r/TopCharacterTropes • u/_JR28_ • 6h ago

Lore “Hey that’s not so bad- SWEET JESUS”

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A shot is set up in such a way where it looks fine from one angle, then they reveal another that makes it look way worse

Infinity War - Thanos reveals Nebula hanging up imprisoned, then when the camera follows Gamora going to her we see that mechanical components are stretched out and her head and body are in pieces.

Breaking Bad - Hector sets off a bomb in a murder suicide against Gus but he seems to walk out fine impossibly, then the camera moves to in front of him and you see half of his face is just not there anymore.

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256

u/IrishViking22 5h ago

Underworld (2003)

Selene does a big jump slash attack move, but Viktor seems to be fine, until..

Processing img da5nw0iesvwh1...

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u/neonmystery 5h ago

Trying to remember what piece of media depicted a slice like this first. It's so overdone these days.

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u/st0n3dpwny 5h ago

That movie starring keanu reeves where he plugged wires into the back of his head and brains could synch with data. that had a dude that sliced up people with a wire whip.

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

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u/omafi144 4h ago

So that's what 2077's Monowire was inspired by...

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u/84theone 4h ago

William Gibson’s works are the basis for the entire cyberpunk genre, not just 2077. Like he created the term cyberspace.

Like if you like the game and reading and haven’t read neuromancer, you should go and do that.

One of the roads in 2077 is named Gibson Freeway after him.

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u/omafi144 4h ago

I wish I was still into reading the way I used to be. I've heard Neuromancer is getting a show tho, I'd absolutely tune in if it reviews well

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u/84theone 4h ago

Neuromancer is a super easy read if you’ve played cyberpunk.

Hardest part about it is the weird nonstop lingo and slang in the book, and cyberpunk 2077 just lifted most of that so you’d be familiar.

The tv show does look good, I’m glad Apple TV got it since they tend to give scifi shows the budget they need.

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u/omafi144 4h ago

Ooh, that's pretty good to know. College life isn't giving me the free time to read rn, but I might try to read a chapter in a bookstore once the semester ends and go from there. I have a shortlist of books I wanna try to rekindle my reading love with, and I could see that one going on the list too.

Also I'm not familiar with other Apple TV Sci-Fi shows. Which other ones have you heard good things about?

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u/84theone 4h ago

For All Mankind has some incredible early seasons and some just okay later ones. It’s getting a spin off as well. It’s alt history where the Soviets beat the U.S. to the moon. It starts in the 60s and ends up in the future as the show progresses.

Murderbot is a really fun series about a rogue android trying to hide the fact that it’s gone rogue from its crew.

There is also Severance, but I don’t think I need to talk much about that one.

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u/omafi144 4h ago

Can't believe I forgot about Severance, and Murderbot sounds kinda familiar. The other one is completely new to me tho

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u/leftofthebellcurve 1h ago

I actually just finished a reread of this one, it's really good and once the plotline is revealed it's hard to put down.

There is a ton of slang and 'world building words' and commentary that may be confusing, but none of it is too extreme. Dune has far more

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u/TheRealSteve72 3h ago

Larry Niven's known space had variable swords (monofilament wire in a stasis field) before that

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u/gregorydgraham 2h ago

Monofilament whips have been around for awhile, there was one in a Piers Anthony novel about refugees to Jupiter

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u/Normal_Ad_2337 3h ago

40GB'S of Data! Insane.

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u/Goblins_on_the_move 3h ago

>That movie starring keanu reeves where he plugged wires into the back of his head and brains could synch with data.

The matrix?

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u/st0n3dpwny 2h ago

No. Johnny Mnemonic (1995). I'll have to check out this matrix you speak of

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u/Goblins_on_the_move 1h ago

I'm kidding. I could see you mention Johnny Mnemonic.
The Matrix was huge back in the early 2000s but I guess it's become less known over time.

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u/DrPsychGamer 5h ago

The first I remember is The Cell where it was very effective.

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u/neonmystery 5h ago

Cube did it 3 years earlier. Can we find one before ‘97?

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u/HawksongKai 5h ago

Well before that, there were samurai movies where two fighters duel. They'd slash their swords and freeze in place. Moments later, blood would spurt out of the combatant who was struck.

Check out the TVTrope on "Delayed Causality"

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u/neonmystery 5h ago

Definitely sounds like the inspiration!

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u/MacTireCnamh 17m ago

Sanjuro by Akira Kurosawa was the first to do it, and it was one of the few times that the "it as a complete accident that ended up working" seems to be true.

A pump got stuck on the blood squib so there was a second pause before the blood spurt, and history was made.

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u/Kaedryl 5h ago

Johnny Mnemonic - 1995

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u/neonmystery 5h ago

That didn't have the pause before the sliding apart. Did it?

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u/Kaedryl 5h ago

I'm positive it did. After the henchman let Johnny escape mister razor-wire finger does some fancy whip work, henchman looks shocked for a second then slides apart. I'll watch it later and double check

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u/Budsygus 5h ago

There were animated examples in the '80s like DBZ and Fist of the North Star.

Live action the earliest I can think of is UHF, funnily enough. Conan the Librarian slices a guy in half. I don't remember if there's a pause before he actually bifurcates, though.

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u/CaptainLaCroix 4h ago edited 4h ago

You can see the effect better in context than you can in GIF form but Sanjuro is pretty much what originated the trope. And from what I remember it was an accident where a squib failed while shooting and they kept it in.

https://youtu.be/wAxgA1y3kaM?is=wxVNu_5ZOn0IDudl

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u/Adultdirtbagbabee 5h ago

The grandfather of all of them is the samurai duel from Sanjuro. Maybe the grand-uncle

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u/Dragishawk 5h ago

It happens a lot in anime.

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u/B0RD3RM4N 4h ago

Resident Evil lasers scene?

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u/neonmystery 4h ago

I don’t think that predates cube or johnny mnemonic

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u/WoodsLovelyDarkNDeep 3h ago

You’d be right I could swore cube was 02 but it’s actually 97 where RE was 01