History Main / SaveScumming

* ''ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics'': One Mickey Mouse story had the Phantom Blot invent a device that literally allows him to ''save the timeline at a point'' and then reload from there, with the guy owning the device remembering everything--allowing himto commit thefts by just walking in at the right moment the police were distracted from his target by something else and snatching it and run circles around Mickey and the police. However, the device allows for a single save point at any one time, deleting the previous ones as it generates the newest one, so once Goofy (who was doing the same with an actual video game) figured out what he was doing, it was just a matter of jumping him right after he saved, because at that point no matter how many times he reloaded he'd ''still'' get jumped.

Other games, however, especially Japanese-made games designed with the "maniacs" in mind, not only validate it as a tactic, but make it utterly mandatory for OneHundredPercentCompletion. The InfinityPlusOneSword is not only dropped only by the ultra-difficult {{Superboss}}, but it only has a 1% chance of dropping it, and there is only one of that boss in the game. Beating the boss once after a theoretically infinite number of save scummings may just be a fluke, but beating a difficult boss 50 to 500 times in a row shows not only mastery of the game, [[{{Determinator}} but also]] [[BladderOfSteel superhuman patience]]. Likewise, the Trophy system for the [=PS3=] and [=PS4=] and the Achievements system for the Xbox brand consoles starting with Xbox 360 require multiple playthroughs unless you utilize this.

Some games modify this by giving you limited numbers of saves (similar to VideoGameLives but perhaps allowing some strategy), bonuses for low numbers of saves, or [[DeletionAsPunishment immediately erasing/saving a game whenever you die or do something important]] (Iron Man mode). Another method of circumventing this is to set the [=RNGs=] for various events at the start of a new file with nothing else but said events affecting them, resulting in outcomes that are random but cannot be changed by reloading. Some games actually detect whether you cheated by Save-Swapping, trying to obfuscate the game which deletes a saved game by manually putting back a copy of said save file right after deletion by the game into its save folder. Even worse, wiser games will even [[EasyModeMockery call you out for actually trying to feed it an invalid saved file]] or rewrite the game program into autosave mode which disabled loading from savefile.[[note]]In the finest tradition of an arms race, players sometimes respond by digging into the game's files themselves, either to create backup copies of their saves in places the game can't touch them, or to manually edit the save file itself.[[/note]]

* In ''Manga/UQHolder'', this is Kirie's form of immortality: she can set a "save point", and if she dies, she returns to that point in time. She can use this to dodge the attacks of far more powerful opponents by repeatedly dying to them and learning how they fight.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' contains an in-universe example. By playing the Song of Time, Link can rewind time to the start of the game's three-day cycle. As a player, this means you can go back knowing information that you normally wouldn't be able to learn until later, such as the code for the Bomber's Hideout and the winning numbers for the Lottery Shop.

* Natsuki Subaru from ''LightNovel/ReZero'' has the ability that he calls "Return by Death" which allows him to go back in time to a "save point", with only himself remembering what happened. However, he has no control over when a "save point" occurs, and can only return to it by dying, so it's not an ability he uses lightly.

Other games, however, especially Japanese-made games designed with the "maniacs" in mind, not only validate it as a tactic, but make it utterly mandatory for OneHundredPercentCompletion. The InfinityPlusOneSword is not only dropped only by the ultra-difficult BonusBoss, but it only has a 1% chance of dropping it, and there is only one of that boss in the game. Beating the boss once after a theoretically infinite number of save scummings may just be a fluke, but beating a difficult boss 50 to 500 times in a row shows not only mastery of the game, [[{{Determinator}} but also]] [[BladderOfSteel superhuman patience]]. Likewise, the Trophy system for the [=PS3=] and [=PS4=] and the Achievements system for the Xbox brand consoles starting with Xbox 360 require multiple playthroughs unless you utilize this.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles: Ring of Fates''. When you beat the final boss, he will try to go to another reality to defeat you, but gets trapped in a stable time loop. He's stuck Save Scumming the rest of his life! FridgeHorror: [[AndIMustScream YIKES]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': A one-off antagonist gained the ability to travel back in time twenty seconds at a time through sheer force of will, allowing him to get away with crimes completely unimpeded by undoing mistakes and even beats Batman in a fight by memorizing his moves over multiple resets. [[spoiler:In the end, he even manages to reset his life back seventeen years to before he ever started his crime, and [[MyGreatestSecondChance he chooses not to go down that route this time]].]]

[[folder:Anime &Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', [[spoiler:Photoshop Flowey]] ''[[RoleReversalBoss pulls this on the player]]''. Using [[spoiler: the Six Human Souls]], He carries out a save state just before unleashing an attack, then will load the state should the player successfully avoid it to provide another chance at getting struck. [[spoiler:Then at the end of the fight, he pretends to have a VillainousBreakdown before rewinding all the way to the beginning of the fight, but with a troll face]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': This is the function of Time players within Sburb, which every session has at least one of. Their job is to preserve the AlphaTimeline by going back and resetting things when something goes wrong.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' this is the function of a "Hero of Time" player, which every session has at least one of. Their job is to preserve the Alpha timeline and basically go back and reset things if something goes wrong.

* Parodied (with some bonus NightmareFuel) in a ''Persona 4'' [[http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/512222/ fan comic.]]

* Jonah Yu of ''Webcomic/SkinHorse'' got this power while in the headquarters of [[GovernmentConspiracy Anasigma]], with a fixed savepoint that he couldn't update, the reason being rather unclear at the time, as is how long it would keep working.

Some games modify this by giving you limited numbers of saves (similar to VideoGameLives but perhaps allowing some strategy), bonuses for low numbers of saves, or [[DeletionAsPunishment immediately erasing/saving a game whenever you die or do something important]] (Iron Man mode). Another method of circumventing this is to set the [=RNGs=] for various events at the start of a new file with nothing else but said events affecting them, resulting in outcomes that are random but cannot be changed by reloading. Some games kick it UpToEleven by actually detecting whether you cheated by Save-Swapping, trying to obfuscate the game which deletes a saved game by manually putting back a copy of said save file right after deletion by the game into its save folder. Even worse, wiser games will even [[EasyModeMockery call you out for actually trying to feed it an invalid saved file]] or rewrite the game program into autosave mode which disabled loading from savefile.[[note]]In the finest tradition of an arms race, players sometimes respond by digging into the game's files themselves, either to create backup copies of their saves in places the game can't touch them, or to manually edit the save file itself.[[/note]]

* WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}} did a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt2uyDqbA-Q hilarious take]] on the concept of [[{{MST}} riffing]]: One guy uploaded a playthrough of ''Kaizo Mario World'' that was almost unbearable since he reloaded his save states and ''every single time he did so'' was kept in the final product. Needless to say, there were many many '''many''' such times. {{LetsPlay/Slowbeef}} chose to not riff it in the traditional way; rather, he read from John Stuart Mill's ''On Liberty'' and started his last incomplete sentence over along with saying the name of the guy's emulator every time the guy reloaded a save state. Naturally, [[UpToEleven he had to do this many, many times.]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ComicBook/DisneyMouseAndDuckComics:
** One Mickey Mouse story had the Phantom Blot invent a device that literally allows him to ''save the timeline at a point'' and then reload from there, with the guy owning the device remembering everything--allowing himto commit thefts by just walking in at the right moment the police were distracted from his target by something else and snatching it and run circles around Mickey and the police. However, the device allows for a single save point at any one time, deleting the previous ones as it generates the newest one, so once Goofy (who was doing the same with an actual video game) figured out what he was doing, it was just a matter of jumping him right after he saved, because at that point no matter how many times he reloaded he'd ''still'' get jumped.

* In ''FanFic/HarryPotterAndTheMunchkins,'' Harry's ChosenOne status manifests as him being the only empowered protagonist alive, meaning he has MentalTimeTravel abilities. He can load anytime, anywhere, but owls are his [[JustifiedSavePoint justified save points]]. He spends months and ''years'' worth of virtual time on getting certain things 'just right.'
* Can happen in RPGMechanicsVerse-based works, where the characters are aware that this is an option. Often provided by a SuddenGameInterface.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Specifically noted as one of the Gamemaster's powers in ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'', as unlike the normal characters, he ''remembers'' stuff after a reload, rather than getting intuition and deja vu from it. Also noted as having limitations- he can only reload if he's still in the same world where he saved.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Grrl Power}}'' In one instance while scouting out a possible Bad Guy Hangout, [[spoiler: Krona, the reality hacker, sets a 'Checkpoint' program on Sydney in case anything happens.]] Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Krona learns that she can only affect local time, so that although the save scum triggers and resets everyone nearby to their previous position, the Bad Guy is alerted when time rewrites itself. It's revealed that time outside the local area continued normally, and Krona ended up shelving the program out of fear of breaking time and/or reality.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Paranatural}}'': Agent Stix has the power to rewind herself, allowing her to avoid lethal attacks even if her closest safe spot was hours ago. Unfortunately, it also rewinds her ''mind''; as far as she knows, she never uses her power and never makes mistakes, so she's a bit arrogant and annoyed that her coworkers tend to stop her right before she does anything interesting.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* How time works in a universe with this in play is ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s #17 [[http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_388_27-science-lessons-as-taught-by-famous-video-games/ Science Lesson As Taught by Famous Video Games.]]

* WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}} did a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt2uyDqbA-Q hilarious take]] on the concept of [[{{MST}} riffing]]: One guy uploaded a playthrough of ''Kaizo Mario World'' that was almost unbearable since he reloaded his save states and ''every single time he did so'' was kept in the final product. Needless to say, there were many many '''many''' such times. {{LetsPlay/Slowbeef}} chose to not riff it in the traditional way; rather, he read from John Stuart Mill's ''On Liberty'' and started his last incomplete sentence over along with saying the name of the guy's emulator every time the guy reloaded a save state. Naturally, [[UpToEleven he had to do this many, many times.]]

* Lets Player ''LetsPlay/{{raocow}}'' [[InsistentTerminology doesn't does save states, he does "demos" to showcase various ways you can die,]] [[BlatantLies or he conveniently stumbles onto a secret midpoint hidden by the developer.]] Though in recent times he's cut back on demos as well to try and beat the {{ROM Hack}}s he plays legit.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FutTIrFJyo0 This]] WebVideo/CalebCity video shows what happens to your party members when you're the one quicksaving.

Averted in ''VideoGame/TwoDark''. The only way to save through smoking a cigarette, which requires the player to combine them with a lighter and so takes a few seconds and can only be done in a safe place. Moreover, Smith's lungs will give out if they smoke too many.

* ''Webcomic/{{Parantural}}'': Agent Stix has the power to rewind herself, allowing her to avoid lethal attacks even if her closest safe spot was hours ago. Unfortunately, it also rewinds her ''mind''; as far as she knows, she never uses her power and never makes mistakes, so she's a bit arrogant and annoyed that her coworkers tend to stop her right before she does anything interesting.

A SubTrope of NotTheIntendedUse. See also: SaveGameLimits, which attempt to curtail this, and TrialAndErrorGameplay. Compare BrainUploading. {{Autosave}} may be implemented to prevent this. Has nothing to do with collecting slime or [[SaveTheVillain saving 'scum']].

'''If the example explicitly involves TimeTravel rather than reloading a game, see ResetButton.'''

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma Kamijou uses a form of this in NT Vol 9. [[spoiler:Othinus can't afford for him to die, but wants to break his will, so she kills him and brings him back over and over again. After over '''10,000''' sessions, she is shocked to find that not only is he not insane or traumatized, he has memorized her attack patterns and can now effortlessly evade her attacks despite remaining physically inferior to her in every way.]]
* ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'' and ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'': Whis can do this by reversing time by up to three minutes, although considering he is effectively the strongest character in the setting, it's more often done to correct the mistakes of others rather than his own. Its only drawback is that he can't do it twice in a row, so there is only one chance to correct the mistake.
* ''LightNovel/JuniTaisenZodiacWar'': [[spoiler: Rat's special ability allows him to experience 100 outcomes at once, selecting one that becomes reality while erasing the others. In most cases, the differences are so minute that it doesn't matter and some outcomes are unavoidable no matter what he tries. This includes him failing to ask a girl out 100 different ways, and being unable to avoid participating in the Juni Taisen no matter what he tried. Because it requires him to experience all 100 realities before selecting one, his power takes an enormous physical and mental toll on him. The 99 realities he rejects leave behind echoes that cause other people to wonder HaveWeMet]].
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Izanagi effectively works this way (at the cost of eye-sight). When an undesired result occurred, reality resets back to before that result so the person initiating Izanagi can change the course of events and have things go how they want.
* Gaku starts doing this in Chapter 11 of ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia''. [[spoiler: By using her phone to link up with herself in other quantum realities, she can find out any possible outcome of any choice, and ultimately pick the best one. Even better(?), when one of her alternate lives ends, she gets all of its memories, meaning that as a 15 year old girl who has never lifted a gun, she is an expert marksman, and has multiple college degrees.]]
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', Homura can use her time manipulation powers to this effect. [[spoiler:Specifically, she's been using them in hopes of finding the "perfect sequence" [[ScreeningTheCall that will keep Madoka]] from making the DealWithTheDevil to turn her into a MagicalGirl, with all the horrible things that implies in this world, [[ThePromise per her request]]. Since Creator/GenUrobuchi, the series's script writer got his start making VisualNovels, this is probably a subtle nod to the practice.]] Not to mention that slowing and stopping time is a favorite trick of Tool-Assisted Speedrunners, with the same weaknesses inherent in the ability. Too bad Homura [[spoiler:only has one save state...]]
* ''LightNovel/TheRepriseOfTheSpearHero'': Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero, learns that his spear has the power to return him to the beginning of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' when the heroes were summoned whenever he, the Sword Hero, Bow Hero, or Shield Hero die. He tries to use this to correct his past mistakes and make an ending where they all live happy.

* ''Manhwa/SkeletonSoldierCouldntProtectTheDungeon'': The skeleton soldier doesn't just resurrect on death, he goes back in time with all his memories and experience intact. This lets him grind for experience a bit on the mercenaries who ordinarily would have been far outside his ability to defeat.

* ''LightNovel/DateALive'': Kurumi uses this to [[spoiler:protect Shidou from the attacks of DEM]], using MentalTimeTravel. This has a gruelling effect on her psyche. The enemies she's fighting against, who don't have RippleEffectProofMemory but still figure out what she's doing from her unexpected successes, decide to simply let her continue until she breaks.

** Tends to pop out in ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'': time travelers can use their [[TimeMachine chronosails]] to travel back in time after getting a result they don't like (they tend to do it only on small scale due them being GenreSavvy about the ButterflyEffect). Specific instances are:
*** in "The Wind of Time" the Raider, after getting his ass kicked by Paperinik, travels in time and has Paperinik's ambush sprung by Angus and the police, forcing him to run and let him steal what he wanted. Upon learning of this, Paperinik [[LampshadeHanging complains that the Raider is practically undefeatable]], and he's arrested by the TimePolice only after he's lured in the one moment he ''can't'' time travel his way out of trouble;
*** in a short story Trip, the son of the Raider, pulls this to perform the decisive save in an hockey match. Then he decides to do it again with his eyes closed, only for the Raider (who was watching the match) to alter probability and have him lose, teaching him to not cheat at sports;
*** in "Nothing Personal" Odin Eidolon performs a variant: to prevent the BadFuture that happened after [[spoiler:the Raider's death]] and [[spoiler:Trip becoming the Griffin and causing the BadFuture]], he kidnapped Trip from slightly before the mission in which [[spoiler: the Raider's died]], causing the Raider to abort the mission and learn what would happen. After returning to the future with Trip, the Raider implies having performed another save scum to still perform the mission without Paperinik getting involved or him [[spoiler:dying]].

* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': Subverted with Kang the Conqueror. He admits he can easily go back in time and replay his losses to achieve victory. He also acknowledges he can just go back and stop the Avengers from ever being born. However, Kang finds the Avengers far too worthy foes to take such an easy victory. He wants the satisfaction of beating them in their primes and on their own terms. To simply replay his losses to make them wins would be cheating and Kang knows that undermines any victory he could boast.
* ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansXMen'' reveals that [[spoiler:Moira [=MacTaggert=] ]]has a mutant power that works like this. When she dies, her consciousness returns to the moment of her birth and she restarts her life with full knowledge of the ones that came before. She's spent nine lives trying to find a harmonious solution to the problem of human/mutant relations; the series (and by extension all her previous appearances) show her tenth and possibly final attempt.

* [[StalkerWithACrush Romilda Vane]] utilizes her MentalTimeTravel powers this way in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12407725/1/A-Question-of-When A Question of When]]'', spending countless lifetimes trying to figure out the best way to convince Harry Potter that they would be perfect together.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9375550/1/Rise-From-Ash Rise From Ash,]]'' Loki discovers that the timeless Void Space he fell into at the end of [[Film/{{Thor}} the first movie]] makes an inadvertent Save Point. This comes in handy when the universe is destroyed shortly after, and he makes use of save scumming as he tries to find a sequence of events to avert the apocalypse.

* ''[[Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops The Infinite Loops]]'' plays with this on a multiversal scale. With all of reality damaged, each major universe uses a specific time frame to stabilize itself, with "Anchors" from those points retaining all the memories of each loop. Typically, the starting point of these loops are when the Anchor's adventures first began, and ends either at the end point of their final adventure, or at the most currently revealed portion, and the Anchor is allowed to fiddle with whatever they wish as long as it doesn't result in any further cosmic damage. Although most of the time the loops follow their "baseline" events, time to time a "variation" pops up with an alternate history or other changes, but they all start at the same general "save point".

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}'' features the Eye of Agamotto as an artifact of powerful time-related magic. Under most circumstances, it can shift the user through time in the dimension it's in. [[spoiler:The good doctor defeats Dormammu by casting a spell that brings a limited amount of time to the Dark Dimension ([[{{Foreshadowing}} which had been repeatedly referred to as an ominous "realm outside of time"]]) to ensure that his death will instead reset him to the beginning of their confrontation. From Strange's point of view, all he has to do is walk forward and make a deal: Dormammu leaves the Material Plane forever and he'll undo his spell. However, Dormammu and the rest of the Dark Dimension are not subject to the same resetting timestream, and so he is subject to [[GroundhogDayLoop sorcerer after sorcerer stepping forward with the same demand, each one replacing the previous one]]. Eventually, Dormammu [[RageQuit tires of killing Strange over and over and accepts]].]]
* The primary premise of ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow''. William Cage hijacks the Mimic's ability to start a day over, which means every time he dies he ends up at the beginning of the loop. With a little prompting from another character who went through the same thing, he uses this ability to gain months or years worth of combat experience in seemingly no time at all. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Cage hijacks the aliens a second time by killing the Omega Mimic, which results in all the aliens dying before the human counter-attack even happens.]]
* A rare dark (almost as dark as it gets) example is in ''Film/FunnyGames'': just when it seemed that the heroes managed to turn the tables on the sadist killers, the latter ([[BreakingTheFourthWall with a wink to the audience]]) literally '''rewinded''' the film and made necessary changes. Although used only once, this move instils [[TooBleakStoppedCaring crushing sense of helplessness on the audience]].
* ''Film/GroundhogDay'' is based on this premise -- the protagonist can do whatever he likes, because everything is back to normal each morning in his endlessly-repeating February 2nd.
* It seems like ''Film/MenInBlack3'' has Agent J use this, [[spoiler: but a close eye or repeated watchings will show you that the pattern changed between attempts. You have to remember, Boris got to time jump too.]]
* The movie ''Film/{{Next}}'' essentially featured a character capable of doing this in real life. Being able to see two minutes into your future has its perks...
* The short film ''[[http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2015/07/08/the-most-adorable-and-awesome-sci-fi-love-story-ever-the-one-minute-time-machine-video/ One-Minute Time Machine]]'' is all about a guy repeatedly skipping back in time to have another try at chatting up a girl.
* In the film ''Film/SourceCode'', the protagonist experiences (via simulation) the last 8 minutes in the life of a schoolteacher who is doomed to die in an explosion on a commuter train. However, when he dies, he gets restarted at the start of those 8 minutes. So, basically, his mission is to savescum to find out who blew up the train. Notably, he does not have an infinite number of retries, as time advances normally outside the simulation.
* ''Film/{{The Time Machine|2002}}'' (2002) uses this as a focal point of the plot. The Protagonist invents a time machine specifically to try to prevent a past tragedy. We see him failing to prevent that event every time he travels back in time. It is implied he has tried many more times than the audience has seen.
* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', this is essentially how the X-Men in the BadFuture stay ahead of the Sentinels for so long; every time they are about to be wiped out, Kitty sends one of them (usually Bishop) a few days into the past to alert them and avoid the situation that led to them being trapped in the first place.
[[/folder]]

* The light novel ''LightNovel/AllYouNeedIsKill'' (and, by extension, the film ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow'') play off as ''real-life'' save scumming in the form of a GroundhogDayLoop.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' Novel ''The Escape,'' Torres, Kim, and Neelix are searching a seemingly deserted planet when they accidentally activate a TimeTravel device, violating the laws of the aliens who inhabit the various timelines on the planet. All attempts to escape by the trio are thwarted by the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens seemingly omniscient aliens,]] who are really just rewinding the timeline to before the team makes their attempts, sometimes requiring several iterations before the aliens found a favorable outcome.
* Two examples from ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' and its sequel ''Literature/{{Ward}}'':
** Coil can do something like this. His power allows him to split his perception between two nearly perfect simulations of the near future, separated a decision point that he controls. Having observed two possible futures, he selects one and acts it out, which allows him to try out a pair of strategies while remaining safe and then choose the optimal one. He uses this to great effect in manipulating economics and [[DiabolicalMastermind taking over the city.]] It should be noted that per WordOfGod Coil doesn't fully understand his power and thinks he is actually creating two alternate realities and then deleting one of them every time he uses his ability.
** Imp's power causes others to [[PerceptionFilter completely fail to notice her with any of their senses,]] and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forget having ever perceived her or anything she's done that they've observed]]. It's on by default, but she can suppress it to allow others to notice her. She uses it to "replay" conversations and interactions with others until she gets the result she wants, by causing people to forget anything she has done and trying again.

* One episode of ''{{Series/Andromeda}}'' has Trance Gemini doing this (from her perspective) during an encounter with a marauding alien intruder. Her repeated attempts are depicted as pruning a bonsai tree, interspersed with the "real world" events in each attempt, as she tries to find the most favorable outcome.
* In an episode of ''Series/BeingErica'', Erica is given the power to manipulate time within a single day and uses it to repeatedly hit the reset button on events that don't go her way, including a huge fight with her boyfriend: unfortunately, the boyfriend realizes what she's up to and is horrified at what he sees as a violation of his free will.
* The ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' episode "Déjà Vu All Over Again" features a GroundhogDayLoop. The antagonist is the only one who retains his memory, so his performance against the heroes improves each time. Eventually, Phoebe's power of premonition allows her to retain the memory of the loop, allowing them to defeat the villain for good and break the loop.
* In ''Series/DayBreak2006'', Detective Brett Hopper is framed for murder and has to unravel the conspiracy while experiencing a GroundhogDayLoop. While this means he has to do a lot of things over and over again, he finds he can effectively save his progress if he gets certain peripheral things right, eg. once he manages to convince his police partner's ex-boyfriend to go to rehab, he finds that the guy reaches that decision on his own every subsequent day.
* The plot of ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' effectively centers on this. The BigBad Shiro Kanzaki instigated the Rider Wars as part of a plan to prevent his IllGirl sister Yui's death; every time he failed to do so, he would use his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Kamen Rider Odin's [=TimeVent=] powers to reset back to an earlier point in time and try again. Eventually, Yui is able to convince her brother that she wouldn't want to live if it meant sacrificing other peoples' lives, and he makes peace with her passing, {{RetCon}}ning the events of the series out of existence.
* In ''Series/MashinSentaiKiramager'', ResetButton Jamen had the ability to do this. By triggering his ability, he could restart his attack with full knowledge of what the Kiramagers would do so he could counter them, even surprising Kiramei Pink by saying her CatchPhrase to her.
* In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', Curtis's power to rewind time is frequently used this way.
* In the ''Series/OddSquad'' episode "6:00 to 6:05", Olive and Otto arrive at Headquarters at 6:00 and a disaster is destroying Headquarters five minutes later. Oscar has an experimental time machine but it's only powerful enough to send them back five minutes, to when they first arrived at Headquarters. Olive and Otto have to live through the same five minutes for several iterations to figure out what went wrong and how to stop it.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** Played relatively straight, albeit in a quite intricate manner in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Cause and Effect", when the Enterprise and her crew are trapped in a timeloop with the ship's destruction marking the loop's "reset point". Over the course of the episode the crew become aware of their fate and develop a way in which they can send information necessary to prevent the chain of event's catastrophic outcome to their (from an outside point of view) future selves.
** On the ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS1E07MagicToMakeTheSanestManGoMad "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad"]], Harry Mudd is revealed to have technology that creates a 30 minute time loop which allows him to seize control of the ''Discovery'' by progressing further and further every loop using what he's learned from the previous one. It's not stated how many times it happens, but Harry ''hates'' Lorca, having been shown taking great delight in finding new ways to kill him, but at the end is so tired of killing him he's willing to let him live.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone2002'': "Rewind" features Jonah Beach, who gains a magic device that can rewind time up to five minutes. He uses it to make it big at the casino by correcting his mistakes when he plays poker. Unfortunately, he gets greedy and doesn't quit while he is ahead. The casino figures out what is going on (as the owner has a device as well) and confiscates his device, causing him to lose everything.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone2019'': "Replay" features a black woman named Nina, who along with her son Dorian runs afoul of a racist cop who ends up killing Dorian. Nina discovers her camcorder can rewind time and uses it to replay the scenario over and over, repeatedly trying to stop the cop or avoid him. In the end, she succeeds in stopping him. [[spoiler:In an epilogue several years later, where Nina is a grandmother, Dorian's daughter accidentally breaks the camcorder, leaving them with no way out as Dorian apparently runs into racist cops again.]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone'': During "The 11th Hour" arc, Our Heroes are trapped in a GroundhogDayLoop where a doomed town relives the same hour of time over and over again. If the die the time resets. This comes in handy toward the end of the arc where they must traverse a trap- and monster-laden abandoned mine. Although it causes the EldritchAbomination controlling the Loop no end of minor annoyance...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Through a series of exploits, in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'''s 3.5 edition, it was possible to cast a series of spells on a psicrystal which would allow you to use it as a "save crystal" of sorts; you would cast a spell that would let you roll back to the start of the round, then a second spell that suspended the crystal in time for a day. If you didn't cancel the spell when it came back, it would then reset time to the start of the round prior to putting the crystal into suspension, resulting in you "reverting" to your last save state.
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[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Wyoming does something like this in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' by rewinding time every time he dies so he can carry out his evil scheme properly. Unfortunately for him, Tucker is aware of these resets and uses his knowledge of what will happen to defeat Wyoming.
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* Zoss in ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'' [[spoiler:has been living through a GroundhogDayLoop consisting of chosing a successor, mentoring them through TheHerosJourney and ultimately see them take down [[BigBad the Seven]] and become supreme ruler of the universe, before it is reset back to the start.]] [[spoiler:It's eventually revealed that this is not his doing, but rather [[GreaterScopeVillain Metatron 1]], who's been forcing the loop to reset through Zoss. Chosing Allison, who deffinitely does not fit the requirements of the Successor, is his attempt at breaking the cycle]].
* One ''Webcomic/{{Nodwick}}'' comic, Nodwick accidentally touched a mystic artifact that allowed him to return to the point in time when he touched it at will. In order to get the crew to correctly stop the EndOfTheWorld, he has to come back so many times that he becomes a master fighter, wizard, and cleric in the process. After stopping the threat, Yeagar, Artax, and Piffany erase his memory so they don't have to deal with having a henchman who's more of a badass than they are.

* Qin Xu of ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' can rewind time short distances, represented by a row of panels to the side of the comic displaying whatever he just averted.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': In "Seconds", the VillainOfTheWeek, Francis Gray, has the power to rewind time, but only by a few seconds. He still manages to defeat Batman with it simply by rewinding every time he loses and avoiding whatever had gotten him the last time (and on one occasion, to undo a lame BondOneLiner and use a better one instead). In the end, [[spoiler:he triggers a massive gas leak that kills hundreds, including Batman and his own son. His [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone ensuing trauma and guilt]] somehow supercharges his power and sends him back several years, before he ever went to prison and acquired his power. This time, [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong he chooses not to become a criminal]], and becomes a happy repairman with his still-alive son as his apprentice]].
* The Snake Miraculous in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' has the power of "Second Chance", which allows the user to mark down a specific point in time and then return to that point at will, retaining their memories. This can be done an unlimited number of times, but can only be used within a five minute window of the initial reset point.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': In "The Vat of Acid Episode", Morty asks Rick to make a remote to utilize reloading any moment he saves at. With it, Morty uses to commit various actions and crimes free as he pleases, he also makes a new girlfriend, that is until Jerry resets their relationship entirely. [[spoiler:Unfortunately as Morty found out, Rick reveals that Morty was actually traveling to parallel realities each time he did a "reset", and by doing so, he sacrificed a Morty from that reality who melted in agony before being replaced.]]
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A SubTrope of NotTheIntendedUse, See also: SaveGameLimits, which attempt to curtail this, and TrialAndErrorGameplay. Compare BrainUploading. {{Autosave}} may be implemented to prevent this. Has nothing to do with collecting slime or [[SaveTheVillain saving 'scum']].

A SubTrope of NotTheIntendedUse, See also: SaveGameLimits, which attempt to curtail this, and TrialAndErrorGameplay. If this explicitly involves TimeTravel rather than reloading the game, see ResetButton. Compare BrainUploading. {{Autosave}} may be implemented to prevent this. Has nothing to do with collecting slime or [[SaveTheVillain saving 'scum']].