Punctuality is a virtue. Not being where you need to be or doing what you need to do on time can have bad consequences depending on what's at stake. Sometimes a Race Against the Clock ends in failure. These tropes are about what happens when someone or something is late.
Not to be mistaken for The Doctor's space and time travelling machine for British audiences where the phase isn't used as often
Sub-index of Time Tropes. Contrast Just in Time.
- Acquitted Too Late: The exoneration comes too late to save someone from being executed.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: A character or plot device appears later in the adaptation than they did in the source material.
- Air Voyance: A lover missing meeting their other half, since they missed the flight.
- Belated Love Epiphany: A character only realizes that they love someone when it's too late to do anything about it.
- Caught Coming Home Late: You should have been home hours ago. You get busted on your way in.
- The Cavalry Arrives Late: By the time backup arrives, the hero was already forced to defeat the enemy without them.
- Comeback Tomorrow: You think of a retort too late for it to be snappy.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The characters find out too late that they didn't have to go through an Idiot Plot.
- Delayed Explosion: You wonder "Where's the Kaboom?" The kaboom is late.
- Delayed "Oh, Crap!": You're late to the realization that you're in trouble.
- Delayed Reaction: Someone doesn't react to a shocking statement until several moments later.
- Delayed Release Tie-In: A tie-in for a movie whose release has been delayed still releases when the movie should have originally been released.
- Delayed Safety Feature: A safety feature is uselessly late in its activation.
- Development Hell: A series of unfortunate circumstances cause a work to be delayed indefinitely.
- Forgot to Pay the Bill: If you're late paying your utility bills, the utilities will get shut off.
- Happiness Realized Too Late: You only realize you were happy when it's too late to enjoy it.
- Impeded Messenger: A messenger either arrives late or doesn't arrive at all.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: If you start watching a TV show later than everyone else, people won't wait for you to catch up before posting spoilers for it online.
- Late Character Syndrome: A party member introduced later than others sees little actual use.
- Late Export for You: Exporting media from its country of origin is delayed.
- Late for School: You're missing out on your education.
- Late to the Action: a hero bursts onto the scene to save the day, only to be told it's already been saved.
- Late to the Punchline: Someone takes a long time to understand the joke.
- Late to the Realization: A character realizes something very later than most.
- Late to the Tragedy: A character arrives after the tragedy has already struck, too late to witness it happening.
- Longest Pregnancy Ever: When pregnancy takes a lot longer than it should.
- Missed the Recital: A character is delayed on their way to watch a performance and by the time they get there the show is over.
- No Delays for the Wicked: Thanks to Contrived Coincidence, the villains are never late, but the heroes are delayed and inconvenienced.
- Now You Tell Me: Information is given just after it would have been useful.
- Obsessed with Perfect Attendance: A character is never late for school/work, and refuses to break that record.
- Potty Failure: Someone fails to make it to the bathroom in time.
- Pregnancy Scare: A character thinks she may be pregnant, often because of a late or missed period.
- Punctuality Is for Peasants: Arriving "fashionably late" is a trait of the rich and powerful because their time is more important than that of the "commoners" they look down upon.
- Remembered Too Late: recalling something when it is too late to actually use that information.
- Repeated Cue, Tardy Response: One character's lack of reaction to a cue prompts the other character to repeat the cue until the first character reacts late.
- Schedule Slip: A work misses their intended release date for some reason.
- Spring Is Late: Nature is in trouble, there are plants and animals holding out for winter to end, but it's still winter.
- Toast of Tardiness: You're so late for school, you don't have time for a proper breakfast.
- Wait for Your Date: Possibly can make people late to an event, waiting for their late date.
- You Are Too Late: The heroes arrive too late to stop the villain's plan.
