Lists of multimedia franchises

A multimedia franchise (or a transmedia franchise) is a media franchise for which installments exist in multiple forms of media, such as books, comics, films, television series, animated series and video games. Multimedia franchises usually develop due to the popularization of an original creative work, and then its expansion to other media through licensing agreements, with respect to intellectual property in the franchise's characters and settings,[1] although the trend later developed wherein franchises would be launched in multiple forms of media simultaneously.[2]

In order to qualify for these lists, a franchise must have works in at least three forms of media, and must have two or more separate works in at least two of those forms of media (a television series or comic book series is considered a single work for purposes of this list; multiple spin-off series or reboots of a previously ended series are considered multiple works). For example, a television series that spawned one film and one novelization would not qualify; a television series that had a spin-off series, or was remade as a new series, and which spawned two films and one novelization does qualify. These lists do not include public domain works from which adaptations have been made in multiple media only after the works entered the public domain, which do not involve licensing or other means by which an author or owner controls the franchise. A franchise may be included if it obtained multimedia franchise status prior to works within the collection entering the public domain.

Following are lists of multimedia franchises, divided by media characteristics:

## Multimedia franchises originating in print

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Main article: List of multimedia franchises originating in print

Franchises originating in literary works

* A Song of Ice and Fire
* Arthur
* American Psycho
* Babar
* Berenstain Bears
* Blade Runner
* Captain Underpants
* The Cat in the Hat
* The Chronicles of Narnia
* Clifford the Big Red Dog
* Conan the Barbarian
* Curious George
* Die Hard
* Discworld
* Diary of a Wimpy Kid
* Dune
* Ender's Game
* Gidget
* Greyfriars School
* The Godfather
* Hannibal Lecter
* Harry Potter
* Haruhi Suzumiya
* Hercule Poirot
* His Dark Materials
* Harold and the Purple Crayon
* How to Train Your Dragon
* The Hunger Games
* James Bond
* Jason Bourne
* Jennings
* Jumanji
* Jurassic Park
* Left Behind
* Legend of the Galactic Heroes
* Mary Poppins
* Megami Tensei
* Miss Marple
* Monogatari
* Moomins
* One Hundred and One Dalmatians
* Paddington Bear
* Parasite Eve
* Percy Jackson & the Olympians
* Perry Mason
* Peter Rabbit
* Planet of the Apes
* Professor Branestawm
* Psycho
* Rambo
* Robert Langdon
* Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
* Sex and the City
* Shrek
* The Spiderwick Chronicles
* Starship Troopers
* Sword Art Online
* Middle-earth
* TekWar
* Thomas & Friends
* Tom Clancy media
* The Vampire Chronicles
* Winnie-the-Pooh
* The Witcher

Franchises originating in comics strips, comic books and webcomics, and other printed cartoons

* 300
* The Addams Family
* Alien vs. Predator
* Archie Comics
* Ashita no Joe
* Asterix
* Attack on Titan
* Bleach
* Buck Rogers
* DC Universe
* Dennis the Menace
* Death Note
* Detective Conan
* Doraemon
* Dragon Ball
* Dyesebel
* Fullmetal Alchemist
* Garfield
* Ghost in the Shell
* Hellboy
* Initial D
* Josie and the Pussycats
* Judge Dredd
* Kick-Ass
* Lucky Luke
* Lupin the Third
* Marsupilami
* The Mask
* Marvel Universe
* Men in Black
* Miffy
* My Hero Academia
* Naruto/Boruto
* One Piece
* Peanuts
* Popeye
* Ranma ½
* Richie Rich
* Sabrina the Teenage Witch
* Sailor Moon
* Sam & Max
* Saint Seiya
* Sgt. Frog
* The Smurfs
* Spawn
* Spirou & Fantasio
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
* Tintin
* Turok
* The Walking Dead
* Wangan Midnight
* Yu-Gi-Oh!
* YuYu Hakusho

## Multimedia franchises originating in television and web series

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Main article: List of multimedia franchises originating in television series

Franchises originating in animated television and web series

* The Amazing World of Gumball
* Avatar: The Last Airbender
* Beavis and Butt-Head
* Ben 10
* Blue's Clues
* Bluey
* Bob the Builder
* Dragon Tales
* Dora the Explorer
* Ed, Edd n Eddy
* The Fairly OddParents
* Family Guy
* The Flintstones
* George of the Jungle
* Gilligan's Island
* Gumby
* Gundam
* Kim Possible
* The Loud House
* Neon Genesis Evangelion
* The Powerpuff Girls
* The Proud Family
* Rick and Morty
* RWBY
* Scooby-Doo
* The Simpsons
* South Park
* Space Battleship Yamato
* Space Ghost
* SpongeBob SquarePants
* Steven Universe
* VeggieTales
* Voltron
* Winx Club
* Yogi's Gang

Franchises originating in live action television and web series

* Ali G
* The Avengers[3]
* Babylon 5
* Barney & Friends
* Battlestar Galactica
* The Bill
* Blake's 7
* The Brady Bunch
* Charlie's Angels
* Dad's Army
* Doctor Who
* The Equalizer
* Fraggle Rock
* FЯED
* Jackass
* Last of the Summer Wine
* Mission: Impossible
* Monty Python
* Mr. Bean
* The Muppets
* Only Fools and Horses
* Power Rangers/Super Sentai
* The Prisoner
* Quatermass
* React
* Red Dwarf
* Sesame Street
* Star Trek
* The Sweeney
* The Twilight Zone
* The Wiggles
* The X-Files

## Multimedia franchises originating in films

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Main article: List of multimedia franchises originating in films

Franchises originating in animated films

* An American Tail
* Cars
* Casper the Friendly Ghost
* Despicable Me
* Felix the Cat
* Finding Nemo
* Frozen
* Hotel Transylvania
* Ice Age
* The Incredibles
* Inside Out
* Kung Fu Panda
* The Land Before Time
* Lilo & Stitch
* The Lion King
* Looney Tunes
* Madagascar
* Mickey Mouse & Friends
* Monsters, Inc.
* The Secret Life of Pets
* Tangled
* Tom and Jerry
* Toy Story
* Wallace & Gromit
* Woody Woodpecker

Franchises originating in live-action films

* Alien
* Back to the Future
* Beetlejuice
* Bill & Ted
* Buffyverse
* The Chronicles of Riddick
* Evil Dead
* The Expendables
* Final Destination
* Flipper
* Ghostbusters
* Godzilla
* Gremlins
* Halloween
* Herbie
* High School Musical
* Highlander
* Indiana Jones
* Our Gang
* The Karate Kid
* King Kong
* The Matrix
* The Pink Panther
* Police Academy
* Predator
* RoboCop
* Rocky
* Saw
* Stargate
* Star Wars
* Terminator
* Tron
* Westworld

## Multimedia franchises originating in games, toys, and merchandise

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Main article: List of multimedia franchises originating in games, toys, and merchandise

Franchises originating in video games including film or television works

* Ace Attorney
* Alone in the Dark
* Animal Crossing
* Angry Birds
* Assassin's Creed
* Bayonetta
* Bomberman
* Borderlands
* Carmen Sandiego
* Call of Duty
* Castlevania
* Club Penguin
* Chrono
* Crash Bandicoot
* Dante's Inferno
* Darkstalkers
* Dead Rising
* Dead Space
* Devil May Cry
* Doom
* Donkey Kong
* Dota
* Dragon Age
* Dragon's Lair
* Dragon Quest
* Fallout
* Far Cry
* Fatal Frame
* Final Fantasy
* Five Nights at Freddy's
* Fire Emblem
* Grand Theft Auto
* Half-Life
* Halo
* Hitman
* Kemono Friends
* Kingdom Hearts
* The King of Fighters
* Kirby
* League of Legends
* The Legend of Zelda
* Mario
* Mass Effect
* Max Payne
* Mega Man
* Minecraft
* Monster Hunter
* Mortal Kombat
* Pac-Man
* Pokémon
* Prince of Persia
* Ratchet & Clank
* Rayman
* Red Dead
* Resident Evil
* Silent Hill
* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Star Ocean
* Street Fighter
* Tekken
* Talking Tom & Friends
* The Last of Us
* Tomb Raider
* Trails
* Uncharted
* Xeno
* Warcraft
* Wing Commander
* Zone of the Enders
* Yo-kai Watch

Franchises originating in video games not including film or television works

* Alan Wake
* Banjo-Kazooie
* Battlefield
* Bioshock
* Contra
* Crysis
* Darksiders
* Dead Island
* Destiny
* Deus Ex
* Diablo
* Dishonored
* Drakengard
* Duke Nukem
* The Elder Scrolls
* The Evil Within
* Fable
* Gears of War
* God of War
* Guild Wars
* Infamous
* Just Cause
* Killzone
* Left 4 Dead
* Legacy of Kain
* Life Is Strange
* Metal Gear
* Metroid
* Onimusha
* The Oregon Trail
* Portal
* Quake
* Soulcalibur
* Splatoon
* StarCraft
* Suikoden
* Star Fox
* Thief
* Watch Dogs
* Wolfenstein
* Zork

Franchises originating in board games, card games, tabletop games and role-playing games

* BattleTech
* Car Wars
* Clue
* Cyberpunk
* Dungeons & Dragons
* Glorantha
* Magic: The Gathering
* Mutant Chronicles
* Shadowrun
* Warhammer
* World of Darkness

Franchises originating in toys, attractions and other media

* Alvin and the Chipmunks
* The Amory Wars
* American Girl
* Barbie
* BanG Dream!
* Bratz
* Captain Sabertooth
* Care Bears
* Digimon
* G.I. Joe
* The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
* Lego
* Lone Ranger
* Madea
* Masters of the Universe
* My Little Pony
* The Odd Couple
* Patlabor
* Pirates of the Caribbean
* Strawberry Shortcake
* Transformers
* Trolls

## See also

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* List of fictional shared universes in film and television – many multimedia franchises are based in fictional universes
* List of public domain works with multimedia adaptations
* List of highest-grossing media franchises
* Media franchise

## References

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1. ^ See, e.g., Barry Langford, Post-classical Hollywood: Film Industry, Style and Ideology Since 1945, p. 207, ISBN 074863858X: "For the studios, a home-run is a film from which a multimedia 'franchise' can be generated; the colossally expensive creation of cross-media conglomerates predicated on synergistic rewards provides an obvious imperative to develop such products".
2. ^ Harry J. Brown, Videogames and Education (2008), p. 41, ISBN 0765629496:

> In one of the most celebrated ventures in media convergence, Larry and Andy Wachowski, creators of The Matrix trilogy, produced the game Enter the Matrix (2003) simultaneously with the last two films of the trilogy, shooting scenes for the game on the movie's sets with the movie s actors, and releasing the game on the same day as The Matrix: Reloaded. Likewise, on September 21, 2004, Lucasfilm jointly released a new DVD box set of the original Star Wars trilogy with Star Wars: Battlefront, a combat game in which players can reenact battles from all six Star Wars films. In 2005, Peter Jackson likewise produced his blockbuster film King Kong (2005) in tandem with a successful King Kong game designed by Michael Ancel and published by Ubisoft. In the last several years, numerous licensed videogame adaptations of major summer and holiday blockbusters were released a few days before or a few days after their respective films, including: all three Star Wars films (1999–2005); all five Harry Potter films (2001–2008); all three Spider-Man films (2002–2007); Hulk (2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002); The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003); The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005); Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006); Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007); and Transformers (2007). These multimedia franchises have made it more difficult to distinguish the production of films and videogames as separate enterprises.

3. ^ Not related to the Marvel franchise.

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