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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openProblem From The Other Side
Two people have the same problem. However, it turns out that what they see as the problem is from the opposite side, and Alice's "not enough" is Bob's "too much".
e.g. Alice and Bob at couples therapy: "He constantly wants sex, we're up to twice a month!" / "She never wants sex, we're down to twice a month!"
Or "Ugh, who left a window open, it's freezing in here." / "Gah, who closed the window, it's boiling in here!"
Foxtrot:
- One strip has Andrea complain all but 8 comics strips in today's paper are about golf, Roger that 8 strips don't mention golf at all.
- Another has Paige get bullied for listening to a Taylor Swift song 53 times. Only 53 times.
openTaunting Shipper
Someone pretends to be a Shipper on Deck for two people, but only to be annoying. Examples:
- In Harry Potter, Peeves overhears Harry asking Luna to the Christmas party and yells, "Potty loves Loony! Potty loves Loony!")
- In Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin gets a love letter from Susie and completely freaks out while Hobbes starts gleefully singing the "kissing in a tree" song.
openawoman has no social skills in a relationship due to nature
Poor Things Little Mermaid My Stepmother is an Alien Splash
I'm told Born Yesterday is like this
openAsk and you shall receive?
Is there a trope for when a character wants something and gets it simply by asking nicely?
Politeness Judo is the closest one I've found. Is there a more appropriate trope?
openPick-Up Shut Up
A character lifts another character to keep them from talking. Usually, they carry them somewhere to talk.
openWhat to describe this magic potions?
Potion-crafting: Hair loss, sleep/knock out, and disfigurement.
openCreative use of powers Western Animation
WARNING: Contains some Avatar: legend of Aang spoilers
Ok, what I mean is when a power is used in an unexpected/unusual way. For example: that one old water bender in Legend of Aang developing blood bending. The water bender realizes that all life has water in some way, so she learns how to control sentient life. She then goes on to develop this talent, and even teaches it to Katara, proving that all water benders can do it. So the power of water is used in a way that most people wouldn't think of using their hypothetical water powers. I am not referring to the trope "Heart Is an Awesome Power," where a seemingly useless power can be quite powerful.
Edited by MycomniopenMy good side
A character thinks that one side of their face is a lot more attractive than the other, and may refuse to be photographed or filmed from their "bad side."
openNo Title
One person is humiliated by two people at once, who are teasing them and treating them like the next Meg Griffin
What is this trope?
openAquaman Unavailable For The Job
Instead of "highly-specific scenario happens to give specialized character time to shine", it's "for dramatic / Cringe Comedy reasons, the scenario happens to the least-suited character".
e.g. the heroes need to Bring News Back, but all of them are in some way incapacitated, and so it falls to the scrawny, asthmatic, nerdy guy to run through two forests and a mountain without getting lost. Or The Big Guy is stuck trying to fend off a Media Scrum that The Face could have handled in his sleep; the guy who Cannot Talk to Women needs to persuade The Baroness to give up the cause of evil instead of The Casanova; the Shrinking Violet needs to cosplay a Genki Girl, etc.
Usually they succeed.
Edited by Chabal2openExpy, Shout Out, or something else? Web Original
It seems that the Little Misters from the SCP Foundation are a reference to the Mr. Men and Little Misses. (Heck, one of the Little Misters (SCP-909) shares the same name with an existing Mr. Men! (Both are called Mr. Forgetful.)) If a whole group of characters are a reference to another work / that work's characters, does that count as Expy, Shout-Out, or something else?
Edited by moxedenopenIrrelevant Conversation
Two characters carry on a ridiculous conversation whose subject matter is completely irrelevant to the story. The only reason it matters is because there is an ongoing conversation, either so they have something to do before something important happens or possibly to provide a reason for why they might be distracted.
openIs there no "Deliberate Fanservice Girl" trope?
We have the Innocent Fanservice Girl, who either doesn't notice what's showing or doesn't realize that there's anything wrong with showing it, the Reluctant Fanservice Girl, who seriously hates how she ended up showing it, and the Shameless Fanservice Girl, who knows what's showing, and why she shouldn't show it, but honestly doesn't give a flip about such rules. However, there's one "Fanservice Girl" we don't seem to have: the "Deliberate" Fanservice Girl who specifically seeks to show it. May extend to people that deliberately let a certain person catch a peek to get their attention/desire, all the way to exhibitionists who get a kick out of showing. Thing is, Shameless Fanservice Girl is rather clear that it isn't this. The laconic version is someone who knows but doesn't care, and the long description specifically notes that things like exhibitionism where one is actually seeking to expose themselves are not part of this trope. While it's not as common, I have seen a fair number of stories with exhibitionists, and a lot where people deliberately dress to give people an eyeful, but I haven't seen any specific trope used to reference this in such characters, or often they're labeled as "Shameless" despite them being quite distinct from said trope.
opencharacter from a dream appears in real life
What's the trope for when someone has a dream (usually a recurring dream) about some imaginary (or so they think) person, only for them to later meet the dream person in real life?
resolved How did you get into my room?
I'm pretty sure that Batman does this a few times, but in any case, what is the trope for when a character breaks in another character's place and waits till they return to talk to them? I can't seem to find it.
openNo Title
In "The Giggle", there is a scene where a communication satellite is shot by a laser, and the screen goes "SIGNAL TERMINATED" exactly as if it was your actual TV losing signal... I can't help but feel there's a trope here, maybe some kind of Metafictional Device, but can't quite put my finger on the exact one. Help, please.
openSink-or-Swim Tutorial
A game that does not have a tutorial, or at least only has a very short and trimmed one — you're dumped into the game world with little to no instructions or tips and are expected to basically just figure things out on your own.
I know this is a case of being necessary for the plot, but while watching so many films of innocent people being stalked, terrorized, robbed, killed, etc. by the villain/gang member/serial killer/burglar/carjacker/stalker/crazed husband/crazed ex-husband/crazed boyfriend/crazed ex-boyfriend/crazed wife/crazed ex-wife/crazed girlfriend/crazed ex-girlfriend/territorial drug dealer/recently released ex-convict/psycho cop/creepy neighbor/school bully/stalker with a crush etc., I'd like to see more scenes of the small defenseless woman getting threatened by the serial killer and doing a "say hello to my little friend" while pulling a gun out of her purse and emptying the magazine into him. For films set in the US, we need a trope called No One Ever Heard Of The Second Amendment or something. I know much of this is due to this troper being an ex-cop and combat veteran who carries a gun everywhere, and that if we didn't have this than most of the movies I go to would be over before I took the first bite out of my popcorn. NOT trying to use this to start a debate on gun rights or gun control.