History Main / CharacteristicTrope

* Jekyll and Mr. Hyde referencing - any time two extremely different characters, usually one good and one evil, turn out to be the same person.
* Any work that has a SuperMode - specifically a GoldenSuperMode [[PowerCrystal powered by a finite number of artifacts]] - will undoubtedly be compared to ''Franchise/DragonBall''. ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' is no stranger to this.

* The KarmicTwistEnding was used so famously by ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' that viewers can't help but think of it whenever they see one elsewhere.

* Any time you pitch a show as XMeetsY, you're going to be compared to both X ''and'' Y.

* ItsAWonderfulPlot -- The trope is indistinguishable from [[ItsAWonderfulLife the movie]].

When a {{trope}} which may have been perfectly ordinary on its own is used ''so'' famously by one particular show, its meaning gets changed. Instead of what the {{trope}} had meant before, it now means "{{Homage}} or parody of the show which used it famously." (Or, if you're less lucky, "Blatant rip-off of the show which used it famously.") Think of it as a kind of RealLife {{Flanderization}} of a {{trope}}.

This can get annoying for writers, since the {{trope}} may be a useful screen-metaphor in its own right, but they can't use it without creating unwanted associations.

See also FountainOfExpies for character-specific examples, as well as WholePlotReference. Compare TropeCodifier and TropeNamer, which both identify a show for becoming well known for a {{trope}}, but not necessarily laying such claims on future use of it. Contrast UrExample, which is when a show uses what will eventually become a {{trope}}, but wasn't actually one at the time. See also FollowTheLeader for intentional trope invocation based off of that one particular show.

* For American and Canadian audiences, TransformingMecha will nearly always take the audience's mind to ''{{Transformers}}''.

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* Any work that has a SuperMode - specifically a GoldenSuperMode [[PowerCrystal powered by a finite number of artifacts]] - will undoubtedly be compared to ''DragonBall''. ''SonicTheHedgehog'' is no stranger to this.

* In the UK, any show using the BBCQuarry will be compared to ''Series/DoctorWho'', even though the series hardly uses it any more.

* In a darker example, many tropes associated with UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler or [[ThoseWackyNazis the Nazis]] have become this due to the two's infamy, even if such tropes dated before them and originally had benign connotations. For example, the swastika was originally a symbol of good luck (and was created independently in several cultures) before it became specifically associated with the Nazi party, whereas the Bellamy salute was discontinued in the United States to avoid replicating the similar Nazi salute.

* RashomonStyle is similarly characteristic of the film for which it is named, though since most Western viewers will never have actually seen ''Film/{{Rashomon}}'', you can get away with it so long as you throw in some LampshadeHanging to let the more culturally literate viewers know you're not trying to pass it off as your own idea.

* ''FamilyMatters'': Though there are earlier famous examples, a character as flamboyantly nerdish as Steve Urkel, an ExtravertedNerd character often sparked comparisons to ''FamilyMatters'', for some time after the show.

* People getting powers as a genetic trait? ''Franchise/{{X-Men}}''. Also, AllOfTheOtherReindeer applied to said empowered individuals.

* Literature/TheBible is one of the most influential works in Western civilization, making [[BiblicalMotifs every notable trope it uses]] characteristic to it. [[UpToEleven This even happens to]] [[CrystalDragonJesus mythologies, religions, and works that have been developed independently from it]].

* On that note: modern fantasy is so inextricably connected to Tolkien that--to quote fantasy author Terry Pratchett--"even if [the author/writer] has said 'Bugger me, I'm not going to write like Tolkien'", audiences usually associated some part of it with his writings.

* WholeEpisodeFlashback, ''{{Lost}}'', as a result of expressing usually intriguing flashbacks of various points of various characters' backgrounds in just about every consecutive episode.

* Literature/TheBible is one of the most influential works in Western civilization, making [[BiblicalMotifs every notable trope it uses]] characteristic to it. [[UpToEleven This even happens to]] [[CrystalDragonJesus mythologies, religions, and works that have been developed independently of it]].

* Any use of a [[SingleBiomePlanet desert planet]] is going to bring ''{{Dune}}'' to mind. Or at least [[Franchise/StarWars Tatooine]].

* In a darker example, many tropes associated with AdolfHitler or [[ThoseWackyNazis the Nazis]] have become this due to the two's infamy, even if such tropes dated before them and originally had benign connotations. For example, the swastika was originally a symbol of good luck (and was created independently in several cultures) before it became specifically associated with the Nazi party, whereas the Bellamy salute was discontinued in the United States to avoid replicating the similar Nazi salute.

* In a darker example, many tropes associated with AdolfHitler or [[ThoseWackyNazis the Nazis]] have become this due to the two's infamy, even if such tropes dated before them and originally had benign connotations. For example, the swastika was originally a symbol of good luck before it became specifically associated with the Nazi party, whereas the Bellamy salute was discontinued in the United States to avoid replicating the similar Nazi salute.

* In the UK, any show using the BBCQuarry will be converted to ''Series/DoctorWho'', even though the series hardly uses it any more.

Compare TropeCodifier and TropeNamer, which both identify a show for becoming well known for a {{trope}}, but not necessarily laying such claims on future use of it. Contrast UrExample, which is when a show uses what will eventually become a {{trope}}, but wasn't actually one at the time. See also FollowTheLeader for intentional trope invocation based off of that one particular show.

* WizardingSchool =''Literature/HarryPotter''

* Any use of a [[SingleBiomePlanet desert planet]] is going to bring ''{{Dune}}'' to mind.
** Or at least [[Franchise/StarWars Tatooine]].
* People getting powers as a genetic trait? ''Franchise/{{X-Men}}''.
** Also, AllOfTheOtherReindeer applied to said empowered individuals.

Compare TropeCodifier and TropeNamer, which both identify a show for becoming well known for a {{trope}}, but not necessarily laying such claims on future use of it. Contrast UrExample, which is when a show uses what will eventually become a {{trope}}, but wasn't actually one at the time. See also FollowTheLeader for intentional trope invocation based of that one particular show.

Compare TropeCodifier and TropeNamer, which both identify a show for becoming well known for a {{trope}}, but not necessarily laying such claims on future use of it. Contrast UrExample, which is when a show uses what will eventually become a {{trope}}, but wasn't actually one at the time.

* The EarthAllAlong reveal is cliche for many reasons, but it's also so characteristic of Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes that you can't "unexpectedly" reveal a planet to be Earth without the audience flashing back to Charlton Heston.

* In a darker example, many tropes associated with AdolfHitler or [[ThoseWackyNazis the Nazis]] have become this due to the two's infamy, even if such tropes dated before them and originally had benign connotations. For example, the swastika was originally a symbol of good luck before it became specifically associated with the Nazi party, whereas the Bellamy salute was discontinued in the United States to avoid replicating the Nazis.