Chekhov's Gag: Difference between revisions

 

== Fan Works ==

** 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: Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfiction ''[[Its a Dangerous Business Going Out Your Door]]''. At the beginning of the journey, Pinkie makes some off-hoof jokes at the kind of monsters that Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash might run into. {{spoiler|When they finally reach the end of their quest, the World Serpent is their final challenge. After a description that makes said creature about as big as an island nation, Pinkie is given lip service in one of the biggest [[Oh Crap]] jokes ever.}}

== 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]].

* 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 ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (novel)|Chamber of Secrets]]'', then used as a joke by Fred and George in ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (novel)|Order of the Phoenix]]'' when they shove Montague into it; the latter incident is mentioned directly when the Cabinet becomes a serious plot device in ''[[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (novel)|Half-Blood Prince]].'' Hermione signing up for every class in ''[[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (novel)|Chamber Of Secrets]]'' is also treated as a character joke, until it's revealed in ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (novel)|Prisoner of Azkaban]]'' that Hermione's had to use a Time-Turner to get to all her classes, which is then used to save Sirius and Buckbeak. Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes are introduced in a humorous way in ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (novel)|Goblet of Fire]]'', but many of them play a larger role than expected in later books, particularly those used by the trio in their attempt to infiltrate the corrupted Ministry of Magic. Finally, The Room of Requirement is indirectly mentioned in an offhand humorous way by Dumbledore in ''[[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (novel)|Goblet Of Fire]]''; in the final three books, it becomes the most important room in all of Hogwarts.}}

* 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}}.

 

* [[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:

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Comedy Tropes]]

[[Category:This Index Will Be Important Later]]

[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]

[[Category:Chekhov's Gun]]