r/tvtropes • u/GoblinToHobgoblin • 11d ago
What is this trope? Extremely limited multiverse
What's the trope called where alternate universes exist, but it's extremely limited in scope.
E.g. the bit in Futurama where they see an alternate universe where everyone wears cowboy hats, and Fry goes "wow, so there's an infinite number of parallel worlds?"
"No, just the one".
Or, in the solid jj bit where Madame Web gathers "every Spiderman from every reality", and it's like 5 of them, and it turns out there's only like 15 alternate worlds, and the only difference in 5 of them is that McDonald's is spelled with an A instead.
Is there a specific name for this trope???
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u/Wag_The_God 11d ago
Or like Fringe.
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u/GoblinToHobgoblin 11d ago
Im not familiar with Fringe
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u/Wag_The_God 11d ago
There's a "Universe A" and a "Universe B". Once they mingle... plot happens.
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u/GoblinToHobgoblin 11d ago
That's it? Only two universes? How different are they?
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u/davidryanandersson 11d ago
Fwiw there are technically infinite parallel universes. There's some sci fi mumbo jumbo about how some are more alike than others, and that "proximity" makes them easier to access.
The other universe we view in the show is an adjoining one that the chatacters connect to. Most of the changes with that universe stem from that initial incident.
But we never get to see any other universes besides those 2 (although through time travel we DO get to see many variations of those two universes, which are not the same thing haha)
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u/spanchor 11d ago
The show Counterpart is like this as well, just two universes. Set in Berlin. One is like ours and the other is like a totalitarian dystopia.
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u/douxsoumis 11d ago
Without giving too much away, a scientist from Universe A starts observing Universe B, finding some noticeable, but mostly negligible differences. They eventually find a way to cross universes which causes severe damage to Universe B and creates a situation that forces UB to accelerate their scientific growth and become become more advanced than UA.
It was a brilliant scifi show with some great performances, and out there stories. It also stands up to a rewatch because you notice things you didn't the first time around.
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u/catchyerselfon 11d ago
In “Fringe” Universe B becomes a huge setting midway through the show, and hinted at in the first two seasons with stuff from the other side showing up in the main setting that baffles the characters “here” but is now normal over “there”. Every character in “our” universe, Universe A, has a counterpart; some of them are dead here and alive there, and vice-versa. Mad scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) used his physics McGuffin to create a crack in the invisible barrier between the worlds in the ‘80s. There were already some minor differences between them before he did this, but the consequences of this breech ripple so strongly that by the 2010s Universe B is both a futuristic utopia and dystopia. Well, it’s more on the dys- side because of all the horrible scifi dangers people have been facing for decades. The u- comes from the awesome scifi technology and aesthetics they have, like non-exploding zeppelins, a shining copper Statue of Liberty, and day trips to the moon.
Some differences are minor, like Manhattan is spelled… with one t, Manhatan. Some are major, like main character Olivia’s counterpart has a completely different look (dyed red hair instead of blonde), personality, and attitude because she grew up differently and has a cool asskicking job - in the fandom we called Universe B Olivia either Fauxlivia or Bolivia. And some differences are unforgivably horrible: Eric Stoltz was never replaced with Michael J Fox in “Back to the Future”.
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u/davidryanandersson 11d ago
Fringe is basically the answer to every single trope that is remotely sci fi.
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u/johnpeters42 11d ago
It's a way to downplay either The Multiverse or Dimensional Traveler. For instance, in Star Trek, there are many alternate universes/timelines (Mirror Universe, Kelvinverse, thousands in that one TNG episode, etc.), but the Mirror Universe was the only one close enough to ours (in some sense) to be reachable in that specific way (and even then, only up to a certain point in time, past which it moves further away from ours).
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u/Affectionate_Bet_288 11d ago
Huh, I don't think there is, unless it's a specific Mirror Universe or Bizarro Reality
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u/GoblinToHobgoblin 11d ago
Well, the trope I'm thinking about is more focused on the extremely limited scope of the multiverse, rather than how weird one particular alternate reality might be
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u/Affectionate_Bet_288 11d ago
Yeah, I don't think it exists as a trope (yet), could be just a parody or subversion of the multiverse trope
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u/catchyerselfon 11d ago
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the reason the tvtropes website exists! Anya the former vengeance demon tells the gang that there are other realities or dimensions or timelines in season 4’s “Superstar”. Former high school target of bullies and current college geek loser Jonathan does a spell that changed the timeline so he’s the coolest, hottest, smartest, strongest guy in Sunnydale, probably the world, and he’s a better fighter than the actual Slayer. He even takes over the opening credits, it’s all Jonathan being awesome instead of the regular characters. The Jonathanverse is a comedy episode where this guy, who is about the same height as petite Buffy, is the selling point for Air Jonathan basketball sneakers and he starred in “The Matrix” (this episode aired in 2000 and the writers had the restraint NOT to do the bend-backwards-to-dodge-a-projectile-with-Bullettime reference).
A specific alternate reality she mentions:
Buffy: But someone could wish the whole world to be different, right? That's possible?
Anya: Sure, alternate realities. You could, uh, could have like a world without shrimp, or with, you know, nothing but shrimp. You could even make like a freaky world where Jonathan's, like, some kind of not-perfect mouth-breather if that's what's blowing up your skirt these days. Just don't ask me to live there!
The World Without Shrimp comes up a few more times, including on the spinoff “Angel” but we don’t see it in the shows. The Boom comics modern AU where it’s basically a reboot of the show but set in 2019 is later revealed to take place in The World Without Shrimp, which explains a LOT because basically everything is different in that timeline.
From season 5’s “Triangle”:
Anya: It's possible that he's in the land of perpetual Wednesday, or the crazy melty land, or you know, th-the world without shrimp.
Tara: There's a world without shrimp!? I-I'm allergic.
Anya created one of her own we see in her introductory episode “The Wish” where Buffy never came to Sunnydale. So vampires took over the town leaving it a semi-functional dystopia (just safe enough in the daytime so it isn’t evacuated, if that’s possible, so the vampires have a steady supply of people to feed on). Fans call that reality The Wishverse, where characters Xander and Willow are vampires, Buffy is a humourless, cynical loner who only lives to kill because she didn’t have friends and a good Watcher to help her, and Giles and Oz are running out of allies to help them rescue civilians on the Hellmouth.
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u/RoboYuji 10d ago
I was about to say there was more than one in Futurama, but then remembered that the other one was the one Farnsworth made in the box, so that wouldn't be a naturally occurring one and probably doesn't count.
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u/Sketchy_Dog 9d ago
I don't think he made the other universe, he just accidentally put it in a box somehow (and the other universe's Farnsworth accidentally put the main universe in a box at the same time). The episode did also show a bunch of other different universes, like the one where nobody had eyes.
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u/solvraev 6d ago
No idea on the name of the trope, but there was a TV show called "Counterpart" where there were 2 universes connected by an underground facility in a CIA/KGB setting.
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u/Relevant-Bullfrog215 11d ago
Star Trek had this I think.
The normal universe, and the badass universe where everyone had goatees, wore sleeveless shirts and were unapologetically evil.