Wiki Walk: Difference between revisions

A '''Wiki Walk''' is a train of thought that left the track and is [[Riding Into the Sunset]]. When going for a '''Wiki Walk''' you know where you begin, but no one knows [[Hilarity Ensues|where you'll end]]. Are you a [[Mad Scientist]] building an [[Kill Sat|orbital death ray]]? Well, too bad, inspiration struck and now it's [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|the world's biggest dancing dish washer with a fully adjustable cup holder]]. You want to have a [[Serious Business|serious]] talk about the Middle East? Within ten minutes you'll be arguing whether [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]] [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|could take]] [[The Lord of the Rings|Gandalf]] [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|in a fight]]. Just want to check the [[Rule of Cool]] page? Before you know it you're adding examples to [[Bungling Inventor]]. You, my friend, have just had a '''Wiki Walk'''.

The key feature of a '''Wiki Walk''' is that if someone were to see only the beginning and end of the '''Wiki Walk''' it would seem [[Left Fielder|completely random]], while in fact there was a series of thoughts that connected the beginning and end result, or it is at least implied that this is the case.

A common version of this trope is when a '''Wiki Walk''' is still in progress at the end of a scene, and then we catch the end of the conversation, which usually takes the form of a [[Noodle Incident]], in the beginning of a later scene.

Named for the ability of anybody to start out on a page and, two or three links later, find himself reading a totally unrelated trope. Definitely an example of [[Truth in Television]]. Often cannot be recreated, as anyone who has spotted an interesting trope en route, planned to come back to it, and then forgotten what it was, will attest. Doing it intentionally for fun is known as "playing Wiki Tag.".

Here on All The Tropes, Tropers are asked to not leave [[Zero Context Example]]s because (among other reasons) Tropers are incredibly prone to the '''Wiki Walk'''.