Aborted Arc: Difference between revisions

**** 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 ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' manga was going to have a brief sub-arc during Mahorafest featuring Zazie and the Nightmare Circus event, but it was cut because Mahorafest was getting really long as it was (at the time, roughly ''half the manga''). It's implied that Negi ''did'' go to the circus, but we never actually get to see it, thus making the series' most enigmatic character even more enigmatic.

* The penultimate chapter of ''[[School Rumble]]'' throws both major shipping factions a bone by having Harima {{spoiler|suddenly get (pretend) engaged to}} Eri {{spoiler|but move in with}} Yakumo. The final chapter mentions ''none'' of this, instead going with a time skip and an infamous "pie end" that resets what little development Harima had managed to obtain.

* A famous example: Dagomon and the Dark Ocean from the second season of ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]''.

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' lost a couple of important story elements thanks to the time slot shift for the second season and the [[Retool]] intended to prevent a [[Continuity Lock Out]] on new fans. This includes an explanation for Suzaku's superhuman abilities (and any possible connection to the Geass) and the possibility of finally revealing C.C.'s name. And yes, the fans were upset.

* ''[[Pokémon (manga)|Pokémon]]'':

** Similarly ''[[Pokémon Golden Boys]]'' ended abruptly after three volumes. It didn't finish the Johto arc and despite numerous references to Red we never see him.

* ''[[Kurohime]]'' seems to be made entirely of these.

* This is a major complaint by fans of ''[[Bleach]]''.

** Orihime decided to use her powers to erase the Hogyouku from existence. This was never heard from again.

 

 

== Comic Strips ==

* In as much as there is continuity, one ''[[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.

* In the newspaper comic ''[[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]]'' 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]].

* In the end of ''[[The Ghost of Frankenstein]]'' the Monster is given Ygor's (late Dr. Frankenstein's assistant, played by [[Bela Lugosi]]) brain, enabling the Monster to speak once again. This portrayal was supposed to be continued on ''[[Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man]]'', but the negative reaction from the test audiences made the executives to cut out all the Monster's dialogue and returning him to the [[Man Child|Man Childish]] brute for the rest of [[Universal Horror]] movies featuring the character.

* 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.

 

 

* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''

** 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."

** 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: The Next Generation]]'', and then only mentioned once the following season. This had the potential to be either really cool or really stupid, but we will never know which. [[Word of God]] says that the "variable geometry pylons" on ''U.S.S. Voyager'' were [[The Federation|the Federation's]] stopgap solution to the problem, thus explaining why the ''Enterprise''-E and other ships produced thereafter has fixed pylons. Was later retconned to having to due with a ''Star Trek TOS'' episode involving the federation trying to make an omega molecule and it destroying subspace in the entire sector. And by the time of ''The Next Generation'' it's a closely guarded secret in the hands of only a few that the federation destroyed this entire sector of space's subspace field.

** 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|MacGuffins]] as the Eye of Ra. Since Marduk is in possession of the Eye when he's released, [[Epileptic Trees|one could assume]] that Omaroca tried to use the Eye as a weapon against the Goa'uld occupying Earth, but failed and was killed by Marduk, information that Nem would certainly want to hear. This connection is never made.

** 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.

*** His planet gets a guest appearance on SGU, he doesn't. Blink and you'll miss it -- his planet is mentioned as one of those which fell to the Ori in season 9 or 10.

* ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' was far from better. What effect did Sheppard's "Blending" with an ascended being have? None. What about the {{spoiler|last Asgards?}} Or the travelers after their brief help in fighting the {{spoiler|Asgards}}. Or what about Lt. Ford, whom Sheppard was convinced had survived? Or that Ancient-worshipping cult that hoarded a ZPM? The list goes on...

* 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.

*** 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.

** 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.

* ''[[ER]]'' had a notorious one involving the return of Anna Del Amico's supposedly reformed junkie ex-boyfriend, and a romantic rivalry developing between him and Carter. Problem is, this was all set up at the end of the season. When Maria Bello didn't return for the following season, the writers had no choice but to drop the whole thing.

* 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 ''[[The Unit]]'', Tiffy, Kim (reluctantly), and whoever Grey or Hector was seeing at the time, got to digging around in Molly's past and found out that she is not totally who she says she is. Molly found out and confronted the nosy bunch, even telling them that she was going to tell Jonas but before that could happen, the storyline was dropped the very next week, never to be mentioned again.

* In Season 2 of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', it was hinted that Mr. Snyder was conspiring with Mayor Wilkins to eliminate Buffy as a threat by bullying her, and later by expelling her from school on trumped-up murder charges. Season 3 revealed that while he was doing some work with the mayor, Snyder was still as much in the dark about what was going on as [[Sunnydale Syndrome|the rest of the adults of Sunnydale]].

* ''[[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.

** 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.

* 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!!}}

* ''[[The West Wing]]''

** ''[[The West Wing]]'' was somewhat notorious for this -- the arcs of a number of major characters abruptly ended without resolution and with the characters disappearing without explanation. Fans called the phenomenon "being sent to Mandyville." It happened to characters as major as Mandy, Sam and Amy Gardner.

* Many times in ''[[Glee]]''. One example is the Sam/Mercedes romance arc that was left as a cliffhanger in 2x22 was dropped. Sam's actor left the show and Mercedes got a new boyfriend.

** This plotline may actually be resuming, with {{spoiler|[[And the Fandom Rejoiced|Sam's return to New Directions]].}}

* 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|Thirty Rock]]'', Liz Lemon decides to adopt a child after a pregnancy scare at the end of last season. This plan becomes nonexistent after being an integral part of a handful of season 3 episodes, though it was [[Lampshaded]] in the season 5 episode "Operation Righteous Cowboy Lightning".

** 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 (wrestling)|Kane]] being confronted by someone dressed as his old masked persona, but the whole thing was dropped after about a month of build-up and never mentioned again.

* 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 of 2001, The Kat entered an angle where [[Jerry Lawler]] lost a match on her behalf and she was forced to join the Right to Censor group. The next episode of Raw had them forcing her to wear a burlap sack to the ring and it was implied the storyline would continue. However The Kat was released the very next day and the excuse was apparently that Val Venis had slept with her and she escaped out the window. Apparently she ran out into the night and got lost, never to be seen again.

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' had innumerable half-finished non-runners, especially when it came to details like the end of the world. Most notable was the pathetic Rasputin plotline, wherein [[Rasputin]] (THAT Rasputin) was actually a Tremere who had somehow found a way to essentially become Caine, so that God/Karma could kill ''him'' instead, thus averting complete obliteration of the vampire species.

** The "Glass Armonium" [[MacGuffin]] shut down many plot hooks.

 

== 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:

** These are also a form of [[Dummied Out]].

 

* 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.}}

* Happens occasionally in ''[[City of Heroes]]''.

** 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.

* 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 ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' was originally intended to contain a subplot going into greater detail about Serge's role as the Arbiter of the Frozen Flame. More generally, there are suspicions that ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' was intended to be significantly longer than it was, as many of its plot threads are concluded only in the form of a massive [[Info Dump]] right before the final battle that was added to the North American version of the game.

* In the second ''[[The Black Mirror|Black Mirror]]'' game, there is talk early in the game of a woman named Kerry who committed suicide in the small Maine town. You never hear of her again once you leave the town.

* 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.

** 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]]).

** 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.

* 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, ''[[Housepets]]'' decided to drop the catnip arc early. Considering the one comic that he put up in the extras section was especially [[Squick|squicky]]...

* ''[[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 ''[[Looking for Group]]'', the main plot revolved around the group searching for a mysterious [[Shout-Out|"Sword of Truth"]] that would ostensibly be used to settle a debt owed by one of the group members to a powerful Commander from [[The Empire|the Legaran military]]. But once the group went to war with Legara, the Sword seemingly dropped off the map, with the closest thing to a mention being the "Fork of Truth" that shows up from time to time as a joke. While some foreshadowing hints that the Sword will have a major part to play in the end of the story, the search for the Sword has seemingly disappeared.

* ''[[Danny Phantom]]'': [[Big Bad|Vlad's]] plans with Fright Knight, the Crown of Fire, his [[Elaborate Underground Base]], and his acquirement of Axion Labs. [[Executive Meddling]] played a part in it all. For that matter Danny and Valerie's [[Dating Catwoman]] plotline.

** 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.

* A Season 4 episode of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' ended with the people of the USA becoming aware of the turtles' existence after the president (no, not ''him''; different guy in this) came face to face with them and mistook them for aliens. Three seasons later and so far this hasn't been addressed or mentioned. More glaringly, an ongoing plot in the series' sixth season, featuring [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] Darius Dun, was aborted when the series was re-retooled and the turtles were sent back into the present.

** 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 an early ''[[Gargoyles]]'' episode, Demona is left thinking that Elisa is dead, which Goliath says is probably for the best for now. Nothing really came of it before she saw Elisa alive again in the season one finale, probably because the writers realized how hard it would be to keep Elisa's existence a secret from Demona while she was still living her normal life.

* ''[[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.

* 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 Discontinuity|half the premise of the show,]] this was never picked up on in the subsequent made-for-TV movies.

* ''[[As Told by Ginger]]'' has a particularly jarring one in the episode Wicked Game: a deeply involved plot about a {{spoiler|plan involving Ginger's best friends to break her and Darren up}}. In a series that normally follows things through, the sudden lack of consequence to this episode is especially jarring.