History AbortedArc / Webcomics

* * ''Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick'': After the Azurites flee their city, Hinjo mentions some allies willing to help them and we see elf commandos arrive to help the TheResistance liberate it from the goblin occupation. We see them later refusing to accept a goblin defector later, then they and the rest of the Resistance are killed off when Redcloak raids their base.

-->'''Ben:''' Why so grouchy?\\

* In ''Webcomic/DragonBallMultiverse'', the sixth universe was shown to be a VillainWorld where Bojack and his gang from the film ''Anime/BojackUnbound'' managed to defeat the heroes, with the only survivors being a group of CanonForeigner characters (namely, [[AmazonBrigade a group of female mages]] of mysterious origin with [[MsFanservice mostly-fanservicey powers and outfits]]). It was brought up that the girls were pretty much the sole resistance left against Bojack's reign, and they had entered the tournament with a plan to kill him. In a comic released in 2012, one of them (who had never fought before) proclaimed she had been readying an ability that she could put in use the next day, which would kill Bojack. Also, one of his subordinates, Bujin, appears to be disloyal and knows about their plan. A special chapter was released, giving him an actual origin story. Shortly after the end of that chapter in 2015, Bojack [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere declared he'd be going back home]] after [[CurbStompBattle a humiliating loss to Cell]], and the girls followed him out, with the comic promising "one final adventure!" It's pretty clear that this "final adventure" would detail their attempt to kill him, and resolve plots like Bujin's loyalty, where the mage girls came from, and what that Bojack-killing power was... and as of this writing, it has yet to actually be shown or mentioned. The only significant mentions of Bojack since then have been a flashback arc featuring on members of his race, and a minicomic that detailed the fates of him and his gang in various other universes. Reader dislike of the first Bojack-focused special chapter and apathy towards the mage girls seem to have factored into the delay.

* Furry webcomic ''Webcomic/FuzzyThings'' had an ongoing subplot about spoiled sparrow Shiva trying to find the whereabouts of her old teacher. Eventually, kid genius Rex was able to get her access to a restricted database that contained the answer she was looking for. This subplot is then never brought up again.
* ''[[Webcomic/EyepatchTan Good Luck Eyepatch-tan!]]'' has the ''Pokémon''/''Kamen Rider Divurtle'' arc, which ended abruptly on strip 48 due to technical difficulties. While Nocchifire, the author, initially promised that it would return, he eventually abandoned that idea and decided to [[CanonDiscontinuity scrap that arc altogether]].

** A yearly tradition involved the addition of a new chapter to ''Webcomic/{{Keiki}}'''s [[ChristmasSpecial Huge Christmas Epic]]," which detailed the consequences of Santa Claus giving Andrea [[KarmicJackpot an infinite number of wishes]] for December. The comic began in 2002, but Peter Paltridge hasn't added any chapters since 2007. WordOfGod says there was never a definite plan for a story, and the previous chapters didn't get many hits.

* ''Webcomic/ReBootCodeOfHonor'': The subplot about Turbo recruiting Matrix into some new iteration of, or replacement for the Guardian Collective ultimately went nowhere.

** The filler story "Min-Jung", which took place in South Korea and featured ''none'' of the regular cast, was initially explained to have great impact on the latter stages of the comic. When years passed and "Min-Jung" never got a reference again, T eventually admitted he hadn't found a place for it. The rather hostile reaction to the arc probably aided this. In the strip's epilog, Yun-Sung, the main character, finally puts in a small appearance [[spoiler: as Duane's girlfriend at a five-year high school reunion.]] She was really just used as an exposition device for the a few dangling plot threads related to [[spoiler: Duane and Charlotte.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' has apparently aborted its plot altogether. Oglaf started as a gag-a-day sex comedy with a handful of recurring characters, then started developing an ongoing plot with hints at a MythArc... only to suddenly abandon the story and go back to a gag-a-day comic.

* Steve, a secondary character in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', fell off the map for a while after getting a new girlfriend, Meena, who was living with her ex-boyfriend, Dave, who she broke up with because he was "too perfect" for her. He reappeared, revealing in a series of flashbacks that Meena had ''married'' Dave, and then we see a series of almost nonsequitur flashback images that have nothing to do with this point.

* ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' has apparently aborted its plot altogether. Oglaf started as a gag-a-day sex comedy with a handful of recurring characters, then started developing an ongoing plot with hints at a MythArc... only to suddenly abandon the story and go back to a gag-a-day comic.
* Happens at least twice in-universe during ''WebComic/DarthsAndDroids''. Granted, a recurring gag is the GM either reworking his campaign ideas based on the players' whims or throwing them out altogether, but these two especially stand out, with the first in particular reflecting the creators' personal feelings of [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter wasted]] [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot potential]] in regards to ''Franchise/StarWars''.
** During the ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' adaptation, "[[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0240.html To Cut a Long Story Short]]" had the GM in a sour mood over [[{{Shapeshifting}} Zam Wessel]]'s death.
-->'''Ben:''' Why so grouchy?\\
'''Pete:''' I can see four pages of NPC backstory from here.
** In the ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' storyline, General Grievous (who, in the ''Darths and Droids'' universe, is [[spoiler: a cyborg version of Chancellor Valorum]]) dies by the end of "[[http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0549.html I Have No Moth, Yet Ice Cream]]".
--->'''GM:''' Okay then. Hold on. Let me grieve for a moment here.\\
'''Annie:''' What are you doing?\\
'''GM:''' I'm just making a funeral pyre for Grievous's character sheet.\\
'''Pete:''' That's an awful lot of paper.\\
'''GM:''' ... and his plot development notes.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''

* Duane from ''Webcomic/PennyAndAggie'', in the era when the authors still hoped to make it a print comic, uses the phrase "that's just gay," and Aggie, while she doesn't comment, is startled at his homophobia. Over the coming years, the relationship between the eponymous pair becomes a SlapSlapKiss lesbian romance, and the ComingOutStory of Sara and, to a lesser degree, Stan, becomes a major subplot... and T (Gisèle having left) would rather write it off, despite his earlier assurance that it would be a plot point.

* ''Website/PlatypusComix''

* Occurs in an arc of ''Webcomic/PvP'', where the characters had travelled back in time, but quickly wrapped up halfway through due to fan complaints. The writer later said he regretted buckling under the pressure.

%%* ''Webcomic/ScaryGoRound'' had a time travel segment that dropped suddenly. Two girls travel to the 1800's and are getting caught up in a cult and prophesy. Then their comrade from the present alters time at the moment they steal a time-pot.

* Volume 2 of ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' ended with Dillon and Jerzy restarting their relationship despite Jerzy’s relationship with Angel, and Zii seeing her enemy Angel kissing Richie... It looked like the setup for weeks of soap opera. But then the comic went on hiatus for a couple of years, in which time significant stuff happened to Zii and Angel in the parent comic, ''Webcomic/MenageA3''. So when ''Sticky Dilly Buns'' returned for a short wrap-up run, all of those plot strands had apparently been resolved in fairly predictable ways off-screen, allowing the comic to focus on its more complex plot issues with Ruby.

** Sensei Greg, [[EvilCounterpart Lord Tedd]], and several other characters have disappeared or show up almost never. Sensei Greg has now returned, but whether or not [[EvilCounterpart Lord Tedd's]] arc will actually be concluded is still up for grabs. [[WordOfGod Dan]] has admitted that he introduced the [[EvilCounterpart Lord Tedd]] thing a LOT sooner than he really should have, but he still intends to get back to it and wrap it up eventually. Just don't hold your breath on it.

* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Chapter 2, [[Recap/GunnerkriggCourtChapter2SchoolyardMyths "Schoolyard Myths"]], has been confirmed by the author to contain setup for an arc he decided against. Presumably, given the chapter's content, it would have more heavily involved Myth/ClassicalMythology.

* ''Webcomic/TheJapaneseBeetle'' started a storyline where America was meant to be the villain...just before 9/11, at which point author Dave White openly admitted to dropping the idea, saying that it felt inappropriate. This also happens in-story, as the original plot is interrupted by the World Trade Center attack, and both the plot and the new character introduced specifically for it simply disappear.