Rock Opera Plot: Difference between revisions

The [[Rock Opera]] tends to follow a fairly standard plot, in three acts. They tend to be cynical stories about failed rebellion.

 

* The eponymous character of ''[[Tommy]]'' by [[The Who]] witnesses a murder and becomes psychosomatically deaf, dumb and blind.

* The nameless protagonist of ''2112'' by [[Rush]] discovers a guitar.

* Pink, from ''[[The Wall]]'' is born into a broken home, his father having been killed in the war and his mother having become obsessively protective.

* The protagonist of [[Green Day]]'s ''[[American Idiot]]'' is introduced in his namesake track, "Jesus of Suburbia". He is dissatisfied with life in his city, being a powerless desensitized "everyman".

* [[David Bowie|Ziggy Stardust]] is overwhelmed by the impending end of the world and disillusioned from the hippie days by the destructive nature of love.

* Andrew Jackson in ''[[Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson]]'' is the only survivor of his entire family. He leaves his homeland and sets out for the frontier.

* In ''[[The Decemberists|The Hazards Of Love]]'', Margaret meets William, a shapeshifting young man who lives in a huge forest of uncertain magical content. They fall in love and she falls pregnant, so she leaves her home and they plot to run away altogether.

 

In Act 2, the protagonist discovers some innate ability and that the powers that be in their world are corrupt and evil. They use their ability to confront authority and for a while, [[Hope Spot|it looks like they're going to win]].

* Tommy turns out to have amazing pinball skills. Meanwhile, he is diddled literally by his uncle and figuratively by his agent. He's tortured by his cousin and his parents do lots of stupid things that don't help him at all (like leaving him with his uncle, cousin, and the Acid Queen). He slowly acquires a cult of personality.

* The protagonist of ''2112'' learns how to play the guitar and write his own music and brings this knowledge to the ruling Priests of Syrinx, in the hope that they can use it to enrich society.

** In the second album, Joe attempts to leave [[The City]]. After an attempt is made on his life by Wily's robotic assassin, he teams up with Dr. Light with the intent of destroying Wily's broadcast tower in the hopes that stopping the constant propaganda will shock the citizenry out of their stupor and give Light a chance to kill Wily.

* Elphaba turns out to have magic! The Wizard promptly tries to exploit her desire for recognition to use said magic to betray her friends, after which Elphaba rebels and uses her magic to ruin The Wizard's plans and make a daring escape.

* Pink becomes a rock star, but shuts himself away emotionally in the process. While high on drugs (possibly heroin), Pink revisits the events of his life and decides it might be best to open up.

* Jesus creates an alternate, rebel personality, St. Jimmy and falls in love with the revolutionary Whatsername.

* Nikki becomes power-drunk as a hitman for the terrorists, but his conscience (and his love for hooker-turned-nun Mary) moves him to renounce his cause.

* Buddy arrives in [[Wretched Hive|Ankh-Morpork]], where he discovers a mysterious guitar and invents Music With Rocks In. This attracts the attention of [[Honest John|CMOT Dibbler]], who wants to make money off him, and the [[Culture Police|Guild of Musicians]], who want to see him destroyed. Buddy remains steadfast in his vision of a Free Festival, and enthusiasm for the new music sweeps across the Disc. However, the guitar and its music is killing him, and he's becoming less human.

* The Worm begins a revolution, fashioning himself into the demagogic Little Horn. The oppressed people of the world flock to him as a saviour, and he overthrows [[The Beautiful Elite]], installing himself as a benevolent dictator.

* Andrew Jackson becomes a famous military leader and able politician, representing the interests of the everyman against the elite. He founds the Democratic Party and becomes President of the United States.

* William's adoptive mother, the Forest Queen, forbids him from leaving her sight again; he makes a deal with her to only spend one more night away from her, planning to escape with Margaret that night. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the main characters, the [[Complete Monster|Rake]] arrives on the scene.

 

In Act 3, whatever revolution the protagonists were hoping to foment fails miserably and they are [[Downer Ending|slowly but surely ground into the dirt]].

 

* The protagonist of ''2112'' has his guitar smashed and dreams of a past golden age where creativity was nurtured by society. Unable to bear the thought of living in a world so unlike his dream, he kills himself - just before the ships from the Golden Age, who had simply left Earth, not died out, return to free it from the Temples. Too late for the protagonist, though...

* After facing his brother in a [[Mexican Standoff]], Mega Man gives in to the urgings of an assembled crowd demanding he kill him. Only after he does this does he understand his late brother's reasons for defecting, and leaves the people he set out to save to be slaughtered by Wily's robots.

* Little Horn realizes his sycophantic disciples have merely transferred their adoration from [[The Beautiful Elite]] to him, instead: they don't want to be saved, they just want a new dominator. Crossing the [[Despair Event Horizon]], he sheds the Little Horn persona to become [[Title Drop|The Antichrist Superstar]] - an [[Omnicidal Maniac]] worse by far than his former oppressors. After spearheading a [[Salt the Earth|scorched earth]] campaign and ushering in the apocalypse, he stands alone amidst the desolation, concluding that "[[Be Careful What You Wish For|when all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed]]".

* Populism blows up in Jackson's face when the American people begin to resent bearing the guilt of bad policy decisions. Jackson disobeys the Supreme Court in order to relocate the Native Americans from their homes, polarizing the country, and Jackson alienates many of his former allies with his stubbornness and short tempter. Eventually he pronounces the country ungovernable and wallows in self pity.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Musical Number Index]]

[[Category:Music Tropes]]

[[Category:Plots]]