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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|'''Dallas:''' As most of you may know, we're not home yet. We're only halfway there. Mother's interrupted our journey for she's programed to do so unless things change. Things have changed. It seems that she has... intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. She got us up to check it out.
'''Ripley:''' A transmission? Out here in remote space?
'''Lambert:''' What kind of a transmission?
'''Dallas:''' Acoustical beacon. It, uh... repeats at intervals of 12 seconds.
'''Kane:''' S.O.S.?
'''Dallas:''' I don't know.
'''Ripley:''' Human?
'''Dallas:''' Unknown.|'''''[[Alien (
This is a common [[Beginning Tropes|opening]] found in [[Speculative Fiction|Sci-Fi]], [[Horror]] and [[Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs|Scifi-Horror]]. This refers to the plot structure wherein the heroes are summoned to respond to a distress call, or occasionally, a non-emergency yet still foreboding request for assistance from an expedition. Equally often, the heroes are investigating the abrupt stoppage of all communications from the site.▼
▲This is a common [[Beginning Tropes|opening]] found in [[Speculative Fiction|Sci-Fi]], [[Horror]] and [[Bread Eggs Breaded Eggs|Scifi-Horror]]. This refers to the plot structure wherein the heroes are summoned to respond to a distress call, or occasionally, a non-emergency yet still foreboding request for assistance from an expedition. Equally often, the heroes are investigating the abrupt stoppage of all communications from the site.
Of course, when our plucky heroes get there, [[Late to
▲The most common response? [[Send in The Search Team]].
▲Of course, when our plucky heroes get there, [[Late to The Party]], they find a [[Ghost Ship]] or [[Derelict Graveyard]] either devoid of any signs of life at first, or brimful of horrifically mangled dead bodies. Sure enough, the folks who sent out the distress call [[Everybody's Dead, Dave|are all dead]], thanks most often to the [[Monster of the Week]], though the usual suspects often include [[The Corruption]] (and in general, [[The Virus]]) or just getting a [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong]]. Apparently, no matter how much [[Faster Than Light Travel]] is, answering a distress call [[Traveling At the Speed of Plot]] is never fast enough. Also, you can expect their engines to give out/a storm to hit and [[Closed Circle|make leaving impossible.]]
While a distress call filled with screams and ominous roaring in the background can get a scifi horror story off to a nice start, a sudden stop to all communications places more emphasis on the horrific speed with which the killer alien/[[The Virus|virus]]/CosmicHorror managed to off everyone. Some stories even make it a cyclical set up, with the surviving rescuers sending out ''their own'' ominous distress call. To summarize: something has [[Gone Horribly Wrong]], and the heroes must find out what before it gets them too.
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'''There are several variations to the Distress Call:'''
* '''Aid Request:''' An outpost or other space ship requests help researching a new finding, and send a forboding message like "Come and help us check out these cool and obviously harmless alien tombs!" This may involve defending said discovery from rivals or hostile locals. Usually, said finding is [[Sealed Evil in
* '''[[Nothing Is Scarier|Cessation of Communications:]]''' Takes the above, but kills off the expedition ''before'' they can get word out. Better to just write them off for dead. Expect there to be at least one or more [[Disaster Scavengers]] to help the "rescuers".
* '''[[Lost in Transmission]]''' is a variant. "Don't go in there! Wait till help arrives!" "I can't hear you, over."
* '''Distress Call:''' The most classic of the set ups, a colony, ship, or [[Escape Pod
* '''[[Defensive Feint Trap|Fake Distress Call]]:''' Like the above, but there's an ulterior motive to the call. It can be an outright trap by enemies, the expedition has gone rogue and need human sacrifices or a new ship to escape in, or the menace that just killed them is both hungry and clever.
* '''Warning Beacon:''' The little used warning beacon is often confused for a distress beacon, but is in actuality an attempt (either by [[Precursors]] or the last expedition) to be [[Neglectful Precursors|responsible]] and keep curious parties from coming anywhere near the certain death that awaits them. Of course, there would be no plot if they immediately decode it or heed it, now would there? Besides, they [[Curiosity Killed the Cast|should have factored in the lure]] of [[Schmuck Bait]] and thought of just keeping silent.
* '''[[Apocalyptic Log]]:''' The signal is the [[Almost
[[Send in
Compare: [[Harbinger of Impending Doom]], [[Doomed Expedition]], [[Bring News Back]], [[Action Survivor]], [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]].
▲Compare: [[Harbinger of Impending Doom]], [[Doomed Expedition]], [[Bring News Back]], [[Action Survivor]], [[Everybody's Dead, Dave]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==▼
* The segment "Magnetic Rose" in the compilation ''Memories'' has a distress signal, and to sum it up quickly (and neatly, one hopes) it's actually a trap, {{spoiler|designed by the space station's mad computer to lure male victims to fulfill
▲== [[Anime and Manga]] ==
▲* The segment "Magnetic Rose" in the compilation ''Memories'' has a distress signal, and to sum it up quickly (and neatly, one hopes) it's actually a trap, {{spoiler|designed by the space station's mad computer to lure male victims to fulfill "the owners" fantasy of a [[Happily Ever After]] opera life she never got. Of course, the owner is dead and the mad computer thinks it's her.}}
== [[Film]] ==
* Probably the original defining examples of the trope would be the original ''[[Alien (
** Apparently the intended original ending of ''[[Alien]]'' has the Xenomorph surviving and sending a distress call in Ripley's voice.
* ''[[Event Horizon]]'' is pretty much the perfect example of this trope, except combined with [[Poor Communication Kills]].
* The ''[[Doom]]'' film also used this to get the plot rolling. When those research labs on distant planets cease communications, that should be your hint to close the portal.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Return of the Living Dead]]'' has one of the brain-hungry zombies using the Fake Distress Call variant to order in some food: "Send more paramedics."
** The living characters also use this to a degree, as they ''don't'' admit they're under attack by zombies when they call for help, but by people who've gone murderously insane "like rabies, only it's a lot faster". They're not trying to lure in victims, they just know the emergency responders will never believe the truth.
* [[Unwinnable Training Simulation|The ''Kobayashi Maru'']] scenario from ''[[Star Trek II:
** As well as featuring the ''Kobayashi Maru'', the new [[Star Trek (
* ''[[Sunshine (
* ''[[Star Wars|Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope]]'': "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."
* The 2011 prequel to ''[[The Thing (
== [[Literature]] ==
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* [[Stephen King]]'s teleplay ''Sorry, Right Number'' adds a [[Karmic Twist Ending]] to this trope.
* [[Stanislaw Lem]]'s short story ''The Albatross'' epitomizes the cyclical version. After the spaceship ''Albatross'''s nuclear drive overheats, rendering it helpless and its crew's lives in danger, nearby ships rush to the rescue with such urgency that their own drives overheat. We see the viewpoint character as his own ship prepares to join [[Lemming Cops|half the fleet]] in a mad dash to rescue the rescuers...
* In Charles Sheffield's short story ''With McAndrew, Out of Focus'', the title character's fellow physicists are busy making observations of a supernova at one solar focus. They also detect a distress call from a [[Generation Ship]], but can't locate the source of the signal and thus identify which [[Generation Ship]] sent the message (the signal quality is very poor). McAndrew works out that the [[Generation Ship]]'s signal is coming from the ''other'' solar focus, which is displacing the signal, and leads a scouting / possible rescue mission. He and his partner, the narrator and [[The Captain]], have narrowed the candidates for the [[Generation Ship]] down to a couple of possibilities by the time they reach it. Just before it's too late, [[The Captain]] identifies the [[Generation Ship]] as the CyberArk, which learned too late that [[
* [[Fragment|Henders Isle]] is brought to the world's attention after a distress beacon lures a passing research vessel to investigate. Plays with the trope in that while the being that activated the beacon ( {{spoiler|a member of a sapient species later dubbed "Hendropods"}}) ''did'' want to attract people, it simply did so out of a benign curiousity (it's the ''rest'' of the island that'll get you!).
* The Fourth Imperium in ''[[Empire From the Ashes]]'' littered the galaxy with warning beacons designed to detect incoming [[Kill All Humans|Achuultani]] ships, broadcast a warning to anyone in range, lure the ships in, then self-destruct in massive explosions. [[Cool Starship|Dahak's]] communications were sabotaged during the mutiny so that the Imperium would assume the ship lost, the last communication having been a damage report.
* In ''[[X Wing Series|Wraith Squadron]]'', the heroes set up one of these after recovering from an enemy trap. They station a damaged X-Wing in orbit with a distress call recorded by the squadron's actor, begging for help. When the enemy shows up and tractors it, they shoot a jerry-rigged tiny ship into its hangar bay, and the pilot inside, equipped with one of the X-Wing's [[BFG|laser cannons]], captures their ship. [[Crazy Awesome]]? Oh yes.
* ''[[
* An interesting example with ''[[Dragonriders of Pern|Dragonsdawn]]'' by Anne
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* A staple of ''[[
** To the point where [[Russell T. Davies]] acknowledges that he had to tell other writers to not start their episodes this way.
* Every once in a while, the plot of an episode of ''[[
* ''[[
** Let's not forget the episode "Bushwhacked". The entire episode is classic example.
*** The "Crybaby" is ''Serenity'''s very own invocation of this trope - a disposable can of junk designed to send out a fake distress call if the crew need to create a diversion.
** And "Out of Gas", though the heroes were the ones sending the signal.
* Varied in the pilot episode of ''[[Lost]]'': while it does not draw the Losties to the island, the distress call alerts them that another group has landed on the island and met with a terrible fate, not to mention that the call has been playing for sixteen years, but no one seems to have responded to it.
* Used in the first two seasons of ''[[
* About 1 in 4 episodes of ''[[Star Trek:
* An episode of ''[[Star Trek
* Subverted in ''[[Star Trek
* ''[[
** Another episode involves the titular space station receiving a distress call {{spoiler|from themselves, from the [[Bad Future]] [[Alternate Timeline]]. Due to a rift in space/time previously introduced [[Foreshadowing|and recently featured]] on the show.}}
* Used in the
* "[[Out
* Both ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' and ''[[
* Episode three of season one of ''[[Terra Nova]]'' has some of our heroes setting out to investigate why a scientific outpost has suddenly gone dark. Naturally, they go blundering in, ignoring all safety and medical protocols and end up {{spoiler|infected with the same virus which caused the original outpost team to lose a chunk of their memories and forget why they were there}}
== [[Music]] ==
* [http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/01/bnewman/songs/lyrics/S-O-S.txt This
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Used in multiple editions of ''[[Traveller]]'', and its advertising, the distress call, "This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone... Mayday, Mayday..." has become iconic.
* For a low-tech variant, player characters in the original ''D&D'' adventure ''I6: [[Ravenloft]]'' find two versions of a letter from the burgomaster of Barovia: {{spoiler|a genuine Warning Beacon urging everyone to stay away from the vampire-besieged town, and a Fake Distress Call forged by Strahd von Zarovich to attract adventurers he can use in a [[Xanatos Gambit]]}}.
* Used in ''[[Warhammer
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Dead Space (
** Cessation of Communications explains why the troubleshooting crew is going out there. The distress call that the player received (and doesn't see the end of until late in the game) explains why he signed up for the mission.
*** That the player doesn't see until the end. Isaac watches it again and again on the way there. Kendra even asks how many more times he'll watch it. {{spoiler|It's just the marker making him forget in order to use him. That's how Kendra knows what's at the end when you're planetside.}}
* In ''[[Escape Velocity]]'', the fake distress call is a trap used by [[Space Pirates]].
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
* About half of the star systems in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' greet you with beeping distress beacons, one of the more prominent is a fake and is a lure for a Geth ambush. Only a few are received on time to provide any aid.
** Also crops up in {{spoiler|Jacob}}'s loyalty mission in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''. The strange thing is, the beacon activated 10 years after the ship disappeared...
* One of the mission objectives in the first ''[[Medal of Honor]]'' is sending a fake SOS from a German bunker, in order to divert the forces from a guarded pass.
* ''[[Metroid]]'' is full of this:
** ''Super Metroid'' starts with a distress signal from the research station she just delivered the [[MacGuffin]] to.
** ''[[Metroid Prime]]'': Oddly enough, [[Space Pirates]] send a distress beacon that Samus picks up.
** ''Metroid Prime 2'': A [[Space Marine|Galactic Federation]] warship crash lands and is under attack by a mysterious foe. They send a final SOS before they are wiped out. Said Federation hires Samus to check it out.
** ''Metroid Fusion'': Samus is infected with [[The Virus]] and a research lab treats her before sending her to the Galactic Federation for a cure. While getting a new suit and ship, [[The Virus]] breaks out and the research lab sends an SOS for help.
** ''[[Metroid: Other M]]'': The "Baby's Cry".
* One of the possible endings of ''[[Notrium]]'' is to successfully send a distress call.
* The first ''[[Resident Evil]]'' game's plot opens this way. For a squad with the word "Rescue" in its name, the STARS members were awfully unsuccessful at saving their buddies all things considered.
* On the horror front, ''[[Silent Hill 2]]'' has a "distress letter" from the hero's ''dead wife!''
* ''[[Star Fox (
** Likewise in ''[[
* ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'' has optional rescue missions that open up after you received a request for aid. Its sequel uses request for aid in a different way: during a fight in which you are severely outnumbered, your allies call for help if they take too much damage.
* The [[Backstory]] for ''[[X-COM]]: Terror from the Deep'' features plenty of
* In one of the first Order missions in [[Ground Control]], your acting commanding officer tells you he's lost contact with a friendly base and that this could only mean it's under attack from Crayven Corporation forces. [[Genre Savvy]]?
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* A nearly unintelligible phone call motivates Vanessa in ''[[
== [[Web Original]] ==
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[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
[[Category:Distress Call]]
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