History Main / Retconjuration

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-140 SCP-140]] is a book that chronicles the history of the Daevite civilization, an extremely unpleasant civilization (with human sacrifice, cannibalism, functional dark magic, etc.) that was wiped out at some point in the past. Whenever something that could be used to write with comes near the book (blood works best), more is written about the civilization and what was previously written changes, so that a battle that previously ended as a defeat becomes a victory -- and suddenly archaeologists start finding evidence of them in the places and times it writes about. When first recovered, the Daevites were squished by Qin Kai in the 3rd century BCE. Now? They were squished by ''Genghis Khan'', about 1400 years later. The reason it's classified Keter is because enough ink could bring the Daevites into the present day, and it's a fair bet current human civilization wouldn't be a match for them. Oh, and just in case you feel safe, '''they don't have every copy'''.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' dreamers have the power to do this if enough dream the same thing at once; in the short story ''A Dream of a Thousand Cats'', Morpheus reveals that at one point the world was [[CatsAreMean ruled by cats with humans as their servants and prey]], but then a thousand-or-so humans simultaneously dreamed of a world of human dominance, and changed the world so that humans had always been dominant, and the world of cats never existed. A cat prophet is attempting to spread the word of this so that cats can dream the world back into its original state, but is implied to be doomed to fail, since even the cats themselves think it would be impossible to get a thousand cats to agree to do ''anything'' at the same time.

* Dr. Eggman in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' has a device called the Genesis Wave, allowing him to rewrite reality to a limited degree when powered by a Chaos Emerald. He not only used it on Mobius twice, he also used on the ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics world during its crossover.
* Ultimate Loki's power in ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvel''. He can shuffle space and time, insert or erase new identities into history and alter perceptions. He's restricted by being detected by Odin if he uses too much power, so he settles for {{Gaslighting}} Thor to make him and everyone around think he's crazy.
* Main universe Loki's newer incarnation has their magic defined as ''mucking with the narrative'' -- yes, this means exactly what it sounds like. They could theoretically do ''[[RealityWarper anything]]'', in practice however they're limited by the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality and various butterfly effects. Example: So you've retconjured a girl into your uncle's past to create a weakness and defeat him in the present? (''Fear Itself'') That created a woman with very little choice or characterization who'll be rightfully pissed with you. (''Everything Burns'')
* Kobik, the Cosmic Cube girl, did this to [[spoiler:[[Comicbook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]]]]. His "new" past has him being a loyal DeepCoverAgent of Hydra, when he was originally nothing of the sort. Kobik did this on behalf of a former wielder of the Cosmic Cube whom she has latched on to as a friend and father figure [[spoiler:namely, the Comicbook/RedSkull]].

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} is ''Webcomic/ErfWorld'', in which [=Retconjuration=] was actually Retconjured into existence as a subset of Naughtymancy after the authors didn't like a special they had given a minor character. However, nobody but the Titans can actually use it.

* Dr. Eggman in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' has a device called the Genesis Wave, allowing him to rewrite reality to a limited degree when powered by a Chaos Emerald. He not only used it on Mobius twice, he also used on the ComicBook/MegaMan world during its crossover.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' dreamers have the power to do this if enough dream the same thing at once; in the short story ''A Dream of a Thousand Cats'', Morpheus reveals that at one point the world was [[CatsAreMean ruled by cats with humans as their prey]], but then a thousand-or-so humans simultaneously dreamed of a world of human dominance, and changed the world so that humans had always been dominant, and the world of cats never existed. A cat prophet is attempting to spread the word of this so that cats can dream the world back into its original state, but is implied to be doomed to fail, since even the cats themselves think it would be impossible to get a thousand cats to agree to do ''anything'' at the same time.

* In the ''Franchise/EvilliousChronicles'', this trope, referred to as a "Re_Birthday" is a power that beings called "Irregulars" (entities who [[ParadoxPerson aren't bound by the world's rules]] and who usually come into existence via [[MysticalPregnancy impossible means]]) hold, with the way it works being described as being through taking the world and all the souls in it and reformatting it. As a rule, Irregulars [[BrotherSisterTeam always come in pairs]], one to destroy the world and another to recreate it. An Irregular on his or her own can only destroy.

** It's also explained that Celestialsapiens (the species that Alien X is) CONSTANTLY retcon things in the universe, explaining things such as why the art style changes. In Alien X's case, he was unable to perfectly recreate the grape flavor of Mr Smoothie, leading to an off-taste.

* Dr. Eggman in ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'' has a device called the Genesis Wave, allowing him to rewrite reality to a limited degree when powered by a Chaos Emerald. He not only used it on Mobius twice, he also used on the ComicBook/MegaMan world during its crossover.

** [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-3799 SCP-3799]] was a snowstorm that caused people to become obsessed with its purity and could convert corpses into more snow. As its area of effect spread around the world, the past was altered to justify its existence. The island in Greenland where it originated had become a major religious site for many different cultures. It eventually got to the point where the snow had always covered the entire Earth. Before its effects had been reversed, the SCP Foundation had also become the "Snow Containment Foundation."

** [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-3799 SCP-3799]] was a snowstorm that caused people to become obsessed with its purity and could convert corpses into more snow. As its area of effect spread around the world, the past was altered to justify its existence, to the point where the snow had always covered the entire Earth. Before its effects had been reversed, the SCP Foundation had also become the "Snow Containment Foundation."

** [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-3799 SCP-3799]] was a snowstorm that caused people to become obsessed with it, and as its area of effect spread around the world, the past was altered to justify its existence, to the point where the snow had always covered the entire Earth. Before its effects had been reversed, the SCP Foundation had also become the "Snow Containment Foundation."

** [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-3799 SCP-3799]] was a snowstorm that caused people to become obsessed with it, and as its area of effect spread around the world, the past was altered to justify its existence, eventually having prehistoric origins. Before its effects had been reversed, the SCP Foundation had become the "Snow Containment Foundation."

** [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-3799 SCP-3799]] was a snowstorm that caused people to become obsessed with it, and as its area of effect spread around the world, the past was altered to justify its existence. Before its effects had been reversed, the SCP Foundation had become the "Snow Containment Foundation."

** [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-3799 SCP-3799]] was a snowstorm that caused people to become obsessed with it, and as its area of effect spread around the world, the past was altered to justify it.

'''Sarda:''' It's a simple "Re-Write Reality According To Your Whim" spell.

If a {{Retcon}} is changing the past, and a CosmicRetcon is an in-universe changing of the past, then [=Retconjuration=] [[strike: never happened]] is the ability to ''create'' a Cosmic Retcon. Possibly a subtrope of RealityWarper, and [[strike: [[NoodleIncident was once mayor of New York]]]] may or may not involve [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall leaning on]] or [[BreakingTheFourthWall breaking]] the Fourth Wall, or pressing a literal ResetButton. (Although, depending on the scale of the [=Retconjuration=] instance, it may categorically force other in-universe examples of RealityWarper into becoming an in-universe subtrope of [=Retconjuration=] itself.)

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'', [[DealWithTheDevil Mephisto]], ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''.

* Dr. Eggman in ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog has a device called the Genesis Wave, allowing him to rewrite reality to a limited degree when powered by a Chaos Emerald. He not only used it on Mobius twice, he also used on the ComicBook/MegaMan world during its crossover.
* Ultimate Loki's power in ComicBook/UltimateMarvel. He can shuffle space and time, insert or erase new identities into history and alter perceptions. He's restricted by being detected by Odin if he uses too much power, so he settles for {{Gaslighting}} Thor to make him and everyone around think he's crazy.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In ''Fanfic/{{Pokedex}}'', Stantler are revealed to have potential RealityWarper powers that do a CosmicRetcon to the world of anyone who sees one, though it is unknown if they are really doing this trope or just altering memories. And Arceus is also capable of this - [[spoiler:It turns out that he has been retconning in new regions constantly.]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Nero does this by accidentally creating an alternate timeline in ''Film/StarTrek2009'', attacking the Kelvin and setting Starfleet down on a rather more militaristic bent. [[spoiler:Also Vulcan is gone.]]

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime's'' Balefire is a handy, portable way to do this, essentially burning the affected individual's "thread" out of existence. [[TimePolice Not everybody's happy about this happening.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The ''Year of Hell'' two-parter in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' has the Krenim timeship, with a RetGone cannon the ship itself is insulated from ([[spoiler: [[ResetButton unless the effect is triggered]] ''inside'' the ship due to damage sustained]]). The effects are limited to removing things from the timeline, but it can be modified to some things hit by while removing others (this is used for such things like removing a specific species while leaving their planet behind and inhabitable). The captain had spent 200 years desperately trying to undo the damage he inadvertently caused when he first used the ship... by doing pretty much the same thing, but with more careful calculations. [[spoiler: In the end it does indeed end up affecting itself, undoing all the damage it caused by the simple expedient of having the creator never finish the design.]]

* ''WebComic/EightBitTheater's'' Sarda uses [=Retconjuration=] with abandon [[spoiler:and White Mage mucks up his attempt to retconjure the world to how he wants it]], but he's more of a straight RealityWarper. Black Mage tries the same spell and it backfires (Sarda wrote the spell to rewrite reality to ''Sarda's'' will, not the caster's).
** Thief [[strike: gets a minor one when he changes the archives so his red outfit was always black]] has never, ever tampered with the fabric of the universe.
* Clockstopper in ''Webcomic/SuperStupor'' (a side-comic of ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive''); he calls it Nut-Punching Father Time.
** It's also his [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer favorite solution to everything]].

* Germaine uses a "reset button" invented by Foamy in the web series: ''WebAnimation/NeuroticallyYours'' to initiate a series reboot.
* In ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-140 SCP-140]] is a book that chronicles the history of the Daevite civilization, an extremely unpleasant civilization (with human sacrifice, cannibalism, functional dark magic, etc.) that was wiped out at some point in the past. Whenever something that could be used to write with comes near the book (blood works best), more is written about the civilization and what was previously written changes, so that a battle that previously ended as a defeat becomes a victory - and suddenly archaeologists start finding evidence of them in the places and times it writes about. When first recovered, the Daevites were squished by Qin Kai in the 3rd century BCE. Now? They were squished by ''Genghis Khan'', about 1400 years later. The reason it's classified Keter is because enough ink could bring the Daevites into the present day, and it's a fair bet current human civilization wouldn't be a match for them. Oh, and just in case you feel safe, '''they don't have every copy'''.

* In the ''Franchise/EvilliousChronicles'', this trope, referred to as a "Re_Birthday" is a power that beings called "Irregulars" (entities who [[ParadoxPerson aren't bound by the world's rules]]), with the way it works being described as being through taking the world and all the souls in it and reformatting it. As a rule, Irregulars [[BrotherSisterTeam always come in pairs]], one to destroy the world and another to recreate it. An Irregular on his or her own can only destroy.

** Towards the end of the series, Delirium threatens Mazikeem to make her ''always have been'' a half-faced demon waitress with a crush on her boss, leaving no-one but her the wiser, [[DrivenToMadness "and no one else will ever know, and it will itch inside your head worse than little buggies."]] As far as the readers know, she ''has'' always been a half faced demon with a crush on her boss. Whether Delirium actually did it is deliberately unclear. But, for what it's worth, Mazikeem didn't let her in.

** Towards the end of the series, Delirium threatens Mazikeem to make her ''always have been'' a half-faced demon waitress with a crush on her boss, leaving no-one but her the wiser, [[DrivenToMadness "and no one else will ever know, and it will itch inside your head worse than little buggies."]] As far as the readers know, she ''has'' always been a half faced demon with a crush on her boss. Whether Delirium actually did it, though, is deliberately unclear. But, for what it's worth, Mazikeem didn't let her in.

** Towards the end of the series, Delirium threatens Mazikeem to make her a half-faced demon waitress with a crush on her boss in the way she had been since the start and retcon reality so she had always been that way, and drive her insane wondering if Delirium had actually done it.

* Since quantum theory and magic are hard to tell anyway, look up Einstein-Rosen-Podolsky and Delayed Choice Experiment which come quite close to retconning history.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'', Mephisto, "[[ComicBook/OneMoreDay One]] [[DealWithTheDevil More]] Day"

* Ultimate Loki's power in ComicBook/UltimateMarvel. He can shuffle space and time, insert or erase new identities into history and alter perceptions. He's restricted by being detected by Odin if he uses too much power, so he settles for [[{{Gaslighting}} Gaslighting]] Thor to make him and everyone around think he's crazy.