What to do with: Badass Labcoat

As part of a special efforts thread going on here the distinction between these three came up as problematic.

The problems as I recall them are thus:

1. It is frequently misused in a manner like 'This character is a badass, and they have one of these.'
2. Badass Longrobe is arguably just a fantasy version of a Badass Longcoat

So, the robe trope is problematic when you consider that a trope is supposed to be more than a chance encounter of factors but rather those parts coming together to make something more meaningful.

edited 31st Jan '12 4:37:45 PM by Arha

Supporting this motion, it's about time we fixed this.

Like I said in the thread this spun off from:

I don't think that a merge is in order:

• Badass Longcoat is "This garment, in one of a set of limited variations, is used as costume shorthand, indicating that the character wearing it is, thinks they are, or is trying to be a Badass." It's a trope.

• Badass Longrobe is "This badass character wears a long robe." It lacks the shorthand aspect — the audience does not expect a character to be Badass because they wear a long robe. The two simply sometimes go together.

• Same for Badass Labcoat: "This character who wears a labcoat is also a badass." Again, no expectation of badassitude is imparted by a labcoat.

Taking two non-tropes and shoving them into a solidly-defined trope isn't going to fix them, and it will do nothing but damage the good one, undoing the "This trope is about the garment, not the person; the example should focus on the coat, not why the person is a badass" clean-up and curation I've been keeping up with on Badass Longcoat for over a year now.

My counter suggestion:

• Cut Badass Labcoat; if anything it's a subversion of Nerdy Scientist or whatever that trope is.
• Run Badass Longrobe through YKTTW to find out if "Long robe = shorthand for a badass character in fantasy" is a valid trope. I can find no indication it ever went through YKTTW in the first place.
• Don't toss them into Badass Longcoat and think anything has been fixed.

edited 31st Jan '12 3:42:09 PM by Madrugada

I made a YKTTW thread for the labcoat means science or medicine trope.

Oh, I wasn't suggesting to lump the labcoats in, I was... actually, what I was suggesting should not be part of this thread come to think of it. I was thinking it wasn't a trope that really fit in with those two and addressed something different. Woops.

But uh... I argue that the robes in a fantasy setting are an indication that someone is a wizard or something similar and therefore more worthy of notice. I suppose that is also a different trope, though.

Wizards Wear Long Robes? I can support that.

That could work.

Agreed. I think Wizards Wear Long Robes and Labcoat of Science are better tropes than these badass snowclones.

Okay, that sounds good. Problem is, I don't think these two tropes are actually written to be about that, nor are their examples likely to be very pointed towards that aspect.

That's why I'm taking the labcoat one to the YKTTW. I think what they need is a revision, a run through the YKTTW and then a cut of the originals unless they have enough inbounds to want to keep them.

Well, I could take Wizards Wear Long Robes to ykttw then. I was simply curious as to what we would do with the tropes we have here then.

Okay, well, I don't really think the long robes are a sign of badassery then. So I changed my vote from merge to cut.

edited 31st Jan '12 5:38:44 PM by Arha

I agree - cut these and YKTTW the actual robe/labcoat tropes.

Supporting the new direction.

By the way, longrobe only has 47 inbounds and labcoat 160. I think with that number it would be okay to cut both.

Also, both proposed tropes are now in ykttw.

I could use some help explaining to the YKTTW people that common tropes are good things. >_<

Robe and Wizard Hat exists. So, uh, I guess that one is taken care of then?

That's about the combination of robe and hat. The robes are often just used by themselves in media. Think of it as a supertrope to that one.

Perhaps it would be better to reorganize them then with a supertrope like Standard Wizarding Regalia. I'm sure we have a trope for a Wizards Staff somewhere, which would be part of it.

Support overall. How much of Badass Longcoat is involved in the billowing?

The Dramatic Wind is a big part, I think.

Hm, perhaps we need a super or at least related trope about how any sort of long clothing can be used as such with some Dramatic Wind.

The billowing is very important to a Badass Longcoat, or at least the implied billowing, with or without dramatic wind. The billowing can be from walking or other movement as well.

I think Dramatic Wind is a supertrope to Badass Longcoat already (or it should be.)

edited 31st Jan '12 10:29:16 PM by Madrugada

Necro time!

Since Labcoat of Science and Medicine has been launched, it looks like a good time to act on Badass Labcoat. Cut, merge or redirect?

Merge won't work. Badass Labcoat is "Character who is a badass and also wears a labcoat". Labcoat of Science and Medicine is "Putting a character in a labcoat is a signal to the audience that the character is a scientist or doctor. " No meaningful overlap there.

"Redirect" won't work for the same reason.

I'd say "cut." It's not a shorthand, it's not a signal, it's not a characterization flag. It's just a coincidence — a character who is a scientist or a doctor also happens to be a badass.

I agree. Hopefully, the cut will be accepted (170 inbounds might make it tricky though).

I mined Badass Labcoat for examples when Labcoat of Science and Medicine was in YKTTW. Maybe we should check for some more, and then cut.