History Main / AbortedArc

* The second Volume of ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'' has TheStinger where Raven meets with her daughter, Yang, for the first time and informs her that there's a lot to discuss. The next volumes never mention this moment again, going as far as to make a meeting in a later volume their first chat.

* The release of the album "Fangs!" seemed to be something of a new beginning for the experimental rock band Music/FallingUp. It was both a NewSoundAlbum and a ConceptAlbum that was the beginning of a story arc... [[AuthorExistenceFailure then the band broke up.]] The band reunited in 2011, but their album doesn't really continue the story line of Fangs.
* Music/DavidBowie's 1995 concept album ''1. Outside'' was supposed to be the first of a series leading up to the millennium. However, further albums continuing the "non-linear gothic drama hyper cycle" never appeared. Almost 25 years on [[AuthorExistenceFailure (and with its artist dead)]] it's probably safe to classify this as an aborted arc.

* Music/{{Gorillaz}} had set up their most ambitious phase surrounding ''Music/PlasticBeach'', intended to be merely the first of a trilogy of albums surrounding the lore of the band, an extensive multimedia project following the VirtualBand's plights on the titular island. However, halfway through the album's rollout -- marked by the extensive, lore-setting music video of "On Melancholy Hill" -- [[CutShort the project was abruptly cancelled]], seemingly because it was too expensive to ever keep going (the last word on it was a storyboard to a music video for "Rhinestone Eyes"). Following the band's hiatus for several years, the only definite resolution the plot received [[WrapItUp were heavily-compressed "books"]] serving as pretext to the band's reunion and new status quo, and it's unlikely that the ''Plastic Beach'' saga will ever be properly finished.

* When Two arrived, WebAnimation/BattleForBFDI, the entire show split and nearly all ongoing arcs were voided like Book's Arc to be a better leader for Taco and Team Ice Cube as a family unit. The only arc carried over to Battle for BFB is Leafy and Firey's Arc, continuing from SEASON 1

* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2'': [[spoiler:A 2014 interview with Santino Fontana, the voice of Hans, said that his character would return after his imprisonment and potentially go through a redemption arc. However, as plans for the story came up, all plans with Hans were dropped, leaving his intended return abandoned.]]

* Music/DavidBowie's 1995 concept album ''1. Outside'' was supposed to be the first of a series leading up to the millennium. However, further albums continuing the "non-linear gothic drama hyper cycle" never appeared. Almost 15 years on [[AuthorExistenceFailure (and with its artist dead)]] it's probably safe to classify this as an aborted arc.

For a long while viewers will likely be under the impression that the disappeared major PlotPoint will pop up any minute now -- an impression which will eventually give way to a dawning comprehension that the story has moved on, none of the factors that made this plot point important matter any more and it would be just ridiculous for someone to suddenly recall the whole thing now, after all this time.

Jokes tend to have this trope in spades, as the whole point is to build up to [[{{Punchline}} an unexpected pun or twist ending by any means necessary]] - then full stop, no closure. People who have NoSenseOfHumor (and people trolling) will then say "[[NowWhat And then what happened?]]"

Cases where there ''is'' a resolution eventually, no matter how trite or sudden, aren't this trope -- though ''really'' bad cases of FourLinesAllWaiting, OutOfFocus or SequelGap usually end up emulating the effects for all intents and purposes; when the plot point ''does'' get brought out of cryogenic suspension, fans have long since lost all hope for it or interest in it.

* AbortedArc/WebComics

* Theatre/{{Rosmersholm}}, written by Creator/Henrik Ibsen in 1886, has an interesting set-up. It begins with a rather political premise, setting up the strife of the times, with the main character positioning himself in the middle. Then the play turns around and gets more and more introverted, putting politics firmly in the background, to focus mainly on the inner struggles of the main character. This can be seen from the beginning of the second act.

* ''Series/SesameStreet''
* Human characters Maria and David were hooked up until the mid-1980s.

* ''Series/SesameStreet'':

* ''Sesame Street'':

Why did this happen? It's anyone's guess. Maybe the introduction of that plot point had fans complaining, so it was quietly discarded to appease them. Maybe a crucial cast member quit the show, and said plot can't be continued without their character. Maybe [[ExecutiveMeddling the powers that be]] didn't like it and demanded it be dropped. Maybe they ''did'' want to continue that arc, but were [[WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants writing by the seat of their pants]] and didn't know where else to go. Or maybe the writers just realized it was a lousy idea that was cluttering up the plot, or just lost interest in it. This weighs rather heavily on the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, but [[TropesAreTools sometimes]] the best way to execute an AuthorsSavingThrow and get rid of an element that isn't doing the story any favors is to just [[CanonDiscontinuity pretend it never happened]]. Then again, it's harder to pass the throw if the arc had significant buildup; such buildup retroactively becomes {{Fauxshadow}}ing.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In Volume 3, Yang gets framed for attacking Mercury while he's down. This is a big plot point at the time, but it quickly gets lost as the series focuses on bigger things. It's never mentioned again despite it being on national television.

Why did this happen? It's anyone's guess, most of the time. Maybe the fans complained. Maybe a crucial cast member quit the show. Maybe [[ExecutiveMeddling the powers that be]] didn't like it. Maybe the writers just realized it was a lousy idea, cluttering up the plot, or just lost interest in it. This weighs rather heavily on the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, but [[TropesAreTools sometimes]] the best way to execute an AuthorsSavingThrow and get rid of an element that isn't doing the story any favors is to just [[CanonDiscontinuity pretend it never happened]]. Then again, it's harder to pass the throw if the arc had significant buildup; such buildup retroactively becomes {{Fauxshadow}}ing.

* AbortedArc/ProWrestling

* A two-week 1995 ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' storyline had Paige getting the role of Cleopatra in the school's Antony and Cleopatra play, (with Morton playing Antony). The story ended before the play started, with Roger noticing Paige's name in the play program. After that strip, the story suddenly ended, with no actual strips of the play being performed, and the story was never mentioned again.

[[folder:Theater]]

* The prerevision ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' comics were leading up to the Planeswalker War, but the comic line was cancelled before it could be published. Some of the characters involved, like Freyalise, Taysir and Tevesh Szat have turned up later in modern storylines, but details on what actually went down are extraordinarily vague.

* ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' begins with the premise that the play is a [[ShowWithinAShow play within a play]] being presented to a drunkard named Christopher Sly, who is being fooled into thinking he is actually a rich and prestigious man as a prank. After the initial set-up, this is never brought up again. Some adaptations bring back Sly in an epilogue.