Everything about Trilogy totally explained
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
novels 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 (
liberty, equality, fraternity) and each novel in
Paul Auster's
The New York Trilogy uses formats from
detective fiction to explore
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
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, isn't a true example of a trilogy because the plays were written at separate times and with different themes/purposes.
In
ancient India, an example of an early trilogy includes the
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's 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,
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, Foundation and Empire and
Second Foundation and was considered a trilogy. Asimov wrote several more Foundation books and
retroactively incorporated many of his other works into the
continuity of the series. Despite this, the first three books are still considered a trilogy because they contain a story that's 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
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).
The creator of the
Metal Gear series of video games,
Hideo Kojima, has stated that the six games to date are to be considered as two trilogies: the first comprising the
prequel,
Metal Gear and ; the second consisting of
Metal Gear Solid,, and the upcoming
Unofficial or mistaken trilogies
Sometimes a trio of works is known as a trilogy not in regard to
continuity, but rather to its creator. For example, before
Quentin Tarantino's
fourth film was released, his films
Reservoir Dogs,
Pulp Fiction, and
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 (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.: Artificial Intelligence,
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 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, isn't a trilogy, though it's 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, 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's also split into six books and the appendices).
Occasionally, more than three works are planned but never finished. The
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.
Famous trilogies
Novels
Movies
The Apu Trilogy from (1955 to 1959) Directed by Satyajit Ray
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 Trilogy (2001 to 2003) Directed by Peter Jackson
Mexico Trilogy from (1992 to 2003) Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (2003 to 2007) Directed by Gore Verbinski
The original Star Wars Trilogy (1977 to 1983) Written by George Lucas
Bourne Trilogy (2002-2007) based on the books by Robert Ludlum
Video games
The Prince of Persia trilogy, produced on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube.
The Sonic The Hedgehog trilogy, produced on Genesis.
The Super Mario Bros trilogy, produced on NES.
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 NES, then came out on Game Boy Advance.
The Kirby's Dream Land trilogy, two produced on Game Boy and one on SNES.
2D 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 Halo trilogy, for the Xbox and Xbox 360.
The Metroid Prime trilogy, for the Gamecube and the Wii.Further Information
Get more info on 'Trilogy'.
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