History Main / ItsASmallWorldAfterAll

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Migration}}''. After another duck family they meet takes off to migrate to Jamaica, the Mallards decide to do so as well. When the Mallards finally arrive in Jamaica, they just happen to meet up with the first duck family, apparently totally by coincidence.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}''. Although this may be due in some small part by [[ItMakesSenseInContext miracles,]] it's still damn unlikely for Yuuichi to run into people whenever he steps outside.
* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', Feudal Japan appears to be populated by a total of about twenty people, all of whom are at any given time within convenient brawling distance of one another.
* In ''Anime/StarBlazers'', the man that Queen Starsha rescued from the Gamilon ship that crash-landed on Iscandar ''just happens to be'' Alex Wildstar, Derek's long-lost brother, presumed dead.

* ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend'' establishes in the first three chapters that Kazuya and Chizuru are neighbors and schoolmates, with their grandmothers being friends and patients in the same hospital.
* In ''Manga/CellsAtWork'', out of trillion cells in the large body, the main cast always manages to bump into each other whenever the plot happens.

* In ''ComicBook/BruceWayneFugitive'', when putting all the pieces together as to who framed Bruce for Vesper Fairchild's murder, [[spoiler:he's more than convinced that it was sheer luck that a government agent, acting on ComicBook/LexLuthor's behalf, hired David Cain to do the deed, neither of them realizing he knew Bruce was Batman.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfFodlan'', Link has already met Bernadetta in the past, thanks to him saving her uncle. A few years later, and he gets involved in Kostas' attack on Garreg Mach's students. This leads to him meeting Bernadetta again, who has become a student herself.
* Shows up in the LDD-fanfic, ''Fanfic/BridgeToTerabithia2TheLastTime'' in the DistantEpilogue. What are the odds that [[spoiler: Jess' ex-girlfriend, Sonia Taylors, would end up marrying his ex-bully, Scott Hoager]]? Or the fact that [[spoiler: the daughter of Jess and Leslie would have a puppy love crush on the son of Scott and Sonia, despite the latter being ex-bullies to the former]]?

* ''Franchise/StarWars''
** In ''Film/ANewHope'', despite the surface area of the Death Star being millions of miles, Luke and company end up within jogging distance of everything and everyone of importance to their errand - when they had no control over what part of the space station they were going to end up inside. Of course, given Vader's [[AllAccordingToPlan plan to track the rebels to their hidden base]], this is likely [[FridgeBrilliance not a coincidence]].
** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''
*** When the Imperial probe droid arrives on the planet Hoth, it slams into the ground not only fairly near the Rebel base, but close enough to Luke Skywalker for him to see it land.
*** [[TheHero Luke]] is told to look for Yoda in the Dagobah System. That's all he's told about where to find Yoda. And not only does he get the right planet, but he even lands within a mile or so of Yoda's hut.
** ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'': Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive in the Naboo capital city at the same time and place that the Queen and her entourage are being moved by their combat droid guards, allowing the two Jedi to rescue them.
%% * Constantly, ''constantly'', in ''Film/DoctorZhivago''.

* In ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'', two characters are picked up by a bee, flown all around the yard which to them is now 3-miles long, and conveniently dropped off not far from the others. "[[{{Pun}} It's a small world after all]]", indeed.
* In ''Film/PitchBlack'' the ship crashes on the planet, conveniently within walking range of the settlement, though it was intended as an [[AvertedTrope aversion]]. Ken Wheat, the original writer of the film with his brother, Jim, explained that in the first draft of their script the ship had detected the settlement and tried to land near there so as to be near an area where there might be supplies.
* ''Film/{{Serendipity}}'': Sara's best friend Eve knew Halley in college. Unbeknownst to to Sara and Eve, Halley is going to marry Johnathan (Both Sara and Johnathan fell in love with each other the only night they met together a few years back).
* In ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'', after his one contact in Newark betrays him, Johnny is presumed to be running around the city with no leads as to how to "download" the data he is carrying, but fortunately for him, every single stranger he crosses paths with [[ContrivedCoincidence just so happens]] to have important and extremely helpful ties to either LaResistance fighting the gangs and corporations that are after Johnny's head, the intended recipients of the data Johnny is carrying, or both.

* In ''Literature/TheWindupGirl'' by Creator/PaoloBacigalupi, Emiko is running for her life and looks certain to be killed when Anderson Lake ''just happens to be'' riding past in his rickshaw and rescues her.
%% * Sheckley's ''Literature/{{Mindswap}}''. That method of looking for Ze Kraggash actually pays off. Somewhat.

* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': The first humanoid alien Arthur meets after he goes into space is a guy who crashed a party he'd been to. The second is the Earth woman that guy hit on at said party after Arthur had been chatting her up himself. They acknowledge that this is weird, although this is the Improbability Drive in action, so... [[AWizardDidIt A Sci-Fi Scientist Did It]]? Zaphod Beeblebrox is ''also related to Ford Prefect'' just for a gag about BizarreAlienBiology.
%% * Some critics have pointed out that a good number of plot points in ''Literature/AClockworkOrange'' are driven by Alex running into an old friend.
* It happens on smaller scale in ''Literature/FeliksNetAndNika''. What are the chances that in city of more than million people children of two men working in the same top secret facility will turn out to go to the same (regular) school ''and'' to the same class?

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "Literature/TheSlitheringShadow", Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian, running away from a ZergRush, gets dropped through a TrapDoor to where Natala has been abducted, JustInTime to save her from the LivingShadow.
* ''Literature/LesMiserables'': Characters we thought we left behind have a way of popping up again as the plot demands it. Not that this is a bad thing. And when the action is in Paris, it's ''slightly'' more justifiable -- Paris is one city, and fairly small, as far as European capitals go.
* The ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' novels take this to absolutely ridiculous extremes. Just a couple of examples:
** [[Literature/DeathTroopers The prison ship that just so happens to find a Star Destroyer infected with a]] ZombieApocalypse ([[spoiler: A.k.a [[PlayingWithSyringes Project Blackwing]]]]) just so happens to be holding [[spoiler:Han Solo and Chewbacca]] in solitary confinement.
** Jaden Korr (of ''VideoGame/JediAcademy'' fame) happens to be in precisely the correct spot in all of space to intercept an Old Republic Jedi master who was flung into the future due to a hyperdrive malfunction.
* In ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', the Count's identity and nature are exposed because his lawyer's wife's best friend's ex-suitor's onetime mentor ''just happens'' to be an expert on vampires.
* ''Literature/TheShipWho'' books try to justify this to a degree by often having Courier Service ships, like [[SapientShip most of the protagonists]], visit colony worlds with small populations. If they have to find someone on the planet Annigoni and there's only one settlement on that planet, it's a bit likelier that they'll run into them at 'random' after landing at the spaceport. In ''The Ship Who Searched'''s case, Tia works for an archeological department and is often sent to dig sites with no more than a couple hundred people involved. Still, these characters remain quite lucky in who they find "by chance" at stations and etc.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/{{Sliders}}'', they would always randomly appear in the precise place and time where four strangers could, over the course of a few hours, completely alter the way of life on the planet. (We did briefly see the Sliders in universes where they had no particular impact, usually at the very start of an episode. Presumably, there were any number of such banal slides and the network was only showing us the interesting ones.)
** [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in one of the first episode, where the professor tries to see which way they should go: should they interfere, are they sent there by a form of God, or should they take up a "[[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]]" of sorts of not interfering. They chuck it out the window in favor of [[RuleOfCool doing whatever they want]] or [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight what they consider moral]].
** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in a later episode, where Quinn is obsessed in three consecutive worlds apparently given to him by fate as [[EarnYourHappyEnding chances to save his long-lost school girlfriend]]. In the last world he ends up almost ''literally'' '''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero breaking that world]]'''. They quickly forget this "little" incident and start poking their noses where it (usually) isn't their business after this.
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''Series/StargateSG1''. Very few civilizations see much advantage in venturing more than a few kilometers from the Stargate, it usually being the only way on or off the planet (or, for primitive cultures, being integrated in the local religion since the [[GodGuise "gods"]] come through it).
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', where those who live in deadly fear of the human-eating Wraith never move away from (or block) the stargate the Wraith ships emerge from - generally making it easy for the ships to fill their human quota in about half an hour.
* Very obvious in ''Series/DoctorWho'', where the TARDIS never seems to land on the opposite side of the planet from wherever the local intrigue is going on. The episode "The Doctor's Wife" tells us that the TARDIS is doing it on purpose, even in the early seasons when the ship's flights were entirely random. For example, despite having an entire planet to argue over, the Thals and the Kaleds apparently live within walking (or gliding) distance of each other in "Genesis of the Daleks".
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Zhaan searches for her missing crewmembers by ''asking a bartender'' on a random planet nearby. Because clearly there is only one bar on the entire planet which they could have visited if they had been there, which, thankfully, they did not.
* The first season of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' suffered badly from this. Characters just seemed to run into each other all the time, even when they came from distant places like Tokyo. Perhaps the most blatant example was [[spoiler:when Hiro met Nathan at a roadside diner, and shortly afterwards, Sylar also happens to show up on it (in time to kill Hiro's new love interest.)]]
* Cleverly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the original ''Series/LandOfTheLost1974,'' where the artificial pocket dimension the Marshalls are trapped in is not only small, but warps over on itself, so that if you walk far enough in one direction, you will return to your starting point. The local "mountain range" is, in fact, just the endlessly repeated image of the ''same mountain,'' and if you stand on its peak and look at the neighboring peak with binoculars, you can see your own back.

* Present in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' season 2, in the Pylea arc. After lengthy discussion of how two people going through the portal might wind up halfway across the world from each other, -and- coming up with a plan to stop them from doing so, Angel, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne get to Pylea and find [[spoiler: they're a few miles from where Cordelia ended up after her own trip through the portal. Cordy herself came through about the same place that Fred had, on yet another trip]]. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that it's mentioned that the portals need psychic energy to open. The Pyleans, and a few of the wild animals nearby, produce quite a bit of said energy.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S2E28WillTheRealMartianPleaseStandUp Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?]]". An alien from Mars comes to Earth and finds himself at a diner owned by an undercover alien from Venus.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', where the heroes travel to the moon and find that, though it is indeed smaller than the normal world, as one might well expect of a moon, it nevertheless does have a fully detailed worldmap. It's just... rather sparsely inhabited. Again, as one might expect of a moon. This is also because all of the humanoid inhabitants are sleeping below the surface, and the only other people living there, the Humingways, occupy one cave.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/HavenCallOfTheKing'', a game which goes to show exactly why it's played straight most of the time. In the later stages of the game, you're tasked with [[HundredPercentCompletion finding 12 hidden dungeons in order to get the best ending]]. You have a space ship, and have to check the game's several worlds for them. As these are full sized planets, it will literally take hours worth of flyovers in your space ship to find one, partly because your ship doesn't move nearly with the kind of speed you'd expect of an intergalactic vessel.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'''s planets generally consist of about a square kilometer of mountainous terrain. You can see areas beyond the tiny map, but you're not allowed to go there - and, at any rate, all the stuff on the planet worth exploring is within a short drive of everything else.
** "You're leaving the bounds of the operational area, you're leaving our scopes, you need to turn around Commander" says Joker every time you try to go a little too far out. Although on one particular planet there's an annoying bit of ore that's JUUUUUUST outside the operational area and you have to very, VERY carefully inch over to it on foot or Joker picks you up and deposits you back at the "beginning of the level". Great scanners you got there, Normandy...
** Everyone that you meet in the first game shows up in the sequel. EVERYONE. At least, everyone who isn't dead. Most of them are emailing you, though, and comment something like "Man, it was hard to get your address!" ...an address belonging to a ''terrorist organization wanted in all of Citadel space''. Then again, given their penchant for [[SigilSpam plastering their logo on everything]], it wouldn't be surprising if it were something like "cmdshepard@cerberus.org"
** Played straight with searching for Liara. The smallest to which your superiors can narrow down her location is a sector ''with four navigable star systems''. Although they do recommend starting the search on "the planet with the Prothean ruins", without even specifying its name. Likewise, Liara can only narrow down the Conduit's location to "somewhere on Ilos", and you only find it by locating [[BigBad Saren]] and airdropping right behind him.
* The ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' games take this trope to an even farther extreme than the ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies. Regardless of whether the protagonists land on a desert planet, an ocean planet, or a planet that is one big city (Coruscant-style), their destination is always just a few zones away, perfectly walkable on foot, even if they don't know its location. Also applies when their spaceship crash-lands in the middle of nowhere.
* The ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' meta-series has several of the oldest fighters (Takuma, Saisyu, Chin, etc.) having either known each other superficially or being old friends. Specially, [[VideoGame/ArtOfFighting Takuma Sakazaki]] knew [[VideoGame/FatalFury Jeff Bogard]] rather well, and he also was an acquaintance of Kyo Kusanagi's father Saisyu; also, Chin Gentsai was an old friend of [[VideoGame/FatalFury Tung Fu Rue]]. Noticeable in that the "Takuma knew Saisyu" angle was pure {{fanon}} at first, [[AscendedFanon then became canon.]]
* Everyone in ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive5'' seem to run into each other in completely obscure corners of the world and they recognize each other as well with no introductions needed, though regarding the latter, considering it's the ffith game, that's to be expected to some extent.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', the Autobots and Decepticons fight all over the planet, not just the Rockies. Yet, it takes less than two hours for Optimus and the gang (a group of ''cars'') to get from Colorado to '''Central Africa'''. The same goes with their adventures in India, Peru, and wherever else.
* In the episode "Around the Berry Big World," WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake goes on an "Around the World in 80 Days" style trip and is deflected at every turn, yet she always manages to end up near one of her international friends (from the "World of Friends" line).

* An Al Brodax ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon (from Gene Deitch) had Popeye at a school for adult learning. He falls asleep and dreams he's a genius kidnapped by spies. When he awakes, it appears Olive (attending as well) had the same dream. "Ain't it a small dream world?" they say in unison.

** ''Film/ThePhantomMenace''. Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi arrive in the Naboo capital city at the same time and place that the Queen and her entourage are being moved by their combat droid guards, allowing the two Jedi to rescue them.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E64WillTheRealMartianPleaseStandUp Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up?]]". An alien from Mars comes to Earth and finds himself at a diner owned by an undercover alien from Venus.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', the Autobots and Decepticons fight all over the planet, not just the Rockies. Yet, it takes less than two hours for Optimus and the gang (a group of ''cars'') to get from Colorado to '''Central Africa'''. The same goes with their adventure in India. And while a race from Paris to Istanbul sounds doable in a day, [[http://images.wikia.com/transformers/images/4/46/Transeuropemap.jpg the map shown on the show looks deplorable!]]

** [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in one of the first episode, where the professor tries to see which way they should go: should they interfere, are they sent there by a form of God, or should they take up a "[[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]]" or sorts of not interfering. They chuck it out the window in favor of [[RuleOfCool doing whatever they want]] or [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight what they consider moral]].

** [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in one of the first episode, where the professor tries to see which way they should go: should they interfere, are they sent there by a form of God, or should they take up a "[[Franchise/StarTrek First Commandment]]" or sorts of not interfering. They chuck it out the window in favor of [[RuleOfCool doing whatever they want]] or [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight what they consider moral]].

* Everyone in ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive5'' seem to run into each other in completely obscure corners of the world and they recognize each other as well with no introductions needed, though regarding the latter, considering it's the ffith game, that's to be expected to some extend.

* In ''Film/PitchBlack'' the ship crashes on the planet, conveniently within walking range of the settlement, though it was intended as an [[AvertedTrope aversion]]. Ken Wheat, the original writer of the film with his brother, Jim, explained that in the first draft of their script The Ship had detected the Settlement and tried to land near there so as to be near an area where there might be supplies.

-->'''Avon:''' Why should I be? It has a perverse kind of logic to it. Our meeting is the most unlikely happening I could imagine. Therefore we meet. Surprise seems inappropriate somehow.

[[folder:Film]]

* Averted in ''Haven: Call of the King'', a game which goes to show exactly why it's played straight most of the time. In the later stages of the game, you're tasked with [[HundredPercentCompletion finding 12 hidden dungeons in order to get the best ending]]. You have a space ship, and have to check the game's several worlds for them. As these are full sized planets, it will literally take hours worth of flyovers in your space ship to find one, partly because your ship doesn't move nearly with the kind of speed you'd expect of an intergalactic vessel.

* An Al Brodax ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} cartoon (from Gene Deitch) had Popeye at a school for adult learning. He falls asleep and dreams he's a genius kidnapped by spies. When he awakes, it appears Olive (attending as well) had the same dream. "Ain't it a small dream world?" they say in unison.

** ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend'' establishes in the first three chapters that Kazuya and Chizuru are neighbors and schoolmates, with their grandmothers being friends and patients in the same hospital.

* The ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' games take this trope to an even farther extreme than the ''StarWars'' movies. Regardless of whether the protagonists land on a desert planet, an ocean planet, or a planet that is one big city (Coruscant-style), their destination is always just a few zones away, perfectly walkable on foot, even if they don't know its location. Also applies when their spaceship crash-lands in the middle of nowhere.

* In ''LiveActionTV/TheKnowledge'', Chris happens to meet Gordon leaving his mistress's house, on two occasions.
--> '''Chris''': It's a big place, London. It's so bloody big, you forget how small it is.