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.
Magic in the Mundane
The inverse of Mundane Fantastic. In this trope, the "mundane" is treated with the same wonder and awe and reverence as the magical. May overlap with Mundane Made Awesome, but they are two distinct tropes. Whereas the latter is a literary device, the former is a philosophy. Mundane Made Awesome tries to make the mundane look awesome, but Magic in the Mundane believes that the mundane is awesome.
Example: Studio Ghibli's entire catalog and work philosophy.
Edited by FryingPanofDoom
Inconvenient Convenience
Doing something that's helpful/beneficial in the moment, but it's discovered later on to be the cause of terrible events.
Not saying I believe you…. Live Action TV
Do we have a trope for when someone says, "I'm not saying I believe you…but then again, I'm not saying I don't" and then takes action that shows they do?
Question is inspired by a scene in the TV series Werewolf, where Rogan has told the sheriff that the man who was shot and killed is a werewolf, and when they arrive at the morgue the door to the refrigerated shelf he was on is busted open from the inside and the body is gone. The sheriff says the line, and proceeds to unlock the handcuffs from his wrists and let him go.
Seems like a line I've heard a lot, but searching for it didn't find it.
Edited by CritterKeeper
Timed Demonstration Plea
Not sure how to succinctly describe this...what I'm thinking of is when a character is wanting someone else to see something (or something similar), and asks that character to give them a certain amount of time for it to happen, usually with a condition that will be met if it doesn't happen.
The example I have in mind is from the pilot episode of Werewolf. The main character Eric's friend says that he's a werewolf, and wants Eric to shoot him with silver bullets when he starts to change. Eric doesn't believe his claims, and the friend makes a deal with Eric that they'll stay together until midnight, and if nothing happens, Eric's free to leave. Eric falls asleep before then, wakes up around 12:30, and is reaching over to untie his friend when he sees him start to change.
Do we have this particular concept?
Edited by Willbyr
Victory makes you rich
Is there a trope for becoming rich from looting after a battle? Especially if what you looted was the bodies of your enemies, eg Dungeon Keeper Ami defeating a dragon whose body is extremely valuable as alchemical ingredients. Or when throwing hordes of minions at the heroes just gives them a chance for Level Grinding.
Fixing the scrappy mechanic Videogame
Would Rescued from the Scrappy Heap work for this? I know that's usually for characters, but can it apply to other "scrappy" things as well?
Edited by Bootlebat
Anadiplosis
Two sentences, lines, or clauses, but in the second one, the first one's last word/s will be repeated. The first one's last word/s will be repeated, at the beginning of the second one.
Edited by FryingPanofDoom
Proximity Attack Videogame
An attack that's only usable at a certain distance from a target.
-Close vs. Far normals in fighting games (Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Guilty Gear, etc.)
-Knives from Metal Slug
-Samira's auto attack from League of Legends
Edited by IkeaHan
Unwanted Child(ren)
Besides Child by Rapenote and maybe Not Wanting Kids Is Weird, is a there a trope related to a parent who didn't want to have a child (or children) in the first place for whatever reason?
Not so almighty weapon Videogame
A weapon seems to be supernaturally powerful, something you wouldn't want to give up. It's probably unique and hard to get. And yet later in the game you'll find plenty of weapons that are more powerful, so you'll just toss it.
This happens twice in King's Quest Mask of Eternity
- The Sword of the Lake is given to you by the Lady of the Lake. Given the allusions to Arthurian myth, you'd think that this sword is allpowerful and irreplaceable. Nah, you'll just toss it in the next level for a better sword.
- Likewise you obtain the Hammer of Azrael later in the game. Azrael is the Lord of Death, and the hammer makes a thunderclap as you toss it like Mjolnir. Obviously impressive. And yet you toss it in the next level for a bow. Not even a magical bow, just a bow.
Mating call backfires
When a character does a bird call or something similar, which turns out to be a mating call that lures an actual animal to fall in love with them.
Could fix it, but don't
I'm searching a trope for that aspect in Dark Star. For example, the acting commander refuses to fix or investigate any dammage or technical issue until it’s an immediate matter of life and death. I've been able to cover it with Head-in-the-Sand Management. However another crewmate share the same mindset than him. They're both against the idea of fixing the sleeping quarters despite it would be easy to do and they wouldn't have to sleep in those uncomfortable makeshift quarters.
Even the other side likes him
A character is so charismatic that they get support from people the opposing faction.
- A Song of Ice and Fire: It's mentioned that during his rebellion against the crown, Robert was able to win over many Targaryen loyalists. His charisma is what holds the various kingdoms together after the war, despite the many internal divisions and grudges.
- The Simpsons: When Sideshow Bob runs for mayor, both Krusty and Homer vote for him despite having good reasons to hate him.
Unexpected result
Someone is trying to perform some form of test, only for it to fail (or succeed) in a manner nobody was expecting. Examples:
- Battlebots: In an attempt to measure the speed of Tombstone's weapon bar, the refs attach an accelerometer to the bar's tip and send the bot into the small-scale "test-box" outside. The meter gets as far as 20 Gs before Tombstone spins up so fast that the sheer centrifugal force causes the accelerometer to "nope" itself into the test-box wall at a speed that obliterates the poor thing.
- Mythbusters: One of their long-standing quotes, "failure is always an option," refers to the fact that as long as the test itself goes smoothly, the result doesn't have to be a success to count, like in the Bifurcated Boat revisitnote , where said boat, at a mere 25 miles per hour, split the channel marker instead of its own hull.
- A personal project of mine: When Kelly restates a prior experience with some engineering buddies of hers, she notes that their last attempt to recreate the Machina's engines resulted in an all-consuming anomaly "eating" half the lab (although Kelly's biggest complaint was that her slushie was caught in said anomaly).
- Related to the above: Kelly later states that the mini-engine was based on a jet engine instead of what the ship actually uses, which begs the question: How the hell did a jet engine produce what is essentially a localized black hole!?
i know it's ymmv but forgot specifics
when a character in a work plays into offensive stereotypes doesn't matter if it was intentional or not. What I mean is, a character was made to play a role. But in the process they ended up being depicted with aspects that are very problematic stereotypes about an oppressed minority group. Again doesn't matter if it was intentional or not.
Reverse the Ritual
A scenario where running a magical ritual with precise instructions in reverse order causes the spell to work, but with an opposite effect.
e.g. a spell to summon an object from far off teleports it away (or teleports the caster to the object instead), a reverse fire spell extinguishes all flames in the area, an Animate Dead spell turns zombies back into corpses, etc.
- In Discworld, the rite of Ash-Kente summons Death into a ritual circle to answer the caster's questions. One wizard thought performing the ritual backwards would banish Death, but instead found himself summoned into Death's domain.
- Trolls De Troy has a story where a man can summons trolls to his location. The trolls reverse it by having him perform his spell while doing a handstand ("backwards" and "upside-down" are the same word in French), which sends the trolls back to their village.
English pronunciation guides?
For example "Scuttle is pronounced Skuh-tl" "Tenement is pronounced Teh-nuh-muhnt"
Avoids School like the plague
is there a trope for kids who take their dislike of school to the extreme? Those who have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the bus stop, who will buy expensive makeup kits in order to fake being sick, who will put in more effort into staying home from school than actually completing their school work?
I mean there has to be plenty of examples of this trope out there with so many types of kids media promoting the 'school is for losers' and exaggerations of the negative aspects of school that exist, right?
The Real Thing Would Kill You
Bob asks Alice for something Alice knows he can't handle. Alice instead gives him a watered-down version or otherwise tricks Bob into thinking it's the real thing. Sometimes as a confidence booster (in which case it's likely to backfire when Bob learns the truth), or just because Alice can't be bothered with the ensuing drama if she did.
For instance, this
Ennui Go strip for spicy food, but could be stuff like Alice being Willfully Weak when sparring with Bob, Bob asking to drive a car blindfolded (he's put in the back seat and given a disconnected steering wheel), giving Bob non-alcoholic beer, etc.