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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

Willy2537 Since: Jul, 2013
#18426: Jan 19th 2022 at 12:14:51 AM

Fair point. Still, it personally feels pretty weird nonetheless that Ned - who has never shown or hinted that he can perform magic before - is suddenly capable of conjuring a portal, a skill which took even Dr. Strange a long time to learn in his own movie. It could qualify as Achievements in Ignorance, this I won't argue with, but it does feel like it comes out of nowhere narrative-wise, and that's the reason why I thought it could be an Ass Pull example.

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#18427: Jan 19th 2022 at 12:17:22 AM

Yeah, I get it. If enough people think that, it could qualify I think.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
TheSinful from Apple orchard. Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
#18428: Jan 19th 2022 at 2:44:52 AM

Two maybe examples for Freudian Excuse Denial

In Naruto, Kakashi suggests Obito went on his crusade to trap humanity in a Lotus-Eater Machine because of Rin's death, but Obito insists that she had nothing to do with it and instead he just "realized the world is fake" (which happened when she died).

In YuYu Hakusho, Sakyo talks about his past and how he had very loving parents but he hated them both and that he was still the nihilistic sociopath he is today (albeit on a smaller scale than his current destroy the world plan).

Do either of these qualify?

All is not lost. Not yet.
BKelly95 Tame Racing Driver (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
Tame Racing Driver
#18429: Jan 19th 2022 at 9:08:17 AM

I heard that the stars of The Gumball Rally did their own driving. Would this be an example of No Stunt Double?

Libraryseraph uu~ from Canada (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: Raising My Lily Rank With You
uu~
#18430: Jan 19th 2022 at 9:19:27 AM

[up][up] They sound accurate to me

[up] I think the trope is flexible enough to fit that

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA
Bullman Enid Sinclair Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Longing for my OTP
Libraryseraph uu~ from Canada (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: Raising My Lily Rank With You
uu~
#18432: Jan 19th 2022 at 12:23:15 PM

[up] I can;t think of a way to say this diplomatically, but anyone who didn't think Catradora was endgame and that they were meant to be read as siblings is wilfully ignoring the entire series. I don't know about the Glimbow stuff because by the time the final season came out i had largely disconnected from the fandom, and re the Glimmadora stuff, I don;t think "giving a non-endgame ship Ship Tease" counts as a fumble

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA
gjjones Musician/Composer from South Wales, New York Since: Jul, 2016
Musician/Composer
#18433: Jan 19th 2022 at 12:48:59 PM

From Rubeus' section in Characters.Sailor Moon Black Moon Clan:

  • Asshole Victim: Rubeus is the least sympathetic member of Black Moon Clan. As he has committed many horrible, unforgiving acts. But ultimately, he, like the rest of Black Moon Clan is manipulated by Wiseman. Not to mention, Rubeus is the member Wiseman interacts/manipulated the most, besides Prince Demande.

Asshole Victim is when someone dies and it wasn't in response to what they did. Here, he dies because of what he did, so the victim part is out of the equation. Thus, I don't think it counts.

Also, he's listed on Karmic Death (it and the Asshole Victim trope are mutually exclusive, so it can't be both).

He/His/Him. No matter who you are, always Be Yourself.
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#18434: Jan 19th 2022 at 12:52:07 PM

[up] This example doesn't mention death, and being manipulated sort of makes you not an asshole, so it's a double-misuse, it sounds like an entirely different trope.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#18435: Jan 19th 2022 at 12:52:51 PM

That grammar is awful, too.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
BoltDMC Since: May, 2020
#18436: Jan 19th 2022 at 2:09:47 PM

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask, but giving it a try here. If this isn't the correct venue, let me know.

I've been keeping an eye on the Field of Dreams works page for some time to monitor any edits regarding two controversial baseball players, Shoeless Joe Jackson and Ty Cobb. Both players have been the subject of contentious whitewashing by certain people on other websites.

Back about a year and a half ago, I changed the following bullet point under Very Loosely Based on a True Story re Ty Cobb from:

  • Ty Cobb is also described offhandedly as so unlikable a character, no one wanted to play with him and that being the reason he's not among the ghosts of other greats. This interpretation is more in line with the public's conception of Ty Cobb from a sensationalized biography about him than his actual self.

to this:

  • Ty Cobb is also described offhandedly as so unlikable a character, no one wanted to play with him and that being the reason he's not among the ghosts of other greats. While that's not entirely true (his teammates generally tolerated him at least), he was indeed roundly disliked around the league for such things as sharpening his spikes, the better to injure anyone trying to tag him out on a close play. He also had numerous unpleasant off-field run-ins with Blacks over trivial incidents that resulted in fisticuffs, and once went into the stands to beat the tar out of a crippled fan who had heckled him. Plus, In addition, he as well as Tris Speaker and Smoky Joe Wood were caught trying to fix and bet on a September 25, 1919 game; incredibly, the same Kenesaw Mountain Landis who banned Jackson and seven other Black Sox for life, did nothing to punish Cobb, Wood, and Speaker.

Best I can tell from my reading, the information I provided in my edit about Cobb is accurate. At some point later, another poster stripped out the red links, which were Useful Notes headings. That may or may not have been correct, but I've so far ignored it. The entry has stayed like this for ca. a year and a half.

Today, another poster added information to the entry that seems like whitewashing natter. See bold part.

  • Ty Cobb is described offhandedly as so unlikable a character, no one wanted to play with him and that being the reason he's not among the ghosts of other greats. While that's not entirely true (his teammates generally tolerated him at least), he was indeed roundly disliked around the league for such things as sharpening his spikes, the better to injure anyone trying to tag him out on a close play. He also had numerous unpleasant off-field run-ins with Blacks over trivial incidents that resulted in fisticuffs, and once went into the stands to beat the tar out of a crippled fan who had heckled him. In addition, he as well as Tris Speaker and Smoky Joe Wood were caught trying to fix and bet on a September 25, 1919 game; incredibly, the same Kenesaw Mountain Landis who banned Jackson and seven other Black Sox for life, did nothing to punish Cobb, Wood, and Speaker. Cobb's reputation as a complete jerkass who no one could stand is now generally accepted by baseball fans and historians to be largely overblown with a famous anecdote later discovered that Cobb was among the few players not to treat Shoeless Joe as persona non grata when the two happened upon each other years after Jackson's career ended.

I'm thinking this addition should be deleted, citing this thread, but before I do so, I want to get some support for it.

Thanks!

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#18437: Jan 19th 2022 at 2:28:29 PM

While you probably know I'm an ardent defender of the redlink policy, those removals may have been warranted. Redlinks are for stuff that deserve a page, and there's some issues with sportspeople who don't have that much relevance to fiction or whose UN pages don't mention said relevance to fiction. I don't know enough about those guys to say if that's the case. Anyway!

Knowing nothing about the guy, that current entry sucks because it contradicts itself. I'm thinking that if he actually was an asshole and/or was widely perceived as one at the time the film was made, then the original point of the Very Loosely Based on a True Story entry (that he was an asshole but a nice guy IRL, we promise!) is inaccurate anyway. By which I mean, it's not really a very loose version of his personality.

Edited by Synchronicity on Jan 19th 2022 at 4:29:05 AM

BoltDMC Since: May, 2020
#18438: Jan 19th 2022 at 3:04:49 PM

[up] Okay, thanks. So maybe the whole thing should go? I'm fine with that as well.

BoltDMC Since: May, 2020
#18439: Jan 19th 2022 at 4:08:48 PM

[up][up] Will delete the entry entirely as not this trope and natter, citing this thread.

antenna_ears from California Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
#18440: Jan 19th 2022 at 6:48:08 PM

BIONICLE has entries for both Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit" and Informed Species. Not saying these tropes can't coexist in a work, but since BIONICLE takes place in a Constructed World where the creatures aren't actually Earth animals (and are also biomechanical), should only the former apply?

Edited by antenna_ears on Jan 19th 2022 at 6:48:16 AM

PlasmaPower Piece of Cake. Since: Jan, 2015
Piece of Cake.
#18441: Jan 19th 2022 at 9:54:10 PM

I found this in WesternAnimation.All Grown Up

  • Matzo Fever: Kimi for Tommy. Nicole also gets the hots for him in another episode, thanks to Cupid.

Knowing this show, I doubt the characters find him attractive for being Jewish, which is what Matzo Fever is. The example being a ZCE only proves my point further.

Edited by PlasmaPower on Jan 19th 2022 at 1:56:05 PM

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!
GiantCicada from Washington Since: Jun, 2019
#18442: Jan 19th 2022 at 10:21:06 PM

There's an example from Psych I'm thinking of adding to Post-Injury Desk Job, but the example I'm thinking of involves a character being temporarily removed from police fieldwork due to psychological trauma from a previous case without a physical injury being involved. Does that fit the trope?

Anarchist2 Confounded by avatar changes Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Confounded by avatar changes
#18443: Jan 19th 2022 at 11:11:07 PM

[up][up][up] Only Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit" should apply.

Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#18444: Jan 20th 2022 at 2:45:00 AM

Does this example I added on Reset Button qualify, from the Doctor Who entry:

  • Zig-zagged with the episode of Doctor Who: Flux, the winter 2021 Mini Series "The Vanquishers"; it is established there is no Reset Button when The Flux is stopped, effectively with a large amount of the universe gone for the time being, making this an Averted Trope. But due to the Timey-Wimey Ball and the fact that "everything is canon" supposedly, things could and can change, this being the way that Doctor Who is so it means that the universe isn't destroyed, and effectively the Reset Button has taken place or could be taking place in the Whoniverse.

Edited by Merseyuser1 on Jan 20th 2022 at 10:45:16 AM

miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#18445: Jan 20th 2022 at 3:31:18 AM

Cut that. Speculative Troping. The season ended with nothing changed and nothing implies it's going to yet.

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#18446: Jan 20th 2022 at 5:20:51 AM

[up] I've cut it as you said. Following on from that, on Recap.Doctor Who S 39 E 6 Flux Chapter Six The Vanquishers:

  • Wham Episode: Though most of the episode's consequences are implied rather than explicitly focused on, the story- and the five that preceded it- have a huge impact on the universe. While the Flux is stopped, there is no Reset Button to undo the events, meaning that a big chunk of the universe is implicitly gone for the time. Most, if not all, of the forces of the Daleks, Cybermen, and Sontarans have been wiped out by the final Flux event. Time itself is officially revealed to be sentient and potentially malicious, leading to it being restrained by the Temple of Atropos. And the Doctor has access to a watch containing the memories of all her lost incarnations, although for now she has stored it away in the TARDIS so she won't be tempted to open it. And then there's Time's warning that once again, the Doctor's death is near.

—-

This also mentions the Reset Button, should that be cut due to the next episode apparently undoing things?

magnumtropus Since: Aug, 2020
#18447: Jan 20th 2022 at 5:28:40 AM

On Psych S 05 E 03 Not Even Close Encounters, there is this example which feels like misuse since this isn't about Henry being selfish or egotistical. What should I do with this

  • It's All About Me: By the end of the episode Shawn and Gus present to Henry a list of expenses they want the police to pay for them. There were several frivolous ones they padded up the bill with, but Dennis's dental bill ($2000) was the legitimate one. Unfortunately, Henry doesn't think so, and registers (behind their back) the expense as $1500, even though he had negotiated with them that it would be $2000 or they wouldn't take the next case (a forgery).

Edited by magnumtropus on Jan 20th 2022 at 5:29:12 PM

Bullman Enid Sinclair Since: Jun, 2018 Relationship Status: Longing for my OTP
ElBuenCuate Since: Oct, 2010
#18449: Jan 20th 2022 at 12:08:24 PM

So I found this in an episode of BoJack Horseman. I don't know if there is an irony thread (of if it should be), so I brought it here.

Irony: Yolanda, who is asexual, also happens to be the only person in her family whose career doesn't involve sex: her dad writes erotic novels, her mom is an adult film star, and her twin sister writes a sex advice column.

Honestly, I fail to see the irony because I would totally expect that someone who is not interested in sex to look out for a job not related to it.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#18450: Jan 20th 2022 at 12:27:12 PM

I think the actual irony, which is played up in the episode, is supposed to be that she comes from a sex-obsessed family but is herself asexual. It might just be poorly worded in this entry.

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

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