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{{quote|''A gimmick or storyline may be reused freely and safely after a few years of dormancy.''}}
[[File:sevenyearrule 3516.jpg|link=
The unwritten rule that, after a given number of years, there has been enough turnover in the fanbase that a writer can re-use the same gimmicks and storylines with impunity.
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** One of the most blatant (and non-filler) examples: In Hoenn, Ash enters a PokéRinger event in which flying Pokemon compete to collect rings and place them on goal posts. Ash uses his Taillow, a bird Pokemon, which evolves during the competition and surprises its opponent by hitting the ring onto the goal with its wing, rather than carrying it in its beak. An episode that aired about five years later repeated this plot exactly; just replace Hoenn with Sinnoh. Both episodes even use the ''exact same background music'' during their respective climaxes.
** The series in general is a bit weird about this, since despite the recycled plots, there's still quite a bit of continuity, with references to episodes that aired over ''ten years'' prior being made. It gives the impression that the writers are trying to have their cake and eat it too.
* ''[[Waiting in the Summer]]'' is a [[Spiritual Successor]] of ''[[Please Teacher!]]'', almost a walking carbon copy even. Proving why this trope exists, ''far'' more people are comparing it to the more recent ''[[Ano Hana]]'', despite the only similarities between the two series being they're about a group of high-schoolers, there's romance and the same director is involved.
==
* The rule of thumb in the comics business used to be "No one has a memory over five years old." It was believed that readership would turn over in five year cycles, as older kids stopped reading comics, and younger kids started. The notion of a significant number of fans reading comics well into their late teens or adulthood was never really considered in the Golden Age or Silver Age.
** ''Reprints'' were more common in the Silver Age, though still relatively rare in superhero comics. The "five year rule" was probably a more reliable guide for, say, "teen humor" comics, where a story would probably be just as good (or not-so-good) in 1970 as it was in 1965. This was particularly common in Marvel's various ''[[Millie the Model]]'' titles. A story first printed in ''Millie the Model'' might turn up in ''Mad About Millie'' or ''Chili'' several years later.
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== [[Pro Wrestling]] ==
* Coined by [[Professional Wrestling]] promoter, writer, on-air personality, and general jack-of-all-trades Jim Cornette, the Seven Year Rule is the unwritten pro wrestling rule that, after seven years, there has been enough turnover in the fanbase that a writer can re-use the same gimmicks and story lines with impunity. As the theory goes, any wait shorter than seven years may result in fans noticing the rehashing, and calling the promotion on the re-use. After that, a few diehard longtime fans may notice and become upset, but almost everybody will accept the product as new.
* Certain character stereotypes occur so often in [[Pro Wrestling]] that it is not unusual to have more than one example thereof existing at the same time - albeit necessarily on different TV shows or in different promotions. Whereas [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] boasts a mentally unstable "monster" who uses the Chokeslam finisher named [[Kane (wrestling)|Kane]], [[TNA]] has a mentally unstable "monster" who uses the Chokeslam (okay, "Black Hole Slam") finisher named Abyss. And in late 2004/early 2005, this mimicry was seen within WWE itself as Gene Snitsky and Jon Heidenreich each performed the role of an intense monster [[Heel]] with [[This Is Sparta]] speaking patterns on ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'', respectively. They even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] this fact at the 2004 ''Survivor Series'' when they met for the first time.
* "The Narcissist" Lex Luger was recycled as "The Reflection of Perfection" Mark Jindrak after 11 years, complete with a hammy manager to talk him up.
** See also "The Masterpiece," Chris Masters, in 2005-07.
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*** And now the feud has led to a Buried Alive match with Undertaker losing due to outside interference, leaving Kane to ask for a bulldozer to dump soil into the grave, almost seven years since the last time this happened.
* Recently, the WWE redid the [[Montreal Screwjob]] angle, wherein the referee, the owner/manager, and a smarmy wrestler conspire to screw a fan favorite out of a title. The original screwjob was apparently a shoot (IE, not faked), while the remake is most definitely kayfabe. Anyways, the wrestler who got screwed over is [[The Undertaker]], who then proceeded to abduct Teddy Long, in a manner reminiscent of the [[Not My Driver]] portion of the maligned "[[Shocking Swerve|Higher Power]]" storyline when he abducted Stephanie in much the same way. Not only are they reusing old storylines, they're mixing them together.
** The [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] ''loves'' to reference and re-enact the [[Montreal Screwjob]]. It was repeated merely a year later at the 1998 Survivor Series, with Vince screwing over [[Mick Foley|Mankind]].
*** Other companies like to reference it, too. Less than two months after the original, [[Bret Hart]] came out after the main event of Starrcade where [[Hulk Hogan]] pinned [[Sting (wrestling)|Sting]] and claimed referee (and nWo lackey) Nick Patrick made a quick count (he was in kayfabe supposed to but mistakenly made a regular count but that's neither here nor there) and yelled he wouldn't let "it" happen again. He restarted the match and Sting got Hogan to submit to the Scorpion Deathlock (which, ironically, mirrors Bret's own Sharpshooter and the move that HBK used on Bret when he was screwed) to win. Years later, in TNA, Hogan and [[Kurt Angle]] re-enacted the Screwjob as well.
** And now they've done it again, but this time with a [[Subversion]]. At Money in the Bank 2011, controversial heel [[CM Punk]] threatened to leave the company with the belt after beating then current champ [[John Cena]]. When Cena had Punk locked in his signature submission, Vince and the head of talent came down trying to screw Punk out of the title; however, Cena knocked out Vince's crony, saying that he was going to win this his way, only to have Punk use the distraction to hit Cena with the [[Finishing Move|Go To Sleep]], [[Shocking Swerve|pin him]], and leave the company with the championship.
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