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  • After a massive Time Skip in Ace Attorney series with a game that replaces almost all the old characters with new ones, Miles Edgeworth and Pearl Fey unexpectedly show up in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies for the finale.
    • Happens fairly frequently in the Investigations series as well, with minor supporting characters such as Missile, Frank Sahwit, Penny Nichols, Will Powers, and Lotta Hart reappearing since their appearances in the original trilogy.
    • Maya Fey finally returns in Spirit of Justice after being absent since Trials & Tribulations. And we mean ACTUALLY returns, not just appearing in a crossover. To a lesser extant, Ema Skye returns as well after skipping Dual Destinies.
  • Animal Crossing has done this since City Folk. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer also brought back Louie, Maddie, Claude, and Carrie◊, all of whom previously only appearing in the very first game of the series. Carrie in particular shows up on the seventh day, with a special request for a children's playroom. The rest can only be found in distributions through Nintendo Zones and Spotpass, all with special requests — Louie with a 30th anniversary celebration of Super Mario Bros., Claude with a video game exhibit, and Maddie with special school supplies. There are even more villagers absent since the first game (Plus 2 from the Japan-exclusive update) found in the data, but they haven't been released yet.
    • These characters plus 46 others (making it 50 in total) were all brought back for the Welcome amiibo update for New Leaf. Unlike other villagers who can appear in the campsite, these villages will camp in the new RV campground when invited via special amiibo cards. All these characters first appeared in the updated version of the first Animal Crossing game and had not been seen since.
    • The 2.0. update for New Horizons brought back four villagers that only showed up in the original GameCube game, with these being Faith, Ace, Zoe, and Rio, and other four villagers that only appeared in the Japan exclusive Dobustu no Mori e+, these being Shanpan, Nobuo, Petunia, and Pironkon (receiving the localized names of Frett, Chabwick, Azalea, and Roswell respectively).
  • Scarecrow in the Batman: Arkham Series was one of the highlights of Batman: Arkham Asylum, and then strangely sat out the next two games. He more than made up for his absence when he finally returned as the Big Bad in Batman: Arkham Knight.
  • Crash Bandicoot:
    • When Crash Bandicoot On The Run soft-launched in 2020, it had three boss villains: Doctor N. Brio, Dingodile, and Scorporilla. While the former two are major recurring villains, the latter is a Titan who was not seen since Crash: Mind Over Mutant back in 2008, 12 years prior. The game then revealed the return of two more villains- the Elementals, previously seen in Wrath of Cortex, and the ghost Mr. Crumb, seen in the Tiger Electronic game Crash 99X.
    • Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled brought back quite a huge amount of characters of the Crash Bandicoot Franchise.
      • In the base game, you have all the characters introduced in both the console and handheld versions of Crash Nitro Kart, those being Crunch Bandicoot, Geary, Velonote , N. Trance, Krunk, Small Norm, Big Norm, Zem and Zam. All of them, with the exception of Crunch who was last present in Crash: Mind Over Mutant released in 2008 (11 years), haven't been seen since 2003. (16 years)
      • The anouncers from Crash Tag Team Racing, Chick and Stew, haven't been seen since 2005 (14 years). Not only they were brought back to announce each month's Grand Prix, but they were later Promoted to Playable.
      • The Nitro Tour Grand Prix, the very first Grand Prix of the game, brought back Tawna Bandicoot, who without counting the N. Sane Trilogy remake hasn't appeared in a game since Crash Boom Bang! in 2006 (13 years)
      • Alongside Tawna, the Trophy Girls from the original Crash Team Racing (Ami, Megumi, Liz and Isabella) also made their comeback and the five of them team up as one racing team known as The Nitro Squad. For your information, the original Crash Team Racing was released in 1999 (no more and no less than 20 years before Nitro-Fueled was released).
      • Baby T, whose last appearance, unless you count the N. Sane Trilogy remake, was in Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex released in 2001 (18 years) was added to the game's roster during the Back N. Time Grand Prix.
      • The characters added in the Spooky Grand Prix are also worth talking about. Both Nina Cortex and Dr. N. Brio's last appearances were in 2008 in Crash: Mind Over Mutant (11 years). Komodo Moe on the other hand, hasn't been seen since Crash Bash back in 2000 (19 years ago) unless you count the N. Sane Trilogy remake of course.
      • Moving on to the Neon Circus Grand Prix, we have both Pasadena O'Possum and Ebenezer Von Clutch from Crash Tag Team Racing, marking the first time they have both appeared in a game since 2005 (14 years). Regarding Koala Kong, without counting the remakes his last appearance was a cameo in Crash Twinsanity back in 2004 (15 years).
      • In the Winter Festival Grand Prix, we have Rilla Roo, whose last appearance was 19 years ago back in 2000 with Crash Bash and Yaya Panda from the obscure mobile game Crash Nitro Kart 2 released in 2010 (9 years).
      • The Rustland Grand Prix, which is also the first Grand Prix of 2020, marked the return of Megamix, who had its first and last appearance (until the Grand Prix that is) in Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure released in 2002 (18 years ago).
  • Dixie Kong joined Donkey and Diddy on their quest in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, making her first main game appearance since Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.
  • Fallout 4 sees the return of Dr. Madison Li from Fallout 3 as a key figure in the Institute and Mayor MacCready, now a grown man and a gunslinger for hire. It also sees the return of LIBERTY MOTHERFUCKING PRIME, REPAIRED AND READY TO DESTROY ANY AND ALL RED CHINESE COMMUNISTS. Nuka World sees the return of kooky Nuka Cola girl Sierra Petrovita, as well as the Hubologists.
  • Final Fantasy XIV introduces the character G'raha Tia during a line of sidequests in A Realm Reborn. At the conclusion of the questline, he seals himself away for a seemingly indefinite amount of time. After being absent for the entirety of Heavensward and all of Stormblood save the very end, he is promoted to one of the main characters in Shadowbringers.
  • Halo Wars left the crew of the Spirit of Fire drifting in space with no FTL drive. It wasn't until eight real-life years later that they finally appeared again in Halo Wars 2, which reveals that they've been drifting for twenty-eight years and have somehow found themselves outside of the galaxy.
  • Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: Carl and Frank from the first film appear early in the game as something of a mini-boss.
  • The King of Fighters:
    • Eiji Kisaragi, a ninja from the Art of Fighting series, would appear in '95. Then he dropped out of the series until he reappeared in XI, nearly 10 games after his debut.
    • Geese Howard made his KOF debut in '96, then later in XI as a secret character in the home version and then in XIV, as a canonical, fully playable role again. His original team member Mr. Big also was a secret character in XI, thus fitting this trope.
    • Chizuru Kagura returned in 2003 after last being playable in '98. Her last canon appearance was in '97, 6 games before.
    • The dream matches ('98, 2002 and XII) tend to do this. We have the American Sports Team ('94, then '98); Heidern, Takuma Sakazaki and Saisyu Kusanagi (previously in '95); the New Faces Team ('97, '98 and then 2002); the '97 Special Team ('97, '98 and then 2002); Mature and Vice ('96, '98, 2002 and canon returns in XIII and XIV) and Rugal Bernstein ('94, '95, '98 and then 2002)
      • Of the '97 Special Team, Yamazaki and Billy would return in 2003. Then Billy reappeared as a secret character in the home versions of XIII and is now fully playable in XIV. Yamazaki returns a DLC character for XIV, bringing him back from 2003.
      • Heidern canonically participated in 2001, after his previous canon role in '95.
      • Takuma reappeared through the NESTS saga ('99-2002). Then he would participate again in XIII.
    • Kasumi Todoh also goes in and out frequently. Debuted in '96, returned for '99, 2000 and then XI.
    • Jhun Hoon debuted in '99, participates in 2000 and then would only return in 2003.
    • Ramon is now playable in XIV, after his last appearance in XI. His now teammate Angel was last seen in 2002 with her last canonical appearance being her debut in 2001.
    • Andy Bogard came back in XII after his last time in 2002. Canonically, he went from 2001 to XIII.
    • Chang Koehan and Choi Bounge return in XIV. Chang was previously in 2003 and Choi in 2002. Canonically, Choi comes back from 2001.
    • Whip is now a DLC character in XIV, being her first appearance since XI.
    • Tung Fu Rue plays with this trope. He debuted in XI as secret character and reappears in XIV, making that his canon debut.
    • Although it is through the Paper-Thin Disguise of Krohnen, none other than K9999 makes his grand return in XV, having not been seen since 2002. What makes it even more surprising was that he was widely presumed to have been Exiled from Continuity over his heavy resemblance to AKIRA's Tetsuo Shima.
    • Shingo Yabuki was sidelined after XI thanks to being almost killed by a feral Iori, but returned as a DLC character in XV.
    • Hinako Shijo also returns in XV's DLC lineup, after not having been playable since 2003.
  • Many newer Kirby games have had a habit of bringing back old characters that were either one-offs or abandoned as the series evolved:
    • After her initial appearance in the very first game, Kabula became relegated to spin-off appearances before being dropped from the franchise. That is, until the remake of Kirby Super Star, when she was reintroduced in Revenge of the King and has made more appearances since then.
    • Blocky, a mini-boss from Kirby's Dream Land 2 and Kirby's Dream Land 3, finally reappeared in Kirby: Triple Deluxe with an updated design. Recurring Boss Kracko also reappeared in the same game after being mysteriously absent from Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and Dark Meta Knight from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror appears as a secret boss and is hinted to have a large role in the backstory.
    • ♪It is also apparent that Masked Dedede makes a return in Kirby: Triple Deluxe as a boss and he brings his theme tune back with him!♪
    • The Kirby Fighters sub-game from Kirby: Triple Deluxe brought back Lololo and Lalala, Rick, Coo, Kine, the factory robots from Kirby 64, and Ghost Kirby.
    • The sub-games of Kirby Mass Attack bring back a lot of previous one-off villains as final bosses, including Nightmare, Dark Matter, and Marx.
    • Kirby: Planet Robobot either brings back tons of characters or at least gives them a major nod, some who have never been seen in a platformer for decades:
      • After not making a platforming appearance since Kirby Super Star, the Meta-Knights (Axe Knight, Mace Knight, Trident Knight, and Javelin Knight) reappear as part of Meta Knight's special move, officially called Meta Knightmares.
      • The second boss, Holo Defense API, sends out a copy of the Ice Dragon from Kirby's Dream Land 2.
      • Kabula, after only cameoing since Super Star Ultra, is back as a special boss in Gigabyte Grounds.
      • Star Dream, the Final Boss, is a clockwork star like Nova from Super Star, and its Soul form recolors it to look just like Nova.
      • Two of the three final bosses for Meta Knight are Dark Matter from Dream Land 2 and Galacta Knight from Super Star Ultra and Return to Dream Land.
      • The last two battles of Team Kirby Clash are against Landia from Kirby's Return to Dream Land and their EX form.
    • Team Kirby Clash Deluxe features a fusion of Shadow Dedede from Triple Deluxe and Dark Mind from Amazing Mirror as its Final Boss.
    • Kirby Star Allies brings back a whole host of enemy/helper characters not seen in years, among them Bio Spark, Gim, Burning Leo, whose last appearances were in Kirby Super Star Ultra back in 2008; Marx, who was last seen as a pinball boss in 2011's Kirby Mass Attack, Nago, Chuchu, and Pitch, who last appeared as cameos in Kirby 64; Pon and Con, a throwaway Dual Boss from Kirby's Dream Land 3 who previously held the distinction of being the only boss character(s) from that game to not reappear in any other installment; Gooey, whose only prior appearances are Kirby's Dream Land 2 (in an bit role) and 3 (as the co-op character), an extremely obscure friend of Kirby's thought long forgotten; Adeleine and Ribbon, supporting characters in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards who have not appeared since; Dark Meta Knight, a major antagonist in both Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and Kirby: Triple Deluxe; and Daroach and the other Squeaks, who were major antagonists in Kirby: Squeak Squad and minor characters in Kirby Mass Attack.
    • Super Kirby Clash brings back Nightmare of all enemies with a variation of his boss moveset from Kirby's Adventure. Sure, it's an alternate universe version called Parallel Nightmare, but it's still the same general design, attacks, and even uses the voice actor from the Hoshi no Kaabii japanese anime dub.
  • The lore for the champions Kassadin and Malzahar in League of Legends involves Malzahar sending Kassadin's daughter to the void. As of 2018, she's grown up and is a champion in her own right- Kai'Sa, the Daughter of the Void.
  • The Legend of Zelda:
  • Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem brings back many forgotten Looney Tunes characters that hasn't made any appearances in several decades, such as Giovanni Jones, Casper Caveman, Michigan J. Frog and Melissa Duck.
  • Love & Pies: On Day 12, Joe leaves for the two-day baker's retreat, but comes back the following day earlier than expected because he didn't like it. The trope gets double-subverted because while it was actually his twin brother Sam masquerading as him, the real Joe returns as scheduled, just in time to see Sam about to kiss the former's Love Interest, Amelia.
  • In Melody, the High School Sweetheart Ending pairs the protagonist with Isabella, who hasn’t been in the story since Week 5.
  • Metroid: Other M brought back Adam, Nightmare, the Metroid Queen, Mother Brain (to an extent), and Phantoon.
  • Monster Hunter. Due to the series' enormous bestiary, some monsters are omitted in one or more installments in a row, but are eventually brought back:
    • Monster Hunter Freedom Unite: After having debuted in Monster Hunter 2 (dos) but not appearing in the original Freedom 2, Yama Tsukami makes a return in the expansion, being now one of the Urgent Quest monsters in G Rank.
    • Monster Hunter Portable 3rd: Anteka, Bulldrome, Tigrex, Nargacuga, Gold Rathian, Silver Rathalos, Ukanlos and Akantor all return after being absent in Tri. Tigrex and Nargacuga even receive subspecies. The Palico class of Felynes returns from Freedom Unite as well.
    • Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate:
      • Plesioth and its subspecies, Green Plesioth return after their abscense following Freedom Unite.
      • Epioth, Fish, Gobul, Lagiacrus and Ceadeus all return as well after being absent in Portable 3rd due to the return of underwater combat.
      • The subspecies Azure Rathalos and Pink Rathian also return, being absent in Tri and Portable 3rd (despite the latter having their respective Rare Species).
    • Monster Hunter 4:
      • A lot of first and second generation monsters that sat out during the third generation come back, such as the Dromes (except Giadrome), Yian Kut-Ku, Gypceros, Gravios, Congalala, Kushala Daora, Teostra, etc. Along with their weapons and armor, of course. Also, one of the monsters that debuted in the third generation but had missed out the final installment (Brute Tigrex) also returns, thanks to the return of the standard Tigrex (and both are also accompained by a brand-new Rare Species, Molten Tigrex).
      • The Updated Re-release 4 Ultimate brings back the monsters Cephadrome, Daimyo Hermitaur and its Plum subspecies, Monoblos and its White subspecies, Diablos and its Black subspecies, Rusted Kushala Daora, Ukanlos, Chameleos, and White Fatalis.
    • Monster Hunter Generations: Being a Megamix Game, the game brings back a wide array of monsters from all previous games in the series, including monsters that hadn't been seen for a while until then (such as Shogun Ceanataur and Blangonga from the second generation of games, or Amatsu from the third). The Updated Re-release Generatons Ultimate brings more old monsters to the mix, including the first-generation Lao-Shan Lung (who hadn't appeared in a MonHun game in 9 years, namely since Freedom Unite).
    • Monster Hunter: World, released in 2018 worldwide, not only brings back Lunastra, who also had been absent since Freedom Unite while her mate Teostra would appear in all fourth-generation games, but also gives her a big dose of differentiation from Teostra to give her a reason to come back.
    • Monster Hunter: Rise: Two of the monsters added to the game via post-release updates are Chameleos (which was absent in World and Iceborne despite them featuring fellow second-generation Elder Dragons Teostra, Lunastra and Kushala Daora) and Valstrax (which had only appeared in Generations Ultimate until then).
  • Ammon Jerro from Neverwinter Nights 2 joins you for one mission in the expansion Mask of the Betrayer. He is one of the only party member from the original game to appear in the expansion, with the other being Bishop. Although, considering how Bishop comes back...
  • Samanosuke Akechi, the Player Character from the first Onimusha game Warlords, was totally MIA from Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny, which featured a different lead character and an entirely new supporting cast. He made his triumphant return for Onimusha 3: Demon Siege as 1 of 2 Player Characters. Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams once again appears to lack his presence, but it's heavily implied, then fully revealed during the end credits, that the key supporting character Tenkai Nankobo is in fact a very old Samanosuke.
  • In Onmyōji's story mode, the bus that Ibaraki-dōji and Shuten-dōji are on (debut in ep. 10 and also appear in ep. 11) returns in ep. 17 (6 episodes later). The one Kappa and Koi-no-sei (appear once in ep. 7) are on returns in the same episode (10 episodes later), while the one Ame-onna and Jiki-gaeru (appear once in ep. 4) are on also comes back for this episode (13 episodes later). The longest bus trip belongs to Hōōka (appears once in ep. 3) which also comes back in this episode (14 episodes later). Episode 17 should have been titled The Returning Buses. Oguna and Dōjo are Put on a Bus after episode 12, their debut episode, and return very briefly in episode 21 (9 episodes later).
  • Due to the number of contractors available in PAYDAY 2, some of them could be considered 'on the bus'. So far, the two that have made it back off the bus are The Elephant (due to The Biker Heist) and The Butcher (due to the Scarface Mansion heist).
  • Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth marks the triumphant return to the franchise of the female protagonist of Persona 3 Portable, who hadn't been seen since 2009.
  • Pokémon:
  • Power Bomberman features playable appearances from a ton of characters from previous installments – regardless of how obscure they were, whether they'd been playable before or not, or how many years it's been since the last time they showed up.
  • Quite common among the Resident Evil franchise for any characters not named Chris, Leon, Jill, Claire, Ada and Wesker:
  • Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell: Saints Row 2 villain Dane Vogel returns after his death in that game, as one of Hell's many residents.
  • Sam & Max: Freelance Police:
    • Bluster Blaster, who left to Vegas with Bosco between Beyond Time and Space and The Devil's Playhouse, returns in the fourth episode to deliver a note about how Bosco is stuck in Vegas paying off a debt.
    • And then Sybil comes back from her honeymoon one episode later.
  • Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse brings back many characters that haven't been seen in over a decade:
    • YHVH hasn't had a prominent role in a game since II. He finally returns as a Final Boss in this game.
    • The penultimate boss of the game is Satan, who also hasn't been seen in the main series since II.
    • En no Ozuno, an ally from I and II and a boss from if... appears as the strongest Fiend in the game.
    • The Hero, Aleph, and the Demi-fiend all appear in DLC as allies in an awesome Previous Player-Character Cameo. This is particularly notable in Aleph's case, as unlike the Hero or the Demi-fiend, he only ever appeared in his original game and its remakes.
  • Shrek Smash N'Crash Racing
    • Little Red from Shrek 2 is a playable racer.
    • Humpty Dumpty from Shrek SuperSlam is a playable racer.
    • After being absent from the Shrek 2 film and the previous games, Thelonious appears as a playable racer here.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Soul Series characters Sophitia and Taki make their return in Soulcalibur: Lost Swords.
    • Edge Master debuted in SC and would only appear again in V, being the only Ditto Fighter of the series to be playable in more than one game.
    • Hwang makes his return as the final Season 2 DLC character in VI, being mostly absent from the series since SC (not counting his not-so-canon appearance as an extra character in III).
  • In Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! game, Elora was an important character. She's missing for most of the third game due to plot reasons, but appears in a cutscene toward the end. However, she doesn't appear in any other games outside of the original trilogy, though the Spyro Reignited Trilogy brings her and everyone else back due to said games being remade.
  • Star Trek Online had two of its faction captains, Va'Kel Shon of the Enterprise-F and Koren of the Bortasqu', MIA throughout the entirety of the Delta Rising expansion and most of the "Iconian War" season, which worried players after the revelation of Cryptic becoming a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Thankfully, the "Iconian War" finale, "Midnight", brought the two back along with their voice actors.
  • It seems that one of the goals of Street Fighter V is to bring back as many characters from the Street Fighter lore as possible:
    • Nash (AKA Charlie), Birdie, R. Mika, and Karin haven't been seen in the series since Street Fighter Alpha 3, but all 4 have returned to the roster in SFV.
    • Alex and Urien have returned to the series as playable characters since Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Several SFIII characters who weren't in any version of SFIV show up as NPCs as well, such as Oro, Sean, and Gill. Later on as a part of Season 4 DLC, Gill became playable once more since his appearance in 3rd Strike. Oro will also return as an upcoming playable character for Season 5.
    • Season 2 DLC released 4 characters for the roster that were originally minor NPCs. Ed* may have not been too surprising, but Kolin (AKA Helen, Gill's assistant) was very unexpected, mainly because she had such a minor role in the SFIII games. Abigail, the 5th boss of the original Final Fight, comes across as a throwaway character, yet here he is. And then, there's Zeku, Guy's former master as seen in the latter's Street Fighter Alpha 2 ending. Having been gone for so long, who would ever think he'd show up again?
    • To help promote SFV, Capcom developed the Shadaloo C.R.I. website. The Character Guides section for the Activity Reports page goes out of its way to release character bios for nearly every single character that has ever been seen in the series. This extends to characters from the original Street Fighter, Street Fighter EX, and of all games, Street Fighter 2010. Even the 2 guys from the original intro of Street Fighter II have bios!
    • The Season 4 DLC revealed a Final Fight character that no one ever thought would come back in any Capcom game, let alone a SF entry: Lucia, the heroine of Final Fight 3.
    • While some Rival Schools characters already appeared as NPCs, Akira was brought back as an actual playable character for Season 5, making this the first time in decades that her series had any direct relevance to Street Fighter.
  • The Super Mario Bros. franchise seems to love this trope.
  • Super Robot Wars V brings back Crossbone Gundam after a 13-year absence since Alpha 2. Oh, and it brings back Gundam ZZ and Nadesico: Prince of Darkness too. Even further, this game marks the first time that both the Huckebein and the Grungust are featured in a licensed Super Robot Wars game since Alpha 1.
  • Examples from Super Smash Bros.:
  • Tekken:
    • Tekken 4 sees the return of Kazuya Mishima and Lee Chaolan, who are absent in Tekken 3. Kazuya's return is especially a surprise, since 3 establishes that he is dead, having been thrown into a volcano by Heihachi. Also, while there is a Law character in 3, it's Forest Law, not his father, Marshall Law, who makes his return in 4 (while Forest just sort of disappears from the plot afterward).
    • Tekken 5 brings back characters missing in 4, including Anna Williams, Baek Doo San, Bruce Irvin, Ganryu, Mokujin, and Wang Jinrei, while Ogre returns as a non-playable boss in Devil Within. Other absent characters return in spirit; there is Jack-5 (the robots' fifth iteration), Jun Kazama's fighting style is inherited by her relative Asuka Kazama, and Roger's wife and son take over his stint as fighter. Even Jin Kazama's old fighting style makes a return; since Jin is effectively a new character in 4, the old one is instead repurposed by Devil Jin. The Dark Resurrection update adds Armor King, though the following game reveals that he is actually the original's younger brother.
    • Tekken 8 is notable for bringing back Jun Kazama, who hasn't been seen in the main games for nearly thirty years (the last one was her debut game, Tekken 2). Azazel and Raven also return after having been absent in Tekken 7.
  • World of Warcraft:
    • Algeria Windrunner and Turalyon were announced to be returning in the Legion expansion. This is one of the more egregious examples, as their last appearance was Warcraft II: Beyond The Dark Portal, which came out in 1996. Nineteen years, and the only Word of God on them was that they were still alive. To say the fans were pleased by this would be an understatement.
      • Even when Legion launched the duo still did not appear immediately. They only returned a year after the expansion launched, resulting in a total of twenty-one years between their appearances.
    • Koltira Deathweaver, the Horde's most prominent Death Knight, was imprisoned during a low level quest chain in the Cataclysm expansion. He was not seen for another three expansions and six years until Death Knights freed him as part of their campaign.
    • Neptulon was kidnapped by the naga early in the Cataclysm expansion and the raid following up on this was cancelled. As a result his fate was unknown for six years when Legion revealed he freed himself and went back to business as usual.
    • The kingdom of Kul Tiras, last seen in the "Founding of Durotar" campaign in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was almost completely absent from World of Warcraft since day one; the only hints of their presence came from an outpost in Durotar and a few of Theramore's guards, before Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria respectively wiped those remnants out. Finally, Battle for Azeroth further examined Kul Tiras' absence and isolation during that time: After their Lord Admiral Daelin was defeated at Theramore (largely because Jaina refused to aid him against the Horde), and the rest of the Alliance refused to pursue revenge against either Jaina or the Horde for Daelin's death, Kul Tiras left the Alliance.
    • The Dragonflight expansion continues the tradition by bringing the black dragon Sabellian - who hadn't been seen since Burning Crusade fifteen real-world years previously - back to centre stage. A few other characters who hadn't been seen for a few expansions also reappeared, such as Senegos and his brood from Legion, but Sabellian is definitely the stand-out for length of absence.
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: The third and final entry in the trilogy sees a lot of characters from the first game and the books make an appearance after their conspicuous absence from Assassin of Kings, including Ciri, Yennefer, Lambert, Eskel, Vesimir, Keira, Emperor Emhyr and Dijkstra. The Hearts of Stone expansion also sees Love Interest Shani making a comeback.

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