Rename: I Know Kung Fu

I noticed this when someone had linked to the article just because they were talking about actual kung fu. I find the current title has a number of problems:

• The article hasn't really anything to do with kung fu specifically.
• It sounds like I Know Karate, but isn't.
• It's unhelpful; what it means is only clear after you've read the description itself.
• The article hasn't even got anything to do with the "trope namer".

Overall, it's just confusing.

I don't know what it should be called instead, though.

Seconded. Far too close to I Know Karate and very unhelpful in terms of figuring out what it means.

Suddenly I Always Knew That?

I concur. When I first looked at the title, I thought it was about I Know Karate, the name does nothing to make anyone think it's any different.

Pretty annoying that the Trope Namer isn't an example of the trope.

^ That's rarely much of a concern with me.

Though the fact that the current title has nothing to do with the actual trope as well as greatly resembles a different trope name are pretty inexcusable.

Maybe something like: "Fun Fact: I kick ass" or something. It implies an out-of-nowhere statement and, well, mentions the ass-kicking that follows. Page image is good, though.

Gonna go ahead and give this one a bump.

There was an old thread for this I stared, so I definitely approve of a rename. It's too confusing, and doesn't even fit the line it was named for.

edited 14th Feb '11 1:58:32 PM by DragonQuestZ

It's also too close to I Know Mortal Combat.

What is it about snowclones that people find so attractive?

Bumping. Lately I've been wondering what is the line between this and You Never Asked.

Also, there are some examples that I have to question. There are a few cases where it's used in reference to actual martial arts (or actually knowing it), there's at least one where the revelation is hardly surprising, and so on.

edited 28th Mar '11 10:42:53 AM by Stratadrake

Agreed, it should be renamed.

Still no better suggestions?

Okay, how about "By the Way, I Know Kung Fu"?

The laconic version — basically You Never Asked But Not — isn't helping matters any.

I have seen this mentioned at least once in a context where the character describes their history of the skill while performing it to everyone else's surprise. Sort of a New Powers as the Plot Demands being Hand Waved by revelation of more character backstory. That sounds discretely tropable, but would definitely need a better name.

edited 7th Apr '11 9:25:32 PM by Stratadrake

Isn't this one of the Tropes Of Legend or close to it? We'd need to show substantial misuse to justify a rename...

No, did you even look at that list?

Well, what I mean is, it's one of the oldest tropes on the wiki, and while there have been calls to rename it before I've seen it fairly often and I don't think I've usually seen it misused, certainly not as "I literally know kung fu".

Sounds like we're gonna have to show evidence of rampant misuse. I'll get started with the first 20 (the ptitles and first 11 non-ptitles, noting that I didn't find it in inFAMOUS):

• One Hundred And One Dalmatians: "In the sequel, Thunderbolt uses his dramatic death scene to distract Cruella and her lackeys while the puppies get away." Unclear (but seems to have more to do with the pothole than the trope).
• Chekhov's Hobby: "Compare I Know Kung Fu when a character suddenly reveals that they had the skills as they are using it, instead of any sort of foreshadowing." Correct.
• Chekhov's Skill: "This is a counterpoint to I Know Kung Fu, as proficiencies are gained and learned rather than mentioned or pulled out of thin air." Correct.
• D Gray Man: Just a quote, but probably correct.
• Gaunts Ghosts: "Scout Mkvenner was trained in close combat by the ancient Tanith "wood warriors", the Nalsheen. As a result, he can go toe-to-toe with a wirewolf with nothing but lasgun and bayonet and win." Unclear.
• Kaichou Wa Maid Sama: "Ninja Maid: Misa works in a maid cafe, and She Knows Aikido." Unclear, but probably misuse.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: "At the very end of the real last episode/movie for Kim Possible, Ron steps it up and masters his Monkey Kung Fu in time to completely destroy the aliens and save Kim." Could be an example, but given where the pothole is, I'm filing this under misuse.
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: "Grovyle reveals that he extensively studied the Unown ancient language." Unclear.
• Pokemon Black And White: "Stone Wall: Ferrothorn the metal plant has great 131 Defence and 116 Special Defence, multiple resistances, and only two weaknesses." Misuse.
• Action/Adventure Tropes: Index, not applicable.
• Action Mom: "In GEAR Fighter Dendoh'', Ginga's mom is a Kenpo instructor who will beat the crap out of almost anyone smaller than a Monster of the Week." Misuse.
• Additional Evil Overlord List Cellblock B: "If I am immortal, then I have absolutely no excuse for not learning martial arts and sword fighting." Misuse.
• A Different Lesson: "Said by Monkey to Chao, and lampshaded. But it also applies in the usual sense in that Vachir turned out to know kung fu and Tai Lung didn't know that." Probably correct (aside from the reference to the phrase).
• A History Of Violence: "Tom, to everyone's surprise. The improbability of this given Tom's stated background is lampshaded by Carl: 'Ask him, Edie - how come he's so good at killing people?'" Probably correct, but the lack of details led me to believe it was misuse at first.
• Alice in Wonderland: "Alice goes to China but decides not to import... whatever it is her company imports because she is enamored with Kung Fu." Misuse.
• All Asians Know Martial Arts: Listed as a "see also". Probably misuse but could be justified.
• Amazon Brigade: "Dungeons And Dragons: The Tome of Battle has lots of fluff about secret organizations of Walkers of the Sublime Way. One of which is the 80 Empresses." Probably misuse.
• Angel: "Photographic Memory, ultra-sensitive hearing and sense of smell in the later seasons. When you re-watch the earlier seasons, you can't help but notice countless situations where, in retrospect, they inexplicably fail to help him." Correct (mostly, since this might fit better under Power Creep, Power Seep or New Powers as the Plot Demands).
• Anime: Overly long sentence under Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, but misuse.
• Anime & Manga: Describing Mahou Sensei Negima characters as expies of Love Hina characters: "Ku Fei is Su with brawns switched with brains..." Misuse.

I count six correct examples and nine bad examples, so there is definitely misuse, but quite a bit of correct usage as well. Would need to look at more examples to reach a better conclusion.

The picture doesn't help, but that's another thread. But you still showed misuse, and the description actually starts with the proper definition, so that isn't to blame.

The thing is that it doesn't matter if someone says it. The misuse still assumes that knowing a martial art at all is this trope, and that shows the name doesn't help it at all.

Besides, even if the term is well known, we can merge it into I Know Karate.

And now I just saw a crowner that called 45% misuse (not even half) "massive", so I'll shut up now.

You don't have to shut up, just help us with solutions.

Gonna bump this.

To clarify, this is basically New Powers as the Plot Demands except that the powers in question were (from in-universe chronology) acquired in the past, instead of the present?

Or phrased another way, Retconned Powers As The Plot Demands? Because you're retroactively establishing that the character has abilities the audience didn't know about before.

There should be some requirement of what qualifies as an example or aversion, like:

• It was not previously established that the character could have posessed such abilities already ( New Powers as the Plot Demands is not bad); the audience believes that the character did not previously posess said abilities.

edited 7th Jun '11 1:50:33 PM by Stratadrake

Now, I don't read comics much, but the Hulk example seems like it would be a good one. He's been in plenty of situations where Kung Fu would be useful, but he never used it, and once he pulls it out we're expected to believe he had it the whole time.

Would that be a good example?

I would say that the explanation could use a little cleaning up as well. Taking out the stuff about The Matrix would help. I like Retconned Powers as the Plot demands. The title does seem a bit clunky though. I can't really think of a shorter way to say the trope name. Oh By the Way Skills? Retconned Skills? Idk

Yes, The Hulk knowing Kung Fu would be a good example of the trope. Because, up until that point, his combat repertoire consisted exclusively of Hulk Smash, Hulk Bash.

edited 8th Jun '11 10:45:45 AM by Stratadrake

I always think this trope is about skills being downloaded into people. I support a rename.