What does retconned mean

Although they had previously been shown to what does retconned mean two other sets of parents, the retcon of making Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch the children of Magneto only altered the meaning of past events, not what had happened, what does retconned mean. Retconning Dawn Summers into "Buffy the Gentlemens corner Slayer" in the fifth season was one of the rare instances where the fact that history has been altered for our characters was recognized in the story, even though the characters all still remembered the "new" versions of events. Reframing past events to serve a current plot need.

Retroactive continuity , or retcon for short, is a literary device in which facts in the world of a fictional work that have been established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work that recontextualizes or breaks continuity with the former. Retcons are used by authors to increase their creative freedom, on the assumption that the changes are unimportant to the audience compared to the new story which can be told. Retcons can be diegetic or nondiegetic. For instance, by using time travel or parallel universes , an author may diegetically reintroduce a popular character they had previously killed off. More subtle and nondiegetic methods would be ignoring or expunging minor plot points to remove narrative elements the author doesn't have interest in writing. Retcons are common in pulp fiction , and especially in comic books by long-established publishers such as DC and Marvel. Retcons also often appear in manga , soap operas , serial dramas , movie sequels, cartoons , professional wrestling angles , video games , radio series, and other forms of serial fiction.

What does retconned mean

Add to word list Add to word list. Retcon is short for " retroactive continuity ":. Retcons are usually done for the sake of the plot at hand. The scenes set in in "Selfless" are basically retcon. It isn't a total retcon. I never considered Anya's human past a retcon. The Sentry started out as an enormous retcon. Broadcasting in general. You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics: Cinema - general words. They could retcon age changes at the beginning of any future series. Many of the orginal ideas end up being retconned. The plot got retconned into something else entirely later on. For the whole season , Buffy has been gradually retconning her relationship with Spike. I hope they retcon her addiction to magic because I hated it.

Log In. As a story element, the character was both a retcon and a plot instigation.

Retcon is a literary device in which new information is introduced that puts a new meaning on previous events in the story. Retcon may be used as a noun or a verb, related words are retconned, retconning. While the use of a retcon may be a clever twist in a story, usually readers or movie goers are angered by the use of a retcon. The word retcon is a portmanteau of the words retroactive and continuity. A portmanteau is a word that is composed by blending the sounds and the meanings of two different words. The term retroactive continuity was coined in the s by E. The term was usurped by comic book fans engaging in discussions on Usenet in the s.

With so many long-running movie and TV franchises, the word "retcon" is often thrown around, but what does it mean in this context? Sometimes, the term is used to describe a continuity mistake in a work of fiction, but the true meaning goes a little deeper than that. In the world of movies and television—especially regarding franchises that have been going on for years—previously established information is bound to need a tweak or two. This is where retconning comes in, and there are a great many ways that this can be done. Retcons are often associated with mistakes in movies and TV. For example, if a continuity error exists regarding a character's family history—perhaps the writer listed two different names for that character's father—an in-plot reason for this may be established to explain this issue retroactively. Audiences often regard these kinds of bandaids with annoyance, and the word retcon might be thrown out as a sort of criticism. Still, this is only one kind of retcon. Retcon, or "retroactive continuity," is defined as " a piece of new information that imposes a different interpretation on previously described events. Though this can sometimes happen within a single piece of work, retcons are typically seen in sequels or spinoffs.

What does retconned mean

Add to word list Add to word list. Retcon is short for " retroactive continuity ":. Retcons are usually done for the sake of the plot at hand. The scenes set in in "Selfless" are basically retcon. It isn't a total retcon. I never considered Anya's human past a retcon. The Sentry started out as an enormous retcon.

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Do the words convince and persuade have exact the same meaning? The Words of the Week - Mar. Still, this is only one kind of retcon. English—Indonesian Indonesian—English. Short for Retroactive Continuity, meaning later added events in a story that contradict an already exisiting chronology and plot, creating paradoxes or illogicisms. Share the Definition of retcon on Twitter Twitter. They must all be considered as variations on the same theme, involving many of the same characters and situations, but not necessarily happening in the same universe. Frank Dictionary Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English. English—Spanish Spanish—English. See All. Cite this Entry Citation Share. This retcon was in turn retconned in more recent comics.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'retcon. Send us feedback about these examples.

I don't even know what to do! The term was popularized by comics fandom—but that's not where it originated. New York: Ballantine Books, Other series such as St. A printed use of "retroactive continuity" referring to the altering of history in a fictional work is in All-Star Squadron 18 February from DC Comics. You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics: Cinema - general words. However it may also be that the plot element or historic piece of the story was highly unpopular, and was erased from the story to appease the target audience. Rotten Tomatoes. A father is the male parent of an offspring. In George Lucas' original Star Wars films, the Force was a unique combination of science and magic—a mystical form of balance that in-tune individuals could learn to master. Retcons sometimes add information that seemingly contradicts previous information.