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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

Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#15526: Apr 23rd 2021 at 7:59:25 AM

I found this entry on Clueless Aesop, but need to add more to the Supergirl entry for three more episodes yet is this OK as it currently is:

  • Arrowverse attempts to tackle some social issues, which has plenty of precedence in the source material as well, but being a heightened reality superhero universe means it can't always apply real life logic to the issues they are facing.
    • Arrow had Oliver step in as a temporary mayor of Star City and have to deal with numerous political issues. One of which involved gun control and the balance between security and individual rights. The show features The Archer as someone able to go toe-to-toe with an entire group of armed criminals and come out ahead, as well as just being an action show where several other heroic characters use firearms for heroic actions. The show simply couldn't offer a solution to the problem, so had Oliver lock himself with his opposition in a room and tells the city afterward that they came to a satisfactory compromise, without actually explaining what that was.
    • Supergirl featured some aliens using high tech weaponry to terrorize the city. After Supergirl runs them off, she gets into a brief argument with random citizens where they both use gun control buzzwords at each other. When your daily life involves actually being attacked by aliens with weapons that can vaporize buildings, the moral dilemma of arming yourself with mundane firearms becomes trivial.

Edited by Merseyuser1 on Apr 23rd 2021 at 3:59:36 PM

TroperNo9001 MR. NAICE GUY from The Old Man’s Study (Wise, aged troper) Relationship Status: Don't hug me; I'm scared
MR. NAICE GUY
#15527: Apr 23rd 2021 at 11:01:10 AM

Is it still a Tragic Keepsake if the character keeps the item because it reminds them of a loved one who didn't die, but rather disappeared unexpectedly with their fate unknown? If so, would it be a Played With example?

[down]The character in question doesn't believe their loved one died, but is still worried about where they've gone.

Edited by TroperNo9001 on Apr 24th 2021 at 2:28:54 AM

"YOU ARE KAIND. MERSIFULL. AND, MOAST OF ALL... YOU DOAN'T KNOW HOW TO CLAIMB."
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
#15528: Apr 23rd 2021 at 11:04:49 AM

I'd call that a straight example, particularly if the character keeping the thing believes the missing character to be dead.

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#15529: Apr 23rd 2021 at 12:51:49 PM

This is on The Phantom Tollbooth:

  • "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny: Quick! Tell me you haven't heard this before... a kid from the modern world finds a doorway to another world and finds himself saving it. Sounds like almost every other escapist fantasy book out there, huh? Not so much in the sixties. Even in the face of books like The Chronicles of Narnia, the premise can come off as somewhat stale and antiquated.

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#15530: Apr 23rd 2021 at 1:33:33 PM

There was a bit of an Edit War between some tropers over whether the RWBY Volume (Season) 8 finale classifes as a Downer Ending or "Ray of Hope" Ending. The Recap discussion page didn't generate many responses. An ATT discussion also didn't generate many responses, so it was suggested I bring the two examples here and see if people have an opinion on which one is the most appropriate trope.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Apr 23rd 2021 at 9:34:24 AM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Aleistar Since: Feb, 2018 Relationship Status: Hugging my pillow
#15531: Apr 23rd 2021 at 2:51:11 PM

[up] If the second ending choice links to the first, it kinda seems like the first one is more appropriate.

underCoverSailsman Peeks from Under Rocks from State of Flux Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Peeks from Under Rocks
#15532: Apr 23rd 2021 at 2:52:49 PM

[up][up][up]Thing is, Phantom Tollbooth isn't really escapist fantasy. (Neither was Narnia intended to be, but it does come closer than tollbooth.) Might still be valid, though...

Edited by underCoverSailsman on Apr 23rd 2021 at 4:53:08 AM

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#15533: Apr 23rd 2021 at 2:54:06 PM

[up][up]Agreeing with this, listing the sad stuff and then listing the not so sad stuff is kinda self defeating.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#15534: Apr 23rd 2021 at 3:40:48 PM

Do the following examples from Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow look like they're being used correctly?:

MyFinalEdits Delete message from Parts Unknown (Spin-off Series) Relationship Status: Cast away
Delete message
#15535: Apr 23rd 2021 at 5:39:13 PM

The second example has Word Cruft, which makes its validity unlikely.

135 -> 180 -> 273 -> 191 -> 188 -> 230 -> 300 -> 311
Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#15536: Apr 23rd 2021 at 7:49:45 PM

How, uh, non-evil does a character need to be to qualify as Minion with an F in Evil?

San/Kevin (Ghidorah's left head) from Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) has been described as such, both in the trope page and in the character page, but while he is more curious than the other heads, rather than go immediately on a "kill everything on sight" mode, he's far from nice (which is apparently a requirement for Minion with an F in Evil), and is willing to eat/kill humans just like the others.

Edited by Adept on Apr 29th 2021 at 1:32:46 AM

NoUsername she's only programmed to be very nice Since: May, 2012
she's only programmed to be very nice
#15537: Apr 23rd 2021 at 8:16:21 PM

that'd be Non-Malicious Monster; that is, even when it's killing or eating people it's acting purely on instinct, rather than being actively "evil" like the other two heads. ghidorah is already listed on that trope as an aversion, but i think it might be better to have it listed a subversion. the left is curious and only acting on instinct, while the other two heads are definitely out for blood

Edited by NoUsername on Apr 23rd 2021 at 11:24:17 AM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#15538: Apr 23rd 2021 at 8:43:46 PM

From YMMV.Trolls World Tour:

  • Crosses the Line Twice:
    • Barb believes Poppy does this to her as the Pop Troll's letter a) sneaks a pop tune into her father's mind and b) insults Barb's so-called friendship status.
    • The "2 Many Hits Mashup" scene where Poppy, Branch and Biggie try to lift the spirits of the Country trolls after "Born to Die", by singing "all the best songs" and putting on a sing & dance performance with music unfamiliar to the Country trolls and acting like a bunch of idiots which mortifies the citizens.

These entries don't explain how these scenes are so offensive that they come back to being funny again. I don't think either of them fit the item as described, especially not the first one.

EDIT: The page also lists the "rock vs pop" debate under What Do You Mean, It's Not Political? but I think that's stretching our definition of "political."

Edited by mightymewtron on Apr 23rd 2021 at 11:46:48 AM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Aleistar Since: Feb, 2018 Relationship Status: Hugging my pillow
#15539: Apr 23rd 2021 at 8:47:36 PM

[up] Yeah neither seems to fit the trope imo.

MrMediaGuy2 Since: Jun, 2015
#15540: Apr 23rd 2021 at 9:24:59 PM

From YMMV.Pinocchio.

sayaleviathan Since: Nov, 2011 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#15541: Apr 24th 2021 at 1:42:28 AM

Hi, I need some advice regarding this entry under They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot from the Samurai Warriors YMMV page.

Since Yasuke (who is African) has been added for the upcoming game, that entry is considered averted, right? Unless there's another appropriate trope for this.

Edited by sayaleviathan on Apr 24th 2021 at 4:43:01 PM

gjjones Musician/Composer from South Wales, New York Since: Jul, 2016
Musician/Composer
#15542: Apr 24th 2021 at 4:09:01 AM

From Characters.My Hero Academia Izuku Midoriya:

  • Expy:
    • Of Superboy (primarily Conner Kent) since All Might is a an expy of Superman and Midoriya has all his powers and is a teenager. He later gains Shimura's Quirk:Float which allows him to somewhat fly similar to Superboy.
    • Of Spider-Man, Daigoro's Quirk: Blackwhip, essentially acts like Spidey's webbing since Midoriya priamrily uses it for capturing and moving around, he also gains Shinomori's Quirk: Danger Sense, making him even more like Spidey.
    • Midoriya also has similar personality traits to the two of them, being very friendly, playful, and at times charismatic to those around him. Similarly, he also struggles with the responsibility of being a Hero, and having to manage normal teenage issues, in addition to also having difficulty controlling his powers similar to Spidey and Superboy in their early days.

Is this a valid example, or should it be removed?

Edited by gjjones on Apr 24th 2021 at 7:09:10 AM

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
Aleistar Since: Feb, 2018 Relationship Status: Hugging my pillow
#15543: Apr 24th 2021 at 8:06:43 AM

[up]x3 I think it needs more context beyond "this villain happened to be evil before it was a popular trend."

[up]x2 That seems more Author's Saving Throw or They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character imo, since Yasuke was added.

[up] I'm not sure I would describe Deku as a straight expy of either of them, and the Superboy comparison seems really off beyond "they're both Flying Bricks and teenagers."

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000)
#15544: Apr 24th 2021 at 5:58:54 PM

If anyone in MHA is based on Spider-Man, it's that tape-arm guy whose name I forgot.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#15545: Apr 24th 2021 at 6:58:43 PM

The cleanup thread also forbids "expy of more than two characters", and Deku is different enough from both of them to obviously be his own thing.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#15546: Apr 24th 2021 at 10:31:16 PM

Two examples from my weird recent fixation on the Press Your Luck pages.

  1. Can Revisiting the Roots be done if it's not calling back to the original version, but the version most people think of as the "first"? Specifically, the 2019 revival of Press Your Luck is aesthetically identical to the 1983 show as opposed to the last revival, Whammy, which used a lot more computer-generated aesthetics, but technically the first version of Press is Second Chance and I don't know if it's really much like Second Chance at all. But Second seems to suffer from Adaptation Displacement anyway (as in I literally only know about it because of this wiki).
  2. Precious Puppies only covers gratuitous cute dogs, right? Because the page lists the Whammy's dog Fang as Precious Puppies, but Fang more often appears as a threat or nuisance (i.e. attacking the contestant's winnings), which feels more akin to something like Right-Hand Attack Dog.

Edited by mightymewtron on Apr 24th 2021 at 2:54:32 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
NoUsername she's only programmed to be very nice Since: May, 2012
she's only programmed to be very nice
#15547: Apr 25th 2021 at 2:02:31 AM

yes and yes, i think; Press Your Luck is an obvious case of Sequel Displacement so Revisiting the Roots meaning going back to the most famous series' style makes sense, and likewise Precious Puppy specifically indicates a cute and harmless dog through the name

Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#15548: Apr 25th 2021 at 6:41:19 AM

This is more of a general question for a trope page, but looking through Overtook the Series there's a fair few that look quite brief, such as:

  • Dragon Ball GT is an anime-only continuation of the series after Akira Toriyama ended the Dragon Ball manga.
  • The Handmaid's Tale series' first season ends where the book ended but will continue Offred's story, with author Margaret Atwood as a consultant.

but are they borderline zero-context examples?

On that same page, this entry is possibly Overtook the Manga unless I'm wrong:

  • Series 1-2 and 4 (and half of 3) of Thomas the Tank Engine were based on the Railway Series books, but the other half of Series 3 and Series 5 onwards have been original. Ironically, not every story in the Railway Series has been adapted to television, but since the books and TV series are now completely different from each other there is little chance of these stories making it to the screen. However, Season 20 adapted the book Small Railway Engines. Yes, 25 years later, more stories were adapted.

WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#15549: Apr 25th 2021 at 8:08:04 AM

So i found these on Actor-Shared Background from The Boys (2019).

  • Kimiko turns out to be Japanese (well, her first name was kind of a giveaway already to anyone familiar with Japanese names). Karen Fukuhara is Japanese-American, born to Japanese parents in California.
  • Elena, Maeve's ex-girlfriend, is Latina. Nicola Correia Damude, who portrays her, is also Latina (Guyanese from her mother).

I don't think being a race count as a actor background.

Edited by WhirlRX on Apr 25th 2021 at 11:08:22 AM

jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
SMILE!
#15550: Apr 25th 2021 at 10:37:24 AM

Can I Hate You, Vampire Dad apply to the actual biological child of a vampire?


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