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Have an idea for a new trope, but don't know for sure if it's a good idea? Did Trope Finder give you similar concepts, but not exactly what you wanted? Are you just looking for a focus to a broader idea?

You've come to the right place!

On this thread, you can share your ideas with the masses before making that TLP draft, so if there's any lingering uncertainty about the validity of your idea or you just want some help pinning down a good idea, ask away and help others out, too!

A related sandbox I need to pitch is the Trope Idea Salvage Yard. If you've an idea but can't personally work on it, you can add it to the yard and let someone else create the draft. Or you can browse it yourself if you need more draft ideas, whether or not you feel they should be mentioned here first.

Got ideas for non-trope pages you need help with? Never fear, the New Page Workshop Thread is here!

With that out of the way: Let's discuss some ideas.

Edited by MacronNotes on Feb 27th 2022 at 1:49:11 PM

Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#3601: Feb 9th 2022 at 12:15:27 PM

Would From Special to Series cover "A Pilot some time before the actual Pilot episode with some ideas scrapped", or that's a new trope?

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Merseyuser1 Since: Sep, 2011
#3602: Feb 9th 2022 at 2:23:04 PM

[up] Possibly. Unless there's a subtrope called Series Sandbox which could work.

One new trope I came up with, feedback welcomed:

The Magoo

Being short-sighted and not wearing glasses can be dangerous. However, comedy can come from mistaking something mundane for something over-the-top through not wearing glasses.

Named for Mr. Magoo, who in his 2019 Continuity Reboot would do this a lot.

Related tropes include Blind Mistake (an error of judgment about not wearing glasses).

The key difference between this trope and the above is that this is a Comedy Tropes trope.

PurpleEyedGuma Since: Apr, 2020
#3603: Feb 9th 2022 at 2:24:44 PM

First off, naming a trope “The [Character Name]” is very frowned upon. They always suffer from Trope Namer Syndrome and are nonindicative, leading to them not thriving. Names need to be clear above all else.

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
#3604: Feb 9th 2022 at 2:28:19 PM

Blind Mistake is also a Comedy Trope, so if that's the key difference, what you have is Blind Mistake.

Suddenly I'm... still rotating Fallen London in my mind even though I've stopped actively playing it.
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)
#3605: Feb 9th 2022 at 2:34:09 PM

Blind Mistake also isn't glasses specific like you implied?

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Melodius Since: Feb, 2022
#3606: Feb 9th 2022 at 2:55:37 PM

Not sure if this is the right forum for my post (I'm a new user). I had an idea for a new trope; haven't seen a page for it: Shock and Awe Gunshot (name pending).

It refers to scenes with some characters that are calm, but can sometimes have a degree of tension. Suddenly, with very little to no buildup, one of the characters (or multiple) is shot abruptly. The audience and characters are left there to process the finality and consequences of what just occurred. The stakes of the show get raised and the dynamics of the story's character relationships will probably get shaken up.

Some examples:

Lost: Michael abruptly shoots Ana Lucia and Libby after he returns to the island. The audience is led to believe that he is there as one of the survivors and trying to help.

Breaking Bad: Mike has to flee the country because the DEA is hot on his trail after linking his to Gus Fring. After a brief confrontation with Walt he gets into his car and checks his dufflebag. The second after he opens it and sees that his handgun is missing, he looks up and Walt shoots him in the torso.

Breaking Bad: A young Gus is negotiating with Don Eladio to enter his drug trafficking business. Eladio threatens that Fring is worthless to him, so his business partner frantically argues in his defense as a valuable asset. Partway through his pleas, he is abruptly shot in the head from offscreen by Hector Salamanca.

Pulp Fiction: Vince and Jules ride in the car with Marvin in the backseat. While Vince and Jules discuss their survival during the altercation at the apartment, with Marvin occasionally chiming in, Vince accidentally shoots Marvin in the head, killing him instantly.

The Walking Dead: After a tense standoff where Beth is traded for Noah between the cops and the prison survivors, Beth goes to stab police leader Dawn with a pair of scissors. Instinctively, Dawn grabs her gun and quickly shoots Beth in the head.

I'm not sure what I need to do to help make the page, but I'd like to do whatever I can!

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)
#3607: Feb 9th 2022 at 3:05:59 PM

I do think that sounds like a good trope. Fix up the formatting and try your luck at Trope Launch Pad, but read the TLP Guidelines first.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#3608: Feb 9th 2022 at 9:19:15 PM

I was wondering if the Mokele-mbembe is thematically distinct enough from generic Living Dinosaurs and cryptids as a whole for it to be worth troping on its own.

Rei-IV Just another Rei clone. Since: Oct, 2021
Just another Rei clone.
#3609: Feb 10th 2022 at 10:58:21 AM

Recently I was thinking about a Works by Subject page for works focused on virtual reality (I already know that there's at least 1 trope related to it so it may seem unnecessary) as well a page for works focused on computer technology (or alternatively, a science focused one if computer tech is too narrow for a page).

I don't think that I'm good at writing wiki articles but I'm only bringing the base idea.

Also, speaking of Works by Subject, maybe categorizing the pages on that index by most frequently associated genre may be useful. For example: Elf Works and Fairy Fiction with fantasy, Robot and A.I. Works and Alien Works with sci-fi, etc.

Edited by Rei-IV on Feb 10th 2022 at 4:00:56 PM

amathieu13 Since: Aug, 2013
#3610: Feb 10th 2022 at 1:28:33 PM

[up]There's about to be a moratorium on the creation of Works by Subject indices and a conversation about the removal of all of those indices. See this thread to learn more.

good-morning Lord Something, Forgetter of Cool Titles from Brazil Since: Nov, 2021
Lord Something, Forgetter of Cool Titles
#3611: Feb 10th 2022 at 5:33:27 PM

What do you think of a Genre Codifier page, for works that molded whole new genres like Trope Codifiers molded tropes? For example, van Gogh's The Starry Night is considered to be the treshold for the post-impressionist movement, the same with Edvard Munch's The Scream for expressionism. On another note, we could have more main pages for art movements, we only have Surrealism as far as I know.

Edited by good-morning on Feb 10th 2022 at 10:34:59 AM

oh hey how are you doing?
Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#3612: Feb 10th 2022 at 8:26:32 PM

If you can round up a good starting number of examples, I don't see why not. It seems like a fairly workable concept.

RobertTYL Since: Oct, 2019 Relationship Status: Holding out for a hero
#3613: Feb 11th 2022 at 7:41:44 AM

Repost from Trope Finder.

Dogu Statues - something that's been around in a lot of media, anyone wants to take a stab?

Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the "Retromancer"
#3614: Feb 11th 2022 at 7:56:48 AM

I've seen them a lot, so that can be a valid trope. (I'm not taking it though)

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#3615: Feb 11th 2022 at 8:24:38 AM

In order to be a trope, it would have to have some form of narrative or worldbuilding significance attached. "This specific type of statues exists" wouldn't be a trope by itself.

Edited by Theriocephalus on Feb 11th 2022 at 10:24:47 AM

Amonimus the "Retromancer" from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
Synchronicity (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#3617: Feb 11th 2022 at 11:26:23 AM

Many of them are not "creature exists", but "the creature's been portrayed in a variety of ways throughout history; this is our take". It's a fine but worthy distinction.

ElSquibbonator Since: Oct, 2014
#3618: Feb 11th 2022 at 5:22:09 PM

So there's a phenomenon I've seen way too often for it to be a coincidence, and I'm wondering if it might be a viable trope. I even have a potential name for it; I call it "PG-13 is NC-13".

Basically, this is when— especially in works aimed at young children— the PG-13 movie rating is treated as an insurmountable barrier or Forbidden Fruit for the protagonists. What, in my opinion, pushes this out of People Sit In Chairs territory and into possible trope status is the fact that in real life, movie ratings are guidelines and nothing more; plenty of young children do watch PG-13 movies, especially nowadays. I've seen this in Arthur, Hey Arnold!, Sabrina: The Animated Series, and probably a dozen other kids' shows I can't recall.

The potential title, "PG-13 is NC-13", is in reference to the NC-17 rating, the only movie rating that explicitly forbids viewers below a certain age whether they have a guardian or not. As I mentioned above, may writers of kids' shows seem to treat PG-13 as a younger equivalent of NC-17, where you can't even get in if you're under 13. And you'd think they'd know that's not how it works in real life.

Edited by ElSquibbonator on Feb 11th 2022 at 8:25:16 AM

harryhenry It's either real or it's a dream Since: Jan, 2012
It's either real or it's a dream
#3619: Feb 11th 2022 at 9:50:06 PM

[up] That trope idea could work, but it belongs to that specific '90s era where a PG-13 film really could be way too much for young kids (just look at Jurassic Park) but as standards changed the views of ratings shifted, and PG-13 just didn't carry the same weight anymore. Arguably Revenge of the Sith, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and The Dark Knight were the last blockbusters to really "earn" their PG-13 rating by the old standards. Basically, it might be too era-specific for it to be a common trope, as I can't think of any recent shows still doing that (though I could be wrong, of course).

Instead, it might be part of a broader trope where kids wanna watch a movie was beyond their appropriate age rating, often getting scared in the process. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days did this, as did The Simpsons with the "kids wanna see Barton Fink and Naked Lunch" gags.

Edited by harryhenry on Feb 12th 2022 at 6:51:16 AM

Nen_desharu Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire from Greater Smash Bros. Universe or Toronto Since: Aug, 2020 Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Nintendo Fanatic Extraordinaire
#3620: Feb 11th 2022 at 9:52:28 PM

[up]A combination of Entertainment Above Their Age and Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films could be a new trope

Edited by Nen_desharu on Feb 11th 2022 at 12:55:24 PM

Kirby is awesome.
Theriocephalus Amateur Veteran from gimme a map and a moment and I can tell you Since: Aug, 2014 Relationship Status: I made a point to burn all of the photographs
Amateur Veteran
#3621: Feb 12th 2022 at 7:34:22 AM

Yeah, it might be a good idea to expand that to kids facing rating issues in general.

HoloMew151 Space Gal from From Deep, Deep Space Since: Jun, 2021 Relationship Status: Tweaking my holographic boyfriend
Space Gal
#3622: Feb 12th 2022 at 8:03:17 AM

[up][up] I'm with that idea as well.

Also, there's a possible trope idea I'm thinking of where a Fictional Document which appears in media is a parody of Playboy. I feel like it should be common enough but I'm just wondering if it can stand as its own trope. Even the idea of having it just be a trope about erotic magazines could work.

Edited by HoloMew151 on Feb 12th 2022 at 4:04:20 PM

Malady (X-Troper)
#3623: Feb 12th 2022 at 8:07:23 AM

Bland-Name Product raid.

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
ElSquibbonator Since: Oct, 2014
#3624: Feb 12th 2022 at 1:23:12 PM

[up]x5

The most recent work I can think of that used the "pre-teen kids can't get into a PG-13 movie" variant was, oddly enough, the South Park episode "Dead Kids". Cartman is convinced that Token ( or "Tolkien", as we should perhaps be calling him) saw Black Panther despite being forbidden from seeing it due to its PG-13 rating. Cartman then uses this to blackmail Token.

MylesHenryVigilSr Uni-Horn Goat from New Mexico Since: May, 2021 Relationship Status: I-It's not like I like you, or anything!
Uni-Horn Goat
#3625: Feb 12th 2022 at 4:33:19 PM

Do you think we should have a trope called Cuckoo Clock Gag for cuckoo clocks being used for comedic effect?

Driving in Albuquerque is like driving on Rainbow Road in Mario Kart.

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