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1An unofficial UniverseCompendium.
2
3When the makers of a series can't be bothered to put together a proper compendium, you can always rely on the fans to do it for you. With typical obsessiveness, they will go through and document everything that is known about the series, and, on occasion, bind it together into a book. Or a wiki.
4
5The results differ from a UniverseCompendium in several ways:
6* A concordance will tend to document more thoroughly what actually happened on-screen. The folks who write compendia tend to not have quite the same attention to detail as a really obsessed fan.
7* Since the concordance author has no way of knowing what the writer thought was actually important, unimportant details often receive more notice in a concordance than in a compendium. Thus, you are more likely to discover a really obscure fact in a concordance.
8* A compendium will often be distilled in such a way as to cover up [[RetCon retcons]] or embarrassing but inescapable mistakes in the show's past. A compendium is more likely to tell you what the show's makers actually ''intended'', while a concordance is more likely to tell you what they actually ''did''.
9* A concordance will often contain {{fanon}} (which, since it's in a proper book by someone who knows what they're talking about, will be taken as WordOfDante). While a compendium may later be proved wrong on some point, we can be assured that what is written was actually what the writers thought was going on at the time.
10* Many paper-and-pencil RolePlayingGames based on literary or mass-media properties qualify as {{Universe Concordance}}s, despite having official licenses, because the creators of the RPG often have minimal communication with the creators of the property it's based on.
11
12From time to time, the producers of a series will come across a concordance and [[AscendedFanon begin treating it as gospel]], as it contains far more detail than any of their own internal documentation.
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14As these are almost always unauthorized publications, they tend to exist in the same legal gray-market as FanFic, though it should be remembered that scholarly reference works have historically been considered fair use of copyrighted material, hence the existence of academic literary journals.
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16Rowling vs. RDR Publications, while preventing the Harry Potter Lexicon from being set in print, established a precedent that {{Universe Concordance}}s have the right to exist over-the-counter under two conditions:
17# There are not too many direct quotes from the source material, especially unattributed ones; and
18# The Universe Concordance does not borrow heavily from any UniverseCompendium, with or without direct quotes.
19
20So, they are now officially encouraged.
21
22Online, unofficial web sites, particularly Wikis, have taken up the slack, with the Franchise/{{Trekverse}} Wiki, [[http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Portal:Main Memory Alpha]] as the first example.
23
24----
25!!Examples
26
27[[foldercontrol]]
28
29[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
30* [[http://digipedia.db-destiny.net/ The Digimon Encyclopedia]] by Chris [=McFeely=]. Covers Adventure, Adventure 02, and Tamers (and part of Frontier). Long before Wikipedia, this was the source for anything in the Digimon anime.
31* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net Bulbapedia,]] which is also tied into an alliance of sorts with several Pokemon wikis in other languages. Bulbapedia covers all aspects of the fandom, including both the video games and their various adaptations.
32* The good news is that ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' has is own Universe Concordance over at [[http://inuyasha.wikia.com Inuyasha Wiki]]. The [[GoodNewsBadNews bad news]] is it falls into the "[[UnreliableNarrator often includes]] copious amounts of {{Fanon}}" category. It's a decent source for reference pictures and episode summaries, though, and appears to be fairly accurate on listing easily-cross-referenced information such as voice actors, publication dates, and [[MeaningfulName the kanji in the names]] of characters, items and attacks.
33* [[http://naruto.wikia.com/wiki/Narutopedia Narutopedia]] is this for ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. Given the size of the fandom in question and the [[LongRunners length of the series]], the wiki-format Universe Concordance is unsurprisingly ''massive'', comprising literally thousands of articles.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Comic Books]]
37* [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/ The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe]], so well-researched that Creator/MarvelComics has hired the senior staff to help write the newest versions of the ''official'' UniverseCompendium.
38* Naturally, Creator/DCComics fans also have their own Universe Concordances...several, in fact. The [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/DC_Comics_Database DC Comics Database]] for instance covers the whole of the DCU in all its current and past incarnations, the [[http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/DCAU_Wiki DCAU wiki]] covers the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse in specific, and ''additional'' Universe Concordance type wikis also exist for individual DC franchises, though [[SharedUniverse needless to say the information sometimes overlaps between these]]:
39** [[http://greenlantern.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Lantern_Wiki Green Lantern Wiki]]. Given the [[LongRunners long publication history]], tons of characters, and [[ContinuitySnarl increasingly]] [[MythArc complicated]] [[CanonWelding mythology]], it's not surprising it has its own separate universe concordance!
40** There are actually ''two'' separate Universe Concordance wikis devoted to ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' stories: [[http://aquaman.wikia.com/wiki/Aquaman_Wiki Aquaman Wiki]] (which has been going since 2008) and [[http://aqua.gjovaag.com/wiki/Main_Page Aquawiki]]. Both were apparently still active as of 2016.
41** There are several such wikis covering the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' characters, mythology, and related subjects, too. The most notable is probably the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly-named]] [[http://batman.wikia.com/ Batman Wiki]].
42** The ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' franchise has ''several'' Universe Concordance wikis devoted to it or even specific ''subsets'' of it, including [[http://superman.nu/wiki/index.php/Supermanica Supermanica]], [[http://superman.wikia.com/ Superman Wiki]], and [[http://smallville.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Smallville Wiki]] - that last one, of course, being devoted to the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' continuity.
43** ''Franchise/TheFlash'' [[http://theflash.wikia.com/ has one]] devoted to his stories and related characters. And [[http://wonder-woman.wikia.com/wiki/Wonder_Woman_Wiki so does]] ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' and even [[http://martianmanhunter.wikia.com/ Martian Manhunter]]. Given that, it's unsurprising to find that the [[http://jla.wikia.com/ Justice League of America has its own collective wiki too]].
44* ''Franchise/{{Hellboy}}'' has the [[http://hellboy.wikia.com/ Hellboy Wiki]], which in addition to covering the characters and lore, has individual articles on ''every Hellboy story ever'', totaling over 150 individual articles on the comics alone.
45* The French and American ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse wikis serve as this.
46[[/folder]]
47
48[[folder:Film]]
49* [[http://starwars.wikia.com Wookieepedia]], the ''Franchise/StarWars'' wiki. Much more detailed than either printed Star Wars encyclopedias or the official online Star Wars Databank.
50* [[http://www.pandorapedia.com/ Pandorapedia]]. Everything you could ever possibly want to know about ''Film/{{Avatar}}''.
51** [[http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Avatar_Wiki James Cameron's Avatar Wiki]] serves this purpose as well.
52* ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' has several. Online, there's The Sacred Scrolls, and there are also a number of hard copy guides. Probably the most extensive are 'Lexicon of the Planet of the Apes' and 'Timeline of the Planet of The Apes', both by Rich Huntley.
53* [[https://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Marvel_Cinematic_Universe_Wiki The Wiki]] for ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.''
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Literature]]
57* Elyse A. Dickenson's ''The Forrester Papers'' is very probably the only complete documentation to ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds1988'' ever written.
58* The ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos Encyclopedia'' by Daniel Harms.
59* [[http://kinginyellow.wikia.com/wiki/Have_You_Seen_The_Yellow_Sign%3F The Yellow Site]] for the Yellow/Hastur/Carcosa Mythos, founded upon Victorian weird-fiction classic ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'' and frequently connected to the Cthulhu Mythos.
60* The ''Literature/HarryPotter'' Lexicon.
61* The [[http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/ Annotated Pratchett File]]
62* Creator/StevenBrust uses fan-created concordances and timelines as references when he continues his series.
63* ''Franchise/TheDarkTower Concordance'', without which Creator/StephenKing claims he wouldn't have been able to complete the series.
64* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'' [[http://animorphs.wikia.com Seerowpedia]]
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68* Far and away the most famous is Bjo Trimble's ''The Star Trek Concordance'', which was the prime source for information to fans until Paramount began releasing its own compendia in the 1980s. The makers of early ''Franchise/StarTrek'' feature films and ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' consulted it heavily, as it was the best single resource in existence at the time.
69** And in the Age of Internet, there is the Star Trek wiki ''[[http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Portal:Main Memory Alpha]]''.
70* A long-standing rumor from the '80s suggests that FASA lost the license for the ''Star Trek'' RPG because authors were drawing on FASA ship design and game {{Fanon}} for their licensed novels.
71* Along with Wookieepedia, Series/{{Lost}}pedia is commonly cited as one of the most comprehensive wikis about a fictional universe in existence. Writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have admitted using Lostpedia when they need to remember a quick fact while writing an episode.
72* Since the early '80's ''Doctor Who Programme Guide'' (which went through three editions), the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}} has had countless licensed and un-licensed examples. Online compedia include [[http://www.whoniverse.net The Whoniverse]], the no-longer-available-on-the-Web Outpost Gallifrey reference guides, [[http://www.drwhoguide.com The Doctor Who Guide]], the staggeringly detailed [[http://www.roo.weboftime.org "Rassilon, Omega, and that Other Guy"]] and the [[http://tardis.wikia.com TARDIS Data Core wiki]].
73* ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' has [[http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/ The Lurker's Guide]].
74* Surprising absolutely nobody, the Franchise/{{Buffyverse}} has at least one, appropriately titled [[http://buffy.wikia.com/wiki/Buffyverse_Wiki Buffyverse Wiki]].
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Video Games]]
78* [[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/ The Marathon Story Page]], it's...comprehensive, so to speak, as a conversation below puts it:
79--> '''Anonymous:''' Can you briefly summarize the plot of the Marathon series? I found one at [[http://marathon.bungie.org/story/ some fan site]], [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory but it was a fucking doctoral thesis]].
80--> '''Durandal:''' That '''was''' the summary. The full story is the equivalent of [[NumerologicalMotif 7]] of your doctoral theses.
81---> [[http://web.archive.org/web/20021129172734/http://conversatron.com/archive/6121.html The Conversatron]]
82* [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net Bulbapedia]] (mentioned above in the Anime & Manga section) serves as a handy guide for all of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games - both in terms of plot and characters, and in terms of being usable as a StrategyGuide.
83* The whole of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise is the subject of a massively sprawling joint online Universe Concordance aptly named [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Wiki the Final Fantasy Wiki]]. Given the often contradictory nature of the official {{Universe Compendium}}s (and the [[CanonDiscontinuity occasional contradictory]] nature of the [[RetCon games themselves and their own spin-off media]]) it's sometimes ''more'' useful to check FF Wiki than to just check an individual game, adaptation, or even the published ''[[UniverseCompendium Ultimania]]'' books, since you frequently get information on how those sources ''differ''. Which is sometimes by a ''lot'', even on such small but highly specific details as [[DependingOnTheWriter character heights]] and [[DependingOnTheArtist eye colors]]. Players of the actual games though would probably find the site particularly useful, as much like Bulbapedia, it can function as a StrategyGuide - one that can wind up more detailed than the officially published ones.
84* Interestingly, the ''Inuyasha'' video games have [[http://inuyasha.neoseeker.com/wiki/Main_Page their own separate Wiki]], despite the fact that the franchise as a whole had one already (see: "Anime & Manga" examples for this trope). On the other hand, the lack of reliability on certain subjects from the latter (especially the confusing mixing of {{Fanon}} and {{Canon}}ical information) doesn't exactly negate the value of having a second one, particularly since it has a much narrower focus.
85* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' actually has an officially endorsed one: ''[[https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Strange_Creators_of_Outer_World Touhou Gairai Ihen ~ Strange Creators of Outside World]]''. It's a series of magazines containing introduction articles to ''Touhou'' and its characters, interviews with Creator/{{ZUN}} and Creator/TwilightFrontier, as well as various doujin artists. It also contain fancomics and chapters of ''Literature/TouhouKourindouCuriositiesOfLotusAsia''.
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Web Animation]]
89* [[http://www.hrwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page HRWiki.org]], ''the'' ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' reference site, which the Brothers Chaps have commented on going to when they can't remember their earlier work.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Webcomics]]
93* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' possesses an unofficial wiki, called [[http://elgoonishshive.wikia.com/wiki/Shiveapedia Shiveapedia.]] [[WordOfGod The author himself]] declared its timeline of story events canon.
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Western Animation]]
97* Due to the literally hundreds of episodes, stories, characters and locations, the TTTE Wikia has become a handy reference point for writers on ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends''.
98[[/folder]]
99
100[[folder:Other]]
101* Website/{{Wikipedia}} can be thought of as a Universe Concordance for RealLife.
102** And fiction as well, though that was not what its founders intended (at least not to such a degree).
103** Pages that "fail to make a clear distinction between fiction and real life" (read: using the page as a Universe Concordance) are flagged and sometimes deleted. Then of course there's the "inclusionist vs. exclusionist" debate which is basically about editors fighting over whether Wikipedia should be used as a Universal Concordance or not.
104* This very wiki is technically a Universe Concordance covering ''all'' fictional universes in all formats, particularly when one considers how many franchises and individual works have pages listing and dissecting not only their tropes, but their creators, characters, and in a bunch of cases, whole individual story arcs. The difference between TV Tropes and a ''standard'' style Universe Concordance isn't so much ''what'' is covered (any Universe Concordance will cover story arcs and characters) as much as it is the sheer breadth of what's covered, and the technique of approaching it from the "trope"-based literary analysis perspective. The "Useful Notes" sections could also, much like Wikipedia, be considered a Universe Concordance for RealLife (and the fictionalization thereof).
105[[/folder]]

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