The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
Find a Trope:
openAbsurd plot source reveal
You know the kind of major story events that turned out to have started in the most ridiculous way possible, it's almost laughable? For example: An entire town is overrun by zombies, then you find out later in the story that the zombie outbreak happened because someone ate a rotten cheeseburger.
openMagic Mutates
The use of magic, or repeated exposure to mana, causes physical changes and mutations in mages.
resolved Instinctual Language Knowledge
A character is able to speak the language typical for their nationality or species despite never learning it. For example, an elf who is raised around humans and has never heard or seen Elvish before can speak it fluently when they meet another elf for the first time.
Alternatively, just a character being able to speak a language fluently without learning it, if the above is too specific.
openDeath Amnesia
Someone is dead and either a ghost or in the afterlife, but doesn't realize/is in denial that they're dead.
resolved A Worker, Not a Friend
A character thinks someone in a service position is being nice to them out of genuine regard, but it's either just a job or a front to get more money out of them.
openFear of being Forgotten
Looking for a trope where a character's source of angst comes from their fear of being forgotten, usually after their death.
openExposed Skull?
What’s the trope for when a character has an injury on their head that leads to some of the skull exposed?
openHonesty Mistaken For Lie
Bob is completely honest about something, and his factual statement is taken as a lie/exaggeration/understatement (but spoken normally, so not Sarcastic Confession).
e.g. Bob is a blacksmith with several swords on display, one of which costs 10 times as much as the others despite appearing no different. When asked about it, he outright says the only difference is that it's more expensive, which makes customers think there's something else to it like magic or sharpness. There really isn't, and every time Bob sells one of the expensive swords he promptly moves another one to that price bracket, even in front of other customers.
openIs this Aside Glance? Anime
At no point do they move their gaze, but they stare at what appears to be the camera and respond to what the other characters say.
openImperfection is good
A trope about an idea that says imperfection of things is a good thing, or at least "just how things are".
I wonder if we have this?
openA dystopian past ? Film
I'm looking for basically Bad Future, but it is instead about the past. A past in which society was far more oppressive and regressive compared to know. The closest tropes we have right now are The Dark Times and Dung Ages, but I'm not looking for either of them specifically.
openFinally Proven Right
Something like a counterpoint to Instantly Proven Wrong: a character who disbelieves another is finally shown to accept the truth much later in the work.
In Harry Potter, Fudge is told at the end of the 4th book that Voldemort has returned, but refuses to believe it. At the end of the 5th book, he sees Voldemort with his own eyes and is forced to admit he was wrong.
Edited by Chabal2openInconsistent Pronunciation
I added this entry to Viewer Pronunciation Confusion, which got removed:
- Hiveswap: How is Nihkee's name pronounced? Her soundtrack title says "it's like the shoe" (NYE-kee) but characters in the game call her "Nicky", implying it's pronounced that way.
openDecent teacher corrupted by false accusation Live Action TV
A decent teacher was falsely accused of molesting a student. As a result, he ended up being suspended for 8 months, receiving salary while going to a "padded room" with other teachers accused of misbehavior against students, some of them falsely. After being cleared of charges, he is returned to teaching, but told he can forget about tenure. This drives him to the point of attempting a mass murder in a school.
resolved Family-Friendly Violence
Cuts and blasts don't actually hurt the opponent, just make them very exhausted, due to the target demographic. A non-comedic Amusing Injuries.
resolved Reverse Flanderization?
What’s the trope for when a character’s flanderization is undone and they act more like their old self? Probably not Character Check as this isn’t a temporary reversion, and it’s not Character Rerailment as this isn’t a YMMV scenario.
openLatchkey Kid episode
Kids are on their own for an episode, often having to learn how to take care of themselves.
openGreen Visor Accountant Western Animation
An accountant will stereotypically be portrayed as wearing a green visor over his eyes, especially in older works.
If a character is acting like an accountant or pretending to be one, he'll put on the visor for the role. The visor's also used by dealers playing poker.
Then a meme was killed off, but then a meme connected to it dies off too. So say a meme have someone say a thing about someone, so the second person makes something else about the first person, but then the first meme dies off, so the second meme dies as well.