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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

TroperNo9001 Dragon in Waiting from the Dollhouse (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: I turn to stone when you are gone
Dragon in Waiting
#34051: Feb 17th 2025 at 12:46:39 PM

Does Hot Food Hurts also apply to peppers since they're naturally hot? The trope is used for foods that need to cool first, but there's one example on that page that involves peppers.

Still waiting for someone to break him free...
Lermis Purposefully Untitled from Out of touch with reality Since: Nov, 2018 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Purposefully Untitled
#34052: Feb 17th 2025 at 1:13:33 PM

Does Impossible Task apply to actual riddles or is it only for non-physical tasks? For example, if Alice tells Bob his job is to solve a math problem that she knows is impossible to solve, is this an Impossible Task?

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (now oficial) index in my Sandbox.
gjjones Musician/Composer from South Wales, New York Since: Jul, 2016
Musician/Composer
#34053: Feb 17th 2025 at 6:07:48 PM

Bumping from the previous page.

This was just added to Manga.Elfen Lied:

  • Incompetence, Inc.: The Diclonius research facility and its assorted government agents just reek of this in the Anime. Aside of all the unethical and utterly disgusting experiments and atrocities that are done towards the Diclonius children, their security measures leave a lot to be desired (like making it apparently pretty easy for former personnel like Kakuzawa junior to hack them and help Lucy escape), and its personnel appears pretty often either out of their element or outright stupid, considering that they're studying and jailing them for years and have dealt with escape attempts before. There are numerous examples of scientists, security guards and SAT units citing procedures and countermeasures to handle the extremely dangerous Diclonii only to either apparently forget immediatedly what they just said or hesitating in critical moments to go through with it, like the security guards in the opening scene not backing off immediatedly and maybe regrouping with better weaponry when Lucy SLOWLY closes in on them, despite themselves noting that they are safe from her vectors as long as they keep their distance, instead just standing around after being out of ammo and getting slaughtered like cattle. While some of it can be handwaved away with the (supposedly) male Diclonius Director's callous disregard for human lives leading to not putting much priority on guaranteeing the safety of his employees or irrational but rather natural Fear-Induced Idiocy, their supposedly battle-hardened and better equipped SAT agents often just stand around and rather comment on when Lucy is going to engage them, instead of just shooting her or trying to spread out and keep her out of range, which is especially jarring when they're later significantly better briefed on what they're up against. Not to mention having hilariously bad reaction time and aim, even when using armor-piercing rounds that can't be deflected so easily with vectors.

Does this example fit?

Edited by gjjones on Feb 17th 2025 at 9:07:58 AM

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
Lermis Purposefully Untitled from Out of touch with reality Since: Nov, 2018 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
Purposefully Untitled
#34054: Feb 17th 2025 at 11:44:58 PM

[up]The first thing that strikes me about this example is its overly negative tone, especially for a main page trope. I can see where the trooper is coming from, but it definitely needs to be rewritten.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (now oficial) index in my Sandbox.
Ayumi-chan 3rd happiest man in Connecticut from Iacon City (Experienced Trainee) Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
3rd happiest man in Connecticut
#34055: Feb 18th 2025 at 12:23:26 AM

Bumping

She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/A
DoktorvonEurotrash Lex et Veritas from Not a place of honour (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#34056: Feb 18th 2025 at 5:39:12 AM

[up]x5: The description makes it clear that the trope is about physical temperature, not spice level. "Compare Fire-Breathing Diner and Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce for the other kind of hot."

Also, spiciness doesn't decrease if you leave your food for longer.

BKelly95 Tame Racing Driver (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Tame Racing Driver
#34057: Feb 18th 2025 at 7:50:10 AM

I found this on the Live-Action TV subpage for Dying Clue:

  • Walker, Texas Ranger:
    • The episode "Legends" counts as both Type 1 and Type 5. The Big Bad of the episode, Michael Viscardi, strangles his middle man, Dean Scaggs, to death when the latter ends up being followed to the former's office by Gage and Sydney, who had a warrant for his arrest. Gage and Sydney search the office to find Scaggs's lifeless corpse and the message written with Scaggs's blood reading "D.A. Walk", which signifies that in Michael's Roaring Rampage of Revenge against those who convicted his father, his final target is the prosecuting attorney, Alex. Alex's surname is incomplete when it is found written in blood, which makes it Type 1, but it counts as Type 5 for Alex and Walker to be named Michael's final targets after the he kills Scaggs.

Since the message was written by Viscardi and there's no indication that they thought it was written by Scaggs, wouldn't that disqualify it from Dying Clue?

There are other issues as well, but the question of it being an example is most relevant to this thread.

AwkbutTVT Nyan-Binary (The picture, not me) from Gaia, in no current need of help Since: Sep, 2023
Nyan-Binary (The picture, not me)
#34058: Feb 18th 2025 at 5:21:14 PM

In Yo-kai Sangokushi, if two units are flanking an enemy and one uses a normal attack, both will attack at the same time, resulting in a stronger normal attack. Does this qualify as a Combination Attack?

Ey, migi vuru?
CurledUpWithDakka from Kansas City, MO, USA 64127 (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#34059: Feb 18th 2025 at 9:56:59 PM

For Kill One, Others Get Stronger: The trope description specifically mentions "killing" a member of a group, with the remaining members getting stronger as a result; Conservation of Ninjutsu involves an group that's not necessarily sharing power being more effective the fewer members there are, and the group can be more effective than a large group just by starting off with fewer members, no killing/disabling required. However... There's a particular webcomic, where a specific character has the ability to 'produce' a total of five bodies (it's an application of her ability to teleport- she can leave a body behind at the original location without having to "destroy" it, and have a total of five instances, and teleporting to another location when there are already five copies requires untelporting one of the already existing copies), with a consciousness shared between all copies. Whenever she untelports a copy to reduce her numbers (which is sometimes required due to how her ability handles weight limits for transporting held items), the rest become stronger and faster. This doesn't exactly involve killing (and the comic hasn't brought up what would happen if a copy is killed and untelported).

Edited by CurledUpWithDakka on Feb 18th 2025 at 11:58:33 AM

I said "drop it: it's hot," not "drop it like it's hot!"
FSharp Resisting a rest Since: Jan, 2019 Relationship Status: I wanna know what love is
#34060: Feb 18th 2025 at 10:14:50 PM

[up] Do the other copies get weaker when she makes a new one? If so, then it could be an example of Cloning Splits Attributes.

I don't just Wiki Talk the talk. I Wiki Walk the walk.
TroperNo9001 Dragon in Waiting from the Dollhouse (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: I turn to stone when you are gone
Dragon in Waiting
#34061: Feb 19th 2025 at 10:02:04 AM

Is it a subversion of Freudian Excuse Denial when a villain claims that their traumatic childhood didn't turn them evil... because they genuinely didn't have one?

Still waiting for someone to break him free...
KageTsuki88 (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Chat, is this real?
#34062: Feb 19th 2025 at 11:08:59 AM

This is from the YMMV page of For Love of Magic:

  • Creator's Pet: Like so many other HP fics, the author turns Harry into a superhuman who can do things few others can, acquires a harem, and is always right even when he does horrible, horrible things to other people.

Regardless of I personally feel about the quality about the fanfic in question, I personally can literally feel the Complaining About Shows You Don't Like and agenda based writing oozing from this entry, not to mention that it is lacking in the context department. Not to mention, idk if main characters can even qualify for Creator's Pet but honestly even if they do I believe that this entry can be cut solely based on what I mentioned in the first sentence. Cut?

Edited by KageTsuki88 on Feb 19th 2025 at 2:10:29 PM

dcutter2 Since: Sep, 2013
#34063: Feb 19th 2025 at 11:44:51 AM

[up] Cut that. Reasonably sure Creator's pet doesn't apply to fanworks. They are not the creator of the character.

Bomber-Boi Gaming Fanatic (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: In another castle
Malady (X-Troper)
#34065: Feb 19th 2025 at 2:33:01 PM

I'm not sure if this is Held Back in School or just being a much older apprentice than expected:

  • The Dark Profit Saga: Orconomics: Chapter 10 mentions Laruna being not fitting in because she's an apprentice mage who's not a child:
    Unpleasant memories of the academy surfaced in her mind, of long days wearing apprentice robes that were far too small, sitting in a classroom full of peers who weren’t half her age.

EDIT: Son of a Liche: Chapter 4: "Hadn’t the solamancer in question spent over a decade as an apprentice?"

[down] - True, I haven't seen a precise timeline yet. Although... edit...

Edited by Malady on Feb 20th 2025 at 7:11:36 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
underCoverSailsman Peeks from Under Rocks from State of Flux Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#34066: Feb 19th 2025 at 2:50:34 PM

Why is she older than the other apprentices? From an overview of the series page, it sounds like she got started late due to Parental Abuse and possibly socioeconomic factors, not being held back for learning difficulties.

Nejiiuyn Kaiser der Anonymität from The Mysterious Beyond Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Kaiser der Anonymität
#34067: Feb 19th 2025 at 6:27:55 PM

Does this count as an example of Enforced Cold War?

  • The Great Game was a cold war esque rivalry between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for control and influence in Central and Southern Asia during the 19th Century through to the early 20th. Both sides had imperial interests in the region and were concerned about the threat of the other towards their respective colonies and spheres of influence. The British feared Russian expansion in Central Asia would threaten their colony in India, and vice versa, the Russians were afraid that the expanding influence of the British would threaten their conquered territories in Central Asia. Despite the rivalry, both empires actively worked to avoid any actual war by using their influence to create and control numerous proxies in the form of protectorates, vassals, and buffer states in order to divide their territories and prevent any kind of skirmishing that could result in a war. In some cases, the two would even cooperate to divide their influence such as the agreement that divided their economic influence in Persia (modern day Iran). The rivalry only ended on the outbreak of the First World War when the two empires found themselves allied together against the Central Powers.

My treasure? If you want it, you can have it! Search for it! I left in that place!
TheMountainKing Since: Jul, 2016
#34068: Feb 19th 2025 at 9:50:34 PM

[up] What's enforcing this cold war? If it's just "both sides don't think a war would be advantageous", I don't think it counts.

Lynn1391 (Newbie)
#34069: Feb 20th 2025 at 1:04:02 AM

From the Xia Yu Yao's section (check the VOICEMITH and E-CAPSULE Co., Ltd. section) of Characters.Synth V:

  • Ambiguously Human: Averted. During development of her UTAU voice, her artist izumi was told to avoid drawing non-human designs.
I don't know much about SynthV, but she has a very human-like design and the trope may be meant to be an "ambigiously humanoid character who is a human or not."

isoycrazy Lord of the Blue Star Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Abstaining
Lord of the Blue Star
#34070: Feb 20th 2025 at 3:54:40 AM

Does Humanity on Trial include if it's a fantasy world with another sentient race judging humans for their transgressions and deciding if humans should be wiped out? This manga is about a human named Iren raised by dragons sent to the human kingdom's capital to judge whether humans should be allowed to live after the humans have broken the non-aggression pact, destroyed the dragon's shrines, stole the eggs of lesser dragons, and finally breaking a sacred pact.

PeppermintSoda i like cheese from Hideout Planet. It was once called Earth Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
i like cheese
#34071: Feb 20th 2025 at 9:17:20 PM

Wrote this in Music.Cults a while back. Does this count as Snowy Screen of Death without the Camera Abuse part, or is the latter required?


  • Used stylistically for Static. Elements of this trope are present throughout its songs:
    • The start of "No Hope" sounding like the singer is adjusting their TV and refining the sound.
    • The music video for "Always Forever" is full of instances of this trope. As the song starts playing, the 50's style TV shows Madeline lying down on the sofa before cutting to static. Throughout the song, blue hazy static is overlaid in Madeline's living room as she sings, and a static transition happens during the bridge.

(reference to the music video)

Edited by PeppermintSoda on Feb 21st 2025 at 4:19:12 AM

i like cheese
Ayumi-chan 3rd happiest man in Connecticut from Iacon City (Experienced Trainee) Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
3rd happiest man in Connecticut
#34072: Feb 21st 2025 at 4:48:09 AM

Found these on The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak, which I'm unsure of (they don't describe if it's a prank):

  • Pants-Pulling Prank:
    • When a group of unruly tourists cause trouble at the hotel pool, Naje pulls out a sword and cuts all of their pants off in one stroke, leaving them standing around in their boxers.
    • Happens again during the finale when some Bugbear goons once again try to take on someone way above their level. Two Dominions, an Old Master and an Ouroboros Enforcer quickly cure them of their overconfidence by sending them running off without their trousers.
    Aaron: You could've at least let them THINK they had a chance of winning.

Also bumping

She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/A
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.
#34073: Feb 21st 2025 at 7:07:36 AM

Question about Always Identical Twins: does the trope count when the twins are opposite genders?

You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.
dcutter2 Since: Sep, 2013
#34074: Feb 21st 2025 at 7:22:13 AM

[up] Yes if they look unnaturally similar. Fourth paragraph:

This trope is so pervasive that it even manifests when the twins have different sexes — Half-Identical Twins shouldn't even be identical! Though it is certainly possible for fraternal twins to bear a Strong Family Resemblance (especially in early childhood), or for one twin to be transgender.

Edited by dcutter2 on Feb 21st 2025 at 3:22:24 PM

underCoverSailsman Peeks from Under Rocks from State of Flux Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#34075: Feb 21st 2025 at 11:54:21 AM

[up][up]Those two are both PCE/ZCE. Ironically, the shorter one seems to be more solid. I suspect that it's "She Pantsd them with her sword as a Prank Punishment both because It Amused Me and to get them to stop being obnoxious", but I'd have to see the scene to be sure.


Your earlier question on RRR depends: does he actually hunt or target the group? Other bits of the character sheet make it seem like he takes any challenger, so just being a little more into it with some wouldn't count. (The troper who added that entry may also not understand Zig-Zagged. They've added several... questionable... instances of the tag.)

Edited by underCoverSailsman on Feb 21st 2025 at 1:55:12 PM


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