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A shared universe is a setting where multiple writers create characters who can interact and impact each other’s stories. Examples include comic book series and literary works like the Cthulhu Mythos and Star Wars Expanded Universe. It differs from collaborative work as it involves multiple books with different characters, allowing events in one story to affect another. Marvel and DC are examples of publishers with a shared universe, where characters can appear in different titles and events can alter the narrative of another story.
A shared universe is a setting in which multiple writers create numerous characters who are all capable of interacting, and in which the events of one story can impact another. Some of the most common examples of this type of work are comic book series created by numerous authors and artists, involving multiple characters in their own titles, all published by a single company. Many times, those characters can interact with each other, appear in other characters’ books, and participate in massive “cross-over” events. There are also literary examples of writers working together in a shared universe, such as the “Cthulhu Mythos” and the Star Wars® Expanded Universe (EU).
While similar to collaborative work, a shared universe typically has some elements that differentiate the two concepts. Collaborative works are often one or more books written by multiple authors. There is a single story that is told throughout and the characters remain consistent, with each writer contributing different sections of the story and creating the overarching narrative. In a shared universe, however, multiple books and short stories may be written by different authors, each often with its own cast of characters, and the events of one story impact another.
For example, many comic book publishers have numerous titles, each focusing on a different character, often a superhero. Some publishers, such as Marvel® and DC®, have their characters occupy a shared universe, so that each title takes place in the same world as all the others. This allows characters from one title to appear in another; these events are often referred to as “cross-overs” and may be major storylines within the continuity of all of a publisher’s comics. In this type of shared universe, one character’s writer can borrow villains or heroes from another title, and events that take place in one series can be used to alter the narrative of another story.
One of the most famous examples of a shared universe in literature is the “Cthulhu Mythos”, which was built on the writing of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Many of Lovecraft’s works are horror stories, or part of a genre known as queer fiction, his tales were often about fear and paranoia due to unknowable horrors from outer space. His stories influenced other writers, who created similar stories and even borrowed characters and creatures from his works, which he eventually encouraged and worked with some of these writers during his lifetime. Since Lovecraft’s death, multiple authors have created their own stories that are all part of the same shared universe, which has come to be known as the “Cthulhu Mythos”, named after the creature that is the central figure in one of Lovecraft’s stories, Call of Cthulhu .
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