All The Tropes

A Light in the Distance: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

A Light in the Distance (view source)

Revision as of 13:52, 9 April 2014

174 bytes removed ,  10 years ago
m
Mass update links
VisualWikitext
m (Dai-Guard moved page A Light in The Distance to A Light in the Distance: Lowercase prepositions)
m (Mass update links)
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:ALightInTheDistance_6991.jpg|link=Fullmetal Alchemist (Animeanime)|frame|"Mom would always put a light in the upstairs window, so no matter how dark it was, we could find our way home."]]
 
{{quote|''"What's that? A transport! I'm saved!"''|'''C-3PO''', ''[[Star Wars]]: [[A New Hope]]''}}
 
{{quote|''"The tricksy lights. Candles of corpses, yes, yes. Don't you heed them! Don't look! Don't follow them!"''|'''Gollum''', ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]: The Two Towers''}}
 
So, you've got characters who are either lost, or are caught in some sort of storm. All seems hopeless...
Line 20:
 
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In an episode of [[Fullmetal Alchemist (Animeanime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Edward remarks that their mother would light a lantern to help guide her sons home after dark. This idea is repeated at the end of the episode when Winry shines a lantern off of the balcony of her house, symbolizing that the boys do indeed have a home there.
* In ''[[Spirited Away]]'', a hopping lantern appears to lead Chihiro and her friends along the path to Zeniba's house.
* The arrival of the Catbus in ''[[My Neighbor Totoro]]''. It looks like ordinary headlights at first, until they start hopping and weaving.
Line 39:
== [[Literature]] ==
* In ''[[The Hobbit]]'', Bilbo and the dwarves get lost upon leaving the path in Mirkwood. Every time they see the lights of the elves, they head towards them; usually the lights disperse before the heroes can reach them. (This was probably intended as a [[Shout-Out]] to the will-o-the-wisp folklore.) When they eventually reach one of the lights, the elves capture and imprison them (which is still better than being lost in Mirkwood).
** Similarly, in ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]: The Two Towers'', Frodo, Sam and Gollum see will-o-the-wisps in the Dead Marshes, and it is stated that they might be caused by the lingering spirits of the dead.
*** It's implied however that these are not real spirits of the dead, but evil spirits summoned by Sauron to guard this border of his realm, luring travellers to their doom. The undead in ''[[The Lord of the Rings (Literature)|The Lord of the Rings]]'' generally seem to have nothing to do with the actual people who died, with the exception of the ghosts of Dunharg.
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'': Upon first entering Narnia, Lucy sees a light in the distance, which she finds to be a gas lamp post. In the middle of a forest. It is at tis lamppost that Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus. Its presence is explained in ''The Magician's Nephew''.
* ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban|Harry Potter]]'' introduces a hinkypunk, a creature that uses the light in the distance gimmick to lead travelers into its clutches.
Line 49:
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* In the season one finale of ''[[Lost]]'', Sawyer, Jin, Michael, and his son Walt have successfully escaped the island on a raft. Night falls, and they receive a signal on the radar emitter [[Mr. Fixit|Sayid]] salvaged for them. They send up a flare, and are rewarded with the sudden beam of a fishing boat's floodlight. {{spoiler|Things start to go downhill when the captain of the boat tells Michael, "The thing is, we're going to have to take the boy."}}
* In ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'', when Arthur was lost in a dark cave, trying to find a flower that would cure Merlin, Merlin sent a light to help him on his way.
* Referenced in the second season opening credits of ''[[Babylon 5]]'':
{{quote| "A shining beacon in space... all alone in the night."}}
Line 55:
== [[Music]] ==
* "''[[Eagles|Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light...]]''"
* [[Metallica (Music)|Metallica]]'s "No Leaf Clover".
{{quote| Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the end of your tunnel<br />
Was just a freight train comin' your way }}
Line 64:
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The swamp level in ''[[Zan ZarahZanZarah]]'' is an incomprehensible labyrinth of small islands sitting in mud, and the whole thing is covered with thick fog. However, there are always small lights in the distance and when one disappears, another always appears if you don't move much. To reach your quest objective, you must follow all of them.
* Bright streetlights mark sanctuaries in ''[[Alan Wake]]'' where you can hide from the nastybad monsterface guys and usually pick up batteries for your torch.
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'', Antimony has fallen into a deep ravine and is lonely and lost, when she sees a light on the other side of the river. It turns out to be a ghost, who, upon meeting Annie, ''attacks her with a sword''.
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'', Abraham thinks his fight with {{spoiler|Nanase}} is over and yells defiance, until he spots a light coming toward him at speed and he is knocked down before he sees what it is, {{spoiler|which is Nanase in her newly acquired [[Flying Brick|angel form]]}}.
* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (Webcomicwebcomic)|No Rest for The Wicked]]'', [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/02-02.html November sees it when desperate] in the storm, in [[The Lost Woods]].
 
== [[Real Life]] ==
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/934917"