Internal Homage: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

When a series deliberately references an event from its own past. This goes a bit deeper than a regular [[Call Back]] or [[Mythology Gag]]: An internal homage recreates images, lines, or even entire scenes from the franchise's past. These homages are generally not recognized by the characters in-story (save for, perhaps, a [[Deadpan Snarker]] or other [[Fourth Wall Observer]] [[Aside Glance|making it clear for the audience]]). Similarly, it's distinct from [[History Repeats]] in that the recreation of the scene isn't important to the plot (the scene itself may be important, but not the fact that it's happened before). In general, an internal homage is a treat for longtime fans of the series to catch.

[[Book Ends]] (and by extension, [[Here We Go Again]]) are a manifestation of '''Internal Homage'''. [[Expy|Expies]], especially of the [[Generation Xerox]] variety can be used to this end as well. [[Continuity Reboot]]s and otherwise alternate-continuity stories will often use Internal Homages to appease fans of the franchise's past. Extreme cases do this [[Once an Episode]].

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* ''[[Digimon]]'' [[Sacrificial Lion|kills]] [[They Killed Kenny|off]] at least one Leomon or otherwise lionlike [[Mon]] in every continuity from ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' onward (thus exempting the earlier ''[[Digimon V-Tamer 01]]''). The degree of relevance or tragedy varies.