Shared universe
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A shared universe is a literary technique in which several different authors create works of fiction that share aspects such as settings or characters and that are intended to be read as taking place in a single universe. This can be contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story. Shared universes are more common within fantasy and science fiction than in other genres. Examples include the Star Trek, DC Universe, Marvel Universe, Star Wars, Gundam, Macross, Dragon Ball, Forgotten Realms, Cthulhu Mythos, BattleTech and Metal Gear franchises.
There is no formalized definition of when the appearance of fictional characters in another author's work constitutes a shared universe. Fiction in some media, such as most television programs and many comic book titles, is understood to require the contribution of multiple authors and does not by itself create a shared universe. Incidental appearances, such as that of d'Artagnan in Cyrano de Bergerac, may instead be considered literary cameos. More substantial interaction between characters from different sources is often marketed as a crossover. While crossovers occur in a shared universe, not all crossovers are intended to merge their settings' back-stories and are instead used for marketing, parody, or to explore what-if scenarios.
The term has also been used in a wider, non-literary sense to convey interdisciplinary or social commonality,[4] often in the context of a "shared universe of discourse."
