The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Clichés/Section III: Overused story events and plot devices: Difference between revisions

# The [[Magic Countdown|timer count-down]] on the Bad Guy Device being stopped by the hero with [[Just in Time|bare seconds left]].

# [[First Contact|Alien contact is perceived or regarded as a spiritual/quasi-religious experience]].

# A [[Teen Genius|teenage genius]] [[Gadgeteer Genius|discovers an entire new field of science, and builds practical devices that use it, in his bedroom]].

# The [[Dark and Troubled Past|psychological trauma]]/[[Tsundere|attitude problem]] of female character is [[Defrosting Ice Queen|cured]] (or at least temporarily relieved) by a [[Deus Sex Machina|Dose of Good Luvin']] from the hero.

# [[Author Filibuster|The author lectures the viewer/reader]]; the lecture takes the form of a Platonic Dialogue between two characters, or of the Cosmic Message from the Ultra-enlightened Aliens to the Great Unwashed Human Masses.

# [[Ancient Conspiracy|A conspiracy develops, involving lots of people, and remains secret for an extended period of time]].

# In spite of chronic crewmember deaths and a complete lack of new personnel, there is no lack of manpower.

# [[Human Popsicle|Cryogenically frozen people]] are never thawed on schedule. They are either revived way, way too early or way, way afterwards.

# Overused time travel cliches:

## Travelers to the future get in trouble, and people in the present race against time to save them (which makes no sense since they have at least their own lifetimes to plan the rescue.)