History Main / TheEarthPrimeTheory

* Present in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1''. Vogon Jeltz, tasked with demolishing the Earth, is deemed unsuccessful by his superiors because he only demolished ''one'' Earth, whereas in fact there are millions of others still existing in alternate universes. At the end of ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'', he finally succeeds in eliminating every single one.

* In the ''ComicBook/AllNewAllDifferentMarvel'' era, Earth-616 was reclassified as Prime Earth, due to it being the first Earth recreated by [[spoiler:the Beyonder-powered Reed Richards]].

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* In Anime/YuGiOhArcV it is revealed that [[spoiler: there are alternative dimensions in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise; also, the Arc-V worlds called Standard, Fusion, Synchro and Xyz dimensions were once a single world - Original dimension - which split into these 4 ramifications but disappeared in the process.]]

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[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* After Season 2 of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' establishes the existence of TheMultiverse, the season finale has [[BigBad Zoom]] confirm that Earth-1 (the main setting of the Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}) is the center of it all, being the doorway to all the other Earths.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' has [[StrawNihilist Owlman]], who wants to [[EarthShatteringKaboom use]] [[SwordOfDamocles the QED]] on Earth Prime, thus wiping out all life. His main goal is to make the only choice that matters (in his own twisted mind), as there won't be an alternate version of him making the opposite choice (his problem with the multiverse). [[spoiler:When Batman foils his plan by sending him and the bomb to another reality, where Earth is a frozen wasteland, he intentionally gives Owlman a chance to stop the countdown. Realizing that, no matter what he does, another Owlman will do something else, he lets himself die]].

* In Anime/YuGiOhArcV it is revealed that [[spoiler: there are alternative dimensions in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, and the Arc-V world called the standard is the original.]]

* In Anime/YuGiOhArcV it is revealed that [[there are alternative dimensions in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, and the Arc-V world called the standard is the original.]]

* In Anime/YuGiOhArcV it is revealed that [[spoiler:each of the spin-offs is an alternative dimension but the Arc-V world called the standard is the original.]]

--> '''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]:''' Yeah, that wave of antimatter that completely annihilated the universe was a bitch to clean up the next day, let me tell you!
* The ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]'' comic book has Mobius Prime, which all other parallel worlds (called Zones) are based off. Interestingly, despite the franchise starting with video games, Mobius Prime is the comic's Zone and not the one of the games.

* In the movie ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'', when the Utrom Shredder realizes that there are literally hundreds of Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles across the multiverse, he decides to destroy them all by defeating the versions from Turtle Prime; that is, those from [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage the first issue of the original Mirage comic]].

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' has [[StrawNihilist Owlman]], who wants to [[EarthShatteringKaboom use]] [[SwordOfDamocles the QED]] on Earth Prime, thus wiping out all life. His main goal is to make the only choice that matters (in his own twisted mind), as there won't be an alternate version of him making the opposite choice (his problem with the multiverse).

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' has [[StrawNihilist Owlman]], who wants to [[EarthShatteringKaboom use]] [[SwordOfDamocles the QED]] on Earth Prime, thus wiping out all life.

->''"Somewhere in [[TheMultiverse the multiverse]], there is a world I call '[[TropeNamers Earth Prime]]'. Every Earth is a variation of this one, the original--and once I destroy ''it'', all reality will follow."''

* As of ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', the Creator/DCComics multiverse hinges on "New Earth" - not just a specific universe, but a specific planet in that universe (note that "Earth Prime" refers to another universe altogether that's like ours, where superheroes don't exist outside of comics). This becomes a plot point shortly afterwards in the ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'', where Sinestro wants to conquer Earth for this very reason.

* Earth Prime - ''our'' Earth - '''was''' actually destroyed in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.
--> '''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]:''' Yeah, that wave of antimatter that completely annihilated the universe was a bitch to clean up the next day, let me tell you!
** It came back as Earth-33 of the DC multiverse in ''Comicbook/TheMultiversity''.

The {{Multiverse}} is a weird thing. Depending on the genre of the work, it can mean a dozen different things. But most sci-fi has a pretty clear definition of what a "Multiverse" is. For every decision someone makes, the universe diverges into several parallel dimensions, one for every possible choice. As such, there are a nearly infinite number of universes where every conceivable version of you (or the lack thereof) exists.

* As of ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', the DCComics multiverse hinges on "New Earth" - not just a specific universe, but a specific planet in that universe (note that "Earth Prime" refers to another universe altogether that's like ours, where superheroes don't exist outside of comics). This becomes a plot point shortly afterwards in the ''ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar'', where Sinestro wants to conquer Earth for this very reason.
* The ''[[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Sonic]]'' comic book has Mobius Prime, which all other parallel worlds (called Zones) are based off. Interestingly, despite the franchise starting with video games, Mobius Prime is the comic's Zone and not the one of the games.

* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' chapter "Applejack's Dream" establishes the existence of a "Heart World" from which the Pony POV Series world and all other AlternateTimelines diverged from and which anyone still connected to are effected by, implied to be the main series timeline. However, in an interesting twist, it is possible for a world to "break off" and continue on its own without any connection to the Heart World. The plot of that chapter involved preparing for the possibility that would happen so as to [[spoiler:prevent Applejack from going insane and turning into Nightmare Mirror in the even that it did.]] [[spoiler:This later bites Nightmare Eclipse in the flank when her plan has basically made her the Heart World Nightmare Eclipse, and tied all her other selves to her -- in other words, defeating her defeats ''all'' versions of her.]]

* As of ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'', the DCComics multiverse hinges on "New Earth" - not just a specific universe, but a specific planet in that universe (note that "Earth Prime" refers to another universe altogether that's like ours, where superheroes don't exist outside of comics). This becomes a plot point shortly afterward in ''SinestroCorpsWar'', where Sinestro wants to conquer Earth for this very reason.

* Earth Prime - ''our'' Earth - '''was''' actually destroyed in ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''.

--> '''[[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]:''' Yeah, that wave of antimatter that completely annihilated the universe was a bitch to clean up the next day, let me tell you!

->''"Somewhere in [[TheMultiverse the multiverse]], there is a world I call '[[TropeNamer Earth Prime]]'. Every Earth is a variation of this one, the original--and once I destroy ''it'', all reality will follow."''

* WilliamShatner's ''QuestForTomorrow'' series introduces this concept in the last novel prior to the reboot. In fact, the main characters' goal ''is'' to reboot their reality by altering the result of a coin flip in the prime reality. Unfortunately, Shatner abandons the series two books after the reboot.

-> "Somewhere in [[TheMultiverse the multiverse]], there is a world I call '[[TropeNamer Earth Prime]]'. Every Earth is a variation of this one, the original--and once I destroy ''it'', all reality will follow."

!! Examples
* In the movie ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'', when the Utrom Shredder realizes that there are literally hundreds of Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles across the multiverse, he decides to destroy them all by defeating the versions from Turtle Prime; that is, those from [[ComicBook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage the first issue of the original Mirage comic]].
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'' has [[StrawNihilist Owlman]], who wants to [[EarthShatteringKaboom use]] [[SwordOfDamocles the QED]] on Earth Prime, thus wiping out all life.
* Present in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. Vogon Jeltz, tasked with demolishing the Earth, is deemed unsuccessful by his superiors because he only demolished ''one'' Earth, whereas in fact there are millions of others still existing in alternate universes. At the end of ''Literature/MostlyHarmless'', he finally succeeds in eliminating every single one.
* In Creator/GuyGavrielKay's ''Literature/TheFionavarTapestry'', Fionavar is a fantasy version of this; one world that all other ones spring from and depend on.

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'' has Mobius Prime, which all other parallel worlds (called Zones) are based off. Interestingly, despite the franchise starting with video games, Mobius Prime is the comic's Zone and not the one of the games.

Related to AllTheMyriadWays. Compare CosmicKeystone and NoOntologicalInertia. Of course, there are [[TimeyWimeyBall Time Travel Paradoxes]] and {{Logic Bomb}}s abound in this theory, so it definitely requires some WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. Theoretically, the very act of doing that, would simply create ANOTHER infinite number of possibilities. Therefore, destroying everything ''should'' be impossible.