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.
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I'm having trouble with a writeup, so I'll just use an example.
In Avatar The Last Airbender, Momo is playing with some pebbles, but drops one. When he does, a Fire Nation warship in the distance fires its guns, but at the exact moment the pebble hits the ground. The gag is that it seems like Momo dropping the pebble caused the explosion, but it obviously didn't.
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Do we have a trope where let's say Bob is pretending to talk to someone Alice, even though that Alice isn't actually there? Bob isn't crazy, he's just trying to convince someone else that Alice really is there, to maintain a charade. I can think of two examples:
- In the first Toy Story, after Buzz goes insane and throws his dismembered arm at Woody, Woody has to convince the other toys that Buzz has come back. He hold's Buzz's arm behind a wall, as if Buzz was actually standing there and sticking his arm out, and then Woody holds both sides of the conversation.
- This also happens in Megamind. In the movie he has a disguise hologram that makes him look like a normal human. At one point, though, he's in a situation where he has to pretend to be both simultaneously. There's a "fight sequence" between the two, so Megamind end's up repeatedly switching back and forth between his normal appearance and the hologram, all while opening and closing a door over and over, to give the appearance that that two are fighting each other.
We should have this I think. If not, I'll do a YKTTW...?
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Something like "Broken Chain of Assumptions"
Character Tom makes assumptions about things using his own background and gets to A implies B which implies C which implies D. So Tom is now really sure that D is true. Later Tom discovers that A is false, and perhaps crosses B off his list, but doesn't bother to reconsider D until it's way too late.
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Is there a trope for the Inciting Incident?
http://www.vcu.edu/arts/playwriting/inciting.html
It's the thing that sets off the plot, and in more mythic setting is the Call to Adventure. But not all stories have a Call to Adventure, just something mundane happens that sets things in motion.
I've looked, but can't seem to find it.
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What do you call that person who knows that s/he's batshit insane/has anger issues/is generally not the most mentally stable of characters, but s/he hides it for whatever reason?
It's not Stepford Smiler, and I remember something vaguely about the edge of a volcano or something.
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What's the trope for people who are so into their jobs that they basically cringe away from having a social life. Usually use phrases like, 'I don't have time for this...' and stuff? Note, they need not stay aloof, but they have to show a lack of interest in the people around them.
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Is there a trope for outlandish shows (mostly shows-within-shows) (often talk-shows) which concern the supernatural and mysterious, but usually in a cheap, no-research-necessary, overdramatic, please-we-need-ratings way?
Examples: Mysterious Mysteries of Strange Mystery from Invader Zim A show in Animorphs #40
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Do we have a trope for a secret test of character that is actually not a setup at all? As in, a character percieved as a ruffian by the rest makes a noble choice that makes other character(s) change their mind about him or her. Not heel face turn, since the character was known to the audience be like that all along.
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Characters have entered an Alternate Reality that resembles their own, but differs in some way not immediately apparent. Just as they start to get comfortable and think they're home, one or more of them discovers something doesn't match — the Golden Gate Bridge is the wrong color, say (Sliders) — and they realize it's only a close parallel to their world of origin. There are trope names for the world and the resulting dilemma, but is there a name for the actual feature (landmark, person, historical fact, etc) that clues them to the situation?
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Looking for a trope of the following.
So a character is about to die. The cause of death is usually either he is alone and is about to face off against an entire army of enemies or he is about to attempt one last suicidal attack against one very strong enemy. As he charges the screen suddenly changes to another sceen away from the battle, which are either:
birds on a tree suddenly flying away, an item in his house falling over, a picture frame of him falling off and breaking, usually when the character's lover or relative is present to see it.
signifying that the character has fallen. We don't see the killing blow but generally at this point his lover or relative or friend at this point senses that something bad has happened.
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A joke where, in a story set after 2000 (or 2001) one character refers to "The turn of the century" (meaning the 1890s), and another character assumes they mean the 1990s.
Examples:
- In Martin Mystery, Diana described the clothes on a body as being "From the turn of the century." to which Martin responded "He's from 1999?"
- In an early issue of Runaways, a vampire says he was born "around the turn of the century", to which Nico asks "You're four?"
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Is there a trope for a GPS/sat-nav system that seems self-aware and has a conversation/argument with the driver?
You tend to see this one in commercials, with the GPS trying to talk the driver into going somewhere else, or becoming sentient in response to something the driver is eating or drinking.
Not quite a Talking Car or Cool Car, but it does often convey the impression the car itself is trying to persuade the driver to do something.
Edit: I see a similar YKTTW here - https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=3yuo14825bkdm20c74htmekw

Do we have trope for muggle rival love interests to the Magical Girl/Boyfriend?
I'm thinking of examples like Inu Yasha, where there is a muggle boy that is interested in Kagome and keeps trying to go out with her, but Kagome's confused feelings toward Inu Yasha and the time she spends in the past prevent the relationship from developing.