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Adaptational Motive Change
A character's motives change from one adaptation of a work to another, though their endgoal remains the same.
For example, in Goldfinger (the book) Goldfinger's plan is to rob Fort Knox (and increase his gold stockpile), in Goldfinger (the movie) he plans to detonate a nuke inside the fort, irradiating the gold to make it unusable (and thus increasing the value of his own gold stockpile).
Molding into each other
When a duo(lovers, friends or family members) become more and more like each other the longer they've been together.
For example, a hardass and a sweetheart have been traveling together for quite some time now, and the hardass is slowing becoming more and more friendly and nice while the sweetheart start to be more stern and harsh.
They will almost never become the same personality, since as they slowing grown more alike, the less influence they will have on each other.
Edited by Andermann
Lab monkey makes a drug
A monkey in a lab gets loose and dumps a bunch of chemicals in a jar. (He'd been watching the scientist mix chemicals together.) The monkey winds up creating a drug that is basically a Fountain of Youth. What is this trope? Freak Lab Accident? Miraculous Malfunction? Nothing quite fits.
Diagetic retcon
Whenever plot or lore elements in a series change to a various degree based on in-universe influences.
Best example would be The Elder Scrolls, where critical elements of the lore are frequently invalidated by anomalies in the time-space continuum (dragon breaks) or change in-universe based on the interpretations of scholars and politics at the time.
"Go on through, I'm not fighting you."
Do we have a trope where the hero(es) encounter an enemy or boss they expect to have to fight their way past, but instead he stands aside and just lets them by? Like because they fought before and the enemy knows its a forgone conclusion? Or he's pissed at the Big Bad?
We have The Unfought but I was hoping there was a more specific one.
Edited by DracMonster
Deadly Message Live Action TV
A person or group sends a warning of impending danger, but it costs them their lives in the process — or at least some great sacrifice or damage. Like breaking your arm trying to warn someone about C’thulhu. Is there a trope that covers this?
Edited by KairezLightkeeper
Mistaken power
When some character's ability is mistaken for something else.
For example: A swordsman seemingly have the power to sever anything with their sword, when in reality they sever the connection between space itself while leaving the physical object untouched and able to be reattached later.
Edited by Andermann
Super All Along
Is there a trope for when a Badass Normal is later revealed to have had superpowers all along?
Edited by Galaxithea
Unknown, overarching big bad Live Action TV
Hi. I'm working on a screenplay for a movie, but it could end up turning into a TV show. I'm in the middle of a brainstorming process and looking at this site has been helpful to me, but I'm having issues finding what I'm looking for when it comes to the "big bad." What I'm currently inspired by is the first season of Stranger Things. Throughout at least the first chunk of season 1, the audience is unaware of what the big bad is. We have the concept of the Upside Down and there's an overarching theme of there BEING an evil, but we don't know what that evil is quite yet. We know that the Demagorgon has taken Will; it is an entity that exists, but we don't know what it is or what form it takes until it is revealed later in the show. I was looking for that kind of trope: evil is present and takes on some form that we are not aware of, but it is not visible as it acts. If anything, it's an overarching sense of dread that's lurking in the shadows. Is there a trope for this? Thanks.
Characters that aren't meant to be taken seriously
Among the cast of characters, one (or at least a few) of them are less "serious" than others, whether in temperament, personality, story importance, looks or even whole concept.
Do we have a trope like that? It could perhaps be a supertrope to several things like Comic Relief, which is more specific on how the character isn't taken seriously.
Hollywood Architecture
In television series and movies about espionage or escapes, the buildings are often designed to advance the plot (rather than realistically). For example — elevator shafts are one wall away from MacGuffin storage areas, prison cells, or targeted offices.
Is there a single trope for this, or are there multiple tropes?
Verbal Dilution
A type of Overly Long Gag where the longer it takes to describe something (often a job title), the less effective it is.
For example, Prime Minister > Prime Minister's Secretary > Assistant to the Prime Minister's Secretary >> Junior Deputy Under-Aide to the Assistant to the Prime Minister's Secretary.
Similarly, a politician announces that decisive action will be taken to correct a problem, in the form of creating a committee to consider the possibility of thinking about forming a research group tasked with getting around to organizing a referendum on whether or not they should look into fixing the original problem.
Edited by Chabal2
Freezing At Your Post
Do we have something for when a person, especially someone in a military post, an officer on a starship, etc. is given an order that conflicts with their logic, flight-or-fight instinct, emotions, etc. and causes them to essentially freeze up while their training to obey clashes with their misgivings? We have Deer in the Headlights, but it doesn't seem like it exactly fits...what I'm thinking of may be a Sister Trope to it.
What trope is this use of TreasureHunt, and what should that page disambig to?
What trope is this use of Treasure Hunt, and what should that page disambig to?
Treasure Map, Treasure Hunt Episode, or something else?
'Cause Treasure Hunt is currently a disambig, between two works, but no tropes.
Creator.Ivan Yefremov: The Italians' motivation in Razor's Edge, who plan to (illegally, or at least illicitly) prospect for diamonds on the shores of South Africa. They are also quite successful at that.
- At the Edge of Ecumene also features several, as well as real hunts.
Bored to death
Is there a trope for when someone is explaining too many things and takes to long that is driving the other person mad, sometimes even showing it has been going for too much time by having the second person as a skeleton?
Edited by ElBuenCuate
The Mona Lisa is Art
The Mona Lisa is used as a visual representation of the concept of art.
I’m dumb, not stupid
When a character is established as not so intelligent in term of knowledge, but is perfectly capable of putting information together on their own.
Approval for the wrong reasons
A situation somewhere between Right for the Wrong Reasons, Misaimed Fandom and Your Approval Fills Me with Shame where a character supports another's actions but for completely different (and often evil) reasons. The supported character's success in defending himself depends on whether the author supports those actions or not.
For example:
- Bob joins the military for perfectly respectable reasons (he wants to defend his country, he believes in the military's values, he's a good shot), but his Racist Grandma Alice congratulates Bob for volunteering to kill them dirty foreign [insert racial slur] before they can immigrate here.
- Alice is fighting for women's rights in a society that enforces Stay in the Kitchen. Bob the Blood Knight publicly approves of her actions, because he dreams of a future where Real Women Never Wear Dresses and fight just as well as men, leading to a Proud Warrior Race of constant warfare and Klingon Promotion (a far cry from Alice's vision of peace, equality and tolerance).
Systemic Gameplay Videogame
Basically what's described in this video
.
When a game's systems are completely intertwined (i.e. the complete opposite of self contained obstacles which only respond to one ability).
Edited by Bisected8
Do Not Kill The Golden Goose
Someone or something provides something extremely valuable... at a slow, steady rate. It could be an artist who creates beautiful works. It could be a scholar who dispenses rare wisdom. It could be a weapon that defeats any enemy. It could be an animal that produces Solid Gold Poop. But the result is always the same; someone greedy and/or stupid wants more valuables, and kills/destroys the source in the attempt.
This is one of Aesop's Fables — literally Older Than Feudalism — but I can't find a specific trope for it.
Edited by Kalaong
Retaining voice??
Do we have the trope where someone in someone else's body retains their normal voice?
Edited by pidget_spinner
Episode Title to Spin-off title? Live Action TV
Not sure what trope would fit for this example:
The Breaking Bad episode title Better Call Saul was later used for the Spin-Off series Better Call Saul.
I wasn't sure if Recycled Title fits that before adding that to the recap page, or if it's just Name's the Same, or another trope.
Edited by Merseyuser1
Heel-Fake Turn/Save The Hero
EXAMPLE: