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Narm Cleanup

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I've decided to start a cleanup thread for Narm, since it seems to attract a lot of misuse and complaining. Like I said in my ATT post, "some misuse is easy to catch (e.g. saying a joke is Narm when Narm by definition can't be a joke), a lot of examples fall into grey areas that seem like misuse but it's hard to tell. Like nitpicks that at first glance seem to be valid examples, but feel like stretches the more you think about them."

I think one of the main reasons for misuse is that most people aren't clear on what Narm actually is. To my understanding, it's when a scene is intended to be dramatic, but comes off as cheesy/funny unintentionally. But going by the page description, it's kind of vague what actually qualifies something as Narm. At the top, it says "Narm is a moment that is supposed to be serious, but due to either over-sappiness, poor execution, excessive Melodrama, or the sheer absurdity of the situation, the drama is lost to the point of surpassing "cheesy" and becoming unintentionally funny." But then later on in the same page, it gives a much more vague definition:

In CGI movies or video games unrealistic movements or facial expressions may result in Narm. Dated special effects during dramatic scenes can cause Narm for younger audience members who were raised on nothing less convincing than the Phantom Menace. Totally Radical dialog in cartoons or commercials pandering to children can also be a rich source of Narm. Even a good performance in a bad movie can evoke Narm if the actor's performance isn't enough to save the scene.
That last sentence I feel just confuses the whole thing. It makes it sound like absolutely anything can count as Narm, no matter if it works in context or not.

Most often, Narm is misused to mean "anything I personally don't think worked," whether or not it was intended as dramatic or comes off as funny. And when a work is high-profile enough, hoo boy, pretty much every scene is Narm to somebody. You can look at the Narm subpages for Doctor Who, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones and find tons of examples of people nitpicking the tiniest of details in a scene and blowing whatever it is out of proportion.

Another problem is that since it's such a subjective trope, it's not clear if there's supposed to be any sort of in-fandom consensus on the example in-question, or if every example is valid under the "it's called YMMV for a reason" excuse, even if the only person who thinks the example is Narm is the troper who adds it in.

I think it needs to be clearer whether nitpicks are valid examples of Narm, especially since nitpicking overlaps so often with barely-disguised complaining. The most frequent offenders for Narm entries I see are complaining, nitpicking, adding jokes, and ZeroContextExamples. I'm going to use Venom (2018) as an example, with my comments in bold:

  • The scene of Eddie freaking out on the medical table is presented as the teaser's Money-Making Shot. It... doesn't quite work as intended, which isn't helped by it being sped up, making it look like a parody.
    • The final trailer features a more complete version of the clip showing Venom's face "shutter" over Eddie. Whether or not this works or if it looks like a cheap special effect depends on who you ask.
    • What makes the freakout even more narmful is that Eddie's screams are different screams playing on top of each other. The actual film lacks this strange effect. This example seems fine to me, but falls into the "The trailer is Narmy but the finished product isn't" doublespeak.
  • The leaked trailer revealed some pretty terrible lines (“The guy you work for is an evil person.”). Tom Hardy's horrible New York...ish(?) accent isn't doing the delivery any favors either. And it really does not help that his voice cracks on the reading of "evil person". Thankfully, that line is not in the film proper. Do we keep examples that are purely in the trailers? Also an example of "thing falls flat" instead of "thing is funny."
    • Hardy's line reading of "You're not real, you are just in my head." sounds like he's suffering from Elmuh Fudd Syndwome. At worst, he sounds like Adam Sandler's signature Manchild babbling. However there's some speculation that, based on the context of the scene and Eddie's stumbling movements, he's actually drunk, or perhaps even overdosed on medication (considering he was seen taking a bunch of pills, thinking he's sick). That and it could be a case of Reality Ensues, as it's unlikely anyone would keep the mental clarity to speak normally as an alien parasite is slowly bonding with their body. Natter. Goes back and forth between snarky complaints and defending the moment. Also nitpicking.
    • Movie trailers cutting quotes out of context to form a new sentence is nothing new, but the editing on the line "you will only hurt bad people" is particularly poor, and it's very easy to hear that the line has been cut together out of separate pieces of dialogue. Not really a dramatic thing, so I don't think it counts as Narm. And it definitely isn't funny, it just falls flat.
    • How Jenny Slate's character pronounces "symbiote" note . Plus, her giving firm, equal stress to all three syllables like she's speaking some foreign language. Luckily, this was cut from the theatrical release. Nitpicking and not funny.
    • The shot of Eddie crashing straight through a half-fallen tree in the forest that he could just as easily have ducked under comes across as more comedic than cool, as if they just needed an additional gratuitous shot of something breaking. Especially if your mind goes to Victor from Wet Hot American Summer and his inexplicable refusal to jump over anything. It really does not help that the evil bad-guy vehicle chasing him looks like a slightly modified golf cart. The context for this one in the movie is that Venom is taking control of his body and forcing him to blindly flee through the woods to escape the Life Foundation. Context makes it not-Narm. Cut?
    • Although it may look better in the context of the full scene, Eddie flying 50 feet into the air on his motorcycle off a slightly steep hill seems to rather severely break the laws of physics. Clearly written before the movie came out. Cut?
  • The Jump Scare (on both sides of the fourth wall) where Venom suddenly shouts Eddie's name as he brushed his teeth would have been much more scary if not for the fact that the latter Screams Like a Little Girl. There's also the fact that he somehow throws himself backwards so hard that he crashes into the bathroom wall. Intended as comedic, so it isn't Narm.
  • Remember how creepy and awesome that shot from the second trailer of the symbiote forming around Eddie's face in order to eat a guy was? In the third trailer, the potential Nightmare Fuel of that moment is significantly undercut by Venom slobbering all over the man's face with its tongue in an amusingly over-the-top manner. One is reminded of the scene with Patrick licking the yellow popsicle, or perhaps "This is the taste of a liar".... This seems pretty in-character for Venom. I'm not sure with this one.
    • The guy who Carlton Drake subjects to Orifice Invasion in the third trailer would have been disturbing, if not for the victim's bland expression. Moment that falls flat; not funny. Cut.
    • The symbiote's Venom-face forming on the end of Eddie's arm to talk to him strongly resembles a deranged hand puppet rather than a vicious alien parasite. There's also the fact that they can communicate telepathically, making that sequence unnecessary. Seems fine.
    • Venom's violent threats to his enemies are this if they're not aggressively tasteless Black Comedy. His threat to mutilate a man until he's "like a turd on the wind" is particularly groan-inducing, especially coming after a genuinely frightening threat. How It Should Have Ended was even driven by this to make a video on just the trailer for the very first time, in which he mangles a bunch of other sayings. Pretty sure they are intended as comedy, so it's not Narm. Cut.
  • The animation of the yellow symbiote just looks like mozzarella cheese come to life. Nitpick. Also... inaccurate? It's more of a mucus yellow.
  • After Venom heals Eddie's broken legs, he flatly states "My legs! They were broken... and now they're not broken..."
  • "HOSPITAL!!!! (extremely long pause) Now!" Zero-Context Example.
  • Eddie and Anne quite casually discussing cannibalism as one of the symbiote's favorite activities. It's something that would probably sincerely shock and disgust the average person and likely require therapy, and yet it's bandied about like it's a pretty normal occurrence. These kinds of entries are tricky to me. They seem valid at first glance, but there's something off about them. I don't think this one counts if the work itself is treating the moment lightly.
  • Any menace from Cletus Kasady is completely undercut by Woody Harrelson's truly ridiculous wig. A common comparison is that it causes him to look like a live-action Sideshow Bob, or a make-up-less Pennywise. Uses complainy word-choice. Otherwise fine.
  • Kasady promising that there will be "carnage" after he gets out is so on-the-nose that it feels like it's straight out of a parody. First off, that's not an example of Anvilicious. Secondly, this verges on a nitpick to me. I'm not sure. It's not really funny, just lame.
  • The final trade of words between Venom and Riot before the final battle is nothing but total Ham-to-Ham Combat - that and the two symbiotes happen to be Perpetual Smilers, which just gives off the feeling that they don't really give that much of a damn about their goals.
    Riot: Venom...Get in the rocket!
    Venom: No! We won't let you destroy this world!
    Riot: Then die!
Nitpicking?
  • Towards the end of the film, it's revealed that Venom used to be something of a loser on his home planet, like Eddie. This is his entire reason for wanting to save the Earth. Moment played as a joke, so it isn't Narm.
  • Despite angrily forcing Eddie to spit out cooked meats because they're no longer living animals, the symbiote develops a taste for tater tots, and it practically demands that Eddie buy some during a conversation in the ending. The director admitted in an interview that the writers just thought it was funny and put it in the script. It unfortunately invites comparisons to a similar tots-focused scene in Napoleon Dynamite as a result. Entry admits it's a joke. So it isn't Narm.
  • Drake having bonded with Riot is treated as a huge shocking twist going into the final battle... except for the fact that the audience was already well aware of it and saw the whole process. It feels very much like a consequence of Executive Meddling to give Riot more screentime. Another tricky example. Seems to fall under "scene doesn't work" instead of "scene is funny."
  • Right after Eddie is separated from the symbiote, a rather obvious ADR overdub replaces the intended "fuck you" with the much less vicious "we're done". Not really funny, just falls flat.
  • Eddie's "DRAKE! STOP!" sounds less like he's in pain and more like a little kid telling his Big Brother Bully to stop giving him a wedgie. Nitpicking. Most people wouldn't even pay this sequence any mind.

Another issue with Narm is the distinction between moments that are unintentionally funny on their own, and moments that are only unintentionally funny after Memetic Mutation or similar feat. Does the latter truly count as Narm? Because you can make the case that everything that has ever been made can fall under that.

Edited by MisterApes-a-lot on Mar 31st 2019 at 7:06:31 AM

mightymewtron Angry babby from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Angry babby
#1226: Apr 7th 2022 at 7:59:05 AM

That troper immediately associates a five year old saying "Daddy" with a daddy kink, but somehow it's the writers who are the creepy ones. Eugh...

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
DragonFax Since: Mar, 2022
#1227: Apr 7th 2022 at 8:04:50 AM

I'm thinking of tackling the Doctor Who page, but due to the sheer size of it I was planning to break it down season by season (of Nu Who; I'm not familiar enough with Classic Who to pass judgement), posting it here with the reasons I think it should stay/go or be discussed further.

I don't want to do it if it's been attempted before, though.

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#1228: Apr 7th 2022 at 8:31:22 AM

Regarding the Cry Wilderness examples on the previous page: The first might be okay, but the second bullet is "thing falls flat".

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1229: Apr 7th 2022 at 9:03:31 AM

Bringing up the following examples from Narm.Sailor Moon:

  • Captain Obvious moments abound, and it gets either annoying or funny. Luna seems to do this a lot.
    [monster creates sea pillars and attacks Sailor Moon with them]
    Luna: Careful, Sailor Moon! That monster can attack with water!
    • Ami is a major offender, too, especially in the original North American dub. The Abridged Series makes being Captain Obvious her defining trait.
  • In the otherwise good (and sad) season one finale, Mercury and the DD Girls attacking her have this exchange:
    DD Girl: We'll turn you into a roast pig.
    Sailor Mercury (in pain): How rude.
    DD Girl: Then how about a baked potato?
    • Mercury's lonely death scene is sad, but this exchange is awkwardly funny and probably shouldn't have been.
    • That unfitting brassy fanfare that sounded like it was out of Street Fighter.
  • The SuperS movie. As if the Japanese wasn't already corny enough, the dub brought us some gems:

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#1230: Apr 7th 2022 at 9:58:47 AM

[up]

  • General/low-context/just a flaw.
    • Doesn't add anything useful.
  • ZCE
    • ZCE and "falls flat"
    • ZCE and just a flaw
  • General

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#1231: Apr 7th 2022 at 9:59:46 AM

The following examples have been cut from Metal Gear. Edit reasons below.

    Metal Gear Solid 3 and Portable Ops 
  • The game has an example similar to the Cardcaptor Sakura one noted in Narm.Anime. It would be much easier to take The Boss seriously if she wasn't voiced by Diane Simmons/ Pearl. It didn't make her any less badass, but you may spend the Virtuous Mission half-expecting her to reply to Major Tom with a cheerful "That's right, Tom!" Makes a reference to another example + It's only funny due to Fan Myopia
  • The theme song, "Snake Eater", done in a James Bond-esque style, is both Awesome Music and Narm at the same time. The music is great, but the lyrics contain lines like "Some day you go through the rain, some day you feed on a tree frog...." The incredible corniness is part of what makes it so good. Not unintentionally funny; Narm Charm since fans enjoy the song despite the cheesy lyrics
    • As well as the title— "Snake Eater"... well, we'll let you guess what "snake" is code for in porn. Not a moment
    • There's a reason that when the theme starts playing halfway through the final boss battle, it starts off as an instrumental-only version. Natter
    • This is part of the reason why the memetic "Ladder Sequence" is so memorable - it's just Snake climbing up an incredibly long ladder while the vocals to "Snake Eater" plays in the background for literally no reason. Doesn't help that it reminded people of the widely hated Charlie's Angels video game, which also had a really long ladder climbing sequence, and the kicker is that MGS3's sequence is more then twice as long as that one. Natter
  • Some of Ocelot's cred as a hyper-badass is undermined by MGS3 when he calls for support. The kicker is how he calls for it: Kept
    ''MRRRROWR!'
  • The scene after the Ocelot boss battle. The Pain's hornets come out of nowhere and all of Ocelot's men start running and screaming like girls while Ocelot himself kills the hornets coming his way by twirling his guns, all the while keeping a straight face. Kept
    • The Pain, himself. His Power Ranger introductory dance removes any possibility of taking him seriously from the moment you see him pose. Not a moment
  • Big Boss' little reaction/thinking noises. Hrm. Hrm? Grrm. Mrm? Hmm! Ergm. Mrughm? Hnrgm. Murgh? Grm! Not enough context. Common grunts that are unlikely to be seen as hilarious by most players
  • Reworded entry about the Big Boss title to make it more concise
    • It being something he made up on the spot would have been less silly and even somewhat in character for LBJ ("Guess we're gonna have to call you 'Big Boss' now, son"), but it's made clear that "Boss" and "Big Boss" are honest-to-God special ranks bestowed by the U.S. Government in this universe. Natter
    • What really sells the narm is that President Johnson says the above line in the same tone of voice you'd expect to use for congratulating a kindergartner for tying their shoes for the first time. Natter
  • Sure, The Boss showing Snake her cesarean scar is touching, but why didn't she do up her shirt afterwards? And the scar suddenly coming to life and slithering away doesn't fit into the story at all, as symbolic as it may be. Fridge Logic
  • The Fulton Surface-to-Air Recovery System. YOU'RE STRAPPING PEOPLE TO BALLOONS. It's real, but still. Not enough context + Probably doesn't count since it's a military practice in real life
    • No less badass for it, as Batman has proven. But in Peace Walker when they can extract soldiers even indoors... what? Fridge Logic + Natter + Irrelevant reference to another work
  • The Shagohod. Not the thing itself, the name. It's easy to forget how scary the concept is when it has a name which wouldn't look out of place in an Austin Powers film. Not a moment
    • Well, what do you know? The HD edition gives you a trophy called "Shagedelic" if you defeat it. Natter
  • That scene where Ocelot rebels and basically tells Volgin to go fuck himself falls a bit flat when Ocelot spits "Fight like a man, Volgin!", not using his title of "Colonel" but pronouncing Volgin's name right with a hard "g" sound. Then Volgin incredulously replies back with "Volgin?!"...but pronouncing it "Vol-jin", proving he's a doofus who can't even pronounce his own name correctly. That, or everybody else has been saying it wrong, and he's been too busy punching holes in walls and completely failing at interrogation to bring it up. Not funny, just a minor mistake from the voice actor
  • As mentioned above, Scott Menville voices a few NPCs, including the harmless scientists in the Granin lab and Groznyj Grad. It's more funny than anything holding a knife to one's throat demanding information and hearing Robin/Lloyd Irving whimpering like a kid. More Fan Myopia

Edited by TantaMonty on Apr 7th 2022 at 10:02:11 AM

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#1232: Apr 7th 2022 at 10:27:38 AM

Might as well clean up this other folder. Reworded a couple of entries and deleted the ones below.

    Metal Gear Revengeance 
  • Let's face it, the whole VGA trailer was this. Doesn't stop the action from being completely awesome, though. General example + Gushing
  • Senator Armstrong lives and breathes narm. Though it seems to be intentional and at least partly self-aware satire of the series itself. General example + Intentional humour
  • The subtitle "Revengeance" is either one of the most-ludicrous-yet-coolest portmanteaus ever or just silly. Not a moment, and that's an actual word
    • Turns out it's actually an obsolete but existent word, but that doesn't make it any less narmy. Natter
  • Raiden's really been Snake-ing it up in this game. Sometimes, it's hard to not cringe when you hear him like that. Even more so when falls off high ground. Though most of his "Snake" voice is only done when he's being Jack The Ripper. I have no idea what this is even talking about. Regardless, it does not describe a funny moment
    • What's more amusing is his Snake impersonation is so bad it's closer to a Crypt Keeper impersonation - especially so given that the first person he breaks the voice out for is, in English, voiced by the actual Crypt Keeper. Natter, Fan Myopia
  • Raiden's exclamation of "THE MEMES" and all the various discussions of such, given the meaning most people associate with the word nowadays. Way too vague, Examples Are Not Recent
  • Occasionally, some characters have pauses in their lines that really aren't necessary. Not funny, just a flaw
    Raiden: What do you want with the Prime Minister?!
    Sundowner: I want him......dead.
    • And later on, Sundowner gloriously talking about the "good old days after 9-11." Apparently we needed Sundowner to wax joyous about much fun he found the War On Terror to get how evil he is. Not funny, just complaints about the dialogue
  • The fact that Mistral uses two of her many arms to control her breasts' bouncing is both hilarious and arousing for many players. Not a serious moment, she is an exaggeration of the Femme Fatale trope
  • Courtney's Gag Boobs. Seriously, they're half the size of beach balls and she wears her shirt open so that you're always looking at her cleavage whether you want to or not. You'll be on the codec with her discussing some serious humanitarian problem and trying to focus on what she has to say, and the inappropriate fanservice just pulls you out of the moment. Lewdness
  • Sundowner's memetic line, "I'M FUCKIN' INVINCIBLE!" No context, the writing suggests it's just Memetic Mutation
  • Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jetstream Sam, The King of the Shit Eating Grin.◊ This image has become nearly as popular as Sundowner's face for trolling purposes. From the way it's written, it's just Memetic Mutation
  • George's "Guyanese" accent is actually dreadful to listen to if you've heard an authentic Guyanese accent. Not Even Bothering with the Accent

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1233: Apr 7th 2022 at 12:23:48 PM

Bringing up the following example from Being the Ricardos:

  • Narm: The extremely dramatic closeup of Lucille when she imagines the grape stomping scene is rather silly.

katrinahood Since: Feb, 2013
#1234: Apr 7th 2022 at 1:38:21 PM

  • ZCE, comment out or provide more context.

Edited by katrinahood on Apr 7th 2022 at 2:38:44 AM

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1235: Apr 7th 2022 at 2:03:28 PM

Bringing up the following example from Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li:

  • Narm: The movie as a whole has its moments, but one particular example can be found in Chun-Li's soliloquizing about "losing herself in the crowd" of Hong Kong... while wearing gaudy go-go boots that hadn't been in casual style in... ever. Not to mention the Race Lift making her about a head taller and five shades paler than every other woman we see.

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#1236: Apr 7th 2022 at 2:16:42 PM

[up]Those just seem to be Fridge flaws. Cut.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1237: Apr 7th 2022 at 3:04:17 PM

Bringing up the following examples from Narm.Sailor Moon:

  • Three words: STAR GENTLE UTERUS. Metaphorically, it made sense; but yelling out that body part...
  • "Avocados, papayas, mangoes... Rotten fruit." This thankfully gets corrected in the re-dub, since they aren't struggling through a thick Japanese accent.
  • BWAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAH III AM SO TIIIIIRED
  • Many serious scenes are this because of some of the original dub's English voice actors. Serena/Sailor Moon, Darien/Tuxedo Mask, Luna, Amy, Molly, Nephrite, Rini, and the strangely Yoda-sounding Zirconia were prime offenders here. The award has to go to DiC Chibi-Usa/Rini, who had a distinctly nasal, squeaky tone that grated like nails on a chalkboard. It was so bad that it's blamed at least in part for the character's hatred by the English-speaking fandom.
    • A good scene of Narm involving Darien in the English dub? The scene where he sounds like he's taking a dump before the scene cuts to Serena being held at Prince Diamond's lair.
    • "Me, Serena, a princess? Now this is way past weird!" Way to ruin that mood you were building up, DiC.
    • Don't forget this absolutely HILARIOUS exchange from Episode 157. Not helped by the fact that Zirconia's dub voice literally sounded like Yoda.
    Ves-Ves: "There's a lot of girl power staring at you right now!"
    Zirconia: "It's not NICE to stare!"

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#1238: Apr 7th 2022 at 5:06:13 PM

[up]

  • ZCE
    • Not super necessary
    • General & just a complaint
  • ZCE
  • ZCE
  • General
    • Doesn't say what's funny
    • ZCE
    • ZCE
    • Just pure complaining

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1239: Apr 7th 2022 at 10:25:33 PM

Bringing up the following examples from Birds of Prey (2002):

  • Narm:
    • The Opening Narration to some.
    • The Final Battle is supposed to be intense, but the constant flipping and jumping makes it hard to take seriously.
    • After learning that Harley Quinn has stabbed her love interest, Wade, the face Barbara makes is supposed to be devastated... but the expression the actress makes is more of a pouty look of disgust, like she ate something that she didn't like, making it comical.

magnumtropus Since: Aug, 2020
#1240: Apr 7th 2022 at 10:37:28 PM

Haven't watch the film, but...

  • ZCE
  • Complaint
  • Detailed enough to keep

Side note, maybe Narm is a victim of Trope Namer Syndrome. Wouldn't be surprised if it got renamed to something like Unintentionally Hilarious

Edited by magnumtropus on Apr 7th 2022 at 5:37:57 PM

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1241: Apr 7th 2022 at 11:38:06 PM

Bringing up the following example from Law & Order: UK:

DragonFax Since: Mar, 2022
#1242: Apr 8th 2022 at 1:40:58 AM

Doctor Who Nu Who Season 1:

  • "Rose", in which we're supposed to believe that Rose doesn't notice Mickey has turned into a life-size Ken doll, despite the fact he suddenly can't drive and his skin is obviously waxy. RTD was really playing up the campy factor early on. I don't think this scene was ever meant to be taken seriously.
    • The bin eating Mickey...and then burping. This is quite clearly meant to be a joke, albeit not a very good one.
    • Russell T Davies tries to explain this in the DVD Commentary with people not normally thinking things like "Has he been replaced by a plastic clone?" Which rather ignores how she's been fighting plastic monsters for a while now. Except she hasn't been fighting them "for a while"; she's met the Autons once as mannequins, she had no reason to think they could assume human form, however unconvincingly.

  • As referenced in the page quote, the Slitheen. In their true form: big green things with giant baby heads with their mouth movements badly synced to their speech. Again, the camp factor is at play here. The Slitheen were meant to evoke the somewhat daft but still threatening aliens of the classic series. The second point about mouth sync is more Special Effects Failure.
    • While in their human forms, the Slitheen constantly pass gas. And giggle about it. After several extended scenes of this, it's impossible to take their boasts about how "dangerous" they are seriously. Again, the farting is clearly meant to be a joke, and while it may undercut their menace, I don't think that is the same as Narm.
    • Not helping the Slitheen's case is the fact that they move really fast, leaping and sprinting like lions... when they're CGI. When it switches back to rubber suits they become a lot less graceful. The CGI ones are also shown smashing a heavy oak door off its hinges, yet the rubber one takes forever to carve its way through Mickey's cheap MDF front door. This should be listed under Special Effects Failure.

  • In "World War Three", Harriet Jones: This is a pet peeve of mine; tropers streeeetchiiiing oooouuuttt the syllables to make the line seem stupid. It really is not that bad.
    "Noooooooo!!! Take MEEEE! Take MEEEE FIIIIRSSST!"
    • And adding to this, we have more ridiculousness from the Slitheen, including the spectacular line which inspired the page quote, and which might be the finest example of It Makes Sense in Context ever to appear on the series: This one is a doozy; possibly one of the silliest lines in all of Who and is famous/infamous for it. But considering how silly the Slitheen had been up to this point, does it really make things more laughable?
    "Victory...SHOULD BE NAKED!!!"

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#1243: Apr 12th 2022 at 7:50:13 PM

The following entry has been added to DC Extended Universe:

  • A little girl expressing her desire to be like Wonder Woman sounds very sweet on paper, but it's also gotten more than a few chuckles given her hero just killed someone and blew up the side of a building when there was clearly less destructive options at hand, making the kid seem less cute and more like a budding psychopath.

The scene in question: A criminal opens fire on a bunch of innocent civilians, prompting Wonder Woman to step in and deflect the bullets. She then calmly stands up and stares at him, essentially offering him a chance to surrender... but he just reloads the weapon, prompting her to incinerate him before he has the chance to pull the trigger. She then comforts the victims, and a girl timidly says "I wanna be like you someday".

My argument: There is absolutely no reason for this girl to mourn the man who just tried to kill her in cold blood. From her point of view, Wonder Woman was the heroine who saved her life, so her display of admiration is a perfectly understandable reaction. The use of lethal force, given the do-or-die situation, is not an indicator of psychopathy either. Overall, this entry misses the point of the scene and attempts to make both female characters look more villainous than they really are.

What do you think?

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#1244: Apr 12th 2022 at 9:09:21 PM

[up] What you said, and also I feel this entry is an example of Fridge Snark misuse. I'd agree with a cut.

[up][up] DragonFax, I agree with your reasoning. Make the cuts as you see fit.

Edited by MisterApes-a-lot on Apr 12th 2022 at 9:12:43 AM

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1245: Apr 13th 2022 at 5:52:42 AM

Bringing up the following examples from G-Saviour:

  • Narm: The battle of Side 8. Even without the "awful non-action scenes", it's still pretty narmy.
    • You'll either react with laughter or a Flat "What" upon learning that the mook CONSENT mobile suit is named "Bugu". No, really.
    • The G-Saviour's Origin Mode◊. Most mobile suits that get stripped down to their frame remove all of their armor, but this design refraining from doing so results in a silly look from its regularly-proportioned head and torso mixed with selectively spindly limbs. Though fans however managed to get the design to work.

  • Narm: The voice acting in the PS2 game is either this or So Bad, It's Good. At least it's much better than House of the Dead 2 or Mega Man X4.

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#1246: Apr 13th 2022 at 6:11:26 AM

[up]

  • ZCE. Might be just a flaw without further context.
    • Uh, okay? Not really getting this one. Also doesn't list a specific moment and is almost no context.
    • Doesn't seem to be played for drama, and doesn't list a specific moment.

Other example:

  • ZCE, general, pure complaining.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1247: Apr 13th 2022 at 4:32:41 PM

Bringing up the following examples from Transformers: ★Headmasters:

  • Narm:
    • In one episode an animation foul up results in the image of noted pacifist First Aid roundhouse kicking Tracks in the face (it should be noted that Tracks is a fellow Autobot). TF Wiki Dot Net had a field day with it:
    "Maybe he's homophobic or something."
    • The infamous English dub is almost nothing but narm.
    "You're such a coward Wally!"
    • Grand Galvatron was one of the dumbest things in the series already. Then the English dub heard about the movie, and promptly named it "Unicorn." That's not a typo.
    • The series features a depiction of Optimus Prime's death as part of a recap of the events of the movie. Trouble is, they didn't have the movie to work with, so instead of an actual recreation of it, we get a shot of a pretty standard-looking battle, during which Optimus gets shot once and then leans over and turns grey while nobody reacts. It looks as if he's going "...really?" at his own death.
    • Galvatron dies by being buried in an iceberg, and that's it. The dub for the scene is even more hilarious.
    "Darn, my dream is ruined! Come and help me somebody quicklyyyyyyahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
    • Wingwolf. It's a fanmode, created by the screenwriters and made canonical. There's a reason why it wasn't official before - that being, it's just the wolf mode but with the legs flattened out and the wings extended. Apparently, this counts as a Super Mode, even.

MisterApes-a-lot Since: Mar, 2018
#1248: Apr 13th 2022 at 8:31:10 PM

[up]

  • Unclear if this is played for drama. If it's not, I guess it could go under Special Effect Failure. Though I'm not sure the quote from the wiki is necessary beyond someone wanting to shoehorn in extra snark.
  • General and ZCE.
  • Not enough context for the first part. The second part appears to be general.
  • Just seems to be a regular flaw.
  • Unclear to me what's funny here. Maybe it's fine, I dunno.
  • General and unclear what's supposedly funny.

Anddrix Since: Oct, 2014
#1249: Apr 14th 2022 at 8:20:01 AM

Bringing up the following examples from Narm.Sailor Moon:

  • The last two episodes of SuperS. First, Chibiusa's image projected onto the moon asks everybody to chant "crisis make up", so that she and Sailor Moon can defeat Nehellenia. Later on, when Usagi and Chibiusa fall from the sky, the fact that Usagi and Chibiusa just keep falling (as evidenced by the numerous stories they pass) when they should have reached the ground long ago distracts from the otherwise powerful scene.
  • From the R-movie: Right after/during a major Tear Jerker, the real villain asks Fiore why he can't go on.
    Fiore: "It's all over...Mamoru just...threw a flower at me."
  • "SHE'S F-F-F-FREEEEEEZING M-M-MEEEEEEE!"
  • In the original dub of SuperS, Sailor Mercury's bubble attack once resulted in Zirconia going "Ahh! It's cold! And wet!" as if she threw a bucket of water at him.
  • A game many fans like to play is "dub or porno?" Many, many times in the DiC and Cloverway dubs there are some... unfortunate sounding grunts, groans, and cries. A person who had their eyes closed or isn't looking at the screen could get a very different idea of what's going on in one of these scenes.
    • By far the best example of this is the infamous Twister scene in the Cloverway dub, which, if you just play the audio, literally does sound like a lesbian sex scene. And you can even play it with the animation on, since one part literally just shows Mimete lifting her leg up and bending it up and down repeatedly for a good fifteen seconds or so. And it's glaringly obvious that the voice actress knew exactly what she was doing, too.
  • "Call my lawyer!" "No, please! I'll lose my wheels!".
    • Amara in general is a really good source of Narm, since her voice actress had to constantly talk with a deep, "butch" voice on top of emoting and matching the mouth flaps, which sometimes makes for some odd delivery when put together.
  • The Brazilian dub qualifies as well. Starting from the R season, the dubbing company had made several translation mistakes. Just so you have an idea, "Sailor Senshi/Scouts" have been translated to "Sailor Moons". That's right, the sailor senshi were now called the "Sailor Moons". Most of their trademark speeches have been translated to variations of this: "I'm a Sailor Moon, who stands for love to the justice! I'm Sailor Moon! Sailor Moon will punish you in the name of the moon!". On top of that, some attacks have been affected as well. Remember the "Moon Princess Halation" attack? In the Brazilian dub, it was called "By the Powers of the Moon Princess's Tiara!", which, aside from being a long attack name, has nothing to do with her tiara at all.
    • And occasionally they would add "action!" (a holdover from "Moon Tiara Action", maybe?) or "transformation!" to it. Yes, "transformation".

TantaMonty Since: Aug, 2017
#1250: Apr 14th 2022 at 9:06:33 AM

[up]

  • Fridge Logic
  • Lacks context
  • Weblinks are not examples
  • Makes no sense. Bubbles are wet too, you know...
  • Memetic Mutation
    • Not only is this Natter and incorrectly indented, but it's also too lewd.
  • Weblinks are not examples
    • General example
  • "Blind Idiot" Translation + Complaining
    • Same as above + Natter + Bad indentation


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