History Main / UnInstallment

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': The second-season episode “The Chronicles of Meap” ends with a trailer for a sequel episode called “Meapless in Seattle.” The episode would eventually be produced and air in season 3, but that episode would itself end with a trailer for its own sequel, “Meap Me in St. Louis”, which would never be made.

* Some form of numerological significance, such as avoiding [[ThirteenIsUnlucky the number 13]] or [[FourIsDeath the number 4]]

* Al Lowe envisioned ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry3PassionatePattiInPursuitOfThePulsatingPectorals'' as the definitive end to the ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' trilogy, and the game ended with Larry and Patti stuck in the real world, living happily together and [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis coding adventure games based on Larry's adventures]]. Whenever anyone would ask if his next project would be ''Larry 4'', he would respond that there would never be a ''Larry 4''. Instead, he and the rest of Sierra focused their efforts on creating a new online platform, which eventually fell through. However, [[TrilogyCreep when the time came for Al Lowe to make a real sequel to]] ''[[TrilogyCreep Larry 3]]'', he found he'd written himself into a creative corner with ''Larry 3''[='s=] airtight ending, so he decided to [[ExactWords stay true to his promise]] and skipped right to ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry5PassionatePattiDoesALittleUndercoverWork'', where Larry and Patti are separated again, and suffering from amnesia. The missing game eventually becomes a major plot point in ''Larry 5'', where it's revealed that [[spoiler:the BigBad, Julius Bigg, stole the master floppies to ''Larry 4'', causing Larry and Patti to lose their memories]]. The game's non-existence is a running joke in the series, and the game (under the title ''Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies'') appears in ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestIVRogerWilcoAndTheTimeRippers'' and ''Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude''. Ken Willaims also avertises ''The Missing Floppies'' in the SCI remake of the first game, saying that he would sell the game to the public if only he could actually find out where it was.

* Similar to the Apple example, the next operating system released by {{Creator/Microsoft}} after Windows 8 was named Windows 10.

* ''Lacuna III''. There is no ''Lacuna I'' or ''II'', as the idea is that this is actually a modified copy of a (fictional) 1993 game bearing that title, whose preceding volumes are presumably lost media.

* Guitar amplifier manufacturer Mesa/Boogie, when producing the 6th installment in their "Mark" line of amplifiers, decided to skip the Mark VI and go straight to the Mark VII. Their official explanation for this is that the new model was just that more advanced than the Mark V that they felt that skipped a generation.

* Music/AlienAntFarm's debut album was titled "Greatest Hits," implying it was a compilation of earlier albums that don't exist.

* Music/MenWithoutHats have an EP titled ''Folk of the 80's'' and an album called ''Folk of the 80's (Part III)'', but there's no "Part II": ''Folk of the 80's (Part III)'' was [[ChronologicalAlbumTitle their third release overall]], though.

* ''VideoGame/GoatSimulator'' spawned a sequel that is titled ''VideoGame/Goat Simulator3'', skipping over ''Goat Simulator 2''. When the developers were making ''Goat Simulator 3'', they thought they ''had'' made ''Goat Simulator 2'', but when they realised they didn't it was too late to change the title.

* Microsoft's first version of Windows NT (which currently forms the basis of all desktop, workstation, and server versions of [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows]] as of Windows XP and Windows Server 2003, with the NT branding dropped with the earlier Windows 2000) was given the version 3.1 to match the version number of the then-current DOS-based version of Windows, which was also numbered 3.1. Unlike the DOS-based versions, there were no 1.x, 2.x, or 3.0 versions of it.

* ''VideoGame/FurFighters'' (subtitled Viggo's Revenge at least in the [[UsefulNotes/Playstation2 PS2]] version) starts with all the major characters retired after already defeating Viggo the first time. Throughout the game there are hints to their exploits but there never was another game, and sadly probably never will be.

* ''VideoGame/GoatSimulator'' spawned a sequel that is titled ''Goat Simulator 3'', skipping over ''Goat Simulator 2''. When the developers were making ''Goat Simulator 3'', they thought they ''had'' made ''Goat Simulator 2'', but when they realised they didn't it was too late to change the title.

* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 pinball game, ''VideoGame/TimeCruise'', was actually ''Time Cruise II'' in Japan. However, the original ''Time Cruise'' was [[http://www.chrismcovell.com/secret/PCE_1990Q1.html a real game that was never actually released.]] The game's publisher, Face, for some reason decided to make a sequel to an unreleased game.

* Inverted with ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'', deceptively titled to create the illusion of an eventual sequel. It even ends with a trailer for ''Part II''. This was part of an homage to Walter Raleigh's ''The History of the World'', written while he was awaiting execution in the Tower of London and he only managed to complete the first volume before his sentence was carried out.

* [[TakeOurWordForIt Because it would be impossible to do the events of the phantom installment justice]]

* Because the creators [[TrollingCreator are trying to be funny]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Than there's the German students-movie "Der Goldene Nazivampir von Absam 2 – Das Geheimnis von Schloß Kottlitz" (The Golden Nazi-Vampire of Absam 2 - The Secret of Castle Kottlitz). There never was a first part. As the whole movie is kind of a parody on trash horror movies, it is a joke on long and absurd trash horror titles.

* Theodor Mommsen's ''Roman History'', which won him the UsefulNotes/NobelPrizeInLiterature in 1902, consists of volumes 1, 2, 3 and 5. The first three describe the history of the Roman Republic and were published during Mommsen's lifetime. Volume 4, the history of Imperial Rome, was never finished (it was sort of replaced - in 1992! - by Mommsen's lectures on the subject, not from manuscripts of his own, but as they were written down by students). Volume 5 contains the history of the Roman provinces during the Imperial era.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E6Shada Shada]]", the Season 17 season finale, was abandoned when about two thirds done thanks to industrial action. Some footage of it was eventually incorporated into the show, edited in order to bring the Fourth Doctor into "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]" as a FakeShemp. This has caused its canonical status to be ambiguous, which the ExpandedUniverse has happily exploited, especially in the audio drama version of the story -- in which the Eighth Doctor has to go through the events, because the events of "The Five Doctors" erased it from the timeline. A novelisation that presented the story with the Fourth Doctor but with lots of new-series-compatible details added came out in 2012, and in the 90s a VHS reconstruction of the story was released, and even ''that'' might be a bit canonical as Creator/TomBaker's narrator character ends up becoming a CanonImmigrant in "The Day of the Doctor" (of all things). No-one knows which version of "Shada" actually happened - maybe they all did, maybe none at all - and everyone is comfortable keeping it that way.

** The new series concept of the Time War, and The War Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]", are both [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Watsonian]] metaphors for the "Wilderness Years" during which the show was cancelled. The Time War is an apocalyptic GreatOffscreenWar that threw reality itself into confusion and permanently darkened the Doctor as a person, much like the branching arms and DarkerAndEdgier excursions of the ExpandedUniverse did. The War Doctor is supposed to represent the Doctor we ''could'' have had during the Wilderness Years, and Creator/StevenMoffat has said his intention was to cause annoyance and frustration - viewers are supposed to feel that they could have had decades of adventures of Creator/JohnHurt, but instead we got nothing.

* Karma To Burn, with very few exceptions, name their songs with numbers representing the order in which they were composed. Not only are their albums' tracklistings not arranged with any rhyme or reason with respect to these numbers, but especially very early on in their history they tend to never release certain numbers. What happens with the missing numbers is anyone's guess - while they did release "1" on one of their own albums, "2" has yet to be released this way since they actually gave it to their side project Year Long Disaster. It ''can'' result in songs being resurrected at odd times, like "23" being released when the band were well into the 50s in their song catalog. It's also known that "9" and "15" have survived in their concert setlists for many years; why they are live staples but have never been released in studio form is anyone's guess.

* Reggie and the Full Effect called their debut ''Greatest Hits '84–'87'' - the band didn't even form until the 1990s.
* Music/MenWithoutHats have an EP titled ''Folk Of The 80's'' and an album called ''Folk of the 80's (Part III)'', but there's no "Part II": ''Folk of the 80s (Part III)'' was [[ChronologicalAlbumTitle their third release overall]], though.

** Although it was just a joke, it led to various rumors about why there was no Volume Two. Two outtakes from Volume Three were bootlegged extensively before being officially released in 2007, and it was sometimes claimed that they were from the "missing" Volume Two. A fan theory also held that Music/TomPetty's ''Full Moon Fever'' and/or Music/RoyOrbison's ''Mystery Girl'' comprised "Volume Two" - both were solo albums by Traveling Wilburys members released between ''Volume One'' and ''Volume Three'', both were produced by Jeff Lynne, and both included guest appearances by other Wilburys members, with only Music/BobDylan not appearing on either.

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
* This even happens in Literature/TheBible. In the New Testament Letters, St Paul speaks approvingly of an Old Testament prophet called Enoch and warmly recommends the book of Enoch the Prophet as a religious work the Christian should read so as to broaden their wisdom and get a deeper understanding of their faith. Now go to the Old Testament. It is only a book in the Orthodox Tewahedo tradition. Outside of Ethiopia and Eritrea, there are a few scattered references to a great Prophet called Enoch, by inference in the next division down from Moses - but no book of that name.

* On ''Radio/RoundTheHorne'', one of the show's spoof dramas jumped from part one to part three, with the explanation that "you wouldn't have liked part two - it was all plot." On another occasion, a Three Musketeers spoof stretched over two shows; in the show after that, it was announced "At this point we were going to do The Three Musketeers part three... But we got fed up with that."

* ''Script/C0DA'', written by former ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series writer/designer Creator/MichaelKirkbride, takes place in the far distant future of ''TES'' universe. ''[=C0DA=]'' is the final text of a semi-official and loosely connected series of "Obscure Texts", including ''[[https://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Loveletter_From_the_Fifth_Era,_The_True_Purpose_of_Tamriel Loveletter From the Fifth Era]]'', ''[[https://www.c0da.es/prophet The Prophet of Landfall]]'', the "partially released" ''[[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VV7JH6QT-STUVF8LfuyxmLDQvOLKBHaYZvuGdYGBcZQ/edit Landfall: Day One]]'', and two "Uninstallments" - ''Dies Irae'' and ''Stringendo''. The situation is reminiscent of the missing portions of ''Literature/TheTrojanCycle'', in which it is generally known what happens, but the details are lost. Some of the events of those works are mentioned via SecondhandStorytelling in ''[=C0DA=]'' and the other supplementary works.

* Creator/DCComics' ''ComicBook/AmbushBug: Year None'' ended with "[[MindScrew issue number 7 of a 6-issue limited series]]." There is no issue number 6, or at least none that was ever published. Apparently number 6 was completed (or nearly so), then shelved for reasons that still have not been made entirely clear. Number 7 came out many months later, wrapping up the series.

* ''[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]]'' first appeared in two AshcanCopy comics titled ''Flash Comics'' #1 and ''Thunder Comics'' #1. Then his regular title, ''Whiz Comics,'' began with issue #2, and reprinted the whole of both ashcans. There is no ''Whiz Comics'' #1.
* ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' skipped issue 19 and 20 after long delays from writers Andrew Grossenberg and Tom Orzechowski, eventually soldiering ahead with issue 21 by Todd [=McFarlane=]. The "missing" issues were published approximately six months later. Interestingly, Spawn had shown up with a stitched up face in issue 21 said to have been caused by "That Bozo In Black", an obvious reference to the Batarang that landed there in the Spawn-Batman CrossOver that had happened just prior to the issue's release. However, the CrossOver was considered so generally terrible, that 19 and 20 featured a ''completely different'' "Bozo In Black", [[spoiler:Harry Houdini]], and a ''completely different'' reason for a vertical scar down Spawn's face, [[spoiler:protecting his friend Terry from a bullet... which made a scar completely different than the one in 21... But if you're looking for sensical continuity, why the hell are you reading 90s Creator/ImageComics?]].
* Issues 6 and 7 of ''Comicbook/TooMuchCoffeeMan'' do not exist. [[WordOfGod Shannon Wheeler]] wanted to skip ahead in the story, saw no reason why he shouldn't, and took it as an opportunity to create "the rarest comics ever". #8 includes [[ClueFromEd footnotes referring the reader to the missing issues]].
* The original ''ComicBook/{{Supreme}}'' series was deliberately identified in its indica (and on the first issue's cover) as "''Supreme'' volume 2", as it featured the title character returning to Earth after fifty years' absence. Series creator Creator/RobLiefeld wanted to eventually make a "volume 1" that would cover Supreme's exploits during World War II – this never ended up happening, with the glimpses of Supreme's [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] adventures being limited to occasional flashback stories.

* The Traveling Wilburys' first album was titled ''The Traveling Wilburys Volume One'' as a joke, because they were never going to do a Volume Two. When they did release a follow-up, it was titled ''The Traveling Wilburys Volume Three''.

* The Traveling Wilburys' first album was titled ''The Traveling Wilburys Volume One'' as a joke, because they were never going to do a Volume Two. When they did release a follow-up, it was titled ''The Traveling Wilburys Volume Three''.
** Although it was just a joke, it led to various rumors about why there was no Volume Two. Two outtakes from Volume Three were bootlegged extensively before being officially released in 2007, and it was sometimes claimed that they were from the "missing" Volume Two. A fan theory also held that Music/TomPetty's ''Full Moon Fever'' and/or Music/RoyOrbison's ''Mystery Girl'' comprised "Volume Two" - both were solo albums by Traveling Wilburys members released between ''Volume One'' and ''Volume Three'', both were produced by Jeff Lynne, and both included guest appearances by other Wilburys members, with only Music/BobDylan not appearing on either.
* Music/{{Chickenfoot}} pulled a similar joke when they called their second album ''Chickenfoot III''.
* Music/{{Calexico}}'s ''The Black Light'' has a song called "The Ride, Pt II". There is no Part I. Similarly, ''Hot Rail'' has "Untitled III" and "Untitled II" (in that order), but no "Untitled I".
* UK indie rock band The Vaccines has a song called "Change of Heart Part 2" on their second album, ''Come of Age''. There's no "Change of Heart Part 1", though.
* Music/BeastieBoys: There was no ''Hot Sauce Committee Part One'' before the release of ''Part Two'', but apparently one is now in the works and will be based on unused material from ''Part Two''. [[DevelopmentHell If/when it ever comes out,]] it will also be the final album featuring the three members (due to Adam Yauch's passing).

** Reggie and the Full Effect similarly called their debut ''Greatest Hits 1984–1987'' - the band didn't even form until the 1990s.

* Music/ThrobbingGristle named their first album ''Second Annual Report'', although it was the sequel to an album that didn't get released at the time.
* The subtitle for the Music/{{Rush|Band}} instrumental from Music/RollTheBones, "Where's My Thing" is "(Part IV, 'Gangster of Boats' {{Trilogy|Creep}})". There is no Gangster of Boats part I, II, or III.
* Music/IanDuryAndTheBlockheads bring us "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3". The song is not part of a series in any way.
* Akphaezya have released two albums so far: ''Anthology II: Links from the Dead Trinity'' and ''Anthology IV: The Tragedy Of Nerak''.

* Not ''quite'' this, but clearly operating on the same priciple: Music/TheAquabats entitled their first album ''The Return of the Aquabats!''.
* New wave revivalists The Rentals also called their debut album ''Return of the Rentals''.
* CharlesIves composed two pieces titled Tone Roads No. 1 and Tone Roads No. 3. There is no Tone Roads No. 2.

* {{Music/ABC}}'s first album ''The Lexicon Of Love'' contained "The Look Of Love [Part 1]" and "The Look Of Love [Part 4]". The song DOES have Parts 2 and 3, but they were only included on its 12" single.
* Music/BobMarley And The Wailers' early album "Soul Revolution Part II" was titled as such as it was the follow up to "Soul Rebels" (which was the first album recorded for Lee Scratch Perry [who compiled both of them] and thus 'Part I'). It is often mistaken for the title of the album's dub version, which was actually called "Upsetter Revolution Rhythm". The confusion was not helped by the fact, due to his debts at the time, Perry packaged some copies of the dub album in the vocal album's sleeve. When Trojan reissued both the vocal and dub albums together in 1988, they called the set "Soul Revolution 1 & 2", though later reissues restored the original cover and title.
* Music/KarmaToBurn, with very few exceptions, name their songs with numbers representing the order in which they were composed. Not only are their albums' tracklistings not arranged with any rhyme or reason with respect to these numbers, but especially very early on in their history they tend to never release certain numbers. What happens with the missing numbers is anyone's guess - while they did release "1" on one of their own albums, "2" has yet to be released this way since they actually gave it to their side project Year Long Disaster. It ''can'' result in songs being resurrected at odd times, like "23" being released when the band were well into the 50s in their song catalog. It's also known that "9" and "15" have survived in their concert setlists for many years; why they are live staples but have never been released in studio form is anyone's guess.

* Issues 6 and 7 of ''Comicbook/TooMuchCoffeeMan'' do not exist. [[WordOfGod Shannon Wheeler]] wanted to skip ahead in the story, saw no reason why he shouldn't, and took it as an opportunity to create "the rarest comics ever". #8 includes footnotes referring the reader to the missing issues.

* While it may seem like ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'' is doing the reverse of this trope by not counting the Crash Bandicoot games made after ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'' as proper sequels, its numbering is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] since it takes place directly after ''Warped''.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYisr6GRJH4 How To Play DK64]]", a video poking fun at how convoluted ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64''[='=]s PickupHierarchy is, is framed as an episode of an ongoing series called "How to Play Video Games", beginning with a recap of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and ending with a preview of ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie''.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'': The adaptation of "The Missing Coach" was scrapped during production because its plot was deemed too much of a MindScrew for young children. The events are referenced in a later episode, so they did happen, we just never saw them.

* The ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' franchise plays with this in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' [[spoiler:with the reveal that it's actually ''Danganronpa 53'', making ''Next Danganronpa 4: Despair Beyond Hope'' to ''Dangan Ronpa 52'' Un-Installments.]] (The actual ''Anime/Danganronpa3'' takes the form of an anime series instead of a game.)

* ''Film/KungPowEnterTheFist'' ends with a fake trailer for a sequel called ''Kung Pow 2: Tongue of Fury''.

* Upon announcing the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII declared that the day following October 4 of that year would be October 15, essentially meaning that the days 5-14 October, 1582 never existed. This was necessary because the problem with the Julian calendar was that its average year was too long, causing the calendar to slowly fall behind the seasons, so skipping these 10 days was needed to correct this. While Catholic countries adopted the reform immediately, [[UsefulNotes/TheProtestantReformation Protestant]] and Usefulnotes/{{Orthodox|Christianity}} hesitated to do the same but eventually made the switch, so the missing days vary from country to country. For instance, Great Britian finally switched in 1752, so most calendars produced in the Anglosphere will omit the dates of 3-13 September 1752, and Russia didn't adopt the new calendar until the start of Soviet era, so they skipped the dates of 1–13 February 1918.

* Upon announcing the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendar in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII declared that the day following October 4 of that year would be October 15, essentially meaning that the days October 5-14, 1582 never existed. This was necessary because the problem with the Julian calendar was that its average year was too long, causing the calendar slowly fall behind the seasons, so skipping these 10 days was needed to correct this.

* ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' never adapted the first ''Night of the Living Dummy'' book, despite doing its sequels. This might be because [[BreakoutVillain Slappy]] [[IconicSequelCharacter wasn't its main villain]]. Similarly, book #5 (''The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'') was never adapted, but its sequel ''Return of the Mummy'' was.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has a Season 3 episode called "[[Recap/RickAndMortyS3E4Vindicators3TheReturnOfWorldender Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender]]", but is the first episode of the series to feature the Vindicators. The first ''Vindicators'' installment is indicated by dialogue to have been one of Rick's and Morty's numerous offscreen adventures in the past ("we did it once, it was the big event of the summer"), and they find out later on that they weren't even ''invited'' to the second assembly (probably due to them all hating Rick), much to Morty's disappointment. A special showing what happened during the Vindicators' previous adventure, titled ''WesternAnimation/Vindicators2'', was released 5 years later.