Line #72 Literature/ReadyPlayerOne


1	[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ready_player_one_67.png]]
2	->''"The OASIS -- it's the greatest videogame ever created, and it only costs a quarter."''
3
4	''Ready Player One'' is a 2011 novel by Creator/ErnestCline about a teen named Wade Watts, who spends all his time on OASIS, a virtual reality MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame that [[TheMetaverse has replaced the Internet itself as humanity's primary means of recreation and communication]]. He plays to escape his boring, harrowing life in the trailer park he calls home. Wade's life is consumed by the quest to find the hidden fortune of the man who created OASIS, James Halliday. The only clues to how to get at it were hidden away in Halliday's personal writings, and the only way to decode them is... [[TheEighties 1980s]] pop culture.
5
6	What follows is a story about life, adventure, and a love letter to the 1980s wrapped up in a science fiction plot that's told in a unique style.
7
8	TheFilmOfTheBook was [[Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018 released in 2018]], with Creator/StevenSpielberg directing. A sequel to the book, ''Literature/ReadyPlayerTwo'', was released in November 2020.
9	----
10	!! This novel provides examples of:
11
12	[[foldercontrol]]
13
14
15	[[folder:Tropes A-L]]
16	* HundredPercentCompletion: Wade stumbles upon a Pac-Man arcade cabinet and decides to beat the high score by performing a perfect play of the game, even though it actually has nothing to do with the egg hunt. [[spoiler: Although he doesn't realize it at the time, doing so gives him the only extra life in the history of the OASIS.]]
17	* TheEighties: A large focus of the plot is almost every single trivial detail about Eighties pop culture. The ''entire world'' has found itself in an 80s time warp, as decoding Halliday's obsessions is the key to the contest.
18	-->“Jim always wanted everyone to share his obsessions, to love the same things he loved. I think this contest is his way of giving the entire world an incentive to do just that.”
19	* AbsurdlyHighStakesGame:
20	** The OASIS didn't start out as one, but the in-game [[WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture credits]] eventually became [[GlobalCurrency more valuable]] than any currency backed by a government. Since credits and assets are wiped when players die, this results in a sizable portion of the OASIS' population avoiding combat zones so they don't risk losing their wealth.
21	** The Egg hunt has a quarter trillion dollars as a prize. Adding to the stakes, IOI plans on commercializing the OASIS if they win, which is a horror few pre-Net individuals can comprehend.
22	--->The thought of the simulation being privatized and homogenized by IOI horrified us in a way that those born before its introduction found difficult to understand. For us, it was like someone threatening to take away the sun, or charge a fee to look up at the sky.
23	* AlliterativeName: Discussed. It's said that Wade's father gave him the name Wade Watts because he thought an alliterative name sounded more like a superhero's name.
24	* AllegedlyFreeGame: OASIS costs only a token 25-cent subscription set-up fee, but doing just about anything costs money, including bullets (decidedly expensive given that OASIS guns have BottomlessMagazines), in-game fuel and teleportation fees. You can earn money in-game from killing monsters and running dungeons (demonstrated by Wade earning about $20,000 in OASIS credits from collecting treasure in the Tomb of Horrors), but without some initial capital to get off the starting world, it's essentially impossible. Wade comments on this, being dirt-poor and unable to leave the school-planet Ludus, thus feeling like he'll never get to actually search for even the first of the three keys in the Hunt. IOI is seen as villainous by ordinary people because they want to, among other things, charge a monthly subscription fee, and make it ad-supported.
25	* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Sorrento has IOI destroy [[spoiler:Wade's stack after they discover the latter's real-life identity]].
26	* AntiEscapismAesop: This is visited over and over again. The OASIS is an amazing, powerful tool, but humanity isn't using it to its full potential, instead using it to hide from its problems. The ultimate message is that media shouldn't ''consume'' your life, but they still do add meaning to it and that shouldn't be ignored either. Ultimately though, it ends up as a BrokenAesop as literally Wade's journey and [[spoiler: ultimately victory, with him becoming the most powerful man in the world]] is owed to him and his social circle. All of which he met/found in the OASIS, having come together due to the Easter Egg hunt, which required all of them to become ravenous consumers of media to learn the secrets Haliday left.
27	* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: [[spoiler:Wade to [=Art3mis=], though without the prior subverted attempts. It doesn't work for quite a while.]]
28	* AntiMatter: The gunter clans pool their resources to buy two antimatter bombs off eBay to blow the Sixers' forcefield domes on Ludus.
29	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: When the Sixers barricade the First Gate with a forcefield, the Gunter Clans bombard it with "nukes, magic missiles, and [[{{Film/Aliens}} harsh language]]."
30	* AssholeVictim: {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} with Wade's aunt, Alice, and her boyfriend, Rick. [[spoiler:No matter how harsh they treat Wade, he admits that they still didn't deserve to die.]]
31	* AuthorTract: Frequent in the book. The subjects range from deriding traditional beauty (to glorify [=Art3mis=] and her “Rubenesque” figure) to the benefits of masturbation]] to aid in thinking.
32	* AutomatedAutomobiles: There are self-driving taxis called autocabs. Human driven buses still exist.
33	* BarbarianHero:
34	** Wade gets turned into one when doing a challenge based on ''VideoGame/BlackTiger''.
35	** Another is Wade's first customer when he's working IOI customer service.
36	* BatmanGambit:
37	** Wade calling out the head of IOI. [[spoiler:He wasn't IN his home using OASIS, so he could bluff his way through any threats. Unfortunately for his aunt, they weren't kidding when they stated they had his house wired to blow.]]
38	** Wade's plan to [[spoiler:break into IOI's database from inside the company's firewall to bring down the walls around the Crystal Gate]].
39	* BavarianFireDrill: How Wade escapes from [[spoiler:IOI's headquarters after putting his plan in motion.]]
40	* BerserkButton: [[BewareTheSillyOnes The Great and Powerful Og]] does ''not'' appreciate people interrupting his invite-only party to pick a fight.
41	-->'''Og:''' [[PreAsskickingOneLiner You jerks think you can crash my birthday party?]]
42	* BenevolentAI: Wade has an AI based on ''Series/MaxHeadroom'' that controls his apartment.
43	* BenevolentGenie: When Wade uses his [[spoiler:newfound control over the OASIS to wish his friends back to life, a voice asks if he wants to restore their equipment too.]]
44	* BigBad: Nolan Sorrento, the Head of Operations in the Oology Division of IOI, is the main antagonist of the novel. [[spoiler:His EstablishingCharacterMoment is to casually blow up part of the stacks where Wade lives to make him into an example.]]
45	* BigDamnHeroes: Just when the High Five are in need of some way to connect to OASIS for a long period of time to carry out their attack on IOI, [[spoiler:Ogden "Og" Morrow appears to offer them a haven.]]
46	* BigGood: [[spoiler:Ogden "Og" Morrow in the finale.]]
47	* BigGuyFatalitySyndrome: [[spoiler:Of a sort. Daito's user, Toshiro Yoshiaki, is murdered both online and real life during his "YouShallNotPass" moment as Ultraman at the Jade Gate. Which is possible foreshadowing: IOI discovers Daito's real identity and has him killed via [[DestinationDefenestration throwing him out of his skyscraper apartment window]] in order to get past his incredible and nigh-unbeatable power-up and take out a competitor for the egg.]]
48	* BigRedButton: {{Invoked}} and {{Lampshaded}}. [[spoiler:It gives Anorak and his successor Parzival the ability to shut down the OASIS if necessary.]]
49	* BilingualBonus: Some of the planets have Latin names. Incipio (Latin for 'I begin') is the starting planet. Ludus (Latin for 'school') is the planet where Wade and Aech go to school. [[spoiler:The fact that "ludus" also means "game" is an early plot point.]]
50	* BlemishedBeauty: [=Art3mis=] resists meeting Wade in real life because of a large birthmark on her face.
51	* BottomlessMagazines: Firearms in the OASIS never run out of bullets, as more ammo gets teleported into the weapons whenever necessary. It's still necessary to be mindful of how many shots one's taken, however, as there's a monthly bill on ammunition that can get expensive quickly.
52	* BrickJoke: [=Art3mis=], in an attempt to ward Wade off, tells him she is a fat black woman. She is not, but [[spoiler:it turns out that Aech ''is''.]]
53	* BringIt: Sorrento begins the [[spoiler:final battle]] with a shout of "Come on!".
54	* BrokenAesop:
55	** The book pushes an AntiEscapismAesop at several points, frequently taking a moment every to discuss whether or not the OASIS has caused human beings to scorn reality for a LotusEaterMachine. But the OASIS is also the major thing which makes Wade's and countless other lower class people's miserable lives bearable, as well as a major source of quality public education.
56	** "Don't judge people by their online avatar" is brought up a number of times but [=Art3mis=] looks almost identical to her real-life self. [[spoiler: Zigzagged as Wade's best friend is actually an African American girl.]]
57	** AI Halliday advises Wade [[AntiEscapismAesop not to waste his life in the OASIS]] just after Wade has become incredibly rich and powerful precisely as a result of wasting his life in the OASIS, and it was Halliday himself who set it up that way.
58	* CallingYourAttacks: Justified. Wade's mech is designed as it was in the show it was based on. Commands must be shouted into the wristband for the robot to respond to them.
59	* CapturedOnPurpose: During the campaign for the final gate, Wade's plan requires him to [[spoiler:let himself get taken into indentured servitude by IOI (under an assumed name) so that he can use secret access codes to hack the company intranet from inside and plant various traps to take down the defences they have established around the gate]].
60	* CelebrityParadox: The [[AudioAdaptation audiobook]] is read by Creator/WilWheaton, who, in the novel, is mentioned as being the Vice President of the OASIS User Council.
61	* CharactersMostHatedSong: Wade Watts hates "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by ''{{Music/WHAM}}'' so much that he uses it as a sure-fire alarm clock.
62	* CheatersNeverProsper: IOI seeks to win the contest by any means possible, such as cheating, bribing participants, and [[spoiler:even going as far as to kill off participants in the real world. In the end, they still manage to lose when Wade outwits them and wins the contest]].
63	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The quarter and the Cataclyst]]. Averted, however, with [[spoiler:the handgun and flak jacket Wade purchased after escaping from IOI. It's a reasonable safety measure, but he goes the rest of the book without encountering any threats in the real world.]]
64	* CityPlanet: Neoinoir and a few other planets in the OASIS.
65	* CloudCuckooland: A literal place in OASIS though it's only mentioned in the side story ''Fanfic/{{Lacero}}'', it's apparently a place where all conspiracy theories are true.
66	* CocaPepsiInc: All the old MMORPG worlds were merged into OASIS. Likewise, IOI seems to have absorbed every other Internet Service Provider.
67	* ComebackMechanic: [[spoiler:The final gate cannot be opened unless there are three participants with the crystal key present, preventing a single player from winning without competition. This prevents IOI from winning, despite having uncontested access to the crystal gate for weeks.]]
68	* ContinuingIsPainful: When an OASIS avatar dies, the user can easily create a new one. But that means they're starting over at level one, with all of their equipment gone and all the data stored in their account deleted.
69	* CoolSchool: While the story is more focused on [[TheMetaverse the OASIS]] in general, the protagonist, Wade Watts, starts out living in [[UrbanSegregation the stacks]], a combination urban ghetto, third-world slum and trailer park, but attending school on the virtual planet [[MeaningfulName Ludus]]. The planet is covered with beautifully appointed schools with immaculately manicured grounds, surrounded by pristine forests. The classes use interactive simulations to teach, and the software enforces school rules, so the teachers don't have to double as disciplinarians (you can even mute students to prevent verbal bullying). Wade makes a point of how infinitely better it is than the impoverished, run-down school he'd gone to before.
70	* CoolestClubEver: The Distracted Globe, a zero-gravity dance club on the planet Neonoir. Notably, it's located in a [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] zone, meaning bouncers -- and brawlers -- can eject avatars by killing them. [[spoiler:The Sixers make a mass attack on Parzival and [=Art3mis=] there, hoping to stymie their hunt for the Egg by eliminating their high-level avatars. [[LordBritishPostulate Og The Great And Powerful]] shuts them down ''hard'' -- it was ''his'' party]].
71	* CoolOldLady: Mrs. Gillmore, Wade's next door neighbor. While very religious [[CrazyCatLady and having a lot of cats]], she also knows a lot about the eighties and shares a lot of her knowledge with Wade about the period she grew up in.
72	* CoolVersusAwesome: Given [[GenreBusting the]] [[ScienceFantasy material]] of [[TheMetaverse the OASIS]], this was inevitable. [[spoiler:It's especially prominent in the finale, with multiple HumongousMecha on both sides, ending with a showdown between [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mechagodzilla]] and Series/{{Ultraman}}.]]
73	* CorporateConspiracy: On the surface, IOI is just like any other competitor for Halliday's Egg, and ownership of the OASIS, albeit with manpower and resources that give them a huge edge in the game. This was apparently not enough for them, though, as they also engaged in stealing user data, attacking Wade Watt's real world home in an attempt to kill him, actually killing another teenaged player by having mercenaries throw him off the balcony of his apartment, buying up people's debts in order to put them in indentured servitude, and grand scale cheating by closing down any area of the OASIS that might contain a clue to Halliday's game. This all ultimately comes to light when [[spoiler:the game ends with Wade in control, and its hinted that the company's lawyers will be scrambling to prevent IOI from losing all access to the OASIS and thus the internet]].
74	* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Nolan Sorrento, the head of the egg-hunting division of IOI. He's willing to let his bosses [[spoiler:oust him from his very cushy job]] if it means IOI gets closer to finding the egg. [[spoiler:He's also not above cold-blooded murder of competitors in real life AND ''innocent people around them'' to make it easier for his company to find the egg and take over the OASIS.]]
75	* CosyCatastrophe: The setting wavers between this and a CrapsackWorld. While poverty, crime, and drug use are rampant and wars and terrorism apparently constant, the economy still seems to function, at least in the US, and implicitly elsewhere. Even the poor have sufficient communications access to use the OASIS (which goes a long way to making life tolerable), and food production, high tech manufacturing, and even food delivery are very much in operation.
76	* CrapsackWorld: The real world, once the oil ran out. Things putter along only because of the OASIS -- see TerminallyDependentSociety.
77	* CrapsackWorldEscapistSanctuary: In [[TwentyMinutesInTheFuture the 2040s]], the world has been gripped by an energy crisis on top of climate change. People escape to the [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame OASIS platform]], whose currency is actually more stable than any in the real world and is essentially the only thing keeping the world together. The plot centers around attempts to control OASIS after the death of its creator, who made a posthumous challenge that the first person to find the EasterEgg he hid inside the game will inherit his fortune and his company. [[spoiler: The AntiEscapismAesop is also downplayed here - as the virtual reality is seen as a tool that can better humanity if used to its full potential, but its current use as escapism is limiting this - and ultimately [[BrokenAesop broken]] when protagonist Wade wins precisely ''because'' he's so obsessed with OASIS.]]
78	* CrazyPrepared: The Sixers have all the bases covered for the final battle: first they learn from earlier mistakes and keep the location of the Crystal Gate a secret for as long as they can. As soon as its location is discovered, they erect an impenetrable shield around it. Inside the shield is nearly all of the Sixer army, [[spoiler: including nearly a dozen HumongousMecha led by the nigh-indestructible Mechagodzilla]]. Then, on the off chance someone actually gets past all that and reaches the Gate [[spoiler: they detonate the Cataclyst, wiping out all the gunters and leaving the gate wide open for a fleet of Sixers hiding outside the sector to charge in and claim it.]] Unfortunately for them, they underestimate both Wade's resourcefulness and sheer luck.
79	* CurbStompBattle: The Sixers amass around the third gate their entire army, which is considered the highest military power in the OASIS and basically unstoppable. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for them, it turns out that compared to '''all of the gunters combined''' plus a sizable amount of the OASIS' normal citizenship who've decided the situation important enough to grab a gun and take potshots, even IOI's military might is only in an extremely distant second place. When the shield finally drops, the Sixers - including all their massive mecha except for one - are annihilated in minutes]].
80	* DarkestHour: For Wade, when [[spoiler:[=Art3mis=] breaks up with him, he loses touch with Aech, and worst of all, the head of IOI clears the second gate and finds the third key before him]].
81	* DeadlyEuphemism: Avatars don't "die" in OASIS; they "zero out."
82	* DescriptionPorn: Wade's narration goes into long lists of all the pop culture he studies. This ironically, also makes it a sort of IKEAErotica version of the trope.
83	* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler:The Great and Powerful Og shows up at the end to help The High Five. (His avatar is a literal "God from the machine," being a PhysicalGod in the machine of OASIS.]]
84	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Halliday was ultimately of the opinion that while VR and other entertainment media is fun, it shouldn't supplant the rest of your life. His EasterEgg contest, on the other hand, promised immense wealth and power to someone who both extensively explored OASIS and has extensive knowledge of 80's pop culture. This incentivized tens of thousands of people to fixate on entertainment media to the exclusion of all else.
85	* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: IOI contacts Wade's Avatar and tries to convince him to work for them. IOI would keep most of the prize money, of course, but Wade would be set up for life with a cushy job. Wade briefly strings them along before ultimately refusing. [[spoiler:Then Sorrento reveals that they know who he is in real life, and they've rigged the stack his family's trailer is in with bombs. Wade calls their bluff, and it turns out they weren't bluffing. He only survives because he was away in the secret hideout he used when he wanted to get away from his aunt and her boyfriend, which was pretty much all the time.]]
86	%%* DigitalAvatar: They do about 99% of the interaction.
87	* DiscoDan: Many worlds in OASIS are created by people looking to use them to relive their nostalgia for favorite movies and the like.
88	* DoggedNiceGuy: Wade, well, doggedly pursued [=Art3mis=] after she cut off their (cyber) relationship, to the point of stalking her online. His being a genuinely nice guy probably helped [[spoiler:him get together with her in real life in the end.]]
89	* {{Dreamville}}: The VR simulation called "Middletown" has 256 identical copies of James Halliday's hometown, complete with NPC citizens and a flawless mock-up of Halliday's family house.
90	* DungeonCrawling: The first challenge Wade has to do is a recreation of ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors''. Later challenges recreate ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' and ''VideoGame/BlackTiger''.
91	* DungeonShop: Wade comments in the absurdness of setting up shop in a dungeon while playing ''Black Tiger''.
92	* EarlyGameHell: It took 5 years for anyone to find the first key. Parzival had it particularly tough as he did not have enough credits to either buy better equipment or teleport off-world to level-up his avatar.
93	%%* EarnYourHappyEnding
94	* EasterEgg:
95	** Halliday describes his prize as this, even though it's technically a treasure hunt. The TropeMaker (''VideoGame/{{Adventure}}'') is [[spoiler:the location of Halliday's Easter Egg]].
96	** There is a real one, though. On the arcade planet, if you go to a certain arcade and play a perfect game of ''VideoGame/PacMan'', you win a quarter [[spoiler:which gives you an extra life]].
97	* EndlessDaytime: Some planets such as Ludus and Middletown are coded to have day constantly.
98	* EnemyMine:
99	** [[spoiler:Wade is able to convince ''all'' of the other Gunters to come help him get through the last gate. Even though this will mean that those Gunters will lose their own chance at winning, Wade correctly reasons that they'll help because, given the choice, they'd rather see [[JustForFun/OneOfUs him]] win than [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Sorrento]].]]
100	** Even before that, Sixers were already considered the ultimate enemy by Gunters, to the point that rivalling Gunter clans would gladly put their differences aside for a moment to gang up on the Sixers first.
101	* EvilInc: Innovative Online Industries (IOI). They're looking for Halliday's egg as well, and if they find it they will introduce monthly fees for the currently [[AllegedlyFreeGame free to play]] OASIS, plaster ads on every visible surface, and basically ruin the only thing that still makes life bearable.
102	* FacelessGoons: Well, the IOI operatives technically do have faces, but since they all have to use the same face and identical avatars, the effect is the same.
103	* FailedFutureForecast: The book was written and released during the Great Recession, and takes place in a world where the Recession was still going strong in the 2040s. In real life, the Recession would end within a few years of the book's publication.
104	* FailureMontage: Among the data that [[spoiler:Wade steals from IOI]] are numerous videos of the Sixers trying and failing to [[spoiler:open the Crystal Gate]]. It is stated that Sixers have spent the past several days performing increasingly absurd actions in hopes that doing them while [[spoiler:reciting the words above the Gate]] will work.
105	* FallenStatesOfAmerica: The real world action mostly takes place in the United States, and because of the fuel crisis it's shown to have become a collection of overpopulated and polluted cities, surrounded by stacks of trailers, essentially slums. The areas in between are relatively lawless, evidenced by the bus that Wade takes from Oklahoma City to Columbus being armored and escorted. At one point, Wade mentions that despite living in the overcrowded and dangerous stacks with an abusive guardian who spends his welfare money on drugs instead of food, his situation is better than average, and it's implied that many other countries have it worse.
106	* FanOfThePast: Gunters have to become fans of TheEighties (and the end of TheSeventies) by necessity. This was apparently part of Halliday's plan.
107	%%* FantasyKitchenSink: The nature of the OASIS encourages this.
108	* FauxSymbolism: In-Universe example. [[spoiler: The final gate bears the inscription, "Charity. Hope. Faith." Sorrento believes it to be a reference to the Beatitudes, but the password turns out to be the chorus of [[WesternAnimation/SchoolhouseRock "Three Is A Magic Number."]]]]
109	%%* FirstPersonPerspective: How Wade narrates the story. Also how the avatars work.
110	* FirstPersonSmartass: Wade, being a teenager, is rather sarcastic at times.
111	* FlawExploitation: Wade beats the Lich by exploiting what he identifies as the FatalFlaw of all artificial intelligence programs: the fact that they are unable to improvise, like humans do. When confronted with such an improvisation, an AI must respond by following one of a set of pre-programmed behavior patterns.
112	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
113	** At one point, Wade mentions that if IOI tries to barricade a gate, it'll cause an all-out war the likes of which has never been seen before on the OASIS. [[spoiler:[[TheWarSequence This ends up happening when they try it with the third gate.]]]]
114	** Wade mentions that for all he and his classmates know, his history teacher Mr. Avenovich might actually be a woman who uses a male avatar and voice to make her students more likely to respect her. [[spoiler:Wade's best friend, Aech, is a woman who uses a male persona in the OASIS to avoid discrimination.]]
115	** IOI's ability to find Wade's real life identity foreshadows [[spoiler:their finding about Daito's first, then Shoto's and [=Art3mis=]', killing the former and prompting the latter two to run away from their houses after Wade warns them.]]
116	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: In-universe example; [[spoiler:Daito]] is immersed in a massive PVP melee in the OASIS when IOI agents break into his apartment and murder him in the real world. Wade only avoids dying this way by chance, since he had no idea IOI could figure out where he lives, but his normal behavior happened to trick IOI into believing he was logged into OASIS from home.
117	* FunWithAcronyms:
118	** Wade Owen Watts notes with pride that his name spells out WOW. In the days of arcade games, having initials that spell out a cool word was considered particularly desirable due to the three-letter high score boards. This also might be a sideways reference to ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', a popular real-world MMO (which also exists in OASIS, though the book never goes there).
119	** OASIS stands for Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation.
120	* FuturisticPyramid: Replicas of the Tyrrel Building from ''Film/BladeRunner'' are one of the most common buildings in the OASIS. [[spoiler:The Second Gate can be accessed from any of them.]]
121	* GameWithinAGame: OASIS has recreations of all the old video games. Some parts of the hunt could be considered a game within a game within a game.
122	* GeekyTurnOn: During the course of his research into the pop-culture of the 80s, Wade watches numerous online videos of geeky girls playing covers of 80s music on ukuleles.
123	-->'''Wade''': This wasn't strictly part of my research, I just have a fetish for geeky girls playing 80s songs on ukuleles that I can neither explain nor defend.
124	* GenreSavvy: Virtually every character. Particularly Wade, [[spoiler:who, upon finding a 1974 Gibson Les Paul [[ExcaliburInTheStone in a stone]] -- the exact guitar used by [[Music/RushBand Alex Lifeson]] during the 2112 tour -- plays the first measure of "Discovery", which triggers a message on how to open the Third Gate. To the Sixers, it was just a PlotCoupon; to Wade -- and Halliday -- it's an awesome guitar that must be ''played'']].
125	* GlobalCurrency: The OASIS [[WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture credit]] is the ''de facto'' economy of ''the entire planet.''
126	-->The OASIS credit was the coin of the realm, and in these dark times, it was also one of the world’s most stable currencies, valued higher than the dollar, pound, euro, or yen.
127	* GodMode: Superusers like Anorak (James Halliday) and Og (Ogden Morrow) are game avatars that possess god-like power within the [=OASIS=]. They are able to destroy any avatar in an instant, resurrect fallen avatars, enter chat rooms uninvited, are nigh invincible and possess many other impossible-to-achieve abilities. [[spoiler:After Wade Watts/Parzival successfully clears the third gate, he gains both Halliday's vast fortune as well as Anorak's superuser status, his avatar gaining Anorak's cloak and access to a button that could permanently shut down the OASIS if he so chooses.]]
128	* GondorCallsForAid: [[spoiler:In order to provide enough of a distraction to get them in to pass the Crystal Gate, Wade sends out a message to every single user on the OASIS, including gunter "solos" who are known to just go on their own. He expects a big showing, but for most of them to just [[PassThePopcorn stay back and watch]]. [[EnemyMine But every single one of them charges in to help]].]]
129	* TheGoodKingdom: Halliday's company, Gregarious Simulation Systems (GSS), not only maintains the OASIS for free, it maintains solar-powered wi-fi connection points throughout all cities. The entire plot is basically the gunters defending the free systems from IOI's takeover plans.
130	* GravityScrew: Ogden's nightclub, The Distracted Globe is spherical with the walls and ceilings also being the floor and a zero-gravity dancefloor in the center.
131	* GreaterScopeVillain: Sorrento's bosses in IOI.
132	* GreenHillZone: Ludus, the first area of the OASIS that Wade has access to consists entirely of green hills.
133	* HappinessInSlavery: IOI practices a form of legally-sanctioned indentured servitude, which they can invoke on their debtors. Because of the low salaries and constantly accruing interest and fees on their debts, the "indents" are almost guaranteed to be corporate slaves for life. However, the economy is so bad that many people ''deliberately'' get into debt with IOI, as indentured servitude means that they will have guaranteed food and shelter. The government supposedly looks after indents, though it's not clear what good it does.
134	* HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath: Wade has a panic attack when the Sixers get the final key while he is still looking for the second key.
135	* HeroicSacrifice:
136	** [[spoiler:Daito at the Jade Gate (and unintentionally in real life).]]
137	** [[spoiler:Shoto at the battle at the Crystal Gate, against Sorrento's Mechagodzilla.]]
138	* HiddenInPlainSight:
139	** Wade finds the first key [[spoiler:on the planet of the school he attends. It was an hour's walk from Aech's school for years, but nobody ever bothered exploring this planet because it was supposedly nothing but multitudes of schools separated by vast tracts of pleasant (but boring) scenery with no animals big enough to kill for loot or experience.]]
140	** Wade spends most of the second section of the book fairly close to IOI headquarters [[spoiler:and part of the third section inside the IOI building, only a few floors under their egg hunting division]].
141	* {{Hikikomori}}:
142	** It has completely increased in big numbers, especially in Japan, thanks to the OASIS being popular. Shoto and Daito are two examples from there.
143	** Wade is certainly one himself, especially during his time in Columbus.
144	* HonorBeforeReason: Wade giving [[spoiler:Daito the Beta Capsule]], from the recipient's perspective, who says Wade has honor. That said, it's both reason ''and'' honor, since Wade, at that point, [[spoiler:had no friends left, and was hoping this act of kindness would pay off down the line. It ultimately did, helping to win Shoto over to his side. Also, the "fair" thing to do would have been to auction off the Beta Capsule to the highest bidder and split the proceeds, but Wade figured there was a high probability of this powerful artifact falling into the hands of the Sixers]].
145	* IdiotBall: Sorrento blocks Wade from recording during their first meeting. [[spoiler:Much later, when Wade hacks into IOI's intranet, he finds that Sorrento saved a recording of his own, including the death threats. Even worse, there's also a video of IOI employees throwing the real-life Daito to his death. Wade promptly releases these videos to the press.]]
146	-->'''Wade's Narration:''' [[spoiler:The bastards even filmed him plummeting to his death. Probably at Sorrento's request.]]
147	* IKnowMortalKombat: Wade has mastered the arcade game Black Tiger, but while the levels are the same, his skills at playing with a controller don't help him when he must play through the game as a first person VR simulation.
148	* InfoDump: The incredible glut of '80s culture referenced and experienced in this story is laid in great detail.
149	* IHaveNoSon: [[spoiler:Aech's mother's reaction when Aech came out to her. And this is after claiming that the OASIS is important to black women because it allows them to hide who they are from bigots. Aech has been on her own ever since]].
150	* ILied: Heroic example: [[spoiler:Og lied when he claimed that he and Halliday hadn't spoken for decades when he died. The two had actually reconciled during Halliday's last weeks and agreed that Og would oversee the contest in secret to ensure fairness.]]
151	* InfiniteOneUps: {{Exploited}} by Parzival (on the advice of [=Art3mis=]) when playing VideoGame/{{Tempest}} within the final gate. He makes use of a {{Good Bad Bug\|s}} to immediately obtain 40 extra credits. While he ends up not needing to do again, this exploit would have been repeatable if he had lost 39 times before beating the game.
152	* InfinityMinusOneSword: The first thirty or so players that obtain the Crystal Key also get to pick from a selection of Giant Robots as prizes. These would prove crucial in the Battle Royale to come over the Crystal Gate.
153	* InGameTV: Wade, [=Art3mis=] and many other avatars run their own TV channels.
154	* InSeriesNickname: "Sixers" or [[EmbarrassingNickname Suxorz]] for IOI employees, and "Z" for Wade's avatar, Parzival. Also the [[FiveManBand "High Five"]]. "Gunter" is the term used for anyone hunting Halliday's EasterEgg, derived from "egg hunter", and it officially means people who hunt for the Egg without outside help, though there are "gunter clans" who team up to search for it as a group.
155	* InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha: The final battle involves [[spoiler:Wade and co fighting the Sixers in mecha from [[Series/SpiderManJapan Japanese Spider-Man]] and various anime.]]
156	* KickTheDog: Sorrento and IOI, in the beginning, come off as a greedy, but well-organized, professional egg-hunter company. [[spoiler:Then they try to kill Wade in the real world... and it only gets worse.]]
157	* LaserBlade: Wade says lightsabers are a dime a dozen and that he owns more than 50.
158	* LevelLockedLoot: Gear in [[TheMetaverse the OASIS]] often has a minimum avatar level requirement in order to use it. One guy calls IOI's tech support line because a sword he bought in an auction isn't working, only for it to be pointed out to him that the minimum level required to wield the sword is ten and the guy is only level seven.
159	* LightningBruiser: [[SuperMode Ultraman,]] and with the same weakness from the show: [[HourOfPower the transformation only lasts a few minutes]].
160	* {{Limerick}}: The clue for where to find the copper key is in the form of a limerick, and thus appropriately called "The Limerick" among gunters.
161	-->The Copper Key awaits explorers. In a tomb filled with horrors. But you have much to learn. If you hope to earn. A place among the high scorers."
162	* LockedDoor: The gates are not only impenetrable, but ''invisible'' to anyone without the appropriate key.
163	* LOL69: Students attending school within the OASIS aren't allowed to display their avatar's name while on school grounds so the teachers don't have to call them by silly names. An example Wade provides of the alternative is a teacher asking a student called [=BigWang69=] to stand up and give a book report.
164	* LordBritishPostulate: Implied, as Og and Anorak [[spoiler:and, by the end of the book, Parzival]] have infinite hit points and mana, as well as unique spells and abilities.
165	* LotusEaterMachine: Many people spend all of their time in the OASIS rather than deal with the CrapsackWorld they live in. It is discussed that the world may not have gone to hell so much if the population had any desire to live in it rather than having a digital alternative. A significant portion of the population is homeless but still manages to spend time in the OASIS thanks to free wireless access points and solar recharging stations.
166	* LoveIsAWeakness: [[spoiler:[=Art3mis=] breaks up with Wade]] because their romance is getting in the way of the hunt.
167	* LoveMakesYouDumb:
168	** Wade realizes that pining for [=Art3mis=] completely threw him off his groove for the Hunt, allowing others to take first place from him on the Scoreboard.
169	** [=Art3mis=] and company are all astonished when Parzival goes public to declare that he plans to share his winnings when he wins Halliday's egg with Shoto, Aech and [=Art3mis=] after she still balks at the idea he really loves her.
170	* LoveTriangle: [[spoiler:Halliday, Ogden and Kira. Halliday became jealous of Odgen and Kira together as he didn't manage to date her first, and broke off his friendship because of that.]]
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Tropes M-Z]]
174	* MacGuffinDeliveryService: PlayedWith. [[spoiler:Just as Wade opens the Third Gate, the Sixers detonate [[FantasticNuke The Cataclyst]] and attempt to enter the Third Gate themselves.]]
175	* MagicKnight: Wade mentions multiclassing as a warrior mage.
176	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: When IOI blows up the stacks where Wade lives because he refuses to join or help them, they plant some drug lab equipment between the rubble to make it look like the explosion was the result of an illegal meth lab blowing up. It works.
177	* MatchingBadGuyVehicles: The Sixers have a virtual version, in that their avatars in the OASIS and the vehicles they drive there are all identical. This is in contrast to the Gunters, who design their own avatars and vehicles.
178	* MayanDoomsday: The OASIS went online on December 21, 2012.
179	* MeaningfulName:
180	** The Sixers of IOI are named because the first number of their employee numbers begins with a six and are six digits long. Also a subtle reference to a six switch Atari 2600 console.
181	** Wade's handle "Parzival" references the Arthurian knight who quests for the Holy Grail.
182	** [=Art3mis=]'s handle references the Greek goddess of the hunt.
183	** Daito and Shoto mean the katana and wakazashi of a samuraii's twin swords respectively. These two are supposed to be used together, hence the two of them work together.
184	** The OASIS is a virtual paradise in the middle of the desert of the real. So named because the guy who invented it felt more at home in game worlds than the real one; and it also unfortunately became one such to the people who played it in the post-oil dystopia the world became.
185	* TheMetaverse: The OASIS, which specifically evolved out of an MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame to ''encompass '''all''' the others.'' Its source of revenue isn't even a subscription, but ''transit between'' them.
186	* MightyGlacier: Nolan Sorrento's Mecha-Godzilla mech is a massive, hulking robot that towers over all of the other robots in the Battle of Castle Anorak and fires a destructive mouth beam. To compensate for its massive size, devastating attack power and [[DamageSpongeBoss being able to take a hit]], the thing is ''very'' slow.
187	* MindPrison: Variation - IOI employs wage slaves and indentured debtors in OASIS, holding rooms full of prisoners using VR helmets to earn in-game currency and unlock prizes - all of which are kept by the company.
188	* MockHeadroom: Wade has an AI personal assistant that takes the form of Max Headroom.
189	* MoonLogicPuzzle: Solving the puzzles requires not only knowing every detail about 1980s pop culture, but also being able to follow Halliday's train of thought, and he was a legendary eccentric. This is why it took five years for the first key to be found.
190	* MortonsFork: One of the main reasons he refuses to help Sorrento after he threatens to blow him up, Parzival figures if he helps Sorrento, Sorrento will blow him up anyway to take care of loose ends.
191	* MundaneMadeAwesome: Arguably the entire premise of the novel. It's about how being an expert on 80s pop culture trivia makes you ''the saviour of the world''!
192	* NeverSuicide: The Sixers break into [[spoiler:Daito's]] apartment and throw him out the window, making it look like a suicide.
193	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The Sixers [[spoiler:killing Daito]] turns Shoto vengeful, which eventually leads to him teaming up with Parzival, Aech and [=Art3mis=] plus ''every gunter in the OASIS''
194	* TheNightThatNeverEnds: The planet Neonoir is a {{Cyberpunk}} themed world that is always nighttime.
195	* NintendoHard: [=Art3mis=], a very skilled gamer, took over a month to beat Acererak at ''VideoGame/{{Joust}}''. She was less than pleased that Wade did it on his first try [[spoiler:by exploiting a glitch that favors one set of controls]].
196	* NoBodyLeftBehind: Whenever avatars get zeroed out, they simply vanish and leave their loot behind for others to collect.
197	* NoEndorHolocaust: OASIS credits are shown to be used as a real-life currency; at the end, [[spoiler:half the population of the OASIS, along with their credit accounts and items they paid real money for, was wiped out]], yet there's no discussion or consideration of the economic effects of the [[spoiler:sudden disappearance of such a huge amount of lucre or whether Parzival did anything to compensate]]. (''Literature/ReadyPlayerTwo'' would later clarify that [[spoiler:after taking charge of GSS, Wade and his colleagues restored all the assets lost in the battle]].)
198	* NoFairCheating: Your avatar is vulnerable to attack for a full minute after you log out of the OASIS to stop people logging out to avoid being killed.
199	* NostalgiaFilter: The reverence surrounding the '80s is elevated above and beyond any other period, largely because 1) the oldest population had their youth in this period and 2) a VERY lucrative contest was designed by an '80s culture fanatic and can only be won by someone just as fanatical.
200	* OhCrap:
201	** [[spoiler:Wade when he finds out that not only does IOI knows about [=Art3mis=]' and Shoto's real life identities, but that Sorrento has suggested kidnapping them and force them to solve the last gate before murdering them.]]
202	** [[spoiler:[=Art3mis=] and Aech have this reaction upon seeing the Sixers' mechs in the final battle.]]
203	* OneLetterName: A variation - "Aech" is pronounced like the letter "H" (probably because the OASIS wouldn't allow an actual OneLetterName). Aech also calls Parzival "Z".
204	* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: The Easter Egg requires encyclopedic knowledge of 1980s pop culture.
205	* PeopleFallOffChairs: Wade looked up the definition of "Ludus", then fell out of his chair. The software tracked his movement, and tried to have the avatar do the same, but the area told him to remain seated during class.
206	* PersonAsVerb: In universe, "pulling a Pendergast" means revealing a clue or piece of Halliday trivia in public (after the guy that revealed the first clue, hidden in Anorak's Calendar).
207	* PhysicalGod: Anorak (Halliday's avatar) and [[ShoutOut the Great]] [[Film/TheWizardOfOz and Powerful Og]] (Ogden's avatar) can basically do whatever they want, including causing a OneHitKill on as many avatars as desired, limitless [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleportation]], resurrection of avatars, and other abilities. [[spoiler:Anorak gives his abilities to Parzival after obtaining the Egg, along with the kill switch for the entire OASIS, before disappearing forever]].
208	* {{Planetville}}: Variation in that if a planet exists to house a small area such as only one town or dungeon, it'll be covered with several hundred duplicates so multiple players can use it.
209	* PlanetSpaceship: "Moon-sized freighters" are among the larger ships that show up to attack the Sixers at the end.
210	* PlayerVersusPlayer: Usually Gunters vs. Sixers en masse in story. Direct attacks are only possible in certain zones, but the two still attack each others' equipment.
211	* {{Portmanteau}}: The Cataclyst, an absurdly powerful bomb, is a combination of "Cataclysm" and "Catalyst".
212	* PostCyberPunk: The setting. If IOI wins, it will quickly become classic CyberPunk.
213	* PosterGalleryBedroom: James Halliday's recreated childhood bedroom is stuffed with Eighties pop culture references. Most plot-relevant is the ''Film/WarGames'' poster.
214	* PosthumousCharacter: James Halliday and Kira are both dead by the time the story begins.
215	* PostPeakOil: Gasoline is in such short supply, fuel costs caused most of the middle and lower classes to outright abandon their vehicles where they ran out. This has driven most of the population into densely packed cities as opposed to in spread out towns and suburbs as the freeway infrastructure can no longer provide the same transit opportunities as they used to. Unfortunately, this mass urban immigration and demand for density has fueled the creation of massive slums quickly created by stacking trailer homes and cargo crates onto freestanding girders.
216	* ProductPlacement: InUniverse, Wade and the other top gunters (the "High Five") do endorsements for loads of OASIS money after they get on the scoreboard, which can be exchanged for real life currency.
217	* ReadTheFreakingManual: Many of the OASIS users calling in to IOI tech support could easily solve their problems themselves, if only they bothered to try or even read an item description. One annoying guy complains about being unable to use a sword he just bought at an auction, only to be pointed out that it says right in the description that it can only be used by a level 10 avatar or above (the guy is level 7). He is then calmly informed to make sure he can use an item before buying it in the future. So... not so different from RealLife.
218	* ReferenceOverdosed: [[TheEighties 80s]] edition, from a varied range of topics, of video games to tv shows passing by music, cinema and old cereal ads.
219	* {{Revenge}}: Shoto's goal following [[spoiler:Daito's murder]].
220	* RidiculousFutureSequelisation: There's been more ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' made but neither Halliday nor Wade like them. This trope is otherwise averted with people obsessing over 1980s media in order to find Halliday's clues.
221	* RingWorldPlanet: The TropeNamer is listed as being in the OASIS.
222	* RuleOfThree:
223	** There are three keys and three gates, [[spoiler:with the last gate requiring 3 keys from three different users, and consisting of three parts, because [[WesternAnimation/SchoolhouseRock three is a magic number]]]].
224	** IOI progressively offers Wade three deals: [[spoiler:become the head hunter and get a $50 million bonus upon finding the egg, or get $5 million in exchange for his information on the first gate. When Wade turns them both down, he's offered the second deal again, with the added condition that if he still refuses, they'll blow up his apartment in real life.]]
225	** The book is divided into three sections, referred to as levels.
226	* ScoringPoints: The scoreboard tracks everyone making progress in the hunt. The points don't really matter except for bragging rights, because the egg hunt is a race, so the first person to complete every task wins everything.
227	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Pretty much IOI's strategy.
228	* SeriousBusiness:
229	** The OASIS video game is serious business, since it's ensnared almost the entire world's population and is apparently the world's most valuable resource. The OASIS can ''literally'' be SeriousBusiness as it's not just used for entertainment, but also corporate meetings, essentially allowing conference calls in virtual reality.
230	** Halliday's Easter Egg hunt is Serious Business, because it comes with a cash prize of a quarter of a trillion dollars, and enough stock in the company that runs the OASIS that they can do whatever they want with it. IOI has made it clear that they want to put advertisements in the game and establish subscription fees, so every single user will be directly affected by the outcome of the game.
231	** 1980s nostalgia is serious business because Halliday has ingrained it so thoroughly into OASIS culture and the multi-billion dollar Easter Egg hunt.
232	* {{Sexbot}}: Wade uses to own a "Shaptic [=UberBetty=]" before he got rid of it and went back to normal masturbating.
233	* ShoutOut: Half the point of the book. It has gotten so big, [[Shoutout/ReadyPlayerOne it deserves its own separate page]]
234	* SpannerInTheWorks: [[spoiler:IOI's back-up plan for potential successful attacks at Anorak's castle (use the Cataclyst as soon as someone solves the Gate, then rush in with sixers that have the third key) fails thanks to the quarter Parzival won with the perfect VideoGame/PacMan game.]]
235	* StupidEvil: [=IOI=] and Nolan Sorrento films not only his chat with Wade where he threatens to kill him, but also [[spoiler:Daito's murder]] for no other reason than apparently they like to watch it.
236	* SuperMode: The Beta Capsule gives the user the ability to turn into Series/{{Ultraman}} for [[HourOfPower three minutes]] once a day. It should be noted that this SuperMode doesn't wear off automatically. The user has to deliberately deactivate it before time runs out, or their avatar will die, as in the actual shows.
237	* TakeOurWordForIt: The book at times foregoes any specific description of scenery and action and instead just states the general qualities of them. For example, the description of Anorak's Invitation tells the reader that Halliday is at a high-school dance "surrounded by teenagers whose clothing, hairstyles, and dance moves all indicate that the time period is the late 1980s." We are then informed that Halliday "flawlessly cycl[es] through several signature 80s dance moves." And that's about all the details that are told.
238	* TechnologyPorn: After settling in to his new location, Wade spends a few pages describing his computer setup and security system. He also describes things that he felt were a mistake (e.g. health lockout, and sexual components for his rig).
239	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: By design, people hunting for the egg would want to keep everything to themselves and not give out hints in case it allows others to surpass them - only to encounter a gate that requires three of them to cooperate to pass, before switching back to a winner-takes-all scenario. The events of the book changed this for the final gate, where gunters would do anything to make sure IOI wouldn't win (even if it lets someone else take the prize.)
240	* TeleportersAndTransporters: Teleportation is both the fastest and most expensive method of interworld transportation. The price is based on distance traveled. When the story begins, Wade can't even afford to teleport to the other side of the planet he's on.
241	* TerminallyDependentSociety: The OASIS is the world's most important economic resource; not just as an escape from the CrapsackWorld, but as a substitute for cheap transit. Instead of buildings and factories, everyone uses "surreal estate" as much as possible; kids go to school in virtual classrooms, office workers work in virtual offices, factory workers are remote operators, surgeons use telesurgery, etc. If the OASIS ever crashed, the world would end pretty much instantly.
242	* ThemeMusicPowerup: The battle at the Crystal Gate starts out with Music/{{ACDC}}'s "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" pumping through the radio.
243	* TheThreeTrials: The three keys and three gates. The final gate is itself a set of three trials.
244	* TitleDrop: It's the first thing that comes up when someone turns on the OASIS consoles, like an old video game.
245	* TotalPartyKill: The Cataclyst wipes out every player in the ''entire sector of space'' when active. [[spoiler:This includes the entire party of heroes (including ''every'' gunter) and the entire army of Sixers. The only ones not knocked back to square one are a backup group of Sixers positioned just outside the sector, and Wade who had the extra life he unknowingly obtained for his perfect game of Pac-Man.]]
246	* TrappedInTVLand: Not totally fitting, but at one point, Wade [[spoiler:has to go through all of ''Film/WarGames'' as Creator/MatthewBroderick's character, saying all the lines]]. Later, the same thing happens with [[spoiler:''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'']]. It's later mentioned that the OASIS creators expand this to other movies and TV shows.
247	* TrashyTrailerHome In the dystopian future the novel is set, [[PostPeakOil the lack of gasoline]] has forced the majority of the people to live in huge trailer parks where the trailers are (poorly) stacked onto freestanding girders. Protagonist Wade Watts lives in one of these until he gathers enough money to move to his own apartment.
248	* TrojanPrisoner: [[spoiler:Wade infiltrates IOI this way, on charges he trumped up himself under a false identity]].
249	* TruthInTelevision: Despite living in a PostPeakOil era with repeated references to food shortages and receiving government issued food vouchers (and having to repair and pawn electronics to pay for his own food and clothes because his aunt ''steals'' the vouchers), Wade is overweight. This is actually a serious problem in TheNewTens; one ''can'' avoid starvation on inexpensive microwaved and fast food -- if one is willing to accept the ridiculous amounts of sugar and starch food manufactures use as bulk protein. The balanced diet and exercise routine Wade begins after finding the first Key is only possible due to the windfall.
250	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Opens in 2044. A lot of the conditions in the world are said to be a result of either the Great Recession or a worldwide fuel shortage.
251	* TwoferTokenMinority: [[spoiler:Aech turns out to be a black lesbian. In a short but heavy-handed segment, Wade comments on how little it ends up mattering.]]
252	* TwoKeyedLock: The third gate requires ''three'' people to open it at once. This slows down IOI when they get to the gate first, because it appears to only be one keyhole; the trick to having the other two show up is to have three people sing the WesternAnimation/SchoolhouseRock song "Three is a Magic Number".
253	* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: The Battle of Castle Anorak has at its core a matchup between, one on side [[Series/SpiderManJapan Leopardon]], [[Anime/MazingerZ Minerva X]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam RX-78]], and Anime/{{Raideen}}; and on the other, [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Mechagodzilla]], Anime/{{Voltron}}, and a few [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelions]] and TabletopGame/{{Battletech}}s.
254	* UnderdogsNeverLose: Wade starts off virtually penniless. He has to scrounge in a junk heap to find the right equipment to run his console and has no money to actually go anywhere or do anything in the OASIS until he finds the first key. He's up against a ruthless, billion-dollar corporation. Somewhat justified, as the contest was deliberately designed to make this outcome possible. The first key was hidden on a world containing virtual high schools, so even a broke student could afford to visit it once they realize where it is. Also, the dungeon containing the key was set up in such a way that even a low-level player could make it to the throne room if they're careful enough, and there's enough treasure lying around for them to level up dramatically and afford interplanetary travel for the next step of the hunt. Wade is also savvy enough to capitalize on being the first person on the Scoreboard by making a series of sponsorship deals, so he's pretty much set economically after the first step of the contest.
255	* UnreliableNarrator: Wade's plan to [[spoiler:infiltrate IOI]] isn't explained to the reader until he's near the end of it.
256	* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: The reader is not privy to Wade's plan [[spoiler: to bring down the impenetrable shield IOI put around Castle Anorak]] until it's already in play.
257	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: I-r0k, a guy Aech invited into his group and, after Wade and Aech find The Copper Key, makes what he knows about them public. [[spoiler:This leads IOI to finding out the real identities of both Wade and Aech; they both spend significant time on Ludus, meaning they're school-aged -- and given that they got their accounts when Halliday was still alive, they failed to take certain precautions -- such as not giving their names and addresses to the school. IOI is thus able to track down Wade and bomb his stack]].
258	* VanityLicensePlate: Wade's vehicle within the OASIS is a mashup of the Franchise/BackToTheFuture Delorean, [[Series/KnightRider KITT]], and [[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Ecto 1]] as acknowledged on its license plate - ECTO 88. For bonus points, the author's real life Delorean has the same vanity plate.
259	* VindicatedByHistory: It is implied that the Franchise/StarWars Prequels are an in-universe example of this, as they are one of Halliday's recommended trilogies. FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize his approval probably led to this in the first place.
260	* ViolationOfCommonSense: Wade lampshades that the wise men in the game "Black Tiger" thought running a shop in a dungeon full of monsters was a good idea.
261	* VirtualRealityWarper: The founders of OASIS have characters that can do literally anything within the simulation. [[spoiler: After winning the contest, Wade Watts gains these capabilities and complete control of the OASIS - and some of his new powers explicitly violate clear rules of the virtual reality, such as being able to enter a private room without the knowledge or permission of its operators]].
262	* WakeupCallBoss: The Copper Gate. You'd better have the entirety of ''Film/WarGames'' memorized, or you will die.
263	* WarmupBoss: The Copper Key and Acererak. Simply finding the Tomb of Horrors is harder than exploring it, since any gunter can use the original module as a perfect strategy guide. Even if you can't beat Acererak in Joust, you can fight him or run away and try again later.
264	* TheWarSequence: [[spoiler:The battle at the Crystal Gate, including [[EvilArmy the Sixers]] and ''[[GondorCallsForAid every]]'' OASIS user]].
265	* WeWillAllBeHistoryBuffsInTheFuture: Everyone who's anyone is an expert on TheEighties, even though the story takes place in 2044. {{Justified}} because the EasterEgg hunt that forms the plot of the novel is organized by a man who grew up in that period and is a big fan of the pop culture from his youth. If you don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of that time, you simply don't have a shot.
266	* WeWillSpendCreditsInTheFuture: OASIS credits have become the GlobalCurrency, surpassing even the U.S. dollar, British pound, European euro, or Japanese yen.
267	* WhamLine: Sorrento instantly proves himself a threat with just one word.
268	-->'''Sorrento:''' "Sit down, [[TheVillainKnowsWhereYouLive Wade.]]"
269	* WillTheyOrWontThey: Parzival and [=Art3mis=] are flirtatious throughout the novel, to the point that it becomes a distraction to both of them. [=Art3mis=] explicitly refers to them as not being together at one point and completely breaks off contact with him.
270	* WizardClassic: Both Halliday and Ogden Morrow have bearded wizards as their OASIS avatars.
271	* WorldOfSnark: It comes with many of the protagonists being geeks and teenagers. SelfDeprecation is also high.
272	* WorldShapes: ''Literature/{{Ringworld}}'' and ''Franchise/{{Discworld}}'' are listed as playable planets in the OASIS.
273	* WorldWreckingWave: The highest end of the nukes, The Cataclyst, destroys all players in a given sector, which is then followed by a shockwave that blasts all objects (unless they are artifacts) as well.
274	* WritersCannotDoMath: Aech was [[spoiler:disowned and kicked out by her mom]] upon turning 18, then spent some time homeless before living in an [=RV=] for "many years", but is also stated to be 19.
275	* JustForFun/XMeetsY;
276	** ''USA Today'' called it [[Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory Willy Sonja]] meets ''Film/TheMatrix''.
277	** In-universe, the OASIS is virtual reality meets the [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMO]].
278	* YouAreNumberSix: The Sixers willingly submit to this trope. In exchange for access to IOI's suite of top-of-the-line equipment and experts, they forfeit their stake in the Egg and have to leave their avatar's appearance on the default settings. They are also obligated to use their six digit IOI employee number as their username. It's also all but stated that Sorrento can take control of any given Sixer avatar.
279	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Wade doesn't submit to Sorrento when he [[spoiler:threatens to blow up the stacks because he figures Sorrento is bluffing or will blow up the stacks anyway after he gets the information he wants so Wade can't tell the police.]]
280	* YourMagicsNoGoodHere: Some worlds have magic, other worlds do not. If you try to travel to a world using magical means, and that world doesn't support it, you'll be stranded until you can hitch a ride on someone else's technology-powered spacecraft. Likewise, there are some fantasy worlds allow magic but not technology, so if you fly your space ship into a no-tech zone, you will be stranded until someone can extract you with magical means. The book also mentions null zones where neither tech nor magic work, but they are not encountered in the story. Many areas are "chaos" zones, where both magic ''and'' tech work.
281	[[/folder]]

Context Literature / ReadyPlayerOne