History Main / WriterRevolt

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** ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'' introduced Recyclops, an eco-crusader who helpfully suggests ways to recycle and reuse items. Unfortunately, Recyclops grows more dangerous and militant each year, until finally, he renounces Earth Day and swears vengeance against humanity for some unspecified misdeed, and proceeds to exact his punishment by releasing copious amounts of aerosol spray.

* Creator/BrianMichaelBendis set out to complete derail the ''BND'' era just as it was beginning by having Peter unmask in front of his secret Avengers teammates right after Marvel had taken great pains to hide Peter's identity again. A strong fan of Peter and MJ's marriage, Bendis went on to imply [[Comicbook/{{Spider-Woman}} Jessica Drew]] remembered that he was married, with Peter denying it. ''How'' Jessica is aware isn't made clear, but it could be down to hearing it from any character with the ability to peer over the fourth wall. [[hottip:*:Or using the LoopholeAbuse that when OMD occurred, Jessica was kidnapped and stored away in a Skrull spaceship, while their queen Veranke posed as her until SecretInvasion. Mephisto's reset must have affected people residing on Earth, presumably.]]

* Chris Morris, fed up with Michael Grade's frequent ExecutiveMeddling with ''BrassEye'', inserted a {{N|otSafeForWork}}SFW subliminal message into the final episode. The DVD release has all the cuts reinstated but the subliminal, having served its purpose, is gone.

* ''AmericanDragonJakeLong'' was almost nothing but this.

* The Music/SexPistols' manager Malcolm [=McLaren=] wanted them to write a song called "Submission", obviously expecting an ObligatoryBondageSong... They mocked the idea by making it a song about a submarine ("I'm on a submarine mission for you, baby").

-->-- ''PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain'', in the ThemeSong

* When ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' was originally created, Bandai wanted the plot to be a simple story about [[SuperRobot super robots]] fighting each other in a world-wide competition. Instead, Yasuhiro Imagawa created a series where the tournament was simply a backdrop for Domon to meet allies and fight his enemies, while the real plot was that several [[GovernmentConspiracy nations tried to gain control of the Devil Gundam]], a super-powerful robot capable of dominating the world. This also lead to some of the most memorably ridiculous designs in mecha history, such as a windmill gundam.
** Even before ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'', YoshiyukiTomino, the creator of the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' and it sequels, plotted a director revolt against Sunrise and Bandai with his ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'', making it his single darkest ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' show. As a part of his rebellion against the two said companies' merchandise interest at the expense of several plot elements in his Gundam series, he even created a motorcycle-like Zanscare battleship as an irony whilst the main stage of the show was meant to be Earth. The high character death rate along with [[spoiler:Katejina Loos' sudden FaceHeelTurn]] also have things to do with Tomino's rage.

* ''GundamWing'' [[WordOfGod director Masashi Ikeda said]] in an ''Animerica'' interview that [[NoHuggingNoKissing he hadn't intended any romance between the characters]] because there were more important things going on. The primary writing staff, however, seems to ship Heero / Relena very heavily, especially in the numerous manga spinoffs like ''Battlefield of Pacifists'' and ''Blind Target''.

* A particularly amusing one occurred at the end of the MerchandiseDriven HumongousMecha series ''[[TheBraveExpressMightGaine Brave Express Might Gaine]]'', where the show's disgruntled writers [[BitingTheHandHumor pitted the heroes against the greedy & heartless toy company that created them]].

* JoeQuesada, (then) head editor at MarvelComics, stated that the short-lived but critically-adored series ''{{Nextwave}}'' was not in continuity. Unfortunately for him, every writer since has written related stories, plot summaries, or character histories as though it were. Particularly funny as Warren Ellis (the original writer) wrote the series on the assumption that it was out of continuity as well, and said as much in interviews. (Quesada has been opposed by everyone who has ever worked for Marvel at some point, though he does tend to listen to all parties and thus why Marvel is more creatively diverse these days than it ever used to be, though the price (a lack of consistent continuity) is hefty.)

* James Robinson's final issue of ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'' drew attention from websites such as Bleedingcool for taking some very blatant shots at DC's then-upcoming ''{{New 52}}'' reboot. The issue contains jabs at [[GrantMorrisonsBatman Batwing]] for getting his own title ahead of a number of DC's existing black superheroes, as well as a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall not-so-subtle dig at fans who criticized Robinson's run]].

* In the 1980s, there was a period where MarvelComics decided that they would not have gays in comics and Northstar of ''AlphaFlight'' could not be gay, even though strong hints in that matter had already been dropped. Writer BillMantlo responded with a storyline revealing he was part ''fairy''. Which is all the more hilarious when you consider that X-Men is all about equality for both different races ''and'' gay people.
* Steve Gerber, creator of ''Comicbook/HowardTheDuck'', was writing two {{crossover}}s at the same time: one with ''ComicBook/{{Spider-Man}}'' and Howard for [[MarvelUniverse Marvel Comics]], and one with ''TheSavageDragon'' and ''Destroyer Duck'' for ImageComics. He got the idea of having the two parties meeting briefly in the shadows of a warehouse. Then he saw that Howard was scheduled to make appearances in some of Marvel's other comics, so he had the Savage Dragon / Destroyer Duck side of the meeting changed in that Howard gets himself cloned by a villain. In the confusion, one of the clones left the warehouse with Spidey (as seen in the Spider-Man side of the story, under the pretense that no cloning incident ever happened), while the real Howard is rescued by Savage Dragon and Destroyer Duck. The real Howard adopts the identity of "Leonard the Duck" (with his [[InterspeciesRomance girlfriend]] Beverly Switzler likewise becoming "Rhonda Martini") and makes appearances in Image Comics and VertigoComics thereafter.
* J. Michael Straczynski objected ''strongly'' to the content of ''OneMoreDay'', but was contractually obligated to write it and include the results Joe Quesada wanted (namely, the dissolution of Peter Parker and Mary Jane's marriage via DealWithTheDevil). So, he threw in Aunt May saying that it was her time to go, and Peter should just let it happen; a little girl who appears to Peter and drops anvil-sized questions about what will happen if she never is; visions of his life without Mary-Jane, all of which are rather lacking; and the little girl showing back up after the deal is made, revealing that she was Mary-Jane's unborn daughter who will now never be and saying, in essence, "Wow, you really fucked this one up, didn't you?". He also has Mephisto proclaim that a "small part of their souls will remember what you have lost", thus somehow implying whatever Peter and MJ become on the surface is just an extension of Mephisto's spell and that the real Peter and MJ are locked away, waiting for release.
** A happy ending to the ''OMD/BND'' mess was lampshaded in MJ's speech about how "nothing could destroy the relationship", indicating that her deal with Mephisto is to ensure she can somehow remain close to him and break both pacts one day with an ace up her sleeve, as well as the wedding scene depicted in the ''Mary Jane'' TPB reprint of ''Paralel Lives'', (the annual containing the retconned wedding was not included in this TPB), indicating that a new version of the wedding will one day unfold with the pacts broken. A few months prior to ''OMD'', during his conversation with an angel, Peter is told he and MJ will overcome everything and still have kids.
* Creator/BrianMichaelBendis set out to complete derail the ''BND'' era just as it was beginning by having Peter unmask in front of his secret Avengers teammates right after Marvel had taken great pains to hide Peter's identity again. A strong fan of Peter and MJ's marriage, Bendis went on to imply [[SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]] remembered that he was married, with Peter denying it. ''How'' Jessica is aware isn't made clear, but it could be down to hearing it from any character with the ability to peer over the fourth wall. [[hottip:*:Or using the LoopholeAbuse that when OMD occured, Jessica was kidnapped and stored away in a Skrull spaceship, while their queen Veranke posed as her until SecretInvasion. Mephisto's reset must have affected people residing on Earth, presumably.]]
** When [=TomDeFalco=] and Howard Mackie's 2009 Clone Saga redux was released as a trade paperback, it bore the title "The REAL Clone Saga". The redux, rather than try to amend the 90s Clone Saga so that it fits into the drasticly altered BND timeline, simply tells a much happier, upbeat version of events where every character that was killed over the course of the saga SURVIVES. The story ending with Peter and MJ becoming proud parents is seen as another big "F You" to the 616 continuity.
* GeoffJohns pulled a very polite WriterRevolt when editor Dan Didio forced him to eliminate his two favorite characters, Superboy and Kid Flash, from the Teen Titans. Superboy was killed off for legal reasons[[note]]because of the then-ongoing legal dispute between DC and the Siegel/Shuster estates over the copyright to Superman was, at the time, tilting towards DC losing the rights to Superboy. DC reacted, naturally enough, by killing Superboy off (and having recurring antagonist Superboy-Prime change his name to Superman-Prime). Superboy's resurrection came when the courts made it clear that it was only "young Clark" Superboy who the estates might have a claim on, and other characters using the name belonged to DC. In a nice touch, the villain in the miniseries that Superboy and Kid Flash returned in? Superboy-Prime, going back to his original name[[/note]], while Kid Flash was aged up and became the new Flash (and was later killed off due to poor fan reaction). Johns continued to write the title, but the quality went downhill, and most of the stories seemed to be a meta commentary on how much the book was missing. He wound up leaving after about a year of stories, and the title has never been the same. Interviews upon his departure made it clear that he would have still been on the title if the characters were still around. When fan reaction proved him right, Johns was commissioned to write the miniseries that brought both the characters back to life.
** Also, killing Superboy was actually the lesser of two evils. Didio originally wanted to kill off ''{{Nightwing}}'', the original Robin and one of DC's oldest and most prominent characters, in "Infinite Crisis". Johns pulled off a literal writer revolt and refused to write that, substituting Superboy so that a [=BigThree=] legacy would still die and that DC would at least be able to kill two birds with one stone.
* RobertCrumb, in response to the Creator/RalphBakshi [[WesternAnimation/FritzTheCat animated feature]] adaptation of his character ComicBook/FritzTheCat, killed Fritz off in one of his subsequent comics. That didn't stop producer Steve Krantz from making a [[{{Sequelitis}} sequel]], ''WesternAnimation/TheNineLivesOfFritzTheCat''.

* Near the end of his tenure on ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' in TheEighties, Steve Englehart was shown the door for allegedly not being enough like StanLee and JackKirby, but the higher-ups gave him a few months to wrap things up. He wrote a story called "Dreamquest" under the alias of John Harkness, which had the FF captured by Aron, a member of the same alien race as Uatu the Watcher, and replaced with brain-washed, "action figure" duplicates that a curious Aron uses to recreate the early Lee/Kirby stories ("you want Lee and Kirby? I'll give you EXACTLY Lee and Kirby!"), regardless of the consequences to the modern Marvel Universe (such as torpedoing a nearly-completed HeelFaceTurn by the Mole Man, whom the fake FF attack without provocation, causing him to swear vengeance). Meanwhile, the stasis-imprisoned real FF have dreams that function as ultra-condensed versions of the stories that Englehart ''would'' have written; the highlight was a war between DoctorDoom and an impostor who believed he was Doom, in which both assembled teams of supervillains to fight on their sides. Once the real FF are freed, and Aron and his fakes vanquished, Franklin Richards goes to find "Harkness" to help fix the FF's now bad public image.

* Randy Studdard (the ''Nintendo Power'' employee who created Captain Nintendo - later reworked as ''CaptainNTheGameMaster'') took this to the unlikely extreme of ''subtle'' DisproportionateRetribution [[http://www.nesplayer.com/captain_n/chapterfive.htm As told here]], his boss wanted numerous changes, and though he negotiated down to just "turn the guy's girlfriend into a stronger character," he was inordinately offended by the idea of this re-write ("Saving fair damsels, is what heroes do. Especially saving the girlfriend!! But, no. Let’s just put this premise on the respirator in the ICU before it’s born…"), and retaliated by renaming the girlfriend "Tara Bates" - as he explained: "Tara was the home of [[GoneWithTheWind Scarlett O’Hara]] (whom I consider the bitchiest character of all time) and Bates was the last name of Norman Bates of ran the Bates Motel in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' and he was, [[CaptainObvious well, psycho.]]" [[UnfortunateImplications Sheesh, dude.]]

* Following the event story ''Wrath of the First Lantern'', Joshua Hale Fialkov was pinged to write both the ''[[Comicbook/GreenLantern Green Lantern Corps]]'' and ''Red Lanterns'' books, but would later leave the books due to "editorial not letting him tell the stories he wanted". It's still unclear if that included a rumor that Fialkov would've been mandated to kill off John Stewart (a major GL player and one of DC's most famous black characters; and that Fialkov resigned in protest of this), but currently the hero is safe, as the main Lantern in GLC under main ''Green Lantern'' writer Robert Venditti & Van Jensen. ''Red Lanterns'' (with Guy Gardner) eventually was assigned to Charles Soule.

* During the making of ''FightClub'', the executives felt that Marla's line after she has sex with Tyler ("I want to have your abortion") was too offensive, and asked director David Fincher to change it. Fincher changed it to "I haven't been fucked like that since grade school" and refused to change it back. Also, the movie contains a great deal of product placement, nearly all of which is smashed, blown up, or otherwise vandalized over the course of the movie.
** Fun fact: HelenaBonhamCarter (the actress who played Marla) is British and ''[[EnforcedMethodActing didn't know]]'' that "grade school" was the American equivalent of "primary school". She was, uh, "unhappy" when she found out what the line meant.
* JamesCameron performed a "Director Revolt" against Fox during the making of ''Film/{{Avatar}}''. Fox was concerned with the amount of "tree-hugging elements" present in the film, and asked Cameron to tone down or eliminate them. Cameron responded by ramping them up.
* "Producer Revolt" in action: CharltonHeston suggested that in ''Beneath the PlanetOfTheApes'', his character [[SaltTheEarth would trigger the Doomsday bomb]] at the end of the movie [[TorchTheFranchiseAndRun to prevent the franchise from continuing]]. Fox president Dick Zanuck was reluctant in accepting... until the board of executives, fed up with Zanuck after years of costly bombs such as ''Film/DoctorDolittle'' and ''HelloDolly'', gave him the pink slip. Knowing that he was on the way out, he said "go ahead, use the bomb". ([[FranchiseZombie the series still continued]])

* An editor told [[{{Sharpe}} Bernard Cornwell]] (a writer of historical war fiction) to change a scene where an ensign died. He resented being told how to write, so he changed it... to be more depressing. And in a number of the books since, Cornwell has had an ensign killed off in worse and worse ways.
** For reference, this is Bernard Cornwell we're talking about. He's only one step away from YoshiyukiTomino: instead of killing off every named character and the entire universe, he'll simply kill the majority of the named characters and a ''lot'' of unnamed ones.
* OlderThanRadio: Louisa May Alcott, author of ''LittleWomen'', was pressured to hook up Laurie and Jo by both fans and her editor. After divulging her disappointment in her fans to her journals since she felt that they were [[MisaimedFandom missing the point]] (she had actually intended for Jo to remain unmarried but happy and professionally successful), Alcott created the character Professor Fritz Bhaer as Jo's BigBrotherMentor and later love interest and hooked Laurie up with Jo's ''younger sister'' Amy, [[ShipSinking just to piss off the fans]]. ("I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anybody"). {{Shipping}} has ''always'' been SeriousBusiness, even without the Internet.

* R.A. Salvatore tried and failed one of these in 1997, attempting to end his ''[[TheLegendOfDrizzt Legend of Drizzt]]'' series and write other stuff. He didn't have the copyright, so his publishers solicited a Drizzt manuscript from another author. Salvatore backed down, and as of this writing [[FranchiseZombie he's still writing Drizzt books even as they decline in quality]].

** In the last decade or so, starting with the [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch Deep Space Nine relaunch,]] which continued the stories of the characters from StarTrekDeepSpaceNine from the finale, this restriction has lessened, especially following the [[Film/StarTrek new]] [[StarTrekIntoDarkness continuity]] movies making the 'prime' universe effectively a closed book in the eyes of those producing the new movies. There are now several ongoing series focused on [[StarTrekTitan mostly]] or [[StarTrekVanguard entirely]] original characters.

* Due to the often draconian rules placed on the writers of the {{Ravenloft}} novels, and after getting asked for one revision one too many times, P.N Elrod wrote in a character named [[SdrawkcabName Tew Yssup]] (Wet Pussy) in ''I, Strahd: The War Against Azalin''. Most readers thought it was childish.

* ''{{Ugly Betty}}'' had a mild case of this during the final season after being cancelled but allowed a series finale; giving the writers pretty much a free card to do as they pleased, including giving the main gay characters bed and kiss scenes (One of them was even a kiss scene between teen boys, and no, not [[DawsonCasting a couple 30 year old playing teen boys]], actual teen boys; and that quickly derived in a rushed coming out story).
* ''{{Kings}}'' is a modern retelling of the story of King David. The executives, in hopes of hiding this, made a strict rule that the phrase "King David" never be spoken. In the last episode of season 1, David is referred to by Rev. Samuelson as "David Shepherd, son of Jesse, son of Judah." Not even "King David" could rival that phrase in obviousness.

* ''Series/ICarly'': It's likely that ''iGo Nuclear'' is the result of being forced by ExecutiveMeddling to create an episode with a GreenAesop. See the BrokenAesop entry at the top of the page to see how it turned out.
** Rumors and theories persist that the episode ''iKiss'' was only written due to ExecutiveMeddling, based on a few pieces of evidence including Dan include the skewering of Teen genre tropes with the "Kelly Cooper" skit, then doing the biggest one of all, the FirstKiss.
* Chris Morris, fed up with Michael Grade's frequent ExecutiveMeddling with ''BrassEye'', inserted a {{NSFW}} subliminal message into the final episode. The DVD release has all the cuts reinstated but the subliminal, having served its purpose, is gone.

* The writers of the rebooted ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' tell a story where they were told to include more "happy moments", like "a party". They wrote in a party sequence that abruptly ended with an accidental explosion with several casualties. They say execs never meddled again.
* JossWhedon was asked by Fox to include some actual aliens in ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. His response was to have a seedy carny hawk "alien body parts" on display, which were, of course, fake.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had another little bit of revolt. Much hay had been made about the fact that [[HideYourGays the 24th century didn't seem to have openly gay people]], and Whoopi Goldberg protested the fact that one episode had her explain the concept of love to a new lifeform by saying, "When a man and a women are in love..." She managed to get it changed to "two people"; as it was part of a holographic presentation. ''Neither'' line appears in the final episode, according to transcripts.

* A minor case occurred in ''TheState'': MTV executives wouldn't let them use a sketch about BobDylan because [[ViewersAreMorons no one in the audience would know who he was]]. Thus, as an in-joke, the name "Bob Dylan" kept getting slipped into dialogue.

* As part of the ExecutiveMeddling that affected the 1970-71 TV series ''The Young Lawyers'', the more hot-button and racially-mixed elements were toned down. One particular change is best explained by HarlanEllison (who wrote an episode of the series, and wasn't pleased with the finished result):
--> ''...a pure WASP attorney will be introduced to ease the identity crisis for the scuttlefish. ([[MissionImpossible Steve]] [[Series/MacGyver Kandel]], one of the more lunatic scriveners in Clown Town, when assigned the chore of writing the script that introduces the new characters, despising the idea, named him [[MeaningfulName Christian White]]. It went through three drafts before anyone got hip to Steve's sword in the spleen.)'' (He was renamed Chris Blake.)
* In a weird example of an in-fiction type being applied to a real episode, ''MadMen'' has an episode with a B-plot centering around 1960s lawyer show ''The Defenders'' and their controversial episode about abortion. Harry Crane's friend at CBS explains the writers wanted to get it made, but the executives balked at the subject matter. So they instead do a trash script about cannibalism, the network rejects it on its face, there's not enough time to write a new script, but they do have this one waiting in the wings...

* ChelyWright's record company apparently disliked the gloominess of one of her recent albums, and requested that she write "something positive and hopeful". And [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJZHDBS6lS0 so she did.]]
* "Pork and Beans" by {{Weezer}}.
* After the success of ''TheDarkSideOfTheMoon'', Music/PinkFloyd was [[ExecutiveMeddling pressured by their record company into coming up with a follow-up album]]. Roger Waters responded by cramming their next album, ''Wish You Were Here'', with songs that [[TakeThat ridiculed the record industry]].

* JanelleMonae's verse on the Tightrope remix with B.O.B. and Lupe Fiasco points out the people who kept saying that she needs to change her appearance to appeal to the masses.

* Speaking of LupeFiasco, he made sure that at least part of "The Show Goes On" was dedicated to slamming his record label, which tried to turn him into a flash-in-the-pan pop-rapper.
* The SexPistols' manager Malcolm [=McLaren=] wanted them to write a song called "Submission", obviously expecting an ObligatoryBondageSong... They mocked the idea by making it a song about a submarine ("I'm on a submarine mission for you, baby").

* For a time, products based on the Shmoos (an all-purpose food species) from ''LilAbner'' were the biggest fad in America. The fad came to a rather abrupt halt due to Writer Revolt -- Al Capp, sick of how the Shmoo fad overshadowed everything else in the strip, debuted the "Shmooicide Squad", a group that proceeded to render the Shmoos extinct ([[SequelHook save one]]).
* Tom Batiuk, artist of ''FunkyWinkerbean'', killed off John Darling, star of the spin-off strip of the same name (in the penultimate strip, to boot), because he wanted to end the strip, didn't want to re-integrate him into FW, and didn't want his syndicate to use the character elsewhere, without his input.
* Bill Watterson, creator of ''CalvinAndHobbes'', frequently had rows with his editor about the subject of merchandising. Several strips had paraphrasements of the editor's arguments as punchlines, such as Calvin's dad telling him he sees everything in black and white, or has no perspective, leading to the boy imagining a literal case of the ailments. He got his point across.

* Related, on Creator/{{Universal}} Studios, as ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Ride'' replaced ''Film/BackToTheFuture: The Ride''; the queue movie has an animated Doc Brown trying, but failing to save his facilities and eventually selling the property's deed to Krusty.

* Rumor has it that when the time came for ShigeruMiyamoto to start developing a sequel to ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', the higher-ups at Creator/{{Nintendo}}, enamored by the pre-rendered 3D visuals in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', demanded that the new {{Mario}} game also use pre-rendered 3D graphics. Miyamoto, who strongly opposed to the idea, instead went for a cutesy, crayon-drawn look in an act of rebellion against his executives, which made them see the error of their ways, and the game was eventually developed and released as ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland''.

** And we did ultimately get a pre-rendered graphic Mario game on the SNES... but it wasn't any less controversial because it was an [[SuperMarioRPG RPG]].
* Arguable in the case on the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series. In the early stages of the series' development, {{Capcom}} thought that the new Mega Man's design was a complete overhaul from the original. Keiji Inafune, the "father" of the series, was forced make a second X with a design that would be more familiar to fans of ''VideoGame/MegaMan''. Inafune didn't discard the original design, however, and made him into a supporting character instead. What happens next? Inafune made it so that ''his'' X would [[SpotlightStealingSquad figure more into the storyline]] than the second X. Moreover, in an irony of what Capcom envisioned, he also became [[EnsembleDarkhorse more popular with the fanbase than the "second" X himself!]] Any fan should know this story by now.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4''. HideoKojima was told to make a sequel that finished the overarching plot, returning the series to Solid Snake, and explaining the identity of The Patriots. In the game, Snake's old and dying, the other characters are also old and dying, the identity of The Patriots turns out to be a massive [[{{Anticlimax}} anti-climax]], and the plot is routinely stopped to have DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything chats about how Hideo Kojima doesn't want to make another game and knows he shouldn't. Like having Naomi discuss how 'the game has to end' while images of the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series's title screens flash subliminally. Or having them chased by a tank called an 'MGS', with lots of shouting about how they have to "[[TitleDrop shake off that MGS]]". Or Otacon commenting about how the next-gen version of Shadow Moses is indication that it's "not so bad getting old" (i.e. the old games should just be allowed to be what they are). And telling Snake at the end that he will always remember "what you were" (i.e. what you were back before Kojima was forced to throw in his artistic integrity). It's kind of a depressing game.
** There was actually a ''double'' one on ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4''. Originally, Kojima wanted to end the game with Snake and Otacon turning in to authorities only to be executed for being terrorists. His staff ''flat out refused to work on the game if it was to end that way.''

* [[SomethingPositive Randy Milholland]] admitted that he almost changed the [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp01152007.shtml outcome of the "Children" arc]] to make Davan Rory's biological father:

* ''BoyMeetsBoy'''s author stretched out the WillTheyOrWontThey subplot about Skids and Cy too long and fans began to demand that she finally resolve it, so she had one of the characters run off with the [[KickTheDog villain of the strip and cut off all ties to his old friends]] and the other [[LastMinuteHookUp hook up with a character introduced at the last minute.]]
* Following [[spoiler:Black Belt's death]] in ''[[WebComic/EightBitTheater 8-Bit Theater]]'', fans frequently discussed and [[EpilepticTrees made theories]] of resurrection... the issue was solved in a comic conveniently titled "[[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2005/11/10/episode-622-now-shut-up/ Now shut up]]".
* Played for laughs in [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_429.php this strip]] from ''DanAndMabsFurryAdventures''. But there's no doubting that the sentiment is real.
* ''LivingWithInsanity'' sometimes has the artist revolt against the writer. Such as [[http://www.livingwithinsanity.com/index/?p=448 this strip]], apparently based on a real conversation.
* Issue 10 of ''{{Sonichu}}'' is one massive WriterRevolt (well, ''Creator'' Revolt, actually) by Christian Weston Chandler, ignoring his vows of writing his AuthorAvatar out of the series, viciously eliminating everything that's bothered him, creating a character out of spite, then telling his fans he'll work on his comic whenever he damn well feels like it!

* ''BasicInstructions'' creator Scott Meyer once [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2009/1/1/how-to-create-a-running-gag.html?currentPage=3 replaced pictures of his wife]] [[LipstickLesbian with pictures of Portia de Rossi]] after getting many comments asking him to make his wife look hotter and 'less like a lesbian'.
* The author of LeAvventureDelGrandeDarthVader was asked by two fans to include them in the comic. The author responded by including them in exactly [[http://kewlfilez.altervista.org/avventuredarth21.gif two panels]], the latter of which shows them being [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by the main character. According to the {{kayfabe}} of the comic, [[UnfortunateImplications the main character]] ''[[UnfortunateImplications is]]'' [[UnfortunateImplications the author]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' invokes this as a RunningGag. Basically whenever there's an event that has a strong reaction (usually negative) from the fandom, author AndrewHussie will sometimes [[BreakingTheFourthWall insert himself into the story]] and parody the event in an over-the-top fashion.

* Here's a typical action from Paul Dini on anything in the {{DCAU}}. Make a scene that gets rejected. Then take it and make it even more of whatever got it rejected. They ''never'' noticed.

* The ExecutiveMeddling done to ''PinkyAndTheBrain'' (such as adding Elmyra to the show) pissed off writer Peter Hastings so much that he left Warner Bros. to create Disney's ''OneSaturdayMorning''. Before he did that, though, he made fun of Jamie Kellner's orders in his last script, "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in This Town Again", in which Brain dreams that he and Pinky are sitcom stars whose popularity is sabotaged when various unfitting changes are made to their show. (As you can guess, Kellner did not take the advice this episode was telling him.)

*** They finally learned when they released the addition of Elmyra and suffered the incurring wrath of angry fans, who ''already hated her from TinyToonAdventures''.

* One episode of ''InvaderZim'' ended with Iggins, an obnoxious one-shot character, getting crushed in an elevator accident. When that earned an ExecutiveVeto, the writers tacked on an additional ending after a "The End" screen where said character burst out from the elevator wreckage and flew towards the camera in a superhero pose with a matching backdrop and "IGGINS!!" displayed underneath. Unlike many examples on this page, this ''was'' noticed by the network and did rather anger them.

** How can anybody forget the episode "Zim Eats Waffles" where Zim is shown experimenting on a boy named Nick who must constantly smile and be happy...not to mention he also has the orange splatter symbol on his shirt.

* Craig [=McCracken=] intentionally made ''ThePowerpuffGirls'' ''[[TheMovie Movie]]'' DarkerAndEdgier than the show because he was unhappy with the way Creator/CartoonNetwork was marketing the show. They were promoting it as a show for girls, when he meant it to be for everybody -- girls, boys, and grownups.

* Mainframe, the creators of ''ReBoot'' and ''ShadowWars'' were notoriously [[ExecutiveMeddling strangled]] by the department of Broadcast Standards and Practices, especially during the first two seasons of ''ReBoot''. Their response? Not only push everything they could so far to the limit they were teetering over the edge, but make "BS&P" a go-to line for some goofy, cartoonish stand-in. (For instance, when a [[MacrossMissileMassacre giant rocket launcher]] instead fires a huge inflatable life raft, the raft bears a stamp saying "Approved by BS&P".) Similarly, a MoralGuardian appears as a judge for the auditions in the episode Talent Night, a definitive TakeThat as she objects to nearly every single act that appears on increasingly flimsy grounds. Who's the one act she likes? A NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of the VillagePeople who sing "Living With BS&P" to the tune of YMCA, featuring the line "It's fun to play, in a non-violent way!"

* When Disney executives changed the title of ''Basil of Baker Street'' to ''TheGreatMouseDetective'', the animation crew played a little joke by sending a memo in the name of president Peter Schneider announcing that [[http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4081/2333/1600/WDPNewTitles_large.1.jpg all of Disney's animated classics will be retitled]].

* During WorldWarTwo, UsefulNotes/NaziGermany occupied UsefulNotes/TheChannelIslands off the British coast. They also printed their own stamps during this time. After the war, the British printer was accused for collaboration, but he defended himself by showing that those stamps bore four little A's in the corners -- standing for "Ad Avernum Atrox Adolf!" (Latin for "Go to hell, atrocious Adolf!") [[http://ingraham.ca/bob/jersey.html Here's the story.]]

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** In the same album, they wanted him to do a straight cover of a song (as in, not a parody). So he covered the theme to ''GeorgeOfTheJungle''.

* ''LittleWomen'': Louisa May Alcott was pressured to hook up Laurie and Jo by both fans and her editor. After divulging her disappointment in her fans to her journals since she felt that they were [[MisaimedFandom missing the point]] (she had actually intended for Jo to remain unmarried but happy and professionally successful), Alcott created the character Professor Fritz Bhaer as Jo's BigBrotherMentor and later love interest and hooked Laurie up with Jo's ''younger sister'' Amy, [[ShipSinking just to piss off the fans]]. ("I won't marry Jo to Laurie to please anybody"). {{Shipping}} has ''always'' been SeriousBusiness, even without the Internet.

* This is OlderThanRadio. At the start of the 20th century, RichardStrauss had severely pissed off various publishing houses by his successful campaigns to improve the position of composers with respect to publishing and performing rights. Being under contract to deliver a set of his famous ''Lieder'' to the Berlin publisher Bote & Bock, he wrote the ''Krämerspiegel'' op. 66 - acid and outright libellous satires against various companies under paper-thin aliases, full of puns and self-quotations. He was promptly sued for breach of contract and instead wrote the ''Lieder'' op. 67 - which were the most recondite, technically challenging and innovative he had ever done, and so deliberately hard to sell. No publisher deigned to produce the original set until forty years later.

* While creating the Mirage set for ''MagicTheGathering'', the designers were ordered not to name anybody after an [[SignificantAnagram anagram]], because the editors didn't like it. Their response was to name the main character Mangara.
** They also created Telim'tor, which is an anagram of Mr. Toilet.
* For DungeonsAndDragons 3rd Edition, they created "iconic" characters for each class to be part of the art for the books. One of them, Regdar the fighter, was born from ExecutiveMeddling, forced to be a generic human white male fighter (they'd already come up with a male dwarf fighter as the iconic character for that class). The artists had their revenge by making [[ButtMonkey something horrible happen to him in almost every single picture Regdar appeared in.]] The tradition even continued into the 4th Edition corebooks.

[[folder: Real Life ]]
* A bit more subtle: [[DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]] has recently appeared to be using a policy that fans have described best as, "Oh, the older ride is not as popular as the new rides? [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Tear it down and build something new!]]" Evidently, many Imagineers are as upset about this as the fans are, and you can often spot {{Shout Out}}s [[http://www.yesterland.com/nods.html to the rides' original iterations hidden in the newer rides]]. To wit:
** There is a painting of Mr. Toad passing the deed to his property to Owl in "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh", which replaced "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". You can also spot a memorial for the older ride in the pet cemetery outside the exit of ''TheHauntedMansion''.
** The logo on the Gravity Wheel and cash registers in "Mission: Space" is that of the ride it replaced: "Horizons". There are also several references to the much older "Mission to Mars" ride.
** By far, no ride has suffered more than "Journey Into Imagination". The designers of the latest version knew this too and included the original theme song with new lyrics and as many remnants from the original version as possible. Pay attention to the show Figment is watching in his upside-down house, the various forms he takes in the finale, and the office belonging to a fellow named Dean Finder.
** In Disneyland's ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' ride, which replaced Country Bear Jamboree, as soon as you go into the Honey Room, if you look up, you can see the talking heads.
* Related, on Creator/{{Universal}} Studios, as ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Ride'' replaced ''Film/BackToTheFuture: The Ride''; the queue movie has an animated Doc Brown trying, but failing to save his facilities and eventually selling the property's deed to Krusty.

* A similar example: Bishop Hans Brask managed to survive the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_Bloodbath Stockholm Bloodbath]] because he could prove that when he signed an unpopular parliament decision, he hid a note in his seal saying "To this, I am forced and compelled." To this day, "brasklapp" ("Brask's note") is the common Swedish word for "hedging your bets."

* James Robinson's final issue of ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'' drew attention from websites such as Bleedingcool for taking some very blatant shots at DC's then-upcoming ''{{New 52}}'' reboot. The issue contains jabs at [[GrantMorrisonsBatman Batwing]] for getting his own title ahead of a number of DC's existing black superheroes, as a [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall not-so-subtle dig at fans who criticized Robinson's run]].

* Following the event story ''Wrath of the First Lantern'', Joshua Hale Fialkov was pinged to write both the ''Green Lantern Corps'' and ''Red Lanterns'' books, but would later leave the books due to "editorial not letting him tell the stories he wanted". It's still unclear if that included a rumor that Fialkov would've been mandated to kill off John Stewart (a major GL player and one of DC's most famous black characters; and that Fialkov resigned in protest of this), but currently the hero is safe, as the main Lantern in GLC under main ''Green Lantern'' writer Robert Venditti & Van Jensen. ''Red Lanterns'' (with Guy Gardner) eventually was assigned to Charles Soule.

* Writers doing ''Franchise/StarTrek'' {{tie in novel}}s have numerous [[RestrictedExpandedUniverse rules they must follow]], laid down by CBS Studios and the publisher. One of these is that regardless of how many books they write, they may not have their own continuing characters. DianeDuane, among other authors, carefully ignored this rule when writing her series of ''Trek'' novels and created her own supporting cast among the crew of the ''Enterprise'', including Ensign Naraht (the first Horta in Star Fleet) and K’t’lk/K’s’t’lk, an alien physicist resembling a glass spider.

* Many of the [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Bat-family]] (or related) writers weren't thrilled to have their book derailed to deal with the storyline ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily''. Adam Glass (''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'') ''really'' didn't like doing it (and had to because of Harley Quinn), so he ended up re-writing some of the early events of the story to show that Harley was doing this unwillingly then jumped back into his storyline as if the tie-ins didn't occur. J.H. Williams (''ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}'') and Grant Morrison (''Batman Inc.'') outright refused to derail their storylines for this and, thus, had no part in it.

* "Producer Revolt" in action: CharltonHeston suggested that in ''Beneath the PlanetOfTheApes'', his character [[SaltTheEarth would trigger]] [[SaltTheEarth the Doomsday bomb]] at the end of the movie [[TorchTheFranchiseAndRun to prevent the franchise from continuing]]. Fox president Dick Zanuck was reluctant in accepting... until the board of executives, fed up with Zanuck after years of costly bombs such as ''Film/DoctorDolittle'' and ''HelloDolly'', gave him the pink slip. Knowing that he was on the way out, he said "go ahead, use the bomb". ([[FranchiseZombie the series still continued]])

* Following the event story ''Wrath of the First Lantersn'', Joshua Hale Fialkov was pinged to write both the ''Green Lantern Corps'' and ''Red Lanterns'' books, but would later leave the books due to "editorial not letting him tell the stories he wanted". It's still unclear if that included a rumor that Fialkov would've been mandated to kill off John Stewart (a major GL player and one of DC's most famous black characters), but currently the hero is safe, as the main Lantern in GLC under main ''Green Lantern'' writer Robert Venditti & Van Jensen. ''Red Lanterns'' (with Guy Gardner) eventually was assigned to Charles Soule.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* ''GundamWing'' [[WordOfGod director Masashi Ikeda said]] in an ''Animerica'' interview that [[NoHuggingNoKissing he hadn't intended any romance between the characters]] because there were more important things going on. The primary writing staff, however, seems to ship Heero / Relena very heavily, especially in the numerous manga spinoffs like ''Battlefield of Pacifists'' and ''Blind Target.''

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

** In ''Series/{{Chuck}}'', the unscrupulous assistant manager instituted a recycling policy to make store patrons think they were a better company, without actually doing anything. Later in the episode, a college kid is leading a tree planting initiative.

** In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', The Janitor's new-found passion for promoting environmental awareness is taken to uncomfortable extremes, before permanently waning by the end of the episode.
** ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'' introduced Recyclops, an eco-crusader who helpfully suggests ways to recycle and reuse items. Unfortunately, Recyclops grows more dangerous and militant each year, until finally, he renounces earth day and swears vengeance against humanity for some unspecified misdeed, and proceeds to exact his punishment by releasing copious amounts of aerosol spray.

* This might have happened at the end of the Cell saga in ''Manga/DragonBall''. AkiraToriyama wanted Cell's second form to play a large role in the story, but his [[ExecutiveMeddling editor thought the design was ugly and told Toriyama to hurry up and have Cell change into his final form]]. Toriyama complied, and second-form Cell didn't get to do much besides act as a punching bag for [[LookWhatICanDoNow a powered-up]] [[AntiHero Vegeta]] before transforming again. Then, during the final battle of the saga, Cell reverted to his second form, and it was in this form that he made his largest impact on the story: [[spoiler: killing [[TheHero the main character Goku]] by [[SuicideAttack self-destructing]].]]

** In Disneyland's ''WinnieThePooh'' ride, which replaced Country Bear Jamboree, as soon as you go into the Honey Room, if you look up, you can see the talking heads.

* Following the event story ''Wrath of the First Lantersn'', Joshua Hale Fialkov was pinged to write both the ''Green Lantern Corps'' and ''Red Lanterns'' books, but would later leave the books due to "editorial not letting him tell the stories he wanted". It's still unclear if that included early mandates that John Stewart (a major GL player and one of DC's most famous black characters) would be killed off, but currently the hero is safe, as the main Lantern in GLC under main ''Green Lantern'' writer Robert Venditti & Van Jensen. ''Red Lanterns'' (with Guy Gardner) wound be assigned to Charles Soule.

* Following the event story ''Wrath of the First Lantersn'', Joshua Hale Fialkov was pinged to write both the ''Green Lantern Corps'' and ''Red Lanterns'' books, but would later leave the books due to "editorial not letting him tell the stories he wanted". It's still unclear if that included early mandates that John Stewart (a major GL player and one of DC's most famous black characters) would be killed off, but currently the hero is safe is still solisited as the main Lantern in GLC under main ''Green Lantern'' writer Robert Venditti & Van Jensen. ''Red Lanterns'' (with Guy Gardner) wound bu being assigned to Charles Soule.

* Joshua Hale Fialkov was supposed to write ''Green Lantern Corps'', but instead left DC entirely when he refused to write the death of John Stewart.

** Also, killing Superboy was actually the lesser of two evils. Didio originally wanted to kill off ''{{Nightwing}}'', the original Robin and one of DC's oldest and most prominent characters, in "Infinite Crisis". Johns pulled off a literal writer revolt and refused to write that, substituting Superboy so that a [=BigThree=] legacy would still die.

* Many of the [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Bat-family]] (or related) writers weren't thrilled to have their book derailed to deal with the storyline ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily''. Gail Simone (''Batgirl'') was fired when she attempted to pull one, but was rehired due to fan backlash. Adam Glass (''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'') ''really'' didn't like doing it (and had to because of Harley Quinn), so he ended up re-writing some of the early events of the story to show that Harley was doing this unwillingly then jumped back into his storyline as if the tie-ins didn't occur. J.H. Williams (''ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}'') and Grant Morrison (''Batman Inc.'') outright refused to derail their storylines for this and, thus, had no part in it.

** Tomino has a habit of doing this. The original Gundam was supposed to be a toy ad for an older elementary-school demographic. He turned it into, basically, "Ur-[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined BSG]] with a more coherent plot". Let's not even discuss [[KillEmAll what he did with]] Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon, although he was more directly responsible for that series (its DownerEnding is, however, pretty much a giant middle finger to his bosses).

* Even before ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'', YoshiyukiTomino, the creator of the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' and it sequels, plotted a director revolt against Sunrise and Bandai with his ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'', making it his single darkest ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' show. As a part of his rebellion against the two said companies' merchandise interest at the expense of several plot elements in his Gundam series, he even created a motorcycle-like Zanscare battleship as an irony whilst the main stage of the show was meant to be Earth. The high character death rate along with [[spoiler:Katejina Loos' sudden FaceHeelTurn]] also have things to do with Tomino's rage.

* When ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' was originally created, Bandai wanted the plot to be a simple story about [[SuperRobot super robots]] fighting each other in a world-wide competition. Instead, Yasuhiro Imagawa created a series where the tournament was simply a backdrop for Domon to meet allies and fight his enemies, while the real plot was that several [[GovernmentConspiracy nations tried to gain control of the Devil Gundam]], a super-powerful robot capable of dominating the world.