History Main / Worldbuilding

* Midland from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' and its surrounding territories, in addition to the LayeredWorld that governs supernatural occurrences in the series.

* In ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' there's a load of worldbuilding, particularly in the [[AllThereInTheManual Digimon Reference Book]].
* Akira Toriyama's ''Manga/DragonBall'' is an interesting case, as Toriyama admitted that he ''never'' pre-planned anything when writing the manga.[[note]]Furthermore, it was originally meant to end after the initial story arc (the "Emperor Pilaf" arc).[[/note]]
* The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise, given how long it's been around. This is especially true for works set in the Universal Century, which also introduced MinovskyPhysics.

* Masashi Kishimoto's ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the SequelSeries ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'', expands upon this, as it builds up from elements introduced in the prequel series.
* Eiichiro Oda's ''Manga/OnePiece''[[note]]Which is part of the manga's (but especially the anime's) [[{{Doorstopper}} ongoing problem]]...[[/note]]
* The AlternateUniverse of ''Anime/RoyalSpaceForceTheWingsOfHonneamise''.
* The alien competitive world of ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', and by extension, the Talse Uzer Stories.

* The ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' is, in a few words, a really big world where every character from the main characters all the way down to [=NPCs=] that players can interact have an ongoing story that's happening while the plot is moving forward. From the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Liberl arc]], the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesZeroNoKiseki Crossbell arc]], and the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Erebonia arc]], there's hundreds of hours of plot content plus side quests that help build up the lore of the franchise. And they're all interconnected as well.

* Part of the appeal of ''Franchise/StarWars'' was that it created a feel of an entire galaxy, with its own histories and customs, while only focusing on a handful of sparsely populated planets. The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse capitalised on this immensely, with hundreds of worlds, species and societies and histories stretching back tens of thousands of years.

* Shiden Kanzaki's light novel series ''LightNovel/BlackBullet'' has this with prologues, epilogues, and exposition. Unfortunately [[CompressedAdaptation most of the world building was cut out]] in the anime.
* Kazuma Kamachi's Light Novel series ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has a lot of worldbuilding.

Wiki/TVTropes has a JustForFun/WorldCreationProject.

* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' is something of a meta-example, as it does this the first time you play, and can be done as many times as desired. While the set of creatures, plants, and [[FiveRaces sentient races]] are well-defined in the game files, the [[{{Mythopoeia}} mythology]], history between the races, geography, and geology are [[RandomlyGeneratedLevels procedurally generated]], according to modifiable parameters. This is a huge part of the game's charm.

* The ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' is, in a few words, a really big world where every character from the main characters all the way down to [=NPCs=] that players can interact have an ongoing story that's happening while the plot is moving forward. From the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Liberl arc]], the [[VideoGame/ZeroNoKiseki Crossbell arc]], and the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Erebonia arc]], there's hundreds of hours of plot content plus side quests that help build up the lore of the franchise. And they're all interconnected as well.

* The universe of ''FanFic/SonicTheHedgehogHeroesOfMobius'' takes cues from all over the ''Sonic'' franchise, containing material from the games, the [[ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog Archie comic]], and ''Anime/SonicX''.

* The ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' fic ''FanFic/ToTheStars'' has a lot of worldbuilding about the Magical Girls and their effect on the human society in 25th century.
* The Undertale FanFic ''Fanfic/{{Visiontale}}'' has world-building regarding the Underground, fleshing out the slang and customs alluded to in the story, as well as adding new terms and customs. The author explores the implications of monsterkind's altered societal development as opposed to postindustrial nations on the surface, as well as the structures in place which would allow for the mix of magic and technology present in the game.

%%* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' is a Zero-Context Example. Do not remove the "%%" unless you have thhe context.

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' owes its gargantuan fanbase to this trope. ZUN includes a surprising amount of information surrounding the characters, events and setting of the games, enough to fill several {{Universe Compendium}}s, but it is almost always bare-bones details, prompting the fans to create their ''own'' world building in any way they can, filling whatever gaps they see.

* The ''VideoGame/KisekiSeries'' is, in a few words, a really big world where every character from the main characters all the way down to [=NPCs=] that players can interact have an ongoing story that's happening while the plot is moving forward. From the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Liberl arc]], the [[VideoGame/ZeroNoKiseki Crossbell arc]], and the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Erebonia arc]], there's hundreds of hours of plot content plus side quests that help build up the lore of the franchise. And they're all interconnected as well.

* ''Literature/ImpracticalMagic'': The world is built out very rationally and the world expands slowly from the school outwards. Authors have created maps, economic systems, population dynamic calculations, partial languages, and even run the numbers behind the physics/chemistry of different magical interventions. Though much of this is done off-camera and only hinted at in-story.
* Terreneus in ''Literature/GrandmasterOfTheft''.

* ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011'' implied a lot about not just Third Earth, but the entire universe, but never got around to revealing much. The animal races that were brought there after the Black Pyramid crashed have been there for about 5000 years, and have had conflicts between themselves before the start of the series. Other inhabited planets are also mentioned, but we only see one during a flashback.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' implied a lot about not just Third Earth, but the entire universe, but never got around to revealing much. The animal races that were brought there after the Black Pyramid crashed have been there for about 5000 years, and have had conflicts between themselves before the start of the series. Other inhabited planets are also mentioned, but we only see one during a flashback.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' implied a lot about not just Third Earth, but the entire universe, but never got around to revealing much. The animal races that were brought there after the Black Pyramid crashed have been there for about five thousand years, and have had conflicts between themselves before the start of the series. There is also mentioned other inhabited planets, but we only see one during a flashback.
* ''The Art Of WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' goes into some of the history of the world, such as how Master Oogway came to the Valley Of Peace and why most of its residents are pigs, geese, and rabbits. Both this and the animated shorts also show off a few important locations that never appeared in the films as well as revealing the backstories of some of the major characters.

* WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse has a very detailed and complex history regarding [[SiliconBasedLife Gems]]. The specifics are mainly done for the sake of CharacterDevelopment, to give the Crystal Gems an intricate past making it clear they weren't idle before the start of the series. As the Crystal Gems are forced to confront more of their race from their homeworld, many details relating to the mechanics of Gem powers, society, and the ancient [[GreatOffscreenWar civil war fought for the sake of the Earth]] are revealed. More subtly, background shots establish shades of AlternateHistory for the Earth itself.

* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' take place in a world that has its own alphabet, mythology, history, and wildlife. Each game reveals new information on the world of the {{precursors}}.

* The world of ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' take place in a world that has its own alphabet, mythology, history, and wildlife. Each game reveals new information on the world of the {{precursors}}.

* Children and adults have been worldbuilding and inventing paracosms for a long time. Here's an 1866 article by Francis Jacox about creative people and their imaginary lands: [[https://books.google.com/books?id=DyNLAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA74&ots=EXCYi07kZI&dq=ejuxria&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q=ejuxria&f=false About Ejuxria and Gombroon, Glimpses of Daydream-Land.]] You'll find some very familiar names in there.[[note]]For modern readers: the author of ''John Halifax'' is Dinah Craik who wrote and compiled volumes of fairytales, and novels for kids and adults; the "Crocus Bold" her child friend was talking about comes from a poem about spring; you'll find Lily Floris in George Sala's Dickensian episodic novel ''[[https://archive.org/details/quitealonecompl02duffgoog Quite Alone]]'', and he talks about his dead sister who used to draw fairyland on her slate in "Little Children," an essay in Dickens' ''Household Words" magazine.[[/note]]

* Children and adults have been worldbuilding for a long time. Here's an 1866 article by Francis Jacox about creative people and their imaginary lands: [[https://books.google.com/books?id=DyNLAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA74&ots=EXCYi07kZI&dq=ejuxria&pg=PA68#v=onepage&q=ejuxria&f=false About Ejuxria and Gombroon, Glimpses of Daydream-Land.]] You'll find some very familiar names in there.[[note]]For modern readers: the author of ''John Halifax'' is Dinah Craik who wrote and compiled volumes of fairytales, and novels for kids and adults; the "Crocus Bold" her child friend was talking about comes from a poem about spring; you'll find Lily Floris in George Sala's Dickensian episodic novel ''[[https://archive.org/details/quitealonecompl02duffgoog Quite Alone]]'', and he talks about his dead sister who used to draw fairyland on her slate in "Little Children," an essay in Dickens' ''Household Words" magazine.[[/note]]

* Eiichiro Oda's ''Manga/OnePiece''[[note]]Which is part of the manga's (but especially the anime's) [[FakeLongevity ongoing]] [[{{Doorstopper}} problem]]...[[/note]]

** Its reboot, ''Fanfic/SPECTRUM'', takes it in a different direction, placing more focus on both Equestria and the Solar Empire's world building as well.

Worldbuilding is the process of constructing a fictional universe. Strictly speaking, anything that happens in that universe "builds" it, so "worldbuilding" is only used to describe the invention of fictional details for some reason other than the convenience of a currently ongoing story, up to and including [[LorePorn simply engaging in worldbuilding for its own sake]].

See also AdventureFriendlyWorld, a common constraint on Worldbuilding, and TheTropeHistoryOfTheUniverse or LorePorn, a sub-trope of Worldbuilding that describes a an element of it that serves no narrative function and exists only for its own sake. Any instance of this is lore porn, but you’ll find the most abundant examples in works of SpeculativeFiction.

See also AdventureFriendlyWorld, a common constraint on Worldbuilding, and TheTropeHistoryOfTheUniverse or LorePorn, a sub-trope of Worldbuilding that describes a an element of Worldbuilding that serves no narrative function and exists only for its own sake. Any instance of this is lore porn, but you’ll find the most abundant examples in works of SpeculativeFiction.

See also AdventureFriendlyWorld, a common constraint on Worldbuilding, and TheTropeHistoryOfTheUniverse

Worldbuilding is the process of constructing a fictional universe. Strictly speaking, anything that happens in that universe "builds" it, so "worldbuilding" is only used to describe the invention of fictional details for some reason other than the convenience of a currently ongoing story, up to and including [[DoingItForTheArt simply engaging in worldbuilding for its own sake]].