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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

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
#17576: Oct 25th 2021 at 11:51:05 PM

[up][up] I think that's just a regular Deconstructed Trope, or a case of Surprisingly Realistic Outcome.

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#17577: Oct 26th 2021 at 12:35:34 AM

[up][up] Make an ATT thread. They're edit warring.

[up] Weird thing is, this example originally was on SRO's old name, Reality Ensues, and was moved to Genre Deconstruction for whatever reason. I don't think it fits either though.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
costanton11 Since: Mar, 2016
#17578: Oct 26th 2021 at 5:39:00 AM

Reposting from an earlier page:

From RunningGag.TV Tropes:

  • Any mention of Music/Devo on the WMG page for The Loud House, to the point of it being considered a secret Trolling attempt by some tropers.

Not sure if this is widespread enough to count.

fragglelover Since: Jun, 2012
#17579: Oct 26th 2021 at 5:45:46 AM

This is on Rugrats under Drew's folder:

  • Abusive Parents: Surprisingly enough, he can be this to Angelica at times. In "Runaway Angelica" for instance, while he wasn't wrong to feel frustrated at his office being used for Angelica's destructive games, he outright screams at her, in spite of her only being three years old.

I feel I should note that the troper who added this also added an Unintentionally Unsympathetic entry for the character here.

Tabs Since: Jan, 2001
#17580: Oct 26th 2021 at 8:21:40 AM

[up][up] Don't know the show but the entry should not mention audience reaction.

WhirlRX Since: Jan, 2015
#17581: Oct 26th 2021 at 8:44:55 AM

[up][up]Angelica is a brat who doesn't get disciplined by her parents enough. Yelling at her isn't abusive.

Hello83433 (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#17582: Oct 26th 2021 at 9:51:08 AM

[up][up][up][up] I...don't get the page's obsession with Devo. Is it because Savino really liked Devo and it's based on his childhood? Regardless, it's not widespread to TVT so I say cut it.

[up][up][up] It's a parent yelling at their kid, not abuse. Cut it.

Edited by Hello83433 on Oct 26th 2021 at 9:52:12 AM

CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
Chitter Since: Aug, 2020
#17583: Oct 26th 2021 at 11:10:09 AM

Does the Crapsaccharine World trope fit with Trolls and SuperMarioLogan? In the case of Trolls, a lot of the plot comes from how the large Bergens want to eat the Trolls, and various other creatures eating each other, and a dead corpse being shown. In SML’s case, it’s filled with loads of puppets and plushies as characters, but it’s rather adult oriented.

Edited by Chitter on Oct 26th 2021 at 11:11:18 AM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#17584: Oct 26th 2021 at 11:14:43 AM

Crapsaccharine World requires it to look over-the-top sweet but actually be hiding a Crapsack World. From what I know of SML, it's not trying to be cutesy and just happens to use plushies as characters. I've seen Trolls and while it is over-the-top sweet, I don't know if it's meant to be outright dystopian. The sequel does show that there's prejudice and power abuse in the society underneath all the fun, but IDK if it's dark enough to count as the trope.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Chitter Since: Aug, 2020
#17585: Oct 26th 2021 at 11:23:18 AM

I guess it focuses on who you ask.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#17586: Oct 26th 2021 at 12:33:51 PM

Examples Are Not Arguable, so if it "depends on who you ask" then it's not an example.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
antenna_ears from California Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
#17587: Oct 26th 2021 at 7:24:55 PM

Should the Meta subpage for Red Oni, Blue Oni even exist? Most if not all entries are zero-context examples and I feel like most of these are just based on opinion.

Edited by antenna_ears on Oct 26th 2021 at 7:29:31 AM

magnumtropus Since: Aug, 2020
#17588: Oct 26th 2021 at 7:40:59 PM

From The 4400

  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The idea of forty-four hundred people from the last eighty years or so was already fascinating enough that adding superpowers and a future person conspiracy plot felt like overkill.

This sounds like the inverse of They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#17589: Oct 26th 2021 at 8:06:34 PM

...what?

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
magnumtropus Since: Aug, 2020
#17590: Oct 26th 2021 at 8:18:55 PM

They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot is for when a work touches upon an interesting idea that could have made it better, but doesn't go in depth into it. Here, the entry is saying that the original idea was interesting enough and that the show didn't really need to add anything else.

Edited by magnumtropus on Oct 26th 2021 at 7:20:49 PM

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
#17591: Oct 26th 2021 at 8:26:46 PM

Recompiling some older questions of ours that didn't get an answer:


Is it still an example of "Funny Aneurysm" Moment if episode 17 makes something cute and nice in 16 come off as retroactively harsh, but the episodes were released Out of Order? Episode 17 "happened" first in real life, but anyone getting into the show after the release of episode 16 will see them in the other order, so we can kinda see it either way.
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?
Is it still Murder by Mistake if the killer did get their intended target, but an additional unintended target was killed at the same time?
We typed up an example of Fridge Brilliance for The Angry Video Game Nerd a while back, but never actually added it cause we're not sure if it actually makes sense or we just have Fan Myopia:

  • The Ecco the Dolphin review might disappoint people familiar with the game's Mind Screw of a plot, as he spends the entire episode complaining about its unfair difficulty and never even mentions that this is a game where a dolphin uses Time Travel to go to Atlantis and learn how to fight a Horde of Alien Locusts. However, the disappointment might be alleviated upon realizing that this is a fairly accurate depiction of the average experience of trying Ecco unspoiled — even the early levels that seem pretty "normal" are so hard that most people give up before finishing them.

Is it still a Punny Name if it's a species name rather than a personal name? Disco Zoo has "lunar ticks" and "moonkeys" on the moon, which is clearly a pun, but I'm not sure which subtrope it fits into?

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
Leobracer Since: Apr, 2013
#17592: Oct 27th 2021 at 2:09:36 AM

So before I looked at the trope page for Black-and-White Insanity, I changed a trope example in Diona’s Folder in the Genshin Impact Mondstadt Others subpage from Black-and-White Morality to Black-and-White Insanity.

    Previous Edit 
  • Black-and-White Morality: Downplayed. Her views on alcohol can be summed as this; those don't drink it or contribute to it's production are white, while alcoholics, bartenders, producers of alcohol and even bards who entertain drunkards are black. Granted, she is shown to have exceptions with the latter, still loving her father, getting along well enough with her boss, Margaret, having a relatively high opinion of Lisa, and being stated to be Birds of a Feather with Eula.

     My Edit 
  • Black-and-White Insanity: Her views on alcohol can be summed as this; those don't drink it or contribute to it's production are white, while alcoholics, bartenders, producers of alcohol and even bards who entertain drunkards are black. Granted, she is shown to have exceptions with the latter, still loving her father, getting along well enough with her boss, Margaret, having a relatively high opinion of Lisa, and being stated to be Birds of a Feather with Eula.

However, when I went to add Diona as an example on the trope page for Black-and-White Insanity, I had failed to notice that there was a note saying that its for characters who are mentally unstable.

  • Note: This trope is about characters who have a black and white worldview AND are mentally unstable.

However, given that Diona is a child and thus is most certainly not mentally unstable, just immature, does that mean she’s not an example of Black-and-White Insanity regarding her view on alcohol?

Orbiting Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
#17593: Oct 27th 2021 at 12:22:59 PM

Yeah, Black-and-White Insanity doesn't fit that example. As the trope page says, a black and white worldview is normal for young children and doesn't indicate any instability.

Edited by Orbiting on Oct 27th 2021 at 3:23:20 PM

Leobracer Since: Apr, 2013
#17594: Oct 27th 2021 at 12:28:27 PM

Alright, I guess I’ll change it back then, once I get the time off from work.

Orbiting Since: Nov, 2014 Relationship Status: Giving love a bad name
#17595: Oct 27th 2021 at 12:28:45 PM

[up][up][up][up]

  • I'd say yes, if the intended order has the cheerful gag seen first, then the darker revelation about it later. The example should probably include a note about it originally being published out of order though.
  • It's still a Running Gag
  • Yep, Murder by Mistake works.
  • I don't really get what about that is a Genius Bonus. A non-fan of Ecco having the expected reaction to the game's difficulty, but causing disappointment because he didn't cover its plot in the detail the fans were hoping for doesn't seem like an intended hidden bonus for discerning fans.

Edited by Orbiting on Oct 27th 2021 at 3:29:01 PM

tm465pole Since: Aug, 2020
#17596: Oct 27th 2021 at 12:39:10 PM

Would It's the Same, Now It Sucks! be a valid entry to the YMMV page for the upcoming Batman film? The combination of general Batman Fatigue (is there a trope for that?), the fact that it's not canon to the DCEU, and that it's a solo movie rather than introducing any of his sidekicks/extended Bat Family has a lot of people of social media exasperated by its existence.

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#17597: Oct 27th 2021 at 1:15:55 PM

I'm always extremely wary of adding such audience reactions to upcoming works, because we don't really know if it's the same yet. For all we know Catwoman falls in love with Penguin and Green Lantern comes in piloting a mecha during the climax.

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#17599: Oct 27th 2021 at 1:35:12 PM

Did it get a tainted (ie negative) reaction? There was nothing but hype for it on the way to Fandome, and people still seem to generally excited or at least curious for it now.

Edited by Synchronicity on Oct 27th 2021 at 3:35:24 AM

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#17600: Oct 27th 2021 at 2:21:39 PM

Yeah, I saw rare unanimous hype for it on Twitter. I don't even know if It's the Same, Now It Sucks! fits those criticisms you listed. "It's not canon to the DCEU" actually gives it a sense of novelty by not being bound to the ongoing film franchise.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.

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