History Main / LeftHanging

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' happens to have two plot points that ended up as this. The first being the GS Ball, which after Ash gave it to Kurt in Johto to study is never heard from again.[[note]]It was meant to contain a Celebi and start a large arc in the Johto saga, but the idea was scrapped in favor of Celebi appearing in the [[Anime/Pokemon4Ever fourth movie]] instead.[[/note]] In Unova, anything pertaining to the Meteonite became this due to the episodes that were going to wrap up that plot (and introduce Team Plasma) never airing due to the 2011 tsunami.[[note]]And those two episodes becoming CanonDiscontinuity due to Ash and Team Rocket encountering Team Plasma for the first time at the start of Episode N.[[/note]]

* ''Anime/MagicalWarfare'' introduces [[KudzuPlot a number of plot twists and potential story arcs]] throughout the second half of the show, and then ends [[GainaxEnding suddenly and]] ''[[GainaxEnding very]] [[GainaxEnding strangely]]'' without resolving any of them. Takeshi's mother using a ring that boosts her powers but drains her life force in order to train him? Never brought up again. Wizard Brace being accused of [[OldShame historical]] [[WitchHunt war crimes]]? Never brought up again. [[spoiler:Ida's sister]] ''being kidnapped by the freaking magical FBI?'' Guess what? Never brought up again! The final episode then delivered the biggest and most confusing plot twist of the whole show, and then promptly ended without explaining anything at all.

* ''LightNovel/MagicalWarfare'' introduces [[KudzuPlot a number of plot twists and potential story arcs]] throughout the second half of the show, and then ends [[GainaxEnding suddenly and]] ''[[GainaxEnding very]] [[GainaxEnding strangely]]'' without resolving any of them. Takeshi's mother using a ring that boosts her powers but drains her life force in order to train him? Never brought up again. Wizard Brace being accused of [[OldShame historical]] [[WitchHunt war crimes]]? Never brought up again. [[spoiler:Ida's sister]] ''being kidnapped by the freaking magical FBI?'' Guess what? Never brought up again! The final episode then delivered the biggest and most confusing plot twist of the whole show, and then promptly ended without explaining anything at all.

* ''Literature/DolphinTrilogy'': In ''Destiny and the Dolphins'', [[spoiler:all human life except for John, Vinca, and Syn has seemingly been wiped out by WorldWarIII. The three decide to tell the dolphins to let them know of any sign of human life. John thinks that, although it isn't safe for any of them to leave the island, they'll eventually have to find out what happened to the rest of the world. However, we never learn if anyone survived the plague, because the trilogy ends there. [[MarryThemAll Both Vinca and Syn]] also seem to be about to [[WifeHusbandry start a relationship with John]], but the book ends before anything can happen]].

* The Creator/CharlesSheffield sci-fi novel ''Cold as Ice'' follows this trope to ridiculous extremes as the writer tells the story of several, unconnected main characters. One of these, a standard [[PersonOfMassDestruction End of the World]] plot, is resolved in the main story. The others are swiftly, and without explanation, dealt with in the Epilogue.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': The manga was cancelled midway through its Final Arc as a result of Kubo's increasingly worsening health since 2010 that leaves him bedridden with increasing frequency; he only kept going for as long as he did as a result of an inspiring letter that he received after the death of a terminally ill child who had enjoyed reading Kubo's manga while bedridden. Many established plot threads were abandoned in order to wrap up the final battle in time for the manga's fifteenth anniversary. These include, but are not limited to, the Ishida family's true history, the reveal of several Bankai (including Ichigo's new one), the fate of Captain Komamura [[spoiler:after losing his human form, the exact nature of Yachiru's existence as Kenpachi's Zanpakuto spirit (as well as the rules of Zaraki's Bankai), and whether or not Nel was able to rescue Grimmjow, Yoruichi and Urahara from Askin Nakk Le Vaar's poison prison]]. The subsequent light novels ''Literature/BleachWeDoKnotAlwaysLoveYou'' and ''Literature/BleachCannotFearYourOwnWorld'' resolve many of these.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': The manga was cancelled midway through its Final Arc as a result of Kubo's increasingly worsening health since 2010 that leaves him bedridden with increasing frequency; he only kept going for as long as he did as a result of an inspiring letter that he received after the death of a terminally ill child who had enjoyed reading Kubo's manga while bedridden. Many established plot threads were abandoned in order to wrap up the final battle in time for the manga's fifteenth anniversary. These include, but are not limited to, the Ishida family's true history, the reveal of several Bankai (including Ichigo's new one), the fate of Captain Komamura [[spoiler:after losing his human form, the exact nature of Yachiru's existence as Kenpachi's Zanpakuto spirit (as well as the rules of Zaraki's Bankai), and whether or not Nel was able to rescue Grimmjow, Yoruichi and Urahara from Askin Nakk Le Vaar's poison prison]]. The subsequent light novels ''LightNovel/BleachWeDoKnotAlwaysLoveYou'' and ''LightNovel/BleachCannotFearYourOwnWorld'' resolve many of these.

* The anime adaptation of ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' had a mostly-satisfying ending, but never addressed the fact that Izaya was still in possession of Celty's severed head. This is mostly due to the fact that the LightNovel [[OvertookTheManga series the show was based on is still running in Japan]], leaving the writers without a proper ending to adapt. With a second season currently airing, however, it's possible that this will eventually be resolved.

* The anime of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' covers the Golden Age arc... and then it ends during the Eclipse. Since the series begins with a scene set ''after'' the Golden Age arc, it means ''the series never got out of the flashback''.

* In-universe example: In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', Woody learns his [[ShowWithinAShow TV show]] from the 1950s, ''Woody's Round-Up'', was left hanging during a cliffhanger in the final episode because [[MerchandiseDriven low toy sales]] caused its cancellation.

* The English localization of ''Manga/UltraKaijuAnthropomorphizationProjectFeatPopComicCode'' has not been updated since February of 2020 with Volume 4, presumably due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic the following month; however, readers get a doozy of a reveal: [[spoiler: Ultraman's greatest villains did not become the girls we have seen throughout the series when they had been defeated or killed (Mefilas, of course, being the only exception, having admitted defeat, yet still ended up in the Kaiju Graveyard despite never having died, which the others have done), but somehow, through scientific means, these girls were altered physically and mentally to resemble them, down to the last facet of their appearance and personality, as shown when Mefilas and Eleking remember each other as "Rin-chan" and "Eri-chan," respectively.]] Whatever means in which this was done and whoever was responsible is only able to be revealed once Volume 5 eventually releases...hopefully.

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' wraps up everything which concerns episodes 2 to 16, but the very first episode is a mash up of future events in the show, where there's a particular short scene where a blond girl slices Issac's ear off with a spear. The girl's name, Adele, is not even mentioned through the show as she would later appear in a future arc from the source material right after where the anime ends. The loose ends are lampshaded in the [=OVAs=], where [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Carol asks Gustav why the story doesn't have a proper ending]]. Gustav's answer [[SoapWheel is that life always throws in another plot thread for everyone it ties up, meaning that there's going to be loose threads no matter where you stop, and now's just a good place as any to end things]]. Carol, on the other hand, thinks it's just a SequelHook.

* ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'' resolves its main plot, but leaves hanging a number of plot threads, most importantly the precise origin of The Whispered (only resolved in the novels) and the Black Technology that seems to be encoded in their genetic structure. One might presume the new season of ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'', "The Second Raid", would answer some of the unresolved issues. It doesn't, and the source material is still going; while there's no absolute guarantee it'll be dealt with, resolving these issues would require [[GeckoEnding making something up just to end the anime]].

* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' OvertookTheManga, and the manga seems to in turn have overtaken the LightNovels on which it was based. The death of the original author didn't help matters. Bottom line is that the ending of ''Trinity Blood'' anime failed to wrap up ''any'' long-running plot threads whatsoever.

* ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' ends before Yumi's graduation, and leaves many questions unanswered. Who will Noriko and Touko's new petite soeurs be? What will Yumi do after graduation? And, most importantly, will Yumi and Sachiko finally [[RelationshipUpgrade enter a relationship]], or remain soeurs forever?

* ''Anime/DeathParade'' has quite a few mysteries left unsolved, such as what happened to God, why humans are dying at an alarming rate, and what some of the characters were scheming. No one in the recurring cast has a backstory [[spoiler:except for the dark-haired woman]], and when it’s eventually revealed that [[spoiler:Arbiters used to be humans that were sent to The Void]], this only leaves us with ''more'' questions.
** The canon Drama CD implies that there is some backstory between Nona and Clavis, but it’s never elaborated on and it’s unclear how much the characters themselves even know about it.

* When [[Creator/CrossGen Crossgen Comics]] folded, they promptly ended ''every single comic'' mid-story, right when the overall plot was reaching its apex. Marvel comics said they would publish [=CrossGen=] titles, but as of yet that hasn't happened.
* During Creator/WaltSimonson's brief run on ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'', [[Comicbook/SubMariner Namor]] was forced to MercyKill his wife Marrina after her alien DNA caused her to transform into a massive, uncontrollable sea monster. However, it was revealed that prior to her death, Marrina had laid three eggs after having been impregnated by Namor, which later hatched. The three offspring quickly disappeared into the ocean, and while one later reappeared (and died) in an issue of Namor's solo series, the other two children remain unaccounted for.

* ''ComicBook/{{Dinocorps}}'' ends with Jarek still alive and well, and a shot of several more Saurons still in cryogenic sleep. It's implied that Jarek had a backup evil plan, but no further issues have been published since then.
** Some inquired on Bunn's social media if he thought Pak would follow up on the Creed/Monet relationship, but Bunn gave no response. Pak was asked in an X-Position panel if he would continue Bunn's work on Sabretooth -since his moral struggle & budding ship with Monet couldn't be wrapped up by Uncanny's end. Pak said he had plans to follow up on the former, but no answer on the latter.

* [[ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics The Archie Mega Man comic]] was cancelled due to low sales and ended right at the start of the adaptation of the fourth game. While fans of the games know how things will turn out, there was still the matter of what Mr. X [[spoiler: (who in this version is not a disguised Wily, but an aged Xander Payne who got thrown into the past following the ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite Worlds Unite]]'' crossover and had to take TheSlowPath back to the current time),]] was planning against all robot kind and how his version of the fifth game would play out.

* Back in the early days of trade paperbacks, many plot points introduced during an event reproduced for said TPB tend to get ignored as they were only were focused on just that story. For instance, in the TPB for the Franchise/{{Superman}} storyline ''ComicBook/TimeAndTimeAgain'', the story ends with Superman in despair as the means of sending him home meant that the Moon of the 30th Century was destroyed. While the storyline was followed up on in ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' it was never represented in the TPB.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague3000'''s abrupt cancellation left a ton of subplots unresolved: Who was Lady Styx and where she came from? Why is she so incredibly powerful? What are her real goals? Why did future ComicBook/LoisLane hate Franchise/{{Superman}} so much? Why did Superman send ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} to the far-flung future? Were Lois and Ariel Masters able to escape Lady Styx's death squads? The final issue doesn't even conclude the battle betweeh the League and the Legion of Death, and readers had to read a completely different book -''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'' Vol. 9 #12-13, published one year later- to find out whether the League won or lost that battle.

* During Creator/WaltSimonson's brief run on ''Comicbook/TheAvengers'', [[Comicbook/SubMariner Namor]] was forced to MercyKill his wife Marrina after her alien DNA caused her to transform into a massive, uncontrollable sea monster. However, it was revealed that prior to her death, Marrina had laid three eggs after having been impregnated by Namor, which later hatched. The three quickly offspring disappeared into the ocean, and while one later reappeared (and died) in an issue of Namor's solo series, the other two children remain unaccounted for.

* Near the end of the first ''ComicBook/WarMachine'' series, Rhodey's parents claim that he has a son that he's never met. It's left ambiguous as to whether this revelation was true or simply a lie to get rid of his then-current flame, Rae, but it's never resolved one way or the other.

* ''Manga/UltraKaijuAnthropomorphizationProjectFeatPopComicCode'' has not been updated since February of 2020 with Volume 4, presumably due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic the following month; however, readers get a doozy of a reveal: [[spoiler: Ultraman's greatest villains did not become the girls we have seen throughout the series when they had been defeated or killed (Mefilas, of course, being the only exception, having admitted defeat, yet still ended up in the Kaiju Graveyard despite never having died, which the others have done), but somehow, through scientific means, these girls were altered physically and mentally to resemble them, down to the last facet of their appearance and personality, as shown when Mefilas and Eleking remember each other as "Rin-chan" and "Eri-chan," respectively.]] Whatever means in which this was done and whoever was responsible is only able to be revealed once Volume 5 eventually releases...hopefully.

* The 13th Season of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''. [[spoiler:Epsilon-Church deconstructs himself into his fragments, which each go to one of the different Reds and Blues to help them defeat Hargrove's forces, which are about to blast their way into the room they're barricaded in. Church remarks about how the hero who gives his life doesn't get to see the happy ending he helped created. And with the line "Well, ain't that a bitch," the screen cuts to black before anything else happens.]] Season 15, the next season chronologically[[note]]Season 14 is an anthology season with little connection to the ongoing plot[[/note]], picks up well after this point, and the writers have gone on record stating that they don't intend to reveal [[spoiler:how the Reds and Blues escaped the ship]].

** Due to a lawsuit with former writer Ken Penders, the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' comic was forced to pull a CosmicRetcon so that any characters of his were written out to avoid paying him royalties. As such, many storylines that were still in development such as Naugas taking over Geffory's body and still in rule over New Mobotropolis, Bunnie coping with her regained flesh, Antonie still in a coma, Scourge breaking free from the No Zone, whatever Finitivs was planning and Sally still being a robot were dropped indefinitely and will no longer have an official resolution. With the comic book's cancellation as of 2017, this is pretty much the fate of any ongoing plotline, as [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW the IDW series]] is a ContinuityReboot.

* ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'': Despite not completing the story, the group decides that the ''The Wreck'' isn't feasible for the podcast because it doesn't have much room for roleplaying or much leeway anywhere. Though they initially suggested they could come back to it, by the time they're referencing it in ''Podcast/{{Sequinox}}'' it's clear that they're not very keen on spending any more time with it.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': The mystery of FACADE would have been simple to resolve in one issue, but then the ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' took all the attention, until being referenced years later in ''Dark Reign Files'' and ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #678.

* In ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' many subplots are deliberately left unresolved: "But that is another story, to be told another time."

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': The author of this ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction wrapped up the main story whilst leaving several plot threads dangling, such as Ghidorah's long-term plans for the Zmeyevich [[spoiler:which will implicitly enable it to come BackFromTheDead again years in the future]] and also what will come of Monarch's collaboration with [[spoiler:[[AWolfInSheepsClothing Apex Cybernetics]]]]. This pattern reappears in the Timeline, which expands on what canonically happens following the main story's ending up until [[spoiler:the eve of the enigmatic "Clash of Titans" [[Film/GodzillaVsKong in 2024]], when Godzilla and the Titans have turned violent, the HollowEarth expedition is about to launch, and Apex are getting ready to activate Project Talos whilst ignoring the indications that ''something'' related to Ghidorah has possessed Mechagodzilla]] -- the author has deliberately left it up to RecursiveFanfiction to explore what happens next in the [=AbraxasVerse=], officially inviting readers to write continuations themselves.

* ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'':
** The film ends with a [[TheStinger post-credits]] scene where General Ross is approached by [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]], who offers to help him take down the Hulk in exchange for Ross helping out with [[Film/TheAvengers2012 a team that S.H.I.E.L.D. is putting together]]. This is never addressed in any of the subsequent Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse movies, and ''Film/TheConsultant'' reveals that Ross violently rejected Stark's offer.
** The movie also never reveals what happened to Samuel Sterns after he was mutated by Banner's Gamma-infected blood. This plot point was resolved in ''[[ComicBook/NickFury Fury's Big Week]]'', the official comic prequel to ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''. [[spoiler:We see Sterns being confronted by Black Widow, who subsequently shoots him at the knees and brings him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.]]

!!Examples:

* ''Film/{{Pleasantville}}'': We don't know what's going to happen with the marriage at the end of the film.
* ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'': After Polly the reporter takes a photo of Joe, aka Sky Captain, he says that she left the lens cap on her camera, and her looks of joy turned into a big, big sad stare, and cut to black. Whatever happened to the falling animals, the city and their worries about the evil doctor that sent his robots, the people they rescued, and other stuff, is left to wonder. All part of the 30's serial feel of course.

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''
** ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' ended with the revelations that Magneto still maintained some of his powers, and that Professor Xavier had somehow survived his death and was inhabiting a new body. The studio never followed up on either of these plot points, instead opting for [[Film/XMenFirstClass two]] [[Film/XMenOriginsWolverine prequels]] and a [[Film/TheWolverine solo spin-off starring Wolverine]] before ''finally'' following up a bit on it in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
** ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' ended with two {{Sequel Hook}}s in TheStinger. One revealed that ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} was still alive, and the other had an ominous scene showing Logan in Japan. The next movie, ''Film/TheWolverine'', takes place decades later and ignores both of those bits - the story takes place in Japan, but it's completely unrelated. And the Deadpool that [[Film/{{Deadpool2016}} earned a solo movie is not that one]] (but is the same actor), to the point it ensures to take potshots at said InNameOnly version.
** TheStinger of ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' reveals the Weapon X materials being gathered by the Essex Corporation, foreshadowing the introduction of villain Mr. Sinister. While [[Film/{{Logan}} the third Wolverine movie]] reveals the result of said research in clones of Logan and other mutants, Essex Corp is not involved. And when Mr. Sinister was supposed to be introduced in TheStinger of ''Film/TheNewMutants'', first ExecutiveMeddling made the scene be removed ([[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment and the movie as a whole to be pushed forwards a lot]]), and then the character won't be in the franchise at all given studio moves ended the X-Men franchise so the Mutants will enter the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse instead.

* Another in-universe example: In ''Film/GalaxyQuest'', the last episode of the titular show when it was cancelled ended on a cliffhanger, with Captain Taggert shouting [[ChekhovsGun "Activate the Omega-13!"]].
* ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'': Looks like we'll never know how Cameron's "little chat" with his father went, despite all the post-credits scenes.
* ''Film/{{W}}'' ends this way, ''literally''. At the end of the film, after he embarrasses himself by being unable to answer a reporter when she asks him what his biggest mistake was while in office, Bush has another [[ImagineSpot baseball fantasy]] where he runs to catch a long fly ball [[spoiler: which never comes down]].

* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'' was developed to be a sprawling, Marvel-style universe, many plot points that were introduced in the first two films went unresolved.
** We never do find out who Richard Parker was spying on Oscorp for, or [[spoiler:who killed Uncle Ben]], or how Gustav Fiers convinced Norman Osborn to fund the creation of the technology for the Sinister Six in the first place.
** ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2'' ends with Harry deciding to form a super villain team and forcing Spider-Man back into action. A slew of sequels [[AshcanCopy to retain the character's rights]] were planned. Then the film's diminishing returns and Sony's problems led them to [[AbortedArc abandon the idea]] and instead let Spidey into the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.

* ''Film/ItComesAtNight'' gained notoriety for leaving just about every plot point as an AmbiguousSituation. A few examples include: [[spoiler:Where did the virus come from? Was Will lying about his family's past? What did Stanley the dog chase after, and why did he just disappear? Why were Travis and Andrew drawing pictures of ominous people in the woods? Did Andrew get infected? And what the heck does the title even refer to?]]
* The ending of ''Film/TheGoodSon'' leaves several questions unanswered after [[spoiler:Henry's death]]: [[spoiler:Was his body found? It was last seen getting swept out to sea, Did Connie ever come out of her coma? Did Wallace and Susan's marriage remain intact? Did Wallace believe Mark and Susan about what happened to Henry]]? The tie in novel states that [[spoiler:Henry's body was found and he was buried under a tree and Connie came out of her coma]] everything else was unexplained.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/SesameStreet'': A classic Ernie and Bert skit "Ernie's Short Story" -- which is the alphabet -- comically twists this. After Ernie gives his usual over-the-top performance of it (a standard opening, followed by "the sad part," "the exciting part" and "the big finish") ... he leaves viewers "hanging" by stopping after "Y" and when Bert presses Ernie for the obvious conclusion ("Z"), Ernie says, "Wha? And give away the ending?" before giving his trademark giggle and Bert being frustrated.
* ''Series/{{Atlantis}}'' got cancelled after 2 seasons ending with [[spoiler: a resurrected Pasiphae taking over Atlantis]] and Jason and friends starting his quest to find the Golden Fleece.
* ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' has many episodes that play with this.
** For example, the episode, "Tree House" features the boys fixing a treehouse and get trapped inside it. The episode doesn't show how the boys are let free.
* ''Series/TwentyFour'' has an unfortunate tendency to simply abandon important secondary characters and leave their fates hanging; examples include Rick from season 1; Miguel, and Lynne Kresge from season 2; Andrew Paige and (quite egregiously) Behrooz Araz in season 4; and former President Charles Logan in season 6. The hanging plot thread regarding Charles Logan was ultimately subverted it the long run, as he turns out to have survived his wound and went on to serve as the BigBad of the final season.
* ''Series/NowAndAgain'' - final episode of the first (and only) season ends with most of the plot strands resolved and a brand new bunch just springing out in the last five minutes.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', in the GroundhogDayLoop episode. When the loop breaks, they find out that their collision partner is a ship -- captained by Kelsey Grammer -- that is a full century out of date, the USS ''Bozeman''. It was never mentioned on the show again, but dialogue references to a ship named "Bozeman" popped up in both ''Star Trek: Generations'' and ''Star Trek: First Contact'' (complete with an uncredited one line ContinuityCameo from Grammer to imply that yes, it's the same ''Bozeman'' and his character is still its captain even years later), and it was the subject of a (non-canon) novel. ''TNG'' also left the fate of ''Enterprise-C'' and the [[BackFromtheDead alternate timeline]] Tasha Yar hanging in "Yesterday's Enterprise". Did they succeed in their mission, or die senseless deaths? All we knew is that their passing back into the phenomenon, they restored ''Enterprise-D'' to it's original timeline, with only Guinan aware of the entire affair. It wasn't until much later (several seasons) that the fate of Tasha Yar was learned.
* The 2000s ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' has a reputation for not leaving plot threads unresolved, though due to the sheer number of threads ongoing in any episode some tend to be dropped due to lack of time or neglect. Examples include Boxey in Season 1, who was left on the cutting room floor after two episodes, and "Shelly Godfrey", a Number Six hiding within the civilian fleet who is never seen again after her sole appearance. (Notably, Helo's storyline was ''intended'' to be abandoned after the pilot miniseries, but was maintained due to popular demand.) Apparently, Shelly Godfrey will eventually be explained, in "The Plan". However, the Opera House itself (not the visions), the original temple on the Algae Planet, and the exact nature of the Lords of Kobol seem destined to remain in the file marked Left Hanging. Not to mention "God". Many fans thought that Shelly Godfrey was just Head Six who had materialized herself to help Baltar, but The Plan shows that she was a real Six trying to discredit him. Cavil and another, cooler Six intimate that she made it too easy to discover her fake evidence because of Baltar's "dreamy hair".
* ''Series/{{Moesha}}'' ended with Myles having been kidnapped.
* Seems like we'll never find out now what was going on with that damn spy pen in ''Series/VeronicaMars''...
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'s'' abrupt cancellation left a number of plot threads dangling. Though many of them, particularly River's psychosis and the origins of the Reavers, were covered in TheMovie, many more, such as Book's past, were left in the air. They're only resolved in the comics; Book in particular gets a trilogy devoted to his past.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' ends with an episode that makes no attempt to resolve ''any'' of its plot lines. Of course, given the many times they were Absolutely Finally About to Be Canceled and got renewed again, it could be that the PowersThatBe didn't know it was for real this time. At any rate, a WrapItUp movie, ''Stargate: Film/StargateTheArkOfTruth,'' came out and resolved the Ori plotline, and was followed up by ''Film/StargateContinuum''. A third movie was announced, but seems to be stuck in DevelopmentHell.
** Also left in DevelopmentHell was an MMORPG, and concepts for another series... Interestingly however, ''Stargate: The Ark of Truth'' seemed to be quite deliberate in avoiding stating "Yes, the [[spoiler:Asgard are dead and gone we're not going to retcon that]]." Events from the final [=SG1=] episode remain, for instance the presence of the [[spoiler:Asgard computer core]], but there is no reference to the [[spoiler:fate of the Asgard]]. Oddly though, they are stated as an intended playable race in the MMORPG, which takes place some time after the upcoming movies -- supposedly a significant amount of time, despite, again, being allegedly canonical.
** Stargate is a prime example of this trope in general. Especially in the first seasons there were a lot of plotlines opened that were just left hanging. For example, Daniel's grandfather as ambassador with an alien super race is never again heard from. Or the time they found a device with the recorded knowledge of all the ancient races on a planet where the gate plunges into the ocean is never visited again as soon as the SGC has ships. You should think something like this would be of value enough to fly there, especially since the planet was very close to Earth.
* Keeping with the Stargate tradition is ''Series/StargateUniverse'', At the end of the final episode [[spoiler:Eli has decided to stay awake onboard the Destiny while everyone else goes into stasis, in hopes of fixing the broken stasis pod and joining them so the Destiny can begin its ''really'' long voyage to another galaxy, one where they are not constantly pursued by evil aliens and robot drones. It ends with Eli staring contemplatively into space and no follow-up seasons exist to resolve matters.]]
* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' ends similarly, with a finale that ends on a cliffhanger, with a few but not all plot threads updated if not resolved. There was also talk of a WrapItUp movie for ''that'' one, but it [[DevelopmentHell never got beyond the talk phase]].
* ''Series/RedDwarf'':
** Season VIII ends with a sci-fi cliffhanger involving Rimmer kicking Death in the groin with the rest of his cast members are in a mirror universe, while the ship was being eaten slowly by a genetically engineered virus.
** "Recap/RedDwarfBackToEarth'' does nothing to resolve this, as it's set, well, ten years later. In fact, just to make things more frustrating (intentionally), the 3-parter includes a meta-reference to the existence of a "Series 9" which included resolution of this plot (there wasn't one, the show ended at series 8 and then the next episodes were the 3-parter). Then after the 3-parter the show started "Series X". In the finale of series X they even specifically mentioned the cliff-hanger at the end of series 8 but changed the topic before they could give the audience any details about it what happened with it.
** Lampshaded/subverted with the end of Season II, which ended with Dave pregnant with twins fathered by a female version of himself from a mirror universe. Season III opened with a ''Star Wars'' Crawl that explained it all away, but was too fast to read.
* Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s ''Series/TheOtherKingdom'' abruptly ends with [[spoiler: Tristan revealing to be the lost fairy prince of Spartania, forcibly getting taken to his homeland of Spartania and Astral being forced to make a choice between her world and the other world.]] On top of that, there are various additional unresolved plot points that never had a chance to properly get resolved or answered, such as:
** Why exactly does Athenia hate Spartania so much? ... Aside from their arrogance and snobbiness.
** What exactly went down to cause the fairies to isolate themselves from humanity or "others" as they call them? Is there some GreaterScopeVillain of the franchise? Granted, Peaseblossom briefly stated it was due to polluting the land, and overtaking it with buildings, cars and sewage forcing them to put up a wall, but it still feels like more detail could have gone into explaining the fairy world's relationship with humanity.
** What's the deal behind King Reed?
** What is Versitude's plan specifically and what was her history like?
** [[spoiler: What was Tristan's life in Spartania like prior to coming to the human world, and why didn't he know about his true heritage prior to that point?]]
** [[spoiler: When will Devon be getting his fairy powers, since his father's actually a fairy, and Astral and Brendoni are actually related?]]
** Who was Devon's mother and what happened to her?
** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Who are Hailey's older brothers she mentioned in the pilot episode?]]
* The ending of the TV miniseries ''Series/TheLostRoom'' wrapped up only the main story line (Joe searching for his daughter) and left ''every other plot thread'' unanswered. This is because it was meant to be the pilot for an ongoing series, where those story lines would presumably be continued, but its low ratings meant that the series never happened.
* The Fox sci-fi series ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' ended its one season run with an awful lot of loose ends left unwrapped. The show ended with one character presumed dead, two more falling in an escape pod into enemy territory, one reunited with his prisoner-of-war lover, and everyone else generally in limbo.
* ''90210'' started off as a series that involved both the old gang ([[Series/BeverlyHills90210 the ones from the 90s]]) and a new fresh almost entirely unrelated (except for the half-sister of the franchise protagonist). For instance, it was revealed that [[spoiler: Dylan and Kelly had a son but then broke up, Brenda was sterile but ended up adopting, Kelly's mother relapsed in alcoholism and got cancer for which she'd die in the second season]], but as the show changed executives, it was decided that it wouldn't rely on the old gang any longer (except for Kelly, who's now been downgraded to recurring supporting character), leaving the whole thing about [[spoiler: what happened to Donna and David, their divorce, their kid, David's flowers and message]] in the air.
* The final (British) series of ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' ended with a battered, bloodied future version of Matt appearing him, warning him that there's still something he needs to fix, and that he needs to 'go back'. With the ''New World'' series mostly unrelated to the old characters, the movie languishing in DevelopmentHell and the sixth series even worse, it is doubtful this huge plot thread will ever be picked up.
* ''Series/{{Titus}}'' was canceled before they could write a proper episode to conclude the series. While the last episode was good and funny, it ended with [[spoiler:Titus being put in a mental hospital for a few months as a stipulation for everyone to avoid jail time.]]
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'':
** One episode deals with Dwight finding a joint in the parking lot and becoming more paranoid than ever as he tries to find the culprit. By the end this morphs into Dwight covering for Michael, who had accidentally inhaled some pot smoke the night before, leaving the question of how the joint itself got there unanswered. It's revealed in a deleted scene that it's two employees from Vance Refrigeration.
** Dwight never finds the man who flashed Phyllis.
* ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto'': [[spoiler: Who is Dark Tendou? Why was ZECT cooperating with worms from time to time? Where did the Hopper Riders come from?]]
* In ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'', after Phil and Keely get together, the Diffys head back to the future, only to turn around for the caveman Curtis. Then it ends forever.
* Name a high-concept SitCom from TheSixties. ''Series/LostInSpace'', ''Series/GilligansIsland'', and many others were summarily canceled when the time came, even after a successful run and regardless of whether or not the show featured AnArc, simply because that's how business was done at the time. A lot of them eventually got WrapItUp movies once they'd had enough time in syndication to get interest back up.
* ''Series/TwinPeaks'':
** Perhaps Creator/DavidLynch thought that by leaving ''every single subplot'' sadistically hanging on multiple cliffs that the fans would scream and cry for another season in which to see them all resolved. If such was the case, then the tactic didn't work as the show was canceled with little fanfare and with much grumping by the small devoted fanbase the show had. And apart from the subplots, the main plot wasn't really resolved with the "How's Annie!" ending either.
** Interestingly, the show was originally planning on doing this on purpose with the murder of Laura Palmer; part of the reason for the SeasonalRot (and consequent cancellation) of season 2 is that the [[ExecutiveMeddling network forced them to reveal the murderer]].
** The movie, ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'', ended up a prequel, which meant it did almost nothing to resolve any of these ambiguities. However, in the usual Twin Peaks fashion, there are a few chronological irregularities that tie into the events of the series' finale (though in a very ambiguous and indirect manner).
** A sequel series, released almost 25 years after the fact, does tie up some unresolved plot and character points, though leaves others unanswered and adds quite a few new ones as well.
* In the ''Series/{{Cracker}}'' episode "One Day A Lemming Will Fly", [[spoiler: Fitz actually spends the entire episode pursuing the wrong man for the murder of a child. The episode's entire resolution hinges on the fact that the child's killer will never be known - at least, until he strikes again...]]
* ''Series/KyleXY'' left many plots dangling (although WordOfGod cleared up a few of them). In fact, the finale actually ''introduced'' [[LukeIAmYourFather a new plotline]] in the last few seconds of the episode!
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' had, initially, one of the most evil Left Hanging endings ever. Knowing they were going to be canceled, the writers extricated the crew from the worst of the crap they were buried in, and set them on a planet to recuperate. This left some of the major arcs unfinished, but hey, we can deal with that, right? So there they are, recuperating. [[spoiler: John proposes to Aeryn. It's a really touching moment. The crew are watching, all happy. Then, out of nowhere, the newly affianced couple get ''blown up by a random fighter craft''.]] ToBeContinued. On a show that's canceled. Luckily, there was enough fan pressure that a TV miniseries, the Peacekeeper Wars, was eventually made and tied up the remaining loose ends.
* Done very intentionally in the ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Doubt", which literally cuts off ''right before the verdict'' (as in, the last line of the episode is, "We find the defendant --" ''Cut to black''), so not only does the audience not find out what really happened, they don't even know the outcome of the trial. Viewers who saw the episode live were invited to take a survey on whether, in their opinion, 1. The man was guilty, 2. He was innocent or 3. There "wasn't enough" evidence to make a judgment on the facts displayed. (Option 2 recieved 60% of the vote, with the other two getting 20% each.)
** The intial murder case in "Harm" ends with the suspect fleeing the country to a non-extraditable location, so they can't even confirm that he did it. What's more, because it's mentioned only briefly and because of how much the HalfwayPlotSwitch (involving a TortureTechnician who was implicated in a related murder) is already beginning to take over the episode when this is revealed, many viewers didn't even remember ''that'' much, leading to a perception that the murder case had just dropped away with no explanation.
** The season eleven episode "Savior" did this. A young prostitute goes into premature labor and her baby is put on life support. The mother then runs away, giving power of attorney to Olivia, effectively giving Olivia the choice of whether the baby lives or dies. The episode ends with the baby needing immediate brain surgery and the doctors hammering Olivia for a decision that she never gives. This turns into a case of WhatHappenedToTheMouse, as neither the baby nor the mother are ever seen or heard from again.
** [[ClosingCredits "Executive Producer Dick Wolf"]] are often claimed to be the most frustrating words in the English language, due to the many episodes of ''Series/LawAndOrder'', and the spin offs, that end without enough resolution or sometimes any resolution at all.
* ''Series/TheMentalist'' spent several seasons building up a very intricate web around Red John, but viewers began[[ArcFatigue getting tired of]] the arc, so the series ended up rushing the conclusion, and in the process failed to follow up on some plot lines that initially seemed like they would be significant.
** The most notable example is the connection between Red John and the Visualize cult. After teasing it for several seasons, a Season 5 episode confirmed that a link existed, but that's the extent of what's revealed; the man who turns out to be Red John has no established connection with the cult, and in fact that link is never mentioned again. (The fact that they {{Dropped A Bridge on|Him}} the cult leader doesn't help.)
** In the Season 5 finale, Red John is able to do a few things that should be impossible; he accesses a memory of Jane's that Jane had never shared, and he demonstrates that he knew who would be on Jane's final list of Red John suspects months before Jane actually created said list. How all of this was accomplished is never established, and the entire thing is {{Hand Wave}}d by having Jane decline an explanation in favor of taking his revenge.
* Due to being canceled by the second season, ''Series/PushingDaisies'' left a lot of stuff hanging, in spite of its sweet finale. Alfredo and Oscar were PutOnABus by the end of the first season, and no one will ever find out where is [[spoiler: Charles Charles]] or what the deal with [[spoiler: Ned's father]] was.
* ''Series/BabylonFive'' inverts this problem--the carefully planned five-season format of the original show wrapped up ''the entire premise of the universe'' at the end of the series, dooming future sequels to serious {{Sequelitis}} from the very beginning, as they seem like nothing but barely related afterthoughts to a story that has already been told. A more straight example is the SpinOff sequel ''Crusade'', which was ScrewedByTheNetwork only half a season in, leaving the Drakh plague story arc unresolved.
** According to JMS's DVD commentary, the plague plot was to have been wrapped up in the second season. As with the original, the real plot was supposed to lead out of things that seemed like minor side details in the episodes that actually aired. The endgame for the Drakh war was handled in novels set more than a decade after the events of the full run of Crusade would have been over.
* The '90s AMC series ''Remember WENN'' ended with an unresolved cliffhanger after the network's new management abruptly canceled the show.
* The MythArc of ''Series/TheXFiles'' never received a fitting conclusion. This series has also drifted in and out of ScrewedByTheNetwork and UnCanceled ''several'' times, so Creator/ChrisCarter knows he's playing with fire.
* ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'' was canceled after three seasons, and had been intended to run longer. As the series was based on [[RealLife the real history of Deadwood]] in a macro sense, there was enough material and history left for at least a few more seasons. Due to the abrupt cancellation, several plotlines had to be hastily tied up, to no one's satisfaction.
* ''Series/{{Flash Forward|2009}}'' left just about all plotlines open due to series cancellation.
* ''Series/FoylesWar'' was canceled and restarted multiple times, with each cancellation resulting in an attempt to tie up the series hastily, and then put everyone together again when the series resumed. Furthermore, the first cancellation resulted in the season then in production to skip several months of time in RealLife per episode. Prior to that season, each episode had a gap of days or weeks.
* ''Series/{{ALF}}'' ends with the eponymous alien surrounded by government agents facing certain vivisection. What happens to him after would later be covered in a TV movie.
* ''Series/{{Bugs}}'' ended with Alex's husband murdered by persons unknown at her wedding and Beckett and Ros being kidnapped by a mysterious man they seemed to recognize. The cancellation of the series means we'll never know who killed the poor man, or who kidnapped our two heroes.
* The first season of ''Series/{{Class}}'' ended on a triple cliffhanger : Miss Quill was pregnant with a kid that could kill her, April was trapped in the body of an alien, and the Board of Governors' backers were revealed. BBC has announced that there won't be a second season, so no resolutions to those plotlines.
* ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' was canceled at the end of the fourth season, which ended on a big cliffhanger and a To Be Continued. It's somewhat dealt with on ''Series/RaisingHope'' where we find out that a "A local man who made list of good things to do finally finished it." Both shows are by the same creator, Greg Garcia.
* According to [[http://www.platypuscomix.net/hollywood/shrunktv.html this page]], ''Series/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' ended its first season revealing that the leader of the Men in Black (no, not ''those'' Film/MenInBlack) was an evil alien who had plans for the Szalinskis. It ended up getting [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse tossed by the wayside]] for the rest of the series.
* ''Series/ICarly'' has a few plot-points unresolved or not referred to, and they revolve around the {{shipping}} that is not the main focus for the show, and only comes up in a handful of episodes per season. There are differing ideas on what it meant, mostly around which side of the Creddie (Carly + Freddie) or Seddie (Sam + Freddie) shipping divide people stand on.
** The first, is the end of "iThink They Kissed" where Carly asks Sam and Freddie (who shared a FirstKiss, then hid it from Carly), how long it was, and if they enjoyed it. The episode ended before they answered the question.
** The second, is at the end of "iSpeed Date", Sam walks in on Freddie and Carly sharing a slow romantic dance in each other's arms. She walks out with saying a word. Again, it's not been brought up again, so speculation abounds on her motives and feelings for Freddie (or [[HoYay/ICarly Carly]]). Again, what people think is based around the shipping divide.
** Finally, "iSaved Your Life", where Freddie saves Carly's life, they enter a relationship. Carly tries to say she loves Freddie, but Freddie still breaks up with her because Sam put it into his head that Carly just loved that he was heroic and she's just hero worshiping. Freddie says to Carly that if she wants to be his boyfriend in the future, he'd love to. Neither this nor any of the mentioned plot-points have been mentioned again, and a deliberate CliffHanger which adds even more questions, in the last episode of Season 4 means it'll be at least another 3 or 4 months before any could get possibly answered.
* An episode of ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' had Cordell Walker rescue a girl who was trapped in a Christian cult camp, but with the last minutes of the episode devoted to Walker's rescue of Alex Cahill from the cult camp, it's unknown what has happened to the girl he was supposed to rescue. An even worse example is the movie "Trial by Fire" which ends with Alex being shot in the courthouse and lying near death. Supposedly, the producers were expecting CBS to offer them the opportunity to make further TV movies but low ratings (supposedly due to a football game preceding the movie running an hour longer than anticipated) and CBS shortly thereafter scrapping their Sunday night TV movie has made further TV movies unlikely. INSP network even doctored the movie to edit out the final scene with the shooting because there is no resolution and removing Alex's shooting leaves the story in a position to end without a hitch.
* Probably due to extra seasons being planned but ultimately being cancelled by the [[ScrewedByTheNetwork BBC]], season 3 of ''Series/TheHouseOfEliott'' ended with an unresolved argument between Evie and Beatrice over the direction of the eponymous fashion house.
* The final episode of ''Series/UnnaturalHistory'' ended with the cast in the Mongolian desert, when they hear a strange noise. Jasper and Maggie wonder what the noise was, and Henry suggests the area is "more than just dust and bones".
* ''Series/CriminalMindsSuspectBehavior''. The first season ends with a sadist/masochist killer team forcing team leader Cooper into a SadisticChoice of killing the masochist or the sadist will kill one of his teammates. The choice is right down to the wire, cut to black, gunshot. But, sorry, show was cancelled the previous week, NO RESOLUTION FOR YOU!
* So much for ''Series/TheCape''. Didn't help they reduced the seasons episodes from 13 to 10, and didn't even show the last episode on TV (you had to go to the website to watch it). So die hard fans will never know if the BigBad will ever go to jail, Vince will ever clear his name, or his family will know that he is alive.
* ''Series/ThisIsWonderland'', a brilliant Canadian legal dramedy, ran for three seasons, and ended on ''three concurrent cliffhangers''.
* In the fourth series of ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' Guinevere and (a fake) Lancelot are {{brainwashed}} with magic into kissing each other on the night before Gwen's wedding to Arthur, resulting in Gwen's exile and Lancelot's suicide. Although Guinevere is eventually welcomed back to Camelot by the end of the season and becomes its Queen through her marriage to Arthur, no one (including herself) ever finds out that she wasn't acting of her own volition when she cheated on Arthur, even though it would have only taken a simple conversation with Merlin (who knew that Lancelot was being controlled by Morgana) to clear up the issue (Gwen being smart enough to realize that the bracelet Lancelot gave her was probably the cause of her abrupt change in behaviour). Yet for whatever reason, the writers thought exonerating the pair of them wasn't worth any meaningful resolution, and the fact that Guinevere ''had'' to have found out at some point that Lancelot killed himself isn't ever addressed in any way.
* The short-lived BBC soap opera ''Eldorado'' did this deliberately in the hope that viewers would demand to know what happened next and force an [[UnCanceled UnCancellation]]. It didn't work.
* Creator/StevenMoffat's tenure on ''Series/DoctorWho'' was known for this, as he is known for playing the "long game" and introducing plot threads that are intentionally left unresolved for years. The series has also picked up on the occasional hanging thread dating back ''decades'' (such as a 2013 episode, "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E13TheNameOfTheDoctor The Name of the Doctor]]" that answered questions dating back to ''the very first episode in 1963'').
* ''Series/{{Alcatraz}}'': The final episode ended with Rebecca having been shot and [[spoiler:seemingly dying on the operating table]], and no indication what would happen to the 63s who were still at large.
* The ''Series/TheAmandaShow'' had a recurring skit called "Moody's Point" which was a parody of teen angst shows. It had a twist that Moody was switched at birth and wasn't the real Moody and the episode ended before we could be introduced to the real Moody. ExecutiveMeddling cancelled the show at that point and Dan Schneider later [[http://danwarp.blogspot.com/2008/05/faq-what-happened-with-moodys-point.html wrote in his blog]] that he doesn't even know who the real Moody is since the show was cancelled before he could write the script.
* ''Series/GabbyDuranAndTheUnsittables'' was cancelled last-minute following its second season finale, which ends with Gabby noticing the boy she went to Star Night with might not be anything she thought he'd be.
* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', it is never revealed who sent the assassin to kill Bran Stark. In the third book, Tyrion and Jaime both deduce it was [[spoiler: Joffrey]], however in the TV series it is never mentioned, and since nearly everyone who would care is dead the question was dropped. The seventh season eventually ends up implying that [[spoiler: Littlefinger]] sent the assassin, which creates something of an AdaptationInducedPlotHole since the timeline for this to have been planned by that particular person is not ''impossible'', but pretty questionable.
* To its credit, ''Series/{{Forever}}'' did resolve what happened to Abigail, the identities of Abe's birth parents, and the fate of the ship Henry was sailing on during his first death. But it ended its only season with no answers about the source of the immortality curse or how Henry can break it. Along those same lines, the evil immortal Adam is immobilized but still alive, and could be a threat later on if he dies again, but we won't know how so. As to whether or not Henry ever told Jo his secret, the show ends right when he's confronted with evidence, and though the dialogue implies he will tell her, we ultimately don't know for sure. WordOfGod attempted to clear some of this up on Twitter after the cancellation (e.g. Adam would return with the help of a third immortal, and Jo would become a SecretKeeper), but not much else -- in fact, some tidbits raised even ''more'' questions.
* ''Series/TheTripods'', Creator/TheBBC's adaptation of of [[Literature/TheTripods John Christopher's trilogy]] was left hanging at the end of the second series, which adapted the second book and ended with a massive cliffhanger. A third and final series had been scripted but was cancelled due to the same hostility to SF and fantasy among the BBC's leadership that saw ''Series/DoctorWho'' gradually smothered at around the same time.
* The Season 2 {{Cliffhanger}} finale of ''Series/{{Rosewood}}'' came right up to the edge of resolving the UnresolvedSexualTension between the main characters. Since there will be no Season 3, we'll never know what would have happened.
* ''Series/TheKnightsOfProsperity'', about a group of friends trying to rob Music/MickJagger, was cancelled partway into its first season (with the remaining episode airing over the rest of the year), ending with them almost robbing, and almost getting caught robbing Mick Jagger, then deciding not after meeting him in person and finding he's actually a nice guy, and deciding to rob Creator/RayRomano instead after meeting him and finding him to be a jerk.
* ''Series/TheMick'' ends with Sabrina critically injured, with the doctor unsure of whether she's received brain damage. It's left hanging how she'll recover and whether she'll continue to Yale.
* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': In "The Girl from Ilandia", Tina is left trapped on Earth without a way home. It's a rare DownerEnding in the series. And she's never mentioned again.
* ''Series/TheLastManOnEarth'' ended Season 4 with the gang [[spoiler:being surrounded by a huge group of gas mask-wearing survivors who had been living in an underground bunker]]. The series was cancelled after that, although WordOfGod did at least explain where it would have gone in an interview.
* ''Series/OutOfThisWorld1987'': the finale, Donna and Troy swap places, and she is still stranded on Anterias (and he is still stranded on Earth) at the end. We never find out how they switch back because the series was canceled.
* ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' ends with both Will and Hannibal falling off of a ledge, presumably to their deaths.
* ''Series/MorkAndMindy'': in the finale, "Gotta Run", the titular duo uses time-travelling shoes and winds up in prehistoric times. They escape, but the last we see of them is in a time vortex; viewers never find out where they ultimately end up. It's hinted they wound up there forever, as the episode ends showing a cave painting of the couple. (This was actually the series' next-to-last episode: the final one, "The Mork Report", filmed before "Gotta Run", was aired later to give the series proper closure).
* The writers of ''Series/RobinHood'' were expecting to get green-lit for a fourth season, and so went to a lot of trouble in setting up plot-lines that could be continued going forward, despite the KillEmAll nature of the third season finale, which included the death of [[TheHeroDies Robin himself]]. The last episode ends with Prince John still in power, King Richard held hostage in Austria, the few remaining outlaws vowing to raise the ransom money, and the recently-introduced Archer ([[LongLostSibling half-brother]] to both Robin and Guy) tasked with the responsibility of becoming the new [[TheLeader Team Leader]]. The entire production was set to move to Scotland under new showrunner Sally Wainwright, with [[FinalSeasonCasting the remaining cast members]] signed on for at least two more seasons and some scripts having already been written. However, faced with the third season's low ratings, the absurdity of a Robin Hood adaptation without a Robin '''or''' a Marian (she having been [[StuffedIntoTheFridge fridged at the end of season two]]), and the grim prospect of the [[TheScrappy universally-despised]] [[TheMillstone Kate]] as the show's female lead, the BBC opted to pull the plug.
* ''Series/{{Spooksville}}:'' The First season ends with [[spoiler: [[BigBad Madeline Templeton]] having made it back to our world, which is a really bad thing as in "The Dark Corner" she ruled a DarkWorld that she ruined with a ZombieApocalypse.]] A second season was planned (with several episodes even been entirely scripted out), where the good guys would presumably have stopped [[spoiler: her]], but the show was canceled before they could film any episodes.
* ''Series/PerpetualGraceLTD'': The show's only season ends in a cliffhanger, where most of the major characters remaining have shown up at the funeral of the Browns, including many unexpected people. James only realizes that all of his group's plans are about to be exposed as he stands up to deliver the eulogy. Before he can begin speaking, the series ends.
* ''Series/MightyMed'' was cancelled on a cliffhanger after the second season, as Creator/DisneyXD instead opted to combine the show with ''Series/LabRats'' (which had a healthy four-season run and ended on full cloture) for ''Series/LabRatsEliteForce''. And ''that show'' would also end on a cliffhanger after just one season.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' saga surprisingly avoided this problem. The fourth game filled up pretty much all plot holes, with the exception of [[spoiler:Fortune's LastStand]] in the second game. According to WordOfGod however, it was originally supposed to be played straight, with ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' being the last game chronologically in-universe; so whether or not Metal Gear counts as an example depends on whether one wants to invoke FanonDiscontinuity.
* Of course, due to a ''buttload'' of [[TroubledProduction behind the scenes problems]], ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' is an absolute mess. From a narrative standpoint it's a chaotic heap of unresolved plot threads barely held together by {{Voodoo Shark}}s, {{Plot Hole}}s, {{Remixed Level}}s, and an [[CutShort entire final act that went unfinished]] (it only exists as a slideshow narrated by the developers in the special edition of the game). That said game somehow managed to ''actually be good'' in spite of this is nothing less than awe-inspiring.
* James Bond game ''VideoGame/BloodStone'' ends with a TomatoSurprise that could been resolved in a new game, also the credits start with "James Bond will return..." But we know Bizarre is done for good and the next Bond game won't follow this one. You could however stretch things up and pretend somehow that Skyfall's villain was TheManBehindTheMan.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has references to "Techno-Soldiers" replacing human agents of Shinra early in the game, but is never elaborated on and is forgotten once Sephiroth is introduced into the game. It is believed by many fans that the ''original'' plot of the game would have revolved around a TurnedAgainstTheirMasters scenario, which was abandoned in favor of Sephiroth. The techno-soldiers themselves finally turned up in ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', and even ''that game'''s storyline is an example of this trope with its secret ending, [[spoiler:where [[Creator/{{Gackt}} Genesis]] [[EarlyBirdCameo Rhapsodos]] appears in a cave and flies away with Weiss in his arms, his motives and goals still unknown. [[VideoGame/CrisisCore And the next game he appears in is a prequel.]]]]
** Early in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', the heroes are assigned to help the city of Timber gain its independence from the Galbadian Republic. This storyline is quickly folded into the main plot, but the question of whether Timber becomes free in the end is never addressed. However, since the Timber mission was a low-paying and therefore low-importance goal, when the sorceress showed up and became a threat to Garden and the world itself, it sort of makes sense that no-one cared about that so much when the main plot kicked off.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' at some point completely forgets to resolve the Occuria situation. Yeah, the Sun-Cryst is destroyed, but why can't they make another? Why do they just seem to give up without any word? The sequel does not address this at all either. If the canceled sequel ''Fortress'' might have expanded on this issue is now a mystery for the ages.
* At the very end of ''VideoGame/BaldursGate: Dark Alliance II'', the player sees an ominous-looking cutscene showing the rise of a new BigBad. This was intended to be a teaser for ''DA III'', which was never made. ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper III'' suffered the same fate.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series has the Followers of the Apocalypse in [[VideoGame/Fallout1 the first game]] and the very similar tanker vagrants in ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', both are due to bugs. Although ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' does feature the Followers, meaning they survived in canon even though it's impossible to get their good ending in the first game. The ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' expansion ''Broken Steel'' leaves Colonel Autumn's fate unresolved if you let him walk out of the purifier. Was he killed or captured, or did he leave the Wasteland entirely?
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' ends with Brother-Captain Gabriel Angelos swearing to [[spoiler:defeat the demon he had [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally unsealed]] from the [[SealedEvilInACan artifact sealing it]]]]. Neither Gabe nor [[spoiler:that particular demon]] have been seen for the three expansion packs that followed. The plot line is completed as of ''Dawn of War II: Retribution''.
* ''Dreamfall'', sequel to ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'', tied up about two of the many different plot threads left hanging over the course of the game. It doesn't even tell you what happened to the main characters. To be fair, though, it is the middle part of a trilogy. With the episodic release of Dreamfall:Chapters, the fates of the main characters were quickly resolved and slowly but surely a lot of the other plot threads are being tied up.
* The InteractiveFiction version of ''VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1984'' ends with [[spoiler:Arthur setting foot on the planet Magrathea]]. The game promises a sequel, which of course never came.
* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' series:
** ''Gears of War 2'' is ''paced'' from beginning to end by dropping the latest subplot and introducing a new one.
** ''Gears of War 3'', which WordOfGod confirms is definitely the last game in the series, does do a good job of wrapping up each characters' personal plot arcs and finally explains Imulsion and the Lambent, but still leaves unaddressed the Sires[=/=]New Hope Facility sub-plot from the second game, the true nature of the Locust (if any), as well as the question of who or what Queen Myrrah really was. This was solved with old forum posts and the tie-in comic ''The Slab''. Though, Adam Fenix's disk is never brought up again.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' really ends with just Travis Touchdown and Henry striking each other by the Santa Destroy flag. This leaves many things to consider, such as what the UAA really is, who Travis's parents were, who Darkstar was, and, of course, if the events affected the video game's real world or if it really was Silvia's daughter Jeane day dreaming about a picture. Some, but not all, of these questions are answered in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle''.
* The original Japanese release of ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' ended like this. After sending [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Giegue]] packing, Ninten and his party start to walk away from the battle field... and then the scene pauses, the credits roll, and you're left with a "To be continued..." for your troubles. The [[LateExportForYou then-cancelled American localization]] averted this, adding an epilogue that gave a proper resolution for all the characters in the game; this was kept in the game when ''[[UpdatedRerelease Mother 1 + 2]]'' was released on the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance years later.
* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' has one of your allies, Spen Jankowski, in a different area of the same operation as you. He disappears on the site. Eventually, the support guy stops mentioning him, and he never comes up again. You finally find his body in ''Project Origin''.
* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' seems to be doing this ''deliberately''; while the main plot is resolved well enough, there's a fair few details, large and small, left completely dangling. [[spoiler:The largest one by far is that, despite defeating the thing that was shrouding the "Other World" in fog, the TV-based portals to the other side '''''still function''''', in stark contrast to the cessation of the Dark Hour after the BigBad of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' is defeated. The cast themselves briefly note that this has potential issues for the future.]] It's quite possible that Creator/{{Atlus}} has simply left hooks in [[CashCowFranchise for another sequel]]. One seemingly Left Hanging detail is actually exploited by the game: [[spoiler:in order to get the game's GoldenEnding, you have to ''refuse'' the Good Ending that the game hands you in order to find out where the protagonist and Adachi got their Personas, a detail you may have completely forgotten about]].
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorRisingSun'' ended with the BigBad escaping with the protagonist's captured brother. Thanks to the game performing poorly both critically and financially, the intended sequel was cancelled.
* When ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'', and later ''[[VideoGame/MegaMan10 10]]'', were announced, people wondered if Capcom would ''finally'' fully tie together the Classic series and the SequelSeries ''VideoGame/MegaManX''. [[MissionPackSequel It didn't happen]]. If an ''X9'' is ever announced, people will probably ask [[VideoGame/MegaManZero about the Elf Wars]]. ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' ended on a cliffhanger that doesn't look to be resolved any time soon.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends 2'' ended with Mega Man Volnutt stuck on the moon, and Roll Caskett and Tron Bonne working together to rescue him. This was left to hang for an entire ''decade'', and with the cancellation of ''Mega Man Legends 3'', it seems it's not going to be resolved any time soon.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'' mostly ties all the plot points together in a satisfying conclusion...until you unlock the secret ending, which ends on the blatant SequelHook of Master Thomas going evil and the four thought-to-be-dead enemy Mega Men standing with him to carry out his plan. It's been over a ''decade'' since then, to the point many fans will tend to treat it as non-canon until an actual release of ''ZX 3'' comes out.
* The ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' games were planned to be a trilogy, with a character in the first game even outright telling the protagonist that he'd have two more fights for justice on his hands in the future. This made it all the more incredible and infuriating when come the end of the second game, [[spoiler: Joe's father turns out to be an evil villain, powered by a mysterious black V-Watch he acquired somehow, the superpowers and other craziness of the movies have somehow made their way into the real world, and a fortress of evil rises out of the earth in the distance, signalling the final and oh-so-presumably-epic battle and the answers to all our questions...]] but then, OH DEAR, the studio shut down, and we never got closure on any of that, or the overall story of the games.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hydrophobia}}'' ends abruptly without dealing with a lot of the plot points: the credits roll just as the heroes encounter a new danger, you never find out about the person you're trying to save, the full details of what the heck was going on is never revealed, as is info about the BigBad and the organization behind the plot. You can get the bare bones from the various collectible documents spread about the game, but that still only gets you the lead-in to a possible reveal, which never comes.
* The original ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' left off with Frank and Isabella escaping the mall and defeating an insane military general. However, Carlito spread infected orphans all over the country and Frank himself is infected. It also isn't mentioned as to whether or not Otis escaped with the survivors successfully (and there's the fact that a few of the survivors were infected anyway). The sequel pretty much confirms that the country-wide infection has more-or-less succeeded. ''Case West'' reveals that Frank and Isabella have survived, Frank is suppressing his zombification via Zombrex, and the two are hard at work to get to the bottom of the whole mess.
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'':
** Mio's fate in the normal ending of ''VideoGame/FatalFrameIII'' is left deliberately ambiguous, [[spoiler: but given [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption how these games tend to go]], she probably didn't survive. That said, WordOfGod states that the GoldenEnding of the game (in which Mio explicitly survives) is its true (and therefore, canon) ending.]]
** In [[VideoGame/FatalFrameIV the fourth game]], the question of whether or not [[spoiler:Misaki]] lived is also left unanswered.
* The bizarre ending to ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' has never been resolved -- by the time ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'' came around, Ron Gilbert was no longer working on the series, and the devs for that game decided to HandWave it away rather than come up with their own explanation. A WordOfGod answer to what happened doesn't seem likely, either, as Ron Gilbert seems unwilling to share this (or the true Secret of Monkey Island -- they appear to be connected) unless he can make a game out of it.
* ''VideoGame/ReturnToKrondor'' had an ending that was clearly intended as a SequelHook. Let's see...[[spoiler: Sidi is still alive and active, and puts the amulet back together. He intends to release the Dark God into Midkemia and the amulet is clearly a part of his plan. Meanwhile, there is the matter of the Crawler still alive and and active...somewhere.]] A sequel has never been made.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'''s ''Hisoutensoku'' has three story arcs centered around three heroines searching for the owner of [[MacGuffin a giant shadow/silhouette]]. Only [[{{Miko}} Sanae's]] arc has sufficient closure - that she had, in fact, found her "giant." [[IdiotHero Cirno]] gets sidetracked twice by [[TheTrickster Marisa]] and ends up fighting one of Alice's experimental spell cards, pegging it as her ''Daidarabotchi''. [[IronButtMonkey Meiling]] gets it worse: [[spoiler:either she dreamed the whole thing, or she did see something but never even got to her first stage battle.]]
* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'', pictured above, has lain dormant since 2003's ''Defiance'', with the Pillars of Nosgoth still destroyed and the future of the world uncertain. Crystal Dynamics' shift to the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series, the series' creator's move to Naughty Dog, and the [[DiedDuringProduction death of Tony Jay]] make the chances of a resolution appear unlikely.
* The details of Nero's background in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' remain very blurry. We still don't know whose son he is (claims that he's Vergil's remain {{Fanon}}), when or how he got his RedRightHand, or how much Dante knows about him. ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'' however, finally gives us an answer, [[spoiler: as it reveals that Nero is in fact Vergil's son]].
* ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'' game ended with Dante defeating Virgil to keep him from taking over the BigBad position to rule humanity. Despite this, however, demons have now been outed and the world is in a state of confusion and chaos with it being uncertain how things will turn out. If that wasn't bad enough, the DLC for Virgil shows him casting his empathy aside and amassing an army of demons for his own conquest. What happens next? No clue, as there's no word from Capcom on if they'll continue this continuity or not.
* This trope is one of the many complaints regarding ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'''s ending.
** No matter what you did throughout the entirety of the series, you receive one of three endings with no closure outside of the fate of the Reapers. "Side" missions such as [[spoiler: using/sabotaging the genophage cure, whether the Quarians or Geth (or both) were saved, and the fate of the Rachni]] have no narrative consequence outside of War Assets, and the fate of your squadmates is left completely unknown.
** [[spoiler: Another common complaint is that Shepard only can survive in the Red Ending if you do ''everything'' right, but even then, it's a split second of his/her torso taking a laboured breath in a pile of rubble. SmashCut to credits, leaving his/her fate completely unknown.]]
** [[spoiler: However, it has been addressed with the release of the [[AuthorsSavingThrow Extended Cut DLC]], pretty much showing how the galaxy recovers from the war, [[{{Retcon}} changes the mass relays from being destroyed to being damaged]] and, with the exception of the Destroy ending with the lowest EMS possible on these two cases, Shepard's squadmates are safe.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'':
** The ending of ''Killzone 3'' abruptly smashes you in the face with the credits ''immediately'' after the climax. There's a short [[TheStinger stinger]] scene in the middle of the credits which answers ''one'' minor question but that's as far as it goes. [[spoiler: As far as the player knows: 1. The Helghast fleet has been mostly destroyed. 2. The nuking of Stahl's flagship on the surface of Helghan triggered a massive Petrusite chain reaction which appeared to wipe out ''all life on the surface'', with the obvious exception of Stahl and a few of his soldiers as seen in Stinger mentioned. 3. Considering how powerful the Helghast weapons have become, and how some of their ships warped to Earth, it's possible the attack on Earth has already begun. 4. The ISA forces left at Helghan were either destroyed by the petrusite reaction or stuck flying around the planet in fighters incapable of warp travel, so they probably have no way to get to Earth.]]
** ''Killzone Shadowfall'' dealt with the aftermath of the ending to ''Killzone 3'', only to leave players hanging about the fate of the cold war. No new sequels have been made, and no information about the original protagonists has been given.
* ''VideoGame/FreedomForce vs. The Third Reich'' ends with Alchemiss/Entropy meeting the living embodiment of Energy X who implies that she still has a job to do. The third game in the series, which was intended to cover modern and Iron Age comics, was never greenlit.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: [[VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge The Lost Age]]'' resolved most of its major plot points, but left a few smaller plots open -Namely Anemos, Sheba's origins, and the ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Alex]]. The sequel, ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', revealed that [[spoiler:Alex survived]] but otherwise did not address any of these points, and even introduced a few more: The quest Takeru is on, what happened to Felix, the Tuaparang Emperor, and especially [[spoiler:the Psynergy Vortexes, particularly the huge one that has manifested over Matthew's home. Oh, and Alex is still TheUnfought.]]
* What happened to Alis(a) after ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar Gaiden'', and what exactly was the threat she was returning to Algol to face? At the time it was made, she was supposed to return as the protagonist of ''Phantasy Star IV'' and this game was the set-up for that, but when they ended up going with a different plot for that game, they just left this unresolved.
* [[EpisodicGame Episode 2]] of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'' ended with [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Little Planet]] not being restored. [[http://www.joystiq.com/2012/03/13/no-more-sonic-4-episodes-planned-after-episode-2/ No Episode 3 for you!]]
* ''[[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II]]'' ends with Darth Vader captured by the Rebellion and the Rebel fleet makes the jump into hyperspace, little knowing that Boba Fett is following them. Unfortunately, the lack of sales, combined with Creator/LucasArts closing in 2013, suggests that it's not going to be resolved any time soon. At least Vader is somehow SavedByCanon.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'' ended with Delta Squad (now a three-man squad after [[ColdSniper Sev]] was under heavy attack and stranded; [[MissionControl Clone Advisor 1]] was adamant on Delta Squad evacuating immediately) aboard a Republic Gunship, receiving a message from Yoda, and preparing for a new assignment, the Battle of Kashyyyk, followed by a SmashToBlack. The planned sequel, ''Imperial Commando'', was cancelled in 2005, and ''Republic Commando'' itself would [[CanonDiscontinuity be rendered non-canon to the post-Disney Star Wars Franchise]].
* ''VideoGame/EpicMickey2ThePowerOfTwo'' ends with Mickey and Oswald saving the wasteland and defeating the Mad Doctor. The post credits scene features [[spoiler: all the Petes of the wasteland getting together and plotting something while holding Gremlin Prescott hostage]]. However, due to the game's poor sales which led to the closing of Junction Point Studios, a third game is highly unlikely.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' left ''three'' unsolved mysteries: Connor's ultimate fate, Juno's true plans for the world, and that mysterious voice at the very end. Only the last was ever resolved (an Abstergo tech guiding one of the company's Animus users). In Black Flag, Connor is only briefly mentioned with no new information, and Juno for some reason is helplessly trapped in Abstergo's network, only saying that "perhaps the Vault was opened too soon".
* The Epic story of ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'' is said by creator Yu Suzuki to be a story in 11 chapters, and it's still far from being over. The first two games covered about the first four or five chapter, but the series was cut short mainly because Creator/{{Sega}} could no longer afford to make the games any more, leaving not only the whole driving revenge plotline hanging but introducing us to new characters that would apparently answer many questions about the mysterious {{MacGuffin}}s, character motivations and if the world was MaybeMagicMaybeMundane. ''Shenmue III'' came out [[SequelGap almost two decades later]], yet that would end on yet another cliffhanger. Suzuki said he planned the series to consist of about 4 or 5 games and said ''Shenmue IV'' is "going to happen", but the series' future is not set in stone.
* The entire continuity of ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDarkTheNewNightmare''. The game ends with a strong SequelHook, as [[spoiler:Shadow Island and its gate to the shadow world are destroyed and [[TheManBehindTheMan Lamb]], who arranges a cover-up, now has the Abkani tablets and knows the location of at least two more gates]], but no direct sequel has been ever made. The planned comic book series was to follow Carnby and Aline after the events of Shadow Island, but only the first issue was ever made.
* In ''VideoGame/TelepathTactics'', Igor Bloodbeard and his bandits are the major antagonists of the first arc, but he's never confronted directly, and his forces end up vanishing from the plot rather abruptly with no proper resolution. His subordinate Fera does show up in the epilogue, however, so this may be an intentional SequelHook.
* In the two ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' games and their accompanying comic, the Left 4 Dead 1 gang eventually get an ending that's fairly easy to take as conclusive, but the Left 4 Dead 2 survivors have their fate left much more ambigious. While the final canon campaign, The Parish, serves well as a close to the series overall due to it's excitingly paced finale and satisfying visual payoff in the ending cut-scene (compared to most other campaigns), all of the foreshadowing regarding the army's vile treatment of carriers makes it hard to take the survivors' final escape as being a conclusive end to their trials. With no further DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 on the horizon, and Left 4 Dead 3 unconfirmed, it's not looking like we'll know what happened to Coach and the gang for a long while, if ever.
* Although ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'' resolves most of its plot threads, the biggest one left unsolved is the locked box that appears at the end of Night 7. According to Creator/ScottCawthon, it contains, "all the pieces [of [[JigsawPuzzlePlot the story]]] put together," and though he planned to include the means to open it in an update, he eventually decided to leave the box as it is after noticing how the fanbase, unlike with the other games, hadn't fully solved the story yet. This has yet to be addressed even after the main story was resolved in ''VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator''.
* ''VideoGame/DisneyInfinity'': The ending of the story mode of the Marvel Battlegrounds Play Set ([[spoiler:which implies that Loki and Ultron were in league with Thanos, and that Thanos is coming after the Marvel heroes]]) was clearly a SequelHook, but the fact that ''Infinity'' has ended production means that this twist in the game's plot likely won't be leading anywhere anytime soon.
* The ending to ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'' is a sudden DownerEnding {{Cliffhanger}} with [[spoiler: main protagonist Sly trapped in the distant past of ancient Egypt]] and the unresolved plot point of just why [[spoiler:Penelope pulled a FaceHeelTurn and continues to stalk her ex-boyfriend with postcards]]. Unfortunately, a fifth game was never announced, and over a year later, Creator/SanzaruGames unceremoniously confirmed that they had no intentions of releasing a new game, and that the franchise had been cancelled. [[FanonDiscontinuity Most fans accordingly disowned the game in response]], and Sanzaru became a pariah of video game development.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' has a player-dependent example — players who refuse to take their time and decide to [[SequenceBreaking rush straight to the]] FinalBoss will be able to finish the game, but won't learn anything about the world, the nature of this Link's true identity, or the role Zelda had in the backstory.
* ''VideoGame/HauntingStarringPolterguy'': After the Sardinis flee the fourth house, [[spoiler:we never get to see them again and their fate is completely left ambiguous. However poltergeist Polterguy suggests that he will continue with his haunting but he does not specify where he will do this.]]
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' left two plot points hanging (and those wasn't ever answered by future games either). The first one is the disappearance of Donald Love (which is never revelead the reason or where he went) and the second one is regarding the ambiguous last scene in which Maria Salvatore may be or may be not have been KilledOffscreen.
* TheStinger of the main campaign of ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' [[spoiler:showing an unseen character picking up a bit of Lord Vortech and getting corrupted by it, clearly setting something up]] was never to be followed up on as the franchise’s second year consisted entirely of adaptions of movies and TV shows and then the game ended up being abruptly cut short as well.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has a bit of this due to the fact that Gen VI didn't get [[UpdatedRerelease follow-ups]] or {{sequel}}s of any kind unlike other gens. Examples include a Hex Maniac that says something mysterious before disappearing and Zygarde's backstory. Although Zygarde did get new forms that debuted in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', it still didn't get any story pertaining to it.
* ''VideoGame/TheLiarPrincessAndTheBlindPrince'''s main plot point (the Wolf atoning for what she did) is resolved, but it's never explained where the Prince went afterwards. [[spoiler:The forest is probably too dangerous for him to live in, even with his newly-restored sight, but his parents ''imprisoned'' him at the start of the story, so he wouldn't want to go back to them.]] At least it's [[HappilyEverAfter explicitly established that he's happy]].
* ''VideoGame/Conduit2'' ended with the protagonist accidentally signalling an alien spacecraft to Earth, and several former American presidents (including the Founding Fathers) wearing PoweredArmor emerging from a portal offering their help against the coming threat. The third game, which was supposed to round out the trilogy, was never developed, due to a combination of [[FranchiseKiller poor sales]], the developer suffering a disasterous falling out with Nintendo[[note]]To make a long story short, Nintendo offered High Voltage Software a chance to develop a new first-party IP with them (as Nintendo was looking for a studio who had experience with first-person shooters to round out their library for the then-upcoming [=WiiU=] after Creator/RetroStudios had finished their work with the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' and turned their attention to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', and HVS had found success with the Wii-exclusive ''VideoGame/TheConduit''), which ended up being scrapped when an anonymous HVS staffer leaked everything, allegedly in response to poor working conditions at the studio. High Voltage couldn't determine who was responsible, after which Nintendo terminated their relationship.[[/note]], and the studio's other major project, ''The Grinder'', being cancelled after a lengthy and costly DevelopmentHell, all of which led to the studio suffering financial hardship and shifting gears towards developing ports for bigger studios instead of releasing their own original titles.
* ''VideoGame/{{Flight}}'' has the plot the whole game started with - Sandy wanting to be with her mother on Christmas. What happened with it, seeing as [[spoiler:Santa received Yamato's composition and not the letter asking him for it she originally sent him]]?
* TheStinger to ''[[VideoGame/Anthem2019 Anthem]]'''s single-player campaign ends with the discovery of the fresh corpse of an Urgoth soldier, hinting that humanity's ancient overlords were coming back and that a fight with them was soon coming. After months of delays and missed roadmaps, [[Creator/ElectronicArts EA]] and Creator/{{Bioware}} announced in 2021 they would be ceasing further development on ''Anthem'' in order to focus on the new ''Franchise/DragonAge'' and ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games, leaving ''Anthem'' as a StillbornFranchise and making it all but explicit that this plotline would be never be explored or resolved.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'' episode "Izzy or Isn't He?", the plot ends without anyone mentioning the result of the school election that formed a major part of this episode's storyline.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' itself never resolves the question of what happened to Zuko's mom. The SequelSeries to ATLA, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', features a character asking the phrase above ''verbatim'' in the first episode, only for the adressee to be ''[[TrollingCreator cut off before she can answer]].'' The question would finally be answered in the comics' ''[[Comicbook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch The Search]]'' storyline, to mixed response.
* The second season of ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' has a subplot regarding the return of Surtur, the fire demon, and the possibility that he will cause Ragnarok to destroy the Earth. In two episodes, Surtur wipes out the dwarves of Nidavellir, enslaves Amora the Enchantress, and slaughters Korbinite aliens. A bonus episode on one of the show's [=DVDs=] features copious buildup to a confrontation between the Avengers and Surtur. However, since the show didn't receive a third season, this confrontation ends up never taking place.
** There were actually several plot threads that were never fully resolved thanks to the canceling of the show. Surtur was just the most noticeable one. Others include Captain America's arrangement with Hela, Maria Hill leading the heroes toward ComicBook/CivilWar, Hawkeye's love life, the fate of Princess Ravana, Hulk's eventual return to the team, capturing the last of the breakout villains, Stark industries's woes, Wonder Man's possible return, and Ronan the Accuser escaping custody.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' doesn't leave too many outstanding plot points, other than "who does Terry end up with?", which is fairly peripheral, and "[[ChocolateBaby why does Terry look like Bruce?]]", which wasn't brought up in the series but did get noticed by fans. However, it also doesn't have any kind of meaningful finale; it just kinda... stops, with its last episode being a crossover with red-headed stepchild of the DCAU ''WesternAnimation/TheZetaProject''. Hell, the third-last and second-last introduce a new cast of characters in the form of a future Justice League, some of whom definitely feel like they were waiting to get more development. Reportedly, the show's cancellation had some knock-on effects on later DCAU projects; all five season finales of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' were written with the idea in mind that they could potentially serve as a series finale, and one of them is a FullyAbsorbedFinale for ''Batman Beyond'' itself.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BattleTech'', the final two-part episode pits the main characters against the bad guys in a Trial of Possession for the main characters' home planet of Sommerset. When it finally breaks down to a hand to hand fight between the bad guy and the hero, it ends with the hero winning the planet... but not the people, including the hero's brother, who were all spirited off the planet. The series was not continued. Subsequent material published for the [[TabletopGame/BattleTech game]] revealed that the animated series was a ShowWithinAShow that was (in-universe) VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory and was canceled due to poor ratings.
* The French and Vietnamese dubs of ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' both ended after the second series, leaving fans with a massive, unresolved {{cliffhanger}}.
** One could argue that the series ''itself'' ended up like this. While the ''main'' plotline was largely resolved, the nature of the Vok aliens (who instigated some of the series' biggest episodes) and the origins of Tarantulas were not explained. This was a result of the series being [[ExecutiveMeddling rushed to completion so that the sequel]] ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' could begin. Simon Furman eventually revealed that the season 3 finale was originally to be a 3-parter that would end on a cliffhanger, leading in to season 4 - this SeasonFinale was to explain Taratulas' origins in detail and his motivations for hating the Vok (and would likely have resulted in Tigerhawk gaining a bigger role as well instead of [[DroppedABridgeOnHim being thrown conveniently under the bridge]]). The plot was rushed, and unexplained aspects of the story were left to the comic continuation.
* ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' was not picked up for another season, so it left behind some loose plot threads, such as Batman's allies coming together as the Outsiders, Harvey Dent becoming Two-Face, and Anarky still playing his twisted games.
* ''WesternAnimation/BlazingTeam'' was cancelled during its second season. The show was supposed to have 52 episodes, but ended up with 42. The show ends with Lao-Shi being rescued and Viki going into the realm. The show left plot points unresolved.
* The first and only season of ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'' ends with a series of dramatic events, including Joan sleeping with JFK, Scudworth being apprehended by the Board of Shadowy Figures, and all the clones being frozen. The show was cancelled and we never learned what became of anyone.
* The British adult claymation series ''Crapston Villas'' ended on a cliffhanger as a bus was about to crash into the titular apartment building.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cyberchase}}'' ran for nearly twenty years, ending its run in May 2020. However, the main characters were never able to cure Motherboard beforehand. Not helping matters is that the show focused less and less on the story arc of her virus as it went on.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Detentionaire}}'' ended on a cliffhanger, with most of the main characters [[spoiler:still in Coral Grove after defeating the main villains, one of the (supposedly dead) council members apparently about to attack the school with an army of lizard men, and a number of questions left unanswered (how involved with Coral Grove were Biffy's parents and Jenny's aunt, for example?)]] The creators did have plans for a fifth season; however, poor viewership in the US led to it getting cancelled.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'''s last episode, "Four Weddings Inconceivable", ends with the titular character about to remarry -- until his first wife, who has been presumed dead for the entire series, shows up.
--> '''Writer Michael Markowitz:''' We never formally planned Part II... and I'll never tell what I personally had in mind. I'm hoping to leave it to my heirs, for the inevitable day when Duckman is revived by future generations. Ah, the Spandex suits they'll wear, the hovercrafts they'll fly!
* ''WesternAnimation/Ducktales2017'' ended after three seasons and did get a GrandFinale, but nonetheless left one plot thread unsolved: TheStinger at the very end of "The Duck Night Returns!", where Jim Starling turns into Negaduck. Said scene was never acknowledged since then, not even in the Darkwing Duck-centric hour-long episode "Let's Get Dangerous!", and he could still be lurking around the sewers to this day...
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Fatherhood}}'' episode "The Birds, Bees, and Bindlebeep" ends with Norma announcing to Arthur that she is pregnant with their fourth child and Arthur freaking out about it, but because of the show's abrupt cancellation, the story was never concluded and the child's gender was never revealed.
* ''WesternAnimation/GaryAndMike'' ended with the duo framed for murder and cornered on a incomplete bridge by the police, Gary's father (whose looking to punish him for destroying the SUV, though that was Mike's doing) and Officer Dick (whose after Mike for sleeping with his daughter and costing him a promotion). With nothing left to lose, the duo decide to recreate ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise'' and drive off the bridge. The screen whitens as they do so and were given a "To Be Continued" but the show was cancelled after that.
* ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'' was only picked up for forty episodes, given more was unlikely to be made, some episodes were left open: Cameron Winter gets away with his crimes and never faces justice, we never learned what became of Dr. Perlon when he walked into the portal, Nick suspects the Tachyons might return, the Fire Monster has been accidentally released by a Shark, Colonel Tarrington then asks when Third Wave goes into production.
* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternTheAnimatedSeries'' ends with Aya coming to her senses when she accidentally hurts Razer, then reversing her attempt to rewrite the universe and destroying the remaining Manhunter army with a virus that also affects herself, then she disappears into the aether. At the end, Razer is convinced that she's still out there somewhere in space and goes off to find her, his hope for doing so causing a Blue Lantern ring to follow him.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' originally ended on this note, as the final episode ("The Journal") had Arnold find a map of the San Lorenzo jungle that could lead him to his lost parents' whereabouts. This was intended to be the lead-in to a second ''Hey Arnold!'' film, known as "The Jungle Movie", which would've resolved this (as well as Helga's long-standing crush on Arnold) but the low earnings of that first film led to Nickelodeon scrapping it and the show ending in 2002. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] over a decade later when, as part of slate of throwback TV movies for older Franchise/{{Nicktoons}}, ''[[WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheJungleMovie The Jungle Movie]]'' was announced as one of them [[SavedByTheFans thanks to years of fan demand]]. The film would air in 2017 and resolve the above plot points, with the door also left open for a potential continuation.
* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' ended with four seasons out of a planned eight due to [[ExecutiveMeddling higher-ups thinking the show was "too mature"]] for its target audience. Despite being a {{genre anthology}}, the cancellation left the overarching storyline involving [[spoiler:Amelia]] escaping the train unresolved and the whereabouts of [[spoiler:Hazel]] unknown. WordOfGod also confirmed that the fifth season, which had already been written by the time of cancellation, would have explored the former's backstory in-depth, as well as explain many lingering questions about the true Conductor and the nature of the train and the Wasteland.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' was cut short because it was ScrewedByTheMerchandise. It had a grand finale that did nothing to solve the overarching LoveTriangle between Riot, Jem, and Rio. Neither man even learns that [[TwoPersonLoveTriangle Jem and Jerrica are the same]].
* ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats In Outer Space'' ended with the group still wandering space, trying to find Earth.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'', the series ended with Juniper stopping Auntie Roon, however, while on a mission to stop some magical creatures, it is revealed that she's unknowingly being watched by her friend Jodie, who has gained the ability to see magical creatures herself through a mysterious book she's holding. While other plot points were also left unresolved, this was the biggest.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' originally ended on a TV Movie, ''The Doomstar Reqiuem'', with Dethklok finally shedding their selfish ways, saving Toki and apparently on the track to godhood. But Offdensen quits being their manager to become the new head of the Church of the Black Klok, Selectia is still plotting something with his Project Falconback and Murderface was pricked by a "fan"'s spiked braclet during the movie which injects him with something and seemingly will sow discord with the band later. So what happens next? Adult Swim and creator Brendon Small getting into a disagreement over creative differences, resulting in the series getting cancelled and the plot being left unresolved for almost a decade, at which point [as] greenlit a finale movie.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TheModifyers'' pilot ended with Agent Xero and Mole managing to reclaim the All-Seeing Eye but she loses her communication ring which the villains, who only know her by one of her other personas, Lacey Shadows, find on the floor. Thanks to a combination of the show never getting greenlit and the [[DiedDuringProduction death of one of the co-creators]], we'll never know what that would have happened next.
* The 1990's cartoon ''WesternAnimation/MummiesAlive'' ended with one of the minor characters (who'd been searching for proof of their existence) listening to fellow believers on his own radio show in what boils down into an extended ClipShow. The series was supposed to be picked up for another season, but this fell through due to low ratings.
* ''Oh No! It's an Alien Invasion'' is about a group of kids battling aliens that have captured and hidden their parents. In the final episode, [[spoiler:just as the kids find where their parents were hidden, TheDragon gets there first and hides them somewhere else]].
* ''WesternAnimation/PixelPinkie'': We are not shown how Nina and Anni felt about Pixel Pinkie being possibly out of their lives forever or how they even dealt with it after suddenly being transported back into Nina's room when their last wish to visit Pixel Pinkie's world wore off. Nina's opening lines just retroactively have her say, in sad resignation, that she has lost Pixel Pinkie for good.
* "Planet Kate", an ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'' short, ends with the audience never finding out what the alien dogs' mission is or why the map Kate made for a homework assignment happened to fit perfectly as the other half of a real map.
* ''WesternAnimation/PlanetSheen'' was quietly canceled following the quiet airing of the 24th episode in February 2013 [[note]]Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} [[ScrewedByTheNetwork gave the series]] TheFireflyEffect after the third episode aired and the abysmal ratings came in[[/note]], leaving the series to end on the sad note of Sheen never finding a way to return to Earth.
* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' wrapped up its Season 2 finale pretty conclusively with the Ninja (Randy) vanquishing the 800-year threat of [[BigBad the Sorcerer]] once and for all, but then episode ends with a mysterious man saying that [[SequelHook the Ninja's greatest battle has just begun]]. Since the show never got a third season, what this meant is never answered.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' started the "Daemon" storyline during the third season... only to find out that they weren't getting a fourth season. That one was left hanging for years until the TV movie ''Daemon Rising'' (which used "It's About Time!" as part of the advertising). Alas, ''[=ReBoot=]'' ended on ''another'' cliffhanger not long after. Other three movies entered into production, and a webcomic was being done on the official ''[=ReBoot=]'' website to bridge the storyline gap between the old and new material. But then it ended in ''another'' cliffhanger, and the movies ended up getting scrapped.
* ''{{WesternAnimation/Robotix}}'' ended with Nemesis, who had been presumed deceased, still alive in space. If the episodes had been picked up as a full series, he and the other Terrakors would have most likely returned to Skalorr to get revenge on the Protectons.
* ''WesternAnimation/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles'' details in its final season the invasion of Earth. AnyoneCanDie is established fairly quickly, the queen is on Earth, and the whole thing seems to be heading to a massive climax. Then Sony cut the funding three episodes from the end.
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' originally ended with an adventure where the title character helps a baby, having nothing to do with stopping Aku or getting back to the past. Eventually {{Subverted|Trope}}, as although Creator/GenndyTartakovsky couldn't resolve the SeriesGoal in a [[WhatCouldHaveBeen theatrical]] [[TheMovie movie]] as he wanted, he did produce a fifth season that wrapped up the series over a decade later.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shazzan}}'' ended with Chuck and Nancy still wandering the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' themed world, trying to find the true owner of the rings so they would be returned home.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SilverSurfer'' cartoon [[ShortRunners ended with thirteen episodes]], because [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Marvel went bankrupt]]. As such, the events of the final episode, which conclude with Thanos ''destroying all of the cosmos'', remain unresolved.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has an odd tendency to start episodes with one plotline [[HalfwayPlotSwitch that somehow activates another]], and what happened to initiate the new plotline is rarely, if ever mentioned again:
** A {{lampshad|eHanging}}ing occurred in the episode "A Tale of Two Springfields" when, after the plot had shifted, a badger who had been living in the dog-house tries to reassert itself, but Homer accusingly tells it that they're onto something else now. The episode ends with the badger [[RuleOfFunny leading an army of badgers to invade Springfield]] when they're [[ThePowerOfRock distracted by a concert]] by Music/TheWho.
** Lampshaded again in a different episode, where a supermarket [[RippedFromTheHeadlines bagging boy strike]] tangentially led to the family going on an African safari. As the family drifts down a dangerous river on a ''very'' makeshift raft, Homer wonders if the strike back home is over. His rant is cut short when they careen over Victoria Falls. After they survive this, they follow a monkey in hopes of finding their way back to civilization... as Homer continues to rant on why those bag boys don't deserve anything.
** Interestingly inverted in one episode where Homer, going crazy with ThrowingDownTheGauntlet to scare everyone, ends up offending someone who ''accepts'' his challenge and he and the family are forced to flee the house while he's waiting on the lawn. At the end of the episode when they return from a failed farming venture, Homer finds his opponent still waiting for him and they end up dueling after all.
** The episode, "Missionary Impossible", with Homer on an island, where he and a girl are at the top of a tower, which is about to fall into a lava flow with them in it. The episode's plot ends there as they get interrupted by a callback to the telethon fundraiser Homer ran away from in Springfield (and a joke about Rupert Murdoch being so greedy that the show's revenue from commercials and merchandise isn't enough).
* The tenth season of ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' is about a dozen of the main characters lost in time due to magical crystals traveling from time to time. As the show was cancelled after that (generally ill-received) season, it ends with it never known whether the Smurfs did return to their original time.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'': The final episode of Season 2, "The Doomsday Project", ends with Robotnik's sinister plot to launch doomsday pods all over Mobius ruined, and the city of Robotropolis can return to Mobotropolis as Dr. Robotnik is left to an unknown fate. Sonic and Sally realize their emotions for each other and kiss. But that's not it -- Snively tells Sonic not to be so happy as it's now ''his'' turn, and a mysterious red-eyed figure, revealed in a later interview to be Ixis Naugus, laughs threateningly behind him. Sadly, the show was canceled after Creator/{{Disney}} took over ABC.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' ends without Spider-Man finding Mary Jane.
** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManUnlimited'''s single season ended with Spidey still on Counter-Earth, Karen still unaware that [[spoiler: The High Evolutionary is her grandfather]], the tension in the ranks of the Knights of Wundagore unresolved, the Gobin's identity unrevealed (although it's pretty obvious where they were going) and oh yes, a cliffhanger involving a ''symbiote bomb''! At least, if you inteprete it as a sequel to ''The Animated Series'', it seems like Peter ''did'' find MJ. And promptly lost her again. [[spoiler: [[ComicBook/SpiderVerse Spider-Verse]] twists the knife even further with Unlimited!Spidey as well as the Knights of Wundagore getting killed off by an Inheritor.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheNewAnimatedSeries'': Peter defeats the Gaines Twins, but his friend Indy is injured thanks to them tricking Peter into attacking her. Harry, who was starting to come around that Spider-Man might not be so bad, goes back to hating him and Peter ultimately quits being Spider-Man and throws the costume into the Hudson River.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan.'' Did you enjoy seeing all your favorite major and minor characters from classic Spider-Man history and can't wait to see how they develop under the direction of writer Creator/GregWeisman? Want to know what kinds of juicy [[LoveTriangle drama]] will take place now that Gwen [[TheGlassesGottaGo hotted up]], and is stuck with a seemingly [[AvengingTheVillain revenge]]-[[YouKilledMyFather bent]] Harry Osbourn? Just how in the world did Norman survive that nasty explosion and what he's planning next? Does Peter end up with MJ or Gwen? [[ILetGwenStacyDie Does Gwen even live?]] Tough luck, tiger. Following Disney's buying Marvel in 2010, Sony made a deal to give up their TV rights to ''Spider-Man'' in order to keep control of the film rights, leading to the show getting cancelled.
** ''WesternAnimation/MarvelsSpiderMan'': Despite "Maximum Venom" being the finale, some plot points were left unresolved: The Lizard and Swarm are still on the loose. The Series ends with Spider-Man and his Friends choosing to build a School for young Heroes instead of joining the Avengers.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order, but so many plot resolves (i.e. What happens on Mandalore, what did Darth Sidious do to Darth Maul, "Did Palpatine really clone the Zillo Beast?", and "How do Poggle the Lesser and Wat Tambor escape from prison to be in ''Revenge of the Sith''?") were left hanging after the show got axed after season 5 ended. Fortunately, most of the plot points [[UnCanceled were resolved in season 7]], with the series returning on Disney+.
* ''WesternAnimation/StretchArmstrongAndTheFlexFighters'' was only picked up for 26 episodes rather than an expected 52. This led to some unresolved plot points, such as Rook still being in power and framing the Flex Fighters for crimes they didn't commit, Erika's newfound superpowers, Dr. C being in a coma, Agent Reynolds being replaced by Rook's mysterious ally, the Gentleman having plans for Rook's secret identity, and more.
* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' was cancelled before any plot points could be resolved. Some people say the cancellation was due to lack of toy sales, though co-creator Creator/GenndyTartakovsky later revealed that the cancellation was just as fueled by [[ExecutiveMeddling executives wishing the show to be more like]] ''Franchise/Ben10''.
* "Things Change", the final episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', was about two things. First, it was about Beast Boy finding a Terra look-alike and trying to figure out if it was really her. It was later [[AllThereInTheManual confirmed it was her]] in the comic series ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'', but the episode itself leaves it ambiguous; fair enough, the moral was having the strength to move on from the past... that said, the B-plot is a completely unexplained conflict between the other four Titans and some white alien chameleon thing. [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere It's never explained what it is, where it came from, why it's causing trouble, or how the Titans will catch it and defeat it.]] And the MadeForTVMovie that followed [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse never once mentions it.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' was confirmed to have ended in late 2018 when series co-creator Tom [=McGillis=] revealed that there were currently no plans for any more seasons after ''The Ridonculous Race'', a spin-off series which had finished airing three years prior. The reason being due to the show's fleeting demographics and the franchise's original reality TV spoofing gimmick no longer being marketable. As a result, many characters (such as Courtney, Harold and Leshawna) were never given proper sendoffs and many more plotlines were never given any kind of resolution. To add further salt to the wound, the sixth season finale ("Lies, Cries, and One Big Prize") ends on the cliffhanger of Dave being left behind on the island with Scuba Bear. Likewise, the GrandFinale to ''The Ridonculous Race'', as well as the entire show ("A Million Ways to Lose A Million Dollars"), ends with Don telling the viewers to "stay tuned for more Total Drama," implying that TDI will be back. Later subverted, as the show would be renewed for additional seasons years later.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' though the series ended with Optimus Prime and his friends capturing Megatron, Shockwave, and Lugnut, it wasn't meant to be the series finale; a fourth season was in production, but was cancelled when Hasbro decided to cut ties with Cartoon Network and [[Creator/TheHub create their own television network]]. Among the plot points left unresolved are Blackarnchnia plans to create an army of Predacons; Soundwave, Lockdown, and many other Decepticons still being on the loose; and Sari's backstory.
* ''WesternAnimation/TronUprising'' ended this way. We never find out how Clu managed to capture Tron and turn him into Rinzler, if Mara and Zed ever found out that Beck was the Renegade, if Beck ever proved to them that he did not kill Abel, if Paige ever underwent a HeelFaceTurn and joined Beck's side, and whatever happened to the uprising, Argon City, and virtually ''every single character in this show'' with the exceptions of Tron, Clu, Quorra, and Flynn.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' episode "Croquembouche". The episode is about Carver entering a food essay contest. Tino does his usual end-of-episode [[AnAesop Aesop]] routine while Carver presents his essay on the titular style of French cake, and the ep ends with people applauding Carver's speech without showing if he won or not.
* While ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' had a definitive finale in the episode "Graduation Day", the series had few unresolved plotlines: Friends Of Humanity organization is still out there and is implied to be even more powerful, an episode with Cannon suggested that shady Government agents will try to manipulate mutants to destroy each other and most importantly [[spoiler: Apocalypse had returned to plan more evil]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' spin-off ''WesternAnimation/WorldOfWinx'' stopped production following its second season, ending on an unresolved cliffhanger where the Winx's fairy identities were revealed to the world and Venomya reveals herself as the witch Baba Yaga who plots a rebellion against fairies on Earth.
* ''WesternAnimation/ZorroGenerationZ'' ends on the [[BigBad corrupt mayor]] losing his reelection campaign to a much more competent crime boss who also coopted most of his former henchmen in the process. And to stand against this new, greater better, Zorro and Scarlet Whip reveal their secret identities to each other. Because a second season never happened, the increased threat to the city and our hero was never resolved. Although strangely, the intro sequence that ''was'' made for the second season looks as if they would've gone back on this, showing the former villain a lot as if he'd be the main antagonist again.
[[/folder]]

* The Epic story of ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'' ended on (perhaps) the 4th, of its planned 11 chapters, when it was cut-short after its sequel, for a multitude of reasons but mainly because Creator/{{Sega}} could no longer afford to make the games any more, leaving not only the whole driving revenge plotline hanging but introducing us to new characters that would apparently answer many questions about the mysterious {{MacGuffin}}s, character motivations and if the world was MaybeMagicMaybeMundane. Eventually, a Kickstarter was announced for Shenmue III, which was funded within 12 hours, guaranteeing that the series would finally see its conclusion- or not, as that game ended on yet another cliffhanger.