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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"As you may recall, our last episode had nothing to do with the previous episode. Or this one either."''
|'''The ''Pigs in Space'' announcer''', ''[[The Muppet Show]]''}}
Continuity has always been a bugaboo for writers, the requisite for things to make sense and follow some form of narrative logic. A requirement that provides scribes with all manner of headaches, hairsplitting, and plot-hole-induced dementia. Nevertheless, many series go out of their way to pay careful attention to every little detail that goes on in their worlds. The [[Universe Bible]] is king; nothing can happen that doesn't fit the existing history. Other shows are less exacting, and an occasional continuity error will be glossed over for the sake of the current episode's plot.
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Not only is there no established continuity, but the show is free to completely wreck the continuity and be assured of [[Snap Back|a full reboot]] by the start of the next episode. Burned a hole in your [[Limited Wardrobe|favorite outfit]]? Don't worry, it'll be better next episode. Burned down your house? No worries, it will be back next time. Turned into a frog, died, destroyed the universe? No problem! If one episode ever continues from the last, it's only because it's part of a storyline too long for just one episode - don't expect any apparent changes from the previous episode to be recognized ''outside'' that specific storyline.
The expectation of a new episode reboot is so strong that, in extreme cases, simply [[Continuity Nod|having continuity]] can count as a subversive gag (for example, the letters [[Deface of the Moon|CHA appearing on the Moon]] in episodes of ''[[The Tick (animation)|The Tick]]'' or ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''{{'}} forked tongues) or simply the creators getting a kick out of teasing the viewers that have been around long enough.
Among fans of Western entertainment of the past, the most shameless examples of this phenomenon were noted in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' movie series, so much so that someone actually devised the "James T. Kirk Loophole" to explain the otherwise inexplicable occurrence of characters repeatedly being able to do things that ''the story itself'' had established them never being able to do.
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Related to [[Status Quo Is God]], except it is (or can be) more deliberate/explicit, and it doesn't require any narrative explanation.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]]
* ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'': Plotlines inevitably led down to anarchy, chaos, and [[Thundering Herd|lynch mobs running around]] by the end of each episode, but all injured characters and buildings would have undergone [[Snap Back]] by the next episode. [[Status Quo Is God]] indeed.
** A prime example is the Moroboshi
* Likewise with ''[[Ranma ½]]''. Within individual arcs, a [[Game-Breaking Injury]] would be a serious matter, the Tendo home would be all but demolished and the characters would have to repair it, someone would get in deep financial trouble and stay that way through the end of the plot, or someone would land in the hospital with a full-body cast. All this damage will be undone by the next arc with nary a word from anyone. The only permanent change was the destruction of the Saotome home ([[Status Quo Is God|to force the family, Nodoka included, back into the Tendo household]].) This was even lampshaded once in the ''early anime'' when Genma tended to Ranma's neck injury and said it would take a week ([[Don't Explain the Joke|the time between episodes]]) to heal.
** Corollary: Should any specific fighting theory or technique come into play during a big fight (Ranma's shorter limbs in his female form being a disadvantage, using the opponent's aggression to create the Hiryushotenha, turning a boulder into gravel by poking it in just the right spot, etc.), said theory or technique will play a critical role in that fight, after which it'll be utterly irrelevant for the entire remainder of the series.
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* In ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'', negative continuity is ''[[Anthropomorphic Personification|personified]]'' by a being known as The Great Will of the Macrocosm, who resets things at least [[Once an Episode]]. Though this is also [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] insofar as the Will is not always available, and also episodes 22-25 have [[Gainax Ending|dramatic elements]] and more or less logical continuity for significant events. Throughout the series, there is also a slight bit of continuity in with all the general weirdness. Then the next episode, aptly titled "Going Too Far" jumps right back to this.
* Nicely subverted in the anime ''Crayon Shin-Chan''. A [[Snap Back]] is expected when Shin accidentally blows up the family's house at the end of one episode, but the event is actually followed by an arc in which the family lives in a cramped studio apartment while the house is rebuilt.
* All through ''[[Adventures of Mini-
* The ''[[Urotsukidouji]]'' series. The original, ''Legend of the Overfiend'', ended with the world being destroyed. The sequel, ''Legend of the Demon Womb'' began with the world good as new. And the pattern was well and truly set.
* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'' does not even pretend to have anything resembling a continuity, the characters have actually had to repeat their second year ''several times'' yet none of them shows any signs of aging. The school gets frequently destroyed and Nozomu Itoshiki, the main character, has been killed several times. [[Snap Back|None of this is ever referenced again once the manga chapter or anime episode in which it happens is over, however.]]
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** ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'' takes this and goes to its logical conclusion - nothing that happens on Rokkenjima ''actually matters''. All that is intended is to convey a series of scenarios slowly revealing clues to the player so that they might solve the ultimate [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|not a mystery]].
* ''[[Naruto]]'' is full of this in the episode "Gotta See! Gotta Know! Kakashi Sensai's Real Face!", but it was more or less an episode-long omake anyway. Waterfall seems to get this a bit. In its first appearance in a dedicated OVA the village could house maybe twenty families and was ruled by a spineless coward. In its second almost appearance, it was noted for constantly launching border raids on other villages, disguised as war games. In its third appearance, there was a bunker with enough shinobi present to populate the entire village.
* ''[[Lupin III]]'' has never been known for its continuity.
== Comic Books ==
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* [[H.P. Lovecraft]] was known to disregard continuity whenever it suited him (mostly on the account of not seeing the point in continuity in the first place). The name "Old Ones" referred to both gods like Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth but also strange alien races like the one in ''The Shadow out of Time''. Likewise, he has claimed that the "nightmare plateau of Leng" is in Asia, Antarctica and an otherworldly dreamland in various stories. [[Unreliable Narrator|One's sanity is a tenuous thing, after all...]]
* [[Robert Rankin]]'s Brentford <s>trilogy</s> [[Trilogy Creep|octalogy]] keeps the [[Reset Button]] firmly held down at all times - Brentford itself has been repeatedly destroyed/heavily damaged {{spoiler|and on occasion, had the ''Great Pyramid of Giza'' teleported directly on top of it}}, world changing events are promptly ignored in later books, secondary characters disappear without a trace and almost the entire main cast {{spoiler|[[Kill'Em All|was wiped out]] in book 3}}.
*
* The stories in ''The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' by Max Shulman contradict each other in many ways, as the author's note points out.
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* ''Glee'' falls here with regularity, particularly in tribute and holiday episodes.
* [[Supernatural]]'s Micha Colins has commented on the 'Angel drycleaning' that seems to apply to his constume, which was destroyed every few episodes, and always back to normal by the next week.
* At the end of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'''s treatment of ''[[The Girl in Lovers' Lane]]'', the bots are profoundly depressed by the movie's [[Downer Ending]], specifically the [[Shocking Swerve]] death of lovable waitress Carrie. Joel offers the bots a refreshing epiphany that more or less ''defines'' [[Fanon Discontinuity]]: you don't have to ''accept'' what the movie hands you. The cast promptly begin imagining less depressing endings for the film. This was mentioned in the official episode guide as being based on the universal negative reactions of the writing team upon first viewing the film, and the skit seemed almost psychologically necessary.
** In the episode ''[[Soultaker]]'', Crow and Servo refuse to accept the [[Happily Ever After]] and claim what ''really'' happened was a [[Downer Ending]] where the protagonists' relationship failed and the hero ended up in jail, making bootleg vodka in the toilet. Mike asks if they aren't being a little doom-and-gloom, and they [[Sarcasm Mode|sarcastically]] suggest an ending where everything is [[Tastes Like Diabetes|puppies and sunshine and rainbows]]. Mike asks if it ''has'' to be unrealistically depressing or unrealistically happy with no middle ground, and they say yep, it's either toilet vodka or unicorn giggles.
* Similarly, in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', we learn that Willow always stops watching ''[[Moulin Rouge]]'' a few minutes before it ends so she can pretend it has a happy ending. Which means she must not watch [[Foregone Conclusion|the first five minutes either]], unless she wants to be confused.
* On ''[[Friends]]'', Phoebe learns that her mother did this with numerous movies because she didn't want her children being exposed to sad things. Right before she [[Face Palm|killed herself]].
* [[The Simpsons (animation)|Marge Simpson]] was shown with a similar attitude, eating a story book about Joan D'Arc to avoid telling Lisa that the French warrior was burned at the stake, commenting it was easier to swallow than the [[Bambi]] video.
* In [[Stephen Colbert]]'s book ''I Am America and So Can You'', he mentions that he couldn't enjoy ''[[The Lion King]]'' Broadway musical because he couldn't turn it off before Mufasa's death.
== Newspaper Comics ==
* ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'' does this intentionally. It's even lampshaded by the characters, e.g., "Didn't that whale die a few years ago?" "Yes, yes he did." And then the strip continues as if nothing happened.
* ''[[Beetle Bailey]]'': Only a few major events covered by [[Story Arc|story arcs]] have continued to be canon—mainly that Beetle enlisted to the army from college, and his and Sarge's vacations spent with Beetle's parents. Other than that, things up to and including aliens landing on Earth will be ignored in the next strip, and character concepts have changed to the point of [[Retcon]].
* The trope is referenced in a ''[[Nemi]]'' comic strip where the titular character's friend is trying to tell her about someone who appeared in the film ''[[Highlander II the Quickening]]''. Nemi then says that ''[[Highlander]]'' doesn't have any sequels. Her friend realises she's "repressing everything you don't like", which he then comments is why she has not seen ''[[Alien Resurrection|Aliens 4]]'', to which she answers "''[[Alien Resurrection|Aliens 4]]?''" It should also be noted her friend says "I know you've seen both sequels" implying he practices [[Canon Discontinuity]] himself or is genuinely unaware of the exact number of sequels in the ''[[Highlander]]'' franchise.
== Radio ==
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** This isn't entirely the case with the RPGs, however, where events in past games are occasionally referenced.
*** But this is because after ''[[Super Mario RPG]]'' and ''[[Paper Mario]]'', Miyamoto doesn't even touch the RPGs.
** While Princess Peach's castle looks more or less the same every time it appeared, its surrounding area or maybe even the interior changes with each appearance. In contrast, Bowser's own castle remains inconsistent in terms of design, though the ''[[Mario & Luigi]]'' and ''[[New Super Mario Bros.]].'' games have their own standardized designs for the outside view of the castle. The latter may be justified that his castle is shown getting destroyed in almost every game it appears in.
** So basically, story-wise, every Mario game reboots.
* In ''[[Drawn to Life]]: The Next Chapter'' for the DS, Galileo is nowhere to be found for some reason. It's not even said where he went to.
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== Web Comics ==
* In ''[http://www.flyingmanandfriends.com Flying Man and Friends]'', continuity reboots are handled by [https://web.archive.org/web/20140810151422/http://www.flyingmanandfriends.com/?p=312 Reverse Continuity Rabbit]. In his first appearance, the rabbit restores the landscape in the aftermath of an [https://web.archive.org/web/20140810150649/http://www.flyingmanandfriends.com/?p=310 atomic blast] that nearly caused the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140810101941/http://www.flyingmanandfriends.com/?p=311 suicide of one character].
* ''[[Penny Arcade]]'' rarely keeps continuity for more than one three-panel strip at a time; in news posts there is a [[Running Gag]] about the struggle against "dreaded continuity". Despite this, there are [[Continuity Nod|continuity nods]], such as a watch that passes to the victor when one character kills the other.
* ''PvP'' once parodied this when character Cole needed a trip to the dentist. He cheerfully told the dentist to go ahead and do whatever he needed and heck, forget the anesthesia, because Cole would be all better in the next strip anyway. The dentist then informed him that [[No Fourth Wall|PvP isn't that kind of comic]]. Cole spent the next few strips at home, recovering and in a great deal of pain.
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* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', some of the EGS:NP storylines. Like this [http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/?date=2008-09-19 one].
* ''[[Chopping Block]]'' doesn't even keep the main character's personality constant from strip to strip—the only things that never change are that he wears a hockey mask and, for one reason or another, kills people.
* Given the author's tendency to [[Retcon]] the comic, whether or not several things in ''[[Sonichu]]'' really happened are more or less up to the reader to figure out for themselves.
== Web Original ==
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* [[The Spoony Experiment|"There is no continuity, there is only Insano"]]. Spoony is determined to introduce a [[Multiple Choice Past|new possible origin story for Dr. Insano]] in nearly every episode he appears in. [[Atop the Fourth Wall|Is he a version of Spoony from another universe?]] [[Final Fantasy I|Did Spoony get a doctorate and travel back in time to give his past self all the science he could ever need?]] [[Kickassia|Is he the Mr. Hyde to Spoony's Dr. Jekkyl?]] Or is he one of the Schlumper brothers? All we know for sure is that the guy loves him some '''[[For Science!|SCIENCE!]]'''
* [[Hardly Working]] (except Jake and Amir) with the worst example being ''Die Hardly Working'' - people die and come back to life in the episode
* The two ongoing series on [[
* ''[[RWBY Chibi]]'' operates on this in regards to the main ''[[RWBY]]'' continuity. Certain key events (like {{spoiler|Pyrrha's death}}) are acknowledged, but are simultaneously ignored.
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* ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'': Shorts often ended with inescapable doom, or other seemingly-permanent bad things (like the destruction of Dexter's lab on several occasions, or ''the whole planet'' getting destroyed by a huge meteor shower in "Let's Save the World, You Jerk!").
* ''[[Duckman]]'': Lampshaded when the character Ajax was beat up and placed in traction. He mentioned that he would be in perfect shape tomorrow due to non-FDA approved drugs. Another example: The amount of grievous bodily harm that Duckman puts his secretaries Fluffy and Uranus through, only for them to be back to normal by the following episode; this was lampshaded by Uranus in the first episode, when [[Ambiguous Gender|s/he]] comments that being stuffed makes them "very resilient."
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
** The fan webcomic ''[[Grim Tales from Down Below]]'' explains this as a case of [[Death Takes a Holiday]]—Billy and Mandy's life timers ran out long ago, but Grim can't bring himself to reap them.
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'': The world has been dragged trillions of miles off course and major characters have been turned into bologna or had their organs replaced with household objects, and yet virtually every episode starts as though nothing unusual has happened. Again, there are occasional callbacks.
* ''[[The Angry Beavers]]'': Both Norbert and his brother Daggett suffer this by getting themselves in all sorts of trouble in end of almost every episode. It's mostly from other animals in the forest, and the humans especially.
* ''[[Sealab 2021]]'': The [[Running Gag]] of Sealab blowing up repeatedly. [[Lampshade Hanging]] occurs in the third episode, "Radio Free Sealab," when Marco tells Captain Murphy, "Once again, your stupidity has killed us!" before the explosion. The show also plays with this trope—some episodes reference past shows with perhaps only some characters actually remembering the event. For example, when Quint mentions he was a robot (as revealed in an earlier season) and everyone seems surprised, Quint explains he had told them previously.<ref>It should be noted that the episode in question ended with everyone being killed.</ref>
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' has an interesting trend in having mostly Negative Continuity with the occasional [[Continuity Nod]]. Characters will often comment on a previous episode's events, such as Homer's Mr. Plow job when he took off Flanders's roof to use as a snow plow, or Mr. Burns and Krusty the Clown not recognizing Homer and Bart, even if someone points out all the major things they've done to them. It doesn't usually affect the plot for that episode other than a joke. ''
{{quote|'''Mr. Burns''': I'm sure your replacement will be able to handle everything. Who is he, anyway?
'''Smithers''': Uh, Homer Simpsons, sir--one of your organ banks from sector 7-G. All the recent events of your life have revolved around him in some way.
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** Midway through Season 5's "Homer Loves Flanders", Lisa observes that, on account of Homer now being friends with Ned Flanders, something odd seems to happen to their family every week, but soon enough something happens which returns everything to normal. At the end of the episode, the main plot has not been resolved, and Homer and Flanders are still friends, causing Lisa to fear that perhaps this means it's the end of their adventures. We then flash forward to the following week's airtime ("Thursday, 8 PM") when a completely different plot is set in motion. We then see that off-camera, [[Reset Button|the events of the previous week's adventures have returned to normal]] and Homer hates Flanders once again with no explanation given. [[Status Quo Is God|Lisa and Bart both sigh in relief.]]
** The Simpsons did a remarkable job, for a long time, of keeping all their flash-forward episodes in continuity despite no continuity in the current-time episodes. Many episodes implied Bart becomes Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
** Special mention should go to the episode where it's revealed that the Principal Skinner we've known throughout the show's long-running history is actually [[Dead Person Impersonation|a fraud named Armin Tamzarian]]. Many people insist that this never happened. The episode is an [[Negative Continuity|in-show example of discontinuity]], too, because the characters in-show [[Status Quo Is God|decide they prefer the fake Skinner, run the real one out of town, and a judge orders that they never speak of the incident again]].
*** It should be noted that this is played upon in a later episode. At some point in the later seasons, Snowball II dies. Lisa goes through a series of new cats to fill the void, each one also winding up dead through various means. Finally, a cat that looks exactly like Snowball II shows up and is the only cat to survive (albeit by causing a car wreck and subsequent explosion). Lisa joyfully adopts the new cat and says that she will name it Snowball II instead of III because she doesn't want to buy a new cat dish. Skinner, walking by, notes the discontinuity of the situation, to which Lisa responds:
{{quote|'''Lisa:''' I guess it is, Principal ''Tamzarian''. }}
* ''[[Aeon Flux]]'': The title character died in every single ''[[Liquid Television]]'' short, usually at the end and once near the very beginning. Justified in that a later episode explains Aeon to actually be a series of identical clones.
* ''[[Drawn Together]]'' applies this trope endlessly, with characters dying several times an episode, spouses of otherwise unmarried characters showing up for one episode and then vanishing, the Earth being conquered (and all characters killed) by robot insects with hats, etc.
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* ''[[Count Duckula]]''. Nearly every episode ends like this, with the castle destroyed, or having train-tracks running through it, or having the characters stuck without the castle in another country and having to hitch-hike home. One episode had them complaining about this, and how it takes FOREVER to get back home.
* ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'' does this quite a bit. On the other hand, it also often takes throwaway gags in previous episodes and turns them into running gags (or devotes whole episodes to them!).
* ''[[The Fairly
** In fact, it's moderately common in the show. For example, in one episode, Mr. Crocker does not recognize Poof, who he had a bond with in "Bad Heir Day" (keep in mind, this happened after that episode).
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[[Category:Consistency]]
[[Category:Rule of Funny]]
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