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.
For cleaning up examples of Complete Monster and Magnificent Bastard, you must use their dedicated threads: Complete Monster Cleanup, Magnificent Bastard Cleanup.
Edited by Synchronicity on Sep 18th 2023 at 11:42:55 AM
Wanted to get some feedback on this example I added for 20020:
- Like an Old Married Couple: Discussed as Ten and Juice observe Manny and Nick, with Juice conjecturing that the couple's solid relationship lets them spend their time arguing about little things. While Manny and Nick themselves are not an example of this trope since they're actually married, the conversation segues into how this dynamic applies to relationships in general, with Ten bringing up her and Juice's relationship as an example.
Juice: kind of an interesting relationship dynamic between these two. be honest with you, i’ve never seen a happier couple. they just get in their little things sometimes
i think honestly since they’ve got such a solid foundation to their relationship they actually have the time and energy left over to argue about the little things. and i mean remember, nick and manny have been sharing this apartment for 30 years and it is BY NO MEANS a big condo. […] i bet your husbands quirks stand out a lot more. the little things that irritate you get all that much more annoying after a while
[…]
Ten: I think every relationship has to have at least some of that, though. It’s like a … it’s kind of like a clutch in a transmission, right? It has to be rough so it has something it can actually grip onto. That friction is the only way anything changes.
Juice: that analogy sucks
Ten: Oh come on, it’s not that bad.
Juice: eh it kinda sucks
Ten: Well I mean, that’s us right? That’s our relationship. I think a third of all my interaction with you is accounted for by arguing.
Juice: we ain’t married though lady
Ten: Ohhh ho ho. And thank God for that.
The part about Nick & Manny sharing an apartment gives context to a scene just before this quote, but I'm not sure how relevant it is for the purposes of the example and/or giving context to the rest of the quote.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Discussed as Ten and Juice observe Manny and Nick, with Juice conjecturing that the couple's solid relationship lets them spend their time arguing about little things. While Manny and Nick themselves are not an example of this trope since they're actually married, the conversation segues into how this dynamic applies to relationships in general, with Ten bringing up her and Juice's relationship as an example.
Juice: kind of an interesting relationship dynamic between these two. be honest with you, i’ve never seen a happier couple. they just get in their little things sometimes
i think honestly since they’ve got such a solid foundation to their relationship they actually have the time and energy left over to argue about the little things.
[…]
Ten: I think every relationship has to have at least some of that, though. It’s like a … it’s kind of like a clutch in a transmission, right? It has to be rough so it has something it can actually grip onto. That friction is the only way anything changes.
Juice: that analogy sucks
Ten: Oh come on, it’s not that bad.
Juice: eh it kinda sucks
Ten: Well I mean, that’s us right? That’s our relationship. I think a third of all my interaction with you is accounted for by arguing.
Juice: we ain’t married though lady
Ten: Ohhh ho ho. And thank God for that.
Does it work better with or without that part?
pobody's nerfect
I posted this in the Ho Yay cleanup thread but no one replied so hopefully it's okay that I bring it in here...
OKKO Lets Be Heroes has multiple folders dedicated to couples (Red and Enid, Boxman and Venomous, Joff and Nick) who are very explicitly OfficialCouples. Should the examples from before the couples were officially together be moved to Ship Tease, or is it not Ship Tease since they end up canon?
There are also a few examples on the page that don't pertain to canon couples, but these also might be deliberate Ship Tease due to the show having several canon LGBT characters, many crew members being LGBT and supporting the ships, and just how damn intentional they feel. Should those be under Ship Tease or Ho Yay?
You can call me Red.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Sometimes Ship Tease is not intended to go anywhere, sometimes it can, sometimes it is part of a planned Romance Arc. So yes, it sounds like they should be moved to Ship Tease.
From what you've described about the non-canon couples, it sounds like they were intentional and should go under Ship Tease as well.
We have a Ho Yay cleanup thread, by the way.
Angry babby
They said they didn't get a response from there, so they came here for a second opinion, which is fair.
I think Ho Yay is for subtext not meant to be intentional (hence why we have Homoerotic Subtext), so it can go in Ship Tease instead.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Reposting from the previous page, so it doesn't get lost:
Is this example from Tenet being used correctly as it seems to cover the "incomprehensible" aspect but not the "True Art" part?:
- True Art Is Incomprehensible: Let's just say that if you thought Inception was a hell of a puzzle to decipher, good luck getting through this one with just a single viewing. Articles and videos on the movie should probably help, too, if that's not enough.
And is this example from The Haunting of Bly Manor being used correctly as Contested Sequel is supposed to be where the audience opinion is divided on the quality of a sequel, whereas this example seems to be mainly negative and saying the show is mostly flawed inspite of it's positive qualities - so would fit better under Sequelitis?:
- Contested Sequel: While many viewers found it well-acted, well-shot and entertaining, Bly Manor is also seen as inferior to its predecessor; many viewers felt it wasn't nearly as scary, the pacing is sluggish and the plot is often presented in a muddled, overly-complicated manner (especially with all the flashbacks). As some have pointed out, it almost seems inevitable because The Haunting of Hill House set the bar so high.
pobody's nerfect
That Tenet example really sounds like it fits better as Bizarro Fiction.
You can call me Red.
Is this a trope? Or cut?
- Victim-Blaming: A self-inflicted example. Part of what hampers Melinda's ability to recover and move on is her refusal to fully acknowledge what happened to her on that fateful night because she blames herself for not being able to see straight away that Andy was taking advantage of her (never mind that she was barely 14 years old at the time and was more than a bit tipsy on top of that).
Angry babby
Useful Notes need not be listed on Main pages like tropes. Good Victims, Bad Victims covers fictional victim blaming.
Edited by mightymewtron on Nov 6th 2020 at 6:34:12 AM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Big Catch, Sparkle Edition
In fact it's against the rules to do so.
Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
pobody's nerfect
Should examples of romantic interactions between couples after they get together go under Ship Tease, or is it no longer teasing because they're a canon couple?
You can call me Red.
Angry babby
That's not teasing, just Official Couple. We don't need to list every time an Official Couple interacts romantically.
pobody's nerfect
I figured as much.
Gender-Blender Name doesn't need to be acknowledged In-Universe, right? So I can say it for the Protagonist Title-guy of Ginger Beyond The Crystal?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Bump
JJBA example for Mascot Villain
- Fountain of Memes Dio Brando from Jojos Bizarre Adventure. If there's ever going to be a Shout-Out to the series, it's usually going to involve either Jotaro or Dio.
First of all, I don't think DIO being a fountain of memes is at all relevant to anything. Second, it doesn't actually do a good job of explaining how he's a mascot. Is he heavily featured in advertising or merchandise?
(she/her)
Yeah I don’t think it has any relevant information regarding the trope. I think it’s safe to comment out or delete it as a non example.
So, do these Pokémon examples on Anime & Manga count? The mons do the actual fighting so not sure if it really counts.
- Speaking of Action Girls from the Pokémon anime, all of Ash Ketchum's female companions are this:
- Dawn may well be the biggest Action Girl of them all, with her battle style being the closest to Ash's and often having Piplup deliver the finishing blow along with Pikachu.
- Misty is the very first companion Ash had, and had no trouble keeping up with him; he actually had to keep up with her.
- Iris starts off as a rookie, bue she's also super competitive, which helps her become one of the top battlers in the main cast.
- May very much came off as one, evident in her theme song.
- Serena isn't exactly on the other girls' level (mostly because her battles tend to be interrupted), but she's still a competent battler who can help the group fight Team Rocket and other threats.
![[down]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_down.png "[down]"){kind=icon}
yeah that's what I meant. Stupid auto-correct.
Edited by MacronNotes on Nov 6th 2020 at 10:31:10 AM
Macron's notes
Angry babby
I assume you meant Mons, and yeah, I think Action Girl requires the girls themselves to have physical prowess, not just be competent at anything. I remember Misty getting physical a couple times but even then I don't think she was enough to be considered an Action Girl.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
If a character fails to notice they had their sidearm pickpocketed, did they Fail A Spot Check? I'd think not, since pickpocketing is inherently deceptive and that trope is about missing obvious things.
My stories on AO3.
Bumping so this doesn't get lost. Reactions appreciated.
I'm not sure a recent trope added to a page really counts as an example. Would like to get some feedback before I cut it.
The character "The Director" in the Disney animated film Bolt is voiced by James Lipton (of Inside the Actors Studio fame). The character he voices is pretentious, waaaay over the top hammy, and a prima donna perfectionist.
Someone just added the trope Adam Westing to the page, listing Lipton as an example. I've seen some of the ITAS episodes. My impression of him here is that of being well prepared and fully researched on his guests, as well as being fawningly attentive to them. Pretentious and hammy and prima donna are not words I'd use to describe his public persona.
It's possible my viewing experience of him is limited and that he is in fact known to be hammy and pretentious. Given what I've seen, though, I'm not buying.
Would like to have some folks weigh in on this before I remove it. Thanks!
So while alphabetizing FreudianExcuse.Film, I found the following example which seems to be part-natter, part-complaining, part-arguing with itself. I cut the example for now, but can it be rewritten to a more neutral tone?
- Knight Moves is a bit of a weird example in that it doesn't seem to come to a decision how it wants to play this. Apparently, the Serial Killer's descent into darkness is supposed to be witnessing his mother's violent suicide following his father's departure when he was just a boy. The problem is that the kid actor they got emoted so little in this scene that he just seems bored and/or fascinated by it, giving the impression that he was already an Enfant Terrible. He doesn't bring it up again until the climax as part of his Motive Rant for wanting revenge on the hero (who was very inadvertently responsible for the killer's parents both leaving him). However, the hero chews the killer out about his excuse and points out that it doesn't justify his horrible crimes, including attempting to kill the hero's young daughter. Then the female lead, who's also a psychiatrist-in-training, walks in and having recognized the killer as one of her boss's patients, tries to talk him out of it while sympathizing with him for his past (she fails and he gets shot to death by aforementioned hero), so supposedly we're meant to see him as a tragic villain after all?
Edited by Adept on Nov 7th 2020 at 9:23:29 PM
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
I know little about Inside the Actors Studio, but IMO that does not sound like an example. Adam Westing is about an actor playing a parody of their public persona. The question comes down to "is this a parody of their persona," which in my opinion it is not. Parodies tend to be based in reality somewhat, and since the character is not a parody of their public persona, the example does not count. It's probably just a minor gag, if anything. I think it can be cut.
Just read through this, and agreed that it seems like a lot of natter and blather and complaining. My reaction is that there's no meat on those bones. I say nuke it.
So I did a rough draft for a Casey Mongillo page for grammar improvement and @Michael Katsuro thinks both Man of a Thousand Voices and Pigeonholed Voice Actor shouldn't be used together in this case (mainly because I phrased Man of a Thousand Voices example as "They have voiced a variety of characters from young boys and girls to even adult women," and the "young boys" part in Pigeonholed Voice Actor is too vague).
I've skimmed some few examples of several voice actor pages that listed Man of a Thousand Voices and Pigeonholed Voice Actor together in the trope list of their associated works and was wondering of these examples are appropriate to use these tropes together (since I'm edit banned, feel free to correct or remove any of these tropes if necessary):
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor: At the start of her voice acting career, she is often the "sweet girl" (which is reflected with her earlier role as Nanoha). Later in her career, she's often typecasted into Broken Bird characters instead such as Homura, Riven, Sakura, Velvet, and Noel. Though that doesn't mean she no longer gets "sweet girl" roles again, sometimes both mix.
- Woman of a Thousand Voices: She can go from voicing little girls, to voicing sweet high-pitched teens, to voicing lower-pitched badasses, and even a boy.
- Man of a Thousand Voices: So prolific that the entire Japanese animation industry can be connected to him in fewer steps than Hollywood is to Kevin Bacon.
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor: For some reason, the characters he's voiced have a tendency to be captured and then restrained/tied up.
- Man of a Thousand Voices: Ax-Crazy psychopaths, brooding young men, badasses, Large Hams, Badass Normals... this man can do all of them and more. Just check out his demo reel.
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor: At the start of his career, he is often cast as young and handsome men in anime. After joining the union, he branched out into more variety of roles.
- Man of a Thousand Voices: Has a wide vocal range, as he's capable of pulling off a higher-pitched voice (like Leeron) or an accent (like Garcia Hotspur and Red Skull) whenever it's needed.
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor: Averted. He's played a large variety of roles and has a wide vocal range (including a gay mechanic and a cute Digimon). It's the fandom that only remembers him for Wolverine and Spike Spiegel. However, he notes that at the start of his career, he was stuck as monsters or bad guys.
Edited by DarkPaladinX on Nov 7th 2020 at 1:43:56 AM
What trope does this quote fall under?
"Hello, yes? I'm here for the yuri. I was told there'd be yuri. No? It's more just undertones and edgy hello kitty sequences? This isn't what I was promised! No, I'm sorry, I have to go, no, you, NO, YOU SAID, NO, UNDERTONES ARE NOT YURI, OKAY? YOU GO ALL THE WAY OR YOU GO HOME, I'M NOT DEALING WITH THIS! IT'S YOUR ONE JOB, MY COFFEE MAKER HAS ONE JOB, TO MAKE COFFEE AND IT MANAGES TO DO THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY! I'M NOT ON THE RECEIVING END OF "COFFEE UNDERTONES"! THEY'RE GIRLS, IF THEY'RE NOT DOING GAY THINGS TO EACH OTHER THEN WHAT ARE THEY GOOD FOR???"
It's from this video. It feels like a joke on the Girl on Girl Is Hot trope but I'm not sure if there's another trope it fits better for.
Anddrix: That Dr. Light example isn't one. Kindly remove it.