Properly matching Sub Tropes and Super Tropes.

Basically, this is to discuss if we think a Super-Trope/Sub-Trope listing really fits. I think most fit properly, but some might not, and we can call out some we don't think fit. Or we can discuss if you see one not listed as a sub trope or super trope, but you think might fit.

This was brought up by a couple things.

1. The first was the TRS thread* about what did and didn't fit in Rule of Sexy, and it was agreed the same should be done for other Rule of Index tropes. So if we feel we can just discuss those lists here, we can do so.
2. The other was I noticed the sub trope list on Fountain of Expies has some that just don't seem to be actually sub tropes. And I feel it's better to discuss them here in case some can prove they fit.
   • Alice Allusion (mainly about the name, not the character)
   • Big Red Devil (mainly about Satan himself, not copycats)
   • The Cape (that's a superhero archetype, not Superman copycats)
   • Malcolm Xerox (seems to be the trope namer, not the character maker)
   • Messianic Archetype (even though the name in this context has roots in Jesus' story**, it's not about Jesus ripoffs)
   • A Nazi by Any Other Name (doesn't seem to be expies, just using their most notorious traits)
   • Trenchcoat Brigade (perhaps this should be fixed in TRS, but this looks like an Older Than They Think trope)

* And the reason this isn't in TRS is it's meant to cover several tropes instead of one, and it's about fixing something that's pretty minor for what TRS does.

** In that the word means something else to the Jewish faith.

Maybe there should be a section on Fountain of Expies for "examples of this trope are usually expies of a single person, but not always."

edited 18th Aug '12 11:19:58 AM by abk0100

Well even then, those I put up would barely fit.

Also, this is a partial list of what I think shouldn't and should be listed under Rule of Cool (and why). Many just seem to be listing "cool things". And a lot that don't fit can go on several other related indexes (such as The Utterly and Completely Definitive Guide to Cool).

Should be removed

• Absurdly Cool City: While some examples are impossible settings, the trope doesn't actually require that.
• Cloth Fu: Even if it's not the most practical weapon, it's not unheard of.
• Cool Airship: Includes airships that work in real life.
• Cool Bike: Includes bikes from real life.
• Cool, but Inefficient: Does not require the inefficiency to be ignored.
• Cool, but Stupid: Needs another index, but this does not require impossible or implausible things.
• Cool Car: Includes cars that work in real life.
• Cool Chair: Includes chairs that work in real life.
• Cool Guns: Includes real life guns.
• Cool Horse: Includes real life horses.
• Cool Key: Just abut nice looking keys.
• Cool Pet: Includes real life pets. Being exotic doesn't make them impossible.
• Cool Plane: Includes real life planes.
• Cool Ship: Real life ships.
• Cool Sword: Real life swords.
• Cool Train: Real life.
• Cool Versus Awesome: Includes real life match-ups.
• Dramatic Dangling: Dangling clothing can look cool, but it's not impossible.
• Dream Team: The trope namer is both an example, and something from real life.
• Evil Is Cool: That's an audience reaction.
• Evil Laugh: Okay, even if being a villain isn't clear cut in real life, it would fit Rule of Drama better.
• Faux Symbolism: Isn't really something that goes "How can this work? It's cool, that's how!"
• Fighter-Launching Sequence: These have to happen in real life. A plane can't just be on the ground and then airborne.
• Freaky Is Cool: People like freaky things in real life.
• Harbinger of Asskicking: Such things have happened in real life battles.

Should be included

• Absurd Cutting Power: Anything that cuts something it can't in real life.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: Blade that cuts far better than it would in real life.
• Animal Battle Aura: Spectral animal images don't appear around martial arts (at least not on on the visible spectrum).
• Anti-Gravity Clothing: We don't have anti-gravity tech on any practical level, especially making it selectively work on clothing.
• Artistic License – Physics: It's outright about impossible physics.
• Art Major Biology: It's outright about impossible biology.
• Awesomeness Is Volatile: "Awesome" is an adjective, not a volatile substance.
• Battle Ballgown: The "armor with a light skirt" variant is the only even remotely practical form of this trope. 90% of the rest is an outfit that just wouldn't work as armor or a dress.
• Blade Run: Leaping onto a blade, mid swing, would take superhuman skill.
• Crater Power: In that it usually has an impact be crater-shaped, just because.
• Crystal Skull: Since most examples involve supernatural powers.
• Cut the Fuse: Even if it can be done, it takes some much skill that it fits under the "extremely improbable" criterion.
• Cutlass Between the Teeth: The problems with doing this are too much to work without this rule.
• Dramatic Wind: Wind doesn't seem to wait until dramatic moments or to come in at the most dramatic angles.
• Electric Slide: Skating across power lines is kind of not feasible in real life.
• Energy Weapon: The real life versions just aren't practical right now.
• Everythings Better With Dinosaurs: Dinosaurs used in places they simply wouldn't be.
• Everything's Deader with Zombies: Well Romero-esque zombies aren't possible anyway, this adds on throwing them in works just because it's cool.
• Explosion Propulsion: In that many examples are things that would not survive the shockwave.
• Fiction 500: Since it requires things that money can't buy in real life.
• Flaming Sword: It's not impossible, but real life versions are for show, not actual combat.
• Floating Water: Water is heavier than air.
• Flying on a Cloud: Clouds acting like a solid.
• Free-Fall Fight: Just not practical at all.
• Frickin' Laser Beams: Lasers just don't work well as weapons yet.
• Gun Fu: Balletic gun battles are just asking for an accident.
• Gun Kata: You can't just dodge bullets by mental math.
• Hollywood Fire: Fire working in a way it doesn't actually work.
• Hot Blade: Blades don't just get hot, and if they did, they would be too hot to hold.
• Human Pincushion: This isn't unheard of in real life combat, but it's extremely hard to survive.
• Humongous Mecha: Giant robots are too heavy to actually work.
• I Have The High Ground: Has no real practical combat function most of the time.
• Implausible Fencing Powers: Swords used in ways that just don't work in real life.
• Impossibly Cool Weapon: Weapons that just don't work in real life.
• Now That's Using Your Teeth!: Using teeth in a way that most people simply can't do.

Not Sure

• Awesome, but Impractical: This seems to require the impractically is acknowledged, when rule of cool requires it be ignored, but some examples seem to be just Fridge Logic when this impracticality is ignored. I think this should go through TRS.
• Chainsaw Good: Does this require chainsaws are better than in real life?
• Clothing Combat: Does it require the clothing do things clothing can't do even as improvised weapons?
• Everything's Better with Spinning: Does it require spinning in impossible ways or have impossible results?
• Horseback Heroism: Does this require impossible or implausible actions?