| 1 | This phenomenon works thusly: |
| 2 | |
| 3 | # In the original work ''AliceAndBob'', there is a specific explanation for some plot point. For example, Alice always knows what to get Bob for his birthday because she has latent PsychicPowers. |
| 4 | # ''Alice and Bob'' is adapted to a new medium — say, [[TheMovie film]]. |
| 5 | # The fact that Alice always gets Bob the right gift stays, but her latent psychic powers don't. There is no longer any explanation for how she does this. |
| 6 | |
| 7 | This isn't limited to major elements of the work; often times minor things will get thrown in to satisfy the fans who might be looking for it, but the explanation is left out because most of the audience is going to know it. This can reduce something to the point of a HandWave, but it [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools isn't all bad.]] If something was not that important to the original work, this helps with the ConservationOfDetail and prevents the audience from getting overloaded while also possibly improving the pacing. However, if done poorly, it can accidentally create an AdaptationInducedPlotHole. This is generally distinguished from that trope by the question of whether the plot would still make sense if you ''did'' know the information that's been cut out. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | This is a kind of partial AdaptationDistillation where the explanation is removed in the distillation process but the element it explains isn't. If it's important and done excessively, might lead to ContinuityLockout. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The opposite of this is AdaptationalExplanation, where the original work doesn't explain the plot point, but the adaptation does. |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | !!Examples: |
| 14 | [[index]] |
| 15 | * [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]] |
| 16 | ** ''AdaptationExplanationExtrication/HarryPotter'' |
| 17 | * AdaptationExplanationExtrication/LiveActionTV |
| 18 | ** ''AdaptationExplanationExtrication/GameOfThrones'' |
| 19 | ** ''AdaptationExplanationExtrication/PowerRangers'' |
| 20 | [[/index]] |
| 21 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 24 | * When [[SickEpisode the twenty-third chapter]] of ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'' is adopted into the latter half of the seventh episode of the AnimatedAdaptation, the reason why Ao got sick in the first place is removed. In the manga, after her mother [[spoiler:discusses with Ao about Ao's father's job transfer,]] Ao [[spoiler:falls into a HeroicBSOD and]] sat in the bath for ''three'' hours, and gets sick from it. In the adaptation, her mother discusses with Ao on an unspecified matter, and on the next day finds her calling in sick. The thing about the bath is only raised as an off-hand comment. There is a purpose to it--to increase the impact of the following episode's WhamLine. |
| 25 | * This occurs in the anime adaptation of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. In the anime, Eren is shown to have copied one of Annie's {{Signature Move}}s and is later stated to be one of the best at hand-to-hand-combat. That Annie was his teacher is left out, removing an important aspect of their relationship. |
| 26 | * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': |
| 27 | ** In the manga, it's shown ''very clearly'' as to why Guts HatesBeingTouched [[spoiler: because he was raped as a child]] and three scenes show his severe dislike of this: first being when a general taps him on the shoulder after a battle, second when Casca is warming Guts when he fell ill after fighting Griffith, and third when he was carried by Pippin [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]]. In ''Anime/Berserk1997'', these scenes occur, but it's never explained why he doesn't like being touched because [[spoiler:the rape portion of his flashback]] doesn't occur in the anime. |
| 28 | ** Parodied in ''WebVideo/BerserkAbridged'', where Guts wonders during a nightmare whether it's symbolic of something too horrible to contemplate. [[spoiler:A panel from the rape scene appears]] (''Holy crap! Too horrible to contemplate is right!''), and Guts vows to get back to work repressing it in the morning. |
| 29 | ** In the manga, Guts does not have his armor or his ginormous two-handed sword by the time the Eclipse goes down because of the battle with Wyald, where he had to discard the armor to lure him and broke his sword in Wyald's neck. In this version, Guts is actually wearing his armor when everything happens, but he seemingly leaves his sword in camp in his haste to go after Griffith. Not completely inconceivable, but given how Guts is normally so keen on keeping his sword with him at all times, it seems a bit odd that he wasn't wearing it, especially since he hadn't even bothered to take his armor off. |
| 30 | * ''Anime/Berserk2016'' skips pretty much the entirety of the Black Swordsman and Lost Children arcs, which generates a lot of problems. |
| 31 | ** In the first scene of the anime, Guts smacks around some guys in a bar for no apparent reason. In the manga, he was doing it to send a message to their boss, who was an Apostle he'd been hunting, but the anime cuts out that entire plotline completely, making it look like he's either being an asshole for no reason or is doing it to save Puck (which is rather uncharacteristic for him at that point). |
| 32 | ** In the anime, one would probably be very confused as to why Guts has an entire knightly order working for the Holy See trying to follow his tracks and seemingly convinced that he's TheAntichrist, when by all appearances, he seems to just be some bad-tempered former merc with a curse who's trying to stay out of society. In the manga, the reader has seen why Guts is a HeroWithBadPublicity, because they've seen him battle Apostles several times: not only are these battles [[DestructiveSavior incredibly destructive]], but [[ThisWasHisTrueForm Apostles and their spawn go back to being human when killed]]. In the arc immediately preceding where the anime kicks off, Guts incinerated a large number of spawn that were formerly ''children''--at that point, even if he isn't a prophesied destroyer figure, he's still a suspected mass murderer and it makes perfect sense for them to want him captured. |
| 33 | ** Due to skipping its birth and not elaborating any further on it, the Demon Child goes completely unexplained. The Child's showings make very little sense (Why is it following Guts? Why is it protective of Casca and vice versa? Why does it seem to be so powerful? Why is Guts so disgusted by it, moreso than other demons?) when you don't have the context that it's Guts and Casca's son corrupted by Femto. What's more, due to cutting the Moon Child, which the Demon Child transformed into after being eaten by the Egg of the Perfect World, it seems as if [[AbortedArc the Demon Child just vanishes from the plot]]. |
| 34 | ** The scene where Griffith forces Zodd to obey him by cutting off one of his horns in a dream is cut entirely, despite Zodd still missing a horn and being oddly servile towards Griffith from that point on. |
| 35 | ** When Sonia meets Schierke, she tells a story based on the Ugly Duckling story that's meant to be a metaphor for her own life, about how a kite (herself) grew up among ducks (normal people) but met a hawk (Griffith) and they flew together for a while, but then the hawk met a duck princess and everyone wanted them to spend time together instead. To a reader of the manga, the "duck princess" is obviously Princess Charlotte, whom Griffith rescued to try to secure his position... and who was completely cut out of the anime, leaving any anime viewers very confused. |
| 36 | * In ''Literature/BraveStory,'' Wataru (the main character) and Mitsuru (TheRival) are both racing to reach the place called the Tower of the Goddess and receive a wish from her. In TheFilmOfTheBook, it's never explicitly explained why it's important who gets there first, or if it is. In the book, it's much clearer: [[spoiler:Whoever makes it last will be sacrificed to keep the land of Vision in existence.]] |
| 37 | * Due to the anime for ''Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness'' condensing over thirty chapters of a major story arc into only a few episodes, many details are swept under the rug or handwaved. Most notably, a lot of explanation behind what exactly is happening with the aliens inside the witches, the full details on Hatsuna's ability to heal herself and others, how Kazumi is able to pull off high level Technopathy despite being relegated to B rank, and why the villain noted for their distinct lack of empathy decided to sacrifice himself for someone he freely admitted to not caring for. A deal where they get the recipe for an all important drug is also swapped out for the man trying to reverse engineer the drug miraculously figuring it out faster. |
| 38 | * ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has to deal with this a lot, due to the AdaptationDistillation required to condense the novels into a limited number of episodes for the anime. |
| 39 | ** In the first anime arc, Touma has [[TalkingIsAFreeAction enough time to make an incredibly long speech]] while running across a tiny room. The novels, however, justify this because his opponent had used a spell to distort space. No such explanation is provided in the anime. |
| 40 | ** In the second arc, the reason Aureolus missed Touma with his first two attacks or how Stiyl survived is not explained in the anime. In the novel, Stiyl explained that he was still alive after being flayed and used heat mirages to throw off Aureolus' aim; this caused the alchemist to doubt himself and made it impossible for him to fully control Ars Magna. Stiyl used the opportunity to restore his body. |
| 41 | ** In the adaptation of the fifth volume, the reason for most of Ao Amai's actions during the Last Order story are never explained. The anime states that he secretly implanted Last Order with a virus which will infect the Misaka Network within a few more hours, potentially causing all of the Sisters to "run out of control" (with no further explanation of what that means). Neither Amai's motivation nor his plan is never explained, beyond a throwaway line about him being heavily in debt. Also, several of Amai's actions throughout the story are seemingly inexplicable: he kidnaps Last Order again for unclear reasons, yet then proceeds to just stay with her in his car in a nearby street instead of fleeing the area with her (despite suspecting that Accelerator and Yoshikawa are on to him). All this is explained in the book: Amai was bankrupted when the project failed, and ended up owing vast sums of money to some criminal organizations. He's found new sponsors among enemies of Academy City who are paying him to make all the Misaka Sisters go berserk and start killing people indiscriminately (which is what the virus is designed to do). He kidnaps Last Order because he's worried the virus will kill her before it activates and he's trying to keep her alive until then. The reason he can't flee the area is because the whole city has gone on high alert due to Ouma Yamisaka breaking in (to find Index), meaning there are security checkpoints blocking off every neighbourhood. And the reason he ultimately decides [[TakingYouWithMe to go down fighting]] is because, once his plan fails, all of his former backers are going to make sure the remainder of his life is both excruciating and short. |
| 42 | ** Multiple story arcs leave out various revelations about Aleister Crowley's plans and backstory. While this generally has little impact on the individual stories in question, the cumulative effect is to make Aleister's actions increasingly baffling as the series goes on. |
| 43 | * ''Literature/CoffinPrincessChaika'' has a Dragoon named Fredrika who took the form of Dominica Škoda's little sister Lucie following the real Lucie's death in an attempt to help Dominica through her grief. It didn't work and Dominica eventually died, so Fredrika started taking the form of Dominica herself to honor her memory. When this is revealed to the main characters following her defeat Fredrika then decides to follow them and look like Lucie instead, but the anime cut Lucie's character and her role in the story completely so she seemingly takes the form of a random girl who just happens to look a bit like Dominica with no explanation. |
| 44 | * The 2001 adaptation of ''Manga/{{Cyborg 009}}'' ended its TV run at episode 48, where [[spoiler:Joe and Jet appeared to die when they burnt up on re-entry to Earth]]. In the three-episode OVA arc that followed, both characters in question appeared relatively fine with no explanation of how they got out of the situation. This is due to the fact that aside from a loose adaptation of "God's War" (the OVA), the anime did not adapt beyond volume 10 and thus did not include the explanation for how the characters had survived. |
| 45 | * ''Anime/DanganronpaTheAnimation'' leaves out large chunks of dialogue that explain the significance of certain clues, but they are still used in the trial scenes. In particular, in case 2, [[spoiler:the dialogue that establishes that only one person could conceivably have found out how to destroy the electronic notebooks is left out.]] |
| 46 | * In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', the anime adaptation doesn’t make use of the LemonyNarrator present in the manga, which is mostly fine as the anime can just [[ShowDontTell show instead of telling something]], or if it’s really necessary it will have an actual character state that important piece of information. However, there are a few gags in the manga that relied upon the narrator to work, such as the fact explaining how honest the protagonist Tanjiro is to fairly introduce himself to a demon before attacking them, despite how going for a sneak attack would be far more preferable since a demon isn’t really worth being polite to. The anime skipped over explaining why Tanjiro does that. As the anime adaptation went, however, not all pieces of information originally given by the narrator were properly changed to a character thinking or saying that instead; examples include: |
| 47 | ** Red-Light District Arc: [[spoiler:Gyutaro actually having full control over Daki's body like she is his marionette isn't outright said, only implicitly by keeping Daki's dialogue that she works better whenever her brother is active by her side, and her final exasperated complaining to Gyutaro that he didn't use her well enough]]. |
| 48 | ** Swordsmith Village Arc: [[spoiler:Yoriichi Type Zero being easily defeated by Muichiro at first had its explanation completely omitted in the anime, the manga stated that Muichiro didn't know the doll has a difficulty level of sorts that could be adjusted to his strength, he ended up breaking it and not having a training session that could have truly benefited him]]. [[spoiler:Hantengu's true level of power embodied by Zohakuten isn't something that could have been used right away, Hantengu's core, Fear, really needed to feel absolutely cornered in order for all his strength to manifest itself, that is literally the narrated explanation given to his powers]]. |
| 49 | * The ''Manga/FairyTail'' anime leaves out the entire Ryuzetsu Land chapter from the manga where Lucy gets an apology from her enemy Flare after Raven Tail is booted from the [[TournamentArc Grand Magic Games]]. Although the chapter later received its own OriginalVideoAnimation adaptation, viewers who were unfamiliar with the OVA and manga would've been left without the one explanation for why Lucy sticks up for Flare later on. The second anime fixed this by adding a new scene where [[BigDamnHeroes Flare saves Lucy's life]] between these two encounters, which Lucy uses as proof that she can be trusted. |
| 50 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': |
| 51 | ** The anime only follows the ''Fate'' route from the visual novel (with some material from ''Unlimited Blade Works'' and ''Heaven's Feel'', but only enough to help fill out the episodes and not to spoil the twists of said routes), which never explains the reasons behind Shirou's MartyrWithoutACause tendencies, causing him to come across as [[TooDumbToLive an unbelievable idiot.]] |
| 52 | ** Many other things pop up without full explanation, such as when Shirou conjures the same swords that Archer used ([[spoiler:because Archer's actually a potential future possibility of Shirou]]), or why Sakura was kidnapped by Caster ([[spoiler:because she has fragments of the ''previous'' War's Grail inside of her body, which Caster intended to use to summon the Grail]]). |
| 53 | ** The same tendency carries into the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' movie, which is very much intended as eye candy for those who played the VN, rather than a work in itself. The nature of Heroic Spirits is never explained, beyond "they're what you summon for the Grail War", making [[spoiler:the revelation of Archer's identity]] into a complete AssPull; it preserves the emotional context surrounding [[spoiler:Shirou [[DeusSexMachina establishing a contract]] with Rin]] while replacing the scene itself, making it seem as if Rin turned into a complete bitch for no reason for a single scene and then reverted; among other problems. |
| 54 | *** The [[Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks series]] for ''UBW'' is better about this, except it doesn't explain why Rin doesn't use her magecraft to free herself when Archer captures her, making it look like she ForgotAboutHerPowers. |
| 55 | ** The ''Literature/FateZero'' anime is much better when it comes to this; while there are other reasons for Gilgamesh to be infatuated with Saber, the main one is that she reminds him of Enkidu, his MoralityPet and OnlyFriend. |
| 56 | * In ''Anime/FateGrandOrderAbsoluteDemonicFrontBabylonia'' there's a scene where we see Babylonian priestesses summoning the Goddess Ishtar into a local girl's body via a ritual. The fact that said girl looks exactly like series regular [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Rin Tohsaka]] is never addressed, leaving the viewer to speculate she had a very distant identical ancestor in the Middle East. In the original ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' game Ishtar looks exactly like Rin because she ''is'' Rin, or rather Ishtar possessing her body. The ritual still happened in the game, but because Babylon was about to become a Singularity the priestess was able to reach across time and found Rin was a compatible host. [[note]]Ironically, in the ''VideoGame/FateExtra'' universe Rin does have an uncannily identical descendant (specifically a niece) from the Middle East, albeit blond instead of brunette[[/note]] |
| 57 | * ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'': |
| 58 | ** ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': During the episode where the baby gets born, Ed is furious with himself because he is useless during critical moments. This seems weird because he has no medical experience, so it shouldn't hit him that hard. Turns out, in the manga, Ed actually attempts (and fails) to use alchemy to build a bridge for Dominic to get the doctor. This, of course, makes more sense because it's within Ed's area of expertise. |
| 59 | ** In the manga it's mentioned that Trisha died of an illness going around. In the [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 anime]], her illness isn't discussed, besides it being mentioned that it was likely a long-term illness. |
| 60 | ** In the 2003 anime, Ishvalans have dark skin and red eyes, but their hair is brown or black. In the manga, Ishvalans have white hair on top of having dark skin and red eyes. Scar is the one young Ishvalan who keeps his white hair. As a child he had black hair but it lightened for reasons unspecified. It was grey even ''before'' the Ishvalan massacre, so it's unlikely to be [[PrematurelyGreyHaired due to stress]]. |
| 61 | * ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': Urumi's "deep, dark secret" ([[spoiler:that she's a test-tube baby and never knew who her father was]]) is never revealed in the anime (unless you understand French, and even then it's a tossup whether you understand what she means), which makes her motivations (especially regarding Ms. Fujimori) somewhat confusing. |
| 62 | * In the anime adaptation of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', some early-arc scenes are omitted or moved to completely different arcs despite being referenced later in the arc in oblique ways: |
| 63 | ** For instance, the scene in the first arc wherein the group plays games with Jirou during Watanagashi and then writes on his shirt as a penalty game is omitted, causing Mion's statement that she is "doing the same thing we did to Jirou" to Keiichi at the end of the first arc to no longer be ambiguous. [[spoiler:This leaves anime fans without a major clue that Keiichi was [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness hallucinating]] the marker as a needle.]] |
| 64 | ** As a less extreme example, the game of 'zombie tag' is [[AdaptationalContextChange moved]] from the first arc to a much later arc and Shion is added to the game, despite the 'zombie tag' game being much closer thematically with the first and second arc. |
| 65 | ** Anime-only fans are frequently stumped on why [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight no one mentions]] that [[HornedHumanoid Hanyuu]] has ''horns''. It's explained in the sound novels that characters did notice them. They just were either too polite to mention them, liked them, or assumed they were hair accessories. The BigBad [[spoiler:Miyo]] is the only character to take note of them. [[spoiler:Miyo]] mentioning them triggers [[spoiler:Hanyuu's memories of Rika's previous death.]] The anime excluded that scene and all other references to her horns. |
| 66 | ** The anime had so many things taken out that the visual novel's creator asked for a one-episode arc (Yakusamashi-hen) in order to fill in the plot holes. |
| 67 | * ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle:'' |
| 68 | ** In both the film and the book, Sophie decides to stay at her hat shop as the eldest child. In the book, it's because she's WrongGenreSavvy about YoungestChildWins. In the movie, she simply says she's staying because she's the eldest--leaving the audience to assume something involving inheritance or a misguided sense of responsibility, possibly. |
| 69 | ** At the end of both, [[spoiler:when she has to return Howl's heart,]] she wants to know if Calcifer will still be alright. He says he will. In the book, it's explicitly because [[spoiler:Sophie can imbue things with magical powers just by talking to them, so she gave Calcifer a life of his own outside of Howl's heart.]] In the movie, it's {{Hand Wave}}d with Calcifer simply thinking Sophie is special somehow. |
| 70 | ** In the movie, there is a peculiar and extremely intelligent dog that follows Sophie around. The dog was extremely significant in the book, but all of its plot relevance was shuffled into a minor book character, and it was left in the movie as just a weird dog. |
| 71 | ** The book has a very clear explanation for Howl's mysterious background and odd personality quirks, [[spoiler:He's from Wales in the 1980s.]] In the movie, this is totally ignored. |
| 72 | * The 2011 adaptation of ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' cuts out Kite's appearance and any mentions of him in the story (safe for his [[FreezeFrameBonus blink-and-you’ll-miss-it silhouette in the first episode’s narration]]) and his backstory with Gon is shortened, showing that he saved Gon from a foxbear attack. In the manga and 1999 anime, Kite became a father figure to Gon, is the one who revealed the truth about Ging, and is the reason why Gon wants to be a Hunter to find Ging, which Gon repeatedly mentions in the story. Gon and Killua joining Kite and his team for 1 month exploring the Kakin Fauna is even removed so Gon's seemingly powerful attachment to Kite and [[spoiler:rage over his death]] looks like it came out of nowhere in the [[{{Creator/Madhouse}} Madhouse]] anime. |
| 73 | * ''Anime/TheIdolMaster'': Some events in the anime series make a lot more sense if you've played through the game and unlocked the backstories for the idols. |
| 74 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 75 | ** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'', the Nazis capture Speedwagon, hoping to interrogate him for information on the stone masks and the Pillar Men. [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Not wanting to give them the information, Speedwagon tries to kill himself]], but the Nazis put him in a straitjacket. The anime has him wake up in a straitjacket, implying that he was put in one while he was still unconscious. |
| 76 | ** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', Okuyasu's father was a servant of [[GreaterScopeVillain DIO]]'s, complete with a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy flesh bud implanted into his head]]; when [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders DIO was killed in 1988]], the flesh bud [[ForcedTransformation mutated him into a hideous frog-like creature]]. The LiveActionAdaptation tries to be its own self-contained story and avoids referencing the other story arcs, so the only explanation we're given for Nijimura's transformation is his older son Keicho suggesting that it was LaserGuidedKarma for his being a [[DomesticAbuse terrible]] [[AbusiveParents person]]. |
| 77 | ** In the anime the team brings in Joeseph in order to use his [[CrystalBall Hermit Purple]] in order to locate Akira - the manga specifies that the plan is to spread Hermit Purple's [[VineTentacles vines]] through the town power lines as tripwires, since that's how Akira's stand [[ShockAndAwe Red Hot Chili Pepper]] [[RideTheLightning travels around town]]. The anime leaves out this explanation, so when the next arc introduces ''another'' stand user who is hiding out in the same town, anime-only viewers are left with the perfectly reasonable question of why the team doesn't try to use Hermit Purple again. (It doesn't help that Hermit Purples exact abilities and restrictions, like many other stands [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness tend to have apparent contradictions between their various appearances]], so it's not exactly clear whether or not it ''would'' work in that situation.) |
| 78 | * The ''Literature/JuniTaisenZodiacWar'' anime leaves out why Ox kept showing up during Tiger's backstory: [[spoiler:Unlike most battles he had with others, he remembered their previous encounter and started contemplating why he acted irrationally during it. He was going to ask her for a drink to get to know her better.]] |
| 79 | * ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': |
| 80 | ** Due to the fact that Kaguya's first study session with Ishigami was moved to before Shirogane's birthday in the anime, it cuts out any mention of her doing so [[DebtDetester due to owing him a favor]] and she is instead simply trying to keep him for tarnishing the name of the student council and inconveniencing Shirogane. |
| 81 | ** A lesser one happens in the second season, in the arc dealing with Ishigami's past. The reason he's hated by his classmates is that in middle school, he caught a popular student cheating on his girlfriend, tried to make the guy stop, and was framed as a stalker. The boyfriend doesn't figure into the plot beyond this because he transferred to a different school shortly afterwards; the anime doesn't say why but vaguely implies that he was scared of Ishigami coming after him again. In the manga, Kaguya reveals that after the Student Council discovered the truth behind the incident, she ratted the boyfriend out to the school's [=VIPs=] (the students whose parents wield major power and influence in Japanese society) and ''they'' took care of the matter. |
| 82 | * ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'': |
| 83 | ** In the manga, Tohru used magic to make the necessary paperwork for Kanna to go to school. The anime cut out this scene, [[AdaptationExpansion instead opting for a sequence of the two of them and Kobayashi going out to buy school supplies]]. |
| 84 | ** Also, the HotSpringsEpisode comes after Ilulu's attack on Tohru, with Takiya specifically suggesting the trip because he knew something heavy had happened and wanted to give the others a vacation to ease their minds, as well as maintaining the sense of community between the group. [[AdaptationalLateAppearance Since Ilulu didn't show up in the anime until the following season]], the OVA simply removes that part and has Takiya use the community explanation. |
| 85 | * ''Manga/MuhyoAndRoji'' |
| 86 | ** After defeating Face-Ripper Sophie, [[HeroicRROD Muhyo collapses due to lack of tempering]] and requires medical attention. Anime watchers may wonder why Biko didn't use another portable magical circle to teleport Muhyo back to the Magical Law Society, since the anime didn't adapt a few panels that show Biko rummaging around her bag and realizing that she used up her last magical circle. [[spoiler:Since Rio uses a circle to summon Enchu to help her, it's possible that Rio stole the circle from Biko]]. |
| 87 | ** In episode 17, Roji, [[spoiler:having been put on leave from his job as Muhyo's assistant]], is staying with Imai, and offers to do chores for her, causing Imai to snap and angrily demand if that's all he wants to do. In the manga, Imai explains that her subordinate Fujiwara, who died in the Arcanum, was incompetent and a coward, but he nevertheless worked hard. Shortly afterward, Imai has a brief monologue pondering Roji's hidden potential, with the implication being that she's angry with Roji for wallowing in self-pity rather than thinking about how to improve himself despite his potential. |
| 88 | * ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 89 | ** In the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' anime, under the imminent impact of one of the Juubi's Tailed Beast Bombs, the Shinobi Alliance HQ's members decide to stay and give out one last message instead of evacuate. In the anime, no reasoning is given. In the manga, however, it is explained by a side character that [[FantasticNuke the blast radius will be far too large for them to escape in the short time it'll take for the bomb to reach them,]] so they might as well die doing something useful rather than making a futile effort to escape. |
| 90 | ** In the [[Manga/Naruto1997 pilot chapter]] it's shown that Naruto was taken in and raised by the Chief (an early version of the Third Hokage). In the manga itself, we're never told who raised Naruto until he was [[MinorLivingAlone old enough to raise himself]]. An orphanage is presumably involved but none is ever referenced. |
| 91 | * The ''Manga/{{Negima}}: Another World'' {{OVA}}s don't even bother to explain the whole [[OvernightAgeUp age-changing pills]] deal, which were introduced in the previous arc, confusing viewers who see Chisame and Chachamaru are now lolis... just because. |
| 92 | * In the first ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' LightNovel, when [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Mahiro]] and Nyarko infiltrate Nodens' auction house, Mahiro realizes that it's BiggerOnTheInside, which reveals that he has the rare ability to perceive distortions in space-time and resist the effects they might have on him personally[[note]][[ShoutOut put more simply]], he's a [[Series/KamenRiderDenO Singularity Point]][[/note]]. In the anime, this moment passes without notice, other than Nyarko complimenting him for how well he's handling this unusual situation. While this didn't come up in the two TV series, it becomes an extremely important ChekhovsSkill later down the line, when [[spoiler:Nyarko and Cuuko are [[RetGone erased from history]] and Mahiro is the only one who can save them because he's the only one who even remembers they existed in the first place.]] |
| 93 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 94 | ** The anime initially [[{{Bowdlerise}} cuts out]] a scene from the manga where Luffy as a child [[MachoMasochism scars himself]] to try and impress Shanks, thus leaving his signature cheek scar unexplained. However, Luffy's childhood is ''the'' [[AdaptationOverdosed most-retold chunk of the series]], and most of the remakes ''do'' keep the scarring scene. |
| 95 | ** During the Baratie arc, as the Straw Hats head towards the titular restaurant, their guide Johnny tells Zoro that the "hawk-eyed man" he's looking for is said to show up there. Later, it's revealed he confused him with "Old Red-Eye, who drank so much, his eyes turned red." The anime keeps the first scene intact, but not the second, leaving Johnny's story hanging. |
| 96 | ** More pivotally: the anime {{Bowdlerise}}s Zeff eating his own leg during Sanji's backstory, leaving zero explanation as to how he survived their stranding when he gave all the available food to Sanji. |
| 97 | ** The anime adapted only two mini-adventures (Coby/Helmeppo and Buggy's story). This becomes a problem for those who've not read the manga and thus not know how, for example, Jango became a Marine alongside Fullbody despite having been a pirate, or Hatchan escaped from the prison and met Keimi. |
| 98 | * ''Anime/Persona5TheAnimation'' suffers from this quite frequently, as a result of cutting out much of the game's exposition. |
| 99 | ** In the anime, Yusuke appears to leave the real Sayuri painting (his mother's MagnumOpus, which Madarame stole and claimed as his own) with Sojiro on a whim. In the game, he says that no one will accept it as real, thanks to Madarame altering it, and that his mother would want it in a place where it could brighten someone's day. |
| 100 | ** Sadayo Kawakami, the protagonist's homeroom teacher, moonlights as a maid despite the fact that it means she can't devote as much energy to her teaching job, and the exhaustion is harmful to her health, because [[spoiler:she needs the extra wages to pay "apology money" to the greedy relatives of one of her students, who are using the student's death to extort money out of her]]. The anime omits her entire backstory, and thus her reason for going to all this trouble |
| 101 | ** In Episode 14, Eiko's FreudianExcuse- that since her parents favor her talented younger brother over her, she's drawn to someone like Tsukasa- is removed, only mentioned in passing when Eiko tearfully says Tsukasa is all she has. Several other details about how Eiko is fine with her subpar grades but seemingly has a plan for her future, thereby establishing her as a {{Foil}} to Makoto, are removed. It's also not mentioned that Tsukasa has repeatedly tried to message Makoto, presumably in an attempt to rope her in as another mark, and which Makoto uses to turn the tables on him. |
| 102 | ** Downplayed in Episode 16. Sojiro's remarks about Futaba's need for a safe place are implied to be the reason why he had Ren stay in the attic above Leblanc rather than in the Sakura residence, but he doesn't say this outright. |
| 103 | ** At the beach, when Ryuji questions why Futaba believed the Phantom Thieves could save her by changing her heart, Futaba's explanation of why she needed to reach out to the Phantom Thieves, and why she wasn't sure she could fully trust them is cut out. |
| 104 | ** In Episode 22, while Mishima's decision to target an actor just because he's famous is proof that he's getting carried away, even if he claims it's for the good of the Phantom Thieves, the anime omits the actual reason behind the choice. In the game, he'd heard rumors that the actor was involved with an idol, and believed that the public would want the actor's heart to be changed, until the actor decided to marry the idol, winning over many of his critics. |
| 105 | ** In "Dark Sun," a significant part of the explanation of the plan to [[spoiler:fool Akechi into thinking that he'd killed the real Ren]] is cut, particularly one optional conversation in which Futaba talks about [[spoiler:the group making sure that Akechi didn't encounter his Cognitive self]]. |
| 106 | ** Also from "Dark Sun," it's never mentioned why the cognitive versions of [[BigBad Shido]]'s co-conspirators can turn into Shadows- [[spoiler:they're hybrids of cognitive existences and Shadows, and proof that Shido has extensively made use of Wakaba's research]]. The OVA also doesn't mention that [[spoiler:the principal]] was part of the conspiracy, or that the subway accident was caused on the request of [[spoiler:Ooe, a member of the Diet and one of Shido's major allies, in order to eliminate some of his foes]]. |
| 107 | * The ''Manga/{{Plunderer}}'' anime cuts the scene where the Hoemnn greengrocer explains to Jail how she and the villagers found the dying Lyne and Rihito in enough time to encourage her to confess to him and give him his HeroicSecondWind--she's a military deserter [[spoiler:(specifically, [[ChekhovsGunman it's revealed later on that she's a former high-ranking general]])]] and it was easy enough for her to use her knowledge to track Lyne. Without this piece of information, it looks like the villagers [[TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot just happened upon them out of sheer chance right at the moment that Lyne needed them]]. |
| 108 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': |
| 109 | ** In ''The Birth Of Mewtwo'' short that accompanies ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', it's never mentioned how Amber died. In [[Radio/PokemonTheBirthOfMewtwo the original radio drama]] it was shown that Amber had died when she was hit by a car. |
| 110 | ** In the games, it's stated that Mewtwo was subjected to various experiments that turned it vicious and mutated him into what he looks like now. No mention of why he looks different from Mew despite being its clone (at least in the anime continuity) is made in the anime. |
| 111 | ** In the games trainers receive money for winning battles and give up money when they lose battles. Due to this being close to gambling, it isn't in the anime. As a result, Ash and his friends have money with no explanation on where they're getting money from. They don't have jobs and they don't get money from battles. |
| 112 | * In adapting ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' to film, a few scenes were cut that apparently just weren't important enough yet provided important exposition nevertheless. This includes magical girls being able to telepathically talk to each other via Kyubey, the nature of familiars, and [[spoiler:why Homura's struggle with mathematics and track-and-field is important as they removed the first episode scene where she did both effortlessly]]. |
| 113 | * Downplayed in ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend''. The anime includes the part in which Ruka's heart condition is explained, but as a montage of manga panels set to the special ending theme for Episode 7. The basic explanation is there, but it forgoes some of the more specific details. |
| 114 | * ''Anime/RWBYIceQueendom'': Jaune's original character arc is cut from this spin-off, as a result, certain things about him and Team JNPR are included, but the context has been lost. It's a plot-point that his Aura is exceptionally untrained for a Huntsman student, he is shown to have great doubts about abilities that are sub-par compared to other students, and his team-mates are close enough to him to rescue him from the Nightmare Grimm. However, the arc that establishes why he's so untrained and how he bonds with his team is cut. Although he is given a replacement character growth arc in the anime, these things are never explained. |
| 115 | * ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'': |
| 116 | ** If you only watch the anime adaptation, you might wonder where the [[spoiler:Snake of the Festival came from, and what motivated Yuuji to betray the Flame Hazes. This was foreshadowed early in the novels, including the novels that were adapted in the first season. Unfortunately the "minor" plot point of the Snake of the Festival speaking to Yuji through the Midnight Lost Child and talking to him about his goals and how they can be achieved is left out.]] |
| 117 | ** The first arc of the first season, the Friagne arc, is an adaptation of the first light novel. ''Unlike'' the anime, however, the novel is clear that there are two spells in Friagne's EvilPlan: City Devourer, which creates the massive amount of [[LifeEnergy Power of Existence]] necessary to power the second spell, and said second spell, Resurrection, capable of giving an entity a full existence. It is explicitly stated the creator of Resurrection is the Crimson Denizen Leanan-Sidhe. Friagne also plants the second spell in his ring of fire resistance, Azure. Neither spell is set off before Friagne is killed, so Resurrection remains dormant within Azure. [[spoiler: This is why Yuji is able to gain a full existence in ''Shakugan no Shana Final''; the spell to do so was hanging around his neck practically the entire series, and why Leanan-Sidhe was able to change the activation trigger to a [[TrueLovesKiss kiss]]; it was his spell in the first place!]] |
| 118 | ** The first novel also mentioned Bal Masqué's goal was to create a paradise from Crimson Denizens on Earth, something that evolved into creating an entire duplicate Earth. Viewers of the first and second seasons have no idea what Bal Masqué is after, especially when taking the the first two seasons' [[GeckoEnding Gecko Endings]] into account, making them come off as a generic NebulousEvilOrganization. |
| 119 | ** Hecate's habit of praying is never explained in the anime, making it come off as a [[BlueAndOrangeMorality weird character quirk]]. She's actually [[PsychicLink communing]] with the Snake of the Festival, trapped in the Abyss, receiving his instructions for the Psalm of the Grand Order bit by bit. |
| 120 | ** The Psalm of the Grand Order appears in ''Shakugan no Shana Final'' as the blueprint to Xanadu and is alluded to in the previous season ''Shakugan no Shana Second''. The allusions, however, are vague and easily missed, which is unfortunate because one, the fact that Sabrac inserted a piece of the Psalm of the Grand Order into the Midnight Lost Child before it translocated to Yuji, [[spoiler: is important to understanding how Yuji could hear the Snake of the Festival through the Midnight Lost Child and later merge with him. The Psalm of the Grand Order in the Midnight Lost Child created a PsychicLink between Yuji and the Snake of the Festival, and, with the insertion of yet another part of the Psalm by Sabrac, allows Yuji and the Snake to merge.]] |
| 121 | ** One of the main complaints about ''Shakugan no Shana Final'' was the huge cast that appeared out of nowhere. Many of these characters should have appeared or at least been mentioned in seasons 1 and 2, but the short stories they debuted in were never adapted to the anime. |
| 122 | ** Entire light novels failed to be adapted! Volume XV takes place between the events depicted in season 2 and season 3, introduces even more of the characters seen in ''Final'', and provides even more explanations regarding [[spoiler: Yuji's motives (such as his study into Révolution, a defunct organization dedicated to promoting coexistence between Flame Hazes, Crimson Denizens, and humans).]] Volume X was all about the first Great War, and provide information critical to understanding what the heck happened to [[spoiler: [[FusionDance Pheles and Johan]]]] at the end of ''Final''. |
| 123 | * ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Both adaptations skip the chapter that introduces the mortuary tablets, but unlike the 2001 anime, the 2021 reboot doesn't incorporate it's introduction into the anime, so their presence and usage are never explained. |
| 124 | * The anime of ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' is a largely faithful adaptation of the light novels, with one exception: Kirito's InnerMonologue is removed almost completely. While there are a few important plot points that become confusing due to this omission, mostly we just lose a few jokes. Internally, he makes constant game references, reveals that he wears mostly black due to a simple fanboyish belief that black is cool, continues using Liz's sword [[NamedWeapons Dark Repulsor]] simply because he thinks the name ''dark repulsor'' means the sword is fated to defeat the final boss, and that he memorized a number of placating lines for if he ever found himself in an AccidentalPervert situation (and promptly forgot them when it actually happened). |
| 125 | ** For a more serious example, we also miss his internal explanations for how he can feel the differences in network traffic his interface is processing when an unseen enemy is targeting him. Without this explanation he appears to using some form of sixth sense when he's actually just monitoring packet data. |
| 126 | ** The denouement of the ''Phantom Bullet'' arc omits a fair amount of the exposition on Death Gun's motives and arrest. One somewhat significant detail that was cut out was one thing all of Death Gun's targets had in common- none of them were purely AGI builds[[labelnote:Explanation]]For example, Xexeed lied and said to put points into AGI, but he invested enough points in STR to use good guns, while Sinon is a sniper with a STR/VIT build. This is one reason why Death Gun didn't seem interested in killing Yamikaze, who mainly focused on AGI.[[/labelnote]]. |
| 127 | ** In the anime, Suguha's refusal to pursue her [[KissingCousins cousin]][=/=][[NotBloodSiblings adoptive brother]] Kazuto seems to be mainly because she knows he doesn't return her feelings and that he's in love with Asuna. While both are true, the light novel also explains that in Japan, relationships between adoptive siblings are taboo, even if relationships between cousins aren't, so Suguha knows that the rest of her family wouldn't approve of her having feelings for Kazuto. |
| 128 | ** While the anime shows Endou and her lackeys trying to extort money from Shino "Sinon" Asada, it doesn't show why they're doing so. The three of them had pretended to befriend Shino, since they'd learned that Shino lived alone and they could use her apartment to throw parties. When Shino had enough and called the police, Endou retaliated by revealing Shiho's traumatic past- killing a robber with a gun to save her mother- to the entire school, then started demanding money from Shino. It also avoids discussing an important part of Shino's personality- [[IJustWantToHaveFriends she does want friends]], but she's understandably wary of being taken advantage of, and is thus slow to trust others. |
| 129 | * The ''Literature/SwordArtOnlineAlternativeGunGaleOnline'' anime doesn't mention that Karen "LLENN" Kohiruimaki's family is very well-off. As such a few things, such as how Karen can afford to try out so many games before settling on GGO, [[FriendsRentControl the size of her apartment]] (it's explicitly said to be a luxury apartment), and why she flies first-class to and from her home in Hokkaido, make a bit less sense than they would otherwise. |
| 130 | * ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'''s anime suffers from this a lot, despite otherwise being a faithful adaption. Some situations are not properly foreshadowed or even explained, so they come completely out of nowhere and/or don't make any sense to people not familiar with the video game. Case in point: [[spoiler:It's never explained why Ion dies if he reads the Planet Score. He just does. In the game, this was explained properly, especially in skits.]] They also removed some sub plots such as Luke being trained in using his [[RealityWarper hyperresonance]] by Tear which also handles Tear's relationship with her mentor [[DarkActionGirl Legretta]] in flashbacks and shows Luke and Tear growing close and thus making their romance more natural and believable. |
| 131 | * The ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' anime turns each 200-plus-page novel into 4 9-minute shorts, so this is unpreventable. Using episode 1 as example: |
| 132 | ** In the anime the teacher never explained why the boys were in the Special Class. While in Uesugi and Kozuka's case one can immediately guess (lopsided grades), and in Wakatake's case the reason was given in Episode 3 (Highly fluctuating performance, which also earned his epithet "The Wave"), the reason Kuroki is there was never discussed. In the novels, the explanation is ''absenteeism''. |
| 133 | ** When Aya introduces herself in front of the boys (and take a snipe on Wakatake), the way the anime does it makes it difficult to understand why Kuroki calls her the "[[RedBaron language expert]]" right after this. It is because the anime removed her [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojijukugo yojijukugo]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness dropping]] from the speech. The following is her speech, with the removed portion in italics. |
| 134 | -->'''Aya''': I'm Aya Tachibana. ''Reiseichinchaku''[[note]][[TheStoic calm and collected]][[/note]] Uesugi-kun, ''onkoutokujitsu''[[note]][[NiceGuy gentle, honest and earnest]][[/note]] Kozuka-kun, ''happoubijin''[[note]][[TheSocialExpert everybody's friend]][[/note]] Kuroki-kun, and the snobby ''goganfuson''[[note]]arrogant[[/note]] Wakatake-kun, who can't even tell the difference between a human and a mailbox... It's nice to meet you all. |
| 135 | * ''Manga/ToLoveRu''. Anime-only viewers do not have the slightest idea about who Celine is and where she comes from. This because the first anime series removed several elements of the manga (included her entire rescue-arc) while the second anime, ''Motto To Love-Ru'', starts from a point in which she is already present in the story. |
| 136 | * In the first light novel, ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' has a bit of a digression into a tall tale from Yasuko about how she's a "mini-[[PsychicPowers esper]]" and can [[PsychicTeleportation teleport]] three times in her life; she says she's used up two of them, and [[ItOnlyWorksOnce Ryuuji can have the third time]]. He almost thinks he did, getting to Taiga in time to catch her from a bad fall. In the anime, well, he just catches her, and the "wait, what now?" moment of paranormality (which is never referenced again) is ignored. |
| 137 | * The ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'' anime |
| 138 | ** The introduction of the Positions characters use in combat is simplified by presenting Fishermen as using simple close-range weapons, and the first season at least contains no examples of their mid-range "Reel" weapons being used in combat either. Thus, it's left unexplained why they are called Fishermen at all, since this is presumably because of the Reels. |
| 139 | ** The second floor's final test's pass condition is supposed to be for the team to help Bam and Rachel get through to the Net Dolphin Queen, but only Rachel does. Everyone passes anyway, without it being brought up that they technically shouldn't, though at least they're uncertain whether they will. In the original, the explanation was given that Bam asked the Administrator that everyone else could pass even if he doesn't make it. |
| 140 | ** A very, very small one: Endorsi wears a round badge on her chest in season one. Okay, why not, it doesn't look too weird. But the original had an implicit explanation for that badge, two of them, actually: they could be detached and enlarged to become flying shields. |
| 141 | * ''[[Anime/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters]]'': |
| 142 | ** In the manga, Shadi meets Yugi before Duelist Kingdom and is challenged to a Shadow Game by Dark Yugi. In the anime, he does this ''after'' defeating Pegasus in a Shadow Game duel. This is important because Pegasus explained an evil intelligence within the Millennium Items, causing him to no longer trigger Penalty Games on people. |
| 143 | ** The dubbed version removed the mention that the Duelist Kingdom tournament only lasted 48 hours and the duelists only had until sunset of the second day to gain ten star chips. This was why, [[Recap/YuGiOhAnimeS1E24FaceOff3 after Yugi lost to Kaiba and he took half his star chips]], the gang [[Recap/YuGiOhAnimeS1E25ShiningFriendship was so hard-pressed to get more for him]] rather than simply have Yugi find another challenge. |
| 144 | * In the manga of ''Manga/YuruYuri'', the girls decide to find (often silly) solutions for increasing Akari's popularity, after she had barely appeared in the last few chapters. In the anime adaptation they do this ''in the first episode already'', [[DecoyProtagonist even though Akari appears to be the main character]], which makes it look like they are merely bullying poor Akari for no good reason. |
| 145 | [[/folder]] |
| 146 | |
| 147 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 148 | * ''ComicBook/{{Animorphs}}'': In ''The Invasion'', Elfangor [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness sends the Animorphs his courage]] while saying <Courage, my friends.> He still says that line in the graphic novel, but it's not explained why. |
| 149 | * ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': The DC Golden Age FunnyAnimal character The Terrific Whatzit was a turtle version of the Flash who [[RemovableShell removed his shell]] in his superhero guise; and gained his superhero identity from the fact nobody could tell what kind of animal he was without it. In ''DC Superpets'', Whatzit is the modern-day Flash's pet, and does not have a removable shell. |
| 150 | * ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': In ComicBook/PostCrisis continuity of Creator/DCComics in ''ComicBook/GreenLantern1990'', Kyle Rayner was chosen by Ganthet to be the wielder of the only surviving (at the time) Franchise/GreenLantern ring; after Hal went mad, destroyed the Corps and killed the other Guardians - essentially because Ganthet didn't have any power to do a proper search for a worthy bearer, and Kyle was the first human he found. In the revised ComicBook/{{New 52}} continuity, we get a flashback to Kyle's early days as GL. The Corps is still around, as are the Guardians; yet Kyle was still chosen by Ganthet rather than the ring, but with no indication as to ''why''. Eventually subverted, as a major plot point of GL's New 52 era is that Kyle has a special affinity for ''all'' the energies the various Lantern Corps use; and that's suggested to be the reason Ganthet chose Kyle. It doesn't cover why Ganthet handed the ring out personally, but it does explain why Kyle specifically was the one to get it. |
| 151 | * Marvel's graphic novel adaptation of ''Literature/MobyDick''. Ishmael at one point claims that Queequeg is a "deacon" of the "First Congregational Church" when a ship's owner asks if he's converted to Christianity. In the book, he follows this claim with a point about pagans and Christians having a shared humanity. In the comic, this explanation is left out, making Ishmael look like a snarky wise-ass. |
| 152 | * ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': |
| 153 | ** The reason Angel Island is filled with ruins of all kinds is that it's a legendary location that dates back to many centuries ago, and its nature as a FloatingContinent resulted in its inhabitants becoming isolated from the rest of the world and slowly dying out until only [[LastOfHisKind Knuckles]] was left. In the comic, the island was created only a few decades ago, and still had a large population besides Knuckles that was was still in contact with the outside world. Despite this, the official map of this continuity's Angel Island (as shown in the comic and official material) showed that it still contains all the ancient ruins from the games. |
| 154 | ** The infamous ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' adaptation left out a lot of details, resulting in a number of [[AdaptationInducedPlothole Adaptation Induced Plotholes]]. Some highlights are: |
| 155 | *** The Knuckles Clan's ancient mantra goes: "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos." In the game, it's explained towards the end that it basically means the [[MineralMacguffin Chaos Emeralds']] powers are activated and manipulated by one's deepest wishes, so one needs have control over their will and emotions to be able to master their powers. No such explanation was given in the comic, despite the mantra being kept, and the fact said mantra isn't compatible with the Archie continuity, where Chaos Emeralds are almost as numerous and disposable as rings. The writers tried to tried to HandWave it by taking the first sentence a tad bit too literally and saying that it referred to seven [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Chao]] who ''were called the Seven Servers'' and had been transformed into Super Emeralds long ago. Which still left most of mantra unexplained and only rendered it [[VoodooShark more confusing and nonsensical.]] |
| 156 | *** In the game, it's revealed that the reason for [[EldritchAbomination Chaos']] rampage was that he [[UnstoppableRage became consumed with rage]] after [[AbusivePrecursors the warmongering Knuckles Clan]] attempted to seize the Chaos Emeralds out of greed and hurt the Chao he was protecting in the process. His blind rage, combined with the Chaos Emeralds' powers, transformed him into [[OneWingedAngel Perfect Chaos]] and led to his RoaringRampageOfRevenge. In the comic, the Knuckles Clan [[AdaptationPersonalityChange were inexplicably changed into benevolent pacifists who never hurt anyone,]] effectively leaving out Chaos's whole motivation and [[CharacterExaggeration reducing him]] to a GenericDoomsdayVillain. |
| 157 | [[/folder]] |
| 158 | |
| 159 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 160 | * ''Fanfic/AllAssortedAnimorphsAUs'': In canon, Champ was Loren's service dog after she went blind. He's mentioned in "What if Elfangor and Loren raised Tobias?" even though this version of Loren never went blind, so she has him just... because. |
| 161 | * The SoBadItsGood fanfic ''Fanfic/ThomasJoshmanAndTheMirrorOfDreams'' is essentially a poorly-written summary of ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff, but several key scenes are removed, rendering later events incomprehensible. For instance, in both works, first years never get on their sports' team. However, Harry is made Quidditch seeker after displaying extreme natural skill, while Thomas apparently becomes Fobull defender for... being in the hospital a few weeks. |
| 162 | [[/folder]] |
| 163 | |
| 164 | [[folder:Films — Animation]] |
| 165 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}}'': |
| 166 | ** In ''Legends of Metru Nui'', the heroes never showcase possessing any elemental powers, until the very end when they unite them to defeat the villain. It's never explained why they don't use them in any other scene, making the ending come off as an AssPull. They have actually used up all their powers in the books that the movie entirely glosses over, and can only use them in the final scene because that's how long it took for them to "refill". |
| 167 | ** The details of Makuta's evil plan are only hinted at in the film. He wants to put Metru Nui's Matoran citizens to sleep in special pods, then pose as their leader when they awake, and he also needs the Mask of Time but the connection between these goals isn't explained. The pods actually drain the life force and memories of the Matoran, a long process that Makuta wanted to speed up with the mask. This explains why the Matoran never talked about their prior lives in Metru Nui, as their memories had deteriorated over time, which the movies never touched on. Makuta also cut off Metru Nui from all known travel routes to isolate the Matoran and keep away people from other lands, explaining why the Toa had to evacuate the island via a previously unknown tunnel to the undiscovered island of Mata Nui. |
| 168 | ** In ''Web of Shadows'', the six small Rahaga and the villains Roodaka and Sidorak clearly have a shared history, but this goes unexplained. Roodaka bursts from anger upon hearing that the Rahaga showed up and her getting them abducted is a huge plot point. Her partner Sidorak wants them caged, not killed. All other story material, including the film's novelization explains their past (the Rahaga used to serve the same organisation as Roodaka and Sidorak but rebelled when their masters turned evil, Roodaka then mutated them into small freaks but they escaped and stole the Mask of Light to keep it safe) and even bonus material included on the DVD somewhat references it, but the movie doesn't elaborate. The reason they wanted them alive, to make them reveal where they hid the Mask of Light, isn't brought up either in the final film. |
| 169 | * ''Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon'': |
| 170 | ** ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': In the original tale, "Cinderella" was a cruel moniker given to the title character, originally named Ella, by her cruel stepfamily, as she was always dirtied with ashes and cinders from the fire. In the animated film, the name Cinderella is used as her birth name before the stepmother and stepsisters have been introduced, making it a particularly odd choice on the part of her parents. |
| 171 | ** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': Apart from the fact that she wasn't a princess at the time, there is no reason given as to why Tiana was herself turned into a frog by kissing Naveen. In the [[Literature/TalesOfTheFrogPrincess book]] the film is very loosely based on, the main character, while a princess at the time of the kiss, was unknowingly wearing a magical charm bracelet that caused the intended frog-to-human transformation to be reversed, but the movie offers no such explanation. |
| 172 | ** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': Much like ''Cinderella'', the film removes the justification for the name "Rapunzel" by reimagining the beginning of the fairytale. In it, Rapunzel's father sneaks into the witch's garden to steal the rampion that his pregnant wife craves, but is forced to yield his unborn daughter as payment when the witch catches him in the act. Thus, the witch calls the daughter Rapunzel, another name for the rampion that was used to claim her. In ''Tangled'', the rampion is replaced with a magical healing flower, and the baby is given the name Rapunzel by her parents for no explicit reason. |
| 173 | * At the end of the original ''Johnny the Valiant'' poem, [[spoiler:Johnny is crushed about not being able to reunite with his deceased sweetheart Iluska in Fairyland and decides to drown himself, but not before casting the rose that grew on Iluska's grave into a nearby pond. The pond turns out to be magical and brings Iluska back to life from the rose, so the two can live happily ever after. In ''Animation/JohnnyCorncob'', Iluska is already alive and well in Fairyland when Johnny gets there with no clear explanation offered, merely the implication that her spirit simply went there after death and was reincarnated as a fairy. In the film, the roses give special powers to Johnny but are not linked to Iluska's rebirth.]] |
| 174 | * ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheFlashpointParadox'' ends just like the original ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint|DCComics}}'' comic, with [[spoiler:ComicBook/TheFlash rebooting history into the ComicBook/{{New 52}} timeline.]] However, the movie omits ''how this is possible'', since in the original comic, this was caused by [[spoiler: Pandora tricking the Flash into merging Franchise/TheDCU with the Creator/{{Vertigo|Comics}} and Creator/{{Wildstorm}} universes]]. Both [[spoiler: Pandora and the merger sequence]] ended up AdaptedOut, so there's no explanation given as to why [[spoiler: Flash and Batman suddenly have new costumes at the end of the film, besides the implied possibility of a CloseEnoughTimeline]]. |
| 175 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'': Emmet talking to Lord Business in the finale and convincing him to do a HeelFaceTurn is kept in the Junior Novel and [[VideoGame/TheLegoMovieVideogame Video Game]], but the context for why (The Man Upstairs making amends with his son after realizing Lord Business is modeled after him) isn't. Interestingly, the video game keeps the PlotTwist from the film, but still removes almost everything about The Man Upstairs, instead just having Finn find Emmet, and then abruptly send him back. |
| 176 | * In ''Animation/TheMysteryOfTheThirdPlanet'', like in the [[Literature/TheVoyageOfAlice book it is based on]], the pirates are after the formula of the absolute fuel. In the book, it’s explained that the absolute fuel is a type of fuel that makes spaceships a hundred times faster; the Third Captain brings it from another galaxy after becoming the first Milky Way resident to travel there, and he only shares its formula with the Second Captain before both are captured by the pirates. However, in the movie, it’s all omitted (and the Third Captain is AdaptedOut completely), so it’s left unclear what the absolute fuel even is and why only the Second Captain knows its formula. |
| 177 | [[/folder]] |
| 178 | |
| 179 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 180 | * ''Film/GhostbustersAParanormalPictureBook'': |
| 181 | ** In the [[Film/Ghostbusters1984 movie]], the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man appears because a demon named Gozer wanted the world destroyed and asked the Ghostbusters to choose the form of the destroyer, then Ray accidentally imagined an advertising mascot from his childhood. In the book, he just appears out of nowhere. |
| 182 | ** The book keeps Egon’s line “Don’t cross the streams”, and notes that “apparently, it would be bad”, but doesn’t explain further. The movie explains that “crossing the streams” is when the streams from the proton packs cross paths, and the reason it’s “bad” is because it might cause the end of known life. |
| 183 | [[/folder]] |
| 184 | |
| 185 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 186 | * The opera ''Theatre/HanselAndGretel1893'' doesn't explain that the Witch can't see very well, yet it includes the moment from [[Literature/HanselAndGretel the original fairy tale]] where she asks Hansel to stick out his finger so she can feel how fat it is, but instead Hansel sticks out a twig (a bone in the original), and the Witch thinks it's his finger and assumes he's too thin to eat. Presumably, the audience is supposed to have read the original tale and remember the Witch's sight impairment. |
| 187 | * ''Theatre/HelloDolly'': When Horace Vandergelder gets angry enough at Dolly Levi to FullNameUltimatum her, he uses her maiden name, Dolly Gallagher. In ''Theatre/TheMatchmaker'', Dolly and Horace were old friends who'd known each other for years before either was married the first time, but none of the references to that aspect of their backstory made it into the musical version. |
| 188 | * While ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'' does explain that Jacob had multiple wives and that Joseph's mother was his favorite, it never mentions that brother Benjamin was also the son of said favorite wife, Rachel, and therefore Jacob's second favorite son after Joseph. Thus we get less of a sense of why Joseph frames Benjamin for theft as a SecretTestOfCharacter for the other brothers: in the Literature/BookOfGenesis, it's implicit that he does it to see if the other brothers will abandon Rachel's other son, the way they did Joseph, or defend him. |
| 189 | * ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'': |
| 190 | ** One of Littlefinger's lines only makes sense if the viewer knows of Brandon Stark's story, namely the fact that he and Littlefinger once had a duel for Catelyn's hand, and that he died trying to get Lyanna back from Rhaegar. Knowing that Lysa Arryn is Catelyn's sister is also needed to understand Littlefinger's affirmation that Lysa is "the sister he prefers" which is spoken almost an entire song ''before'' any line in the play itself mentions that she's Sansa's aunt. |
| 191 | ** ''Ser'' Dontos spends the entire play in a fool's outfit. While he mentions his IOweYouMyLife situation in regards to Sansa, nobody ever spells out that the incident consisted of Sansa convincing Joffrey to make Dontos his fool rather than killing him. The play also omits [[spoiler:him being an alcoholic and actually being paid by Littlefinger for his more heroic actions, which strips his death from the Asshole Victim aspect it had in the original story]]. |
| 192 | ** "Sword in the Darkness" ends with someone telling Jon Snow they knew his father and that he was a good man. The fact the father is Ned Stark is bound to go over the head of anyone not already familiar with the story, as there is no mention of a familial relationship between Ned Stark and Jon Snow anywhere else in the play. |
| 193 | [[/folder]] |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 196 | * In ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'', the game ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' is a DolledUpInstallment of, twins Poki and Piki fought over the book the story takes place in and accidentally ripped out the last page in which [[DubNameChange Mamu (Wart)]] was defeated, explaining why World 7 only has two levels when all other worlds have three. |
| 197 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': |
| 198 | ** Lots of the more inexplicable events that happen in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' did have explanation scenes, that were DummiedOut in the eventual game. |
| 199 | *** For example, the original game had a scene where Sephiroth explains that Summoned monsters are monsters of the Ancients who have dedicated themselves to the Planet, immediately before the boss fight with the Red Dragon, which rewards the player with a Bahamut Materia (the implication being that the Dragon chose to become the Materia to help the party). This process is similar to how Aerith persists after her death in the ''Compilation'' titles... but with no explanation it comes across as just a bunch of stuff happening for no reason. |
| 200 | *** Johnny's role in the game ends up as a RelationshipWritingFumble due to the scenes establishing his relationship to Tifa and Cloud (an admirer of the former who viewed the latter as a rival for her affection) getting cut. What was left in got so mistranslated that it came across like he was a member of SOLDIER... |
| 201 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'': |
| 202 | *** ''Remake'' was pitched as being a good place to jump into the ''VII'' world [[OldGuardVersusNewBlood for first-timers curious to check out the iconic story]]... and for the majority of the game's runtime, it really ''is''. However, a metafictional ItWasHisSled subplot is added, leading to InternalHomage and mysterious happenings that are hugely significant to superfans but left a lot of newcomers confused. Sephiroth's lines, moves, and the characters he fights alongside are all references to various spinoff titles (and even crossover appearances in different continuities), all with special hidden meanings. By the time the LateArrivalSpoiler character appears with zero explanation for who ''he'' is either, the already mysterious and cryptic ending reaches a state of ContinuityLockout. |
| 203 | *** One scene in ''Remake'' has an EarlyBirdCameo during an intense scene of a character having an emotional breakdown. The character is in a [[NonStandardCharacterDesign completely different art style to everyone else in the game]], resembling a Western-style cartoon character next to the realistic manga-styled designs of everyone else. If you are coming in with the context for who the character is, the scene makes perfect sense, but no explanation is provided within the work itself, meaning that for new players it comes across as an incomprehensible shift in tone. |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/JumpStart3rdGrade's'' ProlongedPrologue was edited down in later releases. However, the line in the beginning of the game spoken by Polly, "There's still an extra credit question, and it's super hard" went down along with it. This now means that at the end of the game, her demand for the extra credit question seemingly comes out of left field. |
| 205 | * The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series is a frequent victim of this due to how certain worlds chop up the Disney movies during the adaptation process. |
| 206 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': |
| 207 | *** Sora and co. seem to arrive in [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Port Royal]] during the Black Pearl's first attack - except Captain Jack is already out of his cell and trying to get a ship. Jack's debt to Will is still part of the reason he joins the party, but Will's reasons for letting him out in the first place are left kind of hazy. |
| 208 | *** Gets even more complicated with [[WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}} Atlantica]]: how the heck did Eric find out Ariel's name? ''Kiss The Girl'' never happened because Sebastian was speaking with King Triton at the time, and the AlmostKiss came naturally. |
| 209 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'': |
| 210 | *** [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} The Kingdom of Corona]] omits the scene in the mines where Flynn tells Rapunzel his real name. This results in her suddenly calling him Eugene for the second half of the world, with no explanation. Additionally, like in the film, we see Mother Gothel find the satchel with the crown after Rapunzel escapes the tower, but the game omits the scene where she gives it back to her, so Rapunzel having the crown during the lantern scene doesn't make sense. And lastly, since the Stabbington Brothers are AdaptedOut, Eugene leaving Rapunzel on the boat therefore goes unexplained and made it seem like he really abandoned her for the tiara. |
| 211 | *** [[WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}} Arendelle]] cuts huge chunks of the plot of ''Frozen'' out aside from the basic EndlessWinter rampaging the kingdom which leaves many plot points unexplained. This is especially no more prominent with Hans who is stated to have a great darkness in him for no discernible reason before randomly turning into a Heartless for a BossBattle |
| 212 | * The Platform/PlayStation port of ''VideoGame/LEGOIsland 2'' had a few minigames removed due to space issues. One of these was a FishingMinigame, which is forgivable due to being boring beyond words. However, all mentions of it were inexplicably left in. This means that the minigame preceding it still has the pond at the end, and Pepper still tells Johnny, Pippin Reed, and Kilroy that he had caught a big fish. |
| 213 | * ''VideoGame/LEGOJurassicWorld'': The section adapting ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' includes the arrival of TheCavalry at the end, but leaves out everything that explains who called them in and how they knew where to go. |
| 214 | * In ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers of Time'' and ''Darkness'', Luxray can see the team hiding behind a rock using his X-ray vision. He's changed to a Manectric in ''Explorers of Sky'', who senses their presence instead... somehow. |
| 215 | * In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Lusamine had been brainwashed by Nihilego, which caused her to become dangerously obsessed with Ultra Beasts and abusive toward her children Lillie and Gladion, in turn causing them to run away from home. In ''[[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon]]'', Lusamine is no longer brainwashed by Nihilego, so her actions are much more heroic (if a bit [[WellIntentionedExtremist extreme]]) and she isn't abusive toward her children... But Lillie and Gladion still ran away from home for some reason. |
| 216 | * ''VideoGame/SeriousSamTheSecondEncounter'' starts with a cutscene where the ship Sam found at the end of ''The First Encounter'' in space, barely making it out of Earth's atmosphere before a bus made out of crates carrying [[AuthorAvatar caricatures of Croteam]] crashes into it and forces it back down. In the ''HD'' remakes, this cutscene was removed, leaving almost no explanation for why the ship Sam was taking into space is now on fire and half-embedded into a cliff in ancient South America. |
| 217 | * ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': |
| 218 | ** In the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake 2019 Remake]] of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', the rescue helicopter still crashes, but the reason for it (it was shot down by a police officer who was attacked by zombies and pulled his gun's trigger in his death throes) is left out. |
| 219 | ** At the end of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', the destruction of [[ReligionOfEvil Los Iluminados]]' island base is shown to be triggered by Ada hitting a button on her laptop during her escape with the Las Plagas sample she was there for. The island base still blows up in the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake 2023 Remake]], but the scene of Ada hitting the trigger is omitted, making it seem like it explodes for no reason besides [[BigBad Saddler]] being dead. ''Separate Ways'' reveals there still is an explanation, it's just a different one. [[spoiler:Ada rigged a timed bomb to the control center of the island and the timer had run out, setting off the explosives]]. |
| 220 | * ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Double Agent'' contains a variant example. The [[Platform/PlayStation3 PS3]], PC, and Platform/Xbox360 versions had an entire sub-plot surrounding a budding romance between Sam and Enrica. This subplot was missing from the [[PragmaticAdaptation considerably different]] version released to [[Platform/PlayStation2 PS2]], Platform/NintendoGamecube, and original Platform/{{Xbox}}, [[spoiler: leading to an AdaptationInducedPlotHole when Sam abruptly becomes so protective of Enrica and no other JBA members when ordered to kill them in the final mission.]] |
| 221 | [[/folder]] |
| 222 | |
| 223 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 224 | * In the original ''WebComic/AxeCop'' webcomic, Sockarang started out as an otherwise generic superhero with the power of having throwable socks for arms. Later he gained the powers of BadSanta and became [[OxymoronicBeing Good Bad Santa]], with a big black beard. The animated ''WesternAnimation/AxeCop'' series leaves out this plot but has him have the wild-looking black beard from the start anyway. It even kind of excludes the possibility of his having gained it from Bad Santa, because [[AlternateContinuity this]] {{continuity}} has a different version of Bad Santa. |
| 225 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': |
| 226 | ** Early episodes show a giant penny on display in the Bat Cave, purely because he has one in the comics, which he got during his one and only encounter with Joe Coyne, aka The Penny Plunderer. The Penny Plunderer never appears in the cartoon, but a later episode gave it a new origin: Two-Face had tried to kill Batman by tying Batman to the penny and then launching it into the air, and "they let him keep it." |
| 227 | ** The "sequel" series ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'' had a variation where certain stories from the tie-in comic ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'' were treated as canon for adapting into subsequent episodes, resulting in plot elements being established as "already happened" without prior explanation like Robin having split from Batman to pursue a solo career as the superhero Nightwing and Bruce Wayne's first encounter with Jason Blood/The Demon Etrigan before "The Demon Within", where he and Jason already know each-other. The series did adapt the Robin/Batman split in "Old Wounds" but that was only an adaptation of first 2 issues of "The Lost Years" which also detailed Dick's journey to Nightwing, including where he got the winged glider costume. |
| 228 | ** Catwoman now has black hair, much like her mainstream comic-book counterpart, instead of [[Film/BatmanReturns her movie counterpart]]. She explains in [[ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures the tie-in comic]] that her blonde look was a dye job. She discontinued it when she discovered that the company that made the hair dye, owned by [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Roland Daggett]], was unethically testing the chemicals on animals. |
| 229 | * When ''WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries'' did an adaptation of the iconic ''ComicBook/ArmorWars'' story arc, they left in the sequence where Iron Man attacks Stingray, which leads to a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment. In the comics, the fight was significant because Iron Man had assaulted a friend and fellow [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avenger]], but in the show, Stingray had never appeared before the "Armor Wars" story, and there was no indication that the two men even knew each other. Thus, it's not necessarily clear to the audience why Tony views it as crossing the MoralEventHorizon unless they're familiar with the comics. |
| 230 | * In ''WesternAnimation/LarryAndSteve'', Steve is a relatively normal pet dog who [[SpeaksFluentAnimal only Larry can understand]]. Come ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and Brian is a CivilizedAnimal[=/=]FunnyAnimal who speaks English and is treated like a human, except when [[FurryReminder its funny or relevant]]. This is treated as an ElephantInTheLivingRoom. |
| 231 | * The animated adaptation of ''Literature/SoulMusic'' keeps the highly symbolic scene at the beginning when Imp has to choose between going to Ankh-Morpork or going to Quirm. However, it then moves the Quirm College for Young Ladies to Ankh, thereby separating this choice from the fact that, once things have happened differently, he's working near the College. |
| 232 | * ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries:'' Sinestro's yellow ring: since the [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower Green Lantern ring]] was not stated to be weak to yellow, it's not clear what exactly makes Sinestro so fearsome to other Franchise/{{Green Lantern}}s that he could defeat so many and steal their rings, other than just that he's very skilled and experienced. |
| 233 | ** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' went the subtle route - although the Green Lanterns' weakness to yellow is never mentioned or alluded to verbally, pay close attention (especially in the first season) and you will see that nearly anything that happens to get through John Stewart's defenses happens to be yellow. This reaches problematic levels in the ''Justice League Unlimited'' episode ''The Great Brain Robbery'', in which Lex Luthor's mind enters The Flash's body. At some point he starts throwing a bunch of stuff from the top of a table at Green Lantern and while cutlery and dishes do nothing to GL's shield, the one thing that penetrates it and causes him to lose the concentration is ''vanilla pudding''. |
| 234 | ** Another one from ''Justice League'' is Obsidian, who shows up in backgrounds fairly often. Thing is, Obsidian's powers come from being the son of Alan Scott, who doesn't appear to exist in the show's continuity, so how he got them is a mystery. |
| 235 | ** In general, most minor heroes and villains in ''Justice League'' don't have much in the way of explanation beyond "they've got superpowers." |
| 236 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' didn't delve into either Cyborg's or Beast Boy's origin stories, though [[ComicBook/TeenTitansGo the comic sequel]] covered Cyborg's. This has left many fans confused on whether Beast Boy is [[AmbiguouslyHuman human or not]] (he is). |
| 237 | * ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries:'' Cyclops and Havok being immune to each-other's powers. While it was evident the writers were laying the groundwork for a reveal down the line of them discovering they were long lost brothers, they never got around to putting it in the series. |
| 238 | [[/folder]] |
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