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:
openNo Title Film
Two very common ones. 1. What is the name for the trope where a character in an action movie puts something in their pocket in a scene and it serves as the "twist" that saves their life in the final battle with the Big Bad? Say, a knife in the boot. A locket from grandma that stops a bullet, etc. 2. Also an action movie trope. Big Bad is about to kill Hero, suddenly Big Bad drops the the ground, shot in the chest (or wherever)... reveal the girl, the love interest, usually who has been totally worthless until now, holding a smoking gun. She drops the gun, crying, runs to the hero. What's the name of that old standby?
openNo Title Film
Is there a trope where Bob is dating Alice, but Bob is getting his lines fed by Charlie (usually via an earpiece)? Hilarity Ensues. Examples I've seen include Gullivers Travels 2010 , The Tuxedo , Rio, Muppets Tonight, and Short Circuit 2 .
Edited by andjamopenNo Title Film
Mainly film and television, but may be present in other media.
I'm looking for a trope that describes the common situation within certain genres of films dealing with various kinds of disaster, wherein the main protagonist, whom the viewers have been led to believe is 'the only one who can help' - the one whose special knowledge or experience uniquely qualifies him to resolve the situation - is constantly thwarted by those in positions of authority, often for no good in-universe reason (the real world reason, of course, being to build additional dramatic tension).
I'm sure Jack Bauer has been in this situation on several occasions, and I know I've seen it in at least two Sy Fy movies, but the classic example I saw the other night was from the film 'Outbreak', where Dustin Hoffman's character has constantly to fight against his superiors to involve himself in the outbreak of a deadly plague about which he is a leading expert, and then to implement the solution he and the viewers know is the only way to save thousands of innocent lives.
I have searched, but can't find anything that quite fits this particular bill.
openNo Title Film
Is there a trope for when a character (let's say Bob) calls another character (let's say Alice), and he hears Alice say "Hi, it's Alice", and he tries to talk to her, only to find out that it's Alice's voicemail?
Because I've Seen It A Million Times.
openNo Title Film
How about a trope for special effects being introduced in a live action film (or TV show) even though it isn't sci-fi or fantasy? I'm think about Sin City or Amelie where those movies have loads of CGI and other effects even though one is crime noir and the other is a romantic comedy.
openNo Title Film
I'm looking for the name of a particular kind of cop-out ending, a kind of cross between plothole, anticlimax and wallbanger.
For example: B-Movie, at then end of the film - just as it seems hopeless for the hero - the giant laser gun built by the evil and competent-until-now female scientist explodes for no plot-explained reason except that women are bad at science (God bless the 1950s)
openNo Title Film
What is it called when events in a film are ignored in other media or marketing?
Disney films do this a lot;
In Tangled, Rapunzel has short brown hair at the end of the film. At a Disney park, she has long blonde hair. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel is human at the end of the film, but at parks she is often depicted as a mermaid.
openNo Title Film
Do We Have This One? A break in the clouds, heavenly revelation or divine providence, results in a choir of angels singing "aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh".
openNo Title Film
I'm looking for a movie trope I've seen many times in film, but can't find described here.
It involves someone who is apparently asleep, but displays lightning fast reactions when another character goes near them, either to wake them or to steal/take something from them.
Often characterised by the sleeping person grabbing the arm of the approaching character, demonstrating that either they've got some sort of instinctive sixth sense when they're asleep, or they never actually sleep, the better to be alert to threats.
It can also be applied to people who appear asleep but then open one eye the moment the bad guy(s) start tiptoeing around outside the room.
The third variation on this is characters who continue to pretend to be asleep for the benefit of another character, usually waiting until they leave before moving. The departing character meanwhile thinks they snuck away unobserved.
I've tried searching for these themes and can find nothing on this site to relect them.
Examples: Soloman Kane does this when the Crowthorne boy reaches out to wake him up.
Antonio Banderas does the second variation in Desperado while Salma Hayek is singing.
All of the Viking warriors do this in The 13th Warrior, even making sleeping and snoring noises while they lie awake listening to the bad guys gathering outside.
There are many other examples, although of course I can't remember many at the moment!
Am I missing this on the site, or is it insufficiently notable to justify a page?
openNo Title Film
You know how characters in historic movies always speak with a British accent and never in a more appropriate one, regardless of the time periods and location? Such as how Hollywood Romans never speak with an Italian/Roman/Latin/etc... accent and might as well be the English in togas?
I'm trying to find it.
Edited by RedVikingopenNo Title Film
What's the trope about a director having a certain actor or group of actors in their films? Not Author Appeal
openNo Title Film
I just watched The Crazies (the 2010 version) and was a bit annoyed by the end. It reminded me of the end of 28WeeksLater, and I was wondering if there's a name for that trope, where it looks like the heroes finally escaped all of the horrors only to have brief hints (sometimes in or after the credits) that everything will get much, much worse.
Any other examples, by the way?
openNo Title Film
Is there a trope for the representation of hacking as moving through a Tron-like virtual realm? Case in point: some of the entries in this article
, specifically the ones pertaining to Hackers and Masterminds. Also, this scene
from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: Lagann-Hen.
openNo Title Film
The trope is about how the novel is always 'grittier' and more graphic than any adaptations.
I don't remember specific examples, but the page image showed a split comparison: "The Novel" on the left, "The Movie" on the right. On the left, the characters swore a lot, and on the right, the language was replaced with stuff like "gee willikers". Also, the art style on the left was much grungier than the right.

The good guy's got the Big Bad on the ropes. He's about to land the finishing blow. Just at the last crucial moment, though, the sidekick distracts him. In that moment, the Big Bad seizes the oppertunity and gravely wounds our hero, then makes a break for it.
Is there a trope for this?