We have done with Hope and Honour, we are lost to Love and Truth,
We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung,
And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth.
God help us, for we knew the worst too young!
We are dropping down the ladder rung by rung,
And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth.
God help us, for we knew the worst too young!
— Rudyard Kipling, "Gentleman-Rankers"
A few clues as to which end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism you are — or the characters think they are.
Compare Despair Tropes. Contrast Idealism Tropes.
Tropes
Categories:
- Abusive Parents: Some parents don't love you, or have a particularly ugly idea of love.
- Accentuate the Negative: There's nothing good about anything.
- A-Cup Angst: The shame of being flat-chested.
- Adults Are Useless: Adults hardly help children with their issues.
- All for Nothing: All that effort you put in? Probably shouldn't have bothered.
- All Issues Are Political Issues: Have something? Let me ruin it by inserting politics into it!
- All of the Other Reindeer: Everyone hates you for no justifiable reason.
- The American Dream: Flavor 2
- Anarchy Is Chaos: No government means no order.
- And There Was Much Rejoicing: Your death will not be missed. In fact, it will be celebrated.
- Anti-Escapism Aesop: Escaping reality because your reality is painful is weak, immature and pathetic. (Though this can also be an idealism trope Depending on the Writer).
- Anti-Hero: Heroes are not always clearly good.
- Byronic Hero: This hero is cynical, brooding, and deeply-flawed, but is somewhat sympathetic.
- '90s Anti-Hero: A specific anti-hero from The '90s who is gritty, dark, and violent in contrast to The Cape.
- Nominal Hero: Known as the "Hero" In Name Only because they do heroic deeds for personal reasons.
- Pragmatic Hero: Getting their hands dirty even if they hold themselves in a strict moral code.
- Unscrupulous Hero: A morally abhorrent hero who fights off villains worse than him.
- Anti-Villain: Sometimes people who are considered evil are opposed to society for some good reasons and those in power are just labelling said person as evil to hide their own motives from the public. (Can also be an Idealism Trope, depending on how it's written.)
- Ashcan Copy: We didn't care about the artistic merit, we just had a legal obligation to do so.
- Asshole Victim: Bad person becomes the victim of a crime. Because he was bad, no one cares.
- At Least I Admit It: Being open about your flaws doesn't make you a bad person, and let's leave it at that.
- Awful Wedded Life: Marriage isn't all it was cracked up to be, is it?
- The Bad Guy Wins: Sometimes good doesn't triumph.
- Pyrrhic Villainy: ...But the villain paid a price for winning.
- The Barnum: There's a sucker born every minute.
- Be Yourself: Can be cynical if the person happens to be evil.
- Beauty Is Bad: Very attractive characters are usually evil or mean.
- Being Good Sucks: Doing the right thing is a terrible fate.
- Being Human Sucks: Being a human being sucks so much that being a non-human is preferable.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil
- Belief Makes You Stupid: Believing in something that cannot be proven can make us do stupid things.
- Beware the Superman: When a superhero becomes a tyrant.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: That person isn't as nice as you thought.
- Bittersweet Ending: Where an ending is mixed with happiness and sadness.
- Bittersweet Seventeen
- Black and Gray Morality: There are no good guys. Only bad guys, and even worse guys.
- Black and White Morality: The black side. There may be a clear distinction between good and evil, but evil is evil, and it exists.
- Black and White Insanity: Real-life society is not as clear cut as we would like it to be. Therefore, don't expect everyone to meet your definition of good and refuse to adapt to the way that society exists and thus turn into an Ideological Extremist.
- Blame Game: The search for a scapegoat that completely spirals out of control.
- Blessed with Suck: Maybe that curse will come in handy.
- Blind Obedience: Doing whatever you're told, no matter what the intent of the one ordering.
- Bread and Circuses: Fun for the Lowest Common Denominator!
- Break the Cutie: Put a happy and cheerful person through hell.
- Break the Motivational Speaker: A motivational speaker wants to give people hope and optimism. Another character easily disproves him.
- Bridezilla: Impending marriage can bring out the worst in you.
- Bright Is Not Good
- Broken Bird: Trauma will make you a bitter, distant person.
- Broken Pedestal: Your heroes are anything but heroic.
- Brutal Honesty: Being honest means being an asshole, apparently.
- Bystander Syndrome: No one will bother to help you when you're in trouble.
- City of Weirdos: When people are too cynical and self-absorbed to notice or care about unusual things happening right under their noses.
- The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Being yourself is wrong.
- Complete Monster: Violently vile beyond redemption. The only cure to this filth of humanity is a bullet in the head.
- Conspiracy Theorist: Some nebulous conspiracy must be behind this, I swear!
- Corrupt Bureaucrat: A greedy, lazy and self-centered civil servant.
- Corrupt Church: The church isn't all that saintly.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: This guy will cross any line, as long as it makes him more money.
- Corrupt Politician: A person who abuses his political power for personal gain.
- Corrupt the Cutie: Turning a good-hearted character into a jerk.
- Corrupt Quartermaster
- Cosmic Horror Story: Humanity doesn't matter in the grand cosmos at large.
- Crapsack World: The world is a terrible, shitty place. No one wants to be here.
- Crapsaccharine World: The world looks like a shiny happy paradise. It's anything but.
- Creating Life Is Bad: Humans creating intelligent life is wrong.
- Cycle of Revenge: Taking vengeance will only lead to more vengeance. It may begin with you, but it won't end with you.
- The Cynic: The one with a negative view on the world.
- Cynical Mentor: I'm mentoring you, but I don't give a crap whether or not you'll succeed.
- Cynic–Idealist Duo: The cynic and the idealist are a duo.
- Cynicism Catalyst: A traumatic event makes a character more cynical than before.
- Dark Shepherd: Keeping the sheep to the straight and narrow through vicious threats.
- Darker and Edgier: Turn a Lighter and Softer program into something dark and more "adult".
- Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy: I'm rooting for none of these guys. (Often caused by excess cynicism)
- A Degree in Useless: A college degree, particularly in certain subjects, won't help you lead a better life; you'd be better off just sticking with that fast-food job you had in high school.
- Designated Hero: (when used in-universe) We're the good guys because those in authority said so.
- Designated Villain: (when used in-universe) You people are the bad guys because your goals are an inconvenience to those in authority.
- Despair Event Horizon: What's the use of it? I give up!
- Despair Speech
- Despotism Justifies the Means
- Destructive Romance: Love can lead to very bad things not only to yourself, but for everyone around you.
- Deus Angst Machina: Bad things will just happen to people repeatedly for no real reason.
- Devil, but No God: A Big Bad exists; a Big Good does not.
- Dirty Coward: When there's danger, I'm willing to harm others to save myself.
- Disappointing Older Sibling: An older sibling lets down and loses the respect of his younger siblings.
- Dislikes the New Guy: No new friends.
- Dismotivation: I don't want to change the status quo.
- Disproportionate Retribution: You're going to suffer, and we don't care how insignificant your offense may be!
- Dogged Nice Guy: Can also be an idealism trope, Depending on the Writer.
- Dog-Kicking Excuse: Because the only way you can bring yourself to be a Jerk Ass to the Friend to All Living Things is to find something about them to get peeved over. Something of a Zig Zagged Trope in terms of cynicism, as it takes quite a bit of cynicism to look for one, but the fact that you need one implies that you aren't a Complete Monster.
- Doomed Defeatist: If you're a defeatist, you'll die.
- Doomed Moral Victor: Can be played more idealistically for a Bittersweet Ending.
- Do Unto Others Before They Do Unto Us
- Downer Beginning: A bad start causes half the failure.
- Downer Ending: No happy ending.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: No one will show you any gratitude for your good deeds.
- Dystopia
- Eagleland (Type 2 version): America is a wretched society.
- Eat the Rich
- Enemy Mine: Sometimes you have to work with your usual enemies to stop an even greater threat. Can be an idealism trope depending on the handling.
- Esoteric Happy Ending: The creator is presumed to be the only one who considers this to be idealistic.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Your loved ones will abandon you.
- Everything Is Racist: Anything and everything can be taken as racist and/or discriminatory.
- Evil Feels Good: Doing malevolent acts makes you feel good.
- Evil Is Easy: Forget what good has in store for you, evil has something far more convenient.
- Evil Stole My Faith: Being teased and mocked forces you to abandon your faith.
- Evil vs. Evil: Villains are fighting each other with no heroes in sight.
- Extreme Doormat: Willing to have others step over them.
- Face–Heel Turn: The Hero turns evil.
- Fallen Hero
- Failure Hero: The hero can't succeed at anything important.
- Failure Is the Only Option: We're all bound to failure.
- Fair for Its Day: A work is horribly racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted, but is still considered progressive because mainstream society at the time the work was made was even worse.
- Fair Weather Friend: Where are they when you really need them?
- False Utopia
- Family-Unfriendly Aesop: They may not be what your Sunday school teacher taught you.
- The Farmer and the Viper: Good deeds are not always repaid with good — in fact, the person you tried to help may well end up betraying you.
- The Fatalist: Believes there's no point in fighting your fate.
- Feet of Clay
- Final Solution: Genocide as the last resort to deal with a race or species.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Deny the existence of an almighty deity.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Just because I've forgiven you doesn't mean I will get over what you've done.
- For the Evulz: Doing evil things just for the fun of it.
- Franchise Zombie: When Executive Meddling causes a series that should have ended well to go wrong.
- Fridge Horror: The negative aspects to Fridge Logic
- From Bad to Worse: You expect to recover from a bad situation, but it took the inverse to your hope.
- Gentle Touch vs. Firm Hand (the latter): Influencing others by treating them harshly.
- God Is Evil: The supreme deity is a monster.
- God Is Flawed: The supreme deity isn't perfect.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Good people can't understand why people are evil.
- Good Is Dumb: Good people are just naive idiots.
- Good Is Old-Fashioned: Idealism is yesterday's news.
- Good Is Not Nice: Goodness is not about sweetness and light.
- Good Needs Evil: The complete elimination of deviance (i.e., evil) would end up making those whose jobs it is to enforce society's norms (i.e., good) obsolete.
- Good Powers, Bad People: Bright powers don't always equal to a bright person.
- Graying Morality: The heroes become less idealistic. Of course, this can also be an idealistic trope if it tends toward White and Grey Morality.
- Growing Up Sucks: Life will suck when we grow older.
- Grumpy Bear: In a idealistic setting, you will see someone who isn't.
- Happiness Is Mandatory: You see all of those happy people? They are forced to be Stepford Smilers by an oppressive government.
- Happy Ending Override: Thought your happy ending would last? Just wait until the sequel!
- Happy Marriage Charade: They have the perfect marriage...or, at least, it seems so.
- Hates Everyone Equally: You're not biased if you hate everyone.
- Hates the Job, Loves the Limelight
- Headbutting Heroes: Not all heroes get along.
- He-Man Woman Hater: A man who irrationally hates women for a specific reason.
- Henpecked Husband
- Here There Were Dragons
- He Who Fights Monsters: Fighting evil will often see you becoming evil in the process.
- Hobbes Was Right: Ruling through fear always works.
- Hollywood Atheist: This one can be an idealism trope, Depending on the Writer.
- Hollywood Hype Machine: Hollywood plugs a potential star. If they succeed, great. If not, dump them and move on to the next one.
- Honor Before Reason (when used in cynical contexts; e.g., "The right thing isn't always the smart thing").
- Hope Is Scary (Played straight mostly by cynical characters in idealistic worlds; invoked by cynical characters in cynical worlds.)
- Humanity Is Insane: People are the craziest fuckers you can ever find. Yes, even normal people.
- Humans Are Bastards: People are cruel and evil.
- Humans Are Morons: People are incompetent.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Whereas other species are morally superior.
- Humans Kill Wantonly
- I Can Live With That (Type 1): Willing to accept a negative situation.
- Ignorance Is Bliss: Sometimes it is better NOT to know about things.
- Inherent in the System: The way things are in the world is the problem and improving the problem makes them worse.
- Insignificant Little Blue Planet: Oh, you humans think you're so special? You're not. Deal with it.
- In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: Humanity is doomed to destroy itself through violence against its fellow man.
- It Gets Easier: Doing bad things like killing gets easier the more you do them.
- It Is Beyond Saving: When the current society is too corrupt to be worth it.
- It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Being the world's savior is not fun.
- I've Come Too Far: It's too late for redemption.
- Jade-Colored Glasses: Cynics wear them.
- Jaded Washout: Used to be a successful person, but has become something of a failure.
- Jerkass: That person is an asshole.
- Jerk Justifications (Type 1 version): To get ahead in this Crapsack World, you must be an asshole.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: There is goodness in that person—NOT!
- Karma Houdini: Justice is not served.
- Karmic Misfire: An innocent party is punished in place of a guilty party who goes scot free.
- Kick the Dog: People doing cruel and insensitive things to show how rotten they are.
- Kick Them While They Are Down: Attacking people who are unable to fight back.
- Kids Are Cruel: Children aren't nice and good-mannered.
- Kill All Humans: All humans must die.
- Kill the Poor: Ending poverty by killing those who are poor.
- Knight In Sour Armor: Doing the right thing while being a cynic.
- Knight Templar (when idealism goes terribly wrong)
- Know When to Fold 'Em: You just got to quit trying.
- Lack of Empathy: Having no feelings for other people.
- Life Isn't Fair: Telling everyone that life isn't as great as expected, usually in a cruel tone.
- Light Is Not Good: The traditionally "good" forces aren't that benevolent.
- A Lighter Shade of Grey: The closest thing to "good guys" in this setting.
- Loners Are Freaks: Being a loner will get you the reputation of a sociopath or just a weird loser.
- Losing the Team Spirit
- Love Hurts: Falling in love will lead you getting hurt.
- Love Is a Weakness: Falling in love makes you weak.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Falling in love will cost your sanity.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Falling in love will cost your intelligence.
- Love Makes You Evil: Falling in love will cost your own humanity.
- Love Makes You Uncreative: Falling in love will cost your artistry.
- Lower-Class Lout: Lower-class people are scum.
- Lowest Common Denominator
- Ludd Was Right: Technology is bad.
- Madden Into Misanthropy: A decent person become misanthropic and withdraws himself from society.
- Made Out to Be a Jerkass: Calling out a jerk will make you look like the bad guy.
- Mediation Backfire: Bringing peace on both sides will cause them to attack you.
- Memetic Loser: Accentuate the Negative in the fandom.
- Merchandise-Driven: Who cares about the artistic value? We made it because it would sell toys and make us rich!
- Might Makes Right: Force will get things done.
- A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read: Be careful about whose mind you poke around in — you may not like what you see.
- Misanthrope Supreme: A human who hates humanity.
- Money, Dear Boy: An actor, writer, director, etc. does sub-par work simply to make money.
- Moral Pragmatist: They don't care about doing good or evil. They just want to get the job done, and sometimes that means being evil.
- Morton's Fork: Whether you take option A, option B, C, or what have you, you're doomed.
- Music Is Politics
- The Napoleon
- Nay-Theist: Doesn't like the concept of gods, even if they might be real.
- Necessarily Evil: You have to be evil for the greater good.
- Never My Fault: A cynic will blame others for their own shortcomings.
- New Era Speech
- Nice Character, Mean Actor: Sorry, kid, but those heroes you see in TV and movies are just cynical jerks in Real Life. They literally act nice because it's their job.
- Nice Guys Finish Last: Women only love mean and aggressive men and vice versa.
- No Accounting for Taste: Marriage isn't ideal.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Doing the right thing will get you punished.
- No Honor Among Thieves: "Every man for himself."
- No Sympathy: I don't care what you're going through!
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Person claiming to do bad things for good reasons is just in it for themselves.
- Not Your Problem: What you idealists are doing shouldn't be your problem.
- Omnicidal Maniac: The universe needs to perish. Every single last living being deserves nothing less but a early grave.
- Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions (Note that this can also be an idealism trope, depending on the context)
- Pacifism Backfire: When choosing nonviolence ends up creating more problems.
- Parents as People: Some parents may mean well, but they sure don't realize that their "existing" children needs attention.
- Path of Inspiration: This religion is a lie meant to control you, and it always has been.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. Revenge is good.
- Peer Pressure Makes You Evil
- Police Are Useless: Don't count on the cops to help you or save you.
- Police Brutality: In fact, they're just as likely to beat you or worse as help you.
- Political Correctness Gone Mad: Disaster strikes only from being merely offended and nothing else!
- Post-Historical Trauma: Some events are so horrible that it is difficult for anyone who lived afterward to ever be idealistic about human nature again.
- The Power of Hate: Fast, easy, and seductive, but destructive to those who use and indulge in it.
- Principles Zealot: Fear and refusal to accept the big picture to something that they follow will lead to disaster.
- Prisoner's Dilemma: Who will betray who?
- The Promised Land (Cynical flavor): Promises never last.
- Pure Is Not Good: Trying to be Incorruptible Pure Pureness will turn you into a distant, inhuman, and utterly unsympathetic person at the mildest and a fanatical extremist at worst.
- Pyrrhic Victory: Victory at a ruinous cost.
- Quit Your Whining: Telling someone to stop wallowing in despair in a harsh manner.
- Realpolitik: A country has to be ruthless, manipulative bastards.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: You are completely worthless!
- Redemption Equals Affliction: Convert and you will suffer.
- Redemption Failure: Circumstances will turn you back to the dark side.
- Reformed, but Rejected: No one will trust or forgive you even if you've changed.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: You want to change your ways? You're too late!
- Rejected Apology: No one will accept your apology.
- Religion Is Wrong
- The Resenter
- Revenge: Paying back someone who did you wrong.
- The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized
- Sadistic Choice: Either way you choose, you're going to lose something important to you.
- Safety in Indifference: My indifference will protect me from getting hurt.
- Sarcastic Clapping: Allow me to congratulate your failure.
- Science Is Bad: Forget advancing technology, it only makes things worse.
- Science Is Wrong
- Secretly Selfish: Even if you're pursuing an altruistic goal, you may yet have a selfish ulterior motive.
- "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny: Groundbreaking and popular thing fades into irrelevance due to many imitators or improving technology.
- Senseless Sacrifice: That Heroic Sacrifice was in vain.
- Sex Is Evil: Enough said.
- Shoot the Dog: Doing morally questionable acts because it has to be done.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The hero's efforts are rendered pointless and/or they die.
- Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Who cares about that idealistic garbage? I grew up.
- Silly Rabbit, Romance Is for Kids!: I grew up from that lovey-dovey nonsense.
- The Social Darwinist: The strong survive, the weak perish, it's just the way things are.
- Sour Supporter: Works for a group of allies, but is doubtful.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Try all they want, but these two are never going to be together.
- Starter Marriage: First love rarely turns out like it's supposed to, and first marriage even more so.
- Stockholm Syndrome
- Stopped Caring: Nothing matters to me anymore, and...whatever.
- Straight Edge Evil
- Straw Hypocrite: We sure fooled those idiots into believing they are serving a good cause.
- Straw Nihilist: Everything in life is meaningless.
- Suicide as Comedy: Oh, some people kill themselves? Ha! Aren't those losers funny?
- Suicide Dare: Telling people to kill themselves.
- Taking Advantage of Generosity: People will take others' kindness for granted.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Teamwork doesn't mean everyone gets along.
- Then Let Me Be Evil: If people are gonna treat me like the bad guy, then so be it.
- There Are No Good Executives: All executives are rotten to the core.
- DarthWiki.This Exists: The cynical counterpart to the Sugar Wiki.
- Too Good for This Sinful Earth: If you live in the Crapsack World, then chances are that you would not last long.
- Too Happy to Live: Especially, if you become too happy, you are just asking to be killed.
- Took a Level in Cynic: An optimistic character learns to be less trusting, generous, and caring, usually due to a betrayal.
- Totalitarian Utilitarian: Leading an evil and destructive movement to bring happiness.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Friendship-induced naivety.
- True Art Is Angsty
- True Love Is Boring
- Upper-Class Twit
- Ungrateful Townsfolk: Are these people even worth saving?
- Victory Is Boring: I won the battle. Now what?
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: You think people play video games to be heroes? Nah.
- Viewers Are Goldfish
- Viewers Are Morons
- Violence Is the Only Option: Don't want to truce? I'll kick your ass then.
- Violence Really Is the Answer: The only way to solve this problem is by kicking someone's ass.
- Virginity Makes You Stupid
- Virtue Is Weakness: Compassion, kindness, generosity, or any other moral virtue are for sissies.
- Wangst: The minor issues of life are worth ranting about.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The extremist side. Utopia Justifies the Means, right? Can be idealism depending on how its written.
- We Used to Be Friends: Friendships don't last long.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist (as opposed to the more intelligent version)
- With Friends Like These...: You call these people friends? They're like my worst enemies!
- Working Class People Are Morons
- World Gone Mad
- World of Jerkass: The world is full of mean people.
- World of Snark: The world is full of sarcastic people.
- Wretched Hive
- Written by the Winners: Our reputation is more important than facts.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: The Butt-Monkey gets something good for once, but it's taken away from him.
- You Can't Go Home Again
- You Can't Make an Omelette...: You can't achieve your goals without destroying something or someone. Pray you aren't that something or someone.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters
