Morality Tropes | Sex, Sexuality, and Rape Tropes | Narrative, Characterization, and Plot Tropes | You are here | Too Common | Too Controversial | Gossip and Stereotypes
"Naturally averted."
— From the (now cut) Real Life section of Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud
These tropes require actions or conditions that are, given the best available evidence, simply not possible in Real Life, or rely on a situation that doesn't exist outside of fiction. After all, there's no point in listing real-life examples if there are no real-life examples! These tropes are prone to Square Peg, Round Trope and/or Speculative Troping, since tropers will readily attempt to shoehorn anything in Real Life that they think sounds like the trope. Compare Narrative, Characterization, and Plot Tropes, which is for things that are impossible because they involve story elements or Out-of-Universe context. Contrast Too Common, which is the exact opposite.
- 0% Approval Rating - Politicians (even dictators who rule with iron fists) with low approval ratings would have already been removed from office before they hit the zero mark. And even then, no matter how bad or outright evil they may be, someone will still support them despite this.
- 100% Heroism Rating - Another trope about everyone liking someone.
- The Ace - Well, the Ace of All Trades, one might say, hence the phrase, "Nobody's perfect."
- Advert-Overloaded Future - It is impossible to predict the future.
- Age Without Youth - This trope is about immortals.
- All Dogs Are Pure Bred - Dogs of mixed-breed exist, and they're colloquially called "mutts".
- All Planets Are Earthlike - We know there are many non-earthlike planets. Also a narrative trope.
- All Therapists Are Muggles - There is no supernatural Masquerade that causes real therapists to dismiss their patients.
- Ambiguously Human - Non-human anthropomorphic creatures don’t exist
- Anachronism Stew
- Animals Fear Neutering - The trope only works with Sapient Pets. Real animals don't know what neutering is. Also, vets use anesthesia when neutering pets, so they aren't even aware of when it's happening.
- Animal Talk - Too few real life examples, and misuse.
- Animate Inanimate Object
- Anthropomorphic Food
- Arbitrary Weapon Range
- Back from the Dead - Obviously, the dead cannot come back to life. Closest real life equivalents are Not Quite Dead and Only Mostly Dead.
- Bad Present
- Bag of Holding
- Beast Man
- The Bermuda Triangle - Has already been discredited by scientific proof.
- Beyond the Impossible - Not only is it impossible by its very nature, it attracted gushing.
- Bishōnen Line - It involves a very drastic transformation that nothing in real life currently supports.
- Blasting Time - We can't shoot energy beams out of our hands yet.
- Bolt of Divine Retribution - We've never seen sin be an actual reason for someone being struck by lightning or a divine force.
- But Thou Must! - Real life is not a videogame where you are forced to make a choice. This trope is about someone breaking the fourth wall to do so.
- Butt-Monkey: Everyone has bad luck now and then. To say that some people have it worse (or better) than others would not be a lie, but that still doesn't make it possible for these tropes to exist.
- Carnivore Confusion - This trope involves FunnyAnimals eating an inappropriate diet.
- Cartoonish Companions - Also invited derogatory remarks about disorders that affect body proportions.
- Chainmail Bikini - Would not work as a suit of armor. Cosplaying doesn't count.
- Charles Atlas Superpower
- Cheeky Mouth - Mouths don't just slide onto someone's cheek. Moving your lips with your muscles doesn't count.
- The Chew Toy: Again, everybody has bad luck now and then. To say that some people have it worse (or better) than others would not be a lie, but that still doesn't make it possible for these tropes to exist.
- Chromosome Casting - Both genders are here to stay.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu - It wouldn't make sense for each individual in a group to lose physical strength just for being in a group.
- The Constant
- Contractual Immortality - As far as we know even via sheer statistics, immortality either is not real or this trope does not apply to Long-Lived organisms that seem immortal.
- Dark World - There is no direct evidence for the existence of an Alternate Universe, but we know that it would not work this way.
- Dawson Casting - It's a trope about casting. As far as we know, there aren't any out-of-universe adults acting as our youth.
- Deader than Dead - Once you're dead, you're dead.
- Death Amnesia - When you're dead, we don't know where you'll go, so we can't
- Death Is Cheap - Again, when you die, you're dead.
- Delivery Stork - This does not happen in real life. Seriously.
- Demonic Spiders
- Deranged Animation - As if people would have a malleable anatomy like with this trope.
- Disc-One Final Boss - Also a narrative trope.
- Do Not Touch the Funnel Cloud - The way tornadoes work with this trope contradicts how forces work in real life. It's mentioned up there for a reason.
- Dream Weaver
- Earth Drift - Earth will always be Earth, regardless of how it changes.
- Eldritch Abomination - Most of the given examples were highly exaggerated descriptions of normal stuff.
- Elemental Powers
- Elves Versus Dwarves - Even if dwarves could exist, the elves are still a thing of fantasy.
- Enlightenment Superpowers
- Everybody Has Lots of Sex - Also a sex trope.
- Everybody Owns a Ford - This is specifically limited to cases where this applies to everyone and is unrealistic.
- Everybody Smokes - Smoking is not for everyone.
- Everyone Owns a Mac - The trope is specifically about unrealistic amounts of Mac owners in fiction. Even if every single computer user hypothetically did use a Mac in real life, it still wouldn't be this trope.
- Everything Is An I Pod In The Future - Apple isn't that big today, and this is just speculation about what future technology will be like.
- Evolutionary Levels - Evolution doesn't go step-by-step, it happens gradually.
- Failed Future Forecast - The trope is specifically about fictional predictions.
- Fantastic Ableism - It's fantastic as in fantasy or fictional, not implying ableism is in any way good.
- Fantastic Racism - "Fantastic" as in "fantasy" or "fictional", not as in
"awesome" (i.e., not the way the Doctor uses "fantastic"); racism never is. - Any and all Fantastic Sapient Species Tropes - By their very nature, such creatures do not exist in real life.
- Fast-Killing Radiation - In reality, radiation is unlikely to kill people on short time scales as portrayed in media, and doing so would require circumstances that's far beyond the scope of what's likely on Earth.
- Faster-Than-Light Travel - Any proposed methods of FTL are, at best, highly theoretical and most likely still impossible.
- Fighting Spirit - Spirts do not exist
- Fighter, Mage, Thief - The mage is needed.
- For Want of a Nail - The wiki does not speculate about Alternate History.
- Foul Flower - Also a morality trope.
- Fountain of Youth - There is no way to reverse aging.
- Furry Confusion - Real Life does not have Funny Animals. While great apes might seem to be the closest thing to a real-life instance of this trope, they are still not human.
- Gaia's Vengeance - There are reasons to doubt that global warming is the revenge of a divine being.
- Genre Savvy - Real life doesn't have a genre.
- Gilligan Cut - Real life cannot skip time. There is a reason "real life" means it involves unwelcome as well as welcome experiences.
- Goddamned Bats
- Hartman Hips - Well, at least naturally...
- Hated by All - Much like 0% Approval Rating above, someone, somewhere, will probably be at least sympathetic to another's plight, no matter how much a Jerkass that person has been, even if they aren't visible on the surface. Even Evil Has Loved Ones, after all.
- Healing Hands - It involves magical healing.
- Healing Herb - This is a magic trope and not how actual medicinal plants work. Even if it was, TV Tropes does not give medical advice.
- Hollywood Acid - The way the trope is played often ignores the deadlier fumes. What acid can eat through depends on how acidic it is, and this trope is about artistic license.
- Hollywood CB
- Hollywood Chameleons - This is about typical depictions of chameleons in fiction, not in real life.
- Hollywood Darkness
- Hollywood Hacking
- Hollywood Healing
- Hollywood Old - This is about actors playing characters who are older than the actors are. Real-life people are not played by actors.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters - Needs another sapient species to compare humanity to. Also a morality trope.
- Humans Are Psychic in the Future
- Immortality Begins at Twenty - As far as we know, immortality either is not real or this trope does not apply to Long-Lived organisms that seem immortal.
- Impossible Hourglass Figure - If you somehow have a body resembling this, you probably either have a very serious disease or had extensive cosmetic surgery to obtain said body.
- Impossibly Cool Weapon
- Impossibly Graceful Giant
- Improbable Infant Survival
- Inconsistent Coloring
- In Spite of a Nail - See For Want of a Nail above.
- Interactive Narrator - Also a storytelling trope.
- In the Future, Humans Will Be One Race
- Invisible Anatomy
- Invisible to Normals
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - This trope is about Alternate History, which is not speculated on this site.
- Julius Beethoven da Vinci
- Libertarians IN SPACE!
- Limit Break
- Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards
- Look Ma, No Plane!
- Louis Cypher
- Loved by All: Much like 100% Adoration Rating above, it's impossible to please everyone in real life, because there are at least a few people who may have different opinions.
- Mage Species
- Magi Babble
- Magical Gesture
- Magical Native American - Also a stereotype.
- Magical Negro - Also a stereotype.
- The Magic Goes Away
- Any and all tropes involving Magic and Powers, since such abilities are, by definition, fantastical.
- Magic Realism
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
- Meat Grinder Surgery
- Mermaid Problem - Also a sex trope.
- Missing Episode
- Mister Seahorse - Transgender men don’t count.
- Mix-and-Match Critters
- Monochrome Casting - This trope is about works where the whole cast is of the same race. Real-life people are not part of a "cast", and people of different races exist in real life.
- Muggles Do It Better
- Must Be Invited
- Mystical White Hair - Also a characterization trope.
- Narnia Time - As far as we know, other fantastical dimensions are not real.
- Nobody Can Die - An inability to die has not been proven, and real-life situations of improbable survival don't count since this is a narrative trope anyway.
- No Equal-Opportunity Time Travel - While time travel is not definitively ruled out in real life, any Real Life examples are already covered by certain subtropes.
- Noodle People - People with Marfan Syndrome don’t count as a real life example.
- No Ontological Inertia
- One-Neighbor Neighborhood
- One-Winged Angel - Hulking Out is possible; outright transforming is not.
- Our Dragons Are Different - Dragons aren't real.
- Our Monsters Are Weird - Monsters aren't real.
- Our Vampires Are Different - Vampires aren't real.
- Person of Mass Destruction
- Plant Person
- Polar Bears and Penguins - The extinct great auk doesn't count as a real life example, as it was not an actual penguin.
- Post-Modern Magik
- Power-Up Food
- Pstandard Psychic Pstance
- Psychic Link
- Puni Plush - Real people are not artworks.
- Put on a Prison Bus - As explained on the trope page, real people don't just "disappear" after being arrested. Also, this is typically an ending trope, and there's no "ending" to real life exactly. Probably.
- Raptor Attack - This is about typical depictions of raptors in fiction, not in real life.
- Reality Warper
- Required Secondary Powers
- Ridiculous Future Inflation
- Ridiculously Potent Explosive - As the page states, the trope is about portrayals of explosives breaking the rules of real-world physics. If a real-world explosive actually broke the laws of real-world physics, we'd be looking at a Reality-Breaking Paradox.
- Scrappy Mechanic
- Sea Serpents - Actual sea snakes don't fit the description.
- Sentient Vehicle
- Sexually Transmitted Superpowers - Also a sex trope.
- Solid Clouds - Clouds are not solid in real life.
- Speak of the Devil
- Spinosaurus Versus T. rex - The two dinosaurs did not coexist, therefore the outcome of a fight between them is purely speculative.
- Steel Eardrums
- Stupid Jetpack Hitler
- Sudden Anatomy
- Sugar Bowl - The trope is about a specific type of fantasy setting.
- Super-Deformed
- Superpower Lottery
- Super Weight - Only levels up to 1 (Iron Weight) are possible in real life.
- Tactical Superweapon Unit - While such a thing was attempted, it was felt that the trope attracted shoehorning of real-life examples with all sorts of wonderful toys that either never actually left the drawing board, or quickly became obsolete.
- Talking Poo
- Tanks for Nothing
- Teenage Wasteland
- They Killed Kenny Again - You die only once. The only exception is if a person legally "dies" briefly and is revived, but that is not something that can occur more than once. Hopefully.
- Time Travel - While time travel is not definitively ruled out in real life, any Real Life examples are already covered by certain subtropes.
- Timey-Wimey Ball - While time travel is not definitively ruled out in real life, any Real Life examples are already covered by certain subtropes.
- Token Human - Non-human anthropomorphic creatures don’t exist.
- Token Non-Human - Non-human anthropomorphic creatures don’t exist.
- Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth - This trope is about a monster, like an Eldritch Abomination, not wanting to eat humans. For a similar trope about general non-human animals not wanting to eat humans, see Humans Are Smelly.
- Tooth Fairy - Tooth fairies aren't real.
- Top-Heavy Guy - It relies on a physically impossible caricatured body shape.
- Trampoline Tummy
- Universally Beloved Leader - One reason they say you cannot please everyone is because many people want something different.
- Unrealistic Black Hole - By definition, the only black holes in real life are the realistic ones.
- Vegetarian Vampire - Again, vampires do not exist. Sorry, Vampire Vannabes.
- Virgin Power
- Weirdness Magnet
- Weird World, Weird Food - A worldbuilding trope about fantastical settings.
- Who Wants to Live Forever? - See Immortality Begins at Twenty above.
- Wizarding School - The trope is about a specific type of fantasy setting.
- World of Badass - Not everyone has fighting capabilities.
- You Can't Fight Fate
- Your Size May Vary
