History Main / SimultaneousArcs

* ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick'' did a story in which [[EvilTwin Nale]] switched places with Elan; after the switch, Elan and Thog were put in jail, after which the comic followed Nale's infiltration of the Order over about four days of in-story time, leading up to an attempt to murder Haley - at which point Sabine rushes in, and then Elan and Thog crash through the window. The very next strip rewinds to when the twins switched places, but this time follows Elan and Thog as they escape from jail, Elan literally [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]], and they track down Nale, culminating in them jumping though that window.

* {{Coupling}} does this in a few episodes. 9 1/2 minutes (The first of season 4) is probably the most obvious example.
* ''{{Lost}}'' has done this in increasing amounts since season three. Episode 3x01 tells what's happening to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer after the season 2 finale. Episode 3x02 shows what's happening to Sun, Jin, and Sayid. Episode 3x03 shows what's happening back at the beach camp with Locke and others. Season five has delved into this style even further, with some episodes focusing only on those still on the island and others focusing entirely on those who left (though "simultaneous" is somewhat a relative term when time travel is happening.)
* ''BattlestarGalactica'' did this in Season four with ''Sine Qua Non'' and ''The Hub'', which first showed the Fleet's story, and in the next episode the base star's simultaneous adventures.

* Some of the events depicted from Spike's perspective in the ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Fool For Love" are shown from Darla's in the ''{{Angel}}'' episode "Darla" (which originally aired back-to-back with it).

* ''[[KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days]]'' takes place at the same time ''Chain of Memories'' from Roxas's point of view. It starts not long before the events of ''Chain of Memories'' and continues until just before ''KingdomHeartsII'' when [[spoiler:Roxas fights Riku and loses,]] which then kicks off the prologue of ''KHII''.

* A season 3 episode of ''{{Alias}}'' did this: the first half followed Sydney and Vaughn around, while the second half repeated the first half's events from Sark and Lauren's POV.

* ''BoogiepopPhantom'' is a possible example. In general, the whole anime is a complete MindScrew and its extremely difficult to determine when exactly certain events took place or even to get a decent grasp on what is actually going on. There are several events that are shown multiple times, however, and each time it is shown, it is from a different perspective.

* Book Eleven of ''SchlockMercenary'' involves the crew splitting up to raise money for repairs, but early on, the LemonyNarrator informs us that in seven hundred or so hours, they will be summoned back following an ominous call from Petey to Kerchak. Each of the Toughs' groups then have their own story, with the Narrator frequently butting in to inform us the exact time until the fateful call occurs.

* The ''{{Siren}}'' games follow this trope nicely, each game consists of around ten different characters experiencing the apocalyptic events simultaneously over the course of a few days and the story is told through snippets of the story told out of chronological order via a little timetable style level selector. Being told like this the story is very hard to follow at times and very disjointing when one minute your playing Kai on 'day 3, 10:00am' then suddenly your back to day 1 morning. Once you do have a dencent handle on the story though it is pretty rewarding.

* ''TheOrderOfTheStick'' did a story in which [[EvilTwin Nale]] switched places with Elan; after the switch, Elan and Thog were put in jail, after which the comic followed Nale's infiltration of the Order over about four days of in-story time, leading up to an attempt to murder Haley - at which point Sabine rushes in, and then Elan and Thog crash through the window. The very next strip rewinds to when the twins switched places, but this time follows Elan and Thog as they escape from jail, Elan literally [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]], and they track down Nale, culminating in them jumping though that window.

* ''[[EndersGame Ender's Game]]'' and ''Ender's Shadow'' are told in this style, being told from the perspectives of Ender and Bean, respectively. While there are events that occur for both characters, a good portion of each book (usually the first half) is only ever vaguely referenced in the other, if even that.

* ''{{Film/Go}}'' employs at least three simultaneous storylines: one with a group of club kids, one with a B-list star and his friend, and one with a narcotics officer. Some stories start earlier, and others finish later, but they overlap and intersect in several places.

* ''{{Film/Go}}'' is basically about this.

* ''{{Invincible}}'' has the Sequid arc (starring Invincible, the Immortal, Atom Eve, Robot, and Bulletproof) simultaneously occurring with the Lizard League arc (starring Rex Splode, Dupli Kate, and Shrinking Ray).

* ''{{Go}}'' is basically about this.

* Some of the events depicted from Spike's perspective in the ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Fool For Love" are shown from Darla's in the ''{{Angel}}'' episode "Darla".

Lets say you have several different characters and each one has [[PlotThreads their own separate journey]] for at least a portion of the story. These characters may or may not [[YouAllShareMyStory meet up with one another later on]], but for now they are all on their own and their journeys, while they may be related, are independent of one another at least for the time being. There are two ways of handling this: One way would be to tell every single event in chronological order, frequently cutting from one character to the next, and then to the next as each event plays out. This first method would be known as TwoLinesNoWaiting. For obvious reasons, stories told in RealTime would have to do it this way.

* ''{{Lost}}'' has done this in increasing amounts since season 3. Episode 3x01 tells what's happening to Jack, Kate, and Sawyer after the season 2 finale. Episode 3x02 shows what's happening to Sun, Jin, and Sayid. Episode 3x03 shows what's happening back at the beach camp with Locke and others. Season 5 has delved into this style even further, with some episodes focusing only on those still on the island and others focusing entirely on those who left (though "simultaneous" is somewhat a relative term when time travel is happening.)
* ''BattlestarGalactica'' did this in Season 4 with ''Sine Qua Non'' and ''The Hub'', which first showed the Fleet's story, and in the next episode the base star's simultaneous adventures.

* A storyline of ''CollegeRoomiesfromHell!'' does this, following one character at a time over the course of the same week. It's kind of confusing until the end, but awesome nevertheless.

* The events of ''{{Saw}} III'' and ''Saw IV'' occur simultaneously.
* Each of the characters stories in {{Hoodwinked}}.

* ''[[EndersGame Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow]]'' are told in this style, being told from the perspectives of Ender and Bean, respectively. While there are events that occur for both characters, a good portion of each book (usually the first half) is only ever vaguely referenced in the other, if even that.
* ASongOfIceAndFire - Many chapters occur at the same time as other chapters, and the first 800 pages of ''A Dance With Dragons'' will take place during the same time period as ''A Feast for Crows.''
* In Jean Auel's [[EarthsChildren Valley of the Horses]], the chapters alternatively tell the story of, on one hand, Ayla, and on the other, Jondalar and his brother Thonolan as they travel across Europe. Only near the end do they merge as the brothers reach said valley.
* The LemonySnicket book based in the hotel does this with each of the three siblings, which is especially confusing when [[spoiler: they each meet one of the twins at exactly the same time]].
** Book the Twelfth. ''The Penultimate Peril''.

* {{CSI}} "4 x 4"
* {{Dollhouse}} "A Spy In A House Of Love"

* {{The Sarah Connor Chronicles}} episode "Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today", the episode where [[spoiler:the protagonists finally succeed in destroying Cromartie's chip]]. One of the more well-done episodes of the series.

* The {{Siren}} (Forbidden Siren in Europe) games follow this trope nicely, each game consists of around 10 different characters experiencing the apocalyptic events simultaneously over the course of a few days and the story is told through snippets of the story told out of chronological order via a little timetable style level selector. Being told like this the story is very hard to follow at times and very disjointing when one minute your playing Kai on 'day 3, 10:00am' then suddenly your back to day 1 morning. Once you do have a dencent handle on the story though it is pretty rewarding.
* ''HalfLife'' and its two expansions, ''Blue Shift'' and ''Opposing Force'', all take place during the same incident, with different heroes.
** Partially Averted in ''Opposing Force'' as Shepherd's story begins partway through the original game, but we do get to see what happens at Black Mesa after Freeman is transported to Xen.
*** Don't forget Half Life: Decay. In it, you play as TWO characters during the events of Half Life. If it wasn't for its co-op play, it would basically just be another Blue Shift.
* ''ResidentEvil 2'' was popular for its two-disc "zapping" system. You'd play through the game with one character, then you could start a NewGamePlus with the other. The game treats the two playthroughs as simultaneous, intertwining stories, and the things you did on the first playthrough affect the world in the second. In addition to this, the events of ''Resident Evil 3'' take place in the same general area, with the events of the second game taking place within the timeframe of the third.

* ''GTA IV'' and the episode packs for the xbox 360 all occur at the same time, with missions sometimes occuring from a different point of view, such as Elizabeta's coke deal that with Johnny and Niko, or Johny and Luis and the Diamonds.

* {{Phineas and Ferb}} also did this. One episode had the boys building a bubble type contraption after sending the Fireside Girls to go get some sap. The next episode showed the girls' POV; their adventure as well as that of a different secret agent.

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