History Main / YoyoPlotPoint

* All four Film/XMen films featuring Creator/MichaelFassbender as Magneto feature him coming out of a quiet, low-key life to cause trouble in his iconic WellIntentionedExtremist fashion, [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor alienating his relationship with Charles and the other X-Men in the process]]. Half of those featuring him end the film with him pulling a FaceHeelTurn, and the other half end with [[HijackedByGanon him pulling a]] HeelFaceTurn.

This trope is not about [[JustEatGilligan plot points that get dragged out long past when they should have been resolved]], but about plot points that are resolved, and then unresolved, repeatedly. PostScriptSeason is related, but typically happens only once. See also: StatusQuoIsGod, FailureIsTheOnlyOption, SequelReset, HeelFaceRevolvingDoor, RelationshipRevolvingDoor, RomanticPlotTumor, AesopAmnesia, FullCircleRevolution, OncePerEpisode, HereWeGoAgain, and HappyEndingOverride. JokerImmunity and CardboardPrison are related, employed so that villains may be defeated many times over. [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] a yo-yo that is used as a plot point.

** ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': An unsupervised youth will always go on a monster collecting journey with the end-goal of becoming champion

[[folder:Film]]

* Xavier Dolan’s ''I Killed My Mother'', which he wrote, directed, and starred in, has his character repeatedly fight with his mother, picking any excuse to pick a loud argument with her, and reconciling after a while. At the end of the film, they're left on somewhat ambiguous terms.
* The infamous ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' decides to have the majority of its run time consist of nothing but the main character escaping from the psychlos and then being recaptured.

* All four X-Men films featuring Creator/MichaelFassbender as Magneto feature him coming out of a quiet, low-key life to cause trouble in his iconic WellIntentionedExtremist fashion, [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor alienating his relationship with Charles and the other X-Men in the process]]. Half of those featuring him end the film with him pulling a FaceHeelTurn, and the other half end with [[HijackedByGanon him pulling a]] HeelFaceTurn.

* The ''Literature/BloodyJack'' novels have this in a ''bad'' way. Since Book Two, every single book has Jackie wind up in trouble with the law, be separated from her "[[OfficialCouple true love]]", Jaimy, land in some kind of AttemptedRape / VirginTension scene, and flirt and make out with at ''least'' one attractive young man (or, on occasion, an attractive young ''[[LesYay woman]]''). Usually, by the end of the book, the troubles are sorted out and Jackie and Jaimy are/are on the brink of being reunited--and then a new problem tears them apart.

* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': This proved to be a huge problem in the later seasons with Lorelai and Luke. After five years of will they or won't they, Lorelai proposed to Luke at the beginning of season 6 and he accepted. Instead of dealing with the myriad other potential plots the show had going on at the time (namely, the fallout from Lorelai and Rory's estrangement), a long-lost daughter was introduced who literally served no purpose other than to break up Luke and Lorelai and send Lorelai into a quickie marriage with old flame Christopher which in turn served no purpose other than pushing Lorelai and Luke getting together "for good" back to the series finale.
* On ''Series/GeneralHospital'' Carly Benson and Sonny Corinthos have been married... and divorced... ''four times'' in the past decade.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** Ted and Robin's relationship. The first episode ends by saying she's not the mother, the first season ends with them getting together, they break up, they relapse, they wind up living together, have a FriendsWithBenefits thing going on for a bit, she dates Ted's best friend Barney for a while, then Ted realizes he wants her back. A minor theme of seasons 6 and 7 has been the strain of Robin being best friends with two of her most serious exes, with hints that there's still something between her and Ted. Ted then has multiple episodes where he supposedly finds closure and is ready to move on which lasts all the way until the final few episodes. As it turns out, all of this was a side effect of [[spoiler:the ending of the series being planned and filmed years in advance, with Ted and Robin ending up together in the final scene. This meant that their relationship and any lingering feelings needed to be just relevant enough that hooking them up at the end would still be plausible. This ended up being one of the biggest criticisms of the controversial finale, as all the back-and-forth was instead interpreted as a sign that they ''don’t'' work together.]]
** Robin's dissatisfaction with her career in Season 4. There was a pattern of Robin hating her current news reporter job, quitting it, discovering a supposedly-awesome job...and the cycle repeats with that job apparently being terrible too.
** Marshall's career follows a similar trend. Get a job doing environmental law, decide to go into soulless, corporate law for the money instead, get fed up, and quit. Repeat. This happened in season 1 (turning down an internship with the NRDC for one at Altrucell), season 3 (turning down a job at the NRDC for one at a soulless law firm, then quitting), season 4 (giving in and getting a job at GNB, quitting), season 6 (get an internship at the NRDC, quitting to find something that pays more), and [[spoiler: season 9 (getting a judgeship, turning it down to go to Italy and winds up going into soulless corporate law)]].

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
** Clark and Lana, dragged out far, far beyond the point where all viewers lost interest in their RomanticPlotTumor. Everyone familiar with just about every other version of the Franchise/{{Superman}} canon [[ForegoneConclusion already knows where that one is going]]. UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks managed to be worse (the love triangle was only resolved by [[spoiler:the EverybodyDiesEnding of ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'']] after, what, 20, 30 years?) but viewers generally expect this kind of thing to be tidied up by AdaptationDistillation.
** The earlier seasons had this problem with Lex Luthor, who was repeatedly shown to be [[FaceHeelRevolvingDoor good, then evil, then good again, then evil again]]. Repeat ad nauseum.
* ''Series/LoisAndClark'':
** The title characters were married twice before they finally married for real. (To the point where the actual marriage episode was entitled "Swear to God, This Time We're Not Kidding.") At least one of the marriages involved the Frog eating clone of Lois Lane. Yeah...
*** This was due to DC wanting the comic book marriage and the TV marriage to coincide. Originally, the show needed the time to build that point, so DC put out ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'' to act as filler. Then the show got to its point, but the comics were delayed and needed time, so the show had to fudge their intended marriage... twice... to accommodate. The title of the episode was just as likely a writer voicing his frustration as it was a joke with the fans.
** Earlier in the series, before Lois knew that Clark was Superman, the scenario came up repeatedly in which Lois would bring up something important to their relationship, and ''every single time, at the worst possible moment'', Clark would have to become Superman and perform some rescue, which made it seem like he was blowing her off and avoiding the subject.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'''s love triangle between Jack, Kate, and Sawyer. Kate just keeps bouncing between those two guys like a ping-pong ball well into the fourth season. Lampshaded when she leaves Sawyer for Jack yet again, and Sawyer doesn't react at all, telling her to her face that he knows within a few days she'll have found some reason to get mad at Jack again and come back to him. Later [[spoiler:after Jack and Kate get off the island, their engagement ends when it's revealed that Kate has been covertly fulfilling some promise to Sawyer, even though he got left behind.]]
* In ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', the whole Meredith/Dr [=McDreamy=] thing - they're together, then she wants him but he doesn't want her (although he secretly does), then he wants her but she isn't sure whether she wants him or not.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'':
** Each of JD's (very short) relationships mirrors the last one. Contrast with just about any other main character, all of whom go through some serious CharacterDevelopment over the course of the series.
** The number of times JD and Elliot get together, then break up, then... well, you know the drill. There was a joke in the first 3 seasons that JD and Elliot have sex again once every year. This was dropped after their 3rd breakup, though it was revisited at the end of season 7. When they finally got back together, Jordan lampshades this and says that after 7 years no one cared about it anymore.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** The cycle is as follows: Sam (or Dean) has an issue but won't talk about it. Dean (or Sam) knows something is wrong and keeps pushing Sam (or Dean) on it, only to be frozen out. Tension builds. Sam (or Dean) keeps secrets. Dean (or Sam) finds out about them. Finally, there is a huge fight, and Sam (or Dean) walks out. An episode follows where the two of them are seen going their separate ways. Then they realize the importance of family and get back together, and the cycle is renewed. And the original issue that caused the whole thing never actually gets addressed.
** There always has to be something wrong with Sam. It started with his PsychicPowers in the first couple of seasons, then his increasingly JerkAss behavior in the third season. In the fourth and fifth seasons, his drinking demon blood and the effects it had on him. In the sixth season, he was a SoullessShell for the first half and had his Hell-wall for the second half. In the seventh season, he had the fallout from the Hell-wall coming down (mostly limited to [[ImaginaryEnemy hallucinations of Lucifer]]). In the eighth season, he started getting sick as part of his trials to close the gates of Hell. And in the ninth season, [[spoiler:he is tricked into allowing the angel Ezekiel to possess him]]. Most of the time these events are only marginally connected to the main plot, and most were either solved with a DeusExMachina or just quietly forgotten about once the arc was over.
** After the first season, there has almost always been a recurrence that is as follows: somewhere, there is a LeakingCanOfEvil. Sam and Dean must seal the Can. Whether they succeed or not is irrelevant because either way, the following season will involve the aftermath of the Can. Rinse. Repeat.[[spoiler: Season 2 culminates in a battle to seal a gate to Hell, and Season 3 is the aftermath of Dean's choices. Season 4 introduces Lucifer's cage, and Season 5 is about the brothers and their allies trying to fix the epic-level fuckup that let the Devil out. Season 6 through 8 is the Purgatory arc. Seasons 9 and 10 give us a respite of a sort, but the finale of 10 unseals yet another Can. Cue Season 11 - trying to get rid of the thing they released.]]
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Rumplestiltskin has become the Dark One, overcome it, succumbed again, died, been reborn as the Dark One, lost the powers again, and intentionally resumed being the Dark One. His character growth and development are summarily tossed in the garbage with each trip through the revolving door.
* ''Series/NipTuck'': lives on this trope in the later seasons. Characters from previous seasons whose plot threads seem to have been resolved are brought back in with the magic words "PreviouslyOn Nip/Tuck."

* ''Series/QueerAsFolk'': Brian and Justin's relationship is a bit like this, as they break up and get together again about once a season. Of course, being Brian and Justin, it's never quite resolved even when they ''are'' together.

* {{Subverted}} in ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': after seven years of WillTheyOrWontThey, Niles and Daphne finally got together in the season 7 finale. However, at the beginning of season 8, it looked like the writers were going to use various plot elements (mainly Niles' ex-wife Maris) to stop them from actually being together. Thankfully, though, these issues were resolved in a handful of episodes, and the writers managed to integrate Niles' and Daphne's relationship into the series for its final four seasons.
* On ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'', Cory and Topanga have ''three'' major breakup arcs after they first officially get together at the start of season three, and two of those arcs happen ''after'' their relationship was {{retcon}}ned into being life-long true love.
* On ''Series/{{Glee}}'', Rachel and Finn are supposed to be the OfficialCouple, but they've fought and broken up and gotten together again numerous times, and are generally much less stable and mature than almost any other couple on the show.
* ''Series/MadMen'': Don Draper's Dick Whitman past comes back to haunt him in some way once a season. However, in a case of Administrivia/TropesAreTools, the recurring nature of the Dick Whitman problem makes perfect sense. Truly facing and dealing with this landmine secret (stealing another man's identity to commit desertion during wartime) would likely destroy the life he built for himself, a tall order for anyone and especially someone with Don's inclination to run when things get tough. In a more straightforward example, Don's alcoholism and inability to commit to a relationship continue to cause him personal and professional troubles throughout the show.

* On ''Series/{{Smash}}'', the person that will play Creator/MarilynMonroe in the ShowWithinAShow ''Marilyn: The Musical'' (later ''Bombshell'') kept flip-flopping from episode to episode, in fact within episodes sometimes. [[spoiler: First Ivy, then Karen, then Ivy again, then Karen, then Rebecca, finally Karen. Halfway through season 2, it flips to Ivy again.]]
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Leonard and Penny have been through a few breakups and keep running into the same exact same problems in their relationship. Most of the time it's due to Penny feeling insecure due to her and Leonard being too different (particularly their different levels of intellect) and her being afraid of committing.
* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Mike and Susan get together, break up, get married... after a TimeSkip they've broken up.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In the original series, the ability of the Doctor to control his TARDIS ended up like this. He traveled randomly as Hartnell and Troughton, then got exiled to Earth as Jon Pertwee during which he could travel willingly in a [[CoolCar normal manner]], with the exception of occasionally getting sent against his will to [[BBCQuarry some nasty planet]] by the Time Lords for whatever reason. Then his TARDIS travel was restored and he was given direct control over it, though his actual piloting skills remained terrible and he often ended up in the wrong place. The Fourth Doctor gained full control over the TARDIS via his discovery that the 'secondary console room' was much easier to fly with, spent a couple of seasons with it under full control (with bad piloting), and then installed a 'randomiser' to help him avoid a [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien godlike being that wanted him dead]], forcing him back into random travel. The Fifth Doctor was back to direct control with bad piloting, and during the Sixth Doctor's tenure, it was even revealed the First and Second Doctor's travel wasn't random but directed by the Time Lords. The Seventh Doctor onwards have been pretty good at flying the TARDIS, under full control and capable of pulling off precision maneuvers, and the tendency to pilot it wrong and end up in the wrong place became severely downplayed (though still fairly common).
** Every so often ("The Face of Evil", "The Ribos Operation", "Scream of the Shalka", "Rose", "Smith and Jones" through to "Gridlock", the Series 4 specials, "The Snowmen", to name just a few) the Doctor decides not to take on companions anymore, because he'll end up ruining their lives. It never sticks. (The new series comes up with some [[MoralityChain interesting justifications for this]].)
** The reboot series introduced the running theme of the Doctor's fears that he'll become just as bad as his enemies, and the moral ambiguity of wiping out the MonsterOfTheWeek, which would be introduced and resolved nearly ''every season''. It reached the point that when a season eight episode rehashed the whole "the Doctor's hatred of the Daleks makes him the same as them" thing, it copied almost verbatim a line from the season ''one'' episode that started that theme in the first place.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' examples:
** Crichton and Aeryn's relationship. First Crichton is the pursuer, and various issues (Aeryn's own hangups due to her Peacekeeper upbringing, Scorpius, Aeryn dying and coming back to life due to a HeroicSacrifice, then ''Crichton'' dying for good, but at the same time still being around) keep hitting the reset button of their relationship despite their clear feelings for one another. And then in season four it gets ''reversed'', with Aeryn actively pursuing Crichton, while Crichton tries to distance himself (mainly due to fears of Scorpius hurting her to get to him). They variously hook up, get together and break up several times through all the insanity, before it's finally resolved in the final third of season 4.
** The cast are always on the run, but who they're on the run ''from'' changes several times (from Crais to Scorpius, then Grayza, with the Scarrans sometimes thrown in). What really earns this series extra yo-yo points is that Season 2 keeps Season 1's intro dialogue, where John says he's being "hunted by an insane military commander" -- and that's still accurate, it's just a ''different military commander'' now, and a different reason for hunting him!
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': Chuck and Sarah's relationship. It's clear from the beginning there's a mutual attraction between them, but Chuck's poor self-esteem and Sarah's own relationship issues are just the beginning of their WillTheyOrWontThey troubles. The reset button on their relationship is smacked hard ''repeatedly'' throughout the first two and a half seasons as they get closer only for one or the other to decide they need to back off, Sarah because her feelings for Chuck make it harder to do her job, Chuck because Bryce convinces him Sarah's feelings for him will get her killed. The destruction of the second Intersect at the beginning of season 2 forces them to put their attempt to start a relationship on hold when Sarah has to go back to work protecting him. In the penultimate episode of season 2, it appears Chuck and Sarah will ''finally'' get together. And then Chuck downloads Intersect 2.0 and decides to be a spy, leading to a ''much''-derided return to the Will They/Won't They tango (particularly with the introduction of Shaw as Chuck's rival for Sarah's affections) before they finally get together for real midway through the third season. And then Sarah [[spoiler:gets BrainwashedAndCrazy in the series finale, ''wiping out all five years of the series''. It's strongly implied they stay together at the end and Sarah's memory hasn't been completely destroyed, but needless to say, fans weren't pleased by yet ''another'' smack of the reset button.]]
* Early seasons of ''Series/StargateSG1'' repeatedly have the cast pontificating at each other over the morality of interfering in alien societies, especially if that society has some shiny tech or resource the characters want, which ends seemingly resolved only to pop up again later. Eventually, the writers dropped it entirely, the characters concluding that while they'll save people from [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Goa'uld]] or [[NiceJobBreakingItHero problems they caused themselves]], they'd otherwise leave people to do their own thing.
* On ''Series/{{Awkward}}'', Jenna and Matty's relationship. Although they weren't officially together after season 2, their relationship kept going through the same stages: Jenna/Matty realized they're still in love. However, one of them begins to be involved with someone else. They briefly flirt with getting back together. Jenna then did something to mess it up. The other party would break up with the other person. Repeat next season.
* Over the course of ''Series/BreakingBad'', Walt and Jesse (either together or separately) would quit cooking meth realizing that it's unethical, causes only problems or they have enough money then [[IgnoredEpiphany go back to business a few episodes later]].
* In the early seasons of the new ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', Gaius Baltar goes through the routine of dismissing Six as a figment of his imagination, only to get into a big problem which Six's advice bails him out of and accepting her as a separate entity with OmniscientMoralityLicense multiple times.
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'':
** The main characters can't trust each other nor anybody else who comes along (it's somewhat justified in that it's a spy series, but multiple characters also espouse the whole "this is not a team; this is my family" mentality and get burned '''hard''' for it). Ever. They get the "WhatTheHellHero" riot act, they learn to trust, they kick villain ass, and then ''something'' happens that makes them lose trust again. Rinse and repeat.
** The size of the organization also tends to yo-yo between "Large international spy organization with several bases worldwide" and "Team Coulson plus a few associates in a secret bunker or on the run" according to the whims of the movies. The public opinion of SHIELD also fluctuates accordingly, seeing them as heroes, basically a front for Hydra, or anything in-between.
* Just about every season of ''Series/TheSopranos'' has an old friend or relative of Tony's appear, usually just released from prison, and then proceed to cause all kinds of problems as Tony weighs his options for many episodes before inevitably deciding that MurderIsTheBestSolution. See: Richie Aprile, Jackie Aprile Jr., Ralph Cifaretto, Tony Blundetto.
* ''Series/{{Scorpion}}'': Walter's and Paige's relationship. Walter acts like a {{Jerkass}} TinMan StrawVulcan, everybody is (kind of) ok with it, there are increasing amounts of {{UST}} with Paige that Walter tries to shrug off as "my brain is too logical to act like I love her", something bad happens that makes him perform an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove for Paige, Paige is surprised, Walter performs a gigantic {{Jerkass}} act because he thinks his (or anybody else's) split-second act of irrationality because they care about another member of the team is the indication everybody getting closer to each other can start to threaten their collective rationality and thus effectiveness as a team, the whole team performs a WhatTheHellHero and have a hard time acting during the next emergency because their collective hurt makes them unable to think straight, Walter accepts he was a colossal jackass and makes up, goes back to be a ''tolerable'' {{Jerkass}} TinMan StrawVulcan with {{UST}} with Paige... ([[OverlyLongGag wheeze!]])... rinse and repeat. [[spoiler:The series was, rather unfortunately, cancelled right on the cliffhanger of the team finally being fed up with this whole mess (among other things) and apparently deciding to split up for good.]]
* ''{{Series/Friends}}'' does this ad nauseam with [[WillTheyOrWontThey Ross and Rachel]], starting from the ''first season''. First, Ross likes Rachel but never manages to act on them, through a mix of being a wuss, and events interrupting him any time he seemed about to confess his feelings. Then Rachel finds out, just as Ross, finally deciding things will never happen, moves on. Rachel decides she has feelings for Ross, who finds out just as she's (allegedly) over him. They end up getting together for about a year until they Go On A Break. Just as they both seem to be moving on, Rachel realises she still loves Ross, who is getting married. After Ross' marriage falls apart, the two of them get drunkenly married in Vegas, after which Ross realises his feelings for Rachel, etc, etc, etc...
* ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'': The show's central premise, Takeru trying to [[OurHeroIsDead come back to life]], became this rather quickly. The writers tried faking the audience out and making it look like he'd failed multiple times both in the series and in TheMovie, even though it was clear [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt they wouldn't actually go through with it]]. By the third "He's gone, no wait, he's back and stronger than ever", most of the viewership simply didn't care anymore.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'':
** The relations of the Alliance and the Horde. They're at war? Not anymore. Oh wait, now they're fighting again... And here comes the next excuse for them to ally with each other! Lampshaded in the Crossroads cinematic when Thrall dismisses Jaina's suggestion of peace between the Alliance and the Horde, citing that they've tried several times and it always falls apart. And again by some random soldiers after the conclusion of the war campaign where one comments about the war being over and another remarking that it'll start up again soon, citing that the ceasefires between the Alliance and Horde never last long. Blizzard has basically forced their expansions stories to always find an excuse for the factions to be at odds, and what few times they aren't, usually involve the writers setting up one even if there is no reason to do so.
** The Orcs' placement on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Ever since they pulled a huge HeelFaceTurn in ''Warcraft III'', they've kind of fluctuated between being brutal barbarians fighting for a good cause and a race of {{Noble Savage}}s.
** If one Forsaken [[PetTheDog pets a dog]], someone else is bound to [[KickTheDog poison it afterwards]].
** Per both of the above, the nature of the Horde itself goes through this. Is it a union of necessity between races haunted by their history and driven to the brink of destruction? Or is it a war machine that will use any excuse to go to war with anyone, even itself? In ''Battle for Azeroth'', the leaders attempt to address this by doing away with the Warchief position in favor of a council as they feel the Horde is too easily swayed by a single charismatic leader.
** Starting with the ''Tides of War'' novel, Jaina's characterization. Is she a WideEyedIdealist who strives for peace between the Alliance and Horde at all costs? Or is she an angry, vengeful Mage who wants to see the Horde destroyed and is only kept in line by other more reasonable characters? [[DependingOnTheWriter Depends on what quest you're on]], to the point where many cut plotlines have involved Jaina either crossing the line into villain territory or going against it.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' forces its main characters into AesopAmnesia due to its very medium. The series deals with themes of war and being controlled by others, and most games end with the hero realising this and denouncing the battlefield, and/or flinging off his metaphorical chains to forge his own path. The trouble is that it's impossible to have a war-themed video game character do this and still have a fun war-themed video game. Creator/HideoKojima is clearly aware of the inherent irony to the premise, but attempts to avert it (such as replacing the main character with a new character) tend to be found unsatisfying by fans, and so it is just dealt with as a part of the setting, even getting PlayedForDrama quite often. Snake is ''not'' happy about constantly being dragged back into things, with his PTSD getting worse with each game he's in, and Big Boss gets so disillusioned with his constant failures to reform that he outright [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain becomes a villain]]. Raiden becomes so frustrated that he has to deal with crazed terrorists spouting philosophical monologues for a THIRD time despite his attempts to lead a relatively normal life working security that he gives up and regains his battle-crazed Ripper persona.

** ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'': The Great Zapfish will always be stolen from the Inklings

* The storyline segments of ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' all seem to revolve around Linkara finding out about some sort of mystical EldritchAbomination or PersonOfMassDestruction that's headed towards Earth, each of which is built up as the biggest threat the universe has ever seen. Once they're dealt with, an even bigger threat will come along, every time. It gets to be that the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil means that some of Linkara's enemies [[EnemyMine will team up with him]] just to stop these new threats. The characters themselves are getting sick of it, and the inevitable Halloween attack is treated like a tedious chore they have to deal with. The big twist for the tenth anniversary was that [[spoiler: after months of buildup the current threat was just recurring enemy Mechakara in greatly reduced power being used as a pawn by another previous enemy so minor Linkara had completely forgotten about him. The heroes effortlessly beat both and laugh the whole thing off.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Jerry & Beth's marriage troubles. In season three, [[spoiler:the two separate after Jerry forces Beth to choose between himself and Rick, with full intentions to divorce, but they decide to give things another go during the season finale.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' in regards to Bobby being accepted by Hank despite his eccentricities. They would repeatedly find something to bond over, only for the next episode to have them again not seeing eye to eye. The GrandFinale contains such a plot, but its frequent use in earlier episodes removes the sense of closure from the episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' and its sequels all have Odette turned into a swan in some way.
** The first two sequels both have an old acquaintance of Rothbart as the main villain.
* Nearly every episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has Timmy making a stupid and/or selfish wish [[AesopAmnesia and learning he shouldn't]] make stupid and/or selfish wishes. Somewhat justified in that he's an idiot, and ten-year-olds aren't exactly known for their good decision-making skills.
* Finn's love life on ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. While his romance arc has taken various twists and turns, his affections have been mostly split between Princess Bubblegum and the Flame Princess. Even when events portray him as either getting over PB or breaking up with Flame Princess, a future episode will still show him trying to get with them, while they remain disinterested.
* A major part of the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse pre-''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. Many of the sympathetic Franchise/{{Batman}}[=/=]Franchise/{{Superman}} villains actually get resolutions to their issues during their respective shows' run. In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' Scarface gets mental help, Two-Face Harvey gets his face reconstructed, Harley Quinn gets away from the Joker. Superman helps a blackmailed member of a black ops assassination group get her freedom. Eventually, all of these criminals (and several more) go back to their lives of crime, no explanation given. Made more frustrating in that in many cases, the HeelFaceTurn episodes are played as major TearJerker moments that are meant to take. While a handful of reformed criminals in the DCAU did stay on the straight and narrow, this trope made a lot of [[HeelFaceTurn Heel-Face Turns]] a lot less believable.
* Smaller time frame (only throughout one season, which happens to be the last), but the BrokenBird arc of the titular character of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' is this. Three years after being crippled mentally and physically by [[BombThrowingAnarchists The Red Lotus]], she is still crippled by PTSD, nightmares of the torture she endured at the Lotus' hands, hallucinations (of Lotus leader Zaheer and an evil version of herself) and the damage to her body done by mercury poisoning. Several times throughout the season she ''seems'' to obtain an EpiphanyTherapy and improvement of her body via medicine and TrainingFromHell, only for the ''next'' episode to showcase that she has not improved at all. This goes for so long that people disagreed greatly with the speech she gave to the season's villain in the end that the suffering made her a greater person (part of this is ValuesDissonance (because spiritual improvement through suffering ''is'' a tenant of Buddhism), but critics pointed to that this ''could'' have been "learned" much earlier in the season and not turn her moments when [[HesBack She's Back]] into a collection of {{Hope Spot}}s).
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'' had two episodes back-to-back where the heroes mistook a human with an uncanny resemblance to Vilgax, as well as a similar name, for Vilgax in disguise; "Mystery, Incorporeal" and "Bengeance is Mine". Although, only the latter dedicated the entire plot to the misunderstanding.
* In most ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' specials, Phineas gets into a conflict with one of his siblings. Most of the time it's Candace, but in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerbStarWars'' it's Ferb. ''[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbNightOfTheLivingPharmacists Night of the Living Pharmacists]]'' is the only special where this doesn't happen.
-->'''Buford:''' [[BreakingTheFourthWall This must be a special episode.]] [[LampshadeHanging He's yelling at his sister again.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'':
** April's father Kirby always gets into some sort of trouble for whatever current arc the show's on. Through most of the first season, he was held hostage by the Kraang and rescued in the final few episodes. Then season two comes and he gets mutated into a bat monster but is cured a little past the halfway point. Then in the second season finale, he's mutated ''again'' and isn't cured until the end of the third season's first arc. It seems the writers have gotten sick of this because by season four he isn't even mentioned anymore.
** Splinter dying. Splinter dies or [[DisneyDeath seemingly dies four times]] within four seasons (including one season where he dies on ''two different occasions'').
** Something is always happening to keep Splinter apart from his long-lost daughter [[spoiler:Karai]], whether it be her getting kidnapped, mutated, or [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]].
* In the first season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', the second episode featuring Samurai X centers on the ninja attempting to learn their identity, until the end when Kai discovers that it's Nya and the other ninja learn as well later. In the fifth season, Nya abandons her samurai persona to become the [[MakingASplash water]] ninja and a new character takes up the identity of Samurai X in season 7, leading to Nya trying (and failing) to uncover who the new Samurai X is until season 8 revealed that this Samurai X is [[spoiler: P.I.X.A.L. in a new body.]]
* In the first 16 episodes of ''WesternAnimation/NinaNeedsToGo'', Nina needs to go to the bathroom at an inappropriate time and has to be taken on a big adventure by her Nana, after which she promises to not wait to go again. The controversy this caused with parents led to a {{retool}} of the series for its later episodes.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has had several episodes revolving around a main or supporting character having an affair.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' frequently took advantage of circumstances only possible in a SciFi setting to [[RelationshipUpgrade upgrade]] the WillTheyOrWontThey relationship between Fry and Leela only to [[RelationshipResetButton send them back to square one]], with several incidents involving TimeTravel, some related EasyAmnesia, and at least one case of FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome. Even after finally gaining OfficialCouple status at the end of the last movie, they were caught in the RelationshipRevolvingDoor throughout season 5.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToddMcFarlanesSpawn'' featured many variations of "Violent psychopaths invade Spawn's alley and inevitably force him to butcher them to protect the bums he's pretending not to care about".
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' lampshades this in the episode "Fame and Misfortune." One irate fanpony demands to know why Fluttershy never seems to learn to stand up for herself. She points out that it's very hard to change one's behavior after a lifetime of doing things a certain way, and asks the fan when the last time ''they'' did a complete personality 180 after a single inciting incident was.

!!Examples

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* The "[[JerkJock Flash Thompson]] becomes Spider-Man" ComicBook/WhatIf has been done a total of 3 different times, though all three were of course alternate realities, [[JustifiedTrope so it wasn't repeating from their perspective]]. What If stories can turn into this also when they're made to happen in the main universe. So Jane Foster became Thor twice, once in a What If story and once for real. And as for Flash, well he never became Spidey for real... He became ComicBook/{{Venom}} instead!
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** Comicbook/{{Rogue}} and Comicbook/{{Gambit}} are notorious for this. Even more so than Comicbook/{{Cyclops}} and Comicbook/JeanGrey, writers seem to have a dislike for giving them any kind of stable love life. Several issues were promoted as "the one where Rogue and Gambit finally get together!" but any long-term reader will realize that this will only last ten comics at best before they split up again, for increasingly ridiculous reasons. And then the chase will start all over again. Gambit lampshades this in ''X-Men Legacy'', explaining to Rogue that he doesn't even get jealous anymore because she'll always end up back with him eventually. [[spoiler:As of 2018 [[ComicBook/MrAndMrsX they are officially married]] but the marriage has been rocky, to put it nicely, thanks to Gambit's many sins coming back to haunt the couple.]]
** Professor X has an autistic son - David Haller, a.k.a Legion - with tons of superpowers and multiple personalities, some of which are evil. He's too unstable to be a superhero, so when he turns up it's almost always in the position of "villain who's really a victim". But he's basically a good kid, so every time he goes berserk he has to have a mental breakdown first. And since he's a sympathetic character, his stories have to end with him "finally getting the help he needs." In other words, virtually every David Haller story is: Legion has a relapse/Legion goes on a rampage/Legion is subdued/Legion is cured. Wash, rinse, repeat.
** The series premise: the X-Men will forever be "feared and hated". No matter what happens, no matter if the Avengers or the Government are on their side, no matter how many people are convinced, no matter how often people InUniverse and out swear that the Mutants will be accepted, yes, sir, ''this'' time it's permanent... [[StatusQuoIsGod rest assured]], people hating "muties" (and armed with damn Sentinels) are coming up around the corner ''aaaaany'' moment now...
** Mutantkind being a biologically endangered species has been done... how many times, already? Most fans may be able to remember at least three occasions: the Legacy Virus, there was the post-''ComicBook/HouseOfM'' "curse" made by Scarlet Witch, and the Terrigen Mists being ([[HandWave somehow]]) fatally poisonous to Mutants... and there is, of course, the many people/aliens/sentient bacteria that target mutants because they are mutants... WordOfGod swears up and down that this kind of plot will stop for good after ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'', but the response of the fans (although grateful overall for the attempt at an AuthorsSavingThrow) is "we'll see". [[spoiler:''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018'' ends with the governments of the world obtaining plans to create a vaccine that eliminates the X-Gene and working on plans to "inoculate" their populations, so as sure as there's a day and a night, mutants are endangered ''again''. Not surprisingly, this is one of many things in the comic that have enraged fans, with them calling the writers out on it being one of ''several'' supposedly rehashed plot points.]]
** [[ComicBook/{{Magik}} Illyana Rasputin]] tends to have one repeating story in which Illyana struggles and inevitably fails to resist the evil in her soul, leading to her FaceHeelTurn and transformation into [[SuperpoweredEvilSide the Darkchilde]] until she's reset to struggling to resist the evil in her soul.
** The X-Men being pretty much at each other's throats on a constant basis, backstabbing, and generally being barely able to tolerate each other because they cannot agree on how to do something (the Cyclops Vs. Wolverine animosity being one of the biggest examples, with Hank/Beast's TookALevelInJerkass curve in the face of the constant "endangered species" arcs taking a toll on him being another one). Again, Marvel swears that they will cut down on this after ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'' in order to allow the group to just be heroes, but ''nobody'' expects it to stick.
** Are the X-Men heroes or a bunch of borderline-fascistic jerks that are no different from the other fascistic jerk factions in the mutant conundrum but are the "good guys" because they only wish to take mutants to a place where they will be left the hell alone (which makes them also no different from the Inhumans)? It started since at the very least post-M-Day and doesn't really seems to stop, leading to schisms in the team, fights with the Avengers and the Inhumans and [[ComicBook/JudgmentDayMarvelComics the freaking Eternals]][[note]]although at least this one had [[HumanityOnTrial a pretty nasty little]] ConflictKiller popping up[[/note]] and ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' of all people calling them out on it (not that they listen).
** Old Logan learning to accept that the world he's now in is not the same one he left behind and moving past his desire to prevent his future from coming to pass, has been revisited several times in his solo series (three of the five Jeff Lemire-penned arcs focus on it), and has even cropped up in ''Extraordinary X-Men'', ''All-New Wolverine'', and ''X-Men Gold''. It's seemingly the ''only'' types of story a lot of people know how to write when it comes to him.
* ComicBook/SpiderMan moving out of Aunt May's place, [[ComicBook/CivilWar2006 publicly revealing his secret identity]], and most of all getting married. Attempts to backpedal on any or all of these [[ComicBook/TheCloneSaga have been]] [[ComicBook/OneMoreDay disastrous]]. And this is all alongside someone deciding they want to put their "once and for all" stamp on Gwen Stacy's clone(s) (which would be three or four since the mid-90s).
* Franchise/{{Batman}} fans have long noted the "Batdickery" cycle. A) Batman acts like a dick to his closest friends and allies (such as manipulating them, lying to them about things they really need to know, creating elaborate secret plans and technology to defeat his own allies, or building an orbiting AI supercomputer to secretly spy on the entire planet). B) It all goes horribly wrong, generally resulting in Batman's closest friends and allies suffering and occasionally dying over the course of a [[BatFamilyCrossover multi-month, multi-title event]]. Everyone loses their trust in Batman, leading to more suffering because the heroes can no longer work together. C) Batman learns to be less of a dick. D) [[AesopAmnesia Batman acts like a dick to his closest friends and allies]]. Rinse and repeat. By 2018/2019 he is at odds with so many heroes that the writers' status quo seems to be that he's a highly-functional example of TheFriendNobodyLikes, and ''that'' is on a good day.
* Main plot of ''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise'' is lengthy [[UnresolvedSexualTension will-they-won't-they relationship]], and so are several main subplots. That reasons for this yoyoing are more realistic than in other examples doesn't help, because they go back and forth just too many times. One plot that isn't romantic features organization "The Big Six" repeatedly pursuing the main character. Each time the story resolves with the leader of "Big Six" dead and the organization seemingly dismantled, or at least promising to leave main characters alone. However, each time it soon turns out that "The Big Six" still exists and one of the ex-minions, now promoted into the big boss, decided to continue pursuing the main character for various reasons.
* The ComicBook/MartianManhunter is ridiculously [[SuperpowerLottery powerful]], [[KryptoniteFactor his only vulnerability is fire]], and unlike most superheroes with weaknesses, his origin doesn't contain a particularly good reason ''why'' he's vulnerable to fire. Those facts combine to ensure that every time a new writer gets a hold of him, they come up with the "real" reason he's vulnerable to fire and, since they usually decide it was all in his head the whole time, usually have him overcome it for good. Again. Until next time.
* The ComicBook/ScarletWitch has had a mental breakdown, wreaked havoc with her ill-defined, [[RealityWarper nigh-omnipotent powers]], and then returned to her senses at least three times.
* Likewise, Comicbook/TheVision has lost and regained his capacity to experience emotions several times.
* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' has a few stock plot points that tend to repeatedly cycle. A) Johnny learns to act mature, B) Ben learns to accept his appearance, and C) Reed learns to appreciate his family and not shut them out. They can usually be relied upon to forget these lessons whenever the book changes writers.
** A very early plot point that kept getting recycled was Ben spontaneously turning human again (this happened in the ''second issue'') or Reed finding a cure for Ben being the Thing. No matter how permanent the change seemed, he was ''always'' back to normal by the end of the arc.
** "_____________ is a DeusExMachina or DiabolusExMachina": "[[TykeBomb Franklin's]] emerging power" has been replaced by "[[ChildProdigy Valeria]] has discovered something"
* ComicBook/{{Raven}} of ''Comicbook/TeenTitans'' seemed to have found peace after she defeated her father in "ComicBook/TheTerrorOfTrigon" arc, but she wound up infected by his influence again in the early '90s. After her corrupted body was destroyed, she seemed to be free of evil (even if she was stuck in a golden spirit form). Flash forward to Teen Titans volume 3 and on, where the resurrected Raven had to fear being corrupted ''yet again'' by her father, who was also inexplicably resurrected in Judd Winick's run of "Titans". The plot point of Raven going missing and having to be found or rescued was also recycled twice within volume 3. In the ComicBook/{{New 52}} reboot, Raven's back to trying to fight her father's influence. Writers also seemed to constantly recycle the "will they or won't they?" question about her relationship with Beast Boy, seeming to settle on the two getting together before everything was rendered moot by ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}''.
* Hey everybody! [[ComicBook/TwoFace Harvey Dent]]'s been cured and he's Two-Face no more! Oh, wait, no, he got afoul of an exploding safe (''Two-Face Strikes Again!'')/ driven even more insane (''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'') / framed for a series of vigilante murderers (''Batman: Face the Face'')/ his fiancee killed by her psycho twin sister (''Two of a Kind'', featured in ''Batman: Black and White'')...and he's back to CartoonishSupervillainy. False alarm. Sorry guys.
* A frequent criticism by detractors of ComicBook/{{X 23}} is either a lack of personality or that almost every one of her personal arcs involves her trying to learn to be more than just a weapon. Unfortunately, every time she ''does'' learn those lessons and begins to develop as a character (''New X-Men'' and her solo series in particular), editorial comes along to beat her senseless with the ResetButton and start the whole process over again.
* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse in general has always been pretty prone to use LetsYouAndHimFight, but as far back as ''at least'' ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'' things have escalated to full-blown "WithUsOrAgainstUs" wars that keep swearing up and down that will change the Marvel Universe "forever" and have extended periods of people hating each other in the aftermath, then cooling down... and then along comes ''ComicBook/AvengersVsXMen'', Hickman's ''Avengers'' run, ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'', ''ComicBook/InhumansVsXMen'', and now we have ''ComicBook/SecretEmpire'' (that makes it an important plot point that '''[[OmnicidalManiac Ultron]]''' is so sick and tired of seeing the superheroes' in-fighting that he has decided that they are doing a better job at trying to kill each other than he has ever done [[spoiler:although that is definitely Hank Pym's uploaded personality talking (and being ignored when he tries to deliver a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to make everybody see reason)]]... It has come to the point when people don't really know what to think of the situation, [[TooBleakStoppedCaring and some people have actually quit reading Marvel Comics in disgust]].
** With ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'', ''ComicBook/CivilWarII'' (2016), and ''ComicBook/{{Outlawed}}'' (2020), people are now complaining that Marvel Comics, when they can't think of a better idea for a CrisisCrossover, are now going to bring back the plot of "[[MutantDraftBoard make superpowered people unlawful]], have law enforcement [[DayOfTheJackboot go full Gestapo]], and have heroes [[WithUsOrAgainstUs stand on both sides of the line]] willing to do [[JerkassBall incredibly vile and stupid things]] for the sake of supporting their point, and presto", no matter how much the audience makes clear that they're sick of it.
* Essentially every arc that Comicbook/{{Cyborg}} has ever had can be summed up as "Something-something-something, and now Cyborg must face the question: is he man...''or machine?''" (Answer: Man. Can we move on now?)
[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend'' suffers from this issue. The two leads, Kazuya and Chizuru, are faking a relationship for various reasons, go through experiences that make them think the other likes them or they like each other, only for something to cause them to think their either wrong or misunderstood, so they decide they should call it off, only to then have something happen to make them decide to continue faking the relationship. After a certain point, it stops being WillTheyOrWontThey, and more so inevitable that they will, but the author keeps repeating the same arcs, that the leads don't develop very much, or even regress in development to continue it.

* A major part of the Franchise/{{DCAU}} pre-''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. Many of the sympathetic Franchise/{{Batman}}[=/=]Franchise/{{Superman}} villains actually get resolutions to their issues during their respective shows' run. In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' Scarface gets mental help, Two-Face Harvey gets his face reconstructed, Harley Quinn gets away from the Joker. Superman helps a blackmailed member of a black ops assassination group get her freedom. Eventually, all of these criminals (and several more) go back to their lives of crime, no explanation given. Made more frustrating in that in many cases, the HeelFaceTurn episodes are played as major TearJerker moments that are meant to take. While a handful of reformed criminals in the DCAU did stay on the straight and narrow, this trope made a lot of [[HeelFaceTurn Heel-Face Turns]] a lot less believable.

** ''VideoGame/{{Wario}}'': Wario will always be after more money. And he'll get it through either [[''VideoGame/WarioLand'' Treasure Hunting]] or [[''[=WarioWare=]'' creating new microgames]].

** ''VideoGame/{{Wario}}'': Wario will always be after more treasure

* ''Film/EighthGrade'' has its ShrinkingViolet protagonist, Kayla, achieve what is a tremendous breakthrough for her just half an hour into the film: anxious at a pool party to the point of begging her dad to take her home early she instead pulls herself together, goes to sing karaoke in front of the other kids, and is so succesful in her newly-forged confidence that even the AlphaBitch Kennedy [[PhoneaholicTeenager looks up from her phone]], impressed. But as soon as the party ends everything goes back to normal and Kayla is a [[FriendlessBackground friendless loser]], ignored by Kennedy and her clique when she anxiously seeks their approval at school.

* ''Film/EighthGrade'' has its ShrinkingViolet protagonist, Kayla, achieves what is a tremendous breakthrough for her just a half hour into the film: anxious at a pool party to the point of begging her dad to take her home early she instead pulls herself together, goes to sing karaoke in front of the other kids, and is so succesful in her newly-forged confidence that even the AlphaBitch Kennedy [[PhoneaholicTeenager looks up from her phone]], impressed. But as soon as the party ends everything goes back to normal and Kayla is a [[FriendlessBackground friendless loser]], ignored by Kennedy and her clique when she anxiously seeks their approval at school.

* After being a CosmicPlaything for so long, one would think that Kratos from ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' would learn to not trust any god who tells him to do something. And yet, he always goes along with the machinations and whims of one of the gods of Olympus or the titans who claim to be on his side, and acts surprised when they inevitably [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness turn on him]]. Kratos then swears vengeance against the gods and that he'll never trust them again, only to completely forget about this come the next game. It's only in the GrandFinale of the series, ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', that Kratos finally seems to wise up.

* Tends to happen with most Creator/{{Nintendo}} franchises which isn't [[TropesAreTools necessarily a bad thing]] and there are plenty of [[SubvertedTrope subversions]], [[AvertedTrope aversions]] and [[InvertedTrope inversions]] but in general:
** [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser will always kidnap the Princess]]
** [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf will always try to claim the Triforce]] [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword because of Demise’s death curse against Link, Zelda, and their various incarnations/descendants]]]]
** [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Kirby will always defend Dream Land from some monstrous outside force]]
** [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Someone will always be doing something nefarious concerning Metroids]]
** [[Franchise/DonkeyKong DK's Bannana Hoard will always be stolen]]
** [[VideoGame/{{Wario}} Wario will always be after more treasure]]
** [[Franchise/StarFox Corneria will always get attacked by invaders and require a mercenary team to save them]]
** [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} An unsupervised youth will always go on a monster collecting journey with the end-goal of becoming champion]]
** [[Franchise/{{Splatoon}} The Great Zapfish will always be stolen from the Inklings]]

** [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf will always try to claim the Triforce]]
** [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} Kirby will always defend Dreamland from some monstrous outside force]]