History Main / HeinousnessRetcon

** ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'': In a possible backstory before becoming the Joker, he was shown to be a loving and caring husband and one of the key things that caused him to snap was the loss of his wife and unborn son and Creator/AlanMoore's [[https://joker-ka.tumblr.com/post/633177488181379072/pre-joker-wasnt-the-domestic-abuser notes ]] state he didn't think of the man Pre-Joker as abusive. ''ComicBook/BatmanThreeJokers'' presents this backstory as true for the "Comedian" Joker --and that he was indeed abusive to his wife, resulting in [[spoiler:her faking her death, so she could leave him and raise their son without him.]]

** Downplayed with Manfred von Karma in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2''. A flashback to the case that led to the DL-6 Incident reveals that the forged evidence von Karma used in the trial was prepared by someone else and he wasn't aware of the forgery. At the same time, he's still very much the same AmoralAttorney he is in the present, and it's still implied he forged evidence in past cases, and the flashback case ''also'' reveals he had the defendant interrogated non-stop [[PrematurelyGreyHaired to the point where his hair turned white]], which is what he actually received his one penalty for. It's also implied that, through the events of this game, Franziska finally comes to terms with how horrible her father was.

* ''Fanfic/TheWeirwoodQueen'' fleshes out Dothraki society in order to make Khal Drogo awful even by ''their'' standards. For instance, twenty is considered to be the ideal age for a Dothraki woman to get married, with the wife expected to be older than her husband, making Drogo forcing the thirteen-year-old Daenerys into an abusive marriage even nastier. He even killed the head priest for objecting.

** ''Manga/MetroidManga'': Building upon the first example, it specifically has Ridley murdering Samus's mother, and being the cause of her father's sacrifice. Not only that, many years later Ridley kills Gray Voice, Samus's adoptive parent. The manga is stated as canon, thus later installations such as ''Videogame/MetroidOtherM'' and ''Videogame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' would openly acknowledge Ridley as responsible for leaving Samus an orphan and killing her parents, giving them [[ItsPersonal a deep connection]] for their enmity.
--->'''[[Videogame/KidIcarus Pit]]''': So what's the story behind him and Samus?\\

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem:''

* ''{{VideoGame/RuneScape}}'': The main three Gods of the setting, Saradomin, Guthix, and Zamorak, were the Gods of [[GodOfOrder Order]], Balance, and [[GodOfChaos Chaos]], and were generally treated as good, neutral, and [[ChaosIsEvil evil]] for most of the game's early history. Around the release of [=RuneScape=] 3 in 2013, aspects of siding with factions and making different moral choices in quests were made more central to the game's story. In order to make multiple factions look supportable, Saradomin's "Order" was [[OrderIsNotGood re-interpreted as showing signs of tyranny]], and Zamorak's "Chaos" was re-interpreted less as pure evil and more as subversiveness and creativity, and Guthix was KilledOffForReal. The alternate light on Zamorak and his follower's nature doesn't mesh well with some older quests and lore (some of which were outright replaced, like the Black Knight's Fortress quest with The Death of Chivalry), particularly in the case of the Kinshra which Jagex have tried in several cases to re-interpret as misunderstood and noble.

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Junko announces that Izuru massacred the entire student council at Hope's Peak, leaving Hajime stunned. In ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', it's shown instead that Junko herself set up a killing game resulting in the student council murdering each other in a matter of hours, and proceeded to frame Izuru.

** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' implies [[TheRival Miles Edgeworth]] frequently used forged evidence in his days as an "undefeated" prosecutor. The bonus case, "Rise from the Ashes", which was added to re-releases made after Edgeworth's HeelFaceTurn in later games, has Edgeworth state he never knowingly forged evidence, it was all just rumors. [[spoiler: Emphasis on ''knowingly'', however.]]
** Downplayed with Manfred von Karma in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2''. A flashback to the case that led to the DL-6 Incident reveals that the forged evidence von Karma used in the trial was prepared by someone else and he wasn't aware of the forgery. At the same time, he's still very much the same AmoralAttorney he is in the present, and it's still implied he forged evidence in past cases, and the flashback case ''also'' reveals he had the defendant interrogated non-stop [[PrematurelyGreyHaired to the point where his hair turned white]], which is what he actually received his one penalty for. It's also implied that, through the events of this game, Franziska finally comes to terms with how horrible her father was.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': In his introduction in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', it's implied [[PredecessorVillain Professor Gerald Robotnik]] built the Eclipse Cannon as a WeaponOfMassDestruction either due to the loss of his granddaughter Maria driving him to insanity (or else he was mad even before her death); with the twist being he planned to destroy the Planet via crashing his space colony into it. Come ''Videogame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' it's revealed the Cannon was in fact created for a good reason: to destroy the Black Comet -- as Black Doom offered his blood for the creation of Shadow the hedgehog, in exchange for the Chaos Emeralds to conquer the planet.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': This trope hit Sabalom Glitz badly in his third appearance. In his first two appearances, both during the "The Trial Of A Time Lord" arc, he was a LoveableRogue and DirtyCoward who was there mostly for comic relief. However, in "Dragonfire", he still has the same ''characterization'', but is stated to have sold his crew into [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil slavery]] and [[AllThereInTheManual in supplemental materials]] to have potentially committed statutory rape upon Ace. The role was originally written for a completely new more ruthless character (a SpacePirate Razorback) but John Nathan-Turner opted to bring him back as Glitz was popular leading to the jarring inconsistencies.

* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'': Cavil is introduced at the end of season two as an AffablyEvil Cylon who whilst still a murderous KnightTemplar (like all Cylons), still comes across as friendly and even helps Tyrol come to terms with his psychological issues whilst undercover as a human. Come season three, he's now a vile, sociopathic piece of work who is suddenly torturing people and ordering mass executions at the drop of a hat, which gets to the point that [[EvenEvilHasStandards other Cylons call him out]] with no one remarking on this drastic change. Season four takes it even further by introducing major retcons that make him the true mastermind behind the Cylons' genocidal attack on humans and generally [[KickTheDog Kicks The Dog]] as much as possible, doing utterly horrific things like gouging out his father's eye and then raping his mother out of spite.

** Amy Madison goes through this in the comic continuation. Although she TookALevelInJerkass in the last two seasons of the show, her worst actions were trying to ruin Willow's attempts to quit using magic and casting a spell on her that turned her into Warren Mears, both of which were petty attempts at revenge for Willow taking so long to undo the spell that turned her into a rat and didn't really do any lasting damage. In Season 8, she's retconned as having resurrected Warren and been dating him and acting on his orders during Season 7 and joins the Twilight Group, attempting to kill the Scoobies and the rest of the Slayers, with nobody acknowledging that this is in any way a step up from her previous villainous acts.

** Doctor Octopus's first love was a woman named Mary Alice who later died of HIV. In ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan Team-Up'' Issue #11-12, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Norman Osborn]] was the one who infected her with HIV because he saw her as a distraction to Otto.

** Downplayed with Manfred von Karma in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2''. A flashback to the case that led to the DL-6 Incident reveals that the forged evidence von Karma used in the trial was prepared by someone else and he wasn't aware of the forgery. At the same time, he's still very much the same AmoralAttorney he is in the present, and it's still implied he forged evidence in past cases, and the flashback case ''also'' reveals he had the defendant interrogated non-stop to the point where his hair turned white, which is what he actually received his one penalty for. It's also implied that, through the events of this game, Franziska finally comes to terms with how horrible her father was.

** Across the entire franchise, Khan Noonien Singh gets this. In his first introduction in TOS' ''Space Seed'', he's presented as one of several 20th century despots. Albeit the most successful one of his time period. There's implication he's even a bit of a [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans Benevolent Dictator]], with Scotty and Kirk both expressing admiration for the man. He's also small fries enough that figuring out his identity takes the bulk of the episode, and the crew has to hold a presentation to fill in everyone on just who the guy is. Basically, he's an historical footnote. One of many dictators during a troubled period of history. This continues into ''Wrath of Khan'' where anyone not familiar with the events of ''Space Seed'' don't know who he is - like Chekov's new captain. Later series paint him as Trek's version of Hitler. His name and deeds are now infamous among the Federation - particularly humanity. They basically are a byword for evil. He's so horrible that centuries after his time, Starfleet still has laws on the books against Genetic engineering just because they don't want another Khan to occur. In ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'', Una recounts how the prejudice against genetically modified people is so strong she and her family endured enough persecution to meet Starfleet's criteria to count as a refugees. La'an, Khan's descendant, mentions how her family name got her bullied in school, and she has a lot of baggage about augments due to said bullying. Federation Admirals admit that the Federation's laws against Genetic modification ''are'' discriminatory, but humanity is still too traumatized by Khan's actions (which, again, took place ''centuries ago'') that removing them is just not feasible. A Time travel episode features an alternate timeline where the divergence point is that Khan was killed as a child, and the absence of his reign apparently changed history so much that the Federation never formed, and Earth is a wasteland due to wars between humans.

** Across the entire franchise, Khan Noonien Singh gets this. In his first introduction in ''Space Seed'', he's presented as one of several 20th century despots. Albeit the most successful one. There's implication he's even a bit of a [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans Benevolent Dictator]], with Scotty and Kirk both expressing admiration for the man. He's also small fries enough that figuring out his identity takes the bulk of the episode, and the crew has to hold a presentation to fill in everyone on just who the guy is. Basically, he's an historical footnote. One of many dictator during a trouble period of history. This continues into ''Wrath of Khan'' where anyone not familiar with the events of ''Space Seed'' don't know who he is. Later series paint him as Trek's version of Hitler. His name and deeds are now infamous among the Federation - particularly humanity. They basically are a byword for evil. He's so horrible that centuries after his time, Starfleet still has laws on the books against Genetic engineering just because they don't want another Khan to occur. In ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'', Una recounts how the prejudice against genetically modified people is so strong she and her family endured enough persecution to meet Starfleet's criteria to count as a refugees. La'an, Khan's descendant, mentions how her family name got her bullied in school, and she has a lot of baggage about augments due to said bullying. Federation Admirals admit that the Federation's laws against Genetic modification ''are'' discriminatory, but humanity is still too traumatized by Khan's actions (which, again, took place ''centuries ago'') that removing them is just not feasible. A Time travel episode features an alternate timeline where the divergence point is that Khan was killed as a child, and the absence of his reign apparently changed history so much that the Federation never formed, and Earth is a wasteland due to wars between humans.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Whilst Dr. Light was always a supervillain (including being a literal case of LightIsNotGood, given not just his power, but the fact [[StevenUlyssesPerhero he's a scientist named "Arthur Light"]]), in an attempt to explain him going from a dangerous criminal to an idiotic fool ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' retconned him to have originally been a monstrous SerialRapist and that his VillainDecay was the result InUniverse of a group of Leaguers' effectively lobotomising him in response to him raping [[ComicBook/ElongatedMan Sue Dibny]].

** [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied Norman Osborn killing Gwen Stacy]] just to hurt Spider-Man was bad enough but ''ComicBook/SinsPast'' retcons the reason behind this action to being even more heinous. It is revealed that Norman had an affair with Gwen Stacy while both were in emotional turmoil -- Gwen due to her father's death and Norman because of Harry nearly dying from a drug overdose. This affair resulted in Gwen giving birth to twins which aged faster than normal due to a mutation in the DNA they'd inherited from Norman. After killing Gwen, Norman found the twins, raised them as assassins, and poisoned their minds against Spider-Man making them believe he'd killed their mother. ''ComicBook/SinisterWar'' would undo this with its own retcon that Harry was TheManBehindTheMan, having Mysterio hypnotize FakeMemories of the affair into Norman and Mary Jane, when the children were actually clones created from Norman and Gwen's DNA.

** [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied Norman Osborn killing Gwen Stacy]] just to hurt Spider-Man was bad enough but ''ComicBook/SinsPast'' retcons the reason behind this action to being even more heinous. It is revealed that Norman had an affair with Gwen Stacy while both were in emotional turmoil -- Gwen due to her father's death and Norman because of Harry nearly dying from a drug overdose. This affair resulted in Gwen giving birth to twins which aged faster than normal due to a mutation in the DNA they'd inherited from Norman. After killing Gwen, Norman found the twins, raised them as assassins, and poisoned their minds against Spider-Man making them believe he'd killed their mother. ''ComicBook/SinisterWar'' would undo this with its own retcon that Harry was TheManBehindTheMan, having Mysterio hypnotize FakeMemories into Norman and Mary Jane into thinking the affair even happened, when the children were actually clones created from Norman and Gwen's DNA.

** [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied Norman Osborn killing Gwen Stacy]] just to hurt Spider-Man was bad enough but ''ComicBook/SinsPast'' retcons the reason behind this action to being even more heinous. It is revealed that Norman had an affair with Gwen Stacy while both were in emotional turmoil -- Gwen due to her father's death and Norman because of Harry nearly dying from a drug overdose. This affair resulted in Gwen giving birth to twins which aged faster than normal due to a mutation in the DNA they'd inherited from Norman. After killing Gwen, Norman found the twins, raised them as assassins, and poisoned their minds against Spider-Man making them believe he'd killed their mother.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

** The 1987 graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Son of the Demon}}'' had Bruce and Talia conceive a child. When Bruce nearly dies protecting her and the baby, Talia lies that she suffered a miscarriage and puts the baby up for adoption. When Grant Morrison integrated the events of this story into main continuity, they retconned Talia into drugging and raping Bruce to conceive Damian whom she raised with the intent of him taking over the League of Assassins.

* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Whilst Dr. Light was always a supervillain (including being a literal case of LightIsNotGood, given not just his power, but the fact [[StevenUlyssesPerhero he's a scientist named "Arthur Light"]]), in an attempt to explain him going from a dangerous criminal to an idiotic fool ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis'' retconned him to have originally been a monstrous SerialRapist and that his VillainDecay was the result InUniverse of a group of Leaguers' effectively lobotomising him in response to him raping [[ComicBook/ElongatedMan Sue Dibny]].
* Geoff Johns' ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' run revealed that not only was Deathstroke behind Cassandra Cain's FaceHeelTurn by brainwashing her with a special drug but he had also done this to Tara Markov in order to use her against the Titans. Keep in mind that in the original story, Slade was in a sexual relationship with the teenage Tara yet the story treated him as the more sympathetic of the two.

** [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied Norman Osborn killing Gwen Stacy]] just to hurt Spider-Man was bad enough but ''[[ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski Sins Past]]'' retcons the reason behind this action to being even more heinous. It is revealed that Norman had an affair with Gwen Stacy while both were in emotional turmoil -- Gwen due to her father's death and Norman because of Harry nearly dying from a drug overdose. This affair resulted in Gwen giving birth to twins which aged faster than normal due to a mutation in the DNA they'd inherited from Norman. After killing Gwen, Norman found the twins, raised them as assassins, and poisoned their minds against Spider-Man making them believe he'd killed their mother.

* ''Literature/AgathaHAndTheSiegeOfMechanicsburg'': The original ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' comic had Klaus Wulfenbach [[spoiler:inflict brainwashing on his son Gilgamesh]] in a desperate "IDidWhatIHadToDo" moment. The novelization changes the context of this scene so that [[spoiler:Lucrezia, ever the HopeCrusher that she is, mind-controlled Klaus to do this to torment him]], making both Klaus ''and'' Gilgamesh the victims here.

** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' implies [[TheRival Miles Edgeworth]] frequently used forged evidence in his days as an "undefeated" prosecutor. The bonus case, "Rise from the Ashes", which was added to re-releases made after Edgeworth's HeelFaceTurn in later games, has Edgeworth state he never willingly forged evidence, it was all just rumors.

A hallmark of nearly any long enough-running series (and several shorter ones) is that some antagonists will make a return, maybe just once or maybe their role will be [[AscendedExtra significantly increased]], often to the delight of the fans. But wait, did they just say the guy who only murdered his wife is one of the world's most prolific [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]]? Why is everyone acting like the environmentalist who attacked oil pipelines was always a [[TerroristWithoutACause psycho who wanted to blow up the city]]? And isn't that the same arsonist who was introduced laughing while watching people burn to death now insisting they've only ever lit empty buildings and would never hurt anyone? Why is no one acknowledging these drastic changes?

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied Norman Osborn killing Gwen Stacy]] just to hurt Spider-Man was bad enough but ''[[ComicBook/JMSSpiderMan Sins Past]]'' retcons the reason behind this action to being even more heinous. It is revealed that Norman had an affair with Gwen Stacy while both were in emotional turmoil -- Gwen due to her father's death and Norman because of Harry nearly dying from a drug overdose. This affair resulted in Gwen giving birth to twins which aged faster than normal due to a mutation in the DNA they'd inherited from Norman. After killing Gwen, Norman found the twins, raised them as assassins, and poisoned their minds against Spider-Man making them believe he'd killed their mother.
** ComicBook/DoctorOctopus's first love was a woman named Mary Alice who later died of HIV. In ''Superior Spider-Man Team-Up'' Issue #11-12, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Norman Osborn]] was the one who infected her with HIV because he saw her as a distraction to Otto.

** Amy Madison goes through this in the comic continuation. Although she TookALevelInJerkass in the last two seasons of the show, her worst actions were trying to ruin Willow's attempts to quit using magic and casting a spell on her that turned her into Warren Mears, both of which were petty attempts at revenge for Willow taking so long to undo the spell that turned her unto a rat and didn't really do any lasting damage. In Season 8, she's retconned as having resurrected Warren and been dating him and acting on his orders during Season 7 and joins the Twilight Group, attempting to kill the Scoobies and the rest of the Slayers, with nobody acknowledging that this is in any way a step up from her previous villainous acts.

* ''Series/NewTricks'': Whilst [[ArchEnemy Ricky Hanson]]'s vicious personality and [[LondonGangster criminal nature]] are consistent throughout all his appearances, in Season 4's "Casualty" when breaking into a hospital to kill [[TheLancer Jack Halford]] whilst he's recovering from his injuries, to get to him whilst he's sleeping Hanson attacks the nurse on duty, with their being a clear shot of her lying facedown unconscious or dead before he attempts to suffocate Jack. Yet when Hanson goes to trial for the events in season 5's "Spare Parts" the entire affair with the nurse is completely forgotten about with not even the heroes bringing it up, enabling Hanson to lie about his intentions and get off due to lack of impartial witnesses.

* ComicBook/{{Eclipso}}: After spending the first three decades as a C-list villain and the [[JekyllAndHyde dark half of Dr. Bruce Gordon]], in the 1990's he was retconned as actually being the immensely powerful Spirit of God's Wrath (making him the EvilCounterpart to ''ComicBook/TheSpectre'', the Spirit of God's Vengeance). Initially, it was claimed he was only pretending to be a minor threat to throw the heroes off guard, though later appearances this was forgotten and he was treated as always being a serious deal.

* ''WebAnimation/SpookyMonth'': When introduced in the first episode, the then-unnamed Bob Velseb was little more than a gag, holding Lila at knifepoint but happily letting go once Skid reminds them both that it's "Spooky Month" and Lila offers him some candy. In his second appearance in the fifth episode, "Tender Treats", Bob is revealed to be a serial killer with an incredibly high body count and taste for human flesh, and a flashback to the first episode shows that Lila called the cops on him moments after Skid left the house.

* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'': Zig-zagged with John Kramer. In the first three films up to his death, he was consistently depicted as a fearsome yet professional mastermind who abducted people who had done something "wrong" but relatively light in their life, taunted or showed notable sadism about their struggles and (almost always) incoming fates, and wasn't above putting victims' relatives and children in harm's way. What was described of his backstory did little to garner him sympathy. Starting with the flashbacks he appears in from ''Film/SawIV'' onwards, while his previous acts and events are still acknowledged from time to time, he's portrayed in a more sympathetic light, with extensions to his backstory that {{retcon}} supplementary details from the ''Saw: Rebirth'' comic, and him appearing to have more genuinely good intentions as he's said or shown to be more restricted to outright criminals for the most part. In contrast, however, the present plots clarify (likely unintentionally on the producers' part) that he's noticeably gotten even worse, having pettier targets and more KickTheDog acts in his posthumous schemes.