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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

Lymantria Tyrannoraptoran Reptiliomorph from Toronto Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Historians will say we were good friends.
Tyrannoraptoran Reptiliomorph
#32876: Sep 29th 2024 at 8:21:31 PM

Is this example on Pixel Perfect correct? It’s Trivia on the main work page, but I don’t want to move it unless it’s a valid example.

  • Life Imitates Art: interestingly enough, 3 years after this movie was made, Hatsune Miku was released. A Japanese singing synthesizer program with an anime girl appearance who later went on to perform sold out concerts all over the world as a Hologram. She is considered one of the world's first virtual diva pop stars. Sound familiar?

Join the Five-Man Band cleanup project!
antenna_ears from California Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
#32878: Sep 29th 2024 at 9:38:52 PM

[up] Yeah, I agree. I don’t think Lois being a high school bully was a plot point that went beyond the episode. I think it would only be a Retcon if they explicitly lampshaded it (like the story of Joe getting crippled).

Malady (X-Troper)
#32879: Sep 30th 2024 at 3:52:32 AM

Repost from previous page:

Listed on Fantastic Science which has this in its description:

Which of the three tropes is this, since it's listed in Fictional Field of Science too.

Bolding the pothole is my work:

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Bruce2020 Since: Apr, 2020
#32880: Sep 30th 2024 at 5:44:30 PM

If I say Wonderful Pretty Cure! 's movie get a theatrical release in Taiwan, does this count as Shocking Moments? (Because little to no fans there thought it would have a theatrical release over there, and why they got All Stars F 's theatrical release is because of the 20th anniversary)

AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#32881: Sep 30th 2024 at 5:47:58 PM

[up] I dont think that counts, that's meta.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
bubby3 Since: Nov, 2016
#32882: Sep 30th 2024 at 10:20:33 PM

Can a game have a Penultimate Boss if it takes place at the end of the penultimate level (and the final level does not start with the boss, so there is non-boss gameplay between that boss and the final boss). So do New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros. Wii count (in the former the boss is the second tower of world and the latter is the final airship level)?

Edited by bubby3 on Sep 30th 2024 at 1:21:27 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.
#32883: Oct 1st 2024 at 5:52:49 AM

From Characters.The Wild Robot 2024:

  • Starfish Aliens: In contrast to the humanoid Roz, the antagonistic robot Vontra is much more jellyfish-like, featuring robotic tentacles and an intimidating single eye. Justified, as she is not designed to interact with humans like Roz is, only to successfully traverse difficult terrain and retrieve whatever Univseral Dynamics sends her after.

Can Starfish Aliens apply to non-alien, non-organic beings?

You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
Loneandlevel Troper, i.e. a Debaser of precious metals from Russian superborehole project (haunted) Since: Jun, 2023 Relationship Status: Mu
Troper, i.e. a Debaser of precious metals
#32884: Oct 1st 2024 at 8:42:01 AM

[up] Probably got it mixed up with Starfish Robots, which it seems to be describing. Browse through the page and see if it fits that trope instead.

SO SOFTLY A SUPERGOD DIES
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
#32885: Oct 1st 2024 at 3:48:49 PM

Found a weird one on YMMV.Nightmare Ned:

I don't think we can use TV Tropes itself as a source like this for Adaptation Displacement. Am I correct, or no?

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
king15 Have Faun Since: Mar, 2024
Have Faun
#32886: Oct 1st 2024 at 4:44:31 PM

There's this entry from The Talented Mr. Ripley:

  • Adaptational Explanation Extrication: The scene where Marge confronts Tom about him having Dickie's rings plays out differently than in the novel, and leaves a dangling thread that the book ties up. In the novel, Marge is saved from being murdered by Tom when she concludes that Dickie must have actually committed suicide if he gave away his rings, and her suspicions of Tom are assuaged. In the film, she has no such revelation, tells Tom to his face that she knows he's lying, and is only saved by the timely arrival of Peter Smith-Kingsley. She goes on believing (correctly, one might add) that Tom killed Dickie for the rest of the movie, whereas the book Ripley truly gets away scot-free with no one the wiser.

Is that this trope? It's not something that only makes sense if you read the book, it's a change in adaptation that intentionally leaves a 'dangling plot thread'. You don't need to read the book to understand Marge's actions or to understand that Tom gets away with it anyway. I don't think this applies for this trope or the previous trope it was listed as (Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole, which also isn't the case since it's not a hole in the plot that Marge finds out, the film explains why Tom gets away with it anyway). Perhaps it could be listed under Adaptational Intelligence, as Marge in the film manages to figure out Dickie's murder, unlike the book, but I don't think it applies to the current trope.

Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#32887: Oct 1st 2024 at 4:55:59 PM

Bumping my Audience-Alienating Ending question. Unless I hear anything I'll remove the first one as not an ending of the work (if the reboot was a separate series it would be).

Trivia.Song Of The South

  • Banned in China: In 2011, Bob Iger said that Song of the South would not receive future distribution in the United States to avoid controversy over its depiction of black people in the Southern US during the Reconstruction era. In March 2020, this was revealed to be an outright ban, as Iger told people at a shareholders event that the film would never get a release on Disney+, not even with an added disclaimer at the beginning, as long as he was in charge. 'I believe misuse as about government bans, not self-imposed. Correct?
  • Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Reviews and descriptions will sometimes list the film as being an example of Happiness in Slavery, when it is actually set after the American Civil War and Uncle Remus is a free man. Common Knowledge seems the better fit if not listing specific sources making the error. CBAHC would apply to/if official descriptions say such, but there seems obvious reasons they wouldn't claim such.

Thoughts about these?

Edited by Ferot_Dreadnaught on Oct 1st 2024 at 5:03:10 AM

gjjones Musician/Composer from South Wales, New York Since: Jul, 2016
Musician/Composer
#32888: Oct 2nd 2024 at 2:47:06 PM

At the end of the first El-Hazard: The Magnificent World OVA, Ifurita (played by Yuri Amano) can only watch the sunrise alone in sadness. But then, once Makoto returns from El-Hazard, Ifurita happily runs toward him as the two reunite. In the final episode of YuYu Hakusho, which premiered over one year earlier, Keiko Yukimura (also voiced by Amano) can only call for Yusuke while she watches the sunset on the beach alone. As Yusuke returns from the Demon World, Keiko happily leaps towards him and eventually gives him The Big Damn Kiss.

Since both endings probably share the same scenario and the same voice actress, does the above example count as an Actor Allusion or a Casting Gag?

Edited by gjjones on Oct 2nd 2024 at 1:35:30 PM

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
CanuckMcDuck1 PEPSIMAN from Japan Since: Sep, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
PEPSIMAN
#32889: Oct 2nd 2024 at 3:46:57 PM

Lymantria: The concept of a Virtual Celebrity existed before Hatsune Miku and Vocaloids (although they’re the most famous examples of it). Still, Loretta seems close enough to Hatsune Miku (both are virtual singers with a huge following) to count as Life Imitates Art.

bubby3: Other examples follow that idea, so yes, a Penultimate Boss. But it has to be immediately or very soon before the final boss, so the World 2 example doesn’t fit. If the last Airship level is close to the final fights with Bowser, then it would count.

TheMayorOfSimpleton: I know that Nightmare Ned was mostly lost media until the 2020s, so the game would arguably be more known. Using TV Tropes as an example of that though is meaningless, though. The entry could be rewritten to explain why the game would be more noteworthy than the show.

Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Oct 2nd 2024 at 5:00:28 AM

Do not mess with creatures which you do not understand.
dookamatic Since: Jan, 2022 Relationship Status: Faithful to 2D
#32890: Oct 2nd 2024 at 3:49:41 PM

I just remembered that one of the possible names for the golfer NPC in Terraria is Lion Pines, which I think is a reference to Tiger Woods. Is this an example of No Celebrities Were Harmed, Shout-Out, or a third trope I'm not thinking of?

fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#32891: Oct 2nd 2024 at 7:41:06 PM

I found this on BrokenAesop.Western Animation, in reference to Amphibia:

  • A part of Anne's character development is to learn to forgive others, such as Sasha, Hop Pop, and Marcy for their betrayals, even though forgiveness is hard and it takes time, but it's worth it in the end. However, given that Anne and sometimes other have characters made very similar mistakes on multiple occasions. Other characters have no problem quickly forgiving them for their mistakes. Making it seem hypocritical that part of Anne's character arc is learning to forgive people when they mess up, when that's all every other character does when Anne does something wrong.

I think it's trying to say that Anne is constantly forgiven while she has to learn to forgive is a broken Aesop, but I'm not sure...

Edited by fragglelover on Oct 2nd 2024 at 9:41:21 AM

CanuckMcDuck1 PEPSIMAN from Japan Since: Sep, 2023 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
PEPSIMAN
#32892: Oct 2nd 2024 at 7:47:06 PM

[up]The example should explain the times that Anne and the gang made similar mistakes. It could definitely be reworded to be less convoluted and more specific. Plus, Anne has done far less awful things than betray her best friends or intentionally hide a one-way ticket out of a Crapsack World.

[up][up]I think that it would fit more with Shout-Out, unless there's anything more to the NPC than having a similar name to Tiger.

Malady: Looks like it fits more with Fictional Field of Science, since souls appear to be real things in the Eva-verse that can be studied and tampered with (It’s part of the human instrumentality project, correct?).

king15: The best it would fit would be Adaptational Intelligence, although Marge isn’t a genius in the 1999 adaptation.

Ferot_Dreadnaught: The former example about Disney refusing to release Song of the South would fit better as part of Creator Backlash, or even Denial of Digital Distribution. The other example can easily be changed to Common Knowledge.

Edited by CanuckMcDuck1 on Oct 2nd 2024 at 8:57:38 AM

Do not mess with creatures which you do not understand.
Malady (X-Troper)
#32893: Oct 2nd 2024 at 8:29:30 PM

[up] - Yeah, as the Wiki says, there's established tech to handle / manipulate souls. There's a lot of very good speculation grounded in stuff from the Bible or whatever, but that's all it is, speculation.

https://wiki.evageeks.org/Metaphysical_Biology

"the technology that allows them to manipulate Metaphysical Biology and souls."


  1. Floornight: 20 Minutes into the Future, two DARPA scientists discover that the soul, or as they call it the pneuma, is very much real, and that splitting it apart produces more power than any nuclear reactor ever could. However, there are a myriad of ethical issues associated with this, not the least of which is the fact that all pneuma processes generate fully conscious minds known as "Boltzmen" out of nothing, many of which dissipate moments later. Because of this, the organization EPRN is founded to regulate pneuma research and keep its existence a secret.
  2. LunarLux: When reading "The Power of Lux" in the science room of Lunex:
    Science has confirmed the existence of the soul, now known as "Lux".
    In simple terms, Lux is soul energy.
    Despite Lux being a relatively new field of research, we've made a few discoveries.
    Lux is tied strongly to feelings, emotions, willpower, and instinct.
    Some individuals can have stronger Lux than others.
    My team has theorized that in rare cases, Lux can possibly be harnessed and manipulated.
  3. Music: C.W.R by Team Kamiuta: The Original's narration, when fan translated, talks about the science of soul exteriors.

Of these examples, only the last is Fictional Field of Science because it just names the field, while the other two actually deal with the soul using techniques?

Edited by Malady on Oct 2nd 2024 at 8:43:05 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
animuacid The girl of the window from Astyr residence in Lilysthia's grounds Since: Jan, 2024 Relationship Status: I love you for psychological reasons
The girl of the window
#32894: Oct 3rd 2024 at 12:53:26 PM


I've recently seen several Network to the Rescue examples about the following: Sol Press picks up a Light Novel or Manga for translation, but their business license got suspended in 2021, so the fate of the work remained uncertain until another publisher salvaged it. They are in Chivalry of a Failed Knight and Is the Order a Rabbit?.

Several months ago, I reported a similar Sol Press situation for the Visual Novel Nukitashi, but I used Late Export for You instead of Network to the Rescue like this:

  • Late Export for You: In October 2018, Sol Press announced that they started working on the localization of Nukitashi, but it was a slow process and in 2021 the company was suspended for non-payment of taxes. That left the visual novel stuck in a limbo until Shiravune picked it up and released the English and Chinese translation in June 2023.

Which of these two trivia items is more accurate to all these examples, Network to the Rescue or Late Export for You?


Would this situation be Tulpa or Literal Split Personality? (names are censored)

  • Between her neurodivergence and having to sit through many time loops while remembering everything, a second personality emerged inside F's mind. It has been growing crueler and arguing with F until eventually, it materializes as an independent Doppelgänger, now known as M.


This threesome example is absurd, caused by incense of all things. Would it also count for Aliens Made Them Do It?

  • A Threesome Is Hot: In Reina's route, Ayaka tries to vent an incense that causes people to become very thirsty and sexually active. Ouro and Reina notice that his room is unusually hot, and Ayaka nearly suffers from dehydration. Suddenly, the three of them start banging each other, and Ayaka apologizes for the whole thing afterwards.

king15 Have Faun Since: Mar, 2024
Have Faun
#32895: Oct 3rd 2024 at 3:45:16 PM

I know defending The Room (2003) seems strange, but I don't really agree with this entry under Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:

  • Denny is practically a walking embodiment of the trope. He's an ambiguously-aged Kiddie Kid in the middle of what's supposed to be an adult drama, and his reason for hanging around Johnny and Lisa is unexplained. His drug addiction and run-in with Chris-R come straight out of nowhere and are never acknowledged again.
His reason for hanging out with Johnny and Lisa is explained (he sees Johnny as his surrogate father and Johnny sees him as his surrogate son, Johnny gave him a key to the apartment and is financially supporting him, and he also has a crush on Lisa), and while the plotline of his drug addiction and run-in with Chris-R do come out of nowhere and doesn't go anywhere itself, it does provide Johnny with the gun uses to shoot himself. Denny is a strange character and the film is full of Big-Lipped Alligator Moments, but this isn't one of them.

Edited by king15 on Oct 3rd 2024 at 10:46:57 AM

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (10,238/50,000)
#32896: Oct 3rd 2024 at 3:57:57 PM

Yeah, that's misuse. BLAM is a moment anyway.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
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
#32897: Oct 3rd 2024 at 7:51:24 PM

From YMMV.Pizza Tower:

  • What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: Some have interpreted the game as somewhat of a commentary on shady business practices of large corporations when dealing with smaller competitors. Pizzaface has a massive corporate empire in the tower, spanning from various restaurants (Golf, Fastfood Saloon, Don't Make A Sound), production centers (Fun Farm, Peppibot Factory), and even a tropical vacation resort (the third hub). He threatens to shoot Peppino's Pizza with a giant laser, mirroring how larger businesses will throw money around, rather than using the actual quality of their product, to remove small businesses. And the real final boss Pizzahead seems to perfectly mirror Mascots from large chains like Ronald McDonald, a happy-go-lucky face hiding a darker corporate side. Peppino by contrast, while down on his luck, and not perfect, is genuinely passionate about his job. This passion allows him to defeat Pizzahead despite everything he throws at him, showing the true triumph of the small businessman.

This seems like a bit of a stretch to me. AFAIK (I haven’t played the game, but I have seen people play it on YouTube) there really isn’t much of a plot in this game, and I have never heard anyone interpret it as a political metaphor for big vs small businesses. Am I correct, or no? And what, if anything, should be done here?

Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Oct 3rd 2024 at 10:55:50 AM

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit The clown of STEEL from Ichnusa Since: Mar, 2024
The clown of STEEL
#32898: Oct 4th 2024 at 4:15:50 AM

I was thinking of adding this to InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike.Real Life.
How "true" is this? It's something that happened to me at school, but did happen often enough, to other people, that it can be an example?

Also, I don't know if it could be more concise or not.

  • Hamilcar was a successful Carthaginian general from the Punic Wars period, who gained the epithet "baraq", which in Phoenician meant "lightning" ( from a Semitic root, compare Hebrew "bárak" and Arabic "barq"). Baraq became "Barca" in Latin, hence the full name Hamilcar Barca; sometimes historians also apply this surname to his sons, such as Hasdrubal Barca, Mago Barca and, occasionally, to his most famous son, Hannibal; they are collectively named the Barcids as a result. Originally, Hamilcar was named baraq/Barca as a reference to the speed and destructivity of his victories, akin to a lightning strike. However, in Late Latin, a separate word "barca", an homonym with a completely different etymologynote , also entered in use, meaning boat. Such word was then transferred with the same meaning in many Romance languages, especially Catalan and Italian; and since marine transportation comes up more often than ancient history, "boat" is the meaning most people expect from the word. As such, when the descendants of the Romans learn about the Punic Wars at school, they will inevitably ask themselves why are Hamilcar and his sons named after boats.

Oo oo ah ah
Bullman Enid Sinclair Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Longing for my OTP
Enid Sinclair
#32899: Oct 4th 2024 at 3:48:26 PM

I found this on YMMV.Megalopolis

  • He Really Can Act: For all the film's faults, Giancarlo Esposito does get to shine quite a bit in it by virtue of finally getting to play a character in the new millennium that ISN'T a rehash of Gustavo Fring. He may not be the best character ever, but Cicero lets Esposito be loud, goofy, hammy, and even heartstring-pulling in his few moments of sincerity, making him stand out all the more among the actor's recent roles.

Was anyone doubting him? This feels mostly like gushing.

Fan-Preferred Couple cleanup thread
king15 Have Faun Since: Mar, 2024
Have Faun
#32900: Oct 4th 2024 at 3:50:40 PM

He could probably be added to the Took the Bad Film Seriously section, but his quality as a dramatic actor was never in question so I don't think that counts. And while he has been typecast, Espocito has played characters in the new millennium who aren't just rehashes of Fring, so that's hyperbolic as well.

Edited by king15 on Oct 4th 2024 at 11:52:58 AM


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