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resolved Troper uncomment ZCE without adding context.
Few day ago, they uncommented ZCE
without adding context, including many "to [X]." examples.
I sent notifier, and they do it again today
.
I usually wait for three strikes of the same issue, but since this is blatant ignorance, I decided to made this report.
Prior to this, I sent them two misused notifiers, one is more of misplayed, and the other is applting Expy to scenario
. And another one for chained sinkholes
. All were sent in '25.
resolved Buffy should have more tropes dedicated
here's a post on reddit explaining my point a little better : Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a show I can considered to be a classic. It's shaped TV and pop culture in a very unique way, in way few does trough the history of medias. Hell, even today, there are articles saying "this is the new "Buffy"" or "this could be a worthy "Buffy" descendant". One of the many aspects that made Buffy so iconic and memorable were the characters. The characters of Buffy are what I can considered to be iconic. I don't really like that word because I think people like to use it a bit too much but I think it applies here. Let's dive into the characters I think had the more impact on pop culture :
Angel : The brooding hero, lurking in the dark who ends up being the good guy the girl fall in love with, I'm obviously talking about Edward Cull... No wait, not at all, it was Angel. Let's admit it, from the first moment Angel turned into a vampire in Buffy's bedroom, it was the beginning of a common theme in teen dramas. Edward, Stefan, Bill, all take their inspo from Angel. They also happend to have a dark side hidden all along. The romance between Angel and Buffy inspired generations of writers, I mean, Scott and Allison in Teen Wolf (especially at the end of season 2 when Allison happen to become one of the bad guys while season 2 have been bulding the tension between them...). The secret circle have this curse that stops Cassie and Adam to consume their love. Same thing with Legacies when the main girl's love interest become mud because...They slept together, like girly, what is this. The end of Becoming : Once More With Feeling season 5 finale remind me of it, same thing with the end of Chilling adventures of Sabrina season 2, with this episode of Legacies season 4 and I know some of y'all will comes to my neck saying but it just a coincidence, main love interests die sometimes...I'm aware and I know thank you but also, I'm not sutpid. I know a certain character's death in The O.C. has nothing to do with Buffy, I know that the death of another certain character in Teen Wolf (despite the MANY connections between the 2) has nothing to do with Buffy. The reason I'm giving those exemples is because, well, the similarities are there. Anyway, I'm done talking about Angel. Let's talk about his arch-rival now.
Spike : Spike is an anomaly. He's a character that shouldn't hold such a big place in the show, because Joss didn't attend him to but I'm glad he's here. I was asking questions around my high school about if people knew Buffy and, despite most of them not actually watching the show, they knew the name and were saying stuff like '"isn't the show with the cheeleader slaying vampires" or "isnt it the original Twilight with the girl falling in love with vampires" and during those interventions, a lot of them mentions Spike, trough his hair, but also by his name sometimes. I think Spike is a character many have tried to replicate but very rarely succed. Characters like Damon Salvatore are fun for a while before it becomes clear that the writers have no intentions to change him or do anything meaningful with him on the long term. Eric Northman tried it and almost succeed before season 5 and beyond. Crowley from Supernatural shares some similarities but those characteristics are used in kind of a superficial level. Hook (Once Upon A T Ime), Luki from MCU etc.... Plus, the tv tropes "Badass Decay" directly comes from Spike, as it was named Spikefication for a long time. There's an article about how Spike open the gate for bad boys getting redemption for the girls they love and along the characters he might influenced was Jess Mariano (Gilmore Girls), Chuck Bass (Gossip Girl)... I mean there was bad boys before Spike, like let's be for real, but characters like Dylan from Beverly Hills helped built the "bad boy" archetype as wikipedia and articles are telling about but not really expend it further.
Cordelia Chase : I already wrote a whole post about the influence of Cordy on the mean girl archetype feel free to read it : https://www.reddit.com/r/buffy/comments/1ifd02a/the_impact_of_cordelia_chase_on_pop_cultures_mean/
Also there is this video explaining her impact : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0Nt4lgzREk
But without Cordelia Chase, characters like Summer Roberts, Brooke Davis, Katie Fitch, Cheryl Blossom, Lydia Martin, Caroline Forbes,Lizzie Saltzman etc....
Willow Rosenberg : Willow is one of the most important character in the LGBTQ+ community. The critics also appreciated the fact that Willow, was a proud Jewish and that she was good representation for girls. The impact of Willow goes beyond just her sexuality. The character of Willow and her journey is one of the most interting thing on TV ever. The sidekicks of the main characters in teen dramas owns a lot to Willow. I mean Josie Saltzman is a copy of Willow (especially her turn into Dark Josie). Willow is a character with a lot of depth : She start off as this shy, nerdy girl who had no so much respect towards herself. She's smart and really competant in a lot of things but it's obvious that she put herself down and that she don't believe in herself. She has a crush on Xander since years and never dared do anything about it, she always let people walk all over her without any complaints. However she seems to be all positive about and almost childish (which was something changed from the writers. Originally, the actress playing Willow was kinda moody and seems to mooping about herself a lot but the writers wanted Willow to be someone smiling and positive despite all the shit she was taking). Her meeting Buffy made her gaining confidence more. She doesn't want to admit it, but it's obvious that Willow wants people to see that she can be strong and powerful. I can't deny that Willow, especially in the early seasons, wants to help people a lot and she wants to be useful. But she also craves for people to see it and acknoledge it and when it happens, Willow get kinda cocky and arrogant, like Giles alread said once. The Dark Persona thing didn't start with Willow but a lot of characters wants to replicate what made Dark Willow an iconic villain of the show. Betty Cooper turn into Dark Betty is just Dark Willow without debt (because Roberto Aguirre Sacasa just wants an excuse to sexualize the character). Void Stiles from Teen Wolf is clearly a descedant of Dark Willow (even tho, done better on some aspects). Mac from Veronica Mars was clearly meant to the Willow of the show and we could go on and on about it. But let's move on.
Xander Harris : Seth Cohen, Stiles Stilinski, Matt Donovan... Please bffr, Xander was clearly a mjor influence on them. Like, the nerdy boy having a crush on the Valley/Mean/Popular girl, pinning over her for a long time and having a chance to finally get it. I mean Xander (Stiles, Seth, Sid from Skins), fall in love with Buffy (Lydia, Summer, Michelle) who kinda ignore him or consider him as a brother, and he doesn't notice that the girl, less "attractive" and "confident" or not girly enough, is pinning over him secretly (Erica, Anna, Cassie). Either way, while Xander don't end up being with Buffy, he's ending up being with Cordelia (who is basically the original Lydia and Summer). The popular/mean girl ending up with the nerd boy is it. In the 90s, the nerd boy could pin over the popular girl but never quite got her because he realized he worth better than that or someting. It was always the jerk, popular guy falling in love with the nerdy girl . However, I firmly believe Xander and Cordelia are the blueprint for (and almost every shows I'm gonna quote already talked about Buffy has one of their influence) : Stiles and Lydia, Seth and Summer, Dan and Blair, Sid and Michelle, MG and Lizzie, Naomi and Max etc.... He's the everyman. The normal man who is always questionning his place in the group being the normal one without special skills or powers (Cisco from The Flash, Matt from The Vampire Diaries and basically every shows on The CW with a supernatural setting has one of those).
Rupert Giles : While maybe the most subtle but Giles also had it's own fair share of impact on some characters on TV. Keith Mars was the Rupert Giles of Rob Thomas for Veronica Mars, Hopper from Stranger Things is this to Eleven, Alaric Saltzman is the wallmart version of Giles created by Julie Plec for TVD (as the father figure of Elena) and Legacies (for Hope Mikaelson). Lilith and Sabrina has dynamic similar to Giles and Buffy, while darker since Lilith is manipulative. Luke and Rory dynamic remind me of Giles and Buffy.
The Scooby-Gang : The Scooby-Gang as a whole is something that inspired countless of friend group setting in a supernatural world such as Stranger Things, every supernatural shows on The CW, Teen Wolf etc... We don't need to talk about the details.
How Sabrina Spellman, Kim Possible, Hope Mikaelson, Veronica Mars are not expy of Buffy Summers (and even more than them but oh well). The Scooby-Gang should've a trope named after it, same thing with the character of Giles. The romance between Cordelia and Xander should've also a trope after it and being acknoledge as an influence for shows after it. Like I just saw Lucrecia having Blair Waldorf as an expy (by the way, the character of Veronica Lodge is clearly a Blair Waldorf wallmart version.)
resolved Expy Question
I have a serious question. Can a fictional character or original character be considered an Expy if they draw inspiration or influence from more than one character, or does that count as a different trope entirely? I ask because I have come across some examples of characters that can draw inspiration from more than one character and are listed as an Expy, but I don't know if that should be the case or not. If anyone can clear this up for me, that would be great.
resolved Creator Acknowledged Discredited Meme
I removed the following example from YMMV.Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons Of Liberty, citing what the Discredited Meme page description saying Since nearly every meme gets discredited to at least some degree over time, In-Universe and Creator-Acknowledged Examples Only.:
- Discredited Meme: At the time of the game's release, it was a meme in the fandom to make fun of Raiden for being "effeminate" and claiming that he's secretly gay. It even got Meme Acknowledgment in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater with Raiden's Expy Raikov, who is canonically gay and the masochistic partner of Volgin. However, this has fallen out fashion in the years since then for multiple reasons. The first was that Raiden Took a Level in Badass and ended up becoming a fan favorite in both Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, which made fans like him too much to want to make fun of him anymore. The second was when mainstream society as a whole became much more accepting of LGBT people over the years and being gay was no longer seen as the source of mockery it once was, making the idea of using "gay" as an insult toward Raiden a case of Values Dissonance with the fandom in the earlier years. And finally, deeming Raiden gay because he's effeminate completely ignores the fact that Raiden's relationship drama with his girlfriend was a major part of the story, in addition to his attraction to Emma and Olga.
Someone else added it back citing “Restored since this was acknowledged in official Konami media prior to the release of MGS 4.” Now I could be mistaken, but I was under the impression that by “Creator-Acknowledged Discredited Meme”, it meant that the creator acknowledged that the meme is not/no longer funny, which I don’t think is conveyed in the example.
resolved Combining character sheets of Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor Videogame
First off, let me state several preceding factors:
- Honor of Kings just received a global release.
- Both Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor are created by both Tencent Games and TiMi.
- There has been an update in lore that the world both games took place have been reimagined as 'neighboring regions' (Honor of Kings' world is called Primaela, whereas Arena of Valor's world is called Athanor)
- Both Honor of Kings and Arena of Valor have lent their characters to each other. So we can see some HOK characters being playable in AOV and vice versa. So we now have characters overlapping with each other.
- A lot of characters of Arena of Valor have their moveset taken from Honor of Kings with some small tweaks, creating 'counterparts' between two games without too much of being expies.
With that being said, I have the idea of 'combining' both games' character sheets. Originally both have five separate character sheets (based on their class designations of Warriors, Tank, Assassins, Mages and Supports). So in total, there are 10 pages, with some tropes overlapping due to the counterparts. I have counted the total heroes so far, and I come up with the idea of:
- One page for heroes that appear in both games (regardless of classes). This will contain 6 heroes
- Five pages for heroes that have counterparts with each others, based on classes. These will contain: 32, 16, 20, 38, 24, 24 heroes, but all of them are foldered in pairs of 2
- Five pages for heroes that are exclusive to each games, based on classes. This is because certain classes in one game may end up only having 1 character per page and I don't think that's kosher, so I decided to combine both games for exclusives. Based on classes, in total it will contain: 26, 4, 12, 17, 10, 6 heroes, no foldering.
You don't need to know about the two games to proceed. But I just wanna ask... is this kosher or going against the rules in TVT? I'm just trying to avoid overlaps considering the situation.
Thanks!
Edited by ChrisXresolved Too similar tropes
I saw that for the amazing digital circus character page, Ragatha has both Captain Ersatz and expy. I don't think she should have both given that they have subtle differences. What do y'all think?
resolved Does a pun-based name count as The Artifact if the original context is gone?
So, I was considering adding The Artifact for Huckleberry Pie in the Strawberry Shortcake character pages, as his name was originally a pun on "Huckleberry Finn", as the original incarnation of Huck was an Expy of him. Future series don't follow suit and reimagine him as a regular boy, so the pun from his name is kinda lost. I'm kinda hesitating on adding it, since huckleberry pies are still a real thing and one could argue his name is just drawing from that.
Edited by BlueBlazesresolved What is the difference between an Alternate Company Equivalent and a Expy? Live Action TV
I tried asking this before and i got no responses, i hope it is ok to try again. But i tried to ask about about editing a profile from Kamen Rider Build, as i noticed some similarities between the big bad and Dio from Jojo. But i think in general i want to ask, what is considered an Alternate Company Equivalent? If it is on purpose, is it just an expy? How much intent one needs to apply to make a character/faction/other the ACE trope? Please i want some clarification.
resolved One question: Is there a Good Counterpart trope for Corrupted Character Copy?
Basically an Inverted Trope of Corrupted Character Copy: an Expy or (most likely) parody of a villainous/antiheroic character which is actually heroic, and not an in-universe example like the Good Counterpart, or the same character but in an adaptation like Adaptational Heroism.
Edited by UzarNaimBer15resolved Expy subtrope character limit Question Western Animation
I know that Expy is limited to only be of one character. My question is does this limit also apply to expy subtropes, mainly the more specific subtropes like Superman Substitute and Spider-Man Send-Up.
A good example would be Western Animation/Invincible, where the titular character has a mixture of both tropes. Although hes more Superboy than Superman, he is still a Flying Brick with an origin as a human/alien hyrbid and The Paragon characteristics. But he also has similarities to Spidey, in having secret identity problems specifically romance problems, juggling hero life and normal teenage life, as well as the whole With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility.
So is there is a limit to the subtropes similar to the main Expy trope and if yes then which trope would take priority in an example like this?
Edited by Nejiiuyn

yamiblade added the following entry to the folder for the main villain in Characters.Ghost Force:
While there's obviously some editing that needs to be done to it, the Ghost Force pages have suffered from repeated misuse of expy and related tropes that basically amounted to "this show was made by the same people who did Miraculous Ladybug, so every character has to be a copy of an ML character somehow". As such, my first instinct is to delete the entry outright and ping it for misuse, but I wanted to double-check here first before I decided what to do with it (especially since checking the page for Contrasting Sequel Antagonist has only made me more confused).