The Gump: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Time Cat]]'' the protagonist, Jason, travels through time [[Cats Are Magic|via magic]] and ends up being a part of many historical events and meeting and influencing various famous figures from the past.

* In ''[[H. Beam Piper|Uller Uprising]]'', the heroes get much-needed information from a porn novel whose author is a stickler for [[Shown Their Work|historical detail]] mixed in with the pornography. The main character of the novel is a very HOT Gump.

* In [[Jin Yong]] novel [[The Deer and the Cauldron]], Wei Xiaobao blunders his way into several historical events, including the signing of the first equal treaty between China and a foreign power and being the first to step foot on an island that later fell into dispute between China and Japan.

** [[Jin Yong]] novels in general pretty much fall under Historical Fiction, with the characters influencing or being a part of historical events.

** Lampshaded when CSM delivers a long, cynical speech that begins with "Life is like a box of chocolates..."

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': A flashback in the Anya-centric "Selfless" episode shows the ex-vengeance demon and her friend Halfrek dining in a room full of massacred victims in St. Petersburg in the year 1905. Halfrek praises her for granting a wish which seemingly sparked the Russian Revolution.

'''Anyanka''': Well, what is there to be interested in? The worked will overthrow absolutism and lead the proletariat to a victorious revolution, resulting in socio-economic paradise on Earth. It’s common sense, really. }}

** Anya's past Marxism is a comical allusion to her later [[Patriotic Fervor]] which sees her fall deeply in love with capitalism.

* In an episode of ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', Lister ends up playing a part in the JFK assassination, thanks to time travel abuse. {{spoiler|(Of course, he doesn't actually pull the trigger, he merely convinces [[Crowning Moment of Funny|JFK to go back in time and assassinate himself]].)}}

* Dr. Helen Magnus from ''[[Sanctuary]]'' is 160 years old, has lived through the entire 20th century (give or take a few decades in Victorian London), and has had various run-ins with various historical figures including most U.S. Presidents and world leaders. The last time she was shipwrecked was "April, 1912." The opening theme has shown photographs of her with Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart and Gandhi. She and a couple of school chums were directly responsible for the success of [[WWII|the D-Day invasion at Normandy]] - and the school chums in question were [[Nikola Tesla]] and James Watson (Sherlock Holmes himself). Oh, and her fiance was Jack the Ripper.

'''Helen''': Cheeky monkey! }}

* According to ''[[Jack of All Trades (TV series)|Jack of All Trades]]'', there was no Louisiana Purchase. Napoleon lost all the territory in a card game with the Daring Dragoon.

** Well, to be fair, the [[Metal Gear]] universe is very AU about these things. {{spoiler|Like the fact that the Boss's unit single-handedly ended World War 2.}}

** In-universe, Johnny Sasaki lives and breathes this trope. By sheer coincidence, he winds up getting involved as a minor [[Mook]] in all of Snake's missions <ref> As a member of the Genome Soldiers in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', as one of the Gurlukovich mercenaries in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]'', and as a member of Rat Patrol 01 in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots]]''</ref>, and his grandfather (also named Johnny) personally met Big Boss while serving as a guard at Grosnyj Grad in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]''. Despite his stupidity and general bumbling nature, he's one of the few recurring characters to actually survive all that insanity--which Snake happily lampshades.

* Galen "Starkiller" Marek, the [[Villain Protagonist]] of ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Force Unleashed]]''. If it is to be believed, he is the one responsible for {{spoiler|bringing together the various Rebel faction leaders in order to form the Alliance.}} To top it all off, {{spoiler|the design of his family's crest is posthumously adopted as the symbol for the new Alliance.}}

** It was {{spoiler|really Kota}} who did most of the important work. He was the one who {{spoiler|located and contacted all of the Rebel leaders,}} and Galen never would have gotten as far as he did without his guidance. Not to mention the fact that {{spoiler|the future Rebel senators}} were not only already familiar with each other, but that their plans {{spoiler|for an Alliance}} went back as far as ''before the Empire was declared''. The only reason Galen got all the credit is probably because he did most of the fighting, along with {{spoiler|his [[Heroic Sacrifice]] aboard the Death Star I.}} It would be more accurate to say that Galen, {{spoiler|Kota, and the rest of the Rogue Shadow crew}} were ''collectively'' [[The Gump]].

* Episode "Infinite Realms" in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' had [[Three Amigos|Danny and his friends]] traveling through time via natural ghost portals in pursuit of Vlad, triggering both the Great Fires of Rome and the landing of the Wright Brothers' plane in Kitty Hawk during their chase.

* The classic ''Roswell that Ends Well'' episode of ''[[Futurama]]'' features the stars traveling back in time and arriving in Roswell, New Mexico. Zoidberg is captured by the army, along with Bender's shattered body, making them the alien and "spacecraft remains" secretly held inside Area 51.

** ''Futurama'' did it a second time in the direct-to-DVD ''Bender's Big Score''. The story involves Bender being sent back in time to the year 2000 to kill Fry. Unable to find him, he tracks down every Philip J. Fry in the country. One of them happens to be in Florida, counting ballots from the recent election. Bender enters and begins firing a laser gun, and one of the stray blasts destroys a large stack of ballots labeled "Gore".

** In-universe (er) example: When Bender goes back in time to steal the Nobel Peace Prize, in his escape, it is revealed he is the cause of the first destruction of New York City, an event seen briefly through a window in the pilot episode.