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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openMadness/Berserk Videogame
The status effect in video games that makes characters act uncontrollably, attacking enemy and ally alike.
openCapitalized Creature Names Videogame
In English, words like "bear" and "cow" and even less basic terms like "zebra danio" or "spotted lanternfly" and whatnot are not capitalized, unless they contain proper nouns like "American black bear" or "Cooper's hawk".
However, in at least three franchises, Pokémon, Monster Hunter, and Plants vs. Zombies the titual creatures are capitalized as if they're proper nouns.
ex:
"The flame on its tail shows the strength of its life-force. If Charmander is weak, the flame also burns weakly."- Scarlet and Violet
"Wobbuffet does nothing but endure attacks—it won't attack on its own. However, it won't endure an attack on its tail. When that happens, the Pokémon will try to take the foe with it using Destiny Bond."- Alpha Sapphire
"The Doshaguma! They're in the village!" - MH Wilds
"Alpha monsters that lead Velociprey packs. Larger than their brothers and with a more prominent crest, Velocidrome use their strong hind legs to leap at prey, pinning them with sharp claws before calling for others."- Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
" Why'd I put a Wall-nut in your hand?"- PVZ 1
"Bounce a Zombie, and it gets +3/+3."- PVZ Heroes
Edited by DromeoopenFanservice Monster Videogame
An enemy in a video game designed in the same way as the others, but with some noticeable female features. They're not just Monster Girls, but monsters who happen to be girls, seemingly made for the sake of Fanservice. The only games where I know this happens are Toukiden and God Eater: Oni and Aragami probably don't have a biological gender, but some of them look like human females and still have monstrous features like horns and claws (and in the case of God Eater, massive lower bodies
).
openBorrowed Signature Move? Videogame
We know about Borrowed Catchphrase, and Got Me Doing It, but is there such thing as a borrowed signature move? Or is that a case of Uniqueness Decay?
Edited by SleepingStarAikunoopenGameplay trope: One entity representing a horde Videogame
Magic: The Gathering: It has Amass keyword, which basically grows an Army of Mooks, represented in-game as a single, ever-growing Army creature.
Possible tropes: The Dividual, The Worm That Walks, I Am Legion.
Edited by Exaskliriopenloot tease Videogame
When a game makes (usually a rpg) makes you think you're gonna get loot, but it turns out you don't, such as a boss with no loot (in a game where bosses in the normally do), or a treasure chest that's actually empty.
openAbsolved of Responsibilities/Who gets to be a hero? Videogame
Basically, when a story introduces a society as bad and unjust, but inevitably does nothing with because of an (assumed) larger threat. The "bad and unjust" part is usually described by either the protagonists observing how the society treats its citizens, or by a citizen of said society who feels the impacts directly. The "because of a larger threat" is usually just that, or that the society is willing to align with the heroes only to put a stop to the evil threatening the entire world. This leads to a society that a work has deemed as "bad" and "needs fixing" becoming heroes because they fought against the larger "evil" force, and therefore no longer need to address the issues within their society (or at least, the narrative does not deem it important enough to show improvements to said society). In other words, an "evil" society becomes revered solely for standing against the bad guy.
Edited by shamciaropenAbility that hurts more than it helps Videogame
A perk or upgrade that, on paper, sounds like it would be advantageous. In practice, though, it ends up as more of a hinderance than anything else.
openCodename title to avoid spoilers Videogame
In Plants vs. Zombies 2: Reflourished, there is an Epic Realm called Assault Airspace, based on Sky City from PVZ 2 China.
Assault Airspace is an Ascended Meme of sorts, with Sky City being often requested to be ported over, but because they wouldn't be able to port the code, they'd need to recreate everything and so the devs said it couldn't be made. And the name comes from a joke fake thumbnail by one of the devs on the Discord server. Come the invasion update, and "airplane mode" is added. "Airplane mode" is actually a little nickname for Assault Airspace, to not spoil the surprise.
openAscendedFanon or ShoutOut Videogame
Plants vs. Zombies 2: Reflourished, a mod of Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time, mentioned an unseen character by the name of Jeremy in its latest Thymed Event, which has been confirmed to be a reference to a Fanfic on Archive of Our Own. (its noted the work itself hasn't been canonized, but both the fanfic and the Thymed Event have a zombie called Jeremy who works for ZCorp that Miss Information knows.)
Not sure if a single character from a single fanfic that afaik isn't super well known counts as Fanon.
Edited by DromeoopenThe Revolution Will Be Commercialized Videogame
So there's plenty of MegaCorp tropes, but here I'm thinking specifically of cases where corporations unexpectedly play the role of underdogs, or feign underdog status, in a conflict against a (stronger) government of a state.
Planet Side and Planet Side 2 exemplifies this concept with the New Conglomerate (https://www.planetside2.com/empires?empire=nc)
, who while they do include freedom-loving small-timer folks against the big bad militaristic Terran Republic, are also mostly backed by greedy corporations who seek to throw off the Republic's control to entrench the wealth of the planet.
To a lesser degree, the much more obscure 2000 space trader/combat/flight sim Terminus (https://www.myabandonware.com/game/terminus-c5n)
has a plucky Mars Consortium against the United Earth League... but instead of being exploited workers like in Red Faction, the Consortium (as per the instruction manual linked to the page) "was established in 2158 by the Martian Mining Corps and other companies operating on Mars. The new organization was planned as a way to protect the economic interests of Martian businesses and to eliminate the infighting between competitors that had gone on since the first days of the planet's colonization." and "The economic boom which followed completion of the Sol Gate Network has benefitted the Consortium enormously. They have plowed large portions of their new wealth into developing their armed forces and their presence in space."
Star Craft is also worth mentioning, with the Kel-Morian Combine (https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Kel-Morian_Combine)
being a "shady, corrupt corporate partnership" who backs the underdog guilds against the Terran Confederacy but also crushes miner revolts with Goliath walkers and "also banded together in order to maximize their ability to drain the resources from the numerous worlds within the Koprulu sector." Yet, the Combine is coded as salt-of-the-earth workers, or at least their military characters (rippers) are depicted as such?
Does Killzone also count? I'm not sure how the Helghast went from a colonization company into a ultranationalist posthuman race, did the corporate leaders back the rebellion or was it folded into the Helghan state?
Submarine Titans (https://www.myabandonware.com/game/submarine-titans-bea)
has a rather goofy version of this where, as per the backstory timeline,
> 2038 Ecological organizations receive massive funding increases. Effective marketing campaigns focused on their activities to protect and preserve life on Earth strike a chord with the panicked population. The major environmental organizations buy ailing major corporations and form a conglomerate with business interests that crosses all spheres. Eco Octopus, as the hybrid organization becomes known, begins following ecologically driven business strategies and experiences a sales boom as consumers feel that ‘someone is doing something’ about the crisis.
That later evolves into the Black Octopi faction by present day 2115, against the U.N. military-descended White Sharks. So it's a corporate faction, but also an environmentalist one. Alrighty.
I would go further, with more examples from obscure early '00s PC games, but I just wanted to point out that something like Gigacorp vs. Iron Coalition from Allegiance (2000) or Tri-Tachyon vs. Hegemony from Starsector isn't what I'm talking about (the Submarine Titans one might not count either): these are examples where after a civilizational collapse/calamity of some kind, a surviving megacorp is able to take on the militaristic remnant state government. So it's a conflict between polities on par with one another. As opposed to some kind of frontier war of independence undertaken by corporations trying to pass themselves off as the little guy.
Oh, and of course the Star Wars prequels do this, with the Separatists consisting mostly of megacorps! I just realized that might be the best example of this!
This would also be a sub-trope of The War of Earthly Aggression, except the revolters are (most likely) not The Moon is a Harsh Mistress-style prospectors, though amusingly in that story because they are libertarians they probably would also be for big business.
Anyway, the idea of corporations claiming to be oppressed and rebelling is just amusing. Economically-speaking, I'm not sure if it'll even make sense. War against the government is not good business. And you might have to do the unprofitable work of governing if you win.
Edited by StrategosRiskopenSilver Lining Side Effect Videogame
A status debuff or "negative" ability comes with a positive side effect.
openAutomatic Training Videogame
The game has an option that automatically trains/levels up the character for you. You can put the game down and check on it later (in a couple of hours or so) once enough time has passed and the character has gained some EXP.
Edited by SleepingStarAikunoopenMinimal singleplayer mode Videogame
An inversion of Misbegotten Multiplayer Mode - a game that is by all means meant to be played in multiplayer mode, but has a halfhearted singleplayer option tacked on (in extreme cases it may not be more than an extended tutorial), so that it can't be accused of being online-exclusive.
Do we have this one?
openDesign and mechanic integration Videogame
Is there a trope for when a character design changes due to their mechanics?
For example:
- Linzer Cookie's skill has her gain deduction stacks instead of attacking. This is visually indicated by the number of scribbles that surround her.
- Buttermilk Cookie enters Hour of Reckoning state after using his special skill. While in that state, his halo becomes jagged and black.
openBroadcast Version of Newspaper Backstory? Videogame
I’m looking for a version of Newspaper Backstory where the exposition is given by a television news reporter, not a newspaper. Like a reporter in episode one of Dispatch explaining the history of the superhero Mecha Man.
openRepower shuffling Videogame
In a game that has a temporary depowering sequence, or when the sequel starts with a complete depowering of the player's abilities. While the end result of the available powers is mostly the same, The repowering section is in a significantly different order. This often leads to unique challenges due to lacking something you've come to take for granted.
Eg. Supraland Crash begins with taking away all your equipment from the original campaign, including your basic sword, leaving you with only stomp boots to attack enemies and solve puzzles.
In the Void Stranger EX campaign, you collect the relics in reverse order.

You get bonuses if you finish a level as efficiently as possible.