Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
214,171
edits
Idiot Ball: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
(And that's the last of the sections. Removing the cleanup tag, the "examples" header, and the examples that have been moved to subpages) |
No edit summary |
||
| (2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
Line 5:
'''Anakin:''' Apparently not.|''[[Star Wars]] [[Revenge of the Sith|Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]]''}}
A moment where a character's stupidity fuels an episode, or a small plot line. If multiple characters have the '''Idiot Ball''' it becomes an [[Idiot Plot]]. Temporary (or permanent) [[Genre Blindness]] is often a cause of this trope.
Coined by [[Hank Azaria]] on ''[[Herman's Head]]'': Azaria would ask the writing staff, "Who's carrying the idiot ball this week?" This is generally not a compliment on the writing because the person carrying the idiot ball is often acting [[Out of Character]], [[You Know What You Did|misunderstanding something that could be cleared up by asking a single reasonable question]] or performing a simple problem-solving action, but that he [[Just Eat Gilligan|isn't doing solely because the writers don't want him to.]] It's almost as if the character is being willfully stupid or obtuse.
Line 15:
See also [[Villain Ball]], [[Hero Ball]], [[Distress Ball]], [[Idiot Plot]], [[Forgot About His Powers]], [[Alcohol-Induced Idiocy]], [[Comedy of Errors]], [[Too Dumb to Live]], [[What an Idiot!]], [[Conflict Ball]], [[Bullying a Dragon]], [[Mugging the Monster]], [[Failed a Spot Check]], [[Ping-Pong Naivete]], [[Third-Act Stupidity]] <small>*big breath* </small>, and [[Out-of-Character Moment]]. A [[Stupidity-Inducing Attack]] is essentially what happens when a character deliberately throws the '''Idiot Ball''' at another character.
This trope is the [[Opposite Tropes|Opposite Trope]] of [[Smart Ball]], and probably not closely related to [[Sanity Ball]], [[Happy Fun Ball]] or [[Advantage Ball]]. And not even ''remotely'' related to the [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] or [[Dragon Ball]].
{{Forgetfulness Tropes}}
{{examples on subpages|Examples of people carrying the Idiot Ball are listed on these subpages:}}
{{reflist}}
| |||