Bring News Back: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|''They're wearing steel that's fine and true''

 

The characters have discovered what the [[Big Bad]] is up to. They have no hope of stopping him, but if only the [[Reasonable Authority Figure]] knew... There is no [[Epic Hail]] handy. They have to go in person to '''Bring News Back''' of what is happening, along a long, difficult, dangerous route. Odds are good that they will be chased. ([[Bottled Heroic Resolve]] may be required to keep going.)

* The comic-book-within-the-comic-book "The Black Freighter" in ''[[Watchmen (comics)|Watchmen]]'' depicts a man going to horrific lengths to get back to his town in time to warn them about the approach of the titular pirate ship and the death and violence it will bring.

** [[He Who Fights Monsters|By the time he gets home, it's too late]]

 

* Similar to what happened in the ''[[Serenity]]'' film, in ''[[The Man with No Name (fanfic)|The Man With No Name]]'' Zeke, the leader of a town the crew {{spoiler|had saved from a few Reavers sends them [[Apocalyptic Log|a message that the village has been wiped out by an army of them before dying himself]]. The crew is not happy, especially since they knew the Reavers were under someone's control}}.

 

* In ''The Shiva Option'', the 4th [[Starfire]] book by [[David Weber]] and Steve White, an Alliance survey fleet finds a "back way" (an unusual [[Our Wormholes Are Different|warp point]] detectable from only one side) into one of the Bug home systems. It's a vastly easier avenue of attack than the direct route- but the fleet is already deep in enemy territory and cut off from retreat. In the end, it takes the [[Heroic Sacrifice]] of all the fleet's fighting vessels to get the survey ships home with the news.

** The previous book, ''In Death Ground'', similarly has a Terran fleet stumble upon a back door into one of the ''humans''' home systems, which the Bugs could use to pounce on humanity at any time. They have to get back and warn Terran H.Q., but they can't use the back door to get there and have to go around the long way.

* In T. H. White's ''[[The Once and Future King]]'' [[King Arthur]] sends off Sir [[Le Morte d'Arthur|Thomas Malory]] before the final battle, so he can [[Famed in Story|tell his story]].

* In ''[[Sienkiewicz Trilogy|With Fire and Sword]]'', two of the main characters go on a suicide mission to bring news back of the [[Last Stand]] their army is facing and to summon [[The Cavalry|reinforcements]].

* This is pretty much the main plot in the first book of ''[[The Riftwar Cycle|The Serpentwar Saga]]''. Erik and Roo ended up in the death cell and sentenced to hang. {{spoiler|They were spared with a few others after a fake hanging to serve in Calis's band of desperate men.}}

** In "[[Beyond the Black River]]", Conan and Balthus must get back the news of the impending Pict attack.

* The last chapter of [[Larry Niven]]'s novel ''[[Known Space|Protector]]'' reveals that the entire book has been one big case of Bringing News Back, telling of the human protector's war against the oncoming Pak warfleet, and giving advice on what to do should they (the human protectors) fail.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Tales of the Questor]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130228044002/http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00675.html they try to bring back news of the second dragon in time.]

 

== Web Original ==

 

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[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]

[[Category:Information Desk]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

[[Category:Plots]]