History Main / SophomoreSlump

** ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' was their second film and while it's well-liked, it tends to be forgotten. The fact that it's sandwiched between ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' doesn't help; indeed, it's the only one of Pixar's first seven films not to have spawned a franchise.

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], the Peyton/Lucas/Brooke love triangle basically forgotten, Lucas and Peyton barely interacting ''period'', Lucas suddenly becoming truly interested in Brooke [[StrangledByTheRedString out of nowhere]], Haley becoming a rock star for no reason and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. Due to all these reasons, a lot of people consider the season basically a complete write off.

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], the Peyton/Lucas/Brooke love triangle basically forgotten, Lucas and Peyton barely interacting ''period'', Lucas suddenly becoming truly interested in Brooke [[StrangledByTheRedString out of nowhere]], Haley becoming a rock star for no reason (which almost caused the ShipSinking of Naley along with her cheating on Nathan with Chris Keller), and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. Due to all these reasons, a lot of people consider the season basically a complete write off.

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], the Peyton/Lucas/Brooke love triangle basically forgotten, Lucas and Peyton barely interacting, Lucas suddenly becoming truly interested in Brooke [[StrangledByTheRedString out of nowhere]] in the second half of the season, Haley becoming a rock star for no reason, which almost caused the ShipSinking of Naley along with her cheating on Nathan with Chris Keller, and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. Due to alla these reasons, a lot of people consider the season basically a complete write off.

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], the Peyton/Lucas/Brooke love triangle basically forgotten, Lucas and Peyton barely interacting and Lucas becoming truly interested in Brooke [[StrangledByTheRedString out of nowhere]] halfway through the season, Haley becoming a rock star for no reason, which almost caused the ShipSinking of Naley along with her cheating on Nathan with Chris Keller, and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. In fact, most people consider the season basically a complete write off.

* ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'': The Rugal/Orochi saga ('94 to '98) is often seen as the series' high point, with it introducing both its trademark characters and 3-on-3 format. The NESTS saga ('99 to 2001) isn't looked at much fondly, what with its more gimmicky 4-on-4 and [[AssistCharacter Striker]] combat and the newcomers being far more hit-or-miss, not helped by the temporary ChannelHop to Eolith from Creator/{{SNK}}. 2002's status as the [[DreamMatchGame wrap-up party]] allowed for the return of both the original format and several {{Ensemble Dark Horse}}s from the prior saga (such as [[BigBad Rugal Bernstein]] and [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Orochi Team]]), heralding the series getting relatively back on track.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy suffered this due to some gameplay changes and a more linear progression. And until [[VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns its long-awaited remake]] (over two and a half decades since the original's release), it felt very dated visually.

* Music/{{Europe}}, if you discount their first two albums which only charted in their native Sweden, had a smash hit with their first internationally successful album ''The Final Countdown''. While its follow up, ''Out of This World'', sold decently, it wasn't on the same level either critically or commercially and was generally seen as a bunch of songs that didn't make the cut on ''Countdown''. The band then came back with a strong album, ''Prisoners in Paradise'' but unfortunately that was released just a week after a little album called ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'', with predictable results, forcing the band to go an hiatus for a number of years.

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], the Peyton/Lucas/Brooke love triangle basically forgotten, Lucas and Peyton barely interacting and Lucas seemingly becoming truly interested in Brooke out of nowhere halfway through the season, Haley becoming a rock star for no reason, which almost caused the ShipSinking of Naley along with her cheating on Nathan with Chris Keller, and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. In fact, most people consider the season basically a complete write off.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' was kind of this way with ''Literature/FoolMoon''. It wasn't bad per se, it wasn't as good as ''Literature/StormFront'', but the series certainly improves with ''Literature/GravePeril''. Opinions vary, though.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' is likely the least popular game in [[Franchise/FinalFantasy the series]]. [[note]]Besides the now-defunct original version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' and the mobile spin-off ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAllTheBravest'', that is.[[/note]] At the time, it was one of the most experimental [[EasternRPG JRPGs]], with a very intricate leveling system as opposed to the original's "EXP = Level Up" model, and the plot was very intricate for an NES game, but it had many [[GameBreakingBug Game-Breaking Bugs]] (Ultima did nothing whatsoever, most infamously) and the leveling system was so badly implemented that many players wound up ordering their characters to attack each other to train them up. The game [[NoExportForYou didn't make its way out of Japan for years,]] which denied it even the NostalgiaFilter, and by the time it was released to other regions (thankfully fixing many of the game's faults in the process), [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny nobody thought it especially innovative anymore]]. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' is much more favourably looked upon for its world design, [[LighterAndSofter more upbeat story]], and for introducing the job system. The only knock generally held against it is its [[NintendoHard brutally unfair difficulty]].

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], the Peyton/Lucas/Brooke love triangle basically forgotten, Lucas and Peyton barely interacting and Lucas seemingly becoming truly interested in Brooke out of nowhere halfway through the season, Haley becoming a rock star for no reason, which almost caused the ShipSinking of Naley, and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. In fact, most people consider the season basically a complete write off.

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': The first of the three "[[Franchise/DragonBall Goku]] vs. Franchise/{{Superman}}" fights was seen as a fitting conclusion to Season 1 for the high-scale titular UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny and climactic finish, and the third was similarly praised for showcasing how much the show had improved since then with an even more grandiose animation, the FriendlyRivalry displayed between Goku and Superman, and a post-fight analysis acknowledging the open-endedness of the question of who would win between them. The second, with its far smaller scope and [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks feeling akin to a rehash of the first]], isn't liked as much, [[CreatorBacklash even by Ben Singer]].

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], the Peyton/Lucas/Brooke basically forgotten, Lucas and Peyton barely interacting and Lucas seemingly becoming truly interested in Brooke out of nowhere halfway through the season, Haley becoming a rock star for no reason, which almost caused the ShipSinking of Naley, and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. In fact, most people consider the season basically a complete write off.

* ''Series/OneTreeHill'' is a fine example of this trope. After a powerful first season, the second season gave us the undoing of Lucas and Nathan's close relationship, two [[TheScrappy Scrappies]] in the form of [[JerkAss Felix]] and [[{{Wangst}} Anna]], little to no progression with the Brucas or Leyton ships, Haley becoming a rock star for no reason and Keith (once again) allowing himself to be screwed over by his younger brother. If not for the introduction of [[UnpopularPopularCharacter Chris Keller]] and Brooke's CharacterDevelopment, most people would consider the season a complete write off.

** For the MCU as a whole, the second movie ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' is one of the least popular thanks to [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the wild difference in tone and Edward Norton playing the titular character instead of Mark Ruffalo]]. It was also the lowest rated movie until the aforementioned ''Thor: The Dark World''.

** The phenomenon repeated itself with the 3D ''Mario'' games. ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' was the most universally loved Mario game at the time before ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' took that tile. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' was much more divisive, stripping away the franchise's most [[MascotMook iconic]] [[PowerUp features]] and adding [[ScrappyMechanic some polarizing gameplay elements]]. [[VindicatedByHistory While it has become more beloved with time]], it's still stuck between ''64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', both of which are near universally beloved games in the franchise, if not the entire platformer genre.

* ''NationalLampoon'sEuropeanVacation'' failed to achieve the classic status of its predecessor, ''NationalLampoon'sVacation'', or its successor, ''NationalLampoon'sChristmasVacation''.

* NationalLampoonsEuropeanVacation failed to achieve the classic status of its predecessor, NationalLampoonsVacation, or its successor, NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation.

* "Book Two: Spirits" of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' received polarized reception from fans and critics due to its poor writing (the villain was seen as dull; the narrative was unfocused; the continuation of the [[RomanticPlotTumor Korra/Mako/Asami love triangle]] wasn't welcomed) and animation (due to scheduling issues, the animation for the first half of the season was done by Creator/StudioPierrot, rather than the show's usual vendor Creator/StudioMir). Overall, it is generally agreed upon to be the weakest season of the show by even its most die-hard fans. The following two seasons were much better received, and many of Book 2's events would be [[SelfDeprecation made fun of]] in the final season (such as [[spoiler:Toph]] calling the Water Tribe Civil War "nonsense", or the simplistic, uncharismatic BigBad getting [[TakeThatScrappy hilariously lambasted]] in a recap episode by Varrick).

* "Book Two: Spirits" of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' received polarized reception from fans and critics due to its writing and animation[[note]]-- half of the season was done by Creator/StudioPierrot, rather than Creator/StudioMir[[/note]], and is generally agreed upon to be the weakest season of the show by even its most die-hard fans. The following two books were much better received, with many Season 2's events made fun of in the final season (such as [[spoiler:Toph]] calling the Water Tribe Civil War "[[SelfDeprecation nonsense]]", while the simplistic, uncharismatic BigBad Unalaq was [[TakeThatScrappy hilariously lambasted]] in a recap episode by Varrick).

* An example of this happening ''within'' a season is ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E2ThePrincipalAndThePauper The Principal and the Pauper]]", the second (and by far the most poorly-received) episode of Season 9. In the episode, Skinner is revealed to be an imposter, which creates massive continuity errors and gets topped off with [[spoiler:a CruelTwistEnding where the ''real'' Skinner is kicked out of town despite doing nothing wrong all because the people of Springfield prefer Armin Tamzarian, the fake Skinner]]. The episode is loathed by fans [[OldShame and most of the show's staff,]] [[CanonDiscontinuity who declared it non-canon]]. The episodes immediately before and after "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E1TheCityOfNewYorkVsHomerSimpson The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson]]" and "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E3LisasSax Lisa's Sax]]" (respectively), both of which are widely beloved.

* The first season of Wrestling/{{NXT}} introduced Wrestling/DanielBryan to a WWE audience and produced many more future regulars such as Wrestling/WadeBarrett, Wrestling/DavidOtunga, Heath Slater and Skip Sheffield, nowadays better known as Wrestling/{{Ryback}} (albeit he had to be repackaged after an injury) - as well as the memorable [[Wrestling/TheNexus Nexus]] stable that the contestants formed. The second season was viewed as a step-down, especially with its disaster of a finale. Any of the contestants of that season, such as Husky Harris, the future Wrestling/BrayWyatt, didn't achieve success until years later or after being repackaged (and their time on NXT therefore ignored). The third all women's season wasn't necessarily seen as good, but still produced more prominent stars in the form of Wrestling/AJLee, Wrestling/{{Kaitlyn}} and Wrestling/{{Naomi}}. The fourth was seen as just forgettable at best, and the elongated fifth and final season before retool actually saw an improvement as time went on.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' is a generally very well regarded game, but it tends to be considered the most controversial among fans of the franchise, due to ditching quite a few well liked elements of the first game, such as the Affinity Chart (in the first game, it showed the relationships between various groups and [=NPCs=] as well as how they shift, in the second one, it is simply a skill tree), as well as having a plethora of {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s, like a gatcha system to obtain new blades and very uninformative tutorials. The third game of the main series, in comparison, fixed up a lot of the problems fans had with the previous games, both gameplay and story-wise (such as TamerAndChaster designs after the inpractial outfits of the second game), which made it far more warmly received by the fanbase.

* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' features an in-universe example with [[Recap/TheAngryVideoGameNerdPilots its pilot episode]], a negative review of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest''. The Nerd[[note]]Originally, this review was just James Rolfe speaking as himself, but he later retconned the video as being part of his AVGN persona[[/note]] starts off by remarking that while ''VideoGame/Castlevania1986'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' are excellent NES games, "the game designers obviously were not thinking straight" when they worked on ''Simon's Quest'', remarking on what he considers {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s unique to this game like a lengthy and unskippable transition between daytime and nighttime, hints from villagers that don't make sense or are outright [[TheComputerIsALyingBastard lies]], and [[FinalBoss Dracula]] being an AntiClimaxBoss with the right items.

* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' features an in-universe example with [[Recap/TheAngryVideoGameNerdPilots its pilot episode]], a negative review of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest''. The Nerd[[note]]Originally, this review was just James Rolfe speaking as himself, but he later retconned the video as being part of his AVGN persona[[/note]] starts off by remarking that while ''VideoGame/Castlevania1986'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' are excellent NES games, "the game designers obviously were not thinking straight", remarking on what he considers {{Scrappy Mechanic}}s unique to this game like a lengthy and unskippable transition between daytime and nighttime, hints from villagers that don't make sense or are outright [[TheComputerIsALyingBastard lies]], and [[FinalBoss Dracula]] being an AntiClimaxBoss with the right items.