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
On the Alliterative Name page it says: "Please note that Japanese names, though many may seem alliterative to an English-speaking audience, may not convey the same "alliterative power" in their original setting; syllables (and vowel sounds) matter more than letters in Japanese."
As my knowladge of Japanese pronunciation is limited, is the following from Buso Renkin an actual example as I feel it could fall afoul of this?:
- Alliterative Name: Tokiko Tsumura
Edited by SebastianGray on Dec 29th 2020 at 1:56:48 PM
I don't think so. It's Toh and Tsuu, I think?
Edited by Malady on Dec 29th 2020 at 5:21:24 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
You don't think it's an example, or you don't think it runs afoul of the rule? (I am guessing the former but I would like to be sure)
It's not really alliterative, since the words "Tsumura Tokiko" would start with the characters つ and と respectively, like mentioned.
Edited by dragonfire5000 on Dec 29th 2020 at 8:13:38 AM
YMMV for Ultimate Fantastic Four
- What An Idiot: It's the dramatic conclusion of the arc, and Reed Richards is squaring off against Nihil on the Vegas Strip! The tyrant opens his mouth to devour the hero, who stops him by picking up a nearby plasma rifle and wedging it in between his jaws!
You'd expect: Nihil to do literally anything except what he actually does. Literally anything else.
Instead: He tries to pull the gun out...by the trigger. It's... not pretty.
But Nihil is an alien, who had never seen a plasma rifle (or a human weapon, for that matter) in his life. Can we really expect him to know how does a gun work, and thus consider him an "idiot" by doing what he did?
Ultimate Secret Wars
x6 So is it safe to remove it?
Do the following examples from The Last Days of American Crime look like they have enough context?:
- One Last Job: Very much the last heist in American history. This is the premise of the movie.
- Villain Protagonist: All three of the main characters are criminals hoping to commit the last great crime in American history.
Musician/Composer
On Trivia.Elf, this example I added per this thread was commented out yet again:
- Actor-Shared Background: Like his character, Miles Finch, Peter Dinklage has real-life dwarfism.
Which trope would be more appropriate in this case? Or should we remove it?
Edited by gjjones on Dec 29th 2020 at 2:33:45 PM
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
I'm helping!
We checked and the reason given was: Again, does this need to be said? This feels like saying "Chris Rock, like the character he's playing, is black."
... Honestly, I kinda see the point. How many characters with dwarfism aren't played by actors with dwarfism? This is less trivia and more just inevitable.
Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
Musician/Composer
Not too long ago, the Disabled Character, Disabled Actor entry regarding Mitch was already approved by a moderator.
Edited by gjjones on Dec 29th 2020 at 2:49:13 PM
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
Lost in Space
Yes, so we don't need to list the same example in two different tropes.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Musician/Composer
For what it's worth, I reinstated the Disabled Character, Disabled Actor entry, citing this discussion.
He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.x6 No, it doesn't have enough context.
Does the following example from Scott Snyder look like it has enough context?:
- Creator Worship: Despite how new he is to comics, he's already starting to get this due to American Vampire and his highly acclaimed run with Batman so far.
I'm helping!
"get this"
Get what? A million dollars? A puppy? Flesh-eating disease?
Classic no context. Remove.
Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.
Okay, so I'm not the most knowledgeable on the subject, but there are some examples on the character pages of two Star Wars characters that I find questionable:
The first is Phasma:
- Breakout Villain: Much like Boba Fett before her, Phasma has made an indelible mark on the Star Wars franchise purely by not actually doing anything, standing around and looking cool, saying about 10 lines across two movies, and then maybe dying.
Does she really count? From what I've seen pretty much everywhere on the internet, the opinion of most people seems to be that the character is a poor attempt to create a Breakout Villain like Boba Fett that completely failed due to her ultimately being quite pathetic, to the point that even the random Stormtrooper who yelled "Traitor!" is more popular (and considered to be a much cooler character) than her. Overall, she seems to be seen more as a Memetic Loser rather than an iconic character of the saga.
The other is Chewbacca (in the "Sequel Trilogy" folder):
- Ascended Extra: In the original trilogy, he is a supporting character and in the prequels, he is a minor character. But in all three films in the trilogy, he is one of the main characters.
I'm not sure he counts. Okay, in the original trilogy, he didn't do much, but he still accompanied the heroes throughout the movies. In the sequel trilogy, yes, he does accompany the heroes throughout the movies... but he still doesn't do much. How exactly is he "ascended" compared to the previous films? (Heck, from what I've seen, a common complaint about the sequel trilogy is that he is severely underused.)
Edited by Mimic45 on Dec 30th 2020 at 2:21:19 PM
Not sure about Phasma, but note that Breakout Villain is not about the audience reaction to them (though audience reaction may be the reason a character becomes a Breakout Villain).
From ADogNamedDog.Animated Films:
- The cast of The Brave Little Toaster except for Kirby, the vacuum. It's a subversion, however, as he was named after a brand of vacuum that was sold in real life.
What is being subverted? Because the example treats Kirby's name as a subversion of the trope...is it trying to say this is a subversion of a subversion, or Double Subversion?
I think the idea is that the rest of the cast plays the trope straight, but Kirby averts it by seemingly having a regular name - only for that to be subverted, since it's actually a brand of vacuum cleaners (meaning that the trope is roughly played straight for the entire cast). Long story short, it's Not a Subversion definitely needs to be rephrased.
The Phasma example still doesn't count. Breakout Villain is when an antagonist who is intended to be a one-off enemy becomes a recurring character because of their popularity. I think Phasma was intended to be a major villain but is never really given the chance to actually do anything important in the series. I think either Advertised Extra or They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character would fit better.
Lots of coffee
I think that would be A Lizard Named "Liz".
Edited by mightymewtron on Dec 29th 2020 at 11:01:27 AM
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Is this Mickey Mousing?
- Friday Night Funkin': Everything that moves bounces to the beat, from the characters to the bar menu that shows how close you are to failing; the bobbing pace is even adjusted for songs with a quicker tempo. In particular, "Bopeebo" has musical stings after each of The Boyfriend's verses, which are all timed to him doing a V-Sign.
From the same page, is this enough context?
- Ambiguous Situation: Are Skidd and Pumpy up to their usual shenanigans in celebrating Spooky Month, or are they actually trying to steal your girlfriend?
Rewrote this example for Adorable Evil Minions. Is this good?
- Mystery Skulls Animated: The threatening Lewis has the adorable Bedsheet Ghost Deadbeats for minions, who cling on or otherwise float around him when they aren't doing anything. Subverted in that they're actually quite competent when Lewis needs them, and they can shift into a scarier appearance with jagged mouths and clawed fingers replacing their nub hands.
Trans Woman, Anarchist, Chronically Afraid
Is this an example of TheSoCalledCoward: In the T.V. version of M*A*S*H, Hawkeye is frequently the butt of Major Burns's jokes about his being a coward; Hawkeye himself often agrees that he's not the most gung-ho. When the heat is on, however, he's stayed with patients through active enemy (and friendly) bombardment, dropped onto an active battlefield to perform combat surgery, stood up to commanding officers of just about every rank in moral battles, and much more.
Grigor: Yeah, you can remove that Ultimate Fantastic Four example.
If it's just a matter of winking at Reality Subtext and not hinting at other characters getting reformed, I'd say it's not really hinting at any sequel. Real life is not a sequel.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.