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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openConfessing to the murderer?
A character who has been investigating a crime, and uncertain who they can turn to for help, asks someone who they think is in a position to uncover additional evidence. The second character, however, is the perpetrator of the crime (or complicit in its execution), and this makes it easier for the perpetrator to clean up the loose ends.
I'm trying to find the trope because the situation occurs in Asimov's "The Tercentenary Incident", and I've checked the pages for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, based on the fact that Toby tries to tell Ms Lovett about murdering people. I think I've seen it in other detective works, but additional examples escape me at the moment.
openFriendly Stalker
ATTS. A person who stalks someone to no end, but is ultimately harmless. Examples:
- A Stalker with a Crush that follows their target for romantic reasons, without going into full-on yandere mode.
- A legit stalker that is following a target for not-so-friendly reasons, yet is still "good" enough to not attack their target if they're discovered (or at least bug off when told to).
- A Hoppou. Basically, a character that spends most of their time standing around and silently staring at everything, unless they find something that interests them, in which case they will follow that something to no end until they either get bored of it and wander off, or find something else that's more interesting and start following it.
openLevel End Bonus Videogame
Where once you complete the level objective, you have a chance to increase your final score before the level ends. (Not a separate stage)
The Big Rock Ending on Rock Band songs, where the band members have a chance to freestyle to rack up extra points
Some Merge Dragons levels drop items across the board after the objective has been met and allow you to merge them for a few extra seconds before the level officially ends
Some classic Sonic The Hedgehog games allow you to collect bonus points with a goal post as long as you can manage to keep it airborne.
openWhere would this scene fit? Western Animation
In an episode The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, Jimmy asks Goddard to use x-ray on Cindy's clothes when she's accused of stealing one of Sheen's Ultra Lord figures, prompting Carl to avert his gaze, Sheen to look on in excitement, and Cindy herself to furiously slap Jimmy across in the face at that suggestion.
Would that fit into Pervert Revenge Mode (even though the x-raying didn't actually happen), Power Perversion Potential, or somewhere else?
openSubverted Timeskip Character Expectations Print Comic
Might be too specific - suppose a show features Alice, Bob (who's very rich) and Charlie (who's very poor). Then, one episode features a Time Skip. In that episode, older Alice mentions she knows someone who's very rich... and it turns out Charlie became a Fortune 500 CEO between years, while Bob lost all his money.
That twist can apply to anything - money, morality, appearance, skills, interests... and of course, it doesn't need to be a Time Skip - maybe an Alternate Universe, Parody, Deconstruction, Similar Squad...
Edited by Mac_RopenAlways buckling under pressure
What's the trope for someone who should theoretically be in a powerful situation but would always give in to someone's demands?
Alternatively, what about someone who just gives money because someone asked. Example of the latter:
- Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: (The Will's dad episode, you know the one) Phil got depressed after getting into a fight with Will and just simply gave his credit cards to his kids.
- The Simpsons: Homer gives Lisa money to buy a present for Bart, she tells him that it's too much but he gives her more anyway.
openUnderdog is an Unexpected Badass
Two characters are about to fight. One is big, strong, and intimidating, while the other looks super weak. The big character taunts and laughs at the weak looking character, assuming they have the win in the bag. But then the weak looking character completely wrecks them without even trying.
Examples: Toph’s introduction in Avatar The Manners Maketh Man scene from Kingsman The opening scene of Django Unchained with Dr. Schultz The Simpsons meme where Mr. Burns tries to step on a bug and gets beat up
openHuman Dress Up Doll
Forcing a person to try on certain outfits. Like Lord El-Melloi II Case Files has a scene where Reines agrees to tell Gray about the 4th Holy Grail War if she helps her with shopping, with the end result just being Gray getting forced to try out many outfits.
openUncertain Sexuality Videogame
I know there are Tropes for every sexuality under the sun. But what about if a character is actually uncertain? They outright say, “I don’t know what my sexuality is.”
openA trope for when a free action isnt free anymore
Looking for a situation when something that used to be able to be done with no cost now has one. Examples include entry hazards in pokemon, where the act of switching out now causes damage to whoever is sent in, or when a weapon that used to have infinite ammo now has a cap. That sort of thing.
openPersonality Powers but for settings
An interview about the Disney Chills series said that the settings of each book were informed by the Disney villain the story corresponds to, so Ursula the Sea Witch's story is set in a seaside California town with an aquarium, while Dr. Facilier's story is set in New Orleans and the bayou. Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum has this too, with many duelists' stages reflecting some aspect of their personality, with Bandit Keith's stage being a trove of stolen treasure and Shadi's stages bending the rules. Is there a trope for this kind of thing?
openSecretly Gay Nazi?
Recently, a lot of fiction I've seen/read has one character being violently homophobic to LGBTQ characters, but then later, it is revealed that said character is secretly gay, and that their actions where the result of a toxic upbringing/environment and, at least partially, the characters hates gay people because they hate that they themselves aren't straight and are trying to act like they are "normal". Is there a trope for this?
openestate planning/probate fraud
Are there tropes on: - where a phony will is used to fraudulently steal someone's inheritance or property? - a close family friend/trustee/disinherited child manipulates/coerces a dying parent to change the beneficiary on their brokerage/bank account, real estate, etc. to them? - a trustee of a dead relative/parent’s trust makes silly excuses for long delays while they steal from the trust itself?
openWe’ll Turn It Into A Parking Garage! Western Animation
A businessman tries to turn an important place for the characters into something more high-tech.
Most of the time, a parking garage.
openAnimal in fiction resembles animal it’s named after
An animal that normally has a name that refers to another animal (despite not resembling said animal much or not at all) is stylized in a fictional work (usually animated ones) to resemble said animal more.
One example I can think of is Bunny Wunny from SpongeBob SquarePants. He is based off of Jorunna parva, a species of sea slug that bears a resemblance to a rabbit; however, Bunny Wunny is stylized to look a lot more like an actual rabbit.
Edited by jandn2014openDeliberate Despair Spot
A character engineers a Despair Spot for another to make the happy outcome that much happier by comparison.
In this case, involving a feudal lord, his daughter and her knight bodyguard (an Impoverished Patrician of very minor nobility, but the best swordsman in the land): The daughter and the knight love each other, but cannot marry for social reasons. The lord announces he's arranged his daughter's marriage, and to show his gratitude towards the knight, gifts him a very expensive set of clothes so he can attend the ceremony without being mocked for his poverty.
The two have many opportunities to elope, but fail to act on them as they don't want to betray their father/benefactor, instead resigning themselves to a life of misery and soul-suffering. The father continuously heaps praise on her future husband but never actually names him (leading the daughter to suspect she's being married to a social pariah), and tells the knight that he shall continue to be his daughter's bodyguard once she's married. The two decide to take this as the silver lining.
Once the ceremony begins, the daughter is waiting by the altar in tears for a groom that she's never seen, the knight is watching her, looking absolutely miserable in his magnificent clothes... and the lord comes in, goes straight to the knight, drags him to the altar, and tells the priest to start the ceremony already, as his daughter and the man she's chosen have waited long enough for it. Cheers, swelling music, tears of joy, etc.
openHittable but not Killable Videogame
Is there a trope for enemies in a Shoot 'Em Up that absorb damage in the same fashion as orinary enemies but are effectively immortal - meaning a player might keep trying to kill them for ages before realizing they won't die?
openA thing never happens, because if it does, the universe will be destroyed
A thing in a story could always happen, but it doesn’t, because turns out, if it does, the universe will be destroyed or something like that.
Some examples I can think of are Super Paper Mario (where it is revealed that if Peach and Bowser were to marry, the universe would be destroyed) and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy episode “My Fair Mandy” (where Mandy actually smiling for once causes reality to implode).
Edited by jandn2014
What is the trope when a disguised character, after talking to another character, takes off of their disguise saying this?