Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The depiction of fictional events, as in a television series or comic book, that entail a revision of the narrative presented in an earlier installment.
- transitive verb To modify (a fictional character, for example) in this manner.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A situation, in a
soap opera or similar serial fiction, in which a newstoryline explains or changes a previousevent or attaches a new significance to it - verb To employ such a device
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A portmanteau blend of "retroactive continuity", retcon comes from the world of comics and represents the idea of "correcting" past facts to represent a new desired reality.
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In the pages of a comic book, or in turning the inevitable setbacks in life into learning experiences, retcon is the way we (re -) invent the universe.
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I also don't really think the word retcon is a dirty word either - Spider-Man, for instance, is enjoyable to me for the first time ever in comic form and has me looking back at the pre-marriage era - and can be a useful tool, assuming they're used properly and fans don't get their panties in a bunch over the most minute details.
Comic Book Resources 2010
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And even if they do, I'm calling retcon, not a deliberate plan.
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(A backward change like that is called a retcon, short for "retroactive continuity.")
Meet Leland Chee, the Star Wars Franchise Continuity Cop 2008
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One of the most useful words that I've been fixated on for a while is "retcon".
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The first known use of the term "retcon" was by writer/editor Roy Thomas in the letter column of All-Star Squadron #20 April, 1983.
Archive 2009-09-01 Chuck Wells 2009
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The first known use of the term "retcon" was by writer/editor Roy Thomas in the letter column of All-Star Squadron #20 April, 1983.
1980's Flashback: All-Star Squadron Chuck Wells 2009
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A lot of people call the act of taking old continuity and making it invalid, or inserting new continuity into old text, the "retcon," standing for "retroactive continuity."
seanan_mcguire: Thoughts on Writing #30: Continuity Trapper Keeper. seanan_mcguire 2009
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It this can really be considered a "retcon" it has to eb seen as, at least, a different type of retcon that usual.
Thoughts on Joe Quesada’s One More Day Interviews | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources 2008
uselessness commented on the word retcon
Retroactive continuity. In serial fiction, copying a previous scene in a later episode, but changing or clarifying details to fit with the evolving storyline. It creates contradictions and holes in the story canon but eases the writing of new plot points.
August 6, 2007
reesetee commented on the word retcon
It's also a very difficult word not to misread (at least for me). ;-)
August 6, 2007
bilby commented on the word retcon
"Short for 'retroactive continuity', retcon refers to the act of changing or adding to historical 'facts' in a work of serial fiction.
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The most recent Star Wars movie trilogy also served to fill in some of the gaps in the story. Superman Returns (2006) pretended that the awful Superman III and Superman IV never happened - which is no doubt exactly what the producers (and most critics) would have preferred. Fittingly, the term was first used by Superman's publisher, DC Comics.
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It has been used recently to describe more serious history - Like Keith Windschuttle's controversial take on native Tasmanians (which suggested that, despite what everyone thought, they weren't massacred by white settlers after all). It's also called revisionism, but retconning sounds snappier and less academic."
- 'FYI' in GW, Mark Judder, 23 Feb 2008.
February 26, 2008
hugovk commented on the word retcon
retcon, n.
The Guardian, 28 September 2018:
December 31, 2018