History Main / PlotThreads

* ''WesternAnimation/AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' has several running at once. As of "The Widow's sting" we have: The breakout, the Kree-Skrull war, the SecretInvasion, Kang about to come from the future, the assembling of the Masters of Evil, the creation of the cosmic cube, Hydra's re-emerging, Widow's HeelFaceTurn FaceHeelTurn TheMole whatever she ''really'' might be, and I'm sure I'm missing out on several here.

* ''GundamSEED'' and its sequel series, Destiny Does this to the point where we hardly ever see the two main characters in some episodes.

* At one point, ''{{Homestuck}}'' collects so many plot threads that an omniscient character busts up a scrapbook containing clippings from the entire story and we spend around 150 pages jumping from character to character tying everything up like crazy in order to get everything ready for the massive [[AnimationBump End of Act 5 animation]].

* The ''{{Uncharted}}'' series does this in every incarnation except for the first game, though it always follows Nate, just at different points in time.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'' does this to the point of being mildly annoying, following not only the five main characters, but later on Naraku and all of his incarnations, Sesshomaru, Kikiyo, and other minor characters.

* ''InuYasha'' does this to the point of being mildly annoying, following not only the five main characters, but later on Naraku and all of his incarnations, Sesshomaru, Kikiyo, and other minor characters.

* ''FinalFantasyVIII'' Has the dream sequences, which turn away from Squall and the [=SeeD=] to give the player the chance to see Laguna's story from his days as a Galbadia soldier with a crush on Julia to [[spoiler: his days with Raine and rebellion in Esthar.]]

* ER did this with almost every episode. Not surprising, considering it was set in a very busy emergency room and had a huge cast.

Two plot threads allows for a wider, dual narrative that broadens what the viewer knows about the drama and setting, better allowing things like DramaticIrony. For example, if the [[LetsSplitUpGang gang chooses to split up]], you'll have the POV follow each as they investigate, so we the audience know more than the characters do... at least until they reunite and compare notes to discover it was [[ScoobyDooHoax old man Withers]] with glow in the dark paint. At it's most extreme, the action may follow two completely separate POV characters, cutting to and fro.

* '' Literature/{{Angelmaker}}'' generally focuses on two characters (Edie Banister in the past, Joe Spork in the present), but switches into tangents about other characters quite often.

* This was the way that ''FinalFantasyVI'' handled having a cast of 14 major playable characters, with four major characters being playable at any one time.
* ''FrontMission'' games often have two campaigns to play through, either by simply playing the game (''2'' and ''4''), by a gameplay choice (''3''), or by choosing it before starting a new game (the mobile phone version of ''2089'' and ''1st''). In ''2'', the story switches back and forth between three groups which the player controls. Even when all three groups merge, the story focus still changes every now and then. ''4'' switches back and forth between two groups, but unlike in ''2'', the two groups never merge.

Related tropes: LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging, SoapWheel, RotatingArcs, TwoLinesNoWaiting, ThirdLineSomeWaiting and FourLinesAllWaiting.

* ''SuperRobotWars'' sometimes does this for the sake of replayability. You may choose to play as one of the two or more different characters that aren't even related or related but get separated after the prologue. They also usually put plot points where the hero's team has to split up to do different missions in the different locations, but you may only follow one group at a time.

* ''FrontMission'' games often have a second campaign for the opposing side. Front Mission 4 switches back and forth between 2 groups the player controls.

* ''{{InuYasha}}'' does this to the point of being mildly annoying, following not only the five main characters, but later on Naraku and all of his incarnations, Sesshomaru, Kikiyo, and other minor characters.

* OlderThanSteam: ''TheMerchantOfVenice'', with its alternation between Venice and Belmont.

* ''WarriorCats'' generally swaps between two major plot threads, and a third, far-removed one.

* ''DragonQuestIV'', dubbed ''"Chapters of the Chosens,"'' narrates four different stories involve seven supporting characters who have their own quests and goals. You have to play through their chapters before the main hero/heroine recruits them in Chapter 5.

* ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'' has more than ten concurrent plotlines. Even [[http://www.captainsnes.com/2003/08/19/376-the-ass-episode/ this episode]] doesn't list them all, as there is also (among others) the subplot of ''ChronoTrigger'' characters trying to find Marle, whatever happens to Max Force and plotlines introduced during the Nexus City arc later.

Speaking of tone, this can vary depending on the number of Plot Threads. Generally, the less there are the more intimate the focus will be. The characters will rarely split up, and if they do the focus will always be on the lead. Whatever else is going on in the setting outside of the POV character's line of sight will only be seen via FlashBack, Monologue, or other narrative devices. This style tends to favor Action, Mystery and Suspense, we only know what our brave hero does, after all.

[[folder: Anime ]]

* OlderThanSteam: ''TheMerchantofVenice'', with its alternation between Venice and Belmont.

* ''TheMerchantofVenice'' makes it OlderThanSteam, though, with its alternation between Venice and Belmont. It would amaze me if there weren't a classical example, but I'm not much of a classicist.

* ''[[FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem Radiance Dawn]]'' has multiple acts, each follows different heroes/heroines and their armies. This causes the series's regular premise of LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters to be turned UpToEleven.

* ''DragonQuestIV'', dubbed ''"Chapters of the Chosens"'', narrates four different stories involve seven supporting characters who have their own quests and goals. You have to play through their chapters before the main hero/heroine recruit them in Chapter 5.

* ''SuperRobotWars'' sometime does this for a sake of the replay ability. You may choose to play as one of the two or more different characters that aren't even related or related but get separated after the prologue. They also usually put plot points where the hero's team has to split up to do different missions in the different locations, but you may only follow one group at a time.