Editing Retroactive continuity (section)

===Alteration===
Retcons sometimes add information that seemingly contradicts previous information. This frequently takes the form of a character who was shown to have died but is later revealed to have somehow survived.  This is a common practice in [[horror film]]s, which may end with the death of a monster that goes on to appear in one or more sequels. The technique is so common in [[superhero]] comics<ref name="Leith"/> that the term "[[comic book death]]" has been coined for it.

An early example of this type of retcon is the return of [[Sherlock Holmes]], whom writer [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] apparently killed off in "[[The Final Problem]]" in 1893,<ref name="retgame" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Doyle|first1=Arthur Conan|last2=Eastman|first2=David|title=The Final Problem|date=1984|publisher=Edward Arnold|location=[[Caulfield East, Victoria]]|isbn=089375613X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/finalproblem00east}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2016}} only to bring him back, in large part because of readers' responses, with "[[The Adventure of the Empty House|The Empty House]]" in 1903.

The character [[Zorro]] was retconned early in his existence. In the original 1919 novel, ''[[The Curse of Capistrano]]'', Zorro ends his adventures by revealing his identity, a plot point that was carried over to the 1920 film adaptation ''[[The Mark of Zorro (1920 film)|The Mark of Zorro]]''. In order to have further stories starring Zorro, author [[Johnston McCulley]] kept all the elements of his original story, but retroactively ignored its ending.

One notable example is [[Isaac Asimov]]’s 1950 [[fixup]] novel ''[[I, Robot]]'', a collection of [[science fiction]] short stories originally published in ''[[Super Science Stories]]'' and ''[[Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Astounding Science Fiction]]'' from 1940 to 1950. Compiled into a single publication by [[Gnome Press]] in 1950, the collection features a [[framing sequence]] in which the stories are told to a reporter by Dr. [[Susan Calvin]], chief [[Robopsychology|robopsychologist]] at [[U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men]], Inc. Changes necessary to fit the new version included the name of the company (originally the Finmark Robot Corporation), new, earlier references to the [[Three Laws of Robotics]], and new interpolated scenes featuring Dr. Calvin herself.

The TV series ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'' annulled its entire ninth season as just the dream of one of its characters, [[Pam Ewing]]. Writers did this to offer a supposedly plausible reason for the major character of [[Bobby Ewing]], who had died onscreen at the end of season eight, to be still alive when actor [[Patrick Duffy]] wanted to return to the series. This season is sometimes referred to as the "Dream Season" and was referred to humorously in later TV series such as ''[[Family Guy]]'' and ''[[Community (TV series)|Community]]'' as a "gas-leak year". Other series such as ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'', ''[[Newhart]]'', and ''[[Roseanne]]'' employed the same technique.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvacres.com/signoffs_finales_elsewhere.htm|title=TV ACRES: Quotations > Signoffs > Classic Series Finales > St. Elsewhere|access-date=August 9, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913144744/http://www.tvacres.com/signoffs_finales_elsewhere.htm|archive-date=September 13, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="austin">{{cite web |title=TV Eye |url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A528353 |work=[[The Austin Chronicle]] |accessdate=2009-03-09 |date=1997-06-05|last=Moser|first=Margaret}}</ref>