Oddest Status Quo change

[JoeZhang]

What in all of the science fiction and fantasy you watch or read is the oddest status quo change?

One of my favourites was 1970s Superman - it was felt he was getting too powerful so to deal with that to access his powers, Superman has to... visualise the lynx of a small boy to access his powers (he would say "LYNX!" while doing it).

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Well, Denny O'Neil taking away Wonder Woman's powers and outfit, making her a secret agent of sorts under the super-vision of some old Chinese guy comes to mind.

Then there was the whole Ben Reilly/Spider-Man thing, where the Clone Saga ended with the revelation that Ben Reilly, who was believed to be the clone of Peter Parker, was actually the real Peter, and the one whose adventures we'd been following since the mid-70s was the actual clone. When that didn't fly with fans and (more importantly) companies holding merchandise licences, it was retconned, but for a while, this actually was supposed the new status quo.

In a similar vein, Hal Jordan losing his mind over the destruction of Coast City, killing dozens of other Green Lanterns (including Kilowog), all Guardians but one, as well as Sinestro, taking all the Green Lantern energy of Oa for himself to become the villain Parallax, with the last surviving Guardian pretty much just handing the last working power ring over to a complete stranger, Kyle Rayner, who becomes the new (and only) Green Lantern, was pretty fucked up. Took longer to undo than the Ben Reilly thing, though.

 

[Nerys Myk]

visualise the lynx of a small boy

Was the lynx the boy's pet? Was this a done in one story? I recall Superman's power level being reduced and kryptonite being destroyed, but not that.

Green Arrow going from millionaire Batman with arrows to poor liberal loudmouth with arrows is pretty odd. A major status quo change that has become the "classic version".

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Another odd comics one that stuck around was Betsy Braddock/Psylocke going from a white English girl to an Asian ninja assassin.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Then there was the whole Ben Reilly/Spider-Man thing, where the Clone Saga ended with the revelation that Ben Reilly, who was believed to be the clone of Peter Parker, was actually the real Peter, and the one whose adventures we'd been following since the mid-70s was the actual clone. When that didn't fly with fans and (more importantly) companies holding merchandise licences, it was retconned, but for a while, this actually was supposed the new status quo.

This was biggest one for me. This was so awful that I pretty much stopped reading altogether. And yet, what sealed the deal for me was how they retconned it: Norman Osborn never died and has been secretly pulling the strings for decades from the behind the scenes. Aside from the occasional synopsis to see if I should bother again (and the answer is always no), I haven't read a single Spider-Man since. Pity.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Anti-Hero Magneto. Originally he was a neo-Fascist mutant supremacist. He was out to subjugate/eliminate the human race and rule over all mutants. He was a evil bastard who even treated his allies like dirt. Now even Stan Lee thinks he's the Mutant Malcolm X to Xavier's MLK.

 

[JoeZhang]

Was the lynx the boy's pet? Was this a done in one story? I recall Superman's power level being reduced and kryptonite being destroyed, but not that.
.

Yes - read about it here: https://babblingsaboutdccomics3.wor...supermans-strength-and-where-did-the-baby-go/

and here: https://babblingsaboutdccomics3.wor...supermans-strength-and-where-did-the-baby-go/

In a similar vein, Hal Jordan losing his mind over the destruction of Coast City, killing dozens of other Green Lanterns (including Kilowog), all Guardians but one, as well as Sinestro, taking all the Green Lantern energy of Oa for himself to become the villain Parallax, with the last surviving Guardian pretty much just handing the last working power ring over to a complete stranger, Kyle Rayner, who becomes the new (and only) Green Lantern, was pretty fucked up. Took longer to undo than the Ben Reilly thing, though.

That was decided at the last minute and was completely different from what was planned:

http://comicvine.gamespot.com/emera...ms/emerald-twilight-the-original-plan-749308/

 

[Kai "the spy"]

That was decided at the last minute and was completely different from what was planned:

http://comicvine.gamespot.com/emera...ms/emerald-twilight-the-original-plan-749308/

Yeah, I've read that story when it came up at the Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed blog over at CBR. Still, Hal Jordan being a villain and Kyle Rayner being the only Green Lantern in all of space was the status quo for almost a decade, and before they did the full-blown retcon with "Green Lantern: Rebirth", they diluted it with Hal Jordan sacrificing himself to save Earth from the sun-eater, and Kyle Rayner getting the ability to dublicate rings, which he gave one of to his then-girlfriend Jade, then going to space to try to launch a new GL Corps, and later giving one to John Stewart.

 

[Idran]

Yes - read about it here: https://babblingsaboutdccomics3.wor...supermans-strength-and-where-did-the-baby-go/

and here: https://babblingsaboutdccomics3.wor...supermans-strength-and-where-did-the-baby-go/

I think you copied the same link twice by mistake?

 

[Ovation]

The change in the Immortals from Highlander to Highlander II comes to mind as the most unexpected (and inexplicable) I can recall. Didn't help that I finished watching the first movie half an hour before going to see the second one--didn't have the benefit of hazy half-remembered recollections most of the audience seemed to be using to avoid the gobsmacking confusion I felt.

 

[Phoenix219]

I really liked the fall of Hal Jordan; it was believable, to me; it was watching the fall of Anakin Skywalker before Star Wars got around to doing it. His goal was to restart time and undo all the carnage he was creating; he never wanted to kill anyone, because his endgoal would UNDO all of that. It was entirely realistic for someone with that kind of power level to finally, *self righteously* crack.... he always did what he wanted and was a thorn in the side of the Guardians, and they were right about him being dangerous! I really disliked the later retcon of it being the "fear parasite" which also ruined the entire Specter arc, too.

Although, that snyopsis definitely sounds like a good story as well, and is definitely more respectful to Hal and his history/legacy as a character up to that point.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

The change in the Immortals from Highlander to Highlander II comes to mind as the most unexpected (and inexplicable) I can recall. Didn't help that I finished watching the first movie half an hour before going to see the second one--didn't have the benefit of hazy half-remembered recollections most of the audience seemed to be using to avoid the gobsmacking confusion I felt.

I watched the first ten minutes of Highlander II, that's all I could take.

I think making Odo solid was pretty odd and pointless. So pointless, in fact, even the producers noticed after only half a season and retconned it.

 

[Snaploud]

Tim Drake was Robin in the comics from 1989 to 2009 before taking on the mantle of Red Robin. His history with Bruce was so strong that he even got adopted as a Wayne, and he had grown so skilled that Ras Al Ghul called him Detective. Unfortunately, in the New 52, his entire history as Robin was wiped out, and he barely even spent much time around Bruce (let alone the rest of the Bat-"family"). In the Relaunch continuity, he's just some newbie crimefighter being trained by Batwoman and Batman.

 

[Chaos Descending]

War of the Worlds TV series: the drastic change between Season 1 and Season 2.

 

[Solid Snack]

The Magneto thing was at least sort of retconned at the end of Chris Claremont's initial run; I think it was mentioned that he pretty much had the 'goodness' programmed into him when he was reduced to a baby and put under Moira Mctaggert's care. He pretty much remained a bad guy for most of the 90's and 00's after that (Apart from brief uses of the concept with the Age of Apocalypse and his own Clone saga with the character Joseph)-pretty much until Claremont came back in 2004 and retconned at least one of the "evil Magneto" storylines (The whole Xorn mess) and made him more or less a good guy again.

The Metal Gear series went through some pretty interesting changes-not unlike Star Wars-where it turned out the villain of the early games was in fact the clone progenitor of the main character, and further sequels and prequels revealed you'd been a pawn all along more or less. For a series that uses his code name, oddly enough-Solid Snake is really only the main character of 2 1/2 of the "Solid" Metal Gear games.

 

[Snaploud]

They retconned away Peter Parker's marriage by having him make a deal with the devil. The deal exchanged his marriage for the unnatural life extension of his elderly and frequently ill Aunt.

They turned Norman Osbourne into Gwen Stacy's baby-daddy.

Also, Jason Todd is alive again because Superboy punched a wall.

 

[Solid Snack]

Not to mention that for years Aunt May actually was dead of old age in "Amazing Spider-Man #400"-until it turned out it was all another crazy plan of the Green Goblin and that the May who died was in fact a physically altered actress:

http://www.cbr.com/the-abandoned-an-forsaked-aunt-may-is-dead/

Some of the changes were dialed back a bit eventually-it turns out that Peter did live with MJ for many years, so pretty much all those stories about them being married still 'sort of' happened. (The OMIT storyline). I think Dan Slott has also hinted in the latest couple of issues (Specifically, the recent Iron Man crossover) that the One More Day stuff might be unraveled.

 

[Snaploud]

At one point, Power Girl was retconned to have nothing to do with Kryptonians. She was a descendent of an Atlantean sorceror.

They retconned away the Xorn-is-Magneto storyline by saying it wasn't really Magneto who died or did all those horrible things. That's why Grant Morrisson no longer works on Marvel projects.

They also retconned away Magneto's kids with the revelation that they weren't fathered by Magneto nor were they even mutants.

Wolverine was originally an actual wolverine that was turned human by the high revolutionary. At one point, they also decided that he wasn't a wolverine or a mutant but instead some other species that evolved from wolves.

 

[crookeddy]

Marvel writers seem to be terrified to take characters away from what they were in the 60s. That's why they couldn't stomach a married Spider-Man or Aunt May dying. Any change taking Peter away from what he used to be like get retconned.

Of course last I checked Peter was dead... so that's a big change I guess...

 

[Snaploud]

Marvel writers seem to be terrified to take characters away from what they were in the 60s. That's why they couldn't stomach a married Spider-Man or Aunt May dying. Any change taking Peter away from what he used to be like get retconned.

Of course last I checked Peter was dead... so that's a big change I guess...

He's alive again.