History Main / ReWrite

* ''Fanfic/FamilyGuyFanon'' and ''Fanfic/TheClevelandShowFanon'' rewrites the history of ''Family Guy'' and ''The Cleveland Show'' for both adding new scenes and episodes, [[AscendedExtra taking minor characters and giving them more depth]] (majority of them were CreatorsFavorite of Boyariffic and The Super Blackwing) and changing the timeline out of universe.

* The ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' games and tie-in media made after ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'' have continually rewritten the details of Raccoon City's destruction. While ''3'' definitively showed the city being destroyed at dawn by a single nuclear missile, the current canon is that it was done just before daybreak by multiple non-nuclear high explosive missiles.

* Originally, ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' was completely its own universe created by the MadScientist Klaus out of nothing but sheer curiosity while at the same time completely destroying the old universe. ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' changed it so that Klaus was less insane with the experiment was more of a desperate is selfish attempt to save a war torn world, which rather than erasing the old universe to create the new one instead sent half Klaus and his fellow scientist Galea into a "far flung" dimension while making Earth completely uninhabitable, leaving the remaining half to rebuild life and ultimately create the world of Alrest on top of the ruins of Earth. And then ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'' changed it yet again so that not only was the universe split in two, creating the worlds of 1 and 2, but the world before was actually the same as ''VideoGame/Xenogears'', albeit with some differences.

* The ''Franchise/StarWars''[=/=]''Franchise/MassEffect'' crossover ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'s'' "Epilogue" got pretty much thrown out the airlock to enable the sequel ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'' to be written. Other aspects of the sequel are less-contradictory of previous material and fall under {{Retcon}}s instead.

** The [[LegendaryWeapon Master Sword]]'s origin has gone through three primary incarnations throughout the series' history. In the [[http://www.zeldalegends.net/view/text/z3translation/z3_manual_story.html Japanese manual]] of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', the ancient Hyruleans were instructed by the gods to forge the sword to destroy any evil that would desire the Triforce.[[note]]The American manual creates a DubInducedPlotHole by stating that the sword was created in response to Ganon's invasion, which is clearly not the case as seen in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''[[/note]] ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' rewrites this origin to state the sword was "crafted by the wisdom of the ancient sages". ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', which directly shows (part of) the sword's creation, states that the Goddess Hylia created the Goddess Sword, which would evolve into the Master Sword due to her servants instructing the Link of that game to do so.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' is infamous for this.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' ends with a screen showing that "The Master Sword sleeps again... forever!" ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' indicates that "forever" was a couple hundred years tops.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' alone contradicts a number of things in ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'', and reveals things that never happened. Things like Big Boss [[LukeIAmYourFather revealing himself to be Snake's father]] (Which didn't happen in Metal Gear 2, though Snake ''did'' say after killing Big Boss that he felt like he murdered his father), ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' retconning Big Boss's age and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' retconning Big Boss's age ''again''. Metal Gear Solid 3 and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' did this with a [[MindScrew number of]] [[GainaxEnding things]] from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', so that it made at least ''some'' sense. Finally, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' does this to more of Big Boss's story.

* ''Fanfic/NoStarsInSight'' is a rewrite of another fanfic called ''Fanfic/{{Stargazer}}''. The reason behind this was because the author felt that ''Stargazer'''s plot was losing cohesion and they found themselves dissatisfied with the direction that the original story was headed.

* ''Fanfic/NoStarsInSight'' is a rewrite of another fanfic called ''Fanfic/{{Stargazer}}''. The reason behind this was because the author felt that ''Stargazer'''s plot was losing cohesion and they found themselves dissatisfied with the direction that the story was headed.

* ''FanFic/TheApprenticeTheStudentAndTheCharlatan'' is currently undergoing one of these, at least up until the later chapters, due to the author feeling that the quality difference between the earlier and later chapters due to his growth as a writer during that span needed to be corrected. Some of the readers weren't convinced at first, but the newest chapters got to the point where they were far and away the better specimens compared to their older counterparts.

A RetCon which directly ignores, contradicts or alters information in the BackStory.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'' does this to the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI first game's]] continuity. At the end of the first game, the narrator expounds upon Kratos's retaining the throne of the God of War for all time, explicitly showing flash-forwards to WWII and modern counter-terrorist forces as she talks of his presiding over all armed conflict. At the beginning of the second game, [[spoiler: Zeus strips Kratos of his mantle of godhood and boots him from Olympus, and Kratos does not regain his godhood by the ending. By the end of the third game, Olympus is completely ruined, so there's no throne for Kratos to reclaim...although the TheEndOrIsIt ending of the third game still leaves room for him to possibly return]].

* This happens when a new developer takes over the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series. Lara's whole background is changed to make her more developed. Legend also implies that all but the first Tomb Raider game never happened.
** Then later in Underworld, it's implied that parts of it happened or at least Lara mentions encountering a {{Doppelganger}} before. Also, she is closer to Crystal Dynamics Lara than the original. Go figure.
* ''VideoGame/{{Harvest Moon 64}}'' and "''VideoGame/HarvestMoonBackToNature''" have the same characters but are completely different in other respects. Almost everything is rewritten, from the personalities and backstories to jobs and who's related to who.
** This more comes with the territory of the ''Harvest Moon'' series blatantly recycling character designs and personalities on a mass level. It's just so blatant in ''Back to Nature'' because of the fact that that marked a direct case of copying the entire cast of ''64'', rather than picking and choosing from the series as a whole as is usually done.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/StarWarsRebelAssault'' deliberately rewrites the ending of ''Film/ANewHope'' so that player character Rookie One and his wingman Ru Murleen are the ones who destroy the Death Star, instead of Luke Skywalker. Rookie One fires the missile that travels down the exhaust shaft, and many more fighters are seen to survive the attack (at least seven fighters in ''Rebel Assault'' compared to the three fighters from the film).
** Something similar happens on ''VideoGame/XWing'', in which the player character, Keyan Farlander, is the one who destroys the Death Star, ironically, Luke Skywalker ''does'' make an appearance in a cutscene of one of the expansions.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' is infamous for this. ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' alone contradicts a number of things in ''VideoGame/MetalGear1'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'', and reveals things that never happened. Things like Big Boss [[LukeIAmYourFather revealing himself to be Snake's father]] (Which didn't happen in Metal Gear 2, though Snake ''did'' say after killing Big Boss that he felt like he murdered his father), ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' retconning Big Boss's age and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' retconning Big Boss's age ''again''. Metal Gear Solid 3 and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' did this with a [[MindScrew number of]] [[GainaxEnding things]] from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', so that it made at least ''some'' sense. Finally, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' does this to more of Big Boss's story.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' ends with a screen showing that "The Master Sword sleeps again... forever!" ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' indicates that "forever" was a couple hundred years tops.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' does this with character backgrounds and attributes. It's so blatant that it makes one wonder whether the writers/producers are just too damn lazy to go back and re-watch episodes or look up information on their characters on one of the many, many, ''many'' online databases documenting every character, in detail, from the main cast to the most throwaway guest star, or they're hoping ''viewers'' have poor recollection of the events and ''they'' won't go back and look. Or, ViewersAreMorons. For example:
** '''Chloe's mother:''' Chloe woke up one morning at age five to find her mother inexplicably gone and her father "trying to make waffles" ("Lineage") vs. Chloe, at around eight or nine, comes home to watch her mother get carted off by the Men In White. ("Progeny")
** '''Chloe and Smallville:''' Chloe moved to Smallville (or any rural place, as she thought farmer Clark "was Amish") for the first time when she was thirteen ("Obscura") vs. Chloe lived in Smallville early enough to have been affected by the meteors, allowing her meteor-mutant-controlling mother to accidentally control her and leave for Chloe's safety. ("Progeny")
** '''Lex's Mother:''' Lex's mother was a redhead, as supported by his genetics (Lex has naturally red hair), Lionel's apparent infatuation with redheads (Lillian, Pamela from "Crush", Rachel Dunleavy from "Lineage", Martha Kent), show creators' confirmation that Lionel likes redheads, and that she appeared as one in "Lexmas", vs. Lex's mother was a brunette and Lex dated women based on her. ("Bound")
** '''Clark Leaving Krypton:''' Clark's parents both sent him off to earth ("Memoria") vs. Clark sent himself off to earth via some twist in space and time, and his parents were nowhere to be seen. ("Apocalypse")
*** Brainiac may have killed Jor-El and Lara right after they placed Kal-El inside the ship.
** Shawn Ashmore played a villain in a couple of early seasons, only to show up later as Jimmy Olsen. No, wait, that isn't him!... it's his twin brother. And nobody noticed.

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** '''Chloe and Smallville:''' Chloe moved to Smallville (or any rural place, as she though farmer Clark "was Amish") for the first time when she was thirteen ("Obscura") vs. Chloe lived in Smallville early enough to have been affected by the meteors, allowing her meteor-mutant-controlling mother to accidentally control her and leave for Chloe's safety. ("Progeny")

** '''Clark Leaving Krypton:''' Clark's parents both sent him off to earth ("Memoria") vs. Clark sent himself off to earth via some twist in space and time, and his parents were no where to be seen. ("Apocalypse")

** Lorelai's general cleverness was also rewritten to contrast with Rory's: in early seasons, Lorelai was quite well-read and street-smart and quite an academic match for Rory despite her lack of Ivy League background, etc., which perfectly depicted her as a role model for Rory who wanted to give her the opportunities she missed out on. Later sessions keep Lorelai as street-smart, but dumb her down academically to contrast with Rory's increasing (and, as mentioned above, unrealistic) portray as a genius. Compare Rory's high-school graduation valedictorian speech with her graduation from Yale later on.

* ''VideoGame/{{Harvest Moon 64}}'' and "''VideoGame/HarvestMoonBackToNature''" have the same characters but are completely different in other respects. Almost everything is rewritten, from the personalties and backstories to jobs and who's related to who.

* Early chapters of ''FanFic/MyFamilyAndOtherEquestrians'' were rewritten in order to fit more closely into canon (things such as the Tree of Harmony were added to this rewrite when they were not in the original) and setting the story as taking place before "Equestria Games". This rewrite was also an attempt to make Blade Star less of a [[MarySue Gary Stu]], something that the author was worried that would happen in the course of the fic.

-->-- prologue to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''

** Not to mention that the light bee originally didn’t exist. The only way for Rimmer to leave Red Dwarf was within the confinement of a “Hologrammic Projection Cage.”

* The ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'' series' remakes (Fire Red, Leaf Green, Heart Gold, Soul Silver), as well as providing compatibility with the later generations, can be seen as a rewrite of the originals. Fire Red and Leaf Green took the original games, and clamped a whole new archipelago beside Kanto. Also, both the Generation three and Generation four remakes had extra Pokémon which weren't in the originals. [[FridgeLogic Maybe they appeared because someone misused the Time Capsule in Generation II?]]
** The third release games may count for this as well. In Generation II, it seems like ''VideoGame/PokemonYellow'' was canon. It is quite evident that ''VideoGame/PokemonPlatinum'' was canon as well. Both of these are third release games.

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If the previous story is literally rewritten to match the new version of events, it's an OrwellianRetcon. If it happens InUniverse, it is [[OrwellianEditor Orwellian Editing]].

* The ''Franchise/StarWars''[=/=]''Franchise/MassEffect'' crossover ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'s'' "Epilogue" got pretty much thrown out the airlock to enable the sequel ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'' to be written. Other aspects of the sequel are less-contradictory of previous material and fall under {{Retcon}}s instead.

** In season 1, Theon meeting

* The second ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' book ''[[Literature/TheLostWorld1995 The Lost World]]'' had Ian Malcolm very still alive, despite his apparent death in the first one.

*** This does not, however, clarify why one of the surviving main characters was talking about Malcolm's funeral arrangements. It does make the exact words, "They won't let us bury him", hilarious in retrospect though.

* The comic book ''ComicBook/{{Strangers in Paradise}}'', in Vol. 3 issue #43, presents us with both an actual and a ''metafictional'' rewrite: [[spoiler:It apparently takes place years later, when Francine and Katchoo are an elderly couple with a daughter named Ashley. Ashley has submitted a novel to a publisher, which turns out to be the story of ''ComicBook/{{Strangers in Paradise}}'' itself, and the publisher suggests a rewrite to make it flow better. After some minor outrage from Francine and Katchoo, they back the idea of a rewrite to make it more true to the "love story" aspect of their history, and the issue ends with the phrase, "End of Version 1."]] In the following issues, we see different takes of [[spoiler:Francine revealing her first pregnancy,]] finally resolving in [[spoiler:Francine going back to Katchoo]], causing the rewrite to morph into a "saving throw" of removing a flash forward plot-thread from the start of volume three of the series where it's revealed that Katchoo and Francine had broken up and not seen each other in years (changed to several months and due to Katchoo being caught in bed with Casey). [[spoiler:David's death remains intact however.]]

* The ''[[Comicbook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Rocket Raccoon and Groot]]'' back ups in ''[[Comicbook/{{Annihilation}} Annihilators]]'' strongly suggests that pretty much all the events of the original ''Rocket Raccoon'' miniseries were FakeMemories based very loosely on the true events of why Rocket left Halfworld. Instead of defeating the evil toymaker Judson Jakes, curing the Loonies and setting off with Lyla and Wal Russ to explore, he left alone to stop any Loonies escaping, after the kindhearted doctor Judson Jakes succumbed to a madness plague spread by the telepathic Star Thief. As the shift in Jakes's occupation suggests, the details of exactly how and why Halfworld functions as an asylum were changed as well, with the animal inhabitants going from simply being intelligent therapy pets to qualified mental health professionals.

* In a strange in-universe example, the LemonyNarrator of ''FanFic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'' unashamedly rewrites history and facts to suit her goals and interests. [[spoiler: At one point she even admits to it,]] but it's not as though she sees anything wrong with it.