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openMurder porn massacre Film
When a movie has a pointless massacre unrelated/unnecessary to the plot, the target usually being a group of people that are almost unanimously seen as vile such as pedophile Nazis or cannibalistic rapists. The group is, well, TOTALLY MASSACRED! by the protagonist or sympathetic character(s).
openRich Party Animal Film
Is there a trope that is specifically about a character who’s extremely rich, dumb and loves partying? Basically a character, could be main or whatever, probably physically attractive, but not necessarily, kind of an airhead but they’re rich and spend all their nights at clubs or balls. An example would be Kalim from Twisted Wonderland, he’s one of the richest characters in the game, called out for being oblivious multiple times and loves to throw parties like crazy.
resolved Dub that is exclusively in the language the characters actually speak Film
Hello, Is there a trope for when a work offers, or exclusively features, a dub where every character speaks their canonical language? An example would be the war movie Joyeux Noël, where there is a dub where the German characters speak German, the French characters speak French and the Scottish characters speak English. Another example is Video Game/Tchia, whose only voice option is in Drehu and French. This differs from just selecting the original language as the characters really speak the languages they're supposed to speak. If you, say, watched a Mexican movie in Spanish and there was a scene taking place in the US, and its dialog between Americans was still in Spanish because it's the language of the movie, it would not be this trope. Thank you in advance!
Edited by IyionakuopenRacecar Shaped Beds Film
Well, they're beds that are racecar shaped. Usually young kids (always boys) are shown to have one. Yeah that's about it, but I've seen many shows do this for some reason.
openDrool baby drool Film
Is there a trope for when a character is so over-the-top upset, so mind-fried by what has happened, that when they go to cry, they can't seem to squeeze out tears. Instead, they release a long strand of drool, for a convincer.
I have seen this several times, in film and streaming media. (Most recently, Eggers Nosferatu).
Edited by CscismeopenGlass Breaking slowly before shattering dramatically Film
The thing I'm thinking of is like when the hero hits an attack and it's all quiet... then crack-crack-crack! The badguy's armor begins to break off because the attack landed true! They did it, they got the nat 20/critical hit.
openImpossible Photos Film
Not really limited to film but I have film examples. What's the trope where a medium (like the news for example) use an image of a character that like, it makes 0 sense for them to have access to or even exist in the first place. (probably because its like some stock image of the character in real life) An example is Scream (2022) in how the image that the television uses of Billy Loomis makes no sense for them to have as that photo never could've been or was taken.
resolved Ending dissonance Film
Story ends on a clearly and obviously bad note: Bob the main character, after navigating through all kinds of trouble, is found dead by a pair of gabage men. We don't even know which of his countless enemies got him. Chet, Bob's protege, becomes a full-blown The Gambling Addict, who just lost everything in a high-stake game. On top of that, Alice, Chet's wife, is to return from a trip any minute now, only to find out Chet is missing (he's on the other side of the country) and their flat sold out to the local mogul. The last scene of the film is Chet buying a pack of cards for the literal pocket change he is left with in his life, walking away into uncertain fate.
Despite of that, the ending tries to sell itself as "Ray of Hope" Ending, with music swelling in its "happy times" riff, while both director and script-writer insisting this is actually optimistic.
Is this just Allegedly Optimistic Ending (except nothing about it is optimistic nor even implies to be optimistic), or do we have some specific ending trope where audience and creators interpret the conclusion of the story differently.
Edited by TropiarzopenInches from the Villain Film
Trope exists in Inlorious Bastards where the protagonist is sitting at a table eating next to the villain that killed her whole family. This causes intense tention as the protagonist is afraid that the villain will figure out the protagonist true identity.
openFictional in Adaptation Film
Is there a trope for when an existing character in one story is made into a fictional character in an adaptation, like the Chao and Biolizard are in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) movie?
Edited by BigBadShadow25open"Senator Corruptington thanks you" Film
A crime drama. We see some henchmen doing something illegal, trafficking drugs, guns, laundering money. The criminal on the main bad guy's side says "Senator X thanks you" to the outsider criminal.
That, of course, is for the audience's benefit. Why would a criminal say his boss' name when the main reason the boss isn't there himself is so there's no evidence against him? The other guy might be a snitch, after all.
openShoulder checking Film
Usually film, could be TV.
I only found out today that there is a name for it. It’s called shoulder checking, and it works like this. Alice and Betty are in a confrontation. They might be members of rival gangs, or maybe they’re trying to out-bully each other for the title of Alpha Bitch, or maybe they just don’t like each other. They exchange their heated words and come to an uneasy resolution. Alice starts to walk away, but then in a final “screw you” act of disrespect, she bumps against Betty’s shoulder while passing by her. It’s just unsubtle enough to be obviously deliberate. You can see from Betty’s face that she is offended. Rightfully so, because she knows darn well, but can’t prove, Alice did it on purpose.
Shoulder checking is a dominance move meant to convey, “You’re so insignificant and so far beneath me, I’m not even going to bother acknowledging your personal space.”
It could just as easily be Andy and Bob, but not usually Alice and Bob.
So it’s a thing, and it’s got a name, but is it a trope?
Edited by UpFromAshesopenI Would As Soon Destroy a Stained Glass Window as an Artist Like Yourself Film
In "Film/The Princess Bride", after Westley beats Inigo in their duel, and Inigo expects to be killed, Westley instead knocks him unconscious, saying "I would as soon destroy a stained glass window as an artist like yourself. Please understand I hold you in the highest respect." Shortly after he knocks out the giant goon Fezzik and again, instead of killing him, tells him to "Dream of large women."
The trope of the pursuer (or victor) admiring the pursued is all through a lot of media — popular song ("Ringo"), other movies("Hopscotch" — the CIA Agent who has been pursuing Walter Matthau's character(Miles) throughout sees his plane blown apart on takeoff, and while the other agents take this as the moment of victory, shouting "the son of a bitch is dead", he walks quietly forward to where he has guessed Miles is hiding, and says in an ordinary tone, "The son of a bitch had better stay dead." Hannibal Lector lets Claire Starling live because "the world is more interesting with you in it" in "Silence of the Lambs". Subverted in "Breaker Morant" and Rohrsach's death in "The Watchmen" where the hero refuses the offer of being allowed to live.
There's also the handshake between Kimble and Gerard at the end of the TV series "The Fugitive", but that might not count because at that point Gerard knows Kimble has been innocent all along (or it might count because he has come to admire him). There's a whole chain of these at the end of Blade Runner, with everyone successively letting Decker go. There's the "Major Strasser has been shot, round up the usual suspects" moment in Casablanca.
And of course the archetype might be Javert in Les Miserables; he kills himself rather than arrest Jean Valjean, whom he recognizes as the better man.
This trope is very strongly there in John Davidson's poem "A Ballad of Hell", in which a woman has been tricked by her fiancee into killing herself, and so is sent to Hell, but refuses to accept it because of the sheer unfairness; defies the Devil and the gulf between Heaven and Hell, and makes it across to kneel at God's throne and demand justice. The Devil could stop her but he admires her too much to do that, and the damned all cheer her on.
"Seraphs and saints with one great voice Welcomed that soul that knew not fear. Amazed to find it could rejoice, Hell raised a hoarse, half-human cheer." (might be a good lead quote for this trope).
NOW: I can't believe I'm the first one to have noticed how many of these there are in how many different media. I've got to be missing something obvious. So does anyone know of a place where the trope already exists and has a name? As you can see, I'd like to add a bunch of examples! Or if nobody has really put a name on it, there's a ton of great quotes to title the new trope with, ne?
openNot quite a "literal metaphor" Film
I'm looking for a trope where someone legitimately uses a phrase metaphorically, but then the show or movie ends up using it literally.
The best examples I can think of are the Upside Down in "Stranger Things," which began as a cute metaphorical phrase to refer to the alternate world, but turned literal in season 4 when the characters had to climb through an opening into it; and how the metaphorical idea of Thanos snapping his fingers in the Avengers movies (i.e., 'it would be that easy for him to do it') became his *literally* snapping his fingers to make the infinity stones work.
Is there such a trope? "Literal Metaphor" isn't quite it, because I'm referring to a situation where the metaphor was (probably) not intended to be literal at the beginning, but then the showrunners or writers decided to make it so later.
openObviously fake winter Film
Is it a specific trope when a live-action movie or show takes place in the middle of winter (usually Christmas) but was clearly filmed in a warm climate and/or another time of year?
My wife and I just watched Christmas With the Kranks and it’s supposed to take place in Chicago, but was clearly filmed in Southern California and probably not in winter: the grass is still green (with just a bit of snow around the edges of the lawns), the shrubs are still leafy, and certain daytime scenes look far too sunny.
Another example is Jack Frost (the low-budget horror flick, not the Michael Keaton one): far too sunny and warm-looking.
Edited by BatteryPoweredAmpresolved Trope name for when a work is required to watch for the rest of the sequel to make sense? (Not Cont) Film
I remember that the page quote is from someone who claimed that Ant Man fans were vindicated since it turns out Ant Man 2 is required to understand Endgame.
It isn't continuity lockout, as it doesn't have the quote that I mentioned above.
Edited by FullmetalRenkinjutsushiresolved Dragged by the freak Film
A character, unaware of danger, recieves a knock to the head by a bad guy, and, just as he's falling unconscious, with his vision blurred, he looks up to see someone with a creepy appearance, who starts dragging him to his lair. Or, he manages to see the creep while being dragged, out of focus, before falling unconscious.
This usually happens just before an act break, to allow viewers an exciting preview of the aggressor's appearance - it's too out of focus to ruin anything, but we can tell it's creepy. Also, if the darkness is supposed to keep audiences from seeing what the bad guy looks like, the blurry image allows the kidnapping scene to take place before it's dark.

Does this trope have a page yet? I've tried a few searches and can't find it.
Alice and Bob need to accomplish something very important but seemingly very difficult. While scouting the situation, they notice what appears to be a very easy way to achieve their goal. One or both of them say, "It can't be that easy!" Then they try that method and learn that, yes, it really is that easy.
Examples:
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: When trying to sneak into the Kingpin's headquarters during a black tie dinner event, the spider-crew notice the waiters are all wearing SpiderMan costumes. SpiderMan-Noir says, "It can't be that easy!" Smash cut to a few minutes later as they're all just walking right in and blending in perfectly.
WarGames: Main character David is trying to log into the WOPR computer system to undo the damage he's done, using Dr. Falken's backdoor access, but he doesn't know the password. He learns that Dr. Falken lost his son, Joshua, years ago, and says, "It can't be that easy." He still tries typing Joshua as the password, and it works.
Possibly a sub-trope of "Eureka!" Moment? But even if it is, I still can't find it.
Edited by Mr_Math