Line #66 Main/PublicDomainCanonWelding


1	%%%
2	%%
3	%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
4	%%
5	%%%
6	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SherlockHolmesTheAwakened https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sherlock_holmes_vs_cthulhu_0.png]]]]
7	[[caption-width-right:350: Attempting the SherlockScan on [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos this one]] is [[GoMadFromTheRevelation probably a bad idea]].]]
8
9	->''"I won the 2004 UsefulNotes/HugoAward for Best Short Story for an Creator/HPLovecraft /Creator/ArthurConanDoyle [[Literature/AStudyinEmerald mashup fiction]], so fanfiction had better be legitimate, because I'm not giving the Hugo back.\
10	Or the 2005 Locus Award for Best Novelette. I'm not giving that back either."''
11	-->-- '''Creator/NeilGaiman'''
12
13	Public Domain Canon Welding is when a creator combines their original work with a PublicDomain property, or combine two or more Public Domain works to create a new work.
14
15	It is similar to regular CanonWelding in that the creator takes two or more unrelated works and combines them, but at least one of them is in fact Public Domain. In other words, the new work can serve as a sequel, a sidestory, a prequel, or interquel to the original work. It is easy to draw parallels to {{Fanfic}}tion, except that the new work is an officially published property. The only reason the creator can do this is because nobody owns the rights to the work they're using as a basis.
16
17	The advantage of this is that as a creator, you get a pre-established setting for your new work, saving you from having to make a certain amount of world-building, and you don't need to worry about things such as copyright, as nobody owns them. In addition, the fact that as Public Domain property, everybody is likely to recognise them, you don't have to fill your work with {{Exposition}}, as everyone is already familiar with them. Thus, you can get to moving along the plot or action faster.
18
19	However, this familiarity is also the greatest downside, as the audience also knows how the base story is supposed to go. You may be essentially writing fanfiction, but what you're writing MUST be canon compliant, or else your audience ''will'' notice, and they ''WILL'' complain about you taking too many liberties.
20
21	Related to PublicDomainCharacter. Contrast and compare with CanonWelding, SharedUniverse, PseudocanonicalFic, and IntercontinuityCrossover.
22
23	----
24
25	!!Examples
26
27	[[foldercontrol]]
28
29	[[folder:Franchises]]
30	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' and its spin-offs have sometimes depicted public domain fictional characters.
31	** The TV story "The Myth Makers" is set during UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar, and takes much of its characterisation from other fictional depictions.
32	** There is conflicting evidence as to whether Literature/SherlockHolmes is a real person in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' universe.
33	*** The ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresAllConsumingFire All-Consuming-Fire]]'' has the Seventh Doctor team up with Holmes. It also retcons many of the Ancient Evils of the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}} into the beings of the Cthulhu Mythos (Fenric is Hastur, the Great Intelligence is Yog-Sothoth, the Nestene Consciousness is the offspring of Shub-Niggurath, and so on).
34	*** However, the Literature/DoctorWhoMissingAdventures novel ''Evolution'', from the same era of the franchise and the same publisher, depicts the Fourth Doctor meeting a young Arthur Conan Doyle and implies that many of Holmes's characteristics were based on him.
35	*** The ''Literature/FactionParadox'' novel ''Erasing Sherlock''[[note]]The first edition. The second edition, from a different publisher, removes all explicit ''Faction Paradox'' and ''Doctor Who'' references to turn it into a stand-alone SF novel.[[/note]] features Holmes as a real person who the Celestis attempt to erase from existence. The short story "The Book of the Enemy", in the anthology of the same title, depicts Holmes as being an originally real person who was transformed into fiction by a reality-warping book.
36	*** On the TV show, several stories in the Creator/StevenMoffat era implied that the Holmes stories were fictionalisations of the in-universe exploits of Vastra and Jenny, with their gender and relationship, and Vastra's species, changed to be more acceptable in the nineteenth century. The episode "The Crimson Horror" is blatantly indicated to be the in-universe story behind Watson's reference to "The Repulsive Story of the Red Leech", one of the many NoodleIncident adventures in the Conan Doyle series.
37	*** Creator/BigFinish has produced some audio dramas featuring Creator/NicholasBriggs as Holmes, which include a crossover with the AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho continuity in the anthology ''The Worlds of Big Finish'', and an audio adaptation of the aforementioned ''All-Consuming Fire''.
38	** The TV episode ''Robot of Sherwood'' features many characters from the Myth/RobinHood mythos.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
42	* ''Literature/AriaTheScarletAmmo'' has a majority of the characters being descendants of famous literary characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Arsène Lupin, and Captain Nemo. (If that wasn't enough, the full name of Lupin's descendant[[labelnote:*]]Riko Mine Lupin IV[[/labelnote]] and their status as Lupin IV [[LawyerFriendlyCameo implicate]] a connection to ''Franchise/LupinIII'', mentioned below.)
43	* ''Anime/LupinIII'':
44	** The eponymous character of [[Franchise/LupinIII the franchise]] is explicitly a descendant of Literature/ArseneLupin who's continuing his legacy as a GentlemanThief. Some of the various series, [[Anime/LupinIIIYearlySpecials special features]], and films actually [[AdaptationExpansion provide (at minimum) a glimpse of the rest of Lupin's immediate family]], such as ''[[Anime/LupinIIIStealNapoleonsDictionary Steal Napoleon's Dictionary]]'', ''[[Anime/LupinIIITheFirst The First]]'', ''[[Anime/LupinIIIPart6 Part 6]]'', and ''Anime/LupinZero''.
45	** The first half of ''Anime/LupinIIIPart6'' specifically focuses around Lupin being chased around by Franchise/SherlockHolmes (or possibly his descendant). Right near the end of this particular arc, viewers are formally introduced[[note]][[EarlyBirdCameo the character makes a quick cameo in the very first episode]][[/note]] to a young criminal mastermind by the name of James Moriarty, and a later episode establishes he's been acquainted with Lupin for quite some time.
46	* ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'' is primarily a ''Sherlock Holmes'' adaptation. This makes it all the more notable when Literature/JamesBond makes an appearance as an agent of [=MI6=], especially after becoming the post-transition identity of [[spoiler:Irene Adler]].
47	* ''Anime/PrincessPrincipal'' is heavily implied to take place in the same setting as Creator/HGWells' ''Literature/TheFirstMenInTheMoon'' due to the fact that the {{Steampunk}} technology in the anime is powered by [[AppliedPhlebotinum cavorite]], a mineral found on the Moon that was discovered by the book's two protagonists: Cavor and Bedford.
48	* The protagonist of ''Manga/RonKamonohashiDerangedDetective'' is a descendant of both Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty. The "M" side of his family are set up to be antagonists.
49	* ''Anime/TadaNeverFallsInLove'' [[ShowWithinAShow features a popular shojo manga series]] by the title ''Sunflower Express -A Police Blotter in Love-'', the heroine of which is the granddaughter of Franchise/HerculePoirot ([[WritingAroundTrademarks changed here]] to "Poiro'''n'''"). She even mentions how the grey cells she inherited from her grandfather have begun to fire while piecing together clues, a nod to one of Poirot's catchphrases.
50	* ''Literature/UndeadGirlMurderFarce'' has the main protagonists meeting various literary figures such as Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Arsene Lupin, the Phantom of the Opera among others.
51	* ''[[Literature/VampireHunterD Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust]]'' has the BigBad revealed to be Literature/{{Carmilla}}, who attacks Meir Link and then drains and kills his {{Love Interest\|s}}, Charolette, to revive herself.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Comic Books]]
55	* ''ComicBook/KillShakespeare'' treats every character and story written by Creator/WilliamShakespeare as existing in the same universe.
56	* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' does this with characters from classic literature, film, theatre, television and even comics ranging from the Victorian period all the way to the 20th century and beyond. And this is not counting specific [[LawyerFriendlyCameo Lawyer-Friendly Cameos]] from characters not yet in the public domain but are recognizable nonetheless.
57	* One ''ComicBook/WarlordOfMars'' miniseries welds the continuity of ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' to ''Literature/GullivarOfMars'', an earlier, more obscure science-fiction novel that may have inspired Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' novels.
58	* While it was implied for years in previous ''Franchise/XMen'' books, it was only confirmed in ''ComicBook/ImmortalXMen'' that Mystique [[SamusIsAGirl was]] Franchise/SherlockHolmes and Destiny, real name Irene Adler, was the character of the same name from the ''Holmes'' story "A Scandal in Bohemia".
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
62	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsAdventureInWonderland'' reveals that one of the Care Bears Cousins, Swift Heart Rabbit, is the niece of the White Rabbit from ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland''.
63	* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryMeetSherlockHolmes'' has Franchise/TomAndJerry interacting with and solving a crime with Literature/SherlockHolmes and Moriarty.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
67	* Hinted at in ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', when Spock states that "An ancestor of mine maintained that when you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." This is, of course, a Literature/SherlockHolmes quote. Since Holmes is established as fictional in other ''Franchise/StarTrek'' media, fans usually interpret this as Spock declaring himself to be a descendant of Creator/ArthurConanDoyle.
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Literature]]
71	* ''Literature/AlmostAFantasy" is set in a world inhabited by all the literature characters, and features characters such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeno%27s_Conscience Doctor S.]], the [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Mad Hatter]], [[Literature/DonQuixote Don Quixote]], [[Myth/KingArthur King Arthur]], Merlin, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Boothby#The_Dr_Nikola_Series Apollyon]], [[Literature/OrlandoFurioso Atlante]] and [[Literature/TheFallOfTheHouseOfUsher Roderick Usher]].
72	* The original ''Literature/ArseneLupin'' stories are an odd example, since they featured ties to ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' -- except Holmes wasn't in public domain ''at the time'', [[WritingAroundTrademarks so the main characters were renamed "Herlock Sholmes" and "Wilson" to dodge copyright]]. It's become a straight example since both have fallen into the public domain, and works welding themselves to Lupin have the opportunity to use Holmes/"Sholmes" as well.
73	* Creator/FredSaberhagen has a series about what Dracula was doing after [[Literature/TheDraculaTape he faked his death]] in the original novel and a series about untold adventures of Sherlock Holmes. They're set in the same universe and crossed over in two novels.
74	* ''Literature/JohannesCabal'': In [[Literature/JohannesCabalAndTheFearInstitute the third book]], the title character travels to the Franchise/CthulhuMythos setting of the Dreamlands and encounters several Mythos entities, including [[EldritchAbomination the Outer God Nyarlathotep]] itself. Elements from the Mythos crop up again later in the series to a lesser extent.
75	* Creator/KimNewman is known for doing this.
76	** ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' adds the characters of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' to the real-life UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper murders, with cameos by numerous other literary characters of the period, including [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll]], several different characters from the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' series, etc. The sequel ''Literature/TheBloodyRedBaron'' does something similar with characters from around the period of World War I. After that point, the series goes more for the LawyerFriendlyCameo and CaptainErsatz, although the nature of vampirism means many of the out-of-copyright characters are still around as well.
77	** ''Literature/AngelsOfMusic'' features a 19th-century version of ''Series/CharliesAngels'', with Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera as Charlie and a rotating cast of public-domain heroines (including the Phantom's own Christine Daae, [[Literature/{{Trilby}} Trilby O'Ferrall]], [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Irene Adler]], and [[Theatre/{{Pygmalion}} Elizabeth Eynsford Hill]]) as his Angels, fighting a rogues gallery similarly drawn from period fiction.
78	** ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheDurbervilles'' is a series of crossovers between the Literature/SherlockHolmes canon and other period works including ''Literature/TessOfTheDUrbervilles'', and ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda''.
79	* ''Literature/TheMandalaOfSherlockHolmes'' by Jamyang Norbu is set during the two years Sherlock Holmes spent in Tibet, and has him team up for an adventure with Huree Chunder Mookerjee from Creator/RudyardKipling's ''Literature/{{Kim}}''.
80	* Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer developed what is commonly called the Wold-Newton Family, a group of public domain characters such as Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Arsene Lupin and others, who are either descended from or influenced by people who came in contact with [[MetaOrigin the radiation of]] [[GreenRocks a meteorite]] that struck near the titular town in England in the late 1700s. Not all his characters were in public domain at the time (''Tarzan Alive'' and ''Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life'' were both licenced works) and many characters who are ''still'' in copyright are at least alluded to. (The online continuations by other hands, of course, work on fanfic rules and have no such compunctions.)
81	* ''Literature/ErastFandorin'' got welded to both the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' and the [[spoiler:''Literature/ArseneLupin'']] PD canons via the "The Prisoner of the Tower" short story in the ''Jade Rosary Beads'' collection.
82	* There is an entire anthology dedicated to welding the public domain canons of ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' to the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, titled ''Shadows Over Baker Street''. It featured such works as Creator/NeilGaiman's "Literature/AStudyInEmerald".
83	* An odd example happens in a ''Literature/TimeWarpTrio'' book, "Summer Reading Is Killing Me!". When a summer reading list is inserted into the magic Book, the titular trio are sent into a weird amalgamation of many different public domain stories, with villains such as the Headless Horseman, Long John Silver, and Dracula hunting down protagonists like Pippi Longstocking, Peter Pan, and all of the Little Women.
84	* ''Literature/{{Twig}}'': At the end of the story, the ruler of the Crown States is revealed to be Lord King Adam, who is implied to be the original FrankensteinsMonster, implying that ''Twig'' is a distant AlternateUniverse sequel of [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} the original story]].
85	* ''W.G. Grace's Last Case'', by Creator/WillieRushton, is set a few years after the Martian invasion from ''Literature/{{The War of the Worlds\|1898}}'', and has the real cricketer Grace investigating a murder with the help of Doctor Watson, who is at a loose end after Sherlock Holmes fell down the Reichenbach Falls. Along the way they meet Doctor Jekyll and a whole host of Mister Hydes.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
89	* ''Series/{{Dickensian}}'' is a mashup comedy drama featuring Creator/CharlesDickens characters before their original novels begin.
90	* ''Series/KaitouSentaiLupinrangerVSKeisatsuSentaiPatranger'' features two rival ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' teams fighting MonstersOfTheWeek and each other to acquire a set of dangerous treasures that Literature/ArseneLupin once collected. One team takes on the legacy of Lupin himself as a group of [[PhantomThief Phantom Thieves]], while the other team is a police squad out to catch the criminals.
91	* ''Series/TheLibrarians2014'' has a the concept of canon welding as its whole second season. Prospero, of Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''The Tempest'' has come to life, and uses his knowledge of magic to summon [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Professor Moriarty]] to aid him. Flynn and Baird are able to stop him by using a time machine stored in the Library (which also housed other time machines, including the one by Creator/HGWells and (while not public domain) we get a hint of a [[Series/DoctorWho blue police box.]]
92	* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' combines this with FairyTaleFreeForAll. Most of the characters originate from fairy tales. Characters from other public domain works such as ''Literature/TheWizardOfOz'', ''Literature/PeterPan'', and ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' also make appearances.
93	* ''Series/PennyDreadful'' weaves together iconic characters and plots from ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'', ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', ''Literature/ThePictureOfDorianGray'', ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', and ''Film/TheWolfMan1941'' (to name just the most prominent ones) into a standalone story centered on an original character, the spirit medium Vanessa Ives.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
97	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has incorporated features of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos into its game line, including game stats for various Mythos entities and an adventure path where ''Pathfinder''[='=]s Golarion setting is infiltrated by the Mythos realm of Carcosa.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Video Games]]
101	* ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' is a DarkerAndEdgier follow-up to ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', showing Alice's psyche as she grows up [[spoiler:after losing her family in a house fire, which rendered her catatonic]].
102	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': The original continuity of games happens in the same world as ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', with its events treated as canon. The book itself receives two sequels within the series: ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'', starring Quincey Morris's son John, and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'', starring John's son Jonathan. The games also go out of their way to explain that the Dracula seen in the series is not UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler, but [[spoiler:a Crusader and Alchemist named Mathias Cronqvist]] using the name due to his reputation. This was in order to cover any {{Plot Hole}}s created by the prequel game ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence''.
103	* ''VideoGame/CodeNameSteam'' features many literary characters such as Henry Fleming from ''Literature/TheRedBadgeOfCourage'', John Henry, Tiger Lily from ''Literature/PeterPan'', and [[Literature/TheAdventuresOfTomSawyer Tom Sawyer]]; who team up with UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln to fight aliens (implied to be from the Franchise/CthulhuMythos, especially since Randolph Carter is among the protagonists). The characters and setting of ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'', in particular, plays a surprisingly large role in the plot.
104	* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'':
105	** [[spoiler:The very existence of the Foreigner Class. Foreigners are people who became heroic spirits by making deals or being somehow connected to the entities from the Franchise/CthulhuMythos]]. Interestingly, the characters InUniverse thought that this was a fictional story and not true events, and the discovery takes them by surprise. In addition, [[spoiler:Lovecraft wrote about them the way he understood them, since as a regular human being, [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm he could not grasp their true nature]].]]
106	** Many of the summonable Servants originate from works of fiction; for example, you meet [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} Frankenstein's Monster]], Literature/SherlockHolmes, [[Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll]], [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Captain Nemo]], and more. It's acknowledged InUniverse that they're featured in books, and the explanation is that they're based on their actual lives, and don't differ too much from reality -- [[AmbiguousSituation in some cases]]. Jekyll is established to have known Moriarty while they were alive in short stories and backstory.
107	* ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'' has Sherlock Holmes as a character and retains the notion that his adventures are written about by his assistant (although in this continuity it is by the daughter of John Watson, Iris). However in the western translation, due to issues over certain elements of the Holmes canon falling under the protection of the Doyle estate (even though Holmes as a character exists in the public domain), Holmes is renamed "Herlock Sholmes" and the Watsons become the "Wilsons".
108	* The UpdatedRerelease of ''VideoGame/Persona2: Eternal Punishment'' reveals that it's not just Creator/HPLovecraft's {{Eldritch Abomination}}s that are in fact real (which they are, considering [[spoiler:the BigBad for this game and the previous ones is none other than Nyarlathotep]], but the Franchise/CthulhuMythos happened. The extra scenario features mentions of the Dreamlands, a cameo from Randolph Carter (a recurring protagonist in Lovecraft's work), an opportunity to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu to actually punch Cthulhu]], and more. However, later games in the series do not use these elements at all, except for a rare ShoutOut.
109	* ''VideoGame/ReturnToMysteriousIsland'' is something of a distant sequel to ''Literature/TheMysteriousIsland'', as it focuses on a new character discovering Captain Nemo's skeleton and long-abandoned ship. [[spoiler:The character, a sailor named Mina, is strongly implied to be descended from him somehow.]]
110	* In ''VideoGame/{{Scribblenauts}}'', the player can summon multiple beings from the ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos'', including Cthulhu, Shoggoth, and the Shambler.
111	* ''VideoGame/SherlockHolmesFrogwares'' series:
112	** ''VideoGame/SherlockHolmesTheAwakened'' features Holmes and Watson investigating a mystery involving the Cthulhu Mythos. It was originally released in 2006, with an UpdatedRerelease arriving in 2008.
113	** ''VideoGame/SherlockHolmesVersusArseneLupin'' has Holmes facing the GentlemanThief, Arsene Lupin in a cat-and-mouse game throughout London.
114	* ''VisualNovel/ShikkokuNoSharnoth'' features a lot of fictional characters from the Victorian Era and made references from Creator/HPLovecraft's works including [[Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath Kadath]].
115	* ''VideoGame/{{Smite}}'' primarily features various mythological figures, but Cthulhu of the public domain Franchise/CthulhuMythos is also playable.
116	* In the backstory of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries'', it's revealed that the titular Soul Calibur's name similarity to {{Excalibur}} is not a coincidence: Excalibur ''is'' Soul Calibur, and Myth/KingArthur was one of the earliest wielders of the holy sword (which, naturally, was gifted to him by Myth/TheLadyOfTheLake). While this detail was AllThereInTheManual for a large portion of the series' run, ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'' would be the first installment to explicitly mention this fact in-game while adding that he also founded the Aval Organization, a major driving force behind the game's events (and the group to which newcomer Grøh belongs), later in his life.
117	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
118	** The vampire Remilia Scarlet claims to be the descendant of Dracula, but everyone knows it's pretty much a lie.
119	** ''VideoGame/TouhouEiyashouImperishableNight'':
120	*** ''Imperishable Night'' is effectively a sequel to ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter''; the TrueFinalBoss of the main story is Princess Kaguya, as instead of returning to the Moon as in the original story, Eirin killed the other lunar emissaries tasked with taking her back, and they've been hiding within Eientei for centuries. Fujiwara no Mokou, her rival and the game's {{Superboss}}, is based on the fifth daughter of Fujiwara no Fuhito, the man who Kuramochi no Miko, one of Kaguya's suitors from the original folk tale, is presumed to based on.
121	*** Tewi Inaba, Stage 5 miniboss, is heavily implied to be one and the same as the legendary White Hare of Inaba from the Kojiki, and is more or less allowing Kaguya and Eirin to hide at Eientei as she's the true master of its earth rabbits.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Web Original]]
125	* MediaNotes/JennyEverywhere is a public-domain character who is explicitly allowed to be used in almost any work, as long as she is given proper attribution. Consequently, her appearances have forged connections between webcomics as varied as ''Webcomic/TalesToBehold'', ''Webcomic/TheBarePit'', and ''Webcomic/KazasMateGwenna''.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Web Video]]
129	* ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'' features both real people and fictional characters in rap battles, and some of the rappers are from public domain works, including Sherlock Holmes and Dracula.
130	* ''WebVideo/HeadlessASleepyHollowStory'': While the series is mainly based on "Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow", modern versions of multiple Washington Irving characters (such as Rip Van Winkle and Diedrich Knickerbocker as the AllKnowingSingingNarrator) show up in some way, shape, or form.
131	* [[Creator/GregoryAustinMcConnell Austin McConnell's]] ''Superzeroes'' project is an attempt to do this with public domain superheroes from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Western Animation]]
135	* Among the many guest-star heroes that appear in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson team with Batman on one case.
136	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' cartoon, BJ and Lydia share episodes with characters from the works of Creator/EdgarAllanPoe and Creator/WilliamShakespeare, in ways which imply that those characters are real people. The creators themselves also both appear; Poe is very fond of Lydia and Shakespeare is actually good friends with Beetlejuice.
137	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' is in a world where AllMythsAreTrue ("but not all myths are accurate"), created by a self-described "Shakespeare nut"; as a result, its version of TheFairFolk includes the likes of [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Anubis]] and [[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]], but also [[Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream Oberon, Titania, Puck]] and [[Theatre/{{Macbeth}} the Weird Sisters]]. [[Myth/ArthurianLegend King Arthur]] also shows up, as does the {{Golem}} of Prague, while a one-off character is the {{Reincarnation}} of [[Myth/CelticMythology Cú Chulainn]].
138	* Cthulhu of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos appears as a minor antagonist in ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy''. While still a world-ending threat, he's much less intimidating than in his source material.
139	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'', Max teams up with Creator/JulesVerne (who spent a long time as a HumanPopsicle) against a descendant of [[Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea Captain Nemo]].
140	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' has a couple of episodes that do this:
141	** "The Collect Call of Cathulhu" has our heroes investigate the theft of the Necronomicon from the New York Public Library, and then learn that it was stolen by Shoggoth serving a cult of "Cathulhu" to summon the big guy himself. The 'Busters have to go head to head with the EldritchAbomination. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu They manage to defeat him using]] '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu SCIENCE]]'''.
142	** In another episode, the Ghostbusters meet Sherlock Holmes' ghost. They could have had him be the real Sherlock Holmes using RuleOfCool, but opt instead to keep Holmes a fictional character, saying that he was given life as an egrigore by the force of the belief in him that his fans and readers had.
143	* ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheScoobyDooShowS1E5TheHeadlessHorsemanOfHalloween The Headless Horseman of Halloween]]," the gang meets descendants of [[Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow Ichabod Crane]].
144	[[/folder]]
145

Context Main / PublicDomainCanonWelding