Line #37 Tropers/ChrisLang


1	Chris Lang has been visiting TV tropes since late 2008, and is pleased to finally have names for all those things he's Seen A Million Times in various works of fiction.
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3	Chris is responsible for many of the InteractiveFiction entries to various trope pages, having been a fan of the classic Infocom games and a player of many of the more recent text-based adventures produced by the online InteractiveFiction community.
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5	Tropes Chris likes [[TropesAreNotBad when they're done right]]:
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7	* ActionGirl: But only if they're genuine Action Girls. Faux Action Girls need not apply.
8	* ADayInTheLimelight: Even minor characters deserve their day in the spotlight. See also LowerDeckEpisode.
9	* AndTheAdventureContinues: Even if it isn't a SequelHook, it's a nice way to end a story saying that life will go on for the characters whether we're there to see it or not.
10	* BadassDamsel: If a DamselInDistress gets kidnapped too many times (Princess Peach Syndrome, I call it), chances are sooner or later they're not going to take it lying down.
11	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Yes, they come out of nowhere, have little or nothing to do with the story, are WAY over the top and don't make a lot of sense even in context, and there's little or no mention of them again in the work they appear. But despite all that (or maybe because of it), they're fun!
12	* CharacterDevelopment: The more logical and reasonable a character's growth and change is, the better I like it.
13	* DancePartyEnding: What can I say? They're fun.
14	* DyingMomentOfAwesome: I'm with [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] on this one. If you MUST kill off a character, especially one who's been important, don't have them go out like a Redshirt or have them StuffedInTheFridge. Have them go out fighting the good fight, in a scene that's all about them in the spotlight. And if it's a minor character, they deserve to have ADeathInTheLimelight.
15	* EarnYourHappyEnding: In good stories, the characters don't just have everything handed to them. Making them go through lots of struggle and turmoil on the way makes the ending all the more satisfying.
16	* EvenEvilHasStandards: It's nice to see that some characters have lines they won't cross. It makes things more interesting, and gives characters much needed depth. Not every villain is a CompleteMonster, nor should they be.
17	* MoodWhiplash: The good kind of Mood Whiplash, the kind that makes you appreciate both light and funny, and dark and tragic even more.
18	* MyNameIsInigoMontoya: RuleOfCool, mostly.
19	* PaintingTheMedium: It can enhance the experience somewhat.
20	* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: It's nice that some people have principles.
21	* VillainSong: They're fun.
22	* {{Xenafication}}: When it's done right, it can be awesome.
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24	On the other side, there are tropes I ''despise''. These are my [[PetPeeveTrope Pet Peeve Tropes]], which I will certainly take pains to avoid playing straight in works of fiction I might create. These are tropes that I feel should be [[SubvertedTrope subverted]], [[DefiedTrope defied]], or just [[AvertedTrope averted]] whenever possible:
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26	* BrokenAesop: A story's moral should reflect what actually happens in a story.
27	* CharacterDerailment: If you're going to have me believe this is the same character I've been reading about in prior installments, don't make them act contrary to their previous characterization just to advance the story.
28	* Chickification aka Damselisation aka DumbassInDistressDisorder: I don't mind when a female character legitimately gets in a situation where she's in over her head. But when she's portrayed as a tough ActionGirl type who can kick serious ass and is a force to be reckoned with, only to act like a helpless DamselInDistress later on who needs the male characters to save her, I get really, really annoyed.
29	* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: I'm old fashioned. I like having someone to root for in my works of fiction.
30	* DiabolusExMachina: Even worse than DeusExMachina is when an AssPull ruins characters' happiness.
31	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Yes, maybe some writers are trying to make a point about how random and senseless death can be in real life (though with most examples listed on that page, this would be giving the writers a huge benefit of a doubt). But in fiction, we expect that if a character is to be KilledOffForReal, they need a good last moment that fits their character, and not some awkward, anticlimatic, or mean-spirited dismissive death. This goes for heroes, villains, and supporting characters.
32	* ExecutiveMeddling: This trope has come to mean bad decisions by clueless executives that negatively affect a work, and I certainly hate it when it makes a work that could have been good into something mediocre or bad.
33	** ScrewedByTheNetwork: Can be summed up by a clueless network executive thinking "I don't get this show. Better make sure this show gets cancelled so I don't take the fall if it fails." And I HATE when this happens.
34	* FauxActionGirl: As I stated above, I prefer real, genuine honest to goodness [[ActionGirl Action Girls]], not posers whose action (if any) is all off-screen InformedAbility.
35	* IdiotPlot: Can pretty much only be justified if the characters really are that stupid. The more contrived the stupidity, the more I hate it.
36	* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it. We're all a lot nicer to each other if we just don't believe in stupid gender stereotypes and treat each other as human beings.
37	* MotiveDecay: Characters, including but not limited to villains, shouldn't suddenly have no reason for what they're doing.
38	* ShootTheShaggyDog: Waaay too much of a downer for me. This is the stuff that makes many DownerEndings seem not so much of a downer by comparison.
39	* StandardFemaleGrabArea: Action Girls should NOT be easily stripped of their action just because a guy grabbed her on the arm. Unless the girl in question is a robot, and the arm is where the action on/off switch is located.
40	* TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong: Don't get me started on the whole 'groupthink is good, thinking for yourself is bad' thing. Granted, the complainer shouldn't always be ''right'', either, but when this trope is played straight, it's very, very disturbing.
41	* Many of the tropes in TheWarOnStraw index.
42	* TrueArtIsAngsty: This is a fallacy that has resulted in a number of really bad works of fiction.
43	* ViewersAreMorons: I hate it when producers treat the viewers like idiots.
44	* VoicesAreMental: Really, really annoying when people actually treat it like the voices have somehow swapped. I have ''never'' liked this trope, and consider it a subtrope of ViewersAreMorons.
45	* VoodooShark: The more nonsensical and stupid the explanation for a PlotHole is, the more I don't like it. Unless it's comedy and the nonsensical explanation is PlayedForLaughs.
46	* WomenInRefrigerators: Granted, a character being StuffedInTheFridge just to piss off the protagonist is something that's pretty tired regardless of gender, but when a whole bunch of female characters end up this way, it pisses off just about anyone who'd rather see women as actual characters in the stories and not just plot devices.
47	* YoYoPlotpoint: Writers shouldn't unresolve plot points that were already satisfactorily resolved unless their story is set in a different continuity then the story where the points were resolved.
48	* Most of the 'You Fail' tropes. I know these days they're politely called 'Artistic License', but in many cases the creators shouldn't be allowed to hide behind the 'artistic license' excuse.
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50	Anyway, that's my feelings on those tropes.

Context Tropers / ChrisLang