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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thank you! |
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| 6 | ->''"The author reserves the right to have a better idea."'' |
| 7 | -->-- '''Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold''' |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Most of the time, the WordOfGod knows exactly what it's talking about. It's consistent. It's, well, {{Canon}}. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Sometimes, however, the Word of God can't quite make up its mind what to say. Maybe the creators haven’t decided what the right answer is, or [[BellisariosMaxim the audience asked them a question they didn't think they'd have to answer at all]]. Maybe they actually changed their mind sometime after they gave the original answer. Sometimes, it's simply that they're {{Lying Creator}}s. Or the "creator" is actually a series of ghost writers as in some franchise series and DependingOnTheWriter don't do a great job of keeping the character consistent. Either way, a Flip Flop of God is when the Word of God contradicts itself somehow. The fundamental unreliability this reveals -- any creator, at any time, might commit this -- can be considered an argument in favor of the DeathOfTheAuthor. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Compare and contrast ShrugOfGod, when a creator outright refuses to give a direct answer, TheWalrusWasPaul, when a creator's message is deliberately confusing, and DependingOnTheWriter, when the writers end up contradicting each other. Can overlap with this if they later ''do'' give a straight answer, or if they contradict an earlier straight answer by saying the detail in question is intentionally ambiguous. Be aware that this trope is not "WordOfGod being contradicted by a Word of lesser standing (WordOfSaintPaul or WordOfDante)". It only applies when WordOfGod contradicts ''itself''. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Different from {{Retcon}}, because retcons are changes to something that happens in the story, instead of the Word of God. WriterConflictsWithCanon is when WordOfGod and parts of the story itself are at odds. |
| 16 | ---- |
| 17 | !!Examples: |
| 18 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 21 | * The creator of ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' has done some flip-flopping over what the correct translation of the title is (namely, whether the first word should be "Ah" or "Oh"). |
| 22 | * ''Manga/DragonBall'': |
| 23 | ** At various points, Creator/AkiraToriyama has stated that Tien Shinhan's [[ExtraEyes third eye]] is either the result of [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers reaching enlightenment]] or that Tien is descended from a race of three-eyed humans. |
| 24 | ** Puar was once referred to as a male. Only for the official Dragon Ball site to later list Puar as female. |
| 25 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': [[http://wiki.puella-magi.net/NewType_2011-05#Sayaka_Train_Interpretation It is ambiguous]] whether or not Sayaka [[spoiler:killed the two men on the train for badmouthing their girlfriends]] in Episode 8, due to multiple [[WordOfGod Words of God]]. The director Shinbo has officially {{Jossed}} it, the manga writer Hanokage says she did, and Creator/GenUrobuchi (the writer) says it's [[AmbiguousSituation supposed to be ambiguous]] [[ShrugOfGod the way it was written]]. |
| 26 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', there was the fate of the two GN Drives following the FinalBattle between Setsuna and Ribbons. First it was claimed that they were spared, then it was claimed that only one survived and then it was decided that neither survived. |
| 27 | * ''Literature/SoundEuphonium'' features a PseudoRomanticFriendship between the lead Kumiko and her friend Reina. The director of Episode 8, Naoko Yamada, has stated the "confession of love" scene is meant to be "seductive" and that it "gives the feeling of a young boy falling in love one summer," but it's [[BaitAndSwitchLesbians not "yuri" according to her]]. A separate director, Tatsuya Ishihara, thinks that the HomoeroticSubtext is actually ShipTease. |
| 28 | [[/folder]] |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 31 | * ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Was [[Characters/RobinDamianWayne Damian Wayne]] a ChildByRape or not? ''Son of the Demon'' (his debut written by Mike Barr) established him as being the product of a consensual affair between Bruce and Talia, only for ''ComicBook/BatmanGrantMorrison'' to {{retcon}} it by claiming that Damian was conceived when Bruce was drugged -- and then Creator/GrantMorrison confessed to completely forgetting about ''Son of the Demon''. 2011 quietly re-retconned Damian back into having been consensually conceived... and then that got re-re-retconned into Damian being a test tube baby. |
| 32 | * Part of the reason why Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}'s ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' event ended up not doing well is because for whatever reason, Marvel's editorial staff at the time, refused to give any straight answers to exactly what the actual wording of the SuperhumanRegistrationAct was, claiming that it would be "too complicated" to understand. As a result, many of the details on how the law worked were effectively left up to the individual writers' interpretation. In addition, the lack of communication between said writers, made a mess of things in the different story-threads around the event, where there are often widely contradictory statements on what the Superhero Registration Act is actually supposed to do or say between almost every book. |
| 33 | * ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': Deadpool [[FourthWallObserver himself admits]] that whether or not Wade Wilson is his real name [[DependingOnTheWriter depends on who's writing him]]. |
| 34 | * ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': Marvel goes back and forth over whether or not the Hulk has ever accidentally killed someone during his city destroying rampages. This led to a notable {{Retcon}} at least once; the Hulk was sent into space for the ''ComicBook/PlanetHulk'' storyline because a fight between him and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the Thing]] inadvertently caused the deaths of over twenty people. This was later retconned into severe injuries, which made the whole "shoot him into space" thing into retroactive DisproportionateRetribution. |
| 35 | * James Robinson was initially very defensive of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueCryForJustice'', and even said in a text piece that he had "No apologies" for any of the controversial elements. Then at a convention, he confessed that [[CollateralAngst killing Lian Harper to give angst to]] [[ComicBook/GreenArrow her white grandfather]] was [[ExecutiveMeddling an editorial decision]], and not one he agreed with either. |
| 36 | * Jaime Hernandez of ''ComicBook/LoveAndRockets'' made conflicting remarks about whether the "Ti-Girls Adventures"/"God and Science" story was bringing the superhero elements of the early issues fully back into continuity or whether it was a superhero AlternateUniverse. When the graphic novel version was published he settled on the latter. |
| 37 | * For years, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis was adamant that Ronin from the ComicBook/NewAvengers was ''always'' intended to be Maya Lopez in a new identity, despite early publicity materials strongly indicating that the character was actually supposed to be ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} in disguise. Bendis eventually confirmed in the first ''New Avengers'' hardcover that Ronin was indeed intended to be Daredevil, and that the decision to have it turn out to be Maya instead was a last minute change. |
| 38 | * When the first volume of ''ComicBook/TeenTitansEarthOne'' was released Creator/JeffLemire stated that the book was not set in the same verse as the other Earth One titles, but instead in a separate standalone continuity where adult superheroes didn’t exist. This was [[WriterConflictsWithCanon contradicted]] by Creator/GrantMorrison’s ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity'' which put both ''ComicBook/SupermanEarthOne'', ''ComicBook/BatmanEarthOne'' and this series on Earth-1 of the post ComicBook/New52 multiverse. DC then released several statements clarifying that the book took place on a world where adult superheroes didn’t ''[[ExactWords yet]]'' exist, placing the events of the title as occurring either [[{{Prequel}} before]] or [[HeroOfAnotherStory concurrently]] with ''[[ComicBook/SupermanEarthOne Superman Earth One: Volume One]]''. |
| 39 | [[/folder]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:Fanfiction]] |
| 42 | * In the intro to TheRemake of ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheMovie'', Creator/Swing123 remarks that he wouldn't be remaking his [[Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesIILostAtSea other]] [[Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesIIIDoubleTrouble two]] movie fanfics. Not too long later, however, he announced that he would be remaking ''Lost at Sea''. |
| 43 | * Creator/NimbusLlewelyn, author of ''Fanfic/TheWizardInTheShadows'' and ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' is prone to this -- something stated in an A/N can and will be contradicted ten chapters later. Despite his justified claims of a grand plan and littering his stories with the contents of ChekhovsArmoury, he's admitted a tendency towards [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants making up many of the fine details — and some major characters — as he goes along]], most notably in the latter story. |
| 44 | ** Early on, he said that the story would pretty closely follow the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books and be around 140-150,000 words long, in line with ''Shadows'', his previous long form project. Nearly four years later, it finished at over 820,000 words, longer than the first five Harry Potter books ''combined'' and has fairly significantly deviated from the books. The sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'', was already longer than ''Shadows'' after only 10 chapters, taking the combined word count to over a ''million words'' for the Storm 'verse alone. It is now longer than ''Child of the Storm'', taking the combined word count to approximately 1.7 million words. |
| 45 | ** Another claim was that Harry would be definitively paired with Ginny Weasley, before stating that Harry would date other people, then eventually saying that he'd 'written himself out of a corner' on that score and Harry and Ginny wouldn't be dating at all. |
| 46 | [[/folder]] |
| 47 | |
| 48 | [[folder:Film — Animated]] |
| 49 | * ''WesternAnimation/IceAgeTheMeltdown'': The supplementary material can't decide to which species of marine reptile Cretaceous belongs to. The Essential Guide refers to him as ''Ichthyosaurus'' while online game ''Ice Age Village'' and official magazine ''Ice Age: Animal Collection'' identifies him as ''Metriorhynchus''. Given his resembles to the latter species, he's most likely ''Metriorhynchus''. |
| 50 | * One writer for ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'' has stated that Nuka is Scar's son, while another writer has said that Scar and Zira were never mates. |
| 51 | * The order in which Ariel's sisters from ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'' are in. The earliest materials have Aquata as the oldest but later material usually have Attina, likely due to her crown. Disney has flipped between the two since. |
| 52 | * ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': The "Nobody Like U" music video shows that Priya's last name is Dewan and Miriam's is Wexler. However the Pixar website says that their last name are Mangal and Mendelsohn, respectively. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Film — Live-Action]] |
| 56 | * ''Film/Alien3'': Creator/LanceHenriksen can't decide if his character, Michael Bishop is a human or a robot, the alternate cut of the film suggests the former as it shows him bleeding and yelling "I'm not an android!!!" |
| 57 | * The creators of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' have contradicted each other on the exact mechanics of Steve Rogers' ending. [[spoiler:Did the lifetime he spent with Peggy take place in an alternate timeline, with him returning by unknown means, or his native one?]] |
| 58 | * Creator/RobertZemeckis and Bob Gale have created a ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' [[http://bttf.wikidot.com/official-bttf-faq FAQ that answers a lot of fan questions]] they've got over the years. Some of the questions have three or four possible answers and we aren't told which are canonical. |
| 59 | * ''Film/GhostbustersII'': Joe Medjuck and Creator/IvanReitman, on the 1999 ''Ghostbusters'' DVD commentary track, both state that Oscar's father is the Violinist from the first film ([[WordOfSaintPaul a theory also supported by]] Creator/SigourneyWeaver). However, in an interview with Rolling Stone in July 2016, Reitman commented Oscar was probably Dana and Peter's son, although it's not made clear in the screenplay. |
| 60 | * In 2004, Ryuhei Kitamura and Shogo Tomiyama stated that they renamed [[Film/Godzilla1998 the 1998 version of Godzilla]] "Zilla" in ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'', since the creature was a mere animal and not a godlike existence. In 2013, Zilla appeared in ''ComicBook/GodzillaRulersOfEarth'' using the 1998 design but being explicitly stated to be the monster from ''Final Wars'', with artist Matt Frank stating on Website/DeviantArt that Toho does not distinguish between the 1998 Godzilla and Zilla as characters. However, in 2014, Keith Aikman, who has worked with both Toho and Sony, stated that [[http://31.media.tumblr.com/712098e787d5e3d1204cccadb9a294fc/tumblr_nbosoeA8nq1rl1vlfo1_500.png Toho does NOT consider the 1998 Godzilla to be Zilla.]] |
| 61 | * ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'': There seems to be some disagreement about if "Baby Groot" in this movie is the same Groot we saw [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed himself]]]] at the end of [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 the first movie]]. Creator/KevinFeige insists it's the same Groot without his memory, liking his fate to that of [[Franchise/StarTrek Mr. Spock]] in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''. The director of the Guardians-trilogy, Creator/JamesGunn insists it's not the same character but Groot II is the "son" of the first Groot. |
| 62 | * The writers of ''Film/{{Idiocracy}}'' have stated multiple times that the film was not intended as satire on the decreasing intelligence of mankind. Nearly ten years after the film was released, the writers changed their mind about that [[https://twitter.com/etanjc/status/702545314733895680 on Twitter]] after RealLife events had them agreeing with the fans on how their movie actually is coming true. |
| 63 | * Director Creator/AlainResnais and writer Alain Robbe-Grillet disagree about whether the woman goes away with the man at the end of ''Film/LastYearAtMarienbad''. |
| 64 | * Initially the official synopsis for the ''Film/MadameWeb2024'' on the Sony Pictures website had the sentence [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse "Meanwhile, in another universe"]], suggesting that, while part of Sony's Spider-Man multiverse, the film takes place in its own universe, separate from events in the [[Film/SonysSpiderManUniverse SSU]] or the [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManSpiderVerse Spider-Verse]]. After release this was removed, but [[https://people.com/how-does-madame-web-fit-into-spiderman-marvel-universes-8576284 S. J. Clarkson confirmed that it does take place in a standalone universe while a former Sony consultant said that much like with the comics the film could connect characters through the multiverse]]. |
| 65 | * The makers of the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies can't decide what TheStinger for ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd At World's End]]'' says about Will's fate: Sometimes they say that Will was freed from his duty as Captain of the Flying Dutchman because Elizabeth remained faithful the ten years he was gone (which leaves the question of who would be then the Captain), while other times they say no, he's Captain for life, this is just his one day on dry land between tours. The latter is seemingly set in stone in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMenTellNoTales'' with Will still being on the Flying Dutchman setting off the plot of his son seeking a way to break the curse. |
| 66 | * ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'': |
| 67 | ** The creators have gone back and forth on whether the events in the movie actually happened, or whether they were all in Scott's head. |
| 68 | ** Creator/AubreyPlaza, the actress who plays Julie, has stated that the reason her character acts so hostile towards Scott is because she has an unrequited crush on him. Bryan O'Malley, the creator of the comics, disagrees with this, but Creator/EdgarWright, the director of the movie, supports it. |
| 69 | * Creator/GeorgeLucas is infamous amongst the ''Franchise/StarWars'' fandom for regularly giving contradictory and mutually exclusive WordOfGod stances on… just about everything about the franchise anytime he's interviewed about it. From trivia about production to [[WhatCouldHaveBeen what he originally intended]] to the themes of the series to which inspirations he drew from to the canonicity of the ExpandedUniverse to even basic facts about how the mechanics of the setting work. The things he's consistent on are ''greatly'' outnumbered by the matters he changes his mind about on a whim. Not at all helped by Lucas extending the attitude to ''the films themselves'', being prone to edition g his work after the fact (he's TropeNamer for GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion for a reason), and treating whatever project he's currently making as superseding everything else, even his own prior work. Arguably the reason the series as a whole has such an issue with DependingOnTheWriter is because Lucas set the standard with his tendency to ping-pong against himself. |
| 70 | -->"Continuity is for wimps." - Lucas to Creator/DaveFiloni in response to the latter's attempts to avoid continuity errors on ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' |
| 71 | * ''Film/TotalRecall1990'': Director Creator/PaulVerhoeven has gone back and forth on the issue of whether the events of the film were real or all in Quaid's mind. His position seems to depend on whether there are hopes of getting a sequel made at the time he is asked that question. |
| 72 | * ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': |
| 73 | ** When ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' was still in production, Creator/BryanSinger claimed that Havok would not be ComicBook/{{Cyclops|MarvelComics}}' brother in this continuity, but would be related to him in a way that made sense in the timeline of the films. This led many to believe that Singer was implying that Havok may actually be Cyclops' ''father'' in the movies. However, come ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', Singer confirmed that Havok ''is'' Cyclops' sibling, albeit his older brother like in the ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' comics. |
| 74 | ** [[spoiler:''Film/{{Logan}}'' was originally hailed as the final time Creator/HughJackman and Creator/PatrickStewart would play the respective roles of Wolverine and Professor Xavier. Then came 2022, which saw the release of ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'', where Stewart is once again Professor Xavier, and the announcement that ''Deadpool 3'' would have Jackman back as Wolverine. ExactWords might be in play here, since Phase 4 of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse introduced the concept of TheMultiverse and retroactively {{Canon Weld|ing}}ed non-MCU properties into said multiverse -- the Professor X seen in ''[=MoM=]'' is an AlternateSelf of the one seen in the previous ''X-Men'' films.]] |
| 75 | [[/folder]] |
| 76 | |
| 77 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 78 | * Creator/BretEastonEllis, the author of ''Literature/AmericanPsycho,'' can't ever decide if Patrick Bateman was a SerialKiller or of his killing spree was made up in his twisted mind. In the novel it's intentionally left ambiguous. |
| 79 | * In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Creator/TerryPratchett gets around this issue by arguing that there can be such things as alternate ''pasts''. Alternate pasts in the Discworld include; |
| 80 | ** The Vetinari paradox -- Vetinari is explicitly stated to have been the Patrician of the first novel, ''Literature/TheColourOfMagic''. In the first book, the Patrician is a vastly overweight glutton. But over the books the Patrician evolves into a long, thin, extremely abstemious man who believes a slice of bread and a glass of boiled water are a sufficiency. In another early novel, ''Literature/{{Mort}}'', the Patrician throws riotous drunken parties and keeps a swamp-dragon as a pet -- again out of character for Vetinari. |
| 81 | ** The all-female House of Study at the Assassins' Guild School administered by Miss Alice Band is called Tump House. But becomes Mantis House in another writing without explanation. |
| 82 | ** The Arch-Chancellor's Hat is a major plot-point in the early novel ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'' along with the head wearing it. Here it is presumed utterly destroyed in a magical war. Whilst Coin the sourceror faithfully tries to "put things back as they were" he does not resurrect wizards killed in that war -- presumably their magical impedimentia died with them. Yet it re-appears as a plot-point thirty or so books later in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals''. |
| 83 | * Creator/AnneMcCaffrey couldn't seem to make up her mind about, well, ''anything'' related to ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern''. For instance, whether measurements given for the dragons are in feet (really the only feasible size, but a bit small for the early descriptions) or meters (an outright ridiculous figure). Or whether greens are infertile from firestone or genetics (at one point she actually said both in ''the same sentence''). |
| 84 | * In his later years, Creator/RayBradbury claimed that his book ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' was actually about the corrupting power of mass media, when he had previously claimed it was about censorship. It's been somewhat cynically pointed out that Bradbury only began claiming this after he came out in support of right-wing American President, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush, who was often accused of attempting to silence dissent when he was in office. |
| 85 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 86 | ** In the first few weeks after ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' was released, Creator/JKRowling's answers to questions that either went unanswered in the series or about what happened between the end and the epilogue were a bit contradictory. She eventually settled on a single answer for ''most'' of them. |
| 87 | ** In an interview she did with Pottercast, Rowling and the interviewers became confused regarding Hannah Abbott's blood status -- she had always assumed her to be Muggle-born, but had written that a family member of hers was buried in a wizard cemetery. Her final decision: "Oh, let's just split the difference and call her half-blood." |
| 88 | ** As far as character interpretation is concerned, there are also her claims about Voldemort. She is known to have claimed that he is incapable of feeling love and uses the loveless union that he is a product of as symbolism (if not as a cause of it) to make the point. But then she is also recorded to have said that if Merope lived and raised him he would have turned out different. So how again is someone who is born incapable of any positive emotion towards another being in need of only a mother figure to start feeling? |
| 89 | ** On a more minor note, Rowling apparently couldn't make up her mind on what year Hermione Granger was born - originally she gave Hermione's year of birth as 1980 (same as Harry and Ron) and later changed it to 1979. |
| 90 | ** Over the years, it seems like she's somewhat changed her position on the Dumbledore/Grindelwald romantic relationship, although the true nature of it was always open to personal interpretation. She implied that she'd seen it as somewhat one-sided on Dumbledore's part, claiming that he was in love with Grindelwald but she wasn't quite sure if Grindelwald ever actually loved him back. She posited that he might have been playing along to keep Dumbledore as TheDragon (though, again, there were hints in the book that could be interpreted as it being mutual). [[note]]Bathilda Bagshot says Grindelwald was upset when he had to leave England after Dumbledore's sister died so he wouldn't get in legal trouble and would have liked to been there for him. Grindelwald never went public about their relationship even though it would have probably benefited him. The biggest hint is that Grindelwald dies so Voldemort won't desecrate Dumbledore's tomb.[[/note]] However, now that she's fleshed out the character in the ''Film/FantasticBeasts'' series, she's settled on it being a mutual romantic relationship and both characters are clearly portrayed as still being in love with each other. |
| 91 | * Creator/LFrankBaum explicitly cancelled his "Literature/LandOfOz" series several times, only to be forced to resume the series for financial reasons and write his way out of whatever corner he'd previously trapped himself in. He started flip-flopping in the first two books. Glinda is happy to send the Scarecrow back to the Emerald City to rule in the first book, but in the second, she refuses to help him regain the throne because the Wizard had usurped it in the first place. |
| 92 | * Creator/JRRTolkien was continually tinkering with his massive ''[[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Legendarium]]'', resulting in some contradictions between published materials and what he decided later on top of his [[RiddleForTheAges intentional mysteries]]. One example is the origin of the Orcs; he continually tried to reconcile an "evil" race with his Catholic belief that no creature could be inherently evil or incapable of redemption, and there was also the question of if they were tortured Elves or created in some other way by Morgoth (what remained consistent is that evil is incapable of independent creation). Also there are signs that he started considering twisted Men as the origin of Orcs and avoid Elves altogether. In his personal writings, Tolkien's references to Orcs cast Orcishness more as a state of mind than a set of physical characteristics. |
| 93 | * Creator/StephenKing famously dislikes the Creator/StanleyKubrick film version of ''Film/TheShining'', as he considers Creator/JackNicholson's portrayal of Jack Torrance to have been too crazy and unsympathetic from the start. Yet King has also said that [[Literature/TheShining the original novel]] was written as something of a confession, in which King was dealing with his own alcoholism and his occasional desire to hurt his children. The novel in fact portrays Torrance as deeply troubled from the beginning, although there is certainly more of a tragic descent in the novel than in the film. It seems King's own perspective on his semi-autobiographical character changed in the years after his "confessional" writing of ''Literature/TheShining'', and he now prefers Torrance's character to be viewed more sympathetically. |
| 94 | * Whether or not Creator/WilliamGibson's Literature/{{Sprawl|Trilogy}} is a dystopia seems to depend on what the general outlook on the future seems to be in the SF Community. When ''Literature/{{Neuromancer}}'' first came out in TheEighties, Gibson was adamant that the Sprawl was a dystopia with all the problems of modern urban environments turned up to eleven. Now, twenty years later, Gibson's claiming the exact opposite while simultaneously trying to cosy up to younger, more optimistic writers. |
| 95 | * ''Literature/WarriorCats'': It was mentioned by the writers that no character was going to use "moon" in their name because they felt this would signify the cat as more beautiful or important than their Clanmates. Bluestar's name was originally "Moonstone" but this was changed. Her mother is named "Moonflower" as an accident. There was a later attempt to change it to "Duskflower", but for continuity reasons Moonflower's name stuck. She was the sole exception until later books gave us Ambermoon and Harveymoon. |
| 96 | [[/folder]] |
| 97 | |
| 98 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 99 | * ''Series/TwentyFour'': The writers and producers of the series can't seem to decide whether John Keeler and Wayne Palmer survived their various assassination attempts. A newspaper prop from ''Redemption'' seemed to confirm that Palmer's dead, but one of the writers remarked that he wasn't. |
| 100 | * Depending on if you ask Matthew Graham or Ashley Pharaoh, Jim Keats of ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'' is either [[spoiler:{{Satan}} incarnate (according to Graham, sometimes), the Antichrist (Graham again, in different interviews), or a high-ranking agent of evil/The Devil[=/=]Music/DavidBowie (Pharoah, according to Graham).]] |
| 101 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'': |
| 102 | ** On Usenet during the broadcast of Season 3, series creator Creator/JMichaelStraczynski stated that Valen, the ancient Minbari leader and messiah figure, had no children. In Season 4, the episode "Atonement" revolved around Valen having had children. JMS has admitted to [[LyingCreator outright lying]] in order to avoid spoiling future storylines, naming Valen as a specific example. |
| 103 | ** Also, in a behind-the-scenes documentary made during season 1, Jerry Doyle (who played Michael Garibaldi) said that JMS told him that Garibaldi would never get a girl. In the show, Garibaldi ends up reconciling with his old girlfriend Lise in Season 4 and marrying her in Season 5. |
| 104 | * [[Creator/RonMoore RDM's]] flat denial of any possibility of an Adama/Roslin romance in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' romance. It happened. |
| 105 | * When Willow's relationship with Tara started budding in Season 4 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Creator/JossWhedon was cautious to use the word lesbian, because "then it would stop being about these two people," preferring to not use a label and just see them [[IfItsYouItsOkay as two women in love]]. He also stated that if Oz were ever to come back, the situation would be very complicated because Willow had strong feelings towards both. Flash forward to Season 7, where in an interview Whedon instead outright says Willow is a lesbian. The writers discussed having her hook up with a man after [[spoiler:Tara's death]], but went with Kennedy because they didn't want to make her "anything less than gay." Then in a 2020 interview Whedon said that, if the show had been made in present day (i.e. the 2020s), Willow would have been bisexual. |
| 106 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': Producer Creator/RussellTDavies refused to confirm who the Face of Boe is, really. In the DVD commentary for [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]], Julie Gardner (an executive producer) accused Davies of "back-pedalling" on two characters being obviously the same; Davies had also already added a line of dialogue into [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E3Gridlock "Gridlock"]] that strongly implied the same thing, which he points out on the same DVD commentary. He's since said that it stops being funny if we ever know ''either'' way. |
| 107 | * ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': |
| 108 | ** The producers said Sylar had lost all his stolen abilities, but the last episode of season 2 showed him using telekinesis. Season 3 shows him retaining other powers... all while official canon and WordOfGod says he lost ''all'' of them. |
| 109 | ** The new WordOfGod attempts to reconcile this, saying he lost all his powers ''except'' for his telekinesis and giving a vague rationalization about his previously-unknown empathic abilities. His other powers from season 1 were only demonstrated by a version of him from an alternate future. |
| 110 | ** The producers also initially claimed back in Season 2 that Bennet, Mohinder, and Ando would remain normal humans and not receive superpowers. Season 3 pretty much threw that out the window with regards to Mohinder (who gets Spider powers) and Ando (who can now shoot Hadokens!). The only non-powered human left in the main cast is BadassNormal Mr. Bennet, who doesn't ''need'' any lame powers because he's pretty much [[MemeticMutation The Goddamn Batman]]. |
| 111 | * ''Series/ICarly'': The week before the "[=iSaved=] Your Life" episode aired, a promo aired showing 2 of the main characters kissing. Creator/DanSchneider, in an effort to calm the shippers of a pairing involving a different character, implied it might not be what it appeared. Cue the episode, where they ended up kissing 7 or 8 times, and it was pretty much as it appeared. |
| 112 | * The producers of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' were notorious for making claims about the direction of the series and then going against those claims later. It's not exactly clear whether the producers were intentionally misleading, forced in different directions by the network, simply making things up as they went along, or all three. |
| 113 | ** An early Season 1 interview said that there would be no TimeTravel. Desmond's [[MentalTimeTravel consciousness-jumping]] in Seasons 3 and 4 could be seen as bending this rule, but Season 5 flat-out broke it. Script coordinator Gregg Nations claimed that an early Season 1 episode, "Solitary", was supposed to hint at time travel and time anomalies on the island, but ABC nixed the idea, afraid that people would stop watching if time travel muddled the plot. |
| 114 | ** An interview claimed that Season 3 wouldn't feature Desmond running naked through the jungle, but then there's Desmond running naked through the jungle. |
| 115 | ** Damon Lindeloff claimed in a 2005 interview that the show had no supernatural elements, and everything had a scientific explanation. Even if you take that as only referring to things that had already happened, the statement still covers [[spoiler:the Smoke Monster, who turned out to be a former human who became what he is through magic]]. |
| 116 | * If the writers for ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' ever claim that a certain series takes place either TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture or in an AlternateContinuity, expect a ReunionShow to later shove it back into the present-day main universe. |
| 117 | ** ''[[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Lost Galaxy]]'' and ''[[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Ninja Storm]]'' got this, though ''[[Series/PowerRangersSPD SPD]]'' has been able to keep its 2025 setting so far; team-ups feature TimeTravel. ''[[Series/PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'' also dodged it by being declared an AlternateUniverse, and ''their'' team-ups involve crossing dimensions. The more recent ''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge Dino Charge]]'' seemed destined for it considering it ended with [[spoiler:Earth destroyed, before the Rangers travel back in time and prevent the destruction along with the extinction of the dinosaurs]] -- and this was confirmed in the following season, ''[[Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel Ninja Steel]]'', which not only involved ''none'' of this but also explicitly relegated ''Dino Charge'' to another dimension alongside ''[[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Time Force]]'' and ''RPM'' when several of its characters reappeared for [[Recap/PowerRangersNinjaSteelS02E10DimensionsInDanger the 25th anniversary special]]. |
| 118 | ** There's also Jonathon Tzachor's constant flip-flop over the state of the series' continuity. Initially, it was one whole universe except ''RPM''. Then, he decided that none of the Disney-era series happened (''Ninja Storm'' through ''RPM''). ''Then'', he decided that ''every'' season happened in different continuities -- even the old-school ones that came before the ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' format was picked up! Which makes ''[=Mighty Morphin'=]'' Season 3 and ''Turbo''[='s=] endings {{Downer Ending}}s! |
| 119 | * ''Series/QuantumLeap'': |
| 120 | ** One of the house rules according to creator Donald Bellisario, was that Sam would never leap into a real person. For the first four seasons, he didn't; we only saw "[[HistoricalInJoke kisses with history]]". But the rule was suddenly dropped for Season 5, which opened with Sam leaping into [[WhoShotJFK Lee Harvey Oswald]] (a story Bellisario particularly wanted to tell as a counterpunch to Oliver Stone's ''JFK''), and continued with a host of others: Marilyn Monroe's chauffeur, Dr. Ruth, and even [[Music/ElvisPresley the King himself]]. According to Usenet posts made at the time from [[WordOfStPaul someone with connections to the production staff]], this was ExecutiveMeddling at work: the only way Bellisario could get Season 5 made was by giving the network execs the stories they wanted, which involved Sam leaping into real people. |
| 121 | ** The writers were never able to decide whether the quantum leaps just placed Sam's mind into the bodies of the people he leaped into, or if they physically swapped bodies and people perceived Sam as the person he replaced. Various episodes have plots which revolve around one or the other being true - for example, Sam is able to walk when he leaps into the body of a double amputee, which would require him to have his own body, but he also manages to give birth when he leaps into the body of a pregnant woman, which would require him to have the other person's body. The writers just went with [[RuleOfDrama whichever was more dramatic]]. |
| 122 | * ''Series/TheSopranos'' creator David Chase didn't help the "Did Tony die in the finale" debate by first stating there was no hidden meaning, then saying ''"anyone who wants to watch it, it's all there"'', and then later commenting ''"there's more than one way of looking at the ending."'' In other words: '''Tony's dead. Unless he isn't.''' |
| 123 | * ''Series/SesameStreet'': The staff have been inconsistent on whether "Sid" being Cookie Monster's real name (which he claims in the song "The First Time Me Eat Cookie") was true or not. The song's writer, Christine Ferraro, claims that it was non-canon due to simply being "written as a gag", but Cookie Monster's official X/Twitter page has him state that Sid ''is'' his real name. |
| 124 | * ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': |
| 125 | ** It's easy to forget that the show commenced with lots of declaration that it would have as little to do with the other shows as possible, and would feature all new aliens. While plenty of new aliens ''did'' feature, so did a few who were of established species (Tuvok and Vorek are Vulcans, B'Elanna is [[HalfHumanHybrid half-Klingon]] and other Klingons appear in one episode, there are Bajorans as background characters, and TheMole is Cardassian.) |
| 126 | ** They initially stated that those two Ferengi who got stuck in the Delta Quadrant in TNG would never appear. However, in "False Profits", they not only appear, they're the episode's main antagonists. |
| 127 | ** Also, the writers initially stated that there would be no Borg. However, the Borg later became a recurring threat, and the recurring characters Seven of Nine, Icheb, Azan, Rebi, and Mezoti, who are all ex-Borg, were introduced. |
| 128 | * ''Series/TheWestWing'': The intended outcome for the seventh season's presidential election has this with the contradictory "gods" being different writers. Lawrence O'Donnell has said that the original intention was for Vinick to win, but this would have been too much of a DownerEnding after already writing Creator/JohnSpencer's (Leo [=McGarry=]) death into the show. John Wells has said that Santos winning was always the intent. |
| 129 | * About ''Series/TheXFiles'', Chris Carter made repeated statements that there was no hint of a Mulder/Scully romance. However, later on in the series, they ''do'' become an item. |
| 130 | [[/folder]] |
| 131 | |
| 132 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 133 | * Music/YngwieMalmsteen has a very well-known instrumental that has been officially known as both "Arpeggios From Hell" and "Molto Arpeggiosa". The "excerpt" (which is actually the majority of the overall composition) that gained Platform/YouTube fame is titled the former, with the overall piece titled the latter. |
| 134 | * Music/MelanieMartinez once said "Milk and Cookies" was about killing her boyfriend but then later said it's about killing a kidnapper. The lyrics make it sound like she's poisoning someone close to her, though its context in the ConceptAlbum makes more sense for it being about the kidnapper in "Tag You're It". |
| 135 | * Music/Starflyer59 has a few. |
| 136 | ** According to the ''Leave Here a Stranger'' liner notes, the song "When I Learn to Sing" begins with the lyrics "Because of my genes, a problem I don't need..." According to the official [=Sf59=] fakebook, the song in question begins with "Because of machines, that burn the life out of me..." |
| 137 | ** One of the more obscure b-sides is named either "Never Had a Name" or just "Never Had One", depending on whether you consult the liner notes or the label on the disc itself. A slightly less obscure track is named "Magic" on every version released by Tooth & Nail Records, but is named "Majic" on every version released by Burnt Toast Vinyl. |
| 138 | * In of the most confusing events ever, Crypton first described Music/{{Vocaloid}}s Kagamine Rin and Len as mirror images, then took that back and called them twins. Later, they ended up taking both statements back and ended up leaving it up to anyone's interpretation. This resulted in one of the most annoying situations for anyone in the fandom, where any video involving Rin and Len resulted in a comment war over which is which. |
| 139 | * Music/MerleHaggard always played coy about whether his 1969 anti-counterculture anthem "Okie from Muskogee" was meant as a satire of [[GoodOldWays small-town conservatism]] or was meant to be taken seriously. On one hand, he stated that he wrote it in response to the anti-[[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar war]] protests of the late '60s, which he felt were disparaging the soldiers and led by people who just wanted to complain, but on the other hand, he's also described the song as written through the eyes of a fool, especially as his own views on the war changed later on. Regardless, it became a hit among both the conservative [[FlyoverCountry Middle Americans]] it was celebrating and among the very [[NewAgeRetroHippie hippies]] it was mocking, with a lot of countercultural rock bands of that era covering it (and writing parodies). |
| 140 | * Music/MikeOldfield initially denied claims that his third album, ''Ommadawn'', was titled after "amadán," the Gaelic word for "idiot," stating that it was simply a nonsense word that he liked. However, he went back on this in his 2007 autobiography, stating that the album title did indeed mean "idiot." |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 144 | * Try the home game: Have two people send an email to the official ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' support line, asking the same rules-clarification question about just about anything in any edition. You win the game if both replies are contradictory. Points deducted if you asked about stealth or [[GameBreaker Polymorph]]. No points if you used material from Magazine/{{Dragon}} magazine. People say the same thing about TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}. The various forums have plenty of examples; basically, if it isn't in the books or the FAQ, it's Cust Serv's house rules. The FAQ's on [=DnD=]'s Character Optimization forum are often regarded as house rules and nothing more. Oddly, the proper method of offering optimization on those very boards is to adhere to the person's DM's house rules and nothing else, only offering minor suggestions if the DM hasn't already said otherwise. Not that many people do it the proper way. |
| 145 | ** The rules regarding Divine Smite have been flip-flopped after lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford got caught in a tricky situation. Originally, rules-as-written prevented paladins from using Divine Smite on unarmed melee attacks, but [[https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/j4ygh1/hope_i_havent_been_beat_to_the_punch/ this created a conflict with the rules for monks.]] (One clever player pointed out that under these rules, their paladin couldn't channel divine power through their enchanted holy gauntlets, but ''could'' pick up a chair and smite with an improvised weapon.) After he took [[https://www.reddit.com/r/dndmemes/comments/c8tec0/infuriating_research_on_monkpaladin_multiclass/ some heavy ribbing from the Internet,]] the rules were re-written. |
| 146 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': |
| 147 | ** At one point, Official Errata contained two contradictory answers as to whether Immaculate Monk Dynasts got the Enlightened Charms in addition to their 5 Immaculate Martial Arts Charms or not. Both answers were later removed, leaving it completely up to the ST. |
| 148 | ** Not to mention all the various contradictions (Zeal, anyone?) that spring up if you read all the Charms that were published since the game's release. Sure, the game evolved, changed a bit and everything that goes with it, but it went too far in many aspects, so much so that many of the original statements about the setting are simply incorrect by the "new" standards. For instance, in the First Edition corebook, it's pretty much treated as fact that the Solars ruled over a Golden Age that was only ended due to a possible horrible future coming from it, with the tales about how horrible the Solars were being latter-day fabrications to discredit them. Later books establish that the Solars were arguably ''worse'' than the Dragonblooded claim -- although even now, some of the claims against the "anathema" are still outright lies. The Second Edition corebook has codified this darkening of the First Age to the core premise. |
| 149 | ** Errata for ''Dreams of the First Age'' replaced Zeal with an entirely different charm, banishing that particular issue. |
| 150 | ** The Nameless (and place-changing) lair of Ma-Ha Suchi. |
| 151 | * In ''TabletopGame/IlluminatiNewWorldOrder'', it's possible to give a group a temporary attribute, and then give them power-boosts that are only legitimate for that attribute. Such power boosts are normally permanent, but when the attribute goes away, so will the power. The rules say that only permanent power boosts count for victory conditions. So, does a power boost as described above count for victory? Steve Jackson originally said yes. The official FAQ now says no. |
| 152 | * In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', for a while, Games Workshop couldn't decide just who Ollanius Pius was. He went from an ordinary human, to a Terminator (veteran SpaceMarine), to the Emperor's personal bodyguard, to an ordinary human who just happens to be 30,000 years old. They seem to have settled on the latter. |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | |
| 155 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 156 | * Greg Farshtey, the main writer for ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', has been known to flip flop on certain matters, such as whether or not [[spoiler: Zaktan]] is definitely dead. At first it was a definite "yes", but later he became ambiguous about it. The character seemingly died in an explosion, which for any other character would be a definite kill, but [[spoiler:Zaktan's ability to [[PullingThemselvesTogether pull himself together]]]] made it highly questionable. Apparently, he came out a couple of years after the story had ended to confirm that the character ''didn't'' die. And then ExecutiveMeddling cancelled the story before Farshtey could pull all the plot threads together, leaving Zaktan rather like UsefulNotes/SchrodingersCat. |
| 157 | * When people pointed out that Alpha Trion being a member of the original Thirteen Franchise/{{Transformers}} in Franchise/TransformersAlignedUniverse clashed with his portrayal in ''ComicBook/TransformersShatteredGlass'', Hasbro later stated that the Franchise/TransformersAlignedUniverse wasn't part of the larger Transformers multiverse. However, Hasbro later reversed this stance as, starting with ''VideoGame/TransformersRiseOfTheDarkSpark'' (which involves the titular artifact going from the Aligned universe to the universe of [[Film/TransformersFilmSeries the movies]] [[spoiler: and [[Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne Generation 1 universe]]]]), the ''Ask [[Anime/TransformersCybertron Vector Prime]]'' column (which confirmed the events of ''Dark Spark'' revealed the existence of the Aligned universe to the larger Multiverse and reveals that Aligned!Vector isn't the same bot as the one we've seen elsewhere), ''[[AllThereInTheManual The Complete]] [[WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated AllSpark Almanac]]'', ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel Regeneration One]]'' (which has a subplot of Hot Rod seeing all his counterparts, including his Aligned incarnation from the DS version of ''War for Cybertron''), and [[Franchise/TransformersTimelines Andromeda - Axiom Nex]][[ComicBook/TransformersTransTech us News Reporter]] (which officially confirmed the Aligned universe being part of the larger multiverse), it's been revealed to be part of the multiverse, after all. |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 161 | * ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'': |
| 162 | ** Creator/MarkHamill once said that ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' would be the last time he would reprise his ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' role as ComicBook/TheJoker. Then he came back for ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'' and ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', and said that the latter would be his last time unless ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'' got an AnimatedAdaptation. He seemed to make good on this, with Creator/RichardEpcar from ''VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse'' stepping in for ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' and ''VideoGame/InfiniteCrisis'', and Creator/TroyBaker in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOriginsBlackgate'' and ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAssaultOnArkham'', despite the presence of Creator/KevinConroy in most of those projects.[[note]]Creator/RogerCraigSmith filled in for him in ''Origins'' and ''Blackgate''.[[/note]] However, the key words are "seemed to" as despite ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' opening with Joker's cremation, Hamill reprised the role in flashbacks and hallucinations. Then not only did he indeed reprise the role for [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheKillingJoke the animated adaptation]] of ''The Killing Joke'', he [[http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/conroy-hamill-return-justice-league-action-cartoon-network went around and also reprised the role for]] ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'', the ''Arkham'' interquel game ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamVR'', and ''[[VideoGame/LEGOBatman LEGO DC Super Villains]]''. He announced another retirement from the role -- one that's expected to stick -- following the death of Conroy in November 2022. |
| 163 | ** Rocksteady Studios had said that ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' would be the GrandFinale of the series as far as they're taking it and they were done with the series. One of the first games announced for the [=PlayStation=] VR? ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamVR''? Who made it? Rocksteady. (Admittedly, ''Arkham VR'' is more of a prequel to ''Arkham Knight'', which remains the GrandFinale.) |
| 164 | * Paul Yan would state several times in interviews for ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'' that the post-Naughty Dog entries did in fact happen, [[CanonDiscontinuity but that they happened (or may've happened) in an alternate timeline(s) that may have some impact on the adventure (they never did)]]. But then in [[https://youtu.be/FwjW10ADGnE?si=7FSgM80mCEgi49e3&t=875 an overlooked GDC 2021 presentation]], he makes a point about the Lani-Loli gag referring to how the post-ND games come ''after'' in its chronological timeline, conflicting with that preconceived notion. |
| 165 | --> '''Paul Yan''': ...like this joke that's kinda acknowledging the fact that it's ignoring some of the other sequels that are coming after this in its chronological timeline. |
| 166 | * ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'': Is the male Barbarian the same one from ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' or not? Some Blizzard employees say yes, others say no. |
| 167 | * ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'': |
| 168 | ** [[DependingOnTheWriter Perhaps due to the series changing hands]], the ''Fallout'' universe tends to waffle around about mutants. Specifically, the ratios of FEV and radiation required to create Ghouls and Super Mutants and the New California Republic's feelings about mutants. The current rule is that Super Mutants only require FEV, while Ghouls only require radiation (though the amount of time of exposure is also constantly changing). ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' showed both types of mutants proud to serve in the NCR army, while ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has a quest based entirely on the NCR using mercenaries to provoke the mutants so they can justify a slaughter. |
| 169 | ** The change in the NCR's view of Super Mutants and Ghouls is potentially not a flip flop. ''Fallout 2'' has an entire plot line that revolves around a group of humans that vehemently hates both. In addition, Super Mutants and Ghouls aren't remotely common in the NCR and most of both groups are still outright hostile. Once the exceptions started dying off, it is hardly implausible that the NCR started reverting back to viewing them more negatively as a whole. |
| 170 | ** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', however, is much more guilty of this. Washington D.C. is no longer completely obliterated, the Enclave was not completely destroyed when their West Coast base was nuked. |
| 171 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 172 | ** The remake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' gave the previous {{Featureless Protagonist}}s (known as the Onion Knights for their starting class) names and personalities, and some materials stated that the four named orphans were the same characters as in the original. But then ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' came out and used the "Onion Knight", who is ''not'' any of the remake characters, as the game's representative. Later spin-off games have used both the remake's orphans and the Onion Knight. |
| 173 | ** The hair color of [[BigBad Golbez]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Given his heritage, most fans assumed that he would have white hair [[spoiler:like his fellow Lunarians]] under his helmet. The DS remake gave him brown hair in flashbacks... and then ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears The After Years]]'' went and gave him the white hair after all. This led to speculation that his hair whitened with age or that [[spoiler:the brief appearance of a brown-haired Golbez at the end of ''IV'' is supposed to symbolize how he appeared before Zemus took control, not his literal appearance]]. |
| 174 | *** Considering Cecil himself is white-haired in all games, promotional material and even the remake's intro movie, [[HairColorDissonance but is blond in-game]], it is perhaps better to just assume all other sources are canon and the remake just partook in an AdaptationalDyeJob. |
| 175 | ** The ending of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' shows the city of Midgar ReclaimedByNature with no signs of human habitation, leading to a lot of arguments over whether this meant humanity had been killed by Meteor. Kazushige Nojima, the game's writer, has claimed that humanity is meant to have survived, and Yusuke Naora, the art director, added to this by saying that he intended to add smoke to the final cutscene to establish that there's ''some'' humans living in and around the city. Conversely, Yoshinori Kitase, the game's director, noted that "In a way, I consider that epilogue to be the true happy ending of ''FFVII''. Well, it's a happy ending even though all the human beings are destroyed." Keep in mind, he said this ''after'' ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' seemingly established humanity was doing just fine in the aftermath. |
| 176 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' (and ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' [[SharedUniverse by extension]]): |
| 177 | ** Poison started out as transgender, was changed to a cis woman and is now trans again, if Creator/{{Capcom}}'s really left ''Final Fight''/''Street Fighter'' canon to Capcom USA. |
| 178 | ** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' producer Yoshinori Ono stated that, in the U.S. and the rest of the world, Poison is a post-op trans woman, but in Japan, she's a pre-op trans woman. Original design notes for ''Final Fight'' suggest the character was always intended to be a newhalf. |
| 179 | ** Akira Nishitani, the developer of ''Final Fight'', insists that it's up to the fans to decide. It's unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. |
| 180 | ** Of course, always conveniently omitted from the discussion is, what about Roxy, dammit? Since Roxy is a literal PaletteSwap of Poison, she was ignored outside of one AllThereInTheManual moment by Capcom USA, declaring the she was a natural female who "always looked up to Poison although she doesn't really dig the cross-dressing thing." |
| 181 | * Rockstar Games' official stance on ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' is that each graphical generation (2D, 3D, etc.) represents a totally different continuity, which convinced a lot of long time fans that the HD generation's canon would behave differently from that of the others. But the HD generation is loaded with MythologyGags that seem to suggest otherwise, and [[BroadStrokes some minor plot elements that featured in previous continuities are revealed to still be around.]] The Epsilon Program, for example, is just as influential in the HD generation as in previous ones, and Lazlow is not only still a celebrity, but a much bigger one than in the preceding generation. Members of the fictional band Love Fist also appear in games from both generations. |
| 182 | * It seems Creator/NaughtyDog simply cannot make up their minds about [[AmbiguousGender Seem's gender]] in ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter''. One half of official material refers to them as a girl, and the other half as a guy. When the game was first released, two fans, independent of one another, emailed the developer. One got back [[http://the-precursors.livejournal.com/42353.html "Seem is male",]] while the other received [[http://the-precursors.livejournal.com/42600.html "Seem is a girl."]] |
| 183 | * ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'': |
| 184 | ** Creator/{{SNK}} seems to change its position as to where fits into the universe of its other games by the day. Either it's an AlternateContinuity to ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting''[=/=]''VideoGame/FatalFury'', or it's a follow-up to that universe. However, given that Geese Howard (the BigBad of ''Fatal Fury'') ''[[KilledOffForReal died]]'' in ''Real Bout Fatal Fury'', [[SchrodingersCast yet made a triumphant, unexpected appearance]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters96 KOF '96]]'' and continues to make the occasional cameo (or rarer playable appearance) in later ''KOF'' games, it's a pretty safe bet that ''KOF'' has [[BroadStrokes the same basic backstory]] as the ''[=AoF=][=/=]FF'' timeline but diverges after that. It's also telling that the cast of ''[=AoF=]'' is roughly around the same age as their ''Fatal Fury'' counterparts despite ''Art of Fighting'' presumably taking place in the late 1970s (''Fatal Fury'' is similarly assumed to occur in the 90s) and a young Geese Howard showing up in the second ''[=AoF=]'' as the TrueFinalBoss (as well as {{foreshadowing}} for his role in ''Fatal Fury'' in the first place). |
| 185 | ** On a different note, are Iori Yagami's [[PlayingWithFire flames]] [[TechnicolorFire blue or purple]]? The sprites show them to be the latter, but various official sources over the years tended to mix this up frequently (though they seem to have settled on purple as of ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXII XII]]''). To further confuse matters, the Yasakani (the clan the Yagami were formerly known as) were said to have [[FireIsRed crimson]] (read: [[DependingOnTheArtist orange]]) flames like the Kusanagi but gained {{Orochi}}'s blue flames when they [[DealWithTheDevil struck a deal with it]] [[DrivenByEnvy out of jealousy for the Kusanagi]]. As such, one line of thought is that both statements are technically accurate, with Iori's flames being depicted as purple because they're a combination of red and blue. However, Orochi Chris (one of Orochi's Four Heavenly Kings and [[LateArrivalSpoiler the vessel of its eventual rebirth]]) ''also'' uses purple flames like Iori despite not having reddish-orange flames to begin with (and [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally]], Orochi Chris's flames were going to be ''black''). |
| 186 | ** As the ''KOF'' verse has a very loose grasp on the concept of "clones", it's unclear if [[AnIcePerson Kula Diamond]], the Anti-K', is truly an OppositeSexClone of series lead Kyo Kusanagi. The NESTS Team story in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 2001]]'' has Kula mention that she was "grown from a petri dish" whereas her bio in ''[[VideoGame/KOFMaximumImpact2 Maximum Impact 2]]'' (where the general backstory of the pre-existing characters is unaltered despite ''MI'' taking place in an AlternateContinuity) instead suggests she's a CloneByConversion in the manner of K' or Nameless. |
| 187 | ** Shion, TheDragon from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXI'', is either male or has no official gender, depending on who and when you ask (although most official sources nowadays affirm that Shion is a he). |
| 188 | * Due to Ellis being an UnreliableNarrator, the existence of Keith in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has been of much debate. Valve tried to invoke this trope by saying that "Keith isn't imaginary, except, well, it is a video game, so it's all imaginary." |
| 189 | * ''Franchise/MegaMan'': |
| 190 | ** [[http://www.capcomdigital.com/blog/2008/09/05/inafunesan_answers_your_questions According to]] Creator/KeijiInafune, ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' exists parallel to ''VideoGame/MegaMan9''. However, in the ending of ''9'', Rush projects nine images of Wily doing the exact same actions in different games, and one of them unmistakably takes place in the final boss room in the former. Additionally, the game's original ROM refers to ''[=MM&B=] as [[{{Interquel}} "Rock 8.5"]]. |
| 191 | ** After the first ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' game, many fans wondered about the gender of Harpuia. The character looked feminine (and had [[Creator/MegumiOgata a female VA]]) but acted masculine (none of Leviathan's "don't hold back because I'm a woman" here), and there were no pronouns to settle it. When asked, Capcom of America went with female -- which was news to Capcom of Japan. The conflicting WordOfGod left many fans confused, even after later games made it clear he was male. |
| 192 | * ''VideoGame/MoshiMonsters'': When asked why the game zigzagged NobodyPoops (players could not add bathrooms to the houses, but toilet references still cropped up in the game), the creators sometimes stated that monsters' biology meant that they didn't need to use toilets, but other times said that it was just ArtisticLicense. |
| 193 | * Quite common with the Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}, which has a [[AllThereInTheManual large amount of supplementary material]], which often directly contradicts other materials. One particular example is Servants and their memories as ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' established that Heroic Spirits wouldn't remember their time as Servants in the Holy Grail War and [[spoiler:Saber and Gilgamesh only remember the previous war because of special circumstances]]. Later works like ''VideoGame/FateExtellaTheUmbralStar'' and ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' have them able to remember what happened to themselves in previous works. |
| 194 | * Creator/{{Nintendo}} has made many flip flops over the years. For instance... |
| 195 | ** ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 196 | *** Sources flip-flop on whether Wario and Waluigi are siblings or not (though they've mostly settled on "not"). It does the same to Toad and Toadette. Even more confusing is when the latter pair is not portrayed as siblings, they're given ShipTease. |
| 197 | *** The exact relationship between Mario and Peach isn't entirely clear either. Some sources all but outright say that they're an OfficialCouple, while other sources are more ambiguous. Especially since other characters like Luigi, Daisy, and even Waluigi muddy the situation. |
| 198 | *** Is Yoshi a dinosaur, or a dragon? At first, [[DinosaursAreDragons Nintendo basically used the words interchangeably]], before settling on "dino" starting in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64''... And then going back to dragon in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', and not addressing the issue at all afterwards since it is a fictional species anyway. |
| 199 | *** Whether or not Mario and Luigi's last names are "Mario". Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto's stance changes every time he's asked. |
| 200 | *** Due to the overwhelmingly negative fan reaction to Miyamoto retconning the Koopalings into no longer being Bowser's children, Nintendo has since attempted to compromise by stating that their relation to Bowser, whether he's their genetic or adoptive father, a boss who's simply a FatherToHisMen, or something else, is unknown. |
| 201 | *** Whether Birdo is a guy or a girl. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' says Birdo is a "guy who thinks he's a girl", but ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'' states Birdo is a girl. Yet, the British versions of ''Mario Tennis Aces'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarioParty Super Mario Party]]'' state Birdo is a male, yet the American versions state that Birdo is female. |
| 202 | ** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'': |
| 203 | *** Cranky Kong is either Donkey Kong's dad or grandpa. Further complicating the matter is the question of just ''whose'' word to follow. Rare's writer Leigh Loveday has stated that he's DK's father and asked that "if you see Cranky referred to as DK's granddad anywhere, just cover your eyes and hum loudly until it goes away," but Creator/{{Nintendo}} owns the games (including the characters). |
| 204 | *** This extends to Donkey Kong himself. Is he the son of Donkey Kong Jr., or Junior all grown up? Not helping is ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'', in which they both appear as playable characters (though, to be fair, [[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Baby Mario]] also appears in this game and others alongside his adult self) and that Donkey Kong Jr. had effectively been [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replaced by Diddy Kong]]. |
| 205 | ** ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 206 | *** While we know that [[SweetPollyOliver Sheik]] [[ItWasHisSled is Princess Zelda using magic to disguise herself]] [[GenderBender as a man]], the extent of the magic spell has many contradictory statements. Sometimes, they say that Zelda uses magic to change her physical body. Other times, it is nothing more than a change of clothes (most JustForFun/{{egregious}}ly, the fluff is at odds between ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' on this). The non-canon but [[WordOfDante official]] manga doesn't help matters. |
| 207 | *** How old is Link in ''Ocarina of Time''? The official player's guide for the game said he was ten and [[TimeSkip seventeen]]. Then, both ''The Wind Waker''[='=]s official player's guide and ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' list the Link of that game (who's stated to have started his journey at the same age) as twelve, which would make it twelve and nineteen. Fast forward a few more years, and you get [[http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/4/1 an interview with the creators]] that gives Link's age as nine and sixteen. It must be the TimeyWimeyBall. |
| 208 | *** And then there was the infamous timeline debacle that lasted up until (and continued after) the release of the ''Literature/HyruleHistoria''. For example, [[http://zeldalegends.net/index.php?n=interviews&id=1998-11-13-np-miya&m=html the 1998 interview with Miyamoto]] contradicts the [[AllThereInTheManual manual of]] ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', and then ''that'' statement was contradicted by the ''[[http://www.zeldawiki.org/images/c/c1/ZeldatimelineHHtranslation.png Hyrule Historia]]'' official timeline that was released in 2011. |
| 209 | ---->'''Miyamoto:''' "This is pretty confusing for us, too. (''laughs'') So be careful." |
| 210 | *** Speaking of the timeline, ''Hyrule Historia'' claimed that ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' takes place after ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames''. Years later, ''Nintendo Dream'' published the ''Hyrule Encyclopedia'', which claimed that ''Link's Awakening'' actually takes place ''before'' the ''Oracle'' games. [[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/character/zelda/history/index.html A 2018 update for the official timeline]] supports this change. |
| 211 | ** ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 212 | *** Is Phione a Legendary/Mythical Pokémon or not? Not even official sources can make up their minds on this one. A general rule is that Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are unable to be bred, even with Ditto. However, Manaphy (which was unambiguously classified as a legendary, but now classed as a Mythical, as detailed below) is an exception (as part of its in-game lore has it hatching from a unique egg). The result of breeding a Manaphy is Phione. It has only so-so stats (which are terrible compared to Manaphy's), learns none of the moves that make Manaphy unique, and doesn't evolve into Manaphy. Basically, it is a gimped version of Manaphy. This would be fine, but it is only obtained by breeding Manaphy or other Phione (it doesn't appear in any regional Pokédex either) and it is still restricted from places like the battle tower/frontier/subway, a distinction which only box legendaries (Pokémon that would appear on the cover of the games) and Mythical Pokémon get. The side games treat it as a bonus character, while the anime treats it as any regular (if rare) Pokémon. |
| 213 | *** On a related note, the difference between Legendary Pokémon and Mythical Pokémon. The Japanese media has always maintained there is a difference, but it wasn't until Gen V before international media did the same, referring to Mythicals as Legendaries beforehand. From a gameplay perspective, the difference is Legendaries can be obtained in-game, while Mythicals need to be obtained from real-life one-of-a-kind events or from some of the spin-offs. Yet, Deoxys is available in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' in the same way Legendaries are despite still being classed as Mythical. And later on, Celebi was given an accessible event in the Platform/VirtualConsole release of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Crystal]]''. Storyline-wise, the difference is non-existent, Mythicals and Legendaries are both rare, have many myths surrounding them, and a good chunk of Mythicals are closely aligned to Legendaries[[note]]For example, Legendary Cresselia and Mythical Darkrai make up a duo of Pokémon, while Mythical Keldeo is an apprentice to Legendaries Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion, all of them forming the Swords of Justice[[/note]]. |
| 214 | *** Are Ultra Beasts Legendary Pokémon? Since Ultra Beasts are simply Pokémon (but strong ones) from another dimension, the simple answer would be no[[note]]''Sun and Moon'' allows you to capture more then one of certain Ultra Beasts while ''Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon'' allows you to go to their home worlds and obtain as many as you want[[/note]]. Yet, the Mascot Legendaries of Gen VII are all technically Ultra Beasts from a storyline perspective, and comparisons are also made to the Gen IV Mascot Legendaries in regards to the fact they are from different dimensions as well[[note]]It has not been specified if their dimensions (or the dimensions of other Pokémon like Unown) count as Ultra Space or not[[/note]]. |
| 215 | ** Outside actual games, Nintendo has twice announced that new hardware would serve as a "third pillar" alongside existing hardware, only to quickly discontinue whatever system it was the obvious successor to. To be fair, these two situations weren't completely the same. While the first case of this was clearly Nintendo hedging their bets -- the Platform/GameBoyAdvance line was still doing ''incredibly'' well in sales in 2004, so should the Platform/NintendoDS fail (and [[AndYouThoughtItWouldFail everyone assumed it would]]), they wanted an easy out to dismiss the dual-screen device as a weird experiment -- the second was just a bizarre deflection: the Platform/WiiU was an undeniable flop when the Platform/NintendoSwitch was first announced as "Codename NX", making for an obvious bluff. Nintendo didn't even wait for the Switch's release before discontinuing production on the Wii U, as opposed to GBA systems continuing to be sold until the end of the 2000s. |
| 216 | * ''VideoGame/Portal2'' has accumulated several of these, largely due to the creators claiming not to have had a grand narrative in mind while creating the game and therefore not having answers when put on the spot by eager fans. |
| 217 | ** The actual location of the Aperture Science facility. Prior to ''Portal 2'', they said it was in a Cleveland salt mine, but the game itself specifically places the mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Much of Aperture's backstory and that of its founder, Cave Johnson, is similarly {{retcon}}ned by the game from previous material, with Valve metaphorically shrugging its shoulders as to which story is true. |
| 218 | ** The ending leaves ambiguous the question of whether [=GLaDOS=] actually [[spoiler:deletes Caroline's personality]], is merely lying about it, or even thought she had but was mistaken. Leaving aside the fact that [=GLaDOS=] is an UnreliableNarrator, the creators have waffled on the matter in various interviews, going from claiming that she was telling the truth to that she only might have been. |
| 219 | ** Whether Cave Johnson is still alive, [[BrainUploading Brain Uploaded]] or otherwise. Again, they've given vague or contradictory answers when asked the question in interviews. |
| 220 | ** Also there's the question of the turret opera song "Cara Mia" which many see as implying that [[spoiler: Chell is the daughter of Cave Johnson and Caroline]]. Erik Wolpaw has said that the turret song was added without his consent and that in the 'canon' version of ''Portal 2'', Chell is just sent straight to the surface. [=GLaDOS=]'s voice actress Ellen [=McLain=] (who wrote the aforementioned song) has been talking about Chell's parentage as recently as the 2011 [=VGAs=]. With both of them having a degree of creative control of ''Portal'''s storyline, its likely there will never be a concrete answer. |
| 221 | * ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'': |
| 222 | ** Is [[GirlOfTheWeek Angela Cross]] from ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'' the same species as Ratchet, a Lombax? A fan letter gets an answer from one of the employees -- she is. When ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction Tools of Destruction]]'' was released, focusing on Ratchet's origins, Insomniac Games officially stated that she is not. Seeing that Angela looks very much like Ratchet except in having breasts and lacking a tail, fans demanded a logical answer. So as of ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime A Crack in Time]]'', Creator/{{Insomniac|Games}} has stated that Angela Cross is definitely a Lombax, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy12UveK6oc put a reference to the whole ordeal in-game]] to affirm it. |
| 223 | ** In 2014, [[http://www.insomniacgames.com/community/showthread.php?56339-Did-Insomniac-Ever-Outright-Confirm-SM-and-SAC-Were-Non-Canon&p=1421220&viewfull=1#post1421220 Insomniac Games stated on their forums]] that ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankSizeMatters'' and ''VideoGame/SecretAgentClank'' were non-canon, in response to queries regarding ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankIntoTheNexus Into the Nexus]]'' not referencing them in a history museum level. In 2017, however, [[https://twitter.com/insomniacgames/status/818582634951380993 they stated on their Twitter]] that the two games were actually canon (but with the events of the ''Secret Agent Clank'' game being a ShowWithinAShow), with [[https://ratchetandclank.fandom.com/wiki/Ratchet_%26_Clank_Wiki:Bulletin_board/Interview_with_James_Stevenson Insomniac community director James Stevenson reiterating]] that this would remain true until a future game or continuation would directly contradict it. |
| 224 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' series has been flip-flopping for ''years'' as to whether or not the title character's signature floating limbs are one-of-a-kind or not. In the original ''Rayman'' game, all characters in Rayman's world had floating limbs, and Rayman himself was nothing special. In [[VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape the sequel]], however, save for his EvilTwin, Rayman was explicitly stated to be one of a kind, because he was created by the fairies who had their own mysterious ideas. Then ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins'' came along, and said his limblessness was an accident. Until the Platform/PlayStationVita version, which suggested that there'd been [[AdamAndEvePlot at least one other (female) limbless person.]] And then ''VideoGame/RaymanLegends'' comes along, and the alternate Rayman costumes are strongly implied to be different characters -- including one inspired by the "Tarayazan" character from the first game. |
| 225 | * ''VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}}'': Peacock's outfit, [[http://i.imgur.com/YPvF8fd.jpg a dress with bloomers that conceal her legs]], makes it impossible to tell if her legs are ArtificialLimbs like her arms. Alex Ahad has stated a number of conflicting times whether or not her legs are real. |
| 226 | * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 227 | ** Many Creator/SonicTeam employees will tell you conflicting things about the Sonic universe: The manuals can't seem to decide whether Sonic is calm, loves relaxation, and loves nature, or is excitable and unable to sit still at all, let alone enjoy the scenery. They also go back and forth on if Sonic and his friends live on a fictional version of Earth alongside humans, or if they live in another dimension and occasionally visit Earth. |
| 228 | ** Creator/{{Sega}} employees and the games go back and forth on whether Classic Sonic is Modern Sonic's younger self from the past (as per ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'') or is from another dimension (as per ''VideoGame/SonicForces''). And in the latter, they can't decide whether it's truly [[AlternateUniverse another dimension]] or [[AlternateTimeline a split timeline]]. Further muddying the waters is the fact that in all cases, Modern Sonic is treated as having experienced Classic Sonic's adventures in the past (or at least [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 the]] [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 classic]] [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD core]] [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles games]]). |
| 229 | ** LooseCanon is to blame for a lot of these inconsistencies; Ken Eva of Sega Europe stated around the time of ''Forces'' that ''Sonic'' canon is in a state of flux, meaning it's liable to change as Sega sees fit. Notably, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmzc8L8zTBk supplemental material]] for ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'' threw out the [[FanDislikedExplanation widely disliked]] and [[WriterConflictsWithCanon canon-conflicting]] claim that [[WorldOfFunnyAnimals Sonic's world]] and the human world were separate despite this being the case for ''Forces'', instead making the separation a figurative one: the "human world" consists of the larger continents and human-populated societies, whereas the "non-human world" consists of the various smaller islands scattered about the planet. |
| 230 | ** Just who has a SuperMode has been a weird thing. Since ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', it was accepted that Sonic and Knuckles had Super forms with normal Chaos Emeralds and gain Hyper forms with the Super Emeralds with Tails gaining a Super mode only with the Super Emeralds. However, in ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', Tails and Knuckles don't gain Super forms when Sonic turns Super. It was later stated that only male hedgehogs gain Super transformations, but ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' and later ''[[UpdatedRerelease Sonic Origins]]'' explicitly gives Tails, Mighty, Ray and Amy Super modes, only for ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'' to go back and say, no, only Sonic gains a transformation, everyone else gains "Super Powers". |
| 231 | * In April 2015, then-supervising director of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' Ian Jones-Quartey [[https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/585229432283144192 claimed that]] the game ''VideoGame/AttackTheLight'' was [[SchrodingersCanon "level 2 canon"]], but in March 2019, he [[https://twitter.com/ianjq/status/1104505313749692416 said that]] both ''Attack the Light'' and ''VideoGame/SaveTheLight'' are canon. |
| 232 | * ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'': |
| 233 | ** Katsuhiro Harada, the chief producer of the series, constantly contradicts what he has said in the past about the games' confusing canon. When fans once called him out for making a statement which directly contradicted the game canon, he stated that he considers that the games are basically a series of branching timelines in which all canons are true. |
| 234 | ** One specific example is the Kazama family tree. Asuka Kazama, debuting in ''VideoGame/Tekken5'', was introduced as Jin's cousin, and there are several instances in ''T6'' where either Jin and Asuka are referred to as cousins or their parents (Jun and Asuka's unnamed father) are stated to be siblings. This was held up to be true up until the ''VideoGame/Tekken7'' era, where Harada [[Website/{{Twitter}} tweeted]] that the relation between Jun and Asuka's father was actually more distant. However, as this is currently the only source contradicting the original claim and nothing in-game corroborates Harada's statement, most fans continue to believe that Jin and Asuka are first cousins. With ''VideoGame/Tekken8'' seeing the return of all the playable Kazamas (and notably serving as [[LongBusTrip Jun's first canonical appearance since the second game]]), it remains to be seen if this matter will be addressed. |
| 235 | * The developers of ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' stated back in May 2014 that version 1.2.4 would be the last update that adds new features to the game. Apparently they changed their mind, as June 2015 saw the release of Version 1.3. And then came version 1.4 in May 2020, which was titled "Journey's End" and marketed as THE final update for Terraria. Fans are, however, still skeptical, and even the dev team has admitted they aren't sure if it's really going to be the final update. |
| 236 | * This is the reason why ''Franchise/{{Touhou|Project}}'' has such massive, intricate {{fanon}}, as when series creator ZUN isn't being [[ShrugOfGod deliberately obtuse]], [[TeasingCreator speaking in riddles]], [[TrollingCreator messing with his fans]] or [[LyingCreator outright lying]], he changes his mind at the drop of his hat. For just [[RuleOfThree three]] examples, he can barely keep the characters' eye and hair colors from changing between games, talked at length about how ''Touhou'' "is not a series" which ended with him admitting that it is a series after all, and reports on whether or not youkai have stopped eating people are wildly contradictory (one states it never happens, one states it is a constant concern for the human inhabitants of Gensoukyou, and another states it is only a concern for those ''outside'' of Gensoukyou). ZUN sort of covers for this tendency by making having his [[AllThereInTheManual supplemental materials]] come from {{Unreliable Narrator}}s. It's not the author that's wrong, it's the characters! |
| 237 | * In one of the first outside resources for ''VideoGame/WildArms'', ''The Filgaia Chronicle'', it was stated that the Filgaia in the first two games and the anime was the same place, just with ''very'' large time gaps between works and repeated disasters masking the links. Later resources have instead suggested that each ''Wild ARMS'' related work has used a different world that shares the name Filgaia. Some of them dovetail nicely in to each other, but others are hard to reconcile... and some have some of each -- for instance, ''Wild ARMS 4'' follows nicely from the original or its remake ''Alter Code F''... except that Guardians work differently in it than any other game in the series, including the original and its remake; in others, they're spirits of the planet, but in ''4'', they're a sort of special type of ARM. At this point, it's basically anyone's guess what's going on with Filgaia in the various games. |
| 238 | [[/folder]] |
| 239 | |
| 240 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 241 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Originally, Dan was very against referring to the Aberrations as [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampires]], since he envisioned them as have different origins and designs than most vampires, with the only similarities being that they were once human, they eat people, and they ''may'' have similar powers like hypnotism and immortality. He even had Susan go out of her way to refer to the first Aberration she met as a "not-vampire" and explain in detail that he wasn't a vampire even if he seemed similar to one. Eventually though, Dan realized he shot himself in the foot trying too hard to differentiate the Aberrations from Vampires to the point where that's all fans ''could'' associate them with, and decided in-canon that everyone just refers to them as [[InsistentTerminology Vampires]] even if they are still technically something completely different. |
| 242 | [[/folder]] |
| 243 | |
| 244 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 245 | * The issue of CarnivoreConfusion in ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'' has been inconsistently addressed. Serris has said that anthro and "normal" animals exist and eating "normal" animals was acceptable. But he has also said to assume that all meat is seafood. |
| 246 | * ''WebVideo/KidTimeStorytime'': |
| 247 | ** [[VagueAge Corny's age]]. In the comments of one video, Eileen/Storyteller claims that Corny is 126, which is about five in human years, but on the official website, it says she's four and a half. Also, Eileen tried to explain Corny [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness squeaking instead of talking in earlier videos]] by stating that she was still learning to speak (which should mean that she was one then and aged three or four years), yet [[NotAllowedToGrowUp none of the other characters have aged]]. |
| 248 | ** Hooty's reason for not being able to speak. The official website first said that he was autistic, then later it said he was just learning English as a second language. |
| 249 | * ''Website/{{Neopets}}'': |
| 250 | ** The creators have been a bit back-and-forth over whether Neopets in plots grow hair or if they're wearing wigs. |
| 251 | ** Before 2021, in which the creators decided that cars should be able to exist in Neopia after all, they stated that they didn't. As such, many players asked about Nigel, a character who appeared to drive a car long before cars were allowed to exist. Sometimes, they claimed that Nigel owned the only car in Neopia, sometimes they claimed it was just a pretend car, and other times they basically said, "Move along, nothing to see here!". |
| 252 | ** When asked how to get a Chocolate Chia, the creators first said you could get one from feeding a Chia a lot of chocolate, but later said that it could only happen from the Lab Ray or from Naia's quests. |
| 253 | [[/folder]] |
| 254 | |
| 255 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 256 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' |
| 257 | ** Is Prunella a rat or a poodle? Different sources say different things, though the most common consensus is she's a rat who just has curly hair, since her face looks a lot like Mr. Ratburn's. |
| 258 | ** In one interview, Marc Brown said that the character of Marina was a "variation of a dog," despite looking like a rabbit. In a discussion with fans, producer/director Greg Bailey said that Marina is a rabbit, the designers had given her a dog nose by mistake, and it went unnoticed until after the fact. |
| 259 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': |
| 260 | ** Originally Sozin was implied to have been relatively young when he started the war and ruled for the first 70 years of it before dying, his son Azulon was said to have ruled the next 23 years before dying and passing the title to Ozai for the past 6-7 years before the present. Things got strange during the third season when it revealed that Sozin was actually Avatar Roku's age and began the war at 82. WordOfGod HandWaved this by stating that Sozin ruled for 20 years after he started the war, Azulon was born the year the war started and ruled the next 75 years of the war, and Ozai in turn ruled for the last 5 years of the war. |
| 261 | ** There is a disagreement about whether the show was ever supposed to have a fourth season. Head writer Aaron Ehsasz has claimed that [[https://twitter.com/aaronehasz/status/1112886203420893184 "there was a moment in time when we all thought we would do a 4th season"]], and that the reason it wasn't done was because series creators Creator/MichaelDanteDiMartino and Bryan Kontiezko decided to focus on making the [[Film/TheLastAirbender the live action film adaptation]] instead. However, when they were asked about this in an [[https://www.polygon.com/animation-cartoons/2020/8/31/21405084/legend-of-korra-netflix-bryan-konietzko-michael-dimartino-interview-avatar interview]], Kontiezko and [=DiMartino=] said that there were never any discussions concerning a fourth season; the series ending after three seasons was always the plan and they never thought about continuing the story until they were approached to do the comics a few years later. |
| 262 | * The original head writer of ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', Creator/ChristopherYost, denied rumors that ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider|Man2012}}-Man'' takes place in the same universe, despite Creator/DisneyXD airing them as part of the same block every Sunday. Creator/JephLoeb, who became the executive producer for ''Spider-Man'' and some episodes from the second season of ''The Avengers'', went on to ''confirm'' those rumors. Viewers have pointed out that if Loeb is to believed, then it would [[WriterConflictsWithCanon open up a mess of contradictions]], such as the differing ages of ComicBook/IronFist and ComicBook/LukeCage in both shows. It was also initially reported that ''WesternAnimation/AvengersAssemble'' would be set in the same universe as ''Ultimate Spider-Man''. It's since been confirmed by both Loeb and the creators that ''Assemble'' is a sequel to ''Earth's Mightiest Heroes'', albeit with past events only brought up in BroadStrokes, if at all. |
| 263 | ** A {{flashback}} in Episode 8 clearly shows the characters with their costumes and [[ArtShift art style]] from ''EMH'', making it seem as though they definitely consider it a sequel. However, this would likely only count in the BroadStrokes, since ComicBook/TheFalcon's origin directly contradicts the three episodes of ''EMH'' he appeared in. The sequence also uses a Thor costume from season one of ''EMH'', but season two garb for everyone else. Though this is because [[http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/man-of-action-challenge-the-comicshollywood-model plans for a sequel series to]] ''EMH'' was in the works before the plug was pulled to make a series closer to the films. |
| 264 | ** Yost had also flip flopped over whether or not ''EMH'' was in direct continuity or not with ''WesternAnimation/{{Wolverine and the X|Men2009}}-Men'', which he also worked on though not as head writer (which, depending on who you ask, was either Greg Johnson or Craig Kyle, but both of whom were definitely more in control of that series than Yost). Yost initially said that the original intention was for ''W&TXM'' and ''EMH'' to be in the same universe but the idea was discarded when ''W&TXM'' was cancelled. He then turned around and said the two series could still coexist in the same universe if fans wanted them to (Creator/SteveBlum voices ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} in both for whatever that's worth, along with Creator/FredTatasciore as the Hulk and Creator/AlexDesert as Nick Fury). |
| 265 | * ''Franchise/Ben10'': Regarding the Ben 10,000 timeline, the timeline that Ben visited in the "[[Recap/Ben10S3E1BenTenThousand Ben 10,000]]" episode of the [[WesternAnimation/Ben10 original series]], the franchise's various creative leads have had conflicting ideas on it. Original series story editor [[https://archive.is/e6wq0 Matt Wayne]] and the episode's [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ben10/images/8/8d/Ben_10K_Possible_Future.png/revision/latest?cb=20190502121857 pop-up trivia]] state that it's simply one of Ben's many possible futures; ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]/[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'' producer [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ben10/images/c/c5/OS_Ben_10K_Didn%27t_Remember.PNG/revision/latest?cb=20200312101058 Dwayne McDuffie]] stated that it was never ''our'' Ben's timeline; ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse Omniverse]]'' art director [[https://archive.is/0bL2p Derrick J. Wyatt]] stated that it ''is'' our Ben's timeline; and franchise co-creator [[https://twitter.com/rouleau1/status/1313012996101165056 Duncan Rouleau]] just plain isn't sure. |
| 266 | * ''WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts'': |
| 267 | ** Disney has flipped flopped between whether WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale are brothers or just friends. ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' and related media has them as being unrelated HeterosexualLifePartners, while the classic shorts and works that play off them depict the duo as brothers. |
| 268 | ** Are WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse and WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse married, or just dating? Walt once stated that they're married but can be shown at any state of romance if the plot demands for it, but the company still flip-flops about this. |
| 269 | ** Over the years, Disney's come to like the ambiguity in regards to Mickey and Minnie's relationship; it keeps everything more flexible that way. Back in [[TheEighties the mid-1980s]], Disney's [[{{Pun}} marketeers]] actually planned a massive marketing push after the disastrous Totally Minnie campaign [[note]] where Minnie was re-imagined as a Madonna-esque "modern girl"[[/note]] in which, after years of speculation, Mickey and Minnie were finally going to tie the knot in a huge ceremony at Ride/{{Disney|ThemeParks}}land... and there was a MASSIVE push-back from older animators and Imagineers within the company, who fought tooth-and-nail to prevent it from happening. |
| 270 | * ''WesternAnimation/JurassicWorldCampCretaceous'' isn't clear about whether the ''Spinosaurus'' the campers encounter on Mantah Corps's island is the same as the one in ''Film/JurassicParkIII''. Series producer Scott Kreamer claims this to be the case, while Colin Trevorrow says he thinks of the two as separate individuals. |
| 271 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 272 | ** Whether or not Scootaloo will fly. Lauren Faust stated that Scootaloo was initially conceived as being disabled such that she would never fly, then while the show was actually airing claimed that she "hadn't figured it out yet", then stepped down as showrunner. Much later, "Growing Up is Hard to Do" showed Scootaloo as an adult with child-sized wings. Shortly after it first aired, [[DiagnosisOfGod one of the staff]] [[https://www.derpibooru.org/images/2157535 confirmed via twitter]] that that was indeed meant to indicate an actual disability, but included the line "But fans are welcome to interpret things how they like", given that there's another side character in the show (Bulk Biceps) who can fly despite having even smaller wings. |
| 273 | ** After "Slice of Life" aired, the writers claimed that Lyra and Bon Bon were just friends, but in "The Big Mac Question", they got married. |
| 274 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': To explain Season 8's character design changes which resulted from [[WesternAnimation/TheLegoNinjagoMovie the intervening movie]], the writers used the previous season's time travel plot to imply the ButterflyEffect is what changed the ninja's appearances, which meant the ninja themselves unaware of the change. The writers [[https://twitter.com/brothershageman/status/941004237885992960 confirmed on Twitter]] that this was the case, but Tommy Andreasen, co-creator and producer of the series, [[https://twitter.com/TommyAndreasen/status/1017109278128328705 has stated]] that there is no in-universe explanation. The show itself aligns more with Andreasen's interpretation, because the ninja have their original designs in flashbacks and old photos, which would not be the case if time travel had changed history so they had always had their new appearances. Additionally, the later mini-movie written by Andreasen entitled "Elemental Rider" had the characters acknowledging that they used to look different. |
| 275 | * Creator/JohnKricfalusi seems to change his mind whenever people ask about the duo's sexuality in ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow''. He has gone from saying that [[ShrugOfGod "it's none of his business"]], to saying that Ren is bisexual, to that they are canonically gay. Eventually, he declared that their sexuality depends on if it would make a given episode funnier. |
| 276 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Aside from the infamous WhereTheHellIsSpringfield, Creator/MattGroening has switched back and forth on the vague ending of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E9TheLastTemptationOfHomer The Last Temptation of Homer]]", sometimes implying that Homer did have sex with co-worker Mindy (imagining she was Marge), and stating on other occasions that Homer never cheated on Marge (and never would). |
| 277 | [[/folder]] |
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