Time loop: Difference between revisions
Maestro2016 (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
Stevan White (talk | contribs) added Mirror for a Hero |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
A '''time loop''' or '''temporal loop''' in [[fiction]] is a [[plot device]] where characters repeat and re-experience a span of time, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition.<ref name="sfencyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia|first=Chelsea Quinn|last=Yarbro |editor1-first=John|editor1-last=Clute|editor2-first=Peter|editor2-last=Nicholls|url=http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/time_loop |chapter=Themes: Time Loop |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |publisher=[[St. Martins Press]]|location=New York City|date=1995 |accessdate=October 18, 2015|ISBN=978-0312134860}}</ref> The term "time loop" is sometimes used to refer to a [[causal loop]],<ref name="sfencyclopedia" /><ref name="Klosterman">{{cite book|last1=Klosterman|first1=Chuck|title=Eating the Dinosaur|date=2009|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=9781439168486|page=60|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZurDFJtAWwC&pg=PA60|accessdate=2 February 2013}}</ref> however causal loops are unchanging and self-originating, whereas time loops are constantly resetting: when a certain condition is met, such as a death of a character or a clock reaches a certain time, the loop starts again, with one or more characters retaining the memories from the previous loop.<ref name="TTIPM">{{cite|title=Time Travel in Popular Media|author1=Matthew Jones|author2=Joan Ormrod|year=2015|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=9780786478071}}</ref>{{rp|207}} |
A '''time loop''' or '''temporal loop''' in [[fiction]] is a [[plot device]] where characters repeat and re-experience a span of time, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition.<ref name="sfencyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia|first=Chelsea Quinn|last=Yarbro |editor1-first=John|editor1-last=Clute|editor2-first=Peter|editor2-last=Nicholls|url=http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/time_loop |chapter=Themes: Time Loop |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction |publisher=[[St. Martins Press]]|location=New York City|date=1995 |accessdate=October 18, 2015|ISBN=978-0312134860}}</ref> The term "time loop" is sometimes used to refer to a [[causal loop]],<ref name="sfencyclopedia" /><ref name="Klosterman">{{cite book|last1=Klosterman|first1=Chuck|title=Eating the Dinosaur|date=2009|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=9781439168486|page=60|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZurDFJtAWwC&pg=PA60|accessdate=2 February 2013}}</ref> however causal loops are unchanging and self-originating, whereas time loops are constantly resetting: when a certain condition is met, such as a death of a character or a clock reaches a certain time, the loop starts again, with one or more characters retaining the memories from the previous loop.<ref name="TTIPM">{{cite|title=Time Travel in Popular Media|author1=Matthew Jones|author2=Joan Ormrod|year=2015|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=9780786478071}}</ref>{{rp|207}} |
||
An early example of a time loop is used in the [[short story]] "Doubled and Redoubled" by [[Malcolm Jameson]] that appeared in the February 1941 ''[[Unknown (magazine)|Unknown]]''. The story tells of a person accidentally cursed to repeat a "perfect" day, including a lucky bet, a promotion, a heroically foiled [[bank robbery]], and a successful wedding proposal. This story was a precedent to the films ''[[Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day]]'' (1993) and ''[[12:01 PM (1990 film)|12:01 PM]]'' (1990).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stockwell|first1=Peter|title=The Poetics of Science Fiction| date=2000| publisher=Longman| location=Harlow| isbn=9780582369931| pages=131-133| edition=1st}}</ref> The time loop is also considered a familiar [[anime]] trope,<ref>{{cite news |title=Revue Starlight ‒ Episode 7 |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/revue-starlight/episode-7/.135942 |accessdate=29 May 2019 |work=[[Anime News Network]] |date=August 26, 2018}}</ref> since its use in the 1980s anime works ''[[Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer]]'' (1984) and ''[[Kimagure Orange Road]]'' (1987).<ref name="mangauk">{{cite news |title=Edge of Tomorrow, and Kill Is All You Need |work=[[Manga UK]] |date=30 September 2012}}</ref> |
An early example of a time loop is used in the [[short story]] "Doubled and Redoubled" by [[Malcolm Jameson]] that appeared in the February 1941 ''[[Unknown (magazine)|Unknown]]''. The story tells of a person accidentally cursed to repeat a "perfect" day, including a lucky bet, a promotion, a heroically foiled [[bank robbery]], and a successful wedding proposal. This story was a precedent to the films ''[[Mirror for a Hero]]'' (1988), ''[[Groundhog Day (film)|Groundhog Day]]'' (1993) and ''[[12:01 PM (1990 film)|12:01 PM]]'' (1990).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stockwell|first1=Peter|title=The Poetics of Science Fiction| date=2000| publisher=Longman| location=Harlow| isbn=9780582369931| pages=131-133| edition=1st}}</ref> The time loop is also considered a familiar [[anime]] trope,<ref>{{cite news |title=Revue Starlight ‒ Episode 7 |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/revue-starlight/episode-7/.135942 |accessdate=29 May 2019 |work=[[Anime News Network]] |date=August 26, 2018}}</ref> since its use in the 1980s anime works ''[[Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer]]'' (1984) and ''[[Kimagure Orange Road]]'' (1987).<ref name="mangauk">{{cite news |title=Edge of Tomorrow, and Kill Is All You Need |work=[[Manga UK]] |date=30 September 2012}}</ref> |
||
==Time loop as a puzzle== |
==Time loop as a puzzle== |
||
Revision as of 06:36, 1 June 2019
A time loop or temporal loop in fiction is a plot device where characters repeat and re-experience a span of time, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition.[1] The term "time loop" is sometimes used to refer to a causal loop,[1][2] however causal loops are unchanging and self-originating, whereas time loops are constantly resetting: when a certain condition is met, such as a death of a character or a clock reaches a certain time, the loop starts again, with one or more characters retaining the memories from the previous loop.[3]: 207
An early example of a time loop is used in the short story "Doubled and Redoubled" by Malcolm Jameson that appeared in the February 1941 Unknown. The story tells of a person accidentally cursed to repeat a "perfect" day, including a lucky bet, a promotion, a heroically foiled bank robbery, and a successful wedding proposal. This story was a precedent to the films Mirror for a Hero (1988), Groundhog Day (1993) and 12:01 PM (1990).[4] The time loop is also considered a familiar anime trope,[5] since its use in the 1980s anime works Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984) and Kimagure Orange Road (1987).[6]
Time loop as a puzzle
Stories with time loops commonly center on the character learning from each successive loop through time.[1] Jeremy Douglass, Janet Murray, Noah Falstein and others compare time loops with video games and other interactive media, where a character in a loop learns about their environment more and more with each passing loop, and the loop ends with complete mastery of the character's environment.[7] Shaila Garcia-Catalán et al. provide a similar analysis, saying that the usual way for the protagonist out of a time loop is acquiring knowledge, using retained memories to progress and eventually exit the loop. The time loop is then a problem-solving process, and the narrative becomes akin to an interactive puzzle.[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn (1995). "Themes: Time Loop". In Clute, John; Nicholls, Peter (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York City: St. Martins Press. ISBN 978-0312134860. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
- ^ Klosterman, Chuck (2009). Eating the Dinosaur (1st ed.). New York: Scribner. p. 60. ISBN 9781439168486. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Matthew Jones; Joan Ormrod (2015), Time Travel in Popular Media, McFarland & Company, ISBN 9780786478071
- ^ Stockwell, Peter (2000). The Poetics of Science Fiction (1st ed.). Harlow: Longman. pp. 131–133. ISBN 9780582369931.
- ^ "Revue Starlight ‒ Episode 7". Anime News Network. August 26, 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
- ^ "Edge of Tomorrow, and Kill Is All You Need". Manga UK. 30 September 2012.
- ^ Douglass, Jeremy (2007). Command Lines: Aesthetics and Technique in Interactive Fiction and New Media. Santa Barbara, California: University of California, Santa Barbara. pp. 333–335, 358. ISBN 0549363351. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
- ^ García-Catalán, Shaila; Navarro-Remesal, Victor (2015), Matthew Jones (ed.), "Try Again: The Time Loop as a Problem-Solving Process in Save the Date and Source Code", Time Travel in Popular Media, McFarland Publication, pp. 206–209
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|isbn13=ignored (help)