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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"When was it that the transformation to the legendary warrior of the Saiyan race was reduced to a child's plaything?"''
|'''Vegeta''' about Trunks and Goten going Super Saiyan, ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' "Take Flight, Videl" (Season 7, Ep. 207)}}
It's the second season of your show, and a new group of evildoers has shown up to challenge your heroes. Despite spending all last season training and defeating the legions of evil, they get creamed—uh oh, they forgot to account for the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]]. Using those same old moves again? That's '''So Last Season'''.
The
There's a good chance the [[Non-Serial Movie]] will ignore this and just [[Big-Budget Beef-Up|make their abilities more powerful]] to avoid the problems of [[Continuity Snarl]] and [[Comic Book Time]], but some fans are just as liable to complain that the characters are using the same old abilities.
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A variant occurs in video games, where early weapons like pistols become less useful as [[Sorting Algorithm of Weapon Effectiveness|heavier firepower like machine guns and explosive devices are made available]] to counter the increasing protection offered to opponents.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* This happens every time a new [[Big Bad]] is introduced in ''[[Dragonball Z]]''.
** Played straight with the Super Saiyan transformation as the form goes from [[The Chosen One|legendary and exclusive]] to being shared by a handful of individuals at once with ascended stages beyond the standard grade.
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* In the ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' franchise, the main character will often get an upgraded Gundam about halfway through the show; this occurs more often in full TV series than [[OVA]]s and movies.
** However often their original Gundam is still active and handed down to another pilot who continues to prove the unit effective. The only times this trope was really in effect was [[Gundam Seed Destiny]] where Kira's forced to use his old Strike Gundam(actually the Strike Rouge but its essentially the same machine) from the prequel series for a short time. It's quickly shot up and disables by the newer enemy machines as its 4 years old. However Destiny also subverts this with the original Freedom which is also from the prequel but is still a powerful machine and holds its own against the newer Gundam's though its eventually defeated in an epic showdown.
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' seems to do this with Setsuna's Exia which is quickly beaten by newer GN-X models at the beginning of the second season but that's mostly due to the fact that it's had no maintenance and is still damaged from the final battle of the first season (it has only one arm and only one out of its seven blades which is even damaged). When it's brought out again (upgraded, but only by giving it a [[
*** "still quite a fearsome machine" - Keep in mind that the only thing the R2 fought was a [[Flawed Prototype|zeroth-generation]] Gundam.
**** Said "Zeroth Generation Gundam" was able to shoot down several enemy mechs outfitted with Tau GN drives without even having a GN drive of its own, so it's easy to say that it's definitely a powerful mech.
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** It should be noted that most Digimon seasons, especially the earlier ones, put limitations over the use of more powerful forms (that is, returning to the In Training/Baby2 stage, requiring time to re-evolve) so that the previous, less powerful forms still get some use. Even [[Digimon Frontier|Frontier]], early on, would show characters varying between Human-form Digimon and Beast-form ones. [[Digimon Savers|Savers]] played it completely straight, though - if a Digimon reaches a new level, don't expect to see the previous levels again.
** This is invoked by the [[Big Bad]] of the first story arc of [[Digimon Adventure 02]]. Evolving to the Perfect level, or even the Adult? Not happening. You're armour-evolving and going to like it. Oh, can't you do that, first-series protagonists? Oh well then.
*** Although this isn't a case of the first season Adult forms being weaker. Just
* Happens in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. The Spirit Gun used to be like the ultimate Spirit Detective move, and Spirit Sword was pretty much the [[Badass]] incarnate. Hiei's extreme speed and his Dragon of the Darkness flame was ''really'' something to be afraid of, and Kurama almost appeared to be the ''weakest'' of the crew with his Rose Whip and a couple plants being his only methods of fighting. But then you latter get Spirit Shotguns, Double Spirit Swords, Reverting to your demonic form and pulling plants [[Ass Pull|out of nowhere]] and Dragon of the Darkness flames are the standard to beat and who honestly ''doesn't'' have a sixth sense and some kind of Spirit Gun like combat move or able to break the sound barrier by now?
* At the beginning of the Vongola Ring Battle arc of [[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]], Tsuna, in regular Dying Will Mode, got thrashed by the new arc's [[The Dragon|Dragon]]. Dying Wil Bullets are then used only for training for a bit, before they are fazed out completely in favor of Rebuke Shots and Hyper Dying Will Mode.
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* In ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]]'', the Asurada car series suffers from this so that there can be [[Mid-Season Upgrade|mid season upgrades]]. The Super Asurada 01 model is the most advanced and powerful racing car in the end of the TV series, but at the beginning of the ''Double One'' OVA, it can't catch up because Sugo Corp. doesn't have money to do a proper upgrade. A similar thing happens in ''SAGA'', at which this point Hayato's skill is nowhere to be blamed for his losses.
== Comic Books ==
* In the mid 90's, when Kyle Rayner became [[Green Lantern]], villains would regularly attempt to exploit the ring's legendary vulnerability to yellow, only to find that his ring had no such flaw.
* At the start of the [[Bronze Age]] ''[[Superman]] #233'' had a story which turned all Kryptonite on Earth to iron. A bad guy gloated about how he has something which could kill Superman—Kryptonite. Superman promptly took the piece from him and ''ate it''.
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* A similar occurrence took place in the 3rd ''[[The Mighty Ducks (film)|The Mighty Ducks]]'' film. Their new coach went as far as to comment on how their "their little duck tricks" (the knuckle-puck, the flying V, etc.) won't work anymore. It's especially sad considering how cherished these "little tricks" were for the trilogy's legacy.
** Strangely, this lesson was learned immediately following a game in which the Ducks' tricks DID work—giving them an absurd offensive output (nine goals in a hockey game?).
*** They were crushed in the 2nd half of that game however causing a tie, and showing the coach's point. Once the Ducks had gone through their
* Used in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'', in which Indy is pitted against *two* swordsman in a reprise of the iconic scene from ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]''. This time, Indy doesn't have his gun, and laughs sheepishly. (Considering that ''Temple Of Doom'' is supposed to be a prequel, this is rather odd indeed.)
** It could be that his experience in ''Temple'' (being caught without his gun) is why he makes sure he's got it with him in ''Raiders''...
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** In what is perhaps an invocation, Ip doesn't try the [[Buffy-Speak|pin-enemy-and-beatdown-like-training-dummy thing]] he used to finish General Miura on {{spoiler|the Twister}} even though it would be a clear juxtaposition with {{spoiler|Twister's [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]-to-death of Master Hung.}}
* In the climax of ''[[Advent Children]] [[Recut|Complete]]'', {{spoiler|[[Final Fantasy VII|Cloud]] attempts to finish off Sephiroth with his old [[Limit Break|ultimate technique]], the Omnislash, only for all the lead up attacks to be deflected and being impaled during the final blow. He ends the fight with and even more powerful omnislash to win.}}
== Literature ==
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== Live
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' often did this to introduce the new mecha in the first few seasons. When there was no more footage for the old zords, they had to justify their absence and introduce the mecha from the newer ''Sentai'' footage, often by showing that the previous mecha wasn't able to keep up with the new enemies anymore.
** Specifically, at the start of season 2, the Tyrannosaurus and Dragonzord were captured by the monster of the week, and the other four Dinozords frozen. While they were able to free them, new villain Lord Zedd immediately sent the main five Dinozords to their doom. Dragonzord survived initially, but the other five were replaced by the new Thunderzords. Dragonzord disappeared when the Green Ranger powers were destroyed, but he came back as the more powerful White Ranger with his new Tigerzord. The Thunderzords were destroyed at the start of season 3 by new villain Rito Revolto, and a few episodes later, they got the new Ninja Zords. The Ninja and Shogun Zords were simply rendered unusable when the Mighty Morphin powers were finally destroyed near the end of season 3. The Zeo zord fleet was also never destroyed, but the Turbo powers and zords were desribed as more powerful, effectively making the Zeo stuff obsolete.
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* Arguably the closest incident involves the "Best of Both Worlds" season finale/opener pair for ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'': the ''Enterprise'' lines up its Borg-busting weapon that's mega-powerful and Riker gives the order to fire—roll credits. Next season, the beginning of the episode has last season's attack... doing nothing at all. In the space of five seconds of in-show time.
** Rumor has it that the writers didn't know for sure if they'd be able to renew Stewarts contract so the gambit existed only as a means to kill off Picard if they ended up having to and of course they didn't.
* All ''[[Metal Heroes]]'', especially the Space
* In ''[[Big Bad Beetleborgs]]'', after defeating the previous monsters, a new monster named Nukus literally blows up their old powers, requiring them to become the stronger Beetleborgs Metallix. In a slight inversion, Nukus is still too powerful for them at first.
* In ''[[Kamen Rider Black RX]]'', Black from the previous series ends up being transformed into the far stronger Kamen Rider Black RX. However, in this situation, it wasn't his idea, the villain [[Nice Job Fixing It, Villain|decided to throw a solar powered Rider into the void of space, where he's directly exposed to the sun, causing him to evolve into Black RX]].
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** Skills and abilities, on the other hand, do not become outdated as they scale with characters' attributes (though before Cataclysm expansion, players needed to upgrade them manually at a trainer). The only exception are 'placeholder' skills such as Strike for warriors, which are baseline attacks designed to last until the character reaches level 10 and may select a proper specialization with unique abilities that replace it.
* Conversely, the player is expected to invest as little as possible in ''[[Diablo]] 2'''s starter skills and switch to using higher-tier skills as soon as possible. Unless the intention is to make a [[Lethal Joke Character]], that is.
* Subverted in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' as the player is expected to use
** Similarly subverted in ''[[Champions Online]]''. Since movesets are completely customizable, players are expected to make every power choice count. The conditions for unlocking some standard abilities, primarily passives, have even been lowered recently so that players will be less likely to have to choose powers they'll never use just to access higher-level ones.
* The [[Magical Girl]] version is [[Invoked Trope|invoked]] by [[Tsukihime|Arcueid]] in ''[[Battle Moon Wars]]''. When Kaleido Ruby appears, she immediately designs a new outfit (specifically designed for [[Panty Shot]]s), and ''steals Caster's staff''.
* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'': Change the word Season to Route and then apply this trope to Shirou's Noble Phantasm projection. Fate: Works awesome. No real downside, what with the nerve damage caused by using it being almost instantly healed by his super-neat new super regeneration. Used to project super powerful swords and shields from Saber's memory, which are what beat Berserker and Gilgamesh. UBW: The severe nerve damage caused by his projection is exacerbated by him forcefully breaking open his magic circuits on the first use, paralyzing him since he didn't have Rin's assistance in opening them like in Fate - and then he {{spoiler|loses the super-regeneration, limiting his recovery rate to normal levels.}} Oh, and he also doesn't observe the awesome Noble Phantasms he used in Fate, so their use is ''right out''. Archer laughs at his puny skills. Ok, projection at this level is too limited, let's move up to the inherent {{spoiler|Reality Marble}} which granted him projection in the first place! Heaven's Feel: Archer dies off, and Shirou's therefore never learns to use his {{spoiler|Reality Marble}}, limiting Shirou's projection to Fate levels. Wait. Archer just stuck his arm on Shirou before he croaked. Shirou can't use their {{spoiler|shared}} Reality Marble ( {{spoiler|because his motivations and situation are different, and thus Archer's Reality Marble is no longer compatible with his}}), but he ''can'' use Archer's super experienced projection because of [[Metal Gear]] logic! {{spoiler|Or the tension caused on reality by the presence of the same soul from two different time periods coexisting, resulting in their experiences averaging out... ''anyway''...}} Oh wait, it causes him severe brain damage and overuse makes his body explode into swords, since it would have taken ten years just for Shirou to reach the physical level required to withstand Archer's ''mana alone'' safely. {{spoiler|But it ''does'' let him beat Saber Alter in a one on one fight, though his brain dies in the process.}} Oh, and Archer's ability allows him to duplicate {{spoiler|Zelretch's sword}} which is used by Tohsaka {{spoiler|to help defeat Dark Sakura. It's perfectly projected, so after creation it sticks around instead of fading into the aether like Fate level projections usually do.}}
* [[Zig-Zagging Trope|Zig Zagged]] with regards to ''[[Ace Combat]]'' starter plane(s). ''Air Combat'' includes an outdated F-4 amongst 4th-generation fighters like the MiG-29 and F-14. In ''2'' the starting planes are now the F-4 and A-4, with 4th-gen planes coming later. ''3: Electrosphere'' gives 4th-gen fighters like the Eurofighter from the start (though it's arguably just a twist on the conceit as 4th-gen birds in ''2045'' would be around as outdated as 3rd-gen ones in 2009), but ''4: Shattered Skies'' brings us back to the F-4 as a starter, as does ''X: Skies of Deception'', ''5: Unsung War'' gives the F-5 and ''Zero: Belkan War'' gives the F-1, F-5, and J35J. ''6: Fires of Liberation'' then makes the F-16 the starter plane.
** Tl, dr; ''[[Ace Combat]]'' can't make up its mind as to the statistical quality of its starter plane(s).
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