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Running the Asylum (view source)

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* [[Never Live It Down]] shoved on characters that were not canonically treated this way before.
* When they aren't [[Pandering to The Base]], they're [[Author Appeal|pandering to themselves]].
* [[Popularity Power]], as well as [[Power Creep, Power Seep]].
* [[Possession Sue|Possession Sues]] incorporated into canon.
* [[Relationship Sue|Relationship Sues]] incorporated into canon.
* Loads and loads of [[Retcon|retcons]].
* Writers treat the characters they don't like as [[The Scrappy]], even if those characters [[Unpopular Popular Character|aren't thought that way by the fanbase]].
* Writers make the characters they like into the [[Spot Light Spotlight-Stealing Squad]], even if those characters [[CreatorsCreator's Pet|aren't as liked with the fanbase]].
* [[Writer On Board]] to a degree far greater than happened to the show before.
 
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Not to be confused with the [[Edgar Allan Poe]] short story "The System of [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether]]" or the video game ''[[Batman Arkham Asylum]]'', in which the inmates actually do run the asylum.
{{examples|Examples}}
 
== Comic Books ==
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*** The Big One: Retconning ''Emerald Twilight'' with ''Green Lantern: Rebirth'', reviving Hal Jordan and revealing that Sinestro and an intergalactic fear bug were responsible for Hal becoming Parallax. Of course, even the writer of ''Emerald Twilight'' admitted this was a good move...
*** Reviving Barry Allen in ''Final Crisis'' -- this one wasn't met as well with fans since they had long accepted Barry's [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. Didio even bragged in a ''DC Nation'' column about how he only took on the job to bring back Hal and Barry.
**** Wally West remains a fan favorite despite his current MIA status in the reboot. He is not the only sidelined speedster. Jay Garrick, Max Mercury, and Jesse Quick are also missing. DC's going to have to deal with questions about Wally for a while, and even the current Flash creative team has expressed an interest in bringing him back--and given their status as rising stars at DC, they may get their wish. DC's all or nothing attitude is odd especially given that DC has several Robins (and ex-Robins) as well as multiple Earth Green Lanterns, pretty much all of whom are still active as of ''New52'' (except poor Stephanie Brown, who seems to be some kind of an inverted [[CreatorsCreator's Pet]]).
*** While not related to ''Crisis'', Geoff Johns also retconned Superboy into becoming the clone of Superman and Lex Luthor in ''Teen Titans'' -- which was foreshadowed by [http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/3055/geoffjohnslu2.png a fan letter] sent into Superboy's old book... by one "Geoffrey Johns".
**** The primary architects of the Modern DCU (Didio, Johns and Morrison) all are fans of the Silver Age and have made efforts to bring aspects of that era back into the zeitgeist with books such as 52, [[Final Crisis]] and [[All Star Superman]].
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** To sum up, every continuity and/or character and/or story element any fan is championing or crying at the loss of or pushing for the return of is the product of someone running the asylum at some point. Silver, Bronze and Dark Age. It's just one big vicious circle.
* [[Marvel Comics]] got into this a bit slower(they started five years later) but is definitely there. Stuff like ''Avengers Forever'' is sometimes referred to as "[[Continuity Porn]]".
** ''[[One More Day]]'' is a particularly loathed example of Running the Asylum, with editor in chief [[Joe Quesada]] being twenty-four when [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] got married and [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|hating that Spidey got changed from when he was a kid]]. Apparently everyone else who has read and enjoyed Spider-Man within the past twenty years [[No True Scotsman|don't count as real fans]], since they want the case to be "Spidey grows old and dies off". That was a direct quote from Quesada.
*** And he ordered Jean Grey [[Killed Off for Real]] and prevents writers from bring her back. And from some of his own words, including his thoughts that she didn't do anything of merit since saving the universe, Cyclops is "more interesting" without her.
*** Hank Pym is also a widower, after killing off his wife, claiming he's ''also'' "more interesting" without her.
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* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Cyclops]] is a controversial case; some people think that he's one of the few to show realistic emotions to the things that happened to him, while others considered him an underused, overangsted wuss. Recent writers have cut back on the angst and placed him in the role of a battle general that does whatever it takes for Mutants to survive, which has caused some fans to believe that the writers are now making Cyclops [[Darker and Edgier|go too far the other way]].
** Although as far as many readers are concerned, all of this takes a backseat to Cyclops' tendency to be a [[Jerkass|huge prick]].
* While we're at it, lets consider [[Wolverine]]'s ridiculous [[Power Creep, Power Seep]] over the years--his [[Healing Factor]] going from a simple neck wound being potentially lethal to coming back [[From a Single Cell|from being burned down to his adamantium bones]]--and consider that this is what happens [[Popularity Power|when childhood fans join up and power-boost their favorite character]].
* For both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, you can identify the age of many writers by checking what characters are their favorites, assuming they were last famous when the writers were between 12 and 16, and doing the math.
** Brad Meltzer: Vixen, Red Tornado, Dr. Light.
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** Some complaints include [[Did Not Do the Research]], derailing several characters, some of which to preserve certain relationships (namely Sonic and Sally's). Some things he's gotten a more positive response for however have been [[And There Was Much Rejoicing|his killing off very unpopular characters]], rewriting bad stories, cleaning up unresolved plot points, and offering other related fanservice to the fanbase. One of his most notable contributions has been citing a lot of Sonic internet memes. All he's missing is [[Shadow the Hedgehog|Vector saying "Find the computer room".]]
* ''[[Transformers]]'' comics suffered from this during their revival by the now-defunct Dreamwave Comics. Under Dreamwave, plots tended to be either simple or vague while the authors took time to work in [[Fan Wank|explanations for the toys with rub signs]] and rampant [[Easter Egg|Easter Eggs]] that contributed nothing to the story. It didn't help that they essentially just built off the old kid's cartoon from the 80s.
** On the other hand, fans have had no problem with Nick Roche and James Roberts, who made a short [[Continuity Porn]] story that [[AuthorsAuthor's Saving Throw|used elements]] [[Arc Welding|of McCarthy's run]] to turn Prowl into a bona-fide [[Magnificent Bastard]], and created new, likable personalities for a half-dozen characters in ''[[Transformers Last Stand of the Wreckers]]''.
* [[Reginald Hudlin]] is a fan of [[Black Panther]]. After he started to write his adventures, T'Challa was turned into a [[God Mode Sue]], Wakanda into [[Mary Suetopia]], and Storm from ''X-Men'' was given a giant amount of [[Character Derailment]] so she could [[Token Romance|marry BP]] and have everybody near him carry [[Idiot Ball|Idiot Balls]].
* In ''[[Daredevil]]'''s case, it seems like all the best writers that get their hands on him (including [[Ann Nocenti]], [[Kevin Smith]], [[Brian Bendis]] and [[Ed Brubaker]]) are fans of [[Frank Miller]]'s run and just like him are trying to make Matt's life [[The Woobie|as miserable as possible]]. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|Fans don't mind]].
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== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'': In the Classic series: Matthew Waterhouse, a literal card-carrying fan (he belonged to the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, the biggest ''Who'' fan club in the world) got cast as [[The Scrappy]], Adric. Around the same time another fan, Andrew Smith, had a script accepted. A few years later überfan Ian Levine co-wrote a (not-very-well-received) script for "Attack of the Cybermen" (as well as writing the music for ''K-9 & Company'', a [[Spin -Off]] that died at [[Pilot]] stage). In the late '80's, Andrew Cartmel, a young and inexperienced, if wry, writer who got the gig of Script Editor just by applying. The result was three years of [[Retcon|retcons]], postmodern commentary both on the show itself and its fanbase, and the most convoluted storylines ever. Opinions are deeply divided on this era. To some extent, though, it's never really gone away. Technically, though Cartmel had more of an interest in [[Comic Books]], particularly the work of [[Alan Moore]] than in ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]''. However, two of his writers, Marc Platt and Ben Aaronovitch, ''did'' consider themselves fans (only because Ben didn't really know what a 'fan' was), the former having contributed articles to the fanzines of the day, the latter contributing two very "fannish" stories. Behind the scenes, the three of them also came up with the "Cartmel Masterplan", a secret [[Backstory]] [[Retcon]] of the Doctor's history, which never quite found its way to the screen.
** The new series has this from the get-go; [[Russell T Davies]], naturally, was a huge fan. Current showrunner [[Steven Moffat]] is also an überfan.
** Going by the Appreciation Index for certain episodes from both writers (notably "The Stolen Earth"), [[Tropes Are Not Bad|this may not have been bad]] for the new series.
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* ''[[Exalted]]'' does this religiously; multiple current writers for the line got their start creating fan works on the official forums.
** In a case of [[Tropes Are Not Bad]], the main block of them (the Ink Monkeys) are often liked ''more'' than the original, professional authors.
*** Not by everyone; a good part of the section of fans that aren't Solar Exalted fanboys are not pleased with what they see as their current [[CreatorsCreator's Pet]] status.
* [[Dungeons and Dragons]] had several reasons for this even aside of [[House Rules]] tradition meeting Internet communities. "3rd party" supplements having [[In Name Only|little to do with]] established canon on any issue are okay and in D&D3 era even inevitable (due to OGL). Development for settings dropped while switching to new editions was taken over by fan communities, as some sort of [[Abandon Ware]]. And the new generation of designers ran free even through WotC/Hasbro [[Sourcebook|sourcebooks]] supposed to be [[Canon]]. A good thing for uncharted areas, but all too often it wasn't expansion, but walking over established parts so obliviously you almost hear "[[Squee]]!" from the page. Things could go smoother if this didn't coincide with the time when focus shifted from modelling specific settings to expanding universal rules, for fan enthusiasm knows no limits.
** Much of the Arthaus product line for the [[Ravenloft]] D&D setting was authored by former members of the Kargatane, a team of fans responsible for Ravenloft-fandom's first major website, netbooks, and fanzine.
** [[Dark Sun]] and [[Spelljammer]] were taken by their respective online fan communities, expanded and d20-adapted.
** Kobolds' draconic [[Power Creep, Power Seep|upgrade]]. Uncalled for, since they already had their cozy little niche and in hands of a good GM were viable [[Not So Harmless|or even dangerous]].
** The great shoehorning epidemy. Symptoms: a new feature is accompanied by instructions how to stick it ''everywhere'', whether the target has a place for it or not. During the outbreak it was a safe bet that a new "Pearl Diver" class will contain the ways to use it in every existing setting... even desert ones.
** ''Magic of Incarnum'' -- fans [http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/File:MPost16542-Incarnumposter.jpg noticed] what it was about.
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Painkiller]]: Overdose'' was originally developed as a fanmade mod to the original game before the publishers of the original game, Dreamcatcher, decided to give the team funding to spin the mod into a full release to score a fast buck. The results show all too well.
* NeverSoft were [[Big Name Fan|Big Name Fans]] of the ''[[Guitar Hero]]'' series prior to Harmonix's departure. After Harmonix left, they took over the series and made a lot of [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|questionable changes]] to the series including ''[[Guitar Hero]] III's'' infamous [[Luck Based Mission|"Guitar Battles"]], [[Mission Pack Sequel|Mission Pack Sequels]], [[Fake Difficulty]], [[Mission Pack Sequel|Mission Pack Sequels]], [[Cash Cow Franchise|more]] [[Mission Pack Sequel|Mission Pack Sequels]] and the death of the series through market oversaturation of [[Mission Pack Sequel|Mission Pack Sequels]].
* Tom Hulett and Simon Lai, the producers of ''[[Contra|Contra 4]]'' for the Nintendo DS, both admit to being bigger fans of the earlier ''Contra'' games for the NES and SNES than the [[Boss Rush]]-filled later sequels like ''Hard Corps'' and ''Shattered Soldier'', making ''Contra 4'' as a homage to those early installments. Hulett in particular also admits to being a fan of the gag localizations of the early titles instead of the more direct and serious localizations of recent titles, which is why the manual of ''Contra 4'' is written in such a tongue-in-cheek tone similar to Konami's manuals during the NES era and which is why the two new main characters accompanying Bill and Lance are named Mad Dog and Scorpion, [[Mythology Gag|which were the nicknames given to Bill and Lance in the early American versions]]. However, they also retconned the events of ''Operation C'' from being a previous mission of Bill Rizer, to being a previous of the "new characters" Mad Dog and Scorpion.
* A great deal of ''[[Touhou]]'' character interpretation by the fandom is based more on doujin comics and IOSYS music videos than on in-game dialogue.
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** The first most notable instance of this happening was the hiring of Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. The duo were admitted fans of the series before joining the writing staff in Season 4. They stayed on, rising in the ranks and becoming showrunners for Seasons 7 and 8. Their "back to the family" approach saw a number of low-key, realistic episodes, and they were insistent on staying consistent with the characters (e.g. not making Homer completely stupid or a food monster).
* ''[[Star Wars the Clone Wars]]'' got a whole board of writers that were fans with all the references and overly long mythology gags they pack in the show. The most prominent example would be Dave Filoni's favourite character, Plo Koon, which is often mentioned on the SW websites and DVD extras. Other than the overuse of "Bad feeling about this", there is no real difference now that the inmates have control.
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' has a variation on this. [[Lauren Faust]], the main creative force for the show, had a habit of playing with MLP figures when she was a kid and making up her own personalities for them (although those personalities were usually at least to a certain degree based on the characters canonical ones) . Said personalities became the basis for the main cast of her show. [[Tropes Are Not Bad|This wasn't a bad thing]], since she took a franchise whose previous animated adaptations were mostly considered lazy commercials to sell toys, and made a show with interesting characters, good writing, and nice animation. (the last one is quite a feat considering it uses [[Adobe Flash]])
 
 
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