Best animated TV plot holes of all time

Please vote as you browse around to help the best rise to the top.

Family Guy picture

Underage Peter - S14-E14

Plot hole: They're in the Clam complaining that they can't drink when they make the revelation that Brian can because he's technically 56. But Quagmire should be able to drink, as in a much earlier episode, he's revealed to be over 60.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Quagmire considers the rest of them to be his best friends. He isn't drinking because they can't drink. He is complaining because since his friends can't drink - he won't drink, so he is still pissed.

It's still a plot hole considering Quagmire's age. I think the writers messed up big time.

You make a good point, but it's awkward to be that one person who is drinking while surrounded by people who can't. So, I understand the correction that was submitted above. Because his friends are not drinking, he now feels that he can't.

It's 100% a mistake. Quagmire simply would buy them alcohol the same way Brian did when they realized he could.

ctown28

More Family Guy plot holes
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends picture

Pop Goes the Diesel - S2-E12

Plot hole: When Duck and Diesel leave the shed, Diesel follows Duck instantly, but the tracks they are on both lead to the turntable. As they are on different tracks to each other, it would be impossible for Diesel to follow Duck that quickly as the turntable could only be set to one track at a time.

More Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends plot holes
Justice League picture

Fury (1) - S1-E14

Plot hole: Hippolyta tells Hawkgirl of Aresia's background of being born in the outside world, the war in her country and right up to her drifting to the shores of Themyscira. It would be impossible for her to know anything of Aresia's background as in part two, it's explained that the captain of the ship who saved Aresia died shortly after reaching Themyscira and therefore would not have been able to tell Hippolyta anything.

More Justice League plot holes
More SpongeBob SquarePants plot holes
The Amazing World of Gumball picture

The Mothers - S3-E17

Plot hole: When the "refrigerator" falls on Tobias's mom, the boys are watching from a side view. It is later revealed that the fridge was just a cardboard cutout. The boys were watching from the side, so how did they not notice it?

bobthedancingdonut

More The Amazing World of Gumball plot holes
The Fairly OddParents picture

Father Time! / Apartnership! - S1-E4

Plot hole: Timmy uses his heat vision, that he previously wished for, to win the race for his future dad. But it's revealed later in "Smarty Pants" that if you use a previous wish in a contest, it is magically taken away because it's cheating.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: That is true, that rule was mentioned in a later episode. However in the episode Christmas Every Day, it was revealed that new rules could be added at anytime. So it's possible that the rule simply didn't exist yet. Although, this plot hole may apply to any episode released after "Smarty Pants."

More The Fairly OddParents plot holes
The Incredible Hulk picture

Darkness and Light: Part 1 - S1-E11

Plot hole: When Hulk and Banner have been physically separated by the nutrient bath, they are both wearing tattered pants. Given that Hulk and Banner were previously occupying the same body, this should not be possible. Hulk was the one that went into the nutrient bath, so if Banner's body was separated from Hulk, then Banner should be naked.

Phaneron

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: It was done deliberately as a form of censorship. They didn't want to show Bruce's genitals.

Explaining why the mistake occurred doesn't invalidate it. Unless you're suggesting the nutrient bath also was able to duplicate the pants.

Bishop73

I am not. I am just explaining the reason behind this error.

Do you have a source for this explanation? If not, I would call it conjecture and while it doesn't invalidate the mistake, it does change it to a deliberate mistake if true.

ctown28

You realise a character can be drawn naked without actually showing their genitals (and/or breasts in the case of women), right? The Little Mermaid is a good example of this.

Phaneron

More The Incredible Hulk plot holes
Pokemon picture

Viva Las Lapras - S2-E32

Plot hole: Officer Jenny asks Ash what he knows about the "trio" when he tells her that the pirates are likely Team Rocket, but he hadn't said anything about there being three of them before that. And Jenny obviously didn't know anything about Team Rocket, either. (00:05:30)

Knever

More Pokemon plot holes
The Simpsons picture

E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) - S11-E5

Plot hole: When the Simpsons run away from the duel, they go to Homer's childhood farmhouse. But Homer and Grandpa burned the farmhouse down in the episode "Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy".

More The Simpsons plot holes
King of the Hill picture

Returning Japanese (1) - S6-E21

Plot hole: In this episode, Hank meets his paternal half brother. They look alike. However, we saw in an earlier episode that Hank's facial structure takes after his mother, not his father. Since they are paternal half brothers, then the Japanese brother cannot look like Hank since he has a different mother.

More King of the Hill plot holes
More South Park plot holes
More Futurama plot holes
Doug picture

Doug's Shock Therapy / Doug Is Hamburger Boy - S3-E11

Plot hole: Doug recalls previous years (in a flashback, where he was next to Skeeter at the window of the Honker Burger as they looked outside) of seeing the Hamburger Boy when Mr. Dink is confessing that he *was* Hamburger Boy. However, Doug has only been living in Bluffington for one year - this was his first summer there.

redbaron2000

More Doug plot holes
Ben 10 picture

Be Afraid of the Dark (2) - S3-E12

Plot hole: When the Corrodium Beam is shut down, there is a brief scene of the sky clearing at Mount Rushmore. But on the cliff face all four heads are seen, whereas the head of Theodore Roosevelt got crumbled in "Secrets," and it's too far forward to have been carved into the mountain face, in place (and same position) of the old head, yet again.

More Ben 10 plot holes
All Grown Up picture

Thief Encounter - S1-E7

Plot hole: It's revealed at the end of the episode that the reason Tommie was sleep walking was because he was so nervous about the 5th grade test. However, he was sleep walking before news about it was given (ie: The beginning of the episode).

More All Grown Up plot holes
Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: This is more of a question than a mistake. (To be fair, I don't think questions were a feature yet back when this was posted.) No, he didn't. He only noticed the fire pit (and the colosseum) when he was inside the ant farm. It most likely just wasn't visible to him from the outside, or it was too small for him to see it.

zenee

More Dexter's Laboratory plot holes
X-Men picture X-Men mistake picture

Slave Island - S1-E7

Plot hole: After Storm's attempt to escape the Genoshan prison is thwarted, she ends up in the ocean right at the shoreline of the beach, where she is captured by a Sentinel. Aside from the fact that it makes no sense for a Sentinel to be hiding in the ocean in the event that a mutant tries to escape the prison, there is absolutely no way that a two-story tall robot could hide in the ocean right by the beach, as the water would be way too shallow. You can even see that the water level only goes up to the Sentinel's ankle area when it is standing upright in the ocean. (00:03:15)

Phaneron

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Perception. (1) The Sentinel isn't as close as it appears. If it were close, then she would have been caught in its waves as it emerges. Also, she would be looking only at its chest circle. It's several yards away. (2) She washes ashore. She fell from the sky. She couldn't have fallen from that great height into shallow water without hitting bottom. (3) It's also a two-story tall robot. Its weight would sink it into the sand. So it could have very well been down that deep.

DetectiveGadget85

Sentinel never sank into sand in other episodes.

Well, it's shown here.

DetectiveGadget85

More X-Men plot holes
Lilo & Stitch: The Series picture

Baby-Fier - S1-E33

Plot hole: When Nani, Jumba, Pleakley and Stitch are turned into babies, Pleakley says he did oops in his pants, but it is well known that Pleakly doesn't wear pants, so why does he say that when it's not true?

More Lilo & Stitch: The Series plot holes
More The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! plot holes
Phineas and Ferb picture

I Scream, You Scream - S1-E15

Plot hole: When Linda (Mom) gets home from her cooking class and greets the boys, she sees nothing out of place. However, just a few moments before, we see the giant laser in the corner of the yard that they forgot to attach to the laser-inator. Wouldn't she have seen this?

logan crews

More Phineas and Ferb plot holes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.