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Sandbox / Surprisingly Realistic Outcome Wick Check

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"Action has consequences" means that the example simply describes an action and its consequences, without explaining why it's surprising or realistic. These may or may not be valid, but because they don't explain why they qualify, they are ZCEs and not counted as correct.

  • Fairy Tail Oracion Seis Arc
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Since Lucy broke off Jude's Arranged Marriage proposal, the latter's company is bought out by the Junelle Corporation. When a now-bankrupt Jude sees Lucy and asks her to loan him some money, she refuses, not wanting anything more to do with him. Considering what happened when Jude inadvertently led Phantom Lord to start the guild war with Fairy Tail, it's completely understandable. Action has consequences. Might still count, since arranged marriages are often presented as something completely bad in fiction, but there would logically be some repercussions to stopping one.

Wicks: 10282

Wicks checked: 146

Results

     Correct Use (24/146, 16%) 
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S1 E26 "The Best Night Ever"
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: An entire episode focused around it. A massive event that's seen as the greatest event of the year that anyone who's anyone will get to go to? You're going to run into a few problems: The GGG is built up as an event where the ponies' dreams will come true, and the song sets up the unrealistic expected outcomes
      • Twilight's desire to spend some quality time with Princess Celestia ends up failing because Celestia is obligated to welcome each and every individual guest to the party, leaving her with no time to talk to her and catch up. Leaning towards valid.
  • Letting the Air out of the Band
    • In the last part of the "Undetected" run in Stealing The Diamond, Henry now has the diamond in his possession; all that stands between him is the guard downstairs. One of the options to get past him is to jump over him with the diamond in tow. A very triumphant music track plays...but it abruptly stops when Henry falls down due to the diamond being very heavy. Valid example
  • Aqua Teen Hunger Force
    • In "Fry Legs", Frylock slips into full Yandere mode over a computer repairwoman who doesn't return his affections, murdering her boyfriend in the middle of a crowded restaurant. You'd expect the police to be completely incompetent on a show like this, but no; in no time at all, three cops are at the Aqua Teens' house, and when Meatwad keeps stalling them, one gets fed up, maces both him and Shake, and threatens to come back with a search warrant and arrest them for harboring a fugitive. Probably valid. The example explains what the expected unrealistic outcome is.
  • Ask Fluffle Puff
    • Another comic has Fluffle stuffing herself into a Sailor Fuku, which somehow leaves her barely able to move (despite her having done cosplay a dozen times already). Possibly valid example. It explains why the audience would expect a different, less realistic outcome.
  • Three-Point Landing
  • Street Fighter III
    • Unlike most other locations in the series, Yun's fight in New Generation actually takes place on a street in Hong Kong. The result is a combo of a Funny Background Event and Surprisingly Realistic Outcome; an elderly couple is just a few feet away from the fray, and the worried wife yanks her husband back whenever an attack gets too close for comfort. There's also a bus driver who's visibly annoyed and yelling at them for blocking traffic. Meanwhile, a bird merchant looks bored while enjoying a smoke. In 2nd Impact, he'll still be smoking, but will look pretty confused and scratch his head if you accidentally break open his crates. On the other side of the street, a guy is absentmindedly stirring his ramen bowl because he's too distracted by the spectacle. In the second area - which would later become Yang's stage in 2nd Impact - the manager is clearly pleading for everyone to stop fighting. If you break his statues, he'll get angry and crumble to his knees in despair. IIRC most stages in the series have people cheering the fighters or just ignoring them, so having people actually be scared of the attacks might be a valid example.
  • Clueless
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Cher has spent most of the movie using the power of persuasion to get her way, from earning higher grades in debate class rather than putting in actual work. Her dad encourages this behavior, as a lawyer. Then she tries the same tactics during her driving test after she makes some minor mistakes and then scrapes several parked cars. Her instructor isn't impressed by how she tries to talk her way into a passing grade and tells her that's not how life or road safety works. Valid. Explains how the work sets up an expectation, and then subverts it due to being unrealistic.
  • Re:Zero
    • At one point Subaru falls off a cliff and attempts to reduce the momentum by sticking a sword into it like in movies. It works!.... And then the sword breaks since he just shoved and dragged though solid rock. Probably valid. Explains what the expected outcome is and why it wouldn't work.
  • Safety Gear Is Cowardly
    • There are perfectly good reasons to have safety gear. They protect you and keep you from getting killed or severely injured in an accident or combat. But some people don't understand that. They believe that safety is for wimps, or believe that they are a badass without any safety gear. Or because he's a Karma Houdini, he doesn't need it. They might actually throw away or take off the gear if it's offered. Surprisingly Realistic Outcome if he dies in an accident, or Safety Guy lives through one. However, if he has a real ability that doesn't need it (like Nigh-Invulnerability), then it makes more sense to shun protection. If this trope is common enough, then averting it would be a valid subversion of expectations.
  • Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In "Attack Of The Alien Horde", on his first official outing as Gilded, Miles puts out a raging fire along a highway. First, he tries to blow it out, but just ends up making it worse. Then, he rips a nearby water tower off its legs and opens it up, pouring the water all over the fire and putting it out. When he gets back to the school, however, Henry tells him he not only destroyed that town's local landmark, but that the purpose of a water tower is to keep water elevated so there's enough hydrostatic pressure for a building's faucets to function. In a nutshell, Henry tells Miles that, thanks to him, that town is now without water. Valid example showing the unexpected realistic consequences of an action.
  • Stroker and Hoop
    • Head Blast: In the episode "Just Voodoo It (aka, For Whom The Bear Tolls)", before rushing in to face a horde of zombies, Double-Wide wires C.A.R.R.'s AI to a shotgun mounted on a helmet that he wears into the fray. When C.A.R.R. starts firing the gun, however, Double-Wide remembers guns have recoil, and he ends the episode in a neck brace. Not sure, but leaning towards valid.
  • Conan the Barbarian
    • Does Not Like Shoes: Many characters, even more so if they're female. On one hand, it's justified given the hot and dry locales Conan frequents, but other times the terrain would be unforgivingly rugged and characters would still go barefoot. Sometimes though Surprisingly Realistic Outcome happens and takes a toll, showing what happens when there's a need for foot protection (see Natalia). Valid deconstruction of the trope.
  • Monumental Theft
    • C.O.P.S. (Animated Series): As a birthday present for Big Boss, Berserko tries to steal the Cornucopia Bridge, by inflating the world's largest balloon and blowing up the supports. The C.O.P.S. stop him before he can fire the explosives so we don't see the bridge fly, but their reaction upon seeing the huge balloon inflated inside the bridge says that it wouldn't work. The show sets up something, and we are told it couldn't actually happen since it's not realistic. Possibly valid, although since the realistic outcome never actually happens it would be a subversion of SRO.
  • Shown Their Work
  • My Little Panzer
    • Played with in the Donald Duck comic "The Hypno-Gun." Although he considers it extremely irresponsible, Donald has no trouble believing that someone is marketing a Mind-Control Device as a children's toy. Unbeknownst to him, of course the toy doesn't really hypnotize people — the boys were just pretending (unfortunately, this doesn't protect their uncle from the power of suggestion...). Might be valid if the story leads you to believe the device actually works.
  • Nymph and the Corrupted Miraculous
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Marinette's classmates are easily able to determine that she was the thread wielding champion due to them sharing hairstyles, wearing a costume that mixed French and Chinese design much like Marinette is half French and half Chinese, and most obviously the champion didn't use their legs the whole fight. Seems like a valid subversion of Clark Kenting.
  • Quigley Down Under
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Quigley sends back Marston's invitation letter with holes punched in it, and writing down the distance from which he took those shots. Since no one actually saw him taking the supposed shots, nobody takes Quigley's claim seriously and he has to prove it in front of the entire station in an elaborate marksmanship stunt. Probably valid.
  • Tropes N to Z
  • Tropes N to S
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Numerous characters take rather awful beatings from the Deathstrokes in Season 2, but they're mostly costumed vigilantes, who are likely prepared for when they get the stuffing kicked out of them. In the season finale, Quentin is hurled into a table by a goon, and he coughs up blood and passes out due to a collapsed lung. Possibly valid. It explains how the show sets up an expectation (Made of Iron) and subverts it realistically.
  • Bothering by the Book
    • On the Empires SMP, in response to Joey killing one of her villagers to get the Crown from her* , Lizzie follows Joey's rule to bring him horses as tribute to the letter by breeding about 200 horses in a pit at the edge of the Lost Empire (Joey's Empire), then unleashing them all upon it. The plan might have seemingly backfired initially, as Joey planned on using the horse-tributes to make a velociraptor army, but the Surprisingly Realistic Outcome of having 200 horses in a small space in a video game double-subverts it. Possibly valid.
      Lizzie: Marvellous. There are so many horses here now; Joey might think he can build an army with all of these horses, but I don't know how he's gonna do anything with this amount of lag.
  • Tropes Q to Z This show previously had its own misuse-filled page, although it was cleaned up and a subpage was no longer necessary.
    • Watching a Looney Tunes cartoon where Bugs Bunny's "What's up Doc?" is answered by Elmer shooting him down and then snapping Bugs' neck. Valid
  • The Road to Hell...
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Torgash passed a law where he excepts soldiers and guards to willingly soil themselves as opposed to using chamber pots or disposing of their waste properly. Sollox and Vulxcon inform him that a bunch of new recruits have gotten physically ill because they've spent so much time stuck inside the same fetid facility without bathing or changing their soiled pants. Possibly valid due to showing realistic consequences of Potty Failure
  • Darwin's Game
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Using a high-power anti-materiel sniper rifle for hunting deer sounds like a good plan, on paper. But if the bullet is too high-powered, the bullet can pass right through the deer, causing it to run away, rather than killing it. Might be a valid example.
  • Farm Boy
    • Goblin Slayer: Warrior is a deconstruction of this. Like many fantasy heroes, Warrior grew up on a farm and was inspired by the stories of adventurers to become one himself. However, since he spent his entire life on a farm, he has little-to-no experience in fighting, no formal training, and no real knowledge of the world at large. Naturally, Surprisingly Realistic Outcome occurs on his very first (and last) adventure. The adventure referred to here is slaying goblins, which is not realistic, although the scene is meant to shock viewers by subverting unrealistic fantasy tropes. Warrior's issue (described on the work's own SRO subpage) is that his sword is too big to wield in a narrow cave, which would be a valid SRO since it's something that's often ignored in fiction.
  • Scott Pilgrim

     Mentions/Potholes that are not outright incorrect (4/146, 3%) 
  • Redwall
    • Furries live in and defend an abbey in a High Fantasy world. Surprisingly Realistic Outcome happens. Just a laconic page referring to the work's supposed uage of the trope. The work's SRO subpage isn't officially on the Wick Check list, but I might give it a look later.
  • Star Wars Legends
    • Comments: I was actually debating which sub page to put this one since it technically isn't a KOTOR story so let's have it here. It's a slight AU (Divergences are laid out in the first chapter) about the Mandalorian Wars and follows a Revanchist Jedi Padawan as she disobeys the council and goes off to war. I really like this story because it's a boots on the ground look at the conflict. We see Revan and Malak but they exist as distant political figures or symbols, not part of the main cast. The real focus is on Mekumi's perspective. There's a fair bit of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome going on with the reality of what it would be like for warrior monks to suddenly enlist, which is fun. Strongly reccomend. Fanfic Recommendation commenting on the trope's supposed presence. Not clear if it counts or not.
  • Made of Iron
    • Bob manages to take a lot of damage without dying or passing out. However, he is later informed that this will have detrimental effects on his body. Example is from a Playing With page based on a vague hypothetical story, so it might or might not count.
  • A Practical Guide to Evil
    • Didn't See That Coming: For all her Genre Savvy, she can, very occasionally, get hit with this when people subvert the heck out of expected norms — or, absolutely insist on deconstructive Surprisingly Realistic Outcome. Hierarch calling her out using statecraft and legal means and, thereby, dismissing her existence until, presumably, she gets a date and time to pitch up for her court appearance... kind of hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water from nowhere. That's on top of Tyrant basically setting her up for that little stunt in the first place. Not sure, since it's just talking about how the trope happens in the work, but doesn't specify any examples since it's not the main point of this example.

     "Actions have Consequences" (16/146, 11%) 
  • Aqua Teen Hunger Force
    • In "Super Hero," Shake attempts to give himself superpowers by exposing himself to radiation. He instead ends up getting radiation poisoning, with his condition worsening as the episode progresses. Action has consequences
  • Ask Fluffle Puff
    • One fan question is just a string of emojis, which are interpreted as a fancy rain of emoji confetti, leading to Fluffle running outside and jumping around joyfully. The comic ends with both Chrysalis and Marksaline using safety scissors to get the confetti out of Fluffle's fur. Action has consequences
  • Re:Zero
    • His Unstoppable Rage carries over to his next loop and actually proves to be a detriment to his efforts. While it restored his drive, it makes him too angry to strategize properly and hinders his efforts to make allies, since he is clearly unstable and doesn't think to offer any compelling evidence or reason for them to help him. Action has consequences.
  • The Alternate Timeline
    • Tony knows Bucky isn't truly responsible for killing his parents, and is aghast at what he's been put through. However, he finds it difficult to be around him and for a long time, he can't bring himself to call Bucky by his first name. Action has consequences
  • Yuri is My Job!
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When you compulsively tell lies, you shouldn't be surprised if people have trouble believing anything you say. While Hime's intentions for lying to her other "friends" are good, since she wants to protect Mitsuki, Mitsuki understandably begins to question how much she can trust Hime after Hime confesses to being a liar. Action has consequences
  • After the Fall (Miraculous Ladybug)
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After being killed, having his Miraculous taken away and generally being confronted with the weight of his own failure, Adrien has an emotional breakdown. He spends much of the rest of the story depressed. Traumatic (and unrealistic) events have consequences. Not surprising. Only arguably realistic.
  • The Royal Couple
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • After Makoto rekindles her passion for becoming a police officer, she realizes that a single criminal conviction will preclude her chances of achieving that goal, which is why she's determined to clear the Phantom Thieves' name. Action has consequences.
  • Quigley Down Under
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • When being dumped in the outback, Quigley manages to kill all the goons at the scene. However, since one of them was trying to run away at full speed in his wagon, the horses are still running away once the driver is dead, leaving Quigley and Cora stranded. Action has Consequences
  • Astral Chain
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Just like the player character, not even his expertise is enough to save him from the consequences of breaking into Zone 09 and inadvertently causing the Astral Plane to start shifting into Earth. Unlike the player, who gets arrested but still has enough power to keep their job, Hal gets fired and becomes a wanted fugitive. Action has consequences
  • Tropes N to S
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Moira tells Walter that his investigation is angering dangerous people. Walter is kidnapped and spends months locked in a bare cell. Walter is rescued by the vigilante. Walter hands Moira divorce papers. Action has consequences
  • The coming of the True Heroes
    • Malty's attempts to frame Ben fall flat, since Nanoha and Fate point out the many holes within her testimony of events and her behavior afterwards. In addition, they provide several recordings that contradict her narration of events, and clearly show he went nowhere near her all night. Hell, they even catch her trying to break into their room on tape right before going straight to Motoyasu's. Action has consequences
  • The Conversion Bureau: Not Alone
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: As per the rules of Deconstruction Fic, this trope is all over the place. If it's a deconstruction fic, realistic outcomes are to be expected
      • The humans are not the least bit flattered by the ponies' Holier Than Thou attitudes and the destruction of Cape Town leads to all of Earth declaring war for survival. Action has consequences
  • Tropes A to B
    • Like his mentor, Blue Suede Heartstrings, Prince Healing Song is a musical prodigy. Despite losing his sight to retinoblastoma during infancy, Healing Song picked up the guitar and adapted to it by positioning it flat on his lap and playing it like a piano when he was only three years old. Throughout his music career, he had played with both single-necked and double-necked guitars with equal amount of skill (hence his double-necked guitar Cutie Mark), though according to Healing Song, he learned to play the trumpet at one point, but has since gotten rusty due to playing the guitar more often. Healing Song is also an accomplished songwriter, being able to write his own songs with Braille during the Second Age, and he has a great auditory memory that allows him to remember anything he hears for a long time, including songs that came out in his day. He was also able to adapt to the change when he decided to move away from blues music, which he worked with for much of his career, to jazz music. His status as a prodigy would factor into his growth rates as a deity once he Ascended, as his physical and magical development would be accelerated at abnormal rates compared to "normal" deities. Action has consequences. Why would readers expect Healing Song's trumpet skills to not suffer after being neglected?
  • Ghost Recon Wildlands Santa Blanca Cartel
    • It's implied in a Kingslayer file that him and his secret trafficking ring, which includes his own sicarios, is beginning to attract suspicion. A disgruntled sicario reports to his lieutenant that one of Reed's smugglers has demanded extra payment due to to the price of SB cocaine suddenly doubling due to 'inflation.' The smuggler is fated to be killed on the lieutenant's orders, but it's certain that sooner or later, Reed would've fallen under suspicion. Action has consequences. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
  • Erased Potential
    • Nedzu's willingness to exploit Izuku and Toshinori for his own ends quickly costs him not only their trust, but that of Aizawa, Hizashi, and others who learn about his actions as well. Without that trust, doing his job becomes significantly harder. Action has consequences.
  • The Saga Of Avatar Korra Book 1 Ch 19 Freedom
    • Mako gets in trouble for torturning Manu during Chapter Fourteen even though it served a good purpose. Action has consequences. Possibly a deconstruction of Exalted Torturer.
  • Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
    • Wayne apparently has a court order preventing him from using the shrinking machine (which he breaks, naturally). Considering what happened the last time, it's understandable. Action has consequences.

     Involves Unrealistic powers/monsters/etc. (38/146, 26%) 
  • Eat Dirt, Cheap
    • The Adventure Zone: Balance: Upon collecting the Philosopher's Stone, Magnus wraps it in a glove, uses the Glutton's Fork (which allows the user to turn non-magical items edible), and eats the whole thingnote . Problem being, the Philosopher's Stone is one of the most powerful magic objects in existence, and as a result, only the glove around it turns edible, meaning Magnus just swallowed a rock. Surprisingly Realistic Outcome occurs when Taako and Merle end up having to use some incredibly creative spell-combinations to get it out before it completely wrecks Magnus's digestive system. Example involves unrealistic magic.
  • What If…? (2021)
  • Anime & Manga
  • Animated Tattoo
    • SCP-021 is a tattoo dragon. It eats pigment found in the host's skin, which could be either melanin or other tattoos, which it prefers. Its movement painfully irritates the skin almost like a tattoo serially removed and reapplied would feel like, giving the people hosting it an increased pain threshold but also greater aggression. Example involves unrealistic things
  • Time Travel for Fun and Profit
    • The ending of Hot Tub Time Machine reveals that Lou, who chose to stay in 1986, became immensely wealthy using his knowledge of the future to get an early lead on the tech boom, founding the search engine "Lougle". He also became the frontman of Mötley Crüe (now called "Motley Lüe") along the way. Surprisingly Realistic Outcome in the second film, however, where Lougle is now falling apart because Lou, having run out of ideas to steal from the original timeline, is now running the company into the ground with his terrible business decisions (among them moving the company's HQ to New Orleans' French Quarter so he could get drunk and party). Earlier in the film, Lou also tries this by betting on the AFC Championship game, only for the Butterfly of Doom to kick in with disastrous results. Example involves unrealistic time travel. Also, it uses "Surprisingly Realistic Outcome" as a verb, showing that the renaming from "Reality Ensues" wasn't done very well.
  • Blood-Splattered Innocents
  • Aqua Teen Hunger Force
    • In "The Greatest Story Ever Told", the Mooninites finally try to use their painfully-slow Quad Laser in an actual gunfight, and are immediately gunned down. Not sure. Probably misuse since it involves unrealistic technology.
  • Knight of Salem
    • The Crown has been active for so long that when Jax’s death breaks his hold on the abductees, there’s a slew of terrified people waking up to compromised positions - adult and child alike, many of whom were gone for months or even years. The news on this breaks in record time with Salem, Tyrian and Jaune (and Gillian, now a cat) prominently displayed where Ozpin can’t miss it. Exmaple involves unrealistic magical powers.
  • American Gods 2017 The Old Gods
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The main reason of her fall from grace and loss of followers? She stayed near her birthplace of Sheba... in the Middle East, which eventually shifted from as open as the West to a more fundamentalist culture (through violent force). When she opted to come to America, she rode high (if not worshipped) until the 1980s... when the AIDS epidemic killed off most of her remaining worshippers (and closed the door on the lifestyle that kept her alive for decades). Action has consequences. Also involves unrealistic gods.
  • Re:Zero
    • In general, the series pulls no punches about how outclassed a person from real life would fare in a fantasy world full of monsters, Magic Knight's and demihumans. Subaru may be in good shape by real world standards, but in the World of Badass he is outclassed by every named character over the age of 12 in terms of combat ability. Return by Death is the main reason he has survived past his first day. Example involves unrealistic things
  • The Alternate Timeline
    • Bucky's metal arm causes strain for his muscles; as a result, he is in constant pain. Tony offers to make a new one for him, but it won't be for a while because Bucky isn't in the right frame of mind to properly consent to it. Example involves unrealistic Artificial Limbs.
  • Rise Of Anatis Miraculous Heroes
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Just because someone is given superpowers, admires a superhero, and wants to fight alongside them, doesn’t automatically mean they’re the best candidate. Chloé might admire Anatis and loved being Queen Bee for her 15MinutesOfFame, but her original reasons for her heroism are only for glory, attention, and approval from her mom, and at the time she was an unrepentant jerkass and bully who refused to accept responsibility; giving her superpowers wouldn’t encourage her to change much anyway. This was something that Anatis knew and realized that Chloé needed professional help. She seems more willing to do this than her canon counterpart after Anatis delivered a huge "Reason You Suck" Speech to her mom. Example involves unrealistic superpowers. Also, Anatis sees the "outcome" coming and prevents it before it leads to what would supposedly be this trope.
  • Pony POV Series: Epilogue Timeline Villains
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The main problem with Starswirl banishing them to the human world in general. It's revealed that while the human world has no magic and should be therefore render them powerless, they still kept their Hate Plague and Emotion Eater powers. Until Sunset opened the portal to Equestria, they have been sustaining themselves off witch hunts they fabricated, particularly in a certain place called Salem and starting Flame Wars on the internet. This also applies to the main POV timeline as well. Example involves unrealistic powers.
  • Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The film starts out with Jason being ambushed and killed by a small army of FBI agents with enough firepower to kill a city. Turns out a supernatural killer who's killed dozens of people isn't going to go unnoticed very long and once found out, people are going to want to do something about it rather then just let him continue to kill another day. Example involves unrealistic killer.
  • Zambot 3
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Kids being pilots of a Humongous Mecha can actually be psychologically straining, and immaturity can lead to deaths. Also, cities do not get magically repaired after getting smashed down during a battle between giant robots, and often the cast has to fight on the ruins of a city destroyed in an earlier battle. Example involves unrealistic giant robots. Might count as a regular deconstruction of Kid Hero.
  • Fertile Feet
  • Back to the Future
    • Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: He's the only one (aside from Doc, of course) to remember the events of the Twin Pines timeline after settling down in the Lone Pine timeline, in which his actions in the past dramatically improved the lives of himself and his family. While the films don't dwell on the ramifications of this, the comics deal with his eventual existential crisis as a result of the shift. Example involves unrealistic time travel.
  • Who Wants to Live Forever?
    I am Evangeline A.K. McDowell. A vampire. I've been alive for 700 years. What? You're jealous? Settle down, youngster. Immortality isn't as good as it sounds. It can be quite harsh on you, you know. Well, there are fun times along the way. But when you're living a long life, before you know it... you'll be on your own at the end. No, even before that you'll grow tired of the things you loved. Devotion and attachment become impossible. You'll rapidly forget just about everything. Bringing up things isn't worth it anymore. What kind of fate... is this?
    This is the story of such people, who ended up being such trivial.
    — Opening narration of UQ Holder! Example involves unrealistic immortal vampires
  • Decon-Recon Switch
    • Dai-Guard is another Humongous Mecha example; it starts out as a deconstruction of the genre heavy on the Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, but then builds back up everything it tore down better than ever. Early in the series, for example, the heroes construct the ever-popular drill arm to deal with an enemy, only to find out that the drill's enormous torque makes it almost impossible to control. But rather than switch to another weapon that is Boring, but Practical, they put their heads together and come up with a giant pile driver arm that works even better than the drill while maintaining the Rule of Cool. It gets taken further later in the series; when the pile driver arm is out of commission, the heroes break out the drill arm again. Only this time it works flawlessly because their extensive piloting experience allows them to compensate for the torque. Seems like yet another Reality Ensues relic, plus it's all based around humungous mechas which are not particularly realistic. Example is fine, Surprisingly Realistic Outcome being here probably isn't.
  • H. G. Wells
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Despite the comparisons between him and Verne above, his story "The New Accelerator" attempts to realistically show the dangers that would result if someone were to develop the ability to move at super-speed. (ie, clothes catching on fire due to the friction.) Example involves unrealistic power. Might fit better under Required Secondary Powers.
  • Diary Of An Analog Protagonists
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Her attempt to retire and live up to her status as an heir to her mother would've been fine... had it not been for the fact this isn't our real world this is taking place in, so much so as opposed to this being her's; the same real world which had a nuclear strike narrowly averted because of a rampaging Mega Level, and previously was given a full scale invasion of Japan by a literal Vampire Demon Digimon, auroras in the sky constantly trying to connect the two worlds, and most importantly of all, a reoccurring enemy of former DigiDestined who absolutely refuses to let any of them retire and live to tell about it. Example involves unrealistic monsters preventing the expected outcome.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S1 E26 "The Best Night Ever"
    • Fluttershy wants to go and see all of the animals in the castle garden, but unfortunately the animals are too scared of her and do their best to avoid her, which steadily grates on her until she finally goes nuts. Example involves Fluttershy's unrealistic animal handling powers failing.
  • The Karma of Lies
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • It's explicitly confirmed that people have died during akuma attacks (though Miraculous Cure resurrected them), and that Syren in particular killed tens of thousands of people when she abruptly flooded Paris. Example involves unrealistic monsters.
  • Tropes N to Z
  • Tropes N to S
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Also in Season 2, Roy is dosed with Mirakuru and has difficulty controlling the insanity. The Arrow takes him on as his apprentice, and he manages to get Roy to snap out of it as a critical juncture by revealing his identity. This does not magically cure his rage issues; only the removal of the drug from his system does that. Example involves unrealistic Super Serum
  • Final Fantasy XIV - Sharlayan and Thavnair
    • The title of one book in the Great Gubal Library reads, "The Culinary Applications of Coblyns". As for why anyone would want to eat a tentacled creature with bug-like eyes and a maw of razor sharp teeth used to consume any number of potentially toxic minerals, the author writes, "Why not?" This introduction is followed by a note that these are the last words he ever wrote, as the original author of the book died as coblyn feelers are poisonous when consumed. Despite this, the second author vows to finish their brother's work. Example involves eating unrealistic monsters
  • Empathy
    • Despite having two additional witnesses to support his claim that someone in a kabuki mask was using his stolen microbot technology, Hiro is still unable to convince the police officer, since A) It is still an unbelievable claim and B) The officer recognized Hiro and Riley as the two kids arrested a few months ago, making them untrustworthy. Action has consequences. Involves unrealistic sci-fi technology.
  • Phineas and Ferb / Season 1
  • High-Rise Invasion
    • It's specifically stated by Brother that while the mask enhances your power to the limit of human physique, it will not alter your basic stamina. In a prolonged battle, the Angel who has the bigger body and/or wields the lighter weapon would eventually overpower the other Angel. Nise uses this to her advantage when fighting Ein: She is a growing teenager wielding a combat knife while Ein is hardly an adolescent who wields a long Japanese katana. Unrealistic magical mask isn't 100% omnipotent. Not realistic.
  • Heels Over Head
    • Piggot gets exposed to one of Taylor's Panacea Remix bandages, which restores her to what she looked like before Ellisburg... and promptly gets thrown into Master/Stranger screening for 'badly impersonating Director Piggot.' Example involves unrealistic magical bandages.
  • Rhythm of War
    • Jasnah is not very good at swordfighting. Being a woman who lived in a society where only men were supposed to fight, she never got the years of training and experience lighteyed men get. Fortunately in battle her Blade, Plate and Radiant powers more than make up for it, and she's able to win her duel against Ruthar anyway by attacking him while he's distracted complaining about having to duel a woman. Example involves unrealistic powers.
  • Steven Universe — Pink Diamond
    • Token Good Teammate: Implied. She was a Royal Brat, which is already somewhat of an improvement to the other Diamonds, but also a Cheerful Child, and her attempt to colonize the Earth is mostly just an attempt to prove herself worthy of being a Diamond. See also White Sheep below. Confirmed with the reveal that she's Rose Quartz. Of course, she had to become this with time. Being raised by the other Diamonds caused her to do less than stellar things at first, like throwing destructive temper tantrums and abandoning Spinel, but she later experienced Character Development and rebelled against the other Diamonds' ways, including saving the Earth. Example involves unrealistic aliens.
  • Family-Friendly Firearms
    • Parodied in Harry Partridge's "Bo-Starr" short. The titular character is charged at by the ever-menacing Grass Man, and his companion tells him to use his laser "stun ray". Bo-Starr does so, only for the laser to kill Grass Man in a single shot. He than awkwardly flicks a switch he'd forgotten to hit that switches the weapon to stun mode and pointlessly shoots it at Grass Man's corpse.Laser weapons do exist, but only in very experimental states. A weapon that can easily be switched between instantly-lethal and non-lethal probably isn't realistic.
  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Movie: Rebellion
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Homura's main magical girl gimmick is stopping time, which she always uses for combat and getting out of sticky situations. The other magical girls know this from all the times and reasons she's used it, and start exploit her ability's weaknesses to stop her from abusing it when they sense her suspiciousness or hostility.note  Example revolves around magical powers and methods of countering them, so it's not realistic by any means.
  • With Confidence
    • Just because a person has a quirk, it doesn't make them automatically powerful or capable. Quirks like pulling your eyeballs out or stretching your fingers aren't actually all that useful for heroism, which Izuku points out in his Breaking Speech. This, coupled with their terrible personalities, means that his classmates probably wouldn't have made it as heroes. Example involves unrealistic powers.
  • Recoiled Across the Room
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders: The Joestar Group
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Tragically, despite Iggy being smarter, stronger, and more empowered than any other dog, he's still just a small fragile animal. As such, he's not killed in a grandiose way, but instead kicked to death. Weak character with superpowers is beaten by strong character with superpowers. Not realistic enough for this trope.

     Realistic Thing Happens/Not Surprising (25/146, 17%) 
  • Mistborn does this to the Hope Bringer. Kelsier is a charismatic thief trying to raise a rebellion against the tyrannical Lord Ruler, which he manages by capitalizing on his (admittedly deserved) reputation as a powerful Mistborn, master thief, and the only person to escape the Pits of Hathsin. He wins over the rebel army by playing off of their lack of knowledge of Allomancy, even the Rebel Leader Yeden, who barely trusts him at first. Yeden believes in him so much that halfway through the book, he tries to take a local garrison that swiftly crushes the small, untrained army. After the Lord Ruler kills Kelsier, his backup plan is revealed: if he couldn't kill the Lord Ruler, he would martyr himself, spurring everyone who looked up to him to rebellion. By fostering his reputation, rumors of his name and cause spread all across the empire, giving the rebel cause an army of tens of thousands. He even faked his own resurrection using another trick. Long after his death, the religion he founded gives the downtrodden Skaa hope in a Crapsack World. Pothole that probably doesn't fit, a small untrained army of rebels losing to a larger group of better trained an equipped soldiers is hardly a shocker.
  • Live-Action TV
    • M*A*S*H: In one episode, Klinger's attempt of the week to get a Section 8 discharge is to declare that he's going to eat a jeep. He is seen on screen consuming the windshield wipers and swallowing a bolt dipped in motor oil. (Surprisingly Realistic Outcome quickly - he gets very sick.) Almost certianly a Reality Ensues relic, and no shocker, eating motor oil, plastic, and metal is bad for you.
  • Aqua Teen Hunger Force
    • In "She Creature", Carl loses a bet to a couple mobsters and in exchange for not castrating him, he lets them use the creature living in his absolutely filthy pool to dispose of dead bodies. After Frylock sanitizes the pool and stuns the mobsters with his eye beams, Carl tells him to finish them off, only for Frylock to point out how bad an idea that is; they know who Carl is and where he lives, and he still owes them money. And even if Frylock does kill them, their boss will just send more people after Carl. That's why it's called a "mob". Misuse: It's not surprising if it's explained why something would be a bad idea before it's done.
  • Criminal Case: Supernatural Investigations
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Felix learns the hard way that getting into an attic on a wheelchair is not that easy. "Wheelchair users cannot go up stairs" is common knowledge. Not surprising.
  • Re:Zero
    • When trying to figure out how to deal with Elsa, at no point does Subaru consider directly fighting her himself. After all she's clearly a dangerous assassin who could kill Rom and Felt with ease while he is a former shut-in with no combat experience. Not surprising if he knows it would be a bad idea.
  • The Alternate Timeline
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: At the beginning of Alternatively, Steve and Tony have no way of knowing who is and who isn’t HYDRA. In fact, for all they know, their fellow Avengers could be HYDRA. Misuse, nothing is surprising here.
  • CoolGuns/Machine Guns
  • Charlie Brown from Outta Town
    • Discussed early on, when Tiger Mask recollects the story of a Tiger's Cave wrestler who didn't want to pay the organization 50% of his earnings used a different mask to wrestle and a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome occurred: Tiger's Cave identified him immediately from his build and style and sent wrestlers with orders to hit him exclusively in the head until he threw himself under a train. That's why, when Tiger Mask rebelled, he didn't bother to use a different mask. Probably not surprising if it's something that happened before the story.
  • Tropes A to E
  • Smosh Games
  • Earn Your Bad Ending
  • High-Pressure Blood
    • Done realistically in Black Hawk Down. A soldier is shot in the leg and begins to spray blood from the wound, tipping off the medics that he is hemorrhaging and won't make it through the night. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S1 E26 "The Best Night Ever"
    • Rarity wants to woo Prince Blueblood, who she sees as the stallion of her dreams. It turns out that he's a stuck-up, arrogant prick who has no idea of how to treat a lady. Probably not valid. Someone being nice isn't unrealistic.
    • Pinkie Pie sees it as the biggest party in Equestria and wants to have fun, but the event is a formal one where any dancing is going to be slow, rather than high-energy, and the music is all classical. As a guest, she has no say in how to liven up the events. Even when Pinkie Pie tries, only the musicians are into her suggestions. Not sure. It's already clear that the party will be formal rather than fun, so it might fail the surprising part of the trope.
  • The Royal Couple
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • Even if you stay anonymous, it's possible to leave enough clues for someone to deduce your identity if you're not careful. After finding a hateful letter in Makoto's locker, Makoto does some digging and uncovers the sender's identity. Not sure. It's been a really long time since I've played Persona 5, but I'm pretty sure Makoto was established as being good at deduction, so it might not count as surprising.
  • The Karma of Lies
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Lila notes at one point how there is no such thing as a truly anonymous bank account. Why would anyone expect there to be one?
  • World War Z
  • Tropes N to Z
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Hawk Moth is a fully developed adult who is taller and larger than either hero with his own Miraculous to even the playing field. The few times he bothers to fight Ladybug and Cat Noir directly, he can usually fight them to a standstill single handedly. Stronger character beats weaker characters. Also, these characters have unrealistic powers that could make the physical difference less relevant.
  • Tropes N to S
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Laurel's first outing as a vigilante goes like this. She ambushes a wife-beater with a baseball bat. After getting a couple of shots in, the guy takes the bat from her and beats her badly enough to put her in the hospital. Afterwards, Laurel seeks training. Weak character beaten by stronger character.
      • Oliver may be a certified badass and hardened killer but he is still regularly beaten by opponents with superior training, more experience, or actual powers. Forcing him to get better training himself or seek outside help. Weaker character is beaten by stronger one. If it happens enough times, it's no longer surprising.
      • In Season Five, the chickens have come home to roost for Oliver in the form of Prometheus, a supervillain whose father was killed by Oliver in the first season. Granted, most of people on the list Oliver killed off were Corrupt Corporate Executive characters who were never meant to be sympathized with. However, just like in real life, even those people have their loved ones, be they wives or children, who will want revenge on you for killing their relatives. It was practically inevitable that Oliver would create a Prometheus sooner or later through his actions in the first season because chances are, not every person on the list that Oliver removed would be a lone miser whom nobody would miss. Might be valid, though the "practically inevitable" implies that this might fail the "surprisingly" part of the trope.
  • The Spectre Trilogy
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Before Carla starts her journey, she’s advised to get a haircut as it’s dangerous to have very long hair out in the wild. Not surprising if she's warned about the danger before anything bad happens.
  • The Grinch (2018)
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • The whole idea of the Christmas heist is this. It takes a couple of days for the Grinch to actually start his heist, needing the proper planning and materials, as well as preparation for any screw-ups. Example: letting Max guide the sleigh because Fred reunited with his family. Why would we expect the Grinch to instantly be ready for the heist?
  • Shin High School D×D
    • Sairaorg's team, Team Imperial Purpure, goes up against Team Shooting Star, a team of talented people who otherwise went unnoticed, like a Low-Class Devil with monstrous strength or a mage who can only use basic spells but with insane power, all lead by the wielder of the titular reclassified Longinus. Team Shooting Star manages to put Sairaorg and his peerage on the ropes at first, but because they're unexpected newcomers, they're also the only team in the main tournament without proper sponsors or support, which means that they hadn't been receiving proper post-match care. Thus, the built-up damage and exhaustion meant that they weren't able to fight at full capacity and Sairaorg ends up winning Victory by Endurance. Doesn't really explain well why this is surprising.
  • Epic Flail
    • The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies: this is Azog the Defiler's weapon in his final showdown with Thorin. It looks more like a huge chunk of stone attached to a chain than a "regular" weapon. He learns the hard way that its a terrible weapon to use on a frozen river. Not sure, but it seems more like a realistic but not surprising consequence of the weapon Azog chose.
  • BalanWonderworld
    • Subverted from the start in the novel. Fiona acknowledges that the dolphin just wanted to play and didn’t mean her any harm, but the experience traumatized her regardless. Trauma takes time to recover from and can occur even from innocent intentions. Not an example, probably a relic of an old Reality Ensues pothole.
  • Ghosts of Mississippi
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: De La Beckwith knew at the first trials that all he had to do was get one white juror in Mississippi to find him not guilty, and so believes that even one of the black jurors may sympathize with him due to his age. Obviously, they didn't. Borders on ZCE and while it is realistic, it's hardly a shock that things may be different due to times changing.
  • Named Weapons
    • In Ghosts of the Past, sequel of Child of the Storm, Harry eventually gets a sword of his own, a sabre designed along the lines of a shashka (Russian Cossack cavalry sabre). At first, it doesn't have a name, but after his first fight with it - where Dracula, a far more physically powerful and experienced swordsman easily disarms him and stabs him with it, before using it as an impromptu lightning rod, a process that with a few spells from Doctor Strange, actually reforges it - he decides to give it a name. Considering how it got powered up, Carol suggests he call it "Kebab". In the end, he names it Curtana, after the legendary sword of mercy and justice. "Stronger person defeats weaker person" not surprising.

     "Character not forgiven at end of story" (3/146, 2%) 
  • Campus Life
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: As she learned the hard way, her fight with Ayane and the damage she caused was not Easily Forgiven. Even when she offered to repair the damages, Dedede still refused out of spite. Not sure. I've noticed a few examples that are "character doesn't get forgiven by the end of the episode", which bug me since it implies that forgiveness is inherently unrealistic. Which it might be, in some cases, but unless the work explicitly says that the deed is too big to just forgive, then it's subjective.
  • The Best Man
  • Tropes N to Z
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Even though Lila lied about being Ladybug's friend and that her grandmother was also a superhero in the episode "Volpina", she's still hurt that Ladybug would reveal this in front of her crush Adrien all the while chastising her for it — something that Adrien even calls her out on. (Made worse since Marinette mostly did it to keep Lila from dating him.) Later, when Ladybug tries to apologize over the incident, Lila refuses to accept it and runs off. Another "character isn't forgiven" example.

     Real Life Example (4/146, 3%) 
  • Theme Parks
    • Would you believe that there really was going to be a Superman amusement park? Gizmodo has the story. Cliff Notes version: Metropolis, Ill, and DC Comics had planned to open a theme park centered around the legendary Man of Steel. A set of concept pictures and designs were drawn by Neal Adams showing off everything the theme park would have had, including a massive Fortress of Solitude topped with a stained-glass roof and a room filled with statues of Superman's greatest foes. A comic book, "The Superman Story", was also made around this time to showcase it. The park would have cost around the tune of $25 million USD. Then, the OPEC oil crisis hit and they were forced to back down. However, one has to wonder how long it would have lasted - about a decade later would have been Crisis on Infinite Earths and it would have rendered it all moot. Real Life example, not allowed.
  • Real Life Law
    • A woman in Spain decided to lay legal claim to the Sun, having figured out that since nobody's done so yet it was free game. She told the media that she intended to demand a fee for people's "use" of sunlight and use the money to help the environment. The bemused judge presiding over the case, rather than just pointing out any of the number of reasons this was ridiculous, decided to play along and told the woman that she could own the Sun and sell people sunlight... if she's fine with being liable to be sued by the billions of people who choose not to pay her, since she can't selectively turn the Sun off and can't force her products on people against their will. The woman gave up her plan. Real life example, not allowed.
  • Real Life
    • In the realm of business, Leeroy may be a positive role model. Peter Drucker, among others, recommends a "Ready, Fire, Aim" mentality, suggesting that barging forward and firing at a lot of targets can yield better (and will certainly yield quicker) results than involving a bunch of people in planning sessions to select a few targets. "Move fast and break things" is a motto of Silicon Valley start-up culture. Unfortunately, this doesn't always work, with startups hemorrhaging capital while trying to steal market share from each other by cutting costs so low there is no chance at a profit, or just starting up unrealistic business plans with little chance of success. The Dot-com Crash was the natural result of this, with overhyped companies collapsing and causing trillions of dollars in stock value to evaporate in mere months. Real life example, not valid.
  • Defictionalization
    • Ghostbusters: The Video Game: Ever since the game came out in 2009, a few enterprising fans have figured out various ways of making their Proton Pack replicas actually do the things which the packs in the game do (pop a slime canister out of the top of the pack, eject the "fuel rods" when the pack shuts down, etc.). Granted, the effects aren't as exaggerated as they are in the game, but it's still quite impressive. Misuse due to being a real life example.

     ZCE (4/146, 3%) 
  • Tropes S to U
  • Project: Alternate!Gentaro
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Unlike most stories in the Pantheon, this story takes pains to mention how much one's actions are reflected in a real-life setting. Insufficient context.
  • Tropes N to S
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • Despite being the son of the former CEO and caring much more about the company, the board of Queen Consolidated are resistant to the idea of Oliver taking over the company given his detachment from it and his general inexperience. So as soon as Ray Palmer enters the scene, they gladly give the job to him instead. Oliver even acknowledges soon after that it was probably better for Palmer to become CEO and even thought it was selfish of him to try to get the company back after his behavior in the previous seasons. Not sure. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
  • Frasier S 02 E 07 The Candidate
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Because of Frasier making the whole 'abducted by aliens' thing public, well...you probably know how that effects Phil Patterson in the election. ZCE

     Other Misuse (8/146, 5%) 
  • Ash's Coma
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Unlike the many times in the show where Ash is struck by Pikachu's electricity, this fan theory insinuates that it was more severe. Since the "setup" was in a completely different work, this probably belongs under another trope.
  • Tropes G to L
  • Assurance Backfire
    • Bolt the dog expects Mittens the cat to be calmed down by being reminded she's with Bolt, but she evidently doesn't trust Bolt to know what he's doing because he thinks he really does have superpowers and therefore can perform all sorts of death-defying stunts without realizing Surprisingly Realistic Outcome. Clearly an example where the words "Reality Ensues" were originally used and replaced during the rename without checking the context. This one sounds more like Wrong Genre Savvy since the premise is that Bolt thinks he has powers, but the audience knows he doesn't.
  • L.A. Noire
    • Consummate Professional: Mal takes his job DEAD serious. He's most definitely not the typical Deadpan Snarker coroner usually portrayed in fiction such as in CSI. He cracks no jokes, does not make fun of the dead and sees no morbid humor in his profession. He goes in, gets the evidence, provides it and that's that. Considering his first appearance has him snarking about how nobody has ever laughed at his jokes during the time he worked at the morgue, his professionalism seems be a case of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome as his workplace isn't the really best place to have a sense of humor. The example explains why it's surprising and realistic, but a character having a specific personality isn't really an "outcome".
  • Equestria At War Riverlands
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Destroy all farming tools, and farming output plummets. When food production plummets, people die. This is still somewhat surprising because due to game mechanics and norms, most focuses and decisions achieve their intended result, even those with completely opposite solutions to the same problem. Might fit better under Unexpectedly Realistic Gameplay if it's about game mechanics. At least it bothers to explain why it's surprising and realistic.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S1 E26 "The Best Night Ever"
    • And poor Spike wanted to spend the night with his best friends, but with them all busy doing their own things he ends up alone and upset. Doesn't really fit the trope.
  • Tropes N to S
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
      • In Season One finale "Sacrifice", Det. Lance finally tells his superior that over the past several months he had been in-contact with the Hood and tries to explain that the Hood is trying to stop Malcolm's attack on the Glades. The chief don't buy it and suspends him, asking for his badge and gun. It doesn't seem to matter afterwards, although he is still demoted to beat cop for his trouble. This seems to fit Cassandra Truth better than this one, doesn't explain why this is a surprise.
  • Bojack Horseman spent three seasons tearing apart many, many sitcom tropes, and showing how believing them will make a person lonely and miserable. By Season 4, Bojack, by putting in the effort, actually begins to get the happiness he craved. Miused pothole that yet again probably dates back to the trope being named Reality Ensuses.

     Unclear (20/146, 14%) 
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
    • Lawful Stupid: Sir Cadogan, while filling in for the traumatised Fat Lady as guardian to Gryffindor Tower, allows Sirius to break into a tower full of sleeping children simply because Sirius has Neville's list of Gryffindor common room passwords. He's immediately fired for this and McGonagall has to convince the Fat Lady to return to her old job, which she does on the condition that two security trolls guard her at all times. Not sure. On one hand, it revolves around unrealistic magical talking paintings. On the other hand, the expected purpose of passwords is that if you know it, you can go in, so the security letting the wrong person in just because he obtained the password illegitimately would be something worthy of punishment. But that might just count as "Action has consequences".
  • Seeking the Intangible
    • The outcome of the search will vary: usually, Surprisingly Realistic Outcome occurs and the character does not find the thing they were searching for, but occasionally they do, in which case it's usually represented by a glow. They will generally get the thing back despite it not actually being a physical thing, but it depends on the story whether they learn it's not a physical thing or not. For instance, one story might have Alice search for her sense of humour, only to be told by Bob that a sense of humour isn't something that you can lose like keys, and she gets it back by laughing at her mistake. Another story might have Charles lose his voice and happen to get it back at lunch, leaving him with the erroneous belief that the voice was in his food. Description claims the trope often leads to SRO, but the trope doesn't seem very realistic in the first place. Also, the wording is slightly awkward due to the sentence originally saying "Reality Ensues".
  • Re:Zero
    • Seeing Betelgeuse kill Rem snaps Subaru out of his Heroic BSoD and sends him into an Unstoppable Rage, ranting that he'll kill the Sin Archbishop. This does not lend him any extra strength however, and he eventually tires, wearing out the skin on his wrists while straining against his restraints. Not sure. Does the story lead the audience to think rage would allow Subaru to escape?
  • Padak
    • Nature Is Not Nice: A rare example where this trope is applied to the anthropomorphized personalities of the characters. Despite being fully sentient animals who want to live, by the end of the day, fish are still driven by animal instinct; most of the main cast will nip at each other's fins and even gleefully devour their own dying brethren, all without the slightest shred of guilt. And the first thing Padak does after waking up in an aquarium inhabited by cute clownfish? Proceed to eat nearly every single one of the terrified clownfish in the aquarium-like popcorn, despite being the only fish to object to her tank mates' savagery prior, simply because her hunger due to days of starvation and being dazed means that her natural instincts override all else. This pothole is the only reference to the trope on the page. Not enough context to tell if it's valid or not.
  • Furry Fight Chronicles
  • Future GPX Cyber Formula
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In his debut CF race at the US Grand Prix, he is hoping for an easy win and quickly gains the lead at the beginning. Then he gets a 60-second penalty for a false start, he goes over the speed limit and gets an engine blowout for his trouble. Not sure
  • Stroker and Hoop
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Many examples Played for Laughs:
      • In one episode Stroker solves the whole "Which is the real one" cliché just like you would expect someone to in Real Life: he just incapacitates both people so that the good guys can figure out which is which at their leisure, without having to worry about making a mistake (and still screwed it up). Also might be valid, but I'm slightly less sure about this one.
      • In one episode, Stroker is attempting to sneak into a facility. He knocks out the guards outside the building, and proceeds to sneak past the security guard who watches the security monitors. The security guard asks who he is, so Stroker disguises his voice (badly) in hopes of fooling him. However, the security guard reveals he was messing with Stroker, and watched him knock out the guys on the security monitors. Stroker was apparently counting on him to be asleep on the job. The security guard responds by saying he just really likes his job (and finds the urine sample chamber hilarious). Not sure
  • Uncut Gems
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome Howard wins the big bet on the Celtics in the climax of the movie. He then lets in Phil (who was threatening Howard after being locked in his door for several hours) who then proceeds to shoot and kill Howard. A violent hotheaded mobster who has been constantly butting heads with Howard during the whole movie, was not going to be okay with being locked in the room for over three hours no matter how much money Howard just made. No amount of money is worth the shit Howard pulls on them. Not sure
  • Back to the Future
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When he KOs Biff with that Haymaker, he recoils in pain briefly. As he was previously a noncombatant, his knuckles were, presumably, not previously toughened up. Probably valid as a subversion of Invulnerable Knuckles, but not sure if it's not too brief to count as surprising.
  • Absurdly Bright Light
  • The Royal Couple
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • In the "Dress Code" side story, in which Shujin actually enforces the dress code, Haru gets in trouble for wearing her canonical Non-Uniform Uniform to school. Makoto doesn't even make it out the door before Sae makes her change. Not sure. Does the fic lead you to think she won't get in trouble?
  • Quigley Down Under
  • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
    • Despite this being a western, the action takes place in Australia, rather than the Wild West. So after killing Marston and the majority of his goons and antagonizing the local military garrison, Quigley is accounted for all the murders he committed and there is a "Wanted!" Poster of him. He only gets away by lying about his identity. Not sure. Might be a valid subversion of genre convention.
  • Astral Chain
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Breaking out of the city, knocking out guards, using your Legion without permission. Not to mention partially being the reason there's a massive storm from the Astral Plane that everyone has to deal with. Yeah, you're getting arrested regardless of how useful you are to Neuron. Example involves unrealistic powers, but is more about being punished for disobediance than the powers themselves. Not sure.
  • The Nostalgia Critic 2018 Episodes
    • At the end, sick of all the Hyper Boner jokes, Devil Boner tries to remedy things by changing his name to "Devil Fangirl." He and Hyper both agree that's a terrible idea and just keep their names. Then they decide to consummate their marriage...by passing out from the exhaustion of the wedding. Not enough context to determine if the pothole references a valid example.
  • The Jungle Book (2016)
    • King Louie orders the Bandar-Log to throw Baloo off the cliff. Thing is, he's a bear and they're monkeys: as long as he puts forth any effort at all, they're not going to be able to move him. He barely even seems bothered by their efforts. Whether this fits or not depends on how it's presented. If it seems like they might succeed at throwing Baloo, it's an example. Otherwise it's just shoehorned.
  • Samurai Jack
    • Jack also deconstructs The Berserker and Unstoppable Rage. While he normally has a handle on his temper, there are instances where he is prone to losing himself to his rage only for it to backfire spectacularly. In "Jack Vs Mad Jack", after a rough day of relentless attacks by bounty hunters, Jack's anger becomes more than he can contain and Aku takes advantage of this by creating Mad Jack, a manifestation of all of Jack's negative emotions. After a long battle, Jack manages to defeat Mad Jack by simply calming down. Season 5, however, shows that just because you overcome your anger once doesn't mean you won't succumb to it again next time something deeply upsets you. Aku destroying the final time portal in front of him was more than enough for Jack to lose himself to his rage once again, causing him to slay three innocent goats corrupted by Aku's magic. Because Jack lost control of his anger and tainted the blade with innocent blood, Jack rendered himself spiritually unworthy to wield the sword, causing it to abandon him and leave the mortal plane. It takes Jack realizing this and overcoming his anger again before he can reclaim his sword. Not sure. Might be valid if the show implies that overcoming Mad Jack meant a definitive end to Jack's anger issues.
  • Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron
  • The Camp Half-Blood Series: Percy Jackson
    • Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After he'd gone missing for over half a year in The Heroes of Olympus. Percy had a lot to catch up in the mortal world, as a result he is absent for most of the third series. Not sure. Depends on how he went missing (is it something unrealistic?) Anyway, it sounds like it's just another case of "consequences exist" without being surprising.
  • Stealth Hi/Bye
    "For me, my moment came with a hostage situation at Kroger. Multiple shooters. I showed up, I'm letting arrows fly, my aim is perfect. But...there's only so many arrows a quiver can hold. I just ran out. And then...we lost a lot of good people that day. Then you start to question, like, fucking arrows against TEC-9's?" Running out of arrows is a realistic issue media sometimes ignores, but I don't know if it's surprising in this show specifically.
  • Playing with Character Type

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