Alternate Universe
An alternate universe or alternate reality occurs when accepted reality is altered. Characters may actually move into a universe that is separate from their own, they may find themselves in a reality constructed by a powerful being or induced by a drug, or they may find their own universe altered by time travel.
Contents
Episodes Featuring Alternate Universes and Other Worlds
6.15 The French Mistake
Balthazar sends Sam and Dean into an alternate universe, ostensibly to hide the key to where all the angelic weapons are being stored safe from Raphael. They find themselves in a world where their lives are the basis of a TV show, and they are actually actors - Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles. In this universe spells don't work, and angels (and presumably demons) don't exist. When they get back to their own universe, they find out the whole thing was a diversion so that Castiel could access the weapons.
12.23 All Along the Watchtower
Kelly Kline's Nephilim child, Jack, creates a tear in the universe which leads to an alternate Earth where Sam and Dean were never born and therefore didn't stop the Apocalypse, resulting in demons and angels fighting a never-ending war with humanity caught in the middle.
6.09 Clap Your Hands If You Believe...
The brothers originally attribute the disappearances of four men to UFOs. After Dean is abducted and escapes, Sam deduces that they are dealing with fairies. They go to speak with Marion, who appears knowledgeable on the subject. She tells Sam and Dean that fairies include "sprites and spriggans, boggarts and brownies" as well as elves, gnomes, and trolls. She says these creatures come from some sort of parallel universe. They are vulnerable to iron and silver. If someone pours salt or sugar in front of them they have to stop to count the grains.
They discover that the fairies were summoned by Mr. Brennan using a book he inherited from his grandmother. He made a deal with the Leprechaun, who agreed that the fairies would work in his shop in exchange for the "fruit and fat of the land." The fairies then proceeded to steal his and other firstborn sons in Elwood.
Mr. Brennan tries to reverse the spell that summoned the fairies, but the Leprechaun kills him before he can finish. The Leprechaun seems to be very powerful, employing what he calls "real magic." He also claims that he can do what angels cannot and tries to make a deal with Sam for the return of his soul from Lucifer's Cage.
Sam refuses the deal and defeats the Leprechaun by emptying a container of salt in front of him. He is forced to sit down and count each grain while Sam reads the incantation that banishes him and all of the other fairies.
8.11 LARP and the Real Girl
A good fairy named Gilda is put under a spell by Gerry who forces her to injure and later kill his rivals for Charlie Bradbury's heart. According to Gilda, she is unable to free herself from the spell and it can only be broken by a hero destroying Gerry's spellbook. Under Gerry's orders, she captures Charlie so he can "rescue" her and become a hero and while Gilda holds Charlie prisoner, Charlie becomes attracted to Gilda and kisses her. Sam, Dean and Gerry arrive and Gerry forces Gilda to use a suit of armor to pin down Sam while he tries to kill Dean with a sword he has Gilda transform to real. In the fight that follows, Dean knocks Gerry's spellbook from him and Charlie stabs it with a knife, destroying it and breaking the spell. Dean knocks out Gerry who Gilda takes back to her realm with her to face a fairy tribunal for his actions. Gilda and Charlie share a final kiss before Gilda leaves and Charlie hopefully calls after Gilda to call her.
Episodes Featuring Altered Reality or Alternate Timelines
2.20 What Is and What Should Never Be
A djinn poisons Dean and traps him in a dream state while it feeds from his blood. The AU is commonly referred to as the wish-verse. It is a construct formed by Dean's subconscious arising from one wish - that his mother had never died. As a result, Mary Winchester is alive in the present day, with Sam still attending Stanford and engaged to Jess while Dean works as a mechanic and dates a nurse, but John Winchester is still dead, Dean and Sam have a poor relationship, and everyone the Winchesters saved as hunters are dead.
3.10 Dream a Little Dream of Me
Jeremy Frost is able to trap people in their dreams by mixing some of their DNA with African Dream Root. What happens in the dreams affects the dreamer - including death.
3.11 Mystery Spot
The Trickster creates a time loop in which Dean dies in every iteration regardless of what Sam does. When the Trickster is discovered by Sam, he ends the loop with Dean dying. Sam spends six months searching for the Trickster. When he finds him, Sam begs him to bring Dean back. The Trickster says he was trying to teach Sam that Dean is his weakness, and his enemies will use this against him, but he does restore the original time line. Dean does not remember his final death, although it is unclear if Sam remembers the previous six months.
4.17 It's a Terrible Life
Zachariah creates an alternate reality where the Winchesters are Dean Smith and Sam Wesson, two men who are not brothers, and who work for Sandover Bridge & Iron Inc.. They eventually team up to hunt a ghost in the building. At a time when Dean seems to recoil from hunting, Zachariah constructed the reality to demonstrate to Dean that he will always pursue hunting. This reality is simply constructed out of false memories and is not truly alternate per se.
5.04 The End
Zachariah creates a future alternate reality where Sam and Dean are no longer hunting together and haven't been for five years. It's the year 2014 and most of the population are either dead or have become zombies due to the Croatoan virus.
5.08 Changing Channels
The Trickster traps Sam and Dean in a reality based on TV shows and advertisements. The boys finally expose him as the archangel Gabriel, who is trying to teach them to play their roles as Lucifer and Michael's vessels.
6.17 My Heart Will Go On
On Castiel's command, Balthazar goes back in time and stops the Titanic from sinking. This has side effects, changing reality in many ways - Bobby and Ellen are married, Dean drives a mustang, and Cuba is a popular American holiday destination. A confrontation with Fate leads Castiel to reversing the effects, but he leaves Sam and Dean with the memory of what happened.
7.10 Death's Door
After being shot in the head by Dick Roman, Bobby must revisit old memories to try and survive. He remembers a hunt with Rufus Turner, his childhood, the last argument he had with his wife Karen, and times with young Dean.
AUs in Fanfiction
In fan fiction, an AU refers to a story that diverges significantly from the canon in the Show. Generally the writer will choose to alter key events in canon (known as the Point of Divergence (POD) ) e.g. John dies when Sam is a baby and the boys are raised by Mary, Dean doesn't go to hell, or Castiel falls and becomes human.
Some stories may become AU as new information is later revealed on the Show. This is especially true of stories written between seasons, where a fic is based on certain assumptions of what may occur that are then disproved by later canon (also known as being Jossed, a term coined in relation to Joss Whedon and the Buffy verse). In Supernatural fandom the term Kripked was coined to describe the opposite phenomenon - when events in fan fiction are later confirmed by canon.
If a story is generally compliant with major events, the introduction of a sexual relationship between characters - whether it's Wincest, or Dean/Castiel or Gabriel/Balthazar, is not considered to make a story an AU.
Some stories may be set in a totally different universe (e.g. Sam, Dean, and Castiel are professional bull riders or FBI agents). These stories more closely resemble original fiction in that the characters share little in common, other than their names and some personality traits, with their canonical versions. These stories are more common in RPF fics. In RPF AU stories are essentially original fiction, where the major characters are named, and occasionally very loosely based, on real people.
See also
External links
- The Big Damn SPN RPS AU LIST by Janissa11
- SPN AU comm
- Alternate Universes on TV Tropes
