History AssPull / WesternAnimation

* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo:'' In the series finale, Scoutmaster Lumpus is revealed to be an impostor and an escaped lunatic, which [[PlotHole contradicts many episodes and themes presented in previous episodes.]] The real scoutmaster is a character who appears to be [[WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife Heffer]], which raises even more questions as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo:'' In the series finale, Scoutmaster Lumpus is revealed to be an impostor and an escaped lunatic, which [[PlotHole contradicts many episodes and themes presented in previous episodes.]] The real scoutmaster appears to be [[WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife Heffer]], which raises even more questions as well.

** In the Book 1 finale, Aang appears before Korra and teaches her [[spoiler:energybending]], allowing her to fix all the damage that had been done by the Equalists. While the existence of the technique is established in the first season, Aang appearing and allowing Korra to use it still comes out of nowhere.

* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo:'' In the series finale, Scoutmaster Lumpus is revealed to be an impostor and an escaped lunatic, which [[PlotHole contradicts many episodes and themes presented in previous episodes.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Played for laughs and taken on another level where plenty of things happen just because with the characters accepting them unquestionably. Like the Circus of Fear episode where it turns out that [[spoiler:Dr. Fear is actually a common earthworm]] or many episodes where characters do stuff just to advance the plot without anything close to a in-universe justification.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' is notorious for its usage of Ass Pulls, usually for the sake of justifying a character's elimination:
** ''Island'':
*** Lindsay's elimination in "That's Off The Chain" is the result of being the last person to cross the finish line. Notably, Chris uses ExactWords here, as Duncan and Owen don't even reach the finish line, while Izzy and Leshawna are MIA for most of the challenge, meaning Lindsay gets eliminated by a last minute twist that no one could have seen coming.
** ''World Tour'':
*** Gwen's elimination in "Picnic at Hanging Dork" is the result of her allergy to eucalyptus. Not only was her allergy never once foreshadowed (not even in '''''this very episode'''''), but the episode kept hinting that it'd be Courtney who'd be eliminated.
*** Both endings of the finale are one of these, what with [[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing feral Ezekiel stealing and destroying the money]], and [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Alejandro being severely injured to the point of being forced inside the Drama Machine]]. In other words, the whole season was invalidated for the sake of movie references that even by 2010 (when ''World Tour'' originally aired) [[UnintentionalPeriodPiece were already overdone and outdated]]. The ending where Alejandro wins actually manages to one-up this. In his ending, he ends up winning because Heather accidentally throws his dummy into the volcano, but the money is still destroyed and he still ends up severely injured and put in the Drama Machine.
** ''All Stars'':
*** Sam's elimination in "Food Fright". It’s revealed that he snuck some pancakes in his pockets for fear that he would go to Boney Island again, resulting in the Vultures being declared the winners and the Hamsters voting him out. It was never hinted that he had done so, nor was there any point during the challenge where he could have done so on screen.
** WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'':
*** Don pulls the classic "this was a non-elimination round if a major character happened to lose!" on more than one occasion, at least once ''twice in a row''. But even that pales in comparison to the [[spoiler:''double elimination'' in "Down and Outback," taking out [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap Rock and Spud]] for coming in second-last right after they beat Chet and Lorenzo]].

* In "WesternAnimation/CyberChase":

** Right ''after'' Stewie has cut open a camel's stomach and climbed inside to keep from freezing to death á la ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'':

** In "The Beginning of the End," King Sombra receives CharacterizationMarchesOn into a LeeroyJenkins SmugSnake... Except that this is the opposite of his previous appearances ("The Crystal Empire," "The Cutie Re-Mark"), where he consistently acted like a ColdHam PragmaticVillain instead. And the show never explains such a 180°, resulting in EpilepticTrees[[note]]ActuallyADoombot, CameBackWrong, etc.[[/note]] by many a fan.

* The way the plot involving the Orb resolves in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' [[spoiler:In a flashback where the Orb is introduced, Sandow appears to have killed Lloyd Venture to stop him from using the Orb. However -- and this isn't revealed until Phantom Limb gets his hands on the Orb a season later -- he didn't actually kill Lloyd, he just broke the Orb, preventing the doomsday device from being used.]]

'''[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E28ANicePlaceToVisit Sebastian Cabot]]:''' No, Mr. Smith. You're not in heaven or in hell. You're on an airplane!\\
''[Clyde is suddenly on an airplane; he opens the window and sees [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E123NightmareAt20000Feet a gremlin on the wing]]]''\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Velma}}'': The resolution of season one's mystery is hit hard with this, as it relies way too much on information that [[CluelessMystery had never been given to the audience]]. The season finale reveals the identity of the killer as [[spoiler:Victoria Jones]], a minor character who only appeared in a handful of scenes. While they ''are'' connected to the SCOOBI Project, said connection was never even hinted at until after the character is already unmasked. In addition, not only did the character's few scenes run in direct opposition of them being the culprit (such as [[spoiler:kidnapping Fred at the Fog Festival when she could have done it in the privacy of her home, and creating a very public and well-funded search effort for him]]), but them being the killer comes across as odd when given the motive and their skillset ([[spoiler:she wanted to make her DumbassTeenageSon into a proper heir for the company by replacing his brain with that of a popular teenage girl, but she's also a skilled hypnotist capable of making people do whatever she wants, meaning she could have just hypnotized Fred into being a more competent heir]]).

* From ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', right ''after'' Stewie has cut open a camel's stomach and climbed inside to keep from freezing to death á la ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'':

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' Darth Maul is revealed to be NotQuiteDead despite having been cut in half and ''then'' falling down a bottomless pit. The explanation for how he survived basically boils down to...[[ThePowerOfHate his anger kept him alive.]][[note]]It's not entirely unprecedented as a Sith ability, but the only two other practitioner (Darth Sion and Maw) only appeared in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' and ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII''.[[/note]] Understandably, most fans choose to [[MST3KMantra quietly push this to the side]] given that Maul's resurrection ultimately gave us some of the most acclaimed episodes in the entire series.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' Darth Maul is revealed to be NotQuiteDead despite having been cut in half and ''then'' falling down a bottomless pit. The explanation for how he survived basically boils down to...[[ThePowerOfHate his anger kept him alive.]][[note]]It's not entirely unprecedented as a Sith ability, but the only other practitioner (Darth Sion) only appeared in the fairly obscure ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords''.[[/note]] Understandably, most fans choose to [[MST3KMantra quietly push this to the side]] given that Maul's resurrection ultimately gave us some of the most acclaimed episodes in the entire series.

** Apparently, Cheetara has untapped extreme power. All that one has to do is [[BerserkButton piss her off royally]]. Then she's capable of exuding brilliant rays of psychic energy that can disable a mobile fortress, knock the good guys out of a trance, and destroy machines. What?

** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E19CrusadersOfTheLostMark Crusaders of the Lost Mark]]" reveals that five full seasons and change of Diamond Tiara being a RichBitch was the fault of her Richer and Bitchier mother effectively forcing her to behave this way. The problem is that there's been no hint whatsoever of this ever, besides diamond showing an interest with the school paper which she runs with a similar tight gripped cruelty her mother uses as chair of the school board, and that Diamond Tiara HAD consistently been shown to have few redeeming qualities (she does genuinely love her father and seemed to value silver spoon's friendship as losing that manages to shock and depress diamond) In this episode, she pulls such a swift HeelFaceTurn and personality change that it seems to be implying it was ''mostly'' the fault of her mother. It makes it feel less like an actual reveal and change of character, and more like a feeble attempt at sticking a FreudianExcuse to her so she could easily change and befriend the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

** "Corridors" attempts to tell us that Catra saying, "I'm sorry," has a lot of dramatic weight, to justify Adora becoming [[StrangledByTheRedString uncharacteristically forgiving]] after one good deed and a fairly short conversation like five minutes after the flashback establishing this, even though [[SeriesContinuityError Catra said those exact words in the second episode and it didn't even influence her behaviour for ten seconds]].
** "Save the Cat" then doubles down on this by telling us that Catra doesn't want to hurt Adora, enough to resist the mind control chip, even though Catra has spent most of the show trying to hurt Adora, deliberately and sadistically, including in episodes Noelle Stevenson themself wrote.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has a [[BrokenBase base-breaking]] example in the series finale, where Aang, after struggling for some time over whether or not he should [[spoiler:kill Firelord Ozai,]] is suddenly able to TakeAThirdOption and [[spoiler:strip his bending from him]] using a previously unknown and largely unforeshadowed technique. WordOfGod from a post-series artbook states that they'd planned on this story development well before the show was even picked up by a kids network. There are some hints minor that Aang could find an option like this, but it is still a very sudden and last minute development. Even stranger, the episodes immediately before the finale were the first time it was even suggested that Aang had any particular compunction against [[spoiler:killing someone]] (although it's certainly in line with his character and upbringing). He had showed no more hesitation than anyone else until then, and had by far [[spoiler:the biggest bodycount, even ignoring various Avatar-state events like the Season 1 finale]].
** Then there is the fact that Aang [[spoiler: was only able to enter the Avatar state because he took a hit from a perfectly-shaped rock to the back as opposed to finding a way to open his chakras on his own.]] Unlike the above, this is more or less unanimously agreed to be an AssPull.

** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E19CrusadersOfTheLostMark Crusaders of the Lost Mark]]" reveals that five full seasons and change of Diamond Tiara being a RichBitch was the fault of her Richer and Bitcher mother effectively forcing her to behave this way. The problem is that there's been no hint whatsoever of this ever, and that Diamond Tiara HAD consistently been shown to have no real redeeming qualities and thoroughly enjoy acting the way she does (one episode even shows her father, a surprisingly good guy, thoroughly admonishing her for such behavior). In this episode, she pulls such a swift HeelFaceTurn and personality change that it seems to be implying it was ''entirely'' the fault of her mother. It makes it feel less like an actual reveal and change of character, and more like a feeble attempt at sticking a FreudianExcuse to her so she could easily change and befriend the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has been accused of this thrice:

** The GrandFinale of Book 4, where [[spoiler:Korra and Asami become the Official Couple]]. This is despite neither [[spoiler: Korra or Asami]] having any behaviour that would indicate they were [[spoiler:falling for one another; save for one ShipTease moment in Season 3. The story focused the romance more on the Korra/Asami/Mako Love Triangle]], so the ending come out of nowhere.

** This has been happening frequently in the latest season, to the point it's gotten [[UpToEleven utterly ridiculous]]. One episode, for example, has Timmy unable to wish Sparky back into a dog because he's in love with being human, which somehow falls under "not being able to break true love."

** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E19CrusadersOfTheLostMark Crusaders of the Lost Mark]]" reveals that five full seasons and change of Diamond Tiara being a RichBitch was the fault of her [[UpToEleven Richer and Bitcher]] mother effectively forcing her to behave this way. The problem is that there's been no hint whatsoever of this ever, and that Diamond Tiara HAD consistently been shown to have no real redeeming qualities and thoroughly enjoy acting the way she does (one episode even shows her father, a surprisingly good guy, thoroughly admonishing her for such behavior). In this episode, she pulls such a swift HeelFaceTurn and personality change that it seems to be implying it was ''entirely'' the fault of her mother. It makes it feel less like an actual reveal and change of character, and more like a feeble attempt at sticking a FreudianExcuse to her so she could easily change and befriend the Cutie Mark Crusaders.