Is this an example?

That's definitely not true. I feel like overwhelmingly people associate Batman with Zorro.

Folks, I started posting here to help clear the backlog, but I can't reply to everything. This is a collaborative effort. If you don't see a reply quickly, it's not because you're being ignored.

Also, I would prefer not to address megaposts with large dumps of examples. Rather, you should be presenting examples that you are not certain of along with the reasoning you have for asking about them.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

~Pichu-kun #7825: Here's my question — has that character been confirmed as The Scrappy? If not, then Take That, Scrappy! is inapplicable by definition. Also, "tortured for fourteen years" seems a bit excessive.

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~Gofastmike #7826: I've only seen Battleship once, and I don't specifically recall that scene. The second sentence is confusing, making me wonder if the example is actually an intentional use of the trope.

What defines Mickey Mousing for me isn't a single note matching a single event, but rather a punctuated series of notes. A perfect example of this is the initial (teaser) trailer for Captain Marvel (2019). [1]

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

~Merseyuser1 #7828: I'm going to say it now: I'm really not happy checking a dozen or more examples at a time without you providing any reason why you think they might or might not apply. You don't even have a suspension release conditional on it.

I'll be brief...

• An Aesop: The lede makes it look like three examples, not two. Not a big deal but you could lose it and not suffer.
• Bottle Episode: Not a Subversion. The page itself says that they can end up being more expensive than expected.
• Call-Forward: Assuming this show was produced after the shows it's referencing, this is valid.
• Clip Show: Not zig-zagged. Clip shows are not required to use exclusively recycled footage.
• Decon-Recon Switch: This appears to be a misuse of both deconstruction and reconstruction. Is this show fictional? If not, then while it may discuss tropes, there is no assumption that they would be in play in a non-fictional work, and thus no deconstruction.
• Drugs Are Bad: This is gibberish. Again, you seem to be massively overusing both deconstruction and reconstruction.
• Fragile Speedster: This is a Competitive Balance trope. Cars are not superheroes or fighting game characters. Unless there's some comparison being made between fast and fragile vs. slow and durable... then I guess it could apply.
• Improbably Cool Car: Misuse. This is a fictional trope about someone having an awesome car for no apparent reason.
• Ominous Visual Glitch: Zero context example
• Out-of-Genre Experience: As this is not a fictional work, this trope seems inapplicable. Also, it uses improper indentation and appears to be nattering at itself.
• Precision F-Strike: Misuse of Justified Trope.
• Special Edition Title: Looks fine
• The Alleged Car: This is in the wrong alphabetical order. Ignore articles (a, an, the). Also, this is a fictional trope, describing cars so broken down that it's amazing they still work. Nothing in the example suggests this is what is being talked about. Also, a misuse of both deconstruction and reconstruction.

You know, now that I am looking, I'm glad I did. If you wrote all of those examples yourself, you have a lot to learn about tropes.

Edit: Crap, I just noticed someone else replied. Well, take my responses into advisement as well.

Edited by Fighteer on Mar 8th 2019 at 9:40:00 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

There was recently a big clean-up on Chronicles of an American Beauty and an American Psycho (which I am grateful for because that page was a mess), but these Trademark Favorite Food examples were left alone and I think they either don't have enough context or are misuse:

• Pete and pizza could practically be a Cargo Ship.
• Patrick likes his pumpkin squares.
• Brendon loves sandwiches and coffee.
• Viola really likes pancakes.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢

~WarJay77 #7829: You didn't link the work those examples are from... not that it would make any difference to me, but it helps. Both do indeed look like Hidden Depths, since there is no indication that the characters grow into those traits. Also, both examples (but particularly the first) make the common mistake of confusing tropes for context.

"She is a Fragile Flower Waif-Fu Genki Girl who plays Damsel in Distress." My eyes hurt from all the blue, and none of those tropes have actually been explained. It's a stealth ZCE.

Edited by Fighteer on Mar 8th 2019 at 9:26:38 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

My bad, Fighteer. It's You Are My Destiny. And good point about the lack of context- I'll move the examples to Hidden Depths, and comment them out.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

~Emberfist #7842: Classically, a Black Shirt is a civilian, or at least a non-combatant, who takes up arms for the Evil Overlord because they agree with their ideology, or have been waiting for a chance to stick it to the nasty X's. Military personnel who take the side of the new ruler are something else. I'm not sure if there's a trope for it, specifically.

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~Pichu-kun #7850: Who is "everyone"? I have seen nearly every Batman movie, but have never read the comics, and I'd imagine there are more people like me than people who could tell you exactly which performance the Waynes were seeing the night they died. It's certainly not something I think of when I watch them. "Hey, they were watching Zorro, not The Count of Monte Cristo! Burn the director at the stake!"

Edited by Fighteer on Mar 8th 2019 at 9:38:54 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

~Crossover-Enthusiast #7855: The thing about Trademark Favorite Food that attracts misuse is that the character must be specifically known for liking that food. It can't just be a "favorite" — everyone has things they like or prefer. To fit the trope, they should be seen with it all the time. They appear psychologically addicted to it. When food choices are presented, they request it, even if it's not on the menu. When deprived of it, they go into an approximation of withdrawal.

Think of it as a form of Flanderization, but for this one particular aspect of a character, like Popeye with spinach or Cookie Monster with... carrots and kale. The examples as written give no evidence of this.

Edited by Fighteer on Mar 8th 2019 at 9:45:06 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Ok. I think Les Collaborateurs would work since unlike Black Shirts it isn't restriced to civilians and Makarov technically took over Russia after taking the President hostage.

I am one with the force. the force is with me

Got it. They've been removed.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢

Pretty sure this doesn't count, but I have to ask just to be sure: does any episode of Doctor Who featuring Time Travel count as a Time Travel Episode?

For every low there is a high.

In One Piece, Big Mom and Germa 66 concoct a plan to solidify an alliance through an Arranged Marriage between Vinsmoke Sanji and Charlotte Pudding. However, it's revealed that once the marriage is completed, Big Mom plots to kill the Vinsmokes to steal their technology, since she feels she no longer needs them.

If my calculations are correct, the You Have Outlived Your Usefulness trope is basically when a villain gets rid of their minions or pawns when he or she no longer has any use for them (i.e. Palpatine to everyone who has helped out with his plans in Star Wars, Rubeus abandoning the Four Spectre Sisters once they've completed their work in Sailor Moon, etc.). As such, does the above count as a true example of this trope?

Edited by gjjones on Mar 9th 2019 at 10:57:59 AM

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.

I truly appreciate we have a mod here. Awesome. And thank you!

I'd add: If you ask about something, cool, but try to help with other questions too. The peer review always helps. Imagine that other tropers are waiting for their answers, too.

Agreed, these are hard to read and it's too time-consuming. Though I realize I might have posted like this, too. Sorry, I'll be more careful in the future.

Yes. Definitely. It helps a lot to know why you are asking.

And brevity is wit. Try to summarize. Clear, concise, witty is the goal, always.

@ [1]:

Apologies for the excessive dump of tropes.

Edited by Merseyuser1 on Mar 9th 2019 at 10:42:37 AM

~Unicorndance #7862: I feel like that's sort of missing the point. A Time Travel Episode should be atypical, not the norm.

~gjjones #7863: You Have Outlived Your Usefulness is not restricted to minions. Anyone who has been a part of the villain's plan, wittingly, willingly, or otherwise, can be the victim of that trope.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

@Unicorndance: Laconic.Time Travel Episode specifies "in a show that doesn't normally feature it." The main page doesn't specify that but I'd still say Doctor Who doesn't qualify.

Got it, thanks for the clarification.

Edited by gjjones on Mar 9th 2019 at 10:48:22 AM

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.

Disney.The Black Cauldron:

• Karma Houdini: Creeper.
  • Given the crap that Creeper's taken for everything that wasn't his fault, he might be an exception, though still doesn't excuse the fact he's done a lot of evil in the name of servitude.

Bad Example Indentation and Weasel Words aside, is he an example?

That's got to set some kind of record for an example that goes a long way to say absolutely nothing. Nuke it.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

The Batman Common Knowledge example doesn't seem to be a proper example, so I'll remove it.

In most A Boy and His X examples, the X is an animal, or something clearly non-human. Some pages have humanoid characters as the X, such as Manga.Chobits, where the X is a machine called the Persocom, that is intended to serve humans, and looks human as well. Should humanlike examples be allowed?

Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution:

• Dueling Works: With Pokémon Detective Pikachu, a Western-produced Pokémon movie made with CGI (albeit with live-action as well) also set for release in 2019.

Can they be said to be competing with each other if they're the same franchise?

People are really desperate to list Detective Pikachu as competing with something, first it was Sonic The Hedgehog 2019. I'd cut it.

@ Fighteer:

If you think it's at least good enough to add in, I can comment it out before confirming the edit. If someone else comes along and thinks it's a proper example, they can un-comment it. Below is an example of how I would word the reason:

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Reason: Saw it in the movie itself. Example was commented out as subsequent forum discussion could not satisfactorily confirm authenticity. If someone else thinks it's a proper example, they can un-comment it themselves.

Edited by Gofastmike on Mar 9th 2019 at 6:47:20 AM