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
I want to launch a trope called "The Hero Rocks" Song, basically the opposite of "The Hero Sucks" Song. It's a song dedicated to praising the hero of the story. It could also count as a Bragging Theme Tune.
Here are some examples I can think of:
- "Zero to Hero" from Hercules
- "Kansas City Mickey" from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse special "Quest For the Crystal Mickey"
Where's trouble, he'll be there
On the double, so bad guys, beware!
He faces danger without a care
Kansas City Mickey, Kansas City Mickey!
He'll go down in history! - In the DiC Entertainment Strawberry Shortcake episode "Queen For a Day," Strawberry's friends sing "Make Some Noise" to praise her.
Make some noise, make some noise
Make some noise for Strawberry Shortcake
Clap your hands, give a shout
For the next Berry Festival queen!
She knows what is right, she knows what is wrong
So get on your feet, and sing this song!
I believe there's enough examples of a trope I like to call "Noughtie Nihilism".
Works usually from the between the early to late 2000's which, whether due to the looser restrictions in new parts of the entertainment industry, or the effect of global events such as the War on Terror, led to a plethora of generally cynical and gritty works which often disparaged or outright mocked ideals such as, optimism, heroism, fairness and justice or painted anyone who didn't share this outlook as naive idiots, presenting morally ambiguity as superior. Even pre-established characters were re-imagined in much bleaker, bloodier, ways in an effort to reflect the new attitude.
Usually, but not necessarily, containing varying degrees of Bloodier and Gorier and True Art Is Angsty in their presentation.
The ones I can remember off the top of my head:
TV Shows
Video Games
Comic Books
I'm I onto something or not? Or am I convaying the general idea but need to word it better?
Edited by Avenger09 on Jul 28th 2023 at 4:39:00 PM
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I think you're confusing Darker and Edgier with "nihilism", TBH. Just grabbing the TV examples at random, Battlestar Galactica's story arc (sloppy ending issues aside) ultimately argued for a peaceful resolution of the human-Cylon conflict, and The Wire is specifically intended as societal criticism, which is kind of the opposite of advocating a looser approach to morality.
I noticed a trend where Automaton seems to be Clockwork Robot only, would that work as a basis for a Our Monsters Are Different subtrope: Our Automatons / Automata Are Different?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576...If they're only clockwork, what's the "difference"? The "our x are different" tropes are about varying depictions.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
- Thanks for the new info!
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- I think some Automata aren't clockwork, so those are the "different" ones that I'm really looking out for?
Or would Non Clockwork Automata be a good idea, just to trope those outliers?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576That's an inordinately narrow definition. An automaton is any machine that operates itself; it's just mostly associated with clockworks because the automata most people are familiar with are called robots.
Edited by Noaqiyeum on Jul 28th 2023 at 4:19:48 PM
ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NO
- The dictionaries I checked did seem to say that "automaton" was broader, true. I assume you have no opinion on my automaton ideas above?
- I thought they were just talking about the definition of "automaton", which isn't a direct opinion about the tropeworthiness of Our Automata Are Different?
Goodnight.
Edited by Malady on Jul 28th 2023 at 9:46:38 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576No, I didn't offer an opinion on that. If pressed, I would say I don't think automata are archetypal fantasy creatures in the same way the rest of the index is.
ERROR: The current state of the world is unacceptable. Save anyway? YES/NOOkay, this is most likely gonna be shot down because of either redundant tropes or being too rare to trope but… Superhero Musical. A blend of the superhero genre and the musical genre. Two distinct elements blending together. I have the examples:
- Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is a Broadway musical adaptation of the marvel comics character.
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog: A musical webseries about a supervillain trying to impress the girl he loves and defeat his Jerkass superhero nemesis.
- Ladybug & Cat Noir: The Movie: A big budget animated musical film version of the popular French superhero cartoon series Miraculous Ladybug in the style of Renaissance-era Disney.
- The Flash (2014) has the Musical Episode “Duet” where Barry travels to a world controlled by the Music Meister to save Supergirl.
- Batman: The Brave and the Bold has “Mayhem of the Music Meister” where the titular villain uses his powers to control the world’s heroes and villains to do his bidding in musical numbers.
Edited by BigBadShadow25 on Jul 29th 2023 at 10:32:16 AM
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.For some reason, Im thinking of making an Elegant Character, Elegant Weapon trope, since there are a few times I saw use slim weapons (short swords, katanas, and spears) would be used for characters who might be elegant (or otherwise formal). Basically the inverse of Brutish Character, Brutish Weapon.
Any other opinions on this idea?
She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/AAny other weapon that might be considered elegant (I also know of rapiers but that it’s own trope).
She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/AI feel like any weapon that would be more ornamental IRL would count. Things designed to look fancy and ornate, rather than to have actual use as a weapon. Also things that aren't expected to cause graphic injury to other characters, as it clashes with the elegant and stylish persona.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
If so, here are the ones I can think off:
- Cutlasses
- Katanas
- Spears
- Naginatas
- Rapiers
Anything I’m missing?
She/Her | Currently cleaning: N/A
- Improbable Weapon User for fancy things like a Tuxedo Hat or something?
Force and Finesse and Male Might, Female Finesse should probably be looked at in relation to this idea.
So, I asked on Trope Finder but I didn't get anything that really matched what I was looking for:
The "Life Ursurper". A character who comes in and "steals" someone else's life in a figurative way (so no identity theft or impersonations). They take their friends and their role in the friend group, they take their love interest, they may even take their job. Essentially, they're taking the stuff this character considers essential to their life the way they know it and they're percieved as a thief.
The "thief" doesn't have to have malicious intent — of the two examples I have (yeah, missing that third at the moment but this is just for discussion's sake right now), one happened by complete accident and the character who had her life "stolen" was portrayed as using Insane Troll Logic and not really making the effort to start fitting in again. The other example I have is more malicious. Whether or not the girl's life was actually usurped is ambiguous, but one of the characters involved eventually proves to be The Sociopath and had an obsession with the other girl before this point.
- In House of Anubis, Joy got kidnapped and held in her house for about a year while Nina moved in and sort of accidentally filled the void for everyone; she ended up in her old bed, became best friends with her best friends, and most importantly started dating her crush. Joy argued that Nina had stolen these things from her and that she was still adjusting to the changes that'd happened in the year she'd missed, but everyone else shut this viewpoint down and basically told her that Nina stole nothing from her; they saw through her argument as being based in jealousy and targeting someone who'd done nothing wrong. However, Joy's viewpoint was still based in things that were true; she just couldn't at all understand that it wasn't intentional.
- In Cruel Summer (the first season, which has nothing to do with this current season), the nerdy awkward Jeanette was a little bit obsessed with the popular Spoiled Sweet Kate. When Kate gets kidnapped by her teacher (an odd commonality, but for much different reasons), Jeanette essentially swooped in, started dating her boyfriend, became friends with her friends, mimicked her style, and became popular. The ambiguous maliciousness comes in as the main mystery of the plot, where Jeanette supposedly knew Kate was locked up but allowed her to suffer in order to live her life. It turns out that this is probably true — The Stinger revealed that Jeanette, at this stage having already taken Kate's social life, had indeed failed to report her kidnapping once she'd discovered it.
So, basically the trope boils down to: A person, intentionally or otherwise, figuratively "steals" someone else's life from them, resulting in a lot of jealousy and percieved maliciousness. The character whose life got "stolen" doesn't have to actually go missing like Joy and Kate did, these two examples just happen to use that as the catalysts for Nina and Jeanette to get involved and for the hurt feelings to be exaggerated.
Thoughts?
Edited by WarJay77 on Jul 29th 2023 at 2:29:06 PM
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallDoes anyone think it's worth making a page for "Mistaken Relationship"? It would be a supertrope to things like Relative Error, Mistaken for Romance, Mistaken for Related, etc. to cover other situation where the relationship between two or more characters are seen differently by others (e.g. Vitriolic Best Buds being mistaken as enemies, cousins being mistaken as siblings, etc.)
Edited by Adept on Jul 30th 2023 at 1:36:11 AM

Significant first touch. The first time two characters touch, and it's treated as a significant moment.
Thoughts? All three examples I have have the "first time" aspect explicitly pointed out in the narration, but I don't think it necessarily needs to be explicitly pointed out.