History Main / BrieferThanTheyThink

* European colonial rule in Africa didn't really start taking off until 1884, and decolonization began following the Second World War in the 1950s -- a period of around 70 years. A hypothetical African born in the 1880's and lived into their 80's or 90's would have remembered their childhood before the Europeans arrived, lived through the entire colonial period, and die in an independent country. However, in another sense, it also lasted a lot longer than you might think. We don't typically imagine the age of colonial empires being contemporaneous with hippies and the Beatles, but France and Britain still held territory in mainland Africa well into the 1960's, [[note]]and as late as ''1980'', if one counts Rhodesia as a colony[[/note]] and Spain and Portugal did not give up on all of their colonies until 1975.

* The Caliphate of Cordoba lasted for only one century (929-1031) of UsefulNotes/MoorishSpain's eight (711-1492), and only had two great caliphs: Abd-al-Rahman III (929-961) and Al-Hakam II (961-976). The third caliph, Hisham II, had a long reign (976-1013), but was [[AuthorityInNameOnly mentally ill]] and the government was run by the chancellor Almanzor and his sons, who pushed progressively [[OlderThanTheyThink more intolerant, populist policies]] to clinge to power.

* Similarly there is the Greeks' eternal rivals UsefulNotes/TheAchaemenidEmpire. Often described as a much older ancient empire compared the more upstart Greeks and comparable to something like Ancient Egypt, it's entire existence pretty much overlaps with that of Classical Greece. Cyrus the Great founded the Empire in 550 BC and it was dead at the hands of Alexander the Great in 330 BC. It was only 60 years old at the time of the Battle of Marathon. The foundations of Athenian Democracy actually predates it, rather than the other way around.

* Though Creator/StanLee never stopped being involved in comics in some form, and was employed at Marvel as early as 1951, he was only regularly writing superhero comics from November 1961 to August 1972. ''ComicBook/TheFantasticFour #1'' through ''125'' spans this entire period. After that point, he largely moved to a higher-up position at the company, working as a publisher and promotor. His time with his two most well-known collaborators, Creator/SteveDitko and Creator/JackKirby, was even shorter, with Kirby leaving in late 1970 and Ditko as early as mid-1966. This makes it all the more impressive just how many characters and books he was involved in the creation of; nearly every notable creation of his was in that eleven-year run.

** Creator/GeoffJohns's ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' run, particularly the ''Sinestro Corps'' storyline, practically trumpeted the fact that it was being derived from characters and concepts created by Moore, to the point of reprinting the stories Moore wrote on a pretty regular basis. And it wasn't much work for DC to do that reprinting: Moore only ever wrote three ''Green Lantern'' stories, all of which were standalone, with a total of twenty-four pages between them. When Moore heard that these stories were being used as such foundational material, he grumbled about DC's writers "going through my trashcan like raccoons."
* A fandom example: the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' has had some eras that were either famous or infamous, but they really didn't last long at all:
** Supergirl only had about 14 substantial appearances during her run (depending on how you count), with another 9 in the 1980s. The run of "Supergirl and the Legion" from 2006-2008 had about as many issues as Supergirl's entire set of Legion appearances back to 1960, and most of her early ones weren't even full length stories.
** The Legion of Super-Pets only appeared 7 times and only had major roles in around four, also depending on how you count.
** The Adult Legion appeared in 9 stories total (plus LSH #300, which wrote it out of continuity).
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
** Batman first appeared in 1939's ''Detective Comics'' #27. ComicBook/{{Robin}} the Boy Wonder debuted the following year in ''Detective Comics'' #38. Modern retellings of the Dark Knight Detective's early solo career have stretched that era out to at least two years, a very busy period covered by ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', ''ComicBook/TheLongHalloween'', various issues of ''Legends of the Dark Knight'', a guest appearance in Creator/JohnByrne's ''ComicBook/TheManOfSteel'', and featuring the debuts of the Riddler, Two-Face, the Joker (as the Red Hood), Catwoman, and Hugo Strange. Most of these villains originally debuted after Robin. Some of these modern retellings, however, may no longer be canon.
** The infamous "[[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Batman uses a gun and kills criminals]]" era, often used to justify DarkerAndEdgier portrayals. Based on retellings of it, you'd think that it'd lasted until the mid-50s and ''Seduction Of The Innocent''. In reality, he stopped using guns almost entirely after a few issues (he only actually shoots someone once), and the first indication of him having a code against killing dates to ''Batman #4'', less than two years after his creation. (Though he was a target of ''Seduction of the Innocent'', it focused on purported HomoeroticSubtext, not violence.)

* ''ComicBook/TheDefenders'': Ask any moderate comics fan who the core members of the Defenders are, and you'll immediately hear "ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk, ComicBook/DoctorStrange, ComicBook/SilverSurfer, and [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor the Sub-Mariner]]." Sometimes they'll add Nighthawk, or maybe ComicBook/{{Valkyrie|Marvel Comics}}. While Strange and Hulk have been on most versions of the Defenders, with Strange usually being the de facto leader, Namor and Surfer quit after just a few issues. People familiar with the original run will tell you that the Defenders ''never'' had a consistent lineup, and variously included nearly every hero and some villains active at the time. This is part of the reason that modern revivals of the team tend to get cancelled quickly. As it turns out, not many writers can make the "classic" lineup work, since all the characters involved are [[SuperpowerLottery grotesquely overpowered]] and relative loners, but they assume that it has to work because the original comic made it work, right?
* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': Similarly, nearly every adaptation of the Avengers either mentions the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] or makes heavy use of him: see ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the movie]], ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', etc., with his status as a founding member usually being the cited reason. However, until 2012 (when he rejoined the team to tie into the movie), Hulk's presence on the team was as over as soon as it began, with him leaving the team a whole two issues into the original run. He popped up occasionally as a reservist or for brief informal teamups during crisis periods, but he never racked up as many appearances as even relative D-list Avengers.
* ComicBook/WonderWoman's controversial 'I Ching' period was only twenty-five issues of her [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 original run]], extended to five years' time-wise by an intermittent publishing schedule. But it was during that period that the [[Film/WonderWoman1974 pilot movie]] starring Creator/CathyLeeCrosby was developed, which lead it to look InNameOnly in comparison with the better-known take of the character, and in turn led to the {{pilot movie}} for [[Series/WonderWoman the series featuring the more traditional take]] starring Creator/LyndaCarter being called ''The New Original Wonder Woman''. The Pilot Movie is known to even non-comics' fans, the original storyline, not as much, except for Gloria Steinem's denouncement of it.
* In an early '70s issue of ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'', ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} appeared in a new costume and also joined the ranks of the remorseless killers in Batman's rogues gallery. Editors and fans alike denounced this so hard, it was CanonDiscontinuity almost as it hit the shelves, and was even declared to happen on an alternate Earth not seen before or since. But Mego made its Catwoman figure based on this new costume, and in the age before endless variants were the norm, this was perhaps the only Catwoman figure made until Film/BatmanReturns came out.
** Costumes can be particularly vulnerable to this, if they're associated with a sufficiently iconic time. For instance, ComicBook/{{Superman}}'s very earliest appearances sometimes colored the yellow parts of the S-shield black and drew the symbol itself as more of a badge shape. By 1940, this EarlyInstallmentWeirdness had largely ended and Superman's outfit was almost indistinguishable from the classic look. Despite this, comics like ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier'' and ''ComicBook/SupermanSmashesTheKlan'' draw Superman with a black badge outfit to imply the time period... even though Superman had stopped wearing the black badge by the time those comics had taken place. The association likely came about because the [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheatricalCartoons theaterical shorts]] produced by Fleischer Studios used the red-and-black S-shield instead of the red-and-yellow version that had become the standard in the comics by that time.
* X-Men adaptations like ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' and ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'' will often depict ComicBook/ScarletWitch and ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}} as members of ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. In the actual comics, the two were only members of the Brotherhood for a handful of issues, and quickly defected after realizing what a monster Magneto actually was. They joined ComicBook/TheAvengers in 1965, and have subsequently been heroes for the vast majority of their published existence.
* From the time of his introduction in 1966 until 1987, the ComicBook/SilverSurfer was trapped on Earth by the power of his scorned master, Galactus. This was the prime central fact of the character for two decades. 1987 saw his new series and his freedom, and while his status varies, as of the mid-2010s, this once-ubiquitous fact about the Surfer has been outdated longer than it was ever his premise.
* After debuting in The80s, ComicBook/{{Elektra}} quickly became one of Marvel's most popular and iconic {{Anti Hero}}es. The amount of time between her first appearance and her infamous death? Less than a year. It wasn't until 1994 that she was permanently resurrected and began appearing as a frequent player in the Marvel Universe.

* ''ComicBook/TheSpirit'' is remembered as Creator/WillEisner's way of delivering thoughtful humanism and avant-garde storytelling every week from 1940 to 1952, but the time the comic actually fits that description is a lot shorter. Eisner was off fighting in [=WWII=] for most of the comic's early years and did not develop his distinctive experimental style until he returned in 1946, and by 1949 he had grown tired of ''The Spirit'' and left it in the hands of his staff for its final years. Most of the issues people remember come from that 1946-49 period, rather than from across the book's entire twelve-year run.

** The much-hated "Teen Tony" era, where Tony Stark was killed off and replaced by a time-displaced younger version of himself, was much shorter than people remember. Teen Tony took over as the series lead in ''Iron Man'' #326, but the series was cancelled at #332 because of ''ComicBook/{{Onslaught}}'' and the subsequent ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'' relaunch of the book, which once again starred an adult Tony.

* ''ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}'': When Marvel changed [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]]' codename from 'Ms Marvel' to 'Captain Marvel' in 2012, a number of fans complained about the sudden change to such a long-lasting character. In actuality, 'Ms. Marvel' is only one of several names the character has used, having also used Binary and Warbird. 'Ms. Marvel' was the name she first used when she became a superhero (in 1977, nine years after her initial debut in 1968), but her time as Binary (from 1982 to 1998, 16 years) and Warbird (1998 to 2006, 8 years), both lasted longer (Ms Marvel, in comparison, lasted less than 5 years initially, and when she resumed it in 2006, only lasted another 6 years). This, in turn, makes her name/costume changing a case of OlderThanTheyThink. The thing that muddies the waters is that for most of Carol's run as Binary, she just wasn't appearing in comics outside of occasional guest appearances in ''Uncanny X-Men'', and even when she came back as Warbird in the ''Heroes Return'' era, she was a supporting character in the Kurt Busiek ''Avengers'' and ''Iron Man'' books. (It certainly didn't help that her Warbird costume was identical to her Ms. Marvel costume.)

* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'': When the layperson thinks of Thor's primary LoveInterest, they think of Jane Foster. While it's true that the two have always had chemistry, the truth is that Jane's [[ShipSinking ship was pretty much sunk]] back in 1967, within Thor #136, where Odin's manipulation caused her to fail her EngagementChallenge and be sent back to Earth with her and Thor having no memory of each other. After that, she married and had a child with a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute named Dr. Kincaid and the two never really got back together again. Still, ''ComicBook/Thor2014'' shows that Jane is still ''very'' bitter about what Odin did to her, and her infatuation with Thor actually caused the end of her marriage.
* ''ComicBook/XForce'' is known for being the comic that launched the infamous Creator/RobLiefeld's career into the stratosphere, and it's often held as being the type of shallow DarkerAndEdgier fare that his other works are known for. Thing is, Liefeld's entire run of ''X-Force'' lasted a whole ''nine'' issues. After that, he left Marvel to form Creator/ImageComics alongside the other artists who quit, and began working on the series' even more infamous SpiritualSuccessor ''ComicBook/YoungbloodImageComics''. ''X-Force'' co-creator Fabian Nicieza would salvage the team by having ComicBook/{{Cable}} leave while bringing back more ComicBook/NewMutants members, shift the series to a LighterAndSofter tone with more emphasis on CharacterDevelopment, and when Cable returned, was retooled into the grumpy but likable father figure type he's known as today. Many other writers would take a crack at the X-Force team, with Rick Remender's ''ComicBook/UncannyXForce'' in particular being acclaimed as one of the best X-books of ''any'' title, which is in stark contrast to the perception of the series being nothing more than dark age excess.
* Considering how grandiose [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the Galactus Trilogy]] tends to be in Marvel lore, it can be a little funny to hear that its name is literal: it was exactly three issues long. Arguably less, since the story is resolved partway through the final issue. OnceOriginalNowCommon also applies, as doing ''any'' kind of issue-to-issue story arc was a big deal back then. Compare that to the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, which lasted fourteen issues spread across three miniseries.
* If people know two things about Roy Harper/Speedy/Red Arrow/Arsenal, it's that he's ComicBook/GreenArrow's sidekick and he was addicted to heroin. The [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten massive number of storylines]] to call back to the latter incident or have Roy struggle with being on the wagon might make you think it was pretty lengthy, similar to "[[ComicBook/IronMan Demon in a Bottle]]" or [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Harry Osborn's]] issues with addiction. It lasted exactly two issues, with Roy having his addiction introduced in the first issue and going cold-turkey in the second.
* Barbara Gordon's actual career as ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} wasn't short by any means, but it also wasn't as long as a lot of future writers seemed to think it was. She debuted in Detective Comics #359 (1967), and her last significant adventure in-costume was in #527 (1983), with her putting on the suit a couple times in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' (1985) more or less as a callback and a special released in 1988 explained she had retired. During that period, she never held down any kind of solo series (unless you count the short-lived anthology ''Batman Family'' or backup stories in ''Detective Comics'') and wasn't on any teams or a regular partner for Batman, so her actual appearances were often pretty intermittent. Part of the reason ''The Killing Joke'' happened was that Barbara was seen as pretty expendable by the ''Batman'' editorial offices at that point. Her time as Oracle (1990-2011) was actually significantly longer; by the time she resumed her "iconic" identity in ComicBook/TheNew52, she'd been out of it for more time than she'd been in it, and racked up several times as many appearances without the identity. But Barbara's ubiquity in adaptations like ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' created the impression that she'd been around a lot longer.
* The classic "Big Seven" lineup of the ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica has a rather disputable length, but most casual fans tend to think of it as covering the whole Silver Age. At its most liberal guess, it lasted nine years, with ComicBook/WonderWoman leaving the group in 1969 due to the aforementioned I-Ching era, but several of its members were being phased out long before that--by 1964, ComicBook/MartianManhunter and ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} were frequently absent. If you consider it to have only lasted when the team consisted of ''just'' the Big Seven, then that shrinks it down to just six issues, at which ComicBook/GreenArrow joined. And ComicBook/{{Superman}} and ComicBook/{{Batman}} [[AdvertisedExtra did not play significant roles in those six issues]] and were clearly there for WolverinePublicity, which has caused some to suggest that it never truly existed at all.
* Perhaps the most famous period of Creator/JackKirby's life is when he left Marvel in 1970 to work for DC instead, tired of what he saw as mistreatment and lack of credit. Every biography or article on the guy will prominently mention it, and in comics culture as a whole, it tends to be seen as an EndOfAnEra, since Kirby had been a major creative force within Marvel for decades. There have been countless callbacks to the era, and it has a pretty rarified place in DC's mythos as a whole. So how long was he active at DC? About five and a half years. As it turned out, Kirby didn't have a very pleasant time at DC, either, and most of the books and concepts he created for the company didn't last long, often failing to make it to 20 issues. Combine that with the DC Implosion, which saw the company suffer significantly, and he ended up briefly jumping ship back to Marvel for a couple years before spending the rest of his days working in animation or the independent comics scene. He did do some work for DC afterwards, but his total writing and art credits barely broke the double digits. Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt Kirby's reputation that he was an ''astoundingly'' prolific creator during that period; he was routinely putting out four or more issues every month at his height and created a whole mess of characters and concepts.
* Though Creator/StanLee never stopped being involved in comics in some form, and was employed at Marvel as early as 1951, he was only regularly writing superhero comics from November 1961 to August 1972. ''ComicBook/TheFantasticFour #1'' through ''125'' spans this entire period. After that point, he largely moved to a higher-up position at the company, working as a publisher and promotor. His time with his two most well-known collaborators, Creator/SteveDitko and Creator/JackKirby, was even shorter, with Kirby leaving in late 1970 and Ditko as early as mid-1966. This makes it all the more impressive just how many characters and books he was involved in the creation of; nearly every notable creation of his was in that eleven-year run.
* The Grey Spy in ''Magazine/{{Mad}}'''s ''ComicStrip/SpyVsSpy'' only appeared for about three out of the 26 years that original creator Antonio Prohias drew the comic -- and even then, only during the early-to-mid Sixties -- before Prohias phased her out after finding her {{Invincible Villain}}y boring. That said, the Grey Spy was popular enough that later artists would periodically bring her back.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'', the period of the show that could be termed "Original M*A*S*H" [[note]]where the main cast includes all the characters from [[Literature/{{MASH}} the 1968 novel]] and [[Film/{{MASH}} its 1970 film adaptation]] and where the show was more an unabashed {{Sitcom}}[[/note]] ended three years into the show's 11-year run, with the departures of both Henry Blake[[note]][=McLean=] Stevenson[[/note]] and "Trapper" John [=McIntyre=][[note]]Wayne Rogers[[/note]] after the episode "Abyssina, Henry". In fact, all three replaced characters (Blake, [=McIntyre=], and Frank Burns[[note]]Larry Linville, who left at the end of the fifth season, in "Margaret's Wedding"[[/note]]) had shorter tenures than their replacements, BJ Hunnicutt[[note]]Mike Farrell, replacing Trapper[[/note]], Col. Sherman Potter[[note]]Harry Morgan, replacing Blake[[/note]] and Charles Emerson Winchester III[[note]]David Odgen Stiers, replacing Burns[[/note]][[note]]Technically, nobody replaced Radar (Gary Burghoff) when he left during season 7 -- Max Klinger (Jamie Farr) took over his position[[/note]], all three lasted until the series end in 1983, and if you count ''Series/AfterMASH'' as Seasons 12 and 13 of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', Potter even lasted till 1985.

** Creator/SteveMartin only appeared in ''eight'' episodes of ''SNL'' between 1976 and 1980, where he served as guest host. However, owing to his frequent appearances (three in 1978 alone) and his participation in classic sketches such as "The Fenstruck Brothers," it's not surprising that many believe that Martin was a regular.

* Popular views of UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition as bloodthirsty Jew-hunters are based off UsefulNotes/TomasDeTorquemada's tenure in 1481-1498, during which half of the 3000-6000 people estimated by modern historians to have been killed by the Spanish Inquisition, were. Afterward the Inquisition barely handed death sentences or prosecuted for 'judaizing', if anything because there were no Jews left in the latter's case. Other elements associated with the Inquisiton like Sambenito hats, Edicts of Faith and Autos-da-Fé were abolished in the 18th century decades before the Inquisition itself was.

* Popular views of UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition as bloodthirsty Jew-hunters are based off UsefulNotes/TomasDeTorquemada's tenure in 1481-1498, during which half of the 3000-6000 people estimated by modern historians to have been killed by the Spanish Inquisition, were. Afterward the Inquisition barely handed death sentences or prosecuted for 'judaizing', not the least because there were no Jews left. Other elements associated with the Inquisiton like Sambenito hats, Edicts of Faith and Autos-da-Fé were abolished in the 18th century decades before the Inquisition itself was.

* The Caliphate of Cordoba lasted for only one century (929-1031) of UsefulNotes/MuslimSpain's eight (711-1492), and only had two great caliphs: Abd-al-Rahman III (929-961) and Al-Hakam II (961-976). The third caliph, Hisham II, had a long reign (976-1013), but was [[AuthorityInNameOnly mentally ill]] and the government was entirely run by the chancellor Almanzor and his sons, who pushed progressively [[OlderThanTheyThink more intolerant, populist policies]] to clinge to power.

* Conquistadors, as in, enterpreneurs with their own private armies and a charter to explore and conquer a new area granted by the Spanish Crown, really only existed from Columbus' travels to the "Indian New Laws" of 1542 and the Valladolid Debate of 1550, after which the Spanish decided to consolidate the territories already taken, sending in the royal army to new territories after enough natives had been christianized and made "friendly" by peaceful contact with missionaries. UsefulNotes/HernanCortez conquered Mexico in 1519-1521, his relative UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro arrived in Peru in 1532, and Hernando de Soto, who was in Peru with Pizarro, died on the Mississippi in 1542.. the same year that Francisco Vázquez de Coronado returned to Mexico. The stereotypical "conquistador helmet", the Morion, actually was introduced [[NewerThanTheyThink after this date]].

* Conquistadors, as in, enterpreneurs with their own private armies and a charter to explore and conquer a new area granted by the Spanish Crown, really only existed from Columbus' travels to the "Indian New Laws" of 1542 and the Valladolid Debate of 1550, after which the Spanish decided to consolidate the territories already taken, sending in the royal army to new territories after enough natives had been christianized and made "friendly" by peaceful contact with missionaries. UsefulNotes/HernanCortez conquered Mexico in 1519-1521, his relative UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro arrived in Peru in 1532, and Hernando de Soto, who was in Peru with Pizarro, died on the Mississippi in 1542. The stereotypical "conquistador helmet", the Morion, actually was introduced [[NewerThanTheyThink after this date]].

* Popular views of UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition as bloodthirsty Jew-hunters are based off UsefulNotes/TomasDeTorquemada's tenure in 1481-1498, during which half of the 3000-6000 people estimated by modern historians to have been killed by the Spanish Inquisition, were. Afterward the Inquisition barely handed death sentences or prosecuted for 'judaizing', not the least because there were no Jews left. Other elements associated with the Inquisiton like Sabenito hats, Edicts of Faith and Autos-da-Fé were abolished in the 18th century decades before the Inquisition itself was.

* Conquistadors, as in, enterpreneurs with their own private armies and a charter to explore and conquer a new area granted by the Spanish Crown, really only existed from Columbus' travels to the "Indian New Laws" of 1542 and the Valladolid Debate of 1550, after which the Spanish decided to consolidate the territories already taken, sending in the royal army to new territories after enough natives had been christianized and made "friendly" by peaceful contact with missionaries. UsefulNotes/HernanCortez conquered Mexico in 1519-1521, his relative UsefulNotes/FranciscoPizarro arrived in Peru in 1532, and Hernando de Soto, who was in Peru with Pizarro, died on the Mississippi in 1542.

* Similarly the Inca Empire was also less than 100 years old (1438–1533), having entered a period of rapid expansion which was still going on just before the Spaniards showed up. Doubles also NewerThanTheyThink.

* It is easy to imagine UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus' first voyage across the Atlantic to be an epic and lengthy journey; in really, crossing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to the Bahamas took a little longer than a month (September 3 to October 12). Some of this may owe to confusion with the return trip, which was against the wind, got caught in a storm, and was further delayed by Columbus's ship landing in Portugal and being interned for questioning. Still this allhappened between January 13 and March 4.
** This misconception has engendered another one, also spun from the truism that Columbus's ships didn't hold enough supplies to reach the ''Asian coast'' and would have starved if the Americas were not on the way, to claim that Columbus's crew was already starving before they found ''the Americas''. This was not the case. Though some crew threatened mutiny by October 10, it was motivated over suspicion that Columbus was lying about the distance covered and general mistrust over his credentials and foreign nationality, not because they had no food left.

* One imagines UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus' first voyage across the Atlantic to be an epic and lengthy journey, when really it only took a little longer than a month.

* The Huns were, for well over a millennium, ''the'' defining example of [[HordesFromTheEast a malevolent foreign invader]] in the western world, but though information on them is remarkably scare, all indications are that they didn't last long. They first show up in the historical record in 376, attacked the Roman Empire for the first time in 395, were unified under a single leader in 430, and in 435, Attila took power and began directly antagonizing the Romans on a large scale. In 453, Attila died, a year later, the Battle of Nedao broke the back of the Empire, and the last remnants appear to peter out around 469. That gives less than a century of confirmed existence, and maybe twenty years as a major threat.

* The Huns were, for well over a millennium, ''the'' defining example of TheEmpire in the western world, but though information on them is remarkably scare, all indications are that they didn't last long. They first show up in the historical record in 376, attacked the Roman Empire for the first time in 395, were unified under a single leader in 430, and in 435, Attila took power and began directly antagonizing the Romans on a large scale. In 453, Attila died, a year later, the Battle of Nedao broke the back of the Empire, and the last remnants appear to peter out around 469.

* WebVideo/{{Dream}}'s popularity has fizzled out early, much like [[WebVideo/DreamSMP the server named after him]]. He exploded in popularity in 2019, yet by 2021 he was getting [[OvershadowedByControversy constantly bombarded]] with controversy after controversy (including his speedrun cheating scandal), which caused his subscriber count to begin stalling by the end up the year. His last peak in fame was in 2022 with his notorious face reveal, but that was quickly followed by sexting allegations that, while still ambiguous for many, still caused much of the remaining respect for him to evaporate. By 2023, his subscriber count was stagnant/in decline, and as of 2024, Dream has largely been reduced to a creepy has-been in the eyes of many, including ''many'' of his former fans/"stans".
* The ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': As popular (and notorious) it and its creators were (and still are), it lasted only about 3 years, and the story arc was even shorter. The server was created in April 2020, and the story arc didn't start until July. The story arc practically concluded in November 2022 (just over two years after it began), and the server itself was closed in September 2023. This is a somewhat justified example, as it was often [[OvershadowedByControversy overshadowed by the endless dramas and scandals]] of its creators (especially WebVideo/{{Dream}} himself). More recent allegations against [[WebVideo/GeorgeNotFound George]] and [[Music/WilburSoot Wilbur]] have likely cemented its death.

* Although the most well-known and most fondly remembered version of the series: The original run of WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic only lasted for a solid 5 years and 222 episodes before Doug Walker decided to retire the character in favor of the ultimately short-lived WebVideo/DemoReel. By comparison, the UnCanceled version of the series, that started in 2013, has been going on for over twice that length and nearly twice that many episodes, as of 2023.

* The {{WebVideo/DreamSMP}}: As popular (and notorious) it and its creators were (and still are), it lasted only about 3 years, and the story arc was even shorter. The server was created in April 2020, and the story arc didn't start until July. The story arc practically concluded in November 2022 (just over two years after it began), and the server itself was closed in September 2023. This is a somewhat justified example, as it was often [[OvershadowedByControversy overshadowed by the endless dramas and scandals]] of its creators (especially {{LetsPlay/Dream}} himself). More recent allegations against [[LetsPlay/GeorgeNotFound George]] and [[Music/WilburSoot Wilbur]] have likely cemented its death.
** Dream's own popularity can also count for this. He exploded in popularity in 2019, yet by 2021 he was getting [[OvershadowedByControversy constantly bombarded]] with controversy after controversy (including his speedrun cheating scandal), which caused his subscriber count to begin stalling by the end up the year. His last peak in fame was in 2022 with his notorious face reveal, but that was quickly followed by sexting allegations that, while still ambiguous for many, still caused much of the remaining respect for him to evaporate. By 2023, his subscriber count was stagnant/in decline, and as of 2024, Dream has largely been reduced to a creepy has-been in the eyes of many, including ''many'' of his former fans/"stans".
* The golden age of [[LetsPlay Let's Play]] only lasted seven years, from [[LetsPlay/TheDarkId The Dark Id]] starting his Resident Evil 4 LP in January 2007 to {{LetsPlay/Slowbeef}} concluding his Bloodborne one in January 2014. Almost all the luminaries in the medium created their entire body of work in that period, and those who didn't either started not long before it or finished not long after it.

* Rather infamously, Smithers in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' started out as brown-skinned before being changed to yellow (the show's stand-in for white), allegedly due to the UnfortunateImplications of a black man being a subservient following every order from his rich white boss. Many don't realize, however, that Smithers was only black for one episode (his first appearance, "Homer's Odyssey"). One episode later ("There's No Disgrace Like Home") marked his second appearance, and from that episode onwards he's his usual yellow color.

* Classical Greece. Again, one would suppose that Ancient Greece lasted for centuries. While it is indeed true that Greece has a history of thousands of years, almost all of the non-mythical people and events that the average person associates with ''Classical'' Greece are from 492 BC to 323 BC, a period of about 170 years -- about two lifetimes. The United States has already been a republic for longer than Athens was an independent democracy.