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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

war877 Grr... <3 from Untamed Wilds Since: Dec, 2015 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Grr... <3
#2401: Jun 13th 2016 at 4:39:34 PM

Any trope that applies to any story path applies to the story in a story with multiple paths. So yes. It can.

Also, time travel is not a requirement of this trope.

edited 13th Jun '16 4:40:47 PM by war877

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#2402: Jun 13th 2016 at 10:37:23 PM

Reposting these from the previous page, since I didn't get any responses:

The Books of Ember:

  • Adults Are Useless: Most of the important accomplishments in the series are achieved by children (specifically, Lina and Doon in The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, and The Diamond of Darkhold, and Nickie and Grover in The Prophet of Yonwood) with minimal parental supervision.
  • Crapsack World:
    • Ember at the start of the first book. It was once a nice place to live, but by the start of the novel, the city is dying, with food shortages and regular blackouts.
    • Subverted once the Emberites reach the surface. Life has regressed to the pre-industrial age, and all who live on the surface must work hard, but people seem to generally get along with one another. (With the exception of The People of Sparks, but that was partially because the Emberites didn't know how to do anything.) By the end, society has been completely rebuilt into a utopia.
  • New Eden: The ultimate destination for the main characters of The City of Ember: their city is dying, so they're trying to find a way for everyone to leave it and go somewhere where they can all survive.
  • Plucky Girl: Lina and Nickie who understand how bad things are in their respective times and try their best to help and make things better.
  • Shrinking Violet: Amanda (Prophet of Yonwood), who doesn't have the strength to stand up to Mrs. Beeson and ends up helping her.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Mrs. Beeson in The Prophet of Yonwood, who strictly enforces her interpretations of Althea's delusional mutterings because she believes that they are instructions from God, telling the world what they must do to be free of sin.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#2403: Jun 17th 2016 at 5:57:36 AM

[up]So it's been about three days since I posted above (and nine days since I originally previously posted the examples), anyone want to take a look at the examples.

war877 Grr... <3 from Untamed Wilds Since: Dec, 2015 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Grr... <3
#2404: Jun 17th 2016 at 8:09:31 AM

Okay.

That sounds like a textbook example of adults are useless. But it needs to be rewritten to explain 'why' the adults are useless.

That is not a crapsack world as described. A crapsack world is a terrible place to live in every way, not just a few. That subversion is actually an aversion and not a notable one.

That is a correct example of new eden. But the description needs work, as it highlights the wrong details.

plucky girl: That is not what plucky girl means. That could just as easily describe The Determinator.

Shrinking violet: Insufficient context in description.

That sounds like a proper example of well-intentioned extremist.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#2405: Jun 18th 2016 at 2:44:14 AM

Could someone take a look at these examples, I found on Future Quest:

  • Art Shift: Characters not designed by Alex Toth were redesigned to unify the comic's art style.
  • Big Bad: Dr. Zin and F.E.A.R.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Ty, who rescues Jonny and Hadji on his airboat
  • Bus Crash: Tundro is found dead by Hadji in the first issue.
  • Cerebus Retcon: Space Ghost's backstory is now even more Darker and Edgier then even the 2005 miniseries. The story opens with the last of the Space Force being annihilated to the last destroying an Eldritch Abomination. The Sole Survivor collapses to his knees, the only living thing on the now dead world.
  • Crisis Crossover: Though it involves just one comic, it involves many of Hanna-Barbera's action cartoon line up, from expected ones like Jonny Quest, Birdman and Space Ghost, to unexpected ones like Shazzan and Frankenstein Jr.
  • Downer Beginning: We watch as the man who would become Space Ghost is the last survivor of a galactic space team who stopped an Incursion through a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Greater-Scope Villain: Whatever is crossing into the various universes.
  • Only in Florida: As it turns out, the reason Dr. Quest set up shop in Palm Key was because it was the most regular incursion site for the interdimensional portals.
  • The Power of the Sun: Birdman, naturally. Here, though, he's shown to be given that power by the Egyptian Sun God, Ra.
  • Race Lift: The Mighty Mightor is shown to be African-American in this universe (and is being implied to be a Tagalong Kid who rescues Jonny and Hadji).
  • Shared Universe: The action heroes are part of a multiverse, though it is shown that Jonny Quest, Birdman and Mightor exist in the same Earth.
  • Spider Tank: Zin drops two into Palm Key in order to retrieve the extradimensional sample. Eliminating the Quest family was just a bonus.

Zyffyr from Portland, Oregon Since: Apr, 2010 Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#2406: Jun 18th 2016 at 8:30:23 PM

RE: Future Quest

Big Bad :ZCE

Big Damn Heroes : not zero context, but definitely insufficient. This trope isn't just any rescue, it needs to be done on a big/awesome manner.

Bus Crash : this trope is "character who was put on a bus dies". It really isn't possible for a character leaving in the first issue to qualify as put on a bus, so not an example.

Cerberus Retcon : unless the 2005 series is in continuity with this, it isn't a retcon at all. Crisis Crossover : The very first thing the 'example' does is admit that it doesn't count....

Downer Beginning : looks legit, assuming that is right up in issue one. If it is later than that, nope.

Greater-Scope Villain : insufficient context.

Only in Florida : seems OK

The Power of the Sun : looks fine

Face Lift : what was he before? Needs that for context.

Spider Tank : looks OK.

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#2407: Jun 18th 2016 at 10:47:20 PM

Shouldn't Spider Tank actually have some detail about the tank itself? Ditto The Power of the Sun - what does that actually mean in this case?

edited 18th Jun '16 10:48:06 PM by nrjxll

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#2409: Jun 20th 2016 at 5:55:26 AM

Trenchcoat Warfare can apply if the character is wearing a different kind of outfit that is still just as concealing as a trench coat (e.g. a kimono) and has lots of weapons attached to its inside layer, right?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
isoycrazy Lord of the Blue Star Since: May, 2011 Relationship Status: Abstaining
Lord of the Blue Star
#2410: Jun 20th 2016 at 9:11:58 PM

In The Dresden Files there are some shoe-making and repairing elves. Harry meets them and once bribes them with some nice shoes he just broke. He threatens to put them in the garbage, which would make them "trash" and once "trash" the elves cannot repair them. Would this act be a type of The Corruption, as tossing them makes them now unfixable to the elves?

war877 Grr... <3 from Untamed Wilds Since: Dec, 2015 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Grr... <3
#2411: Jun 20th 2016 at 9:24:21 PM

[up][up]It just has to be a Badass Longcoat. Some kimonos can totally qualify.

[up]Nope, the corruption is completely different. There are legitimate examples of the corruption in The Dresden Files, but definitely not that.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#2412: Jun 21st 2016 at 3:43:42 AM

Still waiting for someone to weigh-in on the Art Shift and Shared Universe examples [up][up][up][up][up][up][up].

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#2413: Jun 23rd 2016 at 8:52:22 AM

Okay it's been 5 days, still waiting for someone to weigh-in on the Art Shift and Shared Universe examples [up][up][up][up][up][up][up][up].

Karxrida from Eureka, the Forbidden Land Since: May, 2012 Relationship Status: I LOVE THIS DOCTOR!
#2414: Jun 23rd 2016 at 11:24:47 AM

Can Strangled by the Red String apply to a work where the romance is basically determined by the players?

From YMMV.Fire Emblem Fates:

  • Strangled by the Red String: Like Awakening, some S-supports are handled worse than others, giving this impression, but it's especially notable for pairing the Avatar or Azura with their siblings:
    • While it's understandable that the Avatar and their siblings would feel okay about falling in love thanks to a lack of blood relation between either side, it can seem a bit strange to have one say they've "always" loved the Avatar; the Nohrians because they were raised as siblings and viewed each other as such, or the Hoshidans because they believed the Avatar was their blood sibling for years.
    • Azura and Ryoma or Takumi, should they get married. Like the Avatar and the Nohrian siblings, she grew up viewing them as brothers—and both their supports involve them trying to grow closer as brother and sister. If they reach S-rank, it suddenly turns out they were always in love with her all along, and she pretty much just goes along with it.

dsneybuf (Not-So-Newbie)
#2415: Jun 24th 2016 at 8:31:28 AM

The entry on YMMV.Barbie about I Can Be A Computer Engineer moved from They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot to Unfortunate Implications. Which one seems to fit better?

AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#2416: Jun 24th 2016 at 10:13:54 AM

[up]It fits the latter, and it's appropriately sourced for that trope. I don't really see how it fits the former.

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war877 Grr... <3 from Untamed Wilds Since: Dec, 2015 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Grr... <3
#2417: Jun 24th 2016 at 11:39:18 AM

[up][up][up]Sounds like a case of bad writing. Although the player can choose which plot line to follow, the writers are responsible for writing them.

MagBas Mag Bas from In my house Since: Jun, 2009
#2418: Jun 24th 2016 at 12:04:19 PM

The following Base Breaker example in YMMV/Pokemon: "Charizard and Lucario are also extremely popular Pokémon, but suffer heavily from Hype Backlash for how popular they are and how extensively they're marketed. Some fans also bring up their association with specific sectors of the fanbase as points of contention ("Genwunners" and the Furry Fandom, respectively), and how fans in those sectors tend to overzealously worship Charizard/Lucario. "

Is this an actual example?

HighCrate Since: Mar, 2015
#2419: Jun 24th 2016 at 12:37:40 PM

I have no idea whether it's a legit example, but the entry as written suffers from the same problem as a lot of Broken Base and Base-Breaking Character entries, which is that it's thinly-veiled complaining that attempts to justify itself by dedicating half a sentence to saying, "...but some people like them." It either needs to be deleted or reworked, depending on if there's anyone sufficiently knowledgeable about Pokemon who feels like doing the latter.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#2420: Jun 24th 2016 at 3:58:52 PM

Okay it's been 6 days, still waiting for someone to weigh-in on the Art Shift and Shared Universe examples [up]x15.

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#2421: Jun 25th 2016 at 8:34:21 AM

After reading Trenchcoat Warfare, it seems to me that every example of the trope would automatically qualify as an example of Walking Armory, thus implying that Trenchcoat Warfare is a subtrope of Walking Armory. Is my understanding correct?

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
AnotherDuck No, the other one. from Stockholm Since: Jul, 2012 Relationship Status: Mu
No, the other one.
#2422: Jun 25th 2016 at 9:43:37 AM

Does seem to be that way.

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MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#2423: Jun 25th 2016 at 1:12:59 PM

So Trenchcoat Warfare would be basically the subtrope that results from combining Hidden Weapons with Walking Armory, right?

edited 25th Jun '16 1:13:16 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#2424: Jun 25th 2016 at 1:29:38 PM

Okay it's been 7 days, still waiting for someone to weigh-in on the Art Shift and Shared Universe examples [up]x19

war877 Grr... <3 from Untamed Wilds Since: Dec, 2015 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
Grr... <3
#2425: Jun 25th 2016 at 1:41:22 PM

[up][up]Incorrect. I would say Walking Armory + Badass Longcoat + weapons are under the coat. I don't think Hidden Weapons is required.


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