The Universe, Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Multiverses, and what to call them all

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The Universe, Universes, Dimensions, Realms, Multiverses, and what to call them all

 

 

So, this will be a short, but hopefully clarifying and enlightening, post on... well, what is in the title. The first thing that you need to know to understand what I will be saying is that there are two sets of terms for these things. There is the technically correct real life terminology for these things, which is far more clear and easy to understand. Then there is the in-game terminology that is used. So, I will break down each thing individually.

 

Technical Term: "Multiverse"/ In-Game Term: "The Universe"/ Convenience Term: "Multiverse"

 

So, a multiverse is a collection of separate iterations of Earth and reality as we know it. It is possible for there to be several multiverses, however with what we know of the story, there is almost definitely only one multiverse.

Ack! DLC3 Spoilers... Kinda, not really, but just a precaution if you really don't want to know anything:

Spoiler

To quote Dr. Monty, "The Universe is big. Really big. So try to imagine the biggest thing that you can. And then imagine that you're waaaay off. It's a million, billion, trillion, eeahhh .. zillion? Times bigger than that.", "More important than it's humongous proportions is the fact that The Universe is a living, breathing thing ... ever changing, ever shifting. Existing across and beyond time .. and space, itself.", "Alright! So you've got this Universe; this big, change-y already volatile Universe... and then you shatter it with a hammer. A metaphorical hammer - and it cracks and splinters into a million other universes. All coexisting, at exactly the same time.".

 What our characters did to shatter The Universe is unknown at the moment, but I have a feeling we will know soon.

 

Technical Term: "Universe(s) (or more scientifically, Timeline(s))"/ In-Game Term: "Universe(s)/ Convenience Term: "Timeline"

 

Now this is were the confusion starts to kick in and begins people stating that "Treyarch has no idea what it's called either", when that is blatantly untrue. Now, a universe is far different than The Universe. A universe is one individual iteration of Earth and reality as we perceive it. Each individual timeline is a different universe. For those confused with the terminology, think of the difference in God and gods, same concept... pretty much.

 

Technical Term "Dimension(s)"/ In-Game Term "Dimension(s)"/ Convenience Term: "Dimension"

 

Think of watching television in 2D (second dimension), and us living in the third dimension (x, y, and z axes). The fourth dimension (in-game referred to as the Aether) has the added variable of time. There could very well be more beyond the fourth, but the very concept is basically incomprehensible to humans as of now (honestly, we don't even have a good understanding of the fourth dimension yet).

 

Technical Term "Realm(s)/Plane(s) of Existence/Realit(y/ies)"/ In-Game Term "Dimension(s)"/ Convenience Term: "Realm"

 

This one is a bit hard to explain. Think of Heaven and Hell. Both of those are the same concept. It is a completely separate reality to the one that we know and inhabit. Mob of the Dead and Shadows of Evil are in this category.

 

The Universal Term: "Realm(s)"

 

This is the universal, broad, and nondescript term for when someone doesn't want to explain what they mean. That is really all there is to say about this term.

 

So, all in all, Treyarch has been very specific in their terminology, and you will notice it if you look through radios, quotes, ciphers, etc. They just like to make us figure things out on our own. They really hate being straightforward. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope this guide is useful for you all.