Call Back: Difference between revisions
m
Header mark-up
m (cleanup after bot) |
RivetVermin (talk | contribs) m (Header mark-up) |
||
| (21 intermediate revisions by 9 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
A reference to an event taking place earlier than the timeline of the present story. One type of call back is a [[Running Gag]]. This is often used to remind viewers that there ''is'' an ongoing storyline. More or less a [[Shout-Out]] to
Alternately, in comedy: tying a later, seemingly unrelated, joke to one earlier in the show.
Line 9:
'''Actor:''' Aaaachoo! }}
Sometimes a
The opposite of this is the [[Call Forward]]. See also [[Chekhov's Gun]], [[Brick Joke]], and [[Book Ends]]. See also [[Internal Homage]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]]
* The final season of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' had oodles of references to the first season, mostly in the relationship between Sailor Moon and Sailor Star Fighter, including Usagi and Seiya meeting almost exactly like Usagi and Mamoru did, Seiya calling Usagi "[[Odango]]" (what Mamoru called Usagi, more commonly known as "meatball head" to Americans), and culminating in Seiya throwing a rose to stop a bad guy while wearing an outfit remarkably similar to Tuxedo Mask's (with [[Leitmotif|Tuxedo's theme]] playing in the background, even).
* ''[[Dragon Ball]]''
Line 27:
** A hilarious one occurs in the Fishman Island arc where Luffy states he doesn't want to be a hero because a hero has to share meat and he wants the meat all to himself. Later, Zoro makes the same statement except with beer instead of meat [[Strange Minds Think Alike|despite having never heard Luffy's earlier comment.]]
** There are plenty more Call Back examples in [[One Piece/Tropes C-D|One Piece's articles]]. [[Eiichiro Oda]] ''loves'' them more than he loves [[Inelegant Blubbering]].
* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|Akane and Ranma's]] [[Naked First Impression|fateful first encounter]] in ''[[Ranma ½]]''
** [[Tsundere|Akane]], climbing out of the outdoors bath, runs into Shinnosuke, a very forgetful boy. Like before with [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Ranma]], [[Tsundere|Akane]] preserves her modesty with a towel, but the guy is completely naked. Notable in that Shinnosuke was, for a brief while, the only serious contender for [[Tsundere|Akane's]] heart.
** While spending the night at a Chinese inn, [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Ranma]] is in the bath. [[Tsundere|Akane]] ({{spoiler|really a villainous impersonator}}) walks into him; both of them look at each other in the exact same pose as during their very first meeting, right down to the towel.
Line 35:
* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Sasuke having received [[The Corruption|the Cursed Seal of Heaven]] rises up after noticing his teammates in danger from the Sound nin, and declares: "I understand now. I am an avenger!" before showing then uncharacteristic violence and ruthlessness against them. In Part II, Sasuke has gone into full-blown villainy, with other characters noting he has become colder than ever, even when compared to him under the Cursed Seal. When Naruto is confronted by Tobi, and the latter tells him that even after having achieved his goal of {{spoiler|killing Itachi}}, he is still focused on revenge by attacking the summit, Naruto refuses to believe it, to which Tobi replies: "Sasuke is a true avenger!"
** Much like the above. Kabuto once he reveals {{spoiler|Dragon sage mode}} starts using {{spoiler|sound}} ninjutsu. A style which hadn't been brought up in several years and hundreds of chapters.
* In ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'', [[The Messiah|Ash's]] Staravia evolves in a Pokéringer
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''
** Chapter 253 has multiple Call Backs to the reverse [[Wife Husbandry]] plan as several characters inwardly debate forming a Pactio, coming up against the [[Adorably Precocious Child|age barrier]] around Kotarô and Negi and then remembering Asakura's [[Plot]].
Line 49:
* Despite the separate continuities across seasons, the ''[[Digimon]]'' dub pulls this off nicely. The 1st episode of ''[[Digimon Adventure|Adventure]]'' is called "And So It Begins", and the last episode of ''Frontier'' features the line "And so it ends!" In terms of the franchise as an [[Anime]], it doesn't.
* In the Throne arc of ''[[Kinnikuman]]'', Meat finishes off an opponent with the Back Drop, specifically choosing it because it was a move Kinnikuman himself favored and struggled to master in the earliest parts of the series.
* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' is jam-packed with Call Backs, [[Ironic Echo
* In ''[[Bakuman｡]]'', while the main characters are working with Hattori early on, Takagi mentions an idea he had of a story in which a boy tries to cheat on as many girls as he can as possible, and Hattori says it's a good example of a potential cult hit that most wouldn't be interested in, but a few might consider their favorite. In Chapter 113, while talking about what they should do next now that {{spoiler|PCP will not get an anime and Mashiro's romance one-shot did poorly}}, the characters discuss the idea again.
* Every incarnation of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' adores Call Backs to a point that borders on fetishism. Expect everything that happens to be referenced in a later chapter/episode.
Line 63:
==
* In general, one of the marks of a good [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy|stand-up comedian]] is a good understanding of how to use a Call Back well. It's a great way of keeping a show buzzing.▼
* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiFrfeJ8dKM Ladies.]''▼
* Stewart Lee does this all the time, especially in '41st Best Stand-Up Ever'. He also lampshades it after about 25 mins. (Remember that? From the beginning of the show?)▼
* Bill Bailey ends his current tour with a short film (accompanied only by swelling, melancholy piano music, no less) that references several jokes made over the course of the evening, showing things such as him standing next to a potted plant, looking suspiciously at joggers, eating Revels with a bucket over his head and him shouting at traffic with a couple of Tesco bags in hand. [[It Makes Sense in Context]]. The same show sometimes (depending on venue) a final encore after the standard two. Previously, in the first half, he plays the opening of La Bamba and makes the audience sing along and trail off, not knowing the specific words. This last encore sees him return and force the audience to learn the words, with displayed lyrics. Just to hammer it home, he plays it four times at increasingly ridiculous speeds.▼
* One example comes from Ron White. In the middle of his performance, he makes a joke about his dog Sluggo, who he needs to feed medication to by sticking it in a piece of cheese. At the very end of said performance, he was talking about trying to give Midol to his wife while she's PMSing. He ends the joke (and the performance) by saying he stuck the Midol in a piece of cheese. In ''You Can't Fix Stupid'', he even references a joke that was made in a previous special. In the previous special, he made a joke about how Dabeers's slogan "Render her speechless" was just code for "Yeah, that'll shut her up!". In ''Stupid'', he talks about trying to shut up his wife, saying that he was "all out of diamonds".▼
* In the Red Neck Comedy Show, Bill Engvall talks about boarding his dog while they're on vacation. At the kennel, they ask him what type of water the dog would like. He replies that the dog eats his own turds, the type of water probably doesn't matter to him. He also talks about taking the dog to the vet, where the vet gives him medicine to make the dog stop eating his own turds. How does it work? It makes the turds taste bad. During the Ron White portion, Ron talks about how he has dozens of people who work for him, but he is the one who goes outside to pick up the turds his dog had dropped, and pondered rearranging his staff so he wouldn't have to do that anymore. White then mentions that he asked Bill to bring his dog over, but Bill said, "No, he always comes home full."▼
* Australian comedian Josh Thomas does this several times during his show ''Surprise!'', the most notable of which is a story, early in the routine, about how living with his first boyfriend; shortly after they moved in together, they decided to shower together, which ended badly when Josh's boyfriend began urinating, because he forgot Josh was there. This is referenced in the final lines of the show:▼
{{quote|'''Josh:''' I told him, "one of my favourite things about you is that you've never vomited on me."... and he said, "Yeah, but I did kind of pee on you once."}}▼
* [[Gabriel Iglesias]] relates a story about a time he got pulled over with a bunch of his friends in the car. Their antics are hilarious to the officer, who lets them go with a warning, Because they made him laugh.▼
{{quote|'''Officer:''' The only thing that beats this is the time a buddy of mine pulled over a fat guy who gave him donuts.}}▼
* The first scene of ''[[Green Lantern]]: Rebirth'' (which tells the story of Hal Jordan's resurrection and his taking up the Lantern mantle once more) is a call-back to Hal's origin story in the very first issue of the series. It starts with an Oan spaceship crashlanding outside of an Air Force base in the desert with an injured Green Lantern in the cockpit. But this time, the injured Green Lantern is Kyle Rayner.
** In the second issue of the ''[[New 52]]'' reboot of the main Green Lantern magazine, Sinestro creates a [[Green Lantern Ring]] for Hal Jordan, who immediately attacks him with the ring. However, as the ring is a construct of Sinestro's, it doesn't harm him as he is in control of it. Later, at the end of the fourth issue, Sinestro creates additional rings for the imprisioned Korugarans, who attempt to attack him due to their misconception of his Sinestro Corps. The fifth issue begins with the reveal that, like before, Sinestro is not harmed by the rings' attacks.
Line 85 ⟶ 72:
==
* Done a couple times in ''[[FoxTrot]]'', such as during the Grinch arc when Jason looks through Andy's wallet and suggests cleaning out all the old Titanic ticket stubs, referring to a previous arc in which she became obsessed with Titanic and saw it dozens of times.▼
* The ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X Men]]'' AU fic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7730502/1/The_Wraith_Saga The Wraith Saga]'' features Jason Wyngarde being [[Grand Theft Me|possessed]] by the Wraith (the Phoenix Force's [[Evil Counterpart]]) as a major plot point. The scene where the Wraith takes hold of him is a reference to the famous scene in ''Uncanny X-Men'' #101, when Jean first became the Phoenix.
** First:
Line 104 ⟶ 87:
==
* ''[[The Bourne Series (film)|The Bourne Series]]''
** In a beautiful moment at the end of ''The Bourne Ultimatum'', {{spoiler|Jason Bourne says to the government assassin sent to kill him, "look at what they make you give", harking back to Clive Owen's final words to him in ''The Bourne Identity''}}.
Line 111 ⟶ 94:
* The 2nd half of ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' is made of Call Backs. Every line in the 1st half comes back in radically different context. ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' too, to a lesser extent.
* ''[[Terminator]]''
** All of the ''[[Terminator (franchise)|Terminator'' movies have these in spades. ''"Come with me if you want to live"'' is right up there with ''"I'll be back"''. And ''"[[Get Out!]]"''. Then Connor picks up that scar over his eye. Come to think of it, most of these are [[Call Forward]] as well.
** Also Dr. Silberman, a character who appears in all of the first three movies for essentially this purpose.
** An awesome one in ''[[Terminator Salvation]]''. When John is about to {{spoiler|try and rescue Kyle Reese from a Skynet camp, alone}}, Kate asks him what she should tell his troops. He answers, {{spoiler|"[[Catch Phrase|I'll be back]]."}}
** Another ''Salvation'' example: when John is trying to lure a Terminator to his location, he starts playing music. The song? The same Guns n Roses song he was listening to in T2.
* ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''
Line 124 ⟶ 107:
** During the course of ''Curse of the Black Pearl'', Pintel says loudly to Elizabeth something along the lines of, "Your chariot awaits, sire!" while dropping a boat into the water for her to use. A good two movies later, during ''At World's End'', Pintel says the exact same line to the exact same person, only much more serious since Elizabeth is now {{spoiler|the Pirate King, and thus Pintel's superior}}.
* In ''Live Free or [[Die Hard]]'', John McClane is being held at gunpoint by [[Big Bad|Thomas Gabriel]].
{{quote|'''Thomas Gabriel:''' On your tombstone, it should read, "[[Tagline|Always in the wrong place, at the wrong time]]!"
'''John McClane:''' How 'bout... [[Catch Phrase|"Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker"]]?! }}
* The ending of the second ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (film)|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' movie is a call back to the ending of the first ("I made ''another'' funny! ha, ha, ha, ha!").
Line 131 ⟶ 114:
* In ''[[Finding Neverland]]'', the ''"It's a secret." ("It's a play.")'' lines to Sylvia by her sons are first used when they are trying to get her to come see Peter's play. They are used again at the end of the movie when they're bringing her to another surprise performance.
* In ''Punch Line'', Tom Hanks's character's stand-up routine uses this to masterful effect. He begins his routine by talking about the peculiar expression the emcee used, "comedy stylings," applying this to various occupations to point out its absurdity (stopping at "hair stylist," because, well, that one is right). He goes on from topic to topic, at the top of his game, but soon devolving into an angry tirade about bank employees, cab drivers and debutantes. He stops and informs the audience, "I don't hate anybody. I'm not a hate monger. I'm a "hate stylist."
* ''Canada Russia 72'', a Canadian tv movie about the fiercely fought hockey tournament between the Canaians and the Soviets had a surprisingly touching example of this. Earlier in the film, Canadian goalie Ken Dryden leaves the dressing room and sees Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak practice his goaltending by bouncing rubber balls against the wall. Startled, Tretiak drops a ball and Dryden picks it up, tosses it back to him and they smile at each other. Later in the film, Ken Dryden is seen bouncing rubber balls against the wall. The fact that they are now friends makes it even better. ''http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Tretiak+returns+cause/3898323/story.htm''{{Dead link}}
* The various endings of ''[[Clue (film)|Clue]]'' are filled with call backs to earlier in the film: "Too late." "I told you I didn't do it." "Would anyone care for fruit or dessert?" And so on and so forth.
* ''[[D.E.B.S.]]''
Line 147 ⟶ 130:
== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[The Dresden Files]]''
** In ''White Night'', a minor character from ''Storm Front'' comes back and plays a significant role in the plot. Additionally, an aspect of one characters [[Backstory]] which was mentioned only twice in the entire series (Once each in ''Storm Front'' and ''Death Masks'') is expanded on, and becomes a major [[Plot Point]].
Line 155 ⟶ 138:
* ''[[Good Omens]]'' is particularly fond of these. One ''footnote'' joke near the beginning becomes a major plot element near the end.
* A number of authors in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] dabble in this and [[Call Forward]].
** Timothy Zahn is particularly adept at
** ''Survivor's Quest'' and ''[[Outbound Flight]]'', very different novels with 50 years between them, were written together, so there are calls between them. ''Survivor's Quest'' also has at least two Call Backs to the Original Trilogy. "I want to go with you", a young untrained Force-Sensitive who wants to help an older Jedi, and Dean Jinzler, brother of a Jedi, who'd been passing as an ambassador.
{{quote|'''Jinzler:''' I'm not an ambassador, Guardian. I'm an electronics technician. Like my father before me.}}
Line 171 ⟶ 154:
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Community]]'' is so full of these, it'd be easier just to go read the page.
* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''
Line 188 ⟶ 171:
** In fact, there are at best a small handful of episodes of Buffy that either don't feature a Call Back or are not called back to in a future episode.
* ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' In the pilot episode, Marie and Raymond have a discussion of the 'Fruit of the Month' club that Raymond has bought a membership for his parents. His parents see it as a cult that continually gives them more fruit than they know what to do with. This is referenced often throughout the series.
* ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|
* ''[[Firefly]]''
** In the first two episodes, [[Wrench Wench|Kaylee]] tells [[The Captain|Mal]] that they need a new compression coil or some such part for the ship's engine or they will be [[Space Is an Ocean|dead in the water]]. In the episode "Out of Gas", the failure of this part causes exactly that, thus giving us the [[Plot]] of the episode.
Line 200 ⟶ 183:
* In the end of the ''[[CSI]]'' episode "Pirates of the Third Reich", Lady Heather, the recurring dominatrix character, has abducted her daughter's killer, tied him up and is beating him bloody with her bullwhip when Grissom arrives to confront her. In a previous episode, the two had discussed the sanctity of the safeword; in a BDSM relationship, when the dominant is told to stop, she ''must'' stop. So when Grissom (who had once engaged in some [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]] with her) grabs the whip as she's swinging it and tells her "I said ''stop''", she caves, and it's a powerful moment to those who realize the significance.
* The US version of ''[[The Office]]'' has a few Call Back jokes throughout the series. One of the more notable of these is the use of the expression "Win-Win-Win" to describe a favorable outcome of a compromise. According to the season 2 episode "Conflict Resolution", both parties win for having a successful compromise, and Michael wins for having successfully managed a conflict. From this point on, "Win-Win" in almost any context is replaced by "Win-Win-Win".
* Season
* ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' is full of these, but you have to be on your toes to pick up on them. The line "The fact that you call making love 'pop-pop' shows me you're not ready" is used in two completely different contexts by two different characters over the course of two seasons.
* ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' (not known for its continuity) has a moment in the "The Deadly Years" where [[The Kirk|Kirk]] references the Corbomite Self-Destruct Device from "The Corbomite Maneuver" in order to bluff some Romulans. Some of the Bridge Crew actually smile when he makes the broadcast. There's another one in "The Trouble with Tribbles" when the Klingon commander makes a reference to the Organian peace treaty. In "Errand of Mercy", the Organians intervened to stop the Klingons and [[The Federation]] trying to kill each other - apparently they're still watching.
* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''
** In the pilot episode, someone mentions "... [[Star Trek: The Original Series|an Admiral]] who [[Running Gag|hates transporters]]." The importance of this can best be summed up in a quote from [[Wil Wheaton]]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20101223165357/http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/01/03/star-trek-the-next-generation-encounter-at-farpoint-part-i
** In the episode "Family", [[The Captain|Picard]] takes shore leave on the French vineyard where he grew up, and before he leaves, his brother gives him a bottle of homemade wine. Later, in the episode "First Contact", before Picard offers a toast to the new friendship between an alien species, he explicitly mentions that he got the wine back home.
* In 1976, Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz was forced to resign because he made a racist joke (cleaned up here): "What blacks want is good sex, loose shoes and a warm place to go to the bathroom." ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', in the News portion of the program, led with this story, stating the joke as given above. At the end of the "news" broadcast, 10 or 15 minutes later, they announced that Muhammad Ali was considering retiring from boxing. According to reader, all Ali wanted was good sex, loose shoes and a warm place to go to the bathroom.
Line 220 ⟶ 203:
{{quote|'''Jerry:''' You look like a ''pirate!''
'''Kramer:''' I ''wanna'' be a pirate! }}
** In the same "puffy shirt" episode, there's a Call Back to the masturbation
* In ''[[Young Blades]]'', when the main character says that killing the guard who killed her father is not murder, she is told, "No; it's satisfaction." In the final episode, {{spoiler|she kills the guard who killed her brother}}; his last words are, "You have your satisfaction."
* When aired on TV, the theme song for the show ''[[Dawson's Creek|Dawsons Creek]]'' was "I Don't Wanna Wait" by Paula Cole. In the show within a show at the end of the series finale, a show based off the lives of the characters, one of the characters said, "I don't wanna wait for my life to be over what will it be?" Which is a Call Back to one of the lyrics often heard in the show's opening over the last six years.
Line 229 ⟶ 212:
** The second season's finale, "The One That got Away", has an in-universe video montage, supposedly for Jay's birthday, showing all the characters either dressed or holding a prop in such a way as to indicate a particular episode from the season as they say they're too busy to say something.
** Two second season episodes got callbacks in the third season: the events of "Bixby's Back" (itself a [[Sequel Episode]]) were brought up by Clare's opponent ([[Arrested Development (TV series)|David Cross]]) during a political debate in "Little Bo Bleep", and the outcome of "Caught in the Act" is cited by Mitchell as a reason not to hold a party at a certain restaurant in "Leap Day".
* In an episode of the TV version of ''[[Hello Cheeky]]'', the second part of the show begins by showing "edited highlights"
* An episode of [[Power Rangers RPM]] had characters walk by Jungle Karma Pizza, which was the headquarters of the team from [[Power Rangers Jungle Fury]].
* ''Late Show With [[Stephen Colbert]]'' - lampshaded on March 6th, 2019, when referring to a ''"[[Smoking Gun|smocking gun]]"'' - a misspelled word tweeted out by [[Donald Trump]].<ref>[https://youtu.be/KTPR7FLL13w?t=46 Smocking Gun callback by Stephen Colbert] ''youtube.com''</ref>
== [[Music]] ==
* In DMX's ''Damien III,'' Damien mentions "What happened to the right hand, Light Man?", referring to DMX's line in the first ''Damien,'' "For that nigga, I would bleed, give him my right hand, now that I think about it, yo, that's my man!"
* [[Britney Spears]] does this quite nicely in the song "Stronger", where she sings, "The loneliness ain't killing me no more," a call back to "My loneliness is killing me" from her debut single "Baby One More Time."
Line 239 ⟶ 223:
* Although it could be far-fetched, [[Queen]] could count as well:
** In terms of videos, "One Vision" begins similarly to "Bohemian Rhapsody", which itself is based on the cover of their second album; in terms of lyrics, "These Are the Days of Our Lives" (1991) ends with "I still love you" -- "Love of My Life" (1975) had the lyric: "when I grow older, I will be there at your side to remind you how I still love you."
** And in "Lily of the Valley" on their third album ''Sheer Heart Attack'', the lines: Messenger from seven seas has flown, To tell the king of Rhye he's lost his
* Beirut's song "Cherbourg" has the same chorus as the earlier song "Nantes," only sang in a different sense, suggesting his longing for the events portrayed in the former.
* It is pretty usual for music in [[Progressive Rock]] genres and concept albums to Call Back at least once. Often, a lot.
Line 266 ⟶ 250:
* [[Dropkick Murphys]] have a couple on the title track to ''Going Out In Style.'' The narrator mentions apologizing to Slugger and the Flannigans, presumably Slugger O'Toole (mentioned later in the album's cover of "The Irish Rover"), and Flannigans presumably being the hosts of "Flannigan's Ball" on their earlier album, ''The Meanest of Times.'' The Flannigans one is particularly evocative, as the second half of "Flannigan's Ball" details the general havoc and destruction after a few too many people have a few too many drinks at the titular party.
* The title of [[Adele]]'s "Set Fire to the Rain" recalls the paper cityscape being set on fire by pyrotechnics in the video to "Rolling in the Deep".
* [[Devin Townsend]] loves this so much fans actually whipped up a [https://web.archive.org/web/20130115200615/https://www.lucidchart.com/documents/view#4e10f073-5f84-4e48-9ea2-57e90a7e0eed?branch=37018eb3-2613-411c-8685-898ddc8fb314 chart] with about every Call Back they could think of. ''And it's still missing a few.''
* [[Sound Horizon]] songs often feature Call Backs to previous songs and albums, usually cued as such by the use of a [[Recurring Riff]] or line.
* [[Mindless Self Indulgence]] references an old song ''Panty Shot'' in their later song ''I Hate Jimmy Page''"
Line 273 ⟶ 257:
==
▲* Done a couple times in ''[[FoxTrot]]'', such as during the Grinch arc when Jason looks through Andy's wallet and suggests cleaning out all the old Titanic ticket stubs, referring to a previous arc in which she became obsessed with Titanic and saw it dozens of times.
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* Melina Perez faced [[Lay Cool|Michelle McCool]] at ''Night of Champions'' 2009 and Michelle dropkicked her off the apron while she was doing the splits as part of her entrance. They faced each other again at the next ''Night of Champions'' event and Michelle tried to do the same thing again. This time however, Melina was ready for her and lifted herself out of the way.
* When [[Trish Stratus]] guest hosted Raw she was involved in an awkward backstage segment with [[Chris Jericho]] where he mentioned their history together and led to Stratus having a return match against him that night.
Line 282 ⟶ 270:
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==
== Tabletop Games ==▼
▲* In general, one of the marks of a good [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy|stand-up comedian]] is a good understanding of how to use a Call Back well. It's a great way of keeping a show buzzing.
▲* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiFrfeJ8dKM Ladies.]''
▲* Stewart Lee does this all the time, especially in '41st Best Stand-Up Ever'. He also lampshades it after about 25 mins. (Remember that? From the beginning of the show?)
▲* [[Bill Bailey]] ends his current{{when}} tour with a short film (accompanied only by swelling, melancholy piano music, no less) that references several jokes made over the course of the evening, showing things such as him standing next to a potted plant, looking suspiciously at joggers, eating Revels with a bucket over his head and him shouting at traffic with a couple of Tesco bags in hand. [[It Makes Sense in Context]]. The same show sometimes (depending on venue) a final encore after the standard two. Previously, in the first half, he plays the opening of La Bamba and makes the audience sing along and trail off, not knowing the specific words. This last encore sees him return and force the audience to learn the words, with displayed lyrics. Just to hammer it home, he plays it four times at increasingly ridiculous speeds.
▲* One example comes from [[Ron White]]. In the middle of his performance, he makes a joke about his dog Sluggo, who he needs to feed medication to by sticking it in a piece of cheese. At the very end of said performance, he was talking about trying to give Midol to his wife while she's PMSing. He ends the joke (and the performance) by saying he stuck the Midol in a piece of cheese. In ''You Can't Fix Stupid'', he even references a joke that was made in a previous special. In the previous special, he made a joke about how Dabeers's slogan "Render her speechless" was just code for "Yeah, that'll shut her up!". In ''Stupid'', he talks about trying to shut up his wife, saying that he was "all out of diamonds".
▲* In the ''Red Neck Comedy Show'', [[Bill Engvall]] talks about boarding his dog while they're on vacation. At the kennel, they ask him what type of water the dog would like. He replies that the dog eats his own turds, the type of water probably doesn't matter to him. He also talks about taking the dog to the vet, where the vet gives him medicine to make the dog stop eating his own turds. How does it work? It makes the turds taste bad. During the Ron White portion, Ron talks about how he has dozens of people who work for him, but he is the one who goes outside to pick up the turds his dog had dropped, and pondered rearranging his staff so he wouldn't have to do that anymore. White then mentions that he asked Bill to bring his dog over, but Bill said, "No, he always comes home full."
▲* Australian comedian Josh Thomas does this several times during his show ''Surprise!'', the most notable of which is a story, early in the routine, about how living with his first boyfriend; shortly after they moved in together, they decided to shower together, which ended badly when Josh's boyfriend began urinating, because he forgot Josh was there. This is referenced in the final lines of the show:
▲{{quote|'''Josh:''' I told him, "one of my favourite things about you is that you've never vomited on me."... and he said, "Yeah, but I did kind of pee on you once."}}
▲* [[Gabriel Iglesias]] relates a story about a time he got pulled over with a bunch of his friends in the car. Their antics are hilarious to the officer, who lets them go with a warning, Because they made him laugh.
▲{{quote|'''Officer:''' The only thing that beats this is the time a buddy of mine pulled over a fat guy who gave him donuts.}}
▲== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[Geist: The Sin Eaters]]'' has an "Fetter" Memento (a magic item made by binding a ghost to its own anchor) called the Thirty-Thirty. This is a rifle once owned by a man named Donnie Pritchard, who once tried to sacrifice several people to a ghost town he was convinced was haunted by the ghost of its past. (Pritchard's captives overpowered him and beat him to death with the rifle.) Donnie Pritchard was a character in the [[New World of Darkness]] book ''Ghost Stories'', in the story "Dust to Dust", about a literal ghost town.
== [[Theater]] ==
* Roy Cohn's first line in ''[[Angels in America]]'' ("I wish I was an octopus, a fucking octopus") is referenced in his final line {{spoiler|before dying.}}
* The Man in Chair in ''[[The Drowsy Chaperone]]'' mentions at the very beginning that he is feeling "blue." At the end of the show, he is emotionally drained, and he mentions that it's not a perfect show, but it gives you a tune to hum "for when you're feeling blue."
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Alice: Madness Returns]]'' is full of Call Backs to [[American McGee's Alice]] - odd lines from various characters, a few riddles, and some statues and depictions. If you haven't played the first game, they won't bother you, but if you have, they're beautiful familiarity.
* ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]] Infinity: Blood Tides of L'howon''
Line 305 ⟶ 306:
* ''[[Metal Gear]]''
** {{spoiler|Big Boss's}} first lines in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' are a word-for-word Call Back to a similar scene in ''Metal Gear''.
** The series is full of them, really. For example, the members of the Beauty and the Beast Unit act as Call Backs to previous bosses in the series. Another example; Laughing Octopus takes her name from Decoy Octopus from the first ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', wields a P-90 machine gun and prehensile tentacles just like Solidus Snake in MGS2, and bears the emotion of the Joy, the codename of one boss from ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]''. Raging Raven takes her name from Vulcan Raven, wields the weapons of Fatman, and has the emotion of The Fury. Crying Wolf's name comes from Sniper Wolf, she wields Fortune's rail-gun, and has the emotion of The Sorrow, and she is fought in the exact same snowfield at Shadow Moses as Sniper Wolf and uses similar tactics. Screaming Mantis comes from Psycho Mantis, she uses Vamp's knives, and she has the emotion of The Fear, as well as using similar tactics to Psycho Mantis.
* In the opening sequence of ''[[The World Ends With You]]'', we see Beat skateboarding away from a Noise while carrying Rhyme. The same occurs just before the end boss fight {{spoiler|in a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment, only with Shiki instead of Rhyme.}}
* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', assuming Leliana and the Warden had a [[Three-Way Sex|threesome]] with Isabela in the first game, Leliana reacts with embarrassment to meeting Isabela again, prompting Varric to [[Deadpan Snarker|snark]] "Is there anyone in the Free Marches you ''haven't'' slept with?"
Line 315 ⟶ 316:
* One of the NOD missions in ''[[Command & Conquer]]: Tiberium Sun'' features your armies uncovering an old NOD base that's been left over from the first game. When you reach it, you'll find that the buildings look exactly the same as the structure design from Tiberium Dawn.
* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]] - Ogon no Kaze'' (based on the fifth series of the [[Manga]]) has you playing as Polnareff at one point. The music is a fully orchestrated version of... his music from the arcade fighting game based on the third series.
* ''[[
* ''[[Duke Nukem Forever]]'': You can sign "Why I'm So Great," Duke's autobiography first mentioned in ''[[Duke Nukem II]]''.
* One of the last levels of ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' (the Xbox360 / [[
* ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' features several Call Backs to ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'', in particular the Dead Sea area and a portion of the game in which the player character is transported to {{spoiler|Lucca's house}}.
* ''[[T Zelda]]'' series has had an increasingly large number in recent entries.
Line 333 ⟶ 334:
** Also shows up in the form of an [[Old Save Bonus]]: many of the emails in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' and War Assets in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' are references to quests and conversations from previous games.
* ''[[Quake (series)|Quake]]'' has the Well of Wishes in the Crypt of Decay, where you find the [[Easter Egg|Dopefish]] from ''[[Commander Keen]]''.
* ''[[Dark Souls]]'' is littered with
== [[Visual
* Frequently used between ''[[Narcissu]]'' and its [[Prequel]], ''Narcissu ~ side 2nd''
** Setsumi's last words from the original game are identical to the last thing Himeko said to Setsumi in ''Side 2nd''
Line 345 ⟶ 346:
== [[Web Animation]] ==
* Practically every good joke in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' eventually gets a Call Back.
** The longest gap between joke and Call Back - which would probably be a [[Brick Joke]] if not for the [[Memetic Mutation]] of the
{{quote|'''Church:''' I guess we have... two bases in the middle of a box canyon now.
'''Tucker:''' Whoopdee-fucking-doo. }}
Line 354 ⟶ 355:
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [
* ''[[Concerned]]'' has a lot of these. In one strip Frohman find out he can use the force (that's what he said, not me) to pick stuff up. For most of the rest of the comic, whenever he holds something it floats in front of him.
* ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]''
Line 363 ⟶ 364:
* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]''
** An example has Nanase making a reference to a spontaneously changing hair-color gag from ''six years ago''.
** Remember [http://www.egscomics.com/bg/egs_bg_0038_thumb.gif that background] with dejected Susan and critters, a bunny sitting on her head, back from 2006? In Jule 2010 [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-07-07 a scene in the continuity brought it back]
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]''
** At one point, Belkar suggests selling a captured female antagonist into slavery because he "knows a guy who knows a guy". Several plot-arcs later, the party runs into said guy-his-guy-knew, Buggy Lou, as he's out catching slaves in the desert.
** V's raven familiar fails to recognize her/him when s/he is transformed into a lizard. [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0714.html 536 strips later], he learns of his mistake.
* ''[[
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'':
*
** Remember Gil's [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20031001 disappeared letters]? Eventually we meet a classy lady who "[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20151030 have been intercepting Gil's mail] [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|since she was a ''child'']]".
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' is absolutely loaded with Call Backs, from the phrasing of words to reused art panels.
** Andrew Hussie discusses it [http://www.formspring.me/andrewhussie/q/898135176 here.]{{Dead link}}
** According to Doc Scratch, Call Backs are a rule of Paradox Space.
** And [[Meta Guy|uu]] ''hates'' the frequent
* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', [http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c56/p24.html This] [[Continuity Nod|most definitely shows]] Justin remembers [http://www.bittersweetcandybowl.com/c33/p1.html David].
* A ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' strip from [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/you-got-that/ December 2009] featured a reference to the dialogue in the [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/09092001/ very first strip] back in 2001.
Line 379 ⟶ 382:
* The most recent, and furthest one in ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'': [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/0p1/ The McNinja Burger] [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/23p32-2/ is back]! Complete with [[Flat What]].
* [http://www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus50.html This strip] of ''[[Minus (Webcomic)|Minus]]'' mentions several previous one-off gags.
* ''[[Bob and George]]'': Overlooking all the [[Running Gag
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]''. Remember [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=125 that] hair clip? Eventually it returned.
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]''
** History of Ennesby as the AI formerly [[Virtual Celebrity|known as]] boy band "New Sync Boys" (hence the name) — a dozen books later [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2013-08-30 we discover "their" former fangirl], after which it was used as a plot point. But in-jokes and minor references pop up even after that: a [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2009-10-13 straightforward mention with backup chorus], naming his new ship "[//www.schlockmercenary.com/2014-03-13 Neosynchronicity]", being considered for [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2014-11-16 mixing a song].
** Para Ventura (who was {{spoiler|on a receiving end of a somewhat misguided [[Anti-Mutiny]] once}}) got [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2019-07-09 assigned] to assist Vaal (who had to {{spoiler|kill some friends and colleagues… per suggestion from one of them, issued immediately before being brain-hacked}}, and Chelle was the first to find him in that room). And everyone except Schlock is in a rather dark mood (on account of being stuck deep behind the enemy lines without reinforcements before it's over).
{{quote|'''Chelle''': Just don't mention what became of your last assistants.
'''Vaal''': There's no reason that should come up.
'''Schlock''': [[Don't Explain the Joke|He killed them during a mutiny]]. }}
== [[Web Original]] ==
* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', various story arcs feature quite a few Call Backs to previous storylines. For example, Leon recognizes the lich Drishnek whom he met several years earlier during another plot, and Ax references Refan's attempted rape during their second encounter.
* Lots in ''[[Echo Chamber]]'', the [[TV Tropes]] original webshow.
Line 395 ⟶ 404:
* ''[[Two Best Friends Play]]'' has a couple of Call Backs. Usually they are in the form of Pat making Matt play something because Matt made Pat play something earlier.
* Whenever something is repeated in ''[[Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time]]'', the last videos where they appeared are put on top of the current one.
* [[Tobuscus]] followed up his immensely popular [[With Lyrics|Literal Trailer]] of ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'' with one for ''[[
* ''[[Cheap Arse Film Review]]'' has one in the Christmas Special:
{{quote|'''Ghost:''' Who makes important life decisions while wearing an animal costume?
Line 401 ⟶ 410:
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''
** There's a fun little Call Back involving turtleducks: In a [[Flash Back]] [[Deuteragonist|Zuko]] shows his mother "How Azula feeds turtleducks" by throwing a loaf at them. In the present, while [[Deuteragonist|Zuko]] is feeding the turtleducks they suddenly scatter... Because Azula shows up.
Line 408 ⟶ 417:
** The second season finale of ''Transformers: [[Beast Wars]]'' is a ''huge'' Call Back to the original ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' series, the consequences of which could shake the foundations of time itself.
** ''[[Beast Machines]]'' continued the Call Backs with Vector Sigma, its Key, the Plasma Energy Chamber, and the [[Hate Plague]].
* In the "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" two-parter on ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'', Smithers' throwaway comment in part one about never missing a particular TV show ended up providing his alibi for not having shot Mr. Burns in part two. Sideshow Mel [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this line, [http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/index.php?s=9a0c1b708edf6455860cc11e0e2b1f2d&showtopic=3134244&view=findpost&p=4240378 which is unfortunately]{{Dead link}} [[Edited for Syndication]].
* ''[[Gargoyles]]'' is juicy with them.
** When Demona's plan to betray the humans of her castle so that the gargoyles would have it to themselves went wrong and resulted in the deaths of most of her clan and the rest being frozen as stone for good, she says "[[My God, What Have I Done?|What have I]]... [[Ignored Epiphany|what have they done?!!]]" At the very end of the show, John, a human hunting gargoyles, accidentally shoots his brother while attempting to shoot Goliath, and says the exact same words.
Line 450 ⟶ 459:
* In ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' "Aftershock: Part 1", two mentions are made of the "Apprentice" episodes from Season 1 (not surprisingly, given the parallels between the two episodes).
* In an early episode of ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'', Spidey saves a geeky guy and a hot girl and in his rush webs them up together and hollars "You can thank me later!" to the guy who is now making eyes at the girl. Later in the latter part of the second season, the geeky guy is proposing to her.
* ''[[Archer]]''
** [[w:Archer_(season_9)|Season 9]] is an extended call back to the first 3 episodes of [[wiki:Archer_(season_3)|Season 3]], the ''Heart of Archness Trilogy.''
* In part 2 of the 5-part, "Super [[DuckTales]]" story on ''[[DuckTales]]'', when Fenton first accidentally gets the Gizmo Duck suit, he shouts out "I'm being canned like a tuna!" In a much later episode, "A Case of Mistaken Secret Identity," when Launchpad is trapped in the Gizmo Duck suit, he describes himself as "feeling like a canned tuna." Coincidence? I think not!▼
** Also in season 9, there are call backs to the pilot "Mole Hunt" - the "this is how you get ants" joke, and [[Why We Can't Have Nice Things|This is why we can't have nice things]].
▲* In part 2 of the 5-part, "Super [[DuckTales (1987)]]" story on ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'', when Fenton first accidentally gets the Gizmo Duck suit, he shouts out "I'm being canned like a tuna!" In a much later episode, "A Case of Mistaken Secret Identity," when Launchpad is trapped in the Gizmo Duck suit, he describes himself as "feeling like a canned tuna." Coincidence? I think not!
* [[The Powerpuff Girls]] episode "Reeking Havoc:" Buttercup asks Blossom where she got a giant match to battle a giant fart monster.
{{quote|'''Blossom:''' Same place I got the giant jar from, silly. Season one, episode two...remember?}}
* ''[[Rick and Morty]]'': In Season 2 Episode 2 ("Mortynight Run"), a few scenes later after playing [[Simulation Game|"Roy"]], Morty crashes the craft into K. Michael. In a call back to a customer asking 'Roy' about a particular type of carpet, Morty emerges from the craft, confusedly saying:
{{quote|'''Morty''': We are out of off-white Persian.}}
{{reflist}}
| |||