Characters with multiple backstories

[j swift]

There are certainly no rules to this game but, I am interested in characters with multiple origin stories like Shane/Bobby or Marco Dane.

 

For example, I would give Adam Chandler a wide birth because he was introduced as man with a mysterious past so anything was possible.  However AW's Carl Hutchins's motive for evil doing was rewritten five different times (hyperbole) from Donna's European ex-husband to Justine's Massachusetts lover.  Asa Buchanan would have arguable lived a colorful life prior to moving his oil company to Llandview and London.  Yet, we met Max Holden's brother and he never mentioned a ranch in Texas or a half-brother who looked like the guy from Dr Quinn Medicine Woman (I know it came afterward, its just an attempt at a joke).

 

I would also put ping-pong mental illness diagnoses in this category.  Texas's Elliot was portrayed with a variable ability to function based on his response to his wartime experience.  However, at one time it was because of the guilt of being a traitor to his prison of war camp and at other times he just thought he was a traitor but it was actually Barrett's fault.  That plot twist was so clearly decided due to audience response to the characters that it barely made sense.

[Mitch]

On GL..that Dr. ardvark looking blond guy who was dating Reva...first he was this OUTSTANDING doctor who dabbled in art collecting and then we find out he was a spy...for no reason at all. Later good old Jeffrey was a D.A. who happened to looked like Prince Dickie, and all  the ladies in SF are throwing their panties at him...(Beth and he even screwing over Alan's coffee roll..seriously..) but then we find out he too, is a spy..(Springfield attracted a lot of spies and jewel thieves..) but then we find out he was some guy who had his face (and somehow his voice. and eyes, etc.) changed to be a stand in for Prince Dickie for...what reason, who the hell knows. Oh, he was also Olivia's rapist and had previously kept Dinah in chains and made her prance around as a stand if for Cassie who he was obsessed with and...he was supposed to be a good guy and a hero???/

[Khan]

Jeffrey O'Neill's backstory seemed to change with each new episode.

[danfling]

On which show did Jeffrey O'Neill appear?

[jcar03]

 

Guiding Light.  Bradley Cole's second character on the show.

[Michael]

Does Neil Curtis from DAYS fit this one?

 

For his first, oh, ten years on the show, he was "just" Neil Curtis, doctor and cad. I'm pretty sure viewers met his father and his cousin (Johnny?). In the 80s, there was some reveal about his actual identity being "Alan Jackson" and that Neil Curtis was either a stolen identity or an alias. I might have it wrong and Alan Jackson was the alias, but from what I've read, it didn't track, and the existence of Curtis relatives didn't make sense with what was revealed later on.

[Paul Raven]

Victor Lord.

[j swift]

Neil also had a sorted past with Carlo Forenzo in another backstory.  Carlo was Don Diamont's first role. Neil had gambling debts to Carlo's family and they tracked him down but not before Carlo and Liz had an affair.

[SFK]

 

Indeed!

AMC did a bootleg version with Eric Kane.

[Michael]

I think that was the story where the Alan Jackson thing came out, but I'm not sure. I've seen it described different ways, but that was definitely the period (like '83?) where Neil's "true" identity was revealed. I need to do some research!

[John]

They didnt change Victors story til 94/95

Eric Kane was changed in 1989/90 and 93so I guess OLTL's Victor got Eric Kaned

[robbwolff]

They changed Victor's story in the mid-80s when the secret room under Llanfair was discovered and it was revealed that Victor had had an affair with Irene Manning, leading to the birth of Tina. 

[j swift]

Rather than a change in history to fit current stories, I was thinking about characters who are introduced with one set of historical facts and then those facts change while the character is still on screen.

 

So, Iris Carrington's parentage is fair game because it was never established as part of Iris's initial backstory as ex-wife to Elliott and spoiler for Alice.  However, it never made sense that Dennis could be Alex Wheeler's son on Texas because Dennis was introduced with a genetic heart defect that was inherited from Elliott's side of the family.

 

Sudden ex-wives or long lost children are soap staples but I am interested in those characters who were clearly re-written because the initial concept did not work. 

[Soaplovers]

Jenny Eckert on GH in the early 90s... when she was dating Ned.. she was embarrassed about getting intimate with him saying she wanted to be old fashion, etc... And on their wedding night, she admitted that she was a virgin so he was gentle with her on their wedding.  Flash forward a year or so later, and Tracy knows Jenny is hiding something (Jenny and Tracy's husband Paul had feelings for one another, but Tracy didn't know it)... so Tracy background checked her.. and it turned out that Jenny had an affair with a married congress person.. and miscarried his baby... totally a change on her backstory.

[robbwolff]

I wouldn't say that characters were rewritten because the initial concept didn't work. A clear example is your own use of Iris Carrington. Iris' parentage worked beautifully for years and provided plenty of storylines and conflict. Rather, very often other writers come along with their own vision and rewrite a character's past to fit that vision. What would you cite as a character rewrite that was dictated by the fact that the original concept didn't work?