Cyberspace, Dreamscape, and much more. * The survival video game Don't Starve (2013) involves the many playable characters efforts to survive in a semi-nightmarish parallel world of wilderness known as the Constant, the story reveals that much of the world was once ruled by a race of sentient and technologically advanced arthropodal creatures, who destroyed themselves with the overuse of nightmare fuel, the Constant appears to change according to how afraid the characters are feeling, and is now controlled by mysterious shadow creatures that appear to those who are afraid and is also somewhat controlled by whoever is trapped on the "nightmare throne". * ''Agents of Mayhem'' is set in an alternative universe to the Saints Row series in which the Third Street Saints never forms, which leads up to Vice Kings, Los Carnales and Westside Rollerz uniting into one gang. * In ''Left 4 Dead 2'' The Last Stand Update (2020), release The Last Stand map where all players case that the survivors took a different path leading to the Death Toll Finale. Instead of going to the Boathouse, players choose to go to the Lighthouse by a truck. Players must light the long-disused lighthouse and fight against a lot of infected to wait a rescue boat.


Fan fiction


See also

* Interdimensional being * List of fiction employing parallel universes * World as Myth


References


External links

*
Parallel Universe: is there any other life?


Bibliography

* * {{Film genres Parallel universes in fiction, Fiction Science fiction themes Setting