We don't want to clog this thread since Surprisingly Realistic Outcome is an Overdosed Trope. Before posting here, check if the example you're analyzing qualifies for summary deletion from the three criteria below by keeping this trope's rigorous definition in mind.
- Does the example involve Applied Phlebotinum (Functional Magic, Science Fiction, Artistic Licence) or a character reaction? If so, it instantly violates the definition's second bullet point's realism requirements, and you should delete it without question.
- Is the example a Discussed Trope or an instance of Conversational Troping? If so, it violates the definition's third bullet point's emphasis on only counting outcomes, and you should delete it without question.
- Considering the definitions, would the example qualify better for Deconstructed Trope or Deconstructed Character Archetype from the trope page's rules? If so, move it to the appropriate one on the spot.
If the example survived all three tests, it satisfies the second and third bullet points, so you don't need to change it immediately. If you feel like it meets the first bullet point's requirements for being surprising, you can leave it. However, if you believe it doesn't meet the first bullet point or aren't sure, talk it over in the cleanup thread before deciding.
Many Stock Phrases you'll see used in this thread describe a particular type of misuse:
- Not surprising. — The outcome described isn't a Bait-and-Switch and merely follows expected genre conventions.
- Plot happens. — The example merely describes an event or series of events but not why we would expect something different.
- Too fantastical. — The causes/outcome described included the presence of stuff Impossible in Real Life such as Applied Phlebotinum, Functional Magic, or Science Fiction, meaning they're too unrealistic by default.
- No character reactions. — The outcome involves a character reacting in a certain way or having certain emotions, which we can't gauge the realism of because people's emotional reactions vary far too much.
- Not realistic. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin, but this one requires you to write a short description for why it isn't realistic.
- Too implausible. — The outcome describes an outcome that happened because of things too unlikely to count as relatively realistic compared to what they were subverting.
- Cuttable ZCE. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Not an outcome. — The example is either a Discussed Trope, Lampshade Hanging, Conversational Troping, or happens over too much time to be momentary.
- Too unclear. — The example is too convoluted or obtuse to judge.
- Irrelevant. — The example describes stuff utterly irrelevant to the definition of SRO.
- Bad indentation. — Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
A big thing I've noticed is that it's often used for anything remotely realistic, or something that's realistic but doesn't necessarily affect the story. Another problem is that the trope seems to be cherry-picked, where any instance of reality ensuing is put there, as well as when another trope could serve the example better.
Problematic examples from one sample page, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.Disney Animated Series:
"Despite his attempts Wander can't make friends with Dominator who constantly rebuffs his friendly gestures throughout season 2. Even at the end of everything, she still refuses. Sylvia even lampshades it, telling him some people are just like that."
"Spider-Man's fight against Sandman and Rhino, where Spidey uses Rhino's weight against him. rather than fighting him directly."
"Beshte gets sunburns all over his body and is easily exhausted while he is lost in the Outlands. Justified due to the fact that hippos need water to survive to avoid sunburn and overheating."
"It's heavily implied that being the leader of the Lion Guard has taken a toll on Kion's social and private life."
"Milo Murphy's Law is about a boy named Milo Murphy whose entire life is centered around Murphy's Law. In another cartoon, being The Jinx would cause people to be afraid of them, resulting in an unsocial lifestyle. That does not apply here. While everyone does watch their step around Milo, they do not hate him for it. Being The Jinx does, however, give everyone Paranoia Fuel, given that Murphy's Law can happen at any time, so chances are you might need insurance, a phone in case of emergencies, among other things. Milo himself (as well as his friends Melissa and Zack) just learned to adapt to his condition, being prepared for anything. He has lived with Murphy's Law his entire life after all. That being said, that does not mean that they don't panic all the time. Examples include Milo panicking over his monthly doctor's note, and Melissa panicking over riding a rollercoaster with Milo."
" Hiro is initially not allowed to use Tadashi's former lab, as it can only be accessed by upperclassmen who earned the privilege. Subverted in the second half of the pilot when Professor Granville decides Hiro using the lab would benefit him. On a related note regarding Granville, she is tough, but fair when interacting with the students. She might be, as Wasabi describes "a hard case", but Granville being a complete sadist and picking on Hiro would be unrealistic. She is actually a decent person."
-Edited with permission from the OP-
Edited by lalalei2001 on Aug 10th 2022 at 5:47:25 AM
Bringing up this example from Buffy the Vampire Slayer S6E13 "Dead Things":
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: In-universe. Until this point, The Trio have been living in a comic book and were mostly a harmless nuisance straight out of the Silver Age. This is the episode where they're forced to face the facts that supervillainy, by definition, means hurting people; that there is no such thing as a "willing slave"; that forcing someone to sexually service you against their will is rape regardless of the means you use; and that if you hit someone on the head with something there's a very good chance that they won't simply be knocked out to get up later no worse for wear.
Railen
What is wrong with the people on this wiki? Have we just gotten to the point where people are so desparate for their favorite piece of media to be given attention that they need to have a separate page and shoehorn in so many "examples"?
Railen Herman
As I mentioned previously, "Surprising" was appended to the trope name only recently. Of course most of the examples are still "Something realistic happens in a work of fiction". The example was added in March 2021
Also, from Other Media, specifically Calvin and Hobbes
- In Calvin and Hobbes, since Calvin is a lazy six-year-old kid, a lot of the jokes and gags come from his naivete when his perceptions don't match reality.
- When Calvin has to write a report about bats, he deliberately doesn't do any research because he hates homework, doing an In-Universe Factoid Failure by assuming that bats are bugs because they're hairy and they fly. He fails the assignment. Calvin being Calvin
- In an early arc of the strip, Calvin finds a raccoon by the side of the road who had been hit by a car. Calvin takes the raccoon in to try and nurse it back to health, but the raccoon still dies. The only solace Calvin's dad can give Calvin is that at least he died in peace. Could have gone either way in my opinion - either the racoon survives or it doesn't
- Calvin spends a lot of time rolling a giant snowball to throw it at someone, only for Hobbes to point out (much to Calvin's dismay) that it's too heavy to lift. Calvin's disheartened response is, "Reality continues to ruin my life." Hobbes points this out, taking away the element of surprise. Closer to This Is Reality
- Calvin trying to disguise himself as Stupendous Man never works. Everyone sees through his Paper-Thin Disguise no matter how hard he tries to deny it. It kinda gets sad when he tries to pull it on his own mother, who made the costume for him in the first place. This is basically a Running Gag
- Calvin orders a beanie with a motorized propeller in the mail, expecting to be able to fly with it. When he gets the beanie, it barely works and the propeller snaps off. Even when Calvin could get it to work, the propeller just spun, not lifting him off the ground at all. Not sure about this
I also think that the Sports folder can be removed because sports are reality
Also, if Surprisingly Realistic Outcome is a Running Gag for Team Neighborhood, is it really that surprising?
The only entry under "Theme Parks" also feels like a case of aesthetics
Edited by magnumtropus on Nov 5th 2021 at 5:18:58 PM
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
From what I know, Reality Ensues / SRO is a decade-old trope, and also a bit of a universally-applicable item. Years down the line, misuse will happen. Because, Reality Ensues?
Cut and shred and necessary. Delete the shoehorns, nobody mourns.
The beanie one is less "reality" and more "No shit Sherlock" that can be binned on sight
EDIT: And then there's this borderline ROCEJ-ey line from My Wife is the Student Council President. Uh, what the eff?
- Reality Ensues: The series is straightforward about what would happen if a pair of opposite sex teens moved in together, without adult supervision. Izumi doesn't shy away from the prospect of having sex with Ui, since she's made it clear that she consents and she's just as horny as he is. The only reason they haven't done it yet, is because their friends and neighbors won't let them. — ... yeah, I'm not down to analyze this one much.
Edited by RobertTYL on Nov 6th 2021 at 12:51:38 AM
Railen
As much as I loathe the new name, it does help understand the trope a bit more. Though, there's a reason I listed that criteria back on Page 25.
Railen Herman
Discarded and Feeling Blue
Anyway, this feels like it's another "badge of honor" trope where people want to collect as many examples as they can because it makes their pet works seem cooler and edgier. It's a really common problem.
...I might make a thread about the badge of honor phenomenon.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Have to agree. It seems like a badge of honor thing to me, to say the work is 'realistic'.
On that note, the Fan Works section of the Surprisingly Realistic Outcome is...pretty bad, and just looking at the amount of works who have their own pages, well, even without looking through them I'm willing to bet they're full of misuse and shoehorns.
I've started to go through the examples for Scarlet Lady, since I've read parts of it before.
General
- Unlike in canon where the heroes are able to live double lives without consequence, Chloé running off to become Scarlet Lady doesn't go unnoticed, and has a negative impact on her already lopsided relationship with Sabrina, who finds herself struggling to cover for her. Double Identity Trouble is common in all superhero works, including Miraculous Ladybug itself (the canon work). Not surprising.
- Chloé's various bitchy actions towards Sabrina slowly but surely cause her to realize that she isn't as great a friend as she thought. The end of "Rogercop" causes a serious fracture in their friendship, and the rift grows throughout all of season 2. It ultimately reaches its boiling point in "Vanisher"; after calling her out over her lies during a TV interview, Chloé publicly denouncing their friendship, and showing no concern for her after her akumatization, Sabrina officially cuts all ties with her. This one reads more like simple actions have consequences to me than a surprisingly realistic outcome.
- Anytime Hawk Moth akumatizes someone from out of Paris (Gina, Wang Cheng and Kagami), he's forced to explain what's going on to them. Because his reign of terror has occurred solely in Paris, no one from outside of the city is going to have much of an idea about his powers or motives. It is not realistic that people outside of Paris would have no idea about terrorist attacks in Paris, not in the modern world when that news would be publicly available online.
- While Scarlet Lady is a beloved hero throughout Paris, it's only because most people tend to stay away from where the action is taking place and she knows how to work the media. Anyone who meets her personally has their opinion of her quickly soured. This doesn't read as surprisingly realistic to me. Jerkish behavior is expected to sour people's opinions.
- Despite not having the Ladybug Miraculous in this timeline, Marinette seems determined to help out while still a civilian. Unfortunately, she spends the first two seasons of the comic as a regular human, and this gets her easily in trouble, if not nearly killed, since she doesn't have her Plot Armor. It gets to the point that by "Evilustrator", Chat Noir, who has fallen in love with Marinette, has to beg her to stop fighting Akumas. It also takes being given the Bee Miraculous to Take a Third Option. Realistically, Marinette the hapless civilian would stay out of the way of a supervillain's attacks or the supervillain would kill her. IMO this doesn't count as the trope.
The Bubbler
- Chloé hitting Sabrina on the head with her tablet turns out to give her a nasty bump and very much upsets her and Nino and Rose, watching, are both shocked by Chloé's behaviour and go over to see if she is okay. While it's initially a comical moment, in real-life, hitting someone with a tablet is not a cause for laughter. This one seems like it should count. It would initially be a moment of slapstick, and then be surprisingly realistic in the terms of the outcome. Thoughts? Relevant comic is here
for the record.
Lady Wifi
- While it was a jerk move and entirely for a petty reason (Alya thinking Marinette was Scarlet Lady, the thought of which offended Chloé), Chloé wasn't wrong in claiming Alya was snooping around Marinette's locker without her consent. That still comes off as suspicious activity. (In canon, it was Chloé's locker which ended with the same result) This isn't an outcome, and it's said pretty clearly in canon that Alya's being punished by the principal because of Chloé's influence, not because of what she did.
- During the fight with Lady Wifi in the hotel while they dodging her attacks. Chat Noir doesn't pay attention while he's joking around and ends up tripping. Scarlet Lady starts to mock him... with the same results. This might count, given the setup of banter with reality ensuing as that distracts from the fight. Thoughts?
- When Chat Noir goes for the Wi Fi antenna and Lady Wifi appears on the top of it to stop him. She starts to gloat, to which he just beans her in the head with his staff while she does to get her off of it. Isn't this Talk to the Fist? Otherwise, I suppose it might count for the subversion of villain banter.
- At the end, after being purged from her Akuma, Alya admits she should've just asked Marinette upfront about the ladybug theme product she saw then sneaking around, wanting to keep the trust between the two of them. This isn't an outcome. Would fit better under Could Have Avoided This.
- Marinette ribs her for forgetting that she was present at the same time as Scarlet Lady during the Stoneheart episode and notes the trouble could have been avoided if Alya had simply bothered using her memory to think for two seconds. Lampshade Hanging, not Surprisingly Realistic Outcome.
- A positive example of this is when Alya reveals in the end that her actions as Lady Wifi did expose the principal's suspending her for a week just for snooping through Chloé's locker instead of just giving her a detention and her mother complaining to the school, which gets the suspension revoked. Firstly, she was suspended in canon for snooping through Chloé's locker. In the AU it was Marinette's. Secondly, isn't this just actions have consequences? I don't see the surprising part of this trope.
Isn't Pro Wrestling based on real people doing real wrestling. In that case, I don't think it should has an SRO page
From Web Animation:
- This parody of Animaniacs shows what would happen if the Warners jumped out of the tower in real life. They'd fall to their deaths. Video is privated, and it is applying cartoon logic to real life
- Happy Tree Friends: In "Better Off Bread", Superman Expy Splendid attempts to save Giggles from falling to her death by catching her in his arms. He catches her successfully, but the impact breaks her spine, killing her. Isn't the whole joke of the series that cute cartoon animals die in horrific, graphic, and realistic ways
- In a short made for hololive member Marine Houshou, she gives fellow hololive member Korone a Valentine's chocolate. The only problem is, Korone is a dog-person, and chocolate is toxic to dogs. She ends up dying from eating the chocolate, and the video turns into a PSA about not feeding choclate to dogs. Even otherwise, isn't it common for pieces of media to show that chocolate is toxic to dogs?
- How It Should Have Ended frequently combines this with Fridge Logic and/or Cutting the Knot in derailing various movies and such. A few examples include The Empire Strikes Back where Vader could have caught Luke with the force rather than doing nothing when Luke jumped off the catwalk, and the Twilight parody, where Bella gets vamped at the end of the first movie. The whole point of HISHE is that movie plots are altered by realistic outcomes, so none of the examples are truly surprising
- A lot of Scientificially Accurate cartoons (mildly NSFW) As the name implies, the realistic outcomes are intentional
- The AOK video Very Off Parents: Summer Vacation had Timmy Turner wish that it would be summer forever. His fairy godparents later have to explain to him that the consequences of his wish include the Earth being perpetually torrid, the polar ice caps melting because of climate change and massive droughts resulting in people fighting each other for the last remaining water. Standard Fairly Odd Parents formula - Timmy wishes for something, gets it, then his wish goes completely off the rails. Actually, even the FOP folder on the western animation page can be removed because the realistic outcomes of Timmys wishes are intentional
Edited by magnumtropus on Nov 7th 2021 at 6:38:22 PM
Cross-wired freak
Found on Recap.Dr Crafty Season 4 Month 1 Season 4 Premiere Month
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Crystelle kicks off the episode with a nasty headache, which she tries taking oral painkillers to treat. The pills harmlessly bounce off of her head; she has no mouth to ingest them with.
- Crystelle is asked whether Mindstein can be taken to court and arrested. Jedah suddenly drops in to answer the question, to which he says the Crew can't sue Mindstein at all. Shockingly, this isn't Jedah weaving a lie—it's a legitimate law, and he has the paperwork to prove it. In short, being a supervillain, Mindstein will put up a fight if law enforcement tries forcing her to testify. Thus, upholding due process would be a massive waste of time for everyone involved, especially when the Crew's goal is to get Mindstein imprisoned. Conversely, should Mindstein ever be directly stopped and apprehended, she'd be incarcerated on the spot; her shameless villainy is unquestionably illegal.
Can we really apply Surprisingly Realistic Outcome to things like "a woman having a crystal ball for a head" and "supervillains existing"?
Listen to my podcast
Shoehorns, shoehorns, more shoehorns than a shoehorn factory...
Unfortunately I'm not a keen reader of fanfics in general, so I'm no help in that area, but they all sound like easy cuts. Just scrub it
Remember weeks ago we discussed the SRO shoehorns for Logan — and oh, boy, are they bad — and it turns out the rest of the X-Franchise has a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.X Men page too.
... and after looking through the examples, do we really need it? Just gonna take out an adamantium scalpel and give it a good scraping.
X-Men Film Series
- Deadpool (2016) may be a Denser and Wackier film with the Merc With The Mouth as the title character, but there are still moments where reality certainly hits: — It's "REALISTIC" if you shoehorn hard enough.
- In the beginning, Deadpool manages to score a One-Hit Polykill via Boom, Headshot! with three Mooks. But the third Mook survives as the bullet failed to penetrate his skull due to momentum loss after the penetration on the first two. — Irrelevant to the Plot, the guy is just a mook who gets bisected three seconds later.
- In the process of becoming Deadpool, Wade spends a lot of time snarking at Ajax in between tortures. When his powers finally activate, Ajax decides to torture him again in retaliation because Wade's been annoying him constantly. — In a "Surprisingly Realistic" Outcome, Ajax should've just killed Wade right there and then. Which he didn't. Because PLOT.
- Even with his healing factor, Deadpool still feels pain and severe injuries takes a longer time to heal. — Plot.
- Wade loses his first fight with Francis, despite having his powers, because he's suffering from a weekend's deprivation of oxygen, food, and water. — There's like a TON of superhero flicks where the hero starts off getting their asses kicked before coming back for Round 2. Nothing subverted (especially "realistically")
- Blind Al (who is blind) tries to assemble Ikea furniture. The instructions for those are pictures. When she's done, the piece of furniture is not stable. — This is a JOKE with ZILCH do with the plot.
- At the very end of the film Deadpool has Ajax at his mercy and since his earlier claim about being able to cure Deadpool's disfiguration turned out to be a lie, something that he also points out was a really stupid thing for Ajax to admit, he now has no reason left to keep him alive and is ready to finally kill him, but Colossus attempts to talk Wade out of it. Unfortunately for Colossus, talking isn't a free action for him as Deadpool shoots Ajax dead in the middle of his speech; since he's got absolutely no reason to forgive the man who tortured him for days, and then tried to kill Vanessa just to get revenge on Wade. — Another "Hero kills villain" shoehorned as Reality.
- And Colossus, despite being the super-strength action hero, is a nice guy at heart and has never killed anybody. He instantly pukes at the sight. — Yeah, a funny moment Played for Laughs can be "Surprisingly Realistic" if you shoehorn HARD enough. Use an adamantium shoehorn for good measure.
- Deadpool 2:
- Most of the plot of the film comes about due to Wade essentially being a bad influence on an impressionable young mutant due to being pessimistic at the time due to the death of his wife at the start of the film and offering bad advice. The rest of the film is Wade realizing this mistake and doing his best to convince the mutant he doesn't have to be as bad as people claim he is. — Plot plot plot CUT.
- At one point Deadpool gets into a fight with Cable on a moving car. Cable shoots him and he slices the bullet in the usual slow motion fashion looking badass. Cable keeps firing while Deadpool twirls his katana to deflect them until Cable runs out of ammo... and it's revealed nearly all of them ended up hitting Deadpool right in the chest. — Another Funny scene twisted into "Reality" just because.
Deadpool: (Panting) Whew... yeah. Your bullets. They're really fast. —
- Trying to parachute to a convoy in a city against winds is a bad idea if you don't have luck on your side or Healing Factor to take the damage. Just ask most of the X-Force. Save Domino, they all die. — The X-Force getting killed is an intentional Black Comedy moment, hardly an SRO.
- X2: X-Men United:
- During a critical scene, Rogue attempts a Big Damn Heroes moment by arriving with the X-Jet to save her friends. Unfortunately, Rogue is an inexperienced teenager, and the X-Jet is one of the most advanced aircraft on the planet. She barely manages to land without crashing, and is shown shaking and breathing heavily from the panic after doing so. She's also unable to take her hands off the controls until Storm arrives to comfort her and calm her down. — In a "Realistic" outcome? Rogue is dead, dead, DEAD, and so is everyone else, because she's a TEEN. Either way, bad shoehorn.
- In The Wolverine:
- Logan's injuries take their toll after his Healing Factor slowed down. For one, he's much more susceptible to concussions and piercing weapons. — Superhero faces trouble in superhero movie is Sitting on Chairs.
- Logan also gets tired and needs to rest while taking a walk with Mariko. It's established in the comics that his adamantium skeleton weighs a couple hundred pounds. Without the healing factor to repair his fatigued muscles, that's a lot of weight to carry around. — Plot Happens.
- Several of the thugs fighting Logan in their various encounters learn it's not a smart move to punch a guy in the face when he has a metal skeleton. — Plot.
- The thugs that attack Logan throughout the movie are armed with knives and tasers, and even the Big Bad's henchmen use bows and katanas. This isn't Rule of Cool or a way of avoiding the bad guys just shooting him. Japan's gun control laws are the strictest in the world, and even powerful criminal organisations like the Yakuza only have a handful. Arming every random Mook with a gun would just have been too difficult and expensive even for a wealthy industrialist with crooked government officials in his pocket. — This is a movie set in Japan, displaying the Katanas Are Just Better trope which existed ever since movies are in Black-and-White. Shoehorn.
- Building a huge mountain fortress and buying enough adamantium to build a 10-foot cyborg suit with giant thermal-charged katanas can put even a major corporation in serious financial debt. — Borderline ZCE, also the Big Bad's financial status have ZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILCH to do with the plot. (which involves Wolverine kicing Yakuza ass and fighting a giant adamantium robot — seriously, who even pays attention to these "reality" stuff? Besides a total BUZZKILL?)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past:
- Including a demonstration of Required Secondary Powers, Quicksilver has to brace the back of Magneto's head to prevent him from getting severe whiplash while moving at super speed. And despite this, Magneto is still visibly ill and disoriented after moving so quickly. — Realistically? Magneto is DEAD, from an accidental Neck Snap. And ZILCH to do with the plot.
- Right after they get caught, Quicksilver also incapacitates the guards in the room, with hijinks such as crossing two guard's arms, putting one's fist in his own face, poking another one in the face, and giving another one a wedgie. This proceeds to send all of them flying, as he did it at such speeds that the sheer momentum hit them with much more force. — Plot Happens, and who the hell have time to analyze the "Reality" behind a speedster superhero kicking mook ass with Bullet Time? Oh wait a minute, BUZZKILL, that's right.
- Wolverine not having his adamantium skeleton doesn't make his fight with Magneto any less of a Curbstomp Battle than usual: Magneto simply chucks pieces of rubble at him until he's unable to dodge, forcibly inserts rebar INTO his body and finally chucks him into the Potomac. For all of Wolverine's fighting prowess, it's entirely based on melee combat; Magneto is a metallokinetic who can control hundreds of thousands of pounds of metal, and unlike Wolverine, can fight at long-range. He doesn't even let Logan get close enough to land a hit. — No, No, NO, the comics have established for DECADES that Mags is one of the most powerful mutants, and in any case, will wipe the floor with Wolverine regardless of the condition. Nothing Subverted again.
- After he gets a head wound during his fight with Beast, Erik doesn't just put a bandage on it but has to clean and stitch it up using his powers. — Did Erik get permanent brain damage? No. Then it's ZILCH to do with the plot.
- X-Men: Apocalypse:
- An interesting example with the original horsemen in the prologue. While they easily dispatch the soldiers who attempt to assassinate En Sabah Nur, even superpowers have their limits. Against the rapidly collapsing pyramid, there is little even they can do. While they manage to prevent their leader's death, it costs all of their lives. And even then, their victory is a pyrrhic one. Apocalypse survived, but only by being entombed deep underground, where he remained trapped, for thousands of years. — Apoc's bodyguards are mere Redshirts, which the plot dictates are NOT expected to live long. Shoehorn.
- Peter goes about saving everyone when the X-mansion is exploding, but he doesn't just throw everyone out through the windows and assume they'll be fine; he has to physically take people outside, or else set up sheets to catch them or aim them at bodies of water, so that no one hits the ground and gets hurt as a result. — PLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOE HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORN. I'm betting the same BUZZKILL strikes thrice.
- While Apocalypse may have rid the world of nuclear weapons, dialogue between Xavier and Magneto at the end indicate that the world powers are already rebuilding their arsenal. — ZILCH to do with the plot.
- The second Stinger shows a rare look at the aftermath of Wolverine's rampage through the Weapon X facility: a cleanup crew busy at work mopping up the blood and vacuuming the shells and bullets. — It's just a Sequel Hook in a superhero flick, something that's been around since the 90s. Nothing subverted. AT. ALL.
The Cartoons — Seen these when I was a kid and a teen, can't recall most of the details, but
- X-Men: The Animated Series: While X-Men: Evolution plays Bullying a Dragon absurdly straight, in the older series the Friends of Humanity would generally only bully when they vastly out number other mutants, target ones less able to put up a fight and when two pick a fight with Cyclops, lift his glasses, causing him to release an energy blast that blows up the pool table, they realize their out of their depths, put the glasses back on Cyclops and gets the hell out of there. However Cyclops and Wolverine are kicked out for destroying the pool table. — Plot plot plot happens.
- X-Men: Evolution
- Magneto steals the device that was used to create Captain America because he needs the formula to stay alive. As he says, he's an old man; he was a child during World War II, and his mutancy could only prolong his life for so long. — Yeah, No doy, this is just Plot Happens.
- When Kitty and Rogue cut class when they see Gambit at their school and follow the Brotherhood to see what their up to, despite Kitty's worries about missing class. Later Scott and Professor Xavier tell them that Principal Kelly, who already has it out for them because they're mutants, has given both of them detention on Saturday for cutting class. — Teenagers gets detention for breaking rules, and detention room contains chairs.
- In the episode, Self Possessed Rogue goes through an extremely taxing physical and mental ordeal, after learning that Mystique was her adoptive mother, then ends laid up in the infirmary at end of the episode. She remains in the infirmary and doesn't get out and completely recover until two episodes later. Such traumatic events take time to recover from, especially for a teenager. — I remember seeing these episodes as a kid, Rogue's infirmary stay didn't really have any impact on the PLOT.
- When the Brotherhood decides to cause accidents around Bayville to make themselves look like heroes, after one of them accidentally causes an subway accident and unintentionally save the people trapped, it is later shown how dangerous Engineered Heroics can be if they get out of hand. When Pietro causes a runaway train by sabotaging the controls, he inadvertently puts all of Bayville in danger when the train he caused to go out control is now on a collision course with another train, one that is pulling eight tankers of gasoline, leaving the Brotherhood unprepared for something like this. — More plot.
- Wolverine and the X-Men: Toad is always getting captured by the mutant taskforce, the MRD (Mutant Responsive Division), and the Brotherhood have to save him, much to their annoyance. While this is Played for Laughs, by the events of the episode "Time Bomb", when Toad is captured by the MRD yet again, the rest of the Brotherhood is fed up with it and decide to leave him to rot in prison to rid themselves of constant nuisance of having to rescue him, as it is not only the umpteenth time he has been captured but he is also weakest link of team and hasn't done much to contribute for them. The only reason they change their minds and break Toad out is because they need him to show them where in the prison to find a powerful, yet unstable, mutant named Nitro who they need to help them pull off an impossible job they are trying to do. — This character is The Millstone, which is a separate trope on it's own, and definitely NOT Reality Ensues.
Edited by RobertTYL on Nov 9th 2021 at 12:15:59 AM
SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome/Pokemon
- Ash's lackluster performance in the Unova campaign is likely more than just a result of a Reset Button for the series. Along with it being implied that Ash took a break in between the Sinnoh and Unova journeys, this is also the first time Ash wasn't traveling with Brock since Brock left to learn how to become a Pokemon Doctor. Ash was just rusty and spends much of his time in Unova learning how to get his groove back without Brock's subtle guidance.
Cross-wired freak
Was your comment also directed at me? I'm not posting about a fanfic, is the thing
Are you responsible for the Cleanup?
... I have absolutely NO idea which direction this conversation is now heading. Either way, long story short; if you find some shoehorns which are just blatant "Plot Happens" misuse, just cut them and cite this thread as the reason.
And speaking of which. Whoa, mother of shoehorns!!!... From Roleplay.Darwins Soldiers
- Reality Ensues: Quite a few examples.
- If you do massive damage to a top secret military base in the process of saving it from a terrorist assault, you will suffer severe consequences. — PLOT.
- Dr. Branston was shot in the leg and later dies from his injury. — PLOT.
- Same for Hicks and some unnamed sniper. — PLOT.
- Air vents are cramped and using them as passageways will make a lot of noise. — Duh.
- Air vents in a top secret military base will be too small for someone to fit through. — Well duh.
- Being made of solid metal grants Nigh-Invulnerability...and a total inability to swim due to your increased density. — No doy.
- The Berserker will end up with convictions for assault and/or spend time in the hospital. — PLOT.
- Throwing someone through a window will severely injure or kill them. — Borderline ZCE.
- Interspecies Romance will never result in children. — Also ZCE.
- Sergeant Larry Masters eventually dies of lung cancer bought on by his habit of smoking. — Nothing surprisingly realistic.
- Siberys shows what happens if you quickly cobble together a vaccine/drug and use it without proper testing and/or followup. The vaccine he took works as intended but he dies from the complications several years later. — YEARS later. Some complications amirite?
- Chris MacLean shows what the stress of being responsible for someone's death as well as keeping a deep secret for decades can do. He becomes an alcoholic and later dies in an alcohol related accident. — PLOTY-PLOT-PLOT.
And if anyone says Reality Ensues isn't being misused, feel free to use this post as a counter-arguement.
Edited by RobertTYL on Nov 10th 2021 at 3:21:48 AM
I could see the "person gets thrown through window actually gets injured" one, since the description of Destination Defenestration mentions how the scattered shards of glass are usually ignored, but it needs immense elaboration.
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I think the examples on Level Up (MHA) may need trimming. Does this count as a legitimate example though?
Keep in mind that Level Up is a harem fic, which is what makes this relevant.
- Contrary to how romanticized it is in movies, books, etc. it's pointed out that even good sex really only lasts for about twenty minutes, short enough to be a part of the protagonists' regular schedule.
Also some examples from Interspecies Reviewers
- When copy-cat reviewers show up, rather than being antagonists as they would in other stories, they are treated as a slight annoyance at best after initial outrage. The titular reviewers live in a no internet world, so finding all their competitors to make them stop would be impossible. Furthermore, Zel himself points out that the concept of posting reviews on businesses is not something that the reviewers could claim as intellectual property, leaving no legal means to stop them. All relevant details in this example
- When the guys get obscenely drunk at a bar/brothel, Stunk has trouble "getting it up" because of just how intoxicated he is. Most media that involves drunk hook ups never address this
- Stunk's heavier focus on acting as a reviewer for brothels causes him to adventure less and eat more expensive meals at the tavern. The combination of less exercise and more calories leads to him gaining weight: a real problem that former soldiers and athletes face. Not sure if this counts
- The series averts Sex as a Rite-of-Passage: Most series would depict losing your virginity as a life-changing event. When Crim loses his V-card at the start of the series, he is completely unchanged from the man he was before: he remains shy, relatively introverted, and even uncomfortable with sex itself. I feel this fits as Interspecies Reviewers is a sex comedy among other things and the fact most media treats losing you v-card as a huge deal
Addressing the Team Service Announcement page. While it is a Running Gag about SRO, keep in mind it is usually a widget series where just about anything can happen. I say the examples are surprising in the context that reality rarely applies to the show. Things tend to happen just because funny, so whenever something realistic happens, it is not easily foreseen.
I think that comment about fanworks was directed at me since I'm trying to clean up the Scarlet Lady fanfic page for this trope. I've since removed some of the examples I posted earlier and I'll keep working on that page.
Question about the clean-up: is this thread for questionable examples that are 'on the fence' or are we supposed to run all examples we plan on deleting from this wiki by this thread? I'm a little confused and I don't want to get delete-happy.
IMO, Level Up example is misuse. If someone's stating that's how long sex lasts in reality contrary to depictions of sex in media, that's This Is Reality, not SRO.
Oh no The level up example is the narration is noting this after the fact. Not an in-universe character noting it.
Bringing up this example from Eternals (2021):
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Ikaris follows Toby Robson around to ensure no harm comes to him. Rather than gratitude, he’s viewed with fear and apprehension, because a hero on guard means danger is going to come sooner or later.
Instead just casually deleting the examples, can we move them to other trope examples as well? Most of the deleted examples appear to be either to be qualified for deconstructions, aversions or most of all, realistic responses/results in response to an event/action.
It doesn't help that the cleanup lately has going out of control that practically every SRO example list posted is removed within a few days, mostly without replacement/moving. If that is going to be the case, you might as well cut the trope itself to save everyone the edit wars.
Edited by Shivader on Nov 11th 2021 at 10:02:20 PM
Honestly, I think appending "surprising" to the tropes name has made it more subjective.
I also think that there should be separate tropes for SRO played for laughs (Humorously Realistic Outcome)
Edited by magnumtropus on Nov 11th 2021 at 5:24:40 PM
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I agree that the cleanup has been pretty sloppy. It's always better to move the tropes elsewhere if possible, rather than just cut. Obviously cuts will still have to be made from time to time, but...
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
Wait, we don't have a "work that normally runs on fictional/toon logic momentarily becomes realistic for comedy" trope? That feels like a big oversight.
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I actually checked the page, and it's basically "this food from TV tastes different when eaten in real life," which is still misuse as the fictional show isn't the one having the realistic outcome.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.