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resolved Just want to participate / Just happy to be there
A character has no real motive to succeed at what they're doing in any noteworthy way (though they're pleased if they do); they just want to participate and are motivated primarily by being there and doing their best, not trying to win or otherwise get anything out of it other than the experience.
Primary example comes from Eddie the Eagle; Eddie is portrayed as just wanting to be in the Olympics, and is less concerned with actually winning. His goal is simply to be there for a single year and then ride off into the sunset. He does eventually decide to get serious and do the harder jump, but is initially resistant to the idea of aiming even higher than the bar he'd already set for himself and simply cares that he's made it in at all.
There's also Call Me Kevin's character Turg, who is characterized as a dopey, pathetic Nice Guy who doesn't care about the competition at all and is simply happy to be included even if he's chronically getting last place. It's repeatedly stated that Turg is simply happy to be there.
resolved Writing down the price
A character writes down a monetary amount and then shows the amount to another character, but the audience doesn't get to see or hear it.
Example #1:
Example #2:
I think creators do this so the work can be accessible to audiences with differing economic backgrounds. What might seem like a large annual salary to one person might not be worth getting excited about to another person. Also, different countries or regions might have a vastly different cost of living or even different currencies so they wouldn't understand the value of an actual quoted price. Also it is so the work won't be outdated as time goes on due to inflation and changing economy.
Edited by FerrousFaucetresolved No one makes an appointment to see this important character Live Action TV
OK, I've only seen this twice done serially, usually it's one offs. Basically, an important character like Da Chief, the leader of a faction or even an antagonist very regularly has other characters angrily storm into their office making demands or accusations. To the point it seems they either have no secretary, security, door locks, or simply have an "open door policy" that lets everyone in, no questions asked.
I first noticed it in Smallville where Lex had just about everyone do this to him. But more recently in Land of the Lustrous where the hero at least twice storms into the office of the head antagonist / frenemy during their explicit off hours to discuss things.
resolved Overwhelming visions Live Action TV
In this scene from The Expanse, Holden unlocks the Ring Station archives for the Investigator. In the process, he is treated to incredible visions of what happened to precursors who created the protomolecule. These visions cause Sensory Overload.
Is there a trope for visions like this?
Edited by ginsengaddictresolved Nobody Cares You Escaped the Inescapable Pit
This might actually be a bundle of tropes, but I've seen it in at least three separate places—enough for a draft at the trope launch pad!—and I don't think any of them influenced the others.
- The main character ends up at the bottom of a hole that's been hyped up as being really, really deep. Maybe other characters at the top say No One Could Survive/Escape That!, or other characters at the bottom tell you there's no way out, or we're shown that the fall is so long that the audience members are the ones saying it.
- The main character gets out.
- This is commented on all of once, max, and then forgotten.
I can't seem to find a trope for not-bottomless-but-inescapably-deep pits, never mind all this in conjunction. The last point would be Dude, Where's My Respect? if the main character were the one bringing it up, but in these three examples it's more of an audience reaction than a character one.
Edited by Kestrelguyresolved Haunted Game Simulator Videogame
A specific type of horror game that plays like you're the protagonist of a creepypasta. However, instead of simply Defictionalizing a haunted game as described in the creepypasta, these games are programmed to actually act as if they're haunted, in a The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You way, like closing and opening by themselves.
There's apparently a recent game called 98xx, which is presented as if you're using a PC from the late 90s, before it starts acting all creepypasta-y, even if it doesn't seem to have a Tv Tropes page. Aside from opening and closing automatically, players also have to find secret links in the game, that when searched on the internet will yield videos and pages, which tell more of the lore.
However, a more familiar example would be Imscared. This game also closes down automatically at some points, and goes even further by adding files on your PC, which contain the hints to progress in the game.
I haven't found anything specific in Video Game Genres, but I first wanted to ask here if the fourth-wall breaking/diegetic gameplay can be already covered by an existing trope.
resolved Hero Snaps Horribly
What trope is it when a character pushed to their limit snaps and loses all control, and it quickly becomes clear that this is unambiguously a bad thing for everyone near them? I'm pretty sure it's (at least usually) a subtrope of Unstoppable Rage, but that usually doesn't make the hero into the climactic threat that needs to be stopped.
edit: just realized I should clarify that I'm not talking about a Face–Heel Turn—if the character was heroic, they'll most likely go back to being heroic (albeit possibly traumatized depending on how things went) once they calm down.
Edited by Kestrelguyresolved Character who is not MasterOfIllusion casts a projected image spell
A character casts a Project Image type spell. In the example I'm looking at: Character casts a spell that can produce one or more opaque (not transparent) images of themselves at a desired point. The images reflect the caster's exact posture/stance at the time, but can be rotated. They are not solid images (if someone tried to touch one, their hand would go straight through) In reality, the caster is hiding safely behind the entryway of the adjacent room.
Character is not a "master of illusion" by any means— the spell is a very simple one in this work (basically equivalent to a 1st level spell)
If you need another example, see the "Mirror Shade" spell in Saga Frontier (though in this work it is an advanced level spell)
Edited by HyenaOfIceresolved Funny Cover Genre Change
Covering a song in a radically different genre for humor. For example, polka covers of pop songs, or rewriting a famous aria as a rap.
resolved Odd use of tools
Is there one for when somebody uses a tool for something quite different from its intended purpose, especially if the tool is highly complicated, and somebody uses it for something absurdly simple? For example:
- Amélie: Raymond Dufayel has a video camera, which he keeps focused on the clock on one of the shops outside, so that the time always shows on his television screen, and saves him having to wind up his clocks.
resolved Hero/Villain Tournement
Do we have a trope for when the heroes and villains, usually having formed a temporary truce for its duration, participate in a tournament, be it sports, fighting, cooking or something else along those lines, together?
resolved Immunity-Piercing Attack
Is there a trope for attacks or abilities that ignore some sort of immunity or resistance when it'd normally apply? Like Armor-Piercing Attack, but for things other than armor. Generic examples would include a spell that ignores magic resistance or an ability that lets you inflict critical damage on enemies that are immune to critical hits. A specific example is how the Dragon's Fury from Team Fortress 2 can set Pyros on fire even though they're normally immune to that.
resolved Divergent parody
Something that starts out as a parody/homage/deconstruction starts forming an identity of its own
resolved Your name, your name, MY NAME! gag
A gag where two people, often two people who dislike each other, greet each other by saying each other's names when they see each other, and then a third person excitedly butts in by saying their own name. I have seen this gag in The Owl House and I am pretty sure I have seen it in a few other places but I don't remember most of them anymore.
resolved I Meant That Literally
Somebody says something that sounds like a figure of speech, but then clarifies that they meant the literal interpretation. This is often provoked by another person's comment.
resolved Tempting Fate Exploitation Attempt
A character says something along the lines of When Pigs Fly or Tempting Fate. It happens right after they say it, and they immediately follow it up with a much more appealing wish which doesn't happen.
resolved Frightened bedmates
Two characters platonically share a bed because one of them, often a child, is scared and doesn't want to be alone. I'm sure I've seen this trope, but I can't find it now.
resolved Immediately Proven Right (SOLVED) Literature
A common gag in humor fiction is a character or the narrator saying one thing, and then another character proving them right, using the exact same phrasing. I've seen it a bunch of times. For instance:
- Narrator/character: Alice looked so hungry she could eat a horse!
- cut to Alice.
- Alice: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!
resolved Are you chicken?
Alex persuades Bob to do something - usually something unimportant, like going on a roller coaster - by accusing him of cowardice. Common among young boys.

An enemy has an attack the messes up the way your controls work. Example: in ToeJam & Earl there was some enemy (I forget what), with an attack that inverts your d-pad, so pressing the up key makes you go south instead of north, and vice versa.