The Artifact: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

Sometimes, a character or gimmick seems to no longer fit with the mood or design of a story according to a writer, but is kept because there seems to be no way for the writer to get rid of them without causing some serious disruption (unrelated to [[Retcon|Retcons]]).

* Kinkotsuman & Iwao from ''[[Kinnikuman]]'', parodies of stereotypical [[Toku]] villains introduced when the series was a straight up spoof of [[Ultraman]] continued to show up long after the [[Genre Shift]] to [[Pro Wrestling]].

* Main character Ginko from ''[[Mushishi]]'' wears recognizably modern clothes despite the story's setting suggesting a [[Pre Meiji]] Japanese location. The author eventually admitted that Ginko was made during the early design period where the story was supposed to take place in modern times, with him simply being left unchanged.

** The name of Raising Heart also qualifies, since [[media:Nanoha.jpg|its original design]] was a fairly normal-looking [[Magic Wand]] with a [[Heart Symbol]] on it.

* Although ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' was the first [[Real Robot]] anime, it still carried a lot of baggage from the [[Super Robot]] genre, mainly the design aesthetic for Zeon vehicles and an [[Aerith and Bob]] naming scheme for their people that evokes the Alien invaders common to Super Robot antagonists, and a number of gimmicky weapons and [[Merchandise-Driven|accessories]] for the Gundam like the G-Armor, Beam Javelin, and Gundam Hammer. The latter were quickly retconned out of existence in the Movie adaptations, and later Zeon designs have tried to evoke a image closer to [[World War II]] Germany.

*** So much so that what was meant as the finale of the various arcs along with the intended grand finale (prior to the two [[Post Script Season|Post Script Seasons]]) were deliberately written to feature the Stargate heavily in their resolutions. In the former, it is used to save the galaxy. In the later, it's the [[MacGuffin]] driving much of the time travel plot. It was decided that if the show was to end there, then the gate should take part in the plot. Then the show was renewed, and well, so much for that.

* Little John, Allan-a-Dale and Much were pretty much pointless throughout all of season three of ''[[Robin Hood (TV)|Robin Hood]]'', and kept on simply because they were the famous characters of legend (though they fared better than Will Scarlett, who was [[Put On a Bus]] at the end of season two and never seen again). A typical B-plot had Much, Allan and John merely walking across the countryside in the search for water during a drought, and the crisis only ending thanks to Robin's activities in the A-plot. Eventually actor Joe Armstrong (who had a ''huge'' role in season two, and was the show's [[Breakout Character]]) asked the writers to kill off Allan, simply because he was bored with [[Demoted to Extra|playing a character that no longer did anything]]. The writers gave him a [[Red Shirt]] death, which speaks volumes about how unimportant he was at that stage.

** That's because the show was originally designed as a "youth" vehicle and Trevor Bannister and Wendy Richard were to play the main characters. The producers' mistake was in assembling a stellar and highly professional cast in the shape of Frank Thornton, Mollie Sugden, John Inman and Arthur Brough, who outshone the "stars" of the piece. Eventually Trevor Bannister left, because he had been promised a starring role and he kept getting upstaged by a bunch of old pantomime and "Carry-On" left-overs.

* ''[[Degrassi the Next Generation]]'' was originally a drama about teenagers and a parallel one about twentysomethings (now-adult former students of [[The Eighties]]' ''[[Degrassi High]]''), in near-equal parts. The older cast was de-emphasized until most of them left at the end of season 5 leaving only Snake / Mr. Simpson, and even the parts of his personal life outside school were phased out.

* [[The Undertaker]] was born during the tail end of the [[WWF]]'s Rock n Wrestling Era, when [[Made of Iron]] [[Invincible Hero|Invincible Heroes]] were at the peak of popularity, and the beginning of the New Generation, where cartoony gimmicks and [[Wrestling Doesn't Pay|second jobs]] were the order of the day. Accordingly, he was a wrestling grave digger-slash-zombie-slash-dark [[Superhero]]-slash-[[Anthropomorphic Personification]] [[Grim Reaper|of death]], and it worked pretty well, as Taker quickly became one of the most popular wrestlers on the card. With the coming of the Attitude Era, and the change in tone to a [[Darker and Edgier]], grittier and more realistic presentation, Taker no longer quite fit in. They tried numerous tweaks to make him fit better (giving him a family history, making him over into a cult leader, etc), but eventually, they just said, "Screw it," and completely scrapped the old gimmick, re-inventing him as a [[All Bikers Are Hells Angels|biker thug]]. After a few years, by popular demand, Taker returned to his old "Deadman" character; it seems that [[WWE]] has [[Grandfather Clause|simply accepted]] that Undertaker's portion of the show is just the little corner of their universe where reality no longer applies.

** One weird contradiction is the fact that [[The Undertaker]] has accepted the rise of MMA with more grace than almost any other wrestler and has incorporated a large number of the moves into his arsenal, and wears MMA-style gloves to the ring. So you have the most anachronistic character following up his "old-school" ropewalk with a very realistic looking triangle choke.

*** [[The Undertaker]] is often excused by the [[Grandfather Clause]], when a character can get away with it simply because he's been doing it for so long. No one else could possibly come into the WWE and play up his angle straight-faced, but because [[The Undertaker]] has been doing it since the Reagan era, he can slide. Since he's still popular and well-received, the ''writers'' treated him like [[The Artifact]], but the ''fans'' were willing to grandfather him in.

**** Occasionally, the writers will have a fit of brilliance: a wrestler or even the commentators will talk about the raw psychology of [[The Undertaker]]'s entire persona from a Kayfabe perspective. Think about it: you're in the ring, pumping yourself up. Funeral bells toll, the lights go out, and this 6'9 zombie/grimreaper starts a slow walk down the aisle; bigger arenas and PPV's tend to have this walk take OVER A MINUTE. Somewhere along the line it hits you, "Hey, don't worry, this guy's freaking 40-something, and I'm at my prime, this is going to be a snap!" Then the bell rings and this 40-something zombie guy suddenly shows you that he's still the best striker in the business and [[Made of Iron|just won't stay down.]] Completely and totally realistic... Until [[Snap Back|he waves a hand and lightning hits something for some reason.]]

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* ''[[Exalted (Tabletop Game)|Exalted]]'' was originally written as a pre-history for the [[Old World of Darkness (Tabletop Game)|Old World of Darkness]]; strong hints of this remained all throughout 1st edition, until that train of thought was pretty much abandoned for 2nd edition. This is why the 1st edition Lunars [[Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Tabletop Game)|took more than a few elements from the Garou]] ([[Fanon Discontinuity|much to the displeasure of fans]]), Sidereals occasionally had to deal with [[Mage: The Ascension (Tabletop Game)|Paradox]], and the Underworld was ruled by [[Wraith: The Oblivion|Deathlords]] and the Neverborn, who were paradoxically called "Malfeans" as well when Malfeas was a [[Our Demons Are Different|Yozi]] instead.

* In the switch from third edition to fourth edition ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and Dragons]]'', ability scores ceased to matter much beyond the ability bonus. Yet we still have the old ability scores from 3-18 where the limits can be broken and the players never have one below 8. In some ways, this is an artifact because if it were ever removed, it would only increase the litany of cries that "4E is [[WoW]]" from 3rd edition grognards.

** It's been [[The Artifact]] since the switch to Third. In Second, an ability check was made by rolling a D20 and trying to roll less than your ability score. In addition, there were mechanical differences which made all ability scores different rather than having breaks at every even number. In Third, the ability scores could have been replaced almost entirely with ability modifiers, transforming a stat line into something like: Str +2, Dx +1, etc. (''True20'' and ''[[Mutants and Masterminds (Tabletop Game)|Mutants and Masterminds]]'' 3rd edition, based on d20 Open Content, did just that.) Almost no mechanics would be changed, and most of those would be simplified, and modifying creatures or changing sizes would be a cinch. This sort of statline is quite common in other games.

* Classic animation example: [[Mickey Mouse]]'s ears. No matter how he turns his head, [[Cheated Angle|they stay in the same position, in direct violation of the rules of perspective]]. This is a relic of the time Mickey was created, when designs were simple and crude, but as the animators improved their drawing skills and the style became more elaborate, Mickey's design began to look archaic by comparison. His immense popularity made a complete redesign impossible, so only small, judicious changes were made over time. There was a time in the early 1940s when the ears were altered to look more like real mouse ears, as well as giving them dimension, but that change was short-lived and the round ears returned. Nowadays it's accepted as a crucial element in Mickey's design (even CG versions of the character have special adjustments to keep the ears the same from every angle), and is even [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] on occasion.

** Except ''[[Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)|Kingdom Hearts II]]''. His ears don't adjust with the angle, ever, so we actually see the sides of his ears. The 3D ending to the original ''[[Chain of Memories]]'' Reverse/Rebirth mode also didn't do this.

* [[The Chew Toy|Kenny's]] deaths on ''[[South Park]]'' were a written-in-stone [[Running Gag]] until the creators decided that in one episode that he was [[Killed Off for Real]]. "[[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]]" reactions caused them to put him back on the show. Now he only occasionally dies.

** Add in the fact that all his lines are unintelligible. [[Living Prop|Very few episodes feature]] [[The Chew Toy|Kenny]] doing much of anything but basically just standing to one side. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the "Mr. Jefferson" episode. When [[The Chew Toy|Kenny]], for once unmuffled, complains about taking Blanket's place, [[Straight Man|Stan]] tells him to stop complaining, at least he gets to ''do'' something for once.

** Unexpectedly, the disproportionate in-universe hate towards her has shoved her through [[The Woobie]] Wall for many members of the audience; giving her an actual purpose in the show. It also makes the scene in the the episode "Dial Meg for Murder" where she beats the living crap out of Peter after being in prison a few months a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]].

** Ironically, the diminishment of Meg's character began at about the same time as her original (and uncredited) voice actor Lacey Chabert was replaced by Mila Kunis. In contrast to Chabert's rather mundane characterization, Kunis brought a sharper, more distinctive quality to the character (along with a much greater appreciation for the show's type of humor than Chabert had, which is what caused her to leave the show and be uncredited). Kunis' performance allows the out-of-proportion attacks on Meg to be funny, whereas had Chabert remained, it likely would have just come off as mean-spirited.

** Lampshaded by Klaus and Hayley in a recent episode. Klaus pops up on the screen out of nowhere exclaiming, "Ha! I made it into the episode! Pay me, bitches!" Then Hayley pops up saying, "Ha! Me too!" Otherwise both characters are entirely absent from the episode.

** In some later episodes, Klaus' lack of purpose is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] through Klaus bemoaning his situation, or the other characters making fun of him. One particularly cruel example is "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls", where the rest of the family is fighting for their lives against Santa Claus and his elves with machine guns and hatchets, and Francine mentions "What's his name?" during a conversation with Hayley; it then cuts to Klaus floating in his bowl with no background noise, and he dispassionately says "My name is Klaus Heissler." Klaus wasn't seen again the entire episode, before or since that scene.

[[Category:Characters and Casting]]

[[Category:The Artifact]]