R.I.P 2 My Youth
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Like the idea, Arha. I am assuming, of course, there will be a note differentiating the two on the pages though, otherwise, people will keep mixing the two terms.
Hookie-hook.
"If you aren't him, then you apparently got your brain from the same discount retailer, so..." - Fighteer
I probably shouldn't have put the 'merge and do nothing else' option on there. The Gadfly only exists because the two tropes didn't used to be distinct. Oh well, too late.
edited 3rd May '12 3:24:51 PM by Arha
I really think splitting Internet Troll and Troll is needlessly pedantic. People in real life are already using troll for both. What's the point in splitting it?
I feel that we should have two tropes, but I'm not sure which option (if any) matches the view I have:
The tropes should be split on intent. The Gadfly is a prankster character who's not deliberately trying to be cruel, while the Troll is malicious and actively seeking to cause ill will toward his victims.
I do not believe that Internet Troll is needed as a third trope.
edited 3rd May '12 3:55:07 PM by DarkConfidant
^^ Well, we'd need to redefine troll then wouldn't we?
With the establishment of the 5th option, I changed my opinion to support the new option as it better fit my opinion. Definitely put in Evil Counter Part and Good Counter Part on the respective pages. The Gad Fly is typically, Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral (light side) and sometimes Neutral Good or True Neutral. Trolls tend to be Chaotic Evil, Neutral Evil, or a very dark Chaotic Neutral.
edited 3rd May '12 4:24:17 PM by magnum12
I guess that's okay. And maybe if it focuses less on internet trolling the article can be unlocked.
[[color:blue Just realized a major pot hole in all this. What do we do with Trolling Creator? They mess with their fans for lulz.]]
edited 3rd May '12 7:05:47 PM by magnum12
Unrelated to the issue at hand.
Crown Description:
The page Troll is frequently being misused to refer to the trope known as The Gadfly. It has also become clear that there may be a third trope here that needs its own page. Currently, The Gadfly describes a character who says things they don't necessarily believe in order to get a reaction - a tactic often used by internet trolls - and can be a funny person, while Troll refers to internet trolls. The third proposed trope is someone who manipulates others out of cruelty to hurt them. Offsite and occasionally onsite trolling is used to refer to behavior we would refer to as either what The Gadfly does or the proposed cruelty variant.
Seconded. I also suspect that part of the core problem is that MANY tropers simply don't know that The Gadfly even exists, causing people to mis-label them as trolls. Celestia for example (I don't watch the show but I know of this from internet culture) is labeled as a Troll though her mischief is more appropiately labeled as gad fly behavior.