Blog #13- Trope Analysis: Ret Gone

Requested by .chr and something I had to quickly study up on to realise how ironic it is for this to be requested after my 'Time Travel' analysis. He also wanted me to cover Cessation of Existence but that is more of the 'feeling' of not existing rather than the results that happen from not existing. Since I have never 'not existed' before, I can't detail it well.

Now onto to the trope itself. There are many ways to suddenly 'not exist'. Maybe no one remembers you or is actively wiping any traces of you. This is quite different from ACTUALLY not existing since the almighty author can wipe out any characters without anyone other than the readers being the wiser.

Usually there's at least one other person who knows someone has been 'erased from existence' somehow and it normally not a delusion they created because they're a lonely NEET with no life.

Ahem, getting back on topic. As long as no one else remembers your character, then this trope has been implemented. If done to the protagonist, you can either put him in a state where he absolutely needs help to come back like that one in Rascal Does Not Dream Of Bunny Girl Senpai or continues to exist but have their entire previous history wiped away.

The former is pretty straightforward where you can only make everyone remember through some specific task, but the 'crisis' part of not being remembered is not what this trope is used for.

After all, avoiding death is a way more simple crisis than being erased from existence. So why is this trope even used? The answer to that is the actual results of 'not being remembered' and if getting everyone's memory back is even worth the effort.

The changes that happen when a person is Ret Gone'd is scaled from good, bad, big, or small.

If the person is the 'world saviour' or someone very important in human history, then expect a bad change on a world scale. However, if it's a random citizen who had no real affect on the people around them, then expect nothing to happen and the things they did being done by someone else instead.

Normally, being 'erased' would create a present where everyone is sadder without you, and the only way to make them happier is to come back, but this is usually character driven rather than 'epic'.

If the Ret Gone is permanent, then the story can be about making new memories, but if it can be reversed, you'd best make sure that key events in their life actually matter to the reader.

Now this, like I said in my previous analysis, only applies to the main character unless you want to add a mystery element by making the Ret Gone'd character someone else. The first Anime example I gave even made entire point on how heartbreaking it was for the main character to have the relationship they built up through heartfelt interaction, severed.

But let's not make it all about that story and expand the benefits of this trope a little. I mean, besides making a story about 'fighting to exist' there are many darker takes that can be written just by not assuming 'everything' about the characters existence was good. Even good people make mistakes sometimes and it would be hard for everyone to want this person to be 'un-erased'.

And if your character still exists beyond his erased past, then the decisions he makes and the 'bonds' he relies on will be what gets everyone to remember his existence again. There were several times a character was Ret Gone'd in Yamada and the Seven Witches, and the main character always had to reform his relationship with them again before he could get them to remember they were his friends.

And that's all I got to say about it, the shock of someone suddenly 'not existing' plus the emotional and status quo changes is what makes this trope so likeable. It IS NOT to be used if death or literally something else could be a crisis instead.

I'm up to any new requests after this, and I thank .chr for being the first to ask. Good luck! 😉