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 the Trope Launch Pad.
Find a Trope:
openTrope where a bunch of (military) events are happening simultaneously Literature
Hi,
There's a trope from a novel I'm reading that I'm looking for — in the book, a bunch of military rescue missions are happening simultaneously in the span of a short chapter, with there being a small radio confirmation of the status of each mission (e.g. "hostage confirmed rescued in Siberia", "hostage confirmed rescued in Thailand" etc.)
I don't think this is a literature exclusive trope, and I'm sure it's just a Montage of some kind, but I'm wondering if there's a more specific trope to put it under?
openScents are always identified + identify scent means love interest Literature
Two scent-related tropes I’m looking for here.
One I imagine may be a missing supertrope, where characters in fiction can perfectly identify scents, no exceptions. This is an acceptable break from reality as books, tv, ect., cannot otherwise express scent to the audience. So when a character says their love interest smells like sandalwood, even if they live somewhere without sandalwood trees and before scents were synthesized and commercialized and thus shouldn’t know that scent, we trust that the love interest does in fact smell like it.
The second is a Trope that fits underneath, I’d call it “Attraction Smell Tell”. This is when a character notices the smell of someone they’re attracted to. It’s very common in romance novels, where the MC catches the scent of their love interest as they’re starting to show interest in them. I think at some point it was a subtle way of indicating that the MC is subliminally attracted to someone, but at this point it’s so widespread that it’s no longer subtle.
openMortals Hired by Gods Literature
Hello, Is there a trope that involves mortals working for gods? A story where a mortal has been hired by a god or gods to complete a task, to perform a service? In which the mortals are not believers but have been promised some tangible reward for their time and efforts?
I looked for this but can't find it - although I figure I was searching using the wrong terms!
thanks!
openTongueless Means Mute Literature
One thing that got left out of the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was a punishment the Capital did to certain people— Avoxes were so-called because they had their tongue removed and were made mute. Tonguelessness is often equated with mutism in fiction, despite the fact that the English language has several sounds that can be made without the tongue entirely. I know we have a trope called "Tongue Torture" or something like that, but I find it odd that for something that has been around since at least the time of Shakespeare (see Lavinia in Titus Andronicus), we don't have a trope for someone being tongueless making them mute.
openDon't know how true their statement is Literature
Ten of Jacob's sons go to Egypt and speak to one of Pharaoh's deputies, saying "we are the sons of one man". While the "we" is intended to be exclusive of "you", the person they were talking to is actually Joseph, also a son of the same man.
openSpin-off from different perspective Literature
Alice and Bob are the main characters of "A & B" series of detective novels and have their crazy, high-stake adventures. The autor writes a short story about Jim, a regular guy, who gets an adventure on his own. Half-way through, it is revealed to be a spin-off of the "A & B" series, and Alice and Bob show for a cameo to sort the resulting mess and help out Jim, then leave. What for Jim so far was an extreme, life-shattering and changing experience, from Alice and Bob perspective (and the standard fare of their own series) is just a minor altercation, something they would be dealing as a menial PI job between their typical adventures.
Effectively: the spin-off story is about the kind of mundane case the characters just mention in passing when dealing about their detective work, but from perspective of the main character of said story, this is the case of a century.
openUnconventional Rebel Literature
This trope describes someone who isn't interested in simple, conventional or binary beliefs/ideas that conform to societal norms/expectations. They believe that conformity is often seen as a form of control and can limit freedom of authentic expression and unique perspectives. They often have different beliefs that challenge ideas about topics like identity, religion and gender believing that there is more to conventional ideas for these topics than meets the eye.
openRelatives recognize each other at first meeting Literature
Mother and baby are separated at birth. The baby, now an adult, and the mother end up in the same room at the same time, completely by Contrived Coincidence, and recognize each other.
openMarry from a group which prevents religious complications Literature
A never-married Jewish woman had a relationship from which a baby was born. It's critical that this fact stay hidden from her community; however, once she marries (this is absolutely expected of her) and starts having children (also expected), there would be religious complications if the "first born" is a son due to the requirement of Pidyon HaBen (religious redemption the first born son). She marries a Levi (a man whose family tradition is that he is a patrilinial descent of Jacob's third son, Levi) because a Levi's son is exempt from Pidyon HaBen, thereby getting around the religious complication.
Edited by Someone1981openTo abandon a family member at the hospital Literature
Parental Abandonment says the inverse is The Runaway, but I'm not sure that (or Abandon the Disabled) applies for this.
I'm making a work page for a book of medical anecdotes (to be launched at Another One Case).
One story has the adult children of an elderly man sign the consent form for amputating his injured leg, his second one after 10 years. It isn’t revealed until the end, but before his first leg got amputated, he retaliated against being sent to the hospital and kicked his wife, who then died from internal bleeding. The old man realises that his children aren’t coming back for him, and indeed they don’t. They went through the effort of changing their address and numbers to be untraceable, and the old man dies alone.
Edited by FaithfulMacabreopenAdopt a sibling for an unborn child Literature
A pregnant woman and her husband adopt a child, in order that the child be a big sibling for their unborn child.
openCross-Referenced Books Literature
When 1 book from one series references another book/book series; but they’re written by the same author.
openDiacritics/alternate letters/zalgo text to signify SanitySlippage Literature
The diary/notebook/letter you're reading starts using abnormal letters to show you the character's mental state is going downhill/Cthulhu is in the room
openThe moment when one expert recognizes another (often indirectly through their works) Literature
Either upon closer inspection of an artifact, when one character with a keen eye realizes that "masterful hands have created/written/woven this" or, likewise "this has the mark of <character xyz>".
Or, if in each other's presence, with one of them having (sometimes accidentally) "revealed their hand" (say, in the presence of novices), but this only being recognized by the other hidden master, leading to a knowing, respectful nod or smile to each other, or professional (but often hidden) counter-move that may be equally unexpected by the opponent.
openIsekai where an ostracized student with skills is betrayed Literature
As I was perusing the works page for Failure Frame, I stumbled upon this:
Do we have a trope/equivalent that best encapsulates these works?
openBigots are attracted to their victim Literature
A character describes men shouting homophobic slurs at her while simultaneously creeping on her with their eyes. As in, they were checking her out while calling her every slur in the book.
openA person's name matches an artifact Literature
In one book, an artifact called the Ruby King is an important part of the plot. In the same book, a woman is introduced whose first name is Ruby and who married Mr. King.
openAuthor's religion keeps certain events from occuring in work(s) Literature
A particular series was written by a Jew; in this series, there is no mention of non-Kosher food (Kosher meaning that it's religiously permissable to eat) and no events happen on Shabbat (from Friday shortly before dark until Saturday after dark, when many normal activities such as travel and use of electricity are religiously forbidden).

Do we have a trope where a character meets his previous life or posterior life, in a work that explicitly has reincarnation as a plot element?