History Main / ContinuityRebooter

** ComicBook/{{Convergence}} gives us [[spoiler:The pre-Crisis Barry Allen and Supergirl, the pre-Zero Hour Parallax and the pre-Flashpoint Superman and Lois Lane, who go back to the Crisis and prevent the Anti-Monitor from causing it in the first place.]]

** Either [[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]] or Pandora in ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', leading to the ''{{New 52}}''. Barry was the one to actually [[spoiler:merge the DCU with {{Wildstorm}} and Creator/VertigoComics timelines]], but it was Pandora that got him to do it.

Another factor in a character being a Continuity Rebooter is that the ContinuityReboot is NOT a complete one. The previous continuity is not wholly discarded, simply modified radically. In fact, a major plot point common to Continuity Rebooters is that the Rebooter ''remembers'' the previous reality. This also allows the series' creators to bring back fan-favorite characters and ideas from the previous reality to the new one, or even to bring the old reality back wholly (although never immediately). The new reality depends on the events of the previous one to exist, it's not invented wholecloth (like, say, an UltimateUniverse).

** Hoo boy, Superboy Prime during ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', causing the second big reboot of the DCU and setting up [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo MANY]] [[SinestroCorpsWar a]] [[ComicBook/FinalCrisis later]] [[ComicBook/BlackestNight crisis]] [[ComicBook/BrightestDay crossover]]. [[spoiler:Basically the Anti-Anti-Monitor: TheMultiverse comes back.]]
** Either [[TheFlash Barry Allen]] or Pandora in ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', leading to the ''{{New 52}}''. Barry was the one to actually [[spoiler:merge the DCU with {{Wildstorm}} and Creator/VertigoComics timelines]], but it was Pandora that got him to do it.

** Onslaught and Franklin Richards in ''HeroesReborn''. [[spoiler:Onslaught apparently kills the major heroes of the Marvel U, but Franklin Richards actually uses his powers to transport them to an alternate reality, then brings them back.]]

* Tatsuya in ''{{Persona 2}}''. At the end of ''Innocent Sin'', the world is basically on countdown to the apocalypse, and Philemon offers the main characters the chance to have their memories erased and time rewound to avoid it. However, Tatsuya, at the last second, relents on losing the memories of his comrades, and so the continuity of ''Eternal Punishment'' forms, in which Tatsuya is the only one who remembers what happened in ''Innocent Sin'' and Nyarlathotep has another chance at destroying the world.
* Serge in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross''. When young, he was attacked by a panther, and at that moment the universe split in two: his current reality and another reality in which he died from the panther's attack. A big part of the game's plot is WHY he's so important to both universes that his near-death experience causes such a dissonance between them. [[spoiler: He also reboots the events of the [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger previous game]], as his existence and actions actually cause Crono and his friends' actions in the first game to have been all in vain]].

* [[spoiler:AZ]] from ''[[PokemonXandY X and Y]]'' is revealed to be this in [[PokemonRubyAndSapphire OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]]. [[spoiler:His use of the legendary weapon was implied to have created an alternate timeline, one in which he did and Mega Evolution exists, and one where it did not, Generation 6 and pre-Gen 6 respectively. ]]

Sometimes, creators want to give their [[LongRunner long-running series]] a fresh start, so they decide to make a ContinuityReboot. However, they sometimes don't want to just make a completely new reality for their series, instead making the reboot an actual part of the continuing storyline. In cases like this, one tool the creators have is to use a character to explain the reboot. Hence, the '''Continuity Rebooter'''.

A '''Continuity Rebooter''' is a character who, by some form of applied phlebotinum, causes either an AlternateContinuity to a work to be formed or the current continuity to be replaced with a new one. The character, whether intentionally or accidentally, changes his reality in such a way that the world becomes a fundamentally different place.

* DCComics has had a few of this kind of character, usually using a CrisisCrossover as the point for the changes to occur. The changes tend to be very long-lasting. Examples include:
** The Anti-Monitor during ''CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', which led to the first true reboot of the DCU. [[spoiler:He basically destroys TheMultiverse and all realities merge into one.]]
** [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] during ''ZeroHour''. Less extreme (and less well-received) than ''Crisis''.
** Hoo boy, Superboy Prime during ''InfiniteCrisis'', causing the second big reboot of the DCU and setting up [[ComicBook/FiftyTwo MANY]] [[SinestroCorpsWar a]] [[FinalCrisis later]] [[BlackestNight crisis]] [[BrightestDay crossover]]. [[spoiler:Basically the Anti-Anti-Monitor: TheMultiverse comes back.]]
** Either [[TheFlash Barry Allen]] or Pandora in ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', leading to the ''{{New 52}}''. Barry was the one to actually [[spoiler:merge the DCU with {{Wildstorm}} and VertigoComics timelines]], but it was Pandora that got him to do it.

** Scarlet Witch in ''HouseOfM'', causing the Decimation of the mutants, which is the cause of many following events in the Marvel U.
** Mephisto ([[DorkAge to MANY a fan's consternation]]) in ''OneMoreDay''.

** Legion in ''AgeOfApocalypse''. [[spoiler:Legion travels back in time to kill Magneto, but kills ''Professor Xavier'' instead. The world's... not a nice place.]]

** [[GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] during ''ZeroHour''. Less extreme(and less well-received) than ''Crisis''.

* Marvel has has a few characters of this stripe too, although the changes are nowhere near as wide-ranging as [=DC=]'s and are usually limited to alternate continuities, with a few exceptions:

* Shu Shirakawa in ''[[SuperRobotWarsAlpha Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden]]''. His Neo Granzon causes the heroes to travel through time thousands of years, resulting in the world being a wasteland(as the heroes were not there in the past to save it).

** Mephisto([[DorkAge to MANY a fan's consternation]]) in ''OneMoreDay''.

* Raiden in the newest ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 Mortal Kombat]]'' game. At the end of ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', Shao Kahn is triumphant, and the universe is headed for destruction. In a last act of godly influence, Raiden sends messages to his past self to try and avoid the BadFuture. This explains how the game is a remake of the first three games, yet a proper sequel at the same time.

Another factor in a character being a Continuity Rebooter is that the ContinuityReboot is NOT a complete one. The previous continuity is not wholly discarded, simply modified radically. In fact, a major plot point common to Continuity Rebooters is that the Rebooter ''remembers'' the previous reality. This also allows the series' creators to bring back fan-favorite characters and ideas from the previous reality to the new one, or even to bring the old reality back wholly(although never immediately). The new reality depends on the events of the previous one to exist, it's not invented wholecloth(like, say, an UltimateUniverse).

* Raiden in the newest ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 Mortal Kombat]]'' game. At the end of ''[[MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', Shao Kahn is triumphant, and the universe is headed for destruction. In a last act of godly influence, Raiden sends messages to his past self to try and avoid the BadFuture. This explains how the game is a remake of the first three games, yet a proper sequel at the same time.

* Enrico Pucci in ''Stone Ocean'', Part 6 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. He reboots the universe, leading to Part 7, ''Steel Ball Run'', which is set in the timeline of Part 1, but with drastically different characters and situations.

* Lezard Valeth in ''ValkyrieProfile2''. You actually discover in the game that the Lezard you've been using is actually the previous game's Lezard, who traveled back in time to put his plan to make Lenneth his into motion from MUCH further back than in the original timeline, hence the game is already a reboot from the moment you start playing. Even Lenneth herself eventually appears and mentions how Lezard's causing changes in the timeline, and joins the past heroes in an attempt to stop him.

* Dawn on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' functions this way. She was introduced as a character in Season 5, and as soon as she appears, it's [[RetCon retconned]] that she's Buffy's 4-years-younger sister, and Buffy has ''always had'' a younger sister. Unusually, Dawn doesn't remember the alternate reality, and neither does anybody else (except possibly the people who cast the spell creating her). However, [[PowerBornOfMadness insane people see Dawn as an energy being]], not a little girl--and this includes Dawn's mother, when her brain tumor starts making her irrational.

* Dawn on ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' functions this way. She was introduced as a character in Season 5, and as soon as she appears, it's [[RetCon retconned]] that she's Buffy's 4-years-younger sister, and Buffy has ''always had'' a younger sister. Unusually, Dawn doesn't remember the alternate reality, and neither does anybody else (except possibly the people who cast the spell creating her). However, [[PowerBornOfMadness insane people see Dawn as an energy being]], not a little girl--and this includes Dawn's mother, when her brain tumor starts making her irrational.

However, this trope doesn't refer to a character doing this as part of an {{Elseworld}} or WhatIf? story, as those are non-canonical. It's also not any event which just lasts a little while and is eliminated with a SnapBack or the use of the ResetButton. A Continuity Rebooter must cause a long-lasting change in the series' continuity or create a long-lasting and well-explored alternate continuity to qualify, and that change must be part of the main canon. A series revolving around TimeTravel doesn't count, since, well, that is a fundamental part of the plot (so no, ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' isn't an example). However, a series that doesn't ''normally'' involve time travel and uses it as a device to change continuity would count if the change sticks.

However, this trope doesn't refer to a character doing this as part of an {{Elseworld}} or WhatIf? story, as those are non-canonical. It's also not any event which just lasts a little while and is eliminated with a SnapBack or the use of the ResetButton. A Continuity Rebooter must cause a long-lasting change in the series' continuity or create a long-lasting and well-explored alternate continuity to qualify, and that change must be part of the main canon. A series revolving around TimeTravel doesn't count, since, well, that is a fundamental part of the plot(so no, ''BackToTheFuture'' isn't an example). However, a series that doesn't ''normally'' involve time travel and uses it as a device to change continuity would count if the change sticks.

** Hoo boy, Superboy Prime during ''InfiniteCrisis'', causing the second big reboot of the DCU and setting up [[FiftyTwo MANY]] [[SinestroCorpsWar a]] [[FinalCrisis later]] [[BlackestNight crisis]] [[BrightestDay crossover]]. [[spoiler:Basically the Anti-Anti-Monitor: TheMultiverse comes back.]]

** [[TheFlash Barry Allen]] in ''{{Flashpoint}}'', leading to the ''New 52''.

* Serge in ''ChronoCross''. When young, he was attacked by a panther, and at that moment the universe split in two: his current reality and another reality in which he died from the panther's attack. A big part of the game's plot is WHY he's so important to both universes that his near-death experience causes such a dissonance between them. [[spoiler: He also reboots the events of the [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger previous game]], as his existence and actions actually cause Crono and his friends' actions in the first game to have been all in vain]].

* Serge in ''ChronoCross''. When young, he was attacked by a panther, and at that moment the universe split in two: his current reality and another reality in which he died from the panther's attack. A big part of the game's plot is WHY he's so important to both universes that his near-death experience causes such a dissonance between them. [[spoiler: He also reboots the events of the [[ChronoTrigger previous game]], as his existence and actions actually cause Crono and his friends' actions in the first game to have been all in vain]].

* Raiden in the newest ''[[MortalKombat9 Mortal Kombat]]'' game. At the end of ''[[MortalKombatArmageddon Armageddon]]'', Shao Kahn is triumphant, and the universe is headed for destruction. In a last act of godly influence, Raiden sends messages to his past self to try and avoid the BadFuture. This explains how the game is a remake of the first three games, yet a proper sequel at the same time.

* Enrico Pucci in ''Stone Ocean'', Part 6 of ''[[JoJosBizarreAdventure JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]''. He reboots the universe, leading to Part 7, ''Steel Ball Run'', which is set in the timeline of Part 1, but with drastically different characters and situations.

!!'''Examples:'''

!!!'''Examples:'''

* Lezard Valeth in ''ValkyrieProfile2''. You actually discover in the game that the Lezard you've been using is actually the previous game's Lezard, who traveled back in time to put his plan to make Lenneth his into motion from MUCH further back than in the original timeline, hence the game is already a reboot from the moment you start playing. Even Lenneth herself eventually appears and mentions how Lezard's causing changes in the timeline, and joins the past heroes in an attempt to stop him.