History Main / ContinuityReboot

** The first creative team behind ''[[TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest The Real Adventures]]'' added a few {{retcon}}s of their own: they aged the characters a couple of years, modernized them and the technology they use, and completely ignored anything created between the original ''JonnyQuest'' and their own show. Notably, the character of [[{{Golem}} Hard Rock]] never existed, and Jessie is Race's daughter from a previous marriage to archaeologist Estella Velasquez, whom he's known and cared for all along. They were also going to retcon the way Rachel Quest died, but the show was canceled before the episode was animated.

* Hanna-Barbera's 1960s classic show JonnyQuest has been re-done a few times. ''The New Adventures,'' released in the 1980s, can be seen as a continuation of the original series. However, the two {{Made For TV Movie}}s and ''TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest'', are straight-up {{continuity reboot}}s.

* In ''{{Primeval}}'', Cutter goes through an anomaly, then returns to his own time to discover that there have been some major alterations to the series' premise.

* ''MyLittlePony'' has been rebooted twice: once with ''My Little Pony Tales'', and again with DirectToVideo movies in the 21st century.

The writers of a particular series or franchise are about to start working on the next game/movie/season/etc. But just as they're about to start, they find an irreparable problem with the entire continuity.

The writers of a particular series or franchise are about to start working on the next game/movie/season/etc. But just as they're about to start, they find an irreparable problem with the entire continuity: Maybe ContinuityLockOut is preventing new fans from being attracted to the series. Maybe ContinuitySnarl has made writing an interesting plot increasingly difficult and tedious. Maybe the last entry (or several entries) of the series was so disliked that subsequent entries would suffer from merely being associated with it. Or maybe the writers just want to take the series in a new direction or style.

The solution? Initiate a ContinuityReboot (or else a CosmicRetcon).

A ContinuityReboot means the complete elimination of all continuity within that specific franchise. It's not a ResetButton or SnapBack (although it might be an extreme form of the latter): while those revert the continuity to a previous state, a ContinuityReboot erases it, providing the authors with a new clean slate to work on. In one form, as far as later works are concerned everything before it is CanonDiscontinuity.

Often called a "re-imagining" to disguise the need for the reboot (i.e. they don't want to admit the previous work sucked) or simply because they don't want to have the expectations of the original work hanging on their shoulders.

A close relative of the regular {{Retcon}} and CosmicRetcon. The most extreme example of a {{Retool}}. Compare with AlternateContinuity, AdaptationDistillation, and TheRemake.

Wesley Crusher]] from [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong ever happening]].]]

[[Film/StarTrek http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/StarTrek2009.jpg]]
[[caption-width:350:The truth is, rebooting was the only way to prevent [[TheWesley Wesley Crusher]] from [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong ever happening]].]]

The writers of a particular series or franchise are about to start working on the next game/movie/season/etc. But just as they're about to start, they find an irreparable problem with the entire continuity: Maybe ContinuityLockOut is preventing new fans from being attracted to the series. Maybe ContinuitySnarl has made writing an interesting plot increasingly difficult and tedious. Maybe the last entry (or several entries) of the series was such a powerful DarthWiki/WallBanger that subsequent entries would suffer from merely being associated with it. Or maybe the writers just want to take the series in a new direction or style.

* Ninja Theory's newly anounced ''[=DmC=]: DevilMayCry'' will do this. Combined with the complete redesign of main character Dante (He now resembles [[AuthorAvatar Ninja Theory's Art Director]]) and a lack of faith in Ninja Theory, the fandom's reaction to this has ranged from TheyChangedItNowItSucks to RuinedFOREVER. It doesn't help that ''DevilMayCry 4'' only came out less than three years before the Reboot & is one one of Capcom's best selling games ''of all time'' or that on top of this, the original Dante makes an appearance in 2011's ''[[MarvelVsCapcom Marvel Vs. Capcom 3]]'', making the decision to start over a bit of a WallBanger.

* Ninja Theory's newly anounced ''[=DmC=]: DevilMayCry'' will do this. Combined with the complete redesign of main character Dante (He now resembles [[AuthorAvatar Ninja Theory's Art Director]] and a lack of faith in Ninja Theory, the fandom's reaction to this has ranged from TheyChangedItNowItSucks to RuinedFOREVER. It doesn't help that ''DevilMayCry 4'' only came out less than three years before the Reboot & the original Dante makes an appearance in 2011's ''[[MarvelVsCapcom Marvel Vs. Capcom 3]]'', making the decision to start over a bit of a WallBanger.

* In ''DoctorWho'' (2005 onwards) this seems to be the main premise of the Time War. It explains why the Doctor never encounters any other time-travelling timelords. Of course it is only played partially, since some characters (including the krillitanes) still remember the timelords.

* The 2011 ''MortalKombat'' game mixes this trope witl AlternateContinuity according to what we know of the storyline so far: some time after ''Armegeddon'', Raiden is about to be killed by Shao Kahn and thus invokes the TimeyWimeyBall by sending a telepathic message to his ''Mortal Kombat 1'' self, warning him of events to come. The game will thus visit altered versions of the first three games as twisted by a Raiden with knowledge he wasn't supposed to have back then.

[[caption-width:350:The truth is, rebooting was the only way to prevent [[TheWesley Wesley Crusher]] from [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong ever happening]] .]]
The writers of a particular series or franchise are about to start working on the next game/movie/season/etc. But just as they're about to start, they find an irreparable problem with the entire continuity: Maybe ContinuityLockOut is preventing new fans from being attracted to the series. Maybe ContinuitySnarl has made writing an interesting plot increasingly difficult and tedious. Maybe the last entry (or several entries) of the series was such a powerful WallBanger that subsequent entries would suffer from merely being associated with it. Or maybe the writers just want to take the series in a new direction or style.

A ContinuityReboot means the complete elimination of all continuity within that specific franchise. It's not a ResetButton or SnapBack (although it might be an extreme form of the latter): while those revert the continuity to a previous state, a ContinuityReboot erases it, providing the authors with a new clean slate to work on. In one form, as far as later works are concerned everything before it is CanonDisContinuity.

Often called a "re-imagining" to disguise the need for the reboot (i.e., they don't want to admit the previous work sucked) or simply because they don't want to have the expectations of the original work hanging on their shoulders.

A close relative of the regular {{Retcon}} and CosmicRetcon. The most extreme example of a ReTool. Compare with AlternateContinuity, AdaptationDistillation, and TheRemake.

* ''WonderWoman'' was {{ReTool}}ed very heavily several times between 1965 and 1985. They finally gave up and restarted at #1, throwing out all previous continuity. Fans who only knew her from her job as token woman in ''JusticeLeague''/''Superfriends'' didn't understand why suddenly she was ten years younger and could hover, but really, the new Wondie as published was less revisionist than planned. It had gotten that bad.

* ''RogueTrooper'' was rebooted in 1989 with a new character, new war, and new planet, but the same basic plot (though with a variant story and different facets emphasised). Later on, the two versions were brought together.

* ''[[DarkKnightTrilogy Batman Begins]]'' provided a Continuity Reboot to the ''Film/{{Batman}}'' movie universe: Re-writing Batman's and every other character's story, and treating it to a new cinematic style.

* ''TheIncredibleHulk'' (2008) was possibly the quickest a franchise has been rebooted. To give you an idea of how fast: 5 years and after a ''single'' movie from the previous "continuity."

* TimBurton's ''PlanetOfTheApes'' (not really a remake, considering how much was changed).
* ''Film/{{Superman}} Returns'' was a partial Continuity Reboot. It was intended as a sequel to ''Superman I'' and ''II'', while it [[CanonDisContinuity completely ignored]] ''III'' and ''IV''. At one point, Warner Bros. was planning a full reboot of the ''Superman'' movies.
* ''Halloween: H20'' ignored all the Halloween movies that occurred after ''Halloween II''. (In the original continuity, Jamie Lee Curtis' character had died before part IV.)
** Also, Rob Zombie's two ''Halloween'' films.
* The 2006 version of ''ThePinkPanther'' starring Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau starts with a clean slate and only two characters held over from the original series (Clouseau and Dreyfus). Its 2009 sequel is simply titled ''The Pink Panther 2'', avoiding the original series' IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming.
* ''TheKarateKid'' has a new movie, staring Jaden [[WillSmith Smith]] as the titular kid and Jackie Chan as the old mentor. It borrows elements from the [[FirstInstallmentWins first film in the series.]]

* The {{Godzilla}} series first did it with ''Godzilla 1985'', which was presented as a direct sequel to the original film ''Godzilla: King of the Monsters'' and ignored the numerous films in between. Later the concept was taken to ludicrous extremes when, starting with ''Godzilla 2000'', four films in a row all were made as direct sequels to the first film, like the production team immediately saw each film as an embarrassment that had to be taken out of continuity.
* ''ThePunisher'' has had three films, none of which is conected to the other in any way. It also beats out ''TheHulk'' for turnaround time, four years to Hulk's five.
* The ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' film series will be rebooted in 2012, a decade after it started.

* ''PoliceCameraAction'', an Optomen {{ITV}} production has seen a reboot as of October 2007, with a new co-presenter, Adrian Simpson, then Gethin Jones presenting a {{Very Special Episode}} on drink-driving (continuity of presenters was not kept for this special).

** [[spoiler: Kaworu]] may or may not [[spoiler: remember the previous iteration.]] This is ''Evangelion,'' people, [[MindScrew don't expect to get out of it that easily.]]
* Part 6 of ''[=~JoJo's Bizarre Adventure~=]'' ends with [[spoiler:the BigBad, Pucci, activating his final stand, Stairway to Heaven, which speeds up time and causes the universe to end and reset according to fate]]. As a result, Part 7, AKA Steel Ball Run, is a {{ReTool}}ed alternate timeline of Part 1 with many parallel characters, but a new setting and a new battle system that seems to combine aspects of the Ripple (from Parts 1 and 2) and Stands (from Parts 3-6).

* ''{{Fullmetal Alchemist}}: Brotherhood'' is a reboot that tells the story of the manga, which the first anime diverged from midway through.

* The fourth edition of DungeonsAndDragons discarded all the previous editions cosmogony.

* Supposedly ''PrinceOfPersia: The Sands of Time'' was to be an event within the original game franchise obliquely, giving obscure {{Continuity Nod}}s to those familiar with the earlier games. When ''Warrior Within'' came out, it changed much of the tone and storyline of the game to make the new games into a Continuity Reboot, and since ''The Sands of Time'' wasn't linking it to past games, it wasn't too jarring. The 2008 game is another continuity reboot entirely, with a completely different game style.

** The 2008 reboot utilizes [[spoiler: OlderThanTheyLook]] with Edward Carnby and begins with him having no memories of his past and no name and being in the hands of the BigBad. When you actually reach Central Park where the main game takes place, you reach a ambulance to be treated for a deep cut in your arm due to crashing a taxi while reaching Central park while [[spoiler: Lucifer separates central park from the rest of New York]]. When the medic asks the name and you state the name the BigBad gives you, Edward Carnay, [[spoiler: it turns out that the only medical record of Edward Carnby is from the time the trilogy took place and the last known date he was seen was in 1938]]. Even Edward is shocked at this revelation. This is explained with the fact that [[spoiler: Edward was possessed by Lucifer during a ritual while possessing one of the halves to the key to unleashing him and keeping Edward at the age he was when the ritual occurred. The plot of the current game is to prevent Lucifer from getting out of the entrance to our plane of existence while you try to gain your memories back.]]
* ''MegaTen'' seems to do this a lot, particularly on the third main game in a subseries. Off the top of this troper's head, ''[[ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne]]'', ''{{Persona 3}}'', and the generally-despised ''Majin Tensei: Ronde'' were all continuty reboots, and there may be more examples. The ''DevilSummoner'' series instead took the route of switching over to prequels.

* Thanks to an UpdatedRerelease, ''{{Super Robot Wars Original Generation}}s'' resets continuity with the inclusion of new characters and scenarios not seen in the original GameBoyAdvance incarnations, and thanks to Banpresto rectifying a massive {{flanderization}} on a certain villanous character, [=OGs=] allowed Original Generation Gaiden to occur, wherein said character [[spoiler:pulls a massive, well-deserved HeelFaceTurn to help the heroes during their times of woe]]

* ''SilentHillShatteredMemories'' is a reboot of the SilentHill universe. [[YourMileageMayVary Or]] [[MindScrew is]] [[OrIsIt it]]...?

* ''{{Turok}}'' did one in 2008, adapting a more generic SpaceMarine theme. It wasn't a bad game, with great graphics and some fun gameplay elements, but sadly it only managed to attain SoOkayItsAverage status as a whole. [[FranchiseKiller Due to the ho-hum response both critically and commercially, the planned sequel was scrapped.]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]
* The main comic of ''UltimaJava'' underwent a reboot after a change in the creative team, resulting in the creation of ''Ultima-Java: History''. The original webcomic was then rehosted as [[AlternateContinuity another universe]], and retitled ''Universe 2''. Since then, the Multiverse has been removed but the comic title remains as ''Universe 2'' as a reference to DC comics Earth 2, where the Golden Age originally took place.

* Another webcomic example would be ''FurthiaHigh'', which has been rebooted at least once, while keeping most of the main characters (with some names changed), but with new plotlines and format (a page instead of a strip).

* Ditto Spider-Man being updated first in ''{{Spider-Man The Animated Series}}'', then the short lived MTV CGI series, and ''{{The Spectacular Spider-Man}}'' and now a currently unnamed cartoon, based off of Ultimate Spider-Man.

* ''{{Scooby-Doo}}! The Mystery Begins'' appears to be this, with characters using modern devices like text messengers and [=MP3/DVD=] players. It's also definately this to the theatrical movies, with a new cast of actors and a more cartoony [=CGI=] Scooby. It also completely deletes ''A Pup Named Scooby-Doo'' by having the gang first meet as teenagers.

* Hanna-Barbera's 1960s classic show JonnyQuest has been re-done a few times. ''The New Adventures,'' released in the 1980s, can be seen as a continuation of the original series. However, the two {{Made For TV Movie}}s and ''TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest'', are straight-up {{Continuity Reboot}}s.
** The 1990s TV movies RetCon Race and Hadji's initial addition to the team (placing it before Rachel Quest died, unlike the original series), and also make Jessie Race's [[LukeYouAreMyFather unknown]] daughter from his previous marriage to Jade (in ''The New Adventures'', Jessie was the daughter of Dr. Bradshaw, a fellow scientist).

* There's even a board game example of this: {{Clue}} had been establishing a continuity/timeline for some time, before it received a reboot that changed the setting from the 1920s to the modern day.

* And X-Men with ''{{X-Men Evolution}}'', cashing in on the film with its own interpretation and continuity separate from the rather faithful 90s cartoon.

* ''{{Castlevania}}: Lords of Shadow'' is a reboot of the ''Castlevania'' franchise, set outside of Koji Igarashi's official timeline.