Retcons are as naturally linked to comic books as speech bubbles or ridiculous body proportions, and while some retcons make the DC comics better or worse in general, they can also do the same for individuals. While retcons are often done to better the story at the expense of the character, sometimes a superhero or supervillain gets lucky and their origin is edified or their circumstances are made better.
Some character changes are made after major crossover events, some are made in the middle of a series thanks to a writer change. Either way, retcons can either save or ruin a character in various ways.
10 Saved: Superman Became The Only Kryptonian
Changes to Superman's origin and history have been in flux over the decades where he originally wasn't even raised by the Kents until about ten years into the comics. Before Crisis on Infinite Earths, so many different abilities and superpowers were added to Superman's stories that everything became more and more convoluted. With Crisis, Superman was given a completely clean slate that cemented him as the last Kryptonian and as the quintessential Superman character that most DC and comic book fans know him to be.
9 Ruined: Kara Zor-El Was Killed & Forgotten
While Crisis on Infinite Earths rewrote Superman's origin for the better, Kara Zor-El was killed off and forgotten about in-universe due to DC's new policy that required Superman to be the actual last Kryptonian— thus requiring Kara to be erased from existence. It wasn't until years later in 2004 when Kara was allowed to return to the continuity as Supergirl. The fact that DC made the decision to continue on the Supergirl name without Kara proved her character's worth, making her eventual return long overdue.
8 Saved: Wonder Woman Was Written To Be Her Best Self
Another character who benefitted from the enormous re-work of DC's continuity after Crisis on Infinite Earths was Wonder Woman. Pre-Crisis, Wonder Woman's powers could be negated if a man were to bind her hands together and she had even been de-powered at one point in an effort to reach out to feminists as part of the Women's Lib movement.
Post-Crisis, Wonder Woman was gifted divine powers from the Greek gods and the best aspects of her character and personality, which still run strong to this day.
7 Ruined: The Other Batgirls Were Shoved Aside In Favor Of Barbara
With Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's influential one-shot, The Killing Joke came a violent attack on Barbara Gordon which left her paralyzed. This revelation was added to the DC continuity where Barbara went on to become Oracle, an essential hacker and info gatherer for DC's superheroes. With Barbara as Oracle, the mantle of Batgirl was eventually taken over by Cassandra Cain and then Stephanie Brown. However, with the New 52, Cassandra and Stephanie were lost in obscurity for years so Barbara could be Batgirl again.
6 Saved: Jason Todd Was Brought Back To Life After Six Months
As the second Robin, Jason Todd wasn't well-received even after his origin story was retconned with Crisis On Infinite Earths so that he wasn't a literal carbon copy of Dick Grayson. Jason infamously died in the 1980s but it was DC's decision two decades later to retcon Superboy-Prime's reality punch to bring Jason back from the dead six months after he had been killed. Since then, Jason's return has completely saved the character, taking him from a tragic sidekick to the troubled anti-hero Red Hood.
5 Ruined: Hawkman Is In Continuity Inferno
Retcons have been the bane of Hawkman's publication history and his history in general, even when changes are made to attempt to fix the previous changes that were made to his character and origins.
For the longest time, there was the original Hawkman Carter Hall, who was a reincarnated prince of ancient Egypt, and there was Katar Hol, a policeman of Thanagar, and the two existed on different Earths. Post-Crisis attempts to reconcile with only one possible Hawkman, though that created a continuous continuity riddled with errors.
4 Ruined: Sue Dibny & Dr. Light Are Linked In The Worst Way
One of the absolute worst retcons to ever happen in DC comics history is the retroactive continuity nuclear bomb in Infinity Crisis that not only had Sue Dibny, best known as the wife of The Elongated Man, be brutally murdered but in the dig to learn the truth of her death, it was revealed that Sue had been sexually assaulted by Dr. Light at some point in the past. The retcon not only ruined the history of Sue Dibny but of Dr. Light in particular.
3 Saved: Swamp Thing Became The Guardian Of The Green
Originally, Swamp Thing was a man named Alec Holland who was transformed in a freak accident. However, after Alan Moore was given the green light to rework the character when he was brought on take over writing the series, he made it so that Alec was killed in the aforementioned accident and that Swamp Thing was created from his death as a plant entity that believed himself to be Alec.
This retcon changed the Swamp Thing mythos entirely, making for one of DC's most compelling characters.
2 Saved: Hal Jordan Was Controlled By The Enitity Parallax
With the catastrophic DC event known as Zero Hour, Hal Jordon of the Green Lantern Corps. went mad and became vengeful in his grief. After destroying Oa, taking out basically all of the other Green Lanterns, stealing their rings, and then wishing to re-write the universe, Hal became a full-blown supervillain who dubbed himself Parallax. Well, DC eventually had it retconned that Hal was actually possessed by a cosmic entity called Parallax and that it was to blame for the death and destruction, absolving Hal.
1 Ruined: Wally West Keeps Getting A Raw Deal
Not only was Wally West completely erased in the wake of the New 52 but his character is being constantly disrespected by DC. Before New 52, it was changed so that Wally was no longer the one who had discovered and then took control of the Speed Force after it was retconned that Barry Allen had been the one who invented it. Since the New 52, Wally has also gotten the short end of things as Future State had him take out all the other Speedsters.
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