History Literature / TheRing

** Averted in the Japanese films — the first two films would have you believe that Dr. Ikuma threw Sadako down the well out of malice. In fact, ''Ring 0'' reveals that [[spoiler:he did it as a last, desperate resort to stop her evil powers. He is extremely reluctant to do it, and he immediately breaks down sobbing after he pushes her in]].

* AdaptationalVillainy: Samara Morgan seems to get hit with this, compared to Sadako Yamamura, as she is implied to have been evil in life as well.

** Yohshino, Asakawa's journalist colleague is female in ''Ring: The Final Chapter'' and PromotedToLoveInterest.

* ''Ring: Kanzenban'' (1995) - A MadeForTV movie and the first adaptation of the ''Ring'' novel. Notable for keeping Asakawa male, as well as for casting a softcore porn actress as Sadako and having her frequently get naked.

* ''The Ring Virus'' (1999) - The only South Korean adaptation. GenderFlip aside, its story is the most faithful to the ''Ring'' novel.

* ShesAManInJapan: Sadako is intersex in the novels; this is completely dropped in all of the adaptations except the 1999 Korean film version and the video game ''Ring: Terror's Realm''.

* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Jotaro Nagao, the doctor who tries to rape Sadako in the novels, gets this when he learns Sadako is intersex. Aside from an obscure UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast video game based on the franchise, the Korean film version is the only adaptation that keeps this plot twist.

%%* AscendedExtra: Mai Takano.

* GenderFlip: All adaptations of ''Ring'' are remembered for featuring female protagonists with a son to care about. The original protagonist in the novel is actually a man: Kazuyuki Asakawa, and he has a [[AdaptedOut wife]] and daughter to care about. The subsequent TV adaptation, ''Ring: The Final Chapter'', kept Asakawa as a man, but removed his wife and gave him a son.

* {{Hermaphrodite}}: Sadako, in the novel (not the movies), has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_insensitivity_syndrome Androgen insensitivity syndrome]], an intersex condition that causes the woman affected to be born with a vagina, but with XY chromosomes, no uterus, and internal testes where the ovaries would typically be.

* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the novels, Kazuyuki and Ryuji are simply friends, with Kazuyuki having a wife and daughter. Since the movie flips Kazuyuki's gender to female, it's quite convenient to make Kazuyuki's counterpart, Reiko, be Ryuji's ex-wife, with Yoichi being their son.

* ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' - On December 14, 2021, it was announced that Chapter 23 will bbased on Ringu, more specifically the original Japanese novel and 1998 film. The chapter is represented by Sadako as the Killer and adult Yoichi Asakawa as the Survivor, and it is slated to release on March 8, 2022.)

'''Related works:''
* ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' (On December 14, 2021, it was announced that Chapter 23 will be based on Ringu, more specifically the original Japanese novel and 1998 film. The chapter is represented by Sadako as the Killer and teenaged/adult Yoichi Asakawa as the Survivor, and it is slated to release on March 8, 2022.)

'''Related works:'''
* ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'' (The female lead is supposed to be an {{Expy}} of the scary girl, [[FaceOfAThug though she's actually sweeter and less frightening than her appearance leads people to believe]].)
* ''Manga/MysteriousGirlfriendX'' (The female lead is based on Sadako, but is more strange than scary.)
* ''WebOriginal/GetsuyoubiNoTawawa'' (one of the focus girls starts out as a Sadako {{Expy}} and is outright named "Sada-chan", but details reveal that [[spoiler:she was actually an actress with a similar name who died making a ''parody'' of the franchise]].

* ''VideoGame/DeadByDaylight'' (On December 14, 2021, it was announced that Chapter 23 will be based on Ringu, more specifically the original Japanese novel and 1998 film. Further details are unknown, but it is slated to release in March 2022.)

** In ''The Ring'', Rachel [[spoilers: finds the cure to the curse to help Aiden, but not before Samara kills Noah. And in finding the cure, she has doomed countless others and ensured Samara's curse will live on.]]

* In ''The Ring'', Rachel [[spoilers: finds the cure to the curse to help Aiden, but not before Samara kills Noah. And in finding the cure, she has doomed countless others and ensured Samara's curse will live on.]]

* ''The Ring'' (2002) - A faithful remake of the Japanese adaptation of ''Ring''.

* CurseRelay: The cursed videotape that causes anyone who watches it to die in a week. The only way to avoid this fate is to copy the tape and show it to someone else, thus passing the curse on to them.

* DefiniteArticleTitle

** [[http://www.moviemistakes.com/film2807/trivia Heat and water]].

* InfantImmortality: Averted hard. Two of the first victims are teenagers, Ando's three-year-old son died in a freak accident years ago, Kazuyuki's one year old daughter ends up becoming claimed by the virus, and Reiko's 10-year-old son commits suicide onscreen.

* ''S'' (2012) - The fourth story, sequel to ''Spiral''.
* ''Tide'' (2013) - The fifth story, sequel to ''Loop''.

* OneHourWorkWeek: In the American movies, Rachel's office hours seem irregular at best.

* AnAesop: In the first US movie, "Don't mess with nature" can be one, as Samara's origin is unnatural. There's also this quote from a deleted scene:
-->'''Fisherman:''' They came back with a little bundle, said a doctor helped 'em overseas. I suppose you mess with the natural way, you get what's coming to you.

** In ''Ring 2'', [[spoiler:Okazaki doesn't watch, copy and pass on the tape, in spite of promising Kanae (who had watched and copied it) that he would. This could be interpreted as either cowardice on his part, or perhaps as a way of attempting to halt the curse (or maybe even both). However, after Kanae's demise, she returns as a vengeful spirit to haunt Okazaki and drive him insane, and it is also implied that this starts an entirely ''new'' curse.]]