retcon
retcon: /ret'kon/ [short for `retroactive continuity', from the
Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.comics] 1. n. The common situation in pulp
fiction (esp. comics or soap operas) where a new story `reveals'
things about events in previous stories, usually leaving the `facts'
the same (thus preserving continuity) while completely changing
their interpretation. For example, revealing that a whole season of
"Dallas" was a dream was a retcon. 2. vt. To write such a story
about a character or fictitious object. "Byrne has retconned
Superman's cape so that it is no longer unbreakable." "Marvelman's
old adventures were retconned into synthetic dreams." "Swamp Thing
was retconned from a transformed person into a sentient vegetable."
"Darth Vader was retconned into Luke Skywalker's father in "The
Empire Strikes Back".
[This term is included because it is a good example of hackish
linguistic innovation in a field completely unrelated to computers.
The word `retcon' will probably spread through comics fandom and
lose its association with hackerdom within a couple of years; for
the record, it started here. --ESR]
[1993 update: some comics fans on the net now claim that retcon was
independently in use in comics fandom before rec.arts.comics. In
lexicography, nothing is ever simple. --ESR]
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