Side story
Encyclopedia
A side story is a story that occurs alongside established stories set within a fictional universe. As opposed to a prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...

, sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

, or interquel, a side story takes place within the same time frame as an existing work.

Side stories are common in epic type series, especially war oriented series where it is possible to tell many stories from many different points of view. Early examples of a side story are found in the ancient Indian epics
Indian epic poetry
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya . The Ramayana and Mahabharata, originally composed in Sanskrit and translated thereafter into many other Indian languages, are some of the oldest surviving epic poems on earth and form part of...

 Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

and Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

, which contained numerous side stories which were loosely related to the main story of those epics. It is typical for side stories to be self contained, small scale events, insignificant in the bigger picture. They tend to be one shot stories with a beginning, middle, and end and focus heavily on character drama while the major action occurs mostly in the background. They are commonly used in sitcoms to keep interest in the story or to use remaining time.

A side story is not quite the same as a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

. A spin-off takes already known characters, usually supporting or background characters and involves them in a story or series which highlights them and further develops their character. The series' true main characters may make cameo appearances or be referred to in dialogue. Side stories, rather, focus on a completely new set of characters who have no history and typically no connections to the existing main characters. The settings for side stories are intentionally away from the major events that the main characters are known to be participating in.

The term "side story" is widely used in anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 fandom, where it is a direct translation of the Japanese word gaiden
Gaiden
is a Japanese-language word meaning "side story" or "tale", used to refer to an anecdote or supplementary biography of a person. This use of gaiden is commonly used in popular Japanese fiction to refer to a spin-off of a previously published work that is neither officially considered a sequel nor...

which is often used to describe such stories.
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