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Plot Tumor: Difference between revisions
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Keep in mind, however, that [[Tropes Are Not Bad]] and [[Fan Wank|fandoms expound on minor details]] just as much as canonical writers; sometimes with the latter [[Ascended Fanon|ending up into the former]].
Compare: [[Adaptation Decay]], [[Flanderization]], [[Romantic Plot Tumor]], [[Never Live It Down]], and [[Motive Decay]]. A [[Malignant Plot Tumor]] is the single-plot counterpart, where a minor plot at the beginning crowds out the other plots at the climax. Contrast [[Adaptation
{{examples}}
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* The [[Holy Grail]] in [[King Arthur|Arthurian literature]] grew to be the entire raison d'etre of the Arthurian Court, taking on aspects of various magic hamper/magic mill myths, and creating a mythological snarl whose origins modern scholars are nowhere close to deciphering.
** For that matter, [[King Arthur]] himself suffers from this. His origin as a British post-Roman warlord is so obscured by later accretions of folklore and myth that entire books have been written that try to pry as much detail out of the meager historical documents available from Dark Age Britain.
*** Recent historical surmises place him as actually being Welsh and called "[
* J.M. Barrie's novel ''[[Peter Pan]]'' has Peter saying that you fly by thinking happy thoughts. The book goes on to reveal that Peter made that up as a joke, and that the real secret is pixie dust. In every later version of the story, you need both pixie dust AND happy thoughts.
** Another is when Peter says Neverland is located "second star to the right and straight on 'til morning." The book immediately follows up by saying again that Peter is just making it up, pointing out that nobody could possibly find Neverland with these directions. Again, most adaptions assume that is literally where Neverland is located.
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== Live Action TV ==
* ''[[
** The Cybermen's allergy to gold went from "could be choked by powdered gold dust" to "tossing a gold coin at them is like shooting Kryptonite bullets". When the new series reintroduced them, this tumor was quietly excised. [[All There in the Manual|Supplemental material]] mentions that the allergy to gold was discovered early in the Cybermen's R&D process and eliminated then.
** In the sonic screwdriver's original appearance in ''Fury from the Deep'', and later in ''The War Games'', it was used ''for unscrewing things''. It only gradually became a do-anything device.
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* ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', starting with the Ember Trial, seems to force one quest on the player after another, leading to the question "Whatever happened to going to the Jerro Estate?", it takes most of part II for the answer to that question
* The Insult Swordfighting in ''[[Monkey Island]]'' was meant to be a parody of the [[You Fight Like a Cow|witty banter]] found in high adventure movies, but by the time ''Escape from Monkey Island'' came around, there's apparently an Insult version of nearly every sport available floating around the Tri-Island Area.
* Sometimes the earlier games in ''Zelda'' series seem to be set in an almost separate universe than the more modern ones. Originally, the Triforce was a mysterious triangle that granted magical abilities, and there were only two of them, not three. Come ''[[The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past]]'', however, and it's the [[Cosmic Keystone]] of the entire ''Zelda'' universe with omnipotent wish-granting and reality-warping powers. The significance of the Triforce mark was also different. From ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'' onward, the Triforce mark on one's hand signified which piece of the Triforce one had and would glow when its power was being used. The first appearance of this mark was in ''[[Zelda II the Adventure of Link (Video Game)|Zelda II the Adventure of Link]]'', and it showed up on Link's hand before he even had the Triforce of Courage. It just marked him as the hero destined to claim it.
** Likewise, the Master Sword being the only sword able to kill Ganon is a relatively recent idea. In its first appearance in ''A Link to the Past'', the Master Sword was a powerful weapon to defeat evil, but in order to kill Ganon you had to stun him with the Master Sword, then actually harm him with a Silver Arrow. After ''Ocarina of Time'' the relationship has been reversed, and the Light Arrows are needed to stun Ganon so you can harm him with the Master Sword. Sometimes you don't even need the arrows at all. The Master Sword meanwhile has been given increased importance, and it's a Comic Keystone just as important to the world of Hyrule as the Triforce now.
*** Although, in ''Ocarina of Time'', it was required only to seal him away; you're able to harm Ganon with the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Biggoron Sword]].
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* Dragons were mostly background lore in the ''[[The Elder Scrolls (Video Game)|The Elder Scrolls]]'' series. Come ''[[The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim (Video Game)|The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim]]'' and pretty much anything can be explained (retroactively) via dragons. Liches, zombies, the Blades, an important part of the Empire's history...etc. Even door keys in several dungeons have the shape of dragon claws.
* The Cerberus group in the ''[[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Mass Effect]]'' series. Initially it was just a shady group with a couple of hidden bases. Come ''Mass Effect 2'' they're an almost all powerful organization that are central to the plot. While it may have been planned that they would have such a large role it still felt like a [[Plot Tumor]] for those that didn't take part in the optional quest of the first game.
* Legendary Pokémon. Gen I: 4 rare Mons only available at the ends of several dungeons ([[Slippy
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** Possibly the first was the Devil's "crisis of faith", which spun so far out of control that the author didn't know how to end it. Big D was AWOL for several real-world months before it was revealed that he just went on vacation.
** The "Reality Zone" was introduced for a one-off Sunday strip, then became a recurring plot element.
** A 2010 storyline had Squig becoming a hobo and [[Walking the Earth]] meeting all sorts of [[Shout
** And the big one: The Fuschia/Criminy subplot, which became the strip's chief attraction for awhile and still pops up frequently to mess with the status quo.
* The trolls in ''[[Homestuck]]'' could be considered this. Most fans don't even remember that they didn't appear until Act 3 and they were retroactively added into the earlier story through flashbacks. {{spoiler|It's appropriate considering Karkat "carcinoGeneticist" Vantas gave the kids' universe cancer.}}
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[[Category:Derivative Works]]
[[Category:Plot Tumor]]
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