Narrative Devices

Narrative Devices move the story forward or organize a Scene S or sequence.

The following lists of narrative devices not categorized elsewhere.

See also:
 * Applied Phlebotinum
 * Ball Index
 * Beginning Tropes
 * Characters As Device
 * Chase Scene
 * Continuity Tropes
 * Contrived Stupidity Tropes
 * Cut to The Index
 * Death Trap
 * Distraction Tropes
 * Dream Tropes
 * Ending Tropes
 * Episodes
 * Escape Tropes
 * Fight Scene
 * Flashbacks and Chronology
 * Gambit Index
 * Index All Along
 * Ironic Index
 * Luke, I Am Your Index
 * MacGuffin
 * Montages
 * Movie Twist List
 * Plot Twist
 * Room Shuffle
 * Scene S
 * Short Con
 * Sleep and Wakefulness Tropes
 * Stock Puzzle
 * Stock Super Powers
 * The Tale
 * Twist Ending
 * That Which Must Not Be Indexed
 * You Hate What You Are

Tropes:

 * Accidental Bid
 * Always Need What You Gave Up
 * Bags of Letters
 * Barn Raising
 * Bathroom Stall Graffiti
 * Big Blackout
 * Big Ego, Hidden Depths
 * Bothering By the Book
 * Broken Glass Penalty
 * Bump Into Confrontation
 * Caught On Tape
 * Chance Activation
 * Chariot Race
 * Cheating With the Milkman
 * Conveniently Seated
 * Crack Defeat
 * Crowd Panic
 * Cryptic Background Reference
 * Crystal Ball Scheduling
 * Cutting the Electronic Leash
 * Dark Horse Victory
 * Dead End Job
 * Decoy Getaway
 * Defusing the Tykebomb
 * Dismantled MacGuffin
 * Diving Save
 * Documentary Episode
 * Do Not Go Gentle
 * Don't Ask, Just Run
 * Don't Celebrate Just Yet
 * Don't Split Us Up
 * Doomed Hometown
 * Door Jam
 * Door Step Baby
 * Double Date
 * Drama Bomb
 * Dramatic Curtain Toss
 * Dramatic Dislocation
 * Dramatic Irony
 * Dream Land
 * Dream Within a Dream
 * Dream Sequence
 * Driving Question
 * Driving Test Smashers
 * Dug in Deeper
 * Dungeon Bypass
 * Drunk On the Dark Side
 * Dueling Hackers
 * Dying Like Animals
 * Dysfunction Junction
 * Earth All Along
 * Earthshattering Kaboom
 * Easily Forgiven
 * Eat the Dog
 * Eat the Evidence
 * Egg MacGuffin
 * Either/Or Prophecy
 * Electrified Bathtub
 * Elves Versus Dwarves
 * Emergency Presidential Address
 * Empathic Weapon
 * Empty Cop Threat
 * Endangered Souffle
 * End-of-Episode Silliness
 * Enforced Cold War
 * Engagement Challenge
 * Engineered Public Confession
 * Epic Fail
 * Epiphanic Prison
 * The Eternal Churchill
 * Et Tu, Brute?
 * Even the Dog Is Ashamed
 * Everybody's Dead, Dave
 * Everyone Knows Morse
 * The Evils of Free Will
 * Evil Phone
 * Evil Plan
 * Exact Eavesdropping
 * Exact Words
 * Expansion Pack World
 * Expendable Clone
 * Explaining the Soap
 * Explosive Leash
 * Explosion Propulsion
 * Exposition of Immortality
 * Extremely Short Timespan
 * Eye Remember
 * Failed a Spot Check
 * Failure Is the Only Option
 * Fainting Seer
 * Fake Defector
 * Fake Static
 * Fallen-On-Hard-Times Job
 * Fall of the House of Cards
 * Fancy Dinner
 * Fascists Bed Time
 * Faustian Rebellion
 * Faux Death
 * Fauxlosophic Narration
 * Fauxshadow
 * Feet of Clay
 * Fence Painting
 * Fiction Isn't Fair
 * Field Promotion
 * Fighting for Survival
 * Fisher King
 * Final Exam Finale
 * Five Second Foreshadowing
 * Fling a Light Into The Future
 * Flying Dutchman
 * Food Chains
 * Follow the White Rabbit
 * A Fool for A Client
 * Forbidden Fruit
 * Forced Prize Fight
 * Foreigner for A Day
 * Foreshadowing
 * The Four Loves
 * Framed Clue
 * Frame-Up
 * Framing the Guilty Party
 * Framed for Heroism
 * Frantic Object Concealment
 * Freak-Out
 * Freaky Friday Flip
 * "Friend or Idol?" Decision
 * Friends All Along
 * Frequently-Broken Unbreakable Vow
 * Frothy Mugs of Water
 * Fur Against Fang
 * Future Badass
 * Gambit Pileup
 * Gambit Roulette
 * Genocide Dilemma
 * Geodesic Cast
 * George Jetson Job Security
 * George Washington Slept Here
 * Generic Graffiti
 * "Get Out of Jail Free" Card
 * Getting Hot in Here
 * Give Me a Sign
 * Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death!
 * Go Among Mad People
 * Go Back to The Source
 * A God Am I
 * Godzilla Threshold
 * Going in Circles
 * Going to See The Elephant
 * Going Postal
 * Golden Moment
 * Golden Snitch
 * Gossip Evolution
 * Got Volunteered
 * Grail in The Garbage
 * Green Rooming
 * Guess Who I'm Marrying
 * Hannibal Lecture
 * Happier Home Movie
 * Harmful to Minors
 * Haunted Headquarters
 * Heat Wave
 * Heart Trauma
 * Heel Realization
 * Hell On Earth
 * Here We Go Again
 * Heroic Vow
 * Hidden in Plain Sight
 * High Turnover Rate
 * History Repeats
 * Holding Out for A Hero
 * Holding the Floor
 * Homage
 * Hope Springs Eternal
 * Hostage for Macguffin
 * Hostage Situation
 * Hostile Weather
 * Hourglass Plot
 * How Did We Get Back Home
 * How Much Did You Hear
 * Human Ladder
 * Human Resources
 * Human Shield
 * Humble Pie
 * Humiliation Conga
 * I Am He As You Are He
 * I Am One of Those, Too
 * I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham
 * Ignored Vital News Reports
 * I Hate You, Vampire Dad
 * I Have Your Wife
 * I Just Want to Be Badass
 * I Just Want to Be Normal
 * I Just Want to Be Special
 * "I Know What We Can Do!" Cut
 * I Never...
 * Internalized Categorism
 * Intrepid Fictioneer
 * Invisible Subtle Difference
 * I Owe You My Life
 * I See Them, Too
 * Identical Grandson
 * If I Can Only Move
 * If You Won't I Will
 * Impossible Task
 * I'm a Humanitarian
 * Inadvertent Entrance Cue
 * Innocent Inaccurate
 * Innocent Innuendo
 * Instant Expert
 * Insulted Awake
 * Internal Homage
 * Intercontinuity Crossover
 * Interrogation By Vandalism
 * Interrogating the Dead
 * Interrupted Suicide
 * Intimidating Revenue Service
 * Invisible to Adults
 * Invisible to Normals
 * Ironic Inversion
 * Irrevocable Message
 * Is This Thing Still On?
 * It Must Be Mine
 * It's All Junk
 * It's the Journey That Counts
 * It's Probably Nothing
 * It Was a Gift
 * It Was With You All Along
 * I Was Having Such a Nice Dream
 * I Will Find You
 * Jacob Marley Warning
 * Jail Bake
 * Jeopardy Intelligence Test
 * Joker Jury
 * Jury of the Damned
 * Keep the Reward
 * Kent Brockman News
 * The Key Is Behind the Lock
 * Kicked Upstairs
 * Kidnapped By an Ally
 * Knife-Throwing Act
 * Knights and Knaves
 * Lamaze Class
 * Leaf Boat
 * Leaning On the Fourth Wall
 * Least Is First
 * Leave Him to Me
 * Leave the Camera Running
 * Leonine Contract
 * Leno Device
 * Lethally Expensive
 * A Light in The Distance
 * Limited Destination Time
 * List of Transgressions
 * The Little Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday
 * Living a Double Life
 * Living On Borrowed Time
 * Living With the Villain
 * Locked in A Freezer
 * Locked in A Room
 * Locked Out of the Fight
 * Locking MacGyver in The Store Cupboard
 * Look Ma, No Plane
 * Loser Gets the Girl
 * Loser Has Your Back
 * Lowered Monster Difficulty
 * Luke, I Am Your Father
 * Luke, You Are My Father
 * Lured Into a Trap
 * MacGuffin
 * MacGuffin Delivery Service
 * MacGuffin Location
 * Made of Temptation
 * Magical Girl Queenliness Test
 * Magical Guide
 * Magic Hat
 * Magnetic Plot Device
 * The Main Characters Do Everything
 * Major Injury Underreaction
 * Make a Wish
 * Manufacturing Victims
 * Marketeers vs. Engineers
 * Mating Dance
 * Matryoshka Object
 * Meaningful Echo
 * Medal of Dishonor
 * Melodramatic Pause
 * Memento MacGuffin
 * Mercy Lead
 * Message in A Bottle
 * A Mind Is a Terrible Thing To Read
 * Mind Rape
 * Mind Screwdriver
 * Mind Screw the Audience
 * Mineral MacGuffin
 * Minor Flaw, Major Breakup
 * Miracle Rally
 * Miranda Rights
 * Misfit Mobilization Moment
 * Mistaken for Badass
 * Mistaken Identity
 * "Mister Sandman" Sequence
 * Mistimed Revival
 * Mood Whiplash
 * Morton's Fork
 * Moses in The Bulrushes
 * Mundane Solution
 * Mushroom Samba
 * Must Have Nicotine
 * Mutilation Interrogation
 * The Mutiny
 * My Fist Forgives You
 * My Greatest Failure
 * My Greatest Second Chance
 * Mysterious Employer
 * Mysterious Note
 * Mythology Gag
 * Narrator All Along
 * Naughty Birdwatching
 * Near-Death Clairvoyance
 * Near-Death Experience
 * Necessary Fail
 * Needle in A Stack of Needles
 * Never Split the Party
 * Newspaper Dating
 * Niche Network
 * No Fourth Wall
 * No MacGuffin, No Winner (aka Detente Comrade, Eaten the MacGuffin)
 * Non Sequitur
 * Noodle Incident
 * No Party Like a Donner Party
 * Notable Non Sequitur
 * Not a Date
 * Not Afraid of You Anymore
 * Not As You Know Them
 * Not Cheating Unless You Get Caught
 * Not Helping Your Case
 * Not Important to This Episode Camp
 * Not in Front of The Parrot
 * Not in My Contract
 * Not My Driver
 * Not My Lucky Day
 * The Not-Secret
 * Not What It Looks Like
 * Not What I Signed On For
 * Obfuscating Stupidity
 * Oblivious Adoption
 * Oblivious Guilt Slinging
 * Offered the Crown
 * Offhand Backhand
 * Offing the Offspring
 * Off to Boarding School
 * Oh, Cisco
 * Ominous Multiple Screens
 * One Degree of Separation
 * One Judge to Rule Them All
 * One Side of the Story
 * One-Way Trip
 * Only Cool People Matter
 * Only the Knowledgable May Pass
 * Only Smart People May Pass
 * Only the Worthy May Pass
 * Orphan's Ordeal
 * Orphan's Plot Trinket
 * Orphean Rescue
 * Or Was It a Dream?
 * Out Giving Birth Back in Two Minutes
 * Out-of-Clothes Experience
 * Overcome Their Differences
 * Overly Long Gag
 * Padding
 * Pandeism
 * Parental Favoritism
 * Party Scheduling Gambit
 * Passed Over Promotion
 * Passive Rescue
 * Pater Familicide
 * Pay Phone
 * Penultimate Outburst
 * People Jars
 * Permission to Speak Freely
 * Perpetual Poverty
 * Perspective Magic
 * Perspective Reversal
 * Perverted Sniffing
 * Phlebotinum Battery
 * Phone Booth
 * Pinocchio Syndrome
 * Playing Both Sides
 * Playing Nice for Now
 * Playing Sick
 * Plot Coupon
 * Plot Detour
 * Plot Device
 * Plot-Driven Breakdown
 * Plot Parallel
 * Plot Sensitive Latch
 * Plot Technology
 * Plummet Perspective
 * Poison and Cure Gambit
 * Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo
 * Police Are Useless
 * Poor Communication Kills
 * Portal Pool
 * Porn Stash
 * Possessive Paradise
 * Posthumous Character
 * Powder Keg Crowd
 * Power Fantasy
 * Practical Voice Over
 * Premature Eulogy
 * Press-Ganged
 * Pressure Point
 * Priceless Paperweight
 * Princess for A Day
 * Promoted to Scapegoat
 * Protocol Peril
 * Pseudo Crisis
 * Psychological Horror
 * Puberty Superpower
 * The Public Domain Channel
 * Public Execution
 * Punk in The Trunk
 * The Purge
 * Put Down Your Gun and Step Away
 * Put Me in Coach
 * Rage Against the Author
 * Rage Against the Mentor
 * Rash Equilibrium
 * Read the Freaking Manual
 * Reality Bleed
 * Rear Window Witness
 * Red Herring Twist
 * Regular Caller
 * Reincarnation
 * Reincarnation Romance
 * Relationship Reboot
 * Relationship-Salvaging Disaster
 * Religious Russian Roulette
 * Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?
 * Rescue Romance
 * Resurrected Romance
 * Retcon
 * Restrained Revenge
 * Revision
 * Rewrite
 * Rewarded As a Traitor Deserves
 * Rhetorical Request Blunder
 * Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
 * Right Hand Versus Left Hand
 * Right On the Tick
 * Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Reason
 * Ripped from the Headlines
 * Ripped From the Phone Book
 * Road Show
 * Rock Bottom
 * Romantic Resolutions
 * Room Disservice
 * Rules of Orphan Economics
 * Sadistic Choice
 * Sarcasm Failure
 * Scheherezade Gambit
 * Schmuck Banquet
 * Science Is Bad
 * Science Is Wrong
 * School Play
 * Screaming Birth
 * Screw Destiny
 * Scully Syndrome
 * Scylla and Charybdis
 * Sealed Evil in A Duel
 * Second Hand Storytelling
 * Second Place Is for Winners
 * Second Prize
 * Secret Identity
 * Secret Legacy
 * Secret Path
 * Secret Test of Character
 * Seeking Sanctuary
 * Send Me Back
 * Sequel Reset
 * Serious Business
 * Set a Mook To Kill A Mook
 * Shamed By a Mob
 * Shameful Strip
 * Shaming the Mob
 * Shapeshifting
 * Sharing a Body
 * Shell Game
 * Shock Collar
 * Short Cuts Make Long Delays
 * Short Distance Phone Call
 * Shower of Angst
 * Show Within a Show
 * Shut UP, Hannibal
 * Sidelong Glance Biopic
 * Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids
 * Silly Rabbit, Romance Is for Kids
 * Sliding Scale of Plot Versus Characters
 * Slippery Soap
 * Slobs Versus Snobs
 * Slow Clap
 * Slumber Party
 * Slumber Party Ploy
 * Small Town Rivalry
 * Smart Ball
 * Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter!
 * Sneaky Departure
 * Snowball Lie
 * Snowed In
 * Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb
 * Something Only They Would Say
 * So Much for Stealth
 * Sorkin Relationship Moment
 * Sorry to Interrupt
 * Sound Stone
 * Speak Friend and Enter
 * Speak of the Devil
 * Speed Dating
 * Stable Time Loop
 * Staring Contest
 * Status Quo Game Show
 * Stay On the Path
 * Staying With Friends
 * Stepping Out for A Quick Cup of Coffee
 * Stolen Good, Returned Better
 * Stolen MacGuffin Reveal
 * Stopped Clock
 * Stuff Blowing Up
 * Stuffed Into a Locker
 * Stuffed Into a Trashcan
 * Suckiness Is Painful
 * Sudden Videogame Moment
 * Sugary Malice
 * Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum
 * Summoning Ritual
 * Super Detailed Fight Narration
 * Supernatural Aid
 * Supernaturally Delicious and Nutritious
 * Survivalist Stash
 * Survived the Beginning
 * Suspended Animation
 * Suspiciously Specific Sermon
 * Sweet Polly Oliver
 * Switched At Birth
 * Sympathetic POV
 * Talking in Bed
 * Take a Third Option
 * Take Over the World
 * Tap On the Head
 * Team Rocket Wins
 * Team Spirit
 * Televised Torture
 * Temporal Paradox
 * Temporary Blindness
 * Tempting Fate
 * Ten Minutes in The Closet
 * Tied Together Shoelace Trip
 * There Is No Try
 * These Questions Three
 * The Laws of Magic
 * The Tape Knew You Would Say That
 * The Thing That Would Not Leave
 * They Would Cut You Up
 * Things Get Real
 * Think Happy Thoughts
 * Thinks Like a Romance Novel
 * This Is My Story
 * This Is As Far As I Go
 * This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself
 * This Is Your Brain On Evil
 * This Means War
 * Three Act Structure
 * Thrown Down a Well
 * Thwarted Escape
 * Time Travel
 * Tomato Surprise
 * Tongue-Tied
 * Total Eclipse of the Plot
 * To the Pain
 * To Be Continued Right Now
 * Tragic Mistake
 * Trap Door
 * Trap Door Fail
 * Trap Is the Only Option
 * Transformation Ray
 * The Treachery of Images
 * Treasure Map
 * Troll Bridge
 * Trust Password
 * Twisted Echo Cut
 * Two Girls and A Guy
 * Two Guys and A Girl
 * Two Plus Torture Makes Five
 * Two Scenes, One Dialogue
 * Two-Timer Date
 * Unbalanced By Rival's Kid
 * Un Confession
 * Unexpected Inheritance
 * Unexpected Positive
 * Unfamiliar Ceiling
 * Unhand Them, Villain!
 * Unperson
 * Unsafe Haven
 * Unseen Audience
 * Unspoken Plan
 * Unusually Uninteresting Name
 * Using You All Along
 * Victory-Guided Amnesia
 * Video Wills
 * Villain Ball
 * Villain Exit Stage Left
 * Virus Misnomer
 * Vision Quest
 * Visions of Another Self
 * Volleying Insults
 * Wacky Wayside Tribe
 * Waking Up At the Morgue
 * Washington DC Invasion
 * Watching Troy Burn
 * We ARE Struggling Together!
 * We Are Team Cannon Fodder
 * We Come in Peace, Shoot To Kill
 * Wedding Day
 * Welcome to The Big City
 * We Need to Get Proof
 * We Really Do Care
 * We Should Get Another Tape
 * What Year Is This?
 * When the Clock Strikes Twelve
 * Where Are They Now? Epilogue
 * Where It All Began
 * ...Who Needs Enemies?
 * Who Will Bell the Cat
 * Why Isn't It Attacking?
 * Wild Teen Party
 * Will
 * Windows of the Soul
 * With a Friend And A Stranger
 * With Due Respect
 * Witness Protection
 * The World Is Always Doomed
 * World of Silence
 * The Worst Seat in The House
 * Wrecked Weapon
 * Write Back to The Future
 * Writers Block
 * Writing Lines
 * Written in Absence
 * Wrong Wire
 * Xanatos Gambit
 * Yellow Sash of Power
 * You ALL Share My Story
 * You Are Better Than You Think You Are
 * You Are Grounded
 * You Are in Command Now
 * You Are the New Trend
 * You Can Keep Her
 * You Can't Fight Fate
 * You Can't Go Home Again
 * You Can't Thwart Stage One
 * You Don't Want to Catch This
 * You Don't Want to Die A Virgin, Do You?
 * You Killed My Father
 * You Know Who Said That
 * You Were Trying Too Hard
 * You Will Be Beethoven
 * You Would Make a Great Model