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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openRich people aren't seen acting like rich people
A person/group of people are rich (and maybe powerful), but we don't see them doing anything to show their wealth. Everything we see them do looks comfortably middle-class, but not rich—we never see them eat caviar, for example, or go to expensive, glamorous resorts. I figure this is so the audience can identify with them, instead of resenting them. Examples: The West Wing: The heroes are often seen working into the night over takeout Chinese food. Hustle: Though main character Mickey Bricks is well-dressed and suave, they just hang out at their local bar. The King's Speech: Though the future George VI is a prince of the UK, we never see him doing anything luxurious. Leverage: Although the heroes are Just Like Robin Hood, they are rich super-criminals, but, etc. (E.g. Hardison is often seen drinking Jones soda, not 50-year-old Scotch.)
openHe's Good, I'll Give Him That
When character A respects character B's competence in their craft if nothing else.
openThe Dreaded Toilet Duty, but for cleaning work in general
Seeing the new trope The Dreaded Toilet Duty on the home page reminded me of Musk the Skuntank from the Pokémon Tales webcomic. He was relegated to merely dealing with chores such as cleaning up floors with mops. Is there a trope like that aforementioned "The Dreaded Toilet Duty" where a character is forced to go and clean toilets even though they think it is disgusting, but instead of specifically toilets it is merely being about cleaning up in general?
openSnarky Editor Web Original
An editor, usually not a top-billing character in a webseries or Lets Play, who nonetheless offers snarky commentary and banter, often at the expense of (or the request of) the stars of the show. Sometimes does not speak directly to the audience or cast (instead using on-screen text). Often becomes an Ensemble Darkhorse for the series. Mostly confined to Web Original series.
Prominent examples would include Barry, Kevin, and Matt and Ryan from Game Grumps; and Lixian from Markiplier's web videos.
Does something like this exist as a trope?
Edited by ShinySubstituteopenFingernails as clawlike weapons
According to Femme Fatalons, "Weapons like clawed gloves, or clawlike extensions attached to (or growing out of) the hand or fingers are not Femme Fatalons; they're Wolverine Claws. An easy rule of thumb to follow is that if they're primarily for looks, they're Femme Fatalons. If they're primarily intended as weapons, they're Wolverine Claws."
Wolverine Claws seems to be about artificial claws attached to the hands. But what if someone uses their actual, long fingernails as claws to attack with? Which trope is it?
Edited by DrNoPumaopenAdaptational Early appearance but for Time?
A character appears earlier in time than they're supposed to, such as Jean-Luc Picard living and existing during the time of Captain Archer, or a character strongly implied to be Useful Notes/George Washington living during the time of Roman Britain.
open"Cold Turkey" trope
On Thank You for Smoking, there's this entry:
- Cold Turkey: Nick's doctor says he can never smoke a cigarette again because all the nicotine patches nearly killed him and he's in frail health. This doesn't help Nick's mood towards the end of the movie.
openInversion of Prenatal Possessions
I was listening to the classic novelty song The Thing, and the penultimate verse about the narrator being forced by St. Peter to take the box with him to Hell has me wondering if there is a trope covering an inversion of Prenatal Possessions, where instead of an unborn baby somehow having material objects in the womb, a deceased person somehow brings material objects with them to the afterlife.
openVillain in a tower of monitors
In both Cowboy Bebop (Brain Scratch) and at the climax of Angel Beats!, a villain who is or inhabits a computer system addresses a hero through a room full and/or stack of computer monitors that obviously makes no practical sense. I'm fairly sure that I've seen something similar in live action as well, but I don't recall where. This is obviously related to computer equals monitor and monitor as camera, but I feel like those don't quite capture it. It seems to be used as a way to give a "virtual" character an uncanny "body" to interact with and shoot at.
openPolar Bear in a Blizzard
A visual joke: a blank image is shown (sometimes with a single dot visible). There actually is something there, but it turns out it's completely white, and thus seems invisible.
- Arthur: In the intro to "The Blizzard", a white image has two eyes and a nose visible. Arthur asks the viewers to guess what it is, then reveals that it's "a polar bear eating a marshmallow in a snowstorm."
- Calvin and Hobbes: The title panel for one Sunday comic has a blank background with a single black nose visible. Calvin tells Hobbes that it's "a polar bear blinking in a blizzard." Hobbes isn't amused.
- Paper Mario: The Origami King: If Mario interacts with a blank frame in the museum, the curator tells him not to confuse it with their "White Rabbits in Snowfall" collection.
openSequel retcons facts from original work
What's the trope for when the director of a sequel series states things that just weren't true in the original work? Is it simply a Retcon or does it have a more specific name when it's not said in the show, but the director/writers themselves are saying it that just leaves fans going "Did they even watch the original show??"
Edited by Lancelot07openKilled the dictator, kept his ideas
So I'm looking for a trope I glanced at wherein the heroes have managed to depose the evil overlord who conquered whatever nation they're trying to save, but even as they're setting up a better government have decided to keep a few of the bad guy's tamer beauracratic ideas. Anyone know which one I'm talking about?
An example being Campion from Watership Down keeping Woundwart's wide patrols going even after he's gone because they make sense as a way to keep the warren safe.
Edited by AsherTyeopenThe Natural
A character who is naturally talented at something (i.e. singing, sports, advanced mathematics) without having to train or practice.
openSevens sins look-a-like
Hello.
I am looking for some trope that might fit for some kind of Seven Deadly Sins parallels, specifically something that covers a fictional version. There are seven sins or vices but they are not the traditional lineup. Is there a trope for it?
Also, is there a trope for a villain that is eventually revealed to have never existed? They became notorious either through lies, rumors or stories to the point that they were believed to be real only to be revealed to have all been fiction where the stories took on a life of their own.
Edited by mattesteopenAppeal to digust
What's the trope for this: X is gross, therefore X is wrong/evil? This often gets used by Moral Guardians, though sometimes shows up in more subtle ways (like having some really gross creatures be treated as Always Chaotic Evil, even if we never see them actually do any evil acts.)
openBeing bad at business
Someone thinks they are good businessman until they are placed at the head position. And aren’t as skilled as they are.
Is there a trope for comedy scenes where a character is in a public setting, gets closer to an object to admire it and the object breaks (or it was broken already but the character assumes he did it). So the character has to awkwardly pretend he didn't do it, try to fix it without anyone noticing, blame it on someone else, hide it in his pants, et cetera...
Usually the object is a valuable piece of art or technology, an urn with human ashes, but sometimes it's just a random thing and the character is just super neurotic.