Malignant Plot Tumor: Difference between revisions

You are watching a movie, or reading a book and everything is going along swimmingly. There is an A-plot and maybe a [[Two Lines, No Waiting|B-plot]] and a [[Third Line, Some Waiting|C-]] and [[Four Lines, All Waiting|D-plot]] thrown into the mix too. While the storyline isn't too obvious, it's pretty clear that the climax is going to be with the [[Big Bad]] that is the focus of the A-plot. But there is also a small E-plot, it's so small you might not even notice it, but as the story goes on, it grows and grows until the main characters are forced to completely forget about all the other problems and focus completely on this growing threat. DespiteYou've itsjust direwitnessed soundingthe name,growth this trope can be used [[Tropes Are Not Bad|with excellent results]]. Ergo, this might even beof a ''[[Pun|Benign]]''Malignant Plot Tumortumor'''.

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

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', the [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|Uchiha]] slowly but surely take over the entire plot. [[Big Bad]] Madara Uchiha is introduced much later in the manga but is shown to be responsible for almost every bad thing that happens, from [[Oddly Small Organization|Akatsuki]], [[Ho Yay|the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke]], and what happened to Naruto's parents, to even [[Sealed Evil in a Can|the Tailed Beast]]. And all things not tied to Madara, are tied to the Uchiha. {{spoiler|Subverted when it's eventually revealed that the [[Big Bad]] isn't Madara Uchiha: He's just been using his name. Whoever the [[Big Bad]] really is has yet to be revealed, but all the aforementioned ills can still be laid squarely at his feet.}}

== [[ComicsComic Books]] ==

* [[Valiant Comics]]' 1990's revival of ''[[Magnus, Robot Fighter]]'' initially picked up right where the [[Silver Age]] series left off, with a decadent upper class humanity becoming increasingly dependent on robots and vulnerable to antisocial ones; the robots chafing under humanity's rule and sometimes becoming extremely dangerous; the vast slums on the Earth's surface, beneath the gleaming towered cities, where life is terrible; and Magnus trying to find a way to set things right for all three factions. It had always been a cool premise with a lot of potential, and at first the Valiant title explored it in much more depth thenthan the original [[Gold Key Comics]] version had. ''Then the Malev Robots from space invaded,'' conquering Earth and derailing all of the above-mentioned premise. All that mattered after that was everybody fighting space robots.

* The later two ''[[The Matrix|Matrix]]'' movies seem to be about the showdown between the machines and free humans, but while those two sides are busy fighting, Agent Smith is busy replicating, and by the end the warring factions must agree to a truce to deal with Smith.

* The main plot of ''[[Stealth]]'' was about an [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|AI fighter jet which goes rogue and attempts to start a nuclear war]] with subplots about the military contractors who wanted to figure out how it gained independence and [[Trapped by Mountain Lions|one of the other fighter pilots being shot down over North Korea and running from the army]]. Halfway through, the AI pretty much gives up for no reason, making the military contractors the main plot point, before ''that'' is resolved anticlimactically so that the climax can take place in North Korea.

* ''[[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail]]'' has a scene where a modern historian explains the setting of Arthurian-era Britain, but then has his throatis cutkilled by a passing knight on horseback. Just another absurd gag in a movie full of them, except that we see cutaways to the police investigating the crime throughout the film. They show up at the end and arrest Arthur and his retinue for it, conveniently preempting a big final battle scene that the production [[No Budget|didn't have the budget to stage.]]

* ''[[Perdido Street Station]]'' by [[China Mieville|China Miéville]] starts off looking light - the A plot is going to be a scientist helping a bird man to fly again, with a B plot of his girl friend making a sculpture with her spit (don't ask). But then one of the caterpillars the scientist was studying while researching flight hatches, and pretty much every thing else is pushed to the side as the moth starts eating people's dreams, in a bad way.

* ''[[The Nights Dawn Trilogy|The Night's Dawn Trilogy]]'' by Peter F. Hamilton (especially book 1) seems to be about smuggling, politics, and revenge. That is until, half way through the first book, out of left field, the dead come back to life.

* The ''entire'' ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' trilogy essentially springs from a minor plot point (the ring) in ''[[The Hobbit]]''.

* The first ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' novel is interrupted about 2/3 of the way through by a lengthy torture/brainwash/seduce sequence which is a sharp departure from its previous standard fantasy fare -- andfare—and is by far the most arresting thing in the book.

* While fans will [[Fan Wank|debate]] endlessly about whether [[Joss Whedon]] was winging it or not, most ''[[Buffy]]'' seasons are good examples, particularly season 6. The [[Big Bad]] [[Not-So-Harmless Villain|looks like]] it's three fairly [[Harmless Villain|Harmless Villains]]s. But there's a subplot about Willow being addicted to magic, which is fairly minor at first, but by the end of the season, one member of the trio has been flayed alive, and everybody is too busy trying to prevent Willow from destroying the world to care about the two others.

** Finally, it is revealed that ''Galactica'' has started to fall apart from all the wear and tear over her many years in service, and the last few episodes of the series see many plots put on hold as the ship's critical condition begins to dominate the series.

* In Season 4 of ''[[24]]'', the raid on the Chinese embassy doesn't seem like a big deal at first, but wait until the end of season 5.

* In the last half of season two of ''[[Blake's Seven7|Blakes Seven]]'' Travis has been court-martialed by the Federation and is just as much a wanted man as Blake. Initially he cooperates with Servalan covertly, but by the penultimate episode he hints he's got a new agenda, which is fully revealed in the season finale and forces Blake to abandon the goal he's been attempting to achieve all season.

* ''[[Lost]]'' is naturally a big offender here. Just a small spoiler-free {{spoiler|(not)}} hint: The Final Season {{spoiler|and the two that preceded it}} is not really about castaways trying to survive after the crash and to get off the Island anymore.

* Initially, ''[[College Roomies from HellCRFH]]'' focused on three very different losers trying to live together while occasionally dealing with wacky supernatural baddies. At one point, [[The Devil]] showed up, grabbed a character's soul and then was quickly dispatched. The devil is mentioned another couple of times, but doesn't appear again for a while. Then, it turns out one of the characters is a pawn in his plan to destroy the world, and all the other characters join forces to stop him.

* The ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode ''Da Boom'' features half-octopus Stewies multiplying out of control and eating most of the characters.

* ''[[The Simpsons]]'' loves this trope, a good example is ''A Tale of Two Springfields''. It starts off being about a badger infesting a dog house, but when Homer tries calling animal control, he gets distracted by the fact that the area codes have changed. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] when the badger looks through a window growling menacingly, but Homer shrugs it off, saying there are more important things to deal with now. Lampshaded even more at the end, when all of Springfield is focused on the resolution of the episode's major plot, and an army of badgers seize the opportunity to take the town by surprise.