Has the ending of a story ever been rewritten due to a negative fan reaction?

[MetalMagpie]

I think Sherlock Holmes is probably the best example. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed Holmes off in The Adventure of the Final Problem, then brought him back to life ten years later after a lot of pressure from fans (and his publishers).

To be honest, I don't think the idea of changing an ending to a published story is inherently sacrilegious (due to the fact that no work of fiction should be considered sacred) but putting pressure on writers to make changes to their own work seems unfair.

I write short fiction as a hobby, and I have changed a story's ending after receiving constructive feedback. I have no problem with that. What I would hate is to have such major changes demanded of me.

Fans - no matter how devoted - never have ownership of a creative work. That always stays with the creator.

 

[Ultress]

]I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, but as for your question, Evangelion immediately comes to mind.

Hideaki Anno made End of Evangelion because fans complained about the T.V. Series ending.

That's the only thing I can think of.

I was under the impression that the end of the TV series was due to having two dollars and a half eaten jar of peanut butter for a budget. I'm pretty sure End of Eva is what's going on while Shinji is sitting in his mind.


OT: I think they are going to attempt to undo the ending of P3 somehow,it's hinted at by Margret that Elizabeth left to do just that.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Fans - no matter how devoted - never have ownership of a creative work. That always stays with the creator.

The problem is when the creator changes. The good decisions you made at the completion of the work are always better than that "moment of clarity" you get later on in your life.

Mainly because it's clouded by what your work has become.

 

[Saltyk]

Well, I know it happens in movies in post production all the time. Someone above mentioned I am Legend. And he's right. Remember the ending? Will Smith saves the woman and girl, gives them the cure, and kills himself and the attacking horde. In the original ending, it is revealed that the "horde" was just out to save the one he had capture. And in fact, he was their boogie-man and walking nightmare.

 

[Sable Gear]

If I recall correctly the ballet Swan Lake got its ending changed because audiences thought the original one was too depressing...(it was an "everyone dies" ending, now it's not)

Yes I realize that's not exactly what we're talking about but it's true.

 

[Ocelano]

]I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, but as for your question, Evangelion immediately comes to mind.

Hideaki Anno made End of Evangelion because fans complained about the T.V. Series ending.

That's the only thing I can think of.

Damn Ninja'd but to add on to that apparently the real dark nasty end to the films was a big f*ck you to all the whiners according to the story I heard

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I can think of Full Metal Alchemist? It wasn't so much that the ending was changed, it's more along the lines of they tacked in a Deus Ex (I hope I'm using that word correctly), that drastically altered the reality of the story. It would have been a neat thing to go into for a final season, but they jammed it into the final two episodes, and then sort of just left it there without actually finishing the show, leaving most of the fans to go "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, what the fuck was that?"

It actually reminds me a lot of what Mass Effect did, though in FMA it wasn't quite as stupid and actually reasonably tied into the story. The only problem was it had no business being fully explained in two episodes. From what I was told, the creators of the show had gotten ahead of the guy writing... drawing the manga.

Apparently a small movie was released basically reaching a consensus that I didn't care enough to watch.

 

[AbstractStream]

Wasn't that the entire purpose of Final Fantasy X-2?

Kind of had this in mind as well. It was simple to get the "Good Ending" for X-2 canceled out the depressing ending X had.
I can't say X had negative reactions to the ending though. It was quite beautiful D:

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

]I haven't played Mass Effect 3 yet, but as for your question, Evangelion immediately comes to mind.

Hideaki Anno made End of Evangelion because fans complained about the T.V. Series ending.

That's the only thing I can think of.

I was under the impression that the end of the TV series was due to having two dollars and a half eaten jar of peanut butter for a budget. I'm pretty sure End of Eva is what's going on while Shinji is sitting in his mind.

While that is true, the director thought the ending to the series was fine, but so many fans complained about it that he decided to make a full ending.

 

[Crenelate]

X-men: First Class retconned the series so Final Stand and Wolverine couldn't have occurred within the same continuity. I think Movie Bob probably said that, I wouldn't have figured it out on my own and can't remember the details, but I'm glad they did.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

I can think of Full Metal Alchemist? It wasn't so much that the ending was changed, it's more along the lines of they tacked in a Deus Ex (I hope I'm using that word correctly), that drastically altered the reality of the story. It would have been a neat thing to go into for a final season, but they jammed it into the final two episodes, and then sort of just left it there without actually finishing the show, leaving most of the fans to go "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, what the fuck was that?"

It actually reminds me a lot of what Mass Effect did, though in FMA it wasn't quite as stupid and actually reasonably tied into the story. The only problem was it had no business being fully explained in two episodes. From what I was told, the creators of the show had gotten ahead of the guy writing... drawing the manga.

Apparently a small movie was released basically reaching a consensus that I didn't care enough to watch.

If you're referring to the FMA and Brotherhood then that isn't really true. Brotherhood was made not due to confusion and distaste for the ending of the first one, it was made because they finally had the ending that the manga writer had in mind for it.

 

[Terminate421]

I can only think of three:

Sherlock Holmes
Green Lantern
Fallout 3

 

[Sandytimeman]

Well, Mass Effect: Deception apparently is getting a rewrite by the loremasters after they hired an idiot to write it in the first place.

Well, no, they didn't hire an idiot, they hired an actual writer, who proceeded to not give a shit. I mean, we're talking about a franchise involving the giant terminator space baby, finger quotes councilor, and Schrodinger's starchild, so not giving a shit is an entirely reasonable, professional response.

Because it's always professional to take a job for money and then treat it like a joke. This guy isn't a writer, shit he is just a tool. He had the privilege to be a writer by trade, for that to be his career and instead of embracing that amazing opportunity he took a giant dump on it.

I hope he ends up working a min wage job, that's the kind of job you don't give a shit about.

 

[JoesshittyOs]

I can think of Full Metal Alchemist? It wasn't so much that the ending was changed, it's more along the lines of they tacked in a Deus Ex (I hope I'm using that word correctly), that drastically altered the reality of the story. It would have been a neat thing to go into for a final season, but they jammed it into the final two episodes, and then sort of just left it there without actually finishing the show, leaving most of the fans to go "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, what the fuck was that?"

It actually reminds me a lot of what Mass Effect did, though in FMA it wasn't quite as stupid and actually reasonably tied into the story. The only problem was it had no business being fully explained in two episodes. From what I was told, the creators of the show had gotten ahead of the guy writing... drawing the manga.

Apparently a small movie was released basically reaching a consensus that I didn't care enough to watch.

If you're referring to the FMA and Brotherhood then that isn't really true. Brotherhood was made not due to confusion and distaste for the ending of the first one, it was made because they finally had the ending that the manga writer had in mind for it.

Nah, I'm not talking about the Brotherhood series. I understand that was supposedly much closer to the comic.

Basically, they merely added on a hour long movie (There's a word for it, I just can't think of it) to the original series that showed... well

Spoiler

The blond brother somehow getting back out of our dimension and rejoining with the younger brother... as opposed to just leaving it as it was with them both separated from each other

It technically was separate from the series and didn't count as an episode.

 

[DustyDrB]

Has any part of a story been rewritten after its release for the same reason?

Gaming, I don't think so.

But I Am Legend? Bladerunner? Dawn of the Dead?

or

[HEADING=2]The Star Wars Trilogy[/HEADING]...

Space Ninja Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets were slightly different.

You could say that Jet Set Willy got it's ending changed to dying on the Banyan Tree...

How bad is it that Star Wars is the only one of those I've seen (I've been meaning to watch Blade Runner for a while. Which version is the one to go with?).

Star Wars isn't really the same thing. It wasn't changed due to fan reaction. It was changed despite fan reaction, due to whatever you call Lucas' issue. Unless you're referring to something else there.

Reading up on the others, Blade Runner sounds like it wasn't properly released when it saw the first big change (if this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versions_of_Blade_Runner] is right). But holy hell, that is a ridiculous amount of different versions.

Dawn of the Dead sounds like it was changed during production. Again, Wikipedia is what I'm going by here, so it could be wrong. Same with I Am Legend.

Green Lantern Comics
The Big Picture
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/3390-Going-Green-Part-I
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/3536-Going-Green-Part-II
the story of hal going evil his death and the fanboy shit storm that followed.

That seems closer to this issue, except it's comics. And comics..are weird different. Or at least I think they are. Aren't rewrites and retcons fairly common to that medium? If not, then you're pretty spot on here.

 

[citrusfr00t]

I am pretty sure that the ending of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations was changed due to a negative response from the fans.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

How bad is it that Star Wars is the only one of those I've seen (I've been meaning to watch Blade Runner for a while. Which version is the one to go with?).

The one without Harrison Ford's voice. Director's cut is a little better, but it's not really an issue.

Star Wars isn't really the same thing. It wasn't changed due to fan reaction. It was changed despite fan reaction, due to whatever you call Lucas' issue. Unless you're referring to something else there.

It was though. If Greedo shoots first, that means Han never completes his arc. Kenobi's Force-Ghost is McGregor instead of Guinness. C3P0 is lying when he meets Luke. Vader starts off weaker than Kenobi. Huge swathes of plot relevant information are swept aside because of the new editions.

Reading up on the others, Blade Runner sounds like it wasn't properly released when it saw the first big change (if this [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versions_of_Blade_Runner] is right). But holy hell, that is a ridiculous amount of different versions.

Before we even touch on Brazil or the proposed "fan" changes. The Lesbian scene being cut from Basic Instinct...

Dawn of the Dead sounds like it was changed during production. Again, Wikipedia is what I'm going by here, so it could be wrong. Same with I Am Legend.

Most got to test-screenings before getting butchered, or being saved from the butcher.

Space Ninja Gatchaman and Battle of the Planets were slightly different.

You could say that Jet Set Willy got it's ending changed to dying on the Banyan Tree...

That seems closer to this issue, except it's comics. And comics..are weird different. Or at least I think they are. Aren't rewrites and retcons fairly common to that medium? If not, then you're pretty spot on here.

TV series. That was hacking the entire thing to pieces so that the English version was a hacked version of the original anime. TBF, a lot of anime have that happen, and the TMNT became the TMHT in Europe because we couldn't show nunchucks.

Before we even go into Yu-Gi-Oh and the torture scenes...

DC, as people know, change continuity like socks - and Marvel have done quite a few times, extremely badly.

Games are very rare though. Especially given that DLC is a very modern phenomenon.

 

[asacatman]

I think some of you guys are missing the point. We're not just talking about changes. We're not even talking about changes the buisness guys made to make something more appealing to the masses i.e Blade Runner.

We're talking acutual fans (not just the average joe) making someone change their work.

Which I think is bullshit. If you create something, especially if you think it's art, you don't want people demanding you change it (constructive criticism is fine, but not demands).