History Main / MultipleChoicePast

* {{Wolverine}}, of the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'', was especially susceptible to this; his amnesia about his past was a common plot driver in early-90s stories, and what we knew kept getting {{retcon}}ned. Even after it was recently made so that he could remember every single thing that ever happened to him, the series ''Wolverine: Origins'' is still trying to milk the concept.

* In the original ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' comics (and later, the movies and the '00s cartoon), Splinter was originally the beloved pet rat of Hamato Yoshi, who saw his master's assassination and then later was mutated into a humanoid intelligent rat-being. In the '80s cartoon series and the spinoff comic books, Splinter is Hamato Yoshi himself, forced into exile and living in the sewer when he first encountered the mutagen. Having recently been in contact with sewer rats, the mutagen turned him into a humanoid rat.
** In his profile on the DVD of the [[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles first live-action movie]], it's said that Splinter's origins are "shrouded in mystery" and that either one of them is possible.

* In his first appearance, ComicBook/BoosterGold villain Black Beetle claimed to be the ComicBook/BlueBeetle of the 27th century. When revealed as a villain, he claimed to be Jaime Reyes' greatest enemy, who blamed Jaime for a death (and the final issue of ''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'' would strongly hint as to who he was) making him from the very near future. In a later appearance, Booster calls him "The Black Beetle, direct from the 22nd century. Or the 27th." to which the Beetle replies, "Or 15th. Whatever I choose to say for the sake of misdirection."
** More recently, he's had his first (from Jaime's point of view) encounter with Blue Beetle, in which he initially claimed to be the character the ''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'' story hinted at, before saying he wasn't; he ''killed'' that character. He follows this up by claiming to be ''[[FutureMeScaresMe Jaime himself]]''.

* Done with the entire ''species'' of illithids (Mind Flayers) in ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]].'' One of the earlier versions says that they're mutants outcast from a long-gone human society in the Astromundi crystal sphere (solar system). Another version puts them as emerging when parasites from "[[CosmicHorror the Outside]]" entered the game's reality and began [[TheVirus bonding with and mutating]] humanoids, and went on to rule an interstellar empire millennia ago which has since fallen. An old {{Dragon}} magazine article depicts them as invaders from an alternate Prime Material Plane, trying to reshape whatever world your characters are from in the image of their homeworld. A more recent version says they're ''from the future'' and traveled back in time to escape a nameless enemy that was destroying them, and to prepare better for that enemy while in the past. It's ultimately left up to the Game Master to decide which of these is the "truth," or if perhaps they're all successive layers of lies used to disguise the illithids' origins and that the most recent retcon is just another lie. However, in the 4th Edition rules, Mind Flayers are once again from the Far Realm - beyond the borders of the universe. This certainty may be only because there haven't been enough years into the new edition to let their webs of deceit get fully developed yet, however.

* As if the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' lore didn't see enough changes/retcons recently, the setting also features a fair dosage of time travel. Certain forces can tamper with the timeline, while the Bronze Dragonflight tries to fix it. In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft, the Caverns of Time feature a set of dungeons where the players assist them by whatever means possible. For instance, there are two versions of Thrall's escape from imprisonment: either a bloodless escape during a distraction, or a group of strangers assaulting the keep and a nearby town.

* There have been various stories of how Joe Swanson from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' lost the use of his legs, some serious and some humorous; one story being that he fell off a roof chasing a criminal and broke his legs, and the other more recent story being that another criminal shot him in the legs repeatedly.

* Parodied in an issue of ''BlueDevil''. MadameXanadu and ThePhantomStranger narrate entirely different origin stories for Comicbook/BlackOrchid; when this is pointed out they start arguing about whose version is right.

* In his first appearance, BoosterGold villain Black Beetle claimed to be the BlueBeetle of the 27th century. When revealed as a villain, he claimed to be Jaime Reyes' greatest enemy, who blamed Jaime for a death (and the final issue of ''BlueBeetle'' would strongly hint as to who he was) making him from the very near future. In a later appearance, Booster calls him "The Black Beetle, direct from the 22nd century. Or the 27th." to which the Beetle replies, "Or 15th. Whatever I choose to say for the sake of misdirection."
** More recently, he's had his first (from Jaime's point of view) encounter with Blue Beetle, in which he initially claimed to be the character the ''BlueBeetle'' story hinted at, before saying he wasn't; he ''killed'' that character. He follows this up by claiming to be ''[[FutureMeScaresMe Jaime himself]]''.

* Played with in AlanMoore's first twelve issues of ''{{Supreme}}'', where the {{retcon}}s are part of the in-story universe, and the multiple past Supremes exist in their own dimension.

*** Similarly, the show has posited several explanations of Homer's stupidity. A short list includes a [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E9HOMR crayon lodged in his brain]], [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E17LisaTheSimpsons genetics]] (the Simpson gene), and repeated [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E18SoItsComeToThisASimpsonsClipShow blunt head trauma]].

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': Dr. Clef has alternatively claimed to be a RealityWarper who accidentally destroyed [[{{NASA}} Challenger]], [[Literature/TheBible Biblical Adam]], and [[spoiler:{{Satan}}]].

* The origins of [[{{UsefulNotes/baseball}} baseball]] are subject to this trope, as it's hard to exactly pinpoint '''A.''' When/where the first game of baseball was played, '''B.''' Whether a sport referred to as "base ball" in early documents from the AmericanRevolution was an early form of the current sport, or just a similarly-named but unrelated sport, or '''C.''' Which game counts as the first "official" game: any of the games played during the AmericanCivilWar, the early game played at [[{{Joisey}} Hoboken, New Jersey]] (depending on whether this early version counts as a version of the modern game or just a precursor), or perhaps an unknown, unrecorded game. The game played at Cooperstown, supposedly organized by Abner Doubleday, is now considered fictitious, but it used to be considered a contender to be one of the great game's possible origins. Many historians view ''all'' of these early games as being partial examples of the game we know today, but that the game evolved a bit with each one.

* The character of John Black from ''DaysOfOurLives''. Originally, he was introduced as a guy with IdentityAmnesia who'd undergone MagicPlasticSurgery as the apparent captive of a BigBad. He escaped and took the name John Black from a sign on a wall. It was eventually revealed he was the NotQuiteDead Roman Brady and that was the role the actor was billed as for many years and lived through his "wife's" "death". Then they decided to bring back he original Roman/Marlena super couple, so it was revealed that "Roman" wasn't the real deal after all and went back to calling himself John Black. In the years since, he's had it revealed that he'd been a cop, private investigator, and a priest in his past. There have been at least two separate revelations about who his birth parents are. The current origin puts him as a cousin of some sort to Roman Brady and also related to the BigBad. In the meantime, Wayne Northrop, the original Roman left the show again after a short time. That role was recast in a case of TheOtherDarrin and now played by someone who'd previously played a different role on the show. Then Northrop came back again in a completely different role.

** T-Ray even hints that 'Pool may ''not'' be Wade Wilson at all - instead, T-Ray himself would be Wade Wilson, and Deadpool stole the name from him. The comics seem to keep disproving this story, but given how nuts DP is, the jury's still out.

*** The Riddler's latest origin, post-''InfiniteCrisis'', is ''largely'' his classic origin... but his real name is Edward Nashton.

->''"Something like that... happened to me, you know? Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another; if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be ''[[TropeNamer multiple choice]]''!"''
-->-- '''SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker''', ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke''

*** The non-canon book ''[[StarTrekDeepSpaceNineAStitchInTime A Stitch in Time]]'' has Garak remember his childhood and the real reason he was exiled, while walking through the ruins of Cardassia. He killed a high-level official, who caught Garak with his wife (all three went to school together). Interestingly, his boss and father Enabran Tain actually ordered the assassination, but it was the semi-public way Garak did it that got him kicked out of the Obsidian Order.

* Nobody's exactly sure what happened in [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Music/Mothy?from=Main.Mothy Banica Conchita's]] past, but fans have taken a line from the song and [[AbusiveParents run with it]].

* Used as an alternative to AllMythsAreTrue in ''{{Tales of MU}}'', as seen in the [[http://XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/story/other/in-the-beginning myths of different races]].

The character of John Black from ''DaysOfOurLive''. Originally, he was introduced as a guy with IdentityAmnesia who'd undergone MagicPlasticSurgery as the apparent captive of a BigBad. He escaped and took the name John Black from a sign on a wall. It was eventually revealed he was the NotQuiteDead Roman Brady and that was the role the actor was billed as for many years and lived through his "wife's" "death". Then they decided to bring back he original Roman/Marlena super couple, so it was revealed that "Roman" wasn't the real deal after all and went back to calling himself John Black. In the years since, he's had it revealed that he'd been a cop, private investigator, and a priest in his past. There have been at least two separate revelations about who his birth parents are. The current origin puts him as a cousin of some sort to Roman Brady and also related to the BigBad. In the meantime, Wayne Northrop, the original Roman left the show again after a short time. That role was recast in a case of TheOtherDarrin and now played by someone who'd previously played a different role on the show. Then Northrop came back again in a completely different role.

* ''{{Friends}}'': Done very subtly with Chandler. You get the basics of childhood (his mother was an erotic novelist, his fatehr was a gay drag queen, they divorced when was 9 and sent him to boarding school) but what's confusing is their treatment of him. On one hand he talks about how his dad was ''too'' enthusiastic coming to all his swim meets and you see his mom saying on national television that she loves him. Yet he also recounts how they prefered his imaginary friend to him, abandoned him on his first parents day and were callous enough to announce their break up during Thanksgiving dinner. Its not clear if they were just AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents who made poor decisions or uninterested and put him through ParentalNeglect or full out emotionally AbusiveParents.

* People who are lying tend to do this when asked to repeat details of a story.[[/folder]]

* In Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}, Jack O'Neill's backstory throughout most of the series was that he was ex-Special Ops, and O'Neill wore a master parachutist's badge and later a space and missile operations badge on his dress uniform but never pilot's wings, but in an episode of Season Eight, Sam Carter pointed out that he used to be a test pilot. This is likely an [[AssPull ass-pull]] by the writers, but given that he did pilot some experimental aircraft and that this backstory was never mentioned again, and that the only occasion when the viewers find out anything about O'Neill's background is when someone else mentions it, it's possible that Carter herself was mistaken.

* ''{Friends}}'': Done in a very subtle way with Chandler. You get the basics of childhood (his parents were embarassing, his mother was an erotic novelist, his fatehr was a gay drag queen, they divorced when was 9) but what's confusing is their treatment of him. On one hand he talks about how his dad was ''too'' enthusiastic coming to all his swim meets and you see his mom saying on national television that she loves him. Yet he also recounts how they prefered his imaginary friend to him and abandoned him on his first parents day. Its not clear if they were just AmazinglyEmbarassingParents who made poor decisions, uninterested and put him through ParentalNeglect or full out emotionally AbusiveParents.

* ''TheOddCouple'' had multiple episodes depicting how Felix and Oscar first met.

Compare: ContinuitySnarl, ExpansionPackPast, NegativeContinuity, SlidingTimescale, BroadStrokes, DependingOnTheWriter

* One episode of LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Next has a chef who gives 4 different versions of his orgin, one for each of the main characters. It is then subverted at the end when all four back stories turn out to be true.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': After some early reports that you could only play humans with differing backgrounds, it appears you will have access to human, elf and dwarf Inquisitors (with the possibility of kossith / qunari up in the air). The backgrounds won't be playable like in ''Origins'', however - the Inquisitor's story will start in the same place.

* Bizarro, although in this case it's a JustifiedTrope because, technically, Superman has been cloned more than once, and not always perfectly, and more than one of those imperfect clones have been named Bizarro.

** And Campbell in ''My Sister's Keeper'' tells us various different stories about why he has his service dog, until at the end it's revealed that [[spoiler: The dog can detect when he's about to have a seizure.]]

* In ''The Thirteenth Tale'', one of the main characters is an author who tells a different life story every time she's interviewed. It's implied that she has difficulty breaking this habit, even when she starts out with the intention of telling the truth.

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]
* The childhoods of TheUndertaker and Wrestler/{{Kane}} (who are half-brothers) have come to be subject to this. The original story was that TheUndertaker was an arsonist who burned down his parents' funeral parlor, [[SelfMadeOrphan killing both parents]] and leaving Kane horrifically disfigured. Other versions, however, pointed to ''Kane'' as being responsible for the fire. Thirteen years later, it was revealed that Kane's father actually survived the fire - and that he was none other than [[spoiler: PaulBearer]].