After two full weeks of organized topics, it’s back to a regular week, starting with another trope on TV Tropes. The ones in today’s topic are Fridge Brilliance and Fridge Horror.
Before I get started on each of the tropes, I would like to give a little story. It’s kept inside a tab, but you can open it to see what the lesson is about.
Robot War
An evil Robot King has taken over the peaceful city of Electrosphere. To have full power over Electrosphere, he sent four of his toughest guards. They were Cyber Eagle (a robotic eagle with yellow eyes), Magma Lion (a robotic lion with red eyes), Glacier Orca (a robotic killer whale with blue eyes), and Toxic Wolf (a robotic wolf with green eyes). He also had large robot armies.
Each of the four robot generals had their abilities.
- Cyber Eagle can shoot electric beams to electrocute people and cause electric explosions. His special ability is speed, as he can move fast.
- Magma Lion can breathe fire and leave a trail of fire when dashing. He is the most destructive attacker, but he is the weakest one defensively.
- Glacier Orca can breathe icy wind and throw ice chunks. While the least destructive, he is the toughest one defensively.
- Toxic Wolf can breath poisonous gas and cause rusting of metal. His special ability is causing illnesses.
When the robots attacked Electrosphere, a team of four heroes with the names of Quake, Splash, Zip, and Pyro came to fight the robots. Quake is the master of Earth and Metal, Zip is the master of Air and Electricity, Pyro is the master of Fire and Explosives, and Splash is the master of Water and Ice. Each of them battled every robot general.
- Quake fought against Cyber Eagle. He was unable to use his laser gun since Cyber Eagle can dodge his attacks. However, he could manipulate the speed regulator. If he destroyed the red generator, Cyber Eagle will dash more slowly until he is no longer able to dash. But if he destroyed the blue generator, Cyber Eagle will dash even faster, until dashing takes a toll on his life. Quake was thinking, either Cyber Eagle gets his powers taken away, or he can suffer the consequences of his glutton for power. He defeated Cyber Eagle and collected his soul chip.
- Splash fought against Magma Lion. She had to dodge his attacks because of how damaging they are. However, she realized that he was a weak one. It took her three shots from her laser gun to destroy him for good. She defeated Magma Lion and collected his soul chip.
- Pyro fought against Glacier Orca. While his ice balls weren’t as damaging, it took her several shots from her laser gun to defeat him due to his bulky strength. She defeated Glacier Orca and took his soul chip.
- Zip fought against Toxic Wolf. Since he was immune to Zip’s laser beams, he focused on using electric clouds to weaken him. After taking away his immunity, he took down Toxic Wolf for good. But he left his rusty soul chip behind in the cave he fought him in.
One thing all heroes had in common were that they had different quirks with decision making. Quake is very firm when making his decisions, as he gets too stubborn to change even when he needs to. Splash is good at keeping her decisions once she makes them, and doesn’t change unless she needs to. Zip will make decisions, but he would constantly change his decisions like if he couldn’t make up his mind. And Pyro won’t make decisions. She’ll let others choose for her.
As each hero confronted the robotic generals, Cyber Eagle, Magma Lion, and Glacier Orca all felt remorse and regret for what they had done, but the whole reason why they attacked the city was because they had to fulfill orders. Toxic Wolf, however, felt no remorse when confronted by the vindictive and vengeful Zip. When the robot generals got rebuilt, they became tougher and more powerful than ever, but they were reformed and only targeted the evil robots.
The heroes eventually fought against the Robot King with their new allies. They defeated the Robot King and destroyed him completely. Peace has been restored to Electrosphere.
Fridge Brilliance – Explanation:
Fridge Brilliance is a YMMV trope that explains where there are some things that you don’t get or think is simple logic, but when you think about it more, either using character development or plot elements, or using a fact nod to reality, it starts to make more sense. A few months ago, I had a blog entry about Lion King and Frozen and how one who thinks more critically would see more. Other than the explanation of “Circle of Life” summarizing the entire story in one song, all of those are actual examples of Fridge Brilliance on TV Tropes.
I could go over some other examples of Fridge Brilliance. Here are eight examples I found, besides the ones from Lion King and Frozen:
- The SpongeBob episode “Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm” is about an Alaskan Bull Worm. Sandy is a vain Texan squirrel who thinks she can do anything, but even the worm was too big for her to handle. If you think about it, Alaska is the only US state that’s bigger than Texas. This is a fact nod.
- In the Chowder episode “Shnitzel Quits”, Shnitzel is replaced by a worker named Tofu. Shnitzel, a respelling of Schnitzel, is a type of meat, and Tofu is a meat substitute. This is a fact nod.
- The game Pokémon Sword/Shield was the first main series Pokémon game where not all Pokémon species are supported. The region Pokémon Sword/Shield is set in is based on the United Kingdom, which has strict laws against importing exotic species. This is a nod to reality.
- Monsters University came out in theaters 12 years after Monsters Inc came out in theaters. Those who were kids at the time Monsters Inc came out would be in college by the time Monsters University came out, and Monsters University is based on college life. This is a nod to reality.
- In Total Drama Island, Harold rigged the ballot box to get Courtney eliminated as an act of revenge against Duncan. He could’ve done it to Duncan, but the reason why he did it to Courtney instead was because he wanted Duncan to suffer. He kept him at the cruddy summer camp (which he didn’t like) while separating him from Courtney (which kept him entertained). This is a character development nod.
- In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, when you go inside the Museum, you’ll see that Blathers is right of the center. According to the Museum’s map, bugs are on the left side and fish are on the right side. This could be a reference to how Blathers hates bugs. This is a character development nod.
- In A Hat in Time, the Mafia punching Hat Kid after playing a friendly game of pat-a-cake can be seen as a foreshadowing of how many alliances Hat Kid makes with another will end in betrayal against her. This is a story nod.
- In Toy Story 4, Woody was willing to return to Gabby Gabby after she got rejected by Harmony. After experiencing two cases of another toy being embittered after rejection (nobody wanted Stinky Pete, while Lotso got replaced), he didn’t want Gabby Gabby going the same path. So he helped her out. This is a story nod.
Here’s the thing. Nowhere in any of the stories do they mention the explanations. Not even in the creator interviews. The UK having bans on importing exotic species is not one of the reasons behind Dexit, and nowhere in any SpongeBob episode, at least within the first three seasons, is it explicitly stated that Alaska is bigger than Texas. They’re probably not even the correct explanations. This is why Fridge Brilliance is a YMMV trope.
Anyways, if you read into the Robot War story I written for today’s entry, here are some facts you could think of:
Robot War Explanations
- The four robot generals’ abilities and their defeats are a reference to the attributes of the elements they represent.
- Cyber Eagle moving the fastest represents how fast electricity moves for as long as there’s a closed circuit to flow through. Quake speeding him up to make his dodging fatal to him is a reference to how overloading a circuit can damage it, while Quake slowing him down is a reference to how less power would yield less output.
- Magma Lion being the most damaging or destructive represents how fire can destroy almost anything. While Magma Lion being weak represents how fires, for as long as they aren’t too big, are easy to put out.
- Glacier Orca being the least damaging represents how ice and freezing cold weather hurts people slowly rather than quickly. While Glacier Orca being tough represents how ice, for as long as it’s cold outside, will take a lot of strength and effort to break.
- Toxic Wolf making people sick or killing them represents how poison is harmful to humans. Zip using electric clouds to defeat Toxic Wolf is a reference to how advancements in technology improved medicine.
- Cyber Eagle’s, Magma Lion’s, and Glacier Orca’s soul chips were collected, but Toxic Wolf’s soul chip was left behind. There are some possible reasons why Toxic Wolf’s was left behind.
- Electricity, fire (heating), and ice (cooling), are all vital for as long as they’re not weaponized. But poison is hardly seen as anything other than combat.
- The deaths and rebirths of the robot generals is a reference to God’s redemption and ascension to Heaven, but the ones left behind go to Hell. Toxic Wolf is the only one who doesn’t feel remorse or regret, while the others do, showing that he is not willing to repent his sins.
- The soul chips of three of the generals being clean shows that they can still be used when recreating the robots. But Toxic Wolf’s soul chip is rusty, which isn’t good for machines.
- Zip probably held a grudge against Toxic Wolf and decided not to take his soul chip.
- Pyro couldn’t choose Glacier Orca since she couldn’t make decisions herself. She probably fought him because he was the only one left.
- Meanwhile, Zip choosing Toxic Wolf and not changing his mind seems out of character, until you realize that Zip is holding a grudge against Toxic Wolf.
- Quake and Toxic Wolf both represent Earth. Zip and Cyber Eagle both represent Air. Pyro and Magma Lion both represent Fire. And Splash and Glacier Orca both represent Water. Seeing Quake go against Cyber Eagle, Splash go against Magma Lion, Pyro go against Glacier Orca, and Zip go against Toxic Wolf show how opposites deal the most damage.
- The heroes’ decision-making habits seem to fit the elements they represent. Quake being to stubborn alludes to how the Earth never moves, Splash willing to change her mind but keep her decisions alludes to how water moves but mostly stays in place, Zip willing to change his mind constantly alludes to how air is always on the move, and Pyro letting others make decisions for her alludes to how fire can’t exist without a fuel, but will burn the fuel once given it.
Fridge Horror – Explanation:
The other Fridge trope on TV Tropes is Fridge Horror. That is where you’re cool with what they give, but if you think about it more, you would be disturbed by the thought. While it also covers fact nods and story nods, the focus is that it’s not something you would want to think about.
Like Fridge Brilliance, I have some examples of Fridge Horror as shown on TV Tropes. But I’m only going to focus on four. Again, they may not be correct since we aren’t given an explanation, but they are possible.
- In Sly Cooper, Penelope’s relationship with Bentley has always been abusive rather than a friendly one with a dark twist. She only went for him because he cared for her after LeFwee kidnapped her. But after being in a relationship, she sees Bentley less as a person. This is a fact nod.
- In the credits scenes of Toy Story 3, Zurg becomes the leader of Sunnyside Daycare Center. Even though the old tyrant is out, Zurg, already being a villain, could mean Sunnyside would have a new tyrant. This is a character development nod.
- At the end of South Park’s 20th Season, TrollTrace has gone live, and now anybody could have access to others’ internet histories. Given how fast Fort Collins went down, so much damage could’ve happened at a worldwide scale. Even if it was only live for a short period of time, a lot of damage would’ve been done already. This is a story nod.
- While The Ghost and Molly McGee is a lighthearted show, the Holocaust reference (Krystallnacht) in “Festival of Lights”, given that historical characters’ ghosts like Abraham Lincoln and Julius Caesar being present in the show, implies that Hitler and his Nazis are also in the Ghost World. And they could be spreading misery too. This is a nod to reality.
Now going into the Robot War story, here are some facts you could think of that show how horrifying the story could get.
Robot War Explanations
- It’s possible that Cyber Eagle, Magma Lion, and Glacier Orca haven’t properly reformed. Their revival could give them another chance to attack Electrosphere after the fall of the Robot King. And they’re much tougher and more powerful than before.
- Some of the evil robots were loyal servants to the robot generals. But with them teaming up with the heroes to take them out, they would have basically faced the betrayal from their masters.
- What is Zip grudging against Toxic Wolf for?
There’s also Fridge Sadness, which is where thinking about something would be more depressing rather than scary. As for the aggravating version of Fridge Brilliance or Fridge Horror, there’s a trope called Unfortunate Implications, which if you think about something, you could see something racist or homophobic (or anything else offensive) when it wasn’t trying to be.
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