People are individuals, but those individuals tend to travel in groups, as human beings are social animals, for the most part, but also because a lot of stories have violent conflict where a balanced team of at least 2 people being Combat and Support respectively, would be helpful.
When a writer has a group of people reacting to a situation, they have a few options. The simplest is the Universal Group Reaction. It allows the writer to convey a certain sense of the mood about the situation quickly.
But sometimes, the writer wants show that the group is a collection of individuals, that they are capable of writing them as such, that they're keeping characterization consistent.
The latter requires them to show us that the Group Reacts Individually, allowing for a diverse and informative collection of reactions. To speak more of equality, it has equal play for comedy or drama, as someone's reaction may inform a viewer that the character had prior knowledge, or perhaps no knowledge, of a situation or its consequences.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- Azumanga Daioh: Episode 14, the girls have gone to Chiyo's family's beach house for the summer, where Minamo "Nyamo" Kurosawa managed to over-imbibe while trying to keep Yukari, a fellow adult, from drinking. During her period of inebriation, she gave the girls an informative talk about the birds and the bees, which was shown with Relax-o-Vision. The next morning, a hung-over "Nyamo" has no memory of what happened the night before, and wonders why Sakaki is running away from her in embarrassment, and then Chiyo-chan, a Grade Skipper, asks her, innocently enough, about the things "Nyamo" told them the night before, to "Nyamo"'s horror. Sakaki, a regular student, is blushing and looking away, Chiyo is confused, The Knuckleheads (Tomo, Osaka, and Kagura) are showing her respect and reverence, and Yukari is delighting in "Nyamo"'s discomfort and confusion.
- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: In the final episode, believing they've all been exposed to a lethal bioweapon, and the seal on the classroom breached by a teacher, the students collectively say "The hell with it." But several have their own unique ideas about what to do before they expire. Shinji says he's got to delete all his naughty pictures before he dies. Tsubake just wants to beat the crap out of Sosuke, in part for the situation but in part because he has always wanted to beat the crap out of Sosuke, Mizuki is cheerfully trying to get Tsubake to ignore Sosuke and make sure she doesn't die a virgin, Kaname is just sitting in stunned silence, Ren decides she wants one final cup of tea in the Student Council Room, and Sousuke is reading the manual for the bioweapon (finally) and absently delivers a firearm version of Offhand Backhand to Tsubake, to which Kaname even says, "Wow. I have no energy left to yell at you for that." Turns out the bioweapon was The Nudifier, a variant on the bacteria used to clean up oil spills, with this version targeting synthetic fibers. When it kicks in, all the students agree on one thing... they all want to kill Sousuke.
Comic Books
- Uncanny X-Men #500: A human art collector named Guy DeMondue organizes an art exhibit with mutant-hunting sentinels. The X-Men are informed of this and react badly to it: Beast and Angel (two of the original X-Men) remark on their lethality to mutants, while Emma Frost says it is in bad taste, for a completely different reason:
Angel: Sadie, come on! Twenty-foot-tall death machines—Beast: Genocidal robots no more artful than an A-Bomb—Emma Frost: Banal, predictable "shock schlock" that was passé in New York ten years ago—Wolverine: Hell with this.
Fan Works
- Dinosaur: A Prehistoric Park Adventure: This is Allosaurus fragilis's and Allosaurus lucasi's reactions, when Takomo and Senji end up in a Mutual Kill situation, at the end of Chapter 12. The fragilis's response? Stunned Silence. The lucasi's response? Laugh at Senji's fate and admit that they all hated him.
Film — Animated
- My Little Pony: The Movie (2017): After Twilight dismisses her friends as burdens to their faces, they all express utter shock at their friend's betrayal, but express it in ways that reflect their personalities. Team Mom Applejack is profoundly disappointed; Hot-Blooded Rainbow Dash is stuck in a place between anger and disbelief; Drama Queen Rarity haughtily walks away with sheer contempt; and Shrinking Violet Fluttershy looks like she's about to cry. But Fun Personified Pinkie Pie, the target of said tirade, takes it hardest of all and is totally crushed.
- Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo: When Starfire kisses a random passerby (in order to learn the Japanese language), Beast Boy and Cyborg are surprised, Her Love Interest Robin is horrified... and Raven, The Stoic, just raises an eyebrow.
Film — Live-Action
- The Departed: Costigan and Sullivan's Establishing Character Moments to Madolyn's Embarrassing Old Photo of her childhood highlights the difference in the two characters. Sullivan is more concerned about his career and his "image" and so he doesn't want that picture in his apartment. Costigan really just likes Madolyn so he can appreciate a cute picture of her childhood on the wall.
- The Truman Show: When Truman finally escapes the giant TV soundstage where he has spent his whole life, the people watching on TV have differing reactions. Most viewers cheer and celebrate his escape. Sylvia, a former cast-member who had been fired for trying to tell him the truth years ago, rushes out of her apartment to try to reunite with him. Christof, the creator of the show, hangs his head in defeat as he realizes his life-work is finished. And in the final shot, a pair of viewers just look for the TV Guide to see what else is on.
Literature
- In Bored of the Rings: Played for Laughs: As the Fellowship is passing through Andrea Doria, they come to a point where the passage splits in two.
"Let's split up," said Bromosel."I've twisted my ankle," said Pepsi."Whatever you do, don't make a sound," said Arrowroot."Wa-zoo," screamed Moxie, sneezing violently."Now here's my plan," said Goodgulf."Bullets won't stop them," said Bromosel."Whatever happens," said Arrowroot, "we must keep a close watch."The company, as a man, fell asleep.
- My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!: Lady Catarina has seven individual Love Interests in the series, her fiance, Prince Geordo, his brother Prince Alan, Catarina's adopted brother, Keith, the son of the Prime Minister, Nicol, as well as the other girls, Lady Mary Hunt, Nicol's albino sister, Lady Sophia, and the original heroine of the otome game Catarina found herself reincarnated in, Maria Campbell, a commoner with rare light magic. Each of them are frequently in situations with Lady Catarina where they have very unique reactions based on their personalities to her various antics.
- On one occasion, they all get an invitation to Lady Catarina's garden, but the invite said nothing about it being a party, so each assumed they and they alone had been invited, and hoped it would be a chance to deepen their relationship with her. Nicol is put out, but goes along with it. His sister, Sophia, is just happy to be able to spend time with Catarina. Prince Alan, upon learning that they were invited to help harvest vegetables (which Catarina had already convinced him to play music for to help them grow) is irritated, Prince Geordo is confused, Lady Mary, perhaps the most aware she's competing for Catarina's love and attention, is horrified and shocked to see she wasn't the only one invited. Her brother, Keith, is worried, as Catarina has, yet again, roped a group of nobles, including two princes, into doing farming work, and Maria, who hasn't known Catarina as long, is just happy to be invited to spend time with all her friends from school.
- At the end of the first arc, when Raphael Walt has undergone a Heel–Face Turn and been accepted as an employee of the Magic Administration at the school, he pledges his loyalty to Catarina, with Prince Geordo noting he did it right in front of her fiance, and Keith sighing that she's roped in yet another would-be suitor, while Lady Mary immediately starts scheming ways to keep the two of them apart.
- During a training session, they're split into teams to explore a dungeon. Catarina gets lost, and finds not only the object they were looking for, but also a large number of purple mushrooms with pink and red spots. She announces her intention to make a soup from them. Alan worriedly says that she probably shouldn't, because they might be poisonous. Mary, on the other hand, says that even if they are poisonous, she'd gladly eat anything made by Lady Catarina.
Live-Action TV
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: In "The Arsenal of Freedom", the crew is looking at a devastated planet and wondering what the disaster was. Proud Warrior Race member Worf suggests, "War?", Data, a Ridiculously Human Robot, suggests, "Disease?", and Geordi, one of the biggest jokesters of the crew, jokes, "A dissatisfied customer?".
Video Games
- The Crash Bandicoot series: A common trait in games with multiple playable characters to showcase their wacky personalities. Often Played for Laughs due to the intense use of slapstick:
- In Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped, all five bosses have confrontations with you after you collect the crystals of their warp room. Tiny is indignant and roars payback, Dingodile displays Tranquil Fury, Tropy throws an angry snit fit, N Gin just seems eager to take you down, while Cortex, after spending the whole game worn down from defeats... just laughs it off, as now he can just take all the crystals from you.
- In Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Coco Bandicoot is added as a playable character. In comparison to her brother Crash, who is fairly consistently goofy and curious and only semi-aware of his surroundings, even when elements of the game are killing him, Coco is generally more confident, alert and dignified... though takes failing and being made a fool of much worse. Crash just gives confused looks in many non-lethal death scenes and is only at the level of being slightly fed-up if you failed to get a gem, while Coco is prone to Death Glares at the player, and should you fail to get a gem as her, she outright throws a tantrum at you.
- Used to its most extreme in Crash Team Racing and its successor games, where each character has podium animations. First place has a triumphant winning animation, while second to third have losing animations. Each character totally varies how they celebrate, or how well they take defeat (eg. Crash just falls asleep, Cortex breaks down sobbing, Coco sulks, Megumi shrugs and claps at the winner).
- Downplayed in Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time despite having five fully playable characters, though does still naturally perk up in areas. Particularly in the Continue/Retry screen. Should you pick to retry a level rather than advance, Crash has a slightly deflated smile, Cortex sighs annoyed, Coco (in odd comparison to previous games) remains chipper no matter what you pick, while Dingodile actually seems more eager to go back and trash the level again.
- Dragon Age franchise:
- Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening: Half of the party would have different comments on the statue of the prophetess Andraste in the Vigil's Keep courtyard.
- Dragon Age II has a number of locations where your current companions will react differently to whatever is around them. Perhaps the best example is found in the "Mark of the Assassin" DLC, where Hawke and Tallis are captured and the remaining two party members attempt to stage a daring rescue, only to get utterly lost in the dungeon
. For every possible pair of companions, the devs have recorded an entirely different brief dialogue, which collectively not only give insight into their personality, but paint a comprehensive picture of the tensions and relationships within Hawke's particular Ragtag Bunch of Misfits.
- Mass Effect 2: Several prominent locations, such as the market vista on Ilium, have trigger points to prompt comments from whomever is in your active party at the moment, allowing them to express their, often-clashing, opinions.
Western Animation
- Nina Needs to Go!: In "Traffic", Nana tells her family that they're going to visit a camper van that's pink and has its own television and bathroom. The kids and father echo back a word excitedly — Nina, a little girl in a Princess Phase, says, "Pink!?", Frank, a typical young kid, says, "TV?!", and the father, who's a pragmatist, says, "Bathroom!?".
- SpongeBob SquarePants: In "Pickles", everyone at the Krusty Krab is waiting with bated breath as Bubble Bass passes judgement on SpongeBob's Krabby Patty. Everyone, that is, except Squidward, who couldn't care less and is busy looking at himself in a hand mirror before realizing what is happening and then pretends to look interested.
