Line #57 Main/ContinuityRebooter


1	Sometimes, creators want to give their long-running series a fresh start, so they decide to make a ContinuityReboot. However, they sometimes don't want to just make a completely new reality for their series, instead making the reboot an actual part of the continuing storyline. In cases like this, one tool the creators have is to use a character to explain the reboot. Hence, the Continuity Rebooter.
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3	A Continuity Rebooter is a character who, by some form of applied phlebotinum, causes either an AlternateContinuity to a work to be formed or the current continuity to be replaced with a new one. The character, whether intentionally or accidentally, changes his reality in such a way that the world becomes a fundamentally different place.
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5	%% WhatIf already adds a "?" after it, don't include it in the page
6	However, this trope doesn't refer to a character doing this as part of an {{Elseworld}} or WhatIf story, as those are non-canonical. It's also not any event which just lasts a little while and is eliminated with a SnapBack or the use of the ResetButton. A Continuity Rebooter must cause a long-lasting change in the series' continuity or create a long-lasting and well-explored alternate continuity to qualify, and that change must be part of the main canon. A series revolving around TimeTravel doesn't count, since, well, that is a fundamental part of the plot (so no, ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' isn't an example). However, a series that doesn't ''normally'' involve time travel and uses it as a device to change continuity would count if the change sticks.
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8	Another factor in a character being a Continuity Rebooter is that the ContinuityReboot is NOT a complete one. The previous continuity is not wholly discarded, simply modified radically. In fact, a major plot point common to Continuity Rebooters is that the Rebooter ''[[RippleEffectProofMemory remembers]]'' the previous reality. This also allows the series' creators to bring back fan-favorite characters and ideas from the previous reality to the new one, or even to bring the old reality back wholly (although never immediately). The new reality depends on the events of the previous one to exist, it's not invented wholecloth (like, say, an UltimateUniverse).
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10	A character is a Continuity Rebooter if:
11	* a ContinuityReboot or AlternateUniverse is formed,
12	* the reboot can be specifically attributed to the character's actions,
13	* the previous continuity is not wholly discarded and the new reality depends on events from the previous one, and
14	* the change sticks and is not immediately eliminated.
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16	Usually, the character's mucking with the series' continuity is the plot behind a CrisisCrossover, and he uses the TimeyWimeyBall or some kind of [[CosmicRetcon magic or cosmic plot device]] for the change. The character can alternatively be a RealityWarper who somehow changes his universe's events.
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18	'''MASSIVE spoilers to follow:'''
19	----
20	!!Examples:
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23	[[folder:Comic Books]]
24	* Creator/DCComics has had a few instances of a character using their powers to reboot the DC Universe's continuity, usually using a CrisisCrossover as the point for the changes to occur. The changes tend to be very long-lasting. Examples include:
25	** The Anti-Monitor during ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', which led to the first true reboot of the DCU. [[spoiler:He destroys TheMultiverse and all realities merge into one.]]
26	** [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] ends up causing alterations to the timeline in his efforts to try and remake the universe for the better during ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime''. Less extreme (and less well-received) than ''Crisis''.
27	** Hoo boy, Superboy Prime during ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', causing the second big reboot of the DCU and setting up [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo MANY]] [[ComicBook/SinestroCorpsWar a]] [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis later]] [[ComicBook/BlackestNight crisis]] [[ComicBook/BrightestDay crossover]]. [[spoiler:Basically the Anti-Anti-Monitor: TheMultiverse comes back.]]
28	** Either [[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]] or [[ComicBook/TrinityOfSinPandora Pandora]] in ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint\|DCComics}}'', leading to the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}''. Barry was the one to actually [[spoiler:merge the DCU with Creator/{{Wildstorm}} and Creator/VertigoComics timelines]], but it was Pandora that got him to do it.
29	*** It's eventually revealed in ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' and ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock'' that [[spoiler:Doctor Manhattan from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' is the one responsible for the New 52 timeline, and he is eventually convinced by Superman choosing to defend him from an enemy to undo most of the changes he's made to the history of the DC Universe.]]
30	** ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' has [[spoiler:Pre-''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime'' Parallax and Pre-''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint\|DCComics}}'' Superman volunteer to be sent to the past in place of the DoomedByCanon Pre-''Crisis'' Supergirl and Pre-''Crisis'' Barry Allen. This results in a dramatic change in the outcome of the first ''ComicBook/{{Crisis\|OnInfiniteEarths}}'', and now the original multiverse exists alongside the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'' multiverse]].
31	* Marvel has a few characters of this stripe too, although the changes are nowhere near as wide-ranging as [=DC=]'s and are usually limited to alternate continuities, with a few exceptions:
32	** Legion in ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse''. [[spoiler:Legion travels back in time to kill Magneto, but kills ''Professor Xavier'' instead. The resultant world's... [[CrapsackWorld not a nice place]].]]
33	** Onslaught and Franklin Richards in ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn''. [[spoiler:Onslaught apparently kills the major heroes of the Marvel U, but Franklin Richards actually uses his powers to transport them to an alternate reality, then brings them back.]]
34	** Scarlet Witch in ''ComicBook/HouseOfM'', causing the Decimation of the mutants, which is the cause of many following events in the Marvel U.
35	** Mephisto ([[AudienceAlienatingEra to MANY a fan's consternation]]) in ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' rewrites reality so that Peter Parker and Mary-Jane Watson were no longer married.
36	** The Beyonders [[spoiler:and Doctor Doom]], during the Infinity event set up a cataclysm that threatened to destroy the entire multiverse, which culminates in the next Secret War. The multiverse gets reconstructed by a collaboration of Franklin Richards and his father Reed Richards channeling the power of the Molecule Man.
37	* Sonic and Dr. Eggman become this in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''. Eggman is the one who makes the initial changes ("Sonic: Genesis", ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'') and Sonic's the one to put it back. However, both times Sonic does it, he messes something up (the second time wasn't his fault, though - Eggman interfered.)
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40	[[folder:Film]]
41	* ''Film/StarTrek2009'': Spock and Nero. Spock's failure to prevent a massive NegativeSpaceWedgie from forming causes him and Nero to go back into the past, creating an AlternateTimeline that runs parallel to the original. Every change from the original continuity to the rebooted continuity is attributed to Nero's late-24th century Romulan cargo ship showing up in the early 23rd century, which only happens due to Spock's failure to save Nero's planet.
42	* Wolverine in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast.'' His warnings led Professor X and Magneto to stop Mystique from causing the DOFP timeline... but doing so ''before'' the days of the original trilogy mean that the ''present'' changes as much as the future. Most notably, everything fans disliked about ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' never happened, overlapping with AuthorsSavingThrow.
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45	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
46	* Similar to the comics counterpart, in ''Series/TheFlash2014'' Barry goes back in time to save his mom, resulting in the Flashpoint timeline. This version is LighterAndSofter instead of the utter hell of [[ComicBook/FlashpointDCComics the comics version]], and he only restores time when Wally West is mortally wounded. He restores an altered version of reality, causing changes in the lives of the people around him (yes, they learn. Yes, they take it about as badly as you think.) And, as in the comics, Barry learns that ''everything'' isn't his fault (though it's not quite to the extent of "a totally unrelated reality-warping character really did it" like the comics. Rather, when we learn Savitar's deal it's clear it would have happened anyway, and just because Barry didn't ''know'' of Caitlin's AnIcePerson powers until after the reset doesn't mean for sure that it's the cause of her stint as Killer Frost. With things like this he learns to let go of ItsAllMyFault mode and accept the current world.)
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49	[[folder:Video Games]]
50	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': The "Hero of Time" Link from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' is retroactively revealed to be one in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and the ''Literature/HyruleHistoria''. The bulk of the story for ''Ocarina of Time'' takes place in a timeline where Ganondorf takes over and ravages Hyrule until Link and the Sages [[SealedEvilInACan trap him in the Sacred Relam]]. Afterward, Princess Zelda sends Link back in time to his childhood so that he can live it out properly and peacefully. Link uses the opportunity to preemptively warn Zelda and the King about Ganondorf's EvilPlan, leading to the attempted execution of Ganondorf and his imprisonment in the Twilight Realm. In the original timeline, Ganon breaks out of the Sacred Realm, but now there's no Hero to stop him, so the gods flood Hyrule to keep it out of his hands, leading to the events of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''.
51	* Raiden in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9''. At the end of ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', Shao Kahn is triumphant, and the universe is headed for destruction. In a last act of godly influence, Raiden sends messages to his past self to try and avoid the BadFuture. This explains how the game is a remake of the first three games, yet a proper sequel at the same time.
52	** However ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' reveals that Kronika, the Goddess of time in the MK universe, has actually been doing this ''several times'' even way before the events of the first game [[spoiler: largely as a way to turn Raiden and Liu Kang against each other as the two are the major threats to her plan to create a universe how she wants it, even stating that in some cases Raiden finding out in previous timelines hasn't deterred her. However in this reiteration Raiden gives up his god power to Liu Kang (the one that got pulled from the past, not the one in this timeline who turned evil when he became a revenant) who proceeds to (canonically) defeat Kronika and take control of the hourglass. This time intending to make a new timeline without her influence, thus being the rebooter for the [[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 next installment]].]]
53	* Shu Shirakawa in ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden]]''. His Neo Granzon causes the heroes to travel through time thousands of years, resulting in the world being a wasteland (as the heroes were not there in the past to save it).
54	* Tatsuya in ''Videogame/Persona2''. At the end of ''Innocent Sin'', the world is on countdown to the apocalypse, and Philemon offers the main characters the chance to have their memories erased and time rewound to avoid it. However, Tatsuya, at the last second, relents on losing the memories of his comrades, and so the continuity of ''Eternal Punishment'' forms, in which Tatsuya is the only one who remembers what happened in ''Innocent Sin'' and Nyarlathotep has another chance at destroying the world.
55	* Serge in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. When young, he was attacked by a panther, and at that moment the universe split in two: his current reality and another reality in which he died from the panther's attack. A big part of the game's plot is WHY he's so important to both universes that his near-death experience causes such a dissonance between them. [[spoiler: He also reboots the events of ''Chrono Trigger'', as his existence and actions actually cause Crono and his friends' actions in the first game to have been all in vain.]]
56	* Lezard Valeth in ''Videogame/ValkyrieProfile2Silmeria''. You actually discover in the game that the Lezard you've been using is actually the previous game's Lezard, who traveled back in time to put his plan to make Lenneth his into motion from MUCH further back than in the original timeline, hence the game is already a reboot from the moment you start playing. Even Lenneth herself eventually appears and mentions how Lezard's causing changes in the timeline, and joins the past heroes in an attempt to stop him.
57	* AZ from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' is revealed to be this in ''[[Videogame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]''. His use of the Ultimate Weapon is implied to have created an alternate timeline, one in which he did and Mega Evolution exists (Generation VI and onwards), and one where he did not and it doesn't (pre-Gen VI). ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' reinforces this as [[spoiler:Anabel (who appeared in ''Pokémon Emerald'' but not the remakes) explicitly comes from another universe (and her battle music is ripped straight from ''Emerald'', implying she comes from the original universe)]].
58	* Johnny Gat in one of the endings of ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'' where he [[spoiler:asks God to retcon the universe so that the Earth was never destroyed, the result being an AlternateTimeline where the Saints don't exist and Johnny, Kinzie, and Matt are cops]]. The Spin-Off game ''VideoGame/AgentsOfMayhem'' takes place in this timeline.
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61	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
62	* A recurring element within the ''VisualNovel/ShinzaBanshoSeries'' is that each major entry ends with someone rising to the Throne and becoming the new ruling God of the multiverse after the old one has been slain, followed by its complete reformation according to whatever law the new God craves. As a result, each entry tend to be vastly different in setting, tone and style or even genre with very little to do with the other entries. In general, this rule tend to be the one constant. As of this writing, Nerose Satanel, [[VisualNovel/DiesIrae Marie]], [[VisualNovel/KajiriKamuiKagura Hirume]] and [[Literature/AvestaOfBlackAndWhite Magsarion]] are those that have been shown to have accomplished this, while Mithra, Mercurius and Hajun did so off-screen.
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Context Main / ContinuityRebooter