History Main / FollowTheChaos

[[caption-width-right:350:Dragon Tracking 101: follow the trail of burning destruction.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Literature/TheFlyingCloud https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trail_of_chaos.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[http://airships.paulgazis.com/479/FlyingCloud479.htm Let's follow it and see where it goes!]]]]

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':

** In ''{{Discworld/Sourcery}}'', minor character Nijel is once described as the kind of person who, if he was lost in a trackless desert, could be located by leaving out some valuable old heirloom and then hurrying back as soon as you heard it smash.
** Towards the end of ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'', Sam Vimes is in hot pursuit of Wolfgang, a mad werewolf who is the last remaining against. Vimes keeps on the trail by locating people Wolfgang has attacked during his escape and simply asking the witnesses "which way?"

-->'''Robin''': ''Which way did he go?''
-->StuffBlowingUp
-->'''Batman''': '''''That''''' ''way.''

-->'''Captain Ash:''' Hello down there? Oh, I heard gunfire a knew it had to be you.

->''"Quick. What is the absolute worst place in this Valley one could go? The most insanely suicidal place to be found? The place where only a great fool would venture--and only an '''insane''' fool would follow?"''

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Films]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* This is one reliable method of finding the Doctor from ''Series/DoctorWho'' in a hurry, as Martha points out in "The Lazarus Experiment".
** Donna Noble eventually tracks down the Doctor by following strange and bizarre occurrences, figuring the Doctor will inevitably become involved. She's proven right in "Partners in Crime."
** While tracking down River Song in "Let's Kill Hitler", Rory and Amy argue about what possible clues they could use to find her when a crowd of panicked people come running out of a restaurant, all in various states of undress.

** When asked how a character will locate the Doctor in the episode "The Crimson Horror":

* In ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Alexis lets Ashley's rat escape. After she apologizes to him for losing his beloved pet and he forgives her, Martha's shriek is heard offscreen. Alexis and Ashley look alarmed, but Castle merely says, "Found him!"
* In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', Beckett and Ford have to find Sheppard among a mess of Genii soldiers occupying Atlantis, but the life-signs detector doesn't distinguish between humans. Ford confidently states that the dot representing Sheppard will be the one causing other dots to vanish.

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* In the ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' newspaper comic, the turtles have several (mis)adventures end on a space bus station after closing hour. In the darkness Raphael gets separated from the others, and Leonardo think they should better search for him:
-->'''Leonardo:''' Since it's Raph, we should head in the direction of trouble.
-->'''Donatello''' or '''Michelangelo:''' Which way is that?
-->'''Sound from the left:''' Urk! Ugh! Grumph!
-->'''Leonardo:''' Next question...

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'': Need to find the sector's R&D lab? Look for the ''really'' big smoking craters.
** Need to find [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the Troubleshooters]]? Follow the trail of SmokingShoes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

[[folder: Web Originals]]

--> "Follow the dead body road! Follow the dead body road! Follow, follow, foll— damn! Look at all that blood!"

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Let's follow it and see where it goes!]]

* ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark''. A T. Rex is rampaging through San Diego and the protagonists have to capture it. Ian Malcolm's advice? "Follow the screams."

The intent behind this trope is that the chaos they cause will give you an almost immediate idea of where to locate them. Finding a site of destruction and knowing that they've ''been'' there is a separate idea which involves a more protracted hunt.

* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Relativity}},'' when the main characters hear an explosion, they assume they'll be able to figure out where it came from by looking for smoke rising from the resulting fire. The problem is, there is no smoke (or fire). They have to wait until they hear the sirens of emergency vehicles and then follow ''those.''

* Also, in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book ''{{Discworld/Sourcery}}'', minor character Nijel is once described as the kind of person who, if he was lost in a trackless desert, could be located by leaving out some valuable old heirloom and then hurrying back as soon as you heard it smash.

'''Lobo:''' ''(grins)'' I can do trouble.

** In Totto Land, Luffy and Chopper run off and get lost in a LevelAte. Name doesn't panic, as she knows that all they have to do is wait for a commotion to start. Cue some guy screaming about a [[GingerbreadHouse building being eaten.]] Sure enough, Luffy and Chopper are there.

* If you fall behind and lose track of your teammates in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', just listen for explosions, gunfire, and Kinetic Melee.

* During the Enies Lobby arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'', the crew is trying to locate Luffy, [[LeeroyJenkins who charged in ahead of them]]. When a building nowhere near them suddenly starts to collapse, they know exactly which direction to head in.

** In Totland, Luffy and Chopper run off and get lost in a LevelAte. Name doesn't panic, as she knows that all they have to do is wait for a commotion to start. Cue some guy screaming about a [[GingerbreadHouse building being eaten.]] Sure enough, Luffy and Chopper are there.

* MatthewReilly's Shane Schofield is a variation--he isn't tracked by the chaos, but a few allies come by the area afterwards and conclude that he's been there from all the horribly destroyed vehicles, bridges, and chunks of road.

* In the DonaldDuck story "The Crocodile Collector", Donald gets separated from his nephews in Cairo and gets into a fight with a crocodile at a petting zoo. The nephews go out to look, saying, "Where did Unca Donald--* Never mind-- I hear the '''commotion!'''"

* Used in FreemansMind with Gordon singing a song to himself.