Line #65 Main/OffscreenBreakup


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6	Last time we saw Alice and Bob, they were dating. Things seemed to be going fine, and they're happily in love. Now we see Bob flirting with Carol. Someone brings up the fact that he was dating Alice, and Bob will respond with "We broke up", or "Things didn't work out".
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8	This is more than a little jarring because it is just freeing up Bob to be in a new relationship (or to be single), without actually showing how the last one ended, or even to repeat the romantic subplot with Alice if she's in the sequel too. Often done to prevent ShippingBedDeath, or because [[TrueLoveIsBoring the writers simply don't want to deal with writing out the mundaneness of an actual relationship]].
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10	Compare to DowntimeDowngrade. Subtrope of StatusQuoIsGod. A direct inversion to OffscreenRomance. See also ProxyBreakup.
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13	!!Examples
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15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18	* ''Manga/BlueSeed'': Koume Sawaguchi and Yoshiki Yaegashi break up between the end of the series and the 2-year [[OriginalVideoAnimation OAV]] TimeSkip. When prompted by Momiji as to why, Koume explains that she panicked when she and Yaegashi began talking about getting [[BabiesEverAfter married and having kids]] and broke things off. [[spoiler: Momiji tells Koume that she shouldn't worry if they love each other and at the end of the second episode of the OAV [[RelationshipUpgrade Koume agrees to marry Yaegashi.]]]]
19	* The second season of ''VisualNovel/DaCapo'' subverts this: The protagonist of the first season is constantly minded by his haremettes and there are hints that his first season love interest either broke up with him or died... [[spoiler: Only it turns out she just moved away for a bit and comes back at around the halfway point of the series]].
20	* Bulma and Yamcha broke up between the Freeza and Cell Sagas in ''Franchise/DragonBall'', clearing the road for Bulma's relationship with Vegeta.
21	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
22	** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'', Dearka Elsman and Miriallia Haww seem to be headed vaguely in the direction of becoming a couple, and apparently do so following the end of the series - only to have broken up before the beginning of sequel series ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''.
23	** Ditto for Amuro and Sayla in the end of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the original series]] and the beginning of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta]]''. And then again for Amuro and Beltorchika in between ''Zeta'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack''.
24	** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'' sequel novel ''Frozen Teardrop'' reveals that Duo and Hilde got married '''and''' divorced in the 30-year TimeSkip between ''Endless Waltz'' and the novel.
25	* Osaragi from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' casually reveals in chapter 158 that she broke up with Kazeno over winter break after less than a week of dating. The whole thing is PlayedForLaughs since [[OffscreenRomance they originally hooked up offscreen]] as well.
26	* In the final episode of ''Manga/KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'', Hazumu and Yasuna begin dating. Come the OVA and suddenly they're broken up for some vague reason involving Yasuna wanting to not lean on Hazumu anymore. The real, meta reason is because the OVA pairs up Hazumu and ''Tomari''.
27	* Touko from ''Manga/RandomWalk'' starts dating Tsukasa {{offscreen\|Romance}}. Not long afterwards, she announces to her friends that they've broken up, and this also happens offscreen. They get back together, break up, and get back together again. [[RunningGag All of them offscreen]].
28	* This occurs in the television version of ''Manga/WanderingSon''. Anna and Nitori break up between episodes because the televised version was shortened. In the home release, the break-up happens on-screen in a flashback. [[spoiler:In the manga the two end up back together a while later]].
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Comic Books]]
32	* [[Comicbook/AllNewXMen O5 Angel]] and Comicbook/{{X 23}} dated for awhile, but eventually it turned into Schrödinger's Relationship. After the end of ''All-New X-Men Vol. 2'' and the conclusion of the "Enemy of the State II" arc of ''Comicbook/AllNewWolverine'' they haven't appeared in a book together, yet no mention of their relationship status has been made in either ''ComicBook/XMenBlue'' or subsequent issues of ''Wolverine''. Although Warren has hit on a number of women (including a cop and Firestar) in ''Blue'', suggesting they ''may'' be over. Tamaki's ''X-23'' series further supports a breakup in the first arc when Laura remarks she and Warren haven't seen one another recently. Ultimately it's rendered moot when [[spoiler:Warren returns to his own time, and he and Laura don't even say goodbye]].
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Fan Works]]
36	* In the fourth "book" of ''Fanfic/TheAnguisSeries'', "Beyond This Place", it is revealed that [[spoiler:Cal and Nat]] has broken up due to their {{differing priorities\|Breakup}} and lifestyle, despite the previous book highlighting their love and dedication towards one another, to the point that they are willing to sacrifice everything else to protect the other.
37	* ''Fanfic/DreamsScentedOfCoconutAndApple'' has Tyler break up with Lindsay after deciding he can't deal with the stress of a relationship that's [[LongDistanceRelationship purely online]].
38	* ''Fanfic/Earth1194'': Dick and Starfire broke off their relationship at some point before the beginning of ''Sons of Batman''.
39	* [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Sokka and Suki]] in ''Webcomic/HowIBecameYours''. Early on, Sokka compares the way Katara feels about Zuko to the way he ''used to'' feel about Suki. At the party in Chapter 2, Ty Lee mentions in passing that it's a shame they broke up, and Katara mentions that "long distance relationships never work out."
40	** In fact, most post-series ''[=ATLA=]'' shipping fanfics that have Sokka starting a relationship with another character have Sokka and Suki brake up prior to the start of the story. Always because of the long-distance issue as well, with some adding Suki cheating on him on top of that in fics where their relationship is no longer amicable.
41	* ''Fanfic/PacificasRevenge'': Dipper went through ''three'' of these before ''Back to Gravity Falls''. First, Pacifica broke up to him thanks to [[spoiler:the Love God using an Absent Love potion on them]]. He got together with Wendy, only for ''her'' to leave him in exchange for a place in Stan's will. Then he married Tracy and had a child with her, only for her to divorce him and leave him with custody of their son Tyrone.
42	** It's also revealed that the love potion that helped Tambry and Robbie hook up eventually wore off, and the two broke it off.
43	* In ''Fanfic/TotalDramaEverything 2'', it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Julie Yamamoto]] went through one of these with their love interest back home before their arrival at the show.
44	* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableDiamondProteanRain'': PlayedWith in ''And Then There Was Duwang (A Halloween Story)'' -- Josuke and Onodera ''seem'' to be attempting a "trial separation", which Fubuki is taking strangely seriously. Eventually it turns out that [[spoiler:that was all part of Fubuki's nightmare. [[GainaxEnding Apparently]]]].
45	* ''Fanfic/AnUnexpectedChild'': During a conversation over the phone, Anais's mother Kelly abruptly reveals that she's seperated from Dudley. She never explains why.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
49	* This exact same thing happens with the direct to video ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'' movies. Tony Toponi had his LoveAtFirstSight moment with Bridget in the first movie and they seemed like soul mates. Come the third movie, not only is the second movie now AllJustADream but Bridget is gone for some reason and Tony is flirting with someone else.
50	* Superman and Wonder Woman date each other throughout the WesternAnimation/DCAnimatedMovieUniverse starting from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueThroneOfAtlantis''. However, by the time of ''WesternAnimation/TheDeathOfSuperman'', they've broken up and Clark started dating Lois Lane with Diana hooking up with Steve Trevor in ''WesternAnimation/WonderWomanBloodlines''.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
54	* Hilariously subverted in the ''Film/AustinPowers'' series, where Austin and love interest Vanessa get married in the first movie. At the beginning of the second movie, Vanessa is revealed to be [[spoiler:a kamikaze exploding fembot sent by Dr. Evil]], thus making room for Felicity Shagwell.
55	* Bruce Wayne and Vicki Vale between ''Film/Batman1989'' and ''Film/BatmanReturns''. The former alludes that she couldn't handle his double life as Batman.
56	* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', it's revealed [[spoiler:Tony Stark and Pepper Potts have broken up.]] Inverted in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', when a scene at the end reveals that [[spoiler: Tony and Pepper got back together off-screen.]]
57	* In the ''Franchise/DieHard'' series, John [=McClane=] makes up with his estranged wife Holly in the [[Film/DieHard first film]], but they're separated again in the [[Film/DieHardWithAVengeance third]] and divorced by the [[Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard fourth]].
58	* In ''Film/TheGuilty'', Asger and Patricia split up before the events of the movie, presumably due to his killing of a young man in the line of duty and the upcoming trial. His colleagues don't know yet, and end up unknowingly rubbing salt in the wound.
59	* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'': Indy and Marion between ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' and ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]''.
60	* At the end of ''Film/InspectorGadget1999'', Gadget has hooked up with scientist Brenda. When ''Film/InspectorGadget2'' rolls around, not only is the Inspector single again, but a new scientist called Baxter takes Brenda's techie role, and a new love interest in the form of G2 appears. An early animatic has Gadgetmobile mentioning that they broke up.
61	* ''Film/JamesBond''. All part of the formula.
62	* ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'' used this to explain the disappearance of the first film's love interest character. It was even in a [[DerailingLoveInterests needlessly cruel way]]; not only did she unceremoniously dump him, but she wrecked his car. ''Series/CobraKai'' would eventually {{retcon}} this [[spoiler:when Ali herself returns, and reminds Daniel that ''he'' caused their breakup over a misunderstanding and he wrecked the car himself, but lied to Miyagi about both to save face.]]
63	* Unexpectedly averted in ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'', as his RescueSex with Princess Tilde of Sweden actually turned in a long-term relationship [[spoiler: and eventually they get married]].
64	* ''Film/TheLibrarian'': Flynn breaks with Nicole at some point after the first movie, before the second one...
65	* ''Film/MagicMikeXXL'': Brooke’s absence is explained by her leaving Mike when he decided to return to stripping.
66	* ''Film/MenInBlack''. Linda Fiorentino is (kinda) Creator/WillSmith's love interest; come the next movie, she's outta there! (Because she apparently ''wanted'' to go back to normal life...)
67	** It's also implied that Creator/WillSmith has been doing it to all of his partners since Kay left in order to prevent them dedicating their lives to the job.
68	* Ben and Abigail between the two ''Film/NationalTreasure'' movies.
69	* Professor Klump does get the girl in Eddie Murphy's version of ''Film/{{The Nutty Professor\|1996}}''. He's lost her again by the beginning of its sequel.
70	* ''Film/Speed2CruiseControl'', Annie broke up with Jack and is now in a relationship with another police officer named Alex because Keanu Reeves refused to come back.
71	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': At the end of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' things seem to be going very well between Leia and Han. By the time of ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' however, [[spoiler:their relationship is largely over. Han has returned to smuggling and Leia is still in a leadership position in the Rebellion/Resistance. The relationship did produce at least one child (whose turning to evil is indicated to be the cause of the breakup). They still seem to be on friendly terms, and Leia is ''heartbroken'' when Han dies.]]
72	* ''Film/StreetsOfFire'': Tom Cody and Ellen Aim do this when Tom leaves town for some sort of war for 2 years.
73	* ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' ends with Thor and Jane Foster kissing dramatically and vowing their eternal love despite their MayflyDecemberRomance. The next movie, ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', mentions in a very brief, casual aside that Jane dumped Thor between movies. ("Well, I dumped her actually - it, it was a mutual dumping").
74	* In ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'', Sam's previous girlfriend from the first two films, Mikaela Banes is given a simple mention early on, that she broke up with Sam at some point between the second and third film.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Literature]]
78	* In ''[[{{Literature/Dinotopia}} Dinotopia: The World Beneath]]'' Arthur had a friend in his traveling companion Orianna. While it's never outright stated if they hooked up, it was strongly implied by certain scenes. At the very least, they became extremely close. Come ''Dinotopia: Journey to Chandra'', Arthur decides to go traveling some more and [[DemotedToExtra Orianna has the briefest of cameos]], basically telling him to have fun. She's not mentioned for the rest of the book.
79	* ''[[Creator/JosephineTey The Franchise Affair]]'': The protagonist's cousin and law partner breaks up with his frequently mentioned, but never seen, fiancée due to an argument about how she and her father believe the villain's frame job.
80	* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince,'' Harry accidentally (but not unhappily) facilitates breakups between both Ron and Lavender and Ginny and Dean, though he doesn't see either.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
84	%%* ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'': Chris and Shaz between seasons two and three.
85	%%* From ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'':
86	%%** Leonard and Pryia and Leonard and Dr. Stephanie.
87	%%** Bernadette and Howard. Although it's worth noting TheBusCameBack and as of the season five finale [[spoiler:they're married]].
88	* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' doesn't focus a lot on the team's personal lives, so several relationships start and end without alerting the audience:
89	** Morgan got involved with a victim's sister while he was temporarily leading the team, so it was a bad emotional time for either one to start a relationship, but no resolution was ever provided to the arc. She just stopped appearing and stopped being mentioned, and Morgan eventually moved onto a new relationship.
90	** Garcia's relationship with Sam, a hunky NewOldFlame, appeared in a few episodes and was mentioned once or twice after we stop seeing him. Then, next season, she hears about a dating site and casually wonders if it's worth trying since she's single.
91	** Hotch got a fairly significant arc with Beth, his first girlfriend after the death of his wife/FirstLove Haley. There was even an episode where he went to Limbo and Haley gave her blessing to the relationship with Beth. She didn't seem to mind his career and got along great with his son... and then Hotch suddenly tells Rossi that she moved to Asia to pursue her career.
92	* Fourth season of ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': [[spoiler: First time we see Angel he's romancing Laguerta. When asked about the girlfriend he had last season, he mentions that it didn't work out.]]
93	** And again in the sixth season when [[spoiler: he and Laguerta had a divorce between seasons]].
94	* ''{{Series/Eureka}}'': Jack is dating Callie and the relationship is progressing nicely by the end of Season 2. Season 3 starts and Callie is never seen or mentioned again, and Jack is single.
95	* Smash and Waverly, and Lyla and the Christian guy she was dating, on ''Series/FridayNightLights''. Actually, a lot of the relationships on this show, because they don't show too many episodes that take place when football season isn't going on.
96	* In the third season of ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', Lorelai casually dates a guy named Alex. Despite getting along with him, he suddenly disappears without explanation, with the two seemingly breaking up offscreen.
97	* Puck and Quinn in ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
98	** And Santana and Sam sometime after [[spoiler: she realizes she is a lesbian]].
99	** Between the fourth season and the third season finale, Tina and Mike. She mentions on an interview with Jacob Ben Israel that a long distance relationship didn't work out for them.
100	* Josh Safran, ''Series/GossipGirl'' showrunner for the second half of season four and for season five, wanted to do this with Chuck and Blair in the season three premiere in order to make his own favorite ship Dan/Blair happen. Given that the entirety of season two was devoted to a WillTheyOrWontThey between Chuck and Blair, the two of them not getting together until the last scene of season two and them being [[FanPreferredCouple by far the most popular ship of the show]] such a development would have been strange to say the least.
101	* Happens in ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' to Patricia and Eddie. As such a beloved couple, the fans were outraged and confused when they broke up over the summer with no given explanation. It's speculated that Patricia broke up with him because the relationship was moving too fast, but it was still jarring to the fans.
102	** There are also some breakups that might not have even happened at all. The characters just moved on to other people without actually splitting.
103	* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': We get hints that Abby and [=McGee's=] relationship is in trouble during early seasons, but we never get to see them actually break up.
104	%%* Andy and Erin in ''Series/{{The Office\|US}}''.
105	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': the [[DearJohnLetter break-up by letter]] for Tommy/Kimberly. Shippers for that fandom still have trouble accepting that one.
106	* Happens three times in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. John ends season one still attached to his girlfriend Sarah, but the first episode of the second season furnishes him with new girlfriend and makes it clear that he's had several since Sarah, so they obviously broke up, and Sarah is never seen again. Likewise, Molly stated that she dumped Jim offscreen after only a few dates, [[spoiler: which was fortunate, given that he turned out to be Moriarty]], and [[spoiler: has now apparently split up with her ''fiancé'' between episodes.]]
107	* Zoey and Charlie in ''Series/TheWestWing'', some time before she starts dating [[FrenchJerk Jean-Paul]].
108	** Also happened with Leo and Jordan. Arguably with Josh and Amy as well (the first time they break up).
109	* Omar and Dante from ''Series/TheWire'' end season three still together, but with a noticable strain on their relationship, and at the beginning of season four, Omar is already living with someone else (Renaldo). Fans typically assume this is because Dante gave up Omar's location under torture, unlike his previous boyfriend Brandon who refused to talk even on pain of death.
110	* The 2016 revival of ''Series/TheXFiles'' reveals that Mulder and Scully broke up.
111	* Subverted with Jack and Rachel in season 6 of ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld''. Their breakup is announced in the season 7 premiere, but it's foreshadowed in the previous season finale when they realize their relationship was built on physical attraction and Jack competing with Eric for Rachel.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Video Games]]
115	* Several entries into the ''VideoGame/BrokenSword'' franchise begin with George and Nico having broken up after having gotten (back) together at the end of the previous game.
116	* In ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseGrimsborough'', GPD's Forensics Expert, Grace Delaney, was engaged to a man named Luke Harris. When the player meets Grace again in ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseWorldEdition'', she mentioned that she's broken off her engagement to pursue a research career in Antarctica.
117	* {{Parodied}} in ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry5PassionatePattiDoesALittleUndercoverWork''. For various in-jokey reasons [[UnInstallment there was no Leisure Suit Larry 4]], with Larry and Patti's break-up being one of the events that was supposedly covered in the "missing" game.
118	* Snake and Meryl between ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''.
119	* Guybrush and Elaine during the TimeSkip between ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'' and ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge''. And then they mysteriously are back to being in love at ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland''...
120	* Happens repeatedly to Ratchet in ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'', as Ratchet regularly starts to get interested in whatever new female character is introduced in the game, and then in the next she'll be gone and usually won't even be mentioned.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Webcomics]]
124	%%* ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'': Hansi.
125	* ''Webcomic/DailyJoJo'': Eunjo Lee and Seonkyu Kim started dating in the second arc, "King's Apps". The fifth arc, "Cheat Sheet", takes place after a one-year time skip and reveals that they broke up.
126	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' gives us two odd examples, in the form of Davesprite and Jade, and Vriska and a doomed timeline John. What makes them unusual is that due to the TimeSkip, the same conversations that establish they broke up also ''reveal they were in relationships to begin with'', simultaneously inverting and playing this trope straight at once.
127	** ''Everyone'' in Homestuck ends up doing this. Besides the aforementioned, there are also, at various points of the three-year timeskip, Karkat and Terezi, Dave and Terezi, [[DatingCatwoman Gamzee and Terezi]], [[MoralityPet Karkat and Gamzee]], and Jake and Dirk. Just about the only couple that is still together is Rose and Kanaya.
128	* ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'''s finale reveals that this happened with [[spoiler:the title characters]], though the very last strip hints that [[MaybeEverAfter they might still have a future together]].
129	* In ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive,'' Davan and that girl who liked to strangle him, though in that case it was explicitly a non-romantic relationship just for sex.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Web Original]]
133	* In ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', [[LonersAreFreaks Jonathan Jarocki]] and [[PerkyGoth Anna Chase]] broke up before they got on the bus, as revealed in Anna's opening post, mainly due to the fact that [[StrangledByTheRedString the pairing was almost unanimously hated among the writers]]. In universe, it's implied that ''something'' went on between Chase and Dawne Jiang [[KissingUnderTheInfluence during a drunken evening]], leading to the former breaking up with him out of guilt. [[spoiler:This leads to major SurvivorGuilt from her when ''both'' Dawne's and Jon's deaths are announced, on the same day no less.]]
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Western Animation]]
137	* Jay being single in the Webisodes following ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' Season 2 was explained with one of the first lines:
138	-->"What happened to your self-respect?"\
139	"I lost it in the ''second'' divorce settlement."
140	* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' had a season finale where Khan's mother moved in with him and began dating Bill. At the start of the next season she was [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome inexplicably gone]]. WordOfGod says that they wanted to return Bill to his loserly status rather than have him in an ongoing relationship.
141	* One complaint about ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'''s first season is that it ends with a BigDamnKiss between [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraMako Mako]] and [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAvatarKorra Korra]], but some in the audience got the impression that he hadn't actually broken up with [[Characters/TheLegendOfKorraAsamiSato Asami Sato]] yet. (The writers may have intended a conversation that they had earlier to be a breakup, but if so, it was vague enough to cause confusion.)
142	* Some time after the first ''WesternAnimation/PrepAndLanding'' special, Magee and Tiny broke up.
143	* Benson and Audrey in ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow.'' Lampshaded when Benson talks about going on a date with a preschool teacher named Natalie. Mordecai asks what the deal with that is when he has Audrey, and Benson reminds everyone that they broke up months ago. None of the Park Crew remembers this to their confusion and his exasperation, even as he describes in detail his period of depression and all their roles in his healing process. The reason behind this breakup is never mentioned.
144	* In ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'', Marco and Kelly start a G-rated FriendsWithBenefits relationship as "breakup buddies" at the end of the episode "Kelly's World". This relationship is seen in only one other episode before "A Boy and His DC-700XE" reveals that Marco broke up with her, much to her frustration.
145	* In the second season premiere of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', [[spoiler:Superboy and Miss Martian]] broke up during the five year TimeSkip, and she's now dating someone else. We eventually learn what happened and that the two still have feelings for each other. By season three, they're back together again.
146	[[/folder]]

Context Main / OffscreenBreakup