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Read the Freaking Manual (view source)

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{{trope}}
[[File:xkcd_293_-_RTFM_7270.png|link=Xkcd (Webcomic)|right]]
{{quote|"I think I know from where your problems stem.<br />
Would you, could you, RTFM?"|''The Internet Oracle''}}
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Simply, it's a "Tale From Customer Service": When assisting people with technological items, only about 1 out of 5 read the instructions for the item they've purchased. Fewer still read more than a page or two. Note that the trope title is a [[Bowdlerise|more polite]] version of the [[Precision F-Strike|real phrase]]. Other versions are "Read the Friendly Manual," and "Read the Foul Manual."
 
It's one that you've [[Seen It a Million Times|Seen A Million Times]], especially in [[Sit ComSitcom|Sit Coms]]: "I'm a man; I don't need to read the instructions." Or the manual is in an entirely different language, or it was written in English [[Blind Idiot Translation|by someone who can barely say "I doesn't knows speaking English"]].
 
In video games, and sometimes other software, the manual may be of no help. For most games, the manual only tells you how to ''play'' the game, not how to ''beat'' it. (For that, see [[Guide Dang It]].) It won't tell you how to solve any puzzles unless it's some form of [[Copy Protection]]. Even worse, the manual might have been written for a pre-release version of the game, [[Manual Misprint|with details such as the control scheme differing subtly from the released version]]. Similarly, in the tech field, the manuals may be written by different people than those who designed the product, leading to a [[Manual Misprint]].
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== Film ==
* ''[[Die Another Day (Film)|Die Another Day]]''. When Q gives [[James Bond]] the [[Doorstopper]] manual for his latest [[Cool Car|gadget car]], Bond tosses it in front of the vehicle's automatic shotguns which promptly blast the manual to shreds. This doesn't affect Bond's ability to use the car later on (though given his photographic memory he probably read the manual while the car was being developed).
{{quote| '''Q:''' "Here's the manual, should be able to shoot through that in a couple of hours."<br />
'''Bond:''' "[[Bond One-Liner|Just took a few seconds]], Q." }}
* In ''[[Commando (Filmfilm)|Commando]]'', Cindy successfully uses a rocket launcher (to hit the wheel of a moving truck no less) despite having absolutely no military training. When Matrix asks how she did it she just says she read the instructions.
** It's subverted because she hit the truck on her second shot. Her first shot fired behind her because she was holding the rocket launcher backwards.
* The Maitlands in ''[[Beetlejuice (Film)|Beetlejuice]]'' are given a "Handbook for the Recently Deceased" when they die. Adam tries to read through it but can't comprehend it. Every time they run into trouble they're admonished that the Handbook contains everything they need to know. Other ghosts scoff at them for their inexperienced mistakes.
* Larry from ''[[Night Atat the Museum]]'' tries to read the directions, but they're quickly destroyed and there's no other copies. Luckily, studying the various exhibits teaches him enough to get by.
* ''[[The Fifth Element (Film)|The Fifth Element]]'' features a scene with a bunch of [[Always Chaotic Evil]] mooks "trading" for a crate of super smart guns with dozens of different modes. They don't think to ask what all the modes in question are, and decide to find out by just randomly pressing buttons. If they'd RTFM they'd have discovered that one of the little red buttons was in fact the self-destruct...
** This is [[Lampshaded]] later on in the movie. When the good guys are trying to figure out how to get the weapon against the Ultimate Evil to work, Korben says "Every weapon comes with a manual. This one must, too." The "manual", in this case, turns out to be somewhat unhelpful hints from Leeloo.
 
 
== Literature ==
* In the ''[[Men in Black (Filmfilm)|Men in Black]]'' novel ''The Green Saliva Blues'', "Jay" refuses to RTFM. ''Any'' FM, whether it be on the customs and etiquette of the species they plan to contact or a weapons manual. "Elle", who ''has'' read the freaking manual, shows him how to use the [[Law of Inverse Recoil|Noisy]] [[Hand Cannon|Cricket]] without the recoil. A probable parody, as it is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] that she ''only'' knew this information from the manual, the manual was [[Lost in Translation|written in an alien language]], and [[Idiot Ball|it would have shattered her wrist and probably shoulder]] had she been at all wrong.
** Of course there is a ''reason'' Jay hasn't read the manual. He gave up after reading the manual on alien mating habits.
* ''[[The War Against the Chtorr]]''. The protagonist references this trope when teaching himself how to shoot a [[Laser Sight|laser-sighted]] [[Flechette Storm|flechette rifle]]. It's just as well he does too, as the people who issued him the rifle are [[Make It Look Like an Accident|setting him up to be killed]].
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== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[The Amazing Race]]'', many teams have been eliminated because they misread a clue, or didn't notice that all they needed to know was right there.
* In ''[[Married... Withwith Children]],'' Al has been trying to make a carpentry workbench throughout the whole episode, but is ridculously inept at it, mostly because his manual following skills are beyond pathetic. In a [[Throw the Dog Aa Bone]] moment, his daughter Kelly (the resident [[Too Dumb to Live]] [[Flanderization]]) not only fixes the bench and makes it look exactly like it should, she does so in seconds (Al had been taking the whole day).
* The main character of ''[[The Greatest American Hero]]'' loses the manual for the [[Clothes Make the Superman|super suit]] and has to learn by trial and error. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* In one episode of ''[[News Radio]]'', Mr. James tests his new shredder by shredding the instructions. ("Talk about your mind-blowing irony!") He then wonders how to change the speed settings.
* In the Swedish comedy series ''En ängels tålamod'', one of the characters is a devil living on Earth with a mission to cause sin and misery. [[Take That|His mortal day job is writing instruction manuals, making them as obtuse as possible...]]
* [[Doctor Who (TV)|The Doctor]] threw the TARDIS manual in a supernova because he disagreed with it.
** In the original series, in one episode, the Fourth Doctor sees Romana reading it, and when she suggests a control that she notices to be essential in operating the TARDIS (and one that The Doctor has heretofore never used), he says "Hmm... Interesting," and then proceeds to rip the page out of the manual and throw it away.
* In one episode of ''[[Home Improvement]]'', Tim doesn't think he needs to read the instructions for his new entertainment system because "this is just the manufacturer's opinion of how to put this together." [[Hilarity Ensues]].
** Tim could be the posterboy for Did Not Read the Manual.
* Pretty much the [[Catch Phrase]] of ''[[CanadasCanada's Worst Handyman]]''.
 
 
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== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Hotel Mario (Video Game)|Hotel Mario]]'', [[Off-Model|Fat Mario]] and [[Mondegreen|Gay Luigi]] specifically tell you to "check out the enclosed instruction book" if you need any help. You probably do, because the CD-I is [[Some Dexterity Required|mind-numbingly hard to control.]]
* The [[Irate Gamer]] refuses to read the ''[[Contra]]'' instruction manual for the story during his review of the game in question, so he believes the game takes place in a straight modern war setting in the likes of ''[[Rambo]]''. He is then caught by surprise once the aliens start showing up later in the game.
* [[James Rolfe]], [[The Angry Video Game Nerd (Web Video)|The Angry Video Game Nerd]], declared the uselessness the speed and altitude readings in his review of ''[[Top Gun]]'' for the NES. Naturally, he couldn't figure out how to land later on, even though the game '''lists the desired speed and altitude for landing RIGHT THERE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN.''' Rather, he tried to land purely based on prompts like "Speed up!!" "Speed down!!" and "left left!!"
** He later did a follow-up video explaining his mistake. To be fair, a lot of other gamers had the same problem, as the "left left!!" commands really grab your attention.
* In ''[[Okami (Video Game)Ōkami|Okami]]'', one of the most common brushstrokes (the Power Slash) is a simple straight line, which can be hard to pull off with a control stick or the Wiimote. It can be simply and easily overcome by pressing another button, which allows you to paint straight lines. This is mentioned multiple times in both manuals, but some people have played the game numerous times without ever knowing this. All the techniques are also described down to the smallest detail in a section on the pause menu.
** ''[[Okamiden (Video Game)Ōkamiden|Okamiden]]'' prevents this issue, however. In a more positive example of [[Viewers are Morons]], whenever you get a new brush technique you are taken to the pause menu to read up on it. This is vital for the [[Selective Magnetism|Magnetism]] technique, as there are two ways to draw it that do slightly different things (one attracts, the other repels), and the obligatory tutorial was extremely vague on how the effects were different. Understanding these differences is vital.
* People who went to [[Game FAQs]] for the transfer codes for ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]'' discovered that every FAQ covered this subject with "Read The Freaking Manual, because we're not copying it". Many were looking because they had lost the manual, or bought it used (since used game stores usually sell just the cartridge),
* The video game [[Mech Commander]] features the ability to target specific points for massive damage on enemies, possibly the most useful ability in the game. It's not mentioned anywhere in game, and only mentioned on one page of the manual. Most [[Game FAQs]] assumed that people without the manual were playing pirated versions of the game and refused to relist the command, saying RTFM!
* Related to the above lists on [[Game FAQs]], if you had gone to the boards before the questions section was put up, chances are you've seen threads asking stuff about the games, only for the FAQ writers and other members to say [[Read the Freaking Manual|read the bloody FAQ]]. This even happened if the FAQ wasn't a very good one (Like say, it was based off of a Prima or Bradygames strategy guide that's half-completed or omits details) or lists information that is incorrect in the games. Especially if there was a difference between regions, or, in the case of some PC games, was not updated for a patch.
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{{quote| '''Step 0: Promise to read Step 2 before telling us the game will not start.'''<br />
Thank you. }}
* [[The Legend of Zelda (Videovideo Gamegame)|"PLEASE LOOK UP THE MANUAL FOR DETAILS."]]
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' has a fan site called UESP, and they tell you that if you have the manual for ''Daggerfall'', to flat out ignore it because it was based off of an alpha version and incorrectly describes the game.
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'', Elf initially appears to be a savant at the fabber, but it turns out that, while still incredibly advanced and far beyond the level one would expect from a grunt who hadn't completed high school... she'd been using the fabber's manual and assist options, which Kevyn calls cheating.
** Sergeant Schlock (then a corporal) discovers in mid fall that he doesn't know the exact difference between a plasma rocket and a plasma cannon. Solution -- start reading the freaking manual: [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20010118.html "No problem we're in no hurry down here"].
* As shown above, ''[[Xkcd (Webcomic)|Xkcd]]'' has covered this topic.
* ''Truck Bearing Kibble'' points out [http://truckbearingkibble.com/comic/2007/11/30/flame-retarded/ how] certain ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'' characters may experience problems of this sort.
 
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* ''[[Gaia Online]]'' has a whole forum dedicated to being able to ask questions about the site and get answers from other users. That forum would be utterly dead if people would just read stickied threads or the information in the Help Center.
** Also afflicted is their MMORPG, ''zOMG!'' The forum for said MMO is filled with threads by users asking how to sell their rings... even though the ''item description'' for said rings ends with a note that "all rings are soulbound and cannot be traded or sold, with certain grandfathered exceptions<ref>rings acquired before the binding mechanic was implemented</ref>". Those who did read the freaking manual then [[Too Dumb to Live|spam the forum asking how to grandfather their rings so they can sell them]].
* [[SCP Foundation (Wiki)|Step-1- Read -all- the steps before continuing.]] [[What an Idiot!|Seriously.]]
* Used in [[Joueur Du Grenier]]'s ''[[Airwolf]]'' review, at the end of his "guide on how to get angry at your computer" skit:
{{quote| "But if you want to avoid all that, just read the [[Precision F-Strike|fucking]] manual !"}}
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* One episode of ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'' had the use of the computer delayed by over 150 years because no one would read the manual (or anything else). Timmy hid the deed to a town in the old computer manual, where it remained undiscovered until he came to pick it up.
{{quote| '''Doug Dimmadome''': It was in an old computer manual? Dag nabbit, [[Running Gag|no one ever reads the manual!]] }}
* When [[Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!|Wubbzy]] gets a pet Fleegle, he throws away the manual because he thinks he won't need it. If he'd read the manual, he would have known that feeding a Fleegle candy causes it to [[Attack of the Fifty50 Foot Whatever|grow exponentially.]]
** Or that feeding it a sandwich causes it to multiply.
* In ''[[Madagascar]]: Escape 2 Africa'', the penguins wonder about a warning light in the plane they're flying. Skipper asks for the manual... and smashes the light bulb with it. "Problemo solved."
* One episode of ''[[Kim Possible]]'' begins with Dr. Drakken stealing a [[Weather Control Machine]] for his latest evil plan, only to discover that he has no idea how to operate it. His sidekick Shego eventually convinces him to go back and steal the manual as well.
* Averted in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', by manly-man (but [[The Smart Guy]]) Sokka: when attempting to sabotage an enemy siege weapon, the very first thing he tries to find is a schematic diagram.
* In the [[The Movie|tv movie]] ''[[Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across Thethe 2nd Dimension]]'', after [[The Reveal|Perry's cover is blown]] and the boys find out their pet platypus is actually a secret agent, he gives them a pamphlet which an upset Phineas immediately throws away. Had he read it, he would have found out that Perry kept his identity a secret because he would have to leave them otherwise. {{spoiler|It says a lot that Phineas and Ferb forgave and fought alongside Perry even without knowing}}.
 
{{reflist}}
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/907875"
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