Line #45 Main/Unreboot


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dmc4r5.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:Out with [[VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry the new]], back with [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 the old]].]]
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10	So, you have a classic film or series that is beloved by an entire generation. It has great critical acclaim, broke all sorts of box office records, and has a massively loyal and devoted fanbase. However, several years have now passed and someone decides that [[TheRemake a remake of it]] is a good way to cash in on its success. [[SettingUpdate By updating for a modern audience]] and [[MythologyGag adding references to the original]], it seems like it could be successful.
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12	Maybe the reboot doesn't ''quite work'', proving to be an AudienceAlienatingPremise to fans of the original and new viewers just aren't interested (again, for the same reasons). Perhaps the reboot is warmly received, but fans still want more from the original timeline. So, how do you rectify the situation?
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14	A sequel set in the same continuity that goes back to the roots of the original, while forgetting the remake ever happened. You bring back the original cast and continue the story while making loving {{Continuity Nod}}s to truly tap into nostalgia.
15
16	Forms of this include:
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18	* NonSerialMovie: It's not quite a reboot, but can also be an AlternateContinuity. Can sometimes be done to bring back well-loved characters, especially in {{Anime}}.
19	* NonLinearSequel: It's a sequel, but not in canon with the ContinuityReboot.
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21	----
22	!!Examples:
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
26	* After the ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' continuity was rebooted with ''Anime/DigimonAdventure2020'', the original continuity was continued with ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02TheBeginning''.
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29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* DC Comics with its ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' is considered as this due to the mediocre reception of its ComicBook/New52 initiative. However, rather than saying nothing that happened since the last reboot counts, it's a [[SoftReboot soft]] ''un-''reboot, "[[RetCon revealing]]" that some people and elements are more like their earlier selves than it appeared, and some characters formerly deemed not to exist just hadn't been encountered ''yet'' but are still there and ''also'' more like you remember than not.
31	* ''ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'' and ''ComicBook/InfiniteFrontier'' bring the Rebirth-era myth-arc to a close and restore not just the pre-New 52 continuity to canon, but ''all'' past continuity is merged into one, with BroadStrokes employed to make it all work. Generally in practice, continuity tends to bow closer to pre-New 52, but with characters introduced in the New 52 era kept and their history tied into the pre-existing continuity.
32	* The "Retroboot" of ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', which not only returned to the original Legion continuity after two hard reboots, but also undid the softer reboot of the "Five Years Later" era to create something more like if the Bronze Age Legion had just kept happening and been modernized. For added measure, it kept the Reboot and Threeboot Legion continuities by explaining they actually occurred in alternate realities, the destroyed Earth-247 and the still existing Earth-Prime.
33	* When ''ComicBook/RogueTrooper'' was rebooted in 1990, he was replaced with a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute named Friday, who survived a similar massacre of his fellow [[SuperSoldier G.I.s]]. Things got really messy when both continuities were merged, which eventually led to the original Rogue being [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off]]. After Friday's story was finally concluded and the entire Tor Cyan solo stories that emerged from SpinOff ''ComicBook/MercyHeights'' were done, Gordon Rennie began penning new stories set during the original Rogue's hunt for the [[BigBad Traitor General]].
34	* ''ComicBook/SensationComicsFeaturingWonderWoman'': "Vendetta" by Josh Elder seems to take place in a never reached point in the ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'' (Post-Crisis) continuity, where ''ComicBook/AmazonsAttack'' never happened and instead things played out in a trajectory that made sense with the plot Creator/GregRucka had been building before the story got derailed by [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis events outside of]] Franchise/WonderWoman's book.
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36
37	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
38	* The 2009 remake of ''[[Film/ChildrenOfTheCorn2009 Children of the Corn]]'' was followed by ''Film/ChildrenOfTheCornGenesis'', a film which appeared to be set in the original continuity that began with the 1984 version of ''[[Film/ChildrenOfTheCorn Children of the Corn]]''. Oddly, ''Genesis'' was then followed by ''Film/ChildrenOfTheCornRunaway'', a sequel to the 2009 remake, which was in turn followed by another remake, ''Film/ChildrenOfTheCorn2020''.
39	* ''Film/DeathRace2000'' got the DarkerAndEdgier remake, ''Film/DeathRace'' in 2008. After two ''Death Race'' straight to [=DVD=] prequels, a sequel to the original called ''Death Race 2050'' came out in 2017.
40	* ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' is the third film in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' continuity, which started with 1984's ''Film/{{Ghostbusters\|1984}}''. This comes after the underwhelming results of 2016's ''Film/{{Ghostbusters\|2016}}'', which was a ContinuityReboot. It even makes a point of parroting the 2016 version's line about "there hasn't been a ghost sighting in 30 years" as if to say, in no uncertain terms, that the 2016 version never happened and ''this'' is ''Ghostbusters 3'' for all intents and purposes (or ''4'' if you count [[VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame the video game]]). Even more notable, the son of Creator/IvanReitman, Creator/JasonReitman, is the one who took charge of the film.
41	* The ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' franchise is an interesting case as it kind of {{downplayed\| trope}} it, then {{inverted\| trope}} it, [[ZigZaggingTrope and then played it straight]]. The series was [[invoked]][[WhatCouldHaveBeen initially intended]] to be an UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve-themed {{Anthology}} series with each film having a different story, which is why ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' dropped the Michael Myers storyline of the first two films. After ''H3'' bombed, Michael Myers was brought back [[VillainBasedFranchise for the rest of the franchise]] starting with ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers''. Then the inversion came with ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater'' and ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'' [[CanonDiscontinuity only canonizing]] the first two movies, but ''Resurrection'' flopped leading to a 2-part full ContinuityReboot by Music/RobZombie. Then it was done one more time with ''Film/Halloween2018'' being an alternate sequel to the original ''Film/Halloween1978'' that disregards not only [[Film/Halloween2007 the Rob Zombie reboot]] and [[Film/HalloweenII2009 its sequel]], but also all of the original film's other sequels.
42	* ''Film/TheMummy2017'' was supposed to begin the Film/DarkUniverse. It tanked, the Dark Universe was scrapped, and a year later, another direct-to-DVD ''Film/TheScorpionKing'' film was made, meaning the world of ''Film/TheMummyTrilogy'' is still the most recent iteration of [[Franchise/TheMummy this particular Universal monster]]'s world.
43	* ''Film/TheOmen'': After the film series was [[Film/TheOmen2006 remade]], ''Film/TheFirstOmen'', a prequel to the [[Film/TheOmen1976 original]], was made.
44	* Happens in-universe in the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' series with ''[[ShowWithinAShow Stab]]'', ''Scream''[='=]s fictionalized version of itself [[RippedFromTheHeadlines based on]] Gale Weathers' TrueCrime books. The ''Stab'' series became a FranchiseZombie starting with the fourth movie, which featured no returning characters from the first three because, after the third, [[FinalGirl Sidney]] sued the producers to stop them from exploiting her story any further. In [[Film/Scream2022 the fifth film]], we learn that ''Stab 8'', directed by Creator/RianJohnson, proved far more experimental and met such a furious fan backlash that [[spoiler:the killers, two {{Loony Fan}}s of ''Stab'', are actively seeking to erase it. Believing that ''Stab''[='=]s GloryDays were when it was BasedOnATrueStory, they seek to create what they call a "re-quel", a new Woodsboro killing spree featuring the first film's protagonists Sidney, Dewey, and Gale that, when adapted to film, would take the franchise back to its roots.]]
45	* Inverted with the Film/SupermanFilmSeries. After ''Film/SupermanIII'' and ''[[Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace IV]]'', planned reboots titled ''Superman Lives'' and ''Superman: Flyby'' didn't work out, so the next film, ''Film/SupermanReturns'', returned to the continuity of the [[Film/SupermanTheMovie first]] [[Film/SupermanII two]] films starring Creator/ChristopherReeve, ignoring the third and fourth. It itself was a disappointment, so the franchise was completely rebooted with ''Film/ManOfSteel''. The original timeline is still referenced in [[Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019 2019 TV adaptation]] of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', which has Earth-96 Superman-- Creator/BrandonRouth reprising his role as Superman, but now also the version of Superman from ''ComicBook/KingdomCome''-- commenting that (after [[ItMakesSenseInContext Lex Luthor uses the Book of Destiny to mind-control him into fighting with Earth-38 Superman]]) it's not the first time he's fought himself, referencing the events of ''Superman III''.
46	* ''Film/TexasChainsaw3D'' follows the original ''Film/{{The Texas Chain Saw Massacre\|1974}}'', ignoring the [[Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre2003 2003 remake]] and any other sequels.
47	* French film ''Les Visiteurs: Bastille Day'' was made 15 years after ''Film/JustVisiting'', the 2001 [[ForeignRemake American-produced remake]] of the original 1993 film ''Film/LesVisiteurs'', and ignores it. It is a genuine sequel to the 1998 sequel to ''Les Visiteurs'', ''Les Visiteurs II: The Corridors of Time''.
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50	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
51	* ''[[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 Battlestar Galactica]]'' creator Glen Larson wanted to make a second season that would start with Starbuck [[AllJustADream waking up from a dream]] where ''Series/Galactica1980'' happened.
52	* The ''Series/{{Chucky}}'' series shares continuity with the original ''Film/ChildsPlay'' movies and not the [[Film/ChildsPlay2019 2019 remake]].
53	* ''Series/CobraKai'' is a DistantSequel to the original ''Film/TheKarateKid1984''. The creators [[WordOfGod have confirmed]] that all four of the original films are part of its canon, but ''Film/TheKarateKid2010'' is not, though it's not a case anymore as the crossover movie is set to be released in 2024.
54	* ''Franchise/EvilDead'': Several years after ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness'', the series got [[Film/EvilDead2013 a reboot]] with an all new cast starting the story from scratch... or so we thought. [[spoiler: The cameo by Bruce Campbell's Ash at the end kinda leaves it all up in the air.]] However, a few years later, the story returned to series protagonist Ash Williams with the TV series ''Series/AshVsEvilDead'', which featured none of the characters or scenarios from the remake film. WordOfGod always said the remake was a StealthSequel and there were hopes of a crossover movie where Mia met Ash or having her appear in the [=TV=] series but they never came to pass. ''Film/EvilDeadRise'' also featured a new cast but heavily implied that both the original trilogy and TV show and the 2013 film are still canon to it.
55	* Seven years after the original ''Franchise/PerryMason'' series starring Creator/RaymondBurr ended its run, ''The New Perry Mason'', starring Creator/MonteMarkham in the title role, had an unspectacular run of fifteen episodes from 1973-74. Over a decade later came the made-for-TV-movie ''Perry Mason Returns'', which brought back the surviving cast of the original series (including, above all, Raymond Burr) while disregarding the ''New'' reboot.
56	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': The [[Film/StarTrek2009 2009 reboot]] creates a new [[AlternateTimeline parallel timeline]] of movies (sometimes called the "[[Creator/JJAbrams Abramsverse]]"), but is still a very loose continuation of the events of the original timeline. Come 2017, the sixth live-action series of the franchise, ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', is set in the original "prime" timeline. ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', debuting in 2020, is set in it as well, although it's a sequel, not a prequel - and it ''does'' take into account events from the 2009 film that took place in the original timeline. ''Discovery'' would then confirm that the Abramsverse still exists alongside the Primeverse, with at least one crossing between the 'verses occurring as part of the Temporal Wars.
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59	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
60	* In 2004, ''[[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness World of Darkness]]'' was rebooted. However, in 2011 the original setting was given a new lease on life in the form of the 20th anniversary editions of Vampire, Werewolf, Mage and Wraith, which were later expanded upon with entirely new supplements. This proved so successful that in 2015 they not only announced that TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade would be getting a 5th edition, but that the rebooted continuity would have its name changed to ''TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness''. Not quite a straight example though, since Chronicles of Darkness remains its own distinct continuity and continues to get support.
61	* In 2014, ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer}}'' got a SoftReboot in the form of ''TabletopGame/WarhammerAgeOfSigmar'' but the original setting got a new lease on life thanks to ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammer''. This eventually lead to the announcement of ''Warhammer: The Old World'' in 2019, though ''Age of Sigmar'' will continue to be expanded upon.
62	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
63	** When Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast launched ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFourthEdition'', in addition to an assortment of drastic rules changes, the decision was also made to effectively turn the edition into the UltimateUniverse of ''Dungeons and Dragons'': the "base" setting was switched from ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}'', which had been the presumed core of both editions of ''Advanced D&D'' through to ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'', to a completely new setting called the ''TabletopGame/NentirVale''; TheMultiverse of the Great Wheel was replaced by the new World Axis cosmology; and in general the game's lore was rewritten to sharing only BroadStrokes with what came before, as opposed to the "build up, expand and sometimes RetCon" approach that had characterized the lore shifts from 1st to 2nd to 3rd edition. The result was incredibly controversial, and the subsequent ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition'' actively marketed itself as a return to the original lore, which made it hugely successful... although, ironically, it would also begin heavily {{retcon}}ning its own lore after its initial debut, and by the end of 2021 would be as different from 3rd edition as 4th edition had been when it came to lore.
64	** The ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' setting underwent a drastic lore shakeup during the shift from 3rd edition to 4th edition. The timeframe was advanced to a full century after a magical apocalypse known as the Spellplague drastically altered the cosmology and the landscape. This proved so unpopular that a new magical catastrophe called the Sundering was introduced to effectively retcon the setting back to being as close to what it looked like in 3rd edition as possible for 5th edition.
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66
67	[[folder:Video Games]]
68	* After ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', the next entry was a reboot called ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'' with an entirely new take on the ''Devil May Cry'' mythos by a different developer. The next game after ''[=DmC=]'' was ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', with the original continuity, characters, and developers, only a making a few [[MythologyGag references to]] and [[RetCanon gameplay elements taken from]] the reboot continuity.
69	* ''VideoGame/Doom3'' reset the original ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' series' canon to start over fresh. While ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' initially appeared to be another reboot, its direct sequel ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' reveals that the ''2016''-verse is actually a StealthSequel to the classic games, with [[spoiler:the original Doomguy eventually dropping out of Hell and onto Argent D'Nur sometime after the events of ''VideoGame/Doom64'', where he was taken in by the Night Sentinels and eventually [[TookALevelInBadass remade into the even more powerful and badass Doom Slayer]]]].
70	* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonIV'' was a direct sequel to the original ''Franchise/DoubleDragon'' trilogy (specifically based on the NES versions of the game rather than the arcade originals) released in 2017, almost 26 years after ''Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones'' was released on the NES. The series wasn't exactly dormant during those years, as there were plenty of pseudo-reboots and remakes of the first game released in-between. This created a bit of a SequelNumberSnarl, while there was never an official "Double Dragon IV" prior to 2017, the SNES game ''Super Double Dragon'' was mostly considered to be fourth game for many years, since there was a later U.S.-developed fighting game tie-in to the [[WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon1993 animated series]] titled ''Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls'', but neither game were set in the continuity of the original trilogy.
71	* The ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' trilogy (itself a reboot of the original ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia1'' series) was followed by a reboot, ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008'', which performed poorly, so the next game, ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheForgottenSands'', returned to ''The Sands of Time'' continuity as if the reboot never happened.
72	* Several ''Franchise/TombRaider'' spinoffs -- ''VideoGame/LaraCroftAndTheGuardianOfLight'' and its sequel, ''Lara Croft: Relic Run'', and ''VideoGame/LaraCroftGO'' -- use the character design and voice actress from the first Crystal Dynamics era despite being released after [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 the 2013 reboot]]. The reboot's continuity remained active however, and its entries retain considerably higher budget.
73	* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016'' is either this or an aversion, depending on who you talk to. Two-thirds of the game is a direct Remake of ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2002'', but the other third of it (as well as the overall universe and the context it all takes place in) is taken from [[WesternAnimation/RatchetAndClank the movie]], giving it a Reboot flavor. On the one hand, despite fans clamoring for a similar remake of ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'', the next Ratchet game was ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankRiftApart Rift Apart]]'', which returned to the universe of the [=PS2=] and [=PS3=] games, fitting this trope perfectly. On the other hand, the 2016 game entered development well after the movie it's based on did, making it much closer to a one-off LicensedGame similar to ''VideoGame/StreetFighterTheMovieTheGame''.[[note]]The fact that Creator/InsomniacGames made the 2016 game makes it even muddier: the gameplay is so authentic to the previous titles that it feels more like a Reboot than a licensed game.[[/note]]
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76	[[folder:Visual Novel]]
77	* In the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' was meant to be a SoftReboot of the series after the conclusion of the [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Phoenix]] [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyJusticeForAll Wright]] [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations trilogy]]. It takes place after a TimeSkip, features a new protagonist in Apollo, has a mostly new cast with very few returning characters, and is a little bit DarkerAndEdgier than Phoenix's wacky antics. Fan reception was mixed. The next mainline game, ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', while still taking place post-timeskip, brings back Phoenix as the main character, brings back more trilogy-era characters, the tone is more in line with the old games, and generally tries to distance itself from ''Apollo Justice''. Ironically, ''Dual Destinies'' is now seen as one of the weaker entries in the series while ''Apollo Justice'' has been VindicatedByHistory and many think it deserves a proper continuation, which it sort of got in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice''.
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80	[[folder:Western Animation]]
81	* [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with ''WesternAnimation/BlinkyBill''; the 1990s animated series got a [[AllCGICartoon CGI reboot]] in 2015, with a new TV series the following year. Despite the reboot's sizeable marketing push, the new movie and series [[BrokenBase angered many fans of the original]], so modern merchandise has recently gone back to using the more-widely accepted 1990s designs of the characters.
82	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': After the poor reception to the live-action TV movies and the ''Series/TheFairlyOddparentsFairlyOdder'' spinoff, a direct sequel to the original cartoon was announced for Creator/{{Netflix}}.
83	* After the 2014 ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite'' series failed to make an impression due to poor marketing, later merchandise for the franchise went back to the more-well known 1980s designs for the characters.
84	* After the critical failure of ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' spin-off/reboot series ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTalesInTheHouse'' (which made a number of changes to the show that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks nobody, especially the show's fanbase, appreciated]]), the series was rebooted a second time in the form of ''WesternAnimation/TheVeggieTalesShow'', which scrapped the characters' controversial redesigns in favor of updated versions of their more familiar "classic" designs and ignored the changes made in ''In The House'' in favor of going back to the original show's roots. The only references to ''In The House'' that have been made since have been the occasional cameo of characters introduced during that show (and even then they have pointedly never been any of ''In The House''[='s=] ''many'' [[TheScrappy scrappies]]), redesigned to match the show's normal art-style.
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Context Main / Unreboot