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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openHuge food item
Do we have a trope for food that is big but less extreme than Giant Food? Like a five pound hamburger or a pizza six feet across? Like the stuff on Man Vs Food or other eating challenge shows?
openFor both our existing tropes and the launch pad
Is there a trope or TLP draft for a platonic version of Crossover Ship?
openAdaptational Change (NaruHinaFan) Anime
I watched a scene in a certain anime that largely because of the eerie purple atmosphere, it looked downright creepy, but when I read that same scene in the manga if I did not already see the anime I would have thought it looked cute (well more cute than the anime.) What trope (if any) is this?
open"Let's start a family" conversation Live Action TV
This feels so obvious, I swear I must be missing something.
A currently childless couple has a discussion about wanting to have children or actively makes the decision to try to have kids. It's usually treated as a massive turning point in their relationship. I feel like this trope pops up in preeeetty much every sitcom ever, at least in ones where They Do, as a stepping stone to Babies Ever After. Am I missing something?
openCrappiest Option is Right
Any situation where someone has to choose the "right" option out of usually three or more. Some of the options may be more appealing than others, for example by being made of gold, but these are Schmuck Bait; the more Genre Savvy among us know to look for the crappiest-looking option and choose that, because it's... virtuous?
The obvious example is in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where the Holy Grail must be chosen from among a couple of dozen goblets, most of which are gold, but the person who drinks from one of those promptly dies; the correct one is a small, unassuming cup, "the cup of a carpenter."
There's also The Merchant of Venice, where Portia's suitors must choose between three caskets: one gold, one silver, one lead. Choosing the lead casket wins them Portia's hand.
openStalker Shot Reveal
I'm looking for a trope where a character does or say something that's supposed to be a secret but the camera zooms out or pans to reveal that someone was watching them the entire time and the character is unaware of this. The audience is also unaware of this until the camera shows the stalker.
An example I can think of is from Better Call Saul, Season Four "Smoke". Spoilers to anyone who hasn't seen this episode yet. Nacho goes to a bridge to dispose the pills that caused Hector to have his stroke. When Nacho thinks he's safe, the camera cuts to show Victor sitting in his car watching him from a distance by the side of the bridge and it's revealed he has a tracker installed on Nacho's truck so he's able to follow his movements.
Edited by notShempopenPostgame Final Boss
The final boss of the postgame campaign. (Ex. Red in HGSS, Dry Bowser in New Super Mario Bros. 2, Aamon in Dragon Quest IV.)
openradiation gives you superpowers Print Comic
Is there a trope for radiation being portrayed as something that gives you superpowers? Or is at least beneficial somehow as opposed to poisoning people? I put this under print comic as it's VERY common in old-school superhero stories likely due to scientists back then not entirely understanding how radiation works, but can appear in other media. Also, on a related note, is there a trope for how radiation (even when portrayed as dangerous) is usually shown in comics and cartoons as a sort of green light/fire that vaporizes people or the like, as opposed to being invisible and basically being a slow-killing poison?
openImagine what it sounds like
Is there a trope for when medium without sound (i.e comics and regular books) where someone sings a song and, other than possibly knowing what instruments they use if it's a comic book, you just have to guess what it sounds like, as, even if they show the lyrics, you can't tell what tone they are in (unless the writers helpfully put some tablature in the book, which I've never seen.)
openMissing Mom turned Action Survivor
Is there a name for a subtrope of the Missing Mom where she turns up years later, having survived in some harsh environment the entire time and mastering the skills necessary to navigate it? I've seen that exact thing in the Aquaman live-action movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp, but it doesn't seem like this has a specific trope page.
openTruly Useless Spells?
Do we have a trope for Truly Useless Spells? This Index Is Useless doesn't have what what I want?
For things like this, which is currently in UselessUsefulSpell.Video Games...
- Pokémon: Cryogonal is capable of learning Attract, which afflicts opponents of the opposite gender with Infatuation. However, since Cryogonal is a genderless species, it can't affect any targets.
Or, from the same games, Magikarp's "Splash", which literally does nothing other than use up a turn.
openThe Autographed Ball
A character has an autographed baseball (or picture, or guitar, or really anything with an autograph on it, but ball is most common) and another character accidentally destroys that item. The ensuing plot follows them trying to get a new one, either through forgery or by getting a genuine signature on a new item. There are also similar plots where the item isn't necessarily autographed but still valuable and still in need of a replacement, before the item's owner finds out what happened.
openStore of everything
The store equivalent to Great Big Book of Everything and Great Big Library of Everything: a store that sells basically everything:
Edited by jandn2014open''Nobody'' turns into a fighter
Character who's never had any experience in combat/fights, but kicks everyone's ass like a pro.
Not related to Retcons.
Edited by bruhmomentoopenKids Love Hotels
Children are always excited to stay in a hotel, no matter the context.
openFixed Accuracy Attack
Do we have a trope for attacks that have a fixed chance to hit (other than the Always Accurate Attack) in systems where the accuracy of an attack is normally variable?
Examples would be how Nosferatu in Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia always has a 60% hit chance or how Magical attacks in Battle for Wesnoth always have a 70% hit chance.
Edited by BalmungopenVillainy trope for arc villain? Live Action TV
I don't know if there's such a trope for this but:
- The Arc Villain knows where Bob is, and has found out Alice likes entering competitions, so sets one up for her online, and then rigs it so she wins (as a ploy to get Bob) and has a fake ceremony to confirm the win.
Is there such a trope for the Big Bad / Arc Villain running a rigged competition to get the protagonists closer to them?
openComing into existence trope? Live Action TV
Do we have such a trope for this:
- Barry Allen from The Flash (2014) has to Time Travel to stop the Arc Villain, but as a result, Stargirl/Courtney Whitmore is now part of Team Flash. She didn't exist on Earth-Prime in the original timeline, but now does as a result of Time Travel in the new Alternate Timeline.
I know we have Ret-Gone for someone erased out of existence from a timeline, but someone new added in?
openCut Lex Luthor A Check (for evil actions)
"Cut..." is what I'm thinking of the most here, but with a twist. Cut is when someone resorts to villainy to get money and fame when they could - in theory - get that stuff in a legitimate way relatively easily.
The mystery trope I'm thinking of is when a villain does something evil in a particularly nasty way, when there are MUCH easier ways to do the thing they want. The villain knows this, but chooses to do it their way. Maybe it's for a specific reason, or maybe it's just for their own gratification. Either way, it's unnecessary evil in accomplishing an already evil goal. It's not For The Evulz (at least, I think), because the villain has a reason for doing what they're doing in the first place and some other reason for doing it the way they are.
Edited by neckinhalf
Character is identified by having a way with words. (Not Cunning Linguist.)