Aborted Arc: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"It's like the writers were just looking for little subplots to fill up the script, and when they got bored of it, they just abandoned it and moved on to something else."''|'''Chris Stuckmann''' on [[The Amazing Spider-Man]]'s Uncle Ben [[revenge]] subplot, from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}9YovqTucrrA his review of the film].}}
When [[An Arc]] disappears off the face of the storyline without warning, never to be heard from again.
For a long while viewers will likely be under the impression that the disappeared major [[Plot Point]] will pop up any minute
Why did this happen? It's anyone's guess, most of the time. Maybe the fans complained. Maybe a crucial cast member quit the show. Maybe [[Executive Meddling|the powers that be]] didn't like it. Maybe the writers just realized it was a lousy idea. Maybe [[They Just Didn't Care]]. This weighs rather heavily on the [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]], but [[Tropes Are Not Bad|sometimes]] the best way to execute an [[Author's Saving Throw]] and get rid of an element that isn't doing the story any favors is to just [[Canon
Mainly a series trope; writers will usually avoid this if they can, and you can always go back and edit a stand-alone work before publishing, unless the deadline is really pressing. At best, it's a gross violation of [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]]; at worst, this is done for no reason whatsoever and rends the plot asunder to create a fresh new [[Plot Hole]].
Cases where there ''is'' a resolution eventually, no matter how trite or sudden, aren't this
Compare with: [[What Could Have Been]], [[Kudzu Plot]], [[The Chris Carter Effect]], [[Creator Breakdown]], [[Franchise Killer]], [[What Happened to
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* The manga based on the ''[[Galaxy Angel (
* In the ''[[Pokémon (
** In the ''Best Wishes'' iteration of the anime, we have a case of an aborted ''conclusion'' to a near-finished arc. The subplot with Team Rocket and the "Meteonite", a space rock with special destructive powers, is built up for several episodes and ''just'' as the epic two-part conclusion to this subplot is about to air, [[Too Soon|an earthquake devastates Japan and the episodes are pulled from rotation]]. It has yet to be seen when the episodes will air, but as it stands, the storyline just abruptly stops.
*** The worse part? Those 2 episodes were the debut of Team Plasma! Ash is on his 7th gym badge as of the current Japanese airing. It may look like Team Plasma will be absent from the anime altogether. In terms of current storylines, the only two things that even come close are the Don tournaments and pretty much what Ash does in every canon region.
**** There are hints that the Meteonite arc will be recycled (if not give it once was) in ''Best Wishes 2'', which will feature Team Rocket and Giovanni once again. The GS Ball - or at least, the plot involving Celebi travelling with Ash - is to be reimagined with Meloetta travelling with Ash and Co. (which certainly explains her reputed presence in the Pikachu Short for Movie 15). Talk about [[Arc Welding]]...
* The ''[[
* In the ''[[Ranma ½
* The penultimate chapter of ''[[
* A famous example: Dagomon and the Dark Ocean from the second season of ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Pokémon (
** Judging by the presence of a volume number, it would seem that ''[[
** Similarly ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* This is a major complaint by fans of ''[[
** Orihime decided to use her powers to erase the Hogyouku from existence. This was never heard from again.
** There were evidently insinuations that Orihime was modified by Aizen, which was never explored.
** A huge chunk of characters and plot points are left unresolved at the end of the Arrancar saga. Either they will be expanded at a later point, or never brought up again. At ''best'', we'll see what happened to them [[All There in the Manual|in the next characters' databook]].
** The backstory of Ginjou and Tsukishima.
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[Cerebus
* A constant problem in DC and [[Marvel Comics]] of the last few years, especially in series about second- or third-division characters, as character or plot arcs are constantly derailed by massive [[Crossover]] events. A [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade was hung]] on it in the penultimate issue of Dan Slott's ''[[She Hulk]]'' run, in which the characters were forced under threat of death to give the reader a high speed run-through of how all the arcs were ''intended'' to have worked out, before being interrupted by the [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]] and World War Hulk crossover events.
* ''[[
** Hal Jordan met a rogue Lantern named Malvolio, who used a [[Batman Gambit]] to get Hal to replace his own ring with Malvolio's and leave. What this was supposed to accomplish was never followed up on, though many fans pointed to it later as a way to press the [[Reset Button]] on Hal's badly done [[Face Heel Turn]]. (In the end, the Button was pressed a different way.)
** Another example is Gerard Jones' characterization of the Guardians of the Universe. Throughout his 45 issues on the book, Jones planted many clues that related to his plans for the Guardians. When [[Executive Meddling]] changed the plans, many of the odd behaviors of the Guardians (and characters' observations of same) were left dangling and unresolved.
* For readers versed in [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] [[
** The ''[[Seven Soldiers]]'' also featured Gimmix, a relative of the original Merry who used a hilariously low-budget version of the identity, but ''still'' didn't follow up on Mary Kramer.
* ''[[Elf Quest]]''
** Several storylines used to be published in an anthology title from 1996 to '99. ''Future Quest'', taking place some 900 years after most other stories, was put on hold indefinitely to avoid spoilers for other planned stories. Then the anthology was discontinued for financial reasons. ''Wolfrider'' wrapped up neatly in the trade paperback. ''Mender's Tale'' and ''Wavedancers'' had additional chapters been made available online in 2008, partly in script- or unfinished form; ''Wavedancers'' still has no conclusion.
** Similarly, the Summer Special ''Recognition'' was meant as a teaser for a new trade paperback, but then DC Comics bought the publishing rights for ''Elfquest'', and did not want to pick that title up. Additional parts are available online now, but there is no conclusion yet.
* ''[[X-Men]]: The End'', was an attempt to bring each and every one of the seemingly hundreds of aborted arcs introduced over the decades. So the Arc to End all
* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Doctor Who Magazine
* In 2010, the ''[[Transformers Timelines
* In ''[[The Death of Superman]]'' arc, Doomsday was originally supposed to be an escapee from an intergalactic insane asylum. You can see hints of this origin in his first few panels, where he commits random acts of violence with maniacal laughter drawn in. When mental health advocates caught wind of this and protested the treatment of the mentally ill as dangerous lunatics,<ref>Where were these people when every [[Batman]] villain ever was introduced?</ref>
* As a [[Long Runner]], ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (
* In ''[[
* Happened entirely too often with Rob Liefeld's creator-owned work. Most quarter bins will have issues from series that never went past the first couple of issues, set-ups for crossovers that never actually happened, storylines that were abandoned mid-plot... the list goes on. Some of the most prominent examples include:
** ''Youngblood: Imperial'' and ''Youngblood: Bloodsport'' minis
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*** Seeing as ''Supreme'' has been relaunched, it did continued from The Return storyline while featuring a 90s-era Supreme.
** And most of Alan Moore's plans for Awesome Comics line in general.
** There was even a crossover planned between ''Youngblood'' and''[[Power Rangers
* [[Jonathan Hickman]]'s ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'' epic, ''The War of the Four Cities''. The four blocs are the Lost City of the High Evolutionary (tied to Silver Age villain the Mole Man), the floating city of the Universal Inhumans (tied to, well, the Inhumans), the hidden lives of the Cult of the Negative Zone (tied to Annihilus), and the Last Kings of Old Atlantis (tied to Namor the Sub-Mariner)... who kind of... died suddenly. Presumably when Hickman realised that with Namor and the surviving Atlanteans living under [[X
* In a guest-writer spot on ''[[Justice Society of America]]'', Jerry Ordway, author of ''Power of [[Shazam]]'', seemed to be setting up an ongoing storyline about the Shazam characters; it involved Billy and Mary being depowered (undoing the [[Dork Age]] where Billy was the wizard and Mary was evil), the wizard acting irrational, and the introduction of the Rock of Eternity's [[Evil Counterpart]], the Rock of Finality. While Ordway never got the chance to continue this, Edgar Wallace's subsequent ''Shazam'' one-shots seemed content to keep things in a holding pattern until he did, while adding other elements such as the return of Blaze. Then [[Flashpoint]] and the [[New 52]] happened, and Captain Marvel was one of the characters who got completely reset. Not only is the arc aborted; in current continuity ''none of it happened''.
* In as much as there is continuity, one ''[[Dilbert (Comic Strip)|Dilbert]]'' comic involved Dogbert raising an army of cloned vegetables. It was supposed to be longer, but Scott Adams found it wasn't as funny as he thought it would be, so he actually stated in comic he was ending the arc by "skipping ahead to the big finish." Another arc, featuring the death of Dilbert, was also resolved quicker than planned when Adams ran out of ideas.▼
* A two-week 1995 ''[[FoxTrot (Comic Strip)|FoxTrot]]'' storyline had Paige getting the role of Cleopatra in the school's Antony and Cleopatra play, (with Morton playing Antony, of course). The story ended before the play started, with Roger noticing Paige's name in the play program. After that strip, the story suddenly ended, with no actual strips of the play being performed, and the story was never mentioned again. ▼
* In the newspaper comic ''[[Luann (Comic Strip)|Luann]]'', creator Greg Evans had planned a storyline which revealed the reason [[Shallow Love Interest]] Aaron Hill was so uninterested in Luann's (or anyone else's) advances: he simply wasn't interested... [[Coming Out Story|in girls]]. Evans got cold feet, fearing he didn't have enough of a subscriber base to absorb the potential loss of paper slots, like [[For Better or For Worse|Lynn Johnston]] did when she pulled a similar storyline. So he [[Author's Saving Throw|altered the story]] so that Aaron was hiding a relationship with the much older Dianne. Both characters were soon [[Put On a Bus]] after this story was done.▼
* ''[[Doonesbury (Comic Strip)|Doonesbury]]'' decided to celebrate its 20th anniversary year (1990) with a big epic storyline in which all the strips' various [[Plot|plotlines]] and characters converged together, with practically the entire cast all ending up at Mike's apartment. Creator Garry Trudeau ended up writing himself into a corner with the arc, which had everyone together but didn't give them anything to do. The arc got weirder when Mike's house was mistaken for a crack den and raided by federal agents. Trudeau decided the whole thing had gotten out of hand, and undid the entire arc by revealing that the last several months worth of strips had been [[All Just a Dream]].▼
* ''[[Heart of the City (Comic Strip)|Heart of the City]]'' story arcs often end suddenly with no further explanation. An example is an arc where Heart's mom agrees to go on a date, which Heart dreads until she learns that the man is a talent agent. After that, the arc ended.▼
* Lampshaded in a [[Peanuts]] strip in which Snoopy is writing a novel. One part of the plot involves a king living in luxury while his people starved. In tying up the plot threads, Snoopy left him out.▼
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In ''[[I Am Legend]]'', Robert Neville lays a trap that captures a female dark seeker. Shortly after, a male dark seeker goes to look, even briefly exposing himself to sunlight. Neville theorizes that the dark seekers have started to lose their remaining higher brain functions, and with them some of their basic survival instincts. However, the next day Neville is caught in a trap very similar to the one he set, hinting that the dark seekers may be more intelligent than he thinks. In the original ending, the dark seekers come to rescue the female dark seeker and spare Neville's life; due to bad test audience reactions and [[Executive Meddling]] looking for a [[Sequel Hook]], the ending was changed and the implication ignored. As [http://www.cracked.com/article_16258_5-awesome-movies-ruined-by-last-minute-changes.html Cracked.com] put it, "The original ending is available as a bonus scene on the recent DVD release, where it is advertised as the "controversial original ending." Yes, coming to a peaceful reconciliation with your enemies is now more controversial than blowing them right the fuck up".
* ''[[
* Julianne Moore notably has prominent billing in the film of ''[[The Fugitive (
* Both ''[[Friday the 13th (
* ''[[Halloween (
* The ''[[Hellboy (
* ''[[The Room]]'' loves this trope so much it uses it at least three times: In one subplot, Denny has a brief run in with a drug dealer; In another, Michelle's boyfriend Mike are shamed by Lisa and Claudette walking in on him with Michelle in Johnny and Lisa's living room; and another one - and here's the kicker - has Claudette telling Lisa that she has breast cancer, something that NOBODY ELSE MENTIONS. Not even CLAUDETTE HERSELF. All of these subplots are introduced and immediately forgotten.
* In the third ''[[Halloweentown (
** There's a vague [[Hand Wave]] where Marnie says that she can't be open about her magic because "a few people" still have [[Fantastic Racism]], but other than that, nothing. The [[Hand Wave]] is more about it being the first-year creatures other than witches are allowed at the university, and therefore not all creatures have magic and it wouldn't be fair for witches to use their magic to do work. The reason for other creatures being allowed is because lots of witches were going to college in the human world and there weren't enough students for the university. This could work to make humans finding out about other creatures the whole reason for the story, but since the portal was opened in the second movie so they could leave their world anyway, it's still an aborted arc.
* In the end of ''[[
* In ''[[The Final]]'', when the outcasts are setting up their torture chamber, they mention how they are rigging the place with webcams in order to send a message to high school students all across the country. This is never brought up again.
* The opening scene of ''[[Johnny Mnemonic]]'' establishes that the protagonist needs to do [[One Last Job]] in order to have enough money to afford an expensive "procedure" that he can have done to restore lost childhood memories. This charachter motivation sets the rest of the plot in motion, but the importance of needing money for the procedure {{spoiler|and needing the procedure itself to restore the protagonist's lost memories}} is abandoned as soon as the scene ends.
== Literature ==
* The ''[[
* ''[[Wild Cards]]'' had some plots abandoned, presumably because some creators left, probably taking their copyrighted characters with them. Tachyon's infection with the Typhoid version of the virus is treated as something that can be cured by another character who disappears from the series. Tachyon is also jumped into a different woman than his girlfriend, a Chris Claremont creation.
* The ''[[
* K.A. Applegate's series ''[[Remnants]]'' suffered major [[Chris Carter Effect]], meaning many arcs were left
* A major hazard of the multi-author format of the ''[[New Jedi Order]]'' series. Perhaps most notable were the arcs dealing with the Insiders, a conspiracy set up by the heroes that was to keep [[La Résistance]] going even if the Yuuzhan Vong destroyed the New Republic, and Tahiri's possible destiny as a half-human half-Yuuzhan Vong [[Dark Messiah]], but smaller arcs were dropped as well.
* ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' ends with the revelation that some dinosaurs have escaped to the Costa Rican mainland. Once Site B is introduced, no mention is made of them. This is briefly discussed in the second book, where on character mentions that they tried to look for them and found nothing, but the jungles of Costa Rica are dense enough that they could easily remain hidden there.
* ''[[Perry Rhodan]]'', given its nature as an extreme [[Long Runner]] written by a ''team'' of authors, is quite full of plot lines that [[What Happened to
* In the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Wings of Fire'', one plotline involves Sky Masters, Inc. being the victim of a takeover, with the heads of the purchasing company having a [[Child Prodigy]] daughter that really impresses Jon. All this is seemingly forgotten by the next book.
* The [[Star Trek: Voyager Relaunch]] novels switched authors after book four, and there's at least one major Aborted Arc. By the end of the ''Spirit Walk'' books, arch-foe the rogue changeling had taken control of the government on the planet Kerovi. No-one knew he was there, and he was clearly up to something dangerous. It seemed as though the arc was being set up to be a big one, but it was swiftly dropped in ''Full Circle'', the first novel from the second author. He was discovered, and arrested by the Kerovi authorities. In fact, the changeling then dies off screen. We don't even visit Kerovi in ''Full Circle''.
== Live-Action TV ==
* From ''[[The Bill]]'': Very near to the end of Paul Marquess' time as executive producer of the series (2005), there is an episode where WPC Kapoor and PC Valentine work together to uncover the corruption of a uniformed Sergeant over at Barton Street nick. The episode even ends with a [[Sequel Hook]], with PC Valentine informing her that he'll support her if she chooses to follow-through with her allegation, although it will likely drag both of them through the mud (coppers who grass on other coppers, even ones who are genuinely in the wrong, tend to be looked on very unfavourably by their colleagues). Given the heavily serialised nature of the programme at that stage, you might have expected this storyline to be followed up in further episodes, exploring the fallout of this affair. But it wasn't. It was dropped completely. The (off screen) outcome did get a belated mention in WPC Kapoor's final episode three years later, though.
* The fourth season of ''[[
* ''[[Highlander the Series]]''' first season made frequent mention of The Gathering as in the films. It was the very reason Christopher Lambert's Connor came to see Duncan in the first episode with that very title. The murder of Darius and the Watcher/Hunter storyline took over from this, and the emergence of new Immortals in later seasons seemed to belie a final battle being close at hand.
* The disjointed, episodic nature of ''[[Sliders]]'' made it easy for them to follow up good ideas or drop bad ones with each new reality. They could even tease an interesting idea by giving a glimpse of it in an upcoming world or one our heroes just escaped, but never have to flesh out the details. Many abortive arcs came from [[Executive Meddling|the network shooting down]] creator Tracy Torme's attempts to inject continuity into the
* ''[[
* ''[[Seinfeld]]'''s transgression had Jerry and Elaine get back together at the end of Season Two, then started Season Three with them apart (with no explanation). Creator/executive producer [[Larry David]] had always hated the idea of the two of them being together, and had only written that episode that way because he thought it was going to be the series finale.
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'', the archetypal Arc show, had several of these over the years, usually as the result of actors leaving the show. To their credit, the important parts of those arcs were relocated and reassigned to other characters.
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** The whole [[The Mole]] arc which was originally intended to revolve around Laurell Takashima (who only appeared in the Pilot) and was shortly revisited on "Spider in the Web" was "unaborted" {{spoiler|when Andrea Thompson left the show, making Talia [[The Mole]]}}. Furthermore if you believe in the [[Word of God]], Takashima was originally intended to shoot Garibaldi, which was then transferred {{spoiler|to his right-hand officer.}}
** The original plan for "Sleeping in Light" involved Commander Sinclair returning to Babylon 4 {{spoiler|to travel back in time and become Valen}} as per War Without End. When Captain Sheridan inherited the commander's arc, Sinclair's {{spoiler|premature aging}} in War Without End, and Sheridan's {{spoiler|limited lifespan post-Z'ha'dum}} were the patches allowing Sheridan to take Sinclair's place in Sleeping in Light.
* ''[[Star Trek:
** The episode "Conspiracy" introduces a race of mind-controlling slugs that threaten to infiltrate [[The Federation]]. The episode ended with the revelation that the aliens had sent out a homing signal into deep space, presumably as a prelude to a full-scale invasion. They were never seen nor heard from again in any TV series (though they showed up in the non-[[Canon]] novels as being tied to the Trill). They were intended to be a way of introducing the Borg, who were later introduced by other means. The [[Star Trek Expanded Universe|expanded universe]] goes back to this one sometimes; in the comics, [[The Engineer|Geordi]] stumbles on their second invasion attempt, they're trying to start slower by going after a less-advanced race. In the Shatnerverse, Captain Raddison explains to Kirk that her super-secret division exists to protect [[The Federation]] from things that would keep even him up at night. Among her list of incidences, "Parasites of unimaginable power that have three times tried to take over the Federation from within. Ask [[The Captain|Picard]] to tell you about the time he knows about."
** And speaking of those other means, the Season 1 finale involved outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone being mysteriously destroyed, with each side at first thinking the other was responsible. The Borg were meant to be this new threat, but that doesn't track with their debut appearance the following season. In "Q Who?" it's explicitly suggested, if not outright stated, that the Borg destroyed the Neutral Zone outposts. On the other hand, later Borg [[
** There were also the extradimensional abductors in the episode "Schisms", who released a probe into "our" universe which the ''[[Cool Starship|Enterprise]]'' lost track of in an obvious attempt to establish them as a continuing menace. They were never seen nor mentioned again (although these guys, like the above-mentioned parasites, were followed-up upon in the comics).
** Also, there was the whole "warp drive damages reality" problem they introduced in the sixth season of ''[[Star Trek:
* ''[[Doctor Who]]''
** The malevolent unknown force in the middle of the TARDIS, mentioned by the newly regenerated fifth Doctor in the story ''Castrovalva''. This was intended as a reference to another story that would follow it in that season (where the Doctor and crew would indeed discover that there's something evil hidden at the very centre of the Doctor's ship), but the script for this other story was eventually dropped. The reference to it in ''Castrovalva'' wasn't, and it remains unanswered to this day (even in the [[Expanded Universe]]).
** Then there is the Cartmel Masterplan that was supposed to introduce more mysteries about the Doctor's origin and nature. The Old Series was cancelled before anything could come from it, but the [[Expanded Universe]] saved some plotlines.
** The season-long ''Trial of a Time Lord'' introduced Mel, a future companion of the Doctor who showed up to rescue him at the end despite them not having actually met from his point of view. The producers had planned to show this first meeting, but were forced to just plow ahead with Mel as the current companion when Colin Baker was fired.
* In ''[[Strange Luck]]'', Chance's brother mentioned that he'd made a friend in the FBI who could help them. His name was Mulder. The series was canceled before this crossover could happen (although a character suspiciously similar to Chance Harper later appeared in the ''X-Files'' episode "The Goldberg Variation").
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' is infamous for introducing characters, races, and enemies that are never seen again. Examples: Nem (an advanced alien who befriended Daniel in the first season), Nyan (a man who supposedly became Daniel's assistant), the Re'tu faction (who supposedly wanted to wipe out all humans), and the general idea of the great alliance introduced in the "Fifth Race" (Asgard and Ancients get their share of plot, but Nox are never to be seen after helping free Skaara; the Furlings are more a running gag than anything). All planets whose Stargate has been lost/destroyed have not been mentioned again even after the SGC started building ships (such as Heliopolis, on which the "meaning of life" machine is housed).
** Forgetting Nem becomes infuriating in the later seasons. Nem's entire motivation was to find out the fate of his wife, Omaroca, who is revealed by Daniel to have been killed and torn apart by Belus. If this sounds familiar, it's because Belus and Omaroca are also known by the slightly less obscure names of Marduk and Tiamat. In show, Marduk is a Goa'uld who has spent the past five thousand years locked in a ziggurat, and the Eye of Tiamat is part of the same set of [[MacGuffin
** Strangely, though the Re'tu are never seen again, they are ''mentioned'' practically every instance when someone is attacked by something invisible or when there is a threat of unknown origin.
** Jonas Quinn did get a proper send-off and even [[The Bus Came Back|turned up in a later episode]], but it had been hinted, especially in "Prophecy", that his brain was special in some potentially plot-important way, and it was never revealed what this was or what it had to do with anything. His brain was special because [[Instant Expert|he could memorize all Jackson's notes in between seasons]]. If they ever explained ''why'' it was special, but as for ''how'' it was special, his super-learning made him a good [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]].
*** His planet gets a guest appearance on SGU, he doesn't. Blink and you'll miss
* ''[[
** On the subject of the {{spoiler|Asgard Outcasts}}, The heroes have {{spoiler|a [[Magical Database]] containing all of the achievements, both scientific and cultural, of the mainstream Asgard race, something that could be used to negotiate an alliance with those [[Jerkass]] Asgards who have been reduced to using vastly inferior technology to their extinct mainstream counterparts. There could have been a whole plot on the rebirth of the Asgards.}} Presumably the series just ran out of time to tell it.
* ''[[So Weird]]'', the [[Disney Channel|Disney Channel's]] version of ''[[The X-Files]]'', took this a step
* ''[[The Dead Zone]]'' television series started an arc concerning the villain from the book of the same name, Greg Stillson
* ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' is notorious for this, resulting in glaring [[Plot Hole
* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''
** It was planned for the Shanti Virus to be released in the middle of Season 2. When the WGA strike cut the season short, the show runners decided that they didn't want to leave the virus arc unresolved. The ending of episode 11 was reshot to have Peter destroy the virus, and the cliffhanger ending was changed from {{spoiler|Nathan collapsing from the virus during a speech thanking the people of Odessa for having the courage to quarantine themselves}} to {{spoiler|Nathan getting shot during a speech intended to reveal the existence of super powers just before he was going to say that he can fly}}.
** When season 3 degenerated into a [[Random Events Plot]] this happened so much. Sylar is a killer because his Intuitive Aptitude gives him a hunger. {{spoiler|So, when Peter goes to the future and obtains the Intuitive Aptitude, he's pretty fucked because he now has the hunger to open up people's skulls, despite the fact he absorbs powers by proximity. Next episode, just Peter is starting to unleash his inner [[Big Bad]], Arthur takes away all his powers, including Intuitive Aptitude.}} Speaking of the hunger, Sylar was trying to override it {{spoiler|until Noah tells him Angela and Arthur were lying to him, and then he just drops all pretense of being good and instantly becomes evil again.}} There's also the ''entire'' arc about the twelve villains that were supposed to be the worst villains ever, but all the characters stopped caring after Arthur came back to life. Then the Eclipse mini-arc, which was dropped almost as quickly as it was picked up. Adam was dug up, because Angela said he was the key to everything; {{spoiler|turns out that was a lie as well, since nobody even bothered looking for him after Arthur killed him.}} Knox said that all he thought about during his time in level five was revenge on Noah, the man that put him
** There's also the issue of Peter's season 2 girlfriend Caitlin, who got lost in an alternate future that no longer exists. They kind of completely forgot about her after that, and Peter doesn't seem too concerned with getting her back. (In an interview, one of the writers jokingly said that no, Peter didn't really care, then backpedaled and said that she was originally meant to be rescued in the second half of season 2. "But sadly that will never happen...")
{{quote|
** Also, when it was decided that the show would continue following the central characters of season 1 (and not a new group each year, as Tim Kring had planned) numerous possible future arcs were hinted, but ultimately never came to be. Many of them can be seen in Isaac's paintings, such as one of Hiro facing down a ''T. rex'' (obviously, the show never had the budget to do that one). That one actually was wrapped up; right after stealing the sword, Hiro runs into a ''T. rex'' display in a museum.
* ''[[
** There's a story arc involving two characters named Nikki and Paulo, who actually had quite a bit of backstory and [[Plot]] setup to them. They were introduced as [[Recurring Extra|background characters]] who had suddenly acquired more dimension. The problem? The creators didn't use the extras that had long been on the show, any of the recurring minor survivors (eg, Steve), or any mentioned but unseen characters (Tracy, Neil); the new characters' [[Remember the New Guy?|abrupt appearance]] caused quite a bit of [[The Scrappy|fan backlash]]. The intricate plot set up for the two was condensed into a single episode, and the two were summarily killed off.
** Another aborted arc resolves around Libby, who was revealed to have been {{spoiler|in the same mental hospital as Hurley}}. The next episode, she was killed. The Powers That Be originally said her story will be told, later said her story is over and no longer relevant, then reversed again when they brought her back in season 6 {{spoiler|where her time in the mental facility starts to make more sense for the story}}.
** Recently, the producers have revealed that they had a intricate four season arc planned for Eko, until the actor decided to leave. Parts were given to other characters, but the main thrust of it-the conflict between Eko and Locke for the position of "spiritual leader of the Island"-was [[Incredibly Lame Pun|lost]].
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** The producers have also said that Walt will only be seen again in a DVD-exclusive. Indeed, many hinted at arcs from earlier seasons have been forgotten in favor of Jacob and MIB.
** Many people found Ilana's promotion to series regular baffling, given that she had almost no role in the plot outside of "Dr Linus", appeared only once in the flash-sideways and {{spoiler|got blown up randomly}}. According to Zuleikha Robinson (though her account may be wrong), she originally had a longer arc that would have featured her as Jacob's daughter. Sadly, a lack of time made them decide to focus on the original characters more, explaining her quick departure.
* The 4th season of ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'' introduced the character of Dreama, a naive young witch Sabrina was supposed to be tutoring for her Witches License. The story line never really got off the ground and Dreama mostly spent her fairly limited screen time as Greek chorus for Sabrina and a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] for Sabrina's former best friend Valerie. In her final two appearances her character arc was not mentioned at all and she [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|vanished without trace]] in the penultimate episode of the season, without the show ever bothering to mention if she got her License and what happened to her then.
* ''[[
** Possibly the most jarring example of this trope was in the "Andrea" arc. Station owner Jimmy James hires an "efficiency expert" named Andrea, who proceeds to fire Matthew, demote Dave from News Director to reporter and fill the vacant Director's office by promoting Lisa. It was also not-so-subtly implied that she was a [[Psycho Lesbian|lesbian with a fairly violent criminal history]] and a crush on Lisa. After four episodes, Andrea disappeared without so much as an off-camera farewell, Matthew was un-fired by Mr. James and given back his old job, [[Status Quo Is God|all other changes made by Andrea were undone]] (except for Dave and Lisa's job-swap, which took a few more episodes to resolve) and not a single explanation was ever given.
* ''[[Nip Tuck]]'' frequently abandoned whole subplots or characters, sometimes bringing them back many episodes (or even seasons) later in order to hastily close the loose ends.
* ''[[
** Though it's later implied that the Nebari aren't really interested in anyone who doesn't get in the way of their forced utopia and the ones we see are just out tiding up loose ends.
** It wasn't a "cargo ship" that took out the Command Carrier, it was according to them one of their "standard host vessels." Presumably since the Nebari place great emphasis on "peace" this is just an unusual euphemism for a warship.
* ''[[
** Towards the end of an arc, the [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] was defeated and killed, and his (apparently) dumb-blonde trophy wife Mindy was last seen saying that she would be in charge from now on, with an implication that perhaps she had been the prime mover all along. She made one subsequent appearance (again successfully framing someone else for her crimes), and was never mentioned again.
** Similarly, the character of Cat Grant vanished without explanation at the end of Season 1 (removing one-third of the recurring female characters); [[Word of God]] says Cat had to be dropped because she was considered too racy for a PG show.
* This is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in ''[[Friends]]'', where Joey gets a job working at the coffee house, and then simply stops working there. A few episodes later, he and Gunther realize this, and Joey reveals that he quit but forgot to tell him.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' had quite a few of these after it started regularly using Story Arcs.
** ''[[Power Rangers Turbo]]'' had Dimitria's missing twin sister. She was implicitly Divatox, judging by the fact that they were both played by Carol Hoyt... then again, [[The Other Darrin|she was a replacement]] while the actress who played Divatox in the [[Pilot Movie]], Hilary Shepard Turner, was on maternity leave.
*** When Divatox is "purified" in "Countdown to Destruction", she's wearing an outfit identical to Dimitria's, which is as good an answer as we're ever going to get about the twin sister thing.
*** Turbo also left the identity of the Phantom Ranger and his apparent budding relationship with Cassie up in the air.
** The original MMPR Productions version of Ninja Storm would have continued the mythology of a Ranger Alliance first mentioned by Wes in ''Reinforcements from the Future'' and shown in ''Forever Red.'' Head writer Amit Bhaumik had elaborate plans for both Tommy and the Phantom Ranger dashed, like the season, by [[Executive Meddling]]. Upon announcement of Tommy's return in Dino Thunder, some [[Big Name Fan|well connected fans]] made showrunner Doug Sloan aware of those plans and they were incorporated into the broader backstory of Dino Thunder. A subverted case of [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot]], as Bhaumik would not have left the Ranger alliance intact by season's end. Still would have been nice to see most of the Ranger teams on Earth lose their powers as Hayley mentioned, though. [[Word of God|Had Sloan continued on for another season]] we would have gotten that very same mythology used as the backstory of SPD, making this a TWICE
** In ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder|Dino Thunder]]'', Devin was originally planned to become a [[Sixth Ranger]], but this was aborted when it was clear his intended powers were in fact a power up for Red Ranger.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'' we never hear about Mari's hairdressing again and in ''[[Kamen Rider Kabuto]]'' {{spoiler|Hiyori being a Worm}} is also dealt with rather quickly.
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* During ''[[Frasier]]'''s 10th season, an arc was slowly built up where it was suggested that Roz had feelings for Frasier and was jealous over his relationship with Julia Wilcox. In the first episode of Season 11, the old writers from earlier seasons rejoined the show and quickly ended the arc by saying Roz's father had remarried and thus she was scared of losing Frasier as a friend. The characters made up, and nothing more was ever said.
* The entire high school element of ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' Season 1, with incomplete arcs involving a mysterious suicide, implications of teacher-student sexual exploitation, and a male student lusting after Cameron, was just dumped with no explanation at all once Season 2 started. [[Word of God]] says that the creators decided that it was unnecessary and that the show worked better if the central characters weren't even trying to pretend to have a normal life. Also there was a writers strike.
* In [[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|the
** The latter half of Season 3 was going to have a story arc about the Sagitarrons. The [[Word of God|story goes]] that {{spoiler|during the New Caprica arc, the rest of the colonials had run low on food, but the Sagitarrons, being close-to-nature, had grown enough. The Colonial government made the decision to seize their food in order to feed everyone, a kind of reverse ant-grasshopper parable.}} The only remnants of this arc are: the episode ''The Woman King'', and {{spoiler|Baltar whispering to Gaeta during Baltar's imprisonment, which was supposed to tie into this arc}}. The latter was repurposed for the minisodes ''Face of the Enemy''. It might also explain what Tyrol was protesting immediately after the [[Time Skip]]
** Bulldog's mysteriously one-off
* ''[[
** This was actually explained in a blink and you'll miss it scene. Midway through the season Abby speculates that this was a plot by someone (most likely from the CIA) to make Director Shephard look mentally unstable. Leon Vance's remark that Abby is smarter than she looks is about the only answer we'll ever get. It is believed that the reason this plotline was swept under the rug was due to Donald Bellasario stepping down as showrunner and his successor deciding to drop the arc quickly.
* ''[[
* Fez and Laurie's marriage on ''[[That
* Around episode 300, the original ''[[Dark Shadows (TV series)|Dark Shadows]]'' had a storyline where Victoria and Burke were going to move into a house, Seaview, after they get married. The house was strangely unoccupied and Elizabeth agrees to sell it even though the deed says it shouldn't be sold. The popularity of Barnabas Collins probably led to this arc being canceled; it turned out she wasn't allowed to sell the house after all and what was wrong with it was never followed up on.
* On ''[[
* In the first and second series of ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' a ''huge'' amount of time and effort is put into two very distinct plotlines: the assassination attempt by Guy of Gisborne to kill King Richard and Robin's attempts to expose him; and the sheriff's conspiracy to help Prince John usurp the throne by mustering the Black Knights and having them sign the Pact of Nottingham to ensure their loyalty (a [[MacGuffin]] that one regular character actually dies for). Then in the season finale of S2 {{spoiler|Marian is murdered by Guy of Gisborne}}. By the third season the Pact, the Black Knights, and the assassination attempt have been dropped entirely to deal with the repercussions of {{spoiler|Marian's death}}. But then, even ''this'' is aborted in favor of melodramatic family dramas and convoluted love triangles thanks to the introduction of [[Long Lost Sibling|Isabella and Archer]] and [[Shallow Love Interest|Kate]]. The political ramifications of the time period and the basic "rob from the rich to give to the poor" mantra are simply afterthoughts.
* In ''[[The 4400]]'', there was a lot of buildup about Diana's relationship with her father: in the first episode, she calls him when she thinks Earth is about to be destroyed, but he doesn't pick up. Later, she tells Tom that she wishes her father was as good to her as he was to Kyle, and at one point she comments "when you lose your trust in a person, especially a parent, you can never get it back." This arc is promptly dropped. In fact, in one episode where the characters all see people from their pasts, she sees an ex-fiance she's never mentioned before, while ''Tom'' sees his father, who had also never been talked about.
* During Season 6-7 of ''[[
* When season 2 of ''[[Friday Night Lights (TV series)|Friday Night Lights]]'' was cut short by the writers' strike, the showrunners decided to cut their losses and abandon several storylines, including Smash Williams' decision to play football for a small, academically-minded historically black college after losing his scholarship, Tim Riggins and Lyla Garrity's will they or won't they subplot (season 3 began with them together), Lyla Garrity's Christian radio career, and the entire character of juvenile delinquent-turned-star defensive player Santiago Herrera.
* Lots and lots on ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'', most notably the idea that Sydney's whole life had been tinkered with as a top secret CIA project set up by her dad. Not only did the final cut of the episode where it was introduced cut out most of the more obvious references (which mistakenly ended up in the ABC.com recap of the episode for a few hours), but it was dropped completely in the next season opener. Well... sort of. They changed it into something else that contradicted what we DID learn from what we saw of the incriminating file. And they deleted a scene that explained much of what happened that season, only to address it vaguely in the next episode as if we should know what they meant (those who went to ABC.com during another brief window found out). Oh, and the whole plot of Season 3 was cut in half and resolved with Sydney basically being an idiot but still destroying centuries-old magical semen. AND the driving plot behind the series was suddenly dropped in the middle of the second season to make the show more accessible. I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot more.
* In Season 2 of ''[[
* ''[[Brothers and Sisters]]'' strongly implied in its third season finale that Rebecca was bipolar (even tying in the events of the episode to her otherwise forgotten backsgtory). They promptly dropped any references to the storyline in the fourth season.
* Kate Lockley's storyline was dropped from ''[[
** Another notable one is the cyborg plot that was in "Lineage". We never saw any more of it or found out where they really came from.
** Planned storylines for season 6 were either dropped or expanded in After the Fall.
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** Also, after {{spoiler|Debra kills one of the Fuente brothers}}, the other Fuentes brother is still on the loose and is never mentioned again.
** At the Season 4 ending, there is an implication that Debra is about to find out Brian Moser had a brother while at the same time suspecting that Dexter is hiding something. Come Season 5, that plot thread is weakly relegated to Quinn.
* In ''[[
{{quote|
'''Jack:''' Long story. Ambiguous ending. }}
* ''[[Eureka]]''
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** season four brought back the consortium but with new plot line about having to send someone from the future (a.k.a. jack) or Dr. Grant who was from time displaced from the past in order to save the history of the consortium. they also teased TWICE that stark had returned. he did not.
* On ''[[Home and Away]]'', the toxic waste buried in the construction site probably being the cause and [[Justified Trope|justification]] of all the cancer causes of the series, plot line ended with Belle being hospitalized and then shifted over to her drug-abuse arc. The toxic waste has not been touched upon again, not even when Belle herself was {{spoiler|dying of cancer!!}}
* ''[[
** In a second season episode, the White House is politically out-maneuvered by the Republican Majority Leader's new Chief of Staff, played by Felicity Huffman. The episode ends with White House staffers realizing that the majority leader is running for President, with Huffman's shrewd, capable character set up as a major antagonist. Then Huffman took a role on [[Desperate Housewives]], and the majority leader's presidential bid was later dispensed with in a cursory fashion.
** ''[[
* Many times in ''[[
** This plotline may actually be resuming, with {{spoiler|[[And the Fandom Rejoiced|Sam's return to New Directions]].}}
** This also happened earlier in season two with the same character when [[Ambiguously Gay|Sam Evans's]] original planned coming-out arc was dropped in favour of the developing relationship between Kurt and Blaine and the subjective "chemistry" Dianna Agron and Chord Overstreet shared.
** In the penultimate episode of season 2, Sue's Evil League is completely abandoned, Terri leaves the show and actually manages to help New Directions. To top it off, in the same episode Quinn gives a vague threat of doing something to sabotage the club in New York only to just get a haircut the next episode.
** Quinn and Puck's entire relationship (including him confessing his love for her) was completely dropped once they gave their daughter, Beth, up for adoption. The relationship (or, really, Beth in general) would not be brought up again until Season 3, where the show treated their romance as a one-off fling.
* The first series of ''[[Primeval]]'' ends with Nick Cutter going through an anomaly into the Permian era, and coming back out to find that his actions have somehow altered the timeline so that his love interest Claudia Brown has become a different person named Jenny Lewis, as well as a few other changes. The second series makes many references to this mystery ([[In Spite of a Nail|as well as wondering why relatively little has changed]]) but never explains it. In Series 3, the still unexplained arc is apparently abandoned as {{spoiler|Cutter is killed off and Jenny leaves the show}}: apart from a few brief references, it has not been touched upon since.
* In season 3 of ''[[30 Rock
{{quote|
'''Liz:''' ''(uninterested)'' Yeah. }}
* Happened often on ''[[24
** Season two ended with a massive tease of a plotline that had apparently been building for two seasons. Alexander Trepkos (the man who advised Peter Kingsley, the season's [[Big Bad]]) puts in a call to a German arms dealer named Max and tells him that "Plan B" is a go. (In a deleted scene on the boxset, it's revealed that Nina is also with Max, and that the German contact she was in touch with in the first season was Max's associate.) "Plan B" kicks off with the (attempted) assassination of President Palmer...and nothing else. In the third season, Palmer says that the people who tried to kill him were brought to justice. The Max plotline is half-heartedly resolved in ''24: The Game'' (which was released during the fifth season-airing of the show and focuses on events between seasons two and three, long after everyone stopped caring), and never mentions what happened to Trepkos.
** Famously, Behrooz Araz disappears three-quarters of the way through the fourth season after his mother is executed by Marwan (and after having a majority of the season focused on his survival under ridiculous circumstances). His fate is resolved in a deleted scene - he's rescued by Curtis before Marwan's men execute him (and learns about his mother's fate) - but most viewers likely wondered where the hell he went during the original television airings.
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* [[David Bowie]]'s 1995 concept album ''1. Outside'' was supposed to be the first of a series leading up to the millennium. However, further albums continuing the "non-linear gothic drama hyper cycle" never appeared. Almost 15 years on it's probably safe to classify this as an aborted arc.
* [[Sufjan Stevens]] has discontinued his "50 states project", which started with ''Michigan'' and ''Illinois''. Looks like there won't be any more.
== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* In as much as there is continuity, one ''[[
▲* A two-week 1995 ''[[
▲* In the newspaper comic ''[[
▲* ''[[
▲* ''[[
▲* Lampshaded in a [[Peanuts]] strip in which Snoopy is writing a novel. One part of the plot involves a king living in luxury while his people starved. In tying up the plot threads, Snoopy left him out.
== Pro Wrestling ==
Years ago, before the advent of live cable television on Monday nights and the internet, feuds were planned out months in advance rather than week-by-week, meaning that even if an angle were not living up to expectations (e.g., apathetic fan response), it would continue until the earliest opportunity to quietly end the feud. But even in the pre-Attitude/pre-''Monday Night Raw'' era, unplanned events – a wrestler's unexpected death or departure, or a major legit injury, for instance – would often force major changes to a carefully planned storyline, and often force promoters to hastily edit explanations into the already-completed films that were to be distributed to local TV stations.
* In the [[
** It would've eventually been revealed that Mr. Kennedy was involved.
** A year later, the Raw set was sabotaged, with equipment falling on [[Vince McMahon]]. The perpetrator was never revealed, and it wasn't mentioned again after a week or so.
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** The very first vignette actually called it "GDTV" a much less subtle implication that Goldust was the culprit.
** The arc actually did get something of a send-off on Sunday Night Heat, when Glen Ruth (formerly Headbanger Thrasher) displayed GTV footage to acquit Chaz (formerly Headbanger Mosh) in his own domestic violence angle.
* Anyone remember the Fake Kane? Started out as [[Kane (
** This one actually ended. WWE.com had a [[Kayfabe]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20131029064302/http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/unsolvedmysteries
* Not a big aborted arc, but when John Heidenreich debuted on RAW in 2003, he always told people his actions were all done for someone named "Little Johnny". Heidenreich was taken off TV before the identity of Little Johnny could be revealed, but said later in an interview that it would've turned out to be a doll that represented his younger self when he was overweight. He also claimed he could've made the angle work (as people know what it's like to be picked on) but the writers messed it up by making every discussion about "Little Johnny" seem like a [[Double Entendre]].
* In February
* The Katie Vick angle of 2003, involving [[Triple H]] and [[Kane (
* One 2007 episode of Smackdown featured Krissy Vaine debuting after a match with Torrie Wilson and Victoria and beating the crap out of Torrie. She had one backstage segment next week and was never seen again. Behind the scenes she decided wrestling wasn't the right career for her and promptly left. Of course she also injured Torrie's back while training and that resulted in Torrie having to retire from wrestling completely.
* Recent examples from [[TNA]] would be [[Samoa Joe]]'s abduction (...by ninjas) and the mystery Ace of Spades assailant. Both seem to have been dropped in favour of another mystery angle. Again, [[Vince Russo]].
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** It was allegedly supposed to push Barrett vs Taker at Wrestlemania 27 but it was aborted when [[Triple H]] came back.
* Now we have the Anonymous Raw General Manager storyline to add to the list. For months on end, an anonymous General Manager was making matches on Raw through a laptop at the side of the ring, next to the commentary tables. The storyline has apparently been ditched without the audience ever discovering the GM's identity.
** A similar but far worse case would be the "GM-less" era. Back in December
* WCW never did reveal who [[Diamond Dallas Page]]'s mystery benefactor in the white gloves was.
* Speaking of WCW, the mystery of the Hummer driver went on so long, it seemed like it would eventually wind up here, until finaly they did reveal who it was, but so far after the fact that no one really cared anymore.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[
** ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' has a lot of ''potential'' aborted arcs. The possibility that Anoushka (Vlad Dracula's daughter) is The Unholy (superpowered urban legend force of nature) is toyed with again and again, and finally thrown away in the ''Immortal Sinners'' supplement. Thankfully, the in-character artifact clanbooks allowed the various freelance writers to wrap up their pet storylines, with the unfortunate side effect of so many of those favorite storylines being given pat [[Word of God]] bullshit tie-ups to shut the fans up.
** The "Glass Armonium" [[MacGuffin]] shut down many plot hooks.
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== Theme Parks ==
* Sometimes, at [[Disney Theme Parks]], Imagineers will add something to an attraction while it's being built for some purpose, only to eventually go in a different direction, leaving an element in the attraction that leads nowhere. Some examples:
** The nods to dragons and unicorns in Animal Kingdom were hinting towards a land that they ended up never building, Beastly Kingdom, focusing on fantasy creatures. The only things left of that (so far) are a dragon shaped rock formation near Camp Minnie Mickey, a bridge that looks like the entrance to a castle, and the big dragon who appears on the park's logo to the confusion of many a guest. The concept of including mythological creatures into the park was eventually picked up by Expedition Everest's Yeti, but has yet to be paid off in full.
** The animatronic raven in ''[[The Haunted Mansion]]'' was originally going to be the "narrator" of the ride, which ended up being much better implemented with the "Ghost Host" being piped in through the Doom Buggy's individual speakers. The ravens, however, are still situated throughout the ride, flapping and beaking as if they were saying something.
** In the super-secret-invite-only Club 33 restaurant, several disused animatronic animal heads hang from the wall. Walt had planned to be able to speak through them to his guests. The idea was abandoned because it was deemed too silly for a high-class restaurant, and because of privacy concerns. The idea sort of came to fruition at the recently shut-down Adventurers' Club in [[Disney Theme Parks|Disney World's]] Pleasure Island.
** These are also a form of [[Dummied Out]].
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* In ''[[Primal]]'', Scree grills Jen about her [[Power Tattoo]], saying the symbol is very important, and asking where the designer saw it. While the same symbol is seen all throughout the game, we're never told why it's so important, or what it means.
* In the early days of ''[[Toontown Online]]'', there was a video played during the download that featured a giant robot who was brought to life by [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe|Scrooge McDuck]] that creates the first Cogs, who would then go on to endlessly manufacture more. This video was taken down on some countries' versions of the site, particularly the American one. Since then, the releases of the Cog HQ's have made it seem like the four types of Cogs are separately ruled by four different bosses. {{spoiler|However, defeating the CEO results in hearing a bit of his dialogue about the "Chairman," who some fans think will turn out to be the robot from the download video, but several still disagree.}}
* All ''[[
* Happens occasionally in ''[[
** A few epic archetypes, the Avilians and Blood of the Black Stream are referenced in the game but never seen while Incarnates were promised early on but never appeared until it was revealed that a certain few NPCs are of this type but the archetype is still not available to players. Also there is The Coming Storm, which has been coming for well over a year now and has not had any updates in just as long.
** Each contact (Quest giver) has at least one group of missions that tells a story between them. Since you're not obligated to accept future missions from a contact if you don't want to, you can abandon arcs all on your own.
* The {{spoiler|"runner assassins"}} in ''[[
* There are so many of these in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' that they could form a folder all to themselves, although it's worth noting that [[Blizzard Entertainment]] has been revisiting some of them. A ''very'' concise summary:
** The Chained Essence of Eranikus quest line from Sunken Temple ended with the [[Plot Coupon]] being handed to an NPC in Winterspring, with a promised followup that never occurred. Later, Eranikus was summoned and redeemed by players as part of the Ahn'Qiraj opening quest line, but the quests themselves are completely unconnected in gameplay terms.
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** The Missing Diplomat quest line started in Stormwind and took players up to the reveal of King Varian Wrynn's abduction by the Defias Brotherhood. It was never followed up in-game, but did receive extensive treatment in the [[All There in the Manual|tie-in comics and novels]]. Come ''Wrath of the Lich King'', Varian suddenly reappeared in charge of Stormwind with a [[Darker and Edgier]] look and a [[Hand Wave|microscopically thin]] in-game explanation.
** The human kingdom of Kul Tiras is not even shown on the map, despite the fact that a large number of NPCs are stated to have come from there (including the entire human population of Theramore). Blizzard has openly admitted that there are presently no plans to formally add the island nation to the game. Gilneas was in a similar situation until ''Cataclysm'' was announced.
** The supposed alliance between the Blue Dragonflight and the Ethereum during the Nexus War in
** The "Purification of The Ashbringer" subplot. The Ashbringer is a powerful holy sword, owned by the paladin Alexandros Mograine and lost when he fell to darkness. The corrupted version could be acquired in old Naxxramas, kicking off a quest chain that ended with the promise of purifying the Ashbringer in a future expansion. Come ''Wrath of the Lich King'', Darion Mograine, the son of the original bearer, gives it to uber-Paladin and general [[The Messiah|messianic]] [[Badass]] Tirion Fordring in the midst of a [[Heel Face Turn]]. Tirion's faith in turn purifies the Ashbringer. Players who owned the original sword were left disappointed.
** The Vashj'ir storyline, and the war between the naga and Neptulon's forces. Toward the end of the storyline, Neptulon is forced to retreat to the Throne of the Tides, and at the end of the Ozumat encounter, he is abducted by Ozumat again after players reduce Ozumat to around 10% HP. There was going to be a 5-man dungeon in the Abyssal Maw, in which players would go inside the third ancient of Vashj'ir, and among other enemies, fight the Battlemaiden they had been controlling in the past visions quests. Blizzard scrapped the Abyssal Maw zones, deciding that Throne of the Tides was the conclusion to the storyline.
* No less than two separate examples of this in ''[[Breath of Fire IV]]'':
** Thanks to Capcom's [[Bowdlerization]] of non-Japanese, non-Playstation versions of the game, there is an
** Game designers were intending to kill Yuna off in the original script. In fact (according to [[Word of God]]) they had not one but ''two'' proposed methods: Mauling By Fou-Lu's Foo Dogs, or General Rhun killing
** The ''manga'' adaptation of ''IV'' gave some satisfaction on one end, and Much Cursing Ensued on the other. The manga adaptation of the scene between Fou-lu and Soniel {{spoiler|features Fou-lu literally backstabbed and run completely through--with Fou-lu manifesting an energy sword and decapitating him whilst ''still having the Dragonslayer sticking through him''; Fou-lu then shoves this out by hand. Truly a [[
* ''[[Jak and Daxter]]: The Lost Frontier'' gave Daxter a [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Dark Eco-powered Evil Side]] just like his buddy Jak. It had interesting story potential since {{spoiler|the [[
* The [[All There in the Manual|bundled documentation]] of ''[[Escape Velocity]] Nova'' mentioned TCTLIDS, and its use to create a [[Fantastic Drug]] called FATE. The game's FAQ reveals that TCTLIDS was supposed to stand for "The Creature That Lives In Deep Space" before being removed from the Nova universe during its development.
* Capcom left the original ''[[Dino Crisis]]'' story hanging, in favor of [[Recycled in Space|Dinosaurs In SPACE In the Future]] for the third (and final) installment.
* It has been [http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Arbiter.html speculated] that ''[[
* In chapter one of ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'', Lenneth decides to commit a vampire's name to memory after hearing about it after performing soul transfer on Belenus. However, we don't actually ''meet'' this vampire.
* In the second ''[[The Black Mirror
* In ''[[Gears of War]] 2'', Delta Squad visits New Hope, an abandoned COG research facility filled with horrible humanoid mutants called "Sires." They are never explained in the game canon, the only evidence about them came from an Epic developer's post on the official forums where he claimed their story had been cut from ''3''. Essentially, they were performing horrible research on humans and Myrrah was one of the subjects. With her Human/Locust hybrid DNA, she was able escape and become leader of the Locust horde.
* In ''[[Super Princess Peach]]'', there are a series of cutscenes that talk about Perry (Peach's talking umbrella), and how he {{spoiler|was once human.}} However, this never expanded upon and we never learn who was responsible.
* Freya in ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' appears this way as she and her relationship with Fratley was never explored. We'll never know what's his deal.
* In ''[[
* Ike and Elincia had a far amount of [[Ship Tease]] in ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'', which pretty much dissappeared without a trace in the sequal, Radiant Dawn.
* In ''[[The Devil on G-String]]'', if you take Tsubaki or Mizuha's paths, the entire story around international mafia overlord Maou is straight up abandoned. Unlike many examples of this trope, the abortion, at the very least in the Tsubaki route, is fully acknowledged by Haru saying to leave the Maou issue to her during the final scene in the school, followed by a few lines in the final scene reminiscing about how she was only there for 3 months and left.
** It persists for a little bit if you take Kanon's route, given the nature of the story.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
** The comic was going to have [[Opposite
** Sensei Greg, [[Evil Counterpart|Lord Tedd]], and several other characters have disappeared or show up almost never. Sensei Greg has now returned, but whether or not [[Evil Counterpart|Lord Tedd's]] arc will actually be concluded is still up for grabs. [[Word of God|Dan]] has admitted that he introduced the [[Evil Counterpart|Lord Tedd]] thing a LOT sooner than he really should have, but he still intends to get back to it and wrap it up eventually. Just don't hold your breath on it.
** The [[Defrosting Ice Queen|Susan]] school uniform storyline was recently given a very abrupt, almost [[Ass Pull]]-level resolution, thanks to the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|Ellen and Nanase]] storyline running [[Arc Fatigue|way, way]] too long ([[Lampshade Hanging|though the characters don't think it was any less abrupt than the readers did]]).
* ''[[Megatokyo]]''
** As of this writing, the webcomic has abandoned the "conscience" arc, supposedly because Fred Gallagher took offense at some fans calling them "insects" (particularly because the arc's protagonist is based off his own wife). Seraphim, Asmodeus, and Boo only have the occasional appearance nowadays, while Seraphim's sister has more or less disappeared entirely. The last two chapters also did not have a CEA "check-in" at the end, as had been the norm; however, a new aspect was introduced in chapter 8 ("big mode"), so there's hope yet.
** Specifically it was the "Seraphim's sisters" arc that was pulled to a quick close and never revisited. It's likely the original three consciences have fewer appearances these days because there's little time for them given everything else that's going on. It also can be argued that Piro and Largo need their help less and less as the story progresses.
** Not to mention the complete abandonment very early on of what was essentially the founding premise of the series: trying to get back to America.
* Occurs in an arc of ''[[PvP (
* ''[[Melonpool]]'' abandoned three arcs back to back in favor of [[Continuity Reboot|continuity reboots]].
* In ''[[
* Steve, a secondary character in ''[[
* X-Entertainment's photo comic ''Cobra's Chia Plot'', in which some [[G.I. Joe|Cobra]] soldiers grow a Chia Pet. The fourth installment ended on a cliffhanger where one of the Joes asks the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] for help, but the fifth installment was never posted.
** The 2008 Advent Calendar was put in a similar limbo. The 2009 calendar dedicated much of its time with making up for it.
* Furry webcomic ''[[Fuzzy Things]]'' had an ongoing subplot about spoiled sparrow Shiva trying to find the whereabouts of her old teacher. Eventually, kid genius Rex was able to get her access to a restricted database that contained the answer she was looking for. This subplot is then never brought up again.
* In order to keep the self-imposed PG rating, ''[[
* ''[[Nedroid]]'' often has story arcs that quickly dissolve and quietly buried.
* ''[[Scary Go Round]]'' had a time travel segment that dropped suddenly. Two girls travel to the 1800's and are getting caught up in a cult and prophesy. Then their comrade from the present alters time at the moment they steal a time-pot
* At the beginning of ''[[
** In fact, the Sword of Truth ''did'' appear. [http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/80 Check the last three panels.]
** The Sword of Truth has made another look-in as of [http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/376 page 376].
* ''[[The Japanese Beetle]]'' started a storyline where America was meant to be the villain...just before 9/11, at which point author Dave White openly admitted to dropping the idea, saying that it felt inappropriate. This also happens in-story, as the original plot is literally interrupted by the World Trade Center attack, and both the plot and the new character introduced specifically for it simply disappear.
* Webcomic ''Tweetics'' spent a considerable amount of time building up to a plot to take over the Vatican before the entire plot (and characters) were dropped entirely with no resolution.
* A yearly tradition at [[Platypus Comix]] involved the addition of a new chapter to ''[[
* The love letter arc from ''[[
* [http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003558 This conversation] from ''[[
{{quote|
* Duane from ''[[Penny and Aggie]]'', in the era when the authors still hoped to make it a print comic, uses the phrase "that's just gay," and Aggie, while she doesn't comment, is startled at his homophobia. Over the coming years, the relationship between the eponymous pair becomes a [[Slap Slap Kiss]] lesbian romance, and the [[Coming Out Story]] of Sara and, to a lesser degree, Stan, becomes a major subplot... and T (Gisèle having left) would rather write it off, despite his earlier assurance that it would be a plot point.
** The filler story "Min-Jung", which took place in South Korea and featured ''none'' of the regular cast, was initially explained to have great impact on the latter stages of the comic. When years passed and "Min-Jung" never got a reference again, T eventually admitted he hadn't found a place for it. The rather hostile reaction to the arc probably aided this. In the strip's epilog, Yun-Sung, the main character, finally puts in a small appearance {{spoiler|as Duane's girlfriend at a 5-year high school reunion.}} She was really just used as an exposition device for the a few dangling plot threads related to {{spoiler|Duane and Charlotte.}}
* The Bandit Ringtail guest comic from ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'' ended with one of these. Bandit meets Sierra and she calls him out on getting into a fight that he couldn't hope to win, and then she kisses him on the cheek. The guy that Bandit fought mocks him for losing, then gets challenged to a fight by a very large, very muscular female boxer. And then it cuts out. There's no scene of the guy getting his butt kicked, no scene of Bandit leaving Malarky County, nothing.
* ''[[Good Luck Eyepatch-tan]]!'' has the ''Pokémon''/''[[Kamen Rider]] Divurtle'' arc, which ended abruptly on strip 48 due to technical difficulties. While Nocchifire, the author, initially promised that it would return, he eventually abandoned that idea and decided to [[Canon
* What's referred to as the Black and White Era of ''[[Voodoo Walrus]]'' aborted what looked to be a [https://web.archive.org/web/20190822151414/http://www6.voodoowalrus.com/?
** [[Word of God]] suggests that this occurred to artistic burnout which quickly led to a year long hiatus for the comic.
== Web Original ==
* Given that the basis of ''[[
** For example, Madelaine Shirohara (of the first game) was originally supposed to be killed by [[Psychopathic Manchild]] Cillian Crowe, then his handler abruptly disappeared. The arc that replaced this one, though, was arguably one of the best in SOTF history, so it isn't all bad.
* ''[[
** A planned subplot with the Von Shrakenberg family getting involved with a [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] was quietly dropped when Erich got too busy trying to fight a losing war.
** Icarus Hicks' planned [[Batman Gambit]] using mind control to fix EVERYTHING wrong with the universe died when his character was killed off due to [[Creator Breakdown]].
** Andrea Treschi's capture by the crew of the ''EFS Schaumburg'' was originally supposed to lead to both groups being forced to become anti-Federation rebels and go on the run together. The plan was aborted when the authors involved couldn't agree on a coherent plan for how to go about it. The various [[Author Avatar]] characters among the crew quietly drifted off to other assignments and other plot threads.
** The mysterious Mr. Agli as supposed to tempt Erich Von Shrakenberg into rebelling against the Federation with warnings of an even worse plot to topple the Grand Council. The author involved couldn't make the plot work, so it was quietly dropped shortly thereafter in favor of trying to stop another character's planned overthrow of the government through different means.
*** Which led to another
** The entire ''Tech Infantry: Exodus'' spin-off project was aborted when the authors involved got too interested in world-building and map-creation and suddenly realized they'd forgotten to come up with a plot or characters to place in this 'verse.
** And many, many more.
* An early scene in ''[[Awkward]]'' has Lester remarking that Ernie's name rings a bell, which Kevin brushes off. This was originally supposed to lead to a confrontation between Lester and Ernie, complete with backstory, but had to be scrapped when Ernie's actor bailed on the project; Jermaine was brought in as a substitute jerkass for Lester to butt heads with and overcome.
* An early plot
** ''Valenth'' itself abruptly shut down in early 2014 leaving every plotline still open at the time incomplete.
* [[
* The plotline about [[Lovable Traitor|Willie's]] other allegiances was dropped midway through in the [[Anti Cliche and Mary Sue Elimination Society]]. Now subverted, as it's being reposted, albeit very slowly.
* [[
** Even earlier than that, the end of the [[Aladdin (Capcom)|Aladdin]] episode had the Genie take refuge in IG's Game Genie. Three years later and this plot thread still remains hanging.
* [[
* ''[[Bionicle]]'' web-serial examples:
** The arc: Four of the Barraki reuniting and leading a humongous army against the city of Metru Nui. What became of it: They just turned back, kinda. Reason: Writer's [[Schedule Slip]].
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[
** Not to mention the return of [[Future Me Scares Me|Danny's evil older self]], which was hinted at at the end of his sole appearance.
** At the end of the last episode beforethe Finale, Valerie discovers {{spoiler|that Vlad (who gave her her weapons) and Danny's "cousin" Danielle are halfas}}. She implies she'll do something about it. Then comes the finale, and nothing happens.
*** In the finale she barely reacts when {{spoiler|Danny's secret is revealed}}, so many fans assume that whatever the [[Powers That Be]] had planned, happened [[Missed Moment of Awesome|between that episode and the Finale]].
* A Season 4 episode of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003
** A LOT of the 2003 TMNT series' story arcs went nowhere due to [[Executive Meddling]]. Not only was the sixth season's story (Fast Forward) supposed to continue so that it could wrap up the hanging threads there, but the shoehorned seventh season's story arc (Back to the Sewer) was also supposed to wrap up ALL loose plot threads in an arc called "The Shredder Wars"... before the series was canceled. Granted, the series was then finished off with a mega-crossover love letter to fans TV movie, but that never wrapped up anything other than the final fate of a couple of series regulars.
* In the Season 2 finale of ''[[
** As well as the unresolved storyline with the fate of Aelita's mother that was teased throughout season 4 and never resolved.
* In ''[[Kim Possible]]'', Ron Stoppable has a romantic arc with Zita Flores, a cute girl who seems to share his interests in gaming and entertainment, albeit not identically (she is a fan of sword-and-sorcery RPG's, whereas Ron is a straight FPS and Action/Adventure gamer). After two episodes and a meeting in a movie which might be construed as a first date, followed by joining forces in an MMORPG plot, she is not seen until the [[Grand Finale]], where she's [[Pair the Spares|randomly paired off]] with Felix the wheelchair guy.
* The season one finale of ''[[
** [[All There in the Manual|In a series of flash games]] that take place between seasons 2 and 3, they do meet again and Koh is more than a little eager to pay Aang back for escaping the last time they met.
** {{spoiler|[[Deuteragonist|Zuko's]] mom}}, who was brought up several times ({{spoiler|even in the epilogue of the final episode}}), has not been heard of. Even with the implication that {{spoiler|she}} might not be dead. Then again, this may be less of an
** In one episode of the third season, {{spoiler|Iroh reveals that Zuko is descended from Avatar Roku}} and gives him the crown Sozin wore when he was a prince. What comes out of it? ''Nothing''. The incident is never spoken of again and the crown is never seen again.
*** The incident is never spoken of again, but when {{spoiler|Zuko ascends the throne in the finale}}, you can see him wearing it.
* Birdboy's debut episode in ''Birdman'' ended with Birdman promising to help him [[Disappeared Dad|find his father]], and the search was occasionally brought up in Birdboy's later appearances. However, nothing ever came of it.
* [[Word of God]] has confirmed that Justin's role as antagonist in the earlier episodes of ''[[Total Drama Action]]'' was deliberately dropped because they realized that he was way too self-absorbed to ever fully put his head in the game; his claims of being a master strategist were all his ego talking. Alejandro, a character that debuted in the following season, is essentially what they wanted with Justin.
* In an early ''[[
* ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' had a storyline about Boris counterfeiting cereal box tops to procure all the prizes from cereal promotions and ruin the world economy. This did not sit well with General Mills, the show's sponsor (and owner, who likely thought it was inappropriate case of [[Biting the Hand Humor]]), and "The Great Box Top Caper" was stopped after a few episodes.
* In the third series of ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'', Blitzwing began to have doubts about the Decepticon cause, and a deleted scene even has him considering joining the Autobots. The writers wanted him to become an Autobot in a later episode; however, the editors forced them to instead give this arc to [[Merchandise-Driven|new toy]] Octane.
* Two cases in ''[[Max Steel]]''; a flashback shows that Jefferson Smith's predecessor as CEO of N-Tek (and, by extension, the man in charge of the secret espionage division) was a man named Marco Nathanson, who bore an uncanny resemblance to {{spoiler|season one [[Big Bad]] John Dread.}} According to the original producer, this was actually meant as a [[Red Herring]], though later said by others to be exactly what it looked like, but neither interpretation is followed up on. Even more blatant, the episode ''Truth be Told'' features [[The Cameo|real-life athlete Jeremy McGrath]] discovering that the protagonist and his friends are ex-secret-agents-turned-vigilantes, and he suggests bringing in one or two friends he has on the sports circuit who could help the heroes save the day on occasion. This is the final scene of the episode, except the episode is also the [[Series Finale]]. Along with [[Canon
* ''[[As Told
* In the third season of ''[[
* Due to being [[Screwed
* Due to being [[Screwed
* Inverted in Season Three of ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars''. Governor Roshti from the Kidnapped arc was originally going to be a friend of Ahsoka Tano's parents, but the writers didn't intend to do anything with this, so it was cut so that the fans wouldn't think it was this trope.
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