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 Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
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openAccidental Epiphany Film
Is there a trope for somebody being at their wits end or their lowest point and when they look up they either find exactly what they were looking for or see something that sparks the knowledge in their head to go and finally find whatever it is they're looking for?
I hope I explained that well enough!
openThis was totally made in America Film
A film or live action series is made somewhere other than America but wants you to think it really is there (usually in ways that are pretty obvious such as prominently displaying an American flag on the wall or having a character say "God Bless America" or something like that). I thought California Doubling was this but I just looked and it's not.
openDo we have the superfluous heterosexual? Film
This character exists solely because without them, the movie would be really gay. Features include: - Film would only need minor changes to erase this character from it. - Film heavily focuses on the relationship between two same-sex characters. - The character's most clearly defined feature is "is the love interest of main character," and possibly has no others.
Examples: - Sharon Carter (Captain America Civil War, to prevent Steve/Bucky) - Cliff Pantone(Bring it On, to prevent Torrance/Missy) - Emmett Richmond (Legally Blonde, to prevent Elle/Vivian) - Joe (Bend It Like Beckham, to prevent Jess/Julie)
openRushing the Gatekeeper Film
Is there a name for the trope where the main character is trying to get in to see an important person, a CEO, a music producer, etc., and the person at the front desk says "you can't see Mr. So-in-so without an appointment" and the main character, briefly frustrated, then either rushes past the front desk or sneaks past it, pretending to be someone else? Usually this is immediately followed by the front desk gatekeeper yelling "Hey, you can't go in there!" and then the MC makes it into the CEO's office and proceeds to charm them with their (musical talent, intelligence, etc.) I feel like I've seen this scene in a million movies but I can't find a "trope" for it. Is there one?
openCant remenber a TV SHOW Film
There was an island or maybe just an ocean and a really bad ghost guy who would always try to control or maybe drown or maybe kill a bunch of teenagers who lived in the island, so he could escape from underwater, he first sent his daughter I think and she became good? Then he started sending a bunch of different ghosts, and all the ghosts had seaweed and marine stuff on their heads. Might have been Disney.
openDeath by acceptance Film
Is there a name for the trope where people just die by accepting that they no longer regret anything and can now go in peace ? Specifically, I was looking for a subtrope of this : the "character accepts it is their time and step slowly into the ocean never to be seen again" trope. It's been parodied a lot (Even by College Humor, at the end of "The Coolest death ever", if you want to see what I'm talking about) but I can't find the name of the trope or any movie where it happens seriously
openUnexplainable knowledge Film
Do we have a trope specifically about when a character in a story knows things, or at least act as if aware of things, that they have no reason to know?
Like how in Iron Man 2 Whiplash wants to kill Tony Stark, and attacks the race car that Tony is driving, even though Tony driving it is a last-minute change that no outsider, including Whiplash, is aware of.
openPandering to the Global Market? Film
Do we have a trope (might be trivia, or even YMMV) where a work (more often than not a movie) has elements that are blatantly to make the movie appeal more to the global market?
Examples include the Transformers movies making their plots pivot to Hong Kong to get the Chinese market, or an Asian movie casting a White Male Lead to get the western audience.
openShow stealing performance Film
What to call a debutant who despite co-starring with more popular & established actors manages to outshine their performances and gives the best acting in a movie? He/she is the hero of the film.
Edited by Courage007openHug and Whisper Threats Film
Two people, often women but not always, are having an argument but an unwanted witness barges in or is already there and shouldn't be aware of what is said, yet it's not possible for both litigants to step outside the room without looking suspicious.
So Litigant One gives a forceful hug to Litigant Two and whispers a clear threat in their ear with the understanding that this is the last warning before things get nasty for real.
Does this exist?
open Lifetime movie search Film
I saw this movie on lifetime about a teenage girl who was having an affair with an older man and the wife found out and then they became friends after the husband left both of them and in the and the girl gave the baby to the wifeAlso the girl read it one eyed boy that robbed a convenience store and he went to jail and when he got out him and his sister kidnapped her and the wife had to save her
openShikaka Film
Is there a trope where characters always have to deliver an elaborate response to certain words?Along the lines whereby a character might say "Queen Jane" in normal conversation and all of the Queen's courtiers immediately drop to one knee and say "Hail Jane, long may she reign!" - but they have to do this every time they hear "Queen Jane". They'll often say this in unison.
In some cases the protagonist abuses this response by repeatedly saying "Queen Jane" and forcing them to do their routine repeatedly. Or they might say "Queen Jan" and try to trip them up.
Examples: the Shikaka scene from Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls (https://youtu.be/PcjFVTI4_Gw), the Greater Good scene from Hot Fuzz (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUpbOliTHJY). There are loads of other examples, I just can't bring any to mind right now...
openLooking for the female motivator trope Film
I was wondering if there was a title for this one. Been looking all over this site and Google. Basically when the main protagonist (usually male) is "down for the count" and a female friend tries to pick him back up with words of motivation to fight the fight again.
Edited by Scorcher64openProtagonist is actually... dead. Film
Is there a name for a theme/plot type where, unbeknownst at first, to him/her and us, the main character has already checked out—at, or shortly after—the movie start. Too many commas, but whatever...
openMuscle relaxant trope? Film
Do we have this one?
Checking before I make a TLP... but based on Johnny English having a notorious scene with this in, is there a specific trope for injecting people with muscle relaxant, Played for Laughs or am I wrong?
So I was just watching Lethal Weapon (the first one), and the climax has something I've seen in a lot of places before (I tagged "Film" because this is kind of an action movie cliché): the hero(es) think they have the villain dead-to-rights and turn around to take care of something else before hauling him off to jail. The villain suddenly grabs a gun (which he may have hidden, or was conveniently discarded or, in this case, that he just up and grabbed from the holster of the cop next to him, or whatever else) and tries to shoot the hero in the back, only for him to turn around and shoot the villain dead instead (or another one of the good guys might take the shot - this movie is a twofer in that regard, in which Murtaugh had a clearer line of sight and took the shot, but Riggs also turned just in time to fire, so they both killed Mr. Joshua).
I know this description seems overwrought, but I tried to cover all possibilities I could think of here. Anyway, what's the trope for this?
Edited by AndyLA