to retcon
1
8.7
- verb
- /ˈrɛtˌkɒn/
- Jargon
:
retconear
- While the term comes from comic books, dating to All-Star Squadron #18 in 1983 and shortened to "retcon" by the end of the decade, the technique is much older.
Examples
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To go for a prequel game, they'd have to retcon things, and that would likely upset a lot of fans.
Blog text (13) -
What makes Doctor Who such a long-lasting show is its ability to evolve over time and, if necessary, retcon the hell out of any bad writing.
Blog text (20) -
Like I said, the only way they could make it interesting would be to retcon the history entirely.
Blog text (13) -
Look, you wanna retcon the marriage with Lois Lane?
Blog text (18) -
Also, please please retcon the midi-chlorians.
Blog text (2) -
Unless we have to retcon the Amy situation and act like Dean always preemptively kills monsters who are not killers.
Blog text (21) -
Now they have subtly retcon Loki's motives.
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The film even retcons the book by claiming his nickname referred to his time as a champion javelin thrower, though with a strong suggestion that no one buys that for a minute.
Blog text (25) -
It should help keep things coherent and avoid some of my issues with pacing and having to retcon things (such as the number of Gilda's siblings; at one point, I had the number set at 9, which would have made Gilda only 7 years old at Junior Speedsters and 10 during this story).
Blog text (8) -
The writers decided to retcon the character's backstory to make it more compelling.
Synonyms
Change the story and event order of a book, play, or film
How Extensive
Surface Forms
Etymology
The verb retcon comes from retroactive ('back in time') and continuity ('what continues in a story'), so to retcon something is to change or re-explain earlier events in a story so the plot works with new ideas.