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openDifference?
"Shaggy Dog" Story and All for Nothing seem to be about an elaborate effort eventually not paying off but neither trope page refers to the other. Well, "Shaggy Dog" Story potholes All for Nothing in its defining laconic, making a difference even more questionable.
Edited by eroockopenWhat good are you?
Trope for when a person kills another person because they can't give them what they want (e.g. an answer, like "where is this person"). Not exactly You Have Out Lived Your Usefulness because that's when the villain kills an associate after getting what they want—this one is more for when the villain may kill a captive.
openA song with an aesop
Is there a trope for when a song preaches a certain message? Would it go under Very Special Episode? I know it has a music folder, but I assumed that was only for songs that are directly related to an organization or music videos that are preachy.
openReasonable Eavesdropping
EXAMPLE:
- After just running a family errand, the main character stops at a nearby fast-food restaurant and eats there, just seemingly minding his own business until he hears another patron talking loudly on the phone. The main character, at first, shrugs off the other patron until he hears them say a familiar name and why said name is familiar to the main character because a former high school teacher shares that name. Then, it gets more suspicious when the patron ends the call by saying "Yeah, I'm about to kill her", causing the main character to follow him. Turns out the intended target with the familiar name was the former teacher all along and the main character saves her from her would-be assassin.
openEnergy cracking through skin Anime
When a character powers up and they get like cracked patterns through their skin from energy?
Also what is it when a character is classy but rough around the edges?
openPaying For The Damages....In Advance.
EXAMPLE:
- The main hero (also insanely rich), who just found out that the main anti-heroine is about to fight the main villain at their old high school, takes out his checkbook and writes out a check that'll cover the would-be damages.
openPut The Gun Down.
When a character calmly tries to convince another character, who's aiming a gun at someone else, to put it down.
openTwo tropes: Personality lie, sings music randomly
I tried to post here before, but I think it was accidentally deleted or I accidentally didn't send it. Oh well, here it is again.
Trope #1: Character acts in a way that isn't at all their actual personality. For example, in the instance that I am using it for features a character that acts optimistic and happy, but in reality is sad. Trope #2: Character has a habit of bursting into song at random occasions.
If these are tropes that exist, please reply to this post detailing the names of these tropes.
open2000s tv series about a possessed woman
I think I saw it on the chiller network. Woman is possessed by a female demon and they have a truce to share the body. Brother is an addict and their dead father was some sort of cult leader. Brother is dating family friend/preachers daughter who Is eventually discovered to be an angel....any ideas?
openTwo souls sharing a body? Anime
Sometimes, a guy or girl strikes a deal with a god/demon/whatever and gains power in exchange for the creature having some control over them.
openOPPOSITE OF CEREBUS RETCON
Is there an Inverted Trope for Cerebus Retcon? Parody Retcon was the first thing to come to mind, but that's a different concept. If it doesn't have one, would "Reverse Cerebus Retcon" be a good name for it?
Note: accidentally bumped this up myself, is that a problem.
Edited by Ferot_DreadnaughtopenCrazy Preparation
A character seen to be preparing for as many events as possible or collecting things in case they come in useful, far past the point of usefulness (for example, carrying a survival blanket makes sense, carrying two for backup makes sense, but carrying five dozen of them does not). The character is usually seen as crazy for doing this, and rarely ends in vindication via Crazy-Prepared.
openKeep the impostor
Bob has been impersonated by someone or something. However, because "Bob" is so much more efficient, useful or likeable (or Bob was that much of a Hate Sink), everybody around him knows about it but makes no effort to bring the original back (and sometimes Bob is allowed to witness this). Alternately, in a Kill and Replace scenario "Bob" plays his role sufficiently well that exposing him would be more disruptive than avenging Bob.
In one Joann Sfar story, a devil possesses the fresh corpse of a young boy's mother, and ends up experiencing maternal love to the point where the hero chooses not to exorcise her once the boy has accepted her (instead of telling the boy and ruining his life through vengeance).
openThe character is portrayed as the main character, but it is not.
Good afternoon. We have a trope, when the character is portrayed in advertising and official art as the main character of the work, but later turns out to be either a side character or just one of the main characters?
openThe villain's actions are questioned by his underlings
This trope is so popular that it has to be somewhere, but I'm not sure there is one that is general enough.
Situation 1: The villain has just launched his evil destructive weapon of doom and destroyed countless lives. One of his underlings, almost always one that is very high up, comes to him and shakenly asks why he did it or what gave him the right. Depending on how close the villain is to crossing the moral event horizon (or if he already has), his answer will either be coldly "I did what I had to do" or "I gave them a choice and they chose this", dismissive ("I had no choice" etc.) or even content. The higher up underling sometimes starts to then regret his path and join the heroes, but is more likely do reluctantly say "..yes sir" and remain in his service.
Situation 2 (most common): The villain is desperate and is about to unleash said weapon of mass destruction, or a virus, or a particularly evil thing. He says this to either his advisor or the person responsible for said weapon, who will question the action. Common forms are "But they'll all die!", or "But our men are still inside!", or "But there are women and children there!", or simply a "But, sir..!". The villain will dismiss him and/or force him to go through with it anyway.
Situation 3: A more or less neutral underling to some tyrant is tasked with a particularly cruel operation. He must destroy many innocents to do this, but he himself did not give the order. Very often employed in "War is Hell" scenarios where commanders make a tough but (in their eyes) necessary decision that is at least morally ambiguous. Someone else will question or even outright refuse to partake in such an action, but the commander is adamant. He is not evil per se, but he's definitely not a hero.
Some tropes I found that related to this were What the Hell, Hero? (for heroes), But Sir, It's Not Ready (same situation, entirely different reason) and Last-Second Chance (although no 'chance' is really given).
Edited by aartbastiaanopenBig Bad willingly sacrifices himself to the Greater-Scope Villain
Similar to but distinct from Devour the Dragon (at least I believe it's distinct). The main villain is cornered and willingly performs an unholy merger with the Greater-Scope Villain in an attempt to become a god. I'm sure there are countless examples of this trope, but what come to mind off the top of my head are Salazar and Krauser allowing themselves to be injected with las plagas in Resident Evil 4 as well as Aken Bosch joining the Shivans in Free Space 2.
openMurderer Revealed When Attacks Investigator Literature
There is a trope that has become about as ubiquitous in the Kinsey Millhone era as the Summation Gathering, aka "The Parlour Scene", was in the Hercule Poirot era. Namely, the investigator discovers who the murderer is when and only when she is attacked or threatened by him or her. (In every case of this I remember, the investigator is indeed female.)
Is this Reveal Trope a subtrope of an established one that I'm missing? I don't think it's a "Eureka!" Moment. It doesn't feel at ALL like Victory by Endurance, though it's the opposite of Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing—it's instead Wins by Floundering Around Long Enough too close to the answer for the murderer's comfort.
Or have we not documented it? It's regularly used in more than one style, including the Meg Langslow Mysteries as well as the above-mentioned Kinsey Millhone series, so I think it ought to be covered.
Edited by GeorgeT-SLC
Do we have a specific trope about relatives being separated at a young age and falling in love after being reunited?