History Main / StoryArc

* ''Fanfic/FamilyGuyFanon'' has a few story arcs that were just three-episode arcs in the original:

* ''The Melancholy of LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'''s six-episode arc was broadcast with eight {{Breather Episode}}s that flashed forward to ''after'' the arc. It also successfully broke the rule of never showing a story arc out of order. Helped largely by Arc episodes being still in order, just with the Breathers inserted in-between.

* The ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' anime has adapted six of the light novels' arcs, each one usually revolving around a new virtual-reality [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]]. The arcs are:

* ''Fanfic/InvaderZimABadThingNeverEnds'' is released in five-chapter arcs (as the author apparently doesn't want to be constantly leaving people on cliffhangers), of which there is currently only one, "Invasion of the Freeloaders", about Zim's new QuirkyMinibossSquad coming to Earth and him reluctantly letting them stay with him in exchange for service.

*** Shinobi World War Arc -- Akatsuki's Tobi and Orochimaru's former {{dragon}} Kabuto unite to start a World War against all of the ninja villages. Their army, among other unsavory characters, includes several revived shinobi. Several of them used to be the character's loved ones or otherwise impacting figures. TheMandBehindTheMan is revealed to be first Madara Uchiha, but ultimately Black Zetsu. The final BigBad is the goddess Kaguya and is uneasily reunited in Team 7's hands to defeat her. Naruto and Sasuke fight for the last time [[spoiler: before rekindling their friendship]].

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' form a story arc of Fawful going from being the loyal underling of Cackletta (the first game's main villain) to becoming the self-serving main villain of the third game, far surpassing her accomplishments in the process and essentially winning for most of the game. Along with this, the arc also shows him developing a genuine hatred against Mario and Luigi after losing to them in the first game, to the point it seems to be almost all he thinks about.

* Since most American comics are now published with collected editions in mind, they tend to come out with five-or-six issue storylines that are usually connected to each other to tell a larger MythArc, but are just as easily read as their own self-contained stories.

* ''Manga/Naruto'': The manga is remarkably well organized, being easy to tell where one arc starts and where it finishes. The anime adaptation derails this by the sheer amount of filler. More often than not, the arcs are defined by the dynamics changes of Naruto and Sasuke's relationship.

** Mother's Rosario, which focuses on Asuna [[DemotedToSatelliteLoveInterest instead of Kirito]], and deals with her [[PseudoRomanticFriendship friendship]] with new character Yuuki, her helping Yuuki's guild, the Sleeping Knights, to defeat a particularly deadly Aincrad boss, and her fraught relationship with her mother.

** Chapter 16 and beyond (for now): Slaver Slayer Arc. Cyril, accepting his role as the hunter, is tasked with rooting out slavers within the federation of the Oberon League. Little did he know that the state of affairs has gone through an upheaval due to his presence, as the politicking between the Order, the Demon Lord, and the Oberon League begins to unravel.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Creator/JKRowling has stated that, unlike the first five books which are thematically autonomous while still carrying over the overall continuity of the universe, the last two books (''Half Blood Prince'' and ''Deathly Hallows'') are meant to be two volumes of the same arc, which is evident not only through the fully interwined link between the end of the former and the start of the latter, but also through the plot devices that both books share; they also heavily reference the events of the past five books to solve any pending plot points and then settle the climax of the story.

** The Phase 2 (from ''Film/IronMan3'' to ''Film/AntMan1'') focuses upon the appearance of new heroes such as [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy The Guardians of the Galaxy]] and further explanation of the origins of the Infinity Stones as it introduces new Infinity Stones such as the Aether, Scepter and the Orb.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Each ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' season has an overarching plotline, related to one of the core characters:

** Season Two focuses on Beast Boy and moreso on [[spoiler:{{Sixth Ranger Traitor}}]] Terra, who is [[spoiler:manipulated by Slade to become TheMole and ultimately TheDragon]].

** In the most recent season, a three-week story arc was made that centered around Brian getting kicked out of the house and forced to live on his own after he writes a racist comment on Twitter and becomes the most hated person in town.

** The fourth arc, starting from Issue #45 and including the ''Imposter Syndrome'' miniseries, introduces newcomer villains Surge and Kit, [[spoiler:the former of whom pursues a vendetta against the world after Starline's coup d'etat against Eggman fails]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series is often organized into two-part arcs which take place during one generation of [[BadassFamily Belmont]]. For example, ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaI''/its remakes and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' consist the story of Simon's attacks on {{Dracula}}, and the ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Sorrow]]'' duology is an arc that deals with Soma Cruz and his attempts to escape his supposed destiny as the reincarnation of {{Dracula}}.

** Some games in the series start with a story arc that involves exploring a trio of dungeons to find PlotCoupon tools that may help Link defeat Ganon, or another villain, the easy way. When plans don't work as intended or [[DarkestHour something unexpected happens]], then Link has to reconsider his plans and then it's when he tries to do what it takes to defeat the BigBad the hard, but more effective way. The games that follow this pattern are ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''[[note]]in which, uniquely for the series, just looking for the Master Sword after collecting all three Goddess Pearls and then use it to rescue Aryll and confront Ganon spans an entire arc on its own. There is another dedicated to finding and assembling the Triforce of Courage, too.[[/note]], ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]''. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' follows a similar pattern, except the unexpected twist comes ''before he even attempts to get rid of the villain'' (during the first third of the game, his only objective is to find Zelda; in the second, he seeks to create the Master Sword ''just to manage to reunite with Zelda again''); only after six dungeons, eight boss battles and lots of adventuring, it's when he finally starts a new quest (long on its own) to get rid of the BigBad once and for all.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', true to its original source, sorts the story arcs by league and generation, and some of them are long enough to span more than one season. In the case of the Johto saga, there are several sub-arcs in which the main characters are looking for (or even helping) a Legendary Pokémon.

* ''Manga/Naruto'': The manga is remarkably well organized, being easy to tell where one arc starts and where it finishes. The anime adaptation derails this by the sheer amount of filler. More often than note, the arcs are defined by the dynamics changes of Naruto and Sasuke's relationship.

*** Epilogue -- Ten years after the war, Naruto is the Seventh Hokage (after Kakashi resigned) and Sasuke is often out wandering the world in search of peace. The Konoha 12 all have BabiesEverAfter.

* The ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' Captain Marvel had one of the earliest such arcs in the 1940s when he took on the Monster Society of Evil that ended with him discovering that its leader is the worm Mr. Mind.

* Some ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' titles start with a story arc that involves exploring a trio of dungeons to find PlotCoupon tools that may help Link defeat Ganon, or another villain, the easy way. When plans don't work as intended or something unexpected happens, then Link has to reconsider his plans and then it's when he tries to do what it takes to defeat the BigBad the hard, but more effective way. The games that follow this pattern are ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''[[note]]in which, uniquely for the series, just looking for the Master Sword after collecting all three Goddess Pearls and then use it to rescue Aryll and confront Ganon spans an entire arc on its own. There is another dedicated to finding and assembling the Triforce of Courage, too.[[/note]], ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]''. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' follows a similar pattern, except the unexpected twist comes ''before he even attempts to get rid of the villain'' (during the first third of the game, his only objective is to find Zelda; in the second, he seeks to create the Master Sword ''just to manage to reunite with Zelda again''); only after six dungeons, eight boss battles and lots of adventuring, it's when he finally starts a new quest (long on its own) to get rid of the BigBad once and for all.

** Season Seven, a {{Retool}}, is about the [[TimeSkip now-adult]] Henry being brought to the neighborhood of Hyperion Heights in Seattle by his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forgotten]] daughter Lucy to break a new curse. The first ten episodes deal with Victoria Belfry (Lady [[spoiler: Rapunzel]] Tremaine)'s custody battle against Jacinda Vidrio (Cinderella); then segues into Eliose Gardeer ([[spoiler: [[Literature/{{Rapunzel}} Mother Gothel]]]]), the Coven of Eight and serial killer targeting people in Hyperion Heights.

** Season Seven, a {{Retool}}, is about the [[TimeSkip now-adult]] Henry being brought to the neighborhood of Hyperion Heights in Seattle by his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia forgotten]] daughter Lucy to break a new curse.

** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' form a story arc of Fawful going from being the mere underling of Cackletta (the first game's main villain) to becoming the main villain of the third game, far surpassing her accomplishments in the process and essentially winning for most of the game. Along with this, the arc also shows him developing a genuine hatred against Mario and Luigi to the point it appears to be almost all he thinks about anymore.

* ''Webcomic/GrimTrigger'' is separated into arcs, and each arc has its own cover and music sequence that plays in the beginning of the book.

* ''[[Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers SMG4]]'':

* The ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' cartoon of the 90s did this as well, going through a number of arcs that were featured in the comic books, including the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix sagas.