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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opensherlock jr Film
openUndercover trope - do we have this one? Film
Do we have this one?
Alice and Bob are FBI agents, going undercover to catch the criminal (the Big Bad of the movie).
Alice has to go undercover as the barmaid in the bar run by the Big Bad.
However, Bob has to go undercover as gay (since the villain's right-hand man is gay) and flirt with him to get info. He's a bit uncomfortable about the role at first, however, he's straight, but feels he has to do it to get the job done. He's not a homophobe though.
Is there a trope for going undercover as a different sexuality? I don't think Undercover as Lovers fits, and wasn't sure if Kayfabe or Alter-Ego Acting fit Bob's role. Or is this TLP-worthy??
The first one could be Ms. Fanservice, but is there another trope for this about infiltration?
Edited by Merseyuser1openCrazy prophet Film
It's a guy in the background who scream, "the end is near" and ring a handbell. It's sometimes the hero himself like in the simpson or Watchmen.
openEstablishing Campus Shot Film
Usually found in teen films (espicially horror)
This is usually in the beginning of the movie, the camera pans to a big shot of the campus/high school surrounded by a bunch of students doing "student-y things", it's usually accompanied by some big rock song playing in the background
openIs there a Kintsugi Healing trope? Film
Hi! I searched the section called "healing tropes" and didn't find one.
I'm looking for a trope in which healing from a devastating wound makes a character stronger or even superpowered. Hence "Kintsugi Healing"—when somebody fixes up better than they were to begin with. One level down from the kind of superpowers you get from Resurrection in stories like Matrix.
Examples: Deadpool, of course. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn. Kung Fu Panda 2. Kung-Pow lampshaded this, though I don't know that it's worth talking about. Just off the top of my head.
Probably distinct from things like Robocop and Kick-Ass, where it's not healing itself that leads to superpowers but a general cyborg upgrade.
Any ideas?
Thank you so much!
openMistakes happen upon receiving surprising news Film
Somebody gets alarming news while doing something, and makes a mistake to show how surprised they are. For example, they'll miss an easy shot while playing golf upon learning their daughter is pregnant.
openHero Villain Switch Film
Just wondering if we have something like this. Basically, a story that starts out with an ostensible hero and villain, but over the course of the story the villain becomes more sympathetic and the hero less so — to the point where it becomes clear we've had their alignments wrong from the start. Our supposed hero is a Villain Protagonist or a villain outright, while the villain turns out to be a hero.
To be clear, this is not a FaceāHeel Turn or anything of the sort during the story; the characters don't change, only our perception of them as we gather more information.
I'd list examples I know, but the problem is they're all spoilers.
openStategic Phone Smalltalk Film
When one character needs to convey some information that would alleviate a situation so calls another character, who then proceeds to very obnoxiously smalltalk over the first person thus cutting off any chance to convey said information. The phone is usually on low battery, has intermittent signal or the person being called has the mobile confiscated/turned off straight after etc. Often used to alleviate audience questions of "why wouldn't they just call them?".
The worst example of this is when peter tries to warn Ned of the bomb in Spiderman: Homecoming
open"Gainax" Explanation Film
Michael Moore asks a Wall Street stockbroker how a "derivative" works. The guy begins to explain, but it sounds like random baloney. He says "Wait, let's start over again," and emits a different stream of random baloney. Another "expert" is asked the same question and stammers badly. None of them get anything coherent out. (In this case, it turns out that the "derivative" is a very common and very bad stock market practice.) So the Gainax explanation can be used to hide evil, although there are other reasons one might explain things in this insanely garbled fashion.
openRetired Badass Gardening Film
Start of the movie, we see an older person gardening. Then, a government agent shows up and rambles on about how he needs to get back on his field to save the world. Turns out grandpa is a former superhero.
Usually part of a Retired Badass Roundup. Doesn't have to be gardening, it can be building a deck, or, in Sherlock Holmes' case, beekeeping.
openBad Movie, Bad Sequel Film
So if Sequelitis is when a good movie has a bad sequel, Surprisingly Improved Sequel is when a bad movie has a good sequel, and Even Better Sequel is when a good movie has...well...an even better sequel, then what do you call it when a bad movie has a sequel that's just as bad, if not worse?
openQuickly cut back to a previous scene without sound Film
This happens often in movies when a character has a revelation and a flash cut of a bunch of scenes throughout the movie that included red flags. Tryna find the trope because it pisses me off, feel like it ruins repeat viewings.
Sometimes the scenes can also have sound, but usually there's a lil effect like reverb or something. Also, sometimes it doesn't cut at all but is instead the sound from the scene is played over, like in Hot Fuzz when he finds all the skeletons and old dialogue is played over the scene.
openActor doesn't look like real-life character Film
Different from Adaptational Attractiveness in that the real life person may be very attractive, they just cast someone who doesn't really look like him or her. Perhaps because the actor is just strongly effective, or evokes the real-life person in other ways, gestures, mannerisms, speaking voice. I'm thinking of Peter Sarsgaard's performance as Robert F. Kennedy in Jackie. For that matter, Natalie Portman is much more convincing in her voice and mannerisms than in actually looking like Jacqueline Kennedy.
openSet in the future with outdated technology? Film
As the title says... An example would be in Maniac where there is advanced AI and virtual reality programs except the virtual reality comes on floppy disks. I know there are other movies and shows that do this kind of thing but I can't think of any others. The closest I could come was Schizo Tech but that still didn't seem quite right.
openWhen the Protagonists gets a Girl as a trophy? Film
"Pixels" has a protagonist literally get a girlfriend for saving the world. Similarly in Ready Player One the protagonist gets the girl in the end, even though in the book the lead up is her creeped out by him.
This is not a romantic quest like Princess Bride or Rom-Coms. It's reminiscent of stories where the Knight is told to kill the dragon and then gets the princess as a reward. A more comical representation would be in Red Dwarf when Lister plays a Total Immersion video game about jousting and gets to sleep with the Queen as his reward.
openSilent Dissonance/The Silent Movie Gag Film
A gag in silent films where a character clearly talks for a period of time that would imply a paragraph but once the subtitle frame shows up,it reveals the speaker only said two or three words.
openKids Show late 80s Film
It was educational I think, I mostly remember the intro. It involves a puppet bedroom at night where the child would wake up and move over tonhis wooden rocking horse where he would procees to ride it up and out his bedroom windows. I think it may have been a DIC program but its been driving me nuts for years.