"They speak in tropes, at sea."
— Stephen Maturin, H.M.S. Surprise
Tropes related to oceans and the deep blue sea.
Because Space Is an Ocean, a lot of these tropes also show up in Space Opera, or have space-operatic equivalents.
Tropes
Media category:
Trope categories:
- Accordion to Most Sailors: Sailors tend to play accordions.
- Alien Sea: The oceans of alien settings are depicted as strange and unusual to emphasize the area's unearthly nature.
- Artistic License – Ships: Ships and their handling depicted unrealistically for plot expedience.
- The Bermuda Triangle: An area of the Atlantic Ocean notable for alleged mysterious goings-on.
- Boarding Party: When a group of sailors goes to another ship and tries to take control of it by force.
- Born Under the Sail: A culture whose lifestyle is heavily centered on sailing and the sea.
- Boundareefs: Fence-like, closely-spaced rocks that conveniently bound off the paths you need to take in a game.
- Burial at Sea: People being buried by being submerged in the ocean.
- The Cabin Boy: A very young sailor who serves as a servant of sorts on a ship.
- The Captain: The person in charge of a ship, with all the authority, badassery, and coolness that implies.
- Captain Nemo Copy: An Expy of Captain Nemo.
- Commanding Coolness: Anyone who holds the naval rank of Commander is cool.
- Creepy Old-Fashioned Diving Suit: Old deep-sea diving suits portrayed as uncanny and scary.
- Crescent Moon Island: An island shaped like a crescent moon to show that it's important.
- Cruise Episode: Episodes of a series set on a cruise.
- Dangerously Loaded Cargo: Cargo comes loose and endangers the crew.
- Davy Jones: The folkloric lord of the seafaring afterlife.
- Deserted Island: An island bereft of human settlement.
- The Drunken Sailor: A sailor who's drunk. Since back in the day alcohol was used as a disinfectant for water, and as a tool to improve morale, this was seen as the default kind of sailor.
- Eldritch Ocean Abyss: The depths of the ocean are a frightening, alien place.
- Emergency Cargo Dump: When you could get to safety if only the ship were a bit lighter and/or faster, so you start dumping things overboard.
- "Far Side" Island: A small sandy hemisphere home only to a single palm tree and to bedraggled castaways.
- Father Neptune: An old, gritty, experienced sailor.
- Flooded Future World: In the future, the world becomes covered by the rising oceans.
- Friendly Pirate: Pirates who, despite their usual occupation are quite friendly and hospitable.
- Hello, Sailor!: The stereotype of sailors who are gay, either by nature or due to being deprived of the company of women for extended periods of time.
- Horny Sailors: Those sailors who didn't find company in each other's arms after months at sea are naturally keen to find more feminine company as soon as they get ashore.
- The Internet Is an Ocean: Cyberspace is portrayed like it's an ocean.
- Island Base
- Island of Mystery
- Isle of Giant Horrors: An isolated island home to gigantic monsters.
- Lighthouse Point
- Lord of the Ocean: A Poseidon-like figure who rules over the seas.
- Lost at Sea
- Married at Sea
- Mega Maelstrom: A giant whirlpool that sucks in the sea and anything on it.
- Nautical Knockout
- Naval Blockade: A country uses its navy to try to prevent any trade from getting into or out of the ports of an enemy.
- Not-So-Safe Harbor
- Object-Shaped Landmass: A landmass which looks like an object.
- Ocean Awe
- Ocean Madness
- Ocean of Adventure: The sea portrayed as a place of mystery, wonder and adventure.
- Ocean Punk
- Parting the Sea: A body of water is split apart by some fantastic means.
- Perilous Prehistoric Seas: Prehistoric seas are dangerous, whether you're crossing them or you live in it.
- Pirate: Engagers of seaborne larceny and mayhem.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Pirates who don't actually do any piracy, in order to keep them sympathetic to the audience.
- Plucky Middie
- Port Town: a harbor district often host to an unsavory or criminal subdistrict filled with smugglers, Black Market goods, privateers and pirates, thieves and prostitutes.
- Prongs of Poseidon: Using a trident as a weapon. Usually associated with sea gods and others with sea association. (Type I)
- Robinsonade: a plot about characters being stranded in the wilderness far away from civilization, such as on a Desert Island, and forced to live off the land in order to survive. Robinsonade takes its name from the 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
- Running the Blockade: A navy is blockading a port or country, and someone tries to break through the blockade by stealth or evasion.
- Ruthless Modern Pirates
- Seadog Beard: Sailors usually have beards.
- Seadog Peg Leg: Sailors usually have wooden peg legs.
- Sea Mine: A spherical, studded bomb attached to a chain, which floats in the water and goes boom when approached.
- Sea Monster: Giant hungry things that live in the sea.
- Semiaquatic Species Sailor: Anthropomorphic semiaquatic animals tend to be sailors, pirates, or captains.
- Silent Running Mode: A vessel going silent to avoid detection. Often used by submarines.
- Super-Sargasso Sea: A dimension where lost things are drawn.
- Superstitious Sailors
- Symbolic Serene Submersion
- Tropical Island Adventure
- Turtle Island: Islands which are actually large, living creatures.
- Viking Funeral: A dead body is placed on a boat which is pushed out to sea and set on fire.
- Waltz on Water
