History Main / Retool

** In the King Piccolo saga, the story becoming far darker in tone, more focus being placed on defeating the main villain than gathering the Dragon Balls, and TheHero requiring a power-up to defeat said villain.

** At around the five years mark, the series shifts even more dramatically with a longer TimeSkip to when Goku has a four-year-old son. The series became much more focused on fighting 24/7, several of the past characters had their roles reduced or were outright dropped, the series gave bigger spotlights to some of the current supporting characters while often shifting Goku to the background at times, and added a much more sci-fi feeling by revealing that Goku and Piccolo Jr. are both aliens. It's not surprising that these changes in the manga were what led to the anime being renamed ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.

* ''Manga/BlackButler'' trolled the audience with the threat of a retool. The first season had a very conclusive ending: [[spoiler:Ciel dies and Sebastian, as per their contract, devours his soul]]. The first episode of season two introduces us to the Earl Trancie, a rich brat with a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute very similar backstory]] to Ciel, and his HypercompetentSidekick of a butler, Claude. The deception goes far enough to include a new opening sequence focused on them just for this episode. Then just as viewers are starting to think that [[ReplacementScrappy this isn't the same series they liked so much]], a mysterious stranger with an oddly familiar voice shows up at Trancie's front door.
* ''Manga/DragonBall'':
** After five years of success, ''Dragon Ball'' was completely retooled in 1989. The series became much more focused on fighting 24/7, several of the past characters had their roles reduced or were outright dropped, the series gave bigger spotlights to some of the current supporting characters while often shifting Goku to the background at times, and added a much more sci-fi feeling by revealing that Goku and Piccolo Jr. are both aliens. It's not surprising that these changes in the manga were what led to the anime being renamed ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
** Done subtly before that with the TimeSkip in the Piccolo Junior Saga. Everyone has a growth spurt or new look. Also the main characters make prominent use of KiManipulation during the World Martial Arts Tournament, while before only they were mostly last resort trump cards. Essentially, it was proto-''Dragon Ball Z''.
** Arguably, this shift began ''even earlier'' with the King Piccolo saga, with the story becoming far darker in tone, more focus being placed on defeating the main villain than gathering the Dragon Balls, and TheHero requiring a power-up to defeat said villain. In particular, this portion of the series heavily resembles the eventual Namek/Freeza saga, which is often considered ''the'' defining part of ''Dragon Ball Z'' (if only because of [[ArcFatigue how long it was]]).
** The series first experienced a massive shift after the very first arc. The first storyline was a comedic adventure with episodic stories and more of an ensemble cast. After the first summoning of Shenlong the story switches gears, becoming a more straightforward action story with the focus being almost entirely on Goku, a format the series stuck with until the very end. Looking back it's almost hard to believe Bulma, Oolong and Yamcha were major characters.

* ''Manga/BlackButler'' trolled the audience with the threat of a retool. The first season had a very conclusive ending: [[spoiler: Ciel dies and Sebastian, as per their contract, devours his soul.]] The first episode of season two introduces us to the Earl Trancie, a rich brat with a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute very similar backstory]] to Ciel, and his HypercompetentSidekick of a butler, Claude. The deception goes far enough to include a new opening sequence focused on them just for this episode. Then just as viewers are starting to think that [[ReplacementScrappy this isn't the same series they liked so much]], a mysterious stranger with an oddly familiar voice shows up at Trancie's front door.

* The original ''[[Anime/IGPXImmortalGrandPrix IGPX]]'' miniseries was a mecha combat tournament. The actual series is a racing anime.

** ''ComicBook/JosieAndThePussycats'' began as a comic called ''She's Josie''' (shortly afterward it was called simply 'Josie'). It was basically a DistaffCounterpart of ''[[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie]]''. When Hanna-Barbera asked the Archie company for another group to mimic the success of ''[[WesternAnimation/TheArchieShow The Archies]]'' (and, more importantly, the success of the hit song from said cartoon "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar,_Sugar Sugar, Sugar]]), Josie suddenly shifted into being defined by her existence in a band. Best friend Pepper was dropped, the TokenBlackFriend Valerie was added, and the focus of the feature became "traveling band" instead of a regular teens in high school. All for make the upcoming [[WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussyCats cartoon]] more "accessible".

** Volume 3 from the ComicBook/MarvelNOW relaunch was a completely unrelated title starring ComicBook/BlackPanther and ComicBook/TheIlluminati as they attempted to protect the planet from [[{{Multiverse}} Multiversal]] incursions. The series was part of ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman and involved heavy amounts of GreyAndGrayMorality.

** And after this direction proved disastrous in the follow-up film, ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', the series lay dormant for eight years until a ContinuityReboot retooled the series again, putting as much distance as possible between the Batman franchise and the embarrassment that ExecutiveMedding had turned it into, resulting in ''Creator/ChristopherNolan'''s darker, more realistic, and more grounded ''Film/BatmanBegins'', which became the first of a trilogy, ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', that was praised as a return to form for the series.

* After ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' scored at the box office but received harsh reviews from fans and critics, the studio wanted to do a full-on ContinuityReboot. They settled for a sequel, ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'', which had a DarkerAndEdgier tone and a mostly-new cast of characters. Most of the original cast had [[DroppedABridgeOnHim A Bridge Dropped On Them]] off-screen, Baroness was {{Chuck Cunningham Syndrome}}'d, and Duke [[spoiler: [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome was killed off]] so that focus could shift to Roadblock (played by Wrestling/DwayneJohnson)]].

* Briefly with ''WebVideo/{{Projector}}''. Starting with ''Film/TheImitationGame'' and ''[[Film/SeventyOne '71]]'', Mathew Buck switched from covering one film per episode to a pair, sometimes with a similar theme, with single reviews are being used for special episodes instead. However around February 2016 he switched back to doing single reviews only.

* When ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' [[ChannelHop moved from]] {{Creator/Nickelodeon}} to Creator/{{ABC}}, many characters and locations were redesigned, and the show was renamed ''Disney's Brand Spanking New Doug''. [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore There were in-show reasons given for most of the changes.]]

** An in-universe example happens when the show's ratings go down a tiny bit and the executives decide to add a few new changes to the show. Instead of a lab, they now live in a house in the suburbs with their [[CousinOliver adopted kids]] (one of them being an [[Series/FamilyMatters Urkel]] [[{{Expy}} Expy)]] and a [[RobotBuddy sassy robot.]] [[WhoWritesThisCrap Naturally, Brain immediately quits.]] It's been suggested that this was written as a response to what the writers knew was coming. The network didn't get the message and the retooled series lasted five or so episodes.

** The first time was the fourth season, where the tone became [[LighterAndSofter lighter]], due to brighter animation, the use of less intense background music, [[ParentalBonus hidden adult humor]] being greatly reduced, and Angelica going from {{Jerkass}} to JerkWithAHeartOfGold. The episode title cards also changed from red to black.

* Following the death of Johnny Storm, the ComicBook/FantasticFour had undergone a temporary change with them becoming the Future Foundation. This had involved them donning black and white uniforms, adding Franchise/SpiderMan to the team to replace Johnny, who had specifically named his old pal Spidey for the position in his will, bringing Doctor Doom and Mister Fantastic's time traveling father along for the ride and becoming a sort of superhero think tank. This new series ended up being well received.

* ComicBook/GreenArrow started off as a campy Franchise/{{Batman}} [[{{Expy}} wannabe]]. But during the 1970's, he was reimagined as a more liberal, street-level hero with a social justice slant. He began crusading against societal injustices and became an advocate for victims of oppression, often with a decreased focus on the bigger, more bombastic threats he used to face in the pages of ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''.

* The Detroit-era ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''. Basically, ''Justice League'' wasn't as popular as it'd been in its heyday, so Gerry Conway got rid of most of the heavy hitters like Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman in order to focus on a younger, more diverse team of new characters like ComicBook/{{Vixen}}, Gypsy and Vibe. He was hoping to ape the success of the ''New ComicBook/TeenTitans'' and the ''ComicBook/XMen'', but [[AudienceAlienatingEra it went over about as well as you'd expect]]. Thankfully, its failure led to a more successful ReTool: ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational''. The series was an action-comedy starring a new League with a more international purview, and consisted mostly of B and C-list characters like Black Canary, [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Guy Gardner]], ComicBook/BlueBeetle and ComicBook/BoosterGold, with Batman and Martian Manhunter as the sole holdovers from the original team.

* DC's ''ComicBook/New52'' relaunch has one foot in the ContinuityReboot camp and another in the retool camp. Some characters got retold origins and backstories (Superman had his early days retold, with him now being the first superhero in the DCU) while others simply got a change to the status quo (Bruce Wayne was the only Franchise/{{Batman}} again, with Dick Grayson going back to ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} and Damian remaining as Robin).

* ''Web of ComicBook/SpiderMan'' was originally just another Spider-Man book. Writer David Michelinie and artist Marc Silvestri eventually came onto the book and gave it a new premise starting with issue #16, in which Peter Parker travels around the world with Joy Mercado on assignment from NOW Magazine. This premise didn't last long, because a two-issue storyline involving [[UsefulNotes/TheTroubles the Provisional Irish Republican Army]] resulted in a bomb threat in the building Marvel's offices were located in at the time. The second part was hastily edited to replace the IRA with generic terrorists wearing black hoods, and the creative team subsequently disbanded by issue #22.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

Everything can be changed! That is the core of the Retool: any and every aspect of a work (premise, casting, setting, tone, writing, general emphasis) is on the table be "tweaked" in order to improve it, which can result in some EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. But why? Many reasons, really. Most of the more well-known retools have external causes ranging from poor UsefulNotes/{{ratings}} to [[RealLifeWritesThePlot someone leaving the show]] to [[ExecutiveMeddling network fiat]]. But the reasons can also be purely creative: there might have been very little room for [[CharacterDevelopment characters to grow]], or the previously established rules hindered story opportunities, or the creators just plain thought "X works better than Y." Not everything changes in the process; some retools are subtle, some not so much. After all, drastic retooling runs the risk of alienating the current viewership ("[[TheyChangedItNowItSucks change is bad!]]")... but if it results in a new, much larger viewership, then then it is generally seen as a worthwhile trade-off.

The most extreme form of retool is the ContinuityReboot; the least extreme is the SoftReboot.

** It was brought back soon after around the time of ComicBook/NewAvengers' release with a cast featuring some new characters as well as old ones until the Marvel crossover event ''ComicBook/CivilWar''.

* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' was an arcade game starring the eponymous ape and a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros mustachioed carpenter named Mario]] set on a construction site. Mario would later have his occupation changed to a plumber, and would instead spend his time in the Mushroom Kingdom fighting a turtle-like monster named Bowser, rather than fighting an ape in the real world (which was later retconned into being New Donk City as of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey''). Meanwhile, Donkey Kong was replaced [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry by his grandson of the same name]], but this Donkey Kong wore a tie, lived in the jungle, and instead fought a giant crocodile named [[PunnyName King K. Rool]], with the original Donkey Kong now known as Cranky Kong.

* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise has underwent two notable retools in it's three decade lifespan; the series took a hiatus after the release of the 3rd game with no real major releases outside of spin offs and ports, skipping the VideoGame3DLeap that occured in the 5th generation of gaming. It wouldn't be until 1998 that Sonic would make it's proper 3D debut with ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', in which the characters were [[ArtEvolution redesigned]], [[SuddenlyVoiced given voices]], [[DarkerAndEdgier and the plot took a turn for the dramatic]]. This would hold true for the next couple of years of the series until declining reception would cause the series to undergo a second retool after the infamous ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''. There was no major redesign this time, but the series would gradually phase out staples that were established with the aforementioned Sonic Adventure, namely the wide open and explorative gameplay, additional playable characters with their own unique playstyles were DemotedToExtra aside from Sonic himself, and the plots became more [[LighterAndSofter whimsical and lighthearted in nature]] focusing more on comedy than drama.

* After ''WesternAnimation/BubbleGuppies'' was UnCancelled in 2019, its fifth season recieved a ''major'' retool that completely does away with its traditional sketch comedy formula. It has shifted to a new fantasy format, which features the stories told during the "Outside" segment and extending them so that they take up the majority of the episode; the dance songs, field trips and playtime segments were removed; there is no prologue that shows the characters going to school; and the "Shop" and "Lunch" segments were incorporated into the story itself. Molly and Gil's in-between sketches were also removed, and Mr. Grouper now waves goodbye to the viewers after the story ends , and it cuts straight to the ending theme.

** ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' is essentially a massive retooling of the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise after ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' and ''Anime/DokiDokiPrettyCure''. While it was still a team of girls fighting the forces of evil with magic powers, they pared back the setting to a simple school setting, made the villains credible threats without relying on DeusExMachina or DiabolusExMachina-related ploys and effectively scuttled quite a number of tropes along the way.

** ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' was hit with this early on. Part of the initial conflict was between Hibiki and Kanade's lingering animosity caused by an incident prior to the series' start. As well, the series had a more darker tone, keeping with how ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' was. However, when the Sendai earthquake hit early in the run, the darker aspects were dropped and the two girls dropped their problems.

The most extreme form of retool is the ContinuityReboot.

* After ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' scored at the box office but received harsh reviews from fans and critics, the studio wanted to do a full-on ContinuityReboot. They settled for a sequel, ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'', which had a DarkerAndEdgier tone and a mostly-new cast of characters. Most of the original cast had [[DroppedABridgeOnHim A Bridge Dropped On Them]] off-screen, Baroness was {{Brother Chuck}}'d, and Duke [[spoiler: [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome was killed off]] so that focus could shift to Roadblock (played by Wrestling/DwayneJohnson)]].

* ''Manga/BlackButler'' trolled the audience with the threat of a retool. The first season had a very conclusive ending: [[spoiler: Ciel dies and Sebastian, as per their contract, devours his soul.]] The first episode of season two introduces us to the Earl Trancie, a rich brat with a [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute very similar backstory]] to Ciel, and his HypercompetentSidekick of a butler, Claude. The deception goes far enough to include a new opening sequence focused on them just for this episode. Then just as viewers are starting to think that [[ReplacementScrappy this isn't the same series they liked so much]], a mysterious stranger with an oddly familiar voice shows up at Trancie's front door...
* After five years of success, ''Manga/DragonBall'' was completely retooled in 1989: The series became much more focused on fighting 24/7, several of the past characters had their roles reduced or were outright dropped, the series gave bigger spotlights to some of the current supporting characters while often shifting Goku to the background at times, and added a much more sci-fi feeling by revealing that Goku and Piccolo Jr. are both aliens. It's not surprising that these changes in the manga were what led to the anime being renamed ''Anime/DragonBallZ''

* ''Anime/GoPrincessPrettyCure'' is essentially a massive retooling of the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise after ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' and ''Anime/DokiDokiPrettyCure''. While it was still a team of girls fighting the forces of evil with magic powers, they pared back the setting to a simple school setting, made the villains credible threats without relying on DeusExMachina or DiabolusExMachina-related ploys and effectively scuttled quite a number of tropes along the way.

* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** After the lesser success of ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'', Sunrise decided it was time for a change. Leaving behind the Universal Century, ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' would begin the big round robin of alternate universes, thus no longer leaving viewers with major ContinuityLockout.

* ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' underwent several, with ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'' switching the series from a melodramatic action-horror manga to a self-aware action-based dramedy and ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' changing the format from arc-based journeys to a MonsterOfTheWeek manga with overarching plots each arc, as well as better balancing out the comedic and dramatic portions.
** Of course, ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]''' biggest change was the introduction of Stands, psychic entities/superpowers that some people have. Prior to this, the franchise was about fighting vampires or, in Part 2, [[TotallyNotAWerewolf the super-powered race that mixed with humans to create vampires in the first place]]. Part 3 is all about fighting Stand-users, and though the BigBad ''is'' a vampire, much more focus is put on his Stand, [[MemeticMutation THE WORLD!]] Notably, in Parts 1-2 the heroes' main weapon was ''Hamon,'' a breathing technique that can harm vampires; it's used once in Part 3 and never mentioned again, nor are vampires after DIO is defeated.

* ''ComicBook/XFactor'' started off as a reunion book featuring the original five [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ComicBook/XMen, initially masquerading as mutant hunters for hire (they secretly offered help and training for the mutants they apprehended), but eventually dropping the act to become just an offshoot of the X-Men. In the 90's following ''The Muir Island Saga'', the five originals rejoined the X-Men proper, and the ''X-Factor'' series [=retooled=] into a government-sanctioned team of mutant superheroes led by Havok. Peter David later relaunched the title again in 2005 as a [[FilmNoir Noir]] detective title consisting of a bunch of former ComicBook/XForce and ComicBook/GenerationX members and led by Multiple Man, a veteran of the government team. It was Retooled ''again'' in 2014 as part of the ComicBook/MarvelNOW event, with the book now focusing on a team of {{Corporate Sponsored Superhero}}es.
* By 1970, ''ComicBook/XMen'' was an unpopular series that was reduced to reprinting old material. 5 years later, after getting a [[Creator/LenWein new writer]], putting most of the old team [[PutOnABus on a bus]] (temporarily) in favor of other [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} characters]], and dedicating as much time to CharacterDevelopment as fights, the series picked up a great many new fans.

* ''ComicBook/XFactor'' started off as a reunion book featuring the original five [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ComicBook/XMen, initially masquerading as mutant hunters for hire but eventually dropping the act to become just an offshoot of the X-Men. In the 90's, it was [=retooled=] into a government-sanctioned team of mutant superheroes lead by Havok. Peter David later relaunched the title again in 2005 as a [[FilmNoir Noir]] detective title consisting of a bunch of former ComicBook/XForce and ComicBook/GenerationX members and led by Multiple Man, a veteran of the government team. It was Retooled ''again'' in 2014 as part of the ComicBook/MarvelNOW event, with the book now focusing on a team of {{Corporate Sponsored Superhero}}es.

* The Detroit-era ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica''. Basically, ''Justice League'' wasn't as popular as it'd been in its heyday, so Gerry Conway got rid of most of the heavy hitters like Franchise/{{Batman}}, Franchise/{{Superman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman in order to focus on a younger, more diverse team of new characters like ComicBook/{{Vixen}}, Gypsy and Vibe. He was hoping to ape the success of the ''New ComicBook/TeenTitans'' and the ''ComicBook/XMen'', but [[DorkAge it went over about as well as you'd expect]]. Thankfully, its failure led to a more successful ReTool: ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational''. The series was an action-comedy starring a new League with a more international purview, and consisted mostly of B and C-list characters like Black Canary, [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Guy Gardner]], ComicBook/BlueBeetle and ComicBook/BoosterGold, with Batman and Martian Manhunter as the sole holdovers from the original team.

** The Rebirth version itself underwent a retool. It started as a pretty obvious attempt to copy the popular [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans animated]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo adaptations]], featuring Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven; Damian stood in as Robin with the "[=NuWally=]" Kid Flash rounding out the group. This fell into a DorkAge pretty quickly, though, so everyone but Damian and Wally was jettisoned in issue #20 and replaced by new characters who formed a more {{Anti Hero}}ic team.

* In 2016 when the Wrestling/{{WWE}} rebranded the Divas Division into the Women's Division, it began to phase out the swimsuit models as well as {{Fanservice}} matches such as Bra and Panties matches and pillow fights in favor of hiring indie wrestlers with unique gimmicks as well as Money in the Bank ladder matches, Hell in a Cell matches and the Royal Rumble match. In addition, women's matches on RAW, Smackdown, NXT and the PPVs began to increase during that period while women's storylines become more violent and are focused on pure hatred toward each other and not fighting over a male wrestler or a heel making fun of her babyface's rival's looks.

* In ''Manga/RankingOfKings'', when the series eventually got actual compiled manga volumes 2 years after its online debut, Sousuke made a special chapter to be retroactively included in the first volume, entitled Chapter 13.5; there it shows Bosse quickly grew to feel torn about selling the life force of his own firstborn to grow stronger to win the war after he sees little baby Bojji, in the series' original online run the reader didn't have any idea Bosse would eventually be revealed to be a very layered character much later in the story, back then it seemed Bosse selfishly made a deal with a devil without thinking, so that new chapter prepares new followers right away for what is to come.

* ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' got a retool as well, with the fourth film ''Anime/YokaiWatchShadowsideTheReturnOfTheOniKing'' as the starting point of the Shadowside Project, and ''Anime/YokaiWatchShadowside'' serving as a sequel series. The tone this time is noticeably [[DarkerAndEdgier more serious]] than the first anime, while mantaining some of its signature humor -albeit the gags are less frecquent-, and instead focuses more on battles in addition to being plot-driven,complete with antagonists who appear in most episodes as opposed to the two-timers Kin and Gin in the original series. Fittingly, the anime series now has a single-episode format instead of being segmented. As for the main cast, some of the human characters (Natsume and Keisuke) are Nate's children and three of the main characters are older than Nate (as at least two of them, Natsume and Touma, are junior high schoolers). The Yo-kai themselves also got a redesign on two forms both looking less cartoonish: The now default Lightside form and the combat-oriented (and much fiercer looking) Shadowside form, most notably with Jibanyan, Komasan, and Whisper. The Shadowside project also extends to the games, with the upcoming ''Yo-kai Watch 4'' for the Switch featuring Shadowside characters, and a line of toys -the Yo-kai Watch Elder and Yo-kai Arks- joining the Yo-kai Watch Ogre, Fudou Raimeiken and Enma Agito which were released at the time of the fourth movie.

* The third season of Anime/YuGiOhGX drops the HighSchool esque ''Duel Academy'' setting in favor of a [[DarkerAndEdgier much darker]] TrappedInAnotherWorld story where a lot of characters ended up dying. [[spoiler: [[BackFromTheDead Or at least were believed to be dead]], most got better]]. The darker tone also carried over to the fourth season which also laid more focus on the characters ComingOfAgeStory.

* In 2016 when the Wrestling/{{WWE}} rebranded the Divas Division into the Women's Division, it began to phase out the swimsuit models as well as {{Fanservice}} matches such as Bra and Panties matches and pillow fights in favor of hiring indie wrestlers with unique gimmicks as well as Money in the Bank ladder matches, Hell in a Cell matches and the Royal Rumble match.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}}'' is centrally a channel of LetsPlay/{{Slowbeef}}, LetsPlay/{{Diabetus}}, and occasionally their fellow goons [[{{MST}} riffing off preexisting media]], but the content has changed several times in its lifespan. It was originally born out of making fun of bad [[LetsPlay Let's Plays]] (hence the channel name, a corruption of the term), but quickly drifted into new sub-shows covering other content, such as video games in their entirety through pre-recorded longplays (in a subseries titled "Wrongpurae"), bad [[WebGames online Flash games]] ("Retsufrash"), bad {{creepypasta}}s ("Crappypasta"), bad crowdfunding campaigns ("Kickstarter Nonstarter and "[=IndieNoGo=])", and others. A lot of this had to do with the two main hosts' increasing discomfort with exclusively targeting Let's Players, partly because it started to come off as bullying, and partly because due to their increasing popularity, some were intentionally making {{troll}} videos to get featured on their channel.

* ''WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}}'' is centrally a channel of LetsPlay/{{Slowbeef}}, LetsPlay/{{Diabetus}}, and occasionally their fellow goons [[{{MST}} riffing off preexisting media]], but the content has changed several times in its lifespan. It was originally born out of making fun of bad [[LetsPlay Let's Plays]] (hence the channel name, a corruption of the term), but quickly drifted into new sub-shows covering other content, such as video games in their entirety through pre-recorded longplays (in a subseries titled "Wrongpurae"), bad [[WebGames online Flash games]] ("Retsufrash"), bad {{creepypasta}}s ("Crappypasta"), bad crowdfunding campaigns ("Kickstarter Nonstarter and "[=IndieNoGo=])", and others.

* The "Batgirl of Burnside" revamp for the ComicBook/New52 ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl|2011}}'' series. Long story short, a new creative team took over the book and instantly gave it a LighterAndSofter tone, with Barbara moving to a trendy new neighborhood and becoming a hipster. She was also redesigned to have a more practical costume, which went over big with female readers. The book's success inspired a lot of [[FollowTheLeader imitators]], with various other heroes suddenly getting similar makeovers and WereStillRelevantDammit plot elements.

** After ''Film/BatmanReturns'' came under fire from parents, watchdog groups, and merchandise-tie-in companies such as [=Mc=]Donald's for being considerably darker, more violent, sexual and disturbing than its 1989 predecessor (as well as not even getting remotely close to equaling its box office intake), director Creator/TimBurton as well as star Creator/MichaelKeaton and composer Creator/DannyElfman left the series. In their place for the LighterAndSofter (as well as brighter) third movie, ''Film/BatmanForever'' came Creator/JoelSchumacher, Creator/ValKilmer and Elliot Goldenthal respectively.

* Spoofed by an ad campaign which aired between seasons of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill''. The second season ended on a cliffhanger with the local Mega-lo Mart (a Wal-Mart {{expy}}) being destroyed by a propane explosion. Four characters, including protagonist Hank, were inside at the time, and FOX told viewers that one of them would die. Ads that aired throughout the summer showed viewers a "behind the scenes" disagreement between Hank and FOX, which threatened to kill him off unless he agreed to allow the show to be re-tooled by moving it to Los Angeles and retitling it "King of the Hollywood Hills." Hank refused, and eventually got his way thanks to Bobby accidentally getting a hold of some compromising photos of a FOX executive. Of course, in reality, there was no such dispute and the writers had always known from the start who they were going to kill off [[spoiler:(Luanne's boyfriend, Buckley)]].