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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openMoral Defeat, Practical Victory
A character's moral beliefs are blatantly ignored or subverted, leading to victory. Something like a Moral Guardian's reaction to a Family-Unfriendly Aesop, in-universe.
For example:
- The heroes are confronting the toughest enemy yet (Alice is a Warrior Therapist, Bob is The Cynic, Charlie has daddy issues). The Power of Love doesn't work, The Power of Friendship doesn't work either... so Bob uses The Power of Hate instead (he tells Charlie to imagine that the monster is his father, triggering a one-sided No-Holds-Barred Beatdown that causes wincing in bystanders). Alice is understandably miffed that Charlie's issues are now even harder to resolve (even if she recognizes that it worked), especially the message that The Power of Hate is an awesome thing to have.
- Bob the knight believes gunpowder weapons are fit only for cowards and that skill and experience leads to victory. His country massively invests in guns and cannon, giving them victory after victory without the enemy being able to retaliate, but Bob is disgusted that his beliefs are basically being proven wrong by the universe itself.
openPolice Jazz
There's a tendency for police-themed media and jazz to be synonymous with each other. Do we have a trope for this yet?
openOverly inconsiderate relative of a recently deceased son? Western Animation
Where the well intentioned hero inadvertently kills or fails to save Alice and Bob blames him for it. Conversation usually goes something like: Well-intentioned hero: "I'm sorry, I tried to save her" Bob: "well you didn't, and now she's dead" Bob: *slams door in well-intentioned hero's face* Well-intentioned hero: *covers face with hands and sobs into hands*
I'm fairly certain it's a subtrope of something where a side-character is needlessly cruel just to elicit an emotional response from the protagonist after the protagonist makes an honest mistake that was out of his hands.
openstring on finger reminder
You know that thing where a character ties string around his/her finger as a self-reminder to do something? This is seen in stories made and/or set in the days before computers. Portable computers are the Trope Breaker.
If you can think of any examples of this Forgotten Trope, I've started a draft for it.
Edited by Miss_DesperadoopenAnthropology is a Pseudoscience
Is there a trope page for when a series is mainly composed of beings other than humans and the actual existence of humans is, at the very most, suggested via limited interactions?
Examples:
Veggie Tales - Everyone is a talking fruit or vegetable, and humans are only referenced in name only (e.g. 'human resources') or at most in depictions of Biblical figures like Jesus. Any actual humans in the series are either non-canon or have only shown hands and legs, with no face.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Humans are not mentioned in the series, not even by name. The only human interaction we ever get is in the Equestria Girls series, which isn't really brought up in the show.
Zootopia - The movie itself derives from the premise of humans never evolving, and animals taking their place and setting up civilization.
Can you think of any other examples? Is there a known trope that matches this? Lemme know.
Edited by ChrisOfTheAbyssopenNaked before you
A character flustter when their crush strip naked right infront of them.
Edited by Andermannopenwe heard about it look
A group of characters is hearing about a specific problem, but the more senior members of the group silently look at each other like they have faced this problem before (what is usually the case). Anything similar to that.
Edited by Omer1698openYou think we got history wrong? Real life did!
When a work claims their version of the world history is the true one, with "our" history being an incomplete or twisted version.
Do we have it?
openIs this SurvivorGuilt? 'Cause it's not ''guilt''...
Is this Survivor Guilt? 'Cause it's not guilt...
His family is all dead, but him...
- Fanfic.Tales Of The Canterlot Deportation Agency: Jack: All In:
Frustration and grief and the horror of being the one who lived.
openHard Counter
A character, often weaker than the other, wins because of the particular matchup involved. This seems to be a Missing Supertrope to the likes of Man of Kryptonite, Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors and Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors. An example would be One Piece, where Luffy was able to defeat the otherwise-invincible Eneru because, as a Rubber Man, Eneru's lighting had no effect on Luffy (and Eneru's mind reading was also countered by Luffy being stupid enough to turn off his own mind and fight instinctively). The closest I could find was Anti-Metagame Character, but that's this trope's expression in competitive gaming.
Edited by AnuraopenThis isn't AntiGrinding, but what is it? Videogame
In Miitopia, if your party members aren't evenly leveled, the game will award bonus EXP that you can give to whichever Mii you like. This is clearly intended to boost your low-level Miis and even things out, but you're not at all required to actually go along with that.
Originally, this mechanic was listed as an example of Anti-Grinding, which definitely isn't right. Leaked Experience was my first thought, but that doesn't seem correct either.
openProven Wrong
Is there a trope that involves a person and/or a particular race that has been prejudiced by whites, or humans, for so long that they believe they are all alike but are shocked and proven wrong when a single Caucasian/human, or several, stand up for them and threaten the racists if they try to hurt them. Is there a trope like that?
openLove makes you stutter
When around their crush, a character begins to stutter, stumble with their words, or just plain babble like a buffoon.
Edited by Crossover-Enthusiastopenhanging out school
a school looks like it doesn't have class time, the characters have a lot of free time and do everything but actually going to their classroom
Edited by CeaselessPhoenicopterineopenConfused by the mundane
A character, group, or entire society encounter something we would consider mundane but they have had no interaction with before, so they completely misunderstand it, sometimes even fearing it if it's something harmless or not fearing it if it is actually harmful. One example is The Cry of Mann where telephones are considered mysterious at best and completely repulsive at worst. Might even be able to count The Nightmare Before Christmas and the like if it's broad enough.
Edited by WarJay77openType of death and situation.
1. Bob was visited by an angel. This Angel guide Bob to a room where his family and friends are waiting for him. In reality, he died in his sleep.
2. Charles was pointing a gun at fake and real Steve. Both of them said "I am the real Steve."
Edited by kenceoopenAsked literally, answered metaphorically Film
Looking for the proper dialogue trope for an example from I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang. The protagonist, on the run, gets a shave in a barbershop to look less like an escapee. A cop comes in and chats with the barber about this fugitive they're looking for, giving an accurate description of the protagonist as he lies helplessly in front of them, listening to every word. He hurriedly gets up, pays and leaves. As he's going out the door, the barber asks if the shave was "close enough?" "Plenty," the fugitive says, referring to the very close shave he just experienced with the cop.
So, this isn't Literal Metaphor (though it might be inverted). One Dialogue, Two Conversations, even though the dialogue is short and the barber doesn't have much to say? Or something else?
Edited by HeraldAlberichopenNothing Is Cooler
Is there a trope for like, expanding a character's backstory and motives when previously they were vague devalues the character in the eyes of the fanbase? An archetypical example would be Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, how "Vader was cooler before he got a backstory"
person who is initially cold to other people due to his own personal issues but slowly warms up to them