Halfway Plot Switch/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: One plot is switched out for another.

  • Straight: The Game Troperia Fantasia starts with Alice trying to save her village from Emperor Evlulz, but soon shifts to her trying to save the world from Bobendroff.
  • Exaggerated: The Game Troperia Fantasia starts with Alice trying to save her village from Emperor Evlulz, but soon shifts to her trying to save the world from Bobendroff. This plotline is dropped in favor of the war against Lord Vicious, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Evil, which ultimately arrives at an an unrelated storyline about preventing a sentient dimension of monsters from destroying the universe.
  • Downplayed: The story of Bob, another person from Alice's village, is focused on from time to time. This gets changed from a drama about love to a journey of self-discovery after Bob's object of admiration outright rejects him. Despite all that, Bob's story doesn't get too much screen time, as Alice is the main character and much more fun to play as in addition.
  • Justified: Alice already resolved her conflict with Evlulz before going to save the world.
  • Inverted: ???
  • Subverted: As soon as the audience forgets the Evlulz subplot, Evlulz shows up and reveals to be The Dragon to Bobendroff.
  • Double Subverted: Bobendroff has Psychic Powers. "Emperor Evlulz as The Dragon" is an illusion placed inside Alice's head just to screw with her. Emperor Evlulz has not really returned after all.
  • Parodied: Due to Chronic Hero Syndrome, Alice keeps getting distracted from saving her village for trivial sidequests, like saving a kitten from a tree, painting an old lady's fence, and chasing and arresting a jaywalker.
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: The game doesn't shift plots and saves the Bobendroff plot for the sequel.
  • Enforced: "Crap, we've finished this plot in little than 15 minutes." "Then we need another plot! And Fast!"
  • Lampshaded: "Alice, I'm not sure how a quest to save your village from an evil emperor became a mission to stop a cosmic horror from destroying the world but I'm with you either way."
  • Invoked: Evlulz hired some people to drive her away from him by spreading rumors of Bobendroff's revival.
  • Exploited: ???
  • Defied: Alice puts Bobendroff next on her list as soon as she takes out Evlulz.
  • Discussed: "Say, Alice, what ever happened to Evlulz?" "Ev-who? Oh, that guy. I kicked his ass in about five minutes. Now I'm focusing on Bobendroff."
  • Conversed: "Hey, wait a minute, wasn't she taking on Evlulz? What's this about Bobendroff?" "Meh, I kicked his ass in about five minutes and the game decided to change plots."
  • Deconstructed: Alice goes back to her hometown after taking down Bobendroff to find that her village is destroyed by Evlulz. Alice then begins to feel guilty for forgetting about her original goals.
  • Reconstructed:

Back to Halfway Plot Switch