The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
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openOppressed trying to be accepted by the oppressor Print Comic
A little context: in Radiant, there’s this group of Sorcerers ("Infected" people) who fight on the side of the Inquisition (who normally hunts them down) in exchange for a special treatment, with their powers partially restrained. One of them called Adriel thinks that by doing this he can improve the image of Infected people and help them get accepted by "normal" people rather than feared.
What’s the trope for that?
Edited by LyendithopenRob Liefeld's well endowed Captain America Print Comic
What trope article was this? It's like when an artist draws a character with an impossible placement of limbs, or a contorted spine, or stretched out body parts.
openExoskeleton armoured fishes. Print Comic
In Sonic the Comic there is a race of alien fish called the Drakons, that developed humanoid robot exoskeletons in order to operate on land.
What trope would best fit about the Drakons using exoskeletons because they don't try to look human or Mobian.
openThe villain asks for a duel rather than an execution Print Comic
I've just been looking through the various duel and Just Shoot Him tropes, but can't find an obvious one for this:
The villain is at gunpoint and the hero's about to execute him. Then the villain claims that would be unfair and try to persuade the hero to duel to the death instead.
Where does that fall?
Edited by Mrph1open"Bruce Wayne is Batman...'s roommate". Trope name? Print Comic
Is there a trope name for when characters in a story are unable to piece together a heroes secret identity in spite of any logical evidence pointing to that person? Even if you can accept the fact Superman can hide behind a pair of glasses, there may still be circumstantial evidence pointing to Clark Kent being Superman.
One example would be, Peter Parker is the only photographer who can get any photos of Spiderman and most of the time they are taken from impossible angles. Yet even when characters or villains bring up this connection Peter has to Spiderman, no one reasons that maybe they are one in the same. They either ignore this conclusion or come to a totally inaccurate one(e.g like the Joker does in the Lego Batman movie, though is played for comedic effect).
Is it just an extension of Paper Thin Disguise? Or is there another trope name for this type of occurrence in comics?
openStorm Drain Lucklessness Print Comic
Something small but valuable or important accidentally falls down a storm drain - think stuff like engagement rings or diamont earrings.
openTrope for when a character becomes completely unimportant Print Comic
Trope name for a character (or a group of characters) becomes less important and/or unimportant at all?
One example is where the Hole-Digging Club members in Shimeji Simulation were slightly important characters from Chapters 1 to 20, but the Hole-Digging Club itself becomes unimportant after the latter chapter.
Edited by holygrail24openIt's always an Apocalypse How in an alternate timeline Print Comic
I think I have seen this trope in comics, but may creep into film adaptations also.
The "main reality" is altered and becomes a Wasteland, Mad-Max style or the like. The heroes learn that the alternate reality is not "what it should be", so work together to reverse the damage. Throughout the story (Story Arc/Crisis Crossover), there is a plot point about how "the end of the world is nigh/upon them", etc. by some reason. At the climax of the story (or after the heroes go back), the heroes manage to return home, but the alternate reality is destroyed for whatever reason.
Examples: 1) Flashpoint (2011) - Barry Allen travels in time and causes a massive chain reaction that alters the main DCU. In the new timeline, Aquaman and Wonder Woman are at each other's throats and their war threatens to destroy the whole world. In issue 5, Flash and a ragtag bunch of heroes kill Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Reverse Flash, but the world of that altered timeline is already doomed. Flash (Barry Allen) is convinced to return to the point when he altered the timeline ad stop himself.
2) Here Comes Tomorrow (2004), by Grant Morrison and Marc Silvestri - in the future, Jean Grey/Phoenix is awakened by a Sublime-possessed, Mad Scientist Beast, wh siccs the Phoenix against the version of the X-Men of that timeline. As the story ends, Jean Grey goes into a metaphysical room of other Phoenix hosts and manages to "psychically touch" the main timeline to avoid creating that future.
3) Age of Apocalypse (1995) - After Legion kills his father, Professor X, in the past, Apocalypse rises and dominates North America, turning it into a hellhole. Time traveller Bishop is the one unaffected by the temporal divergence and remembers the true timeline of the main Marvel Universe. The whole crossover is how the Ao A X-Men learn of the changes and try to gather the necessary tools to reverse them. In the ending chapter, one-shot Ao A: Omega, Bishop is sent once again to the past and stops the assassination, thus negating the existence of the Ao A timeline. In the final pages of the one-shot, Rogue and her husband Magneto reunite with their son Charles, outside of Apocalypse's citadel, just in time to see the bombs fall and destroy them. (Obs: the bombs are actually a plot point: the "Human Survival Council" or whatever planned to drop nuclear bombs on Apocalypse's citadel in North America to end his threat once and for all).
4) Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (Animation) - the world is nearly destroyed by Darkseid's forces. The Justice League Dark manages to summon Trigon (Raven's demon lord father), which defeats Darkseid. At the end of the film, the world is destroyed, but there is hope for rebuilding. Still, again, the Flash goes back in time to undo that Crapsack World.
Edited by KHR-FolkMythopenCharacter is introduced to fulfill a specific narrative purpose, then meanders about Print Comic
I'm thinking of a trope where a writer creates a character to fulfill a certain purpose, interacts with long-established characters, but their story arc is either aborted or cancelled (worst case scenario), or fulfilled (best case scenario). After accomplishing his purpose, the character remains in the universe, but does not seem to fulfill any relevant purpose.
This is not Reimagining the Artifact, but, to my mind, it can be used to salvage the character. A Retool may also serve to revitalize the character.
A few comic examples: 1) Black Swan - introduced by Jonathan Hickman during his dual Avengers/New Avengers (2012-2015) as the sole survivor of a universe that fell to a phenomenom called Incursion. The incursions happen in 2015 Secret Wars, and Black Swan appears later as part of Thanos's circle (Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, etc.).
2) Hope Summers - as part of the long term "Mutant Messiah" storyline (2006-2010, 2012), mutantkind is depowered by the Scarlet Witch (House of M, 2005; Decimation/The 198, 2006). Hope is born as the first mutant after the mass depowering of mutants and is fought over by several mutant factions (Messiah Comple X, 2008). Cable takes her to the future, since she is destined to be some kind of "Mutant Messiah" who will rescue mutantkind from the brink of extinction (Messiah War, 2009). Cable and Hope return to the present time; Cable apparently dies, and Hope begins to bring in a new generation of mutants (Second Advent, 2010; Generation Hope, 2011-2012). She stars in 2012 Av X, but flounders until being given a new role in Hickman's Krakoan Age (2019-2021).
3) Cable - despite being introduced in the tail end of the 1980s, in New Mutants, his mythos, IRRC, would only be firmly established in 1992 crossover X-Cutioner's Song and 1993 Cable: Blood and Metal. For the entirety of his first series (1993-2000), he is said to be destined to fight against mutant supremacist Apocalypse, a tyrant during his future timeline. His purpose seemingly ends after Cyclops dies by merging with an aging Apocalypse in 2000 crossover Apocalypse: The Twelve. His lack of a mission or purpose is even acknowledged in-universe in Cable #79 (May, 2000).
4) Romulus (Wolverine's enemy) - after House of M (2005), Wolverine regains the memories of his past, which are explored in an arc in his solo title (Wolverine #36-40, 2006) and later in Wolverine: Origins (2006-2010). Throughout "Origins", it is hinted that Wolverine's entire life has been manipulated from the shadows by a mysterious character, which is later revealed to be Romulus. Romulus is defeated in the final arcs of "Origins", but later returns in an arc in Wolverine #310-313 (2012), and vanishes from the limelight into limbo.
I think many Time Travellers in comics are prone to fall in this trope.
The characters in question should be integral/vital/pivotal to the plot the writer is using them in. Sometimes, the character is so connected to that storyline that, when it folds, the character may survive it, but has no narrative purpose beyond their original appearance.
Edited by KHR-FolkMythopenMushrooms that grow on someone's head Print Comic
What is the name of the trope for a person that has mushrooms that grow on his/her head? One such example is Paras from Pokemon, which has Tochukaso mushrooms on top of it.
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Paras_(Pokémon)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/ShimejiSimulation
The main example mentioned above is Shijima Tsukishima from Shimeji Simulation, who has two mushrooms that appear above her head, after two years of being a recluse inside her closet. Except, they are shimeji mushrooms and are not invasive, unlike the one that Paras has in Pokemon.
Edited by holy_grail_24openCharacters who are in-universe fans of real bands, books etc. Print Comic
Prompted by Marvel Comics's Shang-Chi, who was a fan of Fleetwood Mac in a few of the 1970s stories.
It's not really a Shout-Out, is it? Is it a trope at all?
openNo Title Print Comic
For a while, there were twelve comic books being published about Richie Rich at the same time. Is that a trope?
openSimple looking heroes and realistic looking villains Print Comic
Is there a trope similar to this here? It's called "masking" and It's used as a technique in comics or any hand drawn media to emphasize the "otherness" of an antagonist, and for the audience to project themselves on to the hero. (Thanks Scott McCloud).
It's not necessarily Ugly Hero, Good-Looking Villain, since what I'm finding is a contrast of realism and simplicity instead of beauty and ugliness.
Edited by Troper_12345openNo-one ever bothers to look Print Comic
Trying to find a trope for Dilbert:
- In one strip, Dilbert goes to a data retention office. In a thought bubble in the caption, the employee thinks "Good job I got this line of work, no-one ever bothers coming to check on old records". It was satirising how people think about data retention at the time circa 1997-1998.
Is there such a trope for where items or records are sent to be archived and forgotten about?
openOdd One Out Print Comic
This is on the The Beano page.
Odd One Out: One strip revealed that nearly the entire cast of the Bash Street Kids live in a block of flats. The sole exception being Plug, who lives nearby next to Minnie. The reason for this was that his family were going to live in the block, but their flat was almost squashed since Fatty lived directly above them. They decided to live in the nearby neighbourhood instead.
Odd One Out is a redlink, was it renamed or cutlisted?
Edited by DigifiendopenWolf in Sheepdog's Clothing Print Comic
A villain dresses up as the (super)hero, which often leads to Superdickery-heavy comic covers. This can be because:
- People trust the hero, which gives the villain access to places and goods.
- He wants to frame the hero for his crimes.
- It's a cheap costume.
- He found/stole the hero's clothes (and sometimes Clothes Make the Superman).
- He's a Knight Templar with In-Universe Misaimed Fandom towards the hero.
- He wants the fame.
- He's insane.
openCharacter never ages but in-universe explanation Print Comic
Although Comic-Book Time is often used as an explanation for why characters don't age, is there a similar trope for this that's an In-Universe explanation:
- In a superhero comic, Carol the Cold, the protagonist, never grows beyond 24, but that's because she eats special caramel chocolates that always keep her 24 years old. Out-of-universe, she's more like 46 years old.
- Stargirl never ages beyond 21 physically or mentally with her body always resetting to that, but that's because of a special coca-cola formula she drinks in a What If? Alternate Continuity.
openOne series impacting another Print Comic
So, it struck me recently that Rom: Spaceknight, despite being removed from canon when Marvel ran into legal issues, actually has a fair amount of influence over the fate of the X-Men during the 80s. Mystique was originally implied to be an alien and possibly a Dire Wraith when she debuted as an archenemy of Carol Danvers, an encounter with Rom was set-up as the cause behind the eventual Heel–Face Turn of Rogue, and Storm's depowering in the 80s was originally caused by Gyrich getting ahold of the prototype replica of Rom's Power Nullifier that Forge had created as the first step in arming humanity against the Dire Wraith invasion. And those are just the examples I can remember! Is there a trope for this?
openOverpowered Hero for the genre or situation Print Comic
Do we have this? Realistically Superman or Thor have no business stopping muggers for example - they'd have to be so careful not to kill anyone or cause ludicrous collateral damage they'd be totally ineffective. Even looking at someone like Spiderman, if you actually analyse his strength and abilities, he shouldn't be either - someone who can fight the entire classic X-Men lineup to a standstill could easily punch someone hard enough to liquefy them - it's only his web shooters that allow him to non-lethally take down normal humans.
Epitome of heroism