Ring of Retcon

The Ring of Retcon, sometimes spelled as the Ring of Retconn, is an immensely powerful cosmic Macguffin with the power of Retcon. It is part of a set of nine Rings of Retcon (also known as The Nine), paired with their opposite, the Ring of Continuity (AKA The One).

See also the Retcon Balls.

Powers

The Ring is capable of great retcons, altering history on a broad scale. However, it has limits, defined by the needs of other stories in the Omnilooniverse. As well, the Ring cannot retcon its bearer, and the bearer of the Cosmic Plot Device is immune to its/their power.

Each ring has a simplistic consciousness, and desires a wielder.

History

Note: Any inconsistencies in the status of the Ring(s) between one appearance and another can be explained by the fact that, after all, it's the Ring of Retcon.

According to one account, the Rings of Retcon and Continuity were first created in the Hypertextian Age, a long-ago era of high sorcery, erased from history by the disastrous experiments of its mages with retcotheric energy.

The Ring of Retcon was first seen in the Cosmic Plot Device Caper. The Looker gave the Ring to the Time Crapper in order to stop the misuse of the Cosmic Plot Device by Y-Plex Burp. The two cosmic items were described as part of a system of "Checks and Balances", and indeed, each one could not affect the bearer of the other. Somehow (cause and effect were a bit loose during the CPDC), the Ring was lost during the battle. But when Dada Dude attacked the LNH, his powers bounced back on him, transforming him into the GreenRingWraith, putting the Ring of Retcon in his nose and enslaving him to Y-Plex.

During Cry.Sig, the GreenRingWraith attacked Continuity Champ (masquerading as Background Boy), but CC grabbed the Ring and turned GRW into a pile of excrement which would, over a thousand years, evolve into Time Crapper II. He used the Ring to battle the Crossover Queen, and when it was done, sent it back in time to himself.

In What Ever Happened To...?, The Looker summoned Kid Yesterdaze and a group of allies. He explained that the Ring had gone into a state of limbo after Cry.Sig, but that signs pointed to its return to the Looniverse, and that getting it back was necessary for the Cosmic Balance™. KY and friends retrieved it, but when they gave it to the Looker, he brainwashed them, plotting to combine the Ring with the Cosmic Plot Device to free him from his oath. However, this was part of a plot by Defacto to get both cosmic artifacts. Luckily, the Drizzt's Defenders stopped him, and the Ring was sealed again within the Looker's dome.

But not forever. During Retcon Hour, wReamicus Maximus manipulated Continuity Champ Junior and Generation Y into reaching into an alternate universe and finding the Ring for him. He started making retcons right and left, attempting to collapse all of existence into a single timeline which he would rule. But the LNH defeated him using teamwork, trickery, and metafiction. CCJr. used the Ring to restore the Looniverse to its original state – for the most part, anyway – and then got rid of it, depowering the Ring as much as he could and sending it back to the beginning of the universe.

In the midst of Retcon Hour, wReamicus used the Ring to retcon Pliable Lad out of existence. The reconfigured timeline known as Retcon Midnight was the result. It was during this event that The Drizzt revealed that there were nine Rings of Retcon, paired with the Ring of Continuity (thus continuing the GreenRingWraith's Lord of the Rings reference). In this timeline, Doctor Armaggeddon had collected all Nine plus One.

Tales of Continuity focused on the conflict between The One (that is, the Ring of Continuity), and The Nine (that is, the Rings of Retcon), giving them epic backstories and individual wielders. However, Tales ended in the midst of its storyline, its larger arc unfinished.

One Ring made its way to Looniverse-B, knocking around with various characters before coming back to Looniverse-A and disappearing by author fiat.

The ring that Continuity Champ Jr. had depowered ended up being sold for cheap in a comic book store. A ten-year-old named Calvin Lector bought it, and discovered it had the power to change things – small things at first, but larger and larger as it regained its power. Calvin became The Collector and lured Panta to his base, explaining that the Ring could not change its bearer, and thus, he required Panta's Overcute Gem to achieve his true desire – gaining godlike power by becoming a RACelestial. In the battle that followed, both the Ring and the Gem were utterly annihilated.

At the end of the Infinite Leadership Crisis, Bart the Dark Receptionist appeared wielding both the Ring and the Insanity Gauntlet, having received them from an even greater power – the Bryttle Brothers. In Beige Midnight, he used them to go back to ancient Qwerty and become an immortal king (er, sort of). The LNH failed to stop him, but stopped he still was, and the ring passed into Occultism Kid's hands.

OK went into a cosmic journey inside the Gauntlet, saving Net.ropolis at the cost of not having enough power to stop the Bryttle Brothers. He was tempted to give in and do the expedient thing; instead, he brought together the Ring, the Gauntlet, and the Cosmic Plot Device, draining every bit of power from the three objects in order to accomplish an impossible feat – splitting the Looniverse into a mind-bogglingly huge number of alternate Looniverses, containing no life but the LNH, in order to protect it from the Bryttles.

Years later, it was revealed that, after prolonged periods of disuse, the Rings of Retcon and Continuity return to the Hypertextian Age. Betamax traveled thence on an epic quest to retrieve them, bringing both Rings back to the present, and using them to raise Captain Continuity from the dead.

Appearance

A perfect golden band, embossed with letters from an alphabet of unknown (and possibly retconned-away) origin.

The Ring of Continuity is similar, but silvery.

Current Status

Both the Ring of Retcon and the Ring of Continuity have returned to the present day.