History Main / TwoLinesNoWaiting

* ''Webcomic/RumorsOfWar'' begins its first StoryArc with the cast assembling, then follows two characters as they go about separate, unrelated activities. The first is an information-gathering trip that gets [[MysteryMagnet hijacked by a mystery]] and the other is a [[JustForFun/HowToGatherCharacters recruitment plot]] in the style of a ShortCon.

** In some commentaries and interviews on ''Scrubs'' DVD sets, it is mentioned that Creator/BillLawrence's parents found it hard to keep up with the multiple storylines. Sucks to be old, I guess.

** In some commentaries and interviews on ''Scrubs'' DVD sets, it is mentioned that Bill Lawrence's parents found it hard to keep up with the multiple storylines. Sucks to be old, I guess.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh'':
** An episode from early season 2 goes through this in the form of ADayInTheLimelight episode. The A Story focuses on [[TheRival Kaiba]] learning about his and Yugi's collective pasts in Ancient Egypt, while the B story focuses on [[BreakTheCutie Yugi lamenting about his near-death experience in the previous episode, fearing that he would lose his other self forever]] [[{{Bowdlerise}} (or in the dub, feeling anxious about facing Marik)]].
** The rest of Season 2 has the A Story being Yugi facing the Rare Hunters and uncovering Marik's plan, while the B Story focuses on Jonouchi coming into his own as a duelist without Yugi's help. The two plots converge when Marik has Jonouchi kidnapped and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy mind-controlled]] to duel Yugi.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has an odd variation of this. It started as one plot, but when Sasuke [[FaceHeelTurn jumps ship]], the plot diverges into two main streams (with a [[ThirdLineSomeWaiting third one]] that's mostly disconnected until recently when they've decided to taper back into one.
* ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' switches rapidly between two interplanetary superpowers and how individuals from both interact and how those interactions influence other interactions and so on.
* The first half of ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'' deftly juggled three plot threads at once, varying the focus each one received. The first introduced was the search for the Omega Lock on Earth. After a few episodes, they discovered the location of the first [[PlotCoupon Cyber Planet Key]] on Velocitron, which led to a secondary thread about Hot Shot and Red Alert competing in a series of races to try and win it. Some time later, a third thread was introduced when the second Key was traced to Jungle Planet, and Overhaul was sent to retrieve it from Scourge. Meanwhile, the Omega Lock was found, the race was won, and finally Scourge defeated, leading up to the more linear but still exciting second half of the series.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** The novel has Touma, Accelerator, and Shiage having their own crazy adventures in Academy City and later Russia. Volume 1 of "New Testament" is the first time all three of them meet at the same time.
** Volume 5 of has its first half being about Accelerator meeting and later saving Last Order, at the cost of most of his own power, and the other half being about Touma facing two different Magic side villains in one day, while also trying to finish his homework in time. Volumes 17-19 also does the same, With 17 and 18 being about Touma in Great Britain and 19 being about Accelerator and Hamazura Shiage. And then there are Volumes 20-22, which cover the last day of World War III, with the focus being split between Touma, Shiage and Accelerator.
* ''Franchise/DotHack''. In ''[[Anime/DotHackSign SIGN]]'', there are a few characters who genuinely stick to a certain group. Sora and BT, Subaru and Silver Knight, and Mimiru and Bear (and later Tsukasa). The episode will shift focus between these groups, with some of the less trustworthy characters linking the stories.
* In ''LightNovel/DotHackAIBuster'', the depiction of the infamous "One Sin" event that keeps getting referenced everywhere else in the series is the subplot.
* The plot in ''LightNovel/LogHorizon'' eventually split into two stories, with the "A Story" focusing mainly on Shiroe and his dealings with the macro aspects of the setting and the "B Story" focusing on the beginner players and the micro aspects of the setting.
* The fourth and fifth episodes of ''Manga/LaidBackCamp'' (corresponding with chapters six to eight of the manga) sees Rin and the Outdoors Activity Club camping at different locations. They keep in touch by means of text messages and share their experiences with one another.
* For a good chunk of the series, ''Anime/{{Madlax}}'''s journey through the war in the Southeast-Asian (fictional) country of Gazth-Sonika (and later, bonding with Vanessa) is depicted as its own separate story, alternating with the other protagonist Margaret, accompanied by her maid Eleanor, in her search through the European (also fictional) country of Nafrece for her father and the meaning behind a strange book she has. Connections between the two different protagonists, countries, and plot lines start appearing as the show goes on, but it's not until the ''eighteenth and nineteenth episodes'' (in a 26 episode series) that the four characters finally meet each other and the two plots truly become one. [[spoiler:And then TheReveal is that the two protagonists are a LiteralSplitPersonality.]]
* Often done in ''Anime/LupinIII''. While a handful of TV episodes across all six series get these plots, the majority go to the [[Anime/LupinIIIYearlySpecials TV movies]] due to their longer running times, where Lupin will be involved with one main heist while another of the main characters will be involved in a secondary B-plot that ultimately coincides with his plans. It's often Fujiko being involved in a scheme of her own, but secondary plots involving figures from Jigen's hitman past, Goemon honing his ImplausibleFencingPowers, or Inspector Zenigata attempting to catch Lupin for good are also common.

** The Kurt Austin series of the Clive Cussler books do this. Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are plot A, Paul Trout and his wife Gamay Morgan-Trout are Plot B. Then because of various reasons there will be parts where Austin will work with Trout while Zavala and Gamay work together. Which gets humorous when Kurt and Paul have to sneak around because Trout is nearly 7-feet tall.
* Most ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' novels involve multiple, interwoven plots. ''Salamandastron'' and ''The Long Patrol'' are possibly the most convoluted in this respect.
* All of the ''Literature/OutOfPosition'' novels have Dev and Lee's subplots affecting one another. In the first two books, whatever Dev did usually affected Lee's storyline; the following books reversed this, and everything Lee did (especially regarding Vince King's suicide) affected Dev.
* Terry Brooks almost always does this in his ''Literature/{{Shannara}}'' books, when [[LetsSplitUpGang the parties split]]. Normally one half fights some epic but largely mundane battle, while the other party (with the main protagonist) goes off to kill the BigBad. This is probably in deliberate imitation of LOTR.

** His earlier novel ''Literature/HardBoiledWonderlandAndTheEndOfTheWorld'' was, as the title suggests, two separate stories. One is a cyberpunk neo-noir thriller (Wonderland) and the other is a magical fantasy (End of the World). The two stories have the same protagonist, though - and they can't both have happy endings.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' the later books fragment into ''several'' plotlines. One book in fact is Book B to the previous. This either creates a vivid, appealing world or makes the books hopelessly convoluted, depending on the reader.

* Peter F. Hamilton does this quite a bit. His ''Literature/CommonwealthSaga'' follows something like seven plots all at once, and they'd each be enough for a book of their own. ''Literature/TheNightsDawnTrilogy'' has three major plots going at once. There's a ''reason'' his books are so thick.

** ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' has two love plots -- Claudio and Hero, and Beatrice and Benedick.

** ''Theatre/KingLear'' has the plot about the King, and the plot about the Duke and his two sons.

* ''Videogame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'' entire story unfolds this way, switching between the two main protagonists Rhys and Fiona as both tell their sides of the story to a captor, often to humorous effect.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Halo2'' does this with the Master Chief and the Arbiter.
** ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' does this with Master Chief's Blue Team and Jameson Locke's Fireteam Osiris.

* The first two ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' games have the separate gang storylines entirely independent. Which lead to characters involved in them only appearing in one of the three, as [[spoiler:they frequently get injured or even killed]] and the game has no way to determine in which order you've completed missions up until the final stretch. ''The Third'' changed this around a bit, where missions overall follow one plotline, and most times where you have a choice of two or more missions they're just one of your lieutenants asking you to play an activity.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' had two interwoven plotlines: one about [[WronglyAccused Lucas]] trying to find explanation for what's happening to him and evade the police, and the other about [[InspectorJavert Carla and Tyler]] trying to catch up with Lucas and understand what's going on.
* ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' was originally planned to have three full-weight storylines, one for each main character, however, only Zoe's actually counts as such. April's line is limited to two significant events ([[spoiler:Chamber of Dreams and talk with the Guardian]]), while Kian's consists effectively of a single dialogue and its consequences. Nevertheless, the lines are there.
* ''VideoGame/DreamfallChapters'' does a lot better, with narrative time split near equally between Zoe in Stark and Kian in Arcadia, both poking at the same interdimensional conspiracy that they didn't quite unravel in the first game.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', each of the three playable characters' stories happen at the same time, and meet up on occasion.
** In ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'', [[TheHero Sora]] and [[TheLancer Riku]] run two unrelated plots that happen to take place in the same castle.
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', the jump to the other line is able to occur in the middle of a battle. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Thankfully you don't need to worry about the other one getting knocked out while you were forced to drop.]]
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' has five chapters. Chapter 1 follows Ragnar, a knight trying to find missing children. Chapter 2 follows Alena, a RebelliousPrincess who wants to fight in a tournament, and her advisers Clift (the healer) and Brey (the wizard). Chapter 3 follows a merchant named Torneko who wants to start his own shop in the kingdom of [[ShoutOut Endor]]. Chapter 4 follows Manya and Minea, two magical sisters (a GlassCannon and a healer) trying to avenge their father's death. Finally, chapter 5 follows you, the hero, and you get the entire party together, but you can only control yourself directly. In the new DS version, there's a sixth chapter where the BigBad joins your party.

* The newer ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games have this, with the game switching between the viewpoint of two main characters(and occasionally a third character for a single mission). In the Modern Warfare games, The American character is usually engaging in some big urban battle while the British character is doing some kind of special ops raid, more or less at the same time. Though [[spoiler:the American plotline usually finishes up partway through the game and the British one goes all the way up to the end]]. In ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'', however, there is no connection between the two characters, one in Russia and one in the Pacific; the plot just switches between them every few missions presumably for a change of pace. ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Black Ops]]'' does this with Hudson and Mason's roles in the story and even once going through the same level from different starting points (Mason sneaking into the Soviet base to kill Steiner, Hudson and a group of American soldiers going into the facility another way to rescue Steiner. The two plots join up in the end, the final cutscene of both being the same scene from different points of view, which is also the final clue that Reznov [[spoiler:isn't there; in Mason's portion, Reznov appears to punch out Steiner a few times before drawing a pistol, declaring "[[MyNameIsInigoMontoya My name is Viktor Reznov!]]", and shooting him dead - then, in Hudson's portion, Reznov isn't there and ''Mason'' is declaring himself to be Viktor Reznov before killing Steiner]].)
* ''Front Mission'' shows this through ''2'' and ''4''.
** In ''VideoGame/FrontMission2'', the story begins under the eyes of Ash Faruk, an OCU corporal belonging to the Muddy Otters battalion in Alordesh. Shortly after the coup outbreak in the country, the story switches focus to Thomas Norland, an OCU captain from the Dull Stags battalion. After doing some operations with Thomas, the story switches to a third party - the OCU military intelligence through officer Lisa Stanley's eyes. The three groups take their turns in the spotlight and even when they merge late in the game, the focus equally distributed among them.
** In ''VideoGame/FrontMission4'', the story begins under the eyes of former French Army pilot Elsa Eliane, who now is in the employ of the multinational research organization known as Durandal. Several missions after the Durandal are sent to investigate an attack on a German base, the story switches to USN sergeant Darril Traubel in Venezuela. Both of these stories only interact with each other explicitly only once and never directly merge at any point in the game.
* ''VideoGame/WinBack 2'' has you play each mission from the POV of two different operatives.

* ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry5PassionatePattiDoesALittleUndercoverWork'' frequently switches between two protagonists at certain points: Larry as he scouts for models for "America's Sexiest Home Videos'' and Patti trying to find backmasked pro-pornography messages in music from des Revers Records and K-RAP Studios. Both plots get concluded at the ending.
* ''VideoGame/ArcTheLadTwilightOfTheSpirits'' has this happen, and eventually, both the narratives become one.
* Disk 3 of ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' has the party forced to split up. The plot then follows: Cooke and Mack as they attempt to follow the Aurora Borealis, Kaim and Sarah as they try to stop the kids from getting in too much trouble, Seth and [[spoiler: Tolten]] being warped to Uhra and meeting up with [[spoiler: Sed]], Jansen and Ming stuck on a train that's becoming an icy coffin. Despite being split four ways, the story doesn't suffer. Every party member gets their moment in the limelight. They are all [[spoiler: reunited at the end of Disk 3]].
* ''{{VideoGame/Bayonetta 2}}'' starts off with a plot ToHellAndBack for the titular character in order to reclaim the soul of her friend, Jeanne, but gets sidetracked by a secondary plot involving a TagalongKid named Loki who just so happens to [[AmnesiacHero have amnesia]] about who he is, other than he just to happens to be trying to get to the same holy mountain as Bayonetta. The plots clash more than a few time, but end up being more intertwined once the BigBad [[spoiler:Loptr/Aesir]] is revealed, since [[spoiler:he was the one who caused Jeanne's soul to be sent to hell, and also happens to be Loki's evil half]].
* In the bonus chapter of ''Cadenza 4: Fame, Theft and Murder'' Michael is [[TakenForGranite turned into a statue]] and Martha and Big Jim split up to find the halves of an artifact which can reverse the curse. The chapter switches between them at several points.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening:'' Lucina's arc happens simultaneously along with the other 3, shifting in and out of focus as the events of the BadFuture they come from become relevant.

* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest''. One for [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters every. Last. Character.]] Of course, there are intersections, but essentially every character has their own story. Some of the time, these stories are ''part'' of ''another'' character's story.
* ''AudioPlay/WereAlive'' usually confines its storylines into separate chapters. But occasionally it will show two storylines within the same chapter or the same episode. For instance in chapters 17 and 18: Michael, Pegs and Kelly travelling to The Colony was split with Angel and Kalani going to the Army Reserve base to secure [=MREs=].
* ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' splits into two plot threads after the group takes over Molossia; the first focuses on the Nostalgia Critic's attempts to reign over the country and the second focuses on the other contributors trying to figure out how to overthrow him.

** In ''4'', the story begins under the eyes of former French Army pilot Elsa Eliane, who now is in the employ of the multinational research organization known as Durandal. Several missions after the Durandal are sent to investigate an attack on a German base, the story switches to USN sergeant Darril Traubel in Venezuela. Both of these stories only interact with each other explicitly only once and never directly merge at any point in the game.

* ''VideoGame/FrontMission'' shows this through ''2'' and ''4''.
** In ''2'', the story begins under the eyes of Ash Faruk, an OCU corporal belonging to the Muddy Otters battalion in Alordesh. Shortly after the coup outbreak in the country, the story switches focus to Thomas Norland, an OCU captain from the Dull Stags battalion. After doing some operations with Thomas, the story switches to a third party - the OCU military intelligence through officer Lisa Stanley's eyes. The three groups take their turns in the spotlight and even when they merge late in the game, the focus equally distributed among them.

* In ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossmingTrail'', Chloe's adventures throughout the Infinity Train are swapped with her friends and family worried about her sudden disappearance.

* [[http://crystalrobot.deviantart.com/ Crystal Robot's]] ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' fanfiction starts off with a simple LoveTriangle plot surrounding Zim, Dib, and Casie [[CousinOliver (Zim's OC sister)]]. The plots split when Dib becomes [[MrSeahorse pregnant]] by [[HomosexualReproduction Zim]], and Casie becomes the {{Yandere}}. At that point, the major ark revolves around a [[SpotlightStealingSquad bunch of OC's]] ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Gaz]]) trying to defeat [[spoiler: Casie and]] a group of evil {{Doppelganger}}s, while the the ark surrounding Dib's pregnancy and his developing relationship with Zim plays in the background.

If the A Story and B Story aren't juggled simultaneously, but are instead handled separately and tied together with an incredible chain of events, it's HalfwayPlotSwitch. If said chain of events is split over two time periods, it's MeanwhileInTheFuture or TwoLinesDifferentTimes. Often uses {{Plot Parallel}}s to set up a DoubleAesop.

If the A Story and B Story aren't juggled simultaneously, but are instead handled separately and tied together with an incredible chain of events, it's HalfwayPlotSwitch. If said chain of events is split over two time periods, it's MeanwhileInTheFuture. Often uses {{Plot Parallel}}s to set up a DoubleAesop.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic ''Fanfic/HeroClassCivilWarfare'' focuses on two stories: an "A" plot focusing on the titular Civil War exercise, and a "B" plot focusing on the 7 days leading up to it. In addition, three chapters focus on a "C" plot showing the U.A. teachers' reactions to the exercise.
* ''Fanfic/LockedInDigital'' (by the same author) is set in two parts; the "A" plot focuses on Izuku trying to adjust to normal life in U.A. and the "B" plot focusing on Izuku going through the simulation he was trapped in for a year and other people learning about what is happening.

[[folder:Anime]]

* Creator/BrandonSanderson's ''Literature/{{Mistborn|TheOriginalTrilogy}}'' series. The first book starts with Kelsier, Vin, and Elend as viewpoint characters. When their plots diverge, each of them tends to be given a chapter at a time, which helps things move smoothly along. The even spread of viewpoints chapter-by-chapter becomes very noticeable by book three when several secondary characters have become viewpoint characters and they all have their own plots. This is also present in his book ''The Way of Kings,'' where he has multiple parts in the book, and around 3 viewpoints per part. Each of these has their own storyline.

* Creator/QuentinTarantino's ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' actually follows two storylines, [[spoiler:Shosanna Dreyfus staging a massacre at her movie theater hoping to kill the nazi leader,]] and the Basterd's efforts in trying to assassinate Hitler. [[spoiler: the third act involves the Basterds attending said event and killing the nazi's before the bombs go off.]]

* Creator/WoodyAllen has done these a few times in two of his highest regarded movies. ''Film/CrimesAndMisdemeanors'' has a straight example with the two storylines being distinct and only crossing paths rarely, while ''Film/HannahAndHerSisters'' follows several character arcs with a lot of interaction between them.

'''Klaus:''' Oh, no. We are a Framing Device.

* Several Literature/{{Discworld}} novels feature two parallel plotlines that occasionally interact, finally uniting near the end, for example ''Discworld/ReaperMan'' (Death's retirement and Windle Poons's "afterlife", with slightly different [[UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}} typefaces]] to distinguish them) and ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' (Death taking the Hogfather's role; Susan stopping Teatime).

* The second and third movies in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' trilogy. The original books involve two storylines in the first half of each volume, Creator/PeterJackson merges them, not always keeping time with when each happens in relation to the other.