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openLicking the napkin Western Animation
Someone (usually an overprotective mom) will notice some dirt on the kid's face, pull out a napkin, lick it, and apply it to the kid's face to clean it.
open"What do I pay you for?" "You don't even pay me." Western Animation
I've seen this happen twice at least, so I'm hoping it's a trope or a trope-worthy idea. Basically someone (usually with authority) makes a remark regarding someone's (a subordinate typically) pay, but it turns out the fella doesn't get paid anyway.
First example from BoBoiBoy: Adu Du tells Probe to zip it if he didn't want his wages deducted, to which Probe replies that he doesn't even get paid. (Makes sense since Probe is a Robot Buddy)
Then I recalled in Hotel Transylvania where Dracula yells "What do I pay you for?" at a knight for letting Quasimodo get away. Once Drac leaves the room, the knight pops his head back in the doorway to remark that he doesn't pay him.
Edit: Just adding that I looked through the latter's examples and came up blank. I'll still keep looking though.
Edited by BlackFaithStaropen"The Functional Family" Western Animation
i.e. a family that seems to have it all together and is free from the kinds of emotional conflicts that plague a protagonist and their family.
examples: The Simpsons: The Flanders are often shown to be much more closely knit and emotionall available than Homer is with his family. Mitchells vs the Machines: A Running Gag involves a family who Linda follows online that is always shown to be much more stable and loving than the main family much to her envy.
Edited by IkeaHanopenTurnaround First Movements Western Animation
Hooray (not really, but still)! Bob and The Other Bob have figured out how to acidentally turn something into an Animate Inanimate Object. There is a quick Explosion Birth and the AIO doesn't seem that animate at first... Until it turns around, left and right, not knowing how to get up. "So that's how babies are made?", says The Other Bob (as a punchline.) Example: https://youtu.be/InAi4kLKtGw?t=209
openRunning Down the Hills Ending Western Animation
(I hope I'm describing this right)
A visual shorthand in cartoons - there are three hills as part of the scenery. Something or someone is moving away from the action, and is shown going down the three hills, the figure diminishing in size and going on a different direction over each othe hills.
For bonus points, when the character is at its smallest, on top of the last hill, an Iris Out fade centers on it.
openWhat is this "fun" you speak of? Western Animation
So I'm aware that there's more broad tropes for out of the loop characters that don't understand the basics of human interaction. What I'd like to know is if there's one specifically for characters, especially reformed villains and otherworldly creatures, not knowing about what fun is specifically, especially if they loosely say the line in the title. I feel like I've heard this a ton in kids shows to the point at which it may be deserving of recognition as a trope.
openParent hunts creature not knowing it is their child Western Animation
My roommate watched Wolfwalkers and asked me to find this trope. In the movie, the dad is hunting wolves and he doesn’t know one of the wolves is his daughter. This creates dramatic tension because she knows that’s her father, and he wouldn’t hurt her normally.
The formula of this trope is “kid is turned into something else” + “parent hunts that thing” + “the transformation makes parent unable to recognize their kid.”
Any ideas? TY!
openFast knife-cutting skills Western Animation
A person/character cuts something in half with a knife, in an unusually quick way, without getting injured, as far as I'm aware. I think I remember seeing this trope in "The Princess and the Frog".
Might also apply to films, I don't know.
Edited by FurretFunnyopenCharacter on a dinner plate gag Western Animation
A cartoon gag where the victim is typically sitting on a dinner platter, often on all fours, usually surrounded by greens and/or with an apple in their mouth.
openIs there a trope for this? Western Animation
—- Unmarked spoilers below—- skip if you haven't yet seen Ciao Alberto and want to.
Yesterday, Disney+ dropped the short Ciao Alberto which covers Alberto's adventures in Portorosso after Luca leaves with Giulia for Genova.
The emotional crux of the story is that Alberto is coming to see Massimo as his Parental Substitute culminating in the Wham Line where he calls him "Dad".
Throughout the short, Alberto keeps saying how he wants to show how valuable he is to Massimo as an "employee" and make him proud. By the end of the short, it's apparent that he has always meant "son".'
Is there a trope that captures this scenario for when a character intentionally uses the wrong word to describe themselves? And by "wrong" I mean less emotionally intense, at least until the reveal.
Edited by rva98014openDust cloud remains post zooming away Western Animation
A character flees with such speed, that only a cloud of dust remains behind momentarily. Usually in the shape of the character.
Edited by PirakavezonopenGas Station Sushi Western Animation
Is there a trope for perishable food bought at a gas station being unsanitary and leading to disease?
openCharacter deliberately injures himself to see hot nurse again and again Western Animation
That sort of scenario, or character deliberately sets something on fire in order to see that very hunky, very sexy fireman at least once more.
openBored Reading Western Animation
Is there a trope for when a character starts reading a book or magazine out of boredom?
openLosing one part of a pair Western Animation
Is there a trope for when a character uses a pair of weapons, one of which is guaranteed to be lost eventually? For example in TMNT, Leonardo uses two swords, but one of them is gonna be dropped or lost mid-battle. In Arcane, Vi is known for a pair of gauntlets but one gets broken.
openCloudcukoolander RealityWarper Western Animation
So, I thought we had something on this, but I can't find it. It's where The Ditz Cloudcuckoolander is effectively a Reality Warper, but only for themselves, and whenever someone else tries to do the same thing, Reality Ensues, due to Rule of Funny.
Like, an example I just saw was where the Cloudcuckoolander accidentally dropped something in lava, so jumped in, fished it out, and jumped out. Both were fine. When the Cloudcuckoolander's Minder was confused and touched the lava, he got burnt.
Edited by AdmiralMemoopenAwful Roommates Montage Western Animation
A montage of situations showing two roommates do not get along, often in the form of a sequence of days.
openLiteral speech bubbles? Western Animation
Is there a trope for characters immersed in a body of water talking into an air bubble that produces audible speech when the bubble surfaces? Maybe this is too specific (and sounds utterly ridiculous!), but for some reason I feel like this is a common gag. Here is an example from The Amazing World of Gumball S 6 E 27 "The Awareness". https://youtu.be/kyj7N9zQWSU?t=207
open"Shut it down! Shut it all down!" Western Animation
In American Dad episode "Familyland," Roy Family tells his employee to "shut it down, shut it all down." And then we see buttons labeled "shut it down," "shut it all down," and "shut it down, shut it all down." Is there a trope for that sort of comedic visual?

A character in an adaptation that is based on a class/rank/species/etc. of characters in the original. In other words, in the original X is a type of Y, in the adaptation, X is a particular member of Y.
Krusha and Klump of Donkey Kong Country are based on the enemies of the same name from the game of the same name.
In the games, they are a type of enemy, a rank/species/something, the important thing is there's more than one klump, and more than 1 krusha.
In the show, General Klump and Krusha are the only klumps and krushas, and judging by how Kaptain Skurvy is General Klump's brother, it seems that in the cartoon, Klump and Krusha are just the names of the two rather than a type of Kremling.
Same thing applies to Grounder in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Edited by Dromeo