History Main / SavedForTheSequel

** The Quarians are worried over a remote star dying far faster than it ought to be. Tali hypothesizes it's due to dark energy affecting the interior of the star, but remarks that no race has the ability or any particular motive to destroy one. Nevertheless, she voices concern over the possibility of an adversary powerful enough to take a star out. The explanation is left open for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''. Amusingly, this has ended up as an AbortedArc - it's one of the few dangling threads that isn't addressed at all (not even in one of Shepard's emails). Perhaps it will be addressed in the expected new storyline set in the universe.

* Music/{{Queen}}'s "Seven Seas Of Rhye" appears as an unfinished excerpt on [[Music/Queen1973 their first album]], and a full song on [[Music/QueenII their second]].
* Music/YellowMagicOrchestra's "You've Got To Help Yourself" appears as a 30-second "preview" on ''Naughty Boys''; the full song would first appear on the RemixAlbum ''Naughty Boys Instrumental'' before the band put out a vocal rendition on ''Service'' later that year.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' had Zygarde as a BonusBoss [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere with little explanation]], along with two unused moves in the games' code. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen There were plans to release another pair of Kalos games with Zygarde as the version mascot,]] but they were ultimately shelved, so the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} the anime]] was used to introduce new Zygarde forms. Meanwhile, the games wouldn't feature them until [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon the next Pokémon generation]], where Zygarde was featured as a sidequest, and was given the unused moves.

* This is attempted with Humma Kavula in ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' movie. The Point of View Gun was clearly setting up a plot where he tries to brainwash everyone in the galaxy and take Zaphod's place. Too bad there won't be a second movie to make these things worthwhile.

* Nagisa Momoe, [[spoiler: the MagicalGirl form of the witch [[BreakoutCharacter Charlotte/Bebe]]]] is introduced in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. Despite the hype for her appearance and her [[TrailersAlwaysLie prominent placement in advertisements for the movie]] she gets very little characterisation or build-up compared to the other magical girls. WordOfGod says that if they ever do make a sequel to Rebellion they intend to do a lot more with her character. [[spoiler:It wasn’t until ''Magia Record'' that we learned more of Nagisa's story.]]

** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' the fate or identity of Rey's family is never revealed, but it has been confirmed that that issue will be resolved later on in the sequel trilogy. As of ''Film/TheLastJedi'', they have been revealed by Kylo Ren to be [[spoiler:nobody important - drunkards who sold their daughter for drinking money and abandoned her on Jakku]]. Which is then backtracked in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' when it's revealed that [[spoiler: she's the granddaughter of ''Emperor Palpatine'', and her parents sold her to keep her hidden from him.]]

** [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally this was supposed to be the motive for the Reapers.]] They were intended to be interested in stopping the spreading of Dark Energy before it could tear the universe apart. And the key to this was biotics. [[spoiler: This was replaced with the ending of the entirety of the story being about the Reapers as a Rogue A.I.]] Given the level of reception of the ending, it seems that this could have been better, though that is likely just because the current ending is so unpopular.

Compare SequelHook, which only occurs at the end of the story and is specifically geared toward inviting a sequel, DevelopmentGag, where hints of certain pathways the story could have taken are left as tidbits, and RefittedForSequel, where an element is ''dropped'' from the original production only to be modified to fit a later work. SidenoteFullStory is very similar, except that does not require the follow-up to be an official sequel, or for it to be planned originally.

** TheStinger of ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' has Wade telling the audience that Cable is planned for the sequel, and he is one of the central characters of ''Film/Deadpool2''.up being written out. They'll be appearing in the sequel.

** [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally this was supposed to be the motive for the Reapers.]] They were intended to be interested in stopping the spreading of Dark Energy before it could tear the universe apart. And the key to this was biotics. [[spoiler: This was replaced with the ending of the entirety of the story being about the Reapers as a Rouge A.I.]] Given the level of reception of the ending, it seems that this could have been better, though that is likely just because the current ending is so unpopular.

* Nagisa Momoe, [[spoiler: the MagicalGirl form of the witch [[BreakoutCharacter Charlotte/Bebe]]]] is introduced in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. Despite the hype for her appearance and her [[TrailersAlwaysLie prominent placement in advertisements for the movie]] she gets very little characterisation or build-up compared to the other magical girls. WordOfGod says that if they ever do make a sequel to Rebellion they intend to do a lot more with her character.

Compare SequelHook, which only occurs at the end of the story and is specifically geared toward inviting a sequel, DevelopmentGag, where hints of certain pathways the story could have taken are left as tidbits, and RefittedForSequel, where an element is ''dropped'' from the original production only to be modified to fit a later work.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' has this to a smaller extent in the form of Kuvira, who appeared briefly in the finale of Season 3 (with a very noticeable character model and soundtrack, mind you) before returning with a much larger role in Season 4.

* Nagisa Momoe, [[spoiler: the MagicalGirl form of the witch [[BreakoutCharacter Charlotte/Bebe]]]] is introduced in Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion. Despite the hype for her appearance and her [[TrailersAlwaysLie prominent placement in advertisements for the movie]] she gets very little characterisation or build-up compared to the other magical girls. WordOfGod says that if they ever do make a sequel to Rebellion they intend to do a lot more with her character.

** A more minor ''Sonic'' example was the Sunset Park Act 3 theme from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogTripleTrouble''. It was originally supposed to be used in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogChaos'', but was DummiedOut before finally being used in ''Triple Trouble''... to the delight of many fans, who consider it to be [[AwesomeMusic/SonicTheHedgehog the best song in any 8-bit Sonic game]].
** Vector the Crocodile was originally going to appear in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 Sonic 1]]'' as part of a rock band along with Sonic and other characters. When the band concept was scrapped, Sonic's bandmates were removed from the game and from canon, but Vector was lucky enough to be reinstated with an altered design and background years later in ''VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix''.
* Nova Terra was the main character of the ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' GaidenGame ''Starcraft: Ghost'', a third-person shooter. The game went through a long DevelopmentHell until it was finally cancelled, but Nova becomes an important side character in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII''.

* ''Music/{{Queen}}'' 's "Seven Seas Of Rhye" appears as an unfinished excerpt on their first album, and a full song on their second.
* ''Music/YellowMagicOrchestra'' 's "You've Got To Help Yourself" appears as an excerpt on "Naughty Boys", and the rest of the song appears on their follow up "Service". The song simply fades in rather than repeat the previously released section of the song.
* Music/{{Wham}} left "Careless Whisper" off their first album "Fantastic" because it was felt to be too mature for the image the band was developing at the time. It therefore appeared on their follow up, "Make It Big", though the original plan was to release it as a between-albums single (the recording of which wasn't to their satisfaction). In the UK, the single release was credited to Music/GeorgeMichael exclusively, although it wasn't his true first solo single (that being "A Different Corner", released whilst the band was on hiatus).

* [[GeorgeMichael|Wham]] left "Careless Whisper" off their first album "Fantastic" because it was felt to be too mature for the image the band was developing at the time. It therefore appeared on their follow up, "Make It Big", though the original plan was to release it as a between-albums single (the recording of which wasn't to their satisfaction). In the UK, the single release was credited to George Michael exclusively, although it wasn't his true first solo single (that being "A Different Corner", released whilst the band was on hiatus).

* ''[[GeorgeMichael|Wham!]]'' left "Careless Whisper" off their first album "Fantastic" because it was felt to be too mature for the image the band was developing at the time. It therefore appeared on their follow up, "Make It Big", though the original plan was to release it as a between-albums single (the recording of which wasn't to their satisfaction). In the UK, the single release was credited to George Michael exclusively, although it wasn't his true first solo single (that being "A Different Corner", released whilst the band was on hiatus).

* ''GeorgeMichael|Wham!'' left "Careless Whisper" off their first album "Fantastic" because it was felt to be too mature for the image the band was developing at the time. It therefore appeared on their follow up, "Make It Big", though the original plan was to release it as a between-albums single (the recording of which wasn't to their satisfaction). In the UK, the single release was credited to George Michael exclusively, although it wasn't his true first solo single (that being "A Different Corner", released whilst the band was on hiatus).

* ''Music/George Michael|{{Wham!}}'' left "Careless Whisper" off their first album "Fantastic" because it was felt to be too mature for the image the band was developing at the time. It therefore appeared on their follow up, "Make It Big", though the original plan was to release it as a between-albums single (the recording of which wasn't to their satisfaction). In the UK, the single release was credited to George Michael exclusively, although it wasn't his true first solo single (that being "A Different Corner", released whilst the band was on hiatus).

* ''[[Music/George Michael]]|Wham!'' left "Careless Whisper" off their first album "Fantastic" because it was felt to be too mature for the image the band was developing at the time. It therefore appeared on their follow up, "Make It Big", though the original plan was to release it as a between-albums single (the recording of which wasn't to their satisfaction). In the UK, the single release was credited to George Michael exclusively, although it wasn't his true first solo single (that being "A Different Corner", released whilst the band was on hiatus).

* ''[[Music/George Michael|Wham]]'' left "Careless Whisper" off their first album "Fantastic" because it was felt to be too mature for the image the band was developing at the time. It therefore appeared on their follow up, "Make It Big", though the original plan was to release it as a between-albums single (the recording of which wasn't to their satisfaction). In the UK, the single release was credited to George Michael exclusively, although it wasn't his true first solo single (that being "A Different Corner", released whilst the band was on hiatus).

* ''Film/GreenLantern'' has Sinestro, traditionally Hal Jordan's nemesis as a fellow member of the corp. While this fits in with comics continuity, one gets the feeling that this wouldn't be the case if Warner Brothers wasn't hoping to make it into a franchise.

** The Japanese ''Sonic 3'' manual mentions a legend described in the Chaos Emeralds' altar predicting the coming of a legendary dragon that would bring great disaster, and level concept art briefly seen in a special promoting the then-upcoming ''Sonic & Knuckles'' depicts Super Sonic fighting a dragon-like monster in space, implying that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen it would have been a boss battle]]. Sure enough, ''S&K'''s final level consisted in a battle in space as Super Sonic. However, the boss there was another of Eggman's mechs instead, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse there were no more mentions of the dragon]] -- when we visit Hidden Palace (the location of the Emeralds' altar), we only get to see a mural predicting the final battle with Eggman. The plot point would be finally addressed and resolved in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' with the introduction of Chaos, a [[EldritchAbomination legendary ancient monster]] that has a [[OneWingedAngel dragon-shaped ultimate form]] and is connected to the Chaos Emeralds.

** The Japanese ''Sonic 3'' manual mentions a legend described in the Chaos Emeralds' altar predicting the coming of a legendary dragon that would bring great disaster, and level concept art briefly seen in a special promoting the then-upcoming ''Sonic & Knuckles'' depicts Super Sonic fighting a dragon-like monster in space, implying that [[WhatCouldHaveBeen it would have been a boss battle]]. Sure enough, ''S&K'''s final level consisted in a battle in space as Super Sonic. However, the boss there was another of Eggman's mechs instead, and there were no more mentions of the dragon -- when we visit Hidden Palace (the location of the Emeralds' altar), we only get to see a mural predicting the final battle with Eggman. The original plot point would be finally addressed and resolved in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' with the introduction of Chaos, a [[EldritchAbomination legendary ancient monster]] that has a [[OneWingedAngel dragon-shaped ultimate form]] and is connected to the Chaos Emeralds.

** The Japanese ''Sonic 3'' manual mentions a legend described in the Chaos Emeralds' altar predicting the coming of a legendary dragon that would bring great disaster, and level concept art briefly shown in a special promoting the then-upcoming ''Sonic & Knuckles'' depicts Super Sonic fighting a dragon-like monster in space, implying that it would have been a boss battle. Surely enough, ''S&K'''s final level consisted in a battle in space as Super Sonic. However, the boss there was another of Eggman's mechs instead, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse there were no more mentions of the dragon]], with the mural shown in Hidden Palace Zone (the location of the Emeralds' altar) depicting the final battle with Eggman instead. The original plot point would be finally addressed and resolved in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' with the introduction of Chaos, a [[EldritchAbomination legendary monster]] that has a [[OneWingedAngel dragon-shaped ultimate form]] and is connected to the Chaos Emeralds.

** The Japanese ''Sonic 3'' manual mentions a legend described in the Chaos Emeralds' altar predicting the coming of a legendary dragon that would bring great disaster, and level concept art briefly shown in a special promoting the then-upcoming ''Sonic & Knuckles'' depicts Super Sonic fighting a dragon-like monster in space, implying that it would have been a boss battle. Surely enough, ''S&K'''s final level consisted in a battle in space as Super Sonic. However, the boss there was another of Eggman's mechs instead, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse there were no more mentions of the dragon]], with the mural shown in Hidden Palace Palace (the location of the Emeralds' altar) depicting the final battle with Eggman instead. The original plot point would be finally addressed and resolved in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' with the introduction of Chaos, a [[EldritchAbomination legendary monster]] that has a [[OneWingedAngel dragon-shaped ultimate form]] and is connected to the Chaos Emeralds.

** The Japanese ''Sonic 3'' manual mentions a legend described in the Chaos Emeralds' altar predicting the coming of a legendary dragon that would bring great disaster, and level concept art briefly shown in a behind-the-scenes video promoting the then-upcoming ''Sonic & Knuckles'' depicts Super Sonic fighting a dragon-like monster in space, implying that it would have been a boss battle. Surely enough, ''S&K'''s final level consisted in a battle in space as Super Sonic. However, the boss there was another of Eggman's mechs instead, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse there were no more mentions of the dragon]], with the mural shown in Hidden Palace Palace (the location of the Emeralds' altar) depicting the final battle with Eggman instead. The original plot point would be finally addressed and resolved in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' with the introduction of Chaos, a [[EldritchAbomination legendary monster]] that has a [[OneWingedAngel dragon-shaped ultimate form]] and is connected to the Chaos Emeralds.