5.1/10. It's a function trope, what exactly were you expecting the answer to be? Me to take offense at the big, brawny dummies of the world? Please, they're punchline fodder! And lord only knows I get my actual kicks by having fun with Genius Bruisers! The Bruiser Dumbasses of the world, they are simple. They are contented. When life gives them lemons, they make lemons work. They have the right idea, making lemons work. Why don't Tropers like US do the exact same more often?
(To be clear, I was not remotely serious when I asked that last question.)
Obviously, not one of my favorite tropes, but a trope does not need to be one of your favorites, in order to have fun with it, for crying out loud. Sometimes, there is mileage upon mileage that you can wring... from the Dumb Muscle having a genuinely good point for once. Sometimes, the Dumb Muscle character just works... JUST like lemons do.
Genius Bruiser For the diametric opposite end of the intelligence scale pertaining to The Big Guy archetypes.
Edited by Ego-Man25 on Apr 15th 2025 at 2:55:46 AM
Self-professed Wild Card who thinks cynicism isn't so bad.9/10
Characters like this tend to be really awesome and memorable, not to mention it's a great way of subverting expectations of Dumb Muscle.
Edited by Angry_Clown on Apr 15th 2025 at 7:04:40 AM
Just a simple man, making my way through the Tropes.10/10. This is easily one of the best ways to make awesome battle music.
Currently playing Yooka-Replaylee
6/10. Some of them make sense, while some are just stereotypes.
It builds character.5/10. Hear me out: many have this as a Pet-Peeve Trope. Many would rank it far lower… and have a compelling argument to rank it lower… but here's my deal: I see it as more of a function trope, and a SET-UP Trope, two-in-one. Depending on what (if any) actual reason is being hidden, depending on the severity, one have this as a smokescreen for an actual GOOD reason… or maybe it's a Secret Test of Character… or maybe it's the simple fact of the matter that one character is the other character's boss, and that principle alone should be enough.
It's easy to drop the ball, obviously, so I'm not ranking it higher… buuuut… perhaps it's worth experimenting around with.
They're Called "Personal Issues" for a Reason For if you want something actually substantial to work with.
Edited by Ego-Man25 on Apr 16th 2025 at 9:36:30 AM
Self-professed Wild Card who thinks cynicism isn't so bad.7/10. This one's a slippery slope, but it's one I've had issues with myself, so I see the merit in having this trope come into play.
Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse Orcus on His Throne will always be my pet peeve.
9/10, You were enough of a coward to let a cruel world shape you into a cruel person, you hurt innocents and made whatever justified vengeance or noble goal you had worthless and whatever remorse you have is also worth jack if you keep hurting people despite how sorry you feel. You can do good at any moment, so either you start now (though you'd still be a long way from redemption) or you are just a monster.
I apreciate when a work puts it like it is. Even if redemption is not out of the table, the reason a person is evil should not be the excuse.
6/10 I say this trope only works if the being in question isn't shown. Rarely in fiction will you have a character who is truly harmful to look at, mostly because that would require making them harmful to look at, so depictions end up being a let-down.
Batman Can Breathe in Space Sometimes in fiction, robotic arms with White Gloves on them will be part of a machine. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
5/10, heavily depends on the tone and the method. Magic and a goofy tone are fine by me; modern surgery and a serious tone really do not fit.
The legend has returned.5/10. Let's be real, here: this is a function trope, we know it to be a function trope. Obviously actual beehives are going to look far more complicated and complex, but if you're just trying to get your obligatory bees scene outta the way, this gets the job done.
Hidden Disdain Reveal I actually really like this one. Makes for juicy drama scenes. Self-professed Wild Card who thinks cynicism isn't so bad.
7 / 10. Oersted becoming Odio is a shining example of this trope.
Here's looking at you, kid.3/10 Definitely hate how some things become inaccessible after I do some certain things. Though I can see how it can make sense in certain cases
6/10 can be mildly amusing and funny on occasion.
"Give our Captain back, you jerks!"7/10. Unique moral dilemma that I don't really see applied all too often.
Heart Is an Awesome Power
Actually, it's at the Image Pickin' threads.
Edited by RWBYraikou888 on Apr 17th 2025 at 8:04:04 AM
Orcus on His Throne will always be my pet peeve.7.2/10. And now, dearest tropers, we've come to a veritable classic of a trope… a trope that, narratively speaking, indicates an author, or slew of writers, who have efficiently proven themselves to have understood the assignment given to them, in regards to taking a seemingly mediocre set of powers, and abusing their true, staggeringly broken potential most couldn't even FATHOM. It's the easy route, making someone who self-immolates, who flings around their own rock-coated body, or who deploys barriers… to say nothing of those who stop time… but what of the rubber band body? What of pushing things, what of pushing concepts? What of summoning goldfish, and all related family members… like mountainous river carps who can turn into East Asian Serpentine Dragon Gods?
If I have to dock some points, however… it's that there is a lot of inconsistent leeway, on what's initially presented as flimsy or unviable, versus what people could pick up immediately that could become useful once they get a hang of things. There's a lot of nebulous territory that needs ironed out… which is presumably why this is at the Trope Repair Shop Image Pickin' Thread in the first place.
Difficult, but Awesome For the trope that I believe gets THIS trope's idea across much more consistently.
Edited by Ego-Man25 on Apr 17th 2025 at 5:13:05 AM
Self-professed Wild Card who thinks cynicism isn't so bad.8.5/10. I think Vee from Dandy's World gave me a guilty pleasure for characters that are hard to work with at first but are AMAZING when you learn to use them well.
Joke Character I literally cannot make out with a television the fuck
9/10 I love them.
Pantsless Males, Fully-Dressed Females I never watched My Hero Academia, but his Death Battle with Mahito made me like him.
I honestly didn’t know this was a trope until now. But, 5/10. Make it equal in designs.
It builds character.6/10. I'm not too much into superheroes, so I'm mostly neutral about it, but guns being extremely practical weapons, especially when dealing things like supervillains, so why wouldn't a superhero out to save the world use them?
Edited by petersohn on Apr 17th 2025 at 8:28:43 PM
Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.7/10. It depends on what makes the protagonist evil and whether or not they deserve sympathy.
Second Law of Gender-Bending
7/10, I don't really consume much media where the Gender Bender trope is a key component of the plot (mostly just El Goonish Shive), but I think it's a pretty important function trope for it to work well and not be a depressing change.
The legend has returned.

7.8/10 Subverting childhood innocence is always surprising.
Dumb Muscle I never watched My Hero Academia, but his Death Battle with Mahito made me like him.