1 | '''Basic Trope''': [[Laconic/WhatYearIsThis A time-traveler asks a passerby what year it is after traveling.]] |
2 | |
3 | * '''Straight''': Alice and Bob are sent back in time and ask a local, Robert, what year it is. |
4 | * '''Exaggerated''': Alice and Bob travel somewhen, ask a passerby what year it, leave, and do it again until they're in the year they're aiming for. |
5 | * '''Logical Extreme''': Alice demands Robert tell her the current month, day, and year in the Gregorian calendar system; the time in both Coordinated Universal Time and the local time zone down to the second; and the position of the moon, as of the exact point when she is done talking. |
6 | * '''Downplayed''' |
7 | ** Alice asks for the date or weekday, and maybe even the month, knowing or assuming they can't be too far in the past and that that question draws less suspicion. |
8 | ** Alice goads Robert into a conversation until he discloses information on current events that indicate what time they've traveled to. |
9 | * '''Justified''' |
10 | ** TimePolice Officers Alice and Bob have to follow protocols to make sure that they are in the right time period. |
11 | ** Along with knowing the year, Alice also has to confirm that people still speak English in the future so they can communicate. |
12 | ** Alice is a {{Robot}} and needs to recalibrate her internal clock after the time shift. |
13 | * '''Subverted''' |
14 | ** Robert gives them same date they left; so it turns out Alice built a [[{{Teleportation}} Teleporter]] instead of a TimeMachine and they're just two states over. |
15 | ** After catching Robert's attention, Bob compliments him and asks where he got his hat. |
16 | * '''Double Subverted''' |
17 | ** The teleporter took Alice and Bob to AnotherDimension where the Gregorian calendar was never invented and they're actually a few centuries off from when they think they are. |
18 | ** Bob deduces what year they are in because the store Robert names is closed in the future. |
19 | * '''Inverted''': Robert has seen a lot of time travelers in his time and asks Alice and Bob what year they've come from. |
20 | * '''Parodied''' |
21 | ** Alice and Bob appear to have gone back to DarkAgeEurope, but "Sir Robert" reveals its a RenaissanceFair twenty years in the future. |
22 | ** Alyx and Beep traveled back to the same year from a more distant future and ask Alice and Bob what year it is. |
23 | ** Alice and Bob traveled back to TheBigRottenApple and Robert is a {{Jerkass}} who just tells them to piss off. |
24 | * '''Averted''' |
25 | ** Alice's mom gives {{Exposition}} of what her plans were that day before Alice can ask where or when she is. |
26 | ** Alice and Bob don't come across anyone in the time they travel to. |
27 | * '''Defied''': |
28 | ** Alice and Bob knew what time they were going to before they got there. |
29 | ** Alice has a universal clock that tells her when she has gone to and doesn't bother to ask Robert. |
30 | * '''Zig-Zagged''': ??? |
31 | * '''Enforced''': Alice and Bob are characters in a historical EdutainmentShow and [[ViewersAreMorons need to make sure the kids know what time period they're learning about]]. |
32 | * '''Lampshaded''' |
33 | ** Robert tells Alice and Bob what year it is but comments on how odd their question is. |
34 | ** Bob explains to Alice that time travelers ask the locals what year they're in all the time. |
35 | * '''Discussed''': "Bob, we can't just ask them what year it is. Who does that? We can't draw suspicion on us." |
36 | * '''Conversed''': "You built a clock into that thing, right Alice? Because I don't want to go around asking old-timey strangers what day it is." |
37 | * '''Invoked''': Alice didn't tell Bob what year they're going to just so she can do a StockPhrase. |
38 | --> '''Bob:''' You still haven't told me; where did we go to? |
39 | --> '''Alice:''' You mean "''When'' did we go to?" |
40 | --> '''Bob:''' ''({{beat}})'' You didn't not tell me just so you could do that one bit, did you? |
41 | * '''Exploited''' |
42 | ** Alice and Bob travel to a time period where time-travel is [[CasualTimeTravel publicly available]] and this would be a reasonable question. |
43 | ** Robert is an undercover TimePolice officer and arrests Alice and Bob in a sting. |
44 | * '''Played for Laughs''': Alice's faulty time machine gave Bob a little HarmlessElectrocution and he asks her what year he's in when he regains consciousness five minutes later. |
45 | * '''Played for Drama''' |
46 | ** Robert's answer confirms that the time machine brought Alice back to [[TimeTravelEscape the day her father died]]. |
47 | ** Bob asks Robert for the year, only to recognize Robert as [[OneDegreeOfSeparation his estranged grandfather]] [[DisappearedDad who left his mother as a child]]. |
48 | ** The villain pushes Alice through a time machine while trying to [[SavingTheWorld Save the World]], and future Bob's innocent response confirms to her that there are hours left until TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt |
49 | * '''Played for Horror''': Alice and Bob ask Robert what year it is, but Robert... |
50 | ** ...[[ItsQuietTooQuiet doesn't talk back]] and [[CheshireCatGrin just smiles]]. |
51 | ** ...[[DeadGuyOnDisplay isn't alive]]. |
52 | ** ...[[SkinWalker isn't human]]. |
53 | * '''Implied''': ??? |
54 | * '''Unparodied''': Alice and Bob have already gotten the year from Robert and relay it to Alyx and Beep when they ask them. |
55 | * '''Untwisted''': ??? |
56 | * '''Deconstructed''': Robert gets confused on how anyone could not know what the year is and walks away uncomfortable. |
57 | * '''Reconstructed''': It was New Year's Day, so Robert gives Alice and Bob the benefit of the doubt that they lost track of time and tells them the new year. |
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