History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / FanWorks

* ''[[FanFic/{{Bird}} Bird]]'' features this in the second arc. Most of arc two was rewritten from scratch when the author realized that severe structural errors had been made, resulting in a drastically different story to be told.

* Dr. Brainstorm's first few appearances in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' had him with [[FishEyes unfocused]] gold eyes. He later gets green eyes, making him a SignificantGreeneyedRedhead.
** In ''The Series'', it starts out with rather mundane plots, and Calvin acted a lot more like he was in [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes the original strip]] - a hyperactive little kid. Eventually, he became a much calmer GadgeteerGenius (and even later on, TheChessmaster). He ''does'' get a brief CharacterCheck in "Invasion" thanks to LaserGuidedAmnesia, though.

* A big example in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', which started out as a light-hearted family fic with liberal sprinklings of humour - albeit with a warning from [[WordOfGod the author]] that it would get steadily darker - and one that emphasised the Harry Potter side of the crossover, the Marvel contribution being restricted to the MCU prior to ''Film/IronMan3''. Then, chapter 11 introduces HYDRA, their chief weapon, the Winter Soldier, and villainous EnsembleDarkhorse and [[KnightOfCerebus Gravemoss]]. The story then shifts gears, steadily developing into a complex and intricately plotted MassiveMultiplayerCrossover with a colossal GambitPileUp, epic scale battles, and a penchant for BlackAndGreyMorality.
** [[WordOfGod The author]] has actually remarked on this a couple of times, explaining that if he wrote the early chapters now, he'd do a lot of things very differently... but there's not much that he can actually change without pulling the bricks out from the bottom of the metaphorical Jenga tower.
* ''Fanfic/CitadelOfTheHeart''

** For ''Truth and Ideals'' specifically we have a few noteworthy entries.

** The ''Digimon'' fanfics, and even fics where Ambassador Raiga (Omegamon) has appeared elsewhere, had not properly defined Raiga's method of fusing between her two composites, Flare and Tempest ([=WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon=] respectively), due to misunderstanding of the differences between Jogress Evolution/[=DNA=] Digivolution and Fusion by the author. Jogress Evolution is where two Digimon go up a level when they combine[[note]](two Champions combining = Ultimate Level Digimon)[[/note]], but Fusion has them stay the exact same level when they combine[[note]](two Megas combining = Mega Level Digimon)[[/note]]. The latter is what is meant to be used to describe Raiga's union, because canonically Omegamon as a whole utilizes Fusion rather than Jogress Evolution as far as the lore is concerned.
*** Part of the reason this misunderstanding even exists for that matter is because of the games, at first, not differentiating the two types of combining Digimon; Omegamon had been classified as a Jogress Evolution in many of the games, and functions as one in games such as ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'', where Omegamon is classified as Ultra Level according to how Jogress Evolution works. Meanwhile, whereas ''VideoGame/DigimonWorldDawnDusk'' refers to Omegamon as a Jogress Evolution, but it's classified as a Mega Level Digimon as the Ultra Level is not programmed as a separate level in the game, and by virtue of staying Mega Level like its two composites, this is exactly how Fusion is meant to work. This misunderstanding even among the canon media is ''also'' why Omegamon switches between being either Mega Level or Ultra Level as well in a lot of fan works at large, and not simply ''Citadel of the Heart''.

* ''FanFic/EnterKenFinlayson'': There are entries from Ken's journal which do not appear from later stories; Ken is stated to have been born in Leeville, Ontario instead of Casablanca, Morocco; Ken seeming to be actually crazy... Although that could just be a case of CharacterDevelopment. There are also moments when Norrisville is stated as being in the state of New York, predating the revelation that Norrisville is located in some New England state.
* ''[[FanFic/FriendshipIsMagicTheAdventuresOfSpike Friendship Is Magic: The Adventures of Spike]]'': The PreviouslyOn segments at the beginning of each chapter, and the stylized scene breaks, were both dropped at reader command after the first few chapters.
* The [[{{Retcon}} original]] first few chapters of ''FanFic/HitList'' were less polished than the rest of the story and read like a straight-up HighSchoolAU with the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' cast, as opposed to later chapters treating the games as canonical precursors by having Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf as the reincarnations of the games' characters (the writing was fixed when the author did a rewrite). The sequel, ''From the Dust'', uses more direct references to the games, with the characters getting magical items and entering actual scenarios from the games. This stands in contrast to ''Hit List'', which kept everyone in the more realistic setting of a high school, had the characters make use of mundane items to defend themselves, put much less emphasis on interacting with plot elements from the games, and [[spoiler:had no magic or past-life interactions until Link and Zelda fight Ganondorf.]]
* ''FanFic/TheInfiniteLoops'' were codified by Saphroneth but made by Innortal. Thus, Innortal's loops will occasionally do things deemed impossible in later loops, which is usually HandWaved by the fact that they ''were'' the first loops and the restrictions didn't exist yet.
* FanFic/TheLoneTraveler is by two different authors, and the transition was not seamless.
** The Lone Traveller became the Lone Traveler (i.e. switched from a British spelling to an American one)

** A watch that synced to the local time whenever the Traveler [[TheDrifter moved on to a new universe]] disappeared.
** [[BroadStrokes The particulars]] of the Traveler's backstory changed.
** A mysterious figure who appeared in the first story has disappeared entirely, never to be mentioned again.

* In an early chapter of ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'', Yang hits Weiss in anger for causing Blake to run away. What's unusual is Weiss' general ''lack'' of a reaction. Due to her [[AbusiveParents abused background]] and poor self-esteem, being even playfully attacked by those close to her acts as a TraumaButton to Weiss. This is why her sister Winter acts more [[BigBrotherInstinct protective]] and [[AdaptationalNiceGuy nice]] towards Weiss (with her DopeSlap being removed as well) than in canon. The writer later noted that the scene was off, but Yang attacking Weiss is [[CallBack referenced]] in future chapters so the writer originally didn't want to {{retcon}} the scene by removing or rewriting it. Eventually, the scene was rewritten and retconned.

* In the early chapters of ''Fanfic/{{Stroll}}'', Octavia's monologues were shorter and the pacing was much faster. As the story developed and the author became more comfortable writing the setting and characters, the monologues became much more important to the story and the pacing evened out considerably.
* The first few works in the ''Fanfic/TwistedPrincess '' series don't have stories to explain the art.
* Fairly noticeable in ''FanFic/TheVinylAndOctaviaSeries''. The first story in the series is more or less a straight adventure story. Although there is comedy, the story itself is not one, unlike the rest of the series. There's no sexual tension between Vinyl and Octavia, and aside from a few mentions of shipping, there is no hint that the two have feelings for one another. Finally, this story is around forty-thousand words long and spread out over multiple chapters, unlike the rest of the series, which are all one-shots (with the exception of ''Vinyl and Octavia Have Multiple Dates'', but that's still only two chapters and is in fact shorter than some of the other stories).
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal is noticeably different in the earliest stories: these tend to focus on the fantastical elements of the Discworld much as Creator/TerryPratchett envisioned it in the earliest books of the series. The first appearance of the core cast of Lady Assassins, developments of one-line placeholder names, show people who later ended up being RetConned into more rounded developed people. Emmanuelle lesDeux-Epées, for instance, has a more militant feminist streak which later on is quietly discarded; Alice Band has more of a social conscience and less hard sharp edges; and Johanna Smith-Rhodes is an all-out nearly unlovable AmoralAfrikaner with some seriously unreformed ideas about black people. [[note]]Later tales have her mellowing and growing up and expressing real doubts about UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra. Emmanuelle becomes more amorally cynical and Alice, while still fundmanentally decent and principled, becomes even more of a SnarkKnight[[/note]]. his "Russian" witches, [[BikerBabe Olga and Irena]], first appear attempting to speak Morporkian with excruciatingly bad Russian accents - this too was dropped; indeed, the original conception of Irena Politek was that she wasn't even Russian and would reflect a different sort of Slavonic - she was originally intended to be a Discworld "Czech" so that the traditional needle between Czechoslovakian and Russian could be worked in. The only survival of that is a vaguely Czech-sounding name - later stories had her being as "Russian" as Olga, and, indeed, coming from the same region but from the opposite end of the social scale.
* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'': In chapter 2, Jaune's CombatTentacles work in entirely different way from the rest of the fic (he spawns them from darkness on a nearby surface rather than them sprouting from his body), he displays the ability to use fire Dust like Cinder (he credits this to her teaching him, but it's supposed to be her unique Semblance), and is even more ignorant of human society than later chapters (he doesn't know that a bullhead is a type of airship, despite his family having a few). He also [[LargeHam talks like a hero in a fairy tale]], though that's not an author mistake; Jaune realized he was being stupid.

** The first episode was ridiculously different. It had little innuendo, a lack of BlackComedy (aside from a scene where June breaks RM's Friend's arms and legs), and had a ''very'' quirky tone. Season 1 as a whole had this to a lesser extent (as it was originally aimed at children, but shifted to a more adult audience, [[AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark and it shows]]), until it [[GrowingTheBeard grew the beard]] in later episodes.

** The first episode was ridiculously different. It had little GettingCrapPastTheRadar, a lack of BlackComedy (aside from a scene where June breaks RM's Friend's arms and legs), and had a ''very'' quirky tone. Season 1 as a whole had this to a lesser extent (as it was originally aimed at children, but shifted to a more adult audience, [[AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark and it shows]]), until it [[GrowingTheBeard grew the beard]] in later episodes.

* A big example in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', which started out as a light-hearted family fic with liberal sprinklings of humour - albeit with a warning from [[WordOfGod the author]] that it would get steadily darker - and one that emphasised the Harry Potter side of the crossover, the Marvel contribution being restricted to the MCU prior to ''Film/IronMan3''. Then, chapter 11 introduces HYDRA, their chief weapon, the Winter Soldier, and villainous EnsembleDarkhorse and [[KnightOfCerebus Gravemoss]]. The story then shifts gears, steadily developing into a complex and intricately plotted MegaCrossover with a colossal GambitPileUp, epic scale battles, and a penchant for BlackAndGreyMorality.

** ''Citadel of the Heart'' as it's known today is a MassivelyMultiplayerCrossover which functions similar to the author's own rendition of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts,'' as told with his own vision and ideas in mind. However, the first entry in the continuity, ''Truth and Ideals'', started off as no such thing; it was a purely standalone ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic which was a whole other basket of worms in terms of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, and there wasn't a remote hint as to the formation of the ''Citadel of the Heart'' continuity until over '''40''' chapters into ''Truth and Ideals''. Later entries into ''Citadel of the Heart'' would later be far more blatant with the crossover elements.

----

* In the first story of ''Fanfic/BodyguardAU'', ''The Queen's Secret Crush'', Rarity was a queen. Starting with the second story, ''The Princess's Choice'', she's a princess. This is because the sequel is a prequel origin story.

** [[WordOfGod The author]] has actually remarked on this a couple of times, explaining that if he wrote the early chapters now, he'd do a lot of things very differently... but there's not much that he can actually change without pulling the bricks out from the bottom of the metaphorical jenga tower.

** ''Citadel of the Heart'' as it's known today is a MassivelyMultiplayerCrossover which functions similar to the author's own rendition of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' as told with his own vision and ideas in mind. However, the first entry in the continuity, ''Truth and Ideals'', started off as no such thing; it was a purely standalone ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic which was a whole other basket of worms in terms of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, and there wasn't a remote hint as to the formation of the ''Citadel of the Heart'' continuity until over '''40''' chapters into ''Truth and Ideals''. Later entries into ''Citadel of the Heart'' would later be far more blatant with the crossover elements.

** The Traveler goes from using meaningless names as aliases to [[SueDonym Sue Donym's]], [[ImMrFuturePopCultureReference pop culture references]], and [[CharacterNameAlias Character Name Aliases]].

** Some characters' defining traits were downplayed. RM was somewhat nicer, Barney's pedophiliac traits were almost mute, Pikachu and Sqirt were somewhat interchangeable (and had Meowth as an ally) and Ash, while dimwitted, wasn't that bad.

* Fairly noticeable in ''FanFic/TheVinylAndOctaviaSeries''. The first story in the series is more or less a straight adventure story. Although there is comedy, the story itself is not one, unlike the rest of the series. There's no sexual tension between Vinyl and Octavia, and aside from a few mentionings of shipping, there is no hint that the two have feelings for one another. Finally, this story is around forty-thousand words long and spread out over multiple chapters, unlike the rest of the series, which are all one-shots (with the exception of ''Vinyl and Octavia Have Multiple Dates'', but that's still only two chapters and is in fact shorter than some of the other stories).
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal is noticeably different in the earliest stories: these tend to focus on the fantastical elements of the Discworld much as Creator/TerryPratchett envisioned it in the earliest books of the series. The first appearance of the core cast of Lady Assassins, developments of one-line placeholder names, show people who later ended up being RetConned into more rounded developed people. Emmanuelle lesDeux-Epées, for instance, has a more militant feminist streak which later on is quietly discarded; Alice Band has more of a social conscience and less hard sharp edges; and Johanna Smith-Rhodes is an all-out nearly unloveable AmoralAfrikaner with some seriously unreformed ideas about black people. [[note]]Later tales have her mellowing and growing up and expressing real doubts about UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra. Emmanuelle becomes more amorally cynical and alice, while still fundmanentally decent and principled, becomes even more of a SnarkKnight[[/note]]. his "Russian" witches, [[BikerBabe Olga and Irena]], first appear attempting to speak Morporkian with excruciatingly bad Russian accents - this too was dropped; indeed, the original conception of Irena Politek was that she wasn't even Russian and would reflect a different sort of Slavonic - she was originally intended to be a Discworld "Czech" so that the traditional needle between Czechoslovakian and Russian could be worked in. The only survival of that is a vaguely Czech-sounding name - later stories had her being as "Russian" as Olga, and, indeed, coming from the same region but from the opposite end of the social scale.
* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'': In chapter 2, Jaune's CombatTentacles work in entirely different way from the rest of the fic (he spawns them from darkness on a nearby surface rather than them sprouting from his body), he displays the ability to use fire Dust like Cinder (he credits this to her teaching him, but it's supposed to be her unique Semblance), and is even more ignorant of human society than later chapters (he doesn't know that a bullhead is a type of airship, despite his family having a few). He also [[LargeHam talks like a hero in a fairy tale]], though that's not an author mistake; Jaune realized he was being stupid.
----

* In an early chapter of ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'', Yang hits Weiss in anger for causing Blake to run away. What's unusual is Weiss' general ''lack'' of a reaction. Due to her [[AbusiveParents abused background]] and poor self-esteem, being even playfully attacked by those close to her acts as a TraumaButton to Weiss. This is why her sister Winter acts more [[BigBrotherInstinct protective]] and [[AdaptationalNiceGuy nice]] towards Weiss (with her DopeSlap being removed as well) than in canon. The writer later noted that the scene was off, but Yang attacking Weiss is [[CallBack referenced]] in future chapters so the writer couldn't {{retcon}} the scene by removing or rewriting it.

* In an early chapter of ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'', Yang hits Weiss in anger for causing Blake to run away. What's unusual is Weiss' general ''lack'' of a reaction. Due to her [[AbusiveParents abusive background]] and poor self-esteem, being even playfully attacked by those close to her acts as a TraumaButton to Weiss. This is why her sister Winter acts more [[BigBrotherInstinct protective]] and [[AdaptationalNiceGuy nice]] towards Weiss (with her DopeSlap being removed as well) than in canon. The writer later noted that the scene was off, but Yang attacking Weiss is [[CallBack referenced]] in future chapters so the writer couldn't {{retcon}} the scene by removing or rewriting it.

** [=BoltShock=] was also nicer. On a side note, ''he'' was the pervert instead of Ash's Pikachu, who in fact showed a prudish side in "Road to Las Vegas".

* ''Fanfic/CitadelOfTheHeart'', as it's known today, is a MassivelyMultiplayerCrossover which functions similar to the author's own rendition of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' as told with his own vision and ideas in mind. However, the first entry in the continuity, ''Truth and Ideals'', started off as no such thing; it was a purely standalone ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fanfic which was a whole other basket of worms in terms of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, and there wasn't a remote hint as to the formation of the ''Citadel Of The Heart'' continuity until over '''40''' chapters into ''Truth and Ideals''. Later entries into ''Citadel Of The Heart'' would later be far more blatant with the crossover elements.

* In an early chapter of ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'', Yang hits Weiss in anger for causing Blake to run away. What's unusual is Weiss' general ''lack'' of a reaction. Due to her [[AbusiveParents abusive background]] and poor self-esteem, being even playfully attacked by those close to her acts as a TraumaButton to Weiss. This is why her sister Winter acts more [[BigBrotherInstinct protective]] and [[AdaptationalNiceGuy nice]] towards Weiss (with her DopeSlap being removed as well) than in canon. The writer has noted that the scene is off but Yang attacking Weiss is [[CallBack referenced]] in future chapters, so the writer couldn't {{retcon}} the scene.

* Dr. Brainstorm's first few appearances in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' had him with [[FishEyes unfocused]] gold eyes. He later gets GreenEyes (making him a SignificantGreeneyedRedhead).

* There appeared to be a storyline between episodes. In later seasons, StatusQuoIsGod, for the most part.
* There were also a significant amount of WholePlotReference episodes in the Sailor Pikachu-era episodes. These were downplayed after [=PlatinumMage=] replaced her.
* Barney was also perpetually cheerful and fun-lovimg, before he TookALevelInJerkass to become more of a pedophile, a serial criminal and a DepravedKidsShowHost.

* Fanfics in general fall into this - as is the case with professional authors. Many fanfic writers' earlier fanfics might not resemble their later fanfics in terms of plot or format. This is understandable as fanfic writers often get tips from reviewers on how to improve, and will often use them.

* A big example in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', which started out as a light-hearted family fic with liberal sprinklings of humour - albeit with a warning from WordOfGod that it would get steadily darker - and one that emphasised the Harry Potter side of the crossover, the Marvel contribution being restricted to the MCU prior to ''Film/IronMan3''. Then, chapter 11 introduces HYDRA, their chief weapon, the Winter Soldier, and villainous EnsembleDarkhorse and [[KnightOfCerebus Gravemoss]]. The story then shifts gears, steadily developing into a complex and intricately plotted MegaCrossover with a colossal GambitPileUp and a penchant for truly epic battles.

* A major example in [[http://kleinerkiller.deviantart.com/gallery/41037509 Yognapped]]: the original instalment switched through plot conceits with no concern for the holes it caused, featured laughably one-dimensional villains, and had chapters less than half a page long. The major focus of the series -- [[spoiler: the conflict between the three gods and Lewis's slow descent into moral questionability]] -- didn't come up until halfway through the second installment. Cue [[{{Retcon}} retroactive rewriting]].

* The [[{{Retcon}} original]] first few chapters of ''FanFic/HitList'' were less polished than the rest of the story and read like a straight-up HighSchoolAU with the ''VideoGame/LegendOfZelda'' cast, as opposed to later chapters treating the games as canonical precursors by having Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf as the reincarnations of the games' characters (the writing was fixed when the author did a rewrite). The sequel, ''From the Dust'', uses more direct references to the games, with the characters getting magical items and entering actual scenarios from the games. This stands in contrast to ''Hit List'', which kept everyone in the more realistic setting of a high school, had the characters make use of mundane items to defend themselves, put much less emphasis on interacting with plot elements from the games, and [[spoiler:had no magic or past-life interactions until Link and Zelda fight Ganondorf.]]

* A big example in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', which started out as a light-hearted family fic with liberal sprinklings of humour - albeit with a warning from WordOfGod that it would get steadily darker as the HP books did - and one that emphasised the Harry Potter side of the crossover, the Marvel contribution being restricted to the MCU prior to ''Film/IronMan3''. Then, chapter 11 introduces HYDRA, their chief weapon, the Winter Soldier, and villainous EnsembleDarkhorse and KnightOfCerebus Gravemoss and the story shifts gears, steadily developing into a complex and intricately plotted MegaCrossover with a colossal GambitPileUp and a penchant for truly epic battles.