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
Lost in Space
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Yes, and it's also an example of Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal.
edited 25th Jul '13 9:06:20 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Hypothetical question: Does Large and in Charge apply if the character, while more or less "not noticeably" larger in overall size than the others of his/her group, has one prominent physical feature that is quite significantly larger in them than in the others? E.g. a band of Winged Humanoids has their leader being about the same size and general build as the others, except for having wings that are two or three times bigger with an appropiately larger wingspan than those of the others.
edited 25th Jul '13 5:04:06 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
This is Rain. Isn't she pretty? :)
Here's an example I want to add for Batman Gambit. It's more for curiosity's sake because I can't edit.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid downplays this for laughs. The Heffleys are planning to go to a restaurant, with Rodrick and Manny trying to butt in where they want to go. Frank, knowing his kids well, decides to trick them by giving them three choices: Tofu Garden, Vegetarian's Delight, or Red Lobster. It takes the kids a few seconds to unanimously decide on Red Lobster.
edited 31st Jul '13 8:54:42 AM by PancticeSquadCutterback
I'm not LGBT. I just think Rain's really cool. Apologies if my humor gets too painful.
@ Catbert
The Pendergast novels I've read were third-person.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Something tells me that the following doesn't qualify as an example of All Women Are Lustful, even though it describes the article image, which was chosen by crowner consensus in Image Pickin' in 2011.
- Depicted in the picture above, Panty of Panty And Stocking With Garterbelt is a man chasing nut, who is not afraid to bed each and every man she comes across (she actually sees it as a personal challenge), and when her sister asks her why she would bed a man who was constantly showing off his muscles and talking about how big his package was AND that he had slept with his mom, her response was "Well, yeah, why would I not (sleep with him)?"
- Her sister, Stocking, is not quite the sex-chaser Panty is, but is more than willing to submit to unwanted bondage and get off on it.
Should I axe it?
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
I think so. All Women Are Lustful is when a work portrays all women as being more lustful than the men, not just a few women and not just "equally lustful" between genders. That example doesn't indicate that there's more than a few women who act lustfully.
I removed the Pendergast novels from First-Person Peripheral Narrator. I also removed A Song of Ice and Fire because what little I've read of it is written in third person.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Right. Axing it now, and adding a small clarification to the third paragraph.
Out of curiosity's sake, what type of Playing with a Trope would a woman claiming to believe in this trope (and acting accordingly) fall under? Discussed Trope? Conversational Troping?
edited 1st Aug '13 2:11:40 PM by MarqFJA
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
The closest thing I can find is Invoked Trope. Or just "believes in <trope> and uses it".
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Lost in Space
Invoked is "knows about the trope and deliberately attempts to make it happen".
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Doesn't "knows about trope" implies that the character saw the trope being used in a fictional work, or at least knows that it's used in fictional works and is thinking of the concept in that context? Or is that just one form of Invoked Trope?
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Lost in Space
It doesn't require that the character consider the trope to be used "in fiction"; in fact, that's more along the lines of a Lampshade Hanging or Discussed Trope.
Invoked means that the character expects a certain outcome from their actions that falls into the pattern of a known trope. Their knowledge can be entirely In-Universe. If Power Glows, for example, then they can try to make their sword more powerful by making it glow brighter.
If the villain knows that the hero tries to Always Save the Girl, then kidnapping the girl is the best way of bringing the hero into their clutches. If they express it as such, then it counts as Invoked. If they kidnap the girl, then mock the hero for rushing to rescue her, that's a form of Lampshade Hanging. If the hero's sidekick has a conversation with the hero before he leaves to rescue her about how this is a standard villain ploy, it's Discussed Trope.
edited 1st Aug '13 2:35:50 PM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
This is Rain. Isn't she pretty? :)
I didn't get an answer for 154. Can somebody please respond, with added point if my Trope Tropes were correct?
I'm not LGBT. I just think Rain's really cool. Apologies if my humor gets too painful.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
You might want to elaborate a little on how "knows his kids well" leads to him knowing that they're pick red lobster out of those three choices.
A second hypothetical question to add to the one that has yet to be answered: Say that Alice is an already established character in a work, who for the duration of one mid-season episode gets put in a situation that in order to solve, she has to wear a Battle Ballgown outfit and wield a Sword Beam-throwing Cool Sword, both which are obviously lifted directly from Fate/stay night's Saber with little to no changes, and incidentally both Alice and Saber are quite similar (but not identical) in appearance and personality despite Alice not having any relation to the King Arthur legend within her story. Is that an example of Captain Ersatz? Or does this just fall under Shout-Out?
This is Rain. Isn't she pretty? :)
Elaborated:
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid downplays this for laughs. The Heffleys are planning to go to a restaurant, with Rodrick and Manny trying to butt in where they want to go. Frank, who knew that his kids wouldn't be fond of vegetables or tofu, decides to trick them by giving them three choices: Tofu Garden, Vegetarian's Delight, or Red Lobster. It takes the kids a few seconds to unanimously decide on Red Lobster.
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Looks good to me. ![[tup]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Thumbs_up_emoticon_3268.png "[thumb up]"){kind=small}
Hi, I would like to know if this is an adecuate example for Cosmic Plaything (At the Batman The Animated Series episode The Clock King page):
Cosmic Plaything: Whenever Temple Fugate, AKA the Clock King, does something stoically and follows a plan, no matter how convoluted the plan, the Universe grants him a Gambit Roulette. But if Fugate does something emotional note or if he improvises something, the Universe punishes him enabling Finagle's Law. note
edited 10th Aug '13 11:25:37 AM by Narutaki2012
Is this an adequate example for Genre Savvy? (At the Batman The Animated Series episode The Clock King page):
- Genre Savvy: After Batman has escaped ClockKing’s elaborated Death Trap, Batman chases after him in a collapsing Clock Tower, Clock King realizes that, if Batman could escape, he could do it too, prompting this dialogue:
—>Batman: Fugate! You can't escape!
—>Fugate: Au contraire, Batman. You of all people should know there's always a way out. Evil Laugh.
- Later, when Batman and Commissioner Gordon discuss No One Could Survive That!, this would have an Ironic Echo:
—> Commissioner Gordon: How could anyone survive a wreck like this?
—> Batman: If I could, he could.
—> Commissioner Gordon: Then you think we'll hear from him again?
—> Batman: I wouldn't be surprised, commissioner. In fact, I'd say it's only a matter of time..
edited 10th Aug '13 2:19:04 PM by Narutaki2012
I think so, but I'd remove the second link to Clock King.
Now a lurker. See you at the forums.
I was looking at the Silent Hill 2 characters page, and I notice that Apologises a Lot is missing from the Angela Orozco tropes.
"Im sorry..." In every cutscene, she say this at least twice, except when James saves her. Considering what happened to her, this is sadly justified.
To win, you need to adapt, and to adapt, you need to be able to laugh away all the restraints. Everything holding you back.
1. Is this an adequate example for Clock King?
2. The fact that Fugate is a Cosmic Plaything means the Clock King trope is deconstructed or merely justified? (I used bold letter in the example to stand out the word 'deconstructs' and I will change it to normal letter in the example).
Clock King: For a Clock King to exist in Real Life, he should have a way to control the entire Universe to always win the Gambit Roulette. Temple Fugate deconstructs it because he is a Cosmic Plaything: As long as Fugate does something stoically and follows a plan, no matter how convoluted the plan, the Universe grants him a Gambit Roulette.
edited 11th Aug '13 11:49:38 AM by Narutaki2012
Is this an adequate example for "Shaggy Dog" Story?
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The Distant Prologue shows The Stoic Temple Fugate fearing he'll lose a hearing that will ruin his company. Counselor Hill advices him to try the Indy Ploy to feel more relaxed even when Fugate, as a Clock King, doesn't want to break his routine. Desperate, Fugate tries the Indy Ploy and indeed feels more relaxed, but unfortunately, he is a Cosmic Plaything that everytime acts emotional or tries the Indy Ploy, the Universe punishes him with Finagle's Law... Fugate cannot fight fate and so his company is ruined. The main plot shows Fugate's failure trying to get a Stoic Rampage of Revenge against Hill for exactly the same reasons.
edited 11th Aug '13 11:53:12 AM by Narutaki2012
(she/her)
I have a question about Tomboy and Girly Girl: If both the girls are tomboys, but one of them is slightly more girly (like a Tomboy with a Girly Streak) than the other, would it still be an example? I'm also asking about reverse for girly girls.
edited 14th Aug '13 8:47:35 PM by MacronNotes
Macron's notes
Would this be an example of a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?
- In Donkey Kong 64, King K. Rool hires a weasel named Snide to build a superweapon called the Blast-O-Matic that will allow him to destroy Kong Isle. However, he grows increasingly paranoid that Snide will betray him, and decides to kick him off the team. How does Snide respond? He defects to the Kongs and ultimately helps them disable the very superweapon he created.
I love to learn, I love to yearn, and most of all... I love to make money.