A Mythology Gag is a reference to past iterations of a work that are explicitly not Canon to the work in question. A meta-Continuity Nod, if you will. Often seen in Reboots or Series Franchises when an element from the previous version is referenced or seen in some way, usually as an acknowledgment to fans of earlier incarnations. When successful, it serves as a reassurance to those fans that the producers aren't trying to disrespect the original source material. When unsuccessful, it only reminds fans that the original source material essentially never happened.
This trope is usually taken largely as a bit of gratuitous humor, since if the program you're watching is "real" then the characters shouldn't be thinking in terms of any continuity, alternate or otherwise. Sometimes this will be lampshaded by the characters, who wonder how they could possibly know such a thing. Also, the Celebrity Paradox might come into play.
See Remake Cameo for when the Mythology Gag involves actors from the original production. Compare to: Continuity Nod, Discontinuity Nod, Recurring Element, I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine, Actor Allusion, Continuity Cameo, Company Cross References, Ascended Meme, Meet Your Early Installment Weirdness (when taken a step further) and Shout-Out. Contrast Development Gag, which references things that would have been part of the work but were left out halfway through production, and Early-Bird Cameo.
Remember, it's only this if the events happened in a different continuity. Otherwise, it's a Continuity Nod or a Call-Back.
Example subpages:
- Anime & Manga
- Card Games
- Comic Books
- Fan Works
- Films — Animation
- Films — Live-Action
- Literature
- Live-Action TV
- Music
- Pinball
- Radio
- Tabletop Games
- Theatre
- Toys
- Video Games
- Web Original
- Webcomics
- Western Animation
Other examples:
- The Sistine Chapel, the physical building itself, has the same dimensions (40.9 meters long by 13.4 meters wide) as the Temple of Solomon does in The Bible. This reinforces one of the main theses of the Chapel: to demonstrate that the Christian tradition flows directly from the teachings of Judaism.
- Statius begins The Achilleid by praying to Apollo to give him more inspiration after using it all up of writing about Thebes, referencing the first epic he wrote.
- Occasionally done during Escape from Vault Disney! in reference to Some Jerk with a Camera episodes and other videos on Tony's YouTube channel:
- When they are disgusted at Sandra Bullock's character dipping an Oreo in milk her cat just drank in While You Were Sleeping, Kit speculates this is where the cat flu from Escape from Tomorrow started, something that was frequently mocked in Tony's review of the latter film.
- In the podcast discussing the Lesley Ann Warren episode of The Muppet Show, Tony says that since the episode contains a segment with a ballet based on Beauty and the Beast, he'll probably have to co-review it with Kyle Kallgren someday.
- In the High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special episode, Chris wonders why this disposable special is on Disney Plus instead of the many better things that could be, leading to a reference to a recurring bit in Tony's "Top 15 Attractions That Closed in 2017 (And the First Couple Months of 2018)" State of the Parks video.
Tony: Well, what's the point in removing it?Chris: Well, in theme park terms, they had nothing to replace it with.- Tony describes the escape scene on the Death Star in A New Hope as when "Luke lassos that thing, and the princess kisses him and they swing off together", a reference to this 70's commercial
that was used in a couple of Tony's Star Wars-related vlogs to show how much discourse around the franchise has changed since the original movie's debut.
- The RiffTrax for Batman & Robin contains a joke pointing out the resemblance between Dr. Woodrue and a certain character from Rifftrax's spiritual predecessor...
Bill Corbett: (as Woodrue) Yes! Now to achieve my lifelong dream of launching a man into space and forcing him to watch really bad movies!
- The Rifftrax for the first X-Men movie has a Call-Back to a joke from Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Mike Nelson: She wandered into Thunderdome!
Bill Corbet: Mike...
Mike Nelson: (realizing) Oh. Oh no...
Bill Corbet: Mike... can't we get beyond Thunderdome?- Even funnier as the exchange being referenced was in one of the last sketches between Mike and Crow as played by Trace Beaulieu, not Bill Corbett.
- The Rifftrax for Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope has a throwback to a Running Gag on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode Space Mutiny, one of the most popular episodes.
Han Solo: Chewie! Get us outta here!!
Bill: Kalgan, take me away!- Not necessarily a throwback, because there is a real product (Calgon) with this slogan.
- Bill Corbett comments of Anakin and Palpatine in the theater in the Rifftrax for Revenge of the Sith:
- Bill also comments on X-Men's setting of "The Not-Too-Distant Future".
Bill: Huh, that seems familiar...
- In D-War, a deep voiced villain asks for help. Leading to "Zap Rowsdower, is that you?"
- The Rifftrax for the first X-Men movie has a Call-Back to a joke from Mystery Science Theater 3000.
- Albeit briefly, Animated Inanimate Battle pulled one off in the show's intro. As a nod to its pilot episode, Brain and Bouncy Ball can be seen playing poker, with the same Early Installment Weirdness that can be seen in the pilot.
- Minilife TV: The show Ian watches on the TV in the episode "Starsaber Duel" is Terry Serpent's Swimming Spectacle from Chris Salaises' old YouTube channel, chris14S.
