Follow TV Tropes

Following

History PlayingWith / CrypticBackgroundReference

Go To

OR

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

'''Basic Trope''': Some part of the world gets name-dropped without giving details or context, simply to make the world feel more detailed.
* '''Straight''': ''[[DieselPunk The Illustrated History Of Diesel Wars]]'' is a story happening in a ConstructedWorld. Many setting details are name-dropped throughout, but left unexplained.
* '''Exaggerated''': The entire world of the story is [[MindScrew cryptic to the point of unintelligibility]], and any information the readers get is on a need-to-know basis.
* '''Downplayed''': Most, but not all Cryptic Background References end up as [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Guns]] sooner or later.
* '''Justified''': The details in question are myths and rumors widely known in-universe, so the characters don't bother explaining them to eachother.
* '''Inverted''': Any mentions of some background detail, no matter how insignificant, prompt an InfoDump from one of the characters.
* '''Subverted''': A Cryptic Background Reference to "the Ghost Train" is dropped, but the main character never heard of it, and asks for an explanation.
* '''Double Subverted''': The explanation he gets is a long-winded story name-dropping ten locations and seven historical figures that the readers don't know about.
* '''Parodied''': The main characters work for a highly secretive [[{{Dystopia}} totalitarian state]], and so any attempts to find out what Cryptic Background References mean are met with "[[{{TabletopGame/Paranoia}} I'm sorry, citizen, but this information is not available at your security clearance.]]"
* '''Zig Zagged''': ???
* '''Averted''': If a background reference is made, it always eventually ends up as a ChekhovsGun.
* '''Enforced''': "I'm telling you, Jeremy, don't just make a story - make a world! Put some unexplained background details in there, that'll get the readers' imagination running!"
* '''Lampshaded''': "So... what's all this talk about the Ghost Train and Firebase Alpha?" "IdTellYouButThenIdHaveToKillYou."
* '''Invoked''': TheLancer is an in-universe history buff, and loves to namedrop the events from the past to compare them with current events.
* '''Exploited''': ???
* '''Defied''': One of the characters is a FishOutOfWater and another is MrExposition, so no background reference gets left unexplained.
* '''Discussed''': "Do you feel that all this rumor-mongering could use some explanation for the less shrewd of us?" "Nah, everyone knows what we're talking about anyway."
* '''Conversed''': "Wow, this Diesel Wars book really pulls no punches in namedropping world details like i already know about them." "Isn't that just the writer's SignatureStyle? I read his short story collection, and those were just as full of unexplained details."
* '''Played For Laughs''': The Cryptic Background References [[FreudianSlipperySlope quickly degenerate into]] references to ComicSutra.
* '''Played For Drama''': The Cryptic Background References get used to add a sense of danger and excitement to the story, with a multitude of threats just waiting to leap out towards the heroes.
----
Now go back to CrypticBackgroundReference, but [[ShortCutsMakeLongDelays don't take any shortcuts]] - Alister Cromwell found out the hard way that you shouldn't.
----

%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
%%
%%* '''Implied''': ???
%%* '''Deconstructed''': ???
%%* '''Reconstructed''': ???
%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???

Top