History Series / GeneralHospital

* BelligerentSexualTension: Most recently with Drew and Nina, the woman whose whistleblowing sent him to prison, where he was nearly murdered, with an argument between the two turning into SlapSlapKiss sex, since they both deep down didn't want to waste the opportunity to embarrass Carly (Nina's enemy and Drew's ex) by hooking up.

* LimitedWardrobe: Jason Morgan, much? Anytime you got him out of the leather jacket was cause for celebration.

** Nicholas Alexander Chavez had to take a leave of absence in 2024 to play Lyle Menéndez in Creator/RyanMurphy's Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story'', so Spencer Cassadine fell overboard from a yacht on the Seine in Paris and is presumed dead, but considering that BackFromTheDead is a well-established phenomenon on this show (''especially'' among the Cassadine family), most fans assume Spencer will return at some point.

** Speaking of Bobbie, she was always implied to be around four years younger than her brother Luke, which generally would've put her birth year around 1951 or 1952, but the 2015 flashback scenes to 1963 to illustrate Luke's backstory had her around 9 or 10, putting her more in line with her (adult) portrayer Jackie Zeman (born 1953). But Bobbie's funeral in 2024 featured a sign listing her birth year as 1958.

** Nicholas Alexander Chavez had to take a leave of absence in 2024 to play Lyle Menéndez in Creator/RyanMurphy's Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story'', so Spencer Cassadine fell overboard from a yacht on the Seine in Paris and is presumed dead, but given that Chavez is one of the most popular members of the current cast and that BackFromTheDead is a well-established phenomenon on this show (''especially'' among the Cassadine family), it's considered a ForegoneConclusion that Spencer will return alive once Chavez finishes ''Monsters''.

* OneSteveLimit: Ways to get around similarly named characters? Give the namesake son a nickname (as Luke Spencer did with his son "Lucky" Spencer, and as Mike Corbin did with his son Michael "Sonny" Corinthos), use a more formal name (Mike Corbin vs. his adoptive grandson Michael Corinthos III; Luke Spencer vs. Lucas Jones), or use your last name (Spinelli's first name is Damian, which is also the name of a notorious '90s villain.)
** John Zacchara and John [=McBain=]. The former typically went by "Johnny" and the latter was usually on a LastNameBasis with other characters.

** The head of the Wu crime family was originally going to be named Nina, but when Nina Reeves was introduced the character's name was changed to Selina.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The prime time ''General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars & Storytelling'' special, which aired on January 4, 2024, ended with a trailer where Kelly Monaco and Laura Wright introduced Steve Burton, who made a short announcement revealing that he would be returning to the show. Since this made it a foregone conclusion that Jason Morgan would would be showing up BackFromTheDead, the {{Foreshadowing}} over the next two months and the eventual WhamShot revealing Jason's return on March 4 had their impact blunted.

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The prime time ''General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars & Storytelling'' special, which aired on January 4, 2024, ended with Kelly Monaco and Laura Wright announcing the return of Steve Burton to the show. Since it was now a foregone conclusion that Jason Morgan would turn up BackFromTheDead, a lot of the {{Foreshadowing}} and the eventual WhamShot revealing Jason's return on March 4 had their impact blunted.

* NeverMyFault: Sonny, who seldom accepts responsibility for his actions, particularly when it comes to the mob violence that ensues due to his role as a mob boss. Sonny has been responsible for shooting his eldest son Dante (a police officer) in the chest before learning they were related, causing his adoptive son Michael to get shot in the head in an act of retaliation over Sonny kidnapping and torturing Johnny Zacchara, and nearly killing his daughter Kristina with a car bomb, but both Sonny and his enablers overlook his actions and act as if he is a good father despite nearly killing his children. Sonny refuses to accept that his occupation endangers the people around him, even when his family and his love interests get hurt or killed because of it, which was brought up when Michael wanted to protect Sonny's youngest daughter Avery Jerome from his dangerous lifestyle.

** Caused by there being only one or two other girls in her age range at the time (the others being Maxie and Georgie).

* WellDoneSonGuy: Michael Corinthos has this with Sonny SO much. Basically everything the poor kid does is a misguided attempt to prove he's "tough" enough to earn his mobster adoptive father's respect.
** And Sonny's biological son Morgan is bringing up the rear.

* TheBusCameBack: As a soap, this happens a lot, but the most notable case was Angie Costello (played by Jana Taylor), the TroubledTeen from the show's early years, returning briefly to visit Steve Hardy for the show's 30th anniversary in 1993, having last appeared in 1965.

* MusicalEpisode: Episodes rather. The annual Nurses Ball featured musical performances from the cast.

** The first crack in Ned's amnesia where he thinks he's his old rock star alter ego Eddie Maine comes when his ex Lois mentions how his adopted son Leo knows the length of the Brooklyn Bridge, which causes Ned to {{Flashback}} to the famous 1995 sequence when he and Lois rushed to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge to celebrate after their wedding.

* BreakTheCutie: Michael's entire life has pretty much been this, and shows no signs of stopping. He was raped in prison and his girlfriend died in a freak accident. Before that he shot his adoptive father's fiancée and got shot himself shortly after. He also (supposedly) watched his biological dad die. [[spoiler: Twice. The second time took.]]

** In 2023 this was crossed with DreamWithinADream, with Ava dreaming that Nikolas (who she thought she'd accidentally killed with a TapOnTheHead) was alive and in bed with her, then waking up alone, but with a puddle of blood in the bed (so she literally has [[VisualPun his blood on her hands]]), ''then'' waking up alone again to realize that the first wakeup was part of the nightmare.

** Tracy's utterly fearful expression after Edward says "don't TOUCH me!" after the whole SecretTestOfCharacter where he pretended to die when she refused to give him his heart meds in 1980, finally realizing that her father's disgust with her was completely serious and genuine and she couldn't talk her way out of it.

* InTheStyleOf: Sonny shooting Dante in 2010, followed by Olivia revealing to Sonny [[WhamLine "You just shot your own son!"]], is intercut with the christening ceremony for Josslyn in a very obvious stylistic homage to ''Film/TheGodfather''.

* HereditaryWeddingDress: Lois couldn't find a suitable wedding dress, her husband's (they had eloped a year prior but were now planning a formal ceremony to renew their vows and ensure that both of their families could attend) grandmother offered her hers as a "welcome to the family" gesture, resulting in Lois wearing a gorgeous 1940's style gown.

''General Hospital'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] SoapOpera airing on Creator/{{ABC}} since April 1, 1963 in a DramaticHalfHour format.

** Sonny giving drugs to an underage Karen Wexler and engaging in "sex" with her also counts, and what he did was technically rape (as a drugged up underage teenage girl can't give consent). Sonny also asked Karen if she liked being molested (in reference to incidents where she was being molested as a child).

''General Hospital'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] SoapOpera airing on Creator/{{ABC}} since April 1, 1963.

* OutgrowingTheChildishName: When he returned as an FBI agent in 2024, Jagger Cates was very insistent that he goes by John Cates now.

** Nina delivered an emotional one to Carly at the start of 2923 after the latter reluctantly admitted that she had DNA test results proving that Nina was Willow's mother, but withheld them from her largely out of spite to punish Nina for similarly withholding the news that Sonny was in Nixon Falls back when he had his amnesia problems (and more generally Nina stealing Sonny from her). It climaxed with Nina telling Carly (in the hospital chapel, mind you) "Go to hell, you selfish bitch!" Then, almost a year to the day later, the tables turned when Nina reluctantly admitted to Carly that she was the one who ratted Carly and Drew out to the government for insider trading, which got Drew sent to prison. Carly essentially gave the same speech back to Nina, climaxing with "You are nothing but a selfish bitch, and I hope you rot in hell!"

** Nicholas Alexander Chavez had to take a leave of absence in 2024 to play Lyle Menéndez in Creator/RyanMurphy's Creator/{{Netflix}} series ''Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menéndez Story'', so Spencer Cassadine fell overboard from a cruise ship on the Seine in Paris and is presumed dead, but given that Chavez is one of the most popular members of the current cast and that BackFromTheDead is a well-established phenomenon on this show (''especially'' among the Cassadine family), it's considered a ForegoneConclusion that Spencer will return alive once Chavez finishes ''Monsters''.