'''Basic Trope''': A character makes a reference to an event that happened before or outside of the plot but is left mostly unexplained.
* '''Straight''': "I'm not sure we should go through with this plan, Alice. Remember what happened last time?"
* '''Exaggerated''':
** The incident in question was extremely complex and lasted for several years, causing it to be referenced quite often.
** "Remember the fifty-eight other times we tried that?"
* '''Downplayed''': It's easy enough to guess what the incident is that it's not much of a mystery. "There's no way you can make a souffle! Remember the toffee incident?" "Well, I cleaned it up, didn't I?"
* '''Justified''':
** A curse has been placed upon Bob that renders him incapable of telling the full story.
** Bob and/or Alice do not wish to delve into the details of the incident in question - referencing it is enough for his point to be made.
** There isn't enough time to tell the whole story due to imminent danger or something else coming up.
** The story is so risque, embarrassing, or ridiculous that it can only be told in pieces.
** Bob really cannot remember most of the event, so we're stuck with what he does know.
** Neither Bob nor Alice can tell the full details of the event, as each only knows a small part of what happened. Both can however explain the effects of the event.
** The event was traumatic to Alice and Bob and going into detail would cause an anxiety attack.
* '''Inverted''':
** In the aftermath of a plan gone [[PlayedForLaughs hilariously]] [[FromBadToWorse awry]], Bob and Charlie agree [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain not to tell Alice about it]].[[note]]Though to Alice, it would still be a NoodleIncident.[[/note]]
** A CutawayGag where we actually see the result of "last time".
** The "last time" never gets mentioned but it always get shown.
* '''Subverted''':
** ResolvedNoodleIncident
** Bob asks Alice about a certain time they shared together. In reality, there was no time spent together - Bob is testing to see if Alice is an impostor.
* '''Double Subverted''': It actually was the real Alice, she had mistaken Bob's contrived event for a real one that they actually spent together.
* '''Parodied''': "Remember that thing [[NoodleImplements with the banana peels and the magic wand and the greased pigs]]? Man, that was awesome."
* '''Zig Zagged''': (continued from Double Subverted) ...No, wait! It was the impostor Alice after all. She just said all that to get herself off the hook.
* '''Averted''':
** Bob is lying; the event never actually happened.
** The incident is told or [[CutawayGag shown]] in full detail; nothing spared.
* '''Enforced''':
** A scene is too violent/dirty/controversial/boring to be shown in full detail, so the writers are told to only make reference to it.
** The author can not think of a good explanation for said incident, and/or thinks it would be funnier if left unexplained.
** The new characters have to be shown to have seen it all, but there is not enough time to go into details.
* '''Lampshaded''': "Why don't you ever elaborate on these stories, anyway?"
* '''Invoked''': A prophet tells Bob to come back in ten years. (The story takes place ten years later, with fleeting references to why Bob is venturing to see the prophet.)
* '''Exploited''': A villian does something terrible to Bob, knowing that Bob will remember it forever and tell all his friends how evil he really is.
* '''Defied''':
** "No, Bob. Just no. We're all a team here, so if you have some experience with this you'd better tell us all of it."
** "Bob, you're going to explain what the hell is that about on your own volition or you better be sure [[ToThePain I will find something]] [[WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouTalk that will force you to explain it.]]"
** [''Bob is going to the TV study [[RageAgainstTheAuthor with an angry face; once he enters, Bob marches up to the writer of "Alice and Bob"]], [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou bitch-slaps him against a wall]] and [[DramaticGunCock shoves a gun in his face]]''] [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "TOFFEE INCIDENT! EXPLANATION!!]] ''NOOOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!''"
* '''Discussed''': "Look, Bob and I have been through a lot together. We often reference things that happened before you showed up - we understand if that makes you feel a bit left out."
* '''Conversed''': "Are we ever going to find out what Bob is talking about? The suspense is killing me!"
* '''Implied''': The incident is hinted at via the characters' behavior, with none of them actually saying anything aloud.
* '''Deconstructed''': Something happened a long time ago that everyone seems to know about but Bob; Bob gets frustrated because nobody will tell him the full story.
* '''Reconstructed''': When they finally ''do'' fill him in, [[TheUnreveal off-screen]], he understands why they didn't before - even ''they'' wish they never knew.
* '''Played For Laughs''':
** The specific incident is very trivial, and not of much consequence. Charlie, asking Bob and Alice about the event, thought it much larger than it was for how much effort it took to get them to tell him about it.
** Alice repeatedly asks Bob and Charlie what the heck happened, and they refuse to tell. Eventually Charlie, a FourthWallObserver, waits for a scene transition before explaining the incident to her.
* '''Played For Drama''': Bob did something unspeakably terrible before the start of the story. It comes back to bite him, one way or another.
* '''Played For Horror''':
** The reveal of the Noodle Incident [[GoMadFromTheRevelation drives the people who hear it insane]].
** NothingIsScarier
* '''Plotted a Good Waste''': The incident is somewhat expanded upon, but only by its consequences: It's not really about what happened, but about the effects it had, which are increasingly shown over the course of the story to have been terrible. By the end, the audience don't really want to know what happened way back when, and feel fine with the story ending without explaining it.

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You remember [[NoodleIncident that page]], don't you? Ha ha ha ha ha! Good times, good times indeed...
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