History Main / AdaptationDecay

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', on "Franchise/{{Digi|mon}} Franchise/{{Poke|mon}}[[WesternAnimation/SouthPark ChinPoko]]{{Mon|s}}" [[note]]aka [[{{Phoneymon}} Battle Ball]].[[/note]]

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', on "Franchise/{{Digi|mon}} Franchise/{{Poke|mon}}[[WesternAnimation/SouthPark ChinPoko]]{{Mon|s}}" [[note]]aka Battle Ball.[[/note]]

* Invoked in-universe in ''Anime/AquarionEVOL'' with the movie [[ShowWithinAShow "Skies of Aquaria"]], a "Hollywood" version of the events and legend in [[Anime/GenesisOfAquarion the first anime]]

* One of the villains of ''Manga/EdensZero'' ends up becoming FriendlyEnemies with Rebecca after being won over by her cosplay of [[PeripheryDemographic a children's anime he is quite passionate about]]. Later, when they're forced to fight each other, Rebecca [[CallingYourAttacks names her finishing move]] after an attack from the manga version that was renamed for the anime, prompting them both to agree that they liked the manga better anyway.

* Deliberately done in ''Anime/ExcelSaga.'' The anime was never supposed to stay very true to the [[Manga/ExcelSaga original manga]], which is far more tame than the hilarious monstrosity that is the anime. While the manga focused on mocking the recession Japan was going through at the time while using quirky humor, the anime focused on all-out wackiness using the same characters and setting. This trope is used as a RunningGag by the anime, where, OnceAnEpisode, the AuthorAvatar of the original author Koshi Rikdo is forced in increasingly violent ways to give his approval to transform his creation into a different genre entirely, creating an anime that cheerfully [[AffectionateParody mocks every genre it touches.]]

* Invoked in ''WebVideo/VaguelyRecallingJoJo'', as the fan doing the recalling of ''WebVideo/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' can't remember all of the details.

!!This page is for Administrivia/InUniverseExamplesOnly. For RealLife examples of Adaptation Decay, please go to one of these subtropes:

The gradual distortion or even disintegration of a world and its characters during its odyssey from original source material to movie to TV movie then to television series then to video game and finally to licensed derivative work. The dramatic equivalent of photocopying a photocopy of a photocopy. The adaptation need not be subjectively ''worse'' than the original. It need only be ''different''.

** Another one by ''El Cid'' ([[Film/ElCid not that one]]), with ''Watchmen'' mixed with ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'', can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ2AdNH4_So here]].

--> "Don't be surprised if you meet [[PeterPan Captain Hook]], 'cause our version won't always follow the book."

* The 1986 Alan Alda comedy ''Film/SweetLiberty'' is about a history professor struggling with a film adaptation of a book he wrote on the Revolutionary War.

* According to Music/LesLuthiers, the ''Las Majas Del Bergant?'' zarzuela (a Savoy Opera about a Spanish ship whose crew is attacked by pirates) is based on a novel... about a Bulgarian lumberjack and his parrot. The only character left from the original novel was the parrot. This is forgivable, considering that LesLuthiers are a comical group and ''Las Majas del Bergant?'' is one of their most hilarious performances.

{{Anime}} frequently features some degree of Adaptation Decay, since many series are based on either manga or video games, which are subject to less censorship than TV shows. More {{egregious}} examples include dropping or adding characters. Additionally, when an anime series is brought to the United States, it may suffer [[{{Macekre}} further decay]] if it is being translated with an eye toward broadcast markets -- dialogue may be arbitrarily changed or censored, and entire plotlines may be removed.

* ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk9oa_PiXAk The Brothers Mario]]'' is a ''[[InvokedTrope deliberate]]'' attempt at this, in the style of a parody, turning Mario and Luigi into standard BrooklynRage action heroes and Bowser into a ScaryBlackMan heading a [[TheCartel drug cartel]]. In short, the [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV GTA4]]-based {{machinima}} makes the ''actual'' [[{{Film/SuperMarioBros}} Mario Brothers film]], well-known for its AdaptationDecay, look like a PragmaticAdaptation. ''The Brothers Mario'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw7CKnfk4JY&feature=relmfu got a sequel]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpZUHNvFubg and its own theme song]].

* Also invoked in-universe in ''Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer'' with the movie [[ShowWithinAShow "Celestial Being"]], a "Hollywood" version of the events of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' with a ''lot'' of liberties taken. This gets taken to the extreme in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ 3: Hell Chapter'', which inserts [[Anime/ShinMazinger Mazinger Z]], [[Anime/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo]], [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Gurren-Lagann]], [[Anime/{{Gigantor}} Tetsujin 28-Go]] (even though he wasn't ''in'' that particular mission) and an army of [[Anime/MacrossFrontier VF-25s]]. Koji is excited that Mazinger Z was depicted as a ''200 meter tall giant of light''. The other heroes are... less than thrilled.

* In the ''Kings War'' arc of the MetaFic ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' the Shadow Child [[spoiler:aka Disbelief]] remarks that thanks to this he would be able to grind the once unbeatable [[Literature/TheWizardOfOz Glinda]]'s [[MindRape will to dust]]. Specially alluding to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', ''{{Theatre/Wicked}}'', ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'' and ''Film/TheWitchesOfOz'' (in this order) while saying this. If someone didn't guessed the Shadow Child is quite an evil being.

* The various film adaptations of ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' in ''Literature/JohnnyAlucard'' take massive liberties with the source text (which itself makes a massive deviation from what "really" happened in the ''Literature/AnnoDracula'' universe). The title film in "Francis Ford Coppolla's Dracula" was made instead of ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' and is simply that film with the names and locations changed. In "The Other Side of Midnight", [[spoiler:John wants as many versions of ''Dracula'' out there as possible as part of a PostModernMagic ritual to get everyone to ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve in the Count; it doesn't matter if most of them are any good or not]].

* Similarly, ''[[Comicbook/MsMarvel Captain Marvel]]'' has an in-universe TV show about the title character. The real Carol Danvers is pissed off to discover that her TV counterpart has undergone intense {{Chickification}}, including a costume with heels and AbsoluteCleavage, and a tacked on romance with a male superhero.

* Creator/GailSimone's ''Comicbook/WonderWoman'' run has a story about Hollywood making a ''terrible'' movie based on the title character's life. [[spoiler: It eventually turns out the whole movie is actually the pet project of a supervillain who had actually [[KillAndReplace killed the producer and stolen her identity]].]]

* At one point in ''Manga/{{Ojojojo}}'', [[TheOjou Haru]] has her father finance the anime adaptation of a manga that Akane showed her, only to be disappointed when it doesn't capture the feel of the original work.

* At one point in ''Manga/{{Ojojojo}}'' [[TheOjou Haru]] has her father finance the anime adaptation of a manga that she read, only to be disappointed when it doesn't capture the feel of the original work.