History Main / Revision

* An example from the StarTrekNovelVerse: ''The Sundered'', a book of ''StarTrekTheLostEra'', introduces interphase tunnels that lead from the Milky Way to the Small Magellanic Cloud. The ''StarTrekTitan'' novels later built on this by establishing a whole subspace topography that placed the Cloud "downstream" of the Milky Way. This served to allow two different ships in two different times and places to both reach the same region of space and interact with the Neyel race. Then, another ''Lost Era'' novel, ''The Buried Age'', made a subtle offhand reference to ancient transportation networks created by the ancient {{Precursors}}, the Manraloth, offering an explanation for how this improbable situation came about.

* The novel ''[[Franchise/StarWars Death Star]]'' explains why the superlaser's firing sequence (which, when destroying Alderaan, had been activated quickly and systematically) is so slow and deliberate when it comes time to blow up the Rebel base. And after reading it, you will ''never'' look at the climax of Episode 4 in the same way again: [[spoiler:The gunnery officer responsible for it [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone suffered a nervous breakdown from sheer horror and remorse]] after the destruction of Alderaan, and [[HeroicSacrifice is desperately stalling for time on Red Squadron's behalf]] whilst [[DrivenToSuicide inwardly begging for death.]] It's one of the biggest [[TearJerker Tear Jerkers]] in the Expanded Universe.]]

* The novel ''[[StarWars Death Star]]'' explains why the superlaser's firing sequence (which, when destroying Alderaan, had been activated quickly and systematically) is so slow and deliberate when it comes time to blow up the Rebel base. And after reading it, you will ''never'' look at the climax of Episode 4 in the same way again: [[spoiler:The gunnery officer responsible for it [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone suffered a nervous breakdown from sheer horror and remorse]] after the destruction of Alderaan, and [[HeroicSacrifice is desperately stalling for time on Red Squadron's behalf]] whilst [[DrivenToSuicide inwardly begging for death.]] It's one of the biggest [[TearJerker Tear Jerkers]] in the Expanded Universe.]]

* Although the ''SherlockHolmes'' novels were published anachronistically, ''The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes'' was something of a revision, being published after Arthur Conan Doyle's death by his son and editor, and expanding upon small references in the series.

* ''{{Caprica}}''. Pretty much "{{Revision}}: The Series!". It helps that the parent show, ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'', revealed almost no backstory on the era of Colonial history that ''Caprica'' takes place in, giving the writers a very wide scope to tell stories without stepping on established canon.

* Stretched to its absolute limit in the comic strip ''{{Candorville}}''. Then again, we were never told that [[ClingyJealousGirl Roxanne]] ''wasn't'' [[spoiler:a powerful {{Vampire}} trying to {{Take Over The World}}]], so it was entirely possible she could be one.

* Hoo boy, where do we start with ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]''? It turns out Ansem's/Xehanort's Heartless' actions in the [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI first game]], such as making Maleficent to gather the Seven Princesses of Heart were to facilitate the [[spoiler: recreation of the X-Blade, rather to obtain Kingdom Hearts]], Xemnas founding Organization XIII was not to obtain hearts of their own will keeping their bodily will, but [[spoiler: to turn them into vessels for Xehanort's heart for again, the X-Blade. Have I mentioned that Xemnas lied to them about their nature as emotionless, heart-lacking beings and that they could grow new ones in truth?]] Oh, again in the first game, that Brown Robed guy who was "Ansem" you met in Destiny Islands? [[spoiler: He is not the Ansem from that instance of time, rather, he time travelled to the past the moment he got word from Xemnas that his task isn't doing so well due to the Organization's members' independence (he originally came from 10 years ago from the events of Kingdom Hearts) making a pitstop to visit his younger, human self to get him gather 13 incarnations of Xehanort throughout time as a backup plan, before travelling into the future setting his sights on Sora and Riku]]

* ''{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' did this quite nicely: The revelation of Tarantulas's true loyalties in "The Agenda" is a particularly well-done example. It contradicted nothing, fit in seamlessly, and added another layer to both the plot and the character. Of course, even ''that'' wasn't the ''whole'' truth - fans RunningTheAsylum took a couple of minor references made in-passing during the series and turned them into a whole new layer of backstory for Tarantulas.
* If the major and most of the minor retcons made within the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' multi-series don't fall under this, they eventually ''will''. The writers have an uncanny ability to bring up plot points established earlier and reshape them to make sense. (i.e, why Kevin changed between the first and second series, how Gwen was able to adapt to magic so easily, etc.) A significant example is ''UltimateAlien'''s "Moonstruck", which brings up small story elements taken from both previous series.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': The death of Ichigo's mother Masaki, the event that triggered his {{Protectorate}} syndrome, is explained in chapter 19: she was killed defending Ichigo from a Hollow that had been trying to lure him in and eat him. However, TiteKubo has stated that he did not have a plan for how to end the story until late in the Soul Society Arc, at which point Masaki's death seems to have been Revised to make it fit. The new information is added in the Final Arc: [[spoiler:Masaki's ''proximate'' cause of death was the Hollow attack, however her ''ultimate'' cause of death was her Quincy ancestor stealing her powers and leaving her defenseless at exactly the wrong moment. While this greatly complicates Ichigo's backstory, it also doesn't outright contradict any previous canon.]]

* ''[[TheLionKing The Lion King]] 1 1/2'' offers an entirely different and quite humorous explanation to why the all the prideland animals bowed when Rafiki lifted newborn Simba. [[spoiler:Lets just say you don't want to be behind Pumbaa after a meal.]]

* The mid-'90s comic series ''UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'' was designed entirely around this trope. They even included a timeline laying out where each story took place among the original Lee/Ditko stories.

* The reprint series ''X-Men Classic'', which debuted in the Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'s '80s heyday, often incorporated newly drawn insert panels with original dialogue by ChrisClaremont to elaborate on some plot point or character note, or indeed to bring older stories in line with later plots.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' is able to pull this off. In [=MGS2=], [[spoiler:the Patriots were apparently a bunch of long-dead men and "the collective consciousness" of the White House who controlled America via viruses, trickery, and artificial intelligences, and wanted total information control of the Earth to "save society from itself" and might have launched the ultimate BigBrother ship to do this, but were stopped. It makes a '''lot less''' sense in context. However, it's revealed the "collective consciousness" was an overblown metaphor for [=AIs=], who were originally supposed to simply guide governments away from war and towards peace. However, they went berserk (though it is hinted it was more in the manner of a programming bug rather than they [[AIIsACrapshoot suddenly gaining sentience]]) and decided that the best way to obtain peace was total control of the populace. Great job on the scriptwriters for being able to subvert the GainaxEnding of [=MGS2=]. Oh, and Vamp isn't an actual vampire. While the long dead people did exist, they were just a group of really influential and rich men who had some hands in politics - not even much of a conspiracy, except the money they pooled together, which was meant to be used in case of emergency, but was stolen by one of their own.]]
** Done to a more subtle degree between ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'', reaching its apex in
''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''. The events of ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' were very '[[StoryToGameplayRatio video-gamey]]' - while there was a clever plot twist which was mindblowing at the time (a subversion of the ExpositionFairy where they were actually ''aiming'' to confuse and harass you), there wasn't anything close to CharacterDevelopment. ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' began to give Snake some personal trauma, and by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', in order for the plot to make any sense, we must believe that the (near-plotless to our eyes) ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' was, in fact, an epic war drama full of blood and terror and HeroicBSOD and LukeIAmYourFather. It actually works very well (and is a heaven for FixFic writers) - until you actually replay ''VideoGame/MetalGear''. [[Narm/VideoGame Then...]]

* Hoo boy, where do we start with [[KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance Dream Drop Distance]]? It turns out Ansem's/Xehanort's Heartless' actions in the [[KingdomHearts first game]], such as making Maleficent to gather the Seven Princesses of Heart were to facilitate the [[spoiler: recreation of the X-Blade, rather to obtain Kingdom Hearts]], Xemnas founding Organization XIII was not to obtain hearts of their own will keeping their bodily will, but [[spoiler: to turn them into vessels for Xehanort's heart for again, the X-Blade. Have I mentioned that Xemnas lied to them about their nature as emotionless, heart-lacking beings and that they could grow new ones in truth?]] Oh, again in the first game, that Brown Robed guy who was "Ansem" you met in Destiny Islands? [[spoiler: He is not the Ansem from that instance of time, rather, he time travelled to the past the moment he got word from Xemnas that his task isn't doing so well due to the Organization's members' independence (he originally came from 10 years ago from the events of Kingdom Hearts) making a pitstop to visit his younger, human self to get him gather 13 incarnations of Xehanort throughout time as a backup plan, before travelling into the future setting his sights on Sora and Riku]]

* In some ways, ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic 2'' takes this attitude towards the original game. The Mandalorian Wars, Jedi Civil War, and Revan's capture and return all ''happened'', but the motivations and goals of most of the major players are called into question. ''TheOldRepublic'', set a few hundred years later, adds another layer of this onto ''both'' previous games (for instance, suggesting that the Emperor was responsible for Revan and Malak's fall to the Dark Side, the cause of which was never established). It [[ContinuitySnarl can get a little confusing]], especially since few of the narrators [[UnreliableNarrator have any pressing reason to tell the truth]].

''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'' has one, where [[spoiler:it is revealed that the cat never knocked over a lamp, and the cause of the fire was something completely different. The cutscene in the original game is now implied to be Alice's attempt to understand the past she has forgotten.]]

** Done to a more subtle degree between ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'', reaching its apex in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''. The events of ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' were very '[[StoryToGameplayRatio video-gamey]]' - while there was a clever plot twist which was mindblowing at the time (a subversion of the ExpositionFairy where they were actually ''aiming'' to confuse and harass you), there wasn't anything close to CharacterDevelopment. ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' began to give Snake some personal trauma, and by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', in order for the plot to make any sense, we must believe that the (near-plotless to our eyes) ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' was, in fact, an epic war drama full of blood and terror and HeroicBSOD and LukeIAmYourFather. It actually works very well (and is a heaven for FixFic writers) - until you actually replay ''VideoGame/MetalGear''. [[Narm/VideoGame Then...]]

* ''X-Men: The Hidden Years'', which takes place between issues #67-93 of ''Uncanny X-Men'', when the the series was in reprints.

* ''X-Men: The Hidden Years''

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' is able to pull this off. In [=MGS2=], [[spoiler:the Patriots were apparently a bunch of long-dead men who controlled America via viruses and artificial intelligences, and wanted total information control of the Earth and might have launched the ultimate BigBrother ship to do this, but were stopped. It makes a '''lot less''' sense in context. However, it's revealed the Patriots are [=AIs=] who were originally supposed to simply guide governments away from war and towards peace. However, they went berserk (though it is hinted it was more in the manner of a programming bug rather than they [[AIIsACrapshoot suddenly gaining sentience]]) and started causing wars and, yes, wanted total information control - the opposite of what their creator wanted. Great job on the scriptwriters for being able to subvert the GainaxEnding of [=MGS2=]. Oh, and Vamp isn't an actual vampire. While the long dead people did exist, they were just a group of really influential and rich men who had some hands in politics - not even much of a conspiracy, except the money they pooled together, which was meant to be used in case of emergency, but was stolen by one of their own.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': The death of Ichigo's mother Masaki, the event that triggered his {{Protectorate}} syndrome, is explained in chapter 19: she was killed defending Ichigo from a Hollow that had been trying to lure him in and eat him. However, TiteKubo has stated that he did not have a plan for how to end the story until late in the Soul Society Arc, at which point he knew he would have to Revision Masaki's death to make it fit. The new information is added in the Final Arc: [[spoiler:Masaki's ''proximate'' cause of death was the Hollow attack, however her ''ultimate'' cause of death was her Quincy ancestor stealing her powers and leaving her defenseless at exactly the wrong moment. While this greatly complicates Ichigo's backstory, it also doesn't outright contradict any previous canon.]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The novel ''[[StarWars Death Star]]'' explains why the superlaser's firing sequence (which, when destroying Alderaan, had been activated quickly and systematically) is so slow and deliberate when it comes time to blow up the Rebel base. And after reading it, you will ''never'' look at the climax of Episode 4 in the same way again: [[spoiler:The gunnery officer responsible for it [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone suffered a nervous breakdown from sheer horror and remorse]] after the destruction of Alderaan, and [[HeroicSacrifice is desperately stalling for time on Red Squadron's behalf]] whilst [[DrivenToSuicide inwardly begging for death.]] It's one of the biggest [[TearJerker Tear Jerkers]] in the Expanded Universe.]]
* The 'fourth' and 'sixth' books (chronologically) in the ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' series were written after the rest of the books, to appease the fanbase. They work with information that LMMontgomery provided in other novels.
* Although the ''SherlockHolmes'' novels were published anachronistically, ''The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes'' was something of a revision, being published after Arthur Conan Doyle's death by his son and editor, and expanding upon small references in the series.
* This is the concept at the core of the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' Lost Chronicles trilogy (2006-2009), which happen in between (or at the same time of) the events of the original Chronicles trilogy (1984-1985), by far the most successful of the series. It works well, because the original trilogy used to occasionally jump several weeks/months in between chapters, and the untold events that unfolded there were just briefly referenced in passing, without much explanation.

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* In ''MassEffect2'' its revealed that Tali'Zorah has been nurturing a crush on the Male Commander Shepard since the events of the first game. Naturally ''[[EveryoneCanSeeIt everyone]]'' onboard the ''Normandy'' already knew.

* ''[[Film/StarTrek Star Trek (2009)]]'' and ''[[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness Into Darkness]]'' while set in an AlternateTimeline to specifically avoid ContinuitySnarl, do add previously unknown information about characters and things in the prime universe. These include:
** An earlier (and much simpler) Stardate format.
** Kirk's father living long enough to see Kirk take command of the ''Enterprise'' in the Prime Reality.
** Scotty Prime formulating the equation for Transwarp Beaming.
** The apparent notion that no starship had ever embarked on a 5-year exploration mission before 2233.

** Kirk's father living to see Kirk take command of the ''Enterprise'' in the Prime Reality.
** What Kirk's parents did during their days as Starfleet officers.
** Scotty Prime formulating an equation for Transwarp Beaming.

** Carol Marcus' parents.

* ''[[Film/StarTrek Star Trek (2009)]]'' and ''[[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness Into Darkness]]'' while set in an AlternateTimeline to specifically avoid ContinuitySnarl, do add previously unknown information about characters and things in the prime universe. These include [[spoiler:Kirk Prime's father living to see Kirk Prime take command of the ''Enterprise'', What Kirk Prime's parents did as Starfleet officers, who Carol Marcus' parents were, Scotty Prime formulating the Transwarp Beaming equation and an earlier (and much simpler) Stardate format]].

* ''[[TheLionKing The Lion King]] 1 1/2'' offers a entirely different and quite humorous explanation to why the all the prideland animals bowed when Rafiki lifted newborn Simba. [[spoiler:Lets just say you don't want to be behind Pumbaa after a meal.]]

* ''[[TheLionKing The Lion King]] 1 1/2'' offers a entirely different and quite humorous explanation to why the all the prideland animals bowed when Rafiki lifted newborn Simba. [[spoiler:Pumba passes gas causing all the animals to faint]]

* ''[[TheLionKing The Lion King]] 1 1/2'' offers a entirely different and quite humorous explanation to why the all the prideland animals bowed when Rafiki lifted newborn Simba.

[[folder: Film]]

* ''Film/StarTrek'' (2009) and ''[[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness Into Darkness]]'' while set in an AlternateTimeline to avoid ContinuitySnarl, do add previously unknown information about characters and events in the prime universe. These include [[spoiler:Kirk's father living long enough to see Kirk take command of the Enterprise, what Kirk's dad did in his Starfleet days, who Carol Marcus' father was and an earlier (and much simpler) Stardate format]].

* The novel ''[[StarWars Death Star]]'' explains why the superlaser's firing sequence (which, when destroying Alderaan, had been activated quickly and systematically) is so slow and deliberate when it comes time to blow up the Rebel base. And after reading it, you will ''never'' look at the climax of Episode 4 in the same way again: [[spoiler:The gunnery officer responsible for it [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone suffered a nervous breakdown from sheer horror and remorse]] after the destruction of Alderaan, and [[HeroicSacrifice is desperately stalling for time on Red Squadron's behalf]] whilst [[DrivenToSuicide inwardly begging for death.]] It's one of the biggest TearJerkers in the Expanded Universe.]]