History Main / NoOriginStoriesAllowed

SubTrope of ExecutiveVeto. SisterTrope of RestrictedExpandedUniverse, when the ExpandedUniverse has rules imposed by the executives or original creators that it is not allowed to break.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': While the series overall didn't shy away from establishing other aspects of Bruce Wayne's past, Bruce Timm had a mandate that there would never be an episode revealing Batman's origin, as he felt that Batman was such a well-established character and already had his origin retold so many times that giving the series an OriginsEpisode revealing how Bruce Wayne became Batman would just be unnecessary. At most, the deaths of Bruce Wayne's parents Thomas and Martha Wayne are occasionally alluded to in nightmares and hallucinations suffered by their son, and it wasn't until the ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' adaptation of ''ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything'' that we even saw what the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'' incarnation of the Waynes' killer Joe Chill looked like.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Bruce Timm had a mandate that there would never be an episode revealing Batman's origin, as he felt that Batman was such a well-established character and already had his origin retold so many times that giving the series an OriginsEpisode revealing how Bruce Wayne became Batman would just be unnecessary. At most, the deaths of Bruce Wayne's parents Thomas and Martha Wayne are occasionally alluded to in nightmares and hallucinations suffered by their son, and it wasn't until the ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' adaptation of ''ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything'' that we even saw what the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'' incarnation of the Waynes' killer Joe Chill looked like.

* The was the main reason the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' movie adaptation fell into DevelopmentHell in the mid-2000s. Creator/{{Nintendo}} was much more cautious about live-action films based on their games after the tremendous failure of ''Film/SuperMarioBros1993'', and forbid the producers from making up their own ideas about Samus' origins and personality. Of course, since Samus, at this point in the games, had no backstory or real personality to speak of, this rather obviously made it impossible for a story to be formulated when the main character had nothing they were allowed to tell about her. Manga tie-ins and later games did explore Samus' origins in much more detail however (although the canonicity of the mangas are questionable due to considerable ContinuitySnarl and [[NoExportForYou it is obscure]] outside the ''Metroid'' fandom).
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic is restricted by Creator/{{Sega}} to not have a backstory, OriginsEpisode or a reason on why the titular hog has SuperSpeed. In fact, the original story for ''VideoGame/SonicBoomRiseOfLyric'' was "Sonic Origins", exploring the origin of the character. No official reason has ever been stated, but corporate decisions have been suggested. That said, there are some versions of the character that have an origin story: ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'', and ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020''. ''Sonic The Comic'' OriginsEpisode of Sonic being friends with Doctor Kintobor and due to an accident turning him into the evil Doctor Robotnik/Eggman, was based on early drafts of the ''Sonic Bible'', which is completely ignored by the games continuity.

* ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'': InUniverse for sbemail 123. A person emails Strong Bad asking him about The Stick's origins, to which Strong Bad declares he's sick of people asking about the origins of everything, sarcastically asking if they want to know the origins of Strong Sad's belly button (accompanied by a flashback of Lil' Strong Bad getting a power drill) or Bubs' Concession Stand (accompanied by a story book in the style of ''Literature/TheHomestarRunnerEntersTheStrongestManInTheWorldContest'' where the concession stand falls from the sky and kills Mr. Bland and Señor). He states has no intention of sharing The Stick's origin and would only share what makes it a spot worth hanging out at.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Bruce Timm had a mandate that there would never be an episode revealing Batman's origin, as he felt that Batman was such a well-established character and already had his origin retold so many times that giving the series an OriginsEpisode would just be unnecessary. At most, the deaths of Bruce Wayne's parents Thomas and Martha Wayne are occasionally alluded to in nightmares and hallucinations suffered by their son, and it wasn't until the ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' adaptation of ''ComicBook/ForTheManWhoHasEverything'' that we even saw what the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'' incarnation of the Waynes' killer Joe Chill looked like.

* When IDW Publishing got the license to create Godzilla comics, one of Toho's mandates was that none of the kaiju could be given origins--they just...appear out of nowhere. This lessened over time, to the point where the Rulers of Earth comic began giving some kaiju like Biollante and the Gargantua twins new origins that are wildly different from their origins in the films.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic is restricted by Creator/{{Sega}} to not have a backstory, OriginStory or a reason on why the titular hog has SuperSpeed. In fact, the original story for ''VideoGame/SonicBoomRiseOfLyric'' was "Sonic Origins", exploring the origin of the character. No official reason has ever been stated, but corporate decisions have been suggested. That said, there are some versions of the character that have an origin story: ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground'', and ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020''. ''Sonic The Comic'' OriginStory of Sonic being friends with Doctor Kintobor and due to an accident turning him into the evil Doctor Robotnik/Eggman, was based on early drafts of the ''Sonic Bible'', which is completely ignored by the games continuity.

SubTrope of ExecutiveVeto. SisterTrope to RestrictedExpandedUniverse.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Despite his importance as the main BigBad, Aizen's backstory was a complete mystery and never revealed by the end of the manga. Creator/TiteKubo once stated that revealing Aizen's backstory would give too much away too soon.

* In continuities where ComicBook/TheJoker is TheSpook for NothingIsScarier purposes, his backstory is forbidden from being revealed. The few attempts to give him one have been {{hand wave}}d off by the Joker saying [[UnreliableNarrator "I prefer my past to be multiple-choice."]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': Forbidden via ExecutiveMeddling, the show was not allowed to include Franchise/{{Batman}}-related properties other than ComicBook/{{Robin}}, so Robin's origin story was completely untouchable, aside from a few implications. Despite this, in the {{Denser and Wackier}} [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo reboot]], although he isn’t a big focus in the series, Batman does appear from time to time.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': Forbidden via ExecutiveMeddling, the show was not allowed to include Franchise/{{Batman}}-related properties other than ComicBook/{{Robin}}, so Robin's origin story was completely untouchable, aside from a few implications.

** The last episode of Series 12, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]]", did its own take on linking the Doctor to the Time Lords' origins, saying the Doctor was actually [[spoiler:the Timeless Child, a mysterious child from another dimension/universe who became the basis for the Time Lords' ability to regenerate]], and promptly sparked the biggest split within the fandom for decades.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', several higher-up demons in the Twelve Kizuki have no backstory in the original manga run, the entire Lower Ranks after Rui and Kyogai died were [[spoiler:treated as fodder, dying by Muzan's own hand]], without even mentioning their names originally, in the Upper Ranks there was [[spoiler:Gyokko]] and [[spoiler:Nakime]] who died without a single mention of who they used to be; however, the Databooks filled some of the blanks later, the 1st one revealed the names of all Lower Ranks, but still no backstory, and the 2nd one gave quick blurbs for [[spoiler:Gyokko]] and [[spoiler:Nakime's]] backgrounds.

** The final years of the original series under script editor Andrew Cartmel attempted to inject some mystery back into the Doctor, hinting he had a connection of some kind to the Time Lords' origins despite being a child of modern Gallifrey.