Do you have trouble remembering the difference between Deathbringer the Adorable and Fluffy the Terrible?
Do you have trouble recognizing when you've written a Zero-Context Example?
Not sure if you really have a Badass Bookworm or just a guy who likes to read?
Well, this is the thread for you. We're here to help you will all the finer points of example writing. If you have any questions, we can answer them. Don't be afraid. We don't bite. We all just want to make the wiki a better place for everyone.
Useful Tips:
- Make sure that the example makes sense to both people who don't know the work AND don't know the trope.
- Wrong: The Mentor: Kevin is this to Bob in the first episode.
- Right: The Mentor: Kevin takes Bob under his wing in the first episode and teaches him the ropes of being a were-chinchilla.
- Never just put the trope title and leave it at that.
- Wrong: Badass Adorable
- Right: Badass Adorable: Xavier, the group's cute little mascot, defeats three raging elephants with both hands tied behind his back using only an uncooked spaghetti noodle.
- When is normally far less important than How.
- A character name is not an explanation.
- Wrong: Full Moon Silhouette: Diana
- Right: Full Moon Silhouette: At the end of her transformation sequence into Moon Princess Misty, Diana is shown flying across the full moon riding a rutabaga.
Other Resources:
For best results, please include why you think an example is iffy in your first post.
Also, many oft-misused tropes/topics have their own threads, such as Surprisingly Realistic Outcome (here) and Fan-Preferred Couple (here). Tropers are better able to give feedback on examples you bring up to specific threads.
For cleaning up examples of Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard, you must use their dedicated threads: Complete Monster Cleanup, Magnificent Bastard Cleanup.
Edited by Synchronicity on Sep 18th 2023 at 11:42:55 AM
That argument isn't one that's brought up, though. It's just that the vegan apparently prefers animals to die a long, less than pleasant death from starvation than to die instantly. It's not a strong argument (as we've mentioned, there are many stronger arguments), but it's still an argument that holds up on its own.
Those ruins in the first two sound like they're justified, so no examples. The Wheel of Time, on the other hand, reads like a proper example. And it's not making judgements about the author. It's just describing them as a plot device like what the trope is about.
Check out my fanfiction!Could I get feedback on this, please, so that I may finalize the entry transplantation (if there's any left)?
And on a different note that's related to an even earlier question... While her Railgun move apparently does not qualify for either Kamehame Hadoken or Wave-Motion Gun (it certainly has the same kind of "one shot, immense destructive power" effect, though), I just remembered that Mikoto Misaka from A Certain Magical Index does have an attack that I'm suspecting may qualify for one of those tropes. Specifically, she can shoot what amounts to a giant death beam of pure electricity, as shown here (2:29). Incidentally, it's definitely a case of Hand Blast, because she punches the air in the direct of her target to "fire" the beam of electricity from her fist.
So, is it Kamehame Hadoken on account of her powers being technically a specialized form of Psychic Powers (which are often treated as just another form of Functional Magic, despite being a completely different phenomenon in-universe), or is it Wave-Motion Gun on account of the phenomenon being implicitly based on the same principles as the Railgun move and/or her other electrokinetic attacks (i.e. she might be using her powers to "create" a non-physical Lightning Gun)?
edited 20th Jan '18 8:28:50 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.The Wheel of Time example isn't quite accurate in its writeup, though - that's the only narrative reason for most ruins being there, but there does tend to be a historical in-universe explanation for why they exist, which seems to contradict Ruins for Ruins' Sake. (Although TBH I'm not entirely clear on how that trope is even supposed to work).
Ruins for Ruins' Sake is pretty simple - ruins exist for story/game purposes that don't make sense, in that there is no plausible function for that layout to have been built in the first place. Unlike real ruins which actually were built for a real purpose.
Reposting from the previous pages, so it doesn't get lost:
Is the following example from Freaky Friday (2003) being used correctly?:
- Unintentional Period Piece: All the gizmos Tess puts in her purse and has to juggle on a daily basis would definitely not have been included had the film been made in The New '10s. Even just entering the next decade, she would have had a single smartphone to replace all of it, which might have made the theme of her workaholism keeping her away from her family harder to convey.
A toddler misses his grandma, who just died. He's too little to understand death, but his parents tell him that grandma has gone far away but she's still watching over him. He goes to the window, looks at the full moon, and sees his grandma's face in the moon.
Unintentional Period Piece is a horrible mess. At the moment it is pretty much just "there is something in it that can be used to identify a time period". The listed example is consistent with the rest of the examples.
x6 Kamehame Hadoken requires the cupped hand motion of the Kamehameha and Hadoken so no. Hand Blast isn't power based so no as well. It isnt generic Ki Blast as well....
It would go wherever Force Lightning goes, which might be an actual missing trope since all I can find is a link to Agony Beam which it is the image of. Lets see Negi's Fulguratio Albicans and Jovis Tempestas Fulguriens in Negima would also be that.
Potentially an Elemental Beam trope would work, it would be a sister trope to Elemental Punch.
edited 21st Jan '18 1:50:23 PM by Memers
This isn't an example, right? There's no insistence on a word's definition here in Manga.Card Captor Sakura:
Seems like a shoehorn.
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢Agreed. I say get rid of it.
Are the following examples being used correctly?:
From Random Events Plot:
- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials has been accused of having one due to its lack of Character Development and overemphasis on action scenes barely connected by a threadbare narrative. It's the main reason why the movie was considered such a major step down in terms of quality when compared to its well-received predecessor.
From Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald:
- Overshadowed by Controversy: The growing "Me too" movement starting in 2017 that saw many actors' careers affected by accusations of violence against women caused a lot of scrutiny of why Johnny Depp was still holding on to his role in this film after the accusations of abuse from his ex-wife Amber Heard. JK Rowling didn't help with her attempt to address the issue, basically saying that because she's never seen Depp hit a woman right in front of her, she's comfortable believing he'd never do it.
Should the list of Alliterative Trope Names in Added Alliterative Appeal be moved to a new page called AlliterativeName.This Very Wiki or directly in Alliterative Name?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576That is a problem, the trope and examples itself has massive overlap with Arm Cannon and other tropes. About half the examples are that.
Many examples also are Finger Beams which would be different and not exclusive with Ki Attacks IE Freeza's Finger Beam in DBZ is his signature attack.
EDIT: I am really not sure this trope should actually exist, everything in it are actually other tropes.
edited 22nd Jan '18 3:46:01 PM by Memers
Does this entry qualify as an example of Straw Hypocrite?
- One of the scenarios in the Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook Elder Evils involves the Hulks of Zoretha, five evil elemental beings from another world who have been in a dormant state resembling statues for eons. If they ever awoke, they'd attempt to "purge" the world of all other sentient beings to repopulate it with their brood. Several Apocalypse Cults among savage humanoids have formed around the Hulks, and recently, these cults have united under the leadership of a charismatic frost giant named Janwulf the Soulbiter, who claims to have the same goal as the other cultists, waking the Hulks and bringing about The End of the World as We Know It. Is this because Janwulf is an Omnicidal Maniac? No. He actually has no desire or reason to destroy the world, and has no divine powers at all, or any idea how to waken them. What he really wants is more power, and by keeping what he sees as a false religion alive under his leadership, he has gained more followers and influence than any other giant in recent history. (If the scenario plays out as suggested in the book, the Player Characters will suspect something suspicious about their patron when they defeat Janwulf, and with good reason; she's a more dangerous villain who really wants to awaken the Hulks, and set Janwulf up so they could kill him.)
This was the original version of the entry before I trimmed it down. If need be, I'll put the revised version here, too. Please note that there isn't much difference between the two yet.
Reposting this from the last page.
From YMMV.Steven Universe S 5 E 12 Jungle Moon:
- Counterpart Comparison: Stevonnie acting out as Pink may remind one of child Korra in the Spirit Realm with Iroh in Avatar.
- Fridge Brilliance: The dialog between Yellow Diamond and the Nephrite suggests that the latter could actually be Centipeetle, years before her participation on the Earth invasion.
- Fridge Horror:
- For all we know, Pink might have still been a child by Gem (or Diamond, since they're obviously different from the rest of the Gem race) standards when she was shattered.
For the last one, Gems don't have a concept of aging like we do; they come out of the ground fully formed and don't experience any "physical" growth afterward, but I figured I'd put it here with the others.
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢Is this wrong? 'Cause if "real supers' gifts are natural and effortless", then Syndrome's intelligence is by definition not a power, given how it doesn't fit how his universe's powers work?
Also, his "(superintelligence and tech genius, of the Iron Man variety)"... There's no indication that what Syndrome does wouldn't have been achievable by any mundane scientist that had the same drive he had?
Also:
But, the description says:
So shouldn't that be But Liquor Is Quicker? But, that has No Real Life Examples, Please!...
edited 23rd Jan '18 9:49:21 PM by Malady
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576Why would it not? I've long complained about that being a terribly-named trope, since it really has nothing to do with strawmen, and a villain who doesn't believe in his own supposed religion seems to fit just fine.
A lot of the information in that example isn't relevant and only serves to confuse the reader. It's why I'm asking if it qualifies due to the Wall of Text writing.
It definitely needs a major trimming, at least.
edited 24th Jan '18 7:36:52 AM by TheNerfGuy
Does Superpower Lottery need powers to be granted by random chance?
Its Laconic, which I'm not sure is accurate, is: "Superpowers are common, but the powers of a character who's 'won the lottery' are far greater than most."
Also, does this go against Examples Are Not General, with its general statement about polytheistic religions?
- Classical Mythology: Take the Greeks: There's Zeus, the god of screwing random chicks; Hera, the goddess of screwing over those same chicks; Hades, the god of being hated by everyone, etcetera etcetera.
- Hyperion is an averted of this, as he's the Lord of light, which makes him not very unique in that respect, since there's several other deities in Greek Mythology aligned with light.
- Lusitanian Mythology: Averted, unlike in most polytheistic religions. Of the known gods several were essentially water gods, a few were dedicated to war and two were related to light.
- Classical Mythology: Take the Greeks: There's Zeus, the god of screwing random chicks; Hera, the goddess of screwing over those same chicks; Hades, the god of being hated by everyone, etcetera etcetera.
Is the first second-level bullet point against Repair, Don't Respond? I haven't watched the series, so I don't know what is right.
ValuesDissonance.Live Action TV:
- The children aren't that young, they're likely only in their early teens, and most have already had at least some sexual education. And there really isn't a lot being censored by Future!Ted, most of it relating to his past drug use—which he might see as embarrassing—and more extreme sexual situations.
- It's also a given that any time Ted imagines a worst case date scenario, inevitably he imagines his date telling she used to be a man as the worst thing possible. For a show that usually had a progressive leaning, the transphobia can be quite jarring.
edited 24th Jan '18 9:03:45 PM by Malady
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576Re: Superpower Lottery example, that seems like less of an example and more of a zero context shoehorn.
Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢So it's been about 3 days, any chance I could get some kind of response to the example I brought here x10
Example #1 doesn't explain how it's a Random Events Plot, so it is at least a ZCE.
Example #2 probably violates Rule Of Cautious Editing Judgement since it involves modern-day politics and views associated with them.
They might be examples, but their removal or concealment would be from other issues.
Are these Ruins for Ruins' Sake? 'Cause there is explanation for the ruins:
Is this a valid example? 'Cause it's making judgements about the author...
edited 20th Jan '18 7:02:07 PM by Malady
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576