User:One-Winged Devil/sandbox/List of retroactive continuities

The following are examples of retroactive continuities (or retcons).

Film

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  • Star Wars (1977) features Obi-Wan Kenobi telling Luke Skywalker that Anakin Skywalker (Luke's father) was betrayed and killed by Darth Vader. The sequel film The Empire Strikes Back (1980) has Vader reveal himself as Anakin Skywalker. George Lucas decided to merge the two characters while writing The Empire Strikes Back. The following film Return of the Jedi (1983) has Obi-Wan justifying his original description of Vader having "murdered" Anakin as being truth "from a certain point of view": from his point of view, when Anakin became Vader, he destroyed everything that was good about his former friend and apprentice. Similarly Princess Leia had been previously set as an upper-class romantic interest for the farm boy Luke, but in Empire Strikes Back Leia falls in love with Han Solo. In order to avoid a possible love triangle, Return of the Jedi reveals Leia as Luke Skywalker's twin sister (and therefore, daughter of Darth Vader). Lucas had originally planned Luke's sister to be a separate character, before deciding to accommodate her into the already established Leia.[citation needed]
  • Rogue One (2016) explains the improbable vulnerability of the Death Star in A New Hope to small rebel ships as a consequence of deliberate sabotage on the part of Galen Erso, the key Death Star architect. The retcon was positively received.[4]
  • Boba Fett and Darth Maul both returned to life after ostensibly dying in previous films.[5]
  • In the final film of the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker, it is revealed that the smuggler-turned-Jedi Rey is the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, who is revealed to be alive on the planet Exegol and secretly building a new Empire. The means of Palpatine's returned were only explained in a tie-in novel, a decision which received negative reception.[6]
    • It was noted that Darth Sidious should have been able to stop shooting the deflected lighting that was killing him, since his former apprentice Count Dooku was able to do so in Attack of the Clones, and that Darth Sidious should have been aware of the dangers of a lightsaber deflecting his Force lighting back at him, since Mace Windu deformed his face using the same technique in Revenge of the Sith.[7][8][9]
    • Episode III: Revenge of the Sith established that the ability to become a Force ghost requires special training in life. It was noted that the return as a Force ghost by certain characters clearly contradicts how Force ghosts worked in the previous films, and brings into question why those characters did not appear during the events of the original trilogy.[10][11][12][13] Qui-Gon is shown starting the training of Yoda to become a Force ghost, which required a complicated set of special trials, in the Season 6 finale of The Clone Wars animated series.[14] In accordance, the technique took years to learn, and no one knew the ability other than the Force priestesses that originally taught the technique to Qui-Gon. The only characters to learn the technique from Qui-Gon were Yoda, Obi-wan, and possibly Luke, while Anakin was the only one who naturally achieved it without training.[15]

Literature

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  • When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off his character Sherlock Holmes by plunging him to his death over the Reichenbach Falls with his nemesis Professor Moriarty, the public's demand for Holmes was so great that Doyle was compelled to bring him back to life in a subsequent story, where he explains that Holmes had merely faked his death.
  • Though the term "retcon" did not yet exist when George Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four, the totalitarian regime depicted in that book is involved in a constant, large-scale retconning of records. For example, when it is suddenly announced that "Oceania was not after all in war with Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia and Eurasia was an ally" (Part Two, Ch. 9), there is an immediate intensive effort to change "all reports and records, newspapers, books, pamphlets, films, sound-tracks and photographs" and make them all record a war with Eastasia rather than one with Eurasia. Often it was enough to merely substitute one name for another, but any detailed report of events demanded care and imagination. Even the geographical knowledge needed in transferring the war from one part of the world to another was considerable.
  • Although he is declared dead in Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm returns in The Lost World. Malcolm was the most popular character in the first novel and Michael Crichton decided that he needed the character for the sequel.

Television

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  • In 2004, Coronation Street retconned the Baldwin family after Mike Baldwin's nephew Danny and wife Frankie moved to the area from Essex, with their two sons Jamie and Warren. Mike had been portrayed as an only child prior to this moment, with his father appearing in the program between 1980 and 1982 to confirm the notion.[citation needed]
  • First of the Summer Wine, the prequel to the long-running British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, retconned the character Seymour Utterthwaite as a pre-World War II friend of the other central characters. Seymour had been introduced into later series of Last of the Summer Wine and was previously unknown to the stalwart characters, Compo and Clegg.[16]
  • The revived series of British science fiction television program Doctor Who and its television spin-offs use retroactive continuity as a plot device.
    • Show runner Steven Moffat's fifth series finale depicted the Doctor rebooting the universe. In answer to a fan's question, Moffat posted a Tweet on Twitter.[17]
    • In the sixth series, Moffat introduces new aliens the Silence, who erase the memory of someone in the moment when someone looks away. Commenting on this device, writer MaryAnn Johanson writes: "That could be happening throughout this story... indeed, through the entire history of Doctor Who. Moffat has just created a pretty much unassailable narratively sound reason for inserting retcons anywhere throughout the half-century history of the show".[citation needed]
    • In the seventh series finale, a previously unknown antihero incarnation of the Doctor known as the War Doctor appears in the show's 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor".[18] He is shown in the mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor" retroactively inserted into the show's fictional chronology between the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, although his introduction was written so as not to disturb the established numerical naming of the Doctors.[19]
    • In the 50th anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor", Moffat revealed, that at the last instant of the Time War, the Doctor hid his war-torn home planet in time, rather than destroying it.[20]
    • In the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, created by Russell T Davies, a drug used to erase the memory of characters is called "retcon"; the use of the drug is often referred to by characters as "retconning".[citation needed]
  • In G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Cobra Commander is identified as a human trying to take over the world with the help of his organization Cobra. In the film he is revealed to be part of the civilization of Cobra-La, sent by his master Golobulus to take over Earth so their empire will reinstate as the dominant race. Golobulus is also responsible for the creation of Serpentor, Cobra Commander's replacement. The events of the film were later established within the second series.
    • In the film, Duke appeared to have been killed by Serpentor, but was retconned in which Duke was in a coma and woke up at the end of the film.
  • In the animated series Code Lyoko, the Lyoko Warriors finally put a end of the evil virus X.A.N.A. However, in its live-action sequel Code Lyoko: Evolution, X.A.N.A. survived its destruction by hiding in a Replika created by Franz Hopper's former colleague who kidnapped Aelita's mother to steal his research from her. X.A.N.A. had also passed his code into the four Warriors so his Specters can retrieve them to regain power. Because the Supercomputer was reactivated for so long, the Forest and Ice Sector had been removed.
  • In the Rick and Morty episode "Full Meta Jackrick", Rick sets free a character named Brett Caan (now later "Rhett Caan"), a villain from the Meta Reality that can rewrite reality such as making someone killed with coffee, making them born without bones and turning a fortress into a giant orange.

Video games

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  • The chronology of The Legend of Zelda series was subject to much debate among fans until an official timeline was printed in the collector's book Hyrule Historia, released in Japan on December 21, 2011.[21][22] Hyrule Historia contains a universal timeline explaining the chronology of each game. This includes introducing a three-way split in the timeline after Ocarina of Time. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword helps explain the appearance of multiple versions of the characters Zelda, Link and Ganondorf across hundreds of years.[citation needed]
  • The original Ninja Gaiden trilogy for the NES was followed years later by a new series of sequels produced by Team Ninja beginning with Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox in 2004. However, the second generation of Ninja Gaiden video games, being prequels to original series,[23][24][25] has many differences from the Nintendo Entertainment System trilogy. The character design of Ryu Hayabusa in the new games is now based on the Dead or Alive incarnation of the character with long hair and green eyes. The character design of Ryu's father, Ken Hayabusa, has been updated as well, with the character now being addressed in the English versions by his original name from the Japanese versions (Jo Hayabusa). Producer Tomonobu Itagaki has hinted at the possibility that Sonia, a character from the new games, might be Irene Lew from the original series.[25] With the release of Dead or Alive: Dimensions in 2011, it has been revealed that Sonia is indeed Irene Lew.[26][27]
  • In Metal Gear, the character Big Boss serves as Solid Snake's commanding officer and is ostensibly revealed near the end of the game to also be the main antagonist. However, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain establishes that the version of Big Boss featured and eventually killed in Metal Gear is actually Venom Snake, a body double of the real Big Boss. The original Big Boss later becomes the antagonist of the series' second entry, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.[28]
  • In the ending of 2006's Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic and Elise blow out the flame of Solaris, undoing all changes made by Iblis and causing the entire story to never happen, thus undoing all the inconsistencies the game's plot caused.[citation needed]
  • In Jurassic Park: The Game, Dr. Laura Sorkin added Lysine to Jurassic Park's water supply so the dinosaurs will live longer and prevent them from dying from the Lysine contingency inside their genetic code.
  • American McGee's Alice reconstructs Lewis Carroll's book into a grim adventure where Alice Liddell went insane after her family tragically died in a house fire, which leaves her the only survivor. Because of her damaged mind, she imagines twisted versions of the places and characters from the original book, with Wonderland under the tyrannical rule of the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter turning the populace into automatons, and the Duchess becoming a cannibal.
    • Alice: Madness Returns reveals that her family's death was not an accident but was caused by Alice's father's old colleague Dr. Angus Bumby, a renowned psychiatrist and secret child trafficker who started the fire to destroy evidence that he raped and killed Alice's oldest sister Lizzie. Taking advantage of Alice's insanity, he uses hypnosis to both erase her memories and turn her into one of his prostitutes. His influence manifests in Alice's mind as the Dollmaker, who conducts the Infernal Train to corrupt Wonderland in Ruin.
  • Within the adapted films in the Lego games, most scenes become comical and child friendly. These examples include Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Jurassic Park, and the Marvel films.

Ignored sequels in various media

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References

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  1. ^ Leadbeater, Alex (December 3, 2016). "Rocky and the Greatest Retcon of All Time". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  2. ^ Bradley, Bill (June 26, 2017). "Tom Holland Confirms Popular Fan Theory: Spider-Man Was In 'Iron Man 2'". HuffPost. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  3. ^ Ryan, Mark (June 27, 2017). "'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Director Jon Watts Explains Real Story Behind Peter Parker's 'Iron Man 2' Cameo". UPROXX. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  4. ^ Riesman, Abraham Josephine (December 16, 2016). "Rogue One Has the First Good Star Wars Retcon". Vulture. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  5. ^ Miskelly, Zoe (January 14, 2021). "How Clone Wars' Darth Maul Made Mandalorian's Boba Fett Possible". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  6. ^ Chitwood, Adam (March 1, 2020). "Rise of Skywalker Novel Confirms Palpatine Was a Clone". Collider. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  7. ^ Bacon, Thomas (February 4, 2020). "Star Wars Confirms Palpatine's TRUE Enemy is His Own Electricity". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  8. ^ Myers, Andrew James; Gvozden, Dan (December 22, 2019). "'Star Wars': Palpatine's Final Order in 'Rise of Skywalker,' Explained". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  9. ^ Geisinger, Gabriella (May 22, 2020). "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's first MacGuffin makes no sense". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  10. ^ Bacon, Thomas (December 21, 2019). "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Biggest Plot Holes". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  11. ^ Gunter, Gary (October 1, 2018). "Star Wars: 20 Things Only True Fans Know About Force Ghosts". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  12. ^ Britt, Ryan (July 7, 2020). "'Rise of Skywalker' edit reveals what J.J. Abrams got wrong about Star Wars". Inverse. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  13. ^ Smith, Donnie (May 15, 2021). "Star Wars: 10 Times Force Ghosts Created Some Serious Plot Holes". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  14. ^ Ratcliffe, Amy (January 12, 2018). "STAR WARS: The Ins and Outs of Becoming a Force Ghost". Nerdist. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  15. ^ Whitbrook, James (September 18, 2019). "So, What Can a Force Ghost Do? Everything We Know About Star Wars' Force Ghosts". Gizmodo. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  16. ^ "First of the Summer Wine - Uncovered!". February 2004. Archived from the original on February 13, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  17. ^ Moffat, Steven [@steven_moffat] (June 13, 2011). "The whole universe came exactly as it was. Except for any continuity errors I need to explain away" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2023 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Hogan, Michael (May 18, 2013). "Doctor Who: The Name of the Doctor, BBC One, review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  19. ^ Rigby, Sam (November 24, 2013). "'Doctor Who': Steven Moffat on regeneration limit". Digital Spy. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  20. ^ Ellis, Scott (November 25, 2013). "Doctor Who sets world record with The Day of the Doctor". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  21. ^ "Official Legend of Zelda Timeline Revealed". Game Crunch. December 22, 2011. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  22. ^ Dutton, Fred (August 15, 2015). "Nintendo Feature: Zelda Timeline Explained". Nintendo of Europe. Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  23. ^ Mielke, James (November 16, 2007). "Ninja Gaiden 2 Preview for 360". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  24. ^ Yin, Wesley (May 22, 2008). "Ninja Gaiden 2 Interview for Xbox 360". VideoGamer. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  25. ^ a b Anderson, Luke (May 23, 2008). "Ninja Gaiden II: Q&A; with Tomonobu Itagaki". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  26. ^ Team Ninja (May 24, 2011). Dead or Alive: Dimensions (Nintendo 3DS) (1.0 ed.). Tecmo. Level/area: Chapter 2. Ryu Hayabusa: Hayate, meet Irene /...
  27. ^ "Dead or Alive Dimensions Nintendo 3DS Chronicle Mode Chapter 2 Part 3". YouTube. June 1, 2011. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  28. ^ Kojima Productions (September 1, 2015). Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC). Konami. Level/area: Truth: The Man Who Sold The World.
  29. ^ "Movies". Superman Homepage. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  30. ^ Wilson, Karina. "Horror Films in the 1970s". Horror Film History. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  31. ^ Bierly, Mandi (November 13, 2017). "Danny McBride on 'Halloween': 'I just hope that we don't f*** it up and piss people off'". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  32. ^ "Godzilla Millennium Series Continuity". Toho Kingdom. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  33. ^ "The Exorcist III 1990, directed by William Peter Blatty | Film review". Time Out. September 10, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  34. ^ "Highlander: The Final Dimension review (1994) Highlander 3". Qwipster. August 21, 2007. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  35. ^ McMillan, Graeme (May 11, 2015). "'Terminator 2' Deleted Epilogue: This deleted 'Terminator 2' scene gave everyone a happy ending". Business Insider. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
  36. ^ "8 Movies That Were Wiped Out Of Continuity By Their Sequels". WhatCulture.com. May 6, 2015. p. 5. Retrieved November 22, 2023.