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Quotes / Genre Savvy

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    Anime & Manga 
Tamaki: This anime is obviously a romantic school comedy. Haruhi and I are the main characters, so that means we are love interests.
Twins: Yeah, then what are we?
Tamaki: You boys are the homosexual supporting cast.

    Comic Books 
"'Do it?' Dan, I'm not a Republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my masterstroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago."
Adrian "Ozymandias" Veidt, Watchmen

    Comic Strips 
Hsu: Well I guess there's nothing to do but try to find a phone. Say, why don't we try that big, old house on the hill?
Chan: Because we are neither incredibly stupid, nor traveling with Scooby Doo. Come on. I saw a normal house a little way back down the road.
Hsu and Chan, Symphony of the Nut

Kevin: (in Miles' body) Carla, this is gonna sound crazy, but you have to believe me!
Carla: I do.
Kevin: Oh... you do? But I haven't even said anything yet.
Carla: Yeah, but it always annoys me in movies whenever someone says, "This is gonna sound crazy," and no one believes them until it's too late.
Kevin: That is annoying.
Carla: Thought I'd save us some time.

    Film — Live-Action 
Ira Kane: Snag one!
Harry Block: Snag one?!
Ira Kane: Yeah. Snag it and put it in the box.
Harry Block: I've seen this movie before, the Black Dude Dies First. You snag it!

Guy: [when the rest of the crew try to approach some harmless-looking aliens] They may look cute now, but in a minute, they're going to get mean, and ugly somehow, and there's going to be a million more of them.
Gwen: They don't look dangerous.
Guy: Did you guys even watch the show?

Betty: It's that old familiar story. You help a timid little soul across a crowded street; she turns out to be a multimillionaire and leaves you all her money.
Joe: That's the trouble with you readers. You know all the plots.

Chuck: You're scared? Of a perfectly ordinary door?
Ferdie: Yea, well I know what happens in those mystery pictures: a guy walks over to a "perfectly ordinary door", opens it up, and zowie! Out falls a body, right on its kisser!
Abbott and Costello in Hold That Ghost

"So I called that guy I know at NBC. And then I got to thinking — You know what I hate? I hate those lame action movies where the good guy calls just one person who ends up betraying him. So I called ABC, CBS, The Post, The Times, the local news channel, and the FBI."
Mr. Smith, Shoot 'Em Upnote 

Ebony Maw: Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine!
Iron Man: Yeah, but the kid has seen more movies.

Valentine: You know what this is like? It's like those old movies we both love. Now, I'm going to tell you my whole plan, and then I'm going to come up with some absurd and convoluted way to kill you, and you'll find an equally convoluted way to escape.
Harry Hart: Sounds good to me.
Valentine: Well, this ain't that kind of movie.

"You're going to have sex?... Don't!... Every time someone has sex in a horror story they get murdered!"
Barney, Evil Laugh

"It's a trick. Get an axe."

    Literature 
"The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock on the witch's door when she is already away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story."

Rachel: Marco, I think it's time to get over this fantasy of yours. We aren't superheroes. This isn't a comic book.
Marco: Yes, but I really, really want it to be a comic book. See, in a comic book, the heroes don't get killed. I mean, okay, they get killed, but usually not the big ones. Or it's only temporary.
Animorphs #2, The Visitornote 

    Live-Action TV 
"You ever seen horror films?" [Arturo nods] Well, you've always seen that guy that appears, that you can tell right away that he smells like a dead man walking? It always happens, it never fails. Arturito... you smell like a dead man walking."
Berlin, Money Heist

    Magazines 
"Hah! I found it! In my 'Vault of Horror' comic book #9! Right after the story of the thing in the swamp that eats up the grandma alive... it tells how to kill a vampire!"
MAD, "V-Vampires!"

    Video Games 
"Did you honestly think you could take so many lives and never suffer retribution? Have you never even seen a kung-fu movie, spy flick or western? Shakespeare, for God's sake!"

Breach the hold
It is the obvious next step. You've read enough penny dreadfuls in your time to locate the source of the trouble.
Investigating the Wreck of the Boatman, Sunless Skies*

After Y2K the end of the world had become a cliché. But who was I to talk, a brooding underdog avenger alone against an empire of evil, out to right a grave injustice. Everything was subjective. There were only personal apocalypses. Nothing is a cliché when it's happening to you.

You step back from the sarcophagus and ready your weapon. "All right, let's get on with it," you say. "I know for a fact that you're going to come to life and attack me as soon as I try to take the MacGuffin, so let's just cut to the chase."

"Tch, you're no fun at all," says the mummy, as it sits up and peers at you with a frown. "In my day, adventurers knew how to stick to the script."

    Webcomics 
Geek Scientist: Look, we have medics and guards standing by just in case. And this is one of our strongest containment rooms. Everything is under control.
Joel: You do realize that the scientist say that in every horror movie, just before things go horribly wrong.
Geek Scientist: This isn't a cheesy B-Movie, Joel. Relax! What could go wrong?
Joel: Are you trying to get us all killed?

Duane: You do not want to engage me. Have you never been to an opera house?
Bett: What?
Duane: Think of it. A mysterious stranger in unassuming garb, of noble mien, his manner strange, his abilities unknown, selflessly answering the call of innocents. Not one to take lightly, says the theatre. What is your role? The brutish dullard who would raise a weapon to a child? You won't see the second act.
Bett: You're not accounting for me!
Duane: Convince me that I should no-
Sette: [interrupting] Zombies don't banter!

Z: It’s a talking cat.
Theo: We're in a Heterodyne story now. These things happen.

Tarquin: You're a bard, right? How many stories have you heard in which a single hero vanquishes a wicked empire?
Elan: I dunno... dozens, I guess.
Tarquin: What is the one thing they all have in common? The one fact they all share?
Elan: The hero always wins!
Tarquin: Arguable. No, the one thing they all have in common is this: the wicked empire exists. It has existed for some time, and it will continue to exist if no heroes intervene. Don't you see, Elan? The rules of drama to which you subscribe as a bard tell us that such tyrannies can exist—indeed, MUST exist—and persist long enough that no one realistically thinks that they can be defeated. Else, where's the drama in a hero opposing them? And if such kingdoms are necessary, why shouldn't I rule one?

Roy: Elan! What do you think? Do we stand and fight or not?
Elan: How should I know, Roy? You're the leader!
Roy: And you're the bard. Is this it? Is this the climactic scene that everything's been building toward, or not? Are we at the final battle, right here in this canyon?

Nanase: I don't understand how anyone could see what she saw and just be like "Oh you'll tell me if I need to know something".
Grace: She could be Genre Savvy.
Nanase: Genre Savvy?
Grace: Yeah, like coping with the weirdness by thinking of stories in which similar things happen?

EB: like monsters or something.
TG: howie???
EB: haha I WISH.
TG: dude monsters arent real
TG: thats stupid kids stuff for stupid babies
EB: maybe. yeah you're right.
TG: what are you an idiot
TG: of course there are monsters in your house
TG: youre in some weird evil monster dimension come on
TG: skepticism is the crutch of cinematic troglodytes
TG: like hey mom dad theres a dinosaur or a ghost or whatever in my room. "yeah right junior go back to bed"
TG: fuck you mom and dad how many times are we going to watch this trope unfold it wasnt goddamn funny the first time i saw it
TG: just once id like to see dad crap his pants when a kid says theres a vampire in his closet
TG: "OH SHIT EVERYONE IN THE MINIVAN"
TG: be fuckin dad of the year right there

The President of the United States: Lieutenant Colonel Leanders tells me you were instrumental to the team's victory during the battle last night.
Sydney: Oh, uh... well shucks. Comics are kind of my thing, your Commander in Chiefness. Turns out actual superheroes work pretty much like they do in comics. Which is a little weird now that I say it out loud.

    Web Original 
"Being an Evil Overlord seems to be a good career choice. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks and you can set your own hours. However every Evil Overlord I've read about in books or seen in movies invariably gets overthrown and destroyed in the end. I've noticed that no matter whether they are barbarian lords, deranged wizards, mad scientists or alien invaders, they always seem to make the same basic mistakes every single time. With that in mind, allow me to present..."

"Check my flank. That's how they got that guy in Jurassic Park."
Gordon Freeman, Freeman's Mind

Chrono: I just realized... I'm not the hero. I'm the comedy straight man.
Amy: Oh, everyone knows that, sweetie! I thought you were doing it on purpose, you're so good at it!
Chrono: If it is my destiny to be Nanoha's straight man, so be it! I shall endeavor to be the best I can be, a genuinely useful support character...

    Western Animation 
Baroness von Bon Bon: My nane is Baroness von Bon Bon, and today is your lucky day! You get to eat all the sweet treats you desire!
Cuphead: (beat) ''Aaaaaand'' goodbye. (walks off)
Baroness von Bon Bon: Wait, where're you goin'? I offered you all the sweet treats you desire! Ain't you gonna eat my sweets?
Cuphead: I don't think so, lady. I've read the fairy tales. I eat your candy; I end up in an oven. You just wanna eat me!

"Dudes, stay calm. I've been training for this moment my whole life. With all the horror movies I've seen, I know literally everything there is to know about how to avoid zombies." [Gets bitten by a zombie]

"See that? Reading comic books can save lives."
Cat Noir, Miraculous Ladybug, "Dark Owl"


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