History Main / RotatingArcs

* In ''Fanfic/FracturedSovereignGFC'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'' this happens due to large casts operating within a [[CasualInterstellarTravel huge multi-galaxy world]], making the chapters somewhat episodic in nature (say, a Shepard focus in one but a Brick/Jack focus in another) but still [[ArcWelding linked together]]. Or even [[WallOfText within chapters]]. There is almost never only one PlotThread active at a time--it's typically anywhere from TwoLinesNoWaiting to FourLinesAllWaiting.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', right up till the Red-Light District arc the participating character assemble was strictly the main characters: Tanjiro, Nezuko, Zenitsu and Inosuke, with one or more side-characters accompanying them; when the Swordsmith Village arc happens, however, Zenitsu and Inosuke are benched for the first time ever, opening up their place for Genya Shinazugawa to have some focus and then two Hashira, rather than one, to spearhead the arc: Muichiro and Mitsuri. The arcs structure get shifted further by the final following two: Infinity Castle and Sunrise Cooldown, where by then most of the entire cast are now prone to have some rotation, since it becomes the final war against Muzan and his followers thus the most prominent Demon Slayers are all dragged into it at once.

* In ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'' this happens due to large casts operating within a [[CasualInterstellarTravel huge multi-galaxy world]], making the chapters somewhat episodic in nature (say, a Shepard focus in one but a Brick/Jack focus in another) but still [[ArcWelding linked together]]. Or even [[WallOfText within chapters]]. There is almost never only one PlotThread active at a time--it's typically anywhere from TwoLinesNoWaiting to FourLinesAllWaiting.

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' has been doing this quite a bit with its nascent RoguesGallery villains, with characters like Jerome, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Victor Fries, and the Pyg rotating in for portions of a half-season and then rotating out when they're captured and/or elude arrest. Typically their arcs intersect with Jim Gordon's in the foreground, while secondary protagonists Penguin and young Bruce Wayne take turns dominating the B-plots.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' filler arcs typically follow this pattern. With Sasuke having left the village and Sakura spending all her time training under Tsunade, Naruto typically goes on a mission with other squads, usually with a different character getting emphasis and development in the arc. For example, in the Mizuki Strikes Back arc, he works with Team 10 and Iruka and Mizuki's past is explored; in the Bikochuu arc, he goes with Team 8 and Hinata's growth as a ninja is explored. In some arcs, like Land of the Sea, the featured characters come from multiple teams. Shippuden follows this to some degree with its arcs (Team Guy in the Gaara arc, Team 10 in the Hidan and Kakuzu arc, and Team 8 in the Hunt for Uchiha arc).
* Upon the conclusion of the [[SeasonalRot Johto arc]], the Hoenn arc introduces Pokémon Contests into the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime and a main character in May to participate in them, finally allowing another main character to receive similar focus to Ash. The following Sinnoh arc would repeat the same thing with Dawn, with additional focus put on her Contests. Two generations later, the Kalos arc would introduce yet another style-oriented competition in [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Showcases]] for Serena to strive toward. Another two generations later and Goh would share the spotlight with Ash in his goal to catch every known Pokémon before eventually taking part in the Project Mew trials.

* Currently, the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'' is doing this with the [[BadFuture Dark World]] and [[{{Prequel}} Shining]] [[ADayInTheLimelight Armor]] arcs.
* [[FanFic/RainboomsAndRoyalty The Dashverse]] story ''Hot Heads, Cold Hearts, and Nerves of Steel'' is currently alternating between the Mane Six (and Shining Armor and Cadence) heading towards the Crystal Empire to save the kidnapped foals Sombra, and the trio of Dinky, Alula, and Pipsqueak (later aided by Zecora) having escaped from the kidnapped group and wandering the caverns underneath the Empire.

* Upon the conclusion of the [[SeasonalRot Johto arc]], the Hoenn arc introduces Pokémon Contests into the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime and a main character in May to participate in them, finally allowing another main character to receive similar focus to Ash. The following Sinnoh arc took it even further with Dawn by making her Ash's [[{{Deuteragonist}} co-lead]], the first companion to fully share in his spotlight. Two generations later, the Kalos arc would introduce yet another style-oriented competition in [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Showcases]] for Serena to strive toward.

It sounds a bit ruthless that one set has to kick out another in order to get their turn, but in actual fact this is probably the most popular way of handling LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters. It reduces two-dimensional characterisation, still employs {{Ensembles}} to appeal to the maximum number of readers, and decreases the number of occurrences where one character is OutOfFocus. Or at least placates the fans with the reassurance that their favourite hero will get a turn in the spotlight too. Eventually.

* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', in the manga's later arcs, as a necessity of [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters parents, brothers, sisters, love interests and random passers by]] getting roped into the story. Notable for splitting up the core quartet of Yuki, Kyo, Shigure and Tohru. Kyo and Tohru form an arc unto themselves, Yuki begins to appear only in his own student-council related arc, and Shigure only really has any significance when shown with Akito. And let's not get started on the lives and loves of the other members of the Zodiac, who keep the Rotating Arcs spinning around at warp speed.

* In ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'' this happens due to LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters operating within a [[CasualInterstellarTravel huge multi-galaxy world]], making the chapters somewhat episodic in nature (say, a Shepard focus in one but a Brick/Jack focus in another) but still [[ArcWelding linked together]]. Or even [[WallOfText within chapters]]. There is almost never only one PlotThread active at a time--it's typically anywhere from TwoLinesNoWaiting to FourLinesAllWaiting.

* To a lesser extent, ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', particularly ''The Return of the King'' -- the cast herds are Frodo-Sam-Gollum, Aragorn-Éomer-Imrahil, and arguably two or three crystallize around Éowyn and Faramir. They all occur simultaneously but in multi-chapter segments.

* Upon the conclusion of the [[SeasonalRot Johto arc]], the Hoenn arc introduces Pokémon Contests into the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime and a main character to participate in it (May, and later Dawn in the Sinnoh arc), giving it as much importance to the plot as that of Ash's story. This way, Hoenn suffered from less {{Filler}} than Johto (which was infamous for large amounts of filler), giving it much better reception. The following Sinnoh arc, unfortunately, [[ArcFatigue didn't follow suit]], not from too much filler like Johto but from the opposite extreme of [[FourLinesAllWaiting too many plot arcs going on at once and stalling one another constantly.]]

* In ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'' this happens due to LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters operating within a [[CasualInterstellarTravel huge multi-galaxy world]], making the chapters somewhat episodic in nature (say, a Shepard focus in one but a Brick/Jack focus in another) but still [[ArcWelding linked together]]. Or even [[WallOfText within chapters]]. There is almost never only one PlotThread active at a time--it's typically anywhere from TwoLinesNoWaiting to FourLinesAllWaiting.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' does this. Each book's main group is traditionally either Ridcully and/or the Wizards, the Witches/Tiffany Aching, Death/Susan, the Night Watch, Moist Von Lipwig, or a stand-alone book who's characters aren't visited again outside of cameos.

* In ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''MassEffect''[=/=]''StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its sequel ''[[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins Origins]]'' this happens due to LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters operating within a [[CasualInterstellarTravel huge multi-galaxy world]], making the chapters somewhat episodic in nature (say, a Shepard focus in one but a Brick/Jack focus in another) but still [[ArcWelding linked together]]. Or even [[WallOfText within chapters]]. There is almost never only one PlotThread active at a time--it's typically anywhere from TwoLinesNoWaiting to FourLinesAllWaiting.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

It sounds a bit ruthless that one set has to kick out another in order to get their turn, but in actual fact this is probably the most popular way of handling LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters. It reduces two-dimensional characterisation, still employs {{Ensembles}} to appeal to the maximum number of readers, and decreases the number of occurences where one character is OutOfFocus. Or at least placates the fans with the reassurance that their favourite hero will get a turn in the spotlight too. Eventually.

* ''Series/TheBill''. Not only do we have [[CastHerd CID, Uniform and The Brass]], but several sets of external characters. These can be left hanging for months before being rotated back in, putting a strain on viewer engagement.

* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' '''has''' to operate this way, since the main characters are written by different authors. The most obvious example was the 2006 Christmas break, which technically still hasn't finished since some authors are writing new stories for it. Phase had a separate novel where she went home and ran into a serial killer [[spoiler: that was really an unkillable demon from a hell dimension]]. Tennyo had a Christmas adventure with Jinn Sinclair [[spoiler: who was embedded in her stuffed cabbit]], while Jade Sinclair went home with Fey for another holiday [[spoiler: and she was stabbed to death, but she got better]]. And so on. So far, there are seven such stories, two of which haven't finished. And WordOfGod says there will probably be a couple more.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' has the episode Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island, where the cast of 22 contestants look for a breifcase containing $1,000,000. Several sets of characters team up to look for the briefcase, and it cuts between them.

* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' consists of ten largely self-contained books; while Rotating Arcs is utilized in almost every one of them, the trope mostly applies to the structure of the series. Each book is part of one or more of three overall arcs, and as the series progresses, the arcs start to intermingle and eventually converge toward each other.

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' has been doing this quite a bit with its nascent RoguesGallery villains, with characters like Jerome, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Victor Fries, rand the Pyg rotating in for portions of a half-season and then rotating out when they're captured and/or elude arrest. Typically their arcs intersect with Jim Gordon's in the foreground, while secondary protagonists Penguin and young Bruce Wayne take turns dominating the B-plots.

* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' has been doing this quite a bit with its nascent RoguesGallery villains, with characters like Jerome, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, Ivy, and the Pyg rotating in for portions of a half-season and then "rotating out" when they're captured or elude arrest. Typically their arcs intersect with Jim Gordon's in the foreground, while secondary protagonists Penguin and young Bruce Wayne pick up the B-plots.