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.
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
They can occur together but Full-Circle Revolution needs to have a sense that the new guys are essentially the same as the old guys, which can be accomplished without a slew of collaborator punishment. Conversely purging remnants can be done without being used to say “see they’re basically the same”, eg. justified by the narrative as a necessity or to show that the new regime is actively worse.
Edited by Synchronicity on May 2nd 2023 at 1:28:01 PM
So is there any meaningful difference between Bee Afraid and Wicked Wasps besides the fact that the former is about bees and the latter wasps?
I dunno if this is accurate but to my understanding from reading the trope descriptions:
- The Slow Walk: A character slowly walks towards their enemy before beating the crap out of them.
- Ominous Walk: The creepy slow walk slasher villains and monsters do before they attack their victims
- Menacing Stroll: A character's confidently walks in a way that's cool and intimidating.
That being said, I think Menacing Stroll has a misleading name.
Edited by MacronNotes on May 3rd 2023 at 9:01:35 AM
Macron's notesMenacing Stroll and Slow Walk can be one trope as they both indicate a cool walk regardless of what's happening after a walk. After all, a character's walk gotta look awesome before they join the big climactic showdown.
Uncanny Valley Hot Babes in Your Area Are Looking To Know YOU! Click Here to Sign Up for FREE! | Not quite back tbh. Don't expect much.But 'what happens after the walk' is an integral part of The Slow Walk, and what sets it apart from the others. Sharing a similar aspect doesn't make them duplicates; these things are more than the sum of their parts.
- Pottery Barn Poor: The story claims they're poor but all their stuff is nice
- "Friends" Rent Control: The characters could not reasonably afford to live where they do in real life. (Not exclusive to poor characters)
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there has been some convo on "Friends" Rent Control before though on whether it was being used correctly in practice. I've considered wick checking it before
another distinction seems to be that "Friends" Rent Control is entirely a Fridge Logic thing (the show never explicitly calls to attention the place is way nicer than they could realistically afford, so it's only something you realize after thinking about it), whereas with Pottery Barn Poor it seems to be that the characters are explicitly poor, which makes their place being nice more confusing in the moment. that said, i'd never even heard of the latter trope until now.
- Using the specific methods and terms of Hermeticism, such as magic circles vs. just a ritual of some kind.
That both page images have magic circles is not helping, I'd say.
Edited by Malady on May 5th 2023 at 4:57:45 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576Hermetic Magic is a subtrope that has a specific cosmology behind it ('as above, so below'). Other forms of Ritual Magic may have different explanations for their practices, or simply know that whispering someone's name while circling an ash tree three times under a full moon will make them sick but not have a theory about why.
ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NORelated to "Friends" Rent Control and Pottery Barn Poor, Informed Poverty to me seems the same as Pottery Barn Poor, with the apparent distinction being PBP is when the people in question believe themselves to be poor and IP is when multiple people in a story see the person(s) is question as poor, though in both cases, the character's possessions would lead an audience to believe they really aren't that poor.
Edited by YourIdeas on May 6th 2023 at 1:28:40 AM
Badly Battered Babysitter is a narrative trope about the tiresome trials and tribulations of a babysitter.
Babysitter's Nightmare is supposed to be a character trope for overly rambunctious, mischievous, and ill-behaved kids who are actively trying to run off babysitters and caretakers.
In BBB, the children can just be hyperactive and exhausting to deal with; no malice or ill-intent needed, just kids being kids. Not so for BN.
Though I can see the two being confused with one another from the description. Wouldn't mind a wick check just to make sure everything's kosher.
Edited by amathieu13 on May 6th 2023 at 6:20:54 AM
Do we really need three separate tropes for White Magic, White Mage and White Magician Girl? Likewise Black Magic, Black Mage and Black Magician Girl.
Too tired to analyze these coherently but I know Black Mage and Black Magic aren't the same thing. Not all black mages do "black magic". Black mages just specialize in offensive magic and that magic often isn't associated with black magic.
Black Magic is for magic that has negative effects to the user and White Magic is the opposite of that and is often gained from holy means. Black and white magic are pre-established terms that have more components than the White and Black mage tropes pages associated with RPG games.
As someone who plays a lot of rpgs and fantasy based media , a lot of the female black and white mages fall into the specific molds so I can see why they got their own archetype tropes in White Magician Girl and Black Magician Girl. No strong opinion on whether or not they should be merged into the black/white magic tropes though.
Edited by MacronNotes on May 7th 2023 at 7:39:35 AM
Macron's notes

ROT can follow from TRWNBC, but not necessarily, e.g. if a peaceful rebel leader suddenly becomes paranoid and violent after the old leader is deposed or hands over the reins to one such subordinate.