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Arc Words: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:BadWolf_9622.jpg|link=Doctor Who
{{quote|'''The Doctor:''' Bad Wolf.<br />
'''Rose:''' But, I've heard that before; "bad wolf", I've heard that ''lots of times''.<br />
'''The Doctor:''' Everywhere we go: two words. Followin' us. Bad Wolf...|''[[
An enigmatic word or phrase that appears, unexplained and without context, here and there throughout an [[Arc]], and (with luck) is finally explained at or near the climax. A way of building up tension and mystery, as well as an indicator that anyone using the words knows more than they're telling. Can also be used as a [[Me Me|memetic]] way of advertising the show. A typical element of a [[Mind Screw]].
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* The [[Jim Henson]] teleplay [[The Cube (Film)|The Cube]] - "Strawberry jam".
* The new ''[[
** "Bad Wolf" from Series One.
*** Which Russell T. Davies admitted he didn't think that fans would [[Viewers are Morons|even notice.]]
*** "Bad Wolf" is also something of a subversion in that the words kept appearing (although less often) after the "arc" was concluded, because the words were across all of time and space, so they wouldn't be expected to only appear where they were actually needed.
*** The phrase also appears in the DVD release of "The Invasion" (with animation replacing the [[Missing Episode|Missing Episodes]]). From the Doctor's perspective, that's long ''before'' the arc...
*** Since ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' is set in the same universe as ''[[
** "Torchwood" from Series Two.
** "Mister Saxon" and "Vote Saxon" from Series Three.
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** "I'll see you in another life, brother!" is a phrase constantly used by Desmond as a farewell, to the point that other characters start using it when addressing Desmond at later points. {{spoiler|This comes full circle when we discover in the sixth season that Desmond in the "Sideways World" is awakening the castaways and reminding them of their past lives, so they can move on to the afterlife. See them in another life indeed.}}
* The logos and name of the Blue Sun Corporation from ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'' may have been intended as Arc Words, but the series got canceled before anything came of them. River's repeated "two by two, hands of blue" is definitely an example, though.
* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined
** "All Along The Watchtower" is a set of Arc Words: {{spoiler|because it foreshadows the identities of the final five Cylons}}.
*** Lyrics from the song were later integrated into the series finale as a sort of reveal. For example, {{spoiler|Starbuck says the phrase "There must be some kind of way out of here" before inputting the coordinates to the new Earth and their new home}}.
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* ''[[The Pretender]]'' contained a nursery rhyme sung by Young Jarod at the very beginning of the show, which continued to appear throughout the remainder of the show, and was even sung by characters other than Jarod. Its significance was never explained.
* ''[[Threshold]]'' has a fractal triskelion pattern that appears throughout the series. Though it is explained in the first episode as a representation of a triple helix, and the characters consider its mere presence to be evidence of an infectee, its true nature is never explained.
* ''[[
** Which are, altogether, a slight recasting of the key questions from Alfred Bester's (no, the writer) ''The Stars My Destination'': "Who are you?" "Where are you from?" "Where do you live?" and "Where are you going?"
** ''Babylon 5'' also referenced the arc words from ''The Prisoner''; when the more sinister members of the Psi Corps say goodbye they do the same salute, complete with "be seeing you".
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* ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' gets one in late season two: ''Will You Join Us?''
* ''[[Carnivale]]'': "Every prophet in his/her house."
* The ''[[
** That whole "Did I fall asleep" conversation seems to apply.
** "I want to be my best", anyone?
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* [[Urban Chaos Riot Response]] has one. While not a sentence, or a phrase the {{spoiler|Company, Shift It}} appears everywhere! If you look for it. The reason it's so important is that {{spoiler|Shift it are actually the Burners. The CEO is the leader of the gang, and forceably brainwashed all of his employes into the animals that are the burners.}}
* ''[[Killer 7]]'' has the phrases "Don't gain the world and lose your soul," "How soon is now," and "[[Number of the Beast|666]]" scrawled in various places.
** "How Soon is Now" is the name of a song. While it's been covered many times, the original version was by a band called the Smiths. (As it happens, all the courier memos are also named after songs by the Smiths.) While the other two may qualify as Arc Words, this one's probably more of a [[Shout
** [[Suda 51]]'s next game, ''[[No More Heroes]]'', repeatedly had various female characters, especially Sylvia, instruct Travis to "Head for the Garden of Madness!"
** There's also the advent of the disappearance of smiles that runs throughout the game, before and after missions (with cheerful phrases such as "The day he stops smiling is the day we remember his smile".)
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* From ''[[Mega Man ZX (Video Game)|Mega Man ZX]]'': the "Game of Destiny."
* ''[[Half Life]]'' has "Unforeseen consequences" show up when ''nobody'' expected it.
** "Free Man" and many variations of it also appears very often. The protagonist's name is Freeman, and he is known in ''Half-Life 2'' as "The One Free Man", since he was never subjugated by [[The Empire|The Combine]]. Irony kicks in when you realize that [[But Thou Must!|he's not]] [[The Man Behind the Man|at all free]].
** The ''Half-Life'' Modification ''[[Afraid of Monsters]]'' has two words: ''FORGIVE ME''. The main character is a drug addict, who is on an overdose throughout the whole game. Does he survive his sins? No and yes, depending on the ending.
* Though you're given much more information about it, and it is much more direct than in most cases, "fourteen years ago" arguably counts in ''[[Xenosaga (Video Game)|Xenosaga]]''. {{spoiler|It's eventually revealed that it was when Shion summoned the Gnosis.}}
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* Some advertising campaigns tend to do this.
* [[This Very Wiki]].
* [
* ''We are the 99%'' in the [[Occupy Movement]]. This is from various papers and articles that suggest 1% (or occasionally 2%) of the people in the United States control anywhere from 80-90% of the nation's wealth<ref>the exact numbers are hard to pin down due to such information being private, and an increase in said 1% using undisclosed off-shore accounts for tax evasion</ref>. The concept received widespread attention from ''Capitalism: A Love Story'', a film by [[Michael Moore]].
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[[Category:Motifs]]
[[Category:Arc Words]]
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