History Main / StoryArc

** Season 13 actually doesn't have a "main" story arc, but it does have smaller character arcs for some of the main cast. However, many of them appear to be connected to a mysterious TV Guy [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou that has the ability to see the audience]]. Among them is the following:

** "Mayoral Wars" (16-20): Aldrich launches his campaign for Mayor of [[CityWithNoName The City]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeep'' has the Nekton family searching for a sunken city known as Lemuria.

** Season 17 has the "Black Friday" trilogy, a tie-in to the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' game (and an AffectionateParody of ''Series/GameOfThrones'') has the kids of South Park doing a fantasy-themed {{LARP}} while attempting to buy the brand new [[UsefulNotes/TheEighthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames eighth-generation]] consoles on black friday. They end up caught in a faction war between those who want [=PS4s=] and those who want Xbox Ones. This being ''South Park'', things quickly go off the rails.

SuperTrope of MythArc (a Story Arc that spans the entire series) and HalfArcSeason (a season with half standalone episodes and half a Story Arc). Compare RotatingArcs (multiple serialized stories in one work, each focused on a certain set of characters) and PlotThreads (several separate sequences of events that are all part of one narrative). Contrast ArcWelding (a series that so far has been episodic, retcons itself so that it's all linked in a story-arcing plot), and AbortedArc (an important Plot Point is abruptly abandoned). Related to SeasonFluidity and LayoutOfASeason.

See also MythArc, RotatingArcs, ArcWelding, HalfArcSeason, PlotThreads, SeasonFluidity, and AbortedArc.

*** Shinobi World War Arc -- Akatsuki's Tobi and Orochimaru's former {{dragon}} Kabuto unite to start a World War against all of the ninja villages. Their army, among other unsavory characters, includes several revived shinobi. Several of them used to be the character's loved ones or otherwise impacting figures. TheManBehindTheMan is revealed to be first Madara Uchiha, but ultimately Black Zetsu. The final BigBad is the goddess Kaguya and is uneasily reunited in Team 7's hands to defeat her. Naruto and Sasuke fight for the last time [[spoiler: before rekindling their friendship]].

** Season 13 actually doesn't have a "main" story arc, but it does have smaller character arcs for some of the main cast. However, many of them appear to be connected to a mysterious TV Entity [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou that has the ability to see the audience]]. Among them is the following:

** Season 13 actually doesn't have a "main" story arc, but it does have smaller character arcs for some of the main cast. However, many of them appear to be connected to a mysterious TV Entity. Among them is the following:

*** Meggy taking Tari on as the first person she successfully coached to be braver like her idol One Shot Wren as well as finally graduating from college. [[spoiler: Meggy later learns that Wren "Fell Off" in his career and later became enraged after learning her group's vacation idea to the wild west was actually a planned trap that places the group in a simulation made with technology from the TV Entity controlled by none other than [[BrokenPedestal One Shot Wren himself]] so he could have a WorthyOpponent and fight her. Thanks to Tari's ability with digital worlds however, they manage to escape and defeat Wren in the process]].
*** Mario starts his own Pizza shop and the stress of the job getting to him because he has commitment issues. [[spoiler:Because of this, Mario creates a cardboard drawing oc named Marty to help run the shop as he manages to gain the funds needed to build a new castle. However, Marty is [[RealAllAlong actually sentient]] and is heavily hinted to be [[AmbiguouslyEvil sinister]], especially after he has Mario steal [=SMG3=]'s notebook.]]
*** [=SMG4=] and [=SMG3=]'s relationship and teamwork being put to the test as they continue to deal with scenarios that force them to work together. [=SMG3=] also begins keeping a notebook that he doesn't want others to read. [[spoiler:Mario is later hired by Marty to steal the notebook as both [=SMG4=] and [=SMG3=] perform a heist at Marty's casino to get it back during "War of the Fat Italians 2023".]]

*** Yet another arc follows the "Hero of the Wild", starting from ''Breath of the Wild'' where an amnesiac Link wakes up in a mysterious shrine and has to save Hyrule and recover his memories of Princess Zelda. It is given a prequel in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'', which tells of the coming of Calamity Ganon itself and the Champions' efforts to stop it [[spoiler:though it ends up being an AlternateTimeline where they succeed.]] The "Wild Saga" is later given a proper continuation in ''Breath of the Wild'''s sequel ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]'', where the Hero of the Wild encounters the Calamity's original form of Ganondorf and must save Hyrule again from his menace.

* The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series is often organized into two-part arcs which take place during one generation of [[BadassFamily Belmont]]. For example, ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaI''/its remakes and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' consist the story of Simon's attacks on {{Dracula}}, and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' duology is an arc that deals with Soma Cruz and his attempts to escape his supposed destiny as the reincarnation of {{Dracula}}.

* In ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'', the game has two main goals: Enhance Ness's power by finding eight melodies and shattering a "nightmare rock," then defeat [[BigBad Giygas]]. However, Giygas causes many sub-plots that break into two major story arcs. The first is the Eagleland arc, which has four sub-arcs and mainly deals with the illusion device known as the Mani Mani Statue and the growing threat of one of its victims, [[spoiler: Pokey/Porky Minch.]] After destroying the Mani Mani Statue and the Clumsy Robot, the bodyguard of the Statue's last victim Geldegarde Monotoli, there is a small interlude involving obtaining the fourth melody which leads to the Summers-Scaraba-Deep Darkness arc, involving the mysteries presented about a pyramid in Scaraba and a swamp called Deep Darkness, which is revealed to guard the last two melodies. After all eight melodies are gathered, one small, last story arc begins: the completion of the original two goals given, which is accomplished by defeating Ness's Nightmare inside his mind and then defeating Giygas [[spoiler: and Porky]] after travelling to the past.

*** Meggy taking Tari on as the first person she successfully coached to be braver like her idol One Shot Wren as well as finally graduating from college. [[spoiler: Meggy later learns that Wren "Fell Off" in his career and later became enraged after learning her group's vacation idea to the wild west was actually a planned trap that places the group in a simulation controlled by none other than One Shot Wren himself so he could have a WorthyOpponent and fight her.]]

*** Meggy taking Tari on as the first person she successfully coached on being braver to be like her idol One Shot Wren as well as finally graduating from college.

** Season 13 actually doesn't have a "main" story arc, but it does have smaller character arcs for some of the main cast. Among them is [=SMG3=] rising to fame on the internet [[spoiler:and accidentally causing [=SMG4=] to go insane when he attempts to create his "perfect" video and [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore permanently destroying Peach's Castle and causes Peach to become a horrific monster after being stranded]]]].

** The first arc, running from Issues #1-#12, features the Sonic characters rebuilding after the events of ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', dealing with Eggman's army as it comes under the control of [[spoiler: [[DragonAscendant Neo Metal Sonic]]]], and trying to figure out the mystery of where Eggman himself disappeared to.
** The second arc, running from Issues #13-#32 (plus the 2020 Annual), has Eggman, now restored to power, unleashing [[ZombieApocalypse the Metal Virus]] on the world and turning heroes and villains alike into Zombots. [[spoiler: After [[EvilerThanThou losing control of the Zombots to the Deadly Six]], Eggman is [[EnemyMine forced to help Sonic and the gang]] end the plague, only to betray them after the Metal Virus is gone and try one last time to kill them as they begin rebuilding.]]
** The third arc, spanning Issues #33-#44 and the ''Bad Guys'' miniseries, has the heroes tying up loose ends as the world rebuilds from the Zombot Apocalypse, while Sonic's new ally Belle seeks her long-lost creator. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:after his fallout with Eggman over the Metal Virus, Starline launches his own bid to TakeOverTheWorld and surpass his former idol]].
** The fourth arc, spanning Issues #45-#56 and including the ''Imposter Syndrome'' miniseries, introduces newcomer villains Surge and Kit, [[spoiler:the former of whom pursues a vendetta against the world after Starline's coup d'etat against Eggman fails]].

* Each season of ''Series/RoundTheTwist'' has a different arc. The first two seasons contained different [[UnfinishedBusiness ghost stories]], [[WidgetSeries for Season 3 it was a Viking Love Book]], and Season five concerned a mysterious knight [[spoiler:from Atlantis]].

* ''Anime/PokemonHorizons'' is divided into story arcs with their subtitles. The first arc is called ''Liko and Roy's Departure'', consisting of the first 24 episodes, while the second arc is called ''The Sparkling of Terapagos''.

** In Japan, the series is sorted as such: [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Original]] [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Series]] (Indigo, 80 episodes; [[FillerArc Episode Orange Islands]], 36 episodes; Episode Gold & Silver, 158 episodes; 274 episodes total), [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Advanced Generation]] (Hoenn, 145 episodes; Battle Frontier, 47 episodes; 192 episodes total), [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Diamond & Pearl]] (191 episodes), [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Best]] [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Wishes]] (142 episodes), [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY XY]] (XY, 92 episodes; XY & Z, 43 episodes; 140 episodes total), [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Sun & Moon]] (ongoing).
** In the United States, while the series is arranged identically to the Japanese one, it is divided between seasons rather than by game equivalent. The current arrangement is:[[labelnote:Note]]If only one number is given in the parentheses, then that number is shared by both the televised episode count and the home video episode count[[/labelnote]] Indigo League (52 televised episodes; 79 home video episodes), Adventures in the Orange Islands (52 televised episodes; 36 home video episodes), The Johto Journeys (52 televised episodes; 41 home video episodes), Johto League Champions (52 episodes), Master Quest (52 televised episodes; 64 home video episodes), Advanced (52 televised episodes; 40 home video episodes), Advanced Challenge (52 episodes), Advanced Battle (52 episodes), Battle Frontier (47 episodes), Diamond and Pearl (51 episodes), Battle Dimension (52 episodes), Galactic Battles (52 episodes), Sinnoh League Victors (34 episodes), Black & White (48 episodes), Rival Destinies (49 episodes), Adventures in Unova (45 episodes), XY (48 episodes), Kalos Quest (45 episodes), XYZ (48 episodes), Sun & Moon (ongoing).

** Orange Islands Arc: Based on the FillerArc and Pokemon2000 from the Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime

* ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'': The ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' had two major story arcs--one leading into the other--and several smaller ones, as well as several individual character arcs for the Doctor and his companions. The first story arc, almost more of a MythArc, involved a massive, destructive, universe spanning temporal war (not actually the New Series's Last Great Time War — [[AmbiguousSituation or i]][[EpilepticTrees s i]][[ShrugOfGod t]]?) fought between the Time Lords and and an unnamed [[EldritchAbomination enemy]], and the fallout that affects the rest of universe after the Doctor [[spoiler:destroys Gallifrey (for the first time)]]. The second deals with an issue that arose as a result of the first--a time traveler called [[MeaningfulName Sabbath]] is worried that [[spoiler:with the Time Lords dead]], the universe is collapsing into chaos, and that the Doctor, by not doing anything about it, is harming the Web of Time by default. His attempts to fix this [[WellIntentionedExtremist by destroying alternate timelines]] are in fact what's causing the problem in the first place. The series also deals with smaller story arcs like Sam learning the truth about her MirrorUniverse counterpart, Compassion [[spoiler:becoming a TARDIS]], Fitz coming to grips with being a [[CloningBlues clone]] and having to face [[FutureMeScaresMe Father Kreiner]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Anji's inability to get home]].

** ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters99 '99]]''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2000 -]]''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2001 2001]]'' was "The [[NebulousEvilOrganisation NESTS]] Chronicles", focusing on an evil cartel's [[TakeOverTheWorld plans for world domination]] using the DNA of a captured Kyo to create human bioweapons. One of these "Kyo clones"[[labelnote:*]][[CloningBlues "clones"]] in this case referring to [[CloneByConversion regular humans injected with the DNA of another person]]; there ''are'' [[OpeningACanOfClones more traditional clones]] in the series, but most adhere to the former definition[[/labelnote]] is [[AntiHeroSubstitute K']], a [[TheStoic stoic]] KnightInSourArmor who ends NESTS' ambitions by defeating their top-ranked executives.