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
Is there a trope for when there’s an explosion and a face can be seen in the fireball or the smoke cloud? Examples I can think of are the Linda Hamilton Children of the Corn movie and the pilot to the new Goosebumps.
You’re Gonna Carry That Weight.I think I wanted to try my attempt at that Ambiguously Queer supertrope, but I honestly have no idea how in the world to come up with a definition for it. Is it just some sort of catch-all trope?
So, inspired by my personal vedetta against the CSI Franchise, I propose:
Fauxrensic Evidence: when an investigation in a work hinges on a type of forensic evidence that is no longer, or has never been, considered trustworthy. Famously the polygraph and graphology are considered bunk, and there are serious doubts about the accuracy of hair, fiber, toothmark and ballistic analysis.
Sometimes the trope is just a case of Science Marches On, sometimes Deliberate Values Dissonance in works set in the past, sometimes Artistic Licence, and sometimes Falsely Advertised Accuracy.
I think it's about time to start a Franchise page for "Japan Sinks" (original: Nippon Chinbotsu), as well as separate pages for the various entries. Having checked, it appears we only have a page for the 2020 anime, though that page refers to other entries in the series. So far, I believe we have:
- The original novel by Sakyo Komatsu (a sequel appears to have been published some 30 years later);
- The blockbuster disaster film, made right after the release of the novel (a heavily edited version was released in the US as "Tidal Wave");
- A live-action TV series which aired in 1974-1975;
- A manga of the same title (not sure when it was published), as well as a close spiritual cousin titled "A Spirit of the Sun" (by Kaiji Kawaguchi, who also created "Silent Service" and "Zipang");
- A reboot movie in 2006, which had a very different conclusion from the original;
- The aforementioned anime;
- And a 2021-2022 live-action series on TBS, titled "Japan Sinks: People of Hope".
I think it's pretty clear that the franchise is quite popular in Japan, though for the most part not that well-known in the US.
Thoughts?
That's interesting. But this thread is for trope ideas to go to Trope Launch Pad. If you intend to make work pages for the other adaptations you're free to do so.
Idea of creating a new subgenre for web animation. There are channels who dub original manga and they have general pattern of using the same set of characters in different plotline, and all characters have different relationship with each other and also depicted in different ages, such as Etra chan saw it! and Manga Soprano. Maybe it just another Follow the Leader or an entirely new subgenre of Web Animation. If it is another subgenre what is the fitting name for it?
sorry, i can't come out from this screen :(So, these are original manga, made specifically to have voice actors to read them for an online audience?
Looking up the titles doesn't reveal these as printed manga?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C3gwlna8N4
Edited by Malady on Oct 21st 2023 at 5:21:03 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576I propose the idea of Hide-and-Seek Horror: A game of hide-and-seek being Played for Horror. Either a person is trying to hide from someone or something that wants to kill them, or a normal game of hide-and-seek goes horribly wrong and ends with the hider never being found.
- In Creature Feature's song "Such Horrible Things," when the narrator is six, he plays hide and seek with the neighbor boy and gets him lost in the forest, never to be found.
- The Legend of the Mistletoe Bough is an urban legend about a wedding where the family decides to play hide and seek. The bride hides in a trunk in the attic, but it slams shut and locked, leaving her to suffocate. When nobody can find her, everyone presumes that she has run off. Years later, her skeleton is discovered in the trunk, still wearing her wedding dress.
At length an oak chest, that had long lain hid,
Was found in the castle—they raised the lid,
And a skeleton form lay moldering there
In the bridal wreath of that lady fair!
O, sad was her fate!—in sportive jest
She hid from her lord in the old oak chest,
It closed with a spring!—and, dreadful doom,
The bride lay clasped in her living tomb! - Ready or Not (2019): Grace marries into a family with a tradition of playing board games, which are chosen by drawing a card from a mysterious puzzle box. When the draws the "Hide and Seek" card, she's roped into a Deadly Game where the entire family is hunting her with weapons and she has to hide and survive until dawn.
- Ready or Not
: Elia and her children are being hunted down by Lannister soldiers. To avoid scaring her young daughter Rhaenys, Elia tells her they're playing hide and seek and she has to hide and not be found. Rhaenys hides under her father's bed, but is killed anyway and becomes a supernatural monster/avenging spirit who kills Tommen, Myrcella, and Tywin when they hide under the same bed at different times years later.
- In this anti-child abuse PSA
by the NSPCC, a little girl playing hide-and-seek with her friends at a birthday party is compared to a scared, abused child hiding in the closet. The narrator says solemnly, "For an abused child, hide and seek isn't a game."
- Among Us: In Hide n Seek Mode, the Crewmates have to hide from the Impostor, who is trying to find and kill them.
Edited by Snowsky on Oct 21st 2023 at 1:38:03 AM
Thinking of drafting a new trope for Infertility Angst, when a person discovers that they are infertile and this causes them a lot of angst. Or is this covered by Law of Inverse Fertility?
When a memory /flashback is used for great effects, like a character suffering from Loss of Identity or Brainwashing and others helping them 'remember' who they were or they magically regain their memories (usually in the form of flashbacks). This is usually in times of needs when the character with Identity Loss/Brainwash needs to return to their old self as they are the only one who can save the heroes.
A flashback/memory can also be used as a motivation or last glimmer of hope, perhaps resulting in a Heroic Second Wind.
Example:
- The Good Place: When the experiment led by Eleanor ends, Chidi's memories are wiped by being part of the experiment, and he goes to deep sleep while hearing the Judge's verdict. After the Judge decides on restarting Earth and eliminating all current life, the team needs Chidi to step in and help. They can only get him to be actually helpful by waking him up and giving him back all his memories of his life on Eartha and the Afterlife.
Ugly Discrimination: People treating a character badly because they are ugly.
Example:
- The Ugly Duckling: The protagonist the duckling treat the swan terribly because it was ugly
- Uglies: Not getting plastic surgery literally make you into a lower class;
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Every single adaptation has people treat Quasimodo horribly because he is deformed.
- Yo soy Betty, la fea: The main character was passed on for jobs opportunity despite her intelligence and resume because of her appearance.
Real Life
- From 1867 to 1974, there are Ugly Laws
in various cities in the US that forbid anyone "who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or deformed in any way" from appearing in public
I am surprised this trope isn't a categorized yet.
Edited by shatterstar on Oct 22nd 2023 at 6:44:56 AM
Re: Adept: I feel like Law of Inverse Fertility covers that as in most cases the angst comes from the fact they really want a child. I have considered splitting off a "Trying For a Baby" plot trope because it's related to LOIF (it rarely ever happens quickly compared to a Surprise Pregnancy) but it covers the plot itself more than the sentiment and can have multiple outcomes. I do sometimes wonder if LOIF could be narrowed to cases that specifically cover when two opposite cases occur in the same work.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.So I was thinking about adding a trope for when certain elements or events are repeated in a story, but are used in such a way that they juxtapose a sharp change in tone.
To pick out three examples off the top of my head:
- Tokyo Ghoul: there's a bit of a running gag early on where Hide, the protagonist's best friend, tries to hit on Touka, the series' female lead. It's entirely played for comic relief, but after a certain point, these characters stop interacting and the gag kinda falls by the wayside. Towards the end of the series, however, Touka and Hide have a chance encounter with each other, but the tone of their conversation is very serious and even somber, as both of them are genuinely worried about Kaneki's wellbeing, as he had gone missing for a year.
- Choujin X (another series by the same author): the second chapter has a chase scene where Chandra Hume, one of the antagonists, chases after Ely Otta, one of the main characters. While the scene is obviously over the top and kind of comedic, there still is an undercurrent of tension there since Chandra is presented as a legitimate threat. In chapter 36, a chase just like that one plays out, but this time Ely's the one chasing Chandra. Whereas before there was at least some tension present, here the scene is entirely comedic.
- One Piece: So early-ish on in the story (And by that I mean over 200 chapters in because this is One Piece we're talking about), there's a minor antagonist named Bellamy who's pretty much just a total Jerkass and gets taken down by the main character, Luffy, in a single punch. Way later down the line in the Dressrosa arc, Bellamy comes back into the story, but it's shown that he actually went through a pretty good chunk of character development offscreen and ended up becoming something of a better person (or at the very least someone with far more redeemable qualities). However he and Luffy do end up fighting each other and the fight plays out the exact same way, but whereas before it was sort of framed as Bellamy getting his comeuppance for being total asshole
, here it's framed in a pretty tragic light and is outright implied to be Bellamy attempting suicide by cop at Luffy's hands
(It's One Piece so he does survive, but still)
I feel like there should be a trope for repeating things for the sake of emphasizing certain differences, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere.
While I'm here, I may as well bring up something that's been bugging me about Diagnosed by the Audience and other related tropes.
Diagnosed by the Audience is for when the audience headcanons a character as having a certain disorder but is typically accidental on the part of the author. Likewise, other tropes like Hollywood Autism are for when certain disorders are intentionally and explicitly portrayed in a story. However, I feel like as it is right now, there's no real trope for characters who clearly have some form of mental illness, but the exact disorder they have is never specified.
In Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk: the main character is very, very deliberately written as having some serious mental condition that greatly hinders her ability to complete basic everyday tasks. It's never specified what she has exactly, but at the very least she clearly suffers from some form of psychosis or schizophrenia. In cases like this one, it's not really Ambiguous Disorder since the fact that they have a disorder is entirely unambiguous, but the exact disorder they have is ambiguous.
I think we have a sandbox for Diagnosed By The Audience examples that fit that case.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.I remember reading or hearing an example of someone not wanting to be distracted by their husband or boyfriend, who has suggested a "fun" activity, that's not this, since I've never seen this show from the Funny Conception Story draft:
- Cobra Kai: "Quiver": Daniel tries to interest his wife Amanda in a sparring match in their karate dojo. She declines with the line, "Let's try to remember what happened ten years ago when you and I hit the mat for a little karate," before glancing rather pointedly at their younger son Anthony.
Is such a backstory informing moment pattern, a trope? That they want to avoid "intimacy"?
Well, they also share Making Love in All the Wrong Places:
- Fallout 4: At the beginning, you can talk to your spouse, who will ask if you want to go to the park together. Cue this dialogue:
Spouse: Hey, I was wondering if we should go to the park together. Could be fun.
[Player picks Sarcastic option]
Male Protagonist: Will it be like our first time at the park together?
Female Protagonist: Yes, to the park, with you. Because I want to get pregnant again.
Edited by Malady on Oct 29th 2023 at 8:02:23 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576So, there exists a trope called "Reference Overdosed," which is basically when a piece of media becomes extremely saturated with references to other things. Would it be tropeworthy to have a similar trope but for legit crossovers? Examples off the top of my head would include Fortnite, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Teen Titans Go!, and Scooby Doo.
Also if this is tropeworthy, then I'd personally exclude anything where the entire point is that it's a massive crossover. I.E. Super Smash Bros. or The LEGO Movie.
I think that exists already with Massive Multiplayer Crossover.
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.Reference Overdosed, for those wanting a link.
Goodnight.
Edited by Malady on Oct 25th 2023 at 10:35:43 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576Someone purposefully divides and incites discord between people, while being a member of that group. Subtrope of Divide and Conquer.
OBJECTION!

@randomtroper Well, I can think of an example from the first Men in Black. Could be a decent trope but we'd need two more examples.
I came, I saw, I waddled.