History Main / ConnectedAllAlong

** [[spoiler:Considering how it's implied that his older brother Caleb had fallen in love with a Clawthorne during the 1600s, by definition [[BigBad Emperor Belos]] is Eda's and Lilith's great-uncle of ''many'' generations. (Yes, it's ''very'' complicated)]].

** Mr. Norton and Elizabeth's butler both served under Ciel/Robin's grandfather on the S. S. Newport.
** Elizabeth's father knows Ciel/Robin's parents.

* In ''Anime/MyTeenRomanticComedySNAFU'', it's eventually revealed that the main characters all had some brush with each other before the story began. Hachiman saved a dog from being hit by a car, getting injured in the process. Turns out, Yui was the dog's owner, and Yukino was riding in the car's backseat.

* The last arc of ''Anime/BodaciousSpacePirates'' introduces us to Ironbeard, captain of the Parabellum. The final episode reveals that [[LukeIAmYourFather he is actually Marika's father]] (who was previously stated to have died before the beginning of the series), although Marika herself never finds this out.

* In ''Literature/MyTeenRomanticComedySNAFU'', it's eventually revealed that the main characters all had some brush with each other before the story began. Hachiman saved a dog from being hit by a car, getting injured in the process. Turns out, Yui was the dog's owner, and Yukino was riding in the car's backseat.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* TruthInTelevision, as you often meet people who turn out to know each other.
[[/folder]]

* In ''VisualNovel/SabbatOfTheWitch'', Toko is revealed in her route to actually be an alp that became human, and in fact was Shuuji's mother's alp, making her indirectly responsible for Shuuji's abilities.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel II'', it turns out that Rean and Alisa have met each other as kids when Alisa got lost at Ymir and Rean gave her a present and helped her get back to her parents.

* In ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'', Diana and Agent 47's partnership is sort of a mutually interdependent mobius strip: Diana recruited him to work with her at the [=ICA=], but she only joined the [=ICA=] because of her parents' assassination, which was perpetrated by [[{{Tykebomb}} 47]], under orders from an amoral monster [[EvilCounterpart not entirely unlike]] Diana's future self. Neither of them ''knew'' this; the world of assassination is just very small, apparently. For this reason, Diana eventually gives up on trying to figure out who's liable for what and just says that if 47 wants to keep working with her, he can.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': All eight characters' stories involve the cult of Galdera, specifically Lyblac's machinations to unseal Galdera himself. To list them off:
** Ophilia: Mattias needed the Sacred Flame weakened in order to power the Dark Flame of Galdera. Mattias intended on only doing it a little to gain Galdera's power and not actually free him, but Lyblac wanted otherwise.
** Cyrus: ''From The Far Reaches Of Hell'' contains the actual ritual needed to unseal Galdera.
** Tressa: The journal Tressa found belonged to Graham Crossford and was stolen by Esmeralda to try to find any clue to his location, or his son Kit.
** Olberic: Hornburg was destroyed because the Gate of Finis, beyond which lies Galdera, was buried deep below the Castle.
** Primrose: Her father was killed because he had learned too much of the plan to revive Galdera and needed to be silenced.
** Alfyn: The apothecary who saved his life was none other then Graham Crossford himself.
** Therion: The Dragonstones were essentially the "key" to the lock that held Galdera prisoner.
** H'aanit: Redeye is actually Graham Crossford, transformed into a monstrosity due to Lyblac's first failed attempt to try to free Galdera.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII III]]'' reveals this was in play for the incarnation of Organization XIII from ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII II]]''. Xemnas chose each of the members because they all had some importance. The first six members were Ansem the Wise's apprentices who researched the Heartless. The seventh and eighth members, Axel and Saïx, were recruited because they were snooping around Ansem's lab during those experiments. The thirteenth member, Roxas, was Sora's Nobody and could wield the Keyblade, which Xemnas needed for his plans. But what about members nine through twelve? It turns out that they were chosen not just because they had powerful hearts that could fill the ranks, but because they're all related to the Keyblade War.
* ''VideoGame/AkibasTripUndeadAndUndressed'', has several of these, with Rin turning out to be Shizuku's younger sister, Soga, the BigBad, turning out to be their older brother, and Zenya Amo and Koma Sakaguchi both being associates of his.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', Lusamine, the president of the Aether Foundation, is revealed to be the mother of both Lillie and Gladion, that Team Skull have been assisting her in getting Cosmog back, and that Mohn, the caretaker of the Poke Pelago, is her missing husband.
* In ''VideoGame/CodeVein'', there are allusions to the existence of "Horrors", horrible man eating monsters that the Revenants were created to fight in the first place. After Mido takes down the massive barrier of red mist trapping all the Revenants in the city, it was revealed that it wasn't designed to keep the Revenants in, but to keep the Horrors OUT. The Horrors? Turns out they're Aragami, setting the game within the ''VideoGame/GodEater'' universe. Revenants were but one of the human bioweapons created to combat Aragami alongside the more successful God Eaters.
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'' likes to do this:
** At the end of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', the player is treated to the surprising reveal that Cassandra, the AudienceSurrogate character throughout the entire game, is acquainted with Leliana, one of the Warden's companions from [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins the previous game]], and they're actually working together. Until this revelation, there's no reason to think the two women have ever even met. ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' expands on this by revealing that they're of equivalent rank within the Chantry, being known as the Hands of the Divine.
** In ''Inquisition'', one of the war table operations reveals that Varric is acquainted with Jerrik Dace, one of the primary participants in the ''Origins'' DLC ''Golems of Amgarrak.'' In fact, Varric was the one who loaned Jerrik the money so he could go on the expedition which forms the basis of that DLC.
* ''VideoGame/AllunaAndBrie'':
** Two characters, Matt, a hot guy, and Tilly, one of [[AlphaBitch Camille's]] friends, turn out to be more connected than any other character, as they're both the same person due to a curse that Matt was inflicted with during his high school years that requires him to [[GenderBender shift between a man and a woman at regular intervals]].
** The one who cursed Matt turns out to have been Lilith, the same succubus that gave Alluna and Brie their powers.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesKuroNoKiseki'' has [[TheHero Van Arkride]] who, thanks to his job as a Spriggan which entails working with individuals who are skirting the line, knows lots of people. He knows who [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Walter]] is despite being a part of [[AncientConspiracy Ouroboros]] and even worked with him during [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel "The Great War"]], he has worked alongside [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure Cao Lee and Heiyue]], and he's the driver mentioned in the in-universe book "Three & Nine" who helped [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsIntoReverie Swin Abel and Nadia Rayne]] who were on the run. It's become a [[MemeticMutation meme]] by fans that "Van knows everyone."
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'': In addition to V and Urizen turning out fo be two halves of Vergil, Vergil is revealed to be Nero's father (which also makes Dante Nero's uncle).
* ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet2'' has a case with Milla, who is revealed to be an alien who's from the same planet as Serpentine and Lord Brevon, with it being that she was part of Brevon's genetic soldier program, also providing us an explanation as to why Brevon was able to mutate her into a monster in the penultimate stage of the [[VideoGame/FreedomPlanet first game]].
* ''Franchise/MegaMan''
** ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'' introduced us to Bass and Treble, two robots that Mega Man comes across shortly after Dr. Wily escapes. After defeating all eight Robot Masters, Dr. Wily reveals that Bass and Treble are his creations as basically his answer to Mega Man and Rush.
** Upon defeating Sigma at the end of ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'', he hints that Zero's creator was in fact Dr. Wily, which later games in the series confirm.

* During Chiaki Nanami’s Free Time Events in ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', she mentions that her father was a genius programmer and later says that she gets her personality from her father and older brother. The sixth trial later reveals her father and older brother are actually Chihiro Fujisaki and Alter Ego from [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc the previous game]], as she was an AI created by Chihiro.

* In ''Memory's Dogma'', [[BigBad Kuroda Renjuro]] turns out to be the one behind the MRD-based torture incidents that lead to the creation of the Japanese Connect Organization (so it could be used as a front for his experiments) and the death of Reina's mentor Makoto, the man who came with the idea for e-memory, meaning everything pertaining to e-memory is connected to him.
* ''Nanairo Reincarnation'' has at least two of these:
** [[{{Delinquents}} One of the murdered girls]] turns out to be the daughter of the sex masochist whose ghost the main characters had to exorcise.
** Kotori Takigawa turns out to have been the killer's third victim (and thus DeadAllAlong) while her pet dog, Kotaru, was killed by the same person.
* In ''Parquet'', Hashihime turns out to have met Tsubasa Kido before she died and learned everything about BMI from her. In addition, it was Hashihime that grafted Tsubasa's mind and personality onto Rino Ibaraki's body. On top of all this, she has an accomplice that turns out to be the researcher who spearheaded Kanato's creation and also the one that provided the Dream Dive establishment with the tech (which was developed by Hashihime) that they used on customers.
* ''VisualNovel/RiddleJoker'' has a couple of these:
** Satoru and Mayu lived in the same orphanage when they were kids.
** Satoru turns out to have saved Hazuki from anti-Astral bullies when they were younger.
** Mayu is the best friend of Principal Ise's daughter, Kotori.
** Ayase is revealed to be the illegitimate daughter of Principal Ise, which also makes Kotori her half-sister.
** Kaori Kakimoto (who turns out to be the BigBad) is revealed to be a member of the anti-Astron group that tried to abduct Ayase earlier in the story.
* In ''VisualNovel/SabbatOfTheWitch'', Toko is revealed in her route to actually be an alp that became human, and in fact was Shuuji's mother's alp, making her indirectly responsible for Shuuji's abilities.
* In ''Saku Saku: Love Blooms With the Cherry Blossoms'', Ann Jinpou turns out to be half-Soul Reaper and is not only Tina's guardian, but also knew the Soul Reaper that saved Yuma's life, who turns out to be Rina, Tina's "older" sister. It's also revealed that Ann was there when Yuma's life was saved by Rina, and the reason she wanted to make Yuma smile was because she made a promise to Rina. On top of all this, Hyberion personally knows Ann (or her Soul Reaper half of Eleanora).
* In ''Seven Days'', it's revealed that Chiyako is the granddaughter of [[BigBad Jirou Mikanagi]], the man responsible for the deaths of the seven girls.
* In ''If You Love Me, Then Say So!'', the Manager of Naturalé turns out to be Yuuki's father, who was otherwise said to have died. It turns out his father-in-law (and Yuuki's grandfather) hated him and after her father gave Yuuki to her grandfather shortly after her mother died of illness, her grandfather had him driven away and forbidden from ever seeing Yuuki again.
* ''VisualNovel/GrisaiaPhantomTrigger'''s Volume 6 has three of these:
** Haruto's backstory is revealed, with him turning out to have been created by cloning. As it turns out, one of two people whose DNA was used to create him happens to be Yuuji from the [[VisualNovel/GrisaiaSeries main series]].
** After his FaceHeelTurn, Enishi joined up with (and possibly eventually led) a cult which turns out to have eventually became The Fatal Answer, the antagonists from Volume 4.
** The end the volume reveals that every mission the group went on in each prior Volume is somehow linked to finding [[BigBad Enishi]].
* In ''Hello Lady'', the end of the prologue reveals that Shinri Narita is the last member of the Mikado family and that Kurofune Mikado (who turns out to be the BigBad) was the one who massacred the family, his surname having previously been Genma, also revealing he actually [[TheUsurper took the Mikado name for himself]].
* In ''VisualNovel/CafeStellaAndTheReapersButterflies'', there is a small situation with a man who comes into the café, only to never eat the cake he orders. It turns out that he's beating himself up over a mistake he made at his job. Right after, we learn of a little girl who wants to give her father a cake for his birthday. It turns out her father is the sad sack from earlier.
* In ''Sugar Style'', Ichika's route reveals that Hifumi, who teaches the cooking class Ichika attends, actually ran a bakery with her husband that Ichika regularly visited, and was also also a mentor figure to Ichika when she was younger, inspiring Ichika to take up baking.
* In ''Harem Kingdom'', it's eventually revealed that the protagonist is actually from Palretta and was somehow transported to the outside world when he was really young. In addition, he turns out to be the son of the prior king, thus revealing why the Cornerstone chose him as the next king, and also that Marrou is his older half-sister.
* In ''Koikari: Love For Hire'', it turns out that Tsubaki and Momoko regularly play against each other in online games.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': In "Life in the Fast Lane, Bobby's Saga", Bobby complains to Hank that how his new boss, [[BadBoss Jimmy Wichard]], is treating him cruelly, but Hank thinks he's just whining and tells him to deal with it. But when Hank mentions the issue to Dale, he mentions that he knew Jimmy in his gun club and that he went insane from looking up at the sun too long (and couldn't have been all that smart if he did so in the first place), [[PapaWolf and only then does Hank start to worry his son might be in trouble]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "The Cutie Mark Chronicles," the Mane Six discover they all got their cutie marks due to the exact same event, that being Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom as a filly.
** Season 5's "Slice of Life" reveals that Steven Magnet, a sea serpent seen in the series premiere, is close friends with recurring supporting character Cranky Doodle Donkey.
** Throughout Season 7, there were three separate episodes ("Campfire Tales", "Daring Done?", and "A Health of Information") that told stories of five legendary heroes from across Equestria (Rockhoof, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, Somnambula, and Meadowbrook). The season finale "Shadow Play" revealed that these five heroes, plus Star Swirl the Bearded (another legendary figure established since Season 2), traveled Equestria together fighting evil.
** Also in Season 7, Starlight bumps into Pinkie's sister Maud in "Rock Solid Friendship", and Starlight recognizes her, much to Pinkie's shock. It turns out that, back in her villain days before her HeelFaceTurn, Starlight ran across Maud once and [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Maud unknowingly gave her advice]] that led to her forming her EvilPlan. Pinkie awkwardly laughs it off and says that Maud [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain might want to keep this particular connection quiet]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'':
** "Through the Looking Glass Ruins" revealed that RecurringExtra Braxas is actually the son of [[StarterVillain Warden Wrath]].
** Downplayed with Alador and Eda. While a FreezeFrameBonus in the season one finale had already shown that the two attended Hexside at the same time, "Reaching Out" revealed that the two are personally acquainted with each other and don't seem to get along (though we aren't given any specifics at the time).
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
** A flashback in "What Do It Do?" revealed that Linda dated Dr. Doofenshmirtz once.
** The season 4 premiere "For Your Ice Only" confirmed that Stacy and Ginger are sisters.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** In "Mid-Life Crustacean", it turns out that [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick do panty raids at Mr. Krabs' mother's house all the time. They take Mr. Krabs along for a panty raid at her house, without telling him whose house it is. Unfortunately for Mr. Krabs, his mother turns on the light and sees all 3 of them. Mr. Krabs asks them why they didn't tell him, and [=SpongeBob=] answers, "You didn't ask."
** In "Rule of Dumb", Patrick and Gary are revealed to be ''cousins''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'':
** In "Lethal Inspection", Hermes is revealed to have worked at Mom's Friendly Robot Company and was Bender's quality control inspector.
** Before that, we find out Zoidberg had met The Professor when they worked together on a yeti hunt for Mom. Before that, Igner found out The Professor was his father. [[RunningGag And before]] ''[[RunningGag that]]'', The Professor and Mom were revealed to be in an on-again off-again relationship.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': In the beginning of Season 3,both Shadow Weaver and Light Hope tell Adora that Hordak took her from her original world through a portal when she was a baby. But at the end of the series, it is revealed that [[spoiler:he just found her in the meadows when he was trying to return to Horde Prime, and he actually saved Adora's life. Although it is not explicitly stated, it's hinted that it was Light Hope who kidnapped Adora, in order of having a new She-Ra. And probably it was she whom kidnapped Hordak, too.]]

* The ''WebAnimation/MightyMagiswords'' episode "Bewitched, Bothered and Bothered Some More" reveals that Helmut and Flonk, Vambre and Prohyas' bullies from their childhood years, are brothers.
* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': Grace's first appearance revealed that she has some sort of history with The Cat, but it wasn't until season three's "Le Chat Chalet Car" that we find out she has a prominent role in Simon's DarkAndTroubledPast.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'': The episode "The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker" reveals that Cosmo and Wanda were Mr. Crocker's fairy godparents when he was a kid.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'', Mikado was the secret leader of the Dollars all along. The [[TheVerse Naritaverse]] is well-known for its cameos and interlocking background, which is fitting since they all take place at different times and places, within the same world. Celty of ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is friends with the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]] [[MeaningfulRename Ronny Schiatto]] who gave the alchemists of ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' their [[DealWithTheDevil Grand Panacea]] and [[LovableRogue Isaac & Miria]] make guest appearances as members of the Dollars. A pair of succubi from "LightNovel/{{Vamp}}" encounter [[UnstoppableRage Shizuo]] [[HairTriggerTemper Heiwajima]] of ''Durarara''. Shinra and Celty are in some way involved with a political scandal in the construction of ''Literature/EtsusaBridge'' Much of this is only found in supplemental material or brief {{Shout Out}}s.
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', it turns out that Ruby and Sapphire had met once before, but even they aren't aware, because they were so young that they don't remember each other's faces.
* ''Anime/ProjectAKo'': A-Ko and C-Ko act like they've been lifelong friends. Then B-Ko reveals that C-Ko used to be ''her'' friend...
* One of the big twists in the final episode/chapter of ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' is that Kaori was the little girl sitting next to young Emi when Kousei first played piano, meaning Kousei's first meeting with her isn't actually her first time meeting him.
* While the two of them never learn it during the story, the accident that caused the male lead in ''Manga/{{Rabuta}}'' to become {{Gonk}} is the same one that killed his girlfriend's parents.
* Supplementary material in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' heavily implies that Signum was Agito's original lord, but nothing is ever confirmed one way or the other.
* In ''LightNovel/MyTeenRomanticComedySNAFU'', it's eventually revealed that the main characters all had some brush with each other before the story began. Hachiman saved a dog from being hit by a car, getting injured in the process. Turns out, Yui was the dog's owner, and Yukino was riding in the car's backseat.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', it turns out that Eren, Mikasa and Armin were in the same refugee center as Annie, Reiner and Bertolt after the fall of Wall Maria, although the latter three were the ones responsible for the whole event. This unknown crossing of paths is depicted on the cover of volume 24.

* In ''Manga/RecoveryOfAnMMOJunkie'', Moriko and Sakurai were actually very close friends and confidants in another MMORPG some six months or so before the beginning of the story. They do figure out their connection after Moriko creates an alt character in their current game that looks like an aged-up version of her previous character, which makes Sakurai wonder and leads to his asking her point-blank during a phone conversation.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'', Kyuu's idol and mentor who saved him from some kidnappers is not only his DisappearedDad (who [[DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou had a good reason]] not to reveal his connection to Kyuu and his mother) but was also Morihiko Dan's partner and first protégé. Meanwhile, Ryu's heritage as grandson of [[BigBad King Hades]] is spelled out from the start, it's later revealed that King Hades is in fact Dan's EvilFormerFriend as well as the illegitimate son of Kuzuryu Takumi, a genius artist whose various riddle-laden artworks are central to various cases that Class Q tackles.
* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': In the 90's anime, Usagi didn't even suspect that her two crushes, Motoki Furuhata and Mamoru Chiba, knew each other until the episode where the three characters have a chance meeting.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': The Wano Arc reveals that all of the Four Emperors (old and new) are personally connected to each other. Whitebeard, Kaido and Big Mom served together in the Rocks Pirates and fought Gol D. Roger and Garp 38 years ago. Shanks would later serve under Roger while fighting Whitebeard, and Blackbeard served under Whitebeard and personally scarred Shanks during this time, until he made his move. Shanks in turn personally influenced Garp's grandson Luffy, the "Fifth Emperor", to pick up the path of piracy. Also, although downplayed as seen as early as the first saga, Buggy (yes, ''THAT'' Buggy) was an apprentice of the Roger Pirates alongside Shanks (who he sees as a rival) and said relationship served as a reputation boost to become a Warlord and later an Emperor, and clashed with Luffy for the first time in the East Blue and swore revenge against him, which led Buggy to re-enter the Grand line and ultimately attaining both positions of power.
* ''Manga/UzakiChanWantsToHangOut'': Fujio is introduced as a personal trainer at a new gym Shinichi is trying out. Then he goes home, and we find out he's Hana's father! The two of them get to discussing relationships, and Shinichi mentions his complicated situation with Hana, without saying her name, while Fujio mentions that his daughter has someone she likes. It's not until Shinichi goes over to the Uzaki house for Christmas that they realize the other's relation to Hana.

* ''Anime/IdolmasterXenoglossia'':
** Yukiho Hagiwara turns out to actually be Chihaya Kisaragi's friend, which also spoils her being a spy for Turiavita and a FalseFriend for Haruka Amami.
** R.I.F.F.A was created from Azusa Miura's egg cells, basically making Azusa her mother.
* The last arc of ''Anime/BodaciousSpacePirates'' introduces us to Ironbeard, captain of the Parabellum. The final episode reveals that [[LukeIAmYourFather he is actually Marika's father]] (who was previously stated to have died before the beginning of the series), although Marika herself never finds this out.

* In ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'', it's established that Snake-Eyes' family was killed when their car was hit head-on by a drunk driver (who also died). It was later revealed the drunk driver was the brother of the man who would become Cobra Commander.
* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] in one of the possible endings of ''ComicBook/{{Meanwhile}}''. Jimmy goes back in time and lives as all of the characters in the story: the ice cream man who gave Jimmy ice cream, the scientist, and Jimmy's own father. He raises his child self as his son.

* In the same vein as the above, the ''ComicBook/EarthX'' trilogy reveals that pretty much every Marvel character is actually a mutant, whose X-gene was catalyzed by whatever origin story they originally had. That's not even going into the wackier connections, such as how ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is distantly related to [[ComicBook/MoonBoyAndDevilDinosaur Moon-Boy]], or how Belasco was actually ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}, ''or'' how Mister Sinister was really ''ComicBook/{{Colossus}}''. Basically, everyone and everything that ever was a part of the Marvel Universe was secretly tied to something else.
* Batman finds out that the Court of Owls is behind everything
* The ending of ''ComicBook/AllGhoulsSchool'' reveals Becca's aunt Dora is Elle's mother, making them cousins.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', it's revealed that [[LukeIAmYourFather Darth Vader is Luke's father]].
** [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi One movie later]], we find out that Luke and Leia were twins SeparatedAtBirth.
** In the prequels, we learn that [[Film/ThePhantomMenace Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader originally built C-3PO]] and used [=R2-D2=] as his astromech droid during the Clone Wars. We also learn that [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Yoda knew Chewbacca]].
* Parodied in ''Film/HotShots'', when it's revealed the ''entire barracks'' is in some way either connected directly to the events in which Topper's father, Buzz, got his RIO, Mailman, killed (Mailman was Kent Gregory's father), or somehow related ''to'' one of the characters involved (Wash Out's father was the hunter who actually shot him, and everyone ''else'' is related to Wash Out, or has some connection to Eagle River).

* Towards the end of ''Film/AustinPowersInGoldmember'', it's revealed that Austin Powers and Dr. Evil are actually brothers that were [[SeparatedAtBirth separated during infancy]]. This also makes Austin Scott's uncle and Nigel Powers Scott's grandfather.
* ''Film/TheMummyReturns'' has a variation, with it being revealed that Evelyn is the {{reincarnation}} of Princess Nefetiri, the daughter of Seti I, and also {{the rival}} of Anck-su-namun. In addition, Nefetiri witnessed her father's death at the hands of Ihmotep and Anck-su-namun and was the one who summoned the Medjai to try and stop them.

* In ''Film/LethalWeapon2'', it turns out that the BigBad's henchmen were the ones that caused the death of Riggs' wife before the events of [[Film/LethalWeapon1987 the first film]].

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'', it's revealed that Snape was in love with Lily, and that they were actually friends as Hogwarts students. And while ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' had revealed that Dumbledore had a brother named Aberforth, ''Deathly Hallows'' revealed that he was the unnamed owner of the Hog's Head.

* It is revealed pretty late in ''Literature/WolfInShadow'' by Creator/DavidGemmell that outlaw gang leader Daniel Cade is the hero Jon Shannow's brother, and that Jon ShedTheFamilyName.
* In ''[[Literature/{{Xanth}} Question Quest]]'', the backstory of Good Magician Humfery is revealed, including his connections to several characters. One of them was Crombie, a supporting character from the first trilogy, who it turns out was Humfrey's estranged son. This retroactively connected him to the protagonists of ''Ogre, Ogre'' (which featured Crombie's daughter, Tandy) and ''Vale of The Vole'' (starring Tandy's son, Esk).
* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'', Ford Prefect is introducing Arthur Dent to his semicousin, Zaphod Beeblebrox, when Arthur reveals that they met once at a party, surprising the hell out of Ford. It was at that same party that Arthur met Zaphod's companion, Trillian, whom he knew as Tricia [=McMillan=].

* On ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', when Howard sees Raj's date Emily, he realizes that he and she have met before in a very bad way. Later in the episode, it's revealed that he once went to her apartment after a blind date with her, clogged the toilet, and went out through the bathroom window.
* ''Series/TheBarrier'':
** Emilia and Daniela, two characters without any sort of regular interaction prior to the beginning of the series, turn out be acquainted with the two same members of LaResistance.
** A character who has been around since Episode 1 turns out to be married to a woman who is introduced in Episode 9.

* ''Series/ModernFamily'': The pilot is framed as a documentary about three distinct families: The nuclear family of Claire and Phil, the blended family of Jay and Gloria, and the same-sex adoptive family of Cameron and Mitchell. The ending reveals to the audience that the three families are actually all the same family -- Claire and Mitchell are Jay's children from a previous marriage.
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': A minor one in Ben's first episode. Ben is Cox's oldest friend, and is talking with Cox's ex-wife Jordan.
-->'''Jordan:''' Why don't we hang out any more?\\
'''Ben:''' When you and Perry broke up, you made all your friends choose between you, and, well, I picked Perry.\\
'''Jordan:''' But you're my brother!\\
'''Ben:''' That did make the decision more difficult, yes.

* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'', at the end of ''Reunion Tour'', reveals that Tres Horny Boys have known each other ''far'' longer than their previously established first meeting, when they regain their lost memories of a vast period of their backstory. The truth is that they, along with Lucretia, Barry Bluejeans, and Davenport, were actually interplanar astronauts. Magnus, Merle, Taako, Barry, and Davenport had [[LaserGuidedAmnesia a whole century of their memories blocked out]] by [[WellIntentionedExtremist Lucretia]] to make it harder for [[EldritchAbomination the Hunger]] to hunt them down. TheReveal also revealed that Taako had had a twin sister named Lup who perished on their journey and so all memory of her had been blocked from their minds as well.

* When assaulting Telestrian Industries in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns'', you can hack personal files that reveal its CEO is the half-brother of local alcoholic Sam Watts.

* Happens repeatedly in the ''VideoGame/DarkParables'' series, since each new installment has a tendency to reveal new details about characters or situations encountered in previous games. To give the earliest example: the very first game, ''Curse of Briar Rose,'' pretty much only resolved the story of Literature/SleepingBeauty. Since then, the player has learned that Briar Rose had a sister named Ivy, who was the wife of Literature/TheFrogPrince; that Briar Rose is one of the specially selected Handmaidens of the nature goddess Flora, blessed with immortality and magical control over briar plants; and that she's a member of a warrior society called the Red Riding Hood Sisters.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel II'', it turns out that Rean and Alisa have met each other as kids when Alisa got lost at Ymir and Rean gave her a present and helped her get back to her parents.

* In ''VideoGame/DinerDashAdventures'', Mr. Big mentions that Flo's mom is a distant cousin of his, making Flo related to the Big family.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'', Mikado was the secret leader of the Dollars all along. The [[TheVerse Naritaverse]] is well-known for its cameos and interlocking background, which is fitting since they all take place at different times and places, within the same world. Celty of ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is friends with the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]] [[MeaningfulRename Ronny Schiatto]] who gave the alchemists of ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' their [[DealWithTheDevil Grand Panacea]] and [[LovableRogue Isaac & Miria]] make guest appearances as members of the Dollars. A pair of succubi from "LightNovel/{{Vamp}}" encounter [[UnstoppableRage Shizuo]] [[HairTriggerTemper Heiwajima]] of ''Durarara''. Shinra and Celty are in some way involved with a political scandal in the construction of ''LightNovel/EtsusaBridge'' Much of this is only found in supplemental material or brief {{Shout Out}}s.

* ''Fanfic/LacrimeDoroDelVentoAureo'': The mobster that helped Giorno in his childhood after the latter saved his life, [[NamedByTheAdaptation named Tony Dieci]], is also the man that Bruno relentlessly request to join Passione so he can protect his father. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that not only is he the father of [[OriginalCharacter Olivia Zeppeli]], one of the main characters, but also the illegitimate son of one of Caesar's siblings]].

** The sequel's mastermind wasn't just connected to the culprits, but the victims ''and'' certain individuals. Simon Keyes(Case 5 culprit) and Horace Knightley(Case 1 culprit, case 2 victim) were friends, whose respective fathers Dane Gustavia (Case 3 culprit) and Isaac Dover (Case 3 victim) were partners in a desert contest. When the partnership fell through, Dover forced Knightley to kidnap Keyes. After Gustavia killed Dover and fled to Zheng Fa, the boys almost died in the wilderness, but were saved by assassin Sirhan Dogen and left at an orphanage run by Patricia Roland(Case 2 culprit). There, Keyes witnessed Roland work with Blaise DeBeste(Case 4 culprit) to KillAndReplace the president of Zheng Fa with his body double (Case 5 victim). He also saw them try to double-cross Dogen, but helped the assassin escape and was severely punished for it. In the present day, Keyes invoked his vengeance indirectly; He convinced Knightley to go for the false assassination of case 1, which he knew would give Knightley the chance to kill his rival bodyguard Ethan Rooke(Case 1 victim) and get arrested. He then sent Knightley a chessboard with a chisel inside, scaring Roland (Now the prison warden) into thinking Knightley worked for Dogen and kill him. Keyes afterwards sent letters causing Jill Crane (Case 4 victim) and DeBeste to try and kill each other (DeBeste killed her boyfriend during the KillAndReplace plot). To ensure DeBeste was convicted, he kidnapped Kay Faraday left her at the murder scene, knowing DeBeste would frame her, and that Miles Edgeworth would work to convict him. While doing so, he saw the body double meet up with Justine Courtney, and took the chance to kill the fake president with his hot air balloon.

** In "Mid-Life Crustacean", it turns out that Spongebob and Patrick do panty raids at Mr. Krabs' mother's house all the time. They take Mr. Krabs along for a panty raid at her house, without telling him whose house it is. Unfortunately for Mr. Krabs, his mother turns on the light and sees all 3 of them. Mr. Krabs asks them why they didn't tell him, and Spongebob answers, "You didn't ask.".

** [[TheSmurfettePrinciple Henrietta]] of the {{Goth}} Kids and [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower Bradley]], who had pretty much been a LivingProp until the "Coon and Friends Trilogy," turn out to be siblings. Bradley was apparently adopted, since he's actually HumanAliens.
** Season 19 has a RunningGag of PC Principal shouting at a student named Leslie for talking during his assemblies, but the ending to "Naughty Ninjas" shows a picture of PC pushing Leslie on a swing, implying a larger connection. After that, "Sponsored Content" reveals that they're both living advertisements.

* Given it's tagline "Everything is connected" [[note]]Directrly referring to the Smart City system that connects al the technology in the game world[[/note]] it should not be a surprise that ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' has this, with many characters being connected to the game's inciting incident; Crime lord Lucky Quinn appears early on as the client to a contract Aiden Pearce is sent on during act 1. It is eventually revealed that he is the owner of the Merlaut, the Hotel that the prologue is set in, and that he is the one who ultimately hired Maurice Vega to murder Pearce because he believied that Pearce was attempting to steal blackmail material Quinn had on the Mayor. The actual theif is revealed to be Delford 'Iraq' Wade, who serves as the main antagonist of act 2, and is later revealed to be the middleman who hired Vega for Quinn, a task that his completion of is what makes Quinn trust him with the Human trafficking auction that makes up a notable part of the plot of Act 2. Furthermore Clara Lille, Pearce's VoiceWithAnInternetConnection is revealed to have previously worked for Quinn and was the one who identified Pearce and his former partner, the BigBad, Damien Brenks, as having been present at the Merlaut during the Prolouge, resulting in the aforementioned attempt on Pearce's life that resulted in the death of his niece, as well as the attack on Brenks, setting the events of the plot in motion, with Lille having experienced a MyGodWhatHaveIDone and commited a HeelFaceTurn, hoping to redeem herself by helping Pearce get his awnsers.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Curse of the Flying Hellfish", Grandpa Simpson turns out to have been Mr. Burns' superior officer in World War II.

* The ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' SpinOff ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureCrazyDiamondsDemonicHeartbreak Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak]]'' reveals that [[Manga/StardustCrusaders Noriaki Kakyoin]] grew up in the town of Morioh, the setting of ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable''.

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain:'' Grace's first appearance revealed that she has some sort of history with The Cat, but it wasn't until season three's "Le Chat Chalet Car" that we find out she has a prominent role in Simon's DarkAndTroubledPast.

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Myne meets all sorts of people from all walks of life during the story. One of those people is Freida, a wealthy young girl around Myne's age who, for various reasons, is going to become a nobleman's official mistress as soon as she reaches adulthood. Later in the story, Myne's first bodyguard is Damuel, a knight from an ImpoverishedPatrician family. As the bodyguard job is basically court-ordered community service for Damuel, Myne gets curious and finds out that he couldn't afford a hefty fine he had to pay as part of his sentence and had to borrow money from his older brother's mistress' family. The mistress turns out to be Freida.

* In ''Koikari: LoveForHire'', it turns out that Tsubaki and Momoko regularly play against each other in online games.