History TheArtifact / AnimeAndManga

*** This artifact was created by removing another artifact the manga used. In early chapters Sailor Moon wore a white mask similar to Sailor V's. In the first chapter it showed her a vision of Naru being attacked. She quickly ditched them and for a number of chapters was shown throwing it to the side after transforming. The mask shows up once more during the Black Moon arc (long after it stopped appearing when she transformed) to identify people who were replaced with droids.

** An even better example would be the Dragon Balls themselves, who zig-zag this trope. Although they had some importance in every arc, as soon as it's revealed that Goku and Piccolo are aliens, they take a back seat and they're only used as damage control in the Android/Cell and Buu arcs. They do eventually become more important in ''Anime/DragonBallGT''.
*** This actually started earlier in the ''Manga/DragonBall'' run. While they were being actively sought through most of ''Manga/DragonBall'', by the time of the Red Ribbon Saga they were effectively just a MacGuffin and the battles with the bad guys became more prominent. By the King Piccolo Saga, they became little more than a means to how Piccolo gained eternal youth and damage cleanup thereafter, while in the Piccolo Junior Saga they weren't even featured at all. They played a limited role in the Saiyan Saga of Z, while they played a much more prominent role in the Namek/Frieza Saga. The Android/Cell and Buu Sagas all but forgot about them. Basically, the importance of the Dragon Balls themselves started to wane heavily as early as half way through the original ''Manga/DragonBall'' years - in other words, for about 3/4 of whole story they were little more than a ResetButton.
*** They played a limited, but vital role at the middle and end of the Buu Saga. The Earth's Dragon Balls revived Kibito, who was killed earlier, who healed the nearly dead Supreme Kai and Gohan. They took Gohan back to their world where they trained him to fight Buu, which led to Old Kai being freed. The Namekian Dragon Balls were used to restore the Earth and everyone on it to power the Spirit Bomb and the last wish was used to restore Goku's power so he could finish off Buu. The original Japanese text even have Goku say poetically, "Thank you, Dragon Balls!"
*** The Dragon Balls themselves are also the reason most of the cast even met. Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Master Roshi, and Chi-Chi all met because of the first Dragon Ball hunt. The second hunt for the Dragon Balls allowed Goku to meet Korin and eventually Kami. Vegeta came to Earth because of the Dragon Balls, and Trunks made his adventure through time because there were no Dragon Balls to fix his wrecked timeline. In a wider sense, without the Dragon Balls Goku would have remained undiscovered in the mountains. So, the Dragon Balls do affect the plot, although in more indirect ways later on.

** Even [[TheHero Ash]] himself is this. He started as an {{Expy}} of Red, the protagonist of the Gen 1 games, but has remained the main character in every Generation after that. To enforce this, the writers make him [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption lose every canon League]] just so that he never accomplishes his goal of [[ToBeAMaster being the very best]] in order to justify him going to a different Region. This leads to the male protagonist of each Region being DemotedToExtra at best and AdaptedOut at worst with the female protagonist usually taking the role of {{Deuteragonist}}.

** Even [[TheHero Ash]] himself is this. He started as an {{Expy}} of Red, the protagonist of the Gen 1 games, but has remained the main character in every Generation after that. To enforce this, the writers make him [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption lose every canon League]] just so that he never accomplishes his goal of [[ToBeAMaster being the very best]] in order to justify him going to a different Region. This leads to the male protagonist of each Region being DemotedToExtra at best and AdaptedOut at worst with the female protagonist usually taking the role of {{Deutragonist}}.

** In the anime, Mamoru Chiba was a SatelliteLoveInterest, which meant that after he and Usagi hit the RelationshipCeiling at the end of ''R'', the writers really had nothing to do with him, and Usagi had plenty of other characters to emote at. Obviously, being Sailor Moon's destined love, he couldn't be written out completely, but he was pretty much "just there" in the third and fourth seasons, and he was PutOnABus in the fifth season to allow for Seiya to start a LoveTriangle. This is averted in the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], where he had far more characterization than just being Usagi's destined boyfriend. Evidently director Creator/KunihikoIkuhara is on record as hating Mamoru... so the sidelining makes sense from that aspect. Doesn't make for a better story, but there is a reason for it.

** An even better example would be the Dragon Balls themselves, who zig-zag this trope. Although they've have some importance in every arc, as soon as it's revealed that Goku and Piccolo are aliens, they take a back seat and they're only used as damage control in the Android/Cell and Buu arcs. They do eventually become more important in ''Anime/DragonBallGT''.

** [[TheLancer Brock]] became this during "The Johto Journeys" and stayed that way for a ''loooooong'' time. The writers seemed to have forgotten all about his stated goal of breeding Pokémon, and were probably keeping him around just to avoid a repeat of the fan backlash that happened when they tried to remove him the first time in ''Adventures in the Orange Islands''. It seems the writers took notice eventually as he finally left the show in ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White''. This is surprisingly {{Lampshaded}} in the last three episodes of "Diamond and Pearl" where Brock realizes that while Ash and Dawn are advancing towards their goals he has made no progress with his. It is also in these episodes that he learns he can put the skills he does have to good use by becoming a Pokémon Doctor, leading to his departure.

* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' somehow had this happen to its entire ''premise''. The original concept of the series, as seen in the title, was that there were five individuals known as the Signers who used their mystic dragon powers to battle ancient threats. However, the main mystical threat of the series, the Earthbound Gods, was defeated less than halfway through the series. From then on out, the main characters almost never used their Signer abilities (Aki, the most powerful one, was even depowered without explanation for most of the show's last third), and most of their opponents had absolutely nothing to do with the Signers or mysticism in general. The show also largely jettisoned the concept of the Signers working as a team, with nearly everything from then on out being accomplished by Yusei, Jack, and Crow (the latter of whom wasn't even a Signer until it had stopped being relevant). Despite the clumsy ReTool, the series seemingly continued to advertise itself as being about the Signers. By the end of the series, [[ArtifactTitle there wasn't even five Signers - there was six.]]

** [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket]] have been this for just as long, as the organization they belong to have ceased to be the villains of the main games the anime is promoting after [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Generation II]]. The ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White'' series attempted to rectify this by [[ReimaginingTheArtifact giving them actual purpose in the plot]] and then [[PutOnABus attempting to write them out]], but it didn't stick and they returned to TheArtifact status in the ''Pokemon XY'' series. Their high popularity in Japan contributes to why they're series mainstays.

*** Minako and Makoto's looks in general in the new anime. ''Crystal'' being [[SettingUpdate set during its real-world release]], the logic progression would have been updating them into [[SubculturesInJapan some sub-variant of gals or make Makoto a]] [[BadassBiker bosozoku]] ([[WhatCouldHaveBeen something she was originally supposed to be]]) to convey the former being a [[TomboyPrincess tomboy who looks extremely feminine]] and justify the latter's fame as a delinquent, but instead they wore normal clothes in their civilian identities.

* Although ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' was the first RealRobot anime, it still carried a lot of baggage from the SuperRobot genre, mainly the design aesthetic for Zeon vehicles and an AerithAndBob naming scheme for their people that evokes the Alien invaders common to Super Robot antagonists, and a number of gimmicky weapons and [[MerchandiseDriven accessories]] for the Gundam like the G-Armor, Beam Javelin, and Gundam Hammer. The latter were quickly retconned out of existence in the Movie adaptations, and later Zeon designs have tried to evoke a image closer to WorldWarII Germany.

*** The Dragon Balls themselves are also the reason most of the cast even met. Goku, Bulma, Yamcha, Master Roshi, and Chi-Chi all met because of the first Dragon Ball hunt. The second hunt for the Dragon Balls allowed Goku to meet Korin and eventually Kami. Vegeta also came to Earth because of the Dragon Balls and Trunks made his adventure through time because there was no Dragon Balls to fix his wrecked timeline. In a wider sense, without the Dragon Balls Goku would have remained unfound in the mountains. So, the Dragon Balls do effect the plot, although in more indirect ways later on.

*** This artifact was created by removing another artifact the manga used. In early chapters Sailor Moon wore a white mask similar to Sailor V's. In the first chapter it showed her a vision of Naru being attacked. She quickly ditched them and for a number of chapters was shown throwing it to the side after transforming. The mask shows up once more during the Black Moon arc (long after it stopped appearing when she transformed) to identify people who who were replaced with droids.

** [[TheLancer Brock]] became this during "The Johto Journeys" and stayed that way for a ''loooooong'' time. The writers seemed to have forgotten all about his stated goal of breeding Pokémon, and were probably keeping him around just to avoid a repeat of the fan backlash that happened when they tried to remove him the first time in "Adventures in the Orange Islands''. It seems the writers took notice eventually as he finally left the show in ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White''. This is surprisingly {{Lampshaded}} in the last three episodes of "Diamond and Pearl" where Brock realizes that while Ash and Dawn are advancing towards their goals he has made no progress with his. It is also in these episodes that he learns he can put the skills he does have to good use by becoming a Pokémon Doctor, leading to his departure.

* In ''Anime/SailorMoon'', for the first three seasons, the Monsters-of-the-Day actually did something relevant to the {{plot}}, but in the fourth and fifth seasons, their only purpose was to give the girls something to fight before the end of the episode. It became especially bad in the last season; the targets were supposed to be potential Sailor Senshi (hence why they're attacked very early in the original comic) but no attempt is ever made to target those that ''show up to every single fight, in costume''.
** In the anime, Mamoru Chiba was a SatelliteLoveInterest, which meant that after he and Usagi hit the RelationshipCeiling at the end of ''R'', the writers really had nothing to do with him, and Usagi had plenty of other characters to emote at. Obviously, being Sailor Moon's destined love, he couldn't be written out completely, but he was pretty much "just there" in the third and fourth seasons, and he was PutOnABus in the fifth season to allow for Seiya to start a LoveTriangle. This is averted in the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], where he had far more characterization than just being Usagi's destined boyfriend.
*** Evidently director Creator/KunihikoIkuhara is on record as hating Mamoru... so the sidelining makes sense from that aspect. Doesn't make for a better story, but there is a reason for it.

** [[TheLancer Brock]] became this during "The Johto Journeys" and stayed that way for a ''loooooong'' time. The writers seemed to have forgotten all about his stated goal of breeding Pokémon, and were probably keeping him around just to avoid a repeat of the fan backlash that happened when they tried to remove him the first time in "Adventures in the Orange Islands''.
** It seems the writers have taken notice as he finally left the show in ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White''.
** Surprisingly {{Lampshaded}} in the last three episodes of "Diamond and Pearl" where Brock realizes that while Ash and Dawn are advancing towards their goals he has made no progress with his. It is also in these episodes that he learns he can put the skills he does have to good use by becoming a Pokémon Doctor, leading to his departure.
** [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket]] have been this for just as long, as the organization they belong to have ceased to be the villains of the main games the anime is promoting after Generation II. The ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White'' series attempted to rectify this by [[ReimaginingTheArtifact giving them actual purpose in the plot]] and then [[PutOnABus attempting to write them out]], but it didn't stick and they returned to TheArtifact status in the ''Pokemon XY'' series. Their high popularity in Japan contributes to why they're series mainstays.
* ''Franchise/DragonBall''

** An even better example would be the {{Dragon Ball}}s themselves, who zig-zag this trope. Although they've have some importance in every arc, as soon as it's revealed that Goku and Piccolo are aliens, they take a back seat and they're only used as damage control in the Android/Cell and Buu arcs. They do eventually become more important in ''Anime/DragonBallGT''.

* ''YuGiOh5Ds'' somehow had this happen to its entire ''premise''. The original concept of the series, as seen in the title, was that there were five individuals known as the Signers who used their mystic dragon powers to battle ancient threats. However, the main mystical threat of the series, the Earthbound Gods, was defeated less than halfway through the series. From then on out, the main characters almost never used their Signer abilities (Aki, the most powerful one, was even depowered without explanation for most of the show's last third), and most of their opponents had absolutely nothing to do with the Signers or mysticism in general. The show also largely jettisoned the concept of the Signers working as a team, with nearly everything from then on out being accomplished by Yusei, Jack, and Crow (the latter of whom wasn't even a Signer until it had stopped being relevant). Despite the clumsy ReTool, the series seemingly continued to advertise itself as being about the Signers. By the end of the series, [[ArtifactTitle there wasn't even five Signers - there was six.]]

** Ash himself has stuck around the show even after the rest of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' media changed their protagonist with each generation. Like Team Rocket, this is attributed to his high popularity in Japan. However, like Team Rocket, the anime staff Reimagine the Artifact by "converting" him to a counterpart/stand-in for the male player character of each new generation, while still keeping his character.

** Ash himself has stuck around the show even after the rest of ''Franchise/Pokemon'' media changed their protagonist with each generation. Like Team Rocket, this is attributed to his high popularity in Japan. However, like Team Rocket, the anime staff Reimagine the Artifact by "converting" him to a counterpart/stand-in for the male player character of each new generation, while still keeping his character.

* [[TheLancer Brock]] from ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' became this during "Johto Journeys" and stayed that way for a ''loooooong'' time. The writers seemed to have forgotten all about his stated goal of breeding Pokémon, and were probably keeping him around just to avoid the fan backlash that might result from removing him.

** [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket]] have been this for just as long, as the organization they belong to have ceased to be the villains of the main games the anime is promoting after Generation II. The ''Best Wishes''/''Black and White'' series attempted to rectify this by [[ReimaginingTheArtifact giving them actual purpose in the plot]] and then [[PutOnABus attempting to write them out]], but it didn't stick and they returned to TheArtifact status in the ''Pokemon XY'' series.

** An even better example would be the {{Dragon Ball}}s themselves. Although they've have some importance in every arc, as soon as it's revealed that Goku and Piccolo are aliens, they take a back seat and they're only used as damage control in the Android/Cell and Buu arcs. They do eventually become more important in ''Anime/DragonBallGT''.

** Evidently director Creator/KunihikoIkuhara is on record as hating Mamoru... so the sidelining makes sense from that aspect. Doesn't make for a better story, but there is a reason for it.