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Negative Continuity: Difference between revisions
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(→Western Animation: combined the examples for The Simpsons, extracting the Fanon Discontinuity examples from both during the combining.) |
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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."''
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]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[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.
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