Adaptational Backstory Changes in Live-Action TV series.
- American Born Chinese (2023): In the graphic novel, Wei Chen was sent to live among humans without sin for forty years to train him to follow in the footsteps of his father, Sun Wukong. After his falling out with Jin, he abandoned his mission out of disgust for humans' self-centeredness. In the TV series, Wei Chen ran away from home and now hides among humanity because he had a prophetic dream about a divine uprising and thinks Jin can help him stop the coming war.
- There's actually quite a few for the Arrowverse:
- Arrow:
- John Diggle ended up becoming this over the years thanks to the eventual revelation that he's the series' version of John Stewart. The original John was a former architect and sniper in the U.S. Marine Corps who ended up becoming a Green Lantern as a replacement backup for Hal Jordan, after Guy Gardner was taken out of commission. John Diggle, on the other hand, was a former member of the U.S. Army, a father, a husband, and a former bodyguard who ended up becoming a key cornerstone to Oliver Queen's crusade in fighting crime (effectively becoming what Hal Jordan was to Green Arrow in the comics). The series eventually confirms that he is John Stewart when its revealed his stepfather's name is General "Stewart", and the series ends with him receiving a Green Lantern ring, though this has yet to be followed up upon.
- Black Canary was established as a Legacy Character in the comics, as Dinah Laurel Lance inherited the role from her mother, Dinah Drake Lance, a former member of the Justice Society of America, who attempted to discourage her daughter from assuming the role. In the show itself, Dinah's mother was never a superhero, with her sister Sara (who apparently died in the sinking of the Queen's Gambit along with Oliver Queen)) taking on the mantle upon her return to Starling City; Dinah herself was a district attorney. It's only after Sara dies thanks to a brainwashed Thea Queen that Dinah takes up the role, and even then Sara is eventually resurrected. Not only that, but Dinah's sonic powers are the result of an experimental soundwave collar built by Cisco Ramone rather than a natural genetic superpower. Her relationship with Oliver is equally as complicated as in the comics, but rather than having gone through the ups and downs of divorce, Dinah's dislike of Oliver was mostly motivated by Sara's apparent death being the result of Oliver cheating with her, and the two would try on and off for a few years. Eventually, Dinah would die at the hands of Damian Darkh in Season 4, leaving the mantle empty for a time.
- Further complicating matters is the two women who would later become the Canary in Dinah's absence. First, another woman by the name of Dinah Drake would take up the mantle, only she was a police officer who was accidentally turned into a metahuman on the same night that The Flash was created (via the same means), whereas the original Dinah Drake was not a metahuman whatsoever, and was denied the chance to become a cop. Later, the next person to become the Canary is the Earth-2 version of Dinah Laurel Lance, who was already a metahuman to begin with (albeit an evil one), and was transplanted to Earth-1 for a time to act a supervillain before undergoing a Heel–Face Turn and taking up the mantle of Black Canary.
- Roy Harper was originally the son of a deceased forest ranger, who was raised by a tribe of Native Americans before being taken under Green Arrow's wing, later founding the Teen Titans before their initial disbanding and his mentor's absence led him to spiral into drug addiction, before he cleaned up his act, became Arsenal, and later went through various tragedies and identities. Here, Roy was a petty thief who had an on-off relationship with Thea Queen, becoming inspired by the Arrow to do good and clean up his act, and subsequently dealing with an addictive drug that led him to become Arsenal for a time until he took the fall for Oliver and faked his death, only coming back to aid his old mentor on occasion. Unlike their mainstream counterparts, Roy never showed too much disdain for Oliver, whereas the two in the comics could go from a father/son relationship to Roy hating his mentors guts.
- Deathstroke the Terminator was an American assassin in the comics, having been a discharged military veteran who allowed himself to be tested for an experimental serum that increased 90% of his brain power, not to mention he only works for those who can afford his steep price. Here, Slade Wilson was a former Australian SAS agent who was hunting his rogue partner on Lian Yu, formed a bond with Oliver Queen when he ended up stranded there, and went mad with grief when a woman named Shadow (whom he was in love with) died thanks to Oliver choosing Sara Lance's life over hers. He also gained his powers thanks to Doctor Anthony Ivo's "Mirakuru" formula, and lost his eye at Oliver's hands when his grief (mixed with the drug) drove him mad, leading him to try and kill his former friend many years later. Moreover, while comics Slade still acts in his own interests, this Slade underwent a Heel–Face Turn when the drug flushed out of his system, and teamed up with his old foe to find his son.
- Arrow:
- The Boys (2019):
- Kimiko. She was accidentally exposed to Compound V as a baby and taken prisoner by some scientists in the comics. The show changes the origin of her powers to experiments done by an Asian terrorist group.
- Mother's Milk's primary motivation is still hatred of Vought for negligently killing his family, but the circumstances change: in the comics, it's because environmental exposure to latent Compound V killed his brother, and his father died of overwork after years of trying to sue Vought. In the show, it's because Soldier Boy destroyed his house and killed his grandpa in the middle of a fight.
- Vought International is different from Vought American from the comics. In the comics, they started out as a defense contractor in World War II with very faulty products. In the show, they're a pharmaceutical company that was founded after the war by a German defector named Dr. Frederick Vought.
- "Love Sausage", a Russian Supe patient at the Sage Grove Psychiatric Center. He is originally a former member of a Soviet-era government superhero team in the comics, while he gets his powers from a stay said mental institution.
- Daredevil (2015):
- Karen Page didn't have much of a backstory in the comics, so for her expanded role as the female lead of the show, she's given one.
- While Wilson Fisk did kill someone with a hammer when he was a child, the comic arc where this is revealed suggests it to be a random individual, and not his own father like happened in the show.
- Doom Patrol (2019):
- Cliff Steele still becomes Robotman by having his brain put into a robotic body after his body was destroyed in a car accident, but instead of during a race, he experiences the accident while driving with his wife Kate and his daughter Clara, the latter being the only one to go through the accident unscathed.
- Niles Caulder in the comics became crippled by General Immortus, when the episode "Portal Patrol" reveals that in this continuity, it was Cliff Steele through a Stable Time Loop who made Caulder a paraplegic.
- In Fate: The Winx Saga, Bloom was kidnapped from her biological parents by blood witches and Rosalind sent her to the First World as changeling after the destruction of Aster Dell. In Winx Club, her older sister Daphne transported her to Earth as witches attacked their home planet, Domino. Bloom ended up a burning building and was adopted by the fire-fighter who rescued her along with his wife.
- Jessica Jones (2015): In the comics, Kilgrave was a Croatian spy who got sent to infiltrate a chemical refinery and was accidentally doused with a chemical that turned his hair and skin purple, and which also gave him his mind control powers. In the show, Kilgrave is a British man who got his powers as a side effect of his parents' efforts to treat a degenerative brain disease he had as a child.
- Legion: In the comics, David Haller was born in Israel as the illegitimate son of Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. He was an only child who was raised by his single mother. In the show, David Xavier was born in America as the legitimate son of Charles Xavier and his wife Gabrielle. He was given up for adoption when he was still a baby and was taken in by the Haller family, where he grew up with two adoptive parents and an adoptive sister.
- Lockwood & Co. (2023):
- In the novels, Lucy has six siblings, but in the TV show no siblings are seen or mentioned. Additionally, in the books, her mother is described as cold and distant, but there is no indication she forces her into work like the TV show.
- George talks about having three siblings who are all engineers in the TV series and being the oddball of his family, unlike in the books where no siblings are ever mentioned.
- In the original novels, Fairfax and Annabel were in a toxic, tumultuous relationship and he wound up murdering her accidentally because he got jealous that she was out with a male friend he had ordered her to stay away from and knocked her to the ground, snapping her neck. In the show, however, Fairfax choked her to death in a moment of anger. Also, the ring in the show is originally a locket with "Tormentum meum, laetitia mea"note engraved on the back, and Lockwood realizes that the quote engraved on the inside is from Hamlet while they are in Combe Carey Hall, and that the murderer is Fairfax because Lucy showed Annabel a photo of what she thought was her and Hugo, but she was accidentally covering Hugo's face and showing Fairfax's instead, prompting Annabel's rage.
- Luke Cage (2016):
- In the comics, Luke was from Harlem, his half-brother was James "Coldfire" Lucas, Jr. who had superpowers of his own, and he was involved in street crime before he went to prison. In the show, Luke is from Savannah, Georgia, his half-brother was Willis "Diamondback" Stryker, and he served in the Marines and was a Sheriff's deputy when he went to prison.
- Raymond "Piranha" Jones in the comics grew up in poverty and lost all of his teeth by the age of 15, and had them replaced with long, sharpened steel spikes. These, and his habit of using them on his enemies, gained him the nickname "Piranha". In the Netflix show, he was looked after by the Stokes family, who paid his way through college, and he went into the world of finance, where he takes the nickname "Piranha" because he sees himself as the "little fish you don't see coming" in the cutthroat world of stock trading.
- Since Cottonmouth and Mariah are cousins in the show, whereas they were completely unrelated in the comics, much of their backstories have changed accordingly.
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters: Lee Shaw's backstory with Monarch's foundations is changed. In the original Godzilla (2014) tie-in comic Awakening, Shaw joined Monarch in 1946 after he and Eiji Serizawa encountered Shinomura at sea. In the series, Shaw joined Monarch in The '50s after being assigned as security detail to Dr. Miura and encountering Bill Randa and the Ion Dragon in the Philippines. The comic and the show also present markedly different version of the Bikini Atoll atomic test which attempted to kill Godzilla in 1954, with Shaw present at very different locations in either version when the bomb goes off.
- On Moon Knight (2022), Marc Spector's wife kept her backstory (daughter of archaeologist murdered by a colleague of Marc) among many changes, but her eventual superheroine identity had a case of this. The Scarlet Scarab of the comics owed its powers to an artifact, the Ruby Scarab, but in the show, it's actually for the character being empowered by Taweret just like Moon Knight is an avatar of Khonshu.
- On the The Mysterious Benedict Society television series, Sticky Washington moved to live with his aunt and uncle after his parents died and it was they who abused him financially. In the books, his parents are both still alive.
- Powerpuff: The addition of Chemical X to the formula that created the girls was a deliberate choice by Drake and Mojo rather than a freak accident, as Drake had larger ambitions beyond just fatherhood.
- The Sandman, not being set in a world of superheroes and supervillains like the original DC comic was, removes the corresponding aspects from the backstories of several characters.
- In the comic, John Dee had used the Ruby to become the supervillain Doctor Destiny before being taken down by the Justice League and confined in Arkham Asylum. In the TV series, John's history with the Ruby involves more generic "arson, murder, and general mayhem" and his confinement is in an unnamed institution in upstate New York.
- In the comic, Hector and Lyta Hall are former superheroes, respectively the Silver Scarab and the Fury. In the series, they're architects with no supernatural or superpowered histories.
- Shadow and Bone:
- In the books, Alina was born along the Ravka-Shu Han border, and her parents were killed in the Border Wars' crossfire. In the show, her parents died in the Fold.
- The origin of the scar on her hand differs between mediums, but the core sentiments remain the same. In the show, Alina squeezed a broken piece of pottery to help hide her powers when she went through the Grisha test and the injury left a scar. In the book, she got it as a teenager from, likewise, squeezing a piece of broken pottery she was supposed to be repairing when Mal gave her a platonic Twirl of Love, which lead Alina to have a Love Epiphany. In both cases, she equates the scar to Mal and her feelings for him and often rubs a thumb over it as a form of comfort.
- Alina originally was solely Ravkan. Due to actress Jessie Mei Li being mixed race (Chinese/English) this was changed to be similar, with her being half Shu Han as well now, adding an extra layer as she faces racism over it.
- The Twilight Zone (1959):
- In "Passage on the Lady Anne", the Ransomes' six year marriage is falling apart due to Alan being concerned with his job than with Eileen. In the short story "Song for a Lady" by Charles Beaumont, they are a newly married and very much in love couple on their honeymoon.
- In "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", Bob Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown on a plane six months earlier. In the short story by Richard Matheson, the equivalent character Arthur Jeffrey Wilson is extremely apprehensive about flying but no specific reason is given as to why.
- In "Night Call", the caller is Miss Elva Keene's fiancé Brian Douglas who was killed in a car accident a week before they were to be married in 1932. At her insistence, Elva had been driving. She lost control of the car and crashed it into a tree. Brian was thrown out through the windshield and Elva was paralyzed. In the short story "Long Distance Call" by Richard Matheson, the caller is never identified and what caused Elva's paralysis is not revealed.
- The Twilight Zone (1985):
- In "Nightcrawlers", nothing is revealed of the backstory of the waitress at Big Bob's diner. In the short story by Robert R. McCammon, she is a former hippie named Cheryl Lovesong who lived in San Francisco in The '60s and experimented with drugs while she was there.
- In "Wong's Lost and Found Emporium", David Wong decides to assume management of the Lost and Found Emporium after he finds his compassion. In the short story by William F. Wu, he had already been running the emporium for several months before he regained his compassion.
- In "One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty", Gus Rosenthal had a difficult relationship with his father Lou growing up and regretted never telling him that he loved him before he died when Gus was in his teens. In the short story by Harlan Ellison, Gus' relationship with both of his parents was even more difficult. He was sent to a military school at seven years old because of his poor behavior and ran away from home when he was thirteen.
- In "Gramma", there are no details given about Georgie's relationship with his elder brother Buddy. In the short story by Stephen King, it is mentioned that Buddy regularly bullies Georgie, both physically and verbally. At the end of the story, Georgie is possessed by their grandmother's spirit and plans his revenge against Buddy for the years of torment.
- In "Dead Run", Johnny Davis decides to help the wrongfully condemned people whom he had been transporting to Hell only one day after taking the job. In the short story by Greg Bear, he is on the job for two years before his conscience gets the best of him and he begins to help the damned escape to Heaven.
- Hooded Justice got hit with this hard in Watchmen (2019). Granted, what was assumed in the original comic, it was only speculation, even in-universe, but the 2019 version was most definitely not named Rolf Müller, homosexual, a white German, a genuine Nazi sympathizer, a former circus strongman, or even dead. Instead, he's Will Reeves, a still-living bisexual African-American former NYPD member who became a costumed hero to fight against racism (though Word of God is he feigned support for Nazi Germany as a smokescreen to cover his true identity). About the only thing Hollis got right is that Reeves was involved with Captain Metropolis.
- The Wheel of Time:
- In the books Nynaeve comes from Emond's Field, and had been living with the previous Wisdom since her mid-teens after her parents died. In the series she was an orphan from outside the Two Rivers raised by the Wisdom from a much younger age.
- Siuan left home here because someone burned her house down and marked her as a Darkfriend. No such incident was mentioned in the books, rather she just left for the White Tower when it was found she could channel (while both still have a fisherman father).
- Young Min has lived a rough life in Tar Valon instead of uneventful life with aunts in Baerlon. Her gift first manifested when she saw Tam al'Thor with baby Rand. Moiraine hides her in Fal Dara to protect her from troubles her gift should attract.
- Two examples in the live-action series based on Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches:
- Noa is a Former Child Star which adds to her many emotional issues and is the main source of her being bullied (unlike in the manga where the bullying is eventually revealed to be caused by some banter between the girls of the class that got out of hand).
- Rika is a close friend of Leona's who researched the witches with her, while in the manga and anime, she is Yamazaki's admirer and ally as well as Leona's love rival.
