Cross-canon Counterpart

Synonyms:	Alternate Character
See also:	Fannish Drift, in cases where characterization gets muddled by fan responses to certain canons over other, leading to mischaracterization or lesser known cross-canon variants
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Cross-canon counterpart is a term coined by media fandom to describe characters in long-running franchises who may share names, character traits and backstories, yet exist in different canons. These canons often come from the type of media used to portray a story. For example, a movie series of an existing toyline is considered its own canon, and when characters from that canon share names with ones from an existing media, say, Transformers Animated, the two characters who share names are considered cross-canon counterparts. Even characters who do not share a name can also be considered such, and the two may be named the same thing by fans in fanworks if one name is more popular than the other. These are most associated with toylines, since companies like to keep their toy trademarks in use even when one canon ends.

In fannish circles, the cross-canon counterparts of popular characters often overshadow one another and muddle discussion such as sharing fanworks or writing meta. In fanworks, characterization may be an amalgamation of several of their incarnations or just one.

Cross-canon counterparts may be used for selfcest ships. These are not to be confused with characters with several fanon variants such as Once-ler and Sans, but some notable exceptions such as Pokémon's Red have both. This is also not to be confused with clones.

Fandoms with Cross-canon Counterparts

Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples.

• Transformers has these in spades. Even characters who share names may be completely independent of one another otherwise, since Hasbro likes to keep their toy trademarks active even if the canon the first characters were originally a part of is no longer creating toys.
• Pokémon has these in spades as well. Most protagonists and rivals of the series have Game, Anime and Manga variants, which means they have three main interpretations total. Even minor characters have cross-canon appearances, which often just get amalgamated into one character in discussion and in fanworks.
• My Little Pony has some examples, notably Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who have very different characterizations depending on the "generation" of MLP's animated media.
• Gegege no Kitaro, with its several separate anime iterations