Image is sort of blurry and unclear.: The Worf Effect

The image for Worf Effect, while it meets the literal criteria of showing Worf getting beaten, doesn't really seem to show the trope that well — it's blurry and hard to tell what's going on, and if you don't know who Worf is, it doesn't show him as that "badass" — it just looks like two random blurry aliens fighting.

Can we find a better image? I'm thinking that optimally a comic of some sort that really exemplifies the trope in one panel would be best — someone or something really big and obviously powerful getting taken down in a way that the panel makes clear is to make whoever's beating them look tough. Something like that.

At the very least, I think we can get a better image than what we have. Worf himself isn't a good visual reference for the trope, because if you don't know who he is he just looks like a guy in a funny mask — he doesn't look that powerful, generally, compared to the sorts of things we could use.

The Worf Effect refers to the effortless defeat of a formerly established powerful character by an introduced party. It is impossible to show in one or few images a formerly established powerful character or an introduced party. Therefore most, if not all, images proposed to fit the Worf Effect will either have too much exposition/wording or simply depict a Curb Stomp Battle. Therefore I believe that this trope does not require an image at all.

edited 19th Jun '11 11:36:12 PM by Ecktor

I mean, I strongly dislike the double image thing in general, yeah, and I'd love to do better if we can find something, but the current image does clearly show a guy getting beaten up, which is a key aspect of this trope. With the ambiguity of the title (Worf? What about Worf?) showing him getting beaten up is a pretty big deal because it makes it clear what the trope is not about. And the sarcastic caption adds a lot, too.

Showing a character's entire reputation while also showing it being contradicted is a lot to ask, and I think it may be asking too much to require an image to get all the way there. This image gets most of the way there, with a caption that does good work to help close that gap. There's nothing wrong with that. Okay, the double image is kinda icky as a general principle, but it's hardly JAFAAC.

So, I'mma say we don't need to pull this one.

edited 20th Jun '11 12:04:02 AM by troacctid

It's clear the guy is being curb-stomped. It's the trope namer, and the caption can carry the "guy is supposed to be powerful" bit.

Not the best image but not a bad one either.

But the primary difference between a Worf Effect and a regular Curb Stomp is the character being beaten. If we can't show that the character being beaten is supposed to be strong, then the image isn't indicative of the trope.

Currently, the person in the original image being beaten looks like a regular person - nowhere implied to be of any power whatsoever.

That depends on whether you consider the caption as part of the page image or just a place for witty commentary. If you think of it as the former, as I do, then it's... well, it's fair. Not brilliant, but fair.

The "Klingon Warrior" could apply to either (unless it's potholed to something indicating sarcasm). I'm not even sure how this image was accepted in the first place (maybe there were a lot of fans of the series on at the time).

Are we worried that people are going to think this is a trope for generic curbstomping? Because I don't think that's a likely concern. The image here is helping more than it's hurting. If you want to get rid of it, the best thing you could do is look around for a replacement.

I think the OP's looking for an image that clearly defines a powerful entity being defeated by another one that is not blurry. I'll try finding an image (hopefully not nearly indistinguishable from a Curb Stomp).

edited 20th Jun '11 12:31:27 AM by Ecktor

I agree with Troacctid; the pic's not great, but it's not so bad that we need to pull it before looking for a replacement...if an adequate one can be found, and right now I'm not sure that's gonna happen.

We should at least look for a higher quality image. The current one looks like a shrunken youtube video screenshot.

I think it would be better if we show a picture of Worf being strong in the first panel.

Unclear?

No the Worf Effect is about a strong character being effortlessly tossed around to establish how strong the bad guy is. The picture demonstrates that just fine. Even if you don't know who Worf is, you see him moved across the room by the cyborg, who only used one hand. So you can see the cyborg is strong, demonstrating the trope clearly.

The image showes a part of the trope, the character being effortlessly defeated. But this is just a Curb-Stomp Battle. We need to show that he is supposed to be strong. And we have to show something else:

Note: No one fight or loss can invoke this effect. It must be a series of losses, not a unique event. This also does not apply to losses during dramatic final confrontations.

Pretty sure that's wrong and the trope doesn't actually require that.

Laconic:

A character who's supposed to be a Badass gets owned continually to show how Badass new characters are.

The description also supports the "continually" requirement. I don't think that's necessary, to be honest.

But whoever wrote the trope thinks it is.

Showing this should be not to hard. We need a collage: First image Worf looking like a badass Klingon warrior, then some images of different situations when he is tossed around.

edited 21st Jun '11 2:17:00 AM by Osmium

Yeah, the guy getting owned repeatedly is fairly important, and has been for as long as I've been aware of the trope.

Agreed on the "continuous ownage" part. This needs a lampshade to portray effectively.

Wolverine might be a good go-to for a lampshade. Especially if Deadpool is anywhere nearby.

Is Wolverine well-known enough that a picture of him getting beaten could be considered non-JAFAAC?

edited 10th Aug '11 5:24:25 PM by Vox

Hurm... How about... a picture of someone standing in a field of beaten enemies followed by them getting their asses handed to them?

edited 10th Aug '11 5:49:51 PM by Vox

I like it, but it's kinda blurry and...

How the fuck does wolverine lose to the hulk? Or spock?

Da fuck is up with that?.

edited 10th Aug '11 5:51:32 PM by TheDeadMansLife