This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Erased From Existence: From YKTTW
INH: Slight correction on the Pendragon example. Everyone remembers the travelers after they are Ret Gone, not just the acolytes. In the first or second book, the police chief of Bobby's town talked about how he had dinner with his family once, and expressed bewilderment over how they had dissapeared. Besides, Mark and Courtney didn't become acolytes until long after Bobby dissapeared.
Ununnilium: Doesn't 1984 count as Unpersoned? I mean, the example uses that exact word!
- This happens to the Time Lords between seasons 26 and 27 of Doctor Who, leaving the Doctor the Last Of His Kind.
Gracie Lizzie: Pulled, it's a common misconception but no. They're just dead. The Doctor can't go back and save them because it would muck up time. But they weren't Ret Gonned. If they were then Captain Jack, Jabe, UNIT etc. wouldn't have heard of/remember the Time Lords. But they do.
- Is it sure that this isn't actually a case of Unperson?
No. They're magically erased from history.
Shire Nomad: So, to be clear, if they actually don't exist anymore because of magic, changes to the timestream, etc., it's this trope; if they do/did exist but there's no evidence they did because of some conspiracy or government action, they're an Unperson? If so, we need to move some examples. (Also, we need to decide where things fall if they do exist but no one remembers them due to magic/time-travel/etc.)
Zeta: I don't think erasure in The World Ends With You is a Ret-Gone. Erasure is just breaking down their soul into energy so they don't get to Ascend To A Higher Plane Of Existance and get into the afterlife. It doesn't mean they never existed in the first place. If it did, that would mean the only people who ever died would retroactively have to all ascend into Shinigami and/or Angels and there's no evidence of that. Not only that, but there are several people in the game who are erased and the other characters all clearly remember them. The only time they don't are cases of explicit Laser-Guided Amnesia.
Sotanaht Just swapped the Red Dwarf examples on Ret-Gone and Unperson, they both managed to be on the wrong page.
Peteman: Question: if applied Phlebotinum is used to make a person that existed only seem like they never existed, are they an UnPerson or a RetGone? They existed, but all knowledge of the person, including memories of those who knew them are now gone. Because the Star Gate example thrown in the Star Trek example seems to straddle that line.
Daibhid C: I was wondering that myself. Likewise the Sentry, who I notice is listed as both. I'd say it's Un-person, but it's not clear.
Tnvlsrule: Might it be worth adding a spoiler warning before the entire example section. It seems like this is a very spoiler-prone trope.
