Misused (first Alt-Names crowner 21 Feb 2021): Crazy Awesome

Crazy Awesome is supposed to be about characters who are capable of awesome because of their insanity, but it's frequently misinterpreted as either "crazy thing that's awesome" or "awesome Up To Eleven". When the trope is used correctly, it tends to be full of Zero Context Examples that don't clarify that the character's insane and therefore capable of awesome. Wick check (YMMV only, as this is a YMMV trope):

• YMMV.Ben 10 Alien Force: Zero-Context Example.
• YMMV.Blackadder S 4 E 4 Private Plane: Zero-Context Example.
• YMMV.Bolt: Zero-Context Example along with a reference to an unrelated work.
• YMMV.Brazil: Doesn't clarify that the character's insane.
• YMMV.Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Seems to be used correctly.
• YMMV.Constantine: Doesn't clarify that the character in question is crazy.
• YMMV.Dragon Ball Z Battle Of Gods: Misused in the "awesome Up To Eleven" sense.
• YMMV.Dragon Tails: Zero-Context Example.
• YMMV.Doctor Slump: Misused due to misinterpreting "hyperactive" as "crazy".
• YMMV.Election: Zero-Context Example.
• YMMV.Embers: Played With for one example, but otherwise looks good.
• YMMV.Equestrylvania: Misused in the "crazy thing that's awesome" way.
• YMMV.Evil Ed: Zero-Context Example.
• YMMV.Fallout 3: 2 misused in the "awesome Up To Eleven" sense, one that's In-Universe.
• YMMV.Fields Of The Nephilim: Zero-Context Example that's referring to a real person (that can't be allowed, right?).
• YMMV.Freelance Astronauts: Misused in the "awesome Up To Eleven" sense.
• YMMV.Future Diary: One used correctly, the rest are Zero Context Examples.
• YMMV.Vindictus: Misused in the "awesome Up To Eleven" sense.
• YMMV.Wanted: Misused in the "awesome Up To Eleven" sense.
• YMMV.World War X: All of the examples are either Zero Context Examples or don't clarify that the character in question is crazy.
• YMMV.Zombieland: It's technically correct, but something about it feels... off.

So, of the wicks chosen at random, a majority of them are either misused or ZCEs. It seems that many people have misinterpreted the trope name as self-explanatory and misinterpret it as "crazy Up To Eleven". I know this one might be difficult to rename, since it has close to 5,000 wicks, but I feel that, since "Crowning Moment of Awesome" was changed into "Moment of Awesome" and had almost twice as many wicks as this trope, it shouldn't be too hard in comparison. I did make a cleanup thread for Crazy Awesome already, and was told to pitch my rename idea here.

Edited by idonom on Mar 30th 2021 at 10:04:33 AM

Y'ALL JUST GOT SHREKT

Since matters were discussed elsewhere—and wick check looks good—opened for discussion.

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Maybe rename to "Insanity Equals Awesomeness"?

<(0_0<) <(0_0)> (>0_0)> KIRBY DANCE

Hmm, I'm wondering if it wouldn't make more sense to retool to fit the amount of misuse, rather than go out of our way to keep a trope that'll leave us mostly with ZCEs.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

This is the same trope as Essential Madness (which is horribly underused, but has a better name), but with a Non-Indicative Name and an arbitrary YMMV designation. Merge with Essential Madness, move the good examples there, and nuke the misuse.

Edit: Crazy Awesome's reason for being on YMMV.Home Page:

• Crazy Awesome: Thinking an eccentric/crazy character is awesome. YMMV as there is no character everybody likes.

"Essential Madness, but fans like the character" is The Same, but More Specific. If fans like the character, there are already Audience Reactions like Ensemble Dark Horse for that.

Edit: Here's what I had to say about this in the past:

• https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/query.php?parent_id=78746&type=att#comment-218331
• https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1539556934024257300&page=2#comment-29

Edited by GastonRabbit on Feb 9th 2020 at 11:46:33 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

Awesome From Crazy, Crazy Sourced Awesome, From Crazy Stems Awesome, Awesome Rooted In Crazy, Awesome Because Person Is Crazy

I think the issue with the Zombieland example might be because Tallahassee isn't 'insane' by official definition, though for sure he's a bit crazy. (And the mention of his previous job doesn't contribute to the description.)

Not sure if this applies, but there's no mention of Refuge in Audacity in the article. (Some of these might better fall under that trope.)

I also acknowledge this is YMMV, but it seems a few of the examples are also, clever-disguised-as-crazy (from the outside) or so-crazy-it-just-might-work smart. (3rd folklore example, maybe Black Lagoon 2nd example?)

Also, is this suppose to encompass the mad scientist like Doc Brown in Back to the Future? (so smart that they're a little bit crazy?)

I still hold the same position I held the last time we tried fixing this trope: Crazy Awesome is literally just Essential Madness but the audience likes them! It also has what might be the most misleading trope name ever, since "Crazy" is so commonly used as an intensifier, and that's the most obvious interpretation of the word here.

In other words, I agree with GastonRabbit.

I... did not know Essential Madness was a trope. Why does Crazy Awesome exist if there's already a trope for it that's clear on the meaning of it?

Y'ALL JUST GOT SHREKT

I don't mind merging, but that's still a lot of examples we need to cut just to save some examples that are still...bad.

Idk, I can see why conforming to the misuse may be a bad idea, but I do still think its an alternative worth pitching.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

The more I look into this, the deeper the rabbit hole (on-topic wiki walk). On the Power Born of Madness page (below the index potholes) is written 'don't confuse with' Crazy Awesome, but the sentiment doesn't go the other way in the same manner (compare).

Edited by ImaginationStarts on Feb 9th 2020 at 1:19:28 PM

While I do understand why conforming to the misuse would be considered a good alternative, it seems redundant to have both "awesome Up To Eleven" and "awesome" as separate tropes.

Y'ALL JUST GOT SHREKT

Fair enough.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

I feel like "combat built upon craziness" is very much an objective thing and I will take GastonRabbit and Zuxtron's position on the matter.

Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!

Oh, I think it's a thing, I just also feel with such an absurd amount of misuse, merging the tropes would generally be more work.

But, it does seem to be the best option, and it's true that the misused examples aren't much more than "Awesome, but more".

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

So... it's agreed that the best course of action to stop the rampant misuse would be to merge Crazy Awesome with Essential Madness? I'm all for that action, by the way.

Y'ALL JUST GOT SHREKT

Maybe we should put it to a vote

Y'ALL JUST GOT SHREKT

Made a crowner. Had to choose a different name for the crowner because there was a a previous Page Action crowner for Crazy Awesome.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Feb 12th 2020 at 7:05:52 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.

I think it's safe to call.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Wow, near-complete unanimity!

Edited by Zuxtron on Feb 15th 2020 at 5:44:59 AM

This seems obvious, but I just want to double check because the wording of the crowner is a bit ambiguous: We're merging Essential Madness into Crazy Awesome, correct, not the other way around? The end trope would keep the name Crazy Awesome? Because Essential Madness has 21 wicks and Crazy Awesome has 4749.

Crazy Awesome has one of the most unclear and misleading trope names on the entire site, and that's a big part of why it's so heavily misused. It would be a very bad idea to use that name, even if it is much more recognizable.

Right. Essential Madness is the superior name.

Edited by WarJay77 on Feb 15th 2020 at 6:22:03 AM

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Except the only option with "rename" in it got voted down heavily.

If this requires a second crowner, then that's fine, but the current one is ambiguous on the name.

It presumably got downvoted because of the "keep the definition as-is" part, not the "rename" part. The name's obtuseness was brought up multiple times before the crowner's creation.

A second crowner could be a good idea, in case there's a better name than Essential Madness that anyone might want to propose. Imagination Starts did list a few ideas.

Edited by Zuxtron on Feb 15th 2020 at 6:52:22 AM