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open Fight with a villain at a disadvantage
What I'm thinking of is when a bad guy has a fight, usually one on one, with the hero or a non-villainous adversary, and either the bad guy has a major, and often hidden, advantage against their opponent or their opponent is fighting with a serious disadvantage or handicap. The fight's often in public or has an audience, and the bad guy's goal is to make themself look good by defeating their opponent or mock their opponent if they lose. The examples I'm thinking of are:
- Wolverine #1, where a pirate gang's leader is fighting the captain of the ship his gang has captured. The captain's arms are tied behind his back, and the pirate leader is wielding a machete;
- The Transformers (can't remember the episode) Megatron fights Optimus one-on-one in what's supposed to be an honor duel, but Megatron has secretly buffed himself with the abilities of the other Decepticons;
- Dune: Feyd-Rautha's gladiatorial duel with a fighter who's had a hypnotic suggestion put on him that Feyd can use to cause him to freeze up;
- Gladiator: Commodus' show fight against Maximus at the end of the movie, where Commodus stabbed Maximus in the side just before they came out to the arena
Do we have this?
Edited by Willbyropen(Culture) loves their drama
- Completion of a hired task is accompanied by hammy protestations and demonstrations on the subject of "How hard I have worked to accomplish this thing"
- Bartering between merchants generally includes histrionic posturing about "taking the food out of my children's mouths!" There may be tearing of hair.
- Public exchanges of views get loud, and attract an (appreciative) audience.
- If someone sustains any (even mild) injury, expect many to enjoy a large panic because "He's dead! How will his family live?"
All of the above may be leaned on a bit to mess with the tourists, but if one plays the game back, they get culturally assimilated pretty quickly.
Is this a thing?
openCollective Law, Single Target
A lawmaker passes a law that affects everyone but the real target is a single person, usually a personal enemy. Often leads to The Streisand Effect or the Forbidden Fruit effect.
- Something Positive has a city official get humiliated when his attempt to hijack Mike's Real Life Superhero persona for PR purposes backfires in public. When next seen he's trying to pass a law to ban those activities (and making no effort to disguise that it's solely to get back at Mike, calling it the "Who's laughing now, jerk" ordinance).
- After Harry Potter gives an interview to the Quibbler revealing Voldemort's return, Umbridge puts out a blanket ban on the magazine, ensuring that everyone will try to get their hands on it to know why it was banned.
openAdopting an disparaging nickname is an ironic one
What's the trope when someone adopts a disparaging nickname for himself as an ironic nickname? Here an example (Warning, Attack on Titan spoilers): A Marleyan officer called the tea the Island Eldians offered him "pig's piss", so when Levi offered another bunch of Marleyan soldiers tea, he called it "pig's piss", too.
Edited by arisbochopenTrope for Interquel/Sequel making the original worse?
I just recently finished Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth and wanted to know if there's a trope for when a sequel/interquel makes the original make less or no sense (when it comes to story). Idiot plot comes to mind, but I don't feel like it's specific enough. Is there a trope for when an interquel or a sequel breaks the original in terms or story/setting/characters?
openstatus bars in non video games
A non-interactive medium shows status bars or other video game elements onscreen.
openIs this Failed a Spot Check?
A character is so busy being focused on clothes shopping that they don't realize another character has joined them until they see the other character's hand on the clothing racks
openOpposite of Hype Backlash
What is the opposite trope of Hype Backlash? Can someone tell me?
openThe "but" that never came
Do we have trope for when a character phrases a sentence as if they're about to make another point but just hold on the pause instead?
Example: (from Zero Punctuation) "Don't get me wrong, listener. The Last of Us Part 2 was a pretty miserable experience..."
openCreator's financial lifeline
I see Creator Killer misused for "this was the company's only reliable product line, and when it declined the company went bankrupt". Is there another trivia item that would fit better?
openThe movie Hollywood doesn't want you to see! Film
When An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn ended up getting terrible reviews, the poster put on copy saying it was "The movie Hollywood doesn't want you to see!" - pretending the criticism meant the movie was so revolutionary that a critic conspiracy was "scared" of it. The same applies to a lot of works and products - stuff like "see what the controversy is all about" and "show you're not a sheep that listen to critics!" and so on. Is there a trope for that?
Edited by Mac_RopenThe appearance of supernatural danger also brings mankind the means to fight the danger
What do you call it when the supernatural enemy also brings mankind the means to fight it? (This is used to explain why there are two supernatural factors happening to Earth at once.)
-The magic that brought the monsters also brings super powers to the human defenders.
-You drive klaxosaurs to fight klaxosaurs.
-When spirits appear, humans make deals with good spirits to be strong enough to fight the evil spirits.
-The Cursed Gear are powered by demons, used to fight demons.
-Humans are injected with Aragami DNA to be able to wield new weapons against the Aragami.
Edited by Orbitron25openNever trusts in their own abilities
This character is actually quite competent, but constantly doubts their abilities.
openMagical bag/purse/suitcase
When a character carries a bag/purse/suitcase from where he/she takes out precisely what is needed or wanted, however unlikely it might be. Also, when its content is never lost notwithstanding the circumstances, or something that should be there isn't there, all at the script's convenience, when the bag isn't supposed to be magical to start with. Reference: Kwai Chang Caine's bag in Kung Fu. He is assaulted and stripped several times, yet he doesn't lose his bag, ever. Things he takes from it: a medicinal powder good for everything, a magnifying glass, bird's food, a delicate ant figurine, etc. He is given two watches and a ring, but when robbed, he never has anything valuable. And on occasion he wants to buy beans, but he doesn't carry any visible cookware. Maybe it is in the bag.
openAmbiguous Finances?
A characters financial situation doesn't match the way they live For example:
- In I Love Lucy, Ricky's popularity throughout the show goes from unknown entertainer to singer and actor who's been in a movie, gone on a worldwide tour, and is in demand for guest appearances, yet the problems of Lucy not being able to afford the bills or new furniture still comes up.
- In Friends, the main characters (including a waitress, a struggling actor, and a masseuse) all seem to live relatively comfortably to be living in the West Village
- In The Golden Girls, the characters' money problems vary from episode to episode. One episode might involve the girls not being able to afford a new TV or fix the roof, yet other episodes have them buying new formal dresses or traveling without a second thought
If this isn't a trope I might make it
Edited by arimediumopenOffhand comment that ends up being true
What's the trope where somebody makes an offhand remark or joke, but it ends up being true over the course of the movie/book? A specific example I'm thinking of is where Bob, when introducing Alice, remarks that he doesn't think she speaks more than 3 words of English; over the course of the film, Alice has exactly 3 words of dialogue.
openSynthwave cartoon
There's this cartoon called miami... Something. No, not Hotline Miami. It was a very Archer-like show, but with tons of synthwave and a lot of purple. It was probably set in California, as it had that vibe.
openDynamic Loading Videogame
Do we have a trope for a particular type of dynamic loading where a protagonist has to crawl through hole in the wall or very tight corridor? It feels like it's become very common in the last couple of years. Or is that just covered under Dynamic Loading?
A foreign character who is refered by the country/place they come from- like "The Australian", "The Indian", "The Norwegian".