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 You Know That Show and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
Character having meltdown when telling a children's story. Live Action TV
I may have seen this a million times and wanted to put a name to it. Sometimes a character has gone through a messy breakup. Sometimes the character had an idealistic view on relationships(soulmates/marrying happily ever after) and the breakup changed his/her outlook on the subject. The character then is susceptible to having a meltdown while telling a children's story o a single kid or a group of kids. The character then will inject his/her Newly found pessimistic view or personal relationship problems into the children's story. For example, in the movie "How to be single" Allison brie tells a story about a prince that saves a princess and and ends the story in a negative note saying that the prince didn't want to commit to a relationship ( something like that). This happens A lot with character either trying to give a kid some advice or while telling them a classical story and subverting it. Thanks for your help!
When neighbors loot your home Live Action TV
I saw this in The Hobbit (End of book, end of third film) but most recently on a re-run of Adam-12. In both instances, the resident of the home was away without contact for an extended period. In the case of Adam-12, it was only six weeks, not the years Bilbo was absent the Shire. In this case, a combination of his wife's caring for a sick relative and his own business trip had the man returning to his house after six weeks, only to find it stripped clean of everything. This being far more thorough than most burglaries, Reed and Malloy decide to talk to the neighbors. The first woman they talk to, the man recognizes half her living room as coming from his own - including the carpet and drapes. The woman admits that, when the couple went away, and 'bill collectors were swarming' the neighbors all assumed that the couple had abandoned the property and decided to get their stuff before the bank or authorities did. She seemed truly clueless that she or the others had done anything wrong (whereas the other Hobbits seemed to almost know they were at least pushing the envelope) and described what happened as kind of a neighborhood party and who took what in a very nonchalant almost breezy manner. This persisted even as Reed and Malloy were forced to arrest her.
Is this kind of theft listed here? Maybe as a euphemized crime trope?
Surly Artist, Saccharine Work Live Action TV
Is there a trope for the in-universe irony of a girly, sappy work, like a love song or teen-lit book, being written or produced by a low-brow, unkept and unattracive man?
Cloning trope? Live Action TV
Is there such a Our Clones Are Identical trope for this:
- In-Universe, a clone of Central City exists in Cambridge, England, and Barry Allen from The Flash (2014) ends up finding out about it existing on Earth-1. He's surprised that someone could even copy the city exactly, except for a Gender Flip Captain Ersatz called "Scarlet Speedster" (portrayed by English actress Anna O'Grady) and Ice Witch, a Captain Ersatz of Killer Frost (portrayed by Caitriona Balfe). (From my Dead Fic which includes Hypothetical Casting).
Although No Communities Were Harmed is one such trope, there's no cloning trope for cities? I know the last part is Similar Squad, but can't find such a trope for the first one.
Edited by Merseyuser1
Villain more good than the heroes? Live Action TV
Do we have such a trope for this:
- In one episode, the villain who's been interested in Alice and Bob for the past five episodes, isn't actually as evil as they think and her only motives for doing her villainy are to pay off her sister's medical bills. If anything, she's more like Alice who's a Nice Girl, were she not a villain.
- Bob is one of the heroes, but could fall into being on evil's side if one of his Split Personality tells him to do so.
Other than Punch-Clock Villain, what sort of tropes fit these? Is Bob an Anti-Hero or another trope?
Time travel tropes / mental time travel / comedy teopes? Live Action TV
What sort of Time-Travel Tropes are these:
1. Bob decides to go into town shopping, he thinks he's only spent 30 minutes at the local bookstore but it's actually been 2 hours. It's an Out-of-Character Moment for him. (Would this fit Mental Time Travel, or be some other trope)?
2. This is for an actual work's entry:
- Dexter brings back a caveman (drawn like 1960s Hanna-Barbera in the episode) in the episode "Old Flame", and the caveman is marvelling at then-modern 1998 society; even though he only speaks in grunts, you can tell from his facial expressions.
3. Another one for a work's page, this time Johnny Bravo:
- In an episode that's a Whole Plot Reference to George Orwell's 1984, the dictator of the episode uses jokes and comedy In-Universe as a means of inflating his ego. In-Universe and out-of-universe, the jokes are considered terrible.
- The villain (a dictator) of the episode Brave New Johnny is basically modelled on an Oompa-Loompa, but with Caucasian skin tones.
Are there Comedy Tropes tropes for the first one about awful comedy?
Mistaken identity / Queer as tropes trope? Live Action TV
Do we have a Mistaken for Index trope for this:
Bob is a man who looks quite feminine (naturally) and has gynecomastia, but Alice, Charlie and everyone else in the neighborhood assume Bob is a transman due to how he looks, even though he isn't. Being called transgender is quite a Berserk Button for Bob.
Also, an example for a work page, for Holby City:
- In one episode, a One-Shot Character Patient of the Week was biologically female (but looked masculine), but a nurse assumed that she was a transgender man and treated her as such. The problem of the week didn't even involve trans or LGBT issues, but was relating to blood.
Is there a Queer as Tropes trope, or Mistaken for Index trope for these two?
Discretion trope? Live Action TV
Do we have such a trope where a character's behavior is "Don't ask, don't tell", for example Alice does something that's technically against rules of their Nebulous Evil Organization and asks Bob to look the other way about it.
Refuge in Audacity's the opposite trope so is there such a trope?
Morality / villainy / shades of conflict trope? Live Action TV
What sort of Shades of Conflict is this? (written as if it were on a work page):
- A Period Piece Canadian spy drama Mini Series set during Turn of the Millennium focusing on the CSIS in Canada (Canadian FBI equivalent) portrays the CSIS as the good guys, mainly, albeit flawed, and the FBI as the enemy, who are mostly bad, but have some good points too, yet the viewer is supposed to root for the Canadian side.// In terms of characterization, the Canadian characters are largely the good guys, the Americans are mainly bad, with the exception of three characters.//
Storytelling / Series Finale / plots / ending trope? Live Action TV
Like we have Birth/Death Juxtaposition, do we have a trope for these:
- Supergirl (2015) series ends on a Darker and Edgier note, even though it was a Cerebus Rollercoaster anyway. The sixth series begins with a Lighter and Softer tone and a Breather Episode. (Hypothetical)
- Grey's Anatomy ends on a Lighter and Softer note with a Breather Episode, after a pretty much Darker and Edgier Season 16. When Season 17 starts, the first episode is full-on Darker and Edgier than the Season Finale trope. (Hypothetical)
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit tied up everything from Season 18 to make it easier for new viewers and avoid Continuity Lock-Out when watching Season 19. However, the events of past series were treated in Broad Strokes but Word of God said they happened. (I actually am trying to find an example for the work page itself).
Other than Cerebus Rollercoaster, is there any such tropes relating to juxtapositions for Season Finale / start of season episodes?
I've looked but aren't quite sure of this.
Edited by Merseyuser1
Villainy trope? Live Action TV
I'm wondering if we have a trope for where a character is a completely evil Big Bad in one adaptation, and unlikeable, but in the next adaptation, a Continuity Reboot, he's still unlikeable, still as evil, but an Anti-Villain instead.
Edited by Merseyuser1
"I hear the sex is great, though" Live Action TV
A couple seems to hate each other, but have great sexual chemistry. Or, they have nothing in common, and he might even be a Straw Loser or Ridiculously Average Guy, but they're together because the sex is great.
Mean-spirited jab over newsworthiness? Live Action TV
Is there a trope other than Take That! for this sort of situation:
Zendaya is in the news out-of-universe, and a Police Procedural drama decides to take a mean-spirited jab at her simply because the creator doesn't like her, and In-Universe they have a No Celebrities Were Harmed version who exists simply as a Hate Sink for the episode.
Would it be Hate Sink or another trope?
Edited by Merseyuser1
Work's setting copied? Live Action TV
Other than Alternate Continuity is there a trope for an example like on the Ride.Guardians Of The Galaxy Mission Breakout which states:
- Alternate Continuity: Despite the ride using the aesthetics of the films (right down to having all of the actors reprise their roles), both Marvel and Disney Imagineers have stated that the ride is non-canon to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is set in its own unique universe.
Is there such a trope for using the aesthetics of a series but it being in its own continuity, other than Alternate Continuity? I'm thinking more along the lines of "looks familiar, but it's only the setting that's copied, nothing more".
Inaudible audible convo Live Action TV
People having a conversation two or three feet away from other people, yet the other people do not hear a thing. Happened all the time on Friends. Parodied or played for laughs in Marvel movies, especially that one time in Black Panther. What is that called?
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Live Action TV
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: An episode in Season Three is supposed to be set in Loch Ness, Scotland. But Loch Ness is long, thin, very deep, landlocked, and steeply sided. The show's version is short, wide, swampy and and set in a flat landscape, and also implied to be a coastal lake of some sort. What would the trope be for that kind of mix up?
Edited by CrypticMirror
Character as plot device? Live Action TV
Is there such a trope for this:
In a Police Procedural, Alice and Bob are main characters, flawed, developed characters, they have personalities etc. but Carol exists mainly as a plot device rather than a developed character.
"He looks like Hitler, get him out" ?? Live Action TV
Bob is a farm laborer in a Ruritania-type setting. He is an almost- Identical Stranger to Adolf Hitler and people harass him for this, but he's actually a good guy. However, everyone wants him out the village due to looking like Hitler and a Conspiracy Theorist claims Bob is related to Hitler.
Do we have such a trope for this - being harassed for looking identical to a long-dead hated historical figure?
Show within a Show trope Live Action TV
Is there a trope for when the Show Within a Show is a Spin-Off of a Real Life show, doesn't credit its actors as the Real Life actors, but In-Universe ones, for example:
- Jane Smith as Lady Jane (portrayed by Melissa Benoist)
- Julie Wilson as Officer Rachel Douglas (portrayed by Audrey Marie Anderson)
- Holly Walker as Michelle White (portrayed by Jes Macallan)
- Robert Jones as Detective Mark Perez (portrayed by Brandon Routh).
Spin-Off and Defictionalization were the only tropes I could think of, but is there such a trope for when In-Universe actors only are credited?
Hallucination trope? Live Action TV
Is there a trope like this:
In-Universe, Bob speaks to his girlfriend Alice in his apartment (but it's a soliloquy), except Alice is only a hallucination, in reality she's on a flight back from working in Canada, and Bob's in Texas. No-one else is in the apartment, just Bob. Otherwise, she's only mentioned but not physically seen by the other characters.
Out-of-universe, all Alice's appearances as hallucinations are just teasers until she makes her First Appearance for real and it's to ease the viewers into learning who she is.
Edited by Merseyuser1
Puppet king trope? Live Action TV
I looked at Puppet King but couldn't find a trope like it for this sort of example:
Alice is expected to be Queen of a small island, and Bob is the King of a Banana Republic. Alice has met Bob and wants the status of queen, but not the responsibilities of ruling as she's an Action Girl Royals Who Actually Do Something character, so she wants him to do all the normal monarchy ruling things and Bob accepts, since he's that sort of king.
The Man Behind the Man could fit, but is there such a trope for "wants the royal status, not responsibility" and outsourcing royal work?
Edited by Merseyuser1
Contradictory trope? Live Action TV
What sort of trope fits this situation:
Bob is meant to be the Butt-Monkey in canon, and is shown to be in the first four episodes, but then it gets forgotten about by writers, even though it's an important character flaw/trait.
The only one I can think of was The Artifact but not sure if it fits.
One man, multiple jobs? Live Action TV
What trope describes someone in a small town who works in various other functions in addition to their regular job?
In Green Acres, Sam Drucker runs his general store and the Hooterville World-Guardian newspaper, serves as a volunteer fireman, notary public, constable, justice of the peace, postmaster, and the mayor.