Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, previously called Reality Ensues, is one of the most heavily misused tropes this site has ever had, having gone to the Trope Repair Shop twice ([1]
[2]
) and Trope Talk once ([3]
) before settling into its current state of having to receive constant cleanup.
These issues finally came to a head in 2019 when Reality Ensues went to TRS after a wick check found misuse to outnumber valid examples 30-40 to 1. After discussion, tropers agreed to drop the "broken convention" aspect of the trope and rename it Surprisingly Realistic Outcome to improve clarity. However, after the cleanup began, it soon became apparent that instead of properly reviewing examples, tropers were mass-moving them to the new name with no regard for whether they even fit the new definition, and the cleanup soon became regarded
as the textbook example of botched TRS work. Despite removing nearly half of the examples, SRO was still in Overdosed Tropes with over 10,000 examples by the time Reality Ensues wick migration finished. This cleanup thread, which predates the TRS efforts by nearly two years, noticed the problem and took it to TRS a second time, which eventually turned into a Trope Talk discussion that finally fleshed out SRO with an actual description and established clear, concise criteria for judging examples. After that, cleanup began intermittently, eventually deleting nearly all the subpages and getting SRO below the Overdosed Tropes threshold; active cleanup continues.
Many Stock Phrases used in this thread describe particular types of misuse encountered frequently:
- Not surprising. — The outcome described isn't a Bait-and-Switch and merely follows expected genre conventions.
- Note that SRO can't be common in any fiction, as realistic events being surprising requires that they be rare. They might be unexpected at first if they keep happening, but they would eventually become expected; SRO being "common" in media is an oxymoron.
- Plot happens. — The example merely describes an event or series of events but not why people typically expect something different.
- Deconstruction / Genre Deconstruction / Deconstructed Trope / Deconstructed Character Archetype shoehorn. — The example is a deconstruction of some type misplaced under SRO.
- Too fantastical. — The causes/outcome includes stuff Impossible in Real Life such as Applied Phlebotinum, Functional Magic, Science Fiction, etc., meaning they're too unrealistic by default.
- Character reaction. — 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. — The supposed "realistic" outcome isn't legitimately realistic; using this phrase requires you to describe 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. — The example is a Zero-Context Example, which can be cut unilaterally in a cleanup.
- Not an outcome. — The example is a Discussed Trope, Lampshade Hanging, Conversational Troping, something that happens over too much time to be momentary, a general feature of the setting, or is otherwise not a singular event.
- Too unclear. — The example is too convoluted or obtuse to judge.
- Irrelevant. — The example describes stuff utterly irrelevant to the definition of SRO.
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, Surprisingly Realistic Outcome.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 by lalalei2001 on Oct 18th 2024 at 2:06:25 PM
From The Rise of Kyoshi
- Reality Ensues:
- Finding the Avatar as a child should be fairly simple with the Air Nomad method, right? You're just trying to find a kid who is drawn to all four of the toys picked out by the Avatar's past lives. Jianzhu finds out that this isn't the case when looking for the Earth Kingdom kid. The Earth Kingdom is the largest and most populous of the Four Nations, so having every seven year old in every village play with the toys takes a lot of time. Also, in the world outside the humble and theocratic Air Nomad culture, seven-year-olds like toys and don't like for them to be taken away when they get to play with them, and parents don't take too kindly to being told their kids aren't the savior of the world. Totally fantastical situation, no real life reference point.
- Also, the reason they're using the Air Nomad method mentioned above is because the Earth Kingdom one failed. Due to how large and populated it is, the Earth Kingdom uses geomantic rituals to pinpoint the location of the new Avatar right down to their doorstep. But these rituals prove useless if the new Avatar has a lifestyle that prevents them from staying in one place for too long, as Kyoshi and her daofei parents did. Again, a situation that rests on magic, not real life rules.
- Kyoshi's parents leave her in the care of a villager in Yokoya Port, with an Orphan's Plot Trinket of resources that she could use in later life. As Lek later suggests, they might have thought that their daughter would have a better (and longer) life among law-abiding folk...except that the villager immediately reneges on the deal as soon as they're gone, and throws Kyoshi out into the streets. She's forced to live off garbage scraps to survive as no one wants an extra mouth to feed, or to take responsibility for the daughter of criminals. Understandably, Kyoshi loathes her parents as the cause of all her misfortune; far from wanting to find them again, her first reaction when she hears they're dead is relief and satisfaction. No explanation for what expecation this subverts.
- The privilege of teaching of the Avatar is revealed to have a lot of politicking centred around it. After all, the person in question possesses power beyond that of anyone else in the world, and has the potential to become a figure of great influence. Who wouldn't jump at the chance to get him or her on their side? Once again, the existence of the Avatar is pure fantasy, not a real life situation.
- Upon fleeing Jianzhu's mansion, Kyoshi thinks she can get access to allies, safehouses and bending masters through the Flying Opera Company, based on what she's read in her mother's journal. But said journal hasn't been updated by her mother for roughly a decade, meaning it's very much out of date; by the time Kyoshi tries to make use of it, the organization her parents founded has declined to a handful of benders in a run-down teashop. Not sure about this one. I don't see how the organization declining as opposed to growing or staying the same is inherently "realistic".
- The main reason the Flying Opera Company was so successful as a smuggling outfit was because they had access to a flying bison through Jesa's Air Nomad heritage, which enabled them to literally fly over the Earth Kingdom's checkpoints and made it much easier for them to avoid the authorities. Unsurprisingly, the bison is long gone by the time Kyoshi learns how far they've fallen. Flying bison are not real, there is no realism here.
- When Kyoshi first reveals to the Flying Opera Company that she's the Avatar, she expects them all to be completely taken aback by the news. Instead, with the exception of Lao Ge, they all assume that she's pulling their legs, as she's demonstrated no proof of being the Avatar. Once again, being the Avatar is not a situation that exists in real life.
- Kyoshi desperately wants to kill Jianzhu, despite multiple interactions with Trickster Mentor Lao Ge forcing her to question her morality and plans. The climax takes it a step further when her target is revealed to be a child, only making his village suffer because he's been told to enforce his father's policies without thinking of the damage they are causing. Taking a life is much harder than anyone ever thinks. Not sure anyone here is an authority on what it's "really" like to want to kill someone becase they killed your father figure, and even if we could objectively and universally know that, there's no explanation of what expectations this is subverting.
- Whenever a figure of authority dies unexpectedly, without some sort of contingency plan in case there's a delay in finding his replacement (Jianzhu at one point muses that it's the first time in the history of the Avatar Cycle that the new Avatar has gone undiscovered for so long), bad things are going to happen. This is what happened with Kuruk, especially because he was so young and obviously the reincarnation of him is going to take a while to find, raise to adulthood, and train. There's just no one to fill the big hole he leaves in his wake, so the pirates get more bold and Jianzhu takes it upon himself to fix the power vacuum. The power consequently goes to Jianzhu's head and he starts going off the deep end, in a similar manner to the way Kuvira did when the Earth Queen was assassinated in Korra. No explanation for what expectations this subverts, and it even admits that this is in line with similar situations in other parts of the franchise.
- Kyoshi, Rangi and Lek are all shot with shirshu-spit darts to paralyse them for up to an hour. In an aversion of One Dose Fits All (and much like certain real life victims of insect bites or stings) Lek has an allergic reaction to the toxin and dies while Kyoshi is powerless to help. This one might count, as it at least mention a specific trope, but I'm not sure "allergic reactions exist" really counts as a subversion of it.
I'm pretty confident cutting all except the last one, which I'm unsure about. Thoughts?
- Well... For this one, I'll indicate the core bits, where it's more that Jianzhu didn't account for the differences between the Earth and Air Nations...
I guess that fits PlayingWith.Reality Ensues: "A trope or plot point is defied, subverted, or deconstructed to give the action more realistic consequences."
Such that it's deconstructing the plot point of the Air Nomads' toy-based method, and how real kids and parents would react?
Read "Savior of the world" as being a "Super special kid / destined for greatness / gonna get into a special school?"
Edited by Malady on Jul 13th 2020 at 10:15:29 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
I think that's a stretch, especially because I really don't this can be classified as "deconstructing" anything. It also rests on a call about what's "realistic" in terms of human behavior, which is a very dodgy call to make.It's basic premise resting on a magical test to determine who is the reincarnation of a supernatural being still means it can't qualify for this trope categorically.
Third time posting about this. I feel this should be cut too.
- Episode 2: Valt defeating Rantaro in the pilot episode leaves him feeling invincible. As Shu warns Valt, a normal person getting overconfident after just one win instead of trying to improve will hurt them in the long run, evident by Valt’s near loss to Ken in the same episode.
- Episode 9: Shu sustains a shoulder injury and is told by the doctor to take some time off from beyblading to give his body time to recover. However, he still insists on practicing for his upcoming matches, which ends up causing his shoulder to take longer to heal.
- Episode 37: Training hard is important, but train too much and you’ll strain yourself and perform worse, so it’s important to take a break every now and then. Even Valt agrees with that logic.
- Episode 49: No matter how hard a bey improves or has the strength to go on, if you don’t take proper care of your bey or send it in for repairs, then it could break in the middle of a match.
- During Evolution, Valt and Rantaro face hatred and judgement from almost every member of BC Sol, especially from Stan and Django. Showing up as a newcomer and stealing the spotlight won't appeal you to a lot of people.
- Evolution Episode 7: Relying on a new device can help you win, but without proper training you’ll only be able to rely on luck, which can only get you so far in the long run. Similarly, no matter how powerful you are, underestimating your opponent can be suicidal.
- Evolution Episodes 10-12 prove that when the leader of a team leaves, some people can see it as motivation to improve themselves. However it does not mean that they will immediately come to that conclusion.
- Evolution Episode 34: Being able to counter the specifics of your opponent’s bey is smart, but you can still lose if you don’t know about the other features of said opponent’s bey.
- Evolution Episode 35: Regardless of whether you win or lose, all members of the team must put aside personal vendettas and listen to the manager of the club. Joshua ignoring Theodore and choosing to send himself into the final battle instead of Free is what costs his team the match.
- Evolution Episode 38: Shasa rips into Free when he returns to Spain and rejoins BC Sol after suffering his first loss to Lui Shirosagi. Acting like you can just waltz right in and reclaim your spot on the team after leaving is not going to get you into good graces with your peers.
- The context of Shasa's anger is also important. While Free ultimately had good intentions,note he still abandoned them in a crucial moment during the European League without explaining why, causing them to suffer a horrible losing streak at first.
- Evolution Episode #50: Free is forced to forfeit his match with Valt after injuring his arm due to overexerting himself in a previous episode. The reason why is because he is already naturally strong and has never really needed to train, so when he tried physical training for the first time, he hurts himself because his body couldn't handle the sudden physical strain.
- Episode 41 of Turbo establishes that while he may have gotten a new Bey, is free of the dark power, and now on the right path to becoming a better Blader, Aiger still hasn't gotten over the trauma of his Z Achilles being destroyed.
There are examples listed for the mcu like in response to team cap/s actions and is as wondering if they are valid,
Added some examples that are nto team cap myself
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/RealityEnsues/FanficIThroughM
I think these examples are the "realistic thing happens" misuse that goes around, because I went through the story and I know that they don't subvert any of this.
PhantasyStarOnline2.Tropes N To Z
- Reality Ensues: ARKS in general is filled with a number of issues the story deconstructs as it goes along:
- There Are No Therapists despite grabbing people from any walks of life if they have any worthwhile Photon potential at all, so characters like Theodor are simply not prepared for the tragedy that can ensue in losing loved ones. Consequently, Theodor goes absolutely apeshit with insanity in the aftermath of Uklu's death, something caused by Luther to gain himself a worthwhile pawn. It's even worse in Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode Oracle because the sheer carnage and death of on-field warfare is brutally demonstrated, but no one seemingly gets any help over it all much less the series' version of the protagonist, Ash.
- The entire organization was put together by Photoners and Xion, which means someone like Luther has full tyrannical control from behind the scenes and the Council of Six can't do a damn thing about it until it's too late. This nearly gets the Player Character killed because of exploited evidence and a brainwashing Code ABYSS order across the entire ARKS to suppress them, and severely harms the public trust in ARKS as well as makes everyone in the organization realize how screwed up everything is.
- In between Luther's shenanigans, the Dark Falz forces, and more new occurring threats with time, the whole organization practically falls apart at the seams because said Council are too hands-off with much of the management while placing tight laws restricting the knowledge of very crucial events "for morale reasons", and most of the operatives on the ground simply don't communicate with eachother well at all if something rotten is afoot. As a result, problems that could've been prevented simply aren't because the heroes were not prepared for almost any of it. Between all of this, Xiao and Uklu end up having to severely work overtime to try to fix the organization, and do away with all the secrecy as they directly communicate and work with all operatives, especially the Player Character at the focal point of everything.
Edited by PlasmaPower on Aug 8th 2020 at 12:14:43 PM
Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!Here's the examples from the Ask White Pearl and Steven (almost!) anything page:
- Reality Ensues:
- When Steven accidentally poofs Rose, Pearl worries over him finding out that she's Pink Diamond, but he's really just concerned if he hurt her. Steven is completely new to anything Gem related, so he naturally wouldn't know anything about that.
- After White Pearl is pseudo-freed, Steven tries to help her learn sign language to compensate for her inability to vocally communicate. However, it takes a while to learn a new language and it cannot be taught in such a short amount of time. At this point, they only have the basics down.
- Naturally Lapis wouldn't think Steven is a Diamond, as he looks nothing like them. Instead simply believing he's lying in a attempt to control her.
It feels like only the second one is an example but the other two feel like misuse. I don't know, what do you think?
Are the following entries valid or misuse? The work is a fanfic called White Sheep and is an AU RWBY story.
- While meeting Ironwood, Jaune keeps his left hand on his sword without drawing it. He reveals to Ruby and Weiss afterwards that the true reason his hand never moved is because it froze to the pommel in the negative-thirty-degree weather.
- According to Blake, racism is only part of why the SDC pays their Faunus miners so little. The expense of both shipping Dust and providing security for the mines also lowers their wages.
- In Chapter 98, it's mentioned that even if peace with the Grimm becomes a reality, it will probably be a few generations before Huntsman Academies either close down or change their focus due to people needing time to actually trust in said peace.
I initially removed the second two entries, but left the first on the page. My reason was that I don't think the second two are defying any narrative conventions since I think the story explores themes such as politics, diplomacy and negotiation in a fairly realistic way, but I rarely see stories thinking about what would happen to skin on metal at sub-zero temperatures.
I had a discussion with another troper who thinks they are all valid examples and raised some interesting points. But I'll let them speak for themselves.
I've PM'd the troper but, just so I know in the future, how do you page a troper to the thread?
Edited by Wyldchyld on Aug 23rd 2020 at 11:13:51 AM
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.Text Formatting Rules: Notifying Users to Forum Replies:
This only works in the forums, and only in the add post function; you can't send a message that way by editing the markup into an already existing forum post.
And ~ actually isn't stopped by [==]...
Edited by Malady on Aug 23rd 2020 at 3:20:03 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576Recap.The Simpsons S 7 E 11 Marge Be Not Proud
- Reality Ensues:
- Bart sees a TV commercial for a wildly popular and ultra-violent video game called Bonestorm, and decides he wants it for Christmas. The musclebound Santa Claus who is the ad's pitchman demands in a "professional wrestler" voice, "Tell your parents: 'Buy me Bonestorm or GO TO HELL!'" Bart walks into the kitchen and tries just that—and it doesn't work. Instead, Marge scolds him for using profanity ... and Homer scolds him for not saying "please."
- Having no money of his own to buy Bonestorm, Bart goes down to the shopping center and sees some other kids stealing merchandise. After struggling against temptation, he finally gives in to it and swipes a copy of Bonestorm from the rack. He hides it under his coat and dodges the lenses of the security cameras, somehow managing to make it outside undetected. As he steps out into the street, he gloats about having gotten away with his crime—only to be immediately grabbed by the store's security guard, who had apparently witnessed the theft on a security camera.
- Following Bart's arrest, Marge temporarily loses all respect for him. He decides to make amends by getting her a special Christmas gift of a framed photo of himself (which he does pay for, keeping the receipt to prove it), hoping that by doing this he'll earn his mother's forgiveness. In fact, Marge does begin respecting him again, and to show her gratitude for the holiday photo gives Bart his gift early: a video game wrapped in Christmas paper, saying that the store told her it was the game all the boys want. Bart eagerly opens it, expecting to see Bonestorm—but instead it's a boring golf-putting game. If Comic Book Guy is anything to go on, then the store was most likely sold out of Bonestorm, and was just using a gullible mother as a way to move copies of a game they had no hope in selling. Besides, no matter how good or contrite you are, if you're 10 years old, your parents are not going to buy you a game they think is too violent for you, especially if you were willing to break the law in an attempt to get it.
- In that same scene, when Bart walks in with his present, he's hiding it in his coat. Naturally, a distrusting Marge and Homer immediately assume that he's stolen something else and try to catch and punish him.
Thoughts? The Simpsons is a relatively grounded show, at least back in the early days. I'm not sure if these qualify.
Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!I took a glance at the page for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and it looks like most, if not all, of the examples are simply "something happens realistically", without any real setup for the audience to expect otherwise (for some of them, the fantasy setting might arguably provide that to some extent, but it's pretty iffy at best). It almost looks like we might as well nuke the whole page - there may have been a few legitimate examples throughout the series, but I'm pretty sure there weren't that many.
Recap.Teen Titans S 4 E 6 Troq
- Reality Ensues: Unlike other Very Special Episodes where the racist learns their lesson and ends their prejudice, Starfire saving Val-Yor didn't end his prejudice at all, and may never end. At best, he said Starfire is "one of the good ones" (and the Titans don't accept the backhanded compliment).
I don't think that human morality like this can be considered "reality", mainly because one person could get over their bigotry and another dosen't. It really depends on the person.
This just implies that every bigot is evil and will never learn their lesson.
Edited by PlasmaPower on Aug 27th 2020 at 1:13:07 PM
Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!- Reality Ensues:
- Dropping laser guided bombs on drug kingpins is all fun and games until the rescue teams start pulling the bodies of the kingpins' family and innocent house servants from the wreckage.
- After the first attacks on the cartel processing sites, Admiral Cutter is stunned to learn the American teams have taken light casualties. Ritter points out this was inevitable; even with all their extra training, the sheer odds of combat meant that some American soldiers were going to get killed.
- The American teams are reliant on stealth and outside support to succeed. Once their supplies are cut off and the cartel learns where they are, the sheer numbers of the cartel foot soldiers can overwhelm them.
These seem like "thing happens."
The Teen Titans one sounds like a bit of a gray area. Unlike apparently most examples, there actually is a proper setup - tons and tons of racism-related works have had a similar plot ending with the bigot immediately and completely renouncing their bigotry. The actual reality there is that some bigots in that situation would see the error of their ways, but others may not. I'm pretty sure the writers didn't intend to send the message that all racists are 100% irredeemable - just that you don't always get the happy ending when dealing with them. But I suppose that with a sample size of one, it's understandable that someone might interpret it that way (the ideal way to send the message the writers were likely going for would be to have multiple racists and have only some of them find redemption).
Could this South Park example for the episode "Gluten-Free Ebola" that I wrote up count?
- The previous episode had the boys smugly ditching their friends and school to start their Kickstarter company. When that plan fails, they go back to school and find that their classmates indeed didn't forget about what they just did. They treated them with contempt for the way the boys treated them in the previous episode. This is what signifies the shift in South Park from mostly isolated episodes to episodes with continuity
Edited by PlasmaPower on Sep 1st 2020 at 1:54:47 PM
Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!
It's specifically subverting the show's trend of Negative Continuity, so I think it counts. That part could be made clearer, though — "mostly isolated episodes" aren't limited to Negative Continuity shows.
How exactly do I make that part clearer though? How do I describe it?

Are any of the Nostalgia Critic examples I listed valid at all?
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.