Super-Trope



Some tropes can be pretty broad in scope, enough to cover one or more Sub Tropes under them.

Let's say you have tropes for "Scarf Juggling" and "Knife Juggling". Just plain "Juggling" would be the Super Trope for both of them.

In short, if you took every example of a super trope and combined with every example of its sub tropes, they would all count as examples of the super trope.

This is also important, as a Missing Supertrope can lead to people thinking a trope is broader than it is.

In logic terms, the Super Trope would be the genus, and the sub tropes the differentia.

Do not confuse this with different tropes simply having a common element. That is a standard index. Although a super trope can be an index if it has enough sub tropes.

Compare Sister Trope.

Not to be confused with The Same but More, Exaggerated Trope, Superhero Tropes.


 * Idiot Ball covers tropes like Hero Ball, Villain Ball, and Distress Ball. Conflict Ball isn't a Sub Trope, but a Sister Trope.
 * Chekhov's Gun covers quite a few tropes, as does its evil twin, Ass Pull, which covers tropes like Deus Ex Machina (an Ass Pull to resolve the story).
 * Bigger Is Better covers a... big collection of tropes.
 * Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty covers a number of tropes that are both Combat Tropes (like TTCMFD itself) and not necessarily related to combat. One of those second tropes, We Need a Distraction, is a Super Trope with a number of subtropes of its own.
 * Which makes Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty a Super Duper Trope, obviously.
 * Conflict is one of the most super of all tropes, given any story needs it in some form.
 * Characters is another.
 * So is Plot.
 * Show, Don't Tell covers tropes such as Informed Attribute and That Makes Me Feel Angry.
 * Badass can come in so many forms, because Badass is just too awesome to contain in one.
 * Shades of Conflict covers the various forms of morality vs. morality, from Black and White Morality to Grey and Gray Morality and everything in between.
 * Many of the Rule of Index tropes are super tropes.
 * Living a Double Life covers several tropes, notably Secret Identity, which in itself is a super trope.
 * Pink Means Feminine covers tropes such as Pink Girl, Blue Boy and Princesses Prefer Pink.
 * Ideal Hero covers pure-hearted heroes such as The Cape, Knight in Shining Armor, Captain Patriotic and The Messiah.
 * Appropriate Animal Attire covers all the animal clothing tropes.
 * Closer to Earth covers all tropes where minorities are there to inspire and prop up the White Male Lead, such as Women Are Wiser and Magical Negro.
 * The Face covers all ensemble characters whose speciality is social skills whether its as The Chick, The Social Expert, The Heart or Team Parent.
 * Screw the Rules, I Have Money

By the way, have you ever seen Super Trope and Trope Tan in the same place at the same time?