Long-Lost Uncle Aesop: Difference between revisions

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The favorite relative/best friend character who appears in only a few episodes or just one [[Very Special Episode]], was never mentioned before, and is [[One-Shot Character|never heard from again]]. They usually provide [[An Aesop]], like "drunk driving is bad" or [[Too Smart for Strangers|"beware of strange adults."]]

The purpose of these characters seems to be delivering the moral without having to inflict the issue on a regular basis, or, in the case of a fatal Aesop, kill off anyone important. You get the 22 minutes of angst, but [[Status Quo Is God|the writers never have to deal with it again.]] ~~[[Long-Lost Uncle Aesop|~~Long Lost Uncle Aesops]] don't sit well with shows that have loyal and obsessive fandoms, and are incompatible with the [[Economy Cast]].

The purpose of these characters seems to be delivering the moral without having to inflict the issue on a regular basis, or, in the case of a fatal Aesop, kill off anyone important. You get the 22 minutes of angst, but [[Status Quo Is God|the writers never have to deal with it again.]] '''Long Lost Uncle Aesops''' don't sit well with shows that have loyal and obsessive fandoms, and are incompatible with the [[Economy Cast]].

Please keep in mind that this trope isn't just the sudden appearance and disappearance of characters who would logically be significant, but when they appear, drop their Aesop, then go back into the aether. See also [[Compressed Vice]] (when the issue is inflicted on a regular for one episode), [[Remember the New Guy?]], [[Forgotten Fallen Friend]], [[New Neighbours as the Plot Demands]]. [[Gay Aesop~~|Gay Aesops~~]] tend to be this as well.

Please keep in mind that this trope isn't just the sudden appearance and disappearance of characters who would logically be significant, but when they appear, drop their Aesop, then go back into the aether. See also [[Compressed Vice]] (when the issue is inflicted on a regular for one episode), [[Remember the New Guy?]], [[Forgotten Fallen Friend]], [[New Neighbours as the Plot Demands]]. [[Gay Aesop]]s tend to be this as well.

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' did this a lot, since the characters often doubled as a [[Victim of the Week]]. Was especially jarring as it was occasionally suggested the leads have trouble making friends and seemed to have no real social life outside their small group, despite meeting and getting along with people fairly quickly each episode.

** One specific odd example is Makoto's friend Shinozaki. She says he's the closest person to her and their relationship is deeper than ~~love--to~~ the point that Makoto destroys the cardian that hurt him all on her own in ~~rage--but~~ he only shows up in one episode and the senshi, Makoto's other best friends, have never even met him. Then he disappears again.

** One specific odd example is Makoto's friend Shinozaki. She says he's the closest person to her and their relationship is deeper than love—to the point that Makoto destroys the cardian that hurt him all on her own in rage—but he only shows up in one episode and the senshi, Makoto's other best friends, have never even met him. Then he disappears again.

* A rather extreme example: The ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' Jump Anime Tour Special (later broadcast online) introduced Vegeta's outcast brother Tarble, who came to Earth looking for his brother's help. The special aired in 2008, '''twelve years''' after the original anime ended.

* Kim in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', who was Ryuken's fifth student before being expelled from his dojo, is only shown in a flashback to emphasize Kenshiro's compassion to others, and is never mentioned anywhere else in the series.

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== Literature ==

* A staple of the YA girls' series popular in the ~~1990s -- not~~ surprising, considering these books were sitcom episodes in print form. A typical example from the ''[[Babysitters Club]]'' series: Amelia, suddenly introduced as a close friend of Mary Anne, who had never been mentioned before and was killed by a drunk driver about ten pages in to teach the moral of the story.

* A staple of the YA girls' series popular in the 1990s—not surprising, considering these books were sitcom episodes in print form. A typical example from the ''[[Babysitters Club]]'' series: Amelia, suddenly introduced as a close friend of Mary Anne, who had never been mentioned before and was killed by a drunk driver about ten pages in to teach the moral of the story.

* Surprisingly averted with the character of Regina in ''[[Sweet Valley High]]''. She dies as the result of a drug overdose, but up until then she had been a reoccurring character for several books.

* [[The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Krawitz]], so much.

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* Matthew Perry's appearances as "Sandy" on ''[[Growing Pains]]''.

* ''[[Two and A Half Men]]'' has an episode about Charlie's best friend (played by Charlie Sheen's real life brother) dying from having a similar lifestyle to his. What's interesting is that such best friend had never been mentioned before and would never been mentioned since. In fact, Alan didn't even know him in spite of having lived at Charlie's house for quite some time by then.

* On ''[[MASH|M*A*S*H]]'''s first-season episode 'Sometimes You Hear the Bullet', Hawkeye's happy-go-lucky best friend Tommy arrives just in time to get hit with the aforementioned ~~noisy~~ ~~-- and fatal -- missile~~.

* On ''[[MASH|M*A*S*H]]'''s first-season episode 'Sometimes You Hear the Bullet', Hawkeye's happy-go-lucky best friend Tommy arrives just in time to get hit with the aforementioned noisy—and fatal—missile.

* In the episode "Lie To Me" from season two of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', there is Ford, Buffy's "best friend" from her old high school in L.A. Ford is dying of a brain tumor, and bargains with Spike to be turned into a vampire in exchange for Buffy. Justified in that Buffy had moved a year ago, presumably leaving some her friends behind, and she'd spent the summer break back there, offscreen.

** Another Buffy example is in "Killed By Death," when Buffy exhibits a phobic reaction to being in the hospital, and we learn that it's because of her cousin Celia's death when they were kids. They were close, and Buffy was traumatized as a result of watching her die. While some of this trauma is legitimately resolved in the episode, the lack of mention of Celia before or after makes the whole thing seem to come out of nowhere. It is particularly jarring because Buffy spends a great deal of time visiting the hospital in Season Five, and shows no phobia beyond an appropriate reaction to the immediate circumstances. Nor does the First Evil ever manifest in Celia's form, which would seem an obvious way to get under Buffy's skin if the writers still remembered the character. Granted, the actress playing Celia - a long-deceased ''child'' character - could not concievably return, since the First Evil was only prominent ''five years later''. It might've worked in the Season 3 episode "Ammends", but then the First was focusing more on Angel than Buffy.

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* Lucy's friend Sarah in the ''[[7th Heaven]]'' episode "Nothing Endures but Change" had never been seen or even mentioned before the episode. (However, she did get a mention three seasons later, by Lucy herself while she acted as grief counselor to her friend Mike and his shell-shocked mother.)

* In the ''[[Glee]]'' episode "Laryngitus", when Rachel loses her voice, Finn takes her to meet a quadriplegic friend of his who became paralyzed after an accident playing football. His Aesop was that he lost his ability to do what he loves most, but is working around that in order to live a fulfilling life. What makes this example particularly bad is that ''Glee'' is known for keeping track of its recurring characters, no matter how minor.

* Nathan Kress played one of ~~these -- a~~ wheelchair bound accident ~~victim -- on~~ ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]''.

* Nathan Kress played one of these—a wheelchair bound accident victim—on ''[[The Suite Life of Zack and Cody]]''.

* ''[[The Secret Life of the American Teenager]]'' had Ricky's never-mentioned former foster brother Ethan show up so the show could have a very special episode about sexting.

* In one [[Very Special Episode]] of ''[[Boy Meets World]]'', Shawn and Cory help protect a classmate who is being physically abused by her dad, and at the end of the episode she is sent to live with her aunt in another state. This girl was never seen before this episode and is never mentioned again.

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** She appeared as a main character in a recent episode... where an aesop was delivered and she disappeared again.

* The [[Tonight Someone Dies]] episode of ''[[Clone High]]'' introduced - and killed - Ponce de Leon (portrayed as The Fonz and voiced by Luke Perry) as JFK's inseparable best friend, despite the fact that JFK was a main character who had already appeared extensively. Considering this is ''[[Clone High]]'', however, this was the joke to begin with.

* ''[[Jem]]'' did this a few times for [[Very Special Episode~~|Very Special Episodes~~]]. For example, Laura Holloway, who only existed in the episode "Alone Again" to get addicted to drugs and teach [[An Aesop]].

* ''[[Jem]]'' did this a few times for [[Very Special Episode]]s. For example, Laura Holloway, who only existed in the episode "Alone Again" to get addicted to drugs and teach [[An Aesop]].

* Cousin ''[[Joss Whedon]]'' in [[Kim Possible]]. The [[Broken Aesop]] learned is that Kim isn't really a hero because she can beat super villains in her sleep, but Ron is the real hero because he's a [[This Loser Is You]] who sucks and would follow Kim anywhere despite his fear.

* Lampshaded in the ''[[South Park]]'' episode "Red Man's Greed." An unfamiliar boy named Alex Glick appears in the crowd throughout the episode expressing his concern for the fate of the town. After he delivers the [[Aesop]] at the end Stan finally asks who he is, and it's revealed that he's some guy who got to do a guest voice.