I've mentioned this a few times before, but have never acted upon due to lack of support. I think that we need to cleanup our What an Idiot! pages.
The problem is how people here are defining idiocy. We have a few tropers here who are defining idiocy as a mistake in general. The problem is that everyone makes mistakes. Smart people make mistakes. Mistakes are not idiocy. For it to be idiotic, there needs to be a very clear and obvious choice. There isn't always a clear an obvious choice though,
I'm not putting this in the repair shop because I don't think that the trope itself needs fixing, but rather examples need to be removed. Remember that mistakes do not count as idiocy.
Note: Per TRS, What an Idiot! was moved to Darth Wiki and made Flame Bait, so the following needs to be done:
- Examples must follow the "You'd expect"/"Instead" format.
- Examples on non-Flame Bait pages (mainly YMMV subpages) should be moved to a What an Idiot! subpage if they follow the proper format, otherwise they should be deleted.
- Inline wicks (such as potholes in examples for things other than What an Idiot!) should probably be deleted.
Here are the wicks
for Main.What An Idiot, which was turned into a redirect until all remaining wicks use the DarthWiki/ namespace, after which the Main/ redirect is to be cut.
Edited by GastonRabbit on Jul 29th 2022 at 3:03:49 AM
It's a meta example for a YMMV trope, so it should be cut for that alone. What really surprises me is that someone is basically calling a person who worked on the film an idiot for changing the film in production in a way they didn't like.
From Ellens Game Of Games:
- What An Idiot:
- Ellen grilled a contestant during Know or Go for guessing that Duran Duran performed the song "MMMBop" (it was Hanson). She quipped that Duran Duran might be offended by the fact that someone thought they were a "boy band" (to be fair, the contestant did say she was only 19 years old, so the song was only slightly older than she was, and besides MMMBop, Hanson was not as well-remembered as other boy bands of the era).
- All of these occurred in the exact same episode:
- In a game of Danger Word, even with such obvious clues including "Patriots", "Saints", and "Touchdown", the contestants never got the word Football. Plus one of the contestants guessed baseball! They only won because the other team timed out and gave them the round.
- Don't Leave Me Hanging was an utter disaster, on account of contestants attempting to guess that "Oregonia" is a state with a name ending in "A", Honda is an American car brand (although the company does have manufacturing plants in the U.S.), "jumping jacks" were cardio exercise equipment, I Love Lucy was a soap opera that has aired between 1990 and the present, and a country in Africa is "Africa".
- The aforementioned baseball contestant makes it to Know or Go, and is asked "If there's 12 inches in a foot and 3 feet in a yard, how many feet do you have?" He overthinks the question and ends up misinterpreting it as "how many inches do you have?", responding with "36 inches". When Ellen points out his flawed thinking, he then answers with "3 feet". The correct answer was 2 — as in she was literally asking him how many feet he had, and the question had nothing to do with measurement. Meanwhile, the other eliminated contestants thought Lucky Charms were the foodstuff with the slogan "Taste the Rainbow", and that SUV stood for "standard utility vehicle".
- In one game of You Bet Your Wife, when asked how many animals that weight over a 1000 pounds a husband thinks his wife can answer, he immediately states his wife can name 17... Within only 30 seconds. Needless to say, the other husband challenges this and the wife doesn't get enough.
This is one of those "People getting answers wrong on a game show" WAI entries that is essentially calling real-life people idiots. The "how many feet?" question was merely misinterpreted, and the Duran Duran part of the entry even argues with itself.
Logic Girl
Sometimes I see What an Idiot entries which don't have that "you'd expect" phrasing. Are they allowed?
For every low there is a high.
I'm not entirely sure, But even if it was, the entry above (which is calling real-life people idiots for getting game show answers wrong) seems to be problematic, and it has even been discussed earlier in this very thread.
Friends forevermore
Yeah. A mere wrong answer doesn't qualify for this.
I had a dog-themed avatar before it was cool.
How sweet it is
I Want My Hat Back needs a look.
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
Another one from WhatAnIdiot.Mass Effect. Again, I'll be using Green Bold Text for my comments.
- Overview: Shepard and his squad are en route via aircar to intercept Cerberus as they move towards the Council members, when Kai Leng suddenly jumps on the roof of their car.
You'd Expect: Shepard to start swerving the car to attempt to send Kai Leng flying, I'll circle back in a second. or make him smack into one of the many underpasses that the car is flying past, Which would also crash the car into those underpasses. If this didn't injure or kill Shepard and squad, it would certainly result in them being unable to reach the Council before Cerberus caught up to them. and at least heavily weaken his Deflector Shields as he uses them to hang onto the vehicle. Circling back now. That suggestion that Shepard try swerving to knock Kai Leng off the car? Kai Leng is using his biotics to keep himself glued to the car. And he's standing on the windshield, where both Shepard and the player can see the glow of biotic energy around his feet.
Instead: Shepard opens the door and starts shooting with a Predator pistol, Because Kai Leng has climbed up the car to where Shepard can no longer shoot at him through the windshield. Kai Leng then sabotages their car and causes them to crash, allowing Cerberus to get a head start on the race to the Council.
- Overview: Shepard and his squad are en route via aircar to intercept Cerberus as they move towards the Council members, when Kai Leng suddenly jumps on the roof of their car.
Just to head this off in case somebody adds it in the above example's place, you're probably wondering why Shepard didn't use their biotic or tech powers, or else swap to a more effective weapon.
Shepard is leaning out of the car to shoot at Kai Leng. They're sitting on the left side of the car, which means they have to brace against the car with their right hand and shoot at Leng with their left. Shepard is right-handed, so their aim with the pistol is pretty much shot. (Intended!) The guns on their back are positioned for a right-handed draw. The mnemonic gestures Shepard uses to cast biotics are performed with their right hand. So they can't swap weapons or use biotics without letting go of the car and falling out. Their omnitool is on their left hand, but most powers that would have worked on Kai Leng would also damage the car and do Leng's work for him.
So your basic, in-a-nutshell answer is "Because Shepard was not on the right side."
Bringing up the following examples from Wolverine and the X-Men (2009):
- What An Idiot:
- From Badlands, there's Hellion trying to use his powers to pull on Xavier even though it's blatantly obvious he is being pulled via his metal leg augmentations.
- Also from there is Kitty being a bitch to Forge and forcefully hiding him... in a truck with soldiers in it.
- A minor one, but when Kitty is (quite understandably) worried about going to fight Magneto, Iceman isn't worried because "Wolverine's got his number". Yes, Bobby, the guy with the adamantium skeleton can handle the master of magnetism no problem. And, sure enough, Logan spends the whole fight magnetized to the wall.
- When Mystique's infiltration of the school is uncovered and she is forced into retreating, the X-men just stop chasing her the moment she left the door. Despite her running into open area and the fact that they have a freaking jet, while Mystique doesn't seem to have had any escape vehicle nearby.
- Talking about the X-men's front door. After an exhausting series of teleportations, Nightcrawler collapses in front of the school's front door where he is quickly abducted again by Mystique. Apparently the X-men are completely incapable of having camera surveillance on their front door and actually noticing their enemies being directly in front of it.
- Marrow throwing a 10 inch long knife at a 40 feet tall robot designed to exterminate mutants. The knife just bounces of it's head and it retaliates by throwing a 10 feet long piece of metal at her, while she keeps staring in surprise at it.
- Talking about Marrow; in her first appearance she scolds Xavier for not destroying Cerebro to prevent it from falling into Master Mold's hands. Cue to a few episodes later when she hands over Xavier to the sentinels in revenge, giving them exactly what they need to use Cerebro.
- Cyclops is practically defined by this trope, so much so that he is literally The Load from start to finish, from flashbacks to present. You could make a drinking game out of just how many idiot moments he has.
- His actions with Wolverine were particularly idiotic. Wolverine's getting a little too cozy with his girl, and he makes some not-too-subtle remarks about his worthiness. Instead of making some remarks of his own like pretty much every other version of the character has done, or suggesting they fight it out, he shoots him in the back, full blast, predictably pissing off Jean, and making Wolverine respect him even less with his cowardly attack.
Edited by Anddrix on Jul 6th 2021 at 3:19:07 PM
More from WhatAnIdiot.Mass Effect. To keep this from becoming a textwall, I'll be putting each example in its own folder. Still using the Green Bold Text for my comments.
- An example pops up with the Geth Consensus when they are attacked by the quarian Migrant Fleet. This entire wiki is for documenting examples of tropes as they happen in works of fiction, so dedicating a bullet to tell us that an example happens is redundant and unnecessary.
Overview: The Geth Consensus is attacked by the Migrant Fleet, which destroys the Dyson Sphere they were building around Rannoch, and their territory is being overrun quickly. The destruction of the Dyson Sphere deletes the majority of the geth "species" and thus reduces their collective cognitive ability. Remember this, kids, because we'll come back to it.
You'd Expect: The geth to call for assistance from Shepard to prevent the quarians from overunning them. Shepard was under house arrest on Earth until the Reapers arrived, and so was not in a position to be receiving or answering any calls for help. After the Reapers' arrival, Shepard resumed command of the Normandy, which made them disappear from any sensor networks the geth still had access to, leaving them to presume that Shepard had been killed on Earth.
Instead: Following their emergency survival protocols, the geth seek out immediate assistance from the Reapers, who give them upgrades to their coding to render them immune to the quarians' weapons, at the expense of being enslaved or exterminated by the Reapers once their usefulness runs out. If Shepard points out that the geth made a rather poor long-term decision, Legion agrees with that assessment. As stated in the Overview section, the quarian fleet had just begun their assault on the geth by destroying most of their number, taking with it most of the geth's collective intelligence and military strength. The quarians were continuing to attack the geth. The geth had no other allies. So, as of the start of the game, the geth were desperate for help, and the Reapers were the only ones showing up to the table with an offer. The geth are not idiots for taking the only option available to them, even if it is striking a Deal with the Devil.
- An example pops up with the Geth Consensus when they are attacked by the quarian Migrant Fleet. This entire wiki is for documenting examples of tropes as they happen in works of fiction, so dedicating a bullet to tell us that an example happens is redundant and unnecessary.
- The quarian Migrant Fleet, in turn, makes its own equally stupid decision in attacking the geth.
You'd Expect: The quarians, aware of the Reaper threat, to direct their military buildup to counter the Reapers, instead of launching into a destructive and costly war with the geth.
Instead: The quarians, sensing a chance to completely destroy their old enemy and recover their homeworld, launch an attack with the new weapons that render the geth helpless. The games go out of their way to establish that those actions were the fault of the various members of the Admiralty Board, and that the civilians in the fleet were not all in agreement with the Admirals' decisions. So no, I don't think this example condemning the entire Migrant Fleet is worth keeping, especially considering the Broken Base surrounding their side of the geth-quarian conflict. My vote is that it be replaced with examples focusing on the Admirals' individual actions and the respective incidents that resulted from them.
- The quarian Migrant Fleet, in turn, makes its own equally stupid decision in attacking the geth.
- The Citadel DLC: A villainous impostor pretending to be Shepard has just seized control of the Normandy with a squad of mercenaries. Additional context: Clone Shepard is trying to steal the Normandy. Their plan for doing so hinges on everyone believing they are the real Commander Shepard and not realizing there's a problem on the Normandy until after the ship is undocked and gone from the station. Which means they can't do anything that puts C-Sec on alert or gets the Normandy locked down before it can be launched.
You'd Expect: They would kill all witnesses, ensuring that nobody could report the people inexplicably wearing CAT-6 armour accompanying Shepard, The only people on the Citadel that know about CAT-6 are Shepard and company, and only because of Liara's Shadow Broker resources. thereby easing the identity theft. The Normandy is being monitored inside and out by C-Sec via the ship's internal sensors, which don't require EDI to be online. Killing Alliance technicians would raise alarms at C-Sec and get the Normandy locked down before it can be launched. Which is why Clone Shepard isn't doing it.
Instead: The villain just fires Traynor and kicks her off the ship, allowing Traynor to aid the real Shepard in regaining access to the Normandy before it can leave. Clone Shepard didn't know Shepard was already freed until they heard the security report of somebody stowing aboard. Clone Shepard actually had a solid plan for stealing the Normandy. They're not an idiot for their plan being upset by a Spanner in the Works.
- The Citadel DLC: A villainous impostor pretending to be Shepard has just seized control of the Normandy with a squad of mercenaries. Additional context: Clone Shepard is trying to steal the Normandy. Their plan for doing so hinges on everyone believing they are the real Commander Shepard and not realizing there's a problem on the Normandy until after the ship is undocked and gone from the station. Which means they can't do anything that puts C-Sec on alert or gets the Normandy locked down before it can be launched.
Industrious Incisors
Found on YMMV.Candorville
- What An Idiot: After winning custody of Lionel, Lemont allows Roxanne to keep him "just one night" while he shops for baby furniture (he won Lionel, not Lionel's stuff). Critics are fairly certain that A) Roxanne is going to kidnap him and B) this is a way for the author not radically alter Lemont's life and have to draw a new character. Amazingly the critics were wrong: Roxanne gives Lionel to Lemont and they're living together.
If the expected negative consequences never happened, is it even an example at all?
SoundCloud
KIRBY CAR
Anything wrong with this entry on YMMV.Super Mario 3 D World?
- What An Idiot: You've just cleared World Castle and dunked Bowser into a river of lava, but he isn't quite defeated yet, and quickly comes back to cut your victory celebration short.
- You'd expect: The Sprixie Princesses to fly away or at least scatter
- Instead: They huddle together, allowing Bowser to easily snatch them all up with one move.
- As a result: You have to go through a whole 'nother world to rescue them all again.
Sounds like Cutscene Incompetence.
I was browsing WhatAnIdiot.Comic Books and found these entries for The Sandman.
In the past, Dream and Calliope's son Orpheus is overcome with grief when his wife Eurydice dies shortly after they're married. He tries to beg Dream for help, but Oneiros as he is known brusquely tells his son that rather than try to revive the dead, to seize the day and live his life. Dream isn't wrong because there are consequences to undoing the laws of the universe, but it's the exact sort of unwanted advice that drives Orpheus to beg his aunts and uncles for help. He knows they are gods, and attempts Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!.
You'd Expect: Death and Destruction would counsel Orpheus more gently than his father did; death is something that happens, and it's best to leave things be after grieving for a healthy amount of time. If he wants to spend time with them, or perhaps talk to the shade of his wife, maybe that would be healthier. What happened was awful, but fighting fate when you're a Greek demi-god is a bad idea. Trying to undo the unnatural order of things can have consequences down the road. Destruction knows that, given that he quits the position much later.
Instead: Death decides to be a Cool Aunt and not only give Orpheus immortality, but also grant him access to the Underworld to reason with Hades and bargain to bring his wife back.
Predictably: When Orpheus fails to live up to the condition of walking to the outer world and never looking back, he despairs. Orpheus throws his life away, or at least his body, by singing sad songs and letting the Maenads tear him apart. He spends centuries as a living severed head first barely surviving the French Revolution and living on a remote Greek island with priests who attend him. None of the Endless can kill him without invoking the wrath of the Kindly Ones. By the end of it, Orpheus no longer mourns Eurydice but wishes to die so he can move on the way a normal human should.
Speaking of the French Revolution, Dream commissions Johanna Constantine to rescue his son's head. She's reluctant, but he promises her a high price. Johanna survives because Orpheus sings a song that drives all of their pursuers to despair.
You'd Expect: At some point Dream would try to find a way to restore his son's body before removing his immortality, so that Orpheus will die of natural causes. That avoids the wrath of the Kindly Ones and gives Orpheus what he wants: a natural death.
Alternatively: Dream would put Orpheus in a dream where he would be with Eurydice's ghost, and bend the rules the way Brute and Glob placed Hector and Lyta Hall together. It wouldn't be real, but it would be close enough to give his son paradise. Orpheus grew up in the Dreaming, as a matter of fact.
Instead: Dream never tries either of these options and expects Orpheus to enjoy immortality as a severed head.
The Result: When Orpheus begs for death in exchange for revealing Destruction's location, Dream has no choice but to comply. That means the Kindly Ones murder him eventually and wreak havoc on the Dreaming.
For the first one, it's a retelling of Orpheus's story, so the majority of readers know what's going to happen and You Can't Fight Fate, and the second one is very heavily implied, if not outright stated, to be part of Morpheus's plan to die by siccing the Kindly Ones on himself.
Edited by lalalei2001 on Aug 4th 2021 at 7:16:47 AM
The Protomen enhanced my life.
How sweet it is
There's a ZCE entry on YMMV.Tom Swift And His War Tank. How are we handling this?
she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
I've come across a lot of this on the Yu-Gi-Oh What an Idiot page.
Some ones I want to cut and my reasoning why:
You'd Expect: For the bad guy to just kick the crap out of the hero without challenging them to a children's card game, taking whatever items or possessions that they may have.
Instead: For some reason, they decide to do it only if they won the duel in spite of the fact they don't even need to do that. Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged sums up the entire idiocy:
Seeker: We are the elite group known as Rare Hunters. My name is Steve. And these are my associates. They are also called Steve. We're here to take your rarest card!
Joey: You mean you're gonna kick the crap out of me and steal it?
Seeker: No! First we're going to challenge you to a children's card game! Then we will kick the crap out of you and steal it!
Joey: Wouldn't it be much easier just to skip the first step?
Seeker: Yes! Yes it would!
You'd Expect: As often as any duelist encounters an unfamiliar card, they'd give it a quick read so they'd know what it does. Admittedly, with duel disks they are playing an unreasonable distance apart, but that would just make doing so slightly more awkward. This is especially bad in VRAINS, because the holographic interface on the duel disk is shown to magnify card text and other attributes when the duelist wants to do so.
Instead: Countless times duelists will be surprised by a card effect they could have simply read themselves before acting rashly, because the plot needs drama. Or, to quote the abridged series again.
Duke: Oh, man, I have no idea what that card does.
Rebecca: If only there was some way to find out.
Duke: Yeah, like asking what it does.
Rebecca: But we can't do that. That would be rude!
Duke: I guess we'll never know.
You'd Expect: That Yugi would refuse his request, or if he did allow Haga/Weevil to see them, he wouldn't allow the cards to leave his hand for any reason whatsoever.
Instead: Yugi just hands him the cards without hesitation.
Result: Haga/Weevil throws the cards over the deck of the cruise ship, ensuring that Yugi cannot use his extremely powerful Ace Cards.
There's more, but these are some of the most blatant examples of misuse from the page.
I want to at least cut all Abridged series dialogue from the page; there is no reason for it to be there while discussing the anime series, and all it does is give off the impression of people who haven't actually seen the anime discussing it based off the abridged series instead. Thoughts?
Edited by QueenoftheCats on Sep 16th 2021 at 10:51:45 AM
I'm helping!
This just got added to WhatAnIdiot.Miraculous Ladybug, which we're gonna folderize cause the episode isn't out in English yet:
- Marinette is leaving Paris for a bit and has decided to entrust her Miraculous to Alya while she's gone.
You'd Expect: For her to let Cat Noir know she's having someone temporarily fill in for her.
Instead: It slips her mind completely.
Result: When Cat sees Scarabella for the first time, he immediately assumes she's an akuma or sentimonster and attacks her.
This seems incorrect. It didn't "slip her mind" that Alya was going to be a backup Ladybug, she clearly spent the first several minutes of the episode trying desperately to get out of the trip. The reason she didn't tell Cat Noir about this is that the entire decision happened at the last moment, when she realized she really wasn't getting out of it after all.
e: Okay, someone just tacked on this and we're pretty sure it's just fucking wrong
Marinette can't just contact Cat Noir at will! She can only text him when she's Ladybug!
Edited by wingedcatgirl on Sep 21st 2021 at 12:03:07 PM
Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
On YMMV.My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic S 9 E 1 The Beginning Of The End Part 1:
- What An Idiot: Twilight and Rarity not bothering to catch the Elements with their magic when the Tree of Harmony is destroyed.
A similar entry is listed on the What An Idiot page for the show.
Here's the thing: The scene in question (see here) happens in the blink of an eye. The group was probably in shock at the earthquake and subsequent damage done to the Tree of Harmony that they didn't have time to react to the Elements being shattered (it's not like they fell slowly either). There have been other instances in the show of unicorns not catching things with their magic in even longer timeframes, or even not using their magic at all when you might expect them to (how quickly unicorns can use magic to levitate stuff doesn't really get a clear answer in the show), so this just feels like complaining, or Fridge Logic at best.
Heck, the entry on the WAI show page even admits that they presumably didn't catch the Elements out of shock.
Edited by PacificGreen on Oct 1st 2021 at 1:20:46 AM
If there was a justified reason for them not reacting in the moment, the example is misuse and should be removed.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Yeah, the "justified" part is what gets me here, seeing that, like I said, use of magic for catching things in the show is kinda inconsistent. We don't really have a good reference as to whether or not unicorns can catch stuff in situations that require quick reflexes, so I guess it does come down to the subjective notion of "Would you expect them to catch the elements in that short of a timeframe?". As much as I would say it's not an example so much as Fridge Logic, that subjectivity makes me think maybe we should give the benefit of the doubt to the editor who added that example.
Maybe others who watch the show can weigh in on this. But yeah, this is proof that fantastical elements in works that don't have consistent rules are like the bane of this trope. 
RWBY examples that may be misuse (WhatAnIdiot.Web Original):
- In Cinder's backstory, it's revealed she had a Wicked Stepmother who forced her to clean a massive hotel by herself without food (forcing the girl to eat scraps to survive) and regularly tortured her with a shock collar. A visiting Huntsman named Rhodes learns of all this and feels guilty for not intervening when he suspected something earlier.
You'd Expect: Rhodes to reporte Cinder's stepmother to the police. Or simply take Cinder away from there. Or anything but what he does.
Instead: Rhodes decides to train Cinder to be a Huntsman and insists she endure her torment for several more years
The Result: Cinder ends up snapping and murdering her stepmother and stepsisters for their abuse then killing Rhodes when he insists she's passed the Moral Event Horizon for her actions.
This entry is expecting a fantasy world to follow the same rules as real life countries, despite the show repeatedly making it clear that the kingdom in question (Atlas) has chronic systemic issues with equality and how the wealthy elite treat those they consider lesser beings.
Why he couldn't just take Cinder away from her family and decided he had to do it this way has been discussed a lot in the fandom. The truth is, the fandom doesn't really know for certain why he couldn't do it that way. What the show has told us:
- Slavery was outlawed decades ago. The hotelier in question actually finds an orphanage to adopt a child first. Only then does she begin using that child for slave labour. However, in the eyes of the law, Cinder is Madame's daughter, not a slave.
- A lot of Cinder's abuse happens in the open, in front of hotel patrons. She even collapses in front of everyone. No-one rushes to her aid, no-one tries to help. Most of the room carries on like nothing happened. Rhodes does look disgusted by the situation, but even he doesn't intervene. The show has already established by this point that Atlas has a terribly unequal and abusive society for those who aren't at the top; all it's doing is confirming that The Heavy was one of the victims of this society.
- Rhodes only intervenes in Cinder's situation when it personally inconveniences him — Cinder steals his sword with the intention of using it to kill her family. When Rhodes confronts her about the theft, he tells her that if she murders them she'll be running for the rest of her life. When she shows interest in being a Huntress, he decides to help her.
- Rhodes makes it clear in the episode that he feels Cinder's only legal escape from her situation is to pass the Huntsman Academy entrance exam, which will take place when she's 17. She's 10 at this point. Rhodes states that the law will allow her to leave the stepmother for the Academy when she turns 17, and her stepmother will have no legal recourse to stop her. So, she'll have to endure 7 years of abuse while training in secret. She manages approximately five years before she breaks and kills the family — the trigger event is her step-sisters finding the sword Rhodes gave her.
- The show doesn't tell us why Rhodes feels this is Cinder's only legal option to escape her situation. The subject of kidnapping her away from her stepmother or going to the police never crops up. The entry is therefore making assumptions about things the fandom has no knowledge of, and therefore comes across as complaining about plots they don't like.
Edited by Wyldchyld on Oct 8th 2021 at 12:02:12 PM
If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Found these entries in YMMV.Sonic The Hedgehog 2006.
- What An Idiot:
- A weird looking black hedgehog tells Silver that to fix the future, they need to get rid of the Iblis Trigger. Mephiles then reveals he can travel through time, and with a Chaos Emerald shows Silver that Sonic is the one responsible for it. However...
You'd expect: That at least Silver or Blaze question him. If Mephiles has the power to travel through time, why didn't he stop the Iblis Trigger himself? Or Silver ask how Mephiles can travel through time.
Instead: Silver takes the information at face value, and Blaze says nothing. They go to the past and Silver ends up fighting Sonic at least twice. - After having found out that Iblis can only be sealed into some sort of royal vessel (ie: Elise), Silver then sees Elise die. He promptly lets Sonic go and try to save Elise again on his own instead of going with him despite the fact that they both had just failed horribly, and he goes back to his destroyed future to defeat Iblis and then tries to seal it inside of himself. Whether it's separate timelines or the bad future still existing due to Sonic having failed goes unexplained, but all this serves to do is force Blaze to seal Iblis inside of herself and disappear from the plot, removing her from being playable in the last story.
- In Sonic's Story, Robotnik tells Sonic that he shall give him the Princess, in exchange for the Chaos Emerald. Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles all agree that it definitely sounds like a trap, and that Robotnik will not keep his side of the bargain. They walk straight into said trap and give the Emerald to Robotnik, and surprise, it was a trap and he wasn't going to keep his side of the bargain.
- Elise has been kidnapped at the beginning of the game, and Sonic needs to give chase.
You'd Expect: Sonic to chase after Eggman right away. Surely he could build up enough momentum over time that he could eventually jump up.
Instead: He doesn't even bother to chase after Eggman, choosing to instead meet with Tails the next day.
You'd Then Expect: "Hey Tails, let's use the Tornado to catch up to the Egg Carrier!" They catch up, rescue Elise, and take her away before Eggman has a chance to snatch her again.
Instead: Not only is the Tornado not even considered, the two decide to go to Wave Ocean to chase after the Egg Carrier on foot. Even if they did catch up, they wouldn't be able to do anything. The sound you just heard? That's the sound of all but the most diehard Sonic fans banging their heads in frustrationnote .
- A weird looking black hedgehog tells Silver that to fix the future, they need to get rid of the Iblis Trigger. Mephiles then reveals he can travel through time, and with a Chaos Emerald shows Silver that Sonic is the one responsible for it. However...
First entry sounds like Silver is a Horrible Judge of Character, especially since Mephiles is Obviously Evil. Still, I'm a little iffy on this one. You could make the excuse that Silver was desperate to save the future since he and Blaze fought Iblis multiple times with no end in sight, but both of them believe Mephilies without getting suspicious or questioning him.
Second one is a little complainy on the last part about Blaze not being playable, but it overall sounds valid. Silver learns that Iblis needs to be sealed in a royal vessel like Elise, then he wonders later why he's being rejected when he tries to seal it in of himself?
Third one seems valid. They seem to recognize that it's a trap almost immediately and then they proceed to fall for it anyways.
Fourth one is a definite cut. It's complainy at the end and the entry seems contradictory. It says that you'd expect Sonic could build up enough momentum to jump up and then at the end, it says that Sonic/Tails couldn't do anything on foot. The only thing I can see being salvaged is them not considering the Tornado, but we don't know if Tails even has it in this continuity.
Edited by Super_Weegee on Oct 21st 2021 at 10:20:43 AM
How sweet it is
Update on this issue which got no response: I commented it out for now. It was simply a character's name with a sinkhole.
Found this on YMMV.Little Shop Of Horrors:
- A meta example. Frank Oz said he didn't like having to rewrite the ending, but felt he had to please the audience. He also rewrote Orin and Mushnik's deaths in such a way that the audience could much more easily think Seymour never crossed the Moral Event Horizon, and thus he remained a very sympathetic character. How did he think the audience would react to the Downer Ending after that?
he/him