History Main / StumbledIntoThePlot

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': In the prologue, the player character gets taken home from a bar, forcibly transformed into a vampire, and drawn into the {{Masquerade}} by a vampire who [[DeathByOriginStory dies]] without explaining their actions. The PC is left to navigate their new supernatural world as best they can and soon finds themself tasked with investigating a [[MacGuffin sarcophagus]] that all the most powerful vampires in the region want to possess...

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': In the prologue, the player character gets taken home from a bar, forcibly transformed into a vampire, and drawn into the {{Masquerade}} by a vampire who [[DeathByOriginStory dies]] without explaining their actions. The PC is left to navigate their new supernatural world as best they can.

* In ''King (2003)'', Russel Wright finds a portal hidden under his bed and discovers a land called Under, where [[OfferedTheCrown he is deemed king]] because he's from "the place where kings come from" (our world).

Supertrope to FallingIntoTheCockpit, for when the IncitingIncident happens to be the soon-to-be protagonist encountering a GiantMecha; ItBeganWithATwistOfFate, which mentions a specific decision that led the protagonist to the IncitingIncident.

* Often happened to ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' in stories set in the GenteelInterbellumPeriod: A typical example would open with Biggles and his friends looking for a new freelance gig and being offered a seemingly innocuous contract to deliver someone or something, which would then go badly awry in some way (often but not always involving SkyPirates) and leave them having to solve some mystery or criminal conspiracy almost as a side effect of extricating themselves from whatever predicament they'd landed in as a result.

* While Bloom from ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' was always a fairy, she only enters the plot by accident, following her pet rabbit and finding Stella and Knut fighting in the park, which leads her to she [[DieOrFly discover her powers]] and learn about Alfea.

->''“Everyone thought the agency was a joke, except the aliens, who made contact March 2, 1961 outside New York. There was nine of us the first night: seven agents, one astronomer, [[AndThatLittleGirlWasMe and one dumb kid who got lost on the back road]].”''

->''“Everyone thought the agency was a joke, except the aliens, who made contact [[GrandUnifiedTimeline/ThePostwarEra March 2, 1961]] outside New York. There was nine of us the first night: seven agents, one astronomer, [[AndThatLittleGirlWasMe and one dumb kid who got lost on the back road]].”''

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** Donna Noble is a semi-exception as she was looking for the Doctor, however, it was spurred by her accidentally getting sucked up into the Doctor's TARDIS a year ago.

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* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles' Peter once told Mary-Jane that anyone could have been Spider-Man, he was just the kid who got bit.

How the protagonist responds also varies. They might go FromNobodyToNightmare as a result, they might just go along for the ride as a PinballProtagonist and be an ActionSurvivor. For the latter, it's common for our protagonist encountering this tropeto have various reasons reasons why they can't ''escape'' from it now that they've stumbled into it, for example a ClingyMacguffin or TrappedInAnotherWorld. If it's a superpower-related Incident, expect IJustWantToBeNormal.

* Rokuro Okajima aka Rock from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' is forced to go on the run and eventually, live in Roanapur and join Lagoon Company since his boss in Asahi Industries decided to have him written off despite being told to handle sensitive data to be given to a VIP in Southeast Asia in case of HeKnowsTooMuch.

* Rembrant from ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' got caught up in Quinn's parallel world surfing adventure because he got caught up in their whirlwind while driving his car and, like the rest of the team, are trying to get back.

* The PC in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' just happened to have been at the Templar-Mage peace summit when the explosion destroyed it. Becoming the only survivor, somehow gaining the ability to seal rifts to the fade, and getting swept up in the game's plot from there. [[spoiler:During "Here Lies the Abyss", it is revealed that the Inqusitor ''literally'' stumbled upon Corypheus's plot during the summit. Hearing Divine Justinia's cries for help, and walking into the middle of his ritual. Disrupting it and gaining the mark in the process.]]

* ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'': Jay is just a man with a camera who decides to look back on old memories of shooting a never-finished student film, when he notices something ''weird'' in the background of every tape. The supernatural effect on him is so strong he is unable to stop his obsessive investigating afterward- even after he makes the attempt to stop completely, he gets pulled back in through circumstances beyond his control.

!Examples:

* Seras Victoria, a police officer joins Hellsing in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' since she was targeted by a vampire and Alucard turned her into one in order to save her life after being wounded in a fight. Since the agency had publicly declared her as "dead", Seras has no choice but to work for them.

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* ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} The Adventures Of Tintin]]'':
** In ''King Ottokar's Sceptre'' Tintin finds a lost briefcase on a bench in a park and decides to return it, initiating his involvement in the whole Bordurian conspiracy to depose the Syldavian monarchy and invade Syldavia.
** ''The Black Island'' similarly has Tintin thrown into the plot when a counterfeit money smuggler's plane crash-lands in a field near where he's taking a walk.

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* ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'':
** Most of the companions of ''Series/DoctorWho'' simply happened to stumble into the Doctor's vicinity and now have aliens trying to kill them. Donna Noble is a semi-exception, as she was looking for the Doctor however it was spurred by her accidentally getting sucked up into the Doctor's TARDIS a year ago.

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* The ComicBook/{{Runaways}} became caught up in ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion'' because they just happened to be visiting New York City on the very day that the Skrulls attacked the city.

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* The four protagonists of ''WesternAnimation/SuperNoobs'', who got entrusted with defending the Earth with battle balls (that don't come off due to being fused with their DNA) due to being mistaken for soldiers.

* The Inquisitor in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' just happened to have been at the Templar-Mage peace summit when the explosion destroyed it. Being the only survivor, and somehow gaining the ability to seal the rifts to the fade. From there they are forced to accompany Cassandra and Leliana as they attempt to close the Breach and figure out whose behind it all. Eventually becoming the defacto leader of their efforts in the process. [[spoiler:During "Here Lies The Abyss", it is revealed that the Inquisitor really did just stumble into the plot. Having ''literally'' stumbled into the room where Corypheus was performing his ritual, disrupting it and inadvertently gaining the ability to manipulate fade rifts, which Corypheus wanted for himself, in the process.]]

* Seras Victoria, a police officer, is forced to join with Hellsing in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' since she was targeted by a vampire and Alucard turned her into one in order to save her life after being wounded in a fight. Since the agency had publicly declared her as "dead", Seras has no choice but to work for them.

*** The player, as a student from the [[WizardingSchool College of Winterhold]], triggers a trap by picking up a necklace that eventually leads to them encountering an ArtifactOfDoom.

* ''[[Franchise/{{Tintin}} The Adventures Of Tintin]]: