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This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.


from YKTTW... Tzintzuntzan: You know that thing where one member of the team gets into a fight with the other members and quits "forever" just before some big new threat? And then some threat comes along that the missing member's talents would be perfect for? Inevitably, the rest of the team begs him to come back, he refuses, and they go to face the threat on their own. Just as inevitably, they can't do it without him, and they're about to get slaughtered when the sulker comes in, rescues them, and re-joins the team for good.

I know it's been done on Teen Titans and WITCH (and in the Iliad, making this one of The Oldest Ones in the Book). So I was going to call it Achilles in His Tent — anyone have other examples? (And would this be its own trope, or a subset of 10-Minute Retirement?)

Gus: Achilles in His Tent works for a title. The snit makes it distinct from 10-Minute Retirement, for me. I'd say it goes in Plots.


Tzintzuntzan: Has there ever been a show that subverted this by it turning out that the group functions better without the quitter? It seems like an obvious thing to do, but I can't think of examples. Anyone?

Looney Toons: It would have to be the farewell show for a departing cast member, I would think, and those are usually given to congratulatory flashbacks about how valuable the person was and how much he'll be missed. Then again, the departure of Frank Burns from M*A*S*H comes to mind...

Oh, and before I forget... I have no idea where the line I just added to the top of the page comes from, but it's been in my quote file for years, and it seemed ideal.

Dark Sasami: It's from The Tick. One of the villains is a Hulk type named One Ton, whose puppet, Handy, is the brains of the operation. The exact quote would seem to be, "Yeah...even now, he sulks like Achilles in his tent. Achilles? ... It's the Iliad? ... It's Homer? Read a book!"

One Ton later taunts Arthur: "Hah...hah..hah...your Tick won't come! He's sulking in his tent like a guy from Chile....."


IanJames: Life imitates art. I remember playing Social Guy amidst a pack of Power-armored Munchkins in a round of Exalted once. There was lots of careful negotiation being undermined by a sword-happy demigod wondering what will happen if he flips the guard the bird, and Social Guy getting maimed during the ensuing rollfest. I ragequit to go chat up the cute waitress, just before the storyteller drops them something they can't fight their way through on the anticipation that Social Guy was just in the bathroom and will be back in ten minutes.

I imagine this situation has occured elsewhere.

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