| 1 | %%Image replaced per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1301393999041826600 |
| 2 | %%Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | |
| 4 | [[quoteright:350: [[Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sword_escalation_6829.png]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:350:Wait 'til you see the ''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill centuple]]'' one.[[labelnote:Fun fact:]]This was actually written ''[[HilariousInHindsight before]]'' ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' and ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', which featured a character wielding four lightsabers at once, and a lightsaber with two cross guard beams in addition to the primary beam, respectively.[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ->''"Kara, when I started living this life it was just me and I was going up against human threats. That I can handle. Then it was the metahumans and I can handle that. And now I learned that there are multiple Earths and I was brainwashed aboard an alien spacecraft."'' |
| 8 | -->-- '''[[Series/{{Arrow}} Oliver Queen]]''' to [[Series/Supergirl2015 Kara Danvers]], ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Some series push themselves up and over the top, surpassing the bar they just set themselves a few episodes ago. Then they do it again. And again. And again. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | This isn't meant to be confused with the buildup to season finales or a plot climax, but rather a consistent escalation in events that always exceeds what a viewer would expect. When this is done well, a new SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome is, at any given moment, just around the corner. When done poorly, what would constitute as a Moment of Awesome can feel ordinary, or even absurd. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | For events that are impossible, go to BeyondTheImpossible. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | Related to SequelEscalation, wherein the escalation progresses across consecutive works in a series or franchise. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | Compare {{Troperiffic}}, ExaggeratedTrope, LogicalExtreme, LensmanArmsRace, SortingAlgorithmOfEvil, PowerCreep, MidSeasonUpgrade, and NextTierPowerUp, although they can overlap. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[noreallife]] |
| 21 | ---- |
| 22 | !!Examples: |
| 23 | |
| 24 | [[index]] |
| 25 | * SerialEscalation/AnimeAndManga |
| 26 | * [[SerialEscalation/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]] |
| 27 | ** SerialEscalation/MarvelCinematicUniverse |
| 28 | * SerialEscalation/{{Literature}} |
| 29 | * SerialEscalation/LiveActionTV |
| 30 | * SerialEscalation/VideoGames |
| 31 | [[/index]] |
| 32 | |
| 33 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 34 | |
| 35 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 36 | * ''ComicBook/BlueBeetle'': How is Jaime Reyes gonna get screwed over this time? How awesome are Brenda and Paco gonna be next issue? Is that a giant naked guy? Is Paco going to use his stick? Is the Scarab going to figure out how to take down EVERYTHING? |
| 37 | * The achievements of the Saint of Killers from ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'' get steadily more impressive until the end where he [[spoiler:kills God]]. |
| 38 | * ''ComicBook/{{Nextwave}}'': Agents of Hate. Take a normal super team, give each one of them a triple espresso shot of [[DeadpanSnarker snark]], [[{{Flanderized}} exaggerate their character flaws]] and set them against increasingly ridiculous enemies. Throw away any aspiration of being taken seriously, then [[LampshadeHanging hang lampshades on everything]] fans like in comics. Then make it ''more'' ridiculous in the next volume. Then it [[MadeOfExplodium explodes!]] |
| 39 | %% Needs Context * ''All'' Creator/GrantMorrison's DC work uses the MindScrew in an escalating pattern. |
| 40 | * So, just how insane and ridiculous can ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} get today? |
| 41 | ** More insane and more ridiculous. Obviously. |
| 42 | ** To elaborate: One of his issues begins with a panel of Deadpool garotting Santa Claus while the caption reads: "A routine assignment." And that is probably the least weird thing that happens in that issue. |
| 43 | ** By the way, no, [[NoodleIncident you never find out why he's garroting Santa Claus.]] [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ld6e2iiaWM1qep8wlo1_500.jpg Did we mention it was with barbed wire?]] |
| 44 | ** And there's the old ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'' storyline, "Deadpool vs. the Marvel Universe". It starts with a fairly typical (read: way over the top) story of Deadpool tracking down Wolverine to keep him from killing Weasel, and escalates until it's Deadpool, Bob, Weasel, and a handful of lesser Marvel heroes fighting off a horde of Carnage possessed dinosaurs. |
| 45 | * Occurs to some extent in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': How much more evil can we make Winnowill in ''this'' story arc? Also, the climactic fight between Cutter and Rayek in the Troll Caverns starts out as a simple fistfight, but by the end of it they're hitting each other with freaking great ''stalagmites''. [[spoiler:They both win - Cutter satisfies his lust for revenge, and Rayek wins the Wolfriders' respect.]] |
| 46 | * ComicBook/WarMachine, one of his latest suits allows him to repurpose any weapon whether it's damaged or practically broken and attach it to his suit to become one living WMD, this might just seem out a little out there but when you see him literally put pieces of a jet together to make a clawed gauntlet weapon and FLY at the same time or when he pulls pieces of a tank including treads and becomes a living breathing tank. To top that off implications that he can possibly interface with some of the deadliest weapons in the Marvel with no known limit mean he can always push his abilities up to eleven. |
| 47 | * ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk often uses this trope to a lesser or greater extent depending upon the author. Just how mad/strong can he become? |
| 48 | ** The ComicBook/RedHulk. How many popular characters can he effortlessly beat? How many ways can he violate the rules of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse just for something that [[RuleOfCool looks cool]]? |
| 49 | * How many millions of people can be killed in Mega-City One in the latest catastrophe/big bad plot in ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd''? |
| 50 | * ''ComicBook/{{Shakara}}'': The comic opens with the Earth being destroyed by the Hierarchy and Shakara subsequently laying waste to their fleets. The comic gets increasingly batshit from there, culminating with a final battle against the BigBad and his acolytes before he wipes out all of reality. Knowingly embraced by the writers, [[WordOfGod who noted]] that they tried to make every new issue bigger than than the previous. |
| 51 | * ComicBook/UltimateMarvel: The first half of the Ultimate universe introduces the characters, groups, locations, powers, context, etc. Everything slowly, taking the required time to explore the meaning and consequences of each one of those things. The team-ups also started small, just a couple of heroes at a time. But, by the second half, when everything has been set up, the real fun begins. Hickman's ComicBook/TheUltimates and Spencer's ComicBook/UltimateXMen are packed with non-stop action from beginning to end. |
| 52 | * Each volume cover for ''ComicBook/TheSimpsons: [[CompilationRerelease Colossal Compendium]]'' reuses the characters from the preceding volume (except the final volume, which reverts to just the starting roster of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie). Volume 2 adds Abe Simpson, Patty and Selma Bouvier, Santa's Little Helper, Snowball II, and Plopper. Volume 3 adds Milhouse Van Houten, Ralph Wiggum, Montgomery Burns, Edna Krabappel, Ned Flanders, Comic Book Guy, Moe Szyslak, and Nelson Muntz. Volume 4 adds Baby Gerald, Bumblebee Man, Dr. Hibbert, Otto Mann, Krusty the Clown, Janey Powell, Sideshow Bob, Chief Wiggum, and Professor Frink. Volume 5 adds Uter Zorker, Hans Moleman, Principal Skinner, Jimbo Jones, Dolph Starbeam, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Wendell Borton, and Sherri and Terri Mackleberry. Finally, Volume 6 adds Lewis Black, Database, the Squeaky-Voiced Teen, Waylon Smithers, Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish, Sideshow Mel, Groundskeeper Willie, Jessica Lovejoy, Mr. Teeny, Rod and Todd Flanders, Allison Taylor, Barney Gumble, the Blue-Haired Lawyer, Lenny Leonard and Carl Carlson, Jub-Jub the iguana, the Screamapillar, Superintendent Chalmers, Duffman, Snake Jailbird, Cletus Spuckler, Rainier Wolfcastle, and Stewart the duck from "The Last Temptation of Homer". That's 62 characters, for those of you keeping count. |
| 53 | [[/folder]] |
| 54 | |
| 55 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 56 | * ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Bill Watterson noted in the commentary of the 10th Anniversary Collection that every time there was another BabysittingEpisode, it got harder to write for because the events of the story had to be bigger and more ridiculous than the last one. Eventually, he had Rosalyn face off against Calvin's not-so superhero persona Stupendous Man. |
| 57 | * Played with in one strip from ''ComicStrip/PiranhaClub'', where Bud Grace (the author/artist, who regularly appeared in the comics for behind-the-scenes tomfoolery) was told by a frustrated editor that his comics were getting weirder and weirder -- which was around the time the martian Zerblatt had become a recurring character and had fathered dozens of froglike kids with a supermodel. In a later interview, Grace admitted that his comics ''were'' getting increasingly more and more bizarre, likening it to eating a lot of spicy food -- after a while it doesn't seem as spicy anymore, and then you want something spicier. |
| 58 | * ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'': Topper. Every story you tell, he did it better, even if it seems logically impossible. |
| 59 | -->'''Coworker:''' When I first started programming, we didn't have any of these sissy windows! We only had ones and zeros, and sometimes we didn't even have ones! I once programmed an entire database using only zeros! |
| 60 | -->'''Dilbert:''' You had zeros? We had to use the letter O! |
| 61 | [[/folder]] |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 64 | * Every HeroicBSOD in ''Fanfic/AceCombatTheEquestrianWar'' gets more and more [[TearJerker tearjerking]]. Fluttershy simply blames herself for killing Razor and cries. Rainbow Dash suffers physically and mentally, thanks to [[spoiler: Gilda's]] betrayal. Then there is [[spoiler:Derpy]]'s despair in chapter 15. |
| 65 | * ''Fanfic/AllWorldsAlliance'' gets more stakes as the series goes. At the start of the story the Apostles of the New World, the BigBad of the fanfic series, have been introduced and are the main menace to the namesake organization across the multiverse. [[spoiler:Then, there's the revelation of Nemeth and the Slave Fortress, where it is revealed that he's enslaving countless heroes across the multiverse and sells them to other people for profit. If the escalation isn't enough, ''Fanfic/AllWorldsAllianceMissionsCrossoverdose'' ups the crazy further when ''large amounts'' of people from ''various'' worlds within the multiverse have gone missing, in the form of CaughtUpInTheRapture, adding another set of headaches for the organization since now that they have to deal with a mass rescue of hero slaves from the Slave Fortress, as well as a significant multiversal crisis on their hands, beyond the level of what they dealt with. It also escalates to LensmanArmsRace levels, when the Apostles used the disappearance to their advantage in order to wreak havoc in this world.]] |
| 66 | * There's this one {{Lemon}} Pokémon fanfic called "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10036097/1/ The Adventures of Ryan and Kirrie]]" which basically has an ExcusePlot covering the fact that the titular characters keep doing it every chapter. The reason it's listed here is because each time they do it, it gets more and more ridiculous, including but not limited to [[spoiler:Shroomish spores causing them to get high (and have sex [of course] under its influence) instead of getting poisoned or an allergy, and having a three-way with Leaf, of all people. By the latest chapter, anything resembling actual plot and CharacterDevelopment simply goes down the drain and is instead replaced by what can best be described as an orgy.]] |
| 67 | * In ''Evangelion'' canon the Angels only showed up [[MonsterOfTheWeek one at a time]]. Not in ''Fanfic/{{Avalon}}'', each battle has more Angels attacking at once then the one before it. Not enough? [[spoiler: Once the Angel War comes to an end, the team takes part in the Battle of New York against thousands of aliens, with the implication that there will be continued escalation until the GrandFinale against Gah Lak Tus]]. |
| 68 | * If it weren't for the fact that the story's over, the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/EnemyOfMyEnemy'' could be taken as this. The armies of the two sides are ridiculously huge (numbering several million), and the weapons get more and more advanced with each reveal. However, at the same time, as the action gets more hectic and the casualties pile on, there is actually a devolution of technology as both sides begin running out of ammunition. This does not stop the battle. |
| 69 | * ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': How bad will Ami's [[AccidentalPervert undeserved]] [[VillainBallMagnet reputation]] get? What [[{{Magitek}} clever idea]] will she come up with next? [[FromBadToWorse How bad a situation]] can she find herself in [[IronWoobie and pull herself ''out'' of]]? And just how much of an out-of-context problem can she become for the rest of the Keepers? |
| 70 | * ''Beginning a New Path'', written by stargatesg1fan1, is an epic tale of Literature/HarryPotter and the Endless Crossover with a somewhat promising opening chapter... Which quickly boils down into a seemingly endless series of bad smut and over-the-top solutions to every problem (real ''and'' imagined) of an equal number of fictional realities. FourthWall? What are you talking about? [[spoiler: The author explicitly mentions himself as well as the cast of the movie, going so far as to have his main character ''merge'' with his ''dimensional counterpart'' and take over the production in order to make things ''right''.]] Crossovers involved include the ''Series/StargateSG1'' and its spinoffs, several ''other'' ''Harry Potter'' realities, ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'', ''AVATAR'', ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', and more - and none of these would be complete without the main character adding one or more girls from the new reality to his Harem. |
| 71 | * It's fortunate that ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' and ''Warhammer 40,000'' have already been mentioned, because ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40k'' combines both (obviously). What Rule Of Cool-laden method will be used to kill the Angel this time? What literally impossible thing can the AT-Field be used for next? How thoroughly can Tokyo 3 be destroyed? How much CAPSLOCK can be inserted into the next In the Name of the Moon speech? What new BatmanGambit can Shinji pull off? How much More Dakka will Kensuke need? How much carnage can apocalypse Rei inflict? Which meek, unassuming and/or pathetic character becomes completely awesome due to Shinji's mere presence? |
| 72 | * How long could ''Anime/YuGiOh'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6293387/1/Skin Skin]]'' possibly get? 500,000 words? 700? ''1,000,000''? The story isn't even half-way through according to the author, and while YMMV, a majority of the readers are in agreement with it only getting better as it goes on in its violent path of mind-screw dreams and over the top card-battles. |
| 73 | * "Spengbab" is a form of MemeticMutation in which the perpetrator draws a twisted version of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants''. It can range from humorous caricatures to [[UncannyValley slightly offputting]] to [[BodyHorror downright]] [[BrainBleach scary]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo0RWj76fj4 HERE]] is a compilation of Spengbab pics in video form. About halfway through the video, the music gets very abrasive and the pictures start looking like increasingly grotesque {{Eldritch Abomination}}s. [[SchmuckBait Don't click the link if you are of weak constitution.]] |
| 74 | * ''Fanfic/ThirtyHs'': From space armor to groinsaws to killing the fuck out of planets using another planet's corpse and vampire cavemen on Mars, it might as well be called Literature/HarryPotter: SerialEscalation |
| 75 | * The same as above can be said about ''Fanfic/DragonAgeTheCrownOfThorns''. Counting almost 650,000 words, it has been a constant fount of epic gambits epic battle scenes, snarky humor, character developments and overall badassery on the part of the seven Grey Wardens, culminating in the most recent chapters with [[spoiler:a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind between the GuileHero / MagnificentBastard dwarven noble protagonist and the Archdemon, a confrontation that ends with the latter gaining a higher degree of sentience.]] All in all, there is no telling what will happen next because a major plot point has been changed, and it was definitely not the only one. |
| 76 | * Cornova and Jakayrta (writers of ''Fanfic/PokeWars'') have a habit of making each battle more epic and destructive than than the last. |
| 77 | * ''Fanfic/UninvitedGuests'': It starts from Yachiru burning entire 11th division brrack down while trying to bake a cake and currently at the point where the Gotei 13 using Komamura as [[spoiler: the filler villain in order to re-claim the PlotArmor that Aizen hi-jacked from Ichigo]]. Yeah, it's [[CrackFic that kind of fic.]] |
| 78 | * ''Fanfic/ImperfectMetamorphosis'': How much worse can Reimu's day get? How can the situation get any worse? Exactly how much can we [[spoiler:push Reisen to the edge of despair?]] |
| 79 | * The ''MLP'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheImmortalGame'' embodies this. The story starts out with the Mane 6 pitted against an evil spirit, [[spoiler: and progresses to the point where ponykind is fighting for survival against an army of monsters, and later the creator of their universe.]] |
| 80 | * And while we're on ''My Little Pony'' fanfics, ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestriaProjectHorizons'' does this all the time. How many times can the author make the backstory even more tragic? How much NightmareFuel can he cram into prewar projects? How many times can Rampage messily die in a chapter? What kind of balls-to-the-walls escape plan can Blackjack come up with next, and how drunk will she be while doing it? |
| 81 | * ''Fanfic/TheSwarmOfWar'' starts with a few hundred humans, a few hundred Orks, and the Overmind with a few dozen Zerglings… Ends up with human armies a million strong, hundreds of Chaos Space Marines, hundreds of Daemons. hundreds of thousands of Chaos Cultists, millions of Orks, and tens of millions of Zerg (with all kinds of advanced tech brought out). And all of that is ''before'' the expansion to other planets starts… |
| 82 | * In ''Fanfic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', it's noted in-story that Wily's plots keep getting bigger. |
| 83 | ** Project G-2, AKA [[spoiler:The Mad Grinder]], is even more dangerous than Gamma. |
| 84 | ** Episode 12 reveals the Conduit's plan of [[spoiler:robot genocide]], which is a threat to Dr. Light ''and'' Dr. Wily. |
| 85 | * ''Fanfic/{{Drakonophobia}}'' starts off with the [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Dragonborn]] Thief Petra and her [[IronicFear fear of Dragons]]. It deals with an escalated Thieves Guild storyline and towards the end fighting against Alduin. Seems like the normal storyline? Except that [[spoiler: The Dragonborn [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence becoming a God, or a god like figure to ensure time flows normally.]]]] The seemingly final battle takes place [[spoiler: At the beginning of all time lines]]. Also, how screwed can Petra get? |
| 86 | * The fan ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' [[http://dimension-dino.deviantart.com/art/Death-Battle-Hulk-vs-Asura-414240429 Hulk vs Asura]] consists of this most of the fight in ShoutOut to the Creator/ScrewAttack's popular fight between [[Franchise/DragonBall Goku]] and Superman. Asura starts at his base Vajra form, but whenever he starts to gain the AdvantageBall, Hulk's ever [[UnstoppableRage increasing rage and strength]] cause him to eventually take it back, prompting Asura to switch to a stronger SuperMode, first his [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Six Armed Vajra]] Asura, then Mantra Asura, while his and Hulk's growing strength does more and more damage to to the land their fighting on. The fight concludes with Hulk's anger causing him to reach his [[HumanoidAbomination World]][[WalkingWasteland Breaker]] while Asura goes into his planet sized Asura the Destructor for a final clash that [[EarthShatteringKaboom completely destroys the planet they're fighting on]] and only leaves one of them alive. [[spoiler: It's Asura.]] |
| 87 | * The ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'' manages to become more exciting and enjoyable with each story. Justified as the writer's technique improves with each story. |
| 88 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fan fiction ''Fanfic/PrincessCelestiaHatesTea'', the eponymous ruler decides to finally declare her long running dislike of the beverage. Things spiral out of control in a frightfully quick fashion. |
| 89 | * How many times can the [=YouTube=] account for ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' get cancelled and reinstated? It's happened seven times now. |
| 90 | * ''[[http://mega-poneo.deviantart.com/gallery/62840836/Tomica-Hero-Rescue-Pups Tomica Hero Rescue Pups]]'' is perhaps the most insane and over-the-top ''WesternAnimation/PawPatrol'' fanfiction in existence, combining it with ''Series/TomicaHeroRescueForce'' characters and ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' elements: |
| 91 | ** How badass can we make the pups? Let's start with them easily fighting off droids with pup fu, then have the pups unleash weapons they've been holding back to keep their own show rated TV-Y. Whoa, did Everest destroy an [=AT-AT=] the exact same way as in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''? Alex then hands Skye her own lightsaber, so she can be [[{{Pun}} Luke Skye-Walker]]. They can perform Rescue Gattais too. Sure, that's to be expected, bu-Whoa, they have their own Force powers too? And now they're speaking Enochian, sending their clothes flying off, and summoning giant weapons? Chase has a stun baton? Standard for cops. Did he just shoot lightning from his? Oh no, he's lost his body! Don't worry, once his soul gets it back, he gains Swat mode! Whoa, did Skye just turn to the Dark Side for more raw power? |
| 92 | ** What kind of Super-Disaster will our heroes explosively suppress next? An artificial sun? A giant plant? Hallucination gas? A city-destroying bomb motorcycle? Super fire? A city-destroying shockwave maker? A tornado made by a Temperantia clone in its eye? A city-wide deep freeze? Giant balls of molten metal? An earthquake caused by a vibrating underground metal cluster? |
| 93 | ** In the place of disaster mecha that can't fight back, this fanfic has super-droids and their [[HumongousMecha Zukkein]] counterparts causing the Super-Disasters. Sure, the Terra Resetters are back, but now say hello to a Star Destroyer, a Temperantia clone, an ice-and-fire Fortitudo clone, Skye's Sith form, a blackout-causing energy monster, the aforementioned earthquake-making cluster, and more! |
| 94 | ** What kind of FinishingMove will be used to save the day next? Sure, the standard {{Toku}} finishers used are to be expected, but the pups also use equivalents to Bayonetta's Infernal Demon summons. And two super-droids are killed without a finisher. |
| 95 | ** The {{Mooks}} themselves, too. They start with Axto, and as early as the first episode those pull out lightsabers. Episode 2, they've got blasters and [=AT-ATs=]. Then come buzz droids, TIE Fighters, Droidekas, ''Death'' Axto (an {{Expy}} of [[Film/RogueOne the Death Troopers]]), and [[Series/TomicaHeroRescueFire Jakasts]]. |
| 96 | ** Juri Shiraki's use of [[SuperStrength Kajibano Super Power]] has also improved greatly since the events of Rescue Force. She takes out Droidekas by [[CarFu throwing taxis at them]], [[SuplexFinisher suplexes a giant two-headed dragon Zukkein]] [[MetronomicManMashing back and forth]], [[OffWithHisHead rips one of its heads out of its socket]] (she also does the same with Axto arms later on), and finally catches its tail and throws it back into the air. |
| 97 | ** The author himself also stated that the current Neo Terror leader Darth Longinus is a ''DiscOneFinalBoss''. What could possibly be twice as worse as this super-powerful and short-tempered Darth Vader {{Expy}}? |
| 98 | * ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'' deconstructs the Sonic franchise's use of the trope by quickly introducing numerous {{Invincible Villain}}s and demonstrating that the heroes are surviving not because of their power, but because the villains keep getting in each other's way [[spoiler:[[BlackAndGrayMorality or aren't really "villains"]]]]. And the heroes are [[BreakTheCutie affected]] by the seeming hopelessness of their situation, [[DeconReconSwitch even though they keep helping as many people as they can]]. |
| 99 | * ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': Until the end of the Leaping Lizards Arc, the Good Hunter goes from fighting standard fantasy foes (e.g. orcs, goblins) and traitorous mercenaries to mutated EliteMooks complete with BodyHorror, complete with two [[EldritchAbomination eldritch abominations]] as a [[MythologyGag nod]] to the game this fanfic is based on. |
| 100 | * In the ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1474579/1/NonNeglecting-Week NonNeglecting Week]]" NERV is audited by social services, and the adults are told to actually spend time with the children. The escalation is what happens during each attempt to spend time. |
| 101 | ** Ritsuko just gives up and abandons the kids on her trip. |
| 102 | ** Fuyutsuki is [[{{Brainwashed}} hypnotized]] before the group even reaches their destination. |
| 103 | ** The "Bridge Bunnies" trio ends up being taken to jail. |
| 104 | * The first book of ''A song of Metal and Marvels'' ''Fanfic/AManOfIron'' is a crossover between ''Iron Man'' and ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', in book Two Chracters from all over the Marvel universe are integrated into the story. Not to mention characters who are as yet unseen but have been referenced. |
| 105 | * The story of ''Fanfic/BloodOnTheHandsOfAHealer'' is this from the perspective of ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' canon, where there the main characters had to deal with an InUniverse MassiveMultiplayerCrossover of different video game genres. In this story? They have to contend with invading fictional characters from entirely different genres ''AND mediums''. |
| 106 | * Considering how ''Fanfic/TheWeaverOption'' brings [[Literature/{{Worm}} Taylor Hebert]] into the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe, it was unavoidable. |
| 107 | ** It begins with Taylor being transported to the middle of a battle between Imperial and Orkish troops, where she uses insects to turn the tide of battle. |
| 108 | ** The next arc has her and the Imperial troops fighting to stop a C'Tan shard from destroying an entire hive. |
| 109 | ** After a battle with an Eldar army, she ends up in a fight against an entire Ork Battle Moon that derives into another fight against Khornate daemons led by the biggest of the Bloodthirsters - which she defeats, becoming a Living Saint. |
| 110 | ** Then, after a few years of buildup (during which Taylor becomes a Sector Lady), comes Operation Caribbean, where Taylor leads a fleet and army against the Ultima Segmentum's largest and most dangerous pirate alliance - [[spoiler:leading straight into an invasion of Commorragh, the Dark Eldars' main base, where nearly ninety percent of the Dark Eldars in the galaxy die and ''the Chaos God Slaanesh '''dies''''']]. |
| 111 | ** For the continuation, it's a pile up between [[spoiler:a Necron fleet that held off the Aeldari during the height of the War in Heaven and annihilated the entire Second Legion, the biggest Ork WAAAGH! since the War of the Beast, the Fifth Black Crusade led by Lorgar and Magnus the Red and the Imperial Fleet intended to destroy the former]]! |
| 112 | * Lampshaded in ''Fanfic/ImNobody'' after the Normandy crew in a span of a few days fights, in this order, [[spoiler:Zombie/Heartless Saren]], [[spoiler:PersonOfMassDestruction Laxaeus]], and then [[spoiler:Sephiroth]]. Shepard is fearful of what will follow after ''that''. |
| 113 | [[/folder]] |
| 114 | |
| 115 | [[folder:Film — Animation]] |
| 116 | * Each ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' movie scales up and adds more action, magic, and main antagonists than the last. The first only had Sunset Shimmer and the Fall Formal. The second, ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'' has the Sirens and a school-wide BattleOfTheBands. The third, ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames Friendship Games]]'', has an entire rival school, motocross, archery, a ManEatingPlant, portals to other worlds opening, and more anthro transformations than the previous two movies combined. |
| 117 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}'': How much BloodierAndGorier can a movie about a cat solving a mystery be? |
| 118 | * ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren''. |
| 119 | ** The director and animators basically adoptedSerial Escalation as their entire philosophy when devising the fight scenes, starting with a [[RuleOfCool swordfight on motorcycles]] and just escalating from there. This is what happens the important characters in a movie are all [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Charles Atlas superheroes]] in a RolePlayingGameVerse. |
| 120 | ** Even more so in ''Advent Children Complete''. Just compare the original fight against Sephiroth to the updated version. One is clearly more than the other. |
| 121 | * ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' starts with Hiccup as an experienced dragon-rider, which [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2010 the first movie]] spent nearly two hours building up to. Naturally, the filmmakers had to up the ante to keep the audience interested. So how did they do it? For starters, the movie has Hiccup as a bona fide [[BoldExplorer explorer]], where he had spent the first movie as a humble blacksmith's apprentice. It also doesn't hurt that it climaxes with Hiccup and his pals facing an ''army'' of dragons led by a Bewilderbeast (effectively a '''dragon {{Kaiju}}'''), where the first movie ended with a showdown with just one king-sized dragon. [[spoiler: [[KilledOffForReal The death of Stoick]] helps reinforce the raised stakes in particularly dramatic fashion.]] |
| 122 | * ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'': [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 First movie]], Shrek goes against a dragon, and the armed forces of a diminutive prince. Fair enough. In [[WesternAnimation/Shrek2 the sequel]], the villain [[spoiler: is a Fairy Godmother; those are powerful spellcasters, like genies]]. [[WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird Third movie]]? The most famous fairy tale villains all get together to try and take down Shrek. [[WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter Last movie]]? [[spoiler: A freaking RealityWarper!]] |
| 123 | * Parts of the climax of ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' seem determined to outdo their predecessors at all costs. Look at yourself, Flynn. Now back to me. Knees apart. Now look around. Where are you? [[Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike You're on a horse]]. Back to me. [[RuleOfCool The horse is now doing]] LeParkour. ''Old Spice jingle whistle'' |
| 124 | * ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'': How psychedelic can we make it? [[spoiler:Very, very psychedelic. It's all in the mind, y'know.]] |
| 125 | * In ''WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}'', Scarlet's version of ''Literature/TheThreeLittlePigs'' that she recites to the minions, not-so-subtlely threatening them if they fail their mission, ends with her (as the Big Bad Wolf) crushing them with an anvil, a bathtub, a UFO with an alien inside, and a megaton bomb. |
| 126 | [[/folder]] |
| 127 | |
| 128 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 129 | * Music/{{Kiss}}. How much pyrotechnics can they fit in this show? How much blood can Gene spit up this time? How high can the drums go now? How much more creepy are half their songs this year? How much body hair can fit on 1 human being? How much more awesome can their music get? |
| 130 | * Music/TomLehrer: |
| 131 | ** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjPhFSlhOuQ I Hold Your Hand In Mine]]" manages to get {{squick}}ier (and funnier) with ''every verse''. "I Hold Your Hand In Mine" is about a man holding his lover's hand [[spoiler:which he just chopped off from her dead body, now that he's killed her]]. |
| 132 | ** Then there's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glfk_8oU7ko I Got It From Agnes]]," with the increasing {{squick}} that never enters DudeNotFunny. "I Got It From Agnes" is about a present that keeps going around a circle of friends and acquaintances: [[spoiler:an STD]]. |
| 133 | ** This seems to be a specialty of Lehrer's. Other examples include "How black can I make this comedy while still keeping it funny" ("[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47bKTtIwrO4 The Irish Ballad]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIoBrob3bjI We Will All Go Together When We Go]]", among others). |
| 134 | ** "What wholly inappropriate countries can I suggest are going to get nuclear capabilities" ("[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRLON3ddZIw Who's Next?]]"; answer: [[spoiler:[[TheDeepSouth Alabama]]]]). |
| 135 | ** "What disabilities can I suggest the army allows in recruits" ("[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0L_rD7CCe4 It Makes a Fellow Proud to be a Soldier]]"). |
| 136 | ** "What immoral/illegal activities should a Boy Scout [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoEVPtVk9nE Be Prepared]] for". |
| 137 | * Stephen Lynch is also brilliant at this, although he may cross over into {{squick}} territory. Rumor has it he left one song unfinished because his father threatened to disown him if he didn't. |
| 138 | * Music/{{DragonForce}}. How many references to sunlight/moonlight/warriors/fire can we fit in? How much apocalyptic subtext can we fit in a single verse? How many ludicrously overblown solos can Herman Li and Sam Totman manage? |
| 139 | * And as Music/DragonForce is to metal, so is Meat Loaf to rock 'n' roll. Take the familiar lyrical themes of '70s hard rock, double the length of each song, add pounding pianos, soaring orchestra, layer upon layer of squealing guitars, bombastic backing choirs, and one of the [[LargeHam largest hams]] in modern music history on lead vocal, and you've got a totally unique brand of "Wagnerian rock" that seems scientifically engineered to produce [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic crowning moment after crowning moment]]. |
| 140 | * Music/FaithNoMore amps up the heaviness for each of the subsequent albums The Real Thing, Angel Dust and King For A Day (Fool For A Lifetime). The track "Surprise You're Dead" is by far the heaviest on The Real Thing, but the likes of "Caffeine" and "Malpractice" on Angel Dust, and then "Ugly In The Morning" and "Cuckoo For Caca" on "King For A Day" outdo it. |
| 141 | * Neil Peart of the band Music/{{Rush|Band}} appears to be doing it with the number of pieces in his drum set. To be fair, he doesn't have the big-ass glockenspiel and Chinese gong any more. Now, digital samples of said instruments he can trigger via foot pedals on the other hand... |
| 142 | --> '''Creator/StephenColbert''': The band Rush is here! Either that or a drum factory exploded in my studio. |
| 143 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b14kz7Qa62E This]] rendition of the COOL&CREATE arrangement [[TykeBomb Flandre]] [[Franchise/TouhouProject Scarlet's]] [[AwesomeMusic/TouhouProject theme]] starts out fairly playable, and then it adds more and more notes until only a computer could play it. Seriously, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz0x57K9sRg here's a video]] of a ''player piano'' failing the song. |
| 144 | ** As an aside, the song is often referred to as "Death Waltz"; this stems from a misnamed video and refers to ''[[http://www.well.com/user/bryan/waltz.html Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz]]'', which has no relation to the actual video except for the fact that both pieces are practically unplayable normally (for completely different reasons). |
| 145 | ** And in true Serial Escalation style, someone has made an [[http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm12259567 even more ridiculous arrangement.]] |
| 146 | * Music/TheLonelyIsland's entire musical output runs on this trope. For example, Like A Boss starts out as a fairly normal office day: remembering birthdays, directing workflow, ect. Then it gets a little odd, like crying down sex phonelines, getting sued for harrasment, and taking a [[MemeticMutation shit on Debra's desk]]. Then he takes a load of drugs, eats some chicken strips, and then has sex with a massive fish in the sewers (note that this is after the protagonist has chopped off his balls) before turning into a missile and bombing Russia. All a normal day in the office. |
| 147 | * Music/{{Pink}} in concert. How much more insane can this woman's stunts get? The "Try This" tour had her doing an aerial spin while singing. So the "I'm Not Dead" tour had her doing a Cirque de Soleil performance. While singing. And no net. And then a big aerial stunt at the end. So the "Funhouse" tour has her singing while doing a trapeze act ''that starts out with her blindfolded''. |
| 148 | * Music/{{U2}}'s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2_360°_Tour 360º Tour]]. If you thought the Zoo TV tour was big, then the Pop Mart tour out Spinal Tap-ed [[Film/ThisIsSpinalTap Spinal Tap]]. Then, after a few comparatively low-key tours, the 360º tour was even more of a spectacle than Pop Mart was. |
| 149 | * Music/TwoStepsFromHell, how much more epic can they honestly get? Just about everything they make is already a [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Crowning Music of Awesome]]. |
| 150 | * Metal in general has "How METAL can we make the guitars?" It starts with making them pointy, then making them shaped like dragons, then adding double necks, then...well, look at the picture. |
| 151 | ** And if that wasn't enough, there's another quad guitar user named Michael Angelo Batio who can actually use the guitar to its full potential. Left-handed by birth, ambidextrous by training, able to play two guitar necks with one hand each at the same time or switch his hand over and under a guitar neck in rapid alternation for a distinct sound... He can do a lot more, but the general rule is that almost all of it is very technical and too fucking fast to believe. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-XfnkLdkjo Even shown when he was in a]] HairMetal band, of all things. |
| 152 | * The Italian powermetal band [[AffectionateParody Nanowar]] [[Music/RhapsodyOfFire Of Steel]] manages to put the essence of [[SymphonicMetal symphonic]] epic PowerMetal into five seconds of song, even beating most {{Grindcore}} songs in shortness. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twc6s_Gq9No The song]] is called "Power of the power of the power (of the Great Sword)", which takes longer to say than the song goes. |
| 153 | * Some examples in the LoudnessWar. Taken to its logical conclusion with Music/TheStooges' ''Music/RawPower'' remaster and Hypocrisy's ''Virus''. |
| 154 | * The album openers and closers of each Marianas Trench album fit this trope: they become more intense and ambitious with each album. |
| 155 | * Music/{{Tool}}'s song "Schism". How many uncommon time signatures and switches between them can we pack into a single song? 47. |
| 156 | ** Topped by The Dance of Eternity by Music/DreamTheater which manages a grand total of 104 time signatures changes in 6 minutes. |
| 157 | *** Not to mention that The Dance of Eternity is shorter than Schism. |
| 158 | * The [[LostEpisode ever evasive]] ''twenty-seven minute'' long version of [[Music/TheBeatles Helter Skelter]]. |
| 159 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glJU4wMFvdk Daniele Gottardo]]. How much more badass can waltz sound? How does it feel when Music/SteveVai '''himself''' subscribes to you? Now this is damn impressive. |
| 160 | * Styrman Karlssons äventyr med porslinspjäsen (Chief Mate Karlsson's adventure with the porcelain pot). The entire song is sillyness getting sillier and sillier- and the main character getting more badass. The song starts out with him stepping in his chamber pot when he is going to the navy ball, and it gets stuck on his foot (it would seem the pot is incredibly durable for porcelain). Since he can't get it off his foot, he smears it with shoe polish so it shines black. Then he dances so well he gets promoted to Captain... and the next verse tells us how he is every pirate's worst nightmare- partly due to the powerful kicks he can do with the pot on his foot. Then he falls off the ship in the middle of the sea... [[{{Determinator}} and sails home using only the pot and his coat]]. And then he meets his wife... who has her foot stuck in a chiffonier. [[LittleMissBadass And she went all the way down to the port like that]]. |
| 161 | * Music/MyBloodyValentine circa ''Loveless''. Beyond being simply one of the loudest live acts ever, the band (particularly Kevin Shields) took their obsession with the "wall of sound" several steps further than most by supplementing their songs with keyboards based around samples of their guitars feeding back at maximum volume in turn being run ''through those same amplifiers''. |
| 162 | * Music/GarthBrooks has done this a few times. "The Thunder Rolls" became the second highest-debuting song on the country charts in 1991. "Good Ride Cowboy" tied the record (set by Eddie Rabbitt's "Every Which Way but Loose") in 2005. In 2006, Music/KeithUrban debuted a song at #17, and in 2007, Music/KennyChesney debuted one at #16… but only ''one week'' after the latter, Garth's "More Than a Memory" debuted at '''''number one'''''. Making this even more impressive is the fact that the country charts are tabulated entirely from airplay, so songs generally have to climb for several weeks before hitting #1. This means that all of the 120 or so stations on ''Billboard'''s survey had to play a brand new song 30-35 times in one week… from an independent label, no less. |
| 163 | ** Music/MichaelJackson also did the same (twice) in 1995. Prior to that year, the highest-debuting song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was the Beatles' "Let It Be", which debuted at #6 in 1970. In 1995, Michael and his sister Music/JanetJackson debuted at #5 with "Scream". Later that year, he topped that feat by being the first artist to debut at #1 with "You Are Not Alone".[[note]]It should be mentioned that the Hot 100 changed its chart methodology in 1991; that, and changing business practices within the music industry (such as releasing singles at the peak of their popularity), helped allow that record to be broken.[[/note]] |
| 164 | * ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'': One of the first songs, "Daughter of Evil", was VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory, but mostly straightforward and with a "happy" ending for almost everyone involved. Fast-forward to one of his later songs. It's about a girl with multiple personalities who murdered her father, who is implied to have molested her, and at the end, she is implied to have been killed via injection. [[CrapsackWorld It's that kind of series.]] |
| 165 | * One might argue Music/TheWho were a case of this as far as gear was concerned, from Pete Townshend matching John Entwistle's quest for more volume and amplification to Keith Moon's ever-expanding drum kit setups. The band's penchant for ambitious [[ConceptAlbum concept albums]], onstage "[[RockersSmashGuitars auto-destruction]]" techniques, [[HotelHellion road antics]], and [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll rock excess]] might also be a case, at least up until the beginning of TheEighties. Much of the rock music world followed, musically and otherwise. |
| 166 | ** Much of their excess and road antics came to an end in the wake of Moon's death. |
| 167 | ** According to [[Music/AliceCooper Neal Smith]], he and Moon had an ongoing rivalry over who had the most drums in their kit. |
| 168 | * Miley Cyrus's constant quest to distance herself from her child star past lead her to experimental music about her dead pets who could be used as ambience music for a alien cafe. |
| 169 | * Pelagial by Music/TheOcean starts with soft keys and strings, and generally gets progressively darker and heavier as the tracks continue, ending with a slow, obliterating doom track. This is to give the effect of diving deep into the crushing depths of the ocean. |
| 170 | * The lyrics to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvZfGyXa1Ic Never Set The Cat On Fire]], with each couplet giving you worse things which you shouldn't do, all the way from setting the cat on fire to starting interstellar wars. |
| 171 | * ''Music/ChristmasWithTheTabernacleChoir'' went from relatively straight forward concerts to full-on productions as time went on. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:Pro-Wrestling]] |
| 175 | * What ridiculously awesome move will somebody pull off next? What dastardly act will the {{Heel}} perpetrate to make the feud evem MORE personal? [[InvincibleHero What kind of stacked odds will John Cena face and overcome?]] |
| 176 | * Weight classes in pro wrestling. In the early days, 180 lbs would be considered small, but passable for a heavyweight. This increased to 200 lbs, then 215, then 220, to the point men weighing above 230 lbs were being considered "Crusierweights" in Wrestling/{{WCW}}'s heyday. As steroids became less popular and the biggest acquisitions from the talent pool, already dried up due to the collapse of the territories, started to age, 220 was again almost universally considered an acceptable standard for heavyweights by 2003, with Wrestling/{{CMLL}} going back down to 214, then Wrestling/WWECruiserweightClassic stating none of the competitors would be over 205 lbs, [[CyclicTrope as the process continued to go in reverse.]] |
| 177 | * The Wrestling Championship belt has, over the hundred-plus years the sport has been around, changed dramatically with time. At first, the World's title was literally just a [[https://i.imgur.com/KhRzAo1.jpg decorated weight-belt with an especially fancy "buckle"]]. By the 50's, the NWA template of a belt [[https://i.imgur.com/ZxbA1n6.jpg (Big central face plate, smaller intricately designed side plates on a custom leather strap]]) was the norm, and by the 70's, designs were getting bigger and bigger until the WWF came out with [[https://i.imgur.com/C4Vk3Yw.jpg "The Big Green Belt"]] in 1982, which dwarfed all but the AWA title and the NWA title. By the 80's, some belts were so big they looked like [[https://i.imgur.com/7MwRrs5.jpg slabs of etched gold on top of leather]]. Now, even independent promotions have [[https://i.imgur.com/Zhq3O1Z.jpg large, intricately detailed belts]] the likes of which can rival the big companies and in some cases, surpass them. It's so prevalent that it's actually noteworthy when a promotion's belt ''isn't'' very big...but because of changing times, it also tends to come with ridicule. |
| 178 | * ProfessionalWrestling as a whole was the definition of this trope in the Monday Night Wars as the main promotions one-upped themselves while the indy promotions (namely Wrestling/{{ECW}}) did more and more outlandish things in order to just stay noticed. How violent can hardcore wrestling get? How high will a wrestler fall as part of a stunt? How contrived can the flippy moves get? It got so bad in the late 90s that the WWE now is purposely defying this to the point of inverting it. |
| 179 | ** On the contrary, most people loved hardcore matches and high flying wrestlers. It's only in recent years that people have started to complain about it, due to indy leagues doing it badly. |
| 180 | * Ladies and gentlemen, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYigyRFrH5k the greatest counter ever]]. |
| 181 | * Concerning Wrestling/HulkHogan's famous bodyslam on Wrestling/AndreTheGiant at Wrestlemania III, Andre's weight gets bigger and the time between the event and his death gets shorter. |
| 182 | ** To elaborate, Andre is usually billed as slightly over/under 500 pounds. Hogan once said that due to Andre's declining mobility, he unintentionally dead-weighted Hogan, so it felt like 700 pounds. Eventually it turned into Andre simply weighing 700 pounds. Concerning his death, Andre died six years after that match; Hogan once said he died several weeks later. Eventually wrestling fans started joking that the bodyslam killed Andre. |
| 183 | * WWE's Hell in a Cell match was looking to go in this direction after the legendary third Cell match in which Mankind flew off the top both into the announce table (which was planned) and then through the ceiling mesh (which was not), leading to concerns in the industry that attempts to meet or surpass the standards set by the match would cause very real dangers. Luckily Wrestling/VinceMcMahon put his foot down following this and made sure no future Cell matches ever tried to top what they did in that match (although the Cell match with Triple H and Cactus Jack in 2000 attempted to homage many of the moments from this match, albeit in a less dangerous way). |
| 184 | [[/folder]] |
| 185 | |
| 186 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 187 | * ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': |
| 188 | ** The game started out as a silly ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''-themed forum game with little story beyond a RandomEventsPlot. Then, in [=DTG2=], the series slowly evolved into the large-scale conflict with intricate plotlines, illustrations, and proper roleplaying that it is known for today. |
| 189 | ** In-universe, the Godmodder perpetuated this. In the first game, he was attacking a small Minecraft server. At the start of the second, he traps every Minecraft player on a server. Now, an inter-universal team of bigger villains overshadows him, and they may not even be the biggest bad of the game. |
| 190 | * ''Roleplay/GetThatPizza'': Played with. While tropers can steal the pizza in any way at any time, meaning less impressive ways can still be used as the thread goes on, it's only natural that the tropers would come up with more complex ways as the thread goes on. Lampshaded by Awe, after Bluethorn accidentally causes a ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 apocalypse. |
| 191 | -->"[=Awe921=] looks back at the first page and reminisces about the days when the worst thing that happened to him was merely a bullet." |
| 192 | [[/folder]] |
| 193 | |
| 194 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 195 | * ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' asks you a few simple questions: How much [[CrapsackWorld worse]] can we make this galaxy? How many [[KnightTemplar atrocities]] can we get the [[ChurchMilitant Imperium]] to commit today? How many more [[RedShirtArmy Imperial Guardsman]] can we kill in ''this'' battle? How much more hopeless can the wars against the [[BugWar Tyranids]] and [[RobotWar Necrons]] become? What further madness can spew from the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Eye of Terror]] this week? And most importantly of all... how much [[MoreDakka Dakka]] can we fit into one vehicle? |
| 196 | ** Then there's Wazdakka Gutzmek, an Ork Big Mek whose lifelong ambition is to built the most awesomest bike in the 'ooniverse. How awesome? Well, he used it to ram into the cockpit of a [[HumongousMecha Titan]] and kill the people inside. For his next trick he'll try fitting it with a fully functional warp-drive, so that he can ride from one side of the galaxy to the other (and shoot anything that gets in the way)! |
| 197 | ** His bike has so many flashy gubbinz that it's one looted antigrav system from being a jetbike, has no less than three large guns that can all be fired at once (going by the wording in his entry), and the man himself has been depicted in art with a ''chainsaw claw''. |
| 198 | ** How much bigger of a threat can [[Literature/CiaphasCain Ciaphas Cain, Hero Of The Imperium]] [[FakeUltimateHero defeat by accident]]? How uncertain can his heroism/dirty cowardice be? How many times can Jurgen save the day without making it into the histories? How much more {{Subtext}} can we pile in? |
| 199 | ** Even on the mundane note, a boltgun (standard small arms) weighs about 7.5 kilograms and fires .75 caliber rounds. That's right, it weighs twice as much as a modern M16, has ''three times'' the barrel diameter, and fires ''armor piercing high-explosive rockets'', ''and'' manages to have a 50% larger standard magazine to boot. It is amazing what players take in stride. |
| 200 | ** The swords in this universe run on combustion engines, the tanks (designed by [[NinjaZombiePirateRobot superhuman werewolf]] [[Literature/SpaceWolf space vikings]]) are powered by hydrocarbon-fission-fusion cells, and the space ships are powered by SLAVE LABOR. |
| 201 | * When played right, ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' is basically the Do It Yourself version of Serial Escalation. |
| 202 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' starts at 11 and the books actively encourage the players and Storyteller to see how far they can push the meter up. |
| 203 | ** The /tg/ board on Website/FourChan has been seen discussing how to properly min-max ''Surtr''. As in, the Norse fire giant destroying the world. That Surtr. ''Min-Maxing him''. |
| 204 | ** The 3rd Edition Epic Level Handbook explicitly encouraged the Dungeonmaster to do this to the players with ridiculous and unfair challenges on the grounds that the players will have the resources to deal with them. How far can the Dwarven Defender swim through lava? |
| 205 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' does this for BlackComedy. The damage levels go up to "disintegrated," the fall chart goes up to "orbital," and the deaths go up to "six per player." |
| 206 | * ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'' lets player characters pull off some ridiculous stunts to rise to the challenge, so long as you're willing to be creative and spend a fair number of Fate Points. Oh, and any game that is willing to include build-it-yourself gadgets and the potential to fight talking gorillas atop a Zeppelin is guaranteed to go up to eleven. |
| 207 | * ''TabletopGame/DontRestYourHead'' has the same mechanic that is slowly wearing you down and making you more powerful at the same time, pretty much guaranteeing you'll push a little further next time. By the late game (which can sneak up on you surprisingly quick) you're more powerful than the (possible) incarnation of Death. And, using the madness powers, by this point you have power that's so over the top you could call down the four Horsemen, or an army of ninjas, or make enough ants crawl out of your skin to consume the city. It gets pretty intense when you're creative. |
| 208 | * ''TabletopGame/{{FATAL}}''. At any given point, you will be unable to believe it could possibly get any more complicated, poorly worded, and deeply broken in its attitude towards sexuality. And then you will turn the page and find a dildo that makes you give birth to another dildo. BrainBleach may be necessary. |
| 209 | * ''TabletopGame/{{Mekton}}'' doesn't usually indulge in it (the system is somewhat inclined towards the RealRobot rather than SuperRobot series), but it does have Excessive Scale. For when you need to build [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Unicron, Primus]], [[Franchise/StarWars the Death]] [[ThatsNoMoon Star]], or the Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann. |
| 210 | * ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' did this with the "Mythic Rare" rarity level. It has also suffered a lot of PowerCreep. |
| 211 | * ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity'' applies this to BlackIsBiggerInBed. The base game has "A big, black dick." The Red Box ExpansionPack has "A bigger, blacker dick." The Bigger, Blacker Box has the holofoil "The biggest, blackest dick." [[spoiler:hidden in the lid]] and "A dick so big and black that it is a problematic stereotype." [[spoiler:similarly hidden under the middle row of the redesigned BBB]]. Finally, the [[note]]69-inch-long, $100[[/note]] "Please do not buy this product." box comes with "The even biggest, blackerest dick". |
| 212 | * ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken'' has an InUniverse version of this trope. Werewolves earn Renown dots by accomplishing major deeds in line with the Urathara virtues, and each such deed must be more impressive than whatever the werewolf did to earn his previous dot of Renown. |
| 213 | [[/folder]] |
| 214 | |
| 215 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 216 | * A common Improv game is called "Yes, And" fits this trope. Someone says something mundane, and someone else adds "Yes, and...!" attempting to top the person who spoke before them. If it doesn't end with a ridiculous EvilPlan to TakeOverTheWorld, someone wasn't playing correctly. |
| 217 | ** Actually, that's an Improv technique. You confirm a person's plan and then add onto it. "Let's go to the park!" "Yes, and then we can feed the ducks!" And then it will get crazy. |
| 218 | ** Improv in general tends towards this by design; the cardinal rule of improv is to never say no to your partner (otherwise the scene loses momentum fast). "Yes, And" simply turns it up to eleven. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 222 | * Franchise/TransformersGeneration1: Creator/{{Hasbro}} tried to top a number of their own gimmicks. For example, in 1985, Hasbro introduced the Triple Changers -- toys that had three transformation modes (one robot mode, and two vehicle modes) instead of the usual two. In 1987, they introduced Sixshot -- a toy that had SIX transformation modes! Then there came [[https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Megatron_(RID)#Toys Ten!]] |
| 223 | [[/folder]] |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 226 | * ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' sometimes puts this as one of the reason of the winner's victory. Such as: |
| 227 | ** [[spoiler: Superman constantly gets stronger as the comic progresses compared to Goku's limiting powers.]] |
| 228 | ** [[spoiler: Because a Digimon's evolution tends to put no regard in balancing, they overwhelm any Pokemon's evolution.]] |
| 229 | * Creator/MontyOum's videos, including ''WebAnimation/{{Haloid}}'' and the ''WebAnimation/DeadFantasy'' series: How many different video game characters can we stick in this CrisisCrossover? How insanely over-the-top can the fights get? What gigantic building will the fighters destroy next? And most importantly, how much FanService can he stick in there? And now that he works on ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', how much more epic can the next fight scene be? How much crazier will Tex's methods of punching people in the face get? How many more times will Grif get hit in the balls? How many different ways can we screw up Church's life ''this'' week? |
| 230 | * ''WebAnimation/BarbieLifeInTheDreamhouse'' has a very outlandish second season compared to the first. The cartoon went from showing Franchise/{{Barbie}} go to the beach, attend parties, and redecorate her house to showing Barbie get trapped in her giant closet, become even smaller than doll-sized, and pursue dolphins that escaped into the sewer. |
| 231 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The first three volumes consists of a story arc that increasingly escalates the stakes for the heroes. The climax of the plot involves a war that sees the deaths of students, civilians and main characters, the separation of the titular team due to personal and family issues, and Beacon Academy's destruction. The story arc that begins in Volume 7 is lampshaded early on by one character as being "just like Beacon again", setting up Atlas Academy's destruction. This time, however, Volume 8 escalates certain things from the Beacon storyline beyond expectation: one hero becomes an ArcVillain, the titular team is separated by falling into the VoidBetweenTheWorlds, and the entire kingdom is destroyed rather than just the academy. |
| 232 | * Originally, ''WebAnimation/FalloutLoreTheStoryteller'' was just a in-universe documentary series about the ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' series. Then it became a in-universe documentary series with a framing device. Then it became a in-universe documentary series where the framing device included a cross-continental chase, government conspiracies, and mad experiments, at times being much, much longer than the episode's actual documentary contents. The documentary portions of the series also have escalated, from coverage of a theme, person, location or event to now essentially covering entire games. |
| 233 | [[/folder]] |
| 234 | |
| 235 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 236 | * ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'': How far can we stretch RuleOfCool and RuleOfFunny? What crazy-awesome foe can we throw at Dr. [=McNinja=] this time, and what over-the-top, adrenaline-soaked method can he use to bring it to its knees? How epic can a moustache be? Can a moustache get more epic if we put it on a dinosaur? |
| 237 | * ''Webcomic/CaseyAndAndy'': What madcap new invention will they come up with next? How many different ways can they find to blow themselves up? Will Bob be there too? |
| 238 | * In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'' you can notch three arrows to one bow and then notch three arrows to [[DualWield ''two'' bows]] and then you can add [[BeyondTheImpossible more bows than a two armed human could possibly carry]]. |
| 239 | ** On a different note: just how much time can the author put between setting up a BrickJoke and having it come back? At first, they happen within about [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/08/16/interlude-00-hes-a-fighter-not-a-webcomic-artist/ 350]] [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/03/30/episode-401-civility-before-hostility/ strips or so.]] Now we're seeing jokes come back after ''nine years''. |
| 240 | *** Particularly notable since THAT brick joke was from the first battle Fighter and Black Mage faced (a giant) TO THE FINAL BATTLE before it came back. Yes, almost literally ''the entire comic''! |
| 241 | * Effectively the premise of ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'': |
| 242 | ** ''Webcomic/{{Jailbreak}}'' starts with a guy trying to escape from prison. It starts simple enough, but gets progressively more bizarre and ridiculous until by the end said escape ends up involving teleportation, harpoon guns, and Elves. |
| 243 | ** The fight against Demonhead Mobster Kingpin in ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth''. How will our heroes top their last utterly ridiculous, over-the-top and incredibly awesome attack? [[spoiler:Answer: [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=001708 Sepulchritude]].]] |
| 244 | *** Let's put this in perspective: Problem Sleuth started with a detective trying to escape his office. It ended with an aerial battle against an invincible demon whose attacks are powerful enough to split the the ''universe'' apart, with a HumongousMecha made out of candy, a giant sniper rifle extruding from a clock tower, and Death's Scythe all being used as weapons. And that's not even getting into the [[LimitBreak Comb Raves]]... |
| 245 | ** Creator/AndrewHussie has gone on to use ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' as a vehicle in which he can turn shit up to eleven, and then turn it up to eleven again without resetting it from the first time. Repeatedly. He's actually said that the entire ending of ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'' would be considered a regular ''Homestuck'' panel by now, and he's probably right. |
| 246 | ---> '''Andrew''': There was only one sure thing I knew when starting [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} HS]]. That was that this thing would go batshit insane in ways I couldn't begin to imagine. In fact, it was practically the mission statement. |
| 247 | ** In a more meta-example, there was the [=AlterniaBound=] Flash update on October 25, 2010. When it went live, the traffic crashed the site, which was expected given how heavily anticipated the update was. What ''wasn't'' expected, however, was it also ''crashing [[Website/{{Newgrounds}} the mirror site Hussie uploaded it to]].'' |
| 248 | --->'''Andrew on Website/{{Twitter}}''': ok i quit putting stuff on the internet forever because THE INTERNET CAN'T HANDLE ME |
| 249 | ** The exact same thing happened exactly a year later with the End of Act 5 update on October 25, 2011. As much as Hussie and his team tried to be prepared for the inevitable, the Newgrounds mirror - not to mention ''the entire Newgrounds site itself'' - was torpedoed WITHIN MINUTES OF IT BEING POSTED. |
| 250 | --->'''Andrew''': [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Well,]] [[{{Understatement}} that didn't work]]. |
| 251 | ** This trope also applies to the the flashes. First they were nothing more than simple short animations with catchy but basic music. Then walkaround games were introduced, and the flashes just kept getting bigger and more impressive (helped by very hard-working music and art teams), culminating in Cascade, thirteen full minutes long and containing quite possibly as many [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments Of Awesome]] as all the other flashes combined. |
| 252 | ** When it started, Homestuck was just a bunch of kids getting up to silly antics that made fun of video games. Now, the heroes have become literal gods powerful enough to create a hurricane that can drill through the surface of a planet, and a omnicidal demon powerful enough to destroy ''planets'' with ease is one of the LESSER villains. |
| 253 | *** The aforementioned Cascade involves the destruction of '''two entire universes''', and a character shrinking planets to the size of tennis balls and driving a spaceship ''through the fourth wall''. |
| 254 | *** Act 6 started off at noticeably slower pace. Then came an alien invasion, the Earth being flooded, and the main villain killing gods and destroying a chunk of the afterlife. |
| 255 | *** Note that "destroying a chunk of the afterlife" refers to ''destroying that area of spacetime.'' |
| 256 | ** Six words: [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Literally Every Single Story Detail]]. How many incredibly minor items or jokes from [[BrickJoke thousands of pages ago]] will suddenly become [[CerebusRetcon plot relevant]]? |
| 257 | ** To make matters worse (or better), Hussie has stated that Homestuck is but a ''warm-up'' to something else. Speculation implies this might lead to the Singularity.[[note]]Fortunately, this statement dates back to mid-2010, when ''Homestuck'' was only just reaching the level of popularity it has now, and when the story was still only ''mildly'' complicated.[[/note]] |
| 258 | * How many {{Shout Out}}s can ''Webcomic/SecondEmpire'' cram into this Comic? Into this chapter? into this page? Into this ''panel''? Into '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis This.]]''' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Single.]]''' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Sentence?]]''' |
| 259 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' did it [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20050720.html here]], which invokes this trope once you realize that [[spoiler: the object they were intimating would be used to ram the Andromeda Galaxy was THE MILKY WAY GALAXY!]] That's not impressive at all, they're already on a collision course! In a few billion years or so, without intervention. |
| 260 | ** [[Fiction500 "I have a team of accounts whose sole job is to count the accounts who keep track of my accountants."]] |
| 261 | * ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' has just taken ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'s Badassness and Coolness up to eleven [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2317.html here]] (read the annotation just how crazy this is). A lot of the idea originates from ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}''. |
| 262 | * The entire run of ''Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy'' is one big long chain of how much weird stuff can fit in one story line. We start with an anthropomorphic teddy bear and a demon possessed freezer. Then add a secret agent taxi driver, a ninja mafia, an alien invasion of a major US [[spoiler: record label (WTF?!?)]]. Oh yeah, and The King is alive on a remote island somewhere. It starts getting into MindScrew territory pretty quickly. |
| 263 | * ''Webcomic/WarbotInAccounting'': Just how hilariously depressing can Warbot's life get? Arguably, [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/04/15/warbot_003-online-dating-service/ this early one.]] |
| 264 | * ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': What can we reference from our 10+ year history in this story arc? What character did we forget to give a month's worth of development? |
| 265 | * ''Webcomic/MobTies'': How drunk can Sidney Burns get? How strong can Sidney Burns' punches be? What insane, awesome, or funny antics will the cast be up to this issue? How many {{Shout Out}}s can the author fit into an issue? How big is this Issue's WhamEpisode going to be? |
| 266 | * ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'': How blatant mixed messages about minorities and women can Chris make? How much more will the [[ScheduleSlip schedule slip]]? |
| 267 | * ''Webcomic/BittersweetCandyBowl'', How much of a beating can Alejandro take and still be okay? Confrontation did '''not''' answer the question. |
| 268 | ** Daisy has '''[[http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c62/p17.html 18]]''' extracurricular activities while being an "A" student in a schedule full of Honors courses. |
| 269 | * ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'': How many lines can Richard cross? |
| 270 | ** How can we make Richard maim/kill/fwoosh his enemies ''this time?'' |
| 271 | * ''Webcomic/{{VGCats}}'': Leo and Aeris had an argument that resulted in [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=269 Leo being aborted from time.]] However, this is immediately trumped in [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=271 the next strip]] he comes back. |
| 272 | * From ''Webcomic/BugMartini'': "[[http://www.bugmartini.com/comic/sexual-harassment/ Hey, check it out.]] [[ShockSite 7 girls 5 cups]]." |
| 273 | * Annual villains in ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge''. How overcomplicated will their plans become? How long setups will they have? How much people will they kill, only to get [[WeCanRebuildHim rebuilt]]? How long will the fights get? How impossible-to-win will the battles become, [[DeusExMachina only for the heroes to get saved by random plot devices,]] [[OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow caused by the ultimate omnipotent force]]? |
| 274 | ** Also how little will the game parodies have to do with the games? |
| 275 | * ''Webcomic/UserFriendly'': How hard will Stef fail at Quake ''this'' time? |
| 276 | * Toward the end of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'''s "Castle Heterodyne" arc each strip was grasping to outclimax the last. How many new weapons and/or traps does the Castle have, and how much bigger in scale and scope can they get? How many native Mechanicsburgers are suddenly ready to start stomping around, and how much more crazier and badass and crazier can they get than the last? This was a welcome break from ArcFatigue until it became another source of it. |
| 277 | * ''Webcomic/DragonBallMultiverse'':[[spoiler: Super Saiyan 2 Vegetto, followed quickly by ''Super Saiyan 3'' Vegetto and his colossal "Final Dragon Shine" finishing move. He became so strong his ''mass increased to roughly that of a moon''. And even ''that'' didn't kill Broly!]] |
| 278 | ** Something more interesting might be how the Vargas constructed a room that [[spoiler: completely blocks out Ki signatures, allowing Cell to produce a second, stronger Cell Junior while murdering his previous one in cold blood]]. Although this may count as CrazyPrepared. |
| 279 | *** They also constructed energy shields that can withstand energy blasts from Broly and Cooler. |
| 280 | ** The U19 fighters claim that, in their war armor, any one of them could kill Broly with one strike. While it's never revealed if this was quite accurate, it's clear they aren't bluffing: only 1% of Broly's murderous rampage penetrated the energy shield that's protecting the spectators. Xeniloum's Z-slash, however, went through 100%... and he didn't seem to be even ''trying''. The Vargas are naturally freaked out. |
| 281 | [[/folder]] |
| 282 | |
| 283 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 284 | * This is the driving force of the "Prank War" between Streeter Seidell and Amir Blumenfeld of collegehumor.com. The "pranks" started out as relatively harmless - Streeter replaced the audio on a song Amir was listing to with audio from a sextape, and Amir set Streeter up on a fake date with a fake girl. But things changed with the third prank, where Amir submitted an embarrassing audition tape to a fake company for a network pilot that Streeter then played for the office, and it became an unwritten rule that the pranks had to be public. Amir pranked Streeter by convincing an audience at Upright Citizens Brigade not to laugh at any of his jokes, and Streeter responded by setting Amir up in a fake sketch with Human Giant, wherein they would insult his acting and eventually remove him from the sketch. Once he found out, Amir took it fairly well, but when he was informed that the sketch itself was not real and they had flown to LA for nothing, he was almost driven to tears, and things got personal. The next prank was the infamous Yankee Stadium prank, in which Amir arranged for a fake [[Franks2000InchTV [=JumboTron=]]] proposal from Streeter to his girlfriend Sharon. She accepted, but when he told her he didn't set it up, she slapped him, and they apparently ''broke up''. While the pranks, admittedly haven't been that severe since then, they're still pretty bad: Streeter convinced Amir that he won a half-million dollars with a rigged half-court basketball shot, and Amir convinced Streeter that he was going to die when he went skydiving and the parachute wouldn't open. It remains to be seen whether things will get worse from here, or if the War is over. |
| 285 | * ''Literature/TheMysterySphere'': How apathetic can Ryney be? How intelligent can the magical bears riding velociraptors be? How long can this series keep having a coherent plot in spite of those things? |
| 286 | * ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'': |
| 287 | ** Many things, but mostly: [[ClusterFBomb how many times can he cram the word]] ''[[ClusterFBomb fuck]]'' [[ClusterFBomb into a 15-minute video]]? Also, how bad will the next game to be reviewed suck? How pissed off can he get? How many creative ways to destroy games can he come up with? |
| 288 | ** His analysis on why ''VideoGame/LesterTheUnlikely'' never got a sequel: |
| 289 | --->I can imagine what ''Lester the Unlikely 2'' would've been like. The game starts... and you couldn't even move; all that happens, Lester pulls down his pants, sucks his thumb, and takes a shit. The third game, you couldn't even get past the title screen; all that happens, you push Start, and Lester falls down and farts. The fourth game doesn't even work at all; you just put it in your Super Nintendo... ''[[[StuffBlowingUp the cartridge explodes]]]'' and it explodes. The fifth game isn't even a game; it's just a bag of shit that says ''Lester the Unlikely 5'' on it. And there's a new one coming up on the [=PS4=] using the latest state of the art technology of constructing the disc out of orangutan diarrhea. It just turned out that was the only way, and it really gives Blu-Ray a run for its money. |
| 290 | * The goal of ''Blog/MyOpinionsOnEveryPokemonEver'' is to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin write opinions about every single Pokémon]] that stretch several paragraphs. |
| 291 | * How long can two people on Livejournal stretch "[[http://community.livejournal.com/metaquotes/7187472.html?#cutid1 some people find improper grammar sexy]]" and continue coming up with things like "No gerunds before marriage. I'm still a lady"? |
| 292 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCdmiZyyGjQ This]] video of "Top 60 Ghetto Names". You may have to pause on "Watermelondrea" [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments due to intensive laughter]]. The last one is... [[spoiler:[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Courtney]]]]. |
| 293 | * Pretty much the core engine of every ''WebVideo/{{Britanick}}'' sketch. Each sketch generally starts off somewhere normal and increases in absurdity until reality collapses. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbVylFKfisU&feature=channel This sketch]] distills the concept into two people talking - Brian wants to know what a particular line from ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' is, and Nick's incorrect answers go from "wrong part of the play" to "wrong play" to "wrong author" to 'frying pan' all the way up to [[spoiler: quoting a section of a suicide note penned by Brian's dead ex-girlfriend]]. |
| 294 | * ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': How much more of an offensive, jerkass-ish douchebag of an ''asshole'' can Captain Hammer be? Even worse. During the filming, Creator/NathanFillion was told for the first time in his life this line: |
| 295 | -->"You are not cheesy enough." |
| 296 | * Welcome to ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall''... and yes, Virginia, [[spoiler: '''there IS a "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" comic.''']] |
| 297 | * How incredibly esoteric, obscure a character can Website/{{Akinator}} guess next? |
| 298 | * ''WebVideo/EpicMealTime'' boils down to this trope applied to food. To wit: their early endeavour of putting ''five'' different kinds of bird meat in a pig, and a few episodes later they ''broke the 100,000-calorie barrier''. |
| 299 | * Website/WarriorsOfGenesis: Everyone in this whacked-out world is a fan of this trope, it actually makes the viewers remember [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann something else]]. |
| 300 | * The Website/ChannelAwesome anniversary specials have tried to top each other every year. The first was just a short 20 minute brawl in a random Chicago building and the draw was that most of the contributors (And AVGN and Kyle Justin) all flew to Chicago to be in the same room at the same time. The 2nd Kickassia, was about an hour or so, had a decent plot and was set in more than one location and had multiple costumes, but was still fairly cheaply done mostly focused on the Critic, and was a ShaggyDogStory in that nothing really changed. The 3rd WebVideo/SuburbanKnights was a longer slightly more epic tale, with a slightly bigger cast with 2 ongoing plots, and some drama and consequences that lasted in the following year and leading into the 4th film WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee an over 3 hour long epic tale with multiple story arcs, even more site regulars appearing, it's own original musical number, impressive film level special effects, and ending with several characters killed off and the universe of TGWTG changing forever. Its been mentioned that following anniversary specials will NOT attempt to top WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee (at least not anytime soon), and will be closer to the earlier specials in terms of complexity. |
| 301 | * ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'': How bad can the currently-reviewed movie get, and how badly will it break the titular Critic next? |
| 302 | ** On that note, we have [[FollowTheLeader the trio of animated "Titanic" movies]], which has him [[INeedAFreakingDrink break out the Jagermeister]], then one the size of his torso during the first movie, then a blimp-sized one for the second, ''then'' a space-station-sized one for the final review. |
| 303 | ** The Critic's [[https://youtu.be/LY0MZNlbfjY passion for Christmas over the years]] has progressively gotten more over-the-top, until 2017 when [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he went too far even by his standards]]. |
| 304 | --->'''Critic''': ...think we should stop trying to top ourselves every year with Christmas greetings... getting a little out-of-hand. |
| 305 | ** Regarding the commercial specials, the Critic finds ways to cut the introduction of his video shorter than last time. |
| 306 | * ''Literature/TheImpossibleMan'': First chapter we are introduced to The Impossible Man [[OffscreenTeleportation teleporting]] himself without understanding it, by the end of the book, we see how his power truly works without understanding it. |
| 307 | * The Website/SCPFoundation used to have three object class: Safe (can be safely contained), Euclid (possibly dangerous; most living beings are Euclid), and Keter (tries to bring TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt). Then we were introduced to Thaumiel [=SCPs=], which are completely beneficial and geared towards the preservation of the planet; for that reason, they are protected with a level of secrecy and security even beyond many Keter [=SCPs=]. After that, an SCP obtained the [[spoiler:Apollyon]] class, which means that [[spoiler:not only it's capable of Keter-level destruction, ''it will eventually escape containment '''and the Foundation is incapable to prevent or stop it''''']]. |
| 308 | * ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': |
| 309 | ** This trope is one of the founding mechanics of how the game is played, despite attempts of the [=GMs=] to stop, or at least slow it. Look at the beginning of any thread, then look at the end of it, and it will have scaled way up. |
| 310 | ** ''Destroy the Godmodder'' went from being just a battle with [[BigBad the Godmodder]] in the first game, to a complex plot involving Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} and a lot of world building. |
| 311 | ** Every game also has internal Serial Escalation. In the beginning, the game mostly involves insta-summons and attacks against the Godmodder. By the end, the battlefield is swarming with entities and whittling down the Godmodder's last [[HitPoints Hit Points]] takes as long as massively cutting them down during the start. |
| 312 | * ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5YDVCAEMXE That's Offensive]]'' is a short video about three young men playing poker who keep accidentally offending one another. At first the offensive things are fairly reasonable and common things to be offended over (such as casual use of the derogatory word "retarded"), however their reactions and the things they get offended over quickly escalate, getting to the point where they yell at one another because someone said [[ItMakesSenseInContext "feel" or "gramatically"]]. |
| 313 | * The ''WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun'' skit "Hot and Saucy" does this with a hot sauce salesman forced to offer increasingly ludicrous hot sauces, to the point that they're quickly lethal, and eventually sells the one that will kill everyone on the planet if consumed. |
| 314 | --> '''Salesman:''' Alright. Here is Temporal Patricide. It's not as hot as Clyde's, but when you eat it, it goes back in time and kills your father. |
| 315 | * The "[X work] theme but with every Y replaced with Z" trend works like this. The things the lyrics are replaced by become increasingly absurd until sometimes the resulting videos go on for several minutes or hours. |
| 316 | * ''Roleplay/RockPaperAnything'' zigzags this. Usually, there will be a stream of increasingly complicated objects...which is countered by an absolutely mundane object, and the cycle starts anew. |
| 317 | * Creator/JonBois: |
| 318 | ** ''Literature/TheTimTebowCFLChronicles'' takes this approach to {{UsefulNotes/Canadian Football|League}}, as the Toronto Argonauts break through every boundary, constantly driving even further than anyone thought possible. First they leave the stadium, then they leave Toronto, then all of Ontario--then after driving across all of Quebec, they find a ship and leave Canada for Greenland. [[spoiler:In the end, they try to "pass" the ball into space, so the game can last ''forever''. Unfortunately, Tim Tebow's throw is off, so the ball gets destroyed, and the game abruptly ends.]] |
| 319 | ** ''WebOriginal/SeventeenThousandSevenHundredSeventySix'' gives the same treatment to UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball, partly as a result of human immortality. Playing fields can now encompass entire states, games can take decades or centuries to finish, and one player is depicted using an EF-5 tornado to gain competitive advantage. And then the sequel, ''20020'', is released; the story centers around a college football game with 111 teams that crosses the entire continental United States. |
| 320 | * ''WebVideo/TheMusicVideoShow'' went in this in season four with its BlackComedy slowly increasing as the season goes on. Several episodes contain instances of DomesticAbuse. How dark can it get? [[https://youtu.be/6Lq8ZPAURw0 One episode]] has [[spoiler: child abuse and child suicide]]. And then in [[https://youtu.be/ujo5q6Y0dbw another episode]], there is not only [[spoiler: a child death]] but also a [[spoiler:[[BlackComedyAnimalCruelty puppy]] [[StuffBlowingUp dying in a vehicle.]]]] How much black comedy will be inserted into each episode? |
| 321 | ** How will women and children be abused THIS time? |
| 322 | * ''Podcast/TheLastPodcastOnTheLeft'' has discussed this with both serial killers and cult leaders: |
| 323 | ** They observe multiple times during a heavy hitter series when a serial killer has to go further and further with their crimes. Often the first murder is accidental. From there, they begin killing on purpose to replicate the high they got off the first death, and have to do a little bit more each time to keep the feeling alive. This eventually culminates in a "berserker mode" for many if not caught in time, as was the case for Ted Bundy and his attack on a Florida sorority house. |
| 324 | ** Cult leaders have to escalate their claims to keep their followers. Whatever the cult starts with, as time goes on those claims become normalized and the cult becomes less focused. The leader, therefore, has to escalate his proclamations to keep everyone hooked on the cult and not thinking too much about anything else. Aum Shinrikyo went from a cult predicting the exact date of doomsday to actively taking steps to bring said apocalypse about themselves. |
| 325 | * [=QuackityHQ=]'s "{{Platform/Roblox}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a_Sc-I_H4o&list=PLIhm-ZZi1INnxlNZYsDLjQjxs0gmSkmtq Sucks]]" series begins with him poking fun at the game and its [[SoBadItsGood less-than-stellar]] community, and ends with [[spoiler:the Roblox forums [[https://youtu.be/kgF1gooT2tk?t=683 being shut down]]]]. |
| 326 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vAZHmzbfkA This]] video elaborates a bit more: the account he was using for the series, "quackityishot", was banned after a series of forum raids that he and his subscribers conducted, prompting another raid on the forums to get the account unbanned. The official Roblox Twitch account was watching the stream and banned all accounts that the chat gave him to use (one ban notice even says "Do not continue to stream forum raiding on Twitch"). After his IP is blocked from accessing their site, Quackity tries calling Roblox's customer service number, and is quickly hung up on. He then tries the Canadian number and gets [[spoiler:a sex hotline]]. Quackity eventually gets back on the site via rabb.it, and checks the forums to find the raid still going strong. He tries logging back in as quackityishot and sees that [[spoiler:the admins flat-out ''[[{{Unperson}} deleted]]'' the account]], eventually culminating in Quackity's Twitch channel being temporarily suspended and the forums receiving an additional filter: you couldn't post unless your account was over two years old. |
| 327 | --->'''Steel Penguin (in the comments):''' Wow. Even the admins of Roblox are toxic. |
| 328 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp_zKBHy0LY The next video]] ups the ante even more: not only was "Quackity" censored on the forums prior to the raid, his undercover account was deleted and his IP was blocked within ''minutes'' of the stream starting. Rabb.it was used again to bypass the IP ban, and more donor accounts were used (though these typically lasted under a minute before getting banned and deleted). People told Quackity that Roblox admin "[=InceptionTime=]" was watching the stream - he ends up blocking Quackity on Twitter after he attempts to reason with the unruly admin. The forum filter is upped from two years to [[spoiler:'''''thirteen''''' years]], and Roblox began taking down games and models that were in some way themed around the raids. Throughout the whole clusterfuck, Quackity keeps {{Corpsing}} and saying that [[StatingTheSimpleSolution this would all stop if quackityishot were unbanned.]] |
| 329 | * ''WebVideo/CallMeKevin'' actually [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in his video of ''The origin of Jim Pickens'', when it comes to showing how Jim Pickens basically took over his ''Sims 4'' videos. The videos started out with Urp John, an oddly-proportioned Sim whose only goal was to sleep with as many women as possible and have just as many children. ''Then'' control switched over to Jim Pickens, who started locking people into basement dungeons to serve as money-makers by painting the very next episode. This escalated even further when Jim became a vampire, and his prisoners also served as a blood-bank, Jim starting multiple cults, becoming [[HumanityEnsues human again]], and having a battle royale with multiple Sims that resulted in Franchise/{{Shrek}} joining the family, and then the ''Strangerville'' pack, which is weird in itself. He says the series went from 'The Forearm God' (Urp John) to '[[ItMakesSenseInContext Shrek impregnating the entire neighborhood]]'! |
| 330 | * ''WebVideo/{{Dream}}'''s Minecraft Manhunts get more and more over-the-top as the series grows more in number. For example, the Manhunts started off with only one hunter. As the series expanded, Dream added a second hunter, and eventually a third. As a result, his victories keep getting better and better. The strategies that Dream and the hunters use also evolve. In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oySp75huAp8 Minecraft Manhunt grand finale explanation video,]] Dream said [[spoiler:the hunters were at their best, and Dream only managed to kill one of the hunters once, whereas in the earlier videos, Dream killed the hunters many times while also managing to outsmart them. Dream ''did'' actually outsmart them in the grand finale, but he had to use new techniques as well as becoming better at the game.]] |
| 331 | * Often used [[PlayedForLaughs as a source of humor]] in ''WebVideo/MapMen'': |
| 332 | ** Mark and Jay saying "Hala'ib Triangle", and then twisting it to make the "Hala'ib" part last as long as possible every time they say the place again. |
| 333 | ** Basically how the two describe enclaves. A first-order enclave is a country surrounded by another country, while a second-order enclave is when a country is surrounded by another country, which is inside the first country, and a ''third-order enclave'' is when a country is surrounded by a second country, which is inside the first country, which itself is surrounded by the second country. Or as Jay puts it: |
| 334 | --->''"A piece of India inside Bangladesh, which is in India, which is in Bangladesh, which is insane."'' |
| 335 | ** The episode on what the world would look like in 250 million years has Jay and Mark presenting the continental drift like a weather news broadcast, with both of their eyebrows getting increasingly larger every time the video cuts. |
| 336 | ** "Who Owns Antarctica?" has a short slideshow on famous explorers with mustaches. The mustaches are edited to be larger and larger with each next photo, eventually ending with a man whose mustache is edited to be 8 times larger than his head. Also in the same episode, the end-roll ad has Mark washing dishes on the sink before he ends up washing increasingly ridiculous objects, like a hand saw, a vinyl record, a book, a chair, and finally someone else's face. |
| 337 | [[/folder]] |
| 338 | |
| 339 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 340 | * In ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'', who's Dan going to destroy this time? How far will he go? How much pain can Chris be put through? Is Dan's Imposter coming back? And how villainous can the things Dan's fighting actually be? Seriously, the first season alone has Dan swearing vengeance against New Mexico, Canada, George Washington, etc. At some point, even the most mundane titles have you on the edge of your seat. Like "Reality TV". Or "The Boss". Or "The Telemarketer" (''especially'' the Telemarketer). |
| 341 | * The RunningGag in ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' with Brett getting shot. The most recent case involved ''multiple'' ricochets and the bullet going down a flight of stairs before hitting him. It finally [[RunningGagged hits the peak]] at the start of season five when [[spoiler:he gets accidentally shot during an FBI raid... [[KilledOffForReal in the head]].]] |
| 342 | ** Or giving Ray severe injuries, enhancing him with bionic parts, then accidentally re-crippling him. At this point, having been rendered quadriplegic, he's about one step above being [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} a head floating in a jar]]. |
| 343 | * ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' should be called "Serial Escalation: The Series." How strange will the buttons and weapons get? How badly will they backfire? How much can Coop eat? How badly will the world get screwed over as a result of the hero's actions? |
| 344 | * ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': How angry can Mordecai and Rigby make Benson? How bizarre can the adventures get? How will J.G. Quintel and company make the censors cry this time? |
| 345 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': How much more HomoeroticSubtext can Rebecca Sugar stuff into an 11-minute episode? (This is the butt of MANY fandom jokes.) What super-powered Gems and/or Fusions will we meet next? What EldritchAbomination will be redeemed (or not) next by the PowerOfFriendship? What powers will Steven acquire next, and how far will they take him? |
| 346 | -->'''After "Jailbreak":''' There's no way this show could get any gayer\ |
| 347 | '''After "Keystone Motel":''' There's no way this show could get any gayer\ |
| 348 | '''After "The Answer":''' There's no way this show could get any gayer\ |
| 349 | '''After "Hit The Diamond":''' There's no way this show could get any gayer\ |
| 350 | '''After "Last One out of Beach City":''' There's no way this show cou- |
| 351 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. How much more awesome can The Bat get? What gadgets does he have this time? [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Did the Batmobile just turn into a]] HumongousMecha? |
| 352 | * Someone tell us that there is no challenge between the writers to make Quagmire from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' progressively [[{{Squick}} squickier]] in his sex mania. |
| 353 | ** The fights with the giant chicken; the one in "Internal Affairs" involves time travel, cloning and a space shuttle, among other things, and the fight between Peter and Homer in "The Simpsons Guy" involves the two getting radiation-induced superpowers. |
| 354 | * In some episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer's AmusingInjuries are rendered this very way. |
| 355 | ** One episode has Homer coming home with a truck and claiming that it FellOffTheBackOfATruck; A [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_carrier_trailer "truck-truck"]]. Cue Bart driving up with a truck-truck, claiming it fell off of a truck-truck...truck. Cue Maggie driving up in a truck-truck-truck... |
| 356 | * ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' is essentially fueled by this trope. [[MemeticMutation Now]] ''[[MemeticMutation you]]'' [[MemeticMutation can ride like Mr. Garrison!]] [[http://pagesperso-orange.fr/mike.werner/BlogPics/MonoCycle.jpg]] |
| 357 | ** Over the course of "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka", InUniverse ExecutiveMeddling slowly turns the ShowWithinAShow ''Jesus & Pals'' from a down-to-earth, family-friendly public access show into a ''[[Series/TheJerrySpringerShow Jerry Springer]]''-esque trainwreck. |
| 358 | ** Cartman's SelfServingMemory in "Fishsticks" results in his flashbacks becoming more and more outrageous, from being calling "handsome and not at all fat" to slaying a dragon and even fighting a robot army as an {{Expy}} of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the Human Torch]]. |
| 359 | ** And in the early seasons, Sheila's over-the-top protests, ranging from mass suicides outside of a network studio to throwing a parade for a lady with a conjoined fetus. They seemed to have stopped after the war with Canada. |
| 360 | ** In "Death" the boys ask various people about their thoughts on assisted suicide. When they ask Mr. Garrison, he says he's "not touching that one with a twenty-foot pole" and with each person they ask, the figurative pole grows another twenty feet. |
| 361 | ** How many more people can go to {{Hell}}? "Best Friends Forever" revealed that Hell has ''a million times more people than Heaven''. With Kenny's help, Heaven somehow ''beats them'' [[OffScreenMomentOfAwesome offscreen]]. |
| 362 | * How much more brutal can ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' get? |
| 363 | ** Blacker than the blackest black times infinity? |
| 364 | ** And what line will Doctor Rockzo cross next to get more cocaine? |
| 365 | ** Not to mention the size of the Tribunal's meeting room. |
| 366 | * Similarly, ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' went from being a dark comedy mocking religion to a flat-out depressing dramedy over the course of 3 seasons...and fans loved it, despite that Creator/AdultSwim regretted telling the show creator to amp up the dark humor. |
| 367 | * ''Franchise/{{Avatar|TheLastAirbender}}'': |
| 368 | ** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' does this with its titular bending. Katara, for instance, goes from requiring a water pouch at all times, to bending her sweat, to bending the water in her opponent's bodies. Justified in that the characters all spend massive amounts of time in training. Ability escalation is to be expected when you work hard and practice constantly. With each passing season, the series basically does this with the powers of every major character. |
| 369 | ** The sequel series, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', has this with Lin Beifong. In just about every episode she is in, she continues to be more badass. From swinging on her metal cables in the Pro-bending stadium to save Korra in Episode 6, to outright tearing apart a MiniMecha on her own in Episode 7, and then being an outright [[OneManArmy One Woman Army]] and saving her men from an Equalist base in Episode 9. |
| 370 | *** To singlehandedly taking on a battalion of chi-blockers to ''ripping apart an Equalist airship by herself'' in Episode 10...[[spoiler: [[TearJerker before getting her]] [[DePower bending taken away]], [[DefiantToTheEnd while all but spitting in Amon's face and telling him to do his worst]]]]. |
| 371 | *** The entire series is this in term of each WhamEpisode. From episode six onwards, ''every single episode has counted as one''', going from a terrorist attack to a full-out civil take-over of the city. Finally it tops it off with [[spoiler: with TheReveal of Amon and having an ''on-screen'' MurderSuicide on a ''Y-7'' show.]] The latter is more towards the [[DarkerAndEdgier darkening]] of the show, which is SerialEscalation in its own right. |
| 372 | * ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' ''loves'' this trope. |
| 373 | ** Some of the best examples? There's Zim [[DisproportionateRetribution flooding an entire city]] with a colossal balloon because Dib hit him with a water balloon, there's Dib hacking into advanced Irken machinery from his laptop, there's GIR knocking Dib through a brick wall with a projectile sandwich... It just goes on. |
| 374 | ** Not to mention all the [[PersonOfMassDestruction catastrophes that Zim's caused]]: killing two previous Tallests, destroying several planets on his own, creating [[EldritchAbomination every kind of horrible, twisted monstrosity imaginable]] and starting a massive power failure when he was '''two minutes old.''' Also, most of that was unintentional. |
| 375 | * ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': The episode "Every Poe Has a Silver Lining" had [[BlackComedyBurst Edgar Allen Poe is completely cheerful and oblivious to all things dark and gloomy and Time Squad makes the guy have a complete mental breakdown]] -- until they criticize his cake. |
| 376 | ** The Ho Yay centered on Larry went from being barely noticeable in season 1 to being a character trait in season 2. The Ho Yay count kept on rolling into RefugeInAudacity territory, with Larry and his feelings for Tuddrussel being the prime target. The idea escalates to the season 2 episode "Ex Marks the Spot", where Larry acts like a jealous housewife and tries to sabotage Tuddrussel's and his ex-wife Sheila's dinner after seeing them act rather unusually cool towards each other. When found out, and Tuddrussel casually laughs it off, Larry bitterly tells him he's sleeping on the sofa. |
| 377 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has [[ShrinkingViolet Fluttershy]] who can stare down a cockatrice and then a dragon. |
| 378 | ** Another features [[HotBlooded Rainbow]] [[EnsembleDarkhorse Dash]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome flying so fast, it causes a sonic boom, in addition to some sort of colorful spacial rift]]. |
| 379 | ** On a meta-note, how much fanmade materal can [[FanCommunityNickname Bronies]] create? How much of an influence is the subculture having on the Internet in general? It's staggering... |
| 380 | *** MLP could be considered the American/Canadian ''Franchise/TouhouProject'', in the sense that both fandoms are on a mission to [[{{Crossover}} cross their respective series over with everything in existence.]] |
| 381 | ** And on ''another'' meta note, how much [[LargeHam hammier]] can Creator/TabithaStGermain make her characters? |
| 382 | ** And on yet ''another'' meta note, how much more fluid and detailed can they make the [[SugarWiki/AwesomeArt art and animation]]? It has reached dazzling levels as of season 3, showing off the best of UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash especially with the {{season finale}}'s quality being the very best of the show so far, which is saying a lot. |
| 383 | ** Also, how much more [[VileVillainSaccharineShow evil]] and [[StoryBreakerPower powerful]] can the villains get? No matter how powerful, the magic of friendship WILL beat them. |
| 384 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' invoked this when Mr. Krabs crossed the MoralEventHorizon. Eventually the writers stopped at "The Cent of Money". |
| 385 | * Creator/TexAvery makes this his ''modus operandi'' during his years at Creator/{{MGM}}. Just when you think the cartoon can't get any zanier, it does. |
| 386 | ** ''WesternAnimation/KingSizeCanary'': How big can the cat and mouse get from one bottle of Jumbo-Gro? [[spoiler:Bigger than the whole planet, apparently.]] |
| 387 | ** ''WesternAnimation/NorthwestHoundedPolice'': How far will Wolfie go to shake off Droopy? And where will he find Droopy once he gets there? |
| 388 | ** ''WesternAnimation/BadLuckBlackie'': What crazy thing will fall on the bulldog's head next? And how will Blackie manage to cross his path? |
| 389 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' started off as a relatively innocent cartoon about twins exploring an apparently sleepy city while staying at the tourist trap of their mysterious Grunkle Stan. Cue [[DarkerAndEdgier Season 2]], which opened with the [[MonsterOfTheWeek monsters]] being ''zombies'', and then continues to evolve [[spoiler: [[DemonicPossession possessed brothers]], [[{{Yandere}} a videogame girl wanting to keep Soos forever]], a missing family member who's been traveling 30 years through different dimensions, [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark pasts]], the GenkiGirl [[HeroicBSOD losing hope]] and locking up in a LotusEaterMachine, and finally ''the end of the world'']]. [[{{Understatement}} That escalated quickly]]. |
| 390 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' episode "The Rambling of Maurice", a ComicBook/{{Batman}} skit features Two-Face getting his face burnt again, turning him into Three-Face. He then gets burnt a third time and becomes Four-Face, and the skit ends before we see the aftermath of him getting burnt a fourth time. |
| 391 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': |
| 392 | ** In terms of creepiness. Name anything creepy about this show--the MindScrew ending of "Tree Trunks" and "Evicted!", the {{Nightmare Face}}s Marceline, Peppermint Butler's desire for flesh--it doesn't matter. ALL of that was topped by '''[[http://static.tumblr.com/nxveby3/K7nluq5f7/tumblr_luonoxu9hq1qeyb9ho1_500.gif this.]]''' Holy. Freaking. ''Crud''. According to Adam Muto, ''[[http://www.formspring.me/MrMuto/q/260624254293255046 this is just the beginning.]]'' |
| 393 | ** They outdid themselves ''again'' with those [[MonsterClown creepy freaking clown nurses]] in "Another Way", which ''legitimately'' freaked out most people who watched the episode and [[http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyac9nt7SL1qftn52o1_500.gif undoubtedly scarred many children for years to come. Prepare to lose sleep.]] |
| 394 | ** They did it again with those [[spoiler:three freaking scary fruit witches in "Dad's Dungeon", two of whom ''ate the third voraciously''.]] |
| 395 | ** A separate example from above from the Season 5 two-part opening: [[spoiler:[[FromBadToWorse How much worse is it going to get]] for AlternateUniverse Finn in Farmworld? First he is forced to sell his pet to pay back a gang, then tries to find a way around it, then comes across the Ice King's crown which an elderly and insane Marceline warns him to avoid, then gets it stolen by Big D, the gangster threatening his dad, then finds that while he was fighting Big D to get it back, the gang set his hometown on fire, then goes home to find that his house is burning with his family in it, then in desperation puts on the crown, which saves his house by freezing it but drives him insane, ''then'' he tries to stop the town from burning and [[ApocalypseHow sets off the atom bomb,]] ''then'' finds his family but has to send them away so he can't hurt them (even though they are probably going to die of radiation in the next few hours), then finds that he's killed Jake with the bomb as he's in a pool of radioactive goo, '''''and then''''' has to fight him as he is turned into the Lich via radiation. It would presumably get even worse had Jake not cut it off by wishing them back home.]] '''''NiceJobBreakingItHero''''' |
| 396 | * ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': The parallel dimensions in "Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind" become increasingly absurd variations on a theme, from a world where slices of pizza order human delivery, to a world where phones sit on pizza and order chair delivery on human phones, to - [[RuleOfThree finally]] - a world where chairs sit on inanimate humans and order phone take-out on pizza. Rick and Morty even visit an Italian restaurant and purchase some edible phones for themselves. |
| 397 | ** Arguably the entire show, on a high concept sci-fi scale. The first episode starts with the most ridiculous thing being that Rick has created a flying car from garage junk, and introduces the concept of the multiverse. By episode six of the first season, the titular characters have [[spoiler: replaced alternate universe versions of themselves who managed to solve a problem our Rick and Morty couldn't, and also coincidentally died around the same time.]] The Council of Ricks in Episode 10 escalates this even further, and by the beginning of Season 2 we're in full-blown mind-fuck territory, if we weren't there already. And it escalates further from there. |
| 398 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': How much ShipTease can this show have? Star and Marco's relationship escalates every season, finally [[spoiler: resulting in a kiss]] in Season 3. That isn't even mentioning how every girl in the show has flirted with Marco in some way. First Jackie, then Star, then Janna, then Hekapoo, then Kelly... |
| 399 | * When ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' first hit airwaves, it focused on just a small, rebel cell fighting against impossible odds on a backwater planet. We got to know a young boy who discovered his Jedi destiny as he and his unlikely Jedi master fended off Imperial Inquisitors and other foes the Galactic Empire have sent in hopes of stopping the rebellion before it could ever begin. After these well-knit rebels [[spoiler:defeat the Grand Inquisitor, they are rescued]] by the nascent Rebel Alliance, which has only begun to unite many small rebel cells into a larger force. The next season focused on their efforts to help this rebellion grow and find a new base while drawing the attention of Darth Vader and more Inquisitors, as the Empire began turning up the heat after their losses in season one. Things get interesting in season 3 when the Empire calls in [[TheChessmaster Grand Admiral Thrawn]] for military expertise in dismantling the rebellion, and as the rebellion gains more allies and the rebels we knew from the beginning develop more and more, [[spoiler:they face his military might and face a devastating setback]]. Things go full circle in the final season as the rebels look to fight back and defeat Thrawn in an epic GrandFinale that leads them all the way back to where the whole series begun. |
| 400 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': In "The Brain", the Wattersons must avoid doing stupid stuff or else the then-stupid Anais's brain would be damaged for doing too much facepalming at their antics. At the store, Nicole is fed up by a teenage grocery store clerk and asks him to go get his superior, which is revealed to be a young kid. Then she asks for the kid's superior, who turns out to be a baby. ''Then'' she asks for the baby's superior, which luckily is a grown woman...who was ''pregnant with a baby (the superior) talking inside of her''. Then a fat man comes shortly after with multiple people talking inside of him, which by all accounts were ''his sperms''. |
| 401 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Late Philip J. Fry" is absolutely nothing but this when regarding TimeTravel. Fry, Bender, and Professor Farnsworth accidentally travel to the year 10,000 and try to find backwards time travel. Then they go to the year 105,105, then 252,525, and later ''50,000,000'' then ''1,000,000,000'' where life in the Universe is wiped out. Then they go to the end of the Universe at a jaw-dropping year ''10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000'' and watch the Universe recreate itself. So they try to travel forward to the time after they first used the time machine. They go too far and then go through all those years ''again'', seeing the Universe recreated ''again'' and finally going back to the right time. |
| 402 | * "The Slumber Party" from the PBS animated series of ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears'' starts off with the eponymous sleepover only involving Sister, Lizzie, Anna, and Millie. However, they start inviting other friends to the party initially using the excuse "[[TemptingFate What's one more?]]" every time. It pretty quickly escalates to the likes of "What's a hundred more?" due to how many others get invited, which leads to the party getting overcrowded and out of hand. |
| 403 | * ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' started out as an innocent comedy of a naive and positive traveling alien nomad and an always-hating evil overlord. The second season dramatically shakes things up by shifting to a more sequential plotline where the galaxy is threatened by an OmnicidalManiac. |
| 404 | * In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', the episodes where Sector V plot to steal the Delightful Children from Down the Lane's birthday cake have the cake start off at a reasonable size and then get progressively bigger with each installment, coming to a head in the fifth one where the cake is a space station blatantly parodying [[Film/ANewHope the Death Star]]. Unable to top that, their cake in the GrandFinale is simply a cupcake, but the character who eats it says that it was their best one yet. |
| 405 | * ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'': Each successive MonsterOfTheWeek gets more dangerous and more creative as the BigBad progressively [[TaughtByExperience learns what is effective and what is not]]. They start out as straightforward stuff like a lava monster or a multi-headed giant robot, but quickly begin to escalate into regenerating sludge monsters, living [=EMPs=], and intelligent beasts that use complex tactics and pragmatic tricks like playing dead. [[spoiler:Towards the end, they start sending ''multiple monsters at a time'', in complete violation of MookChivalry.]] Since the show was a ShortRunner, we sadly don't see how much further the writers would have taken things had the show progressed past the first season. |
| 406 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "The Rabbit of Seville", Bugs and Elmer go through a weapons escalation starting with guns, then bigger guns, then cannons, then bigger cannons, then HUGE cannons, then Bugs offers Elmer a wedding ring, Elmer accepts the marriage proposal and shows up in a wedding gown, Bugs gets a tux, a minister shows up and marries them, and Bugs carries Elmer to the top of a giant wedding cake prop marked "The Marriage of Figaro" and drops him into it. Then Bugs, who is a barber in this short, says, "Next?" |
| 407 | [[/folder]] |
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