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The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Clichés/Section III: Overused story events and plot devices: Difference between revisions
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'''Section III: Overused Story Events and Plot Devices'''▼
__TOC__
# Discussions, ending with a joke, about how [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|bureaucracies]] are the same everywhere in the galaxy.▼
# The most intelligent course of action is precluded by orders from a [[Stupid Boss|high-ranking ignoramus]], on the basis of a [[Insane Troll Logic|transparently flawed rationale]].▼
# [[Phlebotinum Breakdown|Technological malfunction as a plot device]].▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Discussions, ending with a joke, about how [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|bureaucracies]] are the same everywhere in the galaxy.
# The [[Magic Countdown|timer count-down]] on the Bad Guy Device being stopped by the hero with [[Just in Time|bare seconds left]].▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The most intelligent course of action is precluded by orders from a [[Stupid Boss|high-ranking ignoramus]], on the basis of a [[Insane Troll Logic|transparently flawed rationale]].
# [[First Contact|Alien contact is perceived or regarded as a spiritual/quasi-religious experience]].▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Phlebotinum Breakdown|Technological malfunction as a plot device]].
# Aliens who are vastly more intelligent and advanced than we are, but we beat them anyway by [[Rock Beats Laser|"ingenuity,"]] [[Determinator|plain guts]], or [[Flaw Exploitation|exploiting]] an [[Achilles Heel]].▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] The [[Magic Countdown|timer count-down]] on the Bad Guy Device being stopped by the hero with [[Just in Time|bare seconds left]].
# A [[Teen Genius|teenage genius]] [[Gadgeteer Genius|discovers an entire new field of science, and builds practical devices that use it, in his bedroom]].▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[First Contact|Alien contact is perceived or regarded as a spiritual/quasi-religious experience]].
# 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.▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Aliens who are vastly more intelligent and advanced than we are, but we beat them anyway by [[Rock Beats Laser|"ingenuity,"]] [[Determinator|plain guts]], or [[Flaw Exploitation|exploiting]] an [[Achilles' Heel]].
# [[Hot Skitty-On-Wailord Action|Persons of different species interbreed without difficulty]].▼
▲# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] A [[Teen Genius|teenage genius]] [[Gadgeteer Genius|discovers an entire new field of science, and builds practical devices that use it, in his bedroom]].
# [[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.▼
▲# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] 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.
# [[Ancient Conspiracy|A conspiracy develops, involving lots of people, and remains secret for an extended period of time]].▼
▲# [[
# [[Expospeak Gag|The author attempts to wittily euphemize the phrase "go screw yourself" by referring to it as "a physiologically impossible act".]]▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[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.
# The availability of firearms notwithstanding, swordfighting returns as a significant method of combat.▼
▲# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Ancient Conspiracy|A conspiracy develops, involving lots of people, and remains secret for an extended period of time]].<ref>While it wasn't on the original list, the [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] icon also applies here.</ref>
# A [[Tomato Surprise|Big Surprise]] awaits the reader/viewer at the end of the tale:▼
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] [[Expospeak Gag|The author attempts to wittily euphemize the phrase "go screw yourself" by referring to it as "a physiologically impossible act".]]
## [[Planet of the Apes Ending|The Barbaric Society is really post-cataclysmic Western civilization.]]▼
▲# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The availability of firearms notwithstanding, swordfighting returns as a significant method of combat.
▲# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A [[Tomato Surprise|Big Surprise]] awaits the reader/viewer at the end of the tale:
▲## [[
## [[Adam and Eve Plot|The man and woman who flee from a doomed civilization and start rebuilding on the third planet of a medium-sized yellow star are named Adam and Eve.]]
## The alien children, slaves, or pets are really the parents, masters, or owners.
## The head of Terran government is a [[Fake King|disguised Bad Guy]] or is under direct control of the Bad Guys.
## A major figure in the conflict is really another major figure in disguise.
## [[We Come in Peace, Shoot
## [[New Eden|The reputedly inhospitable Outdoors is not only inhabitable, but markedly better.]]
## It was [[All Just a Dream]]/game/[[Unwinnable Training Simulation|simulation]].
Line 29 ⟶ 30:
## [[Ancient Astronauts|An ancient civilization was actually founded by space aliens.]]
## [[Beethoven Was an Alien Spy|A major historical figure (Jesus, Einstein, Lincoln, Elvis) was really a space alien.]]
## The apparently-human leader of the robot/cyborg army [[Robotic Reveal|is also a robot or cyborg, and this becomes apparent when his/her/its "skin" falls off]].<ref>While it wasn't on the original list, the [[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] icon also applies here.</ref>
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Telepaths [[Power Perversion Potential|use their power to achieve a heightened sexual experience]].
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]] Telepaths are regarded as witches or lunatics, and are [[Burn the Witch|dealt with accordingly.]]
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Puberty Superpower|Inherited supernatural power (telepathy, lycanthropy, etc.) becomes pronounced at the onset of puberty.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Humans [[Earth-That-Was|leave for the stars]], [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet|forget all about Earth]], and rediscover it later.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] No matter how slowly the monster shambles along, or how quickly the victim runs, the monster is [[Offscreen Teleportation|always right behind the victim]] when she/he trips or encounters an obstacle.
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] When fleeing danger, [[Broken Heel|females trip over their own shadows]] while men can sprint without caution.
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Imported Alien Phlebotinum|An alien artifact imbues human(s) with incredible abilities.]]
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] A fighter pilot, upon destroying an alien vessel, yells "[[Military Maverick|yeeeeeeee-haaaaaaa!]]"
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] [[A Little Something We Call "Rock and Roll"|The time traveller helps the future society mellow out by introducing music from his period.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[You Can't Fight Fate|Time travellers go back in time to prevent some Bad Thing from happening and in the process actually cause the Bad Thing to happen.]]
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Time travellers go back in time to prevent some Bad Thing from happening; [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|they succeed, but cause something worse to happen]].
# [[
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] A war gets started over a stupid misunderstanding between two sides that otherwise have no reason to fight, and [[Violence Is the Only Option|no effort is made to resolve the crisis diplomatically]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Forever War|The two opponents in a war have been fighting for so long that they've forgotten how the war got started in the first place]], [[Violence Is the Only Option|but no effort is made to resolve the crisis diplomatically]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The two opponents in a war have been fighting for decades/centuries/millenia; the main characters end the war peacefully in a matter of days or hours.<ref>While it wasn't on the original list, the [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]] icon also applies here.</ref>
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Humans Are Special|Humans have a special quality that makes us unique, so that even superbeings can learn something from us.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A pet survives the disaster, and is discovered at the end of the story.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Rock Beats Laser|So-called elite forces get their butts kicked by a smaller, less well-armed force.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] A scientist develops an AI computer system that can understand natural language and draw inductive conclusions from incomplete data, and [[Reed Richards Is Useless|uses it on projects far less practical and/or profitable than such a computer would be.]]
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Someone gets healed by contact with aliens (often by a [[Healing Hands|laying on of hands]]).
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|greedy businessman]] [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|refuses to recognize that his dangerous product/service will screw him over long before he can hope to make a profit]].
# [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Black Dude Dies First|The monster kills/eats the token black guy first.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[God Guise|Explorers are greeted as gods by the natives, who cling to this belief in spite of everything the explorers do and say.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Crazy Cultural Comparison|An alien custom throws humans into confusion]], [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|even though one or more human cultures share the custom and have followed it for centuries.]]
# [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]] [[Fantastic Racism|Low-brow white male human bar patron of the future spouts bigoted remarks that wouldn't be tolerated today]], while protagonists look on in silent dismay at the "dark side" of the human race.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Touched
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A technologically advanced race conquers a technologically inferior race, and [[We Will Use Manual Labor in
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] The gang of cute and/or misfit kids rescue the universe, where [[Adults Are Useless|a large group of competent, organized and well-armed adults failed.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The aliens' plan to exterminate the human race is stopped at the last moment when they notice a human exhibiting some virtue, such as [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?|love]], humor, etc.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] A fellow has Super Powers, but can only use them [[Berserk Button|when he is emotionally agitated.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The protagonists destroy the entire social structure and governmental system of the society they encounter, and [[What the Hell, Hero?|only a few old fuddy-duddies complain.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A problem involving an alien is resolved in a manner dependent on [[Bizarre Alien Biology|the unusual and heretofore-unknown location]] of [[Groin Attack|the alien's reproductive organs]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] [[Face Full of Alien Wingwong|The human abdomen is an ideal incubator for Alien Eggs/Spawn, and this has no apparent effect on the host until the Alien Spawn erupts from their stomach in a messy fashion.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] No matter how large a ship is, any monster let loose on board will learn its way around in an hour's time, enabling it to sneak up behind its victims without fail.
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] A female antagonist [[High Heel Face Turn|changes sides]] after receiving a [[Sex Face Turn|Dose of Good Luvin']] from the hero.
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The crewmember who is [[Brainwashed]] or otherwise [[The Mole|subverted into sabotaging/betraying the ship]] is [[Easily Forgiven|allowed to return to duty]], with no concerns that they remain a security risk.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] Resolving the imminent threat to mankind requires that the drunken has-been get sober.
# [[File:Pig icon 05.svg|15px]] [[All Amazons Want Hercules|A high-ranking matriarch, in a society that oppresses men, falls for the Hero's rugged charms.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A crewmember [[Not Himself|has a radical change of personality]], but the few people who notice [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight|don't seem particularly bothered by it]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Human spies are sent to [[The Infiltration|infiltrate an alien society]] in order to better understand it.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] [[Evil Power Vacuum|When the Evil Overlord dies, none of his surviving henchmen move into the power vacuum; instead, his empire collapses.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] The Good Guys, after a setback, launch their counterattack with the help of members of a Rastafarian-like culture.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Disney Villain Death|The death of the Bad Guy involves a long fall.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] At some point the protagonists must enter a hostile region called The [[Forbidden Zone]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] When the Heroes destroy [[Master Computer|the computer that runs an entire society]], [[No Endor Holocaust|it's considered a good thing for the members of that society]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] When an ordinary crewmember [[A God Am I|transforms into the Enlightened Being of Cosmic Power]], he [[Ascend to
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] A society of humans adopts [[Designer Babies|an artificial means of reproduction]] (such as cloning), forgets about sex and intimacy, and [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?|has to learn about it at some later point]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Possession Implies Mastery|Any weapon can be picked up and used by anyone, no matter how lacking they are in training and/or upper-body strength.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] When defeat is imminent, it is avoided by a strategem, tactic, or weapon that could just as easily been used at the start of the fight.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] Away teams going on dangerous missions [[The Main Characters Do Everything|are comprised of irreplaceable members of the ship's crew]], such as the captain, medical chief, chief engineer, etc. [[Red Shirt|Expendable flunkies]] are left behind to mind the store.
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Next Sunday
# [[File:Green tick.svg|12px]] Any class of people having superpowers will be persecuted by [[All of the Other Reindeer|normal humanity.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Red Shirt|The lowest-ranking members of any mission team are ''doomed''.]]
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Ultimate Job Security|A starship captain disobeys a direct order from a superior. When the dust settles, he's still a starship captain.]]
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]] The episode ends with [[Chess Motifs|the two arch-enemies playing a game of chess]].
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] Malignant aliens land in densely-populated regions, and are [[Mugging the Monster|instantly targeted by a criminal (who is fatally defeated)]]. Benevolent aliens [[Aliens in Cardiff|land in the boondocks]].
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] After a remonstration from the Good Guys, the Great Dictator confesses that [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|he was merely trying to keep order]], and reforms.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The possessed human exhibits [[Super Strength|superhuman strength]].
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The crewman in the leaky spacesuit is rescued with [[Just in Time|seconds]] of air to spare.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] The stranded heroes come across a crashed space vessel. The ship is returned to a serviceable condition after only a little bit of repair work.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Fan of the Past|The characters in the distant future are interested in the period of Earth history during which the story was written.]]
# [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] The time-traveler gets [[It Only Works Once|only one chance]] to change the past or the future, instead of repeating the trip as many times as necessary.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] In spite of chronic crewmember deaths and a complete lack of new personnel, there is no lack of manpower.
# [[File:McCormick Sleep.svg|15px]][[File:Delta-shield.svg|11px]] [[Human Popsicle|Cryogenically frozen people]] are never thawed on schedule. They are either revived way, way too early or way, way afterwards.
# [[File:Vraagteken.svg|9px]] The conquering aliens are dependent on [[Unobtainium|a very rare resource]] to maintain their empire. Earth has some of it.
==Tropers' additions to this list==
# Overused time travel cliches:
## [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] 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.)
## Someone finds a note written by their future selves.
## On returning to the present, the travelers find evidence that their trip already happened.
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## Even accidental trips to the past never go farther back than the dinosaurs.
## The number of ancestors met on a trip to the past is directly correlated to the number of the team sent.
## When traveling to the past, you are guaranteed to meet someone the average American aged
### Year 30: [[Jesus]].
### 800-1200 AD: [[King Arthur]].
### 1600's: [[
### 1800's: Jack the Ripper, [[Sherlock Holmes]]/[[
### 1940: [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], [[Winston Churchill]]
## No matter how far forward or back you go, you always end up in the same geographic spot, ignoring movement of geological plates and Earth itself.
## [[World War III|World War 3]] was/will be a historical fact.
## [[File:Racism icon-fr.svg|15px]] Regardless of the time, everybody speaks English and if humans are still the ruling class, Caucasian. Brown people are still poor.
## The time you traveled from will be viewed as either a) a land of technological wizardry (for the past,) or b) a shameful time of ignorance, racism, and bigotry (for the future.)
## Newspapers you find will always give you the exact date of your arrival, and are usually found within seconds of arriving.
Line 118 ⟶ 121:
## If the timeline can be changed, it's a comedy.
## If the timeline can't be changed, it's a tragedy.
## [[File:Bull icon 05.svg|15px]] Nobody uses drugs in the future or past.
## It is always assumed that "naturally," once time travel is discovered, it will be two-way.
## [[Never the Selves Shall Meet|Meeting yourself in the past is always considered "A Very Bad Thing."]] Rationale will vary though, with a 75% chance of invoking one of the Laws of Thermodynamics. For works after 1991, there is a 50% chance of "[[Butterfly of Doom|the butterfly effect]]" and/or "chaos theory" being the rationale.
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▲[[Category:The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Cliches]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Clichés, The}}
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