The Bus Came Back: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': Kouji Kabuto, Sayaka Yumi and nearly all ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' characters were [[Put on a Bus]] at the end of the series. Several of them returned at the end of ''''[[Great Mazinger]]'', though: Kouji, Sayaka and Prof. Yumi. When ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer]]'' started, though, Kouji was the only character of both series was not [[Put on a Bus]]. The Bus Came Back for Boss for two episodes, and it was supposed to come back for Sayaka as well, but [[Executive Meddling]] prevented it.

* ''[[Pokémon]]'':

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', upon the revolt in Central, the bus not only comes back, but it's loaded to the brim with weaponry and ammo for the {{spoiler|Mustang faction}} (supplied by {{spoiler|Jean Havoc}}), with none other than {{spoiler|second lieutenant Maria Ross}} at the wheel. Talk about a [[Badass]] Bus, eh?

 

 

* ''Ray'' - Ray Charles' mother was active through much of Ray's life but the film makes it appear as though she didn't have an active role in his young development. She died before he met his first wife. In fact, Ray's life is portrayed as a rotating support circle. Different bandmates and managers guided him along different steps of the way and then he outgrew them and moved onto a new support circle. In reality, Ray kept in touch with a lot of his earlier band mates and Ahmet Ertegun (Curtis Armstrong) knew Ray until the end of his life. Once Ray dropped him as a manager, he didn't appear again in the movie though.

* Scarecrow in the [[The Dark Knight|Dark Knight trilogy]]. He's a fairly main character in [[Batman Begins]] until Ra's Al Ghul shows up, and escapes on a horse during the final fight. In [[The Dark Knight]], he's used to demonstrate how weird Gotham crime has become now that Batman has been around, and gets arrested. And he's been confirmed for at least an appearance in [[The Dark Knight Rises]]. So everytime you think he's gone for good, he comes back.

 

 

* Most famously on ''[[The Dukes of Hazzard]]'', with Bo and Luke returning after being absent for most of the show's fifth season due to contract issues with [[Absentee Actor|actors John Schneider and Tom Wopat]]. (Unlike most examples of this trope, the bus brought them back not just for a visit, but for good.)

** Deputy Enos Strate, who'd left Hazzard in the third season for his own short-lived spinoff show, returned at the start of season 3 (just as Bo and Luke were leaving). He also stuck around for the remainder of the show's run.

** Also Lyta Alexander returned first in the S2 episode Divided Loyalties and returns as a recurring character in the following seasons

** Also happened with Na'Toth, G'Kar's second aide. After the original actress decided not to reprise her role for season two she was recast. The new actress proved dissappointing in the role so the character was given less screen time and seemingly killed off. Three seasons later Na'Toth returns in a single episode to recieve a decent send off.

* In ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'':

** "Yesterday's Enterprise" was originally supposed to be a [[Back for the Dead]] episode for Tasha (using ripple-effect time travel to get around the fact that she was ''already'' dead), but it got a [[Cosmic Retcon]] into the more general version of this trope in order to allow her to have a Romulan daughter.

* Richie and Ralph Malph returned for an episode of ''[[Happy Days]]'' (with Richie coming back again for the series finale).

* Young Mr. Grace returned for a very brief cameo during a birthday celebration for his older brother in the episode of ''[[Are You Being Served?|Are You Being Served]]'' titled "Roots".

* ''[[Sanford and Son]]'': Good ol' Grady returned, then, seemingly not learning his lesson, did an equally short-lived spinoff after the parent show was cancelled.

* Rose of ''[[Two and A Half Men]]'' manages to return twice. The second time offers no explanation as to where she came from and where she ended up after the episode, but that's not unusual for Rose... she's [[Stalker with a Crush|a little loopy]].

* Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart's bus came back three times after the "UNIT era" of ''[[Doctor Who]]''; "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S20/E03 Mawdryn Undead|Mardwyn Undead]]", "[[Doctor Who/Recap/20th AS the Five Doctors|The Five Doctors]]" and "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S26/E01 Battlefield|Battlefield]]". Other buses that came back for "Five Doctors" included Susan, Jamie and Zoe (except it wasn't really them), Sarah-Jane and K9, and Romana.

** Jamie really did return in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S22/E04 The Two Doctors|The Two Doctors]]", as did [[The Nth Doctor|the Second Doctor]], if that counts. (If it does, than "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S10/E01 The Three Doctors|The Three Doctors]]", "The Five Doctors" again and "[[Doctor Who/Recap/2007 Ci NS Time Crash|Time Crash]]" also qualify).

* When René and Edith of ''[['Allo 'Allo!|Allo Allo]]'' accidentally travel to London, they meet Hans, who had been stolen away by the Communist Resistance to England a few seasons previously. He now works for the British government and speaks English.

* In ''[[Bones]]'', Zack only really comes back once after being [[Put on a Bus]] {{spoiler|to a mental institution}}, in "The Perfect Pieces in the Purple Pond". (He appears in two other episodes, but one is a hallucination and the other is a [[Whole-Episode Flashback]].)

* On ''[[Eureka]]'', you'd think sacrificing himself to save continuity would be enough to get Nathan Stark out of Carter's life for good. Nope; he comes back. {{spoiler|Turns out he was just a technology induced hallucination. But this is Eureka, after all. }}

* On ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'', Jess apparently has several round-trip tickets. His whole slew of issues came together and he ran away from town, only to be grudgingly dragged back to town to reclaim his car and attend his mother's wedding. He leaves town again when Rory impulsively rejects him and then resurfaces in Rory's life again to see how she's doing only for Rory to sadly reject him again.

* More actress-wise than character-wise, but Rachel Dratch returned to ''30 Rock'' for the first time since the first season for its season 5 [[Live Episode]], this time playing a wacky foreign janitor. Liz even comments, "Haven't seen you in a while."

* In ''[[Growing Pains]]'', Luke ([[Leonardo DiCaprio]]) returns briefly in the final episode. Oddly enough, he didn't technically interact with the cast face-to-face. He simply spoke to Mike on the phone in one scene. He was only a part of the cast towards the end of the series so there wasn't a long time between his departure and return.

* ''[[24]]'' had Milo Pressman, who inexplicably disappeared after Day 1, suddenly return in a major role in Day 6, his absence explained as him having been working in another CTU division. [[Back for the Dead|He is eventually killed]]. This caught several people by surprise since ''24'' is notorious for its rampant [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]].

 

* ''[[Sam and Max]]'':

** Bluster Blaster, who left to Vegas with Bosco between seasons 2 and 3, returns in the fourth episode to deliver a note about how Bosco is stuck in Vegas paying off a debt.

* Ammon Jerro from ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' joins you for one mission in the expansion ''Mask of the Betrayer''.

* In the second ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' game, Elora was an important character. She's missing for most of the third game due to plot reasons, but appears in a cutscene toward the end. She however doesn't appear in any other games outside of the original trilogy.

* ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]'' was actually this to [[Super Mario Bros 3|Boom Boom.]]

 

 

* ''[[Suburban Knights]]'': [[That Dude in the Suede|Suede]] left the site two years prior to do missionary work. It turns out he was taking a [[Punch Clock Villain|temp position]] as an Obstacle for [[Knight Templar|Jaffers]]. He lets Team A go after 'defeating' him and assists them in the final battle.

* [[Fallout: Nuka Break]]: In episode 5, a character from the movie, Red, returns to the cast ensemble as a villianess.

 

* The ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'' [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Gadget and the Gadgetinis]]'' had this with the characters of Brain and Chief Quimby. Quimby was about the same, except Gadget is now working for a different agency, while a shell-shocked Brain has retired to a riverfront house.

* In the last season of ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'', the prominent supporting characters from the first season came back and the newer additions like Carl and Pops stayed as well.

* The ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "The Splendid Source" has Peter and co. encountering their old buddy Cleveland in his [[The Cleveland Show|new hometown]] during a road trip.

** Similarly, Kevin, son of Joe and Bonnie Swanson, came back in season 10 during Thanksgiving when everyone had accepted that Kevin died in the Iraq war. He actually went AWOL.

* In the most recent episode of ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'', many, many of the characters that were [[Put on a Bus|shipped off to Hoboken]] came back, complete with evil clones.

** Dr. Blowhole came back in a 1 hour special.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Tropes on a Bus]]