[007]
SomeSortOfTroper
Current Version
Changed line(s) 1 from:
n
I\'m going to make this trope fit with more genres besides just Eastern RPGs, does anyone object?
to:
I\\\'m going to make this trope fit with more genres besides just Eastern [=RPGs=], does anyone object?
Changed line(s) 3 from:
n
I actually have some interest in asking just how far this trope should go; clearly the line that allows a weapon to start and stop being a BFG depending on whether or not you\'re holding it is arbitrary, but is there really any difference between, say, the gun used by Gruber\'s henchman and, say, Frankie Lideo\'s giant mountain-laser in \'\'Moonwalker\'\' or Hein\'s Zeus Cannon in the \'\'FinalFantasy\'\' movie, or even the scene where the Emperor is using the Death Star to make Luke angry? Do we actually \'\'have\'\' a trope for \
to:
I actually have some interest in asking just how far this trope should go; clearly the line that allows a weapon to start and stop being a BFG depending on whether or not you\\\'re holding it is arbitrary, but is there really any difference between, say, the gun used by Gruber\\\'s henchman and, say, Frankie Lideo\\\'s giant mountain-laser in \\\'\\\'Moonwalker\\\'\\\' or Hein\\\'s Zeus Cannon in the \\\'\\\'FinalFantasy\\\'\\\' movie, or even the scene where the Emperor is using the Death Star to make Luke angry? Do we actually \\\'\\\'have\\\'\\\' a trope for \\\"even bigger fucking gun?\\\"
In all four cases the logic is the same; the villain is shown to be a huge threat because he has huge firepower; only the magnitude of the firepower differs. While the latter two could be seen as non-examples because more than one person is operating the weapon, I\\\'d think BFG could still go up to Lideo\\\'s gun since he\\\'s controlling it directly from a chair with hand cranks (and thus you might also count the scene in \\\'\\\'Spirits Within\\\'\\\' where Hein is firing Zeus manually).
I\\\'d say that like CoolGuns this trope is more about how a weapon is shown than its actual scale; if the size is a visual shorthand for power and usefulness and the weapon the focus of the scene, it\\\'s a BFG, if not it\\\'s just a big gun as with most background depictions of artillery and crew-served weapons. This makes it more clearly a subtrope of BiggerIsBetter, and means the greater focus on the weapon (it almost seems to be shunting the gunner out of the picture, which is perfect) makes the NSV / Kord image a better page pic than the clonetroopers.
In all four cases the logic is the same; the villain is shown to be a huge threat because he has huge firepower; only the magnitude of the firepower differs. While the latter two could be seen as non-examples because more than one person is operating the weapon, I\\\'d think BFG could still go up to Lideo\\\'s gun since he\\\'s controlling it directly from a chair with hand cranks (and thus you might also count the scene in \\\'\\\'Spirits Within\\\'\\\' where Hein is firing Zeus manually).
I\\\'d say that like CoolGuns this trope is more about how a weapon is shown than its actual scale; if the size is a visual shorthand for power and usefulness and the weapon the focus of the scene, it\\\'s a BFG, if not it\\\'s just a big gun as with most background depictions of artillery and crew-served weapons. This makes it more clearly a subtrope of BiggerIsBetter, and means the greater focus on the weapon (it almost seems to be shunting the gunner out of the picture, which is perfect) makes the NSV / Kord image a better page pic than the clonetroopers.
Changed line(s) 1 from:
n
I changed it because the new image represents a better depiction; the weapon is larger and is the focus of the image rather than being something held by a guy in armour as in the other pic. It\'s been the page image for about a month. The only person who\'s objected is [=DragonQuestZ=] based on his made-up rule that if you put a gun on a tripod or mounting it isn\'t a BFG anymore, even though in terms of the trope as a literary device it can still have exactly the same function (eg Gruber\'s [[TheDragon Dragon]] used a massive recoilless cannon in \'\'DieHard\'\'; he could have been using a shoulder-fired rocket launcher and the scene wouldn\'t have changed at all) and therefore be the same trope.
to:
I changed it because the new image represents a better depiction; the weapon is larger and is the focus of the image rather than being something held by a guy in armour as in the other pic. It\\\'s been the page image for about a month. The only person who\\\'s objected is [=DragonQuestZ=] based on his made-up rule that if you put a gun on a tripod or mounting it isn\\\'t a BFG anymore, even though in terms of the trope as a literary device it can still have exactly the same function (eg Gruber\\\'s [[TheDragon Dragon]] used a massive recoilless cannon in \\\'\\\'DieHard\\\'\\\'; he could have been using a shoulder-fired rocket launcher and the scene wouldn\\\'t have changed at all) and therefore be the same trope. Even when you get to light artillery, they have you control a [=FlaK=] 37 solo (when the normal crew is ten) in \\\'\\\'CallOfDuty\\\'\\\' for the same reason they give you a Panzerfaust; because they want to have a spectacular moment and so you need a spectacular weapon.
Changed line(s) 3 from:
n
I actually have some interest in asking just how far this trope should go; clearly the line that allows a weapon to start and stop being a BFG depending on whether or not you\'re holding it is arbitrary, but is there really any difference between, say, the gun used by Gruber\'s henchman and, say, Frankie Lideo\'s giant mountain-laser in \'\'Moonwalker\'\' or Hein\'s Zeus Cannon in the \'\'FinalFantasy\'\' movie, or even the scene where the Emperor is using the Death Star to make Luke angry? Do we actually \'\'have\'\' a trope for \
to:
I actually have some interest in asking just how far this trope should go; clearly the line that allows a weapon to start and stop being a BFG depending on whether or not you\\\'re holding it is arbitrary, but is there really any difference between, say, the gun used by Gruber\\\'s henchman and, say, Frankie Lideo\\\'s giant mountain-laser in \\\'\\\'Moonwalker\\\'\\\' or Hein\\\'s Zeus Cannon in the \\\'\\\'FinalFantasy\\\'\\\' movie, or even the scene where the Emperor is using the Death Star to make Luke angry? Do we actually \\\'\\\'have\\\'\\\' a trope for \\\"even bigger fucking gun?\\\"
See, in all four cases the logic is the same; the villain is shown to be a huge threat because he has huge firepower; only the magnitude of the firepower differs. I\\\'d say that like CoolGuns this trope is more about how a weapon is shown than its actual scale; if the size is a visual shorthand for power and usefulness and the weapon the focus of the scene, it\\\'s a BFG, if not it\\\'s just a big gun as with most background depictions of artillery and crew-served weapons. This makes it more clearly a subtrope of BiggerIsBetter, and means the greater focus on the weapon (it almost seems to be shunting the gunner out of the picture, which is perfect) makes the NSV / Kord image a better page pic than the clonetroopers.
See, in all four cases the logic is the same; the villain is shown to be a huge threat because he has huge firepower; only the magnitude of the firepower differs. I\\\'d say that like CoolGuns this trope is more about how a weapon is shown than its actual scale; if the size is a visual shorthand for power and usefulness and the weapon the focus of the scene, it\\\'s a BFG, if not it\\\'s just a big gun as with most background depictions of artillery and crew-served weapons. This makes it more clearly a subtrope of BiggerIsBetter, and means the greater focus on the weapon (it almost seems to be shunting the gunner out of the picture, which is perfect) makes the NSV / Kord image a better page pic than the clonetroopers.
