Aliens in Cardiff/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Extraordinary/supernatural things happen in a real but non-major city.

  • Straight: The world is endangered by a malicious coven of witches in Schenectady, New York.
  • Exaggerated: The fate of the universe is in the hands of the witches of a tiny town in Flyover Country that we only know exists because Google Earth says so.
  • Justified
    • Schenechtady isn't important enough to attract the attention they're trying to avoid.
    • The danger is from an Eldritch Abomination that outdates the existence of the human race. There just happens to be a town on top of it now.
  • Inverted: Witches are causing trouble in every town in America except Owensboro, Kentucky. Why not there? Who knows?
  • Subverted: It soon becomes clear that the weird stuff going on is happening everywhere, and there's nothing special about where it noticed first...
  • Double Subverted: ...except it turns out Schenechtady was Where It All Began.
  • Parodied: The heroes' investigation reveals that every weird event of the past thirty years - alien invasions, monster attacks, Bigfoot sightings, you name it - had some connection to Schenechtady.
  • Deconstructed: The witches' plans are allowed to go much farther than they should have, since nobody thinks of witches when they think of Schenechtady, not even the nearest witchhunters (who just focus on New York City).
  • Reconstructed: Neighborhood watch notices the disappearances and call the FBI to investigate. The FBI finds and quickly dispatches the problem.
  • Zig Zagged: There are mysterious goings on all over the world; some in major cities, some in small towns, some in the middle of the ocean.
  • Averted: Nothing out of the ordinary happens outside of New York City or Los Angeles.
  • Enforced: "Hey guys, the guys at HQ say they want the show to happen in the CEO's hometown." "But where the f**k is 'Schenectady'?"
  • Lampshaded: "But... why here? Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here!"
  • Invoked: The Big Bad is staging a Thanatos Gambit, so he makes his plans around the corner from The Chosen One in his tiny backwater village.
  • Exploited: One word: tourism.
  • Defied: ???
  • Discussed: "Why not, though? If witches can operate in a more famous city, there's nothing stopping them here."
  • Conversed: "I know this show's made by BBC Wales, but really. Cardiff?

Back to Aliens in Cardiff

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Aliens_in_Cardiff/Playing_With?oldid=850525"