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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openTheatre mask
Do we have a trope specifically for masks worn in or originate from theatre and plays? Such as ancient Greek of traditional Japanese masks.
I mean, we have Domino Mask, Evil Mask and so on and forth.
Edited by LermisopenUnicorns Love Purity
Is there a trope that covers the belief that unicorns are only kind towards virgins or otherwise pure individuals? It's similar to Evil-Detecting Dog and Only the Chosen May Ride.
Edited by Pichu-kunopenAnticipated Backlash Nod
A writer includes a chapter dealing with a touchy subject in his novel that's more than likely to piss off a certain demographic. Fully aware of that possibility, the writer alludes to the anticipated backlash by having one of the characters say, "This is going to upset a lot of people,"
openambushing the ambusher
Is there a trope for this kind of thing? E.G some people plan to ambush someone (say, an Evil Sorcerer), they sneak into his lair and find him sitting at his desk, sleeping, or otherwise unaware, only to find out this is just an illusion he created and has been waiting for them the whole time.
Edited by BootlebatopenMentor Avenges Student
Basically what it sounds like, someone kills, cripples, or breaks the spirit of a mentor's student (possibly the Big Bad the student is being trained to fight), so the mentor has to step in and fight, in a possibly futile effort to avenge/replace them.
openMeds Are Bad
A character on meds starts feeling healthier when not taking them. The meds are often implied to be making them crazy or compliant with everything going on, and they regain their normal thinking abilities when they ditch them.
openPlant/Animal contrast?
Is there any trope like that? Specially with characters with those as their motifs or powers?
openTrope for engulfing whiteness of bright light Film
Indoor/cave setting, a long stretch of hallway, cavern or tunnel, leading into an area so contrastingly bright that it appears as pure whiteness. Any character that goes into it will be completely engulfed by the whiteness, until the camera follows them and readjusts the light exposure for a dramatic reveal. If the camera decides to not follow them then it's walking into the sunset but without the sunset. Trope also used when a character goes through a door dramatically, and during that dramatic shot the character is seemingly walking into complete whiteness, even though the other room may have similar lighting.
openConviently missing hero
In which the only person who can save the day in unable to be found/out of commission/otherwise unable to perform the world-saving activities.
openGlossed Over Murder Attempt
Character does something that could kill someone in the real world, but isn't treated as serious in-universe. For instance, Character A gives Character B something they're allergic to, and everyone acts like it's just a harmless prank.
openButtMonkey Finally Gets A Win
Do we have a trope for this? Basically, a character- typically the Butt-Monkey or the Cosmic Plaything, finally gets a long deserved reward or a break.
For example, Squidwarx at the end of Band Geeks. Krillin gets Android 18 (although he slowly becomes more and more badass over the series, the reward was a great one), and perhaps anytime Tom beats Jerry.
This trope is usually in the form of "butt monkey gets the girl/guy" for their reward.
This might just be Catharsis Factor, but I was wondering if we had a more broad trope for this.
Edited by KingOfStickersopenShoot the mook
The anti hero kills all the mooks, except one. She still needs to deactivate the doomsday device, so she tries the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique. The guy gives gives a speech that basically means that he will never, ever, help her to stop the evil plan. "Wrong answer, idiot", and she kills him.
Does it count as You Have Outlived Your Usefulness?
openSuperhero journalism
Journalist/reporter is a disproportionately popular career choice in superhero media.
openHumiliated while trying to be cool
A character does something utterly humiliating while attempting to show off. Wants to be Mr. Cool or Miss Glamour, but instead ends up as the Butt-Monkey of all time. For example, while trying to stage a Grand Staircase Entrance, Alice catches her heel on the hem of her ballgown and has a very public Staircase Tumble. Is this a trope in itself?
Edited by BradyLadyopenSigns changing when they shouldn't
Do we have something for when a sign, placard, or something else that's displaying information that should by all accounts stay static changes what's on it from shot to shot, especially as a gag? There's a Funny Background Event in the first two panels of this where a sign changes what it says.
openNot My Fault, Not My Problem
A character who was against whatever caused the catastrophe of the week, and so refuses to help fix or suffer the consequences of it, seeing it as being unfairly made to pay for someone else's mistake. Usually also a case of It's All About Me.
Sort of like Guilt by Association Gag, but where in GBAG a normal person might understand the logic behind his being punished (say Bob wasn't participating in a riot, but he was nearby and the police nabbed him anyway), here the character considers it entirely unfair to him where a normal person would have understood and accepted that they can be affected by other people's decisions (say Bob is a Republican who reasons that bills passed by a Democrat president don't apply to him).
For instance:
- Bob didn't want to participate in the family camping trip (which was Charlie's idea), and is forced to go along anyway. When it quickly turns into a Horrible Camping Trip, Bob spends his time in the car and refuses to help the others with any of the work. After a while, Charlie snaps and gives him a "Reason You Suck" Speech... which Bob flings right back in his face with extra venom by pointing out that Charlie "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot by leaving Bob at home in the first place.
- A referendum is held to determine whether or not to go to war. Bob votes against it but the referendum passes, and when the war breaks out, Bob ignores any and all conscription notices until military police show to demand an explanation. There he explains loudly and slowly that, as he voted against the war, he certainly isn't about to participate in it, and continues in this vein even as he's dragged off to the boot camp, flooding his elected representatives with Strongly Worded Letters and making a colossal nuisance of himself.
- The cast harbors Alice, who's on the run from Ruthless Foreign Gangsters. Bob just wanted to send her away, and when the gangsters hold the cast hostage until Alice is returned to them, Bob is so furious at being held responsible for something he had no part in that he goes full Mook Horrorshow on the gangsters.
openNeeds Competition
A character specifically seeks out a rival or other competition for the sake of keeping them motivated, giving them someone to work toward defeating. They're usually a Friendly Rivalry.
For example, in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Moze started doing worse in volleyball after her friend and rival, Suzy, left. She tried to seek out a new rival, and in the end, they needed Suzy to criticize her performance over voice-chat. The rivalry was necessary to Moze's abilities.
openHallucination trope? Live Action TV
Is there a trope like this:
In-Universe, Bob speaks to his girlfriend Alice in his apartment (but it's a soliloquy), except Alice is only a hallucination, in reality she's on a flight back from working in Canada, and Bob's in Texas. No-one else is in the apartment, just Bob. Otherwise, she's only mentioned but not physically seen by the other characters.
Out-of-universe, all Alice's appearances as hallucinations are just teasers until she makes her First Appearance for real and it's to ease the viewers into learning who she is.
Edited by Merseyuser1
What's the trope where both sides are lined up pointing guns at each other like this: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tuffpuppy/images/6/62/SAL54.png/revision/latest?cb=20120221121400
Not sure it's a Mexican Standoff because the opposing teams (T.U.F.F. and D.O.O.M.) are in nice rows facing each other.