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{{trope}}
{{quote|''The trip back downriver [[Law of Conservation of Detail|was uneventful]], and over in only twelve words.''
|''[[Thursday Next|One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing]]'', [[Jasper Fforde]]}}
In stories where the characters travel to some distant location to achieve their goal, their journey will often be difficult, yet when they go home, things will be a lot easier. Indeed, the story may just show the protagonists arriving home without describing their return trip at all. This could lead to [[Fridge Logic]], or there might be a good reason (such as the defeat of the [[Big Bad]], whose minions were pursuing you) for this.
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If the boring journey back took just as long as the exciting journey there, but gets a fraction of the screentime, it's because of the [[Law of Conservation of Detail]].
{{
{{examples}}
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Several in the ''[[Tintin
== [[Fan Works]] ==
▲* Several in the ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]]'' series, but the first that comes to mind is ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)/Recap/Tintin in Tibet|Tintin in Tibet]]'': They had to get back from the secluded mountain monastery somehow, didn't they?
* Completely averted in the ''[[Chronicles of Narnia]]'' fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3076343/1/Into_the_West Into The West], in which Peter has just as many exciting adventures on the way back from his quest as he does on the way there.
* Also averted in chapter 8 of the ''[[Ranma ½]]'' [[Original Flavour]] fic ''[[Girl Days]]'' by Rob "Kenko" Haynie:
{{quote|The walk back was uneventful.
No, sorry, that was a different walk back. THIS walk back was something other than uneventful.}}
==
* In ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story 2]]'', after the climax, the next scene shows the toys back in Andy's room. Earlier, just crossing the street caused mayhem. It's shown that, rather than walking, they simply drove the luggage cart back to Andy's
▲* Completely averted in the [[Chronicles of Narnia]] fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3076343/1/Into_the_West Into The West], in which Peter has just as many exciting adventures on the way back from his quest as he does on the way there.
* In ''[[Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas]]'', after Sinbad has spent the majority of the film traveling to Tartarus to confront the goddess Eris (overcoming numerous obstacles set out by the aforementioned goddess), his return journey to Syracuse is apparently instantaneous. However, Eris has not actually been defeated yet, and she would have every reason to try to prevent his arrival there.▼
* In ''[[Stand
* In [[The Wizard of Oz (
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲* In ''[[Toy Story|Toy Story 2]]'', after the climax, the next scene shows the toys back in Andy's room. Earlier, just crossing the street caused mayhem. It's shown that, rather than walking, they simply drove the luggage cart back to Andy's house--which may not have been any easier, but would certainly have been quicker.
▲* In ''[[Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas]]'', after Sinbad has spent the majority of the film traveling to Tartarus to confront the goddess Eris (overcoming numerous obstacles set out by the aforementioned goddess), his return journey to Syracuse is apparently instantaneous. However, Eris has not actually been defeated yet, and she would have every reason to try to prevent his arrival there.
▲* In ''[[Stand By Me]]'', the four kids take almost the entire movie to find the dead body they're looking for, and encounter all kinds of obstacles on the way. But a quick cut gets them home. Though it is said they walked through the night. Considering we don't know what time they left the town and what time they reached the body, it is possible they only needed to walk for eight hours.
▲* In [[The Wizard of Oz (Film)|The Wizard of Oz]], the four friends promptly return to the Emerald City and the Wizard, after defeating the Wicked Witch of the West.
▲== Literature ==
* Some books in the ''[[Redwall]]'' series.
* ''[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]''
* ''[[The Hobbit]]'' indicates that, while Bilbo did have trouble in his return journey, "he was never in great danger". Which makes the original proposed title "There and Back Again" a little misleading. The book explains this by saying that many of the most dangerous monsters along the way were destroyed during the Battle of Five Armies, and Bilbo was accompanied the whole way by Gandalf, and for a good portion by [[Boisterous Bruiser|Beorn]] and the Elvenking.
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', getting home is much easier when you don't have to worry about Sauron's servants pursuing you and you're riding on giant eagles. After the Hobbits got home, however, [[You Can't Go Home Again|things weren't so easy]].
* ''[[
* ''[[Journey to
* In ''[[Star Of The Morning]]'', Morgan is conveniently transported back home on dragon-back, a journey which takes about a day, in contrast with the several months it took to get there.
* [[
* In ''[[Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (
* [[Alan Dean Foster]] has this in his ''Journeys of the Catechist'' series. The main character accepts the dying wish of a man and goes to save that man's fiance from being held by the evil overlord of a distant kingdom. The trilogy is three books of the most creative [[Wacky Wayside Tribe|weird obstacles]] you could ask for, with only about a quarter of the third book being spent in the overlord's kingdom. Then the main character takes the girl back to her kingdom from halfway through the second book, then back to the overlord because she'd fallen for him, then he goes all the way back to his own village. [[Up to Eleven|All without a description of the events.]]
* This is parodied in multiple versions of [[The
* In one of the ''[[
* Played with in Verne's [[Journey to
* Played straight and then subverted in [[Discworld]]. ''[[
** Module
** Module
** Module I5 ''Lost Tomb of Martek''. After the [[PC
** Module OA6 ''Ronin Challenge''. If the [[PC
** Module Q1 ''Queen of the Demonweb Pits''. If Lolth is killed, her spider ship starts to self destruct. The [[PC
==
▲* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''
▲** Module [[EX 1]] ''Dungeonland'', Changed View of the Long Hall. When the [[PC|PCs]] stand on the heap of rubbish and look upward, they will be whisked back to their home lodging place.
▲** Module [[EX 2]] ''The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror''. In the Mad Feast hall there are three doors. One leads back to the house where the [[PC|PCs]] originally entered the module and another leads to [[EX 1]]'s Changed View of the Long Hall.
▲** Module I5 ''Lost Tomb of Martek''. After the [[PC|PCs]] resurrect Martek and he destroys the efreeti pasha, they will be sent to the place they wished to go, presumably their home area.
▲** Module OA6 ''Ronin Challenge''. If the [[PC|PCs]] used the Nung Dragon to fight Goyat in Tempat Larang, Nung Chiang may offer to have it fly the [[PC|PCs]] back to Saihoji to meet with the emperor, making it unnecessary for them to hike all the way back.
▲** Module Q1 ''Queen of the Demonweb Pits''. If Lolth is killed, her spider ship starts to self destruct. The [[PC|PCs]] are rescued by their gods and sent back to their home plane.
▲== Video Games ==
* In many roleplaying games, once you reach the objective of a dunegeon or combat area, you are given an option to leave the area quickly without having to retrace your steps all the way back out again.
** ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'' always provides you with a shortcut back to the entrance of the dungeon or a quick secret exit out the back.
** ''[[Mass Effect]]'' gives you the option to hit a button to return to your ship when you've completed an objective.
** The [[Diablo]] series usually has some variant on this. All three feature the Town Portal spell which lets you return to base and then go right back to where you left off.
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*** [[Diablo 3]] makes the Waypoints much more numerous, so you are generally not far from one if you just press onward. Optional dungeons also now have a teleporter at the end that will take you back outside.
* In ''[[King's Quest V]]'', Crispin just teleports you and your family home.
* In ''[[Star Fox 64]]'', after Andross is defeated, Fox and co. evidently just set a straight course for Corneria and fly there slowly. Apparently the armada blockading Venom's orbit, the ridiculously dense asteroid field, and the ''sun'' just went away after Andross died.
* Unlike most [[JRP Gs]], the original ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' does not conclude with the defeat of the [[Big Bad]]. You complete the game by returning to visit the king. You can go anywhere you like before doing this, including visiting towns to receive thanks from all the people you've saved. While getting to the [[Big Bad]] involves thousands of random battles, after his defeat, there are none to be found, even in the dungeons, since apparently defeating the boss results in the elimination of all his mooks.
* The end of ''[[Doom]] II'' has your character taking the long trek back home after practically destroying Hell. "Rebuilding Earth ought to be a lot more fun than ruining it was."
* In ''[[Fallout 3]]'', ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', and the later ''Elder Scrolls'' games based on the same engine, you have to "discover" each location manually, but once you have, all you have to do to get back is click it on your map. The main limitation to this is not being able to do so while there's enemies nearby.
* During the ending of ''[[SaGa 2|SaGa 2 / Final Fantasy Legend II]]'', we see snippets of the heroes' (now joined by the protagonists' father) uneventful trip back to the first village. The one event of note is the discovery that two of the game's [[Guest Star Party Member
* ''[[The House of the Dead (
** The sequel ends the same way with the protagonists making their way back to the ground floor of Goldman's building with not a single monster in sight anymore (Unless you're playing Typing of the Dead.) When they get there, they're greeted either by a cheering crowd, a {{spoiler|zombified Goldman}} or Rogan from the first game.
* Averted in the ''[[
* After beating Ballser and recovering the scenario in ''[[Something]], Mario calls a Taxi and heads back to the Mushroom Kingdom
▲== [[Western Animation]] ==
* The animated ''[[Peanuts]]'' special, ''What Have We Learned, Charlie Brown?'' (which takes place after the ending of ''Bon Voyage Charlie Brown'') averts this. Despite making it through the adventure of the previous film, their return journey is only slightly less difficult, consisting of things like their car breaking down, them getting lost (repeatedly) and being forced to set up camp.
* An offscreen version occurs in ''[[
** Presumably she could have taken a ferry back, since she's part of the security force.
** That'd be fine, except they haven't actually gotten to the city yet when she leaves. They're at the Ba Sing Se end of the Serpent's Pass, and she leaves by just turning back toward the way they came.
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episodes often show Kim and Ron getting a ride to the mission site from someone [[Noodle Incident|Kim previously helped]]; the return trip is skipped over.
* The ''[[Winnie the Pooh]]'' movie ''The Search for Christopher Robin''. The group went through scary forest, winding paths, and a skull-shaped cave that would probably [[Nightmare Fuel|traumatize younger viewers]]. On their way out they point at that now that they've found him and all the friends are together, the things they were worried about really didn't bother them anymore.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
* It took [[The Travels of Marco Polo|Marco Polo]] three years to get to the Orient, but most of his return journey was by sea, or in lands he'd traversed before. Compared to exploring the unknown lands of Asia for the first time, he really had a Boring Return Journey.
▲== Real Life ==
*
* After completing the historic first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Charles Lindbergh returned to the U.S. not by plane, but by boat.
* Indonesia's national zoo ''Taman Safari'' (Safari Garden). On your enter journey, you get to see various animals in wildlife as you travel with your vehicle. You can even feed the animals (except lions or tigers). When you
▲* After completing the historic first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, Charles Lindbergh returned to the U.S. not by plane, but by boat.
▲* Indonesia's national zoo ''Taman Safari'' (Safari Garden). On your enter journey, you get to see various animals in wildlife as you travel with your vehicle. You can even feed the animals (except lions or tigers). When you decided to return... none of those sight-seeing animals again, you get sent straight to the entrance.
* The voyage of Apollo 11 to the moon is remembered in the media roughly like this: Dramatic launch of Saturn V. Some film of the crew on the way to the moon. The descent to land. "The Eagle Has Landed". "One Small Step for Man...". Raising the flag. A bit of weightless walking around. The three astronauts speaking to President Nixon after their return.
{{reflist}}
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