History Main / TransformationAtTheSpeedOfPlot

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''DoctorWho'', "The Waters Of Mars". The zombie-like infection is actually a microscopic PuppeteerParasite, and can decide for itself when is the best time to take over its victim.

* In one episode of Disney's ''{{Aladdin}}'', Jasmine was given a mysterious "beauty potion" that actually began slowly transforming her into a naga. Cue a long trek to locate the means to reverse it. Ultimately, Aladdin declares he would rather stay with Jasmine than leave her behind, and uses the potion on himself -- with immediate results.

This usually means that any effect that has already been established to occur or progress at a certain fixed rate or timeframe will suddenly progress much faster if it reoccurs later. In more {{egregious}} cases, WallBangers can ensue -- why is the latest vampire victim-of-the-week crawling out of her grave not twelve hours after their burial, when vampires are supposed to wait three days before rising from the dead?

** However, in "Amy's Choice" it's never explained why the attack that instantly dusted everyone else we saw it hit gave Rory enough time for a tearful goodbye before gradually dissolving. Of course, it was AllJustADream, so who says it has to make any more sense than a "cold star?"

See also TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot (for geographic distances), MagicCountdown, and and NoOntologicalInertia.

* {{Justified}} in a ''GetSmart'' episode: Smart has been poisoned with a poison which takes exactly 24 hours to kill, and is searching for the antidote. In an (ultimately failed) effort to reverse-engineer the antidote CONTROL managed to recreate the poison except it took effect in one minute instead of 24 hours. Smart finds the poisoner and manages to poison him with the CONTROL version, forcing the poisoner to pull out the antidote, leading to an [[GunStruggle Antidote Struggle]].

See also TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot (for geographic distances), and NoOntologicalInertia.

Take the infection rate of a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] or [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombie bite]] for example: The RedShirt who was killed in the opening scene will undoubtably be a full zombie when he is discovered five minutes later, but when TheHero's main LoveInterest is bitten and infected, she will suffer a painful and slow progression over the course of several hours (or even days!), successfully hiding her infection from the others or fighting it off until the very last moment (usually long enough to say her final goodbyes). But during their LastStand against the ensuing ZombieApocalypse, the former love interest bites the Hero's best friend, and like the RedShirt who was the first victim, he becomes a full zombie within minutes, if not immediately. (And if some BigDamnHeroes don't show up to [[DeusExMachina save the day]], OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow....)

This usually means that any effect that has already been established to occur or progress at a certain fixed rate or timeframe will suddenly progress much faster if it reoccurs later. In more {{egregious}} cases, WallBangers can ensue -- why is the latest vampire victim-of-the-week crawling out of her grave not twelve hours after their buriel, when vampires are supposed to wait three days before rising from the dead?

''Transformation, illnesses and diseases all progress at a rate of [[RuleOfDrama maximum dramatic tension]].''

An effect that has already been established to occur or progress at a certain rate or timeframe will suddenly progress much faster if it reoccurs later. In more {{egregious}} cases, WallBangers can ensue -- why is the latest vampire victim-of-the-week crawling out of her grave not twelve hours after her funeral, when other vampires take three days to rise from the dead?

The infection rate of a vampire or zombie bite is a perfect example: A RedShirt who is killed by a zombie in the opening scene will certainly be a zombie himself when discovered five minutes later, but when TheHero's main LoveInterest is bitten and infected, she will suffer a painful and slow progression over the course of several hours (or even days!), successfully hiding her infection from the others or fighting off until the very last moment (usually long enough to say her final goodbyes). But during their LastStand against the ensuing ZombieApocalypse, the former love interest bites the Hero's best friend, and like the RedShirt who was the first victim, he becomes a full zombie within minutes, if not immediately. (And if some BigDamnHeroes don't show up to save the day, OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow....)

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''DoctorWho'', "The Waters Of Mars". The infection is ''intelligent'', and lying dormant or popping up immediately as helps its strategy.

It's when an effect that has already been established to happen only after a certain amount of time happens almost immediately after the cause reoccurs. In more {{egregious}} cases, WallBangers ensue. Despite the title, this does not to involve transformation, but usually does.

The infection rate of a vampire or zombie bite is a perfect example. If Alice were bitten by a zombie she might slowly transform over the course of several hours or even a few days, successfully hiding her infection from the others or fighting off until the very last moment (long enough to say her final goodbyes). But then suddenly Bob is bitten too. Instead of drawing it out like Alice did, he turns within minutes (or even seconds). This can be justified based on the extent of the characters' injuries. If Alice was bitten once on the hand or foot and Bob several times on the neck and/or torse its plausible that he would turn a lot quicker than Alice. It doesn't work so well when the transformation rate is firmly established in the exposition. If vampires only rise from the dead after three days why is the victim of the week crawling out of her grave the very next night?

See also TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot and NoOntologicalInertia.

!!!Examples:

* DespicableMe: Surprisingly justified. [[spoiler:Things shrunk by the shrink ray eventually unshrink, and this is foreshadowed. But the moon unshrinks a mere few hours after shrunk. But, they say that the bigger the object, the sooner it unshrinks. And the moon is extremely big. However there is FridgeLogic in the fact that the minion shrinks before the flyer, when the flyer was shrunk first.]]
* Wikus in {{District 9}}. He stays just human enough just long enough for the movie to play out (and for the audience to identify), while transforming quickly enough at first for him to use alien technology.

* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''DoctorWho'' 'The Waters Of Mars'. The infection is ''intelligent'', and lying dormant or popping up immediately as helps its strategy.

* SpongebobSquarepants: In the episode "Best Frenemies," the Kelpshakes that everyone is drinking give them green shag that covers their entire bodies, but not until the end of the episode. However, Krabs and Plankton, who have been avoiding drinking them for the entire episode, finally drink it before Karen can warn them of the toxic ingredient. The Kelpshake effect happens almost immediately after they discover that everyone else has it.
* In one episode of Disney's ''{{Aladdin}}'', Jasmine was given a mysterious "beauty potion" that actually began slowly transforming her into a naga. Cue a long trek to locate the means to reverse it. Ultimately, Aladdin declares he would rather stay with Jasmine than leave her behind, and uses the potion on himself -- with immediate results.

Examples:

* DespicableMe: Surprisingly justified. [[spoiler:Things shrunk by the shrink ray eventually unshrink, and this is foreshadowed. But the moon unshrinks a mere few hours after shrunk. But, they say that the bigger the object, the sooner it unshrinks. And the moon is extremely big. However there is [[FridgeLogic]] in the fact that the minion shrinks before the flyer, when the flyer was shrunk first.]]

I will launch this soon. RollingUpdates.

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