This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
- The Legend of Zelda originally involved two Triforces, Wisdom and Power, to which the term "Triforce" referenced the fact that they were triangular in shape. The second game introduced a third Triforce, of Courage, after which the term symbolized the quantity as well as shape.
...How is this "Ret-Canon"? The second game is in the same canon as the first.
Blork: Agreed, it's just the second game introducing new stuff, which is pretty much inevitable. I also removed this Metroid example for the same reason
- Since the Gameboy did not have color (at the time), the sequel to Metroid couldn't use a color change (from yellow to orange) to denote upgrading to the Varia suit. So the game developers added giant shoulder pads to depict the change. The look was so popular that it became the default look for Samus' upgraded armor.
- In fact, quite a bit of the modern Samus Aran's look comes from the Gameboy game. Samus's arm cannon opens up when it switches to missiles, for the same reason as the Varia suit change above. The GB game used a much larger, detailed sprite (so large that the viewing range is almost unplayably short). Since then, Samus's sprite has always been rather large (compared to other main character sprites in other games).
- How about the fact that the armor upgrade was originally the "Barrier Suit?" A translation error rendered it the Varia Suit, and that's what it's been ever since.
Ununnilium: How did Mystique change? `.`
RedBeardSean: all I can think is that her default form went from clothed in the comic, to nude in the movies (though in the comic, her clothes were nearly always generated by her powers).
Harpie Siren: Movie Mystique was all scaley with slicked back hair. Anyway, I recall reading somewhere the the exectuives at DC Comics told whoever wrote Birthright (Mark ... something?) that any changes made to Lex Luthor's story had to be similar to his Smallville counterpart.
roadkillbuddha: Mark Waid wrote Birthright. That comic series did make some changes to post-Crisis Superman continuity to make the comics somewhat more similar to the Smallville TV series. For example, Lex and Clark were once again friends in Smallville when they were young.
Harpie Siren: Mark Wade. Yeah, apearently Mark wanted to make Lex a Mad Scientist again, but DC overruled it saying that any changes made to Lex Luthor's story had to be similar to his Smallville counterpart. Um, they talk about it in Lex's Wikipedia artical...
Burai: Just to confirm ... Mystique gained scaly skin like the movie's in the X-men Forever (which also gave Toad his more toad-y powers). They don't bother drawing her with it now (as I understand), but it's up in the air whether that's because she "really" doesn't have it, or if it's just that she's actively shapeshifting it away.
Ununnilium: Huh. I see. @.@
- Major exception: Harry Potter. The movies may be cool, but the books are Canon.
...yeah, it's an exception, but what does it have to do with the trope other than just plain not using it?
Licky Lindsay: Theme park example: After the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies became popular, references to the characters were added to the original Disney World ride, along with several animatronic appearances of Captain Jack Sparrow. I have got to haul my ass to Disney World just so I can see that. I can only imagine it being something straight out of the Uncanny Valley.
Morgan Wick: I suspect it is physically impossible to figure out what this trope is by the description alone.
Space Ace: Ununnilium, that's easy: It points out how we outright don't expect people to be familiar with literary source material.
Which isn't that much of a stretch, as you'll be hardpressed to find people outside of geek territory who read anything besides what's cool at the moment (Harry Potter and, *shudder*, The DaVinci Code).
Paul A: The introduction was a bit vague and confusing, so I replaced it with something more concise that matched the the examples. Here's the old introduction, for the record:
This assumes, however, that all media are created (and treated) equally. Sometimes, it seems a more reliable rule of thumb is that the most popular medium is the "real" continuity. Since more people watch television and cinema than read print publications, the public perception of a given character or story will be biased towards their TV or movie incarnations — even if they weren't first. This can create a certain amount of creative friction for when the originating source is itself an ongoing publication such as a long-running comicbook series; the resolution to this friction is often to write a quick 'bandage' storyline (or invoke a Retcon) that makes the comic continuity conform to this "retroactive canon".
