Chekhov's Skill/Playing With
Basic Trope: A character learns a seemingly innocuous skill that they later end up using in an awesome fashion.
- Straight: Alice learns how to be a ballerina while traveling the world to gain experience for a major job interview. In the end, that ballerina skill gets her the job.
- Exaggerated: Alice learns how to balance a checkbook. In the end, she's the only one given a major job offer because she knows how to do exactly that.
- Justified: Skills can come into play in different fashions. You never know when what you're learning will come in handy.
- Inverted:
- Alice learns an awesome skill like flying a plane - but only uses it for its most obvious applications.
- After doing something awesome, Alice is unable to successfully do it again.
- Subverted: Alice learns a skill. Later, she tries to use the skill, but fails.
- Double Subverted: But even later on, she tries again and succeeds.
- Parodied: Alice learns an incredibly useful skill that everyone should know, like riding a bike. Everyone treats The Reveal that she knows how to do this like an amazing thing.
- Deconstructed: Alice lucked out that time, but some of her skills end up being useless.
- Reconstructed: Until she finds uses for them as well.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: The skill never comes up.
- Enforced: "So we need to reward the viewers that are paying attention. Let's have this ballerina lesson she goes to end up being vital later on."
- Lampshaded: "You need a ballerina? How lucky."
- Invoked: The people who posted the job wanted someone well-rounded.
- Defied: "I don't care if you're a ballerina. What can you do for this company?"
- Discussed: "Employers always have their quirks. I'm sure my ballet skills will be needed at some point."
- Conversed: "Lets see, she learned sniping, military tactics, subterfuge, interrogation technique, and ballet. Guess which one she'll need to use at the climax."
Back to Chekhov's Skill. In 5 years, perhaps reading this page will save your life. Or ruin it.