Crossovers that could never be

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Re: Crossovers that could never be

Postby Drawde » Sat Oct 22, 2011 3:19 am

The only serious crossovers that don't work are those where the settings are incompatible. At least if the author is trying to keep both series' accurate.

Such as the CLAMP multiverse and "Sailor Moon". For example trying to cross "Cardcaptor Sakura" with "Sailor Moon", they look like they'd be compatible on the surface, but the settings aren't. One of the main rules in the CLAMP multiverse is death is final. No one EVER comes back from the dead. Yet how many times has Sailor Moon done just that?

Note that "it turns out the characters in one setting were just wrong" only works if the "rules" are either one setting is basically meant to be realistic, the ones pointing out the rules aren't at the god level, or if the setting doesn't do it's best to prove that the known rules are actually real.

The problem here is that most of the time the author simply sees two series' that he or she likes and mixes them together without considering the settings as a whole. And once the story goes on long enough the author has to start tweaking one or both series to keep things going, which often annoys the fans of the originals. Or just mangling one series in favor of the other.

EDIT

The next level of crossovers will work, but only with extensive work in a serious story. This is one where either there's a world-spanning millenium old conspiracy maintaining a Masquerade in one or both settings, or there's one or more very old multi-world groups in either setting.

How can both consiracies not know anything about each other, despite basically controlling and hiding all knowledge of magic (for example) for millenium, suddenly bump into each other after all this time?

Which is what I've seen happen in Buffy/Harry Potter crosses. These two groups have somehow never bumped into the other side's problems, only having to deal with things that fit their setting. Or you have the two sides just ignoring the other, despite the risk of the other group blowing your masquerade, and once again their problems NEVER cross into your side.

The other is that you have these old races, despite controlling many solar systems, somehow have never discovered magic or anything similar. Yet it's somehow developed enough on one planet, usually Earth, to the point that it can overpower all their technology. Or you get something like a Stargate/Ranma cross where the Goa'uld, despite seeking strong hosts, have never even dreamt of people at Ranma's level, even with so many of the humans out there having come from Earth originally.

These problems can be worked out, but it usually requires starting both series from the beginning.
Unless I say otherwise, if I'm discussing Ranma canon, I'm talking about the MANGA.
Drawde
Chibi Sailor Senshi
Posts: 482
 

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