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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openWants to be proven wrong
A character eggs or encourages another person to defy/dispute their worldview with the hopes that they've beliefs/conclusions about the world are wrong.
Usually done by The Cynic.
Edited by IronAnimationopen"thorns" effect Videogame
A Status Buff that causes anybody that "makes contact" (via melee attacks) with the recipient of the buff to take damage, while not blocking the damage taken by itself, as if the recipient was covered in thorns or barbed wire. The buff's damage is typically fixed and can't be altered (which makes it differ from a Counter-Attack). Typically used by Stone Wall characters.
openThrow a stone at a window
Getting someones attention by throwing small stones at their window.
openChristmas without Jesus
People celebrate Christmas (not a stand in for holiday) in a setting where there is no Jesus.
- I remember The Nostalgia Critic making a joke about The Flintstones celebrating Christmas even though they predate the birth of Christ.
- When I was little I watched a cartoon that showed dinosaurs celebrating Christmas, despite predating humanity. And it wasn't some stand in, because they called it Christmas.
openThe experience machine dilemma
Anna and Bob just realized they are trapped in a Lotus-Eater Machine. They debate over whether they should try to break through the illusion, with Bob insisting that what they are experiencing isn't real, while Anna argues that the fake world will finally allow them to be happy. Ultimately, Bob decides to turn off the dream world, but Anna violently attacks him in response. Is there a trope that describes this specific form of conflict (especially Anna's mad desire to live in the dream world)? Or should I just describe the entire scenario as an example of Lotus-Eater Machine?
openUnwillingness to help oneself
A problem is depicted as being due in part or in whole as being due to people's unwillingness to act or have hope — for instance, a character is stuck in an unpleasant situation that they could leave if they tried or society faces broader problems that only or mainly require collected effort to fix, but people either don't feel that the effort of fixing things is worth it or don't think that their actions are capable of helping things.
openUsing a power against someone tied to that power?
Is there a general trope for "use X kind of power against person tied to X kind of power, and it has limited/no effect or makes them stronger?"
Specific example: The Lightning Strike, Harry Potter/MCU crossover. Harry has the Elder Wand and Invisibility Cloak, two of the Deathy Hallows, but both prove of limited effectiveness against Hela, since she's a Goddess of Death. The Killing Curse straight up empowers her to even more obnoxious levels.
opensuspenseful standoff switch
A situation where two factions meet to make a trade, either with a mix of weapons, money, people, and or maguffins in a way where someone from both sides has to walk the items/people in question to the other. It's when they both cross paths in the middle where the moment can get very tense.
openA certain kind of inconsistent translation Anime
SPY×FAMILY has a character that is only known by their title, referred to by this wiki as the "SSS Lieutenant." However, this title is inconsistently translated in official translations: while the anime's subtitling and dub calls him "First Lieutenant," which is a military rank in both the US and the Commonwealth for the IJA rank of Chuu'i in the original, the manga's official translation makes him a "Captain," partly due to length, and also presumably questioning how likely a First Lieutenant gets to be the commanding officer of a Second Lieutenant.
I don't think this counts as Inconsistent Spelling. But what does that count as?
openMisused, misapplied or misinterpreted tropes - meta commentary?
So I'm wondering if there's a meta-trope out there that describes when a creator appears to be clearly, deliberately aiming for a specific trope but has misunderstood how and why it works, so it fails or falls flat. I suspect if it's a thing it'd fall under YMMV but I'm genuinely curious.
E.g. the thing in works where someone from a marginalised background is excluded from their dream position purely due to societal prejudice. Their talents are recognised by the people in charge, and so they're offered the position...but with the proviso that officially someone from a more acceptable background gets the credit, causing the protagonist to tell them to shove the offer somewhere unspeakable.
The trope works because it's a stand against injustice and has the clear message that those in power don't get to have it both ways - either they publicly acknowledge that [women/black people/gays/Estonians] can do the thing, or lose out on their talents. It resonates because it's also something that's happened in real life plenty.
But then there's things like (the widely panned) Santa Inc, in which a major theme is Candy breaking the glass ceiling to become the next Santa. She faces a bunch of prejudice and difficulty due to being a Jewish woman, so far so standard.
At a certain point though, she is given The Offer, with the amendment that while she gets to be in charge, have all the power and do all the work she wants to do, someone else will be The Face. In response, she tells the current Santa to go fuck himself with that offer, as would be expected.
Except, the reason is because she's genuinely bad with kids and that's something of a deal breaker if you want to be Santa. It's not because she's Jewish, or because she's a woman, but because she's legitimately unsuited to (and uninterested in) that specific part of the role.
The writers framed it as the dramatic-stand-against-injustice-rejection, but it misses the mark because the actual reasoning was sound, and unrelated to the prejudice.
Anyway, it doesn't quite fit Dramatically Missing the Point or Comically Missing the Point (which has a no real world examples rule anyway), because it's not seemingly done for drama or comedy, it's just, well, creators missing the point when trying to invoke a trope.
So is there like a Meta Missing The Point? Or is it too general a concept, like, well, bad writing. Or it's a thing but it's too subjective where the line is between "writer failed to achieve goal" and "writer tried specific thing and didn't understand it".
openThe Johnny Fruin: only remembered because of a namecheck
Everyone knows the name of someone or something. This name is namechecked in some creative work. Soon after, the name's owner drops out of the news, causing everyone to forget the name. But the creative work stays around. Everyone newly discovering it asks who the person is.
Examples include Johnny Fruin, chair of the BPI (the British record industry trade association) who's mentioned in B.A.Robertson's 1978 song "Bang Bang", or Mary Bradley (Northern Ireland politician) who's mentioned in Jona Lewie's 1980 song "Stop the Cavalry".
open99% optional content Videogame
Any game where you can technically roll credits very quickly, but this is usually considered the "wrong" way to play.
openI should just be what everyone else expects me to be
Exactly What It Says on the Tin. I feel Then Let Me Be Evil isn't quite what I'm looking for.
openSeated dominance, to those standing
Is there one for where a dominant character makes a point of being seated, while their subordinates stand?
openDid you forget I was your boss?
I swear I saw this... a trope in which a boss is generally friendly with their subordinates, but they can turn stern and remind them that they are still the boss if needed.
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
openSpiteful Secret Sharing
Someone reveals another person's secret to mess with/cause trouble for them.
openBig meaningless battle / Hidden "real" battle Film
At the end of an eventful, epic adventure, thousands of good-guy soldiers meet thousands of bad-guy soldiers in a huge, epic battle that will invariably involve lots of rousing speeches, war cries, bravery, and a heroic sacrifice or two. It will feel like it should be the climax of the story, except . . . the outcome of this battle will have little or no effect on the war. Somewhere away from the action there is a smaller, hidden duel happening between the main hero and the main villain, and it is the outcome of THAT smaller fight — the REAL battle — that will determine the course of the story. The big showy battle doesn't really matter. In fact sometimes the good guys ultimately lose the big battle, but nevertheless everything is okay because the hero prevailed in the smaller fight.
Examples of this troupe include: Return of the Jedi, Willow, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
openMagic Suitcase Western Animation
classic cartoon scene where a character opens a suitcase and pulls out luggage that is bigger than the suitcase itself (or even hides in the suitcase).
I know Toon Physics or Artistic License – Physics, but is there a more specific one?

Do we have a trope for when games let you play an in-game musical instrument just for the flavor? Kind of like Baldur's Gate III and its selection of instruments.
Edited by Koveras