.hack

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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 four games for the PlayStation 2 console, an anime series and novels, to name a few sources of output. The franchise primarily surrounds a future in which one operating system, ALTIMIT OS, is used by all computers in the world due to various computer viruses (in particular, one named Pluto's Kiss) that crashed the Internet and shut down all networked computer and communication network control systems on December 24, 2005. from that point on, ALTIMIT OS became the only major operating system in the world; this is credited to its remarkable stability.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The primary focus of the franchise, however, is the popular MMORPG The World which had over four million users upon its launch. The series focuses on a particular set of incidents termed The Twilight Incident, in which multiple users were forced into a coma while playing the game. Most of the stories surround an AI named Aura, Morganna (an AI programmed to watch over Aura, but which went rogue once she realized that Aura's awakening would mean that Morganna would no longer be needed), Aura's "child" Zefie, or various other anomalous AIs.

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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 because of an early fan-translated version) 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.)

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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" [previously released with the Rena Special Pack in Japan], ".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 will be released in North America in June 13, 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 games and completed it. (In Japan, you could only watch GIFT if you were able to get the Data Flag on your file in .hack//QUARANTINE, hence the reason why there is a Data Flag in the English version with no use.) It is predominantly a comedy that makes fun of everything that developed throughout the series, even the franchise's own shortcomings.
.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 that has recently been discontinued.
.hack//frägment, the first .hack ORPG (Online Role-Playing Game). It has recently been released in Japan. No information has been released on frägment 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 video games.
.hack//G.U., a "sequel" of sorts to .hack and its various branches. It contains its own branches and storylines.