History ShaggyDogStory / Webcomics

* Arguably ''Webcomic/{{FreakAngels}}'' could fit in here. After years of buildup as to their nature and purpose, the Freakangels [[spoiler:eventually ascended into a Steampunk future since the world wasn't ready for them...and that was that. No answers and no explanations]].
* In ''Webcomic/GastroPhobia'', almost all the chapters end with the plot getting humorously undermined.

* ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' spend over 400 pages gathering the shards of the Master Stars. [[spoiler:It turns out that only the last one was important to [[BigBad Dark Star's]] plans and the other 25 were entirely superfluous. Void lampshades this when they find out.]]
* Frequently used in ''Webcomic/MountainTime,'' but most notable in [[http://mountaincomics.com/2010/08/16/the-unstartled-giraffe/ one instance]] that took 12 episodes to reach its shaggy conclusion -- notable because Mountain Time stories hardly ever last more than ''one'' episode.

* The side story the Flower Knight in ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}''. To win the heart of the queen of their city, a knight ventures out into the world to find the most beautiful flower on earth. He fights his way through countless hardships for years, until he finally finds the flower he was looking for. He brings it back to the queen, wins her heart and the two go on to produce countless children... well, the flower he brought back produced countless seedlings and new flowers, until all in the city owned their own... It is then the flowers reveal their true nature, a deadly parasite that sucks the life out of everyone in the city, killing every single person in it, leaving the Flower Knight the only survivor among a grave of his family and subjects. He leaves to the surface, to find and destroy the being that gave him the flower and destroyed all he held dear with it. The story ends there and whether he succeeded he or not is unknown.[[spoiler: The flower has since made a reappearance, again, controlled by the BigBad Snadya'rune, who seemingly plans to unleash the same horrific fate once again.]]
* In ''Webcomic/KoanOfTheDay'', an [[http://www.koanoftheday.com/34/ interactive koan]] takes the form of a shaggy dog story.
* The ending of the seven year long webcomic ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' shows that [[spoiler: pretty much the whole comic was a plot by the title characters' mother to make George willing to kill Bob (his super villain brother) if necessary and for Bob to be aware of it. In a subversion or at least avoidance of ShootTheShaggyDog, however, a comment during the finale prevented the deaths of just about everyone in the Cataclysm]].
* In ''Webcomic/GastroPhobia'', almost all the chapters end with the plot getting humorously undermined.

* The first season of ''Webcomic/AnsemRetort'' ended like this. After a demon invasion, fighting through FOX headquarters, one character fighting [[TheDragon Ansem]], another getting god-like powers, and using said powers to summon a dragon with ''a nuke on its back'', the president of FOX was defeated [[spoiler: by a stab in the back.]] Of course, this is lampshaded:
-->'''Marluxia:'''[[spoiler: That's it? Axel stabs the guy and we all go home?]]
-->'''Zexion:'''[[spoiler: Screw you. They're dead, we're alive. We win, they lose, end of story. Who's up for Chinese food?]]

* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'': The [[spoiler: Judy gets a kitten]] story arc ends with the [[spoiler:cute kitten]] apparently being devoured by Yoshi. It [[UnexplainedRecovery gets better]].
* The ''Webcomic/DarkLegacyComics'' spinoff, ''The Stonemaker Argument'', consists mostly of these. In particular, "[[http://www.stonemakerargument.com/2.html The Dr. Noodle Improbability.]]"
* Some ''Webcomic/{{PVP}}'''s storylines in the last couple of years have been massive buildups leading to either tremendous jokes or epic storylines, only to fizzle out on a short, mediocre anticlimax.
* Much of the humor in ''Webcomic/PicturesForSadChildren'' revolves around awkward, drawn out, just uncomfortable (and usually [[MagicRealism surreal]]) conversation with no conventional punchline at the end.

* The ''Webcomic/ElectricWonderland'' comic "Day of Fools" has Trawn race to warn Aerynn of a scan for hackers and magicians. [[spoiler: She fails to warn Aerynn in time, but it turns out the scans never detect Aerynn's brand of magic.]]
* ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' has comic number [[http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/comic/260-thecaptiveprincess/ 260]]. This has Princess Peach actually do something instead of just sitting around in a game but, upon escaping the castle, she notices Mario going ''in'', and secretly follows him up until after he defeats Bowser, when the two finally meet. Mario, who doesn't know she's managed by herself, explains that he's here to save her. Peach simply shrugs and says "My hero."

* ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'', a webcomic running the plot of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', is resolved in exactly the same way as the book... Except Frodo and Sam aren't {{Player Character}}s at that point. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas are, and are essentially {{railroad|ing}}ed into distracting the BigBad and doing nothing of value while an NPC wins the campaign by succeeding at a Will Save. Most players are underwhelmed, but Legolas thinks it's awesome.

* Done in the very first strip of ''Blog/SliceOfLife,'' which [[http://sliceofponylife.tumblr.com/post/24600786070 references a cake order.]]
* Arguably ''Webcomic/{{FreakAngels}}'' could fit in here. After years of buildup as to their nature and purpose, the Freakangels [[spoiler: eventually ascended into a Steampunk future since the world wasn't ready for them...and that was that. No answers and no explanations.]]
* ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' spend over 400 pages gathering the shards of the Master Stars. [[spoiler: It turns out that only the last one was important to [[BigBad Dark Star's]] plans and the other 25 were entirely superfluous. Void lampshades this when they find out.]]
* Webcomic/OzyAndMillie: Felicia starts dyeing her wool black, which scares the school staff into prohibiting black wool. Millie, despite hating Felicia, gets indignant at this suppression of the right to freedom of expression, and covers herself with black cotton balls in protest, only to find that Felicia surrendered to the dress code without a fight and sheared herself.
* Webcomic/DraculaRulerOfTheNight: [[spoiler: In the end, all the hunters accomplish was killing Dracula and his brides, they can't stop the vamprisim coming into their country. The Westenras (Lucy and her mother, Minerva, whom she turned) remain undead and flee into the night. Along with several street urchins who were unlucky enough to stumble upon Dracula's hideaway. Mina was saved from completely being turned but still has some vampire features on her (some slight fang nubs and unruly hair which grows faster during nights) and Quincy, whom died during the events and was shipped back home to be buried, arises as a vampire himself and introduces vampirism in the United States. It's only kept from being a DownerEnding due to the undead no longer having a leader and making the vampire curse more easily containable. Plus Quincy at least keeping things isolated on his end.]]

** Susan's uniform crusade was cut short when [[spoiler: The principal revoked the dress code after parents complained about having to wash them daily]].
** The race through Swedekia in the Temple of Swedish Furniture arc also qualifies. The last TV stand that Elliot and Noah were racing for had already been purchased the previous day, and the store's online inventory didn't register that piece of information.

* ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'', a webcomic running the plot of ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', is resolved in exactly the same way as the book... Except Frodo and Sam aren't {{Player Character}}s at that point. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas are, and are essentially {{railroad|ing}}ed into distracting the BigBad and doing nothing of value while an NPC wins the campaign by succeeding at a Will Save. The players are underwhelmed.

* The side story the Flower Knight in ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}''. To win the heart of the queen of their city, a knight ventures out into the world to find the most beautiful flower on earth. He fights his way through countless hardships for years, until he finally finds the flower he was looking for. He brings it back to the queen, wins her heart and the two go on to produce countless children... well, the flower he brought back produced countless seedlings and new flowers, until all in the city owned their own... It is then the flowers reveal their true nature, a deadly parasite that sucks the life out of everyone in the city, killing every single person in it, leaving the Flower Knight the only survivor among a grave of his family and subjects. He leaves to the surface, to find and destroy the being that gave him the flower and destroyed all he held dear with it. The story ends there and rather he succeeded he or not is unknown.[[spoiler: The flower has since made a reappearance, again, controlled by the BigBad Snadya'rune, who seemingly plans to unleash the same horrific fate once again.]]

* Almost every single arc in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' is one of these.
** Not quite. There are indeed a number of Shaggy Dog Stories in 8-Bit Theater, such as the Chocobo Breeding arc and the random town arc from right before the Orb of Air quest, but most of the story arcs don't fit the definition. They tend to end in anticlimaxes, but the anticlimaxes themselves do further the plot.
** Turns out the entire plot is one of these; [[spoiler:while the Light Warriors are arguing with each other yet again, the BigBad is killed by [[NonProtagonistResolver a minor character]] using a strategy Black Mage had scoffed at in one of the series' first comics. After nine years and 1200 comics, the main characters end up basically where they started off [[FailureHero without really accomplishing anything outside of causing problems wherever they went]]]]. According to the author, [[TrollingCreator this was his plan from the very beginning]].

** Turns out the entire plot is one of these; [[spoiler:while the Light Warriors are arguing with each other yet again, the BigBad is killed by a minor character using a strategy Black Mage had scoffed at in one of the series' first comics. After nine years and 1200 comics, the main characters end up basically where they started off without really accomplishing anything outside of causing problems wherever they went]]. According to the author, [[TrollingCreator this was his plan from the very beginning]].

* Webcomic/DraculaRulerOfTheNight: [[spoiler: In the end, all the hunters accomplish was killing Dracula and his brides, they can't stop the vamprisim coming into their country. The Westenras (Lucy and her mother, Minerva, whom she turned) remind undead and flee into the night. Along with several street urchins who were unlucky enough to stumble upon Dracula's hideaway. Mina was saved from completely being turned but still has some vampire features on her (some slight fang nubs and unruly hair which grows faster during nights) and Quincy, whom died during the events and was shipped back home to be buried, arises as a vampire himself and introduces vampirism in the United States. It's only kept from being a DownerEnding due to the undead no longer having a leader and making the vampire curse more easily containable.]]

* Webcomic/OzyAndMillie: Felicia starts dyeing her wool black, which scares the school staff into prohibiting black wool. Millie, despite hating Felicia, gets indignant at this suppression of the right to freedom of expression, and covers herself with black cotton balls in protest, only to find that Felicia surrendered to the dress code without a fight and sheared herself.

* ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' spend over 400 pages gathering the shards of the Master Stars. [[spoiler: It turns out that only the last one was important to [[BigBad Dark Star's]] plans and the other 25 were entirely superfluous. Void lampshades this when they find out.]]

* ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' has comic number [[http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/2010/08/05/260-the-captive-princess/ 260]]. This has Princess Peach actually do something instead of just sitting around in a game but, upon escaping the castle, she notices Mario going ''in'', and secretly follows him up until after he defeats Bowser, when the two finally meet. Mario, who doesn't know she's managed by herself, explains that he's here to save her. Peach simply shrugs and says "My hero."

** Turns out the entire plot is one of these; [[spoiler:while the Light Warriors are arguing with each other yet again, the BigBad is killed by a minor character using a strategy Black Mage had scoffed at in one of the series' first comics. After nine years and 1200 comics, the main characters end up basically where they started off without really accomplishing anything outside of causing problems wherever they went]]. According to the author, this was his plan from the very beginning.

* ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' has comic number [[http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/2010/08/05/260-the-captive-princess/ 260]]. This has Princess Peach actually do something instead of just sitting around in a game but... see it for yourself.

* The side story the Flower Knight in ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}''. To win the heart of the queen of their city, a knight ventures out into the world to find the most beautiful flower on earth. He fights his way through countless hardships for years, until he finally finds the flower he was looking for. He brings it back to the queen, wins her heart and the two go on to produce countless children, well the flower he brought back produced countless seedlings and new flowers, until all in the city owned their own... It is then the flowers reveal their true nature, a deadly parasite that sucks the life out of everyone in the city, killing every single person in it, leaving the Flower Knight the only survivor among a grave of his family and subjects. He leaves to the surface, to find and destroy the being that gave him the flower and destroyed all he held dear with it. The story ends there and rather he succeeded he or not is unknown.[[spoiler: The flower has since made a reappearance, again, controlled by the BigBad Snadya'rune, who seemingly plans to unleash the same horrific fate once again.]]

* Arguably ''Webcomic/{{FreakAngels}}'' could fit in here. After years of buildup as to their nature and purpose, the Freakangels [[spoiler: eventually ascended into a Steampunk future since the world wasn't ready for them...and that was that. No answers and no explanations.]]

* Arguably "Webcomic/FreakAngels" could fit in here. After years of buildup as to their nature and purpose, the Freakangels eventually ascended into a Steampunk future since the world wasn't ready for them...and that was that. No answers and no explanations.

* Arguably "Webcomic/{{FreakAngels}}" could fit in here. After years of buildup as to their nature and purpose, the Freakangels eventually ascended into a Steampunk future since the world wasn't ready for them...and that was that. No answers and no explanations.

* Arguably "Webcomic/Freakangels" could fit in here. After years of buildup as to their nature and purpose, the Freakangels eventually ascended into a Steampunk future since the world wasn't ready for them...and that was that. No answers and no explanations.

* Done in the very first strip of ''Blog/SliceOfLife,'' which [[http://sliceofponylife.tumblr.com/post/24600786070 references a cake order.]]

* [[http://somethingofthatilk.com/index.php?id=387 This]] strip of ''Something of that Ilk'' even references the trope in its title.