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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

MyFinalEdits Delete message from Parts Unknown (Spin-off Series) Relationship Status: Cast away
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#33976: Feb 9th 2025 at 11:11:07 PM

MaLady: Thanks! I've added the example in question in both pages (albeit with different wording for each). [tup]

Edited by MyFinalEdits on Feb 9th 2025 at 3:11:19 PM

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Malady (X-Troper)
#33978: Feb 10th 2025 at 5:46:06 AM

[up][up] - Glad to help!

FYI I have unanswered queries on the previous page, but happy troping!

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Mariofan99 Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#33979: Feb 10th 2025 at 6:54:30 AM

Would the following count as a Hostile Show Take Over, Dark Reprise, or both?

For the first two seasons of ReBoot the following Opening Narration is given by The Hero Bob:

"I come from the Net, through systems, peoples and cities to this place - Mainframe. My format: Guardian. To mend and defend. To defend my newfound friends, their hopes and dreams. To defend them from their enemies."

To reflect Bon getting Put on a Bus to Hell in the Season 2 finale the intro is instead delivered by Megabyte for the start of Season 3:

"I come from the Net, through systems, peoples and cities to this place - Megaframe, my domain. My format: Virus. To corrupt and conquer"

Edited by Mariofan99 on Feb 10th 2025 at 9:58:14 AM

cubeGET (Troper in training) Relationship Status: Tweaking my holographic boyfriend
#33980: Feb 10th 2025 at 6:56:29 AM

Typically, whenever a videogame has a Creature-Breeding Mechanic, and it doesn't keep track of families, there's nothing stopping you from breeding a creature with it's offspring, or siblings with each other. For games like this, are Brother–Sister Incest and Parental Incest valid tropes even though the game itself doesnt treat it as such?

On the Video Game subpage for Brother Sister Incest, Pokemon is listed, and it straight up says it's not something the game itself encourages or even acknowledges. Just that "this is a community suggested tip".

The page for Viva Piñata has the same issue. Both incest tropes are listed, but the game itself doesn't acknowledge it as such because it doesnt keep track of families. So essentially, all there is to say is "You can do this".

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
BKelly95 Tame Racing Driver (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Tame Racing Driver
#33982: Feb 10th 2025 at 10:23:19 AM

Is this an example of Artistic License – Sports:

  • In The Crew Motorfest, Oahu has a race track called Hanauma Racetrack. The only motorsports venue in real life Hawaii is Hilo Dragstrip which is on the big island.

Someone1981 Since: Aug, 2022
#33983: Feb 10th 2025 at 10:37:36 AM

Does Practically Different Generations require that they be alive at the same time? Otherwise, Deanna's big sister, who died as a child, could be added to the following entry:

Deanna Troi's mother Lwaxana gets pregnant during the fourth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, ultimately giving birth to a son who is about 37 years younger than Deanna.

GanSaibou Since: Nov, 2019
#33984: Feb 10th 2025 at 11:23:44 AM

On the Pop-Culture Urban Legends Animated Films page, it lists an example of a rumor that Disney deliberated tried to set their 2D post-renaissance films for failure to prove 2D animation wasn't profitable anymore. This reminded me of a similar claim about them ditching 2D animation for good by setting up their last two 2D films for failure on purpose. This was supposedly done by having a film (The Princess and the Frog) with 'princess' in the name, which would make people think it was just for little girls, and putting it up against movies like Avatar. Then the final 2D film (Winnie the Pooh) was set up for failure by being part of a franchise seen as being for babies, and released the same weekend as the final Harry Potter film.

I am having trouble searching for this claim online. Does anyone know if it was proven to actually be true? Or if not, can it be added to the page?

Malady (X-Troper)
#33985: Feb 10th 2025 at 12:54:34 PM

Where you talking about? The only "Princess and the Frog" thing I can see is:

PopCultureUrbanLegends.Animated Films:

The Princess and the Frog: There is a rumor online that Disney tried at some stage of development to make Tiana less overtly Black by keeping her curly hair tied up. The assumed concept art is actually fan-art by a French artist on what he imagined Tiana could look like.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
GanSaibou Since: Nov, 2019
#33986: Feb 10th 2025 at 1:43:31 PM

The claim I'm talking about regarding The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh isn't on that page. I'm asking if anyone knows if it was confirmed. And if not, if it should be added to the page.

Monsund Since: Jan, 2001
#33987: Feb 10th 2025 at 6:29:38 PM

  • Denying anything written in Hyrule Historia as being "unofficial" is likely to get what you say disregarded. Being that it was written by the series's production team and overseen by Miyamoto and Aonuma, it should be regarded as canonical as the games themselves.

I've been thinking alot about this one, I feel this is more of a Broken Base as the fandom constantly argues on how seriously the timeline should be taken, even today and on this site.

  • WEAVING HISTORY: This chronicle merely collects information that is believed to be true at this time, and there are many obscured and unanswered secrets that still lie within the tale. As the stories and storytellers of Hyrule change, so, too, does its history. 'Hyrule's history is a continuously woven tapestry of events. Changes that seem inconsequential, disregarded without even a shrug, could evolve at some point to hatch new legends and, perhaps, change the tapestry of history itself.

Fans also discuss the meaning of this and it should be noted that later sources about the timeline, follow this by changing bits of the timeline.

  • Pre-2010, treating anything from Zelda.com's "Encyclopedia" as official canon was liable to get you laughed at or yelled at. Post-2017, the Nintendo Dream magazine's similarly Fan Wank-happy "Hyrule Encyclopedia" has drawn the fanbase's ire, particularly regarding their theory that Termina ceased to exist at the end of Majora's Mask. This is especially significant given that this book is part of a series alongside the aforementioned Hyrule Historia; this has led many people who don't look too much into things to assume that either both books are fully official or neither of them are.

Not only does this bit seem very complain-y, but I feel its another Broken Base, especially as the wikis treat Encyclopedia as canon and again, fans constantly get into arguments about how canon the Encyclopedia is.

MyFinalEdits Delete message from Parts Unknown (Spin-off Series) Relationship Status: Cast away
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#33988: Feb 10th 2025 at 7:04:32 PM

[up]For what it's worth, even though I had restored the Fandom-Enraging Misconception example about Hyrule Historia after its removal, I later retracted my stance and removed it myself. I have little familiarity with the Zelda.com Encyclopedia, though, but I agree that the entry in question is complainy.

135 -> 180 -> 273 -> 191 -> 188 -> 230 -> 300 -> 311
TrendingToon1 Since: Apr, 2015
#33989: Feb 11th 2025 at 8:09:22 AM

How is this?

  • Harsher in Hindsight: The SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Penny Foolish", where Mr. Krabs is obsessed at getting a penny SpongeBob found, eventually becomes this when minting of pennies become slowed due to production costs.

Edited by TrendingToon1 on Feb 11th 2025 at 11:09:35 AM

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#33990: Feb 11th 2025 at 9:23:56 AM

[up]The trope is about real life events making something in fiction harsher. The example looks like in-universe, which is not this trope.

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
ilovewildkratts1 Local Odd Squad Connoisseur from a nice breezy expansive meadow (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Local Odd Squad Connoisseur
#33991: Feb 11th 2025 at 10:38:04 AM

[up] The minting of pennies slowing is something that is currently happening in real-life, but the example as currently written doesn't reflect this well.

Wuewuewuewuewueing my way to the bank.
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#33992: Feb 11th 2025 at 11:39:09 AM

Also it just... doesn't apply as an example. The connection is literally "pennies."

Arguably, more of a connection could be made because the situation involves a business tycoon who is also a famous miser and weirdly associated with fast food hamburgers, but even so, the two are really disconnected.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
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)
#33993: Feb 11th 2025 at 11:42:03 AM

Also, do people actually care that much about the penny stuff? Like, people throw out pennies all the damn time, they're basically seen as worthless. Krabs going through that much trouble for a penny is the entire joke, them slowing down the production isn't going to change that and I doubt it'll change people's perceptions much (my own supervisor at work made a comment about how pennies will stop existing by the time we die just the other day; people don't really care).

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
DoktorvonEurotrash Lex et Veritas from Not a place of honour (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#33994: Feb 11th 2025 at 12:25:06 PM

Yeah, I agree that it's not an example: it's a real stretch.

Though, for the record, Harsher/Hilarious in hindsight may in fact be used for in-universe events.

MatthewWayne The Tapestry Weaver from Camp Echo One Since: Oct, 2014 Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
The Tapestry Weaver
#33995: Feb 11th 2025 at 1:55:01 PM

Bumping my previous query. I got permission from the troper who removed it to re-add it, but I would like some more opinions before I go ahead.

"I'm Mr. Blue, woah-woah-ooh..."
randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#33996: Feb 11th 2025 at 7:26:24 PM

This entry from Steven Universe S3E7 "Drop Beat Dad" doesn't sound right. Walking in on sex is disturbing in and of itself, the fact someone was born from said encounter is irrelevant.

Edited by randomtroper89 on Feb 12th 2025 at 3:39:27 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)
#33997: Feb 11th 2025 at 7:27:23 PM

Yeah, the scenario is already disgusting.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
KageTsuki88 (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Chat, is this real?
#33998: Feb 12th 2025 at 4:58:37 AM

This is from Sleeper Hit AU's Trivia page:

  • Outdated by Canon: In an author's note, the creator noted how the manga had taken both Endeavor and Aizawa in directions that didn't quite mesh with their impressions of the characters, comparing it directly to Team 8 in terms of how the world wound up turning out differently.

For those who are unaware of what Outdated by Canon is, it's a fanfic exclusive Trivia trope that, as per its laconic page, "Once-unexplained element popular in fanworks that gets a definitive, contradicting canon answer much later on". This particulary entry doesn't really explain how the fic's interpretations of the two aforementioned characters ends up being inaccurate by its original work. To me, it has some agenda based feel to it. Free to cut?

Edited by KageTsuki88 on Feb 12th 2025 at 8:00:35 AM

WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#33999: Feb 12th 2025 at 6:08:33 AM

[up]Cut. Doesn't give a clear explanation on what's being outdated and does have a hint of agenda.

KonoeJerry Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Omelette du fromage~
#34000: Feb 12th 2025 at 8:53:19 AM

So I need help on whether Interface Spoiler applies to a particular character in Honkai: Star Rail (under Castorice's folder), or if it's a misuse (on top of being Speculative Troping for something that is not released yet):

  • Interface Spoiler: A relic set added in 3.0, Poet of Mourning Collapse, has Set Bonuses intended for a Quantum Remembrance Pathstrider. No such character would exist until Castorice in 3.2.


When I asked for advice in the Discussions page, it was pointed out that Interface Spoiler applies more to story-related spoilers, rather than "spoiling" anything like a character's element or class, indicating that the usage above might be a misuse. Additionally, that example above really seems like Speculative Troping, since it looks like it's making assumptions that the relic set is her signature set when Castorice is only just announced and her gameplay and stats aren't revealed yet.

Also there aren't any story twists or spoilers about Castorice that could be given away anywhere in the game's current state.


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