Catching Some Zs: Difference between revisions
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A [[Stock Visual Metaphor]] trope used widely in animated media. When a character sleeps, sometimes a lot of "Zs" are shown near the character, either in the form of a stream of z's coming from the character's mouth or head, or a group of "Zzzs" contained in a [[Speech Bubble]]. This trope used to be shown specifically for people who snore in their sleep. While the sound of snoring cannot be represented easily by letters or onomatopoeia, "Z" was chosen for some reason. The origins of the "Z" may come from the symbol (which looks like a stylized "Z") of the musical note for a full break in tact of the song. The letter eventually became indicative of ''any'' sleeping person.
The trope is so obvious that people in media and real life use the term "Catching some Zs", or in Britain, Canada, or Australia, "Fetching some zeds" to indicate they're going to go to sleep. [[Fridge Logic|Amusingly, it makes no sense; the Zs usually flutter off into space, and nobody catches them.]]
See [[Snot Bubble]] for the anime version of this. Compare: [[Circling Birdies]].
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[Mad Magazine]]'s parody of ''Room 222'' was titled Room 222zzzz... (with the z's gradually trailing off over a scene showing the class asleep).
* In one ''[[The Beano|Bash Street Kids]]'' strip, Teacher ends up falling asleep and the kids (who he's spend the entire story bringing into class) complain he's not teaching them anything but the last letter of the alphabet.
== [[Film]] ==
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== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* ''[[Garfield (Comic Strip)|Garfield]]'' is known to have Z's in a speech bubble. Unusually, it's usually only a single Z.
* In ''[[Blondie (comic strip)|Blondie]]'', Dagwood's snoring is written as "Skn-x-x-x!"
* ''[[Peanuts]]'' is believed to have done this first. The trope is used most often with Snoopy and Peppermint Patty.
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* This is used in the ''[[Sims]]'' games. Oddly, whenever Simlish is written, it's in a strange Greek/Hebrew/Wingdings hybrid that doesn't seem to actually contain the letter Z.
** Vampires in the ''Late Night'' expansion pack for Sims 3 have V's instead of Z's.
* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' and its sequels, sleeping guards (i.e., knocked out with tranquilizers or already asleep when you come across them) have Z's floating around their heads. Beating them unconscious [[Circling Birdies|leaves stars]].
* Dozing non-player characters in ''[[The Lord of the Rings Online]]'' have the trail of Z's.
* This is used in ''[[City of Heroes]]''.
* In ''Prehistorik Man'', sleeping characters ([[Check Point
* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', the Sleep [[Standard Status Effect]] in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series switched from [[Snot Bubble]] to Z's.
* ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'' does this with Rip Van Fish in the aquatic levels.
** Sleeping characters in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' have this.
* Dream spell in ''[[
* It happens in ''Earnest Evans'' when the main character falls asleep.
* Sleeping dwarfs in ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' are shown with a blinking 'Z'. In Adventure Mode, you go to sleep (or wait around) by pressing 'Z' (case-sensitive).
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== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [
* In ''[[Wake the Sleepers]]'', [http://wakethesleepers.com/comics/47 in the middle of a conversation].
* Everyone in the [[Mega Crossover]] [[Fanfic|fan]][[Web Comic|comic]] ''[[Roommates 2007|Roommates]]'' ... but [[The Phantom of the Opera|Erik]]'s Z's are [http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/art/Roommates-12-Movie-Night-65642265 special] (musical rest signs).
== Web Original ==
* ''[https://aquasixio.deviantart.com/art/Zzz-355981256 Zzz]'' by AquaSixio on DeviantArt -- now with a [[Visual Pun]].
== [[Western Animation]] ==
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[[Category:Stock Visual Metaphors]]
[[Category:Sleep and Wakefulness Tropes]]
[[Category:
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