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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

SomePerson Since: Sep, 2016 Relationship Status: All I Want for Christmas is a Girlfriend
#6376: Sep 26th 2018 at 8:36:02 AM

Your edit ninja'd me. I understand now.

Have you seen my comic yet?
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#6377: Sep 26th 2018 at 8:38:43 AM

Hey, sorry, I can be a bit of a Serial Tweaker at times.

Pichu-kun ... Since: Jan, 2001
...
#6379: Sep 27th 2018 at 10:41:24 AM

Het Is Ew is in-universe only, right? I see it often used when referring to shippers. Iirc, it used to be used that way but was cleaned up, wasn't it?

Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#6380: Sep 27th 2018 at 11:50:30 AM

[up] It says its In-Universe Examples Only, anything else sounds like complaining or personal attacks.

gjjones Musician/Composer from South Wales, New York Since: Jul, 2016
Musician/Composer
#6381: Sep 27th 2018 at 1:44:23 PM

I have a question about the End of an Age trope. For example, on the James Bond article for Diamonds Are Forever:

  • Due to endless litigation between the producers and Kevin McClory, this would be the last Eon Bond film where Blofeld and SPECTRE would appear as Big Bad and Nebulous Evil Organisation respectively until the 2015 movie Spectre.
  • It was also this for classic Bond, since Sean Connery only agreed to one additional movie with UA boss David Picker, and, minus McClory's Never Say Never Again, refused to deal with any part of the franchise ever again note  EON had to recast the role for the third time in a row, going with Roger Moore, who was considered originally.

Would these entries count?

Edited by gjjones on Sep 27th 2018 at 7:10:50 AM

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
wingedcatgirl mys. minty from the silly dimension from lurking (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
mys. minty from the silly dimension
#6382: Sep 27th 2018 at 5:38:17 PM

[up][up][up] Het Is Ew is one of those artifacts of when the wiki was less well-organized and more "observe! a fanthing!" We have a lot of pages like this one that started off describing what's more than anything else a "mentality that exists among fanbases". Many of them became YMMV or Fanspeak, but some of them were given this treatment.

The result of this process means that there's a lot of wicks that were okay when they were added, but need to be deleted now.

Edited by wingedcatgirl on Sep 27th 2018 at 5:40:55 AM

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
Malady (X-Troper)
#6383: Sep 28th 2018 at 6:25:29 AM

Repost from #6330:

Pale Females, Dark Males just calls Light Girl, Dark Boy, "the human equivalent"

So, is LGDB a trope about coloration of Gender Bender forms only, or the coloration of men and women in general?

Edited by Malady on Sep 28th 2018 at 6:24:50 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#6384: Sep 28th 2018 at 3:11:38 PM

Characters.Friendship Is Magic Major Villains had Foil commented out since "Until she and Diamond Tiara directly interact, she doesn't qualify as a foil. She does, however qualify as some type of counterpart."

Does Foil require they interact or be together in some form? If so, There is significant misuse being thrown around?

AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#6385: Sep 28th 2018 at 4:34:56 PM

They don't need to directly interact, but they do need to be clearly paired up narratively speaking. If they're on the same team, then they need to interact, which also needs to touch on the foil aspects. If they're on different teams, they need to hold equivalent roles in their teams, and the foil part probably comes into effect in how they interact with their teams.

Basically, the context of the example needs to make clear it's not a coincidence (although I doubt you'd guess that from looking at the examples).

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WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#6386: Sep 29th 2018 at 6:51:11 AM

From YMMV.Dead Or Alive 6

Unfortunate Implications: According to Word of God, female characters had their breast size decreased to make them look "more human". Naturally busty women didn't take to this kindly.

While it is sourced as per the rule, it comes from a Twitter post so I don't know if its credible.

AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#6387: Sep 29th 2018 at 7:06:31 AM

The comments following calls the translation of the original quote unreliable, so there wouldn't be just that. And as the page says, "The citation should be in a reputable source," so a Twitter post isn't exactly it.

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MasterHero Since: Aug, 2014
#6388: Sep 29th 2018 at 3:18:15 PM

Many entries in the Dork Age article seem to be written just to express annoyance for annoyance's sake. Seriously, someone once wrote Brian Michael Bendis' Superman before that story had just started publication. I think I know how to specify when does an entry in a long-running franchise qualifies as a Dork Age:

1. It has to be a critical and financial disappointment

2. Any changes it brought to the series must be undone by later installments

3. Whenever it's referenced by other entries, it has to be done in a negative manner.

What do you think?

crazysamaritan NaNo 4328 / 50,000 from Lupin III Since: Apr, 2010
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
#6389: Sep 29th 2018 at 5:47:18 PM

I think such a change would warrant a dedicated thread to discussion. Possibly ate rope repair shop thread.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#6390: Sep 30th 2018 at 7:28:57 AM

Can The Other Darrin apply to adaptations of a work that is set in an Alternate Continuity to said work, such as with the upcoming live-action adaptation of Sonic The Hedgehog:

* The Other Darrin:
  • Jim Carrey replaces Eggman's regular voice actor, Mike Pollock, as Eggman for this movie, voice and live-action.
  • Likewise, the title character's voice is provided by Ben Schwartz instead of his current, regular voice actor, Roger Craig Smith.

Also from the same work, given how often Audience-Alienating Premise and Critical Research Failure are frequently misused on this wiki, could I get some confirmation as to whether these examples are correct or not:

  • Audience-Alienating Premise: The idea of a theatrical Sonic the Hedgehog movie in and of itself is a little questionable mostly due to the almost universal nature of video game movies, but the fact that the film is primarily live-action has gotten many people really worried on the concept of a live-action Sonic the Hedgehog. Negative comparisons to the Super Mario Bros film were already abound from the get-go, and probably even inevitable.
  • Critical Research Failure: Film producer Neal Moritz outlined his vision of Sonic as a character "desperately in need of a friend," somehow ignoring the existence of Tails, his closest friend and ally in virtually all Sonic media, and the plethora of other friends Sonic has in the video game series and other media. Some fans even took his words as evidence that Tails wouldn't appear at all in the movie, incensing said fans.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#6391: Sep 30th 2018 at 7:35:17 AM

I would at least say Critical Research Failure is premature. Unless something has been confirmed otherwise, the movie could either take place before Sonic and Tails meet or be how they meet. Either scenario makes Sonic being in need of a friend valid without being CRF.

Edited by sgamer82 on Sep 30th 2018 at 8:39:09 AM

MasterHero Since: Aug, 2014
#6392: Sep 30th 2018 at 11:10:13 AM

Sonic is an Interpretative Character, meaning that there are multiple versions of Sonic out there, each with their own personalities and nuances. I don't think Critical Research Failure qualifies. I don't know about Audience-Alienating Premise, though.

AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#6393: Sep 30th 2018 at 2:28:43 PM

The Other Darrin does not apply to adaptations. It's only within the same adaptation. Otherwise it's pointless, since every single changed actor between two adaptations would count, and that's most of them. That's not notable. An actor changing within a single narrative is notable, because it's an out-of-story change that isn't reflected in-story.

Audience-Alienating Premise is so far speculative, so delete it.

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Yinyang107 from the True North (Decatroper) Relationship Status: Tongue-tied
#6394: Sep 30th 2018 at 3:36:05 PM

I don't see how it's speculative when we already know the premise though.

Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#6395: Sep 30th 2018 at 4:30:28 PM

From Designated Hero:

  • Batman borders on this in The LEGO Batman Movie, since he is a self-centered, glory-seeking Jerkass for most of the film and at one point breaks into the Fortress of Solitude, inconsiderately destroys a lot of Superman's belongings, and takes the Phantom Zone projector without permission all so he can use it to imprison the Joker in the Phantom Zone and never have to deal with him again.note  Even after Batman learns to be more considerate toward others and the importance of allowing people to help him in his battle against crime, it's excruciatingly ignored that he broke into and defiled Superman's lair.

Boarders suggests it's arguable, and the point of the work is a Deconstruction of Batmans character to show how flawed and selfish he actually is, which he owns up to. The Fortress of Solitude part, which I'd say is only 10% of his character, is already covered by Unintentionally Unsympathetic.

It seem wrong to call him a Designated Hero if 90% of his flaws are deliberate.

MasterHero Since: Aug, 2014
#6396: Sep 30th 2018 at 4:44:58 PM

[up] Look, I only want the tropes to be used properly, but when you judge a character to be sympathetic/unsympathetic, you have to:

  • consider their intentions behind their actions and the context of those actions. If you break a character down to just their actions, and ignore their motivations behind it, you ignore a great part of their character.
  • understand the difference between a character being sympathetic and a character being right. A character can bring up some good arguments in a discussion but those arguments can be defeated by someone with even better arguments.

Edited by MasterHero on Sep 30th 2018 at 4:47:17 AM

Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#6397: Sep 30th 2018 at 5:03:48 PM

[up] I'm not understanding your argument. Do we keep it or not? If so, why.

crazysamaritan NaNo 4328 / 50,000 from Lupin III Since: Apr, 2010
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
#6398: Sep 30th 2018 at 5:46:55 PM

I don't see how it's speculative when we already know the premise though.
From what I read of the example, it says "Live-action adaptations of video games are universally disliked". That isn't really a premise, and it is factually incorrect.
If it was a defensible Audience-Alienating Premise, we should then add the same example to each of the other live-action adaptations. (I think there's like twenty or thirty?)

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
MasterHero Since: Aug, 2014
#6399: Sep 30th 2018 at 6:56:50 PM

[up][up] Ok, I'm sorry for not being clear. If a hero's character flaws are pointed out in-universe and such hero works to improve himself, then he is not a Designated Hero.

Primis Since: Nov, 2010
#6400: Sep 30th 2018 at 7:17:30 PM

[up][up] The Audience-Alienating Premise entry is poorly-written as-is, but the movie's premise has been released and it's been widely criticized as being an In Name Only adaptation, so I think the example can stay as long as it's rewritten to reflect that.

As a side-note, I wouldn't say that it's "factually incorrect", the Video Game Movies Suck trope wouldn't exist otherwise. "Universally disliked"? Sure, that may be a bit strong, but the few video-game movies that are liked either aren't actually adaptations but Expanded Universe material, or are just 'not as bad as the Mario movie'.

Edited by Primis on Sep 30th 2018 at 7:44:23 AM


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