History Main / OffscreenBreakup

* ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'' used this to explain the disappearance of the first film's love interest character. It was even in a needlessly cruel way; not only did she unceremoniously dump him, but she wrecked his car. ''Series/CobraKai'' would eventually RetCon this when Ali herself returns, and reminds Daniel that ''he'' caused their breakup over a misunderstanding and he wrecked the car himself, but lied to Miyagi about both to save face.

* One complaint about ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'''s first season is that it ends with a BigDamnKiss between Mako and Korra, but some in the audience got the impression that he hadn't actually broken up with Asami yet. (The writers may have intended a conversation that they had earlier to be a breakup, but if so, it was vague enough to cause confusion.)

* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableDiamondProteanRain'': PlayedWith in ''And Then There Was Duwang (A Halloween Story)'' -- Josuke and Onodera ''seem'' to be attempting a "trial separation", which Fubuki is taking strangely seriously. Eventually it turns out that [[spoiler:that was all part of Fubuki's nightmare. Apparently]].

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* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'', Dearka Elsman and Miriallia Haww seem to be headed vaguely in the direction of becoming a couple, and apparently do so following the end of the series - only to have broken up before the beginning of sequel series ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''.

* [[Comicbook/AllNewXMen O5 Angel]] and Comicbook/{{X 23}} dated for awhile, but eventually it turned into Schrödinger's Relationship. After the end of ''All-New X-Men Vol. 2'' and the conclusion of the "Enemy of the State II" arc of ''Comicbook/AllNewWolverine'' they haven't appeared in a book together, yet no mention of their relationship status has been made in either ''ComicBook/XMenBlue'' or subsequent issues of ''Wolverine''. Although Warren has hit on a number of women (including a cop and Firestar) in ''Blue'', suggesting they ''may'' be over. Tamaki's ''X-23'' series further supports a breakup in the first arc when Laura remarks she and Warren haven't seen one another recently. Ultimately it's rendered moot when [[spoiler:Warren returns to his own time, and he and Laura don't even say goodbye.]]

* ''Anime/BlueSeed'': Koume Sawaguchi and Yoshiki Yaegashi break up between the end of the series and the 2 year [[OriginalVideoAnimation OAV]] TimeSkip. When prompted by Momiji as to why, Koume explains that she panicked when she and Yaegashi began talking about getting [[BabiesEverAfter married and having kids]] and broke things off. [[spoiler: Momiji tells Koume that she shouldn't worry if they love each other and at the end of the second episode of the OAV [[RelationshipUpgrade Koume agrees to marry Yaegashi.]]]]

* At the end of ''Film/InspectorGadget1999'', Gadget has hooked up with scientist Brenda. When ''Film/InspectorGadget2'' rolls around, not only is the Inspector single again, but a new scientist called Baxter takes Brenda's techie role, and a new love interest in the form of G2 appears.

* At the end of the live action ''Film/InspectorGadget'' movie, Gadget has hooked up with scientist Brenda. When the second movie rolls around, not only is the Inspector single again, but a new scientist called Baxter takes Brenda's techie role, and a new LoveInterest in the form of G2 appears.

* At the end of the live action ''Film/InspectorGadget'' movie, Gadget has hooked up with HotScientist Brenda. When the second movie rolls around, not only is the Inspector single again, but a new scientist called Baxter takes Brenda's techie role, and a new LoveInterest in the form of G2 appears.

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* Snake and Meryl between ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2''.

Compare to DowntimeDowngrade. Subtrope of StatusQuoIsGod. A direct inversion to OffscreenRomance.

* Bulma and Yamcha broke up between the Freeza and Cell Sagas in ''Franchise/DragonBall'', clearing the road for Bulma's relationship with Vegeta.

* Osaragi from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' casually reveals in chapter 158 that she broke up with Kazeno over winter break after less than a week of dating. The whole thing is PlayedForLaughs since [[OffscreenRomance they originally hooked up offscreen]] as well.
* Touko from ''Manga/RandomWalk'' starts dating Tsukasa {{offscreen|Romance}}. Not long afterwards, she announces to her friends that they've broken up, and this also happens offscreen. They get back together, break up, and get back together again. [[RunningGag All of them offscreen]].

* In the fourth "book" of ''Fanfic/TheAnguisSeries'', "Beyond This Place", it is revealed that [[spoiler:Cal and Nat]] has broken up due to their {{differing priorities|Breakup}} and lifestyle, despite the previous book highlighting their love and dedication towards one another, to the point that they are willing to sacrifice everything else to protect the other.

* ''Star Wars'': At the end of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' things seem to be going very well between Leia and Han. By the time of ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' however, [[spoiler:their relationship is largely over. Han has returned to smuggling and Leia is still in a leadership position in the Rebellion/Resistance. The relationship did produce at least one child (whose turning to evil is indicated to be the cause of the breakup). They still seem to be on friendly terms, and Leia is ''heartbroken'' when Han dies.]]

* Happens three times in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. John ends season one still attached to his girlfriend Sarah, but the first episode of the second season furnishes him with new girlfriend and makes it clear that he's had several since Sarah, so they obviously broke up, and Sarah is never seen again. Likewise, Molly stated that she dumped Jim offscreen after only a few dates, [[spoiler: which was fortunate, given that he turned out to be Moriarty]], and [[spoiler: has now apparently split up with her ''fiancé'' between episodes.]]
* From ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'':
** Leonard and Pryia and Leonard and Dr. Stephanie.
** Bernadette and Howard. Although it's worth noting TheBusCameBack and as of the season five finale [[spoiler:they're married]].
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': We get hints that Abby and [=McGee's=] relationship is in trouble during early seasons, but we never get to see them actually break up.

%%* Andy and Erin in ''Series/{{The Office|US}}''.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'': the [[DearJohnLetter break-up by letter]] for Tommy/Kimberly. Shippers for that fandom still have trouble accepting that one.
* Omar and Dante from ''Series/TheWire'' end season three still together, but with a noticable strain on their relationship, and at the beginning of season four, Omar is already living with someone else (Renaldo). Fans typically assume this is because Dante gave up Omar's location under torture, unlike his previous boyfriend Brandon who refused to talk even on pain of death.

* In the third season of ''Series/GilmoreGirls'', Lorelai casually dates a guy named Alex. Despite getting along with him, he suddenly disappears without explanation, with the two seemingly breaking up offscreen.
* ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'': Chris and Shaz between seasons two and three.
* Zoey and Charlie in ''Series/TheWestWing'', some time before she starts dating [[FrenchJerk Jean-Paul]].
** Also happened with Leo and Jordan. Arguably with Josh and Amy as well (the first time they break up).

* Josh Safran, ''Series/GossipGirl'' showrunner for the second half of season four and for season five, wanted to do this with Chuck and Blair in the season three premiere in order to make his own favorite ship Dan/Blair happen. Given that the entirety of season two was devoted to a WillTheyOrWontThey between Chuck and Blair, the two of them not getting together until the last scene of season two and them being [[FanPreferredCouple by far the most popular ship of the show]] such a development would have been strange to say the least.
* ''{{Series/Eureka}}'': Jack is dating Callie and the relationship is progressing nicely by the end of Season 2. Season 3 starts and Callie is never seen or mentioned again, and Jack is single.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' doesn't focus a lot on the team's personal lives, so several relationships start and end without alerting the audience:
** Morgan got involved with a victim's sister while he was temporarily leading the team, so it was a bad emotional time for either one to start a relationship, but no resolution was ever provided to the arc. She just stopped appearing and stopped being mentioned, and Morgan eventually moved onto a new relationship.
** Garcia's relationship with Sam, a hunky NewOldFlame, appeared in a few episodes and was mentioned once or twice after we stop seeing him. Then, next season, she hears about a dating site and casually wonders if it's worth trying since she's single.
** Hotch got a fairly significant arc with Beth, his first girlfriend after the death of his wife/FirstLove Haley. There was even an episode where he went to Limbo and Haley gave her blessing to the relationship with Beth. She didn't seem to mind his career and got along great with his son... and then Hotch suddenly tells Rossi that she moved to Asia to pursue her career.

* Guybrush and Elaine during the TimeSkip between ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'' and ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge''. And then they mysteriously are back to being in love at ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland''...
* Snake and Meryl between ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2''.

* Happens repeatedly to Ratchet in ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'', as Ratchet regularly starts to get interested in whatever new female character is introduced in the game, and then in the next she'll be gone and usually won't even be mentioned.
* Several entries into the ''VideoGame/BrokenSword'' franchise begin with George and Nico having broken up after having gotten (back) together at the end of the previous game.

* In ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive,'' Davan and that girl who liked to strangle him, though in that case it was explicitly a non-romantic relationship just for sex.

* ''Webcomic/DailyJoJo'': Eunjo Lee and Seonkyu Kim started dating in the second arc, "King's Apps". The fifth arc, "Cheat Sheet", takes place after a one-year time skip and reveals that they broke up.

-->"What happened to your self-respect?"
-->"I lost it in the ''second'' divorce settlement."

* In the second season premiere of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', [[spoiler:Superboy and Miss Martian]] broke up during the five year TimeSkip, and she's now dating someone else. We eventually learn what happened and that the two still have feelings for each other. By season three, they're back together again.

* One complaint about ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'''s first season is that it ends with a BigDamnKiss between Mako and Korra, but some in the audience got the impression that he hadn't actually broken up with Asami yet. (The writers may have intended a conversation that they had earlier to be a breakup, but if so, it was vague enough to cause confusion.)

* The second season of ''VisualNovel/DaCapo'' subverts this: The protagonist of the first season is constantly minded by his haremettes and there are hints that his first season love interest either broke up with him or died... [[spoiler: Only it turns out she just moved away for a bit and comes back at around the halfway point of the series]].

* ''Film/TheKarateKidPartII'' used this to explain the disappearance of the first film's love interest character. It was even in a needlessly cruel way; not only did she unceremoniously dump him, but she wrecked his car. One really has to wonder if the actress pissed some people off.