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Sequel in Another Medium

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When a work leaves room for continued adventures or ends on an outright Sequel Hook, but is continued in a different medium.

This is most likely due to the original work not doing well financially, but has enough interest to merit continuation in a cheaper medium. Alternatively, they were Screwed by the Network of the original medium and they have to continue it in another. In case of movie continuation from other media, it may also mark a special part of the whole story.

See also Conclusion in Another Medium and its inverse Recycled: The Series. Related to Expanded Universe when the other media-sequels are treated as a lesser canon. Compare Anime First, Comic-Book Adaptation, and Live-Action Adaptation, as well as Continuation, Fan Sequel and Flash Forward Fic for Fan Fic examples. If the continuation is in the same medium that the predecessor was itself adapted from, see Recursive Adaptation.

These are often subject to Canon Discontinuity if a Distant Sequel is made in the original, more mainstream medium after a sizeable Sequel Gap.

Note that Prequels and Interquels also count here; the point is that the works are all part of the same timeline.


Examples by the original medium

    open/close all folders 

    Anime and Manga 

    Asian Animation 
  • The story of BoBoiBoy Galaxy was not continued with a second proper television season; it was instead continued as a comic book series being advertised as Season 2.

    Comic Book 

    Films — Animated 

    Films — Live-Action 

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 

    Radio 
  • Worlds Finest Issue #271 is simultaneously a Recursive Adaptation and a sequel to a few episodes of the 1940's Superman radio show, namely the ones dealing with Zoltan (in which Batman and Robin first appeared in the show) and Atoman (who is the villain of this story).

    Tabletop Games 

    Video Games 
  • The Titan Comics-published Assassin's Creed Origins four-part comic mini-series details the fall of Cleopatra 14 years after the game.
  • Crysis 2 is the sequel but set at an altogether different time and place with a (mostly) new cast of characters. The events of Crysis and Crysis: Warhead were more directly continued in a six-issue comic book series endorsed by EA and published by IDW intending to fill the gap.
  • The Hope's Peak Saga of Danganronpa (most of which consisted of visual novels and video games) had four: Danganronpa Zero, a novel set before the first and second games and the only novel in the saga to be directly related to the plot, Danganronpa 3, an anime which served as the conclusion chapter, Killer Killer, a manga taking place just before the events of Danganronpa 3, and Nagito Komaeda and the World Destroyer, an OVA set some time after the end of Danganronpa 2. The third cardinal game tells a completely separate story.
  • First Encounter Assault Recon had two prequels in other mediums. The "Alma Interviews" was a live-action short movie depicting an interview with a young Alma before she really started on the spooky business from the game, while the "Director's Edition" of the game also came with a Dark Horse-drawn adaptation of the beginning of Fettel's rampage from the game's opening cinematic.
  • Final Fantasy:
  • Invoked by Twinbeard when they announced a sequel to Frog Fractions, as they claimed they would make it such a Stealth Sequel that it might not even be a video game at all. Two years later, and it would turn out the sequel was the ARG used to find it.
  • The Gladiator, a Taiwanese Beat 'em Up with a wuxia setting, has a series of novels that continues the events of the game.
  • inFAMOUS: A midquel example, the comic is set in between the first and second game and covers the plot points that the first game Left Hanging. Namely what happened with Alden, Moya and Sasha.
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us has a prequel set 5 years before Superman's regime, in comic book form.
  • Kemono Friends was a bit weird about this. While it started out as a mobile game before getting an anime, for most of the story the anime went on as if it was an Alternate Continuity. However, after a certain point it gets revealed that the anime was actually a Stealth Distant Sequel, albeit one that's vague about exactly how much time has passed between the two. This wound up being done again several years later, where the anime got a new mobile/arcade game called Kemono Friends 3, set after the second anime season.
  • Killer Instinct (2013) received a six-issue sequel miniseries by Dynamite Comics taking place after the game's Shadow Lords campaign, detailing the aftermath of Gargos' invasion of Earth and the looming threat of the vampiric Coven.
  • Life Is Strange has a comic continuation taking place after one of the two possible endings, in particular the one where Max saves Chloe and let the storm destroy Arcadia Bay. They go on with their lives, least until Max's time rewinding power suddenly starts acting up, to which they must find out why.
  • Little Tail Bronx had to resort to using short stories as a means of expanding on the stories started in the main games due to lack of financial success combined with Bandai Namco's partial ownership interfering with CyberConnect2's desires to make more games in the franchise. Unfortunately, none of them have official translations.
    • Tail Concerto has "After That Concerto" that acts as a "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue to the main cast.
    • Solatorobo: Red the Hunter has a bunch of these, with the prequels "Ragdoll Elegy", "9071 Morning Sacrifice", "A Captain's Final Adventure", "Bitter Rain", "Overture - Movement 0", "Shepherd Report", and most famously "Red Data Children". Sequels include "Warm Memories", "Forest of Healing", "Hospitality At Nippon", "Black and White Borderline", and, crossing over with Tail Concerto, "Onward - Bon Voyage!" and "Kadenz -Closing Melody-". There are also three non-canon stories "From Now, An Important Time To Live", "Double-Edge Sword", and "Summer at Shepherd Academy".
  • The Play Station 4 remake of MediEvil released alongside a comic tie-in that acts as a sequel to MediEvil 2, and uses plot elements from what would have been the third game in the series, MediEvil: Fate's Arrow.
  • Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X, the PSP remake of Mega Man X features an OVA prequel called "Day of Sigma", revealing when Sigma became the Big Bad and giving him a motivation in-line with what it had evolved into by the time of Mega Man X8.
  • Melty Blood got a sequel through the manga Back Alley Nightmare, which also added Fate/Grand Order to the list of Nasuverse crossovers in the game.
  • Nefarious was originally a standalone 2D platformer released in 2017, but it received a follow-up as an ongoing webcomic. This was pretty clearly done in response to the property's own strengths: the game was considered pretty mediocre and finicky, but it managed to be carried by its premise and charm, with enough room to expand its Excuse Plot beyond gameplay.
  • Although it wasn't as apparent when it released, NieR had a sequel in the stage play YoRHa, which told of a robot war in the setting's distant future and the androids that fought it. When NieR: Automata eventually elaborated on these plot points, YoRHa was expanded and converted into a series of side story plays.
    • NieR also got a companion sidebook/strategy guide, Grimoire NieR, which included several side-stories set before, during, and after the game. Most notably is "The Lost World", which continues on from the game's Ending D to encompass an "Ending E" that was later made the canon ending, leading into Automata and made a playable ending in the ver.1.22474487139... remaster.
  • Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation is an anime interquel to Phantasy Star Online 2, set between the events of EPISODE 3 and EPISODE 4 and starring a mostly original cast and story. Very little of its plot has any actual bearing on the game's story, but it is used to explain the absence of a certain character early in EPISODE 4 and its characters are featured in some cutscenes.
  • Red Faction: Origins is a Syfy film interquel between two games in the Red Faction series, namely, Guerilla and Armageddon.
  • Sakura Wars:
  • Of the various chapters planned to tell the story of Shenmue, the second would take place during Ryo's boat trip from Yokosuka to Hong Kong, depicting events on board the boat as well as elsewhere during that same time. However, the first game's story ends with Ryo's departure from Yokosuka, and the direct sequel Shenmue II begins with Ryo's arrival in Hong Kong. The events of Chapter 2 would eventually be depicted in Shenmue Side Story, a series of comics that could be viewed as a reward for the Secret Snapshot sidequest in the Xbox and HD Remaster versions of Shenmue II, and show things like the origin of Joy and Guizhang's relationship and why Jiangyu Ding and her daughter Xiaomei, who can later be met in Wan Chai, act grateful towards Ryo at the beginning of the game.
  • SiN was originally followed by a 2000 anime movie in which Blade's partner died and was replaced by his sister, though this movie was later rendered non-canon when a sequel game came out in 2006.
  • The IDW comic of Sonic the Hedgehog, while likewise being a Continuity Reboot following the cancellation of the Archie version, acts as a follow up of Sonic Forces, covering the aftermath of that game and what happened to Eggman after he was defeated before veering off into the usual good vs evil business. But not Infinite, oddly enough, whom in the game just vanished after Sonic and the Rookie beat him. This was due to a mandate by Sega that the writers weren't allowed to cover his fate, apparently wanting to do this themselves for a future game.
  • Clementine Lives is a sequel to Season 4 of Telltale's The Walking Dead wherein Clementine leaves AJ and Ericson's behind to seek a new adventure by herself, leading into the Clementine series where she encounters new friends, romantic interests, and enemies.

    Web Animation 

    Web Comics 
  • The Homestuck Epilogues is a novel continuation of the webcomic Homestuck, telling two different versions of what might have happened to the characters after the original comic ended. Notably, the Epilogues repeatedly call their own canonicity as the "true ending" of Homestuck into question, and they make very clear that the controversial original ending is intended to stand on its own. The Epilogues themselves would get a sequel in the original medium three years later.

    Western Animation 
  • Adventure Time:
    • Season 11: A "proposed" season set after the series finale, despite the title, it didn't actually cover any new ground and was cancelled after six issues. Word of God states they're non-canon, anyway, with the animated miniseries Adventure Time: Distant Lands serving as the true continuation.
    • Marcy & Simon: A spin-off that covers Simon, aka the former Ice King, suddenly regressing and Marcy's quest to help him culminating in trying rescue Betty who took on the GOLB form in the series finale to save everyone. Like the above example, this one is also non-canon with Simon and Betty's arc instead concluding in Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender:
    • Avatar: The Last Airbender has had several comic books following the end of the show, which run the gamut of exploring plot threads the series left hanging to laying down the foundation for various plot and setting elements present in The Legend of Korra. There are also a number of comics that serve as interquels to the show's events.
    • The Legend of Korra: Following in its predecessor's footsteps, the comics explore the aftermath of the show's fourth season. The first two graphic novels in particular covered the issue of the new spirit portal in the middle of Republic City and the remnants of the Earth Nation army still making a bid for power in Kuvira's absence.
  • Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United had a Sequel Hook teased at the end, but the special never got a follow-up in animated form. However, a sequel story was written for issue 65 of the Cartoon Network Action Pack comic, though it didn't follow up on the teased hooks.
  • Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers got one in 2010 in the form of a comic series that continues where the series left off, where the Rangers regroup once more. Lasted for only for eight issues due to Disney revoking Boom's license after gaining Marvel.
  • Darkwing Duck: The show got a comic book continuation from KaBOOM! Comics in 2010, set a year after the TV series and which had Drake take up the Darkwing persona once more. The series ended after eighteen issues, when Disney revoked Boom's license due to now having Marvel under their belt. The comic would be briefly revived in 2016, ignoring the Boom run's final story arc for legal reasons, before being cancelled after eight issues.
  • The Dragon Prince has a comic book called Through the Moon, which takes place after season three.
  • The Fairly OddParents!:
  • Gargoyles has undergone this twice.
    • The Slave Labor Graphics run in the mid-2000s that acted as a third season, retconning the show's original third season, The Goliath Chronicles. It even got a spin-off, Gargoyles: Bad Guys, which as the title states, focuses on the villains of the series. The comics ended up being cancelled when Disney increased their licensing fees, which prompted the publisher to drop the series.
    • The Dynamite Comics run in the 2020s that acts as a fourth season, following from the former's events.
  • Gravity Falls received a single volume dubbed Lost Legends written by the show's creator that, in addition to covering stories taking place during the events of the show and even before it, also has a few set in-between when Bill was defeated and Dipper and Mabel leaving for home.
  • Invader Zim: The comic continues on where Season 2 left off, mostly consisting of self-contained adventures benefitting of the original show's Negative Continuity nature, though a few overarching plot points things did stick. Elements of the comics also showed up in the TV movie, Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus.
  • Legion of Super-Heroes had its own tie-in comic series, Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century, which kept going after the show's end and had some stories taking place after it.
  • Mega Man: Fully Charged has a six-issue comic book mini-series that takes place after the first season's ending. It is written by the show's writers and introduces story ideas originally planned for the second season before its cancellation. It also has a notably Darker and Edgier tone compared to the series it is based on.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: The tie-in comic book series labeled its final fourteen issues as "Season 10", though like the rest of the comic book run, the level of continuity they hold is nebulous.
  • Over the Garden Wall has a number of tie-in comics by KaBOOM! Comics, some of which are set after the show's end.
  • ReBoot was cancelled (for good) after a Season 4 cliffhanger, but the story continued years later in an official webcomic format hosted by Rainmaker Entertainment, ReBoot: Code of Honor.
  • Regular Show received a six-issue miniseries called 25 Years Later in which a now older Mordecai and Rigby get into a situation where their kids are taken from them by a magical imp and their quest to get them back.
  • Samurai Jack:
    • From 2013 to 2015, a comic book series was made which continued Jack's adventures and concluded with Jack and his allies preparing to confront Aku in one final battle. The show would get an actual fifth season shortly after, but there are fans who still view the comics as being canon, squeezing them into the 50-year Time Skip between seasons four and five.
    • Said fifth season’s finale received a canonical interquel, Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time, a video game depicting an adventure set between Jack and Ashi jumping through Ashi’s portal to the past to actually arriving in the past. The game’s Golden Ending goes on to retcon the show's ending, showing Ashi surviving and getting to live happily ever after with Jack in the past.
  • In terms of sequel episodes, "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" from The Simpsons had a sequel in the comic series, dubbed the "Quickly Cancelled Comic Book Cavalcade". The stories are continuations of the three spinoffs proposed in the original episode, and true to form, they are as hokey as ever. In the "Wiggum, P.I." story, Wiggum becomes undead and Skinner suspects Big Daddy is behind it. Meanwhile, the eponymous "Lovematic Grandpa" finds his soul switched with that of Moe's Girl of the Week. Finally, "The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour" is forced to hold their salute to Rock & Roll on an island due to Homer crashing their plane on the way to their gig in Hollywood.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM): This one is a more complicated example. The comic book came first before the TV series but was more light-hearted against the darker themes of the TV show. After the TV series ended, the comic ended up taking on the more mature theme of the TV series as well as using some of the plotlines that were intended for the show's proposed third season. Thus some fans consider the comic a continuation of the TV series.
  • Prior to the show being Un-Canceled, Star Wars: The Clone Wars had some of its unmade story arcs adapted into other mediums; the comic book miniseries Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir and the novel Dark Disciple were made in a time when it seemed all but certain the show was dead.
  • The Tales of Arcadia franchise started with 3 series, Trollhunters, 3Below and Wizards (2020), before getting a movie, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans.
  • Teen Titans had a tie-in comic, Teen Titans Go! (not to be confused with the 2013 show of the same name, or the comic based on that show), which ran alongside it. The comic continued after the show ended and told stories taking place after the series finale, which included addressing the show's Ambiguous Ending, and introduced several characters they either couldn't use or had no time to cover (like Ravager, Wildfire, and Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark).
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) got one in the form of the video game adaptation/Konami game homage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. It's ostensibly set up as a Broad Strokes take on the cartoon, but several elements make it clear that it's a continuation, mainly the fact that the Technodrome is in ruins and one key plot point concerns the villains reassembling Krang's body, which was previously used to defeat Lord Dregg.
  • Before the release of Young Justice Outsiders, DC released a two-issue digital comic book that took place between the previous season and Outsiders, written by series showrunner Greg Weisman. During the DC Fandome virtual event, a audio play called "The Prize" premiered that Weisman also wrote and was performed by the show's voice cast. It canonically takes place between Outsiders and Phantoms.
    • The show's original comic book tie-in, also written by Weisman and staff writer Kevin Hopps, also told many canonical stories that were interquels to various episodes. Every story arc but the last one took place around season one, while the final story arc took place exactly one month before the start of Invasion.


Alternative Title(s): Prequel In Another Medium, Interquel In Another Medium, Comic Book Continuation

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