Canonical Crossovers
Video games crossovers that have woven narrative fibres of disparate universes into a single canon.
Dream matches, cameo costumes, easter eggs, etc. need not apply.
Dream matches, cameo costumes, easter eggs, etc. need not apply.
19 Games
Akuma plays a significant role in Heihachi’s life story.
Yoshimitsu from Soul Calibur is also Yoshimitsu from Tekken; he is the leader of the Manji Clan, a ninja organization that is referenced in both game series.
First Street Fighter game to acknowledge that Final Fight is happening in the same world, beginning a trend that has persisted through to Street Fighter 6.
Sakura’s appearance in this game suggested another shared universe with Street Fighter; subsequently confirmed by the inclusion of Akira in Street Fighter V.
Win quotes and ending screens imply that Ryu remembers teaming up with the X-Men on previous occasions; unclear whether Ryu remembers who Cyclops is in numbered iterations of Street Fighter.
Ryu Hayabusa entered (and won) the second Dead or Alive tournament. Dead or Alive 2’s Ayane then played a major role in the rebooted Ninja Gaiden trilogy, and fellow Dead or Alive fighter Kasumi has also appeared in the Ninja Gaiden games as a playable character with ties to the series’ story.
Pit is the only Super Smash Bros. character to acknowledge the existence of the Super Smash Bros. universe while occupying his own plane of reality.
Brawl’s reveal trailer implies that Solid Snake was cognisant of Mario’s existence prior to the events of the game. Given the presence of Yoshi in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and contextual information in Colonel Campbell’s briefing, we can assume that the Super Mario Bros. video games exist in the universe of Metal Gear Solid; whether Snake knew that Mario was a real person before the year 2006 is a matter of debate.
Final Fantasy V boss Gilgamesh is the thread who ties the Final Fantasy Multiverse together. Almost every appearance of Gilgamesh in a subsequent game is the same guy from FFV, traveling dimensions after The Void spat him out.
Arguably a foundational text for Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker.
The ending confirms that the game’s events are taking place in the Half-Life universe.
The appearance of the Space Core confirms that the game takes place after the events of Portal 2.
Mimir, the Norse god of wisdom, reminds Kratos that he appeared in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Kratos refuses to acknowledge this fact.
The game contains a newspaper with quite a bit of information on the crimes committed by the murderous duo Kane and Lynch. Hitman: Absolution goes a step further by not only featuring Kane and Lynch in cameo roles, but allowing Agent 47 to kill both of them - potentially explaining why we've never had a Kane & Lynch 3.
The finale of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 has the Ghosts call in an air strike, and in H.A.W.X., you get to play the mission from the jet fighters' point of view. They pull the same trick again in Future Soldier/HAWX 2, but it’s unclear whether each duology exists in the same reality.
Sam Fisher shows up in a number of Ghost Recon games, but it would be too boring to find out which ones.
Artifacts belonging to characters from Planescape: Torment confirm that the games exist in the same… Multiverse? Cosmology? Who knows. My grip on the rules for this list is already slipping.
where do we begin
The Wizpig War is acknowledged in Banjo-Kazooie and Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
3 Comments
I already knew about it, but I sincerely hope the entry for fortnite chapter 2 in this list is discovered by future historians when trying to figure out what was up with early 21st century culture. Awestruck by it
Gilgamesh from FFV was the original thread who tied the Final Fantasy Multiverse together as almost every appearance of Gilgamesh in a FF game is the same guy from 5, having been traveling dimensions after The Void spat him out.
Also God of War Ragnarok has Playstation All Stars Battle Royale be canon for Kratos, as Mimir mentions Kratos having fought in it but Kratos refuses to talk about it.
Also God of War Ragnarok has Playstation All Stars Battle Royale be canon for Kratos, as Mimir mentions Kratos having fought in it but Kratos refuses to talk about it.
Psientologist
6 months ago
A game I do play regularly - Rainbow Six: Siege, Sam Fisher is the operator Zero. Also R6 characters appear in a recent Ghost Recon game. It's the Ubisoft Tom Clancy-verse I guess, not sure if The Division is in this but they have also got another shooter that might be coming out XDefiant (that's it's actual name) and has squads themed on the games including Watch Dogs too... sorry I had to tell you this.