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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openPlan 9/Wakanda/Burton!Oompa Loompa salute Film
That salute where someone crosses their arms over their chest. Is that already a trope? Are there even enough examples for it to qualify for tropehood?
openCharacter Development Reminder
A group of characters used to be the main antagonists in the parent series, slowly transitioning to the good guys. Then when appearing in a sequel series, they are kidnapped by the villain, who kills a specific group of people in front of them. Why the villain does this because it was to remind the former group, whom themselves realize it, that this was almost their fate had they never gone straight.
openWhat example is this?
This character began his time in the fictional series as someone who would eat junk food/fast food but later on, he switches to a more healty lifestyle. For example, he was eating a peanut-butter chocolate bar in the first half of the series but by the second half, he's often seen eating a carrot.
openTracing The License Plate
The act of tracking down a person by tracing the license plate of the vehicle that they were last seen driving, which would give them the name of the person who was registered with that car. It's usually done by cops or detectives to track down suspects of a crime or to find an abducted person.
openPerson add extra syllables and the like to words for no apparent reason
For Example: In All That, Coach Kreeton would say things like "assissatate" rather than assist, or "coincididence" rather than "coincidence.
openChaos Exploitation
I'm looking to see if there's a trope where a character uses a massive chaotic event - eg, a Bar Brawl - so as to slip through amidst the chaos on the way to their objective. Alternatively they use said event to cover their tracks until they strike their target.
openFully clothed in the bathtub Music
A lot of Music videos feature people/the singer singing in a bathtub while fully clothed, to the point where it feels like a convention like Fight Fur Your Right to Party. Example. Do we have this and is it common enough to trope?
openYou know about the enemy, you are the enemy
Character A assumes character B is one of "them", just because he knows *anything* about "them" (i.i language, customs, culture). The page exists and real-life examples include imperial Japan's treatment of people who knew anything about foreign countries, and the red scare-era USA accusing anybody who knew what communism was of being a communist.
openPeering/Peeking through glasses
What's the trope called when someone lowers their glasses slightly and peers/peaks over them.
You know to look cool, look more heavily at the person their talking to, etc.
Edited by Knight20openAudience Mirroring
Essentially, when something happens in a show that's clearly meant to also apply to the audience. e.g. 'All the little people' from Adventure T Ime being a metaphor for shipping. But it can't be a Take That, Audience! as it isn't a dig at them.
I am unsure whether this exists or not.
openClimbing to the sky as a plot device
I was going to Trope Launch Pad to sponsor this trope, but I wanted to come here first to make sure it's not here already.
This is when a character, usually the protagonist, wants to reach to the sky. Not in the spiritual sense when the character dies, that's Stairway to Heaven. I mean in the physical sense, while the character is still alive. They wish to do it for s specific purpose, even if it's mere curiosity. So the story shows the character journeying to the sky, be it with a beanstalk (like in Jack and the Beanstalk), by building a ladder (like in a Season 6 episode of South Park), or a tower (like in The Bible) or something like that.
An exaggerated version of the trope would be the case when a character climbs so high that they reach outer space.
An inversion would be Dug Too Deep (they reach Hell).
So, is there a trope like this? If not, I'd like to take it to TLP, because I have seen many examples of it. Thanks in advance!
Edited by MyFinalEditsopenWe Could’ve Left Ages Ago?!
I’m curious if there’s a trope that focuses on people delaying doing something that they could’ve taken care of much sooner, much to the dismay of those around them that thought they were stuck. It’s like if some people were stranded on an island and they’ve been trying to get off it for months but one guy knew there was a perfectly functioning yacht on the other side of the island the whole time. There are a few examples I’ve come across that show where someone was trying to do something but it was made to seem like their goal was much more difficult than it actually was and not only that but there was actually someone on the team that knew how to accomplish the goal from the beginning but, for whatever reasons, decided not to tell the others. Another example of this is Phil of the Future where the dad actually figured out how to get back to the future quite easily a long time ago but decided not to tell his family because he had grown fond of living in the past.
openOne-Hit Kill on Character pages
If I want to use One-Hit Kill on a character page, should it go under the character who does the kill, or the one who gets killed?
openGrizzled old sea captain
The stereotypical sea captain or fisherman: Clad in a raincoat, tricorner rainhat (sou'western), and large, scruffy beard, with a pipe always in hand and a propensity for spinning yarns. Tend to be quiet and standoffish at first, but has a treasure trove of nautical lore and will go on about it at length if you can warm them up. Speaks with a New England, Bristol, or other unusual accent.
Typically look like this◊.
openPutting an item into multiple containers
Is there a trope for when a character takes something (typically something to be extra well hidden, or that they want locked away) and puts it it into a box/container of some kind, then puts that into another container, then puts THAT into yet another container, ect. I know I've seen this a bunch of times, often as a cartoon gag. Somewhat similar to Matryoshka Object, but I'm looking for a trope about the process of putting these things into one another.
Edited by Zanreoopen"I know what you meant"
Characters use Sexual Euphemism to avoid having another character, usually a minor, understand what had happen, only for it to be revealed that the other character is fully aware or caught on to what happened.
An example would be from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when Will and Carlton discuss the latter losing his virginity like it was a business deal while Ashley is in the room. After they leave in excitement, a confused Hillary walks in.
- Hillary: What was that all about?Ashley: Carlton lost his virginity.
openLooking it up on the Website
A work which requires (or optionally) has website content that is referenced in-media. Maybe it's a downloadable app instead. 50% chance they stop working.
Examples:
- Doom 3, a video game. You need to visit the Martian Buddy website to get locker codes for some weapons (e.g. an early bfg).
- Escape Tales, a tabletop game. It's a hybrid digital-physical game, thus you have to go to the website to confirm whether or not you completed puzzles.
openBreak The Comedian
A character prone to jokes, snarkiness and/or comic relief tendencies suffers a deeply upsetting/traumatic event that destroys their ability and inclination to be funny - either temporarily or permanently.
Do we have this or something similar to this?
openBuild up before introduction
A character is about to be introduced into a story, but the work sort of builds it up first, by hinting at who it is and then launching into it.
What comes to mind is this passage from My Immortal:
"Then all of a suddenly, an horrible man with red eyes and no nose and everything started flying towards me on a broomstick! He didn’t have a nose (basically like Voldemort in the movie) and he was wearing all black but it was obvious he wasn’t gothic. It was…… Voldemort!"
So a bunch of rubble is about to fall on top of our heroes, right? Oh no! Don't worry, though, one of them is big and durable enough that he can shield the others from the rubble while being just fine himself.