Story Arc: Difference between revisions

 

* The vast majority of [[Anime]] series are built around arcs, which further distinguishes them from American cartoons, which are very often episodic (though less exclusively so in recent years).

** Helped largely by the fact that the Arc episodes were still in order, just with the Breathers inserted in-between.

* According to a fansite's unofficial commentary, ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' can be divided into four arcs:

== Live Action TV ==

 

* ''[[The X-Files|The X Files]]'' (see [[Myth Arc]])

* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' (another [[Myth Arc]])

* ''[[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr]].'' had two intertwining story arcs throughout the series (The Search for The Orb and The Capture of the John Bly Gang).

* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' has several, featuring battles against the Maquis, the Jem'Hadar, and finally the Dominion as a whole.

* Previously episodic in format, ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Star Trek Enterprise]]'' introduced an epic story arc with the Xindi war in season three, before settling into a series of loosely-related smaller story arcs in season four.

** Season One is about the Losties learning how to survive on the Island and dividing into two camps: one on the beach and one at the caves.

** Season Two is about finding the Hatch, pushing the button and the psychological effect of it; the Tailies, another group of plane survivors, are introduced.

** Following directly on from this was the season-crossing ''Return of the Master'' trilogy, comprising ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S18/E06 The Keeper of Traken|The Keeper of Traken]]'', ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S18/E07 Logopolis|Logopolis]]'' and ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S19/E01 Castrovalva|Castrovalva]]'', released as ''New Beginnings'' on DVD as it also took in the Fourth Doctor's [[The Nth Doctor|regeneration]] into the Fifth.

** ''The Black Guardian Trilogy'' (''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20/E03 Mawdryn Undead|Mawdryn Undead]]'', ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20/E04 Terminus|Terminus]]'' and ''[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20/E05 Enlightenment|Enlightenment]]'') - involving Turlough's relationship with the Black Guardian.

** In addition, thematic arcs showed up in the classic series: season 18 concerned the theme of entropy and decay, in preparation for the regeneration in the final episode; each serial of season 20 involved the return of a classic enemy, building up to the movie-length special "[[Doctor Who/Recap/20th AS the Five Doctors|The Five Doctors]]".

** Since the revival, the series has opted for season-long loose arcs, mostly linked together through [[Meaningful Background Event|recurring phrases and motifs]], though usually unnoticed and not really interfering with the episode's main plots. Series 6 has adopted a tighter arc format, though the [[Monster of the Week|episodic format]] remains.

** Season 6 opts for a religion-centric plot, where a mysterious force dubbed the Doomsday Killer strikes in Miami and uses his victims' bodies to enact tableaus from the Book of Revelations. It also sees the {{spoiler|promotion of Debra Morgan to the position of Lieutenant, and further explores her relationship with her brother.}}

* ''[[Weeds]]'' contains over-arcing storylines, although they aren't necessarily clearly-defined between seasons, and they sometimes aren't so much resolved as they are escaped from. This gives it a quality of drifting from situation to situation that fits its stoner subject matter, while characters from unresolved plotlines sometimes resurface later.

* ''[[Seinfeld]]'', despite being a "show about nothing", did have a few plotlines that ran in the background of several seasons: Kramer writing and publishing a coffee table book ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|about coffee tables]]), Jerry and George writing a [[Show Within a Show|TV pilot]], George's engagement to Susan, etc.

* ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' is known for it's many story arcs. Each season had quite a few of them, most of them running concurrently.

== Video Games ==

 

* In ''[[City of Heroes]]'' series of missions are actually referred to as story arcs, another way to capture the feel of comic books.

* Each of the original games in the ''[[When They Cry]]'' series are their own arc. Later remakes tend to have multiple arcs in one game though.

* ''[[The King of Fighters]]'' splits up its ongoing, [[Continuity Creep|sometimes confusing]] plot into arcs, each with rotating [[The Protagonist|protagonist]] duties. '''94'' was a stand-alone title meant to kick off this [[Mascot Fighter]], but is now commonly referred to as "The [[Starter Villain|Rugal]] Saga". '''95'' simultaneously ends this story with [[Blood Knight|Rugal's]] [[Karmic Death]] via [[Superpower Meltdown]] and begins "The [[Orochi]] Saga", which climaxes in '''97'' when [[The Hero|Kyo Kusanagi]] [[Megaton Punch|literally]] [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|punches out Orochi]] with help from [[The Rival|Iori Yagami]] and [[Barrier Maiden|Chizuru Kagura]]. '''99''-''2001'' was "The [[Nebulous Evil Organisation|NESTS]] Chronicles", chronicling an evil cartel's [[Take Over the World|plans for world domination]] using the DNA of a captured Kyo to create human bioweapons. One of these <ref>[[Cloning Blues|Clones]] in this case referring to regular humans injected with the DNA of another person; there ''are'' more atypical clones in the series, but most adhere to the former definition.</ref> is [[Anti-Hero Substitute|K']], a [[The Stoic|stoic]] [[Knight in Sour Armor]] who ends NESTS' ambitions by defeating their top-ranked executives. ''2003'' started "The Tales of [[Trickster Archetype|Ash]]", detailing Ash Crimson, [[Hidden Agenda Villain|a enigmatic man]] [[Manipulative Bastard|who uses others for his own purposes]], and [[Standard Evil Organization Squad|Those From the Past]], a mysterious cult intent on [[Sealed Evil in a Can|unsealing]] Orochi. ''XIII'' seems to be the conclusion of this part of the story, as {{spoiler|Ash, [[Good All Along|really a]] [[Guile Hero]], enacts a [[Cosmic Retcon|time-rewriting]] [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to stop Those From the Past and [[Big Bad|their leader Saiki]].}} Fans can generally expect a new arc to pick up if the last title was a [[Dream Match Game]] (''[[Obvious Beta|XII]]'' [[In Name Only|notwithstanding]]).

* ''Mass Effect'' basically runs on one big story arc involving the Reapers and the Normandy's battles against them. (with a ton of little subplots and side story arcs added in). Each game has the crew facing a diffrent threat which is related to the Reapers.

** Game 1: The fight against Saren and his attempts to grant the Reapers access to our universe.

* [[Living with Insanity]] used to be a comic strip with the occasional story arc, but now is mostly story arcs.

* Both [http://www.drunkduck.com/Dragon_City Dragon City] and [http://www.drunkduck.com/Jix Jix] both started off as a gag-a-day strips, despite having an ongoing story, but both became arc based. This is because the writer has a hard time writing jokes without having a story in place to joke about.

 

 

** Season Five: The search for the chi of the demon sorcerers.

* Each season of the [[Total Drama]] series is essentially this, with a different cast lineup, elimination order, and winner in each one.

* ''[[South Park]]'' has had several story arcs along with multi-part episodes. Season 3 brought a three-part story arc often called "[[Fan Nickname|The Meteor Shower Trilogy]]", in which each episode was a seperate story about different members of the main cast which all take place on the same night. A three-part mini-arc in season 4 involved Mr. Garrison coming out of the closet, and an arc lasting through the entirety of season 6 involved the absence of Kenny and attempts to replace him.