History Main / NotHingistHesAMeanyMore

* When talking about Comic Books as a medium, no point of no return was as important as the third issue of ''All-Star Comics'', which introduced the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica. Not only did it give DC a place to put their less popular heroes for continued adventures without the need for a solo book, but the very notion of a SharedUniverse, the superhero team and continuity were rooted in the creation of this team.
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' has had this trope happen twice (or more depending on definitions) in ways that are likely to stay permanently (a rarity for comics), and a bunch of others that might change.
** The original Robin, Dick Grayson, [[SidekickGraduationsStick became]] Characters/{{Nightwing|DickGrayson}}.
*** Robin #2 [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily was killed]] then returned, if only long enough for a FaceHeelTurn to The Red Hood.
*** Robin #3, [[ComicBook/Robin1993 Tim Drake]], changed his name to ComicBook/RedRobin.
*** Batman had a son (without his knowledge or consent, apparently) with [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al-Ghul]]. He's a 10-year-old trained assassin and Robin #5. He is killed by his clone/brother trying to save Gotham.
* This seems to be the motto of the comic book series ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'', with every noteworthy writer since Creator/FrankMiller trying to outdo the other in terms of who could shake up Matt Murdock's life the most.
** Creator/BrianMichaelBendis and Creator/EdBrubaker love changing their characters' status quo. To stick only with Daredevil: During Bendis' run [[spoiler: Daredevil was unmasked by press, The Kingpin was killed but got better, Matt got married, became the new Kingpin, was left by his wife and was thrown in jail]]. When Brubaker was in charge [[spoiler: Matt got out of jail, The Kingpin left the country, Matt's wife came back to him and went mad thanks to one of his enemies, Matt had a one-night stand with his friend and left everything to become the leader of Hand]]. And please, don't ask how it goes in their other titles.
** Most recently, writer Mark Waid made Matt Murdock [[spoiler:publicly admit he was Daredevil, later embrace his alter ego, and subsequently ditch his double identity, fighting crime without a mask, using the same suit as Matt Murdock and Daredevil, and addressing himself as Daredevil]].
** When you're writing for a comic about "The Man Without Fear" writers kinda feel obligated to provide situations where the hero is afraid.
* ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} [[spoiler: [[OurHeroIsDead In Hell]]]]
* The comic book ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' is sort of like this, though it only goes twelve issues with the initial status quo before [[spoiler:the main character's father does a FaceHeelTurn and beats the living crap out of his son]], starting the status quo for the rest of the series. Issue 50 looks to shake things up again.

* ComicBook/LesLegendaires went through this during the Anathos Cycle: [[TheHero Danael]] is possessed by a GodOfEvil, killed and resurrected but no longer part of the team, all the other protagonists have been [[ScarsAreForever scarred or crippled to life]] and get new powers and abilities, they finally got rid of their HeroWithBadPublicity status, their Arch-Enemy has been KilledOffForReal, the couples have fallen apart and a SixthRanger has been added.
* The ComicBook/GreenLantern BatFamilyCrossover ''ComicBook/LightsOut'' was billed as "the story that will change the Green Lantern universe forever". And given that by the time it's over, we see [[spoiler: the destruction of Oa, the Green Lanterns relocating to Mogo, the Blue Lanterns wiped out (save for Saint Walker) and the Red Lanterns given sole jurisdiction over Sector 2814 (including Earth)]], it's safe to say it lived up to the hype.
* ''ComicBook/{{Lucifer}}'' does this at a rate of about every ten issues. The most memorable times include when Lucifer makes his own universe, when God leaves creation and locks it behind Him, when His granddaughter takes His throne; when the Angel of Silence ''speaks''.
* Marvel is currently doing it all the time -- almost everything changes so fast that it's scary.
** An early example is in the 1960s is when the writers decided that ComicBook/IronMan's AchillesHeel of his external pacemaker function continually threatening to run out of power on him and give heart failure was getting old. So, they wrote a story where Stark is HauledBeforeASenateSubCommittee, where the arduous questioning goes so long that Stark collapses with his battery problems. A doctor examines him, discovers his seriously poor state of health and has him rushed to a hospital. After that, Stark finally gets some serious medical care by professionals which leads to a heart transplant to help him. (He still needed the chest plate for a while so his body wouldn't "reject" his new heart, and he's suffered a spate of other health-related problems over the years.)
** An even more dramatic change was in ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' series during its early years, when the US military had no idea about Banner's Hulk condition, but suspected the scientist and the monster were compatriots. In one pivotal episode, Rick Jones, convinced that Banner was dead, told Col. Glenn Talbot the truth and from then on, Banner was a fugitive from the US authorities who were determined to kill or contain him.
** ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'': [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Gwen Stacy dies]]. Spider-Man loses his love interest of five years, gains a ShockingDefeatLegacy, and develops the beginning of a romance with MJ. The Green Goblin also dies, which would remain the status quo for over 20 years. It's not for nothing that this story is considered the end of the Silver Age.
** Despite claims by the comic's marketing to the contrary, mostly averted with the ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' mini-series. Given that it was competing with ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' (having been released almost simultaneously), ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'' was advertised as being a complete shakeup of the Marvel Universe, and that nothing in Marvel would ever be the same afterward. This was only true in a few instances:
*** Spider-Man acquired his black suit, which would go on to empower the supervillain Venom.
*** She-Hulk joined the ComicBook/FantasticFour, and stayed with them for some time. She's still considered a close friend of the family.
*** The Hulk had Banner's brain, and had recently been pardoned of all past crimes. Something on Battleworld caused him to slip back into an angry persona, leading to a multi-state mindless rampage with thousands of fatalities. Fallout from that rampage was subtext or text for decades.
*** Most other changes, like the destruction of Ultron and Kang, did not stick.
*** In a couple of places, they even restored status quo that had previously been shaken up, like Dr Doom, who had been dead prior to Secret Wars but mysteriously showed up for the story, leading to the need for a later storyline to explain how he'd come back.
** The Marvel Now! imprint that started on the heels of ''Fear Itself'' and ''Avengers vs X-Men'' started to do this too. Most notably:
*** [[spoiler: Doc Ock switched bodies with Peter Parker, killed his own body with Peter Parker in it, but not before inheriting all of Peter's memories. He is currently fighting crime under Spider-Man's mantle, as a "Superior" Spider-Man.]]
*** The original Nick Fury has gone under the radar, being replaced with [[CanonImmigrant his son, who resembles Ultimate Nick Fury.]]
*** Iron Man is a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
*** The Avengers and the X-Men formed a united sub-team nicknamed the Uncanny Avengers.
*** In ''Avengers vs X-Men'' Cyclops [[spoiler: killed Professor X while under the influence of the Phoenix Force, and is attempting to redeem himself while everyone he knows hates and fears him]]. Also, [[spoiler:the Phoenix Force is now destroyed[[note]]Given that based on previous storylines, the destruction of the Phoenix Force ought to result in the end of all life in the universe, it's anyone's guess how long this lasts before it's retconned.[[/note]], causing untold damage to the universe (some effects are briefly seen in Gillen's Iron Man run; the Celestials are now aware of aliens living off of their lifeblood, [[EarthShatteringKaboom and are not amused]])]].
*** The "Age of Ultron" storyline, Ultron returned and is ruling over a dystopian world.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Melusine}}'', [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide Cancrelune committed suicide]] out of guilt for endangering her best friend Mélusine. [[RescuedFromTheUnderworld Even after Mélusine went to Hell to rescue her]], Cancrelune refuses to leave and remained in Hell, having accepted her fate. This signaled to fans that the StatusQuoIsGod is no longer in effect and the series will never be the same after this]].
* DC comics is well known for their various cosmic retcons, and absorbing other comic universes into the mainstream, the most notable example is ComicBook/{{New 52}}.
* ''ComicBook/TheNewUniverse'' comic ''ComicBook/{{Justice|NewUniverse}}'' did an impressive one of these about halfway through its run. [[spoiler: In Issue 15 (cleverly titled Everything You Know Is Wrong) the readers -- and the main character -- find out that he isn't an Interdimensional holy warrior but in fact a DEA agent who had an entire false life mentally implanted into him by a drug lord. He then becomes a borderline psychotic loner, who still can suffer flashbacks to his fake life if drugged up enough.]]
* Erik Larsen's ''ComicBook/SavageDragon'' tends to change its status quo quite often.

* The ending of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' changed everything again: [[spoiler:Peter Parker regains control of his body, but is left holding the bag of everything Dr. Octopus had left over, including Parker Industries, a doctorate, a girlfriend in the form of Anna-Maria Marconi and a ''lot'' of ill will. Thankfully, the superhero community is more forgiving than, say, Mary Jane Watson]].
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel started out as AdaptationDistillation, but has moved to having this as a goal to set it apart from the main Marvel Universe. The first big change was the ''ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}}'' event, but that's not the only one:

* A constant occurrence (some would say problem) with ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'', who for all her [[InformedAbility Informed Importance]] as one of DC's "Big Three" only had one book to her name after [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks the 1940s]]. Since they don't have any other books to coordinate with[[note]]The various ''Justice League'' books tend to have no say in how their members' solo books are run[[/note]], pretty much ''every'' new Wonder Woman writer feels free to toss out everything the last guy did in favor of a brand-new status quo:

** "Rickmurai Jack" is a doozy regarding this trope. [[spoiler:Not only Evil Morty ''finally'' reveals himself to our heroes, but he also manages to reveal Morty about the [[CloningBlues true origins of Mortys]], and how Ricks managed to wall off a part of infinity to be the smartest men in the part. To counter this, Rick reveals his backstory (which makes the supposedly-fake backstory in Season 3 premiere to be completely real), as Evil Morty uses his machine to destroy the Citadel ''and'' the Central Finite Curve for good, opening the series up to the greater Multiverse.]]

* ''WebOriginal/FortniteTheMovie'': Heavily implied during Reign of The Oni. Norm is dead. Mime is dead. Samboy is dead. Three major players have all been killed and The Oni remains in power.

** Season 5 finale: In addition to [[spoiler: Marinette and Ladybug becoming an OfficialCouple]] and [[spoiler: Chloe and her mother leaving for New York]] earlier in the season, [[Gabriel uses the ladybug and cat miraculouses to make a wish, sacrificing himself so Nathalie can be healed; Lila (now in disguise) is in posession of the butterfly miraculous; Ms. Bustier is now mayor of Paris; Mr. Damocles has opened a new school; and the previous temporary miraculous holders now have their miraculouses permanently.]]

*** Robin #2 was killed then returned, if only long enough for a FaceHeelTurn to The Red Hood.

** The ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' series. [[spoiler: They killed: Chewbacca, Anakin Solo, Borsk Fey'lya, Admiral Ackbar, The Hapan Queen Mother Teneniel Djo, and Mon Mothma]]. Oh, and started [[spoiler:Jacen Solo on the road to the Dark Side]] that would later lead to ''his'' death.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': At the end of the season two finale, "True Colors", [[spoiler:Anne and the Plantars are teleported to Earth]]. The third and final season focuses on [[spoiler:Anne and the Plantars [[HourglassPlot stuck in Los Angeles]], fighting off threats from King Andrias, learning how to control her powers, dodging the U.S. government, and figuring out a way back to Amphibia so that they can stop the king's quest to become an interdimensional conqueror]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
** Played with in the ending to the fourth movie where the entire cast (and then some) are on the run and flee into a giant wormhole that was said to take them to unknown corners of the universe. However, the revived next season gives things a subtle HandWave that puts everything back to status quo. It was said that there was a dispute whether or not to make the change. Obviously, those against it won.
** The ending to the fourth movie was set up to be a satisfying conclusion to the series of the "and they lived happily ever after in outer space" variety. When they got the green light for a new season (by a different network), the choice to bring them back to Earth (and the established supporting characters) vs. leaving them tootling around in Parts Unknown (and radically changing the tone of the series)... doesn't seem like something anyone should need to think too hard about. Come ''on'', losing Nixon's Head? Mom? Zapp Brannigan? Robot Devil?

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': For an episodic series aimed at a young audience, this new generation of My Little Pony really isn't afraid of making big changes.
** By the end of the third season, Rainbow Dash makes some real progress in her dream of joining the Wonderbolts, [[HeelFaceTurn Trixie and Discord are fixed]], and more importantly, Twilight Sparkle has been coronated a princess and made an alicorn to match that status.
** Also extends into the Season 4 premiere and the following episode: The Mane 6 sacrifice the Elements of Harmony to revive the Tree of Harmony and save Equestria. Also, they begin writing in a group Diary kept by Twilight instead of sending letters.
** ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 Twilight's Kingdom Part 2]]'':
*** The Mane Six gain Rainbow Power, and with it, new powers to explore. The library is destroyed, and in its place is a new castle effectively making Ponyville into a kingdom and Twilight is dubbed "Princess of Friendship".
*** Discord's character also crossed the HeroesFrontierStep. He fully accepts the Mane Six are now his friends and can be truly considered reformed now.
** In the show's five-year anniversary episode, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E19CrusadersOfTheLostMark Crusaders of the Lost Mark]]", the [[{{Deuteragonist}} Cutie Mark Crusaders']] long-time antagonist [[AlphaBitch Diamond Tiara]] gets a HeelFaceTurn, and, after five seasons of fruitlessly trying for them, the Crusaders themselves finally obtain their cutie marks.
** In the [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E26TheCutieRemarkPart2 Season 5 finale]] [[spoiler:Starlight Glimmer is not only [[HeelFaceTurn redeemed]], but becomes Twilight's pupil in the study of Friendship, [[SixthRanger permanently changing the mane cast]]]].

** ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E26ToWhereAndBackAgainPart2 To Where and Back Again Part 2]]'': [[spoiler:The changelings transform after discovering they can share love instead of [[EmotionEater absorbing it]], Queen Chrysalis disappears after vowing revenge on Starlight, and Thorax takes her place as leader of the changelings]].
** And in the GrandFinale, [[spoiler:Twilight is crowned the new ruler of Equestria when Celestia and Luna retire, with Spike as her friendship ambassador. But to do this, she has to leave Ponyville and move back to Canterlot, meaning she can't live with her friends anymore. However, she establishes the "Council of Friendship" so they meet up once a moon so they don't drift apart]].

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has the episode "Rick Potion No. 9", where after a love-potion experiment gets ''so'' horribly wrong, Rick and Morty have to ditch their universe.

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E18ASinglePaleRose "A Single Pale Rose"]] was a WhamEpisode that featured one of the biggest reveals in the series: [[spoiler:Rose Quartz is ''Pink Diamond'', who faked her death in the hopes that it would get the other Diamonds to leave the Earth alone. Steven isn't half-Quartz, but instead half-Diamond as a result]].

*** The Mane Six gain Rainbow Power, and with it, new powers to explore. The library is destroyed, but in its place is a new castle effectively making Ponyville into a kingdom and Twilight is dubbed "Princess of Friendship".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': As of "Schooled", Lori's off at college, Lily starts preschool and the rest of the kids are now a grade higher than they were in the first four seasons. Their parents, especially their father, [[EmptyNest get hit with this pretty hard]].

* ''WebOriginal/FortniteTheMovie'': Heavily implied during The Reign of White Skull. Norm is dead. Mime is dead. Samboy is dead. Three major players have all been killed and White Skull remains in power.

* ''WebVideo/FortniteTheMovie'': Heavily implied during The Reign of White Skull. Norm is dead. Mime is dead. Samboy is dead. Three major players have all been killed and White Skull remains in power.

* ''FortniteTheMovie'': Heavily implied during The Reign of White Skull. Norm is dead. Mime is dead. Samboy is dead. Three major players have all been killed and White Skull remains in power.

** Come the end of the Lawsuit Arc, and ''four'' characters end up undergoing permanent design changes in one episode: [=SMG4=], [=SMG3=], Bob and Fishy Boopkins are all transformed by Shigeru Miyamoto himself into original and more copyright-friendly designs, as opposed to [[PaletteSwap Palette Swaps]] of Mario, a [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Garo]] and a [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Spike]] respectively.

* The ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'' episode [[Recap/LoveDeathAndRobotsGoodHunting Good Hunting]] deals with China's transition from a world shrouded in myth and magic to an industrial setting and latter a steampunk civilization. The industrializing of China severely affects the magical creatures as they slowly lose their powers and must adapt to the new setting.

* In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', beginning at strip 500 when [[spoiler: Faye tells Marten how her father had committed suicide in front of her]].

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Volume 3 climaxes with an all-out assault on the City of Vale and Beacon Academy by the villains, the White Fang and the Grimm all at the same time. Although the city is saved, Beacon Academy is destroyed, leaving the students without a functional school. Volume 4 therefore kicks off with Team RWBY scattered to the winds, as a result of Weiss being taken home to Atlas by her father, Blake going on the run due to the emotional trauma of what she's experienced and Yang being left at home to recover from trauma inflicted upon her during the battle. Only Ruby is curious enough about the villains to push the plot forward in Volume 4. From this point on, childhood has ended for the students, forcing them to confront a world full of dangerous secrets even most adults don't know about. [[spoiler:The battle results in the deaths of Pyrrha and Ozpin, the destruction of Penny, the crippling of Cinder, and the introduction of the true BigBad Salem; meanwhile, Adam promises Blake he will destroy everything she cares about before proving it by deliberately hacking off Yang's arm to punish Blake for abandoning him in the Black Trailer. Ruby joins forces with Jaune, Nora and Ren to spend Volume 4 travelling across the continent of Anima to Haven Academy in search of information about who the villains are, what they're up to and how they can be stopped.]]
** Volume 7 ends with another bout of chaos. [[spoiler:Ironwood reveals [[BigBad Salem]] to his kingdom, as the first step in revealing her to the world and hopefully uniting everyone to defeat her... and then discovers that she's immortal and has an agent he didn't know about in the city already, before she subjects him to a [[BreakThemByTalking Breaking Speech]] and reveals that she's already got an army approaching. This sets him down a paranoid spiral which results in him turning on the heroes and labeling them fugitives, planning to abandon Remnant by taking [[FlyingCity Atlas]] into orbit. The next few hours in universe are comprised of unwarranted infighting and result in Clover being killed by Tyrian, Qrow getting falsely arrested for his murder, Robyn Hill being arrested for being in the wrong place, Penny becoming the Winter Maiden and [[DefectorFromDecadence joining the heroes as they retreat,]] Winter being in critical condition and breaking ties with her sister, Ironwood shooting Oscar (a 14 year old boy) off a cliff, and the arrival of a giant flying whale and all of Salem's army.]] And then the creators announced that Volume 8 [[ExaggeratedTrope would take place over the course of two days in universe.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': at the end of Volume 3, [[spoiler: Penny, Pyrrha, and Torchwick are dead, Ozpin is missing and possibly dead, Beacon Academy has been destroyed, the world's communication network has been disabled, Yang is missing an arm and is in a [[HeroicBSOD very bad way]], Blake has been violently confronted by her [[{{Yandere}} psychotic ex]] and retreated, Weiss has been collected by her abusive father, Ruby is now aware that she possesses an incredible hereditary power which blows her hopes of being a normal girl away, and Team RWBY has been separated]]. This came as a big shock after the last two volumes both ended with the status quo being restored almost instantly after the final big action scene. Every Volume since has revolved around the heroes trying to recover from those losses in one way or another, to varying degrees of success.

** Genesis takes this trope to a literal level. Within a seven day period, God transformed nothingness into everything.

* ''Film/TrailOfThePinkPanther'' seems to do this to Inspector Clouseau (the ending reveals he survived), but that's because all of Clouseau's scenes in the first half are actually deleted scenes from ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'', Creator/PeterSellers having been dead for almost 2 years when this film was made. The film was intended as the gateway for a new protagonist to enter the series with the next film and wasn't even ''conceived'' until after Sellers' death.