Title Tropes

It all starts with the title...

Summing up an entire complex narrative, a colorful cast of characters and an inventive concept with a few words can be quite an art. What you choose will bear the burden of being the work's representative and designation.

Compare Naming Conventions. See also Text Tropes.

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Tropes:

Categories:

• This Trope Is X

• Adaptation Title Change: An adaptation of a work has a different title from the source material.
• The Adjectival Superhero: A title definitively names the titular superhero; with the article "the", followed by a relevant adjective, and then their alias.
• Adjective Noun Fred: A title the follows the format "[adjective] [common noun] [proper noun]".
• Age of Titles: Things are named "The Age of [noun]" because an age is a vague length of time (and The X of Y is a good naming scheme).
• Alliteration & Adventurers: An Alliterative Title with The Noun and the Noun wording is a prime naming format for Tabletop Games. Uses ampersands ("&") for extra fantastical fancies.
• Alliterative Title: The title is an alliteration.
• American Title: Titles with "America" or "American" in them.
• Annual Title: A series of annual releases that are dated by year in their title.
• Antagonist Title: A work is titled after The Antagonist.
• Appropriated Title: A different title a franchise is better known by than its original.
• Artifact Title: The show still goes by its original title in spite of having gone through developments and changes that render the original title meaningless.
• Artist and the Band: A title follows the "[Artist's name] and [name of their backing band]" format.
• The Backwards Я: Non-Latin characters are used to emulate the Latin alphabet and invoke a foreign setting or subject, despite almost always being illegible in the language(s) of the derived script as a result.
• Ballad of X: Things that are named "The Ballad of [noun]", usually musical in nature.
• The Case of...: A title that implies a mystery/detective story.
• Celebrity Song: A song about a notable celebrity, either living or dead, is directly named after them.
• Censored Title: When a title has to be changed because it's considered "inappropriate" for its target audience.
• Character in the Logo: A character or their silhouette is or a part of their series' logo.
• Character Action Title: Title consists of a subject and predicate, i.e., phrased as [character name][verb][etc.]
• Character Name and the Noun Phrase: Phrased as [character name] and [noun]". Latter may be an Adverbly Adjective Noun.
• Character Title: The title relates to a character within the work.
• Codename Title: The title is phrased as a Code Name.
• Colon Cancer: Punctuated Titles: With Two or More Colons: A Blight Upon Subtitles.
• Completely Different Title: A work’s title gets changed completely in foreign markets.
• Complete-the-Quote Title: A work's title is a portion of an excerpt deriving from an earlier piece of media.
• Compound Title: Individual titles of installments in a series form one statement.
• The Crime Job: The Caper is titled "The [adjective/noun] Job".
• Cross-Referenced Titles: Two related episodes of a series have titles that match or otherwise reference each other.
• Deceptively Silly Title: The title gives the impression of the work being more lighthearted and kid-friendly than it actually is.
• Doomy Dooms of Doom: Something sounds hilariously evil or dangerous when suffixed with "of Doom".
• "Double, Double" Title: A title consisting of one or more repeated words.
• Double-Meaning Title: A title that has a Double Meaning.
• Double X: The use of the letter "X" is doubled (or tripled).
• Either/Or Title: A work that has multiple titles for itself that are in the title.
• Enter Eponymous: The title follows the format "Enter [character name]" or "Enter the (character attribute)".
• Episode Finishes the Title: The title of an episode or episodes finishes or answers the statement that is its series' title.
• Episode Title Card: A television series' episodes have a card showing the episode's title.
• Episode Zero: The Beginning: A prequel work/prologue work/remake of a first installment is numbered before the first episode.
• The Eponymous Show: Shows that are named after being a show about the main character.
• Epunymous Title: A work's title is a pun involving the eponymous character/location/object's name.
• Event Title: A work is titled after an event (or series thereof) that takes place before or during the story.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The title tells you everything you need to know about the work.
• Excited Title! Two-Part Episode Name!: The episode title is two exclamatory statements.
• Family Title: The title refers to a family.
• The Fantastic Trope of Wonderous Titles: A lengthy title of multiple syllables and whimsical visual elements.
• Finale Title Drop: A Title Drop that happens in the finale, or in the final moments of a series.
• Foreign Language Title: The language of the title is different from the language of which the work is written.
• The Foreign Subtitle: When a title without a subtitle in its original language has one in-translation.
• Franchise-Driven Retitling: An early installment of a franchise is renamed once the producers realize they have a franchise.
• The Full Name Adventures: A serial of adventures, chronicles, tales, etc.
• Gory Deadly Overkill Title of Fatal Death: Painfully over the top horror movie titles.
• I Am Not Shazam: The work's title is mistaken for the protagonist's name.
• Iconic Character, Forgotten Title: A character's name overshadows the title of the work they're from (even if it is in the title).
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Some if not every episode of a series has their title follow the same pattern.
• In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: The work's title acknowledges the company that owns the rights to the work or the work's creator.
• Inherited Illiteracy Title: A misspelling in a work's title reflects an in-universe misspelling.
• Initialism Title. A title which is solely an initialism — uses big letters, optionally also periods or other punctuations.
• I, Noun: The title is simply a first-person pronoun followed by the title character's given name/surname/alias.
• Instructional Title: A title of the form "How To [subject of work]".
• Intentionally Awkward Title: The title, for some reason, just doesn't sound right coming out.
• In Which a Trope Is Described: A title in which elements of the story is described beforehand.
• Ironic Episode Title: The title gives the impression of a tone that is the opposite of the one in the work.
• It Came from Beverly Hills: Beverly Hills is so cool that mentioning it in a work's title automatically makes it cooler.
• Job Title: The title is a character's profession or role.
• The Joy of X: Parodying of an The X of Y title is easily done with the replacement of X and/or Y.
• Justified Title: The title has a literal meaning in-universe separate from its meaning out-of-universe.
• The Last Title: Having the word "Last" somewhere in the title of a work (sometimes an intended Grand Finale).
• The Legend of X: A title that implies the story will feel like an epic story repeated from generation to generation.
• Lettered Sequel: A sequel is not numbered, but lettered. No, not even necessarily Roman numerals, ones like "Z" or "X".
• Letters 2 Numbers: Replacing letters with numbers (relevant to the plot or the installment's number).
• Literary Allusion Title: A work's title is an excerpt deriving from an earlier piece of media.
• Lucky Charms Title: Symbols that are not letters are put in a title. Tend towards unpronounceable.
• MacGuffin Title: The work is titled after a MacGuffin.
• Mad Lib Thriller Title: A Thriller title which follows a specific pattern of "The [meaningful noun or name] [noun with political or symbolic connotations]" to represent an enigmatic story.
• Market-Based Title: A work's title is changed in a foreign country to make it more audience-friendly, because of translation problems, etc.
• Metafictional Title: The title of the story is also the title of an in-universe document or fictional work.
• Mononymous Biopic Title: A biopic titled as a One-Word Title after the central character's name/surname/alias.
• Multi-Character Title: A title names off multiple characters.
• N+1 Sequel Title: The sequel for a work with a number in the title uses the subsequent integer.
• Name and Name: A title follows the format "[Main Character A] and [Main Character B]".
• Named After First Installment: A series' title is based on that of its first installment.
• The Namesake: The title of the story derives from an in-universe element that is not immediately made apparent.
• Never Trust a Title: The title has little or nothing to do with the work.
• The New Adventures: "New" or "neo" is slapped onto a sequel or revival series.
• New Season, New Name: When an ongoing work changes its name to represent its current arc.
• Non-Appearing Title: A Title Drop is absent from an auditory or literary work.
• No Title: A work is officially untitled, often only known by a designation for record purposes.
• The Noun and the Noun: The title is phrased as "[article] [something] and [article] [something]" (the article being optional).
• Noun Verber: A title that follows the format "[noun] [verb]-er/-or".
• The Noun Who Verbed: A title that describes someone who did or will do something.
• Numbered Sequels: The names of sequels contain numbers to show the order in which they were made, or the order in which they take place.
• "Number of Objects" Title: The title names a quantity of something. May go up in sequel.
• Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: A sequel with a weird subtitle (or, at least, one weirder than its predecessor).
• Officially Shortened Title: When an ongoing work later cuts down a previously elaborate title.
• Ominous Legal Phrase Title: The title of a work refers to legal jargon, making it sound ominous.
• One-Letter Title: The title consists of a single letter.
• One-Word Title: The title consists of a single word.
• Onscreen Chapter Titles: Displaying the title/number of a visual work's acts/chapters.
• The Original Series: When the original work in a franchise gets a subtitle identifying it as the original work.
• Parallel Porn Titles: A pornographic work has a title spoofing that of a non-pornographic work.
• Pictorial Letter Substitution: Replacing a letter (or part of a letter) with an image of something else with a similar shape. Often used in title logos.
• The Place: The work is named after its main central location.
• Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: A work's title is a pun on a famous work, series, song, etc.
• Portmantitle: The title is a portmanteau (a word made by merging two or more words).
• Portmanteau Series Nickname: A nickname for a series is made using a portmanteau of morphemes from the full title.
• Post-Release Retitle: A work's title is changed after it's initially been released.
• Premature Encapsulation: An episode is forced to use a placatory title because a better title more well-tuned to the plot was already used for a prior episode.
• Prepositional Phrase Equals Coolness: A good title has a Character Title or The Namesake, but a great title adds a prepositional phrase to that.
• The Problem with Pen Island: Improperly spaced words spell something different.
• Protagonist and Friends: A title that consists of "[Main Character] and Friends".
• Protagonist Title: The name of the main protagonist is the title of their series.
• Protagonist Title Fallacy: The false assumption that if a work is titled X, then X is the protagonist.
• Publisher-Chosen Title: The title is chosen by the publisher, not the creator of the work.
• Pun-Based Title: The title is a pun.
• Questioning Title?: The title is an inquisitive statement. Question marks are common, but not required.
• Recycled Title: A title gets reused.
• Recycled with a Gimmick: A gimmick (e.g., set in space) is often apparent because the title says so.
• Refrain from Assuming: A song's lyrics keep repeating something that's not the title.
• Retronym: When a work's title is retroactively changed because it shares its name with something else.
• Revenge of the Sequel: A character's return in a sequel is outright stated with a vendetta in the title.
• Rhyming Title: The title contains rhyming words or phrases.
• Role Called: The name and profession of the main protagonist is the title of their series.
• Running Time in the Title: The chronological length (or, rarely, number of episodes) of a work or series is in its title.
• Sarcastic Title: Titles in Sarcasm Mode.
• Secondary Character Title: The character of a self-titled work is really a Deuteragonist of sorts.
• Self-Referential Track Placement: A song's placement in the tracklist corresponds or alludes to its title.
• Self-Titled Album: An album that uses the band/musician's name for a title. Usually a debut release.
• Sequel Number Snarl: The numbering of sequels gets complicated.
• Sequel: The Original Title: The sequel inherits the previous installment's title as its subtitle.
• Short Title: Long, Elaborate Subtitle: The title is short and dwarfed by its subtitle.
• Similarly Named Works: Works that coincidentally have the same or similar titles.
• Something Blues: A work is titled "[something] Blues". Very prevalent in Blues music, although there are also many, many non-blues songs with a title like this.
• The Something Force: The Team is a called a Force.
• Something-Nauts: The Team are specialists that are also sailors, or "nauts".
• The Something Song: It's a song about [subject] because the title says it's the [subject] song.
• Species Title: Stories named after a species of creature.
• Spoiler Title: The title of a work is a Spoiler for the plot.
• Spotlight-Stealing Title: The most popular character/the character with the most famous actor is on the series title.
• Subtitle: An explanatory or alternate title suffixed to the main title.
• Super Title 64 Advance: A video game port or a video game exclusive to a specific system has a title alluding to the system the game was released on.
• Syndication Title: Title changing because of syndication.
• The Talk Show with Host Name: The title of a Talk Show is followed by the name of its host.
• Team Title: The title refers to the team the main characters form.
• Temporary Name Change: A Post-Release Retitle is overturned.
• Terminology Title: The title of a work refers to select jargon.
• The "The" Title Confusion: When nobody is quite sure if a work's title begins with a "the."
• Third Is 3D: The third release is in 3D (heck, the title says so).
• Time Title: The title of a work includes or references as measurement or period of time.
• Title 1: Explicitly titling to your work as the first in a series in full anticipation of there being sequels... they don't always get 'em.
• Title: The Adaptation: An adaptation gives a subtitle to the work specifying the medium of the adaptation.
• Title by Number: The title is or contains a number tangentially related to the work's premise.
• Title by Year: Title contains the year the story takes place in.
• Title Confusion: The title of a work is unintentionally counter-intuitive.
• Titled After the Song: A show or movie titled after a pre-existing song.
• Title Drop: A work's title is mentioned within the work.
• Title Drop Anthology: A Title Drop of a story in the title of the anthology it is a part of.
• Title Drop Chapter: A Title Drop of a story in the title of one of its chapters.
• Title In: Displaying location name/date/time of a scene as it opens.
• Title of the Dead: Titles of Zombie Stories consisting of the setting with "of the (Living) Dead" slapped on the end.
• Title, Please!: Television episodes never have their titles shown.
• Title Reading Gag: A gag involving the reading of the title.
• Title: Requiem: The title ends with "requiem", often implying a Bittersweet or Downer Ending.
• The Title Saga: A work title that ends in "Saga", or has "Saga" in it.
• Title Scream: The name of a work is screamed at the viewer.
• The Titling: It's not just "[Gerund]", it's "The [Gerund]"!
• Translation Matchmaking: Two unrelated films, through translation, seem related to each other by name.
• Trivial Title: A work gets its title from something unimportant in it.
• Un-Installment: A Numbered Sequel's title skips an installment number, implying series installments that do not exist.
• "Untitled" Title: A work has a title which claims it has No Title.
• Untranslated Title: A work's title is not translated for release in a foreign market.
• Vehicle Title: The title is named after a vehicle used by the protagonist(s).
• Verbed Title: The title is a variation of a verb.
• Verbing Nouny: The title follows the format "[Gerund] [Proper Noun]".
• Versus Title: A work is named for one thing going up against another thing.
• Visual Title Drop: A Title Drop portrayed through on-screen writing in place of dialogue.
• Weapon Title: The work is titled after a Sword of Plot Advancement.
• Word Purée Title: The title doesn't use real words.
• Word Salad Title: The title makes no sense.
• Word Sequel: Works start getting Subtitled instead of Numbered with the fourth installment.
• Work Info Title: The title gives information on what a work is about.
• Working Title: A work started out with a different title that ended up being changed during production.
• The X of Y: The title is phrased as "[article] [something] of [article] [something]" (the article being optional).

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The Tried Trope of The Stinger: That Which We End On

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