History Main / CaptainsLog

* In ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Puyo Puyo Tetris]]'', Tee regularly logs reports about what is currently happening to his partner O which go...somewhere, not even Tee is certain where or who they go to. [[spoiler:It’s revealed later on that they go to Ex, the Keeper of Dimensions.]]

** The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" takes place in an alternate timeline where the Federation has been at war with the Klingons for twenty years. Captain Picard gives his usual voiceover, but he's recording a "military log" and using "combat dates" rather than Stardates.
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
*** Odo starts recording security logs in "Necessary Evil" at the request of Sisko. He gripes: "The reason for this exercise is beyond my comprehension, except perhaps that Humans have a compulsion to keep records and files — so many, in fact, that they have to invent new ways to store them microscopically. Otherwise their records would overrun all known civilization. My own very adequate memory not being good enough for Starfleet, I am pleased to put my voice into this official record of this day. Everything's under control. End log."
*** The episode "In the Pale Moonlight" uses the Captain's Log as a framing device for the story as Sisko recounts how the Romulans were convinced to join on the Feds side of the War. Since the story involves several serious crimes Sisko was party to and is struggling to live with, Sisko actually winds up destroying the logs.
*** When the Cardassians retake Deep Space Nine from the Federation, Gul Dukat actually makes some log entries of his own. This isn't too surprising, since Cardassians being obsessively thorough about records (to the point their military academies had filing instructors) was a frequent plot point.
** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': "The Cloud" [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the franchise staple with something similar to LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn. Janeway makes the usual episode-opening log entry as a voice-over monologue while on a stroll through the ship, ending with:
---> '''Janeway (voice-over):''' ... I only wish I ''felt'' larger-than-life.\\

** On ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', all the log entries we get to hear are recorded by Michael Burnham, who isn't a captain (save for when she [[spoiler:impersonated her MirrorUniverse counterpart as captain of ISS ''Shenzhou'']]).

* Classic ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' uses this trope in virtually every episode, and the trope is named for it. Kirk would often dictate his log at the start of the show and after every commercial break. Sometimes this discarded all logic, as when he dictated about things he didn't know yet, or recorded his log when he was nowhere near a recording device. (Of course, that show got the log from the RealLife logs in sailing ships, but the use of it in the form of this trope came from the show.)
** Though ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' did show Odo recording a log ("The Ascent") with a comm badge, leading to the possibility that TOS communicators served that function, too.
*** In Season 2, there was at least one case when the log was played when Kirk was captive (with hands up etc.) so they are recorded from memory.
*** This and other situations were due to the perceived need to recapitulate the events of the episode. When it deals with events Captain Kirk was not aware of at the time of recapitulation, Kirk would say "Captains Log, Supplemental", meaning that Kirk added these remarks after he found out what had happened.
** Reviewer ''WebSite/SFDebris'' likes to poke fun when logs are made at inappropriate times. Such as when Riker is heading to engineering due to an emergency "and stops along the way to make a log on how urgent this is." Or when Kirk and someone else have a FreakyFridayFlip and Kirk somehow makes a log entry while detained in sickbay (as the crew is unaware of the switch).
** The Captain's Log was planned as the narrative device for the show by Robert Justman and Herb Solow as a quick way of orienting the viewer in situations that could have been confusing. The "These are the voyages" business at the beginning was meant to be the same type of thing.
** In ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'', Kirk tries to record his log into an electronic device... and the device malfunctions.
---> "GOOD MORNING, CAPTAIN."

** Apparently, Star Fleet personnel are in the habit of making logs, possibly to get them ready should they advance to Captain. In one episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', clues as to why a crewmember committed suicide are sought for in his "junior officer of the third watch of the port nacelle engine room" log or something similar. These revealed the crewman was calm, rational and had no indication that he was contemplating ending his life.
*** It seemed it was standard for Starfleet personnel to record personal logs, which amount to diaries. Not a bad idea considering the kinds of goofy things that seemed to happen to Federation vessels. Like the episode where Worf kept jumping from alternate reality to alternate reality, and a personal log entry he made was a plot point, as it would keep changing in each reality.
** The reboot made a quick joke about star dates in logs when Kirk records one after being marooned. He starts to give the star date, gets confused on what the star date actually is, and finishes with "...whatever" and continues the meat of the log.

** "Muse" actually opens with some actors from some extraterrestrials' roughly Bronze Age culture putting on a theatrical production with something a lot like a GreekChorus reciting some of Voyager's logs to their patrons in the audience to set the tone for their story.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' actually does a LampshadeHanging of this in the episode "Necessary Evil".
-->'''Odo:''' Commence station security log, stardate 47282.5. At the request of Commander Sisko, I will hereafter be recording a daily log of law enforcement affairs. The reason for this exercise is beyond my comprehension, except perhaps that Humans have a compulsion to keep records and files — so many, in fact, that they have to invent new ways to store them microscopically. Otherwise their records would overrun all known civilization. My own very adequate memory not being good enough for Starfleet, I am pleased to put my voice into this official record of this day. Everything's under control. End log.
** ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', however, tended to avoid this, leading to very few episodes having stardates. The above example in "Necessary Evil" ends up the equivalent of a PrivateEyeMonologue, as it's a NoirEpisode.
** The episode "In the Pale Moonlight" uses the Captain's Log as a framing device for the story as Sisko recounts how the Romulans were convinced to join on the Feds side of the War. Since the story involves several serious crimes Sisko was party to and is struggling to live with, Sisko actually winds up destroying the logs.
** When the Cardassians retake Deep Space Nine from the Federation, Gul Dukat actually makes some log entries of his own. This isn't too surprising, since Cardassians being obsessively thorough about records (to the point their military academies had filing instructors) was a frequent plot point.

* On ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', all the log entries we get to hear are recorded by Michael Burnham, who isn't a captain (save for when she [[spoiler:impersonated her MirrorUniverse counterpart as captain of ISS ''Shenzhou'']]).

* Arika's letters to her mysterious patron early in ''Anime/MaiOtome''.

* Averted in the Aubrey/Maturin books. Aubrey's log is referred to occasionally, along with the logs kept by the Sailing Master, the midshipmen (which Aubrey reviews as part if their training) and there is also a scene where Aubrey specifically refers to his log while appearing before a Navy Board, but the use of "Captains Log" as exposition never appears.

* The long-running radio series ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Dollar Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar]]'' used the title character's expense account entries; in the show's introduction, Johnny was credited as "The Man with the Action-Packed Expense Account".

If it's being used for exposition purposes when the viewpoint characters are LateToTheTragedy it probably fits better under ApocalypticLog, but [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible the two can overlap]]. Compare PrivateEyeMonologue, a similar narrative style typically used in FilmNoir.

->'''Zapp:''' Captain's Log, stardate... uhh...\\

'''Zapp:''' April thirteenth ... point two.

* In ''Podcast/AliceIsntDead,'' the story takes the form of the {{Narrator}}, a long-haul trucker, recording audio diary entries[=/=]letters to her wife Alice in the cabin of her truck, while fleeing a HumanoidAbomination stalker.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''' three part {{pilot}}, Spike uses his diary at the end of each episode as a framing device, but this was never used again. The Transformers {{Ladybird Books}} however, borrowed this from the show and used it occasionally.

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* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''. Captain Janeway is dictating her captain's log, but because she's in a 1950's PulpMagazine sci-fi she has to splice and tape her log by hand rather than tell her computer to delete her last sentence when she does a VerbalBackspace. She also gives an ordinary date instead of a stardate, as humanity hasn't discovered FasterThanLightTravel yet.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. In "Orac", Blake uses a Flight Log entry to fill in Avon [[PreviouslyOn and the audience]] on the previous episode's events. We never see any reference to this trope again, which is just as well because a RebelLeader keeping a log of his activities would be a major IdiotBall if the Liberator were captured, which it is on several occasions.

* In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', the log is actually a plot point. It's used in Kirk's trial with the Klingons, which leads to him figuring out who TheMole was since it was the only person who could have heard him making the recording.

** In ''Film/StarTrekVTheUndiscoveredCountry'', Kirk tries to record his log into an electronic device... and the device malfunctions.

* In ''Film/StarTrekVITheFinalFrontier'', the log is actually a plot point. It's used in Kirk's trial with the Klingons, which leads to him figuring out who TheMole was since it was the only person who could have heard him making the recording.

** In ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'', Kirk tries to record his log into an electronic device... and the device malfunctions.

* The original ''{{Dracula}}'' uses this trope for exposition in one chapter, and somewhat unusually the result bears a passing resemblance to a genuine ship's log of the period; remarks about the increasingly weird goings-on aboard the ship initially take a back seat to everyday stuff like position, condition of the ship and provisions etc.

* Frequently used by Creator/JohnWyndham, with several books opening with a description of what situation humanity will be in by the end of the book. In addition, since the books are often framed as an in-universe account by the main character, some entire books could be seen as fitting the trope. ''Literature/TheDayOfTheTriffids'' and ''The Kraken Wakes'' are probably the two best examples.

* One of the space episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' has Captain Ren reporting to his log (not [[EarWorm that one]]) with a helmet that sends thoughts bulging down a wire into a computer.