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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

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)
#25726: Feb 6th 2023 at 8:29:54 PM

IDK, stuff about how it's portrayed maybe? Do they take pleasure in it? Is it depicted as a particularly dark action? Does it make them seem scarier or more disturbing? Etc.

If you can't add that sort of context, then how do you know it fits the trope correctly and isn't just "someone dies by suffocation"?

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
RockRaider Since: Aug, 2014
#25727: Feb 6th 2023 at 8:43:51 PM

IS there a trope where someone is strangled to death without it being portrayed as evil?

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)
#25728: Feb 6th 2023 at 8:45:34 PM

Not as far as I'm aware.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#25729: Feb 6th 2023 at 8:50:42 PM

e: nvm.

For finding tropes just a reminder of Trope Finder.

Edited by Amonimus on Feb 6th 2023 at 7:51:23 PM

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
fishysaur Good for nothing Since: May, 2018
Good for nothing
#25731: Feb 6th 2023 at 11:34:17 PM

this entry was removed

  • Idiot Ball: After Ace is rescued, Whitebeard orders his comrades to run while he keeps the Marines busy. However, Akainu purposefully taunts Ace by insulting Whitebeard's honor and Ace falls for the obvious trap, despite even Luffy telling him to ignore Akainu's taunts. In the end, this mistake costs Ace his life.

The explanation is "Ace acting that way was expected of his character, as he was often stated to be intelligent, but too rash, hotheaded and impulsive, so Idiot Ball is misused here"

It's said that Ace was impulsive, but only after he died (some chapters later, maybe as a kind of Author's Saving Throw). However, Ace was also always potrayed as smarter than luffy, the quintessential Idiot Hero, while in this case, as said in the entry, even Luffy acts smarter than him (and many other characters warned him as well in this scene)

So, does it count or is it misuse?

There isn't an impossible dream, there are only people who give up
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#25732: Feb 6th 2023 at 11:36:24 PM

It's a perfectly valid entry. But dont put it back if you put it first in the first place.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
fishysaur Good for nothing Since: May, 2018
Good for nothing
#25733: Feb 7th 2023 at 12:14:02 AM

[up]Well, if there's an agreement on this thread, I can readd it (just waiting in case there are more responses)

There isn't an impossible dream, there are only people who give up
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#25734: Feb 7th 2023 at 12:27:59 AM

If you want I can add it for you, I dont want you to get in trouble.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
fishysaur Good for nothing Since: May, 2018
Good for nothing
#25735: Feb 7th 2023 at 12:40:01 AM

Ok, thank you smile

There isn't an impossible dream, there are only people who give up
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#25736: Feb 7th 2023 at 12:41:43 AM

We need a bit more consensus still so I will wait until then.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
Reymma RJ Savoy from Edinburgh Since: Feb, 2015 Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
RJ Savoy
#25737: Feb 7th 2023 at 5:37:32 AM

On Recap.The Simpsons S 16 E 15 Future Drama, there's this:

  • All for Nothing: Bart sacrifices his personal happiness and future so Lisa can avoid marrying Milhouse. A later episode showed that she would end up marrying him anyway.

But The Simpsons runs on Negative Continuity, so can we take episodes seven years later as being in the same continuity? I think this should be cut as a trope and turned into a Harsher in Hindsight entry.

Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#25738: Feb 7th 2023 at 5:39:18 AM

I agree.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#25739: Feb 7th 2023 at 5:37:38 PM

Seconded.

Any thoughts on my Disabled Love Interest query here?

[down][down]Thank you! I'll probably work this into either Fictional Disability or Applicability and bring up Disabled Love Interest on Wick Check Project, though IDK if I'd do it now.

Edited by mightymewtron on Feb 7th 2023 at 8:59:53 AM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#25740: Feb 7th 2023 at 5:41:47 PM

Thirded. With relatively few exceptions, The Simpsons isn't big on continuity. Cut.

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#25741: Feb 7th 2023 at 5:47:31 PM

[up][up]Ehh, if you take Disabled Love Interest as any disabled love interest than I guess it could go there but I feel the example might fit better on Fictional Disability based on what you wrote because Leela's disability affects her character as a whole and isn't just used as a complexity between her relationship with Fry based on what your prior post.

Disabled Love Interest probably needs an in depth discussion on trope talk because it seems to be one of those tropes that built around specific examples of the trope (disposable disabled love interests that tend to fall in the Inspirationally Disabled category) but the description is wishy washy on that the trope actually means in a larger context (assuming that the concept isn't just "love interest that happens to be disabled")

Edited by MacronNotes on Feb 7th 2023 at 8:48:32 AM

Macron's notes
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
#25742: Feb 7th 2023 at 5:55:09 PM

Found these in Xenomorph Xerox.

  • The first alien encountered by the teens in Attack the Block. The bigger ones that follow later are furry, black gorilla-like beasts, however.
  • The Indoraptor in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a downplayed example. Its color scheme and body plan are clearly meant to hearken back to the Xenomorph, but it still looks like a dinosaur. By this point in the series Doctor Wu and his associates have gone full Weyland-Yutani, though, complimenting the similarities.
Cut for shoehorn?

Graffiti Wall
RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#25743: Feb 7th 2023 at 6:39:22 PM

[up]The first comes off as zero-context to me, so I'd hide it. It'd also cut the second sentence because, at least to me, they sound like non-notable aversions.

As for the second one, I flat out don't think count as Xenomorph Xerox. Unless there's Word of God (or something like that) that I'm not aware of which states they're meant to resemble Xenomorphs, I don't think having the same colour scheme is enough. Plus, it otherwise doesn't look like a Xenomorph to me.

Noaqiyeum we must dissent (it/they) from across the gulf of space (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
we must dissent (it/they)
#25744: Feb 7th 2023 at 10:18:57 PM

Attack the Block is shoehorned - the first alien is just a smaller, paler version of the others. (Edit: With less hair.) Its only resemblance to a xenomorph is in having a slightly elongated eyeless head.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Feb 7th 2023 at 6:24:20 PM

ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
BigBadShadow25 With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg. from Basement at the Alamo (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Desperate
With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg.
#25745: Feb 8th 2023 at 10:20:39 AM

So in the trailer for this new movie Strays (2023), a dog vows to get revenge on his sleezeball owner for abandoning him by tracking him down and biting his d**k off. Is that an example of Freudian Threat or Crippling Castration?

You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
selkies TOO serious! from Guess, guess, guess Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
TOO serious!
#25746: Feb 8th 2023 at 11:13:08 AM

Since the dog already bit his dick, it's the latter. Freudian Threat is just that — a threat without necessarily anything taking place.

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.
BigBadShadow25 With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg. from Basement at the Alamo (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Desperate
With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg.
#25747: Feb 8th 2023 at 11:14:22 AM

It hasn’t actually happened yet in the trailer. It’s what he’s GOING to do.

You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
selkies TOO serious! from Guess, guess, guess Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed
TOO serious!
#25748: Feb 8th 2023 at 11:14:38 AM

NVM, I misread. It's Freudian Threat since the castration didn't take place yet — it's just a threat/vow.

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.
BigBadShadow25 With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg. from Basement at the Alamo (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Desperate
With my last breath, I curse Zoidberg.
#25749: Feb 8th 2023 at 11:17:45 AM
Malady (X-Troper)
#25750: Feb 8th 2023 at 1:29:05 PM

Abandoned Camp Ruins: Downplayed or something?

  • Quizzical: From Chapter 4, "Heavy Traffic In The Everfree Forest", with Dr. Stalker's camp, which isn't ruined, but just left alone for a day and with its owner lost in the forest while others are conducting a search:
    “This isn’t a crime scene, it’s a work space,” stated Professor Heart. “The only disorder comes not from a struggle but from work being done. See how they left the paperwork all carefully weighted down? They left intending to come back and get to work again. Clearly they just haven’t been back since this morning.”

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576

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