History Main / ExcusePlot

* ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'''s plot is essentially - "Mister Boddy (or Dr Black) is dead. Find out whodunnit." There is no explanation of who Mister Boddy (or even Dr Black) is, why would anyone want to kill him, or who the guests are and why they're at the mansion. Various other ports DO list motives, but they're all contradictory (and none of them tell us who he is).

[[folder:Board Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Azul}}''[='=]s theme of you being a tile laying artist mostly serves as an excuse for the gameplay and the decoration of the playing pieces.
* The Cheapass Games board game ''Devil Bunny Needs A Ham'' has a story, which, in all seriousness, goes as follows: "You and your friends are living pleasant and full lives in Happyville. You are highly trained and well-paid sous-chefs, who have decided to climb to the top of a tall building, as fast as you can. Devil Bunny needs a ham. And he's pretty sure that knocking you off the building will help him get one. Perhaps he is right. Perhaps he is not."
* The Excuse Plot for ''Fight City'' is about as short as you're going to get. "It's a city, and they fight."
* Steam Tunnel couldn't even stay interested enough to finish its excuse: "In the year 2185, in the steam-driven titanium mine deep under the surface of Io... oh, who are we kidding. Steam Tunnel is a great game with no particular basis in reality."
* ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'''s plot is essentially - "Mister Boddy (or Dr Black) is dead. Find out whodunnit." There is no explanation of who Mister Boddy (or even Dr Black) is, why would anyone want to kill him, or who the guests are and why they're at the mansion. Various other ports DO list motives, but they're all contradictory (and none of them tell us who he is).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Candyland}}'' has a backstory about the King being kidnapped by Lord Licorice and only two children from our world being able to find him, with gingerbread men (the playing pieces) acting as guides. Even as a child, did any of this matter when you were actually playing the game? No.
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* ''Literature/TheMoomins'': ''An Unwanted Guest'' is about the main characters going around the Moominhouse, currently occupied by a lot of visitors, searching for a mysterious smelly intruder. As a picture books with photographed illustrations, it showcases an elaborate model of the house complete with hand-made figurines for all the characters.

* A rather unfortunate use of RapeByProxy was used as an excuse for the ComicBook/New52 Red Robin and Wonder Girl to start a relationship when the ComicBook/New52 Teen Titans author revealed that evidently Tim, Cassie and Kiran [[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization enjoyed being raped]] by Trigon when he was possessing Tim. Note that prior to Flashpoint [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim]] turned down sex with his various girlfriends on multiple occasions and was canonically a virgin due to his complete non desire for casual or emotionally compromised sex, wanting to be in a very serious and committed relationship before even considering it.

* Most movies where the plot is started by a ZombieApocalypse provide a vague explanation for the whole zombies thing (a science experiment, a virus, a science experiment that accidentally created a virus, etc.) One notable example is ''Film/TheDeadDontDie'', where the dead are rising from their graves because the planet’s axis was thrown off by polar fracking. You know, science.

* ''Manga/{{Dandadan}}'' follows the cast getting thrown into one crazy scenario after the other, whether that be fighting giant crabs, getting mixed up in a giant worm cult, stopping an evil alien baboon who's trying to turn people into tin cans, or the gang getting into a HumongousMecha made from the female protagonist's house and using it to fight a kaiju. The closest thing there is to any kind of overarching ''plot'' tying it all together is the male protagonist [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to get his testicles back after they go flying off during a race against a supersonic old lady]], which only emphasizes [[TropesAreTools how crazy the whole thing is]].

* ''Manga/{{Dandadan}}'' follows the cast getting thrown into one crazy scenario after the other, whether that be fighting giant crabs, getting mixed up in a giant worm cult, stopping an evil alien baboon who's trying to turn people into tin cans, or the gang getting into a HumongousMecha made from the female protagonist's house and using it to fight a kaiju. The closest thing there is to any kind of overarching ''plot'' tying it all together is the male protagonist [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to get his testicles back after they go flying off during a race against a supersonic old lady]], which only emphasizes [[{{Absurdism}} how crazy the whole thing is]].

* ''Manga/{{Dandadan}}'' follows the cast getting thrown into one crazy scenario after the other, whether that be fighting giant crabs, getting mixed up in a giant worm cult, stopping an evil alien baboon who's trying to turn people into tin cans, or the gang getting into a HumongousMecha made from the female protagonist's house and using it to fight a kaiju. The closest thing there is to any kind of overarching ''plot'' tying it all together is the male protagonist [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to get his testicles back after they go flying off during a race against a supersonic old lady]], as well as the increasingly messy [[LoveDodecahedron romantic entanglements]] among the main characters.

* ''Manga/{{Dandadan}}'' follows the cast getting thrown into one crazy scenario after the other, whether that be fighting giant crabs, getting mixed up in a giant worm cult, stopping an evil alien baboon who's trying to turn people into tin cans, or the gang getting into a HumongousMecha made from the female protagonist's house and using it to fight a kaiju. The closest thing there is to any kind of overarching ''plot'' tying it all together is the male protagonist [[ItMakesSenseInContext trying to get his testicles back after they go flying off during a race against a supersonic old lady]].

* ''Pinball/TimeFantasy'' has... ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs something]]'' to do with an anthropomorphic snail accumulating time while meditating in a psychedelic landscape of mushrooms and rainbows.

* There was a popular ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' module called ''The Great Modron March'' where the event in the title begins decades before it is supposed to, and the [=PCs=] are supposed to help the modrons. They'll probably never learn just ''why'' the event is happening early, and there are a variety of hooks as to what motivation they have (like being hired as bodyguards by people interested in it) but WordOfGod admitted that the ''real'' reason the [=PCs=] are going to want to help the modrons is because it's ''[[RuleOfCool just so cool]]''. (And admittedly, it is.) Of course, the actual reason was somewhat serious, but it was part of a plot of a different module (which could be used as a sequel to this one if the [=PCs=] ''do'' find out. [[spoiler:Primus, the ruler of the modrons, had been murdered, and his throne usurped by a "mysterious shadowy entity" who ordered the March early to search for something. The entity was actually Orcus in his guise as the undead demon Tenebrous, who was trying to find his Wand. Orcus' return became the main plot of the epic two-part module ''Dead Gods''.]]

* The plot of ''TabletopGame/StarRealms'': You want a space empire, destroy the other player to do so.

* LetsPlay/{{Markiplier}}'s video "The Challenge Challenge" claims that all of his "challenge" videos are just an excuse to do something stupid and fun.

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': there is no long term series goal, other than Goku getting stronger, or obtaining Dragonballs, and both are usually due to the current antagonist, in one way or another. There's occasional tournament arcs here and there, but the entire series is mainly a vehicle [[RuleOfFun for lots of action, adventure, and comedy]], in a case of TropesAreNotBad.

* ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'': While the series has Rentarou actively avoid breaking his girlfriends' hearts, the whole "if your soulmates are heartbroken after meeting them, they'll die" clause that led to him going above and beyond for them only threatens to fulfill itself when [[spoiler:Hakari attempts suicide when her mother tries to end her relationship with Rentarou]]. And if a girlfriend does initially reject Rentarou, it's either because they haven't gotten shocked yet, because they're fighting their feelings and will give into them later, or because it turns out they secretly like being hurt.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Azul}}}''[='=]s theme of you being a tile laying artist mostly serves as an excuse for the gameplay and the decoration of the playing pieces.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Azul}}}''[='=]s theme of you being a tile laying artist mostly serves as an excuse for the gameplay and the decoration of the playing pieces.

Some games have epic, sweeping plots that could easily have been made into an action {{Miniseries}} instead of a game. Others just seem to have a plot because people feel a little silly doing things for no reason, even if the real reason they're playing is [[RuleOfFun because it's fun]].

* ''Literature/TheBible'': The Book of Job and all the terrible things that happen to its titular protagonist are one big allegory meant to answer why bad things happen to good people and vice versa, with a whopping ''30 chapters'' (give or take) spent on an argument where Job tried to justify to his friends why his life sucks now even though he's done nothing to deserve it.

Excuse plots, as implied thus far, are most common among video games. In most cases, fun gameplay comes first, and from there, many developers don't see the need for an intricate narrative. This was especially true in the early days of the medium, where system limitations meant a detailed plot would bear significant trade-offs. As a result, this set a baseline for the industry where, in most genres, storytelling isn't a high priority, unless the game brands itself around the story. However, excuse plots are far from unique to the medium. A movie may be [[RuleOfFunny a bunch of gags]] strung together by a barebones narrative. A cartoon may be a [[RuleOfCool nine minute fight scene]] with a minute on each end for setup and resolution. A porn work is most likely to have a [[PornWithoutPlot paper-thin scenario]] to set up the sex, and an {{ecchi}} series may have a flimsy premise that's clearly an excuse to cram in as much {{fanservice}} as possible.