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.
- A character name is not an explanation.
- Wrong: Full Moon Silhouette: Diana
- Right: Full Moon Silhouette: At the end of her transformation sequence into Moon Princess Misty, Diana is shown flying across the full moon riding a rutabaga.
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
Characters.My Hero Academia Shie Hassaikai:
- The Sociopath: It's pretty unsettling when your actions even disgusts the League of Villains.
[...]
One important thing to note is that even family members and long-term 'friends' are not excused from these behaviors. Even their own children mean nothing to the Sociopath. They too are tools to be used and tossed aside as soon as they reflect poorly on the sociopath or get in their way. If a character cares about anybody other than themselves; if they can hesitate, they may be terrifyingly, murderously ambitious, but they have empathy for others, and by extension they are not a sociopath.
Edited by IukaSylvie on Aug 1st 2019 at 6:43:42 PM
VannaWhite just sent me a rather rude PM for removing Lapis and Jasper's Fusion Dance from Heartwarming.Steven Universe per this thread, accusing me of having anti-shipping goggles "welded to [my] face".
Keet cleanupOn AndTheFandomRejoiced.Marvel Cinematic Universe, does it feel too early to call the ties between Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness and WandaVision cause for joy? I think those ties might raise the possibility of Multiverse of Madness alienating moviegoers who either can't afford Disney+, don't want Disney+, or feel disinterested in WandaVision. (That last class could grow especially large if WandaVision ends up getting poor reviews and/or not that many hits.)
^^^^^ Posted by Vanna White on Steven Universe E to M. under Fan Disservice
Should that bolded part be removed?
Edited by pikachu17 on Jul 31st 2019 at 10:37:23 AM
17 pikachus all in a row.
Yes, definitely. VannaWhite sent me a one-sentence reply, and I told them to take it to this thread. Should I report them on Ask the Tropers, or wait to see if they post here? I read you shouldn't repost entire PMs; can mods see them?
For the record, moments can be removed, we even have entire Cleanup Threads dedicated to cleaning Moments pages. (One big one for Nightmare Fuel and a smaller one for all other Moments pages).
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallThis is getting into the realm of speculation, which isn't really wanted on Moment's pages. They're supposed to be about what happens, objectively, in the work, not what may have been happening if you think about it for a while.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallAll right then. Shouldn’t have let my Shipping Goggles get in the way of information. Though I do still object to the dance being considered Fan Disservice. It’s honestly biased either way.
Going off the description of Fan Disservice, I wouldn't call it an example of that. Fan Disservice is like subverted Fanservice, Fanservice made unsexy, but the moment has to have an element that, in another context, would be fanservice.
A fusion dance can have fanservice elements to it, but a fusion dance is not inherently fanservice. Imagine the dance with another pair of characters, who don't have an adversarial relationship. Would it be an example of fanservice? If not, then it can't be fan disservice either.
Just removed this from Start Screen since at least some of it is talking about Evolving Title Screen, but anything that could be salvaged?
- Valve games (on PC anyway) have a 'load your game or access the options' screen that changes depending on where you saved last.
- Oddly enough, almost all Source-based multiplayer FPS's have near-identical title screens (the exception to this being Team Fortress 2). The only thing that varies is the image in the background and the font of the menu text. The escape-key menu is this same menu with a few extra options and your current view in-game instead of a background image. Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 both seem to be the only games close to an exception so far, but even then they're still somewhat similar.
...
Also, this doesn't seem like an example either? ... OH, it even calls itself an Aversion.
Is it Automatic New Game? Or something else?
- Averted in Wii Fit, which boots directly into the Wii Fit Plaza (where the players' Miis can be selected). If the game is booted for the first time, you instead get the Wii Balance Board introducing itself, followed by the usual procedure for adding a new player.
Oh god, that trope actually needs to be cleaned out. Maybe. There's a few Automatic New Game examples. And Evolving Title Screen.
Wait, do these even have a title / start screen? I removed, but should I add them back?
- Braid: The game loaded directly into the gameplay, with Tim standing in shadow on a bridge underneath the emblazoned title. It's interesting to speculate how many players sat there for a good long while before realizing that A) there wasn't going to be a Press Start prompt or menu, and B) they could move.
- In Psychonauts it's actually a level in itself
, though a more generic in game menu is available as well.
Lastly, what kind of game is VideoGame.Pokemon Stadium, since I need to sort the games for Evolving Title Screen.
Edited by Malady on Jul 31st 2019 at 3:32:08 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576From YMMV.Digimon Adventure:
- Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy: The Dark Masters arc causes a massive Happy Ending Override for the Myotismon arc, with many Digimon allies from the season actually getting Killed Off for Real (though the finale confirms that they will be reborn in Digi-eggs), Matt undergoing something of a Face–Heel Turn and the group splitting up again. As a result it can be a bit much to take.
According to the trope description, it refers to when the audience is "presented with a choice between supporting one of two equally horrible groups or hoping for one of two equally despairing outcomes." In the case of Digimon, the show has very clear protagonists and antagonists and ultimately ends on a happy note, so I'm not sure this applies.
Edited by costanton11 on Jul 31st 2019 at 8:34:16 AM
So I'm thinking of adding the Windrunner sisters from Warcraft to Nice, Mean, and In-Between. Sylvanas would be the mean obviously but I'm not sure about the other two or if the trope even applies here. Any suggestions?
Found this on YMMV.The Hobbit Film Trilogy:
- Adaptation Displacement: Like The Lord of the Rings, the book is subject to Mainstream Obscurity.
I find this extremely difficult to believe. The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular and influential books of all time, and while sure, The Hobbit isn't as popular as LOTR, if you've read LOTR you're probably at least aware that it exists, especially since the two are often bundled together.
Not to mention that the biggest criticism against the film trilogy was its Adaptation Expansion, something that should've been impossible if most people didn't know it was a book originally.
Edited by Primis on Aug 1st 2019 at 11:29:04 AM
I have a question about this Monster Hunter entry in Draconic Abomination:
My concern is that the Fatalis does not look like an abomination. Sure, it's stated to be incredibly powerful, but surface-wise it looks like an ordinary dragon. According to the trope description:
With that in mind, I doubt the Fatalis counts because it really does look like an ordinary dragon. For reference, you can see what the Fatalis looks like on the Monster Hunter wiki
.

It's barely even contextual. It's just "Character is this, definitely, take my word for it."
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall