Cryptic Background Reference: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}{{Mechanics of Writing}}

 

 

One way of building background is to have the characters refer to things without explaining exactly what those things are. The slight confusion caused is balanced by the sense given of a larger world, outside the plot. If a story is extended to a long enough series (especially when there's a [[Running the Asylum|high turnover of writers]]), most of these cryptic references are explained and/or used as [[Canon Fodder]], but often one or two will never appear ''in story''. What such references really mean is a favorite subject for fan-clubs. The rise of the web has reduced the incidence of such things (creators get asked), though not totally eliminated them.

 

Compare to the closely-related [[Noodle Incident]], [[Canon Fodder]], [[Narrative Filigree]] and [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]. [[Great Offscreen War]] and [[Cataclysm Backstory]] are a commonly played as sub-tropes of this, as is [[Famous, Famous, Fictional]]. See [[Hufflepuff House]] for organizations with this treatment more referred to than seen. If the reference in question is actually explained later on, it becomes [[Foreshadowing]], [[Chekhov's Gun]], or [[Brick Joke]]. If not, it becomes a [[Noodle Incident]]. Interestingly, if you start following a [[Long Runner]] series from the middle (rather than [[Archive Binge|from the start]]), every [[Continuity Nod]] in it effectively becomes a '''Cryptic Background Reference''' for you, so it's all just a matter of perspective, really.

 

* Considering ''[[Blame]]'' is a series that prides itself in its sheer vagueness, it isn't a big surprise that this trope shows up at least ''once a chapter''. Technology and factions are seen, mentioned and interacted with often, but in most cases, never fully explained. This adds to the already frighteningly vast feel of the '[[Verse]], and leaves plenty of room for [[Wild Mass Guessing]].

* ''[[Eureka Seven]]'' features the characters spouting a lot of [[Engrish]] phrases that won't mean anything until a good twenty episodes later. It gets pretty confusing when half of the spoken terms have no meaning to the viewer.

 

 

* [[Deconstruction Fic]] ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4602078/1/Challenge_of_the_Super_Friends_The_End Challenge of the Super Friends: The End]'' has the Legion of Doom enter another universe. Cryptic references are given constantly to this world's past and how it got to be that way, but nothing is outright stated, leaving the reader's imagination to connect the dots. The characters are just as baffled as the reader.

* ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' is loaded with these, both overt and subtle. Examples include: