Parrot Exposition: Difference between revisions

[[File:ocelot-hurf.jpg|link=Metal Gear|frame|<small>I'm supposed to stop repeating after you, huh?</small> ]]

[['''Parrot Exposition]]''', [[Self-Demonstrating Article|huh?]]

So, you're told something of great importance, something that is either too incredible to believe or part of some larger thing that you don't know about. The typical response to this is [[What Is Going On?]], or [[Let Me Get This Straight...]]. Unfortunately, there's a problem with this scenario in media: more often than not, the ''viewer'' has about as much of a clue as to what's happening as the character being fed the information, and [[As You Know|as we all know]], [[Exposition]] is key in making media understandable and watchable. So, expect this trope to be used over and over and over again in nearly every conversation, as the informee is given the [[Idiot Ball]] for the sake of explaining everything to the viewers. Do it too often, and the informee begins to act like they can't go two steps without requiring [[Mr. Exposition]] to come in and point out the glaringly obvious. Combine well with [[Dull Surprise]] to get a character that ''really'' looks out of it and perpetually clueless.

{{examples|Examples?}}

* An [[Egregious]] example from an episode of ''[[Black Cat (Mangamanga)|Black Cat]]'':

{{quote| '''Sven:''' It must be... Nanotechnology.<br />

'''Train:''' Nanotechnology?<br />

'''Sven:''' Nanotechnology.<br />

** Considering nanotech is one of the most popular current [[Hand Wave|Hand Waves]]s in every other light sci-fi vehicle, and that practically every viewer knows what it is by now, this sounds like an intentional lampoon.

* [[Bowdlerized]] anime dubs seem fond of this to really pound the point home that the thing that looks a whole lot like a gun and is being held a lot like you'd hold a gun isn't actually a gun. For example, the duel in ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' between Yugi and Arkana. Try and count how many times they repeat "If that dark duel disk touches me, it will [[Never Say "Die"|send my mind to the shadow realm!]]" I dare you.

* In the ''[[Mega Man Star Force (Video Game)|Mega Man Star Force]]'' anime, Geo does this every time Omega-Xis uses a new term. Or describes the situation. Or yawns. Particularly funny is his habit of parroting whole sentences at a time: "Cygnus is creating a dimensional portal to the Twilight Zone!" "He's creating a dimensional portal to the Twilight Zone?"

* Sort of parodied in ''[[Darker Thanthan Black]]''. When a [[Clueless Detective]] accidentally stumbles onto the edges of a case involving [[The Masquerade]], he runs into someone who [[Satchel Switcheroo|wants his trenchcoat back]]. They have a conversation that involves a lot of repeating things back at each other- ''because they have no idea what the hell the other one is talking about''.

* Countless ''[[Ranma One Half½]]'' stories begin this way. The first panel will have Ranma (or whoever) repeating something which was said just before the story began, usually the name of a new martial arts technique or [[MacGuffin]] which will drive the plot. The exposition character (Soun or Genma at first; in later stories it's usually Happosai) will then explain things for everyone's benefit. Something of an aversion in that we don't hear the first part of the conversation; the story always ''starts'' with Ranma going "Martial Arts Tea Ceremony?!?" or whatever.

* In the ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikersStrikerS]]'' manga

{{quote| '''Nanoha''': Ah, that reminds me, Fate-chan! Do you still have pictures of those kids with you? I want to show them to Vita-chan and the others.<br />

'''Signum''': (turning to Shamal) Those kids?<br />

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 Ds5D's|Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's]]'' has this ''by the truckloads''. A fair warning: Don't make a drinking game out of this, specially involving long duel episodes, or you'll most likely die of alcohol poisoning.

{{quote| '''Snake:''' Otacon, what's that?<br />

'''Otacon:''' It's a microphone boom, Snake.<br />

* Done several times by [[Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Phoenix]] in ''[[Turnabout Storm (Fanfic)|Turnabout Storm]]'', a lot of times out of sheer disbelief at the stuff he gets told in [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|Equestria]]. One instance in particular:

{{quote| '''Twilight:''' My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm a disciple of Princess Celestia, the monarch of this land. I'm chronicling in the magic of friendship for her, and you're in the town of Ponyville.<br />

{{quote| Gingy: Do you know... the Muffin Man?<br />

Farquad: The Muffin Man?<br />

Gingy: The Muffin Man...<br />

Farquad: Oh yes, I know the Muffin Man... Who lives on Drury Lane?<br />

Gingy: Well... she's ''married'' to... the Muffin Man.<br />

Farquad: The Muffin Man?!<br />

Gingy: THE MUFFIN MAN!!<br />

* Neil decides to copy the emergency alarm in [[Final Fantasy: theThe Spirits Within (Anime)|Final Fantasy the Spirits Within]]:

{{quote| '''Computer:''' Proceed to the nearest evacuation facility.<br />

'''Computer:''' Proceed to the nearest evacuation facility.<br />

{{quote| '''Hubert Hawkins:''' I've got it! I've got it! The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle; the chalice from the palace has the brew that is true! Right? <br />

'''Griselda:''' Right. But there's been a change: they broke the chalice from the palace! <br />

'''Hubert Hawkins:''' They broke the chalice from the palace? <br />

'''Griselda:''' And replaced it with a flagon. <br />

'''Hubert Hawkins:''' A flagon...? <br />

'''Griselda:''' With the figure of a dragon. <br />

'''Hubert Hawkins:''' Flagon with a dragon. <br />

'''Griselda:''' Right. <br />

'''Hubert Hawkins:''' But did you put the pellet with the poison in the vessel with the pestle? <br />

'''Griselda:''' No! The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon! The vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true! <br />

'''Hubert Hawkins:''' The pellet with the poison's in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true. <br />

{{quote| '''Phantom of Krankor''': Prepare to leave Krankor.<br />

'''Scientist''': What's that?<br />

'''Phantom of Krankor''': Prepare to leave. Each of you will enter a space capsule.<br />

'''Scientist''': What?<br />

'''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000|Tom Servo]]''': For crying out loud... '''[[ThisPunctuated! IsFor! SpartaEmphasis!|EACH! OF! YOU! WILL! ENTER! A! SPACE! CAPSULE!]]''' }}

* The verses of [[Ear Worm|"Zydrate Anatomy"]] in ''[[Repo! theThe Genetic Opera]]'' are based around this.

{{quote| '''Grave Robber''': "Zydrate comes in a little glass vial."<br />

'''Shilo''': "A little glass vial?"<br />

'''Everyone else''': "A little glass vial."<br />

'''ShiloGrave Robber''': "AddictedAnd Amber Sweet is addicted to the knife?."<br />

'''Everyone elseShilo''': "Addicted to the knife.?"<br />

{{quote| '''Host, The Guy in the Sweater Who Asks All the Obvious Questions''': Wait a minute, did you say anything?<br />

'''Cheshire England Cat''': Anything!<br />

'''Host''': Anything?<br />

'''Cheshire England Cat''': Yes, anything!<br />

'''Host''': Anything?<br />

'''Cheshire England Cat''': ... anything.<br />

{{quote| '''Qui-Gon Jinn''': Midichlorians are a microscopic life form that resides within all living cells<br />

'''Anakin''': They live inside me?<br />

'''Qui-Gon Jinn''': Inside your cells, yes. And we are symbiont with them.<br />

** Since nobody in the audience can understand what Chewbacca can say, almost all his conversations involve someone repeating what he's (assumingly) just roared, as if to clarify. One imagines this must be annoying for him.

{{quote| '''C-3PO''': This is madness!<br />

'''Chewbacca''': [[ThisPunctuated! IsFor! SpartaEmphasis!|*roars*]]<br />

* ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]'' [[Lampshadeslampshade]]s this, given that Gwen's job is to repeat the computer voice - it's stupid, but it's her only job, so she's doing it anyway.

{{quote| '''Gwen:''' I'm doing it. I'm repeating the computer!}}

* Amusingly, even ''[[Escape Fromfrom New York]]'' has an instance of this. If this isn't [[Hilarious in Hindsight]], then I don't know what is. [[hottip:+: <ref>The character of Solid Snake from the ''[[Metal Gear]]'' series is largely a [[Shout-Out]] to Snake Plissken, the protagonist of this movie, [[Don't Explain the Joke|for those of you who didn't get the joke.]]</ref>

{{quote| '''Hauk:''' You go in, find the President and bring him out in 24 hours, and you're a free man.<br />

* This is a common tool in old [[Film Serial|Film Serials]]s; the most obvious manifestation would be the [["Previously On..."]] text recap of the last chapter's [[Cliff Hanger]], but it also shows up a lot in dialogue as the characters remind each other<ref>and the audience</ref> what their goals and plans are ("Here we are, finally ready to assemble our Neutron Bomb with which we can blow the Earth out of its orbit, so that our planet Mars may take its place").

* In ''1Q84'', pretty much half of Tengo's spoken dialogue is parrot exposition, often word-for-word. It's why the book is a thousand pages long.

{{quote| Voldemort tried to kill ''me''?<br />

* [[Michael Crichton]] in ''[[Sphere]]'' has a character use [[Parrot Exposition]] on purpose as a psychological trick (the character in question is a psychologist, and wants to get more info without putting much in). The other person catches on soon enough.

{{quote| Dr. Asher: Also, we'll need to get you chipped.<br />

Dr. Crane: Chipped?<br />

Dr. Asher: Tag you with an RFID chip.<br />

* Eragon from the [[Inheritance Cycle]] is infamous for doing this:

{{quote| "Your refuse to sell to me!"<br />

"The Varden, who are my friends." "The Varden!"<br />

* In an episode of ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'', Alex animates the figures in various famous paintings ([[Did Not Do the Research|and apparently the ''Mona Lisa,'' ''Blue Boy'' and ''The Scream'' are all located in New York]]) and can't get them to go back to their paintings. She calls her brother who [[Parrot Exposition|repeats exactly what she's saying]] until she tells him 'Stop repeating everything I'm saying.' Which he repeats, ''then'' figures out that she's talking about magic and he's standing around a [[Muggle|non-wizard]].

* ''[[Harry HillsHill's TV Burp]]'' parodies the ''[[Emmerdale]]'' scene [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM0Nn0KINV8 after watching it] as he telephones other television shows and various characters and presenters just say the word "cataracts?"

{{quote| '''Harry Hill:''' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}xVo8BlTYIXk "Ear cataracts?"]}}

* This happened regularly in ''[['Allo 'Allo (TV)!|Allo Allo]]'', mostly by Rene, and out of disbelief of the [[Once an Episode|next "bird-brain" plan]] they were going to do. Usually it helps set up the jokes.

{{quote| '''Hans:''' The pill [in the till] contains a drug.<br />

'''Rene:''' The pill in the till?<br />

'''Hans:''' (nods) Take it and put it in [this jug of wine].<br />

'''Rene:''' Put the drug in the jug?<br />

'''Hebert:''' [entering the cafe with the bomb disguised as a cake] We almost forgot the most important part!<br />

'''Rene:''' Oh my god... It's the [[Running Gag|gateau from the chateau!]]<br />

'''Hans:''' What about the gateau from the chateau?<br />

'''Rene:''' In contains a bomb!<br />

* Used to disastrous consequences in ''[[Malcolm in Thethe Middle]]''. A therapist tells Lois and Hal to try repeating what their children say in their own words, which culminates in Lois parroting Malcolm ad nauseum instead of helping him through his problem.

{{quote| '''Malcolm''': Stop repeating what I say!<br />

{{quote| '''Horatio:''' My lord, [I saw] the king your father.<br />

* This exchange in "I Am the Captain of the Pinafore" in [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s ''[[HMSH.M.S. Pinafore (Theatre)|HMS Pinafore]]'':

{{quote| '''Captain''': And I'm never ever sick at sea.<br />

'''Crew''': What, never?<br />

'''Captain''': No, never!<br />

'''Crew''': What, never?<br />

{{quote| '''Nuju''': Visorak spinners are wheels of energy. Let's see what happens... (creates ice)<br />

'''Kualus''': ...when it hits a mirror of ice.<br />

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' has its protagonist, Solid Snake, repeating everything that whoever is telling him about something, or going "huh?". Used less in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater|Snake Eater]]'' (although when the name "Metal Gear" is mentioned for the first and only time, of ''course'' Naked Snake has to say it), but still pretty abundant. Snake's voice actor, [[David Hayter]], made fun of this tendency in a podcast, in which he joked that most of his dialogue was "repeating whatever everyone else says but with a question mark on the end." This happens less often in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', though it's less because Snake understands what people are saying and more because he just doesn't care. So, rather than saying "So it'll make me smarter, huh?", he'd say, "Okay, so... what now?". This was [[Lampshaded]] in ''Metal Gear AC!D2'', when an amnesiac Snake accesses a terminal and comes across data on the eponymous machine.

{{quote| "[[Once an Episode|Metal Gear]]?!"<br />

"Huh? You're familiar with it?"<br />

{{quote| '''Hunter''': Snake! Be careful. Those cars are actually transgenants that use cars as a kind of shell. They're metal crabs.<br />

'''All 6 Snakes''': METAL GEAR?!<br />

'''Hunter''': What? No! No one said anything about a metal gear!<br />

'''Snake''': Metal Ge-<br />

* Every single acquired weapon in ''[[Mega Man (Videovideo Gamegame)|Mega Man]] 7'' leads to an exchange between Mega Man and Dr. Light: [[Captain Obvious|"The Scorch Wheel shoots a flaming wheel, right?" "Yes, and it can also be used to burn things!"]]

{{quote| '''Andy''': What's an airport?}}

{{quote| '''Jody''': Mr. President, the information management department received an email that might interest you<br />

{{quote| '''Three Dog''': I fight the good fight with GNR as my weapon.<br />

* All the time in ''<nowiki>~[[Star Ocean: The Second Story~]]</nowiki>'', at least when Claude's the main character. Although he's justified as he's pretty much a stranger to place he just landed in while Rena's lived there her whole life.

** When Claude's the main character? Christ. Every other freaking line of his dialogue in the first four hours is [[Parrot Exposition]].

* ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]] Advance'' (this version is noted for its very tongue in cheek translation) lampshaded this tendency when the sage Ghido described the twelve legendary weapons.

{{quote| '''Bartz''': "Twelve legendary weapons?"<br />

{{quote| '''Dr. Eggman''': {{spoiler|Metal Sonic}} has finally transformed!<br />

{{quote| '''HK-50''': Objection: Master! To commit such an act would be in violation of the ethics programming most droids are believed to possess. I am afraid there is nothing that can be done.<br />

'''The Exile''': Believed to possess?<br />

* Zero does this quite often in ''[[Mega Man Zero (Video Game)|Mega Man Zero]]'', along with gratuitous use of ellipses. In his defense, after a [[Cryonics Failure]] before the first game and a year in exile after that, he probably is very out of it.

* [[Dead Rising|Frank West]] tends to repeat things too, usually out of disbelief.

* Lampshaded in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', in a dialogue with Nordom.

{{quote| '''Nordom:''' Repeated word choice confirmed (Echo?)}}

* In ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'''s "Meet the Spy'':

{{quote| '''Announcer''': Intruder alert! RED Spy in the base!<br />

'''Soldier''': A RED Spy is in the base?<br />

'''Announcer''': Protect the briefcase!<br />

{{quote| '''Dr. Kasal:''' I'm not sure it's directly related, but they found extremely high levels of syprohedrine in her blood.<br />

'''Derek:''' Sypro...? What's that?<br />

'''Angie:''' It's a new antihistamine, Doctor. They're usually used to treat allergies.<br />

* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[Portal 2 (Video Game)|Portal 2]]'', with [[Department of Redundancy Department]] thrown in for good measure.

{{quote| '''GLaDOS:''' {{smallcaps|Well, this is the part where he kills us.}}<br />

'''{{spoiler|Wheatley}}:''' Hello! This is the part where I kill you.<br />

'''Chapter 8: The Part Where He Kills You'''<br />

* Not even [[Deus Ex (Video Game)|JC Denton]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOKt1z1TkvU is immune:]

{{quote| '''Jock:''' [[Somebody Set Up Us the Bomb|Oh my God, JC, a bomb]]!!<br />

* Samus in ''[[Metroid: Other M]]'' is a frequent offender of this, reiterating plot points in [[Up to Eleven|drawn-out monologues;]]

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]'': "They were stolen from me by the Rare Hunters." "Rare Hunters?!"

* [[Code MentMENT]]: The "team deathmatch!" scene.

{{quote| '''Paul:''' Why do you keep doing that?<br />

'''Morgan:''' Doing what?<br />

'''Paul:''' Repeating everything I say, just using less scientific terminology.<br />

* If we had a leg of meat for every time this happened in the more recent episodes of ''[[SpongebobSpongeBob SquarePants]]'', we'd be able to feed most of the hungry children in this world. The eponymous sponge even managed to do this with the [[Fun Withwith Acronyms|long and rather clumsy]] S.D.E.A.S.E. ("Snail Disease Expert and Snail Expert") - no fumbling over it or anything, he just did it. I know I'd have trouble with it.

* Used in [[Freakazoid!]] in a classic exchange between Freakazoid and Roddy McStew.

{{quote| '''Roddy McStew:''' From what ya tell me, it sounds like you can only use your telekinetic powers when you're really angry!<br />

'''Freakazoid:''' Then I'll only use them when I'm really angry!<br />

'''Roddy McStew:''' THAT'S WHAT I JUST SAID!! CAN YOU HEAR ME OR IS THERE A WEE GOBLIN IN YOUR HEAD EATING MY WORDS!?<br />

* [[Chowder]] uses this a lot with Schnitzel. Occasionally lampshaded when he gives exposition and needs to tell Chowder to stop repeating everything he says.

* [[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]: Ed does this a lot.

{{quote| '''Eddy''': Ed! Quick! Hide these magazines!!<br />

'''Ed:''' Hide these magazines?<br />

'''Eddy:''' What are ya, a parrot? Hide 'em! Now! Quick, quick!!<br />

'''Ed:''' Huh? Who? Where? What?<br />

* Also recommended when talking to toddlers and small children who are learning to speak; not only does it give the kid a chance to clarify if he or she wasn't understood, but it gives the adult a chance to demonstrate the proper way to say it.

** It doesn't actually make a child learn language any faster - the rate of language-learning is fixed at biological level - but it helps the adults to figure out what the child is trying to say.

{{quote| '''Patient''': My stomach hurts.<br />

'''Nurse''': Your stomach hurts?<br />

{{quote| '''Patient''': Why are you parroting me?<br />

{{quote| ''[[Metal Gear]]?''

[[Category:Parrot Exposition{{PAGENAME}}]]