History Main / OffTheRails

* In the ''Side: Future'' portion of ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', the game is thrown off-course by Chisa [[spoiler:killing herself]] and setting Munakata off with the revelation. Among other things, this causes him to go berserk, start treating ''everyone'' as an active Despair agent, and attempt to kill everyone in the building. [[spoiler:He somehow manages to kill the mastermind in the process of this rampage.]] Much later, the mastermind reveals Ryouta wasn't even supposed to be participating, throwing off their plan to [[spoiler:use him to brainwash everyone into Ultimate Hope.]] All this meddling also screwed with the original endgame for them, which would have resulted in [[spoiler:everyone except Ryouta dying.]]

* The ''WebVideo/ButReallyReallyFast'' video "What if the [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]] ACTUALLY Flew to Egypt?" explores what would have happened if, instead of attempting to travel by land and sea to Egypt after Tower of Grey crashed their initial plane, Jotaro, Joseph, Avdol, and Kakyoin tried flying directly to Cairo again from Hong Kong. In response, all of DIO's minions (Polnareff included) are gathered in Cairo as they try to come up with another way of stopping them before they land. The initial plan they come up with involves J. Geil killing them on the plane via [[MirrorMonster Hanged Man]], but then Polnareff remembers [[YouKilledMyFather who J. Geil is]] and kills him on the spot. Instead, [[spoiler:Arabia Fats deploys [[ThePowerOfTheSun The Sun]] to blast the heroes' plane out of the sky... and then DIO, Vanilla Ice and Nukesaku come out to check on their progress, only to [[EpicFail crumble to dust and perish in The Sun's light]].]]

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', handles this trope much, '''much''' more seriously. [[spoiler:Starting with [[BigBad Sephiroth]] appearing far earlier than he did in the original game, the plot begins to diverge in ways both [[AdaptationExpansion small]] and [[SparedByTheAdaptation large]]. This causes mysterious specters called the "Arbiters of Fate" to appear and try to force the story back onto the "train tracks" as much as possible, but the game ends with the protagonists [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu slaying the Arbiters]], signifying that the story will '''[[StealthSequel not]]''' just be a beat-for-beat retelling of the original. This is best emphasized by the final cutscene showing Zack Fair's LastStand from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''...except this time Zack ''lives''. And to make matters worse, it's implied that Sephiroth engineered the whole thing because he knew he was destined to lose, so he tricked the heroes into [[ScrewDestiny destroying destiny]] to give him another chance to fulfill his plans.]]

* ''Fanfic/OldManHenderson'', "the man who '''won''' ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''." (Actually, it was ''TabletopGame/TrailOfCthulhu'', but still.) To make a long story short: A KillerGameMaster pisses off TheRoleplayer of the group by offing his character in a ridiculously contrived manner ([[RageBreakingPoint and not for the first time from the sound of things]]). Said player decides to get revenge by creating Old Man Henderson, a [[FunnySchizophrenia schizophrenic]] [[TheStoner stoner]] who is convinced that the local cult of Hastur stole his massive collection of lawn gnomes (he actually donated them to charity, then got high and forgot about it). The player had a [[DoorStopper 320-page backstory]] that justified all of Henderson's many skills, and was deliberately made to be so long nobody would ever bother to read it. Henderson proceeded to tear through the GM's campaign, culminating in a grand finale of [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu taking advantage of certain rules/mythology and copious amounts of high explosives to]] ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu permanently kill Hastur]]''. [=4chan=]'s tabletop gaming board used this story to create [[https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/2032298-tg The Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment]], which is a scale to show just how far Off the Rails things have gone.

A party going thoroughly and maliciously Off the Rails is often the beginning of the end of the gaming group, or at least the end of one person's tenure as Game Master. Alternately, if there's just one player who's dissatisfied that keeps grabbing the throttle and gunning the proverbial train, that player's character may be subject to [[BoltOfDivineRetribution a lightning bolt on a cloudless day]], or sudden violent chest pains, or a [[https://cad-comic.com/comic/dm-rules/ drive-by mauling by a mind flayer that leaves everyone else untouched]], or [[UnfriendlyFire the rest of their group forcing the train back on the rails by way of tossing their body into the boiler]]. The [[https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/2032298-tg Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment]] has been invented by 1d4chan (the wiki for all things /tg/) to measure just how far off the rails a game can go, named in honor of the legendary FanFic/OldManHenderson.

* A [[MemeticMutation legendary]] example is the story of [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Noh Noh]]. A DM had his players, on a spiritual quest, encounter what he thought would be a simple virtue challenge: a powerful magic rapier and magic chain shirt on a pedestal, guarded by a little girl (actually a [[ArtificialHuman spiritual construct]]). The little girl could [[WelcomeToCorneria only say two things]]: "No" or -- if a "No" answer would be misleading -- "Please do not take these items". The party spent fifteen minutes talking to her, assuming she'd suffered trauma of some sort. Then the bard played a song to see if he could get a reaction from her. He rolled high, so the DM let the little girl shed a SingleTear. The party's response: they fell in love with her on the spot, declaring her [[{{Moe}} the cutest thing ever]] and deciding to ''[[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe keep her]]''. The little girl kept going back to the items, so the party eventually went back, gave them to her, and ''then'' took her with them. The DM, conceding defeat, arranged for her to gain a mind of her own, and the party made her their mascot, naming her Noh (as that was her response when asked what her name was).

* WebVideo/HBomberguy made a video called "ROBLOX_OOF.mp3", which starts with him detailing the history of the ''VideoGame/{{Roblox}}'' "oof" death noise and its origins, which ends fairly conclusively after about half an hour. And then, he accidentally does a little more research about Music/TommyTallarico, the guy in charge of the company that hired the person who originally did the "oof" noise, and it quickly spirals out of control into detailing the BlatantLies that Tallarico runs on to make himself seem more important than he actually is. At one point, Hbomb reminds the audience that he started making the video "because [he] thought a sound effect was funny" but has now gone down a very deep rabbit hole just about Tallarico.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': One NP storyline has Ellen as a first-time DM. All of the players make a CriticalFailure and end up tripping and falling down the stairs on each other, so Ellen makes up a random cleric NPC to come in and heal them to re-rail the story. This is a ''bad'' idea, since everyone is now suspicious of this random cleric character (except [[GenreSavvy George]], who realises what just happened but plays dumb), forcing Ellen to rewrite the entire story to make him the actual bad guy.

* This happens regularly in ''WebAnimation/DingoDoodles''' Fool's Gold campaign, with Sips usually being responsible. This is to be expected when you play an angsty ChaoticNeutral[=/=]ChaoticGood {{Uplifted|Animal}} monkey wild magic sorcerer with serious anger issues. In the very first video, Sips manages to accidentally unleash a ''Tarrasque'' due to a spell going wild. Felix, luckily, is a very flexible DM and manages to either roll with whatever happens or find believable ways to get the story back on track.

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* In ''Film/AHardDaysNight'', Music/PaulMcCartney's Grandfather is sitting atop a freight elevator under the set of a German operetta [[ItMakesSenseInContext forging Beatle autographs]] when he heard Music/TheBeatles' fictional manager Norm approaching. He quickly stands up, but inadvertently activates the elevator and interrupts the performance to the annoyance of the director. [[BrickJoke He does it again]] towards the end, during the Beatles' concert while playing "She Loves You", though this time, Paul just pushes him offstage.

* ''Series/KeyAndPeele'': PlayedForLaughs. In a TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons parody sketch, one of the players, "Kanye the Giant", decides he wants to "get some bitches" instead of embark on the Game Master's quest. Chaotic derailment ensues. The GM eventually quits.

*** In "The Way Of The Warrior", Kira, while playing Queen Guinevere in a Myth/KingArthur scenario, punches out Lancelot after he comes on to her. Makes sense for her character, though; she ''is'' a married woman.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'': You '''really''' can't reach The Institute holding your kid until you find out where they are: [[spoiler:under bedrock, with no physical entrances '''or''' exits, because they invented teleportation]], and '''then''' you have to build the right transportation vehicle to '''get''' there. After that, the railroading's over, go nuts.

* There's a point in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' where you are ordered to kill an unarmed NSF higher-up (Juan Lebedev) who knows a lot about what's going on -- and is willing to tell the player. Halfway through the explanation Anna Navarre will show up and order you to finish the job. You can either refuse (Anna will kill him herself and get annoyed with you for refusing orders) or do the job yourself -- or [[spoiler:waste Navarre ([[WhatTheHellHero causing Alex Jacobson to freak out]]) and Lebedev will complete the explanation of what's going on]].
** It's that the game in no way suggests that [[TakeAThirdOption this third way is an option]] and it's entirely up to the player to decide to [[spoiler:betray the side he's working for and murder his partner]] that really sets ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' apart from other 'non-linear' [=RPGs=].
*** Heck, with wall mines and ExplodingBarrels you can also [[spoiler:arrange for Anna to get herself killed as she forces her way into the room]] before this dilemma even comes up. [[GuideDangIt It requires a little knowledge of what is to come]], [[DevelopersForesight but the game will distinctly recognize what happened and carry on regardless]].
** However, most plot-critical [=NPCs=] are invincible until they've outlived their usefulness to the plot. For example, Walton Simons, Joseph Manderly, Anna and Gunther are all invincible until [[spoiler:UNATCO betrays you]]. However, you can kill Maggie Chow before you even speak to her.
** The sequel does this much more. The player can kill anybody they have access to, assuming they have at a functional weapon on them, no matter how important this person is, and the plot adapts. In fact, at one point you can trap two characters who the global society depends on in a room, and irradiate them to death. There's actually a specific ending where the requirement is "Kill every single important NPC in the game". [[spoiler:Turns out the Omar were planning on you doing that.]]
* All of the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' games have at least one ending like this.
** Pass the [[spoiler:Human World]] bill in ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', and you'll get an opportunity go invade [[spoiler:Earth]] instead of moving on to [[spoiler:Celestia]]. This leads to a couple mildy difficult encounters, followed by a final showdown where [[spoiler:General Carter turns into a Prism Ranger, you beat the crap out of him, and then take over the earth.]]
*** "Etna Mode" from the PSP/DS remake is all about this, since it's about what would happen if Laharl died at the beginning of the game.
** Defeating Laharl in one of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'''s {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s treats you to an ending where he blows up the planet in retaliation.
** Replaying the stage where you fight [[spoiler:the ghost of]] Mao's father in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' nets you an ending where pretty much none of the plot threads are resolved.
** If you kill [[HopelessBossFight Feinne]] the first time you encounter her in ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'', this leads to a fight with Asagi, who blows up the planet after beating her, whereupon Gig breaks the fourth wall to complain about having to restart the game. [[spoiler:The Demon Path]] is something of a campaign based solely around this, since it begins with [[spoiler:Revya accepting Gig's DealWithTheDevil and ''killing [[BigGood Layna]]''.]]
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' features a humorous InUniverse instance of this with the Golden Saucer date sequence. If the player is with Tifa, they'll end up going to the amusement park's stage show and get cast in that night's play as the brave knight and DamselInDistress. However, if the player keeps making stupid choices (such as claiming he's there to rescue the dragon rather than the princess), Tifa will get so pissed off that she [[DopeSlap smacks Cloud upside the head]] and defeats the dragon herself with a flying kick, causing the other actors to declare that ''the princess'' is the hero of the land.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', handles this trope much, '''much''' more seriously. [[spoiler:Starting with [[BigBad Sephiroth]] appearing far earlier than he did in the original game, the plot begins to diverge in ways both [[AdaptationExpansion small]] and [[SparedByTheAdaptation large]]. This causes mysterious specters called the "Arbiters of Fate" to appear and try to force the story back onto the "train tracks" as much as possible, but the game ends with the protagonists [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu slaying the Arbiters]], signifying that the story will '''[[StealthSequel not]]''' just be a beat-for-beat retelling of the original. This is best emphasized by the final cutscene showing Zack Fair's LastStand from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''...except this time Zack ''lives''. And to make matters worse, it's implied that Sephiroth engineered the whole thing because he knew he was destined to lose, so he tricked the heroes into [[ScrewDestiny destroying destiny]] to give him another chance to fulfill his plans.]]
* ''Videogame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' is ''about'' your quest being derailed by the bad guys, who have [[{{Railroading}} their own agenda they want you to fulfill]]. Your Psynergy Vortex business can wait, right? [[spoiler:[[TheStinger No, it couldn't.]] ]]
* ''VideoGame/JFKReloaded'' is all about you trying to recreate the JFK assassination. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOSFafsloes But what]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TZpgCLN9Cc happens if]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXOx6XKhZeA you decide otherwise?]]
* [[spoiler:This is the entire reason [[BigBad Vins]] is trying to kill you]] in ''VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureThe7thStandUser'', as [[spoiler:there are only supposed to be six members of the Stardust Crusaders, not 7.]]

* Invoked in ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''. In Sammer's Kingdom, the party is told that it must fight [[BossRush 100 Sammer Guys in a row]]. The format of the game so far has been set up to suggest that the player will fight 25 Sammer Guys in each of four levels, before receiving the [[PlotCoupon Pure Heart]] at the end. The player doesn't even finish the first level when [[spoiler:Count Bleck and his minions arrive to destroy that world. The party survives the destruction and returns to the world's ruins, only to be [[DeadlyEuphemism sent to the next world]] by Dimentio, and thus plays the seventh world early.]]

* Creator/ParadoxInteractive's historically based GrandStrategy titles ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis'', ''VideoGame/VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun'', and ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron'' almost invariably go hilariously off-course from real history through combinations of player intervention, ArtificialStupidity, and little to no actual {{Railroading}}. For example, UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, one of the few characters who ''does'' get events to ensure gameplay resembles the real course of history, regularly ''dies'' before he can form the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire, such as [[https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/most-fun-piece-of-dickishness-you-ever-did.989274/#post-22244866 getting captured by Danish raiders that plan to sacrifice him to Odin]].
* You can do this in the [=PokéStar=] Studios films in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. While you're given a script for the movies, deviating from them can change the film. You can either get a bad ending, which ends badly and is received poorly by fans, or you get a Strange ending, which derails the story into something else entirely, and end with a TwistEnding. Sometimes your changes get so off-topic that it barely resembles the point of the movie: the strange ending to the first Giant Woman movie ends with her ''not'' becoming a giant woman at all.

* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' has (at least) two of its storylines being characters in roleplaying games. When time travel is introduced into both storylines, the [=PCs=] quickly disrupt the timeline, preventing events that for them have already happened from happening, resulting in paradoxes that contribute to the destruction of all reality. It should be noted that the DM was dead at the time (his disappearance is noticed in the "Space" storyline), so he was unable to prevent this catastrophic derailment.

* ''Literature/Overlord2012'':
** In an attempt to get his demihuman minions to better understand PunyEarthlings and thus stop defaulting to "kill the worthless humans", Ainz holds a game session with a strictly barebones campaign (a village chief asks the heroes to get rid of a nearby goblin tribe) with premade characters. It starts with Albedo declaring she attacks the quest-giver for being a human and goes downhill from there (resulting in one of the funniest moments in the entire series).
** The heroes are attacked by bandits. Ever practical, Demiurge starts stripping them for parts, including ''flaying the corpses''.
** When the heroes run into a bunch of fairies (whose treasure was stolen by the bandits), the heroes negotiate their way out of a fight by showing the fairies... ''the bandits' skins''.
** A treasure chest contains various potions with magical effects. On learning that it takes a turn to drink one, Albedo asks if she can just keep hers in her mouth to save time. Mare finds a potion that switches his gender (Mare already being an {{Elfeminate}} crossdresser), Aura finds one that ages her a few years (being an elf, there's little change there either), Demiurge roleplays his potion's requirement that he say "Ribbit" to get a damage bonus by adding it to every single sentence, and Shalltear's will cause her to explode the next time she takes fire damage. The final one is [[spoiler:a can of Coke]].
** Having finally gotten the team to work together, Ainz is almost ready to wrap it up and have the village chief reward the heroes... and then Demiurge starts picking apart the scenario, coming to the conclusion that the village chief was in cahoots with the goblins all along, having developed a lucrative business sending murderhoboes to their deaths in the goblins' cave and splitting the loot with them. Ainz says "screw it", makes the village chief a demon in disguise, and the campaign ends in a blaze of glory... with his underlings ''still'' thinking humans are worthless creatures.
* In the ''Side: Future'' portion of ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', the game is thrown off-course by Chisa [[spoiler:killing herself]] and setting Munakata off with the revelation. Among other things, this causes him to go berserk, start treating ''everyone'' as an active Despair agent, and attempt to kill everyone in the building. [[spoiler:He somehow manages to kill the mastermind in the process of this rampage.]] Much later, the mastermind reveals Ryouta wasn't even supposed to be participating, throwing off their plan to [[spoiler:use him to brainwash everyone into Ultimate Hope.]] All this meddling also screwed with the original endgame for them, which would have resulted in [[spoiler:everyone except Ryouta dying.]]
* The world of ''Literature/GoblinSlayer'' is run by a pair of divine beings named [[KillerGameMaster Truth]] and [[BornUnlucky Illusion]] who act similarly to the GameMaster of an RPG. Goblin Slayer's being CrazyPrepared makes him [[ImmuneToFate immune to the effects of the god's dice]] and his crusade against goblins has completely changed the world's tone into something far LighterAndSofter than what it was intended to be. It turns out that TheChosenOne was destined to have a DarkAndTroubledPast, but Goblin Slayer killed the goblins that would've caused it, and the drastic reduction in the number of goblins made saving the world relatively easily. [[{{Jerkass}} Truth]] and [[NiceGirl Illusion]] are both annoyed and fascinated respectively with Goblin Slayer for messing up their intended story.

* The writer of ''Fanfic/YouGotHaruhiRolled'' went all out for the 81st chapter, written in commemoration of the story's one-year anniversary. In it, the craziness and the situations are absurd even by CrackFic standards. It's so nuts, the characters themselves are aware of it, especially after [[spoiler:the writer self-inserts himself into the story and causes havoc]]. It's no wonder why the chapter is literally titled [[LampshadeHanging "Off the Rails"]].
* ''Fanfic/TheFanmakeBlooperSeries''' main theme surrounds the idea that a FilmFic that's just a TransplantedCharacterFic is doomed to get derailed simply because the characters have changed. And sometimes, the characters purposefully derail the story just to be entertained. A good example is the very first chapter of ''Sleeping Blooper'', where during the scene where Maleficent (played by [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Queen Chrysalis]]) first appears, Film/VanHelsing shoots her right as she was about to curse [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Kairi]] (playing the role of Princess Aurora). The rest of the fanfic is trying to make an entertaining story despite the fact that the main driving force of the story is destroyed.
* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' and ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' FusionFic ''Fanfic/{{Renegade}}'' follows the canon ''Mass Effect'' plotline fairly closely, up until [[spoiler:Kane shows up and throws the entire political situation for a loop]], followed by [[spoiler:the Scrin attacking the GDI Embassy on the Citadel]] (during which [[spoiler:Shepard is killed and resurrected as an angry cyborg]]) and [[spoiler:then heading off to the opposite side of the galaxy from canon]] while [[spoiler:GDI and the quarian Migrant Fleet ally to launch a full-scale war on the geth.]] Also, [[spoiler:the Collectors are attacking an entire game early]].
* ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'' goes off the rails before the ''prologue'' is finished, when [[spoiler:Shepard is murdered in her hospital bed]], resulting in Adam Jensen becoming the central figure to a plotline revolving less around epic space opera and more about CyberPunk Buddy-cops unraveling a galactic conspiracy.
* In ''Fanfic/SeanBeanSavesWesteros'', the [[RealPersonFic "real life"]] Creator/SeanBean is transported into the land of Westeros of Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire. Now living as Ned Stark, not just playing him on TV, Bean is almost literally ArmedWithCanon, having read all of the books, and tries his damnedest to divert the course of the War of Five Kings and save Westeros.
* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'': Most loopers take great pleasure in messing up the plotlines of their various series in amusing ways. Even more when it interferes with a non-looping character's XanatosGambit (Shinji in particular loves messing with Gendo's scenario). Going Off The Rails is also a typical response by Loopers who Loop into an unpleasant situation outside of their baseline (such as when Twilight Sparkle Looped into a ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' setting) and immediately decide to do something about it.
** It's also noted that some characters (mostly certain Loopers, non-Loopers and Loop-Aware Entities obsessed with preserving the timeline) tend to react poorly when Loopers do this. Such beings are usually suffering from Setsuna Syndrome; this is usually fixable by having the truth about the Loops explained to them, sometimes multiple times, after which they eventually learn to accept the situation as it is and go with it.

* While small divergences from STO-canon are present throughout ''Fanfic/TheWarOfTheMasters'' (especially the expanded passage of time), the big point of divergence happens in approximately 2409-2410 when an armistice is inked between the Federation and the Empire well before the discovery of the {{Dyson Sphere}}s in Season 8. At time of writing Cryptic had not significantly advanced the game's chronology in several real-world years due to lack of funding.
* Parodied in ''WebAnimation/ScoobyDooAbridged'', where the writers are terminated for making Fred say a {{pun}}. The gang then has to deal with the robots through improvising, before a new writer comes in to HandWave continuity issues.
* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': Considering that [[spoiler:the Autobots reveal their presence on global television in Chapter 5, irrevocably abandoning their normal "Robots in Disguise" strategy]], this is definitely in play.
** And then the global status quo, and the entire ''Code Geass'' side of the plot, [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore is thrown completely out of whack]] at the end of ''R1 - Rebellion'' when [[spoiler:the Decepticons betray and overthrow the Britannian Empire, taking their place as the main villains]].

* ''Film/{{Mallrats}}'' has [[TheStoner Jay]] knocking out two of the contestants intended for the game show ''[[FollowTheLeader Truth or Date]]'', so as for Brodie and TS to replace them as part of their ZanyScheme for TS to try and win Brandi back. During the show, Brodie pretty much hijacks it, aiming quips at the third contestant [[ButtMonkey Gil]] and launching into a story about his [[Film/{{Clerks}} Cousin Walter]] jerking off on an airplane (much to the amusement of the audience and the TV execs). After that, it culminates in a SexTape being played on the monitor banks, implicating [[TheBrute Shannon Hamilton]] in [[PaedoHunt underage sex]].

* In ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', [[spoiler:Marty and Dana escape the boundaries of the kill-zone by breaking into the underground facility through the Redneck Torture Zombies' grave]].
* In ''Film/AHardDaysNight'', Music/PaulMcCartney's Grandfather is sitting atop a freight elevator under the set of a German operetta [[ItMakesSenseInContext forging Beatle autographs]] when he heard Music/TheBeatles' fictional manager Norm approaching. He quickly stands up, but inadvertently activates the elevator and interrupts the performance to the annoyance of the director. [[BrickJoke He does it again]] towards the end, during the Beatles' concert while playing "She Loves You", though this time, Paul just pushes him offstage.
* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', Marty tries to stage a DateRapeAverted scenario so that his father, George, [[RescueRomance can "rescue" Lorraine]], Marty's mother, but the plan is subverted when Lorraine is doing the advances. [[FromBadToWorse But when Biff takes over]] and [[AttemptedRape tries to molest her for real]], that's when George delivers the badass quote, "Hey you, get your damn hands off her", which was originally meant as part of the play, and then [[https://youtu.be/ts3lE3hNduw punches Biff out]] when he doesn't listen.
* ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'': The timeline from the original ''Terminator'' movie goes fully off the rails when both a shotgun-wielding T-800 appears for the first Terminator at the observatory, and Sarah Connor rams the storefront and the T-1000 in an armored truck and then steals Kyle Reese's line.
* ''Film/GetOverIt'' is a high school retelling of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'', and the finale is a production of the play itself (taking the place of the wedding tableau from the source material). Berke is the Lysander equivalent who has been pining for the Hermia equivalent, and in turn is pined after by the Helena equivalent. He has a realization towards the end of the movie and during the play (where they're all playing the corresponding parts) he improvises and changes the ending - to have Lysander end up with Helena instead.
* In ''Film/{{Tootsie}}'', the ''Southwest General'' part of Emily Kimberly was written to be a tough female role model, but actor Michael Dorsey is told that her given lines make her out to be a wimp and she should be improvising instead, so that's exactly what he makes his alter ego, Dorothy Michaels, do with the character. Despite the director's grievances with these spontaneous changes, they prove very popular with the show's audience, leading to Emily being made a regular character.

* The book ''The Munchkin's Guide to Power Gaming'' features another hypothetical example, in which a GM wants the players to go into a dungeon, but 'all they want to do is find out what's down the road from the dungeon entrance'.

* ''Literature/UnLunDun'' seems like your average "TheChosenOne goes to another world and goes on a quest that is also a ComingOfAgeStory in between all the {{Fetch Quest}}s" story. [[spoiler:[[AntiClimax Then]] the ChosenOne gets bonked on the head, and it's up to her friend (who was, according to the prophecy, the "[[PluckyComicRelief funny sidekick]]") to go on the long, epic, FetchQuest-filled journey. Except, after the first one, she decides (Correctly) 'I don't have time for this shit,' gets the Un-Gun, and becomes the UnchosenOne]].

* ''Literature/TheWizardTheWitchAndTwoGirlsFromJersey'' is an AffectionateParody about two teenage girls getting sucked into an EpicFantasy... and accidentally killing TheChosenOne within five minutes. One of the girls is a long time fan of the book who knows the plot like the back of her hand, and the other is an AlphaBitch who doesn't willingly read anything but magazines. Guess which one is mistaken for (and must replace) the ChosenOne and which one is thought to be her handmaiden?

* The ''Whatever After'' series is about a girl and her brother getting sucked into various fairy tales by a MagicMirror, accidentally [[FracturedFairyTale fracturing]] the plot of these fairy tales, and having to make sure that the characters still get their happy ending before they can go back home. For example, the first book has them stop Snow White from eating the poisoned apple, only to belatedly realize that this means that Snow won't meet her prince and they have to figure out a way to get them to still meet ''and'' defeat the Evil Queen before she can ruin things.
* In ''Literature/ImInLoveWithTheVillainess'', protagonist Rei Taylor is transported into the world of her favourite ''otome'' game, and is no longer constrained by the original choices. Combined with her prior knowledge and incredible intelligence, she pointedly ignores the three original Prince love interests, and instead chases after TheRival character, Claire, actively preventing or preparing against numerous tragedies and major events along the way.
* ''Literature/TheDarkArtifices'': The reason why Thule is a VillainWorld is because Clary Fairchild was killed during the Battle of the Burren in 2007, thus allowing Jonathan Morgenstern to win the Dark War. And the reason why Clary was killed is because in this world, ''[[DiabolusExMachina someone]]'' empowered Lilith, giving her the means to slay Clary rather than disappear when the Shadowhunters ambushed the Burren as what happened in the main world.
* In ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'', the main character is a normal[[CloudCuckoolander -ish]] schoolgirl who died and reincarnated as Catarina Claes, the daughter of a duke. When she gets her memories back, she quickly realizes she's not just any noble, she's actually a character from an otome game and the ''villain'' at that. If she does what the game character does she'll probably end up murdered or exiled, so she sets out to avoid her 'destruction ends' by making sure to train in magic and swordsmanship so she'll be harder to take out, learns to plow a field in case she fails and gets exiled and [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext practices throwing toy snakes at her fiancee.]] However, while these are all ideas doomed to failure, she ''does'' still derail the game script almost immediately because unlike the game character, the new Catarina is super nice and accidentally seduces all the love interests that were supposed to fall for the game's heroine, who ''[[EvenTheGirlsWantHer also]]'' falls in love with Catarina. [[ObliviousToLove She remains completely oblivious to all of this]], and is still convinced that she's the villain of the piece and is desperately trying to avoid obsolete bad ends.

* ''Literature/EndoAndKobayashiLive The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte'': Endo and Kobayashi's intent to change ''[[FictionalVideoGame MagiKoi]]'' to a Lieselotte/Siegwald ending, by definition, makes the ''Magikoi'' universe go off the rails since that's not one of the games original endings. [[spoiler:And it's quite literally so, since [[JerkassGod Kuon]] is effectively in the GameMaster's position, so Endo and Kobayashi are literally doing what the Game Master wants the ''least''.]]
* ''Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong'': Shen Yuan, after being transmigrated into the body of Shen Qingqiu, a StarterVillain from a poorly-written WebSerialNovel series who got brutally killed by the protagonist Luo Binghe, seeks to change enough of the novel's plot to avoid being killed. Along the way, he not only saves several characters who were supposed to die (with both [[IOweYouMyLife positive]] and [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished negative]] consequences) but also unintentionally causes Luo Binghe, who had a harem of hundreds of wives in the original novel, to become so smitten with him that he completely ignores all of the women who were supposed to become part of his harem in favor of single-mindedly pursuing him instead.
* ''Literature/DevilVenerableAlsoWantsToKnow'': The book ''Abusive Romance'' was originally written to be a heterosexual love story with its female protagonist Baili Qingmiao being unwaveringly in love with He Wenzhao in spite of his often-crappy treatment of her and several other male characters, including Wenren E, falling in love with her too. However, when Wenren E gets a copy of this book, he has no interest in becoming one of Baili Qingmiao's {{Hopeless Suitor}}s and takes steps to change the plot that end up snowballing into him falling in love with his male subordinate instead and Baili Qingmiao deciding that she's better off single than staying in her DestructiveRomance with He Wenzhao, among many, many other changes. The story becomes so different from the original one, in fact, that [[spoiler:copies of another book series ''God of Annihilation'', which tells the plot from He Wenzhao's perspective instead of Baili Qingmiao's, are dropped into the hands of the characters who had the closest relationships with He Wenzhao with the stated aim of encouraging these characters to undo the drastic changes being made to the plot that are causing He Wenzhao to not obtain the power or harem he got in the original story. However, this just results in the plot deviating even further as the characters who get the books also decide to try to alter the plot to benefit themselves more instead of trying to get it back on the rails.]]
* ''Literature/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': {{Justified|Trope}}. Multiple people from modern-day Japan [[ReincarnateInAnotherWorld reincarnated as background characters in the setting]] of a ScienceFantasy otome game series, and several used their [[PastLifeMemories out-of-game knowledge]] to their advantage: Leon hijacked the spawn point for the first game's {{microtransaction}} store to get a noble title in his own right and avoid the ArrangedMarriage from Hell, Marie usurped the role of the first game's protagonist Olivia to pursue the ReverseHarem route in hopes of an easy life, and Lelia reincarnated as the previously nonexistent twin sister of the second game's protagonist and claimed the "easy" LoveInterest for herself. The problem is, [[InUniverseFactoidFailure none of the reincarnated Japanese actually have complete knowledge of the game world]] (Leon is the only one of the three to actually beat one of the games himself and died before the other two came out, while Marie and Lelia just watched the cutscenes and read online walkthroughs), and [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome real people react differently than video game characters following a script]]. This means that [[ButterflyOfDoom their interference]] and [[GambitPileup competing gambits]] gradually tie the storylines of the games in knots: they end up having to beat the final boss of the third game in the first game's timeframe, and by the time the third StoryArc comes around, none of them have any idea what's supposed to happen next anymore.

* The entire world of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' appears to be run like a massive RPG, with {{God}} as the GM and all of the other characters as the players. God [[HaveYouSeenMyGod remains behind the scenes]] while everybody else navigates the various challenges and levels of His campaign. However, knowing that He exists and is ignoring everybody has led to virtually all the characters trying to either trash the whole setting out of spite, or else abandoning the idea that there is any kind of divine plan and just doing whatever they want. For His part, God is letting this all play out. But He does meddle to make sure that the key players (Dean, Sam and Castiel) are never permanently killed, which might end the game. [[spoiler:Until the end of season 14, when Sam, Dean, and Castiel finally push things too far off the rails by refusing a direct command to kill Jack, despite God insisting that it’s the only way forward. Fed up with how far things have derailed, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere God decides it’s time to just discard this setting and start over]]... and as a final parting "fuck you" to his players for not getting with the program, [[RocksFallEveryoneDies he initiates the Apocalypse on his way out]].]]
** "[[Recap/SupernaturalS13E16Scoobynatural Scoobynatural]]" has this happen in-universe. Sam, Dean, and Castiel are magically transported into an old episode of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', and their presence (and that of the ghost that brought them) sends the episode’s plot flying off the rails. Amongst other things, [[DeathByAdaptation the suspects from the actual episode get brutally murdered by the ghost early on]], Shaggy breaks his arm in a fall, Dean keeps trying unsuccessfully to woo Daphne, and Mystery Inc very nearly [[GoMadFromTheRevelation go mad from the revelation that paranormal things are real]]. Things could’ve gone even crazier, but Dean makes the others uphold the FourthWall specifically to avoid this.

* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'''s "Parrot Sketch" is one of the show's most famous. In live performances where the troupe would recreate the sketch, occasionally Creator/MichaelPalin, in his role as the shop owner, would mix things up a little bit (and force Creator/JohnCleese to keep up). Among the things Palin did:
** In a performance at Drury Lane, when Cleese asks Palin if the replacement slug talks, Palin answers with a prompt "Yes." Cleese pauses briefly and responds, "[[ThrowItIn Right, I'll have that one then.]]"
** In another performance, Palin is asked if the slug talks and says, "Well, he mutters a little." Cleese [[{{Corpsing}} couldn't hold it together]] on that one; he busted out laughing so hard that when he came to, he had to ask the audience to remind him how far they'd gotten in the sketch.
** In another performance, at the beginning of the sketch, Cleese first complains that the parrot is dead -- and Palin examines it, announces "So it is!" and offers a full refund. Cleese stands there briefly in shock, then [[AsideComment turns to the audience and says]], "Well, you can't say [[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher Thatcher]] hasn't changed some things."
* ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' did something similar when they parodied Monty Python's "Cheese Shop Sketch", which is immediately brought to a halt when the shopkeeper notes that it's not a cheese shop.
-->'''Alexei Sayle:''' Well, that's that sketch knackered then, isn't it?
* One sketch on ''Series/AtLastThe1948Show'' involves an educational segment where four actors teach basic English vocabulary, and one distraught, underpaid actor (played by John Cleese) derails the segment completely by inserting bogus words into his lines, vandalizing the set, and pouring scalding hot tea on the heads of his co-actors.
* ''Series/GoodNewsWeek'': The show was ''supposed'' to go from 8:30 to 9:30, but they always ended up getting distracted by a humourous aside or five. Then they changed the ending time to 9:45, then to 10:00, but it always ends about fifteen to twenty minutes late. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCwFJ4hCJww Wanna]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXTPsGxmM0I know]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z_6gRRxayY why?]]

* ''Series/MythBusters'':
** In the ''Series/{{MacGyver|1985}}'' special, Adam and Jamie are put through a series of challenges to test their MacGyvering abilities, set up by Tory and Grant. The final challenge involves creating a signal that could reach a certain height. Tory and Grant set up the surroundings to provide all of the materials needed to build a potato cannon -- which results in quite a surprise when Adam and Jamie build a kite instead, using the [[ChekhovsGun rope that they were tied up with at the very beginning of the segment]]. As the solution was both effective and in the spirit of the challenge, it was deemed successful.
** In another episode, Adam and Jamie made a challenge for each other: to build home-made hovercraft using household materials and under a budget and have a race with the machines they build. Both conform to the rules -- at first. Then Adam begins cheating. He ends up spending twice the budget on a truly ungainly "hovercraft" that requires him to flap his arms around while wearing press board "wings" and getting pushed by assistants to the goal line. He does, however, attempt to justify it; while ''Adam'' had gone over budget, the ''finished product'' did not.
* ''Series/MatchGame'' was designed around the celebrities ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKbVU7KzAs appearing]]'' to go Off the Rails, but the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNc33xxGaWE School Riot]] was a rare ''actual'' example.
* The Tom Bergeron run of ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares'' saw the "YouFool Incident", where thanks to Creator/GilbertGottfried, the first game stretched out for ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFMaPUtCi9o the entire episode]]''.
* ''Series/TheKidsInTheHall'': in the "Bad Straight Man" sketch, Dave utterly ruins the "Who's On First?" routine.
-->''[[DontExplainTheJoke "I see what your problem is! You're confused by their names, because they all sound like questions!"]]''
* ''Series/{{Survivor}}: Redemption Island'' was hyped up as a grudge match between two well-known returning players, Russell and "Boston" Rob. But Russell's tribe knew he would backstab them [[ItAmusedMe for the lulz]] the first chance he got, so they threw a challenge in order to vote him out almost immediately. Unfortunately, this meant that Rob went unopposed for the rest of the season, as the other tribe gave him their UndyingLoyalty.
* On the October 9, 2009 episode of the Japanese quiz show ''Super TimeShock'', in the first round of the tournament, ''all six contestants'' in the D block got the ''exact same score''. This was the first six-way tie in the history of the show, going back to the premiere of the original ''Time Shock'' in 1969. Evidently nobody thought this could happen, and the show was unprepared for such a scenario; they ended up having to break the tie using RockPaperScissors.
* ''Series/{{Bottom}}'':
** Live 2 gives us this exchange:
--->'''Richie''': You know my great watch gag? Well, I've forgotten to put it on.\\
'''Eddie''': Well, that's shagged that, then!
** The recorded version of the live show "Hooligan's Island" also has Eddie grabbing a medical kit from a World War II Japanese bunker in Act 1, which wasn't meant to be revealed until Act 2.
* In an episode of ''Series/TopGearUK'' about track day cars, Creator/RichardHammond and Creator/JeremyClarkson mention how Creator/JamesMay cheated during a game of ''Monopoly'' by staging a robbery of the bank. May attempts to defended himself by saying it "made [the game] more authentic".
* In [[Recap/KitchenNightmaresS6E15AmysBakingCompany the Amy's Baking Company episode]] of ''Series/KitchenNightmares'', the entire episode goes off the rails when [[OminousForeshadowing a stagehand has to step out to break up a fight]] between co-owner Samy and a customer. The episode then proceeds to jump the rails and disappear into a forest, as Gordon Ramsay watches as both Amy and Samy fight him tooth and nail over everything, culminating in Amy firing a waitress for asking a simple question. Ramsey was so flummoxed that he couldn't even do his usual TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, being practically shocked into silence.
* InUniverse in ''Series/ThirtyRock'': Jack has Telemundo purchase a Mexican {{telenovela}} watched by his girlfriend's grandmother, with the intent of killing off the BigBad, who is played by an actor almost identical to him and whose over the top villainy makes the grandmother hate him. During the live broadcast, the actor goes off-script, and not only claims to have survived an assassination attempt, but become immortal. Jack reflects that he probably should have had someone on the set who spoke Spanish.
* ''Series/KeyAndPeele'': PlayedForLaughs. In a TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons parody sketch, one of the players, "Kanye the Giant", decides he wants to "get some bitches" instead of embark on the Game Master's quest. Chaotic derailment ensues. The GM eventually quits.
* In the ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' episode "Ham Radio", Niles gets so upset at Frasier's over-directing a RadioPlay that he decided to take action.
-->'''Niles:''' Okay, that's it. Never mind all that. I'm just going to take this gun off the table. ''(fake gunshot)'' Sorry about that, O'Toole; I guess we'll never hear your fascinating piece of the puzzle. ''(two fake gunshots)'' Or yours, Kragan and Peppo! Could the [=McCallister=] sisters stand back to back? I'm short on bullets. ''(fake gunshot)'' Thank you. ''(to Roz)'' What was your name again, dear?\\
'''Roz:''' Mithuth Thorndyke.\\
'''Niles:''' Thank you. ''(fake gunshot)'' Oh, and also Mr. Wing. ''(fake gunshot, and sound of muted bell on Mr. Wing's hat)'' And, of course, one final bullet for myself, so the mystery will die with me. ''(fake gunshot. Niles taunts Frasier)'' HA.
* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' has a WholePlotReference to ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' when the class have to put on a play of it. Cody is stuck playing Bottom, while his girlfriend is Hermia and Zack is Lysander (and she of course has fallen for him instead). Agnes (playing the role of Titania) brings the play off the rails by suggesting Bottom give Hermia TrueLovesKiss. This results in much squabbling on stage. The teacher does nothing to stop it, [[PassThePopcorn because "it's the best acting they've done in months."]]

* A constant problem of the ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' crew is that their plans will often go off kilter by some unforseen complication. Nate lampshades that you can never totally predict how a mark is going to be behave which is why he always has a "down and dirty Plan G" that will work if all else fails.
** In "The Gold Job", Hardison crafts a "new-style con" that involves a cipher, a watch, a Cantonese Bible, a tunnel cave-in and a faked death. To his shock, the marks get tired of jumping through all these hoops and just quit. Nate is able to take them down with his "Plan G" and relates that Hardison had to learn a lesson in how the simple cons are ''always'' the best.
** In [[Series/LeverageRedemption the sequel series]] episode "The Bucket Job", the gang decides to give a dying librarian a goodbye gift with a "spy adventure". But it goes awry when the guy steals a car to help an "injured" Elliot get away. Then, a batch of ''real'' spies show up -- as it turns out, the "librarian" is a legendary retired spy himself.
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': In "Good for the Soul", Starlight, the newest member of [[SuperTeam the Seven]] is sent to the Believe Expo, a Christian festival, as a publicity stunt and is scheduled to give a speech about how God gave her superpowers to protect people, but decides that the speech written for her is full of assumptions based on biased biblical interpretations, and tells everyone in the crowd that no one has the answers to the mysteries of universe, anyone who claims otherwise is a liar, and calls out the festivals organizers for fleecing people by charging a hefty sum to attend. She also uses the opportunity to go public about being sexually assaulted. The only person who is impressed by her off-script speech is Hughie, her new love interest.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': In "Won't Get Fooled Again", John Crichton is made to believe that he's still on Earth and never left. Having already gone through a similar fake-out in the first season he immediately works out that someone is messing with him and starts pushing back by pointing out things that don't make sense. This forces his captors to crank up the MindScrew elements in order to break him. Crichton even drops the trope name just before his NotSoImaginaryFriend shows up to explain what's happening.
-->'''Crichton:''' This thing has gone completely off the rails...[[SanitySlippage or maybe I have]].

* In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'', a series of event known as “Arms Outstretched” forced DM Griffin to abort an entire planned arc in the Astral Plane (afterlife) and rewrite a significant amount of the finale.

* ''Roleplay/TheBalladOfEdgardo'' is the tale of a forum game that went so off-the-rails the mods shut down the entire thing. Edgardo had an attack called [[NonElemental Raw Spirit]], which dealt little damage but [[UnblockableAttack can't be blocked or resisted in any way]], and Edgardo's Overflowing Spirit perk meant that he could hold as much Spirit as he has time to accumulate. In practice, this amounted to Edgardo having to wait days just to use an attack that did more than knock the wind out of an enemy. Then the narrator learns about the city of Haven, home of the Spirit Well. While inside the city, the effects of the Spirit Well cause characters to constantly regenerate all of their Spirit instantly. Since Edgardo had Overflowing Spirit, this gave him ''infinite'' Spirit. Cue Edgardo punching straight through the BigBad's impenetrable force field and right into his smug face with an unblockable infinite-damage attack. The entire player base complained so loudly on the out-of-character board that by the next day, the entire forum was shut down "due to popular opinion".

* There are a great deal of stories of clueless players derailing ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' games available at [[http://web.archive.org/web/20070404045719/http://archive.dumpshock.com/CLUE/index.php3 The C.L.U.E. Files]]. Fine reading for anybody who enjoys dumb player stories.
* A [[MemeticMutation legendary]] example is the story of [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Noh Noh]]. A DM had his players, on a spiritual quest, encounter what he thought would be a simple virtue challenge: a powerful magic rapier and magic chain shirt on a pedestal, guarded by a little girl (actually a [[ArtificialHuman spiritual construct]]). The little girl could [[WelcomeToCorneria only say two things]]: "No" or -- if a "No" answer would be misleading -- "Please do not take these items". The party spent fifteen minutes talking to her, assuming she'd suffered trauma of some sort. Then the bard played a song to see if he could get a reaction from her. He rolled high, so the DM let the little girl shed a SingleTear. The party's response: they fell in love with her on the spot, declaring her [[{{Moe}} the cutest thing ever]] and deciding to ''[[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe keep her]]''. The little girl kept going back to the items, so the party eventually went back, gave them to her, and ''then'' took her with them. The DM, conceding defeat, arranged for her to gain a mind of her own, and the party made her their mascot, naming her Noh (as that was her response when asked what her name was).

* What happens when a player decides to tell the GM's MartyStu to [[TalkToTheFist talk to the gun]]? Read the saga of [[http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=240126 "Fuck you, Strake!"]]
* The RPG ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'' makes a point of encouraging the GM to run with any derailments by making highway systems rather than railroads and paving as they go. On the other hand, it does allow you to offer Players rewards for having their character perform actions suggested by the GM, so long as it has something to do with the character's Aspects, which the Players choose to begin with.
* Inherent in ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' to such a degree that many [=GMs=] recommend not installing the rails in the first place. (Especially since by the first 'station', everyone will probably be dead.) On the other hand, if the [=GM=] really ''really'' wants the characters to be at Point X, all it takes is one order from The Computer, and they are being [[{{Railroading}} frog-marched X-ward]] by a heavily-armed Vulture Squadron "escort".
* ''Fanfic/OldManHenderson'', "the man who '''won''' ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''." (Actually, it was ''TabletopGame/TrailOfCthulhu'', but still.) To make a long story short: A KillerGameMaster pisses off TheRoleplayer of the group by offing his character in a ridiculously contrived manner ([[RageBreakingPoint and not for the first time from the sound of things]]). Said player decides to get revenge by creating Old Man Henderson, a [[FunnySchizophrenia schizophrenic]] [[TheStoner stoner]] who is convinced that the local cult of Hastur stole his massive collection of lawn gnomes (he actually donated them to charity, then got high and forgot about it). The player had a [[DoorStopper 320-page backstory]] that justified all of Henderson's many skills, and was deliberately made to be so long nobody would ever bother to read it. Henderson proceeded to tear through the GM's campaign, culminating in a grand finale of [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu taking advantage of certain rules/mythology and copious amounts of high explosives to]] ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu permanently kill Hastur]]''. [=4chan=]'s tabletop gaming board used this story to create [[https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/2032298-tg The Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment]], which is a scale to show just how far Off the Rails things have gone.
* The end result of the GM's plot getting between a ''TabletopGame/{{Deathwatch}}'' kill team and [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_N1UanV4-p4/TxNMFj9YvWI/AAAAAAAAAM4/upeuPWtERTY/s1600/SpaceWolvesDemotivator.jpg loot.]] In brief, what is intended as a light infiltration mission ends when the players crush the base they're supposed to infiltrate with an avalanche, and escape by hijacking a helicopter moments before it's crushed.
* The ''Literature/ElfslayerChronicles''. In a game of ''[=DnD=]'' played over an IRC chat, the DM (who was a blatant YaoiFangirl with an elf fetish) had intended the party to help the human prince save his [[StarCrossedLovers forbidden love]] with the captain of the elf guard. [[MagnificentBastard One player]], who was fed up with the DM's insistence that [[HumansAreBastards humans were bigotous, overly-patriotic warmongers]] and [[OurElvesAreDIfferent elves were peaceful, wonderful]], [[CantArgueWithElves in tune with nature, and barely ever went bad]], decided to ''[[GoneHorriblyRight embrace]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight his bigotous, overly-patriotic warmongering heritage]] and had his human [[MasterOfIllusion illusion mage character]] [[XanatosGambit murder the prince and frame the elf captain]].

* ''Fanfic/ThatGuyDestroysPsionics'' is ranked as being an even greater tale of plot derailment than Old Man Henderson[[note]]Even if one uses Henderson's own scale, at that. One Henderson ("Plot's a goner, time for a new one") was the original tale, this is around, or possibly ''over'' two ("Plot's a goner, ''and'' we need a new universe"), which the person who added >2 Hendersons to the scale [[BeyondTheImpossible genuinely didn't know was possible.]][[/note]]. In a psionics-heavy Pathfinder game (plot was that magic was fading away and psionics were becoming more common), a lone wizard manages to completely and utterly wreck the game by not only destroying the Plane of Force (by opening a permanent gate to where the planes of Void and Negative Energy meet, causing [[RealityBreakingParadox considerable planar distress]]), thereby rendering all psionics (including the campaign's Big Bad) completely useless, but also managing to take away the psychic power away from the Big Bad again after the DM already gave him his powers back (by luring him into a plane of his own making, where psionic powers were useless), and finally killing the Big Bad after the DM gave him his powers back a second time with his personal crafting constructs. To recap: the narrator PC manages to [[AntiClimax boss kill the supposed]] BigBad (using [[HoistByHisOwnPetard the DM's own house rules]]) ''three times in a row''. All of this happened in the very first session of the campaign. The derailment was so bad, that the DM didn't even bother to give him a Rock Falls, Everyone Dies ending and just said "you're out."
* [[https://i.imgur.com/qQ3j7MB.png This story]] shows what happens when a DM into DarkerAndEdgier settings forgets to properly prepare for IncorruptiblePurePureness. The setting was a nasty CrapsackWorld with a 'Corruption Points' mechanic representing how far characters had fallen. One character, a kindly fisherman, ends up grabbing a PowerCrystal that gives its wielder godlike power, but multiplies their Corruption Points by 100. The DM was all ready for him to be the new BigBad, before the player pointed out something he'd missed- the character in question had ''no corruption points whatsoever'', and 100 times 0 is ''still 0''. Bye-bye new BigBad, hello new GodOfGood.
** Actually a double case of Off The Rails. By the time the [=PCs=] got to the original BigBad, he'd already grabbed the aforementioned crystal and was ascending to godhood. The [=PCs=] were supposed to have stopped him before he could get to this point, and the fight should have been unwinnable... except for something the GM had forgotten. Each PC had a special LimitBreak ability that could activate when the PC was under extreme emotional stress, and these circumstances were easily enough to allow the fisherman to enter his Limit Break state for the very first time in the entire campaign. And in that state, he got a combat multiplier equal to ''1.5x the corruption of the most corrupted thing on the field''. Which, of course, was the BigBad, whose already huge corruption of 750 was now ''75,000'' after grabbing the crystal. This gave the fisherman a combat multiplier of ''112,500'', allowing him to win the supposedly unwinnable fight with a OneHitKill.
* Discussed in ''The Valley of Dust and Fire'', a module for the ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' setting. Properly played, the Dragon of Tyr should be [[LordBritishPostulate impossible for a bunch of plucky [=PCs=] to kill]], and its death would completely wreck the setting. However, the book mentions that a PC group is probably going to try, and might even succeed with a generous DM, and says "okay, but you're on your own if you want to play something this insane out."
* This trope is frequently enforced by the rules of [=RPGs=] created by community members of Creator/TheForge, for example, both ''TabletopGame/Sorcerer2001'' and ''TabletopGame/ApocalypseWorld'' explicitly forbid the GameMaster from writing out an entire campaign, instead asking them to think about "bangs" (''possible'' situations where players might have to make a hard choice--instead of encounters in a fixed sequence) and "threats" (characters or world aspects that may make life for the [=PCs=] difficult in short or long term), respectively. Effectively, the games advocate throwing the game Off The Rails from session 0.

* [[http://weekendlegends.tumblr.com/post/157511390771/doomsday-mages The Doomsday Mages]]. For years, the GM had been planning a homemade concept for a sect of villains: a group of mages who had rigged it so [[DeadMansSwitch their deaths would set off a magical]] FantasticNuke, which they used to be incredibly smug and evil because no one would risk killing them. When the players encountered one of the Doomsday Mages, they knocked the mage unconscious, flew him up several thousand feet into the air with a flying mount, and dropped the Doomsday Mage over the opposing orc army's encampment. The result was one instantly dead mage from falling damage, the mage's self-inflicted bomb going off to devastating effect, the tide of the war turning overnight, and a EurekaMoment that made the Doomsday Mages into living nukes that everyone in the war wanted to use in the same way as the players did. This ended up turning the Doomsday Mages from an unstoppable set of {{Smug Snake}}s into a scattered band of fugitives desperately trying to get rid of what had once been their trump card.

* A tongue-in-cheek ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' article about etiquette at the gaming table notes that when the DM carefully unpacks an adventure called ''Hills of the Hobgoblins'', several hobgoblin minatures, and his personally-compiled dictionary of the hobgoblin language, and asks the players what they want to do, the correct answer is ''not'' "Go to the lowlands and hunt kobolds."
* ''TabletopGame/TheDelversGuideToBeastWorld'' generally encourages [=GMs=] to have a light touch anyway. However the adventure ''Leaving Erin'' has a sidebar considering the possibilty that the players may completely ignore their first plot-significant NPC even though they've either been specifically told to find him or he's just obviously the person they need to speak to. The sidebar recommends throwing the entire adventure over your shoulder and fixing the players with a withering sigh.

* At about two thirds of ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'', the characters find themselves forced to sacrifice a man to a giantess. The narrator laments their cruel fate. They all promptly [[spoiler:look over at the narrator and decide to sacrifice ''him'']]. And because [[spoiler:only the narrator know how things were supposed to go]] things really went south for the characters.
* ''Theatre/TheMarioOpera'' is built around everyone except Mario knowing his role as a video game character and how things are "supposed" to go, so when [[spoiler:Mario dies]] at the end of Act 1 nobody knows what to do next. Peach eventually decides to [[spoiler:marry Bowser to unite the kingdoms]], and Ludwig [[spoiler:summons Luigi and brainwashes him to do what Mario couldn't so he can take over instead]].

* The "Lawn Wax" episode of ''VideoGame/YouDontKnowJack'' ends up this way. The interns have only six questions written out of ten when the game starts. It all spirals out of control as the staff races to get questions done in time for the the rest of the show, each one less prepared than the last: the seventh question has a duplicate answer, the eighth question is by [[DelusionsOfEloquence Donny]], the ninth question is interrupted by Kim, and the tenth question is just a bit of trivia that Cookie reads off of a Snapple cap--which doesn't even have a category name. In the end, Chad quickly puts together a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17O8i6E5qFI "minimalist, back to basics"]] Jack Attack for Cookie very quickly, and initially Cookie's elated. It's when he reads the category: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Do What I Say and We'll Get Through This Together"]] that he starts to realize what Chad has actually done: [[spoiler:In a take on ExactWords, Chad put what you want to match "in quotes" and you want to hit your buzzer when that phrase comes up.]]
-->'''Cookie''': "You wanna pick... [[OhCrap Wait, what the hell did he do here?!?]] No, NO, we can't do THIS! Helen! Shut it off! SHUT IT--" ''*static*''

* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'', it is theoretically possible to slaughter the entire population of the city of Neverwinter...except for Aribeth, who is totally indestructible and doesn't react to anything you do other than talk to her. Shop owners can still glitch to be invincible, and then follow you (EVERYWHERE, even through doors), attacking you till you die.
* There are instances in old ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' games where this can happen through the following:
** If you defeat all enemies at a turn before their reinforcements are meant to arrive, you'd just skip those fights.
** Many games also have bosses who will [[LimitBreak unleash particularly unpleasant abilities]], almost always including restoring their health to full, when they're hurt badly enough. However, the earlier ones can't handle said bosses being ''killed'' instead of dropped to low health, and they simply die early despite having the ability to restore themselves.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars2'', destroying [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91 Cecily]]'s mobile suit near the end will prevent her from appearing again as an allied NPC later on.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', certain cutscenes can be skipped outright with the proper application of force on bosses when the game expects you to just destroy mooks.
** In ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4 F/Final]]'', [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Angels]] can be killed prior to their intended death scenes.
** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'' features an InUniverse one: In the second to last stage [[spoiler:[[Anime/TheBraveExpressMightGaine Black Noir]]]] reveals themself as having orchestrated the events of the game in a manner very similar to a dungeon master, and is planning on destroying the world just because it would make for a different type of ending than usual. Naturally, the protagonists disagree. Of course, the mastermind's plans had been falling apart well before the heroes learned the truth, and in a very meta nod to the series's habit of doing this relative to the source materials, most of the things that were "supposed" to happen are things that did happen in the original animes, for example, [[Anime/Zambot3 Kappei's family were supposed to have all died]], [[Anime/Daitarn3 Banjo Haran was supposed to lose his purpose after defeating the meganoids and drop off the face of the Earth]], and [[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Akito Tenkawa was supposed to become obsessed with revenge to the exception of all else.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' are both linear games. The plot, however, involves you going completely off the rails with respect to whatever plans the AI MissionControl has. In the first game, you escape from [=GLaDOS=]' DeathTrap and wind up literally taking her apart in order to avoid her vengeful wrath. In the sequel, it happens no less than three times: first, when Wheatley derails [=GLaDOS=]' plans to murder you; second, when Wheatley manages to derail his own plans before they even get started by [[spoiler:smashing you into the elevator shaft and dropping you into Old Aperture]]; third, when you escape [[spoiler:Wheatley]]'s DeathTrap in "The Part Where..."
** Given that escaping [=GLaDOS=]'s lab in the original ''Portal'' requires the player to make extensive use of the Portal Gun (which [=GLaDOS=]'s test chambers have been training the player character to use for the entire game), there is a popular fan theory that TheGameNeverStopped, which would make it a subversion of this trope.
* The game ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'' makes this an intentional example. [=AM=], maniacal AI and BigBad, puts the five main characters into situations that it fully [[BatmanGambit expects to cause them to give into their weaknesses]]. If all the players of his "little game" proceed to conquer their {{Fatal Flaw}}s and prove AM wrong, then this enrages him so much that it will initiate a LogicBomb; then the characters are given the opportunity to take down AM once and for all [[EvilCannotComprehendGood as he retreats into introspection to figure out what the hell happened]].
* You can do this in the [=PokéStar=] Studios films in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. While you're given a script for the movies, deviating from them can change the film. You can either get a bad ending, which ends badly and is received poorly by fans, or you get a Strange ending, which derails the story into something else entirely, and end with a TwistEnding. Sometimes your changes get so off-topic that it barely resembles the point of the movie: the strange ending to the first Giant Woman movie ends with her ''not'' becoming a giant woman at all.

* An in-universe example of sorts takes place in ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'', but not by the main characters. Throughout most of the game, [[spoiler:the Watchers seem like the main masters of the plot, with some kind of grand scheme that your guild has been working towards]]. But then [[spoiler:suddenly, the BigBad derails everything by ''killing them'' and taking over the world]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4O0cDefOeMg This]] entertaining video shows how a player can use hacks and cheats to send the opening of ''Skyrim'' flying off the rails at insane speeds. Some highlights include two people who are scripted to die surviving, an army of Alduin clones, giant chickens, and the player using hacks to kill an entire regiment of guards and critically wounding one of the Alduins before being blown to bits but a blast of fire.

* In the StrategyRPG ''7.62 High Calibre'', you start the game as a mercenary sent to a BananaRepublic to find a businessman who fled with money stolen from his business partners; you then get stuck in the local civil war, and can either join the rebels or the government. As the game is open-world and you can attack absolutely everyone, nothing prevents you to go to the capital city in the beginning of the game (after hiring two others mercs and salvaging a couple of better weapons from earlier fights and money spared), enter the presidential palace (the loyalists are initially neutral to you), then shoot El Presidente and his bodyguards.
* [[spoiler:This is the entire reason [[BigBad Vins]] is trying to kill you]] in ''VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureThe7thStandUser'', as [[spoiler:there are only supposed to be six members of the Stardust Crusaders, not 7.]]

* The Mettaton sequences in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' were planned [[spoiler:by Alphys]] on the assumption that you would solve all of the puzzles properly except the final amazingly difficult tile puzzle. If you do anything else, Alphys and Mettaton's reactions as they scramble to get the "lizard scientist helps human child defeat killer robot" subplot back on track are... something. It's all PlayedForLaughs, up until the CORE, where it quickly becomes obvious that [[spoiler:Mettaton isn't fully on board with the part of Alphys's plan where you win in the end]], and the plan starts falling apart as [[spoiler:he rearranges the CORE's rooms, hires monsters to fight you in places where she wasn't expecting them, and subverts the puzzles so her attempts at help fail]], eventually culminating when [[spoiler:Mettaton reveals the charade and announces that he intends to change the ending to "Mettaton kills the human and takes their SOUL"]].
* Creator/ParadoxInteractive's historically based GrandStrategy titles ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis'', ''VideoGame/VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun'', and ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron'' almost invariably go hilariously off-course from real history through combinations of player intervention, ArtificialStupidity, and little to no actual {{Railroading}}. For example, UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}}, one of the few characters who ''does'' get events to ensure gameplay resembles the real course of history, regularly ''dies'' before he can form the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire, such as [[https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/most-fun-piece-of-dickishness-you-ever-did.989274/#post-22244866 getting captured by Danish raiders that plan to sacrifice him to Odin]].
* In the ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' quest, "Kindred Spirits". [[BigBad Sliske]] puts the player character, his undead slaves, and some other prisoners through a series of games involving [[SadisticChoice sadistic choices]]. During one of the games, the player character accidentally knocks down a wall and is able to escape into a part of Sliske's lair that they were not supposed to enter and discover information about Sliske's true plans as well as [[spoiler:the knowledge that the player character's name had been spoken by a man driven mad by an EldritchAbomination long before the player character was born]]. When the player fails to show up at the start of the next game, Sliske decides to skip the game and [[YourSoulIsMine steal the player character's soul]], but while he is extracting the player character's soul, he sees the player character's memory of what they did, and [[BerserkButton he goes berserk]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness completely losing his normal]] FauxAffablyEvil peronality. He then gives the player a massive beating, [[spoiler:[[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves turns Linza into a wight after revealing that she had made a deal with him]]]], and then [[RevengeByProxy threatens to kill the player character's loved ones]], but his undead minions manage to escape from his control long enough to allow the player character and remaining prisoners to escape.
* There are a few ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' games where it is possible to win battles in the story mode using a character who isn't supposed to win either because [[HopelessBossFight you are supposed to lose]] or switch to a different character or change to a different form if you are very skilled at the game. Sometimes but not always there is some humorous EasterEgg dialog that happens when you win with an unexpected character. For example, in ''Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3'' in the story mode level based on the first Broly film, it is possible to beat Broly with Master Roshi, leading to a shocked reaction from Goku, although in some other levels there is no extra dialog programed for winning with an unexpected character so the level just ends without any dialog.
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'' has a downloadable video game used for containing [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-245 SCP-245]]. The game has two secret endings that can be found by going off the rails of the game. The first one is found by [[spoiler:preventing SCP-245 from entering the control room at the beginning of the game.]] This allows you to completely skip most of the game and [[spoiler:prevent SCP-245's plan to trick you.]] The second one is found by [[spoiler:intentionally losing the boss battle with SCP-245 at the end of the good ending.]] If you do this then SCP-245 freaks out about why you would do something so stupid and then realizes [[spoiler:you already know he is tricking you]] and kicks you out of the game.
* ''VideoGame/WarioWareGold'' includes a feature to dub some most but not all of the cutscenes in the game. You can choose to follow the script... or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5HDDhcugR4 go completely off-script.]]
* The plot of the ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' DLC ''Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep'' is a game of "[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Bunkers and Badasses]]" that threatens to do this multiple times. Sometimes this is because Tina, the DM, is unprepared (she sets a scene in a sunny day when it's supposed to be Eternal Night, tries to make a powerful boss one of the first encounters, and allows Mr. Torgue into the game to destroy the town's surveillance blimps). And other times it's because the players act unexpectedly (wander into an area Tina hadn't balanced yet, kill the dwarven king who was supposed to become their ally, and drop a die onto the miniature of an NPC, destroying him). To say nothing of Tina continually wanting to halt the game until Roland shows up [[spoiler:even though she should be fully aware he's dead]] and Lilith, Brick, and Mordecai's shock and outrage at this. Eventually the players realize that the whole game is a way for Tina to [[spoiler:process her grief over his death]], become more understanding, and the story reaches a triumphant conclusion.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' features a humorous InUniverse instance of this with the Golden Saucer date sequence. If the player is with Tifa, they'll end up going to the amusement park's stage show and get cast in that night's play as the brave knight and DamselInDistress. However, if the player keeps making stupid choices (such as claiming he's there to rescue the dragon rather than the princess), Tifa will get so pissed off that she [[DopeSlap smacks Cloud upside the head]] and defeats the dragon herself with a flying kick, causing the other actors to declare that ''the princess'' is the hero of the land.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', handles this trope much, '''much''' more seriously. [[spoiler:Starting with [[BigBad Sephiroth]] appearing far earlier than he did in the original game, the plot begins to diverge in ways both [[AdaptationExpansion small]] and [[SparedByTheAdaptation large]]. This causes mysterious specters called the "Arbiters of Fate" to appear and try to force the story back onto the "train tracks" as much as possible, but the game ends with the protagonists [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu slaying the Arbiters]], signifying that the story will '''[[StealthSequel not]]''' just be a beat-for-beat retelling of the original. This is best emphasized by the final cutscene showing Zack Fair's LastStand from ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''...except this time Zack ''lives''. And to make matters worse, it's implied that Sephiroth engineered the whole thing because he knew he was destined to lose, so he tricked the heroes into [[ScrewDestiny destroying destiny]] to give him another chance to fulfill his plans.]]

* The ''Franchise/FateSeries'' has the horrible, horrible events of the Third Holy Grail War that shaped many of the awful circumstances that would later haunt the protagonists of the [[Literature/FateZero Fourth]] and [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Fifth]]. The Edelfelt sisters cheated using their Ore Scales ability to summon two Sabers. It ended with the sisters defeated, one of them running away from Japan. [[Literature/FateApocrypha Darnic Prestone]] attempted to steal the Greater Grail with Nazi help. It ended with the Imperial Army duking it out with the Nazis in Fuyuki. The Einzberns tried to cheat by summoning a GodOfEvil. It ended tainting the Grail with All the World's Evils. [[ShaggyDogStory And in all the hoopla, the Lesser Grail was destroyed.]]

* This happens regularly in ''WebAnimation/DingoDoodles''' Fool's Gold campaign, with Sips usually being responsible. This is to be expected when you play an angsty ChaoticNeutral[=/=]ChaoticGood {{Uplifted|Animal}} monkey wild magic sorcerer with serious anger issues. In the very first video, Sips manages to accidentally unleash a ''Tarrasque'' due to a spell going wild. Felix, luckily, is a very flexible DM and manages to either roll with whatever happens or find believable ways to get the story back on track.
** Dingo also tells a story in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l719M0jYXU this video]] about her favourite [[CriticalFailure Nat 1]] and [[CriticalHit Nat 20]] moments about how, partially due to a combination of house rules, her ridiculously lucky player roles and her boyfriend and GameMaster Felix's ridiculously unlucky rolls coming together all at once her mini-Minotaur character one shotted the BigBad of the campaign prior to ''Fool's Gold'' after being [[FastballSpecial thrown at him]] whilst he was [[CaughtMonologuing monologuing]] ending the main plot earlier. This game carried on a while after with Felix having to wing it, but apparently they ended up in a TotalPartyKill sometime later.

* Happens '''far''' too many times to count in ''Webcomic/DorkTower'', usually due to their overzealous gaming strategies.
** They once had a game based on ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. The campaign opened with Merry killing and gutting Gandalf, Pippin beating Frodo to death... they were planning to institute a military draft in the Shire when Matt (the GM) went catatonic.
*** In the second attempt, one of the players is assigned to play Gandalf... but with his abilities [[{{Nerf}} limited to talking to birds and casting fireworks]]. The players ended up using Gandalf as a BulletproofHumanShield and battering ram.
** Another session ended with the players having taken over the kingdom, forged an empire, and conquered all of the known lands... when their goal was to just [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle rescue the princess.]]
** One strip had Matt crying to a friend about how his characters had not only derailed his adventure by killing everyone, they had also summoned Elder Gods to destroy the game universe. They had been playing ''TabletopGame/BunniesAndBurrows'' (a game where all the characters are ''normal, mundane rabbits'').

* In ''[[http://as.crowdedstreet.net/something/ Burning Stickman Presents...Something!]]'', one of the protagonists knocks the plot, which had been a retelling of ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'', off the rails by [[spoiler:[[http://as.crowdedstreet.net/something/209.html stopping Zero from killing Colonel]]]]. [[spoiler:Possibly {{lampshaded}} with TheWatcher character [[PrecisionFStrike dropping the F-bomb]] when he finds this out.]]

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': One NP storyline has Ellen as a first-time DM. All of the players make a CriticalFailure and end up tripping and falling down the stairs on each other, so Ellen makes up a random cleric NPC to come in and heal them to re-rail the story. This is a ''bad'' idea, since everyone is now suspicious of this random cleric character (except [[GenreSavvy George]], who realises what just happened but plays dumb), forcing Ellen to rewrite the entire story to make him the actual bad guy.
* Happens quite a lot in ''Webcomic/FullFrontalNerdity''.
** A good example would be [[http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=436 this]], where they manage to turn a ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' RPG into an arena deathmatch between the Hogwarts houses.
** At one point Frank turned this against them by setting up a campaign where successful power-gaming required them to spend a large amount of time role-playing. When they realized he had planned them going off the rails from the start, they went ''further'' off the rails by deciding to kill them all.
** Nelson once ''stole the campaign'' when Frank stated that he was [[RightfulKingReturns the returning long-lost king]], by giving the other two characters MontyHaul missions and such good items that "Even your ''socks'' will be +5 Weapons".
** As a result of their growing familiarity with (and contempt for) each other, Frank and GenreSavvy players have begun to undergo negotiations about how much off-the-rails is acceptable whenever someone (usually Nelson) smells a rat. [[http://ffn.nodwick.com/?p=1306 This eventually gets lampshaded]].
* The very first thing that happens in ''{{Webcomic/Erfworld}}''. One faction finds one more jewel than they were planned to, which lets them buy an extra unit, which turns a critical battle, which sets the actual plot in motion.

* ''Webcomic/FriendshipIsDragons'':
** Twilight's player does this on a regular basis. She manages to awaken the [[MacGuffin Elements of Harmony]], correctly assigns the Elements to each party member, ''and'' correctly deduces the sixth Element, thus allowing them to defeat Nightmare Moon. The campaign was supposed to go on for years, but she did all this in the ''first session''. Worse, she did it all ''completely'' in-character, meaning the DM can't come up with a good excuse to disallow any of it.
** When the parasprites show up, she immediately [[GenreSavvy kills them off before they can multiply.]]
** This is [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the Diamond Dog arc:
--->'''GM:''' [As Spike In Another Room] [[BigNo NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!]]\\
'''Applejack's Player:''' Twilight, did you derail the GM's campaign again?\\
'''Twilight's Player:''' What are you talking about? I'm not even in the same ROOM!
** The climax of the Grand Galloping Gala arc features ''the author himself'' going off the rails. [[spoiler:His plot ending up diverging so far from the show that he could not illustrate it with actual screencaps, and was forced to get a friend (the author of ''Webcomic/StarMares'') to make many pages of ''fake'' screencaps to allow him to show his final battle.]]
* Early on in ''Webcomic/OnePieceGrandLine3Point5'', the players work to derail the campaign as soon as they hear there are pirates in it, mostly so that ''they'' can be pirates themselves. These are the players that will eventually control Luffy and Zoro.

* This happens in a ''Mortal Kombat'' sprite comic arc called "Rise of the Robots", in which Sektor tells Sub-Zero he's going to beat Liu Kang. Sub-Zero [[NoFourthWall knows that Liu Kang won't die until Deadly Alliance]], but doesn't tell Sektor. [[http://tabmok99.mortalkombatonline.com/robots4.html Then Reptile happens.]] [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope He lives]]]].
* ''Webcomic/KnightsOfBuenaVista'' starts off covering ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', and Adriana thinks this happened when Elsa's powers are revealed, but Walter, the Game Master, says it only went off a little bit. It truly went off the rails when a CriticalFailure caused an EndlessWinter in the kingdom.

* During the first year of ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[{{Filler}} since it would be a while before the real strip could launch]], the ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}}'' cast decide to reenact the story of [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 the first game]]. Things go wrong the first time when Mega Man gets fed up with the constant delays and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere abandons the strip]], so they attempt to have Proto Man stand in for him, only for Proto Man to accidentally kill Dr. Light. Then the comic's author steps in to resurrect Dr. Light, and then he ends up being roped into being Mega Man's substitute for the reenactment until the real Mega Man returns and forces the Author to launch the real comic. When the real comic didn't last long, the reenactment is restarted with the real Mega Man and follows the same story beats... until the end, when Dr. Wily realizes that, with his original resources restored, he has a second chance at taking over the world, and takes the opportunity to kidnap and kill the Author, since nobody liked working in the strip anyway.

* During a game in politics class on ''Website/NotAlwaysLearning'', one student [[https://notalwaysright.com/the-politics-of-politics/ convinces over half the class to pool their money with him]], then declares the alliance too big to maintain, dissolves it, and [[MagnificentBastard keeps all the money for himself, becoming an emperor]].

%%* Seen in ''WebVideo/TalesFromTheTable'' as early as the first episode.
* The 2012 ''WebVideo/D20Live'' campaign fell off the rails early on, when the players all refused the LawfulNeutral alignment the DM gave them. And later on, they challenge a colossal black dragon all on their own (and win!) when the DM expected them to return to the city, warn the head of the local guild and return with an army.
* A crossover between ''WebVideo/DanganronpaAbridgedThing'' and ''WebVideo/FiftyPercentOff'' had Nagisa participate in a killing game to get a scholarship. Rather than kill one of the students and try to prove his innocence in the trial, he just opts to slaughter the whole class while they're still in the gym because nobody could disprove him [[ExactWords if no one was around to]].[[note]]If you're wondering, this IS addressed in Danganronpa proper: Monokuma hadn't thought of it, but when it's suggested, immediately declares that anything more than a double homicide is a violation of the rules and will result in execution[[/note]]
* LetsPlay/NerdCubed managed to do this to himself in a solo play session. What was supposed to be a survival game of ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved'' got irreparably derailed when he accidentally put the wrong values in when loading the game to record a new episode, snapping his carefully-tweaked difficulty balance completely. He was forced to improv an end to the series by [[spoiler:trying to get a T-rex to the highest mountain peak he could find]].
* This has become an common occurrence in ''WebVideo/MastersOfTheMetaverse'' to the point where the viewers have started keeping a running tally of just how many times the GM breaks per episode.
* In ''WebVideo/ShadowOfIsraphel'', the writers have come up with a fairly good story, but due to a combination of LetsPlay/SimonLane and LetsPlay/LewisBrindley being inept, mobs appearing and freak accidents, things don't always go as planned.

* [[https://m.youtube.com/user/TtheWriter T the Writer's D&D Stories]]
** The Shadow of the Northern Planes campaign ended with all the players including T quitting at the climax because they were sick of the DM making them go through long and repetitive battles and not listening to criticism and so the heroes are assumed to have all died and failed to stop the world from ending. T was unsatisfied with this ending so he asked someone else to take over the story, beginning a new campaign called The Ouroboros Contract. The new DM turned the story into a much DarkerAndEdgier tale about trying to [[GodzillaThreshold unleash a world ending monster]] to stop another, hoping they will kill each other. [[spoiler:The players succeed but the world still ends.]] T then takes over the story as DM with a different group of players, and starts The Goddess Wheel campaign, so he could end the story on a happy ending.
** In [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8wIwZxov6Pw The Bottled Dragon's Roar]] campaign, T wanted to run an evil campaign but made the mistake of {{Railroading}} the players into it. In the first session the players are captured and enslaved by an evil dragon who controls them with [[ExplosiveLeash explosive gauntlets]]. The players did not like this at all. As a reward for completing their first evil mission, the evil dragon gives them a bottled dragon's roar, [[TheDogBitesBack which they immediately throw into the ceiling to collapse the dragon's lair, killing everyone in it]] and ending the campaign on the first session.
* [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=ncNIRSxKRaM In this video]] a player breaks the game by killing the villain before they were supposed to. They first tried to assassinate the villain by shooting him with a gun during a speech and would have killed him but the player didn't add the amount of damage correctly so the dungeon master ruled that he lived. Angered by this, the player then used a wish they had earned in a previous game to turn the villain to dust. This ruined the dungeon master's plans for the rest of the campaign.
* [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=H5M22vNt1bU Bear Force One]] from the Glitch Guild. The players decide to completely ignore the intended campaign in favor of raising bear cubs that they found for three years while the world is in political turmoil around them.
* [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=KHvB4Y6DU1s In this story]], the players give an evil dragon an orb that allows him to control all other dragons. When he turns on them, the players out of desperation try to blow him up with a FantasticNuke. But due to an unlucky series of dice rolls, the evil dragon survives and ends up teleported to the worst possible place, the home of the god of good dragons, allowing him to use the orb to take over the universe with an army of dragons.
* This is a regular occurence in the ''WebVideo/{{Oxventure}}'' series. Despite the best efforts of Dungeon Master Johnny Chiodini to only plan the key parts of the story (to avoid planning that goes nowhere), the party (played by WebVideo/OutsideXbox and Outside Xtra) routinely ends up subverting their plans. Most of the time, this is by accident, due to the gang's tendency to avoid combat where possible and think unilaterally. Special mention goes to the episode "Bad Chair Day", where a minor detail blew up into a half-hour mess that accomplished nothing except to burn time and ruin a local business in the town of that story. This was especially harrowing for Johnny, given that it was a convention live show and the gang had a time limit to vacate the stage.

* This was an UnbuiltTrope in [[Series/AfterschoolSpecial OG Readmore's TV specials]]. He gets pulled into a classic story, tries to 'fix' the 'bad bits', only for things to fall to pieces thanks to him going off script.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "The Red Badge of Gayness," Cartman tries to win a bet by running the local [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] re-enactment Off the Rails, dressing up as Robert E. Lee and convincing the Confederate re-enactors to actually fight back, which results in their winning a battle they historically lost. He then proceeds to try and win the entire war, up to and including forcing then-President UsefulNotes/BillClinton to recognize the Confederacy as a soverign nation; he ''almost'' succeeded, but Stan and Kyle forced things back onto the rails by dressing up as UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln and Jefferson Davis and acting out the Confederacy's surrender.

* There was an episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/GarfieldandFriends U.S. Acres]]'' where Orson tried to read ''Literature/{{Rumpelstiltskin}}'' to Booker and Sheldon. The boys kept asking Orson to change the characters into things like ninjas or monsters, but Orson put a stop to that for the most part. Then Wade (who played the miller's daughter) butted in and [[GenderFlip had the daughter be changed to a son]], and as a result, the price to be paid became the son's VCR. Things really got crazy and devolved into a SummonBiggerFish duel when the miller's son was about to guess Rumpelstiltskin's name because Roy (a Super Hero-style Rumpelstiltskin) tried to alter the ending in his character's favor, much to the protest of Wade and Orson:

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' has the episode "Launchpad's Civil War," where Launchpad is playing the part of his ancestor in a reenactment of a famous battle that his ancestor bungled. In the process, he comes across the disgraced troops his ancestor led and switches them into the reenactment so they can "defeat" the opposing side and get their dignity back.
* In the third episode of ''WesternAnimation/DogCity'', Elliot is pressured by his editor to include the editor's own character, [[AxCrazy Meat the Butcher]] [[ExecutiveMeddling to make the cartoon more violent to please the audience]]. Since Elliot didn't create Meat, he has no control over him like he does everything else in the setting. This makes him genuinely concerned for Ace since he can't guarantee a victory for him this time.
* ''WesternAnimation/AFlintstonesChristmasCarol'': While most of the play the gang is performing in stays pretty close to the original story, there's a minor example near the end, where Scrooge (played by Fred) runs across none other than his lost love Belle (played by Wilma) whose joined the collection agency Scrooge rebuffed the previous day and uses this a chance to try and make things up to her. This isn't actually part of the story, as throughout the film several of the actors have gotten sick forcing Wilma to step in, so she's ''supposed'' to be playing two different characters, but Fred intentionally runs with this even though it goes against the plot as an in-character way of trying to apologize to Wilma for being so selfish and thick-headed earlier in the day.
* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' has an episode where Bojack is a contestant on a gameshow hosted by Mr. Peanutbutter. The game is obviously rigged against Bojack as Bojack only gets hard questions while the other contestant only gets easy questions. During a commercial break, Princess Carolyn points out to Bojack that he can tell what the correct answers are on the multiple choice questions by watching Mr. Peanutbutter's ears. Bojack gets every question right after that and ends up in first place. For the final question he is given an easy question, but he deliberately fails out of spite, which loses him all the money he won, thus ending the show on an {{Anticlimax}} and ruining their plans for the other contestant to win.
* ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'''s HalloweenEpisode, "I Spy a Witch" revolves around a school play of a story reminiscent of ''Theatre/TheCrucible'' - about an innocent girl accused of witchcraft. [[BetaBitch Miranda]] conspires to replace Ginger as the lead by framing her for defacing the school statue by dressing it up to look like a WickedWitch, to which Ginger is suspended from school for. Once a photo of Miranda doing it reaches Ginger, [[spoiler:thanks to Carl beinging Maude BackFromTheDead,]] she crashes the play with the photo - and she and her friends change the ending so that the lead character ''is'' a witch and is found guilty. It is implied after the fact, Ginger's suspension was reversed and Miranda and Mipsy were rightfully punished.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' episode "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus", Boimler, Mariner, Tendi and Rutherford are playing in the titular holoprogram, but early on, Boimler gets some news that takes the wind out of his sails and he starts trying to push the program to get through the plot as fast as possible, leaving the poor love interest for Boimler's character confused and lost since he's ignoring her and she's meant to play that role. When Boimler hears a random NPC talking about TheMeaningOfLife, he chases after that, letting Tendi and Rutherford take over the main plot while the holodeck is forced to compensate for Boimler's sudden B-plot addition, earning Mariner's ire until she learns why: [[spoiler:Boimler's transporter duplicate, William, had been killed]].

* In ''WebVideo/{{Unabridged}}'' episode 5 in a game of "[[BlandNameProduct Goblins & Gauntlets]]" Zito is GM for, he has set up a BigBad - the Shadowmancer who killed Lani's character's ([=Fuk'Ra=] the Gobarian) entire family - but all the rest of the players, Lani included keep dodging the plot hook to mess around Lani pointing out as opposed to wanting vengeance [=Fuk'Ra=] is no rush to meet the man again. The players keep doing this and Zito keeps [[{{Railroading}} trying to force them back into the plot]].

** A few {{Original Character}}s joining in on [[Manga/{{Sekirei}} the fight between Musubi and the lightning twins. The twins also drop hints about the Sekirei Plan to one of them, Erek Erycies, a [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha TSAB Agent]], without incriminating anything against their Ashikabi Seo. Then several other characters are present for Minaka's DoNotAdjustYourSet segment, and are all threatened with force if they tell. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And then the twins show up to get jobs at the shop where the announcement was given]].

%%* The writer of ''Fanfic/YouGotHaruhiRolled'' went all out for the 81st chapter, written in commemoration of the story's one-year anniversary. In it, the craziness and the situations are absurd even by CrackFic standards. It's so nuts, the characters themselves are aware of it, especially after [[spoiler:the writer self-inserts himself into the story and causes havoc]]. The chapter title is, you guessed it, [[LampshadeHanging "Off the Rails"]].

%%* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' and ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' FusionFic ''Fanfic/{{Renegade}}'' follows the canon ''Mass Effect'' plotline fairly closely, up until [[spoiler:Kane shows up and throws the entire political situation for a loop]], followed by [[spoiler:the Scrin attacking the gDI Embassy on the Citadel]] during which [[spoiler:Shepard is killed and resurrected as an angry cyborg]] and [[spoiler:then head off to the opposite side of the galaxy from canon]] while [[spoiler:GDI and the quarian Migrant Fleet ally to launch a full-scale war on the geth.]] Also, [[spoiler:the Collectors are attacking an entire game early]].
%%* ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'' goes off the rails before the ''prologue'' is finished, when [[spoiler:Shepard is murdered in her hospital bed]], resulting in Adam Jensen becoming the central figure to a plotline revolving less around epic space opera and more about CyberPunk Buddy-cops unraveling a galactic conspiracy.
%%* In ''Fanfic/SeanBeanSavesWesteros'', the [[RealPersonFic "real life"]] Creator/SeanBean is transported into the land of Westeros of Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire. Now living as Ned Stark, not just playing him on TV, Sean Bean is almost literally ArmedWithCanon having read all of the books, and tries his damnedest to divert the course of the War of Five Kings and save Westeros.
* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'': Most loopers take great pleasure in messing up the plotlines of their various series in amusing ways. Even more when it interferes with a non-looping character's XanatosGambit (Shinji in particular loves messing with Gendo's scenario). Going Off The Rails is also a typical response by Loopers who Loop into an unpleasant situation outside of their baseline (such as when Twilight Sparkle Looped into a ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' setting) and immediately decide to do something about it.

%%* ''Fanfic/BaitAndSwitchSTO'' started with only a slightly modified version of ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'''s continuity but jumped off the rails midway through the Iconian War due to the authors' disgust at the CutsceneIncompetence and HollywoodTactics of the official questline.
%%* While small divergences from STO-canon are present throughout ''Fanfic/TheWarOfTheMasters'' (especially the expanded passage of time), the big point of diversion happens in approximately 2409-2410 when an armistice is inked between the Federation and the Empire well before the discovery of the {{Dyson Sphere}}s in Season 8. At time of writing Cryptic had not significantly advanced the game's chronology in several real-world years due to lack of funding.

A party going thoroughly and maliciously Off the Rails is often the beginning of the end of the gaming group, or at least the end of one person's tenure as Game Master. Alternately, if there's just one player who's dissatisfied that keeps grabbing the throttle and gunning the proverbial train, that player's character may be subject to [[BoltOfDivineRetribution a lightning bolt on a cloudless day]], or sudden violent chest pains, or a [[https://cad-comic.com/comic/dm-rules/ drive-by mauling by a mind flayer that leaves everyone else untouched]], or [[UnfriendlyFire the rest of their group forcing the train back on the rails by way of tossing their body into the boiler]]. The [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Henderson_Scale_of_Plot_Derailment Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment]] has been invented by 1d4chan (the wiki for all things /tg/) to measure just how far off the rails a game can go, named in honor of the legendary FanFic/OldManHenderson.

* In the ''Side: Future'' portion of ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'', the game is thrown off-course by Chisa [[spoiler: killing herself]] and setting Munakata off with the revelation. Among other things, this causes him to go berserk, start treating ''everyone'' as an active Despair agent, and attempt to kill everyone in the building. [[spoiler: He somehow manages to kill the mastermind in the process of this rampage.]] Much later, the mastermind reveals Ryouta wasn't even supposed to be participating, throwing off their plan to [[spoiler:use him to brainwash everyone into Ultimate Hope.]] All this meddling also screwed with the original endgame for them, which would have resulted in [[spoiler: everyone except Ryouta dying.]]

* The animated adaptation of the Franchise/ScottPilgrim series, ''Anime/ScottPilgrimTakesOff'', starts out close to the plot that was set out by the [[ComicBook/ScottPilgrim original comic book series]] and the [[Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld live-action film]] with Scott meeting Ramona and falling in love with her. However, the FirstEpisodeTwist comes along to derail the plot and diverge it from the previous incarnations by [[spoiler: having Scott ''lose'' to the first Evil Ex Matthew Patel and ''die'' at the end of the episode]]. The rest of the series shifts the story focus to other members of the main cast, particularly Ramona.

%%* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' and ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' FusionFic ''Fanfic/{{Renegade}}'' follows the canon ''Mass Effect'' plotline fairly closely, up until [[spoiler: Kane shows up and throws the entire political situation for a loop]], followed by [[spoiler: the Scrin attacking the gDI Embassy on the Citadel]] during which [[spoiler: Shepard is killed and resurrected as an angry cyborg]] and [[spoiler: then head off to the opposite side of the galaxy from canon]] while [[spoiler: GDI and the quarian Migrant Fleet ally to launch a full-scale war on the geth.]] Also, [[spoiler: the Collectors are attacking an entire game early]].
%%* ''Fanfic/MassEffectHumanRevolution'' goes off the rails before the ''prologue'' is finished, when [[spoiler: Shepard is murdered in her hospital bed]], resulting in Adam Jensen becoming the central figure to a plotline revolving less around epic space opera and more about CyberPunk Buddy-cops unraveling a galactic conspiracy.

* ''Fanfic/CodePrime'': Considering that [[spoiler: the Autobots reveal their presence on global television in Chapter 5, irrevocably abandoning their normal "Robots in Disguise" strategy]], this is definitely in play.
** And then the global status quo, and the entire ''Code Geass'' side of the plot, [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore is thrown completely out of whack]] at the end of ''R1 - Rebellion'' when [[spoiler: the Decepticons betray and overthrow the Britannian Empire, taking their place as the main villains]].

* In ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', [[spoiler: Marty and Dana escape the boundaries of the kill-zone by breaking into the underground facility through the Redneck Torture Zombies' grave]].

* ''Literature/UnLunDun'' seems like your average "TheChosenOne goes to another world and goes on a quest that is also a ComingOfAgeStory in between all the {{Fetch Quest}}s" story. [[spoiler: [[AntiClimax Then]] the ChosenOne gets bonked on the head, and it's up to her friend (who was, according to the prophecy, the "[[PluckyComicRelief funny sidekick]]") to go on the long, epic, FetchQuest-filled journey. Except, after the first one, she decides (Correctly) 'I don't have time for this shit,' gets the Un-Gun, and becomes the UnchosenOne]].
* The ending of ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. Katniss caused an Off The Rails scenario by [[spoiler: convincing Peeta into a SuicidePact rather than have them fight to the death, thereby denying the Capitol their Victor and creating two martyrs instead.]]

* A slight one occurs in ''Podcast/TheFallenGods'' when the party goes to the basement of the Tower in Palanthis instead of the top like DM Alan had hoped, leading to them discovering a series of portals to different planes. A ''major'' one happens a few episodes later inside the Tower of Lunitari where [[spoiler: instead of going through a portal to return to Mara, they throw the wizard who opened the portal through instead]].

* This is the name of the game all over the place in ''Podcast/InterstitialActualPlay''. The biggest example, though, probably occurs during the ''Reality and Other Falsehoods'' one-shot. [[spoiler: Tony Hawk fades from existence, forcing Riley to create a new character in the second episode. They choose Piccolo, and thus Wheels changes the final boss to Perfect Cell.]]

** Murph believed Hardwon wouldn't dare kill [[spoiler: Galad Rosell]] after learning that [[spoiler: Hardwon's mother had become a Revenant to seek revenge on Rosell for destroying their family, and her soul would be lost if anyone but her landed the killing blow]]. [[RevengeBeforeReason He was mistaken]]. The consequences of this decision would later form the backbone of the Shadowfell arc.

* Several times in ''Roleplay/RubyQuest''. They were ''not'' supposed to [[DungeonBypass smash their way into that medicine cabinet with a crowbar]]. Because they'd gotten in, they could tranquilize Stitches instead of killing him, and they then stuffed him in a healing locker [[VideoGameCaringPotential with the photograph of everyone standing around happily for when he wakes up]]. [[spoiler:Later, he attacks [[ImplacableMan Ace]] at [[BigDamnHeroes the last moment]], saving Tom from having to make a HeroicSacrifice.]] Weaver also hadn't even considered that they'd try to save [[spoiler:Jay]] or [[spoiler:have Tom use his [[RunningGag MANLY PHYSIQUE]] to [[ShutUpHannibal kill Filbert instead of letting him tempt them with information about their past]]]]. All of which actually gave them a ''better'' [[EarnYourHappyEnding ending]]. Putting the hand in the pneumatic tube [[spoiler: prevented Ruby and Tom watching the videos of Ruby assaulting Red and killing Tom until after they'd bonded. If it had happened earlier, Tom might well never had decided to trust Ruby again, or he might have killed her outright in the belief she might still be insane.]] Silly it may have been, but it definitely contributed to the happy ending.

** Touma making fast friends with Chinatsu and having her at his side when he fights [[PlayingWithFire Stiyl]] [[SummonMagic Magnus]]. [[spoiler: And then a Void Beast crashes the party, leading Chinatsu to summon her Servant, Lancer]].

* ''Fanfic/OldManHenderson'', "the man who '''won''' ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''." (Actually, it was ''TabletopGame/TrailOfCthulhu'', but still.) To make a long story short: A KillerGameMaster pisses off TheRoleplayer of the group by offing his character in a ridiculously contrived manner ([[RageBreakingPoint and not for the first time from the sound of things]]). Said player decides to get revenge by creating Old Man Henderson, a [[FunnySchizophrenia schizophrenic]] [[TheStoner stoner]] who is convinced that the local cult of Hastur stole his massive collection of lawn gnomes (he actually donated them to charity, then got high and forgot about it). The player had a [[DoorStopper 320-page backstory]] that justified all of Henderson's many skills, and was deliberately made to be so long nobody would ever bother to read it. Henderson proceeded to tear through the GM's campaign, culminating in a grand finale of [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu taking advantage of certain rules/mythology and copious amounts of high explosives to]] ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu permanently kill Hastur]]''. [=4chan=]'s tabletop gaming board used this story to create [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Henderson_Scale_of_Plot_Derailment The Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment]], which is a scale to show just how far Off the Rails things have gone.

* At about two thirds of ''Theatre/IntoTheWoods'', the characters find themselves forced to sacrifice a man to a giantess. The narrator laments their cruel fate. They all promptly [[spoiler: look over at the narrator and decide to sacrifice ''him'']]. And because [[spoiler:only the narrator know how things were supposed to go]] things really went south for the characters.

* The "Lawn Wax" episode of ''VideoGame/YouDontKnowJack'' ends up this way. The interns have only six questions written out of ten when the game starts. It all spirals out of control as the staff races to get questions done in time for the the rest of the show, each one less prepared than the last: the seventh question has a duplicate answer, the eighth question is by [[DelusionsOfEloquence Donny]], the ninth question is interrupted by Kim, and the tenth question is just a bit of trivia that Cookie reads off of a Snapple cap--which doesn't even have a category name. In the end, Chad quickly puts together a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17O8i6E5qFI "minimalist, back to basics"]] Jack Attack for Cookie very quickly, and initially Cookie's elated. It's when he reads the category: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Do What I Say and We'll Get Through This Together"]] that he starts to realize what Chad has actually done: [[spoiler: In a take on ExactWords, Chad put what you want to match "in quotes" and you want to hit your buzzer when that phrase comes up.]]

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' readily allows the player to break the main quest by killing any of dozens of plot-significant [=NPCs=]. The game thankfully gives you a warning if you kill one of these [=NPCs=], but from there you can still choose to ignore it and just troll around endlessly in the WideOpenSandbox. There is, however, still a "back-path" method to finishing the main quest which requires only one specific NPC to be alive [[spoiler: Yagrum Bagarn]] but it is [[GuideDangIt well hidden]] and much more difficult to complete. Finally, even if the back-path is rendered impossible, you can use the [[GameBreaker Alchemy Exploit]] to give yourself god-like levels of power and [[spoiler:use the Tools of Kagrenac without Wraithguard to unbind the Heart of Lorkhan]], which is normally instant death for the player.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'''s plot involves talking to about a dozen [=NPCs=], each directing you to the next NPC, until you meet the one person who can unlock the door to [[spoiler: the Citadel]]. A faster way involves trading your only weapon for lots of ammo crates (each filled with 1 bullet) and building a big staircase out of them to get past the locked door.

---> Skip straight to [[spoiler: Little Lamplight/Vault 87]] [[ReplayValue if you already know how to find any of these places]].

* ''VideoGame/TheNamelessMod'' includes a few ways for the player to go off the rails, including [[spoiler: having one of the ''endings'' dependent on going off the rails several times]].
** Specifically, Trestkon as the PC [[spoiler: must complete 3 out of 5 possible actions that are considered "impossible" in-game (such as getting access to Despot's apartment when your character doesn't have the in-game knowledge of how to do so). Completing these actions leads the Narcissus Entity (the in-game AI director of, well...everything) to BreakTheFourthWall, leading to an opportunity for the player to take Narcissus' place a small time later]].
** Additionally, should Trestkon [[spoiler: kill Scara B. King in person rather than banning him at the end of the game, Narcissus will kill you for breaking the game]].

** It's that the game in no way suggests that [[TakeAThirdOption this third way is an option]] and it's entirely up to the player to decide to [[spoiler: betray the side he's working for and murder his partner]] that really sets ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' apart from other 'non-linear' [=RPGs=].
*** Heck, with wall mines and ExplodingBarrels you can also [[spoiler: arrange for Anna to get herself killed as she forces her way into the room]] before this dilemma even comes up. [[GuideDangIt It requires a little knowledge of what is to come]], [[DevelopersForesight but the game will distinctly recognize what happened and carry on regardless]].

** Pass the [[spoiler:Human World]] bill in ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'', and you'll get an opportunity go invade [[spoiler: Earth]] instead of moving on to [[spoiler: Celestia]]. This leads to a couple mildy difficult encounters, followed by a final showdown where [[spoiler: General Carter turns into a Prism Ranger, you beat the crap out of him, and then take over the earth.]]

** Replaying the stage where you fight [[spoiler: the ghost of]] Mao's father in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'' nets you an ending where pretty much none of the plot threads are resolved.

* ''Videogame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' is ''about'' your quest being derailed by the bad guys, who have [[{{Railroading}} their own agenda they want you to fulfill]]. Your Psynergy Vortex business can wait, right? [[spoiler: [[TheStinger No, it couldn't.]] ]]

* [[spoiler: This is the entire reason [[BigBad Vins]] is trying to kill you]] in ''VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureThe7thStandUser'', as [[spoiler: there are only supposed to be six members of the Stardust Crusaders, not 7.]]
* The main plot of ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' goes completely off the rails around the time of 3AM because the BigBad, [[spoiler: Josh]], had no idea that [[spoiler: there were genuine monsters killing his friends on the mountain where he was performing his pranks.]]

* In the ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' quest, "Kindred Spirits". [[BigBad Sliske]] puts the player character, his undead slaves, and some other prisoners through a series of games involving [[SadisticChoice sadistic choices]]. During one of the games, the player character accidentally knocks down a wall and is able to escape into a part of Sliske's lair that they were not supposed to enter and discover information about Sliske's true plans as well as [[spoiler: the knowledge that the player character's name had been spoken by a man driven mad by an EldritchAbomination long before the player character was born]]. When the player fails to show up at the start of the next game, Sliske decides to skip the game and [[YourSoulIsMine steal the player character's soul]], but while he is extracting the player character's soul, he sees the player character's memory of what they did, and [[BerserkButton he goes berserk]], [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness completely losing his normal]] FauxAffablyEvil peronality. He then gives the player a massive beating, [[spoiler: [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves turns Linza into a wight after revealing that she had made a deal with him]]]], and then [[RevengeByProxy threatens to kill the player character's loved ones]], but his undead minions manage to escape from his control long enough to allow the player character and remaining prisoners to escape.

** There is one major success: the hobbit players all get sick of this treatment and leave the game. The DM has to scramble to build some new rails for the remaining players to follow. [[spoiler: He ends up playing the Hobbits himself in the background, meaning the final battle comes down to a single will save by a non player character who isn't in the scene.]]

* In ''[[http://as.crowdedstreet.net/something/ Burning Stickman Presents...Something!]]'', one of the protagonists knocks the plot, which had been a retelling of ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'', off the rails by [[spoiler:[[http://as.crowdedstreet.net/something/209.html stopping Zero from killing Colonel]]]]. [[spoiler: Possibly {{lampshaded}} with TheWatcher character [[PrecisionFStrike dropping the F-bomb]] when he finds this out.]]

*** A Dead session happens when a [[spoiler: player tries to play the game alone by killing the other players and their dreamselves before the game is started]] as in [[spoiler:Caliborn]]'s case. Unlike a Void session, it is completely impossible for a dead session to create a new universe, as it causes Skaia to turn black, and they are designed to be completely unwinnable. Dead sessions exist mainly exist to punish the players who start them. Players in dead session are forced to chose between [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing themselves for the good of the universe]] or attempting an {{Unwinnable}} challenge that will reward them with great power. [[spoiler:Caliborn]] only managed to win because 1: his character class gave him a big advantage, 2: three of the planets that he needed to destroy as part of the unwinnable challenge managed to fall into the black hole by themselves, and 3: he had the AuthorAvatar explaining everything to him.

** The climax of the Grand Galloping Gala arc features ''the author himself'' going off the rails. [[spoiler: His plot ending up diverging so far from the show that he could not illustrate it with actual screencaps, and was forced to get a friend (the author of ''Webcomic/StarMares'') to make many pages of ''fake'' screencaps to allow him to show his final battle.]]

* In the final session of the second season of the ''WebVideo/DiceGamesItalia'' campaign titled ''La Compagnia Del' Inetto'' (''The Fellowship of the Inept'') [[spoiler: Rodrek, being the DumbMuscle he is, eats the Red Spark instead of simply taking it away like the Master wanted him to, leaving the Master completely baffled. This makes Rodrek promptly erupt into flames... and gain some sweet new fire-based powers once the third season comes around.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' episode "Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus", Boimler, Mariner, Tendi and Rutherford are playing in the titular holoprogram, but early on, Boimler gets some news that takes the wind out of his sails and he starts trying to push the program to get through the plot as fast as possible, leaving the poor love interest for Boimler's character confused and lost since he's ignoring her and she's meant to play that role. When Boimler hears a random NPC talking about TheMeaningOfLife, he chases after that, letting Tendi and Rutherford take over the main plot while the holodeck is forced to compensate for Boimler's sudden B-plot addition, earning Mariner's ire until she learns why: [[spoiler: Boimler's transporter duplicate, William, had been killed]].

* ''Fanfic/OldManHenderson'', "the man who '''won''' ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''." (except it was actually ''TabletopGame/TrailOfCthulhu'') To make a long story short: A KillerGameMaster pisses off TheRoleplayer of the group by offing his character in a ridiculously contrived manner ([[RageBreakingPoint and not for the first time from the sound of things]]). Said player decides to get revenge by creating Old Man Henderson, a [[FunnySchizophrenia schizophrenic]] [[TheStoner stoner]] who is convinced that the local cult of Hastur stole his massive collection of lawn gnomes (he actually donated them to charity, then got high and forgot about it). The player had a [[DoorStopper 320-page backstory]] that justified all of Henderson's many skills, and was deliberately made to be so long nobody would ever bother to read it. Henderson proceeded to tear through the GM's campaign, culminating in a grand finale of [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu taking advantage of certain rules/mythology and copious amounts of high explosives to]] ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu permanently kill Hastur]]''. [=4chan=]'s tabletop gaming board used this story to create [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Henderson_Scale_of_Plot_Derailment The Henderson Scale of Plot Derailment]], which is a scale to show just how far Off the Rails things have gone.

* Randall Munroe's "What If?" blog, which studies the probable outcomes of hypothetical questions, routinely sees the author getting carried away with one of the logical outcomes of the question and going into even greater detail about that. Sample ''literal'' example: The question of how many BB guns it would take to stop a bullet train eventually turns into an increasingly large army of people wielding AK-47s firing at the bullet train at once, sending it ''backwards'' until it experiences so much drag from the atmosphere that it lifts off the tracks, "starts to tumble, and finally disintegrates into a cloud of shrapnel and spent bullets." ("[[BrickJoke Now bring on]] [[Film/Armageddon1998 that asteroid.]]")

** During a game of Song Styles, Wayne sings to an audience member named Howard in the style of "[[Music/VillagePeople YMCA]]", which includes spelling his name -- which he did "H-O-R-W-A-R-D". That threw everyone off enough that keyboardist Laura Hall accidentally increased the song's tempo, causing an increasingly frantic Wayne to desperately try to bring the song back on the rails.

** ''Literature/TheHomestuckEpilogues'' and ''Webcomic/Homestuck2'' involve one timeline that is rendered non-canonical by a character's actions, resulting in characterization and events unraveling at a cosmic level, essentially turning the universe into a series of fanfiction tropes. The other timeline which preserved its own canonicity involves another character deciding that the only way not to fall into narrative oblivion is to keep the story alive by [[FaceHeelTurn becoming its antagonist]].