There are tons of team tropes... That being said, there got to be tons because authors aren't fenced into writing a certain way. If you think your work would pair well with such a formula then, yes, you should use it.
On the other hand, writing is sometimes an organic process, and if you feel like the mold is too confining, thenyou should definitely be true to how you see your characters and your story.
In the end, tropes can serve as guidelines or formulas, but you're only confined to them inasmuch as you, the writer, wants to be. If you like the formula, go for it. If you don't, then don't. And if you're somewhere in between, feel free to invoke or subvert or bend as needed.
edited 17th Jan '17 9:55:05 PM by Bored4Eternity
The root of a good story is the characters in it, and the conflict they might have. This conflict isn't necessarily violent or anything like that, and it can be as simple as a disagreement on facts. (This is why you see a lot of banter in team-ish stories: it takes the place of full-on conflict when there's no antagonist to focus on.) As such, it's easier to create conflict between foils.
The four-and-five tropes are observations on the characters, and not necessarily a good indication of interesting character interaction - and in fact, TV Tropes is much better at tabulating those than interaction tropes, being a largely Western institution. They may be a good place to start the characters at, but ultimately a list of words doesn't make a team.
The tropes describe patterns that have emerged in writing, they're not a diagram of how to write. There's nothing wrong with using them as a kind of outline if you like, but don't feel that you need to be bound by them.
Thanks, fellow tropers. As a programmer with ADHD (and possibly even some form of Autism), non-formulaic things like creativity are difficult for me. This info helps a lot, allowing me to start from a formula, then adapt into something more original. You've also given me great guidelines to work with on my characters.
As a tv tropes fan, I'm familiar with the four temperament ensemble and five man band tropes. At the moment, I'm attempting to write a story and I was wondering whether I should work based on these these tropes.
My logic is, the existence of these tropes probably come from the fact that they create a good dynamic for any given group. The question is, are they essential to a good team-based story, a recommended formula, or just one of many good ideas?