Basic Trope: A sidequest that has nothing to do with the plot or even your character's job, often given by an NPC who is a complete stranger.
- Straight: In Tales of Troperia XI, a shepherd asks Hiro, The Chosen One who is actively working to stop the End of the World as We Know It, to help herd his missing sheep.
- Exaggerated: The sheep herding mission is one of the longest, most difficult, and least rewarding quests in the game.
- Downplayed:
- Justified: Hiro was a shepherd before becoming a warrior, so he is actually qualified for the job even if it doesn't actually help him in his quest.
- Inverted: The Quest
- Subverted: The shepherd's village later comes under attack by the Big Bad. If Hiro performed the quest, the sheeps' wool and meat help the villagers to survive, a prerequisite for the Golden Ending.
- Double Subverted:
- Parodied:
- Zig-Zagged: A shepherd asks Hiro to help herd his sheep. Doing so allows the village to survive a later attack by the big bad, but getting the Golden Ending actually requires that you let the village be destroyed.
- Averted: All quests in the game tie neatly into the main plot as well as Hiro's skill set.
- Enforced: The game is based on a book in which Hiro spends a chapter herding sheep for a local shepherd.
- Lampshaded: When asking Hiro for help, the shepherd says "I know you probably have better things to do, but can you help to herd my sheep?"
- Exploited:
- Defied: If you select the "accept" option on the shepherd's quest, a pop-up appears stating "your time would be better spent saving the world" and forces you to decline.
- Discussed:
- Conversed:
- Deconstructed: Sure, it's irrelevant to the plot, but the game goes out of its way to show how appreciate the shepherd is for Hiro's help. If you turn down the mission, the shepherd will explain that, even if Hiro saves the world, he and his family will be destitute due to the loss of their flock.
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs:
- Played for Drama:
