History Main / RestrictedExpandedUniverse

* A case of CanonDisContinuity and ExpandedUniverse restrictions occurs in GregWeisman's new ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' comic. Continuing the beloved series after the end of Season 2, it refutes everything that happened in the Disney-produced ''Goliath Chronicles'' spin-off, (sans the first episode and one additional scene) essentially restricting the expanded canon to that comic alone.

* The TV portion of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse has so far not been able to have any effect on the movies. While shows like ''Series/AgentCarter'' and ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' are sufficiently distanced from the movies for it to not matter, ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' is bound by the rule that the Avengers cannot know that Coulson is still alive. This has led to a few cases where Coulson has to remind people who know the Avengers not to tell them about him, and in turn the movies have not acknowledged Coulson's survival even when he could or should logically appear - specifically, ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' has [[spoiler:Fury show up with a Helicarrier he had kept hidden]], and the following ''Agents'' episode established that Coulson was involved in setting it up, but the movie doesn't mention Coulson's involvement at all.

* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' video games are rather [[ExcusePlot light on plot]], allowing the ExpandedUniverse to go hog-wild on it. The novels and comic books give characters new backstories and personality traits that were never hinted at in the games, fleshes out the origins of both the [[TheFederation UNSC]] and [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Covenant]] fully, adds in new weapons and vehicles, introduces and kills off many many characters on its own, and generally is... [[AdaptationExpansion better]], at least as far as plot goes. When 343 Industries took over development duties from Bungie, the ExpandedUniverse becomes critical to the games starting with ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', as far as [[BigBad the Didact]] is concerned.

* The ''TenchiMuyo'' manga had a big problem with this, since it was a case of AnimeFirst and there were long stretches of time with no new Tenchi anime being published.

May be avoided if the original series is over. The newer ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comics not only can change the status quo, but are written by the [[Creator/JossWhedon series creator]]. The ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novels after the cancellation of the original series]] made changes and revealed great swaths of history, much of which had to be ignored when the TV series started up again over a decade later. One of the post-revival episodes was an explicit retelling of the novel ''Human Nature'', written by the same guy (Creator/PaulCornell). A similar thing is likely to happen to the ''Star Wars'' continuity, now that new films have been announced.

* Writers for ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'', besides following the regular continuity, have to abide to a certain set of rules established by Lucasfilm. Among those revealed to the fans are:

** Members of certain alien species cannot become Jedi. Even though several Wookiee Jedi characters already exist, no new ones should be introduced. The ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' series does, but makes mention about Wookie Jedi rarity.

** A slight exception is the popular ''GundamSeed'' spinoff ''Gundam Seed Astray'', which was intended from the beginning to tie into the anime, occasionally patching up plot holes, and just barely missed being included in the anime itself.

* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' books have suffered greatly from this. Since a lot of choices are left to the player, the books have been forced to remain neutral on big issues such as [[spoiler:the fate of the original council, the Destiny Ascension, who survived on Virmire, what happened to the rachni and humanity's representative]] as well as smaller ones right down to [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard's]] gender. Only exception being the BadEnding of [[VideGame/MassEffect2 2]], which is directly [[CanonDiscontinuity contradicted]] by first issue of the ''Homeworlds'' comic series.

* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' books have suffered greatly from this. Since a lot of choices are left to the player, the books have been forced to remain neutral on big issues such as [[spoiler:the fate of the original council, the Destiny Ascension, who survived on Virmire, what happened to the rachni and humanity's representative]] as well as smaller ones right down to [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard's]] gender. Only exception being the BadEnding of [[VideGame/MassEffect2 2]], which is directly [[contradicted CanonDiscontinuity]] by first issue of the ''Homeworlds'' comic series.

* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' books have suffered greatly from this. Since a lot of choices are left to the player, the books have been forced to remain neutral on big issues such as [[spoiler:the fate of the original council, the Destiny Ascension, who survived on Virmire, what happened to the rachni and humanity's representative]] as well as smaller ones right down to [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard's]] gender.
* The ''{{BabylonFive}}'' licensed novels were apparently under similar restrictions to the ''Star Trek'' novels mentioned above, and also serve as a demonstration of why such rules might not always be a good idea, as they frequently contradict each other (for instance, ''Blood Oath'' and ''Clark's Law'' both mention G'Kar's wife, but she has a different name in each.)

Popular series often get adapted into other media than the original — novels or comic books, for instance, made of movies or TV shows. But there's no way Luke Skywalker's going to get killed off in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' comic [[note]](while he dies early on in the ''StarWarsInfinities'' version of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', that's an AlternateUniverse; he's eventually shown dying of old age in the prime timeline)[[/note]]; generally, licensed alternative media can't kill characters, develop relationships, alter the world, or make any sort of changes that have a chance of messing up the continuity for the original version.

** Eventually, some studios were able to obtain both licenses, allowing for the games ''The Battle for Middle-Earth II'' (and its expansion pack) and ''War in the North'' to combine the likeness of actors and location designs with various elements that were AdaptedOut from the movies. The general consensus is that (quality of the gameplay nonwithstanding) this allows for a much more coherent Middle-Earth expirience.

May be avoided if the original series is over. The newer ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comics not only can change the status quo, but are written by the [[Creator/JossWhedon series creator]]. The ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novels after the cancellation of the original series]] made changes and revealed great swaths of history, much of which had to be ignored when the TV series started up again over a decade later. One of the post-revival episodes was an explicit retelling of the novel ''Human Nature'', written by the same guy (Creator/PaulCornell). A similar thing is likely to happen to the ''Star Wars'' continuity, now that new films have been announced.

* An odd example regarding ''DoctorWho'': beginning on July 5, 1969 (two weeks after "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]" aired), ''TV Comic'' began a series of stories where the Second Doctor was exiled to Earth; during this period, the Doctor lived in the Carlton Grange Hotel and became a newspaper-headlining celebrity. "The Night Walkers" (November 8-22, 1969) has the Doctor investigating a story about scarecrows that walk at night... which turns out to be a trap by the Time Lords so they could enforce the second half of his sentence. The scarecrows begin the regeneration process and set the TARDIS controls to dematerialise, leading seamlessly into "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E1SpearheadFromSpace Spearhead from Space]]" six weeks later.
* ''Vector Prime'', the first novel of the ''StarWars: The NewJediOrder'' series, was especially notable for having killed off [[spoiler:Chewbacca]]. According to the author, the higher-ups had wanted to kill off a major {{canon}} character in order to set up an AnyoneCanDie atmosphere; the call eventually came down that [[spoiler:Chewie]] was to be the SacrificialLamb based on [[spoiler:his sidekick status and lack of dialogue]]. The original plan was to kill off [[spoiler:Luke]], which Lucasfilm understandably objected to.

* And the ''StarWars'' comics: ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' takes place 4,000 years before the movies, and ''Legacy 140'' years after them. The ''[=KotOR=]'' comics are, of course, linked to the games by the same name that are set around the same time, and the comics are presumably limited by the games themselves more than anything else.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' falls under this in regard to the movies. Since it takes place between Episodes II and III, you know Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda, General Grievous, Count Dooku, etc. are in no great peril. However, it doesn't seem to be restricted by the other existing canon.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' isn't allowed to change the main story in any way, so a lot of the quests don't directly relate to the plot ("Bring Me Twenty Wolf Ears"), and those that do are portrayed as being things that help the main characters without actually being able to have a huge impact on the outcome ... for example, there's a quest in Rivendell that amounts to basically "Follow Frodo around for a while and listen to him ramble about what he should do"; the player never actually gets to ''say'' anything or offer advice.

See also StatusQuoIsGod and DoomedByCanon.

* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', mainly due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers a confluence of legal issues]]. The game is set in the prime universe post-dating the Hobus supernova from ''Film/StarTrek'' (2009), but due to the fact that the license comes from CBS rather than Paramount they can only use story details, not visuals. CBS also has veto power over Cryptic's ideas, and they're also restricted in their use of TV-canon characters because, while the ''character'' belongs to CBS and is thus usable, the ''likeness'' belongs to the actors so Cryptic has to negotiate with them separately[[labelnote:*]]So far they've gotten Creator/MichaelDorn, Creator/TimRuss, and Creator/DeniseCrosby on board for fully voiced appearances by Worf, Tuvok, Sela, and Tasha Yar.[[/labelnote]] or use an OffModel (which they've mostly stopped doing). They also have to negotiate separately to use elements from other works in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' EU (although they do often get permission).

* Averted in the ''GIJoe'' comics, which could kill people and make changes, as long as the relevant action figure or other toy was no longer in production.
* Likewise averted in the ''{{Transformers}}'' comics, which are almost universally all alternate continuities.

* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' video games are rather [[ExcusePlot light on plot]], allowing the ExpandedUniverse to go hog-wild on it. The novels and comic books give characters new backstories and personality traits that were never hinted at in the games, fleshes out the origins of both the [[TheFederation UNSC]] and [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Covenant]] fully, adds in new weapons and vehicles, introduces and kills off many many characters on its own, and generally is... [[AdaptationExpansion better]], at least as far as plot goes. When 343 Industries took over development duties from Bunie, the ExpandedUniverse becomes critical to the games starting with ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', as far as [[BigBad the Didact]] is concerned.

Popular series often get adapted into other media than the original — novels or comic books, for instance, made of movies or TV shows. But there's no way Luke Skywalker's going to get killed off in the ''StarWars'' comic [[note]](while he dies early on in the ''StarWars Infinities'' version of ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'', that's an AlternateUniverse; he's eventually shown dying of old age in the prime timeline)[[/note]]; generally, licensed alternative media can't kill characters, develop relationships, alter the world, or make any sort of changes that have a chance of messing up the continuity for the original version.

** Trek novels have gone back and forth between Restricted and non-Restricted a couple of times. The novels of the '70s and early '80s tended to give authors a lot of freedom to interpret ''Star Trek'' in their own idiosyncratic ways, though the books rarely referenced or built on one another. By the later '80s, Pocket Books' Trek authors began referencing popular novels like DianeDuane's Romulan/Literature/{{Rihannsu}} books and Creator/JohnMFord's Klingon epic ''Literature/TheFinalReflection'', and authors who did multiple novels increasingly carried continuity arcs forward within them, so an overall book continuity gradually began to emerge. But once ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was on the air, Paramount began restricting the books and comics, forbidding them from referencing anything but the live-action canon, which killed continuity between books. Those rules began to relax in the late '90s, and by now, with all the shows off the air, the books have built up an elaborate, interconnected continuity. However, the new J. J. Abrams movie continuity operates under RestrictedExpandedUniverse rules -- so restricted, in fact, that only prequels to the movie have been allowed to be published so far.

* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' video games are rather [[ExcusePlot light on plot]], allowing the ExpandedUniverse to go hog-wild on it. The novels and comic books give characters new backstories and personality traits that were never hinted at in the games, fleshes out the origins of both the [[TheFederation UNSC]] and [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Covenant]] fully, adds in new weapons and vehicles, introduces and kills off many many characters on its own, and generally is.....[[AdaptationExpansion better]], at least as far as plot goes. The ExpandedUniverse is referenced multiple times in the later games.

May be avoided if the original series is over. The newer ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comics not only can change the status quo, but are written by the [[Creator/JossWhedon series creator]]. The ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novels after the cancellation of the original series]] made changes and revealed great swaths of history, much of which had to be ignored when the TV series started up again over a decade later. One of the post-revival episodes was an explicit retelling of the novel ''Human Nature'', written by the same guy (Paul Cornell). A similar thing is likely to happen to the ''Star Wars'' continuity, now that new films have been announced.

* The ComicBook/SonicX comics weren't allowed to introduce characters from the games that weren't introduced in the show, nor were they allowed to make any real changes to the status quo.

* An odd example regarding ''DoctorWho'': beginning on July 5, 1969 (two weeks after "The War Games" aired), ''TV Comic'' began a series of stories where the Second Doctor was exiled to Earth; during this period, the Doctor lived in the Carlton Grange Hotel and became a newspaper-headlining celebrity. "The Night Walkers" (November 8-22, 1969) has the Doctor investigating a story about scarecrows that walk at night...which turns out to be a trap by the Time Lords so they could enforce the second half of his sentence. The scarecrows begin the regeneration process and set the TARDIS controls to dematerialise, leading seamlessly into "Spearhead from Space" six weeks later.

Popular series often get adapted into other media than the original -- novels or comic books, for instance, made of movies or TV shows. But there's no way Luke Skywalker's going to get killed off in the ''StarWars'' comic[[note]] Actually, he does die early on the ''StarWars Infinities'' version of ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'', but that's an AlternateUniverse, and he is eventually shown dying of old age in the prime timeline[[/note]]; generally, licensed alternative media can't kill characters, develop relationships, alter the world, or make any sort of changes that have a chance of messing up the continuity for the original version.

These alternate media therefore can end up running in place and being inferior to the original because of the lack of change. Sometimes new characters to which change ''can'' happen are introduced to make up for the problem.

May be avoided if the original series is over. The newer ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comics not only can change the status quo but are written by the [[Creator/JossWhedon series creator]]. The ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novels after the cancellation of the original series]] made changes and revealed great swaths of history, much of which had to be ignored when the TV series started up again over a decade later. One of the post-revival episodes is an explicit retelling of the novel ''Human Nature'' (by the same guy). A similar thing is likely to happen to the Star Wars continuity, now that new films were announced.

This trope only applies if the adaptation is meant to follow the same continuity as the original series (though not necessarily vice versa). As a result it seldom applies in the opposite direction -- a movie made from a comic book can change anything the writer wants.

* Vector Prime, the first novel of the ''StarWars: The NewJediOrder'' series, was especially notable for having killed off [[spoiler:Chewbacca]]. According to the author, the higher-ups had wanted to kill off a major {{canon}} character in order to set up an AnyoneCanDie atmosphere; the call eventually came down that [[spoiler:Chewie]] was to be the SacrificialLamb based on [[spoiler:his sidekick status and lack of dialog]].
** The original plan was to kill off [[spoiler:Luke]]. Understandably, Lucasfilm objected.

* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixOnline'' features in its first chapter [[spoiler: Morpheus]] eventually committing terrorist acts against the Machines, demanding that they return Neo's body, going so far as to create "code bombs" which reveal the Matrix code even to people still jacked in and not ready for such a revelation. The aversion comes when he is KilledOffForReal by a program known as the Assassin.
* The ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' series leave a large gap in between the original and the prequel game, leaving the Greg Rucka novels (and comics) to expand and improve the characters and conspiracies of the universe. it also changed the backstories of [[spoiler: Daniel Carrington and Cassandra Devries]] by placing them into a relationship

----

May be avoided if the original series is over. The newer ''ComicBook/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' comics not only can change the status quo but are written by the series creator. The ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse novels after the cancellation of the original series]] made changes and revealed great swaths of history, much of which had to be ignored when the TV series started up again over a decade later. One of the post-revival episodes is an explicit retelling of the novel ''Human Nature'' (by the same guy). A similar thing is likely to happen to the Star Wars continuity, now that new films were announced.

Popular series often get adapted into other media than the original -- novels or comic books, for instance, made of movies or TV shows. But there's no way Luke Skywalker's going to get killed off in the ''StarWars'' comic[[hottip:*: Actually, he does die early on the ''StarWars Infinities'' version of ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'', but that's an AlternateUniverse, and he is eventually shown dying of old age in the prime timeline]]; generally, licensed alternative media can't kill characters, develop relationships, alter the world, or make any sort of changes that have a chance of messing up the continuity for the original version.

* The ''MassEffect'' books have suffered greatly from this. Since a lot of choices are left to the player, the books have been forced to remain neutral on big issues such as [[spoiler:the fate of the original council, the destiny ascension, who survived on Virmire, what happened to the rachni and humanity's representative]] as well as smaller ones right down to [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard's]] gender.

** Trek novels have gone back and forth between Restricted and non-Restricted a couple of times. The novels of the '70s and early '80s tended to give authors a lot of freedom to interpret ''Star Trek'' in their own idiosyncratic ways, though the books rarely referenced or built on one another. By the later '80s, Pocket Books' Trek authors began referencing popular novels like DianeDuane's Romulan/Rihannsu books and Creator/JohnMFord's Klingon epic ''Literature/TheFinalReflection'', and authors who did multiple novels increasingly carried continuity arcs forward within them, so an overall book continuity gradually began to emerge. But once ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' was on the air, Paramount began restricting the books and comics, forbidding them from referencing anything but the live-action canon, which killed continuity between books. Those rules began to relax in the late '90s, and by now, with all the shows off the air, the books have built up an elaborate, interconnected continuity. However, the new J. J. Abrams movie continuity operates under RestrictedExpandedUniverse rules -- so restricted, in fact, that only prequels to the movie have been allowed to be published so far.