4 Video Game Crossovers and Spin-Offs You Had No Idea Were Canon

Among the many entertainment offerings available throughout nerd culture, few are as fun as crossover and spin-off events. Bringing together heroes and villains from different franchises for bloody brawls, dynamic team-ups and stories that can be as nonsensical as one could possibly imagine, they allow fans’ imaginations to step out into the real world and give form to speculations on who would beat who, or how good of friends certain characters would be. For these four series though, a quick nod wasn’t nearly enough, instead opting to make their crossovers canon to the targeted game’s story; and chances are you didn’t even realize it.

Video Game Crossovers and Spin-Offs You Had No Idea Were Canon

Pokémon and Nobunaga’s Ambition

Though there hasn’t been a confirmed timeline for the Pokémon universe, bits of lore do exist throughout each title which paint a picture as to how each game fits into the series. In addition to pieces of historical context for how people came to work alongside Pokémon, characters have commented on how their role might have changed in another life, hinting at the alternate storylines that occur based on which version of the game was played.

Not only that, but the most recent entries in the series, Sun and Moon, have hinted at the existence of multiple universes, allowing for such events as the formation of Team Rainbow Rocket using villains from universes where the player wasn’t present to stop them.

With these elements in mind, and to the shock of some fans out there, it becomes possible for Pokémon Conquest, a crossover between the Pokémon and Nobunaga’s Ambition series, to be canon to the series. While it does take place in an entirely new landmass not mentioned in earlier entries in the Pokémon series, the multiverse theory opens up an avenue of it occurring in the far-off past of one such universe.

Not only that, but legends and stories of wars waged with the titular creatures are scattered throughout the series, with a crucial plot point in versions X and Y revolving around a leader and conquerer accompanied by a single Pokémon at all times before it left his side.