History Main / InvokedTrope

* Kato in ''WebVideo/GantzAbridged'' invokes the RuleOfCool in the final battle. [[spoiler: And the final boss invokes the HeroicSacrifice]]. Yes, it's a ShoutOut to Website/TVTropes.
* In ''Fanfic/TiberiumWars'', Kane invokes EvilIsNotWellLit because watching his minions stumble around in the dark [[ItAmusedMe is funny]].

* ''[[Fanfic/TheBankCalledYourRealityCheckBounced The Bank Called, Your Reality Check Bounced]]'' deliberately invokes as many tropes as possible as a ShoutOut to Website/TVTropes; some, like CornerOfWoe and PortmanteauCoupleName, are even {{Name Drop}}ped.
* ''Fanfic/CourtneysCrusadeForRedemption'' Invoked ShownTheirWork. Courtney, covering her knowledge of the season's events by telling everyone that she had seen and analyzed the reruns of past seasons, justifying her GenreSavvy moments.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1442274/1/Emotions-Running-High Emotions Running High]]'' when Draco regrets having told Harry he'd date him when pigs fly, he uses an obscure spell to invoke CueTheFlyingPigs and then remarks that it looks like he'll have to keep his word.

* The BuddyCopShow parody ''Film/{{Loaded Weapon 1}}'' has this a few times, as in the page quote.
* Natasha Romanoff does this ''twice'' in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', setting herself up as [[TheHeart a vulnerable girl in over her head]] so that people will spill intel that she needs. Both times it works.
* At the end of the indie movie ''Film/SexEd'', when fired sexual-education teacher Cole confronts the father of one of his students, [[MoralGuardians a preacher that successfully lobbied for the school district to ban sex-ed,]] Cole invokes the fact that TheInternetIsForPorn. Specifically, he mentions that if parents are too embarrassed to have TheTalk with their kids, and if it's illegal to teach sex-ed in schools, then kids will go on the internet, where boys will learn that girls are meant to be used as sex objects, and girls will learn that it's okay to be treated like that. [[spoiler: Cole's RousingSpeech works, since he is not only re-hired, but is used to train other sex-ed teachers.]]
** Obviously, the more heavily invoked trope is TheTalk, since the main character, an unemployed high-school math teacher, took it upon himself to teach a course on [[TitleDrop sexual education]] in the middle school that hired him.
* In ''Film/{{Greedy}}'', Danny's act of CallingTheOldManOut turns out to be this: [[spoiler: he hired an ''actor'' to play his father in order to have a staged argument in front of his rich uncle, who had been estranged from his brother, in order to win his uncle's favor.]]

* ''Literature/GhostRoads'': In the second book, Rose is brought back to life through an UnwantedRevival, so she and her allies devise a plan to invoke and then subvert RescuedFromTheUnderworld. Rose will descend to the Greek underworld with a companion, ask Persephone and Hades to let her leave, and then have her companion deliberately look back at the last moment, returning her to her ghostly existence.
* Attempted in ''Literature/GoodOmens'', where Anathema Device, after trying all other methods to find her book, dramatically pretends to give up, flop down, and let her gaze [[LuckBasedSearchTechnique casually fall on a patch of dirt]].

*** The Silver Horde find themselves in a comparable predicament in ''Literature/TheLastHero'', when they realize that Carrot's status as TheHero - a lone man standing against several, convinced he's saving the world - likely out-classes their own. And when they learn that Carrot ''doesn't even expect to receive any reward'' for doing so, but is merely fulfilling his duty, they '''know''' they don't stand a chance.

* Literature/TomSawyer runs his life this way. It helps that ''Mark Twain'' runs Tom Sawyer's life this way. (It helps that ''Samuel Clemens'' ran Mark Twain's life this way.) Of course, [[MediumAwareness Tom probably knows that]].
** On the other hand, when Literature/HuckleberryFinn attempts the same, it ends in disaster.
* [[Literature/HarryPotter Lord Voldemort]] has a hang for knowing how to manipulate Harry.

* The Cineverse trilogy by Craig Shaw Gardner is a giant exercise of invoking a trope, with lots of little [[LampshadeHanging lampshades hanging]] within it. The main characters (particularly the GuardianOfTheMultiverse and the MultiversalConqueror) are GenreSavvy and therefore frequently [[DiscussedTrope talk about]] how best to [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality exploit]] the current world's laws.
* In ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'', John and Dave try to lure out a ghost by splitting up, with John taking a shower and Dave taking a nap, while loudly announcing their plan and their fervent hope that they will '''not''' be attacked by a ghost under these circumstances.
* ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'': In book 1 (''Dealing With Dragons''), it's mentioned that Princess Alianora's parents invited an evil fairy to her christening in hopes that she'd curse her, presumably with the intended result that she be rescued by a handsome prince. Instead the fairy, possibly thrilled by the novelty of being ''invited'', had a wonderful time and went home without cursing anyone.
* The short story ''The Cat From Hell'', from the anthology ''Literature/JustAfterSunset'', has a cat kill a hitman by an OrificeInvasion. To make this possible, the cat [[GroinAttack claws at the hitman's groin]], and the screams this causes means the hitman's mouth is wide open, and the cat [[AttackTheMouth leaps right into that mouth]].

* In ''[[Series/HoratioHornblower Hornblower]]'' episode "The Examination for Lieutenant" (also known as "The Fire Ships"), Captain Pellew invokes TactfulTranslation. Upon learning that the Spanish intend to break their alliance with the British, Pellew is too [[{{Angrish}} flustered]] to formulate a reply, and simply tells Hornblower (acting as a translator/interpretor, [[CommonTongue speaking French with the Spaniard]]) to tell the Spanish officer the [[HarpoDoesSomethingFunny sort of thing Pellew would say]], leaving Hornblower to figure out an appropriate reply on the spot while Pellew grits his teeth. The Spanish guy ends up impressed, never realizing that Pellew was seething.

** On her 18th birthday Buffy must undergo the Cruciamentum Test in which a Slayer's powers are secretly removed, and she's locked in a house with a vampire that she must defeat through her own cunning and determination. Basically DamselInDistress + AloneWithThePsycho = FinalGirl.

[[folder:Radio]]
* The AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho audio drama ''The Doomwood Curse'' is based entirely around this: Some space nanites are making a fictional book true, and through careful manipulation of the tropes the Doctor is able to reverse the effect: The only way to get the solution to the carrier (a highwayman) in time is to make it a valuable item that "Must get there before sunrise!".
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' features the art of Talecrafting, wherein you can manipulate the nature of fate by noticing how the tropes of a story are going to play out (e.g., two attempts have failed, so you can invoke ThirdTimesTheCharm). On the other hand, it comes with a story-appropriate penalty (such as AllThatGlitters) unless you do ''really'' well. Oh, and ''[[JustForFun/TVTropesWillRuinYourLife they link to this website in the book]]''.
* ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' puts you in the position of one of the fallen engineers of the divine mechanism, meaning there are times when you can invoke common misunderstandings for power. For instance, the Combustion Embed exploits the fact that [[EveryCarIsAPinto everyone knows a car will explode if you shoot it]].

** You can get an implant called Organ Remapping. "Organ remapping is an extensive set of minor cybernetic devices that relocate a recipient’s internal organs and add safety valves, cutoffs, back-ups, and alternatives to many of the more critical and fragile organic systems." So any character can invoke OrganDodge.
** CombatClairvoyance. Psionic characters can use a power called Combat Claivoyance, and any character in a campaign with Cyberscape can use Kata Calculators/Computers, which are chips implanted into the brain comparing the battle to millions of battle sequences stored, and calculating the most probable next move from the opponent, giving advance warning to the user.

* Desann, BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Jedi Outcast]]'', invokes ShootingSuperman and then (this is the part he [[GenreBlindness hasn't really thought through]]) ItsPersonal as part of a BatmanGambit to manipulate Kyle Katarn. Kyle has given up his Jedi abilities and connection to the Force deliberately, but Desann makes him really wish he had them by forcing him to fight him, a powerful Dark Jedi, with normal weapons -- and inevitably lose, failing to save his girlfriend. This leads to [[spoiler: Kyle returning to the Valley of the Jedi to reconnect with the Force for purposes of revenge, showing Desann the way there.]]

* From ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'''s co-op campaign:
--> '''[=GLaDOS=]:''' This is the Computer Intelligence Training and Enrichment Center Human Test Subject Research Center, or [=CInTECH=]. But why don't we all just agree to call it [[HubLevel the hub]]?

(''all look around; nothing happens'')\\

* In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', Frans Rayner quite flagrantly invokes the [[spoiler: ConservationOfNinjutsu]] trope to try to defeat the titular ninja. He prepares an [[spoiler: army of clones made from the doctor, so they'll all attack him at once]]. The doctor responds by [[spoiler: switching sides]] so he can invoke some other tropes to gain the upper hand. "[[spoiler: Dammit, Frans. You don't have to be a lone wolf any more! That attitude will get you killed!]]"
* In ''Webcomic/{{Blip}}'', when the subject of a nasty falling-out between K and Mary comes up, Liz announces that "It's intervention time! RashomonStyle!" Hester recounts the tail end of the argument, as that was the only part she saw, then Liz gives a deliberately exaggerated version of what she saw, prompting Mary to set the record straight for both of them. Of course, forcing Mary to examine these memories in detail was Liz's goal in the first place.
* In ''Webcomic/FindersKeepers2008'', Cailyn proposes LetsSplitUpGang. Cardinal points out that would be tempting fate. Cailyn replies that they're ''trying'' to find Fate.
* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', Kat very loudly and deliberately [[TemptingFate tempts fate]], aiming to get kidnapped as the first step in a BatmanGambit: "Oh boy! I sure hope nothing happens to me now that I'm here all alone!" It works, partly: She does get kidnapped, but not by the hunky Mr Eglamore like she was hoping.
* In ''Webcomic/ALoonaticsTale'', Jasper Zinc is a genius, there's no denying that. And he's fully aware that he's a genius. But he hasn't got a particularly high opinion of anyone else's intellect, so he deliberately [[TVGenius avoids contractions]] and [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness uses unnecessarily large words]] in order to make sure that the lowest common denominator is ''also'' aware that he's a genius.
* ''Webcomic/MSFHigh'': Examples include Runners, girls who run through the school with eyes closed and bookbags unzipped, looking for a cute guy who they will crash into, and subsequently date. One of them would be [[http://www.msfhigh.com/?date=2009-04-01 this girl]]. She MAY have gone a little too fast...

[[folder:Web Original]]

-->'''Angry Video Game Nerd:''' You know, that's really weird. Could you imagine if you're just sittin' around, minding your own business, when all of a sudden, some naked chick breaks in and starts humpin' the crap outta you? (''looks at door, excited... nothing happens, he shakes his head'') You know, that's really not fair. I get Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger, and Spider-Man... Bugs Bunny... but no naked chick. (''shakes his head'') Fuck this shit.

* Although ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' usually at least ''tries'' to portray each episode's fight as being somewhat even, the episode "Deadpool VS The Mask" was intentionally chosen by Wiz and Boomstick to be the worst CurbStompBattle the show had ever seen, all in an effort to get rid of Deadpool and his annoying [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth-wall-breaking antics]]. The Mask is a PhysicalGod who dwarfs his opponent in literally every category, leaving Deadpool with absolutely no hope of possibly coming out on top. Wiz and Boomstick both even ended up [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone ashamed of setting up such a stomp]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'', due to his "Drama Power", will often let villains kick his butt, so that his [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya heroic comeback]] will be [[DesperationAttack more]] [[LimitBreak powerful]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "Lemon of Troy", Bart assigns his friends the roles of a FiveManBand while preparing to investigate Shelbyville.
--->'''Bart:''' Okay, I'll be {{the leader}}, Milhouse is [[TheLancer my sidekick]], Nelson is [[TheBigGuy the tough guy]], Martin is {{the smart guy}}, and [[TheHeart Todd]], you're [[TheQuietOne the quiet]] [[TokenReligiousTeammate religious guy]] [[FaithHeelTurn who ends up going crazy]].
** After Apu and Manjula have difficulty conceiving in "Eight Misbehavin'", Homer helps out by [[LawOfInverseFertility having them simulate a drunken teenage one-night-stand]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** In "I'm A Little Bit Country", Cartman attempts to invoke a {{Flashback}} to colonial times so he doesn't have to learn about the Constitutional Convention by reading. This being ''South Park'', after a couple of false starts it eventually works.
** In "Put It Down", Craig takes advantage of the fact that Tweek's favourite ride is the Ferris wheel to try to invoke a FerrisWheelDateMoment to distract Tweek from his worries about North Korea. Unfortunately, it doesn't work.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
** In "A Dog and Pony Show", Rarity invokes PityTheKidnapper when she is captured by Diamond Dogs in order to make them willing to let her go. It ends up working so well, they let her leave ''with all the jewels they made her find''.
** Pinkie Pie invokes a SpitTake in "Magical Mystery Cure" [[spoiler:after Princess Celestia reveals that Twilight is now an alicorn princess.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE25TheClockKing "The Clock King"]], the eponymous villain wants to get revenge on Mayor Hill for an AdviceBackfire, so he wants to make Hill Gotham's ButtMonkey. ClockKing mess with downton Gotham's traffic lights precisely when Mayor Hill is on his way to his reelection fundraising. Later he produces Hill's MalevolentMugshot with MustacheVandalism and the legend [[TakeThat "Time for a change"]]. Everyone in the street laughs.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' episode "Onion Trade", a MatterReplicator is used to flood the entire town in cheap plastic toys. When they get it back Garnet destroys it to invoke NoOntologicalInertia.
-->"I'm not cleaning up this mess."

** In the same series, one episode starts with Superman at the mercy of Lex Luthor thanks to the latter using a good chunk of Kryptonite. Knowing about Lex's ego, Superman gets him to do some EvilGloating at how perfect his plan was, who he bribed to get it to succeed... And then gets up and punches him, revealing he is actually the Martian Manhunter, a known ShapeShifter, and that the Justice League just pulled an epic level sting operation, thereby also [[ExploitedTrope exploiting]] and [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructing]] the EvilGloating.

->'''Jigsaw''': ''Drop the gun, Mr. Luger!''\\
'''Luger''': I don't have one.\\
'''Jigsaw''': You're not carrying a weapon?\\
'''Luger''': I don't believe in them.\\

'''Jigsaw''': Pick up the gun.\\

'''Jigsaw''': ''Drop the gun, Mr. Luger!''

** For example, in ''Recap/OnTheOriginOfPCs'', when Roy is recruiting members for an adventuring party, Elan gets Roy to sit in a corner, looking mysterious, to invoke YouAllMeetInAnInn.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':

* Ayano's father tries to invoke BodyguardCrush to pair her up with the immensely powerful Kazuma in ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma''. Unfortunately for him and his wallet, Kazuma cheerfully milks him for all he's worth. [[spoiler:Likely double subverted as it turns out he does care about her a great deal more than he usually lets on.]]

** You can get an implant called Organ Remapping. "Organ remapping is an extensive set of minor cybernetic devices that relocate a recientip’s internal organs and add safety valves, cutoffs, back-ups, and alternatives to many of the more critical and fragile organic systems." So any character can invoke OrganDodge.

* At the end of the indie movie ''Film/SexEd'', when fired sexual-education teacher, Cole, confronts the father of one of his students, [[MoralGuardians a preacher that successfully lobbied for the school district to ban sex-ed,]] Cole invokes the fact that TheInternetIsForPorn. Specifically, he mentions that if parents are too embarrassed to have TheTalk with their kids, and if it's illegal to teach sex-ed in schools, then kids will go on the internet, where boys will learn that girls are meant to be used as sex objects, and girls will learn that its okay to be treated like that. [[spoiler: Cole's RousingSpeech works, since he is not only rehired, but is used to train other sex-ed teachers.]]
** Obviously, the more heavily invoked trope is TheTalk, since the main character, an unemployed high-school math teacher, took it upon himself to teach in the middle school that hired him a course on [[TitleDrop sexual education.]]

[-TECHNICAL NOTE: On the wiki, typing the word "invoked" anywhere within an example will disable the automatic YMMV, Trivia, or Flame Bait flagging (denoted by a petrol/gas pump, question mark, or flame respectively) for that example. However, this is not a feature but an [[TheArtifact artifact]] of hasty programming - it's actually ''InUniverse'' examples that are permitted on main work pages, not Invoked ones.-]

* The TheoryOfNarrativeCausality is a measurable law on Literature/{{Discworld}}, so there are many invocation of {{trope}}s throughout, some more successful than others.

[-TECHNICAL NOTE: On the wiki, typing the word "invoked" anywhere within an example will disable the automatic YMMV flagging (denoted by a pair of scales) for that example. However, this is not a feature but an [[TheArtifact artifact]] of hasty programming - it's actually ''InUniverse'' examples that are permitted on main work pages, not Invoked ones.-]

* In ''Webcomic/FindersKeepers'', Cailyn proposes LetsSplitUpGang. Cardinal points out that would be tempting fate. Cailyn replies that they're ''trying'' to find Fate.

* TheChick pulls a WoundedGazelleWarcry in order to set off a hero's UnstoppableRage.

* Natasha Romanoff does this ''twice'' in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', setting herself up as [[TheChick a vulnerable girl in over her head]] so that people will spill intel that she needs. Both times it works.

--->'''Bart:''' Okay, I'll be {{the leader}}, Milhouse is [[TheLancer my sidekick]], Nelson is [[TheBigGuy the tough guy]], Martin is {{the smart guy}}, and [[TheChick Todd]], you're [[TheQuietOne the quiet]] [[TokenReligiousTeammate religious guy]] [[FaithHeelTurn who ends up going crazy]].

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Gotenks attempts to invoke HeroicSecondWind by "letting" himself get beat so he can have a last-minute comeback and inevitable victory, with a... predicable result. In short, all his friends [[KillEmAll get killed one by one]], and later the villain [[EarthShatteringKaboom blows up the planet]].

* Kato in ''WebVideo/GantzAbridged'' invokes the RuleOfCool in the final battle. [[spoiler: And the final boss invokes the HeroicSacrifice]]. Yes, it's a ShoutOut to Wiki/TVTropes.

* ''[[Fanfic/TheBankCalledYourRealityCheckBounced The Bank Called, Your Reality Check Bounced]]'' deliberately invokes as many tropes as possible as a ShoutOut to Wiki/TVTropes; some, like CornerOfWoe and PortmanteauCoupleName, are even {{Name Drop}}ped.

* The Wiki/TVTropes webseries ''WebVideo/EchoChamber'' is fond of invoking tropes.

** Vandal Savage invokes GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel by specifically sending data on superweapons (or modern technologies that would look like superweapons in context) and allied tactics and strategy to his past self so that he could usurp the title of Fuhrer from Hitler and conquer the world using the Axis' military might. It is up to the Justice League to stop him.

'''Jigsaw''': Pick up the gun.
''[Luger picks up the gun]''

'''Jigsaw''': Pick up the gun. ''[beat]'' ''Drop the gun, Mr. Luger!''

* The Daycare Attendant from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach'' invokes OneTimeDungeon by kicking [[TheProtagonist Gregory]] out of Superstar Daycare, locking the door behind him, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fimnjqEufPM blocking him from going back down the slide into the daycare's ball pit]]. This is in response to Gregory breaking the rules of the daycare by turning off the lights, thereby triggering the Attendant's JekyllAndHyde NighttimeTransformation.

* In ''Literature/TheEnchantedForestChronicles'' Princess Alianora's parents invited an evil fairy to her christening in hopes that she'd curse her, presumably with the intended result that she be rescued by a handsome prince. Instead the fairy, possibly thrilled by the novelty of being ''invited'', had a wonderful time and went home without cursing anyone.

* The Daycare Attendant from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach'' invokes OneTimeDungeon by kicking [[TheProtagonist Gregory]] out of Superstar Daycare, locking the door behind him, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fimnjqEufPM blocking him from going back down the slide into the daycare's ball pit]]. This is in response to Gregory breaking the rules of the daycare by turning off the lights, thereby triggering the Attendant's JekyllAndHyde transformation.

* The Daycare Attendant from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSecurityBreach'' invokes OneTimeDungeon by kicking Gregory out of the Superstar Daycare, locking the door behind him, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fimnjqEufPM blocking him from going back down the slide into the daycare's ballpit]]. This is in response to Gregory breaking the rules of the daycare by turning off the lights, thereby triggering the Attendant's JekyllAndHyde transformation.

** In "I'm A Little Bit Country", Cartman attempts to invoke a flashback to colonial times so he doesn't have to learn about the Constitutional Convention by reading. This being ''South Park'', after a couple of false starts it eventually works.

** In ''Literature/GuardsGuards!,'' the main characters invoke the MillionToOneChance during a critical arrow shot - they deliberately make it ''harder to aim'' (using blindfolds and standing on one leg), in order to get the odds of a direct hit down to ''exactly'' a [[MillionToOneChance million to one]]. [[spoiler:They don't succeed, mind, but when the dragon blows up the building they're standing on, the narration continues, "Fortunately, the odds of anyone surviving the ensuing explosion were exactly a million to one."]]

* ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' features the art of Talecrafting, wherein you can manipulate the nature of fate by noticing how the tropes of a story are going to play out (e.g., two attempts have failed, so you can invoke ThirdTimesTheCharm). On the other hand, it comes with a story-appropriate penalty (such as AllThatGlitters) unless you do ''really'' well. Oh, and ''[[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife they link to this website in the book]]''.

* Ayano's father tries to invoke BodyguardCrush to pair her up with the immensely powerful Kazuma in ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma''. Unfortunately for him and his wallet, Kazuma cheerfully milks him for all he's worth. [[spoiler:Likely double subverted as it turns out he does care about her a great deal more than he usually lets on. Even more unfortunately, [[AuthorExistenceFailure we'll never get to learn how it all turns out]].]]

[Jigsaw kicks over a pistol]\\
'''Jigsaw''': Pick up the gun. (beat) ''Drop the gun, Mr. Luger!''