History Main / ExternalRetcon

* ''Literature/TheWindDoneGone'', by Alice RandallAlice Randall is not related in any way to Margaret Mitchel and writes this book as a social critique and extensive commentary on the original novel because of its liberal usage of harmful black people tropes. So, here, the O'Hara sisters gain a mixed-race, extramarital sister called Cynara. She's evidently the product of the unfaithfulness of the sisters' beloved father, who is portrayed in a negative light. This also causes a love triangle to appear between the two sisters, Cynara and Scarlett, and their Love Interests.

* ''Literature/TheWindDoneGone'', by Alice Randall, was a retelling of ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'', and telling of what happened afterwards, from the perspective of a FlatCharacter -- Cynara, Scarlett O'Hara's mulatto half-sister. All of the direct references to the original are done as {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s -- Scarlett's only referred to as "The Other", for instance. (Not Lawyer Friendly enough: The publisher was sued by the estate of the original author.) Maybe the author would've gotten away with it if Cynara had not changed the pseudonym she was using for a critical character from "R." to "Debt Chauffeur" after a plot development involving both. That would not pass in a truly independent work.

* The ''[[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Fate]]'' series and its various spin-offs delves into this from time to time, combining aspects of this and SadlyMythtaken due to the setting's use of countless historical and mythical figures. Just to name a few examples: [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Caster]] mentions the legends of Jason were embellished over time and the Jason she knew [[spoiler:as Medea]] was much more cowardly, and ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'' has Berserker of Black talk about how [[Literature/{{Frankenstein}} a book written about her]] took some of the things that ''actually'' happened in her life [[spoiler:such as Dr. Frankenstein's initial idea to make a partner for her but scrapping the idea, and her tragic suicide]] and rewrote and {{Gender Flip}}ped the events to make her seem more like a straightforward monster.

** Countless other settings in which OurVampiresAreDifferent feel the need to include Dracula under HouseRules.

* One big plot hole in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' is "why can't the Fellowship ride the Eagles to Mordor and dispose of the Ring lickety-split?", with the official answer being "Sauron has such dominion over Mordor that he controls even the air currents". This is not widely accepted. ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' introduces a creature called a "hell-hawk", a smaller cousin to the Nazgûl's flying steeds which attack eagles on sight, in much the same way crows instinctively hate owls.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the NurseryRhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle" is given this treatment, effectively [[FracturedFairyTale de-fracturing it]]. When tavern patrons in Bree ask Frodo for a song, he sings "The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late". The narration explains that Bilbo wrote the song, but "only a few words of it are now, as a rule, remembered." In this longer version, every element that is complete nonsense in the nursery rhyme gets explanation and context. Because this kind of deadpan humour is a little unusual for ''The Lord of the Rings'', and because of Tokien's scholarly reputation, some readers are left confused as to which is the true original version.
* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' is a superhero world, so the retcons often relate to comic books. In-universe it is known that TheBaroness of the G.I. Joe stories was a blatant ripoff of supervillainess Lady Hydra, but she was retired for long enough that the comic book authors didn't get killed. It is also recognized in-universe that the 'age one year every four years' ComicBookTime is in honor of the legendary Miss Champion (later Lady Champion) of the 40's and 50's (who is still aging so slowly that she looks like she is in her early thirties even though she is now a mid-seventies school headmistress).

* Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'' is a retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, told by Istra (Psyche)'s older sister Orual. Orual is inspired to write the story after hearing the myth and being angered by what she sees as the gods' self-serving version of the events. [[spoiler:Turns out her version is somewhat self-serving as well, and the second part is itself a retcon of the first part, revealing that some events were closer to the original version than Orual's.]]

* According to director Rocky Morton, the ''Film/SuperMarioBros'' movie was meant to show the "real" story that the games were based off of which became distorted over time like classical myths, which is supported by the post-credits scene where Iggy and Spike are commissioned to make their own video game.

** There's also an example that specifically applies to Kayaba Akihiko’s motivations were to make his fantasy world real and death is the most real thing there is. In episode 11 we learn [[spoiler:he was so hopped up on caffeine and sleep deprivation that, to meet the deadline for release as set by Bethesda and get a good score on Metacritic, he didn't do some critical bug testing after the beta. So players die when their avatars do, and Kayaba, still incredibly sleep-deprived, decided that, [[InsaneTrollLogic to get the best reviews]], he should prevent everyone from leaving and [[IMeantToDoThat claim he planned to put on a massive death game all along]]. After finally getting some sleep, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he realized how badly he screwed up]], but reluctantly decided to keep the game going to keep the cops off his back until he could figure out a plan that didn't result in him getting arrested. However, thousands of idiotic players died within the first few weeks alone, so Kayaba took up the alias of [[WorldsStrongestMan Heathcliff]] to stop the situation from getting worse, which took up so much time that he never got around to finding a proper solution.]]

* The common External Retcon for Holmes is given a nod in the Season Two finale of ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', where Moriarty convinces everyone that he's an innocent actor and Holmes only cooked up the "Moriarty" arch-nemesis so that he could commit crimes himself, [[EngineeredHeroics "solve"]] [[HeroismAddict them]], and look good. Since the Holmes of that series is such an extreme InsufferableGenius, it's plausible for so many people to believe it.

* ''Machinima/FreemansMind'' rationalizes a lot of the things in ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'' that don't make sense. Black Mesa's odder architectural choices like the "box-smashing shed" were put in to pad the budget so the facility can keep getting federal grant money. Gordon knows how to use a gun because [[ProperlyParanoid he foresaw a time when he might need one.]] Gordon's job [[InformedAbility appears to consist mainly of pushing trolleys]] [[CloudCuckooLander because he couldn't be trusted with anything else,]] which is also why the retinal scanners in the lab he works at aren't keyed to his eyes - management once caught him playing racquetball in the anti-mass spectrometer room and doesn't want him going anywhere without permission.

* The ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' fanfic ''Metroid III: Return to Zebes'' has the power suit randomly and inexplicably change Samus' hair color, a reference to how the Justin Bailey suit in ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' switched between brown hair for beams and green hair for rockets (the suit's armor switched between green and blue instead of opening the arm cannon's muzzle), while Samus is canonically blonde. Samus spends most of the story with lavender hair. It also randomly upgrades or changes its internal workings, justifying why classic ''Metroid'' and ''VideoGame/Metroid2'' has one beam at a time, the beams in the novelized game stacked but the ones in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' didn't until ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption 3]]'', and why the spazer is suddenly compatible with the [[PlasmaCannon Plasma Beam]] in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion''but not here.

* The ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' fanfic ''Metroid III: Return to Zebes'' has the power suit randomly and inexplicably change Samus' hair color, a reference to how the Justin Bailey suit in ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' switched between brown hair for beams and green hair for rockets (the suit's armor switched between green and blue instead of opening the arm cannon's muzzle), while Samus is canonically blonde. Samus spends most of the story with lavender hair. It also randomly upgrades or changes its internal workings, justifying why classic ''Metroid'' and ''VideoGame/Metroid2'' has one beam at a time, the beams in the novelized game stacked but the ones in ''Franchise/MetroidPrime'' didn't until ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption 3]]'', and why the spazer is suddenly compatible with the [[PlasmaCannon Plasma Beam]] in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion''but not here.

* The ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' fanfic ''Metroid III: Return to Zebes'' has the power suit randomly and inexplicably change Samus' hair color, a reference to how the Justin Bailey suit in ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' switched between brown hair for beams and green hair for rockets (the suit's armor switched between green and blue instead of opening the arm cannon's muzzle), while Samus is canonically blonde. Samus spends most of the story with lavender hair. It also randomly upgrades or changes its internal workings, justifying why classic ''Metroid'' and ''VideoGame/Metroid2'' has one beam at a time, the beams in the novelized game stacked but the ones in ''Franchise/MetroidPrime'' didn't until ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption 3'', and why the spazer is suddenly compatible with the [[PlasmaCannon Plasma Beam]] in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion''but not here.

* The ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' fanfic ''Metroid III: Return to Zebes'' has the power suit randomly and inexplicably change Samus' hair color, a reference to how the Justin Bailey suit in ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' switched between brown hair for beams and green hair for rockets (the suit's armor switched between green and blue instead of opening the arm cannon's muzzle), while Samus is canonically blonde. Samus spends most of the story with lavender hair. It also randomly upgrades or changes its internal workings, justifying why classic ''Metroid'' and ''Return of Samus'' has one beam at a time, the beams in the novelized game stacked but the ones in Prime didn't until 3, and why the spazer is suddenly compatible with the [[PlasmaCannon Plasma Beam]] in Fusion but not here.
* The CreepyPasta FEL-I.N.E. shows us why the notoriously corrupt, callous, and uncaring Weyland-Yutani MegaCorp of the ''Film/{{Alien}}'' franchise allows pets on its ships. Jonsey's actually the cat version of a SuperSoldier, genetically engineered to take down the kind of rats that can survive unprotected on a ship going FTL while mostly evacuated ("without air pressure"), because such vermin can cause a ship to experience CriticalExistenceFailure if they munch on the wrong bit of wiring.

* The CreepyPasta FEL-I.N.E. shows us why the notoriously corrupt, callous, and uncaring Weyland-Yutani MegaCorp of the ''Film/{{Alien}}'' franchise allows pets on its ships. Jonsey's actually the cat version of a SuperSoldier, genetically engineered to take down the kind of rats that can survive unprotected on a ship going FTL while mostly evacuated ("without air pressure"), because such vermin can cause a ship to experience SuddenExistanceFailure if they munch on the wrong bit of wiring.

* ''Webcomic/PortSherry'' puts a much happier spin on the infamous flash fiction [[Literature/HemingwaysSixWordStory "For sale: Baby shoes, never worn."]]. In this version, the parents get ''so many'' baby shoes from friends and family that baby Emma outgrows a bunch of them without getting a chance to wear them.

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'' purports to tell the ''real'' story of what happened in Sherwood Forest, using a WorldOfFunnyAnimals cast.

* The ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' fanfic ''Metroid III: Return to Zebes'' has the power suit randomly and inexplicably change Samus' hair color, a reference to how the Justin Bailey suit in ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' switched between brown hair for beams and green hair for rockets (the suit's armor switched between green and blue instead of opening the arm cannon's muzzle), while Samus is canonically blonde. Samus spends most of the story with lavender hair. It also randomly upgrades or changes its internal workings, justifying why classic ''Metroid'' and ''Return of Samus'' has one beam at a time, the beams in the novelized game stacked but the ones in Prime didn't until 3, and why the spazer is suddenly compatible with the [[PlasmaCannon Plasma Beam]] in Fusion but not here.

* ''The Time Ships'' by Stephen Baxter continues on from the end of ''Literature/TheTimeMachine''; among other things, it explains that the "dying sun" period near the end of the original book was earlier than current scientific estimates because the Morlocks had been messing with it, and that [[spoiler:the time traveller had been given a helping hand in the early development of the time machine by his own future self.]]
* ''Wide Sargasso Sea'' by Jean Rhys is the story of how Bertha [[spoiler:(Rochester's first wife)]] from ''Literature/JaneEyre'' went crazy. Rochester is far less sympathetic than he is in ''Literature/JaneEyre'', even though part of the book is narrated by him.
* ''Grendel'', by John Gardner, is written entirely from the perspective of the oldest villain in English literature. Literature/{{Beowulf}} scarcely merits mention. The most interesting passages of the novel concern Grendel's relationships with Hrothgar and the Dragon, who serves as the Obi-Wan to Grendel's Luke.
* ''The Wind Done Gone'', by Alice Randall, was a retelling of ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'', and telling of what happened afterwards, from the perspective of a FlatCharacter -- Cynara, Scarlett O'Hara's mulatto half-sister. All of the direct references to the original are done as {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s -- Scarlett's only referred to as "The Other", for instance. (Not Lawyer Friendly enough: The publisher was sued by the estate of the original author.) Maybe the author would've gotten away with it if Cynara had not changed the pseudonym she was using for a critical character from "R." to "Debt Chauffeur" after a plot development involving both. That would not pass in a truly independent work.

** There's also an example that specifically applies to Kayaba Akihiko’s motivations, which were infamously non-existent in the source material. In episode 11 we learn [[spoiler:he was so hopped up on caffeine and sleep deprivation that, to meet the deadline for release as set by Bethesda and get a good score on Metacritic, he didn't do some critical bug testing after the beta. So players die when their avatars do, and Kayaba, still incredibly sleep-deprived, decided that, [[InsaneTrollLogic to get the best reviews]], he should prevent everyone from leaving and [[IMeantToDoThat claim he planned to put on a massive death game all along]]. After finally getting some sleep, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he realized how badly he screwed up]], but reluctantly decided to keep the game going to keep the cops off his back until he could figure out a plan that didn't result in him getting arrested. However, thousands of idiotic players died within the first few weeks alone, so Kayaba took up the alias of [[WorldsStrongestMan Heathcliff]] to stop the situation from getting worse, which took up so much time that he never got around to finding a proper solution.]]

* ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'' is a retelling of the [[KingArthur Arthurian legends]] with a feminist and neopagan slant.

* ''Room 237'' is a movie about all of the theories regarding the symbolism and meaning behind ''Film/TheShining''.

* The ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' fanfic ''Metroid III: Return to Zebes'' has the power suit randomly and inexplicably change Samus' hair color, a reference to how the Justin Bailey suit in ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' switched between brown hair for beams and green hair for rockets (the suit's armor switched between green and blue instead of opening the arm cannon's muzzle), while Samus is canonically blonde. Samus spends most of the story with lavender hair. It also randomly upgrades or changes its internal workings, justifying why classic ''Metroid and ''Return of Samus'' has one beam at a time, the beams in the novelized game stacked but the ones in Prime didn't until 3, and why the spazer is suddenly compatible with the [[PlasmaCannon Plasma Beam]] in Fusion but not here.