Going to See the Elephant/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A meaningless trip.

  • Played Straight: Alice and Bob and a bunch of their friends or relatives go on a cross-country road trip just to see a famous landmark or natural wonder.
  • Exaggerated: They arrive there and head home immediately afterwards.
  • Inverted: The trip actually has a purpose, such as a real quest, a business trip, a religious retreat, etc.
  • Justified: The group wants to see the landmark or natural wonder in question before it's destroyed.
  • Subverted: The Captain sends the Five-Man Band on a mission to Mount Everest.
  • Double Subverted: To take pictures, and maybe say hi to the Yeti for him.
  • Deconstructed: The trip is a complete waste of time and serves no purpose.
  • Reconstructed: The characters have lots of memorable experiences and become closer to one another on the trip.
  • Parodied: The purpose of the trip is to go see some cheesy tourist trap.
  • Lampshaded: "We went all this way, just to see some stupid statue?!"
  • Averted:
    • The trip serves some sort of purpose besides just crossing something off Bob's Bucket List.
    • The group does not go on any trip.
  • Enforced: "We need to give them something to do...how about a road trip?"
  • Invoked: Bob mentions that he wants to go see Far Side Island before it sinks.
  • Defied: Bob chooses a trip that's more meaningful.
  • Exploited: The Big Bad invented the destination in question specifically to lure the heroes there.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???
  • Played For Laughs:
    • The trip is mentioned as a Noodle Incident
    • All the road trip antics involved in getting there
  • Played For Drama: The Big Bad is there, destroying it.

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