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5[[quoteright:279:[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_grabs_a_gun_9.png]]]]
6[[caption-width-right:279:Years later, ComicBook/{{Batman}} realized that he [[ThouShaltNotKill doesn't kill]] and that he [[DoesntLikeGuns hates guns]].[[note]]Granted, it ''was'' a [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman vampire]], but it still [[{{stealth pun}} counts]].[[/note]]]]
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8->''"As a first season, especially the earlier episodes, there were a lot of goofy ideas that were put in because they were still finding out their place and how they wanted the show to work."''
9-->-- '''[[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]]''' (discussing ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers''), ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers''
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11Long-running series often have to experiment a little before they find their niche: sometimes there are concepts abandoned early on that were fascinating, either because they were ''potentially'' good ideas back then, or they just clash too much with the [[ToneShift later tone of the series]]. In short, the first installment is like a prototype. The first rough draft for a book.
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13This is particularly common in television, where the pilot episode is usually filmed long in advance of a show's actual debut. This gives the studio and creative team a chance to evaluate what worked and what didn't and make significant changes, including replacing cast members. In particularly dramatic cases, a series can undergo something of a {{Retool}} between its pilot and the second episode.
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15If the series ''improves'' after abandoning these elements, it often leads to a GrowingTheBeard moment. For something similar applied to individual character personalities, see CharacterizationMarchesOn. A specific sub-trope of this dealing with early installments resembling the real world is EarthDrift. When early characters disappear entirely with no explanations, that's ChuckCunninghamSyndrome (or even DroppedAfterThePilot, if it happens in the very first episode). Might be the result of {{Plot Tumor}}s, ArtEvolution and/or EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference and ContinuityDrift.
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17There will always be some fans who view the ''current'' incarnation of a series as TheyChangedItNowItSucks, but it also must be said that weirdness in this case isn't necessarily a ''bad'' thing. Plenty of ideas get scrapped in the natural course of a series, some of them perfectly good. Early Installment Weirdness might be synonymous with a time when a plot was more laid back, experimental, pre-ExecutiveMeddling, pre-{{Flanderization}}, or any number of other things.
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19When this happens to themes, tropes or genres that become popular after the fact because of a work, and are only actually codified elsewhere, it is an UnbuiltTrope.
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21Compare NewFirstComics (where a webcomic establishes a new starting point that clashes with the actual beginning strips), LostInImitation (when later adaptations are influenced more by earlier adaptations than the source material), EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference (a specific form of Early-Installment Weirdness where a character's design in earlier installments is noticeably different from their later appearance), MyRealDaddy (where other writers who handled a character are held in higher regard than the one who actually created the character), BreakingOldTrends (where a series drastically changes its established formula), AdaptationDisplacement (where more people are familiar with the adaptation than the source material), and EarlyAdaptationWeirdness (when earlier adaptations look odd when compared to modern takes on the franchise). Contrast FirstInstallmentWins and LaterInstallmentWeirdness. When a character displays this, it's CharacterizationMarchesOn (or {{Flanderization}}, when it essentially happens in reverse). May be the OddballInTheSeries. This is very commonly found in works that were released before a FranchiseCodifier. Often the cause of an ArtifactTitle. See also MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness. If a piece of weirdness sticks around despite no longer fitting, it's usually TheArtifact.
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23'''A special note:''' In video games, this is often the counterpart to SpiritualSuccessor. A series may evolve in a drastically different direction from its first installment in a technical sense, abandoning core gameplay mechanics or changing them in drastic ways, while retaining the setting (general background lore, characters, etc.), although elements can be [[ExpandedUniverse added]] or {{retcon}}ned. This can happen if the developer for an intellectual property held by a publisher changes or merely if a developer wishes to keep a recognizable, established IP, but adapt to a new player demographic or emulate gameplay seen in another revolutionary title. Such changes result in an early installment weirdness when the sequels are compared with the first installment. In contrast, a game which tries to imitate a forerunner title mostly in gameplay terms (copying/refining particular "revolutionary" aspects, the entire gameplay or just the general "feeling" of the game), but is not part of the forerunners' IP, e.g. if the rights to the IP are held by a different publisher, and so uses a different setting, it's usually a SpiritualSuccessor.
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25!!Example subpages:
26
27[[index]]
28* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Advertising}}
29* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/AnimeAndManga
30** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Naruto}}''
31** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/OnePiece''
32** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/PokemonTheSeries''
33* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/ComicBooks
34** EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheDCU
35*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Batman}}''
36*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Superman}}''
37** EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/MarvelUniverse
38*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/SpiderMan''
39*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/XMen''
40* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/ComicStrips
41** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/CalvinAndHobbes''
42* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/FanWorks
43* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Fashion}}
44* [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/AnimatedFilms Films — Animation]]
45* [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
46** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/StarWars''
47* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/LetsPlay
48* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Literature}}
49** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/HarryPotter''
50* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/LiveActionTV
51** EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/GameShows
52** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TVShowsNumbersToF #-F]]
53** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TVShowsGToO G-O]]
54** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TVShowsPToZ P-Z]]
55** ''[[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/StarTrek Star Trek]]''
56* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Magazines}}
57* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Music}}
58* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Pinball}}
59* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Podcasts}}
60* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/ProWrestling
61* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Radio}}
62* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Roleplay}}
63* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TabletopGames
64* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Toys}}
65* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/VideoGames
66** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/VideoGamesNumbersToM #-M]]
67** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/VideoGamesNToZ N-Z]]
68** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/DevilMayCry1'' (2001)
69** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/FinalFantasy''
70** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/FireEmblem''
71*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight''
72*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade''
73*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/FireEmblemHeroes''
74** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/GrandTheftAutoIII''
75** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/GranTurismo''
76** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/GuiltyGearTheMissingLink''
77** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheLegendOfZelda''
78*** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' (1986)
79** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/MegaManBattleNetwork1'' (2001)
80** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Pokemon}}''[[note]]also includes examples from its adaptations[[/note]]
81** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/SuperMarioBros''
82** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TerrariaCalamity''
83** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/ToontownOnline''
84* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/WebAnimation
85* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Webcomics}}
86* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Websites}}
87* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/WebVideos
88* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/WesternAnimation
89** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''
90** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/AquaTeenHungerForce''
91** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Bluey}}''
92** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheFairlyOddParents''
93** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/JorelsBrother''
94** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheLoudHouse''
95** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/MyLittlePony''
96** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheOwlHouse''
97** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/{{Rugrats}}''
98** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/TheSimpsons''
99** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/SouthPark''
100** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/SpongeBobSquarePants''
101** ''EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/StevenUniverse''
102* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness/OtherMedia
103[[/index]]
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