We don't want to clog this thread since Surprisingly Realistic Outcome is an Overdosed Trope. Before posting here, check if the example you're analyzing qualifies for summary deletion from the three criteria below by keeping this trope's rigorous definition in mind.
- Does the example involve Applied Phlebotinum (Functional Magic, Science Fiction, Artistic Licence) or a character reaction? If so, it instantly violates the definition's second bullet point's realism requirements, and you should delete it without question.
- Is the example a Discussed Trope or an instance of Conversational Troping? If so, it violates the definition's third bullet point's emphasis on only counting outcomes, and you should delete it without question.
- Considering the definitions, would the example qualify better for Deconstructed Trope or Deconstructed Character Archetype from the trope page's rules? If so, move it to the appropriate one on the spot.
If the example survived all three tests, it satisfies the second and third bullet points, so you don't need to change it immediately. If you feel like it meets the first bullet point's requirements for being surprising, you can leave it. However, if you believe it doesn't meet the first bullet point or aren't sure, talk it over in the cleanup thread before deciding.
Many Stock Phrases you'll see used in this thread describe a particular type of misuse:
- Not surprising. — The outcome described isn't a Bait-and-Switch and merely follows expected genre conventions.
- Plot happens. — The example merely describes an event or series of events but not why we would expect something different.
- Too fantastical. — The causes/outcome described included the presence of stuff Impossible in Real Life such as Applied Phlebotinum, Functional Magic, or Science Fiction, meaning they're too unrealistic by default.
- No character reactions. — The outcome involves a character reacting in a certain way or having certain emotions, which we can't gauge the realism of because people's emotional reactions vary far too much.
- Not realistic. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin, but this one requires you to write a short description for why it isn't realistic.
- Too implausible. — The outcome describes an outcome that happened because of things too unlikely to count as relatively realistic compared to what they were subverting.
- Cuttable ZCE. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Not an outcome. — The example is either a Discussed Trope, Lampshade Hanging, Conversational Troping, or happens over too much time to be momentary.
- Too unclear. — The example is too convoluted or obtuse to judge.
- Irrelevant. — The example describes stuff utterly irrelevant to the definition of SRO.
- Bad indentation. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
Old OP
I've been noticing a lot of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome misuse lately, from instances of Gameplay and Story Segregation to Awesome, but Impractical, and I thought a cleanup thread could help out a little.
A big thing I've noticed is that it's often used for anything remotely realistic, or something that's realistic but doesn't necessarily affect the story. Another problem is that the trope seems to be cherry-picked, where any instance of reality ensuing is put there, as well as when another trope could serve the example better.
Problematic examples from one sample page, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.Disney Animated Series:
"Despite his attempts Wander can't make friends with Dominator who constantly rebuffs his friendly gestures throughout season 2. Even at the end of everything, she still refuses. Sylvia even lampshades it, telling him some people are just like that."
"Spider-Man's fight against Sandman and Rhino, where Spidey uses Rhino's weight against him. rather than fighting him directly."
"Beshte gets sunburns all over his body and is easily exhausted while he is lost in the Outlands. Justified due to the fact that hippos need water to survive to avoid sunburn and overheating."
"It's heavily implied that being the leader of the Lion Guard has taken a toll on Kion's social and private life."
"Milo Murphy's Law is about a boy named Milo Murphy whose entire life is centered around Murphy's Law. In another cartoon, being The Jinx would cause people to be afraid of them, resulting in an unsocial lifestyle. That does not apply here. While everyone does watch their step around Milo, they do not hate him for it. Being The Jinx does, however, give everyone Paranoia Fuel, given that Murphy's Law can happen at any time, so chances are you might need insurance, a phone in case of emergencies, among other things. Milo himself (as well as his friends Melissa and Zack) just learned to adapt to his condition, being prepared for anything. He has lived with Murphy's Law his entire life after all. That being said, that does not mean that they don't panic all the time. Examples include Milo panicking over his monthly doctor's note, and Melissa panicking over riding a rollercoaster with Milo."
" Hiro is initially not allowed to use Tadashi's former lab, as it can only be accessed by upperclassmen who earned the privilege. Subverted in the second half of the pilot when Professor Granville decides Hiro using the lab would benefit him. On a related note regarding Granville, she is tough, but fair when interacting with the students. She might be, as Wasabi describes "a hard case", but Granville being a complete sadist and picking on Hiro would be unrealistic. She is actually a decent person."
-Edited with permission from the OP-
Edited by lalalei2001 on Aug 10th 2022 at 5:47:25 AM
#2302: Nov 10th 2023 at 1:46:06 PM
Disney Mouse and Duck Comics
- Surprisingly enough, the Disney Mouse and Duck Comics tend to do this a lot:
- On one occasion, Scrooge McDuck and his family venture into the ruins of an ancient civilization to look for the secrets of their Lost Technology. They find scrolls with all the necessary blueprints, and immediately go home, where Scrooge shows them to his engineers... who proceed to tell him that these designs are nearly identical to their latest project. After all, just because technology is lost doesn't mean that it can't be independently redeveloped later, especially over the course of centuries. Scrooge then destroys the ancient blueprints in anger... and Huey, Dewey and Louie decide not to tell him that he just destroyed ancient documents that prove the high advancement of an ancient civilization that any museum would pay a fortune to purchase. Valid for the first part
- Typically, whenever someone other than Scrooge tries their hand at the "swim around in money" thing, they just hit their heads while diving onto a pile of metal and fall unconscious, if they're lucky. Coins are very hard, after all. The in-universe explanation for how Scrooge can do it with no ill effect is that he's been diving around in money for so long that his body has just adjusted to it. ("I'll admit, it's a trick!", as Scrooge once says.) Granted, this talent has limits — when Scrooge tries it on a giant chest full of silver coins pulled from a sunken shipwreck, he hurts himself because the coins have fused into one solid chunk after spending centuries in a high-pressure environment. Happens too frequently to be surprising
- The Beagle Boys provide a lot of these:
- The people of Duckburg often laugh at the Beagle Boys due their repeated failures to rob the Money Bin, not realizing that an independent group of thieves consistently able to pose a serious threat to a fortress defended by incredibly advanced technologies are actually more than formidable at their jobs. Whenever they decide to dedicate themselves to other targets, there's a sudden and unstoppable crime wave that the police simply cannot stop, and more than once, Scrooge's business rivals have had to beg for his help after the BB target them. Not surprising
- A group who dedicates themselves to robbing the Money Bin to the detriment of anything else are incredibly stubborn and determined — hence why they will never use their immense array of technical skills to get honest jobs. They're also the only non-supervillain criminals who still consistently try to fight or run when caught by Paperinik, as they just don't know when to quit. Cuttable ZCE
- The Beagle Boys are well known for all their crimes, yet they tend to get out of jail with ease. Turns out they have a very good lawyer that always finds all sort of loopholes to reduce or outright deny their punishment, and the fact they're usually caught for attempted theft and no violent crimes helps the lawyer's job. On the other hand, the one time the lawyer ends up being a witness to one of their crimes they end up convicted and jailed for a long time: being a lawyer she has to report them or risk being disbarred, and as a witness she couldn't defend them, and since they have no money at the time they have to rely on the public defender who isn't nearly as skilled. Not surprising
- Magica DeSpell is well-known in Naples for being a witch, being very attractive, and for living on the Vesuvius. Much to her chagrin, her home is considered a tourist attraction, no matter how many people she turns into frogs for trespassing. Plot happens
- Super Goof is Goofy as a Flying Brick. A klutz with such powers has caused a lot of collateral damage, at least early on. Too fantastical
- On one occasion, Super Goof is challenged by the rival Flying Brick Megatop in a superhero-ing contest. Megatop is stronger and not a klutz, but has had only a couple of weeks on the job, and Super Goof outperforms him with ease in all three tasks:
- When both have to catch two "criminals", Super Goof casually arrives on target with ease while Megatop is still accelerating because Goof knows exactly how much speed he needs and when to start slowing down — he only loses the challenge because the "criminals", being Emil Eagle's henchmen, are on Megatop's side and manage to distract him. Too fantastical
- The second contest consists of putting out a burning building. Megatop uses his Super-Breath — not only does it not extinguish the flames, they threaten the watching public on the nearby stand, all in the second it takes for Super Goof to carry them away, as he already knew what would happen. Too fantastical
- The third contest is an all-out battle. At first, Super Goof is overpowered, but a fortuitous rainfall both gives Super Goof a moment to recover and reveals Megatop to actually be a robot when the latter short-circuits and goes out of control. One quick Punctuated Pounding later, Megatop is decapitated: Super Goof had been holding back because he didn't want to kill his opponent, but if said opponent is a robot and has gotten out of control, he's free to just scrap it. Too fantastical
- Mickey is quite the fighter for his small size. As his usual opponent in a scuffle is Pete, who is much taller and tough, this is rarely an advantage for him — on the other hand, years of experience in getting into fights with Pete have made him formidable against less tough opponents. Not surprising
- John Rockerduck eats his hat every time he's defeated by Scrooge. After a while, it became known that he has stomach issues from all the hats he's eaten. Valid
- The story about Asteroid Mining is rife with this. Scrooge initially doesn't bother to try it, due the expense not being worth it. However, this problem is solved by competitors (not Glomgold or Rockerduck, but a group of "lesser" billionaires) trying to drag an asteroid into Earth's orbit... and missing, almost dropping it on Duckburg instead. At the end of the story, Scrooge is hailed as a hero for deviating the asteroid, while his competitors — who are caught in the act by a probe — are banned from space operations outright. Plot happens
- In one Italian story, Scrooge decides to test Donald and his nephews to see who is worthier of being his heir, and has them advise him on how to solve a problem that his pasta factory in Tuscany is having:
- The problem is that treasure hunters are devastating the factory's wheat fields because of rumors that an Etruscan inscription describes an ancient treasure hiding in the fields. Huey, Dewey and Louie immediately point out that it's most likely a rumor because Etruscan is nearly impossible to interpret, suggesting that Scrooge just put a fence around the fields along with guard dogs. Not an outcome
- Donald is convinced that it's possible that someone did leave treasure there, convincing Scrooge to buy other fields and dig for the treasure himself. They find two Etruscan bronze statues of wolf pups and, after various adventures, discover that they were originally part of the Capitoline Wolf
. Huey, Dewey and Louie suggest that they turn them in to the Italian state, as prescribed by law — however, Donald convinces Scrooge to bring them to the U.S., reveal them in public, and then "donate" them to Italy. When they're caught trying to smuggle them out of the country, the judge informs Scrooge that he would have been entitled to a finder's fee if he had turned them in... but since he tried to smuggle them out of the country, he's getting a hefty fine. Given the poor result of Donald's greedy advice, Scrooge decides to make Huey, Dewey and Louie his heirs. Valid
- As the bronze pups were part of the Capitoline Wolf, they're given to the city council, as the main statue is already the city's symbol. However, as the pups would replace the baby twins and thus ruin the symbol, they're put into a box and hidden in the basement of a museum. The basement is full of boxes: Italy has an immense archaeological heritage, and the museum has a large backlog. Cuttable ZCE
- The non-billionaire villains all need to make a living somewhat... and, much to their chagrin, they have to take honest jobs at times. Differently from the others, Magica's main activity is her honest job of selling potions and charms. As she lives in Naples, whose inhabitants are well-known in Italy for their belief in lucky charms and magic, she's actually well-off, and would be outright rich if she didn't spend a decent chunk of her income in her assaults on Scrooge's Money Bin. Not surprising
- According to a version of her backstory, this is the entire reason she's a businesswoman: initially she starts traveling around the world to collect the coins she needs while relying on money she already has, but about halfway Magica realizes that she is running out of money... thus she purchases a shack on Mount Vesuvius (where she already has to return every once in a while to test the spell), turns it into a lab, and spends a few months selling potions and charms until her finances are once again stable, and then she goes back collecting the coins. Plot happens
- Being a businesswoman actually reduces the number of attacks Magica can make on the Money Bin: as she lives in Naples she needs to make her way across the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the Continental United States, either on her flying broomstick or a commercial airplane depending on the author and the plan, carry out an attack that can take either a few minutes or many days depending on the plan, and then go back, spending between two days and two weeks depending on the plan and if she gets injured, and she has to close down her shop the entire time. Plot happens
- Most of Magica's experience with Flying Broomsticks comes from high-speed attack runs on the Money Bin and the occasional high-speed chase whenever she tries to get back to Naples before Scrooge can recover his #1 Dime. As such, she has an incredibly aggressive flying style, and when flying licenses are introduced, she almost fails her test in spite of her skills and experience because she has serious trouble flying slow. Too fantastical
- No matter how attractive a chance for wealth may be, Scrooge's adventures for new and revolutionary business options invariably start with him consulting his trusted experts Gyro or Ludwig to verify if the proposal is feasible, as he didn't become the richest duck in the world by wasting money. Similarly, Rockerduck — while more prone to spend money and try to rival Scrooge in everything — will also consult his own experts to see if it's worth it. Rockerduck is notably on the sidelines during Scrooge's foray into Asteroid Mining, the implication being that he knows that without a genius like Gyro, he couldn't possibly hope to make money from such an expensive endeavor and thus doesn't try. Not surprising
- The above said, even Scrooge and especially Rockerduck are not above impulsive decisions that backfire on them. Such as the time Rockerduck bought out Jubal Pomp's small but successful tourist and advertising airship business, replacing Jubal's two small airships with a fleet of larger ones, and then has barely more passengers than Jubal. As Scrooge points out, profits that could be a big break for someone who isn't even a millionaire would be an enormous loss for a multi-billionaire - hence why Scrooge had simply complimented Jubal Pomp for actually making money for once. Plot happens
- Gladstone's outrageous luck is well-known by everyone in Duckburg, with some interesting consequences for anyone trying to deal with (or account for) him:
- Lottery organizers, casino owners, and others who rely on many people betting and losing for their income outright fear Gladstone: him being seen buying a single lottery ticket will cause everyone else to ignore said lottery because they know he'll win. One story has Rockerduck mention that he has a license to open a casino in Duckburg but hasn't used it because he knows that Gladstone would just win everything when he'd first be in the mood to visit. Thus, Rockerduck has to lure Gladstone out of town on a cruise before opening the casino, with his plan being to give Scrooge an addiction to gambling; Paperinik's retaliation consists of getting Gladstone back in town, disguising him as Scrooge, and sending him in the casino, where he indeed wins everything. Character reaction
- People who (for whatever reason) have to compete with Gladstone in some contest invariably try to plan around his luck, or even counter it. Most of them fail, with only Paperinik being reliably able to outplay Gladstone's luck... and Gladstone's experiences with Paperinik have taught him that his luck is not invincible, resulting in him planning to counter such attempts and even having stopped relying exclusively on his luck. Character reaction
- In one story by Don Rosa, Huey, Dewey and Louie try to help Donald beat Gladstone in a raffle where first prize is a luxury cruise (the runner-up gets a lifetime supply of oolated squigs, a kind of pickled fish, the producer of which was sponsoring the raffle). After Donald almost kills himself trying to get his hands on all the raffle tickets so Gladstone can't use his luck to win, which predictably fails when one ticket drops right into Gladstone's hands, the nephews try to turn his luck against him, since it always beats the odds, by donating all the tickets to him, and only leaving one for Donald. This seems to work, as Donald wins the cruise, and Gladstone is stuck with the oolated squigs, but as he sits at home, trying to enjoy his unwanted "prize", Gladstone realizes that what happened doesn't really make sense, no matter how you look at it; odds or not, his luck seems to have failed him. That is, until he reads a newspaper revealing that the cruise ship Donald is on got caught in a freak snowstorm and is now trapped until the spring thaw, meaning that Gladstone's luck protected him by giving him the runner-up prize, and the nephews' plan to humble him was doomed to failure. He promptly finds a diamond ring in one of the squig cans. Not an outcome
- Pete is an extremely skilled thief and formidable criminal mastermind, easily able to bring Mouseton to his knees once he has the time to build up some resources, but most of the time, he's stopped early by Mickey. As a result, he has a reputation as a poor criminal; he may have the talent, but he can't consistently get his enterprises off the ground without being stopped. Even the police, who should know better, tend to underestimate him at times, which Pete gleefully takes advantage of. Not-So-Harmless Villain
- At times criminals who remember he's actually a criminal mastermind try and shaft him because if he gets caught every time, they get the impression they can get away with it. Said criminals are the reason Pete is feared among Mouseton's criminals, because someone with the skills and personality to take over Mouseton when the conditions are right will find a way to make them pay and show everyone why double-crossing him is a horrible idea. Cuttable ZCE
- Similarly to the above, in one story, the Phantom Blot's reputation as a Diabolical Mastermind sinks after his repeated defeats. As the Phantom Blot wants to be feared and actually banks on having a fearsome reputation, this results in him coming up with an incredibly cruel scheme just to terrorize Mouseton. Plot happens
- In the Italian story Topolino e il serial-ladro, an FBI Agent arrives to help the Mouseton police with a particularly high-profile investigation. When she learns that Mickey is not a police officer, she is shocked that the chief of police would allow a random civilian to participate in the investigation and freely roam the police depot unsupervised, then immediately has Mickey thrown out of the building. Character reaction
- A European comic has Mickey face an Imp who is a pretty blatant Expy of Mr. Mxyztplk. The entire story is told by Mickey to his therapist — since Mickey is an everyman in this story, not a superhero, the experience leaves him traumatized and terrified of the Imp's return. Character reaction
#2303: Nov 13th 2023 at 6:24:29 AM
Consensus?
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#2304: Nov 13th 2023 at 4:10:38 PM
None of the New Warriors and Disney comics examples explain why they're surprising. In some examples, the expected outcome is implied, but it's not enough, since some tropers might not be familiar with genre conventions for those kinds of comics, and not all comics are expected to follow those guidelines closely.
In fact, we should treat any example that doesn't specify what's the "expected unrealistic outcome" as a cuttable ZCE, since that's some vital context for this trope. All examples should specify "in [medium/genre], [action X] typically results in [Artistic License/Hollywood Style/Rule of X], but here, it instead results in [surprisingly realistic outcome], which is what would happen if you did [action X] in real life."
Many examples were added back where the trope was called "Reality Ensues", and as a result, many examples assumed that "character does something/something exists, and some unexpected-but-sensical-in-hindsight consequences ensue" was enough context for a valid example, when it's very much not.
#2305: Nov 17th 2023 at 8:18:44 PM
Comics
- 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank: The kids rob the bank...and are immediately caught by the cops. They drive away...and are caught again after the car lands in the river. In the Distant Finale, Mr. Turner visits his adult daughter, who is just getting out of prison. Plot happens
- Age of Reptiles: In Ancient Egyptians, when the male Spinosaurus encounters the previous chicks of the female, he immediately goes into mode on them, as this is what a male trying to bring a female to season in real life would do. Cuttable ZCE
- In the Asterix book "The Mansion of the Gods", Asterix and Getafix attempt to foil the latest Roman plan to conquer the village (absorbing them into the empire through cultural osmosis by building a luxury high-rise for Roman citizens near the village) by supplying the slaves building the titular mansion with the magic potion, expecting them to use their newfound Super-Strength to rise in arms. However, the Romans are terrified of slave rebellions and don't want to pay their upkeep when they grow old; thus, they have laws granting them various rights and even stipends (which they use to eventually buy back their liberty) and prescribing painful executions for any act of rebellion, motivating both the slaves to demand a higher stipend and to be freed upon completing the Mansion and the Romans to accept. While Asterix and Obelix resume their original plan of magically replanting the trees that the slaves tear down at night, this just leads to a stalemate, which only ends when the head slave visits the Gauls village asking the heroes to stop sabotaging their work so that the slaves can be legitimately freed and paid for their labor. The Gauls accept his reasoning, realizing that preventing the Mansion from being built isn't working and that they'll have to defeat the Romans at a later stage of the plan instead. As a result, the Mansion is quickly finished, while the slaves are freed, paid, and left to their own devices, just as the Romans had agreed to. Too fantastical and character reaction
- The future segment of Asterix and Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book shows that the Romans will eventually win, and by the Gauls surrendering at that: Asterix village may be impossible to take with military force, but they're still a single small village against one of the largest empires in the world and in the regular series they have already integrated enough in the Roman economic system to use their money, on the long term resistance simply isn't sustenaible. Cuttable ZCE
- Atomic Robo: Louis and Martin's reckless approach to their scientific endeavors gets them into serious trouble every time. The first time they almost destroy the world, they're simply Reassigned to Antarctica — the second time, they end up doing the same thing and getting sixty people killed at the same time, so it's off to jail forever for them. Not an outcome
- Blankets: Your first love will probably NOT be your true love, especially if it's mostly a long-distance relationship. You'll probably just drift apart. Cuttable ZCE
- Bone: Phoney Bone's Mystery Cow scam involves Smiley wearing a cow costume to play the part of the Mystery Cow. Unfortunately, the small town the Bones are in does not have a costume shop, so Smiley has to make the costume himself. Naturally, the result looks terrible, and Phoney has to jump through hoops to keep his suckers from getting a good look at the "cow". Cuttable ZCE
- Conan the Barbarian: In Dark Horse's Conan the Avenger, the main protagonist's allies attempt to pull off a Slave Liberation by assaulting a slave-trading hub, killing all slavers, and freeing the prisoners. Their glory is short-lived as a massive military force is assembled from warring city-states that join forces to destroy them, as this attack is a massive disruption to their economy. Trying to go around freeing slaves by kicking ass and taking names like Daenerys Targaryen will only get a massive army breathing down your neck. Valid
- Crossed:
- The eponymous Crossed are infected with a Hate Plague that removes all inhibitions and turns them into psychotic marauding killers and rapists. They also lose all fear or concern for their own well-being, to the point that if they have no victims at hand they will brutalise each other or even themselves. As such, after the initial wave where they manage to slaughter most of humanity, they start rapidly dying off due to a combination of starvation (they'll eat if there's food in front of them, but won't go looking for it if they're hungry); freezing to death in the first winter after the initial outbreak; STD's or violence. Too fantastical
- At one point in "Wish You Were Here", the main character decides to analyze a recently-destroyed military base where one of his cohorts, Selene, went missing. After a Sherlock Scan, he comes up with a Crime Reconstruction that the reader sees: the soldiers turned out to be Sociopathic Soldiers who wanted to turn Selene into a Sex Slave a la 28 Days Later, and she managed to escape but sacrificed herself by detonating a grenade that destroyed the fortified entrance and let the Crossed inside. Some time later, it is revealed that his theory is totally, totally wrong: the soldiers were actually quite welcoming to Selene, and the destruction of the base was completely unrelated to Selene's presence. He admits to himself when he sees Selene alive and well that thinking he could flawlessly piece together the events of a prior disaster from limited evidence when he's a writer by trade was probably kind of stupid. Valid
- Danger Girl: In Back in Black, Sydney Savage learns the hard way that a zipped-down corset is not the best attire for motorcycle riding. Cuttable ZCE
- In Dastardly & Muttley, the real world is being transformed into that of a cartoon. Toon Physics are treated as Body Horror and behavior out of a Zany Cartoon causes total chaos and panic, especially after the president of the United States is affected. Too fantastical
- Diabolik:
- Kidnappings are almost always incredibly traumatizing, even when the victim knows that they'll get out without a scratch. Character reaction
- Diabolik is incredibly feared, to the point that he's earned such fully justified names as King of Terror, Murderer with a Thousand Faces, and many others. When he's arrested, the terror that he's caused leads to a Kangaroo Court by complete accident — both the judge and the public are terrified and want a scapegoat (even if he's actually guilty), his court-assigned lawyer is too scared to do a good job, and Diabolik is sentenced to death even if there wasn't enough evidence yet. Also, having a famous criminal being sentenced to death in a Kangaroo Court is liable to be a formidable occasion for activists to demand a retrial to have him sentenced to life in jail — however, considering the evidence that popped up after the trial, the judge refuses. Character reaction
- Elisabeth Gay's descent into madness is all about this: spending months with her fiancée before getting him arrested and discovering that he's the King of Terror by accident takes a heavy toll on her psyche, and finding out that he was about to dump her like all her previous boyfriends pushes her over the edge. Character reaction
- Diabolik only uses knives and various gadgets, but finds guns too noisy for his stealthy modus operandi. A man with a gun could easily kill him, and the only reason why nobody has done so yet is because Diabolik is smart enough to know it, making sure that nobody gets a clear shot. He still has had a number of close calls, including the one time he is shot and would have bled out had he not been rescued by a third party. Cuttable ZCE
- Diabolik never reuses a gadget or plan, with the only exceptions being his knives, needle launchers for poisoning or putting someone to sleep, and his trademark perfect masks. He knows that the police will be ready for it next time, as shown by them habitually pinching faces to check for masks (once they find out about them) and often wearing protective knife- and needle-proof vests and gas masks. In addition, the police recycle their own anti-Diabolik schemes only when they have reason to believe that Diabolik didn't realize what happened, as they know that Diabolik will be ready next time, as shown by the many times when Diabolik waltzed through a mask check (always with different tricks, of course, as the next time the police will be ready for that one). Cuttable ZCE
- In a world where only one man can create Latex Perfection, that man is a target for everyone... and since said man is a known thief and murderer, people never know if their friend or loved one is acting funny because he's actually Diabolik. The effect of the masks on people's paranoia is seen in full in "The Bounty", in which some wealthy businessmen put a large bounty on Diabolik and Eva. Given the masks and their reputation for walking through any alarm system, people start to assault anyone in the street who they suspect to be Diabolik and Eva, which leads to two innocent people being killed and the Minister of Justice forcing the businessmen to retract the bounty a few days later. All the while, Diabolik or Eva (knowing that this would happen) have been waiting it out in one of their refuges. Plot happens
- At times, Diabolik and Eva go on vacation in countries where they aren't known and don't bother wearing masks, assuming that even if they happened to be spotted by a visitor from a place where they're known, they haven't commited any crimes while vacationing, so the local police won't arrest them. In "The Beginning of the End", they're spotted by a journalist from Clerville and the scenario plays out as expected... up until the journalist involves Ginko, who calls the local police chief to point out that Diabolik and Eva may be preparing a heist and if it comes out that the chief knew they were around, he'd be blamed. Ginko adds that as Diabolik and Eva are wanted criminals, they can't be possibly using real IDs — Diabolik and Eva end up arrested the same day on charges of using fake IDs. Justice by Other Legal Means
- In Dilbert, the main character joins a society dedicated to the preservation of an endangered squirrel. The idea is to tranquilize the last male and mate it with the last female.note Dilbert's team get to work — they fire the tranq from the rifle from a few feet away, there's a Reaction Shot of their Oh, Crap! faces, and then one of them points out that, perhaps, they should've used a smaller dart. Valid
- Paperinik New Adventures:
- Before the series, Paperinik was a Vigilante Man who avenged himself by committing what were effectively crimes, never losing his sadistic streak or his habit of ignoring the rules to do the right thing. With such a past, a charismatic and cunning journalist like Angus Fangus can ruin his reputation with ease, and the Time Police — who know that he's a hero — don't trust him anyway because they expect him to screw up the space-time continuum by doing anything that he believes is the right thing in the moment (and they're right). Character reaction
- There is almost no Casual Interstellar Travel, with even faster-than-light ships needing cryo capsules to cross vast distances as space is just that large. The two confirmed exceptions are either using a Portal Network or the Evronians, the latter of which are prone to build Planet Spaceships that are so massive they can power incredibly fast FTL drives while carrying vast battlefleets. Too fantastical
- The job of the Time Police is to prevent alteration to the space-time continuity. Not only will they not lift a finger to prevent a cold fusion experiment from going awry and nuking Duckburg, when it's actually prevented, they send an assault squad to cause it anyway, only relenting when this attempt risks causing even more alterations. Character reaction'
- Altering history by changing a single event almost invariably has unforeseen consequences. To give a few examples, the Organization sending an operative to kill Paperinik while ruining his reputation leads to the Time Police being disbanded and the Organization being taken over by two artificial intelligences; an attempt at preventing an experiment that could destroy the entire space-time continuum leads to it starting earlier so that the mysterious saboteurs won't ruin it; Paperinik preventing the destruction of Duckburg apparently gives the Evronians a chance to recover from the destruction of their empire; Paperinik preventing the Alpha Spore from taking Ur-Evron as a host and becoming the first Evronian (all without killing the Alpha Spore) results in the event happening anyway and the successful Evronian conquest of Earth by a much more powerful Evronian Empire (it helps that the Alpha Spore is working with a time-traveling Evronian, but said Evronian almost ruins his own plans when his machinations allow Paperinik to interfere). In the reboot, a group of Evronians stealing a Time Machine and preventing the founding of their arch-enemies, the Guardians of the Galaxy, causes the Evronian Empire to demilitarize — the only alteration that does exactly what is supposed to be is Odin Eidolon kidnapping Trip, the son of the Raider, so that he won't grow up to be the Organization operative who ruined Paperinik's reputation and nearly killed him, and this only worked because Odin kidnapping Trip at the precise time he did gets the Raider to abort the mission in which he died to track his son down. In fact, time criminals are wary of altering history precisely because they know the risks (even inventing a device to change history without unforeseen consequences for when they decide they have to), as the owner of the time machine stolen by the Evronians gloats about the Butterfly Effect when they realize the consequences of their actions. Too fantastical
- The Evronian invasion appears to be prevented entirely by Paperinik. It's later shown that the interstellar empire with vast armies and advanced technology simply has bigger fish to fry (including Xadhoom) and can't spare the resources to assault Earth directly and its massive nuclear arsenal — all Paperinik is doing is (barely) preventing a sliver of their forces from establishing a bridgehead on a single planet. In fact, in one of the few times when the Evronians play for keeps, an antiquated and run-down cruiser (by Evronian standards) decimates the full force of Earth's most advanced military in less than a minute and doesn't finish the job only due to the antimatter alternator breaking down. Too fantastical
- The antimatter alternator of the Evronian cruiser mentioned above often makes an annoying noise, and the assigned technician tends to "fix" it by punching it, doing this so often he's taken to call it "standard procedure". As said above, the antimatter alternator breaks down the first time it actually has to supply a large amount of energy, crippling the ship until the alternator is dismantled, has all the broken-down parts identified and replaced, and is finally reassembled and mounted, something that takes a whole day... which is the correct way to actually fix a complex machine, let alone a critical power generator. Hitting a machine like this when it stops working will just break more of its internal parts. Too fantastical
- The Evronians power many of their machines with emotional energy. This means that they have to continuously invade new worlds to keep their civilization running, and even then, their energy situation is so desperate that their plan to deal with Xadhoom's vendetta against them is to try to turn her into an energy source. Cuttable ZCE
- The Evronians are Emotion Eaters who use guns that fully drain the emotions of their victims, turning them into emotionless slaves, but Earthlings are so emotionally rich that a single shot often isn't enough, and they can fully recover if given time. To the Evronians, this means that Earth is a plentiful banquet and an alternative solution to their energy crisis if that aforementioned plan with Xadhoom doesn't work out. Too fantastical
- When Everett Ducklair invented what would become Paperinik's PKar, he made it run on monomethylhydrazine, the same fuel as the Space Shuttle — One silently takes care of maintenance and refueling. When Paperinik has to leave the Ducklair Tower and loses One's support, usage of the PKar diminishes because he's forgotten how to maintain the car himself (needing to look it up in the user's manual), he can't make the fuel at home, and he doesn't have the kind of support network to buy it. Paperinik ultimately switches back to the 313-X in the PKNE revival stories, as it runs on gas. Plot happens
- Paperinik masks his identity with only a Domino Mask. As such, by the third "classic" story, everyone has guessed that he is Donald Duck, to the point that a newspaper stops just shy of saying it outright and when Paperinik appears out of town, the police immediately go to Donald's home to catch him in the act. It's only after Paperinik and Donald appear outside at the same time, courtesy of a robot that looks just like Paperinik, that people stop assuming he's Donald. The only two people in the story who haven't bought into this conclusion are Scrooge and Gladstone, the latter even calling the idea ridiculous... because they had already seen that Paperinik owns Latex Perfection masks, including one that reproduces Donald's mask. These masks later become how Donald defends his identity, because as Paperinik's fame as a Master of Disguise who occasionally disguises himself as Donald spreads, everyone just assumes that he wears a Donald mask under the domino mask as another layer of deception. The only way to get past it is to use methods which reveal that there's only the domino mask, such as 23rd century technology (used in Paperinik New Adventures), taking the mask off from his face, or outright mind-reading. Too fantastical?
- One of Paperinik's foes, the Perfidious Perfidus, is the result of one such moment: he used to be a simple hobo who one night decided to throw rocks at bottles of various cleaning agents, breaking them... and promptly falling victim to the poisonous vapors caused by the chemicals mixing, not dying only because by freak chance the chemicals mixed in such a way that the vapors enhanced his intelligence and destroyed his morals. Cuttable ZCE
- Paperinik New Adventures:
Edited by CelestialDraco on Nov 17th 2023 at 10:26:26 AM
#2306: Nov 21st 2023 at 2:04:10 PM
Consensus anyone?
WarJay77
Discarded and Feeling Blue
(Troper Knight)
Discarded and Feeling Blue
#2307: Nov 21st 2023 at 2:08:33 PM
Just ran through them. For the most part I agree with your reasonings, though IDK if I'd describe most of those as "ZCE", at best they're PCE because they tend to just lack any explanation of why it would be a surprise. Besides that nitpick I think you're good to cut the ones you think aren't valid.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
#2308: Nov 21st 2023 at 8:21:55 PM
Comics
- Empowered:
- Amusingly, one of the first times when Empowered comes across as actually being badass involves one of these. She points out, quite effectively, that driving an SUV at 75 miles an hour into a villain's back is much more effective than hitting him with a thrown one at about 5 miles an hour. This allows her to defeat a villain who the entire superhero squad she's a Butt-Monkey to was defeated by. Unfortunately, the car is totaled, leaving her tied up and unable to brag, and her superhero squad assume that they and the villain knocked each other out and walk off (forgetting about Empowered in the process). Valid?◊
- A super-doctor explains to Emp in no uncertain terms that despite the fact that most heroes have some flavor of Super-Toughness, they still have a very high chance of accumulating severe brain damage due to constant low-level head injuries; they are specifically compared to professional athletes and soldiers, who have similar problems. In fact, supers are the only demographic besides infants who suffer from "shaken baby syndrome", due to super-strong enemies throwing them across the city like a ragdoll. Weaknesses exist
- Amusingly, one of the first times when Empowered comes across as actually being badass involves one of these. She points out, quite effectively, that driving an SUV at 75 miles an hour into a villain's back is much more effective than hitting him with a thrown one at about 5 miles an hour. This allows her to defeat a villain who the entire superhero squad she's a Butt-Monkey to was defeated by. Unfortunately, the car is totaled, leaving her tied up and unable to brag, and her superhero squad assume that they and the villain knocked each other out and walk off (forgetting about Empowered in the process). Valid?
- In FoxTrot, Jason spends the cash prize from a chess tournament on gumballs. The next time he goes to the dentist, he has cavities. Plot happens
- In Final Crisis Aftermath: Run!, Big Bad Wannabe Human Flame gets a massive power boost, but when it proves ineffective, he decides to grow larger and larger to try and smash everyone and everything... only to suddenly stop moving. John Stewart asks the ring to figure out what happened and laughs when he realizes what it was - he was hit with the Square-Cube Law as he grew so big and heavy, he couldn't move. Too fantastical
- Ghostbusters (IDW Comics): Gozer tries to open the chamber where his essence was trapped in by the ghostbusters while possessing Ray. The door has a palm reader, so it should work... except Gozer causes Transformation Horror on his victim, so his hand is bony and calloused and not very Ray-like at all. Too fantastical
- In Grimm Fairy Tales, Mercy Dante is a young woman whose parents were killed by a hitman when she was a child. Years later, she tracks down the hitman and finds out that he's retired and now has a young daughter named Trisha. Mercy kidnaps Trisha and then forces her father to watch as she shoots the girl in the head, killing her. When Mercy next appears many issues later, we see that revenge has brought her absolutely no comfort, as she's now wracked with guilt over having slain an innocent child. She ends up being given a second chance after being sent back to the day she killed Trisha, and this time, she opts to let her go. Character reaction
- This trope occurs frequently in Irredeemable and its sister series Incorruptible.
- The Plutonian's tragic childhood, having been shuffled and bounced between numerous foster homes, was caused by the simple fact that Muggle Foster Parents really wouldn't know how to deal with a kid with superhuman abilities. Too fantastical
- Another flashback from Plutonian's early teen years shows that when he learned via his Super-Hearing that his foster mother was just about to commit suicide, he got there in a fraction of a second, intending to stop her. Unfortunately, sound takes almost ten seconds to travel two miles — she had already been dead when he heard her. Too fantastical
- When the Plutonian reveals his Secret Identity to his love interest, rather than being awestruck by his awesomeness, she's freaked out that he deceived her like that and wants nothing more to do with him. Character reaction
- The series' resident Badass Normals are very swiftly killed off by the Plutonian after his Face–Heel Turn. After all, if a Flying Brick with Super-Senses who can destroy a full-sized city in less than an afternoon wants you dead, martial arts, nifty gadgets and money won't do jack to save you. Too fantastical
- Career criminal and major enemy of Plutonian Max Damage resolves to turn over a new leaf after witnessing firsthand the Plutonian's rampage in Sky City. He even goes as far as to torch his wealth and gadgets since it's all (in his words) "blood money". Unfortunately, Max not only being a notorious crook for so long but also keeping his pseudonym, appearance, and even sidekick from his life of crime doesn't help to make him more trustworthy in the eyes of not just the public but already established heroes as well. It's not until it looks like he chased Plutonian away from Coalville that he starts to become really accepted by the public. Heel Face Turns flew more smoothly in the Silver Age comics (Hawkeye and Black Widow being key examples), but not anymore after the coming of Surprisingly Realistic Outcomes. Character reaction
- Kim Reaper
- Vol 2 Vampire Island
- One that pretty much kicks off the story, Beca and Tyler love vampire stories. So Kim takes them to an island to see real ones. But naturally they all realize what a bad idea that was as it's like putting a lamb in a den of wolves. Once the vampires realize they're human, they nearly kill Becka and Tyler, only saved when Charlie helps them until Kim can come back from reaper business. Too fantastical
- Charlie's backstory had her and Kim do some amateur vampire hunting. Of course, saved for only being armed with stakes, they're not trained in the slightest. When they do stumble upon a group of vampires, they instantly get cold feet and try to back away. Unfortunately Kim stepping on a stick gets the vampires attention, the duo run but end up getting separated in the confusion (being in woods at night didn't help) and Charlie, trying to take a breather ultimately ends up caught, fed on and turned. Character reaction
- Charlie escape the island with Kim and her friends. But the realization soon hits everyone that since she's a vampire and the island supplied her blood, she now had to find a new source for it since she pretty much outed herself as a traitor by helping the group. Tyler nearly has to let her bite him until Kim stops them and comes up with an alternative. Too fantastical
- Vol 2 Vampire Island
- Mark Millar:
- In an issue of The Ultimates, the Batman Parody Nighthawk breaks his ankle trying to pull off a Dynamic Entry by jumping off a building to attack some mooks. The same issue deconstructs the concept of a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits by showing how badly a group of people (The Defenders), inexperienced at superheroing with the exception of one, perform during their first outing as superheroes. First part is valid
- Ultimate Avengers introduces a new Daredevil after Matt Murdock is killed during the events of Ultimatum. Matt's mentor Stick lucks out and finds a young boy named Ray Connor, who has gained similar Super-Senses after being blinded in an accident. He trains Ray and makes him the new Daredevil, only for Ray to end up overwhelmed and bitten by a swarm of vampires during one of his first superhero outings. A Kid Hero is still just that, a kid, so tossing them into the thick of battle probably isn't the best idea. Deconstruction of Kid Hero
- The second issue of Superior has a kid testing out the superpowers of his favorite Superman Substitute. He attempts to use his Super-Breath to put out a house fire only to demolish the house and spread the fire over a much larger area. Too fantastical
- Marshal Law: In "Marshal Law Takes Manhattan", a Corrupted Character Copy of Daredevil is falling to his death from a skyscraper and manages to grab hold of a flagpole protruding from the building... whereupon the inertia rips his arms off. Valid
- The Mask makes a big deal of the fact that while whoever wears the titular mask operates under Toon Physics, the same does not extend to anyone else, leading to a large number of grisly deaths as we're shown what really happens when someone gets Squashed Flat or has a hole blown through their chest. Too fantastical
- Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (Boom! Studios) adds new nuances to the original series that they were unwilling or unable to add in.
- Both the early issues and the Necessary Evil storyline deal with the Rangers having to deal with major changes in line up and teamwork (Tommy joining the team and suffering from being The Atoner and Tommy becoming the White Ranger and Adam, Aisha and Rocky replacing Zack, Trini and Jason). The new heroes have trouble getting used to teamwork and the old heroes cannot stand their newbishness as it ruins their cohesiveness. Deconstruction
- Being set in more modern times and circumstances changing the reasons, Jason, Zack and Trini being sent to a "peace conference" is a cover for becoming the secret Omega Rangers. Thanks to the advent of text messaging and cellphones, the friends must constantly lie and hide where they are from their old teammates. Even more, both Tommy and Lord Zedd accuse the trio of being cowards who ran when Zedd's attacks grew fiercer. Plot happens
- While Tommy was Easily Forgiven in the original show, that is not the case here. The public is understandably wary of someone who had attacked their city for months and the team itself is divided on it, Zack in particular calls out Jason for asking Tommy to join the team since he did it without consulting anyone else. Character reaction
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (IDW):
- An issue has the Mane Six get a warning about a giant monster. Eventually, they encounter... the remains of said monster. It turns out, monster or not, if you don't feed a creature for a long time, it tends to die. Valid
- In the 2014 Equestria Girls Holiday Special, Anon-a-Miss is revealed to be the Canterlot Movie Crew (the human versions of the Cutie Mark Crusaders) who were posting details about students' personal lives out of jealousy that Sunset Shimmer was getting more attention from their sisters than they were. Even after the apology of the guilty party is accepted by Sunset Shimmer, the things that Anon-a-Miss posted online don't just disappear, and the students don't magically forget the things that were posted. Rarity even tells Sweetie Belle that what Anon-a-Miss posted will be up forever. Earlier in the story, Sunset laments to Twilight Sparkle how easy it is for someone's reputation to be destroyed with a few online posts. Plot happens
- Across the source cartoon and a few issues in the comic, ponies and Spike typically get a Balloon Belly from overeating. This isn't the case for Rockhoof in Legends of Magic Issue #2. Rockhoof pigs out nightly over the course of a month as opposed to just once. The end result is an out-of-shape Rockhoof when destiny calls. Valid
- Paper Girls: As part of the Deliberate Values Dissonance pertaining to The '80s setting, Mac smokes constantly, despite being a kid. When her friends time travel to 2016 in a later issue, they find out that Mac ends up dying of leukemia in The '90s, almost certainly brought on by her fondness for cigarettes. Too implausible
- Paperinik New Adventures: In "Cross Fire", Paperinik manages to infiltrate Gottfresh's house, discover his Evil Plan, evade his guards and even force him to record a confession. Then the police arrive and arrest the hero for trepassing and attempted kidnapping. To add salt to the wound, Photomas warns him that the recording is worth nothing, since no judge would accept an extorted confession. Valid
- Powers:
- The series is essentially a Police Procedural set in a standard superhero setting, as such, the majority of supervillains shown are relatively realistic criminals with some special powers. As such, most supervillains aren't out to rule the world and most of them don't do anything as grandiose as rob banks; the most dangerous supervillain group isn't a Legion of Doom, but a superpowered equivalent to The Mafia; non-violent villains are held in a minimum security prisons, and some of them are happy to snitch; and many known supervillains walk the streets free because there isn’t sufficient evidence to convict them, or they just haven’t been caught recently. Genre Deconstruction
- In this world, there is a Super Registration Act that prevents people from so much as wearing a costume in public without the proper authorization. After a Superman Substitute goes insane and tries to conquer the world, the act is expanded to ban super-powered beings entirely. The heroes grudgingly accept this and hang up their capes... leaving the regular human authority figures helpless against all the super-powered criminals still active (since they don't really care about breaking the law). Too fantastical
- Much of the humour of Rat-Man relies on this:
- Superheroes aren't all there with their mind due to the toll taken by both training and actual superheroing. Character reaction
- Valker divides superheroes into two kinds: those who think they can grab speeding bullets out of thin air and those who think he won't shoot. Valker has a collection of superhero masks and gloves with bullet holes in them, plus a shield from the one hero who had one but then had the bad idea of throwing it at him (Valker is still wondering why he did it). Cuttable ZCE
- On the above, turns out that letting a Combat Pragmatist superhero come close was a bad idea on Valker's part, as Rat-Man stole his gun. Cuttable ZCE
- Many jokes are made about Clara, Brakko's wife, cheating on him with lots and lots of man (and, it's implied, their dog) with Brakko being too stupid to notice... Except at one point it's revealed he knows, he just loves her too much to say anything, especially as Clara loves him back (she's just unable to keep herself from having sex with everyone. This puts an enormous strain on their marriage, with Clara eventually leaving him, before coming back when their son (actually the mailman's son, but Brakko doesn't care) talks her into it. They even go to a marriage counselor... But when Brakko catches them having sex they divorce. Character reaction
- If you're a lab assistant for a murderous sociopath like Valker, showing your colleagues a card trick during work hours results in Valker using the cards to predict the future and then calling your widow to inform her of your imminent death. Too fantastical
- Similarly, dealing with a murderous sociopath like Valker can result in death if he doesn't need you or you aren't his boss. He has a soft spot for those who work directly under him (as long as they don't slack off, as the card trick incident shows), but everyone else is liable to get maimed or killed for little reason or none at all. At one point he even shot one of his bosses for trying to cut his funds and not giving a good reason. Character reaction
- When the authorities outlaw superheroes, some give up, some are captured, and the rest form a resistance movement that the authorities just can't stop, as they all have superpowers. Too fantastical
- In the final issue, a defeated Topin taunts repeatedly Rat-Man that if he doesn't kill him he'll be back... After having nearly destroyed the world, having kidnapped Rat-Man's daughter and being exposed as the reason why Rat-Man never contacted her or her mother. Rat-Man usually has a no-kill rule, but for once Rat-Man is more than willing to violate it. Character reaction
- The reason Rat-Man doesn't kill Topin is that Valker kills him first in revenge for everything that Topin had done to his family. Turns out that tormenting and trying to murder the only child of a murderous sociopath and kidnapping said sociopath's granddaughter is a bad idea... And, being an expert of killing superpowered opponents, Valker simply stomps on his head while he's still down and weak from the beating Rat-Man gave him, as he's nowhere near stupid enough to give a superpowered opponent the chance to recover. Plot happens
- Rogue Trooper: While the Genetic Infantry are incredibly skilled and resilient, and have several perks due to their improvements, they are still a light infantry unit. Being ambushed by a conventional unit equipped with better intelligence, good combined arms doctrine, artillery and armor led to what was later known as the Quartz Zone Massacre. Not surprising
- Scott Pilgrim may be one weird series, but has more than a few moments:
- As a teen, Todd used his Vegan Powers to punch a hole in the Moon to show his love for Ramona. That caused enormous damage through tidal waves and other things affected by the Moon's gravity. Too fantastical
- After he's caught cheating on her, Todd tries to console Envy... And gets a knee to the balls. Character reaction
- The whole conflict was about fighting Ramona's Seven Evil Exes... But the final book reveals that in the years since Ramona broke their hearts Patel, Lucas Lee, Roxy and the Katayanagi Twins had since moved on and they and Todd (who had a friendly break-up with Ramona) had actually been brainwashed by Gideon. Plot happens
- After being defeated while standing on a pillar, Gideon explodes into coins. Those under the pillar are then painfully hit by the coins. Too fantastical
- Second Coming:
- Sunstar and his girlfriend are unable to conceive a child because she is human while he is a Human Alien. Subverted in the end when God blesses them with a child as thanks for being Jesus' friend. Too fantastical
- Jesus is briefly arrested and put up for psychiatric evaluation when he claims to be the Jesus Christ. Character reaction
- Sex Criminals: The Sex Police aren't actually police. On the one hand, this means that they have no real power to arrest anyone or any kind of legal authority, but on the other hand, they're essentially vigilantes who have no reason to play nice and nobody to hold them responsible for anything. Cuttable ZCE
- When Susie and Jon tell Ana that they're bank robbers, her response is to tell them to get out- after all, they'd just made her an accessory after the fact, why would she want anything more to do with them? Character reaction
- Susie and Jon's crime spree gets a lot of people with orgasm-powers very pissed off at them. Sure, their motives might be good, but they're committing crimes, potentially exposing everyone, and they have little if any sense of restraint- they're a disaster waiting to happen. Character reaction
- Sonic the Hedgehog:
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics):
- For the longest time, there were many factions and individuals that, based on their respective showings, could've defeated Dr. Robotnik/Eggman very easily. In particular, the echidna civilizations would've delivered a Curb-Stomp Battle if they fought him. Instead they allowed him to continue since he wasn't a serious threat to them and he kept the other minor threats under control, even though his schemes have endangered them one way or another and he was aware of them from his time in the royal court of Mobotropolis. Eventually, because they gave him free reign to do whatever he wanted, Robotnik was able to improve his technology to the point that, with some minor help, he could attack them directly and raze their civilizations to the ground before they were finally and completely erased from existence. Not an outcome
- Geoffrey St. John is put on trial for his role in enabling Ixis Naugus' rise to power in Acorn and how he apparently was aiding him for years. He's found guilty... only for King Naugus to use his royal authority (and an article of Acorn law) to pardon Geoffrey. There's no way that Naugus wouldn't use his newfound position as Acorn's king to keep his loyal servant out of prison. Earlier during Naugus' takeover, Sonic learns that the Council of Acorn doesn't appreciate Sonic disrespecting their authority no matter what villain is attacking. Character reaction
- In Tails' mini-series, Tails arrives at Downunda with the intent of surprising Robotnik's underboss Crocbot. He gets spotted immediately and is attacked by Wing Dingoes and badly injured, requiring him to be rescued by the local Freedom Fighter group. Doesn't explain why it's surprising
- Silver's Inspector Javert tendencies to persecute and try to kill people he thinks are wrong-doers on questionable evidence, compared to his Easily Forgiven Aesop Amnesia in the games, slowly but surely leaves him on very bad terms with the Freedom Fighters, eventually banished and labelled a fraction of the hero they are by Sonic (who was already having his All-Loving Hero ethics tested sorely at this point). This leads to a sincere Heel Realization by Silver, and while the Secret Freedom Fighter unit take pity and induct him so as to atone, it takes much heavier convincing that Silver has changed for Sonic and the others to forgive him. Not an outcome
- In the events leading up to the House of Cards arc, Sonic dates Fiona despite full knowledge of Tails' crush on her, and during said arc, when Tails' father is arrested after leading what amounts to an angry mob to Castle Acorn and causing a riot in pursuit of political reform, Sonic tactlessly insults Amadeus' intelligence right in front of Tails, only to be confused when Tails shoots him a Death Glare and walks out of the room; Sonic proceeds to blow off Nicole's insistence that they talk things out because they're "practically brothers". Later, Sonic goes so far as to gloat to Amadeus and Rosemary's faces that even if they are Tails' parents, he grew up with him and is close enough to him that Tails will get over it; he's Instantly Proven Wrong when Tails, who overheard the entire confrontation, finally snaps and physically attacks him, all the while chewing him out for his lack of sensitivity. It goes to show that just because Sonic and Tails are lifelong best friends and surrogate brothers, with Tails being a Hero-Worshipper of him, that doesn't mean they won't have fights or always see eye to eye; they'll have disagreements and tensions like any friends would in real life, and not talking things out will only allow those tensions to fester. Not an outcome and character reaction
- Straight after the Super Genesis Wave occurs, Eggman finds himself stranded in the wilderness, along with Orbot, Cubot and his Egg Pod, the latter of which is too damaged to fly. As the group trek through the wilderness, Orbot (who is forced to move the damaged vehicle along with Cubot) asks why the resident Mad Scientist doesn't simply repair the device so they can fly instead of walking. Eggman angrily responds that without a workstation, tools or even spare parts he can't, showing that despite his genius and the many, many absurdly advanced devices he's built, he needs actual resources to build them. Not an outcome
- Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW):
- In general, the Restoration proves that it's not the Knothole Freedom Fighters through this trope. Amy tries to bring Sonic back into the fold and have him lead the group, but he refuses as it doesn't gel with his carefree, never staying put in one place attitude. When Angel Island is saved, Knuckles immediately abandons the group to be guardian of the Master Emerald again and, by issue #31, Amy is so overwhelmed by the logistics of it all that she tosses the reins to Jewel. Not an outcome
- After Sonic and Tails beat the Egg Hammers in Issue #1, they look back at the town they just saved and see the damage caused, with some of the townsfolk again panicked. In addition, Tails is still worried about possibly losing Sonic again. Plot happens and character reaction
- In Issue #15, Sonic and Amy explore an abandoned base of Eggman's that the Resistance managed to raid and liberate prisoners from during the war. However, Amy glumly mentions they lost people as well, showcasing that the war against Eggman indeed had causalities on their side. Not an outcome
- In Issue #22, we see the Resistance HQ can only hold so many uninfected since they're all in a small building and housing millions on people from cities they evacuated. And not surprisingly, miss whomever was infected. One of them manages to get into the base, hiding that the Metal Virus got on him until ultimately he succumbs. This, combined with the Zombot-ified Charmy that Vector and Espio brought in breaking free from his container, ends up infecting the base in no time. Plot happens
- In Issue # 25, Starline's attempt to use the Cacophonous Conch to control the Deadly Six fails as he didn’t know the Restraining Bolt only works when it's blown into. Plot happens
- Because they were "programmed" to infect everyone around the world as Zombots, many people have been displaced after being cured of the Virus. The Chaotix find themselves up to their necks in people trying to hire them to find their loved ones. Plot happens
- When Eggman attacks in Issue # 32, Whisper defers to Amy for orders but Amy states Jewel is now the one in charge. Except when asked, Jewel said she doesn't know what to do as her skills lie in management not combat leadership. Vector ultimately has to take charge and lead the others. Plot happens
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics):
- In the Star Trek (DC Comics) storyline "Who Killed Captain Kirk?", William Bearclaw is exposed as a Fantastic Racist and, being the last straw, is told by Kirk that he's going to get him transferred to another ship where he won't be trouble for him or others. He attempts to prove his worth by conning a member of a possible suicide mission into swapping with him. He makes it out alive and saves a member of the team in the process... and is chewed out for disobeying a direct order (which was "No, you can't go"). When Kirk fingers him as the culprit to his assassination attempt, no one wants to stand up for him because of his transgressions. Valid
- In the Pathways story of the Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures comics, a battledroid fighting for the Separatist Alliance steps on a mine but survives the explosion, damaged and now cut off from the hive mind of the Separatist battledroids. With this newfound independence and seeing the carnage around it, the droid runs away from the battle, not wanting to be destroyed; it had never had the choice to fight or live before, and now that it did it chose life. Too implausible
- Expanded Universe sources state this is why battle droids are so fragile: there have been multiple droid rebellions in the past, and the Trade Federation, and later the Separatists, have designed their droid army with multiple safeties including being so fragile they normally get destroyed before damage could alter the programming and cause desertions of rebellions. Too implausible
- Stray Bullets:
- Nick runs for sheriff against the unpopular and corrupt Montana, and garners a lot of public support due to his charming persona and promise to bring prosperity back to the town. Just before the election, Montana threatens to kill anyone who doesn't vote for him, and wins in a landslide. Plot happens
- Despite her perpetually optimistic demeanor, it becomes increasingly clear in later arcs that the Trauma Conga Line Virginia experienced throughout her childhood (witnessing a murder, dealing with an abusive mother, having her face slashed, losing her father to cancer, having two of her friends die, and getting kidnapped and threatened with sexual assault multiple times) has taken a toll on her and caused a host of mental and emotional issues. The most evident of these is her disturbing propensity to respond to problems (even minor ones) with extreme violence, such as when she almost pulls a knife on Eli's cousin after he insults her. She also displays signs of PTSD, such as sleeping on the floor instead of in her bed. Character has truama
- Following the events of Somewhere Out West, Beth and Virginia are hiding out in California after escaping Harry's goons. Despite trying to keep a low profile, Beth's decision to not make Virginia attend school winds up causing problems and getting the police involved, as truancy is still a crime in most of the United States. Valid
- In Dark Days, Virginia fights tooth and nail to save her friend Bobby from a pedophile named Ron, but is eventually overpowered and knocked unconscious. She may be a Little Miss Badass, but she's also still just a kid trying to beat up a grown man. Valid
- Also during Dark Days, Beth accidentally shoots a cop while trying to find Virginia. Even though the cop survives and even expresses sympathy for her plight, Killers later reveals that Beth still went to prison. Valid
- A group of kids steal a gun and decide to fire it, only to immediately injure themselves when they don't properly prepare for the recoil. Cuttable ZCE
- In Sunshine and Roses, Orson tries to sell his dad's car to pay off Beth's debt, only to be told that won't work because he doesn't have any registration proving it's really his. When he then suggests they sell it to a chop shop, Beth points out that illegal car rings generally steal the cars themselves rather than buy them. Not an outcome
- After getting hit on the head with a pot, Annie is knocked unconscious and the other characters are unable to revive her. Even though she eventually wakes up, the untreated brain damage remains and later causes her to suffer a stroke. Valid
- In the same story, Orson kidnaps Annie's cohort Dr. Blumstein in order to force him to treat her. Blumstein is quick to point out that he's merely a reconstructive surgeon with a specialty in cosmetic procedures; brain injuries are completely outside his wheelhouse, and he advises Orson to take Annie to a hospital. Not an outcome
- Played for Laughs (the Black Comedy kind) when Orson accidentally kills the abusive ex-boyfriend of a burlesque dancer he'd befriended by knocking the man off a balcony: Valid
Orson: Wow. Who freakin' dies falling one story? - Tech Jacket: Two from volume 1.
- When Zack returns from his space trip, he discovers that six months have passed on Earth. His house is empty and his parents have disappeared. Too fantastical
- Zack goes to confront Mr. Capella, the Loan Shark his father owes money to. When Zack displays the armor's powers and threatens him, a terrified Mr. Capella tells him he has no idea where his parents are and cancel's Ed's debt. When Zack leaves, one of Capella's men offers to go after him and Capella tells him to forget about it entirely. Capella is not Lex Luthor and has no desire to make an enemy out of a superhero with abilities far beyond his. Character reaction
- Transformers: Beast Wars (2021): When Dinobot gets on to Tarantulas for ignoring his orders to scan the planet for possible threats in favor of scanning strange energy readings, Tarantulas tells him to stuff it. This enrages Dinobot enough to try to invoke rank on him but Tarantulas quickly shuts him down by pointing that they're all rogue agents and thus, no longer a part of the chain of command which means that Dinobot has no real power over him before telling him to Get Out!. Character reaction
- Über:
- The Übers are described as being "like tanks in more than just their power" – like real weapons, they need support and maintenance, and can be worn down by the clever use of weaker forces. More brutally, in a subversion of old superhero tropes, courage and fighting spirit counts for very little against the raw power of the superhumans. Weaknesses exist
- General Sankt explains to Hitler that while the first Übers became active as early as 1944, he held back on unleashing the Nazis' new Wunderwaffen until he was certain of delivering victory from the jaws. Hitler however is less than pleased, given that said Wunderwaffen came into play just as the Reich is in shambles. Not an outcome
- The intervention of the Ubers may have reversed Germany's military position but the economic and infrastructure damage hasn't gone anywhere. Furthermore, the sheer devastation of "the Great Burn" has caused the occupied territories to all but collapse - even the (relatively) untouched England is barely able to drip-feed resources to Germany. This results in mass starvation throughout much of Europe during 1946. Plot happenns
- Maria uses her newfound power and status to openly defy and mock the Soviet authorities and becomes something of a hero to the people in the process. However, her lack of political experience and insight means it's quite trivial for Stalin to place students loyal to him close to her and they're able to betray and apparently kill her with ease. Plot happens
- The three German Übers are codenamed Siegfried, Siegmund and Sieglinde. While that sounds cool, it's noted the similarity of the names easily causes confusion in battlefield communications. Not an outcome
- American superhuman Colossus goes up against his Nazi counterpart Sieglinde. Colossus hasn't been fully enhanced yet, but he's brave, clever and determined... and the fully-enhanced Sieglinde rips him to pieces in a matter of seconds. Curbstomp Battle
- The Walking Dead breathes this trope:
- A vast majority of attempts to stop a zombie bite from killing a person via amputating the bitten limb has ended with the person dying anyway due to the resulting blood loss or bacterial infection. One of the only times where it did succeed (with Dale and Connie) was only because the infectee was immediately taken to a sterilized environment and had the limb amputated by someone with extensive medical experience. Valid
- Rick beats Thomas to a pulp in a blind rage when he finds out he's the one who murdered Maggie's sisters. So severely, in fact, that he damages his own hands and knuckles to the point where he is flat-out told he'll never be able to clench his left hand in to a fist again. Valid
- Gregory's attempt to kill Maggie fail in part due to him simply not giving her a high enough dose of poison to actually kill her. Doesn't explain why it's surprising
- The Wicked + The Divine: The power and adoration one gets by becoming a god is enough to convince people to do some very horrible things in order to get the chance to ascend. It convinces two fans to try to kill Lucifer, shooting innocents in the progress, and convinced 1830's Inanna to agree to murder her sister's children in exchange for ascension. Too implausible
- Most of the gods are not at all happy with their drastically-reduced lifespan, especially poor Minerva, who's 12. Character reaction
- Being a god does not mean that you're above the law, as Lucifer finds out. Also, when Laura/Persephone kills Ananke, the other gods' first thought is how they'll stop her from getting convicted for murder. Too implausible
- The gods are all teenagers of various ages who have been given vast amounts of power and adoration, who can do almost whatever they want, and who have to deal with the shock of their new identities, their reduced lifespans and their responsibilities on top of all their other problems and already-existing insecurities. The result? Sure, some of them are nice, but a few are complete douchebags. Too implausible
- The gods are viewed as entertainers, and most people consider their original personalities to not really matter. As a result, when Tara tries to play her own songs and recite her own poetry instead of just performing like everyone else, the crowd turns on her and she gets so much hate that she gives up and commits suicide by Ananke. Character reaction
- Laura becomes Persephone, achieving her every wish, and then has to watch as Ananke, a woman she trusted, kills Inanna- Laura's good friend- and Laura's entire family. The poor girl is so shocked and traumatised that she does almost nothing for days afterwards. Character reaction
- Ananke has known the gods for millennia, is the one who helps them ascend, and is trusted absolutely. So she's in the perfect position to stab them all in the back. Cuttable ZCE
- W.I.T.C.H.:
- The Guardians of Kandrakar have an easy time against Mooks because of this: their enemies use middle ages melee weapons, and they wield powerful magic that can strike at distance. For obvious reasons, it's very rare to find a soldier who comes back for a rematch. Weaknesses exist
- In a What If? issue they attacked a police van to rescue a friend, thinking it would be no different from the many battles against normal mooks they won, especially as this time it's five of them against two cops... Who have guns. The Guardians are nearly killed. Valid
- In one issue of W.I.T.C.H., Lady Crash had taken the form of a car, but the Guardians managed to make it run of fuel. Realizing the situation, Crash went immediately to refuel at the nearest pump... But failed because she didn't have a bankcard to pay at the automated pumpstation. Too fantastical and plot happens
- Yorick and Bones: After coming up with the idea to gain friends with Bones' help, Yorick feels so happy he feels like whistling. However, his lips rotted away years ago, rendering him unable to do anything more than blow. Too implausible
Edited by CelestialDraco on Nov 28th 2023 at 9:33:05 AM
Dramatic
Since: Jun, 2012
#2309: Nov 22nd 2023 at 1:37:48 AM
A Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name example:
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Kazuma Kiryu dying and then having a death certificate faked so he could go hiding and be part of the Daidoji? The plan might work when it came to the public, but the Yakuza world? The man that has been kicking ass here and there just happened to end up dying to some gunshot wound? Turns out, a death certificate and having a grave build for someone of Kiryu's level of legend isn't even close to being able to convince people who know exactly how tough you are that you just ended up dead. Even Kiryu's children, despite having comparatively little experience seeing Kiryu in combat, quickly get hopes that he is alive when they saw the Daidoji having a camera to survey Kiryu's grave.
I feel this is Too Implausible with a hint of Character Reaction. This requires such a lengthy and specific sequence of factors and events that I don't think it is possible to judge its realism.
#2310: Nov 22nd 2023 at 5:16:59 PM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Any input? That's the last of the comic book section.
#2311: Nov 24th 2023 at 7:37:17 PM
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#2312: Nov 27th 2023 at 6:33:40 PM
I'm not sure about some of the valid examples:
- Empowered: the "surprisingly realistic" part (pointing out that driving a car at a bad guy is a more powerful attack than throwing it) isn't an outcome, and the second part doesn't explain why we'd assume that Empowered would be fine after intentionally crashing the car.
- My Little Pony (second "valid" example): Might be a case of Plot Happening, since how the overeating happens in the example (over the course of a month) is different from the "expected unrealistic outcome" comparison, and it's My Little Pony, a work known for its frequent Aesops, so a character acting in a certain way, experiencing consequences, and learning not to act that way is standard procedure.
- Paperinik: Doesn't explain why we'd assume Paperinik's plan to succeed beyond an implied "He's the hero and Gottfresh is the bad guy."
- Stray Bullets:
- Somewhere Out West: Might be a case of "Plot Happens", since if a character is trying to keep a low profile, it's expected that something will eventually blow their cover to make the story more exciting.
- Dark Days example 1: sounds like "Strength Discrepancies Exist", which usually doesn't count on its own. It might still count if the opponent is objectively much stronger, but the story is trying to set up a Dark Horse Victory for the weaker hero who had no chance of winning. Still not 100% sure.
- The Walking Dead:
- The first "valid" example sounds like it happens too often, so it's just the work being realistic in regards to the risks of amputation.
- The second example has lasting consequences, so it should just be listed under Invulnerable Knuckles as an Averted Trope.
- W.I.T.C.H.: sounds like it's just a case of The Lethal Connotation of Guns and Others, since you can't say that a Magical Girl team would be unable to beat gun-wielding Muggles in real life.
The remaining examples can just be cut with no need for approval, since it's clear they objectively don't fit the trope.
#2313: Nov 28th 2023 at 4:44:19 PM
Finished. So with that taken care of the comic book section is finished. So how should the Marvel Universe subpage be implemented into it and would it still be long enough to warrant having its own subpage?
Edited by CelestialDraco on Nov 28th 2023 at 6:45:23 AM
Someoneman
Since: Nov, 2011
#2314: Nov 28th 2023 at 6:18:18 PM
The Marvel examples are few enough to be moved to a folder in the comic books page.
Also, some examples from Western Animation:
- ''King of the Hill:
- In "The Arrowhead" Hank attempts to coerce Lerner and his crew off his property with a fake artifact. This fails immediately because while a pompous jackass, Lerner is still a professional archeologist backed by a whole team of archeology grad students who can easily spot a fake artifact. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- In "Little Horrors of Shop" Hank is fired from being the shop teacher because of his students bringing tools and sharp objects from home. Most schools have a very strict policy when it comes to bringing in any sort of sharp or blunt object that could be used as a weapon, including tools. Ditto
- The Beavis and Butt-Head episode "Copy Machine" shows the danger of doing the Cheek Copy when Beavis attempts it. He almost immediately breaks through the glass and potentially cuts his femoral artery. Valid, since sitting on a copy machine usually doesn't break it when a Cheek Copy happens, even though it's not a machine meant to bear the weight of a person.
- In the Gravity Falls episode "The Stanchurian Candidate", although Stan is able to win over the town and gets more votes than Bud Gleeful, he is disqualified from the election due to his extensive criminal record. Doesn't explain why it's surprising.
- Bob's Burgers:
- Teddy eats at Bob's restaurant almost daily, and eats a burger and fries every time. This is shown in "Friends with Burger-fits" to have negative long-term effects on his health—namely, he has very high cholesterol and his doctor is concerned that he could die if he does not change his eating habits. Sounds more like Internal Deconstruction.
- Bob runs his business his way, but it's shown he's not very good at anything but cooking. He's shown to have little to no skill in business management and very adverse to change. As such, he consistently rejects things like a Tiki motif by a friend investing because he hates it, or refuses to sell sweet potato fries because he hates them. He also refuses to emulate his rival Jimmy Pesto despite his better amount of customers. Bob also has No Social Skills, preferring to stay behind the grill as opposed to go out and talk with people and get involved with locals. While in most stories this counts as Underdogs Never Lose, it results in his business constantly teetering in bankruptcy, relying mostly on repeat customers. If it weren't for Status Quo Is God, Bob's refusal to budge on how he runs his business would have done more damage than anything. Not surprising if it causes multiple episodes' plots.
- The Powerpuff Girls:
- This also applies to "Bought and Scold". Blossom steals a $2000 set of golf clubs Prof. Utonium really wanted. This lands him in jail, though Blossom does try to pin the blame on Mojo Jojo? She ultimately confesses, leaving the citizens of Townsville heartbroken. Though the mayor does argue for letting her off easy, this just means she ends up having to do 200 hours of community service. Not surprising. A heroic character being a Karma Houdini would probably cause some controversy.
#2315: Nov 29th 2023 at 8:28:04 AM
While these were already deemed Valid, I just wanted to be extra sure before doing anything.
- In Kevin Smith's "Guardian Devil" storyline, it's revealed that Mysterio has contracted inoperable cancer due to years of inhaling chemical fumes from his trademark green smoke, as well as applying untested latex compounds to his skin in order to create his various facial disguises.
- Hawkeye: When Kate moves to the West Coast, she ends up going against Masque's personal mooks, all by herself. Kate is a seasoned Avenger having worked with the Young Avengers and the main Avengers, and trains regularly with Clint. She's also a rather short, slimly built young woman who generally either fights enemies alongside a team or at least with Clint by her side. Just like Clint, she doesn't escape many fights without a lot of bruises and is quick to succumb to Zerg Rush tactics.
Khoshekh6
Since: May, 2022
#2316: Nov 29th 2023 at 9:26:03 AM
Its hard to say if fictional gas and fictional latex would realistically cause cancer, and it doesn't say anything about it being surprising
#2317: Nov 29th 2023 at 9:44:13 AM
OK, and the second?
Also this:
- That same story shows the risk of breaking into a room through the window. All of those glass shards lying around hurt. Not an outcome
- The Punisher MAX: A big emphasis is placed throughout the series on how the Punisher's success rate is at least partly owing to the fact that a majority of those he targets are just low-level hoods and street thugs. Intimidating to the average joe, but completely out of their depth when it comes to actual combat. So in The Slavers, where he attempts to attack what he later realizes is a group of Bosnian war veterans who do know what they're doing, he quickly realizes he's made a mistake and is forced to retreat. Unsure
Edited by CelestialDraco on Nov 29th 2023 at 12:54:14 PM
Khoshekh6
Since: May, 2022
#2318: Nov 29th 2023 at 11:47:36 AM
Honestly im not sure what the hawkeye example is actually saying
fullmusicbard
dave bowman but worse
from Basement of the Alamo
Since: Aug, 2022
Relationship Status: Robosexual
dave bowman but worse
#2319: Nov 29th 2023 at 7:03:09 PM
for the Western Animation ones, I think that the Beavis And Butthead example is the only one that makes any sense. It's pretty obvious that Stan would fail in the Gravity Falls one, both because of the status quo and because the town hates him. Ditto for the last one. I haven't seen those respective KOTH or Bob's Burgers episodes, but since both series are more 'realistic' than most adult comedies, I do not think the examples count.
Coachpill
Can shapeshift (probably)
from Washington State, grew up on Long Island
Since: Aug, 2022
Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
Can shapeshift (probably)
#2320: Dec 1st 2023 at 9:04:04 AM
Thoughts on these entries from Ragna Crimson? Just a heads up that I've unspoilered them, though IDK how many people have read the manga.
- Early parts of the story have Ragna and Crimson working to take on the Winged Bloodline of the Dragons, which keeps escalating further and further to full-out war that finally ends in their extermination, albeit at a great cost to the Silver Armament Army Corps. You'd think the story would then move onto the next Monster of the Week, only for the rest of the Bloodlines to immediately begin plotting together how to eliminate Ragna in co-operative efforts despite usually trying to steer clear of each other, even outright admitting they have to accelerate their plans because of the unexpected fall of the Winged. Plot happens
- Similarly, because Ragna has grown strong enough to defeat a second-generation Dragon King and a powerful high-rank Dragon who was outright stronger than her to the point of being recognized by Gilzea, once the fight is taken to the Bloodline of Roars, it takes Ragna being too much of a Leeroy Jenkins and attempting to take on all of the Bloodline simultaneously to actually force him to back off. Given the opportunity for individual fights as they try to trap him on their own terms, it's (initially) a Curb-Stomp Battle in his favor; only Bagram is immediately held as a distinct threat on his own within the Roars, and they need all the help they can get from the other Bloodlines to hold the line. Fatal Flaw being used as a crapshoot/too fantastical
Edited by Coachpill on Dec 1st 2023 at 12:07:19 PM
Silver and gold, silver and gold
DoctorWTF
Since: Jul, 2020
#2321: Dec 3rd 2023 at 4:24:43 PM
Its hard to say if fictional gas and fictional latex would realistically cause cancer, and it doesn't say anything about it being surprising
I was under the impression that under the new rules, the "Realistic" part specifically forbids any example which relies on the effects of anything that doesn't exist in Real Life.
Khoshekh6
Since: May, 2022
#2322: Dec 3rd 2023 at 5:54:57 PM
Yes, that's what i was saying
#2323: Dec 3rd 2023 at 7:07:27 PM
Can't anyone offer help with thinning the Live-Action TV?
#2324: Dec 5th 2023 at 2:56:04 PM
Soap Operas
- Despite their outlandish plots, Soap Operas do this fairly regularly. Children have gotten screwed up because of their parents' constant bed-hopping, children resent their parents for sending them to boarding school or to live with relatives, people have come back from the dead only to find out that their ex has moved on with someone else, and infidelity and other stunts have permanently ruined marriages and other relationships: GenreDeconstruction
- All My Children: Dixie Martin gets pregnant despite multiple warnings not to because of her health issues. She is advised by her father-in-law and brother-in-law (both doctors) to have an abortion, but refuses. A typical soap storyline would have her miraculously carrying the pregnancy to term, but indeed, she miscarries. Valid
- As the World Turns: Emily is kidnapped. When she's finally rescued, her hair has split ends, dark roots, several inches of growth. In other words, precisely like someone who hasn't been to the hairdresser in months.note Plot happens
- The Bold and the Beautiful:
- It's pretty much acknowledged that the problems Brooke's children have had, particularly Rick and Bridget, is due to her sleeping around without a second thought as to how it would affect them. Rick has never stopped resenting older half-brother Ridge for the times he was simultaneously his stepfather. Rick even snapped to the point where he shot another stepfather after being completely confused about Brooke running off and marrying a new guy. Plot happens
- Liam and Sally Spectra get caught in a building explosion and trapped under debris. Though they are miraculously rescued from the rubble and they're not trapped for long, both of them are on the verge of death from smoke inhalation and Liam has to use a cane to walk for several weeks after the incident. Valid
- A paranoid Brooke tries to confront Thomas about his relationship with Hope outside her house on the cliffside - and when she pushes him away, he goes straight over the side of the cliff. The police officers investigating the incident make it clear that, no matter how she felt about Thomas, if he hadn't decided not to press charges she'd be going down for attempted murder. Not surprising
- General Hospital: Bobbie cheats on husband Tony—and he discovers this the day their daughter is killed in a car accident. The other guy turns out to be a jerk who was playing her, it takes a full year of counseling for them to rebuild their marriage and even then, he's still so emotionally exhausted that it eventually falls apart anyway. Not an outcome
- Said other man has her husband arrested for assault after he punches him for a third time, truthfully pointing out that he was not put on this earth to be his punching bag. Not surprising
- Another assault example has Alan Quartermaine punching a reporter harassing his mother. The guy threatens to sue him and it's only later that we learn that that it took some fancy footwork by the family lawyer to convince him not to. No character reactions
- Jason Quartermaine sustains severe brain damage in a car accident. When he awakens, he has no memory of anyone from his past life. Unlike typical Hollywood Healing of some cliched storyline of him regaining his memory, he never does. He's also seen walking with a cane and going to physical therapy to regain his strength. Valid
- Teenagers Robin Scorpio and Stone Cates consummate their relationship. However, Stone is soon diagnosed with AIDS. Despite pleas from viewers, Robin also tests positive for HIV. Writers understood the ramifications of having a legendary, beloved character who the viewers had watched grow up have a potentially fatal disease, but any other diagnosis would have been irresponsible and unrealistic—Robin and Stone had unprotected sex numerous times (she was a virgin, he had previously tested negative, so they were only using the Pill for contraception). The odds of her not contracting HIV were unlikely. Valid
- Speaking of Lois, she later punches Ned's other wife Katherine after the woman accosts her. Despite the fact that Katherine provoked her, Lois is still arrested for assault and it's only thanks to having an excellent lawyer that the charges are dropped. Even then, she's still sternly reprimanded by the judge for resorting to physical violence to solve a conflict. Valid
- Guiding Light: Michelle pulls a Break His Heart to Save Him on boyfriend Jesse to protect him from the mobsters targeting her. By the time she confesses to this and they try to reconcile, they're forced to admit that their relationship is now Dead Sparks and that they've fallen in love with other people. Character reaction
- The Young and the Restless: Dru returns from a trip to find her husband Neil carrying on with another woman. So she breaks into the woman's apartment and trashes the place... and gets arrested for breaking and entering, destruction of property, and slapped with a restraining order. Later, in another confrontation with the woman, she puts her in a headlock and gets hit with new charges of physical assault and violation of the restraining order. It turns out being the cuckolded spouse does not give you carte blanche to commit crimes. Valid
- On a lighter note, when a married couple moved into their new home, they had to live among boxes and off of takeout food for several weeks, like real people. (Soaps are notorious for having a new home furnished and set up the very day after a person buys it). Valid
- Similarly, on Melrose Place, Kimberly destroys a huge chunk of the apartment complex with a bomb. For the next several months, repairmen are seen working on rebuilding the damaged portion of the building. Not surprising
Puppet Shows
- Bear in the Big Blue House: In "Raiders of the Lost Cheese", Tutter finds a map from his great grandfather, Tutterly T. Tutter, who collected cheese from all over the world. Specifically, he found a pile of cheese too big for him to eat, so he put in a chest and put the chest in a hollow tree not that far from the Big Blue House. When the show's cast finds the chest and opens it, they find the cheese has become too moldy for anyone to eat due to being stored in the chest for decades. Valid
Edited by CelestialDraco on Dec 5th 2023 at 5:02:19 AM
Jobyrdthegamerbyrd
Since: Aug, 2017
#2325: Dec 6th 2023 at 9:08:16 AM
Thinking of doing this one for the main page:
- Trolls Band Together: Veneer makes a Heel–Face Turn and publicly confesses his and Velvet's crimes. This causes the both of them to get arrested much to his surprise, which causes Crimp to point out that even if he had a change of heart he still willingly participated in those crimes. Veneer concedes once she points it out.
Edited by Jobyrdthegamerbyrd on Dec 6th 2023 at 9:08:33 AM
Total posts: 2,446
Also, how do you start to moving process? Do you just remove the info from a subpage, add it to the the main then ask an admin to delete it?