History Main / IrrelevantSideQuest

Everyone, but everyone, whom you meet in the game has some kind of task they want you to perform. Very often this has nothing to do with your official job; you may have gained fame as a slayer of monsters and bandits, yet people will be asking you to sort out their marital disputes or fix machinery. It's not quite the same thing as DudeWheresMyRespect, as they may well have a healthy respect for you - in fact, that's often why they've sought you out in the first place. If you're lucky you'll receive some kind of monetary reward, but usually all you get is a warm fuzzy feeling and [[KarmaMeter karma points]].

A result of this is that every RPG hero comes across as a jack-of-all-trades capable of performing any task asked of him, regardless of how little experience or training he/she has in that field, and can often outperform actual experts that have been doing it their entire life. This can be really weird if your professional soldier PC is asked to say, babysit some kids or decorate for a dinner party by a complete stranger, especially if you [[ButThouMust aren't given the option to refuse]].

-->'''Sten''': No, you're not. I'm taking command.
--> *cue Sten's PWNage*

* 77.4% of ''PaperMario'' is composed of this trope. Especially in the form of mail delivery and Koopa Koot's favors.

[[AC: {{Mythology}}]]
* The 12 Labours of Hercules, making this one of TheOldestOnesInTheBook.
** YMMV on how important his RedemptionQuest was.

[[AC: VideoGames]]

** To be fair, that's explained in story. With sound and lasting peace between all the main nations and the beastmen around them, soldiers and the military industrial complex is done for. With crystal synthesis allowing anyone to become a master craftsman in weeks and turn out a months worth of anything from food to jewelry in a day, tradeskills are gone. This leaves most of the people in the world unemployed and unneeded. The service industry is all that's left! Will you pay me to fetch your groceries? I'm there! You'll trade me something valuable for some hides? I really need the work, man! Mercenary? I can do that.

** To be fair, on Dantooine the other Jedi make it clear that you're supposed to be a peace-keeper and conflict resolver rather than just a killing machine.

* Well-justified in ''PlanescapeTorment'', in which almost all of the unnecessary little sidequests the Nameless One takes on help develop himself, the world around him, or are just plain ''interesting.'' This troper still remembers with fondness the [[spoiler:completely unnecessary]] sidequests in Curst, where everyone had a job for you, and boy, did it get ugly quick.
** Explanation: Curst is the town of betrayal. Every sidequest in Curst involves betraying someone who gave you some other sidequest. Classic example: Politician asks you to collect dirt on her rival. He, in turn, asks you to collect dirt the politician who gave you the original sidequest. There is no way to finish it without sending one [[spoiler: or both]] of them to jail.
** It helps that the main quest ''isn't'' an urgent SaveTheWorld plot - it's finding out about yourself.

* Perhaps justified in the ''SilentHill'' series; no matter how much the protagonist may want to rescue his daughter/find his dead wife/kill that bitch [[spoiler:who killed her father]], the town ''doesn't'' want them to, or at least not until they've completed some irrelevant and/or logic-shattering FetchQuest.

* Similar to the Earthbound example above, ''{{Mother 3}}'' also has a number of quests that subvert this. Chapter 4 and especially Chapter 5, which is titled "Thunder Tower"...but much of the plot for the chapter focusing on retrieving a MacGuffin, which just happens to end up near said tower. You end up the tower not because you planned to, but because you get taken to the tower [[spoiler:because the main character is mistaken for TheDragon]], and have no way to go but up. So basically, destroying the tower IS the irrelevant side quest, even though it's the main point of the chapter.

* There are several in ''DragonAge: Origins'', but most avert this trope as you have to actively seek them out, or choose dialogue options basically volunteering to help [=NPCs=] with their troubles. Almost none are necessary, but they tend to pay well and so usually worth doing in a game built on AntiGrinding and [[AnEntrepreneurIsYou anti-gold farming]].

A result of this is that every RPG hero comes across as a jack-of-all-trades capable of performing any task asked of him, regardless of how little experience or training he/she has in that field, and can often outperform actual experts that have been doing it their entire life. This can be a bit of a DarthWiki/WallBanger if your professional soldier PC is asked to say, babysit some kids or decorate for a dinner party by a complete stranger, especially if you [[ButThouMust aren't given the option to refuse]].

A result of this is that every RPG hero comes across as a jack-of-all-trades capable of performing any task asked of him, regardless of how little experience or training he/she has in that field, and can often outperform actual experts that have been doing it their entire life. This can be a bit of a [[DarthWiki/WallBanger]] if your professional soldier PC is asked to say, babysit some kids or decorate for a dinner party by a complete stranger, especially if you [[ButThouMust aren't given the option to refuse]].

-->~ RGN is GenreBlind after being asked to be a defense lawyer in [[http://hawk.kotorfanmedia.com/node/1771 Yet Another KotOR Parody]].

->'''Roy''': So you, a complete stranger, are telling me that I need to go into dangerous territory and bring back some of this "starmetal" for you, and then you can fix my sword.
->'''Blacksmith''': Aye.
->'''Roy''': Goddamn it!
-->--''TheOrderOfTheStick''

{{RPG}}s allow you to roleplay many different types of character. You can be a [[BloodKnight fierce warrior]], a [[SquishyWizard powerful mage]], a [[KnightInShiningArmor noble Knight]]... okay, let's face it, you're probably some kind of fighter. So why do you seem to spend half your time delivering packages or gathering mushrooms for the local apothecary? Especially when you're supposed to be dealing with that [[TheLegionsOfHell invading demon horde]]?

* Long before ''[[SpiritualSuccessor Dead Space]]'', ''SystemShock 2'' had a sidequest where you could go around the Von Braun and collect a Game Boy-esque portable system and several 8-bit games for it (along with audio and text logs from crew members talking about how addicted they were to the game).

** Surprisingly subverted in the first two games, though. No matter how irrelevant they may seem, many of the sidequests you can undertake can, and often do, directly affect the game's ending depending on how you completed them. This is also the case in ''FalloutNewVegas'', which came after ''Fallout 3''.
*** The above is true towards the end of the game, where your now [[SequenceBreaking (supposedly)]] experienced and well equipped character is entrusted with all sorts of important tasks by the various factions. Throughout the early game on the other hand, most of your quests still involve inconsequential things such as guarding cattle or saving some nobody, [[TakeYourTime despite the fact that any delay may very well lead to the destruction of your entire tribe]] [[GameplayAndStorySegregation (from a storyline standpoint at least)]].

** [[FridgeBrilliance Perhaps]] those innocent distractions helped him not to lose his mind.
*** Agreed. Though a shooting range isn't exactly innocent. Also, remember, both of the give you shit. So look at it from Isaac's POV: I spend a bit of my time NOT running away from undead things trying to bite my nipples off and I also get free shit. Sounds good to me.

A result of this is that every RPG hero comes across as a jack-of-all-trades capable of performing any task asked of him, regardless of how little experience or training he/she has in that field, and can often outperform actual experts that have been doing it their entire life. This can be a bit of a WallBanger if your professional soldier PC is asked to say, babysit some kids or decorate for a dinner party by a complete stranger, especially if you [[ButThouMust aren't given the option to refuse]].

* In ''DeadSpace'', you're a [[BadassBookworm space repairman]] on board a [[GhostShip spaceship full of]] [[BodyHorror mutilated, reanimated corpses]], looking for your ex-girlfriend while also trying to figure out how to get the Hell away from the aformentioned undead freaks. Cue spending time at a shooting gallery or playing zero gravity basketball! Granted, it's all optional, but still. Isaac, you've got better things to worry about than getting the high score.

* There are several in ''DragonAge: Origins'', but most avert this trope as you have to actively seek them out, or choose dialogue options basically volunteering to help NPCs with their troubles. Almost none are necessary, but they tend to pay well and so usually worth doing in a game built on AntiGrinding and [[AnEntrepreneurIsYou anti-gold farming]].

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** Surprisingly subverted in the first two games, though. No matter how irrelevant they may seem, many of the sidequests you can undertake can, and often do, directly affect the game's ending depending on how you completed them.

Related to ApatheticCitizens (your clients), ItsUpToYou (nobody else will do these things for you), and TakeYourTime (do as many sidequests as you want!).

* In ''{{Grand Theft Auto IV}}'' and ''{{Red Dead Redemption}}'', you are frequently tasked with doing silly side missions, oftentimes to get NPCs out of debt. If you are someone who spends a lot of time roaming the WideOpenSandbox, you can easily have enough money to settle these debts for your friend without jumping through the hoops, but this is not an option.

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