Biggest retcon in DragonBall?

[DHM211]

The first two arcs of DB Super pretty much retcon BoG and RoF.

[Danfun64]

Nowhere near the biggest, but nobody seems to talk about it.
In the Red Ribbon arc, you can only get to the top of Korin Tower by climbing it from the very bottom, with attempting to reach it via flight leading to the equivalent of Super Mario 64's neverending staircase. In the Piccolo Jr saga (although hinted by Red Ribbon filler) it is revealed that Korin is responsible for where the Kinto-Un come from, and you can get to Korin's Tower by flight, but then it was offset by Kami's Lookout requiring the Nyoi-Bo to reach it...and then it turns out once again you can fly to it, to the point where Bulma could fly to it in the Cell saga and Pilaf could get to it in the Black Star Dragon Ball saga.

[Lord Beerus]

Goku initially saying that he could have defeated Majin Boo only to later say the he could have.

[Doctor.]

Goku being an alien is the biggest change in the series by far.

[Grimlock]

The biggest retcon would be Toei's retelling of the last two movies, they don't fit together at all even though it was said the retellings were based directly on the movies. Either one considers the movie or chooses to go with what Toei presented us.

[AvatarReiko]

I would consider Goku turning into an alien to be a pretty big retcon.

More of a reveal than a retcon.

Biggest retcon is Goku being able to turn Super Saiyan 3 after fighting Vegeta at his maximum.

He did fight him at his maximum. As a SSJ2, though.

[Lord Beerus]

You know, I used to think that Goku being an alien was a retcon for quite a while, but in reality, there really wasn't anything to indicate where Goku did come from before that reveal. I mean, one of things that's established early on in Dragon Ball is that the world has many different crazy and wacky looking and acting characters and races, who for all we know, could have also been a space aliens like Goku, too.

[precita]

Goku initially saying that he could have defeated Majin Boo only to later say the he could have.

Well there's no 100% guarantee Goku could beat Fat Buu. He can regenerate, turn Goku to candy, pull out surprise moves, Goku could have lost too much energy as a SSJ3 and then gotten weaker as Buu continued to pummel him, etc.

It's basically play out like any other fight.

[Lord Beerus]

Goku initially saying that he could have defeated Majin Boo only to later say the he could have.

Well there's no 100% guarantee Goku could beat Fat Buu. He can regenerate, turn Goku to candy, pull out surprise moves, Goku could have lost too much energy as a SSJ3 and then gotten weaker as Buu continued to pummel him, etc.

It's basically play out like any other fight.

I don't think so:
[spoiler][/spoiler]
Unless you believe Goku is full of shit, why should we starting doubting him? Besides, we later see SSJ3 Gotenks and SSJ Vegetto nearly beat Super Boo to death, without much response from the latter.

[ABED]

I would consider Goku turning into an alien to be a pretty big retcon.

More of a reveal than a retcon.

Biggest retcon is Goku being able to turn Super Saiyan 3 after fighting Vegeta at his maximum.

He did fight him at his maximum. As a SSJ2, though.

That's not his maximum.

[Gaffer Tape]

I agree that Goku being rewritten to be an alien is the most significant retcon in the series. Love it or hate it, there is no single plot point that has a larger impact on the story as a whole than this.

And, yes, it is a retcon.

[RedRibbonSoldier#42]

Goku being an alien was not a retcon because before Saiyan saga, his origins were a mystery. HIs revealed alien origin was filling a blank and did not contradict anything established previously.
The biggest retcon of them all would probably be the entire existence of Super. EoZ had Bulma say she hasn't seen Goku in 5 years and it's implied the 10 year gap was pretty uneventful.

The first two arcs of DB Super pretty much retcon BoG and RoF.

Everyone here is using a different definition of "retcon"

How can the first two arcs of Super retcon BoG and RoF? They are separate things in separate continuities. No continuity at all means you can't have a "retroactive continuity"

Gokuu being an alien is not an outright plot hole, but it does change his backstory after the fact.

Blooma's "5 years" dialogue seems to be a retcon and a plothole, due to direct contradiction.



Here are some proposed definitions:

Retcon- introduced after some events and changes the context of past events Ex. Gokuu is a saiyan; the Necromancer in The Hobbit is Sauron.

Reveal- information that is hidden from the audience at first, but is actively influencing the story before the reveal. Ex. Gokuu Black is Zamasu; Saruman is actually evil.

plot hole- information that cannot be true along with previous information. Ex. Using the Dragonballs again in less than a year; can't think of a LOTR example.

revision: literally changing the content of previous elements Ex. The different versions of the final dragonball chapter; Gollum's chapter in the Hobbit being rewritten.

Introduction: a change that affects the story from that point on Ex. Gokuu becomes a super saiyan; Gandalf is revived as the white.

[emperior]

Future Trunks hair being blue. It's the definition of a retcon, everything else I saw mentioned aren't retcons, especially Goku being an alien which was a reveal that didn't contradict anything. I don't even consider the potara thing a retcon because we never had a true explanation as to why Vegetto defused inside Buu's body.

[ABED]

Gokuu being an alien is not an outright plot hole, but it does change his backstory after the fact.

From what? We don't know much of his backstory beyond him being raised in the woods by his adoptive Grandpa. It didn't change the backstory, it is backstory.

I think that it's important when thinking about concepts such as retcon to look at the history of the term. As best as I understand it was coined in reference to reinstating DC's golden age continuity into newer continuity. If all a retcon means is changes to the past, why would there need to be a separate term for that? The term is rather vague, which I think is part of the issue. I don't think retcons are dependent on artists' intent. What about in cases where the audience doesn't know how the story was written? For instance, imagine if the writer always knew a plot point, but never forshadows it prior to revealing the twist of a character's backstory years down the line. Now, imagine the same exact story, but the writer decided on the twist later and took the time to make sure it didn't contradict what he previously wrote. Does the difference affect whether it's a reveal or a retcon?

[UltimateHammerBro]

I don't even consider the potara thing a retcon because we never had a true explanation as to why Vegetto defused inside Buu's body.

Except we were clearly told that the Potara fusion is permanent and no exceptions were specified.

[SonReggie]

Future Trunks hair being blue. It's the definition of a retcon, everything else I saw mentioned aren't retcons, especially Goku being an alien which was a reveal that didn't contradict anything. I don't even consider the potara thing a retcon because we never had a true explanation as to why Vegetto defused inside Buu's body.

This.

And to be honest, they made this one a whole lot worse by showing us 'flashbacks' to his time with Future Gohan - flashbacks which showed him with blue hair.

[KorgDTR2000]

It's not a huge retcon, but the change from "Saiyans are entrepreneurs whose planet was destroyed by a meteor" to "Saiyans were employed by Freeza, who destroyed their planet" is one that always stands out to me.

[Wezenheim]

Future Trunks hair being blue. It's the definition of a retcon, everything else I saw mentioned aren't retcons, especially Goku being an alien which was a reveal that didn't contradict anything. I don't even consider the potara thing a retcon because we never had a true explanation as to why Vegetto defused inside Buu's body.

Goku being revealed as an alien is definitely a retcon. Not every retcon has to be a contradiction, there are many types. Goku's heritage being dropped on us doesn't break any established law of the universe, but it changes our interpretation of it and of Goku himself.

I'd probably agree that it's the biggest retcon too.

[ABED]

Future Trunks hair being blue. It's the definition of a retcon, everything else I saw mentioned aren't retcons, especially Goku being an alien which was a reveal that didn't contradict anything. I don't even consider the potara thing a retcon because we never had a true explanation as to why Vegetto defused inside Buu's body.

Goku being revealed as an alien is definitely a retcon. Not every retcon has to be a contradiction, there are many types. Goku's heritage being dropped on us doesn't break any established law of the universe, but it changes our interpretation of it and of Goku himself.

I'd probably agree that it's the biggest retcon too.

The fact that it changes your interpretation of events doesn't make something a retcon. If a writer skillfully writes a twist you don't see coming that changes the perception of previous scenes, that doesn't neccessarily make it a retcon.

The cause of Planet Vegeta's destruction is a good example of a retcon.

[MasenkoHA]

What about Piccolo being a demon and then changed to a member of an alien race? Is that not a retcon?