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.
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openMentor Refusal
When a character really wants someone to be their mentor, but they refuse, either because the mentee is too young/inexperienced/evil-intentioned, and/or what they want to be taught is inappropriate for them.
openRepresentative Encounter Videogame
I've seen this several times, but I have no idea if there's a trope that comes close to it. What I'm thinking of is a video game trope where a standard asset is used to represent a character that isn't in the game.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate does this with spirit battles (and previous entries in several places, like Paula being stood in for by Peach in Melee's Classic Mode as Ness's designated team battle partner). Soul Calibur II does it with story characters in Weapon Master mode (such as the main antagonist Veral being stood in for by Nightmare primarily and later Inferno as a One-Winged Angel form). AFK Arena does it with unnamed NPCs (like a Lightbearer villager being stood in for by Nakoruru). Dynasty Warriors 5 replaces characters from previous entries that didn't return with generic commander units in campaigns where they're supposed to appear. And I know I've seen various other instances elsewhere that just aren't coming to mind at the moment.
Do we have this one?
Edited by BaffleBlendopenDistance the Hypotenuse or Smear the Hypotenuse
Two scenarios I've seen but am having trouble finding a trope for, both alternate methods to clear up a love triangle besides Death of the Hypotenuse. First, for one reason or another one of the two is given far less screen time (or at least less screen time with the love interest). Maybe they're Put on a Bus one or more times, maybe they are busy or have fewer methods to interact. Whatever the case, the result is that the "hypotenuse" has far less time with the love interest and thus fewer chances to build demonstrable chemistry compared to the main side. For example, in Dragon Quest The Adventure Of Dai, Hyunckel is absent for a huge portion of the time while Popp is often present, allowing Popp much more time and interactions with Maam and leaving very little opportunity for Maam and Hyunckel to develop any kind of chemistry.
The other one is where one side is made into a clearly awful person; sometimes the/a villain, sometimes just a Machiavellian bastard who doesn't quite reach the villain state. For instance, in the manga series Guyver, the hero Sho has a crush on a girl named Mizuki who initially is crushing hard on the student council president, Agito. However, Agito is demonstrated from the start to be manipulating her to get to Sho, viewing her not as a girl but as a tool to get his hands on someone else who may be useful in his quest for power. In another manga called Ginen Shounen, the hero struggles to avert a future where he'll die and his childhood friend will fall in love with her tennis instructor, and while the instructor does appear to have feelings for the girl and want her happiness, he also proves to be narcissistic and extremely manipulative, even using knowledge of the hero's possible future death to convince the girl that she has to date him or the hero will die.
openDoing a 180 on an earlier statement.
In The Clone Wars, Cad Bane is approached by Darth Sidious who asks him to retrieve the Holocron from the Jedi temple, with Bane expressing reluctance due to the perceived difficulty and unlikelihood to come back alive. Sidious questions the bounty hunter's reputation, prompting Cad Bane to instantly change his mind and list his demands.
Edited by HeyFellaopenIf costly last resort doesn't succeed than we never stood a chance from the beginning
Not necessarily a trope, maybe involved in the other wiki, but what's the mentality where someone is willing to do an expensive last resort and saying if it doesn't work then they couldn't do anything else? Like sacrificing stuff to do a huge spell that damages both sides and even then might HOPEFULLY stall the enemy enough that they could get away. The one I want to find is the insistence of doing it, not the actual last resort.
openA trope for unnecessary side stories
You ever see a interquel/side story/etc whose existence was supposed to expand the story but it has only negative effects like bungling continuity, adding plot points that don't need to exist, etc etc?
Like I've heard that argument for some FF and Kingdom Hearts spinoffs, and want to trope it for a fanfic whose interquel to me doesn't need to exist and only muddles a completed story to cover plot points that are inconsequential or unnecessary. I just don't know the tropes what would work for it.
openIs there a trope for films that get their title/conceit directly from the lines of a poem? Film
Like how Night Tide is based off the last few lines of Annabelle Lee; “And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling—my darling—my life and my bride, In her sepulchre there by the sea— In her tomb by the sounding sea.”
I feel like this is pretty common but can’t find a trope for it.
open"Should have thought of it before doing X"
A character complains about a situation they're partly responsible for and is told they should have thought of the consequences of their actions. Except the consequences aren't directly linked to the character's actions in the first place, or would require several leaps of logic to make sense.
In this case, Alice the bounty hunter has captured Bob. After Bob attempts to escape, she breaks both his arms. When they make camp, Bob complains he can't eat with broken arms, and Alice puts his food on the ground and says he should have thought of it before trying to escape. Alice gave no warning that she'd break Bob's arms if he tried to escape when she first caught him, and he certainly didn't expect her to do so.
Edited by Chabal2openExpressive robot faces
Some robot characters can form various expressions like smiles in the vein of an Expressive Mask even though they logically shouldn't. Is there a trope for this?
openAll powerful individual or organisation involved suddenly with minutiae of life Film
Someone or something that normally wields incredible power or influence, either magic or authority, sits down to deal with everyday things.
M Bison in Streetfighter planning a world government, but also building a visitor centre. Or Killface in Frisky Dingo, building a device to destroy the world, advising an engineer to get a purchase order.
Not necessarily played for straight up laughs, the mundane stuff isn't causing them difficulty, they're just engaging with it fully like a average person.
openNo Title
An ability to say something seemingly random, that even the speaker doesn't know why he should say that, only that it is guaranteed to cause the listener to mentally break down/perform certain actions that benefit the speaker, due to personal context on the listener's part.
Not Manchurian Agent (the listener isn't pre-programmed in any way, nor is the speaker aware of the exact words that will cause them to turn submissive until the moment of encounter), Break Them by Talking (which is just mundane psychological warfare), or Compelling Voice (the voice doesn't have any supernatural charming effect on its own, only the words themselves matter).
Edited by kyoukokakuopenFake Vampire
Is there a trope for someone pretending to be a vampire (in a setting where vampires are known to exist) in order to seem powerful and intimidating? TRS says that Vampire Vannabe is only for people who serve vampires, and "Scooby-Doo" Hoax has to have them pretending in order to divert attention away from some other crime they've committed.
openSmoking Them Out
Getting someone out of a place where they've holed up by filling their hiding place with smoke or gas.
openFocus on main character causes misconception
Watching PAW Patrol I noticed that even though Mayor Goodway has plenty of talents in fields such as cooking, athletics, and exploring, often coming first in contests. However because the show mainly focuses on emergency services and scenarios where she gets in trouble and/or out of her depth those talents tend to get missed by people and she is seen as incompetent.
openAsshole activist
Fights for an important cause, but is characterized as a real douchebag.
openBackpack Grandpa Videogame
A character that is attached to the main character/vehicle, or floats above them (usually on the same side as the camera offset) and gives the player abilities and/or hints. Usually facing the camera or making "entertaining" quips/sounds/animations.
EG: Yoda, Clank(Ratchet & Clank), Navi(ocarina of time), Chumbucket (mad max game), Kazooie(Banjo Kazooie), Cappy (Mario Odyssey)
openBorn in a car
Do we have a trope for babies being born on the way to the hospital, usually in a taxi or car or bus, and often to illustrate the parents being overwhelmed or irresponsible? Not seeing it anywhere on Birth Tropes — closest is Born in an Elevator (which is weird, cuz this seems more common than that... some examples seem to cover that though... flexible trope?)
Edited by mightymewtronopenThe Opposite of Additional Angst Upgrade
We all know when an adapted media decides to be a bit more angsty than its source material, but is there a trope that is the complete opposite of that?
For example: In the source material, Person A finds out Person B's sad secret and acts really mean or horrifically shocked about it, but in the adapted media Person A is instead really understanding and accepts and helps Person B instead.
Somebody who shamelessly butters up their boss to get what they want.
Edited by BobtheBoldore