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The following is a list of fiction employing parallel universes or alternate realities.
Isekai is a particular genre of anime where the main character is transported into another world. Although sometimes this is a virtual reality, most commonly it consists of parallel universes, especially fantasy worlds. There are a few examples in the list below.
Alternate/parallel universes are often used as an explanation for crossovers between different comic companies' characters.
Alternate history is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As conjecture based upon historical fact, alternate history stories propose What if? scenarios about crucial events in human history, and present outcomes very different from the historical record. Some alternate histories are considered a subgenre of science fiction, or historical fiction.
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 of the Galaxy, and many Marvel superheroes live in this universe, including characters such as Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp, Wolverine, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, and Captain Marvel, Blade, Black Widow, Hawkeye, among numerous others. It also contains well-known supervillains such as Doctor Doom, Magneto, Ultron, Thanos, Loki, The Green Goblin, Kang the Conqueror, Red Skull, The Kingpin, Doctor Octopus, Carnage, Apocalypse, Dormammu, Mysterio, Electro, and the Vulture. It also contains antiheroes such as Venom, Namor, Deadpool, Silver Sable, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, and Black Cat.
Sliders is an American science fiction and fantasy television series created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé. It was broadcast for five seasons between 1995 and 2000. The series follows a group of travelers as they use a wormhole to "slide" between different parallel universes. Tracy Tormé, Robert K. Weiss, Leslie Belzberg, John Landis, David Peckinpah, Bill Dial and Alan Barnette served as executive producers at different times of the production. For its first two seasons, it was produced in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California, in the last three seasons.
A parallel universe, also known as an alternate universe, parallel world, parallel dimension, 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 is often called a "multiverse". While the six 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.
The DC Universe (DCU) is the shared universe in which most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. In context, the term "DC Universe" usually refers to the main DC continuity. It contains such well-known superheroes as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Shazam, Martian Manhunter, and Cyborg; as well as teams such as the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Suicide Squad, Doom Patrol, and the Teen Titans. It also contains well-known supervillains, including the Joker, Lex Luthor, the Cheetah, the Reverse-Flash, Sinestro, Black Manta, Deathstroke, Black Adam, Brainiac, and Darkseid.
In the fictional Marvel Comics multiverse, Earth-616 is the primary continuity in which most Marvel Comics titles take place.
Earth-Two is a setting for stories appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in The Flash #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between the original Golden Age and then-current Silver Age versions of characters such as the Flash, and how the current (Earth-One) versions could appear in stories alongside earlier versions of the same character concepts. Earth-Two includes DC Golden Age heroes, including the Justice Society of America, whose careers began at the dawn of World War II, concurrently with their first appearances in comics. Earth-Two, along with the four other surviving Earths of the DC Multiverse, were merged into one in the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths. However, following the events of Infinite Crisis, the Multiverse was reborn, although the subsequent Earth-Two was not the same as its pre-Crisis equivalent.
Earth Prime is a term sometimes used in works of speculative fiction, most notably in DC Comics, involving parallel universes or a multiverse, and refers either to the universe containing "our" Earth, or to a parallel world with a bare minimum of divergence points from Earth as we know it — often the absence or near-absence of metahumans, or with their existence confined to fictional narratives like comics. The "Earth Prime" of a given fictional setting may or may not have an intrinsic value to or vital connection to the other Earths it exists alongside.
Within Marvel Comics, most tales take place within the fictional Marvel Universe, which in turn is part of a larger multiverse. Starting with issues of Captain Britain, the main continuity in which most Marvel storylines take place was designated Earth-616, and the Multiverse was established as being protected by Merlyn. Each universe has a Captain Britain designated to protect its version of the British Isles. These protectors are collectively known as the Captain Britain Corps. This numerical notation was continued in the series Excalibur and other titles. Each universe of the Multiverse in Marvel also appears to be defended by a Sorcerer Supreme at nearly all times, appointed by the mystic trinity of Vishanti to defend the world against threats primarily magical in nature from within and beyond and bearing the Eye of Agamotto.
"Spider-Man" is the name of multiple comic book superheroes from the Marvel Comics Multiverse. The original and most well known is Peter Parker created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko originating from the Earth-616 universe. Within the mainstream Marvel Universe there have been characters that have taken the mantle such as Ben Reilly, Mac Gargan and Doctor Octopus.
Dream worlds are a commonly used plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a situation whereby a character is placed in a marvellous and unpredictable environment and must overcome several personal problems to leave it. The dream world also commonly serves to teach some moral or religious lessons to the character experiencing it – a lesson that the other characters will be unaware of, but one that will influence decisions made regarding them. When the character is reintroduced into the real world, the question arises as to what exactly constitutes reality due to the vivid recollection and experiences of the dream world.
In most of the DC Comics media, the Multiverse is a "cosmic construct" composed of the many fictional universes the stories of DC media take place in. The worlds in the multiverse share a space and fate in common, and its structure has changed several times in the history of DC Comics.
Marvel Zombies is a comic book metaseries published by Marvel Comics. The series features zombie versions of Marvel Universe superheroes and supervillains who have been portrayed as both protagonists and antagonists through the different limited series within the metaseries.
Spider-Man Noir, often simply referred to as Noir, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Part of the Marvel Noir universe (Earth-90214), this alternate version of Spider-Man is a noir-themed take on the character and emerges in a version of New York during the Great Depression. While investigating a smuggling ring, Peter Parker is bitten by what seems to be a highly venomous spider housed inside a spider-god idol. Falling unconscious, Parker has a vision of the spider-god promising him power. He then awakes inside a cocoon and emerges from it, now possessing super-human abilities similar to a spider. As the feared vigilante "the Spider-Man," Parker wages a one-man war against the criminal underworld in New York City, partly to avenge the deaths of his uncle Ben Parker to the hands of the cannibal Adrian Toomes and his mentor Ben Urich at the hands of the city's major crime lord, Norman Osborn. After Osborn's defeat, Spider-Man Noir continues his vigilante life for years and opposes the forces of Nazi Germany even before the United States enters World War II. In contrast to the Peter Parker of mainstream Marvel continuity, Spider-Man Noir initially uses brutal and lethal force against his enemies and later struggles with the moral implications of this.
The Multiversity is a two-issue limited series combined with seven interrelated one-shots set in the DC Multiverse in The New 52, a collection of universes seen in publications by DC Comics. The one-shots in the series were written by Grant Morrison, each with a different artist. The Multiversity began in August 2014 and ran until April 2015.
Spider-Verse is a comic book series issued by Marvel Comics since 2014. Its first major event/storyline started on November 5 in The Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #9 along with an individual issue named Spider-Verse Team-Up. This event took 20 publications to be completed and featured nearly every variant of Spider-People and Spider-Man that had appeared in the comics and other media in the over fifty years since Spider-Man's creation, all under attack by Morlun and his family, the Inheritors. This first major storyline, however, was preceded by a full-flagged Spider-Verse series titled Edge of the Spider-Verse, which served to introduce some new characters that would lead the event, such as Spider-Gwen and Miguel O’Hara.
"Secret Wars" is a 2015–16 comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics. It recalls the 1984–1985 miniseries of the same name. Released on May 6, 2015, the storyline includes a core Secret Wars miniseries, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribić, which picks up from where the "Time Runs Out" storyline running in The Avengers and New Avengers ended. The event also served as a conclusion to the Fantastic Four after Marvel decided to cancel the title due to a film rights dispute with 20th Century Fox and declining sales.
Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, commonly referred to by his academic title. Initially depicted as an intelligent and arrogant neurosurgeon, Strange experiences a career-ending car accident. In his search to repair his damaged hands, he discovers magic from Kamar-Taj. He becomes a Master of the Mystic Arts, using his newfound powers to protect the Earth from various threats. In the process, he allies with the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy to combat Thanos, before allowing Thanos to initiate the Blip, himself among its victims, to ensure their ultimate victory five years later upon being restored to life. On his return, Strange remains the appointed Guardian of the New York Sanctum, but finds that Wong has become Sorcerer Supreme, a position Strange himself was in the process of inheriting from the Ancient One prior to being Blipped. Strange later faces several problems from the newly-established multiverse, including a rift between realities created by an interrupted attempt to erase everyone's knowledge of Peter Parker's secret identity as Spider-Man; and a Darkhold-corrupted Wanda Maximoff, whom he must stop from acquiring America Chavez's ability to traverse the multiverse for her own goals.
"Venomverse" is a 2017 comic book story arc, starring Venom. It was written by Cullen Bunn and drawn by Iban Coello.
The multiverse is a fictional setting within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise. Based on the setting of the same name from the Marvel Comics, it is a collection of infinitely many alternate realities and dimensions. First explored in the film Doctor Strange (2016), it is revisited in the film Avengers: Endgame (2019) before playing a key role in Phase Four, Phase Five, and Phase Six of the franchise, which constitute "The Multiverse Saga". The MCU's Multiverse centers around a single universe called the "Sacred Timeline", which the Time Variance Authority (TVA) works to prevent any branching universes from forming. Following the death of "He Who Remains", the Timeline's secret overseer at the hands of Sylvie, the Multiverse is freed and an infinite number of universes are formed. This leads to a variant of Loki from 2012 taking his place.