Reality Ensues: Difference between revisions

== Advertising ==

* Sprite did a series of commercials based around subverting [[Cereal-Induced Superpowers]] by invoking this trope. One features a kid spotting NBA player Grant Hill drinking Sprite, and thinking Sprite will make him a basketball player -- which he quickly disproves by drinking Sprite and then attempting a slam dunk, failing, and falling on his ass.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-aFQtiPzFk An even harsher one] had a visibly preteen boy thinking that drinking Sprite would transform him into a [[Professional Wrestling|professional wrestler]]. He then [[Bullying a Dragon|challenged]] [[WCW]]'s [[Wrestler/Sting|Sting]] to a match - and was promptly [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|battered from pillar to post]] as his parents just stood by and laughed. It's probably the darkest soft drink ad ever filmed.

** In one Sprite commercial, a mom takes out some [[Bland-Name Product|Sun Fizz]] to give to her children. The sun logo comes to life to sing the drink's praises. The mom and kids respond by doing what a real life mom and kids would do: freak out and run away, screaming. This troper recalls that commercial winning some kind of award.

* Subverted in [[Bakuman｡]]. After Kosugi does a [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!]] punch to Nanamine when he essentially gives up on manga following losing to the main characters, Nanamine threatens to report Kosugi for assault and cause him to lose his job. Nanamine doesn't go through with it, though, thinking it would make him more of a laughingstock than he already is.

* In ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'', [[Cloudcuckoolander|Osaka]], of all people, pulls this when she wonders what Chiyo would do if she was kidnapped. Chiyo suggests that [[Canine Companion|Tadakichi-san]] could come to her rescue, and Osaka mimes shooting him. This leads to this exchange:

'''Osaka''': ...and get killed. }}

* In episode in [[Soul Eater]] where Death the Kid first starts attending the DWMA, [[Large Ham|Black Star]] climbs up near the top of the academy building to deliver a [[Badass Boast]] to Kid...who's standing near the front entrance and can't hear a word he's saying because he's so far away.

* In the [[Final Battle]] of the first live action ''[[Kekko Kamen]]'' film the title character is fighting a very butch mook who is revealed, with much gloating from the [[Big Bad]], to be immune to all of her powers. The heroine then picks up a gun from a fallen mook and uses it.

* In the Macaulay Culkin movie ''[[Richie Rich]]'', the [[Big Bad]] spends the entire movie trying to break into the Rich family vault so he can steal their money. By the time he actually makes it in, however, he finds that is full of nothing but keepsakes and photo albums, leading to this:

'''Richard Rich Sr.''': In banks. Where else? And the stock market...real estate... }}

* ''[[Shooter]]'' is kind of in love with this, with the climax basically being about four or five stacked up. Do not. Mess. With Bob Lee Swagger.

** This even holds true in the video game adaptation; all except one, who barely has time to gasp, [[You Killed My Father|"I knew it would be you,"]] before you blow him away.

* ''[[Serenity]]'':

{{spoiler|'''Operative:''' ''[leaping back up and grabbing Mal from behind]'' I am, however, wearing full body armour. I'm not a ''moron''.}} }}

** Later on in the film, {{spoiler|Wash is killed right in the middle of a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]}}. [[Talking Is a Free Action|Talking Is Not A Free Action]]. And when the Operative tries to use his [[Pressure Point]] technique, it doesn't work because Mal had that particular nerve cluster removed due to a war injury. In [[Real Life]], susceptibility to pressure points varies widely and [[One-Hit Kill|One Hit Kills]] are difficult and not nearly so delicate.

** Season 6 episode ''Seeing Red'': The villain's plot is thwarted, the heroes have their denouement with the talking about their feelings, {{spoiler|and Tara is shot dead by a stray bullet when the villain comes back with a gun.}}

* ''[[Firefly]]'' "The Train Job":

'''Mal:''' Darn. *kicks him into an engine* }}

** In "The Message", Wash tries to lose a pursuing ship by flying into a canyon:

'''Wash:''' I didn't think of that... }}

** In another episode someone takes a cremember hostage and starts making demands. Malcolm just shoots him.

** And then there's "Midnight", which savages the Doctor's usual bluster and approach to problem-solving. Instead of managing to get the people's trust, they view him with suspicion and think him very arrogant. It's all part of the [[Monster of the Week]]'s plan.

* In ''[[Torchwood]]'', Tosh and Ianto find themselves confronted by three hooded, scythe-wielding men who spout fire and brimstone, then ominously start walking towards them as the music swells. They gun them down without a pause.

'''Tosh:''' Sorted. }}

** ''[[Torchwood: Miracle Day]]'' uses this as its premise: Having everlasting life in the real world creates horrific problems.

** {{spoiler|Shooting him in the ''leg'' is excused by her co-workers: [[Completely Missing the Point|"It was her first shooting, you can't expect her to be perfect right out of the gate!"]]}}

* ''[[CSI: Miami]]'':"Guerrillas in the Mist". The bad guy has a weapon that's basically a [[wikipedia:Metalstorm#Products|Metal Storm]] with the [[Serial Numbers Filed Off]]. In [[The Teaser]], it actually ''vaporizes'' three men. Horatio tracks the baddies down at the airport and comes riding in in his Hummer, which the bad guy destroys. Caine gets out of the burning car and takes aim at just outside of point-blank range. A staredown ensues.

'''Caine''': (shoots him, shoots his accomplices. Walks over to the [[Big Bad]]'s body and [[Glasses Pull|removes his glasses]]) [[Quip to Black|Apparently, it only takes the one]]. }}

* ''[[Blake's Seven]]'' gives us a single ship --admittedly the most advanced in the galaxy-- crewed by approximately seven people --admittedly very talented-- trying to bring down a gigantic evil bureaucracy ([[The Federation]]). They manage to survive for four years, then [[Kill'Em All|reality catches up.]]

* In the [[Star Trek]]: [[Deep Space Nine]] episode Blaze of Glory, Sisko and a wounded [[Anti-Hero|Michael Eddington]] have rescued several surviving members of the maquis from a planet controlled by the Dominion. Due to his wound Eddington asks to be left behind to [[Heroic Sacrifice|hold off the Dominion soldiers]] in order to [[Death Equals Redemption|give the others time to escape]]. However, as he gets up for the last stand ([[Theme Music Power-Up|even joking if anyone knows a rousing song to play]]) he is promptly shot at least half a dozen times in the chest and thrown against a wall.

* In the ''[[Miami Vice]]'' episode "Glades", [[The Dragon]] is holding a shotgun to a little girl's head as Sonny Crockett approaches with this pistol drawn and aimed. [[The Dragon]] begins threatening to shoot the girl if he's not let go, saying "If I so much as twitch, she's go--" '''''BLAM''''' Sonny shoots him right between the eyes, with the [[Post Mortem One Liner]], "Maybe you won't twitch."

* In ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'' the [[Show Within the Show]] ''Rebel Cry'' opens with [[La Résistance]] getting its head handed to it by [[The Empire]], because it consists of two systems.

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', Vaarsuvius succinctly deals with [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Kubota's]] [[Take Over the City]] [[The Chessmaster|chessmastering]]:

** The kicker here is that Vaarsuvius didn't ''know'' that he was dispatching a threat. He was just removing a distraction from his research. Of course, this garners him a [[What the Hell, Hero?]] from Elan.

* Occurs in ''[[The Dreadful]],'' for a given value of "[[Improbable Aiming Skills|reality]]". A posse shows up at Kit's hideout. Their [[Smug Snake|arrogant]] leader threatens and insults Kit while flipping his gun around [[Metal Gear Solid|Revolver Ocelot]]-style. It looks like an epic gunfight is about to ensue, but Kit simply shoots the hammer of his gun mid-flip, causing it to shoot him in the head.

** There's also the clown that Peter has kept in the ceiling somewhere in order to pop up when Lois admitted Peter was right. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened for years. So when it finally does, all Peter gets is a skeleton in a colorful wig.

*** Which is a throwback to an earlier gag involving Peter having bought Meg a pony in preparation for his screwing up.

** In one episode, the family wins the lottery, and one of Peter's decisions is to buy a giant room full of gold coins and [[Pooled Funds|dive into it]] ''a la'' [[Scrooge McDuck]].

'''Peter:''' Aaahhh!! It's not a liquid! It's a great many pieces of solid matter, that form a hard floor-like surface! Ahhh!! }}

* ''[[Mighty Max]]'': In one episode, a barbarian has recently rampaged through a village, killing everyone. Max the [[Kid Hero]] goes inside a house to check the carnage and immediately hops out, vomiting. He's seen gore all the time on television, but realizes it didn't prepare him for this.

*** Even when Dinobot II (who has {{spoiler|regained the originals' memories}}) tries to tell him that it's an overkill to use {{spoiler|giant ship-to-ship lasers}} to kill {{spoiler|a primitive tribe of organics}}, Megatron pretends to consider it for a second, and then pushes the button anyway.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]'' when the Sun Riders (who at this point are evil) have taken over the Super Robot and forced the Hyperforce to flee. Chiro suggests that they instead use the Sun Riders' old fighting mecha and they head to where they've been told it's stored... only to find out that it is only 20 feet tall (compared to the Super Robot skyscraper) and is in disrepair, at which point the following exchange takes place:

'''Sprx''': If this was just some TV show, kid, we could give up. [[This Is Reality|But THIS is the REAL WORLD!]] }}

** If you don't understand how this is [[Reality Ensues]], it's because after being faced with all the odds, Chiro, the main protagonist in the show, is actually ready to give up, whereas normally in this sort of show they would immediately start looking for another way.

*** Interestingly, it ''almost'' worked. Roku had gotten Sozin to halt his plan. Later, a volcanic eruption threatened the village Roku lived in. Sozin showed up to help his old friend, who was rescuing the villagers...then Sozin had the sudden epiphany, that if he just left and ''let'' Roku die, he could resume his plans of world conquest.

* A rather jarring example on ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'': after moving into the gritty, more realistic Citiesville, the girls' attempts to fit in are all met with either laughter or cold dismissal. The final straw was when the mayor of Citiesville called them in after they had stopped some bank robbers - not to congratulate the girls, but for blowing up a bridge to stop their getaway:

'''Blossom:''' Uh...<br />

'''Mayor:''' NO! Do you realize the two crooks that you caught stole approximately four hundred dollars? Do you realize that you did ''over three '''MILLION''' dollars in property damage to that bridge?!'' '''IT'S NOT REPLACEABLE!''' }}

** And in "Bart Vs Australia" where Homer tries to get in a kangaroo's pouch only to realize it's not a pocket, and actually full of mucus.

** In "The PTA Disbands", a tour guide in Fort Springfield is giving a lecture on a "fully restored and in ready to fire condition" Civil War cannon aimed directly at the base of a manned lookout tower. She mentions that these cannons are "''very'' sensitive and that the "''slightest'' jolt" can set them off as the Springfield Elementary bus starts swerving towards the cannon. The bus hits it and...one of the cannon's wheels falls off.

** When homer builds a church in an island, he believed in the Flintstones by using a pelican as a cement mixer, as he gives it a pat, the bird just falls on the ground.

* ''[[Archer]]'' often plays the various injuries encountered in [[Spy Fiction]] realistically: