History Main / TropeTrigger

A NarrativeDevice for handling tropes.

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

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* The resident idiot in ''[[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} The Slayers]]'', Gourry Gabriev, allows Lina Inverse to be MrExposition just by being an average person.
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Every time that Sousuke brings his military background into the school (such as StuffBlowingUp), Kaname hits him. This Trope Trigger activates PaperFanOfDoom or WrestlerInAllOfUs depending on how angry she gets.

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[[folder:Light Novels]]

* In ''VideoGame/OracleOfTao'', Ambrosia Brahmin is a Trope Trigger for Elias as MrExposition. Ambrosia's average intelligence and amnesia allow SmartGuy Elias to expound on obscure details pertaining to the plot.

Compare/Contrast with MacGuffin, [[{{PlotSensitiveButton}} Plot Sensitive Button]], or [[{{BerserkButton}} Berserk Button]].

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': Just be a girl in front of Negi and tickle his nose by accident...[[{{AccidentalPervert}} accidental nakedness]] will soon follow.
* ''Manga/LoveHina'': Keitaro's [[{{AccidentalPervert}} Accidental Perversions]] always trigger a [[{{MegatonPunch}} Megaton Punch]].

* ''Film/SuckerPunch'' relies on several classic sequences of [[{{ButYouWereThereAndYouAndYou}} But You Were There And You And You]]. Each sequence is triggered by playing music so Babydoll can dance.

* The resident idiot in ''[[LightNovel/{{Slayers}} The Slayers]]'', Gourry Gabriev, allows Lina Inverse to be [[{{MrExposition}} Mr Exposition]] just by being an average person.
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Every time that Sousuke brings his military background into the school (such as [[{{StuffBlowingUp}} stuff blowing up]]), Kaname hits him. This Trope Trigger activates [[{{PaperFanOfDoom}} Paper Fan Of Doom]] or [[{{WrestlerInAllOfUs}} Wrestler in All of Us]] depending on how angry she gets.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Several episodes required Clark Kent to become {{Brainwashed and crazy}}. The writers handled this by retooling red kryptonite from the Superman canon, so that instead of having some bizarre random effect on Clark it always turned him into a sociopath. It got so whenever fans saw a red [[{{GreenRocks}} glowing rock]] they knew what trope would be in force for the episode.

* In ''Videogame/{{Oracle of Tao}}'', Ambrosia Brahmin is a Trope Trigger for Elias as MrExposition. Ambrosia's average intelligence and amnesia allow SmartGuy Elias to expound on obscure details pertaining to the plot.

* ''Webcomic/CultureShock'': Meinji's appearances usually involve a [[{{ShoutOut}} shout out]] to a game.

Narrative Device. A trope for handling tropes. If an author has a trope that turns out to be popular, or that he plans to use frequently, he writes a Trope Trigger into the storyline so that whenever he needs the "triggered" trope he just drops in an instance of the Trope Trigger. Depending on the form of the trigger, it might be used for {{Foreshadowing}}: when the audience sees the trigger, they know the "triggered" trope can't be far away.

* In ''Videogame/{{Oracle of Tao}}'', Ambrosia Brahmin is a Trope Trigger for Elias as Mr Exposition. Ambrosia's average intelligence and amnesia allow SmartGuy Elias to expound on obscure details pertaining to the plot.

The [=MacGuffin=] is nearly always an object, while the Trope Trigger may or may not be. The [=MacGuffin=] usually has no other function except as the thing that everything revolves around. The Trope Trigger is defined by the trope it activates.

If a character with a Berserk Button simply flies into a rage when the "button" is pushed then it is not a "triggered" trope in this sense. Anger per se is not a trope. If the character's Berserk Button always triggers a specific anger trope (such as AgitatedItemStomping or HulkingOut), then that is a Trope Trigger.

* ''[[{{MahouSenseiNegima}} Mahou Sensei Negima]]'': Just be a girl in front of Negi and tickle his nose by accident...[[{{AccidentalPervert}} accidental nakedness]] will soon follow.
* ''[[{{LoveHina}} Love Hina]]'': Keitaro's [[{{AccidentalPervert}} Accidental Perversions]] always trigger a [[{{MegatonPunch}} Megaton Punch]].

[[folder:Comic Books]]
*
[[/folder]]

* The resident idiot in ''[[{{Slayers}} The Slayers]]'', Gourry Gabriev, allows Lina Inverse to be [[{{MrExposition}} Mr Exposition]] just by being an average person.
* ''[[{{FullMetalPanic}} Full Metal Panic]]'': Every time that Sousuke brings his military background into the school (such as [[{{StuffBlowingUp}} stuff blowing up]]), Kaname hits him. This Trope Trigger activates [[{{PaperFanOfDoom}} Paper Fan Of Doom]] or [[{{WrestlerInAllOfUs}} Wrestler in All of Us]] depending on how angry she gets.

[[folder:Literature]]
*
[[/folder]]

* ''{{Smallville}}'': Several episodes required Clark Kent to become [[{{BrainwashedAndCrazy}} brainwashed and crazy]]. The writers handled this by retooling red kryptonite from the Superman canon, so that instead of having some bizarre random effect on Clark it always turned him into a sociopath. It got so whenever fans saw a red [[{{GreenRocks}} glowing rock]] they knew what trope would be in force for the episode.

[[folder:Mythology]]
*

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
*

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''[[{{OracleOfTao}} Oracle Of Tao]]'', Ambrosia Brahmin is a Trope Trigger for Elias as [[{{MrExposition}} Mr Exposition]]. Ambrosia's average intelligence and amnesia allow [[{{SmartGuy}} Smart Guy]] Elias to expound on obscure details pertaining to the plot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/CultureShock'': Meinji's appearances usually involve a [[{{ShoutOut}} shout out]] to a game.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
*
[[/folder]]

* ''[[{{MahouSenseiNegima}} Mahou Sensei Negima]]'': Just be a girl in front of Negi and tickle your nose by accident...[[{{AccidentalPervert}} accidental nakedness]] will soon follow.

If a character with a Berserk Button simply flies into a rage when the "button" is pushed then it is not a "triggered" trope in this sense. If the character's Berserk Button always triggers a specific anger trope (such as AgitatedItemStomping or HulkingOut), then that is a Trope Trigger.

If a character with a Berserk Button gets angry at any minor provocation then it is not a "triggered" trope. If there is a particular trigger that ''always'' pushes a character's Berserk Button (e.g. an obnoxious brother or the color red), then that is a Trope Trigger.

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arrative Device. A trope for handling tropes. If an author has a trope that turns out to be popular, or that he plans to use frequently, he writes a Trope Trigger into the storyline so that whenever he needs the "triggered" trope he just drops in an instance of the Trope Trigger. Depending on the form of the trigger, it might be used for {{Foreshadowing}}: when the audience sees the trigger, they know the "triggered" trope can't be far away.