History Main / CanonDiscontinuity

* Season one of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' was adapted into the [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy first two novels]]. Elements of the second season were used in [[Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse the second novel]], but it ended with season one's cliffhanger. The [[Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything third novel]] was an original story. When it was adapted for radio, it started where season 1 ended with Arthur and Ford stranded on a prehistoric Earth. The second season was explained as having taken place entirely in an artificial universe (which was mentioned in that season, but only in two episodes).

** On that note, according to the John Lasseter and Ed Catmull-run Disney Animation Studios, everything Pooh-related released after ''[[WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'' and before the 2011 ''[[WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh2011 Winnie the Pooh]]'' film is no longer canonical. That means no New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, no Pooh's Grand Adventure, no Book Of Pooh, no The Tigger Movie, no Piglet's Big Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, and no My Friends Tigger and Pooh... so everything released during Pooh's Cash Cow Franchise days (which makes up a majority of the Pooh media) is no longer canonical.

* This is what the Incognito Mode or Private Browsing mode does to a Web browser's history when activated.

* Creator/LindsayEllis, having severed her ties with Website/ChannelAwesome over their sexual harassment scandal, no longer shares videos from her years as the Nostalgia Chick, which she only speaks of as the "Dark Times." There was a time when she shared the videos on a second Youtube channel so that her fans could still enjoy them, but she eventually took ''that'' down to distance herself from the brand once and for all.

* [[CanonDiscontinuity/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* The WWF Light Heavyweight Title was created in 1981 when Perro Aguayo defeated Gran Hamada and defended almost exclusively in Japan (primarily Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling) and in Mexico (primarily Lucha Libre Internacional). In 1997, the WWF took the belt back and decided to ignore sixteen years of history[[note]]Including Wrestling/UltimoDragon appearing on ''WCW Monday Nitro'' with the belt (as part of the 8 title "Super J Crown", which he won in an 8 champion winner-take-all tournament in Japan), with neither he nor the WWF (nor WCW) realizing he had a WWF title on a WCW show. He even defended it on PPV[[/note]], proclaiming Wrestling/TAKAMichinoku to be the first champion.

* The WWF Light Heavyweight Title was created in 1981 when Perro Aguayo defeated Gran Hamada and defended almost exclusively in Japan (primarily Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling) and in Mexico (primarily Lucha Libre Internacional). In 1997, the WWF took the belt back and decided to ignore sixteen years of history[[note]]Including Wrestling/UltimoDragon appearing on ''WCW Monday Nitro'' with the belt (as part of the 8 title "Super J Crown", which he won in an 8 champion winner-take-all tournament in Japan), with neither he nor the WWF (or WCW) realizing he had a WWF title on a WCW show. He even defended it on PPV[[/note]], proclaiming Wrestling/TAKAMichinoku to be the first champion.

* The WWF Light Heavyweight Title was created in 1981 when Perro Aguayo defeated Gran Hamada and defended almost exclusively in Japan (primarily Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling) and in Mexico (primarily Lucha Libre Internacional). In 1997, the WWF took the belt back and decided to ignore sixteen years of history, proclaiming Wrestling/TAKAMichinoku to be the first champion.

[[quoteright:330:[[Film/SupermanTheMovie https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/decanon.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330: Despite the existence of posters, two of these movies were never made.]]

See also ContinuityReboot, AlternativeContinuity, BroadStrokes, and DisownedAdaptation. Works that are victims to BuryYourArt usually get this treatment if they’re part of a series. The opposite of RetCanon and its descendant tropes. See CuttingOffTheBranches for when all but one ending of a MultipleEndings game becomes canon discontinuity. CanonMarchesOn is when cheap and small spin-offs like tie-in books and comic adaptations are ignored when making the direct big-budget sequel. When fans do this, it is FanonDiscontinuity — including the ironic semi-inversion where the fans who actually like the discontinued story ignore the creator's pronouncements that it's not canonical anymore. If the writers {{lampshade|Hanging}} a discontinuity, either canonical or just something the fans want to be discontinued, then that's DiscontinuityNod. See also the OrwellianRetcon, which may overlap with this.

* The general rule for WWE is that if it didn’t happen on TV, it didn’t happen. They’ve started using this as a selling point over time, advertising their house shows as wacky, non-canonical special events outside existing storylines where "anything can happen".

* Wrestling/{{Kane}}'s (kayfabe) marriage to Wrestling/{{Lita}} had to be retconned due to the Wrestling/MattHardy[=/=]Lita[=/=]Wrestling/{{Edge}} debacle. They moved it back into continuity later, and the ''latter'' was retconned (mostly) due to Matt's release and subsequent blackballing from the company.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'', the [[{{Whatevermancy}} magic school]] of Deletionism (a TakeThat to [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]) was replaced by "{{Retconjuration}}" in order to explain how a change was retroactively made to a character's special ability. Therefore, Deletionism has never existed.

* A small group of administrators at Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} have "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:OS oversight]]" abilities, allowing them to restrict the contents of a past edit so that only other administrators, or other oversighters, can see what was removed (usually for libel or privacy reasons). In extreme cases, oversighters can remove the edit from the history, so that only they can tell it was even made in the first place.

-->--'''Wiki/TFWikiDotNet''' on ''[[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Beast_Within The Beast Within]]'' comic [[labelnote:*]]Though Hasbro would create a much-better-received Dinobot combiner in 2017[[/labelnote]]

There are numerous reasons why this can happen. It can be an uncomfortable case of OldShame, MisaimedFandom, ValuesDissonance, or UnfortunateImplications for the writers. It can also happen when FanonDiscontinuity is so vehement that [[AuthorsSavingThrow the writers end up agreeing and rewrite the canon]]. Sometimes it's just a moment or piece of writing viewed as stupid, unpopular, or simply not making sense within that universe. However, this can also happen if the work was made by a person or developer other than the original creator of the franchise, and, in rare cases, can also happen when they admit CreatorsApathy about canonicity. A {{retcon}} big enough, or dueling writers that are ArmedWithCanon can cause elements of a work, like characters, events, or episodes to be turfed out of the canon. Sometimes, the work was never canonical to begin with, but fans weren't sure and/or hoped it was, and we get a confirmation it wasn't.

See also ContinuityReboot, AlternativeContinuity, BroadStrokes, and DisownedAdaptation. OldShame works usually get this treatment. The opposite of RetCanon and its descendant tropes. See CuttingOffTheBranches for when all but one ending of a MultipleEndings game becomes canon discontinuity. CanonMarchesOn is when cheap and small spin-offs like tie-in books and comic adaptations are ignored when making the direct big-budget sequel. When fans do this, it is FanonDiscontinuity — including the ironic semi-inversion where the fans who actually like the discontinued story ignore the creator's pronouncements that it's not canonical anymore. If the writers {{lampshade|Hanging}} a discontinuity, either canonical or just something the fans want to be discontinued, then that's DiscontinuityNod. See also the OrwellianRetcon, which may overlap with this.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'': Rarely, but there's two major moments of this too.
** Season 8 episode 34, comparing dream and reality if you will. [[spoiler:While Big M. and Little M. learns about Magic Correction Paper though Huo Haha in dream (the middle of the episode), they learn about it though hearing while hiding in the corners in reality (the near end of the episode)]]
** Season 14 episode 45, after [[spoiler:Happy S. and other four Supermens plus Nuclear S. were turned evil by the Power of Dark, then then brief clips of season 14 episode 44 where Happy S. and others fight the possessed Nuclear S. (the Dark Demon) flashes, and rewinded to before Nuclear S. absorbs the Power of Dark.]]
* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': regarding ''The Athletic Carousel'' episode 56, in which [[spoiler:Wilie ates the Small Pill that Paddi forget about while being captured bt Wolffy and Wolnie and turns small, thus helping the goats to escape with big Paddi. Wilie returns to his normal size after this episode somehow.]]
[[/folder]]

* While it doesn't wholly contradict ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueWarApokolipsWar'', ''Fanfic/Flashpoint2AdventSolaris'' was spawned from the writer's hatred of it and part of the plot is to prevent its events from unfolding the way they did.

* While it doesn't wholly ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueWarApokolipsWar'', ''Fanfic/Flashpoint2AdventSolaris'' was spawned from the writer's hatred of it and part of the plot is to prevent its events from unfolding the way they did.

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
** The climax of the 2001 storyline is a major ContinuitySnarl which the authors solved by applying this trope. The first book, a web game and a scrapped video game all depict the event - involving a FusionDance, a battle with [[GiantEnemyCrab Manas]], then a confrontation with [[BigBad The Makuta]] and [[ThePsychoRangers Shadow Toa]] - in irreconcilable ways. According to WordOfGod, the events went as follows: The Kaita are formed inside two devices before the fight with the Manas. There are only two Manas, and are defeated by demolishing energy-towers. Makuta's presence separates the Toa, who then fight their Shadow counterparts. These are defeated by the six Toa each absorbing their own clones into themselves. Then Makuta is fought and defeated, and the Toa are teleported to the surface, which has been kept clear of Makuta's Rahi forces by the villagers' army.
** Most of the beginning of the novel ''Makuta's Revenge'' has been scrapped in favor of the way the scenes played out in the on-line animations.
** The introduction of the movie ''The Legend Reborn''. It has so many things that clash with the storyline's continuity, whether established previously or afterwards, they simply chose to ignore it. That is not to say the ''events'' themselves didn't happen. They just happened in a way that contradicts the movie's visuals (like Mata Nui's island is shown being covered with lush jungles when according to the canon, it was a barren wasteland).
** A couple of things from the on-line clips and the first movie trilogy get ignored, most infamously the shipping scenes, as there came to be a NoHuggingNoKissing rule.
** Taxi crabs were considered de-canonized for years because the writer didn't like the joke. They slowly drifted back into canonical territory, though.
** The part about the tribes on Mata Nui renaming themselves from "Tohunga" to "Matoran", [[ExecutiveMeddling due to legal reasons]] in real life, was dropped. They later made a RetCon so that they've always been called Matoran.
** The Kahu and Kewa birds were considered non-canonical for some years because of legal issues surrounding their names. They were replaced in-story by Gukko birds who were retconned into their places. Later, they accepted them back into the canon, with the explanation that they're a subspecies within the Gukko. Thus, technically, it still can be said that the Gukko have been there all along.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* Season one of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' was adapted into the [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy first two novels]]. Elements of the second season were used in [[Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse the second novel]], but it ended with season one's cliffhanger. The [[Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything third novel]] was an original story. When it was adapted for radio, it started where season 1 ended with Arthur and Ford stranded on a prehistoric Earth. The second season was explained as having taken place entirely in an artificial universe (which was mentioned in that season, but only in two episodes).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* [[WordOfGod Serris]] says that the rebooted ''Furtopia RP'' is not part of the ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'' canon and never will be. His next role-play franchise, ''Into the Black'', retconned the existence of ''Racing the Storm'' and everything from it, with the exception of [[BreakoutCharacter Flora the folf]].
* Sometimes occurs, oddly enough, in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest''. Sometimes a mod or handler declares a scene (mostly in [[DevelopingDoomedCharacters pre-game]] or a character's backstory) as non-canonical, for whatever reason. Two examples of scenes declared non-canonical by a mod include a thread in v1 where a rejected character actually showed up on the island and randomly killed someone, and a scene in v4 pre-game where a character was prostituting herself out for drugs, with the other character having an implausible amount of drugs on him.
[[/folder]]

->''As far as Creator/{{Hasbro}} is concerned, ''"There never was a Dinobot combiner"''. While the most likely explanation for this comment is that this particular Hasbro representative is unaware of an obscure UK-only DVD pack-in comic, it's also possible Hasbro has tried to erase "ComicBook/TheBeastWithin" from canon entirely using special canon cannons.''

There are numerous reasons why this can happen. It can be an uncomfortable case of OldShame, MisaimedFandom, ValuesDissonance, or UnfortunateImplications for the writers. It can also happen when FanonDiscontinuity is so vehement that [[AuthorsSavingThrow the writers end up agreeing and rewrite the canon]]. Sometimes it's just a moment or piece of writing viewed as stupid, unpopular, or simply not making sense within that universe. However, this can also happen if the work was made by a person or developer other than the original creator of the franchise, and, in rare cases, can also happen when they admit CreatorsApathy about canonicity. A {{retcon}} big enough, or dueling writers that are ArmedWithCanon can cause elements of a work, like characters, events, or episodes to be turfed out of the canon. Sometimes, the work was never canon to begin with, but fans weren't sure and/or hoped it was, and we get a confirmation it wasn't.

** On that note, according to the John Lasseter and Ed Catmull-run Disney Animation Studios, everything Pooh-related released after ''[[WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'' and before the 2011 ''[[WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh2011 Winnie the Pooh]]'' film is no longer canon. That means no New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, no Pooh's Grand Adventure, no Book Of Pooh, no The Tigger Movie, no Piglet's Big Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, and no My Friends Tigger and Pooh... so everything released during Pooh's Cash Cow Franchise days (which makes up a majority of the Pooh media) is no longer canon.

* The general rule for WWE is that if it didn’t happen on TV, it didn’t happen. They’ve started using this as a selling point over time, advertising their house shows as wacky, off-canon special events outside existing storylines where "anything can happen".

** The conclusion to Ellpagg's story, as revealed in the [[WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue text overlay]] in the final episode of ''WebVideo/TheKnightShift'',[[note]]Ellpagg allows himself to be arrested by the Arkn, is sentenced to death for treason, joins a suicide squad of Arkn exploring [[SuicideMission exploring]] a "rift of existence" called [[EldritchLocation The Necrodiumadris]], and eventually makes a deal with a [[EldritchAbomination Deedrn]] called Indroi Facilis (who heals Ellpagg and grants him more power in exchange for being allowed to escape in his [[LivingBodySuit vessel]]). After he gets out of the rift, Raphael convinces him to give up on rallying the Arknza; he going into hiding, and is never seen again.[[/note]] is now entirely non-canon, due to the [[MythArc Arknthology]] being retooled and the TKS follow-ups (including the vlog series ''The Guarded Ones'' and ''The Knight Shift: End Times'') being scrapped.
** The SteamPunk city of Maphridome, which was created by [=Type0Negative=], was stricken from canon after one of his departures. Because of this, the material taking place in that setting is now non-canonical, including the blog ''The Court of the Traveling Crown'' (which featured Uriel's adventures after he escapes from prison) and Chapters 10 and 11 of the original ''Arknthology Stories''. The one exception is the blog ''Sarah Kestler Isn't Dead'', in which the setting of the single chapter that takes place in Maphridome can be safely "ignored".
** Several additional chapters of the original ''Arknthology Stories'' are non-canon due to being tie-ins to material that was never produced. These include Chapter 4 (which was intended to help set up the "Evil Ellpagg" character arc that would have been explored in The Knight Shift: End Times and The Guarded Ones), Chapter 8 (which includes Redgrave's son Virgil, whose story arc was cancelled), and Chapter 11 (which was supposed to take place during the Arkn Civil War arc).

** While "The Quest" chapter of ''No More Truths'' is still canon, much of what Az'uh'ra'el says to Cedric about the Storn can be ignored -- including his claim to be Xerex Storn and his claims about the Storn being "Arkn gods" and "counterparts" to the Arknangels (all of which are based on discarded plot elements).

* Coca-Cola's official history at its website doesn't mention New Coke at all. Nor does its corporate museum.

->''As far as Creator/{{Hasbro}} is concerned, ''"There never was a Dinobot combiner"''. While the most likely explanation for this comment is that this particular Hasbro representative is unaware of an obscure UK-only DVD pack-in comic, it's also possible Hasbro has tried to erase "The Beast Within" from canon entirely using special canon cannons.''

** On that note, according to the John Lasseter and Ed Catmull-run Disney Animation Studios, everything Pooh-related released after ''[[WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'' and before the 2011 ''[[WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh2011 Winnie the Pooh]]'' film is no longer canon. That means no New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, no Pooh's Grand Adventure, no Book Of Pooh, no The Tigger Movie, no Piglet's Big Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, and no My Friends Tigger and Pooh... so pretty much everything released during Pooh's Cash Cow Franchise days (which makes up a majority of the Pooh media) is no longer canon. It's a pretty gutsy move on Lasseter and Catmull's part, but then again these were the guys who stopped production on Disney's direct-to video sequels so it's pretty clear that they believe Disney should be [[Doing It for the Art]] rather than going after easy money.

** On that note, according to the John Lasseter and Ed Catmull-run Disney Animation Studios, everything Pooh-related released after ''[[WesternAnimation/TheManyAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'' and before the 2011 ''[[WesternAnimation/WinnieThePooh2011 Winnie the Pooh]]'' film is no longer canon. That means no New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, no Pooh's Grand Adventure, no Book Of Pooh, no The Tigger Movie, no Piglet's Big Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, and no My Friends Tigger and Pooh... so pretty much everything released during Pooh's Cash Cow Franchise days (which makes up a majority of the Pooh media) is no longer canon. It's a pretty gutsy move on Lasseter and Catmull's part, but then again these were the guys who stopped production on Disney's direct-to video sequels so it's pretty clear that they believe Disney should be Doing It for the Art rather than going after easy money.

** On that note, according to the John Lasseter and Ed Catmull-run Disney Animation Studios, everything Pooh-related released after ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' and before the 2011 ''Winnie the Pooh'' film isn't canon. That means no New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, no Pooh's Grand Adventure, no Book Of Pooh, no The Tigger Movie, no Piglet's Big Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, and no My Friends Tigger and Pooh... so pretty much everything released during Pooh's Cash Cow Franchise days (which makes up a majority of the Pooh media) is no longer canon. It's a pretty gutsy move on Lasseter and Catmull's part, but then again these were the guys who stopped production on Disney's direct-to video sequels so it's pretty clear that they believe Disney should be Doing It for the Art rather than going after easy money.

** On that note, according to the John Lasseter and Ed Catmull-run Disney Animation Studios, everything Pooh-related released after ''[[Western Animation/TheManyAdventuresofWinniethePooh]]'' and before the 2011 ''[[Western Animation/WinniethePooh]]'' film isn't canon. That means no, New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, no Pooh's Grand Adventure, no Book Of Pooh, no The Tigger Movie, no Piglet's Big Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Movie, no Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie, and no My Friends Tigger and Pooh... so pretty much everything released during Pooh's Cash Cow Franchise days (which makes up a majority of the Pooh media) is no longer canon. It's a pretty gutsy move on Lasseter and Catmull's part, but then again these were the guys who stopped production on Disney's direct-to video sequels so it's pretty clear that they believe Disney should be Doing It for the Art rather than going after easy money.