History Main / AdaptationalIntelligence

* In the mystery novel ''The Decagon House Murders'', [[spoiler: Junya [[InSeriesNickname "Ellery"]] Matsuura]] is a textbook DecoyProtagonist who, despite spending the whole story trying to solve the case, draws completely the wrong conclusion and [[spoiler: is [[InTheBack backstabbed]] by the culprit immediately after blithely inviting them to go hunt for a non-existent true culprit together]]. In the book's official manga adaptation, however, [[spoiler: Ellery]] successfuly identifies the true culprit, using [[PercussivePickpocket Percussive Pickpocketing]] to take away their knife and delivering a lengthy [[TheSummation summation]] explaining how they knew that they were the true culprit and the false conclusion their novel counterpart drew was wrong. The only thing stopping them from ending the story ahead of schedule is [[spoiler: the culprit [[TamperingWithFoodAndDrink drugging their coffee]] ahead of time]].

* Many a rewrite in general for series featuring an IdiotHero protagonist, such as [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Ash Ketchum]] and [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Naruto Uzumaki]], tend to make them intelligent enough to be considered smart, but not geniuses.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' Barret Wallace gets very much gets this treatment compared to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII the original]] where he was a HotBlooded BigScaryBlackMan who acted impulsively and wasn't a particularly good leader compared to Cloud. Here Barret is much more methodical and wise, even showing excitment at the Shinra library. He's still agressive and violent but thinks with his brain rather than his muscles and gun arm.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' gives Leon Kennedy a good dose of this. In the original game FemmeFatale Ada duped him completely and utterly and Leon doesn't discover she's really an OnlyInItForTheMoney mercenary until ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. Here Leon while still having feelings for Ada, outright admits (after Annette told him the truth about Ada) that's actually known all along he couldn't trust her and didn't really believe her cover story about being FBI at all. This carried over to ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake'' as Leon actively treats Ada like a rattlesnake and pretty much doesn't trust anything she says, unlike the original where while more wary he was still caught up in her wiles and Ada didn't have try nearly as hard to get on his good side again.

* In ''Film/JurassicPark'', Lex is made older than she was in [[Literature/JurassicPark the book]] and given knowledge of computer systems. By contrast, her brother Tim was made younger and loses the computer systems scene, but maintains his knowledge of dinosaurs.

* George Gipe's infamous EarlyDraftTieIn novelization of ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' has Marty escaping detention by filtering sunlight through a projector lens which ignites a matchbook and sets off the sprinklers.

* ''Fanfic/TalesOfSonicTheHedgehog'': Taking from his [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics Archie depiction]] and his [[ComicBook/SonicTheComic Stc depiction]], Knuckles is a ChildProdigy and GeniusBruiser, able to pull off college-level math at age three. Furthermore, unlike the games and ''Anime/SonicX'', Knuckles is ''not'' SuperGullible or a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter. Once he learns the truth about Sonic and Robotnik during the events of ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', he is not so easily duped by the doc again; [[spoiler:while he ''does'' end up falling for one of Robotnik's tricks again during the ''Sonic Advance 2'' adaptation, it was a much more elaborate and convincing deception]].

* ''Fanfic/FamilyGuyFanon'':

** The entire team of ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' seems to be more intelligent compared to their counterparts from ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger''. This is because the Power Rangers are already experienced heroes by the series' start, while the Megarangers are [[RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude still in high school when recruited]].

* The Sporix beasts in ''Series/PowerRangersDinoFury'' are capable of speech, while their Minosaur counterparts from ''Series/KishiryuSentaiRyusoulger'' were mindless beasts who had an OneWordVocabulary at best.
** ''Dino Fury's'' BigBad, Void Knight, is a BadassBookworm who can both combat the heroes and [[MacGyvering make]] ingenious devices (like robotic henchmen and an energy transfer device) out of old scrap. His ''Ryusoulger'' equivalent Gaisoulg was more of a straightforward BloodKnight.

* The novelization to ''[[Film/TheLastJedi Star Wars: The Last Jedi]]'' says that Poe's ''Black One'' fighter has an intelligent computer with its own personality that can only communicate with BB-8.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', Penny was fooled by Clavell's PaperThinDisguise of Clive. In [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/43167658/chapters/108492955 Penny Saves Paldea]], Penny instantly recognizes who "Clive" is, sarcastically thinking [[PlayingWith/AndImTheQueenOfSheba ''And I'm Mega Diancie'']] when Clavell contacts her in his diguise, having paid attention to the fact that at the academy, Clavell's almost always the one making school announcements and just listening to "Clive's" voice and comparing the two.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* The ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'' version of one of the scientists in ''Film/SpiderMan3'' who ran the experiment that created the Sandman had the good sense ''not'' to continue the experiment and tells his co-workers to check after a change has been noted, not wanting to "mutate the crap out of something" because of their laziness.
[[/folder]]

** Similarly, the 1985 version of Catra was a run-of-the-mill henchwoman of the aforementioned boorish idiot; while the 2018 version schemes[=/=]works her way up from ordinary trooper, to field commander, to Hordak's 2IC, to functional power behind the throne in turn despite being barely out of her teens and skirting a nervous breakdown for the latter bit.

* ''Fanfic/ThisAndThat:'' While she was already a truly gifted GadgeteerGenius at this point in her life in [[WesternAnimation/Arcane canon]], Powder, due to being personally tutored by [[VideoGame/LibraryOfRuina Angela]] [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist herself]] over the years, not also is skilled engineering, but has vast knowledge in physics, chemistry, and biology.

* In the RecursiveFanfiction ''Fanfic/RealltIsntYourFault'', rather than everyone blindly believing the edited photo of Lincoln & Sam kissing, the characters listen for the victims' side of the story, thus the relationships are preserved.

* In the RecursiveFanfiction ''Fanfic/RealltIsntYourFault'', rather than everyone blindly believing the edited photo of Lincoln & Sam kissing, the characters listen for the victims' side of the story, thus ghe relationships are preserved.