History DependingOnTheWriter / ComicBooks

* ComicBook/PoisonIvy's eating habits are not set in stone. Despite fanon, it's never been implied that Ivy doesn't need to eat due to her plant hybrid nature. One comic depicts her as near always having an empty plate, but an issue of the comic clearly shows her eating soup. Sometimes Poison Ivy is a vegan but sometimes she refuses to eat plants because she considers it murder.

*** Is Harley a psychologist or a psychiatrist? In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' she was a psychologist, but the comics have zigzagged between the two. Granted, this one is most likely because ''most people'' don't know that these are separate professions. [[note]]Psychologists are individuals trained in various behavioral disciplines and treat patients through therapy sessions, while psychiatrists are medical doctors trained to diagnose and treat mental disorders medicinally. To put it simply: a psychologist tells you sit on a chaise longue and talk to them once a week, while a psychiatrist tells you to take some pills and call them in a month.[[/note]] There's also the question of 'why'' she studied psychology in the first place, and how she got through school. Her original backstory from ''Mad Love'' depicted her as [[SextraCredit sleeping through college]] and only saw psychology as a way to make money as a talk show host. A later origin portrays her as being genuinely interested in the field and being more than capable of the work, but also being a BrilliantButLazy student who preferred blackmailing her teachers to boost her grades.

** How long Alfred's been a part of Bruce's life ComicBook/PostCrisis and subsequent adaptations. Some depicted him joining Thomas and Martha's employ when Bruce was a child, other show him working for the Waynes before Bruce was even born[[note]]Pre-Crisis, Bruce was raised by his uncle Philip after the parents' murder, and was already an adult, taken on the identity of Batman, and taken Dick under his wing when Alfred came to work for him[[/note]].
* Minor Catwoman opponent Cyber-Cat has appeared only a few times, but nobody can seem to agree on her motivation or whether she's actually evil or just arrogant. Is she simply trying to ensure her own technical skills are good enough? Is she a MadDoctor, or does she want to sell things to terrorists? Who knows?

*** Robotnik was also prone to [[PungeonMaster horrible egg puns]] in early issues, which became downplayed as he shifted into the dictator figure.

** Early strips written by Creator/MarkMillar place Sonic's home as the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Green Hill Zone]], while from the eighth issue onwards, Nigel Kitching placed it as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 the Emerald Hill Zone.]]
*** Millar's strips published after the change have been edited to also use the Emerald Hill Zone, as evidenced by a strip involving Sonic running around the planet in five seconds listing the Spring Yard Zone and Marble Zone as being on his path to the Emerald Hill Zone.

* ComicBook/SonicTheComic

** Early strips written by Mark Millar place Sonic's home as the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Green Hill Zone]], while from the eighth issue onwards, Nigel Kitching placed it as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 the Emerald Hill Zone.]]

*** Is Harley a psychologist or a psychiatrist? In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' she was a psychologist, but the comics have zigzagged between the two. Granted, this one is most likely because ''most people'' don't know that these are separate professions. [[note]]Psychologists are individuals trained in various behavioral disciplines and treat patients through therapy sessions, while psychiatrists are medical doctors trained to diagnose and treat mental disorders medicinally. To put it simply: a psychologist tells you sit on a chaise longue and talk to them once a week, while a psychiatrist tells you to take some pills and call them in a month.[[/note]] There's also the question of 'why'' she studied psychology in the first place, and how she got through school. Her original backstory from ''Mad Love'' depicted her as [[SextraCredit sleeping through college]] and making to make money as a television psychologist. An alternate origin portrays her as genuinely being interested in the career and being more than capable of the work, but also being BrilliantAndLazy, and so ended up simply blackmailing her teachers to boost her grades.

*** Is Harley a psychologist or a psychiatrist? In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' she was a psychologist, but the comics have zigzagged between the two. Granted, this one is most likely because ''most people'' don't know that these are separate professions. [[note]]Psychologists are individuals trained in various behavioral disciplines and treat patients through therapy sessions, while psychiatrists are medical doctors trained to diagnose and treat mental disorders medicinally. To put it simply: a psychologist tells you sit on a chaise longue and talk to them once a week, while a psychiatrist tells you to take some pills and call them in a month.[[/note]] ''Why'' was Harley a psychologist/psychiatrist in the first place? Her original backstory from ''Mad Love'' depicted her as [[SextraCredit sleeping through college]] (implying she couldn't get through it herself) and had her only become a psychologist so she could become a television psychologist and make money. Other interpretations however portray her as genuinely being interested in the career and being a genuine psychologist/psychiatrist who was led astray by the Joker. If Harley did sleep with her teachers, was it because the schooling was too hard, was she too lazy, or was she perfectly capable of doing the work but found it easier to manipulate her grades? The New 52 reimagined that aspect as her simply blackmailing her teachers.
*** It's almost always agreed upon that Harley is [[ObfuscatingStupidity smarter than she lets on]] but just ''how'' much and how sensible she can be varies greatly from story to story. She can be a DumbBlonde, a GeniusDitz, in reality her [[StepfordSmiler entire personality can be a facade]] [[BeneathTheMask that she changes depending on the situation]], or she could be anything in-between. Similarly, is she clinically insane or does she understand her actions?

*** How strong and physically capable is Harley? Above average for a gymnast or an outright BadassNormal with almost superhuman agility?

* Franchise/WonderWoman might as well be the patron saint of this trope. Every writer since the death of her creator in the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 '40s]] has wanted to tweak her, changing everything from her powerset to her origin. She was re-created in the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 1980s]] to stabalize the character, but every writer since has wanted to put their own stamp on her to the point where they flat out ignore what the previous writer has done with the character. Her revolving supporting cast and extraordinarily minor RoguesGallery are testaments to this.

** ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} tends to go from badass leader, to whiny emo-kid, to punchable [[CharacterDerailment asshat who treats his women like shit due to his constant infidelity]].

* Franchise/WonderWoman might as well be the patron saint of this trope. Every writer since her re-creation in the 1980s has wanted to put their own stamp on the character to the point where they flat out ignore what the previous writer has done with the character. Her revolving supporting cast and extraordinarily minor RoguesGallery are testaments to this.

** Cassandra Sandsmark (the second ComicBook/WonderGirl): Is she a confident CuteBruiser? Is she filled with Wangst and ill-tempered at the level of the AlphaBitch? Has she gotten over her boyfriend's (temporary) death or not? And is she the Tomboy or TheChick? Such writing inconsistencies have derailed her character practically since she became a Teen Titan, though she originally started out as TheScrappy when written by John Byrne. It took Peter David to deliver the first "fix" on her character, though Byrne decried it, along with the very idea that Cassie would ever join a superhero team. According to Byrne, she was not supposed to be "unique". Byrne would later become incensed by the revelation that Cassie's father was Zeus, as well as the idea that she would lose her virginity to ComicBook/{{Superboy}}.

** ComicBook/TheRiddler... Nerdy milquetoast with a debilitating gimmick who is considering not even worth killing by other members of Batman's RoguesGallery... or a suave, calculating and MagnificentBastard with an intellect possibly comparable to the Dark Knight himself? There's also the fact that some interpretations have him as hyperactive and rather reminiscent of the Joker (think [[Series/Batman1966 Frank Gorshin]] and [[Film/BatmanForever Jim Carrey]]), while others portray him as more of a smooth-talking, calm intellectual (think [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries John Glover]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman Robert Englund]]).

** Jason Todd/Robin II/Red Hood. Is he an AntiHero, an AntiVillain, or just a full-on villain? He has more interpretations than hair colors.
*** The varying changes in portrayal of Jason Todd goes all the way back to his days as Robin. After Post-Crisis some writers portrayed him in a sympathetic light as a character learning to come into his own while other writers such as Jim Starlin, who did not like Robin, intentionally wrote him in a negative light going against all the characterization he had.

* When Creator/ReneGoscinny was writing ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'', he kept Asterix himself as a fairly bland StandardizedLeader IdealHero character who was [[BoringInvincibleHero almost never wrong about anything]], and gave the CharacterDevelopment to TheLancer Obelix, who was a sweet, profound and adorably [[TheDreaded frightening]] take on a ManChild. When Creator/AlbertUderzo took over, Asterix got a lot of CharacterDevelopment and became more complicated and sympathetic, developed weaknesses and was no longer infallible, but at the same time Obelix was severely {{Flanderized}} into being significantly more stupid and selfish, and usually TheMillstone to boot. This is most noticeable in ''The Magic Carpet'', where Asterix almost fails on multiple occasions because he has to constantly babysit Obelix. On the bright side, Uderzo introduced a lot more memorable female characters than Goscinny managed to do (Bravura, Melodrama, Orinjade, Latraviata...) and fleshed out some of Goscinny's SpearCarrier and SatelliteLoveInterest female characters (like Fulliautomatix's wife and daughter, and Obelix's perennial love interest Panacea) into more well-rounded human beings.

** Just how much of a {{Jerkass}} Sonic is also comes down to this, with the main writers settling on a JerkWithAHeartOfGold persona that was common in UK media, while some {{Filler}} strips ramped it up to pure {{Jerkass.}}

* John Byrne's ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'' were (his protests to the contrary) well-{{Rounded Character}}s with depth and interest. After he quit, they rapidly went to being whiny losers and have never been portrayed consistently since, until they all died [[TheWorfEffect to show how powerful a random villain was]] (and pave the way for Omega Flight).
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' foe Batroc the Leaper was a borderline IneffectualSympatheticVillain who considered himself lucky to get in a hit on the good Captain on his first appearance, and a WorthyOpponent who gave Cap a very close match in a spectacular fight scene in his very next appearance. Ever since then, he's sort of sine-waved between HarmlessVillain and BadassNormal. In general, if he's in a serious story, expect him to be treated as among the best martial artists in the world, [[OvershadowedByAwesome held back only by the fact that he's fighting]] [[OneManArmy Captain America]]; if he's in a more comedic story, expect him to be a goofy PunchClockVillain who gets lucky on the days when he isn't laid out in one punch. Some writers have also claimed that his MauriceChevalierAccent is affected as part of his swashbuckler image, others have him even ''thinking'' in a thick FunetikAksent.

** His partner Eva Kant usually has a similar competence and outlook as whatever he is, to the point where they can be TheDividual, but in some older books would be reduced to a damsel in distress rather easily. In others she takes on a vigilante role to bring down particularly heinous criminals.

** ComicBook/TheRiddler... Nerdy milquetoast with a debilitating gimmick who is considering not even worth killing by other members of Batman's RoguesGallery... or a suave, calculating and MagnificentBastard with an intellect possibly comparable to the Dark Knight himself? There's also the fact that some interpretations have him as hyperactive and rather reminiscent of the Joker (think [[Series/{{Batman}} Frank Gorshin]] and [[Film/BatmanForever Jim Carrey]]), while others portray him as more of a smooth-talking, calm intellectual (think [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries John Glover]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheBatman Robert Englund]]).

** This is also a problem with ''ComicBook/CivilWarII''. One of the main problems is the characterization of [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Carol Danvers]]. Sometimes she's portrayed as a heroine who, despite the moral ambiguity of using a precog to stop potential crimes, is conflicted on if she's doing the right thing and relying on other heroes to help guide her in her path, not wanting to have anything like [[spoiler:the death of War Machine]] happen again. Other times, she's depicted as an authoritarian JerkAss who'd happily detain anyone and everyone who even idly dreams of a crime, making her conflict with [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] seem less like a conflict of morals and more of a morality-based dick-measuring contest.

* ''ComicBook/{{Thanos}} is a quite odd example of this. Jim Starlin portrays him as a great intellect with professorial dialogue who is greatly aware of the real workings of the universe and intended to make Thanos give up being a villain after Infinity Gauntlet, going from a cosmic destroyer obsessed with Death and mystical macguffins to a morally grey cosmic pilgrim; Ron Marz and Keith Giffen try to stay in line with his post-Infinity Gauntlet characterisation, writing him as a neutral force who acts out of curiosity and self-preservation; Jason Aaron's Thanos Rising, at the other end of the scale, suggests that he's simply a very powerful Serial Killer and even that his initial visions of death [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane were ambiguously hallucinations rather than the real thing]]. Most other writers simply use him as a scary and [[AdaptationalDumbass brutish]] cosmic villain.

*** From the earliest comics to Film/TheDarkKnightSaga to the various animated series, he's been portrayed as a HarmlessVillain, MagnificentBastard, TheMadHatter, AffablyEvil, FauxAffablyEvil, BoredWithInsanity, etc... listing everything he's been would warrant [[ComicBook/TheJoker its own section!]] It's probable that ''all'' of these are true. A text story by Creator/GrantMorrison in ''Batman and Son'', leading to the Joker's role in ''Batman RIP'', has him ''deciding'' it's time for a new persona and considering various options.