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! ?
ret gone is a pretty rare trope for me, and i didnt initially understand what it was. There is the christmas movie that shows this trope, and might be where its born, where the guy wishes he was never born and the angel shows him how things would have changed had he never been born, his brother would have died cause he was never there to save him from drowning, the town became overrun by a mall cause he wasnt there to oppose the buyout, and all the people who couldnt get a job because the bank he owned never opened etc, so he takes back his wish and gets over the depression that made him wish to not exist in the first place.
Ther is another instance of ret gone that i like but isnt really talked much about which is Ains from the game elsword, he is a spirit(?) made by the goddess to refill the emptying El crystal that fuels all life (or smth) sh*t hits the fan while he is in transit to the real world and he barely survives getting his existence erased but he manages to reach the real world and tries to complete his goddess given mission by following Elsword (the hero type protagonist) who has a special resonance with the El crystal. During the game Ains goes apesh*t against the demons invading the world and overuses his powers, and starts disappearing from the real world, and everyone forgets about him even existing, only Elsword keeps feeling that something is missing, and while he tries to understand this feeling he accidentally says Ain's name, which brings him back to reality (he was always nearby in some sort of spirit demi-plane). Everyone suddenly remembers his existence again but dont remember forgetting (they were just like; "Oh Ains, there you are! Did you finish your errand?"). I really liked this story but there isnt really a more complete story about Ains and i find that unfortunate, i especially love his interactions with the only other guy who sort of suspects whats going on because they are both sort of outsiders to the world (Ains can tell that Add is from the past and keeps calling him "esteemed elder", while Add is the only one who noticed that Ains popped out of nowhere and nobody seemed to notice)
ret gone is sort of sad trope, and it makes me kind of anxious, but it is also rare and interesting and i think it could be used for cool stuff