Cliché Storm: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Strawberry Panic!|Strawberry Panic]]'' appears to be a study in how to cram in as many cliches in a show as possible and still come up with something oddly compelling.

* The dream [[RPG Episode]] at the start of ''[[The Tower of Druaga (anime)|The Tower of Druaga]]'' parodies just about every [[Heroic Fantasy]] trope in 20 deeply confusing minutes.

* ''[[Strike Witches]]''. It's still quite enjoyable though, if you just don't think too hard about what happens.

* ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'' plays every single trope of the [[Super Robot]] genre as straight as an arrow. However, since this series was a deliberate Reconstruction of that genre in response to ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', it's purely intentional. [[Badass|And awesome]].

* [[In-Universe]] in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series|Calvin and Hobbes The Series]]'': [[Morality Dial|Evil Jack]] has nary an original bone in his body. Given the [[Better Than a Bare Bulb]] nature of the fic, this is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] with no mercy by the heroes.

* Parodied in the [[Harry Potter]] fic ''When in Doubt, Obliviate'' when Snape took exception to several standard cliches during a teacher's meeting.

'''Snape''': "It doesn't really matter if it would or would not be since it ''won't''. And finally, I will most certainly not become his favorite teacher and or his mentor. I simply will not do it and this will not become an inspirational story. It will not." }}

* [http://www.fimfiction.net/story/6878/A-Perfectly-Ordinary-Day-in-Ponyville A Perfectly Ordinary Day in Ponyville] is a ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfic that sees Twilight Sparkle [[Oh, No, Not Again|being largely unfazed]] by a number of [[Fandom Specific Plot|cliched pony fanfiction plots]] hitting her at once: Twilight [[A God Am I|turning into an alicorn]], [[Longing for Fictionland|a human getting teleported to Equestria]], [[Hurt Comfort Fic|Rainbow Dash getting severely injured]] and [[Ron the Death Eater|Celestia turning evil]].

* Self-aware in ''[[A Few Good Men]]'', where Tom Cruise's character has a throwaway conversation with the local newsstand vendor involving each of them trying to wryly out-cliche the other.

* Surely [[Video Game Movies Suck|part of the reason]] for the catastrophic bomb dive of ''[[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within|Final Fantasy the Spirits Within]]'' was that, outside of the [[Uncanny Valley]] CG characters, the writers seem to have simply taken the [[The Lifestream|Gaia theory]] philosophy from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' and mined the rest of the script straight from ''[[Aliens]]''.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', [[The Movie]]. It's easy to imagine little "DING!" noises and a counter display ratcheting up as each cliché goes by. The film makes for an impressive [http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0145.html drinking game].

* The complete filmography of Roland Emmerich, [[Michael Bay]], and Stephen Sommers, but [[Tropes Are Not Bad|that's not to say they aren't entertaining]].

** The first and third are intentional satire, the second is closer to this, with some heavy-handed satire.

* ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]]'' has Brendan Fraser delivering cliché one-liners every few seconds.

"Here we go again!" }}

* ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''-featured fantasy film ''The Quest of the Delta Knights'' has the [[Big Bad]] saying things like: "I grow weary of your antics, beggar man!" Ironically, and with no explanation whatever, both the [[Big Bad]] and the old man were played by David Warner.

** The movie was a thinly-veiled attempt to do ''[[Star Wars]]'' in a fantasy setting long before ''[[Inheritance Cycle|Eragon]]'' made it cool, and that's how they linked the Darth Vader and Obi-Wan characters. It's not ''much'' of an explanation, but it does seem ''slightly'' less random when you realize that.

* Briefly parodied in ''[[Small Soldiers]]'', which features a scene where Major Chip Hazard gives a hilariously cliché-ridden speech to his "soldiers."

** Actually, everything Hazard says is made of this, from the "roll call" when he activates his troops to his combat banter.

* ''[[Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li|Street Fighter the Legend of Chun Li]]'' has a terribly huge number of action movie clichés, even (perhaps especially) ones which contradict the canon and tone of the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series.

* ''[[Sleepover]]''. Mind you, it ''is'' a preteen chick flick comedy, but this is ridiculous. It doesn't help that most of the actresses are fresh out of Barbizon and don't even realize how many [[Dead Horse Trope|Dead Horse Tropes]] they're playing straight.

* Parodied in ''[[Loaded Weapon 1]]'' with this exchange:

Mike McCracken: [[The Beatles (band)|Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing or fighting, my friend.]]<br />

''[Gen. Morters, cornered, looks to Mr. Jigsaw]''<br />

Gen. Morters: Sorry Mike, no good. }}

* Discussed in ''[[Serenity]]'' as the setup for an action punchline:

'''Inara''': "--and that's not incense."<br />

''BOOM!'' }}

* In a [[So Bad It's Good]] way, both ''Darktown Strutters'' and ''Order of the Black Eagle''. These movies aren't related at all, they just fit together when run matinee style due to using exactly half of all available tropes ever created prior to the 80s. The combination effect induces what can only be described as an effect similar to a caffeine rush without the coffee.

* Cheap [[Sylvester Stallone]] vehicle ''[[Xtreme Kool Letterz|D-TOX]]''. Stallone plays a cop who, after punching a [[Cymbal-Banging Monkey]], finds out his wife has been killed by his nemesis. He develops a drink problem and is sent to a remote, snowy rehab place. People get killed off one by one. And who's doing the killing? Why, the {{spoiler|[[Evil Brit]]}} of course! As you'd expect from a film populated by alcoholics, you get an [[Anvilicious]] message:

* Subverted in almost every possible way throughout ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]'', a film in which almost everything you expect in a World War II action film turns out exactly the opposite of what you'd expect.

** Unlike ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]''... aside from the Normandy Beach scene, which broke some serious new ground in that genre.

== Live Action TV ==

* The characters on ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', as the quote below from "urgo" indicates, would occasionally indulge in volleys of cliches. O'Neill in particular had a tendency to refer to the Goa'uld as having "very clichéd" behavior, and the last scene in the series is of the characters [[Hurricane of Aphorisms|reciting various proverbs and cliches]].

[[Crowning Moment of Funny|"Never run with... scissors?"]]'' }}

** Something similar happens in ''[[The X-Files]]'' episode "The Unnatural".

'''Mulder:''' I scream, you scream, we all scream for non-fat tofutti rice dreamsicles. ''(grabs Scully's dreamsicle and eats it)'' }}

** In the very last episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', at the end, the team use a large amount of cliches to describe what they've learned from their experiences. "Beggars can't be choosers. Better late than never. Look before you leap." "The best things in life are free."

'''Sam:''' Nothing ventured, nothing gained. }}

*** Then Vala says "Life is too short", a statement repeated throughout the episode (and Daniel and Vala's {{spoiler|time-erased relationship}}) but supposedly forgotten when the [[Reset Button]] was hit. Suggesting, interestingly, that somehow Vala remembers what happened.

* [[McLeaned|Col. Blake]] of ''[[MASH|M* A* S* H]]'' attempted to give a [[Rousing Speech]] in "Crisis" but ended up giving the speech version of this trope. [[Lampshaded]] by Trapper:

* ''[[Prison Break]]'' -- Okay, maybe it's not quite a ''storm'', but just too many of the characters are overly familiar -- the ominous, shade-wearing government guys, the oblivious warden, the brutish guard captain, the aged Mafia guy with an Italian name, the sweet-yet-daring female leads...[[Tropes Are Not Bad|doesn't have to mean it's a bad show, of course]].

* ''The Post-Modern Prometheus'' in ''[[The X-Files]]'' is one giant, spiral-sliced, and deliciously smoked ham.

* The ending of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3TkyqsEy54 this commercial.]

* On ''[[The West Wing]]'', when Bartlet debated his [[Strawman Political]] opponent Robert Ritchie, we hear a snippet of one of Ritchie's responses that goes like this:

* The ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' episode "Monster Movie". Every classic horror movie cliche you can think of -- {{spoiler|because the bad guy, a shapeshifter, is deliberately [[Invoked Trope|invoking]] them.}}

** That's because the episode was an [[Affectionate Parody]] of the old Universal monster movies, right down to the way it's shot.

* ''[[The A-Team]]'' is an example of an effectively ''fun'' [[Cliché Storm]]. You know the show's basic formula after an episode or two, but the characters make the plots entertaining.

* The ''[[Charmed]]'' episode "Chick Flick" parodies all the typical slasher movie cliches when a demon releases psycho killers from horror movies and sends them after the sisters. Since their powers don't work on the killers, the sisters have to follow the typical cliches. And there's a nice little shout out to ''Psycho''.

* ''[[Perfect Disaster]]''. A short [[Mockumentary]]-styled [[Documentary]] series that focuses on horrible natural disasters -- ice storm, fire storm, but the most notable is the cliché storm. While the narrator and various experts explain the science behind the phenomenons (sometimes in cut-away scenes), each episode tells a fictional story about how the citizens and the local government of a given town/city would react to them. The set-up of these stories borrows everything from clichéd disaster movies -- mediocre (but decent enough for a TV series) effects, overused character archetypes and interactions, even the ''camera angles'' can be guessed if you are savvy enough. While this may undermine the intended realism for some viewers, [[Tropes Are Not Bad|others enjoy the heck out of it]].

* In the season 3 finale of ''[[Leverage]]'', the team writes a speech for a politician that is intentionally made up of nothing but political speech cliches. The public eats it up.

* [http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2003/10/02/ In universe] for [[Pibgorn]].

* An in-universe example was done by [[Real Life Comics]] during a dimension-hopping adventure where they wound up in a world where "everything is a [[Sliders]] cliche!". Naturally, this involved their dimension-traveling device fizzling out, a doomsday scenario, joining and fighting a rag-tag resistance group led by a double of someone they knew, getting involved with and solving the world's problems and a last second escape. Well, '''almost''' all their problems.

'''Tony''': Sorry, pal! You're on your own! }}

* Catch a Mad in [[Narbonic]] not spouting off every ''[[Mad Scientist]]'' cliche ever and you will find a Mad letting the side down. If you can't rant for at least an hour about THOSE FOOLS THAT CALLED ME MAD!, then you are sane and don't belong.