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For the PlayStation 2 video game series by the same name, see .hack (video games).

.hack (pronounced dot-hack) is a multimedia franchise primarily created by Bandai. The series encompasses seven games for the PlayStation 2 console, an anime series and manga, as well as novels. The franchise primarily surrounds a future in which one operating system, ALTIMIT OS, is used by nearly all computers in the world due to a computer virus named Pluto's Kiss that crashed the Internet, shut down all networked computer and communication network control systems, and sent hundreds of PC users into seizures on December 24, 2005. From that point on, ALTIMIT OS became the only major operating system in the world, and the only OS allowed on the Internet. This is credited to its remarkable stability. Current developments of the franchise, including three new additions to the .hack video game series, are part of .hack//G.U..

The primary focus of the franchise, however, is the popular MMORPG The World, the first network game to be allowed to run after the events of Pluto's Kiss. It was wildly popular, with over four million users signing up at its launch. The series focuses on a particular set of events known collectively as The Twilight Incident, in which multiple users were forced into a coma while playing the game. Most of the stories revolve around a group of AI, including Aura, Morganna, Aura's "child" Zefie, and various other anomalous AI.

Main storylines

The four initial storylines of the franchise were:

  • .hack//SIGN, an anime series surrounding the character Tsukasa and his inability to log out of The World.
  • .hack, a series of four PlayStation 2 games that follow the story of the .hackers, Kite and BlackRose, and their attempts to find out what caused the sudden coma of Kite's friend, Orca, and BlackRose's brother, Kazu. The four volumes are known as .hack//INFECTION, .hack//MUTATION, .hack//OUTBREAK, and .hack//QUARANTINE, respectively.
  • .hack//Liminality, a set of four DVD OVAs included with the games that follow the story of Mai Minase, Yuki Aihara, Kyoko Touno, and ex-CyberConnect employee Junichiro Tokuoka as they attempt to find out what is causing the comas.
  • .hack//Legend of the Twilight (also incorrectly called .hack//DUSK, among other names, because of early fan-translated versions) is a manga and anime series that follows the player characters Shugo and Rena, as they win a mysterious contest that earns them chibi-fied character models of the legendary .hackers Kite and BlackRose (from the .hack PlayStation 2 games).

Other storylines

Other storylines of the franchise that were created later were:

  • .hack//AI buster, a novel telling the story of Albireo and a prototype of the ultimate AI, Lycoris, and of how Orca and Balmung defeated 'The One Sin' and became the Descendants of Fianna.
  • .hack//AI buster 2, a collection of stories involving the characters of AI Buster and Legend of the Twilight Bracelet. (".hack//2nd Character," ".hack//Wotan's Spear," ".hack//Kamui," ".hack//Rumor" , and ".hack//Firefly"). It has now been released in America as well.
  • .hack//Another Birth, a novelization of the .hack games, from BlackRose's point of view. All four volumes have been released in Japan. The first volume was released in North America on June 13, 2006. The second volume was released in October 2006.
  • .hack//GIFT, a self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek, one-episode OVA that was created as a "gift" for those who had bought all 4 .hack games and completed it (in Japan, one could only watch GIFT if the Data Flag on the memory card file in .hack//QUARANTINE was present, whereas the American version included GIFT on the fourth Liminality DVD right from the get go.). It is predominantly a comedy that makes fun of everything that developed throughout the series, even the franchise's own shortcomings. Character designs are deliberately simplistic - Balmung wears a tie round his head in this title to symbolise that he is an office worker.
  • .hack//ZERO, a novel series that tells the story of a Long Arm named Curl, and of what happened to Sora after he was trapped in The World by Morganna.
  • .hack//ENEMY, a collectible card game created by Decipher Inc. based on the .hack storylines. It was discontinued after running five separate expansions between 2003-2005.
  • .hack//frägment, the first .hack ORPG (Online Role-Playing Game). It has recently been released in Japan. Bandai has announced at E3 '06 that frägment will not be coming to North America.
  • .hack//4koma, a manga series which throws a little humor into both the .hack and .hack//G.U. franchises alike.
  • .hack//XXXX (read as "X-Force"), a manga series that adapts the four original .hack video games.

Sequels

.hack//G.U. takes place seven years after the events of the video game installments. When a fire destroys the central database of the game, "The World" is rebuilt from parts of a different game project. This project includes the .hack//Roots anime and a trilogy of Playstation 2 games.

External links

.hack (list of media)
Video games dot hack
Anime and manga
Other
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