Line #160 Main/TheChrisCarterEffect


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6	->''"[[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]] announced this week that it has renewed ''Series/{{Lost}}'' for a fourth season. Said the show's writers, [[OhCrap 'Oh, crap.']]"''
7	-->-- '''Creator/AmyPoehler''' on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'''s "Weekend Update" segment
8
9	''If the fans conclude that the writing team will never resolve its plots, then they will probably stop following the work.''
10
11	It's said that no one ever went broke [[LowestCommonDenominator underestimating the taste of the viewing public]], but sometimes a show comes along that promises stories so complex and subtle that they'll make ''Literature/WarAndPeace'' look like ''[[Literature/FrogAndToad Frog and Toad Are Friends]]''. If it's [[TheProducerThinksOfEverything done right]], then this is catnip to [[TroperDemographics a certain sector of the viewing public]], who will often give such a show a surprisingly long time to set up its plot arcs before getting antsy for a resolution. The catch for the creator is that the longer an arc runs and the more complicated it gets, the more awesome its payoff must be for it to feel satisfying to the fans. It's much easier for a writer to [[KudzuPlot keep kicking the can]] -- piling mysteries on top of mysteries -- rather than finish storylines.
12
13	That said, most audiences are savvy enough to recognize a framing device when they see one. Plots resting on a single DrivingQuestion (Where is [[Anime/SamuraiChamploo the Sunflower Samurai?]] Who is [[Series/HowIMetYourMother Mrs. Mosby?]]) are [[StatusQuoIsGod allowed some leeway]]; otherwise, the production team would be out of work and the story would end. The Chris Carter Effect happens when a work is wholly focused on twists or not building up to a satisfactory resolution, or the plot gets so bloated that there no longer ''can'' be a satisfactory resolution. Another contributing effect could be the unsatisfactory resolution of long-running side plots. At this point, even the most ardent fans will start to feel jerked around, or perhaps even channel flip to something else.
14
15	Sometimes, the lack of a resolution is not the writers' fault: the network might have [[ScrewedByTheNetwork pulled the plug early]] or [[ExecutiveMeddling compromised the original vision]] by having it focus on more [[MerchandiseDriven merchandisable elements]] or to keep adding to or expanding on the author's intended story.
16
17	See also KudzuPlot and CommitmentAnxiety. Specifically, the combination of a KudzuPlot with WebcomicTime can have a similar effect on the audience, even when a finale is in the works, if the piece stretches out long enough that the fans lose track of the original premise of the series. ArcFatigue is this trope on a smaller scale, in which just a single story arc goes on for too long without any resolution rather than the entire series. Can be connected to FranchiseOriginalSin in that the MythArc is successful at first before devolving over time into less-successful territory.
18
19	It isn't solely overly complicated plots that can do this, either. It can also be caused by a {{Cliffhanger}} followed up by [[CliffhangerWall one too many installments that neglect to resolve it]], or a series running on UnresolvedSexualTension that drags it on just a little too long.
20
21	If fans doubt that such a show will even ''survive'' to finish its story and don't bother tuning in, that's TheFireflyEffect. Compare WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants, which does not focus on how the audience reacts to it.
22
23	[[TropeNamer Named]] for Creator/ChrisCarter, creator of ''Series/TheXFiles'', whom some believe to be the godfather of this trope.
24
25	Contrast FanDislikedExplanation.
26	----
27	!!Examples subpages:
28
29	[[index]]
30	* TheChrisCarterEffect/LiveActionTV
31	[[/index]]
32
33	!!Other examples:
34
35	[[foldercontrol]]
36
37	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
38	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' tends to establish a goal for each main character to work towards, but these are frequently so vague that it's hard to tell if they're actually making progress at all. Ash Ketchum himself sets out to become a "Pokémon Master", but in 20+ years of episodes the audience still has little clue of what that actually ''means''. All that's said is that it's far beyond being the strongest trainer as when someone asked on Pokémon.com's mailbag, the writers said they would not answer the question as they'd prefer to leave it up to fans to come up with their own interpretations. Some characters, like May and Dawn competing in Pokémon Contests, have more defined goals and make clear progress, but end up leaving the cast to continue at it offscreen, leaving their arcs unresolved. None of the characters have truly achieved any of their goals as of yet. Thus, many fans have given up on ever seeing any of the characters' stories really wrapped up at any point in the foreseeable future... of course, seeing as the target demographic is eight to twelve years old, it also doesn't seem to matter all that much, as [[FleetingDemographic some fans give up on it]] (and are replaced by younger fans) before this trope becomes much of an issue.
39	** Both the Contest Champion and the Pokémon League champion are characters only introduced for those events, leaving all the rivals hanging as well as the protagonists. Sinnoh and Kalos are the only major exceptions; [[spoiler:the contest champion in Sinnoh is Zoey, who had been a significant rival and supporting cast member since the region began. Likewise, the Pokémon League Champion in Kalos is Alain, who was a major character in the Mega Evolution mini-series]]. Alola also became an exception when [[spoiler:the Pokémon League champion was Ash himself. And then, in Journeys, Ash successfully beats Leon at the World Coronation Series and becomes the very best, like no one ever was. After that, there is the miniseries, ''Aim to be a Pokémon Master'' with the final episode being Ash and Pikachu's final episode as protagonists of the anime.]]
40	** This has almost become an enforced trope in regard to Ash and his Pokémon. After Hoenn he almost never even mentions any Pokémon from prior regions besides Pikachu, meaning if any of those Pokémon or even most trainers from those regions had outstanding plots, they will never be resolved. However, Sinnoh has Ash using a number of his Kanto, Johto and Hoenn Pokémon in the Lily of the Valley Conference [[spoiler: with Sceptile being the only Pokémon to beat Tobias's Darkrai]], Unova has Ash's Pokémon up to that point posing with him in a picture and Journeys has a couple of episodes where Ash goes back to Professor Oak's Lab where he reunites with his Pokémon and ''Aim to be a Pokémon Master'' has Ash rotating his team, e.g. one episode where he, Misty and Brock have to help a Beartic with its cold controlling powers has Ash using Snorlax, Oshawott, Talonflame, and Incineroar.
41	** Any MacGuffin that Ash obtains that compels him to travel to a particular region, if it's not in a movie, will become a case of WhatHappenedToTheMouse as Ash and his companions get caught up in something else, and they'll eventually leave it with someone never to be seen again (such as the GS Ball) or it's completely wiped from existence or anyone's memory (Misty's bicycle). With the GS Ball, however, there was WordOfGod on it: The GS Ball originally was supposed to contain Celebi, but that plotline was reappropriated into one of the [[Anime/Pokemon4Ever movies]], so the producer decided to quietly remove the GS Ball from the story in hopes everyone would forget about it. And as for Misty's bike, right before Misty leaves the company of Ash and Brock in Johto, we ''finally'' get closure regarding it when the Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center Ash went to in the second episode of the Kanto saga (where Misty cornered him and chewed him out for Pikachu frying her bike and it was actually pivotal to the episode as a ChekhovsGun) [[ThrowTheDogABone reveals she restored it to mint condition in the time Misty has been gone]] (because Misty abandoned it there in the Pokémon Center knowing it was no use to her anymore).
42	* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' ran into this when it came to Guts and his party's goal to reach Elfheim, where the possibility of Casca's insanity being cured lay. With Miura's scheduling slipping, it was inevitably going to take a long time, but fans worried that others would lose interest. It took almost ''eight years'' for Guts to finally [[MemeticMutation get off the damn boat]] and reach Elfheim. But then the subplot sped up and Casca was successfully cured. Only for Miura to leave her further reaction as a {{Cliffhanger}} and focusing on Griffith again, with his usual hiatus going on. (And then he ''[[DiedDuringProduction died]]'' in May 2021, leaving the series' fate up in the air.)
43	* There is, of course, the [[LongRunners long-running]] ''Manga/CaseClosed'', which hasn't progressed its "plot" by much in ''16 real-life years''...
44	** ... until the Bourbon arc goes out of its slow start and then the series features at least a bit of plot advancement in every single case. It is still debatable whether the plot is really advancing or not, but the reveals of the true identities of the newcomers, the gambit to [[spoiler:make the Black Organization believe Sherry is finally dead for real]], and [[spoiler:Bourbon getting directly interested in Conan for his crime-solving ability and connections to the FBI]], can certainly be called plot advancements.
45	** As of 2018 and the series returning from a long hiatus caused by Aoyama having health issues, it's rare for a story arc to ''not'' advance the plot. Maybe it's been realized that if the series ends because the [[DiedDuringProduction mangaka died]], it would be hard to keep selling the volumes?
46	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': A big complaint within the fandom was that Tite Kubo seemed to have so many hanging plot threads that he didn't seem to be paying any attention to. The final arc began the process of tying up all dangling plot threads, character issues, and backstories, even covering events the fandom had been convinced Tite Kubo had forgotten all about and addressing issues that the fandom had completely missed the original significance of. Unfortunately, due to the declining health of the author and Shonen Jump insisting on a quick end, the manga was CutShort and it is likely that the unanswered questions the author didn't get to will never be resolved. With the last arc ''finally'' being animated, it's hoped that AdaptationExpansion will occur and answer these questions.
47	* ''Anime/TheLostVillage'' lost fans due to the slow start and the fact that the mystery didn't really seem to go anywhere. Things get better after episode 7, but due to that slow start, some fans still think that the ending was rushed.
48	* Episode 4 of ''Literature/HumanityHasDeclined'' was theoretically a satire/parody of modern manga business practices, but mostly ended up addressing this. When the characters find themselves needing to make a popular manga, the local mangaka explains that the way to make a bestselling manga is not to craft a consistent plot but to keep stringing viewers along with constant cliffhangers, since they won't realize the plot holes until the end. However, once the audience catches on, the popularity of their manga drops like a stone.
49	--> ''The greatest entertainer is the greatest swindler!''
50	* ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'' remains on hold since 2003 with 18 volumes out of a planned 21 with a few chapters which is supposed to be for the 19th volume. Nanase Ohkawa, the lead writer of CLAMP, mentioned that they're still looking for a magazine willing to publish the remaining chapters. However, a decade had already passed and CLAMP put two more works (''Manga/Gate7'' and ''[[Manga/DrugAndDrop Legal Drug]]'') on hold to work on ''Tsubasa World Chronicle'', ''xxxHolic: Rei'' and ''Manga/CardCaptorSakuraClearCard''. Fans of ''X/1999'' are not pleased with this and doubt that the manga will ever continue at this point. It doesn't help that several plot points have been left hanging for a decade such as Kamui's "true" wish and most importantly, who wins between the Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth.
51	* ''Manga/XxxHolic'' started off very well developing the cast until it got too closely intertwined with ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' which complicated things such as Watanuki's and Yuko's backstories. And then, [[spoiler:Yuko "dies" and Watanuki inherits the shop with a new purpose which is to wait for her]]. It doesn't help that the manga ended [[NoEnding without a resolution]]. Later, CLAMP continued the manga with ''xxxHolic: Rei'' which brought the return of Yuko as the shop owner with the possibility that Watanuki's stuck in a dream. However, readers find that the new manga brought nothing new to the story or that CLAMP is dragging the direction too long.
52	* ''Literature/TrinityBlood'' became this after Sunao Yoshida unexpectedly died in 2004. The novels were completed by his friend and like the anime, it only stops at [[spoiler:Ester's coronation as Queen of Albion]] while Abel and Ion traveled around the world to stop Cain. The manga is said to end at that part as well. So even if one would continue the series with the notes left by Yoshida, the resolution between Abel and the humans vs. Cain and the Rosenkreuz Orden remained unsolved because the last notes stopped at the final battle between the two brothers without the result.
53	* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' suffers from extreme Schedule Slip, and hasn't come close to resolving many plots as a result, such as the Phantom Troupe and the Dark Continent arc. The series began to inch forward in stunted segments due to constant SeriesHiatus, making little gains until 2016 finally saw the ball rolling with several [[WhamEpisode bang-up chapters]] before another long drought. In 2017, despite another hiatus, the story finally gets down to business, because this is the first time in a ''long'' time that Yoshihiro Togashi has taken a hiatus and promised to '''come back''' at a set return date and has found a nervous rhythm that is giving the story momentum.
54	* ''VisualNovel/DiabolikLovers'' went two seasons with no resolved sexual tension and no new progressions in the plot, unless one counts the plethora of new, entirely unforeshadowed characters that show up in the second finale and have absolutely no relation to the preexisting characters. [[DrivingQuestion Who will the new Adam be?]] You can be sure the viewers don't know.
55	* ''Manga/{{Nana}}'' was going on at a steady pace, until Ai Yazawa's leave due to disease, which put the series in hiatus. That was in 2009. She recovered the following year, but seven years later, she's yet to pick up the story and resolve details such as, who is really the father of Hachi's daughter, whether she will stay with Takumi or break up with him[[note]]about this, the only thing that is known is that, while not divorced (yet), Hachi and Takumi are estranged[[/note]], whether someone will find Nana O. in Europe or she will get in touch with her friends first, and so on.
56	* ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend'' is a prominent example of the UnresolvedSexualTension variant. After about 300 chapters, the relationship between Kazuya and Chizuru hasn't progressed much since when the story started, and every major step they get in the relationship would be quickly met with StatusQuoIsGod, with a lot of the CharacterDevelopment either of the two would get usually being gone once the following arc starts -- Chapter 218 in particular being an [[NeverLiveItDown infamous example of this]]. As such many fans have given up on the manga, feeling the UST is never going anywhere and that Kazuya and Chizuru would never be allowed to fully improve as people as long as they keep milking the romantic tension. It's pretty telling that there's numerous videos on [=YouTube=] with them telling that they used to like the series, only for the constant employment of StatusQuoIsGod causing them to lose interest.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Comic Books]]
60	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
61	** Many of the plot elements related to the Spider-Totem introduced by Creator/JMichaelStraczynski during his run on ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski'' from 2001 to 2007 gave readers a lot of doubletalk and mystical mumbo-jumbo, but very little in the way of concrete resolution, like exactly why Peter had to "evolve", why one cosmic entity wanted to bring him back from the dead while another thought he should stay deceased, the mysterious entities that resurrected Mysterio and Miss Arrow and what they wanted with Peter, etc. None of this was ever really explained. A degree of resolution was achieved in the ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'' storyline, which explained the origins of the Inheritors and had Spider-Man and his allies defeat them.
62	** Originally, ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' was supposed to wrap up after a few months, after an already complicated narrative. However, due to the [[ExecutiveMeddling efforts]] of Marvel executives, the story was extended for another year, with plot twists being reversed constantly, and supposedly dead characters appearing, reappearing, and then dying anticlimactically. The story finally limped to its conclusion with another plot twist that had almost nothing to do with most of the events that preceded it ([[spoiler:ComicBook/NormanOsborn was back]]). It should be noted that, when the saga started, it was Marvel's highest-selling group of books. The act of stretching it to the limit for so long caused sales to slump, and fans turned away in droves.
63	** Most of the plots in the book during the ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay'' storyline essentially went nowhere. Mysteries such as who was Jackpot, what Mr. Negative was going to do with Peter's blood, what happened to erase Peter's memories, why Harry was alive, and more were given an anti-climactic resolution, dragged out for several years, or worse, both. The explanation for Harry Osborn's return was that the goblin serum revived him, which made no sense since it was the thing that killed him in the first place (the run by Creator/NickSpencer a decade later would eventually reveal he was just another clone and killed him off). Jackpot was a character that the readers never met before and was killed off during the same story. Mysteries such as the secret to how Peter's identity was made a secret again were resolved in a manner that most of the audience figured out already, leading many to question why it was kept a secret for three years. After a while, it became clear that the writers had no real major arc planned for the character and his mythos, and were just making it up as they went along.
64	* ''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise'' featured a series of flash-forwards that never actually resolved or were explained. Writer Terry Moore went so far as to include not one but TWO fake-out reboots (one in which the comic's story turned out to be a book a new character was writing and another in which it turned out to all be a dream) which were then immediately discarded the very next issue. Eventually the last third of the series sort of righted itself and all of the immediate conflicts were tied up by the end, but much of the first half of the run remains unexplained.
65	* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' had a problem with this during the Penders/Bollers era. Everyone and their mother had some super-extraordinary destiny that they must fulfill (Knuckles and the mysterious dream his dad Locke had, Tails and the Great Harmony, Sally and whatever the Source wanted with her, etc.), but everyone seemed to forget that this was ''Sonic's'' comic and whenever he showed up, he was incredibly inefficient at being a hero -- half of the time, he was ''grounded'' for one reason or another. It got to the point where the two head writers were at each other's throats and were forced off the title; Ian Flynn took over writing duties and spent his first year mostly just wrapping up all the loose plot threads.
66	* The entirety of Scott Lobdell's run on ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' had this problem. He'd introduce plot threads, most of which would go nowhere. Those that actually went somewhere led to ''more'' questions, which led to ''more'' questions. The linchpin of his entire run was the villain Harvest, a guy from the future who knew how to plan ahead for everything, and was doing what was best for humanity and was this DarkMessiah figure and... turned out to be a generic villain whose plans made no sense. Skitter was called away in the middle of a crossover... and returns over a year later without that plot thread amounting to anything. Basically everything that wasn't a self-contained arc was being made up as it went along.
67	* Creator/BrianKVaughan's creator-owned long runners ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' and ''ComicBook/ExMachina'' both suffered these, especially Y, which had a lot of the questions brought up during the run unanswered. Vaughan later admitted he believes that since this is how real life works (not all questions are answered) that he chooses to write this way. He also doesn't believe in [[DownerEnding happy endings.]]
68	[[/folder]]
69
70	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
71	* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': A complaint of the Multiverse Saga is that, unlike the Infinity Saga where nearly every movie tied into either the Avengers team or the Infinity Stones, the new saga is going off in a million different directions with no real promise that {{Sequel Hook}}s would be followed up on any time soon. Just limiting ourselves to new characters introduced or teased at the last minute in Phase Four works; we have White Vision, Eros, Black Knight, Venom, Jake Lockley, Clea, Hercules, and Skaar.
72	* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' started as an inversion with [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl the very first movie]] concluding the storyline and giving all the characters a [[EarnYourHappyEnding happy ending]] which is understandable given it was [[TwoPartTrilogy meant to be a stand-alone movie]], but once the original movie became a huge SleeperHit and the start of a franchise, the writers decided to go against their original conclusion by pulling HappyEndingOverride after HappyEndingOverride over the three following sequels without really trying to bring the characters to a positive conclusion and commonly ending in a worse place they already were per movie. By the time of ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides On Stranger Tides]]'' most of the sympathetic characters were dead, PutOnABusToHell, disappeared with an UncertainDoom implication and the one character that seemed to be gaining a happy conclusion was [[spoiler:Barbossa, the villain of the original movie]] while Jack Sparrow seemed to get further from his objective of winning back the Black Pearl as the movies keep going and the newly introduced characters got not much resolution in favour of pulling more [[{{Cliffhanger}} Cliffhangers]]. This led to a lot of fans starting to lose interest in the franchise feeling the writers were not intending to give the characters a happy ending as long as the movies keep being popular. ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMenTellNoTales Dead Men Tell No Tales]]'' tried to fix this by [[spoiler: having Jack win back the Black Pearl and have Will and Elizabeth finally reunited]] only for TheStinger to have [[spoiler: Davy Jones coming back from the dead which to many fans make a lot of the struggles of the last four movies completely pointless]], meaning the franchise still hasn't left this trope yet.
73	* The ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise is a rare example of a film series running into this, which started once the original creators departed from writing with the production of ''Film/SawIV''. As new reveals and twists were constantly thrown into the overarching story, the series became less about a PoeticSerialKiller who forces people into {{Death Trap}}s in order to prove a moral point (which is more or less granted, since he previously died at the end of ''Film/SawIII''), and more about the [[KudzuPlot increasingly convoluted]] machinations of the people fighting over said killer's VillainousLegacy. Eventually, many viewers outside the fanbase gave up on following the plot, and [[JustHereForGodzilla were just there for the over-the-top gore effects]]. Once diminishing box office results started setting in with ''Film/SawVI'', the writers and ExecutiveMeddling eventually began to make an effort to tie off the many loose threads with the [[SeriesFauxnale original finale]], ''Film/Saw3D'', but the result proved [[BrokenBase fairly divisive]] among fans. It wasn't until ''[[Film/Spiral2021 Spiral]]'', an installment that -- while acknowledging the previous films -- has a pretty standalone plot within the timeline, that the franchise finally left the effect to an extent.[[note]]Its preceding installment, ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', also went with a time setting outside of the previous films, but crammed more storylines taking place during them.[[/note]]
74	* Despite being only three films long, the ''Franchise/StarWars'' sequel trilogy suffered from this rather heavily. Creator/JJAbrams (who may well be this trope's modern patron saint) left a massive number of plot points and mysteries in the first film, but lacked any clear answer for most of them, expecting the next person to make the answers instead. Creator/RianJohnson, seemingly out of irritation at this idea, cut this off at the knees by thoroughly resolving half of the ideas Abrams set up and ignoring the rest. After that point, it had become clear that Disney [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants had no overarching idea]], which caused many fans to simply give up on any coherent answer for most of these questions, not helped by ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' still leaving many questions unresolved or [[VoodooShark opening far bigger questions in the process]].
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Literature]]
78	* Robert Jordan's {{Doorstopper}} series ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' spent 11 books (each greater than 500 pages) spinning out a KudzuPlot, and Jordan himself seemed adamantly opposed to resolving any plot threads before the 12th and final book. Despite this, he stated that he would conclude the series with book 12 "whether it's 15,000 pages, Tor has to invent a new binding system, or it comes with its own library cart," since it was very unlikely that he could write a coherent thirteenth book. This turned out to be true, but for other reasons than he expected: he DiedDuringProduction. Creator/BrandonSanderson, the writer tapped to finish the series in Jordan's stead, eventually decided that resolving every arc properly would take no less than ''[[http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/56/Splitting-AMOL three]]'' books. It did. Three, huge, ''massive'' books.[[note]]Sanderson did intend to publish the ending as a single book, but the publishers persuaded him to split it. Nobody wanted to experiment with binding, and retailers don't like boxed sets. Besides, [[MoneyDearBoy three separate books are more profitable than one]].[[/note]] As the series took 25 years to finish, many fans dropped off after reading the most recent book and waiting years for the next to come out. Due to said KudzuPlot, new books would be unintelligible after years away without rereading most of the series, and so this effect took hold.
79	* Daniel "Lemony Snicket" Handler deliberately exploited this. The theme at the end of ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is that not every mystery could easily be solved, not every question could easily be answered, and there are many mysteries in the world that simply will never get solved. Handler claims this was his intent from book one. Thus the final book "The End" [[NoEnding is anything but]], though it does answer the series' most important question: [[spoiler:that Beatrice was the Baudelaires' mother.]]
80	* ''Literature/{{Remnants}}'' by Creator/KAApplegate. It spends the first ten or so books setting up a bunch of mysteries (why do some of the humans have superpowers now? What is the Ancient Enemy, and how is it connected to Billy and/or the Troika? What happened to the missing five humans?), but promptly switches to basically a new plot for the last few books, with ''none'' of the questions answered. Granted, the plotline at the end was pretty good and ''somewhat'' more coherent until the GainaxEnding... but it's like the first ten books were wasted with a destination of ''[[StealthPun nowhere.]]''
81	* ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'', by the same author as ''Remnants'', is just as bad. Each successive book begins an entirely new plot and never goes back to answer any of the questions raised along with the plot. The series [[ScrewedByTheNetwork doesn't even have a concluding novel]]; the twelfth ends with the two primary antagonists ([[BigBad Ka Anor]] and the [[PsychoForHire the Sennites]]) still alive and well after Senna herself gets [[spoiler: [[DroppedABridgeOnHim killed off suddenly]]]] and does nothing to explain the myriad questions raised over the course of the series, such as the identity of the watcher in the void.
82	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' does it too. While the main plot is technically resolved, it's still got an AudienceAlienatingEnding. Plus, the Ellimist/Crayak stuff is still ongoing, some of the info in ''Megamorphs'' is never brought up again, some of the pre-finale stuff comes out of the blue. Oh, and the ending introduces a new arc. Plus, there's that group of 'friendly' Yeerks, Ax's desire to avenge his brother...
83	* George R. R. Martin's ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' [[TrilogyCreep expanding to at least seven books]] and suffering from ScheduleSlip has convinced some fans that Martin has no idea where he's going with the series.
84	** Part of this comes from the fourth and fifth being {{Contested Sequel}}s for their expanded scope, slower pace, and greater emphasis on character development and world-building than action and plot, though this is somewhat intentional both as a BreatherEpisode and because they were designed to fill in an abandoned five-year TimeSkip. The other main reason is that the whole series is a vicious DeconstructorFleet, which makes for a very exciting read but also means that no fan has ''ever'' had more than a vague idea of what the final book will be like or what the overall MythArc even ''is'', making it easier to for fans to get accusatory because they're bloody sick of waiting.
85	** Martin himself is aware of this concern and has consistently made clear that he ''does'' know the BroadStrokes of the story's events and ending, it's just getting there in a coherent and compelling fashion that's proving more complicated than he ever imagined and he has no plans to continue expanding, even half-jokingly declaring he needs to start [[AnyoneCanDie killing off]] more characters to [[ThePlotReaper simplify things]] in ''The Winds of Winter''.
86	* ''Literature/MaximumRide'' suffers heavily from this, though it doesn't really become apparent until ''Saving The World and Other Extreme Sports''. As what was intended as the final book of a trilogy, you'd expect it to finally start resolving plot arcs, but instead it just keeps throwing in wackier and wackier twists while deliberately avoiding answering any questions.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
90	* Most commonly occurs when the writers are [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants writing by the seat of their pants]], known in wrestling jargon as "hotshot" booking. This is when a show is literally written as it is being performed, either because the writers aren't prepared, a wrestler is suddenly unable to work a match during a live show requiring an abrupt change in his angle, or because the bookers are trying to be daring and edgy. Hotshot booking rarely produces anything but failure, however.
91	** The Wrestling/KevinNash-booked [[FanNickname Summer of Suck]] in 1999 WCW featured the "Who drove the Hummer?" angle which was never resolved. Crossed with TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot, since, once [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sid Vicious]] returned at ''WCW The Great American Bash 99'', all they needed to say was that Wrestling/RandySavage had hired Sid to drive the Hummer to crash into Nash's limo to injure him to make it easier for Savage to defeat Nash for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-h.html WCW World Heavyweight Title]].
92	** At Wrestling/{{WWE}}, an attempt to avert the concept in some circumstances was put in writing as part of the company's "Wellness Program", which states that any "Superstar" fired for doping offenses must {{job\|ber}} his or her title/finish an angle in the ring immediately and without pay.
93	*** This was demonstrated in 2009 when Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio\|Jr}} was given a Wellness Vacation and dropped the Intercontinental Championship he was holding at the time to Wrestling/JohnMorrison (which [[BrokenBase promptly caused some fans to complain]] about Rey not dropping the title to Wrestling/DolphZiggler, who'd been in the hunt for the title for some time).
94	** Injured wrestlers can usually finish the match they're in (unless the injury is really bad), but they won't be back next week, and if they were in the middle of a storyline you've got a week (if you're lucky) to rewrite it.
95	*** In WWE in 2009, Edge and Wrestling/ChrisJericho had formed a tag team, won the Unified Tag Team Championships, and were just starting off an arrogant heel run with the belts...and then Wrestling/{{Edge\|Wrestler}} tore his Achilles tendon, putting him on the shelf for the rest of the year. WWE Creative, backed into a pretty unpleasant corner, had Jericho cut a promo on Edge for having the gall to get injured during their title run; he then hyped up his new mystery partner (who was much better than Edge)...who he'd be debuting at the next PPV. This bought them enough time to actually get a new story together.
96	*** In the end, it actually worked out great, as Jericho's partner was Wrestling/TheBigShow, and the team (known as "[=JeriShow=]") went on to dominate the tag team division for a good part of the year.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Video Games]]
100	* Many have accused Creator/TetsuyaNomura of doing this with the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series. Each new game ties up the previous one's loose ends but opens up twice as many new ones... The reason for this is because the first game in the series was deliberately designed with plot holes to fill because Nomura was unsure if a sequel would be worth making, and also because he wanted fans to [[FanWank make up their own theories]] about how things happened (which he succeeded at). [[https://www.siliconera.com/kingdom-hearts-storyline-complicated/ Nomura then confirmed]] that [[MandatoryTwistEnding he always will add plot holes, twist endings and other bizarre, mysterious elements into a game]], and [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants then make up answers to them while working on the next game]]. Rinse and repeat. The longer this cycle has gone on, the more vocally tired much of the fanbase has become of it, especially after the long-awaited ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', much hyped as the GrandFinale of the "Seeker of Darkness Chronicle", still felt inconclusive to some in regards to many plot threads already hanging all while opening up brand new ones.
101	* The ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series seems to be suffering from a fatal case of Chris Carter. Eidos never really knew what to do with it after Crystal Dynamics stole it from Silicon Knights (and told SK to throw their carefully plotted story ideas for a sequel in the trash). Crystal Dynamics' next decision with the franchise, having multiple titles in development at the same time with different teams working on them, did little to gel any sort of solid story. The meat of the stories after the first game seemed to follow [[OurVampiresAreDifferent immortal, nigh-indestructible evolving vampires]] traveling through time and fighting extra-dimensional demons. The series' timeline spans thousands of years, and each additional game either flagrantly {{retcon}}s and/or {{reset button}}s the previous installations, including at least one cliffhanger ending that not only drew cries of the game being released incomplete but wasn't actually resolved in the next game. It still could turn out to be one of the greatest series ever, provided they manage to put a bow on it. However, so far news from the developer seems to suggest that another sequel is unlikely.
102	** One example: all the events of ''Blood Omen 2'' (released 4th) happen between the events of ''Blood Omen'' and ''Soul Reaver'' (released 1st and second) in a timeline created in ''Defiance'' (released 5th) and destroyed in ''Soul Reaver 2'' (released 3rd).
103	* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series is working on averting this after having fallen into this trope for a time. In its first decade, many elements of the universe were introduced and then never brought up again, such as what the MacGuffin Forerunner Crystal from ''Literature/HaloFirstStrike'' was supposed to be, how many Spartans had survived to the present, what happened to the ''Spirit of Fire'' after ''VideoGame/HaloWars'', etc. After the series was turned over from Creator/{{Bungie}} to Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries, the new studio began a ''massive'' effort to finally give answers to all the loose threads, sometimes by the dozens within the same work.
104	* Any new partner characters, second-string villains, or "B" plots in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series are typically met with derision because, so far, only one out of nearly a dozen of these characters [[SequelNonEntity has ever reappeared in any other games]]. As a rule, many fans tend not to get too invested in these characters when they know they'll just end up PutOnABus anyway.
105	* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' was accused of this, as early as the Ezio trilogy. ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' even [[http://www.cracked.com/video_19740_why-assassins-creed-makes-absolutely-no-sense.html made fun of the series]] for falling into this trope, alleging that its status as Creator/{{Ubisoft}}'s CashCowFranchise ensures that there will never be a proper end to the story.
106	** Many fans were expecting Desmond to get his own game set in the modern era, as the first few games clearly point towards the character being trained in the Assassin arts and getting better at fighting Abstergo agents. This took a hard right turn in the fifth main game, ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', in which [[spoiler:Desmond haphazardly sacrifices himself in a last-minute twist to save the world]]. As of 2016, there have been four main games since then (not to mention numerous tie-in games), and this aspect of the plot hasn't been addressed at all, instead being focused on periphery characters who are sneaking around ostensibly finding out little tidbits of information about Abstergo. It got to the point that ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'' had ''no scenes at all in the present day'', instead being a simulation run entirely through a console by two Assassins who act as MissionControl. This may have been the reason why Creator/{{Ubisoft}} opted to slow down the production schedule of the series in 2016 and take a longer time to complete each installment.
107	** ... and then there's [[http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Juno Juno]], the mysterious entity who [[spoiler:Desmond sacrificed himself for]] in ''III''. At the end of the game, she promised to help save the world, but as of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'', all she's done is float around computer systems and give cryptic information to various parties. It doesn't help matters that the KudzuPlot is so complicated and stretched out across so many games that it requires reading a wiki page to understand it, and the goal of the entity can be boiled down to [[GrandTheftMe stealing a human body so she can inhabit it]].
108	** The resolution of Lucy's character. In the first few games, Lucy was the MissionControl/sidekick who initially busted Desmond out of Abstergo and helped him fight against them. The first three games had a relatively consistent character arc for her, but when voice actress Creator/KristenBell left the franchise during production of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', the writers had [[spoiler:Desmond randomly stab her at the urging of Juno]]. The writers then promised that there would be answers to this plot twist, but it wasn't fully answered until the "Lost Archive" DLC for ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'' two years later -- [[spoiler:it turns out she was a triple agent, who decided to break Desmond out despite actively working for the Templars and doing villainous things]]. In order to learn this, you had to get and play through the DLC (which used a platforming system different than the main series). If you didn't bother with the DLC, then you wouldn't learn why until ''ACIII'' and even then you'd just have people referring to her [[spoiler:as a traitor]].
109	* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':
110	** Owing to the {{Jigsaw Puzzle\|Plot}} KudzuPlot spread out across the series, many plot threads are often LeftHanging with no explanation or are difficult to work out and piece together, all while new threads are brought up with each game. Thus some question just how much is planned out, and how much is Creator/ScottCawthon {{retcon}}ning things and/or [[WritingBytheSeatOfYourPants making it up as he goes along]].
111	** While the first three games formed a mostly coherent story, [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4 the fourth (and at-the-time final) game]] confused many fans since despite seemingly depicting [[spoiler:the once-mentioned [[BrainFood Bite of 87]]]], there's strong evidence suggesting it takes place years before then (not least being that [[spoiler:the culprit was a character whose restaurant had been closed for years by 1987]]). There's also the fact that a box which, quoth Scott, contained "all the pieces put together," ended up being [[MissingSecret left unopened]] as opposed to being unlocked with a later update as initially planned.
112	** ''[[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation Sister Location]]'' only confused things more by raising more questions and answering none, what with it taking some elements from ''[[Literature/FiveNightsAtFreddysTheSilverEyes The Silver Eyes]]'' (which is [[AlternateContinuity separate from]] the story of the games), putting into question just what [[RealAfterAll really happened]] [[BigBrotherIsWatching during]] ''4'', and the Custom Night's plot twists, amongst which is the implication that [[spoiler:Springtrap is {{retcon}}ned from being the GreaterScopeVillain, to his ''son'' instead, significantly affecting ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3''[='=]s story]].
113	*** Though some WordOfGod would later clarify the spoiler above. [[spoiler: Specifically, that Springtrap ''is'' the GreaterScopeVillain, and not his son, as previously believed.]]
114	** ''Finally'' resolved with the [[VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator sixth game]], which actually answered most of the above questions and [[spoiler:resolves the plot by having all the souls trapped inside the animatronics be released, and their souls pass onto the next world.]]
115	** This aforementioned resolution was then {{retcon}}ned (again) by the [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach ninth game]], which revealed that [[spoiler:all of the souls we thought were released are still very much trapped, only this time in even ''more'' perpetual agony, as their respective animatronics melted together into one being and was then sealed underground.]]
116	* ''VideoGame/HelloNeighbor'' got hit with this even worse than FNAF did. As the game went through alphas, it became clearer that the developers were making it up as they went and were relying on the alleged "mystery" to get exposure (to the point that many of the developers' Twitter posts consisted of begging for people to make theory videos) which wasn't helped by the game itself becoming increasingly overcomplicated and unpolished. The game's hype sunk like a stone upon the final release, where the longtime "mystery" of the neighbor's basement was answered in the ''first act'', making the rest of the story vague and confusing, with the last chapter ending on a pathetic AllJustADream twist. The sequel would later fall into the exact same trap.
117	* ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'''s final chapter release [[DisappointingLastLevel earned some backlash]] for having a confusing GainaxEnding involving an apparent GroundhogDayLoop with very few questions being answered. Luckily, [[VideoGame/BendyAndTheDarkRevival the sequel]] managed to recover with a far more cohesive story.
118	* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' has a fairly interesting plot about the titular organization PuttingTheBandBackTogether while the nefarious [[NebulousEvilOrganization Talon]] gathers its forces and stokes tensions while the world limps toward a second RobotWar. As an exclusively multiplayer title, this story is told through [[AllThereInTheManual external sources]] released sporadically online. ''Very'' sporadically. The kind of sporadic that means the rate of actual progress is better measured by ''years'' rather than by weeks or months. Nowhere is this more evident than with the issue of seeing Overwatch itself [[OrderReborn reformed]], the core premise upon which the lore has built itself. A story cinematic released in March of 2016 established that a "recall" order had been issued to all former operatives to call them back into service and rebuild the organization. The issue of the recall then sat dormant and unmentioned for ''seventeen months'' until another story cinematic released in August 2017 confirmed ''one'' new agent to respond. And during the interim, developments consisted mostly of the villains effortlessly pursuing their agenda and [[HappyEndingOverride undoing the heroes' few victories]] while the latter either failed to stop them or accomplished little of consequence at all. So, not only does the lore progress at a glacial rate but the progress it ''does'' make is often trivial or demoralizing. Even fans who were enthusiastic about following the story from day one have grown increasingly fatigued and skeptical of [[Creator/BlizzardEntertainment Blizzard's]] ability or intent to follow through with their promises, especially since the tone of the lore has gradually [[CerebusSyndrome become more melancholy with very little worth cheering for]].
119	** To top it off, the often ''long'' periods between new releases compound the issue with a meta effect: when new information comes out, it will often clash with long-standing and cherished [[{{Fanon}} fan theories]] that have developed in the meantime[[labelnote:Just an example]]It was initially assumed that Mercy had something to do with [[HumanoidAbomination Reaper]]'s state, often theorized to be a failed attempt at saving his life, until a year and a half after launch, where it was revealed that [[RememberTheNewGuy newcomer Moira]] was actually responsible for it.[[/labelnote]], inevitably resulting in a backlash that drives some fans to either stop theorycrafting or stick to their guns and [[FanonDiscontinuity ignore what contradicts them.]] Either way, morale in the lore-minded sections of the community is often volatile.
120	** It wasn't until ''2020'', four years after launch, that a sequel that would have more focus on the plot was announced (later pushed to 2021, then 2022, ''then'' early 2023). By that time, however, interest in the lore and story had severely died down, and the fanbase was less enthusiastic. Then it was announced in mid-2023 that most of the planned story-focused sections were being scrapped, furthering this reaction even further.
121	* ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'' has a single driving plot: it's about Ryo Hazuki, teenage martial artist, trying to get revenge for [[YouKilledMyFather the death of his father]] on the evil crimelord Lan Di. ''VideoGame/ShenmueII'' ended on a cliffhanger and was looking like a near-certain FranchiseKiller, but over a decade later, the franchise ended up being SavedByTheFans due to a heavy crowdfunding campaign that finally saw the creation of ''VideoGame/ShenmueIII''. In ''III'', Ryo finally gets to face off against Lan Di... and it's a HopelessBossFight where Ryo, in-story and out, fails to land a single hit, effectively being no closer to his goal than he was at the start. Though franchise creator Yu Suzuki had always claimed that he saw ''Shenmue'' as an epic storyline that would take many games to complete (with the first two games basically representing the first third of that story), ''III'' made it clear that he was keeping to those plans rather than trying to WrapItUp. Given just how miraculous it was that ''III'' came out to begin with, this caused a lot of the fanbase to see Suzuki as prioritizing the idea of a big epic story over actually ''finishing'' it within his lifetime, having essentially wasted an opportunity he might never get again (especially as ''III'' was the first game in the series to be outright poorly-received).
122	* ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'': Many players enjoyed story mode, even more so than the fighting part of the gameplay, and were eager to play the new chapters from the other characters' [=POVs=] while also learning more about their backstories, as the previously released Book of Lore was declared non-canon. As time went on, the only notable activity were the releases of Texas and Stronghoof Hoofstrong as playable characters until, with the release of two more characters, it was announced that story mode was being cancelled, angering many who felt that their investment in the game had been for AllForNothing.
123	* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
124	** While the series as a whole isn't guilty of this, fans have felt this way in regard to the character of Apollo Justice. His [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney first game]] had a pretty cut-and-dry display of his backstory, but starting with ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies Dual Destinies]]'', the games started giving Apollo a heaping amount of new backstories that either feel farfetched when trying to apply it to what's already been said about him or [[{{Retcon}} outright contradicts]] what his initial backstory said about him. Because his backstory is so needlessly inconsistent, many fans have stopped caring about it and wish for Creator/{{Capcom}} to just stop adding new backstories to Apollo.
125	** ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'': The mass review-bombing of ''Adventures'' by the Japanese fanbase and the AcclaimedFlop status of ''Resolve'' owes itself to this trope. Because there were so many details that were LeftHanging, such as Mael Stronghart's agenda, the purpose of Adron B. Metermann and William Shamspeare in Case G1-4, and [[spoiler:the Morse cipher produced by Iris containing four key names during the ending]], many fans found themselves feeling unfulfilled by how the game ended, and as a result, the wait for ''Resolve''[='=]s release felt more like a chore than anticipation, resulting in it underperforming despite tying up most of the loose ends left by ''Adventures''.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Web Animation]]
129	* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': The show has a bad habit of adding more spinning plates into the mix rather than resolving any of them, such as the [[FallenAngel Cherubs]], [[ProfessionalKiller Striker]], [[CreatureHunterOrganization D.H.O.R.K.S.]], [[TheMafia Crimson]], [[WillTheyOrWontThey Blitzo's relationship with Stolas]], etc. Since the series comes out periodically one episode at a time (with [[ScheduleSlip hiatuses in-between each episode that last for at]] ''[[ScheduleSlip least]]'' [[ScheduleSlip a month or two]]), fans started to become restless about this in the middle of Season 2, as it was continuing this trend while also having a few filler episodes that didn't advance any plots at all. Around that point, only ''one'' plot thread from the previous season was followed up on (Striker returning to kidnap Stolas on Stella's orders) The unrest grew to even greater volume when the long-awaited season 1 finale finally arrived after having been delayed significantly due to being ScrewedByTheLawyers. Fans had been hoping to see some kind of CharacterDevelopment or emotional reconciliation between Blitzo and Loona, only for that plot to be [[SpotlightStealingSquad completely sidelined in favor of a new character]] who [[CelebrityVoiceActor happened to be voiced]] by Music/{{Kesha}}(whom Creator/VivienneMedrano is [[AuthorAppeal notoriously a gigantic fan of]]) and given a song that takes up almost a third of the already shorter-than-usual episode's runtime.
130	[[/folder]]
131
132	[[folder:Webcomics]]
133	%%* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' has been suffering from this problem for some time. During the first 6-7 years of the strip's existence, artist Pete Abrams created a veritable arsenal of {{Chekhovs Gun}}s... then stopped firing any of them. To make matters even more frustrating, Abrams often spends many months working on side plots that don't play a major role in advancing the numerous plot threads he already created. Things are beginning to move again, but at this point, it's hard to believe Abrams could possibly wrap up the strip in less than 4-5 years, even if he created ''no'' new plot elements. Every resolution adds a few more questions. Arguably, though, Abrams has been lampshading this with the "fate spider" comics.
134	%%** Several things ''have'' been resolved, others clearly advanced; what seems like a majority of readers (on the forums) are confident enough that Pete can pull it all together given (lots of) time. He has done it before on a more limited scale and proven himself a master of planning in advance. So, averted in that faith has not been lost.
135	%%** [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/070122 Erica Henderson]] did a very good job parodying this during her guest week back in 2007, pulling at several loose plot threads and even introducing "Pete" as a ''Wizard of Oz''-type god.
136	%%** The real irony? Back when ''Series/TheXFiles'' was still on the air, he made jokes at Chris Carter's expense about the need to resolve plotlines lest the reader lose faith or believe the writer is just making things up as he goes along.
137	%%** As of the start of 2013, the new Mohkadun arc began, and has been firing off said Chekhov's Guns at an astounding rate, explaining large amounts of the K'z'k plotline, which has not been given more than the occasional ominous nod since 2005, and covering a large variety of minor mysteries.
138	* After some 1,200 comics, the ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' foursome could probably have figured out a clever way to defeat Chaos and win the day as they did with all their other extremely powerful foes, but the story instead had them depowered and sent off somewhere to muck about, formulating some kind of plan to go back up against the BigBad.
139	%%** Of course, in this case, the AntiClimax was awesome. [[spoiler:Chaos defeated by four White Mages, which [[BrickJoke completes the joke]] set up some ''1,400'' strips before?]] ''YES!''
140	%%*** This gets MUCH, MUCH more reasonable, when you realize the author is the second-biggest troll on the internet, next to Homestuck's author.
141	* There was some fear that this would happen to the venerable ''[[http://www.goats.com Goats]]'' as the Infinite Typewriters Mega-Arc continued to add weirdness. [[WordOfGod John Rosenburg]] has assured us that it's all mapped out to 2012... despite the announcement of [[CreatorBreakdown the strip ending afterwards]]. Granted it was pointed out that, if Goats was a person it would be time for its Bar Mitzvah.
142	%%* According to [[http://blog.immelmann.net/2010/10/08/the-end-of-concession/ the author]], this is why ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'' is ending.
143	* For ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', ScheduleSlip trouble + Dan Shive's love for ChekhovsGun + his own tendency to occasionally forget stuff he did/didn't do = we should probably give up on getting answers to all of the questions. He has been trying to get things sorted out by establishing things alluded to and having situations progress, as well as having several FourthWallMailSlot bits between stories and a renewed effort to keep the strip updating 6 times a week (his 2012 average is probably 3.5 a week, which is pretty good, all things considered), so we'll have to see how he does.
144	** Particularly bad with some plot lines. For example, the last time Grace's brothers were seen was over 10 years ago.
145	* ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'' has been headed quickly in this direction since CerebusSyndrome kicked in, and especially since the Calendar arc was (semi-)resolved. Creator Paul Taylor claims that it's all part of an extended story that he plotted at the comic's start, but many think he's simply making it up as he goes. The fact that all of the subplots and storylines involving the various personal relationships were unceremoniously dropped shortly after the start of the Golem Girls arc, with no attempt at a resolution, would seem to support this opinion. A few believe that the increasingly bizarre supernatural recent events may indicate something of a CreatorBreakdown.
146	* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', ever since about the end of Act 2, very early on in the comic's story, and continuing all the way to the very end. Around the time of Act 5, a common fandom joke was that the story will focus long enough to resolve one plot thread... and then make you realize that it introduced three others to do it. When the series did end, people were proven right, as many ''many'' plot threads were left completely unanswered and/or forgotten.
147	* ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'' suffers from this, and the [[ScheduleSlip schedule slips]] don't help matters any.
148	* ''Polymer City Chronicles'' started as a silly gaming comic, eventually slipped to longer storylines involving space aliens GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe's, TheGreys, {{Body Snatcher}}s, crystal life forms, IntelligentGerbil refugees of interstellar war and so on), PiratesWhoDontDoAnything, and other things reminiscent of Fred Perry's ''ComicBook/GoldDigger''. The author kept switching to new stories leaving previous plots hanging. He stopped updating the comic when finishing only the ongoing plots would've taken him 70 years (taking his usual ScheduleSlip into the account).
149	[[/folder]]
150
151	[[folder:Web Original]]
152	* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' was supposed to run more-or-less in real time, and staying ahead of the actual date... but the series started in 2004 and has barely gotten into Winter Term of the ''first year'' of school, with some stories still stuck back in the Fall. Some fans are wondering if the authors will live long enough to finish the main story arc. It's been joked that the stories will wrap up any century now. And it has now hemorrhaged just about all of the original authors, except for Bek. With Diane Castle, the main person who moved things forward for three years, gone, it teetered on the edge of becoming DeadFic, until several new writers infused it with fresh blood (and a few earlier writers started talk of returning).
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Web Video]]
156	* ''WebVideo/KateModern'' is much more successful in this regard, but still left a few threads hanging at the end.
157	* Many of the plot elements from Season 1 of ''WebVideo/Lonelygirl15'' seem to have been completely forgotten. Cassie, anyone?
158	* ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' is a found-footage format series whose driving force was the events behind the titular student film. However, even after the initial fourteen entries that establish the initial mystery, things don't let up from there and Jay's own investigations end up adding mystery after mystery. Parts of the larger MythArc included the Masked Men, Jay's enigmatic stalker totheark, the whereabouts of the mysterious girl Jessica whom Jay meets in season two, and of course [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos the Operator]] itself. By the end of the series, many of these are left unexplained or open to interpretation. Much like ''Lost'', how effective this was depends on whether you prefer the show being left open to interpretation or having these answers explained. In an interesting case for this trope, the creators of the series were honest with themselves in that they had no initial idea for a long-term plan for the series, and most of the mysteries created in season one were done so more out of RuleOfScary rather than any necessity to the plot or MythArc (considering the show was made on a whim and they planned on wrapping it up at the end of the first season, it makes sense). However, once production on season two started, they decided they would up the ante and actually make sense of those non-nonsensical ideas they initially made.
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Western Animation]]
162	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': Season 7 ends with Archer being mortally wounded and left comatose. The following three seasons are elaborate dream sequences within the coma where Archer imagines himself and the other main characters in different settings. [[WordOfGod Series creator Adam Reed]] has even gone on record saying he's not sure he wants Archer to ever wake up. This has caused quite a bit of frustration among fans, many of whom see the dream sequences as pointless filler, or feel that Reed is no longer invested in the actual story and world of Archer and is merely using the show to push other ideas with the established characters.
163	** As of the finale of season 10 [[spoiler:Archer woke up, ending the three season-long line of dream sequences]].
164	** Notably, season 11 -- the first season since 7 to fully take place in the real world -- received praise from both fans and critics as a return to form and resulted in a 32% increase in viewership compared to season 10. Which also saved the show from cancellation, as season 11 was originally planned to be the last.
165	* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' got hit hard by this, given the huge amount of WillTheyOrWontThey focus the show had, with [[StrangledByTheRedString Adrien and Marinette's romance barely progressing even after 5 seasons of tension]].
166	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheChrisCarterEffect