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Corrupted Data

 Corrupted Data
type
FeatureClass
 Corrupted Data
label
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data
page
CorruptedData
 Corrupted Data
comment
A sub-trope of Lost in Transmission, where crucial information is corrupted, whether by a Computer Virus or other means.
In Real Life data follows what's known as a "protocol"note While a lot of people have heard the word in quite a few contexts, not many people know its actual definition; "A pre-agreed set of standards for communication.". In order to be read by a computer, data must be recorded in a specific way, thus as much as one bit in the wrong place can make a file unreadable. Of course it's obviously possible to salvage the uncorrupted parts with a bit of patience....
While many of the things shown to corrupt data in fiction are capable of doing so (viruses might be designed to corrupt a file or may do so by accident while copying themselves into one, damage to storage media obviously risks damaging the data on it, etc) most corruption tends to be the result of a computer malfunction (such as the write head of a Hard Drive miswriting the data to its disc, or a poor Internet connection causing data to be wrongly transmitted) or user error (such as yanking out a USB drive while it's being written tonote Always eject your drives before unplugging them, kiddies.). Many data storage devices are designed to prevent this sort of thing through a number of techniques. Read more about it on The Other Wiki.

Examples
 Corrupted Data
fetched
2023-10-21T17:16:19Z
 Corrupted Data
parsed
2023-10-21T17:16:19Z
 Corrupted Data
processingComment
Dropped link to HandWave: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Corrupted Data
processingComment
Dropped link to ParadiegeticGameplay: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Corrupted Data
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Corrupted Data / int_1102942f
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_1102942f
comment
Eternals (2021): A document explaining "The Age of the Patriarchs" uses the Corrupted Data option and throws an "[ERROR: SECTION DELETED]" message when it reaches "the Matriarchs' influence in this period and the Eternal concept of gender in dynasties".
 Corrupted Data / int_1102942f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_1102942f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Eternals (2021) (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_1102942f
 Corrupted Data / int_11c6567a
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_11c6567a
comment
In one of the Thursday Next books, there is a "mispeling virus", which causes misspellings to manifest wherever it shows up, turning a parrot into a carrot, the floor into flour and other unpleasant consequences. This sounds more amusing than dangerous until you realize it can turn your bones into boons, your nose into a noose or your hands into hats, depending on the severity of the infection. In short, if your body is infected, you are most likely going to die unless you get help really quickly. It can only be contained by dictionaries.
 Corrupted Data / int_11c6567a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_11c6567a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Thursday Next
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_11c6567a
 Corrupted Data / int_1858fe06
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_1858fe06
comment
Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics):
In one issue, Shadow retrieves a disk that contains files from Gerald Robotnik about his true purpose. However, the disk is damaged by a Badnik attack and the thing was already 50 years old, so it was starting to decay badly. NICOLE is able to rebuild it enough for Shadow to get his answers, though.
In an earlier issue, #165, the robot ISAAC was revealed to have corrupted data from centuries of wear (though not all of it was corrupted). It also reveals that the person he was protecting for centuries since the Xorda attack, Dr. Robotnkik's ancestor Ivan Kintorbor, is dead.
 Corrupted Data / int_1858fe06
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_1858fe06
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_1858fe06
 Corrupted Data / int_25305527
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_25305527
comment
In the .hack video games, the protagonist is playing a MMORPG Game Within A Game and has to defeat in-game bosses whose data is corrupted and whose names are shown containing random characters.
 Corrupted Data / int_25305527
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_25305527
featureConfidence
1.0
 .hack (Franchise)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_25305527
 Corrupted Data / int_290a1049
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_290a1049
comment
In Super Amazing Wagon Adventure, a random event in the great plains will cause the game to pretend to glitch out, starting with upside-down buffalo, possibly leading to giant upside-down buffalo, and culminating in a fight against a mass of random sprites against a background similar to TV static. Upon defeating the glitch, the game will pretend to reboot, and you will unlock a glitched wagon.
 Corrupted Data / int_290a1049
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_290a1049
featureConfidence
1.0
 Super Amazing Wagon Adventure (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_290a1049
 Corrupted Data / int_30163036
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_30163036
comment
Galaxion has two major organisations that work in space, using different encryption protocols. So when out TerSA heroes find an IP crashsite, there's no way to read the logs.
 Corrupted Data / int_30163036
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_30163036
featureConfidence
1.0
 Galaxion (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_30163036
 Corrupted Data / int_30450a9a
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_30450a9a
comment
All over the place in Alien: Isolation, as the Sevastopol station has been thoroughly damaged ever since the Xenomorph started running amok, causing most of its computer and maintenance systems' files to be corrupted. Also, Amanda's goal in the game, her mother Ellen's flight recorder, has corrupted data that must be restored before Amanda can learn what happened to her.
 Corrupted Data / int_30450a9a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_30450a9a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Alien: Isolation (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_30450a9a
 Corrupted Data / int_31313512
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_31313512
comment
ANNO: Mutationem: Ann finds her brother's ROM heavily damaged that shows him searching for N540 before the other half of the data is obscured by missing data.
 Corrupted Data / int_31313512
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_31313512
featureConfidence
1.0
 ANNO: Mutationem (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_31313512
 Corrupted Data / int_36ee2abe
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_36ee2abe
comment
Paranoia: If data hasn't been censored beyond all hope of reliability, it's corrupted, and if it's not corrupted, it's straightforwardly wrong.
 Corrupted Data / int_36ee2abe
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_36ee2abe
featureConfidence
1.0
 Paranoia (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_36ee2abe
 Corrupted Data / int_42ddd88c
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_42ddd88c
comment
Garakowa: Restore The World: This is the true identity of the 'computer viruses'. They are the fragmented information of deleted backup data. Since Mother considered them flawed, she had them deleted and then flagged their remnants for the Wisdom Box's antivirus software.
 Corrupted Data / int_42ddd88c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_42ddd88c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Garakowa Restore The World
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_42ddd88c
 Corrupted Data / int_42ffb88e
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_42ffb88e
comment
Multiple incidences in SCP Foundation entries including SCP-586.
 Corrupted Data / int_42ffb88e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_42ffb88e
featureConfidence
1.0
 SCP Foundation (Website)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_42ffb88e
 Corrupted Data / int_4c56381b
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_4c56381b
comment
Several items in The Binding of Isaac look like they have glitched textures, some of them looking like Glitch Entities. Many of these items have very random effects. Killing Delirium as Tainted Eden unlocks the "Corrupted Data" achievement, which makes Secret Room sometimes spawn a "glitched" itemnote It's a completely randomized item with 2-3 effects of other items and a random trigger condition or item charge., which have garbled textures and text. Picking up TMTRAINER basically "corrupts" the game, making every future item a randomly generated "glitched" item, and Challenge #45 is an improperly Dummied Out challenge that makes you start with TMTRAINER and randomizes the tileset and music.
 Corrupted Data / int_4c56381b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_4c56381b
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Binding of Isaac (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_4c56381b
 Corrupted Data / int_50bcf7a6
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_50bcf7a6
comment
Homestuck. Partway through act 5, the Homestuck game disc gets a nasty scratch, so the next several pages are marred by visual glitches and corrupted text. Eventually it causes the story to freeze just before a climactic fight, so the reader takes the disc to Doc Scratch to fix it.
In Act 6 Act 6, when the story switches from discs to console cartridges, the cartridge in question is jammed with special stardust and candy corn, producing similar effects.
 Corrupted Data / int_50bcf7a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_50bcf7a6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Homestuck (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_50bcf7a6
 Corrupted Data / int_526d4c5c
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_526d4c5c
comment
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Several cases. One is where sabotage on the part of an angry wife leaves her philandering husband stranded in the Tatooine desert. Your call as to whether or not you fix his droids or "fix" his droids. The other notable case is when using T3-M4 to stage the breakout. The Sith droid tries a memory wipe and T3-M4 uses the opening to corrupt the other droid's data.
 Corrupted Data / int_526d4c5c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_526d4c5c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Knights of the Old Republic (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_526d4c5c
 Corrupted Data / int_6abf16c2
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_6abf16c2
comment
Big Finish Doctor Who: In "I.D.", the Scandroids have been infected with this and when they interact with each other they too become corrupt.
 Corrupted Data / int_6abf16c2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_6abf16c2
featureConfidence
1.0
 Big Finish Doctor Who (Audio Play)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_6abf16c2
 Corrupted Data / int_6db5698
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_6db5698
comment
Transistor: Subject data on Breach()'s source is filled with missing info due to corruption, as his Background info says:
 Corrupted Data / int_6db5698
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_6db5698
featureConfidence
1.0
 Transistor (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_6db5698
 Corrupted Data / int_76686539
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_76686539
comment
Mass Effect uses this in the character creation sequence in order to justify you selecting your Shepard's family and psychological background, as well as his or her class and face.
 Corrupted Data / int_76686539
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_76686539
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mass Effect (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_76686539
 Corrupted Data / int_7de8951a
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_7de8951a
comment
Traveller - The New Era: One of the side effects of infestation by the Virus was a corruption of information transmission, such as Traveller News Service bulletins in Traveller products being replaced by random characters. One of the signs that the Virus had been defeated was Traveller News Service bulletins becoming partially and then fully readable again.
 Corrupted Data / int_7de8951a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_7de8951a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Traveller (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_7de8951a
 Corrupted Data / int_85c23558
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_85c23558
comment
In The Spectrum Retreat, one of Worrall's logs mentions that following some sort of scandal, all of Spectrum's logs have been corrupted or wiped out, meaning the company has no idea who's in their retreats.
 Corrupted Data / int_85c23558
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_85c23558
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Spectrum Retreat (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_85c23558
 Corrupted Data / int_8662248c
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_8662248c
comment
Five Nights At Freddys VR Help Wanted: The game revolves around the fact that the Freddy Fazbear Virtual Experience game has been corrupted by malicious data.
 Corrupted Data / int_8662248c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_8662248c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Five Nights at Freddy's VR: Help Wanted (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_8662248c
 Corrupted Data / int_bcb32dc6
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_bcb32dc6
comment
Shadowrun
Supplement Virtual Realities
The Hog virus takes over the memory used by other files, causing them to crash.
Scramble IC will corrupt the file it's protecting to prevent it from being copied.
Short story "Virtual Realities". The "Matrix Born Project" file which was the source of the story was corrupted. An attempt is made to reconstruct it but was only 61% successful.
Several supplements mention that a computer file was corrupted by some kind of software attack, usually a virus or IC (defense program).
Corporate Shadowfiles. Aztechnology got into Shadowland and planted a virus that edited their entry in the title work.
Tir Tairngire. On five different occasions someone working for the title country got into Shadowland and corrupted or deleted files about it.
Threats. The Alamos 20,000 file was corrupted by a heavy viral attack before Shadowland received it.
 Corrupted Data / int_bcb32dc6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_bcb32dc6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Shadowrun (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_bcb32dc6
 Corrupted Data / int_c399cd39
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_c399cd39
comment
It's mentioned in Eclipse Phase that something like this can theoretically happen to saved backups. It gets a lot more corrupt when the Exsurgent virus gets involved.
 Corrupted Data / int_c399cd39
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_c399cd39
featureConfidence
1.0
 Eclipse Phase (Tabletop Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_c399cd39
 Corrupted Data / int_c7fe972d
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_c7fe972d
comment
TRON 2.0: This trope is encountered all over the place. Virus-infected Z-Lots will have garbled names. Attacking with a certain weapon will cause the Program to convulse and stammer error messages. If a virus infects Jet's Profiler subroutine, then the input for enemy names and stats are garbled. Considering the universe we're dealing with, all of it is perfectly Justified.
 Corrupted Data / int_c7fe972d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_c7fe972d
featureConfidence
1.0
 TRON 2.0 (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_c7fe972d
 Corrupted Data / int_db097a73
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_db097a73
comment
Star Trek The Light Fantastic: Moriarty's "world" suffers this twice. First when the Enterprise-D crashes on Veridian III and then again during the events of Immortal Coil. Both times he says it was akin to being folded in half and expecting the universe to simply cease to exist, followed by chaos.
 Corrupted Data / int_db097a73
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_db097a73
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Trek The Light Fantastic
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_db097a73
 Corrupted Data / int_e755f69b
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_e755f69b
comment
In Batman: Arkham Origins, the opening level has Batman finding a smashed surveillance drone. He retrieves the memory chip from the wreckage, but finds that it's badly damaged. He takes it back to the Batcave to restore it, when allows him to find out about the 50 million dollar bounty and the eight assassins coming after him.
 Corrupted Data / int_e755f69b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_e755f69b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Batman: Arkham Origins (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_e755f69b
 Corrupted Data / int_eb3f3551
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_eb3f3551
comment
Mass Effect: Andromeda: Any and all Remnant data archives, thanks to the Scourge, but it is massively frustrating. Ryder doesn't find any coherent information until one location well towards the end of the game (and even then).
 Corrupted Data / int_eb3f3551
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_eb3f3551
featureConfidence
1.0
 Mass Effect: Andromeda (Video Game)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_eb3f3551
 Corrupted Data / int_ed2a7866
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_ed2a7866
comment
Sword Art Online: Depending on how you look at it, how Kirito lost nearly all of his Aincrad items or how he kept his stats and one particularly important item when he started ALO. Also, why he happened to meet Leafa, of all people, when starting ALO.
 Corrupted Data / int_ed2a7866
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_ed2a7866
featureConfidence
1.0
 Sword Art Online
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_ed2a7866
 Corrupted Data / int_ef076a36
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_ef076a36
comment
Star Trek: Voyager: In Season 4, Voyager is able to make use of a Lost Technology communication network to briefly make contact with Earth. The network is destroyed, but they're able to receive a communication package containing mail from home and a lengthy encrypted message from Starfleet, which unfortunately has become damaged due to being relayed over thousands of light years, so they can't decode it until they get the help of an alien translation expert. He reveals it's directions to a Starfleet experimental vessel that's been sent to them on autopilot. Janeway however suspects this is Too Good to be True, and is able to use the translator's work to decode the message herself. Turns out the Starfleet message is just an Info Dump of maps and other data on the Delta Quadrant, and the alien is luring them into a trap.
 Corrupted Data / int_ef076a36
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_ef076a36
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Trek: Voyager
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_ef076a36
 Corrupted Data / int_f8df4747
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_f8df4747
comment
The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye has an illness known as "information creep", where a Transformer's brain module (particularly those of exceptionally old cases) unconsciously or subconsciously rewrites past memories, resulting in a distorted view of what really happened. This handily explains why few remember Cybertron's distant past, despite several characters in the present day having lived through it.
 Corrupted Data / int_f8df4747
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_f8df4747
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Corrupted Data / int_f8df4747
 Corrupted Data / int_fc5e624d
type
Corrupted Data
 Corrupted Data / int_fc5e624d
comment
Zoviet France evokes this trope heavily in their music, they rely heavily on the decomposition of both their instruments and even their recording devises, claiming it aids in the intangibility of the music. Digilouge evokes this to a T, from the random clippings and chirpings to the art work dipicting a Matrix-like corruption of a computer system.
 Corrupted Data / int_fc5e624d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Corrupted Data / int_fc5e624d
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1.0
 Zoviet France (Music)
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Corrupted Data / int_fc5e624d

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Garakowa Restore The World / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Eternals (2021) (Comic Book) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) (Comic Book) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 .hack (Franchise) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Star Trek The Light Fantastic / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Eclipse Phase (Tabletop Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Paranoia (Tabletop Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Shadowrun (Tabletop Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Traveller (Tabletop Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 ANNO: Mutationem (Video Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Alien: Isolation (Video Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Disney Magic Kingdoms (Video Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Knights of the Old Republic (Video Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Marathon (Video Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Mass Effect (Video Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 TRON 2.0 (Video Game) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 qxlkbh (Webcomic) / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data
 Thursday Next / int_8eef9b71
type
Corrupted Data