Have a question about how the TVTropes wiki works? No one knows this community better than the people in it, so ask away! Ask the Tropers is the page you come to when you have a question burning in your brain and the support pages didn't help.
It's not for everything, though. For a list of all the resources for your questions, click here. You can also go to this Directory thread
for ongoing cleanup projects.
Ask the Tropers is for:
- General questions about the wiki, how it works, and how to do things.
- Reports of problems with wiki articles, or requests for help with wiki articles.
- Reports of misbehavior or abuse by other tropers.
Ask the Tropers is not for:
- Help identifying a trope. See TropeFinder.
- Help identifying a work. See MediaFinder.
- Asking if a trope example is valid. See the Trope Talk forum.
- Proposing new tropes. See TropeLaunchPad.
- Making bug reports. See QueryBugs.
- Asking for new wiki features. See QueryWishlist.
- Chatting with other tropers. See our forums.
- Reporting problems with advertisements. See this forum topic.
- Reporting issues on the forums. Send a Holler instead.
Ask the Tropers:
openUnintentionally Unsympathetic Live Action TV
Would Unintentionally Unsympathetic apply to an entire populace? The trope is being used to defend a character's choice to mass slaughter its civilian population, owing to the crappy acts some of its citizens have pulled. The example itself is on the YMMV page
as the last bullet point under Unintentionally Unsympathetic. There is currently a discussion going on here
and it seems to be at a stand-still.
openDetective with a Twist? Live Action TV
I've seen a lot of shows & movies where the main character is a cop/detective/'helps the police' who is a ghost, vampire, zombie, android, dog, dinosaur, immortal, Satan, and many, many more. How would you classify this trope? I think it isn't quite the same as "Wunza Plot" or "They Fight Crime!" since it's specifically regarding the character herself as a sort of "detective with a twist" type rather than her relationship with another different, possibly more normal character (although that does often play a role).
Edit: I stumbled onto the page for "The Exotic Detective" which I think is the answer I was looking for.
Edited by kedarguruopen 80s 0r 90s show in Australia Live Action TV
This is a question annoying a friend. Her whole family remember a show in the early 90s/late 80s about a rock that swallows people. The show was in Australia. I don't know if it was one episode of a show. Or a show all by itself. They said it was pretty scary but a kids show. Are they making this up? I can't find any reference to this
openDisagreement/Slight Edit War over DesignatedHero Live Action TV
So Troper Desert Dragon put up a Designated Hero entry on the YMMV page of Marvel'´s runaways. I deleted it because I don't really think that applies. Not just because of my own opinion (what he thinks), but because pretty much every Runaway in that season has done their own share of morally ambiguous things that the rest of the group disagreed with (heck, Nico even killed several people) and is called out in-universe, respectively. Alex is not singled out as in any way particularly bad.
The troper however put it back up. How should we proceed?
(Ironically, a similar topic was started over myself recently^^)
Edited by ForenperseropenKingdom Live Action TV
I'm happy to create it myself (with some trepidation as a fairly newbie troper admittedly) but wanted to check first;
Is there a specific reason there's no page for Kingdom (the mma tv series?)
openEdit War and bad examples Live Action TV
The user Crunchy Crunch
keeps adding [[ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=Characters.ArrowverseSTARLabs
incorrect examples]] to Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost's entry on the Arrowverse: S.T.A.R. Labs
page. Either the examples are blatantly incorrect, a clear example of entry pimping for the character, tremendous Square Peg Round Trope, using different trope names to say the same thing, overexplaining/Purple Prose, or contradicting the example in the middle, making it redundant. They've also edited Barry Allen's
page with the same misinformation to make it seem like they have a romantic connection. When I removed the examples and explained why it was wrong (they seem fairly new to the site and probably don't know about the Edit War rules), they just put them back. I P Med them and they seemed to understand, but then they just started adding them back again. I tried to message them again but the system wasn't working (?), so I removed the examples again and said that if they did it again I would report them, which they're still ignoring. I'm aware that I added to the Edit War and I'm cool with being suspended myself if needs be.
open No consensus on page Live Action TV
Myself and another troper are having difficulty reaching consensus regarding definitions of Anti-Villain or {{Wild Card)) in relations to Ward. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/remarks.php?trope=Characters.MCUHYDRALeadership
the debate has reached agreements on some definitions and stuck on others. Both are us agree to disagree in the most polite of ways but both seeking closure. We both have given what we feel are good points just trying to reach consensus.
openFlaming alert Live Action TV
CrazyMinh's
edits consists mostly of long-winded rants against Star Trek Discovery, and one case of self-promotion (I don't know if it's acceptable, but it doesn't follow the page's format). I removed their paragraph on Fanon Discontinuity (aside from flaming and claiming the voice of a whole fandom, they had erased a line and merged together two sets of examples). They have left long rants on the Headscratchers page, but I'm not sure about removing them outright. I'd like them to be officially warned about this at least.
open{{HeelFaceDoorSlam}} in [[Characters/MCUHYDRALeadership Leadership]] Live Action TV
In the character page for Hydra Leadership I removed Heel Face door slam for not meeting the perimeters of the trope. I left the reason as in show in was never shown him attempting to turn face. Or that evil is not the way. It was put back :
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: Ward gets a few, after his betrayal nearly kills all of his closest friends (some of whom he tried to kill personally). First he tries to reconcile with Coulson after months of refusing to speak to anyone but Skye (which made it obvious he didn't actually care about redemption), then when he rescues her in a later episode, she responds by shooting him three times in the chest. Then, when the original team is forced together for one last mission, they continually shoot down all his attempts to shift the blame and reconcile.
Ward: This is what I regret the most. Not the lies, or the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents I had to put down, not even dropping you two out of a plane. That I ruined this. We had something, for a while, right? We were a pretty good team? [beat] Skye: I'm still glad I shot you. Fitz: Me too. Simmons: You should have aimed for his face. May: Yeah.
However he never tried to reconcile with Coulson. He later rescued Daisy after putting her in danger in the first place in order to ingratitude himself to both Daisy and Whitehall. Also the one last mission they went together and quoted on, he already was using it as an excuse to place Kara in SHIELD in order to kidnap Bobbie for torture and closure. I took it to discussion no hits yet and I wanted a second option before I reverted it. Basically it cant be a door slam if the character makes no effort to turn face or accept the path he choice was wrong as in evil. As pointed out by Thomas and Christian admitting he was wrong was never Grant's strong point.
open HELP ME FIND THIS PROGRAMME (BBC ONE DRAMA) Live Action TV
Right so I need to find this bbc one tv drama, (2012-2015 ish) and I can’t remeber the name. It was a period drama set in the early 1900s I think and had a mentally unstable boy in it (19 years?) and he had a troubled childhood and I think he self harmed and stuff and punched a mirrror so had his hand bandaged for a bit. The local police man also is worried about him and helps him out a bit. His parents try to help. He gets picked on by his friends who they get into an argument with one time they get out of a lake. The main guy I remeber had blonde hair and sort of a tan suit thing (IDK) PLEASE HELP THIS IS DRIVING ME NUTS!
openTitleTrope dispute on a Recap page Live Action TV
Someone keeps deleting the Double-Meaning Title entry I made on an Arrow Season 6 recap page. Here's my entry:
- Double-Meaning Title: At first glance the episode title (which is "Doppelganger'") seems to only refer to Black Siren (the Alternate Self of a deceased main character), but the episode also features the return of Roy, a man who took the identity of the Arrow to take all the blame from Oliver back in Season Three. It also shows Diggle, Oliver's most constant stand-in, expressing his desire to officially don the Green Arrow mantle.
I think I made a valid explanation, but I don't wanna cause an Edit War so I'm here for second opinion(s). You guys think its Ok to put this back?
Edited by makarovak47open TV Show with Skull Floating Room to Room In Intro Live Action TV
Apologies if detail is sparse, but in the late 70’s as a small kid I remember going to my grandma’s. Some days she would have her TV on and a show would come on that I can best describe it started with a skull beginning to float off a shelf and through a room, perhaps to other rooms. Then after the show, the skull would float itself back to its original location. The show may have been black and white, and may have been much older than the era I was seeing it. I wish I could remember more. Does anyone have any idea what show this was? I don’t think it was a movie, I think it was a TV series.
openMultiple Idiot ball edits and YMMV/TheFlash2014S4E10TheTrialOfTheFlash Live Action TV
Regarding an idiot ball edit . I removed it once as it seemed stated that Barry was stupid for refusing reveal his identity. Therefore due to his stupidity was unsympathetic. When a ) he gave valid and justified reasons why he wouldn't. The safety of his friends and family b ) various criminals have escaped before Killer Shark and Peekaboo so if they knew who he was his family would be targeted c ) As said to Iris he and the others would be constantly on the run and d) Noone in the Arrow verse has a publicly outed themselves for the same reason. Also it looks like another attempt to label Barry with a what an idiot or idiot ball trope for not revealing his identity. Despite those tropes were deleted for not applying to Barry's case. I have deleted it once. As has another troper. But it has returned either as unintentionally unsympathetic or what an idiot . The argument is the same that Barry is stupid for not revealing himself. However Barry made plain WHY. The same reason no one in the Arrow verse secret ID is public. Safety of friends and family.
Not only from Metas but everyday criminals he put away.
Not only that as a CI working for the Police any case worked and convicted could lead to hundreds of mistrials as Barry reveal as a vigilante could give grounds of conflict of interest. Basically the trope is calling him an idiot for not taking an action that could not be taken realistically
I want to remove the trope but that would be edit warring. Put it up for discussion but nothing.
Edited by TuvokopenDouble Meaning in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." ep "Afterlife" Live Action TV
While browsing the double meaning / double entendre tropes, I was surprised not to see Jemma and Fitz's conversation listed somewhere. On the surface they appear to be arguing about Jemma helping "The Real S.H.I.E.L.D." to whom Fitz is adamantly opposed. With a slight twist, though, it's really about Fitz, having realized Jemma's making a fake Toolbox, confirms he should appear to quit so he can get the real one to Coulson. I'd add it myself, but I'm not sure what trope it would fall under. (I also wish I could find the conversation online. I guess I'll have to re-download the ep from iTunes and transcribe it myself.)
openYMMV Riverdale issues Live Action TV
The YMMV.Riverdale page is full of anti-Betty stuff mostly made by one troper, hiddenelastic, who's used Base-Breaking Character and Creator's Pet incorrectly. I sent a Pm about Word Cruft since it was the closest match but we might need to craft PMs about problem tropes like that, IE " Base-Breaking Character needs to acknowledge both sides of an argument" or "Creator's Pet must meet four specific criteria".
Examples:
"Base-Breaking Character: Betty, especially as of Season 2. Some fans argue that they find Betty annoying and hypocritical. Many fans opinions of her have changed for the negative after she blackmailed and threatened Cheryl in 2x02. Her self righteous attitude hasn't done her any favors with some of the fans either. The fact that a lot of fans feel that Betty is favored by the writers, doesn't help matters at all."
" Creator's Pet: Betty. Dear God, Betty. It's speculated that Betty is arguably the writer's favorite given how much focus they give her. This in turn has turned many fans off of Betty's character and they actually find her more annoying and boring, especially in Season 2. Many fans have complained that they wish the writers would stop putting so much focus on Betty and focus on other characters like Kevin, Josie, and especially Cheryl. "
Edited by lalalei2001openIs this a trope or a one-off? Live Action TV
I'm struck by a particular character in Sea Quest DSV, named General Guzmano, who's played by Luis Guzman - it's strange to me that he plays a minor character with such a strangely similar name to his own, but... NOT appearing as himself(?)
Came here looking for the trope name and some more examples, but found nothing :-(... Maybe this isn't a typical enough thing to have a name? Maybe it's not even a trope kind of thing? I'd love to know
open Recaped episodes are still said to be not indexed Live Action TV
Normally, after indexing the main Recap page itself, a blank edit on that is enough to index the individual episode pages, but for some reason it just doesn't work on The Punisher
. Is that simply a bug or is there an editing error? Help would be appreciated :)

I just read about the show Shortland Street and decided to look information up here, but when I saw the YMMV page there were many tropes that shouldn't be on that page.
Please look here for yourself: Shortland Street
I also want to know if anyone could clean it up, because I doubt I can do it since I just started with the show and don't know it all too well.