Does Not Illustrate: Apparently Powerless Puppetmaster

A sleeping old man? I see the "apparently powerless", but not the "puppetmaster". Relies entirely on the quote to work.

Yep, that's completely caption-reliant.

Not sold on it.

Keep Until Better Image Suggested

100% JAFAAC. The character is a perfect example of the trope. As a trope picture, not so much

Well, you've got a sleeping guy on a throne, which implies he's, well, on the Throne.

That's enough for me to say Keep Until Better Image Suggested.

But we can (and should) do better.

"Well, you've got a sleeping guy on a throne, which implies he's, well, on the Throne."

There's another trope for what you're thinking of.

... not really.

That was the first trope I thought of.

And I agree the image just does not work.

I'll admit I was confused by the trope title. I thought "apparently powerles" meant "apparently, he's powerless" rather than "he appears powerless, but really isn't". The current image doesn't help at all and relies on the caption. I can't see how the cat is supposed to look more powerful than the guy.

Pull it. No image would be better right now.

I think we've got enough votes for a pull.

It isn't an "enough votes" thing. There is opposition to pulling it. It's really weak, but it's something. Even the OP says (going by trope name alone) it's two out of three. Relies strongly, but not completely, on the caption. A throne is very loaded imagery. The bar for leaving the page without an image is way higher than that.

This (self-professed) crusade against OOTS images is distasteful. Not a big fan, either, but at least suggest something better.

edited 11th Mar '15 12:17:56 AM by rodneyAnonymous

I'm going with Keep Until Better Image Suggested for above reasons. It's not bad enough to pull.

Yeah, I'm going with Keep Until Better Image Suggested as well. It's hardly a good image, but I don't think it's bad enough to pull without replacement either.

I am in the Keep Until Better camp - it is sorta 'meh', but not genuinely horrible.

I honestly do not see the trope in the image, like at all.

I never said that the image is bad because I dislike OOTS images. I'm voting to pull it because it's an old man sleeping in a chair, and relies both on the caption directly below the pic AND THE PAGE QUOTE to get the point across. The quote alone gets the point across. The image and caption don't add anything to it.

I disagree. It adds that the guy is sitting on a throne, for one thing. It adds that he looks old, for another. Yes, it relies very strongly on the caption, but I don't think that's a capital crime. I think "image adds nothing" is a pretty serious criticism that is thrown around too much.

Not at all saying it's a good image. Pretty sure no one thinks it is. Better than nothing, though. I, for one, would like to see "pull it and leave the page blank, no suggestion" in an OP way less often and with a better rationale than an IP stock phrase.

I'm down with changing the page quote, though, if that's easier than suggesting a different image.

edited 11th Mar '15 8:36:13 PM by rodneyAnonymous

Man, Gepetto from Fables would be a perfect example of this, right down to being a literal puppetmaster, and I even found a single panel of him that would illustrate this trope... But I guess using him would be considered a spoiler, since his identity isn't revealed until in issue #40 or something?

edited 12th Mar '15 1:21:54 AM by Tuomas

If you can't even talk about it here without using spoiler text, it's a good indication it might not be the most appropriate of suggestions.

edited 12th Mar '15 1:31:43 AM by AnotherDuck

So what's the consensus on here? There seems to be a divide between pull and Keep until better image is suggested. I'd say it doesn't help the trope at all, and actually leads to confusing the reader since it's not indicative at all.

Divide means keep. Motions to pull without a crowner should be unanimous or close.

It just not show the trope, an old man in a chair just does not make the trope.

At least five people disagree. If you really don't want it there, suggest something to replace it.