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Put on a Bus: Difference between revisions
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If the character doesn't return, this becomes a [[Long Bus Trip]]; if they return exactly once, it's [[The Bus Came Back]]. If they just abruptly vanish from the series and aren't even mentioned again, it's [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]. If there's obvious malice involved in the character's departure, then they've been [[Put on a Bus to Hell]]. If it's because the actor has died, it's [[The Character Died with Him]]. Of course, there's always the chance of a [[Bus Crash]] or [[Character Outlives Actor|dying on the bus]].
The polar opposite of [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]. Compare with [[Long Bus Trip]], [[Commuting on a Bus]]. The bus in question may be a [[Convenient Coma]]. See also [[Absentee Actor]] and [[Written
See [[The Exile]] and [[Reassigned to Antarctica]] for when this is more directly a sentence of banishment.
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* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': [[The Hero]] Kouji Kabuto himself and his [[Battle Couple]], Sayaka, were [[Put on a Bus]] at the end of the series (to be exact, they were put on a plane and sent to America), and they were replaced by [[The Hero]] and the [[Action Girl]] from the next series, ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' (Tetsuya and Jun). In fact, all ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' characters but Shiro, Boss and his gang were [[Put on a Bus]] when ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' started, although a few of them returned in the last season for the [[Grand Finale]] (Kouji, Sayaka, Prof. Yumi and {{spoiler|Dr. Hell}}). In ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer]]'', Kouji was the only character from ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' and ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' was not [[Put on a Bus]] (although Boss made a cameo appearance). [[Go Nagai]] intended Sayaka returned, too, but [[Executive Meddling]] prevented this from happening. In the manga versions, though, more characters and settings from the original series show up.
* Hiei from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' mysteriously disappears after the first few episodes in the Sensui arc, using the excuse that he doesn't care whether or not the human world is destroyed. He turns up several episodes to test Yusuke's strength. He goes on a temporary bus again when the team enters Sensui's hideout and battle Gamemaster. Hiei notes, "I know as much of games as I do hugs or puppies and care for them even less" and falls asleep. He remains like this for several episodes.
** A much more straight example would be Kuwabara in the final arc. While the other main characters travel to the demon realm he stays behind to focus on his studies and is only seen at the beginning and the end of the arc.
* Misty in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' left the show five years in and has been stuck preventing her sisters from messing up the Cerulean Gym ever since. She was followed by May, who in turn was followed by Dawn, with both getting four years before joining Misty on the bus. If an interview with the anime director is anything to go by, this will be the fate for every female main character who travels with Ash in the series every time a new generation of Pokémon comes out. Misty's departure has not been welcomed by fans, who claim that ''Pokémon'' has been [[Ruined FOREVER|Ruined]] [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|Forever]].
** Brock was also briefly put on a bus earlier in the show's run. Unfortunately, [[Replacement Scrappy|Tracey was generally poorly received]] so he was quickly put on a bus himself (though remaining a minor character in Ash's hometown) and Brock remained as a main character in the show for 11 years before he was put back on the bus.
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** One of the most egregious examples of this was when Heracross was [[Put on a Bus]]; in order to participate in a tournament, he sends Heracross back to get his Tauros. At the end of the episode, he sends Tauros back... ''but does not get Heracross.'' Heracross eventually returns for the Johto leauge
** Also applies to many of Team Rocket's Pokémon, such as Weezing, Arbok, and Dustox.
** Notable is James's Victreebel, who was put on a bus, and replaced with a new one in the same episode....who was ''also'' put on a bus by the end of the episode.
** And in ''Best Wishes'', they do this to ''all'' of their Pokemon.
** In a recent season of ''Pokémon'', {{spoiler|Ambipom}} ''is'' put on a bus.
** Though given [[Walking the Earth|the nature of the series]], it's less being put ''on'' the bus as much as being let ''off''.
** And all of the first 493 Pokemon except Pikachu and [[Took a Level In Badass|Meowth]] in ''[[Best Wishes]]''.
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' did this to Chibiusa whenever they sent her back to the future, though after the first time the reasoning was dubious. Mamoru was put on a plane for a season, and whose fate remained unknown until the final showdown with the [[Big Bad]]. The [[Sixth Ranger|Outer Senshi]] themselves have a habit of showing up for arbitrarily specific dangers, mostly so the writers can prune down the cast manageably. Sailor Senshi Placeholder Naru was continuously put on a bus after the introduction of all the actual senshi, being brought back several times until she was just written out completely in the last season.
* In ''[[Slayers]]'', [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Zelgadis]] was put on a bus after the first arc wrapped up. He reappeared 8 episodes later, and stayed a main character for the rest of the franchise. [[The Medic|Sylphiel]] was also put on a bus in ''Slayers TRY'' (season 3), being replaced by the Golden Dragon [[Tsundere|Filia]], and doesn't return until the end of season 4 (''Slayers Revolution''). Filia herself was also bussed off immediately after ''TRY'' ended, along with all of the other characters exclusive to that season.
** [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|Amelia]] is randomly put on a bus at various points in the first arc of the novels (seasons 1 and 2 of the anime are based off of them), and she, Zelgadis, and [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|Xellos]] are put on a bus after the first arc ended. They are replaced with [[The Rival|Luke]] and [[Morality Chain|Milina]]; unfortunately, the latter two weren't popular enough to appear in other media (other than the ''Hourglass of Falces'' manga).
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** Joseph after leaving Morioh at the end of Part 4 is never so much as mentioned again. Now, seeing as he was about 80, it's safe to assume he's dead, but it's still pretty odd that it's never been brought up for a main character.
** Giorno is last shown at the end of Part 5 and was later stated by [[Word of God]] to be in Florida during Part 6 after Pucci gained the Joestar birthmark. He should have been drawn to Pucci by the bloodline connection, but still doesn't appear.
*** If this editor remembers correctly, he wasn't necessarily stated to be there, just implied: "''Maybe'' he is already in Flordia??!!" or something similar. As for why the birthmark didn't bring them together, this editor also remembers some nonsense about how since Giorno had already "fulfilled his destiny," Pucci didn't draw Giorno to him. Or something to that effect.
* In ''[[Hitohira]]'', Mugi's best friend Kayo announces out of the blue that she will be studying photography abroad--which is a bit strange, since she didn't even finish her high school education yet. No further details are given, not even ''where'' she will be going, and her disappearance is obviously used as a device to cause Mugi large amounts of angst.
* In the ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' anime, Meiling returns to Hong Kong just before the climax of the first arc. She makes guest appearances near the end of the second arc and in the [[The Movie|movie epilogue]].
* A great deal of minor characters in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' are frequently brought back after being sent off, including Duke Devlin, Mai Valentine, Serenity Wheeler, and countless others. But then, almost every season a new duel tournament begins, so they have a semi-genuine reason to bring back the old characters all at once.
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* Daichi/Bastion Misawa of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' got put on a bus partway through season 2, after freeing himself from the recruiting cult's [[More Than Mind Control|brainwashing]], done through a [[Shout-Out]] to the original [[Eureka Moment]]. [[Brain Bleach|At least the dub edited in a pair of underwear...]]
** He returned next season to give some [[Expospeak]] and a little [[Techno Babble]]... and got [[Put on a Bus]] all over again. And he started out as a major character, too, before being [[Demoted to Extra]]. Poor guy practically had a bus pass.
* ''[[Chocotto Sister]]'' has {{spoiler|Ayano}} written out so seamlessly that Haruma's heartbreak over her [[Shaggy Dog Story|seems rather pointless]] in the end.
* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', when {{spoiler|Pen-Pen}} gets put on a bus, you know that the show [[Shoo Out the Clowns|won't have any more comic relief]].
* Yasuko from ''[[Aoi Hana]]'' conveniently starts studying in England, after she fulfilled her role of causing Fumi lots of heartbreak and teenage angst.
* Koromo from ''[[Saki (manga)|Saki]]'' simply doesn't attend the individual tournament, limiting her displays of [[Mahjong]] prowess to a few scenes in the team tournament arc.
* Noel and Chisato in the manga and anime versions of ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story]]'' suffered this fate, as both the manga and the anime got interrupted before the Energy Nede arc. And as a result, the manga adaptation of ''Star Ocean: Blue Sphere'', the direct sequel of ''Second Story'' does as if they never existed.
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* The {{spoiler|entire cast}} of ''[[One Piece]]'' not so much gets put on a bus but earn frequent flyer miles as {{spoiler|they are knocked to various locations. Though, everyone's location is given to you and it's assumed they will all return.}}
* In ''[[Bakuman｡]]'' {{spoiler|Nakai}}, after {{spoiler|in the course of a few days, alienating Aoki by asking her to be his girlfriend in order for him to draw for her, losing his job as assistant when the manga he's working on gets canceled, alienating his fellow assistant when his proposal for Aoki comes to light, and upsetting quite a few of his friends as a result}}, decides that he used his art skills for the wrong reasons, and leaves for home. Takagi considers having him come back and work for them as an assistant, but Mashiro suggests that if he comes back, it should be as a [[Mangaka]], before the scene cuts to {{spoiler|Nakai}} discontent with his life and looking a some manga volumes. It's also worth noting that {{spoiler|Fukuda}} asked him if he was willing to let things end the way they did as he left, which is some indication that he may not.
* Student council president and local [[The Casanova|Casanova]] Touga Kiryuu of ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'', after he loses his rematch with Utena, is absent until the penultimate episode of the Black Rose Arc. From what's shown after the match, he spent over ten episodes ''sitting in a chair in his home and not moving.'' This happens with many of the series' characters (especially the classmates that become Black Rose duelists), but Touga is the most notable example.
** In this case, this is oddly [[Justified Trope|justified]]. Originally, [[Takehito Koyasu]], Touga's voice actor in the Japanese version, briefly left the show to work on other projects, so they invoked this instead of [[The Other Darrin|looking for another actor.]]
* The number of characters currently on a bus in ''[[Bleach]]'' is staggering. At this point we're looking at {{spoiler|Kon, Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka, and everyone else last seen in Hueco Mundo}}. There are also fan theories that some of the defeated characters (e.g., {{spoiler|Ulquiorra}} or {{spoiler|Nnoitra}}) [[Not Quite Dead|actually survived somehow]], which would increase the total even further if those theories prove to be true.
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* ''[[Star Driver]]'' has done this twice so far, both with characters that happen to be Maidens. After the seals of both Sakana and {{spoiler|Mizuno}} are broken and their respective arcs end, they leave Southern Cross Isle and go to the mainland.
* ''[[The Idolmaster (anime)|THE iDOLM@STER]]'' - The Producer on the ''Live For You'' OVA
* [[Robotech]]: In the comic Prelude to Shadow Chronicles, Max Sterling (Max Jenius of Macross) is referred to but never seen. He was apparently operating in another sector. He is ordered to return to SDF-3 after supervising weapon tests in the Omicron sector. We don't see him return and if he did, he's presumably missing with the SDF-3, Rick Hunter (Hikaru Ichijo) and all the other Macross era characters that need to be phased out due to licensing restrictions.
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* Two female human pilots left [[X Wing Series|Rogue Squadron]]. Elscol, a guerrilla leader before Wedge recruited her, left because of command issues and because she believed she could do better working on the ground. Plourr, a [[Boisterous Bruiser]] who turned out to be a princess, left because revolutions had torn up her homeworld and she needed to rule and bring it back under control. Oddly, it's Plourr who was written back in, and ''very'' quickly. A drop-in commando character recurred, but Elscol did not. Well, not in the comics. She did have a role in one of the novels.
* Karolina was put on a spaceship right after the "True Believers" arc of ''[[Runaways]]''. To make a very long story short, she had to go back to her home planet with Xavin in order to help end a war. However, they returned before the end of that volume.
** This was also done to [[Gender Bender|Xavin]], though whether or not [[Bus Crash|that bus will crash]] remains to be seen.
* A ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' comic features a subplot where Scrappy goes to a gambling table and begins winning hotels. At the end, he declares that he has won hotels and vanishes from the Mystery Machine, where the gang discovers he was using the solid hologram device from that story. The last panel has Scooby leave the van to go back to Las Vegas to get him, but by the next comic, Scrappy isn't anywhere to be seen, so presumably the gang left him there to run his hotels.
* [[Calvin and Hobbes]] has this in the form of Uncle Max. Watterson introduced him into the strip but quickly realized he hadn't put enough thought into the character, and wasn't quite sure what to do with him. After visiting once, Max goes back home and is never seen or mentioned again.
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*** And he's been confirmed for at least an appearance in [[The Dark Knight Rises]]. So, more of a [[The Bus Came Back]].
* Major subversion: the end of the first ''[[The Godfather]]'' movie has Michael pretending to put his brother in law Carlo on a bus, but he's actually just getting him into a car with his assassin.
* An offhand line in ''[[Hellboy II]]'' mentions that Myers, [[The Watson]] in the first film, [[Written
* In the movie ''[[The Truman Show]]'', about a man [[Truman Show Plot|whose entire life is run by TV executives]], Truman's father supposedly dies. However, he eventually shows up again as an extra, and just as Truman recognizes him a pair of generic men in suits grab the old man and actually put him on a bus. Since Truman saw him, though, the producer decides to reveal that, the whole time, [[He's Just Hiding]].
* The ending of ''[[Ghost World]]''.
** With a '''literal''' bus, no less
* In the film ''[[Coal Miners Daughter]]'' Lorretta and Doolittle leave their four kids with a relative to pursue her musical career. They were not seen for the rest of the film and were only mentioned once in a [[Hand Wave]].
* In the ''[[Back to The Future]]'' sequels, Marty's girlfriend Jennifer is passed out asleep quickly and (except for an incident where she discovers something important about Marty's future and promptly passes out again from encountering her future self) stays there until the end of the third movie. In the DVD commentary, the writers admit that if they'd known they were actually going to do a sequel, they wouldn't have had Jennifer get in the DeLorean at the end of the original movie, because they didn't know what to do with her.
* Right before the climax in ''[[Fight Club]]'' the Narrator forces Marla Singer onto a bus.
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*** In a double whammy of SVU's season 9 finale, both Chester Lake and Casey Novak were put on a bus. Chester for shooting a cop accused of raping two women. Casey Novak was suspended for her actions during Chester's trial. Immediately in the next season we learn Novak was fully disbarred for every rule she broke that season. This was later retconned into her merely be censured, and she has since then come back and worked with the unit again.
** In the same vein as above, Max Cavanaugh, the father of Jill Hennesey's Jordan Cavanaugh in ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'', "went underground" after being suspected of killing a police officer. That he was quickly cleared didn't apparently give him enough reason to return, giving the show an opportunity to cut a large set out of the expected places to put scenes.
* ''[[Three's Company]]'' had this happen with a bunch of characters. The Ropers were screwed when they were written out of the show and their spinoff was canceled. They only returned once as guest stars for an episode a couple years later. Suzanne Somers's character, Chrissy Snow was also sent away when her contract wasn't renewed because of her protesting for a pay raise. Her character was sent off to tend to her sick aunt. She spent the rest of her run on the show in brief on-the-phone segments until her contract ran out.
* ''[[iCarly]]'': Ms. Briggs, [[Sadist Teacher]], after playing a prominent role for the first half-season, disappeared until mid-season two. It would've been more of a case of [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]] if Sam's [[Character Blog]] hadn't mentioned that she accessed the school computers and manually removed any trace of Ms. Briggs from the schools' files. [[Status Quo Is God|Apparently, it's been cleared up.]]
* Boner on ''[[Growing Pains]]'' went off and joined the Marines. He never did return, and was never even mentioned again.
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*** This is Holly's second bus trip; during Seasons 6 and 7 the main cast had lost the ship, and therefore contact with its computer.
* Andie of ''[[Dawson's Creek]]'' was written off the show by sending her to Italy. She returned only once, for the gang's high school graduation. {{spoiler|She also came back to say goodbye to Jen in the uncut DVD version of the series finale}}
** Similarly, Janice on ''Head of the Class'', who between seasons 3 and 4 got a scholarship to MIT, but showed up in the series finale because she forgot to pick up her high school diploma.
* ''[[7th Heaven]]'' was famous for this, writing characters off by putting them on buses to New York (Mary, Matt), college (Simon), etc., only to continue the characters' plotlines offscreen.
* Kate in ''[[Slings and Arrows]]'' is put on a limo to Hawaii at the beginning of the second season.
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*** [[Word of God]] says that he and the other Kelownans lived during the Ori reign, and he was the leader of his planet's resistance. So, yay?
** In the 200th episode ('200'), the characters themselves point out the methods used to get around O'Neill being put on the bus, such as one-sided phone conversations.
* When Peter MacNicol did a stint on ''[[24]]'', his ''[[Numb3rs]]'' character was Put On A Space Station.
* Sara Sidle of ''[[CSI]]'' was recently [[Put on a Bus]], leaving with the possibility that she'll return if actress Jorja Fox and CBS change their minds.
** Jorja Fox and show execs virtually guaranteed in interviews that she would be popping in for a guest spot sometime in the near future - and did just that in season 9.
*** And Grissom followed her off of CSI, too. Since both roles have been replaced by new rookie CSIs it's probably safe to assume that the bus will not be returning anytime soon.
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* Chano Amengual was put on a bus on ''[[Barney Miller]]'', but viewers weren't told for several seasons. Following his disappearance, no one mentioned him until a few years later when a new detective was transferred to the precinct to replace him, causing Barney to marvel at how long it took the department to send anyone.
** Also Barney's wife Liz, who had been [[He Who Must Not Be Seen|unseen]] on the show for several seasons after being played by Barbara Barrie in Seasons 1-2. (The producers actually came up with the separation storyline as a way of bringing Barrie, whose character had been deemed as not "working" in the context of the show, back before the viewers.)
* On ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]'', Addison Montgomery was put in a convertible to LA so that she could rediscover herself in her spin-off, ''[[Private Practice]]''. Theoretically she was going to involve herself in more mature things than hospital [[Love Dodecahedron|Love Dodecahedrons]], but whether that actually happened is doubtful.
** Though since then Isaiah Washington ran off rather than marry Cristina Yang, Brooke Smith's newly lesbian character vanished the day after getting her first girl/girl orgasm from Callie O'Malley, then at the end of season five {{spoiler|TR Knight is hit by a bus because he complained too much about not getting enough screen time}}.
* The first time Katey Sagal (the actress who played Peggy Bundy) became pregnant during her time on ''[[Married... with Children]]'', the producers worked it into the storyline, only to have to backtrack when Segal tragically suffered a miscarriage by {{spoiler|making the entire season six storyline of Peg and Marcy being pregnant a dream. And on a dream episode, no less, where Al is a private eye out to clear his name when he's accused of murder}}. When Segal became pregnant again later in the show's run, the writers didn't go back to the "Peg is pregnant" well again, and, instead, wrote off Segal's frequent absences from the show as a storyline where Peg is traveling the world to get her parents back together after her father walks out on her.
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* In ''[[MacGyver]]'', Pete Thornton casually comments at the start of one episode that [[Shoo Out the New Guy|Nikki Carpenter]] is on assignment in South America. She is never heard from or mentioned again in the show.
* An ''[[NCIS]]'' example is Gerald, Ducky's first assistant who is shot in the shoulder, requiring several months of rehab. And just as he is about to come back, {{spoiler|he is kidnapped by the same man who shot him. He never returns and we don't find out what happened to him.}}
** {{spoiler|The kidnapping is resolved by Ducky trading himself in for Gerard.}} If I recall correctly, it is later mentioned that Gerald left NCIS due to his shoulder injury and he is replaced by Jimmy Palmer. Even if the later is not 100% accurate though, the other situation was definitely resolved within the episode.
** More recently, the writers unfortunately did this with the very annoying {{spoiler|Agent Barrett.}}
* In ''[[The Wire]]'''s fourth and fifth season, several characters who were assumed to have been put on a bus reappear. Nick Sobotka (who was last seen in season two peering out at the Baltimore docks before going into witness protection) reappears as a belligerent protestor at a news conference at the docks in the fifth season, and is subsequently arrested. The Greek (who left the country in season two) reappears at the end of season four, and makes a couple sporadic appearances afterwards. Judge Phelan returns for the final episode after being gone for two seasons, and Steve Earle takes two seasons off before returning in season four as Bubbles' AA sponsor, Weyland. In a much straighter version of this trope, Brother Mouzone disappears after helping Omar successfully assassinate {{spoiler|Stringer Bell}}.
** Played straight when Omar *is* put on a bus to New York at the end of the first season while he waits for Bawlmer to cool off a bit.
* In ''[[Blake's Seven|Blakes Seven]]'' {{spoiler|the entire cast is scattered after having to bail out of their ship in the opening episode of Season 3 after a massive space battle involving thousands of ships. Most of the regular cast reunite, apart from Blake and Jenna. The characters spend much of the next two years trying to find Blake, but Jenna gets forgotten about. When Blake does return in the series finale, he says Jenna is dead. However, in the closing moments of the show he reveals that all of his actions in the finale were a morass of deception and lies to see if his old crewmembers were still loyal to his ideals and test their reactions, so the fate of Jenna is very much left up in the air. If she was still alive, that makes her the sole regular castmember of the show not to be killed off (with the possible exception of ORAC, who vanishes before the final scene).}}
** There was some ambiguity about all the deaths except that of Blake himself (the actor requested that it be clear that Blake be decisively killed), making it something of a [[Bolivian Army Ending]]
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* Requisite ''[[The X-Files]]'' example: David Duchovny decided to leave after its seventh season. Like Gillian Anderson's pregnancy six years before, this decision changed the entire future of the show: Mulder went on the run, Agents Doggett and Reyes joined the cast, and Mulder and Scully finally get their happy ending (until the movie six years later, when they're both dragged out of hiding to help the FBI, which Scully really doesn't want to do...)
* Sam Seaborne from ''[[The West Wing]]'' disappears entirely after losing his election and doesn't get brought back until the last few episodes of the final season. In that case, it's because Rob Lowe was leaving to star in his own show.
* In ''[[That '70s Show]]'', main characters Eric Forman and Kelso are both written out due to their respective actors working on other projects. Eric leaves in the seventh season finale to teach in Africa; Kelso remains among the cast for the first few episodes of Season 8 before leaving for Chicago. Both make guest appearances in the finale episode.
* Played straight in [[McLeod's Daughters]], many times. Becky's one true love, Brett, is sent off an a bus to go find a job—then {{spoiler|comes back to propose to her, but [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|falls off a bridge and dies]] before ever seeing her.}} Becky later gets on a bus to go to college, and never comes back. Meg gets on a bus and goes off to the woods to write a book. Jodi's first love, Roberto, gets on a bus to get his visa straightened out in his home country, then comes back on the same bus {{spoiler|to marry her, until she gets cold feet}}. (And this is just what I've picked up from watching a few episodes here and there in the first couple of seasons when my mom has it on.)
** You'd think getting Put On A Bus was the only way to get out of Nowhereville, Australia. That or getting killed in a freak accident, which a lot of characters have also opted for.
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* On ''[[Spooks]]'', Zoe Reynolds is exiled to Chile. At the beginning of the next serious, a brief mention is made of Sam Buxton "being sedated" after the death of her love interest, {{spoiler|Danny}}, and never reappears in the series. In the fifth season, Ruth is Put On A Boat when she's implicated in a murder.
* When actress Lynda Day George was pregnant during Season 7 of ''[[Mission Impossible]]'', her character was said to be working "deep cover" in Europe. A character played by Barbara Anderson filled in for several episodes.
* ''[[Doogie Howser, M.D.]]'': Dr. Jack McGuire, [[Hospital Hottie|the hunky (yet not too suave) doc]] played by Mitchell Anderson. Although an integral part of the show, Anderson quit the series at the end of season 2, and was subsequently written off. McGuire, after returning from a life-changing mission trip to [[Mexico]], decided to move across the border to continue pursuing his medical aspirations.
* Oscar Martinez from the American ''[[The Office]]'' was put on a bus for half of season 3, given a free vacation due to Michael's handling of Oscar's homosexuality. In his reappearance later in the season, he shows up to a Christmas party, but leaves before being noticed, claiming its "too soon". He returns for good three episodes later.
** Roy and Karen also receive this treatment eventually. Roy is fired near the end of Season 3 after reaching his emotional climax, while Karen is gone by the beginning of Season 4 (both due to Jim and Pam's increased closeness). Since then Karen has made a few guest appearances while Roy was only seen again once in Season 5.
* American soap ''[[Days of Our Lives]]'', which has a habit of making departing characters get [[Killed Off for Real]] (or do they?), allowed fan favorite Calliope Jones Bradford to move to New York City (and come back to visit occasionally).
* ''[[Guiding Light]]'' did this with Samantha Marler in the early 1990's. She had been living with her uncle Ross for a few years. One day, she "went upstairs," and was never seen again. Various explanations were later given for where she went.
* In ''[[Degrassi]]'', Darcy supposedly goes to Africa as some sort of missionary, when in reality Shenae Grimes was really working on ''90210''.
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**** Happened to Mia as well when she went off to Paris to model. In reality she ran off to ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]''.
** Also happened in season 10 with Alli while Melinda Shankar was filming ''How to Be Indie'' and again in season 11 with Connor.
* ''[[Spin City]]'' had this happen to both Michael J. Fox (when his Parkinson's Disease grew unmanageable in light of filming a weekly sitcom) and his girlfriend for the first season.
* ''[[Gossip Girl]]'' has done this a few times. Background character Kati Farkas was said to have moved to Israel halfway through the first season. This was also used twice to explain Georgina Spark's absence; when she first appears on the show, she is said to have been in boarding school in Switzerland all this time. Then, in the season one finale, she is hauled off to reform school in some undisclosed location, where she remains until the last half of season two. Used again earlier in season two when Marcus and Lady Catherine returned to England and haven't been seen since.
** Jenny Humphrey was sent to a boarding school in Hudson in the last episode of season 3.
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* Catalina in ''[[Space Cases]]'' is put on a space ship, where she avoids certain doom by being put in a parallel dimension. This was so the actress that played her could work on another show. However, it was implied that she might come back, if the show hadn't been [[The Firefly Effect|cancelled soon thereafter]].
* Subverted in ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]'' when Kenneth broke his promise to his mother that New York would not change him and decided to move back home to Georgia, but returned a few minutes later because he missed the train.
** Also subverted with the writing out of Josh's character: he claims to have gotten on a bus.
** Jack's wife Avery gets taken hostage by Kim Jong-Il (and later Kim Jong-Un) in North Korea, which excused Elizabeth Banks for other projects. For a while, she's not even mentioned, but then Jack spends a lot of time the next season trying to get her back. She returns in the final episodes of the season, only for them to divorce in the finale.
* On ''[[Bonanza]]'', Adam Cartwright moved to Australia when Pernell Roberts left the show.
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* ''[[Sea Patrol]]'' has a couple examples due to [[Real Life Writes the Plot]] including Chefo between seasons 1 and 2, and Nav, Spider and Buffer between season 3 and 4, and Bomber between seasons 4 and 5, tough at least Bomber going away was referenced in the season 4 finale.
* In ''[[Andromeda]]'', Rev Bem was a main character until the 12th episode of the second season, which opens with Rev's recorded message that he isn't coming back from the long spiritual journey that hadn't even started yet in the previous episode. [[The Bus Came Back]] in the third season only to give him a [[Metamorphosis]] before putting him back on the bus.
* ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'''s Young Mr. Grace was said to have gone on a sabbatical to write a book when actor Harold Bennett became too infirm to continue in the role. However, he appeared once to say good-bye and made one cameo before Bennett died.
* ''[[Vampire Diaries]]'': Apparently happened to {{spoiler|Tyler Lockwood}} mid-season 2.
* In the 2009 version of ''[[The Electric Company]]'' this happened to {{spoiler|Lisa}} who was shown in the first episode of season 3 on a flying TV as being on "a scientific expedition." Since {{spoiler|she's}} already been replaced in the titular Company by newcomer Marcus, it's unlikely they'll be back anytime soon.
* Eugene, the forgotten Barkley brother, in ''[[The Big Valley]]'' ... he was never a huge part of the show, but he would pop up periodically while visiting from college. Then actor Charles Briles got drafted, and Eugene was never mentioned again. Though considering the show was set in the 1870's, he was more likely Put On a Train.
* At the end of the fourth season of ''[[Good Times]]'', Florida Evans was shipped out to Arizona to be with her new second husband, Carl Dixon. This was due to a dispute between Esther Rolle and the show's producers over the show's direction (particularly, the ramping up of JJ's [[Uncle Tomfoolery]] in the wake of [[Bus Crash|James Evans' death]]). She spent the entire fifth season "in Arizona," before returning for the final season. A condition of Rolle's return was that [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome|no mention could be made of Carl,]] (A [[Hollywood Atheist]] Rolle thought Florida - a devout Christian - would've never married.)
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** Similarly, Gordon Freeman, the hero of the original ''Half-Life'', is put away in the end of ''Half-Life'', and in the end of ''Half-Life 2''.
*** Although he swiftly returns for another couple of episodes, with a third on the way...
*** One could almost say ''the player'' is put on a bus at the end of the first game, as a great many significant events occur in the game's narrative between the first and second game, but events in the ''Half-Life'' universe are only ever viewed through Gordon's eyes(well, [[Portal (series)|mostly.]])
** At the end of Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Gordon's security guard-buddy Barney Calhoun is put on a train at the end of the game. He does not appear in Episode 2, nor is he mentioned.
* Reversed in ''[[Mega Man Zero]] 4''. The ones who are written off the script are the majority of the [[Redshirt Army]] [[La Résistance]], while the main characters now travel around by a truck convoy, which acts as the new [[Player Headquarters]] for the game.
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** Diddy Kong, Toadette, Dry Bones, King Boo, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi share the trope in the ''[[Mario Kart]]'' series (so far).
* ''[[Fahrenheit (2005 video game)]]'' has {{spoiler|Tyler leaving to Florida with his fiancee, Sam}}. Even if you {{spoiler|choose to let him stay in New York}}, he wouldn't appear in the next chapter.
* Elora was an important character in the second ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]''. She's missing for most of the third game, despite other characters from her game getting larger roles then before, and only appears in an ending cutscene. She hasn't appeared in any other games since the original trilogy, especially odd since she was Spyro's love interest. Though, it's probably a good thing since the new guys aren't so swell when it comes to keeping the original personalities.
* Several ''[[Animal Crossing]]'' characters have disappeared over time, never making it past their first game. It's most apparent in the first installment of the series, both the Nintendo64 and [[Nintendo GameCube]] one.
* In the first [[.hack|.Hack://]] games for [[PlayStation 2]], in volume 2 Mistral admits she is nearing the end of her pregnancy and can't do anything stressful so she has to log off for a while. She is not seen or heard from again until she magically reappears in the 4th volume. Aura pulls this as well, appearing frequently in volumes 1 and several times in 2, but seems to have forgotten to aid you in your quest in 3 and only appears a couple times in 4.
** .Hack://GU does this with the majority of the characters in the game who are not Morganna factors or turned into Lost Ones. Although all of the characters are still selectable and can be adventured with at any time, none of the majority of them, for example Matsu, will ever have importance in the story again until the end of the 3rd game, and then it's optional.
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** Recently, {{spoiler|Sasha, who had moved away}} seven years ago, made a return to the comic.
* ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'' has done this with several of its supporting characters over time. Candice and her family were once nearly as important to the strip as Kevin and Kell themselves, but eventually she was outsourced to New Zealand and hasn't been heard from since. The Ursuls, of whom Marjorie was Kell's best friend for the early years of the strip, moved to Florida and new best friend Aby moved into their house -- they've also not been seen since. Lindesfarne's best friend Tammy Tussock and her husband Ray moved to a lighthouse, and while they were important to one more storyline after the move, they have been MIA since. Then again, longtime readers of Bill Holbrook's two syndicated strips should be well aware of his tendency to rotate the cast - both of those strips have managed almost a complete cast turnover, including their main characters.
* Done to every character at the end of ''[[Boy Meets Boy]]'', to make room for two side characters who got their own spinoff in ''[[Friendly Hostility]]''.
* In ''[[8-Bit Theater
** He comes back in The Epilogue.
* In ''[[Questionable Content]]'', it looked like this was going to happen to Steve. Turns out, he's back. However, the side characters Dave and Meena caught that bus. Also, Sarah, Ellen, Amir, and Natasha. Looks like Raven is on that bus too.
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* [[Lampshaded]] [http://booksdontworkhere.thecomicseries.com/comics/56/ here] in ''[[Books Don't Work Here]]'' when the Main character and her room mate head to the mall at the same time as the author has to move and get a new job. The author's avatar also makes an appearance getting on the bus as they get off. Which gives Robin an opportunity to {{spoiler|punch him in the face}}.
* In ''[[Darths and Droids]]'', one of the players, Sally, wants her character Jar Jar to be hit by a bus. In the next strip she is playing Guitar Hero, and has mostly been playing bit part [[NPC|NPCs]].
** In episode 4, Ben disappears for an unspecified reason.
* [http://girlyyy.com/go/83 Done] in ''[[Girly]]'' when Officer Policeguy gets fed up with Detective Clampjaw.
** More like '''strapped to''' the bus!
* In ''[[General Protection Fault]]'', Trish goes into a coma after being attacked by her impostor, who proceeds to impersonate her until she is unmasked.
* Half the cast of ''[[Concession]]'' is on a bus and will potentially return some day. But they're [[Out of Focus]].
* Happened to a lot of the cast in ''[[N Fans The Series]]''. At some point, characters were either put in confinement, captured, in a coma (in the case of Ran Cossack), or simply [[Out of Focus]]. Van for example was put in jail for a majority of the comic's arc, only appearing to mention his beloved "Goth girl", while the rest of the mettaurs and a giant robot went through a portal. Christopher Blair was also fighting Ganondorf for a very long while. Team Lalala was once stranded on the exact same screen for about a year of real-time. Eventually though, some characters were written out of the comic. (Van went home, Piney had simply chosen to return home due to having a fallout with the author at the time)
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', the Demonic Duck is put on a bus after his appearance at the birthday party - [http://www.egscomics.com/sketchbook/?date=2006-07-14 he travels to Australia to learn about his roots,] presumably the [[wikipedia:Bullockornis|Demon Duck of Doom]]. He returned in 2010, although it's unknown if he'll be sticking around.
* In ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]'' the titular character Sam vanishes for like 10 months. Even though he is in plain sight.
** Done again later when almost the entire cast of Noosehead has not been mentioned that much. But it is very likely that they will come back.
* In ''[[A Modest Destiny]]'' two of the main characters go bye-bye for essentially a whole arc.
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== Web Original ==
* {{spoiler|Stanley Brown's mother}} in ''[[Assignment 2]]''. She is {{spoiler|committed to a mental asylum and then ''never even mentioned again''}}.
* Emo 5 in ''[[Mighty Moshin' Emo Rangers]]'' Season Two. Captain Emohead brings up that he had to sell him on eBay to pay the phone bill, which Ross had exhausted with phone sex.
** It's not like he did anything anyway.
* In ''[[Darwin's Soldiers|Darwin's Soldiers: Disruptive Selection]]'', Hans, Werner and Cpl. Stern encounter an old friend of Cpl. Stern in a bar in New Mexico. The friend then offers to bring them back to Nevada where the [[Western Terrorists|terrorists]] from [[Call Back|first RP]] are trying to put their lives back together. The three then accept the offer.
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** Triana has been seen again - she was Dean's date to their home-school prom.
* ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' does this about every new season, leaving old characters behind and bringing back more popular ones or ones that were eliminated early on to give them a fresh start. {{spoiler|But when Chris says that once a contestant is gone from a season, and they "can't come back, ever," he doesn't always mean it.}}
* Happened to Rose in ''[[American Dragon Jake Long]]'' as a result of [[Executive Meddling]] after she {{spoiler|lost her memory as a result of being rescued from an attempted [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}. [[Back for the Finale|She was brought back in the series finale]].
* Little Miss Calamity disappeared offscreen in Season 2 of ''[[The Mr. Men Show]]''.
** Probably due to feminists accusing a female [[Butt Monkey]] who doesn't care if another gets hurt.
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* Happened to {{spoiler|Zhalia}} in the end of episode 17 of ''[[Huntik Secrets and Seekers]]''. {{spoiler|She comes back in the next two episodes}}.
* Tak was a victim of a bus ride in ''[[Invader Zim]]''. She {{spoiler|was lost in space after the fight between her and Zim.}} However, in an [[What Could Have Been|unfinished episode,]] she would have returned and become Zim's secondary rival. Unfortunately, [[Too Good to Last|the series ended before that could happen.]]
* In ''[[X-Men: Evolution|X-Men Evolution]]'' Spyke went to live with the Morlocks and was [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap]] when he came back.
* ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' did this with Harry for eight episodes. However, it wasn't so much a convenient way to get him out of the way as part of his personal [[Story Arc]], as his father took him to Europe to {{spoiler|[[Fantastic Drug|get over his addiction to]] [[Psycho Serum|Globulin Green]]}}.
* ''[[Pearlie]]'' antagonist: Moe the daisy-cutting pixie.
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