Collective of the Retconning Crocodiles
The Collective of the Retconning Crocodiles was a malevolent organisation made up of intelligent, time- and dimension-travelling crocodiles.
Nature
The Retconning Crocodiles were described as “so-called ‘quantum reptiles’” by the Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids' Book of Evil. (PROSE: The Book of Evil) They were believed to dwell in an interstitial dimension known as the Time Sewers, from which they could access whatever other universes they wanted, spontaneously creating manholes that connected the Sewers to the world of their destination. (COMIC: The Beginner's Guide to Multiversal Theory)
The Crocodiles worshipped Lord Thymon from afar as the “Great Time God”, but he had no knowledge of them until after his retirement to the Cupid Homeworld. (COMIC: Time-Out)
History
The sentient crocodiles making up the Collective were among the creatures genetically engineered by Professor Scarper of the First Horde using a mutagen initially developed to create creatures loyal to the Horde. Even after the Horde stopped funding Scarper's experiments, erasing all knowledge of themselves from him or them, this meant that Scarper's creations were compelled to form Strangely-Colored Secret Societies of their own. The crocodiles followed this pattern, arranging themselves into the Collective of the Retconning Crocodiles. (PROSE: The Strangely-Colored Secret Societies)
Doctor Sigma mentioned the Collective of the Retconning Crocodiles' Time Sewers as part of a lecture on the various existing methods of interdimensional travel. As an example, he showed images of a Retconning Crocodile using the Sewers to access a natural location where there should not have been any utility manholes, to the puzzlement of a Red-Bearded Gnome. (COMIC: The Beginner's Guide to Multiversal Theory)
At some point, a Retconning Crocodile was captured by the Drove of the Database-Compiling Dromedaries and imprisoned in Research Laboratory 6, but it was able to rewrite time to erase its capture from the timeline. It chose to leave behind a taunting note informing the Dromedaries of what had occurred, rather than leave them blissfully ignorant that they'd had any contact with the Collective at all. Darius would later mention this incident to Pessimist-242. (PROSE: Pessimist and the Dromedaries)
The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids had various files on the Crocodiles in their Archives, but they kept disappearing; although Herodotus-724 thought there was a chance they had simply been misplaced, it seemed sadly likely to Bibliophile-962 that the Crocodiles had retconned them out of existence to protect their secrets. (PROSE: The Time of the Toymaker, The Case Against Conspiracy, COMIC: The Beginner's Guide to Multiversal Theory) It was also suspected that Crocodile retconning occasionally affected other Files in the Archive; for example, Fact File #444, concerning the Faction of the Fooling Fish, once claimed that their first meeting with the Cupids had occurred in 2011 rather than 2019. (PROSE: The Faction of the Fooling Fish)
At one point, the Crocodiles developed a new temporal manipulation device called the Upstream Staff , which would make its wielder's time-stream run backwards relative to their environment — though in discrete chunks, corresponding to turns in a conversation, rather than moment by moment. A Retconning Crocodile travelled to the Cupid Homeworld and showed the Staff to a Cupid, but they both got angry due to talking at literal cross purposes because the Crocodile had inadvertently activated the Staff. (COMIC: Crocodile Time)
Some type later, another Crocodile travelled to the Cupid Homeworld, presenting Pythagoras-858 with a contract allegedly signed by the Crew in the future which pledged allegiance to the Collective. The Crocodile argued that the Cupids had no choice but to sign it to avoid a paradox. Pythagoras dodged out of the situation by burning the contract with his pocket lighter, rendering the signing of it irrelevant as it would be destroyed before the Crocodiles could do anything with it. (COMIC: Time Loops & Treachery)
When he visited the Interdimensional Black Market, Doctor Curious bumped into a “pompous crocodile” and managed to steal the Story Rewriter 3000, a powerful time-rewriting device, without his notice. (PROSE: The Companions of Doctor Curious)
At some point, yet another Retconning Crocodile found his way to the Cupid Homeworld and bumped into Lord Thymon, the first the Crocodiles' discovered of Thymon's presence in the Homeworld. The Crocodile tried to act as an obedient servant to the “Great Time God”, only for a bemused Thymon to demonstrate his change of heart by telling the Crocodile that they did not have much to say to one another unless the Crocodile needed some mail delivered. (COMIC: Time-Out)
Cupid Fact File #1225 listed three “narrative parasites” who had proven able to penetrate the Cupid Homeworld's conceptual shields. The second and third were the white rabbits and Santa Claus; the first was redacted. (PROSE: Father Christmas)
The Geometron Pentagon once brokered an ill-fated alliance with the “horrible three-dimensional reptiles”, which, after its failure, eroded the population's trust in the Pentagon. (PROSE: Multiversal Mischief) They were also involved in the quest for the Frost King's treasure, as were the Wellsians. (PROSE: The Time of the Toymaker)
