Sometimes, the idea of what a
trope is actually about gets lost somewhere along the way. Either new entries miss the point somehow, or the author
just read the trope title and
thought they got the gist of it. This includes things like describing just anything remotely scary as Nightmare Fuel, when Nightmare Fuel was originally intended to be things you found unintentionally scary as a kid. (Hence why
Accidental Nightmare Fuel was created and
Nightmare Fuel repurposed) Remember though, that
Tropes Are Flexible—what you think is decay may just be unusual usage on second glance.
When this gets too bad, it may be necessary to
rename the trope to avoid confusion, or remove the
trope, or completely rewrite it. The
Trope Repair Shop
is where these cleanup discussions happen.
See also
Canonical List of Subtle Trope Distinctions and
Square Peg Round Trope.
