I did not even realize this was about works.
Needs cleanup at minimum.
iRidescence
The trope name is rather ambiguous anyhow. At first glance, it does sound like it's referring to a character rather than a work
This definitely looks like a job for Trope Transplant Man.
I also seem to recall that we have the current definition, or something very similar to it, under another name.
Villain Protagonist
the last paragraph seems to be talking about characters:
"The precise reaction to Rule Abiding Rebel characters will often depend on their age relative to the rest of the cast. If they are older RAR's, they're liable to be the victim of Seinfeld Is Unfunny; if they're younger people or Johnny-come-latelys, they'll instead face the Pretender Diss. Or they might just be the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. Arguably the most humiliating outcome is when the purported rebels are actually embraced by the very bluenoses they were trying to defy, maybe even being declared The Moral Substitute to the real subversive stuff!"
So that implies it is about characters who are intended to be rebelious but don't come across as such. That might already be covered by Badbutt. Either way, I don't like that paragraph.
edited 28th Nov '13 3:40:17 AM by pistolsatdawn
That was probably added by someone after the main description, someone who didn't understand the definition.
"Just as planned."
I'm inclined to suggest this one is renamed, right now the name offers the suggestion of a character who aims to rebel but doesn't, or something similar.
I can't honestly think of what exactly this should be called instead, though - something like 'Groundbreaking Aim, Rule Following Work', although that doesn't capture the brevity that's needed of it, to me.
"Did you expect somebody else?"
Still just awesome like that
Partial Subversion 
Or maybe Indecisive Deconstruction? EDIT: Which we have already. Hm.
edited 2nd Dec '13 11:01:18 PM by Odd1
Insert witty 'n clever quip here.
No, not subversion. Subversive! They are different.
Still just awesome like that
I was joking.
Insert witty 'n clever quip here.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Actually, the wiki term could cause legitimate confusion there (even though the suggestion itself was semi-joking, being a groan-inducing snowclone and all).
Villain Protagonist
"But Not Too Rebelious"?
Also nobody minds if I re-write that last paragraph to fit the actual definition, right? The one that talks about characters?
iRidescence
By the way, do we have a trope about self-proclaimed rebel characters who never do anything rebellious?
I think we need to do a transplant. Move this trope to Supposedly Rebellious Series or whatever, and redefine Rule-Abiding Rebel to how it's used—a character "rebels" in a non-rebellious fashion.
Hi
Clock is set.
So, how do people feel about the transplant?
Professional Writer & Amateur Scholar
I think it works.
I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.
Agreed.
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Hi
Sounds like a plan to me.
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
Plus one
Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
Any other name idea? Supposedly Rebellious Series is actually pretty damn good, I think.
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I would agree with doing a trope transplant. Also, I'll note that The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything and Bad Butt aren't really related to this trope.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Hi
![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
to that title.
So I apparently didn't know the definition of this trope until just now, as I see it almost exclusively used as "someone who is called a rebel, but in a very safe way." However, it's actually about a work that portrays itself as ground-breaking, but actually only treads safe ground. The wicks... aren't good.
First ten wicks:
So... that's 9/10 wrong. If we squint super hard, maybe we could consider Banksy correct. At best, 8/10 wrong. I could go on but... I don't know if there's much of a point.
Makes sense to me that we make Rule-Abiding Rebel into a trope about a "rebellious" character who still plays by the rules, though I'm not sure how distinct that is from Bad Butt or The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. And the current trope needs a new name, of course.
edited 6th Nov '13 3:43:32 PM by Larkmarn
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