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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openSymbolic Revenge
- A character decides to exact revenge against another character. He does so by going after one of the latter's family members by breaking their arm and leg for costing his family "an arm and a leg"
resolved Klingon Romance Print Comic
A society is structured so that if a guy kills someone, the victim's fiancèe/wife is now bethroded to the killer.
openDark Thoughts Webcomic
What would it be if a character briefly thinks about killing themselves, but doesn’t?
openAll planets have four seasons
What trope would it be for when a sci-fi story depicts all planets having four seasons like Earth, despite how little sense that makes, as seasons are caused by the Earth tilting back and forth as it orbits the sun, and there's no reason to assume all planets tilt the same way, or even tilt at all for that matter. Would this fall under All Planets Are Earthlike or no?
openChristmas by any other name
What's the trope for when a fantasy or sci-fi world has a holiday that's obviously a stand in for Christmas (usually taking place in winter and near the end of their year). Example: Frostfell from EverQuest.
openNo, I'm X!
Bob has committed a crime. The sheriff, police etc. Got him cornered but the citizens think that Bob is a good guy. So after Bob comes on stage and the police force demand his arrest, the citenzs, one by one go "No... I'm the criminal!"
The main idea for this is "they can't arrest us all if they don't know who the real criminal is".
openNot an RPG, but everything works like one
Not sure if this exists. Occasionally, the setting of the story works like an RPG. It's a world where people live in just like ours, except everyone has strictly defined classes, statistics, precisely described abilities (cue Calling Your Atacks), etc. Bonus points if said abilities are increased like in an RPG - for example, when a character wants to build up strength, they don't go bench pressing in a gym - they go gain some experience and then allocate ability points.
This almost universally happens with works that deal with being transported to another world (especially Isekai Anime/Manga).
Obviously, this may happen commonly in works where the setting is some kind of virtual reality inside an actual video game, but it also often happens with plots which have nothing to do with gaming. It's like, the world is not an RPG, but it might as well be.
Reasons may vary. In non-justified cases, I suspect sometimes this might be a half-baked attempt at catering to video-gaming culture, without fully understanding it.
Examples:
- Konosuba - Slightly justified, as the main protagonist IS a gamer, but there is no explanation why the world he ends up reincarnating in also works like a game. Immediately upon arrival, he and Aqua are sorted into classes, abilities are increased by gaining and spending ability points.
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - Even less to do with gaming, yet characters also seem to operate on RPG mechanics (with a touch of city-builder RTS, from main character's perspective).
- The Hero is Overpowered but Overly Cautious - Classes? Check. Solid-defined abilities? Check. EXP gain? Check. Not a single word of acknowledgement that it's a video game? Check.
- Overlord 2012 - Part of it is somewhat justified, as after all, all Nazarick denizens are former NP Cs from YGGDRASIL MMORPG (with Momonga himself reincarnating into his game avatar), but it begs an explanation why the new world they're transported into, not only operates like an RPG too (with people having classes, special skills, etc), but apparently seems to be a totally different game than YGGDRASIL (even having some special abilities "incompatible" with YGGDRASIL "content"). The undead being immune to Critical Hits which some of the new world denizens specialize in dealing is even a plot point at one moment.
- El Goonish Shive - A minor example - few strips have people gaining new spells/abilities in a way akin to an RPG. Even lampshaded by Sarah's remark - (about Nanase) "What is she, a video game?" (for the love of god, I just can't find that specific strip to link to).
- Sword Art Online - Totally justified, because the setting IS a game. A VR MMORPG for the record.
- Epic NPC Man - Naturally, as it tells the story of... well, NP Cs in an MMORPG.
openCosmetic Crossover
Is there a trope for crossovers that don't really impact each other's plots, but are more of a collection of Fish out of Water moments?
For example, a hypothetical Mario / Zelda crossover where Mario defeats every enemy and boss by jumping on them instead of gathering items and solving puzzles to the Fairy Companion's increasing confusion. There's no real difference in how the game progresses, only the NP Cs would have very different reactions.
openThey don't mind
Alice is a demon, vampire, or some other form of undead, and has made it her life's goal to hunt down the rest of them. Tiny problem, the rest of the town is a bit... uppity. So she has to hide her powers. Long story short, she has to reveal her powers to the populace at one point, and when she tries to explain herself, they simply don't mind at all. Maybe they figured it out for themselves at some point in the past, maybe that one battle was sufficient. Point is, nobody cares that she's a demon (or etc.), as long as she continues to make life miserable for the rest of them. Some may even join her. And [insert evil deity here] forbid the military gets involved, or the bad guys might just have to find another country to bother.
openNear-death experience lets you see ghosts
This is a thing, right? I coulda sworn it was a thing.
openInverted comic book cover
Inverted Portrait is about still images of people upside down. It says "Note that this only applies when the character is seen in a stylized portrait. Although it could appear anywhere within a work, if the character is literally floating upside-down within the story, it is not an example of this." That means that images from comic books are not examples: they are a sequential art and the action "goes" from one panel to the next, even if each specific one is still if taken in isolation. But what about comic book covers? They are still images, like the cover of a book or a CD, so they can be examples, right?
openUnrelated Jumpscare
Is there a trope about jumpscares in movies and shows that aren't by the main monster/villain/conflict but by something totally unrelated, like a mere animal? For example, in a movie where a scary ominous monster usually makes the jumpscares, a random scene has a jumpscare caused by an innocent animal making noise, or inanimate object falling on the floor.
openMonster breach
Do we have this? Its when there is an increase of monster activity near The Hero's hometown/country because of a wave of evil energy/miasma or the artifact protecting the village has grown weak.
openAre the glasses superfluous?
Alice asks Bob about something that he saw, only for Charlie to discredit him by saying "He wears glasses, so you can't trust what he saw." This ignores the fact that the glasses bring Bob's vision up to par with everyone else. (And yes, I've seen this once.)
openKnowledge trope?
Do we have this one?
In the DC Extended Universe, in a future movie, hypothetically, their version of The Flash makes a reference to Nora West-Allen fading from existence in The Flash (2014) episode "Legacy". However, he shouldn't have known about this happening, since it's an Alternate Continuity, where it didn't happen in that continuity. In-Universe no-one knows what the hell he's going on about or who Nora West-Allen is.
Is there a trope for where a character refers to something they shouldn't have known about or the reference In-Universe makes no sense?
Mythology Gag was the only out-of-universe one I could think of, but is there a trope for the above situation?
Edited by Merseyuser1openNo Title
Do we have a trope entry for when two people conspire to break up a couple (or at least express their disapproval of the couple, e.g. "they should have been *my* SO"), only to end up together instead? The closest I can find is "Relationship Sabotage," but that's only part of the trope.
openGood after all
Horrible Judge of Character is when Bob is clearly evil, but Alice thinks that he's a good guy. What about the other way: Bob is a good guy, Alice suspects that he has a hidden agenda, but it turns out that he is really a good guy? Is it the same trope, or something else?
openSeeking the trope for a Karnivool song lyric Music
In the song by Karnivool, 'Set Fire To The Hive', there is the line:
"I spit in the mouth of your god, who whispers in the minds of our children."
I thought this would be an example of "Did you just ... Cthulu", but I can't find one that works exactly. It's more than just a "flip off"; it's closer to a a punch, but not as extreme as a "punch out". Its close to "Rage against the heavens", but it has a physical element. There are a few others that don't really work because there is no followup to the action. It probably falls into "Spiteful Spit", but is it extra-special because it's against a god? In any case, thanks for your help.