Television shows can have some complicated and deeply entrenched lore. Shows that run for years and years dedicate a lot of time to establishing the world of the show and the backstories of the characters. However, sometimes all of that gets thrown out of the window in favor of a retcon.
Sometimes a retcon is needed to further the story, other times it's seemingly unnecessary. But either way, a retcon isn't always a bad thing. Retconning has been done in many major television shows, it can be a great way to create a twist or surprise plot point. From secret regenerations to beheaded people coming back to life, this list looks at five TV shows that had significant retcons.
Doctor Who – The War Doctor
In Doctor Who, time and space-hopping Time Lord, The Doctor, is known to be able to regenerate into a new body when he is mortally wounded. In the history of the show, it was stated that a Time Lord can regenerate 12 times, meaning after their thirteenth incarnation, they would die. The concept of regeneration changed, however, when it was revealed in Series 7 of the show that after his eighth regeneration, The Doctor became The War Doctor.
Previously unknown to audiences or The Doctor himself, The War Doctor was born into the Time War after his eighth incarnation refused to fight in the war. He was allowed the chance to control his regeneration to become who he needed to be to fight the war. This already negated the previous laws of regeneration, which only got further stretched with the Thirteenth Doctor and the introduction of The Timeless Child.
Supernatural – The Trickster Is Gabriel
First appearing in Season 2 of Supernatural, The Trickster soon became a fan favorite character. Pretending to be a janitor at a university, The Trickster was on campus punishing those he felt deserved it. After believing they had killed him, The Trickster shows up again in Season 3 to trap Sam in a time loop where he has to watch Dean die every day and then relive it. The Trickster uses the time loop to try to get Sam and Dean to understand that their constant sacrificing of themselves is upsetting the balance of things.
After this appearance, The Trickster doesn't show up again until Season 5, when the Winchesters realize he is one of the most powerful beings they have ever come up against and decide to ask him for help. After he traps them in a television show reality, they realize that he is far too powerful for a Trickster and deduce that he is an angel. It turns out that he is Gabriel, hiding from the war between Heaven and Hell on Earth.
Prison Break – No One Ever Stays Dead
With a plot revolving around breaking out of prison on more than one occasion, it's safe to assume that people are going to get hurt. In the show, Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) is arrested for killing the brother of the Vice President. However, Lincoln's brother Michael (Wentworth Miller) believes in his innocence and sets about devising a plan to break him out of prison. During the show, many people died, but the most egregious death retcon came with the death of Sara Tancredi.
Sara was kidnapped and executed onscreen in Season 3. Her character was beheaded, and her head was subsequently delivered to Lincoln and Michael by The Company as a warning. Michael swore to avenge her death, but seemingly didn't need to — Sara came back alive and well as part of the main cast in Season 4. The reasoning? The head wasn't hers, and no one looked too closely. In real life, however, the character's initial demise was due to actress Sarah Wayne Callies being unable to reach a deal to return.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer – Dawn
Buffy Anne Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) was born to Hank and Joyce Summers and was unwillingly thrust into a predestined life of a vampire slayer. Buffy fought the powers of evil in Sunnydale while navigating high school with her best friends Xander (Nicholas Brendan) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and no siblings. That all changed in the premiere of Season 5 when Buffy suddenly has a younger sister called Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg), who has seemingly appeared from nowhere and had never been mentioned before.
For a while, the Summers family lives as though nothing is out of the ordinary and the sisters behave as sisters do, squabbling and being annoyed by each other's existence. That is, until it's revealed that Dawn isn't actually a real girl. She is actually mystical energy known as The Key made human and sent to Buffy for protection. The spell cast on her made everyone think she had always been in their lives. Even Dawn herself didn't know her true origins.
Dallas – It Was All A Dream
Incredibly popular and long-running daytime soap opera Dallas perpetrated what is possibly the most famous retcon in television history. In Season 8 of the show, Bobby Ewing was run down by his sister-in-law Katherine, who was completely obsessed with him. Bobby died of his injuries and was buried in the opener of Season 9. As the season went on, the usual soap drama played out with treachery, affairs, and backstabbing aplenty.
Then Season 10 aired, and it turned out that the entirety of Season 9 was an exceptionally long and detailed dream in the head of Pamela Barnes Ewing. The entire plot of Season 9 was negated, including Bobby Ewing's death, a point that still divides fans of the show to this day.