Trope Namers/Literature

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Books are also a good source for trope titles. If you read about them here, there's a good chance you'll see them pop up in other media.

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Commercial Fiction and Traditional Stories

By Author's Last Name

• Adams, Douglas
  • The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul
    • The Alleged Car
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    • Bits of Me Keep Passing Out
    • Insignificant Little Blue Planet
    • Puff of Logic
    • Reality Is Out to Lunch
  • Life, the Universe and Everything
    • Somebody Else's Problem
  • The Meaning of Liff
    • Zeerust

• Applegate, Katherine
  • Animorphism

• Asimov, Isaac
  • "Three Laws"-Compliant

• Banks, Iain
  • Excessive Steam Syndrome
  • Outside Context Villain

• Barrie, J.M. (Peter Pan)
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe
  • Never Grew Up

• Barry, Dave
  • Adjacent to This Complete Breakfast
  • A Good Name for a Rock Band

• Beecher Stowe, Harriet (Uncle Tom's Cabin)
  • Uncle Tomfoolery

• Benet, Stephen Vincent (The Devil and Daniel Webster)
  • Jury of the Damned

• Blake, William
  • Fearful Symmetry

• Bradbury, Ray
  • Butterfly of Doom ("A Sound of Thunder")

• Brontë, Charlotte
  • Bertha in The Attic (Jane Eyre)

• Bulwer-Lytton, Edward
  • It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (Paul Clifford)

• Carroll, Lewis (Alices Adventures in Wonderland)
  • Cheshire Cat Grin
  • Down the Rabbit Hole
    • Up the Real Rabbit Hole
  • Go Among Mad People
  • The Mad Hatter
  • Off with His Head

• de Cervantes, Miguel (Don Quixote)
  • The Dulcinea Effect
  • No Mere Windmill
  • The Rocinante
  • Windmill Crusader
  • Windmill Political

• Chandler Harris, Joel
  • Briar Patching (Bre'r Rabbit stories)

• Christie, Agatha
  • Death in the Clouds
  • Ten Little Murder Victims
  • Thriller on the Express

• Clarke, Arthur C.
  • Clarke's Third Law

• Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
  • Willing Suspension of Disbelief

• Collodi, Carlo (The Adventures of Pinocchio)
  • Become a Real Boy
  • Pinocchio Nose
  • Pinocchio Syndrome

• Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur
  • Lost World
  • Sherlock Holmes
    • Inspector Lestrade
    • Sherlock Scan
    • The Watson
    • Watsonian Versus Doylist (compare Arthur Conan Doyle)

• Congreve, William
  • Woman Scorned

• Crosley, Sloane
  • I Was Told There Would Be Cake

• Dahl, Roald
  • The Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)

• Dick, Philip K.
  • Do Androids Dream?
  • Only Electric Sheep Are Cheap

• Dickens, Charles
  • Oliver Twist
    • The Artful Dodger
    • The Fagin
  • A Christmas Carol
    • Dead to Begin With
    • Jacob Marley Apparel
    • Jacob Marley Warning
    • The Scrooge
    • Yet Another Christmas Carol

• Donne, John
  • Catch a Falling Star
  • For Doom the Bell Tolls

• Dumas, Alexandre
  • Man in the Iron Mask

• Ellison, Harlan
  • (I Have No Mouth) And I Must Scream (I Have No Mouth exists, but as a redirect)

• Gibson, William
  • Raygun Gothic (from "The Gernsback Continuum")

• Goldman, William (The Princess Bride)
  • Farm Boy
  • I Am Not Left-Handed
  • My Name Is Inigo Montoya
  • Only Mostly Dead
  • To the Pain

• The Brothers Grimm
  • Grimmification
  • Trail of Bread Crumbs ("Hansel and Gretel")

• Heinlein, Robert
  • Bug War (Starship Troopers)

• Herbert, Frank (Dune)
  • Worm Sign

• Highsmith, Patricia
  • Strangers on a Train Plot Murder

• Hope, Anthony
  • Prisoner of Zenda Exit

• Hugo, Victor
  • Inspector Javert (Les Misérables)

• Irving, Washington
  • Horror Struck ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow")
  • Rip Van Winkle ("Rip van Winkle")

• Juvenal
  • Bread and Circuses
  • Who Watches the Watchmen?

• Kipling, Rudyard
  • Just-So Story (Just So Stories)
  • More Deadly Than the Male
  • White Man's Burden

• LeGuin, Ursula K.
  • Subspace Ansible

• Leiber, Fritz
  • Bazaar of the Bizarre

• Leinster, Murray
  • First Contact

• L'Engle, Madeline
  • Circle of Extinction

• Lovecraft, H.P.
  • Cosmic Horror Story
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu??
    • And related tropes.
  • Eldritch Abomination
  • Go Mad from the Revelation
  • Through the Eyes of Madness
  • Lovecraft Country
  • Lovecraftian Superpower
  • Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth

• Lowry, Lois
  • Released to Elsewhere (The Giver)

• Lyall, Gavin
  • Hunting the Most Dangerous Game ("The Most Dangerous Game")

• Melville, Herman
  • First-Person Peripheral Narrator was formerly known as The Ishmael (Moby Dick)

• Milne, A. A. (Winnie the Pooh)
  • The Eeyore

• Milton, John
  • Red Right Hand (Paradise Lost)

• Moorcock, Michael
  • The Multiverse

• Nabokov, Vladimir (Lolita)
  • Elegant Gothic Lolita
  • Lolicon

• Nietzsche, Friedrich
  • Eternal Recurrence
  • God Is Dead
  • He Who Fights Monsters
  • Nietzsche Wannabe
  • Ubermensch

• Niven, Larry
  • All the Myriad Ways
  • Call a Rabbit a Smeerp
  • Finagle's Law
  • The Magic Goes Away
  • Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex

(Ringworld)

• • Ringworld Planet
  • Sufficiently Analyzed Magic

• Orwell, George (1984)
  • Airstrip One
  • Big Brother Is Employing You
  • Big Brother Is Watching
  • Room 101
  • Two Plus Torture Makes Five
  • Unperson

• Plato
  • Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking (Apologia)

• Pope, Alexander
  • Hope Springs Eternal

• Pratchett, Terry
  • Fertile Feet
  • Hello, Insert Name Here
  • Klatchian Coffee
  • Lies to Children
  • Theory of Narrative Causality
  • Thunderbolt Iron
  • Überwald
  • Un-Equal Rites
  • Vetinari Job Security
  • Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma

• Rodgers, Mary
  • Freaky Friday

• Rowling, J.K.
  • Draco in Leather Pants
  • Golden Snitch
  • He's Just Hiding (fanon term)
  • Hufflepuff House
  • Muggle Foster Parents
  • Muggles
  • Pensieve Flashback
  • Ron the Death Eater (another fanon term)
  • Secret Keeper
  • Wronski Feint
  • You Are With Me

• Shelley, Percy Bysshe
  • Look on My Works Ye Mighty and Despair ("Ozymandias")

• Simmons, Dan
  • Merlin Sickness (Hyperion)

• Snicket, Lemony (A Series of Unfortunate Events)
  • Lemony Narrator
  • Snicket Warning Label

• Stevenson, Robert Louis
  • Jekyll and Hyde

• Thompson, Hunter S.
  • Fur and Loathing

• Thomas, Dylan
  • Do Not Go Gentle

• Tolkien, John R.R.
  • Army of the Dead
  • Black Speech
  • Dug Too Deep
  • Gollum Made Me Do It
  • Gondor Calls for Aid
  • Heavy Mithril
  • Hobbits
  • Kneel Before Frodo
  • Loving a Shadow
  • Mithril
  • Mordor
    • Walk Into Mordor (film version)
  • Mouth of Sauron
  • Mythopoeia
  • Ring of Power
  • Short Cuts Make Long Delays
  • Speak Friend and Enter
  • You Shall Not Pass

• Twain, Mark
  • Fence Painting (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)

• Vance, Jack
  • Vancian Magic

• Virgil
  • Watching Troy Burn

• Weber, David
  • State Sec (Honor Harrington universe)

• Wodehouse, P. G.
  • The Jeeves

• Wright, Sylvia
  • Lady Mondegreen
  • Mondegreen

• Wynne Jones, Diana
  • Vestigial Empire (The Tough Guide to Fantasyland)

By Title

• One Thousand and One Nights
  • Scheherazade Gambit (alt. title: Arabian Nights Gambit)

• 1984
  • Airstrip One
  • Big Brother Is Your Friend
  • Big Brother Is Watching
  • Room 101
  • Two Plus Torture Makes Five
  • Unperson

• The Adventures of Pinocchio
  • Pinocchio Syndrome

• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
  • Fence Painting

• Aesop's Fables
  • An Aesop
  • Androcles' Lion
  • Country Mouse
    • City Mouse
  • The Farmer and the Viper
  • Honest Axe
  • Sour Grapes Tropes

• Alices Adventures in Wonderland
  • Cheshire Cat Grin
  • Go Among Mad People
  • The Mad Hatter

• Animal Farm
  • Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better

• Animorphs
  • Animorphism

• "Beauty and The Beast"
  • Beast and Beauty

• Br'er Rabbit stories
  • Briar Patching

• Conan the Barbarian
  • The Red Sonja

• Conqueror
  • Genghis Gambit

• Sloane Crosley
  • I Was Told There Would Be Cake

• Curious George
  • Curious as a Monkey

• Death Takes a Holiday
  • Death Takes a Holiday

• Death World
  • Death World

• The Devil and Daniel Webster
  • Jury of the Damned

• Discworld series
  • Fertile Feet
  • Hello, Insert Name Here
  • Thunderbolt Iron
  • Überwald
  • Un-Equal Rites
  • Vetinari Job Security
  • Wanton Cruelty to the Common Comma

• Doctor Dolittle
  • The Doctor Dolittle

• Doña Bárbara
  • Mister Danger

• Dracula
  • The Renfield
  • Van Helsing Hate Crimes

• Dune
  • Worm Sign

• The Dying Earth
  • Vancian Magic

• The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
  • Frying Pan of Doom

• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  • Fur and Loathing
  • Goddamned Bats

• The Giver
  • Released to Elsewhere

• Harry Potter
  • Draco in Leather Pants
  • He's Just Hiding (fanon term)
  • Hold Your Hippogriffs
  • Hufflepuff House
  • Muggle Foster Parents
  • Muggles
  • Pensieve Flashback
  • Ron the Death Eater (another fanon term)
  • Secret Keeper
  • Wronski Feint

• Heather Has Two Mommies
  • Has Two Mommies

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
  • Reality Is Out to Lunch

• Honor Harrington
  • State Sec

• The Hustler
  • The Minnesota Fats

• Hyperion by Dan Simmons
  • Merlin Sickness

• Illuminatus!
  • Bavarian Fire Drill

• Jane Eyre
  • Bertha in The Attic

• The King of Elfland's Daughter
  • Thunderbolt Iron

• Lensman
  • Lensman Arms Race

• Life, the Universe and Everything
  • Somebody Else's Problem

• Little Miss series
  • Little Miss Badass
  • Little Miss Snarker

• Lolita
  • Elegant Gothic Lolita
  • Lolicon
    • Token Loli

• The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul
  • The Alleged Car

• The Lord of the Rings
  • Army of the Dead
  • Black Speech
  • Dug Too Deep
  • Gollum Made Me Do It
  • Gondor Calls for Aid
  • Heavy Mithril
  • Hobbits
  • Loving a Shadow
  • Mithril
  • Mordor
    • Walk Into Mordor (film version)
  • Ring of Power
  • Short Cuts Make Long Delays
  • Speak Friend and Enter
  • You Shall Not Pass

• The Meaning of Liff
  • Zeerust

• Les Misérables
  • Inspector Javert

• "Little Red Riding Hood"
  • Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!
  • Little Dead Riding Hood

• Old Yeller
  • Shoot the Dog

• Metamorphoses by Ovid
  • Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking

• Paradise Lost
  • Red Right Hand

• Peter Pan
  • Clap Your Hands If You Believe
  • Never Grew Up

• Pollyanna
  • The Pollyanna

• The Princess Bride
  • Farm Boy
  • I Am Not Left-Handed
  • My Name Is Inigo Montoya
  • Only Mostly Dead
  • To the Pain

• The Prisoner of Zenda
  • Prisoner of Zenda Exit
  • Ruritania

• "Rapunzel"
  • Rapunzel Hair

• A Series of Unfortunate Events
  • Lemony Narrator
  • Snicket Warning Label

• Dr. Seuss
  • The Grinch
  • I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham
  • Red Fish, Blue Fish

• Sherlock Holmes
  • Inspector Lestrade
  • Sherlock Scan
  • The Watson
  • Watsonian Versus Doylist (compare Arthur Conan Doyle)

• The Silence of the Lambs
  • A Glass of Chianti
  • Hannibal Lecture
  • Shut UP, Hannibal

• "Snow White"
  • Fairest of Them All

• A Sound of Thunder
  • Butterfly of Doom

• Starship Troopers
  • Bug War

• The Stepford Wives
  • Stepford Smiler
  • Stepford Suburbia

• Strangers On A Train
  • Strangers on a Train Plot Murder

• The Tough Guide to Fantasyland
  • Vestigial Empire

• Uncle Tom's Cabin
  • Uncle Tomfoolery

• Winnie the Pooh
  • The Eeyore

Print Magazines

• National Geographic
  • National Geographic Nudity

• Playboy
  • I Read It for the Articles
  • Playboy Bunny

Newspapers

• Daily Mail
  • Political Correctness Gone Mad

• The Sun (UK)
  • Page Three Stunna

Writing Guides

• Turkey City Lexicon
  • Call a Rabbit a Smeerp
    • Call a Smeerp a Rabbit
    • Call a Hit Point a Smeerp
  • Said Bookism

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