History Main / TheArtifact

* The writers of ''Film/BackToTheFuture II'' were stuck with the fact they had put Marty's girlfriend in the car with Doc at the end of the first movie, thus forcing them to write her into the {{sequel}}. They said that, if they had actually planned on a {{sequel}}, they never would have put her in there. They did, however, find a way to write her back out again until the very end of BTTF III.

* ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'''s brother.

* ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'s brother.

** The Doctor's "thirteen lives" limit seems to be heading the way of the artifact. It's ''there'', all right, but come the day he reaches that magic number, chances are he'll find a way to keep going on.

** There are several other such artifacts, such as original system of selecting the Presidential runner-up as Vice President (replaced by the 12th Amendment). One of the compromises between the free and slave states had a built-in deadline that turned it into an artifact (the slave trade was protected until 1808; it was banned by law as soon as this clause expired). Many printings of the Constitution will cross out, gray out, or otherwise indicate sections that have been superseded by later amendments.

** Similarly, members of the House of Lords cannot vote in elections for the House of Commons. As most Lords are affliated to a particular party, this rule obviously isn't because of neutrality, so why's it there? Because the Lords and Commons originally represented different strata of society. All aristocrats were automatically in the House of Lords anyway, so why did they need to be represented in the Commons?

** Bob ''had'' a place in the office during the runup to Y2K: he was a COBOL programmer brought back from retirement to upgrade older computer systems in the company from two- to four-digit year fields so that all hell wouldn't break loose when they went from "99" to "00".

* The ''FinalFantasy'' characters in the ''KingdomHearts'' franchise. Initially, ''Kingdom Hearts'' was marketed on the basis of being crossover of {{Disney}} and ''Final Fantasy'', but with each new games, Final Fantasy's roles get [[DemotedToExtra smaller and smaller.]] In fact, in ''Birth By Sleep'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Zack]] was the only character featured from a ''Final Fantasy'' game....and in ''Dream Drop Distance'', there were no Final Fantasy characters at all, replaced by the cast of TheWorldEndsWithYou!

* DVDs are the same shape and size as CDs, but their boxes are long rectangles, not squares. This may have helped in the transition from VHS tapes, since from a customer's perspective they "look like movies." (It doesn't hurt that it's also the proportions of a movie poster, so no new design is needed for the cover.)

* The QWERTY keyboard layout (along with its German and French counterparts AZERTY and QWERTZ) originally served the purpose of making typewriter jams less common by spreading common letter combinations around (According to popular myth, this was because it would slow typists down. In fact, speed had little to do with it; the idea was merely to reduce the frequency with which neighboring keys would need to be struck). Even into the computer age where this would no longer be necessary, and even with the development of speedier key layouts such as Dvorak, the QWERTY keyboard is still widely used due to [[DamnYouMuscleMemory familiarity]].

* The Geico Gecko started out as a joke in which a customer calls him, to which he responds "You want Geico, not Gecko." Now he's one of the company's mascots.

Sometimes it's due to being tied in closely to the mythos or that TheArtifact has just been around so long that removing it seems like overstepping bounds. And if it's due to pure fan popularity, the producers probably aren't going to push it out in any case for no reason.

The general way to solve this problem is to avoid it, or rather, them. You can bet anyone considered TheArtifact is going to be politely [[AbsenteeActor skipped over by the writer]] whenever they can, although this can get shaky if the audience is seasoned to expect them around.

Compare GrandfatherClause, where something cliché or inappropriate is retained because of tradition. Contrast CanonImmigrant, PinballProtagonist, BreakoutCharacter and CreatorsPet. See also ArtifactTitle. See NetworkDecay when this happens to an entire channel. On occasion TheArtifact (or something the writers think is only an artifact) will be done away with but then missed and brought back in a different form as a ReplacementArtifact; if TheArtifact is restructured to fit in with current sensibilities, it's ReimaginingTheArtifact.

* Kinkotsuman & Iwao from ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'', parodies of stereotypical {{Toku}} villains introduced when the series was a straight up spoof of ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' continued to show up long after the GenreShift to ProWrestling.

* In ''The700Club'''s case, the fact that it still airs on TeenDrama-heavy Creator/ABCFamily makes it TheArtifact for the channel Pat Robertson built, sold off, but wrote a permanent timeslot and ProtectionFromEditors into the contract.

*** TheUndertaker is often excused by the GrandfatherClause, when a character can get away with it simply because he's been doing it for so long. No one else could possibly come into the WWE and play up his angle straight-faced, but because The Undertaker has been doing it since the Bush Sr. era, he can slide. Since he's still popular and well-received, the ''writers'' treated him like TheArtifact, but the ''fans'' were willing to grandfather him in.

** It's been TheArtifact since the switch to Third. In Second, an ability check was made by rolling a D20 and trying to roll less than your ability score. In addition, there were mechanical differences which made all ability scores different rather than having breaks at every even number. In Third, the ability scores could have been replaced almost entirely with ability modifiers, transforming a stat line into something like: Str +2, Dx +1, etc. (''True20'' and ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' 3rd edition, based on d20 Open Content, did just that.) Almost no mechanics would be changed, and most of those would be simplified, and modifying creatures or changing sizes would be a cinch. This sort of statline is quite common in other games.

*** ''Cataclysm'' itself has caused an entire ''expansion pack'' to practically define the term TheArtifact. When originally released, ''Burning Crusade''s content and mechanics were seen as an improvement upon Vanilla's. With ''Cataclysm'' modifying 'Old World' content to modern specifications[[note]]And Wrath of the Lich King's content being close to 'modern' for this discussion[[/note]], Burning Crusade's content is now the chronologically oldest content in the game, and it shows. Burning Crusade's content is filled with {{Fetch Quest}}s, group quests, and {{Plot Coupon}}s that few players will bother using because there's better, easier-to-get stuff in later expansion content.
*** Even its art over the course of new expansion releases began to show Artifact material. By Wrath of the Lich King, The art had been improving to the point where you can acually see the improvment in the world environments. WoW's two jungle like envionments, vanilla's ''Un'goro Crater'' and WOTLK's ''Sholozar Basin'' are a fine example of this. Today, Un'goro still, even after its make-shift Cataclysm makeover, looks like it was made from flat cardboard cutouts. Sholozar on the other hand, is seen to be more thickly detailed and natural looking. Un'goro ends up looking completely outdated in comparison. And it's not just the zones either. Cataclysm's Goblin/Worgen factions are, flatout, greatly more detailed then the playable vanilla/BC races. The older races, in return, are made the TheArtifact due to their plain outdated look.

* Meg Griffin on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' seems to have been designed and included for one narrative purpose (high school angst-driven stories); as the show has become joke-driven, structurally looser and, arguably, narratively weaker, Meg's continued existence is little more than a vestige of the {{plot}}-driven early seasons of the show. Couple this with the show's increasing reliance on the Seth [=McFarlane=]-voiced characters and the audience's dislike of the Meg character ([[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] frequently on the show through the rest of the family's increasingly pronounced and occasionally violent antipathy toward her) and there's really little left of the character beyond the awareness of her [[TheArtifact Artifact]] status.

* Kinkotsuman & Iwao from ''{{Kinnikuman}}'', parodies of stereotypical {{Toku}} villains introduced when the series was a straight up spoof of {{Ultraman}} continued to show up long after the GenreShift to ProWrestling.

* TheUndertaker was born during the tail end of the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF's]] Rock n Wrestling Era, when MadeOfIron {{Invincible Hero}}es were at the peak of popularity, and the beginning of the New Generation, where cartoony gimmicks and [[WrestlingDoesntPay second jobs]] were the order of the day. Accordingly, he was a wrestling grave digger-slash-zombie-slash-dark SuperHero-slash-AnthropomorphicPersonification [[GrimReaper of death]], and it worked pretty well, as Taker quickly became one of the most popular wrestlers on the card. With the coming of the Attitude Era, and the change in tone to a DarkerAndEdgier, grittier and more realistic presentation, Taker no longer quite fit in. They tried numerous tweaks to make him fit better (giving him a family history, making him over into a cult leader, etc), but eventually, they just said, "Screw it," and completely scrapped the old gimmick, re-inventing him as a [[AllBikersAreHellsAngels biker thug]]. After a few years, by popular demand, Taker returned to his old "Deadman" character; it seems that Wrestling/{{WWE}} has [[GrandfatherClause simply accepted]] that Undertaker's portion of the show is just the little corner of their universe where reality no longer applies.
** One weird contradiction is the fact that TheUndertaker has accepted the rise of MMA with more grace than almost any other wrestler and has incorporated a large number of the moves into his arsenal, and wears MMA-style gloves to the ring. So you have the most anachronistic character following up his "old-school" ropewalk with a very realistic looking triangle choke.

*** TheUndertaker is often excused by the GrandfatherClause, when a character can get away with it simply because he's been doing it for so long. No one else could possibly come into the WWE and play up his angle straight-faced, but because TheUndertaker has been doing it since the Bush Sr. era, he can slide. Since he's still popular and well-received, the ''writers'' treated him like TheArtifact, but the ''fans'' were willing to grandfather him in.
**** Occasionally, the writers will have a fit of brilliance: a wrestler or even the commentators will talk about the raw psychology of TheUndertaker's entire persona from a Kayfabe perspective. Think about it: you're in the ring, pumping yourself up. Funeral bells toll, the lights go out, and this 6'9 zombie/grimreaper starts a slow walk down the aisle; bigger arenas and PPV's tend to have this walk take OVER A MINUTE. Somewhere along the line it hits you, "Hey, don't worry, this guy's freaking 40-something, and I'm at my prime, this is going to be a snap!" Then the bell rings and this 40-something zombie guy suddenly shows you that he's still the best striker in the business and [[MadeOfIron just won't stay down.]] Completely and totally realistic... Until [[SnapBack he waves a hand and lightning hits something for some reason.]]
* TripleH's original gimmick was "Hunter Hearst-Helmsley", a snobby blue-blood, hence his finisher being called the 'Pedigree'. Despite mostly dropping the character in 1997, the move still retains its name. Still, wrestlers who want to get his attention address him as "Hunter", he once offered {{kayfabe}} financial support to a bankrupt ShawnMichaels and he referenced a match from his blueblood days where he got squashed by The UltimateWarrior in the buildup to his Wrestlemania 26 bout. His last name of "Helmsley" is often mentioned a lot as well, especially during his time as the leader of the "[=McMahon=]-Helmsley Era" for obvious reasons.
* Despite his theme song, ShawnMichaels hasn't had a "sexy boy" gimmick for a long time.
* The "Bradshaw" in JohnBradshawLayfield comes from his early days in the WWF as Justin Hawk Bradshaw and later when he was just Bradshaw in the Acolytes. Likewise his finishing move the Clothesline From Hell, comes from his day in the satanic themed MinistryOfDarkness. The move has been renamed to "...from Texas" or "...from Wall Street" occasionally but reverts back to the original name shortly thereafter.

* When [[StoneColdSteveAustin Steve Austin]] was in WCW, he wrestled as a pretty boy named "'Stunning' Steve Austin", and used a finisher alternately called the "Stun Gun" or the "Stunner". When he entered the then-WWF, he abandoned both the nickname and the move. A few months later, he adopted his more famous "Stone Cold" persona, and started using a different finisher called the "Stone Cold Stunner". Could be just a coincidence, but it's also possible it was named by somebody who was used to calling Austin's finishing move a "Stunner", which would make it an indirect reference to his old gimmick.
* Wrestler/{{Kane}} has been this for several years already. Although he's fairly popular with the fans and a solid, reliable big man worker for the company to use, he rarely gets any angles, and the few he does always seem to stick out as somewhat out of place. Not only that, as he usually never ends up in a main event title feud anymore, Kane is sort of just...there. The problem is that he's stuck in a place between solid mid-carder (like William Regal) and main event wrestler, and due to his popularity, the writers just don't know what to do with him at times.
** [[spoiler: And then he goes and wins the World Heavyweight title off of ReyMysterioJr]].

* Before his run in ROH, Colt Cabana worked in the defunct Wrestling/WrestlingSocietyX with the hilarious gimmick of Matt Classic, a faux artifact so to speak, who was supposedly a wrestler who woke up from a decades long coma and used the same techniques that made him champion in the early days of pro wrestling. His move list included the airplane spin, a slam from the first rope, and the abdominal stretch.
* But perhaps the greatest example going today is JohnCena. He continues to use his famous rap anthem "The Time Is Now" (off of his 2005 album ''You Can't See Me'') as his entrance theme and to wear baggy shorts, even though he hasn't otherwise played up the rap stereotype since about 2006.
** Cena's spinner WWE Championship belt could also count as an artifact. It was originally part of his rap gimmick in 2005. By the end of 2007, the center plate no longer spun. By 2008, JohnCena was not even on the same show where that particular belt was typically defended, and he even challenged for (and won) the World Heavyweight Championship. From 2009 to the present, Cena has challenged for the belt, but it still no longer spins. The belt's center plate has in 2011 spun only for The Miz to spin the "W" symbol upside down into an "M". The belt hasn't served its original purpose for a long time, but is kept around mainly due to its merchandising success.
* {{Edge}}'s "You think you know me?" motif was from his original loner gimmick way back in 1998, yet has been inserted into all of his entrance themes, even after becoming a 15-time tag team champion and being a part of several stables, teams, and alliances.
* Cheerleader Melissa hasn't been a cheerleader since maybe 2004. While she was still training to be a full fledged wrestler, she debuted as a cheerleader-valet for a tag team with a hockey gimmick called the Ballard Brothers. After a stint in Japan she stopped valeting. She's tried renaming herself "The Future Legend" Melissa, and just plain Melissa, but it never seems to stick. She has managed to find some success using the name Alyssa Flash which was what she had in TNA. She uses Alyssa Flash in River City Wrestling but sticks as Cheerleader Melissa in promotions such as ''{{SHIMMER}}'' for originality's sake. She originally brought pompoms down to the ring with her in her early ''SHIMMER'' days but no longer does it.
* MattHardy's signature hand gesture has all but the ring finger and thumb extended, spelling V 1, a reference to a gimmick he used in 2003-2005 where he was [[RedBaron Matt Hardy, Version 1.]] Though he no longer uses the Version 1 name or the [[IncomingHam accompanying Windows Media Player-like entrance]], Hardy and the fans will still use the hand signal.
* Layla El when she was in LayCool with Michelle [=McCool=] had the CatchPhrase "Famous and Flawless" and wore ring jackets and t-shirts with those words on them. Even though LayCool split in 2011, she still wears the word "Flawless" on her ring gear.
* EveTorres continued to get "Hoeski" chanted at her despite her storyline with ZackRyder ending at ''[=WrestleMania=] 28''.

** TrishStratus kept her Lil' Kim "Time To Rock and Roll" theme after her FaceHeelTurn. The lyrics talked about her underdog rise to the top as a model-turned-wrestler but didn't quite fit with her heel character.
** Randy Orton hasn't heard voices in a good few years yet his Rev Theory theme song informs us he does each time he makes his entrance.

** Chris Jericho's countdown and explosion in his entrance theme was a reference to the Y2K countdown (hence the nickname "Y2J") but obviously younger fans don't get the reference.
** Natalya continues to use the Hart Dynasty's theme music despite the stable splitting in 2010. Averted with Tyson Kidd who received a new theme.
* AJ Lee's "Let's Light It Up" theme fit her perfectly when she was a HollywoodNerd GenkiGirl. When she switched to ManipulativeBitch and {{Yandere}} it stayed but came across as SoundtrackDissonance.
* Wrestling/{{Brodus Clay}}'s theme song originally belonged to Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who had a very short stint in WWE in the early 2000s. The theme song still has Miller's catchphrase, "Somebody call my mamma" in it.

* ''Manga/DragonBall Z'' features many characters from the earlier Manga/DragonBall series (such as {{Talking Animal}}s Puar the cat and Oolong the pig) that do not mesh well with the less cartoony and more science-fiction style of characters in DBZ.
** An even better example would be the {{Dragon Ball}}s themselves. Although they've have some importance in every arc, as soon as it's revealed that Goku and Piccolo are aliens, they take a back seat and they're only used as damage control in the Android/Cell and Buu arcs. They do eventually become more important in ''DragonBallGT''.
*** This actually started earlier in the Manga/DragonBall run. While they were being actively sought through most of Manga/DragonBall, by the time of the Red Ribbon Saga they were effectively just a MacGuffin and the battles with the badguys became more prominent. By the King Piccolo Saga, they became little more than a means to how Piccolo gained eternal youth and damage cleanup thereafter, while in the Piccolo Junior Saga they weren't even featured at all. They played a limited role in the Saiyan Saga of Z, while they played a much more prominent role in the Namek/Frieza Saga. The Android/Cell and Buu Sagas all but forgot about them. Basically, the importance of the Dragon Balls themselves started to wane heavily as early as half way through the original Manga/DragonBall years - in other words, for about 3/4 of whole story they were little more than a slightly justified DeusExMachina to hit the Cosmic Reset Button.

** The same principle happened to Cate Blanchett's Galadriel, but to a lesser degree because she is already way more prominent than Arwen. Apart from the Lothlorien chapters (which take up a sizable chunk of ''Fellowship of the Ring''), Galadriel gets mentioned again from time to time, and she shows up at the very end. The appendices give more information about her, including an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome where she (and her husband) led an elven army to destroy one of Sauron's main fortresses in the North while the main characters were fighting their own battles to the East. For the films, Blanchett was given more lines and scenes throughout the trilogy.
** In the books Arwen was a late addition who took Eowyn's place as Aragorn's love interest when Tolkien decided to ship Eowyn with Faramir instead. In the books, she appears in two scenes: a banquet in Rivendell, and then her wedding. She is mentioned on the sly a few times later, but her story is almost exclusively part of Aragorn's backstory, found in the appendices.

* Erin Esurance was still around for awhile despite the fact that Esurance ads ditched the whole espionage/ActionGirl angle in favor of more traditional type spots.
** Now she's been reduced to a poster in the halls of the fictional Esurance offices in which the current campaign takes place.
** Esurance is now currently partnered with Allstate, and any references to past advertisements are gone.

** The GameCube remake of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' carries over many of the features introduced to the series in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. This includes the ability to hold guards up and steal dogtags from them - minus any non-{{bragging rights|Reward}}-related incentive to actually do so, since the unlockable pieces of equipment (stealth camo and infinite-ammo bandanna) are still unlocked simply by beating the game with a specific ending.

** Her armored corset's iconic stars-and-stripes motif made perfect sense in the Golden Age comics, when she was persuaded to enter "Man's World" for the first time by an Army officer, she was an Army nurse in her civilian identity, and every other issue involved her fighting the Nazis. Now that GreekMythology has become such a central part of the series' lore (with her powers retconned as the product of blessings from the Gods of Olympus), her decision to wear the American flag on her costume can seem a bit baffling.

* EveTorres continues to get "Hoeski" chanted at her despite her storyline with ZackRyder ending at ''[=WrestleMania=] 28''.