What are considered the main universes of the DC Universe?

[ButterRum]

Marvel's main universe is 616 and is pretty straightforward, but DC's main universes are a bit complicated. So what are the main universes of the DC Universe?

We know Batman Beyond, Red Son, etc., are alternate universes, so what are the main universes?

Earth-21 - New Frontier
Earth-22 - Kingdom Come - main?
Earth-23
Earth-30 - Red Son
Earth-31 - All-Star Universe
Earth-353
Earth-44 - Metal Men
Earth-51 - Utopia
Earth-9 - Tangent
Earth-A - Lawless League
JL 3000
Pax Batmana
Polyester Age
Post Crisis
Post Flashpoint
Animated Universe
Earth-43 - Red Rain
Injustice
New Order
One Million
2020
2965
2999
All-Star Superman
Earth -44
Earth One - Post Crisis
Earth-0
Titans Tomorrow
Earth-1 - Pre Crisis - main?
Golden Age
Earth-14 - Assassins
Earth-15 - Legacy Earth
Earth-16 - The Just
Earth-2 - Post-Flashpoint - main ?
Earth-2 - Pre Crisis - main ?

[Güicho]

..............

[Osiris-Rex]

Is this just for the comic books? Because off the top of my head I know on TV we have Earth-1, Earth-2, Earth-19, Earth-38, and Earth-X

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the main Earths were Earth-1, home of the Justice League, Earth-2, home of the Justice Society, and Earth-S, home to the Shazam characters. There were other Earths like the Nazi-ruled Earth-X, sure, but these three got the most attention and had ongoing series set on those worlds. The only other Earths that kept popping up pretty regularly were Earth-3, home of the evil JLA doppelgangers, the Crime Syndicate, the cartoon animal Earth-C of Captain Carrot & The Zoo Crew, and Earth-Prime, where we live. Earth-4 was retroactively home to all the Charlton Action Heroes comics of Blue Beetle, The Question and Captain Atom.

All these Earths were rolled up into one merged world known as New Earth for the Post-Crisis era.

When the Multiverse returned following Infinite Crisis, New Earth, now re-dubbed Earth-0 continued to be the only main Earth, but all of the various Elseworlds stories of the Post-Crisis period were now assigned to the reborn Multiverse of 52 Earths. The other Earths would pop up in different stories, but Earth-0 got the vast majority of the attention because the entirety of this new Multiverse is built upon Earth-0.

After the New 52 reboot, all comics remained on Earth-0, except for the Earth-2 ongoing comic starring the rebooted JSA characters. Because Earth-0 is the keystone to the Multiverse, when its history was radically reshaped, so were the many of the 52 Earths.

Currently, all DC comics are set on Earth-0, although there will be a new monthly Freedom Fighters set on Earth-X soon.

[ButterRum]

Prior to Crisis on Infinite Earths, the main Earths were Earth-1, home of the Justice League, Earth-2, home of the Justice Society, and Earth-S, home to the Shazam characters. There were other Earths like the Nazi-ruled Earth-X, sure, but these three got the most attention and had ongoing series set on those worlds. The only other Earths that kept popping up pretty regularly were Earth-3, home of the evil JLA doppelgangers, the Crime Syndicate, the cartoon animal Earth-C of Captain Carrot & The Zoo Crew, and Earth-Prime, where we live. Earth-4 was retroactively home to all the Charlton Action Heroes comics of Blue Beetle, The Question and Captain Atom.

All these Earths were rolled up into one merged world known as New Earth for the Post-Crisis era.

When the Multiverse returned following Infinite Crisis, New Earth, now re-dubbed Earth-0 continued to be the only main Earth, but all of the various Elseworlds stories of the Post-Crisis period were now assigned to the reborn Multiverse of 52 Earths. The other Earths would pop up in different stories, but Earth-0 got the vast majority of the attention because the entirety of this new Multiverse is built upon Earth-0.

After the New 52 reboot, all comics remained on Earth-0, except for the Earth-2 ongoing comic starring the rebooted JSA characters. Because Earth-0 is the keystone to the Multiverse, when its history was radically reshaped, so were the many of the 52 Earths.

Currently, all DC comics are set on Earth-0, although there will be a new monthly Freedom Fighters set on Earth-X soon.

Thanks for the info.

Is the Batman in this comic considered a main universe character if it's post flashpoint? https://www.dccomics.com/comics/batman-2011/batman-1

[Bored at 3:00AM]

Thanks for the info.

Is the Batman in this comic considered a main universe character if it's post flashpoint? https://www.dccomics.com/comics/batman-2011/batman-1

Yes, that's the Batman of Earth-0, which was mostly rebooted during the New 52. However, Batman and Green Lantern have managed to survive most continuity revamps relatively intact. The Batman of Earth-0 is the same Batman from Pre-Flashpoint, Post-Crisis and Pre-Crisis. Furthermore, the Batman of Earth-1 & Earth-2 were pretty much the same guy, except different ages.

[Aahz]

After the New 52 reboot, all comics remained on Earth-0, except for the Earth-2 ongoing comic starring the rebooted JSA characters. Because Earth-0 is the keystone to the Multiverse, when its history was radically reshaped, so were the many of the 52 Earths.

Currently, all DC comics are set on Earth-0, although there will be a new monthly Freedom Fighters set on Earth-X soon.

There is still an Earth One where all the Earth One Graphic novels take place.

[ButterRum]

Yes, that's the Batman of Earth-0, which was mostly rebooted during the New 52. However, Batman and Green Lantern have managed to survive most continuity revamps relatively intact. The Batman of Earth-0 is the same Batman from Pre-Flashpoint, Post-Crisis and Pre-Crisis. Furthermore, the Batman of Earth-1 & Earth-2 were pretty much the same guy, except different ages.

What about the Batman from Earth 2 Post Flashpoint who was Helena Wayne's father?

[Jackalope89]

What about the Batman from Earth 2 Post Flashpoint who was Helena Wayne's father?

Nothing has been shown since Rebirth kicked off, but last seen, Bruce was still dead, but Thomas Wayne was somehow alive and took over the cowl.

[Buried Alien]

Golden Age (retroactively), 1938-1956: Pre-COIE Earth-Two

Silver/Bronze Age, 1956-1986: Pre-COIE Earth-One

Post-COIE, 1986-2006: Post-COIE Earth (it was never officially given a name)

Post-INFINITE CRISIS, 2006-2011: New Earth (named in the final issue of INFINITE CRISIS)

Post-FLASHPOINT (New 52), 2011-2016: Prime Earth (not to be confused with Earth-Prime from Pre-COIE)

REBIRTH era, 2016-current: I don't know if the current main DC Earth has an official designation.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[ButterRum]

Golden Age (retroactively), 1938-1956: Pre-COIE Earth-Two

Silver/Bronze Age, 1956-1986: Pre-COIE Earth-One

Post-COIE, 1986-2006: Post-COIE Earth (it was never officially given a name)

Post-INFINITE CRISIS, 2006-2011: New Earth (named in the final issue of INFINITE CRISIS)

Post-FLASHPOINT (New 52), 2011-2016: Prime Earth (not to be confused with Earth-Prime from Pre-COIE)

REBIRTH era, 2016-current: I don't know if the current main DC Earth has an official designation.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

So Golden Age superheroes are considered alternate characters even though they made their first appearances there?

[Buried Alien]

So Golden Age superheroes are considered alternate characters even though they made their first appearances there?

After their reemergence in the early 1960s, yes. Pre-COIE Earth-Two was taken to be where all the Golden Age DC events took place.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Bored at 3:00AM]

There is still an Earth One where all the Earth One Graphic novels take place.

Yes, completely forgot about them.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

After their reemergence in the early 1960s, yes. Pre-COIE Earth-Two was taken to be where all the Golden Age DC events took place.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Agreed. With Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, it was a bit tricky to distinguish between their Earth-1 and Earth-2 counterparts because they never stopped being published like Jay Garrick, Alan Scott and the rest of the Golden Age characters.

The Superman of Earth-2, for instance, was meant to be the Golden Age Superman, but bore very little resemblance to the character that appeared in the vast majority of the 1940s and 50s because DC wanted to make him more distinct from the Earth-1 Superman, who was the exact same character, but with a career as Superboy retconned into his early years after 1945.

[DrNewGod]

The Superman of Earth-2, for instance, was meant to be the Golden Age Superman, but bore very little resemblance to the character that appeared in the vast majority of the 1940s and 50s because DC wanted to make him more distinct from the Earth-1 Superman, who was the exact same character, but with a career as Superboy retconned into his early years after 1945.

The revisions to some of the longer lasting characters is part of what made this whole multiverse thing messy.

For instance, while the early Superman stories didn't explicitly rule out the idea of the character having had costumed adventures in his youth, the Superboy stories contradicted some things established in earlier stories. Among these were the look of Superman's original costume, his original power set, when he learned of his alien heritage, and when he first encountered both Lex Luthor, and Kryptonite.

Some of other characters who weren't cancelled between 1950-1956 had similar canonical issues. Batman's butler Alfred was introduced years after Batman's debut, but as time passed, Alfred morphed into being a Wayne family retainer whose service predated Batman's birth. Aquaman was originally mutated by his human father, but later was characterized as an exiled prince of Atlantis.

The thing you have to remember is that nobody was really keeping careful track of all this historical canon, or thinking out the implications of all this world building because they assumed they'd have 100% customer turnover every few years. In the minds of DC's editors and publishers, their customers were boys of about 5-12 years old, who would drop the product when they aged beyond that, and were being constantly replaced by a new batch of younger boys. It wasn't until the early 1980s that DC seemed to catch on to the idea that the median age of their readers was increasing.

What's more, this aging customer base remembered the past. Even those who hadn't been around for the originals were starting to hunt down and collect back issues. The fans, and perhaps especially, the fans that became comicbook creators themselves, began to try reconciling all of this disparate stuff into a coherent history. Roy Thomas was probably the most consistent writer pursuing that goal, although he was hardly alone.