History Main / LongBusTrip

* The elemental masks, Zem, Zam, Rusty Walrus, Pasadena Possum and Von Clutch from the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series.

* Erza's friends from the Tower of Heaven and [[spoiler:Mystogan]] in ''Manga/FairyTail'' It took until past the first TimeSkip for Millianna to return as a member of another guild, while [[spoiler:Mystogan]] didn't return [[spoiler:until ''[[Manga/FairyTail100YearsQuest the sequel manga]]'']].

* Erza's friends from the Tower of Heaven and [[spoiler:Mystogan]] in ''Manga/FairyTail''
** [[spoiler:Millianna]] comes back, though.

* At the end of the second arc (and second episode of the anime adaptation) of ''Manga/KingOfBanditJing'', the nine-tailed fox Sherry swears to one day come back for vengeance against the titular thief. The series ended without her ever showing up again.

* Examples from ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** The character Gin from the East Blue Saga stated that he wanted to see the Straw Hat Pirates again on the Grand Line. Over 800 chapters, half of the Grand Line, and a two year time skip later, Gin still has yet to be so much as mentioned again--not even in the various covers that show characters worlds away from the main cast. And this is in a series where the author seemingly [[ChekhovsGunman never forgets about characters]]. Then again, Gin was suffering from Don Krieg's [=MH5=] poison at the time, and coughed up blood before he left, meaning [[BusCrash he could have died off-screen]].
** Foxy from the Davy Back Fight Arc vowed to get back at Luffy for giving him a crappy replacement Jolly Roger. Other than an anime-exclusive FillerArc, he has not been seen since.
* In the ''Manga/InuYasha'' manga, Kouga appears more and more often, even joining the heroes' team for a while, until Naraku finally takes his Shikon shards, then he's gone and never appears again. Despite Kouga having just received his tribe's very powerful ancestral weapon, meaning he's no longer reliant on those Shikon shards to fight at the heroes' level. Even Houjou, Kagome's other HopelessSuitor, gets an appearance in the final volume.
* At the end of ''Anime/HeatGuyJ'', [[TheHero Daisuke]] [[RidingIntoTheSunset rides off into the sunset]] on his motorcycle to go explore the post-apocalyptic world outside of Judoh. Kyoko [[IWillWaitForYou promises to wait for him]], giving him three years to return, and Daisuke promises to come back. Because the series was LeftHanging, however, he never ''did'' come back.
* Erza's friends from the Tower of Heaven and [[spoiler:Mystogan]] in ''Manga/FairyTail''
** [[spoiler:Millianna]] comes back, though.

* Two sets of ''ComicBook/XMen'' dove into what was essentially Hell to rescue their version of seven year old Illyana Rasputin from a demonic wizard named Belasco. One set got her out safely but were trapped themselves (the lucky ones died), the other set escaped but their Illyana spent seven years stuck there as Belasco's student while getting her soul sacrificed piece by piece before she overthrew him and returned to earth a heartbeat after Kitty lost her grip. A few years later, after Illyana's apparent HeroicSacrifice, her eldritch armor was torn open to find a seven year old and wholly uncorrupted version of her. It was over twenty years before the X-writers were permitted to account for what was obvious to most readers at the time... it could ''easily'' have been the other Illyana. Let's face it: for the X-Men, death is essentially being PutOnTheBus.

* On the series ''Series/{{Becker}},'' the character "Reggie" (Terry Farrell) was put on one when Farrell was booted from the series under suspicious circumstances (she has told interviewers that it came as a complete shock to her and that she is unsure of exactly why it happened, although she reportedly led a strike among the show's cast). Farrell was even fired before the episode was filmed, and thus never even ''appeared'' on the episode where she was placed on the long bus trip, but was dismissed in a rather unflattering way where Farrell herself vanished but Reggie's continued presence was inferred (i.e. it was simply ''related'' that she slept with Becker, and it made her realize that she needed a change ''immediately''). This was all done in a ''very'' implausibly slipshod way, obviously trumped up at the last minute: i.e. it was inferred that Reggie was popping in and out without Farrell ever being on-camera during the entire epsisode, and finally Reggie said good-bye to the cast in a phone-call that was ''dictated'' to them all by a complete stranger (don't ask -- I ''said'' it was implausibly slipshod).
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers:''
** What became of Trini and Zack after that trip to Switzerland is unknown, and is especially mysterious since Jason came back for ''Zeo'' and two guest appearances after.
** A better example would be Rocky: he didn't even leave Angel Grove, he just stopped hanging with the Rangers. Per WordOfGod, they tried to get Steve Cardenas to come back for "[[MilestoneCelebration Forever Red]]", but he didn't respond in time -- and even if he had, Rocky would have just been Tommy's butler, rather than being given the unused-in-America ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'' costume as fans believed.
** And though bringing them all back would naturally be problematic production-wise, there are many past Rangers whose powers still exist, so you'd think they'd drop by for certain global catastrophies. In particular, Countdown to Destruction could've benefitted from a few "stock footage shoots at other stock footage" type scenes from the Zeo Rangers and the (never stated to be in continuity, but why not?) [[Series/BigBadBeetleborgs other]] [[Series/MaskedRider Saban]][[note]]while Masked Rider does technically exist in PR continuity, since "A Friend in Need" was a PoorlyDisguisedPilot for the aforementioned ''Masked Rider'', no elements from Masked Rider are referenced in Power Rangers after that 3 parter, nor does Masked Rider reference any of the events of ''Power Rangers''[[/note]] [[Series/VRTroopers shows]].
* The departure of David Caruso from ''Series/NYPDBlue'' was an example of this trope. Detective John Kelly doesn't even resign from the force. He simply moves to another precinct, leaving the option open for potential guest appearances in the future. There were even some hints later in the same season of his character coming back to be the best man at Detective Sipowicz's wedding, but a handwave was used to explain why it doesn't actually happen (in real life the actor simply would not have agreed to return, even as a one-shot guest appearance, nor would producer David Milch have wanted him back).
** Implausibly, Kelly doesn't even ''visit'' his best friend Andy Sipowicz even when Andy gets married, no matter how badly Sipowicz obviously misses him. (WordOfGod says that the NYPD Blue producer kept a ''picture'' of Caruso on his desk whenever any actor came to discuss a raise.)
* Fer(r)etti in ''Series/StargateSG1''. Kawalsky's death in the first regular episode leaves him the only surviving member of the original ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' team other than O'Neil(l) and Daniel, and he was shown to be leading an SG team of his own in his several-second cameo in the first season finale. He was mentioned once more in season three, then permanently and entirely forgotten, though as a team leader, you'd think he'd at least be seen or mentioned around the SGC every so often. (Meanwhile, via flashbacks, {{time travel}}, and {{parallel universe}}s, ''Kawalsky'' has returned ''plenty'' of times.)
** Of course, the really weird thing about this is that Ferretti was made leader of [=SG2=] at the end of his last appearance, and [=SG2=] is never shown or mentioned again. [=SG3=] are recurring characters, and teams with numbers up to 25 are mentioned sometimes, but [=SG2=] is never spoken of. It's almost as though the writers were planning to have him make an appearance at some point, but never got around to it.
** Jonas Quinn, after being a regular cast member in Season 6, hasn't been even ''mentioned'' in the Stargate universe since Season 7, even when his planet was invaded by the Ori. Even a ''Series/StargateUniverse'' episode involving said planet shows no sign of him.
** Lt. Ford in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', in an example that crosses over with NeverFoundTheBody, disappeared never to return following a hive ship explosion halfway through the second season. His conspicuous failure to return is more glaring in light of Sheppard's outright statement of relative certainty that he somehow survived and would turn up again at some point.
* In ''Series/{{Coupling}}'' (the original British version) Jeff disappears between series 3 and 4 as a result of his actor not wanting to return. His absence is explained by a hilarious one sided phone conversation with Steve: "No, Jeff, the name of the island is pronounced Les-BOSS..... well that was fairly over-optimistic of you really wasn't it?". By the end of the show, Jeff is still "trapped" on Lesbos as a result of not being able get a passport... or something; WordOfGod has it that he ultimately decided to live there.
* ''Series/ShiningTimeStation'' wrote out Ringo Starr's Mr. Conductor by having him accompany Santa Claus to the North Pole. A relative, also called Mr. Conductor (and bearing a resemblance to Creator/GeorgeCarlin) took his place, and the original Mr. Conductor was never seen or heard from again afterward.
* When ''Series/MamasFamily'' transitioned from NBC to CBS, and the actors for the two characters were no longer available, Buzz and Sonja were said to have gone off to college...and were never heard from again. Not even at Christmas.
* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', Sam Seaborn left the White House in order to run for Congress, which would have made him an excellent candidate for future cameos in the series. Although [[spoiler: it is finally revealed at the end of the series that he lost the race]] there seems to be little good in-universe reason for why he completely vanished.
** Especially since they decided in the episode "Inauguration" to promote him to Senior Counselor to the President if he lost. This was just another subplot that was dropped entirely when Creator/AaronSorkin left.

* Dr Goodman from ''Series/{{Bones}}'' went on a "six month sabbatical" on the second season opener and that is literally the last time we've ever heard of him. He didn't appear, or even get ''mentioned'', on the show's 100th episode which was specifically a "before the pilot" flashback.
* Alice from ''Series/{{Soap}}''. [[spoiler:She moves out of Jodie's apartment when Carol's mother said she wasn't happy with her granddaughter (Jodie's child) growing up with a lesbian - the show was made in the 70s. She chose to move out so Jodie didn't have to make that choice but she never turns up even as a friend again]].

* ''Series/TeenWolf'': A lot of the characters that got put on a bus are BackForTheFinale but a few, notably Isaac and Danny, are never seen again.
* ''Series/TheATeam'': Col. Lynch (Bill Lucking) is put on a long bus trip after appearing in the first season. He's replaced by Col. Decker (Lance [=LeGault=]), who in turn was PutOnABus and replaced by General "Bull" Fullbright (Jack Ging). Decker returned for the A-Team's court martial in Season 5.
* This was done to Brooke Smith's character Erica Hahn on ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' for no apparent reason whatsoever: they spent several episodes building up her relationship with Callie, including an excellent scene where she tearfully declares that Callie "[[ComingOutStory is glasses]]," only to randomly fire her because the writers stopped liking their own story. Erica and Callie get in a fight about the Izzie LVAD-cutting debacle and about how Callie "[[NoBisexuals can't be]] ''[[NoBisexuals kind of]]'' [[NoBisexuals a lesbian]]," and she walked off into the parking lot...''forever.'' She was then more or less replaced with perky LipstickLesbian Arizona Robbins. Further proof of Shonda Rhimes' ridiculous and fickle casting habits.

* ''Series/SpinCity'' had a knack for dumping characters [[BrotherChuck without acknowledging this]]. So when, towards the end of season three, Mike gets a temp secretary assisted to him because Stacey Paterno was sick, you'd expect the character to return. Cue episode two of season four, in which James becomes Mike's new assistant because he still hadn't got a new one and James would be out of a job otherwise. In between, no statement whatsoever is made about Stacey.
* Sergeant Scott of ''Series/MidsomerMurders'' was mentioned as having called in sick in one episode. That was the last mention of him. Especially jarring since both his predecessor ''and'' his successor was phased out simply by having them promoted and therefore moved to a different position in the police force.
* Peyton Sawyer from ''Series/OneTreeHill''. Both she and [[spoiler: her husband]] Lucas and [[spoiler: their daughter]] were PutOnABus after season 6. However, only [[TheBusCameBack Lucas returned]] in the final season.
* Will Scarlett and Djaq stayed in the Holy Land at the end of series 2 of ''Series/RobinHood''. Fans hoped for a reappearance in series 3, but they never turned up again. No one even ''mentioned'' them ever again.

* Many, many characters on ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' were put on some long bus rides... and then never mentioned again. The most notable include [[EnsembleDarkHorse Jason Winkler]], [[ManipulativeBastard Vera Devinish]], and [[LovableJock Mick Campbell.]] [[TheBusCameBack At least Mick got a cameo a the end of season 3...]]
* In ''Series/TwentyFour'', the fan favorite villain Mandy is last seen in the final of Season 4 [[spoiler: making a deal in exchange for immunity from her past and present crimes]], much like a certain other recurring female villain who did make a reappearance. While it could be argued that she left her life of crime after this, she was intended to return in Seasons 7 and 8, but the decision was dropped to avoid making "sensational moves", although there is a chance she might return in a spinoff.
* In the beginning of the second season of ''Series/EnemyAtTheDoor'', Clare Martel has a nervous breakdown, and is prescribed a period of rest and seclusion away from anything that might remind her of her troubles. She goes to stay as a guest at a convent, and although there are reports of her progress every few episodes, she never appears on-screen again.
* On ''Series/CriminalMinds'', Aaron Hotchner goes into witness protection after a murderous unsub starts popping up at Hotch's son's school. It is presented as though Hotch will be back as soon as they are able to catch Mr. Scractch, but anyone paying attention to the behind the scenes goings on knew this wasn't going to happen since Hotchner's actor, Thomas Gibson, had been fired after an on-set physical altercation with a writer. When Scratch is eventually dealt with, Hotchner is said to have decided to resign in order to be a full time dad.
* C.J. Lamb, the sexually flexible junior associate on ''Series/LALaw''. vanished at the end of a season. The following season opener included a throwaway line about how she quit to join the LPGA tour.

* Largo [=LaGrande=] is [=LeChuck=]'s second in command and was last seen in ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' in a blown-up evil lair that... wasn't even really that blown up. He has not been seen at later points in the series despite [=LeChuck=]'s constant appearances.
** He did show up in an AprilFoolsDay "teaser" of ''Monkey Island 5'', perhaps in recognition of this trope.

* The elemental masks, Zem, Zam, Rusty Walrus, Pasadena Possum and Von Clutch from the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series.
* The Nerevarine from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' seems to have disappeared on a trip to Akavir sometime before ''Oblivion'' and only ever mentioned again in the context of having a biography written about them (which doesn't appear in-game to be read), despite their seeming importance as leader of most of Morrowind and an immortal godlike being.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Before ''Pokémon Bank'', Brigette's last appearance was in ''Pokémon Box Ruby and Sapphire'' three generations ago.
** It took [[spoiler:Salon Maiden Anabel]] from ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Pokémon Emerald]]'' over four generations before she made a reappearance in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''.
** Speaking about Pokémon species, some Pokémon stayed in only one regional Pokédex without any possibility in returning, aside adaptations. Shinx family was one of the offenders, being exclusive to Sinnoh Pokédex and has never appeared in any regional Pokédex afterwards.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' has a few people that went away for a long time:
** Dick Gumshoe was the recurring detective and witness since the very first game and he would help Phoenix out whenever he could on his investigations. By the fourth game, ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', Gumshoe only appears in a flashback and he has not been seen since then. He does get a mention in a later game, but only once.
** Mia Fey was Phoenix's mentor in the first game before she was brutally murdered. Her spirit would come back every now and then via spirit channeling through Maya or Pearl and she would help Phoenix out whenever he got in a bind. After the third game, she's pretty much written out entirely and isn't even mentioned by name other than "my mentor" by Phoenix. It can be assumed that Phoenix feels he doesn't need to rely on Mia anymore since he grew stronger as a person and lawyer.
** Larry Butz, Phoenix's childhood friend, stopped appearing by the time of ''Apollo Justice'' with no explanation at all. Due to Larry being the CloudCuckoolander and greatly annoying everyone, it could be assumed that Phoenix didn't want to be near him. Larry finally returns in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' in an DLC episode and plays an important role.

* In the contemporary arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' Ector was reactivated in the army and sent to Iraq, and that was basically the last we saw of him. In a much later newspost, Paul Gazikowski explained that Ector disappears from the source material at around the time Arthur becomes king, which makes sense in the baseline and space arcs, but that it's hard to justify the guardian of a modern 15-year-old simply fading from relevance. And he couldn't kill him off, because he wanted [[spoiler: Merlin]] to be the first major character death. So he was sent to Iraq, and never specifically said to have returned or been killed, until Arthur was old enough that maybe his foster father ''wouldn't'' be a constant fixture in his life.

* Greg the Spider from ''Machinima/ArbyNTheChief'' left after being resented by Arbiter from a lie Chief forced him to tell. Considering [[StuffBlowingUp what happened at]] [[TearJerker/ArbyNTheChief the season's end]], he won't be coming back either.
* On the final episode of WebVideo/JonTron's Starcade series, it was revealed that Darth Vader was [[spoiler: actually Jontron’s former co-star on WebVideo/{{Game Grumps}}, Creator/{{Egoraptor}}. This was 2 years after Jontron abruptly left Game Grumps, as many fans made several theories as to why he left by assuming the two weren’t on good terms.]]

* Amazo in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' teleports himself away from Earth in the middle of a battle, after seeing the monster of the week absorb his attack and become more powerful for it. Though the foe is defeated mere minutes later, Amazo never returns. In the commentary the creators say that they wanted to add a gag at the end of the final episode (a year or whatever later) where [[OffscreenInertia Amazo is sitting on an asteroid somewhere wondering if it's okay to return to Earth yet.]]
* Eddie from ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'' didn't move out to the farm with Rover in the end so his fate is unknown.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'' had a third-party villain called the Gamemaster kidnap Flint, Lady Jae, the Baroness, and Cobra Commander, and put the four of them through a DeadlyGame set in his AmusementParkOfDoom on an island. The episode ended with the villain fleeing while the [[EnemyMine combined forces of both Joe and Cobra]] attacked the island, but while he swore revenge as he escaped, he never reappeared.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' introduced a character named "Derek The Diesel" who suffered from "teething troubles" . At the end of the episode he was sent off to have the "troubles" repaired, but aside from a cameo (from the back) during a music video in the special "Calling All Engines" he has not been seen since. Considering that his model was [[ShownTheirWork based on a locomotive design that really was that unreliable]] (details [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_17 here]]), it's entirely possible they're still not there yet.

** One episode involves a rescue mission for Sokka's father Hakoda and girlfriend Suki. They also pick up a new character, Chit Sang. When Azula attacks the group in the next episode, Chit Sang is [[PutOnABus put on an airship]] with Hakoda, Haru, Teo and The Duke and is the only one not to return at the end of the series finale.
** See also The Earth King, who takes off on his own at the beginning of season 3 and is never seen again. ''Presumably'' he comes back after Ba Sing Se is liberated, but he's never shown in the series, appearing only much later in the follow-up comics.
** Also Hawkie, the messenger hawk Sokka buys while in the Fire Nation. Toph uses it to send a message to her parents and it's never seen again. Justified, since the cast is always [[WalkingTheEarth travelling]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': "Predacons Rising" ends with Blackarachnia and Waspinator sent to an unknown region at the other end of a [[PortalNetwork Space Bridge]], with with Waspinator's final lines being "Waspinator has plans..." There were plans for their reappearance in a fourth season, but the show ended at three, so this is the last we see of them.

** [[{{Vaporware}} Half-Life itself]] has been on rather long bus ride for over a decade that has no sign of ending soon, so pretty much all of the above examples are moot, regardless.

** Dr. Dim was [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20031205#.XLPE2OhKiM8 introduced]] back in 2003 before disappearing about a year later. [[spoiler: He's [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180509#.XLPEL-hKiM8 brought back]] in ''15'' volumes later ''2018''.]] This is on top of Krosp reappearing after his mysterious departure in [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20150506#.XLPLwuhKiM8 2015]]

** Maybe an even more ridiculous one would be Ash's Primeape, which was PutOnABus less than five episodes after Ash caught it, left in the care of somebody who promised to turn it into "a true champion". It was never seen again. [[DubInducedPlotHole The promise to return was only in the dub; the original dialog had no such comment.]] Yet, the openings ''Spurt!'' (the final opening of ''Advance Generation'') and ''Yajirushi ni Natte!'' (the second opening of ''Best Wishes'') still count Primeape and Squirtle as Pokémon who still are in his ownership.

The image is of a ''truly'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bi-articulated_bus long bus]] from the [[http://www.transmilenio.gov.co/ TransMilenio]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_rapid_transit bus rapid transit]] (a rapid transit mode that can be thought of as "the future of transit") system in Bogotá, Colombia. This has since been taken up in other countries: when the "Bendy Buses" arrived in England, at first there were little calamities when drivers who under-estimated their length tried to manouevre them around nineteenth century road corners designed for horse and cart. It's also being taken up in UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}, with a planned BRT on Ashland Avenue.

* Drago from ''WebAnimation/ObjectLockdown'' only had a short stay on the show as a contestant, and only had screentime in the first episode. However, he leaves the show somewhere between the events of "Rapping it Up" and "Cream of the Crop," and never appears physically ever again. This happened because of his CreatorBacklash courtesy of the show's crew.

* ''ComicBook/XWingSeries'': Elscol, a guerrilla leader who joined Rogue Squadron in the first arc of the comics, quit at the end of the arc following that. She knew that what she was doing was making a difference, but she knew any other good pilot could do as well, and she chafed under orders. She left without malice towards the squadron, hinting that she would try and talk Sixtus Quinn into joining the Rebel Alliance. But although plenty of other allies showed up again during the series, including a commando leader from that same issue, Elscol and Sixtus didn't. Not until the novels, anyway.

* On the sixties sitcom ''Series/PetticoatJunction'', the show's star, Bea Benederet, died abruptly during the sixth season. Benederet played Kate Bradley, a widowed mom had just become a grandmother (in an episode where Benederet was too ill to appear and was played by a FakeShemp). In a couple episodes immediately following the birth of the baby, characters mentioned that Kate had to rush out of town and care for a sick relative. After that, she is barely mentioned again, and the show carries on almost as if she never existed. In one episode of the seventh season, her daughters remember her teaching them how to swim, and they seem a little sad, but it's left up to the viewers to decide if Kate died or not.

* On the series ''Series/{{Becker}},'' the character "Reggie" (Terry Farrell) was put on a LongBusTrip when Farrell was booted from the series under suspicious circumstances (she has told interviewers that it came as a complete shock to her and that she is unsure of exactly why it happened, although she reportedly led a strike among the show's cast). Farrell was even fired before the episode was filmed, and thus never even ''appeared'' on the episode where she was placed on the long bus trip, but was dismissed in a rather unflattering way where Farrell herself vanished but Reggie's continued presence was inferred (i.e. it was simply ''related'' that she slept with Becker, and it made her realize that she needed a change ''immediately''). This was all done in a ''very'' implausibly slipshod way, obviously trumped up at the last minute: i.e. it was inferred that Reggie was popping in and out without Farrell ever being on-camera during the entire epsisode, and finally Reggie said good-bye to the cast in a phone-call that was ''dictated'' to them all by a complete stranger (don't ask -- I ''said'' it was implausibly slipshod).

** Also Connor, who was either killed by Paul Robinson's [[EvilTwin crazy son]] or went on a LongBusTrip overseas.

* On ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'', Mark Brendanawicz left his government job to return to the private sector at the end of season 2. This was originally intended to turn him into a DropInCharacter, but instead he simply dropped out of the show entirely (actor Paul Schneider wanted to return to movies and had little desire to return to the show). Even though Mark should still be living in Pawnee, a relatively small town, he is never seen, heard from or even ''mentioned'' again... to the point that in a season 5 episode when Ann, whom he dated for most of season 2, clears out boxes full of ex-boyfriends' stuff from her house, there's ''no box for Mark''.
* Many, many characters on ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' were put on some long bus rides...and then never mentioned again. The most notable include [[EnsembleDarkHorse Jason Winkler]], [[ManipulativeBastard Vera Devinish]], and [[LovableJock Mick Campbell.]] [[TheBusCameBack At least Mick got a cameo a the end of season 3...]]

* In the contemporary arc of ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeInSpace'' Ector was reactivated in the army and sent to Iraq, and that was basically the last we saw of him. In a much later newspost, Paul Gazikowski explained that Ector disappears from the source material at around the time Arthur becomes king, which makes sense in the baseline and space arcs, but that it's hard to justify the guardian of a modern 15-year-old simply fading from relevance. And he couldn't kill him off, because he wanted [[spoiler: Merlin]] to be the first major character death. So he was sent to Iraq, and never specifically said to have returned or been killed, until Arthur was old enough that maybe his foster father ''wouldn't'' be a constant fixture in his life.

** A whole ''city'' of people were put on a bus during the TimeSkip [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20130508#.XLPGa-hKiM8 back in 2013]]. The few that escaped took anywhere between 2 and 4 years to show up in paris

* In Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick [[spoiler: Hilgya [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0084.html disappeared in Book 1]] in 2004, only to [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1105.html reappear]] five books and ''12 years'' later]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' see the (short) return of [[spoiler:Red Skull]], who was last seen fourteen movies and seven real-life years ago.
** ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' has a cameo from William Ginter Riva, the Stark Industries technician in ''Film/IronMan1'' who was at the receiving end of one of the franchise's classic memes. William has had the longest bus ride in the franchise to date: twenty-two movies, eleven real-life years, and sixteen in-universe years have gone by since his debut.
[[/folder]]

* This is the case of [[spoiler:Asuna]] in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''. [[spoiler:As a result of the events of the Magic World, Asuna's fate was to sleep in the Gravekeeper's Palace for a century.]]
** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] two issues later, after she wakes up and breaks down in one, and is brought back via [[TimeTravel Cassieopia]] at the start of the next.]]

* [[OneShotCharacter Marine the Raccoon]] from ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' is one of the few characters that's most likely to come back. Yet as of 2011, we haven't heard from her since her [[VideoGame/SonicRushSeries first game appearance]]. However, she was briefly mentioned in the DS version of ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' as well as a costume in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario & Sonic at The London 2012 Olympic Games]]''.

* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' has the (short) return of [[spoiler:Red Skull]], who was last seen fourteen movies and seven real-life years ago.

** Also Hawkie, the messenger hawk Sokka buys while in the Fire Nation. Toph uses it to send a message to her parents and it's never seen again. Dear Toph and Katara, how were you expecting the hawk to find you when you are always [[WalkingTheEarth travelling]]?

* On ''Series/CriminalMinds'', Aaron Hotchner goes into witness protection after a murderous unsub starts popping up at Hotch's son's school. It is presented as though, Hotch will be back as soon as they are able to catch Mr. Scractch, but anyone paying attention to the behind the scenes goings on knew this wasn't going to happen since Hotchner's actor, Thomas Gibson, had been fired after an on-set physical altercation with a writer. When Scratch is eventually dealt with, Hotchner is said to have decided to resign in order to be a full time dad.