Trilogy
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{{otheruses|Trilogy (disambiguation)}}
A '''trilogy''' is a set of three works of art, usually [[literature]], [[film]], or [[video games]], that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or three individual works.
Most trilogies are works of [[fiction]] involving the same characters or setting, such as ''[[The Deptford Trilogy]]'' of [[novel]]s by [[Robertson Davies]] or ''[[The Godfather]]'' films of [[Francis Ford Coppola]]. Others are connected only by theme: for example, each film of [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]]'s ''[[Three Colors]]'' trilogy explores one of the political ideals of the [[French Republic]] ([[Liberté, égalité, fraternité|liberty, equality, fraternity]]) and each novel in [[Paul Auster]]'s ''[[The New York Trilogy]]'' uses formats from [[detective fiction]] to explore [[existentialism|existential]] questions. Trilogies can also be connected in less obvious ways, such as "[[The Nova Trilogy]]" of novels by [[William S. Burroughs]], each written using [[Brion Gysin]]’s [[cut-up technique]].
Trilogies — and series in general — are common in [[science fiction]] and [[fantasy]] because of the artistic importance of complex ideas and the commercial importance of brand names.
Occasionally, the term is applied to music, such as the [[Berlin Trilogy]] of [[David Bowie]], linked together by their musical sound and lyrical themes, and the fact that part of them was recorded in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]].
A trilogy is different than a [[triptych]], which is three related or connected paintings that are created at one time and designed to be viewed as a single work.
==Ancient trilogies==
Trilogies date back to ancient times.
In the [[Dionysia]] festivals of [[ancient Greece]], for example, trilogies of [[Play (theatre)|plays]] were performed followed by a fourth [[satyr play]]. ''[[The Oresteia]]'' is the only surviving trilogy of these ancient Greek plays, originally performed at the festival in [[Athens]] in [[458 BC]]. The [[three Theban plays]], or [[Oedipus]] cycle, by [[Sophocles]], originating in [[5th century BC]], is not a true example of a trilogy because the plays were written at separate times and with different themes/purposes.
In [[History of India|ancient India]], an example of an early trilogy includes the [[Indian epic poetry|epic]] ''[[Mahabharata]]'', which originally consisted of three portions. [[Vyasa]]'s original core portion of the epic was the ''Jaya''. [[Vaisampayana]]'s ''Bharata'' expanded on the story, with Vyasa's ''Jaya'' embedded within it. Ugrasrava eventually composed the ''Mahabharata'', with both Vyasa's ''Jaya'' and Vaisampayana's ''Bharata'' embedded within the epic.
==Adding works to an existing trilogy==
Creators of trilogies may later add more works. In such a case, the original three works may or may not keep the title "trilogy."
[[Richard Wagner]]'s epic series of operas, ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'', is sometimes referred to as a trilogy even though it consists of four works: ''[[Das Rheingold]]'', ''[[Die Walküre]]'', ''[[Siegfried]]'', and ''[[Götterdämmerung]]''. The first work, ''Das Rheingold'', is more correctly considered a prelude despite the fact that it is longer than most operas. After this prelude, which sets up the story, the trilogy begins with ''Die Walküre''. Performances of ''The Ring'' are usually billed as three nights plus a prelude.
The films ''[[Batman (1989 movie)|Batman]]'', ''[[Batman Returns]]'', and ''[[Batman Forever]]'' were released on home video in [[1995]] as the "Batman Trilogy", but after the [[1997]] release of ''[[Batman and Robin]]'', a new package containing all the films was called the "Batman Legacy".
By contrast, [[The Foundation Series]] by [[Isaac Asimov]] originally consisted of ''[[Foundation (novel)|Foundation]], [[Foundation and Empire]]'' and ''[[Second Foundation]]'' and was considered a trilogy. Asimov wrote several more Foundation books and [[retcon|retroactively incorporated]] many of his other works into the [[continuity (fiction)|continuity]] of the series. Despite this, the first three books are still considered a trilogy because they contain a story that is self-contained. Further complicating the matter, the ''Foundation'' series was originally eight short stories and novelettes written for science fiction magazines; its division into three books is more or less incidental.
The first three novels in the ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' series were dubbed a trilogy, and even after he extended the series to five novels, author [[Douglas Adams]], for humorous effect, continued to dub it a trilogy. He even called ''[[Mostly Harmless]]'' "the fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named trilogy".
The six ''[[Star Wars]]'' films are generally separated into two trilogies; the "original trilogy" (the three films released between 1977 and 1983) and the "prequel trilogy" (the three films released between 1999 and 2005, which take place before the original three films).
==Unofficial or mistaken trilogies==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:LotR book1968.png|thumb|right|300px|Dust jacket of a 1969 collected edition of ''The Lord of the Rings.'' J. R. R. Tolkien originally meant the work to be published in one volume.]] -->
Sometimes a trio of works is known as a trilogy not in regard to [[Continuity (fiction)|continuity]], but rather to its creator. For example, before [[Quentin Tarantino]]'s [[Kill Bill|fourth film]] was released, his films ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'', ''[[Pulp Fiction (film)|Pulp Fiction]]'', and ''[[Jackie Brown (movie)|Jackie Brown]]'' were sometimes referred to as "the Quentin Tarantino trilogy," although the stories of the three films hardly interconnected. In an almost similar vein, Hitchcock's ''[[Rear Window]]'' (1954), ''[[Vertigo (film)|Vertigo]]'' (1958) and ''[[Psycho]]'' (1960) are widely considered as his trilogy about [[voyeurism]].
Three works with similar themes from a creator may later come to be known as a trilogy, especially if produced one after the other. The [[Steven Spielberg]] films ''[[A.I. (movie)|A.I.: Artificial Intelligence]]'', ''[[Minority Report (movie)|Minority Report]]'', and ''[[Catch Me If You Can]]'' are unofficially known as "the running man trilogy," despite the vastly different settings and characters, because each featured a main character escaping a pursuer. [[Terry Gilliam]] has dubbed his films ''[[Time Bandits]]'', ''[[Brazil (movie)|Brazil]]'' and ''[[The Adventures of Baron Munchausen]]'' as "The Imagination Trilogy", in that each movie has to do with the imagination of humans in the three stages of life; child, man, elder man. Another example is the [[Dollars Trilogy]] by [[Sergio Leone]]; no continuity between the three movies was intended by Leone, but American marketers advertised the Clint Eastwood character in each film as being the same "[[Man with No Name]]".
One of the most popular "trilogies" of [[fantasy]] books, ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' by [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], is not a trilogy, though it is often referred to as such. Tolkien regarded it as a single work and divided it into a prologue, six books, and five appendices. Because of post-[[World War II]] [[paper]] shortages, it was originally published in three volumes. Sir [[Stanley Unwin (publisher)|Stanley Unwin]], Tolkien's publisher, also split the novel into three parts to garner separate book reviews and (hopefully) spike book sales. It is still most commonly sold as three volumes, but has also been published in one-volume and seven-volume editions (as it is also split into six books and the appendices).
Occasionally, more than three works are planned but never finished. The [[Gormenghast series|Gormenghast]] fantasy trilogy is a trilogy by default, as author [[Mervyn Peake]] planned to write more novels set in that fictional world until his health failed.
In contrast, some works that were originally intended to be trilogies have been reclassified due to subsequent additions. [[The Inheritance Trilogy]] by [[Christopher Paolini]] is an example of this. Paolini changed the name of his series to [[The Inheritance Cycle]], having announced that he would be writing a fourth book. However, [[Star Wars]] is an example of how the three original works may be regarded as a trilogy and the works thereafter as separate.
==Famous trilogies==
===Novels===
*[[The Barrytown Trilogy]] (1987-1991) by [[Roddy Doyle]]
*The Border trilogy (1992-1998) by [[Cormac McCarthy]]
*The [[Bourne Trilogy]] (1980-1990) by [[Robert Ludlum]]
*The [[Cairo Trilogy]] (1956-1958) by [[Naguib Mahfouz]]
*[[Condor Trilogy|The Condor Trilogy]] (1957-61) by [[Jinyong]]
*[[The Deptford Trilogy]], [[The Cornish Trilogy]], [[The Salterton Trilogy]] by [[Robertson Davies]]
*[[The Foundation Trilogy]] (1950-1953) by [[Isaac Asimov]]
*The Gormenghast trilogy (1950-1962) by [[Mervyn Peake]]
*[[His Dark Materials]] (1995 - 2000) trilogy by [[Philip Pullman]]
*The Malayan trilogy (1956-1959) by [[Anthony Burgess]]
*[[Mars trilogy|The Mars trilogy]] (1992-96) by [[Kim Stanley Robinson]]
*[[The New York Trilogy]] (1985-86) by [[Paul Auster]]
*[[The Nova Trilogy]] (1961-64) by [[William S. Burroughs]]
*The Regeneration trilogy (1990-1995) by [[Pat Barker]]
*the [[Sprawl trilogy]] (1984-88) by [[William Gibson]]
*The [[Sword of Honour]] (1952-1968) trilogy by [[Evelyn Waugh]]
*[[To the Ends of the Earth]] (1980-1989) trilogy by [[William Golding]]
*[[U.S.A. trilogy|The U.S.A. trilogy]] (1930-36) by [[John Dos Passos]]
*[[VALIS trilogy|The VALIS trilogy]] (1978-81) by [[Philip K. Dick]]
===Movies===
{{Main|List of movie trilogies}}
* The [[Apu trilogy]] from (1955 to 1959) Directed by [[Satyajit Ray]]
* [[Back to the Future trilogy|Back to the Future]] (1985 to 1990) Directed by [[Robert Zemeckis]]
* [[Dollars Trilogy]] (1964 to 1966) Directed by [[Sergio Leone]]
* [[The Godfather]] (1972 to 1990) Directed by [[Francis Ford Coppola]]
* [[The Lord of the Rings film trilogy|The ''Lord of the Rings'' Trilogy]] (2001 to 2003) Directed by [[Peter Jackson]]
* [[Mexico Trilogy]] from (1992 to 2003) Directed by [[Robert Rodriguez]]
* [[Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)|Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy]] (2003 to 2007) Directed by [[Gore Verbinski]]
* [[Star Wars original trilogy|The original ''Star Wars'' Trilogy]] (1977 to 1983) Written by [[George Lucas]]
* [[The more recent Star Wars]] trilogy made by [[George Lucas]].
* [[Bourne Trilogy]] (2002 to 2007) based on the books by [[Robert Ludlum]]
* [[The Matrix Trilogy]] (1999 to 2003) Directed by the [[Wachowski brothers]]
===Video games===
*The [[Prince of Persia]] trilogy, produced on the [[PlayStation 2]], [[Xbox]], and [[Nintendo GameCube]]
*The [[Sonic the Hedgehog series|Sonic The Hedgehog]] trilogy, produced on [[Sega Genesis]]
*The [[Super Mario Bros]] trilogy, produced on [[Nintendo Entertainment System]]
*The [[Jak and Daxter]] trilogy, produced on [[PlayStation 2]].
*The [[Xenosaga]] trilogy, produced on PlayStation 2.
*The [[Sly Cooper]] trilogy, produced on PlayStation 2.
*The Donkey Kong Country trilogy, produced on [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] (SNES), then on the [[Game Boy Advance]].
*The Kirby's Dream Land trilogy, two produced for the [[Game Boy]] and one for the SNES.
*2D [[Mortal Kombat (series)|Mortal Kombat]] trilogy, originally on arcade and then released to home consoles.
*NES [[Final Fantasy]] trilogy, originally produced on the NES/Famicom and then remade on later consoles and handhelds.
*SNES Final Fantasy trilogy, originally produced on the Super NES/Super Famicom and then ported to or remade for later consoles and handhelds.
*''[[Ultima]]'' is sometimes considered "Trilogy of Trilogies" Ultimas I-III are the "Age of Darkness", Ultimas IV-VI are the "Age of Enlightenment", and Ultimas VII-IX are the "Age of Armageddon".
*The [[Metroid Prime]] trilogy, for the Nintendo GameCube and the [[Wii]].
*The [[Halo (series)]] trilogy, from the Xbox to the [[Xbox 360]]
*The [[The Legend of Spyro]] trilogy for the [[PlayStation 3]], Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii and Xbox 360.
==See also==
{{wiktionary|trilogy}}
* [[Sequel]]
* [[Duology]]
* [[Tetralogy]]
* [[Heptalogy]]
[[Category:Film series]]
[[Category:Narrative forms]]
[[Category:Series of books|*]]
[[Category:Trilogies|*]]
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