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The idea that all fictional universes really exist somewhere out there in the {{Multiverse}}: For any given {{ficton}}, there is an alternate universe in which it happened for real (giving a whole new meaning to the FictionIdentityPostulate).
This setting, by its nature, is used almost exclusively in {{Crossover}}s, although you'll sometimes see it restricted to [[ShowWithinAShow Shows Within Shows]] instead.
This is something {{Daydream Believer}}s like to latch onto. A MassiveMultiplayerCrossover tends to imply this, as does a RefugeeFromTVLand or TrappedInTVLand plot--usually they'll take it for granted without fully exploring the ramifications of supposedly fictional universes coexisting with the real one. Two universes may be MutuallyFictional. This trope is not to be confused with AllMythsAreTrue, which applies to just ''one'' universe.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* The basic premise of the fanfic ''Fanfic/MyLittleDenarians'': After it turns out that the Outside can be used to access fictional universes, Harry Dresden must travel to Equestria, to stop the Denarians from bringing Discord to Earth.
* This is the premise behind the ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' fan fiction ''[[http://www.kristensheley.com/bttf/interactiveII.html Interactive BTTF Story #2]]''. In a twist, Doc and Marty arrive in time periods where the movies are still in production, and interfering with said production in some way alters their own reality. It also implies ''Film/KingKong'', ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', and ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' are all in the same continuity.
* The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' fanfics "Fanfic/VisitToAStrangePlanet" and "Visit to a Strange Planet Revisited" have the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the actors in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' show meeting each other.
* Discussed in the collaborative fanfic ''FanFic/BecomingPonies''. After Discord comes to Earth and a number of people are transformed into ponies (with a corresponding pony's mind stuck in their heads alongside their own) a pair of fanfic authors turned into Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy discuss the concept; namely, whether all worlds exist somewhere in the multiverse or whether they really bring worlds into being by writing. They find the second idea too horrible to accept.
* Similarly, the story ''Fanfic/{{Ponyfall}}: Leather and Lace'' raises this possibility when Will tries to explain to Rarity his theory on what happened to her. Rarity notes that, "Suddenly my stash of romance stories seems highly voyeuristic..."
* The basis of ''Fanfic/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'' is that all works have their own reality, and writing fanfiction disrupts them, especially fanfics with {{Mary Sue}}s. Thus, the eponymous organization sends agents disguised as background extras to set things right.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/LastActionHero'', characters cross between movies and the real world. The villain's evil plan is to assemble an army of movie monsters and villains and bring them into reality to TakeOverTheWorld.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein used this trope in several of his works starting with ''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast'', coining the term "The World As Myth" to describe it.
* In ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', every book is apparently its own world, and characters can read themselves in or out of them.
* The very premise of ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' is that every single story, setting, or character a person in our world imagines becomes reality within Fantastica (which is a single world but it is effectively an endless patchworks of smaller "worlds"). When a "real" character enters Fantastica and discovers any story he tells comes true, he gains delayed PowerOfCreation, experiencing guilt over inadvertently creating monsters or making things too hard for heroes.
* Creator/JasperFforde runs with this idea in the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series, where Thursday is part of the literature police, policing the events in the literary continuum.
* Literature/{{Discworld}}: In ''Discworld/{{Pyramids}}'', our narrator notes that in an infinite universe, everything that can be imagined exists somewhere.
* Used in the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy.
* In Roger Zelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'', basically anything imaginable can be found in Shadow, which is a multiverse of infinite parallel realities. At one point several characters travel to a place that's quite like Lewis Carrol's [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Wonderland]], in which elements of the poem Jabberwocky also manifest.
* In Creator/LSpragueDeCamp and Creator/FletcherPratt's ''Compleat Enchanter'', HaroldShea and his friends go hopping about fictional universes. The question of whether the authors created them, or they influence the authors, is brought up to go unanswered; at one point it's called meaningless.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, the characters actually get to meet and interact with the author, even if it is hinted that King is not the true source of their creation.
* Creator/PoulAnderson wrote several stories based on this premise, notably ''Literature/AMidsummerTempest'', which is set in the world where all Shakespeare's plays actually happened; it explicitly sets out the premise in two sequences that feature cameos by people from other worlds/fictions.
* Creator/RayBradbury's short story "The Exiles" opens with the three witches from ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', and reveals that not only are fictional characters alive and well on Mars, but also their creators: [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare The Bard]], [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]], et al. When the last copy of books referencing them are burned, they vanish.
* Vasily Golovachev's ''Literature/SaviorsOfTheFan'' duology has the titular Worldfan, also known as Shadanakar, which contains a myriad worlds linked together using a PortalNetwork of sorts. The reason the structure is called a "Fan" is because all the worlds are located at a slight angle (or "chron") to one another. One can move through them by shifting one's "chron". Oh, and those are just ''some'' of the worlds in TheMultiverse, although the rest are disconnected from the Fan. The Fan is revealed to be the origin of any fictional story or dream we know thanks to the bleeding effect between the worlds. The heroes get to see a few of the worlds, some of which are incomprehensible to humans (e.g. a world where there's no Earth but a giant WorldTree with branches the size of continents, or a world where the mere act of moving alters the environment around you, so you better know your way back to the portal). One of the worlds appears to be both a nod and a TakeThat to Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/PastwatchTheRedemptionOfChristopherColumbus'' with a ModernMayincatecEmpire, which the author implies "inspired" Card to write his novel.
* ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' and its [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds Wood Between the Worlds]] strongly implies this; Polly and Digory leave an Earth in which "Mr. Franchise/SherlockHolmes was still living in Baker Street" to go to a world of which Digory's [[EvilUncle Uncle Andrew]] has at least heard rumors in their world, and later to Narnia itself at the moment of creation.
* In the [[Literature/{{Illium}} Illium/Olympos duology]] by Creator/DanSimmons, all possible parallel universes exist, but the easiest ones to [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice get to]] are those that correspond with great works of literature.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/RedDwarf: Back to Earth'', Kryten says it's "quantum mechanics 101" that all stories, dreams, and so on are real in parallel worlds, including the world where Red Dwarf is a TV show (and where the characters have just been [[spoiler:in a squid-induced hallucination]].)
* Hinted at in ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the first Doctor story "The Chase", the Doctor takes seriously the possibility that they might have traveled into an alternate reality where Dracula was real (although that turned out to be a mistake). And in the second Doctor story "The Mind Robber", the Tardis and crew are forced to jump out of reality as we know it and find themselves in the Land of Fiction (although by some interpretations, they're inside a simulated universe created by a hyper-advanced computer).
* This may to an extent be true in ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', particularly in the more far-fetched universes Quinn Mallory and his friends travel to.
* Implied in ''Series/OnceUponATime''; most of the European fairy tale characters came from a single AlternateUniverse, and there are other worlds that include settings like Neverland and Wonderland.
* In the later episodes of ''Series/MythQuest'', they make reference to the myth or alter world, implying that all the myths are true in another dimension.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Boppin}}'' features this as part of its story.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TheHeroOfThreeFaces'', a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover webcomic by Creator/PaulGadzikowski, uses the idea of alternate fictional universes to permit crossovers between works with incompatible continuities. A recurring plot point is that the "real" universes aren't always exactly like their fictional counterparts, which have been affected by budget restrictions, network broadcast standards, copyright issues, etc.: for instance, in the universe where ''Series/LoisAndClark'' is real, Superman has met [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] several times, but in our universe the TV series shows him meeting Creator/HGWells instead.
* ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''. "[[http://nonadventures.com/2012/12/01/hip-it-good/ HIP It Good]]", involving a lampshade that looks just like {{Music/Devo}}'s power hats, inspired [[http://nonadventures.com/2012/12/01/listen/ this commentary]] from the author:
-->There are some who say storytelling is metaphysical; that is, a storyteller's visions come not from one's creative mind but from elsewhere, possibly the far reaches of our universe or other parallel universes we can't even comprehend.\\
I guess what I'm saying is, this lamp might exist in real life and if so please let me know.
* This is heavily implied to be the case in [[{{Franchise/Buildingverse}} the world]] of ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' (and its spin-offs like ''Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor'') in a {{Mind Screw}}y definition of real. Their stories / worlds were / are ''real'' for the characters in this MegaCrossover and are fiction in the [[MetaFic world of the comics]] but they [[MediumAwareness know they are still in a "fictional" world]]... and the whole thing seems to run on / be created by [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve belief / imagination]]. (Travel is also possible between the worlds of stories. Like the whole cast ended up in Oz once and {{Film/Inception}} misses the scene, where Jareth fixes it.) And for FridgeHorror: These comics also screw with the fourth wall a lot.
* The premise of ''Webcomic/{{Namesake}}'', in which all fairy tales and stories have a world of their own, with Namesakes like the protagonist responsible for entering these worlds and maintaining their balance with ours.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Variant: In the "Imaginationland" arc of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', there is an alternate dimension where all imaginary characters are real.
* In the SeriesFinale of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', after solving the conundrum of Spider-Carnage, the central Spider-Man is told by Madame Webb that he must follow [[ChekhovsGunman the Spider-Man who has no powers]] to his native universe to meet a certain person: Creator/StanLee. Of course, the big guy's reaction to a creation of his meeting him in the flesh sparks a whole new sense of awe in the man, as well as giving some sort of closure on Peter's own emotional turmoils.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', the Ice King writes [[RuleSixtyThree Fionna and Cake fan fiction]]. [[WordOfGod According to Pendleton Ward]], Fionna and Cake do exist, albeit in another dimension.
* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' "Road to the Multiverse", there are alternate dimensions for ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', the ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'', and ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''.
* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet the {{Expy}} of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main DCAU dimension John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* Compare [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_realism Modal Realism]], the view promoted by philosopher David Lewis that all possible worlds are "real" in some sense. However, for him it doesn't matter whether anyone's created a fictional work based on it or not, just that it is a logically possible world.
** In his non-fiction book ''The Fabric of Reality'', physicist David Deutsch posits that only those universes that can logically give rise to observers can actually be said to exist, essentially suggesting that TheLawOfConservationOfDetail applies to RealLife.
[[/folder]]
----
This setting, by its nature, is used almost exclusively in {{Crossover}}s, although you'll sometimes see it restricted to [[ShowWithinAShow Shows Within Shows]] instead.
This is something {{Daydream Believer}}s like to latch onto. A MassiveMultiplayerCrossover tends to imply this, as does a RefugeeFromTVLand or TrappedInTVLand plot--usually they'll take it for granted without fully exploring the ramifications of supposedly fictional universes coexisting with the real one. Two universes may be MutuallyFictional. This trope is not to be confused with AllMythsAreTrue, which applies to just ''one'' universe.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* The basic premise of the fanfic ''Fanfic/MyLittleDenarians'': After it turns out that the Outside can be used to access fictional universes, Harry Dresden must travel to Equestria, to stop the Denarians from bringing Discord to Earth.
* This is the premise behind the ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' fan fiction ''[[http://www.kristensheley.com/bttf/interactiveII.html Interactive BTTF Story #2]]''. In a twist, Doc and Marty arrive in time periods where the movies are still in production, and interfering with said production in some way alters their own reality. It also implies ''Film/KingKong'', ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', and ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' are all in the same continuity.
* The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' fanfics "Fanfic/VisitToAStrangePlanet" and "Visit to a Strange Planet Revisited" have the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the actors in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' show meeting each other.
* Discussed in the collaborative fanfic ''FanFic/BecomingPonies''. After Discord comes to Earth and a number of people are transformed into ponies (with a corresponding pony's mind stuck in their heads alongside their own) a pair of fanfic authors turned into Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy discuss the concept; namely, whether all worlds exist somewhere in the multiverse or whether they really bring worlds into being by writing. They find the second idea too horrible to accept.
* Similarly, the story ''Fanfic/{{Ponyfall}}: Leather and Lace'' raises this possibility when Will tries to explain to Rarity his theory on what happened to her. Rarity notes that, "Suddenly my stash of romance stories seems highly voyeuristic..."
* The basis of ''Fanfic/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'' is that all works have their own reality, and writing fanfiction disrupts them, especially fanfics with {{Mary Sue}}s. Thus, the eponymous organization sends agents disguised as background extras to set things right.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/LastActionHero'', characters cross between movies and the real world. The villain's evil plan is to assemble an army of movie monsters and villains and bring them into reality to TakeOverTheWorld.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein used this trope in several of his works starting with ''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast'', coining the term "The World As Myth" to describe it.
* In ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', every book is apparently its own world, and characters can read themselves in or out of them.
* The very premise of ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' is that every single story, setting, or character a person in our world imagines becomes reality within Fantastica (which is a single world but it is effectively an endless patchworks of smaller "worlds"). When a "real" character enters Fantastica and discovers any story he tells comes true, he gains delayed PowerOfCreation, experiencing guilt over inadvertently creating monsters or making things too hard for heroes.
* Creator/JasperFforde runs with this idea in the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series, where Thursday is part of the literature police, policing the events in the literary continuum.
* Literature/{{Discworld}}: In ''Discworld/{{Pyramids}}'', our narrator notes that in an infinite universe, everything that can be imagined exists somewhere.
* Used in the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy.
* In Roger Zelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'', basically anything imaginable can be found in Shadow, which is a multiverse of infinite parallel realities. At one point several characters travel to a place that's quite like Lewis Carrol's [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Wonderland]], in which elements of the poem Jabberwocky also manifest.
* In Creator/LSpragueDeCamp and Creator/FletcherPratt's ''Compleat Enchanter'', HaroldShea and his friends go hopping about fictional universes. The question of whether the authors created them, or they influence the authors, is brought up to go unanswered; at one point it's called meaningless.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, the characters actually get to meet and interact with the author, even if it is hinted that King is not the true source of their creation.
* Creator/PoulAnderson wrote several stories based on this premise, notably ''Literature/AMidsummerTempest'', which is set in the world where all Shakespeare's plays actually happened; it explicitly sets out the premise in two sequences that feature cameos by people from other worlds/fictions.
* Creator/RayBradbury's short story "The Exiles" opens with the three witches from ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', and reveals that not only are fictional characters alive and well on Mars, but also their creators: [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare The Bard]], [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]], et al. When the last copy of books referencing them are burned, they vanish.
* Vasily Golovachev's ''Literature/SaviorsOfTheFan'' duology has the titular Worldfan, also known as Shadanakar, which contains a myriad worlds linked together using a PortalNetwork of sorts. The reason the structure is called a "Fan" is because all the worlds are located at a slight angle (or "chron") to one another. One can move through them by shifting one's "chron". Oh, and those are just ''some'' of the worlds in TheMultiverse, although the rest are disconnected from the Fan. The Fan is revealed to be the origin of any fictional story or dream we know thanks to the bleeding effect between the worlds. The heroes get to see a few of the worlds, some of which are incomprehensible to humans (e.g. a world where there's no Earth but a giant WorldTree with branches the size of continents, or a world where the mere act of moving alters the environment around you, so you better know your way back to the portal). One of the worlds appears to be both a nod and a TakeThat to Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/PastwatchTheRedemptionOfChristopherColumbus'' with a ModernMayincatecEmpire, which the author implies "inspired" Card to write his novel.
* ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' and its [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds Wood Between the Worlds]] strongly implies this; Polly and Digory leave an Earth in which "Mr. Franchise/SherlockHolmes was still living in Baker Street" to go to a world of which Digory's [[EvilUncle Uncle Andrew]] has at least heard rumors in their world, and later to Narnia itself at the moment of creation.
* In the [[Literature/{{Illium}} Illium/Olympos duology]] by Creator/DanSimmons, all possible parallel universes exist, but the easiest ones to [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice get to]] are those that correspond with great works of literature.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/RedDwarf: Back to Earth'', Kryten says it's "quantum mechanics 101" that all stories, dreams, and so on are real in parallel worlds, including the world where Red Dwarf is a TV show (and where the characters have just been [[spoiler:in a squid-induced hallucination]].)
* Hinted at in ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the first Doctor story "The Chase", the Doctor takes seriously the possibility that they might have traveled into an alternate reality where Dracula was real (although that turned out to be a mistake). And in the second Doctor story "The Mind Robber", the Tardis and crew are forced to jump out of reality as we know it and find themselves in the Land of Fiction (although by some interpretations, they're inside a simulated universe created by a hyper-advanced computer).
* This may to an extent be true in ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', particularly in the more far-fetched universes Quinn Mallory and his friends travel to.
* Implied in ''Series/OnceUponATime''; most of the European fairy tale characters came from a single AlternateUniverse, and there are other worlds that include settings like Neverland and Wonderland.
* In the later episodes of ''Series/MythQuest'', they make reference to the myth or alter world, implying that all the myths are true in another dimension.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Boppin}}'' features this as part of its story.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TheHeroOfThreeFaces'', a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover webcomic by Creator/PaulGadzikowski, uses the idea of alternate fictional universes to permit crossovers between works with incompatible continuities. A recurring plot point is that the "real" universes aren't always exactly like their fictional counterparts, which have been affected by budget restrictions, network broadcast standards, copyright issues, etc.: for instance, in the universe where ''Series/LoisAndClark'' is real, Superman has met [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] several times, but in our universe the TV series shows him meeting Creator/HGWells instead.
* ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''. "[[http://nonadventures.com/2012/12/01/hip-it-good/ HIP It Good]]", involving a lampshade that looks just like {{Music/Devo}}'s power hats, inspired [[http://nonadventures.com/2012/12/01/listen/ this commentary]] from the author:
-->There are some who say storytelling is metaphysical; that is, a storyteller's visions come not from one's creative mind but from elsewhere, possibly the far reaches of our universe or other parallel universes we can't even comprehend.\\
I guess what I'm saying is, this lamp might exist in real life and if so please let me know.
* This is heavily implied to be the case in [[{{Franchise/Buildingverse}} the world]] of ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' (and its spin-offs like ''Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor'') in a {{Mind Screw}}y definition of real. Their stories / worlds were / are ''real'' for the characters in this MegaCrossover and are fiction in the [[MetaFic world of the comics]] but they [[MediumAwareness know they are still in a "fictional" world]]... and the whole thing seems to run on / be created by [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve belief / imagination]]. (Travel is also possible between the worlds of stories. Like the whole cast ended up in Oz once and {{Film/Inception}} misses the scene, where Jareth fixes it.) And for FridgeHorror: These comics also screw with the fourth wall a lot.
* The premise of ''Webcomic/{{Namesake}}'', in which all fairy tales and stories have a world of their own, with Namesakes like the protagonist responsible for entering these worlds and maintaining their balance with ours.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Variant: In the "Imaginationland" arc of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', there is an alternate dimension where all imaginary characters are real.
* In the SeriesFinale of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', after solving the conundrum of Spider-Carnage, the central Spider-Man is told by Madame Webb that he must follow [[ChekhovsGunman the Spider-Man who has no powers]] to his native universe to meet a certain person: Creator/StanLee. Of course, the big guy's reaction to a creation of his meeting him in the flesh sparks a whole new sense of awe in the man, as well as giving some sort of closure on Peter's own emotional turmoils.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', the Ice King writes [[RuleSixtyThree Fionna and Cake fan fiction]]. [[WordOfGod According to Pendleton Ward]], Fionna and Cake do exist, albeit in another dimension.
* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' "Road to the Multiverse", there are alternate dimensions for ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', the ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'', and ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''.
* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet the {{Expy}} of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main DCAU dimension John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* Compare [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_realism Modal Realism]], the view promoted by philosopher David Lewis that all possible worlds are "real" in some sense. However, for him it doesn't matter whether anyone's created a fictional work based on it or not, just that it is a logically possible world.
** In his non-fiction book ''The Fabric of Reality'', physicist David Deutsch posits that only those universes that can logically give rise to observers can actually be said to exist, essentially suggesting that TheLawOfConservationOfDetail applies to RealLife.
[[/folder]]
----
to:
This setting, by its nature, is used almost exclusively in {{Crossover}}s, although you'll sometimes see it restricted to [[ShowWithinAShow Shows Within Shows]] instead.
This is something {{Daydream Believer}}s like to latch onto. A MassiveMultiplayerCrossover tends to imply this, as does a RefugeeFromTVLand or TrappedInTVLand plot--usually they'll take it for granted without fully exploring the ramifications of supposedly fictional universes coexisting with the real one. Two universes may be MutuallyFictional. This trope is not to be confused with AllMythsAreTrue, which applies to just ''one'' universe.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* The basic premise of the fanfic ''Fanfic/MyLittleDenarians'': After it turns out that the Outside can be used to access fictional universes, Harry Dresden must travel to Equestria, to stop the Denarians from bringing Discord to Earth.
* This is the premise behind the ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' fan fiction ''[[http://www.kristensheley.com/bttf/interactiveII.html Interactive BTTF Story #2]]''. In a twist, Doc and Marty arrive in time periods where the movies are still in production, and interfering with said production in some way alters their own reality. It also implies ''Film/KingKong'', ''Film/{{Jaws}}'', and ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' are all in the same continuity.
* The ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' fanfics "Fanfic/VisitToAStrangePlanet" and "Visit to a Strange Planet Revisited" have the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the actors in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' show meeting each other.
* Discussed in the collaborative fanfic ''FanFic/BecomingPonies''. After Discord comes to Earth and a number of people are transformed into ponies (with a corresponding pony's mind stuck in their heads alongside their own) a pair of fanfic authors turned into Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy discuss the concept; namely, whether all worlds exist somewhere in the multiverse or whether they really bring worlds into being by writing. They find the second idea too horrible to accept.
* Similarly, the story ''Fanfic/{{Ponyfall}}: Leather and Lace'' raises this possibility when Will tries to explain to Rarity his theory on what happened to her. Rarity notes that, "Suddenly my stash of romance stories seems highly voyeuristic..."
* The basis of ''Fanfic/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'' is that all works have their own reality, and writing fanfiction disrupts them, especially fanfics with {{Mary Sue}}s. Thus, the eponymous organization sends agents disguised as background extras to set things right.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/LastActionHero'', characters cross between movies and the real world. The villain's evil plan is to assemble an army of movie monsters and villains and bring them into reality to TakeOverTheWorld.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein used this trope in several of his works starting with ''Literature/TheNumberOfTheBeast'', coining the term "The World As Myth" to describe it.
* In ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'', every book is apparently its own world, and characters can read themselves in or out of them.
* The very premise of ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' is that every single story, setting, or character a person in our world imagines becomes reality within Fantastica (which is a single world but it is effectively an endless patchworks of smaller "worlds"). When a "real" character enters Fantastica and discovers any story he tells comes true, he gains delayed PowerOfCreation, experiencing guilt over inadvertently creating monsters or making things too hard for heroes.
* Creator/JasperFforde runs with this idea in the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series, where Thursday is part of the literature police, policing the events in the literary continuum.
* Literature/{{Discworld}}: In ''Discworld/{{Pyramids}}'', our narrator notes that in an infinite universe, everything that can be imagined exists somewhere.
* Used in the ''Literature/{{Illuminatus}}'' trilogy.
* In Roger Zelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'', basically anything imaginable can be found in Shadow, which is a multiverse of infinite parallel realities. At one point several characters travel to a place that's quite like Lewis Carrol's [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Wonderland]], in which elements of the poem Jabberwocky also manifest.
* In Creator/LSpragueDeCamp and Creator/FletcherPratt's ''Compleat Enchanter'', HaroldShea and his friends go hopping about fictional universes. The question of whether the authors created them, or they influence the authors, is brought up to go unanswered; at one point it's called meaningless.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series, the characters actually get to meet and interact with the author, even if it is hinted that King is not the true source of their creation.
* Creator/PoulAnderson wrote several stories based on this premise, notably ''Literature/AMidsummerTempest'', which is set in the world where all Shakespeare's plays actually happened; it explicitly sets out the premise in two sequences that feature cameos by people from other worlds/fictions.
* Creator/RayBradbury's short story "The Exiles" opens with the three witches from ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', and reveals that not only are fictional characters alive and well on Mars, but also their creators: [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare The Bard]], [[Creator/CharlesDickens Dickens]], et al. When the last copy of books referencing them are burned, they vanish.
* Vasily Golovachev's ''Literature/SaviorsOfTheFan'' duology has the titular Worldfan, also known as Shadanakar, which contains a myriad worlds linked together using a PortalNetwork of sorts. The reason the structure is called a "Fan" is because all the worlds are located at a slight angle (or "chron") to one another. One can move through them by shifting one's "chron". Oh, and those are just ''some'' of the worlds in TheMultiverse, although the rest are disconnected from the Fan. The Fan is revealed to be the origin of any fictional story or dream we know thanks to the bleeding effect between the worlds. The heroes get to see a few of the worlds, some of which are incomprehensible to humans (e.g. a world where there's no Earth but a giant WorldTree with branches the size of continents, or a world where the mere act of moving alters the environment around you, so you better know your way back to the portal). One of the worlds appears to be both a nod and a TakeThat to Creator/OrsonScottCard's ''Literature/PastwatchTheRedemptionOfChristopherColumbus'' with a ModernMayincatecEmpire, which the author implies "inspired" Card to write his novel.
* ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'' and its [[VoidBetweenTheWorlds Wood Between the Worlds]] strongly implies this; Polly and Digory leave an Earth in which "Mr. Franchise/SherlockHolmes was still living in Baker Street" to go to a world of which Digory's [[EvilUncle Uncle Andrew]] has at least heard rumors in their world, and later to Narnia itself at the moment of creation.
* In the [[Literature/{{Illium}} Illium/Olympos duology]] by Creator/DanSimmons, all possible parallel universes exist, but the easiest ones to [[InterdimensionalTravelDevice get to]] are those that correspond with great works of literature.
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[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/RedDwarf: Back to Earth'', Kryten says it's "quantum mechanics 101" that all stories, dreams, and so on are real in parallel worlds, including the world where Red Dwarf is a TV show (and where the characters have just been [[spoiler:in a squid-induced hallucination]].)
* Hinted at in ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the first Doctor story "The Chase", the Doctor takes seriously the possibility that they might have traveled into an alternate reality where Dracula was real (although that turned out to be a mistake). And in the second Doctor story "The Mind Robber", the Tardis and crew are forced to jump out of reality as we know it and find themselves in the Land of Fiction (although by some interpretations, they're inside a simulated universe created by a hyper-advanced computer).
* This may to an extent be true in ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', particularly in the more far-fetched universes Quinn Mallory and his friends travel to.
* Implied in ''Series/OnceUponATime''; most of the European fairy tale characters came from a single AlternateUniverse, and there are other worlds that include settings like Neverland and Wonderland.
* In the later episodes of ''Series/MythQuest'', they make reference to the myth or alter world, implying that all the myths are true in another dimension.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Boppin}}'' features this as part of its story.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TheHeroOfThreeFaces'', a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover webcomic by Creator/PaulGadzikowski, uses the idea of alternate fictional universes to permit crossovers between works with incompatible continuities. A recurring plot point is that the "real" universes aren't always exactly like their fictional counterparts, which have been affected by budget restrictions, network broadcast standards, copyright issues, etc.: for instance, in the universe where ''Series/LoisAndClark'' is real, Superman has met [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] several times, but in our universe the TV series shows him meeting Creator/HGWells instead.
* ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella''. "[[http://nonadventures.com/2012/12/01/hip-it-good/ HIP It Good]]", involving a lampshade that looks just like {{Music/Devo}}'s power hats, inspired [[http://nonadventures.com/2012/12/01/listen/ this commentary]] from the author:
-->There are some who say storytelling is metaphysical; that is, a storyteller's visions come not from one's creative mind but from elsewhere, possibly the far reaches of our universe or other parallel universes we can't even comprehend.\\
I guess what I'm saying is, this lamp might exist in real life and if so please let me know.
* This is heavily implied to be the case in [[{{Franchise/Buildingverse}} the world]] of ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' (and its spin-offs like ''Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor'') in a {{Mind Screw}}y definition of real. Their stories / worlds were / are ''real'' for the characters in this MegaCrossover and are fiction in the [[MetaFic world of the comics]] but they [[MediumAwareness know they are still in a "fictional" world]]... and the whole thing seems to run on / be created by [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve belief / imagination]]. (Travel is also possible between the worlds of stories. Like the whole cast ended up in Oz once and {{Film/Inception}} misses the scene, where Jareth fixes it.) And for FridgeHorror: These comics also screw with the fourth wall a lot.
* The premise of ''Webcomic/{{Namesake}}'', in which all fairy tales and stories have a world of their own, with Namesakes like the protagonist responsible for entering these worlds and maintaining their balance with ours.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Variant: In the "Imaginationland" arc of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', there is an alternate dimension where all imaginary characters are real.
* In the SeriesFinale of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', after solving the conundrum of Spider-Carnage, the central Spider-Man is told by Madame Webb that he must follow [[ChekhovsGunman the Spider-Man who has no powers]] to his native universe to meet a certain person: Creator/StanLee. Of course, the big guy's reaction to a creation of his meeting him in the flesh sparks a whole new sense of awe in the man, as well as giving some sort of closure on Peter's own emotional turmoils.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', the Ice King writes [[RuleSixtyThree Fionna and Cake fan fiction]]. [[WordOfGod According to Pendleton Ward]], Fionna and Cake do exist, albeit in another dimension.
* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' "Road to the Multiverse", there are alternate dimensions for ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', the ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'', and ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''.
* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet the {{Expy}} of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main DCAU dimension John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* Compare [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_realism Modal Realism]], the view promoted by philosopher David Lewis that all possible worlds are "real" in some sense. However, for him it doesn't matter whether anyone's created a fictional work based on it or not, just that it is a logically possible world.
** In his non-fiction book ''The Fabric of Reality'', physicist David Deutsch posits that only those universes that can logically give rise to observers can actually be said to exist, essentially suggesting that TheLawOfConservationOfDetail applies to RealLife.
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* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet the {{Expy}} of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main ''Franchise/DCAU'' John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
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* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet the {{Expy}} of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main ''Franchise/DCAU'' DCAU dimension John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
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* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet the ''Main/Expy'' of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main ''Franchise/DCAU'' John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
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* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet the ''Main/Expy'' {{Expy}} of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main ''Franchise/DCAU'' John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
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* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]],[[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet [[Main/Expy expies]] of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main ''Main/DCAU'' John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
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* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]],[[Main/TheFlash Stewart]], [[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet [[Main/Expy expies]] the ''Main/Expy'' of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main ''Main/DCAU'' ''Franchise/DCAU'' John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
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* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' "Legends" [[Main/GreenLantern John Stewart]],[[Main/TheFlash Flash]], [[Main/MartianManhunter J'onn]], and Hawkgirl are sent to another dimension where they meet [[Main/Expy expies]] of the ''Main/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica'' called the Justice Guild. In the main ''Main/DCAU'' John read the Justice Guild comics as a kid and turns out the "ideas" the comic's writers were having were actually psychic thoughts without realizing it because the Justice Guild exists in another dimension.
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** In his non-fiction book ''The Fabric of Reality'', physicist David Deutsch posits that only those universes that can logically give rise to observers can actually be said to exist, essentially suggesting that TheLawOfConservationOfDetail applies to RealLife.
