Opposite Tropes: Difference between revisions

Here is a place to note the tropes which are opposites of one another.

 

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* '''[[Acrofatic]]''' vs. '''[[Glacier Waif]]''': A big guy you'd expect to be the [[Mighty Glacier]] (or [[Stone Wall]]) is actually the [[Fragile Speedster]] (or a [[Lightning Bruiser]]) vs. a small girl you'd expect to be the [[Fragile Speedster]] (or [[Glass Cannon]]) is actually the [[Mighty Glacier]] (or [[Stone Wall]]).

* '''[[Adaptation Expansion]] vs [[Compressed Adaptation]]''': [[Adaptation Expansion]] takes a short work (e.g. a poem) and fleshes it out in to a larger piece (e.g. a movie). [[Compressed Adaptation]] takes a work with a lot of history and/or development and condensed down to fill a specific amount of time (e.g. an adaptation of a 50+ year old comic book in to a two and a half hour movie).

* [[Adults Are Useless]] vs [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]

* '''[[After Boss Recovery]] vs [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]]''': With an [[After Boss Recovery]], upon winning (or, if the boss is a [[Hopeless Boss Fight]]) you get a ton of recovery items. With [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]], the game starts throwing very powerful and/or useful items at you (potion that will heal you or a teammate completely, items that resore magic points); it's the game's (and game developer's) way of warning you that there is a horrifically bad boss or challenging area close by, so you'd better save and make sure you use all the items being given to you.

* '''[[Agent Mulder]] vs [[Agent Scully]]''': Believer vs. skeptic.

* [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]] vs. [[Single Woman Seeks Good Man]]

* [[All Part of the Show]] vs. [[You Just Ruined the Shot]]

* [[Ancient Conspiracy]] vs [[Ancient Tradition]] (However, they might [[Not So Different|overlap]].)

* '''[[Anyone Can Die]] vs [[Red Shirt]]''': Important character gets killed off vs. only nameless extras get killed off.

* [[Ape Shall Never Kill Ape]] vs [[In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves]]

* [[Arbitrary Skepticism]] vs [[All Myths Are True]]

* [[Arrogant Kung Fu Guy]] vs [[Martial Pacifist]]

* [[Artificial Stupidity]] vs [[Artificial Brilliance]]: The extremes of videogame AI.

* [[Ascended Demon]] vs [[Fallen Angel]]

* [[Ascended Fanon]] vs [[Jossed]]: A fan theory that later gets confirmed by the [[Word of God]] ... or not.

* [[Awesome but Impractical]] vs [[Boring but Practical]]

* [[Badass Beard]] vs [[Beard of Sorrow]] (Might [[Character Development|overlap]].)

* [[Badass Normal]] vs [[Badass Abnormal]]

* [[Bad Guy Bar]] vs. [[Good Guy Bar]]

* [[Bad Liar]] vs [[Consummate Liar]]

* '''[[Because Destiny Says So]] vs [[Screw Destiny]]''': Fate vs. free will.

* '''[[Be Careful What You Wish For]] vs [[Wish Fulfillment]]''' : Dream turning into a nightmare vs. dream coming true.

** [[Big No]] vs [[Little No]]

* [[Black Like Me]] vs [[White Like Me]]

* '''[[Bonus Space]] vs [[Whammy]]''': A good space on a game show's game board vs. a bad space on a game show's game board (usually one that takes away all of your money).

* [[Breakable Weapons]] vs [[Unbreakable Weapons]]

* [[Breather Boss]] vs [[That One Boss]]

* [[But Now I Must Go]] vs [[I Choose to Stay]]

* [[Cain and Abel]] vs. [[Sibling Team]]

* [[Camp Gay]] vs [[Manly Gay]]

* [[Capulet Counterpart]] vs [[Foe Yay]]

* [[Casanova Wannabe]] vs [[Kavorka Man]] (or [[Even the Guys Want Him]])

* [[Cassandra Truth]] vs [[Sarcastic Confession]]

* [[Clarke's Third Law]] vs [[Magic Versus Science]]

* [[Climax Boss]] vs [[Anticlimax Boss]]

* [[Comes Great Responsibility]] vs [[Muggle Power]]

* '''[[Com Mons]] vs [[Olympus Mons]]''': wimpy summon monsters vs. godlike summon monsters

* [[Corrupt Church]] vs [[Saintly Church]]

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] vs [[Uncle Pennybags]]

* [[Country Mouse]] vs [[City Mouse]]

* [[Crack Fic]] vs [[Original Flavour]]

* '''[[Crapsack World]] vs [[Mary Suetopia]]''': In the [[Crapsack World]], life is pointless and everything sucks. In [[Mary Suetopia]], everything and everyone is perfect.

* [[Creature of Habit]] vs [[Allergic to Routine]]

* [[Creepy Child]] vs [[Cheerful Child]]

* '''[[Creepy Child]] vs [[Psychopathic Manchild]]''': Child who acts adult-like in an unsettling way vs. adult who acts child-like in an unsettling way.

* [[Crippling Overspecialization]] vs [[Master of None]]

* [[Crutch Character]] vs [[Magikarp Power]]

* [[Darker and Edgier]] vs [[Lighter and Softer]]

* [[Dark Is Not Evil]] vs [[Light Is Not Good]]

* [[Designated Hero]] vs [[Designated Villain]]

* '''[[Deus Ex Machina]] vs [[Diabolus Ex Machina]]''': Out-of-nowhere win for the good guys vs. out-of-nowhere win for the bad guys.

* [[Did Not Do the Research]] vs [[Shown Their Work]]

* [[Dirty Coward]] vs [[Lovable Coward]]

* [[Disproportionate Retribution]] vs [[Disproportionate Reward]]

* [[Down the Rabbit Hole]] vs [[Up the Real Rabbit Hole]]

* [[Downer Ending]] vs [[Happy Ending]]

* '''[[Draco in Leather Pants]] vs [[Ron the Death Eater]]''': Both are character interpretation tropes. [[Draco in Leather Pants]] occurs when a character's flaws are downplayed and their virtues are promoted by a fan to make a character more appealing to them. [[Ron the Death Eater]] downplays a character's good traits, often exposing and exaggerating their flaws to [[Die for Our Ship|pave the way]] for the fan's [[One True Pairing]].

* [[Dumb Is Good]]/[[Good Is Dumb]] vs [[Good Is Not Dumb]]

* [[Dying Like Animals]] vs [[Fighting for Survival]]

* [[Easily Forgiven]] vs [[Reformed but Rejected]]

* [[Emotionless Girl]] vs [[Genki Girl]]

* [[Escalating War]] vs [[Zany Scheme Chicken]]

* [[Evil Chancellor]] vs [[The Good Chancellor]]

* [[Evil Is Deathly Cold]] vs [[Evil Is Burning Hot]]

* '''[[Executive Meddling]] vs [[Protection From Editors]]''': Executives giving (often unwanted) input in a work vs. only the author deciding the direction of the story.

* [[Expanded States of America]] vs [[Divided States of America]]

* '''[[Face Heel Turn]] vs [[Heel Face Turn]]''': A [[Face Heel Turn]] is when something happens to an established "good" character that makes them turn to the side of evil. A [[Heel Face Turn]] is when something happens to an established "evil" character that makes them turn to the side of good. When used more than once, it can lead to the [[Heel Face Revolving Door]].

* [[Fallen Princess]] vs [[Alpha Bitch]]

* '''[[False Dichotomy]] vs [[Golden Mean Fallacy]]''': strawman argument where only one of two choices is right vs. one where both choices are wrong and the only "correct" answer is somewhere in the middle.

* [[False Reassurance]] vs [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]]

* [[Fandom]] vs. [[Hatedom]]

** Also, [[Fan Dumb]] vs. [[Hate Dumb]]

* [[First Girl Wins]] vs. [[Last Girl Wins]]

* [[First Kiss]] vs [[Last Kiss]]

** [[The Hero]] vs The [[Big Bad]]

** [[The Lancer]] vs [[The Dragon]]

** [[Sixth Ranger]] vs [[Sixth Column]]

* [[Flash Back]] vs. [[Flash Forward]]

* [[Flawed Prototype]] vs. [[Super Prototype]]

* [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome]] vs [[Brought Down to Normal]]

* '''[[For the Evulz]] vs. [[For Great Justice]]''': Doing something because you know it's evil vs. doing something because you know it's good/just.

* [[For Want of a Nail]] vs [[In Spite of a Nail]]

* '''[[Fridge Logic]] vs [[Fridge Brilliance]]''': You suddenly realize something that happened doesn't make sense vs. you suddenly realize something that happened makes perfect sense.

* [[Friend to All Living Things]] vs [[Walking Wasteland]] (or [[Enemy to All Living Things]])

* [[Gargle Blaster]] (gets you instantly, insanely drunk) vs [[Klatchian Coffee]] (gets you instantly, insanely sober)

* [[Geek]] vs [[Book Dumb]]

** [[Genius Ditz]] vs. [[Ditzy Genius]]

* [[Genre Blindness]] vs [[Genre Savvy]]

* '''[[Germans Love David Hasselhoff]] vs [[Americans Hate Tingle]]''': Love vs. hate of a fictional character outside his/her/its series' country of origin.

* '''[[Get Back Here Boss]] vs. [[Advancing Boss of Doom]]''': you chase after the boss vs. boss chases after you

* '''[[Ghibli Hills]] vs [[Mordor]]''': Lush, colorful landscape vs. dark, frightening landscape. See also [[Scenery Porn]] vs. [[Scenery Gorn]].

* [[Girls Have Cooties]] vs [[Toy Ship]]

* [[Good Times Montage]] vs [[Sad Times Montage]]

* [[Gory Discretion Shot]] vs [[Sexy Discretion Shot]] (You dont want to see it versus you want to see it.)

* '''[[Grimmification]] vs [[Disneyfication]]''': see [[Darker and Edgier]] vs. [[Lighter and Softer]]

* [[Gratuitous English]] vs [[Surprisingly Good English]]

* [[Hair of Gold]] vs. [[Blondes Are Evil]] (or sometimes [[Blond Guys Are Evil]])

* [[Happiness Tropes]] vs [[Sadness Tropes]]

* [[High Fantasy]] vs [[Low Fantasy]]

* [[Historical Hero Upgrade]] vs [[Historical Villain Upgrade]]

* '''[[Hopeless Boss Fight]] vs. [[Zero Effort Boss]]''': boss fight you can't win vs. boss fight you can't lose

* [[Hot Amazon]] vs [[No Guy Wants an Amazon]]

* '''[[Hype Aversion]] vs [[Bile Fascination]]''': [[Hype Aversion]] is intentionally avoiding a product because everyone and their mother loves to talk about how great it is. [[Bile Fascination]], on the other hand, is a peculiar attraction to a really bad work because of all of the negative buzz surrounding it.

* '''[[Hyper Awareness]] vs [[Failed a Spot Check]]''': A character with [[Hyper Awareness]] can see even the smallest details without even trying. A character who [[Failed a Spot Check]] is oblivious to something that just about everyone else can see.

* [[I Need a Freaking Drink]] vs [[No More for Me]]

* '''[[Idiot Ball]] vs. [[Smart Ball]]''': Unnatural act of idiocy vs. unnatural act of competence

* [[If I Can't Have You]] vs. [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]

* [[I Just Want to Be Normal]] vs [[I Just Want to Be Special]]

* '''[[I Just Want to Have Friends]] vs [[I Work Alone]]'''

* [[Instant Death Bullet]] vs [[Only a Flesh Wound]]

* [[Insult Backfire]] vs. [[Compliment Backfire]]

* [[Invincible Hero]] vs. [[Failure Hero]]: A hero who ''always'' wins, killing all tension vs. a hero who ''never'' wins, killing all tension.

* '''[[It Will Never Catch On]] vs. [[This Is Going to Be Huge]]''': something expected to fail succeeds like crazy vs. something expected to be a smash-hit turns out to be a flop. [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] applies to both tropes.

* [[Jerkass]] vs. [[Nice Guy]]

* [[Jumped At the Call]] vs [[Refusal of the Call]]

* [[Jumping the Gender Barrier]] vs [[Unsettling Gender Reveal]]

* '''[[Jumping the Shark]] vs [[Growing the Beard]]:''' [[Jumping the Shark]] is a moment when a particular show or series has hit a new low, and everything is perceived to get worse from then on. [[Growing the Beard]] implies a point where everything gets ''better''.

** [[Karma Houdini]] vs. [[Cosmic Plaything]] or [[The Chew Toy]] or [[Butt Monkey]]

* [[Knight in Shining Armor]] vs [[The Evil Prince]]

* [[Combat Pragmatist|Krav Maga]] vs [[Le Parkour]]: A martial art based solely on disarming and defeating your opponent, and a martial art based solely on avoiding/escaping conflict in the first place.

* '''[[Law of Inverse Recoil]] vs [[Blown Across the Room]]''': Gunshots with no recoil vs. gunshots with way too much recoil

* [[Let's Get Dangerous]] vs. [[Not So Harmless]]: low-key hero becoming powerful vs. low-key villain becoming powerful.

* [[Limited Wardrobe]] vs [[Unlimited Wardrobe]]

* '''[[Macekre]] vs [[Woolseyism]]''': A [[Macekre]] is a loose translation of a work that barely resembles its source material. A [[Woolseyism]] is a translation of a work that maintains the spirit of the original work, while still making it palatable for its intended audience.

* [[Made of Iron]] vs [[Made of Plasticine]]

* [[Magic Knight]] vs [[Squishy Wizard]]

* [[Mechanical Lifeforms]] vs [[Organic Technology]]

* [[Mighty Whitey]] vs [[Token White]]

* [[Mind Rape]] vs [[Care Bear Stare]]

* '''[[Mook Chivalry]] vs [[Zerg Rush]]''': Mooks attacking one at a time vs. mooks attacking all at once

* [[Most Wonderful Sound]] vs. [[Most Annoying Sound]] or [[Hell Is That Noise]]

* [[Murder the Hypotenuse]] vs [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]] vs [[Names to Trust Immediately]]

* [[Nerd Glasses]] vs. [[Cool Shades]] or [[Meganekko]]

* [[Never Tell Me the Odds]] vs. [[I Like Those Odds]]

* [[The Night That Never Ends]] vs. [[Endless Daytime]]

* [[Nightmare Fuel]] vs. [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]]: Something that's terrifying vs something that's touching.

* '''[[Nightmare Retardant]] vs [[Accidental Nightmare Fuel]]''': Meant to be scary but isn't vs. not meant to be scary but is.

* [[No Blood Ties]] vs. [[Thicker Than Water]]

* [[No One Gets Left Behind]] vs. [[The Uriah Gambit]]

* '''[[Not Allowed to Grow Up]] vs [[Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome]]''': If a character remains the same age for a good portion of a series (especially if it's a [[Long Runners|Long Runner]]), then he/she is [[Not Allowed to Grow Up]]. [[Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome]] denotes quick aging changes, where a character can be aged up a few years without explanation.

* [[Nothing Can Stop Us Now]] vs [[Nothing Can Save Us Now]]

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] vs [[Feigning Intelligence]]

* '''[[One Steve Limit]] vs [[Planet of Steves]]''': Only one character has a particular name to avoid confusion vs. a large group of people all have the same name.

* [[One Stat to Rule Them All]] vs [[Dump Stat]]

* '''[[Overcrank]] vs [[Under Crank]]''': Slow motion vs. fast motion.

* '''[[Patchwork Map]] vs [[Single Biome Planet]]''': Several biomes compressed into tiny area<ref>Though the trope is wider than that.</ref> vs. an entire planet covered in a single biome.

* [[Perpetual Poverty]] vs [[Infinite Supplies]]

* '''[[Pet the Dog]] vs [[Kick the Dog]]''': Showing that a bad guy isn't all that bad vs. showing that a bad guy ''is''

* '''[[Poisonous Friend]] vs [[Psycho Sidekick]]''': Friend who commits chaotic/evil deeds without the hero's knowledge vs. friend who commits chaotic/evil deeds and the hero fully knows about it

* '''[[The Pollyanna]] vs [[The Eeyore]]''': [[The Pollyanna]] is eternally optimistic about their circumstances in life, while [[The Eeyore]] always sees the proverbial glass half-empty.

* '''[[Porting Disaster]] vs [[Polished Port]]''': Transitioning a game from one system to another makes the end result worse vs. a transition where the new game is better than the original

* '''[[Power Born of Madness]] vs [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]''': superpower that relies on the user being insane vs. superpower that slowly drives the user insane

* '''[[Prolonged Prologue]] vs. [[Lost in Medias Res]]''': Too much exposition at expence of action in the beginning, vs too little exposition in the beginning.

* [[Psychopathic Manchild]] vs [[Heroic Comedic Sociopath]]

* [[The Quiet One]] vs. [[Motor Mouth]]

* [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits]] vs. [[Dream Team]]

* [[Rank Inflation]] vs. [[F Minus Minus]]

* '''[[Redemption Demotion]] vs. [[Redemption Promotion]]''': Character works better as a villain than a hero vs. character works better as a hero than a villain.

* [[Redemption Earns Life]] vs. [[Redemption Equals Death]]

* [[Redheaded Hero]] vs [[Evil Redhead]]

* [[Refusal of the Call]] vs. [[Adventure Rebuff]]

* [[Remembered I Could Fly]] vs. [[Forgot I Couldn't Swim]]

* [[Road Cone]] vs. [[Third Option Adaptation]]

* '''[[Rousseau Was Right]] vs. [[Black and Gray Morality]]''': [[Rousseau Was Right]] is a situation in a fictional work where there are no clear-cut bad guys. A [[Black and Gray Morality]] situation is one where there are no obvious good guys.

* [[Sarcasm Mode]] vs. [[Sincerity Mode]]

* [[Second Place Is for Losers]] vs. [[The Runner Up Takes It All]]

* [[Sequelitis]] vs. [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel]] or [[Even Better Sequel]]

* [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong]] vs. [[Make Wrong What Once Went Right]]

* '''[[She Cleans Up Nicely]] vs. [[Unkempt Beauty]]''': character is dolled up to look sexy vs. character looking sexy even without fancy clothes.

* '''[[Shocking Swerve]] vs. [[The Untwist]]''': A [[Shocking Swerve]] is a plot twist that the audience could never possibly have seen coming and appears to have been done for no purpose other than to shock. [[The Untwist]] is when a plot twist is shocking because the audience had dismissed it as being ''too'' obvious.

* [[A Simple Plan]] vs. [[Zany Scheme]]

* '''[[Slap Slap Kiss]] vs [[Kiss Kiss Slap]]''': "I hate you! ... I love you!" vs. "I love you! ... I hate you!"

* [[The Snark Knight]] vs [[Stepford Smiler]]

* [[Something They Would Never Say]] vs [[Something Only They Would Say]]

* [[Special Effect Failure]] vs [[Visual Effects of Awesome]]

* [[Split Personality]] vs [[Hive Mind]]

* [[Spoiler Opening]] vs [[Bait and Switch Credits]]

* '''[[Squee]] vs [[Squick]]''': reaction to something favorable vs. reaction to something repulsive

* [[Status Quo Is God]] vs [[Nothing Is the Same Anymore]]

* '''[[Stockholm Syndrome]] vs [[Lima Syndrome]]''': Prisoner develops feelings for captor vs. captor develops feelings for prisoner

* [[Tastes Like Chicken]] vs [[Tastes Like Feet]]

* [[Temporal Paradox]] vs [[Stable Time Loop]]

* [[This Is Reality]] vs [[No Fourth Wall]]

* [[This Trope Name References Itself]] (or [[Index of Exact Trope Titles]]) vs [[This Index Is Not an Example]]

* [[Too Good to Last]] vs [[Long Runners]]

* [[Trademark Favorite Food]] vs [[Does Not Like Spam]]

* [[Trapped in TV Land]] vs [[Refugee From TV Land]]

* '''[[Tsundere]] vs [[Yandere]]''': A [[Tsundere]] is a (usually female) character who acts cranky and standoffish on the outside, but sometimes shows signs of genuine tenderness. A [[Yandere]] is someone who tries to act nice, but really is unpleasant underneath...sometimes coupled with [[Madness Tropes|mental instability]].

* '''[[Villain Ball]] vs [[Hero Ball]]''': villain does something dumb vs. hero does something dumb

* [[Villain Decay]] vs [[Not So Harmless]]

* '''[[Virgin Power]] vs [[Deus Sex Machina]]''': A [[Virgin Power]] is some sort of ability of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] that relies on the user abstaining from sexual intercourse. A [[Deus Sex Machina]] is a power that requires [[Sex Tropes|you-know-what]] to be triggered.

* [[Vomit Discretion Shot]] vs [[Vomit Indiscretion Shot]]

* [[WAFF]] vs [[Dark Fic]]

** [[Wangst]] or [[Emo]] vs. [[Stoic Woobie]]

* [[Weak but Skilled]] vs. [[Unskilled but Strong]]

* [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] vs [[Villainous Crossdresser]]

* '''[[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] vs [[Grumpy Bear]]''': Idealist in a cynical setting vs. cynic in an idealistic setting.

* '''[[The Woobie]] vs [[The Chew Toy]] (or [[Butt Monkey]])''': Seeing him suffer makes you go "aww" vs. seeing him suffer makes you laugh.

* [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] vs [[The Ladette]] (Full of feminine grace versus lack of feminine grace.)

* [[You Can't Make an Omelette]] vs. [[Never Hurt an Innocent]]

* [[You Look Familiar]] vs [[The Other Darrin]]

 

{{examples|Examples of "opposite number" series:}}

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' vs ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' (made by [[Studio Gainax|the same studio]]!) ([[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] in [[Humongous Mecha]])

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Just for Fun]]