Basic Trope: Something offhandedly mentioned or seen early on is important later.
- Straight: During his first interaction with Alice, Bob casually mentions his grandmother has cancer. Later on, Bob's grandmother dies, so he has to go to her funeral and can't help Alice.
- Exaggerated: Everything Bob says in his first conversation with Alice adds up to a number of reasons for why he can't help.
- Downplayed: Bob mentions that his grandmother has cancer. Not too long later, she dies, putting him in a temporary Heroic BSoD that he quickly breaks out of. His grandmother and all related events are never mentioned again.
- Justified: Bob has powers of precognition and thus he knows his grandmother will have an impact on the story.
- Inverted:
- For whatever reason, Bob says his grandmother doesn't have cancer. Later on, he can't help Alice because his grandmother is okay.
- Bob's grandmother has cancer and dies. Alice visits her funeral instead and can't help Bob.
- Bob's grandmother has cancer, but it's Bob that dies instead.
- Bob's grandmother dies from cancer early in the story, then Bob tells Alice about it much later.
- Continuity Nod
- Call-Back
- Futureshadowing
- Bookends
- Subverted: Bob says his grandmother has cancer, but this is never addressed again.
- Double Subverted: ...until she dies near the end and he is unable to help Alice with an even more important task.
- Parodied:
- Bob specifically says he won't be able to help Alice in the future because his grandmother has cancer and will die. This comes true.
- When the Evil Chancellor first appears, there's a neon sign hanging over his head that says "THIS IS THE BAD GUY!"
- Zig-Zagged: Bob's grandmother seems to make a recovery, but dies at the last second. Bob leaves Alice to go to the funeral, but bursts into the final battle at the last second anyway.
- Averted: Bob's grandmother doesn't have cancer at all.
- Invoked: Bob brings up his grandmother having cancer as an excuse to not help later on.
- Enforced: Bob's actor quits before the final battle is filmed, so they take something he said before and use it as an explanation.
- Lampshaded: "I knew this was gonna happen..."
- Exploited: The villain knows Bob's grandmother has cancer and will soon die, so he focuses only on Alice, planning on Bob not being able to help.
- Defied: Even though Bob's grandmother dies, he refuses to go to her funeral and helps Alice instead.
- Discussed: "Your grandmother has cancer?" "Yep." "Won't that hinder us in the future?" "...Nah."
- Conversed: "That guy said his grandmother has cancer. How much you want to bet she'll be dead halfway through the movie and he won't be able to help Alice?"
- Implied: Bob mentions his grandmother having cancer. Later, when Alice and the Five-Man Band prepare for their mission, Bob is absent, but the reason is not directly stated.
Back to Foreshadowing. Like Bob said, it would happen.
