Scarily Competent Tracker: Difference between revisions

* A British car commercial had a tribesman observing vibrations and identifying the animals causing them from a great distance. He then spots a car passing in the distance and seems to think it must be a ghost because it's so quiet that nothing is vibrating.

* Another series of car commercials had random people placing their ears on the ground and managing to identify the brand, model, various specifications ''and even the color'' of the car.

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* Shampoo from ''[[Ranma ½]]'' managed to track Ranma for over a thousand miles, across at least two countries, and the Sea Of Japan. To make this even more impressive, at the time she barely knew his name and only knew of his [[Attractive Bent Gender|female form]], which meant she could only follow him when he was in one form, completely losing him whenever he returned to normal.

* In ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' Mayaa found his way to Sakaki in what's apparently Tokyo despite the fact that she'd left Iriomote Island by boat, and then left Okinawa by airplane. Granted, the only boats he might've stowed away on would take him to Okinawa, but how'd he then manage to pick the right plane, much less find one girl in a city of millions (''and'' just in time for a [[Big Damn Heroes]] moment)?

 

== Comic Books ==

* The original roster of the third incarnation of ''[[X-Force]]'' consisted of [[Wolverine]], [[Opposite Gender Clone|X-23]], Wolfsbane, and Warpath. The first 3 have heightened senses, the 4th is an Apache Indian (see [[Real Life]] below).

* Sabretooth and Wolverine are both considered to be excellent trackers, even without their heightened senses.

 

== Film ==

** Mkoll is a Scarily Competent Tracker ''even to the other Ghosts''. He's also a complete [[Badass]].

*** Let us not forget the scene in Sabbat Martyr, where Mkoll {{spoiler|Essentially has a 'Scarily Competent Tracker' CONTEST with a Dark Eldar. Mkoll WINS.}}

* In the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'', we're treated to Lord Gareth Bryne, who's grandfather allegedly could track a shadow over a river. While the grandfather never actually comes on-screen, the Lord manages to track Suian and Leane across at least half a continent, only because Leane insisted that they ask for directions barely a quarter of the way there. When he successfully finds them, a random soldier informs the women that he has arrived, which is the cue for Suian's priceless and dumbfounded reaction.

** There was the line about the old soldier who could track yesterday's wind across stone by moonlight. Although it's obviously hyperbolic.

** [[Our Ghosts Are Different|Ghosts]] see a glowing line (height and other parameters being individual) trailing after any living human, so if a ghost wants to follow someone, there's no way to shake it off. Which is part of the reason why the provincial unit of Secret Investigations composed entirely of ghosts did consistently show the best performance, despite having to oversee the biggest and busiest trade port in the kingdom.

 

* Bra'tac and Teal'c in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' sometimes do this, most notably in "Maternal Instinct". O'Neill, [[Deadpan Snarker|being]] [[Genre Savvy|O'Neill]], lampshades it. Bra'tac is not amused.

** [[Stargate Atlantis|Ronon Dex]] from the spinoff show has managed this a few times. Once he didn't even ''look at the ground.'' That could have been bad blocking, however.

* Despite the show's title, the protagonist of ''[[Tracker]]'' is ''not'' one of these, although he still has a number of superhuman abilities due to the fact that he's an alien [[Energy Being]] taking human form. In one episode, though, he meets an elderly Native American named Wahota Keene (played by [[Don Francks]]) whose son was killed by one of the escaped alien convicts Cole is tracking. Keene immediately recognizes his son's killer by simply looking at him and then shows remarkable skill at tracking his movements in the woods. Cole does find that he likes Keene, given that they're both trackers.

* Hawk, the Native American deputy, can do this in ''[[Twin Peaks]]''. However at one point he leads everybody to the wrong cabin in the woods.

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

*** The best part about that comic was the dropped spear nearby; indicating that his "friend" already spotted the cavalry and high-tailed it out of there without telling him.

* This troper recalls a cartoon from a magazine(?) with the traditional Indian with his ear to the ground, reeling off the usual list of facts ("one of the horses is lame", etc.), concluding with "A satellite is passing over their position."

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* In ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' 3.x it is technically possible to track a hamster across dry rock, one week after the fact, and it ''snowed yesterday''. (DC 39). Depending on bonuses and equipment, this is reliably doable as a frighteningly low level.

 

== Video Games ==

* Ezio Auditore is the most prominent one in the ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' series - [[Justified Trope|Justified]] by his genetic Eagle Vision/Sense ability.

 

** Well, actually Belkar seems to have some tracking ability, but he is too stupid and uncaring to use it....until Roy points out (falsely) that the person Roy wants him to track has insulted Belkar.

{{quote|'''Belkar:''' "Oh, that's it! I'm gonna track them down and kill their whole family!"}}

* The Map of ''[[Dora the Explorer]]'' knows where everything is [[Fridge Logic|even before it gets there]].

** May be a [[Justified Trope]] in that it's, you know, a map.

 

== Real Life ==

 

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[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Big Trope Hunting]]