History Main / RecursiveReality

* [[{{Aladdin}} Aladdin and the King of Thieves]] has the Hand of Midas located in a city on a giant turtle's back.

* ''ThePhantomTollbooth'' does this, when Milo asks where Infinity is kept.
-->''The Mathemagician stopped what he was doing and explained simply, "Why, in a box that's so small you can't see it--and that's kept in a drawer so small you can't see it, in a dresser that's so small you can't see it, in a house that's so small you can't see it, on a street that's so small you can't see it, in a city that's so small you can't see it, which is part of a country that's so small you can't see it, in a world that's so small you can't see it."''
-->''Then he sat down, fanned himself with a handkerchief, and continued. "Then, of course, we keep the whole thing in another box that's so small you can't see it--and if you follow me, I'll show you where to find it."''

Also, try to keep in mind the MS3KTMantra while reading any of the examples. Believe us, it's just not worth it to lose your sanity to these.

** In the JohnCrowley novel ''Little, Big'', the world of the Fae is smaller than the human world and exists in cracks and crevices of the latter. By the time a slow-motion, Dark Ages-like {{Gotterdammerung}} comes around, [[spoiler: the Fae have abandoned their world, apparently for another, smaller one, and the few humans aware of the Fae have taken their places in the Fae world.]] The further in you go, the bigger it gets.

** This idea is in the JohnCrowley novel ''Little, Big'': the world of the Fae is smaller than the human world and exists in cracks and crevices of the latter. By the time a slow-motion, Dark Ages-like {{Gotterdammerung}} comes around, [[spoiler: the Fae have abandoned their world, apparently for another, smaller one, and the few humans aware of the Fae have taken their places in the Fae world.]] Crowley also used the idea "the further in you go, the bigger it gets."

* In CSLewis' ''The Last Battle'', the stable in {{Narnia}} has another Narnia inside it, which has another inside it -- and it is observed that the further in you go, the bigger each one is.
** ''The Magician's Nephew'' reveals that all universes are connected to the Wood Between The Worlds, a forest dotted by pools. Each pool is connected to a universe.

* There are any number of magazine covers in which somebody on the cover is holding a copy of the magazine with the cover that they're in etc. [[http://www.radiotimes.com/content/features/galleries/christmas-covers/22/ Here's a recent example]].

* ''All-Star Superman'' shows Superman, wondering how the world will function without him, creating a miniature Earth in a miniature universe. It grows relatively quickly, and the last panel of the issue shows someone drawing a comic-book character, declaring "This time, I'll change everything..." The character is {{Superman}} - it's our world, the man doing the drawing is Joel Shuster, and we have a loop.

* Toyed with in Diane Duane's ''[[YoungWizards The Book Of Night With Moon]]''. There's a Prime Reality, but it certainly isn't our Earth, and there's nothing better or worse about a given layer. Those layers closer to the prime reality have rippling effects on the surrounding realities, especially those further down the line, though. Taking a chunk of the biggest Russian doll is bad. Smudging the paint on the smallest might be universe-destroying for the bigger dolls.

* {{Transfictionality}} - Suppose RecursiveCanon (a copy of the work itself, or a related work by the same author) shows up within the work. Then it turns out to be ''real'', because the author of the {{story within a story}} (who may or may not be [[LiteraryAgentHypothesis the author of the actual work]]) is, in fact, [[AGodAmI God]] of his own [[{{Mythopoeia}} sub-created universe]]. May result in FridgeHorror if the in-story author has a CreatorBreakdown. See also RageAgainstTheAuthor.

* At various points throughout the ''{{Pokemon}}'' games, the player will encounter [=NPCs=] who themselves are playing ''Pokemon''. Presumably, these games also contain [=NPCs=] playing ''Pokemon'', and so on.

* [[MutuallyFictional Stable Fictional Loop]] - Similar to a StableTimeLoop but with narration instead of time travel, this can take any of the above forms and turn it into a paradox, such as a pair of {{Alternate Universe}}s that reference each other through [[RecursiveCanon recursive fiction]], usually with paradoxical {{event flag}}s that prevent you from determining which version of the story is the "outer" story, or which is [[AllTheMyriadWays the "real" story]].

Compare with most OtherworldTropes, particularly AllTheMyriadWays, where the importance of all these alternates is downplayed by the assertion of a "real world", MatrixHypothesis (also known as [[ShapedLikeItself Recursive Reality]]), and UpTheRealRabbitHole, where the "prime" level of existence is called into question. The latter is often paired with [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Recursive Reality]] for its [[MindScrew headache-inducing]] potential.

* StableFictionalLoop - Similar to a StableTimeLoop but with narration instead of time travel, this can take any of the above forms and turn it into a paradox, such as a pair of {{Alternate Universe}}s that reference each other through [[RecursiveCanon recursive fiction]], usually with paradoxical {{event flag}}s that prevent you from determining which version of the story is the "outer" story, or which is [[AllTheMyriadWays the "real" story]].

** His exact words are, [[BreakingTheFourthWall "All this might just be an elaborate simulation running inside a little device sitting on someone's table."]] After he leaves the room, Barclay nervously says, "Computer, end program." Turn off your set at exactly that moment and try not to laugh.

* An episode of TeenTitans had the characters being imprisoned by Mumbo in his magic hat. Cyborg points out that Mumbo still uses his hat while everyone is inside it.

** The plot of the ExpandedUniverse novel ''Dead Romance'' uses this trope for some hardcore {{Mind Fuck}}ery; the protagonist dicovers that she is from a Universe-in-a-bottle created by the Time Lords, and the reason her (and by extension, ''our'') universe is so [[{{Muggles}} mundane]] is that the Time Lords didn't have enough material handy to recreate all the crazy aliens that humanity in the "proper" universe seems to run into every week. A visitor from the outside universe is astounded that the Pyramids were actually built by humans instead of AncientAstronauts, for example.

* The 1st Edition D&D modules ''I6: Ravenloft'' and ''I10: The House on Gryphon Hill'', could be played either as stand-alone adventures, as an adventure and its sequal, or as interlocked adventures in which PCs who retired for the night in one module would wake up in the other, and vice versa. This last option could be played as a recurring ItWasAllJustADream, as a recur''sive'' DreamWithinADream, or as the result of genuine shifts between realities.