History Main / EarlyAdaptationWeirdness

The Sonic the Hedgehog series had both an original installment with an excuse plot and a lack of co-ordination between Sega's various international marketing teams leading to an impressive array of alternate interpretations in early adaptations.

* ''VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' was made while [[Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the film]] was in production, and Creator/WarnerBros gave the game developers little access to the film production because its details were considered top secret at the time. As a result, the game lacks elements that were introduced in the films and which would subsequently become iconic to the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' brand, such as [[BootstrappedTheme "Hedwig's Theme"]] and the movie Hogwarts uniforms. At the same time, the game ''does'' include elements from the first book that were cut or altered for the first movie, such as the character of Peeves. Overall, the ''Philosopher's Stone'' video game almost comes off like TheGameOfTheBook, despite it ostensibly being a movie tie-in product. This continued in the game adaptations of ''Chamber of Secrets'' before the aesthetics and story were made to match more closely from ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' onwards.

* ''VideoGame/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' was made while [[Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the film]] was in production, and Creator/WarnerBros gave the game developers little access to the film production because its details were considered top secret at the time. As a result, the game lacks elements that were introduced in the films and which would subsequently become iconic to the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' brand, such as [[BootstrappedTheme "Hedwig's Theme"]] and the movie Hogwarts uniforms. At the same time, the game ''does'' include elements from the first book that were cut or altered for the first movie, such as the character of Peeves. Overall, the ''Philosopher's Stone'' video game almost comes off like TheGameOfTheBook, despite it ostensibly being a movie tie-in product.

** ''The Trial of the Incredible Hulk'' features similar examples. While the Kingpin had been appearing on the screen since ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'', this was his first portrayal on screen and differs from what came after by never being referred to as "the Kingpin", only by "Wilson Fisk", having facial hair as well as averting BaldOfEvil, by actually having hair. Likewise, this was the first portrayal of Daredevil, as ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingfriends'' had only portrayed him as Matt Murdock, and rather than the red suit everyone is familiar with , he wears a black ninja-like outfit and was inspired by a police man to be a hero, rather than seeking to avenge his father's death.

* The mid-1960s ''Series/DoctorWho'' film adaptations ''Film/DrWhoAndTheDaleks'' and ''Film/DaleksInvasionEarth2150AD'' were made when the TV show had only been running for two or three years, and has the Doctor's [[IAmNotShazam actual name]] being "Doctor Who" and him being a human "mad inventor" with no control over the TARDIS instead of a long-lived alien from Gallifrey. (While the words "Time Lord" and "Gallifrey" would not appear for many years, the TV Doctor establishes himself to be an alien in the first story, when he says "Susan and I are cut off from our own planet".)

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' has many notable differences compared to how [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark the show]] is recently due to being created around the same time as the show's third season. If someone who was introduced to the later episodes of the show watched this film, they'd noticed the much cruder animation, art style and jokes that were standard during those times, [[GeographicFlexibility and how much smaller the town of South Park used to be]]. Cartman himself is the bratty jerk he was known for early on [[CharacterizationMarchesOn instead of]] the cunning and manipulative sociopath of the later seasons. Also, certain characters [[AscendedExtra who would rise to prominence much later on]], such as Craig and Token, are just background characters. It's odd to see such a big event where Butters is nothing more than a SpearCarrier (or for that matter, where [[DemotedToExtra Kenny]] actually ''does'' get focus). Even Randy, who has since gone on become the most prominent adult character of the show, only had one single speaking line in the whole movie (questioning the V-chip).

** Being one of the earliest ''Pokémon'' manga adaptations, ''Manga/PocketMonsters'' contains ''a lot'' of Early Adaptation Weirdnesses. Most notably, the main character's Pokémon starter is a Clefairy, which is a nod to when Clefairy was intended to be Pokémon's SeriesMascot instead of Pikachu (although Pikachu remains as a major character of the series, and is established to be Clefairy's cousin). Among other oddities, most Pokémon can speak human language, Pokémon can "devolve", is very DenserAndWackier, regular animals appear alongside Pokémon, features [[https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pokemon-pocket-monsters-Red-Mystery-Mon.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5 made-up]] Pokémon that appear nowhere else, and most infamously, it features a lot of VulgarHumor and NSFW jokes that would be unthinkable to include in modern ''Pokémon'' media.

** ''The Incredible Hulk Returns'' also features this in the form of Thor. Also having first appeared in television in ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'', this was the first live-action portrayal of the Marvel portrayal and rather than Blake and Thor being the same individual (The Kenneth Branagh film would do something similar, but with Blake being TheGhost and becoming a brief alias of Thor), they are two different characters, with Thor not being a god, but a Norse warrior whom Blake summons by holding a magic hammer and calling the name of "Odin".

** ''The Incredible Hulk Returns'' also features this in the form of Thor. Also having first appeared in television in ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'', this was the first live-action portrayal of the Marvel portrayal and rather than Blake and Thor being the same individual, they are two different characters, with Thor not being a god, but a Norse warrior whom Blake summons by holding a magic hammer and calling the name of "Odin".

* While not the first adaptation of the character to the screen, having come eleven years after ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'', as the first live-action adaptation, ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'' takes surprising liberties, such as Hulk being rendered mute for the most part, instead communicating in growls and grunts, Banner being referred to by his given name rather than his middle name of "Bruce", his given name itself having been changed from "Robert" to "David", General Thaddeus Ross having been replaced with original character Jack [=McGee=] and pretty much every other character having been AdaptedOut.

* While not the first adaptation of the character to the screen, having coming eleven years after ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'', as the first live-action adaptation, ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'' takes surprising liberties, such as Hulk being rendered mute for the most part, instead communicating in growls and grunts, Banner being referred to by his given name rather than his middle name of "Bruce", his given name itself having been changed from "Robert" to "David", General Thaddeus Ross having been replaced with original character Jack [=McGee=] and pretty much every other character having been AdaptedOut.

* While not the first adaptation of the character to the screen, having coming eleven years after ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'', as the first live-action adaptation, ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'' takes surprising liberties, such as Hulk being rendered mute for the most part, instead communicating in growls and grunts, Banner being referred to his given name rather than his middle name of "Bruce", his given name itself having been changed from "Robert" to "David", General Thaddeus Ross having been replaced with original character Jack [=McGee=] and pretty much every other character having been AdaptedOut.

* While not the first adaptation of the character to the screen, having coming eleven years after ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelSuperHeroes'', as the first live-action adaptation, ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'' takes surprising liberties, such as Hulk being rendered mute for the most part, instead communicating in growls and grunts, Banner being referred to his given name rather than his middle name of "Bruce", his given name itself having been changed from "Robert" to "David", Thaddeus Ross having been replaced with original character Jack McGee and pretty much every other character having been AdaptedOut.

** Being one of the earliest ''Pokémon'' manga, ''Manga/PocketMonsters'' contains ''a lot'' of Early Adaptation Weirdnesses. Most notably, the main character's Pokémon starter is a Clefairy, which is a nod to when Clefairy was intended to be Pokémon's SeriesMascot instead of Pikachu (although Pikachu remains as a major character of the series, and is established to be Clefairy's cousin). Among other oddities, most Pokémon can speak human language, Pokémon can "devolve", is very DenserAndWackier, regular animals appear alongside Pokémon, features [[https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pokemon-pocket-monsters-Red-Mystery-Mon.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5 made-up]] Pokémon that appear nowhere else, and most infamously, it features a lot of VulgarHumor and NSFW jokes that would be unthinkable to include in modern ''Pokémon'' media.

** Being the very first ''Pokémon'' manga, ''Manga/PocketMonsters'' contains ''a lot'' of Early Adaptation Weirdnesses. Most notably, the main character's Pokémon starter is a Clefairy, which is a nod to when Clefairy was intended to be Pokémon's SeriesMascot instead of Pikachu (although Pikachu remains as a major character of the series, and is established to be Clefairy's cousin). Among other oddities, most Pokémon can speak human language, Pokémon can "devolve", is very DenserAndWackier, regular animals appear alongside Pokémon, features [[https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pokemon-pocket-monsters-Red-Mystery-Mon.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5 made-up]] Pokémon that appear nowhere else, and most infamously, it features a lot of VulgarHumor and NSFW jokes that would be unthinkable to include in modern ''Pokémon'' media.

** Being the very first ''Pokémon'' manga, ''Manga/PocketMonsters'' contains ''a lot'' of Early Adaptation Weirdnesses. Most notably, the main character's Pokémon starter is a Clefairy, which is a nod to when Clefairy was intended to be Pokémon's SeriesMascot instead of Pikachu (although Pikachu remains as a major character of the series, and is established to be Clefairy's cousin). Among other oddities, most Pokémon can speak human language, Pokémon can "devolve", is very DenserAndWackier, regular animals appear alongside Pokémon, features [[https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Pokemon-pocket-monsters-Red-Mystery-Mon.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=740&h=370&dpr=1.5 made-up]] Pokémon that appear nowhere else, and most infamously, it features a lot of VulgarHumor and NSFW jokes that would be unthinkable to include in modern ''Pokémon'' media.

** ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' is full of a lot of this, much which has stuck over the years because it's a part of the manga's lore. For example, the entirety of the Indigo League Elite Four and several Gym Leaders (namely Koga, Lt. Surge, and Sabrina) were given AdaptationalVillainy due to ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'''s lack of named antagonists. The manga predates the Team Rocket Executives so other characters were used to fill in roles, even though this may go against their personalities in the games.

* ''Anime/SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie'' was made only five years into [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the franchise’s life]], back when the games had nothing but [[ExcusePlot Excuse Plots]] or [[AllThereInTheManual manuals]] to go off of. As a result, it has a ton of oddities, like Sonic being a quick-tempered JerkWithAHeartOfGold, Knuckles wearing a CoolHat, [[LittleBitBeastly demihumans]] instead of normal ones, and the entire series taking place in a WorldInTheSky AfterTheEnd called "Planet Freedom".

* The animated ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfZelda'' series was made when only the first two games were out (with the first game being the primary inspiration), and it shows. The Triforces of Wisdom and Power are green and red tetrahedrons instead of golden flat triangles; meanwhile, the Triforce of Courage is nowhere to be seen. Link fights by shooting [[SwordBeam beams from his sword]], just like he does in the 2D games when at full health, but this mechanic has been mostly dropped in the most popular 3D installments. The show also re-uses sound effects from the original game. Many now-iconic staples of the games, like the Master Sword, the Gorons, the friendly Zoras and Zelda's Lullaby, hadn't yet been created and so are absent in the cartoon. To say nothing of Link's characterization as a talkative and flirtatious JerkWithAHeartOfGold...

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', which ran from 2010-2012, is a glimpse of a different, pre-''Film/TheAvengers2012'' Marvel than what'd come afterward as close to MCU as possible: Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne are main characters, Black Widow is only a recurring character, Carol Danvers is called "Ms. Marvel" and not "Captain Marvel", Loki is an unrepentant villain, the Guardians of the Galaxy behave professionally, and characters related to the X-Men and Fantastic Four made guest appearances and cameos. The only big change from the MCU that made the jump at first was Jarvis being Tony Stark's AI instead of his butler.

* The "Worlds of Power" novelization of ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear|1}}'' written by Alexander Frost was a far cry from the serious war drama that the series would become from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and onward. For one thing, it's based on the NES version of the first game, which had an inconsistent localization between the in-game translation (which was a relatively direct translation of the Japanese script for the most part) and the box & manual (which extensively changed the game's backstory). Because of this, instead of following the in-game narrative and have Solid Snake's commanding officer and the secret leader of the enemy forces be the same character (Big Boss), they're instead two separate characters named Commander South and Colonel Vermon [=CaTaffy=]. Likewise, Solid Snake is given a full name (Justin Halley) and never uses his weapons to kill anyone (only using his handgun once to destroy a lock).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', which ran from 2010-2012, is a glimpse of a different, pre-''Film/TheAvengers2012'' Marvel than what'd come afterward: Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne are main characters, Black Widow is only a recurring character, Carol Danvers is called "Ms. Marvel" and not "Captain Marvel", Loki is an unrepentant villain, the Guardians of the Galaxy behave professionally, and characters related to the X-Men and Fantastic Four made guest appearances and cameos. The only big change from the MCU that made the jump at first was Jarvis being Tony Stark's AI instead of his butler.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAm'': The series took a few liberties since at the time of its conception, the most recent game was ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2''. Many iconic characters and staples even during the classic era, from Knuckles the Echidna, Amy Rose and Metal Sonic were not present. This is also in addition to using the Western made story for Sonic that his adventures took place on a planet called Mobius, whereas the original Japanese established Sonic and friends were always on Earth (and that would become true in the West too once ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' was released). As such, many new characters were invented: Princess Sally Acorn, a chipmunk who played the role of Sonic's love interest (a role Amy [[SelfProclaimedLoveInterest claims to fill]]); Antoine Depardieu, a cowardly coyote who served as Sonic rival (a role Knuckles would be more competent at); Uncle Chuck, Sonic's guardian who was turned into a robot who served as an ally (ironically being a GoodCounterpart to Metal Sonic without even knowing it); and others. In addition, Dr. Robotnik is depicted as a cruel and serious-minded tyrant as opposed to the more comedic yet still dangerous character he'd be known as during the 2010's, has a nephew who served as his assistant, and because of the transition to America, is never referred to as Dr. Eggman.

The Sonic the Hedgehog series had both an original instalment with an excuse plot and a lack of co-ordination between Sega's various international marketing teams leading to an impressive array of alternate interpretations in early adaptations.