http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/outside_mmorpg.jpg

-->''"Stand at the window here. Was ever such a dreary, dismal, unprofitable world? See how the yellow fog swirls down the street and drifts across the dun-coloured houses. What could be more hopelessly prosaic and material? What is the use of having powers, Doctor, when one has no field upon which to exert them?"''\\
--'''SherlockHolmes''', ''''The Sign of the Four''''

-->''"The real world is for people who can't imagine anything better."''\\
--'''TheSimpsons''', "''Lisa The Drama Queen''"

That [[RealIsBrown dull, brown]] [[CrapsackWorld place you visit]] when you're not [[BuffyTheVampireSlayer slaying vampires]], [[DoctorWho traversing time and space]], [[{{Batman}} dressing like a flying mammal to fight a clown,]] [[HarryPotter learning wizardry]], [[TwentyFour stopping terrorists]], [[JusticeLeague saving the world]], [[{{MASH}} dissing the Korean War from the rear]], [[MST3K riffing at awful movies]], [[MobileSuitGundam piloting]] [[{{Macross}} giant]] [[ArmoredTrooperVotoms robots]], [[StarTrek going boldly where no man has gone before]], [[TengenToppaGurrenLagann doing both at the same time (with drills)]], [[{{Supernatural}} fighting monsters all over the country and driving a really cool muscle car,]] [[SuzumiyaHaruhi keeping your homeroom classmate from abolishing the cosmos]], [[SuperMarioBros stomping on evil, brown mushrooms]] or some other [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife horrendously addictive activity]].

Supposedly contains the [[ElfQuest Daystar]], that terrible orb that burns you and gives you cancer. Sometimes considered an inaccurate reflection of the [[RealityIsUnrealistic true world of fiction]]. Recommended as [[AdjacentToThisCompleteBreakfast part of a balanced diet.]] Beware of characters who [[WelcomeToTheRealWorld end up here]].

Also the name of [[RealLifeComics a webcomic]] whose actual connection to real life varies. "Varies" having the meaning here of including TimeTravel and HumongousMecha.

If a trope is actually possible here, and happens enough times, that makes it TruthInTelevision.

Not to be confused with ''[[HalfLife Half-Life.]]''

Best known for being the sole work in a completely different genre of its own, called "Reality". Also, suprisingly good graphics for a legacy system.

----
!RealLife Provides Examples of:
* AbortedArc - People were really stoked over this "Betamax" thing...
** Also the Segway.
** HD-DVD too.
** Dreamcast.
** Then there's the WorldWarThree arc that the CubanMissileCrisis plotline was meant to set up. Probably for the best they dropped this one, all indications are that it was headed for a KillEmAll ending...
* TheAbridgedSeries: History textbooks.
** Of course, all of the original series is lost, not counting occasional piece of text or picture describing it, so that's the only source for things that happened before you got into ''RealLife''.
* AbsentAliens: So far...unless the UFO folks are to be believed. Though, given the scale of the Universe, chances are that they do exist somewhere, too far away for us to find them or them to find us.
* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: Subverted. [[ThisIsSparta Oh. So. Much.]]
** Occasionally played straight with dreams.
**" Legal fictions" are laws that are based on false "facts," but are followed as written anyhow because they seem to work.
* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: Very averted. Out of all the non-Earth planets identified so far, 100% are ''not'' Earthlike, and this is considered by some to be a representative sample.
* AllThereInTheManual: The background is quite sophisticated. Thus it is often hard to understand what's going on. Luckily some fans created [[TheOtherWiki a wiki with everything you need to know]], especially if you vitally need to find out, say, instances of evergreens in popular culture. Except for what they don't consider notable, 'original research' (also known as 'I know this personally because...'), what ticks off the admins, or what makes special interests angry.
** There's always [[http://www.britannica.com the official guidebooks...]]
** [[HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy I believe you have the wrong guide.]]
* AllJustADream: Suspected by many, especially [[{{Buddhism}} Buddhists]].
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Trolls here may eliminate your not savable character, may ruin your character, may also [[DoomyDoomsofDoom doom]] your character if they disagree with your views. This is permanent.
* AndCallHimGeorge: Some lower-level players may kill their pet creature by accident. [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute Houseplants]] are also common victims of this.
* AndIMustScream: Some religions teach that you get tortured forever if you "lose". Also: Swirlies.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: According to some religions, this happens when a character dies.
* AnimeHair: Played straight when a character just wakes up or pulls off a toque. Most people call this "Bed Head" or "Hat Hair".
* AnthropicPrinciple: Often invoked to HandWave implausibilities in the setting.
* AntiPoopSocking: Sleep.
** Your player character can even die without it. Whether the Developer did this on purpose or it came as part of the "death" bug is unknown to players. Some even believe the game made itself.
* [[AnyoneCanDie Everyone Can And Eventually Will Die]]: [[spoiler: '''Even you!''']]
** To be fair, it's still far short of ''{{Bokurano}}'' in terms of deaths.
** Most biologists theorize that this is a built-in mechanism to prevent species from killing themselves off through overcrowding.
* ApocalypseHow: Strangely (yet happily) subverted...for the most part. In spite of numerous viruses (some engineered), natural disasters, and ur-example, the nuclear weapon. The fact that humanity and its homeworld are still here is proof to some that {{God}} truly exists.
** And to others, proof that he doesn't.
** And to others, just proof that ''karma'' doesn't.
** And to others, that maybe humans are not [[HumansAreBastards complete bastards]] after all.
** And to yet others... Give it time.
** It's actually happened already, to the dinosaurs, as a result of an [[RocksFallEveryoneDies asteroid impact]]. Though it was actually fairly small-scale, given that the mammals and most other life forms survived. Could happen to us if we don't notice it.
** If you want a proper Apocalypse look no further than the Permian–Triassic extinction event, more snappily known as the Great Dying, which happened 250 million years ago. It killed 83% of all life on Earth.
*** Leaving just 5 to 10,000 humans alive. KillEmAll, anyone?
*** Yes, even Real Life is subject to DidNotDoTheResearch.
* AppliedPhlebotinum: There is a liquid substance called "oil" which is the energy source of almost every sea, air and ground vehicle and is also required to manufacture various useful chemicals and materials (like plastic). Bloody conflicts over its control ensue. It also turns out to be formed from the bodies of ancient [[strike:[[DinosaursAreDragons dragons]]]] micro-organisms.
* AlternateUniverse: We create an infinite number of these every single instant. Maybe.
* ArcFatigue: The War On Terror Arc has been going on for nearly ten seasons.
** Try Fifteen seasons of WWII after the 'Depression' arc which lasted over ten seasons, which was preceeded (eventually) by the disasterous WWI arc that killed over half of one specific type of character in Europe. And the server Europe is still not over the ending of the WWII arc, let alone what some Player Killers were doing to the Jewish character archtype.
** Also the Crusades, which lasted almost ''200'' seasons, and from the very start reeked of TooDumbToLive.
*** The early arcs were ok. Big fights, mighty nations fighting. And they'd been setting it up for hundreds of seasons. There was some AdaptionDecay with the later ones though. The children's crusade, say.
** Let us also mention the Cold War arc, which lasted for nearly fifty seasons even though nothing really came of it.
**Some have said this has happened to the whole "War On Drugs" arc.
* ArcWords: "Weapons of mass destruction" was the most recent. The 2008 season finale seems to be a "Financial Crisis" miniarc that will carry over to the next season.
* ArchiveBinge: People have spent their entire lives exploring the backstory. This has lead to the ultimate ArchivePanic. Just to make things even harder, [[strike: much]] all of the archive is written by {{Unreliable Narrator}}s.
* AuthorAvatar: A few characters throughout the story supposedly were identified as Author Avatars. Whether or not any of them actually are, or even if there ''is'' an author, is the cause of much controversy, FanWank, EpilepticTrees, and InternetBackdraft. Several theories even hold that every character is an author avatar (at least to a certain extent).
* AwesomeButImpractical: Non-reproductive sex. Also, such things as video games and [[strike:some]] most places on the Internet.
** It ''is'' practical. Studies show it's good for relieving stress.
** Speaking of which, [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife this site]].
* AwesomeYetPractical: Reproductive sex. Also, fire. And duct tape.
**[[YourMileageMayVary Arguably]] cannabis. Even without all the controversy of the drug properties, the plant has many usages ranging from fuel to health food.
*BadassLongcoat: Loads of people in the World War I and II story arcs; although ConservationOfNinjitsu had a great majority of them die.
* BadassNormal: The entire human race is an example. With nothing but intelligence and opposed thumbs, they have managed to become the masters of the planet, topping beings with natural flight, built-in weapons and super-speed. Need to fly? They made airplanes. Need weapons? [[NukeEm They can obliterate entire cities]]. Need to move fast? They made [[CoolBike motorcycles]], [[CoolCar cars]], and [[CoolPlane planes]] that can ''move faster than sound''.
** As the only possessors of intelligence wouldn't it count as HumansAreSpecial? That presumes humans are the only possessors of intelligence; plenty of reports exist implying other creatures can do many of the things we ascribe to humans, up to and including willful deception.
** A power most humans don't cultivate any more is endurance running. We're good at it. We're ''really'' good at it. In hot enough weather, a fast, fit, trained human can chase a horse until it collapses of heatstroke, and antelope are easier; before the domestication of dogs and the invention of ranged weaponry, this was the most successful hunting method. It's mostly a forgotten ability - most people actually believe that only being intelligent sophants sets us apart, and we'd be helpless otherwise. That sort of hunting is still regularly practiced by various tribes in Africa. Though there are some notable differences such as wearing Nikes and water bottles.
** Humans are also considered to have excellent vision compared to most other [[strike: animals]] Mammals.
** Most other species of non-human in general also count. For example, studies show that rats can predict human movements after watching them for a little while. People say it's close to them being able to read minds.
** Also, humans can swim much much better than their primate counterparts, leading some people to theorize that humans evolved to a halfway point between an animal as aquatic as an otter.
** And humans have managed to make it [[RecycledInSPACE into space]] using only materials mined from their home planet.
*** Where else would they get them?
* BagOfSpilling: Played straight with reincarnation. Partially averted with inheritance (which is frequently subject to tax).
* TheBeautifulPeople: Sometimes played straight, occasionally subverted, but for most of us averted big-time.
* BestForLast: Millions upon millions are involved with various religions because of this trope.
* BestLevelEver: [[HomePage This]].
* {{BFG}}: Staple military equipment. [[http://www.provehicles.co.uk/top-10-heaviest-and-biggest-military-tanks-ever/ Especially tanks and artillery.]] For those that don't want to look at the link, the largest tank ever proposed used a 800 mm cannon that shot a 7 ton projective up to 23 miles. Normal tanks use something in the range of 100-120 mm cannons.
* {{BFS}}: Heavily averted. NOBODY uses these. Well, except Jack Churchill. Granted, it was "only" a Scottish broadsword, but he used it to capture Germans with machine guns.
** Actually, Churchill's sword wasn't ''that'' big. Of course, you know what the size of a man's sword says about him.
** I'd check your info there, Apparently back in the old days there were some crazy 'Zweihander' weapons going around. Might want to check those out- They're very unrealistic.
*** In addition to the German Zweihander, there's also the Scottish claymore and a number of large swords from various cultures. They weren't used very often, but they were used.
* BigBad: Plenty, obviously. Though {{Satan}} is considered one of the biggest... [[TheUnreveal Maybe...]]
** They've been fairly uncreative with the Big Bads as of late, with a long series of dictators including Hitler, Stalin, and the most recent BigBad, Saddam Hussein.
* BigGood: God is considered the poster boy for this. On a more recent note there is BarackObama.
* BigEater: Humans' advanced brain metabolism causes them to require more food than would be expected for an organism of their size.
** The human brain's 25% consumption of total caloric intake is impressive, and shows why other animals haven't bothered to grow such enormous, hungry brains. But as for Big Eating, try shrews, which eat their own weight in insects daily, or hummingbirds, who can starve after 15 minutes of activity without their sugar water. Or blue whales, which need an estimated 1.5 million calories daily and get it by eating two or three ''tons'' of itty-bitty plankton. Per day. Or tiny rodents that die from ''heat-loss'' if they don't spend 23 hours per day eating.
* BigRedButton: Lots of these in industrialized countries!
* BittersweetEnding: This, too, shall pass.
* BlessedWithSuck[=/=]CursedWithAwesome: There are some... things... that give hefty bonuses along with hefty disadvantages to your stats.
*BodyHorror: Averted in most cases, played [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel absolutely straight]] with a few viruses (like [[NightmareFuelUnleaded flesh-eating disease]]) and other unfortunate events, like vehicle crashes.
* BonusLevelOfHell: If it exists, it's an {{Unwinnable}} Bonus Level slash NonstandardGameOver unlocked in the afterlife from which there is no return.
* BonusStage: Vacations.
* BoringButPractical: Schooling and work, which help you get the better classes and earn money, respectively.
* BraggingRightsReward: Subverted. Most awards you earn can be used to level up incredibly fast, gain massive amounts of prestige, and/or win even more awards, and more!
** Actually, there are things (such as learning [[StarTrek Klingon]]) that play this straight
** So they say, but this player earned quite a few awards during the High School stage and they didn't even unlock the Upper-Tier University bonus level like all the guides said they would! What a rip-off.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Many theistic religions apparently revolve around communicating with the author(s).
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Often the easy way for those with access to large amounts of cash, often draws the resentment of those less fortunate as it is considered a ''GameBreaker''
** Averted in Communist countries where said money probably won't get you past the bread line.
*** Played straight for especially rich people. Any environment where there is heavy bureaucratization, and a lack of clear guidelines of how to behave leads to corruption. As such, in many communist countries, heavy bribes were needed for drivers licenses, university grades, and food.
*** Err, yes and no. It's not that bribing didn't get you anywhere in Communist countries, it's that very rich people ''didn't exist'', so large monetary bribes were simply not an available option. Corruption was usually fueled by personal favours instead of money.
* BrokeEpisode: The Great Depression. And the current episode. [[WildMassGuessing Some predict]] that the "Credit Crunch" arc is leading to another one of these. Others think the "Credit Crunch" arc is a hoax.
* BrokenAesop: "The truth will set you free!"
** [[{{Discworld}} The truth shall make ye fret.]]
* [[BruceLeeClone Bruce Lee]] [[strike:Clone]] : [[TropeNamer The Original]]
* ButIPlayOneOnTV: You'd be amazed how common this phenomenon is.
* ButtMonkey: More of them than you'll ''ever'' be able to shake a stick at.
* CanonDisContinuity: Alot of the early storylines is being declared this, notably some early parts of Genesis. There's a very rabid fanbase that aren't happy about this.
** Considering there hasn't even been flashbacks to these storylines in the past few thousand seasons, many current viewers consider them to be [[RetCon retcons]].
* CanonSue, possibly.
** Joan of Arc - a teenage girl who almost singlehandedly ended the British occupation of France, and was then [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]], becoming a martyr.
** Franklin D. Roosevelt, who, after being crippled by polio, went on to be elected President of the United States, leading it through the Great Depression and WorldWarII, and being the first and only US President to serve more than two terms in office (he died at the start of his fourth).
** Alexander the Great. At the age of eight, he mounted a horse no one else could mount. He went on to rule Macedonia later, conquering more land with his Macedonian army - all while [[BoringInvincibleHero not losing a single one of those battles]]. He's even named several cities after himself. Surprisingly, he didn't die in battle either, considering how many times he was in them - instead, he [[DroppedABridgeOnHim dies from malaria from a mosquito bite.]]
* CapitalCity: Several, though the main ones are New York, Moscow, London, Tokyo, [[DidNotDoTheResearch Milan]], Paris, Hong Kong, Washington D.C. and Berlin.
* CargoShip: Goes back a ''lot'' further than battery-powered toys, IfYouKnowWhatIMean.
* CastHerd : Due to the six billion plus characters it's not all the surprising that they organize themselves into smaller groups based around nationality, religion, profession, politics, personality type, hobbies, etc., which makes it much easier to keep track of them.
*CatGirl: Averted, except in the Comic Convention levels.
* CharacterDevelopment
** YourMileageMayVary
* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld: It had the largest growing economy in the world and is increasing its military power as we speak. Also India to a lesser extent. Both were ganked by the British Empire guild/ CastHerd. And poor guild leadership and/or defense. They since have [[IGotBetter Gotten Better.]]
** The United States, one of the youngest CastHerd abd has become the leading powers after the WWII arc, leading through the ColdWar arc, and for a bit after (the InternetBubble arc as was called by Wall Street.) It's continued leadership role is in doubt.
* CityOfAdventure: London, Paris, New York - really, all of the larger cities seem to be cities of adventure to some extent. Not a day goes by without a dramatic murder mystery to solve, or a new romantic interest cropping up for one of the main characters. [[TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse Tokyo]] and [[BigApplesauce New York]], however, get most of the spotlight.
* ClassAndLevelSystem: The most extensive one ever devised, and more are added whenever an expansion to Science or Commerce occurs.
** PrestigeClass: Movie mogul, President/King, CEO of a major corporation, Nobel Prize winner...
* [=~Cliché Storm~=]: Good luck finding a character archetype that isn't included. Also, World War II.
*ColorCodedForYourConvenience: usually only with food.
* CommieLand: Popular during the Cold War arc, however, writers have kept a few pieces of the old arc alive (like Cuba or North Korea) for the sake of nostalgia.
* ComplainingAboutPeopleNotLikingTheShow: Suicide prevention groups.
* ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike: Related to the above, many people get thoroughly disenfranchised with this series, for any myriad number of reasons. Some have reached a DorkAge in their "high school" story arcs, become {{Butt Monkey}}s, suffered CharacterDerailment, [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Gone Mad from the Revelation]], found themselves in the cast of a CrapsackWorld, etc. Many people complain about mini-games and a few cutscenes not being grounded in the main game's physics. Of course, most of these people are no fun.
* ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontWatch: Censorship.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Computers can accomplish certain goals far more efficiently than humans can.
*CompletelyMissingThePoint: Possesing brains as subjectiveas ours, Humans are very prone to this.
**Notable offenders include: Religion, liberals, conservatives, The Woodstock Festival, and [[spoiler: most people on this planet]]
* CompleteMonster: Many people in the world through the ages. From around-the-corner criminals to most influential dictators. [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment That is all]].
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: How often do you think you could rely on public opinion?
* ContinuingIsPainful: Regressive tax.
* ContinuityPorn: It is very difficult to understand any one part of RealLife without knowing the circumstances leading up to it (e.g., you can't understand the War on Terror without understanding the ColdWar, which you can't understand without understanding World War II, which you can't understand without understanding World War I, which you can't understand without understanding the Congress of Vienna, etc.).
* CoolBoat: People love to sail in nice boats.
* CoolPlane: So many they get [[RealLife/CoolPlane their own page]].
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: All over the place. An overt and well-known example is the Enron story arc.
* CosmicPlaything: [[spoiler: ''Everyone'']].
* CrackIsCheaper: Guaranteed to absorb all your money, free time, work time, energy and attention, before you know it.
* CrapsackWorld: Selected episodes and settings. It's the default setting for much of the human race, though it's at least of the [[AWorldHalfFull mutable sort]].
* CriticalAnnoyance: Shortness of breath, heart attacks, and other such symptoms of impending death. Wheezing, and allergies, which is your immune system being fucktarded.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: So many that it [[CrowningMoment/RealLife has its own section.]] You'll be inspired by how many of these [[TroperTales/CrowningMomentOfAwesome your fellow tropers]] have.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: [[http://cheezburger.com/View.aspx?aid=2552660736 "Why does a chicken cross the road?"]] We'd tell you the answer but it's too good to spoil.
** And I'm sure we've all had a few of these in our lives...
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The first time a newborn takes a breath and cries.
** Also, weddings, particularly the "you may kiss the bride" bit.
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Also has its own page, but the organic soundtrack gets its own mention too: I mean, songbirds? Humpback whales? Music of the spheres? Genius!
* CrystalDragonJesus
* CurbStompBattle: Common enough that things like chivalry and Geneva Conventions were developed to avert it. They're not always obeyed, of course.
* CutAndPasteEnvironments: Played straight with the ancient Romans, who are said to have built the same city (and the same fort, with the same floor plan) hundreds of times.
* {{Cyberspace}}: Known in the previous season as "[=ARPAnet=]", nowadays known as "Internet".
* DarkIsNotEvil: Shade is a welcome refuge from the wrath of the dreaded Daystar. People with dark skin/hair/clothes are no ''more'' inclined to evil than anyone else. And dark chocolate in moderate quantities can improve the Constitution stat.
* DeaderThanDead: Fairly common in war and disaster arcs, even though it's not really necessary since in this series, everyone who dies stays dead.
* DeathByChildbirth: Many insects reproduce this way, though it's not birth so much as laying eggs. Was common among humans until the last 100 years or so, and is still common in countries that don't have modern medicine. Note that most vertebrates have few problems with it; humans suck at giving birth because they converted a quadruped skeleton to a bipedal design while concurrently enlarging the skull.
* DeathByPragmatism: Subverted
* DeathBySex: AIDS
** Sex is a physical activity. It's pretty likely that at least one individual has died from exhaustion as a result of overdoing it.
** Autoerotic asphyxation may lead to this. For those who don't know, it bases on the fact that men get an erection when they are low on oxygen.
* DeathTakesAHoliday: Averted very, very hard. Death is so busy that if it went AWOL for even ''one day'', people would notice.
* DeathThrows: Played straight with depressing frequency in high-speed vehicle crashes. Fairly easy to avert with a safety device known as a seat belt.
* {{Deathworld}}: Used to be played straight, though [[HumanityIsSuperior humans are the most powerful]] ([[HumansAreBastards and dangerous]]) part of RealLife these days. Some parts still remain pretty dangerous, though.
* DeconstructedTrope: Almost every single trope.
* DemonicSpider: Many are quite infamous because of their ability to transmit poisons and diseases that impair your character for days and (quite possibly) [[KilledOffForReal kill them off for real]] before you even notice them.
* DesignatedVictim: Look around you. [[spoiler:[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel '''Look in the mirror.''']]]]
* DesignatedHero
* DethroningMomentOfSuck: Every war, every broken heart, every starving child.
** Mondays
* DeusAngstMachina: To the point where they're just known as "bad days" when they happen.
* DeusExMachina: The World War Two arc was resolved via SuperweaponSurprise. This was foreshadowed via dramatic irony when [[spoiler: [[TheProfessor Rutherford]] made his statement that [[TemptingFate only fools could think that harnessing atomic power would ever be a possibility]]]]. Some of the codenames were somewhat [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic "inspired"]].
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: And I mean everything. No matter what you do, real life has rules for it.
** Sadly a surprising number of things are arbitrarily ruled as impossible. As a result people have created alternate rule sets which are lumped together under the genera of "fiction."
** There ''are'' a few EpilepticTrees surrounding the apparent incongruity between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity.
* DidNotDoTheResearch: You'll often find teachers and professors who apparently don't know a thing about what they're teaching.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Nietzsche.
* DieForOurShip: Unfortunately, in extreme cases, it can become [[MurderTheHypotenuse literal]].
* DifficultyByRegion: People in more prosperous or peaceful countries like the United States, Canada, and Western Europe tend to have it easier than people in, say, Africa or the Middle East.
**You can pretty much thank European colonialism for that.
* DifficultySpike: Trying to level from poor to middle class, as well as from middle class to rich. To further compact this problem, governments tends to [[DynamicDifficulty increase the percentage of money you pay in taxes as you earn more money]]. There are [[GameBreaker many loopholes]], of course. Many of which can are used by the characters with the [[WallBanger Politician class]].
* {{Discontinuity}}: Some people pretend the Holocaust arc never happened. This is frowned upon by the majority of the fanbase, however.
** A large number of people also discount the first 12 to 14 billion or so seasons, believing that there have only been 6000. Of course, a lot of people would just not understand the evidence for the existence of those billions of years, and even the evidence may be off(the Universe may be ''even older'' than what is currently known).
*** There is some evidence for the 6000-years side, but the [[WordOfGod sources]] tend to contradict each other.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Played straight with far too many law codes.
* {{DMPC}}: According to one source book, one who was able to ignore character creation, item crafting, viscosity, and perma-death; more or less in that order.
* DontTouchItYouIdiot: If you disobey safety precautions, you're likely to find out the hard way why they were there in the first place.
* DoomedHometown: The DoomsdayClock stands at 5 minutes to 12 now in 2009. This has happened in many previous arcs as well. Seems that the end of the world happens often, and none of the characters notice.
* DownerEnding: Happens so often the possibility of it happening to you borders on NightmareFuel.
* DownTheDrain: Occasionally subverted by deep sea diving tours. In general it's harder to survive the water levels than the surface levels.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Played straight, often there are no hints at all that a character is going to be killed off. Indeed, many characters were unexpectedly and anticlimactically killed off, some accuse this as being gratuitous use of the ResetButton to prevent anyone, especially potential world-conquerors like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union from taking over the world.
* DroppedABridgetOnHim: Rare, but it can happen, much to the laughter of those not actually involved.
* EaglelandOsmosis: Played straight, and subverted by the 'Financial Crisis' arc.
* {{Egopolis}}: See Alexandria, Ho Chi Minh City, Stalingrad, [[strike:Constantinople]] Istanbul ...
* EasingIntoTheAdventure: Some species hit the ground running, ready for survival within moments of birth. Humans, on the other hand, take months to acquire physical coordination, years to learn how to walk, more years to reach reproductive age, and even more years to acquire all their survival skills.
** Some humans skip the later years of the tutorial and go straight to the main game, by choice or necessity. Sometimes higher-level characters forcibly bring them back to the tutorial areas. On the other hand, [[BasementDweller some]] prefer the relative safety and comfort of the tutorial levels.
* EasyModeMockery: The stigma that comes with being an adult and still living with your parents in times and places that put a lower emphasis on the extended family, let alone relying on them for money. This applies ''especially'' to trust fund kids, many of whom are [[RichBitch rich bitches]].
* EasySexChange: Brutally averted. In fact, it's made much harder than necessary.
* ElementalRockPaperScissors: Averted, with the help of over 100 different elements and potentially infinite combinations. Water, air and earth are not elements, they are compounds, and fire is a ''process,'' not a substance.
* EmptyCopThreat: if you run afoul of the wrong cops.
* EnergyBeing: The human race, and in fact all the other lifeforms. The energy is just contained as mass.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: Especially in the form of PosthumousCharacter, see below, but not exclusively.
* EpilepticTrees: There are a numerous fan theories that the government secretly staged elements of series canon, such as the [[InSpace Apollo moon landing]] and the WTC terrorist attack. Every religion has a few.
* EpiphanicPrison: According to eastern religions...
* EstrogenBrigadeBait: The Hollywood males.
* EternalEngine: Certain boats, oil platforms, factories, towers, and whatnot can fall under this trope, but certain cities, like the Energy Corridor of Houston Texas, or Pittsburgh before the 1960's also can be considered.
* EverybodyOwnsAFord: [[http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/01/news/companies/auto_sales/index.htm?postversion=2008070119 Subverted]].
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Played straight very frequently. Calling something by its full official name is frequently reserved for [[TheSpock scientists]].
* EveryoneGetInHere: Conference calls. Also, there used to be this game people played with telephone booths ...
* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: There's a form of protest called "Zombie Walks." Played straight with the Hallow'een in-game event
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Both averted and played straight depending on where and when you live.
* EverythingsMessierWithPigs (Subverted. The recent "Swine Influenza" arc seems to be focusing on intrahuman transmission, rather than zoonoosis.)
* EvilIsCool: A very popular trope among adolescents.
* EvilIsSexy: Inverted, according to some, who regard sexy as evil.
* EvolutionaryLevels: Shockingly averted. "Evolution" seems to describe the process by which species adjust to outside influences to maximize survival, as opposed to a process by which living beings get bigger, smarter, and more powerful over time that can be measured by "levels". An unheard of concept outside of this setting, one that remains controversial to this day.
* ExpansionPackWorld: The uninhabited continent of Antarctica was retconned onto the bottom of the map to allow for a better budgeted, more dramatic remount of the popular "Race to the Pole" TournamentArc. And the second half of the 20th century saw the addition of the new "Earth Orbit" and "Moon" regions as part of the accessible world. Of course, the much promised "Mars Mission" expansion has proven to be vaporware. Some would argue that everything beyond Europe, Asia, and north Africa is part of the Expansion Pack, with various degrees of justification. The Americas and the whole "people went there before 1492" retcon is particularly jarring. We stilled haven't finished uncovering all the juicy info about the Pacific Depths (version 3.2 Ocean Floor Patch) ''or'' the Amazon, there's still a ''lot'' of wildlife to catalogue and several Bestiaries to fill with creature names.
** Though billions of other Daystars have been seen, thousands visible by just looking up at night, the present version of RealLife is limited to only one. The "Interstellar Travel" expansion in which they're included is presently quite a few shelves out of reach; the much punier "Mars" expansion is already proving to be a big deal to get. Fortunately, the present Daystar subscription will last for another couple of billion years before it expires.
*** The Earth subscription is valid for only another 500 million years. This subscription may be canceled at any time by rather large number of individuals...or possibly by the [[{{God}} administrator]].
* {{Expy}}: Dinosaurs appear to have been recycled as birds. Some grass species were adapted into wheat, rice, and maize. A selection of early primates were polished up, given new appearances and a LOT of new powers, and appeared in later editions as humans.
** Some religions also believe humans are reincarnations of past lives.
* {{Filler}}: Be honest. You're reading this at work, aren't you?
** School, actually.
*** Teacher?
*** That would make it work.
* FailedASpotCheck: Happens all the time, most frequently with small oft-used items such as keys, eyeglasses, and pencils. Many animals have camouflage coloring whose purpose is to invoke the trope deliberately, for catching prey or avoiding predators.
* FakeDifficulty: You get only 1 life, no save points, and quest items/paths can easily be lost forever. Though, according to some religions, you get multiple lives, taking the form of a different character with each respawn. In addition, there are countless quest paths/items/what have you, to the point that no one will ever be able to write a full strategy guide (though many partial ones are in the works). Unless you mess up some early story arcs, you can usually have a decent score by the end.
* FakeLongevity: Considering how RealLife boasts years of play, it's no surprise that almost a fourth of your time is spent either being in school/work or doing work that you've been given to take home from school/work. Also, you spend quite a bit of time doing things such as eating, sleeping (which takes an average of a third of your time), and bathing. [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife And exactly what you're doing at this moment.]]
* FanDumb: Hard to keep track.
* FanFic: Fiction based off of real life is a multi-billion dollar industry. Real Life Fan Fiction often has very little to do with the source material, and is popular enough that there exists a wiki dedicated to categorizing common tropes.
** BioPic: Fiction focusing on particular characters.
** {{PWP}}: The pornography genre.
** CrackFic: Fantasy, and those weird tales that Grandpa NPC tells you.
** SongFic: Musicals
* FanMyopia: Oh, come on. Who '''doesn't''' know about RealLife?
* {{Fanon}}: Hoo, boy.
* FanService: Porn and strip clubs. Also movie stunts.
* FanDisservice: Sexual harassment and assault.
* FaustianRebellion: America, al Queada, Nazi Germany, to name a few.
* FetishFuel: Once again, porn! Need not be sexual, as almost anything can be a turn-on to some people.
* FinalDeath: You die, that's it for your character. Most believe that a FluffyCloudHeaven or TheNothingAfterDeath follows. You may or may not be able to start over again, with a new character. No one's really sure. And depending on your beliefs, starting again may not be something to be proud of.
* FirstTown: Every town could qualify as this, as there are billions of protagonists throughout the world.
* FlameWar: Both figurative and literal applications.
* FollowTheLeader: So many copycats, it's hard to find a place to start.
* ForcedLevelGrinding: School.
** The entire skill and level system is basid upon this. Gaining a level in anything will require large amounts of study and repetitive "practice".
* {{Foreshadowing}}: If you watch real closely. Alternatively, you may call a psychic, but most players believe they don't work. Nostradamus' strategy guide is believed by some to be canon, but others argue otherwise.
* FourLinesAllWaiting: Europe, India, China and the New World civilizations developed independently for thousands of years.
* FourthWall: Arguably the [[SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness sturdiest Fourth Wall]] in existence. But see also dreams or psychoactives for the most reliable challenges to it.
* FridgeLogic: Men have nipples.
* FridgeBrilliance: Go to college, study any subject, see what happens. Also, look at the incredibly subtle foreshadowing to the rise of ''any'' historical leader and you'll be quite surprised how far back the signs go. Inferior writers usually can't get this except by accident.
* FunctionalMagic: Rule Magic(the laws of physics) is slowly and laboriously decoded and verified by science and arcane mathematics, and implemented into Device Magic(technology) which anyone can use provided they can afford to buy it. Most players take this for granted. Also, VancianMagic is the case for some of the particularly restrictive aspects of RealLife's Rule Magic, like thermodynamics and the conservation laws.
* GameBreaker: Each era has an example. Steel, gunpowder, and the airplane are good examples. Currently, nuclear weapons. Such an extreme example that their usage is formally banned, and many want them to be removed completely.
* GayOption: Until recently, those who were found to have taken this option were ostracized at best. Nowadays you're allowed to take this option with little or no repercussions [[DifficultyByRegion provided you live in the right area.]]
* GenreSavvy: So-called common sense, though of course it's not nearly widespread enough to vitiate the drama.
* GeoEffects
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: ''The people have a right to know'' - but only what (and ''how'') the MainstreamMedia considers 'newsworthy', and in the process...
* GetOnWithItAlready: Characters in Real Life spend at least 12 years learning the background and physics of the world. Subverted in that those who finally finish find out that work is even worse.
* GhibliHills: Some regions, but they are few and far between. And diminishing.
* GlassCannon: Humans are far from the toughest creatures on the face of the planet, but have invented powerful weapons to compensate for their poor defense. Thus, a human with a shotgun has a decent chance of slaying a bear in a fight, but if that bear manages to take the damage and keep going, despite heavy penalties to movement and HP, then it can quickly wipe out the human who attacked it.
* GloryDays: There is a popular fan theory going around that this is what the recent Obama Arc will lead too. To most people, it was their childhood.
* GoddamnedBats: Mosquitoes, bedbugs, rats in some places, as well as many others.
* {{Gotterdammerung}}: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] as of the present season, with humanities' technological capabilities (both for self-benefit and self-destruction) having increased dramatically over the past 200 or so years, and so far continuing to increase. Temporary regional {{Gotterdammerung}}s have occurred in the past though for certain parts of the world, though [[YourMileageMayVary much remains up for debate]].
* GovernmentConspiracy: There are some unconfirmed theories and several confirmed ones throughout the ages.
* GrandFinale: There is fan speculation on whether the series will end with one, but in the meantime many of the most memorable arcs ended with this. Probably the most recent would be the ''very'' popular WorldWarII arc which ended with [[spoiler:the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.]]
* GRatedSex: Averted oh so very hard.
* GreenHillZone: Yards and public parks.
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Most conflicts between character groups are this.
* GrowingTheBeard: Many agree that the series found its foothold when the concept of Humanity was first introduced.
* GrowingUpSucks: But most agree it's worth it.
* GuideDangIt: And to make it worse, there are lots of different guides with different advice!
* HappinessInSlavery: Dogs, the poor bastards. Inverted with cats, the smug bastards.
* HarderThanHard: The International Baccalaureate high school program, said to exceed the difficulty of Honors and Advanced Placement classes. And of course, difficulty also depends on [[DifficultyByRegion region]] - the school systems in some countries, like Japan or India are harder than anything you could find in say, the U.S.
** This DifficultyByRegion results in EasyModeMockery by ''forcing you to do it '''again''''' if you switch locales to one where the school system is harder. No, really.
*** Not to mention that many players don't even get the chance to enter the School career path, instead being forced into the Work or [[NightmareFuel War]] levels with inadequate preparation.
* HaveANiceDeath: A thoughtful obituary is almost a given. Some lucky souls even receive two or three post-death debriefings, with dramatic displays costing large amounts of currency. But you only get to die once.
* HeartTrauma: Firmly averted. If your heart is suffers physical damage, you'll get weaker or die, but your personality is unlikely to change. Replacing parts of the heart (or even taking out the whole thing and putting in a pump) does not alter people in any way that would be noticeable without a medical exam.
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: Nightmares.
** Also, see the relevant section
* HighSchoolRocks: But only for those who manage to be popular because of good looks (usually), funniness and/or some respected talent. For others, high school is four consecutive {{Scrappy Level}}s.
* HilarityEnsues: One word: schadenfreude.
* HitPoints: Averted. Life forms are too complex to sum up their vitals in a number.
* HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Either we can't manage time travel, or this rule is in effect.
** Two other options: the timeline is unalterable, or if Hitler wasn't there something WORSE would happen.
* HopeSpot: While there's life, there's hope.
* HouseRules: Many groups of fans have come up with their own sets of rules for playing, [[{{Scrub}} some considerably more restrictive than others]]. The game may well be more fun without them, but they are convinced that following these extra rules is worth more points. Disagreements about these different play styles have led to many nasty {{Flame War}}s.
* HumanityIsSuperior: We've already conquered one planet, and there are plans on the table to add [[ExpansionPackWorld several more]]. [[{{Vaporware}} Eventually]].
* HumansAreBastards: A common belief on Earth, but it seems there's just about as many good people to counteract this.
**Except they're all [[CrapsackWorld starving to death.]] SoYeah.
* HumansAreCthulhu: According to environmentalists, animal-rights activists, and vegans (which groups tend to overlap). Some say the Internet feature justifies the characters in turning into this, particularly with the popular 4chan mod.
* HumansAreSpecial: They're the only known species to communicate complex abstract ideas and make tools for making other tools.
* HumansAreWarriors: We have several millenia of expirience with warfare, and while [[HumansAreBastards it's not a trait we're always proud of]], we are [[{{BFG}} very]], ''[[TankGoodness very]] '''[[TheDeadliestMushroom good]]''''' at war.
* HyperactiveMetabolism: Mostly averted, though a few lucky people subvert it by being {{Big Eater}}s that don't gain much weight.
* IdiotBall: [[{{Handwavium}} Alcohol]] is often used to this end.
* IdiotPlot: An [[RealityIsUnrealistic unbelievable]] amount of characters had to be involved in a giant CreditCardPlot to start the current Financial Crisis miniarc.
* IGotBetter: Both played straight and averted. In rare cases, subverted; some characters may be cursed with autoimmune traits that turn their normal HealingFactor into auto-damage.
* ImmortalityProcreationClause: Played straight with all species if infant mortality is factored in (a few long-lived species, such as trees, can reproduce in great numbers, but most of their offspring die young). If birth control is available, human birthrates actually ''drop'' as the environment gets more conducive to good health, maintaining the inverse ratio of procreation to life expectancy.
* IncendiaryExponent: Played straight in war scenes. HilarityEnsues in chemistry lab backfires. Averted most of the rest of the time.
* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Played straight for your first level or so. All non-twinks have the choice to avert this trope for a long time, but as your level reaches the max cap it becomes enforced again. Many players are so acquainted to this trope that they never attempt to break it. [[LeParkour Some players on the other hand...]]
* InTheHood: Averted. In most environments, wearing a hood tends to draw curiosity, if not outright suspicion. If the local culture or weather makes hoods commonplace, a hood won't cause a character to stand out, but it won't make her any less noticeable, either.
* InfantImmortality: Brutally subverted: According to UNICEF about 25,000 children under the age of five are KilledOffForReal every day. In fact, the vast majority of animals die as larva or infants.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Again, the nuclear bomb. Restricted to people who hit the maximum Job Level for Politics, and with a lot of restrictions on it even then. That said, there are persistent rumours of bugs in the code that might allow unlevelled characters to gain access to assorted {{Infinity Plus One Sword}}s. None have yet been demonstrated, but the rumours alone have made many in the fan base quite upset, especially a few seasons ago.
* InNameOnly: Goths today have nothing to do with the Goths that sacked Rome. Sadly, few people have even heard of the latter.
* InventoryManagementPuzzle Averted by a small number of people who take vows of poverty, but this is unusual and often considered deviant.
* [[ItsEasySoItSucks It's Easy, So It Sucks]]: Promiscuous women, also known as MyGirlIsNotASlut. Subjective value: See also MyGirlIsASlut.
** In some regions, people try to make life hard for themselves as much as possible through a combination of multiple jobs and full school workloads.
* [[ItsShortSoItSucks It's Short, So It Sucks]]: Averted. Some believe that life is short, [[strike:yet]] so they try to make the most out of life. Ironically, unless you believe in an afterlife, this is the longest game you'll ever play.
* ItGetsWorse: The recent wave of celebrity deaths.
* InsignificantLittleBluePlanet: All known events that humanity(apart from astronomers, astrophysicists and cosmologists) considers to have any worth have occured on an insignificant little pale blue mote of dust called "Earth" by its even more insignificant inhabitants. Given the scale of the universe, what goes on here is an unimaginably small fraction of what goes on in the expanded RealLife-verse. Many fans hope for expansion packs to allow exploration of the rest of the 'verse, but most refuse to think about it. A lot of fan work contains guesses about the content that might be in any such expansion pack, however.
* IzchaksWrath: Try to rob a gun store and see what happens.
* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Deconstructed during several arcs, memorably "Holy Inquisition" and "War on Terror".
* KarmaHoudini - Not everyone, thankfully, but we all know of a few.
* KilledOffForReal: Not just common, it's universal. Occasionally averted with last-minute desperation tactics, such as defibrillation and CPR, but no character can stave off CharacterDeath longer than about 100 years.
* KillEmAll - Every single member of the cast has eventually been killed off, and there doesn't seem to be any change in the script anytime soon. A few characters have been rumored to have been PutOnABus, including Elijah, Enoch, Jesus, his mother, and Apollonius of Tyana.
* KillerRabbit - All animals (and people) fall under two categories: those that don't look dangerous but can kill or injure you horribly, and those that do look dangerous and can kill or injure you horribly.
* KillItWithFire: A form of AppliedPhlebotinum called "fire" has been adapted into various forms of DepletedPhlebotinumShells([[ArrowsOnFire flaming arrows]], black powder bombs, flamethrowers, napalm, fuel-air bombs and laser-guided thermobaric missiles, to name just a few) in order to KillEmAll. See also {{Hellfire}}.
* KillItWithWater: According to some, the {{GM}} decided after the first few seasons that the characters and plot were going completely OffTheRails. The {{GM}} felt that the best course of action was to [[RocksFallEveryoneDies drop a flood on everyone]] except for a few of the characters; just enough for a Reboot.
** Ironically, water is a key component for every lifeform in the entire series. And will remain so for the foreseeable future.
* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: So far, this has held true in RealLife, from slings and stones, to bows and arrows, crossbows and bolts, cannons and shells(and guns and bullets), and more recently, guided missiles. And in the future, mass drivers like railguns and Gauss cannons provide a logical path for even further advancement of kinetic weapons. EnergyWeapons have also existed for quite a while, in the form of [[KillItWithFire fire]], and recently a couple of experimental lasers as well, but have never been so prominent.
* KudzuPlot: So complicated, even the characters don't know what the hell's going on most of the time. Whether the author(s) do(es) themselves is hotly debated among the fans(apart from the issue of whether the author/s even exist).
* KobayashiMario: It just keeps going and going.
* LampshadeHanging: Art, especially comedy. And this wiki, of course.
* LeaveTheCameraRunning: Most of the time.
* LensmanArmsRace: If humans are 200,000 years old, the last 0.05% of the story's seen us go from crude rafts and sticks with sharp stones attached to nuclear weapons and space flight.
* LighterAndSofter: The "Western Civilisation" subplot seem to have gone this way in recent seasons, though arguments abound that it's actually a very cunning and cruel subversion.
* LightIsNotGood: Literal examples (sunburn, skin cancer) as well as regular examples (The Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, The Crusades.)
* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: The TropeNamer. Played straight to the most part, except for the [[RealityIsUnrealistic 'unrealistic']] bits...
* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: The "nerd" class has a really hard time going through the early levels, especially High School and the PVP, while "jocks" can mostly go around doing what they like unhindered. The tables are slowly reversed as higher levels are reached, and a high-level nerd will usually be better at the game than a high-level jock.
* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: The TropeMaker.
* [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters Loads And Loads]] [[OverlyLongGag and loads and loads and loads and loads and loads of Characters]]-- Nearly 6.9 billion to be exact. Not counting the other species. Not counting the chance of other life-possessing planets in the galaxy. Not counting the chance of other life-possessing galaxies...
* LongRunners: 12,000 years of human civilisation measured from the start of the Neolithic, with many {{Missing Episode}}s along the way. 15 billion years back to the presently held beginning though, the Big Bang, which itself could be questionable. Several other series set in the RealLife-verse were also LongRunners, such as some fan-favorites, including the dinosaurs and mammoths, who were KilledOffForReal, but some scientists speculate that they could be resurrected through [[AppliedPhlebotinum inserting their genes into other animals]]. Whether this will work is questionable. Dinosaurs weren't ''exactly'' KilledOffForReal. They've been having smaller, feathery appearances since before the Mammalian Order became prominent. And mammoth's smaller, bald cousin shows up from time to time. Others, like the Arachnids, have been around far, ''far'' longer, and show no signs of stopping.
** And of course, bacteria, some of the very first characters to appear, still make up more than half of the cast list.
* LostForever: Too many to count, and there generally isn't a warning. The good news is that it's still possible to progress even without a LostForever item.
* LoveDodecahedron but usually not PlayedForLaughs
* LoveHurts, but also LoveRedeems, and [[strike:sometimes]] frequently LoveMakesYouCrazy. All of these may be experienced by the same character at various points, in some cases multiple times.
* LoveItOrHateIt
* MakeTheBearAngryAgain: Recent seasons, especially the high-point in the Southern Ossetia arc in the middle of season 2008.
* LuckBasedMission: The lottery. Or surviving the Plague.
* MacrossMissileMassacre: Favorite tactic of militaries across the world, heavily used in air and naval combat. Combined with [[NukeEm nukes]] to make a [[GameBreaker game breaking]] superweapon called the ICBM. It's becoming less popular as newer doctrines become popular. Especially in light of recent developments in the manner of war.
* MagicAIsMagicA: Those dang laws of science.
* MagicalComputer: Most notable aversion... even if [[FanDumb some seem not to realize this]].
* MagicalRealism: May or may not be explainable by the psychiatry profession.
* MagikarpPower: See that kid mutilating classic rock songs on his new guitar? Remember his name.
* MagnificentBastard: Played in every direction. Particularly memorable was during the WWII arc, where they ran rampant all over the place. The same arc featured a deconstruction with Oskar Schindler, a racketeer concerned mostly concerned with filling his pockets who has one of the most moving {{Heel Face Turn}}s in the entire series. Also, some characters are convinced that the author is one of these.
* MegaNeko: Lots! Lions, tigers, cougars, jaguars, leopards ... but they rarely make good pets.
** Maine Coons, Savannahs and Norwegian Forest Cats are less-Mega Neko that do make good pets.
* {{Meganekko}}: Also well-represented.
* MightyGlacier: Unfortunately, not quite as mighty as global warming.
* MillionToOneChance: Averted 999,999 times out of a million, as might be expected. However, this doesn't stop some characters from basing their behavior on fantastically unlikely events.
* MinMaxing: Largely averted, as the most successful people are usually those who have bothered to build up their Charisma alongside whatever technical knowledge needed, and a great many people who have focused on building knowledge at the expense of social networking haven't done as well.
* MindScrew: Philosophy and Quantum Physics.
* MisplacedWildlife: Zoos. And invasive species.
* MissingEpisode: The reason archaeologists are still in business.
* MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness: Way, ''way'' over on the hard side, to the extent that it accurately represents laws of physics that have not yet been discovered.
* MoneySink: Some of which are required to ''survive''. Real estate is a popular one whose necessity for survival is somewhat debatable.
* MoralEventHorizon: Crossed frequently throughout the series, many consider this an unfair ploy by the writer to endear the viewer to the other side.
* MoreDakka: A popular tactic in recent past seasons.
* MsFanservice: The Hollywood Females.
* {{Munchkin}}: Scientists and engineers, whose choose jobs consisting of memorizing the complex equations and rules that govern Real Life so they can squeeze every last possible advantage out of them, including figuring out even more of the rules. Unlike other munchkins, though, their work carries with it a good deal of respect and prestige.
* MustHaveCaffeine: Coffee is second only to petroleum for gallons consumed per year.
* MythArc: Somewhat of a subversion, considering the plot has grown so convoluted that some are beginning to question if there even is one.
** However, there has been one ever since the end of the World War I arc. This set off the Depression arc, then the World War II arc, then the Cold War arc. Since then, it's been mostly quiet, but the War on Terror arc seems to be beginning a new one.
* NamelessNarrative: Everything is nameless when introduced, but will receive a name if it sticks around humans for long.
* NaughtyTentacles: Cephalopods (octopus and squid) actually do the nasty like this.
* NewGamePlus: According to religions that believe in reincarnation.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The best intents of mice and men ... have nasty unplanned consequences. Notably the environment, since humans have more power to alter it than any other species, and with great power ... [[ComesGreatResponsibility well, you know.]] Thus we get hunting to extinction, overly efficient forest firefighters, DDT, climate change, invasive alien species (no, not that kind). In the non-environmental arenas, we have nuclear physics, foreign policy, medical malpractice, and many more.
* NightmareFuel: Cancer, diseases, vehicle wrecks, wars, terrorism, the Titanic, real life itself on occasion...
* NintendoHard: Many, many examples, from high-level school and college courses, to job-hunting during economic recessions, to simply trying to survive in war-torn countries. In short, life isn't fair.
* NoFameNoWealthNoService
* NonstandardGameOver: The death penalty.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The universe to pretty much everyone.
* NoIndoorVoice: Many examples, including cicadas, parrots, and humpback whales (yes, those "songs" are ''deafening'' up close, what did you expect from a creature bigger than a bus?)
* NoOSHACompliance: While usually averted, it is played straight occasionally.
* NotSoDifferent: A common problem for political figures.
* NothingCanSaveUsNow and NothingCanStopUsNow: These tropes have gotten a workout in recent seasons.
* NotSoHarmless: Many characters, although prominent examples include AdolfHitler, an out of work ex-soldier wannabe artist turned fascist dictator, and Osama Bin Laden, [[BewareTheNiceOnes a quiet, nice religious boy from a moderate, prosperous family]] turned mass murdering [[TheChessmaster terrorist mastermind]].
* {{Novelization}}: Biographies, textbooks, and a whole bunch of other stuff.
* OfficialCouple: Too many to count. Unlike nonreality, you might actually have a chance for a romantic fan fic not written about you.
* OneHitPointWonder: The human race is extremely fragile and can easily be killed with a [[ChunkySalsaRule single attack]]. Also subverted because humans are tougher than they look - time, though, eats up HP something fierce. Also, modern weaponry have made humans one-hit kills, and it would take a much longer time to bring one down with just hands.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Welcome to the Internet.
* OneSteveLimit: [[AvertedTrope Averted massively]].
* OnlySaneMan: "All the world is [[HaveAGayOldTime queer]] save me and thee; and sometimes I think thee a little queer." - Quaker expression.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: You're repeatedly tested on your knowledge in the "School" phase as well as the optional "College/Uni" phase. Depending on the character class you choose, you'll also have to do this kind of thing frequently during your job.
* OntologicalMystery: Characters enter the world naked and crying with no idea whatsoever of their purpose for existence. Might all be a giant ShaggyDogStory.
* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Even more so starting with the TurnOfTheMillennium arc.
* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The more a country's name sounds like the personification of an ideal, the more likely it is to be the opposite.
* PerpetuallyStatic: Subverted.
* PinballScoring: Some currencies' values are so low that one USD is equal to thousands of that currency. And then there's hyperinflation; post-WorldWarI Germany, for instance, had bank notes with values as high as 100,000,000,000,000 marks.
* PlayerVersusPlayer: Between Law/Crime and opposing Military players. Technically any player can engage, but it's not a very good idea.
* PlanetOfHats: Averted six billion ways to Sunday, although this doesn't stop a lot of authors from trying to play it straight. Declining in popularity these days.
* PlotArmor: Averted. The plot follows character development, rather than the other way around.
** [[AllMythsAreTrue Or does it?]]
* PoorCommunicationKills: Played straight loads of times.
* PossessionSue: A common practice in Real Life fan fiction.
* PosthumousCharacter: Influential characters from early seasons [[VindicatedByHistory can have surprising influence on later plotlines even after they die]]. The DoomedMoralVictor from the Rise of Rome storyline is now (arguably) the ''posthumous main character''. The [[strike:WideEyedIdealist]] TheChessmaster from the Arabia arc and the JerkWithAHeartOfGold from the Bo Tree arc have been almost as influential, and even the CrazyAwesome MadScientist from the Restoration Arc (and his later counterparts in the World War I and World War II storylines) is still considered important.
* PowerGivesYouWings: Inverted -- wings give you power! Just ask any Air Force.
* ThePowerOfRock: Played straight. Rock music was played to get Manuel Noriega to surrender during Operation Just Cause.
* PowerPerversionPotential: My, my, my. Where do we ''begin?'' This trope was the founder of one of Real Life's first job classes.
* PresentDay, [[SerialExperimentsLain Present Time]]: Always.
* PressXToDie: Suicide.
** Suicide is arguably a subverion, as you have to be deliberate about it. The vagus nerve reflex would be a straight interpretation
* PrestigeClass: Doctor, lawyer, president.
* {{Prequel}}: "Real Life Prehistoric"
* ProtectionFromEditors: The creator clearly believes the work is perfect as it stands and needs no editing. According to one (possibly apocryphal) anecdote, when one of the staff criticized the early script, the creator had him and his friends fired. Said ex-staff member and his friends would go on to form their own rival studio that would [[WriterOnBoard attempt to derail the characters and plots even further.]]
* PurelyAestheticGender: Averted in the extreme. For instance, male characters have a [[GroinAttack weak point]] while female characters suffer a nasty debuff once a month. [[supersecretspoiler:Actually, females have the same weak point that males do.]]
* {{PWP}}: No matter what you expect it to stand for, it's played straight here.
* RagdollPhysics: Actually done right.
* RandomNumberGod: Character generation, which is especially weird thanks to requiring two players to generate a new one, each from a distinct half of the player base. Stats are based on the stats of several related characters, not just to two that instigated the generation of a new characcter, and has some mediocrely-coded randomization in choosing stats to use for the new character (and there are a LOT of stats!). Some other tiny random changes are also implemented, giving unique new values for stats, but a lot of the time these either have no effect on gameplay or actually hinder the new character. A good number of new characters are also deleted before gameplay really begins due to [[HonestRollsCharacter a poor stat roll]] or problems during the later stages of character generation. All in all, Real Life character generation is really fun at first, but becomes highly inconvenient later on, and downright painful at the end. Recent patches have introduced methods to generate characters without the usual player pairing, making a new version of the same character (with zero experience, of course), and even [[PointBuildSystem customizing the new character from the VERY START with much less interference from the RNG]]. All of these methods are still in the early beta stages, and have gotten a lot of outcry from the player base due to their [[GameBreaker game breaking]] potential, plus distaste at the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney high wealth requirement]] to even attempt them. Even then the character changes after generation, and can change based on interactions within the game, as well as self-modification which occures semi-randomly. Whew.. it's complicated.
*RasputinianDeath: Trope namer.
* RealIsBrown: It is. It's also many, ''many'' [[SceneryPorn other colors]], to the delight of species with color vision.
* RealityEnsues: This always seems to happen for some reason...
* RealityIsUnrealistic: TropeNamer
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Well, it '''is''' the plot, but discoveries and wars are almost entirely based upon players' actions.
** Also, the TropeNamer
* ReclusiveArtist: So reclusive that there have been thousands of opinions about the artist: Some consider there to only be one artist, some consider there to be multiple artists, and some think it's all a big conspiracy and the work was produced without any artist.
* RedBaron: The TropeNamer
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Since AnyoneCanDie, this trope comes in straight, subverted, averted, and every other possible combination. The straight version often spawns religions.
* RedemptionEqualsSex: Reportedly played straight in many ancient religions, averted in most cases today. Still played straight in Tantric yoga and a few NewAge cults.
* RefugeInAudacity: Oh, so many, many examples...
* ReplacementScrappy: Too many examples. From the staff of your favorite Starbucks to world political leaders, at some point in your life you're guaranteed to have someone you like replaced by someone you don't.
** Moving from one school, workplace, or area of residence to another can create a lot of these.
* RetCon: Changing the origin story from creation by a [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien higher power]] to gradual, random evolution over billions of years. Note that the former was a RetCon itself; some long-time fans fondly recall the various gods and divine intrigues that dominated the early seasons. Retconning also comes in the form of amnesia and blocking out memories (usually of traumatic experiences), though it's handled quite differently here than in most other series.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Capybaras.
* RuleOfCool: Partially subverted by the obsessive emphasis on consistent physics, chemistry, biology, etc.--much of which turns out to be incredibly cool in itself.
** Of course, this serves to make the true {{badass}}es look even better.
* RuleOfFun: Subverted. [[GuitarHero Learning to play guitar]] takes months of lessons and practice, [[FirstPersonShooter shooting up friends]] [[KilledOffForReal kills them off for real]] and is a criminal offense, [[ShootEmUps fighter jets]] have far more controls than an 8-way stick and "fire" and "bomb" buttons and can only move forward, [[{{Tetris}} making whole lines of blocks doesn't make them vanish]], and [[SportsGame sports]] take lots of practice, require you to be in great athletic shape, and can cause more serious injuries than worn-out thumbs.
* RuleOfFunny: Played straight.
* {{Rule 34}}: To the point where Real Life porn is a major industry.
* SanityBall: It's mine, all mine, and you can't have it!
* SaveScumming: Averted, there appears to be no way to save the game at all.
** Unless [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_immortality this]] theory is correct and we all have unlimited save games.
*** NightmareFuel alert. It also mean that despite you are reading TVTropes, there are countless "you" lying dead in countless universes.
* SceneryPorn: Sets the standard for all other scenery, and most media can't hope to measure up. 126 million light receptors per eye makes for some really good graphics, and the resolution cannot be beat. Full 3D, pan, dynamic light and shadows, adjustable focus, and (with the proper upgrade equipment) zoom. AND a visible spectrum of several million colors. Also has changing times of day, living landscapes, near-infinite fractals, and weather effects that are never the same twice.
** A specific location of Scenery Porn is the Crystal Cave.
*** No, as you can see [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16797_15-more-images-you-wont-believe-arent-photoshopped.html on 13th entry]], it's NightmareFuel.
* SchizoTech: Because of a lack of ProductPlacement, new equipment has to be ''bought'', resulting in people with the latest game console, a 5-year old cell phone, 13-year-old car and a [[FridgeLogic fridge]] that's older than its owner. Increasingly averted for characters that buy from companies that practice planned obsolescence. With a little careful purchasing though, one can still play this straight.
* ScienceIsBad: It becomes responsible for most of the more horrific weapons used throughout the series. This is somewhat of a derailment, for the majority of the main continuity science has been largely beneficial, it is only really in the last couple of seasons that this becomes an issue. Subverted somewhat when the most destructive weapons wind up encouraging ''peace'' via mutually assured destruction. There are also hints that lesser weapons sometimes have a similar effect, but this seems to be far less consistent. That, and it's been proven many times before in the series that science overall is a great thing when it's used for good, meaning that this trope is [[AvertedTrope averted]].
* SchematizedProp - many, most notably the digestive system. The reproductive system also deserves mention.
* SchmuckBait: Oh, so much.
* ScoringPoints: Many classes in schools and colleges use points to determine your grades. Also, credit scores.
* TheScrappy: Bill collectors for very justified reasons. Have a very bad reputation for being rude, acting like thugs, and attracting the criminal element. Make their money at the expense of families going through tough times. This round of exceptionally rough economic times has become the golden age for collections.
** Also, cops. Not only are there criminals who hate them, but there are non-criminals who dislike cops who abuse their power.
** And spammers.
* ScrappyLevel: Middle school, for most people. High School too, it varies. Large numbers of the fanbase might argue that its entirely made up of Scrappy Levels.
** Also, The "IRS Audit" level has proved roundly unpopular. Same goes for the "minimum wage job" stage. However, the "divorce" stage has is probably one of the most hated in the entire game.
* ScrappyMechanic: Certain diseases/symptoms, also the fact that you have to [[LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading queue up for many things because of limited server capacity]].
* ScrewTheRulesIHavePlot: Usually averted since no one can figure out what the plot is. Though [[CrowningMomentofAwesome some events]] make you wonder...
* ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules: Non-profit organizations.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Some major corporations exhibit this trope.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Common enough to be represented by an entire job class -- they're called dictators.
* SealedEvilInACan: Many viruses.
* SealedGoodInACan: Coca-Cola, the Marines, penicillin, iPods, paperback novels ... YourMileageMayVary of course.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The reason why a child sees everything in the world as wonderful, while with most adults, familiarity has bred contempt.
* SequelDisplacement: World War II is far more remembered than World War I.
* SerialKiller: A few characters seem to be this.
* SeriesFauxnale: The Great War arc (later known as World War I) was advertised as "the war to end all wars". It's been ninety seasons now since it finished.
* SexMontage: It's happening ''right now.''
* ShipTease: Spreading rumors about characters dating each other. Prevelant in many characters' high school arcs and among the Celebrity job class.
* ShipSinking: Allllll the time. Occasionally cause for a HeroicBSOD.
* ShowWithinAShow: With a large cast of characters, it's not surprising that every major group have a large number of fictional and nonfictional novels and books, a tribute the the attention to detail the Creator of the series took in his/her worldbuilding.
* SingleBiomePlanet: Averted.
* SlidingScales
** SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Tends to slide back and forth between arcs, but generally stays near the middle, perhaps [[{{Wangst}} inclining somewhat towards cynicism]]. Generally fluctuates up and down from a mean point around the middle on a daily basis as well, and the actual position at any time may [[YourMileageMayVary vary depending on how you see it]].
* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Antartica, Siberia, the local ski resort... all there.
* {{Spoiler}}: Subverted, since many characters purport to offer information about future story arcs, which later will turn out to be [[ScrewDestiny blatantly wrong.]] Possibly the best example in the current arc is a spoiler about [[spoiler:TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt]] found in [[spoiler:ancient Mayan hint books]] which will [[spoiler:fail to happen]] in the year [[spoiler:2012.]]
** Many would argue that the above example is an UrbanLegendOfZelda -- [[spoiler:the hint books only actually predict the end of a calendar, a la the millennium]].
* TheSlowPath
* {{Spinoff}}: ''SecondLife''. Widely considered to suffer from severe AdaptationDecay, although its fans will argue that it's merely [[PragmaticAdaptation pragmatic]].
* {{Squick}}: Approximately 25% of the internet. Shock sites compose at least 10% of this. Certain sites can actually be ''High Octane'' Squick. Heck, there's a bunch of this outside the Internet.
* StandardStatusEffects: Humans are vulnerable to poison, paralysis, sloth, blindness, beserk, confusion, and death. Some would say cursing can happen as well. Petrification is rare but a gamebreaker, see Pompeii. [[IncrediblyLamePun Muteness is almost unheard of]] (though speech impediments are common).
* ''StarTrek'': While there is no Starfleet, there is NASA, which is a civilian agency which utilizes military personnel and attempts to explore space. It even includes a ship called ''Enterprise'' in its fleet (though it doesn't fly), and includes the phrase "Where no man has gone before" in its literature. They're still working on warp drive and teleporters though.
* StopHavingFunGuys: The responsibilities and reduced free time that comes with [[GrowingUpSucks growing up]].
* StopHelpingMe: Parents. Sometimes this persists well into the adult arc and even the married-with-children arc for some characters.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Also known as varying degrees of "indecent exposure."
* SweetPollyOliver: Female crossdressing for a good cause.
* TacticalRockPaperScissors: An extremely complex web, constantly changing with technology. Factors for any military unit include firepower, mobility, survivability and dozens of niche roles. Most units are able to counter their counters as well, and are highly versatile.
* TearJerker: Many, but the biggest one would be the unexpected and tragic death of [[spoiler:my goldfish.]]
** Silly, just get a [[spoiler: ReplacementGoldfish]].
* TheGame. You are losing it.
* TheManyDeathsOfYou: Averted, in that death is usually one-time and permanent. However, there are a ''lot'' of different ways to do it.
* TheTetrisEffect: ''Billions'' of people are addicted to RealLife. Curiously, those who try to end their addiction are considered mentally disturbed and given psychological "help" to keep them addicted.
* ThatOneBoss: The [=SATs=]. Also, interviews for those who've neglected their social training.
** Occasionally, an actual boss.
* TheoryOfNarrativeCausality: [[AvertedTrope Usually averted]]. But occasionally played straight.
*TheGhost: "She". Your character never meets her, but a lot of other characters know her, and she shure is talkative.
** See also "Them" or "They".
* {{They Changed It Now It Sucks}}. Constantly, many people complain that the present series is not as good as 'the olden days'.
* ThirtyXanatosPileup: When you've got over 200 states and polities competing for every possible advantage, as well as countless factions ''within each one'', it's more or less inevitable.
* ThisIsReality: Justified.
* ThrowItIn: The series is an ambitious project, in that ''none'' of the actors are given scripts to memorize, and almost all of the dialogue is ad-libbed.
* TierInducedScrappy: The homeless.
* TimedMission: Each human has, on average, 66.12 years to live. This time limit can be extended if you're healthy enough. Unfortunately, it's also [[LuckBasedMission luck based]], as your time limit can be drastically reduced depending on where your character lives; for example, a character based in Africa is likely to have a lower time limit than one in Europe. Sometimes your characters time limit is unexpectedly ended by just plain unfair things, like [[NonstandardGameOver being hit by a car]].
* TimeKeepsOnSlipping: Which, combined with FinalDeath and the lack of {{Save Point}}s makes for [[NintendoHard incredibly unforgiving difficulty]].
* TooAwesomeToUse: Money, especially amongst the upper classes.
* TooDumbToLive: There is a reason why The Darwin Awards exist.
* TookALevelInBadass: Played straight by countless individuals, but can also happen on a larger scale, up to and including an entire species. Fan favorite moments include the Agricultural, Industrial, and Digital Revolutions.
** Rumor has it that North American Cockroaches are in the middle of doing this, by developing poision glands.
* TravelCool: A lot of the human race's engineering efforts yield cool machines to suit their BadassNormal style. The higher-level examples of the CoolStarship, however, have not yet been unlocked as nobody has the cash for that expansion pack yet.
** [[TimeMarchesOn We're working on that.]]
** We haven't quite finished with the undersea exploration expansion, either.
* TropesAreNotBad
* TropesAreNotGood: See also TelevisionIsTryingToKillUs.
* TropeMaker: While it is under recognized as a source of tropes, the fact remains that this series is, quite literally, [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted the baseline for most any work you can name]].
* TropeOverdosed: To specify, it is the UrExample, TropeNamer, TropeMaker, and TropeCodifier for not only everything on this page, but ''every trope on this wiki'', if [[ShowWithinAShow Shows Within Shows]] count.
* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig zagged]].
* TruthInTelevision
* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: Monarchs [[OlderThanDirt since the dawn of time]] and accomplished British citizens, among others.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: Slave rebellions.
* {{Uncanceled}}: The Cuban Missile Crisis was one notable example.
* {{Unobtainium}}: Oil, uranium, gold, diamond, and lots more(depending on what you want, where you are, and what you can give for it). An extreme case would be antimatter, which is extremely difficult to create and annihilates anything it touches into pure energy(and hence must be stored in electromagnetic fields).
** Nicely subverted with pure aluminum, which used to be more valuable than gold and is now used to store cheap beverages.
* UnpleasableFanbase: Many fans aren't satified with their character in RealLife.
* UnreliableNarrator: To many, the mass media.
* UnstableEquilibrium: Played brutally straight, with the poor being stuck in the infamous cycle of "can't earn money -> can't go to school -> can't get a job -> can't earn money", while the rich are able to buy up other businesses, making them even richer.
** Averted with socialistic countries where said school is affordable by mostly everyone, and if not, you can buy required stuff used. Of course, get too socialistic and money may not be too useful anyway.
** Played straight with job hunting. People with experience can more easily score jobs, while those without are much less likely to be taken seriously.
* {{Unwinnable}}: Go ahead. Just try it.
** Since all achivements are open to interpretation, winning is possible by some definitions and impossible by others.
*** Since [[FakeDifficulty you only get one life and no saves,]] you may only acquire [[MultipleEndings one ending out x]], x being the amount of living creatures that did, do and will exist in Real Life.
* UselessUsefulSpell: The aforementioned GameBreaker nukes. Everyone is so afraid of facing retaliation for using just one that they remain stuck in the inventory.
* {{Vaporware}}: Fusion reactors, flying cars, nanobots, etc. The slower-than-expected development of some things, though, is counterbalanced by surprise inventions like cheese, nuclear bombs and lasers. Flying cars have been completed, but they turn out to be nothing more than AwesomeButImpractical gimmicks. They're still being worked on, alongside Orbital Tourism.
* ViolationOfCommonSense: Laws don't stop people from doing bad or completely stupid things. In fact, the Darwin Awards exist to reward blatant violations.
** Also most of Quantum Physics and Relativity - evidently, the Universe doesn't bother about complying to the common sense of those insignificant little humans on their tiny pale blue bit of dust called Earth.
* TheVirus: Way too many to count; some of them are also HighOctaneNightmareFuel. Some of these tend to be GameBreakingBugs that lead to many a DownerEnding.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Elementary (or "primary") school.
* WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld: Averted, sadly.
* WallBanger: The biggest one of ''all time''.
* WarIsHell: Though the degree varies from war to war, country to country, soldier to soldier, and citizen to citizen. It also depends on the technology in play: An [[CoolPlane F-22 Raptor]] [[AcePilot pilot]] flying at a cool altitude of 50000 feet, casually shredding enemy planes while remaining invisible and practically invincible himself, certainly has a much better time than a poor infantry grunt in the trenches of World War 1 or the jungles of Vietnam.
* WeaksauceWeakness: Allergies.
* WelcomeToCorneria: Averted if you're talking to an adult human of normal mentality. Playing it straight may be a sign of developing language skills, retardation, or a psychological disorder.
* WhamEpisode: Many, but the most recent one would be the infamous 9/11 episode.
** ...In America.
** And fifty years earlier, there was the Hiroshima episode, which ended the lengthy World War II arc and began the Cold War arc.
* WhatDoesThisButtonDo: Depending on the button, anything from "nothing" to "nuclear Armageddon, god help us all." The number of safeguards on a button is a rough (but inexact) guide to how big a thing would happen if you pushed it.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: It ''is'' for kids. It's also for everybody else, which usually results in a few GrowingUpSucks moments on the way to adulthood.
* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Cultural example: In most European countries rats are considered to be pests and unclean. In India there is a 600-year-old temple of clean rats, with every generation free of disease, that are friendly with people. Anthropomorphic faced animal vs. non-anthropomorphic/fuzzy animal example: Pandas have billions of dollars spent on their survival and they don't contribute greatly as a species, while other very important insects and other critically endangered species are ignored massively in comparison, even though it will actually cause big problems to see them go.
* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough: You bet your ass someone would. (It's rumored that while the series population is continually growing, [[ConservationOfCompetence the sum of their total intelligence remains fixed]].)
* WideOpenSandbox: The effective playing area is a single small planet that requires immense resources even to leave for a few days, so almost no one does. Thanks to the planet's transparent atmosphere, [[LampshadeHanging you can see immense distances]] into the WideOpenSandbox; you [[PerpetuallyStatic just can't get there.]] May be a BrokenBridge, or the content just hasn't been added yet.
** Well, technically you ''can'' get there if you're willing to wait for ages. And if warp drives are ever invented, the Sandbox is effectively opened.
* WikiWalk: Many of the more interesting conversations in life, not all of them held on [[LemonWackyHello controlled substances]].
* WildTeenParty: Can you say, ''spring break?''
* TheWoobie: Baby seals, so much so that they've become a trope in themselves.
* WordOfGod: Too many to count. For many religions, the Bible (in whole or part). For Catholics, the Pope (under certain circumstances). For Muslims, the Qur'an and Hadith. For still others, the voices inside their head.
** The difficulty of proving one knows the author(s) means that for all we know this is [[WordOfDante Word of Dante]] or even Fanon.
* WorldHalfEmpty[=/=]AWorldHalfFull
* XenSyndrome: Old age.
* YearInsideHourOutside: "I swear I was thirteen just twenty minutes ago- wait, it was twenty ''years''? Wow. I knew TheNineties were in there somewhere but....Wow."
* YouFailBiologyForever: Averted, though not for lack of trying. Humans have come up with a wide variety of methods to twist biology or explain its mysteries, and most of them do not work.
* YouFailLawForever: Played straight often enough to keep the bad lawyers in business and give the good ones a bad name.
* YouFailLogicForever: Quantum physics - which proves that the Universe needn't comply with human intuition. See also: TheMcCoy.
* YouFailReligiousStudiesForever: Every time a new religion starts or there's a schism, the practitioners of the old school will cry this trope.
*YouHaveResearchedBreathing: Subverted; you don't need to know how something works to use it, but if you want to research your bodily functions, go ahead. Played straight in the Biology Class and Firearms Licence levels.
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt: The implied purpose of every war in history. If those in charge claim they're fighting for something else, they're either lying or misinformed.
* YouKilledMyFather: Played straight with Genghis Khan, who decided to [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge kill everyone in the Tatar clan to get his revenge]] after his father was killed by them. He didn't stop there. It actually became a very large story arc which affected millions and is still looked back on by many of the fanbase.
* YourMileageMayVary: See DifficultyByRegion, NightmareFuel. Some characters get over 100 seasons and others don't even get one.
**Really, with the diversity present in Real Life, [[YourMileageMayVary this can apply to just about anything]].
* YouShouldKnowThisAlready: Certain pieces of information are required to survive. Many of these are self-evident. Some are not.
**Breathing is a notable one.
* YouSuck: Inverted. You rock!
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