History Main / ArmedWithCanon

** A lot of this stemmed from AscendedFanon. As a consequence of the show's LongRunner nature with creators rotating in and out, new writers would rely on TheWikiRule for keeping the lore straight. Problem was, back in the day the wiki wasn't as heavily moderated resulting in vandalized pages being made canon in ''Omniverse''. This happened so many times the wiki itself had to make a list of [[https://ben10.fandom.com/wiki/Ben_10_Planet:Longstanding_Misinformation additions and errors it was responsible for]].

** Another well-known Expanded Universe case is the... controversial [[Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures Eighth Doctor novel]] ''War of the Daleks'' by major Dalek fan John Peel [[note]]not the DJ[[/note]], who had long been angry about the way Davros overshadowed the Daleks in later classic series TV stories. He used the novel to introduce a wildly complicated {{Retcon}} in which literally every major Dalek-related plot development from [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks "Destiny of the Daleks"]] to [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks "Remembrance of the Daleks"]] had been deliberately faked by the Daleks [[note]]including the '''entire''' Movellan War and the apparent destruction of Skaro. The latter would end up being officially retconned by TheTeaser of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks "Asylum of the Daleks"]] anyways, albeit in a completely-different-from-the-novel form.[[/note]] as part of a BatmanGambit to [[LetsYouAndHimFight make the Doctor and Davros fight each other]] so that the Daleks could do their thing elsewhere without impediment. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view of this whole mess), Peel's novel was not particularly well-received or well-regarded, thus making it much easier for later writers to quietly ignore or overrule pretty much everything in the story.

** An [[https://lanceparkin.wordpress.com/2013/08/26/eulogy-of-the-daleks/ unpublished epilogue]] to the final Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novel, ''The Dying Days'', would have had a far-future Doctor, having seen the definite final end of the Daleks, give a eulogy in which he describes how they came back from their past defeats, including "I destroyed their homeworld and they simply claimed the computer records had been doctored". Among the reasons Virgin cut this scene was that they felt it unfair to "unretcon" ''War of the Daleks'' before it was even published.

If the shots just end up tangling the {{Canon}} up, then a ContinuitySnarl can be the result. Sometimes, the mess results in a CrisisCrossover — which will inevitably become the target of later writers Armed With Canon.

** Writer Runaan stated she always meant to have Graves and Twisted Fate be a married couple. Riot staff at the time refused to give the go-ahead on a gay couple for years, and the ''Sentinels of Light'' event attempted to pair Graves and Vayne together. When the event was received poorly by fans[[note]]for a variety of reasons, but in part due to this out of nowhere pair[[/note]], Riot relented and instead chose to establish Graves and Twisted Fate as a couple with the short story ''The Boys and Bombollini.''

** Daishi Odashima, the director of ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburV'', made many changes to the lore that he felt were needed to [[SoftReboot reboot]] and push the series going forward. This resulted in the 17-year TimeSkip that cut out many of the most popular characters and replaced them with a new generation, while having the old cast PutOnABus, retired or KilledOffForReal. This was what he felt the series ''should be''.
** In a twist of fate, years after Odashima left Project Soul, his eventual successor Motohiro Okubo in turn did this to ''him''. Not only did ''VideoGame/SoulcaliburVI'' undo all the effects of ''V'' by means of a ContinuityReboot (the game is an {{alternate|Continuity}} [[{{Revision}} and]] [[AdaptationExpansion expanded]] retelling of the original ''Soulcalibur''), but Okubo also revisited the idea of Cassandra being [[TrappedInAnotherWorld trapped]] in [[EldritchLocation Astral Chaos]]. Originally, it was to have her PutOnABus, but Okubo decided to have her be instrumental to ''undoing'' the setting of ''V'' by way of having her [[MyFutureSelfAndMe inform the new timeline's Cassandra]] of ''V'' being a BadFuture in order for the younger Cassandra to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevent it from coming about]]. In other words, using Odashima's canon to erase his own canon.

* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' went through this with the series' ending. The epilogue movie ''Runaway Locomon'' established that TheMagicComesBack and was directed by Tetsuharu Nakamura and written by Hiro Masaki, who were (respectively) an assistant director and a regular writer of the main series. However, chief writer Creator/ChiakiKonaka declared it to be a NonSerialMovie with his HappyEndingOverride [[AllThereInTheManual drama CD]] which cemented that the kids weren't reunited with their {{mons}}. Although to be fair, Konaka wasn't trying to undercut their work and went on record to say he approved of them retaining the tone of the series as well as expanding on Rika's family life.

* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' went through this with the series' ending. The epilogue movie ''Runaway Locomon'' established that TheMagicComesBack and was directed by Tetsuharu Nakamura and written by Hiro Masaki, who were (respectively) an assistant director and a regular writer of the main series. However, chief writer Creator/ChiakiKonaka declared it to be a NonSerialMovie with his HappyEndingOverride [[AllThereInTheManual drama CD]] which cemented that the kids weren't reunited with their {{mons}}.

* Creator/MasahiroSakurai, the director of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', has acknowledged a number of times that he prefers [[Characters/SuperMarioBrosBowser Bowser]] from ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Super Mario]]'' as a bestial terror rather than the BoisterousBruiser AntiVillain he tends to be written as in most modern ''Mario'' games. This is usually interpreted to be the reason why the Bowser in ''Smash Bros.'' is voiced by computer-generated Franchise/{{Godzilla}}-like noises rather than his regular ''Mario'' voice actor Kenny James, and has a fighting style based on sheer physical muscle instead of the wacky technology, magic powers, and goofy mannerisms that he tends to favor in his home series. Even Giga Bowser was apparently based on how he always pictured Bowser looking.

** Speaking of Kevin, he's another point of contention with the canon changes between Classic, UAF and Omniverse. The original version of the character introduced in the episode "Kevin 11" was left purposely ambiguous as to how he gained his absorption powers, with Alien Force later stating that he was a Human/[[HumanAlien Osmosian]] hybrid. Omniverse however retconned this, not only saying that Kevin was actually 100% human (albeit a mutant), but that Osmosians as a species don't even exist [[spoiler: and that any evidence to the contrary was just false memories implanted by Cervantes and the Rooters]], causing ''many'' a ContinuitySnarl and BrokenBase. It wouldn't have been as big a controversy if not for the fact that Omniverse's showrunners claimed that it was ''[[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Man of Action's]]'' plan for Kevin all along in spite of the fact that it wasn't.

** It remains a point of debate regarding the Classic Timeline whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 as seen in the eponymous episode is from his own future or an AlternateTimeline thanks to multiple contradictions, such as the episode stating that Grandpa Max's birthday cake [[ForWantOfANail was a major factor in whether that future came to pass]] and Kevin's HeelFaceTurn in later installments being in stark opposition to him being a villain in that episode. The showrunners of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse Omniverse]]'' insisted that it was Ben's inevitable future, and as such, the series devotes a number of episodes to setup said future, including bringing back a character that hadn't been seen in years as his main love interest. However, others have their own takes: Creator/DwayneMcDuffie (showrunner of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'') and Matt Wayne (longtime series writer) believed that the timeline diverged after the events of that original episode; meanwhile, [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]] (one of the franchise's creators) has [[ShrugOfGod no strong feelings on the matter]]. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 Wiki and the fandom at large side with [=McDuffie=] and Wayne.

* ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' had a bit of a shipping war among the staff, where the [=NanoYuuno=] shippers ran the [[FourthWallMailSlot Sound Stages]] and tried to torpedo the [=NanoFate=] ship by having Nanoha and Hayate suggest that Fate was trying to distance herself from being [[HasTwoMommies Vivio's other mother]]. In ''[=ViVid=]'', Vivio kept seeing Fate as her other mother, and Fate once referred to ''herself'' as "Fate-mama" while speaking with Vivio. In fact, during [=ViVid=] chapter 77, [[https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/mahou_shoujo_lyrical_nanoha_vivid_ch77#26 Vivio explicitly says that she has two mothers]] and that "[the three of them are] a totally normal family" when explaining her family situation to another character.

** In chapter 15 of the ''INNOCENT'' sequel manga ''[[Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaINNOCENT Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha INNOCENTS]]'', Vivio and Einhart are also present in the INNOCENT continuity. Vivio, in particular, [[HasTwoMommies is revealed to be]] [[https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/mahou_shoujo_lyrical_nanoha_innocents_ch15#12 Fate]] and [[https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/mahou_shoujo_lyrical_nanoha_innocents_ch15#25 Nanoha's]] [[KidFromTheFuture daughter from the future]] in this continuity. However, there's an added twist to this: Einhart heavily implies that Vivio is Nanoha and Fate's ''[[HomosexualReproduction actual biological child]]'' in the ''INNOCENT'' universe when she stops Vivio from revealing that she's Nanoha and Fate's daughter because it might cause a time paradox.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' is a continuity piece [[RunningTheAsylum made by fans who'd been around since the original]] ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', and it wears its creators' biases on its [[StealthPun sleeves]]. In particular, the Earth Federation, which never had squeaky-clean morals, was portrayed as far more villainous than usual and their dominance over space as wrong through the Laplace's Box plot, and some of the actions of beloved villain Haman Karn from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' were retroactively cast in a more benevolent light. Notably, the series took pains to ''soften'' the biases of the official ''Gundam'' novel that it was adapted from, which was written by a far-right Japanese nationalist who sympathized with the original show's villains as an allegory for [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Imperial Japan]] (which they kind of were, which was why they were the ''villains'').

* Creator/TakeshiShudo seemed to be planning a DownerEnding for ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' involving an old Ash. Due to Shudo's death, this ended up not happening as the anime ended in 2023 with a happy ending after over ''[[LongRunners 26 years]]''. But the script isn't the only thing they argue about. Creator/FourKidsEntertainment liked [=PokéShipping=] and supported it, but Shudo reportedly wasn't a fan.

* ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' had a bit of a shipping war among the staff, where the [=NanoYuuno=] shippers ran the [[FourthWallMailSlot Sound Stages]] and tried to torpedo the NanoFate ship by having Nanoha and Hayate suggest that Fate was trying to distance herself from being [[HasTwoMommies Vivio's other mother]]. In ''[=ViVid=]'', Vivio kept seeing Fate as her other mother, and Fate once referred to ''herself'' as "Fate-mama" while speaking with Vivio. In fact, during [=ViVid=] chapter 77, [[https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/mahou_shoujo_lyrical_nanoha_vivid_ch77#26 Vivio explicitly says that she has two mothers]] and that "[the three of them are] a totally normal family" when explaining her family situation to another character.

** Speaking of Kevin, he's another point of contention with the canon changes between Classic, UAF and Omniverse. The original version of the character introduced in the episode "Kevin 11" was left purposely ambiguous as to how he gained his absorption powers, with Alien Force later stating that he was a Human/Osmosian hybrid. Omniverse however retconned this, not only saying that Kevin was actually 100% human (albeit a mutant), but that Osmosians as a species don't even exist and that any evidence to the contrary was just false memories implanted by Cervantes and the Rooters, causing ''many'' a ContinuitySnarl and BrokenBase. It wouldn't have been as big a controversy if not for the fact that Omniverse's showrunners claimed that it was ''[[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Man of Action's]]'' plan for Kevin all along in spite of the fact that it wasn't.

** Speaking of Kevin, he's another point of contention with the canon changes between Classic, UAF and Omniverse. The original version of the character introduced in the episode "Kevin 11" was left purposely ambiguous as to how he gained his absorption powers, with Alien Force later stating that he was a Human/Osmosian hybrid. Omniverse however retconned this, not only saying that Kevin was actually 100% human (albeit a mutant), but that Osmosians as a species don't even exist and that any evidence to the contrary was just false memories implanted by Cervantes and the Rooters, causing ''many'' a ContinuitySnarl and BrokenBase. It wouldn't have been as big a controversy if not for the fact that Omniverse's showrunners, [[CriticalResearchFailure either as an honest mistake]] or [[LyingCreator a malicious lie]] claimed that it was ''[[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Man of Action's]]'' plan for Kevin all along in spite of the fact that it wasn't.

** Speaking of Kevin, he's another point of contention with the canon changes between Classic, UAF and Omniverse. The original version of the character introduced in the episode "Kevin 11" was left purposely ambiguous as to how he gained his absorption powers, with Alien Force later stating that he was a Human/Osmosian hybrid. Omniverse however retconned this, not only saying that Kevin was actually 100% human (albeit a mutant), but that Osmosians as a species don't even exist and that any evidence to the contrary was just false memories implanted by Cervantes and the Rooters, causing ''many'' a ContinuitySnarl and BrokenBase. It wouldn't have been as big a controversy if not for the fact that Omniverse's showrunners, [[CriticalResearchFailure either as an honest mistake]] or [[LyingCreator a malicious lie]] claimed that it was ''Creator/ManOfAction's'' plan for Kevin all along in spite of the fact that it wasn't.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'', it remains a point of debate regarding the Classic Timeline whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 as seen in the eponymous episode is from his own future or an AlternateTimeline thanks to multiple contradictions, such as the episode stating that Grandpa Max's birthday cake [[ForWantOfANail was a major factor in whether that future came to pass]] and Kevin's HeelFaceTurn in later installments being in stark opposition to him being a villain in that episode. The showrunners of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse Omniverse]]'' insisted that it was Ben's inevitable future, and as such, the series devotes a number of episodes to setup said future, including bringing back a character that hadn't been seen in years as his main love interest. However, others have their own takes: Creator/DwayneMcDuffie (showrunner of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'') and Matt Wayne (longtime series writer) believed that the timeline diverged after the events of that original episode; meanwhile, [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]] (one of the franchise's creators) has [[ShrugOfGod no strong feelings on the matter]]. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 Wiki and the fandom at large side with [=McDuffie=] and Wayne.

* Creator/TakeshiShudo seemed to be planning a DownerEnding for ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' involving an old Ash. Due to Shudo's death, this is probably not going to happen and the anime will go on for who-knows-how-long. But the script isn't the only thing they argue about. Creator/FourKidsEntertainment liked [=PokéShipping=] and supported it, but Shudo reportedly wasn't a fan.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' is a continuity piece [[RunningTheAsylum made by fans who'd been around since the original]] ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', and it wears its creators' biases on its [[StealthPun sleeves]]. In particular, the Earth Federation, which never had squeaky-clean morals, was portrayed as far more villainous than usual and their dominance over space as wrong through the Laplace's Box plot, and some of the actions of beloved villain Haman Karn from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' were retroactively cast in a more benevolent light. Notably, the series is an adaptation of an official ''Gundam'' novel that was even more slanted, having been written by a far-right Japanese nationalist who sympathized with the original show's villains as an allegory for [[UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan Imperial Japan]] (which they kind of were, which was why they were the ''villains'').

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'' is a continuity piece [[RunningTheAsylum made by fans who'd been around since the original]] ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', and it wears its creators' biases on its [[StealthPun sleeves]]. In particular, the Federation was portrayed as far darker than usual and their dominance over space as wrong through the Laplace's Box plot, and some of the actions of beloved villain Haman Khan from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' were retroactively cast in a more benevolent light.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'', it remains a point of debate regarding the Classic Timeline whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 as seen in the eponymous episode is from his own future or an AlternateTimeline thanks to as multiple contradictions, such as the episode stating that Grandpa Max's birthday cake [[ForWantOfANail was a major factor in whether that future came to pass]] and Kevin's HeelFaceTurn in later installments being in stark opposition to him being a villain in that episode. The showrunners of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse Omniverse]]'' insisted that it was Ben's inevitable future, and as such, the series devotes a number of episodes to setup said future, including bringing back a character that hadn't been seen in years as his main love interest. However, others have their own takes: Creator/DwayneMcDuffie (showrunner of ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'' and ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'') and Matt Wayne (longtime series writer) believed that the timeline diverged after the events of that original episode; meanwhile, [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]] (one of the franchise's creators) has [[ShrugOfGod no strong feelings on the matter]]. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 Wiki and the fandom at large side with [=McDuffie=] and Wayne.

** There's also a whole list of cases where White Wolf took a distinctly different stance than Blizzard. They considered the ''Warcraft'' setting to revolve around [[UnequalRites the conflict between arcane and divine magic]], thought that all undead were free-willed, suggested that the Blood Elves were only a small magic-obsessed faction of the survivors of Quel'thalas, and that Illidan was trying to become the new Lich King to conquer Azeroth. Some of these were from pre-''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' sourcebooks), others don't have that excuse. There are also excuses like the blood elves being minor antagonists before TBC made them a playable race, with all the inclusion that entails, but the RPG books stayed what they were.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'', it remains a point of debate whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 is from an AlternateTimeline as multiple contradictions arose such as [[ForWantOfANail Grandpa Max's birthday cake]] and Kevin 11's HeelFaceTurn, but despite this Ben ends up StrangledByTheRedString thanks to his KidFromTheFuture that might not have even been from ''his'' future. ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' art director Derrick J. Wyatt insisted that Ben 10,000 is Ben's future while other team members such as writers Creator/DwayneMcDuffie, [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]], and Matt Wayne stated that the timeline diverged. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 wiki took the DeathOfTheAuthor (or in this case, artist) approach and agreed that it's likely an AlternateTimeline.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Timmy/Tootie shippers have [[Film/AFairlyOddMovieGrowUpTimmyTurner a live-action movie which shows them getting together as adults]]. Whether or not the movie is canonical is hotly contested by other ''FOP'' fans, who do not like the live-action movie for various reasons, including Timmy's status as a 23-year-old 5th grader who refuses to grow up. What makes things even more confusing is that the live-action movie was created by Butch Hartman and Scott Fellows, both of whom worked on movies where Timmy romanced other girls such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishology}}'', yet all other romantic plots are retconned into non-existence by the ''FOP'' movie. Butch Hartman would later settle this debate and clarify that the live-action films are set in an AlternateContinuity as opposed to being in the show's canon.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'', it remains a point of debate whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 is from an AlternateTimeline as multiple contradictions arose such as [[ForWantOfANail Grandpa Max's birthday cake]] and Kevin 11's HeelFaceTurn, but despite this Ben ends up StrangledByTheRedString thanks to his KidFromTheFuture that might not have even been from ''his'' future. ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' art director Derrick J. Wyatt insisted that Ben 10,000 is Ben's future while other, team members such as writers Creator/DwayneMcDuffie, [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]], and Matt Wayne stated that the timeline diverged. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 wiki took the DeathOfTheAuthor (or in this case, artist) approach and agreed that it's likely an AlternateTimeline.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'', it remains a point of debate whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 is from an AlternateTimeline as multiple contradictions arose such as [[ForWantOfANail Grandpa Max's birthday cake]] and Kevin 11's HeelFaceTurn, but despite this Ben ends up StrangledByTheRedString thanks to his KidFromTheFuture that might not have even been from ''his'' future. ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' art director Derrick J. Wyatt insisted that Ben 10,000 is Ben's future while other, more prominent, team members such as writers Creator/DwayneMcDuffie and [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]] stated that the timeline diverged. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 wiki took the DeathOfTheAuthor (or in this case, artist) approach and agreed that it's likely an AlternateTimeline.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'', it remains a point of debate whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 is from an AlternateTimeline as multiple contradictions arose such as [[ForWantOfANail Grandpa Max's birthday cake]] and Kevin 11's HeelFaceTurn, but despite this Ben ends up StrangledByTheRedString thanks to his KidFromTheFuture that might not have even been from ''his'' future. ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' art director Derrick J. Wyatt insisted that Ben 10,000 is Ben's future while other, more prominent, team members such as Creator/DwayneMcDuffie and writer [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]] stated that the timeline diverged. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 wiki took the DeathOfTheAuthor (or in this case, artist) approach and agreed that it's likely an AlternateTimeline.

* In ''Franchise/Ben10'', it remains a point of debate whether Ben's FutureBadass self Ben 10,000 is from an AlternateTimeline as multiple contradictions arose such as [[ForWantOfANail Grandpa Max's birthday cake]] and Kevin 11's HeelFaceTurn, but despite this Ben ends up StrangledByTheRedString thanks to his KidFromTheFuture that might not have even been from ''his'' future. Art director Derrick J. Wyatt insisted that Ben 10,000 is Ben's future while other team members such as Creator/DwayneMcDuffie and writer [[Creator/ManOfActionStudios Duncan Rouleau]] stated that the timeline diverged. Due to the logical inconsistencies, the Ben 10 wiki took the DeathOfTheAuthor (or in this case, artist) approach and agreed that it's likely an AlternateTimeline.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Timmy/Tootie shippers have [[Film/AFairlyOddMovieGrowUpTimmyTurner a live-action movie which shows them getting together as adults]]. Whether or not the movie is canonical is hotly contested by other ''FOP'' fans, who do not like the live-action movie for various reasons, including Timmy's status as a 23-year-old 5th grader who refuses to grow up. What makes things even more confusing is that the live-action movie was created by Butch Hartman and Scott Fellows, both of whom worked on movies where Timmy romanced other girls such as ''WesternAnimation/{{Wishology}}'', yet all other romantic plots are retconned into non-existence by the ''FOP'' movie. Butch Hartman would later settle this debate and clarify that the live action films are set in an AlternateContinuity as opposed to being in the show's canon.