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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