History Main / Revision

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' lampshades Tolkien's SuddenNameChange twenty years after his debut in "[[Recap/SouthParkS25E2TheBigFix The Big Fix]]": when Stan, acting as the AudienceSurrogate, asks why certain characters like Cartman would write Tolkien's name as [[TokenMinority Token]] beforehand, it's justified that Cartman is either too ''ignorant'' to know the proper spelling, or too ''racist'' to care. It just so happens that this explanation also perfectly works with Tolkien's teacher, Mr. Garrison, the ''other'' resident AngryWhiteMan. So, why did the ''audience'' assume his name was "Token"? [[PlayedForLaughs Because]] [[YouBastard we're ignorant racists, too]].

* The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[ContinuityReboot Reboot movies]] a.k.a. the "Kelvin Timeline" or the [[Creator/JJAbrams "Abramsverse"]]: ''Film/StarTrek2009'' establishes the new timeline branches off the original "prime" timeline after a TimeTravel alteration occurs in the opening scene meaning anything that happened before that alteration is still canonical to the new timeline. While the movies are set in that AlternateTimeline to avert ContinuitySnarl, they added previously unknown information about characters and things in the prime timeline.[[note]] Anything in the franchise before ''Film/StarTrek2009'' along with ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', and ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks''.[[/note]] These include, but are not limited to: The timeline's namesake USS ''Kelvin'', an earlier ''and much simpler'' stardate format, Jim Kirk's parents revealed to have been Starfleet officers, who [[Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan Carol Marcus']] father was, no official [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries 5-year missions]] having ever occurred [[Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness before 2233]], [[Film/StarTrekBeyond Spock's canonical date of birth]] (January 6, 2230), and the whereabouts of the long-lost [[spoiler:''[[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Enterprise]]''-era]] starship ''Franklin'' and it's former crew.

** In the Majin Buu arc, it's repeatedly stated that Kid Buu was created by Bibidi's magic. Years later, WordOfGod revealed that Buu has actually existed since the creation of the universe itself, and Bibidi merely summoned and tried(unsuccessfully) to control him. It's still quite possible that Bibidi actively ''claimed'' Buu was his creation, and with Buu being [[TimeAbyss so ancient]], and inactive long before their time, even the Supreme Kais would have had no other information on him.

* Since he's immortal and ageless, Makkari of ''Comicbook/TheEternals'' has been retroactively inserted into several points in Marvel history. It turns out that he was the Golden Age speedster heroes Mercury and Hurricane. He also served in the adventurer team, [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters the Monster Hunters,]] alongside [[Characters/{{Bloodstone}} Ulysses Bloodstone,]] [[Characters/Avengers80sMembers Doctor Druid,]] [[ActionGirl Zawadi]] of the [[Comicbook/BlackPanther Wakandas]], and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters Gorgilla]]. And he was a member of the pre-Fantastic Four superhero team the [[ComicBook/MarvelTheLostGeneration FirstLine.]]

** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' reveals that Vader is Luke's father, after Obi-Wan talked of Vader and his father as two different people in ''Film/ANewHope''. Sources differ on how concrete the idea was from the beginning, it is known early drafts of the script had Anakin Skywalker as a SpiritAdvisor to Luke before facing Vader and even a false line had Vader say "Obi-Wan killed your father." The twist still fundamentally works because Luke had no reason to think otherwise, while other lines about his father [[KuleshovEffect can be viewed in a different light with different context]]. ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' features a tough conversation between where Obi-Wan explains his statement was truthful FromACertainPointOfView.

A {{Retcon}} which ''adds'' to the {{Backstory}} without altering or contradicting any previously known information (from a ''factual'' point of view; it may still contradict the ''spirit'' of the earlier installment).

The introduction of a CousinOliver or LongLostUncleAesop is often a Revision, while ChuckCunninghamSyndrome is often a {{Rewrite}}. TheOtherDarrin may be either or both.

This often occurs in order to address a previous contradiction to continuity.

Compare and contrast with SeriesContinuityError. When done badly, it could end up being an AssPull. See also PseudocanonicalFic and RememberTheNewGuy.

''Series/DoctorWho'':

** This also means that all the clauses [[spoiler: weren't even a thing before Scott took on the mantle. All this clauses were made especially for Scott in his role as first human Santa, to help him fullfill the role. Especially the Mrs. Clause is revealed to have been made to make Santa have human offspring with magical powers.]]

* ''Series/TheSantaClauses': A lot of elements and issues around Scott becoming Santa that were implied in [[Film/TheSantaClause the original film trilogy]] are revisited here. Episode 5 especially "corrects" some previous thoughts. It isn't fully a {{Retcon}}, as the details of the magic and the legacy of Santa was never explored that much previously:

* ''Series/TheSantaClauses': A lot of elements and issues around Scott becoming Santa that were implied in [[Film/TheSantaClause the original film trilogy]] are revisited here. Episode 5 especially "corrects" some previous thoughts. It isn't fully a {{Retcon}}, as the details of the magic and the legacy of Santa was never explored that much previously:
** It's revealed that Scott [[spoiler: is actually the first ''human'' Santa. The Santas before him were all magical beings, just like the elves. So before Scott, there was no human recruited to become Santa.]]
** It's also revealed that the previous Santa falling from his house leading to Scott taking the mantle as shown in the first movie [[spoiler: wasn't a coincidence as Scott (and the audience) thought. The previous Santa ''planned'' the accident. Also, Scott was ''handpicked'' to be the first human Santa thanks to an exchange between him and Santa when he was still a boy which Scott forgot about. The previous films played Scott becoming Santa as a happy incident that made Scott a better person. This also explains why the elves weren't really shocked or moaning for the old Santa after Scott came as the new Santa in the first movie - they were aware of his arrival.]]
** This also means that all the clauses [[spoiler: weren't even a thing before Scott took on the mantle. All this clauses were made especially for Scott in his role as first human Santa, to help him fullfill the role. Especially the Mrs. Clause is revealed to have been made to make Santa have human offspring with magical powers.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' lampshades Tolkien's SuddenNameChange twenty years after his debut: when Stan, acting as the AudienceSurrogate, asks why certain characters like Cartman would write Tolkien's name as [[TokenMinority Token]] beforehand, it's justified that Cartman is either too ''ignorant'' to know the proper spelling, or too ''racist'' to care. It just so happens that this explanation also perfectly works with Tolkien's teacher, Mr. Garrison, the ''other'' resident AngryWhiteMan. So, why did the ''audience'' assume his name was "Token"? [[PlayedForLaughs Because]] [[YouBastard we're ignorant racists, too]].

* ''Series/CobraKai''. ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'' had Daniel [=LaRusso=] and his girlfriend Ali break up offscreen with Daniel telling Mr. Miyagi Ali had dented his car and dumped him for a football player at UCLA. The series, which is a DistantSequel, reveals [[spoiler:through Ali (who's having dinner with Daniel, his wife, and Johnny Lawrence) that the football player was actually an old family friend she was chatting with. Daniel caught the two talking and, assuming the worst, confronted her and Ali, upset he assumed she was flirting with the guy, egged him on. Meanwhile, it was actually ''Daniel'' who dented his car after he ignored Ali's warnings that the brakes were faulty. He lied to Mr. Miyagi to save face.]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':

[[folder:Machinima]]
* In the first season of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', Church talks about his time in Sidewinder, where Tex killed a slew of soldiers including one "Private Jimmy". This was later contradicted in The Recollection saga, with revelations about the Alpha AI and Project Freelancer. In season 14 episode "Why They're There" we learn [[spoiler: that Church never knew Private Jimmy. Poor Jimmy was lobotomized and had the Alpha AI implanted into his skull. Church's memories are an amalgamation of the Alpha and Jimmy's, which was why Church's recollections were later proven wrong.]]
[[/folder]]

** At the end of ''Birth by Sleep'', Aqua, one of the heroes, ends up lost in the Realm of Darkness, and remains stuck in the present day. However, during the first game, Mickey was exploring the Realm of Darkness himself. ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage'', reveals that Mickey did indeed run into Aqua and she even helped him up until his appearance durring the ending of the first game, where it turns out that Aqua was just off-screen dealing with Heartless, which end up dragging her back into the Realm of Darkness. When Riku calls Mickey and Yen Sid out for not talking about it before, they explain that they didn't want Riku or Sora to mount any reckless rescue attempts before they were strong enough and end up getting lost themselves.

* The First Line is this. Introduced in ''ComicBook/MarvelTheLostGeneration,'' they're a team of heroes created to fill the [[ComicBookTime ever-widening gap]] between the Golden and Silver Ages in Marvel Comics continuity. The limited series is deliberately written so that the earlier events are set solidly in the forties, fifties, and sixties, but the later events are deliberately left vague, to accomodate the fact that the Fantastic Four's space journey that officially marks the start of the Silver Age keeps getting set later and later. [[HeroicSacrifice Almost all of them died]] ''just before'' the FF's flight (this is not a spoiler; we learn it in their first issue). Most members are original creations, but the roster includes a few previously established characters who would have been active at that time, like [[Comicbook/{{Eternals}} Makkari of the Eternals,]] [[ComicBook/{{Inhumans}} Yeti of the Inhumans]], and (it's at least implied) the [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters Monster of Frankenstein.]]

* Since he's immortal and ageless, Makkari of ''Comicbook/TheEternals'' has been retroactively inserted into several points in Marvel history. It turns out that he was the Golden Age speedster heroes Mercury and Hurricane. He also served in the adventurer team, [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters the Monster Hunters,]] alongside [[Characters/{{Bloodstone}} Ulysses Bloodstone,]] [[Characters/Avengers80sMembers Doctor Druid,]] [[ActionGirl Zawadi]] of the [[Comicbook/BlackPanther Wakandas]], and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters Gorgilla]]. And he was a member of the pre-Fantastic Four superhero team the ComicBook/FirstLine.
* The ComicBook/FirstLine is this -- a team of heroes created to fill the [[ComicBookTime ever-widening gap]] between the Golden and Silver Ages in Marvel Comics continuity. The limited series is deliberately written so that the earlier events are set solidly in the forties, fifties, and sixties, but the later events are deliberately left vague, to accomodate the fact that the Fantastic Four's space journey that officially marks the start of the Silver Age keeps getting set later and later. [[HeroicSacrifice Almost all of them died]] ''just before'' the FF's flight (this is not a spoiler; we learn it in their first issue). Most members are original creations, but the roster includes a few previously established characters who would have been active at that time, like [[Comicbook/{{Eternals}} Makkari of the Eternals,]] [[ComicBook/{{Inhumans}} Yeti of the Inhumans]], and (it's at least implied) the [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters Monster of Frankenstein.]]

* The ComicBook/FirstLine is this -- a team of heroes created to fill the [[ComicBookTime ever-widening gap]] between the Golden and Silver Ages in Marvel Comics continuity. The limited series is deliberately written so that the earlier events are set solidly in the forties, fifties, and sixties, but the later events are deliberately left vague, to accomodate the fact that the Fantastic Four's space journey that officially marks the start of the Silver Age keeps getting set later and later. Almost all of them died ''just before'' the FF's flight (this is not a spoiler; we learn it in their first issue). Most members are original creations, but the roster includes a few previously established characters who would have been active at that time, like [[Comicbook/{{Eternals}} Makkari of the Eternals,]] [[ComicBook/{{Inhumans}} Yeti of the Inhumans]], and (it's at least implied) the [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters Monster of Frankenstein.]]

* The ComicBook/FirstLine is this -- a team of heroes created to fill the [[ComicBookTime ever-widening gap]] between the Golden and Silver Ages in Marvel Comics continuity. The limited series is deliberately written so that the earlier events are set solidly in the forties, fifties, and sixties, but the later events are deliberately left vague, to accomodate the fact that the Fantastic Four's space journey that officially marks the start of the Silver Age keeps getting set later and later.

* The ComicBook/FirstLine is this, a team of heroes created to fill the [[ComicBookTime ever-widening gap]] between the Golden and Silver Ages in Marvel Comics continuity. The limited series is deliberately written so that the earlier events are set solidly in the forties, fifties, and sixties, but the later events are deliberately left vague, to accomodate the fact that the Fantastic Four's space journey that officially marks the start of the Silver Age keeps getting set later and later.

* Since he's immortal and ageless, Makkari of ''Comicbook/TheEternals'' has been retroactively inserted into several points in Marvel history. It turns out that he was the Golden Age speedster heroes Mercury and Hurricane. He also served in the adventurer team, [[Characters/MarvelComicsMonsters the Monster Hunters,]] alongside [[Characters/{{Bloodstone}} Ulysses Bloodstone,]] [[Characters/Avengers80sMembers Doctor Druid,]] [[ActionGirl Zawadi]] of the [[Comicbook/BlackPanther Wakandas]], and [[Characters/MarvelUniverseMonsters Gorgilla]]. And he was a member of the pre-Fantastic Four superhero team the First Line.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Nearly every instance[[note]]Applejack was shown to have siblings from the start and Pinkie's sister Maud was a straight retcon[[/note]] of one of the mane cast having a sibling is one of these. In particular, the season 2 finale introduced Twilight's older brother, who had never been seen or mentioned before that point.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' lampshades Tolkien's SuddenNameChange twenty years after his debut: when Stan, acting as the AudienceSurrogate, asks why certain characters like Cartman would write Tolkien's name as [[TokenMinority Token]], it's justified that Cartman is either too ''ignorant'' to know the proper spelling, or too ''racist'' to care. This explanation also perfectly works with Mr. Garrison, the ''other'' resident AngryWhiteMan. Now, why the ''audience'' assume his name was "Token"? Because [[YouBastard we're ignorant racists, too]].

** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': The Future Trunks Saga alters the rule in ''[[Anime/DragonBallZ Z's]]'' Buu Saga that [[FusionDance Potara Fusion]] is permanent; Goku speculates that he and Vegeta split apart because [[YourMagicsNoGoodHere of the different environment inside Buu's body]]. Gowasu explains that it's only ''truly'' permanent when at least one of the fusees is a Supreme Kai; otherwise, the fusion [[HourOfPower only lasts one hour]]. It was merely a coincidence that Vegito defused immediately after Super Buu absorbed him.

* ''Manga/{{Shaman King}}'': How the BigBad Hao Asakura became evil. Whilst originally thought to have occurred simply due to the death of his mother and being abandoned by an oni whom he had befriended, two chapters in the side story manga ''Zero'' tell us ''exactly'' when he became evil as well as providing the origin of the name of the Asakura family since he started out life as Asaha Douji. He didn't turn evil right away, he had actually become ''neutral'' after both this event and witnessing the conditions of the population in the countryside. [[spoiler: He was then taken in by an onmyoji named Hamo Tadatomo, and befriended another apprentice name Daitaro. It all went to hell when it was revealed that Daitaro's apprenticeship had been used by their master and his supposed archenemy, whom he had been working with all along, to create a human-shikigami hybrid that everyone could see despite their power level. When this happened, Daitaro went on a rampage, and the revelation of Tadatomo's FreudianExcuse ''drove Hao mad''. He confronted Daitaro in a crazed state, proclaiming that if he failed to stop Daitaro, they could at least destroy everyone together. Hao won, and was given the name that most characters refer to him as by the emperor as a gift of gratitude.]]

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's SuperheroOrigin was [[{{Rewrite}} rewritten]] in ''Tales of Suspense'' #63 so that Steve Rogers had to drink the Super Soldier Serum instead of having it injected (due to the Comics Code Authority prohibiting demonstrations of drug use). The origin was subsequently subjected to revisions -- ''Captain America'' #109 had Steve exposed to Vita-Rays after drinking the formula, and ''Captain America'' #255 reintroduced the injection of the formula while retaining the oral dosage. Grant Morrison's run on ''New X-Men'' gave the origin yet another revision -- the project Steve participated in was actually a part of the Weapon Plus program, which was also responsible for the likes of {{Wolverine}}, thus retroactively making Captain America Weapon I.

* The ''Legends'' novel ''Literature/DeathStar'' explains why in ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV - Film/ANewHope'' 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 the movie 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 Franchise/StarWarsLegends, if not the entire franchise, canon or not.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', the position of Arbiter has been expanded greatly upon since its introduction in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', where it was simply described as being the Covenant's most elite enforcer, albeit one who is expected to die on the job. Later media clarified that the position is largely reserved for decorated Sangheili who nonetheless committed a major crime or "heresy" that they had to make up for with their lives. Even later, both ''Anime/HaloLegends'' and the ''Halo 2: Anniversary'' terminals revealed that the role of Arbiter not only predates the formation of the Covenant, but that it used to be a wholly esteemed rank until Arbiter Fal 'Chavamee committed heresy and turned it into the badge of both shame and respect that we see in ''Halo 2'' and ''VideoGame/HaloWars''.

** The first game implies that [[TheHero Sora's]] Keyblade is one-of-a-kind, and it's only at the end of the game when Mickey pulls out his own Keyblade he retrieved from the Realm of Darkness. Later games introduce [[TheChosenMany other keyblade wielders]], but the prequel ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' explains that the Keyblade is actually a power that can be bestowed upon others by current keyblade wielders, and while it's rarer in the present day, there used to be ''thousands'' of Keyblade wielders that fought against each other in a [[GreatOffscreenWar Keyblade War]].

* In ''VideoGame/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.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' is able to pull this off. In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', [[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 ShadowDictator 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. 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 [[spoiler:isn't an actual vampire.]]

* Done in ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', with a new achievement and a patch to change the game ending. The whole point is to set up ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''.

** One background character was originally drawn with a ridiculous number of pockets on his jacket, which Dan Shive only did because he thought it would look funny and he had no plans to develop the character. Later, when Dan choose the character to play a larger role in the story, it was revealed [[spoiler: that the character, Sam, is trans]] and in a bit of accidental FridgeBrilliance and [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowing]], wearing a jacket with a large number of bulging pockets was to help [[spoiler: disguise the fact he had a female figure]].

* 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 ''Ultimate Alien'''s "Moonstruck", which brings up small story elements taken from both previous series.
** ''{{WesternAnimation/Ben 10 Omniverse}}'' looks to be doing this as well, though they're doing it in such a manner that they're showing some of Ben's adventures ''pre''-timeskip.