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In the middle of a crisis, calamity, or sheer unadulterated apocalypse, something terrible happens (but not, typically, any more terrible than happens in any given episode) and the Hero completely and utterly gives up. Common lines that go with the phenomenon are "I'm too old for this," " I can't do it," or " Somebody else can." May even be the follow-up to a Heroic BSOD, which is similar but non-consensual.
After some kind of epiphany, the character comes out of retirement and announces that they are back on the job, typically followed by the show's equivalent of a Foe Tossing Charge — anything from actual foe-tossing to kicking butt in the school spelling bee. (See also Look What I Can Do Now, which is similar but involves a character leaving and returning much badder than before.)
See also: Achilles in His Tent, Conscience Makes You Go Back and We Used To Be Friends. Opposite of Passing The Torch, where The Hero seriously hands on the responsibility to someone else. He's Back is what happens when the character returns to action.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
Comics
- Spider Man did this in a classic storyline during the Silver Age, and since then it's become a standard part of his repertoire. It's lampshaded in Amazing Spider-Girl #1, where he comments that he's quit "more times than I can count."
- After becoming disenchanted with the US government as a result of events in the Secret Empire arc, Steve Rogers abandoned the mantle of Captain America and began freelancing under the name Nomad. He resumed his former position after eight issues (nine including the one where he quits). This trope was subverted by the statement "You thought this would be over after 3 issues, didn't you?"
- Later, he had the mantle taken away by the government, and temporarily became "The Captain."
- In the mid-90s, Steve Rogers again had his Captain America mantle taken away from him after the government believed that he had supposedly betrayed his country by aligning with the Red Skull.*
Though, there was a good reason here, as Cap and the Skull had no choice but to team up to stop a reincarnated Hitler from taking the Cosmic Cube and shaping the world in his image. As such, he operated in a simplistic red-and-blue outfit and had to use an energy shield rather than his traditional red-white-and-blues.
- In a prequel story to the Age of Apocalypse, Colossus just sat down in the middle of a fight and decided I Will Fight No More Forever. The other X-Men convinced him that, if he doesn't want to fight directly, he should train the younger mutants.
Film
- Only put in Airplane! because the producers requested it. The Zuckers turned it into a good Ronald Reagan joke.
- Flint has one of these in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, after the FLDSMDFR's satellite dish is broken, and the world is about to be destroyed by a giant food. Flint literally throws himself away, but when his dad brings him his labcoat (and makes it clear he believes in him), he is back in the game!
- In Starship Troopers, Rico tries to quit after he is demoted, But just as he is walking out of the base, the bugs Colony Drop his hometown and he promptly forces his way back into the Infantry.
- Parker in Spider-Man 2 gave up being a super hero after going through a series of unfortunate events in the beginning of the film. He realises it doesn't pay to save the day and will only continue to ruin his daily life. Soon he realises the people needed spider man and gets back to it.
- Bruce Wayne (Val Kilmer), at some point in Batman Forever, decides to give up crimefighting and settle with Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman). He says "Batman is no more," a line that serves as an unofficial tagline for the film. Batman returns when Two-Face and the Riddler find out about his secret identity and then attack Wayne manor and kidnap Chase.
- Implied with the end of Mystery Team.
- Peter near the end of Dodgeball He's back following a enlightening celebrity cameo.
- The Wolf in Hoodwinked 2 gets upset when he thinks Red Riding Hood doesn’t need him as a partner anymore. He retires from HEA to sulk in his trailer then returns just in time to rescue Red.
Literature
- The Queen Of Attolia: After getting caught and having his right hand chopped off, Eugenides spends a large portion of the book angsting before returning as an even more badass thief.
- Death has tried to retire several times in the Discworld novels (once in Mort, again in Soul Music, and maybe others). It doesn't stick.
- Death is forced to retire in Reaper Man, but this also doesn't stick.
- Vimes in Men at Arms, after he's told to turn in his badge one too many times. Ironically, he was supposed to be retiring anyway, and it still didn't stick.
- Lord Vetinari has himself been subjected to the occasional ten minute retirement, usually by being arrested. Vetinari never fights these, since he knows they'll never stick. None have to date, and he's usually welcomed back with at least tacit relief.
- Sergeant Jack Jackrum in Monstrous Regiment, and he circumvents the 'retirement' part in the most hilarious way imaginable.
- Jake, briefly, toward the end of Animorphs, although it might make just as much sense to put it under Heroic BSOD.
- Marco in book 5, and Cassie in book 19, also qualify.
- Agent Lucsly in Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations: Watching the Clock. His faith that the DTI will protect the timeline's integrity is shattered when, on advice from a future agency, he is refused permission to prosecute Janeway for her actions in Endgame. He announces his retirement on the spot, but after a short period of drinking and despairing, his partner Dulmur pulls him out of it and talks him into returning.
Live Action Television
- MacGyver had Pete and Mac briefly retire several times each. Each of them reached their Whoopi Epiphany in one case only after subjecting the viewer to a Clip Show.
- Richard Gilmore (Gilmore Girls) took several episodes to reach his Whoopi Epiphany and go back into business.
- Likewise, Mr. Feeney (Boy Meets World) actually retired and moved away for several episodes. His Whoopi Epiphany was a Double Aesop when he convinced Corey to face the changes in his life rather than hide away from the world. He returned not as a teacher but as a college student, only to have another Whoopi Epiphany causing him to return to teaching (as a college professor, as which he was somehow qualified).
- 24; Jack Bauer quits CTU after having to kill Curtis — ten seconds later, a nuclear bomb goes off just a couple of miles away and he's back on the job.
- Eric Camden retires as minister for less than a season of 7th Heaven.
- Buffy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer hangs up her stake when she overhears the prophecy that she is about to be killed. A year later, after being forced to send her lover to hell, she almost succeeds in retiring for an entire episode. Granted, it was three months in-universe time.
- General Hammond leaves the SGC in one episode of Stargate SG-1, presenting an exceptionally lame excuse about "sending people into danger." When Jack goes to confront him about it, he reveals that he didn't want to retire but someone threatened his grandchildren; finding out the origin of the threat means he can come back to work. A justified Ten-Minute Retirement!
- About ten minutes into the episode 3x18 "Shades of Grey," O'Neill is discharged for stealing a weapons scanner from the Tollans, then takes a job with NID to steal tech full-time. Of course, it was all a ploy to help find those who were really guilty, and he is back at work by the end of the show.
- In the Episode "2010", everything seems to be perfect on Earth until the former SG-1 team discovers the threat from the Aschen. O'Neill has already retired and refuses to help because he "told you so!" He changes his mind in time to save the mission.
- In fact, Jack retires several times, on and off screen. (He was retired before the original movie started.)
Jack O'Neill: I thought I told you I retired.
General Hammond: Oh, I thought you said you were tired.
Jack O'Neill: Actually, I am kinda tired...
- Daniel Jackson quits the SGC in "Forever in a Day" after his wife Sha're (host to Apophis' queen) is killed by Teal'c. However, everything in the episode except Sha're's death was a dream sequence.
- In the Supernatural episode What Is and What Should Never Be, Dean wants so badly to stay in his Wish!Verse, even after he realises that Alt!Sam can't stand him. But the call knows where he lives and after a heartbreaking scene at his father's grave, he's back in as the Tragic Hero.
- In another episode Dean and Sam split up and Sam takes a job as a bartender. Some other hunters find him and try to talk him into helping on their current job, but he says he's retired, to get his head together. One of the other hunters says, "What is so important that you can't come back to prevent the apocalypse!?"
- At the beginning of the West Wing episode "Ellie", CJ declares that she's going to quit three times, but never actually goes through with it.
- In the Doctor Who episode "Father's Day," the Doctor calls Rose a "stupid ape" and leaves her behind after she rescued her father, Pete Tyler, from his pre-ordained death. He returns a few minutes later when the consequences of her actions prove more complicated than originally expected, and makes a Heroic Sacrifice that inspires Pete to do the same, thus repairing the timeline.
- Mr G on Summer Heights High quits his job in the penultimate episode, only to announce (during the school's annual musical, no less) that he's coming back to teach in the finale.
- Early in the third season of Criminal Minds, Aaron Hotchner and Emily Prentiss both retire for about ten minutes. Luckily, Garcia gets Hotch's transfer request and Prentiss's resignation stuck in the system long enough for them to get drawn back into the BAU's most recent case. Gideon's retirement in the same episode is more permanent, however.
- Helena/Huntress does this in the last episode of Birds of Prey—and it was pretty damn annoying, considering they were in the middle of a city-wide crisis. Her Cop Boyfriend convinces her to stop downing shots and confront the Big Bad.
- Wataru, the titular Kamen Rider Kiva, begins the series as a Hikikomori, but gets some Character Development and improves. However, late in the series when everything starts going badly for him (culminating in an attempt to kill a friend while under Mind Control), he shuts himself in worse than before, refusing to fight as Kiva and even locking his living Transformation Trinkets in a birdcage. Only after a dream-vision of his mother does he snap out of it.
- Hercules does this in the pilot episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; given that the impetus was the murder of his wife and young children, it's hard to blame him. It takes his sidekick getting turned to stone to snap him out of it.
- Xena follows suit in the pilot of her series, briefly burying her armor and weapons before rising to rescue captive villagers.
- In an episode of Merlin, Gaius, Merlin's old mentor and the court physician, is fired by the arrogant King Uther and replaced by a new and "better" specialist who, obviously turns out to be the villain of said episode. Later Gaius comes back because Status Quo is God.
- In My Hero, George resigns from his superhero duties protecting the Earth after new rules make him so stressed he almost causes the death of his friends by missile. He is replaced by Localman, who is soon replaced by Tempman, who is replaced by Work Experience Boy. When Janet is trapped in the burning Health Centre, Work Experience Boy's attempt to save her goes tits up when he accidentally flies into a bush, but George triumphantly returns as Thermoman and saves her.
- In Chuck, Colonel Casey is fired and stays a civilian for about four episodes (still popping up during his civilian life from time to time to help), and then he barters his way back on to the team with an important prisoner.
- At the end of the third season of NCIS, Leroy Jethro Gibbs retires (after his warnings were ignored, leading to a fatal terrorist attack on a ship). He's back in the very first episode of the next season, but only permanently returns in the third.
- Not surprisingly, Michael Bluth from Arrested Development occasionally becomes fed up with his family and quits. This is most obvious in the season one finale when he intends to move to Arizona with his son. In the season two premiere, he comes back almost immediately. He doesn't even cross state borders.
- Ned from Pushing Daisies intends to completely quit waking up dead things in one episode. Emerson and Chuck attempt to solve a murder mystery the old fashioned way, finding their lack of being able to talk to the victims quite a handicap. At the end of the episode Ned changes his mind, wakes up the victims, and solves the crime in a matter of seconds.
- Myka from Warehouse 13 leaves at the end of Season 2 only to rejoin the Warehouse in the Season 3 premiere.
- It's still months versetime.
- Peter on Fringe quits the team after finding out that he is really from the other universe. After a quick trip "over there" he is back to solving Fringe cases.
- Mac Taylor briefly retires from the crimelab in the end of ''CSI NY season 7, wanting to work on a projecy identifying the remains of 9/11 victims. He's back in the first ep of season 8, but only back as team leader an ep or so later.
Professional Wrestling
- The wrestler Ric Flair. His last wrestling match was supposed to be with Shawn Michaels at WWE Wrestlemania 24. However, his passion for wrestling causes him to come out of retirement and he is currently working at TNA as a wrestler, much to his wife's dismay.
- Not passion, he got divorced and needs to pay alimony.
- One of the standard Gimmick Matches is the "Retirement Match," where the loser has to retire from wrestling. Lampshaded by Mick Foley in the run-up to a Retirement Match he had coming up - "Most wrestlers who lose retirement matches return six weeks later. I'm not going to do that." Foley lost the match (to Triple H), but was then invited back for a match at Wrestlemania. When he came back, he Lampshaded again: "I said I wouldn't come back in six weeks, and I told the truth. I came back in four."
- Though the Wrestlemania match was his last one for a good long while. He waited four years before he got back in the ring and even then, only semi-regularly.
- In reality, this trope has been beaten to death in the wrestling business. Terry Funk, for example, has retired many times. It's gotten to the point where nobody believes any wrestler is truly retired — as of July 2010, we're all waiting to see if Shawn Michaels' most recent retirement sticks or if he comes back.
- It's entirely possible that Shawn meant it: when he won a Slammy Award in December 2010, he accepted it via satellite from an undisclosed location because, as he explained, "if WWE ever finds out where I am, they're going to try to get me back here to wrestle again."
- When he showed up to announce his induction to the WWE Hall of Fame, the crowd chanted, "One More Match!" Shawn responded by feigning grimacing and shaking his head no like a kid being told to eat his veggies. Since he actually wanted to retire back in 2009 at Wrestlemania 25, chances are his retirement will stick for at least a little while.
- In an interview in a recent edition of WWE Magazine (dated February, but covering things up to November) Triple H says that Michaels has no intention of getting back into the ring. Make of that what you will.
- A similar angle is when a wrestler is "fired" only for them to come back in no time at all, usually never even leaving TV. Cases include Stone Cold Steve Austin after Unforgiven 1999, Mick Foley at the start of the McMahon-Helmsley Era, and recently John Cena after refereeing the Randy Orton / Wade Barrett match at Survivor Series.
- Canadian ECW wrestler Lance Storm has had several retirement matches throughout his career, yet still occasionally comes out of retirement for one more match. However, he has yet to come back full-time, and only comes back to wrestle his closest friends, or put over newer talent that impresses him.
- TNA has recently played with this trope in a stroke of genius. Hulk Hogan pleaded retirement in a last ditch attempt to dodge facing Sting at Bound for Glory and putting his control of the company on the line, but Sting, being Dangerously Genre Savvy now and knowing Hogan as well as he does, had a look at surveillance cameras and was able to get footage of Hogan and Bischoff laughing at the fans for actually buying into it. This finally broke Hogan off the deep end to the point he agreed to all of Sting's conditions right then and there.
Video Games
Webcomics
Web Original
Western Animation
- A rather mundane example of how it works, from All Grown Up!!, "Susie Sings The Blues":
Susie: "I let someone talk me into thinking I had talent, but what she was actually trying to do was talk me out of a thousand dollars. Which she did! No one showed up! No one! There was never any record deal. I got conned, okay!"
Kimi: "Oh no."
Susie (crying): "She picked the perfect person. I was just talented enough for her to trick me into thinking I actually had what it took to make it big."
Kimi: "You still do. She took enough money for one serious shopping spree but she didn't take your talent. You'll feel better when you sing tonight."
Susie: "I'm not singing tonight! Maybe not ever again!"
...
Alisa: "Well, at least you learned your lesson before this singing thing messed you up. Now you can get on with the important things in life."
Susie: "But singing is an important thing in my life."
Alisa: "I know, and it's a great hobby."
Susie: "Hobby? Singing isn't just some knitting needle book clubbing thing I do in my spare time. It's who I am. It's what I want. And still do. And I'm not gonna let some con-artist in a fake designer suit stop me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a gig. Dig."
- Timmy's favorite comic superhero, the Crimson Chin, retired for about a few minutes in an episode of The Fairly OddParents, and was shown in a fetal position for an entire comic book.
- In the Grand Finale of Danny Phantom, Danny calls off his duty as a superhero when Vlad's team of ghostbusters easily outclasses him. He returns in time to save the world from an Ecto-induced asteroid and is subsequently celebrated as a hero over the world.
- Teen Titans: Cyborg in the very first episode, and again in the third season finale. Starfire also intends to leave the team for an arranged marriage at one point.
- In the Batman: The Animated Series episode "I Am the Night", Batman messes up a stakeout, and Commissioner Gordon is shot as a result. In the wake of this, he goes into a deep, irrational depression and nearly gives up the cape and cowl, even when he hears that the gangster has broken out of jail and plans to finish the job. Only when Robin tries to save Gordon on his own does he finally snap out of it.
- Another episode has him give up being Batman when he finally found the love of his life, preferring to settle down and marry (though Nightwing believed he would be back in the suit in a month). However it is later discovered that she, (along with everyone else's partner on said ship) is a plant person created by Ivy to inherit all their fortunes once they're dead. Bruce is back as Batman to foil her plot.
- In Kim Possible's "So the Drama" movie, Kim has one of these near the end when it looks like Drakken won, saying that she "should have stuck to babysitting." It takes a pep talk and a confession of love from her sidekick to snap her out of it.
- In WITCH, Cornelia briefly quits the team after Elyon goes to Meridian to be with Phobos, blaming Will for not letting her tell Elyon her true identity until Phobos got to her first. Half an episode later, Cornelia returns to help the team fight off a giant Meridian Mudslug.
- He-Man goes through a 10-Minute Retirement in the 80's series episode "The Problem With Power" after Skeletor tricks him into thinking his actions during a local crisis have resulted in the death of a villager. He-Man even goes so far as to throw away the Sword of Grayskull. Naturally, Skelly takes this opportunity to swoop in and be evil. Also, it turns out that He-Man didn't really hurt anybody, and the whole incident was a Batman Gambit (and Evil Plan of the week) that Skeletor devised to demoralize He-Man and trick him into giving up his powers.
- The SWAT Kats episode "Razor's Edge" has a similar plot to the He-Man episode cited above. Razor thinks he's injured two elderly civilians, feels guilty, and quits the SWAT Kats, but the whole incident was a Batman Gambit that Dark Kat devised to demoralize Razor and trick him into giving up crimefighting.
- The same writer who scripted "Razor's Edge" reused the idea on Biker Mice from Mars (in the episode "Modo Hangs It Up") a couple of years later. Talk about a Recycled Script...
- Nicely toyed with in the unproduced "Mopiness of Doom" script for Invader Zim: Dib, tired of his pariah status, stops hunting Zim to pursue "real science" with his father Professor Membrane. With no one to chase him — or take him seriously — Zim falls into a despair, thus largely ceasing to be a threat. However, Dib eventually gets bored with real science and, after a pep talk from his father Gone Horribly Wrong, starts chasing Zim again... which cheers Zim up enough to try and kill him and take over the earth once more.
- Strawberry Shortcake has a Three Minute Retirement in The Sweet Dreams Movie. She blames herself for The Sandman getting captured by the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak and gives up, saying, "Don't know why I thought I could do it, I'm Just a Kid." But in the span of one song, she's suddenly back to her usual can-do self.
- Lightning Lad from Legion Of Superheroes left the team for a while to join a group called the 'Lightspeed Van Guard'. They turn out to be heroes who charge for their services and threaten people to pay up. Lightning Lad comes to his senses at the end of the episode.
- Phineas, of ALL people, gets on in Summer Belongs to You when he can't think of anyway to get off a deserted island before sundown. It takes Isabella indirectly giving him an idea to bring him to his senses.
- My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic sees this happen to Rarity in "Suited for Success". After she's humiliated by allowing the over-designed dresses she made for her friends to be seen (and thoroughly insulted) by a fashion designer, she locks herself in her bedroom for days, wallowing in "whatever it is ponies are supposed to wallow in."
- Transformers Generation 1: Ironhide had one of these in the episode The Immobilizer, after he nearly accidentally shot Carly in the woods, believing that a Decepticon was sneaking around.
Real Life
- Brett Favre has announced his retirement from American Football the last two years, only to unretire twice. Michael Jordan and Roger Clemens have also done this, the latter being derided by Stephen A. Smith as a "part-timer" for unretiring in the middle of the season.
- Favre pulled the same stunt during his last four off-seasons with the Packers. But because no "official" announcement was ever made by Favre himself, it didn't get nearly as much coverage outside of Wisconsin. This was partially due to the assumption that the writers who reported his retirement were just opportunistic local guys trying to get some cheap publicity... but also because jerking the Packers organization and his loyal fans around was thought to be well beneath a man of Brett Favre's character... Hilarious in Hindsight, indeed!
- H. Ross Perot in the 1992 US Presidential campaign quit twice, and reentered twice. As did John McCain in the 2008 campaign; that one was a literal 10 minute retirement.
- Happens a lot for female players in pretty much any full contact sport. A lot of doctors, being older men, really don't like the idea of women getting knocked around on the field and will tell them any given injury means they won't be able to play ever again. Most of them come back shortly after seeking a second or third opinion.
- University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer announced that he was stepping down from his position, only to announce the next day that he would be keeping it, though he would take a leave of absence.
- Almost exactly one year later, he retired again, apparently for real. At the very least, he's retired as Florida's coach, since they've already hired his replacement.
- Less than a year after that retirement, he took the head coaching job at The Ohio State University.
- Hayao Miyazaki tried to retire four times, only to get drawn in to new projects.
- George Marshall, the man who was deemed too important to command the D-Day invasion of Europe because Roosevelt was terrified of what would happen if he left the country. After managing WWII and its aftermath (you may have heard of the Marshall Plan) from behind the scenes he tried to retire to his garden when the war ended. He was pulled out of retirement after *one* day to become ambassador to China. After retiring *again*, he was later made the Secretary of State to help put the army back together to fight in Korea; Congress confirmed him without any hearings.
- Garth Brooks. He announced his retirement after the Scarecrow album in the early 2000s, but has come out of retirement three times: once to release "Good Ride Cowboy" and a collection of previously-unreleased material culled from various points in his career; once to release "More Than a Memory" and a comprehensive greatest-hits package; and once again to do some shows in Vegas.
- Amanda Bynes announced she was retiring from acting in July 2010, only to change her mind a few days later.
- Dame Nellie Melba's retirement never quite stuck.
- Frank Sinatra put on several lavish "retirement" concerts starting in the early 1970s, but was still booking tour dates when he died in 1998.
- Several years ago, Celine Dion declared that she would retire to spend some time with her husband and have a baby. Although she did explicitly state that the retirement would only be temporary, the period leading up to her sabbatical lasted for more than a year and was jam-packed with concerts and public appearances.
- David Bowie's Sound+Vision Tour in 1990 was a retirement tour for many of his hit songs, rather than himself. As he put it to Life magazine in '92, he was tired of "being expected, or required, to do hit songs that I no longer can do with any integrity or credibility." This stuck longer than most: all the songs stayed retired until 1996, whereupon ""Heroes"" appeared as part of the Outside Summer Festivals Tour and set the stage for most of the rest to return to his repertoire. (In the interim he stuck with new material, both with Tin Machine and as a solo performer, and less-popular older songs that fit in with the new stuff thematically and/or musically.)
- A funny subversion exists in professional tennis, where forfeiting a match due to injury is referred to as retiring.
- A baseball pitcher "retires" a batter by striking him out. The retired player will be back in the game in the next half of the inning, when his team takes the field.
- The Belgian parliament passed a law legalizing abortion. The King of the Belgians had to sign it before it took effect. There was just one problem: the King was a devout Catholic, and any Catholic who facilitates even one abortion is automatically excommunicated. Legalizing the procedure for an entire nation is... frowned upon. On the other hand, Belgium was a constitutional monarchy (this was in 1990, only 3 years before it became a founding member of the EU), and the King couldn't unilaterally veto a law. The King got around this dilemma by abdicating for a day: he was declared incompetent, and the government ministers, taking over as head of state, all signed the law, before Parliament declared him competent again. (Some uncharitable people would have you believe the whole procedure was emblematic of Belgian federal politics.)
- Oprah Winfrey ended her show after 25 years and started a new network, called OWN. She now has another show coming out that is essentially her old show Recycled In Space, with her going to the people she interviews rather than the other way around. She also threatened to retire after 20 years, but decided against it.
- Jesse Jackson announced his withdrawal from activism in 2001, after it became known that he'd had an affair and fathered an illegitimate daughter. Shortly afterwards, he announced that he was returning. Pundit Jonah Goldberg quipped, "One man's 'retirement from public life' is another man's 'long weekend'."
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