Reality Ensues/Surprisingly Realistic Outcome cleanup

Bringing up the following examples from Forever Evil (2013):

• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
  • In issue 1, Ultraman pushes the moon into the sun to create a solar eclipse. In Black Manta's Villain's Month issue, Ultraman's act causes tides to go wild; flooding coastal areas. This includes demolishing the graveyard where Black Manta's father is buried and he's not happy about that.
  • Issue 2 has Grid talking about how moving the moon has caused flooding and earthquakes, keeping most of the remaining heroes and governments occupied saving lives across the globe.

Both cover the same action (moving the moon) and the same outcome (ie, flooding).

Also, I don't think the position of the moon causes earthquakes

Even if it's a keeper, the examples can be merged

On one hand, physically changing the position of the moon is impossible. On the other, the moon is moving anyways, and it's movement causes tides

Edited by magnumtropus on Oct 27th 2021 at 5:37:49 PM

Found these on Theatre.Hamlet:

• Reality Ensues:
  • One of the play's more underrated merits is how it approaches human psychology compared to most other contemporary Elizabethan revenge dramas. Or, to be more concise, Hamlet's constant struggle with bringing himself to kill Claudius off can be seen as a reflection of how, in the real world, most people have been taught to have a decent enough respect for human life and will really struggle to actually bury their knife in another person's back (especially if the person in question's both a blood relative and a major governmental figure).
  • Relatedly, Hamlet's quest for vengeance is first initiated after he's visited by the ghost of his dead father. However, he still doesn't take his father's ghost at face value and doesn't begin his quest for vengeance until he has actual concrete evidence since he thinks that it's all a trick of the Devil. Furthermore, being visited by his father's ghost traumatizes Hamlet and even sets up his Sanity Slippage throughout the rest of the play.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

I removed a couple paragraphs of misuse from that page I mentioned.

Are we human, or are we dancer?

Bringing up the following example from Rorschach (2020):

• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Yeah, a headshot can stop a criminal right there and then...but it makes actually identifying the guy that much harder.

That probably depends on the situation. Fingerprints? DNA Matching? Where was he shot in the head?

About the headshot one, it may be closer to deconstruction.

From RealityEnsues.James Bond:

• The Magic Plastic Surgery that Ernst Stavro Blofeld, SPECTRE's head honcho and 007's biggest Arch-Enemy, frequently does to become Karma Houdini in all of his appearances? Turns out it comes with the price of Sanity Slippage, having to constantly shuffle around different Supervillain Lairs in order to escape justice.

Fictional Procedure has fictional drawbacks, nothing to do with reality.

• Bond Villain Stupidity is a form of ignorance commonly exhibited by the Bond villains. It occurs when a villain fails to kill 007 when he has him cornered, incapacitated, or otherwise defenseless, thus giving Bond a shot at cooking a plan B to defeat the villain. Frequently, they enter Villain Ball territory by placing 007 in an elaborate Death Trap from which he can escape, all the while gloating instead of obviously shooting him.

How is this realistic?

• In general, several films (Goldfinger, Licence to Kill, Die Another Day, etc.) display that Bond himself is not exempt from captivity, torture or threats of imminent death, in spite of being a super spy with years of skill, and needed rescue or some other solution to survive.

Plot happens

• The Man with the Golden Gun: Hai Fat treats Francisco Scaramanga like a junior partner or subordinate with some disdain, but the assassin proves him spectacularly wrong and quickly pulls off a Klingon Promotion.

Plot happens, it's clear from the start that Scaramanga is the bigger threat

• Sheriff J.W. Pepper (returning from Live and Let Die) tries talking to the Thai police as if they're his police squad. Predictably, he gets arrested for it, since he was involved as a suspect in a chase (Bond stole an AMC Hornet X from a showroom to catch Scaramanga, and Pepper just happened to be the passenger). Even ignoring the language barrier, just because Pepper is an officer of the law in America, that doesn't mean he'll get the same respect from foreign police officers.

Asshole gets his commupence for doing something stupid, nothing subverted here

• Bond threatens Andrea Anders to get a description of Scaramanga and she only claims that he is "tall, slim and dark". Bond shoots back that "so is his aunt", showing that such a description is incredibly vague. She adds that he has a third nipple and Bond similarly responds that such information is completely useless "unless it's a strip club and Scaramanga is performing".

This is just Suspect Is Hatless

• In Octopussy, Bond is attempting to stop a train carrying a nuclear bomb. A fight on top of the train with one of the mooks ends with them both falling off. Bond survives and disposes of the mook... except he is now miles away from the bomb and alone without recourse to his usual gadgets and vehicles. He has great difficulty hitching a lift, has no way of contacting any authorities (no-one is going to break off their phone conversation to let a mad man raving about a bomb use the public phone) and a botched attempt at carjacking merely brings the entire West German police force down on him.
  • Orlov chases the train as it crosses the inner-German border. He apparently thought that as a Soviet general, the East German border guards would easily let him through, but they instead mistake him for a defector and kill him.
  • General Gogol and the Soviet Politburo criticize Orlov for his plan to invade western Europe and weaken NATO, knowing that the countries they invade would not go down without a fight, and that Orlov's plan would end up annihilating everyone on both sides and leaving no victors in the end. Gogol also holds Orlov in great contempt, feeling that his thirst for power is dangerous.

Plot happens

• A View to a Kill: Turns out hiring an insane sociopath like Max Zorin is not a good idea. He's the end result of Nazi eugenics experiments that the KGB raised, trained, and sent to the West as a deep cover agent. Once he becomes successful enough, he decides to screw them over and take a shot at global financial domination himself.

Well, duh

• Zorin's death. Standing on a very narrow bridge cable while wildly swinging an axe around trying to kill 007 does not do wonders for one's physical or mental health.

Again, this is obvious

• Licence to Kill: Krest essentially ends up having to be the unfortunate mook who has to explain to his unimpressed boss exactly what happened when James Bond performed one of his awesome-but-completely-unbelievable stunts that completely fouls up the Big Bad's operations. Sanchez throws him inside his boat's decompression chamber and begins raising the pressure of the chamber. Once the pressure reaches a critical point, Sanchez, taking an axe, hacks through the air-pressure vent. The rapid decompression causes Krest's head to rapidly expand, then explode.
  • Fearful that this might attract the attention of his bosses, M revokes Bond's licence to kill after admonishing Bond for his Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Franz Sanchez, who attacked Bond's CIA friend Felix Leiter in retaliation for having him arrested for narcotics smuggling.

More plot happens

• A side effect of the Magic Plastic Surgery that turned Colonel Moon into Gustav Graves is that he's now an insomniac, and thus must spend an hour each day in a REM machine to keep himself sane.

Again, fictional procedure has fictional drawbacks

• Casino Royale (2006):
  • After stealing the phone of the terrorist he tried to kill in the embassy, Bond sneaks into M's home and tries hacking into her security clearance so he can trace where the cell phone was last used. When M enters and discovers him there, she admonishes him on his arrogance (he earns even more displeasure for attempting to say her real name), as well as on proper protocol and conduct. She also tells Bond to go on a brief vacation until she can decide how best to deal with him, and warns him not to do it again on pain of death.

M being angry at Bond for breaking into her house is hardly unexpected

• Quantum of Solace:
  • The inexperienced Agent Fields gets unwittingly dragged into Bond's scheme. . . and ends up dead.

This happens in these movies all the time

• Spectre has a bucketload of many. In fact, it goes on to deconstruct many of the franchise's aspects itself.
  • Bond goes to Mexico City to stop a thug working for SPECTRE from blowing up a stadium full of people during the Día de Muertos festival. While he manages to kill the thug during their helicopter fight, Bond's unauthorized mission not only created another diplomatic debacle, 007 is also suspended from field duty for his recklessness. Plus, it frustrates M even more, already deadlocked in a power struggle with Max Denbigh/C, head of the rival Joint Intelligence Service. The scandal gives C evidence to terminate the 00-agent section. Of course, this was all orchestrated by Blofeld, who is using C as a way to humiliate 007 for their Cain and Abel relationship.
  • The inquiry about the 00 program in Skyfall? Turns out the previous M's speech and Silva's interruption didn't actually derail it. Heck, SPECTRE was behind it in the first place.
  • The bad guys get a vote, too. They can go to town with armored cars just like Bond does. Bond learns this the hard way when he does a fly-past at the kidnappers' motorcade in Austria and finds Mr. Hinx's Range Rover is able to No-Sell several 9mm rounds that Bond fires at it, but the Cool Gun used by Hinx does damage to the plane's fuselage.
  • While Bond goes after SPECTRE, Max Denbigh/C brings the launch of his Nine Eyes program to the vote before the delegates of the participating countries, but it doesn't go through because South Africa voted against the project. After the meeting, M bluntly tells Denbigh that the world is better off without Nine Eyes, claiming that field agents are better because they can make better judgments. However, Denbigh opens his computer, playing a recorded message from Bond telling Moneypenny to get more information about two key members of SPECTRE: Mr. White and Franz Oberhauser. After playing the message, C states that M seems not to be able to control his own men. When M is shocked that Denbigh would monitor his own agents, C replies that they are monitoring everyone.
  • After initially voting not to join the Nine Eyes program, South Africa is forced in after SPECTRE deliberately staged a terrorist attack in Cape Town. Blofeld strong-armed them into joining his project under pain of wrecking more havoc if they refused. Also, SPECTRE secretly managed to build a NSA-style surveillance empire behind everyone's back.
  • When Bond is searching Mr. White's house, he sees a security camera, but doesn't deactivate it or delete the file. That is a really stupid mistake for a supposedly great spy. Blofeld later uses this against Bond in his Breaking Speech.
  • As Bond learns the hard way, the Girl of the Week doesn't immediately fall into his arms after being rescued, and the viewer can even see her terrified Reaction Shot upon seeing him. Nearly killing her by ramming his plane into the trunk of the Range Rover made her justifiably angry with 007. Speaking of Austria, although Bond obviously had good intentions to protect Madeline, she is 100% right in pointing out that he led the bad guys to her in the first place.

All of these are just plot happens with nothing being subverted

• Blofeld knows how MI6 works, yet he failed to take Bond's watch when preparing him for his torture session, allowing Madeleine to toss the explosive watch near Blofeld and create a distraction so she and Bond can escape. Blofeld also did not realize this was a ploy by Bond to allow himself to get captured and destroy the Supervillain Lair. Also, as 007 and Madeleine storm out while mowing down mooks left and right, Bond shoots at a gas valve. It's probably the most fragile Bond villain lair ever, as the entire base blows up in smithereens. Bond casually looks at the base exploding, having been used to destroying villain bases.
• In the film's climax, Madeleine parts ways with Bond, telling him that they cannot be together as long as Bond is still living the dangerous secret agent life, and Bond just lets her go on her way despite just telling her earlier to remain at the safe house for her own safety until they finished the job. This leads to her capture by Blofeld, who straps her to a bomb inside the former MI6 building to taunt Bond and distract him long enough to make his escape. Yes, Bond has a good reason to believe that Blofeld has perished in his Morocco Base, but that doesn't mean SPECTRE is finished, and even if their leader had died, there are still hundreds of loyal agents at large who are ready to strike from anywhere and anytime, so Bond should at least be more concerned about her safety, especially after witnessing firsthand what they are capable of (don't forget, they were responsible for the deaths of M in Skyfall and Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, the two most important women in his life). It's like her relevance to the plot stopped after the 2nd act ended and the writers just hastily find a way to keep her in the story until it ends.
• Don't forget Madeleine's decision to leave. She grew up under SPECTRE'S shadow and has just escaped several attempts on her life... and she still decides to walk away on a dark street while they were out there. Granted, she thought she was able to care for herself but still...
• Bond sparing Blofeld at the end. Okay, they do have a Cain and Abel relationship, there were several people present, and it would've undermined M's message of "knowing when to take a life but when to spare one." The problem? Arresting someone who's a dangerous and walking threat to world security, smart enough to create chaos, was behind many of Bond's miseries since their teens, and has moles everywhere is NOT a good idea. IN FACT, he managed to create a shadow government under everyone's noses, and he is also somebody not to be trifled with. The Death Glare he gives to Bond and M shows that he will get his revenge. And indeed, within minutes of the beginning of the next film, he does, as he later confirms to Bond that he arranged for the ambush that nearly killed him and Madeleine as well as framing Madeleine for supposedly having been involved, knowing full well that Bond would react by leaving her.

These are all describing people doing unrealistically stupid things, I have no idea why they're even on this page.

• Mr. Hinx is a towering and extremely capable brute of a man who effortlessly overpowers Bond, but at the end, he's still human and can be killed by being shot, stabbed or set on fire, all of which happen to him and which he has to quickly address. Furthermore, Bond gains the upper hand by strangling him and defeats him by wrapping the rope around barrels he then sends out, either breaking his neck through force or letting the impact of falling from a speeding train kill him.

Sounds like every big henchman character in the franchise

Edited by Hfxjfrvnn on Oct 29th 2021 at 8:13:04 AM

Agreed, cut as necesaary. And if what remains of the page isn't salvageable in anyway, then cutlist it.

Sweet jesus the essay under Spectre...

It counts if it's an adaptation subverting the original work, right? From Something About:

• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The opening of "Something About Undertale - Alternate Pacifist Route" readily establishes that Frisk dies from falling into the Underground, which Sans confirms in the last corridor when noticing that they don't have any Determination to make use of, a sharp deviation from the original game's depiction of humans being able to survive the long fall and journey through the Underground without a hitch.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢

Deconstructed Trope

Do you smell shoehorns, bub?... wait, shit, I already did this joke in another thread.

Anyways, from Logan — the header image itself is JAFAAC that looks like any screenshot lifted from an action film containing a car crash. And then there's these, *ahem*, entries:

• The first example is the most obvious, as with the newly acquired R-rating, we get to see an X-Men movie that shows us how hideously gruesome Wolverine slicing people up with his claws would actually be. No Bloodless Carnage this time around. — An R-Rated Movie contains R-Rated Blood. Nothing surprising here.
• Sure, Logan may have wiped out the gangbangers attempting to steal the rims off of his limo at the beginning, but even after he uneasily returned to his feet and popped his claws out after being shot in the head, they were completely unfazed. This is because all of them grew up in a post-mutant world and are hardened criminals who have seen enough shit in their time to make a guy with metal claws who recovered from a point-blank-range shotgun blast to the head a curiosity and little else. They hadn't seen anything like that before, but they also didn't really give a fuck. — Bunch of gangsters acting gangsterly in a Post-Apocalyptic movie, with ZILCH to do with the plot.
• Laura is a highly skilled fighter and killer packing adamantium Wolverine Claws. She's also an 11 year-old girl fighting grown men twice her size, and while she appears to have some degree of superhuman strength, she's still a tiny preteen girl, and while she can overpower grown men who are close to three times her size, she needs the element of surprise to do so. Her Waif-Fu is strong, but when she can't control the fight, catch her adversaries by surprise, or get help, she can be overwhelmed (even if it costs her assailants a few limbs in the process). — You want a realistic outcome? Then Laura should've been DEAD. Since she's an 11-year-old fighting adults armed with GUNS. Plot happens shoehorn.
• A minor one, but during Logan, Charles and Laura's escape from the Reavers, Logan attempts to ram his limousine through the fence that borders the factory, only to find out that the chain-link fence and metal bars are actually more durable than they seem. The fence buckles but doesn't break, stopping the limousine dead in its tracks as it doesn't have the power to drag that much fencing. As a result, Logan is forced to double-back to the main entrance, which is only held together by a simple, padlocked chain that snaps under the force of a car hitting it. — Exit A doesn't work, so the hero tries Exit B, which does work. Zilch to do with the plot.
• The Transigen kids have powers, but they're also children. Although a few manage to use their powers to devastating effect in the final pursuit, the Reavers are ultimately too many, too strong, and too well-equipped for them to handle. — In a "realistic outcome", those kids would be dead, dead, DEAD, but having seen the movie more than once I don't recall any children dying in the finale. Nothing subverted.
• What happens when Charles's brain, that has been compared to weapons of mass destruction, goes senile and/or gets a degenerative disease? He can cause severe pain and paralysis to everyone around him, up to and including killing the X-Men. — That's precisely what the plot of the film is about.
• Pierce, for all of his bravado, is still ultimately just a normal human who can't hope to win against Logan or Laura in a straight-up fight. In the finale, he is quickly disarmed and has to rely on X-24 to do the fighting for him while he hides, only intervening to incapacitate Logan while he's unaware, and is quickly and easily captured by the children when cornered. His subsequent death is not so quick and easy, for him. — This is an action film with a Non-Action Big Bad, a super-common trope. Which is, again, forced under Reality Ensues just because.
• Ex X-Man or not, ex-soldier or not, mutant or not, Logan can only last so long in his weakened condition. After several days on the run and fighting for his life, the poor guy simply passes out from exhaustion, forcing Laura to drive them the rest of the way. — And then he recovers a scene later and goes back to asskicking. Nothing subverted.
  • In the same scene, Logan - who was previously able to hold a Bilingual Dialogue with the primarily-Spanish Laura - is quite a bit too tired to understand what she's saying if she doesn't use his first language. — This English-speaking character doesn't understand that Spanish-speaking character, until the latter switches to English. ZILCH to do with the plot.
  • In the finale, Logan sprints for miles from Eden to save Laura and the children from the Reavers... and winds up collapsing from sheer exhaustion before he can reach them, forcing him to use the green serum to close the remaining distance. — Another "Hero displays moment of weakness in final battle" which happens in 99% of superhero movies. Shoehorn.
• Several counts in the final fight.
  • While dangerous up close, Logan is helpless against several gunmen in the open with rifles trained on him. — And yet he's still alive after absorbing tons of bullets fired by nameless mooks, because Logan can only be killed by Logan. Nothing subverted.
  • Knowing this, the Big Bad takes the chance to monologue only to get shot through the head by Logan. Who, knowing full well he couldn't reach him and that trying would be suicidal, picked up one of the numerous guns lying around. — Shut Up, Hannibal!, not Reality Ensues.
• Xander Rice and the Reavers get chewed out by an US Army officer following the mess at the Munson farm. Even though Transigen has enough clout to have the cooperation of authorities on both sides of the border, it's clear that it could only go so far with collateral damage or any Leave No Survivors hijinks before the government stops looking the other way, especially on American soil. — The US Army shows up in one scene and screws off for the rest of the movie, with ZILCH impact on the plot.

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The whole page is a mess, tbh. Permission to shred with adamantium blades?

Bringing up the following examples from Gladiator:

• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: The Hulking German chieftain at the beginning is not killed in the battle in a one on one duel by Maximus, they don't even fight or share a scene with one another. Instead he is killed by being stabbed multiple times by nameless Roman soldiers.
  • Commodus has some experience and training with a sword, as a brief scene near the beginning shows, but by his own admission, he has never been in a battle nor ever really used those skills in a life or death situation. When he decides to fight Maximus one-on-one in the Colosseum, Maximus, who is not only a war veteran with years if not decades of combat experience, but has also constantly honed his dueling skills from his various gladiator battles before hand, COMPLETELY outmatches Commodus and swiftly proceeds to beat him down and kill him. And this is AFTER Commodus had already fatally wounded Maximus in the side beforehand to further stack the deck. Even when both combatants lose their swords and Commodus tries to attack Maximus with concealed dagger, Maximus easily dodges the attacks and simply lays into Commodus with Good Old Fisti Cuffs, which the pampered Commodus clearly has NO training to defend against.
  • Reality does not so much ensue as come crashing down during the battle where Maximus and his fellow gladiators, representing a barbarian horde, are supposed to be wiped out by archers on chariots. The plan was clearly for the archers riding in the chariots to pick off the gladiators one by one. Maximus shredded that plan from the start by refusing to play by their rules.
    • First, Maximus let the men know that if they fought together, they stood a better chance of surviving. By not letting the chariots scatter them, it allowed them to fight and defend as a unit. As soon as the doors open and he sees what they're up against, he devises a plan to win.
    • Maximus stays icy calm throughout, knowing that if he projected confidence it would rally his men.
    • The Charioteers had no one in charge to give orders and adapt to the changing situation. Even when it became clear their plan wasn't working, they clung to it instead of changing tactics.
    • The chariots had no room to maneuver and the cramped space made it impossible to change direction quickly. It's significant that when a chariot overturns, Maximus orders his men to cut the horses loose instead of trying to right the chariot and use it themselves. Once he mounts his horse, he uses its' superior agility to easily slice up the Charioteers.
    • The Charioteers couldn't dismount and try to fight as infantry, as they didn't have shields or swords. Even though it wasn't working, they had no choice but to stay with their chariots.
  • Maximus is set up to fight Tigris of Gaul, the only champion gladiator who went undefeated for his entire career. However, Tigris was pulled out of retirement for the fight, and there's absolutely no indication of whether he kept his skills sharp in the meanwhile. Maximus, on the other hand, is a highly skilled professional soldier still in his prime. Despite having unfair advantages and being willing to fight dirty, Tigris loses the fight very quickly.

But what's it a deconstruction of?

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Yeah, go ahead and cut them.

The only entry I could maybe see being salvaged is the first one about the chieftain dying to nameless soldiers, but that's really going to depend on the context of the movie itself. How is it setup and subsequently subverted?

I don't have any issues with cutting the rest.

Wondering if this counts

When Mina gets her arm dislocated by Tetsutetsu's tackle, she resets it herself. In most shonen, this would be a badass moment where the fight turns around and she powers through to continue fighting. Here, she can only cry out in pain and faints soon afterward.

It subverts usual shonen expectations considering injuries and pain tolerance through willpower, it can happen in real life, even if most people wouldn't know how to do it, it is possible and she has an in universe way to know. Also, it subverts the anime expectation that people can power through to the end of a fight until they are literally beaten into unconsciousness or pass out from exhaustion, here it shows that pain from relatively harmless injuries can knock someone out.

That might work, just maybe. Probably ok to call it SRO.

You've got a shoe-horn in me, you've got a... wait, shit, I already cracked that joke too? Damn.

Anyway, does a series of cartoons about Living Toys need, I dunno, a WHOLE page of SRO to themselves?

SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.Toy Story

• Through most of the movie, Buzz genuinely believes he's a real space ranger. However, when shown that he's indeed a real toy, he goes through an existential crisis since his beliefs have been shattered and he doesn't know what to do. It eventually takes some heart to heart from Woody that making his owner, Andy, happy is more of a noble goal to snap him out of it. — This is Existential Horror, not Reality Ensues. And the second line is Plot Happens.
• Early in the film, Woody accidentally knocks Buzz out of Andy's room through an upper window by using RC, even though Woody meant to knock Buzz behind a desk. RC, being sentient, knows when someone's controlling him, and it doesn't take long for him to inform the others what happened, turning them against Woody. They don't consider forgiving Woody for what they viewed as a selfish act of treachery until Buzz comes to his need. — Already covered by Didn't Think This Through, and also Plot Happens.
• When Woody and Buzz try to use RC to catch up to the moving truck, with the toys on the truck using Slinky to try and pull them to the truck. It fails due to the batteries on RC dying from Andy playing with him earlier and Slinky's coil only extending so far due to Woody being unable do speed up for him to pull them in, forcing Slinky to let go. — NO, having seen the first movie hundreds of times as a kid (and rewatched the ending on youtube just to confirm), the reason RC run out of power is because Woody and Buzz made RC, a TOY CAR, race against a REAL vehicle. And that Woody triggered RC's Turbo mode causing its batteries to drain out. Misuse.
• In the climax, after the RC/Slink plan doesn't work, the duo remembers the match Woody's carrying and the rocket Buzz is tied to. Woody ignites it and is set to light the fuse... and a passing car blows out the match. Though the duo manages to get it lit via the sunlight reflecting off of Buzz's dome, it isn't until they're about to take off that Woody realizes that the rocket he lit is a firework. — In a Realistic outcome, the explosion would just blow Woody and Buzz into bits and kill the franchise within the first movie... which didn't happen. Instead, the rocket flew off and explodes harmlessly a few seconds later, so it's another misuse.
  Woody: Wait a minute, I just lit a rocket... ROCKETS EXPLODE! — They explode harmlessly, too. In an UNREALISTIC way.

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• This one actually becomes a major theme of the series going forward: toys are essentially immortal as long as they keep themselves together, but their owners aren't and will eventually get older, outgrow their toys, and find other interests. This is a fact Woody grapples with numerous times, starting with this movie. — If it's a major theme of the franchise, then it's not SURPRISINGLY Realistic. It's Plot.
  • On the flipside, Stinky Pete was never being played with since he spent most of his life in his box, causing him to become bitter. So his motives in the film are reasonable, because while being on display in a museum is just trading one case for another, at least it's something resembling a purpose in life. When Woody and his friends foil that and stick him in a girl's backpack, supplementary material reveal he's actually happy because he's finally being played with. — Pixar needs a villain in their sequel, so the plot made him a villain. Nothing realistic about this.
  • Jessie reveals that she was abandoned in a box for years by her original owner, Emily. While she ends up happy with Andy, she still has some issues. In Toy Story 3, Jessie has a panic attack when she thinks Andy was about to throw her away, claiming it to be like Emily all over again, and in Toy Story of Terror, she's revealed to be downright claustrophobic, freaking out if she's trapped in a box (which was heavily implied in 2, but never stated). — This character has a phobia, which is accompanied by a Dark and Troubled Past backstory, which happens in a TON of films and have ZILCH to do with Reality.
• After Al swipes Woody, he gets a toy repairman to bring Woody back to mint condition, which is needed for his deal with a toy museum. Since Woody is a very old toy, the job is rather extensive and once it's done, the cleaner promptly tells Al that his work is meant for display only and a toy like Woody wouldn't survive any more of the rougher moments of child's play. This fact becomes relevant in Toy Story 4. — Toy Story 4 took place at least NINE years later, before Woody started breaking. Yes, he's a VERY Fragile toy, indeed.

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• As warned by Pete in the second film, Andy eventually did get older, and the movie opens with him at 17. While he still has the toybox in his room, he keeps it as a memento of his childhood and hasn't played with the toys in a long time. Even though Woody ended the second film expecting this, when the time came, it was a tough experience for him and the rest of Andy's toys. — As mentioned above, this is a recurring plot of these movies, so it's another Plot Happens misuse.
• Woody tries to use Andy's dog, Buster, to aid him (as he did in in the second film) when his friends are mistakenly put in a garbage bag. However, while Buster was a young and fit puppy in 2, this film takes place years later, so he's much older and, consequently, lethargic. This means that Buster instantly falls asleep and rolls onto Woody as soon as he tries to ride him, forcing Woody to abandon the idea of getting him to help. — An old dog is slower and less spry than a young puppy. Also Andy's house contains chairs.
• As noted in Lotso's backstory, his owner was just a child and didn't know that the toys were sentient, so she wasn't being evil when she accidentally left him, Baby and Chuckles during a picnic outing, even though Lotso keeps trying to frame her as such. Additionally, the picnic seemed to be during a road trip, so it's likely that the parents didn't know where they stopped in the first place and couldn't retrieve the toys, and that's if they decided that looking for three toys was worth the time. Even then, getting her a replacement Lotso was just a logical thing to do since she loved him and it took days for Lotso, Baby and Chuckles to get back to their home. — Another lengthy essay that just boils down to "Pixar needs a villain in their sequel" shoehorned under Reality Ensues.

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For some reason, the fourth movie had as many entries as the first three COMBINED... what, you want a Surprisingly Realistic Outcome in Toy Story 4? In a realistic world, Bonnie would've poked her eyes out with that Fork-thing ^note  what's his name again, though? after playing with it for fifteen minutes. Like, really, what kind of stupid parents would allow their child to sleep holding a spork in one hand?

... anyway, oh boy, here goes nothing. Brace yourself...

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• As the film opens, it does show the usual tragedy of a hero, namely you can't save everyone. Woody had went down to rescue RC when he was about to be swept away down a storm drain. While he does manage, Bo ended up being given away. Woody went to save her, but ultimately she decided to go to a new family, much to his heartbreak. RC is also a potent reminder of the time that has already passed since the second film, and how Andy is already growing up and likely feeling less attachment to his toys, considering he showed no clear concern for RC's absence. — Bo needs to be Put on a Bus, because the plot says so. And again, a recurring plot element from the previous films showing up here is NOT Reality Ensuing.
• While Bonnie does love having Woody as part of her group of toys, he isn't her favorite since she has a different style of playing with her toys than Andy. Additionally, a child can only play with so many toys, and one or two are bound to get sidelined. Bonnie even lampshades this, establishing why she's playing with Woody less and less. — This is an only child with a two-digit amount of toys. Hardly "surprisingly realistic". And more plot happens misuse.
• While Andy's speech to Bonnie in the last film about how important Woody was to him was certainly heartfelt and meaningful, it was also something that a child of Bonnie's age wouldn't fully appreciate. As such, she doesn't see any reason to take special care of Woody now that he's her toy. — Children are ignorant, and they sit on chairs.
• Bonnie's first day of kindergarten quickly overwhelms her, especially since she isn't allowed to take any toys with her to comfort herself. Many children, even ones who have been exposed to other children during their daycare years, often find themselves struggling to adapt to the new setting of public school, especially since unlike daycare, attendance is mandatory and there is a specific schedule in place. Bonnie also had the comfort of her mother as an employee at Sunnyside Day Care, which Bonnie can't fall back on in kindergarten. — Oh great, one of our tropers has a PHD in child psychology! Awesome! ... except, I'm sure we do NOT endorse the decision of using TV Tropes to write your thesis on child development and such. Like, seriously?
• The minor difference between Woody and Buzz's voice-boxes in this film actually highlights an interesting reversal on the long-term appeal of older and newer toys. Namely, Woody's voice box runs on a mini-record and still sounds crisp despite being over half a century old, while Buzz's voice box, which uses an electronic speaker, sounds noticeably aged and distorted after more than two decades of wear and tear. — I dunno, Buzz's voicebox still sounds pretty crisp for the rest of the film, even playing a plot point near the ending. If it "sounds fuzzy" but otherwise adds ZILCH to the plot, then it's Plot Happens misuse.
• It takes more than a Rousing Speech to get someone to overcome their demons. Despite Bo's speech about how great a daredevil he is, Duke Caboom is still haunted by how disappointed his kid was by his meager stunt skills and loses confidence. — Do I have to repeat this? Characters having a Dark and Troubled Past has NOTHING to do with Reality, it's sitting on chairs.
• Gabby Gabby has become obsessed with Harmony, the granddaughter of the antique shop owner, believing that she'll take Gabby Gabby as her own toy. Gabby Gabby has even been practicing playtime with Harmony and staked her entire life on being loved by the perception of Harmony she has developed in her mind. When Gabby Gabby does get her chance to be taken in by Harmony, the girl looks Gabby Gabby over for a moment before dismissively casting her aside, proving that Gabby Gabby's perception of Harmony was just that - a perception. — "Underaged millennial girl not showing interest in an antique toy" is No Shit, Sherlock, not Surprisingly Realistic.
• Instead of trying to find her parents by herself, the lost little girl who adopts Gabby Gabby asks a police officer for help to find them. The police officer effectively reunites the girl with her family in less than a minute. — Ploooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot Happens. I swear, if I see another nonsensical shoehorn like this... (grabs chainsaw)
• In the end, Woody ultimately decides to stay with Bo as the events of the movie showed that, while he does care for Bonnie, she really needs someone who can look out for her, a prospect Jessie, Buzz, and Bonnie's previous toys can fulfill without him. Essentially, it's the equivalent of retiring from a job and passing over the reigns to somebody else. The last meeting between Woody and Buzz is bittersweet, since with where Bonnie's family is and where the circus ends up, it's almost a certainty that Woody will never see them again. — This character decides to leave because now he's retiring, yet another common plot element with ZILCH to do with Reality.
• While the life of a toy is noble and a cherished toy's bond with their child magical, it's also rife with inherent tragedies, and we've seen time and time again that this destroys the secretly sentient toys both physically and emotionally. While Woody still believes in the power and importance of a toy's role in life, and indeed never loses this, the sad realities are finally beginning to take a toll on him. — A recurring element from the previous film carried over to the sequel, nothing realistic about it.

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Edited by RobertTYL on Nov 4th 2021 at 3:04:38 AM

Bringing up this example from Uncanny X-Men:

• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Plays a part in Jean becoming the Phoenix. In order to get into Stephen Lang's base, Peter Corbeau rams a space shuttle into it. Problem is, this damages the ship. Space shuttles aren't designed to ram things.

This whole thread is sad to see because Reality Ensues is my favorite trope on this site. So much so that I hated when it got renamed to Surprisingly Realistic Outcome. So, to see so many people misuse this trope to such an absurd degree has made me come to a few conclusions.

1. This is one of the hardest tropes to pin down definitively.

2. No one knows how to use this trope properly.

3. If this continues, this trope might be excised in the worst-case scenario, which is my greatest fear. Because I love this trope a lot.

Also, the separate page for Avengers: Endgame needs some looking into. Essay after essay of examples, but the sheer amount is a little fishy.

Edited by Hermarai000 on Nov 3rd 2021 at 8:37:46 AM

Railen Herman

I think a lot of examples came before the rename. Sure, they may have been realistic, but were they surprisingly realistic? I also feel that this trope may not be here for long due to the sheer number of examples being cut, but lets cross that bridge when we get to it.

To refresh, here's some tips for RE/SRO:

1. An example in an overly fantastical work is most likely not going to have too many realistic consequences.

2. The example must be SURPRISING, HENCE THE NAME! If it's expected to happen, and does happen, then it's Acceptable Breaks from Reality or Rule of Funny, not this trope.

3. The outcome must be realistic(read: An event that's mostly unrealistic with only one somewhat realistic thing happening doesn't count).

4. If you're looking for this trope, look to more comedic and reality-based works.

Railen Herman

The Steven Universe page has many lengthy examples. I can't discern myself if any examples are untrue, but the amount of essay-esque examples is making me suspicious.

Railen Herman

Great summary. I wonder if the bullets can fit in the description somewhere.

My rule of thumb is that if a list is longer than my screen (on desktop), there's probably misuse in there.

Edit: Many of the SU recap pages have been reviewed here (when the trope was called RE) and razed. Dunno about the main list.

Edited by Tabs on Nov 3rd 2021 at 9:33:54 AM

Pointing TheSinful here in case they miss the reply to ATT since you shouldn't add (that many) SRO examples if "Idk which ones were considered the legitimate ones".

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup

This one's another misuse — for some reason, there is a separate subpage for Binging With Babish...

... that from what I gather, is a cooking web video show. You know, stuff that happens in REAL Life.

Not going to bother analyzing the on-page examples; Cut?

If that's true going by your description, then yeah, cut it.