Paradox space

For the MS Paint Adventures sister project, see Paradox Space.

Earth, next to the Homestuck Kids' Incipisphere, as viewed in the Skyship Base.

Paradox space is the reality in which Homestuck takes place. It is composed of numerous universes, Sburb sessions, and the Furthest Ring. Paradox space is so-named due to the temporal paradoxes which help propagate its existence. Universes and sessions can be best defined as "places that have their own chronology", while the Furthest Ring exists outside the domain of any universe and lacks a stabilized spacetime.

Universes

Universe A

Pre-scratch troll "Beforan" universe (A1)

Main article: Beforus

This was the Alternian universe before its Sgrub players initiated the scratch. In this universe the troll ancestors were the players. Almost nothing was known about what occurred during the Sgrub session spawned by this universe before the introduction of the pre-scratch trolls. Doc Scratch claims that the players were unprepared to win, as the trolls used to be a quite peaceful race. However he also claims that their failure was more than simple inadequacy on their part, as the session was affected by a subtle glitch where the players were not created in their own session. Instead, the troll players and their ectobiological relatives came "from a reality not yet conceived". This glitch triggers "an unfathomable cascade of misfortune throughout paradox space" that renders the session unwinnable. It also serves as the calling card of Lord English, who uses it to reserve "his place in a universe for later visitation". As a result of scratching their session, the players were swapped with their ancestors, who became the new players.

This universe contains the planet Beforus, home to the pre-scratch trolls before they entered their session.

Post-scratch troll "Alternian" universe (A2)

Main article: Alternia

The trolls' universe holds their home planet, Alternia, as well as several unnamed planets conquered by the Condesce. Post-apocalyptic Alternia is also home to the Midnight Crew and the Felt. It was created when the original 12 Sgrub players failed to complete their session and initiated the scratch.

Universe B

Pre-scratch Earth universe (B1)

Main article: Earth

Earth is the home planet of the Homestuck Kids, their Guardians, and the Exiles (in the future). This universe was created by the trolls' Sgrub session.

Post-scratch Earth universe (B2)

Main article: Earth

This universe is a hard reset version of the universe described above, created when John Egbert finished the scratch after Dave's Bro initiated it. Though occupying the same physical space as B1, it contains several differences from the pre-scratch universe. The original kids and the remaining trolls entered the Sburb session spawned by this universe.

Universe C

This universe is the one in which the cherubs Calliope and Caliborn originate, and where Future post-scratch Earth was moved to after its original universe was destroyed. It was later revealed to actually be the universe created by the post-scratch kids' session. Trolls are abundant in this universe, after Kanaya re-created the troll race on Earth C.

Incipispheres

Main article: Incipisphere

An Incipisphere is a much smaller universe/dimension, located outside (and around) normal universes, created for every session of Sburb. Players are transported there after using their Cruxite artifacts and spend the rest of the game there.

There are six Incipispheres mentioned throughout the story so far:

• The pre-scratch kids' Incipisphere
• The post-scratch kids' Incipisphere
• The post-scratch trolls' Incipisphere
• The pre-scratch trolls' Incipisphere
• The cherubs' Incipisphere
• The Incipisphere fedorafreak is currently in

We have observed, in some sense, every one but fedorafreak's.

The Furthest Ring

Main article: Furthest Ring

The Furthest Ring is a timeless void beyond the furthest reaches of all Incipisphere instances and technically not a universe. It is the home of the Horrorterrors, as well as the servers containing Rose's walkthrough and the ~ATH code for summoning Lord English. The Green Sun is the most prominent feature here.

Interaction between Universes

Although the players abandon their home planet early on in the game, Skaia sends hundreds of meteors from The Veil to different parts of the home planet's timeline through space/time portals. Most meteors go directly before the players' entry to The Medium to provide an impetus for entering in the first place. Others send things to the host planet such as Exiles, paradox clones, laboratories, and Frog Temples. Additionally, the game allows players access to the internet of their host planet.

At present, the only interaction between Earth/The kids' Incipisphere and the Alternia/The trolls' Incipisphere is through internet communication. The trolls, after finishing their session, troll the kids from their session's Veil. Kanaya was also able to download Rose's walkthrough. Additionally, Vriska's and Tavros's psychic powers can be used across universes, but they are limited and take more effort to use. Communication between doomed timelines and other universes seems to however be impossible. However, at some point a rift (originally believed to be the scratch) opened up between them, which sent Jack Noir to the trolls' incipisphere before they could claim The Ultimate Reward. He brings with him Lil Cal and Dad's wallet, which contains the Crosbytop, later/earlier used by Aradia Megido and Spades Slick. Jade ends up with what may be one of Doc Scratch's magic cue balls, which Rose later learns to use. How it got to Jade's tower in the first place is currently unknown, but may be caused by time shenanigans combined with the kids and trolls exchanging captcha codes. Communication between a pre-scratch session and it's post-scratch counterpart is also possible as Jade and Jake have been known to talk to each other.

Trivia

• At one point when talking to Jane, Calliope describes the day of Jane's entry as “a day delivered throUgh eighty billion years and foUr distinct Universal instances worth of Unfathomable tUrbUlence.” Since our universe is 13.75 billion years old, and the B1 and B2 kids entered in nearly identical time periods (less than a million years' difference, and therefore negligible in the terms we're using), then that means the total time in Earth's two universal iterations is 27.5 billion years, and the total length of time in Alternia's two universal iterations is 52.5 billion years.
• The terms "Alpha" and "Beta" have also been used to disambiguate between universal instances and the players from them. Instances of Earth's universe are identified by which pre-release Sburb version they play, with B1 being Beta and B2 being Alpha. For the trolls, the order is reversed, with A1 being Alpha and A2 being Beta.
  • In the first part of Openbound, Rose refers to the B2 kids as “#Alpha players”. During that same game, Meenah refers to her plan to reunite the A1 trolls as an “#alpha troll reunion yo”.
  • Calliope describes the "coil of causality" the kids must escape as spanning “from alpha to beta, then beta to alpha, as if a moUntain to be scaled and then climbed back down.”
  • Vriska has called Aranea her “alpha sister”.
• Both Beta instances of the universes, A2 and B1, were the ones where the players were created.