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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

Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#18601: Feb 5th 2022 at 6:59:08 PM

[up] If Maidens don't have any special destinies they're meant for, then that sounds like misuse. Could it fit Power Parasite or Powers as Programs instead?

Bubblepig Rei from Tokyo (Apprentice) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#18602: Feb 5th 2022 at 7:38:13 PM

I repost this to bump it. I found this in YMMV page of Nightmare Alley (2021) .Since some example are mistaken as The Woobie, do you think this tearjerker examples needs go to Moments" cleanup and maintenance?

  • Tear Jerker:
    • As horrible as Stan is, it's actually quite sad to see him become a homeless, alcoholic wreck at the end of the movie, who is so desperate for work that he agrees to be a geek, established as the lowest of the low amongst carnival workers.
    • The power of a "spook show" over its audience is emphasized, with mentalists able to tap into the deep loss so many people feel; this makes the Kimballs' murder-suicide especially horrific, as Stan took their love and bereavement and twisted it into something destructive.
    • Molly, easily the kindest and most innocent character, is manipulated constantly by Stan and ends the movie on the run, her fate unknown.

"Now it's starting to feel like a game!"
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#18603: Feb 5th 2022 at 9:38:47 PM

@JHD, regarding the Phineas and Ferb A Bloody Mess example: it is definitely meant to be a Bait-and-Switch for the audience, albeit a dark one for the demographic, but I don't know if the audience mistaking things for blood counts for the trope.

[down][down]Well, I've seen the episode and it is a deliberate Bait-and-Switch which makes you think Buford straight up maimed Baljeet for a second (the jelly that splashes is meant to look like blood splatter) before cutting to the jelly donuts. I know that sounds wild but it's true.

Edited by mightymewtron on Feb 6th 2022 at 1:27:35 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#18604: Feb 6th 2022 at 1:54:54 AM

Is this example from Series.Holby City trope misuse, or correctly used, and written OK?:

JHD Since: Jan, 2021
#18605: Feb 6th 2022 at 6:24:28 AM

[up][up]Me neither. I've watched numerous Phineas and Ferb episodes, but not that one.

Edited by JHD on Feb 6th 2022 at 9:25:08 AM

Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#18606: Feb 6th 2022 at 6:30:59 AM

If Maidens don't have any special destinies they're meant for, then that sounds like misuse. Could it fit Power Parasite or Powers as Programs instead?

Yes. Cinder's already listed as a Power Parasite example... although not crosswicked, so I've just crosswicked her.

Looking at Powers as Programs, it's possible true magic (especially the Maidens) might qualify. They are transferred at death based on the final thoughts of the dying Maiden. The Maidens were created in the first place by the Big Good (who is the actual Chosen One) deciding to give up most of his magic by voluntarily transferring them to four sisters who helped him at time he needed help to turn his life around (that didn't kill him, but Equivalent Exchange is in effect, so the magic he gave away was a de-powering for him). Ever since he transferred the magic to those sisters, the magic has been transferring to new young women upon the death of the previous Maidens in a way that copies the Big Good's reincarnation cycle (he has Resurrective Immortality, where his soul and powers transfer to a new young man upon the death of his previous host body).

Edited by Wyldchyld on Feb 6th 2022 at 6:46:20 AM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
Bubblepig Rei from Tokyo (Apprentice) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
#18607: Feb 6th 2022 at 10:14:37 AM

Guys, can you check my above post ASAP? Thanks.

Edited by Bubblepig on Feb 6th 2022 at 10:14:52 AM

"Now it's starting to feel like a game!"
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#18608: Feb 6th 2022 at 10:29:10 AM

[up] You could go to Moments cleanup to ask that, but a character can be The Woobie and what happens to them can be a Tear Jerker.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Bubblepig Rei from Tokyo (Apprentice) Relationship Status: is commanded to— WANK!
Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#18610: Feb 6th 2022 at 12:44:52 PM

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Crazy Diamond's Demonic Heartbreak: Adaptation Expansion: The series explores the aftermath of the events of Stardust Crusaders extensively...

I'm pretty sure Adaptation Expansion is not about what happens after the original work.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
miraculous Goku Black (Apprentice)
Goku Black
#18611: Feb 6th 2022 at 1:00:56 PM

Isn't this just a sequel? It's dubious canon sure but it's set after stardust is over

"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."
JHD Since: Jan, 2021
#18612: Feb 6th 2022 at 2:11:06 PM

@mightymewtron: I gotcha. However, I'm still wondering whether it should be kept or cut.

Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#18613: Feb 6th 2022 at 2:36:40 PM

Does this example from WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.Live Action TV fit, or is it trope misuse:

  • Chloe, a 2022 Mini Series from The BBC has the protagonist Becky who has No Social Skills, an Ambiguous Disorder looking after a mom with dementia in Bristol( a British equivalent to Rust Belt American cities), and she's got a Stalker Without a Crush obsession about the titular Chloe, who is a Posthumous Character (apart from in flashbacks) which is the Driving Question. Becky's main sympathetic qualities are her poor home and work life, and lack of friends, aside from Chloe in her past in high school, although it's an Ambiguous Situation if they were friends or more Friendly Enemies. She social-media-stalks people and uses fake identities to get things done, but although she's villainous, she seems more misguided than truly evil, at least from the first episode aired.

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#18614: Feb 6th 2022 at 3:18:08 PM

"At least from the first episode aired" suggests that it's way too soon to call, honestly. That reads like episodic troping at its "finest".

Edited by nrjxll on Feb 6th 2022 at 5:18:38 AM

Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#18615: Feb 6th 2022 at 3:25:38 PM

Would this be Serendipity Writes the Plot?

  • VS Whitty: The secret song "Faucet" was inspired by someone leaking Julian's design to 4chan months before the Definitive Edition released.

Edited by Crossover-Enthusiast on Feb 6th 2022 at 6:26:06 AM

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
Malady (X-Troper)
#18616: Feb 6th 2022 at 7:06:03 PM

This seems really vague? But I can sorta see how it might count? Trying to clean But Thou Must!, but I guess it's used right enough in most of the other cases I've seen.

Fanfic.World War Etheria:

  • But Thou Must!: Comes with being in a world war; characters have rational outlooks but they're still stuck in a massive conflict and have to make choices based on that reality. They still take reasonable precautions and similar but those strategies don't always work. They're still people and make objectively irrational decisions that make sense to them.

Edited by Malady on Feb 6th 2022 at 7:06:23 AM

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#18617: Feb 6th 2022 at 10:16:19 PM

Yeah, that sounds like a total shoehorn. "Video game railroads the plot" and "characters can only make so many decisions in a world war" aren't anything alike.

(I guess it could maybe fit as Justified Trope if it's a fanfic for a video game, but TBH I'm not sure of that.)

Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#18618: Feb 7th 2022 at 2:13:58 AM

On Dead Horse Trope, is this example OK:

  • Floating Advice Reminder: The traditional version of "partially transparent heads appearing to give advice" is virtually never played straight, and if it is used, only in parody. Nowadays, it's much more likely to be shown as a hologram in a Sci-Fi setting, and it won't be like the traditional usage of the trope.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#18619: Feb 7th 2022 at 3:03:11 AM

Reposting from the previous page:

Is the following example from Decomposite Character being misused seeing as how the works is not an adaptation, but a Sequel Series:


And are the following examples from And Just Like That... and it's YMMV page being used correctly?:
  • Alternate Universe: Played with. The series takes place in a version of the present where the COVID-19 pandemic is apparently over (its existence is briefly acknowledged in the first episode), with face masks and social distancing non-existent.
  • Hollywood Old: Played With. While the actors are roughly the same age as their characters, fans have complained that several characters come across as exaggeratedly old and feeble for being in their mid-50s. Major offenders are Steve, who needs hearing aidsnote ; Big, who has heart trouble; and Carrie, who believes she's suffering from arthritis until her doctor specifically says she doesn't have an old-person disease.

  • Uncanny Valley: An editorial in The Atlantic argued that the series has a stranger relationship with reality than most TV series, almost taking place in a slightly different Alternate Universe:
    "It’s a little like a face that has had just a tad too much work done: You can’t stop looking at it, but largely to figure out what, exactly, has happened here to make it feel so unnatural. The attempts to “put a finger” on what’s going on with And Just Like That… have occupied the zeitgeist. The commentary has mainly focused on the series’s strange relationship to reality across the board, from the pandemic to 'wokeness' to aging to what to do when one finds a loved one experiencing cardiac arrest."

Libraryseraph uu~ from Canada (Handed A Sword) Relationship Status: Raising My Lily Rank With You
uu~
#18620: Feb 7th 2022 at 6:07:01 AM

[up] I don't feel like Hollywood Old counts, because those are all things that can happen to "younger" people. Hell, the "hearing loss" example even notes that the actor who is in his mid-fifties is hard of hearing.

The Uncanny Valley example is almost entirely based on a single review, and I'm not sure Uncanny Valley can be applies to settings or plots, so I'd say it doesn't count either

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FOR MARIA
Afterword (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#18621: Feb 7th 2022 at 6:42:09 AM

From The White Vault.

  • For the Evulz: Graham eventually comes to the conclusion that the monster isn't torturing and killing them for food—it just likes this.
    • In Season 4 and 5, "Mor" reveals that the Guardians are not toying with the people who come to their Vaults for fun.

This is kind of a weird one because one character theorizes in an earlier season that the show's recurring monsters are acting For the Evulz, but then a few seasons later a character who knows more about the situation says that they are not. I know that it needs to be fixed indentation/commentary-wise, but I'm not sure whether that cancels it out as an example or if the example should be something like "Graham theorizes that the monster... but in season 5 Mor reveals..."

Edited by Afterword on Feb 7th 2022 at 9:42:39 AM

Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
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
#18623: Feb 7th 2022 at 9:20:44 AM

Based solely on the example text and no knowledge of the work, it could be something like

Elaborating on the details behind the spoiler tags to the extent possible with the existing released material.

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
GrigorII Since: Aug, 2011
#18624: Feb 7th 2022 at 9:55:49 AM

A work has a character, and he dies at the end of it. It is a success and the work is renewed for sequels, and the character is a beloved one. However, his death is not undone, so we get things like long flashback sequences or new adventures that are chronologically before the one with his death.

Is it a Posthumous Character, or something else? It would seem so, but the trope seems to be about characters who are Posthumous Character from the let go.

Ultimate Secret Wars
Tonwen HoMM Fan from Axeoth Since: Dec, 2021 Relationship Status: I <3 love!
HoMM Fan
#18625: Feb 7th 2022 at 10:00:24 AM

I'd say they're still a Posthumous Character, as the sequel is considered a new work and they are dead from the start in the sequel.

Edit: Though if the work is specifically a pure prequel, they are Doomed by Canon instead.

Edited by Tonwen on Feb 7th 2022 at 12:01:05 PM

"Grandmaster Combat, son!"

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