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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openA spy give away Literature
Is there a specific trope when a spy is found out over their pronunciation of certain words in a language (even when their accent is otherwise fine) failure to abide by an obscure custom etc.?
openNarrator immortality Literature
The main protagonist is the first-person narrator of a anyone can die novel. Everyone assumes that said protagonist will survive by the end of the series because they are narrating the story: if they died, there would be no one to continue delivering the commentary to the events of the book from their perspective.
Of course there may be subversions to this but my question is, is there a trope for this?
openUsing a real song as an in-universe song Literature
Several of the songs in Ancillary Justice are real-life hymns and folk songs, but they're used as songs from fictional cultures on different planets. What is the trope for this? The closest thing I can think of is Public Domain Soundtrack or Real Song Theme Tune, but neither of these address the in-universe aspect.
Edited by MacpenguinopenTranslation changes Literature
I've noticed that some translations that I've compared to the original, which I like to do, just change things. Not change them for the better, like a Woolseyism, and not change them because the translator was too incompetent to do a good job, but like, the line "J'ai mangé un hamburger" will read "I ate a hot dog," for no reason at all.
Is that a trope?
openCharacter dying before big event Literature
I'm just wondering if there's a trope for characters who die very early and never get to experience a world-changing event or the world after it.
Example: someone gets killed the day before a nuclear war and is spared the horrible fate of living in that new world, etc.
openPerspective shift Literature
Its a simple trope I know exists but don't know the name of. We basically switch to a different characters perspective.
Say in chapter 1 we're following Bob, but when we get to chapter 2 it's Alice.
openLooking for possibly a Star Trek novel / fanfic Literature
All I remember of it is that it's a world / system (subsector??) that's (lawless and) at war, may be trying to gain entry into the Federation and have both child soldiers & super soldiers at their disposal. Please Help!!
openFemale heartbreaker Literature
My sister is looking for books / films / japanese or western animation, with a specific kind of female character, where: - she's a Gender Flip of The Casanova; - or a stereotypical heartbreaker; - popular, and people of the opposite or both genders admire her, even pine for her; - in the end of said film/book, they get Character Development, fall in love with the main lead, and stop being a heartbreaker altogether
P. S. Preferably in the following genre: historical romance
Edited by nightelf37openEx-fanfic/"strongly inspired by" Literature
So Alex writes a major fanfic. Then Alex decides it's better of as officially not a fanfic, renames canon events and (if any were present) canon characters, and does some alteration job on the setting. But the strong inspiration remains, and quite a few things are Expies, an outright Captan Ersatz might be noticed, and quite a few Serial Numbers are Filed Off.
The most famous example is probably Fifty Shades of Grey - but it does not seem to list any trope for this.
Is there a trope? if not, should I launch one?
(Context: working my way to doing just that)
openA taco truck in Mordor. Literature
The idea behind fantasy is that everything is possible. BUT it has to have a reason to exist. You could drop a taco truck in the middle of Mordor as long as the reason was good enough. However, sometimes a writer would describe everything about such a "taco truck" at great length - how the engine works, the ingredients inside, etc. but NOT the reason for the taco truck being there. Another example would be a rule that women can't use their left hand. The author explains how they get around that in their everyday lives. But the reason for such a rule is never given. There isn't a religious one, there isn't a historical one, nothing. So what is this trope's name?
openThe "It's Ok If It's Fantasy" Trope Literature
Trying to find the trope where something where it happens in real life would be terrible and genuinely considered bad by anyone with general decency, but that the imaginary/escapist element of the same thing depicted in a book or movie makes it okay to enjoy.
openRe-using a character Literature
In The Two Noble Kinsmen Shakespeare uses the legendary Theseus and Hippolyta as characters, and they also appear in A Midsummer Night's Dream. But there's no sign that the Theseus and Hippolyta in one play are the same characters as the ones in the other play—they're just two different portrayals of a couple of mythological people. Is there a trope for that?
I know that we have Reused Character Design, but I'm not sure that this is it, since it's not a character design, but a character, who wouldn't necessarily have been played by the same actor, or have worn the same clothes (and possibly the same wig) in both plays.
Also, maybe the fact that Theseus and Hippolyta are pre-existing fictional characters plays in. (While they might have had some sort of real-life basis in real, historic figures, the mythological versions that formed the basis for Shakespeare's characters must be said to be fictional.)
Edited by MichaelKatsuroopenWeapon in a tongue piercing Literature
No Time Like The Past, an Orion pirate has a miniature hypospray with a toxin concealed in what appears to be a ruby tongue stud, which she uses to kill a Red Shirt. What would that fall under? Unusual Weapon Mounting? A bizarre and deadly variation of Sleight of Tongue? They're in a brawl when she uses it, but it seems likely it was intended for. . . shall we say, gentler circumstances.
Edited by ErikModiopenUnreliable biography Literature
Is there a trope for a biography that seems hard to believe mainly because it casts the person in an incredibly negative light (or, conversely, seems to whitewash them a lot), as well as the claims in it being rather far fetched and/or contradicting what other people who knew the person in life claimed about them? I only have a Real Life example so I would prefer not to say it due to Rule Ofcautious Editing Judgment.
openHorns of the cuckolded husband Literature
In old literature like Rabelais and Shakespeare, the horned head that a cuckolded husband is said to have are mentioned frequently. Do we have a page for that Forgotten Trope?
openReal world euphemism/word for something Literature
Hard to explain what I mean in the title, but what I mean is when a regular everyday word is used as a sort of euphemism/word to mean something else. It seems to be most common in fantasy stories and literature in general, though it can appear in any sort of media.
Basically, it's where there is some word that exists in the real-world, for example, let's say "dark". In a fantasy book, "Dark" means to be possessed by a demon. A line from the literature would be like "Keep salt nearby or you might get Darked!" or "You have no salt, they're going to Dark you!"
Example in fiction I have read:
- In Dragonriders of Pern, there is "Impression" (in real life - an idea about someone/in the story - mental bonding between dragon/human)
openpicture doesn't match the description Literature
Is there a trope for when a book has both a picture and description of something but the picture doesn't match the description?
Hello. I am looking for examples of a subtrope of Evil All Along.
So we have a protagonist. Not a Decoy Protagonist, but a real one. He can be a hero or an anti hero, whatever. There is a conflict with a villain or an anti-villain, whatever. The protagonist either suceeds or fails, whatever. But in some point of the story it is revealed to the audience (either via Tomato Surprise or any other way) that the protagonist, firstly assumed good, was a bad guy all along. After the Reveal the story main shift either to Evil vs. Evil or protagonist may switch side with an antagonist.
Do you guys have any examples? They might be in a literature, might be in a film.
Edited by ThomasWard