Screening the Call: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Why? Maybe the Hero's [[Love Interest]] knows the [[Hero's Journey]] is dangerous and, [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy|well...]] Maybe the Hero has [[My Beloved Smother|really]] [[Overprotective Dad|overprotective]] [[Meddling Parents|parents]] who [[Mama Bear|don't want]] their child harmed. Maybe some [[Downer Ending|tragedy]] has occurred in the past and it's known that [[Turn Out Like His Father|adventure]] [[It Runs in The Family|runs in the family]]. Maybe the Hero is in store for some [[A Fate Worse Than Death|really nasty fate]]. Maybe the town is uncomfortable with the Hero's [[Stock Super Powers]] and would really rather he were [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|just normal]]. Maybe they have an interest in making sure [[Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here]] (after all, adventure is [[No Endor Holocaust|really bad for property values]]). In really extreme circumstances, those Screening the Call might take the Hero [[Offing the Offspring|out of the equation]].

 

[[You Can't Fight Fate|Eventually]], those [[Doomed Hometown|well-meaning but obstructive people]] will discover that [[The Call Knows Where You Live]], and will thus be forced to give in (assuming the Call doesn't exact revenge by killing them off first).

 

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

* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'': Good luck getting Gohan to help save the world if Chi-Chi's nearby.

* In ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]]'', the rest of the characters are constantly working to keep Haruhi [[Locked Out of the Loop]] regarding her own powers. They have a ''[[The End of the World as We Know It|very]]'' good reason, though.

 

* Played with in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'': After Ringo crops up psychic and John starts flying in front of the others, the Fans decide they'd better get the other two some magic to prevent group friction. They maneuver George to his [[Amulet of Concentrated Awesome|shapeshifting ring]], but before they can deal with Paul they're kicked off their computer by an official because their school is closing for Winter Solstice Vacation. Paul spends an undetermined amount of time drinking and jealous because of this, though the Fans finally do get to him once they return to school.

* The Fan Fiction ''[[White Devil of the Moon]],'' has Fate preventing the [[Sailor Moon|Sailor Senshi]] from finding [[Lyrical Nanoha|Nanoha]] because a) Nanoha has just been badly injured ''and'' is a workaholic, and b) if Nanoha gets involved, she will overwork herself trying to solve the Senshi's problem, putting her back in the hospital.

* The overprotective parent flavor shows up in the ''[[Codex Alera]]'', though it's at least partially an accident.

 

* On ''[[Chuck]]'', it was revealed that Chuck was targeted for CIA recruitment during college, but [[The Ace|his friend Bryce]] got him expelled so he wouldn't get involved with spy work. Later on, it becomes apparent that {{spoiler|Chuck's dad Stephen Bartowski has been Screening the Call since Chuck was a child}}. Needless to say, it doesn't work.

* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]] is adamant about keeping [[Annoying Younger Sibling|Dawn]] out of combat. That's all well and good, but considering Dawn's a [[MacGuffin Girl]] and the sister of the Slayer who is quite literally bound by destiny to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and fight the evil that results, it becomes fairly obvious to everyone that trying to keep Dawn out of danger only serves to make her an [[Damsel in Distress|easy target]]. By season 7 and the comics, Dawn has received training, and [[Took a Level in Badass]], becoming a hell of a lot more useful and less likely to be kidnapped.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

** It was also a protection from opportunists (other than "The Other") who might use her as a political pawn, as they did with a more distant relation. Punch and Judy further delayed the call by sticking her in a university, where her mediocrity would stand out in contrast to all the Sparks while forcing her to learn the hard way what comes naturally to them. When the [[Power Nullifier]] came off, she had all that education at her disposal, and she was ready for the call.

 

 

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