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Category:Tropes of Legend: Difference between revisions
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''These'' are the tropes our forefathers gave their lives to defend.
''These'' are the tropes we use and take for granted every day, oblivious to their true significance.
''These''... are the
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'''Note:''' All The Tropes apologizes for the lack of autoplaying music from the web page. For optimum viewing experience, hum "[[Also Sprach Zarathustra|Thus Spoke Zarathustra]]" while reading below.<ref>Alternately Or open [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWnmCu3U09w&feature=related this] in a new tab, if you're too lazy to hum.</ref>▼
▲'''Note:''' All The Tropes apologizes for the lack of autoplaying music from the web page. For optimum viewing experience,
Here is a list of the most widely-known and oft-referenced [[Trope|tropes]] we have on this entire site. If you're new to All The Tropes, this list will provide a good basis for understanding our... erm... [[All the Tropes Will Ruin Your Vocabulary|unique vocabulary]].▼
▲Here is a list of the most widely-known and oft-referenced [[
On the other hand, if you're a veteran [[Troper]] and you still aren't familiar with all of these entries, this list might prove to be quite informative. ▼
▲On the other hand, if you're a veteran [[Troper]] and you still aren't familiar with all of these entries, this list might prove to be quite informative.
Most of the individual mediums have their own special vocabularies and tropes -- see those sections for details. A few examples from each ([[Heel Face Turn]], [[Mary Sue]], etc.) have propagated beyond their home subcultures.
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'''Alphabetical order, please.'''
''Please see the [[Category Talk:Tropes of Legend|discussion page]] before adding new entries.''
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* [[Author Appeal]]: Inclusion of story elements partly or totally because they relate to some interest, fetish, or kink of the author's.
* [[Ax Crazy]]: A character who is psychologically unstable and clearly a danger to others.
* [[Back
* [[Badass]]: A character capable of amazing (if not unbelievable) feats - usually used in reference to combat ability.
** [[Badass Normal]]: A Badass without superpowers or magic in a world where these exist.
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* [[Bishonen]]: A pretty boy from anime/manga.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]]: An ending that mixes happiness and sadness, such as victory at a high cost.
* [[Black Comedy]]: Comedy based on tasteless jokes.
* [[Blatant Lies]]: Obvious untruths. [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]].
* [[Body Horror]]: Someone's body is mutating into something horrible.
* [[Brainwashed]]: A character is hypnotized into doing something against their will, but that something isn't necessarily violent.
* [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]: A character is hypnotized into attacking or destroying someone or something against their will.
* [[Break the Cutie]]: A sweet, lovable character is put through hell.
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* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: A completely one-sided fight.
* [[Darker and Edgier]]: The tendency of shows to try to give themselves a new feel that is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|darker and edgier.]] Usually involves trying to add more angst, more violence, more rage from the characters, and [[Hollywood Darkness|less lighting]].
* [[Dead Horse Trope]]: A trope that has been so overdone, analyzed, and mocked that its different varieties or parodies have had to be classified and given names. Most clichés are simply [[Discredited Trope
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: A very sarcastic character.
* [[Deal with the Devil]]: A character trading their soul or a similar substitute in exchange for benefits.
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* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: Repetitive repetition.
* [[Determinator]]: A character who '''never''' gives up.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: An unlikely or poorly-written element inserted into the story to specifically fix a narrative problem.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: Anything in fiction that is impossible or inaccurate (whether spoken, done, or shown) largely because the makers of the fiction didn't bother to do any fact-checking or [[They Just Didn't Care|didn't feel it mattered if it were true.]]
* [[Disproportionate Retribution]]: When a character pulls a slight offense to another, and the other plots a revenge taken [[Up to Eleven]].
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* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: Is this suggestive of anything else other than what it actually is? And by that, we generally mean something sexual.
* [[Downer Ending]]: No happy ending - [[Kill'Em All|everyone dies]] or at least lives on unhappily.
* [[The Dragon]]: A character which represents and embodies the brute strength of the bad guy's evil ambitions, often serving as his right-hand man, personal bodyguard or 2nd-in-command.
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Events lead a character to kill themself.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: [[Starfish Aliens|Incomprehensible aliens]] or demons from beyond, like Cthulhu.
* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: Civilization or life ([[
* [[Epileptic Trees]]: [[Wild Mass Guessing|Wild, off-the-wall fan theories and speculation]] about a show's murkier plot points and characterizations.
** [[Jossed]]: The [[Word of God]] shoots the theories down.
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* [[Fan Nickname]]: A name given to a character by fan communities.
* [[Fan Service]]: Material added to please the fans. Traditionally, this meant anything a casual viewer might not get, but now almost always means titillating or sexual content.
** [[Ms. Fanservice]]: A female character whose business is [[Fan Service]].
* [[Faux Symbolism]]: Inclusion of various unnecessary religious, philosophical, and historical allusions with the purpose of lending an air of sophistication to a work.
* [[Finagle's Law]]: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Due to itself, often mis-attributed as "Murphy's Law."
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** [[Genre Savvy]]: The opposite of the above; a character has an understanding of tropes relevant to their situation and uses their genre knowledge to their advantage.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: The act of sneaking seemingly obscene or vulgar material past network censors.
* [[Gilligan Cut]]: A character protests vehemently against doing something crazy and absurd, and the very next scene has the character doing just that. The very first trope on the wiki.
* [[A God Am I]]: A delusion where someone thinks to be Godhood/Universal ruler.
* [[Hand Wave]]: A brief explanation is offered that isn't actually an explanation, but gets the question out of the way so the story can work.
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** [[Face Heel Turn]]: The opposite; a character switching sides from good to bad.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: Some horrible event shocks the hero and makes him incapable of anything for a while.
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Character makes a great sacrifice to save others.
* [[
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: That actor looks familiar...
* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: That voice sounds familiar...
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* [[Justified Trope]]: The work offers an explanation for the use of an otherwise illogical trope; can be anything from a [[Hand Wave]] to a perfectly reasonable explanation.
* [[Karma Houdini]]: A villain who gets off scot-free.
* [[Kick the Dog]]: An act done or statement made by a character in order to garner hate from the audience and illustrate their unlikable inner nature.
** [[Pet the Dog]]: A kind act reveals that an outwardly mean character is tender and caring inside.
** [[Moral Event Horizon]]: A deed so cruel, evil, and despicable that it irrevocably damns the character in the eyes of the audience.
* [[Killed Off for Real]]: A character dies and doesn't come back.
* [[Knight Templar]]: A character convinced of his own righteousness even when [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|crossing the line]] and committing villainous deeds.
* [[If You Know What I Mean]]: A character pointing out that he's saying a [[Double Entendre]].
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* [[Love Triangle]]: A relationship involving more than two people ([[Love Dodecahedron|sometimes as many as it can]]). [[Triang Relations|Can take many forms.]]
* [[MacGuffin]]: A physical object, the pursuit of which drives the plot; but the purpose of the object is irrelevant to the plot.
* [[Mad Scientist]]: A character who exploits science for fun and profit.
* [[Magic A Is Magic A]]: The "Rules of the World", a set of rules and themes that make the whole universe believable as long as they're consistent. Breaking them can destroy the audience's willingness to accept the story.
* [[Masquerade]]: Weird things exist, but for some reason have to be hidden from the general public. The story thus takes place in "the real world", but with a supernatural undercurrent.
* [[Meaningful Name]]: A name with a deeper meaning, which is no coincidence.
* [[Memetic Mutation]]: Things (usually phrases) that are repeated and parodied everywhere, to the point where they become fads. Mutation comes in when the aspect being repeated is not representative of the series or character as a whole.
* [[Mind Rape]]: A mental trauma to the point where it's similar to rape.
* [[Mind Screw]]: A confusing plot so wrought with symbolism and psychological drama that it's hard to say for sure what actually happened.
* [[Moe]]: A form of adorable cuteness.
* [[Mood Whiplash]]: If a story has intense mood swings.
* [[Mooks]]: Minions. The enemy's weak, nameless foot soldiers who exist to be defeated ''en masse'' by the heroes.
* [[More Dakka]]: Firing far, far more bullets than are actually necessary.
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* [[Played for Laughs]]: Using a (usually non-comedic) trope for comedy.
* [[The Power of Love]]: When love makes some supernatural plot event happen.
* [[Punctuated!
* [[Recycled in Space]]: A familiar story, premise, or cast placed into a different (often fantastical or bizarre) context.
* [[Redemption Quest]]: The [[
* [[Red Shirt|Redshirts]]: The expendable, anonymous foot soldiers whose only purpose is to add emotional gravity to the story by being casualties in battle. Frequently killed off to show that a situation is dangerous without having to put one of the main characters at risk.
* [[Refuge in Audacity]]: So over-the-top and/or bizarre that it can't be considered offensive.
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* [[Sarcasm Mode]]: Marking online text to indicate sarcasm.
* [[Saving the World]]: The fate of the entire known world hangs in the balance, with the protagonists on one side and [[Take Over the World|World Domination]] (or [[The End of the World as We Know It|Destruction]]) on the other.
* [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money]]: When a character can screw the rules because he has a lot of money.
* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: A villain/evil force is locked away to prevent his escape. Usually breaks free.
* [[Sequelitis]]: The unfortunately common occurrence that a sequel fails to live up to its predecessor.
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* [[Story Arc]]: A series of stories which gradually moves a greater story along.
* [[Sub-Trope]]: A more specialized form of another trope, but which is distinct enough to be its own trope.
* [[Subverted Trope]]: A story sets up a trope to happen and then yanks the rug out from under the audience by doing something with it that is different from their expectations. (Often referred to as "subverted" or "a subversion".)
* [[Take That]]: Whenever a work of fiction knocks something not liked by the author.
* [[Techno Babble]]: Complex or intelligent-sounding explanations meant to convey the appearance of technical depth to the story universe, but doesn't have to make any sense whatsoever.
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* [[Title Drop]]: When the name of a work is spoken only once within the work, but in a particularly epic fashion.
* [[Too Dumb to Live]]: The character who puts life and limb at risk by doing things that no sane human being would do.
* [[Took a Level
* [[True Companions]]: Friends as close as family, and just as protective.
* [[Truth in Television]]: When a trope turns out to have a counterpart in [[Real Life]].
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** [[Awesome Music (Sugar Wiki)|Awesome Music]]
** [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|Funny Moments]]: All the scenes that were just flat-out hilarious.
** [[
* [[Accidental Nightmare Fuel]]: Things in media that scare people even though they were never meant to.
* [[Alternative Character Interpretation]]: Essentially, [[Wild Mass Guessing]] over a character.
* [[Anvilicious]]: [[An Aesop]] so lacking in subtlety it's like being [[Anvil on Head|hit over the head with an anvil]].
* [[Ass Pull]]: When a story element is introduced with no buildup - it's basically pulled out the writer's ass.
* [[Bellisario's Maxim]]: "We could fill in all the [[Plot Hole|plot holes]], but that would take too much time."
* [[Better Than It Sounds]]: The premise is [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?|ridiculous]] (especially if you take it at face value), but the work is great.
* [[Canon Discontinuity]]: When something is declared null and void by the authors themselves.
** [[Fanon Discontinuity]]: When something that is canon is, for some reason - usually for being bad, out of place, or stupid - ignored by a large portion of the fandom.
* [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Like]]: This is a big no-no here. Not that you can't voice your grievances about shows you don't like, but don't suggest a trope solely for this purpose - we already have a few designated places for that.
* [[Complete Monster]]: A horrifically evil and cruel villain, a villain completely beyond redemption, worthy only of a truly deserving [[Karmic Death]], a [[Fate Worse Than Death]], a ''supreme'' asskicking, or a very thorough [[Humiliation Conga]].
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* [[Headscratchers]]: The place in the wiki to go if you want to discuss plot elements that make no sense to you.
* [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]: Later events make something funny, or even funnier.
* [[Jumping the Shark]]: A specific event or point in time at which an ongoing work begins to decline in quality or creativity.
** [[Growing the Beard]]: The opposite; the point where a show starts getting better.
* [[Justifying Edit]]: An attempt by a wiki editor to justify the use of a trope.
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* [[Tear Jerker]]: A moment in a work sad enough to lead most viewers into crying.
* [[Trope Codifier]]: The example that everybody else is copying, or at least copying a copy of.
* [[
* [[Trope Namers]]: The example that gives a trope its name on the wiki (sometimes due to pop culture, sometimes due to being a [[Trope Codifier]]).
* [[Unfortunate Implications]]: Potentially offensive message, often just accidental.
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* [[Your Mileage May Vary]] (YMMV): This is something [[Flame Bait|people ''will'' disagree about.]]
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Just for Fun]]
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