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Do you have trouble remembering the difference between Deathbringer the Adorable and Fluffy the Terrible?

Do you have trouble recognizing when you've written a Zero-Context Example?

Not sure if you really have a Badass Bookworm or just a guy who likes to read?

Well, this is the thread for you. We're here to help you will all the finer points of example writing. If you have any questions, we can answer them. Don't be afraid. We don't bite. We all just want to make the wiki a better place for everyone.


Useful Tips:

  • Make sure that the example makes sense to both people who don't know the work AND don't know the trope.
    • Wrong: The Mentor: Kevin is this to Bob in the first episode.
    • Right: The Mentor: Kevin takes Bob under his wing in the first episode and teaches him the ropes of being a were-chinchilla.
  • Never just put the trope title and leave it at that.
    • Wrong: Badass Adorable
    • Right: Badass Adorable: Xavier, the group's cute little mascot, defeats three raging elephants with both hands tied behind his back using only an uncooked spaghetti noodle.
  • When is normally far less important than How.
    • Wrong: Big Bad: Of the first season.
    • Right: Big Bad: The heroes have to defeat the Mushroom Man lest the entirety of Candy Land's caramel supply be turned into fungus.
  • A character name is not an explanation.


Other Resources:


For best results, please include why you think an example is iffy in your first post.

Also, many oft-misused tropes/topics have their own threads, such as Surprisingly Realistic Outcome (here) and Fan-Preferred Couple (here). Tropers are better able to give feedback on examples you bring up to specific threads. We don't discuss Complete Monster or Magnificent Bastard examples; please don't bring them up.

Edited by SeptimusHeap on Jul 17th 2025 at 8:59:01 PM

AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#25051: Jan 6th 2023 at 5:01:59 PM

[up][up] That doesnt mean the trope is not being applied, otherwise we would go "There arent explosions everyday so a mother pulling their child away from an explosion that just happened once is not this trope."

LOL

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#25052: Jan 6th 2023 at 5:03:25 PM

I never said it wasn't, I was just explaining that Sandy being an outcast isn't, like, an actual part of her character. It's just the plot of that episode.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#25053: Jan 6th 2023 at 5:06:10 PM

Ok I knew that but had to make that joke since I couldnt resist it.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
ElRise I fix my examples all the time from The Dying City (Life not ruined yet) Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
I fix my examples all the time
#25054: Jan 6th 2023 at 8:46:43 PM

Found this in Main.Brooding Boy Gentle Girl. Does the example qualify?

  • Gender-flipped non-romantic example from The Bridge with Monster X and Aria Blaze. While they both brood at times and X has a gruffness to him, it's Aria Blaze who does the most brooding. The dynamic changes even more when it turns romantic as they help the other through their trauma and become more balanced.

Graffiti Wall
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#25055: Jan 6th 2023 at 9:49:18 PM

Is Ron the Death Eater specifically about fanfics? I've thought it's the audience perception of a character being villainous when it is not in story, but those examples got cut.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Treguard Since: Jan, 2001
#25056: Jan 6th 2023 at 10:23:40 PM

There's got to be a trope for repetitive song leitmotifs that is *not* a Standard Snippet.

Specifically: the use of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World" to accompany - or as a follow up to - a suicide (granted, they generally use the Donnie Darko variation). Heck, it showed up in Three Pines... with a French cover (as Three Pines is in Quebec).

So where does this one go?

Edited by Treguard on Jan 6th 2023 at 10:23:58 AM

RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#25057: Jan 6th 2023 at 11:17:07 PM

[up](x3) It reads as partial-context at best to me since it doesn't describe the "Gentle" part.

[up][up]The main page describes Ron the Death Eater as the fandom's tendency to make a character more jerkish or villainous than in canon, so it sounds like the latter.

[up]I'd see Trope Finder for that. For the record, the closest that comes to mind (for me at least) is Limited Lyrics Song.

Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#25059: Jan 6th 2023 at 11:26:52 PM

Yes, it's about fandom trends, and the deletion of that was wrong. I chalk it up to the TRS never doing any cleanup work after settling on a definition, tricking people into perpetuating a false definition.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#25060: Jan 6th 2023 at 11:28:58 PM

[up][up]I guess that was unfairly removed then. You might want to see the cleanup thread for it, though.

EDIT:[nja]

Edited by RandomTroper123 on Jan 6th 2023 at 11:29:18 AM

Plasticman1234 Since: Oct, 2022 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#25061: Jan 7th 2023 at 1:04:51 PM

could Mowgli in the Jungle Book 2 be considered an example of Fanservice? since his character is no longer living in a Jungle where he has no access to Clothing but is instead in a Village where people do wear more Clothing but Mowgli remains in his signature Loincloth and its never brought up in the film itself.

MrMediaGuy2 Since: Jun, 2015
#25062: Jan 7th 2023 at 1:06:39 PM

[up] You know Mowgli is an underage boy, right? It feels wrong to refer to an underage boy's outfit as fanservice.

SoyValdo7 I mainly fix indentation issues from La tierra de lagos y volcanes Since: Sep, 2022 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
I mainly fix indentation issues
#25063: Jan 7th 2023 at 1:10:24 PM

[up][up] Pretty sure that the movie doesn't sexualize Mowgli in any way, shape or form. That a key point of Fanservice. So, no, It's not an example.

Edited by SoyValdo7 on Jan 7th 2023 at 3:33:14 AM

Valdo
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#25064: Jan 7th 2023 at 2:41:33 PM

[up][up]The unfortunate truth is that underage characters can be sexualized and it’s not against the mission of the site to note ones that are, but one must be able to distinguish sexualization from “character depicted with body parts uncovered” which is likely the case for Mowgli.

Edited by Synchronicity on Jan 7th 2023 at 4:41:42 AM

Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#25065: Jan 7th 2023 at 3:11:41 PM

This Jungle Book 2? That version of Mowgli? Yeah, that's not fanservice.

SoyValdo7 I mainly fix indentation issues from La tierra de lagos y volcanes Since: Sep, 2022 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
I mainly fix indentation issues
#25066: Jan 7th 2023 at 4:46:31 PM

From The Nutty Professor (1996):

Beacuse YMMV example can't be played with, I'm not sure if this count.

Valdo
RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#25067: Jan 7th 2023 at 4:54:46 PM

[up]Invoked Trope can apply to YMMV tropes actually (though I don't think we're supposed to put them on YMMV pages). However, I guess this just seems to be one of the cases in which "Invoked" is misused to mean "Something the work intentionally sets up".

As for whether or not it counts, maybe, but it reads as low on context to me. This is partly because it doesn't mention if the show labeled that as comical (which is part of the trope).

Edited by RandomTroper123 on Jan 7th 2023 at 5:03:09 AM

Agentofchaos A God Am I from Somewhere in the Universe Since: Dec, 2021
#25068: Jan 7th 2023 at 6:09:20 PM

On Steven Universe: The Movie

  • Executive Meddling: Bizarrely, some executive notes suggested the movie should end with Steven killing Spinel, even though that would be completely out of character and at odds with the franchise's themes. Thankfully, the crew were able to ignore this suggestion.

Does it count as Executive Meddling if they don't actually do what the executives want?

Edited by Agentofchaos on Jan 7th 2023 at 9:53:14 AM

"We'll meet again" | 🏳️‍⚧️
RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#25069: Jan 7th 2023 at 6:51:23 PM

[up]You mean "don't do"? (I'm just trying to make sure I'm understanding this.) Anyway, Executive Meddling seems to involve the crew or whatnot doing whatever the executives want. So, I'd say cut it. Also, it contains complaining (namely about the concept) and gushing (specifically about how the crew didn't go through with that), neither of which are allowed.

Agentofchaos A God Am I from Somewhere in the Universe Since: Dec, 2021
#25070: Jan 7th 2023 at 8:54:58 PM

On Captain Underpants

  • Creator Breakdown: Jerome Horwitz's school library doesn't have any books in it because the librarian has banned them all. Considering the Captain Underpants series are among the most banned books in the USA, this is a pretty obvious jab on Pilkey's part.

This isn't Creator Breakdown at all right?

"We'll meet again" | 🏳️‍⚧️
wingedcatgirl mys. minty from the silly dimension from lurking (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
mys. minty from the silly dimension
#25071: Jan 7th 2023 at 9:03:39 PM

That is definitely a different thing and not Creator Breakdown.

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
SoyValdo7 I mainly fix indentation issues from La tierra de lagos y volcanes Since: Sep, 2022 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
I mainly fix indentation issues
#25072: Jan 7th 2023 at 9:09:41 PM

[up][up] Harsher in Hindsight?

[down] Sound better.

Edited by SoyValdo7 on Jan 7th 2023 at 11:11:40 AM

Valdo
Agentofchaos A God Am I from Somewhere in the Universe Since: Dec, 2021
#25073: Jan 7th 2023 at 9:10:43 PM

[up] I don't think so, it seems more like a Take That!

"We'll meet again" | 🏳️‍⚧️
RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#25074: Jan 7th 2023 at 10:05:14 PM

[up]That sounds right to me.

selkies TOO serious! from Guess, guess, guess Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
TOO serious!
#25075: Jan 8th 2023 at 12:40:36 AM

Is this an example of Fatal Flaw? The laconic says it often includes the character's downfall but the description says the downfall part is another trope (Tragic Mistake). Can it also be more than one, singular flaw?

  • Assassination Classroom: Class 3-E Main: His biggest flaws are his excessive Pride and Brilliant, but Lazy traits, though they occasionally can be his strength,Example  most of the times they lead him to failures in which he learns, through the help of Koro-sensei, to accept losing sometimes.

Uncanny Valley Hot Babes in Your Area Are Looking To Know YOU! Click Here to Sign Up for FREE! | Not quite back tbh. Don't expect much.

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