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:
openOne of the Pack Dies Earlier
In a team made of at the very least three people, one of them dies earlier than the others.
openEmotional Affair
Do we have anything for emotional affairs? Most of the tropes in the Infidelity Index pertain to physical affairs or the result of a physical affair.
openStopping the heroic sacrifice
A character attempts to pull a Heroic Sacrifice, but another character intervenes.
openIncorrect shapeshifter
Someone who can use magic to shapeshift other people tries to turn someone into a specific object, but they accidentally turn them into something they didn't intend to. In my specific context, a witch tries to turn an opponent into a crow, but turns them into a cat instead.
openVillain isn't even threatening and doesn't even harass people? Live Action TV
I'm sure I've seen this trope in a few series:
- On Alice and Carol: The Vacation, the main villain is Katie, and her daughter Jane, who's 25. Katie harasses Alice to the point she's a Broken Bird, but Jane doesn't even want to do anything villainous, and just wants to be friends with Alice. Yet Jane is treated as the villain In-Universe and out-of-universe. Alice wants to be friends with her, and doesn't seem to see her as villainous; Jane does too, but doesn't care about the fact her mom would be furious with this friendship.
- Katie is the villain, and although she seems Affably Evil, anything can set off a villainous scheme for her and get a Hair-Trigger Temper happening.
openAverage American Accent in the Arts Music
Is there a trope for the phenomenon in music that everybody has an American accent when singing? Dutch, Finnish, British, French, plenty of singers have an accent (thick or otherwise) when speaking that completely disappears in performance. I've mostly noticed this with the Finnish bands (predominantly Nightwish) I listen to, but I feel like it happens everywhere.
openSurprise Third-Party Betrayal
A character is revealed to be spying or sabotaging a military operation. When caught, however, it turns out he isn't working for the enemy but a third faction, sometimes completely unrelated to the belligerents in the conflict.
For example, Bob is caught making copies of prisoner interrogation and troop movements involved in the War On Terror. He's not working with the terrorists though: he sends the info back to an oil company who use what he sends to plan their expansion into the area (who to bribe, which areas to avoid, etc.) Bob's defense is that since he isn't sending information to their enemies, the army can't accuse him of treason.
openNot wanting someone to suffer the same fate as you
Is there a trope where a person stops someone else from doing something because that person had already did that thing before and it ruined the person's life ?
openMagnetic Weapons
Yeah, what the title says. Like, your opponent is a knife-chucking Knife Nut, so you use a shield made of magnets and a brass sword to render your opponent's weapons useless.
Do we have this one yet?
openNo Title
What's it called when someone who belongs to a minority is treated like they were the actual notable someone in said minority, even if they look nothing like said notable, just because both are members of said minority?
E.g. that time Kim Jong-un met Dennis Rodman and called him right out of the blue "Barack Obama".
open Wrecking ball
Will there be or is there a trope about the COOLNESS of wrecking ball cranes that are mostly seen in cartoons?
Even Miley Cyrus composed the song called "Wrecking Ball".
So, there must be a trope focusing on wrecking ball!
Edited by Saeed-AlbastakiopenFriend is better than you at your passion
Alice likes X. Alice introduces Bob to X. Bob turns out to be much more skilled at X, making Alice jealous.
openBullies empowered by naive teacher? Live Action TV
Is there a trope for a situation where someone in a position of authority tries to solve a problem in a naïve manner, and ends up making it much worse - for instance, a teacher wants to put an end to bullying by making a presentation with some students, and the students that take part of it end up being bullied (because it's an embarassing presentation, and they're being narcs by siding with the teacher).
This situation is a bit too rare but the general idea applies for different scenarios - a cop tries to do some community outreach but the people who talk to him end up being harassed by gangs, a boss tries to get employees to work harder but they end up as goldbrickers, et cetera.
openNo One Knows What's Going On
Is there a specific trope for a type of plot that's chaotic, has a lot of moving parts and where basically no one in it has anything close to a full understanding of what's going on?
openOddly Themed Theme Park
Do we have a trope for Theme Parks that are themed around things that one wouldn't associate with them?
Edited by LoneWolfWilliam
I've seen this formula in a few shows now and wonder if this has a trope in particular.
Bob is introduced as a love interest or established romantic partner of Alice. Bob gets some screentime and character interactions to lure the viewer in. A good chunk of time later, a crime happens or a conspiracy is about to be revealed and Bob and Alice work together to find the culprit or the mole. At the end of the investigation it turns out that it was Bob all along. Foreshadowing is optional and usually subtle.
The reveal leaves Alice betrayed on two levels, making this a traumatic event or emotional turning point for her.
Bob often doesn't show up again, but can also return as a villain or rarely do a heel-face turn
(It is important that the crime in question has been comitted after Bobs introduction to the viewer or has continued into that timeframe, otherwise that would be more of a dark backstory deal)
Edited by remem95