The Law of Conservation of Detail: Difference between revisions

 

== Comic Books ==

 

 

== Film ==

{{quote|'''Harry:''' ''"I'm so sorry. That was a terrible scene. It's like, why was that in the movie? You think it'll come back later? Hmmm..."''}}

* Used very well in ''[[Back to The Future]]'', which disguised its plot points as jokes.

* [[Douglas Adams]] is famous for mentioning things in throwaway lines which later turn out to be what the entire plot hinges on. However, he does a ''fantastic'' subversion in ''Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency'' (which is itself a ''book'' of this trope) - there's a scene where the protagonist is looking into a bathroom, and Adams spends several paragraphs describing the contents of the room, the panelling on the walls, the scuffs on the floor, and so forth, in intricate detail, only to end with "There was also a large horse in the room, taking up most of it." This trope may also have been parodied with a fictional novel that Arthur Dent reads on the planet Bartledan: Due to a plumbing problem that is only briefly mentioned in the second chapter of the novel, the main character abruptly dies in the penultimate chapter (the rest of its precisely 100,000 words are about road-mending).

** Adams also explains the use of this trope in ''So Long And Thanks For All The Fish'', stating that "It makes for big fat books such as the American economy thrives on, but it's boring."

* [[Tom Clancy]] tends to fight this tooth and nail. Paragraphs will be spent describing things other authors would just gloss over. He does love his [[Technology Porn]].

* Ignored in Joe Haldeman's ''The Coming''. The story follows a lot of characters, most of which ultimately do nothing for the plot. (Seriously, there was even a porn actress thrown in.)

* [[The Count of Monte Cristo]]: Averted big-time

* ''[[Harry Potter]]''. Enough said. One can wonder whether Rowling loves to re-read her book before writing the ending to insert plotline clues into seemingly trivial details.

{{quote|He asked if he had any money with him, to which Don Quixote replied that [[Averted Trope|he had not a farthing, as in the histories of knights-errant he had never read of any of them carrying any]]. [[The Law of Conservation of Detail|On this point the landlord told him he was mistaken; for, though not recorded in the histories, because in the author's opinion there was no need to mention anything so obvious and necessary as money and clean shirts,]] [[Fridge Logic|it was not to be supposed therefore that they did not carry them,]] and he might regard it as certain and established that all knights-errant (about whom there were so many full and unimpeachable books) carried well-furnished purses in case of emergency, and likewise carried shirts and a little box of ointment to cure the wounds they received}}

 

** This could be [[Subverted Trope|deliberate misdirection]]

* ''[[Seinfeld]]'' did the opposite and focused on silly things(like the parking spots mentioned above), yet it was still funny. ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'' after it, however, was completely made up of small details and barely had anything else, which is why it is awesome.

** In the Season Four episode, "Partners in Crime", the taxi that was meant to pick up {{spoiler|Stacy, who died from Adipose conversion}} had an ATMOS sticker on the front, foreshadowing {{spoiler|The Sontaran Stratagem}}.

** It may just be nothing, but in Season One, Mickey Smith finishes one of Captain Jack's anecdotes for him:

* The ''[[Leverage]]'' team needs to create elaborate schemes in order to manipulate their mark. This means that side comments to the mark often end up being important later, and their importance becomes apparent during the "how it was done" flashback scenes. This is a trait shared with it's spiritual predecessor ''[[Hustle]]''.

* On one episode of [[24]], Jack is captured and forced to give bad tactical information to CTU. He ends the information by declaring he is in a "flank-two position". Given that the series is all about time constraints, it's reasonable for viewers to assume that any apparently-innocuous dialogue that's not [[Techno Babble]] is important. In-character, the terrorists holding Jack just assume its standard tactical talk. Naturally, it turns out to be the duress phrase. Except that CTU ''changed'' the duress phrase since Jack was last part of it, and they barely pick up on it before it's too late.

* ''[[Persona]]''

** In ''Persona 3 Portable'', the PSP rerelease of [[Persona 3]], a random faceless character was added in the game's bar/night club. He makes some pretty ominous statements throughout the game, but the last thing he says near the end of the game is followed by a portrait. This leads fans to believe that due to the Law of Conservation of Detail, he is important. Turns out he's a character named Vincent, protagonist of an Atlus psychological horror game titled ''[[Catherine]]''.

* Subverted with Ziegfried in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''; the character is interesting and appears throughout the game, but is completely unimportant. This characteristic has its own entry on [[The Grand List of Console Role Playing Game Cliches]]. Ziegfried's Contradiction: Just because someone is weird doesn't mean they're important.

** Square's been subverting this trope since the first Final Fantasy. Coneria Town, the first city you can visit, has a well that you can inspect:

{{quote|This is a well. You might think that there is something to it... But in fact it is just an ordinary well.}}

** The infamous '1/35 Soldier' items in [[Final Fantasy VII]] ("Collect all 12!") were hard to find more than a handful of and had no function (also the 'Custom Sweeper'). In a game famous for its confusing translations, these may have been supposed to be actual toys in-universe.

** In ''Suikoden'' you can tell in the games who is one of the [[108|108 Stars]]: If they have a portrait and a name, they're a Star (or a villian, but [[Defeat Means Friendship|those are often the same thing]]).

** Subverted in ''[[Suikoden II]]'', however. There's a character with a portrait and a name (Ellie) that is neither a Star nor important to the story at all. She exists for one reason: In the quest that's unlocked if you load ''[[Suikoden I]]'' data at the start of the game, {{spoiler|1=Tir McDohl joins your party while Gremio occupies a Convoy space. However, if you failed to resurrect Gremio in the S1 file you loaded, he'll be dead in this game, and Eilie will take his place in the plot, occupying the convoy and speaking his lines instead}}.

* Subverted in ''[[Mega Man ZX|Mega Man ZX Advent]]'' due to its attempts to avert [[You All Look Familiar]], where everyone you meet has different designs and personalities, except for the guys in uniform, who still act different. In other words, trying to rely on this trope to see who is important is completely pointless for this game. Though, as in all Mega Man games, the only ultimately really important ones are the robot animals/things actively shooting you.

** The ''Battle Network'' series is a strong example. Since there seem to be [[Only Six Faces]] used for all the generic NPCs ever, anyone with a unique sprite is bound to have a NetNavi that you will eventually fight [[Defeat Equals Friendship|and/or]] befriend. It is particularly noticeable in Battle Network 5, since you are in the process of building an anti-terrorism task force; if you're told to be on the lookout for a new member, expect the very next place you enter to have an NPC with a unique sprite, and expect that exact same member to be the operator of the next Navi to join your team.

** ''Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies'' mission "Deep Strike" is set in an area with a ravine leading from the target area back to the RTB line. After splashing the targets, you get notice that Stonehenge is firing your way and have to take your plane below 2000 feet in order to make it out of the area. The only way to do that? Why, the ravine. It also shows up in the "Megalith" mission. Those other missiles within reach aren't just for show.

** ''X: Skies of Deception'' is also in love with this. It's particularly obvious after you play both halves - or, in one case, all three thirdths - of a [[Remixed Level]]. Most of them.

* RPG Classic ''[[Divine Divinity]]'' takes this trope and uses a sledgehammer to destroy it. It contains innummerable amounts of plot-unrelated or useless things like kitchen ware, pictures, junk and all sorts of other things that can be bought or sold for no reason or moved around yet not used for anything useful. It also contains a lot of [[In-Game Novel|books]], most of which are highly entertaining short stories and at least two longer series, one about an Ork pirate and his adventures. Others show spells and demon summoning or are about the ingame world, describing plants, animals and monsters.

* Averted in ''[[Shenmue]]''. The town is full of buildings you can enter and characters you can talk to, but only a handful of them are important in any way.

* Averted in the ''[[Deus Ex]]'' series, there's dozens of characters you can talk to that have no impact on the plot and serve no purpose, and there's lots of virtual books that are interesting to read but don't really serve any actual purpose.