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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openDisappointed by the Villain
Scenario in which the hero is disappointed by the reveal of the villain's appearance. Not because of their motives or anything, but because they expected them to be cooler.
open...Or Die Trying
A stock phrase, but the trope isn't about the phrase itself. This is a person who is will either accomplish their goals, ''or die trying''. Meaning they aren't a Death Seeker or participating in Martyrdom Culture, because they really aren't hoping or aiming to die, but consider trying to accomplish their goals worth the risk of death.
Edited by antenna_earsopenWeird adorable Videogame
Is there a trope for drawings/animations that can describe strange-but-cute/funny creatures like those in Rayman Origins? Something like Agnes' plush unicorn in Despicable Me: goofy golfball-like eyes ecc
openKill this puppy to finish your training
I've noticed this trope/myth about how people training to be in special forces are given a puppy to bond with. At the end of the training, they must kill the dog.
openAnnoyed by singing
Do we have a trope when a character starts singing a random musical number and the other characters lampshade it by being annoyed by it?
openPerson A thinks Person B is Person C despite clearly not looking like Person C
Do we have a trope where someone thinks that one person is someone they know even though they're clearly not that person? (No it's not Paper-Thin Disguise)
I was thinking of this Phineas and Ferb episode where Candace thinks a caveman that the brothers melted out of ice is Jeremy, even though they look nothing alike, and all the personality signs of not being Jeremy.
Edited by PlasmaPoweropenTop dog Low job
Is there a trope where someone who supposedly sits on the top of a hierarchy perform tasks that are frankly "beneath" them? E.g. the CEO of a company handling customer service or financial reports.
openUnseen Helping Hand
A character, usually a Mentor Archetype, helps out the hero or heroes from behind the scenes. We usually end up not seeing them for a few episodes before the heroes finally confront them.
openEveryone unimportant is generic
With the exceptions of the main character, their allies and the villains, all of the characters look painfully generic and similar.
In Persona 5 all the students in Shujin Academy aside from the Phantom Thieves and a few others like Yuuki Mishima look almost exactly the same, both males and females alike (and are all gossiping goody-two-shoes). In Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls everyone that is unimmportant is a blue or a pink shillouette depending on their gender.
openMastering a trade or skill generally considered inferior Literature
A character, through training and effort, becomes so good at a skill that is generally considered inferior that they can best even those who have mastered the more "superior" versions. Examples: Merlin (1998) [TV]: There are three "tiers" of magic: incantation, gesture, and thought (in that order). Merlin masters gesture magic to such an extent he can overpower thought magic users. Iron Council (2004) [Lit.]: Judah Low masters golemancy, considered a trade fit only for entertaining children or manual labour, to such an extent that he makes a golem out of fucking *time*. The Way of Kings (2010) [Lit.]: Kaladin is so skilled with a spear he can defeat even a well armed, armoured, and trained shardbearer.
Edited by turtleshelfopenTeachers as People
When an episode, arc, chapter, etc depicts the life of a teacher character outside the classroom.
openInappropriate response to a serious situation
Context:
Orlando: What do you mean? There's a green, hideously pot-bellied alien who says he will harvest planet Earth and use it as hunting ground in a horrific manner, and your first response is to crack a weight joke?
resolved Pilots Have Lots of Sex Live Action TV
Is there a trope for airplane pilots being portrayed as having lots of sex, since they can travel around the world and sleep with locals and attractive flight attendants?
Or rather, a trope that associates professions and sexual attractiveness/promiscuity?
openNon-dirty getting crap past the radar
When children's media has a joke that isn't dirty in any way but it's about an adult subject, things children probably don't understand. I can't remember what it is aaaaaa
openSingle 100% Success Rate
Alice and Bob play a new card game they've never tried and Alice wins, a joke will be played that Alice wins 100% of the time, even though she just played one game and won. The same can be said for 0% success rate.
openGender-based boast
A character boasts with the anatomical/biological advantages of their respective gender-either to persons opposite gender ("As a woman/man I can fo X and you can't) or to ones of the same gender (" It's good that we as women/men are able to do X").
openRefuses to enjoy it
It's a little hard to describe, but I'm trying to pintpoint if we have anything that'd cover what I'm looking for:
In one of the Dad music videos, Dad and Danny Brown are singing and dancing to one of Dad's songs, but that's not all. Along with Dad and Danny is Dad's wife, Cheryl, who just sort of sits in frame looking awkward or bored as they dance. This is completely in character for her, and implies more that she didn't want to be in the music video; as if she was forced to be there. Even when she does dance, she sort of seems to only be giving it half her effort. (And this is entirely in-universe, don't worry. Like I said, it's in character for Cheryl and Dad to be doing these things.)
I'm wondering if there's anything for that- a character getting stuck doing something they aren't really into and they don't seem to make any effort to actually enjoy it- they're just there while everyone else is having fun, looking generally out of place, or they're openly not enjoying themselves and are miserable. Or, hell, even just the idea of someone being entirely out of place in general, in a way that draws you to notice them.
Edited by WarJay77openWhat metatrope is this?
I'm looking for a Trope Tropes or Playing with a Trope term, if there is one.
Suppose a work lets the audience believe that they are witnessing a straight example of a trope, but then it turns out they have been fooled, and the trope was not actually "real"—the work made it only look like it. How do you call this in Playing with a Trope terminology?
Examples for what I mean are tropes occurring in a Dream Intro or a Fantasy Sequence that appears to be "real" at first; or tropes occurring in a scene which is then revealed to be a Show Within a Show by a Proscenium Reveal.
Or in other words, what term would you use to describe the relationship of Fake Action Prologue to a genuine Action Prologue?
To anticipate one potential answer, I am not sure if this fits under Subverted Trope. Subverting a trope means building up an audience expectation for a trope to happen and then not following up on this expectation. What I am thinking about is when the trope has (seemingly) already happened, and is exposed as a dream, illusion, false impression etc. retroactively.
Edited by LordGroopenBut Thou Mustn't
Exactly what it says on the tin, usually in regards to a forced death. Example: First scene of Paper Mario, where you are scripted to always die to Bowser.
This could be a way for the villain to get revenge on the hero or just to spite them. An example would be from Star Wars: The Clone Wars When Maul murders Satine in front of Kenobi The closest example I could find is Forced to Watch.
Edited by SithPanda16