Strange lights have been seen in that abandoned old house up the road. Local villagers have been disappearing, only to return a few hours later, tired and apparently unable to recall what has happened to them.
As the detective, what do you guess is the reason?
- Vampires are harvesting unsuspecting victims for blood?
- Aliens are abducting and experimenting on humans?
- An underground smuggling ring is taking the villagers' organs and selling them?
- It's an illegal brothel and the townsfolk are just too ashamed to admit it?
Well, chances are, it would all depend on the genre of story you were in.
While normally Genre Savviness is very much intended by the author, many works also exhibit an unintentional form of Genre Savvy — while characters might not necessarily think in terms of tropes, they will often be limited by the genre they inhabit. For example, characters in a science-fiction book will be quick to discard mundane or spiritual explanations for what they see, while characters in a detective novel will always disregard the possibility of suicide or accidental death.
Another term for this is "cover copy savvy" — the idea that the characters have already read the blurb on the back of the book or the DVD case and know what conventions apply to their universe. This term comes from the Slacktivist reviews
of Left Behind, in which it's pointed out that no character in the books seriously considers the idea that the events of the series have any explanation other than a religious one.
This can sometimes overlap with the Anthropic Principle; many of the plots these characters are involved in wouldn't happen if they turned out to be wrong, after all.
This concept is subverted with Wrong Genre Savvy, where the character in question appears to have read the back cover of the wrong book.
It is averted at first in works that start realistically (such as the novels of Stephen King or the films of M. Night Shyamalan) where the characters act as though they're in Real Life, even after the appearance of zombies, aliens, ghosts, mad A.I.s, werewolves, wizards, miscellaneous Things Going Terribly Wrong, or other genre-defining speculative fictional things or events. (Truthfully, if you saw a bloodied man shuffling toward you, would you really find the nearest shotgun, or would you call an ambulance? Hopefully, the latter unless he was really, really obviously zombified, because this is Real Life, which is by default Like Reality, Unless Noted.)
Examples:
Anime & Manga
- Death Note: Strange how when people living in the same conditions all started suffering heart attacks, everybody started thinking "supernatural serial killer"...
Films — Animation
- The Last Unicorn: Several characters. Lír, in particular, makes a much-quoted speech (see below) about the proper order of things during the climax of the story.
Lír: Do something, you have the power! I will kill you if you don't do something!
Schmendrick: I cannot. Not all the magic in the world can help her now.
Molly: Then what is magic for? What is the use of wizardry if it cannot even save a unicorn?
Schmendrick: That's what heroes are for.
Lír: ...Of course. That is exactly what heroes are for.
Literature
- Lessons for a Perfect Detective Story: Tenkaichi and Banzo can always tell within the first few minutes what type of murder mystery they're in and what needs to be done to advance the plot.
Professional Wrestling
- Chavo Guerrero Jr.: Several people had been on the losing end of "feuds" with Santina Marella already. When Vickie Guerrero took her shot, Chavo was the one to suggest she target Santino instead. And wouldn't you know, Vickie won the Miss Wrestlemania crown.
Video Games
- Aliens vs. Predator 2: The Weyland-Yutani xenomorph research outpost on LV-1201 is actually very well designed for its purpose. The Primary Operations Center, which houses most of the administration, spaceport, interstellar communications array, and bulk cargo is surrounded by electric fences on the outside and more electronic fences inside and is located far from the xenomorph hive. Even the weakest point in the security is still proof against anything short of a bomb. The Forward Observation Pods are several independent units suspended over a canyon by means of an electrified framework. The mustering area on the surface below is surrounded by electric fences and automated gun turrets, with additional bunkers for shelter during an emergency, and the only access between this area and the pods is by means of an elevator lowered down from above with no supports to climb up. If necessary, a compromised pod can be separated from the others and detached. The pods and the POC are connected by a roadway with substantial underground tunnels that are gated in sections like an airlock to ensure that no "specimens" are able to pass through without proper security measures.
Webcomics
- Cucumber Quest: Pretty much everyone besides Cucumber is this. They are all absolutely sure things must play out a certain way (ie. Cucumber being The Hero and using the Dream Sword to fight the Nightmare Knight) even when they make absolutely no sense (ie. Cucumber a rather rubbish hero and there are other, less exciting, ways to stop the Nightmare Knight).
- Forever After: Zig-Zagged. Robin is such a huge fairy tale nerd that she often immediately recognizes the stories and characters she and Tank encounter, which makes it way easier for them to figure out how to get the happily ever after. But because Robin is so used to regular fairy tale logic and clichés, she's often caught off-guard by things changing due to Forever After's general unpredictability. Her knowledge is also limited to fairy tales with princesses in them, so fairy tales like Momotaro that have neither a prince nor a princess completely blindside her.