All There in the Manual: Difference between revisions

[[File:zelda_2_backstory_5390.jpg|link=Zelda II the Adventure of Link (Video Game)|right|<small>Above: You see how epic and [[Tear Jerker|tragic]] the [[Save the Princess]] plot is. Below: You probably pressed "Start" before this text even showed up.</small> ]]

* Overall, the original [[Light Novel]] series of ''[[Slayers]]'' goes into detail of how the magic system and the like works better than the anime does, but not in clarity, as both forms of media tend to contradict themselves. The only true "manual" for the series is a long series of interviews by creator [[Word of God|Hajime Kanzaka]], and he [[Flip Flop of God|flops around]] and [[Shrug of God|whimsily comes up with answers to questions]] to the point that he's making every potential canon fact up on the fly. The only truly solid facts are extended backstories of the main characters (especially important in regards to [[Idiot Hero]] Gourry because he is the only major character whose background gets no spotlight in any media). Even then, some incidents, such as Gourry and [[Shrinking Violet|Sylphiel's]] first meeting and Lina's great fear of her [[Aloof Big Brother|older sister]] are never explained.

** Also, there are two radio dramas that act as extensions of the ''Slayers Premium'' [[Non Serial Movie]]; a prologue and an epilogue that both set the stage and tie up loose ends (including how {{spoiler|Naga sided with the [[Big Bad]] of the movie and how Amelia was saved after being blown off to an abandoned island}}); naturally, they're only availible in Japan. The manga adaptation as a whole does a better job at telling the story.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (TV)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' series finale infamously {{spoiler|divided the fandom with its vague non-answers over the nature of 'God' and its refusal to explain either the 'Head-People' or what was going on with Starbuck. The Sci-Fi Channel had already approved a comic series called ''The Final Five'' which will address some of these questions: a preview of the first issue, for example, reveals that Pythia appears to have been an earlier incarnation of Starbuck and was given her visions of the future by Head-Six, whilst the father of Saul Tigh was one of the original Cylon skinjobs of Kobol. The comic is written by one of the TV scriptwriters with the approval of the producers: however, a caveat was added to the first issue stating that it was "An original interpretation of the story,", making its canonical status dubious. This may actually have been a wise move: having been denied their answers on TV, the dissatisfied section of the fanbase may have actually exploded to learn the real answers were being given in a comic book mere months later}}.

* The show ''[[Babylon 5 (TV)|Babylon 5]]'' left out the conclusions of some subplots, because they were going to be covered by the (canon) novels.

* Regarding the ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' episode "Journey's End": {{spoiler|''The Doctor Who Adventures'' magazine reveals that the Doctor left Rose and his human counterpart with a chunk of the TARDIS (presumably so they can go off and have their own adventures), a detail which has a huge impact on the ending shown in the episode.}} The scene was shot and was boxed with the DVD set. [[Russell T Davies]] has stated that whether we acknowledge it is our own choice.

** A much worse ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' case is the notorious old school story "Ghost Light", which had almost all its exposition cut for time, making it ''almost'' incomprehensible without the lengthy DVD special features explaining the plot. Oh, and the DVD came out fifteen years after the TV broadcast...

* A companion volume to the ''[[Wild Arms]]'' series reveals that, appearances to the contrary, they actually ''are'' directly related to each other -- large time gaps and Filgaia's remarkable disaster-proneness obfuscates this, making most of the games appear to be [[Non Linear Sequel|largely unrelated stand-alone titles]].

*** ''[[Kingdom Hearts: 358 Days Over 2 (Video Game)|358/2 Days]]'' is pretty bad in this regard. While it's clearly intended for existing KH fans longing for backstory elaboration, anyone who just picked this up not knowing any better is going to be absolutely lost, as you need to at least understand what is going on in ''3 separate games'' to make sense of the plot: the original ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', ''Chain of Memories'' and ''KHII''. It doesn't stop there, though: {{spoiler|the Chambers of Repose and Waking, plot points introduced only in ''Final Mix+'', are mentioned several times}}, and {{spoiler|Ventus from ''Birth By Sleep'' makes an [[Early Bird Cameo]]}}.

** A mild example, but the blond Kokiri in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'' was named "Fado" on an old version of the official site. She's one of the few named Kokiri in the games, a leftover from her important status in the beta.

* ''[[Misfile]]'' If you really want to understand how the [[Celestial Bureaucracy|Celestial Depository]] works and the effects of reversing the [[Ret Gone|misfile]], and find out just how Tempest has such a cool mountain racetrack you need to have read the "about" section on the website, read the [[Fourth Wall Mail Slot|Ask Ash column]], and ordered the print books so you could read the liner notes.

* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' (and by extension other [[Play By Post Games]]) can fall into this at times. Some information is only given in character profiles, and not mentioned anywhere else for any number of reasons. At other times, you may have to look through [[Developing Doomed Characters|pre-game]] threads, other characters' plotlines, and sometimes even past versions to fully understand events that go on in the main game.

[[Category:Trope]]