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.
medium self commentary
A work that does social commentary about the medium that the work itself belongs to. For example a videogame about the inner workings of the videogame industry or a book about the place of books in society. is there a page for this sort of thing yet?
Reoccurring bosses?
Is there a special trope for bosses that show up in almost every game?
Additionally, is there a trope for a boss formula that is always used (for example, most Kirby games have at least one boss that is a tree, be it whispy or otherwise.)
Episode is movie-length, but not quite part of previous season, but not its own season? Live Action TV
I'm trying to find a trope here for Recap.Doctor Who50th AS The Day Of The Doctor and Recap.Doctor Who 2013 CS The Time Of The Doctor, plus also Recap.Doctor Who 2017 CS Twice Upon A Time.
What trope is it for when the episode is longer than usual, and it feels more like a movie than an episode, plus, more importantly, it's not classified as being part of the current season, or the next season, but fits in-between (for recap pages)?
Are there tropes for these? I thought Extra Long Episode could fit, but as for it feeling more like a movie, less like a regular episode, and the being in-between seasons of a series, what tropes are these?
I'd appreciate it if anyone can help!
Of course he's listening!
So Alice is telling Bob something, except Bob can't hear her. He may be stone-deaf, or there's too much background noise where he is that Alice isn't aware of, or he's just not listening (and may not even be aware that Alice is there). Alice doesn't know that Bob can't hear her, and just keeps talking to him (or just at him) without confirming that he knows what's she's saying. Is this just Poor Communication Kills, or would one of its subtropes work better? (And how about the usual aftermath, where Alice claims that she did tell Bob something that he needed to know, but Bob says that she didn't tell him anything.)
Can he hear us?
Two people are communicating over a distance, except it turns out one of them can't hear what the other is saying (the talker usually finds out after a perfectly good insult or cunning bit of rhetoric goes unheard).
- In Dawn Of War, Eliphas delivers a telepathic message to every invading commander's head, who react with anything from panic to contempt... except the Tau, who's annoyed by the buzzing in his comms equipment, unable to even hear Eliphas' speeches.
- Invoked in The Last Jedi where Hux keeps trying to make threatening speeches to Poe over ship-to-ship communications, but his assurance deflates when Poe keeps asking if they can get Hux on the line (he actually can hear Hux just fine).
Helping Authorities for Lower Criminal Sentences
Is there any trope for this? This is when a convicted criminal works out some kind of deal where their sentence will be erased (or reduced) in exchange for doing various services for the government, like possibly helping with investigations.
The obvious examples are Suicide Squad (villains work for the government in exchange for lessened sentences) or the TV series White Collar (where one of the characters is a con artist who helps the government catch other criminals). Starcrash (featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000) also had this as a plot. I tried looking over the pages for those works on the wiki but didn't see any trope of this nature mentioned, but I might have missed it. Anyone know if there is one? And if not, anyone know any other series with that premise? I'm interested in seeing some, particularly if it's a science fiction or fantasy setting.
Edited by LordSeth
Screw the rules, I'm angsting!
It is forbidden to do the X thing, and Bob knows it. But he does it anyway, and the authority lets him get away with it, because he's in the middle of a terrible moment. For example, he sits and cries in a place with a clear "no sitting" sign.
Virtual Reality Videogame
Checking my understanding; Cyberspace is the trope for fictional examples of Virtual Reality games in addition to virtual reality as an interface?
No Title
a woman who acts like a kind mother figure towards others
Pop culture trope
This trope is where certain aspects of a show or movie are exaggerated by pop culture to the point that it becomes the only part of the movie or show that is remembered. Can anyone give me the proper name for it ?
Confirm something for me please
So, a villain who is polite but still extremely evil is Faux Affably Evil, correct?
Opening Death Scenes
Often in horror movies, there is a character whom is just meant to be shown as an example of things to come. The character is completely disposable, and the opening kill to show ruthlessness of the villain.
What trope is this?
Trope where mercy is only for the Main Villain?
It is a very common trope in entertainment media and stories that the hero/protagonist will mindlessly gun down countless minions and people following orders, but he or she is suddenly struck with conscience when confronting the boss in the conclusion.
Philosophically this is the equivalent of killing all the Nazi concentration camp guards no questions asked, but then having a deep conversation to understand motivations and end up sparing Adolf Hitler himself.
Mercy and consideration of life is only reserved for those in the narrative who are the most responsible for the problems experienced and the source of all the evil and destruction and death.
One clear example I can think of is in Fallout 4. The Triggermen and Skinny Malone quest. Just to enter inside a vault in order to rescue a character you are made to kill what must have been dozens of Triggermen. Just to be able make a speech check with Skinny (the leader) himself at the very end in order to solve the quest "peacefully".
Mind you this is the the figure who is most responsible and the brains for his capture.
Is there an official trope or page of this concept?
Love Hate Turn
Bob has spent his whole life looking up to Charlie. He meets him as an adult, and still looks up to him. As soon as Charlie does something bad or horrific, Bob’s admiration instantly turns to hatred, and remains as such without any change. He doesn’t even hesitate to deliver the biggest insult if he can.
Edited by JohnShel91
A-Team Dies
When the much hyped up A-Team finally comes to save the day, but get brutally slaughtered by the enemy which serves to underscore the deadliness of this enemy and usually instills a sense of dread. Something used with a bunch of shows, most notably Attack on Titan
"Oops! I dropped it!" fakeout
A character pretends to (almost) drop or otherwise break a precious, irreplaceable, or at least fragile object, purely to get a reaction from another character, typically for (their own) laughs.
Run into this in a couple of different works recently, wondering if there's a more specific trope for this than Troll.
Some form of wordplay Music
In "Soul Suckin' Jerk" by Beck there's a couple of lines that go "'Too bad, better bite the bullet hard son'/I didn't have no teeth so I stole his gun". I think there's a specific term for it but I'm not sure if there's a trope for it.
Gateway Title
Is there a trope for when a work is designed specifically to be a Gateway Series, or a gateway title into a series?
Natural Armor Literature
When a character is born wearing armor.
Discrimination against low status character
When a character can't get any respect or be taken seriously by "the establishment" because he comes from a poor, non-aristocratic, or otherwise low status background.
To save my friends I must betray them!
As the title says, what is the trope in which a character is told that to save their friends they have to betray them?
Fictional nations aren't shown on a map Print Comic
As you might have noticed, when comics and movies take place in fictional countries, we usually don't get to see on a map exactly where in the Arab world Qurac is to be found, or where in Eastern Europe Ruritania is located. Do we have a trope for this?
Edited by MichaelKatsuro
Inconsistent toon physics?
What's the trope for when Toon Physics are inconsistent somehow? Like, sometimes Hammerspace exists and sometimes it doesn't, or a character can fit under a door but not through a window, or other inconsistencies like that?
Heart
Do we have a trope that basically means that they can sense whether someone has goodness and/or darkness in their hearts. Like you know, "There is goodness in you." or "Unlike you, there are the only ones with blackness in their hearts." Or something like that.
Character is aware of love triangle
So what is it called when a character is aware of the love triangle going on and makes their best attempt to keep track of it or even try to manipulate it.