These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: Nancy Drew
Tropes in the books include:
Big Lipped Alligator Moment: In The Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk, Nancy gets struck by lightning. It has nothing to do with the rest of the story, it's over in less than a page, and nobody ever mentions it again (and isn't getting struck by lightning something you'd want to brag about?
Broken Base: Fans of the original '30s/60s version usually hate upon the late 80s version, for the way it modernized the character.
On the other hand, the late 80's version (specifically the Nancy Drew Files spinoff has its fanbase as well, and they don't take too kindly to the new Girl Detective reboot for going the other way and being too "kiddy" (usually, they like the original 30s/60s version, but feel like a certain amount of Nostalgia Filter might make them slightly biased toward everything afterwards.
Canon Sue: Nancy Drew was originally supposed to be a role model, after all. She can be taking lessons in trick riding and replace the circus star chapters later, for just one example.
** Depends on the book. Most later novels are victims of bad writing.
Hollywood Pudgy: In the original series, Bess is described as "slightly plump". In the "Files" series, while given a "fabulous figure", she is perpetually focused on losing five pounds. Additionally, she is consistently made out to be the weakest of the group—easily frightened, boy-crazy, somewhat ditzy, etc.
As of the newest series, Girl Detective, she's over it. She's always described as curvy, but her weight is almost never addressed. Furthermore while she is still very fashion conscious, she has also become a full fledged Wrench Wench.
Unfortunate Implications: The "slightly plump" Bess, throughout all versions of the series, is consistently portrayed in a negative light—ditzy, boy-crazy, easily frightened, etc.
Awesome Music: After going about three games without using the catchy opening tune, it returns with an all-new level of awesomeness.
While we're at it, why don't we mention just about every single score for the games? Kevin Manthei is a genius.
Special mention needs to go to Shadow at the Water's Edge. While the majority of the music is appropriately ominous, go into the city and you hear this cute little J-Pop number. It especially appreciated as something of a breather since most of the rest of Shadow is absolutely terrifying.
"Mattie's house - Day" is one of the best themes in the franchise. Such soothing music, which is especially appreciated in a crime game.
Scarlet Hand's'Maya'. A short tune, the theme for a character you only see for five minutes, and yet it sums up everything about the game.
Ear Worm: This troper has had the jingle from the wiki-tiki game in Creature of Kapu Cave stuck in her head for days. Days.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Mel in Warnings at Waverly Academy and Dave in Secret of Shadow Ranch.
Nick from The Final Scene verges on Memetic Badass within the fandom: "Fight the power!"
The fangirls seem to like Henry Bolet.
What about Professor Hotchkiss? Even if only among the developers, she's so well-loved they brought her back for two phone cameos. High-five, team Hotchkiss!
Nancy/Frank Hardy has been a pretty common pairing since at least 1988, when the Spin-off/Crossover Supermysteries were written featuring the pair. Bess and Joe... not so much.
Of course, some people who follow his walkthroughs prefer Nancy/Arglefumph. Due in part to him voicing his jealousy of Ned and saying he wants to be Nancy's boyfriend.
Less so than the others, Henry Bolet from The Legend of the Crystal Skull and Mel Corbalis from Warnings at Waverly Academy.
Fridge Logic: Occasionally crops up when back-and-forth dialogue is kept sparse for pacing's sake, as when two different characters from Danger on Deception Island apparently know Nancy's e-mail address without being told.
In The Captive Curse, the monster allegedly carries off young women who wear a specific necklace. It's never explained how, since these girls are never seen again, the necklace returns to be worn by a new victim.
Occasionally a Game Over will have Nancy being kicked out of the investigation-site by a character who, if you finish the game, turns out to be the culprit who was counting on Nancy to find the treasure/evidence/whatever. You'd think that, say, Shorty could forgive Nancy a few under-ripe vegetables if letting her stick around made them rich.
Funny Moments: One of the bloopers after the end credits for Trail of the Twister features the dance club from Phantom of Venice. The one dancing? Pa. Doing the exact same dancing moves.
Jump the Shark: Many fans see a declining quality in the recent games' endings, and a selective few claim this happened with Ransom of the Seven Ships. The games never get bad, exactly, but there was a noticeable drop in quality when the company started to make two games a year instead of one.
It's Easy, so It Sucks: The main complaint about the recent endings is that, unlike the earlier endings which required you to think at lightning speed to catch or stay one step ahead of the culprit, they now focus less on the action and more on the puzzles. They're slowly getting better with this, but the worst offender of this was Legend of the Crystal Skull which made the ending a little too easy to win.
Heartwarming Moments: In Alibi In Ashes a lot of people suspect Alexei Marcovic for framing Nancy and lighting the town hall fire, because he's an ex-amateur-detective who could be understandably jealous of her success. Alexei doesn't help this accusation by being excessively grumpy all the time. So what does he do when Nancy finally gets out of jail and goes to speak with him? Asks her if she's okay and tells her he'll do absolutely anything to help her out. He's been framed before too, and he's probably happier to see her freed than anyone else.
Ho Yay: When Dwayne Powers explains himself to Nancy Drew in the end of Ransom of the Seven Ships, he mentions a man who did voluntary work in his prison. "We got to be friends. Good friends". The way he emphasises "good" is rather... ambigious. Also, here's the fact that it took place in a prison.
Let's Play: Arglefumph of YouTube is perhaps the best known example of these.(Just approach his "Message in a Haunted Mansion" Let's Play with extreme caution if you use headphones.)
Memetic Mutation: Thanks to the tweenage fans with video cameras.
"It's locked"
Narm: In Curse of Blackmoor Manor, one of the puzzles you must complete involves moving a giant statue across the alchemy lab (don't ask) to capture all four wind clouds which keep trying to push the statue into pits of doom and you must start over. This would be a little more frustrating...were it not for the hilarious Big "NO!" the statue cries out.
Also, in one of the Game Over scenarios for Creature of Kapu Cave, if you make too much noise and wake up the grumpy professor, he growls " You young lady would appear to be in very. Deep. Trou-ble. " Trynot cracking up.
Periphery Demographic: If you started playing these games in your early teens and still play them well into your college years, you are not the only one.
What if you're a boy? The original slogan "For girls who aren't afraid of a mouse," made it sound like a girl's club? (Although Herinteractive has stated that a good chunk of their audience is male.)
Heck, these are practically one of the few point and click adventure games that are still being made today.
Scrappy Mechanic: While the games are getting better at them, the annoyance of constantly returning to an overworld or map to get from house to house varies.
Tear Jerker: The historical backstories of the games tend to take a turn into the ridiculously depressing:
In Secret of Shadow Ranch, outlaw Dirk and sheriff's daughter Frances are in love. The sheriff finds out, Dirk gets hanged, Frances leaves Arizona forever without knowing about Dirk's final letters to her, and the sheriff dies alone, full of regret for driving away his beloved daughter. In fact, the paper his final diary entry was written on has stains left behind by the sheriff's tears.
In Danger by Design, Noisette Tornade, out of love for Paris and its art, employs the help of her German lover to steal and hide several pieces of beautiful stained glass so they won't be destroyed during World War II. When her countrymen discover her liaison with the German, they immediately accuse her of treason, and though she is acquitted and eventually becomes Director of Public Works in Paris, the suspicion against her never subsides and her lover is forced to leave her forever.
Treasure in the Royal Tower centers around the good intentions of Marie Antoinette. Guess how that one worked out.
The backstory of Isis, the titular character of White Wolf of Icicle Creek, is absolutely heartbreaking. Her mother was shot by a hunter, and she was found by Julius Macquade, who got so tired of humans that he decided to live alone in the wilderness. He saved her life and discovered that she refused to leave him. He tamed and befriended her. Later he had to go to hospital and died there. Last words of his diary? "The possibility that she would think I abandoned her just breaks my heart. She has come to mean the world to me..." She probably felt about him the same way, since she kept returning to his cabin in search of him. In fact, that's where Nancy finds her.
That One Puzzle: The Fox and Geese game in White Wolf of Icicle Creek.
And the Wire Portrait puzzle in Shadow at the Water's Edge.
The Problem with Licensed Games: Averted. While many forms of Gaming Journalism usually refuse to acknowledge this series, they have a surprisingly large Periphery Demographic consisting of former Adventure-Game players.
This troper insists we include Noisette Tornade and Dirk Valentine and Frances Humber on this list. Jake Hurley's story is nothing to sniff at either, not to mention the entire Penvellyn family, whose six hundred years of history are so fascinating that a character in the game is writing a book about them.
The Untwist: In Trail of the Twister, Scott, the suspect with the most obvious evidence and the rudest personality is the culprit.
Which may actually rate as a twist ending if you've played several of the other games first, as it's far more often the nicest suspect who turns out to be the culprit!
Values Dissonance: In Shadow at the Water's Edge, Miwako's ranting about Yumi being selfish for moving out of the Ryokan and wanting to have her own career instead of taking on the one expected of her only makes sense if you understand the general Japanese attitude about independence versus doing what's expected of you.
Oddly enough, it was just Miwako and her grandmother, Takae, who frowned on Yumi being her own person; their (deceased) mother, Kasumi, actually didn't mind if her daughters did what they wanted, as revealed in the letter to the girls found at the end of the game. Then again, Takae did describe Kasumi as being just as free-spirited as Yumi, showing that not every Japanese person holds the same attitude about a particular issue as the traditional attitude would command them to.
Tropes in the movie include:
Harsher in Hindsight: Dehlia Draycott was based on Natalie Wood, both dying from a drowning that was suspected to be a murder. Though Wood's death was eventually filed as an accident, five years after this movie her death was reinvestigated upon the discovery of new evidence suggested she may indeed have been murdered.
Mary Sue/ The Messiah: Nancy in this depiction, is an unfailingly polite and proper girl who can turn and befriend those who are wary or dislike her and easily excels at all her endeavours.
