History Main / SequelReset

* ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy'': Justified in ''Wake Up, Ron Burgundy'', which is a faux-sequel compiled from the massive amounts of {{Deleted Scene}}s (including an entire dropped sub-plot) left on the cutting room floor.
* ''Film/AustinPowers: International Man of Mystery'' ends with the titular hero having undergone CharacterDevelopment, allowing him to mature and adjust his free-spirited Swinging Sixties ways to the more conservative but still liberated nineties, and setting him up in married life with his partner, Vanessa. So the beginning of the second movie reveals that Vanessa [[RoboticReveal was actually a robot]] and blows her up, which Austin mourns for maybe five seconds before realizing that means he's single again and instantly reverts to his immature old ways. This is of course a parody of ''Film/JamesBond'' movies and the [[GirlOfTheWeek Bond Girls]]. The ''Bond'' movies usually don't even hint at what happened to previous Bond girls. Austin Powers used the most ridiculous explanation possible, and didn't offer one at all for the third movie.
* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' actually qualifies, since the SequelHook at the end of [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 the first movie]] was actually [[PoesLaw a joke ending]] in the vein of AndTheAdventureContinues, because a sequel was never planned at that point[[labelnote:*]]The writers have said that if it ''was'', they never would have put Jennifer in the car, and the sequels go through a lot of trouble to write her out of the story[[/labelnote]]. While that ending is where ''Part II'' begins, where this trope comes in is an added moment where Biff witnesses the [=DeLorean=] disappear in the first film's ending, setting up him seeing it again in 2015 and stealing it to kick-start the real plot of Part II and eventually Part III.

* The end of the original ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' makes it pretty clear that Connor [=McCleod=] is the last immortal at the end and has won the prize, but then they made sequels, and a TV show, and a spinoff. "There can be only one," until there's more money to be made. [[Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer The third movie]] especially felt like a by-the-numbers remake more than a sequel. With a DiabolusExMachina villain. Apparently the game can reset if it realizes it forgot somebody; that's basically the whole plot of the movie.

* ''Film/MajorLeagueII'' had the characters back for a new season, and sucking again, trying to overcome new problems. Basically, the second movie was the leads having the success of the first movie go to their heads. Also, the first movie ends with the team winning the division title and reaching the playoffs. The sequel reveals that they were swept in the playoffs and are trying to get back there, which they do. The second movie ends with them winning the League Championship Series and earning a berth in the World Series. Odds are pretty good that the original plan for the third movie was to reveal that they lost the World Series so they could then try to accomplish ''that''.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' ends with Will and Elizabeth happily in love and Captain Jack Sparrow free and aboard his ship at last, and extremely wealthy thanks to all the plunder the ''Black Pearl'' had accumulated in ten years of marauding (even without the cursed Aztec gold, there was quite a hoard in the pirates' cave). So of course ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'' has Will and Elizabeth torn apart (on their wedding day, no less), the treasure sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and Jack in danger of losing his ship and life again.

* All the original ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movies. The [[Film/TheTerminator first movie]] uses a StableTimeLoop. Instead of just showing the future that was [[YouCantFightFate destined to happen]], they wanted to capitalize on the formula formed by the first, which was impossible with how they used TimeTravel in the first movie. What did they do? They ''changed the rules of the universe'' (not being able to agree on the rules of time travel between installments would become a franchise staple).
** In the first movie, not only did the film start off by explicitly stating that the confrontation between Reese and the T-800 would mark the final battle between humanity and the machines, but midway through the film Reese remarks that resistance had all but won and sending the T-800 in the past was a last ditch effort, yet somehow they're still able to send another cyborg into the past for the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay sequel]]. And then of course Judgement Day was prevented in the second film so there's absolutely no way for any future movi-- no wait, ''[[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines T3]]'' comes along and reveals that John Connor's actions only delayed the machine war rather than outright averted it (if only to guarantee the StableTimeLoop keeps on).

* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio'': [[http://www.carlocollodi.it/carlo-lorenzini/ll-continuo-interrotto-delle-avventure-di-pinocchio/ Collodi did a draft]] in which [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle Pinocchio's transformation into a real boy is undone]] and the only thing that stuck from the ending is that Geppetto recovered and resumed his job as a woodworker. It's non-canon, of course.

* Spoofed in ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'', an OfficialParody of ''Franchise/SuperSentai'', after it had ended its first season with [[spoiler:the characters NoticingTheFourthWall and trying to stave off ExecutiveMeddling and cancellation. ''Unsuccessfully''.]] When it came back for a second go-round, the creators got around the ending by making their next subject of parody the shameless {{Retcon}}; using [[OffTheShelfFX extremely cheap "flashback" footage]] to claim that the first season's big plot twist never happened and the original story was able to get on without interference by a ConflictKiller. And then it was played with, as the ''second'' season's big plot twist was that [[spoiler:the Retcon was a lie and the first season happened exactly as shown; the changes and even very existence of the second season was due to the villain manipulating the ExecutiveMeddling to her benefit.]]

* The canon ending of ''VideoGame/{{Infamous 2}}'' had [[spoiler:Cole using the RFI to cure the plague wiping out humanity at the expense of the lives of all Conduits, including himself, and being posthumously hailed as a hero for it.]]. Previews for ''VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon'' indicate that [[spoiler:not only were the Conduits not wiped out but enough remained for the government to form an entire army dedicated to hunting them down and Cole is vilified once again]].
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series generally does this by setting the games so far apart from each other that it's just in time for Ganon to break free from his seal or someone to revive him. Other times, they name certain games as {{Prequel}}s to allow for Ganon to come back without undoing the ending of games. For direct sequels featuring the same Link as a previous game such as ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', or even as far back as ''[[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink Zelda II]]'', this is averted, as they either take place in different lands where the plot doesn't affect the main setting of Hyrule, or they simply just follow the previous story directly.

* The first ''Anime/AfroSamurai'' series/movie ended with Afro killing Justice, avenging his father, claiming the Number 1 Headband, and finally making peace with the decisions he made in life. The movie ends in a somewhat distant future where Afro is having a rematch with his former friend Kuma who has the Number 2 Headband, ending with the concept that the cycle of revenge will continue. Then comes ''Afro Samurai: Resurrection'', where Kuma returns, looking less like a robot no less, with his previous unexplained Sister Sio, looking for revenge, Afro has gone back to regretting his actions in the past. Viciously lampshaded by Ninja Ninja, who himself is part of the reset:

* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' actually qualifies, since the SequelHook at the end of [[Film/BackToTheFuture the first movie]] was actually [[PoesLaw a joke ending]] in the vein of AndTheAdventureContinues, because a sequel was never planned at that point[[labelnote:*]]The writers have said that if it ''was'', they never would have put Jennifer in the car, and the sequels go through a lot of trouble to write her out of the story[[/labelnote]]. While that ending is where ''Part II'' begins, where this trope comes in is an added moment where Biff witnesses the [=DeLorean=] disappear in the first film's ending, setting up him seeing it again in 2015 and stealing it to kick-start the real plot of Part II and eventually Part III.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' ends with the Parr family facing no legal repercussions for their superheroics while taking down the Omnidroid and Syndrome, and Agent Dicker implies that Supers will be able to come out of hiding again soon. (Also Violet gets a date with a cute classmate.) The last shot is the family suiting up to fight a new villain, The Underminer. ''WesternAnimation/{{Incredibles 2}}'' [[ImmediateSequel begins]] with that same fight against The Underminer--and afterwards, the Parrs get arrested for [[DestructiveSavior the property damage they caused during the fight]]. Turns out superheroism isn't quite legal yet, and the whole process is lengthier than the first movie implied. Most of the sequel revolves around a PR campaign to convince lawmakers and the general public to legalize Supers. (And Violet's relationship with the cute classmate also gets set back to square one, when LaserGuidedAmnesia results in him losing all memory of Violet.)

* ''Anime/SpeedRacer'' has been remade for television three times, twice by American studios, but only one of them was a reboot. ''WesternAnimation/SpeedRacerTheNextGeneration'' follows the adventures of Speed's ''sons'', taking place 40 years after the events in the original show. Coincidentally, this premiered during the franchise's 40th anniversary, and around the time the [[Film/SpeedRacer feature film]] was released.
* At the end of the first season of ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'', Shana finally confesses that she's in love with Yuuji. However, in the interests of maintaining the WillTheyOrWontThey {{Tsundere}} {{UST}}, the second season reveals that he didn't hear her, and she can't get up the nerve to tell him again.

-->"This pissed you off '''so''' much that you gon' hit the road again, to find the Number Two Headband ''again'', just so you can kill the Number One, '''''again'''''."

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' does this after Ichigo defeats Aizen with the "final Getsuga Tensho," which [[BroughtDownToNormal strips him of his powers.]] Ichigo stays a {{Muggle}} for awhile before he begins to pursue alternative power sources, such as Fullbring. This allows the series to return to the more mysterious UrbanFantasy feel of the early chapters, and gives Ichigo's allies a chance to [[CantCatchUp catch up]]. And then that earns a reset as [[spoiler:the shinigami once again enter the picture. His human friends don't advance any further in their powers and Ichigo regains his shimigami powers, setting the series back to status quo.]]
* The manga version of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' ends with a bonus panel of Homura and Madoka reuniting after Homura's UncertainDoom at the anime's ending. The manga's telling of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'' recontextualizes this scene as [[spoiler:a hallucination Homura saw while transforming into a witch]] as a result of the movie's plot.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie2TheSecondPart'': In ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', the main character Emmet was supposed to be TheChosenOne, but he was despised and shunned by the other Master Builders [[TheChosenZero because he has no combat skills, no building skills without using the instructions, and he is also kinda of an idiot]], [[spoiler:but even though the prophecy was made-up]], he fulfills this role when he becomes [[TookALevelInBadass skilled in both combat and building]], while not changing his personality much, comes the sequel, the world was attacked by repeated alien invasions and multiple characters like superheroes disappeared while trying to find the alien planet, it became increasingly hard to rebuild, [[AfterTheEnd and Bricksburg became a post-apocalyptic wasteland]], the reset comes because everyone else had to adapt to the hostile environment and became angsty or grumpy, but Emmet still acts cheerfully like nothing changed, so he is once again shunned and has to go on his adventure alone.
* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' ended with HappilyEverAfter, but the sequels seemed devoted to putting it off. ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' revealed there was an ''actual'' Prince Charming that was supposed to break the curse on Fiona, and that her royal parents were still around; after the lovers' honeymoon they're forced to meet her parents, causing another go-round of problems regarding Shrek's self-esteem. In ''WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird'', Shrek had to get out of being king to return to the swamp. ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'' resorted to ItsAWonderfulPlot.
* ''WesternAnimation/PinocchioInOuterSpace'' features a prologue which explains that Pinocchio misbehaved so much that the Blue Fairy turned him back into a puppet. Over the course of the film, he proceeds to [[RecycledInSpace experience familiar situations IN SPACE]].

* Used in ''Film/GhostbustersII'': As it turns out, [[WeirdnessCensor no one believed that the heroes did save the world at the end of the first movie]] (apparently people believe the events of the first movie were SomeNuttyPublicityStunt), meaning that the city authorities screwed them over and sued them for all the property damage, destroying their reputations and forcing them out of business. Furthermore, Venkman and Dana broke up, and Dana married another guy and had a kid with him. Then, it all starts happening again...
* Also used in ''Film/MenInBlackII''; the first movie ends with Agent K happily retired, his memory erased and given a chance to start things over with the love of his life. This is all abruptly taken away from him in the sequel, however, for little other reason than to allow K to return and carry on the character dynamic he'd had in the previous movie with Agent J. Furthermore, the dynamic between J and Dr. Laurel Weaver (Agent L) that was set up at the end of the first movie was ''also'' abruptly {{Hand Wave}}d away, due to Linda Fiorentino not returning.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' ends with Will and Elizabeth happily in love and Captain Jack Sparrow free and aboard his ship at last, and extremely wealthy thanks to all the plunder the ''Black Pearl'' had accumulated in ten years of marauding (even without the cursed Aztec gold, there was quite a hoard in the pirates' cave). So of course ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest'' has Will and Elizabeth torn apart (on their wedding day, no less), the treasure sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and Jack in danger of losing his ship and life again.

* The end of the original ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' makes it pretty clear that Connor [=McCleod=] is the last immortal at the end and has won the prize, but then they made sequels, and a TV show, and a spinoff. "There can be only one," until there's more money to be made. [[Film/HighlanderIIITheSorcerer The third movie]] especially felt like a by-the-numbers remake more than a sequel. With a DiabolusExMachina villain. Apparently the game can reset if it realizes it forgot somebody; that's basically the whole plot of the movie.

* ''Film/HomeAlone2LostInNewYork'' simply gave Kevin AesopAmnesia, ticking off his family yet again and getting left alone in a completely different way.

* At the end of ''Film/DirtyHarry'', after killing the Scorpio Killer, San Francisco Police Inspector Harry Callahan throws his badge away, disgusted with the system that allowed Scorpio to go free. In the sequel ''Film/MagnumForce'', Harry is still on the SFPD, though on loan to stakeout.
* ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' begins with Ellen Ripley being rescued from hypersleep by a deep space rescue crew, and ends with Ripley, Hicks, Bishop and Newt all escaping LV-426 (and Ripley getting a new surrogate daughter and finally destroying the xenomorph infestation at the source). ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'' begins with Ripley being rescued from her escape pod by a group of prisoners, and revealing that for all the pyrotechnics of the previous film, the alien menace is still alive and well, and the other characters who had survived are now dead.
* Starting with the third, the ''Film/DieHard'' sequels start with John [=McClane=] back to being a down-on-his-luck cop on the outs with his family (in the second, he's in a relatively good mood... until disaster finds him ''again''). Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by his being something of a headstrong CowboyCop with a drinking problem; the acclaim he gets for his heroics is balanced by repeatedly getting in trouble. In ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' he specifically cites his ChronicHeroSyndrome as the reason for his divorce.
* ''Film/EatingOut'': After getting together at the end of the first movie, Kyle and Marc break up at the start of the second one, leaving them free to pursue new guy Troy.
* Sequel Reset strikes back with a vengeance in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', where all progress made in the Original Trilogy is either immediately reset or done so by the end of the film. After the Galactic Empire was seemingly defeated in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', it returns reincarnated as the First Order and is little worse off, still capable of fielding enormous warships and even more ridiculously sized super weapons. Likewise, the Jedi have again been wiped out by a rogue pupil, and the Republic overthrown, leaving a scrappy band of Rebels to fight the evil empire, headed by a mysterious evil wizard and his masked apprentice, bringing everything back to as it was at the beginning of the original trilogy of ''Franchise/StarWars'' films.
* All the original ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movies. The [[Film/TheTerminator first movie]] uses a StableTimeLoop. Instead of just showing the future that was [[YouCantFightFate destined to happen]], they wanted to capitalize on the formula formed by the first, which was impossible with how they used TimeTravel in the first movie. What did they do? They ''changed the rules of the universe'' (not being able to agree on the rules of time travel between installments would become a franchise staple).
** In the first movie, not only did the film start off by explicitly stating that the confrontation between Reese and the T-800 would mark the final battle between humanity and the machines, but midway through the film Reese remarks that resistance had all but won and sending the T-800 in the past was a last ditch effort, yet somehow they're still able to send another cyborg into the past for the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay sequel]]. And then of course Judgement Day was prevented in the second film so there's absolutely no way for any future movi-- no wait, ''[[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines T3]]'' comes along and reveals that John Connor's actions only delayed the machine war rather than outright averted it (if only to guarantee the StableTimeLoop keeps on).

* Justified in ''[[Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy Wake Up, Ron Burgundy]]'', which is a faux-sequel compiled from the massive amounts of {{Deleted Scene}}s (including an entire dropped sub-plot) left on the cutting room floor.
* At the end of ''Film/TheHangover'' all of three protagonists learn a bit about themselves during the whole ordeal and seem to come out of it better people and well off then they were before. ''Film/TheHangoverPartII'' however back pedals on said character development so they can go [[RecycledScript on another misadventure after they get wasted]] [[RecycledINSPACE only now in Bangkok.]]

* ''Film/PitchPerfect'': At the end of the first film, the Bellas are victorious in the national singing competition, making up for Aubrey embarrassing them on national television. The second film starts with the Bellas getting humiliated again, this time by Fat Amy, and thus have to prove themselves again.
* ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' actually qualifies, since the SequelHook at the end of [[Film/BackToTheFuture the first movie]] was actually [[PoesLaw a joke ending]] in the vein of AndTheAdventureContinues, because a sequel was never planned at that point[[labelnote:*]]The writers have said that if it ''was'', they never would have put Jennifer in the car, and the sequels go through a lot of trouble to write her out of the story[[/labelnote]]. While that ending is where ''Part II'' begins, where this trope comes in is an added moment where Biff witnesses the [=DeLorean=] disappear in the first film's ending, setting up him seeing it again in 2015 and stealing it to kick-start the real plot of Part II and eventually Part III.

* The Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse has to contend with this any time an author's looking to write [[HighFantasy High Space Opera]].

* The 1996 run of ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'' {{Christmas Episode}}s finishes with Del, Rodney and Uncle Albert having achieved their dreams of wealth and success and [[RidingIntoTheSunset walking into the sunset]]. Then, they made a ''later'' series, which takes this all away and reduces them to the same barely-scraping-by life they were leading before, except Rodney would now become a father, and Albert's will saved the Trotters from getting evicted.
* The movie ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' ends with Daniel living happily on Abydos, O'Neil rediscovers his sense of purpose and retires, and the BigBad is defeated. ''Series/StargateSG1'' begins with Daniel's HappilyEverAfter kicked over by the new BigBad, which introduces a slew of {{Big Bad}}s, which causes O'Neill (with two Ls) to come back from retirement, which in turn causes the Stargate Program to be reopened.

* When ''Series/{{Glee}}'' first started up, the show received rave reviews leading up to its mid-season hiatus. The first episode after the break untied nearly every plot thread that the first had tied up within its runtime.

* ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'' starts stating that Guybrush broke up with Elaine since the last game, and that he became famous after slaying [=LeChuck=], but eventually people started forgetting and doubting about it, so he went to set out on a new adventure to regain its former glory. Later it's revealed that [=LeChuck=] revived, but as a Zombie.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' ends with the last Metroid specimen dying and the planet Zebes destroyed. As a result, the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' is actually set before ''Super Metroid'' and ''Metroid II: Return of Samus''. However, ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' has Samus revisit the Metroid homeworld and bringing [[TheVirus the X species of parasites]] into a space lab orbiting the planet, as well as discovering that [[spoiler:the Galactic Federation had been genetically breeding new Metroids]] (something which also apears in ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', which is also set after ''Super'').
* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'' reveals a monstrous entity that [[InvokedTrope has actually invoked this trope]] and undid the resolutions from the previous games, [[spoiler: known as the Devourer, the game's BigBad and GreaterScopeVillain for the previous games. It turns out that each game in the series is one of the Devourer's simulations, and in the fifth game, has wiped out the party's memories and made a reset to the world for its manipulations.]]

* The game ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' ends with the Planet more or less being saved (though in a very ambiguous manner), Sephiroth being defeated, Cloud's demons sorted out, and the love triangle being solved thanks to a DeathOfTheHypotenuse. The movie sequel, ''Advent Children'', brings Sephiroth back, resets Cloud to an Angstier state than ever before, has the Planet be threatened by a mysterious disease, and somehow manages to keep the love triangle going even beyond the dead with plenty of undead cameos from Aerith. The remake, ''Advent Children Complete'' explains at least one of these wild resets. God knows that if they make another sequel, you can be sure these issues will all pop up again... somehow.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' ends with a BittersweetEnding: CorruptChurch Yevon sees its tenants completely discredited, Sin is gone for good, but Tidus is gone forever, and as sad as Yuna is about the latter, she's willing to accept that and move on with her life...except in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', new factions have arrived in the power vacuum left behind by the fall of Yevon, there's a lurking threat even worse than Sin, and Yuna isn't as over Tidus as she makes it out to be.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' ends with both Cocoon and Pulse being more or less saved and the heroes all surviving to face the promising new future they had made. While the main cast were [[spoiler:turned to crystal during the ending]], all but two were returned to normal before the credits rolled. This neatly tied up to plot arc for the remaining two characters, since [[spoiler:their original purpose was to destroy Coccoon, but instead they redeemed themselves and saved it instead]]. By the time Square decided to make ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', they chose to invoke a time-paradox that caused [[spoiler:Lightning to either remain trapped within the crystal or otherwise sucked into the unseen world of Valhalla]] meaning that the first game no longer officially ends the way it originally did. The original ending is remembered only by Lightning's sister, Serah. In addition, while ''Final Fantasy XIII-2'' [[spoiler:definitely ends on a real cliffhanger unlike the first installment]], ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' the game picks up several hundred years after XIII-2 where Lightning wakes up from her sleep to save the world and probably her sister, Serah.

* The canon ending of ''VideoGame/{{Infamous 2}}'' had [[spoiler:Cole using the RFI to cure the plague wiping out humanity at the expense of the lives of all Conduits, including himself, and being posthumously hailed as a hero for it.]]. Previews for ''VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon'' indicate that [[spoiler:not only were the Conduits not wiped out but enough remained for the government to form an entire army dedicated to hunting them down and Cole is vilified once again.]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' had Snake being framed as an ecoterrorist by the Patriots via the destruction of an oil tanker, with the entire world believing Snake to be dead in the aftermath. When ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' comes around, quite a few of Snake's old friends and allies (Col. Campbell, Naomi, Mei Ling, Meryl, etc.) are well aware that Snake is still alive and that he didn't do it. ''Sons of Liberty'' pulled this itself by [[spoiler: writing Meryl out of the story and having Snake team up with Otacon to continue to destroy Metal Gears, thus overriding his apparent settling down after the events of the first game. It also had Liquid Snake return by possessing Ocelot through his right arm. Interestingly enough, this was apparently an InvokedTrope on Kojima's part.]]

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series generally does this by setting the games so far apart from each other that it's just in time for Ganon to break free from his seal or someone to revive him. Other times, they name certain games as {{Prequel}}s to allow for Ganon to come back without undoing the ending of games. For direct sequels featuring the same Link as a previous game such as ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', or even as far back as ''[[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink Zelda II]]'', this is averted, as they either take place in different lands where the plot doesn't affect the main setting of Hyrule, or they simply just follow the previous story directly.
* VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga: In ''Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight'', Kyle Katarn starts out as a BadassNormal who 'learns the ways of the Force to become a Jedi like his father'. Come ''Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast'', Kyle has cut himself off from the Force, regressing to BadassNormal status and having to re-learn how to use the Force.
* The original ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'' doesn't leave a whole lot of room for a sequel, meaning that ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'' had to do this. While the overall plot of WonTheWarLostThePeace flows pretty naturally from the first game's ending, there's also a very evident BagOfSpilling with plot-relevant items like the Spheres and the Falchion, as well as the main BigBad, Gharnef, being revealed as NotQuiteDead (something the original didn't even imply). Marth's army also largely scatters to the winds, and he's only given a small cadre of inexperienced or half-dead knights to work with, requiring him to go on an adventure and get most of the old band back together.

* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'' reveals a monstrous entity that [[InvokedTrope has actually invoked this trope]] and undid the resolutions from the previous games, [[spoiler: known as the Devourer, the game's BigBad and GreaterScopeVillain of the whole series. It turns out that each game in the series is one of the Devourer's simulations, and in the fifth game, has wiped out the party's memories and made a reset to the world for its manipulations.]]

* Get a new villain: Places to recruit new villains vary. You may need a new {{Mordor}} (or a broken Mordor to rebuild). And there's always JustForFun/HowToCheatDeath if you want to go SerialEscalation.