Eureka Moment: Difference between revisions

Named for perhaps the most famous non-detective-related example, Archimedes' exclamation of "Eureka!" after jumping into a bath and realizing that held the key to the problem he was trying to solve. (See below for details.)

 

 

The '''Eureka Moment''' shows up a lot on diagnosis-mystery medical shows, such as ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', in which he does it in [[Once an Episode|nearly every episode]], and in the first episode of ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]'', which isn't even a medical detective show!

 

{{examples}}

** One has Paul Breakstone sitting in a bathtub while wondering how to make his cottage cheese more practical. Meanwhile, his wife is yelling at him that his bath time is over. Just before the commercial ends, his wife walks by and says "Get out of that tub!" He then gets the idea to package the cottage cheese in individual cups.

** Anther has him sitting under a peach tree, wondering what he can put in his cheese so kids would eat it. "Maybe something sweet," he says, as peaches start to fall around him. Then he exclaims, "I've got it! Pineapple!" Of course, he may have [[Failed a Spot Check]] there, but the completed product has both peach and pineapple varieties.

* A commercial for Shell gasoline shows a scientist trying to figure out how to explore for petroleum reserves underwater without building multiple derricks and drilling dozens of holes. While at a restaurant with his son, his son is using a bendy-straw to suck up the last bits of milkshake at the very bottom of the glass. He comes up with the idea for a "bendy-drill".

 

* ''[[Detective Conan]]'' does this a lot. One time, he solved a murder he had been stuck on just by Ran mentioning that she had bought new pajamas for them. (To be more specific, she mentioned that said pjs were a matched pair, leading Conan to realize that the murderer was a set of identical twins.)

** Conan is a brilliant detective hiding in the body of a small child, so if he figures something out before anyone else, it's not uncommon for him to subtly lead those around him to their own Eureka Moment, rather than raising suspicions about himself by voicing his deductions directly.

* Happens twice in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', within the same scene. When trying to decipher a code {{spoiler|from Scar's brother's notes, the group takes a break to reassemble Al who is in 'pieces', like a puzzle. May rips the bindings of the notes and with Scar and Marcoh's help reassemble it to see the nationwide transmutation circle (which Ed and Al figured out beforehand). When trying to think there was a silver lining in this, Yoki sneezes and causes the papers to shift. They're annoyed that the papers have been 'flipped over', and Al comes to his realization that the papers needed to be turned over to see the other half of the hidden message: a ''second'' transmutation circle [[Chekhov's Gun|which can be used to reverse the effects of the first.]]}}

 

* [[Batman]]'s Eureka Moment from way, way back in ''[[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Detective Comics #27]]'' defined his career:

{{quote|'''Bruce Wayne:''' Criminals are a superstitious cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night, black, terrible...

* In almost every issue of ''[[The Maze Agency]]'', some seemingly random comment or event will start the gears spinning in Gabe's head and cause him to suddenly see the solution to the current mystery.

 

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', Mikuru realizes [[Tricked-Out Time|a loophole to allow a time traveler change history without violating causality]] after commenting to Kyon that the dinner she just cooked was "add[ing] some things from outside of the normal recipe".

 

* In ''[[Blazing Saddles]]'', <s>Hedy</s> Hedley Lamarr's evil plans all come as a result of these.

* ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'': Ryan, mulling over how Capt. Ramius could manage to get the rest of his crew off the sub as part of his plan to defect.

'''Steve Rogers''': Right. I caught his act in Stuttgart.

'''Tony Stark''': Yeah. That's just previews, this is... this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tail diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered... Son of a bitch. }}

 

* Miranda has one at the end of the novel ''[[When You Reach Me]]'' by Rebecca Stead:

{{quote|I am jumping up and down because at the very moment Dick Clark said the word "Go," it was like an invisible hand reached out and snatched away my veil. And for almost a minute, I understood everything. When that veil isn't hanging down right in front of a person's face, a minute is long enough to realize a lot of things.}}

* [[Nero Wolfe]] does this quite a bit. He's got all the pieces, but can't make them fit together, Archie (or one of the suspects) says something that causes him to look at one particular thing in a different way, and everything falls into place. He will often admit to Archie when it was something that he said or did; if it was someone else, he saves the information for the [[The Summation|Parlor Scene.]] Both Archie and the reader know one has just occurred when Nero starts doing his "lip exercises".

* Subverted, while lampshading the subversion, in Mil Millington's ''[[Love And Other Near-Death Experiences]]'', in which the central character has a startling realization that he recognizes would qualify as a Eureka Moment - except that nobody did or said anything to trigger it, it just happened without prompting.

* In ''[[Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn]]'', near the climax of the third novel, [[Magical Native American|Binabik the troll]] has a classic Eureka Moment during his party's escape from the [[The Fair Folk|Norns]] beneath Asu'a, as a result of an offhand comment from the dwarrows who are aiding them. Unconventionally, this leads not to the solution to the plot but the [[Oh Crap|horrifying realization]] that the heroes have been doing the [[Big Bad]]'s bidding the entire time.

* In the grand tradition of mystery novels, happens frequently in [[Ngaio Marsh]]'s ''Inspector Alleyn'' series. An interesting departure is that the Eureka moment for Alleyn usually occurs near the middle of the book, with the reader catching up as more evidence is gathered.

** Played straight at the end of the book, when remarks of [[The Ditz|Detritus and Fred Colon]] make Vimes realize the [[Big Bad]] had been rubbing the hints of his plot in Vimes' face, assuming Vimes wouldn't get them.

** Lampshaded in that "eureka" is a Ephebian word meaning "Bring me a towel".

'''Graeme:''' ...I dunno, I shall have to think. }}

* This is also a [[Once an Episode]] occurrence on the 1975-6 ''[[Ellery Queen]]'' TV series. In the final act Ellery will be in some mundane activity, usually with his police Inspector father, say "Of course!" and [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|break the fourth wall]] to outline the evidence and then ask the audience if they've solved the mystery.

 

* ''[[The Far Side]]''; one cartoon shows Albert Einstein having written and crossed out on a blackboard "E=mc^3", "E=mc^4", and many other variations with the number different. He notices the cleaning lady who has just straightened out his desk saying, "There we go, everything squared away. Squaaaared away."

* In an arc of ''[[Peanuts]]'' strips, Lucy wants to win the school science fair, and realizes she needs to come up with something original:

''(Notices Linus with his blanket)''

'''Lucy:''' THAT'S IT!}}

 

* On ''[[Absolute Power (radio)|Absolute Power]]'' Martin's comments (usually that they should give up, or similarly unhelpful) often give Charles a Eureka Moment. [[Lampshade Hanging]] in the second episode:

{{quote|'''Charles''': You have that ability, peculiar to the mediocre, of making the obvious statement that brings out the genius in a genius.}}

 

* Parodied in the first season finale of Telltale's ''[[The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police]]'' series. Most fans had figured out by this point who the season villain was, so at the beginning of the episode Sam is trying to figure out who the villain is. has to drop increasingly obvious clues before Sam finally figures it out.

* Happens a few times in the ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' series.

'''Mr. Nailbrain:''' ...Still not following ya kap'n. }}

 

* In [https://web.archive.org/web/20101130114345/http://cedarseed.com/malaak/II25.html Malaak, issue II, page 25], the person giving the inspiration doesn't even know about the mystery.

* Parodied in ''[[Shortpacked]]''; Robin ''[http://www.shortpacked.com/d/20080130.html insists]'' on this trope for some reason.

* Dimentio has one in ''[[L's Empire]]' [https://web.archive.org/web/20160316150231/http://l-empire.smackjeeves.com/comics/1491118/nightfall-pt-4/ here].

 

* In "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl" in the [[Whateley Universe]], Phase has a Eureka Moment in the middle of the final battle of the story. It nearly turns into a [[Brick Joke]] when we don't get to hear the deduction until well into the next novel, as the attack used by the Necromancer tells Phase {{spoiler|that there is a link between the Necromancer and Hekate, another of their Big Bads.}}

 

* In the ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'', virtually every conversation Batman has with Alfred while pondering the crime du jour leads to a Eureka Moment (and an "Alfred! You're a genius!" declaration, and a bemused "Of course, sir" response).

** One memorable conversation involved the Riddler and a series of riddles. Batman and Alfred are staring at the riddles and Alfred makes the comment that the riddles all involve numbers. From that, Batman turns the numbers into Roman numerals and then simultaneously, both declare, "Of course! The Department of Motor Vehicles!" (suddenly seeing the Roman numerals DMV together could easily be a Eureka Moment for any American.)

** When Kim visited her cousin Larry, he commented that Monty Fiske, the archeologist they had assisted earlier, was a master of Tai Shing Pek Kwar or Monkey Kung-Fu, prompting Kim to realize that he was the villain Monkey Fist.

* ''[[Teen Titans]]'':

{{quote|'''Beast Boy:''' Dude! I had no idea I was this tough!

'''Cyborg:''' You're not! I could kick your butt any day of the—

'''Starfire:''' If we cannot defeat ourselves, maybe we can defeat each other!

'''Beast Boy & Cyborg''': ''[[Opponent Switch| SWITCH!]]''

'''Finn:''' Some Donkus's real name must have been.... [[Fridge Brilliance|ReeeeEEEEE]]'''[[Fridge Brilliance|EEEEE]]''[[Fridge Brilliance|EEEEENCE?!?!]]''''' }}

** In another episode, Finn solves a case when he's tipped off by the sentence, "This place could use a scarecrow."

 

* Newton's understanding the gravity supposedly came after an apple fell on his head. (Which never actually happened, but [[Bellisario's Maxim|nobody cares about that]].)

* Friedrich August Kekule allegedly realized the structure of the benzene molecule after dreaming about [[Ouroboros|a snake biting its own tail]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Mystery Tropes]]

[[Category:Crime and Punishment Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]