Lost in Transmission: Difference between revisions
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''--connection reestablished--'' [[Orphaned Punchline|then I said "But you're the second one!!"]] Man, everyone was so ''--connection lost--''
''--connection reestablished--'' but undoubtedly, [[His Name Is--|the most important part is when]] ''--connection lost--''
''--unable to reestablish communication; connection terminated--''
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There are a couple of variations on this trope:
'''Type 1a:''' Some list of important information is being conveyed. Whether because of technical reasons (network failure, radio static, the tape breaks, the computer has experienced a psychotic break from reality, etc) or unintentional stupidity, some of the information is lost. Inevitably it is going to be [[His Name Is--|the most important piece of information]]. It's the one single piece required to complete the task you are being given, or prevent you from being killed while performing the task. The last clear part of the message will invariably be something like "Under no circumstances should you ever..." or "It's vitally important that you..."
'''Type 1b:''' There's a variation of this where it's the audience that's [[Take Our Word for It|left in the dark]], but in-universe everyone is clued in. The ''[[Planet Terror]]'' example below is this type. (Similar to [[Relax-O-Vision]], but where that is obviously intentional, this is made to look purely accidental.)
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If people involved in a [[Noodle Incident]] reminisce, you can wind up with a Type 2 for outsiders listening in.
Compare: [[Orphaned Punchline]] and [[Noodle Implements]]. [[His Name Is--]] and [[Conveniently Interrupted Document]] are subtropes. Contrast: [[Lost in Translation]] where the information is all there, just interpreted wrongly. See also [[Distress Call]], [[Electronic Speech Impediment]], [[Translation: "Yes"]].
Oh, and when using this trope, ''never, ever''
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{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==
* Future Shop had an advertisement which would start with an employee answering questions, which in this case, was answering how to restore files on a hard drive after a crash, but it would get interrupted by an announcement of a sale at the store.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* In the tie-in comic for ''[[Terminator (franchise)|Terminator]] 3: Rise of the Machines'', a resistance member attempts to radio in to HQ explaining that their operation is a failure as he's being attacked by a Terminator. The transmission then ends in static in the final panel, implying that the Terminator killed the resistance member.
* ''[[PS238]]'' during the [[Alien Invasion|Invasion Day]].
{{quote|'''Revenant''': I think we're being ''distracted'' from the ''real'' threat, here. Whatever you do, ''don't'' *BZZRT* ...go outside.}}
== [[Film]] ==
* Played straight in ''[[Screamers]]''.
{{quote|There's a [[Laser Guided Tykebomb|new kind of screamer]]. Do ''not'' let it into the perimeter, over.
I missed that last part, over... (static) }}
* In ''[[Planet Terror]]'', we get a "Missing Reel" screen. During the missing reel, it's implied, we'd have gotten to see [[Rose McGowan]] totally naked, plus the entire plot surrounding Ray's mysterious origins would have been explained.
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* ''[[House of Leaves]]'' makes use of this occasionally. For example, two of Will Navidson's dreams are recounted, and the third dream is said to be very unsettling and key to understanding his actions. Naturally, [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|Johnny misplaced those pages]].
** There's also the chapter where Navidson sends samples from the {{color|blue|house}} to be scientifically analyzed, which seems like it would have answered a lot...except Johnny accidentally most of those pages.
* Halfway through ''[[Harry Potter and
** Ironically, once the true memory is revealed, it turns out Slughorn mostly confirmed what Voldemort had already learned.
* The entire plot of Ellen Raskin's ''The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon (I Mean Noel)'' revolves around this trope.
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* In ''[[The Westing Game]]'', this trope occurs when Sam Westing's will is revealed. One character makes a stupid joke during the reading, and none of the heirs realizes that they've missed a crucial clue as a result until much later. {{spoiler|Turns out the trope was ''deliberately'' invoked, as the joker has a hidden agenda and distracted everyone on purpose.}}
* German Writer Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), in his "Ideen", had a whole (single page) chapter where all text is blacked out, as by an official censor. The only text left are the three starting words "Die deutschen Zensoren" (the German censors) and somewhere halfway the word "Dummköpfe" (blockheads, idiots).
* The Book of Mazarbul in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' is read out with all the missing bits included as ellipses. Tolkien also [[Doing It for the Art|inscribed the relevant pages]] to show the missing burned parts.
{{quote|"we have barred the gates but doubt if [...] can hold them long. If there is [...] no escape it will be a horrible fate to suffer [...] [[Apocalyptic Log|We cannot get out]]. We cannot get out... fell there bravely while the rest retr [...] Mazarbul. We still ho[...]g ... but hope u[...]n[...]Óin's party went five days ago but today only four returned.}}
* ''[[Monty Python and
{{quote|'''Maynard:''' He must have [[Almost-Dead Guy|died while carving it]].
'''King Arthur:''' Look, if he was dying [[Lampshade Hanging|he wouldn't bother to carve "aaargh", he'd just say it]].
'''Galahad:''' Perhaps he was dictating.
'''King Arthur:''' Oh shut up! }}
* The Ebenezum trilogy: The oracle is a team of three women, each of whom gives one part of the prophecy. One of them sick and is unable to announce her part. However they order the three, the missing woman's part of the prophecy is the important one.
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== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Any properly-run ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' RPG should be chock full of this kind of stuff.
** "Troubleshooter, congratulations on being assigned to test the experimental Personal Fuel/Air Explosive Knapsack and Lunchbag! You will be held fully accountable for any damage caused to the device or facilities due to misuse of the device, Troubleshooter. The Computer is your friend!" Then the player should realize the instruction book has been almost entirely blacked out with "CLASSIFIED INFORMATION" stamps.
** "Troubleshooter, you have been [[Canned Orders Over Loudspeaker|assigned an urgent mission!]] Please report ''immediately'' to Alpha Complex Sector A-'''squeeeeeeeee'''-Bouncy Bubble Beverage, now available in Soylent Orange flavor! '''squeeeeeeee'''-failure to report on time will be considered treason."
* ''[[Dungeons
** Module S4 ''The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth''. The [[PC
** Module O2 ''Blade of Vengeance''. Two items have missing information: Druinder's letter and the last page of the hermit's book.
* ''[[Silent Hill]]'' RPG. In Alchemilla Hospital the [[PC
{{quote|“Still has..., eyes do...tting a puls...er skin is...when I cha...blood and...ooz...Why? Wh...I won...please..”}}
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay]]'' [[In-Universe]] materials have both redacted and corrupted lacunae.
** [[Only War]] sourcebook ''Hammer of the Emperor'' has Munitorium identification cards for [[Horse of a Different Color|some creatures used as mounts]]. The one with Aethexe (ill-tempered omnivorous lizard the size of a large bear) has a hole: "Safety Notes: To ensure safety, keep all limbs[…]r more metres clear of Aeth[…]at all times".
== [[Video Games]] ==
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** In the original ''[[Half-Life 2]]'', after Black Mesa East comes under attack, Eli is giving Alyx instructions on how to escape!
{{quote|'''Eli:''' You've got to get out of here! Take Gordon! Head for the coast! Do NOT go through Rav-[transmission cuts out.]}}
*** Played with in that you've already heard the name of the place (Ravenholm) before, as well has having been told that its unsafe to travel through, and so are easily able to deduce what Eli just said from context. And then you gave to go through Ravenholm anyway because there is no other possible escape route from where you are.
* One more from the Orange Box, Valve's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=han3AfjH210 "Meet the Demoman"] segment for [[Team Fortress 2]]:
{{quote|'''Demoman:''' "I got a manky eye. I'm a black, Scottish cyclops. They've got more f-[long beep]-than they've got the likes of me."}}
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{{quote|'''Barney:''' "Freeman, right? I've got a message for you. Make sure you..." <bang!> "Aaggghh!"}}
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' there's an item called "Nat Pagel's Guide to Extreme Anglin'" that's missing every page but the last. What does it say? "... and so that's where you'll find the legendary sword of the Scarlet Highlord, [[Infinity+1 Sword|Ashbringer]]. Ain't it amazin' what you run into in an ordinary day of fishin'?"
* In the GDI campaign of the original ''[[Command
** If you blow up the wrong building, you get to do a follow-up mission where you attack the base with a conventional force, but the enemy has had time to expand their defenses.
** If you count the number of stars representing static in the objective menu you realise that only one structure has that specific amount of letters.
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* In ''[[Rebel Assault]] II'', the first mission [[Cutscene]] has a static - ridden message from a freighter pilot, mentioning "...new weapons..." and generally foreshadowing. Several missions later, you recover the freighter itself and can receive the full message. The static is done so that if you know the full message, you can just tell most of it when reviewing the original.
** Wedge Antilles, during the Assault on Kile II mission in the first ''[[Rogue Squadron]]'' game, ends up having his transmission cut as he ends up shot down by an ambush of TIE interceptors.
* Shows up in some of the [[Apocalyptic Log
* In ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', Princess Peach has found out what the villains plan to do with her ({{spoiler|have an [[Eldritch Abomination]] possess her}}) - just as she's typing a message to inform Mario of it, the [[Big Bad]] walks in to take her away, and the message is sent incomplete, leaving the [[The Reveal|Reveal]] to the climax of the game.
* ''[[Sonic Colors]]'':
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* One of the Marine logs in ''[[Metroid Prime]] 2 Echoes'' has it abruptly ending in static.
* This is how the events of [[Metal Gear|the first ''Metal Gear'']] started: Gray Fox was infiltrating Outer Heaven and scouting the various locations and the items inside, and reporting to FOXHOUND. He eventually stumbled on evidence that Metal Gear is being developed. However, he was caught, and he was about to say something regarding "Metal Gear", but the transmission was cut, with his last/only words before the cutting of transmission being "Metal Gear..."
* ''[[Dead Space 2]]'': "Isaac it very important that you..."
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In the [http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/0001.htm very first strip] of ''[[Arthur, King of Time and Space]]'', when Merlin is explaining the premise.
* In an early ''[[Emergency Exit]]'' strip, Harvoc, the [[Hook Hand|hook-handed]] mailman, accidentally tears [http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=416 an important part] out of a letter from the villians to the heroes
* [http://xkcd.com/521/ This] ''[[
* ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' has the doc [[It Makes Sense in Context|riding a robot Dracula in outer space]], calling his brother (who is fighting a demonic spirit in a submarine at the time) for tips on how to control it. No surprise the connection (eventually) gets lost.
* Used in ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'' to make the already weird snippets of Martian conversation even more humorously out-of context:
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** "...do not... -inate. Those are structural cockroaches."
* The punchline to [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/skinhorse/series.php?view=archive&chapter=48352#192344 this] ''[[Skin Horse]]'' guest strip.
* In ''[[Quentyn Quinn, Space Ranger]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20120619090004/http://www.rhjunior.com/QQSR/00079.html he is told he must take the assassin alive, but not why.]
* ''[[Bob and George]]'' [http://bobandgeorge.com/archives/030928 here]. "...and die horribly".
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has a rather obvious example.
{{quote|'''Haban II''': They've already started to hssssshhh---
'''Breya''': WHAT? STARTED TO WHAT?
'''Kevyn''': Jam our hypernet communications. }}
== [[Web Original]] ==
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{{quote|'''Kent Brockman:''' ...which if true, means death to us all.}}
* In the ''[[Metalocalypse]]'' episode "Mordland", static interrupts band mascot Facebones during several important parts of the Fan Day safety briefing.
* In the ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' episode ''Stranded'' ([[Fridge Brilliance|in which the entire plot is about various miscommunications]]), The Titans are in their [[Combining Mecha]]-like ship and trying to shake off the [[Monster of the Week]] which was latched on to the hood. Robin orders them not to separate-- ''twice''
== [[Real Life]] ==
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* In the radio adaptation of [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]], a Grebulon ship (which is on an exceptionally long-haul flight across the galaxy and whose crewmembers are in stasis) suffers this with their orders after an asteroid ripped through their ship which destroyed the system which held their identites and their mission plan. The only instructions they end up with are to land a safe distance from something and monitor it.
* [http://i.imgur.com/XI2kp.jpg This] image.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170403070753/http://www.esotericbookshop.com.au/new/catalogue/products/product.php/16/337/1141 Ye Anciente Obscure Weirdnesse Spelle]'', a poster which can be found many places besides the linked location, lays out detailed instructions for a ritual one should perform, apparently for personal benefit although the spell is a little ... vague about that. What it ''isn't'' vague on is the danger you will be in if you don't do whatever it is that is obscured by the massive ink blot in its lower right corner.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Self-Demonstrating Article]]
[[Category:A Failure to Communicate]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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