History Main / DelayedReaction

Alice just had a DelayedReaction. Basically, her brain somehow took longer to make a connection that the audience makes right away. Doesn't always have to be something designed to anger people, though those work best. Bonus points if the character walks off-screen, then yells something said out loud and races back.

* In one ''Garfield'' strip, Jon has just woken up when Garfield pops out of his dresser to scare him. Jon walks away, gets coffee, and comes back before he screams in fright.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'' did this with a character's connection to Luffy's father (who, for context, is the world's most wanted criminal, and only a handful of people in the world are even aware that Luffy is related to him). Luffy remarks "Oh... you mean my dad?" and the person he's speaking to goes through an entire speech before jumping back in shock, yelling "YOUR FATHER?!"

** Heck, Luffy is ''made'' of this trope, and he's not the only one; one addition to the Straw Hats, a [[DemBones living skeleton]] by name of Brook, [[YouAreAlreadyDead genuinely weaponizes it]]. Just check out [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-ZzaJlFbKc this scene from the tenth]] [[TheMovie movie, for one example among many.]]

** Though that one's less a delayed reaction and more weighing which option would be the LesserOfTwoEvils and realizing neither one's good.

* Pulled on Sokka in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirBender'' while Katara and Aang were critizising his (poorly drawn) rendition of Appa.

** In another episode, [[TheAhnold Wolfcastle]] has this happen to him ''twice''. When he realizes Jay Sherman (from ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'') insulted him, he chases him down with an assault rifle. Sherman says his shoes are untied, and Wolfcastle replies "They don't appear to be, but I will inspect them more closely". Sherman beats a retreat, day turns to night a Wolfcastle stares at his shoes and finally concludes that they don't even ''have'' laces.
--> Wolfcastle: "Upon closer inspection, these are loafers."

** Luffy is ''made'' of this trope, and he's not the only one; one addition to the Straw Hats, a living skeleton by name of Brook, actually weaponizes it. Just check out [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-ZzaJlFbKc this scene from the tenth]] [[TheMovie movie.]]

** In another episode, [[TheAhnold Wolfcastle]] has this happen to him ''twice''. When he realizes Sherman insulted him, he chases him down with an assault rifle, and then Sherman says his shoes are untied. Wolfcastle says they don't appear to be, but agrees to inspect them more closely. Later that night, he's halfway to realizing his shoes don't even ''have'' laces.

-->Fry thinks it over for a second, then makes a bloodcurdling scream of terror.

-->-- '''[=BananaMammoth=] in response to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY Mr. Tom Lehrer]]'''

** Another example is in "Jingo" where [[LeonardoDaVinci Leonard of Quirm]] very briefly mentions in the middle of a long rambling conversation full of useless information that [[spoiler: many years ago he did some sketches of an island that has supposedly only appeared recently]]. The person he's talking to doesn't realise the implications of this until he's left the room, at which point he quickly comes back to ask for clarification. Two things are notable about this example: 1. The person he's talking to is [[MagnificentBastard Lord Vetinari]], who is normally ''very'' quick to notice important details, making it particularly funny that he should be a victim of this trope, and 2. Unlike many uses of this trope, the relevant information actually ''is'' quite easy to miss if you're not paying attention, and the reader may end up doing exactly what Vetinari did.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Home Sweet Pineapple", it takes Patricks a full 30 seconds after seeing that [=SpongeBob=]'s house is missing and the latter explaining what happened to it for him to exclaim "Hey, [=SpongeBob=], your house is gone!"

* One ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'' cartoon had Olive do this when she answered the phone.

* In two consecutive strips of ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin remarks that he's "Not playing with a full deck [of cards]" and that he's "Lost his marbles [and hopes someone finds them]," to which Hobbes replies, "Everyone suspected as much." It is at night, in bed, when Calvin starts up and yells "HEY!"

* Pokemon was made in 1996, PETA realized they're against it circa 2012.

* I ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Fluttershy has this when she sees Princess Luna (formerly Nightmare Moon) on [[AllHallowsEve Nightmare Night]].

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittleponyFriendshipIsMagic'' fan-named background pony "Princess Erroria" (so called because an animation error depicted her with both horn and wings) is often depicted riding around on a [[{{Pokemon}} Slowpoke]] after people pointed out this animation error... over a year after the episode aired.

* ''GeorgeOfTheJungle'' - more than once, George would suddenly laugh at a joke he'd heard minutes, maybe hours, before.

* On ''{{Jimmy Two-Shoes}}'', when Lucius wakes up after a day where everyone was pulling revenge pranks, he concludes that everything is back to normal. Then a [[TalkingAnimal talking bird]] greets him through the window with a pleasant "Good morning." Lucius returns it and walks off...then dashes back to the window when he realizes how wrong that is in Miseryville.

* In an episode of ''TheClevelandShow'', a gang of troubled teens Cleveland has been watching tells him that the "cookies" he took from a rivil gang were actually cocaine and that they're coming for him. Cleveland seems to take it pretty well, the he's suddenly running around the room squealing like a pig.
* One ''{{ComicStrip/Popeye}}'' cartoon had Olive do this when she answered the phone.

* The ''MyLittleponyFriendshipIsMagic'' fan-named background pony "Princess Erroria" (so called because an animation error depicted her with both horn and wings) is often depicted riding around on a [[{{Pokemon}} Slowpoke]] after people pointed out this animation error... over a year after the episode aired.

** The first speaking role of a [[CaptainObvious Kan]][[NoIndoorVoice ass]][[ItWasHisSled ian]] after his species is wiped out in the ''Bardock Special'' is rife with this. A ScareChord plays as one emerges from the rubble of his planet... {{Beat}}} "I CAN SEE THE FYUUU-CHURRR!" He proclaims (upon realizing that they can see him) that he must stop Bardock's team from destroying his race "IN THE FYUUU-CHURRR!" and after they point out that they already did, it takes him a moment to formulate a response. He attacks and in return he is fried with a fiery ki blast, leaving him standing there burning to death for an extended shot... before finally realizing "I'M ON FIRE!" and being finished off.

* In the Russian film ''Father Frost'', there's a group of girls picking giant mushrooms in a forest. They see a bear, but it takes them almost 20 seconds to run away. [[MST3K Mike Nelson]] refers to it as "Delayed reaction syndrome".

* From an episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration,'' featuring Troi, her mother, Worf, and his son. After hearing that Worf and the boy are "having trouble [drafting a] contract", Mrs. Troi goes doting on the boy: