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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

ilovewildkratts1 Local Odd Squad Connoisseur from a nice breezy expansive meadow (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Local Odd Squad Connoisseur
#33251: Nov 26th 2024 at 3:17:25 PM

[up][up] Yeah, that seems more like Same Character, But Different to me. If you swap out the entry, it'll help to explain how Freddy has changed since the original show and the new series; the current entry for Characterization Marches On could stand to have some more context.

Wuewuewuewuewueing my way to the bank.
king15 Have Faun Since: Mar, 2024
Have Faun
#33252: Nov 26th 2024 at 3:37:20 PM

[up] and [up][up] I made the suggested changes to the character page. It might be a bit too wordy at the moment, but I do think it fits better than Characterisation Marches On. Thanks for the feedback.

Puttotheangel23 The Speaker Of God from Heaven (Private) Relationship Status: Desperate
The Speaker Of God
#33253: Nov 26th 2024 at 4:50:13 PM

This clip here of Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School from 0:01 to 1:59 (Please note that I cannot submit the entire video as it does over 2 minutes and 30 seconds)


Context: Kyoko's handbook reveals that the people who were allegedly murdered actually committed suicide with all the deaths taking place in rooms with monitors. To test this hypothesis, Makoto gets himself tied up in front of a monitor while Aoi, Ryota, and Kyosuke all hid in another room. Time passes and the monitor finally cuts on, forcing Makoto to watch the despair inducing suicide video. This drives him to crazy visions of his dead friends, all blaming him for their deaths, filling him with guilt and agony.


Is this considered Mind Rape or Nightmare Sequence?

Edited by Puttotheangel23 on Nov 26th 2024 at 4:52:10 AM

One seeks an answer that one cannot grant her, You’re looking for light only you can ignite.
MegaMarioMan (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#33254: Nov 27th 2024 at 2:36:51 AM

A while back I wrote an entry for Concord on Magnum Opus Dissonance, which was removed citing "Misuse — "having lofty expectations" is not the same thing as "views it as their highest-esteemed work"."

Today, I'm not here to ask if that's an example. (at least not directly)

On Trivia.Action 52 (but not on MOD's main page) I found this entry, which seems like another "lofty expectations" example like Concord's was, and would like to know if I'm correctly understanding what falls under misuse for this trope and thus whether this should be removed.

  • Magnum Opus Dissonance: As described on the main page and under Cash-Cow Franchise, it's very clear Vince Perri considered this game his pet project and believed it was going to take the world by storm. Beyond all the plans he had after the game would "inevitably" make him millions, he even was so confident about the project that he somehow figured a $104,000 contest would be financially viable to pack in with the game. To an extent, it did take the world by storm...as a frequent contender for "worst games of all time" lists, with the game ending up as a timeless cautionary tale in what happens when you let unrealistic ambition blind you past your nose.

KonstantinVakhtangov Waiting for the gun to shoot from Eastern Europe Since: Mar, 2024 Relationship Status: Desperate
NotGonnaDoALot4 Man in the Yellow Hat from God knows. Since: Feb, 2018 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Man in the Yellow Hat
#33256: Nov 27th 2024 at 10:31:47 AM

I think this example of Mascot's Name Goes Unchanged is a shoehorn, as almost all characters in the franchise are not subjected to Dub Name Change.

  • Danganronpa: Monokuma's name is left untranslated in official English releases, in spite of having a fairly clear English alternative ("Monobear"). This was at the request of Spike Chunsoft, the game's original developers, to preserve the name's similarity to the word "monochrome."

There's so much I wish I could take back.
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#33257: Nov 27th 2024 at 12:51:32 PM

Yes, if the entire cast keep Japanese names then it not going with Monobear is obvious.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#33258: Nov 27th 2024 at 1:00:10 PM

I found this example on New Old Flame, it seems like misuse because the two are introduced as a married couple

Lawrence and Linda in Phineas and Ferb are probably this. They dated sometime in the late '80s or early '90s but eventually broke up and married other people. They eventually reunited and got married after they had kids with their previous spouses.

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#33259: Nov 27th 2024 at 1:03:38 PM

[up]I think it's still an example of the trope, even if the trope appears in the backstory.

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#33260: Nov 27th 2024 at 1:41:17 PM

I feel most of these arent an example of the trope because These actually are mega useful, but you need to change your set ups depending on whether you are facing a boss or exploring normally.

Final Fantasy V

  • Awesome, but Impractical:
    • Most jobs tear it up against random encounters, but struggle against bosses. Blue Mage and Mystic Knight are the opposite: jobs that are wasted on randoms, but have little trouble confounding bosses. Even Mystic Knight looks very pedestrian when pitted against opponents with no clear weakness, like Exdeath.
    • Dualcast eats truckloads of MP. Terrific for boss fights, but too expensive for random encounters.
    • Quick is nice but you won't ever have a need for it which justifies the high cost of using it on, besides superbosses. A fair number of those extra turns are spent restoring the MP they spent on Quick.
    • The Beastmaster's drawback is that they can only hold one shot. It's one Hell of a shot, but it's not a job which sees regular use. It's a 'save a monster attack for a boss' kind of job. A lot of the cooler-looking enemy abilities, such as Almagest and Giga Flare, unfortunately tend to be less effective than enemies that just do basic attacks, since Release abilities use the monsters' Magic to deal damage, and a lot of monsters have much less Magic than you'd expect.
    • Gladiator might be good if you're facing a group of enemies and want to eliminate them quickly; but Zeninage, Summon, Bladeblitz, and Combine are better in that regard because since deal more damage. Cannoneer is a better source of cost-free, multi-target damage since they don't factor in weapons.
    • Necromancers target all enemies (for the most part) and don't lose damage for it, making them more akin to Summoners than Black Mages. They can blow away random encounters and some bosses like they're not even there. The problem is the fact that this job is obtained only after having completed the post-game campaign, a case that the other Advance-exclusive jobs were at least spared from. They're still a huge upgrade from Oracle, though.

I think this might be another trope entirely, maybe even a new one.

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
costanton11 Since: Mar, 2016
#33261: Nov 27th 2024 at 4:22:42 PM

From YMMV.Return Of The Jedi, it was suggested that the following example be moved from Vindicated by History to Character Perception Evolution:

  • After the nearly universal backlash against Jar Jar Binks in the Prequel Trilogy, many fans have looked more favorably upon the Ewoks. They at least contribute more to the plot and meaningfully help the heroes in taking down the shield generator.

Can groups qualify for the trope?

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit The clown of STEEL from Ichnusa Since: Mar, 2024
The clown of STEEL
#33263: Nov 28th 2024 at 12:53:08 AM

Can And Show It to You be self-inflicted? Because Jetfire dies by ripping his own spark out in Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen, and I wanted to ask if it applies for the trope.

Oo oo ah ah
king15 Have Faun Since: Mar, 2024
Have Faun
#33264: Nov 28th 2024 at 12:58:04 AM

This entry under Characterisation Marches On for Frasier S 1 E 01 The Good Son:

  • Martin is a complete Jerkass. Not even Jerk with a Heart of Gold, but an utter jerk. Flashbacks down the line show Martin pre-hip injury acting more like his later self, with his actions justified as a result of bitterness from his injury.
Is he? While he's much more grumpy in the first episode (though part of the point of his character is that he gets more comfortable with Frasier as the series goes on and begins to move past his injury and dead wife), he's still presented as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, shown when he thanks Frasier at the end.

TroperNo9001 MR. NAICE GUY from The Old Man’s Study (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
MR. NAICE GUY
#33265: Nov 28th 2024 at 3:33:51 AM

Does it count as Critical Encumbrance Failure if there's a time limit on carrying items instead of a weight limit? Lost But Found employs the former, where holding an object for too long will make you drop it into the pile of lost & found items.

"YOU ARE KAIND. MERSIFULL. AND, MOAST OF ALL... YOU DOAN'T KNOW HOW TO CLAIMB."
KrspaceT Since: Apr, 2011
#33266: Nov 28th 2024 at 4:11:11 AM

Been wondering about doing Friendly Fandoms between Madoka and Lycoris Recoil, so two questions.

1: Does the fact Magia Record, the Madoka game, had a co-op event with Lycoris Recoil that seems to influence this disqualify it or not?

2: Is seeing evidence of it in at least two discord servers, Reddit, and some fanart enough you think?

TroperNo9001 MR. NAICE GUY from The Old Man’s Study (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
MR. NAICE GUY
#33267: Nov 28th 2024 at 4:29:30 AM

[up]Cleanup for that trope and Fandom Rivalry is here.

"YOU ARE KAIND. MERSIFULL. AND, MOAST OF ALL... YOU DOAN'T KNOW HOW TO CLAIMB."
WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#33268: Nov 28th 2024 at 4:50:01 AM

King@ I think his first appearance he is more of a jerk then he is later on. Though, you can see it as more understandable since he still recovering from being shot and his relationship with Frasier is still rocky.

Malady (X-Troper)
#33269: Nov 28th 2024 at 4:56:02 AM

@TMH-Sir-Iron-Vomit - Self-Surgery exists, why's he doing it?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
AnoneMouseJr Since: Nov, 2010
#33270: Nov 28th 2024 at 5:04:30 AM

[up] re: Jetfire: He's a living mechanical organism who's literally committing suicide via ripping out his own Spark (his concentrated soul/life energy) so his body can be repurposed into a jet attachment and weapons pack for another living mechanical organism. I don't think this qualifies as either Self-Surgery or And Show It to You.

Until next time...

Anon e Mouse Jr.

Edit: Fixed a typo.

Edited by AnoneMouseJr on Nov 28th 2024 at 10:38:28 AM

If you're responding directly to one of my posts, please ping me to make sure I see it.
king15 Have Faun Since: Mar, 2024
Have Faun
#33271: Nov 28th 2024 at 5:59:08 AM

[up][up][up]Yeah, he does get nicer as the show goes on, but I always saw that as Character Development and not Characterisation Marches On. Regardless, I'll keep the entry but think I'll edit it to remove the part of him being a full on jerk because, even in the first episode, he's still a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, just with more emphasis on the jerk side.

Edited by king15 on Nov 28th 2024 at 1:59:44 PM

ElBuenCuate Since: Oct, 2010
#33272: Nov 28th 2024 at 10:14:35 AM

I want to bring an example from Central Park

Evil Cripple: She isn't in a wheelchair but it's implied she has dwarfism, or a similar condition to it, which is considered a disability.

This seems like a stretch. The point of the trope is that the person is evil and has some debilitating condition. But the fact that she is short doesn't stop her at all from doing a bunch of the things she wants (her age tend to get more in the way).

AegisP Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
Kindhearted SSSSSNAKE Man
#33273: Nov 28th 2024 at 10:20:26 AM

@Frasier entry. I think it is a legit example, we just need to remove the Jerk with a Heart of Gold and reword to "Much bigger of a jerk than he would ever be later on."

As long as this flower is in my heart. My Strength will flow without end.
king15 Have Faun Since: Mar, 2024
Have Faun
#33274: Nov 28th 2024 at 10:32:11 AM

Thanks for the feedback! I've changed it to this:

  • Martin is much grumpier and ruder here than in later episodes, coming across as more of a Jerkass. Flashbacks down the line show Martin pre-hip injury acting more like his later self, with his actions justified as a result of bitterness from his injury.

FSharp Resisting a rest Since: Jan, 2019 Relationship Status: I wanna know what love is
#33275: Nov 28th 2024 at 3:45:47 PM

[up][up][up] Even if she were a cripple, the example doesn't say how she's evil. Just cut it.

I don't just Wiki Talk the talk. I Wiki Walk the walk.

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