This is simply what you think is the (not some of the, the) best example of any trope (an objective trope, not subjective, since this already is subjective). The "Crowning Example" if you will.
There could be several reasons you think an example is the best.
You thinks it's the best in terms of illustrating the trope.
You think it's the most well done.
It's your favorite play in that trope.
You just really like the source material.
Oh, several things before you list examples:
Each troper gets one example per trope, no more.
Don't go "no, this is," or phrases like that. This is about our own personal favorites.
Big Ethel from Archie. Has to be one of the, if not the longest running example of this trope, and having her pursue Jughead (who doesn't like girls at all) just makes it better. ~ gibberingtroper
MasakoX and Vegeta3986's Naruto The Abridged Series, which 25 episodes covered 101 episodes of the actual series. (It's not as well executed as Little Kuriboh's series but most definitely surpasses its predecessor when it comes to defining the word "abridged") ~ Metal Shadow X
The Student Council from Persona 3 deserves a nomination, especially since the Student Council President's family owns the school (and just about everything else on Tatsumi Port Island.) ~ Aspie
The Subtle Knife. So sharp it cuts through things like steel, atomic particles, and the fabric between dimensions, among other things. ~ Selryam, Zfish9, Dark Hunter
Bleach. They cut entire buildings in two with those things on a regular basis. ~ Carla
Youmu from Touhou has the dual swords Hakurouken and Roukanken. One can cut anything (including the fucking MOON but not soccer balls), while the other can cut through CONFUSION ITSELF. ~ SorataZ
Anything wilded by Shigure. ANYTHING!~ by fakeangelbr
Saladin's Damascus sword; drop a veil on it, the veil lands on the ground in two pieces. — Cuchulainn
Freedom Fighters. The main rebel base for the first half of the game is in a part of the sewer with a thirty foot high ceiling, and the tunnels leading to it are big enough for rafts that can hold supplies, ammunition, and twelve people comfortably. ~ raan
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The sewer was big enough to stage major fight scenes down there, plus the water down there was very clean-perhaps because Nobody Poops-and was as wide and deep as a river. wrybread
Mirrors Edge. They are absolutely massive, filled with more than enough space to do massive trick jumps all over. Admittedly it was justified as being the main sewer system for a massive city, but still. Mack
Vriska's lusus, a.k.a. Spidermom. She forced her charge into becoming a serial killer. And if Vriska hadn't brought her bodies, her lusus would've eaten her instead. ~CCIB
Jonas Venture Sr. No matter how bad Rusty is with his own sons, it's petty squabbles compared to the psychological abuse his own father dumped on him. ~ Drakkenmensch
I see your Nanoha and raise you the Boss. She became one SECONDS after her birth...DURING NORMANDY CAMPAIGN!!! ~D Roy
Grainne Mhaol. Same as above, except against Turkish pirates a day after the birth of one of her children, in Real Life. Or so the legend goes. ~ Geek Code Red
Konata Izumi always enjoys Aya Hirano's concerts and she's also quite fond of Haruhi Suzumiya (The latter is true for both the English and Japanese dubs). ~ aNinjaWithAIDS
The Thing. It's hard enough to remember that it's a remake. Remembering the original short story is harder yet. ~ Man Without A Body
Little Nemo In Slumberland. No it's not about a fish. And it didn't start out as an NES game or a little known anime movie. It was originally a comic from the 1900's. ~ Surenity
Except Finding Nemo was named for Captain Nemo, not Little Nemo.
The Princess Bride. How many people do you know who are even remotely aware it was originally a novel? ~ deeman45
The book-reading scenes in the movie might have been a clue...but apparently they weren't.
Fullmetal Alchemist. For the majority of the last decade, at least. During that time, the first anime series' popularity was massive (and for good reason), so much so that it was much more well-known in the United States than the also amazing manga it was partially based on. The Brotherhood adaptation has... changed things, however.
Yu-Gi-Oh!. It's a trading card game based off an anime based off of a manga, yet criticisms will be made on how the second doesn't follow the direct rules of the first (that is, the criticisms that don't just insult the series in general). Not the Most Triumphant for the original source being erased from public knowledge completely, but the winner for the manga having been extremely popular...yet those from every walk of culture still think the true "canon" of the series come from the cards. ~ Shadow Stained Sky
The ENTIRE Final Fantasy series! Somewhat normal (if awkward/uncommon) names like Cloud, Reno, Rufus, Vincent, Cid, Elena, and Zack... with Aerith, Tifa, Genesis, Sephiroth, Angeal, Cissnei, etc.
"What is a man? *glass shatters* A miserable little pile of secrets!BULL SHIT! THAT'S WHAT IT IS, YA FUCKIN' ASS! ENOUGH TALK, HAVE AT YOU!" ~ Ray Ayanami
"Argh! This cannot be! AHHHHHHHHH! Fuckin' ass..." ~Rain Requiem
Star Trek: The Next Generation gives us Picard, in the episode "Q Who", in which Q has thrown the ship to the Borg and the crew is close to being massacred:
"You wanted to frighten us. We're frightened. You wanted to show us we were inadequate. For the moment, I grant that. You wanted me to say I need you. I NEED YOU!"
Leliel in the original, even moreso. That shadow on the ground is it's real body. The monochromatic sphere hovering in the sky? THAT is its shadow. Oh, and somehow, the two appear to be physically connected, i.e. entering one and coming out the other... and the shadow appears to have infinite space within it, i.e. a pocket dimension.Eva Unit 01
The Trabant. 0 to 60 in like two minutes, and its 0.5-liter two stroke barely reaches the 10 hp with as much fuel as needed nowadays to reach the 150 hp! Reality is better than fiction here! ~Da_Nuke
Yu+Me Dream, the Webcomic (Sorry, I am not gonna link this one) Seriously, raise your hand if you could see it coming. And if you knew before you got to that part of the story, it doesn't count. ~ Dinru
St. Elsewhere, notable because of the theory it makes everything else just a dream too.
Me! There's a reason some people are afraid to let their true feelings show, because other people don't like them having those feelings for them! — Cuchulainn
Final Fantasy VII is a strange example. Most of the (incredibly complicated) backstory was either really ambiguous or left out entirely, and none of the omissions were explained properly until a decade after the original game was released. So, for anyone who hadn't played the original game in 1997 got to experience the FFVII universe in the correct order, making them wonder why anyone would ever have been confused by the game when they finally get around to playing it only after working their way through the rest of the compilation. All explained in the manual(s)...eventually. ~ Tropers/Kelly, Eva Unit 01
Citizen Kane: Rosebud was his sled. I haven't seen that movie. I don't even know what it's about, or what's so important about the sled. But I not only know that twist, I hear about it again every couple of weeks. And so did you, just now. ~ guyy
Jekyll and Hyde: Nowadays nobody actually realises that the fact that Jekyll and Hyde were the same person was only said in the last chapter and it was supposed to be a shocking reveal. ~ Elgnirp100
Guardians Crusade, in addition to making frequent and heavy usage of this trope, has one specific example which is incredibly played with. Heroic MimeKnight assigned to go collect an emerald guarded by a fierce monster from a rather greedy mayor; as he needs the emerald to pay for the ticket with which he'll set sail over the sea, he agrees to get the gem and return. After a series of sidequests during which he meets a knight, a wizard, and a witch who Knight trails behind right until they get to the boss, at which point just in front of them the traveling party defeats the monster effortlessly and takes the emerald. The party's Exposition Fairy Nehani is rightfully a bit upset, and exclaims that now they'll have to find something else to bribe the mayor with. The reason this becomes a Most Triumphant Example despite looking completely different at first is that while Knight's party's goals are basically only to get the gemstone and get the ticket to travel across the ocean and the knight does not have those goals (he is instead trying to stop Karmine, an opponent you yourself have to defeat later on), his actions dovetail nicely with yours later on. In addition, if you inspect the beast after the other party has defeated it you'll be able to go into a rather weak Bonus Boss which will earn you the best shield you can get at that point in the game. The options make the trope so confusing in terms of how it's played with that it could technically be Zig Zagged, Subverted, Justified, and Discussed, not to mention the tons of other times the trope constantly comes into play in Guardian's Crusade. ~ Gryzalb
Quina Quen: assuming s/he/it has a gender ~ Loquacia
Crona. Even the author doesn't know what gender Crona is (and doesn't much care at this point). ~ yukiyume, Zfish9, Eva Unit 01
Envy. Word Of God even confirmed that she doesn't even know what gender he (erm, /she? /it?) is. Maybe if "bastard" was a gender... ~ Carla, Julep
Vaarsuvius. When V is referred to as "Other Parent" to his/her mate by their children, that's going above and beyond the call of duty to maintain a Running Gag.
Desire. Full Stop. The very definition of "whatever I want to be at this given time." Even hir siblings address Desire as "brother" and "sister." ~ Devils Advocate (2nd)
Yubel, to the point fans love to argue about it. ~ Lord Zorc
He has fabulous mecha, which has fabulous sparkly weapons and pink controls, which he controls with the legs crossed like a woman.
Has a fabulous clothes both as an student and as Zero, and becomes even more fabulous when he becomes emperor.
He geassed his sister bodyguard to View him as a fabulous Princess. He could have easily ordered follow my commands.
There's lots of homolust with his best friend, they both obsess over each other, and he ends up as his knight. And probably his lover too, given the subtext. Even those who don't like yaoi accept that their relationship is not a normal one (As opposed to 2 normal men), to say the least.
No romantic interest in any girl at all. C.C. is the closest to this and Word Of God mentions that their relationship was purely fraternal.
Has no physical condition at all, but he's very skilled at cooking and choosing clothes.
His hand mannerisms are very fabulous, bordering on Camp Gay
I'll always think of Jane Eyre when I think of anguished love declarations. Jane starts it all off in response to Rochester's aloof dismissal of her, then Rochester catches on and joins in with his own anguished declaration. Then, considering what happens next, it becomes clear just how anguished Rochester's declaration really was. ~ Tropers/Kelly
I personally think Mandark's is even better/worse. ~ Bright Blue Ink
That damn one from Punch-Out!!, just because you hear the same grating gloating noise when FOUR DIFFERENT OPPONENTS (Bald Bull, Soda Popinski, Mr. Sandman, The Super Macho Man) beat you. ~ Ziggy Zag
The Joker's reaction to Batman's "death" in an episode of Batman The Animated Series. He goes so far as to have a funeral for the Caped Crusader, complete with Harley Quinn playing "Amazing Grace" on a kazoo.
Yu Yevon. It's impossible to get a game over by the time you reach him, since all your characters have permanent Auto-Life. ~ The Wanderer, Eva Unit 01
The Gray Prince, the champion of the Arena in Oblivion IV. There's so much build-up that when he refuses to fight you and just lets you kill him, it's pretty disappointing. Not only that, but after you do kill him, everyone acts as though you've just completed an impossible task. ~ Tropers/Kelly
General Scales from Star Fox Adventures. The game won't stop emphasizing what an evil guy this dinosaur is. You finally get to the fight against him...and he's told to give back the Krozoa Spirit that he has. He's then killed when it leaves his body. And then you have to fight fuckingAndross. It wasn't even implied that he would show up. At ALL. ~ EarthboundGod
Gentleman Johnny Marcone. He's a ruthless crime boss, but he geniunely cares about children, and will go to great lengths to protect them. ~ spacemonkey37
Naoki Urasawa. Nobody is safe under his pen. Not even the main character or the Big Bad is immune to kicking it halfway through the series. ~ Sparkysharps
Into the Woods proves this when they kill off the least likely character out of all of them— the Narrator. ~ AdelePotter
A Death Note will kill anyone just by writing their name in it. Just ask Light Yagami. -darkforce392
Swordfish. The film opens with a five minute monologue about how softcore Hollywood villains tend to be, and questions what would happen if a hostage-taker really wanted to get away with it. The same character then proceeds to unapologetically kill a hostagewhen SWAT tries to rescue her. Only, he doesn't just kill her, he blows her up, spraying the surrounding street with 15 pounds of stainless steel ball bearings. Not only is it a crowning moment of awesome for both the character and the movie itself (and this happens in the first 10 minutes), and a gigantic take that to every traditional Hollywood villain, it also shows that the film is not afraid to ignore the rules, and that all bets are off. ~ IJustWannaBeGod
Primeval. As of the end of the third series, there are three main characters left from the very beginning. Yes, THREE. ~ Me2
Pokémon Special. The FLRG arc was a direct consequence of every arc that came before it, not to mention as a whole there's so many frickin' Chekolv's Guns, which more than not will turn things around in an entirely different arc. ~ The Violent Tomboy
Robotech, taking together three different series and its three disparate plots, and welding together a semi-coherent universe out of it. ~ Do Know Butchie
"I'll see you in another life, brutha," and its variations. As far back as season one (with Nadia's note) we were seeing these bizarre, seemingly contextless assurances of people seeing other people in another life, and even with all those persistent theories of the whole show being the afterlife, the writers were so skillful that they still made it a surprise to everyone that it's the flash-sideways that's the afterlife, fulfilling this series-long Foreshadowing. And this was the most endlessly scrutinized and theorized-about show ever. How do you top that?? ~ Ziggy Zag
Persona 4 has a whole collection of them - "I art thou, thou art I" "YOU'RE NOT ME!" and "I am a shadow... the true self." ~ Gorsecloud
Goofus And Gallant. It took links to eight picture pages just to give a basic outline to how much they've changed over the years. There might've been others. And elf ears!?! ~ Nlpnt
Penny Arcade. Not only Art Evolution but style evolution. Gabe had already evolved into an amazing artist years ago, but he still continues to subtly change and refine his style. ~ ledge
Webcomic The Whiteboard, which switched media after 5 strips, and is now over 1200 strips in. A sixth strip on a whiteboard was done as a holiday treat, which means less than 0.5% of strips were actually done on a whiteboard. ~ Mr Initial Man
Doctor Frasier Crane, who started out as a one-shot rival for Sam Malone in [[Cheers]], and eventually let Kelsey Grammar tie James Arness for the title of "Longest Time Playing the Same Character on Television".
The Soul Reapers, the Visored, the Arrancar...just take your pick from any of the characters who get introduced in a new arc in Bleach. To put it in perspective: there are four character pages on this website for that manga, three of them for all the characters who aren't the five the series started off with. And they're all long. Only the Arrancar (and two traitor Captains) have died, so fully expect everyone else to come back when Ichigo's powers come back. - afteriwake
Star Wars: "Look Sir, Droids!" got his own EU story and an entry into the original Essential Guide to Characters. Aura Sing started out as the white bald chick watching the podrace in Episode I. All the scum and villainy hanging out in Jabba's Palace? Yep, they've all got names and their own fleshed out backstories, too. And that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. ~ Space Jawa
Steve Urkel He starts off as a one shot character midway through the first season and quickly becomes focal point of the series. ~ ereg
DerpyHooves went from an animation error, to appearing in the background every episode, to being an officially voiced, canonical character. ~ Person Of Note
David Tennant. How many of us grow up watching a series, wishing we could play the part-and then the day comes that the part becomes yours. Bravo, David, for living our geek-dream-come-true. -cygirlkat
There's an even better one than that: Steven Moffat, the head writer. In his own words, "My entire career has been a secret plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also, I was seven." ~ IJustWannaBeGod, Me2
Eli Roth. Watch him interviewed, it's clear he's still amazed gets to make horror movies for a living. — Cuchulainn
Haruhi Suzumiya. Drawing giant alien chalk symbols, smashing Kyon's head into a chair so she can scream her new idea at him in the middle of class, joining and quitting every club in the school before making her own club of people to demand constant attention from, and generally being absurdly bossy and hyperactive at all times; the sky's the limit! Or, in her case, the universe. ~ guyy
The Mystery Of Edwin Drood. How is it that speculation over the conclusion of a fairly mediocre novel can fill entire shelves and inspire at least three novels and a musical? ~ Vasha
iCarly: iStart A Fan War ended with the main character basically ranting about how Shipping had taken over the in-universe equivalent of the real life fandom, and that everyone should just appreciate the show for the comedy. It was especially galling since the very next episode was entirely centred around shipping.
The Dark Prince in Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. Not only did they abandon the obnoxiously Darker and Edgier tone of Warrior Within, they also explained why the Prince was voiced by someone else in said game, not to mention his Jerkass character derailment — and they did all this in-universe, with both actors voicing the character in The Two Thrones. ~ Gfrequency
"Everything I Do, I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams (from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) for existing or partly adapted songs (the melody was largely taken by Michael Kamen from a genuine medieval or Renaissance-era tune), "I Am the Wind" from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for original songs. ~ Ziggy Zag
