Basic Trope: A character takes a shortcut, only to get lost.
- Straight: The Tropers are on a road trip. Bob decides to take the scenic route...and ends up getting the family lost.
- Exaggerated: The Tropers wind up stranded out in the middle of the desert.
- Downplayed: Bob takes the "short cut" and it gets the family to their destination, several hours later than they wanted to arrive.
- Justified:
- Bob is too proud to ask directions when he gets lost.
- The Tropers had to complete some silly Fetch Quest or go see some cheesy tourist trap on the way.
- Bob had to go off the main route to find a rest stop because one of the kids had a Potty Emergency.
- There is a possible shortcut going that way, but it's either closed due to road construction or requires several turns and Bob keeps missing them.
- It's been twenty years since he last took it and J. Morris Street has since made way for Troper High's main grounds. note
- Inverted: Bob takes the scenic route, and it gets them to their destination in less time than it would have taken to stay on the main roads.
- Subverted: Bob is warned that the "short cut" will cause him to arrive late but he ends up saving time.
- Double Subverted: Until a construction site at the last minute forces Bob to take a long detour.
- Parodied: The car is seen in front of stock scenery of Mt. Everest, the Pyramids, a beach, the surface of the moon, etc.
- Zig Zagged:
- Bob takes one shortcut, then he changes his mind and turns back to get back on the main road, except he ends up taking another route just to get back to the main road, and once he does find the main road again, he spots yet another scenic route and tries that way.
- The construction site causes Bob a long detour, but the main route was also under construction so he would be delayed either way.
- Averted: Bob does not take any shortcuts.
- Enforced:
- Lampshaded: "Christopher Columbus didn't need directions, and neither do I!"
- Invoked: Bob decides to take a shortcut, even throwing the map out the window.
- Exploited: Bob needs to get to a magical place that only reveals itself to people who are lost. He fails to get himself intentionally lost, so he takes a shortcut in hopes he'll end up in weird, unfamiliar territory.
- Defied: Bob is Genre Savvy enough to know that this will cause problems, so he stays on main roads.
- Discussed: "You see Bob over there? Whatever you do, don't get a ride with him. He likes to take "shortcuts". Believe me, you'll never arrive on-time with him."
- Conversed: ???
- Played For Laughs: The Tropers had intended to go to the amusement park for the day. They instead end up in front of a strip club.
- Played For Drama: The Tropers have to stay in a creepy little town with a Dark and Troubled Past involving a deranged killer.
- Played For Horror: The Tropers are all annihilated by whoever or whatever they encounter in the "shortcut".
- Implied: The journey isn't seem, but it mysteriously takes much longer than it should have and it seems that Bob didn't use a normal route.
Back to Short Cuts Make Long Delays
