TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Duplicate tropes discussion thread

Go To

A thread discussing similar tropes.

Note that two tropes being distinct in theory does that mean they are distinct in practice. If participants agree that two (or more) tropes really don't seem distinct enough to be separate, one can start a thread in the Trope Repair Shop for further discussion. A a wick check demonstrating redundancy will likely be required, though.

Before asking "What's the difference between these tropes?", check the Canonical List of Subtle Trope Distinctions and Laconical List of Subtle Trope Distinctions lists. They may contain the answer. Feel free to contribute to them, too.


    Original OP 

I've decided to start a new cleanup thread dealing with trope similarities. This thread is for discussing tropes that appear to be a duplicate of another trope, and if it's agreed upon that the two tropes talked about are similar enough, one should start a thread about it in the Trope Repair Shop.

I'll start with my issue...


Asian Hooker Stereotype and Mighty Whitey and Mellow Yellow are pretty much the same trope—they both involve a white man and an Asian woman.

Edited by Synchronicity on Aug 8th 2024 at 5:29:57 AM

jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
SMILE!
#3226: Apr 12th 2024 at 11:08:05 AM

[up]

First Blood: The sight of a character drawing blood during a battle is a sign that things are serious.

Blood Upgrade: Bleeding from a hit serves as a Berserk Button.

Former is about the dramatic implications of blood being drawn during battle, while the latter relates more so to characters’ actions.

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
kundoo Since: Sep, 2010
#3228: Apr 12th 2024 at 12:22:31 PM

[up] From what I see, First Blood doesn't have to result in Blood Upgrade. In a few examples drawing First Blood shows that the character is not so invincible, which inspires their opponent, rather then making the bleeding character stronger. But I have to admit, the way those tropes are describes on Victory by First Blood, for example, does make them look identical.

Edit: Also Blood Upgrade doesn't have to be First Blood, because it's about a character's reaction to their own blood being spilt, not to the first time someone bleeds during the fight.

Edited by kundoo on Apr 12th 2024 at 3:00:12 AM

Willbyr Hi (Y2K) Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Hi
#3229: Apr 12th 2024 at 3:39:16 PM

[up] I changed the definition of Blood Upgrade on Victory by First Blood to be more in line with its real meaning...as it was written, it was definitely too close to First Blood.

Hello83433 (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
#3230: Apr 13th 2024 at 4:16:35 PM

I asked this a while back and just realized I never got a response.


I'm wondering what the differences are between Aborted Declaration of Love, Cannot Spit It Out, and False Start.

I believe that ADoL has to be a like... final opportunity-type situation, but the other two...? They all seem to be about not being able to confess.

CSP Cleanup Thread | All that I ask for ... is diamonds and dance floors
jandn2014 SMILE! from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
SMILE!
#3231: Apr 13th 2024 at 4:34:08 PM

[up]

  • Aborted Declaration of Love: A character fails to confess their love for another at the last chance.

  • Cannot Spit It Out: A character finds themselves unable to say something important (which does not necessary have to be a declaration of love).

  • False Start: A character attempts to declare their love, but something interrupts; they do not necessarily have to be at fault.

eroock Since: Sep, 2012
#3232: Apr 14th 2024 at 2:34:11 AM

False Start sounds a lot like Interrupted Declaration of Love.

Edited by eroock on Apr 14th 2024 at 11:37:11 AM

sohibil Since: Dec, 2020 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
FSharp Resisting a rest Since: Jan, 2019 Relationship Status: I wanna know what love is
#3234: Apr 14th 2024 at 2:13:30 PM

[up] Isn't this explanation from the Gallows Humor page good enough?

"Gallows Humor is, by definition, from the perspective of the victim or at least expressing empathy. If anyone else laughs at the victim or the author tries to make the situation funny, it's some other form of Black Comedy."

Edited by FSharp on Apr 14th 2024 at 5:15:06 AM

I don't just Wiki Talk the talk. I Wiki Walk the walk.
randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#3235: Apr 17th 2024 at 9:49:52 PM

Hello 83433: The reason I put Aborted Declaration of Love on the TRS Queue is that most examples lack the "never gets another chance" requirement.

sohibil: Hence the phrases "It's not gallows humor if you are not on the gallows" and "It's only gallows humor if you are the one on the gallows"

Edited by randomtroper89 on Apr 17th 2024 at 11:56:42 AM

TheOneWhoTropes Dread Sorcerer of Auchtermuchty from Newton-le-willows, quaint town Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: With my statistically significant other
Dread Sorcerer of Auchtermuchty
#3237: Apr 18th 2024 at 1:12:16 PM

The Labcoat of Science and Medicine page basically is anyone scientific looking, but Dressed to Heal is explicitly Doctor/Nurse. I do think it falls a bit into The Same, but More Specific. The labcoat page even mentions Dressed to Heal as a subtrope. I'd say one is a specific case of the other. The only problem is dressed to heal includes nurses, which do not usually wear labcoats.

Keeper of The Celestial Flame
SamCurt Since: Jan, 2001
#3238: Apr 18th 2024 at 7:14:01 PM

[up]I wonder if a nurse's outfit can make a standalone trope?

Scientia et Libertas | Per Aspera ad Astra Nova
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#3239: Apr 18th 2024 at 7:27:49 PM

Dressed to Heal includes several other outfits and accessories that are not labcoats. I don’t see the issue.

Edited by Synchronicity on Apr 18th 2024 at 10:27:59 AM

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#3241: Apr 21st 2024 at 1:17:13 PM

Not Quite the Right Thing is when you do something that you think is the right thing but it turns out that it isn't. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished is when you actually do the morally right thing but it bites back. In my understanding:

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
Sid-Starkiller Since: Jan, 2021
#3242: Apr 23rd 2024 at 4:07:44 AM

Hoping this hasn't been asked before: Awesome But Impractical vs Cool But Inefficient?

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#3243: Apr 23rd 2024 at 4:13:08 AM

[up]Cool, but Inefficient completely runs on Rule of Cool and would never work well, while Awesome, but Impractical could theoretically be useful, but its usefulness is limited by practical limitations.

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
taotruths Live Jet Reaction (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: I sleep in a big bed with my wife.
Live Jet Reaction
#3244: Apr 23rd 2024 at 9:35:18 AM

I was originally gonna open an image thread for The Musketeer but I thought about it harder and wondered if one of these is just the same thing but more specific, as they're both really old.

Sword and Gun: A blade in one hand and a firearm in the other.

The Musketeer: A character wields both a firearm and a melee weapon, but not at the same time.

Is it still worth having these as separate tropes?

Coachpill Taxidermy (he/him) from Gen Z Since: Aug, 2022 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
Taxidermy (he/him)
#3245: Apr 24th 2024 at 10:21:49 AM

Sword and Gun mentions the distinction between it and The Musketeer is proficience (in regards to the latter), which I think works well.


What's the difference between Body in a Breadbox and Peek-a-Boo Corpse?

Edited by Coachpill on Apr 24th 2024 at 1:22:04 PM

Your goateed philistine is sashaying towards us. | 🧱
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (3,795/50,000)
#3246: Apr 24th 2024 at 10:23:09 AM

Body in a Breadbox is solely for the concept of a body being found in a weird place. Peek-a-Boo Corpse is more of a jumpscare that can sometimes result from the other trope.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
randomtroper89 from The Fire Nation Since: Nov, 2010
#3247: Apr 24th 2024 at 1:59:32 PM

I assume the difference between Worf Had the Flu and Drama-Preserving Handicap is the former is established before the fact and the latter is established after the fact. It's just a lot of people don't seem to understand the distinction.

eroock Since: Sep, 2012
#3248: Apr 24th 2024 at 5:20:03 PM

^ I don't think that's the qualifier but I struggle to find one myself. Take the trope quote from Worf Had the Flu — I would have filed it off under Drama-Preserving Handicap.

Edited by eroock on Apr 24th 2024 at 2:21:01 PM

Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#3250: Apr 25th 2024 at 5:14:26 AM

One is a literal transformation, the other only "acting as" one.

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup

Total posts: 4,264
Top