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:
openDetective Vision Videogame
Is there a trope for the game mechanic known as Detective Mode in the Batman: Arkham Series, Eagle Vision in Assassin's Creed, Instinct in Hitman, etc? I know we've got stuff like Aura Vision for the story equivalent, but the game mechanic is distinct enough that I'd be surprised if it doesn't have its own trope.
Edited by HighCrateopenMisinterpreted Sprite Videogame
Look at this artwork
of Agahnim from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The creator shows how he misinterpretated the headdress of Agahnim's sprite as a silly-looking head, while the character's actual head is just below that.
I haven't seen a trope like this, but I feel like there's a YMMV-worthy concept here. It's like the visual version of a Mondegreen. The closest I can think of is Unfortunate Character Design, but I don't think that really fits this.
Do we have this? Is it YMMV-worthy?
openUsing a theme backwards Videogame
What is the name of the trope where one track is based on another in reverse (i.e. Ballad of the Goddess is based on the Legend of Zelda Theme backwards). Often used for making creepy atmospheres, or just to be a cool Easter egg.
openVideo Game Open Door Policy Videogame
Is there a trope for how in certain video games (i.e. most of the Final Fantasy games), etc., you can simply walk in to anyone's home and they generally won't be the least bit concerned about it and will often chat happily with you?
openattack from other stat Videogame
Sometimes, in an rpg, an attack calculates damage not based on your attack stat, but some other stat, usually defense or speed. Example would be body press from pokemon. May not even be user's stat, like how foul play from pokemon uses opponent's attack stat instead.
openLow Health, Screen Turns Red Videogame
A trope where if you are low on health, the screen turns red and/or blood gets on the screen. Usually it starts at the edges and gets more intense and closer to the center the lower on health you are.
Edited by DromeoopenHealth above the max Videogame
Hiya, I’m new here. If I do anything wrong, please point it out!
I’m looking for a trope where a character’s health (or similar stat) is, after performing a certain action or consumming a specific item, boosted above their current maximum - but only until lost. I’m sure there’s something like this, but I haven’t found it yet.
Here’s a couple of examples:
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Sleeping in a soft bed will not only revitalize you, but also grant you one heart above your maximum health. Once lost, you can no longer regain it. Also applies to certain food items, which can temporarily grant a few extra hearts or stamina wheels.
- Undertale - Sleeping at Snowed Inn or MTT hotel will grant you HP over your current max.
- Super Mario Galaxy - There’s a mushroom which adds another health wheel, increasing your max HP from 3 to 6. It returns in the sequel.
openGravity Defying Descending Platform Videogame
In certain video game there are platforms that will slowly descend when you stand on it, and how are you going to stop its descent? Why keep jumping on it, of course.
openSave File Pathos Videogame
Where a game treats save files with a sort of emotional importance (i.e., asking if you're sure you want to delete one while making you feel sorry for it, or making the file representative of something like having it represent your town in animal crossing). It feels almost like a subcategory of Player Punch, though I'm not sure if it would quite fit. Not sure if this occurs often enough to be a trope, but I've seen a few examples of it.
openBackpack Grandpa Videogame
A character that is attached to the main character/vehicle, or floats above them (usually on the same side as the camera offset) and gives the player abilities and/or hints. Usually facing the camera or making "entertaining" quips/sounds/animations.
EG: Yoda, Clank(Ratchet & Clank), Navi(ocarina of time), Chumbucket (mad max game), Kazooie(Banjo Kazooie), Cappy (Mario Odyssey)
openBetter than at Launch Videogame
This is when a game starts out as a buggy mess or lacking in content but gets better as more patches are added.
openHerding Mission Videogame
Do we have a trope for the type of video game mission where you have to herd a group of creatures into a pen?
Examples:
openSurprise Cannibals Videogame
Is the idea of someone or a group of someones that seem nice enough but are actually cannibals tropeworthy? I'm emphasizing the seems nice and normal part in particular, since I feel like it appears weirdly often, like the St. John family in The Walking Dead: Season One or the house on Monarch in The Outer Worlds. Maybe a subtrope of Cannibal Clan?
Edited by jester99openSaying I shall return and reincarnating for real Videogame
I haven't been able to find a trope where someone says I shall comeback and gets reincarnated or resurrected.
openCanned Chat Videogame
Where there are multiple preset messages that can be used in a game, usually a lobby.
openCharacter-Creator Freak Videogame
The game's character creator lets you make &&&&ed up abominations.
- Street Fighter 6
- The Sims series
- Spore
- Fallout 4
- Souls Series
openVegetable bomb Videogame
I've noticed in two different video games the idea that you can grow explosive vegetables for use (Dodge That Anvil and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). In both games, as soon as you pick the veggie the fuse is lit, so the primary weakness of these home grown explosives is that there might not be one where you need an explosion. On the bright side, they don't deplete your bomb count. More standard explosives lets you set the fuse wherever you want. Is this concept prevalent enough to be a trope? If so, is it already one by some name that googling "vegetable bomb" doesn't return?
openWeekly new content Videogame
Do we have a trope for when games have a weekly update that adds additions like new scenarios and the like to it? Or something similar where small weekly content is added?
openCharacter(s) was Replaced by Another Character(s) Videogame
A single or pair of character(s) that were originally present in a video game were later replaced by a different character(s).
The specific example I'm thinking of is a tutorial character who showed off how a game mechanic worked then was later replaced by a completely different character who still preformed the same function. Any mention of the previous character was also replaced.

Example: In Who Framed Roger Rabbit there's a 1-800 number that you're supposed to call. As in actually call, using a landline or cell.