Spared by the Adaptation: Difference between revisions

|{{spoiler|'''Lt. Virgil'''}}, ''[[Xenosaga]]: The Animation''.}}

 

 

The reasons behind these occurrences vary. Perhaps [[Media Watchdogs]], [[Executive Meddling]], and/or the creator wanted to make it [[Lighter and Softer]] than the original. Maybe the character was [[Ensemble Darkhorse|a fan favorite]] and the crew wanted to [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|appease the fan base]]. Maybe the death stood out as especially pointless, and people in charge took it as a given that life is cruel and unfair so [[Pragmatic Adaptation|they didn't need to kill a beloved character just to make that point to the audience yet again]]. Maybe the events where it happens are cut for other reasons. The sky's the limit as for why this happens, which probably explains why it happens so often.

 

{{examples}}

* The manga adaptation of ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]: [[Chain of Memories]]'' spared [[Beta Test Baddie|Repliku]] from his heart-wrenching fate, but not his angst, and it played it for ''comedy!'' Poor kid can't catch a break, eh?

** Soichiro, Ukita, Demegawa, and Misa in the [[Live Action Adaptation]].

** L subverts this in the live action movies. He avoids being killed by Rem, but only because he wrote his own name and time of death in the death note. He outlives Light, but dies 20 days later (23 days from when he wrote his name in).

** Though neither avoids death per se, Light and Sayu have their fates softened and avoided, respectively- Sayu isn't kidnapped, and thus doesn't go temporarily insane, and Light dies [[Died in Your Arms Tonight|in Soichiro's arms]] rather than alone, though ''he's'' still batshit insane to the end, much to [[The Woobie|Soichiro's]] dismay.

*** Oh, and just to rub salt in the wound, Light dies begging Soichiro to believe that he acted as Kira to put justice, which Soichiro had [[Freudian Excuse|taught him about since childhood]], into effect.

* Duclis, a tiger-like creature from ''[[Slayers]]'' has two completely different backstories and fates in the novel and anime; in the anime, he's the friend and assistant to the prince [[Bratty Half-Pint|Pokota]] who goes on a massive [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] in the name of their kingdom with the help of Zanaffar, a great beast. Despite all the chaos that occurs, he manages to survive, and flees. In the [[Light Novel]] series, he's a member of a cult that worships the world's almighty [[Big Bad]], Shabranigdo, and he, along with almost all of the other members of the cult, winds up getting killed by Lina and her party.

** Maximillion Pegasus in the anime. After his defeat, Evil Bakura [[Eye Scream|plucks out his]] [[Clingy MacGuffin|Millennium Eye.]] In the anime, this merely knocks him out and he is almost immediately [[Put on a Bus]] as his henchmen get him to a hospital to recover. Not only does he survive in time for the filler arcs and movies, but he is also a recurring character in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''.

** Bandit Keith is another example. In the manga, he threatens Pegasus with a knife demanding the prize money. Pegasus uses his Millenium Eye to create a Penalty Game by turning Keith's hand into a gun and "killing" himself with it. In the anime, Keith's uses a gun instead for the same reason only to fall into the trapdoor and into the ocean. He returns later under the control of Marik.

*** Although in Yu-Gi-Oh R, Keith is also revived by Tenma.

* The Village Elder and Sanai in ''[[Samurai 7]]''.

** Subverted with Heihachi. Surprising fans of [[The Seven Samurai|the original movie]], he was spared from being the first samurai to die, but he finally meets his end in episode 25.

** There is quite a lot of [[Wild Mass Guessing]] as to why this is the case—one persistent rumour is that the manga was deliberately set up for either a video-game or manga sequel to ''[[Breath of Fire]] IV'' (especially considering that Capcom is talking of reviving the franchise and directed the [[Comic Book Adaptation]] in the first place). This would fit with the other, rather extensive changes made to the manga's end—which, up till that point, largely followed the plot of the game save for some [[All There in the Manual]] stuff from the artbook that was included in the manga.

* Professor Tomoe in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' was killed in the manga, but saved in the anime (where he's just possessed). Since the next storyline required having Sailors Uranus and Neptune raising his daughter, he was quickly [[Put on a Bus]] at the start of the next season.

** Nephrite in the live action show ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]''.

* In the ''[[Bokurano]]'' manga, Kana Ushiro dies alongside all of the kids. In the anime, however, Youko takes her place as a pilot and thus Kana survives the game.

* Icelina Eschonbach in the film version of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''.

* Technically done in ''[[Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Leaping Through Time]]''; During the {{spoiler|[[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]]}} finale, {{spoiler|Grani}} turns up to help [[The Voiceless|Dukemon]]; he even {{spoiler|combines with him, giving rise to Dukemon: Crimson Mode. This only happened in their own series, [[Digimon Tamers]], because Grani was about to die and he gave up his life energy to help his friend Guilmon}}. They even {{spoiler|uncombine}} afterwards.

 

* IDW's [[Star Trek (film)|New-Trek-Movie]]-verse version of the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "Operation: Annihilate!" spares Captain Kirk's brother George and George's wife Aurelan from being killed by the neural parasites. In the original, George Kirk was dead before the Enterprise ever arrived, and Aurelan didn't last much longer.

** Dr Elizabeth Dehner also survives the IDW version of "Where No Man Has Gone Before", simply by not being there. (She gets namechecked as having turned down the ''Enterprise'' posting because of a past relationship with Dr McCoy.)

* In ''Perry'', after the death of Thora, [[Perry Rhodan]] entered a [[Official Couple|permanent relationship with]] Auris of La-Thor, which lasted until the end of the original comicbook series and beyond. In the originel pulps, her model Auris of Las-Toór and [[Perry Rhodan]] felt attracted to each other, but she was killed (in the fifth issue in which she appeared) before they could get anywhere romantically.

 

** And According to [[Word of God]] [[South Park|Pip Perrup and Chef]] wind up getting this Trope, and also his universe Kills off Scott Tenorman though human transmutation, ya little crybabies

* Professor Quirrell in ''[[A Very Potter Musical]]''. {{spoiler|And Dumbledore.}}

* Nihlus in ''[[Renegade (fanfic)|Renegade]]''. Since the [[MacGuffin]] on Eden Prime is a Tacitus, rather than a Prothean beacon, Saren is carrying it around with him; Nihlus notices and is about to turn and ask Saren about it when the latter tries to shoot him in the head. Thanks to the movement, though, it's not as deadly as it "should" have been.

 

* Several Disney Adaptations, via [[Disneyfication]]:

** The Talking Cricket (renamed Jiminy Cricket) in ''[[The Adventures of Pinocchio|Pinocchio]]''.

** Ariel in ''[[The Little Mermaid]]''.

** Arguably Robin Hood in ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', though the Robin Hood mythos is so vast that it's not ironclad that he dies at the end normally.

** Captain Hook from ''[[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Peter Pan]]''. In the book, he is simply swallowed up by the crocodile, but in the movie, he immediately jumps out of the crocodile's mouth unharmed shortly after being swallowed up and later swimming away [[Memetic Mutation|screaming for Smee]] with the crocodile still behind him.

*** There's an interesting story behind this. Originally, Disney was going to make Hook an evil, intimidating character who would die like his literary counterpart. However, they discovered that the slapstick scenes with the crocodile effectively ruined any sense that he was a serious threat. Therefore, they went all out and played him as an [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]]. They kept him alive because they figured the audience wouldn't want to see such a humorous, non-threatening villain die.

* Gnomeo and Juliet survive in the film, ''[[Gnomeo and Juliet]]'', which is an adaptation of ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''.

** Lampshaded during the main character's conversation with a statue of Shakespeare when he refers to the downer ending as being "A Horrible Ending".

* Tad from ''[[Cujo]]''

* John Hammond in ''[[Jurassic Park]]''. Ian Malcolm as well, which may have led Michael Crichton to make him [[Not Quite Dead]] in the sequel, though it's clearly implied that he dies in the first book.

* Two characters in ''[[The Golden Compass]]'' movie: Tony Makarios, whose daemon is severed from him, and Roger. In the book, both are killed. There may have been plans for Roger to die in the following movie (though his death was in the end of the first volume of the book series, not the second,) but since that movie will apparently not be made, as it actually stands Roger survived in the film.

** The script did, in fact, include Roger's death and that scene was filmed before being removed.

** Although it has been argued that said [[Tap on the Head]] (which did seem to be painful) killed him, or that Voldemort does at one point.

** Grindelwald doesn't seemingly die either, since he actually cooperates with Voldemort in the film.

** Colin Creevey is also not shown to die. (Although he [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|does not appear either]])

** Subverted with Hedwig. In the book, Harry takes her with him when he leaves the Dursleys and she's killed in the following chase scene. In the film, he lets her go before the chase scene, only for her to return and die taking a spell for him.

* The originally filmed ending to ''[[Rambo|First Blood]]'' was much closer to the novel by David Morrell, which had John Rambo forcing Trautman to kill him. However, due to Rambo's more sympathetic portrayal in the film, a new ending was filmed which had Rambo being arrested instead, making the sequels possible. [[Adaptation Displacement|Due to the relative obscurity of the novel]], not many are aware that Rambo was supposed to die in the first film. Ironically, Morrell adapted the film's sequels into novels; as such, he took note of the [[Canon Discontinuity]] in the first sequel, throwing said discontinuity out the window just as quickly.

* The fourth kidnapped cardinal in ''[[Angels & Demons]]''.

* Echo the Ventriloquist drowns in ''[[The Unholy Three]]'', but survives in both movie adaptations; rather ironic given that this was [[Lon Chaney]]'s final role before his untimely death.

 

* ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' is Horatio Nelson {{smallcaps|[[Recycled in Space|In Space]]}}! Except Honor lives through the [[In Space]] version of Nelson's final battle, as found in ''At All Costs''. due to some last minute changes and going [[Off the Rails]]. She was suppose to die in ''At All Costs'' until [[David Weber]] was convinced to move the next generation plot up about 20 years.

* Possibly the cook in the novelization of ''[[Titan A.E.]]''. At the very least, their death occurs off-screen.

* The novelization of ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon]]'' has {{spoiler|Wheelie, Brains, and Megatron}} surviving.

* In the ''[[Mad]]'' parody/adaptation of [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]]'s ''The Wreck of the Hesperus'', both the skipper and his daughter survive the wreck, with the latter ''still'' tied to a broken-off 20-foot-tall mainmast (!) and bringing back the former from his frozen state.

 

* Vesper Lynd in the ''Climax!'' TV adaptation of ''[[Casino Royale (Climax!)|Casino Royale]]''.

* Laffeyette in ''[[True Blood]]'' survives the TV series.

* In ''[[Pretty Little Liars]]'', Toby Cavanaugh, Jenna Cavanaugh, and Mona Vanderwaal all are still alive.

 

* Pretty much all the main characters in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' (yes that DOES include Marvin).

 

* When composer Ambroise Thomas adapted ''[[Hamlet]]'', he actually wanted to keep the title character alive; he was originally supposed to kill Claudius, then sing that he was still depressed, but had a kingdom to rule. It was eventually impressed on him that the audience would not be pleased by this, but he still left Polonius and Gertrude standing in the final version.

* Clarisse in the adaptation of ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'', though her "death" in the original book was rather vague.

* Most early versions of the legend of [[Faust]], including Christopher Marlowe's ''[[The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus]]'' end with the title character [[Dragged Off to Hell]] by Mepistopheles. Some early versions even describe Faust torn to pieces in graphic detail. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethe%27s_Faust Goethe's version], however expands the story and adds a second part, where Faust is able to find redemption and salvation.

 

* A number of [[Video Game Remake]]s and [[Updated Rerelease]]s include a sidequest or [[One Hundred Percent Completion]] feature that allow you to save a popular character who was [[Doomed by Canon]] in the original game (usually in cases where the death was meaningless to the plot, and sometimes they even allow you to change the plot entirely by saving the character, giving you an entirely different endgame).

** Among the characters who died in the original version of ''[[Persona 3]]'' were {{spoiler|Chidori and Shinjiro}}, both of whom developed [[Ensemble Darkhorse|strong fan followings]]. When the game was remade as Persona 3: FES, a sidequest was added to allow you to save the former, then when the game was remade ''again'' for the PSP, ''another'' sidequest was added to save the latter. The frustrating thing is that both of these are pure [[Guide Dang It]] and the latter is only possible if you chose the female main character, so it's [[Lost Forever|missable]] from the ''very first choice in the game''.

* The remake of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' might (might, mind you) be this for both Zack and Aerith. Possibly due to Sepiroth changing destiny and creating "another future", both of them are alive at the end. However, it is hinted that Aerith somehow sees this as wrong (in more ways than one, her comments seeming to indicate she knows how the story is ''supposed'' to end) so for the as-yet unreleased second part, there are no guarantees.

 

 

* The second [[Firestorm]]'s origin had Ronnie Raymond dying in an explosion. The revised origin from ''[[Batman: The Brave And The Bold|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]'' spared Ronnie.

* The villains in the Broken Ear episode of the ''[[The Adventures of Tintin|Tintin]]'' animated series.

* Cheshire's mother in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', largely because she was made into a [[Composite Character]].

** Also, Martian Manhunter' family and the entire population of Mars. (This is actually how it was in the [[Silver Age]]; [[Greg Weisman]] says that he never saw a reason to make J'onn the [[Last of His Kind]], since that is just copying [[Superman]]'s shtick).

* [[The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes]] did an adaptation of the [[Secret Invasion]] story arc, where one of the most famous moments was Skrull leader [[God Save Us From the Queen|Queen Veranke]] getting shot in the head by [[Norman Osborn]], thus leading to Osborn's rise of power. Here however, she is merely neutralized at the end of the invasion and taken to custody in 42.

{{reflist}}

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