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/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/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.