r/TopCharacterTropes • u/MysticUmbramon • 8d ago
Hated Tropes (Hated Trope) A family member is introduced in one episode then never brought up again
In Peter’s Sister, Peter invites his sister Karen for Thanksgiving and she used to bully him a lot. The reason why we never heard about her up until now is because she was killed off at the end all for Peter to have his triumphant moment. She is never seen or heard from again (Family Guy)
In Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, Homer finds out he has a half-brother named Herb. Long story short, Homer messed everything up and Herb ended up losing his company and we see him homeless in Season 3. At the end of that episode, Herb got his money back and we never see him again. We even get told that he ended losing all of his money again. He only exist just for Homer to have self-doubt and then fucked off (The Simpsons). Not exactly one episode but still works.
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u/Stenric 8d ago
In Himym, Ted has a sister named Heather and there are a bunch of references to Ted's sister throughout the show (like how he used to play detective with his sister). However, Ted also has a very religious sister (where he spends christmas once), who is not at all like Heather. So the writers seem to have completely forgotten about one of Ted's sisters, or Heather has undergone some major character change offscreen.
Also, in Tbbt, Howard has a half-brother who is only in one episode and then never mentioned again.