Time loop

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The time loop or temporal loop is 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 reaching a certain time, the loop starts again, possibly with one or more characters retaining the memories from the previous loop.[3]

History

An early example of a time loop is the 1915 Russian novel

Cause And Effect" (1992),[9] the American films Groundhog Day (1993), Naked (2017), Happy Death Day (2017), Happy Death Day 2U (2019), and Palm Springs (2020),[10] and the British found footage psychological analog horror web series No Through Road (2009–2012).[11][12] Time loops have been used as a recurring theme in Doctor Who, with the episode "Heaven Sent" being described as "Doctor Who's definitive loop-based story".[13]

Japanese popular culture

The time loop is a familiar trope in

highest-grossing Japanese film of 1983.[18] Its success was soon followed by numerous anime and manga using the time loop concept, starting with Mamoru Oshii's anime film Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (1984), and then the manga and anime series Kimagure Orange Road (1984–1988).[19]

The time loop has since become a familiar anime trope.

All You Need is Kill (2004) which was adapted into the Tom Cruise starring Hollywood film Edge of Tomorrow (2014),[19] and the sci-fi visual novel and anime franchise Steins;Gate (2009).[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

The presentation of a time loop as a puzzle has subsequently led to video games that are centered on the time loop mechanic, giving the player the ability to learn and figure out the rules themselves. Games like

Returnal and Deathloop were all designed to allow the player to figure out the loop's sequences of events and then navigate their character through a loop a final time to successfully complete the game. According to Raul Rubio, the CEO of Tequila Works that created The Sexy Brutale, "Time loops allow players to train to get better at the game, faster, smarter, by experimenting from a fixed starting situation, and seeing what it works to move 'forward' within the loop and adding something else to that structure to build a solid process."[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Langford, David (June 13, 2017). "Themes: Time Loop". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Nicholls, Peter; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. London: Gollancz. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  2. . Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  3. .
  4. ^ "Books: Life as a Trap". Time Magazine. 17 November 1947. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011.
  5. ^ Smith, Ronald L. (March 8, 2010). "Horror Stars on Radio: The Broadcast Histories of 29 Chilling Hollywood Voices". McFarland – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "The Old Time Radio Club - The Illustrated Press (page 11)" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Unknown v04n05 (1941 02) p.87". Internet Archive. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  8. ^ Keller, Bill (23 April 1988). "A Movie Tribute for Stalin Generation". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  9. ^ Paula M. Block, Terry J. Erdmann, Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 (2012), §248.
  10. .
  11. ^ Peters, Lucia (November 16, 2020). "The Weird Part Of YouTube: The Making Of "No Through Road" And The Power Of Unanswered Questions". The Ghost in My Machine. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  12. ^ Kok, Nestor (March 18, 2022). "Ghosts in the Machine: Trick-Editing, Time Loops, and Terror in "No Through Road"". F Newsmagazine. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  13. ^ Meegan, Danny (January 21, 2022). "10 Craziest Doctor Who Time Loops". WhatCulture.com.
  14. ^ a b Jones, Steve (26 August 2018). "Revue Starlight ‒ Episode 7". Anime News Network. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  15. ^ "THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006)". Deptford Cinema. August 9, 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  16. ^ "THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2006) at Deptford Cinema". TicketSource. 9 August 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  17. ^ a b Walkov, Marc (2016). "The Girl Who Leapt through Time". Far East Film Festival. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  18. ^ "過去興行収入上位作品 一般社団法人日本映画製作者連盟". Eiren. Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. 1983. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  19. ^
    Manga UK. Archived from the original
    on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  20. .
  21. ^ Eisenbeis, Richard (2013-04-19). "Steins;Gate Might Be the Best Anime I Have Ever Seen". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  22. ISBN 978-0549363354. Retrieved 29 November 2015.[permanent dead link
    ]
  23. .
  24. GamesIndustry.biz
    . Retrieved July 31, 2019.