Retcon

Retcons are what makes Neckbeards rage the most. Beyond all else, when fluff gets retconned, especailly good fluff, it makes everyone go into fits of anger, proves that the people controlling the source material are incompetent and abusive to the universe, and worst of all makes good things die.

The word "Retcon" comes from a the joining of the words "Retroactive Continuity" together. In Traditional Games, retcons usually stem from fluff that the writers and publishers decide isn't nessary or in the flavor of the setting it is being retconned from. Or when a new writer decides that certain fluff doesn't fit with his ideas and conception of how things "ought to" be, without considering the universe he is screwing with first. Or when a company wants to make money on new models and decides to wreak havoc on their pre-established setting and fluff to do so.

Retcons come in all shapes and sizes, and while not all Retcons are bad, many of them (especially those stemming from Matt Ward) tend to remove vast amounts of depth and character from the setting.

Many people tend to use the word "retcon" inappropriately, especailly here on this site. The term "Retcon" only applies to new fluff which eraces the previously standing old fluff; not fluff which was concieved out of thin air and eraces nothing, but sucks really bad. It also does not mean fluff which is built around old fluff and, in the porcess, destroys the value of the standing fluff to a point where it no longer means anything of value within the new context. That, my friends, is a Wardcon.

List of Retcons

In 40k:

• SQUATS
• Necrons being Terminators IN SPACE instead of Tomb Kings IN SPACE
• Zoats
• The Lone Guardsman being, you know, a guardsman.
• Ollanius Pius