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.
- A character name is not an explanation.
- Wrong: Full Moon Silhouette: Diana
- Right: Full Moon Silhouette: At the end of her transformation sequence into Moon Princess Misty, Diana is shown flying across the full moon riding a rutabaga.
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.
For cleaning up examples of Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard, you must use their dedicated threads: Complete Monster Cleanup, Magnificent Bastard Cleanup.
Edited by Synchronicity on Sep 18th 2023 at 11:42:55 AM
Is Fighting Back Is Wrong the proper name for the situation, Owen getting in trouble for defending himself against a bully, in Let Me In?
The movie portrays the principal yelling at Owen as one more example of his bleak life, so would it also qualify as a deconstruction?
reposting on the new page
Since i'm on a 40k roll:
Voodoo Shark, Retroactive Idiot Ball, or both?
* When the "Two Lost Legions" were introduced back in Warhammer 40,000's early editions, they were never intended as more than Cryptic Background References to never be explained, to give an air of mystery to the setting and wonder as to how much information had been lost since the event.
But when the Horus Heresy got expanded upon, and supposedly happened around the time the two lost Primarchs and their Legions were lost, writers (who have stated they were not allowed to give answers, or even hint at possible answers, to that mystey) eventually came up with the explanation that any specific details about them had been thoroughly erased from records and even from the minds of those who knew them. Which (questions on how such an operation could be done on a galatic scale aside) does not explain why Daemons or the Dark Eldar, both races which would have been present around that time as well, would not be subject to any Imperial propaganda efforts, and would love to taunt the existing Primarchs (or even the Imperials in general) about the missing demigods, have not said anything about them to anyone at all.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Neither, and it'd be trivia because it's Word of God, not something that occurs in-work.
- Acting Unnatural: Much like Georgina visibly screaming from behind Marianne's smile, "Walter" is unnervingly serene when talking with Chris, with a very clipped, formal, almost mid-Atlantic-accented voice and a sly grin; teasing Chris about Rose like he does would come off as a little creepy if done by anyone, but especially the groundskeeper, and he conspicuously doesn't make much of an effort to hide his true self during the garden party. He also runs full-tilt around the property in the middle of the night, training and testing the limits of Walter's body, and not only doesn't acknowledge Chris but almost knocks him over. Marcus Henderson himself pointed out that even Walter's chores, like cutting the entire estate using a single push mower, don't make logical sense; aside from maybe chopping wood to build up strength, it's all done as a performance for Chris.
Clearly acting strange, but nothing to do with trying to act normal and failing.
Showtime!
Okay, leaving aside this example's mess of indentation errors and the Rl aspects of the creators neglecting things...
- Warhammer 40,000 backstory has strong vibes of this in the Primarchs. With a few exceptions the vast majority of them defected because of their father's disapproval and/or withering apathy. In the words of Roboute Guilliman, "The Emperor was a great scientist, a great leader, but a terrible father".
- The Emperor's main problem was that he had a very clear idea of what his generals should be like, but neglected to consider that those generals even saw him as a father. As a result, you got Lorgar — who saw an entire world annihilated to teach him not to be religious; Perturabo — whose hopes and dreams were straight-out ignored in favor of "here is a siege, go fight it"; Fulgrim — whose obsession with perfection was left unchecked until it consumed him with the aid of a daemon; Angron — who saw the people he cared about left to die because the Emperor abducted him from a hopeless battle rather than deploying his high-tech military in support; Magnus — who was publicly humiliated; Mortarion — who spent years fighting to free his homeworld, only for the Emperor to steal his thunder in a spectacular way; Alpharius — the last primarch to be found, everyone disdained his unorthodox strategies and tactics and he joined sides with the only brother who acknowledged how brilliant he could be; and Horus — the most powerful military leader in the galaxy — who was left completely in the dark about why the Emperor was retiring to Terra, leading Horus to the not illogical conclusion that he was being left to do gruntwork while the Emperor sat back and enjoyed the spoils.
- On the tabletop itself several armies could lay claim to this. The long suffering Dark Eldar went ten years without receiving an update. Now that they have a new rulebook and set of models the mantle passes on to the Witchhunters, though their chances of getting an update are looking grim.
- Witch Hunters got changed to Sisters of Battle, which then changed to Adepta Sororitas. (Yes, the Sisters used to be a separate faction in the early days. Now they're not.) They got a digital-only release less than two years ago, although it took them until 2020 to get a full physical codex and updated models. The current Unfavoite (as of 2020) is the Inquisition, which has yet to get a full codex and has languished as a side army for most of 8th edition.
- The Necrons were also this, their army was pretty bland, with zero personality and very little to no updates. Now they got a massive change along with a lot of new figures and a revised back story making them more interesting, although there are those who feel that the changes removed what made them scary in the first place.
- And then there's everything Games Workshop does that isn't 40K, which tends to be stepped over because 40K is a massive cash cow and Warhammer and the The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings strategy battle games are not.
...Once you're listing basically off a character's children, does that not take us out of The Un-Favourite into "this character is just a shitty fucking parent?"
Absolute destiny... apeachalypse?
I guess it's more accurately a favoritism ratio thing (If you have like, 6 kids and treat 2 the worst then I think that would still count) but yeah, if they treat most of their kids equally badly then none really have a good claim to being the unfavorite.
I've a question about VideoExamples.The Other Two: "This Goo Is Homosexual?", where a studio aims to win inclusivity points by having two gay blobs of goo. It's listed as Discount Lesbians but that seems to be restricted to humanoid characters, while the joke in the video that they're so averse to showing masculine-looking monsters being gay that they resorted to blobs. Does it count as an example if they don't look human, or is it more accurately something else like Hide Your Lesbians?
Edited by Synchronicity on Jul 10th 2023 at 12:47:47 PM
low-poly Shinri
Found this recently added examples on YMMV.The Legend Of Heroes Trails Into Reverie
- To a much lesser extent, the return of DLCs was again not welcome by many a fan on reddit. Made even worse in that the SSS Beach Episode scenario is actually locked behind the corresponding DLC. To be fair tho, most of the DL Cs are largely cosmetic items or additional goods that are unnecessary to complete the game (with the one exception mentioned above). However since the Clouded Leopard version of the game comes with the Beach Episode scenario included with the main game, many took this as an opportunity to deride the presence of DLCs as an overall.
Scrappy Mechanic is about a gameplay mechanic not well like by the fanbase, not something behind locked behind DLC. Would like more opinions.
She/Her | Currently cleaning Char Clone
Can we list Flat Character as a trope? Or is it just too common, except maybe for examples that apply it to strange protagonist-proximate people, such as her siblings in:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=Literature.TheOrdinaryPrincess#edit37469263
Edited by Malady on Jul 10th 2023 at 7:17:29 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
I'm helping!
Flat Character is currently filed under No On-Page Examples, which means it can be listed on works pages.
Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
- I missed that it's on Omnipresent Tropes too, which means I should delete that example I mentioned above, since it's a disallowed Straight example, no?
low-poly Shinri
Bumping x4 as well this post.
Am I a weirdo?
The Scrappy Mechanic example has enough weasel words that I'd feel safe cutting it.
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
It opens with "to a lesser extent", and includes a "to be fair tho (sic)". Either on its own might be fine, but the two together put me on shoehorn alert.
Edited by CompletelyNormalGuy on Jul 10th 2023 at 11:53:59 AM
Bigotry will NEVER be welcome on TV Tropes.
low-poly Shinri
Removed now. And if you don’t mind, what exact Weasel Words do you mean?
reconsidering
The following I removed from Dramedy for not fitting the trope (being primarily comedy, or action/scifi-fantasy rather than a drama). However, some have been added back, so I need third-party input before removing them again
Here are the examples that are under contention
- Just about every film in the Disney Animated Canon.
- Just about every Pixar film as well.
to be clear, thats the entry verbatim, not a summary by me)
- The works of Don Bluth (which figures, considering he used to work at Disney).
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- The Owl House
- Rick and Morty
- South Park
- The Simpsons
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe is this, having a mostly lighthearted and humorous tone while having plenty of intensely dramatic moments.
I do not feel any of these qualify as Dramedy shows, the specific genre. Most are adventure or SFF which contain both funny and serious moments, as almost all shows do. Also, the first is a general example, but it was added back anyway.
Do you guys agree, and if so may I remove them?
Edited by Tremmor19 on Jul 11th 2023 at 4:29:08 AM
Braids From S286 Not Included
In Characters.The Hunger Games Literature Protagonists, is this misuse?
- Art Attacker: Before the Quarter Quell, Peeta uses his solo session with the Gamemakers to paint an image of Rue covered in flowers, to hold them responsible for her death.
Because that trope is for characters who use art supplies as weapons.
Edited by TroperNo9001 on Jul 11th 2023 at 5:32:40 PM
"Rarity, are you okay? We gotta get you and your friends outta here soon!"
@Tabs: How so? It's an explanation that worked early on ("the legions disappeared 10 000 years ago and that's a looong time so information is lost") but doesn't really work now ("we actually explore the time period these legions would have operated in, but absolutely no one, even the people who would love to taunt imperials about it, say anything about the subject")
low-poly Shinri
Another recently added example on YMMV.The Legend Of Heroes Trails Into Reverie that I’m unsure of:
- High-Tier Scrappy: Gaius is considered to be the best character of the game due to his S-Craft, "Howling Heavens", which inflicts "Absolute Delay" to all enemies in the field; that means delaying enemies will always work. He's very absurd that he can even solo the post-game content with the Abyss difficulty with the +100 levels to enemies modifier (though he can't solo the Final Boss as the final boss has three phases) with the proper equipment.
I remember someone on the Tier Induced Scrappy TRS that High-Tier Scrappy is exclusive to multiplayer games (like fighting games) since the player has to worry about getting their ass whopped by a powerful character. Reverie is single player throughout. So safe to remove?
Also bumping this since I want opinions on it.
Showtime!
That;s not either Idiot Ball or Voodoo Shark, is the thing
Re: this, I did manage to forget the word "half" in "Once you're listing basically half a character's children", which is why I think the ratios don't work. Any other thoughts?
It's not even half, there's literally no favorites mentioned. (Heck, it doesn't even sound like that's an issue in the first place, since the Emperor's problem is described more as not treating his sons as sons). I'd cut that.
From the page for Car Fu:
One of the most disturbing scenes from Band of Brothers is when a German soldier is crushed by one of his own sides' tanks.
I'm not sure if this counts, since the idea of Car Fu is that it's repurposing something that's normally used for mundane purposes as a weapon, but a tank is an actual intended weapon of war even if crushing someone with it isn't its normal use.
he/him
Murder by Cremation is defined in its intro as:
After implementing today's No Recent Examples, Please! ruling for real life (150 years), we're left with just two RL examples:
- In ancient Greece, the Brazen Bull (invented in the 6th century BCE) was said to be a particularly horrible variation. Amounting to a large metal oven, as much a torture device as an execution method, those trapped inside were left to roast while the brass interior heated to lethal temperatures. Phalaris, the tyrant who commissioned it, reportedly tested it on its inventor, almost killing him before he was removed (and then executing him in a different manner). Phalaris himself was said to be executed in the bull when he was overthrown.
- Burning at the stake was one possible method of execution from the Middle Ages to around 17th century in Europe. The most famous offense to earn such treatment was of course witchcraft (though only after the Middle Ages), but heresy and even adultery were also viable options. As with most fire-related fatalities, death was usually caused by smoke inhalation rather than by lethal harm from burns, especially when many people were burned at once. Depending on the circumstances the victim could also be surreptitiously strangled just before the act, but genuine live immolations were far from unheard of. Some victims — if they or their families could afford it — actually had explosives strapped to them, which would detonate when exposed to the fire and grant them a quicker and less painful sendoff.
Trans Siberian Anarchestra (it/they)
It might be worth having as an aversion, because Burn the Witch! is likely to be one of the first things people think of when imagining "burning to death".
However, it's written in a manner I feel is sensationalistic and likely inaccurate, and I would particularly want a citation besides Discworld for the explosives detail.
The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable
he/him
Feels like the aversion/distinction is one we can call out in the trope intro rather than the RL section, as it'll affect all forms of fiction too?
Agreed on the citation if we keep.
No concerns about keeping the bull?
Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 11th 2023 at 5:57:44 PM
Invisible Block doesn't need a way to make them visible, right?
- Shanghai.EXE: Genso Network: The path to the locked Mystery Data in City Area 2 is invisible, and only discoverable due to walking on it.
If you're still advised to avoid being seen by them, then I'd say they qualify. Otherwise, probably not.
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