History Main / SparedByTheAdaptation

* As in most adaptations, Fagin survives in the musical ''Theatre/{{Oliver}}'' and also escapes; in the original ending he decides to clean up his act, although the alternate ending (used for the movie) has he and the Artful Dodger decide to continue their life of crime.

* ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool The Stage'': In the anime, Mikan resuscitates Kyoko from her braclet-induced poisoned state with Seiko's antidote. As Mikan and her classmates were adapted out, Aoi does this instead, not only saving Kyoko, but saving Daisaku Bandai, Koichi Kizakura and Sonosuke Izayoi (who were all KilledOffForReal in the anime) from the same fate as well.

* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafxCD game based on ''Film/TheAddamsFamily'' has Tully survive (assuming that you beat the game).

** The UsefulNotes/SegaCD adaptation of the first film has Reese killing the Terminator and surviving. Subverted in the Sega Genesis version, where he likewise still kills the T-800, but the text in the ending still mentions that he died.

* ''Manga/TomorrowsJoe'' famously had a DownerEnding where the titular protagonist died in the ring after his bout with Mendoza. In the arcade and UsefulNotes/NeoGeo games, Joe defeats Mendoza and survives, even marrying his girlfriend Yoko in the arcade game.

** In most versions of ''VideoGame/YsIAncientYsVanishedOmen'', the fortune teller Sara is murdered, but in the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 CD version, she [[PutOnABus flees town]] instead, [[TheBusCameBack returning]] in ''VideoGame/YsIVTheDawnOfYs''.

* Likewise, both Queen Karnilla and the Grey Gargoyle appear to die near the end of the first season of ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', but are revealed alive in the tie-in comic.

* In the original ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' comic book, Goliath was famously killed by the Clone Thor killed during a battle with the Pro-Registration forces. In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance2'', Goliath is merely knocked out and taken into custody. Also, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica isn't assassinated.

* The UK version of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'' sometimes spared characters who had died in the original US issues; most notably, Shockwave and Megatron continued to make appearances long after their supposed deaths, with the former's death issue having its dialogue edited to make his survival more obvious. Both characters returned to the US comics once writer Creator/SimonFurman took it over, with Megatron's UK appearances being {{retcon}}ned into [[CloningBlues those of a clone]].

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ: Super Saiya Densetsu'', if Goku completes King Kai's training perfectly, he can arrive at the battle before Nappa kills Yamcha, Chiaotzu, and Tien Shinhan, and the three survive and go to Planet Namek.

** In the novel, the gang member Claquesous goes to the barricade under the name Le Cabuc and it shot by Enjolras for the crime of shooting a civilian; in the musical, he never appears again after Act I, so presumably he survives.

** Franchise/{{Superman}}'s decapitated head is shown in the AtopAMountainOfCorpses scene in the original video. In the redux animation, he reappears alive and well in a few scenes near the end, even surviving being flattened by a ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'' creature. To an extent, this also applies to Film/{{Robocop}}, [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], and ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'''s BlackKnight, who all died in the same scene only to show up alive afterwards in the final verse.

** In ''VideoGame/LegoTheIncredibles'', Gazerbeam is revealed to be alive in the caves under Nomanisan Island, and assists Mr. Incredible in the level that follows. Also, Syndrome simply decides to go into hiding after finding out that Jack-Jack was too much to handle, rather than getting sucked up in an exploding turbine like in [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles the movie]]. He later gets arrested when a plan involving a bunch of stolen electronics and a new robot catches the attention of the Incredibles yet again.

* In 2019, University College Dublin Dramsoc produced a play based on ''Film/TheRoom'' which ended with Johnny singing "I Will Survive" instead of [[AteHisGun Eating His Gun]].

* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', Madame Thénardier lives and [[KarmaHoudini gets off scot free]]. In the original novel, she died in prison.

* ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' is basically a [[HighSchoolAU College AU]] of the creator's Webcomic/{{Walkyverse}} comics. Since the latter involved battles with aliens and several deaths, this will presumably happen a lot. WordOfGod has specifically said that [[DiagnosedByTheAudience Dina]] is safe, and [[TheLostLenore Pamela]], a PosthumousCharacter from ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}},'' is known to be working at Galasso's Pizza.

* ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge'' is basically a [[HighSchoolAU College AU]] of the creator's Webcomic/{{Walkyverse}} comics. Since the latter involved battles with aliens and several deaths, this will presumably happen a lot. WordOfGod has specifically said that [[AmbiguousDisorder Dina]] is safe, and [[TheLostLenore Pamela]], a PosthumousCharacter from ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}},'' is known to be working at Galasso's Pizza.

* The Creator/HarryPartridge short ''Saturday Morning Watchmen'', in keeping with its premise of showcasing the hypothetical changes there would be if ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' was adapted into a lighthearted cartoon for children, depicts Edward Blake being saved from falling to his death by Adrian Veidt (even though Adrian was the one responsible for his plummeting in the original comic) as well as Rorschach petting the dogs he cut up and killed after realizing they were used to dispose of the body of a murdered girl.

* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid'' spares Flotsam and Jetsam, who were [[MurderByMistake accidentally]] [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath blasted to smithereens]] by Ursula in the film.

Both an adaptation trope and a death trope, Spared by the Adaptation refers to cases where a character who died in the source material does '''not''' die in an [[AlternateContinuity adaptation]].

* The arcade version of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII:The Revenge'' starts with Marian (the girl whom the player must rescue in the first game) being gunned down by Machine Gun Willy (the returning antagonist from the previous game) and the rest of the game revolves around the Billy and Jimmy Lee setting off to avenge her death, ending with a photograph of the trio during happier times. The NES version (and later PC Engine CD version based on it) keeps the same premise, but changes the entire execution. Marian's death is described in the opening intro before the start of the game and rather than Machine Gun Willy, the final boss is a nameless martial artist with supernatural abilities. The NES version ends with a {{revised ending}} in which Marian is [[BackFromTheDead restored to life]] after said martial artist is defeated.

* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Prince Dimande dies in the manga ''and'' both anime adaptations, but lives in the [[Theatre/SeraMyu Musicals]], depending on the show. Averted by ''Petite Étrangère'', which not only kills him off, but reveals that he [[TomatoInTheMirror has been a Droid all along. A furious Dimande still [[DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation defies Saphir's order to kill Sailor Moon]] and gets [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness eliminated.]] His role in trying to smash the two Silver Crystals together and annihilate the universe is given to Saphir instead.]]

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is Horatio Nelson [[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE]]! Except Honor lives through the [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]] version of Nelson's final battle, as found in ''At All Costs''. due to some last minute changes and going OffTheRails. She was supposed to die in ''At All Costs'' until Creator/DavidWeber was convinced to move the next generation plot up about 20 years.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is Horatio Nelson [[AC:[[RecycledINSPACE In Space]]]]! Except Honor lives through the [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]] version of Nelson's final battle, as found in ''At All Costs''. due to some last minute changes and going OffTheRails. She was supposed to die in ''At All Costs'' until Creator/DavidWeber was convinced to move the next generation plot up about 20 years.

** ''VideoGame/LegoDCSuperVillains'' is primarily a loose adaptation of the ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil2013'' CrisisCrossover in that it involves the Crime Syndicate attempting to take over the world in the absence of the Justice League with the responsibility of stopping them lying on Lex Luthor and a few other villains he's assembled. One of the major differences is that there are significantly less casualties than in the source material.