History Main / UnreplacedDeparted

* Music/DepecheMode continued as a trio after Alan Wilder's departure in 1995, though the band has hired extra members for tours.

** You can duel Magus ToTheDeath [[spoiler:or recruit him]], and he won't come back in the former case.

* Bill Wyman was the Music/RollingStones' bassist from 1962 to 1993. After he departed, the remaining members brought Darryl Jones in to play bass on records and tours as a hired musician and not as a replacement to Wyman within the group. If the Stones continue on their current course, their time without Wyman will exceed the time he spent with them in 2024.

* Drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory were dismissed during Music/{{Journey}}'s original run in 1986. The remaining members toured with hired musicians (including Randy Jackson, later of ''Series/AmericanIdol'', on bass) until they went on hiatus in 1995.

* Music/{{Genesis}}:

* The subversion of this trope is a staple among tabletop RPGs, where the death of one character will often result in the party meeting a freelance adventurer at the next tavern, who coincidentally has the same stats, name, and equipment size as the dead character.

Most likely to be seen in music groups as a member's departure can be covered by hiring instrumentalists and vocalists to work in the studio and on stage without having to bring in an official replacement. Only the official members typically appear in promotional photos. They may even use the departure as the opportunity to experiment and release a NewSoundAlbum.

Most likely to be seen in music groups as a member's departure can be covered by hiring instrumentalists and vocalists to work in the studio and on stage without having to bring in an official replacement. They may even use the departure as the opportunity to experiment and release a NewSoundAlbum.

* Steven Page left Music/BarenakedLadies in 2009, saying that it was no longer an enjoyable experience. The remaining four members decided to remain a quartet, with Ed Robertson taking over the bulk of the lead vocals.

* Music/PinkFloyd soldiered on after Music/RogerWaters left the band in 1985, at first officially as a duo with David Gilmour and Nick Mason, with Richard Wright appearing as a guest musician on ''Music/AMomentaryLapseOfReason''. Wright, who himself had been fired during the recording of ''Music/TheWall'' and replaced by session musicians on ''Music/TheFinalCut'' and the vast majority of ''Music/AMomentaryLapseOfReason'' (only contributing tangential keyboard and backing vocal parts), was reinstated as a full band member for ''Music/TheDivisionBell'', and the classic lineup with all four band members reunited for Live 8 in 2005, the last performance before Wright's death in 2008.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': The Doflamingo Pirates' organization structure consists of 4 "top executives" right beneath the captain, Doflamingo, which have PlayingCardMotifs: Diamante (diamond), Trebol (club), Pica (spade) and Corazon (heart). The last one, however, is currently unoccupied -- it was meant to be filled by Trafalgar Law, but the latter defected from the group years before the present to form his own pirate group.

Compare and contrast with TheBandMinusTheFace, where a specific member departs, RevolvingDoorBand, where lineup changes are relatively frequent, StepUpToTheMicrophone, where an existing member steps into the departed member's place, and ThePeteBest, where a replacement happens early in a group's run and the original member becomes a footnote in history.

* ''Series/ADifferentWorld'' was created as a vehicle for Lisa Bonet. But when she departed the series, it was retooled around the remaining cast members rather than bringing in a replacement lead, with no appreciable drop in viewership.

* While ''Series/{{Community}}'' averted this with Pierce and Shirley when their actors left, they did not replace Troy after Donald Glover departed.

* Music/RobbieWilliams split with Music/TakeThat acrimoniously in 1995 and wasn't replaced before they broke up in 1996. The group reunited in 2005, sans Williams, and worked as a quartet before Williams reconciled with everyone and they reformed as a quintet in 2010[[note]]It could have been sooner, as Williams was willing to meet with the other members and clear the air in 2005, but the producers of a retrospective documentary intentionally kept him in the dark about a meeting between the other four members to create drama[[/note]]. Williams left again to refocus on his solo career and Jason Orange followed not long after, although everyone made it clear that these departures were friendly and the two were welcome back at any time. The remaining three continue to record and tour together.

Contrast with RevolvingDoorBand, where lineup changes are relatively frequent, StepUpToTheMicrophone, where an existing member steps into the departed member's place, and ThePeteBest, where a replacement happens early in a group's run and the original member becomes a footnote in history.

* While Series/Community averted this with Pierce and Shirley when their actors left, they did not replace Troy after Donald Glover departed.

** When the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' launched, Grace Lee Whitney, portraying Yeoman Janice Rand, was intended to be a series regular as a recurring love interest for Kirk, was featured even more prominently than ''Spock and [=McCoy=]'' in promotional materials, and indeed was a major fixture of the first half of season one. Whitney also directly contributed to a number of design elements, from the incredibly short female uniforms[[note]a dancer, Whitney wanted a short skirt to show off her legs[[/note]] and even the development of the tricorder. She was eventually cut from the show by the halfway point of the series.[[note]]It's unclear precisely why Rand was removed. The reasons vary from NBC looking to cut costs and argued that random nameless characters could fulfill her same role for cheaper than a regular, showrunners deciding they wanted Kirk to remain single and free to hook up with the random GirlOfTheWeek, a sexual assault by an NBC executive leading to her termination, or even blaming Whitney having personal or substance abuse problems as the reason.[[/note]] Although Rand's role as Kirk's aide was taken up by the occasional background extra, there was never a permanent replacement. And while Roddenberry long regretted her termination and Janice has remained a popular character (and Whitney was a regular fixture at conventions) ever since, this ''did'' clear the way for perhaps the most iconic PowerTrio in television history by giving more room for the Kirk-Spock-[=McCoy=] dynamic. Whitney later returned as Rand in several of the films, (having made the jump from a lowly yeoman to the officer track, eventually rising to the Executive Officer position aboard ''Excelsior'').

* After Denise Crosby's character was killed off in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s first season, Worf (Michael Dorn) was promoted to Security Chief to consolidate the ensemble to the core we know now.