History Main / InactionSequence

* The anime ''{{Monster}}'' is 90% inaction, with or without characters on-screen. Even the 'action' sequences drag on with still poses, locked gazes, and held grimaces. Because there's never a pay-off in climax, the other 9% crawls along with exhausted melancholy.

* The final episode of ''TheSacredBlacksmith'' has [[BlackKnight the black-cloaked man]] wait for a minute while Cecilly gives Luke a motivational speech, and then another two minutes while Luke and Lisa [[InstantRunes use magic]] to forge a sword to fight him. It's not as drastic as most other examples here, except that neither Luke nor Cecilly had a weapon at that point, and he seemed to have no compunction against killing them while they were unarmed.

* ''TransformersArmada'' manages to have inaction sequences all over the place, and not just where actual action is taking place - there are often long pauses between dialogue for no apparent reason.
* The final episode of ''TheSacredBlacksmith'' has [[BlackKnight the black-cloaked man]] wait for a minute while Cecilly gives Luke a motivational speech, and then another two minutes while Luke and Lisa [[InstantRunes use magic]] to forge a sword to fight him. It's not as drastic as most other examples here, except that neither Luke nor Cecilly had a weapon at that point, and he seemed to have no compunction against killing them while they were unarmed.
* One of the worst examples in {{Digimon}} happens in DigimonAdventure02 when XV-mon [[FusionDance fuses]] with Stingmon. Before [[TheAtoner Ken]] shows up the current MonsterOfTheWeek takes out most of the digimon. Daisuke spends several minutes trying to convince Ken that they [[ThePowerOfFriendship have to work together]] with the then enemy just letting them talk before evolving. All the while, evil giant bug Okuwamon is presumably still beating the crap out of the rest of the team. Or is he just standing there? Oh, and the power source to Ken's old fortress could blow, taking a good chunk of the Digital World with it, at ''any second.''

* One of the worst examples in {{Digimon}} happens in DigimonAdventure02 when XV-mon [[FusionDance fuses]] with Stingmon. Before [[TheAtoner Ken]] shows up the current MonsterOfTheWeek takes out most of the digimon. Daisuke spends several minutes trying to convince Ken that they [[ThePowerOfFriendship have to work together]] with the then enemy just letting them talk before evolving. All the while, evil giant bug Okuwamon is presumably still beating the crap out of the rest of the team. Or is he just standing there? Oh, and the power source to Ken's old fortress could blow, taking a good chunk of the Digital World with it, at ''any second.''


[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Even though it predated all of these examples, the scene in ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' where Lancelot charges Swamp Castle provides a perfect, if accidental, parody.
** Funny in that the viewer fully expects the gag to last even longer than it already had, and when Lancelot finally does reach the gate, the camera angle shows him very suddenly and abruptly assaulting the guards, killing one of them, and then entering the castle. Inaction Sequence, meet Superaction Sequence!
* In ''StarTrekII,'' when Khan gives Kirk 60 seconds to hand over the data on the Genesis Device, it is [[MagicCountdown the longest 60 seconds in the history of film]], while the good guys explain to each other in great detail how they're going to trick Khan. In fairness, since Kirk does actively stall him, and Khan ''really'' wants that data, it could be argued that Khan did grant them more than the one minute he said he would.
** Except for what he says when he appears to be looking at a watch, implying he really was timing it ([[RuleOfCool not that it matters]] because of what's coming):\\
'''Khan:''' Time's up!\\
'''Kirk:''' [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Here it comes...]]
** And then there's StarTrekTheMotionPicture. LeaveTheCameraRunning scenes comprise about half of it. It may be the only serious competitor against ''DragonballZ'' in terms of how much time is spent watching ''absolutely nothing'' happen.
* In ''TheFastAndTheFurious'', near the beginning, there is quite possibly the ''longest'' quarter-mile race in the world. The participants are racing what they call "10-second cars" - because they can run the quarter-mile in ten seconds or less. In the movie, the race takes nearly three minutes from start to finish. There is a slow-motion sequence involved, but even taking that into account, the ten seconds would still have been stretched to over two and a half minutes.

[[AC:Literature]]
* In ''TheIliad'', Glaucus and Diomedes, two enemy soldiers in the middle of a full-scale battle, stop to chat about their respective heritages. That's right, folks: this is OlderThanDirt.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* After the first three or so, your average episode of ''StargateUniverse'' would be about half as long, if even that, if not for conversations we've heard before being rehashed.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* Several CODEC sequences in the ''MetalGearSolid'' series. The most absurd is the final CODEC call in ''MetalGearSolid 2'' where your [[spoiler:fake]] CO and [[spoiler:fake]] girlfriend spend 5 minutes lecturing you on meme theory while the final boss stands 10 feet away with his sword ready.
** Not to mention all the sequences of Raiden meeting someone face-to-face, only to have them say "Wait, let's use our Codec instead".
* One peculiar example of this is in ''DeusEx'', where the game continues on exactly like normal in the background while there's a cutscene going on or you're chatting with someone? Except that nobody can attack anyone else. This means that if you happen to start a conversation where potential hostiles are on patrol (or, even funnier, while ''evading hot pursuit'') then enemies will draw their weapons, run up right next to you, and silently stand around waiting until the conversation is over to open fire.
** Shots fired right before a cutscene starts continue on their merry way during the talking. Depending on your aim and timing, it's quite possible to kill someone like this.
** Taken to their natural conclusion [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MTVMyCQb8A here.]]
* This also happens in ''[[TheElderScrolls Oblivion]]'' and ''{{Fallout}} 3''. You can engage some enemies, and then talk to an NPC and time essentially pauses, until you leave the conversation.
** Any custom charm spells made in Oblivion never need to be longer than one or two seconds because of this.
* Happens in ''[=~American McGee's Alice~=]''. You're running down a tunnel from an Indiana Jones type rock, and there's a huge chasm ahead you have to jump. You grab this giant grasshopper and rip its head off, drinking from the smoking corpse's neck to acquire its jumping powers, and the laws of physics politely hold the rock still for you in the background until you're done.
* The NES game ''Clash at Demonhead'' refers to the game's various dialogue sequences as "Talking Time".
* ''AdventureQuestWorlds'' parodies this trope with Ryoku's Soul Nuke from the Kitsune saga on Yokai Island, which takes practically forever to charge up. The hero sleeps and takes soda breaks through the charging up process, and eventually just goes through the rest of the saga without him. He ultimately never gets to use it, because the hero unceremoniously knocks him out at the end of the saga just as he's about ready to cut loose.

* {{Katanagatari}}. And some of it is funny. But a lot is just talking for the sake of talking. Doesn't help that each episode is an hour, instead of 30 minutes.

** It was one of the earliest cases of this trope, as the rule was to make each episode match one chapter of the manga. However, it went to such lengths that [[OldShame even Toei producers consider it an embarrassing mistake to this day.]]

* Katanagatari. And some of it is funny. But a lot is just talking for the sake of talking. Doesn't help that each episode is an hour, instead of 30 minutes.

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion is generally pretty good about the pace, but a special mention goes out to [[http://i.ytimg.com/vi/O-wVMDp0bdk/0.jpg this image.]] The studio budget was running out at that point, so they held the frame for a minute and five seconds.
** It also proves this trope can be {{justified}}: having the HumongousMecha holding perfectly still isn't that odd since it's not fighting to keep its balance and the fact that [[spoiler:Kaworu]] is in its hand basically [[TakeYourTime eliminates all urgency]]. Doubly justified in that [[spoiler:Kawarou's trying to talk Shinji into killing him]].
** There are also the endless escalator scenes, and Gendo's famed pose mostly existing so his lips never had to be depicted moving. Eva could switch back and forth from static shots during mysterious conversations for a ''good'' long while before having to advance the plot.

** They do it in Codec because TimeStandsStill when you're on the Codec screen. Maybe you've forgotten that they're injecting {{Postmodernism}} through where [[NoFourthWall the fourth wall was supposed to be]]?

** Oddly, this is averted in most backup or filler duels where not only do the duels take place at a rather fast pace, but they also end up actually being marginally more epic due to the pacing of the duel. An example is the duel where Rebecca is pit against the Chinese duelist. She uses a classic hurt and heal strategy that maintained a very consistent beat that puts the other duels in the series to shame. And she did it all in one episode.

* ''AdventureQuestWorlds'' parodies this trope with Ryoku's Soul Nuke from the Kitsune saga on Yokai Island, which takes practically forever to charge up. The hero sleeps and takes soda breaks through the charging up process, and eventually just goes through the rest of the saga without him. [[spoiler:He ultimately never gets to use it, because the hero unceremoniously knocks him out at the end of the saga just as he's about ready to cut loose]].

* ''AdventureQuestWorlds'' parodies this trope with Ryoku's Soul Nuke from the Kitsune saga on Yokai Island, which takes practically forever to charge up. The hero sleeps and takes soda breaks through the charging up process, and eventually just goes through the rest of the saga without him. By the time the saga is finally over, Ryoku is finally just about ready to cut loose, and is unceremoniously knocked out by the hero.

* One of the worst examples in {{Digimon}} happens in DigimonAdventure02 when XV-mon [[FusionDance jogresses]] with Stingmon. Before [[TheAtoner Ken]] shows up the current MonsterOfTheWeek takes out most of the digimon. Daisuke spends several minutes trying to convince Ken that they [[ThePowerOfFriendship have to work together]] with the then enemy just letting them talk before evolving.

** It also proves this trope can be {{justified}}: having the HumongousMecha holding perfectly still isn't that odd since it's not fighting to keep its balance and the fact that [[spoiler:Kawarou]] is in its hand basically [[TakeYourTime eliminates all urgency]]. Doubly justified in that [[spoiler:Kawarou's trying to talk Shinji into killing him]].

** And then there's StarTrekTheMotionPicture. LeaveTheCameraRunning scenes comprise about half of it. It may be the only serious competitor against ''DragonballZ'' in terms of "how much time is spent watching absolutely nothing happen?"

This is a very distinctive anime variety of {{Padding}}. See also OvertookTheManga, SoundingItOut, TalkingIsAFreeAction. TalkToTheFist is when someone whacks or shoots a character in the middle of delivering one of these speeches. See CrockerTeaBreak for a break in the action for the sake of comedy, rather than stalling.

** For a fun game, watch an episode of the anime and count the number of times the art team didn't feel like drawing moving mouths. You'll hit double figures before the ad break.
** Yeah, but they sort of have an excuse for the motionless mouths: It's supposed to be internal dialogue. If Light or L said half that stuff out loud, the XanatosGambit would be revealed and the show would end in a few minutes. Either Light would be locked up somewhere far away from a Death Note, or Kira would be ruling the world with an iron fist. FridgeBrilliance strikes again!

->"How many [[DragonballZ Super Saiyans]] does it take to change a lightbulb?"
->"Just one, but it'll take him five episodes."

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* In ''TheFastAndTheFurious'', near the beginning, there is quite possibly the ''longest'' quarter-mile race in the world.

* Happens in AmericanMcGeesAlice, too. You're running down a tunnel from an Indiana Jones type rock, and there's a huge chasm ahead you have to jump. You grab this giant grasshopper and rip its head off, drinking from the smoking corpse's neck to acquire its jumping powers, and the laws of physics politely hold the rock still for you in the background until you're done.

* Another major offender is ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'', which is a show about [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome a card game]]. Most duels of any importance are stretched out to three or four episodes, because ''every single turn'' involves at least one player shouting "Not so fast!" and revealing an unexpected countermeasure, prompting several minutes worth of explanation as to how the countermeasure works. It seems that skill in this game is dependent on the fact that no player, however skilled, has any idea how any of the cards work except for their own. The phrase "You see, my card has ''another'' special ability..." is uttered at least twice in nearly every episode. With almost equal frequency, a character will place the duel on hold in order to tell their entire life story to their opponent. [[JamesBond Blofeld]] [[JustBetweenYouAndMe would have been proud]].