History Main / ReimaginingTheArtifact

* ''Film/ShinUltraman'': In the [[Series/{{Ultraman}} original series]], the monster Zetton's most powerful attack was the "one trillion degree fireball". While it was was depicted as a simple ball of fire in the show, a one trillion degree hot fireball would have [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale easily wiped out the entire solar system]]. In the movie, Zetton was reimagined as a robotic superweapon, designed to wipe out entire star systems using its fireball.

* King County, UsefulNotes/{{Washington}} - the county that UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} is located and of which is the county seat - went through an interesting variation of this trope between 1986 to 2007. To provide context, King County was originally named after then-incoming Vice President William R. King (who had served under President UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce) when it was established in 1852. In the century since, however, King had been subject to retrospective scrutiny due to his ownership of slaves, which caused King County to understandably distance themselves from their former namesake. However, King County still wanted to keep its name, so in 1986, it voted to [[RenamedTheSame keep the name itself]], but [[NameMeaningChange the King who was named after]]. The (new) King in question? UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr - a man who embodied the antithesis of what William R. King stood for - of course.

* King County, UsefulNotes/{{Washington}} - the county that UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} is located - went through an interesting variation of this trope between 1986 to 2007. To provide context, King County was originally named after then-incoming Vice President William R. King (who had served under President UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce) when it was established in 1852. In the century since, however, King had been subject to retrospective scrutiny due to his ownership of slaves, which caused King County to understandably distance themselves from their former namesake. However, King County still wanted to keep its name, so in 1986, it voted to [[RenamedTheSame keep the name itself]], but [[NameMeaningChange the King who was named after]]. The King in question? UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr, of course.

*** In 5e orcs, unlike goblins, create huge hordes inviting giants, ogres and human barbarians.

!!Series with their own pages:

!!Western Animation

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017:''
** In the original comics, Flintheart Glomgold [[AmoralAfrikaner hailed from South Africa]]. This wouldn't be allowed on 1987 kids' TV due to tensions over [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]] and he was simply [[AdaptationalNationality changed to be Scottish like Scrooge was]]. By 2017 however, it was obviously fine for him to be from South Africa again, but as a nod to the previous situation, Flintheart is now a South African native ''[[{{Fauxreigner}} pretending]]'' to be Scottish as part of [[TheRival his quest to best Scrooge at everything]].
** The 1987 series has Bubba as a stereotypical DumbMuscle cave-duck who had a pet ''Triceratops'' named Tootsie in HollywoodPrehistory. Since [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology none of that is accurate]], the reboot has Bubba reimagined as a GeniusBruiser from tens of thousands of years ago, who only encounters Tootsie through TimeTravel shenanigans caused by Louie's latest scheme. [[spoiler: The ending has him carve a certain hat from stone and uses his stick as a cane, revealing that he is the first [=McDuck=].]]
*** Speaking of Tootsie, she is reimagined as completely wild, to correspond with the fact that non-avian dinosaurs did not live with early humans, and behaves more like a real ''Triceratops'', [[AdaptationalVillainy although this makes her hostile towards Bubba and the main cast]]. Her lizard-like appearance from the original show has also been exchanged with that of a warm-blooded animal with erect legs and a raised tail, thanks to ''Film/JurassicPark'' popularizing the Dinosaur Renaissance.
** Bombie the Zombie was heavily changed. In the original Carl Barks comics, Bombie was a creature summoned to get revenge on Scrooge [=McDuck=] for conning a group of African natives out of their land. Since Bombie and the natives were designed up as racist designs of savages, this would ''never'' fly at all. This goes the same with the reasoning for the summoning. When it was brought in for the reboot, Bombie was reimagined as a Solomon Grundy-like monstrosity who was created to forever chase and haunt whoever proclaimed themselves to be the richest person in the world. Scrooge has been keeping it at bay for years and now has a different target after the events of the previous episode. The Bombie's whole reason for doing so is to serve HumblePie to their target, so it maintains the spirit of its predecessor in terms of serving as a form of penance though here for hubris and lack of humility.
** Donald's iconic temper tantrums in the original shorts and comics often were targeted at the triplets. However, given how it would provide bad vibes of AbusiveParent for modern audiences, his temper is treated differently. We learn Donald actually goes to therapy and said therapist reveals Donald's anger outbursts comes from being a CosmicPlaything and no one understanding him... literally. When he took the boys in and went to therapy, he channeled that anger into protective instincts, his outbursts now the result of unbridled fury at anything that could harm his boys.
*** Said therapist, Neighbor J. Jones, was originally Donald's old SitcomArchNemesis. Here, he runs an anger management business called Good Neighbor Jones. His relationship with Donald is professional though still vitriolic (though namely because Donald has been late with payments, due to his disappearance) because, hey, it is Donald after all.
** Most of the appearances of characters from [[WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon other Disney Afternoon shows]] are changed around to fit in with this continuity (especially since most of them weren't in the same continuity to begin with).
*** The [[WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers Rescue Rangers]] would invoke FurryConfusion in a world where anthropomorphic animals are human-sized. To go around this, their origins have been reworked as ordinary lab animals [[UpliftedAnimal turned intelligent]] and [[AnthropomorphicTransformation given anthropomorphic forms]] by Black Heron's intelligence ray.
*** Similarly, WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck is only an old TV show in universe. Then the old actor goes nuts after becoming fed up with the DarkerAndEdgier reboot and turns into this continuity's counterpart of Negaduck, and the actor hired to replace him ends up becoming Darkwing for real (which is helped when several of Darkwing's TV show villains get zapped into the "real" world thanks to a device that can cross dimensions). F.O.W.L. and Steelbeak also become major recurring villains as the show goes on (it should be noted F.O.W.L. appeared in an episode of the 1987 ''[=DuckTales=]'' first, though their depiction here hews more to their portrayal in ''Darkwing Duck'').
*** [[WesternAnimation/TaleSpin Don Karnage]] shows up in the modern day (WordOfGod indicates he's a LegacyCharacter) and [[RoguesGalleryTransplant becomes Dewey's nemesis]]. Kit and Molly show up running Higher for Hire in season 3, Baloo apparently having retired and given the business to Kit.
*** WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} as he appeared in ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' appears in an episode that serves as a parody of sitcoms; unlike everything else in the episode, he's real, and an old friend of Donald's from college. Photos in his wallet also indicate Max, PJ and Roxanne all exist in this continuity too.
*** Two of [[WesternAnimation/TheWuzzles the Wuzzles]], Rhinokey and Butterbear, appear as giant monsters created by a mystical artifact, the Stone of What Was.
*** The [[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears Gummi Bears]] ([[WritingAroundTrademarks only referred to as the "Great Ones"]]) existed far in the past, and one episode centers around a younger Scrooge and Mrs. Beakley attempting to prevent a F.O.W.L. agent from getting her hands on the Gummiberry Juice formula.
*** Finally, Manny the Headless Man-Horse [[CanonCharacterAllAlong ends up being this continuity's counterpart to]] ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} Goliath]]'', of all characters, down to being voiced by Creator/KeithDavid once again. (''Gargoyles'' as it was would never have fit into either the original or reboot ''[=DuckTales=]'' given its' own dense mythology and presence of humans, so turning a seemingly new and random character into an equivalent was likely the best they could do.)

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017:''* In the original comics, Flintheart Glomgold [[AmoralAfrikaner hailed from South Africa]]. This wouldn't be allowed on 1987 kids' TV due to tensions over [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]] and he was simply [[AdaptationalNationality changed to be Scottish like Scrooge was]]. By 2017 however, it was obviously fine for him to be from South Africa again, but as a nod to the previous situation, Flintheart is now a South African native ''[[{{Fauxreigner}} pretending]]'' to be Scottish as part of [[TheRival his quest to best Scrooge at everything]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017:''
** The original ''WesternAnimation/{{Ducktales|1987}}'' had some issues when it came to portraying foreign cultures, one such example being Dijon, a greedy stereotype of an Arab person. Come the 2017 reboot, he's been reimagined as D'jinn, a poetic swordsman and total [[AdaptationalBadass badass]]. However, he maintains a connection to the film, as it turns out that [[spoiler: the genie's lamp in question once housed his ancestor. Said genie ancestor was freed, would find love and start a family. He wants the lamp because it's a family heirloom.]]
** In the original comics, Flintheart Glomgold [[AmoralAfrikaner hailed from South Africa]]. This wouldn't be allowed on 1987 kids' TV due to tensions over [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid]] and he was simply [[AdaptationalNationality changed to be Scottish like Scrooge was]]. By 2017 however, it was obviously fine for him to be from South Africa again, but as a nod to the previous situation, Flintheart is now a South African native ''[[{{Fauxreigner}} pretending]]'' to be Scottish as part of [[TheRival his quest to best Scrooge at everything]].

** Many of the female characters from the original series had their personalities and traits changed to be more gender-friendly and avoid stereotypes:
*** In the original series, Webby was treated rather poorly by the triplets due to being a girl with feminine interests. Of course, that would be viewed as sexist nowadays, so the reboot has Webby immediately accepted by the triplets regardless of her gender and interests, which is further helped by her now being an ActionGirl and a TomboyWithAGirlyStreak.
*** Mrs. Beakley, instead of a GrannyClassic who faints at the sight of danger, is an ex-spy with a HeroicBuild who, beside being Scrooge's housekeeper, is also his bodyguard, and not his secretary.
*** Fenton's mother is not a frumpy TV-addicted housewife but a SpicyLatina police officer (who loves her telenovelas).
*** Goldie isn't just Scrooge's [[SlapSlapKiss on-and-off]] LoveInterest, but also an adventurer serving as Scrooge's counterpoint to show what life might be like if you only looked out for yourself. Granted, the [[AdaptationalVillainy greater antagonistic approach]] may be YMMV for some.
*** Gandra Dee is no longer a shallow DumbBlonde love interest for Fenton, but a freelance scientist. She and Fenton do hit it off in a date, though with the undertones that it may have been for Gandra to get intel on Gizmo Duck, given she was working with Mark Beaks. We haven't seen the last of her, given that [[spoiler: we learn she works for F.O.W.L.]]
*** Daisy has been given a far more complex character than being "girl Donald". She is given a career as a fashion designer, to make her an independent woman albeit with still stereotypically feminine interests. And in order to address the issue of her and Donald's relationship being too toxic over the years, "Louie's Eleven!" starts their relationship over from scratch, showing the aspects why they are meant to be together (particularly, Daisy being the first person to literally understand Donald perfectly). Also, as seen in "New Gods on the Block!", instead of being a nagging shrew who threatens Donald with a breakup over the slightest misunderstanding, she is far more patient with Donald and only flips when the situation gets really bad.

** The 1987 series has Bubba as a stereotypical DumbMuscle cave-duck who had a pet ''Triceratops'' named Tootsie in OneMillionBC. Since [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology none of that is accurate]], the reboot has Bubba reimagined as a GeniusBruiser from tens of thousands of years ago, who only encounters Tootsie through TimeTravel shenanigans caused by Louie's latest scheme. [[spoiler: The ending has him carve a certain hat from stone and uses his stick as a cane, revealing that he is the first [=McDuck=].]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' had several bestiaries dedicated to re-imagining various monsters; in particular, "Misfit Monsters Redeemed" is purely this trope, as they chose the stupidest monsters from the Gygax era and attempted to make them ''work''. For example, the Wolf In Sheep's Clothing (a carnivorous tree stump with a ludicrous rabbit shaped lure) can now take any dead body and puppeteer it to draw victims closer. This was inspired by their revamp of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Goblins, who are generally just treated as fodder, as they lack the 'technical skills' that they have in other works.

* In-universe example: within the Sentinel Comics universe of ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'', old and out-of-favour {{Blaxploitation}} kung fu hero Black Fist was given a lengthy TimeSkip, a much more weary demeanour and a garage and retooled into older, grimmer, much less funky kung fu hero Mr Fixer.
* One of the main card types in ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' are Normal Monsters, given that they have their own card frame. There was a time when the bulk of your monsters were normal, and a time slightly more recent when you had a few to serve as muscle, but thanks to power creep that doesn't really happen anymore. Over the years there have been attempts to make them more relevant, such as Heart of the Underdog and the Hieratic and World Chalice archetypes. Their success has varied.
** Similarly, there are many iconic monsters that, due to PowerCreep, are now laughably weak. Every so often, the game comes out with a "retrain" of one of them, which is a new, more powerful card representing the same character. In recent years, the game also has a tendency to create "legacy support" cards which are designed to work with these older monsters, with the intention of making them more relevant in the current metagame.

* Ryan Howard of ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'' eventually lost his role as the newcomer for obvious reasons, and went through an arc that saw him become a CorruptCorporateExecutive and then fall from grace. Despite having no storyline to advance, he stuck around because as he was played by an executive producer on the show. Later seasons remedied this by making the character into a satire of a hipster, thus giving him something unique to do again.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'', for [[AnimationAgeGhetto obvious reasons]], couldn't actually show the heroes slice and dicing with their weapons, at least, not against foes who were flesh and bone. What to do to compensate for the lack thereof? Simple. Turn opponents such as the Foot Soldiers into [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman robots]], so that slicing and dicing can be shown freely.[[note]]Hey, at least they didn't SetSwordsToStun.[[/note]] In [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 the 2012 series]], where multiple things from the 1987 series are reimagined to be less silly, the robots are revealed early on to be adaptive, and can challenge the heroes. It's also justified: The heroes keep beating up the Foot so much, they can't recruit any more minions!

** In the original comics, Flintheart Glomgold [[AmoralAfrikaner hailed from South Africa]]. This wouldn't be allowed on 1987 kids' TV [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra for obvious reasons]] and he was simply [[AdaptationalNationality changed to be Scottish like Scrooge was]]. By 2017 however, it was obviously fine for him to be from South Africa again, but as a nod to the previous situation, Flintheart is now a South African native ''[[{{Fauxreigner}} pretending]]'' to be Scottish as part of [[TheRival his quest to best Scrooge at everything]].

* As a long-term collaborative fiction project that has undergone some pretty big paradigm shifts, the Website/SCPFoundation has a small handful of these.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', the Great Ape element of Saiyans largely disappeared after the end of the Saiyan Saga in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. Future ''Dragon Ball'' media brought it back in different ways.

* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', the Great Ape element of Saiyans largely disappeared after the end of the Saiyan Saga in ''Z''. Future ''Dragon Ball'' media brought it back in different ways.

** While Broly doesn't become a Great Ape in ''Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly'', he's stated to have a unique genetic mutation that lets him tap into the power of one in his base form, which comes into play for his "Rage" form.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' took some cues from ''Pathfinder'' in its fifth edition, re-imagining many of the same weird old monsters into something a bit more functional. ** A good example is the half-orc issue. Second edition ignored the half-orc due to complaints of MoralGuardians, third edition brought them back, but there has been many controversies about half-orcs being potentially children of rape. Subsequent editions and spin-off games portray them differently:

** The Daleks had suffered some extreme VillainDecay by the end of the Classic series, becoming quite easily explodable and harmless even in great numbers, as well as having no agency thanks to the introduction of their leader, Davros. This was not helped by the species being a UK cultural meme for forty years -- impressions of their obnoxious, squawky voices and jokes about their use of [[SpecialEffectsFailure plungers]] [[ImprobableWeaponUser as weapons]] and (imagined) inability to climb stairs[[note]]They went back and forth on the 'stairs' thing. "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E8TheChase The Chase]]" featured three Daleks appearing on the same level, but one being seen at the top of some steps while the others were below later; how it got up there wasn't addressed but it ''was'' clear that no, stairs will not stop them. Yet, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E1DestinyOfTheDaleks Destiny of the Daleks]]" had them unable to make a similar climb and the Doctor needling them about it. We first see a Dalek hover in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks Remembrance of the Daleks]]", very late in the original series' run. Of course, when you're dealing with time travel, such inconsistencies can perhaps be explained by Four having met an earlier model than One and Seven.[[/note]] were something of a hack comedian standard routine. The new series reintroduced the Daleks in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek Dalek]]", in which we find out that the Dalek race was on the brink of annihilating the Doctor's race, and the Doctor had to commit genocide against both species in order to save the universe itself -- the Dalek in the episode gets a much less shrill, much scarier and much more expressive voice than the original series Daleks had, is treated realistically as the death machine that it is, and incorporated elements from the very first Dalek serial (such as the idea of Daleks as objects of pity as well as revulsion) in order to make them just as terrifying as they had first been forty years ago. Throughout both Creator/RussellTDavies' and Creator/StevenMoffat's showrunning of the revival era, there's also been an added emphasis on delving into the psychology of the Daleks and the Doctor's relationship with them. (For example, they claim they grew stronger in fear of him. He's tempted by them to lose his temper several times, and also ponders in private whether he could maybe redeem them one day, somehow.) This effort helped the Daleks return to the sort of nuance and cred they had as antagonists back in the 60s and 70s. And Davros, previously overused in the classic era after his first appearance, has had a guest role in only two revival-era stories so far, one in each showrunner's era. Tellingly, these Davros stories were critically well-received, both for Davros' rare resurgence and the quality of writing put into him as a villain. (Also, Davros sometimes overshadowed the Daleks, Dalek stories at the height of his overuse being more "Davros stories with Daleks as his {{Mooks}}." The revival appearances do the same for him as they did for the Daleks themselves, taking him back to his roots. Davros was introduced as the scientist who created the Daleks but was betrayed and killed by them, and reintroduced as the Daleks feeling they needed his genius as they had become creatively stagnant - his second story was more "scientific advisor" than "lord and master," he was their weapon and not the other way around. Davros' new series appearances have him as ''very'' much the character from that second appearance - his knowledge is one of the best weapons in their arsenal, rather than them just carrying out his plans.)

* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', the old [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries TOS-era]] Klingon foreheads were simply dismissed as [[WatsonianVersusDoylist old budget-level alien makeup effects]] and style evolution... until the [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine DS9]] episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E06TrialsAndTribbleations Trials and Tribble-ations]]" brought attention to it by juxtaposing Worf (undercover) next to some old-style Klingons. He said "It's a long story" and the Klingons "don't talk about it with outsiders", making the difference an in-universe affair. Come ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', a season 4 episode finally gives an explanation: They are the result of a badly botched attempt to match human [[{{Transhuman}} augments]] with Klingon augments of their own, but it went horribly awry and caused a terminal viral disease. The cure involved a blend of human DNA to undo the damage, which had the side effect of loss of cranial ridges for a few generations. Reconstructive surgery is mentioned, hence ''specific'' Klingons showing up in the TNG era with the forehead ridges they hadn't had in their original appearances.

* As a long-term collaborative fiction project that has undergone some pretty big paradigm shifts, the Wiki/SCPFoundation has a small handful of these.

** Bombie the Zombie was heavily changed. In the original Carl Banks comics, Bombie was a creature summoned to get revenge on Scrooge [=McDuck=] for conning a group of African natives out of their land. Since Bombie and the natives were designed up as racist designs of savages, this would ''never'' fly at all. This goes the same with the reasoning for the summoning. When it was brought in for the reboot, Bombie was reimagined as a Solomon Grundy-like monstrosity who was created to forever chase and haunt whoever proclaimed themselves to be the richest person in the world. Scrooge has been keeping it at bay for years and now has a different target after the events of the previous episode. The Bombie's whole reason for doing so is to serve HumblePie to their target, so it maintains the spirit of its predecessor in terms of serving as a form of penance though here for hubris and lack of humility.

** The Wisps, the colorful aliens from ''Videogame/SonicColors'', became a mainstay in further games in the series. This is despite the fact that they left for their homeworld by the end of ''Colors'', and outside of one mobile game, their presence has never been justified. ''Forces'' uses them, this time imagining them as allies to the Resistance with the use of the Wispon, a weapon that uses channels their power for all members of the Resistance - incluiding the playable Avatar.