Playing In Someone Else's Sandbox: Crossovers

[dragonbat2006]

Crossovers are AUs which blend at least two canons. They present their own set of challenges. The difficulty of combining two canons is directly proportional to the degree of synchronicity between them. Most crossovers fall into one of the following three categories:

• Same-World Crossovers


• Same-Rules Crossovers


• Kitchen Sink Crossovers

Same-World Crossovers

Same-World crossovers are crossovers that are already set within the same universe (Spider-Man/Avengers; Anne of Green Gables/Emily of New Moon). It can also be a case of the characters of a spinoff show teaming up with the characters on the original series (Cheers/Frasier; Doctor Who/Torchwood). Sometimes, it can be difficult to determine whether the story is actually a crossover. If Batman and Superman play tennis together, is it a crossover? Or is it DC Comics? Perhaps, it’s JLA? Or even Superfriends?

Same-Rules Crossovers

In a Same-Rules Crossover, the canons are not interconnected. They may be different properties with entirely different owners. However, there is nothing in the respective universes which might preclude the two canons coming together. In other words:

• The two canons are set in roughly the same time period.


• If the supernatural exists in both canons, it follows the same laws in each. If it exists in only one, there is no conflict—although there might be fear and confusion on the part of the characters from the non-supernatural canon. Still, if Canon A contains magic and Canon B does not, it is fair to say that magic may exist in Canon B—unbeknownst to most of the characters.
  

  Thus, Nancy Drew could crossover handily with Encyclopedia Brown. Encyclopedia Brown could crossover with Harry Potter, but Encyclopedia might have a hard time accepting magic as actual fact. Harry Potter and Star Wars is not a Same-Rules Crossover, because “magic” and “the Force” do not operate by the same rules¹.

Kitchen Sink Crossovers

These are probably the trickiest to do both seriously and well. Canons from different time periods? Different universes? A blend of science and magic? Literally anything goes. While it can be difficult to synthesize the “rules of play” when each canon operates by a different set, you can get around this by having the characters of Universe A pulled into Universe B. At that point, either

• The characters of Universe A become subject to Universe B’s rules or


• Their own rules still apply—but only to the Universe A characters.

For example, you can have the villagers of Transylvania cowering in terror when they realize that Edward Cullen doesn’t disintegrate in sunlight (Twilight/Dracula).

A couple of quick tips:

• If time travel, space travel, or inter-dimensional travel is canon for one universe, the scope for plausible crossovers becomes much wider.


• Don’t dismiss game shows or talent shows out of hand. Just about any character can appear on The Price Is Right, Ed Sullivan, or The Muppet Show.

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¹ Of course, you can say that both exist in this universe, but the greater the potential for contradictory canons, the greater the need to explain and clarify—which can lead a writer to spend too much time talking about the setup and too little time telling the story.