Line #41 Main/ShootTheShaggyDog


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3	%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
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6	->''"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player\
7	That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,\
8	And then is heard no more; it is a tale\
9	Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,\
10	Signifying nothing."''
11	-->-- '''Macbeth''', ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', Act V, Scene 5
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14	%%Moderator notice: Do not remove the story part of the description.
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17	As unfortunate as it is, sometimes an author will go one step beyond a ShaggyDogStory, and Shoot the Shaggy Dog. They won't just let [[EverybodyDiesEnding everyone die]]; they'll make the characters' accomplishments a moot point [[SenselessSacrifice and their deaths completely senseless]]. They won't just have the protagonist die an agonizing death; they'll [[GroundhogDayLoop trap him in a grim cycle of reincarnation]], and make them [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption a failure in every incarnation]]. Sometimes they won't ''even'' kill anyone; the protagonist won't even get to bring the antagonist down with them, but [[TheBadGuyWins the antagonist will win everything]] and [[KarmaHoudini go unpunished]], even up to the point where the antagonist [[HeroKiller kills the protagonist instead]] in the most CruelAndUnusualDeath yet. All in all, [[StatusQuoIsGod the only thing that's changed in the last 400 pages is that a few ineffectual people have died]]... some of whom were the protagonists.
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19	Occasionally part of AnAesop, to show ''[[CrapsackWorld just how crappy]]'' the world becomes when you violate the lesson; frequently used to try and show a '[[DarkerAndEdgier gritty]]', [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]] world. Sometimes, it's an attempt at tragedy that makes the mistake of nullifying itself by ''[[TooBleakStoppedCaring making it impossible to care]]''. Depending on the particulars, it can overlap with DiabolusExMachina, and is a frequent cause of AngstAversion and AudienceAlienatingEnding. In short, this is a story where at its conclusion you have to ask ''"What the hell was the point?"''
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21	'''NOTE:''' An ending in which [[TheHeroDies the heroes die]] or are [[BolivianArmyEnding implied to die]] does not, on its own, a Shoot The Shaggy Dog make. This trope should refer to stories where the protagonists are ineffectual, accomplish nothing, fail to bring villains to justice, ''and'' they die.
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23	The ultimate DownerEnding. See also CrapsackWorld. Compare ResetButtonEnding, which may lead to or be the cause of one of these. If the writer's a cynical bastard it might be a BlackComedy, and writers who are fond of using this type of ending are very likely to have a [[StrawNihilist nihilistic]] worldview. Tends to result in feelings of TooBleakStoppedCaring if the writer isn't really good at it. Often a SequelHook. Very frequently a TearJerker.
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25	On a brighter side, a villain trying to invoke this trope with a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech fails virtually always.
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27	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do]] with [[{{Pun}} Shooting Shaggy's]] [[Franchise/ScoobyDoo Dog]] (or for that matter, his [[TheScrappy other dog]]). [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Also has nothing to do]] with [[{{Pun}} the filming process]] of the Disney film ''Film/TheShaggyDog'', or its {{Remake}}. Not to be confused with ShootTheDog, which is a [[WhatTheHellHero regrettable act]] that may or may not involve an actual dog (that may or may not be shaggy). May result in a TraumaCongaLine.
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29	See also RocksFallEveryoneDies for a roleplaying equivalent.
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31	'''Spoilers''' ahead, of course.
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33	%%If you have time, please take time to put examples in alphabetical order. This page Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings should help you with that.
34	----
35	!!Examples subpages
36	[[index]]
37	* ShootTheShaggyDog/AnimeAndManga
38	* ShootTheShaggyDog/ComicBooks
39	* ShootTheShaggyDog/FanWorks
40	* ShootTheShaggyDog/{{Film}}
41	* ShootTheShaggyDog/{{Literature}}
42	* ShootTheShaggyDog/LiveActionTV
43	* ShootTheShaggyDog/{{Music}}
44	* ShootTheShaggyDog/TabletopGames
45	* ShootTheShaggyDog/{{Theatre}}
46	* ShootTheShaggyDog/VideoGames
47	* ShootTheShaggyDog/{{Webcomics}}
48	* ShootTheShaggyDog/WebOriginal
49	* ShootTheShaggyDog/WesternAnimation
50	* ShootTheShaggyDog/RealLife
51	[[/index]]
52
53	!!Other examples
54	[[foldercontrol]]
55
56	[[folder:Advertising]]
57	%%* PlayedForLaughs in the non-sequitur Levi's advert featuring [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCzsEgUcWfU Kevin the Hamster]].
58	* A St John Ambulance advert featured a father undergoing treatment for cancer. The man survives, and his cancer is gone, so he celebrates at a barbecue with his family...only for a piece of burger to get lodged in his throat, and start to choke him. Because ''no one at the barbecue knows first aid'', the cancer survivor chokes to death in front of his horrified family.
59	[[/folder]]
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61	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
62	* Happens regularly on ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine'' in Rat's stories about "Angry Bob". In a typical example, Angry Bob decides to go to a bar to socialize, and quickly strike up a romantic rapport with a beautiful woman. They begin [[AutoErotica kissing in her car]], only for Bob to get caught by the woman's [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts UFC husband]] and die horrifically.
63	[[/folder]]
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65	[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
66	* Creator/BoBurnham gives a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRyxIMkyazc tale of a frog]] that falls subject to this while looking for a beautiful lady frog. Bo even says at the end that the moral of the story is "irrelevant, 'cause we're humans."
67	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / ShootTheShaggyDog