Line #30 Main/TheMissingFaction


1	A (political, cosmological or similar) system is made up of certain factions. But at least one of them is missing, its absence leaving a big hole that generates a lack of balance and harmony.
2
3	When such a faction is missing, don't be surprised if there is [[LastOfHisKind one member left]].
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5	A faction making a FaceHeelTurn or HeelFaceTurn qualifies only if its change of alignment leads to it no longer being a part of the system. If it's still a part of the system (although now in an antagonistic way), it's not this trope.
6
7	Basically, a collective form of ThePeteBest.
8
9	----
10	!!Examples:
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12	[[foldercontrol]]
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14	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
15	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
16	** The highest level of aristocracy in the Seireitei is held by the Four Great Noble Clans, only two of which have been revealed in the story (the Shihouin and Kuchiki Clans). The true extent of their power has never been fully revealed but they're indicated to even have ties to the Royal Realm. However, in the past, there actually used to be Five Great Noble Clans. The Shiba Clan was disgraced by mysterious events that still haven't been explained[[note]]According to the Turn Back the Pendulum arc, the Great Noble Clans had already been reduced to four, indicating that the disgrace occurred more than 110 years before the start of the story[[/note]]. The clan has been reduced to two known members, siblings living with the commoners in the Rukongai. [[spoiler: The Shiba clan is also found in the World of the Living as Isshin Kurosaki (neé Shiba) was the head of a minor branch of the Shiba clan and is the siblings' uncle. [[TheHero Ichigo]] and his sisters Yuzu and Karin are also members of the clan due to them being Isshin's children. The family has also retained its connection to the Royal Realm despite being disgraced in Seireitei.]]
17	** An inversion. For most of the manga, the only known Quincies are the two surviving members of the Ishida family, Uryuu and Ryuuken, who refer to themselves as [[LastOfHisKind the last of their kind]]. In the final arc, [[spoiler:it turns out that the [[GoodIsOldFashioned Ishidas]] are the last of TheMissingFaction with the evil Vandenreich actually being ''the majority'' faction.]]
18	* ''Manga/OnePiece'' goes through this a few times, with the government-ordained group known as the Seven Warlords of the Sea, or the ''Shichibukai'', and the informal quartet of the four strongest pirate leaders known as the Four Emperors. Several times throughout the plot, a gap in one of those groups becomes a significant point. Notably, there was the exposure of Crocodile's plot, leading to him getting booted from the Warlords and his replacement by Blackbeard, who [[spoiler: betrayed the organization to bust out some top-level prisoners from Impel Down]]. In the course of the Paramount War, [[spoiler:Jimbei and Gecko Moria]] were removed from the Warlords, and [[spoiler:Whitebeard, one of the Emperors, was killed.]] Much of the fandom's post-timeskip speculation revolves around determining who has filled the missing slots in the Warlords. [[spoiler: Not that it matters much as later the organization was forcibly disbanded by the World Government and its last five active members were hunted down by the Marines, though four of the five successfully fended off their attackers and two subsequently formed an alliance with former Warlord Crocodile.]]
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21	[[folder:Comic Books]]
22	* ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': There are seven Endless: Destiny, Death, Dream, Desire, Despair and Delirium (formerly Delight). The seventh Endless? Used to be Destruction, but he quit. [[spoiler:Turned out that he left because of Newton. He realized that the humans were only centuries away from discovering the nuclear bomb, and he didn't feel up for administrating that again.]]
23	[[/folder]]
24
25	[[folder:Literature]]
26	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
27	** The sudden extinction of the [[spoiler:Red Court of vampires]] late in the series' run has thrown the political balance of power in the supernatural world way, way out of whack. In fact, several factions that previously had gone missing due to being pushed out by the current political balance have reemerged. [[spoiler:This comes to a head in ''Peace Talks'' and ''Battle Ground'', where one of said re-emerging factions tries a major power play that backfires on them ''big time''.]]
28	** The Black Court of vampires has been all but exterminated thanks to the helpful guide on killing them by [[{{Dracula}} Bram Stoker]]. This has made them the smallest and politically weakest faction, but its members are the strongest and smartest out of necessity.
29	** Meanwhile the Jade Court of vampires has been mentioned but no members of it have ever appeared; word of Jim Butcher is that they rarely act outside of China's Yangtze River Valley, do not deal directly with outsiders (instead moving through allies and agents), and are not signatories of the Unseelie Accords, so would not be expected to appear at events involving several signatories thereof.
30	* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' has District 13, which was completely obliterated by the Capitol when the districts tried to rebel, and remains uninhabitable. [[spoiler:At least, that's the Capitol's version of the story...]]
31	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has the Valyrians and the Valyrian Freehold they ruled. By the time of the first book they've been absent for 400 years, and the continent of Essos is ''still'' reeling from the resulting EvilPowerVacuum with constant warfare and tension among their remnants in the Free Cities, old conquests like the towns of Slavers Bay, and new arrivals like the Dothraki.
32	* In the ''Literature/StarTrekMyriadUniverses'' series, two of the AlternateHistory stories start with the assumption that one of the founding races of the United Federation of Planets wasn't involved. ''A Less Perfect Union'' shows a xenophobic Earth withdrawing from the Coalition of Planets due to the actions of [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Terra Prime]], leaving only Vulcan, Andor and Tellar. Humans wind up in a cold war scenario with this "Interstellar Coalition". In ''The Tears of Eridanus'', meanwhile, Vulcan never turns to logic and remains a primitive warlike culture, leaving Andor as the galvanizing force behind the formation of a Federation-equivalent.
33	* Similarly, humanity collapsed long before they discovered space travel in the parallel universe found in the ''Literature/StarTrekDepartmentOfTemporalInvestigations'' novel ''Forgotten History''. And in the absence of Archer finding the lost scrolls of Surak, Vulcan is a more militant power, leading to a war between the Vulcan Protectorate and the Klingon-Andorian Compact. Eventually, the Protectorate discovers Surak's forgotten teachings and becomes more like the Federation as a result.
34	* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' series, one of the five Clans, [=SkyClan=], was forced to leave because of the humans' intrusions on their territory, and they eventually died out in their new home. The Clan was eventually rebuilt, but they are no longer part of the system; only a few cats even know of its existence.
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37	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
38	* The Thirteenth Tribe from [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 both versions]] of ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica\|2003}}''.
39	* The Yellow Kangs in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS24E2ParadiseTowers Paradise Towers]]". The last member of the faction dies in the opening scene.
40	* The Xindi Avians in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''.
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43	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
44	* Literature/TheBible has the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. These are the tribes that made up the Kingdom of Israel after a rebellion resulted in the Kingdom of Judea splitting off from it, following the death of King Solomon. The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 732 BC, and the people spread far and wide. The people of the Kingdom of Judea, which survived, managed to maintain cohesive Hebrew tradition and culture for the next 2.5 millennia despite being conquered and exiled several times, and so they got to name the other tribes as "missing". Today, many Ethiopian Jews (for example) consider themselves as -- and are often considered to be -- descendants of the Lost Tribes, and are being "reintegrated" into the modern Jewish culture. Many cultural and liturgical differences make clear the gaps that were left behind after so many centuries of dissociation.
45	* There are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legio_IX_Hispana several]] [[http://www.fighttimes.com/magazine/magazine.asp?article=719 tales of a]] LostRomanLegion, which went to subdue a foe, never to be heard from again. Notably, this is one of the concepts Creator/JimButcher uses in the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' series.
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48	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
49	* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'':
50	** The Terran Hegemony formed both the literal and the metaphorical heart of the Star League, providing House Cameron and the Star League Defense Force with their foundational support. The Hegemony's utter collapse as a result of the Amaris Civil War led directly to the Succession Wars, as the other Inner Sphere states fought one another to fill the power vacuum.
51	** The Clans were descendants of [=SLDF=] which left the Inner Sphere with Kerensky centuries ago. While they were gone the IS has had four wars that bombarded their technology to the 20th century, and much of the old Star League tech was lost.
52	** Within the clans, there is the "Not-Named Clan", [[spoiler:Clan Wolverine]]. Nicholas Kerensky knew the Clans needed an enemy to rally against at the start of their existence, and manipulated events so the "Not-Named" made an easy target. They were promptly Annihilated, leaving nineteen clans to carry on.
53	* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' uses this repeatedly as a general recurring theme across the setting - sets of 13 things with one missing, leaving 12 behind, sometimes with an imperfect substitute. These sets include, just to name a few:
54	** Dragonmarks (missing: the Mark of Death, substituted by aberrant marks)
55	** Dragonmarked Houses (missing: the elven House Vol, substituted when House Thuranni split off from the elven House Phiarlan)
56	** Dwarven great clans (missing: Clan Noldrun, substituted by the Jhorash'tar orcs of the Mror Holds)
57	** Other planes of existence (missing: Xoriat, substituted by the regions of Khyber where [[SealedEvilInACan the daelkyr are imprisoned]])
58	** Recognized nations of Khorvaire (missing: Cyre, substituted by the unrecognized "monster nation" of Droaam)
59	* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'':
60	** Each original type of Exalt (and caste of [[{{Cyborg}} Alchemicals]]) have a magical material associated with them: [[JustForFun/MadeOfWin Solars]] with {{Orichalcum}}, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Lunars]] with Moonsilver, [[{{Ninja}} Sidereals]] with Starmetal, and [[ElementalPowers Dragon-Blooded]] with Jade. However, two of the existing magical materials don't have a 'proper' associated type of Exalt: [[AndIMustScream Soulsteel]] and Adamant. [[{{Necromancer}} Abyssals]] make good use of Soulsteel, but it's intimated they aren't quite what was anticipated for a Soulsteel-associated Exalt. WordOfGod for Third Edition is that one of [[LooseCanon the optional new Exalt types]], the Umbrals, shadow manipulators both [[CastingAShadow literal]] and [[ShadowArchetype metaphorical]] who struggle with their own inner darkness, are the original Soulsteel-associated Exalted, while another, the mind-enslaving Hearteaters, are the Exalted associated with Adamant, a holdover from the divine heroes they used to be before their Exaltations were corrupted.
61	** For a smaller example, the Lunars once had five Castes, to match the Solars, but replaced them with their current three Castes following the Usurpation (the precise reason why varies between editions).
62	* ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'': When the Children of Heavens descended (i.e. fell) to the world, [[OddNameOut Fu Leng]] landed on the [[{{Mordor}} Shadowlands]], and thus didn't create his own (human) lineage in Rokugan. Though if you really want to stretch it, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the Spider Clan]] can claim descent from him. The rest of the Children of Heavens don't seem to mind losing their brother.
63	** In the original base set of the [=CCG=], the Scorpion were the "missing" clan, having been cast out after attempting to overthrow the Emperor as part of the backstory. The set had a few Scorpion clan characters, but they didn't become a playable faction until the first expansion.
64	* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': We got to see one of these ''become'' missing during Scars of Mirrodin, with no black-aligned Mirrans - no vampires and no moriok - surviving the Phyrexian assault as pure and free, because the black mana areas were the main focus of New Phyrexia's rise.
65	** Even before that, Mirrodin's four suns were connected to white, blue, black and red mana. The green sun didn't come along until the subtly named "Fifth Dawn" set.
66	** In ''Magic'''s Ravnica setting, this is subverted by House Dimir (at least before ''Return to Ravnica''); everyone thinks the Dimir are this, [[{{Masquerade}} but they're not.]]
67	** Innistrad's angelic flights were initially led by white-red (Gisela), white-blue (Bruna) and white-green (Sigarda) angels, who appeared in "Avacyn Restored", providing three of the four possible combinations of white with another colour; R&D did not include a white-black legendary angel because black mana in "Avacyn Restored" was supposed to be full of the bad guys, and they didn't want to muddy that. One RedHerring in the "Shadows over Innistrad" build-up made use of this and mentioned that there had been a presumably white-black angel before Sorin created Avacyn, who had killed her.
68	* The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' had several of these:
69	** The lost/extinct vampire clans in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', namely, the Cappadocians and the Salubri. The power vacuum they left behind is filled in by the Giovanni and the Tremere in the Final Nights. There are surviving bloodlines of both Cappadocians and Salubri still extant, but they've fallen a long way from what they were. In [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasqueradeFifthEdition 5th edition]], the younger Giovanni allied with the surviving bloodlines of the Clan of Death, and together they purged the elder Giovanni and formed a new incarnation of the clan, the Hecata.
70	** From ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'', there are Apis [wereaurochs], Camazotz [werebats], and Grondr [wereboars], who were wiped out by the Garou [werewolves] during the Wars of Rage. Among the Hengeyokai (the shapeshifters of Asia), the Okuma--Asian werebears--are extinct. Also, among the Garou themselves, there are the extinct Bunyip and Croatan tribes, as well as the Black Spiral Dancers, who fell to the [[TheDarkSide Wyrm]].
71	** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'': For the Technocracy's predecessors, the Order of Reason, there were the Craftmasons (mages of the common people) and the Ksirafai (secret police). For the Council of Nine, there were the Solificati (alchemists) and the Ahl-i-Batin (Middle Eastern mystics). The Technocracy's Sons of Ether and Virtual Adepts don't qualify - they switched to the Council.
72	** ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion'' has a few Guilds the Hierarchy has forbidden outright on pain of soulforging (as compared to their usual line, which is 'turn a blind eye despite the Guilds being illegal') because their [[FunctionalMagic Arcanoi]] are so open to abuse and anarchy - the Alchemists (who practice Flux, which allows them to transform matter in the Skinlands; in truth, they were outcast due to political pressure from their parent Guild, the Artificers), the Mnemoi (who practice Mnemonsynis, which manipulates memories; they were originally judges before they did something ''very'' bad), and the Solicitors (who practice Intimation, which involves manipulating wants and desires - which is powerful, as [[UnfinishedBusiness Passions and Fetters]] entirely define wraiths).
73	* ''TabletopGame/{{Trinity}}'' had two lost psi orders. The Chitra Bhanu, the quantakinetic order, were virtually wiped out by the other orders, who believed them to have become corrupted by the monstrous Aberrants; in the reboot, ''Trinity Continuum: Aeon'', [[spoiler:most of the survivors [[OrderReborn are rebuilding the order]], seeking to demonstrate their innocence and redeem their reputation]]. The Upeo wa Macho, the teleportation order, was absent for part of the metaplot: they'd found not all Aberrants appeared to be monsters, causing the other orders to view them with increasing suspicion. Things came to a head when the other orders delivered the Upeo an ultimatum asking them to defer to the orders or face the consequences, which led to the Upeo disappearing from Earth altogether for several years. This was particularly bad seeing as they were humanity's only method for traveling outside the solar system, cutting Earth off from its deep space colonies until the invention of the jumpship (and later the Upeo's return).
74	* The 2nd and 11th space marine legions in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. According to the fluff one or both was ordered destroyed by the Emperor for reasons not entirely specified, but some survivors were rolled into the Ultramarines. It's also been suggested that the reason one of them is missing is because they have the power to turn invisible and don't ''want'' to be found. There was also a lost Eldar Aspect Shrine, which was found in 6th Edition.
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77	[[folder:Video Games]]
78	* In ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' Heaven is governed by the Angiris Council, five Arch Angels who each stand for a different virtue. Imperius(Valor), Tyrael(Justice), Auriel(Hope), Malthael(Wisdom), and Itherael(Fate). Following Tyrael's loss and Malthael's disappearance after the events of ''Lord Of Destruction'', the council was thrown into disarray. Leaving Imperius to take command with no aspects of Wisdom or Justice to act as guide or arbitrator.
79	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
80	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'':
81	*** Crossing over with HufflepuffHouse, both House Indoril and House Dres are two of the five [[TheClan Great Houses]] of Dunmer society, but their presence is solely on the mainland and so they aren't seen in-game (Although Indoril is strongly associated with the [[CorruptChurch Tribunal Temple]], so while not formally present, their influence is still felt.) Indoril then makes a more formal appearance in the ''Tribunal'' expansion, as Mournhold is within their territory and Almalexia is technically a member.
82	*** House Dagoth applies historically, having been forcibly dissolved due to its leader's ([[BigBad Voryn Dagoth]]) [[TheRashomon perceived]] treachery and demonized by [[PhysicalGod the Tribunal]] as part of their effort to cover up the exact cause of [[PlotTriggeringDeath Nerevar's death]].
83	** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''[='s=] ''Dragonborn'' DLC, it's revealed that this was the fate of, ironically, Great House [[spoiler:Hlaalu]], owing to their [[spoiler:strong support of the Empire]] getting them kicked off the Grand Council and turning them into scapegoats after [[spoiler: the Empire abandoned them during the [[TraumaCongaLine Red Year and Argonian Invasion]]]].
84	** The Falmer, aka the "Snow Elves", the original inhabitants of Skyrim, were seemingly wiped out in a war with the Atmorans/proto-Nords (you'll never get a a straight answer about who was the aggressor, but the Nords, being the winners, claim that the Snow Elves waged a war of extermination against their ancestors). The Snow Elves are not ''technically'' completely gone, but have actually degenerated into the subterranean AlwaysChaoticEvil Falmer, who are at this point basically a different species, the result of the [[OurDwarvesAreAlltheSame Dwemer]] turning the Snow Elves who turned to them for sanctuary into a [[TheMorlocks blind, subservient slave class]] before they disappeared. There are two known surviving Snow Elves, one of whom has succumbed to vampirism.
85	* The fifth house, Hispania, in ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}''. What actually happened was their colony ship sputtered out before it reached a habitable planet (unlike the Liberty, Kusari, Bretonia, and Rhineland colony ships). Half the colonists took to the shuttles, and landed on the planet Crete. The other half stuck with their damaged ship, reaching the planet Malta. They're now the most powerful pirate factions in the setting, the Corsairs and Outcasts respectively.
86	* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun''
87	** A lot is made about the Anemos tribe, of which two major characters are descendants and whose entire city apparently lifted off to become the Moon. Guess who ''doesn't'' show up in ''Dark Dawn''?
88	** Because of her mysterious backstory, it's widely speculated that Sheba may also be from Anemos.
89	** The Venus Clan and its descendants are conspicuously missing in all three games. Imil and Contigo, the towns closest to [[MakingASplash Mercury Lighthouse]] and [[BlowYouAway Jupiter Lighthouse]] respectively, each still have a few Adepts descended from their Lighthouse's corresponding clans, and Prox, the town closest to [[PlayingWithFire Mars Lighthouse]], appears to be populated by nothing but Mars Adepts. Yet when the player visits Lalivero, the town closest to [[DishingOutDirt Venus Lighthouse]], there is not a single Venus Adept to be seen.
90	* The backstory to ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'', which is literally AllThereInTheManual, goes into great detail about how Kushan society is broken up into tribe-like structures known as Kiithid. Every Kiith participated in the construction of, and has a place on the Mothership intended to take their people back to Hiigara--except for Kiith Gaalsien, who disagreed with the other Kiithid, moved to Kharak's deserts and went to holy war with the Coalition in a failed attempt to stop them [[spoiler:from damning Kharak to die in an [[OrbitalBombardment unimaginable hailstorm of fire and death]] at the hands of the [[ArchEnemy Taiidan]].]] And don't even get started on the [[spoiler:[[{{Unperson}} Siidim]] and the [[TomatoSurprise Kadeshi]]]].
91	* ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'': The S'pht'Kr, the mythical 11th clan of S'pht who went missing millennia ago [[spoiler:and return in the final arc of ''Durandal'']]. On a related note, the S'pht homeworld's mythical third moon, K'lia. [[spoiler:Which the S'pht'Kr took with them when they left.]]
92	* [[CassandraTruth Azazel]], the Elder Power of Truth, and possibly other Elder Powers once existed and are now absent from ''[[VideoGame/NexusWar Nexus Clash]]''. Most of the classes and magicks that exist in the game can be attributed to one or more of the canonical nine ''remaining'' Elder Powers, but there are a few things that don't make sense as the work of any of them. Azazel's fate is explained only in RashomonStyle so it's entirely possible that he's still around somehow.
93	* The Androsynth from ''VideoGame/StarControl 1'', absent in ''VideoGame/StarControl 2''. [[BerserkButton Do not ask the Orz what they have done to them, and why.]]
94	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': The Oni, who used to dwell in the Youkai Mountain along with the Tengu and the Kappa. The last known surviving member, [[DrunkenMaster Ibuki Suika]], is the star of ''[[VideoGame/TouhouSuimusouImmaterialAndMissingPower Touhou 7.5]]'', which is titled ''Immaterial and'' '''''Missing''''' ''Power''. Turns out they are really just hiding: the majority of the Oni retreated underground into the Former Hell. One of them being Hoshiguma Yuugi. Another character, Kasen Ibara, is also suspected of being an Oni.
95	%%* ''VideoGame/VegaStrike'' had the Lightbearers in the {{backstory}}.
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98	[[folder:Webcomics]]
99	* When ''Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy'' introduced [[NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering The Commitee]] (a council consisting of representatives from all factions of The Underground that upholds TheMasquerade), one of their seats were empty - the one belonging to the Ninja Mafia, which had collapsed and disintegrated after its entire ruling council was wiped out. Sam is eventually given the seat after he brings the current Ninja Mafia (a small for-hire group that helps private civilians with supernatural problems) back to its crime syndicate roots (mostly by targeting the businesses of other Commitee members who he blames for getting him quarantined in The Underground).
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Western Animation]]
103	* ''Franchise/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
104	** In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', there are four peoples, of which Water, Earth and Fire remain. The three of them used to live in harmony with one another and with the Air Nomads, but the Fire Nation attacked everyone and [[FinalSolution exterminated the Air Nomads]].
105	** Balance is restored in the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''. Air Nomad culture is alive again and practiced by the "Air Acolytes", those who followed Avatar Aang previously and now his son Tenzin currently. [[spoiler:After cosmic events in the second season finale, a few nonbenders around the world manifested powers of [[BlowYouAway airbending]], signalling a full renaissance of the society with airbenders beyond just those who descend from Avatar Aang (or aren't [[SuperpowerLottery Avatar]] Korra).]]
106	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheMissingFaction