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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

Zarina Since: Aug, 2014
#29901: Nov 19th 2023 at 2:49:58 PM

Bumping my question here since I think it got lost in the shuffle.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#29902: Nov 19th 2023 at 8:34:30 PM

I have a Hollywood Pudgy example that I'm unsure counts if only because it's in an adaptation.

So Animation Throwdown: the Quest for Cards has a voice line from Leela to Bobby claiming herself as a "former chubby kid." However, her child self in the show was never drawn particularly chubby (contrast with Amy, who is explicitly Formerly Fat).

The reason I'm hesitant to add the example is because I don't know yet if Leela's child self is seen in this game at all (though I think there's a card with her teen self who's also fairly skinny), but the game is so full of canon references to its source shows that I can only assume her child self would be the same as in the show.

EDIT: Okay there is a card with her child self here so I think it is applicable.

Edited by mightymewtron on Nov 20th 2023 at 2:03:43 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#29903: Nov 19th 2023 at 9:17:50 PM

Can Rape as Backstory and/or Rape as Drama apply for sexual abuse/assault that doesn't go "all the way" there?

e.g. There's this one-shot story I read, featuring an abuser who regularly gropes and fondles their victims, but never actually commit rape. This allows the abuser to gaslight their victims by claiming that their inappropriate touching is not sexually motivated, and that the victims are just making a big deal over nothing, even though they're clearly traumatized by the ordeal.

Edited by Adept on Nov 20th 2023 at 8:06:39 PM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#29904: Nov 19th 2023 at 9:23:11 PM

I think it counts as a Downplayed Trope.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Mariofan99 Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Malady (X-Troper)
#29906: Nov 20th 2023 at 7:58:33 AM

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/query.php?parent_id=129060&type=lnf

Would both of these work? Or should I pick just one?

Shantae: Risky's Revenge:

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
CompletelyNormalGuy Am I a weirdo? from a place where folks put cream cheese on hot dogs (Oldest One in the Book)
Am I a weirdo?
#29907: Nov 20th 2023 at 2:05:27 PM

I think that's only an example of Deader than Dead, and not an example of an Immortal Breaker.

Bigotry will NEVER be welcome on TV Tropes.
Nejiiuyn Kaiser der Anonymität from The Mysterious Beyond Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Kaiser der Anonymität
#29908: Nov 20th 2023 at 4:14:13 PM

Would this count as an example of Grandfather Clause:

During the early 2000s, DC and Warner Bros implemented a policy of "Character Embargos". This policy stated that a character could not appear in one show if said character was a major character in another show. As a result, several characters were either removed from a show or were not allowed to appear in the first place. Aquaman wasn't allowed to appear in Justice League following the first season of Unlimited because of a pilot that was being produced at the time for an Aquaman TV series. None of the characters from the Batman mythos were allowed to appear in Justice League either because of the airing of The Batman, and Robin wasn't allowed to appear on The Batman because he was already a main character in Teen Titans (2003). The only one exempt from this was Batman. Since he was already a main character in Justice League prior to DC and Warner adopting the policy, he was allowed to remain a main character despite also being the main character of The Batman.

Edited by Nejiiuyn on Nov 20th 2023 at 7:15:59 AM

My treasure? If you want it, you can have it! Search for it! I left in that place!
Zarina Since: Aug, 2014
#29909: Nov 20th 2023 at 4:18:32 PM

Alright, I've removed the other misuse entries on Ki Manipulation and I'm back with more questionable Real Life entries, this time from Where Everybody Knows Your Flame:

  • Truth in Television: In many smaller cities where it's not practical to have more than one or two gay nightspots they can certainly end up looking like this. Additionally, in more conservative small towns where the only openly gay people tend to be rather obvious, most patrons to be found in these few gay nightspots tend to fit this stereotype.
  • In the 18th century there were Molly Houses, taverns that were notorious for housing men who would partake in orgies, cross dressing, and gay marriages. Though how much of this actually happened in the gay bars may be uncertain, as most details of them were in trial cases and undercover informants looking for reasons to hang sodomites. However, that such taverns existed is pretty undisputed.
  • To show how times have changed, one thing viewers might notice onscreen and in real life is the evolution of how gay bars look from the outside. In the 2000's and earlier, the buildings would be drab and nondescript, with windows that were either boarded up or composed of glass bricks that you couldn't see through; you wouldn't know it was a gay bar (or even a bar at all in some cases) until you stepped inside. Nowadays, the buildings' exteriors are proudly decorated with fresh paint, rainbow flags, and large clear windows, since being seen inside a gay bar is not quite the scandal it once was.
  • Growing LGBTQ+ acceptance in society plus online dating sites/apps have been a double-edged sword. Many historical gay bars once seen as cornerstones of their local community have been going out of business because it's now possible for a queer person to have a healthy dating and social life without needing to rely on the bar scene. Debate wages over whether or not the community is losing its culture as a result.

The last one is definitely misuse to me, the rest might be running afoul of Examples Are Not General. Thoughts?

Benbeasted Since: Sep, 2013
#29911: Nov 21st 2023 at 2:26:55 AM

All of those are very much examples of You Can't Thwart Stage One, since you specify that all those victories are early steps of more complicated plots. Whether or not their future plans were revealed beforehand are irrelevant.

dcutter2 Since: Sep, 2013
#29913: Nov 21st 2023 at 8:30:30 AM

[up] That expansion looks good to me. As someone who's not watched Spongebob it's definitely more informative.

ForgoLight The Ultimate Lifeform Since: Oct, 2022 Relationship Status: In Lesbians with you
The Ultimate Lifeform
#29914: Nov 21st 2023 at 12:01:50 PM

So I found this under the Character folder for Merlin on the Kingdom Hearts Disney Supporting Characters page.

This just screams shoehorning since it never once actually covers the topic of the trope, IE a fictional character is multiple real world minorities. It's different than say Marina of Splatoon, as her entry specifies that the twofer is split between real and in universe minorites, whereas Merlin is a white man surrounded by other people who at least appear to be white as well, and unlike the Octolings, neither Disney characters, nor magic users are in any way looked down upon by any of the Final Fantasy characters. Anyone else agree this should be chopped?

"Us weirdos have to stick together!"
Zarina Since: Aug, 2014
#29915: Nov 21st 2023 at 12:37:50 PM

[up] Yeah, that's misuse. Magic-users of many varieties are normal and encountered in droves in Kingdom Hearts, and they're never treated as a minority class or analogous to any real-life minority groups. Same for Disney characters versus series originals or other Square Enix properties.

Edited by Zarina on Nov 21st 2023 at 3:38:29 PM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#29916: Nov 21st 2023 at 3:05:11 PM

Futurama S3 E15: "I Dated a Robot" has this listed as Take That!:

  • During the propaganda film, it states that all human civilization was just an effort to impress the opposite sex, except theatre, which was made to impress the same sex.

Is an All Gays Love Theatre joke automatically a Take That!? It was a stereotype joke for sure, but even with all the Values Dissonance, it didn't feel like it was mocking the medium or its fans by calling them gay.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#29917: Nov 21st 2023 at 7:30:10 PM

The Lone Ranger: City Mouse is a mostly female trope, does Reid count as a City Slicker?

  • Adaptational Wimp: John Reid is somewhat less of a badass compared to his radio and TV versions. Justified as most versions of him are a Texas Ranger before donning the mask while this one is a City Mouse lawyer.
  • City Mouse: John Reid starts off as a bookish lawyer who is out of place in the frontier.
  • Deconstruction: Of Westerns in general, and the Ranger in particular. One could make a very strong argument that nobody has a more cynical opinion of the franchises than this particular portrayal of the Ranger.
    • Far from the square-jawed, morally upstanding, fearless Ideal Hero with Improbable Aiming Skills of the original film serials and radio series, this film's John Reid is a buffoonish City Mouse lawyer who is wildly out of his depth in the Wild West, and even after becoming the Ranger, spends most of his time as the Butt-Monkey of his own movie. Tonto initially rejects the idea of him becoming the Ranger in favor of his dead brother Dan, neither his allies nor his antagonists have any respect for him (constantly questioning the necessity of him wearing a mask) and while he does eventually level up over the course of the movie, it's debatable how much of this is due to his own action and how much of it is just him being improbably lucky, chosen by spirits, or whether any of that ever happened at all.
    • In his first scene, John Reid kindly picks up a little girl's dropped doll and tries to toss it back to her, only to accidentally throw it out the window. When her mother invites John to pray with them, he politely declines by saying "[This book]'s my Bible right here", and holds up a copy of John Locke's Treatises of Government. Good-hearted, bumbling, and highly educated, that's John Reid right there. Notably, the camera also shows us that his "Bible" is opened to a page where he's using a photo of Rebecca as a bookmark.

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#29918: Nov 22nd 2023 at 1:16:31 AM

[up][up]I agree that doesn't seem to fit. It's just playing the All Gays Love Theater trope for laughs, I think.

To be honest, I'm not too clear on what Mind Rape is supposed to be about, since it's very broad, but does "a person assuming the form of someone else's deceased loved one in order to manipulate them to do their bidding" a form of Mind Rape, or does fit better under a different trope?

Edited by Adept on Nov 22nd 2023 at 4:17:37 PM

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.
#29919: Nov 22nd 2023 at 7:20:10 AM

Would anything in the Scott Pilgrim franchise - the movie, comics, or anime - count as an example of the sci-fi or fantasy genre?

You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#29920: Nov 22nd 2023 at 7:27:06 AM

^ They're mostly Urban Fantasy-comedy (headspace teleportation, vegan psychic powers, very strongly featuring Toronto). If one wants to be nitpicky about genres I guess the anime could be considered scifi because of the time machine stuff.

^^ See Shapeshifter Guilt Trip and related tropes. I think Mind Rape is supposed to be for any external force that wrecks your sanity, emotional manipulation is still a few steps below that.

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.
#29921: Nov 22nd 2023 at 7:28:50 AM

Ignore

Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Nov 22nd 2023 at 10:32:50 AM

You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
Agentofchaos A God Am I from Somewhere in the Universe Since: Dec, 2021
#29922: Nov 22nd 2023 at 7:30:29 AM

On Helluva Boss vs. Murder Drones

  • Fake Crossover: Beyond being a labor of love for Helluva Boss and Murder Drones, both shows take place over a thousand years apart from each other, so there's no reasonable chance either cast would canonically meet, outside of some sort of time travel or inter-dimensional travel nonsense.

Does Fake Crossover really count on unofficial fan made projects?

"We'll meet again" | 🏳️‍⚧️
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#29923: Nov 22nd 2023 at 7:31:27 AM

[up][up]Saying "time travel stuff" doesn't actually spoil anything out of context, as it doesn't say who, what, when, where, or any effect on plot. You pointing it out, however, makes it a self-fulfilling spoiler.

Not super sure what @29917 is asking, but a City Mouse can be a man. He could be a City Slicker as well, as it's specifically a Western setting.

[up]No

Edited by Synchronicity on Nov 22nd 2023 at 10:32:37 AM

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.
#29924: Nov 22nd 2023 at 7:33:01 AM
dcutter2 Since: Sep, 2013
#29925: Nov 22nd 2023 at 7:46:07 AM

[up] x 8 @randomtroper

The Lone Ranger: City Mouse is a mostly female trope, does Reid count as a City Slicker?

I'm not familiar with The Lone Ranger but while City Mouse does say in the description it's mostly female, the quote and a decent number of the examples are male anyway so I think it's fine.

Edited by dcutter2 on Nov 22nd 2023 at 3:48:25 PM


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