Crossover (fiction)

This article is about combinations of separate fictional universes in new works. For unauthorised adaptations of existing works, seeMashup.For unauthorised adaptations of existing novels but set in alternative universes, seemashup novel.

Acrossoveris the placement of two or more otherwise discretefictionalcharacters,settings,oruniversesinto the context of a singlestory.They can arise from legal agreements between the relevantcopyrightholders (known asintercompany crossovers), common corporate ownership or unofficial efforts byfans.

Ivan Tsarevich andcameo appearancesofPepper and Carrotin episode 4 ofMorevna Project

This is different from aspoof,where one discrete character, setting, or universe, copies another character, setting, or universe, often in a comedic manner.

Background

Official

Crossovers often occur in an official capacity in order for theintellectual propertyrights holders to reap the financial reward of combining two or more popular, established properties. In other cases, the crossover can serve to introduce a new concept derivative of an older one. Another intention is to give fictional characters more emotional credibility and thus increaseimmersionfor the fans.

Crossovers generally occur between properties owned by a single holder, but they can, more rarely, involve properties from different holders, provided that the inherent legal obstacles can be overcome. They may also involve using characters that have passed into thepublic domainwith those concurrently undercopyright protection.

A crossover story may try to explain its own reason for the crossover, such as characters being neighbors (notable examples being the casts fromThe Golden GirlsandEmpty Nest) or meeting via dimensional rift or similar phenomenon (a common explanation forscience fictionproperties that have different owners). Some crossovers are not explained at all. Others are absurd or simply impossible within the fictional setting, and have to be ignored by the series' respectivecontinuities.Still others intentionally make the relations between two or more fictional universes confusing, as withThe SimpsonsandFuturama,where each show is fiction in the other.

Unofficial

In contrast with legal crossovers, unofficial crossovers are created solely because of the artistic pleasure derived by their creators. Unofficial crossovers often take the form offan-written fictionandfan art,but the trope is increasingly prevalent inamateur filmsandaudio.Whereas official crossovers are frequently stymied by such concerns as copyright, royalties payments, quality of writing and ownership of the characters, unofficial crossovers are unfettered by such concerns, so long as property holders do not exercise their right toenjointhe distribution of such material. A good example would be the unauthorised live action fan filmBatman: Dead Endwhich brings together the properties ofBatman,AlienandPredatorin one setting.

Unofficial crossovers can also occur in a "what-if" scenario.Rogermakes frequent cameo appearances inFamily Guy,whileBrianmakes cameos onAmerican Dad!.Roger,Rallo Tubbs,andKlaus Heisslerwere seen in the finalFamily GuyStar Warsspoof, "It's A Trap!",asMoff Jerjerrod,Nien Nunb,andAdmiral Ackbar,respectively. Stewie also appears as an interactive hallucination of Booth onBoneswhen the agent has issues over possibly becoming a sperm donor, with David Boreanaz (who plays Booth) repaying the favor in "Road to the North Pole".An appearance byElmo,fromSesame Street,was made, in a hallucination ofConnie Ray's, on TV sitcomThe Torkelsons.Fan fiction fusions between different science fiction movies and series are often created, such asStar WarsandStar TrekorBabylon 5andStargate.M.U.G.E.N.is a fighting game engine that features many fan-created and fictional characters and stages from various television series, movies, as well as other video games.

Comics

Main article:Intercompany crossovers in comics

"Crossover (comics)" redirects here. For individual comic books, seeCrossover § Comics.

Comic book crossovers may be traced back to theGolden Age,where characters frequently teamed up on the cover (though far more rarely on the inside).Speed Comicsnumber 32, artwork byAlex Schomburg.

An early example of the comics crossover:Captain MarvelandBulletmanjoin forces to battleCaptain Nazi.Master Comicsnumber 21, artwork byMac Rayboy.

Crossovers of multiple characters, owned by one company orpublishedby onepublisher,have been used to set an established continuity, where characters can frequently meet within one setting. This is especially true ofcomic book publishers,as different characters in variousMarvel,DC,orValiantcomic booksfrequently interact with one another since they live in a "shared universe".For example, in the Marvel Comics universe,Spider-Manhas frequent dealings with another Marvel hero,Daredevil,just as in the DC Comics Universe, theFlashandGreen Lanternoften collaborate. In comic book terminology, these "guest star" roles are common enough that they are generally not considered crossovers; rather, this short-term collaboration to fight crime is called ateam-up.A crossover in comic book terms only occurs when a story spans more than one title.This has led to "crossover events" in which major occurrences are shown as affecting most or all of the stories in the shared universe; seeCategory:Crossover comics.

The earliest such crossover event wasGardner Fox'sZatanna's Searchwhich took place inHawkman#4 (October/November 1964),Detective Comics#336 (February 1965),The Atom#19 (June/July 1965),Green Lantern#42 (January 1966),Detective Comics#355 (September 1966), andJustice League of America#51 (February 1967). This story dealt withZatannaattempting to reconnect with her father,Zatara,and seeking the aid of Hawkman, Batman,Robin,the Atom, Green Lantern, and theElongated Manalong the way.

The first major crossover event was spearheaded by the Marvel Editor-in-Chief at the time,Jim Shooter.As a way to further toy sales he devised theSecret Warscrossover which brought all the major Marvel heroes into a 12-issue miniseries to battle a common threat. After the threat was dealt with, they all returned to their regular titles.Secret Warswas hailed as both a critical and commercial success, largely because the events of the crossover had lasting effects on the characters (such as the introduction ofSpider-Man's black suit which would later become the villainVenom). Jim Shooter later perfected his crossover technique atValiant Comicswith theUnityevent.Unitybrought all the Valiant characters together to defeatMothergod,but was told within the existing Valiant Comics titles (and two bookend special issues). Readers were not obliged to buy all 18 chapters as the story was coherent when reading just one title, but far more layered when all were read. LikeSecret Wars,theUnitycrossover had lasting effects on the Valiant universe; most notably the introduction ofTurok,the birth ofMagnus, Robot Fighterand the death of a major Valiant hero.

Animation

Bambi Meets Godzilla,an early unofficial animated crossover film

Cartoon crossovers are not uncommon, and most of them – like comics or live-action TV shows – will often feature characters owned by the same company or network. One example isCartoon Network'sThe Grim Adventures of the KND.It features five crossovers –Ed, Edd n Eddy,Codename: Kids Next Door,The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,a reference toThe Powerpuff Girls,and a quote fromScooby-Doo,which are all licensed Cartoon Network series. During the 1970s and 1980s, crossovers were particularly common among theHanna-Barberaproperties. Some of the earliest examples happened onThe New Scooby-Doo Movieswhich featured appearances by characters fromHarlem Globetrotters,Josie and the Pussycats,Jeannie,Speed Buggy,Batman and Robin,andThe Addams Family.Later, theHanna-Barbera Superstars 10set of movies involved several crossovers, including such combinations asThe Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.This was taken to an extreme in the 1977–79 seriesLaff-A-Lympics,which was essentially a gathering of the Hanna-Barbera characters for a regular series.

Crossovers are not necessarily composed of characters under common ownership. Two of the most notable cartoon crossovers consisted of characters from different companies. Disney's movieWho Framed Roger Rabbithad characters from various companies, most notably Disney andWarner Bros.The film also includes cameos of characters fromMGM.

Another cartoon crossover would occur in 1990,Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.This cartoon featured popular characters from children's Saturday morning cartoons, banding together to promote an anti-drug message.ABC,CBS,Fox,andNBCaired this half-hour special one Saturday morning with characters from all their networks, includingHuey, Dewey, and Louie(from Disney'sDuckTales),Winnie the Pooh,Tigger,Slimer (fromThe Real GhostbustersandExtreme Ghostbusters), Michelangelo (fromTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck,Alvin and the Chipmunks,the Smurfs,ALF (fromhis short-lived cartoon spinoff),Garfield,and the trio ofBaby Kermit,Baby Piggy,andBaby Gonzo(from Jim Henson'sMuppet Babies). Animation companies granted unlimited, royalty-free use of their cartoon characters for this project, a feat that has been unequalled before or since. This cartoon was also introduced by then-PresidentGeorge H. W. BushandBarbara Bush,and would be distributed to schools and video stores free of charge nationwide.

Webtoons (animated shows from the internet) can also have crossovers with different webtoons, franchises, YouTubers and more. Some examples are when Kate fromTomSka'sCrash Zoomseries makes an appearance inEddsworldas a trick or treater who possesses Matt and Edd in the episode, "Trick or Threat". In addition to this a couple of characters fromEddsworldmake appearances in someCrash Zoomepisodes such as "Orcs and Dorks".

Anime and manga

Anime has also participated in many crossover events featuring characters or shows from the same company or network. One of the biggest projects down would beDream 9 Toriko x One Piece x Dragon Ball Z Super Special Collaborationas it includes threeShonen Jumpfranchises, beingDragon Ball Z,One Piece,andToriko,crossed over into an hour long special-like most crossovers, this special is filler, a fan-service episode that follows the common plot line in most crossovers. What makes this crossover unique is when the characters from all three shows split into groups, where the members all share the same clichéd character archetypes, such the main characters Goku, Luffy, and Toriko falling into the dumb, good-natured, strong character archetype.

MangaartistLeiji Matsumotohas been known to cross over the characters of his various stories and characters such asCaptain Harlock,Galaxy Express 999,andQueen Millennia,all of which were originally written as separate, self-contained stories. In theMaetel Legend,Queen Promethium is revealed to be having been Yukino Yaoi, the protagonist fromQueen Millennia.Matsumoto has also created various crossovers withSpace Battleship Yamato,an anime on which he served as director, although the rights to Yamato are actually owned by Yoshinobu Nishizaki.

Film

Battle sequence inKing Kong vs. Godzillashowing the title characters fighting each other

The first film crossover in a series ofUniversal Studiosmonster films wasFrankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,in 1943. After the comics publishing houseMarvel Comicsventured intomovie production,they set off to produce solitary films with popular superheroes from the Avengers team, with characters from upcoming films making cameo appearances in films starring another superhero, leading up to the crossover filmThe Avengers(2012). Inspired by Marvel's success,Warner Bros.,who hold movie rights forDC Comics' heroes, announced the production ofBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice(2016) and further plans to develop the cinematicDC Extended Universe,whileParamount PicturesandEntertainment Oneannounced plans to create a cinematic universe on theTransformersfilm series.

There have been numerous crossovers in Japanese cinema. The boom ofkaijufilms saw a lot of crossovers produced atToho Studios,with some of the monsters forming teams in numerous movies, much like the Marvel movie franchise.Godzilla,MothraandRodan(Radon) each first appeared in standalone films before being set against each other or even teaming up against stronger enemies. Their first encounter was in 1964, first inMothra vs. Godzillaand a few months later of all three inGhidorah, the Three-Headed Monster.In 1962,TohoreleasedKing Kong vs. Godzilla.

Games

Main article:List of crossovers in video games

Crossovers in video games occur when otherwise separated fictional characters,stories,settings,universes,ormediain avideo gamemeet and interact with each other. These can range from a character simply appearing as aplayable characterorBossin the game, as a special guest character, or a major crossover where two or more franchises encounter.

Konamimade the first crossover video game featuringSimon BelmontfromCastlevania,Universal Pictures'King Kongand Mikey from the Warner Bros. movieThe GooniesinKonami Wai Wai Worldfor the Famicom in 1988.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games,released in Japan two months beforeSuper Smash Bros. Brawl,was the first time thatMarioand Sonic (as well as their associated characters) appeared in a game together.

Literature

The Mysterious Islandnovel is acrossoversequelto Verne's famousTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas(1870) andIn Search of the Castaways(1867–68).

Inliterature,some authors also engage in crossovers by including characters from different novels they have written in one.

The first popular crossover in literature was the 1885Mark Twainnovel,The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,which had an important guest appearance byTom Sawyer.Similarly, Lady Glencora Palliser from the Pallisers series ofAnthony Trollopeappears towards the end ofMiss Mackenzie,a novel published between the first and second Palliser novels in 1865, a character first introduced in the novel,Can You Forgive Her?(1864).Andrew Lang's 1890 collection,Old Friends: Essays in Epistolary Parody,contains letters combining characters from different sources, including one based onJane Austen'sNorthanger AbbeyandCharlotte Brontë'sJane Eyre.

Kim Newmanfrequently uses this device, as doesStephen King.The works ofJames Branch Cabell,J.D. Salinger,William Faulkner,Margaret Laurence,Thomas Pynchon,Kurt Vonnegut,Mordecai Richler,Sir H. Rider Haggard,Edgar Rice Burroughs,Robert Heinlein,andIsaac Asimovalso cross over with each other, linking different characters and settings together over a number of different works.

IllustratorHoward Pyleconceived his workTwilight Landas one such crossover. In it, a nameless narrator is transported to "Twilight Land" and meets famous fairy tale characters for a soirée in an inn:Mother Goose,Cinderella,Fortunatus,Sinbad the Sailor,Aladdin,Boots,theValiant Little Tailor,and others gather in the framing device and tell each other adventurous tales featuring other literary personages.

French authorJules Lemaîtrewrote a sort of sequel toCinderella,namedPrincess Mimi,where Cinderella's daughter is courted byPolyphemusandCharles Perrault'sHop-o'-My-Thumb.

Public domain

Allan Quatermain

Jekyll and Hyde

Captain Nemo

Public domain depictions of some of the main characters used in
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

It is also common for authors to 'crossover' characters who have passed into the public domain, and thus do not require copyright or royalty payments for their use in other works.The League of Extraordinary GentlemenbyAlan MooreandKevin O'Neillis another example of this, as all of the main characters and most of the secondary / background characters are fictional characters whose copyright has expired, and all are characters of different authors and creators brought together within one massive extended universe. Many of the works ofPhilip José Farmer'sWold Newton familysequences (which has also been explored and developed by other authors) also utilize and interweave numerous otherwise unrelated fictional characters into a rich family history by speculating familial connections between them (such as a blood-relationship betweenSherlock HolmesandTarzan).Roger Zelazny's novelA Night in the Lonesome Octobercombines Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Frankenstein, Jack the Ripper, and the Cthulhu Mythos, although he never specifically identifies them as such ( "The Count", "The Good Doctor", "Jack", etc.).

Occasionally, authors will include into crossovers classic fictional characters whose copyright is still held by the original authors (or at least their estates), but who are nevertheless considered iconic or 'mythic' enough to be recognised from a few character traits or descriptions without being directly named (thus not requiring royalties payments to be made to the copyright holder). A prominent example occurs withinThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One,wherein a character who is clearly intended in appearance and description by other characters to be Dr.Fu Manchuappears as a significant villain; however, as this character was not in the public domain at the time of writing and the rights still held by the estate of his creatorSax Rohmer,he is not directly named as such in the work and is only referred to as 'the Devil Doctor'.

Television series

Between established shows

Crossovers involving principals can also occur when the characters have no prior relationship, but are related by time period, locale or profession. TheLaw and Orderseries, for example, afford a commonality of setting and profession which lends itself to crossovers, both within the franchise and in a wider universe. Following the cancellation of theABCsoap operaOne Life to Liveand its high-rated finale, several characters crossed over into the network's remaining soap operaGeneral Hospital,remaining in the same timeline as their former show.

Between related shows

Though most common on shows of the sameproduction company(see, for example, "Hurricane Saturday"), crossovers have also occurred because shows share the same distributor ortelevision network.A notable example of this kind of link is that betweenMurder, She WroteandMagnum, P.I.These shows were made by different companies, but owned byUniversal Studiosand broadcast onCBS.Another case is that ofMad About YouandFriends,which share the character ofUrsula Buffay.Neither show shares any production or distribution commonality, but rather an actress (Lisa Kudrow), a setting (New York City) and a schedule (Friendsinitially followedMad About YouonNBC'sThursday night schedule).

Mad About YouandFriendsshare another type of "network crossover". On rare occasions, networks have chosen to theme an entire night's programming around a crossover "event". In one case, a New York Cityblackoutcaused byPaul Reiser's character onMad About Youwas experienced by the characters onFriendsandMadman of the People.Such "event nights" can also be linked by a single character's quest across multiple shows on the same evening.ABCattempted this kind of "event night" crossover with itsFriday night programmingduring the 1997 season. There, they proposed that the title character ofSabrina the Teenage Witchshould chase her cat,Salem,throughBoy Meets World,You WishandTeen Angelbecause it had run away with a "time ball" that was displacing each show through time.

In 2013, the Canadian crime drama seriesRepublic of DoyleandMurdoch Mysteriesproduced a crossover,which was complicated by the shows' incompatible historical settings;Murdoch Mysteriesis a historical series set in the 1890s, whileRepublic of Doyleis set in the present day. The problem was solved by having the actors cross over asrelativesof their primary characters;Allan Hawcoappeared on the November 25, 2013 episode ofMurdoch Mysteriesas Jacob Doyle, a 19th-century ancestor of his regular character Jake Doyle, whileYannick Bissonappeared on a January 2014 episode ofRepublic of Doyleas Bill Murdoch, a 21st-century descendant of his regular character William Murdoch.

The earliest example of a crossover in children's television wasPBS' 1971 programThe Electric Company.

Promotional cameos

Crossovers can take the form of a promotionalcameo appearance,used to draw attention to another work of fiction, with little rational explanation in the context of the hosting show's narrative. When not clearly presented as parody, this is frequently scorned by fans as blatant commercialism. A notable example of this isThe Simpsonsepisode "A Star Is Burns",in which the character of Jay Sherman (fromThe Critic) appeared. It originally aired on March 5, 1995, on FOX right beforeThe Criticbegan its second season, its first season having aired on ABC. This episode was largely condemned by fans ofThe Simpsonsas existing to promoteThe Critic,an animated series considered inferior by comparison. EvenSimpsonscreatorMatt Groeningobjected, preferring to remove his name from the credits of that particular episode in protest.

Spin-offs

See also:List of television spin-offs

In its simplest and most common form, a television crossover involves a starring character on a parent show appearing on aspin-offor vice versa because of established character relationships. An obvious example of this type of crossover occurred whenCliff HuxtableofThe Cosby Showvisited his daughter,Denise,onA Different World.

More complex multi-production franchises can utilize crossovers of characters to serve as a device in establishing continuity in a shared fictional universe. This crossover is common in theStar Trekuniverse,where minor guest stars from one series have appeared as featured guest stars later ones. A good example of this crossover is that of theKlingonsKor,Koloth,andKang.After the passage of about a century of narrative time, the three onetime adversaries ofCaptain Kirkappeared together in theStar Trek: Deep Space Nineepisode, "Blood Oath"– as the Klingons and Federation had become allies in the century between, the former villains are now portrayed as heroes.

The distinction between "spin-off" and "crossover" is sometimes narrow. The two terms can become especially conflated if two shows are linked by a guest star with a single appearance. There is debate, for instance over whetherOut of the Blueis a spin-off ofHappy Days,or whether the star ofOut of the Bluemerely crossed over intoHappy Days.

Parodic crossovers

Often, the problems of bringing together two shows with different narrative ambitions make the writing of a crossover burdensome. Such difficulties are encountered bysituation comediesthat wish to crossover withdramatic televisionprograms. The satirical crossover—ranging in length from a cameo to a fullcomedy sketchor episode—is an extremely popular way of circumventing this problem. By various means, such crossovers typically avoid outcry from fans by being obviousparodyorhomage.However, on rare occasion, the humor of such crossovers can be used by one show make anarrativepoint by capitalizing on the audience's experience of the other program.

Parodic crossovers can be directly established as being outside the continuity of one or all of the properties being crossed over. A good example is the crossover betweenThe SimpsonsandThe X-Files,which was largely accepted as being outside standardX-Filescontinuity.

They can occur by virtue of adream sequence,in which the characters of one show will appear as part of a dream had by a character on another show. This method was perhaps used most famously to explain to audiences that the entirety ofNewharthad been the dream ofBob Newhart's character onThe Bob Newhart Show.It has more recently been used to demonstrate that cast members ofThe Young and the Restlessappeared in a dream of a character onThe King of Queens.

Parodic crossovers can take the form of "gag"cameos by characters of one property appearing on another. Crossovers of this type can also be completely wordless. This type of crossover is more common on animated programs, such as whenBenderfound and ateBart Simpson's shorts onFuturama,orMilhousehad a talking Bender doll onThe Simpsons.This would seem to be another case when a popular franchise is acknowledged as fiction and not a crossover of the stories.

Perhaps the most obvious parodic crossover is found when characters from two series interact outsideeitherseries. This occurs most commonly on asketch comedyshow or as a humorous interlude on an award telecast. Such crossovers may sometimes involve the real actors—for example, a sketch onRoyal Canadian Air Farcesaw Yasir and Sarah fromLittle Mosque on the Prairiebuying the gas station fromCorner Gas,with many of the characters in the sketch being portrayed by the shows' real actors—although they may also feature one genuine star from the show amid a cast comprised otherwise of the sketch show's own stable of actors. Parodic crossovers can be used to lendverisimilitudeto the fictional world of a program. Characters from a fictional television series may appear on a stylized version of an established non-fictional television series, such asgame showsorreality shows.These crossovers between celebrity hosts and fictional characters are quite common onsituation comedies.Mama's Familyonce appeared onFamily Feudand the townsfolk ofThe Vicar of Dibleyhave had theirheirloomsvaluated onAntiques Roadshow,for instance.

German crossover

One of the earlier instances of crossovers in TV productions outside the US is the episodeUnter Brüdern(1990), which was produced byWDRandDFFas a crossover between theWest Germancrime seriesTatortand theEast Germancrime seriesPolizeiruf 110.Their respective popular heroesHorst Schimanskiand Peter Fuchs join forces to solve a case in the turmoil of the time after thefall of the Berlin Wall.The episode was produced during the short transition period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and thereunification of Germany.

See also

• Amalgam Comics
• Canon (fiction)
• Callback (comedy)
• Continuity (fiction)
• Cross-licensing
• Fanfiction
• Fictional character
• Fictional universe
• Shared universe
• Tommy Westphall
• Wold Newton family

External links

• Thoughts On Crossovers In General (Kathryn Andersen)An essay musing on the numerous elements necessary to a successful crossover (primarily aimed at fan-written fiction).
• World Newton Universe Crossover ChronologyCrossovers which build upon and take place in Philip José Farmer's World Newton continuity.
• "On Crossovers",Jess Nevins' history of the fictional crossover