Misused: Lost Forever

Also frequently referred to as being "missable," the dreaded Lost Forever is a gameplay component (such as an item, weapon, Side Quest, character, achievement, or plot event) that can become permanently inaccessible after a certain point in the game, therefore being "lost forever" if you miss them during the period in which they are available. A close relative and often an example of Guide Dang It. The bane of gamers everywhere, especially those shooting for 100% Completion, as it often forces them to start the entire game anew if they're not willing to accept a less-than-perfect run.

These items frequently appear in areas that can only be accessed once, or are rendered unavailable after a certain plot event occurs. The early town that is destroyed, the mountainous area that caves in once you leave, the village that you're banished from, the Load-Bearing Boss's hideout that explodes after you defeat him, the ship that departs after your trip is finished and never returns, and so forth.

More rarely, things are completely random and arbitrary. For example, perhaps once you finish disc two and acquire the airship, the random shopkeeper you needed to talk to in order to acquire the Infinity+1 Sword suddenly closes up shop and disappears without explanation. Forgiving developers will sometimes provide an alternative means to reach what would otherwise be Lost Forever. However, reaching it with this second-chance method is usually much more time-consuming or difficult than if you had just gotten it the first time around. If a player knows such an item is coming, a common tactic is to save immediately beforehand, and restore repeatedly from that save until they manage to get it. This is often true when getting the Lost Forever is based on luck, such as when a boss Randomly Drops a unique piece of equipment.

This is infamously present in MMORP Gs or any other game with online connectivity, due to one-time events, patch updates, and irreplaceable quest reward items (such as consumables that become Too Awesome to Use) distributed from an online source. While you can simply restart an offline game for another shot at the content, online items that are Lost Forever really can be lost forever. (When it comes to patch updates, however, players who still have the old items are usually allowed to keep them, often displaying them as a badge of honor.) Due to their tendency to induce great frustration, smart developers tend to avoid implementing these, and allow players to collect items or do sidequests at their leisure, whenever and in any order they want. Sometimes, this can result in silly situations where the player is presented with the option of returning to a location where there would be no logical reason to return to, such as, say, the site of a nuclear explosion. But, really, it's the lesser of the two evils.

Occasionally, a Lost Forever is intended to be just that: you get a one-shot item or spell that would completely unbalance the game if used elsewhere. You're not supposed to hang on to it, and the game either takes it away immediately or kills you if you try to run away with it. For some, the challenge then becomes cheating or glitching your way out of this restriction. Also see Guest Star Party Member.

Conversely, while most Lost Forevers are defined by the limited opportunity to acquire one, sometimes a particular item is acquired readily during a game's progress, but is irreplaceable once it is used up — should it get lost, stolen, or destroyed, you cannot acquire another one. See Too Awesome to Use for examples of some of these.

This trope is not to be confused with Final Death, where a character permanently dies and cannot be resurrected. If it's an item deliberately taken away from you, it may be Awesome but Temporary. If something vital to the plot becomes Lost Forever, the game is Unwinnable. Lost Forever should also not be a Point of No Return, where the game cuts off your access to prior areas. Bonus Stage Collectables can always be put in a Lost Forever situation since they are placed in Bonus Stages (unless the stage can be attempted an unlimited number of times). Missable items tend to be found in a One Time Dungeon. If the player has the choice of one item resulting in the others becoming Lost Forever, they are Mutually Exclusive Powerups.

Not to be confused with Ruined FOREVER, although it can generate degrees of it. See also Keep Circulating the Tapes when this applies to films and videos that are out of print. If those tapes have been lost as well, then it's a Missing Episode. Please don't Sink Hole to this page when listing something that is, well, lost forever.

The dreaded Permanently Missable Content is a gameplay component (such as an item, weapon, Side Quest, character, achievement, or plot event) that can become permanently inaccessible after a certain point in the game, therefore being "permanently missable" if you miss them during the period in which they are available. A close relative and often an example of Guide Dang It!. The bane of gamers everywhere, especially those shooting for 100% Completion, as it often forces them to start the entire game anew if they're not willing to accept a less-than-perfect run.

These components frequently appear in areas that can only be accessed once, or are rendered unavailable after a certain plot event occurs. The town that is destroyed, the mountainous area that caves in once you leave, the area that you're restricted from accessing after a certain point, the LoadBearingBoss's hideout that explodes after you defeat him, the ship that departs after your trip is finished and never returns, and so forth. These components may also become missable for a random or arbitrary reason (such as an NPC related to the component suddenly disappearing after a certain point in the game).

This is infamously present in MMORPGs or any other game with online connectivity, due to one-time events, patch updates, and limited time items distributed from an online source. While you can simply restart an offline game for another shot at the content, online items that are permanently missable really can be permanently missable.

Due to their tendency to induce great frustration, smart developers tend to avoid implementing these, and allow players to collect items or do sidequests at their leisure, whenever and in any order they want. Sometimes, this can result in silly situations where the player is presented with the option of returning to a location where there would be no logical reason to return to, such as, say, the site of a nuclear explosion. But, really, it's the lesser of the two evils.

Not to be confused with Final Death, where a character dies permanently and cannot be resurrected. Also not to be confused with Awesome, but Temporary, where a component is deliberately taken away from the player. If a Plot Coupon is permanently missable, the game becomes Unwinnable by Design. May be a result of Point of No Return, where the game cuts the player off from accessing earlier areas. Bonus Stage Collectables may become permanently missable if the Bonus Stage can only be played once. Permanently missable items are often found in a One-Time Dungeon. If the player has the choice of one item resulting in the others becoming permanently missable, they are Mutually Exclusive Power-Ups.