Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,537
edits
Chekhov's Gag: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (Mass update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (11 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 5:
The first gag is always a set-up for whatever will happen later, though ideally it doesn't seem that way at first. If it isn't, then it's a regular [[Running Gag]]. If the setup isn't funny, then it's a [[Brick Joke]], but if not, the joke may turn out not to be so innocuous. A type of [[Call Back]]. Sometimes, the connection is given a form of [[Fridge Brilliance]].
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* In episode 24 of ''[[Inazuma Eleven]]'', as Endou is preparing for an overnight training camp, a brief comic relief scene occurs where his mom hands him a pair of boxers with his name written in marker ("En" on the left butt cheek and "dou" on the right in ''really'' big handwriting, no less) to make sure he doesn't get his laundry mixed up with any of his teammates. Seven episodes later, Touko barges in on the boys changing, and gets an eyeful of Endou in his underwear - and he's actually wearing that very same pair of boxers.
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', [[Chew Toy|Sanji’s]] dream to meet ’the pearl of the seas’, mermaids, turns into a nightmare when he finally meets one – {{spoiler|[[Gonk|Kokoro]]}}, [[Lady Drunk|who isn’t exactly a young]] [[Gonk|or pretty mermaid.]] Later on, the crew meets another mermaid, Camie, and this meeting is [[Brain Bleach|ridiculously funny]] ''because'' of their earlier meeting with Kokoro.
** To clarify, his meeting with Camie (who is rather attractive) retroactively erases all memories he ever had of {{spoiler|Kokoro}} (who is not).
** Luffy spends a lot of the earlier episodes asserting that their next crew member needs to be a musician, over things like a doctor or a cook. Sure enough, 300+ episodes later, the 9th Straw Hat pirate is Brook, an undead musician.
** During the Water 7 arc:
{{quote|
'''Zoro''': Oh, it's nothing. Forget it.
'''Chopper''': He was stuck inside a chimney.
'''Zoro''': Why you, Chopper! }}
*** Later, during the ride to Enies Lobby aboard the sea train Rocketman:
{{quote|
'''Chopper''': Maybe he got stuck in the chimney of the Rocketman.
'''Zoro''': Chopper, shut up! }}
* In ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie]]'', near the beginning of Sonic's final battle with Metal Sonic, Robotnik fires a pair of missiles, one shaped like a hare that goes really fast, and another shaped like a turtle that goes really slow. After the battle, the turtle-missle interrupts Robotnik boasting about how he's still got the back-up data for Metal Sonic on a disc by grabbing the disc and detonating.
* ''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'' : In an early skit ''High School Boys and Scary Stories (2)'', Hidenori mentioned Karasawa was "experienced in scary tales," and Tadakuni made up a story on how he saw what was under Karasawa's [[Never Barehead|cap]], remarking that it was hilarious. It's nowhere near funny at all, as his backstory unfolded: {{spoiler|he was covered with scars--including an ugly scar on his forehead that he wears a cap to cover. These scars were courtesy of Habara, the girl who lives next to him and, eight years ago, was an [[Enfant Terrible]]-level [[The Bully|bully]].}}
* At one point in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes:
▲== Fan Fic ==
▲* At one point in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series|Calvin and Hobbes The Series]]'', Calvin uses the MTM to contain some lightning in an attempt to stop a storm from doing any further damage. {{spoiler|He later uses it for revenge on Socrates.}}
** Also, the lady with the clipboard recording anything related to Dr. Brainstorm in "Robot's Day Out".
* Surprisingly [[Played for Drama]] in the ''[[My Little Pony:
== Film ==
* The ending of ''[[Monty Python and
** The investigation is shown between scenes several times during the movie. It's why Lancelot isn't in the end scene.
** Also, the bit with King Arthur getting to cross the Bridge of Death by responding to the question about the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow with a question of his own, directly from the first scene of the film.
*** In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Bedivere ties a coconut to a swallow and releases it in his first scene. It puts a new light on his comment after Arthur's Bridge of Death questions.
** And don't forget that upon meeting the French, they say they already have a Holy Grail, then at the end they are in the castle with the Grail in it.
Line 43 ⟶ 40:
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog The Movie|Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie]]''. During the last fight scene, Robotnik fires two missiles at Tails' plane. One of the missiles is shaped like a rabbit, and very fast; the other is shaped like a turtle, and ridiculously slow. Robotnik laments that the latter is "another design failure". After the fight is completely over, there's a brief shot of the turtle continuing, slowly and steadily, across the field of battle. Then, as Robotnik gloats to the heroes that he still has the data to build another, stronger Metal Sonic, the turtle missile ''very slowly'' flies up to Robotnik, grabs the data disc from his hand, and explodes.
* ''[[In Bruges]]'' has this dialogue in the middle of the film:
{{quote|
** Guess {{spoiler|whose head is blown off}} by the end of the film? {{spoiler|Jimmy, the midget actor}}, of course.
* ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'' is chock full of them. Lines that were funny earlier on become rather morose and depressing later. For instance, the quote "You've got red on you" was said to Shaun very early in the movie as a result of him having a red pen in his pocket that had leaked onto the rest of his shirt. {{spoiler|Later, it was said about the blood that had been splattered all over him.}}
** Made into a form of art in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'', another comedy by the same people. Everything that wasn't a joke comes back as a joke. Every joke comes back as a funnier joke.
* The one funny moment in the new ''[[Bewitched]]'' movie: An actor attributes his last film's failure to the costume department. This is presented as a spoiled actor making excuses and then forgotten about until an hour later, when he's watching TV and the film comes on, showing him in a snowstorm wearing an enormous fur hat and yelling, "TURN BAAACK!". It was worth seeing the rest of the movie for that.
* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' includes the claw-game worshiping Little Green Men, who hold "the claaaaaaaw" in high regard because it will choose and deliver them to a better place. Fast forward to Toy Story 3, near the end {{spoiler|when the entire group is holding hands as they await their inevitable death in an incinerator- only to look up as see a gigantic crane claw scoop them up}}.
* ''[[Up (animation)|Up]]'': "Squirrel!"
* For a series with a lot of [[Continuity Nod
{{quote|
* ''[[Rock and Roll High School]]'' loves this trope. While the heroine skips school for three days to stand in line for [[The Ramones|Ramones]] tickets, her best friend delivers fake notes to the principal to excuse her absence. The first says the heroine's father died, the second says her mother died, and third says [[Murder Arson and Jaywalking|her goldfish died]]. Later, the principal calls the heroine in with proof that the notes were fake; the goldfish, alive and well! Later we see the principal's two idiot assistants eat the goldfish.
** In another example from the same movie, the principal subjects a mouse to rock music of increasing intensity. When she subjects it to the music of [[The Ramones]] the mouse explodes. Later, at a Ramones concert, a mouse tries to get in. The bouncer refuses, saying it might explode, until the mouse shows it brought a headset to protect itself.
Line 64 ⟶ 61:
== Literature ==
* Book #6 of the ''[[Captain Underpants]]'' series has George and Harold introducing a new joke called Squishies, which consists of putting ketchup packets under toilet seats so that they squirt onto the legs of whoever sits on the toilet. The next book has Captain Underpants use this with crates of oranges and a giant novelty toilet as a method of defeating the [[Villain of the Week|Villains of the Book]].
* ''[[Discworld]]''. ''[[
* Happens fairly often in the ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]'' books, understandable considering the sheer size of its [[Chekhov's Armory]]. Four plot devices in particular are first introduced as gags; {{spoiler|the Vanishing Cabinet gets this treatment twice, first trashed by Nearly Headless Nick to get Harry out of trouble with Filch in ''[[
* The first book in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' series opens with a monologue describing all the troubles and widespread unhappiness on Earth, and how one London woman suddenly had an epiphany about how all of that could be solved that was tragically cut short by the destruction of Earth. It then goes on to note "This is not her story" and rambles a bit about the titular Hitchhiker's Guide. ''So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish'' opens with a word-for-word repeat of that exact same monologue, but instead ends with the line "This is her story."
* In the first chapter of ''[[Good Omens]]'', it's mentioned that Crowley made changes to the plans for the M25 to make it a demonic sigil. This sets up his character (he likes to do large amounts of low-grade evil), and {{spoiler|once the apocalypse comes it turns into a rather nasty barrier}}.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* [[Friends]] had a number of these. Telling each others' secrets to hurt one another, coffees or drinks that contain cinnamon/other stuff that the character didn't want, so the person serving removes it with his hand or drinks it, and many more.
* ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' has two shining examples:
Line 83 ⟶ 79:
* Frequently occurs on ''[[Jonathan Creek]]'', where a seemingly completed comic scenario returns following the solution of the [[Monster of the Week|episode's mystery]] to deal the final (hilarious) blow. For example in one episode, Carla is doing a book signing and there is a comic scenario involving a fan's (fully grown) nephew crushing her lap whilst posing for a photo. This is pretty funny in it's own right, but much later on Jonathan discovers that the fan and nephew had really tricked Carla into signing a consent form for her likeness to be used on a range of sex merchandise.
* ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'' does this from time to time such as in Life Among the Gorillas where Marshall's coworkers repeatedly come up with bizarre celebrity comparisons and ask "what do you do?" Its reframed in the last moment of the episode when {{spoiler|Robin calls Ted to invite him over}} and Narrator Ted asks "what do you do?"
* ''[[Home Improvement (TV series)|Home Improvement]]'' was rather fond of these:
** In the episode "Quest for Fire", the [[Cold Open]] shows Tim Taylor trying to use rocket fuel to light a barbecue grill. This results in Tim [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csFmM1xsaTQ launching the grill into low orbit], in a gag that's seemingly unrelated to the rest of the episode. Later, the Taylors are on vacation at a lake, and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZOxRRYQM7E at the end of the episode], right before the ending credits, Tim and Jill are walking away from the lake when the barbecue grill splashes down.
** "'Twas the Flight Before Christmas" has several jokes early on about Tim using [[Absurdly Bright Light
* In one episode of ''[[Boy Meets World]]'', [[It Makes Sense in Context|Shawn stops Cory from giving Topanga flowers]] by snatching them from him and handing them to a jock who happens to walk by in the school hallway. It's a brief gag that isn't given much attention. Then, several scenes later, Cory and Shawn are alone in a classroom doing [[Comic Role Play]] that involves Cory saying "I love you" to Shawn. They look up and see that same jock standing in the doorway holding the flowers and watching them, who then throws the flowers on the floor and walks away in anger.
* A third season episode of [[3rd Rock from the Sun]] had Dick and Mary engaging in an ever-escalating prank war, where Dick has Mary's desk removed, sends her a fake letter from then-president [[Bill Clinton]], and gets a garage to add massive speakers and flame decals to her Volvo. In response, Mary gets Dick's hands (and face) stuck to his desk with thermal bond epoxy. While Dick is slowly, and painfully, removed, they finally come to a truce. Mere seconds afterward, they hear a loud, booming noise from outside.
{{quote|
* In one episode of Canadian teen sitcom ''Mr. Young'', Tater says he asked someone if they'd seen a Fryers chicken head, then pulls out a poultry chart and says he thought he meant a medium-sized frier chicken, as opposed to the slightly larger grosser and the slightly smaller boiler. in a later episode, Adam says his mom's "giant man eating chicken" scam doesn't seem very believable, since "chickens are not carnivores, and according to this poultry chart, even a grosser doesn't weigh more than 7 pounds". It turns out to actually be a ''giant man'' eating chicken.
** In the same episode with the "giant man eating chicken", Adam tries to knock over a stack of milk cans, but he's not strong enough, even though he keeps hitting them. Later, Adam goes on a slingshot, and when he lands he hits the milk cans with his head, yet he ''[[Epic Fail|still]]'' [[Epic Fail|fails to knock them over.]]
Line 96 ⟶ 92:
* An episode of ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' where a space toilet malfunctions involves a meatloaf being shot into an [[Object Ceiling Cling]]. They guys continue fixing the toilet, action moves on, and then, as all the characters have a takeaway in the closing moments, the meatloaf falls off the ceiling, causing Penny to wonder what it was doing up there in the first place. Howard tells her that's "Classified".
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==
== Video Games ==
Line 101 ⟶ 102:
* Early on in ''[[Fallout]] 3'', local bully Butch is incensed when his [[Inept Aptitude Test|G.O.A.T. exam results]] tell him he's best suited to work as a hairdresser. Later in the game, you find out he's resigned himself to being Vault 101's hairdresser, though he [[The European Carry All|insists on being called a barber]].
* In the first level of ''[[Earthworm Jim]]'', Jim must launch a cow into the air in order to make progress. After beating the final boss, {{spoiler|Jim meets Princess What's-Her-Name and witnesses the cow come crashing down upon her.}}
== Web Animation ==
* ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' is littered with Chekhov's Gags, though discerning which gags were intentional setups and which were just [[Call Back|called back]] to is difficult. Of particular note here is the scene where [[Only Sane Man|Wash]] and the Red and Blue teams (whom Wash regards as complete idiots by this point in the story) are arguing about the pronunciation of "EMP," with the others saying it as "ehmp." During the climax in the next episode when Wash activates the EMP, the ''computer itself'' uses "ehmp."
== Web Comics ==
* [http://www.explosm.net/comics/2661/ The 2012 New Year] comic on ''[[Cyanide
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20131030132740/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=020408 Emergency Pants] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120106172900/http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=020417 Emergency Pants strike back].
* ''[[8-Bit Theater
** There's also [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/08/26/episode-455-self-fulfilling-stupidity/ this] strip, where Blackbelt unwittingly predicts {{spoiler|who history remembers in terms of the heroes. The fact that he was referring to the Light Warriors makes it all the more ironic.}}
* In ''[[Ménage à 3]]'', several throw-away gags come back for those who pay attention to it:
Line 118 ⟶ 117:
* From ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja|Dr. McNinja]]'': "[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/14p50/ I think I'll have that thing] [http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/21p75/ stalk Doc forever now."]
* [http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0137.html The derailing of a speech] in ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' is brought back [http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0624.html almost 500 episodes later] to denote [[Star Wars|Anakin's fall to the Dark Side]].
== Web Original ==
* As noted on [[Brick Joke]], [[Abridged Series]] in general and ''[[Dragonball Z Abridged]]'' in particular love this.
* [[Sockbaby|Chekhov's Dog Dookie.]]
* [http://pics.kuvaton.com/bshit/school_play.jpg This.]{{Dead link}} Specifically, the {{spoiler|cactus wearing a hat}} is mentioned in the beginning, then shown at the end.
* When [[Raocow]] played [[An Untitled Story]] and happened upon a heart container, he let his inner [[Large Ham]] com out and yell "I FOUND A '''HEART!!!"''' Several games later, in [[Bunny Must Die]], he came across another heart container and,... [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcuNonY8FWs#t=10m14s well,....]
** His reactions to previous hearts in BMD were very subdued and didn't use the metal-voice at all. The way-over-the-top version in the link was probably in response to people in the comments complaining about this.
Line 132 ⟶ 130:
** There's also Masha's seemingly useless bit of paper. It's only mentioned briefly after her "birth"... and doesn't show up again until the ending. {{spoiler|She throws it at Cirno to calm her down.}}
* Often done by Aaron Karo of ''Ruminations'' fame. He'll often bring up random subjects he thinks about in each issue, then come the last rumination, he ends it off with a clever callback to the previous ones before signing off with [[Catch Phrase|"Fuck me"]].
== Western Animation ==
Line 139 ⟶ 136:
** Another gag had [[Spider-Man]] saving random characters ("Everybody gets one."), that had whole seasons in between the gags.
** What about Hitler-on-a-Unicycle?
{{quote|
** Peter is trying to get a promotion at the beginning of the episode. So to impress his boss, he tells her he planted explosives on the competition's bill-board. He directs her to the window, where the bill-board is on a building beside a children's hospital. When he pulls the trigger, the hospital blows up, and he makes a point about how he screwed up. Near the end of the episode, after a series of wild antics, he ends up in the boss' office again, and asks if he ever ended up getting the promotion. She makes a big point about how he blew up a hospital, and the episode ends with him in court.
{{quote|
** In the first ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Parody Episode]], the scene where <s>Chris Griffin</s> [[Universal Adaptor Cast|Luke Skywalker]] watches the sunset has a [[Sorry I Left the BGM On]] joke with [[John Williams]] and the London Philharmonic. They are later seen as some of the casualties of the Empire's attack on Luke's farm.
** A joke about [[Alternate Character Interpretation|Cookie Monster]] is made in the form of one of their infamous non-sequitur cutaway gags, equating him to a crack or heroin addict, here replacing drugs with cookies. Later in the episode, Cookie Monster himself shows up in a bathroom stall, desperately heating raw cookie dough on a spoon.
Line 161 ⟶ 158:
* The episode of ''[[Futurama]]'' where Fry has his head attached to Amy's body for a while has an example of this. Near the start of the episode, there's a scene where Bender goes in for a checkup, and is warned that his ass might explode at any time. He rejects the option of getting shock absorbers for it and the matter is apparently forgotten as the episode's main plots of Amy and Fry's relationship (and aftermath) and Bender's attempt at being a paid matchmaker take over. Then at the very end of the episode Fry accidentally kicks Bender's ass, which promptly explodes.
* The 1979 Nelvana short ''Intergalactic Thanksgiving'' featured one amusing gag. On the planet Laugh-A-Lot, where humor was the norm, King Gucci was attempting to perform the planet's biggest [[Pie in the Face]] gag on a waiting courtier. The ceiling opened to reveal the huge pie, but it wouldn't drop. Fast forward about halfway through the short, when his oracle basically tells him his humor (and thus his throne) was being upstaged by a family of ''boring space farmers'', he pulls the cord one more time in frustration. You start to hear the sound of something falling. The King then runs into the courtier...still standing there waiting for the punchline. Gucci looks up... Cue giant SPLAT!
{{quote|
* In the ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "Doof Side of the Moon", Doofenshmirtz accidentally reveals a jelly-bean taped to a cork instead of his big new invention, and claims in embarrassment "Don't judge it, it's a layered idea!" Later in the cartoon, Perry is unable to stop the Lunar Rotate-inator from being activated when he trips over the jelly-bean and cork. Doofenshmirtz proceeds to brag "I ''told'' you it was a layered idea!"
* In an episode of ''[[The Fairly
▲* Very very common in long stand-up comedy routines.
▲** Michael MacIntyre is particularly notorious for referencing topics he covered earlier in new situations.
▲** [[Eddie Izzard]] does this frequently.
▲** Baddiel & Skinner Unplanned often incorporated this trope, when earlier topics of discussion would be incorporated impromptu into the current topic, almost certainly as a big punchline.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]
[[Category:This Index Will Be Important Later]]
[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:Chekhov's Gun]]
▲[[Category:Chekhov's Gag]]
| |||