Editing Retroactive continuity (section)

==Types==

===Alteration===
Retcons sometimes add information that seemingly contradicts previous information. This frequently takes the form of a character who was shown to have died but is later revealed to have somehow survived.  This is a common practice in [[horror film]]s, which may end with the death of a monster that goes on to appear in one or more sequels. The technique is so common in [[superhero]] comics<ref name="Leith"/> that the term "[[comic book death]]" has been coined for it.

An early example of this type of retcon is the return of [[Sherlock Holmes]], whom writer [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] apparently killed off in "[[The Final Problem]]" in 1893,<ref name="retgame" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Doyle|first1=Arthur Conan|last2=Eastman|first2=David|title=The Final Problem|date=1984|publisher=Edward Arnold|location=[[Caulfield East, Victoria]]|isbn=089375613X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/finalproblem00east}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2016}} only to bring him back, in large part because of readers' responses, with "[[The Adventure of the Empty House|The Empty House]]" in 1903.

The character [[Zorro]] was retconned early in his existence. In the original 1919 novel, ''[[The Curse of Capistrano]]'', Zorro ends his adventures by revealing his identity, a plot point that was carried over to the 1920 film adaptation ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1920 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]''. In order to have further stories starring Zorro, author [[Johnston McCulley]] kept all the elements of his original story, but retroactively ignored its ending.

One notable example is [[Isaac Asimov]]’s 1950 [[fixup]] novel ''[[I, Robot]]'', a collection of [[science fiction]] short stories originally published in ''[[Super Science Stories]]'' and ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]]'' from 1940 to 1950. Compiled into a single publication by [[Gnome Press]] in 1950, the collection features a [[framing sequence]] in which the stories are told to a reporter by Dr. [[Susan Calvin]], chief [[Robopsychology|robopsychologist]] at [[U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men]], Inc. Changes necessary to fit the new version included the name of the company (originally the Finmark Robot Corporation), new, earlier references to the [[Three Laws of Robotics]], and new interpolated scenes featuring Dr. Calvin herself.

The TV series ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'' annulled its entire ninth season as just the dream of one of its characters, [[Pam Ewing]]. Writers did this to offer a supposedly plausible reason for the major character of [[Bobby Ewing]], who had died onscreen at the end of season eight, to be still alive when actor [[Patrick Duffy]] wanted to return to the series. This season is sometimes referred to as the "Dream Season" and was referred to humorously in later TV series such as ''[[Family Guy]]'' and ''[[Community (TV series)|Community]]'' as a "gas-leak year". Other series such as ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'', ''[[Newhart]]'', and ''[[Roseanne]]'' employed the same technique.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvacres.com/signoffs_finales_elsewhere.htm|title=TV ACRES: Quotations > Signoffs > Classic Series Finales > St. Elsewhere|access-date=August 9, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913144744/http://www.tvacres.com/signoffs_finales_elsewhere.htm|archive-date=September 13, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="austin">{{cite web |title=TV Eye |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A528353 |work=[[The Austin Chronicle]] |accessdate=2009-03-09 |date=1997-06-05|last=Moser|first=Margaret}}</ref>

===Subtraction===
Unpopular stories are sometimes later ignored by publishers, and effectively erased from a series' continuity. Later stories may contradict the previous ones or explicitly establish that they never happened.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} In television, when a character is subtracted with a retcon, this is often known as "[[Chuck Cunningham syndrome]]," after a character from the series ''[[Happy Days]]'' that was retconned out of existence shortly through the series run,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abramson |first=Dan |date=June 17, 2010 |title=The 13 Most Ridiculous Sitcom Mysteries Of All Time (PHOTOS) |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/17/the-most-ridiculous-sitco_n_541532.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404012114/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/17/the-most-ridiculous-sitco_n_541532.html |archive-date=April 4, 2017 |access-date=April 20, 2020 |website=Huffington Post}}</ref> or "going to Mandyville," after [[Mandy Hampton]], a character that suffered a similar fate in ''[[The West Wing]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dyer |first=James |title=15 things you didn't know about ''The West Wing'' |url=https://www.empireonline.com/west-wing/thingsyoudidntknow.html |access-date=June 21, 2022 |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]}}</ref>

Notable examples of subtractive retconning include ''[[Terminator: Dark Fate]]'' (2019)'','' which is a sequel to the first two ''Terminator'' films and ignores the events of every other film in [[Terminator (franchise)|the franchise]], and ''[[Halloween (2018 film)|Halloween]]'' (2018), which is a sequel to only the [[Halloween (1978 film)|original film]] and disregards all the other sequels.

Stories that involve [[time travel]] can be used to undo the events of poorly received installments. After ''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'' (2006) faced criticism for abruptly killing off characters such as [[Cyclops in other media#Film|Cyclops]] and [[Jean Grey (film character)|Jean Grey]], its sequel, ''[[X-Men: Days of Future Past]]'' (2014), features the character [[Wolverine (character)|Wolverine]] traveling back in time to 1973 to prevent an assassination that, if carried out, would lead to mutant extinction. The result of this is a new timeline where Jean and Cyclops never died.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_days_of_future_past/news/1930516/critics_consensus_x-men_days_of_future_past_is_certified_fresh/ |title=Critic Consensus: X-Men: Days of Future Past is Certified Fresh |date=May 22, 2014 |access-date=May 26, 2014 |last=Ryan |first=Tim |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140525043810/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/x_men_days_of_future_past/news/1930516/critics_consensus_x-men_days_of_future_past_is_certified_fresh/ |archive-date=May 25, 2014}}</ref>