A timeskip is a narrative device that is commonly used in the telling of epics or sagas. It allows the storyteller to quickly age characters or develop events without getting bogged down in irrelevant or uninteresting details. Though time is commonly fast-forwarded in small amounts, timeskips usually refer to periods of several years or decades, wherein a pronounced change can be measured against the same characters, such as a child becoming an adult.

Examples

Anime and manga

• Bleach: The series skips forward 17 months after the first half.
• Death Note: The series skips forward 5 years two-thirds of the way in.
• Dragon Ball: The series jumps 5 years after first half, 7 years after three arcs, and the ending takes place 10 years later.
• Fairy Tail: The series jumps 7 years, and jumps further 1 year.
• Fist of the North Star: The series jumps about 10 years after Kenshiro defeats Raoh.
• From The New World: The series jumped 2 years after the first two part and another 12 years for the last two parts; the story was narrated by the protagonist 10 years after (a total of 14 years from the beginning).
• Hellsing: The ending takes place 30 years later.
• Naruto: The series jumps 2 and a half years after part 1, and part 3 takes place more than 10 years later.
• One Piece: The series jumps 2 years after first half.
• Rebuild of Evangelion: The second half of the tetralogy is set fourteen years after the first half.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: The series skips ahead seven years after the first half.
• Trigun: The series jumps two years after the conclusion of Trigun, thus starting Trigun Maximum.
• Attack on Titan: The series jumps five years after the three protagonists enlist in the military.

Animated TV

• Beast Machines: This series introduces a large timeskip between the events of the end of Beast Wars and the assault the Maximals are seen fighting against in the very first episode of the series. Ironically, the events in the timeskip are actually very important to the series, and the full scope of events that occur between the end of Beast Wars and the desperate battle that the Maximals find themselves waging to reclaim Cybertron are not fully revealed until roughly mid-way through the first season of the show.
• Ben 10: The Ben 10 franchises between each of the series. Ben 10: Alien Force takes place 5 years after the original series. Another timeskip happens after Alien Force in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien taking place a few months after and Ben 10: Omniverse being a few months after Ultimate Alien.
• The Transformers (TV series): Prior to The Transformers: The Movie, Spike is portrayed as an adolescent. The movie introduces a timeskip, and Spike is now a full adult. In the intervening years, the Autobots have established large bases on Earth as well as normalized communication with Cybertron.
• Young Justice: The series jumps forward five years in between seasons 1 and 2, introducing many new team members.

Video games

• Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride: The hero is shown to be a child and progresses into an adult.
• Fable (video game): When the game starts, the player character is a small child. After the introductory gameplay sequence, a timeskip occurs and the player character is now a young adult.
• "Nier (video game)" Following the mid-game climax a 5 year timeskip occurs taking the player into the second half of the game.
• MechWarrior 4: In the original game, the player character (Ian Dresari) is a noble fighting to liberate the planet Kentares IV. The expansion pack takes place an indeterminate number of years later, with Dresari now the corrupt ruler of the planet, and the player in control of a mercenary squad that assists the local independence movement.
• Fire Emblem: Awakening: Between the 11th and 12th chapters there is a two-year break in which Chrom is crowned king as well as Lucina and the other children are born.
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: There is a timeskip of 7 years mid-game which is induced by pulling the Master Sword out of its pedestal.
• The Last of Us: Right after the intro to the game there is a timeskip of 20 years, it establishes the quarantine zones that have been built since the apocalypse started and the formation of Fireflies, a group that is still trying to find a cure and is hostile to the military personnel that is in charge of the quarantine zones.

Literature

• Harry Potter:
  • Nearly ten years are skipped between the first and second chapters of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
  • The epilogue of the 7th and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, takes place 19 years later.