History Main / BusCrash

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' the last time we see Sister is at the start of season 6. Later in season 7 when Lopez shows up, he claims to have killed her before leaving Blood Gulch. Grif doesn't believe it, but Lopez gives no indication that he is lying.

* ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'': The main character of the series was replaced after the first season and PutOnABus. He came back for two episodes of the final season, where he resolves a few plot threads, then leaves again. In the GrandFinale it's mentioned in passing that he was killed (then again, the series had essentially decided to KillEmAll at that point).

Contrast CharacterOutlivesActor (where it's the ''actor'' who dies, but the character is kept alive off-screen), TheCharacterDiedWithHim (where the character dies because the actor has) and BackForTheDead (where the character returns just long enough to be killed off). In DistractedFromDeath, a character will die off screen, but only because the action was focused on another character who needs a few minutes to notice what's happened.

Contrast CharacterOutlivesActor, where it's the ''actor'' who dies, but the character is kept alive off-screen; TheCharacterDiedWithHim, where the character dies because the actor has; and BackForTheDead, in which the character returns just long enough to be killed off. In DistractedFromDeath, a character will die off screen, but only because the action was focused on another character who needs a few minutes to notice what's happened.

This is manipulative on many levels. It allows an angry writer to kill a character from beyond the grave, as it were, and after the "real" reason for the actor's departure has faded from public memory -- thus avoiding appearing as mean-spirited as being McLeaned. It allows the writer to do a TonightSomeoneDies without sacrificing a current cast member. It allows him to get the requisite UsefulNotes/{{ratings}} boost from bringing back departed characters without actually bringing them back, and it triggers a much more convincing ItsPersonal episode as our heroes avenge one of their own.

* Vin Diesel's character ''Film/{{xXx}}'' is supposed to have died between the original film and the sequel ''Film/XXxStateOfTheUnion''. There's even a deleted scene where he gets essentially McLeaned. Vin Diesel likes to tell everyone that HesJustHiding. This is subverted when the third film came out in 2016, where Diesel's character is revealed to be alive, confirming Diesel's HesJustHiding theory.

* Tom Hagen dies between ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII'' and ''Film/TheGodfatherPartIII'', as Robert Duvall was McLeaned after demanding too much money to return as Tom for the third film.

* In ''Series/GoodTimes'', patriarch James Evans was PutOnABus to Mississippi, "looking for work". In the season four premiere, Florida gets a letter that says James was killed in a car accident on his way back to Chicago. [[note]]The out-of-universe reason for this was that James' actor, John Amos got into a contract dispute with the producers leading to Amos leaving the show. [[McLeaned The producers killed James off in retaliation.]][[/note]]

** In the Season 3 finale, Lt. Col. Henry Blake ([=McLean=] Stevenson) leaves the 4077th because his tour of duty is up; he has enough points for an honorable discharge and can go home. At the episode's end, Radar O'Reilly comes in to inform the cast that Henry was killed when his plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. To keep the rest of the episode sad about Col. Blake leaving, but [[WarIsHell happy about him going home]], the only cast member told about this before the episode started shooting was Alan Alda; everyone else ([=McLean=] Stevenson himself apparently wasn't even told) instead believed that Henry was merely going home. The final, sad scene was filmed last, and the actors were only told of Henry's fate just before then (the notion that they ''weren't told at all'' prior to filming the scene is an {{Urban Legend|s}}). It's said that the traditional wrap party was canceled because of the gloomy mood after the scene was shot. Apparently, while there was some resentment from the production crew over Stevenson's leaving the show, the official reason for the shocking twist was to hammer home the [[AnyoneCanDie capriciousness of war]]. Showrunner Larry Gelbart explicitly said in an interview soon after that he didn't want Blake going back to Bloomington because "a lot of guys didn't get back to Bloomington."

** Falstaff, a supporting character in the two ''Henry IV'' plays, does not appear in the sequel ''Theatre/HenryV'', and his friends are first seen discussing his [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome illness and death]]. (One theory has it that writing Falstaff out was because the actor, William Kempe, had left the Lord Chamberlain's Men. [[McLeaned Killing him was because Kempe joined a rival troupe, Worcester's Men.]])

* CD Parker in ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger''. His actor, Creator/NobleWillingham, left the show to run for a seat on the United States House of Representatives. CD's death occurred in "The Avenging Angel", supposedly from heart failure, but in the GrandFinale, "The Final Show/Down", the villain of the latter episode reveals he is responsible for murdering him, prompting a second autopsy that confirms that CD's cause of death was due to poison.

* In [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime adaptation]] of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' it's stated that Tim Marcoh was killed by Gluttony relatively late in the series. And by "relatively late in the series", we mean toward the end of the ''penultimate episode''. His death is heavily implied the last time we see him, however, as Gluttony asks for permission to eat him just before the cutaway.

** It's less that he was PutOnABus and more that he only appeared in a few episodes, but
Cisco’s brother Dante was revealed to have died offscreen in Season 3, in an almost literal version of this trope as he was killed by a drunk driver.

* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'' Cisco’s love interest and interdimensional Gypsy was PutOnABus after Season 5. On Season 6, her father Breacher showed up and revealed she had been murdered in cold blood by one of her targets.

* WordOfGod is that Lady Sif, ComicBook/BettyRoss, the actor playing Loki in the play shown in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', and the guy playing ''Galaga'' in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' were among those Thanos killed when he wiped out half the universe in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''. Jane Foster, last seen in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and Thaddeus Ross were also confirmed to have died off screen from the snap before their deaths were undone by Hulk in ''Film/AvengersEndgame''.

* ''Film/BlackPantherWakandaForever'' will have T'Challa having passed away between the events of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' and this movie. This is because of Creator/ChadwickBoseman's untimely passing to cancer in 2020 and Creator/RyanCoolger felt wrong recasting such an iconic role.

* An in-universe example when a character in ''Literature/{{After}}'' disappears and is assumed by the other students to have been suspended, but later an announcement is made about her tragic death.

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000:'' In [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S07E06Laserblast "Laserblast"]], which [[SeriesFauxnale the showrunners thought would be the final episode]], Dr. Clayton Forrester's story arc turns into an {{homage}} to ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', ending with him reverting to a baby. His mother Pearl declares she's going to raise him again, and do it right this time. Then the series got renewed, but Clayton's actor Trace Beaulieu decided not to return. So in the first episode of the new season, [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E01RevengeOfTheCreature "Revenge of the Creature"]], Pearl reveals that Clayton grew up to be just as bad as he was before, so she [[VorpalPillow smothered him in his sleep with a pillow]].

* In ''ComicBook/LegendsDC'', when [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica "Justice League Detroit"]] was PutOnABus following their failure to take down Brimstone, most of the members of that team either retired from active duty or were killed off by Professor Ivo's robotic copies, with only J'onn J'onnz [[TheBusCameBack returning to the main mini-series]] to help what would become the new Justice League take down Glorious Godfrey and his Warhound minions.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': This ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction confirms that Admiral Stenz died during the battle against Ghidorah and Rodan at Washington D.C. in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019''. This is based on Stenz's UncertainDoom at the battle in the movie {{novelization}}'s expansion and a deleted scene for the film which would've explicitly confirmed Stenz's death.

* In the wake of the actor's death, Creator/JohnRitter's character in ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', Paul Hennessy, also dropped dead from a heart attack. Supposedly at the grocery store.

* Creator/JohnRitter played JD's father in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}''. [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim When Ritter died, his character had a fatal heart attack.]] Various other forms of death tropes happened to a number of Ritter's other characters for the same reason.

* Ritter's character in ''Series/EightSimpleRules'', Paul Hennessy, also dropped dead from a heart attack. Supposedly at the grocery store.

* ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' introduces a new character named Vivian Wembley, who is stated to be the last surviving member of the Witwiccan line. This implies that Sam Witwicky from the first three movies (as well as his dad) died some time after ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon''.

* ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'': the main character of the series was replaced after the first season and PutOnABus. He came back for two episodes of the final season, where he resolves all his plot threads, defeats his Archenemy, and rides off into the sunset. In the GrandFinale it's mentioned in passing that he was killed (then again, the series had essentially decided to KillEmAll at that point).

* ''Series/SesameStreet'': When Will Lee died of a heart attack in December 1982, so did his character, Mr. Hooper. Usually in children's programming, this would be addressed by [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome simply erasing the character from existence]], [[TheOtherDarrin getting another actor for the role]], or even [[CharacterOutlivesActor stating that he had moved out]]. Not here; the show broke the trend, and actually tackled Hooper's death head-on in a segment to teach children about death. It can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOvmSxvpGnA here]].

* ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'': the main character of the series was replaced after the first season and PutOnABus. He came back for one episode of the final season, where he resolves all his plot threads, defeats his Archenemy, and rides off into the sunset. In the GrandFinale it's mentioned in passing that he was killed (then again, the series had essentially decided to KillEmAll at that point).

** Marla [=McGivers=], Khan's lover from "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E22SpaceSeed Space Seed]]", was killed offscreen by the [[BrainSlug Ceti Eels]] in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''. While she appears in earlier drafts of the movie, her role progressively dwindled further into the writing process until director Creator/NicholasMeyer decided to kill her off to give Khan a stronger motivation for his revenge (''not'' [[https://www.facttrek.com/blog/rhue because of actress Madlyn Rhue’s multiple sclerosis]], as popularly believed). Rather than simply wanting revenge on Kirk because "You defeated me," it now becomes "You killed my wife."

** The actress who played Marla [=McGivers=], Khan's lover from "Space Seed", was not able to appear in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' due to multiple sclerosis destroying the use of her legs, so she was killed offscreen by the [[BrainSlug Ceti Eels]] to explain her absence. This makes Khan's desires for revenge more believable. Rather than simply wanting revenge on Kirk for "You defeated me," it becomes "You killed my wife."

* WordOfGod is that Lady Sif, ComicBook/BettyRoss, the actor playing Loki in the play shown in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', and the guy playing ''Galaga'' in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' were among those Thanos killed when he wiped out half the universe in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''. Jane Foster, last seen in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and Thaddeus Ross and Wong were also recently confirmed to have died off screen from the snap before their deaths were undone by Hulk in ''Film/AvengersEndgame''.

* ''Fanfic/MurderersRow'': Andy is killed in-between Volume 2 and Volume 3 over his role in the prison riot.