JAFAAC: One Hit Point Wonder

It really doesn't matter if it has a life meter if the life meter is only 1 HP long. The life meter is for consistency's sake. A full 1 HP life meter is still this trope.

I like the picture.

edited 10th Jan '12 1:56:12 PM by Frank15

A Life Meter is just a visual. The fact that he dies in one hit is what matters.

Yes. The pokemon game as a whole is not an example, since it has life meters, but this particular pokemon is an example, since his life meter never goes above one hit point. Having a limit of one hit point means, by definition, that it's a one hit point wonder.

The crowner's gone long enough; the pic is pulled. I love the Pokemon game pic.

edited 10th Jan '12 3:25:14 PM by Willbyr

'+1 for the Shedinja pic.

edited 10th Jan '12 3:36:34 PM by Bookyangel2438

Alt account of Angeldog 2437.

Shedinja is actually a pretty brilliant idea. I like it.

For the record, it is definitely an example.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

This trope is about video game characters who die easily. A collage of pixelated people dying in droves conveys that idea reasonably well.

As one of the mods was fond of saying, the picture is supposed to illustrate the trope, not explain it. I think people are losing sight of that, and expecting a level of specificity that can generally only be achieved by text.

Which brings us to where we are now, with people looking at a picture of a fat pink ballerina facing off with a sea anemone, and proclaiming it great. I'm assuming the text embedded in the image conveys the trope to people who've played Pokemon, but it's gibberish to the uninitiated. And more importantly, the actual pictorial elements there don't even hint at the trope. It's orders of magnitude worse than the current image.

But the HP bar says 1/1 HP.

I personally think it's pretty good.

Alt account of Angeldog 2437.

Showing a Shedinja getting knocked out would be better. It would show 0/1 HP on the screen, thus showing that the pokemon was knocked out and fulfilled the requirement of the trope without question.

I agree, but at least this way would quiet the protesters... Aww who am I kidding. Nothing will ever quiet everyone.

edited 10th Jan '12 3:57:06 PM by DRCEQ

What part of something with 1 HP, which is right there on the screen for everyone to see, doesn't illustrate the trope?

I suppose we could try to find something, but I think the single panel works well enough.

edited 10th Jan '12 3:54:00 PM by Willbyr

I couldn't find any pics of it KO'd on a short GIS (although I'm sure it could be in a vid somewhere), but I found some◊ (would we have to ask for permission?) more◊ related to Shedinja.

These are just alternatives though, I still like the original Shedinja one.

edited 10th Jan '12 4:04:31 PM by Bookyangel2438

Alt account of Angeldog 2437.

I'm assuming the "1/1" is supposed to be the hit point count, but only because I've been told that this Shedinja is an example. Nothing in the image suggests that.

Plus, even if you're familiar with where Pokemon displays HP counts, it's still relying on text to convey the trope. IMO, an image with some text superimposed on it saying "This is an example" is at most a marginal improvement over an image with a caption beneath it saying the same.

Have you seen the Simpsons episode where Ned objects to the name "Hell's Satans" for their biker gang, and somebody suggests "The Christpunchers" as an alternative?

^ The Life Meter is actually labelled "HP".

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

Okay, I've just spent more time than I'd care to admit to my boss staring at that image, and I can't see "HP" anywhere. Is this like those "Magic Eye" things where if you stare long enough a 3-D image is supposed to appear? I can't do those either.

(Where should I be looking? Is the life bar that green slider set all the way to the left above the "1 /1", or the little yellow line below it?)

Nevermind.

edited 11th Jan '12 2:13:27 PM by Willbyr

Look at the green lifebar. Notice how it kind of looks like a lightsaber? The "Handle" on the left side says "H P" in salmon colored letters.

Perhaps we could get a 4th or 5th gen screenshot....

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

Hey, I found it! All it took was blowing the picture up to five times its size, and flipping a switch in my brain to realize that the figure was the ground and vice versa.

Still a terrible image, mind.

I like the other picture better personally, but the HP is more distinguishable in this one. It's the only other one I could find.

"I know where I am, I just don't know where I am in where I am." - Me

I like that one too.

GBA pic or DS pic?

Alt account of Angeldog 2437.

I believe it's a DS pic. Had to resort to GIS and did a little digging.

"I know where I am, I just don't know where I am in where I am." - Me

I know, but I wanted to know which one others liked.

Alt account of Angeldog 2437.

They're both good...this one makes the HP part more distinct, but the other's a cleaner pic.

How important are the letters "HP"? Is it just me, or is it "not at all"?

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

The Shedinja ones are good. I prefer the second for the clearer HP sign ( I would say "somewhat". 1/1 obviously could mean hitpoints, especially given the context of the article, but it could also mean something completely different, especially as only one of the characters has it). There's an argument, though, for illustrating it without a lifebar if possible, because along with the name it could give the impression the trope is more specific than it's supposed to be.

I thought something like this might work, with a caption along the lines of "This may be Truth in Television". Illustrating with a video game example has the problem that it requires knowledge of the game mechanics, but a RL picture avoids that.

edited 11th Jan '12 9:18:10 PM by Blackfire