Opposite Tropes: Difference between revisions

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

 

----

* '''[[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]]).

* '''[[A-Cup Angst]] vs [[Petite Pride]]''': grief vs. pride about having small breasts.

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

* [[Almost-Dead Guy]] vs [[Not Quite Dead]] (or [[Only Mostly Dead]])

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

* '''[[And the Fandom Rejoiced]] vs. [[Tainted by the Preview]]''': Optimism vs. pessimism over an upcoming work after any pre-release announcement.

* [[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.

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

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

* [[Can't Get Away with Nuthin']] vs. [[Can't Get in Trouble For Nuthin']]

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

* [[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]]

* [[Cutscene Power to the Max]] vs [[Cutscene Incompetence]]

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

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

* [[Distracted by the Sexy]] vs [[Not Distracted by the Sexy]] or [[Ignore the Fanservice]]

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

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

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

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

* '''[[Ensemble Darkhorse]] vs [[The Scrappy]] or [[Creator's Pet]]''': The [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] is a character who gains an [[Unexpected Reactions to This Index|unexpected amount of popularity with an audience]] despite having a not-so-big role. [[The Scrappy]] is a character who is rejected by the fandom, for being considered annoying and/or unlikeable. If [[The Scrappy]] becomes prominent in a story and the audience still doesn't embrace the character, then that character is a [[Creator's Pet]].

** '''[[Creator's Pet]] vs. [[Unpopular Popular Character]]''': Character only the author seems to like vs. character only the fans seem to like.

* [[Evil Is Cool]] vs [[This Is Your Brain on Evil]]

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

* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]] vs [[Word Salad Title]] (or [[Non-Indicative Name]])

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

* '''[[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]]

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

* '''[[Home, Sweet Home]]''' vs '''[[In Harm's Way]]'''

* '''[[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

* '''[[Idle Rich]] vs. [[Non-Idle Rich]]''': Rich people who don't do anything vs. rich people who actually do things

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

* [[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.

* [[I Was Just Joking]] vs. [[My God, You Are Serious]]

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

* [[Kick the Dog]] vs. [[What You Are in the Dark]]

* [[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.

* [[Miles Gloriosus]] vs [[Cowardly Lion]] (or [[The So-Called Coward]]): Apparent hero, actual coward vs. apparent coward, actual hero.

* [[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]]

* [[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]]

* '''[[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''

* '''[[Shout-Out]] vs. [[Take That]]''': A positive reference to another work vs. a negative reference to another work.

* [[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!"

* [[Small Name, Big Ego]] vs. [[Jaded Washout]]

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

* [[So Bad It's Good]] vs [[So Bad It's Horrible (Darth Wiki)|So Bad Its Horrible]]

* [[Tiny Guy, Huge Girl]] vs [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl]]

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

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

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

* [[Two Scenes, One Dialogue]] vs [[One Scene, Two Monologues]]

* [[Unwitting Pawn]] vs [[Spanner in the Works]]

* '''[[Very-High-Velocity Rounds]] vs [[Painfully-Slow Projectile]]''': ''speedybullets'' vs. '''slooooooowwww buuuulllletsss'''

* [[Viewers are Morons]] vs [[Viewers Are Geniuses]]

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

* [[Villains Act, Heroes React]] vs [[Heroes Act Villains Hinder]]

** [[Villain with Good Publicity]] vs [[Hero with Bad Publicity]]

* '''[[Violence Is the Only Option]] vs. [[Sheathe Your Sword]] or [[Talking the Monster to Death]]''': Defeating an opponent with violence vs. defeating that same opponent through pacifism or a [[Rousing Speech]].

* '''[[Wangst]] vs. [[Angst? What Angst?]]''': Character whines too much vs. character whines a lot less than you think they should.

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

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

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] vs [[Necessarily Evil]]

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

* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]] vs [[Living Forever Is Awesome]]

* '''[[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.)

 

{{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]])

* ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' vs ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' (the main characters even wear similar pink outfit) ([[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] in [[Magical Girl]])

* ''The Fairy Tale of Lost Time'' vs ''[[Momo]]'': "Never, '''ever''' waste your precious time" vs. "'Wasted' time is not always wasted and 'spared' time is '''never''' actually spared".

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Just for Fun]]