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Alternate Continuity: Difference between revisions
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Oftentimes, an [[Alternate Continuity]] is unintentionally started when a show based on an unfinished series of a different medium runs out of material. See [[Overtook the Manga]] for this [[Trope]] in detail.
Be warned, though: sometimes an [[Alternate Continuity]] is the occasion for [[Adaptation Decay]]. See also [[Elseworld]] and [[Canon Discontinuity]].
One of the meta-causes of [[Alternate Universe]].
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* ''[[El-Hazard: The Magnificent World]]'' was an [[OVA]] series that became ''El-Hazard: Wanderers'' on TV. In the process most of the relationships Makoto had with the women in his life were altered dramatically, with his primary romantic interest shifting from Ifurita to Princess Rune-Venus.
** Later, a second [[OVA]] series based on the first was produced that continued the [[Plot]], but introduced several new characters and a new "ultimate weapon of doom". That success was then followed with a 12-episode TV series which pulled a [[Or Was It a Dream?]]? at the end. A final special was released for the TV series, the required [[Beach Episode]].
* The TV series ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' was turned into a movie, ''Adolescence of Utena'', which attempted to retell the 39-episode story in 100 minutes by filtering it through the hindbrain of [[Salvador Dali]] and lacing it with LSD.
* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': It started as a manga. Then it was adapted into an anime. Then it got another manga at the same time the first manga and the anime were being published and aired respectively. Then both manga versions and the anime version got sequels, each one developping its own continuity and in some cases adding more backstory to the characters. Then more manga and anime were made, each one telling the story its way until the last iterations [[Mazinkaiser]] and [[Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen]].
* ''[[RahXephon]]'' also made the leap to a movie from TV, attempting to cram its extensive and complex storyline into less than 2 hours while at the same time providing new [[Backstory]]. In the process, one character was completely eliminated, and several others rewritten dramatically (including putting one to sleep for most of the [[Film]]).
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** For bonus fun one of the Pretty Sammy series has a minor character who is a cousin on Nanami and Jinnai from [[El-Hazard: The Magnificent World|El-Hazard]] linking both [[Meta]]-series together. Mr. Fujisawa from the same series also happens to be the teacher of Tenchi's class in ''[[Tenchi in Tokyo]]''.
* The ''[[Slayers]]'' franchise is right up there with ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' in its own right. It originated as a 15-book [[Light Novel]] series, which has ''over 30'' prequel novels (''Slayers Special/Smash/Delicious''). From there...
** 1. A 5-season anime series: The first two are based on the first eight novels, the remaining three are original stories. Tends to heavily contradict itself, especially considering that [[Uncancelled|the fourth and fifth seasons came eleven years after the third.]]
** 2. The [[Non Serial Movies]], all based on the ''Slayers Special'' novels. While the first four (chronicling the protagonists' early adventures with a [[Goldfish Poop Gang|flaky sorceress]] who just so happens to be the long lost sister of one of her later allies) is a plausible start before the anime, the fifth is problematic, as it involves the four main characters from the tv series set in a way that could be after seasons 2 or 3.
** 3. Most of the manga made are of their ''own'' continuity; ''Super Explosive Demon Story'' is its own interpretation of the first 8 novels/seasons 1 and 2, and there is an alternative manga to the fifth [[Non-Serial Movie]] (''Slayers Premium'').
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** Interestingly enough, at the end of Nightmare of Nunnally, Nunnally says that {{spoiler|while touching Heaven's Door as part of Charles' god-killing ritual}}, she saw several different realities. One of these realities is the [[Anime]] continuity, and a montage of {{spoiler|Euphemia killing the Japanese, Suzaku in his standoff with Lelouch at the end of R1, and Lelouch's death}} are shown, none of which happen in Nightmare of Nunnally.
* ''[[Gundam]]'' tends to spawn a lot of these, given how many versions of the same story they have (TV series, movie trilogy, [[Manga]], novel, [[Video Game]]...) in ''addition'' to the seven different [[Alternate Universe|Alternate Universes]] the franchise has created.
* The ''[[Death Note]]'' live-action [[Film|films]] eventually veer away from the [[Plot]] as seen in the [[Manga]] and [[Anime]] versions. Rumor has it that an American live-action Adaptation is in the works with Light Yagami being played by [[wikipedia:Zac Efron|Zac Efron]]. [http://www.petitiononline.com/apple88/petition.html There's already a petition against it].
* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'''s [[Gainax Ending|last episode]], Shinji has a vision of his life as a typical high school comedy [[Anime]] (except, you know, it still has [[Humongous Mecha]]) during a [[Mind Rape]]. This concept was so popular as to spawn ''several'' [[Dating Sim]] [[Video Game|games]] and the [[Manga]] ''Angelic Days.''
** Another [[Alternate Continuity]] titled ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion Gakuen Datenroku]]'' goes way farther in its differences: NERV is a Catholic boarding school; EVAs are actually unique conventional weapons (i.e., Asuka wields a [[Whip It Good|whip]] while Shinji has a handgun, etc.); Angels are instead disembodied consciousnesses that can kill and take over any body they choose; and the motivation for killing the Angels is to collect their [[Cosmic Keystone|Cores]] so [[The World Tree|Yggdrasil]] won't [[The End of the World as We Know It|collapse, destroying all realities]].
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* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' has three [[Alternate Continuity|alternate continuities]]: the original [[Manga]]; the first movie and its [[Sequel]]; and the Stand Alone Complex television series, with its own [[Sequel]] movie.
* ''[[Hell Girl]]'' is most famous as an [[Anime]], but there's also a [[Manga]] and a short-lived live-action show. The [[Manga]] can more or less coexist with the [[Anime]], but the live-action show definitely can't -- Hajime and Tsugumi have a different [[Backstory]] and a ''very'' [[Gecko Ending|different ending to their storyline]].
* ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'' has three [[Alternate Continuity|alternate continuities]]: the original novel series, the [[Anime]] [[OVA]], and the [[Manga]] version of Chronicles of Heroic Knights. While the [[Anime]] [[OVA]] compresses the material down and is usually suggested to be treated as if it ended about halfway in, it contains numerous continuity errors with the original novel and the [[Manga]] adaptation of that part of the story. Most other [[Manga]] fit into the core timeline, along with the [[Anime]] series of Chronicles of Heroic Knights. The [[Manga]] of Chronicles, however, inexplicably rewrites the second half of the [[Plot]] completely, reaching a separate but equal [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], and is notable for developing secondary characters much more than the series. It's still a separate [[Canon]] though. ''[[Rune Soldier Louie]]'', since it is set on a separate continent and features no returning characters, disregards the differences between the [[Alternate Continuity|alternate continuities]]; as for ''[[Legend Of Crystania]]''... it fits into the core timeline (non-[[OVA]]), but since it came out when most people in the west didn't know of any other Lodoss continuities than the [[OVA]], it propagated the confusion with its differences; however, even knowing this... it's still not worth watching.
* The various versions of the series starting with the ''[[Blood: The Last Vampire]]'' [[OVA]]. There were several [[Manga]] adaptions of the original concept, each with varying storylines, then the [[Blood Plus]] [[Anime]] took some of the basic character templates and ideas and made a series that bears only a slight resemblance to the original. This again also has several [[Manga]] adaptions that take different paths.
* ''[[Black Butler]]'' has two different continuities: the ongoing [[Manga]] and the 24-episode [[Anime]]. The [[Anime]] not only featured a few differences in the [[Plot|plotlines]] it took from the [[Manga]] (such as certain key characters appearing earlier than they were supposed to), but had new [[Plot|plotlines]], supporting characters, and main villains when it [[Overtook the Manga]] after the ''6th episode''. Even the supporting characters that had originally appeared in the [[Manga]] had their long-term roles (Soma and Agni being reoccurring characters in the [[Manga]] as opposed to simply disappearing at the end of their arc in the [[Anime]]) and appearances (Aberline) and personality (both, in the case of Queen Victoria) changed in the [[Anime]].
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** ''[[Fate/stay night]]''(as stated below) is another example, with the [[Anime]] following Fate, and the [[Manga]] following Unlimited Blade Works. Heaven's Feel makes up for it's lack of exposure with the fan theory that {{spoiler|it is the [[Canon|canonical]] route in the franchise}}. Supported by [[Fate/stay night/WMG|Wild Mass Guessing]].
*** Archer's ''very existence'' is this, as his life is said to have followed {{spoiler|the events of the Fate route; however, where his life and the Fate route's [[Canon]] end diverged is unknown}}.
* Yet ''another'' example is the ''[[
** While [[Sequel]] [[Video Game|games]] have been made following paths of if Nerine or Kaede won out. And the Kaede-centric [[Video Game|game]] further snarls itself up, by showing {{spoiler|Asa with long hair, which implies her ending being [[Canon]] anyway for that branch.}}
* The only connection between the visual novel and anime versions of ''[[Popotan]]'' is its cast, and some of the game characters were dropped for the transition (including the ''protagonist''), while others were added.
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** ''[[Highlander II the Quickening]]'', which considers the original movie [[Canon]]. Notably, the theatrical version and the "Renegade Version" [[Directors Cut]] are quite different, so could count as two separate continuities in and of themselves.
** ''[[Highlander the Series]]'' comes later. The series is in an [[Alternate Continuity]] to the movies (as there are still Immortals alive all over the world). It ''does'' consider the original [[Film]] [[Canon]] in [[Broad Strokes]], but not the [[Sequel]].
** ''[[Highlander III the Sorcerer]]'', released during the series' run, which considers ''only'' the original [[Film]] [[Canon]]. Not ''Highlander 2'' or the TV series.
** ''[[Highlander the Raven]]'', a short-lived [[Spin-Off]] from the TV series which followed the TV series' continuity.
** Then a fourth movie ''[[Highlander Endgame]]'' which follows the continuity of the TV series (but [[Retcon|Ret Cons]] the last season of the show) rather than that of the previous [[Film|films]].
** Then a fifth movie called ''[[Highlander: The Source|Highlander the Source]]'' which follows on from ''Endgame''.
** Then a short [[Film]] called ''Highlander: Reunion'' which accepts the [[Canon]] of the TV series and ''Endgame'', but not ''The Source''.
** There is a [[R Emake]] of the original in the works as well.
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** Five video games which either have little plot or were cancelled due to [[Devolpment Hell]] and budget concerns.
** Ten novels that act as adaptions of the films or turn into their own continuity.
** The low budget 17 minute reunion special. There's a link to it on Hulu on the Other Wiki if you haven't given up on this franchise yet.
** [[The Animated Series]] is set into the far future and operates differently enough to be considered its own continuity, immortals giving up their immortality at will and all.
** Each of these continuities operate by their own sets of rules. Thus something that is portrayed as [[Word of God]] in one continuity may not happen the same way in another. This only serves to further irritate fans and [[Broken Base|causes them to hate each other]] and [[Flame War|fight more and more]] over which version of Highlander they think is best. There can be only one! <ref>There should have been only one!</ref>
** The formula for a Highlander sequel goes like this:
*** Pretend that at least one other incarnation of the franchise is in continuity with this incarnation (usually the first movie)or completely change everything.
*** Should the first option be used the new sequel will have little connection to the predecessor. Usually this happens in such a way that the entire premise from the previous incarnation is ignored competely and is only stated to be in continuity to attract anyone who liked that particular continuity.
*** Should the second option be chosen chances are it will result in this sequel having no connection to anything related to the Highlander franchise.
*** Characters will randomly appear with no back story and either killed off or never explained.
*** Retcons will occur in every continuity creating even more continuity's. This can be anything from a love interest we've never seen or heard about before being shoved for a new love interest we've never seen or heard about, who's related, as well as many [[DV Ds]] deleting important scenes only seen in theaters, deleted scenes, or out right reediting the entire movie due to the immense hatred of that sequel.
* ''[[Superman (film)|Superman Returns]]'', while set within the universe of the Christopher Reeve movies, takes place five years after the second movie and uses [[Canon Discontinuity]] to ignore the third and fourth [[Film|films]]. (Although it is set five years after ''Superman II'', set in 1980, ''Returns'' is set in 2006. [[MST3K Mantra|Please don't think about this too hard]].)
* ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]]'' had at least two continuities. The first movie ends with J neuralizing K and taking L as a new partner. At the beginning of the second, we find L quit between movies, and the first third of the movie follows J trying to restore K's memories. In [[The Animated Series]], however, J, K, and L are all agents at the same time. There were a series of tie-in novels with J and L, but these could be slotted into the timespan between movies.
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== Literature ==
* In an extreme case, ''none'' of the adaptations of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' are compatible. There are nine adaptations: The book, the radio series, the TV series, the movie, the stage show, the comic, the LP album, the computer game, and the towel. In fact [[Douglas Adams]] once said that he deliberately went out of his way to make sure that every iteration conflicted with every other iteration.
* ''[[Dexter]]'' has so many changes in cast (anywhere from who's alive and who's dead at a given point, to who's doing what job, to gender of Dexter's child with Rita) and storyline it's simpler to treat the novels and the television series as [[Alternate Continuity]] with each other. Trying to reconcile the two any other way is impossible.
* Like the ''Sarah Connor Chronicles'' example below, the ''[[Terminator|T2]]: Future War'' series (written by S.M. Sterling) disregards the events of the third film and places Sarah, John and a German resistance fighter (who evidently was/becomes the base model for the T-800/850 series) fighting T-model endoskeletons in present day America, and hide out while the Future War begins.
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* The ''[[Red Dwarf (novel)|Red Dwarf]]'' novels take place in a different continuity to the TV series, in many cases incorporating concepts from the TV series with a different spin (and vice versa). The first two novels (''Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers'' (1989) and ''Better Than Life'' (1990)) were written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor under the collective pen name Grant Naylor -- after their writing partnership split, both wrote a ''Red Dwarf'' novel individually (''Last Human'' (1995) by Naylor, and ''Backwards'' (1996) by Grant) which each acted as third novels in the series, effectively splitting the novel series into two [[Alternate Continuity|Alternate Continuities]].
* ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' splits the Terminator franchise by taking the first two movies as backstory and [[Canon Discontinuity|almost completely ignoring the third]], apart from cannibalizing certain [[Plot]] elements (Sarah's cancer, a female Terminator, Judgment Day not averted). Then a fourth movie came out ''after'' the series, which has nothing to do with it and takes the third movie as [[Canon]].
** The constant alteration of the timeline makes EVERYTHING work.
* ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' takes place in a separate universe from the previous fifteen seasons. Which is good, because if it didn't, then we'd have to admit that [[Everybody's Dead, Dave|all the past characters and/or their descendants are dead.]] That said, when this was up in the air, many fans speculated RPM ''could'' have fit very well between the years [[Power Rangers SPD|2025]] and [[Power Rangers Time Force|3000]], especially with what we see [[After the End|what the year 3000 is like]], and [[Epileptic Trees]] reckon that ''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]''[[Power Rangers RPM|'s]] [[Big Bad]]'s existence (due to [[Name's the Same]] with a previous villain) is one neat [[Stable Time Loop]].
** When the franchise changed hands, the new showrunners had freely admitted that ''[[Power Rangers RPM|RPM]]'' would be pulled into the main continuity should the need arise, though they ultimately set the season in a different universe, as referenced in the crossover with [[Power Rangers Samurai]].
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== Video Games ==
* Most of the [[Final Fantasy]] games are set in different worlds from each other and most of the stories have nothing to do with each other.
* The ''[[Silent Hill]]'' series has one main continuity, but much ''[[Silent Hill]]'' media exists outside of it in mutually-exclusive sub-continuities. The movie exists in its own, ''[[Silent Hill: Shattered Memories]]'' exists in its own (both are divergent re-interpretations of the first game). The Play Novel and the older comics exist in their own continuities as well. Thankfully, the main continuity is given clear precedence over the splinters, hence, no [[Continuity Snarl]].
* ''[[Ultima Online]]'' is set in an [[Alternate Continuity]] wherein the Avatar never returned to Britannia after the events of the first Ultima game. This screws the countinuity around in countless ways, since he wasn't the Avatar until ''Ultima IV'', and it is indeed possible that the Stranger in the first three [[Video Game|games]] was a different person, or several different people, and the map of Britannia was completely different in each [[Video Game|game]] until it finally took somewhat consistent shape in ''Ultima IV''. And regardless of none of this happening, there's still Britannia in the shape and culture as was defined in Ultima IV, rather than the previous iterations.
* The ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series has a few [[Alternate Continuity|alternate continuities]]. There are two alternate [[Sequel|sequels]] to the original [[Video Game|game]]: ''Snake's Revenge'' for NES (which was actually the first [[Sequel]] released, as Hideo Kojima hadn't planned on making one) and ''Ghost Babel'' for [[Game Boy Color]] (simply known as "Metal Gear Solid" outside Japan).<br /><br />''[[Metal Gear Acid]]'' is an [[Alternate Continuity]] based on ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''. All it really has in common is a quasi-real-world setting, and the [[Main Character]], whose personality and [[Backstory]] are both softened slightly. By the second ''Acid'' they'd abandoned all premise of a real-world setting and thrown in lots of cyborgs, [[People Jars]] and all sorts of mayhem. This time {{spoiler|Solid Snake wasn't even the same character from [[Metal Gear Acid|the previous game]] - he looked the part and had the same name but turned out to be a biological machine made in Solid Snake's likeness}}.
* In a partially successful effort to salvage [read:[[Continuity Reboot|reboot]]] the [[Franchise Zombie|zombified]] ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' franchise, ''[[The Legend of Spyro Trilogy]]'' completely discards all continuity from the previous [[Video Game|games]] except the two [[Main Character|main characters]], Spyro and Sparx, who still go through major changes in appearance and personality. The developers have gone as far as calling the first [[Video Game|game]] ''A New Beginning'' to highlight this.
** They're clearly throwing in a lot of [[Shout-Out|shout outs]], with Sparx in ''A New Beginning'' eating butterflies, and the appearance of Hunter - originally a character in ''Spyro 2''.
** Then, ''another'' reboot was attempted with ''[[Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure]]'', which introduces as many protagonists the players [[Gotta Catch Them All|can manage to get]].
** It can be argued that the post-[[PS 1]] classic era games take place in an AU from the originals, due to several continuity and characterization differences.
* The [[Nasuverse]] in general.
** The ''[[Tsukihime]]'' [[Video Game|game]] has five character routes that cannot all be possible in the same universe. The [[Anime]] adaptation makes deviations of its own. The ''[[Melty Blood]]'' [[Fighting Game]] is based on a planned-but-unreleased route from the [[Visual Novel]]. Stories in the original novel's [[Sequel]], ''Kagetsu Tohya'', also follow different continuities from each other, following [[Video Game|game]] routes or just making up scenarios. After ''Kagetsu Tohya'' was made, the game's creator admitted the "[[Canon]]" route never made it into the original [[Visual Novel|game]].<br /><br />[[Word of God]] has also stated that ''all'' the routes are technically [[Canon]] anyway, due to them being potential outcomes of the main scenario.
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* Giant spoiler warning for [[Ever 17]] to the extent if you know this ahead of time, story is ruined for you. {{spoiler|Subverted. All events of the original four paths actually happen plus some stuff they leave out to avoid ruining the [[Tomato Surprise|climax.]] They're tied together by happening on two different points in the timeline plus an attempted [[Tricked-Out Time|fix]] so that the ending would be less bittersweet/downer, depending on the route.}}
* The [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Klonoa]]'' titles are all set in [[Alternate Continuity|alternate continuities]] from the main series.
* ''[[Ghostbusters the Video Game]]'' considers the two ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' [[Film|films]] as [[Canon]], with several [[Mythology Gag|references even to minor details in those films]]. It does not consider ''[[The Real Ghostbusters]]'' to be [[Canon|canonical]], as most of the characters are depictions of the actors from the movie that, quite possibly, were specifically designed to look as little like the cartoon as possible while still being the same characters (Egon has dark hair for example). However, it does borrow some ideas from the cartoon, such as the idea that all Ghosts are made of slime/ectoplasm, and they don't keep Slimer as a friend/pet, but they DO keep him in his own cage separate from the main containment facility.
* The ''[[Double Dragon]]'' games have many plot differences between their original arcade incarnations and their corresponding NES counterparts. However, every game in the series since the SNES-exclusive ''Super Double Dragon'' is stand-alone.
* Where do we even start with [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]? We have the [[Video Game|games]], we have [[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog|four]] [[Sonic Sat AM|separate]] [[Sonic Underground|cartoon]] [[Sonic X|series]] and we have a comic based on ''[[Sonic Sat AM|SatAM]]'' but later diverged into its own continuity. Then in the UK we also have the novels, a series of [[Choose Your Own Adventure]] books by the same writers but forming their own continuity (to add to the confusion, one of these is an [[Adaptation Expansion]] of the second [[Sega Genesis|Mega Drive]] [[Video Game|game]]), and a ''completely different'' [[Sonic the Comic|comic]] as well as a collection of stand-alone comic strips which ''aren't part of that continuity.'' And then there's the [[Manga]].
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* '''[[F-Zero]]'' has its main continuity with ''F-Zero'', ''F-Zero X'' and ''F-Zero GX''. Its [[Alternate Continuity|alternate continuities]] are ''F-Zero: Maximum Velocity'' (which takes place 25 years after the events of the first [[Video Game|game]]) and ''F-Zero: GP Legend'' (which takes place in 2201, as opposed to the 26th century). ''GP Legend'' was received lukewarmly by most fans in the West ''[[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|because of the changes]]'' despite being a clear alternate universe.
* One of the more common explanations for why so little of PC-98 games have shown up since ''[[Touhou]]'' moved to Windows is that they're in a separate continuity. Though the PC-98 games [[Negative Continuity|barely had continuity]]...
* ''[[Tron 2.0]]'' was considered the sequel to ''[[Tron]]'', until it was rendered non-canon by ''[[Tron: Legacy]]''.
* ''[[
* [[Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds]] differs from [[The War of the Worlds|the book]] and the [[Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds|rock opera]] that inspired it by taking place in an alternate universe where the humans aren't quite so outmatched, and the Martians remembered to take their flu shots.
* In the first [[Disgaea]], the good ending is considered canon but, the game [[Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?]] is canon from the "normal" ending. You can tell considering that {{spoiler|Prinny Laharl}} shows up as a boss.
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[Red Panda Adventures]]'' -- The original "Panda Squadron" series.
* According to [[Word of God]], each ''[[Bunny Kill]]'' installment takes place in a continuity separate from the others.
* The rebooted [[Darwin's Soldiers]] RP on Furtopia (''not'' the first incarnation) takes place in a different continuity than the trilogy and the original first RP. In turn, the trilogy is a different continuity than Furtopia RPs.
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