History Main / LinkedListClueMethodology

* On one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter sends Lois on a scavenger hunt following this model to distract her while he plays golf on their wedding anniversary. She doesn't figure it out until the last clue, which tells her to go back to the start; there, she happen to run into Cleveland and Loretta, who tell her what's really going on. When Lois storms over to the club to find him, Oeter admits he didn't expect her to make it this far before he got back.

* On one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter sends Lois on a scavenger hunt following this model to distract her while he plays golf on their wedding anniversary. She doesn't figure it out until the last clue, which tells her to go back to the start and admits he didn't expect her to make it this far before he got back.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', Dee Dee swiped a "strange glowing thingie" from Dexter's latest creation and set him on this kind of game in order to find it. Though the fact that "strange glowing thingie" in question was actually the core component for what amounted to a Nuclear Fission reactor, and said reactor would [[GoingCritical go critical]] after an hour if it wasn't returned made things a lot more urgent. Then after he got it back, [[HereWeGoAgain the book he was planning to read was taken by Dee Dee]].

* This is more or less The Riddler's MO in ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''.

* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Lisey's Story'', Scott and Paul play a treasure hunt game using linked list clues.

* In ''The Lost Crown: A Ghost-Hunting Adventure'', Nigel playtests a treasure-hunt game for Nanny Noah that uses this trope.

The LinkedListClueMethodology is extremely common in video games, particularly role-playing games, where it provides a convenient mechanism to force the player to follow the predetermined plot without appearing to put [[{{Railroading}} overly contrived restrictions on the player's actions.]] Compare FetchQuest and ChainOfDeals.

* ''Series/SupermarketSweep'' - in the "Bonus Sweep", the winning contestants had one minute to find clues to three grocery products in the market to locate $5,000 in cash.
* ''Series/FindersKeepers'' - the "Room-to-Room Romp" required the winning team to find a "clue card" in each of six rooms in the house, each of which outlined what room to go to next and the clue for the location of the card in that room. Finding the sixth card in 90 seconds won the grand prize.

A common system for distributing clues in any genre where the heroes must investigate something (this includes not only CrimeAndPunishmentSeries but also many ActionSeries and ScienceFiction series). In plots which use the LinkedListClueMethodology, each clue tells the heroes where the next clue should be found, and the next clue leads them to the clue after that, and so on until they get to the solution.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'': Essentially ''TheDaVinciCode'' [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE WITH MECHA!]]-] [[spoiler:Replace "Priory of Sion" with "Vist Foundation", The cryptex with Gundam Unicorn, and the Holy Grail with the Laplace Box/Universal Century Federation Charter (which basically states that Spacenoids will be freed from Earth legally and thus affirming Zeonism and Newtype superiority) and you have the overall plot of Gundam Unicorn]].
* ''Anime/OnePiece'': The Poneglyphs--stone monoliths which tell the forgotten history of the world. (It was rumored that one in specific tells of an ambiguously-described superweapon known only as Pluton. It may be an example of WaveMotionGun, but not enough information was really given.) Nico Robin, the Straw Hat crew's archaeologist, is searching for one in specific, referred to as the Rio Poneglyph, though she's been unsuccessful in her endeavors. Some Poneglyphs allude to the existence of others, though other times, the line ends up running dry for a period of time.
** The Grand Line might also count in a more indirect way. There aren't any material ''clues,'' per se, but the idea behind the strip of ocean is that compasses are useless due to its magnetic fields--the only way to navigate is in a linear(ish) path using a tool called a Log Pose, similar to a compass: follow the needle to an island, wait for the Pose to adjust to that island's magnetic field, pointing it toward the next island, then follow it again, and so forth, until you reach the end of the Grand Line, wherein there's said to be...well, you know.

[[folder: Comics ]]

* Some of [[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck Uncle Scrooge's]] more expansive treasure hunts take this form.
** ''The Dutchman's Secret'' by Creator/DonRosa has at least a rich [[JustifiedTrope justification]]: the clues are not made by the same authors. The treasure had been found and lost many times, each treasure owner intentionally obscuring the maps they'd used to throw off the competition before being driven out of the mountains. Then, they wrote clear and straightforward directions for their friends or family which the next treasure hunter would use to find the treasure. [[ChewToy Until Donald accidentally destroyed the last map]], and the Ducks are forced to make use of the clues that are not completely eradicated.
* In the comics, Comicbook/SpiderMan's first encounter with the Sinister Six worked like this. They had kidnapped his current girlfriend and Aunt May (mostly by coincidence), and planned battle locations where they would each have advantages. Once Spidey beat one, he received a card with the next villain's location.

[[folder: Fan Fiction]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Dan Brown's best known novels, ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' and ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'', both work this way. It's unfortunate in ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'', since the cryptex was a severely outdated security mechanism. Check [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptex this page]] for at least three methods of opening it without the password.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' is set up like this, although some fans have complained that the "clues" were only truly clues in the first few seasons, and are now more often simply directions.
** Given that Jerry Bruckheimer is involved in ''The Amazing Race'', ''Cold Case'', and the ''National Treasure'' movies, he appears to have [[AuthorAppeal a fondness for this sort of thing]].

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* The History Quest for newbies in ''{{Achaea}}'' involves hiking from town to town talking to [=NPCs=], each conversation pointing you to the next one. Subverted because at one point, the quest seems to dead-end; in fact, [[spoiler:you have to retrace your steps]].
* In the {{MMORPG}} ''ATaleInTheDesert'', one standard puzzle-making challenge requires a player to create a series of linked 'clues' on random in-world objects, leading to the desired end result. This is then judged by the solvers.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Bart has hidden something of Lisa's, having left a series of clues like this. Lisa, however, knows Bart too well and after five seconds of thought rushes straight to the hiding spot.
** Played straight (as straight as anything in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', at least) in the episode, "Gone Maggie Gone", considering there're plenty of jokes at The [=DaVinci=] Code's expense.
---> "You know, that only makes sense if I guessed wrong first.''
* In the G3.5 ''MyLittlePony'' short ''[[http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=397692719436 Sweetie Belle's Gumball House Surprise]]'', Sweetie Belle leaves clues for the others at different locations in her house to lead them to her backyard, where she is waiting with muffins.

* Interestingly subverted in the Nineties animated version of ''TreasureIsland'': the TreasureMap ''seems'' to be this, and they spend the whole series following the clues in turn...only for it to lead them to an empty chest. [[spoiler:About to burn the map in the rage, they then find the fake top layer burns away to reveal a perfectly straightforward 'X marks the spot' map for the ''real'' treasure]].

->''"Why can't they just say 'go to this place and here's the treasure; spend it wisely?"''

* This is more or less ComicBook/TheRiddler's MO in ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''.

->''"[[LampshadeHanging Why can't they just say 'go to this place and here's the treasure; spend it wisely?]]"''

* The entire point of the ''NationalTreasure'' movies was this kind of chase.

* Subverted in the movie ''Day of Wrath'', where the main character stumbles into a series of murders with letters carved into the body. When he finally confronts the mastermind behind them and demands to know what they mean, presenting a bunch of jumbled letters, he is promptly told "It's supposed to be Dies Irae, or Day of Wrath. It seems you missed a few murders."
* ''{{Candleshoe}}'' has the main character attempting to find a hidden treasure in a mansion using a series of clues.
* The Spanish horror movie ''TheOrphanage'' is full of them. The little boy enjoys setting them as a game for his mother; when he disappears, she finds herself following one to try to find him.
* Most of ''Film/MenInBlack II'' consists of K trying to regain his memories through a list of clues that he left for himself.

* Dan Brown's best known novels, ''AngelsAndDemons'' and ''TheDaVinciCode'', both work this way. It's unfortunate in ''TheDaVinciCode'', since the cryptex was a severely outdated security mechanism. Check [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptex this page]] for at least three methods of opening it without the password.
* ''{{Redwall}}'' uses this a few times. ''Pearls of Lutra'' is the most notable; how else are you going to find the titular pearls if not through a series of riddles?
* Defied in ''UnLunDun'' by ChinaMieville. The protagonist consults a book of prophecy, discovers that she's supposed to follow a bunch of clues that work this way, and insists on skipping immediately to the end of the list.
* OlderThanTelevision: This was the basic plot of the ''SherlockHolmes'' story "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual" (1893).

* ''BlueRememberedEarth'' by Creator/AlastairReynolds works this way. Eunice, who planted all the clues, is smart enough to put a test in the final clue, to make sure its finder didn't try to skip over any of the previous links.

** ''The Dutchman's Secret'' by DonRosa has at least a rich [[JustifiedTrope justification]]: the clues are not made by the same authors. The treasure had been found and lost many times, each treasure owner intentionally obscuring the maps they'd used to throw off the competition before being driven out of the mountains. Then, they wrote clear and straightforward directions for their friends or family which the next treasure hunter would use to find the treasure. [[ChewToy Until Donald accidentally destroyed the last map]], and the Ducks are forced to make use of the clues that are not completely eradicated.

->''[[LampshadeHanging Why can't they just say "go to this place and here's the treasure; spend it wisely"?]]''
-->-- '''Riley Poole''', ''NationalTreasure''

** Given that Jerry Bruckheimer is involved in The Amazing Race, Cold Case, and the National Treasure movies, he appears to have a fondness for this sort of thing.

* The premise of ''RoadRules'' - five (later six) strangers traveled in a Winnebago to various locations in the US (or occasionally abroad) to complete missions and challenges; at the end of one mission, a clue was given to the location of the next.
* ''SupermarketSweep'' - in the "Bonus Sweep", the winning contestants had one minute to find clues to three grocery products in the market to locate $5,000 in cash.

->''[[LampshadeHanging Why can't they just say "go to this place and here's the treasure; spend it wisely"?]]''

A common system for distributing clues in any genre where the heroes must investigate something (this includes not only CrimeAndPunishmentSeries but also many ActionSeries and ScienceFiction series). In plots which use the LinkedListClueMethodology, each clue tells the heroes where the next clue should be found, and the next clue leads them to the clue after that, and so on until they get to the solution.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

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* Repeatedly used in the ''DotHack'' games. Kite goes to dungeon, gets information about the next part of the poen, goes to next dungeon, same thing happens. Add some irrelevant sidequests (oh noes Piros is in danger again!) and a few boss fights, and you have a 4-game series.

* The first act of the main quest of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' operates in this fashion when trying to catch up with the men who left you for dead: the tavern owner in the town you wake up in tells you they'd have to head south towards the next nearest town, someone in that town will point you to another town, and so on. Of course you could try to short circuit that and go straight to New Vegas but you'd miss out on a lot of XP and a number of clues that will help you stack the odds in your favor when you do catch up with your would-be murderer.

* ''BlueRememberedEarth'' by AlastairReynolds works this way. Eunice, who planted all the clues, is smart enough to put a test in the final clue, to make sure its finder didn't try to skip over any of the previous links.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaVI has Chuckles the court jester sending the Avatar on a cross-kingdom scavenger hunt, the last clue of which is hidden not far from Chuckles himself. For extra irritation points, that clue sends you to talk to Smith the talking horse, who promptly gives you a crucial piece of information necessary to solve... ''VideoGame/{{Ultima|V}} '''[[VideoGame/UltimaV V]]'''''.

* This was the basic plot of the ''SherlockHolmes'' story "The Musgrave Ritual," thus making this trope OlderThanRadio.

* This is more or less ComicBook/TheRiddler's MO in ''Comicbook/{{Batman}}''.

* This is more or less The Riddler's MO in ''Comicbook/{{Batman}}''.