History Main / BagOfSpilling

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* In the last book of ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', the title character [[spoiler:obtains the Curse of Achilles, which makes him MadeOfIron]]. In the sequel series ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', Percy loses the curse when he enters the Roman camp as the Tiber (a different one, but named after the original, of course) washes away curses and such.

* ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' partially averts this. On an individual unit level, the player can build certain veteran units of the same rank as a unit which gained veterancy in a previous mission. Additionally, for certain missions, if the next mission directly follows the preceding mission (e.g. capture a town in one mission, defend it the next) the ending units from the first mission will be the starting units for the second. Battlefield conditions (locations of defensive structures, destroyed buildings, etc.) are also reproduced for subsequent missions on the same map.

* Partially averted in ''[[DragonBall Buu's Fury]]''. You start off at an even higher level than when the previous game ended. However, your stats at lowered to about half of what they were in the previous game.

* In the VisualNovel ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' the girls lose some of the hearts they had from previous games making them weaker in combat. Especially awkward with whichever girl you've chosen to be your one true love. Seems they don't love you quite so much anymore. Partially justified in some routes when Chitose arrives in the second game and the girl Takuto loves is worried about Takuto's affection but makes absolutely no sense with Forte who simply doesn't care or Mint who can read his mind.

* Partially averted in ''SwordOfTheStars II: Lords of Winter''. While you won't be starting it with antimatter-powered dreadnoughts and all the endgame goodness of the first title, you will still get cruisers and fusion to start.

* ''SaintsRowTheThird'' uses and partially justifies this trope. The first mission is ATasteOfPower because it takes place in Stilwater, a city the Saints seized control of over the course of the previous two games. The game proper begins with [[PlayerCharacter the Boss]] skydiving into the city of Steelport with nothing but the clothes on his/her back and a top-of-the-line smartphone. Justified in the lack of funds and general resources upon arriving in the new city (and the Stilwater Saints gradually ship more and more resources in over the course of the game, including a few tanks), but not in the lack of upgrades gained in previous installments.

** For once this is totally [[JustifiedTrope justified]], I mean they didn't call it ''The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'' for nothing.

** ''Fire Emblem 4'' and 5 are also linear sequels; actually, the events of 5 occurs in between the two arcs of 4. However, only the two led characters of 5 showed up in 4 and it was pretty well handled in the case of Leaf.
*** Incorrect. Sety, Delmud and Fin also showed up in 5, with Delmud being prepromoted to boot, while beginning [=FE4=] unpromoted, and Fin (depending on how much he was used in Gen 1) being way weaker than he should. Sety's the only one who ends [=FE5=] approximately as strong as he is in [=FE4=].

* Notably averted in the original three Insomniac-made ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' games: no abilities are gained in the first game, but those gained in the second carry over to the third. Showcased over and over, however, in the later games... seriously, how many times can a dragon forget how to breathe fire?!?
** ...and ice, and electricity...

* The Chaos Emeralds in the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series.
** If you finish the good ending in Sonic 1, you'll see why Sonic no longer has the Emeralds in the sequel.

** Between Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic lost his Light Speed Shoes, and Light Speed Attack. Knuckles lost his Shovel Claws. All of them are replaced in the second game - However, there are also the missing Crystal Ring (Sonic), Jet Anklet, Rhythm Badge (Tails), and Fighting Gloves (Knuckles). Tails' lost items are slightly justified, due to the {{Unexpected Gameplay Change}}, but...

** [[Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily Brawl in the Family]] suggests [[EpilepticTrees this is because it is a different generation of Kongs]]. If this is true, maybe these Kongs [[FridgeLogic never learned how to swim]].

** X4-X8 play with this in so many ways. He starts 5 and 6 with the Fourth/Force Armour and Falcon Armour from the game preceding each, respectively. The only problem is that the armors are severely weakened compared to their original versions, with the implication that X did trash them, but Alia went and salvaged them as best she could. Whereas in the first three games, X started with a 16 unit life meter, and built it up to 32. From X4 onward until X8 redesigned the meters, X ''started'' with a 32 unit meter, and could build up to 48(X4), 64(X5-6), and 80(X7). Also, X7 and X8 made the airdash and charging his X-buster an extra level available in base form. Respectively.
*** Also, in regards to heart tanks, in X1, X is obviously significantly weaker than Zero. By the time we actually ''see'' Zero's life bar, X is only eight heart tanks away from being equal to it, and then it's just a case of them being pretty much equal.
** However, Zero has no such qualms, which doesn't explain why he forgets ''learned techniques'' (i.e. NOT weapons), such as his Ice Stab maneuver in X4. It's not like he dies in that particular chapter, unlike X5!

** Speaking of which the trope is actually justified in ''Zero 2'' where Zero has his Buster, Saber, and Shield Boomerang damaged and his Triple Rod totaled due to fighting constantly against Neo Arcadian forces in the desert for over a year without any R&R. It even goes so far as to show the Pause menu looking rusty and a portrait of a damaged Zero. Which is awesome, by the way; especially since the pause menu changes to an entirely different format once Zero returns to the Base and gets fixed up (in the third and fourth games the menu changes right from the beginning).
*** Zero also holds his arm while stationary throughout that entire level, which usually only happens when he's low on health.

* The original ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series was completely guilty of this, as mentioned above. One explanation often offered by [[FanWank fans is that Mega Man can only hold so many weapons at a time, and needs to throw out the old ones to make room for the new ones]]. Which makes sense, since bosses are only weak to weapons from bosses in the same game.
** Some fans have an alternate theory: Mega Man upgrades his operating system between games, but the new OS doesn't support older weapons and nobody can or will write drivers for them.

* Semi-averted in the Flash game ''VideoGame/{{KOLM}} 2''. Robbie retains most of his movement abilities from the first game (dashing, triple jumping, swimming, crouching), but loses all of his defensive abilities (invulnerability to spikes, damage reduction).

** ''SuperRobotWars F'' allows you to carry everything over to the sequel, ''F Final''. If you don't use that, instead you're given a lump sum of cash to use, and you don't get any of your upgraded units.
*** The same happens in ''SuperRobotWarsZ 2 Part 2'' to a certain degree.

*** Interestingly, ''Alpha 2'' uses a ContinuityNod explanation: in the previous game, the bad guys managed to pull a GrandTheftPrototype on Mazinkaiser, and the heroes recovered it by exploiting a flaw (a blind spot created by its [[MechaExpansionPack flight pack]]). At the start of ''Alpha 2'', you get Kaiser but not the flight pack, since Professor Yumi is trying to remove said blind spot so future villains can't exploit it themselves.

* ''{{Warcraft}} III'' mostly averts this with hero levels. In the ExpansionPack, every hero who appeared before is level ten. Arthas actually spends most of his expansion pack campaign going down from level ten all the way to level two before being allowed to level back up. The only direct use is Thrall, who was allowed to level to three in the training campaign but starts at level one in the full orc campaign.
** Arthas goes from a level 10 paladin to a level 1 death knight after the human campaign.
*** And his SwordOfPlotAdvancement loses the ability to do chaos damage.

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]]/[[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends 2'', where Megs is confident he can handle the bad guys as soon as he gets his old gear out of storage... until the penny-pinching Roll sheepishly admits she sold off his equipment to cover repairs for the pounding the ship took near the end of the last game.

* The ''VideoGame/DotHackGU'' carries over its lead character from the ''.hack//Roots'' anime, and devises a plot reason for having him return to level one.
** Ironically, it's then averted since your characters carry over all of their abilities, stats, and gear from Volume 1 into subsequent games.
*** But then again the games are 1 game for the price of 3 as the breaks between them are mere minutes, if even that.
**** The original 4 .hack games worked the same way.
* The ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' franchise dealt with this by having the PC kidnapped by an evil wizard prior to the start of the second game, and naturally stripped of all equipment. One could retrieve some of the contents of one's inventory in the first chamber one comes upon when escaping his dungeon lair -- notably the Golden Pantaloons, necessary to forge the Big Metal Unit in the final expansion pack. Note that while equipment was lost, power was not, with characters leveling up to the point where two games, two expansion packs and over 8 million XP later, the PC goes from a level 1 weakling barely capable of defeating a rat to a level 40 demigod.
** There was some carryover; if you had the scimitars of Drizzt, he'd be royally pissed at you.

** It is, technically speaking, possible to avoid this if you manage to pause fast enough. You can drop all your equipment on the ground and pick it up after the cut scene. Apparently this was intentional given the specific changes that happen to many plot-specific items you might still be holding.
*** The ability to retain items is definitely not intentional. A few items, when imported in such a fashion, will become significantly different items (albeit within the same class; one enchanted two-handed sword from BG becomes a different enchanted two-handed sword -- with a tendency to cast a point-blank fireball spell on random strikes -- when carried into the sequel) because the original items were not being used and their item codes were recycled for new items.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' is the only example of this in the whole series, being the only direct sequel to a previous game, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. Yuna and Rikku start the second game as if none of the LevelGrinding of the other game had occurred, having changed careers. While this might make some sense for Yuna, who starts off as a completely different class than she was in the previous game (though it doesn't explain where all her White Magic went), this makes no plot line sense at all for Rikku. Of course, Rikku was a combination Thief/Chemist in ''X'', while in ''X-2'' her starting class is a Thief. Make of that what you will.
** Considering the party's ability to easily plow over a Behemoth at the beginning of the game, it seems they very much have retained their general power levels. The enemies are simply all more powerful than the ones they fought in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. This is especially evident in Omega Weapon becoming a regular enemy.
*** With no summoners to send them, [[FridgeHorror the fiends have gotten stronger.]]
** Presumably, dress spheres don't pay attention to what abilities you already know. Otherwise you wouldn't have to switch between them to use different abilities.
** The second direct sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIIRevenantWings'' has the same thing. There are a few implications that it's more the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil making you look weak rather than power loss, but it's hard to tell.
** It happens again in the third direct sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears''. Yes, you do start the game with the minimally trained Prince Ceodore, but his parents and everyone else that saved the world seemed to have lost all the gear and levels/spells they had. While you ''could'' say they've basically retired from monster-slaying, we've got Kain, who supposedly spent all his years [[spoiler:holed up in a mountain filled with undead]]. He ''really'' has no excuse. No, not even when [[spoiler:his really angry side kicks his ass and goes amok]]. At least Rydia's explanation is there: [[spoiler:some chick froze/stole away the Eidolons, so Rydia can't summon any of them]]. Averted with [[spoiler:Golbez]], who has all the spells he had in ''Final Fantasy IV'' from the get-go (Osmose, Drain, Firaga, etc), despite the fact he [[spoiler:spent the seventeen years between games ''sleeping''!]]
** The ''fourth'' direct sequal, VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy XIII-2}}, averts this, as the main party members weren't playable in the original. Only time will tell if it's played straight in the upcoming DLC chapters focusing on the original characters, but if it is, it may be justified as [[spoiler: apart from Snow]] they're no longer l'Cie. Now let's see how powerful Lightning will be in the '''next''' [[{{VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII}} sequel]]...

** Played semi-straight by the transition from ''Champions of Krynn'' to ''Death Knights of Krynn'', as you lose most of the good gear. Also, in all the games, despite keeping experience, it makes more sense to make new characters and have the old ones hand off the better gear, as the Modify command let you max stats on your newly created characters; older characters could have substantially less hit points, as they had random hit point gains until 9th or 10th level. A character from an early game could have less than half the hit points of a newly created one, despite being a level or two higher if you [[LevelGrinding Level Ground]].

* The ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' games did not carry over experience between games, despite that the second game literally starts ''the next day''. Granted, each game only lasts a few days (rather than taking years), and indeed, none of the characters is really assumed to improve (in combat anyway) over the course of the game outside of game battles. Still, Kos-Mos needs to level up in the second and third game to gain some of her previously acquired special abilities (though the fact that she's replaced with a different model every time explains that, at least).
** Not completely true. While characters would have their levels start over from the beginning with no way to carry them over, many of the skill points used to acquire special techniques ''would'' carry over. However, after a certain point, there is a ratio of diminishing returns, such that it's not even worth your trouble to try and level grind through the previous game to gain a bonus in the next. Even the maximum allowed bonus is equal only to a few hour's worth of grinding.
** Also, it's notable that the characters get seemingly more powerful in each game. In the first ''Xenosaga'' game, you'll usually fight the final boss with characters who have in the neighborhood of 1,000 HP each. In the second game, it'll be about 2,500 HP, in the third game, somewhere around 6,000. It may be the series' way of allowing you to think your characters get more powerful from one game to the other while still making you start off as a weak level one character.

** Lampshaded in ''Ultima VII''. At one point, Iolo explains to you that every time you go to Earth and return to Britannia, it is as if you were newborn. This explains why you always begin at level 1, and why you can approach a unicorn, something that can only be done by characters with zero experience.
*** However, that directly conflicts with the fact that you were allowed to import old characters between parts 4-6, although the only things retained were stats and experience.
*** The Avatar also has a persistent tendency to leave lots of stuff behind when he/she is moongated to Britannia - weapons, armor, supplies and in one case the very useful Orb of the Moons. Similarily, no one seems to keep good track of your things you leave in Britannia either - in U6, you have to run all over the land to collect the Runes that people misplace, hide and even withhold from you. In ''The Black Gate'' pointedly asks you if you kept track of the mighty Quicksword Enilno - it was essential to stop the insanely powerful sorceress Minax, but apparently you dropped it somewhere.

* Averted in ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic 2'', which has a different main character from the first game - but according to the new character's back story, they were once a famous and powerful Jedi who has now lost most of their powers through the exact type of mechanism often used to justify this trope.
** Interestingly, this happens to several characters in the game, both new and returning. Kreia [[spoiler:was once a Sith Lord, and was stripped of her power and exiled by the other Sith]], Mandalore [[spoiler:(Canderous Ordo from the previous game)]] mentions that he has suffered multiple wounds over the years, and is not as powerful as he used to be, and HK-47 has actually been destroyed at the beginning of the game, and must be repaired.
* Slightly averted in the ''{{Suikoden}}'' series. In [[SuikodenII II]] and [[SuikodenIII III]] you can load up saved games from the previous games, and the recurring characters get a power boost in line with their level, and their weapons are sharper than they would be otherwise. Granted, they aren't nearly as buff as they were at the end of the previous game, but the general power level seems to scale up with each successive game.
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in a scene in ''SuikodenII'', where returning character Viktor unsuccessfully chases one of the minor villains. When the villain gets away, Viktor remarks "I could have caught him a few years ago."
* Very noticeable in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'', as Lan loses everything; his [[GameBreaker broken]] Gater folder, all his HP memory, his power ups, the ability to preset chips, etc. He eventually gets everything backed up (except the gater folder).
** Not only that, but it seems like the Navi Customizer gets uninstalled after every game. Not to mention that in ''[=BN4=]'', the Style Change is replaced outright with the Soul Unison ability... this has been [[LampshadeHanging somewhat explained]], but not in-game...

** Sequel series ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' eventually explains that because digital technology evolves so quickly, all the upgrades you acquire are incompatible by the time the next game rolls around. This reasoning could be stretched backwards to the Battle Network series.
*** Lan does not noticeably age between the games so it can't be that long a time.
*** You'd be surprised how fast technology can advance. But according to the DS remake of BN 5, Mega Man's data has to be modded constantly [[spoiler:probably because of the whole Hub thing]], so it's likely that after all of the modding his earlier folder and upgrades simply aren't compatible anymore. Would explain why he has to get the Navi Customizer back every game at least.
*** ''Star Force 2'' does not explain, however, why once you've upgraded from a Transer to a Star Carrier, your beloved friends won't renew your [[TrueCompanions BrotherBands]] until you pull off plot shenanigans, even though you saved each of their lives a minimum of twice in the previous game.

** Well, the original ''.hack'' series was [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo One Game For The Price Of Four]]...

** Hordes of the Underdark, the second expansion for ''[=NWN1=]'', has the PC's inventory stolen from his inn room at the beginning of the game. In-game dialogue allows the PC to hang a lampshade on it by repeatedly claiming you "only want my stuff back!" (Technically, however, the protagonist was ''not'' the same character from the original game - it was the same character from ''Shadows of Undrentide'').
*** [[spoiler:Which you eventually ''can'' get back, mostly, provided you remember to loot one of the drow encampments. But by then you've probably found better counterparts for many of the items anyway.]]
* {{Mario}} has starred in multiple {{RPG}}s, but no matter what level he has reached or what equipment/items he has gotten, he returns to level 1 with basic equipment (if any at all) at the start of the next game.
** This makes even less sense in ''Partners in Time'', where his baby form levels up and possibly becomes even stronger than him.
** Interestingly, in ''Bowser's Inside Story'', when the time comes to use a technique from the first game, it's ''Mario'' who explains to [[ExpositionFairy Starlow]] this technique that they already know how to do.

** Speaking of ''Ys'', this was partially averted in the TurboGrafxCD version of ''Ys Book I and II'' which threw you into the second game immediately after finishing the first with all your levels, experience intact. This was made to work simply by raising the level cap and continuing to offer more powerful equipment as you progressed. Your sword and armor still get left behind in Esteria, though you get them back at the end when Ys lands.

* Played Straight in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia: Dawn of the New World''. Not only are the Heroes of Regeneration straight up de-leveled- going from as high as Level 250 down to Level 10 in the most extreme of cases, they can't gain levels in the new game anyways, because they do not gain EXP. Their equipment, on the other hand is partially averting the trope- they come with some of the first game's best equipment from the get-go, but their weapon is each character's weakest/starting weapon- in the final chapter, they gain their best equipment. (But you can't change ANY of it).
** Again averted with Lloyd who's encountered at the very beginning of the game at Level 50 with his best equipment (at least he has his best -and only- weapon), but he's an enemy.
** Sadly, they missed out on a perfect way to explain this; after the events of the first game, the characters had a pretty good reason to remove their Exspheres, which granted them most of their strength. This whole thing would have made perfect sense if it was stated that they had removed their Exspheres, but unfortunately they do no such thing, which is especially odd in the case of Lloyd, whose Exsphere was formed from his MOTHER.

* Partially subverted in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', since Mario keeps his hammer and remembers pretty much all of the stuff from the previous game. Played straight when he has to get new partners, but justified because his old ones all went back to their own lives at the end of the first game and there was no reason to suspect he'd need them when he set out.
** However, he loses all the badges he had before and the Ultra Hammer/Boots.
* Partially justified in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', a character imported from ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}'' will retain little to none of their experience and resources. For example, a level 45 character with 1 million credits in the bank will start the second game at level 2 with only one hundred thousand bonus credits. This is due to the character [[spoiler:being dead for two years]].
** Averted partially in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': if you transfer a character from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', you retain all your powers from where you left off. This puts you at level 30 (the max level cap of 2), meaning you still have to level up to get all the new powers in 3, but this is justified as your character (and enemies) becoming more powerful. New characters start at an approximation of where they would be at the end of ''2''. You completely lose all your weapons and have to start with grunt gear, but this is justified as well as the Alliance stripped you of your weaponry when they court martialled you for the Bahak incident. Also, if you pre-ordered the Collector's Edition, they hand you several of the game's five best gun's (the N7 weapons) for you and your squadmates. So, while you do lose your weaponry, it's not like they're sending you in [[WithThisHerring with just the basic gear like in the first game.]]

** The fanfiction [[FanFic/{{Repairs}} Repairs]] has Samus play Bag of Spilling straight...then subverts it. She can still use her abilities, albeit in a more limited fashion, and using them before they're ready again makes their repairs take longer.

* Averted in ''Banjo-Tooie'', where the main characters are able to use ''every'' power they acquired in the previous game, ''{{Banjo-Kazooie}}''. This is compensated for by making them gradually acquire even ''more'' powers. They still lose a lot of HP and carrying capacity.
** However, in ''Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts'', Banjo and Kazooie lose their abilities due to years of being fat and lazy. Their lack of their abilities is often lampshaded.
*** Though they do ''gain'' one non-vehicle related ability that wasn't present in either of the first games (tightrope walking).
*** Banjo kept the Grip Grab.
* In many ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' games, the heroine loses all her old upgrades early on, and must recover them one-by-one. Or she'll find newer, different upgrades. Most games after ''Super Metroid'' tried to explain this in some way -- suit damage, physical removal, or in the case of ''Metroid Fusion'', surgical removal after infection by an aggressive parasite. The Luminoth weapons acquired in ''Prime 2'' were incompatible with the suit's power systems, so naturally they would run out of energy without access to Luminoth power sources.
** The Long Beam is one exception to this; you only need to get it in the original ''Metroid'' and its remake ''Zero Mission''.
** While Samus loses most of her gear from ''Metroid''/''Zero Mission'' (not to mention the ''Prime'' subseries) prior to ''Metroid II'', she does keep the Morph Ball and a small supply of Missiles.
** ''Metroid Prime 3'' partially averts this by letting her keep a good portion of her non-weapon upgrades from ''Prime 2''... but doesn't bother to explain why she lost the ones she did, including some which weren't Luminoth tech (Boost Ball, Grapple Beam).
** The ''Prime 2'' Bag of Spilling deserves special note here for taking away an item Samus ''didn't have in the first place''. The suit's damage report lists a "Power Bomb Generator" among the stolen items, but you don't have Power Bombs during your TasteOfPower. Nonetheless, you get them "back" later...
** [[http://www.kdingo.net/champ/pics/main.php?g2_itemId=9337 I think this summarizes what happens pretty well]].
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM''. Samus already has all her upgrades, but she's not allowed to use them unless she gets authorization from Adam. Why this doesn't allow her to utilize her defensive capabilities (such as the Varia Suits) is never explained in-game. It's not like the more advanced suits are radioactive ([[OhWait or at least,]] [[MetroidPrime not anymore]]).

** Justified in the first two ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' games, where an explosion disables her equipment and the Ing steal them, respectively. It's subverted in ''Metroid Fusion'' as well, where both Samus and the Power Suit's organic components are infected by an alien organism and the suit must be surgically removed. All of Samus's weapons and abilities stay in the suit, but the parasite within it mutates into the main villain. ''Prime 3: Corruption'' has Samus retain a few of the past game's items, such as Bombs and the Double Jump, but many of the upgrades are still gone with nary a word about them.

** Now in fairness, Ms. Croft doesn't just make a living [[AllThereInTheManual publishing journals about her exploits as well as travel guides]], or off of daddy's wealth. She makes a fortune between games selling those ancient Egyptian Uzis and dynastic Chinese shotguns she keeps finding in unexplored and pristine tombs.

** For ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', this wasn't just limited to between games: Whenever the time traveling hero hits his ResetButton, most, but not all, of his gear and supplies would literally spill out from his pockets into the endless void as he flew back in time (even better, the only way of accumulating money was through a stamp made of special ink imprinted on your skin by a bank teller, recording the balance of your supposed account. Whenever you travel back in time, it's implied that you fool the bank into believing you currently have an account with this balance).
** On the plus side, ''Majora's Mask'' does explain WHY Link starts with no items: The Skull Kid and his fairies spooked your horse, causing you to fall and lose consciousness for the few seconds it takes the Skull Kid to steal your stuff. Additionally, a lot of the items you find in Termina are child-sized versions of the tools you use in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. Why would Link bring a hookshot or bow he's too small to use?
*** He also somehow loses access to the Ocarina songs he learned in ''Ocarina of Time'', even the ones that are also used in ''Majora's Mask''. He "remembers" the Song of Time (through a flashback that doesn't match up with how he learned it in the first game) but has to be retaught Epona's Song and the Song of Storms by other characters.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'', Link has lost not only his gear but also [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic1-100807.php his ability to wield swords]].
*** Or so Oshus assumes. In fact, Link may have retained his skills from before, but the old man doesn't let him go without a training session regardless.
*** Not to mention his ability to swim. Before, he could swim as long as the swim meter didn't run out; now, he [[SuperDrowningSkills sinks like a stone]], losing a little energy and appearing on shore. Both of these things could be explained by the fact that [[spoiler:the game takes place in a different world]] though.

** It even happens In-Game in the Gameboy Color game, Oracle of Ages. You've gotten a handful of useful stuff (a few dungeons in), when your rafting trip goes horribly awry, and lightning strikes you. You wake up on the island you were trying to get to anyway, surrounded by lizard men. Who carry off your stuff. You have ''nothing'' until you find the lizards who stole it and force them to give it back, including a handful of "trading" sequences involving planting a seedling in the past so you can get the seeds from it in the present to take those seeds back to the past to get your damn power bracelet back.
*** This is especially apparent in the sidequests involving switching back and forth between the two Oracle games. Presumably, in-universe, Link is actually physically traveling between the two countries, but that doesn't explain why he becomes much more powerful and better-equipped when he goes back to the previous land and then leaves all his Heart Containers and items behind when he returns.
*** Similarly, the Eldin [[spoiler:Song of the Hero]] quest in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' starts with [[spoiler:Eldin Volcano erupting as Link descends from the sky, knocking him out and allowing the Bokoblins to steal his items. The entire quest revolves around making your way through the area while slowly regaining your items to progress.]]

* Averted in the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series. Abilities gained by both Kain in the ''Blood Omen'' games and Raziel in the ''Soul Reaver'' games are retained from one game to the next. There are a few exceptions; for example, Kain doesn't use his Wolf form after ''Blood Omen 1'' and Raziel doesn't use his Constrict power after ''Soul Reaver 1'', but those powers were arguably of limited use anyway.
** However, this trope is in full force when it comes to the reaver forges - poor Raziel has to imbue the damn wraith blade twice with every last element between ''Soul Reaver 2'' and ''Defiance''. Particularly glaring because it is a vital element of the plot. A deleted scene (according to interviews) would have had the [[BigBad Elder God]] destroying the Elemental Fonts used to switch the sword elements in ''Soul Reaver 2'' - forcing Raziel to re-imbue the sword.
*** But ''Soul Reaver 2'' ends with [[spoiler:Kain creating a time-paradox]]. I always thought that it was the reason Raziel lost his elemental reavers.
* A mixed bag in ''[[RyuGaGotoku Yakuza 2]]''. Kazuma retains parts of his upgraded moveset, is much faster, and even has one or two new abilities, but must relearn others. Oh, and health bar reversion in the extreme, of course...
** Attempts to be justified between 2 - 3 - 4 by having him retire between games. He still retains a chunk of his new moveset, but loses most of his high level abilities through lack of practice.

* Semi-averted in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity''. Once Bruce Wayne manages to gear up as Batman, he starts with most of the gadgets he acquired in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum''. The only major piece of equipment he doesn't carry over (the Line Launcher) is given to him roughly halfway through the game.
** It's actually [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Alfred when Batman calls in the Line Launcher. He asks Batman if he's ever considered taking up a bigger UtilityBelt. Batman's response? Tried it, too bulky, weighted him down.
*** No doubt a reference to the No Man's Land comic run where, as he was out in costume roughly 20 hours a day, he built a larger belt to handle a larger variety of crime fighting gear.

** ''Devil May Cry 4'' continues this trend. It comes between 1 and 2 chronologically, and it features a new main character altogether (Nero) who obviously has none of the weapons Dante had. However, Dante becomes the lead halfway through the game, which becomes a partial subversion: you can use the points you earned as Nero to purchase abilities as Dante.
** Also in ''Devil May Cry 4'', Dante is able to use all of the "style" moves from ''Devil May Cry 3'', although at Level 1. You can upgrade them at the beginning of missions and at Divinity Statues, and doing so unlocks many new moves.

* Exception: As each new game in the ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' series was the same hero on a new adventure, players are provided with a chance to save their hero at the end of one game, and import him into the next. Importing gives your new character the stats and spells he knew in the previous game, as well as some of his gear and all his money. The one time the series plays this trope straight, in the transition between games 3 and 4, it's [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the fact that the hero is the subject of a forced teleport spell which is interrupted partway, throwing him into an EldritchAbomination's final resting place.
** Also of note that even if you didn't import a character he would still start out more powerful than he did in the last game statwise; this all works because as the games progressed the actual stats went up, so an extremely high stat in the first game was mediocre in the second, by the fifth and final game, the minimum score you could have on a stat was the same as the cap in the first game.
*** The fifth game features an interesting aversion to this trope. Throughout the series, Thief characters have a SubPlot involving [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon a statue of a blackbird]] which is being sought after by everyone of the light-fingered persuasion. In ''[=QfG4=]'', you can find and steal a duplicate Blackbird from the evil monastery in town; if you then import your character into ''[=QfG5=]'', he'll have the Fake Blackbird in his inventory, which makes stealing the real thing a little easier by cutting out a few steps[[note]]If you don't have the Fake, you have to take the real statue to an artist in town to have a fake made for you[[/note]].

** A strange case occurs in ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' (the third game in the series). You begin the game with only one item in your inventory: an inexplicable pair of helium filled balloons. Presumably these are the same balloons acquired in the endgame of ''Monkey Island 2'', but everything else from that game has been lost.
*** ''Curse'' does this midway through the second chapter as well: While walking on a nature trail, Guybrush gets swallowed by a snake, and has to collect a wide variety of items inside the snake's belly before finding one that'll help him escape... after which the snake vomits Guybrush into a quicksand pit, which sucks almost all of Guybrush's recently discovered loot right through his pants.
**** Now THERE'S an odd sensation...
*** In TalesOfMonkeyIsland, an EpisodicGame, Guybrush loses some items between chapters while keeping others, sometimes with no explanation, but the justification can be that those items aren't useful anymore so he just discards them, at one point a lost item could be very helpful and Guybrush says that he lost it.

* Played straight through the ''SpaceQuest'' series - Roger Wilco doesn't retain equipment from one game to the next.
** ...with the exception of the Orium crystal from II, which Roger starts with in III. Also, the ''effects'' of another item carry over from II to III: acquiring the free-but-not-really Labion Terror Beast Mating Whistle in II leads to the Arnoid hunting Roger during III. This happens even if you ''didn't'' get the whistle, since it is optional.
** Justified, since in ''Space Quest 6'' we see that Roger actually does have ''a lot'' of the worthless junk he's amassed over the previous five games; he just usually keeps them in his room.
*** And because, being a comedy adventure series, most of the gear you get wouldn't be all that helpful to keep around -- Do you really expect Roger to always carry around a couple plungers or canisters of dehydrated water (yes, you read that right) just in case he might need them again in the future?

** Not so justified in the second game, which takes place the morning after the first. Well, maybe a bit justified; most of the items that would have carried over are mundane, everyday items like a television remote and a porno magazine, so it's possible Larry just left them behind because they're nothing special.

* In ''PrincessTomatoInTheSaladKingdom'', your sidekick Percy carries most of your stuff. Every now and then -- usually after you've completed a major event or reached the end of a chapter -- he informs you that whoops! He's dropped, lost, or otherwise misplaced some of it! Fortunately, none of what he loses is actually ''required'' to complete the game; think of it as an involuntary inventory reduction...

* Averted in ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy]]'' as well, through an OldSaveBonus [[note]] despite the introduction of this very article says that "If the game actually acknowledges personal data from a previous title in the series, it's an OldSaveBonus", this time it's different - as the OldSaveBonus makes you keep ''much'' more than a handful of weapons as it usually happens[[/note]] for the first ''Dissidia'', as ''entire levels'' can be transferred to the sequel if you have the old save file, thus averting the need to [[LevelGrinding grind all those levels]] and therefore actually playing out like an example of NewGamePlus [[note]] or as an example of MissionPackSequel if you're ''that'' whiny, take your pick...[[/note]]. The fans' response is pretty easy to guess.
** This can be played straight however as the player has the option to import everything but their levels so they can keep their unlockables and get their bounus items, but still have the option to level old characters up.

* Explained in ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast]]'', where it is revealed that Kyle Katarn gave up the Force for fear of falling to the dark side ([[spoiler:like he did in ''Mysteries of the Sith'']]), and is thus unable to use the Force powers he had in the previous game.
** For ''Jedi Academy'', instead of reusing that trope yet again, they instead gave the player the role of Jaden, his apprentice with Kyle taking a supporting role. They wisely did the same in ''Mysteries of the Sith'' by putting the player in the role of Mara Jade, another apprentice of Kyle's. I think it's needless to say that if another Jedi Knight is made, you won't be in the role of Kyle Katarn anymore.
*** The developers were fully aware of this trope, and they have specifically stated that the decision for a new protagonist in Jedi Academy was because of how silly it would get if they had to depower Kyle again and again by some excuse after another.

** [[VideoGame/Left4Dead2 The sequel]], which actually has a canonical chronological sequence to its campaigns, lampshades this in ''Hard Rain'' when the protagonists realize that they've left their weapons and the flares needed to signal their boat in a bag on said boat. The other campaigns play the trope straight, but there are some unsaid explanations. In The Passing/Dark Carnival, they arrive in a tight, cramped stock car that likely could barely hold 4 people, much less guns. Swamp Fever starts with a helicopter crash. Virgil likely wanted some payment for his services rendered, which would explain why they have nothing at the start of The Parish.
*** Then there is The Sacrifice, wherein the old survivors arrive in a train and still don't carry anything but pistols.

*** Which does nothing to explain why Kratos ''starts'' the game with no powers. It explicitly takes place after [[spoiler:Kratos becomes the God of War]], yet Kratos starts with minimal health, no magic, and weak blades. No explanation is given. This is made even more strange by the fact that Kratos starts the second game fully powered up. With a maxed out spell from the first game. Which he doesn't have here.

** Granted, Orochi aside, all the games cover the same general time period, so there's little to be lost.
* ''NoMoreHeroesDesperateStruggle'' partially averts the trope; Travis apparently ditched all of his gear except for his basic Beam Katana when he left the assassin life, but he starts with the skills the player could pick up by collecting Lovikov balls in the first game. (Since this includes the mini-map, it's a very good thing.)

** Different galactic currency means he can't buy ammo for them. Notice that Bogon Galaxy bolts are a different color than Solana ones.

* ''Basic TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has a BagOfHolding. It also has a close cousin, Bag Of Devouring, which behaves like a bag of holding but causes items to be LostForever if they aren't retrieved quickly because it's actually the feeding apparatus of an extraplanar EldrichAbomination.

* ''Basic TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has a BagOfHolding. It also has a close cousin, BagOfDevouring, which behaves like a bag of holding but causes items to be LostForever if they aren't retrieved quickly.

* Averted in ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy]]'' as well, through an OldSaveBonus [[hottip:*: despite the introduction of this very article says that "If the game actually acknowledges personal data from a previous title in the series, it's an OldSaveBonus", this time it's different - as the OldSaveBonus makes you keep ''much'' more than a handful of weapons as it usually happens]] for the first ''Dissidia'', as ''entire levels'' can be transferred to the sequel if you have the old save file, thus averting the need to [[LevelGrinding grind all those levels]] and therefore actually playing out like an example of NewGamePlus [[hottip:*: or as an example of MissionPackSequel if you're ''that'' whiny, take your pick...]]. The fans' response is pretty easy to guess.

* Played BRUTALLY Straight in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia: Dawn of the New World''. Not only are the Heroes of Regeneration straight up de-leveled- going from as high as Level 250 down to Level 10 in the most extreme of cases, they can't gain levels in the new game anyways, because they do not gain EXP. Their equipment, on the other hand is partially averting the trope- they come with some of the first game's best equipment from the get-go, but their weapon is each character's weakest/starting weapon- in the final chapter, they gain their best equipment. (But you can't change ANY of it).

* ''DonkeyKongCountryReturns'' has the Kongs, despite [[SuperNotDrowningSkills being able to swim endlessly underwater in all three ''Donkey Kong Country'' games]], suddenly unable to swim. They [[SuperDrowningSkills WILL die if they fall into the water]], as if it were a BottomlessPit.

* Surprisingly, averted in ''Viva Caligula: In Hell!''; Caligula has all the weapons from the previous game. There don't appear to be any new ones, but it's still refreshing.

** The other direct sequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIIRevenantWings'' has the same thing. There are a few implications that it's more the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil making you look weak rather than power loss, but it's hard to tell.
** It happens again in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears''. Yes, you do start the game with the minimally trained Prince Ceodore, but his parents and everyone else that saved the world seemed to have lost all the gear and levels/spells they had. While you ''could'' say they've basically retired from monster-slaying, we've got Kain, who supposedly spent all his years [[spoiler:holed up in a mountain filled with undead]]. He ''really'' has no excuse. No, not even when [[spoiler:his really angry side kicks his ass and goes amok]]. At least Rydia's explanation is there: [[spoiler:some chick froze/stole away the Eidolons, so Rydia can't summon any of them]]. Averted with [[spoiler:Golbez]], who has all the spells he had in ''Final Fantasy IV'' from the get-go (Osmose, Drain, Firaga, etc), despite the fact he [[spoiler:spent the seventeen years between games ''sleeping''!]]
** The ''third'' direct sequal, VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy XIII-2}}, averts this, as the main party members weren't playable in the origanal. Only time will tell if it's played straight in the upcoming DLC chapters focusing on the original characters, but if it is, it may be Justified as [[spoiler: apart from Snow]] they're no longer l'Cie.

* Averted in spectacular fashion by Paradox Interactive's series of historical simulators. You can play ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'' from 1066 to 1453, then export the save file from that into ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis III'' and start with the world map and conditions as they were when you left them, and play up to 1820. ''Then'' you can repeat the process with ''Victoria'' and play up to 1920. If you have the expansion pack it goes to 1936 and ''then'' lets you export its save file in turn into ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron II'' which runs up to 1964. In all you have nearly 900 years of in-game continuity. This is possible because all four games run on a very similar engine.

* Averted in spectacular fashion by Paradox Interactive's series of historical simulators. You can play ''Crusader Kings'' from 1066 to 1453, then export the save file from that into ''Europa Universalis III'' and start with the world map and conditions as they were when you left them, and play up to 1820. ''Then'' you can repeat the process with ''Victoria'' and play up to 1920. If you have the expansion pack it goes to 1936 and ''then'' lets you export its save file in turn into ''Hearts of Iron II'' which runs up to 1964. In all you have nearly 900 years of in-game continuity. This is possible because all four games run on a very similar engine.

* In ''{{Literature/Doom}}'', the Gates destroy inorganic material. When Fly and Arlene use them they arrive unarmed and naked. This was an attempt to Justify the Bag of Spilling between episodes in the game.

** The original ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series was completely guilty of this, as mentioned above. One explanation often offered by [[FanWank fans is that Mega Man can only hold so many weapons at a time, and needs to throw out the old ones to make room for the new ones]]. Which makes sense, since bosses are only weak to weapons from bosses in the same game.
*** Some fans have an alternate theory: Mega Man upgrades his operating system between games, but the new OS doesn't support older weapons and nobody can or will write drivers for them.

* ''KidDracula'' for the GameBoy is the sequel to ''Boku Dracula-kun'' for the {{NES}}. On the first cutscene, the son of Dracula admits to Death that he already forgot the techniques he learned in the first game.

** The fanfiction [[FanFic/{{Repairs}} Repairs]] has Samus play BagOfSpilling straight...then subverts it. She can still use her abilities, albeit in a more limited fashion, and using them before they're ready again makes their repairs take longer.

** It was also claimed by the loading screens in ''Baldur's Gate II'' that you would be able to import your characters into ''NeverwinterNights''. This turned out to be completely impossible due to differences like running on 3.0 ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' instead of Advanced, and in any case would have required a truly epic BagOfSpilling to cope with unleashing a 40th level demigod onto the Weak Goblins you start fighting.

** The final campaign in ''Heroes V: Tribes of the East'' features a justified BagOfSpilling. Zehir gets a [[GlobalAirship flying city]], but has to pay with experience to move it. The first time he uses this ability in a cutscene (accidentally), he loses 200,000 experience, dropping from level 25 to level 9.

* The ''[[DotHackGUGames .hack//GU]]'' carries over its lead character from the ''.hack//Roots'' anime, and devises a plot reason for having him return to level one.

* The ''[[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate]]'' franchise dealt with this by having the PC kidnapped by an evil wizard prior to the start of the second game, and naturally stripped of all equipment. One could retrieve some of the contents of one's inventory in the first chamber one comes upon when escaping his dungeon lair -- notably the Golden Pantaloons, necessary to forge the Big Metal Unit in the final expansion pack. Note that while equipment was lost, power was not, with characters leveling up to the point where two games, two expansion packs and over 8 million XP later, the PC goes from a level 1 weakling barely capable of defeating a rat to a level 40 demigod.