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Third Option Adaptation: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
An interactive work is being adapted into another, non-interactive
This can also be done if it's an adaptation of a ''non''-interactive work, by refusing to pick any one of the [[Loads and Loads of Characters]] to have more spotlight or importance than the others if the audience is divided on which is best and there's no main character.
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{{examples}}
* ''[[
** It was subverted by having Ash get all three starters later; however, only one of them (Charmander) ever evolved. Later, they confirmed once and for all that [[The Rival|Gary's]] starter was a Squirtle, while his in-game counterpart always chose the Pokémon that had a type advantage over the player's choice. In ''Pokémon Yellow'', though, Gary's in-game counterpart received Eevee as a starter. As acknowledged below, he got one in the anime as well, but not as a starter.
** Ash also got all three starters (Chikorita/Totodile/Cyndaquil) from ''[[
** Cyndaquil eventually evolved - once, into Quilava, just like Chikorita->Bayleef - but it wasn't until ''late'' into the "Diamond and Pearl" arc (over 10 Seasons since it first appeared) that this happened at all).
** In Hoenn, adapting ''[[
** Ash also has two of the three starters from ''[[
** In ''Pokémon Yellow'', your rival evolves his Eevee into Flareon, Jolteon or Vaporeon based on how often your beat him in your early battles. In the anime, since Gary never battles Ash until much later seasons (and since he started out with Squirtle, not Eevee), he [[Takes a Third Option]], and evolves his Eevee into an Umbreon.
** For an in-game version, ''[[
** In ''[[
** The ''Best Wishes'' series also made Ash have all three starters again.
*** Additionally, instead of Ash fighting Drayden or Iris (who is this series' female companion), Ash will battle Homika, who appears in ''[[Pokémon Black 2 and White 2]]'' for his final badge.
* The first ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (
* The [[Fallout]] games allow players to be male or female, any race they choose, and a bunch of other customization features as rudimentary as nose size. How could boxart get all of this represented at once? It doesn't; instead opting for pictures of an undefined character in power armor.
* ''[[
** Which is ironic, given that the editor of the RPG line had spent years trashing "redeemed" [[
*** The pen and paper version has some advice on methods to redeem Black Spiral Dancers (most are unpleasant for everyone involved), and one tribe, the Children of Gaia, are pointed out as the most common home for Dancers who turn away from the Wyrm. The books also take pains to point out that the Gaian werewolves never trust former Dancers and that Black Spiral Dancers make a point of hunting down and killing any traitors even more than they make a point of hunting down and killing other Gaian garou.
* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', the player character's gender and appearance are customizable, and you have a choice between helping the Republic defeat Malak on the one hand, and overthrowing him as the Dark Lord of the Sith and then turning against the Republic. Although the character is canonically male and the Star Forge is canonically destroyed (a [[Road Cone]] example), the second game allows you to [[
* The ''[[Star Ocean]]'' series always has mutually exclusive characters, particularly in the second game. The [[The Anime of the Game|anime adaptation]] of ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story
* ''[[
** However, [[Road Cone
*** Although a bonus scene in the game [[
** There are other differences in the manga's ending, too, like the party taken to the final battle. In the game, because of the limit on the number of party members, you had to take either {{spoiler|Zelos or Kratos}}. In the manga, not only do both of them go along for the final trip to Derris-Kharlan, but {{spoiler|so does ''Yuan''}}.
* It's amazing the [[Epileptic Trees]] that have come from trying to figure out which, if any, endings of the various [[Geneforge]] games are canonical. A popular one for the third game argues that the main character ''died at the very beginning'' and was replaced by someone else who acted out most of the game's events before getting killed off in turn.
** The fifth game manages to revive all those trees in theories on the protagonist's identity. All this is probably due to the fact that the canon endings are combinations of multiple endings with some obfuscation thrown in as well.
* [[Deus Ex: Invisible War
** [[Elder Scrolls]], similarily, had all the endings of Daggerfall happen, although in a different way that works less well in a universe with less... [[Mind Screw|fluid]]... metaphysics: all of them happened, because ''time itself broke'' as a result of the use of Great Numidium.
* The ''[[Resident Evil]]'' sequels favor a scenario in which all four main characters from the first game (Chris, Jill, Barry and Rebecca) survived the Mansion incident. The only problem is that this actually impossible to pull off in the game itself: when you play as Chris, Barry goes missing never to be seen for the rest of the game, while Jill never actually encounters Rebecca.
* The ''[[Resident Evil (
* ''[[Clock Tower (
** Actually, Ending C is established as canon in the ending of the later game, when Dan's name (which Jennifer only learns in that ending) is mentioned and Jennifer shrinks back. Which is kind of strange, because you'd have to be using some wacky moon logic to get Ending C normally...
* At the end of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', Snake can try to save Meryl depending on a choice made during an [[Electric Torture]] at the middle of the game - if the player chooses to resist, {{spoiler|Otacon stays behind in an attempted [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to hold open a gate (although he lives), and Snake tells his real name to Meryl}}; and if the player submits, {{spoiler|Otacon comes up onto Rex to talk Snake down (the gate has already been opened by Otacon), and Snake tells his real name to Otacon}}. Both the novel and comic book adaptations went with an ending where {{spoiler|Snake escaped with both Meryl and Otacon at once, and told both of them his real name together}}.
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty]]'' seems to go with this as well: when infiltrating the tanker in the opening cutscene of the game, he has the stealth camo Otacon gave him in his ending. Coupled with Meryl not appearing at all in the game, this would suggest she died in the first game, up until Snake reveals late in the game that he also has the infinite-ammo bandanna he received in her ending.
** And then [[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]] reveals that the ending where {{spoiler|Meryl lives}} is canon.
* Kind of sort of done in a way with ''[[Persona 3]] FES''. Practically every female social link in the game involves the female in question falling in love with The Protagonist (Even the Hermit, who turns out to be the Protagonist's ''homeroom teacher''). However, no matter what you do, it's Aigis who feels the strongest bond with you. {{spoiler|As a result, it's Aigis who obtains the Wild Card ability in ''The Answer''.}} (Though, one could make an argument for Elizabeth having the strongest bond, considering how she {{spoiler|leaves the Velvet Room to try and revive him}}, but not counting bonus content in ''Persona4'', Aigis is always "the one".
** In the PSP remake, this is altered so that any of the female SEES members (Aigis, Fuka, Yukari and Mitsuru) can have the strongest bond with him and share the final scene with him, not just Aigis. The female can have Aigis or any of the male members of SEES (Akihiko, Ken, {{spoiler|or Shinjiro if you saved him}}, except Junpei, who feels no romance for the main, have the strongest bond. Of course, ''The Answer'' isn't in the PSP remake and the Answer wouldn't work the way it was if the female was chosen anyway so how this affects Persona canon is currently unknown.
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* In ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' expanded media such as the OVAs, musicals, drama CDs and movie, it never clearly states which girl(s) Oogami has a romantic relationship with or Taiga in the New York stuff. There is usually slight hints toward Sakura (as the poster girl) but since games have a serial progressing plot and the OVAs and Drama CDS fill in the gaps it wouldn't jive to take the controller away from the player, and thus in the OVAs [[Status Quo Is God]]
* ''Advance [[Guardian Heroes]]'' combines this with [[Cutting Off the Branches]]: it is based on one ending of the original game... but then takes it off into a direction that doesn't actually exist in the original game.
* The sequel to ''[[
* The ending of the ''[[Makai Senki Disgaea]]'' anime featured an amalgamation of [[Disgaea: Hour of Darkness|the game]]'s good and bad ending, with {{spoiler|Laharl sparing Lamington's life, but still sacrificing his own in order to resurrect Flonne}}.
** Oddly, future games set in the same universe suggest this might be the canon ending.
* Some of the spinoffs from the [[Tenchi Muyo!]] universe pair him up with an entirely new girl, rather than stick him with a member of his [[Unwanted Harem]].
* At the time that the ''[[Maple Story]]'' anime was created, there were already four available classes in the game, so there would naturally be some difficulty in deciding which one the protagonist belonged to. So what do the writers do? Make him a [[Cherry Tapping|perma-beginner]]! (explained in the anime as him being a human while the other classes are represented by monsters from the different in-game towns)
* ''[[Tsukihime]]'' is a [[Visual Novel]]. A fighting game based on it, called [[Melty Blood]], came eventually, and it had its own storyline. Unfortunately, Tsukihime is made up of two different sets of routes, 'Near Side' and 'Far Side', and each set gives practically no development at all to half the cast, who get their development in routes in the other set. But all the characters have to appear in Melty Blood, so what's the solution? The game follows the Sacchin Route, a route that does not actually exist involving the main character's [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]] actually [[Demoted to Extra|surviving the game]] while everyone else gets their problems solved. It's weird. If they ever remake Tsukihime, maybe there would be an actual Sacchin Route to explain how any of this makes sense.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Breath of Fire]] IV'' had a "good ending" and a "bad ending" based on whether {{spoiler|Ryu ultimately agrees or disagrees with [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]] Fou-lu that [[Humans Are
** As if this weren't enough, then the manga then takes this trope ''very'' literally with an ultimate THIRD ending {{spoiler|where Ryu and Fou-lu split ''again'', Fou-lu is basically [[Brought Down to Normal]], and the two live/hide out as monks at the Chek monastery where Fou-lu is basically trying to learn why Ryu thinks [[Humans Are Special]].}} The latter resulted in [[And There Was Much Rejoicing|Much Rejoicing]] in Japan, among others.
* ''[[Alpha Centauri|Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'' is the unofficial sequel to ''[[Civilization]]'', picking up from where that game left off - when the spaceship reaches Alpha Centauri. However, while in Civilization the starship would be built by one nation (it's one of the win conditions), the starship in Alpha Centauri was a United Nations project sponsored by several nations.
** Which becomes a [[Fridge Brilliance]]/[[Hilarious in Hindsight]], once one realizes that the expansion packs to the Civilization IV game allows alliances to build the spaceship as a team effort.
* The story of the original ''[[Bible Black]]'' game has two main routes: viewpoint protagonist Minase either {{spoiler|keeps the eponymous grimoire and becomes [[Complete Monster|Kitami's]] [[Villain Protagonist|apprentice in the dark arts]]}}, or (more conventionally) {{spoiler|lets it fall into Saeki's hands and winds up trying to save his [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]] Imari from [[Grand Theft Me|Kitami's plot]]}}. The anime sacrifices the story's integrity ([[Porn
* The original ''[[Two Worlds]]'' has two possible endings: either you choose to join Gandohar and rule the world, or you kill Gandohar and save your sister Kyra. ''Two Worlds 2'' doesn't follow from either ending; instead it posits that you actually ''lose'' the final battle against Gandohar, and spend the next 5 years as a prisoner in his dungeon while he takes over the world, which is where the game picks up.
* ''[[
** [[A Wizard Did It|Avenger did it.]]
* In Clue, the board game, the culprit always ends up being one of the players (Mr. Green, Miss Scarlet, etc). In one of the endings to [[Clue (
* [[Amagami SS]] retells the story six times, each one following a different route from the game.
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' is famous for having an [[Alternate Timeline]] from the two endings of ''Ocarina of Time''. All well and good, except for the classic games not fitting in either one. Instead of making some game connecting them to the modern entries, Nintendo [[Take a Third Option|made a third timeline]] taking place ''if Link dies in [[Oo T]]'s final battle''.
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