Misused: Contemptible Cover

Don't forget American Kirby Is Hardcore, which is essentially Contemptible Cover, but for localized video game box art.

Edited by Nen_desharu on Jan 16th 2022 at 1:05:06 PM

Maybe instead of merging or renaming we should make Contemptible Cover the supertrope to all the other "bad cover art" tropes, and then move the current examples off?

Doesn't Covers Always Lie already cover (pun not intentional) that idea?

Maybe. I was thinking about other types of bad cover art though that isn't necessarily misleading, just ugly / weird / infamous / etc. But we could also always just redirect the name to Covers Always Lie.

The part in Covers Always Lie "it is not uncommon for a female character to be portrayed in a Stripperiffic outfit when they would wear nothing of the sort in the story" fits Contemptible Cover use already, so I guess we can move examples and maybe parts of the description there.

Contemptible Cover could be a supertrope to Covers Always Lie and American Kirby Is Hardcore.

Edited by Nen_desharu on Jan 16th 2022 at 3:41:14 PM

I like this idea too.

A supertrope or a subtrope? Isn't Contemptible Cover a more specific version of Covers Always Lie?

A supertrope. We'd obviously be changing the definition.

I'm open to a supertrope.

@Anonimus: The Wick Check got only two examples speaking of violence instead of sexuality. And both were in the "Cover looks contemptible but reflects the content" group.

I'm not quite on board with American Kirby Is Hardcore being in the same ballpark, because it's not strictly that the boxart lies, but rather, emphasizes "hardcore"/actionized elements in certain markets.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a good example, neither the Japanese nor the American box arts are inaccurate in any way, but the American box art is an action scene while the Japanese one resembles an Indiana Jones poster.

Making this a supertrope to Covers Always Lie and American Kirby Is Hardcore sounds like a good idea.

Well, yeah. But the name Contemptible Cover has nothing to do with "cover is misleading", hence why I suggested a broader supertrope in the first place.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 16th 2022 at 7:12:24 AM

An American Kirby Is Hardcore cover is not necessarily contemptible ("deserving contempt"), just more angry/actiony.

• The proposed Contemptible Cover supertrope: Covers Always Lie/"bad covers"?
• American Kirby Is Hardcore: Localized covers are different.

OK, let's notice a few things.

• I tried to make up my mind, and I don't know which one between Contemptible Cover and Covers Always Lie should be the supertrope.
• Alongside Sexy Packaging, Fanservice Cover also overlaps with Contemptible Cover for the sexualized content. The problem is that Contemptible Cover theoretically should also cover violent imagery and not just sexual one, but at the moment only a very few examples feature it.

So, here's my idea for the new classification.

• Contemptible Cover: Supertrope for misleading covers.
  • Covers Always Lie: Cover doesn't match up with the actual work.
  • Sexy Packaging / Fanservice Cover (should they be separated or merged?): Cover features sexualized imagery that is nowhere to be found inside.
  • American Kirby Is Hardcore: Foreign release cover makes the work look more serious than it actually is.

Edited by PhantomDusclops92 on Jan 17th 2022 at 5:41:34 PM

Alright, I think it works out.

If we're merging something, it may need another wick check.

Sexy Packaging is "any sexy cover" and subtrope to Sex Sells. A sexy package can contain sexy content. It should be barely related to Contemptible's proposal above.

Also, Covers Always Lie is a clear name and already means "misleading cover" and it has 2800 wicks.

Right. That's why I personally think Contemptible Cover should be even broader than that.

I don't see what purpose Contemptible Cover serves that isn't covered by the various tropes stated above. Covers Always Lie covers the "misleading" aspect and is much more popular and clear about what it means, while Sexy Packaging and Fanservice Cover cover the "sexy cover" part of the trope, with Sex Sells as the supertrope.

Honestly, I'd rather either disambiguate Contemptible Cover or merge it. Maybe expand Sexy Packaging as it could use some wicks.

Contemptible Cover also, ahem, covers "violent or otherwise lurid imagery" which isn't within the remit of the tropes ^.

But what about that wouldn't be covered by either Covers Always Lie or American Kirby Is Hardcore?

No, because the former requires that the cover be inaccurate as well and the latter is about different releases having different cover arts. Not at all what I am talking about here.

If its not inaccurate, what's noteworthy about it? At that point it's just 'Violent book/movie/game has a violent cover'. Something having an accurate cover seems too omnipresent to trope.