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| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | %%% |
| 6 | %% Image kept on page per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16963782770.80576000 |
| 7 | %% Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 8 | %% ANY change to this image without staff approval will result in an instant wiki suspension. |
| 9 | %% Image Pickin' thread for reference: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17060504040.11966700 |
| 10 | %% |
| 11 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bwi-bus.jpg]] |
| 12 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[VisualPun Bye-bye]]! [[TheBusCameBack See you again someday]]... [[LongBusTrip maybe]]. [[BusCrash We hope]].]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ->'''Willow:''' I feel like some part of me will ''always'' be waiting for you. Like, if I'm old and blue-haired and I turn the corner in Istanbul, and there you are, I won't be surprised. Because you're with me, you know?\ |
| 15 | '''Oz:''' I know. But now is not that time, I guess. |
| 16 | -->-- ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E19NewMoonRising New Moon Rising]]" |
| 17 | |
| 18 | So you're a film or TV show producer or the author of a book series, or the team behind a comic book, and you have a problem. You want a character out of the story, but you don't want to kill them off, you're not going to just [[OutOfFocus flat out ignore them]], and you certainly wouldn't have them [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome just disappear for no reason and with no mention of it]]. However, there is a situation in which a character can be written out of a series in such a way that they can easily be returned later, if the creators so choose. They are Put on a Bus. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | A staple of the PrimeTimeSoap and particularly SoapOpera where casts are large and [[RealLifeWritesThePlot actor turnover is frequent]]. Conveniently, when such a character is brought back and now played by a different actor, it can be a case of SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome or TheOtherDarrin. Often a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, due to actors leaving a franchise for various reasons. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | If the actor is only leaving temporarily, with the expectation that they'll return (due to appearing in a movie, going on maternity leave, etc.) and their character is written back into the show once they do, it's TheBusCameBack. If the character doesn't leave in such a way that arranging a return would be simple, this becomes a LongBusTrip. Should they start appearing infrequently, they're CommutingOnABus or OutOfFocus. If there's obvious malice involved in the character's departure, then they've been PutOnABusToHell. If the character is arrested, then they've been PutOnAPrisonBus. There's also the chance of a BusCrash or [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim dying on the bus]]. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | The bus in question may be a ConvenientComa. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Opposite of DroppedABridgeOnHim. Compare with SequelNonEntity (a character disappearing from the show with little-to-no explanation), ChuckCunninghamSyndrome (a character disappearing from the ''franchise'' with little-to-no explanation), WhatHappenedToTheMouse (where the story continues with a minor character's final fate left unknown), and WrittenInAbsence, for when a character disappears for only an episode or two. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | %%If you have time, please take time to put examples in alphabetical order. This page Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings should help you with that. |
| 29 | ---- |
| 30 | !!Examples subpages: |
| 31 | [[index]] |
| 32 | * PutOnABus/AnimeAndManga |
| 33 | * PutOnABus/LiveActionTV |
| 34 | * PutOnABus/VideoGames |
| 35 | * PutOnABus/WesternAnimation |
| 36 | [[/index]] |
| 37 | |
| 38 | !!Other examples: |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 41 | |
| 42 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 43 | * Advertising/ToucanSam's three nephews (Puey, Susey, and Louis) were retired from appearing in Kellogg's Froot Loops ads after 2016 after years of appearing in them, when the ads instead shifted to the short-lived 'Whatever Froots Your Loops!' ad campaign phase that lasted until 2019. As of 2021 due to Toucan Sam's redesign for America and Canada, and Creator/MauriceLaMarche's departure from voicing Toucan Sam, the nephews have never been seen again since. |
| 44 | * The opera singer Gio Compario from the Go Compare (a price comparison website) adverts. After numerous attempts to lampshade the annoying nature of the original adverts (such as various guest stars, including Creator/StephenHawking, exacting their revenge, and his fictional failed attempts to revive the ad campaign), they finally got rid of the character by ''literally'' putting him on a bus... [[ReassignedToAntarctica by giving him a new job as a tour bus driver]], thus allowing the "story" to progress in new ways. ([[SugarWiki/TVTropesWillEnhanceYourLife Given the irony, you could almost be forgiven for thinking the ad people were tropers...]]) |
| 45 | [[/folder]] |
| 46 | |
| 47 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 48 | * ''Animation/Block13'': After serving as the boys' teacher in Season 1, Mr. Saleh is sent off to the mental hospital at the start of Season 2. He's quickly replaced, although he has a one-off appearance as a villain in Season 3. |
| 49 | * ''Animation/OurFriendXiongXiaoMi'': Xiao Mi's penguin friend, Zhi Peng, was written out of the show right around the series finale; specifically, in the episode "Goodbye, Zhi Peng", he decides to stay with his penguin friends in the South Pole. The series finale, which directly follows "Goodbye, Zhi Peng", does not feature him as a result. |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Audio Plays]] |
| 53 | * Pegs, Kelly, Datu, and Hope were all put on a plane for a safe zone in Boulder, CO in ''AudioPlay/WereAlive''. TheBusCameBack for [[spoiler: Datu and Hope.]] No word yet on [[spoiler: Pegs and Kelly.]] |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 57 | * In ''ComicBook/Aquaman1989'', after her apparent death, Mera reveals she was still alive, but exiles herself back to her home dimension. (Later runs reveal she was intercepted by Thanatos.) |
| 58 | * ''ComicBook/AstroCity'': Done literally in "A Little Knowledge", as "Eyes" Eisenstein takes a bus [[spoiler:to get ''very far away'' from Astro City]]. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': |
| 60 | ** [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] despite being a staple of Batman lore disappeared from comics for a whole decade between 1964 and 1973, not even Creator/CesarRomero's popularity in [[Series/Batman1966 the show]] in the role convinced DC creatives to take the clown off the bus. It wasn't till Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams decided to bring him back DarkerAndEdgier did the MonsterClown forever cement his place as Batman's ArchEnemy. |
| 61 | ** [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two-Face]] was absent for two decades during the [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] until O'Neil and Adams brought Harvey back and cemented his place in the RoguesGallery. |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/BlazeOfGlory'' explains away Walking Fish and Hijiro's absence from the plot as them moving on with their lives, although [[spoiler: that information comes from a less-than-reliable source.]] |
| 63 | * The fifth installment of ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' omits several major characters who play major roles in every other book, most notably Phoney Bone, Thorn, and Gran'ma Ben. Additionally, the two stupid rat creatures who play major roles in the first five books don't appear again until the final book. |
| 64 | * Did you know that ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} had a daughter in the ''One Year Later'' storyline of ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis''? No? Good, because DC would prefer you forget that ever happened. |
| 65 | * BoxedCrook Hoss Cosgrove was sent back to prison in the first issue of ''ComicBook/CombatKellyAndHisDeadlyDozen''. He was never heard from again. |
| 66 | * Following ''ComicBook/{{Excalibur|MarvelComics}}'' #67, half the team is Put On A Bus, though they make guest appearances in other books. |
| 67 | * In the Denny O'Neil[=/=]Neal Adams run of ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'', Guy Gardner was hit by a bus to make way for John Stewart. After enduring several circumstances (having Hal's Power Battery explode, trapping him in the Phantom Zone, rescued from it, and rendered catatonic), he would then play a greater role in the Green Lantern comics following the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. |
| 68 | * When Geoff Johns took over ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'', he started bringing back characters from the mythos. There was some fan interest in a giant canine GL named G'Nort. Johns insisted that G'Nort was dead. Then, during ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', when dead people started coming back, people asked about G'Nort... and were told that G'Nort was not coming. The implication being that G'Nort was on a bus, [[DroppedABridgeOnHim under a bridge]] which was itself on fire. |
| 69 | ** Then, at the end of ''ComicBook/WrathOfTheFirstLantern'', who shows up as part of the BigDamnHeroes moment? ''G'Nort''. Even Guy comments that it was about time. |
| 70 | * When the Gang of Harleys made their debut in issue #16 of ComicBook/HarleyQuinn's ''ComicBook/New52'' solo series, among the founding members were five teenage sisters known as the Quinntuplets. However, they only had one adventure as part of the team before Harley found out they're too young for her group and sent them home at the end of the 19th issue. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': Most of the JL members added to the team under Creator/DwayneMcDuffie's tenure ended up being written out once Creator/JamesRobinson took over and decided he wanted to write another characters. Characters/{{Zatanna}} seemingly had an emotional breakdown and quit offscreen, ComicBook/{{Vixen}} took a "leave of absence" to heal from some recent injuries and then was never seen or mentioned again in that series, ComicBook/GreenLantern left without an explanation, and ComicBook/{{Firestorm|DCComics}} also quit offscreen after the death of his girlfriend. Each of those characters save for Green Lantern would later return in subsequent volumes of the franchise. Ironically enough, this happened to the majority of Robinson's new characters, who quit offscreen after his first three issues. |
| 72 | * The ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica following ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'', when they decided to disband after the merging of the Earths but were called to alter the outcome of the Norse gods' Ragnarok in order to prevent Adolf Hitler from retroactively destroying the universe in 1945, which caused the team to remain trapped in a never-ending fight cycle [[TheBusCameBack until several years later]] in ''Armageddon: Inferno''. |
| 73 | * Between the late 1960s and his return in the early '80s, J'onn J'onnz, the ComicBook/MartianManhunter of the ComicBook/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}, went off to find "New Mars" with the rest of the Martian people. This has since been {{retcon}}ned -- along with the existence of [[LastOfHisKind other Martians in general]]. |
| 74 | * In ''Mélusine'', the album 22 has several characters leaving the series: [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Count Gonzague Hernyvanz]], [[OurGhostsAreDifferent his wife]] and [[FrankensteinsMonster Winston]] all disappear. Their castle was accidentally burned because of Cancrelune and we don't see them anymore [[TheBusCameBack except of an occasional moment or two]]. [[spoiler:Cancrelune also leave the series [[DrivenToSuicide after committing suicide]].]] |
| 75 | * The ''ComicBook/MickeyMouseComicUniverse'' had a villain named Von Weasel who debuted in 1943 as a partner of Pete and actual ''Nazi'', identified as a "best buddy of Hitler." Needless to say, this is a justified example of this trope; Not only would it be incredibly insensitive to have a "best buddy of Hitler" as a minor antagonist, but Pete has gone through several decades of character development and most modern audiences would never imagine him voluntarily working with actual-nazis. |
| 76 | * ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': |
| 77 | ** Ariana Dzerchenko, Tim's FirstLove. Although she starred in the first 50 issues of the series, she was quickly dropped in favour of the more popular Stephanie. After her breakup with Tim, she only appeared once and was never mentioned again. |
| 78 | ** Dana Drake, Tim's stepmother. More specifically she was sent to a mental hospital in Bludhaven after Jack Drake's death and then was assumed to have [[BusCrash died together with the city when it was demolished]]. On the other hand, she didn't show up during ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''... |
| 79 | * Karolina was put on a spaceship right after the "True Believers" arc of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}''. To make a very long story short, she had to go back to her home planet with Xavin in order to help end a war. However, they returned before the end of that volume. |
| 80 | ** This was also done to [[GenderBender Xavin]], though whether or not [[BusCrash that bus will crash]] remains to be seen. |
| 81 | * A ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' comic features a subplot where Scrappy goes to a gambling table and begins winning hotels. At the end, he declares that he has won hotels and vanishes from the Mystery Machine, where the gang discovers he was using the solid hologram device from that story. The last panel has Scooby leave the van to go back to Las Vegas to get him, but by the next comic, Scrappy isn't anywhere to be seen, so presumably the gang left him there to run his hotels. |
| 82 | * Practically every character gets put on a bus at some point in ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim''. Kim even gets put on a literal bus at the end of volume five and doesn't return till halfway through six. |
| 83 | * ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': |
| 84 | ** [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Legal matters]] resulted in every Echidna except Knuckles and Finitevus, as well as Charmy's girlfriend Saffron, being tossed through a warp ring by Thrash. What makes this funnier is that they disappear ''between issues'': one issue ends with Sonic fighting Lien-Da, the next has Sonic coming to after being knocked out and finding the battlefield deserted! |
| 85 | ** Earlier, Sleuth Dawg decided he was done and walked out, promising not to be seen again. In a Q&A, Ian Flynn admitted it was because he simply found him too boring a character. |
| 86 | ** And before him was Dulcy the Dragon, who last appeared in #107. |
| 87 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': |
| 88 | ** ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'': Two female human pilots left Rogue Squadron. Elscol, a guerrilla leader before Wedge recruited her, left because of command issues and because she believed she could do better working on the ground. Plourr, a BoisterousBruiser who turned out to be a princess, left because revolutions had torn up her homeworld and she needed to rule and bring it back under control. Oddly, it's Plourr who was written back in, and ''very'' quickly. A drop-in commando character recurred, but Elscol did not. Well, not in the comics. She did have a role in one of the novels. |
| 89 | ** This was originally Asajj Ventress's fate in the comic series ''Obsession''. Having been betrayed by Count Dooku, Ventress decides she's had enough of the Clone Wars, hijacks a Republic medical shuttle and flies off into parts unknown never to be seen again. Well, then ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' came along and decided that [[{{Retcon}} none of that happened]]. |
| 90 | ** In the ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' comics, [[BoisterousBruiser Plourr Illo]] had an arc which showed her to be a badass {{expy}} of Anastasia, the last princess of a line that had died in revolution. She returned to her homeworld and waded into the teeth of a new revolution that was even more violent than the last. At the end of it, she [[IChooseToStay chose to stay]] and rule her planet while the Rogues left. They left her her X-Wing and Wedge told her "You've saved your world. When you're ready, come back and save the rest of us." And she and a squadron of fighters from her homeworld did have a BigDamnHeroes moment at the end of the very next arc, and she complained about how boring politics was. But the very next issue after that had her serving full-time with the Rogues again, flying into combat and getting into [[BoisterousBruiser fistfights]]. Weird. |
| 91 | * ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': |
| 92 | ** After the end of ''ComicBook/StarfiresRevenge'', the titular villain's minions Rodney Marlowe and Doctor Kangle disappear completely. |
| 93 | ** Villainess Lesla-Lar is apparently killed off in ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'', and she is not seen again until ''ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', published fourteen years later. |
| 94 | ** Both ''ComicBook/{{Power Girl}}s'' Kara Zor-L and Tanya, became trapped in an interdimensional void between worlds. In ''Deathstroke Annual'' #1 (March 2018), Tanya tried to rescue Pre-Flashpoint Kara, who was already seemingly trapped since post-''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', but her plan ended in disaster. |
| 95 | ** 1981 storyline ''ComicBook/TheStrangeRevengeOfLenaLuthor'' was Lena Luthor's last in-continuity appearance until ''ComicBook/SupermanSecretOrigin'' introduced another version of the character twenty-seven years later. |
| 96 | ** ''ComicBook/WayOfTheWorld'' features the final appearance of ComicBook/YoungJustice member Anita Fite "Empress" and her parents. |
| 97 | ** ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily'' was the last Post-Crisis storyline to feature Silver Banshee and Insect Queen. |
| 98 | ** ''ComicBook/SupergirlsGreatestChallenge'': Whizzy, descendant of Streaky the Supercat in the 30th century, makes his first appearance, helps Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} out, and is never seen again. |
| 99 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': |
| 100 | ** After ''ComicBook/ManyHappyReturns'' ended, Post-crisis Linda Danvers, her supporting cast and her villains dropped out of the universe. |
| 101 | ** After ''ComicBook/SupermanVsShazam'', the Sand Superman is not seen again. |
| 102 | ** "ComicBook/TheSuperDuelInSpace": Superman finds the Bottle-City of Kandor and meets Professor Kimda, Jor-El's college roommate, who helps him beat Brainiac...and is never seen again, despite being Superman's father's old friend. |
| 103 | * Subverted and played straight with different characters in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'': |
| 104 | ** Wheelie, Garnak, and Hardhead are not seen for several issues despite having been semi-important characters and then in issue #5 Ironhide makes [[HandWave an offhand comment]] about Wheelie having left Cybertron. With all of this it seems as if the characters have been put on the bus. Then in ''very next issue'' we leave Cybertron and pick up with the three of them and see where they went, why they left, and what kind of adventures they're getting into right now. |
| 105 | ** Played straight with Omega Supreme- he's offlined by a bomb attack very early in the series and got occasionally mentioned as being barely alive. In the series finale, he has a psychic conversation with Bumblebee to give a hint on how to defeat Unicron, then dies. |
| 106 | * In ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'', Victor Van Damme is stranded in the ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' universe at the end of the "Frightful" arc. |
| 107 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': About twenty issues in, Perez had all the Olympians (except Hermes) run off to the other end of the galaxy after Darkseid blew up Olympus. In-universe, they did this to build a new Olympus (even though they're supposedly capable of retaliating against Apokolips immediately); out-of-universe, it's pretty clear Perez did this as a DeusExitMachina to cut down on the gods' StoryBreakerPower, until their return in ''War of the Gods'', to the detriment of many. |
| 108 | * ''ComicBook/XMen'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde Kitty Pryde]] was forgotten by most writers about for majority of the 90s where [[Characters/MarvelComicsJubilee Jubilee]] took her place. Kitty was relegated to ''ComicBook/{{Excalibur|MarvelComics}}'' until Creator/JossWhedon made Kitty popular in the main books again with ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen''. |
| 109 | * Zap Zodiac, a comic strip in ''ComicBook/TheBeano'', ended in a way so that the strip was left open to return in the future. But as of 2011, the bus has not yet returned to Beanotown. |
| 110 | [[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 113 | * ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Watterson introduced Uncle Max into the strip but quickly realized he hadn't put enough thought into the character, and wasn't quite sure what to do with him. After visiting once, Max goes back home and is never seen or mentioned again.[[note]]WordOfGod says that another problem with Max was that his dialog was really hard to write: Watterson had a policy that Calvin's parents never be given names beyond "mom" and "dad," but this made their conversations with Max incredibly awkward. Thanks to Max, Watterson developed a personal rule that none of the supporting characters should be given outside friends or interests.[[/note]] |
| 114 | * ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'': Jason's original teacher was an elderly woman by the name of Miss Grinchley. [[ScrewedByTheLawyers Likely due to legal issues surrounding]] [[Creator/DrSeuss her name]], she retired three years into the strip and was replaced by Miss O'Malley. |
| 115 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'': |
| 116 | ** This happened ''twice'' to Jerry, the district manager. First time, he got promoted to a job in another state, [[TheBusCameBack only to get his old job back a year later]] due to his position being eliminated. The second happened years later, when he decided to retire altogether. He hasn't been seen since 2012. |
| 117 | ** After Marla's promotion to store manager, she fired Courtney in 2013, and Josh in 2014. Neither of them appeared in the strip since then. |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 121 | * ''Fanfic/ArtifactDatabase'': The Quantum Bus is a convenient artifact that has a habit of an appearing to run over people who need to go, erasing them from the timeline. Used on the wiki to explain the sudden absence of any banned users and their characters. |
| 122 | * ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': Hollyleaf/Fallenleaf leaves [=ThunderClan=] before the rewritten version of ''The Broken Code'' starts to learn about the gods and their powers, and Cinderheart follows her. |
| 123 | * ''Fanfic/BloodThatFlows'': Every main character in the ''Dusk'' arc, allowing the author to explore the minor and secondary characters more. |
| 124 | * ''Fanfic/BoldoresandBoomsticks'': Grendel was ordered by Salem to avoid team RWBY. Not counting a couple cameos, it hasn't been seen since Chapter 13. |
| 125 | * More than a few characters have been more or less written out over the course of ''Fanfic/CatTales'': Clayface, Talia, Greg Brady, etc. Characters subjected to this have been known to reappear again, though, so it's hard to tell if something will stick. |
| 126 | * ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': All of the Autobots on the ''Ark'' besides Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Arcee, Bulkhead, Cliffjumper, Ironhide, and Fixit were thrown off the ship while it hurtles toward Earth in the beginning of ''R1'', leaving them stuck indefinitely in the cold void of space. [[TheBusCameBack Many of them return at the beginning of]] ''[[TheBusCameBack R2]]''. |
| 127 | * ''Fanfic/CrimsonRising'': |
| 128 | ** Tyzonn leaves Earth and the Operation Overdrive team to defend his own planet from Ooze’s attack. |
| 129 | ** It is revealed that Tommy gave the Red Zeo Crystal to Andros for safekeeping after "Forever Red", explaining why he never used the Zeo powers in ''Dino Thunder''. |
| 130 | * ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': As explained in chapter 1 of the fourth story, ''The Diplomat's Life'', Moondancer and Trixie left on an astronomy tour shortly after Twilight and her friends got home from their trip at the end of the third story, and while they write to her, she still misses having them around. TheBusCameBack in chapter 6 though, when they return in time for Luna to give birth. |
| 131 | * ''Fanfic/FallenKing'' has Yami Yugi, who is made to leave by Joey and the others. Pegasus lampshades that it was a dumb move soon after he disappears. |
| 132 | * In the ''Franchise/StarWars''[=/=]''VideoGame/MassEffect'' crossover universe created in ''Fanfic/FracturedSovereignGFC'' this ends up happening due to the large casts--the sequel, ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', suffers from it even more (combined with OutOfFocus) as 200+ named characters crop up. [[AnyoneCanDie Some don't last]]. |
| 133 | * In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'' the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes and [[EvilTwin Satan]] [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Girl]]'s child are put on a bus after the first arc wraps up and Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} travels back to the present day. They make their reappearance at the beginning of the third arc, thirty-five chapters later. |
| 134 | * ''Fanfic/InvaderZimABadThingNeverEnds'': Professor Membrane leaves town in the first chapter for a four month science summit in Europe. |
| 135 | * ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8514012/1/Keena-the-Defendants-of-Constan-Magic-Academy Keena the Defendants of Constan Magic Academy]]'' goes for this, to make sure Keena gets notable focus and even bring up the Student Council Club from minor to main characters. |
| 136 | ** By the end of chapter 16, [[spoiler:Akuto and Junko make a cameo]]. |
| 137 | ** Chapter 17 has [[spoiler:Korone]] returning. |
| 138 | * To be exact, ''Fanfic/LeftBehind'' has the rest of Moya's crew (and possibly their own clones/originals) get back on their usual bus, leaving Crichton and Chiana (originals or more clones) behind on Rohvu. |
| 139 | * ''Fanfic/LittleHandsBigAttitude'': |
| 140 | ** Commander Walters is unceremoniously removed from the story in ''The Thief and the Sleeper'' after GUN command tells him that he's removed from any case involving the aliens at Green Hills, and the only reason they told him those missions are happening is because he would have heard from the grapevine anyway. |
| 141 | ** Kaia spends the entirety of ''The Thief and the Sleeper'' trapped under the frozen lake, so she can't help the heroes with anything or even talk to them. Same goes for the sequel fic, she's still trapped in the lake. |
| 142 | * ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'': Sam is said to be off on a trip with her parents in Europe, so she doesn't know about Danny's dates. [[ClingyJealousGirl Given her reaction to him dating Valerie in the show]], this might be a good thing. |
| 143 | * In ''Fanfic/MastermindStrategistForHire'', Kamui Woods is revealed to have survived being burned alive by [[VillainProtagonist Izuku/Mastermind]] during a Hero raid meant to capture him, though he is required to go through a lengthy recovery process before he can return to working as a Pro Hero. |
| 144 | * ''Fanfic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'' has Vickers, Erickson, and Ferguson leave at the end of episode 7. |
| 145 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11772125/71/Metroid-Kamen-Rider-Generations-Full-Series Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations]]'': |
| 146 | ** At the beginning of the Project Athena Arc, [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Takatora]] leaves for America. But he continues to keep in touch with Mitsuzane and Gou. |
| 147 | ** [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Chase]] is also revealed to be absent from action in the aftermath of the encounter with [[spoiler:Gandrayda, Ghor, and Rundas]]. It is implied that he underwent cryostasis hibernation for a month. He later [[TheBusCameBack woke up]] [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11772125/86/Metroid-Kamen-Rider-Generations-Full-Series several chapters later.]] |
| 148 | * The [[Fanfic/AndrogyninjasADropOfPoison first story]] in Androgyninja's ''Mithridatism'' series ends with Naruto and Sasuke heading to Mount Myoboku with Jiraiya, rendering them absent during ''[[Fanfic/AndrogyninjasADoseOfVenom A Dose of Venom]]''. |
| 149 | * Cookie Dough only makes one appearance in the third "season" of ''Fanfic/MyBravePonyStarfleetMagic''. |
| 150 | * ''Fanfic/NewBeginningsSmallville'': With the settlement she received from Luthorcorp and no reason to stay in Smallville, [[Characters/SupermanSupportingCast Lana Lang]] relocates to Paris. |
| 151 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9146423/1/ The New Six]]'' is set in an alternate universe where all of the Mane 6 members are gone. This trope applies to all of the six except Twilight (who died) and Applejack (who still lives in Ponyville). Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie moved to the alternate version of Appleloosa, Rainbow Dash left to travel the world, and we don't know what happened to Rarity yet. |
| 152 | * ''Fanfic/OniGaShikuSeries'': |
| 153 | ** Izuku doesn't see Katsuki at all in the nine or ten years between starting training with his uncle in the first chapter and the starting point of the MHA manga. |
| 154 | ** Tsukauchi is put on a bus after [[spoiler:he gets kicked out of the 4th Division for participating in the Millennium Tower raid. He comes back five years later after the USJ attack.]] |
| 155 | ** Kiryu was never THAT present in the fic but [[spoiler:he fakes his death and cuts contact with everyone three years after the Akatani arc. He has yet to come back.]] |
| 156 | ** [[spoiler:Majima vanishes a year prior to Izuku going to UA, coinciding with the events of ''VideoGame/{{Judgment}}''.]] |
| 157 | * Only natural for Defence Professors, whose job description includes disappearing after a year, but Professor Max and Professor Lupin in ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor'' went off to Azkaban Island and America, respectively, and haven't been heard of since. |
| 158 | * Generally averted in ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' in regards to Ash's Pokémon. [[WordOfGod The author]] stated from the beginning that each released Pokémon will have their issues solved so they stay with Ash. While they might sometimes take temporary leaves that cause them to miss some adventures, they're not as permanent as departures in the anime. |
| 159 | * In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'', [[SixthRanger Trixie]] leaves Ponyville after the conclusion of the Princess Gaia arc and returns home to her family. She makes a cameo appearance in the "Retcon-Struction Blues" special episode, but it doesn't become a full TheBusCameBack example until the Wedding Arc. |
| 160 | ** [[BadFuture Dark World]]!Rainbow Dash is left at Sweet Rock Acres after her HeelFaceTurn because, due to her HeelRealization, she's [[DrivenToSuicide presently suicidal]] and needs time to get her mind in order. [[TheBusCameBack She returns later on]] just in time to [[spoiler: help the group take down [[OneWingedAngel Odyne]]![[DaddysLittleVillain Cruelty]]. She and the Princesses are put back on the bus after the latter are freed because the Princesses are presently powerless fillies, and Twilight doesn't want to put all their eggs in one basket on the off chance Discord had one last trump card up his sleeve. And then [[TheBusCameBack the bus comes back]] again when [[BigGood the Benevolent Interloper]] tips them off that Twilight and the others will need help against [[TrueFinalBoss Nightmare Paradox]] and her [[ThePsychoRangers Psycho Rangers.]]]] |
| 161 | * ''Fanfic/PrincessOfTheBlacks'': After his half-brother Grawp gets free and tries to go on a rampage, Hagrid is sent to Azkaban for kidnapping and smuggling a giant across international borders. |
| 162 | ** [[BusCrash After Voldemort destroys the prison, Hagrid is one of the casualties for refusing to join him]]. |
| 163 | * ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': [[TheStarscream Valmont]] disappears from the story after his failed betrayal of Jade, and the last we hear he was in prison. Jade eventually [[spoiler:fires the rest of the Dark Hand after she gets the second tablet, [[BenevolentBoss but gives them severance pay and all their belongings]]. [[YankTheDogsChain And then they get arrested]].]] |
| 164 | * Zigzagged in ''Girl Genius'' story ''Fanfic/RaisedByJagers''. Ducky gets put on a bus for an entire arc, but the readers are eventually filled in on the shenanigans she's gotten up to, and in the end it almost feels like Agatha was the one put on the bus. It's used to help fill out a time-skip to great effect. |
| 165 | * Grue in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/50209543/chapters/132593740 A Ruinous Gift]]'' moves to Colorado after Taylor buys his parents house at double the market value to get him out of the way. Since he refused to sign on with her, she didn't want him to become an unwilling (or willing) pawn for someone else and felt getting him out of the city was best. |
| 166 | * [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Vivienne]] gets this treatment early in the ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook'' series, as she's given a delicate excuse to leave the school and never returns. The authors admit they were just never quite sure what to ''do'' with her, given the setup. (She does come back for a visit, though, and occasionally gets mentioned by other characters, so she's not completely forgotten.) |
| 167 | * In ''Fanfic/SoLongFarewellAufWiedersehenADoh'', Apu has moved back to India, leaving the Kwik-E-Mart empty and abandoned. |
| 168 | * Too many characters to list in ''Fanfic/TheTaintedGrimoire''. This is because Clan Gully and many of the people they meet do a lot of traveling. |
| 169 | ** TheBusCameBack: Some characters are rather important to the story so they get ADayInTheLimelight to show us what they have been up to. Either that or meet up with Clan Gully again. |
| 170 | ** CommutingOnABus: Micaiah and Francesca both have long periods of absence between their multiple re-appearances. |
| 171 | * In ''Fanfic/TalesOfAResetMind'', SCP-1370 never appears again after "wandering off" after his introduction. |
| 172 | * ''Fanfic/TheyShookHands'' by Dethryl: When the story was first written, after ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire Goblet of Fire]]'', the character of Blaise Zabini was written as female. When the canon was complete, Dethryl revised the series and renamed the character Tracy Davis. The real Blaise was given a cameo appearance and then taken out of school after the troll incident. |
| 173 | * ''Fanfic/TheUltimateEvil'': Nothing's heard of Valmont after Shendu's exorcised from his body in the first story. In the second story, the Enforcers are incarcerated at the end of the Noble Animals arc like in canon, but the PointOfDivergence caused by [[spoiler:Daolon Wong's death]] means they're still in prison and unavailable as Drago or Tarakudo's henchmen. |
| 174 | [[/folder]] |
| 175 | |
| 176 | [[folder:Film — Animation]] |
| 177 | * Several recurring ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' characters do not make an appearance in ''WesternAnimation/TheIceAgeAdventuresOfBuckWild'': |
| 178 | ** The most notable examples are Peaches and Julian, Granny, and Shira. While the former three were written out of the series in [[WesternAnimation/IceAgeCollisionCourse the fifth film]] (Peaches and Julian moving away to live their own life, and Granny moving to Geotopia to stay young, respectively), Shira goes completely unmentioned. Sid’s girlfriend Brooke also goes unmentioned and unseen, even though it was implied she’d still have a relationship with Sid even though she needed to stay in Geotopia to stay young. |
| 179 | ** Scrat is also nowhere to be seen in this film, a first for the franchise. |
| 180 | ** Despite Mama Rex making an appearance, and the bond she formed with Sid being referenced, her three children that Sid had previously helped her to raise are not seen or mentioned. |
| 181 | ** In ''[[WesternAnimation/IceAgeDawnOfTheDinosaurs Dawn of the Dinosaurs]]'', Buck chose to stay in the Lost World after learning that his nemesis, Rudy, was still alive. Despite ''Adventures Of Buck Wild'' taking place in the Lost World again, Rudy isn't seen or mentioned at all. |
| 182 | ** Likewise, there is no mention of Gavin, Gertie, and Roger despite being inhabitants of the Lost World. |
| 183 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', the hyenas suffer this, although they do appear from time to time in ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard''. |
| 184 | * In ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'', Orville is written out as being retired with his flight service taken over by his brother [[PunnyName Wilbur]]. Jim Jordan, who voiced Orville in the first ''Rescuers'' movie, passed away before he could record any lines for the sequel. |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Film — Live-Action]] |
| 188 | * In the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' sequels, Marty's girlfriend Jennifer is passed out asleep and (except for an incident where she discovers something important about Marty's future and promptly passes out again from encountering her future self) stays there until the end of the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII third movie]]. In the DVD commentary, the writers admit that if they'd known they were actually going to do a sequel, they wouldn't have had Jennifer get in the [=DeLorean=] at the end of the [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 original movie]], because they didn't know what to do with her. |
| 189 | * In the film ''Film/CoalMinersDaughter'' Loretta and Doolittle leave their four kids with a relative to pursue her musical career. The kids are not seen for the rest of the film and are only mentioned once in a {{handwave}}. |
| 190 | * ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': |
| 191 | ** The exit of [[spoiler:Scarecrow]] in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' was putting him on a bus until the director could find out if he was reusable for the next installment. He's reduced to a cameo for [[spoiler:the BatmanColdOpen]] in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', and then sent straight to jail. [[spoiler:Then he's freed by Bane]] in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', [[spoiler:and becomes a HangingJudge, until disappearing offscreen]]. |
| 192 | ** Commissioner Gordon's entire family was put on a bus to Cleveland (explained by his wife leaving him and taking the kids with her). This conveniently removed his daughter Barbara from the story, who might have been just old enough to begin being Batgirl. |
| 193 | * [[Creator/BruceWillis Mr. Church]] from ''Film/TheExpendables'' does not appear in the [[Film/TheExpendables3 third movie]], and is instead replaced with Max Drummer, played by Creator/HarrisonFord. Max claims Church is [[BusCrash "out of the picture"]], implying that Church is either dead or was reassigned. |
| 194 | ** In the [[Film/TheExpendables2 second film]], [[Creator/JetLi Yin Yang]] appears in the opening sequence, but parachutes into China with the rescued official and is never seen again. Prior to leaving, [[Creator/DolphLundgren Gunnar]] asks when he'll return, and Yin Yang replies, "Maybe soon... Maybe never." [[TheBusCameBack He returns in the third movie]], [[DemotedToExtra but only during the final battle]], where he's shown fighting alongside Trench. |
| 195 | * ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'': |
| 196 | ** ''Film/GodzillaTokyoSOS'': Akane, the pilot from [[Film/GodzillaAgainstMechagodzilla the previous film]], is sent overseas for further combat training around the start of the film. |
| 197 | ** Franchise/MonsterVerse: All the [[Characters/MonsterVerseKaiju Titans]] that were awakened in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' unfortunately have gotten this in subsequent installments, effectively leaving the world back the way it was before that film's events. In ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' (set five years after ''King of the Monsters''), the news report describing Godzilla's attack on Apex Cybernetics in Florida mentions this is the first substantiated Titan sighting to occur in over three years, and ''Godzilla Dominion'' reveals that Godzilla commanded the awakened Titans to go into dormancy again. |
| 198 | * An offhand line in ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'' mentions that Myers, TheWatson in the first film, [[WrittenInAbsence has been reassigned to Antarctica]]. |
| 199 | * According to George Miller, [[http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a673073/mad-max-fury-road-sequel-wont-star-charlize-therons-imperator-furiosa/~pqU2akHqXIqPmR/ Furiosa won't return in a sequel]] to ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad''. |
| 200 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' |
| 201 | ** Pepper Potts basically disappeared from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse after ''Film/IronMan3'', and was only mentioned in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' and ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', before ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' finally revealed that she had broken up with Tony. This is presumably because Creator/GwynethPaltrow took a break from acting after ''Iron Man 3'' to focus on her company. [[spoiler:She reappears in a cameo in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', working with Tony again and accepting a marriage proposal from him when his attempt to induct Peter into the Avengers is shot down by Peter himself. She also appears at the beginning of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and stars in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' ]] |
| 202 | ** Betty Ross from ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'' is the poster girl for this trope as unlike every other hero’s {{Love Interest|s}} who have been at least mentioned if they're unseen, Betty completely dropped off the face of [=MCU=] after her only movie appearance. Bruce Banner also sees [[Characters/MCUNatashaRomanoff Black Widow]] as his only {{Love Interest|s}} despite Betty still existing, the only mention of her again was a WordOfGod [[spoiler: saying that she turned to ash along with half of the universe in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'']]. Fans hoping for Red She-Hulk are gonna be disappointed. |
| 203 | *** This got worse starting with Phase 3 and during Phase 4, when her father Thaddeus Ross managed to get off the bus in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' a whole nine years later, followed by Emil Blonksy/Abomination returning in both ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'' and ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'', making William Hurt and Tim Roth the only returning actors from ''The Incredible Hulk''. And if you count Bruce Banner himself (albeit [[TheOtherDarrin recast]] from Creator/EdwardNorton to Creator/MarkRuffalo), this makes Betty the only central character from ''TIH'' that has yet to make a reappearance. Even Mr. Blue/Samuel Sterns, despite becoming a SequelHook that ultimately became an AbortedArc thanks to the rights issues with Universal, got some closure in ''ComicBook/TheAvengersPreludeFurysBigWeek'' and is confirmed to be coming back as The Leader for ''Captain America: New World Order'' and ''Armor Wars''. |
| 204 | *** Later subverted when Betty finally returned after 13 years... but in the third episode of the animated AlternateTimeline anthology series ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'', where in an alternate version of ''TIH'', she ends up [[spoiler: tragically witnessing her lover explode thanks to a vengeance-seeking Hank Pym.]] She still has yet to make a return in live-action form. |
| 205 | ** Apart from an offhand [[Film/ThorRagnarok reference to her breakup with Thor]] Jane Foster (and her supporting cast of Darcy and Dr. Selvig) has likewise disappeared. Sif is also absent due Creator/JaimieAlexander having scheduling conflicts, [[spoiler: however Kevin Feige [[WordOfGod reveals]] Sif was not on Asgard when Hela arrived so she survived the genocide of Asgardains at least]]. Eventually averted when Jane and Sif return in ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' [[spoiler:albeit the former eventually dies at the end of the movie due to her cancer]], while Darcy appears in ''Series/WandaVision''. |
| 206 | *** Subverted in ''Series/{{Loki|2021}}'' [[spoiler: Sif makes a surprise cameo in Loki’s PsychologicalTormentZone where he gets a GroinAttack from her, over and over again. Although it’s technically not actually Sif, just a memory of her, the real Sif returns in ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' albeit briefly.]] |
| 207 | ** Phil Coulson has yet to be mentioned post-''Avengers'' despite coming back from the dead and having his own [[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD extensive series of adventures]]. ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'' marks his first cinematic appearance since 2012, though it's when Coulson was a younger man in the 90s. |
| 208 | ** Karl Mordo was last seen in TheStinger for ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'' embarking on a quest to kill Earth's sorcerers, but had yet to be mentioned since then. Mordo technically returns in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseofMadness'' [[spoiler: but it's an AlternateUniverse version of him, though it’s implied Strange had some run-ins with the original one offscreen]]. |
| 209 | ** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' marks the return of four characters who have been absent from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a while: The Collector, [[Characters/MCUJohannSchmidt Red Skull]], [[Characters/MCUNickFury Nick Fury]], and Maria Hill. The Collector however was actually an illusion created by Thanos's Reality Stone, so his "return" is debatable. |
| 210 | ** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' [[spoiler: it seems Sharon Carter has gone the way of Betty Ross and Jane Foster as, despite '''everyone''' else returning, Sharon's absence is notable. Fans weren't fussed since Sharon's relationship with Steve Rogers in ''Civil War'' was pretty {{Squick}}y considering she's the niece of Peggy Carter (Steve's OneTrueLove)]]. Despite her absence from the films, Sharon returned for ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'', where, ironically enough, [[spoiler: The Avengers failing to check in on her after she became a fugitive following the events of ''Civil War'' led to her becoming [[GreaterScopeVillain the Power Broker.]]]] |
| 211 | *** [[spoiler: ''Endgame'' also has a [[TearJerker tear jerking]] case of TheBusCameBack as Harley from ''Film/IronMan3'' attends Tony's funeral]]. |
| 212 | ** After being absent for [[LongBusTrip most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe]] after ''Iron Man'', William Ginter Riva finally returns to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' in a TheBusCameBack moment. [[spoiler: In the CruelTwistEnding Creator/JKSimmons as J.Jonah Jameson returns for first time in 12 years, although technically he’s not the same J.J from the [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Raimi films]] but the [[AlternateUniverse MCU universe]] version.]] |
| 213 | ** Despite being set up as the [[GreaterScopeVillain Greater Scope Villains]] of the ''Iron Man'' trilogy, the Ten Rings organization went OutOfFocus following the one-two punch of ''Iron Man 3'' (where a group of imposters were part of the plan of the BigBad) and ''Film/AllHailTheKing'' (which re-established the existence of the true Mandarin), and after a brief mention in ''Film/AntMan1'', disappeared entirely for all of Phase 3. However, they finally return in full force, both the organization and the true Mandarin, after a seven-year absence in ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''. |
| 214 | ** In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' despite all three of them having been seemingly killed off [[spoiler: Creator/AlfredMolina’s Doctor Octopus, Creator/WillemDafoe’s Green Goblin from the Creator/SamRaimi ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' along with JamieFoxx’s Electro from ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderman2'' [[TheBusCameBack all return as villains]]. An eight year bus ride for Electro and a whooping seventeen and nineteen year bus ride for Ock and Goblin respectively (discounting Norman’s cameos in Harry’s hallucinations). The Lizard and Sandman who survived their movies also return having not been seen since 2007 and 2012 respectively.]] |
| 215 | *** [[spoiler: As set photos and full film confirm Creator/TobeyMaguire and Creator/AndrewGarfield return as their respective Spider-Man(Men), a eight year bus trip for Andrew’s Peter and 14 year bus trip for Tobey’s Peter.]] |
| 216 | ** In ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' [[spoiler: Professor X played by Creator/PatrickStewart not seen since ''Film/{{Logan}}'' (where he died) five years ago makes an reppearance, though unlike the aforementioned [[SparedByAdaptation lucky]] Spidey villains however he's BackForTheDead ([[TheyKilledKennyAgain again]]). There's also Blackbolt played by Creator/AnsonMount who was last seen in the unsucessful ''Series/{{Inhumans}}'' show back in 2017, like Proffessor X he's BackForTheDead. Although ''technically'' they are not the Fox Charles Xavier and MCU Blackagar Boltagon, but alternate universe versions (played by the same actors).]] |
| 217 | * Ethan's wife, Julia, as well as Jane from ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'', are nowhere to be found in ''Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation''. Nyah from ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' and Declan, Ethan's helicopter pilot, are absent from the series as well. William Brandt, who first appeared in ''Ghost Protocol'' and was also a major character in ''Rogue Nation'', did not return for ''Film/MissionImpossibleFallout''. |
| 218 | * ''Film/OurManFlint'': Flint has five women in his harem at the end of the first movie. In the second movie, all five of them are now happily married and Flint has three new girlfriends. |
| 219 | * Col. Sam Trautman, Rambo's mentor and friend from the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' series, does not show up in [[Film/RamboIV the fourth movie]]. This was probably done out of respect for the actor who portrays Trautman, Richard Crenna, who [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim passed away]] in 2003. |
| 220 | * ''Franchise/StarWars'': |
| 221 | ** Yoda, a wise sage who guided the main characters throughout ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' to ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', is absent from Episode IV, ''Film/ANewHope''. The Watsonian reason is due to his humiliating defeat and exile at the end of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' by the evil Emperor Palpatine. The Doylist reason is due to his character not having been created yet when ''Film/ANewHope'' [[SequelFirst was written and filmed]]. |
| 222 | ** Han Solo is frozen in carbonite at the end of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' because Creator/HarrisonFord had not yet committed to a third film. |
| 223 | * Due to Creator/AntonYelchin's death in June 2016, ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' will be the last ''Franchise/StarTrek'' "Kelvin Timeline" film to feature his incarnation of Chekov, as producer Creator/JJAbrams confirmed in July 2016 that they will not recast the role for the next film. |
| 224 | * In ''Film/TheTrumanShow'', Truman's father was quite literally and forcefully put on a bus immediately when Truman recognized him for who he was. As in, FORCED onto a moving bus by other people as Truman chased him and was blocked by a passing bicycle mob. |
| 225 | * ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': |
| 226 | ** ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'': [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesXMenOriginalTimeline Nightcrawler]] didn't appear with no explanation given. (The in-universe reason appears in the ''X-Men: The Official Game'' where Nightcrawler leaves due to the X-Men's missions clashing with his peaceful nature. The real life one was that Alan Cumming had refused to return without Creator/BryanSinger, especially since he was not fond of the torturous makeup sessions. In one of the behind-the-scenes featurettes, he readily admits that he doesn't think he could come back and go through it again.) |
| 227 | *** Originally, Nightcrawler was to appear in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', but it was cut out because Singer felt there were too many mutants already. |
| 228 | ** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': |
| 229 | *** His role in the first act concluded, Quicksilver is promptly told to go his own way, only making a brief cameo at the end at his house, away from the action. He watches the final battle on TV, despite the fact that, [[SuperSpeed being Quicksilver]], he could probably get there in five seconds. |
| 230 | ** [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesHumansNewTimeline Moira MacTaggert]], who debuted in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', doesn't appear in ''Days of Future Past'', but she returns in ''Film/XMenApocalypse''. After that, she's absent in ''Film/DarkPhoenix''. |
| 231 | * In ''Film/ThePassenger1975'', the girl is literally put on a bus by David Locke when the film nears its end. Soon she returns in time for the denouement. |
| 232 | * ''Film/SafetyPatrol:'' In a literal example, Scout's friend Amanda is last seen sadly waving goodbye to him from a school bus window after he's sent to a different school about twenty minutes into the movie. The rest of Scout's classmates and teachers from his first school also disappear around that point. |
| 233 | * ''Film/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea'': |
| 234 | ** The Congressman inspecting the sub gets left behind in the chaos when Nelson leaves the conference to fire a missile at the radiation belt. |
| 235 | ** At the beginning of the final act, a dozen or so crewmen don't believe in Nelson's plan and want to go home to spend their remaining time with their families instead of being hunted on a possible doomed mission. [[PragmaticHero Nelson lets them go, hoping the saboteur is one of them and feeling that the journey will go faster and smoother without disloyal and reluctant subordinates.]] |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 239 | * Before the end of the first book, the Starling triplets in ''Literature/The39Clues'' are caught in an explosion rigged by the Holts and end up in the hospital with serious injuries. They barely garner a mention in any of the next nine books, [[spoiler: but return in the tenth book in time for the series' conclusion.]] |
| 240 | * ''Literature/AnimalInn'': Book 3 and book 6 each focus on the Taylors temporarily taking care of an animal, who goes to a new home at the end. |
| 241 | ** Book 3 features Gigi the capuchin monkey and Little Leo the lion cub, who are both given to Wildlife Farm, a special petting zoo, in the end. |
| 242 | ** Book 6 features Tiny the runty piglet, who goes home with Mrs. Racer to her farm in the end. |
| 243 | * ''Literature/TheCatWhoSeries'': In book #7 (''The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare''), Melinda Goodwinter (who was introduced two books before) is noted early on as having left Pickax for Boston. TheBusCameBack in book #13 (''The Cat Who Moved a Mountain'') though. |
| 244 | * In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Virgil leaves Dante just before the end of ''Purgatorio'' because as one of the Damned, he cannot enter Heaven. He spends the rest of the Poem back in the first circle of Hell, although Dante thinks of him during later discussions of God's justice. |
| 245 | * Witkacy in ''Literature/DoraWilkSeries''. After starring in book one as one of side characters and then appearing briefly in book two, he was sent out for basic magical training out of town and, despite being mentioned several times as Dora's trainee off-screen, hasn't reappeared yet. |
| 246 | * Hard-drinking amateur detective Literature/DrGideonFell is married to a [[DryCrusader rabid teetotaler]]. Once the first novel was finished, Creator/JohnDicksonCarr didn't so much put Mrs. Fell on a bus as he renovated the bus into a nice [=RV=] for her and sent her off for most of the series. |
| 247 | * Canto XI of ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene'''s second book kicks off with Guyon getting on a boat and leaving Alma's castle as the author spells out that Guyon is also leaving the story for the time, but [[TheBusCameBack will come back later]]. |
| 248 | -->''"But let them pas, whiles wind and weather right / Do serue their turnes: here I a while must stay, / To see a cruell fight doen by the Prince this day."'' |
| 249 | * ''Literature/ForestKingdom'': In the ''Hawk & Fisher'' spinoff series' book 2 (''Winner Takes All''), it's mentioned here that the sorcerer Gaunt from book 1 left Haven after the events of that novel. He comes back in the main series' book 4 (''Beyond the Blue Moon''), and [[BackForTheDead gets killed off]]. |
| 250 | * In the second half of ''Literature/GirlsKingdom'''s fourth book, a large chunk of the cast goes home for summer vacation, while the protagonist, her mistress, and a number of other characters stay at the school over the summer for their own reasons. At the end of the book, Angelica has hopped on a bus to Ireland to [[spoiler:deal with the threat of vampire hunters moving against her family]]. |
| 251 | * In Creator/MichaelGrant's ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series, Justin has his own story arc in LIES and is set up to be a prominent character. Then he randomly disappears in the adjacent book PLAGUE, only to suddenly resurface as a side-character in FEAR. |
| 252 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'': |
| 253 | ** [[Characters/HarryPotterMuggles Aunt Marge]] never comes to visit again after she floats away from the Dursleys' thanks to Harry's magic accidentally going out of control. |
| 254 | ** [[Characters/HarryPotterMinistryOfMagic Amos Diggory]], Cedric's father, wasn't seen again after ''Goblet of Fire''. |
| 255 | ** After Fudge's resignation as Minister and passing the position to Scrimgeour, we only see him again in a brief cameo at [[spoiler:Dumbledore's funeral]] at the end of the sixth book. |
| 256 | ** [[Characters/HarryPotterGryffindor Alicia Spinnet]] does not appear in the sixth book since she graduated Hogwarts the previous year, although she is mentioned a couple of times. |
| 257 | ** After Oliver Wood joins Puddlemere United, Harry sees him once at the Quidditch World Cup, and then they fall out of touch. |
| 258 | * ''Literature/MonsterOfTheMonthClub'': |
| 259 | ** Rilla's classmate Kelly is absent from books 3 and 4, having been sent to private school instead. |
| 260 | ** Another classmate, Andrew, ''would'' qualify for this trope if his departure didn't take place in the last book - during their last lesson before winter break, he announces that his family's going back to Australia for good during the break. |
| 261 | * [[{{Jerkass}} Brian]] from ''Literature/OutOfPosition'' disappears in the second book after sending Lee an angry text message. [[TheBusCameBack Too bad he shows up again in the third book]] to cause more trouble. |
| 262 | * ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': |
| 263 | ** Thalia Grace gets put on a bus for book four after joining the Hunters of Artemis. |
| 264 | ** Percy himself is AWOL for the first book of SequelSeries ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', and in the second book all of the previously established characters ''except'' Percy are on the bus. |
| 265 | ** Leo Valdez [[spoiler:is put on a bus at the end of ''The Blood of Olympus'', or rather a flying dragon, with Calypso.]] They return at the end of ''The Hidden Oracle''. |
| 266 | ** Annabeth is on a bus for the first book of ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'' because she's off participating in the first book of ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard''. |
| 267 | * ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle'' character Owyn Beleforte was key to the plot of ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'' and its novelization, ''Krondor: The Betrayal''. Then he was put on a bus and never heard from again (Save for a one page reference in the next book stating where the bus is going). Strangely, the bus heads in different directions in each media: In the game, he gets a crown-paid scholarship to Stardock and potentially becomes a great wizard. In the books, he goes home and spends the rest of his life in a part of the Kingdom that is generally irrelevant to the plot of the series. |
| 268 | * Father Callahan from the Creator/StephenKing novel ''Literature/SalemsLot'' went off on a literal bus near the end of the book, and rather unexpectedly reappeared years later in the loosely related ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' series as a church pastor in another dimension. It is explained he spent a lot of the intervening time killing vampires. |
| 269 | * Happens in the sixth ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' book, where [[spoiler: Snorri's mother comes to take her home]]. |
| 270 | ** Even the second book put Simon and Merrin on a bus, for them to return in the fourth. |
| 271 | * This happens in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' to Hector with Duncan and Isadora Quagmire; Fernald and Fiona were Put on a Bus ''offscreen'', no less. |
| 272 | * ''Literature/SisterhoodSeries'' by Creator/FernMichaels: Charles Martin was essentially put on this in the book ''Under the Radar''. He comes back to stay by the book ''Vanishing Act''. |
| 273 | * In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the character Rickon [[spoiler:gets put on a bus -- or sent off with a wildling woman of dubious allegiance -- at the end of Book 2 and hasn't been heard from since, mainly because the author found writing for a four-year-old difficult. It is anticipated he will return, possibly badassed up, with his psychotic direwolf, in later installments.]] |
| 274 | ** Benjen Stark [[spoiler:has been MIA since early in the first book after going on a scouting mission north of the Wall.]] |
| 275 | * In ''Literature/StarTrekTheBattleOfBetazed'', Lwaxana Troi features heavily. However, Mr. Homn (her valet), is strangely absent, and indeed isn't even mentioned. This despite usually appearing whenever and wherever she does (or being specifically mentioned as travelling elsewhere if not). A later novel went and transformed this into a BusCrash; ''Literature/StarTrekATimeTo ''revealed that he died during the initial invasion, so explaining his absence. The death is eventually shown in a short story, part of the ''Tales of the Dominion War'' anthology. |
| 276 | * ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': |
| 277 | ** In the first six books of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', Hoole is distant and irritable and doesn't relate too well to his adoptive niece and nephew, so has his droid assistant DV-9 give them lessons and do most of the interaction with them. After ''Army of Terror'' the droid finally objects to how much danger he's been taken into, so Hoole sets him free and the droid starts working somewhere safe. By that time Hoole's relationship with Tash and Zak has warmed considerably, so the droid isn't needed anymore. He does [[TheBusCameBack briefly appear]] at the end of the series, but likes the safety too much to go with them again. |
| 278 | * The ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series does this with alarming regularity, with Chase, Rachel, Scarlet, Chandalen, Gratch, Jennsen, and several others abruptly vanishing for several books at a time. [[BackForTheFinale The final book, however, brought back or mentioned all of them]]. |
| 279 | * This happens to many different characters in ''Literature/WarAndPeace'', as there are so many of them, but the one who stands out most is Dolokhov, who is put on one after crushing Nikolai Rostov and stripping him of nearly forty thousand roubles, only to return later after having [[TookALevelInBadass taken a level in Badass]]. |
| 280 | * In ''Literature/TheWitchlands'': |
| 281 | ** Ryber disappears by the end of ''Truthwitch'', with only a note explaining that she has to be gone left behind. In her case, TheBusCameBack by the end of the second book. |
| 282 | ** After Merik and the plot move to the north of Nubrevna, it's mentioned that Evraine stayed behind in Noden's Gift. |
| 283 | ** Gretchya tells Iseult that she's escaping to Saldonica with her student and disappears, never to be seen again, even when the plot visits the aforementioned city. |
| 284 | * In ''Literature/WarriorCats'', Graystripe gets captured by Twolegs early in the third book of the second series and is ultimately presumed dead or permanently lost by his Clanmates, especially since they have moved out of the forest since he went missing. (He [[TheBusCameBack returns]] over half a year and several books later, having escaped and found them in their new home.) |
| 285 | [[/folder]] |
| 286 | |
| 287 | [[folder:Multiple Media]] |
| 288 | * In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', Tahu's Toa team were the main stars between 2001 and '03, [[MidSeasonUpgrade which saw them getting upgraded]] to Toa Nuva and joined by [[SixthRanger Takanuva]]. They were [[OutOfFocus pushed aside]] for the 2004-'05 [[WholeEpisodeFlashback whole year flashbacks]], then made a brief return in 2006 for two books, only for Takanuva to get left behind while the Nuva were beaten and sent on a side quest, giving the spotlight to Jaller's Toa Inika team, who were then upgraded to Toa Mahri. The Nuva team and Takanuva came back as main characters in 2008, putting the Mahri team on the metaphorical bus. After all of them were put on the back-burner to give way for a new cast in 2009, Tahu and Takanuva were back as primary characters in 2010, relegating their fellows and most of the new characters to side stories. When the franchise ended, almost everyone was accounted for except Tahu's teammate Lewa who was still away on a side quest, with his fate forever LeftHanging. |
| 289 | [[/folder]] |
| 290 | |
| 291 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 292 | * A few examples from ''Literature/TheBible'': |
| 293 | ** Moses' wife Zipporah, who ended up separating from him when she had to do an emergency circumcision on their son when the Lord met them on their way to Egypt to kill Moses, with her saying to Moses, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me." She does return later on with Moses' father-in-law after Moses leads his people Israel out of Egypt, but she isn't mentioned again after Exodus. |
| 294 | ** David's first wife Michal, who first is given to another man, with the assumption that David was dead, then later returned to him by Abner when he gives control of the kingship of all Israel to David, and then when she complains about David's dancing before the Lord, she is basically left childless to the day of her death. |
| 295 | [[/folder]] |
| 296 | |
| 297 | [[folder:Podcasts]] |
| 298 | * For episode 100 of the video game music podcast ''Podcast/NitroGameInjection'', Audun "[=AkumuHau=]" Sorlie joined the show as a new co-host. The show went on a lengthy hiatus after episode 112, and when it came back, nary a mention of Akumu was made and he was replaced by Larry Oji of Music/OverClockedRemix. Akumu has returned as a guest a few times, however. |
| 299 | * Firelight in ''Podcast/FalloutIsDragons'' spent some time in Skyfall when his player wasn't available. |
| 300 | * ''Podcast/RandomAssault'': Drew left the show very quietly. |
| 301 | [[/folder]] |
| 302 | |
| 303 | [[folder:Pro Wrestling]] |
| 304 | * Whenever a wrestler gets injured ({{Kayfabe}} or not), they will be put on a bus. Conversely, if some other real life issue forces them to take a break, the writers will sometimes have them suffer a Kayfabe injury as a way of explaining their prolonged absence. |
| 305 | * A wrestler leaving a territory would often lose a LoserLeavesTown match. This was done as a kayfabe way to explain why a wrestler no longer wrestles there and a way to give heat to a heel by exiling a beloved babyface or to put over a face by being the one who finally vanquished a hated heel. This was a common case when a monster heel was finally defeated for good after a feud with top face. The monster heel would then start up again in a new territory without fans knowing he had been beaten in a previous one. It's still sometimes done nowadays too although usually it's done when a wrestler is leaving for another fed, retiring, or taking time off for various reasons. Only now it's called "Loser Leaves (insert fed name here)" |
| 306 | * Wrestling/{{Sting}} would regularly disappear from Wrestling/{{WCW}} for up to six months at a time, usually starting with Wrestling/HulkHogan's return from vacation. |
| 307 | * Tsunami tried to rid LLF of Reina Vampira by stuffing her on a bus and sending her away. It didn't work, as the driver rejected Tsunami's ticket. |
| 308 | * Wrestling/JimmyHavoc, since Wrestling/{{Progress Wrestling}} Chapter 21. He lost a hardcore match to Paul Robinson, his own stablemate, during which he made a subtle face turn. Then he was helped to his feet by Jim Smallman of all people, briefly waved goodbye to the crowd as they gave him a standing ovation and left the ring. He hasn't been seen since. |
| 309 | [[/folder]] |
| 310 | |
| 311 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 312 | * ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'': At this point, the only major characters who ''haven't'' been put on a bus are Connie (who first arrived in town early in the show's run and has stayed there ever since) and Wooten Basset (who likewise hasn't left town since his debut). The series' major example of this, however, would be in the central character John Avery Whittaker. When his voice actor, Hal Smith, passed away, Whit went away on a long missions trip for an extended period of time. He eventually returned (now being voiced by Paul Herlinger until he passed away, whereupon he was replaced by Andre Stojka [[AvertedTrope without Whit leaving again]]) and hasn't left town for an extensive period of time since. |
| 313 | * The ending of ''Series/HaveGunWillTravel'' has Paladin inheriting a small fortune and heading back East to handle the estate, though he does promise to be back for Hey Boy's wedding. |
| 314 | * The character of Trillian got a one-sentence send-off at the start of the second series of ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1978''. Thanks to a ResetButton, she was brought back for the three much-belated series made after Douglas Adams' death. |
| 315 | * One regular team member of BBC Radio 1's ''Radio/ScottMillsShow'', Mark Chapman, went to the toilet on Christmas Eve 2009 and hasn't been heard from since. |
| 316 | ** He got given his own show on Radio 5. |
| 317 | [[/folder]] |
| 318 | |
| 319 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 320 | * ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'': |
| 321 | ** In ''Darwin's Soldiers: Disruptive Selection'', Hans, Werner and Cpl. Stern encounter an old friend of Cpl. Stern in a bar in New Mexico. The friend then offers to bring them back to Nevada where the [[WesternTerrorists terrorists]] from [[CallBack first RP]] are trying to put their lives back together. The three then accept the offer. |
| 322 | ** A [[spoiler:temporary]] example in the second RP. [[TheSmartGuy Shelton]] is deported to Austria after the events of the first RP. |
| 323 | * In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', a few characters get put on a bus such as Despard Silverbranch who sails back home to Maar Sul after he has been heavily injured fighting alongside the Grand Alliance to liberate Vanna. |
| 324 | * Happens often in ''Roleplay/SuperSmashBrothersLifeItself''. |
| 325 | [[/folder]] |
| 326 | |
| 327 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 328 | * The writers of ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' 5th Edition put most of the Elders - arguably the game's primary looming existential threat, who had been slowly awakening and usurping control of vampiric society through 4th edition - on a bus. Quite literally. They've been called off by a mysterious phenomena called "The Beckoning" that just sounds a lot like an upscaled Summoning power out of the Presence discipline tree, ''and'' they bused the Sabbat - a bunch of them got wiped out by the new Super-Hunters of the 2nd Inquisition, some got on motorcycles chasing the Elders' bus to the Middle East in what is now called the Gehenna Crusade, still others linger as clandestine terrorists, and YET OTHERS walked out and joined less rapacious factions of the Jyhad like the Church of Caine. Gehenna is at hand, but it's happening... over there. You know, off-screen. This was done to try to scale the game back to a state more akin to how it was presented in 1st edition. |
| 329 | * The Squats in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' were an unpopular Dwarf knockoff from older editions of 40k. They have disappeared from the game and the fluff, without much explanation. When pressed, GW will say they were [[BusCrash eaten by a Tyranid Hive Fleet.]] However, they received a brief mention in the 6th edition rulebook, which carried over to the 7th edition rulebook. |
| 330 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', the Dogs of War and Chaos Dwarves are former armies, with people even having the option of hiring Dogs of War units as rare choices. GW presumably realized what a GameBreaker that could be (essentially allowing you to hire units to get around your armies designated balancing weaknesses) and completely cut them from the fluff and army books. Chaos Dwarves are a little more complicated as the army is remembered fondly by veteran players and often sought after by new players, and they remain in the fluff (primarily due to the proximity of the newer Ogre Kingdoms army). Lately models and rules have begun popping up on Forge World, leading people to hope that the army might be due [[TheBusCameBack for a revival.]] |
| 331 | * On a hilariously meta-example, the card [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Shared_Ride Shared Ride]] from ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' depicts characters from cards that have since no longer been able to be played due to Forbidden List rules (itself an example of cards being put on a bus [[ObviousRulePatch due to how overpowered they are]]). The artwork of that card? Those characters literally sharing a bus ride. The card [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Tour_Bus_To_Forbidden_Realms Tour Bus To Forbidden Realms]] also depicts this. |
| 332 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' had to do this when Arthaus sub-let the rights to publish material for the game-setting from TSR/Hasbro, because the original darklord of Sithicus, Lord Soth, was copyrighted under the ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' setting instead. The death knight vanished out of the Land of Mists in a catastrophic event called the Night of Screaming Shadows, and was never mentioned by name in Arthaus's products, although later ''Dragonlance'' material indicated he'd been sent back to Krynn. |
| 333 | [[/folder]] |
| 334 | |
| 335 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 336 | * In ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'', this happens to [[spoiler:Isabella]] eventually on her romantic path. In the fifth week, [[spoiler:Isabella tells the protagonist that she’ll be training to be an attendant for international flights. Even if he doesn’t break things off with her, she’s never seen again in the game proper.]] |
| 337 | * Almost the entire cast of main characters from the original ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' trilogy was put on a bus by the events of ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney.'' Phoenix appears as usual and the only other returning characters (where they only appear once for a flashback event) are Dick Gumshoe and Mike Meekins. Maya, Pearl, mentions of Mia and Miles Edgeworth, and several other recurring characters are completely ignored and Phoenix makes no mention of them at all except a slight nod to Maya with his collection of The Steel Samurai discs. Several of these trilogy characters return in ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'' and ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'', though Gumshoe has been infamously absent from the 3D era games, his role being replaced by Bobby Fulbright and later Ema Skye. Franziska von Karma is also MIA post-timeskip, presumably continuing her prosecutorial career in Germany. |
| 338 | * ''VisualNovel/RoseGunsDays'' as this as a pattern: at the end of each year, one of the characters has to leave Japan for a reason or another. In 1947 [[spoiler:Leo goes back to southern Asia to fight with former comrades who try to get their independence]]; in 1948 [[spoiler:Rapunzel must leave Japan with her father and take refuge in South America, since the latter is still under arrest from the Chinese army for war crimes]] and in 1949 [[spoiler:Alan is wanted by Primavera for betrayal and goes to China where his dead girlfriend Meixue must be burried.]] All of them are BackForTheFinale in 1950. |
| 339 | [[/folder]] |
| 340 | |
| 341 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 342 | * ''WebAnimation/BattleForDreamIsland'': |
| 343 | ** In general, this is done to the eliminated contestants, who remain unseen until events like rejoins and final episodes, as well as other events like the eliminated contestants' escape attempts. |
| 344 | ** In the season finale of Season 1, the Announcer goes back to his home planet because he is an alien that cannot stay on Earth for much longer. Other than some cameos, he is not seen for a large portion of the series, [[TheBusCameBack before he finally returns in the Season 4 episode "BFB = Back From Beginning".]] |
| 345 | ** Done to several characters in the "Dead Four" story arc of BFB. One of the teams becomes concerned that the main host of the show, Four, has grown too violent and obsessed with hurting the contestants, so they devise a plan to get him and X out of the show by "multiplying" him with Donut, who represents zero. Four and X disappear[[note]]Although it is later revealed that X escaped before he disappeared, with the multiplication still working because the multiplication sign isn't needed to do multiplication.[[/note]], leaving Donut as the host. After that, several characters[[note]]In order of deaths, they are Taco, Balloony, Foldy, Bell, Naily, Remote, 8-Ball (downplayed however, as he was eliminated at the same time of his death, so he would have had to leave the show regardless), and Bubble.[[/note]] are killed over the course of the episodes before Four is finally revived in "Enter the Exit", making it a case where multiple characters are all put on a bus. |
| 346 | ** This is done to Clock as well, who is killed by Four for an unknown reason offscreen in "Enter the Exit", before being brought back in "The Four is Lava". This is lampshaded by Clock, who is angry that none of his teammates remembered to revive him. |
| 347 | * Spoofed on ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' with the ShowWithinAShow ''WebAnimation/CheatCommandos''. In the short "The Next Epi-snowed", voice actor Crack Stuntman gets bossy and uncooperative while recording an episode of Cheat Commandos, and director A. Chimendez eventually gives up and has Gunhaver sent "on a secret mission to the moon for an undisclosed period of time", replacing him with AuthorAvatar Agent Chimendez. It's also mentioned that "when [Gunhaver] gets back, [[TheOtherDarrin his voice might have changed.]]" |
| 348 | * ''WebAnimation/MinilifeTV'': In "Clair's Surprise", when Clair receives a full scholarship for the Rowling University of Magic in the Yoden Region, she accepts the offer and after her farewell party between Seasons 4 and 5, she leaves the gang. |
| 349 | * ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' has done this several times in their later seasons, most notably after the time skip between Blood Gulch Chronicles and Reconstruction, where Tucker and Donut are put on a bus for the entirety of Reconstruction, coming back for Recreation. Tex also tends to come and go throughout the story. |
| 350 | * [[GiantSpider Greg the Spider]] from ''WebVideo/ArbyNTheChief'', TWICE. The first time was towards Season 5's finale after overhearing some hurtful comments about him from Arbiter. This late paid off [[TheBusCameBack when he returns during Season 6's finale]], [[Heartwarming/ArbyNTheChief bringing Cortana with him to help Arbiter feel better]]. Halfway into Season 7, [[spoiler:after Chief murders Cortana]], Greg leaves again, this time for good after feeling unfairly resented by Arbiter for a lie he was forced to tell. |
| 351 | [[/folder]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 354 | * In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Dragoon was teleported to the Moon and has not been seen since. |
| 355 | ** He comes back in The Epilogue. |
| 356 | ** Which is hilarious if you think about a 'Dragoon coming back from the Moon' in terms of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', the game the character's appearance came from. |
| 357 | * In ''Webcomic/BeyondTheEnd'', Hal's dad comes and picks him up towards the end of the Deadwoods arc, which [=DuskDragonXIII=] admits through BreakingTheFourthWall is a bit of contrived writing to remove a stagnant character from a bloated cast. He later returns when his plot is more relevant, with an updated design to boot! |
| 358 | * Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/BittersweetCandyBowl'' several times. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/candybooru/_images/01d7320ec99c4c264ded1ca83647f1e0/4075%20-%20Jasmine%20SpaceMouse_%28Artist%29%20Taeshi_%28Artist%29.jpg This]] was commissioned by a fan from the artist in anticipation of that character's ultimate fate, due to her importance to the story primarily as Paulo's girlfriend - a status she is unlikely to enjoy much longer. [[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/candybooru/post/view/7037?search=Taeshi_%28Artist%29 This]] was drawn after Kizuna's original creator threw a hissy fit, resulting in Taeshi removing the character from the comic, and all of the fan characters save Tess and [=McCain=] have been {{retcon}}ned out of the comic. |
| 359 | ** On a more serious note, [[spoiler:Lucy herself]] has been put on a bus on account of [[spoiler:[[DespairEventHorizon leaving]] [[BungledSuicide Roseville]] [[TheMovingExperience High]].]] |
| 360 | * {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d [[http://booksdontworkhere.thecomicseries.com/comics/56/ here]] in ''Webcomic/BooksDontWorkHere'' when the Main character and her room mate head to the mall at the same time as the author has to move and get a new job. The author's avatar also makes an appearance getting on the bus as they get off. Which gives Robin an opportunity to [[spoiler:punch him in the face]]. |
| 361 | * Done to every character at the end of ''Webcomic/BoyMeetsBoy'', to make room for two side characters who got their own spinoff in ''Webcomic/FriendlyHostility''. |
| 362 | * ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' puts Waluigi on an Assist Trophy? in an Assist Trophy? whatever, the point is that he ends up one at the end of the 2014 AprilFoolsDay event. |
| 363 | * The now decidedly unnecessary "human characters" in ''Webcomic/ComicShorts'': Spriteoverse are removed in episode 26 possibly the least subtle way imaginable: by interrupting the comic's dialog to announce that they're going to blink out of existence. They may or may not come back if it's convenient enough to the plot. |
| 364 | * Half the cast of ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'' is on a bus and will potentially return some day. But they're OutOfFocus. |
| 365 | * ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'': |
| 366 | ** One of the players, Sally, wants her character Jar Jar to be hit by a bus. In the next strip she is playing ''Guitar Hero'', and has mostly been playing bit part {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PCs. |
| 367 | ** In episode 4, Ben disappears for an unspecified reason. |
| 368 | * Nearly happens to the main character of ''Webcomic/{{Furmentation}}''. More accurately, everybody else took a bus to Disneyland and left him all alone... in the enemy camp. Poor guy. Yes, that IS the main character. |
| 369 | * In ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'', Trish goes into a coma after being attacked by her impostor, who proceeds to impersonate her until she is unmasked. |
| 370 | * Happens sometimes in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''; Master Payne's traveling show decamps to England to escape the wrath of the Wulfenbach empire, while Baron Wulfenbach's second-in-command Boris disappears [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome without explanation]] during protagonist Agatha's two-and-a-half year TimeSkip. |
| 371 | * [[https://web.archive.org/web/20080305002552/http://girlyyy.com/go/83 Done]] in ''Webcomic/{{Girly}}'' when Officer Policeguy gets fed up with Detective Clampjaw. |
| 372 | ** More like '''strapped to''' the bus! |
| 373 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', the Demonic Duck is put on a bus after his appearance at the birthday party - [[http://www.egscomics.com/sketchbook/?date=2006-07-14 he travels to Australia to learn about his roots,]] presumably the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullockornis Demon Duck of Doom]]. He returned in 2010, although it's unknown if he'll be sticking around. |
| 374 | * ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' has done this with several of its supporting characters over time. Candice and her family were once nearly as important to the strip as Kevin and Kell themselves, but eventually she was outsourced to New Zealand and hasn't been heard from since, barring a cameo at Lindesfarne's wedding. The Ursuls, of whom Marjorie was Kell's best friend for the early years of the strip, moved to Florida and new best friend Aby moved into their house -- they've also not been seen since. Marjorie's daughter, son in law, and grandson Harcourt initially went with them, but later they [[TheBusCameBack came back]]. Lindesfarne's best friend Tammy Tussock and her husband Ray moved to a lighthouse, and while they were important to one more storyline after the move, they've only made sporadic appearances since, most recently at the early stages of Lindesfarne's pregnancy. Rudy's rival [[spoiler: and half brother]] Vin Vulpin spent years constantly being an antagonist to Rudy, then in the end ran away to the Wild to escape criminal charges and hasn't been seen since, barring one cameo [[spoiler: in which we find out he's now got a mate and three kits, and has so assimilated to the Wild that he's forgotten his name]]. Then again, longtime readers of Bill Holbrook's two syndicated strips should be well aware of his tendency to rotate the cast - both of those strips have managed almost a complete cast turnover, including their main characters. |
| 375 | * In ''Webcomic/AModestDestiny'' two of the main characters go bye-bye for essentially a whole arc. |
| 376 | * Happened to a lot of the cast in ''Webcomic/NFansTheSeries''. At some point, characters were either put in confinement, captured, in a coma (in the case of Ran Cossack), or simply OutOfFocus. Van for example was put in jail for a majority of the comic's arc, only appearing to mention his beloved "Goth girl", while the rest of the mettaurs and a giant robot went through a portal. Christopher Blair was also fighting Ganondorf for a very long while. Team Lalala was once stranded on the exact same screen for about a year of real-time. Eventually though, some characters were written out of the comic. (Van went home, Piney had simply chosen to return home due to having a fallout with the author at the time) |
| 377 | * In ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', it looked like this was going to happen to Steve. Turns out, he's back. However, the side characters Dave and Meena caught that bus. Also, Sarah, Ellen, Amir, and Natasha. Looks like Raven is on that bus too. |
| 378 | ** Actually, it seems like the bus dropped Raven off just in time for her college physics class. Amir got off the bus for a cameo as well, but has probably caught another one at this point. Also, since Sarah was apparently "eaten by an Allosaurus," this may be more of a BusCrash scenario. |
| 379 | * Inverted in ''Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy'': The entire supporting cast tends to rotate between {{Myth Arc}}s as Sam and Fuzzy are forced to abandon their old lives and move on (again), usually with a months-long TimeSkip involved, while the supporting cast tends to stay behind. This means the entire supporting cast has more or less rotated thrice, with old characters occasionally coming on as cameos (after all, they haven't gone anywhere) and some coming back permanently. During the first rotation between the "Classic Series" and "Noosehead", even TheProtagonist Sam vanished for like 10 months. [[spoiler:It later turned out he was hiding in plain sight as a supporting character.]] |
| 380 | ** Finally, after finishing the NMS MythArc, this rotation tendency came to its logical conclusion as ''Sam and Fuzzy'' were given this treatment. |
| 381 | * In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', this happens most notably to [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2006-01-01/ Der Thris]], who resigns to help out the police on Mahuitalotu. |
| 382 | ** The author calls this practice "retiring characters", and it typically happens when people leave the Toughs or when the Toughs leave them. They usually come back with at least a follow-up arc a few years later or a bonus story. |
| 383 | * Conversed in ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'', when Robin mentions that Jacob had been put on a bus. |
| 384 | ** And now [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk Mike]] and [[ActionGirl Amber]] moved off to Denver after their [[LightswitchSurprise surprise wedding.]] |
| 385 | * Happens a lot in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' due to the sheer number of characters it's introduced over its {{long run|ners}}. Characters very rarely ''stay'' on the bus, however. Even if it takes over a decade, it seems like every character who isn't explicitly killed off is bound to make a second appearance. [[spoiler:Sasha, who had moved away]] seven years ago, made a return to the comic. |
| 386 | * ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' has a number of characters be tossed on the bus, due to the author's ever-shifting focus. Saramah Rosechu, who was supposed to be part of a big prophecy, is married off not even two issues after her appearance and the prophecy ignored; Meg-chan (aka Sailor Megtune) disappeared without a trace another two issues later; Metal Sonichu makes an appearance and is launched to the Moon, never to be seen again (he was supposed to return, but so far, no show). |
| 387 | * ''Webcomic/StarMares'' takes advantage of the party split of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' to temporarily sideline Gracenote and Maple Leaf, in order to give the other characters more screen time (and to avoid trying to find something for them to do). |
| 388 | * Tepoz from ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'' is put on a bus [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/01232002/ to Utah]] shortly after his introduction. He returned later and played an important role in the plot. |
| 389 | [[/folder]] |
| 390 | |
| 391 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 392 | * [[spoiler: Stanley Brown's mother]] in ''Literature/Assignment2''. She is [[spoiler: committed to a mental asylum and then ''never even mentioned again'']]. |
| 393 | * In the fourth year of ''Literature/TheQuestportChronicles'', the elf Gawain--one of the [[RotatingProtagonist eight main characters]] -- has been called away on "mysterious business" and is absent for the entire quest. None of the other characters comment on it. |
| 394 | [[/folder]] |
| 395 | |
| 396 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 397 | * ''WebVideo/CrossedLines'': In Episode 1, Public Enemies, the Waterdown Railway's resident mixed traffic diesel engine, Boomer, breaks down while running a passenger train. Atlas agrees to take the train while Boomer is left with Benjamin. Boomer is absent for much of the series afterwards. [[TheBusCameBack He finally returns]] in Episode 7, Rebel Iron, attending the meeting Zebedee's holding in the shed. |
| 398 | * WebVideo/HeroHouse has an example in [[spoiler:Captain America]] who essentially vanishes after being wounded in a fight. |
| 399 | * ''WebVideo/LifeSMP'': |
| 400 | ** In the first season, ''WebVideo/ThirdLifeSMP'', [=BDoubleO100=] was absent on Day 6 because it was his daughter's birthday at the time. Later, [=SmallishBeans=] took his absence on Day 7 for undisclosed reasons. Neither [=BDoubleO100=] or [=SmallishBeans=] have a substitute with them. |
| 401 | ** In the second season, ''WebVideo/LastLifeSMP'', [=GoodTimesWithScar=] was absent on Day 7 due to hospitalization in real life. Scar didn't have a substitute. |
| 402 | ** A double absence happened during the fourth season, ''WebVideo/LimitedLifeSMP'', where [=PearlescentMoon=] and [=ZombieCleo=] were unable to record for their respective sessions on Day 6 due to Pearl being in Japan at the time and Cleo's computer dying just hours before the session. Because of this, [=LDShadowLady=] and [=GeminiTay=] sub-in for Pearl and Cleo, respectively. |
| 403 | ** [=TangoTek=] wasn't able to make it to the recording session on Day 6 of the fifth season, ''WebVideo/SecretLifeSMP'', due to him going on vacation. As a result, Rendog subbed-in for him for the entirety of the recording session, and the secret task given to Ren was to have an ImaginaryFriend that is ''exactly like Tango''. |
| 404 | * Emo 5 in ''WebVideo/MightyMoshinEmoRangers'' Season Two. Captain Emohead brings up that he had to sell him on eBay to pay the phone bill, which Ross had exhausted with phone sex. It's not like he did anything anyway. |
| 405 | * In ''Series/{{Noob}}'', [[spoiler:Dark Avenger]]'s RageQuit was this from the perspective of a story that is 90% DeepImmersionGaming. |
| 406 | * In WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, [[WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers Ma-ti]] and Douchy [=McNitpick=] have both been put on a bus. Interestingly both their departures are loosely connected. Though WebVideo/{{Ask That Guy|WithTheGlasses}} and Videogame Confessions have been so long since they were updated, one could say the same for Ask That Guy (the host) and Dominic. |
| 407 | * This happens to ''two'' characters in the season one finale of ''WebVideo/PrettyDudes'' as [[spoiler:Jay and Zario literally drive off into the night in the season one finale, so Jay's absence in the second season is inferred long before it's explained. Meanwhile, the last shot of Eagle shows her coming down the stairs with a packed bag - after coming out to her husband as a lesbian - and she is never seen again]]. |
| 408 | * When WebVideo/TheSharkasmCrew's [[spoiler:Cephalo the Pod]] left for his first year of university, his mom moved to Waterford and his Dad had left town a few years ago. Even when [[spoiler:Kason and Sauxuas]] come back to town for the summer, [[spoiler:Cephalo]] will be living in Waterford. [[TheBusCameBack He makes sure to visit]]. And now he lives closer to St. Marys, in [[spoiler:London]]. |
| 409 | * Some ''WebVideo/SMPLive'' characters went absent for a bit with no in-universe explanation. This is because [[RealLifeWritesThePlot their real life counterparts were all at TwitchCon]]. |
| 410 | * Bowser Junior from ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' became this after a brief appearance in a ''Mario and Luigi's Stupid and Dumb Adventures'' episode...[[TheBusCameBack before reappearing in the Bowser Juice commercial and ]][[AscendedExtra becoming a main character following an appearance in "Bowser Junior's Macaroni"]]. |
| 411 | * Ted of Creator/WongFuProductions leaves the Wong Fu office during the 2015 "Offline" series to look for Awkward Animals. He returns in the season finale. |
| 412 | [[/folder]] |
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