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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

Libraryseraph uu~ from Canada (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: Raising My Lily Rank With You
uu~
#17476: Oct 15th 2021 at 4:52:59 AM

[up] Yeah, that doesn't fit

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#17477: Oct 15th 2021 at 11:11:11 AM

Btw from New Pokémon Snap

  • Critical Dissonance: Critics have overall given the game good reviews, with a score of 79 on Metacritic. However, user reviews on the site are slightly more contentious, with the average score sitting (at the time of this writing) at 7.1/10.note  Fans who gave the game a negative review criticize the game for being too brief, too repetitive, and for having outdated gameplay mechanics that haven't evolved much from the original, while fans who gave it a positive review call it a fun, beautiful, worthy follow-up to the original.

Is 79/100 (Critic) to 7.1/10 (audience) even that much difference to be critical dissonance.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
MyFinalEdits Delete message from Parts Unknown (Spin-off Series) Relationship Status: Cast away
Delete message
#17478: Oct 15th 2021 at 11:26:20 AM

Not at all.

135 -> 180 -> 273 -> 191 -> 188 -> 230 -> 300 -> 311
Vandagyre I think I just got AC team loyalty from Dacardia (Fifth Year at Tropey's) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
I think I just got AC team loyalty
#17479: Oct 15th 2021 at 11:27:25 AM

[up][up] That's only an 8/.08 point difference between the scores. Critical Dissonance should have a more drastic difference between the two groups.

Edited by Vandagyre on Oct 15th 2021 at 11:27:36 AM

Cave Johnson, we're done here.
NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#17480: Oct 15th 2021 at 12:10:10 PM

In What Tomorrow Brings, there's a character who keeps accidentally referring to the entity that used to possess him in the first-person, then immediately catches himself. Is this a Freudian Slip? Pronoun Trouble is supposed to only be for gender.

Edited by NitroIndigo on Oct 15th 2021 at 8:10:19 PM

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#17481: Oct 16th 2021 at 12:01:05 AM

So I wanted to add this to YMMV.Friday Night Funkin Soft, and just wanted to double check I was using WTH, Costuming Department? correctly.

  • WTH, Costuming Department?: Among a cast of nice designs that take care to differentiate the characters from their mainline counterparts, Skid and Pump's designs are rather lackluster, being recolors of their normal costumes with hoodies and shoes thrown on; in particular, many point out that the splotches on Pump's mask - and how they continue on his hands and legs - make him look like he has a skin condition.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Hello83433 (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#17482: Oct 16th 2021 at 1:59:21 AM

[up] I would say no, it doesn't count. WTH, Costuming Department? is for when a character wears something outrageous that is played seriously, not when the audience expects something more extravagant than what they got. The splotches on Pump are an odd design choice, but not WTHCD.

CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#17483: Oct 16th 2021 at 2:08:05 AM

Mmm, aight. Thank you!

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Malady (X-Troper)
#17484: Oct 16th 2021 at 7:13:44 AM

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=DarthWiki.IdiotProgramming#edit30900664

Twitch's passwords weren't leaked, were they?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#17485: Oct 16th 2021 at 8:04:30 AM

To the public, I don't think so, but there was a data breach affecting Twitch passwords on that day. I can verify this firsthand as my browser warns me about that stuff.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#17486: Oct 16th 2021 at 8:48:17 AM

  1. Data breaches should not be listed under Idiot Programming. None of us is an expert with specific knowledge of these problems, so it's just gossip. Also, most incidents are caused by poor management, not poor coding.
  2. Twitch claimed that passwords were not stolen, but many users changed them anyway out of an abundance of caution.

Edited by Fighteer on Oct 16th 2021 at 11:50:26 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
kawaiineko333 (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#17487: Oct 16th 2021 at 5:26:42 PM

@miraculous Critical Dissonance is if the critics gave a game or movie terrible reviews (uuggh this show/game is bad don’t watch/play it) but the audiences still love it. The other end is where the critics are hyping it up to the highest mountain but it’s a bad product.

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#17488: Oct 16th 2021 at 5:41:59 PM

I'm aware of that. The issue is these scores are nearly exactly the same. Their is no dissonance.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#17489: Oct 16th 2021 at 9:08:54 PM

Can Standard Evil Organization Squad be used in context of "Every Arc Villain or large Big Bad Duumvirate is part of the same group."? A few examples I think of don't fit with Quirky Miniboss Squad since they're more like Marathon Boss than Mini-Boss and appear separately. (With the exception when Co-Dragons acts like Monster of the Week when confronted, or The Empire)

Edited by Amonimus on Oct 16th 2021 at 7:54:40 PM

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#17490: Oct 16th 2021 at 10:10:31 PM

I wanted to check if this was correct use, in particular the use of the trope being invoked (spoilers are unmarked here but aren't on the page):

Friday Night Funkin': Corruption:

  • Autobots, Rock Out!: "Discharge", the final song of Week 8, is an intense, high-energy rock track with heavy electric guitar that sets the stage for Boyfriend finally breaking free from the corruption. Humorously, the trope is Invoked by Soul Boyfriend, who throws Boyfriend an electric guitar and tells him to play; the song is majorly a duet between the two of them.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Ferot_Dreadnaught Since: Mar, 2015
#17491: Oct 17th 2021 at 12:57:35 PM

Repost. My Little Pony: A New Generation had these What Happened to the Mouse? examples that were removed per cleanup. Someone wants to add it back under Ambiguous Situation.

    Examples 
  • Despite this is the same world as Friendship Is Magic, it's never acknowledged how the sun and moon are able to rise and set without the use of magic or someone to move them, or how weather occurs without ponies actively managing it.
  • In Generation 4, it's shown that disharmony between the three pony races summons ghostly, horse-like creatures known as Windigos that feed on their negative emotions and turn Equestria into an icy wasteland. Here, the three races living apart and believing the worst of each other seems to have eliminated magic entirely, with no hint of the Windigos ever being a problem, though it's possible they were destroyed at the end of Friendship is Magic.
  • Throughout Friendship Is Magic, the ponies make peace and became friends with several other creatures throughout the world, including dragons, griffons, changelings, hippogriffs, yaks, and others. However, none of these other creatures are ever referred to in the film, making it unclear what happened to them or if the ponies became divided from them like they did with each other.
  • There is no clue as to if any of the god-level characters from Generation 4 still live. Discord, Celestia, Twilight, and Tirek are fairly explicitly immortal, and elder dragons can live for millennia. Where are they, and if any of the alicorns still live, what happened to cause them to abandon their people? Did they give up their immortality at some point, or lose it when magic ended?
  • Are Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow still statues by this time? If they haven't been destroyed at some point already (which the pegasi of Zephyr Heights likely could have done after the divide, either out of fear of unicorns releasing them or covering up evidence of ponies working together — the biggest instance of which being the fight with this trio — or both), it is possible that the disappearance of magic released them (given Cozy Glow's ritual had broken the "walk on clouds" spell), though if this was the case, they would be powerless and most likely die of old age by G5's time (depending on how immortal Tirek is and whether it depends on magic or Tartarus). Unless the spell was permanent.

At first I and the thread argued against adding for the same reason they were cut from Mouse, the question was not even touched on in the movie itself. They then argued for adding saying " the Ambiguous Situation page and it doesn't say anything about "It needs to be brought up in universe", only "The alternatives need to be reasonable"." It might be valid, but I'm not sure as these don't sound like alternatives as the main thing/issue isn't in the story. I'm taking here for additional thoughts. I asked ATT and they heavily lean to it not being an example but said to ask here.

NitroIndigo ♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves from West Midlands region, England Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
♀ | Small ripples lead to big waves
#17492: Oct 17th 2021 at 1:21:42 PM

I might've said this before, but I think Ambiguous Situation is when events are shown to the audience, but it's not clear what exactly happened.

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#17493: Oct 17th 2021 at 3:56:28 PM

[up][up][up][up]As I've repeatedly said, I honestly have no idea what that trope is even supposed to be. It might need TRS.

magnumtropus Since: Aug, 2020
#17494: Oct 17th 2021 at 7:41:26 PM

From The Last Duel

  • And You Thought It Would Fail: When the first trailer was released, Ben Affleck was singled out as looking particularly ridiculous in period dress. When audiences saw the movie, however, his performance was consistently cited as a high point.

The example talks about an element from the film rather than the film itself. Is that acceptable? FTR, the movie just came out and bombed right out of the gate, but that might not be relevant here.

Edited by magnumtropus on Oct 17th 2021 at 6:41:49 PM

JumboJ99 I Am...A Master Troper! from Georgia (The US state, not the Eastern European Since: Apr, 2017 Relationship Status: A teenager in love
I Am...A Master Troper!
#17495: Oct 18th 2021 at 3:05:14 AM

So having just finished Mars Attacks!, I noticed that there is no example of Apocalypse How on the page. The Martians for sure brought one about, but what class is it? I estimate the Martians' kill count to be somewhere in the tens of millions, meaning that around 1% of the human race (about 57 million, according to the world population in 1995, when the movie takes place). While this would normally make it a Class 1, it is mentioned that most world leaders, including nearly the entire United States Government, have been killed, and the chaos and anarchy that would likely result (no one to hold elections for new officials), putting it in Class 2 territory. A lot of the final results are heavily informed and assumed from the details given, so I'm just not sure which class it really belongs to.

Pencil/Pen scribbling sounds*
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
#17496: Oct 18th 2021 at 9:59:21 AM

If a fanfic continues a Running Gag from canon, would it make sense to list that on the fic's page as an example of Running Gag, or would it be something else?

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
BKelly95 Tame Racing Driver (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Tame Racing Driver
#17497: Oct 18th 2021 at 6:52:22 PM

Does Names The Same still apply if it's a character's alias?

I'm reading through Golden Buddha right now. One character has to go into hiding and has chosen the pseudonym Norm Macdonald.

Edited by BKelly95 on Oct 18th 2021 at 9:53:00 AM

Bubblepig Steve from Minecraft (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#17498: Oct 18th 2021 at 7:28:51 PM

Had to repost it again since no one responded. Ok so, I'll remove Signature Scene for ZCE and will change Wham Episode to Shocking Moments and moved it to YMMV page. Do you agree with me? For context, it's about Kitchen Nightmares episode about Amy baking company. Also, Green Lantern's Face–Heel Turn have lots of words but it's probably misused.

Edited by Bubblepig on Oct 18th 2021 at 10:57:03 AM

"CHICKEN JOCKEY!"
Hello83433 (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#17499: Oct 18th 2021 at 10:11:16 PM

[up][up] No, it wouldn't apply at all in that situation, I think you're thinking of a different trope. Names The Same occurs when two characters from unrelated works have exactly the same name.

[up] Yeah, sounds good RE: Amy's Baking Company

Edited by Hello83433 on Oct 18th 2021 at 10:11:54 AM

CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#17500: Oct 19th 2021 at 3:14:40 AM

[up][up][up]The trope you're looking for is Character Name Alias, I think.


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