Opposite Tropes - TV Tropes

Here is a place to note the tropes which are opposites of one another.

See also the Canonical List of Subtle Trope Distinctions, Trope Grid (which covers when there's more than one possible Opposite Trope), Distaff Counterpart for a list of tropes with gender counterparts (male vs female), and Evil Counterpart for a list of tropes with moral counterparts (good vs evil).

Sub-Trope of Inverted Trope.

Opposite tropes:

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100% Completion vs. Minimalist Run: Win the game by collecting everything vs. Win the game by collecting nothing.
Abusive Parents vs. Good Parents: Parent is cruel to their kids vs. parent is great with their kids.
Accidental Innuendo vs. Innocent Innuendo: A statement which sounds suggestive by accident vs. a statement which sounds suggestive but is completely innocent.
Accidental Murder vs. Creating Life Is Unforeseen: Accidentally causing death vs. accidentally causing life.
Accidental Nightmare Fuel vs. Nightmare Retardant: Not meant to be scary but is vs. meant to be scary but isn't.
Acoustic License vs. I Can't Hear You: Hearing vs. not hearing something when something loud is happening.
Acrofatic vs. Glacier Waif: A big guy you'd expect to be the Mighty Glacier (or Stone Wall) is actually the Fragile Speedster (or a Lightning Bruiser) vs. a small girl you'd expect to be the Fragile Speedster (or Glass Cannon) is actually the Mighty Glacier (or Stone Wall).
Action-Based Mission vs. Stealth-Based Mission: A mission involving violence in a game with little violence vs. a mission involving stealth in a game with little stealth.
Action Girl vs. Damsel in Distress: A woman or girl who does action stuff vs. a woman or girl who other people need to do action stuff to save.
Action Hero vs. Non-Action Guy: Someone who fights to solve problems vs. someone who doesn't.
Actionized Adaptation vs. Pacified Adaptation: An adaptation features more action vs. an adaptation features less action.
Actually Pretty Funny / Played for Laughs vs. Dude, Not Funny!: The joke was at someone's expense but they found it funny anyway/there is a joke, vs. topics that are too serious to be jokes.
A-Cup Angst vs. Big-Breast Pride: Character is ashamed of having small breasts vs. character is proud of having big breasts.
A-Cup Angst vs. D-Cup Distress: Character is upset about having small breasts vs. character is upset about having big breasts. Contrast to D-Cup Distress vs. Petite Pride
A-Cup Angst vs. Petite Pride: Grief vs. pride about having small breasts.
Adaptational Attractiveness vs. Adaptational Ugliness: An unattractive character becomes more attractive in an adaptation vs. an attractive character becomes less attractive in an adaptation.
Adaptational Badass vs. Adaptational Wimp: Character is made stronger in adaptation vs. character is made weaker in adaptation.
Adaptational Comic Relief vs. Adaptational Seriousness: A character becomes goofier in an adaptation vs. a character becomes more serious in an adaptation.
Adaptational Curves vs. Adaptational Slimness: A character is made more muscular or curvaceous in an adaptation vs. a character being made more skinnier in an adaptation.
Adaptational Heroism vs. Adaptational Villainy: A villainous character becomes a hero in another adaptation vs. a heroic character becomes a villain in another adaptation.
Adaptational Jerkass vs. Adaptational Nice Guy: A Nice Guy character becomes a Jerkass in another adaptation vs. a Jerkass character becomes a Nice Guy in another adaptation.
Adaptational Modesty vs. Adaptational Skimpiness: A character's costume is less revealing in the adaptation vs. a character's costume is more revealing in the adaptation.
Adaptation Expansion vs. Compressed Adaptation: Adaptation Expansion takes a short work (e.g. a poem) and fleshes it out in to a larger piece (e.g. a movie). Compressed Adaptation takes a work with a lot of history and/or development and condensed down to fill a specific amount of time (e.g. an adaptation of a 50+ year old comic book in to a two and a half hour movie).
Adults Are Useless vs. Reasonable Authority Figure: Adult characters are useless vs. adult characters are helpful.
Advancing Boss of Doom vs. "Get Back Here!" Boss: The boss chases after you vs. you chase after the boss.
Adventure Rebuff vs. Refusal of the Call: Someone is told not to help vs. someone refuses to help.
Affably Evil vs. Good is Not Nice: Evil character who's nice vs. good character who isn't.
After Boss Recovery vs. Suspicious Videogame Generosity: With an After Boss Recovery, upon winning (or, if the boss is a Hopeless Boss Fight) you get a ton of recovery items. With Suspicious Videogame Generosity, the game starts throwing very powerful and/or useful items at you (potion that will heal you or a teammate completely, items that resore magic points); it's the game's (and game developer's) way of warning you that there is a horrifically bad boss or challenging area close by, so you'd better save and make sure you use all the items being given to you.
Agent Mulder vs. Agent Scully: Believer vs. skeptic.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot vs. Benevolent A.I.: Artificial Intelligence goes rogue and becomes evil vs. Artificial Intelligence that just wants to help its creators or do the job it was designed to do.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg vs. Defiant to the End or Face Death with Dignity: Character facing death who pleads their would-be killer for mercy vs. character facing death who is fearless or even mocking and insulting to their would-be killer.
The Alcoholic vs. The Teetotaler: Drinks a lot vs. doesn't drink.
Alcohol-Induced Idiocy vs. Drunken Master: Character is incompetent when drunk vs. character who gets even more competent when drunk.
Aliens Are Bastards vs. Innocent Aliens: Mean aliens vs. nice aliens.
Allergic to Evil vs. Good Hurts Evil: Good guys are hurt by evil vs. bad guys are hurt by good.
Allergic to Routine vs. Creature of Habit: Hates routine vs. loves it.
All-American Face vs. Foreign Wrestling Heel: A patriotic wrestler that the fans love vs. a foreign wrestler that the fans hate.
All Girls Want Bad Boys vs. Single Woman Seeks Good Man: A female character interested in men with 'bad attitude' vs. a female character interested in males with 'good attitude'.
All Myths Are True vs. Arbitrary Skepticism: Believing in all myths vs. picking and choosing which myths are real.
All Part of the Show vs. You Just Ruined the Shot: An outrageous act is not part of the performance or is part of the performance.
All-Star Cast vs. Amateur Cast: The show has famous people in the cast vs. the show has unknown people in the cast.
Almost Dead Guy vs. Not Quite Dead (or Only Mostly Dead): Someone stays long enough to indulge information before dying vs. turning out to still be alive.
Alpha Bitch vs. Fallen Princess: A popular jerk vs. an unpopular former jerk.
Alternate Universe Reed Richards Is Awesome vs. Reed Richards Is Useless: Heroic character who uses awesome technology and money to change the world for the better vs. one that keeps their toys to themselves because Status Quo Is God.
Aluminium Christmas Trees vs. Reality Is Unrealistic: Something which exists in Real Life is assumed to be fictional vs. something which is fictional is assumed to be real.
Always Chaotic Evil vs. Always Lawful Good: A race is always villainous vs. always heroic.
Amazon Chaser vs. No Guy Wants an Amazon: A guy is in love with or is repulsed by a strong woman.
Americans Hate Tingle vs. Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Hate vs. love of a series outside its country of origin.
Amoral Attorney vs Crusading Lawyer: A lawyer who is morally evil vs. a lawyer who is morally good.
Ancient Conspiracy vs. Ancient Tradition: A malevolent ancient organization vs. a benevolent ancient organization. (However, they might overlap.)
And the Fandom Rejoiced vs. Tainted by the Preview: Optimism vs. pessimism over an upcoming work after any pre-release announcement.
And Then John Was a Zombie vs. Tomato in the Mirror: And Then John Was a Zombie is when a character is turned into something bad at the end. Tomato in the Mirror is when the character turns out to have been the bad thing all along.
And You Thought It Was a Game vs. And You Thought It Was Real: A character believes that a real situation is fake vs. a character believes that a fake situation is real.
Angst? What Angst? vs. Wangst: Character whines a lot less than you think they should vs. character whines too much.
Animals Hate Him vs. Friend to All Living Things: Animals hate someone vs. animals like someone.
Anticlimax Boss vs. Climax Boss: A boss that's easy to beat despite its story importance vs. a boss that matches its story importance as far as difficulty.
Anticlimax Boss vs. Boss in Mook Clothing: A boss is easier to beat than expected vs. a mook is harder to beat than expected.
Anti-Hero vs. Anti-Villain: A hero who lacks the qualities of a hero vs. a villain who lacks the qualities of a villain.
Anti-Hero vs. Ideal Hero: A hero who lacks moral uprightness vs. a hero who doesn't.
Anti-Hero vs. The Hero: A hero who lacks the qualities of a hero vs. a straight-laced protagonist.
The Anti-Nihilist vs. Straw Nihilist: "Life has no meaning...because it's up to us to give it one." vs. "Life has no meaning!"
Anti-Sue vs. Common Mary Sue Traits: Character is a Mary Sue or Marty Stu but doesn't have common traits of one/has rare traits of one, vs. character has traits common amongst Mary Sues and Marty Stus and may or may not be one themselves.
Anyone Can Die vs. Red Shirt: Important character gets killed off vs. only nameless extras get killed off.
Ape Shall Never Kill Ape vs. In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: A race refuses to kill members of its own or exclusively kills members of its own.
Apologizes a Lot vs. The Unapologetic: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." vs "I never apologize!"
Appeal to Novelty vs. Appeal to Tradition: The new way is how we should do things vs. the old way is how we should do things
Arduous Descent to Terra Firma vs. Casual High Drop (a character who has a difficult time going down to level ground due to safety concerns vs. a character who can easily and harmlessly fall to level ground).
Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy vs. Martial Pacifist: A martial artist who isn't afraid to use violence but has no discipline vs. a martial artist who is disciplined but refuses to use violence.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking vs. Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Mundane item in a list of horrible ones vs. horrible item in a list of mundane ones.
Artificial Brilliance vs. Artificial Stupidity: The extremes of videogame AI.
As Long as There Is Evil vs. As Long as There Is One Man: Evil or good will always persist.
Ascended Demon vs. Fallen Angel: A demon becomes a heroic being vs. an angel becomes evil
Ascended Fanon vs. Jossed: A fan theory that later gets confirmed by the Word of God ... or not.
Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence vs. Dragged Off to Hell: Someone leaves Earth by going up to Heaven or getting dragged down to Hell.
Asshole Victim vs. Sympathetic Murderer: A murdered person who was unsympathetic vs. a killer who has redeeming qualities.
Ass Kicks You vs. Literal Ass-Kicking: Attacking with the buttocks vs. attacking the buttocks
Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever vs. Incredible Shrinking Man: Character grows vs. character shrinks
Author's Saving Throw vs. Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Attempting to fix/get rid of a perceived problem or The Scrappy vs. retooling the offending element to make it better.
Avoid the Dreaded G Rating vs. Getting Crap Past the Radar: Blatantly putting in adult humor vs. sneaking it in.
Avoid the Dreaded G Rating vs. Rated M for Money: Using non-family-friendly things to avoid being marketed exclusively to children vs. shamelessly going for adult audiences.
Awesome, but Impractical vs. Boring, but Practical: It looks cool but has too many drawbacks vs. it looks boring but it's able to do the job effectively
Awesome McCoolname vs. Atrocious Alias: A character has a cool name vs. a character has an embarrassing name

Back from the Dead vs. Killed Off for Real: A character dies and comes back to life vs. a character dies and doesn't.
Bad Guy Bar vs. Good-Guy Bar: A bar where the villains or heroes hang out.
Bad Liar vs. Consummate Liar: Character is a terrible vs. skilled liar.
Badass Army vs. Red Shirt Army: Army of extremely strong and capable fighters vs. army of striplings who die in droves.
Badass Decay vs. Took a Level in Badass: Originally badass character becomes less so over time vs. originally non-badass character becoming more so over time.
Badass in Distress vs. Damsel in Distress: A captured person that is a capable combatant vs. a defenseless civilian.
Badass Pacifist vs. Blood Knight: Character is badass for not liking to fight vs. character is badass for liking to fight.
Bait-and-Switch Credits vs. Spoiler Opening: The opening credits are lying about something in the show vs. revealing a future plot point.
Balance Buff vs. Nerf: Something is made more powerful in order to make a game more balanced vs. something is made less powerful in order to make a game more balanced.
Bears Are Bad News vs. Beary Friendly / Beary Funny: A bear who is dangerous and hostile vs. a bear who is amiable or amusing.
Beautiful All Along vs Ugly All Along: Physically attractive or unattractive but hiding that fact.
Because Destiny Says So vs. Screw Destiny: Fate vs. free will.
Because You Were Nice to Me vs. Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Betraying someone because the opposing side treated them well vs. the original side treated them badly.
Be Careful What You Wish For vs. Wish-Fulfillment: Dream turning into a nightmare vs. dream coming true.
Beige Prose vs. Purple Prose: Too little vs. too many words
Being Evil Sucks vs. Being Good Sucks: Villainy or heroism is not fun.
Belief Makes You Stupid vs. Hollywood Atheist: Believing in the supernatural makes you stupid vs. not believing in the supernatural makes you stupid.
Berserk Button vs Kindness Button: Doing something that makes a character angry vs. doing something that makes a character pleasant.
Best Beer Ever vs. A Tankard of Moose Urine: Really good beer vs. really bad beer.
Betrayal by Offspring vs Parental Betrayal: Children betraying their own parents vs. parents betraying their own children.
Better as Friends vs. Just Friends: Romantic relationship becoming platonic vs. platonic relationship becoming romantic
Big Bad vs. Big Good: The ultimate villain vs. the ultimate hero.
Big-Breast Pride vs D-Cup Distress: Pride vs grief about having big breasts
Big-Breast Pride vs Petite Pride: Both being buxom and havind flat chest have their assets.
Big "NO!" vs. Big "YES!": Shouting, "No!" vs. shouting, "Yes!".
Big "NO!" vs. Little "No": Saying no loudly vs. quietly.
Big Sleep vs. Dies Wide Open: Dies with closed eyes vs. dies with open eyes
Big, Stupid Doodoo-Head vs. Flowery Insults: Overly short and blunt insults vs. overly long and eloquent insults.
Big "WHAT?!" vs. Flat "What": Saying "what" loudly vs. in a monotone
Bile Fascination vs. Hype Aversion: Bile Fascination is a peculiar attraction to a really bad work because of all of the negative buzz surrounding it. Hype Aversion is intentionally avoiding a product because everyone and their mother loves to talk about how great it is.
Birds of a Feather vs. Opposites Attract: Partners are extremely similar vs. partners aren't similar at all.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing vs. Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Major Jerkass behind Nice Guy facade vs. guy who shows openly both his nice guy and jerkass persona.
Black-and-Gray Morality vs. White-and-Grey Morality: A moral setting where there are bad guys and no obvious good guys vs. a moral setting where there are good guys and no clear-cut bad guys.
Black-and-White Morality vs. Grey-and-Gray Morality: Unambiguously good heroes & unambiguously evil villains versus morally ambiguous heroes and villains.
Blackface vs. White Like Me: Person pretends to be black and embodies negative stereotypes of black people vs. person pretends to be white and embodies negative stereotypes of white people.
Black Like Me vs. White Like Me: A white person pretends to be black or a black person pretends to be white.
Blessed with Suck vs. Cursed with Awesome: Good powers with a negative side vs. bad powers with a positive side.
Blinded by the Light vs. Harmless Luminescence: Opposite ends of how harmful light is, to eyes.
Bloodless Carnage vs. High-Pressure Blood: No blood at all vs. an unrealistically-high amount of blood.
Blown Across the Room vs. Law of Inverse Recoil: Gunshots with way too much recoil vs. gunshots with no recoil.
Bonus Space vs. Whammy: A good space on a game show's game board vs. a bad space on a game show's game board (usually one that takes away all of your money).
Book Dumb vs. Geek: Incompetent in academics but competent in other areas vs. competent in academics but incompetent in other areas.
Booze-Based Buff vs. Intoxication Mechanic: The player character in a video consuming alcohol gives them a tactical advantage in gameplay vs. gives them a disadvantage.
Break Them by Talking vs. "No More Holding Back" Speech or Heroism Motive Speech: A villain deconstructs the hero's motives for fighting and tries to exploit his psychological weaknesses, versus a hero who deconstructs his motives for fighting and then reaffirms his will to surmount them.
Breakable Weapons vs. Unbreakable Weapons: Weapons that do or do not break.
Breakout Character vs. Shoo Out the New Guy: The Ensemble Dark Horse or Unpopular Popular Character gets a bigger role due to fan reaction vs. The Scrappy or Creator's Pet gets a smaller role due to fan reaction.
Breather Boss vs. That One Boss: A boss that is easy vs. difficult to beat.
Breather Episode vs. Wham Episode: An episode that is light vs. heavy on plot. (TROPER GENERAL'S WARNING: putting these back-to-back can induce Mood Whiplash)
Breather Episode vs. Very Special Episode: An episode meant to be entertaining in a lighthearted way vs. an episode meant to be educational in a serious way.
Breather Episode vs. Unexpectedly Dark Episode: The work takes a more lighthearted tone than usual vs. the work takes a more serious tone than usual.
Breath Weapon vs. Fartillery: An attack from the mouth vs. an attack from the... other end.
Bring My Brown Pants vs. Stress Vomit: Fear makes something come out one end or the other.
Broad Strokes vs. Fan Wank — the former is the ultimate in Doylist interpretation, while the latter is the ultimate in Watsonian interpretation.
Brought Down to Normal vs. "Flowers for Algernon" Syndrome: Character temporarily loses an amazing trait vs. character temporarily gains one.
Buffy Speak vs. Spock Speak: Simplistic dialogue vs. technical dialogue.
Bullying the Disabled vs. Disability as an Excuse for Jerkassery: Bullying a disabled person vs. a person with a disability using their disability as an excuse to why they can be mean.
Bury Your Gays vs. Preserve Your Gays: The gay character dies vs. the gay character doesn't die.
But Now I Must Go vs. I Choose to Stay: Choosing to leave or stay at a critical juncture.
Butch Lesbian vs. Lipstick Lesbian: Lesbian women are either manly or very stereotypically effeminate.
Butt-Monkey vs. Karma Houdini: Someone is very unlucky vs. someone gets away with everything.
Butt-Monkey vs. Mary Sue: A character who fails at pretty much everything versus a character who succeeds at pretty much everything. The opposite-ness can be explored further: People hate the Mary Sue played straight, but love to laugh at the Butt-Monkey played straight. Inversely, people love to laugh at an exaggerated Mary Sue (Parody Sue or 30-Sue Pileup) but hates yanking the dog's chain that comes about when you exaggerate the Butt-Monkey.
Buy or Get Lost vs. Friendly Shopkeeper: A shopkeeper who's impatient vs. one who's very welcoming.
Bystander Syndrome vs. Chronic Hero Syndrome: Ignoring those in need of help vs. rushing to help everyone

Cain and Abel vs. Sibling Team: Siblings that try to kill each other vs. siblings that help each other.
Camp Gay vs. Manly Gay: Gay men are either effeminate or very stereotypically manly.
Camp Straight vs. Straight Gay: Straight man with stereotypical Camp Gay traits included vs. gay man with no stereotypical gay traits.
Canon (or Word of God) vs. Fanon: The writers made it up vs. the viewers did.
Canonical List of Subtle Trope Distinctions vs. Opposite Tropes: Lists of similar vs. dissimilar tropes.
Can't Get Away with Nuthin' vs. Can't Get in Trouble for Nuthin': Someone that keeps getting in trouble vs. someone that can't get in trouble.
Can't Get Away with Nuthin' vs. Karma Houdini: Someone always gets in trouble vs. never gets in trouble.
Can't Hold His Liquor vs. Never Gets Drunk: Someone gets drunk easily vs. someone can't get drunk.
Card-Carrying Villain vs. Knight Templar: Proud of being a villain vs. the villain is convinced he's the hero.
Care-Bear Stare vs. Mind Rape: A mental attack that is pleasant vs. unpleasant.
Career Resurrection vs. Creator Killer or Star-Derailing Role: A role that rebuilds or destroys a creator's career.
Casanova Wannabe vs. Kavorka Man (or Even the Guys Want Him): An attractive person that wants attention from the opposite sex but fails vs. an unattractive person that gets attention from the opposite sex vs. a person that's so attractive that members of the same gender are attracted to them.
Cassandra Truth vs. Sarcastic Confession: Someone tells the truth properly but no one believes them vs. someone deliberately hides the truth via a snide tone of voice.
Cast Incest vs. Incestuous Casting: Actors who play relatives dating vs. actual relatives playing lovers.
Casting a Shadow vs. Light 'em Up: Darkness-based Elemental Powers vs. light-based ones.
Cast of Snowflakes vs. Only Six Faces: Everyone looks distinct vs. everyone looks similar.
Category Traitor vs. You Are a Credit to Your Race: Condemning someone from one's own race vs. praising an individual from a so-called "enemy" race.
Celibate Hero and Ethical Slut vs. Sex Is Evil, and I Am Horny: A good character who refuses to have sex until they're married vs. a good character who happens to be sexually active vs. an evil character who shuns sex while struggling with their sexuality.
Celibate Hero vs. Unholy Matrimony: Single aromantic hero vs. a villainous couple.
- Celibate Hero vs. No Love for the Wicked: A heroic single character vs. a villainous single character.
Cerebus Syndrome vs Reverse Cerebus Syndrome: A story starts as innocent, funny, and with no sense in its established narrative to turn in a tragical, serious, and with clear consequences in its development vs. a story starts tragical, serious, and with clear consequences in its development to turn in an innocent, funny and with no sense in its established narrative.
Character Alignment tropes tend to be constructed so as to yield opposite pairs — as seen in the most commonly used system:
- Chaotic Evil vs. Lawful Good: Polar opposites of the moral and ethical scale.
- Chaotic Good vs. Lawful Evil: Same as the above.
- Chaotic Neutral vs. Lawful Neutral: Polar opposites of the ethical scale.
- Neutral Evil vs. Neutral Good: Polar opposites of the moral scale.
Cheerful Child vs. Creepy Child: A kid meant to be cute vs. a kid meant to scare you.
Cheerful Child vs. Troubled Child: A kid in good spirits vs. a kid who has issues.
Chewing the Scenery vs. Dull Surprise: Overacting vs. underacting.
The Chew Toy vs. The Woobie: Seeing him suffer makes you laugh vs. seeing him suffer makes you go "aww".
Chickification vs. Xenafication: A woman becomes less or more of an Action Girl over time.
Chummy Commies vs. Dirty Communists: The Reds are our allies against our current Number 1 enemies vs. the Reds are our Number 1 enemies.
City Mouse vs. Country Mouse: Someone from the city isn't used to living in the country vs. someone from the country isn't used to living in the city.
City Noir vs. Shining City: Both in terms of visuals and character, one city is horrible to live in while the other is clean and awesome (think, Gotham City vs. Metropolis).
City of Adventure vs. Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: A city that is full of excitement vs. a city that is full of boredom.
Clarke's Third Law vs. Magic Versus Science: Magic is indistinguishable from science vs. magic and science are diametrically opposed forces.
Clones Are People, Too vs. Expendable Clone: Clones are treated like people or garbage.
Close-Range Combatant vs. Long-Range Fighter: A fighter that fights exclusively up close vs. far away.
Cluster F-Bomb vs. Gosh Dang It to Heck!: Profanity-laden dialogue vs. mild curse words that aren't actual curses.
Cluster F-Bomb vs. Precision F-Strike: Many curse words vs. one curse word out of nowhere.
Cold Snap vs. Heat Wave: Unseasonably cold weather vs. unseasonably hot weather.
College Is "High School, Part 2" vs. Elaborate University High: The work treats college like high school vs. the work's high school is big and complex enough to be like a college.
Comically Cross-Eyed vs. Fish Eyes: Eyes which deviate inwards vs. eyes which deviate outwards.
Com Mons vs. Olympus Mons: wimpy summon monsters vs. godlike summon monsters
The Complainer Is Always Wrong vs. Peer Pressure Makes You Evil (or Blithe Spirit): The minority opinion is considered to be wrong by the writers vs. the majority opinion is considered to be wrong by the writers vs. the minority opinion convinces the majority opinion to agree with them.
Complete Monster vs. Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Purely evil vs. purely good
Complete Monster vs. Ideal Hero: The ultimate ends of the morality scale.
Compliment Backfire vs. Insult Backfire: A compliment is taken as an insult vs. an insult is taken as a compliment
Confidence Building Scheme vs. Confidence Sabotage: Trying to build up someone’s confidence vs. trying to make someone feel less confident.
Continuing is Painful vs. Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: You can continue playing after you die but with a serious penalty that almost makes it not worth it, vs. death or failure that practically doesn't mean anything.
Cool Shades vs. Nerd Glasses (although nerds can be cool too)
Corrupt Church vs. Saintly Church: A church that is malevolent vs. a church that is benevolent.
Corrupt Corporate Executive vs. Uncle Pennybags: A businessman that is malevolent vs. a businessman that is benevolent.
Corruption by a Minor vs. Corruption of a Minor: A child tricking an adult into committing a crime vs. an adult tricking a child into committing a crime.
Could Have Been Messy vs. Good Thing You Can Heal: Bringing up how bad an injury could have been vs. showing the injury but healing it soon afterwards.
Cowardly Lion (or The So-Called Coward) vs. Miles Gloriosus: Apparent coward, actual hero. vs. apparent hero, actual coward.
Crack Fic vs. Original Flavour: Fanfiction which makes no sense vs. one that makes perfect sense.
Crapsack World vs. Utopia: In the Crapsack World, life is pointless and everything sucks. In Utopia, everything and everyone is perfect.
Creator Breakdown vs. Creator Recovery: A creator's work becoming Darker and Edgier as a result of personal problems vs. a creator's work becoming Lighter and Softer as a result of personal happiness.
Creator's Pet vs. Take That, Scrappy!: The creators of a work fluffing up a hated character vs. them making fun of him/her/it.
Creator's Pet vs. They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: A character the audience hates gets too much screentime vs. a character the audience likes doesn't get enough screentime.
Creator's Pet vs. Unpopular Popular Character: Character only the author seems to like vs. character only the fans seem to like.
Creepy Blue Eyes vs. Innocent Blue Eyes: Blue eyes are creepy vs. cute.
Creepy Child vs. Psychopathic Manchild: Child who acts adult-like in an unsettling way vs. adult who acts child-like in an unsettling way.
Creepy Cleanliness vs. Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: Cleanliness vs. dirtiness is creepy
Creepy Crossdresser vs. Wholesome Crossdresser: A crossdresser is unsavory vs. a crossdresser is a perfectly fine person.
Creepy High-Pitched Voice vs. Evil Sounds Deep: Overly high-pitched voices are evil vs. overly deep voices are evil.
Crippling Overspecialization vs. Master of None: Someone who specializes in one thing at the cost of everything else or someone who can do anything but isn't good at any one thing.
Cruel Elephant vs. Honorable Elephant: Elephants are mean-spirited vs. elephants are noble.
Cruel Mercy vs. Cruel to Be Kind: Sparing someone to make them suffer vs. harming someone to help them survive
Cruel Mercy vs. Mercy Kill: Sparing someone to make them suffer vs. killing someone to end their suffering
Crutch Character vs. Magikarp Power: A video game character that gets weaker over time vs. a video game character that gets stronger over time.
Cuddle Bug/No Sense of Personal Space vs. Hates Being Touched: Character likes touching/getting too close to people vs. character does not like people touching/getting too close to them.
Cue the Rain vs. Cue the Sun: The rain means things are getting bad vs. the sun means things are getting good.
Cue the Sun vs. Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Death: The sun rises to signify something good vs. clouds cover up the sun to signify something bad.
Cute Ghost Girl vs. Stringy-Haired Ghost Girl: A ghost girl that is meant to be cute vs. a ghost girl that is meant to be scary.
Cute Witch/Hot Witch vs. Wicked Witch: The witch is an adorable little girl (or a more mature woman who happens to be a knockout beauty) vs. the classic witch, old and possibly monstrous.
Cutscene Incompetence vs. Cutscene Power to the Max: A video game character is weaker or stronger in the cutscenes than in the gameplay.
Cutting Off the Branches vs. Third-Option Adaptation: One of the endings is canon vs. a new ending is made up.
Cyberpunk vs. Raygun Gothic: A dystopian high-tech future vs. an optimistic low-tech future.
- Cyberpunk vs. Post-Cyberpunk: A pessimistic future vs. an optimistic future.
- Cyberpunk/Punk Punk in general vs. Crystal Spires and Togas: A rough, turbulent future society where technology is omnipresent vs. an elegant, sophisticated future where technology is discrete and unobtrusive.
The Cynic vs. The Idealist: Pessimism vs. optimism

D — E

Damsel in Distress vs. Damsel out of Distress: A damsel that has to be saved by outside forces vs. a damsel that can save herself.
Damsel in Distress vs. Distressed Dude: A woman/girl vs. a man/boy is in danger.
Damsel Scrappy vs. The Woobie: A Butt-Monkey, Chew Toy, or Damsel in Distress you despise vs. sympathize with.
Darker and Edgier vs. Lighter and Softer: A work gets more or less mature and serious over time.
Dark Fic vs. W.A.F.F.: A serious fanfiction vs. a cute fanfiction.
Dark Is Evil vs. Dark Is Not Evil: Something/somebody has spooky traits and is evil vs. something/somebody has spooky traits but isn't evil.
Dark Is Evil vs. Light Is Good: Something with dark traits and is actively malevolent vs. something with light traits and is actively benevolent.
Dark Is Evil vs. Light Is Not Good: Something evil has dark vs. light traits.
Dark Is Not Evil vs Light Is Good: Something good has dark vs. light traits.
Dark Is Not Evil vs. Light Is Not Good: Something seems spooky and ominous but genuinely good vs. something seems benign and friendly but is actually evil.
Dark Magical Girl vs. Magical Girl: A magical girl with a troubled past vs. a non-troubled past.
Deathbringer the Adorable vs. Fluffy the Terrible: Cute monster with vicious-sounding name vs vicious monster with a cute-sounding name.
December–December Romance vs. May–December Romance vs. Puppy Love: a couple made up of old characters vs. a couple made of a younger character and an older one vs. a couple made up of young characters
Deconstruction vs. Reconstruction (or Affectionate Parody): A trope is picked apart for its lack of realism, is changed to fit a more realistic setting, or is played for laughs in a respectful way.?
Defictionalisation vs. Product Placement: A fictional item becomes real vs. a real item is included in a fictional work.
Definitely Just a Cold vs. Playing Sick: A sick character pretends they're not sick or only have a minor illness vs. a healthy character pretends to be sick.
Deliberate Values Dissonance vs. Politically Correct History: Deliberately depicting regressive or offensive views for the sake of historical accuracy vs. deliberately downplaying/omitting regressive or offensive views even if it doesn't make sense for the time period
Denied Parody vs. Parody Retcon: Something that seems like a parody but isn't vs. a handwave of a work's faults as a parody.
Depraved Bisexual vs. No Love for the Wicked: Being willing to have sex with anyone makes you villainous vs. lack of desire to have sex with anyone makes you villainous.
Description Cut vs. I Resemble That Remark!: Saying someone will do something before cutting to them doing the opposite vs. reacting to a criticism in a way that proves it right.
Designated Hero vs. Designated Villain: Someone who acts evil but is meant to be the hero vs. someone who acts good but is meant to be the villain.
Designated Love Interest vs. Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading: Romantic relationship accidentally comes off as platonic vs. platonic relationship accidentally comes off as romantic.
Dethroning Moment of Suck vs. Moment of Awesome: A series' low point vs. a series' high point
Deus ex Machina vs. Diabolus ex Machina: Out-of-nowhere win for the good guys vs. out-of-nowhere win for the bad guys.
Deus Sex Machina vs. Virgin Power: A Deus Sex Machina is a power that requires you-know-what to be triggered. A Virgin Power is some sort of ability of Applied Phlebotinum that relies on the user abstaining from you-know-what.
Devious Dolphins vs. Friendly, Playful Dolphin/Heroic Dolphin: Dolphins are evil and violent vs. dolphins are fun and helpful.
Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat vs. Dudley Do-Right Stops to Help: A villain stops when victory is at hand to do something evil vs. a hero stops his quest to do something good.
Diegetic Switch vs. Left the Background Music On: Music switches from being diegetic to being a non-diegetic soundtrack, versus music that the audience assumed to be non-diegetic being revealed to be diegetic.
Digital Piracy Is Evil vs. Information Wants to Be Free: Villains engaging in digital piracy vs. heroes engaging in digital piracy.
Dirty Coward vs. Lovable Coward: Someone is nervy and evil vs. someone is nervy and good.
Disneyfication vs. Grimmification: Making an adaptation more child-friendly than the original vs. making a story more adult-oriented than the original.
Disowned Parent vs. I Have No Son!: A child disowns a parent vs. a parent disowns their child.
Disproportionate Retribution vs. Disproportionate Reward: Getting punished heavily for a slight offense vs. getting rewarded heavily for a mild good deed.
Distracted by the Sexy vs. Not Distracted by the Sexy or Ignore the Fanservice: Someone is distracted by sexual attraction vs. someone is acting traditionally sexy but another person doesn't pay attention.
The Ditz vs. The Smart Guy: A dumb character vs. a smart one.
The Ditz vs. TV Genius: A stereotypical dumb character vs. a stereotypical smart one.
Ditzy Genius vs. Genius Ditz: A genius who's really bad at one thing vs. a ditz who is really good at one thing.
Divided States of America vs. Expanded States of America: America splits into territories or expands into other countries.
Does Not Like Spam vs. Trademark Favorite Food: Someone hates vs. loves a food.
Doing in the Scientist vs. Doing In the Wizard: Retconning something that had a scientific explanation into having a magical one vs. retconning something that had a magical explanation into having a scientific one.
Doing In the Wizard vs. A Wizard Did It: explaining a seemingly impossible event in detail vs. hand waving it away as "just magic"
Down the Rabbit Hole vs. Up the Real Rabbit Hole: Someone escaping to a fantasy world and accepting it vs. someone going to a fantasy world and saying that theirs is the real world.
Downer Ending vs. Happy Ending: The ending is sad vs. happy.
Draco in Leather Pants vs. Ron the Death Eater: Both are character interpretation tropes. Draco in Leather Pants occurs when a character's flaws are downplayed and their virtues are promoted by a fan to make a character more appealing to them. Ron the Death Eater downplays a character's good traits, often exposing and exaggerating their flaws to pave the way for the fan's One True Pairing or because they simply dislike the character.
Dragon Rider vs. Shoulder-Sized Dragon: People riding dragons vs. dragons sitting on people.
Dragons Are Demonic vs. Dragons Are Divine: Dragons as evil and destructive vs. dragons as majestic and benevolent.
Dramatic Irony vs. Tomato Surprise: The audience is aware of important information that the characters are not privy to, leading to a dramatic reveal vs. The characters are aware of important information that the audience is not privy to, leading to a dramatic reveal.
Dream Team vs. Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The best of the best vs. the best they had on hand at the time.
Dry Docking vs. Shipping: A fanfiction where an Official Couple is no longer a couple vs. a fanfiction that pairs characters up (maybe Platonic Life-Partners becoming a couple).
Dug Too Deep vs. Journey to the Sky: Embarking on a travel that takes the character too deep beneath the surface vs. embarking on a travel that takes the character too far above the surface. Though not necessarily a hard rule, the former usually leads to a horrifying discovery (Hell, a Sealed Evil in a Can, a very dangerous geological phenomenon, etc.), while the latter usually leads to a wonderful discovery (a Floating Continent, Garden of Eden, outer space, etc.)
Dumb Is Good/Good Is Dumb vs. Good Is Not Dumb: Being stupid or lacking wisdom with a friendly demeanor vs. being the opposite of stupid and unwise.
Dumbass No More vs. Took a Level in Dumbass: A dumb character becoming smart vs. a smart character becoming dumb.
Dump Stat vs. One Stat to Rule Them All: A stat that can be ignored vs. a stat that can be entirely focused on.
Dystopia vs. Utopia: A Crapsack World with serious sociopolitical issues vs. an ideal world.
Easily Forgiven vs. Reformed, but Rejected: A character does something bad and others forgive him without any repercussions vs. a character who is reformed, but others refuse to believe it.
Easy-Mode Mockery vs. Hard Mode Perks: Penalties for playing a game on an easy difficulty level vs. bonuses for playing the same game on a harder difficulty level.
The Eeyore vs. The Pollyanna: The Eeyore always sees the proverbial glass half-empty, while The Pollyanna is eternally optimistic about their circumstances in life.
Egomaniac Hunter vs. Great White Hunter: Jerkass or villainous hunter vs. Nice Guy or heroic hunter.
Elite Army vs. Zerg Rush/We Have Reserves: A small army of particularly powerful warriors vs. a massive army of Cannon Fodder.
Embodiment of Vice vs. Embodiment of Virtue: The personification of a bad trait vs. a good trait.
Emotionless Girl vs. Genki Girl: A woman expresses no enthusiasm vs. a woman expresses a lot of enthusiasm
Enclosed Extraterrestrials vs Exposed Extraterrestrials: Aliens that are completely covered up vs. naked aliens.
Encounter Bait vs. Encounter Repellant: Increasing vs. decreasing the frequency of Random Encounters in a Role-Playing Game with an item or spell.
Endless Daytime vs. The Night That Never Ends: A place where it's always daytime vs. a place where it's never daytime.
Enjoy the Story, Skip the Game vs. Play the Game, Skip the Story: A game with a good story but bad gameplay vs. a game with good gameplay but a bad story.
Ensemble Dark Horse vs. The Scrappy or Creator's Pet: The Ensemble Dark Horse is a character who gains an unexpected amount of popularity with an audience despite having a not-so-big role. The Scrappy is a character who becomes unexpectedly rejected by the fandom, for being considered annoying and/or unlikeable. If The Scrappy becomes prominent in a story and the audience still doesn't embrace the character, then that character is a Creator's Pet.
Escalating War vs. Zany Scheme Chicken: A series of revenge plots that escalate over time vs. a series of schemes that get more ridiculous over time.
Everybody Knew Already vs. Thought They Knew Already: Thinking people don't know something when they actually do vs. thinking people do know something when they actually don't.
Everybody Lives vs. "Everybody Dies" Ending: In an Everybody Lives scenario, all of the main characters survive to the very end. In an "Everybody Dies" Ending, a large portion of the cast/all of the cast are killed off.
Everyone Is Bi vs. No Bisexuals: All the characters are bi vs. none of the characters are bi.
Everyone's in the Loop vs. Poor Communication Kills: Characters are updated on important information vs. characters are not told or updated about important information.
Evil All Along vs. Good All Along: Morally wrong or right but hiding that fact.
Evil Chancellor vs. The Good Chancellor: A villainous advisor vs. a heroic advisor.
Eviler than Thou vs. Holier Than Thou: Eviler than Thou vs. Even Evil Has Standards
Evil Feels Good vs. Good Feels Good: Doing bad things or good things feels good.
Evil Is Cool vs. This Is Your Brain on Evil: Doing bad things makes you look more or less impressive.
Evil Is Burning Hot vs. Evil Is Deathly Cold: Bad guys hang out in a hot area vs. bad guys hang out in a cold area.
Evil Luddite vs. Nature Hero: Bad guy who (sometimes) loathes technology vs. good person who eschews technology to be in touch with the natural world.
The Evil Prince vs. Knight in Shining Armor: A villainous royal vs. a heroic champion.
Evil Reactionary vs. Good Old Ways: Villainous character who opposes social progress based on dated beliefs and/or interests vs. good-hearted character who dresses and/or behaves in an old-fashioned way.
Evil Reactionary vs. The Revolution Will Not Be Civilised: Villainous character who opposes social progress vs. villainous character who demands social change regardless of the harm it causes to others.
Exactly What It Says on the Tin vs. Never Trust a Title: The title explains everything exactly vs. the title lies
Exceeded the Goal vs. Gone Horribly Right: Exceeding a goal has positive, or at the very least neutral, results vs. exceeding a goal has negative results.
Executive Meddling vs. Protection from Editors: Executives giving (often unwanted) input in a work vs. only the author deciding the direction of the story.
Express Delivery vs. Longest Pregnancy Ever: A unusually short (full-term) pregnancy vs. an unusually long one.
Extreme Omnivore vs. Picky Eater: A person who will eat just about anything vs. a person who is very selective about their food.

Face–Heel Turn vs. Heel–Face Turn: A Face–Heel Turn is when something happens to an established "good" character that makes them turn to the side of evil. A Heel–Face Turn is when something happens to an established "evil" character that makes them turn to the side of good. When used more than once, it can lead to the Heel–Face Revolving Door.
Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon vs. Face of a Thug: A villain who looks pleasant and innocent vs. a hero who has a scary thuggish face.
Failed a Spot Check vs. Hyper-Awareness: A character with Hyper-Awareness can see even the smallest details without even trying. A character who Failed a Spot Check is oblivious to something that just about everyone else can see.
Failure Hero vs. Invincible Hero: A hero who never wins, killing all tension vs. a hero who always wins, killing all tension.
Failure Is the Only Option vs. Springtime for Hitler: Someone tries to succeed but always ends up failing vs. someone tries to fail but always ends up succeeding.
Fake Boobs vs. Suppressed Mammaries: A woman with small breasts tries to make them look bigger vs. a woman with large breasts tries to make them look smaller.
Fake Relationship vs. Secret Relationship: Pretending to be in a romantic relationship but actually not vs. secretly being in a romantic relationship but acting like it's non-romantic.
Falling-in-Love Montage vs. Lost Love Montage: Lovers that spend a montage falling in love vs. a former lover that reminisces about the good times after a breakup.
False Dichotomy vs. Golden Mean Fallacy: Strawman argument where only one of two choices is right vs. one where both choices are wrong and the only "correct" answer is somewhere in the middle.
False Reassurance vs. Suspiciously Specific Denial: Twisting bad news into good news with wordplay vs. denying bad news in a suspicious manner.
Falsely Reformed Villain vs. Reformed, but Rejected: A villain that pretends to reform and is accepted vs. a villain that wants to reform but is rejected.
Family-Friendly Firearms vs. Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better vs. The Enemy Weapons Are Better: Lasers are used in place of guns vs. guns are used in place of lasers vs. the enemy's weapons are better regardless of the tech involved.
Fandom vs. Hatedom: A group of people who like something vs. a group of people who dislike it.
Fan Dumb vs. Hate Dumb: Fans being stupid vs. haters being stupid.
Fans Prefer the New Her vs. Unnecessary Makeover: A character's makeover is treated as a bad thing even though the fans like it vs. the makeover is treated as a good thing even though the fans don't like it.
Fat Bastard (or Villainous Glutton) vs. Lean and Mean: Fat villain vs. skinny villain.
A Father to His Men vs. The Neidermeyer: A well-respected vs. a much-despised commanding officer.
Faux Affably Evil vs. Hidden Heart of Gold: Evil character with a nice, friendly façade vs. good character with a mean or "evil" façade.
Feigning Intelligence vs. Obfuscating Stupidity: Pretending to be smart vs. pretending to be dumb.
Fiction Isn't Fair vs. Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Disregarding vs. following what would happen in the real world
Fire and Brimstone Hell vs. Fluffy Cloud Heaven: Stereotypical hell vs. stereotypical heaven.
Fire Is Masculine vs. Water Is Womanly: Men that use (and whose masculine traits are highlighted by) fire vs. women that use (and whose feminine traits are highlighted by) water.
First Girl Wins vs. Last Girl Wins: The first girl introduced is the love interest vs. the last girl introduced is the love interest.
First Kiss vs. Last Kiss: The first time a couple kisses vs. the final time a couple kisses.
Flashback vs. Flash Forward: A look into the past vs. a look into the future.
Flashy Teleportation vs. Stealthy Teleportation: Teleportation with lots of bright visual effects vs. teleportation vs. little to no visual effects.
Flawed Prototype vs. Super Prototype: The prototype is of a worse or better quality than its successors.
F-- vs. Rank Inflation: The grade is much lower or higher than a traditional grade.
Foil vs. Mirror Character: Highlighting a character's traits by differences vs. highlighting them by similarities.
Foreign Queasine vs. Impossibly Delicious Food: Food that is very disgusting or tasty.
Forgets to Eat vs. Obsessed with Food: Character rarely thinks about food to the point that they miss meals vs. character thinks about nothing but food.
Forgot I Couldn't Swim vs. Remembered I Could Fly: A character suddenly forgets or remembers a skill they possess.
For Great Justice vs. For the Evulz: Doing something because you know it's good/just vs. doing something because you know it's evil.
Freaky Is Cool vs. What Measure Is a Non-Cute?: "Non-cute" animals are cool vs. they aren't cool.
Free-Love Future vs. No Sex Allowed: A future where everyone Really Gets Around vs. a future with enforced sexual abstinence.
Friendly Enemy vs. Vitriolic Best Buds and With Friends Like These...: Enemies who treat each other like friends vs. friends who treat each other like enemies.
Freudian Excuse vs. Villainous Lineage: being a villain because of some traumatic event (nurture) vs. being a villain because It Runs in the Family (nature)
Fridge Brilliance vs. Fridge Logic: You suddenly realize something that happened makes perfect sense vs. you suddenly realize something that happened doesn't make sense.
Friend to All Living Things vs. Walking Wasteland (or Enemy to All Living Things): Fertile Feet vs. Walking Wasteland (simply existing causes the surrounding area to grow and flourish vs. simply existing causes the surrounding area to die and rot)
Friendly Neighborhood Spider vs. Spiders Are Scary and Sneaky Spider: The spider is nice and maybe even cute vs. the spider is definitely something you should be wary of.
Fully Absorbed Finale vs. Poorly Disguised Pilot: A series ends or begins in another series.
Future Badass vs. Future Loser: A character gets more or less cool in the future.

G — H

Gag Penis vs. Teeny Weenie: A large vs. a small penis.
Game-Breaker vs. Joke Character (or Joke Item): A character or item that makes the game a joke vs. a character or item that is intentionally bad as a joke.
Gargle Blaster vs. Klatchian Coffee: A drink that gets you instantly and insanely drunk or sober.
Genius Ditz vs. Modern Major General: An incompetent character who's good at one thing^note or some things vs. a competent character who is good at most of his jobs except for one of 'em.
Genius Programming vs. Idiot Programming: The opposite extremes of programming expertise.
Genre Blindness vs. Genre Savvy: A character that is unaware or aware of the genre they're a part of.
Gentle Giant vs. The Napoleon: A Gentle Giant is a character who looks big and menacing, but actually has a kind and softer side. The Napoleon looks small and non-threatening, but is very dangerous, especially if you should make fun of his/her height.
Gentleman and a Scholar vs. Insufferable Imbecile: A Nice Guy with an intellectual inclination vs. a rude, argumentative and likely violent idiot.
George Jetson Job Security vs. Ultimate Job Security: Always getting fired vs. never getting fired.
Get It Over With vs. Scheherezade Gambit: Pleading for someone to kill them vs. pleading for someone to let them live.
Get Thee to a Nunnery vs. Have a Gay Old Time: A word that gets less or more raunchy over time.
Ghibli Hills vs. Mordor: Lush, colorful landscape vs. dark, frightening landscape. See also Scenery Porn vs. Scenery Gorn.
Giant Mook vs. Mini Mook: Big enemy vs. little enemy.
Girls Have Cooties vs. Puppy Love: Children of opposite genders that shy away from or fall in love with each other.
Girly Girl vs. Tomboy: A female character with feminine traits vs. a female character with masculine traits.
Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex vs. Pre-Climax Climax: Sex after surviving a dangerous event vs. sex right before a dangerous event.
Glass Cannon vs Stone Wall: Can dish out damage and move fast but is easy to defeat vs. can't dish out damage or move fast but can tank hits.
A God Am I vs. A God I Am Not: A mortal believes they're god out of madness, vs. a god-like being refusing the label of god to stay sane.
God Guise vs. God in Human Form: A human that pretends to be a god vs. a god that pretends to be a human.
God Is Evil vs. Satan Is Good: The Christian God portrayed as a villain vs. the Devil portrayed as a hero.
God-Mode Sue vs. The Load: "Why are we even here? He can do everything!" vs. "Why is this guy even here? He can't do anything!"
Good Is Dumb vs. Good Is Not Dumb: The heroes are dumb or smart.
Good-Times Montage vs. Sad-Times Montage: A montage showing fun vs. depression.
Gory Discretion Shot vs. Sexy Discretion Shot: You don't want to see it versus you want to see it.
Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die vs. Rousing Speech: Motivational speech that... isn't vs. motivational speech that works.
Gratuitous Foreign Language vs. Surprisingly Good Foreign Langauge: Bad or good use of foreign languages.
Grey Rain of Depression vs. Happy Rain: Rain indicates that someone is sad vs. rain makes someone happy.
Growing the Beard vs. Jumping the Shark: Growing the Beard is a moment when a particular show or series reaches a point where everything gets better. Jumping the Shark is when it hits a new low, and everything is perceived to get worse from then on.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold vs. White Hair, Black Heart: Good character with light hair vs. evil character with light hair.
Hair-Raising Hare vs. Righteous Rabbit: Rabbits or hares depicted as violent and frightening vs. rabbits or hares depicted as cute and heroic.
Hands-Off Parenting vs. Helicopter Parents: Parents aren't involved in raising their kids vs. parents are too involved in raising their kids.
Handsome Lech vs. Kavorka Man: A handsome Casanova Wannabe vs. an unattractive Casanova.
Happiness Tropes vs. Sadness Tropes: Tropes about happiness vs. sadness
Harmless Villain vs. Villain Sue: A villain that can't do anything vs. a villain that is very overpowered.
Harsher in Hindsight vs. Hilarious in Hindsight: Something funny seems serious looking back vs. something that isn't funny seems funny looking back.
Hate Plague vs. Love Is in the Air: A virus that causes people to get angry with vs. fall in love with each other.
He's Dead, Jim vs. He's Okay: A character announcing that someone is dead vs. a character announcing that someone is alright.
Heart Is an Awesome Power vs. What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: An unconventional superpower is considered to be great or useless.
Heartwarming Moments vs. Nightmare Fuel: Something that's touching vs. something that's terrifying.
Herbivores Are Friendly vs. Predators Are Mean: Animals who don't eat meat are passive vs. animals who eat meat are aggressive.
Herbivores Are Friendly vs. Xenophobic Herbivore: Plant-eaters are kind to others vs. plant eaters are mistrustful and prejudiced against others.
The Hermit vs. Hates Being Alone: A character who enjoys being alone vs a character who hates being alone.
Hero Ball vs. Villain Ball: Hero does something dumb vs. villain does something dumb.
Heroes Act, Villains Hinder vs. Villains Act, Heroes React: The heroes are the active party vs. the villains are the active party.
Hero Antagonist vs. Villain Protagonist: An antagonist with good traits vs. a protagonist with evil traits.
Heroes' Frontier Step vs. Moral Event Horizon: A character's first step into noble heroism or irredeemable villainy.
Heroic Comedic Sociopath vs. Psychopathic Manchild: A mentally ill comedic hero vs. a mentally ill scary villain.
Hero Protagonist vs. Villain Antagonist: A protagonist with good traits vs. an antagonist with evil traits.
Heroic Seductress vs. The Vamp: Heroine who uses sex for good vs. Villainess who uses sex for evil
"The Hero Sucks" Song vs. "The Villain Sucks" Song: A song insulting a hero vs a song insulting a villain.
Hero with Bad Publicity vs. Villain with Good Publicity: A hero is hated by the public vs a villain who isn't.
Heterosexual Life-Partners vs. Like Brother and Sister: Very close same-sex friends vs. Very close opposite-sex friends
Hiding the Handicap vs. Obfuscating Disability: A disabled character tries to hide the fact that they're disabled vs. A non-disabled character pretending that they are.
High Heel Hurt vs. High-Heel Power: Wearing high heel shoes weakens or strengthens the wearer.
High Fantasy vs. Low Fantasy: High Fantasy is a world wildly different from ours, with widespread magic use and fantastical elements and epic scale conflict (massive wars, the rise and fall of nations, gods walking the earth, the very real threat of The End of the World as We Know It). Low Fantasy might not look too different from our world, magic and monsters are very rare if not non-existent, and scale tends to be down to a single hero or a small group and their trials and tribulations rather than what affects the entire world.
Hillbilly Incest vs Royal Inbreeding: Incest among extremely poor, rural, low-status people and incest among extremely rich, urban, high-status people.
Historical Hero Upgrade vs. Historical Villain Upgrade: A historical figure is made to be more good or evil than they were in real life.
Hive Mind vs. Split Personality: One mind in many bodies vs. many minds in one body.
Hobbes Was Right vs. Rousseau Was Right: People are naturally awful until they're dictated by a higher power vs. people are naturally innocent until they suffer negative circumstances.
Hollywood Homely vs. Informed Attractiveness: Character isn't as unattractive as the show would have you believe vs. character isn't as attractive as the show would have you believe.
Hollywood Spelling vs My Nayme Is: Names are standardized vs. names are spelled eccentrically.
Honest Advisor vs. Yes-Man: An advisor that speaks their mind vs. an advisor that sucks up to their leader.
Hooker with a Heart of Gold vs. Predatory Prostitute: A heroic sex worker vs. a villainous sex worker.
Hopeless Boss Fight vs. Zero-Effort Boss: A boss fight you can't win vs. a boss fight you can't lose.
Home Sweet Home vs. In Harm's Way: Wanting to stay home instead of go on a journey vs. putting yourself in danger to avoid getting bored.
Hostile Weather vs. Weather Saves the Day: Weather conditions are inconvenient or harmful vs. weather conditions are beneficial.
Hotter and Sexier vs. Tamer and Chaster: A character or work gets more or less sexually charged as they go on.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl vs. Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: The man is much larger than the woman or the woman is much larger than the man.
Humans Are Bastards vs. Humans Are Good and Humans Are Special: Humans are inherently evil or heroic or special.
Humans Are Diplomats vs. Humans Are Warriors: Humans are peaceful vs. humans are warlike or violent.
Humans Are Special vs. Insignificant Little Blue Planet: Humans are significant or insignificant as far as the rest of the universe is concerned.
Hysterical Woman vs. Women Are Wiser: An irrational female character vs. a wise female character.

I Am Not Shazam vs. Iconic Character, Forgotten Title: The title of the work is assumed to be the name of the main character vs. a character's name overshadows the title of the work.
I Am Not Spock vs. I Am Not Leonard Nimoy: An actor/actress is known for being the face of a certain character/s vs. a character/s is/are known for being portrayed for a certain actor/actress.
I Always Wanted to Say That vs. You Just Had to Say It: The speaker says what they have always wanted to say vs. the recipient chides the speaker for saying what they said.
Indecisive Parody vs. Redundant Parody: The parody accidentally copies the tone of the original vs. the parody accidentally copies the jokes of the original.
I Need a Freaking Drink vs. No More for Me: A character thinks they need to drink vs. a character thinks they need to not drink.
Instant Home Delivery vs. Product Delivery Ordeal: A package is sent to someone instantaneously without any difficulty vs. a package is sent to someone with great difficulty and effort.
Idiot Ball vs. Smart Ball: Unnatural act of idiocy vs. unnatural act of competence.
Idle Rich vs. Non-Idle Rich: Rich people who don't do anything vs. rich people who actually do things.
If I Can't Have You… vs. I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: A spurned lover can't give up the one they failed at a relationship with or allows them to be with the one they truly love.
If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him! vs. Kill Him Already!: Someone who doesn't want the hero to kill the villain vs. someone who does.
If Jesus, Then Aliens vs. No Such Thing as Space Jesus: Everything paranormal exists including gods vs. the only powerful beings are aliens.
I Just Want to Be Normal vs. I Just Want to Be Special: Someone with superpowers who wants to be a normal person vs. a normal person who wants to have superpowers.
I Just Want to Have Friends vs. I Work Alone: Someone who wants friends vs. someone who works solo by choice.
I Like Those Odds vs. Never Tell Me the Odds!: Someone who likes hearing about their chances vs. someone who doesn't.
Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy vs. Improbable Aiming Skills: At the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy, a character (usually a bad guy) is incapable of hitting the broad side of a barn...at point blank range. With Improbable Aiming Skills, a character can hit just about anything with a firearm in ways that shouldn't be humanly possible.
Impossibly Cool Clothes vs. Rummage Sale Reject: Cool clothes that would not exist in real life vs. shoddy clothes that would exist in real life.
I Am X, Son of Y vs. You're Not My Father: Proudly declare vs disown their parentage
Inadequate Inheritor vs. Turn Out Like His Father: Failure to turn out like your father despite all pressure to do so vs. failure to not turn out like your father despite all pressure to do so.
Infinite Supplies vs. Perpetual Poverty: A character that is always rich vs. poor.
Instant Death Bullet vs. Only a Flesh Wound: A wound that instantly kills someone vs. a wound that someone brushes off as minor.
Insufferable Genius vs. Kindhearted Simpleton: A smart character who is mean vs a dumb character who is nice.
Insufferable Imbecile vs. Kindhearted Simpleton: An dumb character who is a bozo that is stupidly rude or mean vs. a dumb character who is warm-hearted, open-hearted, and nice.
Insult of Endearment vs. Terms of Endangerment: Rude nicknames being used by friends vs. kind nicknames being used by enemies or at least insincere people.
In Touch with His Feminine Side vs. Tomboy: A male character has feminine traits vs a female character who has masculine traits.
In-Universe Game Clock vs. Take Your Time Game time flows constantly vs. game time flows only when the plot requires it.
Iron Woobie vs. Sympathetic Sue: A character that the audience feels sorry for but takes their issues in stride vs. a poorly written character meant for the audience to feel pity for.
It's All My Fault vs. Never My Fault: Believing that it's your fault despite it isn't vs. blaming others when it really is your fault.
It's Popular, Now It Sucks! vs. Quality by Popular Vote: A work that is hated or loved for its popularity.
It's Probably Nothing vs. Throwing the Distraction: Guards ignore an accidental sound made by an intruder vs. guards are distracted by a deliberate sound made by an intruder.
It's the Same, Now It Sucks! vs. They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: A work staying the same or changing is brought up as a negative.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy vs. Murder the Hypotenuse: A character allows their failed lover to move on with someone else or tries to kill them.
I Was Just Joking vs. My God, You Are Serious!: The speaker admits they are joking or serious.
I Was Quite a Looker vs. Silver Fox: Elderly characters who were once more attractive than they are currently vs. Elderly characters who retain their outer beauty well into their old age.
I Was Quite the Looker vs. She Is All Grown Up: Someone who got less or more attractive over time.
It Will Never Catch On vs. This Is Going to Be Huge: Something expected to fail succeeds like crazy vs. something expected to be a smash-hit turns out to be a flop. Hilarious in Hindsight applies to both tropes.
Iyashikei vs. Utsuge: Visual Novels that give you a Warm and Fuzzy Feeling vs. Visual Novels that will make you cry yourself to sleep. Particularly notable in that the terms translate to "healing" and "depressing", respectively.

J — L

Jaded Washout vs. Small Name, Big Ego: A loser who used to be influential vs. a loser who thinks they are influential.
Jerkass vs. Nice Guy: Someone is mean vs. someone is nice.
Jumped at the Call vs. Refusal of the Call: Wanting to do something heroic at the first opportunity vs. refusing to do anything heroic.
Jumping the Gender Barrier vs. Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Falling in love with or being repulsed by someone who switched genders.
Karma Houdini vs. Laser-Guided Karma or Karmic Death: Little to no punishment for bad deeds vs. apropos punishment.
Keep Away vs. MacGuffin Delivery Service: Two parties work together to keep the MacGuffin away from the heroes vs. the MacGuffin switches hands between the parties often.
Kick the Dog vs. Pet the Dog: Showing that a bad guy is bad vs. showing that a bad guy isn't all that bad.
Kick the Dog vs. What You Are in the Dark: Showing villainy in public vs. showing heroism in private.
Kiddie Kid vs. Wise Beyond Their Years: A teen, pre-teen or child who acts more immature than their usual age vs. a pre-teen or child who acts mature.
Kiss-Kiss-Slap vs. Slap-Slap-Kiss: "I love you! ... I hate you!" vs. "I hate you! ... I love you!"
Krav Maga vs. Le Parkour: A martial art based solely on disarming and defeating your opponent, and a martial art based solely on avoiding/escaping conflict in the first place.
Kneel Before Frodo vs. Kneel Before Zod: Decided to kneel before a hero vs. forced to kneel before a villain
The Lad-ette vs. Proper Lady: Woman lacking in feminine grace vs. woman full of feminine grace.
Large Ham vs. The Stoic: Expresses heaps of emotion vs. expresses no emotion.
Late Export for You vs. Short Run in Peru: The work gets dubbed in other countries much later or earlier than its home country.
Legacy Immortality vs. My Grandson, Myself: Successive mentors and students pretend to be the same immortal person over a long period of time vs. an immortal or long-lived character tries to evade detection by pretending to be their own descendant.
Leslie Nielsen Syndrome vs. Tom Hanks Syndrome: An actor mainly known for dramatic roles transitions to mainly comedic roles vs. an actor mainly known for comedic roles transitions to mainly dramatic roles.
Let Me Get This Straight... vs What Is Going On?: Summarizing an explanation vs. demanding an explanation.
Let's Get Dangerous! vs. Not-So-Harmless Villain: low-key hero becoming powerful vs. low-key villain becoming powerful.
Let's Split Up, Gang! vs. Never Split the Party: Splitting into teams vs. sticking together as one group.
Lie Back and Think of England vs. Think Unsexy Thoughts: Character doesn't enjoy sex but has to have it, so thinks pleasant thoughts as a distraction vs. character enjoys sex but can't have it at that moment (or wants to prolong it), so thinks unpleasant thoughts as a distraction.
Life Imitates Art vs. Truth in Television: Something happens in fiction before real life vs. something happens in real life before fiction.
Light Is Good vs. Light Is Not Good: Traits stereotypically associated with positivity are good vs. are evil.
Lima Syndrome vs. Stockholm Syndrome: Captor develops feelings for prisoner vs. prisoner develops feelings for captor
Limited Wardrobe vs. Unlimited Wardrobe: Character never changes their clothes vs. character keeps changing their clothes
Living Forever Is Awesome vs. Who Wants to Live Forever?: Living forever is fun vs. living forever sucks.
The Loins Sleep Tonight vs. Raging Stiffie: Guy wants an erection and can't get one vs. guy doesn't want an erection and has one.
Loner-Turned-Friend vs. Used to Be More Social: An antisocial character that becomes more social vs. a social character that becomes more antisocial.
Long-Runners vs. Short-Runners: Franchises that have been around for a long time vs. franchises that ended very soon after they began.
Lost in Medias Res vs. Prolonged Prologue: Too little exposition in the beginning vs. too much exposition at expence of action in the beginning.
Lower-Class Lout vs. Upper-Class Twit, The Upper Crass and Aristocrats Are Evil: A negative stereotype of the working class vs. a negative stereotype of the upper class.
Luke, I Am Your Father vs. Luke, You Are My Father: A parent reveals their parentage to their child vs. a child reveals their parentage to their parent.

Macekre vs. Woolseyism: A Macekre is a loose translation of a work that barely resembles its source material. A Woolseyism is a translation of a work that maintains the spirit of the original work, while still making it palatable for its intended audience.
Macabre Moth Motif / Moth Menace vs. Pretty Butterflies: Moths or butterflies are sinister or dangerous vs moths or butterflies are harmless and beautiful.
Made of Iron vs. Made of Plasticine: Character is unrealistically hard to injure vs. character is unrealistically easy to injure.
Made Out to Be a Jerkass vs. Punished for Sympathy: Being branded as a bad person for fighting off a bad person vs being branded as a bad person for being nice to a bad person.
Mad Scientist vs. Science Hero: A nutty, evil scientist vs. a level-headed, heroic scientist.
Mage Born of Muggles vs. Muggle Born of Mages: A superpowered person with normal parents vs. a normal person with superpowered parents.
Magically Inept Fighter vs. Squishy Wizard: A physical fighter who can't use magic vs. a magical fighter who can't take physical hits well.
Magic and Science vs. Swords and Guns. The brains of fantasy and science-fiction, respectively, versus the brawns of said genres.
The Magic Comes Back vs. The Magic Goes Away: Magic returns to or fades away from a setting.
Magic Knight vs. Squishy Wizard: A character who fights with both magic and weapons vs. a character who fights with only magic.
Magic Skirt vs. Marilyn Maneuver: A woman's skirt never goes up in the air vs. a woman's skirt goes up in the air.
Magic Skirt vs. Panty Shot: A woman's undies don't show vs. they do.
Magnificent Bastard vs. Smug Snake: While a Magnificent Bastard can sometimes pull off ridiculously complicated plans and get people to do what he/she wants and still come out smelling like a rose, the Smug Snake only thinks they can, and often comes across as a deluded Jerkass.
Major Injury Underreaction vs. Minor Injury Overreaction: Someone reacts well to a large wound or reacts poorly to a superficial wound.
Make Wrong What Once Went Right vs. Set Right What Once Went Wrong: A time traveler that uses their gifts for evil or good.
Manchild vs. Wise Beyond Their Years: An adult who acts immature vs. a pre-teen or child who acts mature.
Maniac Monkeys vs. Silly Simian: Monkeys and apes portrayed as evil vs. monkeys and apes portrayed as funny.
The McCoy vs. The Spock: Someone who follows emotions vs. someone who follows logic.
Mechanical Lifeforms vs. Organic Technology: Machines that are alive vs. technology made from biological matter.
Men Are Better Than Women vs. Women Are Wiser: Men are smarter than women vs. women are smarter than men.
Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales vs. Offending the Creator's Own: Members of a specific social group enjoying a work by outsiders despite what might be considered stereotypical depictions, vs. members of a social group getting offended by their portrayal in a work by a creator who is actually in that group.
Mighty Whitey vs. Token White: The one white guy in the setting is the most powerful one or just a normal person.
Modesty Shorts vs. Zettai Ryouiki: Clothes cover the upper part of the leg below the skirt vs. clothes emphasize it.
Mook Chivalry vs. Zerg Rush: Mooks attacking one at a time vs. mooks attacking all at once
Monster Clown vs. Non-Ironic Clown: The clown is terrifying and dangerous vs. clown who is whimsical and fun to be around.
Monstrosity Equals Weakness vs. Power-Upgrading Deformation: Being more monstrous making you less dangerous vs. more powerful.
More Hero than Thou vs. Who Will Bell the Cat?: Characters strive to do the dangerous deed vs. characters retreat on learning that they might personally have to do the deed.
Most Annoying Sound vs. Most Wonderful Sound: The audience hates a sound vs. the audience likes a sound.
Motor Mouth vs. The Quiet One: A character who talks a lot vs. a character who doesn't.
Mundane Made Awesome vs. Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Something normal treated as cool vs. something cool treated as normal.
Muggle Power vs. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Normal people feel the need to speak out against superheroes or superheroes are responsible for normal people.
My Country, Right or Wrong vs. My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: Fighting for or supporting your country of origin regardless of perceived or real wrongs vs. Self-Deprecation and rage aimed at own nationality.
My Girl Is a Slut vs. My Girl Is Not a Slut: On one hand you have the usual "woman who dares to have sex = whore" and its contrary, a woman who isn't put down or insulted for having an active sex-life but rather sought after because of that.
My Beloved Smother vs. When You Coming Home, Dad?: Parents that do nothing but control their children vs. parents that never have time for their children.

N — O

Names to Run Away from Really Fast vs. Names to Trust Immediately: Names that are scary or nice.
Nature Hero vs. Science Hero: Heroic primitive with strong ties to the natural world vs. technologically-adept hero who uses their knowledge for good.
Neat Freak vs. The Pig-Pen: Character who is obsessively clean vs. character who cares little for cleanliness. Combine for hilarity.
Necessarily Evil vs. Well-Intentioned Extremist: Someone who does evil because it's necessary vs. someone who does evil because they had good intentions behind it.
Network to the Rescue vs. Screwed by the Network: The network saves or ruins a show.
Never Hurt an Innocent vs. You Can't Make an Omelette...: A villain refuses to harm civilians or will harm civilians if it comes down to it.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero vs. Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: The hero accidentally causes something bad to happen vs. the villain accidentally causes something good to happen.
Nightmare Fuel vs. Sweet Dreams Fuel: Scary vs. very positive.
Noble Demon vs. Unscrupulous Hero: A villainous character with an admirable Code of Honour vs. an Anti-Hero who is exceedingly ruthless and flawed.
Noble Wolf vs. Savage Wolves: A wolf that is heroic vs. a wolf that is villainous.
No Blood Ties vs. Thicker Than Water: Family is unimportant or very important.
No Fourth Wall vs. This Is Reality: Characters are totally aware they're fictional vs. characters think they're real.
No One Gets Left Behind vs. The Uriah Gambit: One character risks their life to save someone else vs. one character sends someone else in the hope that they die.
No Punctuation Period vs. Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma: There isn't any punctuation vs. there's too much and it's used incorrectly.
No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom vs. Wide-Open Sandbox: video game where you're railroaded down a single path vs. one where you're allowed to do almost anything (within technical limits)
No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus vs. Religion is Magic: Gods and magic are separate or the same.
No Sympathy for Grudgeholders vs. Punished for Sympathy: Being called out for holding a grudge against a person vs being called out for being forgiving towards a person.
Not Allowed to Grow Up vs. Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome: If a character remains the same age for a good portion of a series (especially if it's a Long Runner), then he/she is Not Allowed to Grow Up. Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome denotes quick aging changes, where a character can be aged up a few years without explanation.
Nothing Can Save Us Now vs. Nothing Can Stop Us Now!: Someone laments their failure before they are quickly saved vs. someone celebrates their victory before they are quickly defeated.
Nothing Is the Same Anymore vs. Status Quo Is God: Everything changes over the course of the show or stays the same throughout.
Not-So-Harmless Villain vs. Villain Decay: Non-threatening villain becomes more dangerous over time vs. threatening villain becomes less dangerous over time.
Obfuscated Interface vs. Viewer-Friendly Interface: An interface display that obscures the processes being computed vs. the one that is tweaked so the viewer can easily track them.
Offering Another in Your Stead vs. Take Me Instead: Trying to sacrifice someone else to save yourself vs. trying to sacrifice yourself to save another.
Official Couple vs. One True Pairing (or Fan-Preferred Couple): The ship that is canon vs. the ship that the fans want to be canon.
Official Couple vs. Platonic Life-Partners: Romantic couple vs. platonic couple.
Offing the Offspring vs. Self-Made Orphan: Parents murdering their own children vs. children murdering their own parents.
The One Guy vs. The Smurfette Principle: Only one male vs. only one (or very few) female/s.
One Scene, Two Monologues vs. Two Scenes, One Dialogue: Two characters talk about different things in the same location vs. talk about the same thing in separate locations.
One-Steve Limit vs. Planet of Steves: Only one character has a particular name to avoid confusion vs. a large group of people all have the same name.
Only Idiots May Pass vs. Only Smart People May Pass: Only the ignorant or the knowledgeable can get through.
On the Next vs. Previously on…: A teaser for the next episode at the end or a look back at previous episodes at the start.
The Other Darrin vs. You Look Familiar: Different actors play the same character vs. the same actor plays different characters.
Overcrank vs. Undercrank: Slow motion vs. fast motion.
Out-of-Character Alert vs. Something Only They Would Say: Pointing out that someone is out-of-character vs. pointing out that someone is in-character.

P — R

Padded Sumo Gameplay vs. Rocket-Tag Gameplay: Everyone has mutually ineffective weapons vs. mutually ineffective defenses.
Painfully Slow Projectile vs. Very High Velocity Rounds: bullets that move incredibly slow vs. bullets that fly ridiculously fast
Patchwork Map vs. Single-Biome Planet: Several biomes compressed into tiny area^noteThough the trope is wider than that. vs. an entire planet covered in a single biome.
Percussive Maintenance vs. Percussive Shutdown: Hitting something to make it work properly vs. hitting something to stop in from working
Periphery Demographic vs. Periphery Hatedom: Love vs. hate of a series outside its intended audience.
Perma-Shave vs. Perma-Stubble: Someone who is permanently clean-shaven vs. someone who is permanently scruffy.
Perpetual Frowner vs. Perpetual Smiler: A character who never smiles vs. a character who can't stop smiling.
Please Put Some Clothes On vs. Take Off Your Clothes: Character asks a naked character to get dressed vs. character asks a fully-dressed character to get naked.
Polar Opposite Twins vs. Single-Minded Twins: Twin characters who think differently from each other vs. twin characters who think alike.
Polished Port vs. Porting Disaster: Transitioning a game from one system to another makes the new game better than the original vs. a transition where it makes the end result worse
Positive Friend Influence vs. Toxic Friend Influence: Character that brings out the best in their friends vs. character that brings out the worst in their friends
Post-Cyberpunk vs. Solarpunk: Bright future that accepts high technology, globalism and resource exploitation vs. bright future that idealizes small communities, sustainable ecology and artisan craftsmanship.
Power Born of Madness vs. With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: superpower that relies on the user being insane vs. superpower that slowly drives the user insane
Pragmatic Villainy vs. Stupid Evil: Villain doesn't do something evil only because it hurts their interests vs. Villain does something evil even though it will hurt their interests
Predation Is Natural vs. Predators Are Mean: Hunting is a necessary part of life for predators vs. predators are wrong to hunt other animals.
Predators Are Mean vs. Xenophobic Herbivore: Meat-eaters are hostile towards plant-eaters vs. plant-eaters are hostile to meat-eaters.
Press X to Die vs. Press X to Not Die: A quick time event where you do not or do press a button to avoid a game over.
Pretty Fly for a White Guy vs. The Whitest Black Guy: A white guy acting black vs. a black guy acting white.
Primary-Color Champion vs. Secondary Color Nemesis: Heroes wear red, blue, and yellow; Villains wear green, orange, and purple.
Pro-Human Transhuman vs. Super Supremacist: A superpowered individual who fights on the side of normals vs. a superpowered individual who regards normals as slaves.
Rags to Riches vs. Riches to Rags: A poor person becomes rich or a rich person becomes poor.
Rank Scales with Asskicking vs. Weak Boss, Strong Underlings: The leader is the strongest vs. the leader is the weakest
"The Reason You Suck" Speech vs. You Are Better Than You Think You Are: A speech that puts one down vs. a speech that brings one up.
Redemption Demotion vs. Redemption Promotion: Character works better as a villain than a hero vs. character works better as a hero than a villain.
Redemption Earns Life vs. Redemption Equals Death: A villain avoids death or dies after turning good.
Redundant Parody vs. Shallow Parody: A parody is too similar to the original to work vs. a parody is too different from the original to work.
Refugee from TV Land vs. Trapped in TV Land: A fictional character trapped in the real world vs. a real person trapped in a fictional world.
Revenge Is Not Justice vs. The Villain Must Be Punished: One should not give retribution to the villain or one must give retribution to the villain.
Revenge is Sweet vs. Vengeance Feels Empty: Revenge is satisfying or revenge is unsatisfying.
The Runner-Up Takes It All vs. Second Place Is for Losers: The second-place winner is more or less popular than the winner.

Sanity Slippage vs. Sanity Strengthening: A character loses their mind or becomes more sane over the course of the story.
Sarcasm Mode vs. Sincerity Mode: Irony vs. honesty.
Save the Villain vs. Villainous Rescue: The hero saves the villain vs. the villain saves the hero.
Scary Black Man vs. Intimidating White Presence: Black men freak out white characters vs. white characters freak out black characters.
Science Hero/Science Is Good vs. Science Is Bad: Heroes use science vs. villains use science.
Screw the Money, I Have Rules! vs. Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Turning down money due to moral standards vs. using wealth to break rules.
Secret Chaser vs. Secret-Keeper: Someone wanting to know a secret vs. someone who finds out a secret.
Sequelitis vs. Surprisingly Improved Sequel: A sequel that is worse or better than the original.
Seven Deadly Sins vs. Seven Heavenly Virtues: Representations of the biblical sins vs. the biblical virtues.
Sex Is Evil vs. Sex Is Good: Sex is considered to be morally wrong or right.
Sheathe Your Sword or Talking the Monster to Death vs. Violence is the Only Option: Defeating that same opponent through pacifism or a Rousing Speech vs. defeating an opponent with violence.
She Cleans Up Nicely vs. Unkempt Beauty: character is dolled up to look sexy vs. character looking sexy even without fancy clothes.
Shout-Out vs. Take That!: A positive reference to another work vs. a negative reference to another work.
Silence Is Golden vs. Speech-Centric Work: A story gives primary focus to the visuals vs. a story that gives primary focus to the dialogues
Shut Up, Hannibal! vs. Shut Up, Kirk!: The hero tells the villain to shut up vs. the villain tells the hero to shut up.
Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers! vs. Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Being cynical gets the character called out vs. being idealistic gets the character called out.
A Simple Plan vs. Zany Scheme: A simple plan that gets more complicated over time vs. a plan that is convoluted from the get-go.
Slut-Shaming vs Virgin-Shaming: Shaming someone for being sexually active vs. shaming someone for not having sex.
The Snark Knight vs. Stepford Smiler: A character that freely snarks at everything and is negative vs. a character that hides their true self behind a mask of positivity.
So Bad, It's Good vs. So Bad, It's Horrible: A work that is entertaining despite its bad quality vs. a work that is so bad that it's not entertaining.
So Bad, It's Horrible vs. So Cool, It's Awesome: A work that is low vs. high in quality, critical reviews, and audience reception.
So Proud of You vs. Why Couldn't You Be Different?: A parent is proud of or dismissive of their child.
Spanner in the Works vs. Unwitting Pawn: A hero accidentally/surprisingly stops villain's Evil Plan vs. a hero accidentally/surprisingly helps it.
Special Effect Failure vs. Visual Effects of Awesome: Special effects that are bad or good.
The Squad vs. Command Roster: The frontline soldiers fighting and dying on the battlefield, compared to the commanding officers issuing orders to said soldiers at home base.
Squee vs. Squick: Reaction to something favorable vs. reaction to something repulsive.
Stable Time Loop vs. Temporal Paradox: Time travel is consistent or inconsistent due to dimensional interference.
Standard Sci-Fi Army vs. Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: The former being reserved for ground combat, the latter being reserved for space combat.
Star-Derailing Role vs. Star-Making Role: The role that broke or made an actor's career.
Stoic Woobie vs. Wangst or Emo: A character that the audience feels sorry for who keeps up a poker face vs. a character that the audience doesn't feel sorry for due to how whiny they are.
Stone Soup vs. Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup: A character's eccentricities force people to work together vs. people working together causes the project to fail.
Strawman Emotional vs. Straw Vulcan: A stereotypical emotional character vs. a stereotypical logical character.
Strawman Emotional and Straw Vulcan vs. Emotions vs. Stoicism: Stereotypes of emotions and logic vs. conflicts between emotions and logic.
Super Robots vs. Real Robots: Humongous Mecha that can bend and break the laws of physics, versus those that abide to said laws of physics at all times.
Surprisingly Happy Ending vs. Sudden Downer Ending: An apparently sad ending is turned into a happy one vs. An apparently happy ending is turned into a sad one.
Sympathy for the Devil vs. Sympathy for the Hero: A hero feels sympathetic towards the villain vs. a villain feels sympathetic towards the hero.

T — Y

Tactful Translation vs. Trolling Translator: The translator doesn't translate something rude or purposefully mistranslates for fun.
Tastes Like Chicken vs. Tastes Like Feet: Something tastes like food or something impossible to eat.
The Teaser vs. The Stinger: A stand-alone scene before the opening credits vs. a stand-alone scene after the end credits.
The Team Normal vs. Token Super: The one non-powered or superpowered character on a team.
Technologically Blind Elders vs. What Are Records?: Old people that don't know how to use new technology vs. young people that don't know how to use old technology.
That One Boss vs. Zero-Effort Boss: Very hard boss vs. very easy boss.
Things Get Real vs. Training "Accident": Trainees get into a real mission before they're ready or find themselves in a real situation during training.
This Index Is Not an Example vs. This Trope Name References Itself: Trope names that are not examples of the tropes they represent vs. self-referential tropes.
Token Evil Teammate vs. Token Good Teammate: Only one bad egg in a group of good people vs. only one decent person in a group of bad people.
Token Rich Student vs. Penny Among Diamonds: A student is incredibly wealthy but goes to a regular school vs. a character that is poor is sent to a school for rich people.
Took a Level in Jerkass vs. Took a Level in Kindness: A nice character who becomes mean vs. a mean character who becomes nice.
Tsundere vs. Yandere: A Tsundere is a (usually female) character who acts cranky and standoffish on the outside, but sometimes shows signs of genuine tenderness. A Yandere is someone who tries to act nice, but really is unpleasant underneath...sometimes coupled with mental instability.
Unintentionally Sympathetic vs. Unintentionally Unsympathetic: The writers make an antagonist who the audience sympathizes with vs. the writers make a good character who the audience doesn't sympathize with.
Unskilled, but Strong vs. Weak, but Skilled: A strong character with no training vs. a trained character with no strength.
Video Game Caring Potential vs. Video Game Cruelty Potential: The potential to do nice or mean things in video games.
Viewers Are Geniuses vs. Viewers Are Morons: The work treats the audience like they're intelligent or stupid.
Villain with Good Publicity vs. 0% Approval Rating: Everyone loves the bad guy vs. everyone hates the bad guy.
Vomit Discretion Shot vs. Vomit Indiscretion Shot: You don't see someone throw up vs. you do.
Wake-Up Call Boss vs. Warm-Up Boss: Surprisingly hard early boss vs. surprisingly easy early boss
Walking Techbane vs. Walking Techfix: Someone who breaks machines with ridiculous ease vs. someone who can fix them just as quickly
Warm-Hearted Walrus vs. Wily Walrus: A walrus that is good vs. a walrus that is evil.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids? vs. What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Viewers being surprised that a work genuinely intended for children has disturbing or vulgar content vs. viewers mistakenly believing that an adult work is for children because of its superficial aspects or because of other work by its creators.
Year Inside, Hour Outside vs. Year Outside, Hour Inside: Potential effects of time dilation.

Opposite Tropes
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