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The heroes are in a sticky situation somewhere. The writer needs them to be somewhere else in the next act/scene, but no established plot device will allow this to happen. So the writer makes the story happen at a specific time which provides a (just about) plausible solution. On any other day of the year the heroes would be caught/killed, but sheer dumb luck on their part (or sheer bad luck on the antagonist's part) yields an unexpected outcome.

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The heroes are in a sticky situation somewhere. The writer needs them to be somewhere else in the next act/scene, but no established plot device will allow this to happen. So the writer makes the story happen at a specific time which provides where a (just about) plausible solution. natural event, like an eclipse, is about to happen. On any other day of the year the heroes would be caught/killed, but sheer dumb luck on their part planning for the event (or sheer bad luck on the antagonist's part) just lucky outcomes due to it) yields an unexpected outcome.
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* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' subverts and plays around with this. A solar eclipse set to come in a few months provides the heroes with a clear way to defeat the BigBad (the way [[MagicAIsMagicA the magic system]] of the setting works means that he and his forces will be temporarily [[DePower depowered]] during the eclipse), but its far from convenient and much more accurately portrayed than in most media; the eclipse only lasts for about eight minutes, giving them an incredibly tight schedule to work on that leaves almost no margin for error. [[spoiler:Sure enough, the attempt to exploit the eclipse goes horribly wrong when it turns out the Big Bad ''also'' knew it was coming and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm wisely chose to sit the day out in his emergency bunker]].]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' subverts and plays around with this. A solar eclipse set to come in a few months provides the heroes with a clear way to defeat the BigBad (the way [[MagicAIsMagicA the magic system]] of the setting works means that he and his forces will be temporarily [[DePower depowered]] during the eclipse), but its it's far from convenient and much more accurately portrayed than in most media; the eclipse only lasts for about eight minutes, giving them an incredibly tight schedule to work on that leaves almost no margin for error. [[spoiler:Sure enough, the attempt to exploit the eclipse goes horribly wrong when it turns out the Big Bad ''also'' knew it was coming and [[KnowWhenToFoldEm wisely chose to sit the day out in his emergency bunker]].]]
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->'''Cranky Kong:''' The eclipse! 3:35 p.m. exactly! So, that was your plan!
->'''Diddy Kong:''' Yyyyep! And it worked!

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->'''Cranky Kong:''' The eclipse! 3:35 p.m. exactly! So, that was your plan!
->'''Diddy
plan!\\
'''Diddy
Kong:''' Yyyyep! And it worked!



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* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: Innocent Sin'' has the Grand Cross and the Leonids, which factor into the villains' plans. From this, you can tell exactly when the game took place in real life.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: ''VideoGame/Persona2: Innocent Sin'' has the Grand Cross and the Leonids, which factor into the villains' plans. From this, you can tell exactly when the game took place in real life.



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-->'''Creator/LeonardNimoy:''' A solar eclipse. The cosmic ballet...goes on.
-->'''Guy:''' Does anybody wanna switch seats?

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-->'''Creator/LeonardNimoy:''' A solar eclipse. The cosmic ballet...goes on.
-->'''Guy:'''
on.\\
'''Guy:'''
Does anybody wanna switch seats?



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* Parodied again in ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumchum'': When Fanboy is told he is going to die after naptime, he tries everything he can to keep everyone awake while he devises a plan. One of these efforts is him opening the curtains and saying they should go outside, but as soon as he does an eclipse comes, causing Fanboy to scream, "Curse you semi-elliptical orbit!!"

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* Parodied again in ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumchum'': ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'': When Fanboy is told he is going to die after naptime, he tries everything he can to keep everyone awake while he devises a plan. One of these efforts is him opening the curtains and saying they should go outside, but as soon as he does an eclipse comes, causing Fanboy to scream, "Curse you semi-elliptical orbit!!"



* Played straight in the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' special "Back to Bortron 7." When Mitchell is about to expose Jet's secret to the entire town, Jet 2 causes an eclipse which distracts the townspeople from seeing the Propulsion house land back on Earth.

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* Played straight in the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' special "Back to Bortron 7." When Mitchell is about to expose Jet's secret to the entire town, Jet 2 causes an a solar eclipse with his flashlight, which distracts the townspeople long enough from seeing the Propulsion house land back on Earth.
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* In one episode of ''Series/McHalesNavy", the men have been ordered by Captain Binghamton to negotiate with a tribe of violent native islanders for the use of their land for an airstrip for the U.S. military. Parker tries to impress their chieftain with his lighter but it doesn't work, and while fiddling with the lighter an eclipse occurs and the chief thinks Parker did it. Mchale quickly orders the men to play along and that Parker has powerful magic.

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* In one episode of ''Series/McHalesNavy", ''Series/McHalesNavy'', the men have been ordered by Captain Binghamton to negotiate with a tribe of violent native islanders for the use of their land for an airstrip for the U.S. military. Parker tries to impress their chieftain with his lighter but it doesn't work, and while fiddling with the lighter an eclipse occurs and the chief thinks Parker did it. Mchale quickly orders the men to play along and that Parker has powerful magic.
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* Somewhat surprisingly, an actual eclipse example actually happened once. Christopher Columbus was stranded in Jamaica in 1504 and the natives became increasingly unwilling to help him and his crew. Consulting an astronomy book, he realized that, by sheer luck, a total eclipse was coming up in the area. Naturally, he warned the natives that, if help wasn't forthcoming, he'd destroy the sun on a certain day. When the eclipse hit, he agreed to "bring the sun back", after they acceded to all of his demands.
* RealLife example; British explorer James Cook's 1779 arrival in Hawaii coincided with a festival dedicated to the Polynesian god Lono. According to some accounts, the Hawaiian natives, who had never seen a European before, took him to be an incarnation of the god himself and deified him upon his arrival. (When he returned later in the year, ''after'' Lono's festival had ended, he was received less warmly - the natives stabbed him to death and reputedly ate parts of his body before returning it to the British for burial at sea.)

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* Somewhat surprisingly, an actual eclipse example actually happened once. Christopher Columbus was stranded in Jamaica in 1504 and the natives became increasingly unwilling to help him and his crew.crew (not surprising, given that Columbus and his crew were treating them ''horribly''). Consulting an astronomy book, he realized that, by sheer luck, a total eclipse was coming up in the area. Naturally, he warned the natives that, if help wasn't forthcoming, he'd destroy the sun on a certain day. When the eclipse hit, he agreed to "bring the sun back", after they acceded to all of his demands.
* RealLife example; British explorer James Cook's 1779 arrival in Hawaii coincided with a festival dedicated to the Polynesian god Lono. According to some accounts, the Hawaiian natives, who had never seen a European before, took him to be an incarnation of the god himself and deified him upon his arrival. (When he returned later in the year, ''after'' Lono's festival had ended, he was received less warmly - the natives stabbed him to death and reputedly ate parts of his body before returning it to the British for burial at sea. Though that was probably more because he apparently went insane and kidnapped the Hawaiian king and tried to set himself up as the ruler of the islands.)
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* Subverted in the short story by Augusto Monterroso ''El Eclipse''. Fray Bartolomé Arrazola tries to do this when he is about to be sacrificed by Mayans, unfortunately for him their astronomers already predicted all Solar ''and Lunar'' eclipses.

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* Subverted in the short story by Augusto Monterroso ''El Eclipse''.''[[https://spanishtextstranslated.wordpress.com/augusto-monterroso/el-eclipse-the-eclipse/ El Eclipse]]''. Fray Bartolomé Arrazola tries to do this when he is about to be sacrificed by Mayans, unfortunately for him their astronomers already predicted all Solar ''and Lunar'' eclipses.
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-->'''Leonard Nimoy:''' A solar eclipse. The cosmic ballet...goes on.

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-->'''Leonard Nimoy:''' -->'''Creator/LeonardNimoy:''' A solar eclipse. The cosmic ballet...goes on.
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* Played straight in ''[[WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo Back to Bortron 7]]''. When Mitchell is about to expose Jet's secret to the entire town, Jet 2 causes an eclipse which distracts the townspeople from seeing the Propulsion house land back on Earth.

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* Played straight in ''[[WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo Back the ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' special "Back to Bortron 7]]''. 7." When Mitchell is about to expose Jet's secret to the entire town, Jet 2 causes an eclipse which distracts the townspeople from seeing the Propulsion house land back on Earth.
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** It's worth noting that total solar eclipses occur ''somewhere'' on Earth every 18 months, usually only being visible at sea - the 1919 eclipse was notable because it occcurred at a convenient time and in a semi-convenient place. It wasn't ''too'' convenient - the humid conditions ruined most of Eddington's stock of photographic plates before he even started, and the skies were so overcast in the days leading up to the eclipse that it was feared the whole costly exercise would be for nothing. [[StiffUpperLip Eddington worked on regardless.]]

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** It's worth noting that total solar eclipses occur ''somewhere'' on Earth every 18 months, usually only being visible at sea - the 1919 eclipse was notable because it occcurred occurred at a convenient time and in a semi-convenient place. It wasn't ''too'' convenient - the humid conditions ruined most of Eddington's stock of photographic plates before he even started, and the skies were so overcast in the days leading up to the eclipse that it was feared the whole costly exercise would be for nothing. [[StiffUpperLip Eddington worked on regardless.]]
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* WesternAnimation/TheBeatles follow a daffy professor to a tropical island to see a lunar eclipse. The natives on the island are hostile but they panic when the eclipse occurs. The Beatles sing "Mr. Moonlight" (the episode's title) under the notion they're bringing the moon back and calm the natives.

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[[folder: Film--Animated ]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado,'' the titular city already believes that Tulio and Miguel are gods, but this gets "confirmed" when their bickering happens to coincide with a local volcano acting up; it calms down right when they do. The two of them don't even seem to notice it.
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[[folder: Film--Animated ]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado,'' the titular city already believes that Tulio and Miguel are gods, but this gets "confirmed" when their bickering happens to coincide with a local volcano acting up; it calms down right when they do. The two of them don't even seem to notice it.
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Was, not as. Typo.
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Null edit: Neglected to mention that examples of this trope that involve literal eclipses predate that sentence; they date back to at least 2007, and that sentence as added between 2009 and 2011.
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Checking the wayback machine revealed that this sentence's wording as a "contrast" section instead of a "see also" section was unilateral, so clarifying that this trope can involve eclipses.


A convenient way to set up a GodGuise. Compare/contrast with DeusExMachina, ContrivedCoincidence and WeatherSavesTheDay. For literal eclipses, see TotalEclipseOfThePlot.

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A convenient way to set up a GodGuise. Compare/contrast with DeusExMachina, ContrivedCoincidence and WeatherSavesTheDay. For literal eclipses, see See also TotalEclipseOfThePlot.
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* ''Film/AKnightInCamelot'': Vivien Morgan accidentally [[TimeTravel travels back in time]] with her laptop into the period of Myth/ArthurianLegend and is soon arrested. Looking up info on her laptop that there should be a solar eclipse right at the time of her execution, she bluffs her way out of burning stake by threatening the locals with eternal darkness as the moon passes by.

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