Misused: The Bus Came Back

The Bus Came Back is about characters who were written out of a story then returned after some time, but there appears to be a confusion when it comes to works with Alternate Continuities.

Most of the examples I found are from the Super Robot Wars series of games.

• Super Robot Wars BX: After being absent for 12 years since Destiny, Universal Century Gundam makes its return to an SRW on a Nintendo handheld. Likewise, the last appearance of GaoGaiGar and Nadesico was in Super Robot Wars W, a gap of 8 years.
• Super Robot Wars V:
  • Crossbone Gundam finally returns after appearing only in Super Robot Wars Alpha 2. The time gap? 13 years ago. Meanwhile, after sitting out for the entirely of the Super Robot Wars Z saga, Gundam ZZ makes its High Definition console debut^note ZZ was previously on Super Robot Wars OE, a handheld-exclusive.
  • Since Super Robot Wars BX already brought back Nadesico, V continues the trend by bringing its movie Prince of Darkness.
  • The Huckebein makes a surprise reappearance after being taken out of the franchise beginning with the Second Super Robot Wars Original Generation since fans assumed legal issues meant it would never see the light of another day. Furthermore, this is the first time the Grungust and Huckebein will appear in a licensed-SRW since the Alpha trilogy.
  • The second opening to Zeta Gundam, Mizu no Hoshi e ai wo Komete, is returning after around 15 years of absence likely related to licensing issues, last appearing in Super Robot Wars Advance. That being said, it's only the vocal version.
  • Tetsuya and the Great Mazinger make their triumphant return after sitting out the last several entries thanks to Shin Mazinger Z not getting a second season to cover the Great Mazinger plot.
• Super Robot Wars X: Beltorchika’s Children, Gundam F91 and the non-OVA version of Mazinkaiser return after last being featured in the Alpha saga...THIRTEEN YEARS AGO.
• Super Robot Wars T:
  • Shion Zaba and Rabaan Zaramand, the respective protagonist and antagonist of New Story of Aura Battler Dunbine, reappear in this franchise since Super Robot Wars Compact 3, a fifteen-year gap. Despite elements of New Story being adapted in prior installments, Terra is the second time in Super Robot Wars where they explicitly appear. Part of the reason why is because they are the In-Universe Reincarnations of Show Zama and Bern Bunnings, the respective hero and villain of Dunbine, which requires creative writing to get around (especially when the developers confirm Show and Shion will meet for the first time in the series' history).
  • G Gundam makes its console return since NEO and OE and in a non-3D format post-Super Robot Wars MX. Since NEO and OE treated G Gundam as Filler and only included series protagonist Domon Kasshu and the Devil Gundam (the latter didn't appear in OE), T marks the first console appearance of the Shuffle Alliance members and Allenby Beardsley since MX. By the time Terra is released, the gap since MX will also have been roughly fifteen years on the nose. And apparently, so did Master Asia, whose last console appearance was in Impact, which was roughly seventeen years.
  • Gun X Sword returns after its last appearance in K, this time with the benefits of voice acting and a High Definition visual makeover. Similarly, GaoGaiGar returns to a console Super Robot Wars since Super Robot Wars Alpha 3, despite having appearances on handheld installments in-between, such as Super Robot Wars W and Super Robot Wars BX
  • After the first Super Robot Wars Z release and K, Mazinger entries in the franchise were delegated to the Shin Mazinger Continuity. Mazinger Z: Infinity marks a return to the original Mazinger Z series, as Infinity is a distant Sequel to the latter; even the Premium Anime Sound Version of T will include the classic Mazinger Z song and "Ore wa Great Mazinger" from Great Mazinger.
  • Jung Freud skipped out of the Z saga; as of the second trailer, she returns along with her Sizzler Black and joins with her Gunbuster allies.
  • After his last playable appearance being in Super Robot Wars Z2: Hakai-hen, Musashi Tomoe is also back in the seat of Shin Getter Robo 3 and being playable. He's still going to die to be replaced by Benkei Kuruma, though, and it doesn't take another game to happen.
  • Despite Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ's return starting from V, Haman Karn was absent in both games despite her influence. With ZZ's second half getting a big focus in this game, naturally Haman makes her grand return.
• These were deleted months ago from Super Robot Wars DD for this reason: "The bus came back is about characters who return after being explicitly written out of the plot."
  • The Mazinkaiser continuity is back after its long absence in L, simultaneously marking the first time a Mazinger entry featuring Hiroya Ishimaru as the voice of Kouji Kabuto returns (the last time this happened was in NEO), after having the role passed down in Shin and Infinity.
  • Two of the Nagahama Trilogy Robots, Combattler V and Voltes V, came back from their long absence in an SRW with traditional gameplay since Mobile^note Released in 2012, two years after these two also appeared in L for NTT DoCoMo devices.
  • The original Kotetsu Jeeg has not been seen since Alpha 3 back in 2005 and since Super Robot Wars K (2009), subsequent representations of the franchise is through its Alternate Continuity/Broad Strokes Sequel Kotetsushin Jeeg, which also hasn't appeared since L.

Super Robot Wars games are crossovers of various Humongous Mecha properties but not all of the games are in the same continuity. For example, the GaoGaiGar characters in Super Robot Wars W are not the same people as the ones in Super Robot Wars BX.

Should there be a clarification on The Bus Came Back's description that Alternate Continuities and Alternate Selves don't count?

EDIT: Outside of Super Robot Wars, I found the following entries which went through the same confusion with alternate continuities as the entries above.

• Animated Teen Titans: After 12 years since their final appearance, this version of the Teen Titans makes a surprise reappearance in the direct to video movie, Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans, a crossover with Teen Titans Go!.
• Jump Force: This marks Yugi's first appearance in a Jump crossover game since Jump Ultimate Stars for the DS, over a decade prior.
• Legend of the Three Caballeros: Dapper is Donald's double from Donald's Double Trouble. Between the short and the episode are 72 years!

Edited by PangaeasMostWanted on Jan 13th 2020 at 11:38:02 PM