Reality Ensues: Difference between revisions

[[File:reality01_264reality01 264.png|link=The Adventures of Dr. McNinja|right]]

This can sometimes be seen on the hard end of the [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]], though [[Dystopia Is Hard|it isn't necessarily so]]. See also [[Twist Ending]], [[Mood Whiplash]], [[Ascended Fridge Horror]] and [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]. [[Defied Trope]] may lead to this, as may [[Deconstructed Trope]]. Commonly found in the company of [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]. Not to be confused with [[Hilarity Ensues]], although they can overlap, depending on usage. Compare [[Magic A Is Magic A]]; it's very important that these instances are ''consistent'' with the setting. Contrast [[This Is Reality]], where a character ''believes'' that reality will ensue, but it doesn't. [['''Reality Ensues]]''' may also be defined as forgoing [[Genre Consistency]] in favor of [[External Consistency]].

* 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 -- whichplayer—which he quickly disproves by drinking Sprite and then attempting a slam dunk, failing, and falling on his ass.

* This is pretty much the central premise of [[Watchmen]]: what happens to superheroes when [[Reality Ensues]]? What becomes of people who dress up in costumes and take the law into their own hands in a world as full of political and social complexities as the real world? They die. They go insane (presuming they weren't [[Black and White Insanity|insane already]]). [[He Who Fights Monsters|Or they become monsters.]]

** There is a [[Recycled in Space|having Portugal as the setting]] of ''Madame Bovary'' named ''Primo Basílio'' ,<ref>''Cousin Bazilio''</ref>, written by Eça de Queirós, that has almost the same plot. But the ending is very different: {{spoiler|the Madame Bovary's expy, Luísa, is blackmailed by her own servant who threatened to reveal to her husband and is driven to get a stress-induced disease. She deeply regrets having betrayed her husband, has to shave her head, which in an Brazilian TV-adaptation was considered one of the most tearjerking moments of the history of Brazilian TV, and ultimately dies. There is no [[Power of Love]] to save her, there is no [[Black Comedy]] like the original, only pure [[Tear Jerker]]. In the last scene, Basílio, the eponymous adulterer is shown that he didn't care with Luísa and he should have brought "Alphonsine", making him THE biggest [[Jerkass]] [[Karma Houdini]] of the entire Portuguese-language literature.}}

** Or in ''Mattimeo'', where a gang of slave traders disguise themselves as entertainers to sneak into Redwall Abbey and abduct the children (for underground mining labour). {{spoiler|At an ensuing festival inside the abbey grounds, they manage to spike all of the partygoers' drinks, and get them to drink them at the same time by calling out a toast.}} All seems to be working according to plan.<br /><br />'''''Or does it?!'''''<br /><br />Actually it turns out that {{spoiler|the cooks and kitchen aides naturally didn't drink anything, and try to stop the slavers by themselves. The slavers, on the other hand,... simply slaughter them and calmly proceed loading the Unconscious on their cart}}. Two '[[Reality Ensues]]' moments in one.

* Pretty much the entire reason for the ''[[Lawrence Watt-Evans|Three Worlds Trilogy]]'' is [[Reality Ensues]] plus [[Deus Angst Machina]]. [[This Loser Is You|The protagonist fails]] [[Boring Failure Hero|at everything]] and a whole bunch of people die because he's just an ordinary person up against insurmountable odds. [[Grimdark]] only begins to describe it.

* ''[[Blake's 7]]'' gives us a single ship --admittedlyship—admittedly the most advanced in the galaxy-- crewedgalaxy—crewed by approximately seven people --admittedlypeople—admittedly very talented-- tryingtalented—trying to bring down a gigantic evil bureaucracy ([[The Federation]]). They manage to survive for four years, then [[Kill'Em All|reality catches up.]]

** Grittier, meaner, more brutal games (''[[The World of Darkness]]'', ''[[Dark Heresy]]'', ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'', and so on) intentionally invoke this trope to help create the feel of danger, failure, and high stakes. Some games, such as the old [[West End Games]] ''D6 [[Star Wars]]'' adaptation, have rules written to invoke this trope and then blatantly tell the GM to lie and keep the PC's relatively safe, allowing them to feel like reality may ensue when it probably won't. Some games even shoot to overplay this trope in the name of schadenfreude; for instance, in ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'', your character is incompetent, your boss is insane, and your teammates will throw you under the bus at the drop of a hat-- sohat—so sure enough, you're pretty much guaranteed to suck, fail, and die repeatedly [[Black Comedy|for laughs]].

** ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' generally averts this trope. However, when it comes to 2.5 Edition, if one were to use the [[Critical Hit]] system from ''Player's Options'', players can find themselves in need of [[Death Is Cheap|a resurrection spell]] fast. And, [[It Got Worse|to make matters worse]], depending on the type of damage inflicted (e.g., [[Hollywood Acid|acid]], [[Man On Fire|fire]], [[Gale Force Sound|vibration]]) a player may require a [[reincarnation]] spell, [[Make a Wish|a wish]] [[Be Careful What You Wish For|spell]] or worse yet, [[Killed Off for Real|a new character]] [[Final Death|to continue playing]]. <ref>After all, what do you expect to happen when a 3rd level illusionist receives [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|TRIPLE damage]] from stone-digging claws of a rampaging [[Smash Mook|umber hulk]]? Not to mention the damage [[Impromptu Tracheotomy|an arrow through the throat can do]], the horrific effects of the various kinds of [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragon's]] [[Breath Weapon|breath]], the many [[Universal Poison|venomous/poisonous beasts]], the [[Brown Note|long term effects]] [[Telepathy|of getting]] [[Mind Rape|hit with a]] [[Psychic Powers|psionic attack]], and let's not even get started with [[The Undead]] and the many ways they can kill a PC [[One-Hit-Point Wonder|in one turn or less]]. While we're on the subject of creatures of the night, getting mauled by a [[Our Werebeasts Are Different|werebeast]] will more likely end in a [[Gorn|bloody death]]; becoming a therianthrope is a rather remote possibility.</ref> [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|When]] [[Killer Game Master|played straight]], D&D can be [[Everything Trying to Kill You|far more]] [[Death World|dangerous]] than [[Real Life]], since [[Wizard Needs Food Badly|you can starve]], [[Hostile Weather|die from exposure]], [[Super Drowning Skills|drown]] [[Captain Obvious|(take off your armor before you attempt to swim)]], and having a [[Light'Em Up|light spell]] [[Eye Scream|cast on]] [[Blinded by the Light|your eyes will]] [[Sense Loss Sadness|blind you]], possibly permanently. And occasionally [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies]].

** The [[Xbox 360]] game ''Over G Fighters'' is essentially what happens when [[Reality Ensues]] on ''Ace Combat''. Did you know that afterburner in the presence of heat-seeking missiles is a BAD thing? On the other hand, unlike ''Ace Combat'', the player (though also enemies) can sometimes break missile locks by turning enough to reduce their plane's radar cross-section.

** This was initially true of ''all'' items made of gold, but this made gold so worthless that it was changed for balance reasons. Although gold tools still count as wood for purposes of durability and what they can actually do (a Gold Pickaxe can only harvest the same materials as a wood pickaxe), they work incredibly fast -- afast—a golden pick or axe can chew through materials in no time flat, outclassing even the diamond tools of the same type.

* Many of the cutscenes in ''[[Dynasty Warriors]] 7'' invoke this with [[Annoying Arrows]]--In—In one scene, Pang Tong succumbs to a wound that resulted from taking an arrow intended for Liu Bei, Zhou Yu dies in a similar fashion, and another cutscene has the famous [[Eye Scream]] scene with Xiahou Dun (at least [[Gory Discretion Shot|as much as can be shown in a T-rated game]]). To say nothing of Wu.

* In [[Grand Theft Auto IV]], {{spoiler|the game's [[Final Boss|Final Bosses]]es (which differentiate [[Multiple Endings|depending on which ending you take]] are hardly any tougher than any of the other random [[Mooks]] you've been killing. They have slightly more health thanks to body armor, but other than that, they're no tougher, and will likely go down quickly.}}

* ''[[G.I. Joe: Resolute]]'' had this, when Storm Shadow asks why his uncle/sensei won't teach him his famed Seventh Step, which is basically instant death for anyone it hits. His uncle says he is not ready, and Storm Shadow pulls off his mask dramatically, symbolically divesting himself of his attachment to the dojo. {{spoiler|It's actually a signal for an assassin to snipe his uncle, so Shadow can take over the dojo. When he sees the assassin, Snake Eyes runs forward, and the assassin shoots him first. The sensei turns around, puzzled, and since he's standing still, it's much easier for the killer to hit him.}} Oh, and it the miniseries was written by--waitby—wait for it--[[Warren Ellis]].

** 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.