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Continuity Snarl: Difference between revisions
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* [[Discworld]] suffers somewhat from this, but it is [[Justified Trope|explained in-universe]] as the results of Time shattering and having to be stitched back together by the [[Discworld/Thief of Time|History Monks]]. '' Twice''. They only get away with it because of the extraordinary power of the human mind to deceive itself.
* In his later years, Kir Bulychyov admitted that he never reread any books in his ''[[Alice, Girl from the Future|Adventures of Alyssa]]'' cycle, which would explain the many, many continuity problems that emerged over time. Krys, a recurring villain, had about three different (contradictory) origins and six different explanations of how his powers worked, his companion, Vesel'chak U, gained and lost powers, the chronology has been anything but consistent and don't even get started on when half of the novels were supposed to take place relative to each other. The fact that Kir Bulychyov died a few years ago doesn't help at all.
* Chris Roberson aims for this by intention—as a kid, he loved reading comic books and seeing all the ways they interconnected. Pretty much everything he writes that isn't a tie-in to ''[[Warhammer
* An entire cottage industry has sprung up around trying to wrestle the Sherlock Holmes stories into continuity—not only with each other, but with actual history.
** They [[Fan Nickname|call themselves]] the [[wikipedia:Baker Street Irregulars|Baker Street Irregulars]] after the street urchins Holmes often calls upon for help. Basically, their version of [[Star Trek|Trekkies]].
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer
** Fortunately, trying to keep up with the plot isn't really the point.
** Even then, the adaptations manage to break it when someone toesn't bother to check the basic premises. Such as... [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Emperor_Class_Battleship Emperor-class battleships] don't launch Space Marine drop pods, and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlRfPQP4uhA that was probably close to two full chapters they just flung out there]. It ''does'' carry 8 squadrons of small craft. The number of actual vehicles depends on the craft size, and if we are to believe ''Battlefleet Koronus'', this translates to 160 Fury Interceptors or 320 Lightnings - since the drop pods are even smaller, it's feasible that it ''could'' carry, say, 640. The problem? This would clearly go far beyond simple support action, while the Astartes forces are completely separated (including their own spaceships) and are neither designed nor allowed to be integrated with other forces (such as Navy) like this.
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*** It's possible the intro to ''Lunatea's Veil'' is an attempt to [[Hand Wave]] this, since {{spoiler|Klonoa's memories of Huepow were all fake anyway, retaining them would be rather pointless.}}
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' continuity is inherently very confusing for the simple reason that for a long time, we didn't have the whole picture, and, of the bits and pieces we do get, we aren't told how they fit together, or how many wholes they comprise, leading to literally decades of debate as to how to organize our snapshots into Hyrulean History. Things were finally sorted out in late 2011 with the revelation of the official timeline,<ref>which, among other things, revealed that things split into THREE timelines, not two as was previously thought, explaining why it was so darn difficult to figure out what went where</ref> but the confusion ''will'' [[As Long as There Is Evil|live anew each and every time a new game is released]].
* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]''. Each character gets his/her own ending, they often intersect, with other character's endings, and are often in direct conflict with other character's endings, showing one character winning a battle in his own ending, but being killed in the same battle by his opponent in his opponent's endings. Background information in the next game says which endings are canon, and which aren't. The official word on the ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]]'' endings are [[All There in the Manual|only on Armageddon's website]]: Basically, [[Unwitting Pawn|Shujinko]] and [[Magical Native American|Nightwolf]]'s endings worked together to end [[Big Bad|Onaga]]. For the ''[[Mortal Kombat Armageddon]]'' endings, replace "Background information in the next game" with "Opening cutscene in [[Mortal Kombat 9|the next game]]": Basically, either the backfiring of Taven's plan to [[Kill'Em All]] empowering everyone instead allowed Shao Kahn to win, or Kahn just flat out won on his own through his sheer power.
** There are more straight examples of snarls in the actual story, mostly the result of the lead writer shift after ''MK4'' . The two which stand out the most are Scorpion's oath to protect Sub-Zero (started in his ''MK2'' ending, supported in the official comic and ''UMK3'' ending, then ignored completely in ''MK4'', with following games being ambiguous about the whole ordeal, or portraying him as an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|revenge-seeker]]), and Kintaro's fate after ''MK2'' (with 3 different sources, all of debatable canonicity, stating different and contradicting fates for the Shokan).
** Another big snarl is that at the end of ''[[Mortal Kombat 2|MK2]]'', Shao Kahn is [[Killed Off for Real]], but in ''3'' he returns alive and well to take over the world.
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* ''[[Touhou Project]]'': Did the first five games happen, or are they a separate continuity altogether? Are the PC-98 versions of Reimu and Marisa the same characters as the Windows versions? What exactly is Alice's backstory? [[Demoted to Extra|And where in the world is]] [[Brother Chuck|Mima?]]
** Those specific examples are only a problem if you assume the PC-98 games are still in continuity. Though the Windows games have a number of minor details that appear to contradict each other.
* The Blaze/Silver/Nega issue in the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series. In ''[[Sonic Rush Series]]'', Blaze is from an alternate dimension. In ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006
** Later on, in the DS version of ''[[Sonic Colors|Colors]]'' (which may or may not be canon), Blaze appears alongside Silver during the third mission on Sweet Mountain with hints that these two have worked together in the past, making this most likely the '''06'' Blaze (who was Silver's best friend).
** And ''then'' there is ''[[Sonic Generations|Generations]]''. Blaze is first seen at Sonic's birthday party interacting with Cream and her in-game character profile notes that she's from another dimension, indicating that this is the same Blaze from ''Rush''. As a [[Continuity Nod]] ([[Reset Button|of sorts]]) to '''06'', Blaze is found in Crisis City. Here's where things get wonky. After Sonic completes the Crisis City Act 2 mission "Blaze: Piercing the Flames", Blaze will remark, "I never thought I'd find myself in Crisis City again," bringing up the question of ''how'' exactly Blaze knew of a place that '''a)''' another version of herself visited and '''b)''' existed in a timeline that was ''erased from history''.
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** The latest incarnation of the Transformers mythos is still neonatal (a couple of months old as of this writing), and it's ''already'' turning into a Continuity Snarl. According to the powers that be, the video game ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron]]'', the novel ''[[Transformers Exodus|Exodus]]'', and the upcoming TV series ''[[Transformers Prime]]'' are all part of the same continuity. The problem is, the plots for ''Exodus'' and ''War for Cybertron'' are so disparate and contradictory as to be completely incompatible. Time will tell whether the ''Prime'' cartoon will make any attempt to address these discrepancies, or whether it will [[Shrug of God|quietly sweep them under the rug and ignore them]], and [[MST3K Mantra|encourage the fans to do the same]].
*** [[Word of God|Later statements by Hasbro]] have clarified that ''War For Cybertron'', ''Exodus'', and ''Prime'' are part of the same continuity in the same way that the original Transformers cartoon and the Marvel, Dreamwave, and IDW comics are all part of the G1 continuity—IE, they share similarities in aesthetics and characterization, but are not necessarily consistent with one another. The fandom generally uses the term "continuity '''family'''" to refer to such an arrangement, and this difference in terminology is part of the reason some fans continue to grumble about discrepancies in canon between the three works.
** The [[Transformers: Fall of Cybertron|upcoming sequel]] to War For Cybertron may just complicate things further.
* Played for laughs on ''[[American Dad]]'' when Roger explains the background of a character he's made up for himself:
{{quote|'''Roger:''' My name is Braff Zacklin. I was an international race car driver. One day, a baby carriage rolled out onto the track so I swerved into the retaining wall to avoid it. The car burst into flames, but the baby miraculously survived ... I was that baby.
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