Depending on the Writer: Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Animal Man:''' How can they make me eat meat? I ''don't'' eat meat! I don't ''want'' to eat meat! I'm a vegetarian.<br />

'''Grant Morrison:''' No, ''I'm'' a vegetarian. ''[[Lampshade Hanging|''You'll]]'' [[Lampshade Hanging|be whatever you're written to be]].|''[[Animal Man (Comic Book)|Animal Man]]'', "Deus Ex Machina", [[Grant Morrison (Creator)|Grant Morrison]]'s last issue as writer}}

In some stories, a character is very different every time they appear -- soappear—so different that it's almost [[In Name Only|a different character with the same name]]. This is particularly common with [[Long Runners]] and comic books, due to the large number of writers on staff. But there are some characters where even the same writer makes them different every time.

This is not [[Character Development]] -- nothing—nothing happens in the story to justify the personality change. [[Writer Onon Board]] or [[Creator Breakdown]] might, though.

Compare [[Alternate Character Interpretation]], [[Depending Onon the Artist]], [[Era -Specific Personality]], [[Interpretative Character]], [[Armed Withwith Canon]], [[Running the Asylum]], [[Character Derailment]].

** Of course, most Senshi have their personalities considerably changed between the manga and the anime. Ditzy Minako was entirely invented by the latter. In the manga she's the dutiful second-in-command of Sailor Senshi.

*** The ditzyness actually stems from the ''Sailor V'' manga, so there's inconsistencies all over the place.

* ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' might as well be the patron saint of this trope. Every writer since her re-creation in the 1980s has wanted to put their own stamp on the character to the point where they pretty much flat out ignore what the previous writer has done with the character. Her revolving Supporting Cast and extraordinarily minor [[Rogues Gallery]] are testaments to this.

** Post-''[[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths|Crisis]]'', the biggest element to swing back and forth with her is whether she's going to be the man hating [[Straw Feminist]] that makes a little more sense when she first leaves Themyscira, or the more mature rounded character who actually has a sense of humor and good relationships with several male characters.

* Most of the temperament and Superboy issues have happened in post-Johns runs of ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]''. Felicia Henderson is the most blatant example of her bitchiness. There's a reason most readers are jumping for joy at JT Krul replacing her...{{when}}

** And don't even get us started on the Joker... from the earliest comics to the [[Dark Knight Trilogy]] to the various animated series, he's been portrayed as a [[Complete Monster]], [[Harmless Villain]], [[Magnificent Bastard]], [[The Mad Hatter]], [[Affably Evil]], [[Faux Affably Evil]], [[Bored Withwith Insanity]]... listing everything he's been would warrant its own section!

*** A text story by [[Grant Morrison (Creator)|Grant Morrison]], leading to the Joker's role in ''Batman RIP'', has him ''deciding'' it's time for a new persona and considering various options.

** The Riddler... Nerdy Milquetoast with a debilitating gimmick who is considering not even worth killing by other members of Batman's Rogue gallery... or a Suave, Calculating, [[Magnificent Bastard]] with an intellect possibly comparable to the Dark Knight himself?

*** There's also the fact that some interpretations have him as hyperactive and rather reminiscent of the Joker (think [[Batman (TV series)|Frank Gorshin]] and [[Batman (Filmfilm)|Jim Carrey]]), while others portray him as more of a smooth-talking, calm intellectual (think [[Batman: theThe Animated Series|John Glover]] and [[The Batman (Animation)|Robert Englund]]).

** Killer Croc gets altered CONSTANTLY''constantly'' both in [[Depending Onon the Artist|appearance]] and character. Is his intelligence below average, is he retarded, is he an animal? Is he just a thug, a thug with a cannibalistic MO, or just a savage monster who wants to eat everyone in the room? The only thing writers seem to agree on is that he's not very bright and has some sort of skin condition.

** The ''[[Planetary]]'' / ''[[Batman (Comic Book)|Batman]]'' [[Crossover]] "Night on Earth" is essentially an issue-long [[Lampshade Hanging]] of this trope as it pertains to Batman; it involves reality 'shifting' around Crime Alley in Gotham City, with the Planetary team meeting variations of Batman ranging from Adam West to Frank Miller to Neal Adams and more besides in their varying universes. However, the actions of the issue still play out exactly the same and perfectly in character for each version of Batman, the point being that for all the different interpretations they're all nevertheless the same essential character.

** Damian Wayne, the latest Robin, gets this too. With his creator, Grant Morrison, he tends to be written as a [[Heroic Sociopath]] who is excellent at everything. Other writers tend to have him as a more believable inexperienced child who is on his way to becoming a successful crime fighter.

** Don't forget the Mad Hatter. Sometimes he's a somewhat sympathetic Carrol-Obsessed loony, who truly seems to think of his mind-controlled henchmen as his friends, however delusionally. Other times he's a murderer and a child molester... with a thing for blonde girls.

* ''[[Superman]]'' is probably worse, considering he is the [[Trope Codifier]] of the [[Flying Brick]]. That was the main thing that made ''[[Superman II]]'' fail for the fans, because he was given [[New Powers Asas the Plot Demands|random powers that had never appeared before]]. When handled at his most popular, his powers are fairly straightforward: [[I Believe I Can Fly|Flight]], [[Nigh Invulnerable|Invulnerability]], [[Eye Beams|Heat Vision]], [[Super Breath|Ice Breath]], and the super abilities of [[Super Senses]], [[Super Speed]] and [[Super Strength]]. [[Power Creep, Power Seep]] aside, writers would give him the most bizarre super-"whatever" power (including super-marble playing and the "S" saran wrap shield). This is probably what gave fan Jerry ''[[Seinfeld]]'' his thoughts about him having "super humor."

** Superman's powers were never really set in stone during the Golden and Silver ages. Superman was rife with [[New Powers Asas the Plot Demands]] up until John Byrne's post-crisis revamp gave a definite set of powers for Superman, removing some like freezing breath, forgetting others like "Super Ventriloquism" and "Super Elastic Facial Muscles" (this is not a joke), and limiting others like his super strength and speed. (Seriously, how else could a mook like the Toyman be even kind of a threat?) That is until later writers decided to undo all of that since a superhero with limits just wasn't [[Invincible Hero|"interesting" enough]].

*** We ''are'' talking about a guy who, canonically, built functional android duplicates of himself realistic (and powerful) enough to take his place if he's indisposed.<ref>Except during John Byrne's run, when Emil Hamilton built them for him.</ref> He actually is supposed to be scary smart. But, well ... [[Depending On the Writer|you know.]]

** His weaknesses suffer this too. Kryptonite is often shown to have him on the ground in pain in seconds just from waving it in front of his face while red sunlight shuts his powers off instantly. Then he'll turn around and fly through an entire asteroid belt and a red star and still somehow survive a crash landing on a planet before his powers completely fade. Though some of this is genuine retconning. Red sunlight was changed to cause rapid power depletion instead of instant powerlessness for a couple of decades before it went back to being his off switch.

* Many comic-book villains alternate between [[Noble Demon]] and baby-eating psycho depending on who's writing them (Dr. Doom and Magneto being the most obvious). It's very strange to see [[X -Men|Magneto]] go between being Claremont [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] Magneto and [[Grant Morrison (Creator)|Grant Morrison]]'s parody [[Silver Age]] drug addict Magneto.

* John Byrne's [[Alpha Flight]] were (his protests to the contrary) well-[[Rounded Character|Rounded Characters]]s with depth and interest. After he quit, they rapidly went to being whiny losers and have never been portrayed consistently since, until they all died [[The Worf Effect|to show how powerful a random villain was]] (and pave the way for Omega Flight).

* ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' example: Cyclops tends to go from bad-ass leader, whiny emo-kid, to punchable [[Character Derailment|asshat who treats his women like shit due to his constant infidelity]]. Wolverine is even worse, as he can be a murder-happy asshole, honorable warrior, fatherly mentor, and the gruff veteran super-hero whose violent nature is a source of conflict within him.

** His personality being all over the place is pretty much par for the course, but combine that with his tendency to be [[Wolverine Publicity|everywhere at once in various different costumes]].

** One of the worse examples in the X-Men has to be Polaris and Havok. Either they are insane with rage at the treatment of mutantkind, running screaming into the hills to try and live normal lives (their original default personalities BTW), or are being written as the brainwashed pawns of the villain of the week.

** In one old ''X-menMen'' comic, Colossus is shown to be especially weak to Storm's lightning because he's made of metal, the tiniest spark sending him into bouts of pain. Only a few issues later, he takes one of Storm's normal lightning bolts with a smile on his face. Maybe he just became a masochist.

* Namor the [[Sub-Mariner]] has had this basically non-stop since he was first published in the late thirties. He's either a violent and bitter anti-hero with an unjust grudge against humanity, a noble leader who is only seeking the best for his people, a stalwart [[The Lancer|pragmatist]] whose loyalty to his comrades is without question, or some combination thereof. In fact, his writing varies so much that Marvel eventually canonized it: he has a disorder caused by his amphibious physiology that manifests in that way.

** Chase wasn't the only one, virtually all the characters were heavily derailed by Terry Moore. Nico went from a leader to a megalomaniac, Molly went from playing naivenaïve and innocent to throw people off to actually thinking "we could build a fort!" is an appropriate response to an emergency, Victor stopped being funny, Xavin became too funny, and Klara lost anything resembling a personality. The closest thing to a consistent character is Karolina, who still seems to have lost her backbone.

** None of this compares to Victor Von Doom. Dr. Doom is swung back and forth from being a baby-eating psycho, to practically being an [[Anti-Villain]] more noble and courageous then Reed Richards, and everything in between. In particular, the way he runs his country comes under fire from this- does he make it a complete utopia with happy, contented citizens, or is it just a facadefaçade the citizens put on because Doom will kill anyone who disagrees, and Doom himself only cares for them as a master would care for his pet? [[Armed Withwith Canon|Writers almost always wind up disagreeing with one another about Doom's correct portrayal and declare stories they don't approve of to have been Doombots instead.]]

*** Just going to note that "baby-eating psycho" isn't an exaggeration of how some writers view him. Here's Mark Waid's take on the character:

{{quote| "The truism that Victor von Doom is, despite his villainy, a noble person is absolute crap. A man whose entire motivating force is jealousy is ridiculously ''petty'', not grandly noble. Yes, Doom is regal and yes, whenever possible, Doom likes to ''act'' as though he possesses great moral character because to him that's what great men have... [but Doom] would tear the head off a newborn baby and eat it like an apple while his mother watched if it would somehow prove he was smarter than Reed."}}

**:* Dr. Doom gets an additional layer about running his own country. Does he truly care about his citizens? Does he act the monarch just for arrogant sense of self-entitlement, and to gain access to the resources of an entire nation and diplomatic immunity? Are the people of Latveria genuinely happy under his rule? Is Latveria a police state where no public display of malcontent is allowed?

* In most ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' adaptations, Raphael is portrayed as a brooding loner who frequently breaks from the group and fights with his brothers -- particularlybrothers—particularly Leonardo, who has a much more commanding presence as a leader. In others, like the original Fred Wolf animated series, Raphael is a good-natured albeit sarcastic jokester while Leonardo seems more toned down and unofficial in his leadership role. Michaelangelo and Donatello remain constant for the most part.

* How about [[The Punisher]]? Generally a good man who's committed to trying to make sure his family's deaths don't happen again? Psychopathic monster who'll kill people for littering or being junkies? A man on a mission with a singular purpose and great at planning? Barely rational gun-toting lunatic?

* [[The Hulk]] has numerous factors of his character that vary between writers; Whether he's a dumb brute that can only speak in [[Hulk Speak]], a completely mindless monster who can't talk at all, or someone with a fairly average intellect with a somewhat odd speech pattern. This is somewhat justified by Banner having multiple personality syndrome and there being thousands of Hulks in his mind. Also depending on the writer is the Hulk's powerlevelpower level; while it is in a state of flux depending on his emotional state, some writers have him being knocked out by an average python choking him for less than a minute, and dying from being impaled by a triton when he's previously survived wounds that make that seem like a papercut by comparison.

** One telling comparison is to look at a few recent{{when}} depictions of the Hulk by three very different writers. Greg Pak has been the main writer on the Hulk for about five years now{{when}} and has gone into great lengths to give the Hulk, rather than Bruce Banner, some in -depth character development through such storylines as ''[[Planet Hulk]], [[World War Hulk]]'', and ''[[Fall of the Hulks]]'', which paint a complex and sympathetic picture of the Jade Giant. Then there's Mark Millar's run on ''[[The Ultimates]]'' and the ''Old Man Logan'' mini series. The former shows Banner as weak -willed and insecure (not completely unjustified given it's meant to be early on in the character's history) and the Hulk as a boarderlinedborderline [[Complete Monster]] who, among other things, is an active cannibal. The latter shows Banner/Hulk as an insane red neck who leads a gang of his inbred mutant children (sired with his cousin, [[She -Hulk]], suggested to have been by rape) and rules over the ruins of the west coast. Granted, Millar's versions are an [[Ultimate Universe|alternate universe]] and [[Bad Future]], respectively, but one gets the idea that he doesn't think highly of the character.

* John Constantine in ''[[Hellblazer (Comic Book)|Hellblazer]]'' suffers from this trope. Is he just an ordinary blue-collar bloke who happens to attract a lot of supernatural attention and who learned some magic in order to deal with this, or a master sorcerer who can casually bend the laws of time and space at will? A more or less decent guy at heart who struggles with his conscience like anyone else would in his situation, or an utter and unrepentant bastard who'd throw anybody under the bus without a second thought? Is he in fact sane, or isn't he? Some of his writers have tried to explain away the changes they make to his personality (an example that springs to mind is externalizing all his guilt into a demon infant and tossing it off a cliff) and some haven't.

* The relative goodness of ''[[Deadpool]]'' varies. Sometimes he's depicted as heavily mentally unstable, even [[Ax Crazy]] covered up by a facadefaçade of goofiness, whereas at other times, he's a [[Crazy Awesome]] anti-hero who would [[Never Hurt an Innocent]]. The ''[[Hulk Vs]]'' series kind of splits the difference, having an amusing Deadpool who is also completely malevolent.

* Fin Fang Foom's size, intelligence, backstory, and alignment vary wildly between appearances, as discussed [https://web.archive.org/web/20130602172552/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2007/08/09/365-reasons-to-love-comics-221/ here.]

* The [[New Gods]]. Oh '''boy''' the New Gods. You have some names and some basic relationships. Just about nothing else will remain consistent between writers or even in different appearances by the same writer. This falls broadly into two camps: people who [[Did Not Do the Research|never actually read the thing]] and people who ''did'' but [[They Just Didn't Care|changed things they didn't particularly care for.]] Examples: the nature of the [[Compelling Voice|Anti]]-[[Brown Note|Life]] [[Eldritch Abomination|Equation]], the nature of the [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|New]] [[Physical God|Gods]] themselves, whether Neo Genesis and Apokolips were somewhere in space or [[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths|another dimension entirely]], and [[Attack of the Fifty 50-Foot Whatever|what their actual size is]].

* The team formerly known as the [[Micronauts]] has kept reappearing occasionally since 1996 revealed that Arcturus Rann, Mari, and Bug were somehow still alive. They've appeared in ''Cable, Captain Marvel, Earth X, Realm of Kings, Son of Hulk,'' and ''Alpha Flight''. Rann and Mari have had different personalities in each. In the ''Cable'' appearance, Rann was rather genial and avuncular, Mari was taciturn and humorless (along with sporting a lesbian look). In following appearances, they've ranged from having no personality other than a sci-fi plot device (Mari technobabbles like a ''Star Trek'' episode), to Realm of Kings, where Mari acts like a ditzy motormouth amazon and Rann acts bored. Admittedly, since Bug is no longer part of the team, the comic relief falls of the shoulders of Mari and her android sidekick Carl.

* The ''[[Archie Comics]]'' are famous for this.

** Is Archie a nice guy, or a [[Jerkass]]? [[Betty and Veronica|Does he chase Veronica and ignore Betty, or does he treat them both equally?]] Not to mention, his obliviousness or ditzy nature has been the subject of the laughs for years, but exactly ''how'' stupid he is depends on the writer - sometimes he's flat out [[Too Dumb to Live]], but other times he's the only sane person.

** How rich is Veronica? For that matter, how much of a [[Rich Bitch]] or [[Spoiled Sweet]] is she?

** Is Reggie a [[Jerkass]], a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]], or just a nice guy? How well does he get along with Archie and Jughead?

** Is Betty a [[Tsundere|sore loser]], or a sad loser? Does she have a crush on Archie, or is she [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|obsessed with him]]?

** Is Ethel [[Gonk|completely repulsive]] or [[Hollywood Homely]]? (Also a case of [[Depending Onon the Artist]] too)

** Is Mr. Lodge completely on edge, or is he a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]]?

== Fanfiction[[Literature]] ==

*** In [[FateoftheFate of the Jedi|Fate of the Jedi: Ascension]], you can add [[The Atoner]] to the list. Though, considering the above, this characterization makes sense.

** In a word: Mando'a. Depending on the writer--thatwriter—that is, depending on whether the writer is Karen Traviss or not--thenot—the Mandalorians are either gruff, psychologically diverse mercenaries and warriors with questionable pasts and practices, or eternally morally-upstanding [[Warrior Poet]] heroes of [[Mary Suetopia]] who show the Jedi what they're really supposed to be like. Traviss's work has included {{spoiler|A Jedi dropping his saber and joining them}}, and an attempt to justify {{spoiler|Order 66}}. Traviss's moments of [[Small Name, Big Ego]] don't help matters.

** Another good one for a long while was Luke's love life. You could see the [[Armed Withwith Canon|canon wars]] as practically every single writer made a new beautiful girl for Luke to fall for, convinced that ''his'' creation was the future Mrs. Skywalker. [[Timothy Zahn]] just got the last shot.

** The Millennium Falcon's speed. Does "Fastest Ship In the Galaxy" apply to realspace and hyperspice both, or just hyperspace. The movies, [[Word of God]], and several pieces point towards the former (the Falcon is clearly shown flying the fastest in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'', but some writers, perhaps drawing too much from the tabletop RPG, make it slower than fighters. But it was also shown being outrun by a Star Destroyer in "[[The Empire Strikes Back]]" (hence Han's line about "We can still outmaneuver them"), though admittedly this was while it was in a state of disrepair.

* Pretty inexcusable overall is just about every writer meddling with the [[HPH.P. Lovecraft]] mythos.

** The problem is not the continuity, but the mood of the setting. For Lovecraft, it was heavily about how the universe just doesn't care about mankind. Later writers making humans more important and worth the notice of [[Cosmic Horror|Cosmic Horrors]]s is what is often complained about.

* ''The [[War of the Spider Queen]]'' series of [[Forgotten Realms]] novels sufferssuffer from this trope very badly. In a sextology where each book was written by a different author, this sounds like it should have been inevitable, but [[The Dark Elf Trilogy|RA Salvatore]] ''was'' billed rather prominently as the series' editor (most likely for [[Cash Cow Franchise|other]] [[Creator Worship|reasons]]). All of the characters got hosed with this from book to book, but [[Deadpan Snarker]] and [[Mr. Fanservice|fan favorite]] Pharaun Mizzrym in particular suffered from wildly inconsistent characterization in the later books of the series. {{spoiler|And then was killed off.}}

** See also the vampires. Are they demons who just look like you and share some of your memories, or are they you with the morality taken out and a desire to eat people? Add into that Spike in S5season five doing the Right Thing several times...

* Practically every example of [[Continuity Drift]] in ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' has this trope to blame.

** Captain Archer on ''[[Star Trek Enterprise (TV)|Star Trek: Enterprise]]''. On alternating episodes he'd go back and forth between no-morals-hardass and morals-are-the-most-important-thing paragon. One episode he threatened to shoot someone out of an airlock and in the next episode he refused to do something that was far more justifiable.

** Same goes for Captain Janeway on ''[[Star Trek Voyager (TV)|Star Trek: Voyager]]''. Rebel? By the book? Violently gung-ho? Depressive and self-recriminating? No matter what she decides (usually without conferencing with her officers beforehand, something which Picard did regularly), the script will be on her side.

*** Kate Mulgrew, a talented actress, was rather displeased with the way her character would change from script to script. She commented once that she thought [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Janeway had some sort of mental illness.]]

** This kind of thing goes all the way back to Spock in ''[[Star Trek: the Original Series (TV)|Star Trek theThe Original Series]]'' ; sometimes he was portrayed as an earnest pacifist unwilling to use a phaser and uncomfortable with the idea of hurting others under ''any'' circumstances, and sometimes he was portrayed as a cold tactician who was willing to [[Shoot the Dog]] at a moment's notice, if such an act was for the greater good. (Also, his Vulcan disdainfulness of anything human or illogical was sometimes played up to the point where he could, at times, enter [[Jerkass]] territory.)

** In ''[[Star Trek: the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek theThe Next Generation]]'', Picard will do everything imaginable to avoid violent conflict, even with entities or aliens that seem to be nothing but [[Card-Carrying Villain]], he will make certain that violence is the only way before resorting to it. Amongst other things he refused to commit genocide against the Borg, and this was after {{spoiler|he was made into Locutus}}. 'Movie' Picard, however, considers diplomacy that obligatory 'stop or I'll shoot' line, before proceeding to go about killing.

{{quote| "They made a tremendous amount of changes, especially with the writing staff [during the writers' strike]. And while I know I'll be coming back next season, with all the changes, I'm not sure they can take care of my character they way they have been. So I'll be leaving, back in a recurring capacity, but time for me to leave and find something else."}}

**:* Note it didn't quite happen this way. Alexis was [[Put Onon a Bus]], but did not return in a recurring capacity and, in fact, was never seen again. (Interestingly, this was around the time Rebecca Romijn became pregnant - [[Real Life Writes the Plot|something it would have been impossible to write into the show]] what with her character being a ''male-to-female transsexual''.)

** Sarah Jane Smith. This character is a feminist, and she was featured at a pretty chaotic time for feminism, so the character completely changes depending on the current author's attitude to women and/or feminism. She varies from a [[Straw Feminist]] to a [[Plucky Girl]] to [[The Load]] to [[Adorkable]] (like the author is saying feminists are sooo cute with their silly little ideas!) to [[You Go, Girl!]]. That she continually came across as intelligent, able to take care of herself, and able to stand up to the Doctor says a lot about Lis Sladen's skill.

** Matthew Waterhouse complained about Adric being written like this, particularly ''Four to Doomsday''. From that story's notes (quoting Doctor Who Magazine):

{{quote| My performance varied from script to script, particularly after I drew the conclusion that there wasn't going to be any continuity with Adric. Then what I did was that every time I read a script, I re-developed it--as far as I'm concerned in each four episodes he was a new individual. Every time I developed a gut feeling about him, about what he should do and think, it was contradicted in the next script.}}

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'': Dean can either be a [[The Brainless Beauty|complete bimbo]], a [[Genius Ditz]] or very clever depending on who writes him.

* Done to a frustrating degree in the last two seasons of ''[[DawsonsDawson's Creek]]''. Take your pick from the supporting cast: Charlie, CJ, Eddie, or Natasha will happily go back and forth between being kind, sweet and understanding and complete jerks.

* On the latest BBC series of ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'', Guy of Gisbourne can range from a sadistic, remorseless killer to a tortured Byronic anti-hero. Sometimes he's both ''in the same episode''.

* ''[[The Shield]]'' has this by the barrel: Shane Vendrell, [[Complete Monster]] or morally conflicted anti-hero who possesses the self-awareness that is completely absent in Vic Mackey? Claudette Wyms, the only character with a conscience on a show filled with moral ambiguity or a hypocritical bitch who is willing to let corrupt cop Vic Mackey do as he pleases (let alone cover up her own partner's complicity in corrupt antics) so long as Vic doesn't do anything to threaten her own Alpha Female status. Not to mention Vic Mackey, who can go from anti-hero to heroic sociopath to complete monster, within a matter of a couple of episodes.

* The very nature of the universe in [[Andromeda]] varied depending on the writer. Inconsistencies existed from the start, but they were really severe by season three, when most of the show's original creative staff was [[Screwed Byby the Network|gone]]. The remaining original writers continued writing it as a hard science fiction series, while the new staffers wrote it as a way-out space fantasy whose physics and technology (and often plots) were a hodgepodge of TV sci-fi cliches. Things like faster-than-light communication and forcefields would exist in one episode and be nonexistent the next.

* Prior to Season 6, ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' could either be a simply eccentric [[Curmudgeon/Jerkass|Jerkass]] spouting sarcastic one-liners ("Yes, feel free to exclude any symptom if it makes your job easier!") to a [[Wangst]]-filled [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] with no regard for anything but solving the puzzle ("If your life's no more important than anyone else's, sign your donor card and kill yourself."). Fortunately, these fluctuations could be easily [[Hand Wave|Handwaved]] away as the side effects of his Vicodin addiction.

** Sadly, these fluctuations seemed to have come back in Season 7, this time [[Hand Wave|Handwaved]] away by House's alcohol use.

* All soap opera characters and relationships. A character can be written a certain way for years, and then, out of nowhere, their personality will completely alter. The same is true of back-stories.

* Dr. Temperance Brennan of ''[[Bones]]'' can be anywhere between a [[Deadpan Snarker]] who makes fiery political commentaries and a [[Emotionless Girl]] with [[No Social Skills]] who can't get a simple joke. Within one season.

** Also, [[The Other Wiki]] mentioned that Howard can be either extremely elated over no longer being Sheldon's friend (''the Friendship Algorithm''),or hurt and offended when he's deemed simply an "acquaintance" (''the Bozeman Reaction'').

* ''[[Glee]]'', so much. The show's writers don't seem to communicate at all, and it honestly feels like you're watching three separate shows. [[Character Derailment|Characterization]], [[Plot Hole|continuity]], [[Ass Pull|everything changes on a dime]]. From the main trope page: "Brad Falchuk is writing a bittersweet dramedy about people who want to be special, Ian Brennan is writing a black comedy, and Ryan Murphy is writing a quirky Ryan Murphy show."

** This can even fluctuate in episodes written by the ''same person''--in—in "A Very Glee Christmas," the school's hatred of the New Directions is rather clear when they go around caroling ("YOU'RE MAKING ME HATE CHRISTMAS!"), but by "Prom Queen" they're the ones ''performing all the music'', and the crowd is going wild. Both episodes written by Ian Brennan. [[Sure Why Not|Sure, why not.]]

** Characters who get this the worst are definitely Quinn, Will, Puck and Sam.

** Rachel Berry is pretty consistent from episode to episode: irritating, ambitious, conceited, but well meaning and she knows when she's crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]]. The way the other characters ''react'' to her is a different story.

* ''[[I CarlyiCarly]]'' and how it flits between [[The Power of Friendship]] and [[Comedic Sociopathy]].

* Sometimes happens in [[Shake It Up]]. Cece and Rocky often switch between [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]. Also, Cece may be just [[Book Dumb]] or she may be literally unable to add.

* Nearly the entire cast of ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. [[Anti -Magical Faction|King Uther]] will either respond to the threat of magic with scepticism and bluster or with paranoia and deadly force. Gaius will either be urging Merlin to keep his head down and not interfere with anything, or telling him to step up and embrace his destiny. Arthur can be intelligent and sensitive, or an idiotic bully. The male writing staff write Morgana as a gleefully evil [[Femme Fatale]], whilst the show's sole female writer Lucy Watkins tries to give her some shades of grey. Due to their [[Hidden Depths]], Merlin and Gwen are the only two characters who have managed to sustain some degree of consistency, as most of the time they come across as shy and humble, but can take charge when the occasion calls for it.

* In ''[[Heroes]]'', the characterisation of Sylar changed from episode to episode.

== [[Music]] ==

* White Wolf hires freelance writers to write their ''[[Exalted]]'' books, often assigning different people to write different chapters. Normally, it's not that noticeable, but the Infernals book bears mentioning. In some chapters, there are obvious hints that [[Noble Demon|hey, Infernal Exalts don't HAVE to be evil]], but in other chapters you're beaten over the head with the fact that [[Always ChaoticExclusively Evil|all Infernals are horrible evil monsters and can never be good, ever]]. [[Word of God]] has since cleared up what the creators ''intended'' to get across, but it's still a hotly-debated subject.

* White Wolf tends to have a few problems with this, and one stand-out example is in ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]'', where the writers kept going back and forth on what "Banality" was, aside from "the death of hope." Banality was [[Science Is Bad|trying to define and tie down the world too much]]... except the [[Gadgeteer Genius|nockers]] kept insisting that the moon landing resulted in the biggest rush of glamour anyone had seen in several life times. So Banality was [[Measuring the Marigolds|boring, ultra-focused practicalities]]... except there were sample NPCs who got Glamour from those activities because of mindset. When it got to the point that ''[[LARP]]'' was associated with the [[Weirdness Censor|Autumn People]], you knew there was a basic communication breakdown. Sadly, the line was cancelled before ''The Book of Glamour'' (which would have laidto lay out some basics on Glamour and Banality) could be released.

** Luigi's personality generally contrasts his brother's (clumsy and timid rather than athletic and brave); but some games scrap this for a [[Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Video Game)|more adventurous Luigi]] [[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|who can be foolhardier than his brother]].

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Franchise)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' series, we have Zelda and Ganon. Zelda can be a [[Princess Classic]], a [[Tsundere]], or even an [[Action Girl]], while Ganon can be a straight [[Evil Overlord]], a tragic figure with a [[Freudian Excuse]], or even a mindless, bestial [[Humanoid Abomination]].

** Partially justified since Zelda is a [[Legacy Character]]. Likewise, versions of Ganondorf from multiple branching timelines have been shown - the ''[[The Legend of Zelda: theThe Wind Waker (Video Game)|Wind Waker]]'' version who successfully conquered Hyrule in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'' is more sympathetic, while the ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' version who was prevented from doing so is more monstrous.

* In the ''[[Dept. Heaven]]'' series, while most aspects of Nessiah's characterization are generally consistent between games that director Shinichi Ito personally oversees and writes and those he doesn't, he's notably less competent in his manipulations in ''[[Blaze Union]]'' than in the rest of the series. His style of manipulation itself is much more direct and inelegant, and he's also portrayed with typical Asgardian racism against humans. For instance, if in ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' and ''[[Yggdra Unison]]'' Nessiah wants someone to dig himself a hole, he'll provide a situation where that person might want to dig that hole and hand them a shovel, but won't force them into it; ''[[Blaze Union]]'''s Nessiah will just flat-out tell them to dig. Too, in the rest of the series Nessiah prefers humans and demons to his own race, and has a clearly developed soft side. This inconsistency is one of the aspects of ''[[Blaze Union]]'' that gets criticized the most.

* Played exaggerated with Darkrai from the ''[[Pokémon]]'' series. In the main games and in [[Pokémon: theThe Rise of Darkrai (Anime)|one of the anime movies]], Darkrai is an [[Dark Is Not Evil|extremely shady yet good-hearted Pokémon]], while in the ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' series, it is an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] whose favorite hobbies include [[Complete Monster|throwing children into never-ending nightmares, and driving heroes and gods to suicide and insanity.]]

* ''[[Fallout 3 (Video Game)|Fallout 3]]'' may have used the trope [[In -Universe]]. A computer in the ruins of Hubris Comics in D.C. contains a letter to the editor that, depending on your interpretation, seems to call out a writer for turning a well-developed comic book villain (the AntAgonizer) into a [[For the Evulz]] nutcase. (Of course, since we never see the comics in question, this could also be in-universe [[Draco in Leather Pants]]. The Fallout wiki leans towards this interpretation.)

== [[Web Original]] ==

* [[Slender Man]]. The traits that every Slendy incarnation has had are a black business suit with black tie and white shirt, [[The Blank|no features on his head]], and "arms" that are actually tentacles. Everything else so far has basically been up to the imaginations of the writers and usually relies on [[Rule of Scary]]. Some new traits that have been codified and popularized by the more well-known Slender Man works (which include ''[[Marble Hornets]], [[Just Another Fool]]'', and ''[[Seeking Truth]]'') are: his ability to cause electronic interference (typically with cameras); the ability to teleport himself and others; the famous circle with an X through it known as the "Operator symbol" being associated with him; only going after people who had been scared by him as children; making people sick with some mysterious disease; giving people mild amnesia; driving people crazy and presumably making them his acolytes (i.e. totheark, Albert Conaghan); and [[Speak of the Devil|only appearing before people who have been thinking about him constantly]] [[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You|on account of having looked at the various works]]. The number of these attributes present in the various blogs typically depends on their tone and how familiar the authors are with the mythos.

** Speaking of Doug, he writes [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]] as a weak, pathetic loser who always folds whenever someone else wants to do a crossover. In other shows ([[Real Life Writes the Plot|usually when there's only time for a Doug cameo and not a whole review]]), he suddenly has the backbone to ignore any request.

* ''[[Shiny Objects Videos]]'': Though there is technically only one writer, the finished video (including the characters) can vary widely depending on the director.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* [[Carmen Sandiego]] varies between [[Friendly Enemy]], [[Card-Carrying Villain]] and everywhere in between. Especially notable is her portrayal in the ''[[Where Onon Earth Is Carmen Sandiego?]]?'' cartoon, which took her to such [[Anti-Villain|Anti Villainous]]ous levels that by the show's end she was teaming up with the heroes to take down "real" bad guys with regularity.

** The Daffy Duck example caused some problems during the making of ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]''. [[Robert Zemeckis]] wanted to do the Bob Clampett version of Daffy, but he was working with Chuck Jones. Jones wanted to do his version of Daffy and had very personally disliked Clampett. Of course, Zemeckis had has way and this was one of the main factors in Jones's [[Creator Backlash]] against the film.

** Mr. Krabs can, in any given episode, be a true [[Benevolent Boss]], a money-obsessed [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], and anything in between the two. For example, in the epsiodeepisode ''Pickles'', Mr. Krabs orders SpongebobSpongeBob to take some time off to get his act together after a humiliating encounter with a critical customer. Krabs even goes to help SpongebobSpongeBob rehabilitate himself. Yet, in ''Hooky'', when Squidward informs Krabs that SpongebobSpongeBob takes a break to play with the hooks, Krabs first thinks he misheard Squidward, and then explodes in a fit of rage.

** Squidward has been a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]], a complete [[Narcissist]], a plain old [[Jerkass]], [[The Woobie]], a [[Jerkass Woobie]], and a [[Butt Monkey]], sometimes more than one in a single episode.

* Every character in ''[[Sixteen|6teen]]'' changes depending on the writer. In one episode, they'll make witty pop culture references and act their age, if not older, and then act like eight-years-olds the next episode, complete with five straight minutes of fart jokes.

* Stan's attitude towards his family in ''[[American Dad (Animation)|American Dad]]'' varies from "A [[Jerkass]] because he doesn't understand what he's doing wrong, and tries to fix it when he finds out" to "[[Manipulative Bastard]] who's so callous that he'll often putting them through some horrible [[Xanatos Gambit]] for some incredibly trivial/stupid reason".

{{quote| "Lying is wrong! I'd know that [[Aesop Amnesia|if I'd paid any attention to anything that has happened to me before!]]"}}

** Roger's [[Jerkass]] attitude can shift anywhere between a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]] that ultimately cares about his adoptive family or an [[Faux Affably Evil]] [[Psychopathic Manchild]] that crosses [[Moral Event Horizon]] repeatedly [[Played for Laughs|for laughs]].

** Brian and Lois can play genuine [[Straight Man]] roles and be [[Token Good Teammate|much more compassionate and saner than Peter]], or shallow, self serving [[Jerkass|JerkAsses]] whose [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|"nice guy" images are merely a facade for their own sociopathic tendencies]]. Granted this combined with the extreme randomness and [[Comedic Sociopathy]] of the show's humor makes the depictions less [[Depending Onon the Writer]] and more Depending On The Gag.

** Quagmire can be either a [[Lovable Sex Maniac|sex-crazed pervert]] [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|with a heart of gold,]] or a [[Black Comedy Rape|date rapist]] who [[Kavorka Man|inexplicably gets the ladies]]. [[Refuge in Audacity|Or even a bit of both]].

* On ''[[The Fairly Odd ParentsOddParents]]'', at least recently{{when}}, the plot seems to dictate whether some characters will use their [[Flanderized]] personalities or their original personalities. Depending on the story, Crocker can be a competent fairy hunter (Formula For Disaster) or a delusional fool (Bad Heir Day), Tootie can be a sweet girl with a crush (Birthday Wish) or a [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]] (Dread & Breakfast), Trixie Tang can be a pleasant and sweet girl (For Emergencies Only!) or an [[Rich Bitch|arrogant]] [[Spoiled Brat]] (Movie Magic) and Timmy's parents can simply be overworked (Momnipresent, Add-A-Dad) or the most [[Parental Neglect|neglectful parents]] in the world (Fly Boy, Birthday Bashed).

* In most episode of ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'', Kevin acts as a sort of [[Hero Antagonist]] towards the Eds, and merely mistrusts/dislikes them by default and will only actually start beating them up when he discovers the doing some sort of scam. However, in a couple episode he seems to just immensely hate Eddy even when completely unprovoked, most [[Character Derailment|infamously]] "Your Ed Here", where he blackmails Eddy about his [[Embarrassing Middle Name]] and makes him put up with endless physical abuse and humiliation, ''then tells everyone anyway'', all apparently just because he could.

* ''[[Jem and The Holograms]]'' is made of this. The rules of hologram projection change between almost every episode. On a Jem mailing list, head writer Christy Marx bemoans this. She finally became sick of it and became story editor in the third season to avoid inconsistencies.

* Batman himself from ''[[Batman: The Animated Series (Animation)|Batman the Animated Series]]'' can be anything from a gritty, gothic, never-smiling character to a Spiderman-esque wise-cracker depending on the episode's writer.

** Robin can either be the [[Deus Ex Machina]] for Batman or the [[Designated Victim]] who does little else but get taken out of action by the villain in the first act. Batman is also more likely to never-smiling character described above when Robin's around to provide the sarcasm.

* The characterizations of ''[[Tale Spin (Animation)|Tale Spin]]'' are somewhat erratic, particularly the extent of Baloo and Rebecca's [[Not So Different]] aspects. Baloo can switch anywhere between a [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|slovenly but well intentioned]] [[Ace Pilot]] or a [[Too Dumb to Live|brainless]] [[Small Name, Big Ego|egotistical]] [[Jerkass]]. Rebecca can be a plausible [[Straight Man]] with subtle [[Not So Above It All]] tendacies or [[Cloudcuckoolander|even ditzier than Baloo]], she can also switch anywhere between a [[Benevolent Boss]] and a [[Mean Boss]].

* Shego's capacity for evil in ''[[Kim Possible]]'' varies widely between episodes. She's chastised Dr. Drakken for wanting to steal Felix Renton's wheelchair in one episode, and was worried about the fish in a lake he wanted to drain in another. And of course her helping out in [[Grand Finale|Graduation]]. On the other end of the spectrum, in that very same episode regarding Felix, she was more than happy to try and blow him to bits later on. We also have the episode Car Alarm, in which she and Motor Ed stole a rocket car. Ed wanted to simply cruise around with her, while Shego effectively wanted to [[Earthshattering Kaboom|destroy the planet]] with it. And while it had a [[Reset Button|reset button]] ending, A Sitch In Time shows us [[Evil Overlord|what she's]] [[Complete Monster|really capable of]].

* ''[[Star Wars the Clone Wars|Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'' has some rather wild personality swings amongst the cast, often completely reversing opinions and personality between different episodes. In "Hostage Crisis" (written by Eoghan Mahony), Anakin makes a large speech about how Padme is the single most important thing in his life, whereas she seems preoccupied by the duties and responsibilities of her office and their obligations to the Republic. However, in "Senate Spy" (written by Melinda Hsu), their positions are diametrically reversed, and Padme becomes upset when Anakin lectures her on the nature of responsibility and the duties they have that supersede their personal desires. Neither seems to recall that they were ever on opposite sides of the debate.

* Many episodes of ''[[South Park]]'' have this. [[The Chick|Wendy]], for example, can be the [[Only Sane Man|Only Sane Girl]] or a [[Clingy Jealous Girl]] of epic proportions based on the plot. Likewise Cartman's level of evil can range from [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]] (rarely) to [[Complete Monster]] (more common), while Kyle may or may not take fighting him to [[Knight Templar]] levels. Additionally Stan and Kyle can be [[Only Sane Man|genuinely good natured and saner]] than [[Cloudcuckooland|the rest of South Park]] or [[Jerkass|JerkAsses]] [[Designated Hero|only toned down compared to]] [[Token Evil Teammate|Cartman]] and perfectly fine [[Kick the Dog|tormenting anyone lower on the chain than themselves]] (eg. [[Butt Monkey|Butters, Pip, Kenny]]).

** For more minor examples: recent episodes have the Mayor oscillating from [[Only Sane Man|Only Sane Woman]] to just as stupid as all the other adults. Priest Maxi, meanwhile, can be [[The Fundamentalist]] [[Straw Hypocrite]] ("Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?"), an extreme progressive fighting against [[Pedophile Priest|Pedophile Priests]]s ("Red Hot Catholic Love") or just a normal voice for religious opinion, sincere even if he's portrayed as misguided ("Cartman Sucks").

* Done quite irritatingly in the sixth season of ''[[Futurama]]'', which has the nerve to go back and forth not just on personality traits, but from Fry and Leela being an established couple to Fry and Leela having no hint of being a couple at all (even though they had declared their love for each other at the end of the fourth [[Big Damn Movie]]). Possibly the most [[Egregious]] example — in "The Late Phillip J. Fry", they're blatantly a couple, dating, in love, and [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|adorably]] [[Tear Jerker|committed]] to their relationship. In the very next episode, "That Darn Katz", Leela says perfectly seriously (with ''intentional'' pathetic-ness) "Well, I may not have a man, but at least Nibbler loves me."

* Are Rufus and Amberley of ''[[The Dreamstone]]'' [[Keet|rambunctious]] [[Kid Hero|Kid Heroes]]es who get in near equally on the story ([[Comedic Hero|and it's slapstick]]) as the Urpneys, or are they [[Tastes Like Diabetes|heavily]] [[Good Is Boring|whitewashed]] [[Hero Antagonist|Hero Antagonists]]s?

* ''[[Popeye]]'' cartoons do this sometimes with the director (who is listed as head animator). For example, Willard Bowsky often makes Bluto more of a [[Jerkass]] (ex. "Be KinfKind To Aminals" and "The Organ Grinder's Swing"), while others make Bluto more comical.

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'': The characters and their various interactions with other characters vary from writer to writer. Pinkie Pie can either be an insane stalker like lunatic or a hidden genius, Spike's crush on Rarity can be almost complete devotion to her, simply non-existent or anything in between. Even Scootaloo's idolisation of Rainbow Dash can range from [[Fan Girl]] to not treating her any differently from other adults.

* Like the above page quote, [[Scooby -Doo|Shaggy's]] vegetarianism varies from adaption to adaption. He definitely wasn't one in the early show, but became one after Casey Kasem did. He's one if Kasem is playing him, but if he's not, he usually won't be (specifically in ''[[Shaggy and& Scooby -Doo Get Aa Clue!]]'', where one of his favorite foods was "hot dog tacos").

[[Category:Depending On The Writer{{PAGENAME}}]]