Largest Fictional Universe
January 29, 2015 2:06 PM Subscribe
What's the largest world/universe in speculative fiction, in terms of quantity of words of fiction set in that universe?
Arbitrary rules: I'm not counting fan fiction unless it's canonical (e.g. Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time books). I'm not counting articles and scholarship about the primary sources, but I am counting RPG manuals, fictional histories, and the like.
Arbitrary rules: I'm not counting fan fiction unless it's canonical (e.g. Brandon Sanderson's Wheel of Time books). I'm not counting articles and scholarship about the primary sources, but I am counting RPG manuals, fictional histories, and the like.
Don't think there's ever been an actual tallying up by anyone, but my guess would be the Marvel/DC universes, Warhammer 40K or Star Wars.
posted by longdaysjourney at 2:21 PM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by longdaysjourney at 2:21 PM on January 29, 2015 [6 favorites]
I'm guessing the Star Trek novels make the Trek universe a real possibility for the largest by your criteria. Especially if you also count the non-narrative print material: technical manuals, dictionaries, encyclopedia (which are generally written "in universe" so they should be counted). Plus the almost 600 hours of canon on-screen material.
posted by General Tonic at 2:23 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by General Tonic at 2:23 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
There's a Flash Gordon-esque German sci-fi series called Perry Rhodan that includes nearly three thousand pulp issues and counting, several hundred books, and god knows what else.
posted by theodolite at 2:23 PM on January 29, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by theodolite at 2:23 PM on January 29, 2015 [7 favorites]
It's got to be something comic book related, just considering the sheer amount of time, popularity, and quantity of the major superhero franchises. Even if we're not considering "Marvel" or "DC" as universes as such. It could easily be Superman. Superman has 75 years of comics, multiple TV series, and at least a dozen films. And were there novels? There were probably novels. Oh, and the cartoons.
If prose only, yeah probably Star Trek. Just considering the fact that there were five series, each with a dedicated series of tie-in novels. Some of which must have spanned hundreds of volumes.
posted by Sara C. at 2:53 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
If prose only, yeah probably Star Trek. Just considering the fact that there were five series, each with a dedicated series of tie-in novels. Some of which must have spanned hundreds of volumes.
posted by Sara C. at 2:53 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would guess it's a comic universe, too. But I don't know how many works from other languages I don't know about, and then there's also stuff like Romance of the Three Kingdoms which you might or might not count.
Though there are SO MANY Doctor Who books (megalist or 1, 2, 3), hours and hours of audio, tons of comics, spinoff TV series and quasi-licensed works, and multiple different RPGs, on top of the 400ish hours and counting of the main show).
posted by wintersweet at 3:03 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Though there are SO MANY Doctor Who books (megalist or 1, 2, 3), hours and hours of audio, tons of comics, spinoff TV series and quasi-licensed works, and multiple different RPGs, on top of the 400ish hours and counting of the main show).
posted by wintersweet at 3:03 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
The same question on rpg.net, with most of the same suggestions.
posted by inire at 3:07 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by inire at 3:07 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Arbitrary rules: I'm not counting fan fiction unless it's canonical
Well, Star Trek is a big ol' maybe then. Only the TV shows and movies are considered canon, but there are hundreds of novels, which, while not canon, are licensed, which puts them a step above garden-variety fan fiction in my mind.
Memory Beta is the wiki for these licensed but non-canon materials (a counterpart to Memory Alpha for canonical works). The Novel entry there would be a starting point, although I wasn't able to find a single comprehensive list in the short time I poked around.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:07 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Well, Star Trek is a big ol' maybe then. Only the TV shows and movies are considered canon, but there are hundreds of novels, which, while not canon, are licensed, which puts them a step above garden-variety fan fiction in my mind.
Memory Beta is the wiki for these licensed but non-canon materials (a counterpart to Memory Alpha for canonical works). The Novel entry there would be a starting point, although I wasn't able to find a single comprehensive list in the short time I poked around.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:07 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm going with Star Trek, but then it would include that Star Trek/Here Come the Brides crossover and I don't think my brain could really handle it.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:04 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 4:04 PM on January 29, 2015
For the fun of it, I'm going to suggest the heaven+hell fantasy world of the Bible, even though most of the words produced are, quite literally, not canon. In addition to the Bible itself, millions of words of fiction have been written over centuries that are set in this world, from The Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost and The Pilgrim's Progress to the Left Behind series and lots more. (The hunky cover angels of the Celestial Justice series definitely aren't canon.)
posted by clawsoon at 4:56 PM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 4:56 PM on January 29, 2015 [8 favorites]
I was kinda thinking about the Bible myself, but the non-canonical thing kinda does it in--I mean, about the only part that everybody agrees is canonical is the Pentateuch: five books, not long.
posted by box at 5:16 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by box at 5:16 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ok, someone told me about that every Stephen King book is like ... in a separate but overlapping universe and every book has a character or reference to another book or character, and only the guy from the Wasteland series or something can travel among all the worlds. I never verified what the guy told me and I'm not able to at the moment, but if it's a thing someone more educated than me will be along momentarily I'm sure. And if it is true, or if something like it is true, I think that would qualify as pretty huge canon.
posted by mibo at 7:11 PM on January 29, 2015
posted by mibo at 7:11 PM on January 29, 2015
This is a fascinating question! I'd like to second Perry Rhodan for consideration. The series has been producing material on a weekly basis without interruption since the 1960s. Shelves on shelves on shelves of books. Inside the narrative, three thousand years have passed, and the main characters of this cheesy '60s astronaut adventure are now gods.
Also, I'd suggest looking into the Fantômas series. Starting pre-WWI with 32 novels by the original authors, then 11 more solo, then a string of silent movies and serials, then sound movies into the 1960s, a TV series, and tons and tons of comics (particularly in Latin and South American markets). Some of these may run into issues of canonicity, but even strict standards leave a very large body of work.
posted by deathmarch to epistemic closure at 7:12 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
Also, I'd suggest looking into the Fantômas series. Starting pre-WWI with 32 novels by the original authors, then 11 more solo, then a string of silent movies and serials, then sound movies into the 1960s, a TV series, and tons and tons of comics (particularly in Latin and South American markets). Some of these may run into issues of canonicity, but even strict standards leave a very large body of work.
posted by deathmarch to epistemic closure at 7:12 PM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'd suggest Lovecraft's Mythos and all of its related works, but I'm not sure how you're calculating canonicity.
mibo is right about King and the Dark Tower. It's a big honkin' universe.
posted by Lemmy Caution at 7:40 PM on January 29, 2015
mibo is right about King and the Dark Tower. It's a big honkin' universe.
posted by Lemmy Caution at 7:40 PM on January 29, 2015
Some other possible metrics:
Largest Wikia Wikis - Wikia is a commercial network of wiki-like sites usually centering on complex SF/fantasy universe lore that's not appropriate for Wikipedia. According to this list, and filtering out the non-fiction stuff, the biggest are:
Marvel - 134,556 articles
Star Wars - 116,214 articles
World of Warcraft - 102,381 articles
You could also look at TVTropes' Trope Overdosed category, which lists the franchises most often referenced on the site. According to the related page stats for the top category, the three biggest are:
Star Wars - 11,113 links
Batman - 6263 links
Dungeons & Dragons - 5845 links
It's possible I'm misunderstanding their stat system, though, so grain of salt there.
Also, I imagine some of the more prolific Japanese manga series (both print and TV) could be serious contenders.
posted by Rhaomi at 9:19 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Largest Wikia Wikis - Wikia is a commercial network of wiki-like sites usually centering on complex SF/fantasy universe lore that's not appropriate for Wikipedia. According to this list, and filtering out the non-fiction stuff, the biggest are:
Marvel - 134,556 articles
Star Wars - 116,214 articles
World of Warcraft - 102,381 articles
You could also look at TVTropes' Trope Overdosed category, which lists the franchises most often referenced on the site. According to the related page stats for the top category, the three biggest are:
Star Wars - 11,113 links
Batman - 6263 links
Dungeons & Dragons - 5845 links
It's possible I'm misunderstanding their stat system, though, so grain of salt there.
Also, I imagine some of the more prolific Japanese manga series (both print and TV) could be serious contenders.
posted by Rhaomi at 9:19 PM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just to point out: Stephen King's Dark Tower series pales in comparison to RJ's Wheel of Time in terms of number of characters and scenes.
I would say RJ's WoT if there was a stipulation that all the works had to be done by one author (even if Brandon Sanderson did write the "last" book(s)) . But you didn't mention that in the rules, so I guess Star Trek wins.
posted by moiraine at 3:23 AM on January 30, 2015
I would say RJ's WoT if there was a stipulation that all the works had to be done by one author (even if Brandon Sanderson did write the "last" book(s)) . But you didn't mention that in the rules, so I guess Star Trek wins.
posted by moiraine at 3:23 AM on January 30, 2015
It's almost certainly The Tommy Westphall Universe
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:15 AM on January 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 5:15 AM on January 30, 2015 [4 favorites]
Beat me to it ... was just coming in to say St. Elsewhere.
posted by jbickers at 5:17 AM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jbickers at 5:17 AM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure it's possible to beat Marvel comics, if comics count. But then you aren't going by number of words, but some other more difficult to quantify marker.
If they don't, I would like to strongly suggest looking into Warhammer. Warhammer and Warhammer 40k are currently maybe-kinda connected game universes, so if you add them together... I remember feeling very overwhelmed by how much writing has been poured into a customizable table-top skirmish game, and I'm a nerd who is used to that kind of behavior.
Everything written here about Stephen King's fiction universe is true, and also it doesn't even come close to being the biggest cohesive fictional universe. It does beat The Wheel of Time though, easily.
posted by Poppa Bear at 5:58 AM on January 30, 2015
If they don't, I would like to strongly suggest looking into Warhammer. Warhammer and Warhammer 40k are currently maybe-kinda connected game universes, so if you add them together... I remember feeling very overwhelmed by how much writing has been poured into a customizable table-top skirmish game, and I'm a nerd who is used to that kind of behavior.
Everything written here about Stephen King's fiction universe is true, and also it doesn't even come close to being the biggest cohesive fictional universe. It does beat The Wheel of Time though, easily.
posted by Poppa Bear at 5:58 AM on January 30, 2015
Not a real contender here, but interesting nonetheless, "In the Realms of the Unreal is a 15,145-page work bound in fifteen immense, densely typed volumes (with three of them consisting of several hundred illustrations, scroll-like watercolor paintings on paper derived from magazines and coloring books) created over six decades."
posted by stinkfoot at 3:15 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by stinkfoot at 3:15 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's not huge like Star Trek, or as long-lived as Fantomas, but I've always like Larry Niven's Known Space. Quote, "The stories span approximately one thousand years of future history, from the first human explorations of the Solar System to the colonization of dozens of nearby systems. Late in the series, Known Space is an irregularly shaped "bubble" about 60 light-years across."
Colonization issues, cowardly aliens, pretty good science in the science fiction, an interesting future, and a Ringworld. Great fun.
posted by Zack_Replica at 3:36 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
Colonization issues, cowardly aliens, pretty good science in the science fiction, an interesting future, and a Ringworld. Great fun.
posted by Zack_Replica at 3:36 PM on January 30, 2015 [2 favorites]
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So when I say more than a dozen I guess I mean like several hundred novels, sourcebooks, modules and magazine articles.
posted by GuyZero at 2:16 PM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]