Surprisingly Realistic Outcome Western Animation / Sandbox

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Sandbox/SurprisinglyRealisticOutcomeWesternAnimation

Pages in the Western Animation namespace containing wicks to Surprisingly Realistic Outcome. Since the trope's definition has been tightened up a lot, many will no longer be valid.

Wicks that haven't been checked

Wicks with examples

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
- When Chuckie Sol's car crashes from a pretty good drop, Sol is killed on impact, especially given that his windshield was broken and he went through a concrete barrier, unlike most cartoons where car crashes occur all the time and everyone escapes uninjured.
- In stark contrast to most cartoons, when Batman takes a blow that leaves him bleeding and disoriented, he is still suffering from it later in the movie, and he is forced to spend a night off to heal from it correctly.
- One man against four precincts of cops, a SWAT team, and a police chopper isn’t really going to be able to evade them easily. It’s only the timely arrival of Andrea that Bruce isn’t either captured or killed.
- Carl Beaumont's inability to pay off Valestra within the 24 hour window he's given. Many wealthy people are actually cash poor and have all their money tied up in equities and investments. Liquidating these assets cannot be done overnight and takes days and weeks to legally execute.
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- Out-of-Character Alert:
  - It wasn't explained how, but Blue Bowman quickly figured out that something is wrong with "Owlman" (Batman in disguise) after Batman infiltrates the Crime Syndicate. Also a lowkey Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, Batman never spent much time to study Owlman's mannerism and personality, and therefore associates who worked closely with Owlman would easily find something amiss with his impersonator.
Batman: The Killing Joke
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After the controversial sex scene, Batman starts avoiding Barbara, likely feeling ashamed that he'd "taken advantage" of his best friend's daughter.
Batman vs. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- When Bane tries to break Donatello's back over his knee like he did with Batman, there's a loud crunch from his kneecap from forcing the highly durable shell up against it.
- Instead of transforming into an animal, Poison Ivy turns into a half-human half-plant hybrid. She definitely looked like she was going to be a formidable opponent, until she (and the protagonists) realize that she's immobile due to being rooted to the ground. The protagonists simply stay out of her reach and walk out the door.
- Even if you're superhumanly good martial artists, leaving yourself open to an opponent for drama's sake is never a good idea. Batman's dramatic leap towards Shredder lets the latter use the Sato-Oshi technique on him and Ra's' "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Leonardo while standing above him lets Leo just kick him in the nuts.
- Still injured from his first fight with Shredder, Batman does noticeably worse in the rematch. Thankfully he had help.
Beast Wars
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Quite a few with regard to the war between the two factions.
- The extremely low character count — five on each side to start — means that any time a stasis pod shows up, it's a major priority to secure it and get a new comrade out of it, because with the numbers this low even a one-bot advantage is one neither side can afford to let the other get. For the same reason defection from one side to the other is treated very seriously.
- Flying Transformers are a serious threat, because they can get around quicker and easier and are also tricky to fight. A lot of episodes in the first season have the plot point of Optimus racing Terrorsaur and Waspinator to some objective point or being the only one able to fight them on equal footing (so to speak) because he's the only Maximal that can fly (Airazor joined them later). In the second season, Megatron becoming transmetal and able to fly himself was a big equalizer in his battles with Optimus.
- The cast's beast modes are terribly inconvenient for them in the first season, acting as a Drama-Preserving Handicap that forces them into their beast modes at times when they need to be in robot mode for mobility and/or combat. The episode "The Probe" makes this a major plot point in the climax when Rhinox is forced to transform into beast mode when operating a computer, and with the rest of the Maximals also stuck in beast mode, Optimus has to finish Rhinox's work because he's the only one with hands in his beast mode.
- Megatron in this series is a Combat Pragmatist, and he'll do anything if it means his goals are met.
- When his plan to simply kill off the proto-humans fails and he later finds the Decepticon warship the Nemesis, the first thing he does with it is try to blow all proto-humans off the face of the Earth. Even when Dinobot II tries to tell him that it's overkill to use giant ship-to-ship lasers to kill a primitive tribe of organics, Megatron pretends to consider it for a second, and then pushes the button anyway.
- After spending half an episode shooting anything that moves, Megatron loses everything when he doesn't have the energy for a shot when he actually needs it.
- A scene seemingly parodying the one from Raiders of the Lost Ark: Optimus is going all over the place showing off his sword moves, and Megatron just shoots him.
- One early episode had Optimus be injected with a Psycho Serum that turned him into The Berserker, leading to Dinobot taking command after he heads off to attack the Predacons head on. Since the episode had previously set up that Dinobot despised Optimus' more peaceful tactics and suggested just letting him kill them all, and was currently regretting his words, it looks like he'll talk to the Predacons and resolve the situation peacefully. Instead, when he has Cheetor warn the Predacons ahead of time, they just start preparing for Optimus' arrival; ultimately, the Maximals only save Optimus by attacking the base from the outside while he rampages inside, which Dinobot had been rallying for from the beginning.
- When Terrorsaur briefly takes over the Predacons after he finds stockpile of energon from a floating mountain that empowers him to overthrow Megatron by damaging him in combat, him defeating Megatron and boasting he is charge meets with predictable consequences when his Hour of Power shows up despite him trying to hide his weakness. Tarantulas follows him and attempts to take the source of power for himself and leaves Scorponok to repair Megatron. Once the Maximals destroy the mountain of energon, he is back to square one.
- In one episode, Blackarachnia headbutts Silverbolt hard enough to knock him out... and then she falls unconscious a few seconds later. It doesn't matter who's on the receiving end, trauma from headbutts go both ways.
- In the episode "Victory", when the Predacons appeared to have perished after Terrorsaur launched a rebellion against Megatron, the Maximals decide to leave Earth, and Cheetor suggest they return exploring space, but Rattrap points out with their ship, the Axalon, barely holding together meaning if they make it into space the Maximals have no choice but to return to Cybertron to which Optimus agrees.
Beavis and Butt-Head
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Quite a few times, perhaps unsurprisingly since this show is way more realistic than many of the trope's contenders.
- In "Dumbasses Anonymous", a bartender refuses to give Beavis and Butthead any beer, stating that they look underage and don't have any ID to prove otherwise.
- In "Green Thumbs", the duo try to buy stuff from the Maxi Mart using poorly made Counterfeit Cash. The shop keeper sees right through their deception and yells at them to get lost.
- In "Liar! Liar!", Butthead tries to beat the lie detector by holding his breath. However, he ends up holding his breath for a really long time and he eventually passes out from oxygen deprivation.
- In "Tobacco Farmers" Beavis thinks that cigarettes are tobacco seeds and throughout the course of the episode, eats as many as eighty cigarettes. At the episode's end, he goes to the doctor and learns that not only does he now have a small tumor on his tongue, but his risk of heart disease has been raised, and possibility of low fetal birth weight. Of course, he doesn't think this has any correlation with the "seeds", rather that he got beaten up so badly that it gave him cancer.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
- The dim pair walk into the friggin' Mojave Desert. Without a drop of water or any kind of map or compass. Sure enough, they start to succumb to heatstroke.
- Beavis starts to hallucinate, by way of a White Zombie video. Episodes of hallucination are a distinct symptom of heatstroke and heat exhaustion. Hallucinations are also a byproduct of peyote, which is likely the type of cactus that Beavis eats part of.
Ben 10
- The What If? episode "Goodbye and Good Riddance". After several weeks of crazy adventures, what brings it all to a halt is not Ben messing up and watching people die, or getting an alien unsuitable for the present situation, but simply his summer vacation ending. Followed immediately by Vilgax thrashing his house.
- When Enoch finally gets the ancient superweapon he and Grandpa Max were racing to find, it crumbles to dust in his hand. Five thousand years of age and neglect will do that to a sword, even a mythical superweapon.
- From time to time the Omnitrix will mess up and turn Ben into an alien other than the one he chose or an entirely new one. It is later revealed that this wasn't due to a glitch or malfunction, but rather Ben slamming his hand down on it to initiate his Transformation Sequence. It’s a complex piece of technology and is quite sensitive.
Ben 10 (2016)
- The main characters live in a modern world where most people will have cameras on them, combined with the fact that Ben doesn't even bother to hide his powers. The result is that the world finds out about Ben a whole lot sooner than it did in the previous continuity.
- In "Screamcatcher", Ben hurts his teeth trying to bite into solid rock candy.
- The Circus Freak Trio abandon Zombozo when they realize that he was never going to pay them.
- In "The Ring Leader", Ben is not off the hook. The referee disqualifies him for using the Omnitrix to get in a wrestling match.
- In "Big in Japan": no, Buktuu, doesn't matter how much people considered you a hero before, they will turn against you if they see you shooting missiles at a kid.
- In "Summer Breakers", Ben destroys Breaker One-Nine's Mech, L.I.Z.A. using his new Omni-Kix power up. In his next appearance, "Bottomless Ben", Breaker One-Nine mentions that he put himself into debt rebuilding L.I.Z.A.
- In “Funhouse”, Zombozo realizes that his schemes will always fail, because Ben will always find him and put him back in jail. He comes to the logical conclusion to start targeting Ben.
Ben 10: Alien Force
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Ben's parents find out about his heroics and try to stop it by grounding him, he does so without complaint. However when the current threat becomes to much for him to ignore, he turns into Humungousaur and leaves the house over his parents protests. They might be his parents, but Ben is in control of the most powerful device in the universe and if he doesn't want to listen to them they don't have the power to stop him.
Ben 10: Omniverse
- Hollywood Tactics: In "The Frogs of War Part 1", when the Incurseans attack Earth, Max says that due to how badly outnumbered they are the Plumbers' only chance is a frontal assault on the Incursean flagship. It doesn't come close to working.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Nemetrix was made specifically to counter the Omnitrix, containing the DNA of natural predators of the Omnitrix aliens. However, the Nemetrix didn't have nearly as much time in development as the Omnitrix and with how sheer vast the universe in the series is, there's not a counter to every single alien in the Omnitrix, if not because of how many aliens in the series there are, then simply because some of them don't even have a natural predator to begin with.
- If this is supposed to be the true, final version of the Omnitrix then why does it still have the glitch of giving Ben the wrong aliens? It doesn't. The reason Ben keeps getting the wrong aliens as Azmuth flatly tells him is because he keeps dramatically slamming his hand down as hard as he can on it to transform and causing the timer to accidently set to random. It might be the fully functional final version of the most powerful device in the universe but it's still a piece of technology, and if you don't use technology properly then it won't 'work' properly no matter how advanced it is.
- In "Clyde Five", Vera Tennyson starts to make well-meaning but ultimately foolish changes around Plumber Headquarters in an attempt to make the place more cozy even though she, as a civilian, doesn't have the authority to do so. When these changes go too far and Vera accidentally endangers Magister Patelliday's life, Grandpa Max (who's been putting up with her for the entire episode) finally snaps and orders for her to be confined to quarters for interfering with the operations of a Plumber Base.
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien
- Ben getting his identity revealed in the first episode. He's a hero who's been fighting in urban environments in an age where most everyone has at least a camera on them. Really, the only surprising thing about his identity getting revealed to the world is that no one found out about him sooner.
- In Hit 'Em Where They Live, some of Ben's more ruthless enemies begin making attempts on his family members' lives as revenge for all of the times Ben has stopped them.
Beware the Batman
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The show does its best to give a more realistic feel to the series to show what Bruce would need to do to pull off Batman in real life, such as reducing his sleep and living on liquid meals. Also his Batcomputer usually comes up with a statistic on how realistic his chances are to pull off what he is about to do.

Wicks with examples and opinions

Adrian
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Upon hearing Dranghenstein has hidden a bomb in a school, Adrian claims that being an handy watchmaker he's obviously able to effortlessly disarm it. But he is not, and Johnny Silver has to give up his life running away with the bomb in his arms. Not sure
Adventures of the Gummi Bears
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Gruffi and Cubbi are able to access Ursalia's library, only to discover that the books are so old, they crumble to dust with just a touch. Probably valid, since Ragnarök Proofing would be assumed in a fantastic work like this.
Aladdin: The Series
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: We see in "Power to The Parrot" that if jewels are in abundance and easily accessible, inflation increases and the price of things like bread become more expensive. Not sure.
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Downplayed example. While the Mott Street Maulers were driven out of town in the previous movie, they also obviously weren't the only Cats in New York City (let alone the entire country). It was inevitable that another faction like Cat R. Waul and the Cat Cactus Gang would eventually try to move in on Warren T. Cat's former territory. The example admits that it's not that surprising, and since it's a sequel, it's expected that new antagonists will show up.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
- In "Super Hero," Shake attempts to give himself superpowers by exposing himself to radiation. He instead ends up getting radiation poisoning, with his condition worsening as the episode progresses. Valid, since it's explicitly commenting on a common unrealistic trope by showing what would happen if you did it in real life.
- In "Fry Legs", Frylock slips into full Yandere mode over a computer repairwoman who doesn't return his affections, murdering her boyfriend in the middle of a crowded restaurant. You'd expect the police to be completely incompetent on a show like this, but no; in no time at all, three cops are at the Aqua Teens' house, and when Meatwad keeps stalling them, one gets fed up, maces both him and Shake, and threatens to come back with a search warrant and arrest them for harboring a fugitive. Not sure. Maybe valid since it mentions that Police Are Useless is assumed here.
Archer 1999
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Archer does a Lock-and-Load Montage of them putting on heavy power armour and a massive gun... and can barely move as a result. Power Armor pushes this into unrealistic territory, since it's sci-fi tech.
As Told by Ginger
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In "Driven to Extremes" after dealing with a sadist substitute teacher, Ginger gets fed up and verbally stands up to her. This just results in Ginger being sent to detention, thus making the episode a Downer Ending. This is due to Ginger's actions to the teacher being viewed as insubordination and disrespect to the authority (whether the student is right or wrong). Also, the substitute teacher receives no comeuppance for her actions. Not sure. The last part about the teacher being a Karma Houdini should be cut since bad teachers facing consequences isn't unrealistic.
Back at the Barnyard
- In one episode, Pig falls in love with a human woman and decides to propose to her, which makes Otis immediately point out the main problem with their relationship...HE’S A PIG!!! Charachter reaction, and not realistic since it requires the presence of a Talking Animal.
- In the same episode, Otis types a personal ad for the farmer on a dating site. The result: Unsure. It might not count for the same reason as above, but it also looke like it's a joke about how audiences would assume Feather Fingers to be present, which would make it valid.
Fhenxhfndkdiej#blarg...Man, I wish we had fingers.
- One episode has Otis (who isn’t exactly book smart) need to use a math equation to figure out the speed to travel to save his friends...he gets the solution wrong. Plot happens.
Back to the Outback
- After Chazz admits the truth to Chazzie over his false persona, it seems as if he'll give it up and become a better man for confessing, as Chazzie makes it clear that he still loves him. Instead, Chazz doubles down on the whole thing, insistent on making his lie a reality out of shame. Character reaction
- While Pretty Boy eventially warms up to Maddie enough to offhandedly think they're becoming friends, he's still quick to leave the group to join the "pretty people" (other koalas), as his superficial nature is not so easily erased. Character reaction
Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In the Bad Future, Daffy tried to make himself the heir to his store and leave his fortune to himself in his will, which of course, is illegal (and wouldn't work anyway since he is, you know, dead). As a result, Lucky Duck closed down and everyone became unemployed. Unsure
Ballerina
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Félicie may love to dance, but passion is no substitute for practice. With no prior training to speak of, she makes a fool of herself in dance class until Odette takes the orphan girl under her wing. Not surprising. There wouldn't be much of a movie if she was already a professional ballet dancer from the start.
Bambi II
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Bambi's upbringing becomes this as a result of his mother's death, due to tradition and his standard stoic disposition, his father is completely unadjusted to raising him, leading to a much more contentious relationship between father and son. Character reaction
Batman and Harley Quinn
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Nightwing expresses disappointment that Harley is working at a sleazy place like Superbabes and points out that Harley could have used her psychiatric training to get better work. After she ties him up in her apartment, Harley informs Nightwing that she did try to get more respectable jobs, but her criminal background prevented her from being hired, and her only options besides the restaurant were in pornography. Not an outcome
Batman Beyond
- The series somewhat deconstructs the lifestyle of Batman and his Rogues Gallery, and it shows how it would affect them in the long run. To the point where he has to quit due to the his failing health and age catching up with him. On top of that, being Married to the Job, he never really developed any of the romantic relationships, or in fact, any relationships. Internal Deconstruction
  - Being Batman isn't fun or exciting. It can take a toll on your social life and its filled with nothing but tragedy, as Terry quickly discovers. See above
- Although he pulled it off many times, not even the Joker can keep cheating death when he is living the way he does. He ends up dying rather graphically twice. And unlike the comics, although it may vary, this version doesn't romanticize the Joker in any way. In fact it showcases just how horrifying the Joker could actually be once you get pass his Faux Affably Evil behavior. Likewise for that matter despite Joker seemly always being able to keeps control, he can just as easily fall to psychological mind games. In this case all it takes is for Terry to heckle him as if the Joker was a actual comedian. Same
- Bane's lifetime of using Venom catches up to him in a nasty way, with his body becoming so dependent on it that he is left a wheelchair-bound vegetable. Same, and not realistic since Venom isn't real
- Just because you bulked up in juvie doesn't mean you are automatically a better fighter, as Willie have found out when trying to beat his former bully in a fist fight. Not sure
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
- After stopping the Jokerz in the Cold Open, Terry tries to go out and dance with Dana. Bruce tells him he ought to get some sleep since he's been up all night, but Terry assures him he's fine. One Gilligan Cut later and Terry is fast asleep in the nightclub. Not surprising since the outcome was mentioned before it happens.
- Bruce regaining control of Wayne-Powers. With the downfall of Paxton Powers in "King's Ransom" (and Derek Powers long presumed dead since "Ascension"), the influence and control the Powers family had over Bruce's company is now gone. Of course Bruce would take advantage of this long-awaited opening to try and finally regain control of his family's company. One might also imagine the the Wayne-Powers shareholders and board members (minus Jordan Pryce) supported Bruce's return both because of his standing as a veteran captain of industry and as damage control in the wake of Paxton's scandal (and the previous damage from his father's exposure as Blight). Not surprising
- Assisting criminals with sabotaging your own company (as well as trying to get rid of the CEO) will get you in trouble with the police, even if you're a high-end corporate executive. Plot happens.
- At first Tim understandably seems bitter that Bruce retired him, and how his hero career ended with torture, brainwashing and murder. 10-Minute Retirement, after all, is supposed to be a thing. He admits, however, that Bruce made the right call. After the trauma, Tim needed a new direction and focus because you can't exactly throw yourself back into a similar situation and expect to heal. At the end, it's made clear that he considers Bruce as a good father and missed him. Character reaction
- Joker stabbed Bruce in the leg, deep enough for the blade to lodge into his knee. Yikes. Normally Batman walks off a bad injury. Not this time; to the present day, Bruce walks with a limp. Not sure. Might not count as an outcome since it's something with lasting consequences instead of just a brief thing.
- Once again Bruce's old age becomes detrimental: when Joker attacks Wayne Manor, he couldn't fight back, and would surely be dead if it wasn't for Terry's timely return. Then, when the manor becomes one of the first targets of Joker's Kill Sat, Bruce has a very visible Oh, Crap! on his face; there's no way he would be able to escape before the laser hits, especially in his condition ^note. He can call for help, but that would take even longer since the manor is in the outskirts of the city. Joker even points this out. Not surprising, since "Batman is getting too old" is part of Batman Beyond's main premise.
- In the flashback sequence, Barbara mentions that Arkham Asylyum was eventually abandoned and moved to a new, more modern facility some time after the ending of TNBA. Between how antiquated the old Asylum was shown to be during BTAS and the completely ineffective security measures, it makes sense that Gotham would finally invest in a newer facility rather than continue to play the existing Zero Sum Game. Not an outcome

Sandbox / Surprisingly Realistic Outcome Western Animation

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