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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openLet the Guy Get Close Enough to Grab your Gun Film
Is there a trope for when a character is holding someone at gunpoint, but is either already at arm's length, or will let the other person get within arm's reach? Not because they're hesitant to use the gun, but so that the situation can be dramatically reversed, even though it defeats the whole purpose of keeping someone at bay with a ranged weapon.
openIs there a trope for when an artist covering a song doesn't get the meaning of the original? Music
See #2 & #1 on this Cracked.com list... http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-most-ill-advised-cover-songs-all-time Rascal Flatts cover of "Born in the USA" and Duran Duran's cover of "911 is a joke" respectively. So is there a trope that covers this, and if not, is this a common enough thing that we should make it a trope?
openRevealed to be a game
The character thinks they are playing a game, only to eventually discover that their game was played in real life.
(Examples may contain spoilers.)
- UNCANNY VALLEY (2015)
- Superhot
- strategy gameplay simulations near the end of Ender's Game
Is there a trope for this?
Edited by DoorIntoSummeropenTV Antenna Balancing Gymnastics
You get your friend/family member/pet to stand on the TV in weird positions holding up antennas (er, antennae?) to try and get the signal for the channel you want.
Not sure if tropeworthy, though.
openSolution in the Small talk
There is one trope that I've always run into, but can't find the name, and even when searching the shows/movies I see them in, still can't figure it out. Typically it's a situation where everything is doom & gloom, where everyone's kinda accepted their fate, and small talk begins, and someone says something that sparks the magical solution to their problem...
I will give an example from the TV show Rick & Morty;
- People are trapped in what seems to be their death, and Rick is one of the ones not in danger*
- shoos Jerry away to use the new idea*
Another example is in Family guy, where Stewie, Brian, and two secret agents were too late to stop a missle launch, then their small talk leads to them having an idea.
tl;dr = Doom & Gloom, small talk accidently has a double entendre or word that inspires a solution, and everything is well again.
openDouble Purpose Clue Film
While it'd be related to Red Herring, do we have a trope for a clue that gets plot-relevant mileage in two different ways?
For example, in Zootopia, the "Night Howler" clue leads Officer Hopps to follow the timber wolves to the secret prison where the fourteen missing (and infected) mammals are being kept. However, the true meaning of "Night Howler" is the plant that is being used to create the Hate Plague.
In the movie The Peacemaker, an invoice has the notation 44E. This first leads the good guys to Sarajevo, where they find the villian's videotape, where he admits responsibility for the bombing (that hasn't happened yet, but will shortly.) Then, as they determine that the target is somewhere in New York City, 44E leads them to believe the target will be the United Nations headquarters, off 44th Street.
Edited by robbulldogopenPre-Battle lunch
When the heroes gather all together to have a lunch break before The Battle Royale (often in the penultimate episode).
Edited by Suigetsu-SanopenUpon Achieving, the Goal is Too Big
You're an unlikely, overambitious hero. You set out to achieve a goal that nobody believes you can accomplish, but you never falter, and the audience just thinks your the coolest. Then, after all the hard work, you finally achieve the goal. But it's SUCH an ambitious goal that none of us could have seen how much responsibility it would have been, and you somehow can't fully attain it physically (or psychologically, if you want). A bummer - whatever you wanted to do with that goal can't be done. No real harm done, however—unless you were trying to save the world, it's not going anywhere until someone greater than yourself comes along, able to utilize it like a proper omnipotent protagonist.
openTrope for a woman/man who gets mistaken for the opposite gender but it's obvious to the viewer
I recently played the Fire Emblem Awakening demo and they introduced a character "Marth" (clearly not the real name) and everyone started using male pronouns even though "Marth" sounds and looks like a female, they did say 'he is a young man' but it's clearly not the case. It's close to Lady Looks Like a Dude, expect it's obvious to the audience but not the characters maybe a mix of Sweet Polly Oliver that the characters are just very blind to? I'm thinking Viewer Gender Confusion but for the Characters instead of the viewer. Could even be Samus is a girl... I simply cannot put my finger on it, so here I am asking here.
openEcnereffid
What's the difference of Grouped for Your Convenience, Cast Herd and Geodesic Cast?
openNever His Fault
Applying Never My Fault to someone else, often with much more vitriol than if they were defending themselves.
For example, a man is blatantly hitting on a woman who's just as obviously not interested. The man's wife shows up, and throws a hissy fit at the girl trying to steal her man.
openFalse Future? Film
The film's playing out like normal, when suddenly something drastic happens and the protagonist is attacked/killed/curses out an antagonistic character/makes a move on the woman and it pays off. Then, mere seconds later time rewinds and we see that it was all in his mind, and in reality something entirely different and often more mundane happens. This happens to the point of absurdity in Stephen King's Riding the Bullet.
openI remember the examples but not the trope - awkward
One of them was in Popeye when Olive was tied to the railroad tracks and Popeye couldn't untie her in time, so he just punches the train.
The other example is from the Simpsons' reenactment of Goldilocks, where they just mix the hot and cold porridge together.
openBlack Hole... something
Now that Black Hole Sue is considered flame bait, as all Mary Sue related tropes, which is the "good" trope or YMMV entry for a character that has all the plots revolving around him/her?
openCharacter is extremely unhappy about his current life
Do we have a trope like this, a character who would appear to have a pretty decent life, but hates it? It's not that he's waiting for the Call and it put him on hold, just that he's unhappy as he is.
openTransformation
Is there a trope for when a character changes to something else(creature, thing, what ever) for one time due to something happening, but it changes back to normal after one episode or two? (note- I'm talking about a character that normally don't change forms.)
1. Things that would normally be in front of a character's face tend to get "faded out" just around the face. This happens a lot with the kendo face masks (and once with a chain-link fence) in Bamboo Blade.
2. Giving someone a gift of checkerboard cookies, usually either wrapped in cloth or in a basket. (One time the cookies were burnt, but a) the receiver mistook them for chocolate, and b) it was the wrong basket by mistake.) Not sure how widespread this is.