History Main / SupermanStaysOutOfGotham

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33418624 Perfect Sense]]'', it is stated that the Paris authorities are doing their best to keep the knowledge of the Miraculouses from the wider world, because regular citizens are tough enough as it is, but if Superman or Wonder Woman came in and were akumatized...

In the case of live-action adaptations, there's also the mundane explanation that actors are busy and trying to get one for a minor appearance in the third act is not very practical and could take up most of a film or show's budget as well as their absence often being a result of those roles just not having been cast yet.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' has Batman consider breaking the trope, but most of the heroes at the time are out with other things (in space or at Atlantis) and the heroes left available were B- and C-list heroes that Batman and Nightwing do not want to deal with, and ComicBook/BoosterGold (who they also don't want to deal with).
* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternBewareMyPower'' has the league mention that Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash are all away on their own missions while Martian Manhunter needs to maintain the Watchtower, leaving Green Arrow as John Stewart's primary ally.

* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Film/SupermanReturns'' -- in the news report, Gotham actually is listed as one of the cities where Superman stopped to do good deeds. Mostly just a MythologyGag, though, since as far as we know other superheroes don't even exist in this universe.

* ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'':
** Touched on in the crossover episodes of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' and ''Series/{{Arrow}}''; the Flash's superspeed would make cleaning up a lot of Starling City's issues easier, but Barry doesn't have the tactical awareness that Ollie does; the latter fights the former to a draw with no powers and sticks him with an ambush arrow on two occasions when Barry thinks he's got the upper hand. Star City's villains are usually more violent. Barry disagrees with Oliver's more gray-zone morality when it comes to fighting Starling's darker criminals. "Flash vs. Arrow" makes clear that the CCPD find the Arrow an unwelcome presence due to his vigilante killings in season 1, and Oliver has real trouble facing people with superpowers (not to mention a pissed-off gorilla with PsychicPowers). That said, when Barry has his BigDamnHeroes moment in Season 3 finale, the entire League of Assassins is shown to be hopelessly outclassed by a single speedster, especially since they have no idea he's coming. The trope is averted in major crossovers, such as the "Invasion!" arc, when it's "all hands on deck" in order to stop an AlienInvasion, requiring Team Arrow, Team Flash, the [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow Legends]] and Series/{{Supergirl|2015}} to work together.
** Although averted a few times in ''Arrow'' when Oliver calls on Barry to make a quick stop over to do something for him then immediately leave, like help him and Diggle intercept a criminal before they leave the city, since Barry can be there and back in an instant without really taking much time out of his own problems (and since all it requires is a "Flash" streak shown running by without an appearance by Grant Gustin). Also averted in Flash's season 1 climactic battle against Reverse Flash where Barry does call for backup because he just can't take him alone. However besides Oliver only Firestorm shows up because Atom and Black Canary were unable thanks to events on their own show, and as this was early in the series run (where he'd yet to meet Supergirl and the Legends hadn't formed yet), no other heroes had started operating yet.
** Stretched to unbelievability in the ''Arrow'' finale. Oliver's team is falling apart and mundane thugs are taking over the town, and he's willing to bring in some really questionable allies. But doesn't even try to call Barry.
** Explained away with the Thinker as he has powers sufficient to take them all down, so there's no point.
*** However, in general played straight - Vixen, Flash, and Supergirl all stay in their own areas, despite being just a phone call away from each other.
** In season 7 of Arrow, [[spoiler:It's revealed that Roy Harper died and was resurrected by the Lazarus Pit, which [[CameBackWrong gives you a blood lust.]] Smart solution? Call Oliver, and have him call the Legends to get Constantine to purify Roy the same way he did Sara. Practiced solution? Try to keep the blood lust under control with drugs, and tell no one else, resulting in the deaths of two innocent guards]].
** Also happens in season 8, after [[spoiler:William, Mia, and Connor somehow time travel back to 2019, no one thinks to call Team Flash or the Legends for their experience with time travel]].
** The post-Crisis ''Series/BlackLightning2018'' now takes place in the same universe as the other Arrowverse shows. The country is under attack by a foreign power with an army of metahumans. Does Black Lightning think to call on the other heroes? No, of course not. He'd much rather use children to fight the Gravedigger and his army. For that matter, Gravedigger seems awfully focused on Freeland, even though Central City arguably has more metas than Freeland.
** ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'':
*** This is addressed as Kara's desire to strike out on her own as a superhero in the world, so she defends National City while Clark stays in Metropolis. When James Olsen has to call Superman to save Supergirl from dying when attacked by Reactron, Kara and James have an argument about whether or not he should have called Superman at all. At the end of the episode even James admits that he moved to National City to become his own man and not remain "Jimmy" forever. In that episode, Supergirl also notes a practical reason: villains will start to think she's an easy target and plague National City if she needs Superman to help her with every problem. Superman finally makes an appearance when both Kryptonians have to stop a falling space shuttle. Clark then stays in National City for a few days, but it's revealed that he refuses to work with the DEO because they keep kryptonite in storage. Near the end of Season 2, everyone wonders where Superman is, considering that Earth is the middle of an AlienInvasion. [[spoiler:Clark did show up, but he was manipulated by Queen Rhea of Daxam into fighting Kara with silver kryptonite hallucinations that made him see Kara as General Zod, resulting in Kara proving herself to be his equal or better. Clark then comes up with a way for Kara to beat Rhea with a CombatByChampion.]]
*** Although Superman ''has'' arrived to help save the day on occasion, his absence during the world-threatening Reign arc of Season 3 is puzzling, given the arc has several episodes in which his presence would not only have saved his cousin from a lot of pain and injury, but would have been a no-brainer, in particular when [[spoiler:Supergirl is rendered comatose after a fight with Reign, technically leaving no one in National City with the same level of power - the fact Superman isn't called in borders on the irresponsible]]. Later, it's mentioned that he's working on the other side of the world, but you'd think he could pop in at SuperSpeed. Similarly, given Supergirl has a device capable of transporting between universes, someone should at least suggest asking the Flash, Steel or any of the other super-powered beings from Earth-1 to return Kara's favor for helping save their Earth several times. [[spoiler:This is ultimately settled in ''Series/Elseworlds2018'', as Clark decides to retire as Superman to marry Lois and prepare for a child on the way]].
*** In the ''Series/Elseworlds2018'' crossover, Series/{{Batwoman|2019}} ''really'' doesn't want Oliver or Barry in Gotham, ''especially'' the Green Arrow (there are already enough vigilantes in Gotham). [[LesYay She doesn't mind Kara]], though.
** While the ''Series/SupermanAndLois'' series is just starting, so far there haven't really been any mentions of the other heroes. Even Clark hasn't mentioned his cousin once, even when a mysterious villain in PoweredArmor is attacking nuclear power plants all over the country, or when a bridge is collapsing in China. Why was Superman the only one to respond to that one? Supergirl is at least as strong as he is. Some fans have speculated that the show takes place on another Earth. But this gets squashed when John Diggle appears in one episode and is immediately recognized by Lois and Clark. Lois mentions Oliver and Dig mentions Lyla and A.R.G.U.S., as well as hinting at his own possible future as ComicBook/GreenLantern, thereby confirming that the show still takes place on the same Earth, even though the Fortress of Solitude looks completely different in ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'' (little more than an ice cave in ''S&L'' and an entire museum to Krypton in ''Supergirl'') but is supposed to be the exact same place, since Clark lets Kara use his Fortress when needed.
*** The number of incidents in which the existence of another Kryptonian superhero on Earth who could either help Superman when he needs to tag team or take his place when he's indisposed is totally overlooked continues to grow as the show goes on.
*** This is finally cleared up in the season 2 finale, when General Lane outright states that he's witnessed leagues of superheroes in other worlds but their world only has a single one, Superman, confirming that ''Superman & Lois'' is set in a different parallel universe to the Arrowverse. It should be noted that this wasn't intended to be the case all along, however - for example, a shot of a picture of Kara with Lois and Clark on the Kent farm when Lois is clearing out her desk at the ''Daily Planet'' was deleted from the Season 1 premiere. And there was a planned crossover with ''Series/{{Batwoman|2019}}'' that was cancelled because of the pandemic. WordOfGod is that Oliver Queen (who has been mentioned on the show) and possibly some other costumed vigilantes did arise in this universe, but there have been no superpowered heroes like the Flash on Earth other than Superman. Of course, this begs the question of whether Kara's counterpart died on Krypton, is still drifting in a pod, stuck in the Phantom Zone or landed on a different planet, or was born at all.[[invoked]]

* ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'': All of the games partially justify this by having the entire story take place over a single night.
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' invokes this by having the Joker specifically announce that if he sees anyone in a cape ''besides'' Batman on the grounds, he's going to detonate the bombs he has scattered around the city.
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', Robin makes a brief appearance, but by this time, [[spoiler:it is revealed Joker infected thousands of people with his tainted blood]] and Batman instructs him to return to Gotham because he knows that Robin will soon be needed there, so Gotham is saved by Batman and Catwoman despite the fact that the Justice League would have been all over it even without Bruce calling for help at the start of act 5, though this could be explained as the fact that Batman shut it down not long after it started. Also, in a DLC, it is revealed that Robin was behind the scenes stopping Black Mask.
** Even other Bat-Family members are neglected. Batwoman, Huntress and the Creeper are all established to exist by the time of ''Arkham Knight'', but never appear to help. Well, Jack Ryder does appear, but [[ForgotAboutHisPowers it never occurs to him or Batman to turn into the Creeper]], though a throwaway line in ''Arkham Knight'' has Ryder remark to Bruce about how he wishes he had superpowers, implying he has never been the Creeper in the ''Arkhamverse''.
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', Batman works alone and doesn't believe he needs helps fighting crime. Giving Batman CharacterDevelopment about how he can't face his war alone and needs to make allies is part of the plot.
** The Justice League is absent in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' because after your first bomb encounter, Scarecrow and the Knight's threat is broadcast worldwide to prevent outside involvement lest there be a big crater where Gotham used to be. A {{mook|s}} comments that he's worried about "[[Characters/SupermanTheCharacter that freak from Metropolis]]" intervening, so it's probably due to the rapid developments that the other heroes don't get involved -- it's all over before other heroes learn of the event and ''can'' react.

* ''VideoGame/GothamKnights2022'': While the trope is enforced, it's not explained in any way[[note]]with a minor exception for Superman himself -- he ''is'' directly helping out... by covering for Nightwing in Blüdhaven[[/note]], despite the game taking place over several weeks. There are numerous references to the Justice League, Outsiders, and Titans, which makes the absence of these groups much more jarring.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs''. [[ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs The prequel comic]] starts with Superman and Batman talking in Metropolis. Later, the Joker causes trouble in Metropolis and the Justice League tries to deal with him. They fail, and his plan to kill Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, and ultimately all of Metropolis goes off without a hitch. This leads to the {{dystopia}} years later in the main game, where Superman has taken over the world KnightTemplar style along with other {{fallen hero}}es and Batman leads other heroes in the LaResistance against Superman's forces.

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' games play with this trope a lot, usually by featuring other Marvel heroes in either supporting roles or as cameos:
** In ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000'', there are appearances by several [[BigApplesauce NYC-based]] heroes in the {{cutscene}}s to express their sympathy at his frame-up but who are of no help at all. [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]] leaves to "spread the word" about his innocence right before the NYPD swoops down to arrest the wallcrawler. Spidey naturally refuses [[Characters/MarvelComicsFrankCastle The Punisher]]'s offer of help knowing his penchant for bloody murder. Also, while you can visit the Baxter Building, Spidey will mention that the ComicBook/FantasticFour aren't home at the moment.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/SpiderManTheVideoGame'', which featured [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsClintBarton Hawkeye]] and the Characters/{{Black Cat|MarvelComics}} as the other three playable characters.
** Averted in his first Platform/GameBoy game, which featured the ComicBook/XMen.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndVenomMaximumCarnage'' and ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndVenomSeparationAnxiety'', as ComicBook/{{Venom}} was an optional playable character while several hero icons popped up throughout both games, summoning characters like [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]], [[ComicBook/NewWarriors Firestar]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]] and more in order to help the player.
** Averted in ''[[VideoGame/SpiderManWebOfShadows Web of Shadows]]'', which has Wolverine, Luke Cage, and ComicBook/MoonKnight as summonable allies who feature largely in the plot.
** ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' plays it straight. Despite locations like [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers Tower]], the [[ComicBook/BlackPanther Wakandan embassy]], the [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Sanctum Sanctorum]], Matt Murdock's law office and [[ComicBook/JessicaJones Alias Investigations]] being present as Easter eggs, no superheroes other than Spider-Man ever actually show up. Granted, Spider-Man does mention that the Avengers are hardly ever in New York due to battling threats all over the world and the same could be said for others like Dr. Strange, and Black Panther (who runs an entire country), and Daredevil and the other street vigilantes could be handling more minor threats.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', where other heroes often pop up to help the team. The GrandFinale has the Fantastic Four, [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man]], [[Characters/IronManHeroes War Machine]], ComicBook/BlackWidow, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], [[Characters/CaptainAmericaHeroes The Falcon]], Characters/LukeCage, Characters/IronFist, and other New York-based heroes aiding the Avengers in the final battle against [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]].
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Night of the Batmen!" ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], ComicBook/GreenArrow, and ComicBook/PlasticMan regularly team-up with Batman during the course of the series, but run into numerous obstacles when they try to fight crime in Gotham (partly because they are in disguise to fill in for an injured Batman, trying to do things his way rather than play to their own strengths). Otherwise, averting this is the hook of the series. Batman fights villains, and eagerly accepts the help of any hero he comes across, or otherwise calls in his buddies to assist.
* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'':
** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'':
*** In the three-part episode "World's Finest", when Superman and Batman first met, [[TeethClenchedTeamwork they clearly did not trust one another]] (the mutual discovery of each other's secret identity was implied to be the one thing preventing the other from turning them in). From the pilot episode, "The Last Son Of Krypton", a brief mention of the "nut from Gotham City" made it clear that Batman was not held in much high regard as a hero outside of Gotham.
*** In "Knight Time", this is averted to interesting effect when Superman DOES go into Gotham to investigate Batman's disappearance with Robin's help (and disguised as Batman). One priceless scene in the episode is "Batman" able to overcome the best efforts of Bane, Mad Hatter and Riddler with brute force.
---->'''Mad Hatter:''' ''[shocked at how "Batman" survives a stone pillar falling on top of him, and then kicks it off of him with two feet]'' That's not possible.\\
'''Robin:''' He's been working out.
** ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'':
*** The episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE20GirlsNightOut Girls' Night Out]]" subverts it when Livewire escapes to Gotham (and runs into [[Characters/DCAUHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] and [[Characters/DCAUPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]]). In response, Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} must team up with Characters/{{Batgirl}} to stop the trio.
*** Played straight with a justification in "Love is a Croc", in which one of the newspapers describing the duo's crime spree includes a [[FreezeFrameBonus side-story headline]] "Superman Has Hands Full".
** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'':
*** In the first episode of ''Unlimited'', Green Arrow lampshades this trope, getting angry when Green Lantern takes down some criminals that he was fighting and calling him a big name hero who has now decided that fighting street crime is his thing.
*** While this was averted in the series finale and justified against Brainthor, the series premiere had a team of seven taking on a planetary invasion. At least with the Thanagarian invasion, future ''Unlimited'' league members like Vigilante were stated to be fighting offscreen or imprisoned because of it.
*** Lampshaded and justified in the episode "In Blackest Night", to explain why none of the Trinity are helping out today:
---->'''Martian Manhunter:''' Wonder Woman is on another case, Superman's dealing with an earthquake and Batman would only say that he's "busy".
:: Superman shows up later anyway because "It was just a 4.0."
*** A subtle episode that was Flash-centric shows that Flash deals with ''his'' supervillains differently - some of them act like Flash is their ''counselor''. In short, only Flash can deal with the villains in Keystone.
---->'''Flash:''' ''[admonishingly] James'', you're off your meds, aren't you?\\
'''Trickster:''' [[NoMedicationForMe Better off without 'em!]] Take 'em if I start feeling down.\\
'''Flash:''' You know that's not how the medicine works. You're not well!\\
'''Trickster:''' I'm ''fine! [brightens up]'' ...You wanna throw some darts?\\
'''Flash:''' No, listen, James, you're wearing the suit again.\\
'''Trickster:''' I ''am?'' ''[looks down at his costume]'' Well, what do you know?\\
'''Flash:''' Here's the deal, buddy. Tell me where those guys went, and I'll come see you in the hospital. We'll play darts! The soft kind.\\
'''Trickster:''' ''[smiles widely]'' Okay, they're gonna ambush you at the Flash Museum!\\
'''Flash:''' See? That's all we needed! ''[to Batman and Orion]'' Come on, we better get over there.\\
'''Orion:''' What about your enemy?\\
'''Flash:''' Oh, right. Dude, as soon as you finish your drink, turn yourself in!\\
'''Trickster:''' ''[raises mug]'' Got me again, Flash!

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Harley Quinn|2019}}'': Averted literally, and then enforced literally, in "Devil's Snare": When the Legion of Doom creates an army of man-eating trees in a Gotham City park, the Justice League shows up. Shortly thereafter, the Queen of Fables traps the League in her story-book world, leaving the villains in control of the city for the next dozen episodes.
* Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures''. As a HighSchoolAU, despite taking place in New York most of Tony's super-hero counterparts are probably not of age (ComicBook/BlackPanther, in his appearance, was still just a teenager, and Characters/IronFist is mentioned as a local teen martial arts champion), and the adult characters who make appearances are otherwise uninterested or unable to in help Tony out (ComicBook/NickFury and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} view Iron Man as a vigilante threat, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBruceBanner the Hulk]] was in one of his rampaging moods during his appearance, [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] is still apparently frozen, ComicBook/BlackWidow and [[Characters/MarvelComicsClintBarton Hawkeye]] had yet to do their HeelFaceTurn.) It starts to fall apart in the second season where [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] show up, but neither the ComicBook/FantasticFour nor ComicBook/XMen do. [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]] does show up as a teenager and is clearly shown to not yet be a superhero or member of the X-Men. At the end of the episode where she appears, she seems to meet [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]] for the first time, so presumably the team is just now being assembled. Reed Richards is mentioned as a professor, but it is unclear whether he has powers. Though WordOfGod states that [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] at least would have shown up [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had the series been given a third season]].
* ''WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries'': There is only ''one'' guest appearance by another super, that being The Hulk (another episode briefly mentioned Captain America). It makes a little bit of sense most of the time, as IM/Tony is usually on the West Coast and, after the {{Retool}}, gets all lone wolf and repeatedly encounters issues from not keeping his friends and allies in the loop on his plans and generally pushing them away when they're trying to help him (resulting in Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Century opting to leave). That said, when an anti-technology fog affects New York City in the season 2 finale, not one hero is seen to help Tony, and they end up having to recruit Hawkeye for help. This despite Spider-Man, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four all being based there and logically being able to help (though it's possible they were also hamstrung by the fog and/or were assisting people off-screen).
** That being said, the same character model for Iron Man from season 2 of his own show was used for a couple of [[ContinuityCameo quick cameos]] as a part of the Avengers (also including Captain America) in a couple of season 2 ''[[WesternAnimation/FantasticFourTheAnimatedSeries Fantastic Four]]'' episodes, which also established there were in fact other superheroes -- [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]], ComicBook/GhostRider -- operating, so you could chalk up the lack of appearances of other heroes in IM's show to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers rights issues]] (which resulted in Hawkeye replacing US Agent in the Force Works team, and replacing Captain America in the "Armor Wars" two-parter).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' was very specifically designed to avoid this trope. Aside from being LighterAndSofter (and funnier) in general, the series takes place in ''Super Hero City'' where all the Earth-based Marvel heroes live (in fact, only a handful of people shown are NOT heroes.) The city is separated from Villainville by a giant wall. All the villains live there. Even though the series mainly focuses on the "Super Hero Squad" composed of ComicBook/IronMan, Falcon ([[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man]] [[ExiledFromContinuity couldn't be included due to licensing issues with Sony Pictures]]), Characters/SilverSurfer, [[CanonImmigrant Reptil]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsBruceBanner the Hulk]], and later the Characters/ScarletWitch, many episodes had other heroes join in just because they were literally in the neighborhood. One episode involved the Squadies trying to recover the show's MacGuffin from a BrattyHalfPint named [[MeaningfulName Brynnie Bratton]]. Eventually, she ends up being passed around like a football by random heroes and villains alike such as [[Characters/XMen70sMembers Colossus]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Ms. Marvel]], [[Characters/JuggernautMarvelComics Juggernaut]], various members of the Avengers, the Wrecking Crew, the ComicBook/FantasticFour, Dr. Doom, Abomination, [[Characters/MarvelComicsAIM M.O.D.O.K.]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsSabretooth Sabretooth]], and numerous others along with the Squadies themselves all trying to stop the other side just to get the tiara she's wearing. By the end of the first season, most of these same heroes did whatever they could to stop Galactus from going on an eating binge.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'':
** The Titans never even mention their adult counterparts, at least not by name. Even when the fate of the world is at stake, and every teen-aged hero on Earth has been captured except for half-a-dozen C-list Titans, no one thinks to let Superman know what's happening. This despite the presence of characters like Robin, Aqualad and Speedy. [[EnforcedTrope The reason for all of this]] is because at the time, [=DC=] Comics and Warner Bros. Animation had a policy of "[[ExiledFromContinuity Character Embargos]]". A character couldn't appear in one show if another show already had them in a major role. While Teen Titans was running, for example, it had dibs on Robin, so Robin couldn't appear in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', and no Batman characters could appear on ''Justice League'', since ''The Batman'' had dibs on ''them''. Ironically, this ban included Characters/{{Harley Quinn|TheCharacter}}, a character who was ''created for'' one of the shows that ''Justice League'' was a continuation of. Batman was grandfathered into ''Justice League'' by virtue of being a main and popular character, but the only other exceptions were Speedy's guest appearance in ''Justice League'', which occurred after ''Teen Titans'' had aired all their episodes but still had reruns, and technically, Kid Flash's appearances in ''Teen Titans'', as both he and ''Justice League''[='s=] Flash were obviously [[Characters/TheFlashWallyWest Wally West]], but under different identities allowing the writers to "[[LoopholeAbuse Exploit a Loophole]]". Both ''Justice League''[='s=] Speedy and ''Teen Titans''[='s=] Kid Flash were clearly based on the other show's version of the character, going so far as to use the same voice actors. [[TheCameo Batman would later cameo]] in the sequel comic ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'', [[SoProudOfYou checking up on Robin from afar]].
** The League wasn't even mentioned when Trigon made a successful planet-side takeover. Neither were the Titans East. There's DieOrFly, and then there's this. This specific case may be justified by those who read the source story, showing the other superheroes were petrified when Trigon's dimension began absorbing Earth.
** The ComicBook/DoomPatrol are the only "adult" superheroes that actually appear, and even then its only for two episodes and afterwards they are quickly forgotten and never mentioned again. The only reason they appeared at all was to setup the main antagonists of the final season, "The Brotherhood of Evil". The only other hero to appear is Batman but only in a small number of background references that only those familiar with his mythos would really notice.
** Conversely, the comedic SpinOff ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' mentions and showcases many adult superheroes regularly. Early seasons had Batman making background cameos, several appearances of Aquaman, and an episode where, sick of Beast Boy slacking off, the team holds auditions for other Animal-Themed superheroes to replace him, such as ComicBook/{{Vixen}}. Later seasons and [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies the movie]] would go on to have members of the Justice League in speaking roles and involved with the plot.

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' often has Spidey teaming up with any one of the numerous superheroes who live in New York City. This is largely due to Spider-Man often facing villains from [[RoguesGalleryTransplant other heroes' rogues galleries]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'':
** Averted where the Justice League has evolved into an international organization so effective that the villains had to form a Secret Society called "The Light" in response, because individually they were no match for the heroes. At the start of the show, the League's roster is twice as large as it normally is in the comics, and it gets even bigger as time goes on. Team-ups if anything appear to have become the norm.
** Apparently played straight earlier in their careers. WordOfGod stated that before the League was formed, there was one team-up between Batman and Superman and one between ComicBook/TheFlash and ComicBook/GreenLantern, and that was it.
** Season 2 had Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and others on an intergalactic trial, leaving just the B-listers and the Team to deal with a worldwide threat.

* {{Justified|Trope}} in the Franchise/MonsterVerse. [[Characters/MonsterVerseGodzilla Godzilla]] defends the majority of the Earth's surface and considers the entire globe his territory, but he always stays away from Skull Island, which is [[Characters/MonsterVerseKingKong Kong]]'s territory, even when Kong and the island are in danger. This is because Godzilla and Kong are both intelligent but ultimately territorial animals who steer clear of each-other so long as one doesn't breach the other's territory, and their respective species have an ancient history of coming to blows with each-other when forced together.

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* ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'': Rankers, people who have already climbed the Tower, made their wish and received great power on the way up, are not allowed to interfere with the Regulars who are still climbing. That's why overpowered characters like Yuri and Lero-Ro rarely make an appearance on the front lines and often act with severe restrictions. Most Rankers aren't even allowed to get close to the testing areas of the Inner Tower. This rule does get broken occasionally, though. At one point Yuri threatens to ''blow up an entire testing area and murder the test director'', and is only stopped when the director threatens to fail everyone involved if she doesn't back down.

* Amuro Rey and Char Aznable never appeared in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' despite appearing in the opening. Their rivalry was supposed to be settled in the show but Creator/YoshiyukiTomino was given the greenlit to produce ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Char's Counterattack]]''; hence, Sayla Mass appeared in the second half of show and she and Bright Noa speculate that Char is probably watching from the sidelines waiting for the opportunity to return to Zeon while Amuro was mentioned in passing by Hayato that he's on duty somewhere. ''Anime/GundamEvolve'' revealed that he's also fighting against Neo-Zeon though not the final battle where Haman and Judau are. However, Sayla didn't appear in the movie as her voice actress was ''again'' unavailable, and she's offhand mentioned in a flashback by Char while remembering Lalah's death. Many fans were also expecting Kamille Bidan and Judau Ashta to appear to help Amuro stop Char. But the ending of ''ZZ'' showed that Kamille retired to civilian life with Fa as a doctor while Judau signed on with the Jovian fleet.
* It is implied that Watchdog-Man of ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' is one of the more powerful S-Rank Heroes [[spoiler:(for one, he's one of the few heroes who managed to single-handedly defeat Garou, whereas it took Blast, Bomb and Genos to try and defeat the heavily injured hero-hunter)]]; however, he never leaves the city he's guarding, so he cannot contribute in missions where his help would be useful, the sole exception being briefly attending the S-class meeting discussing the world-ending threat prophetized by Shibawawa.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'', Goku and Vegeta are off on Beerus' Planet, training, the idea being that there's nothing big happening (in the manga, this is changed to training to be able to defeat Black Frieza). However, that changes when [[spoiler:Cell Max is awakened and unleashed]]. Bulma tries to call them back, but [[spoiler:all the junk food around Whis' staff blocks off communication. Thankfully, Gohan unleashes a brand new SuperMode that takes care of the problem, but Whis is left wondering just what exactly they could have needed in the first place]].

* Also justified to a considerable extent in the Earth-2706 verse, the setting of ''[[Fanfic/UltimateSleepwalker Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'' and its companion series ''[[Fanfic/UltimateSpiderWoman Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]''. Unlike Earth-616, the main setting of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, superheroes like the ComicBook/XMen, ComicBook/TheAvengers, ComicBook/IronMan, [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]] and ComicBook/DoctorStrange are '''not''' based in New York City and are not usually available to help the street-level heroes out. Even the ComicBook/FantasticFour aren't even in New York half the time. As a result, Sleepwalker, Spider-Woman and every other hero in New York has their hands full with their own individual {{Rogues Galler|y}}ies. Except for the rare occasion when they can team up due to responding to the same emergency, the heroes simply can't help each other out even if they might like to.
* ''[[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-33141/DianeCastle+Hermione+Granger+and+the+Swiss+Tournament.htm Hermione Granger and the Swiss Tournament]]'': When Hermione is facing off against mooks and metahumans and monsters that Terawatt could take down before breakfast, she doesn't call Terawatt in, because Terawatt is busy halfway around the world, dealing with a Kaiju turtle monster. So it's up to Hermione's "tradecraft" skills -- lock picking, placing and defeating electronic bugs and cameras, small arms and explosives, martial arts, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking wine-tasting]] -- to identify the masterminds, kill their underlings, and save the day. [[spoiler:It eventually turns out that calling in Terawatt was ''what the bad guys wanted'', with a trap prepared to kill her.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds'' has [[BigBad Count Logan]] go around and destroying various planets, including [[Characters/TeenTitansStarfire Starfire]]'s home world, and yet the only team to get involved other than the ComicBook/TeenTitans are the ComicBook/DoomPatrol and not, say, the ComicBook/GreenLantern Corps.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' / DC Universe crossover "[[http://doctorwhointernetadventures.wikia.com/wiki/XIA05_-_Fear_Itself Fear Itself]]", Superman is brought to Gotham at one point and reflects on how Batman always hates it when he shows up, believing it's because Batman feels compelled to solve the city's problems single-handedly. Later, we see Batman's thoughts on the issue, where it's revealed that the issue for ''him'' isn't so much one of territoriality as it is effectiveness; when faced with a superpowered alien showing up and easily handing them their asses, the criminals of Gotham consequently tend to be less frightened of the prospect of encountering a guy in a bat-suit, thus making Batman's job harder when Superman eventually leaves.

* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'' this is brought up several times:
** When Kara figures out what is going on in Sunnydale she wants to call the Justice League and stomp the place flat. Buffy pleads with her to not do it because people are better off not knowing vampires are real.
** In the aftermath of the battle, Buffy asks Supergirl to leave and trust the Gang to handle Sunnydale.
--->'''Kara:''' Then, what am I supposed to do? Just go, and pretend that none of this exists?\\
'''Buffy:''' No. You’re supposed to go, and leave it to us. We’re the trained professionals in this thing. We know what to do, Kara. Just like... and, well, you know I hate to bring this up... just like when I was in your body. I don’t know that much about super-heroing, but I’ll bet that Batman doesn’t call you up every time the Joker and he have a throwdown. You all have your spheres of influence. So do we. That’s why we’re here, Kara... and that’s why you’re there.

* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', powerful DC Heroes like ComicBook/TheFlash are active in the same world as ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. But when S.T.A.R. Lab tech is stolen and shipped off to Japan, the Japanese Hero community is simply tipped off to lock down the ports and airports and monitor the cargo closely rather than receiving any American aid. At the very least, Barry Allen makes it clear that he ''wants'' to go and intervene, but can't due to having his hands full with the Rogues and Black Hole.
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/36694024/ Spiderman: A Way Back Home]]'' sees Peter Parker (post-''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'') contact Bruce Banner for help devising a means of sending the displaced Gwen Stacy (''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'') and Mary Jane Watson (''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'') back to their universes. Bruce agrees to help after it's revealed that the Harry Osborn of Gwen's Earth has also been displaced, but since he is focusing on creating the multiverse machine Peter and the girls (including Michelle Jones) thus have to work on curing Harry's disease and de-powering him themselves, [[spoiler:although they get aid from the Harry Osborn of Mary Jane's world later]].
* Discussed in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17242514/ Pokemon vs. Digimon: When Worlds Collide]]'' when Devimon (''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'') travels into [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the Pokémon world]]; the author acknowledges that Devimon could probably be defeated by a Legendary Pokémon, but points out how rarely such Pokémon got involved in threats to the Pokémon world on a daily basis to make it clear that just waiting for a Legendary to show up to fight Devimon isn't a practical option as Devimon would do too much damage before any help can arrive, requiring the Digidestined, Ash, Misty, and Brock to do what they can themselves.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/39587901/ What if...Wanda Cast the No Way Home Spell]]'', Doctor Strange observes that, at least in his case, he never got around to helping Peter Parker deal with the various accusations raised against him by the likes of J. Jonah Jameson as he's normally busy with much larger things, even as Strange regrets how he didn't help Spider-Man earlier even after they basically saved the universe together.
* Invoked in ''Fanfic/ASupeOfAMan''; not only has Clark Kent/Superman been assigned to the west coast to keep him away from the Seven, but Homelander has instructed the rest of the Seven to avoid Superman as he dislikes being compared to the other hero.
* ''Fanfic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse'': Played with. Kara is based out of the same city as Oliver and makes frequent trips to Central City, but she pointedly stays out of the boys' ways, sticking to her own threats and major disasters like crashing planes. This is mainly because she would be complete overkill; Oliver and Barry can handle themselves and their respective prey perfectly fine on their own and hardly need her help anyway. However, she ''will'' intervene if they are unable to or the threat risks serious harm to their persons, as seen with China White and [[spoiler:Grodd]].
* In ''Fanfic/AvengerGoddess'', when Darcy Lewis learns about Ares’ role in the Second World War, she asks why Thor and his people didn’t get involved, Diana clarifying that Ares used magic to stop any other gods being aware of his actions until he was defeated.
* In ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', when Mewtwo begins using his powers to alter the weather in Kanto, Rayquaza senses his actions and becomes agitated, and begins flying more erratically across Hoenn in response. Steven Stone takes notice of this and wants to investigate the cause of it, but like Rayquaza he can't leave his region unprotected in case something else comes up (having had some incidents recently that means his concerns are fairly justified).
* ''Fanfic/MiraculousKnight'':
** When Ladybug asks why Batman and the rest of the Justice League hasn't came to Paris sooner, Batman answers that the League has been observing the incident for a while, they didn't want to get the teen heroes involved with the League since they are already too busy with school but vowed to get involved if things got out of hand. Batman also says that the presence of the League could easily draw in their rogue gallery. Which given that the Joker chased after Batman to Paris when the latter was investigating the Riddler's actions there, is very accurate.
** [[spoiler:The Joker [[InvokedTrope invokes]] it while convincing Gabriel to come to Gotham with him. He says Batman wouldn't let Superman come after him.]]
* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', For some reason, Spidey is one of the only superheroes in New York to actually take on street crime, stopping bank robberies and investigating things while the entirety of the Avengers are off stopping an AlienInvasion or some other ApocalypseHow scenario. Lampshaded, of course, when Peter wonders why his peers like Daredevil are never around.
-->'''Peter:''' Aw, who am I kidding? He's probably busy with the Hand or something.
* {{Justified|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/{{Harry Potter and the Invincible TechnoMage}}''. Thor, Stephen Strange, Iron Man, and the other top-tier Marvel heroes can't pop over to Britain and squash Riddle and his Death Eaters because they've got their hands full dealing with the villains that ''can'' compete on their level.
* ''Fanfic/DanceWithTheDemons'': Subverted. Batman's friends stand aside while he investigates the assassination attempt against Catwoman, but at the end of the story Superman and Wonder Woman arrive in the Batcave to help the Batfamily beat an army of Kobra soldiers.
* In crossover fanfiction ''Fanfic/DisplacedTheMountainJew'', the Justice League is told to stay out of Gotham, despite their willingness to stop an ongoing bloody gang war, because Batman -and James Gordon- think the presence of super-powered heroes would attract super-powered villains. However Spider-Man, who has just started operating in Gotham, doesn't care for Batman's rules, and eventually the Dark Knight has to accept that Spider-Man isn't leaving or stopping.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33418624 Perfect Sense]]'', it is stated that the Paris authorities are doing their best to keep the knowledge of the Miraculouses from the wider world, because regular citizens are tough enough as it is, but if Superman or Wonder Woman came in and were akumatized...
* Justified in the Teen Titans fanfic ''[[Fanfic/JokersWildTrilogy Joker's Wild]]'', where Batman and the rest of the Gotham vigilantes can't help Robin defeat the Joker due to a mass break out at Arkham and Blackgate.
* ''Fanfic/UltimateDCUHeadverse'': Averted in the first story when [[Characters/{{Batgirl}} Barbara Gordon]] asks [[Characters/SupergirlTheCharacter Linda Danvers]] come to Gotham and help [[ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} Kate Kane]] look for Mad Hatter.

* A non-crossover ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' example in the New York special for ''Fanfic/HeroChat'', where after Majestia and Knight Owl express their shock [[JustAKid that Team Miraculous are only teenagers]], they end up bringing up old frustrations in Ladybug about how no other heroes came to help them in Paris. It's only afterward that she and the others hear the explanation from Jess (Sparrow) and Aeon (Uncanny Valley): That information regarding Akumas or Team Miraculous have locked in Paris by a {{Masquerade}} organized by the mayor to avoid deterring tourism, with the outside world only finding out after Princess Fragrance targeted Prince Ali, a world-renowned philanthropist. By then, Ladybug and Chat Noir had been handling the Akumas for so long that the other heroes thought they were either young adults or had sufficient training. However, both Majestia and Knight Owl admit they should have done more to investigate and want to apologize to Team Miraculous for the oversight.
** However if the Author's other story Fanfic/LadyLuckMiraculousLadybug is to be believed the Mayor also did this to keep superheroes out of Paris in an attempt to prevent them from becoming Akumas.
* [[InvokedTrope Batman insists that the rest of the Justice League stays out of Gotham]] in ''Fanfic/{{Justice}}'' because he fears bringing metahumans to fight crime there will make the existing villains escalate in retaliation to a level the Bat Family can no longer contain, making Gotham dependent on outside help which will only embolden and elevate the crime rate.
* ''Fanfic/BraigensDCUNowWithOwls'': Discussed in ''Owls in the Belfry'', when Batman states that while he can't stop Luz from coming to Gotham to visit family, he demands that she restrict herself from superhero activities, as he doesn't need the help. Luz responds by shooting him down, stating that she won't stop herself from fighting crime if she's in a position to help, something Batman reluctantly relents to.
* According to Eagle and Uncanny Valley, The United Heroez can't deal with [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Walpurgisnacht]] in ''Fanfic/KwamiMagiHomuraMagica'' in any of the timeloops because at the same time as the witch arrives in Mitakihara a similarly dangerous threat is also active they have to deal with instead. Meanwhile the reason that magical girls from France aren't involved in the Miraculous fights is that Kyubey gives Miraculous users a wide berth because traditional Guardian policy is to kill Magical Girls on sight, and they are useless to him if killed. In a completely separate timeline briefly witnessed Mami also notes that the Miraculous users can't help them against Walpurgisnacht because they have their own problems to deal with: however as this timeline also featured the defeat of Shadow Moth, the Heroes of Paris were looking for new things to do with their powers at the time so when a timeline 3 Homura ended up posting a desperate plea for help on the Ladyblog they were more than willing to come to Mitakihara to help as soon as they verified that Magical Girls were real from the Kwami, bypassing the geographical issues with the Horse Miraculous.

* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternBewareMyPower'' has the league mention that Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash are all away on their own missions while Martian Manhunter needs to maintain the Watchtower, leaving Green Arrow as John Stewart's primary ally.

* This is why ''Literature/GoblinSlayer'''s titular character is so important. Generally, adventurers don't go for quests that are below their skill level as the risk is too high and the reward too low. Goblin slaying quests are mostly handed out by peasants being harrassed by them with little to pay, as opposed to quests given out by merchants, royalty and the like with enough money to make it worth their while. [[TheHero Goblin Slayer's]] defiance of this trope comes from the danger goblins present and his losses at their hands making him wish for and strive to achieve the extermination of all goblins, and as such makes him both a man doing a service nobody else will and an outcast among his peers.

* Creator/RickRiordan, author of ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', ''Literature/TheKaneChronicles'', and ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'', writes stories where the Greek, Roman, Egyptian and Norse gods run around in the modern world, with all their classical bad guys also around and doing horrific things such as [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking turning random people to stone to sell as lawn decorations, blowing up Elvis's home, and creating more chain restaurants]], let alone the various attempts of creating ApocalypseHow as soon as possible. Yet you never see the Egyptians deal with Titan uprisings, or the Demigods reacting to the very real threat of the sun being eaten. True, the pantheons do try to stay apart due to the many comments that the meeting of god pantheons creates wars. And true the Greek and Roman demigods did, indirectly, work together against the titans, but that was more a coincidence, as oppose to a Superman and Batman vs General Zod thing. Though the "Heroes of Olympus" series has the Greek and Roman elements working together directly, and the Trials of Apollo series continues a lack of barrier between the two beyond simple space. There is a short story titled ''The Son of Sobek'' which features Percy and Carter. After [[LetsYouAndHimFight nearly killing each other]], they team up to take on a monster crocodile. It's implied that there are forces at work to keep the Greek and Egyptian pantheons separate, and that someone had engineered their meeting in hopes of it ending violently between the two. Later confirmed, except on the last point. Apparently, it was for research, and it led to two more team ups.
** A slight justification, similar to the Superhero examples, is the aspect of space. While why the Divine aspects don't interact more is still up in the air, a lot of the heroes in play are often working in very different areas from each other and don't have the free time to randomly go looking for trouble. Percy Jackson and Magnus Chase don't have cars or the spare change to randomly travel to Boston and New York City respectively, and the Romans exist out around San Francisco. While the main Egyptian characters exist in New York City, they are often out in different parts of the world that don't tend to be the same parts Percy and company will go to (The Demigods travels brought them to Quebec, Chicago, San Francisco, British Columbia, the Rockies, Seattle, Alaska, Kansas, the middle of the Atlantic, Gilbraltar, Rome, Croatia, and Greece, while the Magicians went to London, Brooklyn, Egypt, France, Memphis Tn, New Mexico, Phoenix, St. Petersburg, and Texas). The Norse characters have this even more so by often interacting with the other 9 realms like Alfheim that the Greeks and Egyptians likely do not even know how to get to. While contact between the groups does increase over time, with Annabeth meeting with Magnus, the actions and decisions of the characters means they often aren't able to get involved if they wanted to (with Percy Jackson for example spending not insignificant periods of time around the time of the Egyptian series either hidden by Hera, without his memories, or in Tartarus, while during the Norse series Percy isn't as active due to trying to live his normal life for a spell.)

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', a commonly asked question in fandom is "Why couldn't the Eagles just fly the Fellowship to Mount Doom?". It makes sense, since Gandalf had good relations with the Eagles as seen in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. And the Eagles did show up [[spoiler:to save Frodo and Sam from certain death after the One Ring was destroyed]]. So why couldn't they just fly the Fellowship to Mount Doom in helping to destroy their shared enemy? Tolkien has never given a definitive answer but most agree that he probably would also have attempted to give an in-universe explanation, but only after stating the obvious, most important reason: [[RuleOfDrama "Because then there would be no story"]]. But in ''Literature/TheHobbit'' the Eagles ''do'' save Bilbo (who has just acquired the ring) and the dwarves from a fiery fate.
** Fans have come up with several hypothetical explanations such as the Eagles too conspicuous as they approached Mordor. Sauron would have sent his winged Nazgul immediately. Another theory is that the Eagles couldn't carry them all the way from Rivendell, and by the time heroes approached Mordor, there was no Gandalf to call them. Finally, some speculate that this may have been Gandalf's unspoken plan all along, but the sidetrack to Moria put a stop to it. Or, of course, there is the implication that the eagles could not bear to touch or have anything to do with the one ring - which is why they stepped in and saved Frodo and Sam the very instant the ring was destroyed. Another explanation is that the Eagles simply choose not to intervene more than they do because, contrary to appearances, (at least in the film version) the Eagles aren't dumb animals that Gandalf has at his beck and call, they're an intelligent race of Middle-earth all their own.

* In ''Literature/RumorsBlock'' Confluence has such a corrupt government that most super heroes are afraid of working there, and the few who do are forced to be loners because the government considers them illegal vigilantes rather than proper heroes.
* Not supers, but one of the reasons Creator/TerryPratchett introduced Moist von Lipwig to Literature/{{Discworld}} was so that he could keep writing novels set in Ankh-Morpork without the Watch's formidable cast of characters horning in and taking over the story. As Moist was (and arguably still is, albeit on the city's behalf) a professional con artist by trade, he has plenty of reasons not to like, trust, or seek out the assistance of the Watch.
** He also dislikes his fellow new protagonist William de Worde, who runs the Disc's first newspaper. Vimes, Moist, and de Worde ''all'' dislike each other.
** The Witches and Wizards don't get heavily involved in the Ankh-Morpork books, and there are good reasons for both so we're not wondering why some witch or wizard isn't standing by to turn conspirators into frogs. The Wizards prefer to not have to do any magic at all except when there are [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere unexpected extradimensional threats]], and are not on loan to help the Watch deal with mundane plots. The Witches just don't live in Ankh-Morpork to begin with, and when they've traveled there it hasn't overlapped any other Ankh-Morpork book.
* Many of Creator/StephenKing's stories share a universe, or at least a multiverse, yet most of their heroes are actually more Action Survivors, so a [[ComicBook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh Nightmare Warriors]] style team-up is unlikely, and most of the events are very localized. The Gunslingers could certainly have helped [[Film/TheMist the people in the grocery story]] or The Losers gang, but they were divided by dimensional barriers.
* Downplayed and generally justified in ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex''. Touma has a number of allies who also live in Academy City and who could easily curb-stomp most of his opponents (e.g. [[ShockAndAwe Mikoto]] and [[AttackReflector Accelerator]]). They do work together on many occasions, but there are still plenty of instances where this doesn't happen. It's justified by the fact that Touma's allies all have lives and adventures of their own (as shown in [[Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun the]] [[Manga/ACertainScientificAccelerator spinoffs]]).

* On ''Series/TheXFiles'', all those demons and vampires and mutants running around would have been ''really'' useful for the Earth Home Team when the Alien Colonization finally hit.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had ''Deep Space Nine'' overlap the last two seasons and featured a handful of crossovers before it ended. One episode just before the GrandFinale "Preemptive Strike" in fact demands knowledge of plot points introduced on [=DS9=], but assumed to be established information on TNG. These crossovers occurred before the [=DS9=] MythArc gained momentum with the [[TheEmpire Dominion]], which spawned the Dominion War which threatened all Trek mainstay superpowers.
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
*** The Enterprise, the flagship of the fleet and a powerful warship crewed with Starfleet's best and brightest, is not mentioned during the Dominion War except mainly in reference to Worf's former crew. The reason was the ''TNG'' films were ongoing and didn't want to be handcuffed to that story, only needing a new [[HandWave excuse]] to get Worf back aboard the ''Enterprise'' for the movie. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian]] answer is that they ''did'' help fight off the Dominion, but were kept from the biggest battles and dispatched to put out fires and resolve crises better suited to [[JackOfAllTrades a single, very versatile ship]]. The Doylist explanation, of course, is that more crossovers would have meant spending a lot of the budget paying some very expensive guest stars and could have lead to the ''Enterprise'' crew [[SpotlightStealingSquad overshadowing the cast]] of ''[=DS9=]''. ExpandedUniverse books that cover the ''TNG'' crew during the Dominion War timeframe simply have them [[HeroOfAnotherStory fighting elsewhere]]. This is after all the interstellar equivalent to World War II, and was fought on multiple fronts.
*** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', given they were on the other side of the galaxy, avoided any real issue with this because of their isolation. Some plot points of [=DS9=] do filter into VOY once they establish contact with Starfleet, but one bit story set back in familiar territory dealt with a Romulan trap rather than the Dominion, since that was not the story that was for Voyager to tell.
** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' had the second season discuss why the original ''Enterprise'' hadn't shown up during the first season's Federation/Klingon War. After learning of Section 31 and how its base is set up, Captain Pike accuses Admiral Cornwell of keeping the ''Enterprise'' away so someone like him wouldn't point out their morally dubious decisions going against the ideals of Starfleet. Cornwell counters that they wanted Starfleet's finest -- and their ideals -- to survive should the Federation lose.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' runs into this rather frequently as well. There are other advanced species besides the Doctor who could be of help to Earth, but this seems to have happened once in the franchise's [[LongRunners over-60-year-long history.]]
** Several mercenary forces would probably gladly sign up with Earth for the right consideration, but there's never any mention of an offer being solicited. The Sontarans in particular would ''love'' to mix it up with the Daleks after being left out of the Time War. However, only one Sontaran (that was demoted to a nurse as punishment) joins the Doctor's army in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes to War]]". In that same episode though, an army of Silurians that owe a debt to the Doctor takes command of Demon's Run. However, having alien mercenaries fighting for the Earth would probably cause as many problems as it would solve, if not more.
** After two series of deconstructing the way the Doctor operates and showing just how hated he's become amongst certain people, the Series 6 finale reveals that millions upon millions of individuals wished to answer River's distress beacon and prevent the Doctor's death in 2011 Lake Silencio. None of those individuals actually end up helping to prevent the Doctor's death (except for the [[spoiler:Teselecta]]), though in fairness that's because [[spoiler:the Doctor already had a plan to get out of it by slipping under the radar]].
** In ''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth'', this is played harrowingly straight, except that it's ''the Doctor'' from ''Series/DoctorWho'' who stays away. After learning that [[spoiler:the government is willing to give up children to the aliens, Gwen posits that the reason the Doctor doesn't do more to help Earth is that sometimes the Doctor is too ''disgusted'' by {{humans|AreTheRealMonsters}}]]. However, this is just Gwen speculating. The Doctor has been known to just not ''know'' every time that Earth is in danger, since he's definitely not omniscient. And there are fixed points in history that he can't prevent from happening however much he'd want to. WordOfGod said that the Doctor would never appear in ''Torchwood'', as ''Torchwood'' is very much not aimed at children and his presence might encourage them to watch it.
** ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' has the time-traveling Doctor pop in occasionally, but for the most part the fate of the Earth (or at least [[AliensOfLondon London]]) appears to be in the hands of a middle-aged woman and some school-aged children. Likewise, while it's established that Sarah Jane DoesntLikeGuns and ''{{Series/Torchwood}}'''s [[DarkerAndEdgier tone]] is the [[LighterAndSofter exact opposite of this show's]], it's still bit glaring that Sarah Jane and Captain Jack Harkness never seem to share notes in crisis situations, even after working together well in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Journey's End]]". However, most of the situations both face develop rapidly, and with Jack's teleporter broken, by the time a team got from Cardiff to London or vice versa (especially given how bad British public transportation is), the world would probably have gone to smithereens already.
%%** Averted with "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens The Pandorica Opens]]". When all of reality is at risk of [[RetGone never having existed,]] every race of baddies are willing to band together to stop the threat, the Daleks included. It didn't help in this case though, since [[spoiler:the problem was the TARDIS, which they intended to solve by locking up the Doctor, when someone else was in control]].
%%** The Doctor clearly does not and cannot know when and how Earth is in danger every time given he is a time traveller who can visit any time and location in the universe and does so largely at random. Furthermore history tends to be in constant flux thanks to the TimeyWimeyBall. In short, if you want the Doctor at a specific time and place to help with a specific threat, you have to have the ability and desire to call him, as Winston Churchill does. There is also the issue of "fixed points" -- historical events that must not be changed, such as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius over Pompeii -- meaning the Doctor may have stayed away on purpose because he knew he could not and ''should not'' stop the event from occurring (the one time he broke down and defied a fixed point to save some people, the consequences were far from pretty).
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[=/=]''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** Buffy is not allowed in Los Angeles. Not because she's too powerful, but because Angel kicked her out after she tried to deal with rogue Slayer Faith herself rather than allow him to try and redeem her in "[[Recap/AngelS01E19Sanctuary Sanctuary]]" (they reconciled in Sunnydale). In "[[Recap/AngelS04E15Orpheus Orpheus]]", Willow visits L.A. when the Fang Gang need a witch to re-restore Angel's soul, then brings Faith with her when she returns to Sunnydale, since the First Evil has it in for Slayers.
** There's also the fact that Buffy can't stay away from Sunnydale for too long (she doesn't go to L.A. after they reconcile), mostly because of all of those demons trying to open the Hellmouth or get one of those [[ArtifactOfDoom Artifacts of Doom]] hidden around the town. If the beginning of Season 6 is any indication, Buffy's presence is the only thing keeping the demons under control.
** Justified when the sun is blotted out by the Beast for several episodes of ''Angel'' Season 4 by the fact that it only affects Los Angeles to start with. It's supposed to eventually spread, but the Beast is killed and the sun restored before that can happen. Not to mention Buffy was busy reacting to the minions of the First Evil in Sunnydale at the same time.
** In ''Angel'' season 5, the lack of help from Willow or any of the others who could've possibly assisted with Fred's demon possession is explained by their refusal to cooperate with Angel due to his decision to work for the resident BigBad, Wolfram & Hart, even if his intentions are to subvert their assets into something good.
** The opposite is in effect, too. Angel turns up again in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]" ready to help fight the First Evil, but Buffy immediately sends him away so he can prepare "a second front" in Los Angeles in case she dies.
** So since Spike has managed to come BackFromTheDead in Season 5 of ''Angel'' after burning up in the ''Buffy'' finale, one would think he would be rushing off to find Buffy. Actually, he thought about it and guessed that doing so would cheapen his HeroicSacrifice and chooses instead to play the hero in LA. He returns to ''Buffy'' in the comics seasons.
* Touched on in the crossover episodes of ''Series/TheFlash2014'' and ''Series/{{Arrow}}''; the Flash's superspeed would make cleaning up a lot of Starling City's issues easier, but Barry doesn't have the tactical awareness that Ollie does; the latter fights the former to a draw with no powers and sticks him with an ambush arrow on two occasions when Barry thinks he's got the upper hand. Star City's villains are usually more violent. Barry disagrees with Oliver's more gray-zone morality when it comes to fighting Starling's darker criminals. "Flash vs. Arrow" makes clear that the CCPD find the Arrow an unwelcome presence due to his vigilante killings in season 1, and Oliver has real trouble facing people with superpowers (not to mention a pissed-off gorilla with PsychicPowers). That said, when Barry has his BigDamnHeroes moment in Season 3 finale, the entire League of Assassins is shown to be hopelessly outclassed by a single speedster, especially since they have no idea he's coming. The trope is averted in major crossovers, such as the "Invasion!" arc, when it's "all hands on deck" in order to stop an AlienInvasion, requiring Team Arrow, Team Flash, the [[Series/LegendsOfTomorrow Legends]] and Series/{{Supergirl|2015}} to work together.

* ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'':
** This is addressed as Kara's desire to strike out on her own as a superhero in the world, so she defends National City while Clark stays in Metropolis. When James Olsen has to call Superman to save Supergirl from dying when attacked by Reactron, Kara and James have an argument about whether or not he should have called Superman at all. At the end of the episode even James admits that he moved to National City to become his own man and not remain "Jimmy" forever. In that episode, Supergirl also notes a practical reason: villains will start to think she's an easy target and plague National City if she needs Superman to help her with every problem. Superman finally makes an appearance when both Kryptonians have to stop a falling space shuttle. Clark then stays in National City for a few days, but it's revealed that he refuses to work with the DEO because they keep kryptonite in storage. Near the end of Season 2, everyone wonders where Superman is, considering that Earth is the middle of an AlienInvasion. [[spoiler:Clark did show up, but he was manipulated by Queen Rhea of Daxam into fighting Kara with silver kryptonite hallucinations that made him see Kara as General Zod, resulting in Kara proving herself to be his equal or better. Clark then comes up with a way for Kara to beat Rhea with a CombatByChampion.]]
** Although Superman ''has'' arrived to help save the day on occasion, his absence during the world-threatening Reign arc of Season 3 is puzzling, given the arc has several episodes in which his presence would not only have saved his cousin from a lot of pain and injury, but would have been a no-brainer, in particular when [[spoiler:Supergirl is rendered comatose after a fight with Reign, technically leaving no one in National City with the same level of power - the fact Superman isn't called in borders on the irresponsible]]. Later, it's mentioned that he's working on the other side of the world, but you'd think he could pop in at SuperSpeed. Similarly, given Supergirl has a device capable of transporting between universes, someone should at least suggest asking the Flash, Steel or any of the other super-powered beings from Earth-1 to return Kara's favor for helping save their Earth several times. [[spoiler:This is ultimately settled in ''Series/Elseworlds2018'', as Clark decides to retire as Superman to marry Lois and prepare for a child on the way]].
** In the ''Series/Elseworlds2018'' crossover, Series/{{Batwoman|2019}} ''really'' doesn't want Oliver or Barry in Gotham, ''especially'' the Green Arrow (there are already enough vigilantes in Gotham). [[LesYay She doesn't mind Kara]], though.

* This is a problem that's frequently glossed over in ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. By the time the Zordon era was over, there were multiple Ranger teams on Earth and the number has only increased as the show has gone on. More to the point, pretty much every Ranger team defeats their enemies by the end of their season. As such, one would think some of these older Rangers might move to whatever city is being attacked in the current season and try and help out. In some cases there are valid excuses. ''Lost Galaxy'' isn't set on Earth, ''SPD'' is set in the future, ''RPM'' is in an alternate universe, not to mention numerous Rangers lost their powers at the end of their season (although by the time of the huge final battle in ''Megaforce'' every past Ranger seems to have been repowered somehow, and post-Zordon teams usually didn't lose theirs). However, there are plenty of still-active Rangers who have no obligation to stay in their original city, yet outside of the occasional team-up the newest team is typically left to deal with the new bad guys on its own.
** Naturally, this is also the case for the franchise ''Power Rangers'' was adapted from: ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. Notably, ''Super Sentai'' has had a history of having a team-up movie for almost every series, but during the series finale battles, no two teams are present together. Of course, ''Super Sentai'' is more ambiguous about whether each series is set in the same universe, outside of the crossovers, compared to ''Power Rangers'' where they definitely are.
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'' also has this problem, but it gets thrown into sharper relief by the crossovers that happen. Every Showa-era series has a point where some (or ''all'') of the past Riders show up and help the current hero fight his enemies. The Heisei era handled this by seemingly putting every series into its own continuity, but the "Phase 2" era (2010 onwards) brings back the old issues with the annual ''Movie Wars'' crossovers. Only rarely does this get addressed, with one example being ''Film/KamenRiderXKamenRiderGhostAndDriveSuperMovieWarGenesis'', where [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Shinnosuke]] (who already has his responsibilities as a police officer) tells [[Series/KamenRiderGhost Takeru]] "I'll leave the Ganma to you." -- [[spoiler:and on top of that the Drive gear got sealed away at the end of the series, meaning he couldn't help even if he wanted]]. Sometimes it's also addressed that the previous Riders are busy with fighting villains ''elsewhere'' in the world other than Japan, in some cases including TheRemnant of their series' monster group, or Foundation X in the "Phase 2" era. There's also some special cases, such as Series/KamenRiderDenO patrolling the time stream or [[spoiler:[[Series/KamenRiderGaim Kouta]] being busy literally being {{God}} on a planet on the other side of the universe and only stopping by to help on occasion]].
** As well as crossovers between the various ''Kamen Rider'' series, the franchise occasionally crosses over with ''Super Sentai''. In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', Kouta urges the [[Series/ResshaSentaiToQger ToQger]] kids not to get involved in the conflict with the Inves, as he claims its not their fight. Likewise, Ticket advises the kids not to aid the Kamen Riders, as Zawame doesn't actually contain any Shadows for them to fight. This doesn't stop them, however. Their involvement is kept to one teamup due to the premise of [=ToQger=]: the train travels all over, and they're off to their next stop after lending a hand in Zawame.

* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' [=/=] ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'': Despite being in the same universe and having CharacterOverlap with villains like Ares and Dahak, the two protagonists only met three times in the period the two shows aired. Justified in that it would be difficult to find anyone quickly in ancient times. In reality, the producers wanted to keep the two shows distinct and limit the number of cameos from the two series. It occasionally creates problems for those not watching both shows, such as Dahak debuting in ''Xena'' but being resolved in ''Hercules'' without any input from the warrior princess.

* ''Podcast/TheThrillingAdventureHour'': Played straight and averted. One of the segments, a superhero show called "The Adventures of Captain Laserbeam", features two heroes, Captain Laserbeam and Phillip Fathom. While Fathom frequently teams up with Captain Laserbeam in his city, Apex City, Captain Laserbeam never joins Fathom in his own adventures in his city, Aquapolis.

* In the second Franchise/{{Superman}} radio series, this was sort of averted; Superman DID stay out of Gotham, but Batman was in that continuity living in Metropolis too. Team-ups with Batman, Robin and Superman were common, mind you.
* Averted for comedy effect in "That Mitchell and Webb Sound" on BBC Radio 4. There's a running gag sketch involving the heroic team of Angel Summoner (Webb) and BMX Bandit (Mitchell). They typically arrive at the scene of some crime/natural disaster/whatever, and BMX Bandit suggests some complex solution usually involving some combination of highly dangerous stunts on his bike. Angel Summoner then just summons a host of angels who fix the entire situation in a matter of a couple of seconds, leaving BMX Bandit nothing much to do.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' would have ended right after the beginning if Elminster, instead of wandering around randomly greeting the main character, decided to end the BigBad conspiracy -- ''but'' he is a Chosen of the deity Mystra, and the gods were forbidden to interfere with the Bhaalspawn (and besides, players wouldn't have had much to do besides raiding xvart villages and fetching golden pantaloons). Thus... "ho there wanderer".[[note]]the source material had a more general explanation: there is a sort of Mutually Assured Destruction-like logic in play, where powerful individuals tend refrain from directly handling affairs like that in favour of keeping an eye on opposing powerful individuals so they don't directly intervene on the other side (and also to be ready to step into situations where they ''have'' to handle it personally).[[/note]] However, Drizzt had no divine obligations and he could have easily disposed of the BigBad, seeing what he accomplishes in his novels. He is a well renowned hero in the Forgotten Realms and he was just roaming south of Baldur's Gate by the time the main character ventured forth for the first time, even meeting him: is it possible that he didn't notice and/or care about the iron ore shortage, the reports of monsters at Nahskel's mines, the unusual bandit activity, the shift of power in the Iron Throne? To the point that a rookie protagonist adventurer solved all of this before him?

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'':
** In 'Silent Nacht', it is mentioned that in cities like Los Angeles where there are multiple superteams, they usually wait until the police call on them (for both legal and PR reasons), and make sure that they don't interfere with another team's takedowns unless invited to. This leads to a scene where one team is watching another getting their butts handed to them on TV, eating popcorn and making snarky comments about their rival fellow heroes.
** It is also mentioned in 'Razzle Dazzle' that the Dark Avenger (a CaptainErsatz combination of the Shadow, Batman, and the Punisher) had a habit of pissing off other costumed heroes by jumping into the middle of another hero's bust, guns blazing. He did this in Chicago one time in the mid-1930s, to the Champion (the world's SupermanSubstitute), who got so angry at the Dark Avenger's gun-happy recklessness that he tried to arrest him.
* Even assuming the wider ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' universe [[BroadStrokes at least resembles]] the ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' universe, [[BigGood Master Chief's absence]] in most of the storylines is justified, since he would have been busy fighting the Covenant during the Blood Gulch Chronicles, and afterwards [[VideoGame/Halo4 he was MIA for several years.]] Project Freelancer, being a rogue military-corporate operation would likely have been out of his and his allies jurisdiction anyways. The given reason the Reds and Blues were used as Sim Troopers in Project Freelancer was also that they [[TooDumbToLive were so stupid that they were more use as training dummies for super-soldiers]] and would have been more a danger to their allies than the Covenant. However, this is played straight during the Schisno Paradox; Sarge (who according to non-canon material, is aware of and admires Chief) tries to assemble a [[BadassCrew team of history's greatest warriors]] with a time machine, but does not get anyone born after the 20th century, resulting in the effort failing miserably.
* Creator/{{Seanbaby}} {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this on his ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' [[http://seanbaby.com/superfriends/supermanb.htm page,]] in which Superman could do ''everything'' if he wanted to. [[ChronicHeroSyndrome Not that he hasn't tried]]. There have been a few stories where Superman tried to save everyone and do everything, usually with AnAesop that he can't do everything alone, or that it's just not worth sacrificing his social life to save a few cats stuck in a tree.

* In ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', Linkara and homeowner Viga is stuck with a ghoul named Moarte, who spends Halloween showcasing the wonders of horror comics, but doesn't show up at all for other events. The 2022 ''Ashock the Fourth Wall'' event reveals that [[spoiler:Moarte is the strongest of Linkara's acquaintances, but in a DealWithTheDevil, he absolutely refuses to get involved in Linkara's "petty squabbles" and "serialized nonsense" and if Linkara breaks this, then he's dead]].

* Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures''. As a HighSchoolAU, despite taking place in New York most of Tony's super-hero counterparts are probably not of age (ComicBook/BlackPanther, in his appearance, was still just a teenager, and Characters/IronFist is mentioned as a local teen martial arts champion), and the adult characters who make appearances are otherwise uninterested or unable to in help Tony out (ComicBook/NickFury and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} view Iron Man as a vigilante threat, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBruceBanner the Hulk]] was in one of his rampaging moods during his appearance, [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] is still apparently frozen, ComicBook/BlackWidow and [[Characters/MarvelComicsClintBarton Hawkeye]] had yet to do their HeelFaceTurn.) It starts to fall apart in the second season where [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] show up, but neither the ComicBook/FantasticFour nor ComicBook/XMen do. [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]] does show up as a teenager and is clearly shown to not yet be a superhero or member of the X-Men. At the end of the episode where she appears, she seems to meet [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]] for the first time, so presumably the team is just now being assembled. Reed Richards is mentioned as a professor, but it is unclear whether he has powers. Though WordOfGod states that [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] at least would have shown up [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had the series been given a third season]].
* [[WesternAnimation/IronManTheAnimatedSeries The 90s Iron Man animated series]] also played this straight, with only ''one'' guest appearance, that being The Hulk (another episode briefly mentioned Captain America). It makes a little bit of sense most of the time, as IM/Tony is usually on the West Coast and, after the {{Retool}}, gets all lone wolf and repeatedly encounters issues from not keeping his friends and allies in the loop on his plans and generally pushing them away when they're trying to help him (resulting in Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Century opting to leave). That said, when an anti-technology fog affects New York City in the season 2 finale, not one hero is seen to help Tony, and they end up having to recruit Hawkeye for help. This despite Spider-Man, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four all being based there and logically being able to help (though it's possible they were also hamstrung by the fog and/or were assisting people off-screen).
** That being said, the same character model for Iron Man from season 2 of his own show was used for a couple of [[ContinuityCameo quick cameos]] as a part of the Avengers (also including Captain America) in a couple of season 2 ''[[WesternAnimation/FantasticFourTheAnimatedSeries Fantastic Four]]'' episodes, which also established there were in fact other superheroes -- [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]], ComicBook/GhostRider -- operating, so you could chalk up the lack of appearances of other heroes in IM's show to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers rights issues]] (which resulted in Hawkeye replacing US Agent in the Force Works team, and replacing Captain America in the "Armor Wars" two-parter).
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Teen Titans|2003}}'':
** The Titans never even mention their adult counterparts, at least not by name. Even when the fate of the world is at stake, and every teen-aged hero on Earth has been captured except for half-a-dozen C-list Titans, no one thinks to let Superman know what's happening. This despite the presence of characters like Robin, Aqualad and Speedy.
** The League wasn't even mentioned when Trigon made a successful planet-side takeover. Neither were the Titans East. There's DieOrFly, and then there's this. This specific case may be justified by those who read the source story, showing the other superheroes were petrified when Trigon's dimension began absorbing Earth.
** The ComicBook/DoomPatrol are the only "adult" superheroes that actually appear, and even then its only for two episodes and afterwards they are quickly forgotten and never mentioned again. The only reason they appeared at all was to setup the main antagonists of the final season, "The Brotherhood of Evil". The only other hero to appear is Batman but only in a small number of background references that only those familiar with his mythos would really notice.
*** The reason for all of this is because at the time, [=DC=] Comics and Warner Bros. Animation had a policy of "[[ExiledFromContinuity Character Embargos]]". A character couldn't appear in one show if another show already had them in a major role. While Teen Titans was running, for example, it had dibs on Robin, so Robin couldn't appear in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' or ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'', and no Batman characters could appear on ''Justice League'', since ''The Batman'' had dibs on ''them''. Ironically, this ban included Characters/{{Harley Quinn|TheCharacter}}, a character who was ''created for'' one of the shows that ''Justice League'' was a continuation of. Batman was grandfathered into ''Justice League'' by virtue of being a main and popular character, but the only other exceptions were Speedy's guest appearance in ''Justice League'', which occurred after ''Teen Titans'' had aired all their episodes but still had reruns, and technically, Kid Flash's appearances in ''Teen Titans'', as both he and ''Justice League''[='s=] Flash were obviously [[Characters/TheFlashWallyWest Wally West]], but under different identities allowing the writers to "[[LoopholeAbuse Exploit a Loophole]]". Both ''Justice League''[='s=] Speedy and ''Teen Titans''[='s=] Kid Flash were clearly based on the other show's version of the character, going so far as to use the same voice actors. [[TheCameo Batman would later cameo]] in the sequel comic ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'', [[SoProudOfYou checking up on Robin from afar]].
** Conversely, the comedic SpinOff ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' mentions and showcases many adult superheroes regularly. Early seasons had Batman making background cameos, several appearances of Aquaman, and an episode where, sick of Beast Boy slacking off, the team holds auditions for other Animal-Themed superheroes to replace him, such as ComicBook/{{Vixen}}. Later seasons and [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoToTheMovies the movie]] would go on to have members of the Justice League in speaking roles and involved with the plot.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'':
** In the first episode of ''Unlimited'', Green Arrow lampshades this trope, getting angry when Green Lantern takes down some criminals that he was fighting and calling him a big name hero who has now decided that fighting street crime is his thing.
** While this was averted in the series finale and justified against Brainthor, the series premiere had a team of seven taking on a planetary invasion. At least with the Thanagarian invasion, future ''Unlimited'' league members like Vigilante were stated to be fighting offscreen or imprisoned because of it.
** Lampshaded and justified in the episode "In Blackest Night", to explain why none of the Trinity are helping out today:
--->'''Martian Manhunter:''' Wonder Woman is on another case, Superman's dealing with an earthquake and Batman would only say that he's "busy".

** A subtle episode that was Flash-centric shows that Flash deals with ''his'' supervillains differently - some of them act like Flash is their ''counselor''. In short, only Flash can deal with the villains in Keystone.
--->'''Flash:''' ''[admonishingly] James'', you're off your meds, aren't you?\\

* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'':
** In "Knight Time", this is averted to interesting effect when Superman DOES go into Gotham to investigate Batman's disappearance with Robin's help (and disguised as Batman). One priceless scene in the episode is "Batman" able to overcome the best efforts of Bane, Mad Hatter and Riddler with brute force.
--->'''Mad Hatter:''' ''[shocked at how "Batman" survives a stone pillar falling on top of him, and then kicks it off of him with two feet]'' That's not possible.\\
'''Robin:''' He's been working out.
** Earlier, in the three-part episode "World's Finest", when Superman and Batman first met, [[TeethClenchedTeamwork they clearly did not trust one another]] (the mutual discovery of each other's secret identity was implied to be the one thing preventing the other from turning them in). From the pilot episode, "The Last Son Of Krypton", a brief mention of the "nut from Gotham City" made it clear that Batman was not held in much high regard as a hero outside of Gotham.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries The New Batman Adventures]]'':
** The episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE20GirlsNightOut Girls' Night Out]]" subverts it when Livewire escapes to Gotham (and runs into [[Characters/DCAUHarleyQuinn Harley Quinn]] and [[Characters/DCAUPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]]). In response, Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} must team up with Characters/{{Batgirl}} to stop the trio.
** Played straight with a justification in "Love is a Croc", in which one of the newspapers describing the duo's crime spree includes a [[FreezeFrameBonus side-story headline]] "Superman Has Hands Full".
* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', where other heroes often pop up to help the team. The GrandFinale has the Fantastic Four, [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man]], [[Characters/IronManHeroes War Machine]], ComicBook/BlackWidow, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], [[Characters/CaptainAmericaHeroes The Falcon]], Characters/LukeCage, Characters/IronFist, and other New York-based heroes aiding the Avengers in the final battle against [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]].
* Similarly, ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012'' often has Spidey teaming up with any one of the numerous superheroes who live in New York City. This is largely due to Spider-Man often facing villains from [[RoguesGalleryTransplant other heroes' rogues galleries]].
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Night of the Batmen!" ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}, [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]], ComicBook/GreenArrow, and ComicBook/PlasticMan regularly team-up with Batman during the course of the series, but run into numerous obstacles when they try to fight crime in Gotham (partly because they are in disguise to fill in for an injured Batman, trying to do things his way rather than play to their own strengths). Otherwise, averting this is the hook of the series. Batman fights villains, and eagerly accepts the help of any hero he comes across, or otherwise calls in his buddies to assist.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Young Justice|2010}}'':
** Averted where the Justice League has evolved into an international organization so effective that the villains had to form a Secret Society called "The Light" in response, because individually they were no match for the heroes. At the start of the show, the League's roster is twice as large as it normally is in the comics, and it gets even bigger as time goes on. Team-ups if anything appear to have become the norm.
** Apparently played straight earlier in their careers. WordOfGod stated that before the League was formed, there was one team-up between Batman and Superman and one between ComicBook/TheFlash and ComicBook/GreenLantern, and that was it.
** Season 2 had Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and others on an intergalactic trial, leaving just the B-listers and the Team to deal with a worldwide threat.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Save Summer'' features the entire world being put in peril of a new ice age. Earlier, [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbMissionMarvel the Avengers]] appeared in the show showing they are part of a SharedUniverse (though that episode's canonicity is debatable). This was an incident that involved the entire world that everyone knew about so they couldn't be accused of staying out of Danville.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': On one hand, Rick seems to have a solution to almost everything, including a shapeshifter problem that the local superheroes blew up a planet to desperately solve themselves. On the other, tentacled, Davey-Crockett wielding hand, Rick has caused entire universes of death and chaos. It doesn't help that his intelligence seems to be powered by sheer sadism.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015'' is explicitly a sequel-series to ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', but when Bumblebee's trapped on Earth with only a RagtagBunchOfMisfits to capture dozens of Decepticon fugitives while [[{{Masquerade}} staying out of the public eye,]] he never considers calling up Agent Fowler to get government assistance, or any of the other human members of Team Prime, who'd proven themselves loyal and valuable more than once.
* ''WesternAnimation/GhostForce'' hits this in a two-fold way. While it shares a universe with ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', it is set in New York while Ladybug, Cat Noir and friends are in Paris. ''However'', it is also established in the United Heroez species that New York is crawling with superheroes ranging from the local Superman and Batman expies to a guy with power-granting hot dogs, making it quite odd to not have them showing up to deal with the Ghost Force's ghost problems.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek''

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' runs into this rather frequently as well. There are other advanced species besides the Doctor who could be of help to Earth, but this seems to have happened once in the franchise's [[LongRunner over-60-year-long history.]]

** This is addressed as Kara's desire to strike out on her own as a superhero in the world, so she defends National City while Clark stays in Metropolis. When James Olsen has to call Superman to save Supergirl from dying when attacked by Reactron, Kara and James have an argument about whether or not he should have called Superman at all. At the end of the episode even James admits that he moved to National City to become his own man and not remain "Jimmy" forever. In that episode, Supergirl also notes a practical reason: villains will start to think she's an easy target and plague National City if she needs Superman to help her with every problem. Superman finally makes an appearance when both Kryptonians have to stop a falling space shuttle. Clark then stays in National City for a few days, but it's revealed that he refuses to work with the DEO because they keep kryptonite in storage. Near the end of Season 2, everyone wonders where Superman is, considering that Earth is the middle of an AlienInvasion. [[spoiler:Clark did show up, but he was manipulated by Queen Rhea of Daxam into fighting Kara with silver kryptonite hallucinations that made him see Kara as General Zod, resulting in Kara proving herself to be his equal or better. Clark then comes up with a way for Kara to beat Rhea with a CombatByChampion]].

** The Justice League is absent in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' because after your first bomb encounter, Scarecrow and the Knight's threat is broadcast worldwide to prevent outside involvement lest there be a big crater where Gotham used to be. A {{mook|s}} comments that he's worried about "[[ComicBook/{{Superman}} that freak from Metropolis]]" intervening, so it's probably due to the rapid developments that the other heroes don't get involved -- it's all over before other heroes learn of the event and ''can'' react.

** In ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000'', there are appearances by several [[BigApplesauce NYC-based]] heroes in the {{cutscene}}s to express their sympathy at his frame-up but who are of no help at all. [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]] leaves to "spread the word" about his innocence right before the NYPD swoops down to arrest the wallcrawler. Spidey naturally refuses ComicBook/ThePunisher's offer of help knowing his penchant for bloody murder. Also, while you can visit the Baxter Building, Spidey will mention that the ComicBook/FantasticFour aren't home at the moment.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/SpiderManTheVideoGame'', which featured [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]], ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} and the Characters/{{Black Cat|MarvelComics}} as the other three playable characters.

* Creator/{{Seanbaby}} {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this on his ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' [[http://seanbaby.com/superfriends/supermanb.htm page,]] in which Superman could do ''everything'' if he wanted to. Not that he hasn't tried. There have been a few stories where Superman tried to save everyone and do everything, usually with AnAesop that he can't do everything alone, or that it's just not worth sacrificing his social life to save a few cats stuck in a tree.

* Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures''. As a HighSchoolAU, despite taking place in New York most of Tony's super-hero counterparts are probably not of age (ComicBook/BlackPanther, in his appearance, was still just a teenager, and Characters/IronFist is mentioned as a local teen martial arts champion), and the adult characters who make appearances are otherwise uninterested or unable to in help Tony out (ComicBook/NickFury and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} view Iron Man as a vigilante threat, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBruceBanner the Hulk]] was in one of his rampaging moods during his appearance, [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] is still apparently frozen, ComicBook/BlackWidow and ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} had yet to do their HeelFaceTurn.) It starts to fall apart in the second season where [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] show up, but neither the ComicBook/FantasticFour nor ComicBook/XMen do. [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]] does show up as a teenager and is clearly shown to not yet be a superhero or member of the X-Men. At the end of the episode where she appears, she seems to meet [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]] for the first time, so presumably the team is just now being assembled. Reed Richards is mentioned as a professor, but it is unclear whether he has powers. Though WordOfGod states that [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] at least would have shown up [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had the series been given a third season]].

** That being said, the same character model for Iron Man from season 2 of his own show was used for a couple of [[ContinuityCameo quick cameos]] as a part of the Avengers (also including Captain America) in a couple of season 2 ''[[WesternAnimation/FantasticFourTheAnimatedSeries Fantastic Four]]'' episodes, which also established there were in fact other superheroes -- ComicBook/TheMightyThor, ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}, ComicBook/GhostRider -- operating, so you could chalk up the lack of appearances of other heroes in IM's show to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers rights issues]] (which resulted in Hawkeye replacing US Agent in the Force Works team, and replacing Captain America in the "Armor Wars" two-parter).

** Superman shows up later anyway because "It was just a 4.0."

** The episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE20GirlsNightOut Girls' Night Out]]" subverts it when Livewire escapes to Gotham (and runs into Characters/{{Harley Quinn|TheCharacter}} and [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]]). In response, Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} must team up with Characters/{{Batgirl}} to stop the trio.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallSuperSuperHero'', Goku and Vegeta are off on Beerus' Planet, training, the idea being that there's nothing big happening (in the manga, this is changed to training to be able to ⁷defeat Black Frieza). However, that changes when [[spoiler:Cell Max is awakened and unleashed]]. Bulma tries to call them back, but [[spoiler:all the junk food around Whis' staff blocks off communication. Thankfully, Gohan unleashes a brand new SuperForm that takes care of the problem, but Whis is left wondering just what exactly they could have needed in the first place]].

[[SuperWeight It's simply a fact that some characters are more powerful than others]]. This trope comes into play when two or more characters who are on the same team have blatantly different levels of power and live in the [[SharedUniverse same universe]], but [[HoldingBackThePhlebotinum the stronger of them always stays out of anything the weaker character(s) have trouble with]]. This is because their powers [[StoryBreakerPower would instantly solve the problems of the weaker hero(es)]], thus [[RuleOfDrama failing to preserve drama]] and [[AnthropicPrinciple cutting the plot short]].

** Enforced and justified in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' by Giorno Giovanna. After their fight against Black Sabbath and discovering he had a Stand Arrow, Koichi at first wanted to inform Jotaro about this. Giorno convinces Koichi to leave it to him, since a search would put Passione's boss into hiding, making it harder for Giorno to find him. [[spoiler:The only hero from a previous arc that comes to aid Bucciarati's team is Polnareff, and he was investigating Diavlo years before they were]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' runs into this rather frequently as well. There are other advanced species besides the Doctor who could be of help to Earth, but this seems to have happened once in the 50-year history.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', where other heroes often pop up to help the team. The GrandFinale has the Fantastic Four, [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Spider-Man]], [[Characters/IronManHeroes War Machine]], ComicBook/BlackWidow, [[Characters/MarvelComicsBuckyBarnes Winter Soldier]], [[Characters/CaptainAmericaHeroes The Falcon]], Characters/LukeCage, Characters/IronFist, and other New York-based heroes aiding the Avengers in the final battle against [[Characters/MarvelComicsGalactus Galactus]].

* ''WesternAnimation/GhostForce'' hits this in a two-fold way. While it shares a universe with ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', it is set in New York while Ladybug, Cat Noir and friends are in Paris. ''However'', it is also established in the United Heroez species that New York is crawling with superheroes ranging from the local Superman and Batman expies to a guy with power granting hot dogs, making it quite odd to not have them showing up to deal with the Ghost Force's ghost problems.

** Naturally, this is also the case for the franchise ''Power Rangers'' was adapted from: ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. Notably, ''Super Sentai'' has had a history for having a team-up movie for almost every series, but during the series finale battles, no two teams are present together. Of course, ''Super Sentai'' is more ambiguous about whether each series is set in the same universe, outside of the crossovers, compared to ''Power Rangers'' where they definitely are.

** Naturally, this is also the case for the franchise ''Power Rangers'' was adapted from: ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. Notably, ''Super Sentai'' has had a history for having a team-up movie for almost every series, but during the season finale battles, no two teams are present together. Of course, ''Super Sentai'' is more ambiguous about whether each series is set in the same universe, outside of the crossovers, compared to ''Power Rangers'' where they definitely are.

** Naturally, this is also the case for the franchise ''Power Rangers'' was adapted from: ''Franchise/SuperSentai''. Notably, ''Super Sentai'' has had a history for having a team-up movie for almost every series, but during the final battles, no two teams are present together. Of course, ''Super Sentai'' is more ambiguous about whether each series is set in the same universe, outside of the crossovers, compared to ''Power Rangers'' where they definitely are.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' would have ended right after the beginning if Elminster, instead of wandering around randomly greeting the main character, decided to end the BigBad conspiracy. BUT, he is a Chosen of the deity Mystra, and the gods were forbidden to interfere with the Bhaalspawn (and besides, players wouldn't have had much to do besides raiding xvart villages and fetching golden pantaloons). Thus... "ho there wanderer"[[note]]the source material had a more general explanation: there is a sort of Mutually Assured Destruction-like logic in play, where powerful individuals tend refrain from directly handling affairs like that in favour of keeping an eye on opposing powerful individuals so they don't directly intervene on the other side (and also to be ready to step into situations where they ''have'' to handle it personally).[[/note]].
** But Drizzt had no divine obligations and he could have easily disposed of the BigBad, seeing what he accomplishes in his novels. He is a well renowned hero in the Forgotten Realms and he was just roaming south of Baldur's Gate by the time the main character ventured forth for the first time, even meeting him: is it possible that he didn't notice and/or care about the iron ore shortage, the reports of monsters at Nahskel's mines, the unusual bandit activity, the shift of power in the Iron Throne? To the point that a rookie protagonist adventurer solved all of this before him?

** Averted in his first UsefulNotes/GameBoy game, which featured the ComicBook/XMen.

* Rainbow of the ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' games will occasionally perform stealth missions, even though ''VideoGame/SplinterCell''[==]'s Third Echelon would be much better suited. Rainbow is a secret international counter-terrorist unit that answers to multiple governments [[note]] in the books, it was primarily NATO and some allies that ran it, though their first deployment was to Switzerland. Also, they usually acted more like a SWAT team, doing recon, planning, then taking the bad guys down in a swift assault that usually lasted a few seconds. They never really acted like they do in the newer games, with a few exceptions.[[/note]]. Third Echelon is an NSA black-ops program. The idea is that various governments can call Rainbow in to respond to terror attacks, while Third Echelon only answers to and works for the US government, and usually takes a more proactive approach.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'': All of these partially justify this by having the entire story take place over a single night.
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' invokes it, by having the Joker specifically announce that if he sees anyone in a cape ''besides'' Batman on the grounds, he's going to detonate the bombs he has scattered around the city.
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', Robin makes a brief appearance, but by this time [[spoiler:it is revealed Joker infected thousands of people with his tainted blood]] and Batman instructs him to return to Gotham because he knows that Robin will soon be needed there. So Gotham is saved by Batman and Characters/{{Catwoman|SelinaKyle}} despite the fact that the Justice League would have been all over it even without Bruce calling for help at the start of act 5, though this could be explained as the fact that Batman shut it down not long after it started. Also in a DLC it is revealed that Robin was behind the scenes stopping Black Mask.
** Even other Bat-Family members are neglected. Batwoman, Huntress, and ComicBook/TheCreeper are all established to exist by the time of ''Arkham Knight'', but never appear to help. Well, Jack Ryder does appear, but [[ForgotAboutHisPowers it never occurs to him or Batman to turn into the Creeper.]]
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', Batman works alone and doesn't believe he needs helps fighting crime. Giving Batman CharacterDevelopment about how he can't face his war alone and needs to make allies is part of the plot.
** The Justice League is absent in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' because after your first bomb encounter, Scarecrow and the Knight's threat is broadcast worldwide to prevent outside involvement lest there be a big crater where Gotham used to be. A mook comments that he's worried about "[[Characters/SupermanTheCharacter that freak from Metropolis]]" intervening, so it's probably due to the rapid developments that the other heroes don't get involved - it's all over before other heroes learn of the event and ''can'' react.
* ''VideoGame/GothamKnights2022'': While the trope is enforced, it's not explained in any way[[note]]with a minor exception for Superman himself -- he ''is'' directly helping out… by covering for Nightwing in Blüdhaven[[/note]], despite the game taking place over several weeks. There are numerous references to the Justice League, Outsiders, and Titans, which makes the absence of these groups much more jarring.
* The VideoGame/{{LEGO adaptation game}}s break this trend with Batman: while the first ''VideoGame/LegoBatman'' played this trope straight by featuring only Gotham characters, the sequel, the aptly titled ''LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes'' makes it quite clear it averts the trope by having, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well]], the rest of the DCU joining in. And the game actually {{lampshade|Hanging}}s the entire concept by having Superman just casually drop by and save the day, pissing off Batman greatly and telling Robin don't expect Superman to swoop in and save the day every time. When [[spoiler:[[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] and [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] invade the Batcave]], Batman begrudgingly lets Robin call out to Superman, but when he doesn't immediately show up, Batman goes to tell him IToldYouSo, but ends up being saved at the last minute. At the end of the game, [[spoiler:the entire ComicBook/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} shows up to save the day, making Batman realize that sometimes, outside help IS needed]].
* Averted in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs''. [[ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs The prequel comic]] starts with Superman and Batman talking in Metropolis. Later, [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] causes trouble in Metropolis and the Justice League tries to deal with him. They fail, and his plan to kill [[Characters/SupermanJimmyOlsen Jimmy Olsen]], [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] and ultimately all of Metropolis goes off without a hitch. This leads to the {{dystopia}} years later in the main game, where Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} has taken over the world KnightTemplar style along with other {{fallen hero}}es and Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}} leads other heroes in the LaResistance against Superman's forces.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', it is shown that Mickey Mouse, undoubtedly Riku and Diz's strongest ally, really was spending the entire game simply spying on the Organization and does not contribute to Sora's revival in ''II'' in any significant way. This is the only game where Mickey plays no real role in fighting the bad guys, as he has other irrelevant missions to do, and it's implied he chose this role due to Riku and DIZ specifically telling him they got it, as he isn't even aware of the problems that haunted much of the game. Story wise, it's justified as Riku was said to have made Mickey promise to look after Sora and not worry about him, and in a literal sense, it's also to prevent him from defeating Roxas by himself, which would have prevented Riku's transformation.
* An interesting variation. In a NES video game starring ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'', Fred and the others travel to the future in search of their pets and run into [[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons George Jetson]]. Despite being ''his'' time frame, he tells Fred he can't help out because Spacely Sprockets is in the middle of their own crisis that he has to fix himself.
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, the Fighters Guild, an organization of "[[HiredGuns warriors-for-hire]]" that operates throughout most of Tamriel, does not have a presence in Skyrim. Instead, Skyrim is served in a similar capacity by the Companions, a group who traces their origins back to the original [[BadassArmy 500 Companions]] of [[FounderOfTheKingdom Ysgramor]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}''. A huge mish-mash of tropes includes a sci-fi organization with teleporters and rayguns chasing down Osama Bin Laden. Or so they thought. Their hearts were in the right place. 'Osama' didn't even have one.

* Also justified to a considerable extent in the Earth-2706 verse, the setting of ''[[Fanfic/UltimateSleepwalker Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'' and its companion series ''[[Fanfic/UltimateSpiderWoman Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]''. Unlike Earth-616, the main setting of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, superheroes like the ComicBook/XMen, ComicBook/TheAvengers, ComicBook/IronMan, [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]] and ComicBook/DoctorStrange are '''not''' based in New York City and are not usually available to help the street-level heroes out. Even the ComicBook/FantasticFour aren't even in New York half the time. As a result, Sleepwalker, Spider-Woman and every other hero in New York has their hands full with their own individual {{Rogues Galler|y}}ies. Except for the rare occasion when they can team up due to responding to the same emergency, the heroes simply can't help each other out even if they might like to.

** In ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000'', there are appearances by several [[BigApplesauce NYC-based]] heroes in the {{cutscene}}s to express their sympathy at his frame-up but who are of no help at all. Characters/{{Daredevil|MattMurdock}} leaves to "spread the word" about his innocence right before the NYPD swoops down to arrest the wallcrawler. Spidey naturally refuses ComicBook/ThePunisher's offer of help knowing his penchant for bloody murder. Also, while you can visit the Baxter Building, Spidey will mention that the ComicBook/FantasticFour aren't home at the moment.

** Averted in ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndVenomMaximumCarnage'' and ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndVenomSeparationAnxiety'', as ComicBook/{{Venom}} was an optional playable character while several hero icons popped up throughout both games, summoning characters like [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]], [[ComicBook/NewWarriors Firestar]], Characters/{{Daredevil|MattMurdock}} and more in order to help the player.

* Played straight in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures''. As a HighSchoolAU, despite taking place in New York most of Tony's super-hero counterparts are probably not of age (ComicBook/BlackPanther, in his appearance, was still just a teenager, and Characters/IronFist is mentioned as a local teen martial arts champion), and the adult characters who make appearances are otherwise uninterested or unable to in help Tony out (ComicBook/NickFury and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} view Iron Man as a vigilante threat, the Characters/{{Incredible Hulk|BruceBanner}} was in one of his rampaging moods during his appearance, [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] is still apparently frozen, ComicBook/BlackWidow and ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} had yet to do their HeelFaceTurn.) It starts to fall apart in the second season where [[Characters/MarvelComicsDoctorDoom Doctor Doom]] and Characters/{{Ma|rvelComicsMagneto}}gneto show up, but neither the ComicBook/FantasticFour nor ComicBook/XMen do. [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]] does show up as a teenager and is clearly shown to not yet be a superhero or member of the X-Men. At the end of the episode where she appears, she seems to meet [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Professor X]] for the first time, so presumably the team is just now being assembled. Reed Richards is mentioned as a professor, but it is unclear whether he has powers. Though WordOfGod states that Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}} at least would have shown up [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had the series been given a third season]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' was very specifically designed to avoid this trope. Aside from being LighterAndSofter (and funnier) in general, the series takes place in ''Super Hero City'' where all the Earth-based Marvel heroes live (in fact, only a handful of people shown are NOT heroes.) The city is separated from Villainville by a giant wall. All the villains live there. Even though the series mainly focuses on the "Super Hero Squad" composed of ComicBook/IronMan, Falcon ([[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Spider-Man]] [[ExiledFromContinuity couldn't be included due to licensing issues with Sony Pictures]]), Characters/SilverSurfer, [[CanonImmigrant Reptil]], [[Characters/TheMightyThorThorOdinson Thor]], Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}}, the Characters/{{Incredible Hulk|BruceBanner}}, and later the Characters/ScarletWitch, many episodes had other heroes join in just because they were literally in the neighborhood. One episode involved the Squadies trying to recover the show's MacGuffin from a BrattyHalfPint named [[MeaningfulName Brynnie Bratton]]. Eventually, she ends up being passed around like a football by random heroes and villains alike such as [[Characters/XMen70sMembers Colossus]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Ms. Marvel]], [[Characters/JuggernautMarvelComics Juggernaut]], various members of the Avengers, the Wrecking Crew, the ComicBook/FantasticFour, Dr. Doom, Abomination, [[Characters/MarvelComicsAIM M.O.D.O.K.]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsSabretooth Sabretooth]], and numerous others along with the Squadies themselves all trying to stop the other side just to get the tiara she's wearing. By the end of the first season, most of these same heroes did whatever they could to stop Galactus from going on an eating binge.

** It is also mentioned in 'Razzlr Dazzle' that the Dark Avenger (a CaptainErsatz combination of the Shadow, Batman, and the Punisher) had a habit of pissing off other costumed heroes by jumping into the middle of another hero's bust, guns blazing. He did this in Chicago one time in the mid-1930s, to the Champion (the world's Superman equivalent), who got so angry at the Dark Avenger's gun-happy recklessness that he tried to arrest him.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': A number of fans have questioned why the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Enterprise]]'', the flagship of the fleet and a powerful warship crewed with Starfleet's best and brightest, never showed up to help fight off the Dominion, the greatest threat against the Federation since the Borg, especially given that this meant that the ''TNG'' films being released concurrently needed to find a new [[HandWave excuse]] to get Worf back aboard the ''Enterprise'' each movie. The [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian]] answer is that they ''did'' help fight off the Dominion, but were dispatched to put out fires and resolve crises better suited to [[JackOfAllTrades a single, very versatile ship]] rather than put on the front lines with the large fleets where one battleship more or less wouldn't make much difference, which [[ContrivedCoincidence just happens to mean]] that they never spent much time around the titular space station. The Doylist explanation, of course, is that more crossovers would have meant spending a lot of the budget paying some very expensive guest stars and could have lead to the ''Enterprise'' crew overshadowing the cast of ''[=DS9=]''. ExpandedUniverse books that cover the ''TNG'' crew during the Dominion War timeframe simply have them [[HeroOfAnotherStory fighting elsewhere]]. This is after all the interstellar equivalent to World War II, and was fought on multiple fronts.

* In a similar vein as in ''[=DS9=]'', in ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', this trope is discussed as to why the original ''Enterprise'' hadn't shown up during the Federation/Klingon War. After learning of Section 31 and how its base is set up, Captain Pike accuses Admiral Cornwell of keeping the ''Enterprise'' away so someone like him wouldn't point out their morally dubious decisions going against the ideals of Starfleet. Cornwell counters that they did so so that Starfleet's finest -- and their ideals -- would survive should the Federation lose.

* Invoked in the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''/''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' crossover Fanfic/IsItStrongerToBreak''. While there was an attempt to contact the Justice League early on, the idea of dealing with an akumatized superhero quickly shut down any further attempts at seeking outside assistance. The mayor even went as far to get a magical information barrier created to prevent any knowledge of the situation from spreading outside of Paris. This doesn’t just extend to information, as when the Bat-Family try to Zeta tube to Paris, they discover it simply won’t work. Subverted when Marinette enlists the Bat-Family’s help in tracking down Hawkmoth’s civilian identity.

* Invoked in the ' 'Franchise/{{Batman}}''/''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' crossover Fanfic/IsItStrongerToBreak''. While there was an attempt to contact the Justice League early on, the idea of dealing with an akumatized superhero quickly shut down any further attempts at seeking outside assistance. The mayor even went as far to get a magical information barrier created to prevent any knowledge of the situation from spreading outside of Paris. This doesn’t just extend to information, as when the Bat-Family try to Zeta tube to Paris, they discover it simply won’t work. Subverted when Marinette enlists the Bat-Family’s help in tracking down Hawkmoth’s civilian identity.

** Averted in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', with Jotaro arriving at Morioh to not only tell Josuke about his heritage but also to investigate the use of a Stand Arrow and the criminal Stand users in the city. Zigzagged with Joseph, who was initially invited to help locate the Stand User Akira Otoishi, but afterwards remains out of the major conflict later in this part. Justified between his old age making him unable to fight and his focus on raising the invisible baby.