History Main / AbandonedCatchphrase

** "I am already in my pajamas" is Professor Farnsworth's catchphrase for the first two episodes of the series, used as an excuse not to do anything and nap instead. It's never said again.

* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'': In Yotsugi Ononoki's first appearance in "Tsukihi Phoenix", she ends each sentence with "...I said, with a poised look." She appears to have actively sworn off of it when she reappears in "Mayoi Jiangshi", to the point that she immediately tells Araragi to shut up when he mentions it.
* One of the most notable elements of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is Kenshiro's line "YouAreAlreadyDead," delivered to those due to [[LudicrousGibs explode]]. However, this catchphrase was only really around during the Southern Cross arc, and disappeared after Shin's death. It does get uttered again on rare occasions, but by then its catchphrase status had practically died out.

* Nanoha from ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' originally had the cutesy catchphrase "[[GratuitousEnglish Lyrical Magical]]". This was phased out in ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]'', and replaced with the far more appropriate "Zenryoku Zenkai!" ([[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Full Power! Full Throttle!]])[[note]]The latter half is also a homophone for "[[StuffBlowingUp Total Annihilation!]]"[[/note]]

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* In the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 old days]], Franchise/WonderWoman would say "Suffering Sappho!" This was writer Creator/WilliamMoultonMarston's tongue-in-cheek TakeThat to MoralGuardians who claimed she was secretly a lesbian, and it fell out of use when Marston left the book. She had about a half dozen similar exclamations that lasted her throughout the Silver Age, though, including "Great Hera!", "Thunderbolts of Jove!", "Neptune's Trident!", and "Shades of Pluto!" Nowadays, she is more likely to say "Great Hera!" or "Holy Hera!"

** The most famous and yet not used anymore is the TitleDrop (Jake asking ''"[[{{Tagline}} What time is it?]]"'' with Finn answering ''"ADVENTURE TIME!"''). During its short run it was played straight at first, then {{parodied|Trope}} (''"Party Time!", "Lauch Time"''), {{subverted|Trope}} (''"You know what time it is?" "...Adventure Time?"'') and even {{referenced|By}} in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' (''"[[Creator/JohnDimaggio Time for]] [[ActorAllusion you to]] [[TalkingToHimself shut up!]]"'').

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Timmy's WildCardExcuse, "Uh... internet?", was phased out after the first few seasons. As of TheNewTens, the joke would be [[TechnologyMarchesOn incredibly outdated]] had it been kept, due to the wider spread of the Internet compared to the show's beginning.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* During the early days of ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Strong Bad would frequently say "Holy crap!" but it eventually fell out of use. Any emails sent to him containing the phrase or any play on the word "crap" will get an annoyed response, if not outright deleted.
[[/folder]]

* Except on one occasion in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Joseph Joestar (the second [=JoJo=]) no longer predicts what his opponents are about to say next like he often did in ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'', and in exchange gains a new GratuitousEnglish plethora of catchphrases like "Oh no!", "Oh my God!", "Holy shit!", and "Son of a bitch!"

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'', one of Yakko and Wakko’s most frequent catchphrases was “hello nurse!” when they saw a beautiful woman. In the [[WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020 reboot]], they never say it once throughout both seasons, likely because of the “Me Too” movement raising awareness of the issue of sexual harassment.

* In WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} one of Yakko and Wakko’s most frequent catchphrases was “hello nurse!” When they saw a beautiful woman, in the reboot they never say it once throughout both seasons, likely because of the “Me Too” movement raising awareness of the issue of sexual harassment.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheWackyAdventuresOfRonaldMcdonald'': Hamburglar does not once say "robble robble" in the videos, with the only time this iteration of the character using it being in the obscure AudioAdaptation ''[[Radio/IntergalacticalMagicalRadio The Wacky Musical Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Intergalactical Magical Radio]]''.

* In WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} one of Yakko and Wakko’s most frequent catchphrases was “hello nurse!” When they saw a beautiful woman, in the reboot they never say it once throughout both seasons, likely because of the “Me Too” movement.

* After it showed up in the very first "Your Grammar Sucks" [[WebVideo/Jacksfilms Jack]] started calling his followers "biches" (pronounced with a rough 'ch', like ''achtung''), making it an early CatchPhrase of his; but that tailed off after a few years. In a 2021 episode of "Jackask" he was asked if he really called his fans "biches", and he said it was just an old joke and he actually called them "subscribers". The headnote for the YGS Youtube playlist still says "The origin of BICHES".

** "Krusty Gets Busted," the first episode to revolve around Krusty the Clown, shows that his catchphrase on TV is "I didn't do it!", a line associated with him to the point where saying it in earnest [[CassandraTruth to protest his innocence after being framed for a crime]] nets a big laugh from onlookers. After that episode, the phrase wasn't used in connection with Krusty again and instead became associated with Bart, to the point where an entire episode ("Bart Gets Famous") revolved around Bart being subject to MemeticMutation after he blurted it out while appearing in a sketch on Krusty's show. (It's probably worth noting that the phrase is used completely differently by the two characters: for Bart it's a go-to in moments where ImplausibleDeniability is called for, where Krusty emphasizes the first word to turn the blame on his audience after their demands have subjected [[ButtMonkey Sideshow Bob]] to yet another comical indignity.)

** "Krusty Gets Busted," the first episode to revolve around Krusty the Clown, shows that his catchphrase on TV is "I didn't do it!", a line associated with him to the point where saying it in earnest [[CassandraTruth to protest his innocence after being framed for a crime]] nets a big laugh from onlookers. After that episode, the phrase wasn't used in connection with Krusty again and instead became associated with Bart, to the point where an entire episode ("Bart Gets Famous") revolved around Bart being subject to MemeticMutation after he blurted it out while appearing in a sketch on Krusty's show. (It's probably worth noting that the phrase is used completely differently by the two characters: for Bart it's a go-to in moments where ImplausibleDeniability is called for, where Krusty emphasizes the first word to turn the blame on his audience after their demands have subjected Sideshow Bob to yet another comical indignity.)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': Lily, the youngest of the Loud kids, was originally prone to pooping in her diaper and had a habit of saying "Poo-poo!" because of that. From Season 5 onwards, she's rarely spoken this catchphrase, having since become potty-trained and developed a wider vocabulary. Despite this, she's still associated with this catchphrase, as the theme song remains unedited.

* In the 1990s Sonic had "way past cool" as his catchphrase in ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM''. This was carried over to ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics''. Along with most of his other TotallyRadical qualities, this has been abandoned over time.

* Penny's catch phrase in the first season of ''Series/HappyEndings'' was "Ah-mazing!" She quietly dropped it on the second season, acknowledging that it was SoLastSeason... [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall It's really more of a summer expression.]]

* Nanoha from ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' originally had the cutesy catchphrase "[[GratuitousEnglish Lyrical Magical]]". This was phased out in ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs A's]]'', and replaced with the far more appropriate "Zenryoku Zenkai!" ([[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Full Power! Full Throttle!]])[[note]]The latter half is also a homophone for "[[StuffBlowingUp Total Annihilation!]]"[[/note]]
* One of the most notable elements of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' is Kenshiro's line "YouAreAlreadyDead," delivered to those due to [[LudicrousGibs explode]]. However, this catchphrase was only really around during the Southern Cross arc, and disappeared after Shin's death. It does get uttered again on rare occasions, but by then its catchphrase status had practically died out.
* Except on one occasion in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Joseph Joestar (the second [=JoJo=]) no longer predicts what his opponents are about to say next like he often did in ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'', and in exchange gains a new GratuitousEnglish plethora of catchphrases like "Oh no!", "Oh my God!", "Holy shit!", and "Son of a bitch!"
* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'': In Yotsugi Ononoki's first appearance in "Tsukihi Phoenix", she ends each sentence with "...I said, with a poised look." She appears to have actively sworn off of it when she reappears in "Mayoi Jiangshi", to the point that she immediately tells Araragi to shut up when he mentions it.

* In WesternAnimation/KatyCaterpillar Katy often said “whippety pow!” when she was excited or fascinated by something, in the sequel when she is a butterfly mother with two children she never says it once.

* The first season of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' had the host recite the catchphrase "Is that your final answer?" after every single question. This was later shortened to "Final answer?", then to just "Final?". Two possible reasons for doing away with the original catchphrase: (1) Viewers got a little fatigued hearing the same phrase over and over again, (2) Regis Philbin, the original host, was getting more than a little sick of having people say the phrase to him everywhere -- see also NeverHeardThatOneBefore.
* Victor Meldrew's pained cry of "I don't believe it!" in ''Series/OneFootInTheGrave'' was extremely popular with the audience but the writers and the actor who played Meldrew, Richard Wilson, were sick of it and so its use was toned down. Not completely abandoned, however, as it did still pop up in later episodes.

* JJ from ''Series/GoodTimes'' stopped using "DYNOMITE!" after a while.
* By the sixth or seventh season of ''Series/DiffrentStrokes'', Arnold's use of "Whatchootalkinbout" had decreased and was gone by the eighth season.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Sam and Dean used to call each other "Bitch" and "Jerk" but this ritual was dropped after the second season. It's briefly brought back in season 10.

* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'''s eventual revival brought back many recurring devices from the original run, but Buster's "Hey brother" ([[MadLibsCatchphrase and its variations]]) were not among them.

* The Hero Cortez from ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters'' had a catchphrase, 'Time to Split' which he always loudly exclaims before shifting to another time. Viciously played upon in the [[VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect third game]], where this is met with blank stares and disbelief by his partners in time, sometimes causing Cortez to falter and just give up. It could be an example of CharacterizationMarchesOn, since the characters in ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters2'' were pretty one-dimensional, until ''Future Perfect'', in which the characters actually have personalities and dialogue.

* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'': Master Shake had a catchphrase that was "[[TitleDrop Aqua Teen Hunger Force]], [[AvengersAssemble Assemble!]]", which was used in the ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhostCoastToCoast'' episode "Baffler Meal" and the first two episodes of the actual show. After that, he stopped saying it. The catchphrase returned in "Allen Part One" in Season 8 [[SubvertedCatchphrase subverted]] as "Aqua Unit Patrol Squad, Assemble!".

* ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead'': Beavis' catchphrase of saying "Fire! Fire! Fire!" was abandoned because of ExecutiveMeddling, as the show was scapegoated for a real-life mobile home fire. Writers would attempt to work around this by having Beavis say similar-sounding words like "Fryer! Fryer! Fryer!", and he got to say it again in ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtheadDoAmerica'' and the 2011 revival.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** Back before Stewie Griffin's CharacterizationMarchesOn, he would frequently shout: "Victory is mine!"
** The first run had Lois give a catchphrase along the lines of "X is God's way of telling you that Y".
** Lois in the earlier seasons would often say "Chris that's a terrible word" when he said something she didn't like, this was abandoned when the series was revived.
** Certain examples have been Lampshaded in the show itself
--->'''Stewie:''' What the hell do you think I was talking about when I said "Victory shall be mine!"\\
'''Brian:''' You have not said that in a very long time.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' used to have some but almost never used them after the first season:
** The most famous and yet not used anymore is the TitleDrop (Jake asking ''"[[{{Tagline}} What time is it?]]"'' with Finn answering ''"ADVENTURE TIME!"''). During its short run it was played straight at first, then {{parodied|Trope}} (''"Party Time!", "Lauch Time"''), {{subverted|Trope}} (''"You know what time it is?" "...Adventure Time?"'') and even {{referenced|By}} in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' (''"[[Creator/JohnDimaggio Time for]] [[ActorAllusion you to]] [[TalkingToHimself shut up!]]"'').
** Finn used to say "Mathematical!" and "Algebraic!" (a leftover from the PilotEpisode) but it was quickly forgotten. It is very unlikely to ever come back, especially after the CompanionShow called ''Mathematical!'' was cancelled due to a controversy over its open discussion of the HomoeroticSubtext readings of "[[Recap/AdventureTimeS3E10WhatWasMissing What Was Missing]]". Finn's "Mathematical" was given a CallBack in "The Wild Hunt".
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyG3'': Rainbow Dash's catchphrase is "darling". Following the Core 7 soft reboot, she loses her British accent, receives a different personality, and changes her catchphrase to "how dashing!"
** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
*** In general, the first two seasons establish catchphrases for a few characters, such as Princess Celestia's "that's quite all right" and Twilight's "____, you're a genius!", which drop from use by the end of Season Two and are never used again afterwards.
*** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E17StareMaster Stare Master]]" establishes the Cutie Mark Crusaders as using "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS [INSERT PROFESSION HERE], YAY!", which they shout at the top of their lungs whenever they decide to pursue a new activity. It's used several times in this episode, and then never again.
*** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E15FeelingPinkieKeen Feeling Pinkie Keen]]", Spike uses the catchphrase "Holy Guacamole!" twice, never heard before and after that episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': In season 1, Miss Martian (M'gann/Megan in civilian form) would say "Hello Megan!" very frequently. It was eventually revealed [[spoiler:she borrowed the catchphrase from an old sitcom and had been trying to be like the character from the show.]] She only says it once in the the second season, ''Invasion''. By the third season, her friends have started saying it out of habit.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'': Mung Daal has a catchphrase of "Sweet beans in a basket!" in the first trailer and pilot. It's dropped afterwards.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': PlayedWith. In "[[JuryDuty False Alarm]]", Eugene's catchphrase when injured is "I'm fine," but by the end of season one it's been changed to "I'm okay."

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Justified with WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck due to his [[CharacterizationMarchesOn change of personality]] over the years. In his early hyperactive days he would often yell "Woo hoo-hoo-HOO-hoo-hoo!" while bouncing around like a maniac. He would later drop this once the writers changed his character from a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} to an egotistical loser. His main catchphrase became "You're despicable!", though the original laugh pops up when he gets a CharacterCheck or a CharacterRerailment.
* Early ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episodes sometimes had [[CheerfulChild Phineas]] say "How serendipitous!" Unlike the show's many, ''many'' other catchphrases, this one didn't stick. Also, as the series progressed, the "Aren't you a little young" gag was used less and less frequently, but the response to it "Yes. Yes, I am" or a variation thereof was used a lot.
** There's also Dr. Doofenshmirtz's early catchphrase: "Ah, Perry the Platypus! As usual, your presence/timing is un-[adjective]. And by un-[adjective] I mean COMPLETELY [ADJECTIVE]!" In later seasons, everything after "Ah, Perry the Platypus!" was dropped.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' had Rick's "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!" up until the end of season 1, when Morty found out it means [[spoiler:"I am in great pain; Please help me."]] Later lampshaded.
-->'''Morty:''' Hey Rick? You know this whole time, I haven't once heard you say that "Wubba Lubba Dub Dub" thing that you usually say!"\\
'''Rick:''' Don't need to. I have a new catch phrase.\\
'''Morty:''' Oh yeah? What's that, Rick?\\
'''Rick:''' "I love my grandkids"...PSYCH! Just kidding; my new catch phrase is... "I don't give a [[AtomicFBomb FUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK!]]" ROLL CREDITS!
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': Timmy's WildCardExcuse, "Uh... internet?", was phased out after the first few seasons. As of TheNewTens, the joke would be [[TechnologyMarchesOn incredibly outdated]] had it been kept, due to the wider spread of the Internet compared to the show's beginning.
* For a brief time in ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Garfield would comment "Whoever [says or does something that annoys Garfield] should be [[FelonyMisdemeanor drug out into the street and shot]]."
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': Muffy used to have "Vomitrocious!", phased out after the first few seasons. It was last used as the title of a season 8 episode, where the line isn't spoken at all.
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': Ed would say "Dork(s)?" in response to Kevin referring to him and his friends as such. He no longer says it after the first season.
* In WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}} one of Yakko and Wakko’s most frequent catchphrases was “hello nurse!” When they saw a beautiful woman, in the reboot they never say it once throughout both seasons, likely because of the “Me Too” movement.
* The earlier episodes of ''WesternAnimation/SuperMansion'' had Black Saturn constantly insult any person he doesn't like by calling them a "[[BigStupidDoodooHead butt baby]]". This was dropped by the third season.

** Sheila's "what-what-WHAAAT?!" was unused for years, only to [[ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat come back]] for a [[BigWhat dramedic ending]] in "Members Only."

* Except on one occasion in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Joseph Joestar (the second [=JoJo=]) no longer predicts what his opponents are about to say next like he often did in ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]''.

* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' ditched "morphinominal" after a while. It did get a call back in "[[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Forever Red]]," though.

** Bart has changed his catchphrase several times. He has used "Eat my shorts", "Don't have a cow, man", "Ay Caramba", and when introducing himself "I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?"

* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'': Ed would say "Dork(s)" in response to Kevin referring to him and his friends as such. He no longer says it after the first season.