Imagine Spot: Difference between revisions

[[File:rsz_love_hina_vol07_086byaaah_5788rsz love hina vol07 086byaaah 5788.jpg|link=Love Hina|frame|[[Megaton Punch|These]] [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|girls]] [[Accidental Pervert|know]] [[Tsundere|the]] [[Twinkle in The Sky|routine]].]]

* Saitou Hajime of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'': [[Memetic Badass]], [[Inspector Javert]], [[The Comically Serious]]... and master of the [[Imagine Spot]]. He makes the "If Kaoru → Tanuki and Megumi → Fox, then Misao → Weasel" in one and images a broom shooing away a rooster when Chou and Sanosuke get into an argument.

** In the anime, after Saitou casually drops the fact that he's married (and the manga has to add a [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer]]), there's an Imagine Spot of Saitou reclining on the statue of a [[wikipedia:Bodhisattva|Bodhisattva]].

* Pretty much every character in ''[[Ranma ½|Ranma 1/2]]'' indulges in this regularly. If there are any other people in the room, [[Imagine Spotting|they usually comment on the scene]].

* Played '''with''' and played '''straight''' in the second episode of the ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'' TV series -- whenseries—when Keiichi mulls over what wish of his Belldandy should grant, he first imagines [[If I Were a Rich Man|life as a wealthy man]], then Belldandy, who's reading his mind the entire time, says she would gladly "give him more money than he could hope to spend in his lifetime". Then Belldandy says she could also grant the wish of wanting to destroy the entire world, "although [she] would prefer to not do business with that type of client." Cue Keiichi imagining a giant explosion levelling a city, with him off to the side, laughing evilly, in a monocle, a wiry mustache, and what suspiciously looks like a [[Those Wacky Nazis|Schutzstaffel uniform]].

* Isaac and Miria of ''[[Baccano!]]!'' have a ''joint'' one (fitting, considering their [[The Ditz|ditzy duo]] status) complete with [[Art Shift]] when they speculate with horror on Jacuzzi's fate at the hands of the mythical Rail Tracer. Which, by the way, they visualize as a giant green worm with fangs.

* ''[[Ayane's High Kick|Ayanes High Kick]]'': We get to see one of these from Ayane when Kunimitsu makes a pitch to get her to join his dojo, declaring that she can become a champion. She sees herself in the middle of a ring with a pro-wrestling world title belt and a cheering crowd, unaware that Kunimitsu is actually referring to her becoming a champion ''kick-boxer''.

* In ''[[Soul Eater Not!]]'', new student Tsugumi imagines herself surrounded by [[Bishonen|pretty boys]] at the academy, but she snaps out of her thoughts once she sees [[Idiot Hero|Black Star]] punching a guy in the face. She also imagines the aforementioned pretty boys all clamoring to be her partner, but instead finds herself being fought over by two ''female'' classmates.

* Masamune of ''[[Gate 7]]'' get lose in his own [[Imagine Spot]] of [[Catgirl]] Hana ''at the middle of a battle''.

* ''[[Dungeon Keeper Ami]]:'' Featuresfeatures a hilarious one from Eline, immeadiatelyimmediately following her capture by [[Sailor Moon|Mercury]].

{{quote| {{spoiler|''...Thus, logic stated that she had been captured by Keeper Mercury.''}} <br />

{{spoiler|''Eline dared opened her eyes. Keepers rarely healed their prisoners out of the goodness of their heart, in her experience, which meant that Mercury needed her strong enough to survive whatever tortures she had planned. A quick glance around revealed that she was alone in a barred cell, which was bare except for a bucket in the corner. The dark elf sat up silently, keeping her breathing even in order to avoid drawing attention, and tried to remember what she knew about the Keeper. Mercury's main claim to fame was defeating a horned reaper in single combat, even if Morrigan ranted often about how she had to have cheated. In Eline's head, the indistinct, blue-haired mental picture of the Keeper grew and gained bulging muscles, until it was nearly the equal of the reaper. What else did she know? Mercury had, according to rumours, had her way with the red-skinned beast against his will, which made her a terrifying and suicidal deviant. The red-eyed mental picture in the prisoner's mind gained a demented, lecherous grin. The Keeper's reported exhibitionist tendencies hardly mattered in comparison. Eline pinched the bridge of her nose as the brute in her imagination lost her clothes. Just great. She's basically a female clone of Morrigan.}}'' }}.}}

* In ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', after Kyon phoned Yuki in chapter 13 he imagines her in her apartment, kneeling by the phone, her cheeks pink-tinged as she daydreamed about him... But he dismissed that thought. This was Yuki, after all. As much as he might wish that...

* In the ''[[Progress]]'', [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|Princess]]'' Lunafic ''[[Progress]]'', Princess Luna has increasingly bizarre daydreams about the various awkward situations in which she finds herself.

{{quote| ''"Doctor, I'd like the part of my brain responsible for that image [[Brain Bleach|lobotomized please...]]"''}}

** Subverted when Regina George is hit by a moving bus and dies. Turns out she really did get hit by a moving bus, but only got sent to the hospital.

* In ''[[Harold and Kumar|Harold and& Kumar Go to White Castle]]'', Harold imagines himself {{spoiler|finally working up the nerve to flirt with his attractive neighbor Maria in the elevator. In actuality, he and Maria ride the elevator in awkward silence.}}

* Amélie from ''[[Amelie|Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain]]'' frequently lapses into this. One of the more extreme examples is that, if Nino couldn't assemble a torn-up photograph in time, he'd end up living in Tajikistan with only a goat for company -- andcompany—and Amélie refuses to go out with somebody that would wear a teacosy for a hat.

* Most of the music numbers in ''[[Chicago]]'' are fullblooded imagine spots of the heroine, who hopes to become a jazz dancer. There are even a few snapping-out-of-it moments, and the contrast between the reality and her jazz saturated daydreams is often underlined.

* Michael, the narrator of [[The Republic Of Trees]] is established as a notorious daydreamer in the first chapter. His visions in the book get quite bizarre ( such as Liberty from Delacroix' "Liberty leading the People" {{spoiler|giving him a handjob ).}}

* This is probably the central comedic tool of ''[[Scrubs]]'', which uses it to great effect. Usually J.D. does this, to the point where other characters [[Lampshade]] it increasingly as the series goes on, mentioning how one was really long, messing with him while he is in his head, triggering one on purpose to get him to zone out, and so on. Usually after his fantasy he says something that sounds completely weird if we weren't to be shown the [[Imagine Spot]]. And his propensity to do this is apparently infectious, as his friends occasionally indulge in it as well, though far less regularly.

{{quote| "We're gonna need a lot of gnomes..."}}

* ''[[iCarly]]'': In ''iFind Lewbert's Lost Love'' Carly and Freddie have a synchronous daydream on how life in the Bushwell will be much better if the irate doorman Lewbert is "a happy man". Carly, Freddie and Lewbert dance around as balloons fall. [[Deadpan Snarker|Sam breaks them out of their over-the-top fantasy]].

* Possibly the funniest thirty seconds in five seasons of ''[[Angel]]'' involved Angel in episode 1.13, at a party, being asked if he wanted to dance. The ensuing Imagine Spot is brilliance.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', on the other hand, managed to do the most depressing use of this trope ever when {{spoiler|Joyce is rushed to the hospital and saved -- then cut to the paramedics declaring her dead from an aneurysm}}.

* The early-90s HBO series ''[[Dream On]]'' used a variation on the Imagine Spot as its primary gimmick. But instead of segments featuring the ''Dream On'' cast, clips from old movies and TV shows were used for the Imagine Spots of its main character, Martin Tupper.

* ''[[That '70s Show]]'' used a lot of these.

** At the end of the Ice Truck Killer arc, where he's walking up to the office Hollywood style -- redstyle—red carpet walkway flanked with adoring fans.

{{quote| "Hey Dex, way to take out the trash!"}}

{{quote| '''Dexter''': [[Understatement|This isn't going to be easy]].}}

{{quote| '''Liz:''' And I am thinking of some of them right now.<br />

* In the ''[[Leverage]]'' episode "The Scheherezade Job", Nate has a meeting with the woman who is blackmailing them. After telling him what he needs to know about their current mark, she explains that Nate messed up her date and offers to have dinner with him. Cue to Nate imagining a nice, romantic dinner with her, interrupted by one of her [[Mook|Mooks]]s choking him with a garrote, while she is drinking wine. Nate makes up a lame excuse and, once she leaves, feels his neck uncomfortably.

* In the musical ''[[Allegro]]'', the [[Greek Chorus]] interrupts the awkward hoofing of a college dance to introduce a fantastic [[Dream Ballet]] which shows how the students ''feel'' they are dancing; this eventually ends and the dance continues as before. In a later montage sequence, the voices professors droning on through their lectures fade away as Joe sees Jenny dancing through his imagination; Joe's buddy Charlie gets his own [[Imagine Spot]] showing two girls starting to strip as a professor reads [[John Keats]]' poem "The Eve of St. Agnes."

* Kareha in ''[[ShuffleSHUFFLE!]]'' has a tendency to go into these whenever thrilled about something possibly romantic. It unnerves the rest of the class, who refer to them as hallucinations. We never get to see what she is actually thinking at these times, [[Covert Pervert|perhaps for the best]].

* Happens in ''[[Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!|Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai]]'' a couple of times, such as when a joke choice involving Miyako is chosen.

{{quote| '''Grif:''' That's not what happened.<br />

'''Sarge:''' Of course it is!<br />

'''Grif:''' Then how am I still alive?<br />

* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'': "To the [http://www.webcomicsnationgiantitp.com/eddurd/everydayheroescomics/seriesoots0562.php?view=single&ID=76616html Mighty-MobileNinjamobile!]"

* ''[[Squid Row]]'': [http://squidrowcomics.com/?p=178 Of course a squirt gun will make you a Space Opera hero!]

* ''[[Mac Hall]]'': [http://www.machall.com/view.php?date=2006-06-19 "My spleen!"]

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' has Isabella of all people seemingly quite often breaking off into an [[Imagine Spot]] where she imagines Phineas as a centaur. It's just as weird as it sounds.

** Specifically, he turns into a centaur and flies away with Isabella ''after'' suddenly having given her a dramatic declaration of love. Yeah.

** Pre-Doc Ock Otto Octavious has one of "taking care" of his abusive employer, Norman Osborn.

** Homer gets these very, ''very'' frequently, and they often devolve into bizzarebizarre tangents (such as a fantasy about meeting various junk food spokespersons ending in him accidentally kilingkilling a [[Captain Ersatz|stand-in for]] [[Bland-Name Product|Twinkie the Kid]].) He also tends to comment on these fantasies in real life, as if the other characters have seen them as well (in the same example, the dream cut back to him chanting "Blood For Cream" in front of a bewildered Lisa.)

* ''[[Mona the Vampire]]'' has a lot of this. There's a very clear visual effect to let you know when things are transferring between reality and imagination.

{{quote| '''Peter:''' Well, that's all the convincing I needed to actually do this!}}

* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' features this prominently in "The Ticket Master", with each of Twilight's friends imagining what they'd do if they could attend the Grand Galloping Gala: Applejack hopes to set up a stand and drum up business for her family's apple farm, Rainbow Dash wants to show off for the Wonderbolts, Rarity hopes to meet the stallion of her dreams, Fluttershy wants to see the royal gardens, and Pinkie Pie just wants to enjoy the festivities.

** In "A Dog and Pony Show", after Rarity gets kidnapped by the Diamond Dogs, the rest of the girls have a spot where they imagine Rarity freaking out over her captivity in a filthy cell, then one with her being threatened by the Diamond Dogs. Later, ''Spike'' gets an imagine spot where he's a brave, muscular knight rushing to save Rarity (who is [[Everything's Better with Princesses|inexplicably dressed like a princess]]) and getting a [[Smooch of Victory]].

* Bobby from ''[[Bobby's World]]'' would often go into one of these after he's misinterpreted something and he imagines what he thinks the thing might be or he imagines what he would do in a situation in a movie or book.