Reviving Trope-tan

The page is now live! Trope-tan

As said here: Trope-tan is a cute concept, but her design has always struck me as busy/outdated/not befitting the Moe Anthropomorphism look. Would the community be open to a potential redesign and/or full update of the page? I've drawn◊ the current design before, but I didn't want to start thinking about making changes before running it by the community and seeing if this is even something plausible first.

The first thing that comes to mind is that, since it's a gijinka design, I'd probably like for it to use more anime-oriented tropes than it already does, and make the design more visually cohesive and less chaotic and disorganized.

If a total revamp isn't plausible right now, maybe at least a new, cleaner image could be provided of the current design?

Edit: Here's the sandbox for the new and improved Trope-tan page, and it's open for edits, new ideas, and designs for "offshoot" Trope-tans such as Sugar Wiki. Feel free to contribute, suggest ideas for uses for the new Trope-tan, and give feedback!

This◊ is a Gilligan Cut-styled "origin story" for her, and this◊ is a blank "advice banner" template.

Edited by Palindromee on May 9th 2022 at 6:30:00 AM

Trope-tan is here! ➯ my pronouns are ze/hir

I personally think the disorganized style kind of fits, considering she's a personification of the wiki, and we all know this wiki can be a chaotic mess even at the best of times. It also makes sense to me to have such a wide variety of attributes, since there's such a wide variety of tropes, and the disorganization also sort of encapsulates how varied tropes are. I feel like using too many anime tropes would just make her another generic anime girl.

That said, I've never liked the picture we currently have. I've always felt like there was something off about it. Maybe it's the face.

Also, courtesy link: Trope-tan.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 20th 2022 at 9:48:07 AM

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

That's a good point, but I think that part of the reason Trope-tan hasn't been drawn by the wider internet much, and mostly abandoned by 2014, is because of the chaotic design. I feel like elements of that "chaos" could potentially be preserved in something with less-clashing colors and fewer random tiny baubles. (Speaking as a freelance character designer. )

Trope-tan is here! ➯ my pronouns are ze/hir

It's possible! It's also possible though that she's just a relic of "old TV Tropes" in general and was forgotten when the site became, for lack of a better term, more professional and more willing to stray away from that chaotic energy from the dark ages. Plus, 2014 was when Fast Eddie stepped down, so it also marks a turning point away from his TV Tropes into the one run by Drewski and Itcdr, which also came with a bit of a culture change.

I don't remember when I first discovered the site, but it wasn't until after that that I discovered Just for Fun and things like Trope-Tan and WMG.Grand Unifying Guesses. These things fascinated me because I really liked the unique culture, but by the time I discovered it it was already too late to really be a part of it.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 20th 2022 at 9:59:53 AM

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Well, why not make a new Trope-tan for a new era? Aside from "it would be fun" reasons, I'd be happy to provide images for any tropes lacking them that would benefit from a TVTropes specific visual in an effort to avoid Just a Face and a Caption.

I had the idea of a skirt that looks like a lampshade!

Edited by Palindromee on Jan 20th 2022 at 10:03:20 AM

Trope-tan is here! ➯ my pronouns are ze/hir

The only idea I have for a Trope-tan redesign is a lamp over her head, like TVTrope_OTD on Twitter's mascot.

I don't mind revamping her entirely with some new takes and the like- I just still think we need to embrace the disorganized variety, because it fits the site better and makes her way more unique.

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

I can agree with that

If people are open to it, I can start workshopping some designs.

Trope-tan is here! ➯ my pronouns are ze/hir

I guess you can try, sure. I would keep in mind that people rarely make fanart of the wiki-tans in general (Wikipe-tan doesn't have that much, and their site has over 10 times as many pages in the English language), as wikis don't seem to be a super trendy subject among the general internet reader and fanart populace. The only that performs decently is KYM-tan from Know Your Meme, and I don't know if I'd call them a wiki in the traditional sense.

Edited by Piterpicher on Jan 20th 2022 at 7:48:00 PM

Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods of Incremental)

I don't mind this idea per se, but as a moderator I must caution that the site is probably not going to "sponsor" any of these little gimmicky things, so it would be little more than a fan meme. Any interest would have to grow organically.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

That's fine. Our community could probably support it non-officially anyway.

TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall

That's pretty much what I was thinking, don't worry.

Trope-tan is here! ➯ my pronouns are ze/hir

Like I said, I had interest back when I first stumbled on the page, but I did so after the original interest in that sort of stuff died out, so I sort of discovered an already dead meme. I'd be more than happy to revive her.

Edited by WarJay77 on Jan 21st 2022 at 3:33:59 PM

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Like with Encounters, I'm all for reviving Trope-tan. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do it. Even Encounters, one of the most obscure things on this site had a general idea to copy, whereas Trope-tan seems more vague.

Edited by ARandomPage on Jan 21st 2022 at 11:50:46 PM

Troper Wall, sandbox, and I'm trying to kill typos.

Was Trope-tan ever official? I've had an account since 2008, and I don't remember her being an official mascot.

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

She was never official. She was always just a fun fan project.

Macron's notes

In that case, I think a redesign would be fine.

TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall

I don't have a strong opinion on revival, but I do agree that the disorganized design makes sense due to the idea of illustrating a bunch of tropes with one character.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Jan 22nd 2022 at 9:54:40 AM

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

Here◊ is my first pass at a design, with some alternate colors included. I'd love to hear any suggestions you have!

Trope-tan is here! ➯ my pronouns are ze/hir

Her design's very cute! I like how her skirt has a chain so it'd look like a lampshade, call that Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance.
Personally my Trope-tan design would make her skirt asymmetrical, like this so it would still give her Fashionable Asymmetry; I'd give her some Zettai Ryouiki too.
She'd also be wearing a lampshade on her head, but that's kinda silly and it'd also imply that she's an alcoholic of some sorts. I like it, though.

Why not give her multiple forms? I'm not sure what those forms would be based on... genres? Eras of media? Eras of TvTropes? Whatever collection of tropes someone happens to like for her? IDK. But having multiple variants will let everyone be creative while also referencing how tropes and media evolves and shifts.

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Shapeshifting is a trope.

Ooh, that could be interesting! Trope-tan but her forms are based on:

• The Moments pages (Awesome, Nightmare Fuel, Heartwarming, Funny). All I've got is a combat-fitted Magical Girl Warrior getup for Awesome and/or color-coded stuff for the rest (Awesome is blue, NF red, Heartwarming pink, Funny yellow) but that's it
• The Flame Bait index
• Troper Tales (This one is supposed to be a joke. Mostly. Should've clarified earlier, sorry)

That's all I've got for now, thinking about this was fun

Edited by Wafer on Jan 22nd 2022 at 12:35:50 PM

I shudder to think of what a "Troper Tales" Trope Tan would look like. It'll haunt my dreams even as a hypothetical.

Current Project: Incorruptible Pure Pureness

Wafer: An asymmetrical skirt is a really good idea! I think I might incorporate that. As for Zettai Ryouiki, I think I have a few shades of that with the gap between her shorts and her socks, but I didn't want to Be Weird with the design given that she's supposed to be high school age.

I also really like the idea of alternate forms, but I'd probably leave that up to the community. Maybe ones for the Sugar and Darth wikis! Her design is meant to evoke both Magical Girl outfits and school uniforms.

Any opinions on the eye/hair/outfit colors?

Trope-tan is here! ➯ my pronouns are ze/hir