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:
openAwesome late weapon Videogame
A video game weapon is cool, but arrives too late in the game for you to get much use out of it.
openSpotlight equals love
The most plot-relevant male character is always paired with me most plot-relevant female character (Except villains?)
openTrope about inserting fun into a boring routine
Which trope is this?
- The Masterfoods "Wheredafungo" promotion features advice to insert fun into one's work, such as funny words in a business call.
Yellow: Our numbers indicate that sales are way up in Lake Titicaca.
openDescended Bug Videogame
Players take advantage of a bug or unexpected aspect of the game, so creators remove it in the sequel/expansion, or hinder its usefulness.
openPutting bugs in your food for a refund
Do we have trope for when someone puts something gross in their food and pretends that it was there to begin with so they can get a refund? Like Mobile Fighter G Gundam has a scene where three guys beat up a vendor because of a bug they found in their food, but Cecile stands up to them because she saw them put it in the food to begin with.
openWrong Flavor
A food claims to be a certain flavor but the ingredients are something else.
Example: The dog food says it’s beef flavor, but the ingredients say chicken.
openTrying to remember a trope I forgot the name to. Videogame
It just came into my memory. From what I remember, it was telling someone that their late loved ones wouldn't want them to do a terrible thing. I forgot a trope and I hate that so much, can someone please help me remember?
openEmpty Ocean
Any depiction of an empty/destroyed ocean in any visual medium. sucked dry, evaporated any kind of clear annihilation of an ocean.
openActing Under the Influence?
This may be a more behind the scenes or meta trope, but instances of the actors having used "something" and then recorded/filmed their parts. An example off the top of my head: Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, along with other cast members, used alcohol and marijuana to get through production of Super Mario Bros (could you blame them?) and did a few scenes while still intoxicated, including driving.
openPart of a song that's repetitive, but not really a chorus because it changes.
Like, in Mary Poppins, during the bank song, they keep going:
But the adverbs change every time.
openMakes It Look Easy
Alice does something with such skill that makes it look completely natural. Bob tries to do the same thing and fails miserably.
openDriving to France, etc.
A joke where the context relies on taking an impossible mode of transportation to a certain location (e.g. land-based across an ocean, surface-based into space)
Examples I've seen in The Simpsons, where Homer defiantly argues that he can walk to Turkmenistan, and in The Muppets where they realize they can't drive to France... Because it's way too far. Both works take place in the United States.
openAvoiding work by working (solved)
What's the trope when a character ends up working harder to avoid doing a task than they would doing it? I think I've seen this one before on the site.
Edited by PPPSSCopenSong debuted on TV guest appearance
What trope could fit a musician appearing on a show (eg. as a Special Guest or a Celebrity Star appearance) and debuting a never-before-released song from their discography? The song might not have been specifically written for that show; it could have already been in the works before said appearance, but they chose to use the guest spot to debut it instead of in an album or a special online release.
Edited by SynchronicityopenFanon contradicts canon
Fans come up with a headcanon and treat it as canon even when it contradicts the official canon.
openHiding behind gender-neutral descriptors Anime
This is currently listed as an example of Exact Words, but I'm wondering if it belongs to Pronoun Trouble.
Serial Numbers Filed Off version: Alex asks Bob to describe his girlfriend, not knowing Bob is Closet Gay. Bob uses a list of gender-neutral descriptors that does apply to his boyfriend Carl, but to Alex, Bob sounds like he's describing some kind of Meganekko.
- Bob: They're really smart, and composed. They're also hardworking, and really dependable. Also... they look cute in glasses.
The English translation is certainly an example of Pronoun Trouble (using "they" to hide somebody's gender), but how about the original text?
openOlder character tropes? Live Action TV
Can't change this to Western Animation, so title is wrong:
I'm sure I've seen this trope for an older character, here's a few examples:
- In The Loud House, in a What Could Have Been moment, there would have been a Flash Forward to an older version of Lisa who didn't have the No Social Skills of her current self, and an older version of Lincoln who, for some reason, was more obese than usual. These are more popular as Fan Fic Fuel based on this.
- The Fairly OddParents! had an older Timmy Turner, but he was bald and obese; whether his character design was a Shout-Out to Homer Simpson is YMMV.
- Dexter's Laboratory had D22, the older version of Dexter, but despite canonically being in his 20s or even 30s, spoke with a teenager's voice.
- Steven Universe episode "So Many Birthdays" depicted adult versions of Steven, years before the sequel series appeared.
Live Action TV
- In a What Could Have Been moment for The Flash (2014), Stargirl (as her older Starwoman self) would have made a brief cameo in Season 6 portrayed by someone who already played a metahuman, although this was not related to the Stargirl series that was in production at the time.
A character just robbed a bank (or won the lottery, made a lot of money), and drives off with the bag of money in the car, so that bills fly out as he speeds up.