Trapped by Mountain Lions: Difference between revisions
→[[Literature]]: Replaced redirects
m (→Film) |
(→[[Literature]]: Replaced redirects) |
||
| (2 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:The Kimberly 9891.jpg|link=24|
A subplot (usually in a drama) that is so disjointed from the main plot that you can't figure out why anyone would care about it, when the fate of the world is being decided elsewhere.
Line 10 ⟶ 9:
Compare [[Wacky Wayside Tribe]], where the entire cast is involved and there is no [[Two Lines, No Waiting|A-story]]. See also [[Deus Exit Machina]], [[Filler]], [[Padding]], and [[Non Sequitur Scene]]. [[Romantic Plot Tumor]] is a subtrope of this, as is [[Wangst]]. Compare [[The Greatest Story Never Told]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Any scene with Bulma during the Freeza [[Story Arc|Arc]] of ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z''. Amusingly enough, there's one segment in the show where Krillin and Gohan hear her screaming in the distance and wonder if she really was ''literally'' Trapped by Mountain Lions (to which Krillin responds "I'd feel sorry for the lion." [[Padding|None of these scenes were in the manga.]]) Most of these scenes are [[Played for Laughs]] rather than being considered serious moments, since [[Like You Would Really Do It|who would honestly worry that Bulma was in genuine mortal danger at that point in the story?]]
Line 78 ⟶ 76:
* The FBI's search for the terrorists who caused the subway bombing in ''[[Final Destination]]: Destination Zero''; it eventually culminates in an abrupt yet brief [[Genre Shift]] from horror to action, involving stuff like a warehouse shootout and a high speed chase through the city during rush hour.
* In [[The Lord of the Isles]] series, at least two out of the four main characters are Trapped by Mountain Lions for a significant portion of each book, after the first novel. Of course, [[Fridge Brilliance]] suggests that because of this when {{spoiler|three characters visit [[The Underworld]] in a book called}} [[A God Am I|The Gods]] [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Return]]{{spoiler|it is not readily apparent that this is more than yet another trippy side trip.}} On the other hand, was it really necessary to have ''eight books'' worth of Trapped by Mountain Lions?
* ''[[Harry Potter and
* The Tom Bombadil scene in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
* Really, several parts of ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]''. Even when there's this huge vampire war looming, the focus of the book is still on the relatively shallow romance between the two main characters.
Line 126 ⟶ 124:
* "The Small House of Uncle Thomas" from ''[[The King and I]]'' is a [[Show Within a Show]] that runs on for 15 minutes, with only [[An Aesop]] near the end linking it to the plot. The ballet music is unmelodic and represents more the work of an arranger than of Richard Rodgers.
* The Shriners ballet in ''[[Bye Bye Birdie]]''.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
* In ''[[Katamari Damacy]]'' there are cutscenes in between every few levels and after you create a new constellation when some Lego-looking kids comment on the {{spoiler|stars being gone/coming slowly back}}. It has no bearing on what little plot there is, especially since nobody listens to them anyway.▼
** They do, however, contribute to the overall weirditude of the game. Since this is [[Katamari Damacy]] we're talking about, that may actually count.▼
* Rose, the [[Stop Helping Me!]] girlfriend from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'', won't stop calling and insisting on talking about her relationship with Raiden. Even though he's, you know, in the middle of a highly-dangerous mission all by himself.▼
** {{spoiler|The entire plot of the game is an elaborate set-up to give Raiden irreperable psychological trauma [[Step Three: Profit|(and thus make him the ultimate killing machine?)]]. She's explicitly part of that...uhh, we think.}}▼
* Because the students got seperated when they were pulled into the evil Heavenly Host school in [[Corpse Party]], there were multiple sub-plots as each chapter focused on different characters. Most of these involved trying to find a way out, dodging sadistic ghosts, getting possessed, being brutually murdered ... and in the case of Satoshi and Yuka, trying to find a working toilet so she could go potty. It dragged on for a ridiculous amount of time, tracking down various toilets only to move on because they were damaged or {{spoiler|full of hanged girls}}, to the point that any normal person would have just peed in the corner and be done with it. It got worse when it tied into a 'Find Yuka' sub-plot, simply because they got seperated when she tried peeing outside (and she still didn't end up doing it).▼
* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]'' suffers from this, as Sonic is attempting to rescue Princess Elise, who ''[[Damsel Scrappy|never stays put]]'', Shadow and Silver are actually doing much more plot-critical activities, such as attempting to figure out the identity of Mephiles the Dark and save the future.▼
Line 142 ⟶ 149:
* In the first episode of a ''[[Family Guy]]'' two-parter, Stewie sees a man on TV and becomes convinced that he's Stewie's real father and, as such, sets out on a cross-country trip with Brian and Quagmire to find him. Oh, and Lois is teaching Chris about how to appeal to women. That subplot, however, is dropped by the second episode.
** Debatable if it was really dropped, as the type of girl she tells him to go after is the type of girl Vanessa is. It's still not important, as it still only affects another subplot that no longer exists, but it was there.
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
▲* In ''[[Katamari Damacy]]'' there are cutscenes in between every few levels and after you create a new constellation when some Lego-looking kids comment on the {{spoiler|stars being gone/coming slowly back}}. It has no bearing on what little plot there is, especially since nobody listens to them anyway.
▲** They do, however, contribute to the overall weirditude of the game. Since this is [[Katamari Damacy]] we're talking about, that may actually count.
▲* Rose, the [[Stop Helping Me!]] girlfriend from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'', won't stop calling and insisting on talking about her relationship with Raiden. Even though he's, you know, in the middle of a highly-dangerous mission all by himself.
▲** {{spoiler|The entire plot of the game is an elaborate set-up to give Raiden irreperable psychological trauma [[Step Three: Profit|(and thus make him the ultimate killing machine?)]]. She's explicitly part of that...uhh, we think.}}
▲* Because the students got seperated when they were pulled into the evil Heavenly Host school in [[Corpse Party]], there were multiple sub-plots as each chapter focused on different characters. Most of these involved trying to find a way out, dodging sadistic ghosts, getting possessed, being brutually murdered ... and in the case of Satoshi and Yuka, trying to find a working toilet so she could go potty. It dragged on for a ridiculous amount of time, tracking down various toilets only to move on because they were damaged or {{spoiler|full of hanged girls}}, to the point that any normal person would have just peed in the corner and be done with it. It got worse when it tied into a 'Find Yuka' sub-plot, simply because they got seperated when she tried peeing outside (and she still didn't end up doing it).
▲* ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game)|Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]'' suffers from this, as Sonic is attempting to rescue Princess Elise, who ''[[Damsel Scrappy|never stays put]]'', Shadow and Silver are actually doing much more plot-critical activities, such as attempting to figure out the identity of Mephiles the Dark and save the future.
{{reflist}}
| |||