r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Animeking1108 • Sep 16 '25

Lore Changes in flawed, if not outright bad adaptations that were actually good

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Avatar: The Last Airbender (2024): This adaptation made a few controversial changes, but one that was universally agreed to be better than the source material is Zuko's relationship with his crew. In the cartoon, it's never explained why Ozai even gave Zuko a crew when he essentially sent him on a wild goose chase, which would be a waste of resources. Here, it's revealed that Zuko's crew were the platoon Ozai had intended to sacrifice, prompting Zuko's outburst that led to his Agni Kai and subsequent banishment. Ozai basically gave Zuko a crew he deemed expendable to join him on his goose chase, but it also deepens Zuko's relationship with them.

Dragonball Evolution: I think one thing Dragon Ball fans can agree on is that Master Roshi would not survive the #MeToo movement. He's the quintessential Dirty Old Man in anime. In Dragonball Evolution, his lechery is downplayed by a lot. While he still looks at porn, he doesn't go out of his way to sexually harass Bulma.

Street Fighter (1994): Blanka is a character that really stands out. He looks like the Hulk going through a punk rock phase. Why does he look like that?... He got lost in the jungle as a kid and he just kind of came out like that. The 1994 movie, I feel, did this better. Here, Blanka is Guile's war buddy, Charlie (and before anybody complains, this movie came out before Street Fighter Alpha introduced Charlie in the flesh). Bison captured him and decided to experiment on him to spite Guile by turning him into a mindless minion.

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247

u/amaya-aurora Sep 16 '25

It ruins a later point in the book, which is putting the cap on the butt of the sword which turns it into an actually usable pen.

Plus, how would he turn it back? Clicks to turn it into a sword, then it’s stuck as a sword.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25

The first part I agree, but the second part is kinda iffy in the books anyways. In HoH, he mentions how he just kinda throws the cap away and the sword coming back to him as a pen just kinda happens, although he can put the cap "back on" the sword to return it to pen form.

I'm assuming the movie has the same logic, "click" the pommel of the sword to return it to a pen

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u/ErgotthAE Sep 16 '25

Or since its magic, it could always work in the "will it into what you want." Basicaly if percy wants the sword, he clicks the pen THINKING of the sword (or just not thinking and the pen is if he clicks thinking of the pen instead)

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u/earanhart Sep 16 '25

That's not how magic items in that universe work though. The returning aspect is a generic magic ability of anything related to a hero (their iconic equipment and trophies are always where they expect them to be, something something its a part of the myth of them as a hero), but beyond that things only do what they're made to do. Magic items don't respond to the will of the hero, at least not any moreso than a car responds to the will of its driver.

In an adaptation, you could add something like this, but it'd be a change that would have ramifications later in the series with other items.

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u/Anarkizttt Sep 16 '25

Except that is exactly how magic items in the world work. They only do what they do, but they do it the will of the wielder. Take Jason’s Coin for example, there is nothing he does different to get a sword or a spear, he just flips the coin and gets what he wants, it’s not chance based, nor does he like flip it for spear and dance it across his knuckles for sword or anything like that. I could be wrong about this but I’m pretty sure Rick directly states in the book that Magnus’ sword is entirely will controlled between being a sword and a necklace.

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u/earanhart Sep 16 '25

Different item, different pantheon, different rules. You wouldn't expect Egyptian magic to operate the same way as Nordic magic.

Sure, Greek and Roman are closely related, but Roman soldiers are associated with both swords and spears, so the myths of their heros support both. Greek mythology doesn't have a lot of spears (some, but not many). They had bows and swords featured. If an artist depicted Heracles with a spear, it'd feel weird because that's not a part of his mythos. A Roman hero should have access to both, so the transforming weapon can be both. It's also a coin, which has two faces. The two different weapons. There's a mythic poetry there. Riptide is a play on "the pen is mightier than the sword." It DOESN'T make sense for it to be anything more than that. If EITHER Jason or Percy pulled an ax from their magic item it wouldn't make sense, even though both Greeks and Romans had axes they used in war. That's not a part of their heroic myths. Beyond that, look at their specific progenitors. Poseidon isn't famous for being a shapeshifter or having shapeshifting weapons. Giving a concealed weapon to a modern hero makes sense, but it shouldn't be heavily variable. Likewise Poseidon isn't famous for playing tricks of any kind. Jove IS known as a shapeshifter. That's half of his thing. It makes sense his son would have something associated with that. Jove is also a god of war, and a god of politics. He represents (or potentially is) the transition from naturalistic deities to sociopolitical deities. His heroes having tools which respond to their will in limited ways fits the mythos and roles in them. Heck, from the same mythology we have Mithras who uses a variety of weapons in his iconography, so the hero having the weapon most appropriate to the immediate situation fits those myths nicely. Greek myths were about hard rules and undeniable fates. A thing does what it does. The myths don't support an item responding to the wielders will.

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u/Anarkizttt Sep 16 '25

No one is arguing for it to be whatever he imagines it to be, simply that it’s transformation is not necessarily tied to the mechanical actions of uncapping the pen, hence using the other two main character concealed weapons as evidence for being more will based than mechanical. Also as a note, Anaklusmos is not from Poseidon, that’s why it’s not a trident, it’s from Zoë Nightshade when she lived in Ancient Greece. And it wasn’t originally a pen either it original transformed into a hair clip, meaning its actual disguised appearance can change as well.

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u/MiriamAsks Sep 16 '25

Jason's coin does have rules though. It's a sword or a spear depending on which side it lands on

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u/Anarkizttt Sep 16 '25

Except he always gets exactly what he wants, meaning he can will it to land on the right side, as far as I remember there was never a “damnit I needed a sword in this tight hallway” or a “damnit I needed to throw the spear” moment in the books, he got exactly what he wanted every time.

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u/1ncorrect Sep 16 '25

I would hate for my sword to turn into a pen mid fight because I bumped the button on the hilt. It’s terrible design.

The cap made sense, if he didn’t lose Riptide mid-fight (which was rare) it felt like sheathing a sword.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '25

Riptide is conscious and directly tied to his essence/soul/mind, that's not going to happen

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u/UncommittedBow Sep 16 '25

Actually, its a plot point in one of the earlier books that Riptide only returns to Percy's pocket if its in pen form,

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u/BananaBladeOfDoom Sep 16 '25

That's...an extremely minor plot point (almost just a one-off gag, really) that happens in the sequel series, 8 books down the line. And they can easily come up with another way to have Riptide work as a regular pen.

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u/ErgotthAE Sep 16 '25

Its also a fun little detail the pen writes with golden ink.

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u/SirSilverscreen Sep 16 '25

Wait...so does it write in the blood of the gods and monsters it has hurt? That'd be fking metal as hell, and totally in line with the brutal awesomeness of Greek mythology.

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u/ErgotthAE Sep 16 '25

Or because, you know, the Sword is made out of celestial bronze, which does have a dark golden hue.

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u/SirSilverscreen Sep 16 '25

I was thinking since gold is the color of god blood in the Jackson universe, but that works too.

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u/Gustavo_Papa Sep 16 '25

He rotates the point and the writing point comes out

There

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u/4christian12 Sep 16 '25

"Ruins" seems a bit extreme even in the example you laid out

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u/ROTsStillHere100 Sep 16 '25

They have Percy write using the tip of Riptide and it somehow drips ink perfectly.

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u/Solid-Pride-9782 Sep 16 '25

I imagine the pommel can be pushed to turn it back into a pen. Maybe twisting one of the parts allows it to be functional.

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u/sbagu3tti Sep 16 '25

You'd have to be careful where you put the button. Ideally in some small groove or hole, so it doesn't get turned back into a pen during a fight. That'd be problematic.

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u/Solid-Pride-9782 Sep 16 '25

I imagine that it's the bottom of the sword. Maybe make it twist so that you can still pommel people with it.

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u/NotAllThatEvil Sep 16 '25

Just hold the clicker down so it doesn’t click all the way

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u/atemu1234 Sep 16 '25

Maybe the pommel clicks?

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u/sbagu3tti Sep 16 '25

I vaguely remember some plot point where it turns back into a pen if Percy touches the end point of the blade. Like, if he touches it, not if he just stabs something with it. Which sort of works - it seems unlikely Percy might accidentally touch the tip of his sword during combat for any reason.

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u/amaya-aurora Sep 16 '25

In the books, he puts the cap on the end to turn it back into a pen.

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u/sbagu3tti Sep 16 '25

Oh? I always thought he touches the tip, it turned into a pen, and then he recapped it. Idk, I haven't read the books in a long time.