A portrait of the work "Animal Man" (DC Comics), where an interaction of Reality-Fiction Transcendence is visible, with The Writer being merely a manifestation of those who exist completely beyond the fictional world he writes
What is Reality-Fiction Transcendence?
In fantasy and fiction, it is not uncommon to encounter scenarios where metafiction is evident. These scenarios frequently involve references to "higher beings" or "higher realities" that perceive lower realities as fiction, drawing a parallel to the relationship between real life and conventional fiction. Such concepts become especially prominent when beings equivalent to authors manifest within their works, interacting with their characters inside the fictional world. In other cases, explicit statements suggest that certain forms of existence perceive lower realities purely as fiction.
These higher beings or realities are often analogous to the relationship between real life and fiction. They perceive everything within the lower reality as non-existent and insignificant, to the extent that they can alter it effortlessly, merely through thought. This qualitative distance between levels of existence is a key factor in hierarchical classification within fictional cosmologies.
Defining Reality-Fiction Transcendence
Reality-Fiction Transcendence (often abbreviated as "R > F") refers to scenarios where a being or reality perceives another, lower reality as fiction. These entities or realms exist on a superior ontological level, being more real than the lower world. As a result, everything within the lower reality is treated as entirely fictional—akin to how we perceive fiction in real life—rendering it so insignificant that, from the higher perspective, all things within that world effectively dissolve into nonexistence.
For classification purposes, such beings are considered dimensionally superior to the lower world. This is because the very assertion of superior existence can be interpreted as a dimensional gap between the worlds. Just as three-dimensional beings perceive the entirety of a two-dimensional world as fundamentally nonexistent or trivial, a higher-dimensional entity would view a lower-dimensional reality as similarly insignificant. However, it is important to note that this classification is not based strictly on the mathematical concept of spatial dimensions but rather on the fundamental relationship between these levels of existence. Any being that transcends an inferior world and perceives it as fictional is considered 1-D+ relative to it, meaning they are dimensionally superior.
Qualitative Superiority & True Transcendence
In certain exceptional cases, beings can exhibit a qualitative superiority over the lower world beyond mere dimensional transcendence. In these instances, the superior entity does not merely exist outside the spatial framework of the lower reality—it fundamentally transcends the very concepts of space, time, or motion within that world. When it is stated that an author-like entity exists on a plane where every aspect of a lower reality is utterly insignificant—including its core principles and concepts—this is considered practical inaccessibility.
A being of this nature remains entirely unaffected by any additions or alterations within the lower world, as no modification within that framework can reach or influence its superior state. Such entities are often classified as 1-A by default, as their superiority is akin to the relationship between 1 and 0-inaccessible—where no increase in the lower reality’s scope or complexity can ever bridge the gap to reach the superior entity.