History Main / GrandfatherClause

* Gilgamesh of ''TheEpicOfGilgamhesh'' get's a free pass to use many of the most stereotypical and overused tropes and cliches all in one main character. Why? Because in many cases he is the UrExample (well Uruk example technically) of the tropes. No author today would get away with combining them all together in one character, but with him it just comes off as awesome.

* The score counter, while not being used as much as it once was, occasionally continues to pop up in newer games (although not necessarily always in the traditional way). However, it has found another purpose by changing the points to money, and then having the player spend the money on upgrades, weapons, health and so forth.

*** One of the most well-known aspects of the career of EltonJohn, at least since 1972, especially onstage, was Elton's use of [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself crazy glasses]] and [[CostumePorn flamboyant costumes]], a gimmick he kept intact until [[TheEighties 1986]]. The peak of this tradition would have likely been the (in)famous DonaldDuck costume he wore at his free concert at Central Park (the one which later became a RunningGag on ''TheLateLateShow'' with Creator/CraigFerguson). The tour of 1986 saw Elton sporting giant multicolored mohawk wigs, a CampGay "Ali Baba" costume, "TinaTurner" wigs, and, for his orchestral concerts in Australia, a "Chopin" costume complete with white wig, heavy white powder and a fake birthmark.. Though Elton was only 40 at the time, he (and the press) came to agree that he had carried it far past the point of retaining his dignity, and he auctioned most of the costumes and glasses off in 1988 (after using them for the cover of that year's ''Reg Strikes Back'' album) and toned down his image. He still incorporates a relatively flamboyant look, but rarely to the point he had since TheEighties.

** OneWingedAngel: A Trope of Legend. The name is a reference to Sephiroth's theme song from ''FinalFantasyVII''. [[note]]Despite the fact that he had seven wings [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts in his original appearance]].[[/note]] It's not obvious by the title it's about a villain transforming. It resisted a attempt to give it a more descriptive name largely because of its large number of {{Wick}}s and this trope.
** UndergroundMonkey: ''"It's a monkey, but it lives underground"'' is hardly a good way to imply ''"video game developers create a whole family of mooks by adding little modifications to a mook, hence getting a lot of enemy-variety cheaper"''. This trope stayed under the radar for too long, and since basically ALL video game use it, it's been linked by lots and lots of articles. Most tropers believe the abysmal amount of work required to change the name of this trope is just not worth it.

* A singer or band who started their career in TeenPop music may, at least in a few years' time, change their sound, image, and/or lyrical or musical content as they grow older and they opt for a DarkerAndEdgier or HotterAndSexier approach. The trope may still apply when they still have to perform their teen pop hits onstage, or should a portion of their fandom or marketing still contain traces of their previous image, and may provide MoodWhiplash if a GreatestHitsAlbum is released.

* TheCoconutEffect: It would be very easy to record real horses...but people are so used to the sound of coconut halves banged together that it wouldn't be recognized for what it was and would "[[RealityIsUnrealistic sound wrong]]."
** It's also believed that having Foley artists create every sound effect for each work it's used in is more efficient than having to maintain a massive library of pre-recorded effects.

* The Mexican comic character Memin Pinguin falls under blackface in modern times, but due to its popularity and impact in popular culture since being created in 1945, it is accepted there.
** Also do notice that even nowadays political correctness on racial issues isn't such a big deal in Mexico.

** On the other hand, Pooh Bear typically gets his honey from the bees. [[HandWave Maybe he just reuses the pots he already has?]]

* For fans of AmericanFootball, and the NFL in particular, do you think anyplace in Wisconsin at all could pay for a franchise? Yet most Americans know of the city of Green Bay, and its Packers.

* Nowadays, it would be unacceptable for the ArchEnemy of a superhero to be anything but equal or greater in power than the hero. SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor still manages to be Franchise/{{Superman}}'s archenemy regardless.

* More objectionable bits in ''TheMikado'' are often {{bowdlerize}}d out (most consistently, a character's assertion that "the nigger serenader and the others of his race...would none of them be missed"), but the basic premise of mostly Caucasian actors in whiteface, kimonos, and black wigs in a gross (albeit allegorical) mockery of Meiji's Japan, remains intact. It should be noted that ''The Mikado'' is satire at its finest, using a patently absurd version of Japan to mock contemporary ''British'' culture.

** It should also be noted that the aforementioned "nigger serenader" who would not be missed refers to MinstrelShows performed in {{Blackface}}.

* Robin is pretty much the only straight-up KidSidekick left in TheDCU. This is usually [[JustifiedTrope justified]] as balancing out Comicbook/{{Batman}}'s inner darkness, although the latest incarnation of Robin, [[spoiler:Damian Wayne]], may very well be darker than Batman.
* Underoos on the outside have fallen out of style for super heroes since the '60s. TheDCU seems to have done away with them entirely as of the {{New 52}}, though.

* This trope is why the only people who get a pass for using an AdolfHitler [[GoodHairEvilHair mustache]] are CharlieChaplin and [[LaurelAndHardy Oliver Hardy]].

** Football (and futsal) is a rarity, in that Ireland is split Republic/North (the NI team stubbornly styled themselves "Ireland" until 1950), but there are separate Scotland/Wales/England/NI teams. Great Britain teams went to the Olympics 1904-72, but when amateurs left the Olympics, so did Team GB. At the Olympics in London "Great Britain" qualified automatically to field a team in every sport, leading to 'temporary' mergers of the Scotland, England and Wales teams in many sports. However as many other European countries resent the UK's current set-up resulting in 4 times as many votes in governing body forums and 4 automatic spots on the board of FIFA(as the 4 oldest associations) Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all refused to agree to a combined team, fearing it would set a precedent and FIFA would force them to permanently merge into a team dominated by English players. The Olympic teams ended up fielding teams with nothing but Englishmen and only 2 Scottish women (who the Scottish Football Association banned from ever playing for Scotland again as a result). After the Olympics it emerged that many of the other sports which had agreed to field a 'temporary' merged team were forced by the governing bodies to permanently merge.

** The Packers are a further example - they're publicly owned by stockholders. The stock has some pretty severe restrictions on it, and the team is operated as a not-for-profit company (legally, they are a for-profit company, but revenues that aren't being used to fund football operations are given to charity). The NFL doesn't allow teams to sell shares of NFL teams anymore--every team must have a fairly small group of owners (32 or fewer, very commonly only one)--but the Packers are still allowed to do this[[note]]Although they do have to get NFL permission before issuing any new stock[[/note]], ensuring that the Green Bay Packers are unique in their league in regards to the ownership situation.

* Not many film franchises go on long enough for this to kick in. Up until the later Creator/PierceBrosnan films, however, it was in full force for ''Film/JamesBond'' - we knew the premises were ridiculous, the baddies were {{Card Carrying Villain}}s, the sexual politics were absurd and the {{Bond One Liner}}s were worthy of an enormous CollectiveGroan...that's the ''point''. It's ''James Bond'', as [[StrictlyFormula formulaic]] as it seems. Then the late 90s incarnations flipflopped between DarkerAndEdgier and tongue-in-cheek IndecisiveParody, ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' collapsed under the weight of its own ContinuityPorn, and the ContinuityReboot kicked the whole thing squarely into part [[FollowTheLeader post-]][[Film/TheBourneSeries Bourne]] part [[Literature/JamesBond novel Bond]] (though as of ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'', the series is reinstating much of the old mainstays, including the slightly comedic tone).

* The Marvel family's transformation phrase probably falls under this. Back when [[{{Shazam}} the series]] was created, comics were [[GoldenAge brightly coloured and silly and everyone had fun]]. Now that comics are a [[SeriousBusiness serious medium]] and [[DarkerAndEdgier not really appropriate for kids]], seeing modern characters yell 'Shazam' in huge dramatic letters might be narm if it weren't for this...and the fact that lightning bolts ''never'' stop being cool.
* It would be extremely difficult to make an unironic hyper-patriotic American character and present him as a paragon of virtue and heroism and be taken seriously today. CaptainAmerica pulls it off, though, because he has the weight of history on his side (in more ways than one). It helps that his patriotism has been tested and modified into his famous motto, "I am loyal to nothing...except the [American] Dream."
** For that matter, the "boy scout" hero in general is virtually extinct (except when used as a joke) aside from Captain America, {{Superman}}, and [[{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]].
** To the point where every hero is so messed up and their motivations so personal and complicated that idea of heroes who are heroes just because they're decent people who don't want to waste their great power has become unique and thought-provoking ''in-universe''.
*** Another point is that Captain America is not loyal to the American government; his patriotism isn't "My country right or wrong". Put another way, if America decided to sponsor an anti-democratic coup somewhere, he'd not help (and might hinder) its efforts, because democracy is considered an American value.

** Jack Harkness' WWII-era IconicOutfit is an in-canon example of this-- though we do first meet up with Jack in the '40s, he's actually from the 51st century. Though he wears more modern clothing for the rest of series 1, after his return two years later and into his spinoff, ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' he keeps his braces and greatcoat. ("Period military is not the dress of a straight man.") In a flashback to British India in 1909, he wears the uniform of a British Army captain of ''that'' era.

* Underoos on the outside have fallen out of style for super heroes since the '60s.
** TheDCU seems to have done away with them entirely as of the {{New 52}}.

*** One of the most well-known aspects of the career of EltonJohn, at least since 1972, especially onstage, was Elton's use of [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself crazy glasses]] and [[CostumePorn flamboyant costumes]], a gimmick he kept intact until [[TheEighties 1986]]. The peak of this tradition would have likely been the (in)famous DonaldDuck costume he wore at his free concert at Central Park. The tour of 1986 saw Elton sporting giant multicolored mohawk wigs, a CampGay "Ali Baba" costume, "TinaTurner" wigs, and, for his orchestral concerts in Australia, a "Chopin" costume complete with white wig, heavy white powder and a fake birthmark.. Though Elton was only 40 at the time, he (and the press) came to agree that he had carried it far past the point of retaining his dignity, and he auctioned most of the costumes and glasses off in 1988 (after using them for the cover of that year's ''Reg Strikes Back'' album) and toned down his image. He still incorporates a relatively flamboyant look, but rarely to the point he had since TheEighties.

*** One of the most well-known aspects of the career of EltonJohn, at least since 1972, especially onstage, was Elton's use of [[MakingASpectacleOfYourself crazy glasses]] and [[PimpGear flamboyant costumes]], a gimmick he kept intact until [[TheEighties 1986]]. The peak of this tradition would have likely been the (in)famous DonaldDuck costume he wore at his free concert at Central Park. The tour of 1986 saw Elton sporting giant multicolored mohawk wigs, a CampGay "Ali Baba" costume, "TinaTurner" wigs, and, for his orchestral concerts in Australia, a "Chopin" costume complete with white wig, heavy white powder and a fake birthmark.. Though Elton was only 40 at the time, he (and the press) came to agree that he had carried it far past the point of retaining his dignity, and he auctioned most of the costumes and glasses off in 1988 (after using them for the cover of that year's ''Reg Strikes Back'' album) and toned down his image. He still incorporates a relatively flamboyant look, but rarely to the point he had since TheEighties.

** HummerDinger: The TropeNamer Hummer brand that the HummerDinger trope satirises went under in 2010 as part of GM's infamous post economic colapse restructuring.

* It's not uncommon for artists that have switched genres(a singer switching from Country to Pop is a common one) to continue to be listed as the genre they started as, as long as their sound doesn't become to alien.

* {{Green Lantern}}s do not always have a weakness to yellow things, but Sinestro just wouldn't be Sinestro without a yellow ring that is strangely effective against them. This has since been justified with the {{RetCon}}ned existence of a [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience spectrum of emotion]] (Red: Rage, Orange: Greed, Yellow: Fear, Green: Willpower, Blue: Hope, Indigo: Compassion, Violet: Love). He and the rest of the [[EvilCounterpart Sinestro Corps]] are literally using fear as a weapon.